amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 confusion is my dress gabriela rodríguez california state university, fresno que me internen, mama, yo ya no puedo y yo ya no quiero más seguir, que me internen ma escribe mija. escribe!!! para que no se te rompa el corazón. pedacitos, son pedacitos. pero todavía existen. si un día se derrotan o desuelven, como pápel en un vaso de agua, un día se colarán y volverán. i am ….. not… yes you are. i am not i am i a m n o t i think in english. i even count in english. i lose track when i try in spanish. i think that even more interestingly i think in english and that must mean something, what would the thought process be like to think in spanish? sincerely yours, preocupada, desesperada y intolerable, for i am a scholar, or at least i was trained, and i learned and thus want. 54 journal_2008._coverpage._final[1] 44 ¿por que moctezuma, por que? by jairo sanchez, m.s ¿por qué, moctezuma, por qué? ¿por qué, cuando cortez vino, le creíste ser dios? ¿que no le notaste la ambición y la envidia en su voz? ¿por qué, moctezuma, por qué? ¿por qué le creíste ser divino? ¿que no viste que había viajado los mares sin destino? ¿por qué, moctezuma, por qué? ¿por qué te volviste temoroso? ¿que bueno hubiese sido si le hubieras hecho frente al español ambicioso? ¿por qué, moctezuma, por qué? ¿por qué cuando te hizo preso, no le peleaste? ¿que acaso tan confiado te creó tu madre, que ni te diste cuenta en el fango que te atascaste? ¿por qué, moctezuma, por qué? ¿por qué le diste a los españoles oro? ¿que mejor fuera si les hubieras dado de flechasos en coro! ¿por qué, moctezuma, por qué? ¿por qué les diste doncellas? ¡que diferencia hubiera hecho si les hubieras dado con la macana hasta que hubieran visto estrellas! ¡moctezuma! si hubieces peleado como guerrero azteca, tu gente te adoraría, y no viviera en eterna hipo?teca. photo by: jairo sanchez cancún, méxico amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 poems the great mother wails antonia darder university of illinois the earth extends her arms to us; revealing through her nature the changing condition of our existence. she bends and twists, defl ecting the swords of our foolishness, our arrogance, our gluttony, our deceit. unbridled by red alerts or amber warnings, her ire gives rise to monsoon winds, jarring us from the stupor of our academic impunity; our disjointed convolutions, our empty promises; our black and white dreams. filled with unruly discontent, we yearn to dominate her mysteries; reducing her to microscopic dust, we spit upon her sacredness, tempting the fury of her seas. we spill our unholy wars upon her belly’s tender fl esh, blazing dislocated corpses, ignite her agony and grief. still, in love with her creations, she warns of our complacency to cataclysmic devastation, rooted in the alienation of our disconnection our rejection, our oppression, our scorn. and still, we spin ungodly tantrums of injustice against her love, against ourselves, against one another. 59 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 when will we remove blindfolds from our eyes? when will we stretch our arms—to her? when will the cruelty of our hatred cease; teaching us to abandon the impositions of patriarchy and greed? oh! that we might together renew our communion with the earth, she, the cradle of humanity; she, the nourishment of our seeds; she, the beauty of the song within; she, the wailing that precedes. -antonia darder (2008) 60 journal 2007[1]. coverpage 49 manifesto ii: education alfonso c. hernandez all education must be free including graduate school for all the real students many children are not able to learn for lack of intelligence for being born impaired but they are trainable children should pass from one grade to another only when they are at grade level in their achievement regardless of chronological age since only children who are wanted are born having love and discipline at home they learn the benefits of knowledge and wisdom in a healthy home … all children should be tested in grades 4, 8, 12 only and if they do not pass a truly comprehensive test they must repeat one two years or more until they are truly prepared. then our american system of education will make us proud all administrators should be in the classroom at least one period a day and should be paid on the same salary scale as teachers all teachers should teach only ten years at each level starting at elementary school those teachers wishing to progress must follow a course of study to move up to jr. high, high school college and university then all levels will be prepared with methodology and content teachers should have the option of remaining at a particular level money should not be the incentive equal pay at all levels only experience education and seniority will be the basis for progress. amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 mothers united: an immigrant struggle for socially just education. andrea dyrness, minneapolis: university of minnesota press, 2011, 264 pages cara crandall university of massachusetts-amherst andrea dyrness, associate professor of educational studies at trinity college, and author of mothers united: an immigrant struggle for socially just education, offers readers a seat at the table with fi ve latina immigrant women who come together in weekly meetings as madres unidas. this group, centered on conducting participatory research, comes into existence in response to the tensions that arise during the small schools reform movement in oakland in 2000. these reforms aimed to engage committed educators with parents to create community-based schools as an alternative to over-crowded, poorly maintained traditional schools and to shift control for decision-making from centralized administrators to teachers and parents. but these alliances also laid bare the ways power and privilege led to the marginalizing of parents. as these madres begin to debrief on their frustrating and frustrated participation in school reform, they fi nd they have multiple questions and concerns about the new, purportedly community-based school, united community school (ucs). dyrness comes to the project as an ethnographer and doctoral student interested in the burgeoning school reform movement. she initially offers herself as a translator, and this position might best describe her role throughout the book. through the relationships she develops with some of the women on the ucs design team, she raises the idea of a parents’ research team to document their experiences in the design process. participatory research offers the latina women a methodology that engages their questions as the focus for research into the social change of which they were a part. in conversations with one another and dyrness, the moms come to realize they have the tools to pose critical questions about reform and to effect change that impacts themselves, the school, and their community. in telling their story, dyrness’s book explores two related arguments: the madres utilize personal and cultural resources in strategic ways, though the professionals involved in the reform movement often view them as defi cient; the madres use their collaborative work in madres unidas to respond to these defi cit perspectives and by doing so critique and resist such power relations. dyrness successfully explores both of these arguments and demonstrates the inter-connected nature of social critique, reform, and solidarity. in fact, her arguments illustrate the intimate nature of social reform and the role of the heart in sustaining the intellect throughout such work. the kitchen table is both the literal place where they met and a transformative space where the women came to understand themselves and their work in new ways. this communal space offers the women what dyrness refers to as “confi anza, convivencia, and testimonio.” these latina women, immigrants into the united states who are well aware of the racial, class, gender, and linguistic boundaries placed on them, create with one another a sense of trust and community that encourages them to share their stories. in doing so, the mothers fi nd ways to energize their ways of being and knowing, and to name the forces at work in their lives and their community. dyrness develops these strands of personal resources, marginalization, and transformation in chapters that begin with an overview of oakland’s school reform movement including its various stakeholders and continues with a more traditional ethnographic study of whitman elementary school as a way to contextualize the need for school reform. as the work on ucs continues, dyrness shifts the narrative focus onto one particular mamá, baudelia, who will come to represent the ways parents are being included in the reform effort but only in prescribed roles assigned them by other change agents in oakland and at ucs. because baudelia takes on a leadership role within the group and at the school, her voice and story become an obvious focal point for dyrness. only in later sections of the book do readers get more comprehensive stories of the other madres. this later inclusion is one limitation of the book since readers might benefi t from these deeper portraits of the moms as they engage with specifi c aspects of the work. as the tensions become clearer, dyrness utilizes the latina immigrants’ research and voices to highlight 79 mothers united: an immigrant struggle for socially just education. association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 key concerns about issues, including: the admissions process at ucs; questions of what constitutes a community and who decides; and the ways parents are seen as defi cient or suspect. in later chapters, dyrness allows readers to visit ofelia’s kitchen to further demonstrate the ways personal relationships sustained the research project of las mamás. another chapter demonstrates the research acumen and personal vindication they develop as they share their data in a variety of forums. dyrness ends the book by offering the work of the mothers as an exemplar of community development efforts possible through the combined threads of research and activism. throughout the book, dyrness’s own testimonio to the work of these madres and her work with them frames their activism through the lenses of critical race theory and u.s. third-world feminism. reading the women’s experiences through these theories, dyrness shows how they use their stories, and the stories they collect from others, to understand and more fully participate in community development through ucs. the collective immigrant women of madras unidas develop a research agenda that allows them to use the tools of qualitative research—developing research questions, conducting interviews and focus groups, theorizing about and analyzing data—in order to understand the small school that they have been a part of founding and then to ensure that this school remains true to its original mission. through their participatory research process, the mothers found ways to resist and re-articulate a vision for the school and how best that vision could be nurtured and sustained. this recursive and collaborative research process is described by dyrness and allows for her analysis of and larger argument about participatory research and its emphasis on the production and uses of knowledge. as dyrness makes clear, she may have provided research tools to the moms in this collaborative, but they are the ones who ultimately determined how and for what purposes these tools might be used. this becomes a central part of her book’s argument: participatory research creates the kind of “counterspace” that allows individuals to not only articulate a sense of critical consciousness but also allows them to advance social action. dyrness’s work impacts readers because on many levels she remains in the role she originally had with the madres: she is their translator. she offers their words in both spanish and english, and then contextualizes all of their words within the realms of theory and for a larger audience. but at its core, this book is authored by the fi ve latina mothers because dyrness remains focused on allowing them to narrate their experiences and refl ections as they participate in the work of building a school. the arguments dyrness has offered never veer far from the voices of the immigrant women; we come to care about and follow their lives closely. thus, this book decentralizes the role of ethnographer and casts our eyes, ears, and intellects toward the madres at the heart of the story. while many ethnographies include the heavy presence of the ethnographer, this one positions readers beside the women and by doing so demonstrates how research can bring personal stories to the forefront at the same time that it illustrates how power infi ltrates and distorts even the best intended agendas. this book ultimately offers a compelling example of ethnographic, participatory research that would interest readers in a variety of fi elds. certainly, educators and others, including anthropologists, educational anthropologists, and those with an interest in urban education, immigrants in education, and/or parental involvement must read this book. for those who hope to do community development work including teachers, community organizers and others who work with low-income parents of color must read this book as a cautionary on the ways we position ourselves and others when we seek to do good. for doctoral students, the book provides a strong model for how ethnographic research can be combined with participatory research. at the same time, the book provides additional insights into the lives of women, particularly for latinas/os, in the multiple and often confl icting roles they would assume as mother, community activist, and caretaker even as they seek to understand and articulate their own sense of identity outside of such labels. those with an interest in women of color feminism will fi nd the book provides an accessible treatment of these theories and how they can be used as an interpretive lens. as readers follow the mothers of madres unidas, the love and respect they have for one another becomes clear as dyrness shows us their work and the multiple ways they support one another. the sense of solidarity, which she describes throughout the book, provides the immigrant moms with the strength they need, in ofelia’s words, to “keep going” despite personal hardships and struggles to be recognized and respected as knowing and knowledgeable members of the school community. ultimately, dyrness and the madres help readers understand 80 mothers united: an immigrant struggle for socially just education. association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 that change efforts are endeavors best undertaken when heart, mind, and the desire for change are given equal seats at the table. 81 mothers united: an immigrant struggle for socially just education. latina/o educational leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 6 latina/o educational leadership: testimonios from the field rebeca burciaga san josé state university gloria m. rodriguez university of california, davis our schools’ growing latino population requires a drastic shift in how we approach leadership to reflect these changing demographics. when latina/o students have the lowest levels of educational attainment at every stage of the educational pipeline (covarrubias, 2011), it is imperative that we question whether we are doing enough to address this crisis. time and again, research has demonstrated how these torrential leakages in the educational pipeline for latina/o students are often perpetuated by unequal resource allocation (gándara & contreras, 2009; rodriguez & rolle, 2007; solórzano, ledesma, pérez, burciaga, & ornelas, 2003; solórzano & yosso, 2000). while these outcomes are often mistakenly attributed to latino families’ lack of caring about education (valencia & black, 2002; valencia & solórzano, 1997), scholars have demonstrated that families and communities play an essential role in students’ educational and occupational aspirations (gándara, 1995; solórzano, 1986). if we are serious about addressing the needs and strengths represented by the increased presence of latina/o students, these aspirations must be cultivated—and realized—through the engagement of educational leaders who are committed activists for social change (guajardo, 2009; méndezmorse, murakami, byrne jiménez, & hernandez, 2015; rodríguez & alaníz, 2011; rodríguez, martinez, & valle, 2015) that recognize the community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) that is already present in the communities they serve. the limited notions of latina/o educational leadership in the field of education have misguided institutions of education (bertaávila, revilla, & lópez figueroa, 2011; guajardo & guajardo, 2004) and as a result, maintained and in many cases increased societal inequities and institutionalized oppression (lópez, 2003; lópez & burciaga, 2014; méndez-morse, 2000; san miguel, 2013). in preparing this issue, we posed two questions: what is latina/o educational leadership and how is it enacted to challenge the narrow parameters of what is considered educational burciaga & rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 7 leadership? how do we (re)envision educational leadership approaches that are respectful and responsive to latina/o communities? in this special issue, scholar-educators present testimonios from the field—strategies, communities, and concepts that push us to reconsider our current approaches to serving latina/o students. in “ternura y tenacidad: testimonios of latina school leaders,” by melissa a. martinez, jocabed marquez, yvette cantu, and patricia rocha, the testimonios of four latina school leaders reveal the important role of cultural capital in leadership development, resistance, agency and deep commitments to social justice for latinx communities. “con todo mi corazón: mentoring latinas in educational leadership doctoral programs,” by mariela a. rodriguez, reveals approaches to community-mentoring that supports the research and practice of latina doctoral students not only for degree completion [but keeping in mind] the importance of preparing the next cadre of school principals and superintendents. “the journey from de-culturalization to community cultural wealth: the power of a counter story-telling curriculum and how educational leaders can transform schools,” by p. antonio cuevas, outlines the use of personal counter-stories as curriculum to transform educational spaces by engaging students in reclaiming community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) and creating critically and culturally engaging academic opportunities in an otherwise racist and oppressive educational system. “institutionally responsive pedagogies: a community-cultural wealth approach to latina/o student engagement across the educational pipeline,” by louie f. rodriguez, provides four concrete pedagogical principles grounded in community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005). these principles, used in his work with students, communities, parents, and in k-12 and higher education, outline approaches to institutional shifts to recognize the wealth of latina/o students and communities across the educational pipeline. in “reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities: latin@ parent leadership retreats as sites of community cultural wealth,” pedro e. nava and argelia lara examine leadership development within (im)migrant farmworker communities, and argue for the need to rethink the role of testimonios as a pedagogical tool in parent engagement and capacity building for leadership and agency in such communities. verónica nelly vélez, in her article, “unexpected power brokers: latina (im)migrant mothers, school decision-making, and the racial politics of parent leadership in school latina/o educational leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 8 reform,” outlines a participatory action case study of alianza; she also describes the development of political agency among alianza members. vélez highlights organizational strategies aimed at school reform while strengthening counter-narratives to interrupt racist depictions that functioned to cast latinx parents as “unfit” to serve as educational leaders. in “leadership for chicano/latino education and the politics of change,” patricia lópez describes the persistent entrenchment of corporate interests and market-based reform that embody the growing politics of change in the experiences of chicano/latino students and broader communities. she continues with university-based leadership programs that play critical roles when it comes to advancing a leadership for chicano/latino communities that equip candidates with a counter narrative analysis that allows them to first understand these realities, and then identify the strategies they must develop if they are to disrupt the talons of corporate interests in and out of education educational efforts to address inequities have increasingly manifested as top-down directives aimed at reductive accountability objectives, thus increasing the power and visibility of certain positional leaders (and profiles of leadership) as the schools’ primary change agents. given the breaks in the educational pipeline for latina/os, there is an urgency to our work in showcasing scholarship that interrogates the leadership gaps that seem to persist in schooling systems within latina/o communities (guajardo, guajardo, oliver, & keawe, 2012). therefore, we share these seven articles, two poems, and a book review as a response to broadening the narrow conceptualizations of educational leadership. burciaga & rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 9 references berta-ávila, m., revilla, a. t., & figueroa, j. l. (2011). marching students: chicana and chicano activism in education, 1968 to the present. reno, nv: university of nevada press. covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos and education, 10(2), 86-105. gándara, p. c. (1995). over the ivy walls: the educational mobility of low-income chicanos. albany, ny: suny press. gándara, p. c., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. guajardo, m. a. (2009). collective leadership: practice, theory, and praxis. journal of leadership studies, 3(2), 70-73. guajardo, m. a., & guajardo, f. j. (2004). the impact of brown on the brown of south texas: a micropolitical perspective on the education of mexican americans in a south texas community. american educational research journal, 41(3), 501-526. guajardo, f., guajardo, m., oliver, j., & keawe, l. o. n. (2012). framework for a new political praxis. journal of the association of mexican american educators, 6(1), 52-60. lópez, g. r. (2003). the (racially neutral) politics of education: a critical race theory perspective. educational administration quarterly, 39(1), 68-94. lópez, g. r., & burciaga, r. (2014). the troublesome legacy of brown v. board of education. educational administration quarterly, 50(5), 796-811. méndez-morse, s. (2000). claiming forgotten leadership. urban education, 35(5), 584-596. méndez-morse, s., murakami, e. t., byrne-jiménez, m., & hernandez, f. (2015). mujeres in the principal’s office: latina school leaders. journal of latinos and education, 14(3), 171-187. rodríguez, m. a., & alanís, i. (2011). negotiating linguistic and cultural identity: one borderlander’s leadership initiative. international journal of leadership in education, 14(1), 103-117. rodriguez, g. m., & rolle, r. a. (2007). to what ends and by what means: the social justice implications of contemporary school finance theory and policy. new york, ny: routledge. rodríguez, c., martinez, m. a., & valle, f. (2015). latino educational leadership across the pipeline for latino communities and latina/o leaders. journal of hispanic higher education, 1-18. san miguel, g. (2013). chicana/o struggles for education: activism in the community (vol. 7). college station, tx: texas a&m university press. solórzano, d. g., ledesma, m. c., pérez, j., burciaga, m. r., & ornelas, a. (2003). latina equity in education: gaining access to academic enrichment programs. latino policy and issues brief, 4, 1-4. solórzano, d., & yosso, t. (2000). toward a critical race theory of chicana and chicano education. charting new terrains of chicana (o)/latina (o) education, 35-65. valencia, r. r., & black, m.s. (2002). ‘mexican americans don’t value education!’—on the basis of the myth, mythmaking, and debunking. journal of latinos & education, 1(2). 81. latina/o educational leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 10 valencia, r. r., & solórzano, d. g. (1997). contemporary deficit thinking. the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice, 160-210. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 teachers of latinos on the margins: beginning at a pedagogy from within reynaldo reyes iii university of texas—el paso abstract this pedagogical refl ection essay considers how teacher candidates can use their own lived experiences, biculturalism, and bilingualism as sources of pedagogy and empowerment for not only marginalized latino students but for themselves, too. the learning of this pedagogy and ability to empower comes from the interactions they have with marginalized students and learning how to reveal what is making them silent and to create space for their voice. much of this discovery of self and others comes in their preparation to become teachers, which must be facilitated by teacher educators beyond the classroom. as future teachers of the marginalized, in these lived encounters, they realize that they already have much to build on from their own experiences and that they have the ability to teach and create change in our schools and classrooms now. understanding silence we can no longer accept silence. when educators are working with marginalized latino students, they must always be cognizant of the idea that “hopelessness is a form of silence, of denying the world and fl eeing from it” (freire, 1970, p. 91). although the marginalized may be physically present in our classrooms, their silence hints of a kind of void that for too long schools, teachers, parents, and the students themselves may struggle to comprehend. the silence of the marginalized may be an uncovered desire for an encounter to inspire; it may be a need to engage, but kept still for fear of rejection; it may be wanting to understand, but not knowing how to use the tools that the teacher has provided. the voice of the marginalized seeks someone, or something, to magnify the message(s) they have to tell the world. their voice is one that “relates to the variety of ways by which students actively participate in dialogue and attempt to make themselves heard and understood, as well as the manner in which they defi ne themselves as social beings” (darder, 1991, p. 66). but this voice is often diluted by that which is keeping them marginalized—poverty, lack of english language profi ciency, undocumented immigration status, violence, lack of opportunity to really learn, hopelessness. and, in the context of schools, voice is essential in the “student’s ability to participate and enter into dialogue within the classroom, and as a result, participate in a democratic social process” (darder, 1991, p. 66). as darder (1991) explains, the student voice defi nes who they are. and this voice is also a projection of who and what that student can become. but this voice of the marginalized is often diffi cult to fi nd in the minutiae of everyday teaching and learning. every good educator knows that it is there in every one of our students. most of the time, it is found in student school work, such as that powerfully moving essay they wrote or the speech they gave in english, their second language, in front of the class. it is found in the change of attitude, radically different from the disengaged and violently resistant student they were before. it is found in the acceptance of a teacher’s words of encouragement and mentorship. it is found when such a student attends tutoring to get the help that they need, no longer denying that just a little more help with their homework will lead to better understanding. it is found in more involvement in activities where the student can feel like they are part of a small community. yet, there are times when educators, all educators, struggle to fi nd the voice of the marginalized that has been silent for so long, veiled by a façade of simple presence. and this is often no fault of their own. the voice of the marginalized may be found in spaces that may not be, upon fi rst glance, fully comprehensible. but being able to recognize the peculiar spaces where this unprojected voice may appear is where teachers of the marginalized latino student can become much more powerful, and impactful, than they are now. i believe that my students attending college here on the texas-mexico border—not yet certifi ed teachers, but going through our education program, learning theory and methods—have this ability to recognize this voice 61 teachers of latinos on the margins:beginning at a pedagogy from within association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 in the marginalized. and with this skill, they have the power to teach, and to make a difference now. i’m just not sure that they realize how powerful they already are. struggle and sacrifi ce i teach in a college of education. my students are future teachers. the college degrees and formal education received from our university have often come at an expense for many of my students. one came back to tell me how her husband divorced her because he did not support her educational and professional endeavors. he did not feel comfortable knowing that his wife was smarter than he. one experienced child custody battles. one has broken down in tears in the midst of a class session, dealing with a husband who wanted a divorce because he thought she needed to lose weight. one gave birth one week, only to return to class the next week because she was so dedicated to her studies—even with the option i gave her to take time off to be with her baby. and one had to put his dream of teaching on hold because the criminal background check halted his public school internship (due to a mistake he made in his adolescent years). these life sacrifi ces and struggles make my students powerful as future teachers. sometimes they know this. sometimes they do not. but they all must be reminded that their stories, those sacrifi ces, are where they can begin their pedagogy. i often share my own experiences growing up of living both a privileged life during the school year and another life during summer visits with my alcoholic father, who was poor, unemployed, and knew little about being a good father. but i now know that he tried with what he had. although i admit that i did not and do not have to sacrifi ce like many of them, i explain how the sacrifi ces, struggles, and stories of others, like my father, have become an important part of my own narrative, which grounds my life, and ultimately, my pedagogy. for the marginalized students in our schools, this pedagogy often must be utilized fi rst before the teaching of state-mandated content. this pedagogy from life and struggle is their voice that must be awakened, utilized, and taught in the midst of teaching math, science, or history. we have to recognize that for the marginalized student this pedagogy may be the signal that awakens their voice, and brings them out of silence. but even many of our future teachers live in some sort of silence that we teacher educators must recognize and be able to guide toward a place of empowerment. for future teachers of marginalized latino students, their voices for empowerment must be awakened, and embraced, fi rst. because many of my students are so much like the students they are currently learning about, and will soon teach, they have a great deal of power that not many other future and current teachers have in u.s. schools. my students are in a unique position to serve a growing, and very important, segment of the u.s. population: latinos—but in particular, students of mexican-descent, english learners, and immigrants. in this current climate of anti-latino discourse, my students must be positioned to understand very clearly the unique indicators, those hints, of students living on the symbolic and real margins of life and schooling. and this begins with my students realizing that this type of pedagogy begins with them, and from within. realizing power so many of my students do not realize their power. so many of my students do not recognize that their lived experience is one that their future latino students—those living and experiencing schools on the margins— yearn for. so many of my students—themselves being english learners, socioeconomically marginalized, fi rstgeneration college attendees—do not realize what they can already do as teachers. as students living, working, and attending university in a bicultural and bilingual world, they possess what trueba (2002) believes are forms of cultural and linguistic capital in multiple identities that will help them better adapt to the shifting social, cultural, and educational paradigms of the world. he saw such students as having evolving abilities to adapt and enact a new cultural capital and way(s) of being, surviving, and even thriving in multiple contexts. but, as i also have discovered, even my non-latino, non-mexican-descent students begin to develop a similar bicultural and bilingual sensibility within their pedagogical and philosophical framework. almost by virtue of living on the us-mexico border, attending a university on the border, interacting with students who 62 teachers of latinos on the margins:beginning at a pedagogy from within association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 have lived a border existence, they themselves are also becoming bicultural and bilingual. granted, their level of bilingualism varies, but, indeed they have come to know the power of their emerging bilingual and bicultural identities. those non-latinos are often surprised themselves to reach a certain level of linguistic and cultural understanding that they recognize gives them a great deal of power, and ability to empower, as future teachers. these students, non-latino and latino alike, are part of a special process of learning, understanding, discovering, and practicing a pedagogy that reaches sometimes the unreachable. so in my teaching, i guide my students through a dizzying pedagogical maze that they must embrace to be empowering teachers of the marginalized. i facilitate individual and small group problem-solving exercises that closely examine schools, society, and themselves. i demand excellence in preparation, thinking, and learning. and as a result, most learn something. most get passing grades. most are prepared for their state certifi cation exams. but do they understand? do they carry with them that sense, that knowledge, that indeed they have the ability to empower the marginalized student? that they have within them the stories, the experience, the language, the lessons of life that will ultimately be the pedagogy of hope that will convince and entice students living on the margins to give math, science, social studies a chance? to give school a chance? to give themselves a chance to be great? i believe so, but it is not always so apparent. like many fi rst-generation college students here on the border, my students will struggle academically. they may even have issues with the english language, juggle multiple life and school responsibilities, or struggle to make a tuition payment. in the end, they effectively deal with such issues and do well. but when it comes to feeling confi dent, to truly know, that they have what it takes to be a great teacher, even at that moment, i sometimes wonder. during regular 15-week semesters, i also assign my students to fi eld experiences tutoring and mentoring english learners, a type of service-learning project. this is where they begin to get a good dose of the struggles of english learners, as well as the overall complexities of school and classroom life today. in discussing these realities of teaching in today’s classrooms, working with diffi cult, defi ant, and complacent students, or knowing how to reach students who express no hope or confi dence in the education system, i get the sense that my students are not quite sure of their abilities to reach and teach such students. they get discouraged. they passively accept that the schools are broken, and that is simply the world in which they will make their professional lives. they may do their best, but they feel their best won’t change much. of course, this is to be expected as beginning students in education. they believe that as “just college students” who are not yet teachers, they are still learning. they feel that they still need more methods or theory courses, or experience from their internship, to show that they know how to work effectively with students. they don’t feel that they can be effective or useful to those marginalized students until the end of their program, when they graduate, and when they are certifi ed as teachers. then the end of the semester comes. my students have written their journals and refl ective essays, citing their methods textbooks and other literature studied in the course, all nicely connecting theory to practice. as a class, in small groups, and with me, we have dialogued, refl ected on, and debated the theory, concepts, problems, solutions, and realities of today’s schools and the students within them. and then, on the last day of class, they tell their stories of experience with the english learners they tutored and mentored. one student tells of her overwhelming sense of joy and empowerment that she felt when her mentee hugged her on the last day of tutoring/mentoring, and expressed how she helped them to learn to read. one student talks about the amazing generosity of the several third graders she tutored/mentored who collected some money from each other, a few coins, to purchase a candy bar from the vending machine for her as a departing gift and symbol of gratitude. another student tells us how he cried on his last day of tutoring/mentoring when his mentee cried and pleaded with him to be his teacher forever. and another one of my students expressed their pride in knowing that they indeed made a difference in the life of a student because that student told them so. in the “un-projected” student voice there is hope. hope can be found in the most unusual spaces. this hope is sometimes within the concrete as well as in the imagined. but a fuller picture of hope is realized when the voice is revealed and the student is allowed to hear and better know their own hope within that voice. in my work as a teacher educator and researcher at a texas-mexico border university, many of my students often struggle to fi nd that voice not only within the students that they work with in their fi eld experiences, 63 teachers of latinos on the margins:beginning at a pedagogy from within association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 or during the student-teaching semester, but also within themselves. at least in the beginning. because they soon overcome the self-doubt in their pedagogy. they begin to know their students, their lives, their voices in the midst of learning to teach and to empower. then they fi nd their own voice of empowerment. and, it seems, when they know that their students have come away from this semester-long, albeit brief, encounter— expressing gratitude and a new understanding, my students begin to see that they already have what it takes to be great teachers. references darder, a. (1991). culture and power in the classroom: a critical foundation for bicultural education. westport: bergin & garvey. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: continuum. freire, p. (2004). pedagogy of hope. new york: continuum. trueba, h. (2002). multiple ethnic, racial, and cultural identities in action: from marginality to a new cultural capital in modern society. journal of latinos and education,1(1), 7-28. 64 teachers of latinos on the margins:beginning at a pedagogy from within pg30 pg31 pg32 pg33 pg34 pg35 pg36 pg21 pg22 pg23 pg24 pg25 pg26 pg27 pg28 pg29 testimonios informing a human rights and social justice association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 96 testimonios informing a human rights and social justice education framework linda prieto, ph.d. alearn, vice president of programs i have written testimonios (politically urgent life stories) alone, and in collaboration with others, as a method and political tool that conveys my own and others’ lived and professional experiences (alarcón, guardia jackson, prieto, rodriguez-arroyo, 2011; prieto & villenas, 2012, 2015; prieto, 2015 a, b, c; prieto, chapa, castro, g., castro, n., araujo, forthcoming; prieto & niño, 2016). the recalling and documenting of testimonio “as a conceptual and methodological tool that transforms cultural and personal narratives into critical social analysis” (fuentes & pérez, 2016) is not an easy process. often tears, coraje (both courage and rage) and laughter accompany this process—a transformative healing process in of itself from which one can draw strength and agency. gracias dr. emma fuentes for your kind invitation to put forth a concluding essay for this special issue on testimonio for the association of mexican american educators’ journal. i have enjoyed reading all of the pieces and through this process of reading and holding space with the testimoniantes i have also, cried, laughed, and healed. in the introduction, fuentes and pérez (2016) make a stellar contribution to our understanding of testimonio as methodology and pedagogy; they bring forth the notions of sanctuary and creative resistance as two additional frameworks of testimonio. they also identify how “transformative movements are weaving together a collective story, or testimonio, that makes the impossible possible by humanizing those whose stories are not told, whose realities are not seen, and whose lives are too often disregarded” (p. 7). with chandler’s (2016), “a call to action,” i revisited the difficult process i underwent last spring as i decided to leave my position in the academy as a tenure-track professor to return to my home state of california and forge a new chapter in my life where i currently serve as the vice president of programs at a nonprofit committed to delivering high-quality mathematics and college readiness programs to middle and high school students from lowincome backgrounds who will be the first-generation in their family to attend college. many times i questioned what others would think of my leaving the academy, but like olvia and axel, prieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 97 i too am at a place where i no longer judge myself by others’ standards and am fulfilled knowing that my work continues to positively impact the lives of underserved youth. chandler describes olvia and axel’s testimonios as examples of perseverance and resilience and highlights their “ability to bounce back ‘cause you’re made like that—the ability to authentically recover from difficulty and adversity in ways that enable future success is key to keeping one foot in front of the other” (p. 87-88). the nopal metaphor and accompanying six tenets strengthen the author’s charge for us all to help others recognize, name, and foster similar talents in the students and communities of promise that we strive to serve. “nuestro camino es más largo” by jiménez (2016) pulls and draws me in through our parallel experiences of growing up en el valle central—the central san joaquin valley—de california. my hometown is reedley, about 120 miles, o dos horas, southeast of modesto and about ⅛ its population size. i first published my own (2009) experiences as the stings of social hierarchies: from the central san joaquin valley vineyards to the ivy walls. to fully understand jiménez’s testimonio, she invites us to witness her parents’ experiences in the u.s., including threats of deportations which illustrate “the pain of living in a foreign land.” their experiences of working in the agricultural fields and fruit packing sheds echos my own families’—our testimonios entwine. jiménez and i also share similar reasons for pursuing graduate studies and careers impacting the educational opportunities afforded to others from like backgrounds. i too (prieto, 2015 a, b, c) describe the ways our camino es más largo in the academy, not only graduate school. the sharing and documenting of our testimonios as mujeres, chicanas/latinas, and academics from working-class backgrounds is essential to informing various educational policy issues, such as those that inform teacher and campus leader preparation and college access and completion programs. as jiménez returned home during her doctorate program to help her family after her father’s traumatic brain injury, i also returned home during my program when my mother required surgery and full-time care. jiménez recalls a conversation with her father and eloquently states, “through our conversations, i came to understand my life as one of having the opportunity to dream, to attain an education, and to inspire hope to (and with) our communities” (p. 75). it is not until we voice our testimonios that we allow ourselves and others to find solace, strength, and learning a través de nuestras vidas, penas, y alegrías. i look forward to reading her future work documenting her testimonios como scholar activist. ¡arriba valle central! testimonios informing a human rights and social justice association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 98 ochoa’s (2016) piece beautifully and respectfully sets forth to “explore how the media and legal system both portray and affect [the unauthorized immigrant] population and utilize testimonio as a tool that challenges the morality of our current immigration discourse that continues to oppress these specific people” (p. 52). esperanza emmanuel and mario/marisol’s testimonios of their experiences cruzando la frontera, living in fear of immigration raids, and deportations remind me of the many shared by my own family—parents, tios, tias, primos, primas y abuelos. on one occasion my sister and older brother who were born in the united states cruzaron la frontera como indocumentados because my parents were unauthorized to live or work in the united states at the time and were unable to cross them any other way. i was still developing in my mother’s womb at the time. “i grew up in california during a time, much like the present, when immigration raids were common. for me and other children of immigration, the raids presented fears and frustrations that did not enter the classroom discourse” (alarcón et al., 2011, p. 378). our experiences remained, as ochoa states, “in the shadows”—invisible to our classroom teachers. i remember the immigration raids in the fields, my parents running into the adjoining orchards and fields as they sent us to hide in the tall grass until the migra disappeared and took other youth mexicano immigrants. the raids reminded us of our lower social status. i was afraid and disgusted. why would anyone want to take our parents from us? didn’t they see we weren’t doing anything wrong? we were simply working, trying to make a living. (prieto, 2009, p. 72) i too hope our experiences and narratives “position the voices, experiences, and stories of undocumented immigrants at the forefront of research and analysis” (ochoa, 2016, 52). in "la receta del testimonio mole," pérez (2016) presents the resilience testimonio of three folklórico dancers. within the three folklórico testimonio themes of comunidad, familia and auto-estima [emerge]. the dancers address coming out as gay men, finding friendships, and learning about cultural history through a lens of community cultural wealth and in a strengthsbased approach to understanding their lived experience. (p. 44) the testimoniantes highlighted here share how their ties to dancing with and participating in the folklórico group allowed them to construct an hermandad from which they could be true to themselves and also reimagine a new sense of self. dance is also recognized as “an expressive prieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 99 medium through which humans externalize their feelings towards the supreme energy, sending symbolic messages through corporal movements and thus creating a harmonious link with the earth and the universe” (lara, 2004, p. 61, translated by claeys and prieto as cited in prieto, claeys, & lara, 2015, p. 131). during my own undergraduate career at stanford, i held leadership positions with and participated in organizations (e.g., movimiento estudiantil chicano de aztlán (m.e.ch.a.), ballet folklórico, project motivation) housed in el centro chicano, which provided opportunities to learn and share chicana/latino culture, history, and traditions. these spaces and experiences underscored my identity as a chicana and raised my consciousness to act for social justice (prieto, 2009, p. 78). our responsibility then becomes to be mindful of how schools and community-based organizations can tap into this strengths-based approach present in folklórico and danza to help students of color, especially young queer latin@s, learn about their identities, develop a sense of cultural pride, gain leadership skills, improve their mathematics skills through counting and rhythms, and provide them with a safe place to belong. pour-khorshid’s (2016) article invites us to “travel with [the h.e.l.l.a. educators of color] as [they] engage in deep, reflective, and powerful storytelling that bridges [their] lived experiences to theory, love, healing, and transformative praxis in teacher professional development” (p. 20). similarly, other testimonios by engaged educators of color in k-12 teacher and campus leader preparation programs (prieto & niño, 2016; prieto & villenas 2012, 2015; urrieta & villenas, 2013) examine who we are, how we “know,” and how we teach for wholeness, social justice, and liberation. “we highlight the powerful and fruitful tensions of these interconnections in addressing our curricular struggles and innovations, professional identities and scholarly trajectories” (urrieta & villenas, 2013, p. 514). here, katina, nick, and farima share their commitments to young poc (people of color) and how they draw from their own lived experiences to understand the inequities and injustices the youth they work with face on a daily basis. “these three [testimonios] serve as examples of the deep, raw, painful and empowering racialized experiences we carry as educators of color” (p. 28). the testimoniantes identify love—radical love and collective liberation—as central to their urgent stories: testimonios informing a human rights and social justice association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 100 “they do aspire to love themselves and their histories for all its laughter and tears,” “the love we all shared fed my spirit through the madness,” “love is what brought me back,” “it was their love and courage that reminded me of why i couldn’t quit.” likewise in research where i explore how aspirantes—spanish/english bilingual education teacher candidates—(prieto, 2014) and maestras’ (prieto, 2013)—latina bilingual education teachers’—testimonios shape their beliefs, values, and approaches to teaching, amor (love, including a pursuit for social justice), surfaces as one of the six cultural strategies they draw upon to employ “what i term, una conciencia con compromiso—a process by which they understand, nurture, and develop their commitment to community” (p. 167). the process of testimonio involves at least two individuals, the testimoniante who must be strong enough to make themselves vulnerable in their sharing and reliving of their experiences, and the witness who must both be willing to hold space as the testimoniante shares and then commit themselves to working towards alleviating the social injustices the testimoniante has experienced. this process is usually painful to both re-live and witness, but it is also a necessary part of our healing and recognition of our shared humanity and perseverance. in doing so we situate “individual narratives within a larger collective experience simultaneously marked by oppression, agency, and resistance” (fuentes & pérez, 2016, p. 7). as alarcón et al., (2011) state: to read and to listen to these stories is to commit to another kind of understanding— one of solidarity—of the challenges of language and assimilation, of gender and race and the violence of patriarchy, of the experiences of being treated as an “alien” in one’s own country. testimonio requires a deep learning, necessitating an openness to give oneself to the other. it requires what emmanuel levinas (1994) described as “receiving the lesson so deeply [that] the lesson of truth is not held in one consciousness. it explodes toward the other” (p. 80). (p. 370) our educator “testimonios and latina/chicana feminist perspectives can rearticulate pedagogies of nepantla—a space of frustration, discomfort, and always improvised visionary modes of teaching and learning” (prieto & villenas, 2012, p. 412). it is my hope then that they can also help us continue to address the teacher of color shortage through purposeful recruitment, prieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 101 induction, and retention as well as how to better prepare all in the field to become culturally efficacious educators. the poems included in this special issue by hang and muñoz are courageous examples of borderland testimonios. hang highlights notions of belonging and longing to belong, of countering the invisibility many of us from diverse backgrounds experience here in the u.s.—in and out of schools, of being questioned and simultaneously dismissed, and of the relationships between naming, identity, and culture. i see you, rhummanee. muñoz’s poem resonates of a similar strength. her testimonio centers around her madrina—a fictive motherly kin—who answers her call with encouraging prayers filled with generations of hopes and dreams. she reminds us to draw upon our ancestral wisdoms; something every testimoniante does. for a testimonio is never crafted in isolation, never a representation of just one person or one voice. muñoz (2016) writes, trust me when i say that your story yours and yours belongs to all of us (p. 109). i write of my own ancestral connections, “sometimes i am like the breeze that carries my abuelita’s (grandma’s) untold stories across the lands and whispers them in my ear” (alarcón et al., 2011, p. 378). my testimonios and the testimonios of others that i try to represent are always laced with reflections of the present and past to inform the future. in 2015 my sister published her first book titled, an (im)possible life: poesia y testimonio in the borderlands. it is a collection of bilingual poems and short stories where she, as the testimoniante, retells her own “life recuerdos (memories) with the intention of creating spaces of light, love, and healing for individuals and community” (prieto, e., 2015, n.p.). sharing of the creative literary craft indeed carves out spaces for healing—sometimes like torrents crashing against rock, but nonetheless we must continue to release so others can relate—knowing that with each passing day we can all heal. testimonios informing a human rights and social justice association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 102 references alarcón, w., cruz, c., guardia jackson, l., prieto, l., & rodríguez-arroyo, s. (2011). compartiendo nuestras historias: five testimonios of schooling and survival. journal of latinos and education, 10(4), 369-381. chandler, v. (2016). a call to action: a speech for university professors on the use of testimonio and the nopal metaphor. association of mexican american educators, 10 (2), 7994. fuentes, e. h. & pérez, m. a. (2016). testimonio as radical story-telling and creative soulful resistance. association of mexican american educators, 10(2), 5-14 hang, r. (2016). sea, me. association of mexican american educators, 10(2), 106-108. jiménez, r. (2016). nuestro camino es más largo (our journey is much longer): a testimonio from a daughter of mexican immigrants turned professor. association of mexican american educators, 10(2), 64-78. muñoz, o. (2016). viento. association of mexican american, 10(2), 109. ochoa, l. (2016). documenting the undocumented: testimonios as a humanizing pedagogy. association of mexican american educators, 10(2), 48-63. pérez, m. a. (2016). la receta del testimonio mole: a value-rich recipe for folklórico resilience testimonio. association of mexican american educators, 10(2), 32-47. pour-khorshid, f. (2016). h.e.l.l.a. educators of color: collective testimonio that speak to the healing, empowerment, love, liberation, and action embodied by social justice educators of color. association of mexican american educators, 10(2), 15-31. prieto, e. (2015). an (im)possible life: poesia y testimonio in the borderlands. self-published. prieto, l. (2009). this stings of social hierarchies: from the central san joaquin valley fields to the ivy walls. in j. a. van galen & v. o. dempsey (eds.), trajectories: the social and educational mobility of education scholars from poor and working class backgrounds (pp. 7181). rotterdam, the netherlands: sense publishers. prieto, l. (2013). maestras constructing mestiza consciousness through agency within bilingual education. journal of latino/latin american studies, 5(3), 167-180. prieto, l. (2014). conciencia con compromiso: aspirantes as bridges for latin@ bilingual learners. association of mexican-american educators (amae), 8(1), 10-19. prieto, l. (2015a). shocked into silence no more. in j. martin. (ed.), racial battle fatigue: insights from the front lines of social justice advocacy (pp. 45-54). santa barbara, ca: praeger. prieto, l. (2015b). inner conflicts between what i know and what i experience: making invisible tensions visible. in g. theoharis & s. dotger (eds.), on the high wire: education professors walk between work and parenting (pp. 203-212). charlotte, nc: information age. prieto, l. (2015c). documenting the undocumented: sabidurias de una chicana in academia. in f. hernández, e. murakami, & g. rodríguez (eds.), abriendo puertas, cerrando heridas (opening doors, closing wounds): latinas/os finding work-life balance in academia (pp. 127236). charlotte, nc: information age. prieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 103 prieto, l., chapa, a., castro, g., castro, n., & araujo, j. (forthcoming). examining border pedagogies through latina testimonios in a north texas community. prieto, l., claeys, l., & lara gonzález, e. (2015). transnational alliances: la clase mágica-nepohualtzitzin ethnomathematics club. journal of latinos and education, 14(2), 125-134. prieto, l., & niño, j. m. (2016). latin@ school leader epistemologies: a co-created sentipensante testimonio. national forum of applied educational research journal, 29(1-2), 54-63. prieto, l., & villenas, s. a. (2012). pedagogies from nepantla: testimonio, chicana/latina feminisms and teacher education classrooms. equity & education in the classroom, 45(3), 411-429. prieto, l., & villenas, s. a. (2015). pedagogies from nepantla: testimonio, chicana/latina feminisms and teacher education classrooms, in d. delgado bernal, r. burciaga, & j. flores carmona (eds.), chicana/latina testimonios as pedagogical, methodological, and activist approaches to social justice (pp. 49-66). new york, ny: routledge. urrieta, jr., l., & villenas, s. a. (2013). the legacy of derrick bell and latino/a education: a critical race testimonio. race ethnicity and education, 16(4), 514-535. journal 2007[1]. coverpage 40 el peleonero juan m. flores, ph. d. alan mcmann was a tough white kid at sharp elementary school in pacoima, california in the late 50's. pacoima then was a poor, mostly white working class neighborhood in the northeast portion of the san fernando valley. i was frightened by alan. he was a freckled white kid who had a loud, aggressive way about him that intimidated me. he wore dirty, blue jean pants and a worn blue jean cowboy jacket that fastened with brass buttons at the waist. my mother warned me about kids like alan. "m'hijo, ten cuidado con los okis. son muy cochinos y peleoneros." sometimes when i was not cleaning our yard as i was supposed to, mom would say that people would think that our house was "una casa de okis." or sometimes i came home dirty after having played in the empty field next door. my mother scolded me, telling me with disappointment that i looked like i was from "una casa de okis." alan was smaller than i was, but when he walked around he seemed bigger. he was like a little game rooster, walking around, waiting for somebody to look at him the wrong way, and ready to jump into any fight, no matter who started it. alan struck fear in me and in other kids that were not popular or athletic. i avoided alan and did not feel safe when he was around. alan was a little bully. i was very dark and small compared to the white kids in my school, whose pink, freckled skin seemed to turn red in the hot sun of the san fernando valley. my hair was thick, black and stood up on end despite my efforts to grease it down with gobs of pungent three flowers pomade. the sweet scent was overpowering and the pomade seemed to melt and make my neck glisten in the hot summer sun. i tried to flatten my hair down by wearing on my head an old pair of women's nylons that had been cut and tied to the size of a skull cap. i wore the nylon cap over my head as i slept every night. in the morning my hair was flattened down against my scalp, but it was still thick and straight. i made my hair lie flat against my scalp, but it had not lost it straightness and it appeared like sharpened, pointed cactus thorns, treacherously waiting to stick and prick unsuspecting hands. i combed my hair straight back, and some of the kids called me wolf man because of the way my hair looked. the surfer look was big in southern california, and all of the white kids wanted this look, with their tight white levi pants, short sleeve paisley shirts, and slightly long blond or bleached hair that was combed to the right and slightly over their faces, carelessly covering their eyes. this was the look that you needed to belong to the "in crowd." i had the tight white levi pants and the short sleeve paisley shirts, but i could not have the slightly long blond or bleached hair. the next best thing for me to do was to comb my own thick, severely straight black hair to the side, as i tried to have "the look." after being picked by alan once again, i sent for a self-defense kit by mail order with 41 money that my dad had paid me for helping him cut the plastic cover off the copper wires he brought home from work and later sold the metal recyclers. the ad for the self defense kit was in the superman marvel comic books and guaranteed that whoever used this kit would never be bullied again. i ordered this judo kit with the order form i tore off the comic book cover. every day i checked the mailbox and was disappointed at seeing an empty mailbox without the long awaited kit. but i eagerly wanted this wonderful kit that would one day free me from being bullied by alan, and i dreamed of the strong person that i would become with the help of this kit. the kit finally arrived after a month of waiting, and i eagerly read through all of the instructions and the descriptions of the possible self-defense situations and the moves that would help me become a confident and self-assured he-man. my younger brother, ramon, served as my assistant and "dummy" who faithfully and cheerfully responded to my instructions and put me in the necessary choke holds and waist-level bear hug positions described in the book. he allowed me to flip him over or trip him as i imagined doing to the alan mcmann if he one day tried to do these same things to me. ramon's little body landed on our front yard with a loud thud again and again. he raised himself each time, dusted the dirt and dry grass off his white, now soiled. t-shirt, and eagerly agreed to my next request to try another choke hold, or this time to grab me from behind, maybe a chest level hold this time so that i could try an overhead flip. at last i felt that i was ready to defend my honor on the sharp avenue school playground and once and for all declare my freedom from alan mcmann and all bullies like him forever. the day came, and i was standing by the jungle gym in the sandbox at school by the library. alan walked over to the sandbox and yelled out to me "hey 'wan' com'ere!" expecting that i would do as he said right away. but i had already decided that i was not going to do what he said. when i didn't come over, he got a twisted look on his face and walked over to me, quickly wrapping his arms around me in the position described in my self-defense book on page twelve, illustration number 32. alan was behind me and his arms were wrapped around my waist in an arm lock as ramon and i had practiced so many times in our front yard. in my mind i quickly went step by step through the overhead throw release. alan's little bully body flew over my head and he landed with the familiar thud that i had already heard so many different times in the front yard at home, and his astonished freckled face looked up at me, wondering what had happened. i also was surprised at what i had done. my look of surprise slowly revealed a little bit of fear of what alan might do to me now. alan saw this look in my face and slowly got up, telling me "hey wan, don't do that again!" alan dusted the sand from his levi pants, and walked away. my fear turned into a feeling of relief that alan did not try to hurt me. 42 then he turned around and said, "wan, how did you do that?" "can you show me?" "sure, alan. put your arms around me like you did and i will show you how i flipped you." just don't pick on me any more, ok? "ok," alan said. "i'm sorry that i have been mean to you. "now show me how to do that." __________ dr. juan m. flores is professor of teacher education at california state university, stanislaus. email: jflores@csustan.edu 2007 amae, dia del maestro: “harvest of dreams” art by: fernando rubio journal 2007[1]. coverpage 47 many languages: one tongue alfonso c. hernandez in chinese pain is pain in english both new born cry the exactly same cry in either tongue when torn out from their mother the horror of this earth appears in either language in england and in china new born souls would prefer to return to the cosmos whence they came from. love is in swahili as in french is love both hearts always beat at the exactly same rhythm the same measure of blood bursts out from either heart equal, the horror of the absence when the loved ones just die in black africa and in france the essence of love is equal in aroma. singing in nahuatl is in italian singing lyrics signify the exact longing nostalgia the glorious past forgone but still pure landscapes both hearts keep on bleeding the present in the instantaneous void and the bacchanalia void in the future the melody, the harmony and the lyrics in italy and in mexico burst out from the exactly same fountain and the depths of the source are as crystalline in each language. in japan, metaphors are ceremonies as ceremonies metaphors in araby marriage, family, work: three themes in either tongue ring one single bell in arabic “i do” rings exactly the same temple bells as “i do” reverberates in minarets in japanese on these lands, fate has absolutely no power in the care and the rearing of children valued more than the pearls from the sea of japan valued more than the black gold from the sands of the desert 48 and the exactly same sweat is now raining out from the labor in factories and the work in oil fields. in hindi, death has exactly the same meaning as the meaning of death in spanish in mexico and in india both scythes cut just as sharp death is a liberation from misery and cast a return to the immaterial void the maternal, the ethereal cosmic light where love, harmony and spirit emanate from the exact same center and mass. all the languages of the world speak in only one soul russian, urdu, german, wolof so many, many languages to name one single emotion the magic of poetry and prayer in exactly the same wavelength love, agony, pain and joy all our enduring struggles for perfection clamors resounding in the waves of the wind from the sea to the sun and beyond like the wheel of our fortune like the pull of the moon on the ocean our inalterable seesaw of existence from our earth to the galaxies to begin once again and again our endless karmic, cosmic cycle. _____ alfonso c. hernandez is a teacher of french in the porterville school district, tulare county. email: alfonsochernandez@hotmail.com leadership for chicano/latino education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 129 leadership for chicano/latino education and the politics of change patricia d. lópez san josé state university abstract the purpose of this article is twofold. first, i situate a discussion on leadership for chicano/latino education that is grounded in a history of resistance and activism among these same communities generally, and in particular acknowledging the contributions of chicana feminist scholarship. second, i discuss how the topic of leadership for chicano/latino education is mired by a broader political climate that must be acknowledged in scholarly analyses of education and leadership, as well as the pedagogical approaches applied in leadership preparation. this discussion includes the argument that leadership for chicano/latino education must go beyond a pedagogy and epistemology of supervivencia (survivance)—one’s singular ability to endure and thrive in systems of oppression (see galván, 2014)—if we are to prepare transformative leaders equipped to traverse a political climate overwhelmed by antichicano/latino sentiments and a diminishing investment in public and higher education. introduction today, latino/as account for one in two people added to the u.s. population (fry & lópez, 2012) and there is no better visual for this demographic shift than public school classrooms. while the representation of latina/o students continue to climb and outpace other peer groups, mainstream discourses guiding policy debates, curriculum and instruction, and the overall education of these students continues to ignore the assets, needs, and knowledge of this growing population. this disconnect is joined by a political climate overwhelmed by anti-immigrant and anti-chicano/latino sentiment, voter suppression efforts, and a diminishing investment in public and higher education. these broader circumstances add to an ongoing marginalization of chicano/latino communities from social and political life— arguably beginning with their experiences in our public school system. in the context of critical leadership for social justice, i echo the significance of darder’s (2015) call for scholarship and pedagogy to shed light on systematic forms of oppression—namely market-based reforms— lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 130 that further erode culturally democratic principals in education and broader society. these analyses are useful for understanding how the ongoing entrenchment of these systems impact leadership preparation and the limits and possibilities of critical leadership practices in k-12 settings. no longer is it the case that education is defined by a “challenging” goal to meet the needs of a small sector of chicano/latino students. rather, current data and future projections clearly underscore that chicanos/latinos are increasingly the face of public education— comprising the fastest growing segment in u.s. public education—and already the overwhelming majority in larger, populous states (fry & lópez, 2012). educational gains in high school completion, college enrollment, and degree completion among chicano/latino communities are at a numerical upswing, though these gains have not kept pace with the proportional growth among the chicano/latino school-aged population who today. the purpose of this article is twofold. first, i situate a discussion on leadership for chicano/latino education that is grounded in a history of resistance and activism among these same communities generally, and in particular acknowledging the contributions of chicana feminist scholarship. second, i discuss how the topic of leadership for chicano/latino education is mired by a broader political climate that must be acknowledged in scholarly analyses of education and leadership, as well as the pedagogical approaches applied in leadership preparation. this discussion includes the argument that leadership for chicano/latino education must go beyond a pedagogy and epistemology of supervivencia (survivance)—one’s singular ability to endure and thrive in systems of oppression (see galván, 2014)—if we are to prepare transformative leaders in education. this article draws upon three sources of knowledge. the first is a cursory portrait of scholarship highlighting the historical role of chicano/latino communities’ engagement with the topic of leadership in education. second, i build upon the arguments articulated by antonia darder’s (2015), “critical leadership for social justice: unveiling the dirty little secret of power and privilege,” to underscore broader political factors informing higher education’s role in preparing k-12 leaders. finally, i draw upon my own research findings from a five-year study examining whose knowledge is privileged in educational decision-making processes—and whose knowledge is not—and the roles that external (monied) interests play in circumventing chicano/latino communities’ historical struggle for educational justice (lópez, 2012, 2016a; leadership for chicano/latino education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 131 2016b). as part of this scholarship, i highlight important epistemological and empirical nuances related to issues of power, privilege, and educational leadership that are rooted in a testimonalista perspective as researcher and participant in the legislative arena (delgado bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012). an epistemology of resistance and activism in education and leadership engaging education as a political system and basing its efficacy on the capacity to extend justice and self-determination to historically marginalized peoples is an important and historical component of chicano/latino activism (san miguel, 2013). while these efforts arguably go back as far as the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo, the civil rights era surely marked a significant moment when historically marginalized communities generally, and chicano/latino communities specifically, forged deliberate conversations on the need to interrogate the u.s. public education system (donato, 1997; san miguel, 1985). these discussions include rejecting racial/ethnic and linguistic segregation and assimilationist approaches to classroom instruction, fighting for bilingual education, fair and adequate school funding systems, affirmative action, and even developing chicano/latino-centered schools (acuña, 2006; trujillo, 2011). operating through a lens of resistance and activism, chicano/latino communities informed a focused action plan that was expressed in el plan de santa barbara and the priorities put forth by chicanas during the 1973 national women’s political caucus convention (delgado bernal, 1999). these agendas called for increasing the representation of chicana/o educators and administrators, school board members, and broader elected and appointed leadership positions as a means for disrupting the status quo in education. catapulting chicano/latinos generally, and chicana/latinas more specifically, into positions of power were arguably central to the goal of transforming public (k-12) and higher education systems, and by extension the socio-political standing of these communities. going beyond a focus on mere presence of chicano/latinos in leadership, was the call to affirm chicano/latino identities and redistribute power and wealth. in the context of public education, this agenda contributed to a then early emergence of chicano/latino studies and critical pedagogy in education, particularly as a tool for increasing chicano/latino students’ awareness of issues of power, oppression, and social justice activism (acuña, 2006; valenzuela & lópez, 2016). these demonstrations of leadership and epistemology of resistance and activism in education are further demonstrated lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 132 through student walkouts (berta-avila, tijerina-revilla, & figueroa, 2011), courtroom battles (valencia, 2008), policymaking (lópez, 2012, 2016a, 2016b; lópez & moreno, 2015, 2016), and electoral politics (gutiérrez, 1998)—all of which were deemed necessary to holistically transform the broader system of education. chicana feminist epistemology and activism in education adding to chicano/latino communities’ historical role in education is the emancipatory approaches taken by chicana feminist scholars. writing from the margins, chicana feminists have long engaged issues of power and structural factors that curtail educational justice and social change; yet these contributions remain marginal in the study of these same topics and subsequently how we understand the persistent disenfranchisement of chicano/latino communities (see lópez, 2012 for elaboration). among many things, a chicana feminist epistemology acknowledges how women of color commonly deal with the motivations that are closely tied to a commitment to improving social conditions, and being agents of transformational change—this position chooses to “construct theory and political agenda[s] for achieving social justice rather than only engaging in intellectual debates that deconstruct existing paradigms” (hurtado, 1997, p. 215). chicana feminist scholarship has been historically committed to examining community struggles and power dynamics that includes theorizing their own agency and roles in transformational change (cordova, 2005). this is particularly the case for scholars who hold coveted tenure/tenure-track positions in higher education (latina feminist group, 2001; gonzález & padilla, 2008; trujillo, 1997). advancing chicana feminist epistemologies in practice and scholarship (in part) involves two important elements: first, that examining chicano/latino communities’ historical struggle for educational justice cannot be examined in isolation; and second, how chicana feminist epistemologies take shape in practice are uniquely individual and often accompanied by collective commitments that manifest through the production of knowledge and social action (hurtado, 1997). a chicana feminist epistemology informs my own work, namely a five-year analysis of whose knowledge is privileged in legislative decision-making processes, and whose knowledge is not (lópez, 2012, 2016b). 1 in particular, i am guided by black and chicana feminist notions of 1 data for this longitudinal study are comprised of numerous primary and secondary sources across various leadership for chicano/latino education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 133 intersectionality that acknowledge race-, gendered, and class-based dimensions of social and political life. influenced by the work of kimberly crenshaw (1989, 1991), the concept of intersectionality as the various ways in which social constructs, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation simultaneously mediate how individuals and groups interact with institutions and broader society. this lens allows me to deconstruct the interplay of multiple experiences of exclusion and subordination among the people, practices, and politics that embody public policy and educational decision-making. as part of the research process and my analyses, i reflect on my testimonialista status (see delgado bernal, burciaga & carmona, 2012) as researcher and participant holding privileged access to the inner workings of the state apparatus (lópez, 2012, 2016a, 2016b). this latter knowledge allows me to theorize my experiences and prolonged engagement in a manner that broadens understandings of the roles that power and privilege play in policymaking and chicano/latino education with an eye towards emancipatory, actionable change. furthermore, this work contributes to the historical contributions of chicana/latina scholars in the production of knowledge and commitments to emancipatory and transformative change (anzaldúa, 1987; delgado bernal, 1998). today, my positionality and privilege includes my status as a tenure-track, assistant professor of educational leadership at a public, four-year california state university—a system that influences who obtains leadership credentials in higher and k-12 education. in this position, i have the ability to merge my scholarship, engagement with community organizing and emancipatory movements, and chicana feminist epistemologies with the pedagogical approaches i put into practice when preparing educational leaders. a chicana feminist epistemology in the context of my classroom pedagogy allows me to model and ground leadership candidates in an approach that is responsive to a growing demand for k-12 teachers and administrators that are equipped to critically respond to issues of race, gender, class, ability, and sexual orientation as they relate to the academic trajectories of students generally, and contexts, as follows: verbatim transcriptions of public legislative hearings; analysis of policy documents—i.e., public reports, bill analyses, research briefs, written testimony, public forum documents, and position papers from internal (i.e., government, state agency, and legislative committees) and external entities (i.e., academic entities, interest group, formal organizations); media clippings; participant observation; “elite” and key informant interviews with researchers, practitioners, civil rights and community members, state agency staff, legislative staff, and legislators; and field notes. this study orders data chronologically. cases were developed based on time frames, or phases, that correspond with the texas state legislature’s policymaking process. all data were coded to identify themes, patterns, and corroborate findings. lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 134 chicano/latinos in particular. finally, my motivation to merge these complex worlds and produce knowledge from a chicana feminist standpoint rests on a commitment to expand our understandings of critical education leadership, chicano/latino education, and chicana feminist epistemology—particularly as it relates to issues of power and racial/ethnic justice. power, privilege, and the public good in the context of critical leadership for social justice, antonia darder (2015) sheds light on systematic forms of oppression—namely market-based reform and neoliberalism—that continue to erode democratic possibilities. central to this analysis of critical leadership for social justice is the role of neoliberalism and higher education—a context mired by marketdriven interests and colonizing paradigms that place profits before people. this entrenchment of neoliberalism similarly defines k-12 education and the circumstances that educational leadership preparation must negotiate, and by extension the limits and possibilities of critical leadership in practice. as graduate students seeking credentials from university-based preparation programs, leadership candidates are required to traverse the gauntlet of neoliberal policy reforms that places managerialism and efficiency over public intellectualism and one’s capacity to affirm transformative knowledge and practices (lipman, 2011). this culture of control and governmentality has historically defined conceptualizations of educational leadership particularly in k-12 settings (callahan, 1962). leadership preparation is further influenced by faculty who embody diverse predispositions, motivations, and analyses of the climate of higher education and their positions within it (see young & brewer, 2008). these epistemologies arguably manifest into varied definitions of social justice and meanings of transformational change that leadership candidates take with them as they ascend into leadership positions. according to darder (2015), the neoliberal hegemony finds expression in policies and practices that reproduce racialized structures and by extension circumvent emancipatory struggles for justice. as part of a five-year analysis examining the agency of political actors in legislative policymaking, i set out to unravel the politics of whose knowledge is privileged in decision-making processes—and whose knowledge is not. in part, this scholarship highlights the growing influences of external, monied interests and corporate reformers who conceal increased authority over advancing market-based policies and infiltrating broader power leadership for chicano/latino education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 135 structures related to education, such as due process and electoral politics (lópez, 2012, 2016b). with regard to leadership, i reveal how the agency of educational leaders (i.e., school principals, district superintendents, agency and governmental staff) legitimate corporate reform agendas during decision making processes, particularly with respect to deficit understandings of chicano/latino youth and school and districts’ approaches for attending to these communities’ educational needs. these findings hold important implications for educational leadership and chicano/latino education. leadership for chicano/latino education and the politics of change for nearly three decades, neoliberal policy agendas like punitive accountability and highstakes testing policies have inspired fundamental shifts in education and the academic trajectories of chicano/latino students. these systems, by design, are never without losers. research has highlighted how these policies socially construct schools, educators, and students—particularly low-income, emergent bilingual, students of color—as mere failures based on reductive indicators (haney, 2000; valenzuela, 2004). this act of shaming schools and students has compromised educational equity for decades while playing into the hands of corporate reformers that capitalize on the ability to turn education problems into business opportunities, whereby embracing the educational needs of chicano/latino communities to the extent that they are profitable. furthermore, these policy agendas continue to inspire privatization schemes that seek to circumvent elected governing bodies, repeal collective bargaining and educators’ rights to due process, and lobby for changes in tax structures that further debilitate public education funding (lópez & moreno, 2013, 2015). rather than view these phenomena as new, scholars must situate these hegemonic practices of power within an historical analysis of ongoing subordination and disenfranchisement of marginalized communities generally, and chicano/latinos in particular (lópez, 2016a). public education’s use of high-stakes testing has arguably become one of the most politically contentious issues and outgrowths of market-based reform. moreover, these policies have taken shape in the form of teacher and leadership evaluation mechanisms currently under debate in numerous states and nationally. the use of high-stakes testing has been found to detrimentally impact the academic trajectories of students (valencia & bernal, 2000; valenzuela, 2004) and induce teacher and administrator turnover due to the role that these systems play lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 136 on educators’ job security (mcneil, 2000), all the while imposing political and sanctioning threats to the existence of neighborhood public schools (lópez, 2012). furthermore, these systems reduce students to “cells” or indicators, associated to test scores that are subsequently used to measure the success or failure of schools and districts. this practice, by design, has been shown to influence deficit characterizations of students—as expressed in objectifying terms like “weakest link” and “bubble kids”—that absolve schools, while favoring corporate profiteers who swoop in and claim that they have what it takes to turn around students and the education system (lópez, 2012). given that educational leaders are increasingly required to traverse a political climate influenced by corporate interests, it’s pertinent that aspiring leaders have the tools to analyze and consider the breadth of factors that influence the agency of relevant actors. these political dynamics have implications for how schools and the educational needs of chicano/latino students and communities are attended to, or not. for one, educational leaders have been shown to align with market-based agendas and discourses in politically risky moments, particularly as it pertains to sharing deficit perspectives on the capabilities of chicano/latino students. two cases in point are during deliberations and decision making related to student curriculum and assessment policies, and the use of high-stakes testing. during texas’ recent overhaul of its k-12 curriculum and assessment system—i.e., the state of texas assessment of academic readiness (staar)—changes to policy were initially written to include the use of fifteen high school exit exams, each tied to student’s final course grades. while these changes drew outrage from obvious constituents such as teachers, parents, and civil rights and community groups, these responses were not matched among school administrators (i.e., principals and superintendents). in fact, administrators, as a block, responded with ahistorical and apolitical statements such as how the newly proposed system might pose “unintended consequences” by encouraging students to take an easier course load in order to lessen the total number of exams they would be required to take. in other instances, administrators advanced meritocratic perspectives by referring to the exacerbated testing system as a “motivator” that would ensure that students had “skin in the game,” whereby serving as a “pretty good incentive [for them] to try hard” (lópez, 2012; also see mellon, 2007). these perspectives are problematic for students and the perceived viability of public education as they feed the legitimacy of punitive policy approaches at the same time that leadership for chicano/latino education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 137 they contribute to administrators’ own demise. when given an opportunity to forge a counter narrative that disrupts meritocracy and the growing status quo of neoliberal policy agendas, administrators’ deficit ways of knowing carry a political cost in decision-making processes—particularly when they engage as a block. when these actors forge ahead with a mere focus on how exacerbated testing systems would be standardized and streamlined in practice, devoid of challenging the merits of empirically flawed systems, students and support for public education arguably experience a loss. this critique of administrators’ deficit practices in decision-making processes must also be seen in conjunction with demographic shifts that emphasize the growing representation of chicano/latino students in k-12 education. as the fastest growing recipient of k-12 public education—and already the majority in large populous states—chicano/latino communities are an imminent constituency for market-based reforms. when leadership in (traditional) public education settings show little regard for humanistic treatments of this community, and students of color generally, we should not be surprised when they are baited—knowingly or unknowingly—by corporate interests and the [empty] promises of neoliberalism. the persistent entrenchment of corporate interests and market-based reform epitomize the growing politics of change in k-12 education and the experiences of chicano/latino students and broader communities. moreover, acknowledging these dynamics inform the broader, political circumstances that educational leaders must negotiate as they ascend in leadership positions. university-based leadership programs play critical roles when it comes to advancing a leadership for chicano/latino communities that equip candidates with a counter narrative analysis that allows them to first understand these realities, and then identify the strategies they must develop if they are to disrupt the talons of corporate interests in and out of education. lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 138 references acuña, r. (2006). occupied america: a history of chicanos (6th ed.). new york, ny: longman publishing. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands, la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. berta-avila, m., tijerina-revilla, a. & figueroa, j. (2011). marching students: chicana and chicano activism in education, 1968 to present. reno, nv: university of nevada press. callahan, r.e. (1962). education and the cult of efficiency: a study of the social forces that have shaped the administration of public schools. chicago, il: university of chicago press. cordova, t. (2005). agency, commitment and connection: embracing the roots of chicano and chicana studies. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 18(2), 221-233. crenshaw, k. (1989). demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. university of chicano legal forum, 1989, 139-166. crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity, politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law reviews, 43, 1241-1252. darder, a. (2015, november). critical leadership for social justice: unveiling the dirty little secret of power and privilege. opening keynote at the university council for educational administration (ucea) 2015 annual convention, san diego, ca. retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/26386320/critical_leadership_for_social_ justice_unveiling_the_dirty_little_secret_of_power_and_privilege_1 delgado bernal (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in education research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-582. delgado bernal, d. (1999). chicano education from the civil rights era to present. in j.f. moreno (ed.), the elusive question for equality: 150 years of chicano/chicana education. cambridge, ma: harvard educational review. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r. & carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity and excellence in education, 45(3), 363372. donato, r. (1997). the other struggle for equal schools: mexican americans during the civil rights era. albany, ny: state university of new york press. fry, r. & lópez, m.h. (2012). hispanic student enrollments reach new highs in 2011. washington, dc: the pew hispanic center. galván, r.t. (2011). chicana transborder vivencias and autoherteorías: reflections from the field. qualitative inquiry, 17(6), 552-557. gonzález, k.p. & padilla, r.v. (2008). doing the public good: latina/o scholars engage civic participation. ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. gutiérrez, j.a. (1998). the making of a chicano militant: lessons from cristal. madison, wi: university of wisconsin press. haney, w. (2000, august 19). the myth of the texas miracle in education. education policy leadership for chicano/latino education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 139 analysis archives, 8(41). hurtado, a. (1997). the color of privilege: three blasphemies of race and feminism. ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. latina feminist group (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonies. durham, nc: duke university press. lipman, p. (2011). the new political economy of urban education: neoliberalism, race, and the right to the city. new york, ny: routledge press. lópez, p.d. (2012). the process of becoming: the political construction of texas’ lone staar system of accountability and college readiness. university of texas at austin, austin, tx. lópez, p.d. (2016a). policy as praxis: engaged scholarship as sites for political participation and social change. paper presented at the american educational research association (aera), washington, dc. lópez, p. d. (2016b). latina differential consciousness and race-gendering in texas’ legislative process. in s. navarro, s. hernández & l. navarro, latinas in politics. new york, ny: palgrave macmillian. lópez, p.d. & moreno, c. (2013). the latina/o education task force: a policy agenda. austin, tx: mexican american legislative caucus and senate hispanic caucus of the texas state legislature. retrieved from http://issuu.com/txlatinoedpolicy/docs/shc_malc_edu_task_force_agenda_fina/0 lópez, p.d. & moreno, c. (2015). organizing for change: research, politics, and collective advocacy in the 84th legislative session. paper presented at the second annual shc-malc texas latino policy summit. austin, tx. mcneil, l.m. (2000). contradictions of school reform: educational costs of standardized testing. new york, ny: routledge. mellon, e. (2007, april 12). taks ban wouldn’t end standardized tests. houston chronicle. retrieved from http://www.chron.com/news/article/taks-ban-wouldn-t-endstandardized-tests-1572205.php san miguel, g. (1985). let them all take heed: mexican americans and the campaign for educational equality in texas, 1910-1981. austin, tx: university of texas press. san miguel, g. (2013). chicana/o struggles for education: activism in the community. college station, tx: texas a&m university press. trujillo, c. (1997). living chicana theory. berkeley, ca: third woman press. trujillo, a.l. (2011). chicano empowerment and bilingual education: movimiento politics in crystal city, texas. new york, ny: routledge. lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 140 valencia, r.r. (2008). chicano students and the courts: the mexican american legal struggle for educational equality. new york: nyu press. valencia, r. r. & bernal, mm. (eds.). (2000). the texas assessment of academic skills (taas) case: perspectives on plaintiffs’ experts. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 22(4). valenzuela, a. (ed.). (2004). leaving children behind: how texas-style accountability fails latino youth. new york, ny: state university of new york (suny) press. valenzuela, a. & lópez, p.d. (2016). a concise history of the national latino/a education research and policy project: origins, identity, accomplishments, and initiatives. in a. colón-muñiz & m. lavandez (eds.), latino civil rights in education: la lucha sigue (188-193). new york, ny: routledge press. young, m.d. & brewer, c. (2008). fear and the preparation of school leaders: the role of ambiguity, anxiety and power in meaning making. educational policy, 22(1), 106-129. journal 2007[1]. coverpage 14 fulfilling the university promise: enriching the art of mentoring with counseling methods and empirical evidence albert valencia, ed. d. introduction over a quarter of a century ago the classic study by astin (1975) reported that freshmen most likely to drop out of college were those with poor high school academic records, low aspirations, poor study habits, relatively uneducated parents, and small town origins. more recently, the national emergence of problems associated with immigration, substance abuse, poverty, and the migration of gang violence from urban to rural communities (valencia, 2002) are impacting astin’s college drop out framework. following the publication of the findings by astin and endeavoring to learn from their own attrition experiences, many colleges and universities incorporated innovative approaches to better meet the diverse and growing needs of their students. one particular campus of the california state university system is a comprehensive metropolitan university located in the center of california’s agricultural heartland. this campus is one of many universities incorporating approaches to better address the needs of their students and serves as the focus of this paper. throughout the paper the campus will be identified as the university. with a 2006 enrollment of 22,098 students, the university student body reflects the demographic diversity of the region. of the total enrollment, 95% of the students were from california (irap, p.44). reviewing the 2,602 first-time freshmen it was found that 35.7% of their parents had no college education (irap, table 47, p. 48), and 28.5% of all students came from households with less than $24,000 annual family income (irap, table 48, p.48). of the total students enrolled at the university 49.8% are ethnic minorities as compared to 38% of the students who are self identified as white (irap, p. viii). typically, students arrive at the university with varying levels of academic preparation, speaking native languages other than english, with entrylevel agricultural labor backgrounds, and who focus on cultural traditions that honor family responsibilities above all else. as an example of the varying levels of academic preparation, in a recent report of california’s academic performance index (api) rankings, twothirds of the k-12 schools located in the six counties of the california central valley scored in the bottom half of statewide rankings (fresno bee, march 22, 2006, p. a1). specifically, in fresno county 66% of the schools fell in the bottom half of statewide schools, with 60% in madera county, 83% in tulare county, and 79% in kings county. 15 it is not unusual to find students at the university being gainfully employed with family responsibilities and sharing many if not all of the characteristics reported by austin (1975). also, because of where they live and the circumstances surrounding their lives, students may also face the vast and complicating issues of immigration, substance abuse, poverty, and gang violence. in response to astin’s drop out characteristics and cognizant of the expanded issues of immigration, substance abuse, poverty, and gang violence, efforts spanning three decades to promote freshmen student success were developed and instituted at the university. the efforts promoting student success included programs such as educational opportunity program, college assistance migrant program, the mcnair program, freshmen seminar, and, the mentoring institute. these programs focused on improving freshmen retention rates, and helping students to believe that they can persist throughout their undergraduate career, and ultimately, to graduate. particularly, since its inception in 2005, the mentoring institute has recruited and trained 270 faculty and staff to act as mentors to first year freshmen of which 30.4% are latinos (irap, table 36, p. 34) with approximately one third (irap, table 47, p. 48) arriving to campus as first generation college students. at the university, with 49.8% of its student population being of latino and other ethnic minority groups (irap, p. viii), the importance of academic support programs such as mentoring cannot be overstated. mentoring at the university focuses on building relationships based on trust and integrity. in ethnic minority lifestyles, and particularly in latino lifestyles, relationships within the family and in the community are easily among the most important elements that define the quality of life. relationships that are honest, direct, and supportive are highly valued. mentors at the university receive formalized mentor training workshops (valencia, 2007, mentor training handbook) that encourages them to build relationships with their mentees based on trust and integrity. these mentoring relationships allow students to learn that what is important in their families and in their communities is also important on campus. mentoring serves a vital role by contributing to student’s sense of belonging, self worth, persistence, and ultimately to the concluding act of graduating (light, 2001). as the population of latino students at the university and in the state of california increases, it is imperative that the graduation rates of latinos keep pace. otherwise, california faces the prospect of soon having a majority population that is not adequately prepared to participate and flourish in the mainstream labor market. this under preparation of latino students is characterized as an economic time bomb (valencia, 2002) where members of a majority population not possessing the skills to share and compete in a global market place inherit the lowest rungs on the socio economic ladder. for latinos, the short-term consequences of educational underpreparation will include a diminished array of career options and fewer choices in quality of life issues. the long-term 16 consequences of the under preparation of latinos will be passed on to the next generation of children who will find themselves in dire economic circumstances. the university is committed to increase options for the next generation of children by using culturally appropriate and linguistically sensitive models to mentor students and assist them to persist in school and to graduate. the problem when a student drops out of a college or university the impact is significant both personally and financially. according to murphy and welch (1993) attaining a college or university degree increases a persons earning power by 50 percent when compared with the earning power of non-graduates. yet, a significant number of students leave the university before earning a degree, and, do not return. at the university an experience known as the “sophomore slump” manifests itself as students leave after they complete their first year. this slump also includes community college transfer students who enroll at the university and stop attending after their first year. while some students stop out and then return, this paper addresses the need to encourage students enrolled in our university to remain, to persist, and ultimately to graduate. depending on the source, university attrition rates (i.e., drop out rates) vary. according to american college testing (1998) 32% of university entrants will drop out by the second year. muraskin (1998) estimates a 50% university attrition rate while tinto (1993) reports that 26.8 percent of students entering a four-year college and 44 percent of students entering a twoyear college will not graduate. if the consequences of not graduating from college are so costly, why do students choose to leave before graduating? there are many reasons for university attrition. for example gerdes and mallinckrodt (1994) report that students leave the university for a combination of problems relating to emotional, social, and academic factors. in a second study, tinto (1993) points out that while many students successfully adjust to their environmental changes, a significant number have difficulty in acclimating to the unfamiliar social and academic demands of college. from a third study, weissman, bulkowski, and jumisko (1998) report that first year students experience confusion relating to the enrollment process, have concerns about finances and also about the need to balance their new college lives. attrition is related to a host of factors, at the university, factors that impact access, admission, academic progress, retention, and persistence have been well documented and are highlighted in the following section. 17 factors impacting access, admission, retention, persistence, and graduation according to information from the university’s office of grants and research and from the office of institutional research, assessment, and planning (irap) many factors served to impact student access, admission, academic progress, retention, and persistence. for the following review, nine factors are included. first, in 20062007, the university served 22,098 students in central california’s san joaquin valley (irap, viii). second, until the opening of university of california merced in fall 2005, the university was the only public, 4-year, degree granting institution in a service area of 18,000 square miles. third, over half of the school-aged children in the region live in rural, geographically isolated communities. fourth, more than 80% of the students attending the rural schools are hispanic. fifth, over 70% of the students are from low-income seasonal farm labor families who are 1st and 2nd generation immigrants. sixth, average round trip commuting distance to fresno state is 80 miles. seventh, severely limited k-12 school resources in dozens of relatively small school districts that are located in 6 central valley counties contribute to low scores on the academic performance index that are ranked in the bottom half of all california public schools (fresno bee, march 22, 2006, a1). eight, low levels of formal education among parents contributes to low levels of participation in formal education by their children. nine, considering that hispanics are the fastest growing segment of the population in the central valley (fresno bee, august 9, 2007), other socioeconomic and cultural factors combine and contribute to the central valley having the lowest college going rate in california. in summary, the data suggest that students who typically arrive at the university represent a diverse population of first generation university students many of whom have lived their lives in rural, geographically isolated communities. seventy percent of our students, notably hispanic, arrive with varying levels of academic preparation, speak native languages other than english, and attended k-12 schools having severely limited resources while also reporting some of the lowest scores on the california academic performance index (api). a majority of students are from families with farm worker labor backgrounds who take great pride in cultural traditions that honor family traditions and responsibilities above all else. the following section will present a review of the predictors of attrition among college students found in the literature. it is not surprising to note that many of the predictors are relatively common among first year students at the university. 18 predictors of college student attrition offered in various combinations, the literature reports eight distinct factors that may serve as predictors of student attrition. the first factor that serves as a predictor of student attrition is the lack of academic confidence and the second factor is being a part-time student (muraskin, 1998). the third and fourth factors are inadequate prior education and high school gpa (grade point average). the fifth factor is act scores (american college testing program) (mcdaniel & graham, 2001). the sixth factor is first generation college student status (furr & elling, 2002; duggan, 2001; hoyt, 1999; weissman, bulkowski, & jumisko, 1998), the seventh factor is the need for remedial classes (hoyt, 1999); and, the eighth factor that can serve as a predictor of student attrition is low socioeconomic background (furr & elling, 2002). for many first year students at the university the eight predictors of college student attrition are a common reality. yet, for students who persist and graduate, there are also distinct factors that can serve as predictors for college student retention. the following section highlights factors that may serve to keep university students in school. predictors of college student retention the literature reports eight factors that may serve as predictors of college student retention. the first factor reported as a predictor of student retention is academic self-efficacy and optimism (chemers, hu, & garcia, 2001). the second factor is the degree or level of student commitment (tinto, 1993). the third predictive factor related to student retention is the student’s involvement in extra curricular activities (deneui, 2003; furr & elling, 2002). the fourth factor is having parents who have earned college degrees. the fifth predictive factor is that the family unit is financially stable (hoyt, 1999). the sixth factor related to student retention is that students live on campus (deneui, 2003; hoyt, 1999). the seventh factor is the degree or level to which the student feels a psychological sense of community (deneui, 2003), and, the eighth factor related to student retention is involvement by students with peers and faculty in the college environment (windschitl, 1998). before they arrive, university campuses typically have little to no control over the personal circumstances surrounding first year students. however, of the eight factors related to the prediction of college student retention, campuses can offer dynamic and innovative programs that leverage existing resources. for example, the university created summer residential settings like summer bridge, a mentoring institute, and a first year seminar. collectively these programs, among others, serve to encourage and support students and are designed to build on the student’s academic selfefficacy and optimism. in an effort to arrive at the “best practices” that contribute to increasing college student 19 retention and persistence, the following review of the literature is offered. best practices to increase college student retention and persistence according to the literature, there are many “best practices” to increase college student retention and persistence. the following groups of best practices were most commonly reported in the professional literature. mentoring is item #14. the set of best practices are as follows: first, enriching the first year experience (ting, grant, & plenert, 2000; sidle & mcreynolds, 1999; erikson, 1998; windschitl, 1998; berger, 1997; pike, schroeder, & berry, 1997; tinto, 1993). second, intrusive advising (weissman, bulkowski, & jumisko, 1998; hurd, 2000; baxton, milem, & sullivan, 2002; furr & elling, 2002); windschitl, 1998). third, involvement in extra curricular activities (deneui, 2003; summers, 2003; furr & elling, 2002; zheng, saunders, shelly, & whalen, 2002; weissman, bulkowski, & jumisko, 1998; tinto, 1993). fourth, early entry-level assessment (saunders, 2000). fifth, remediation courses (hoyt, 1999). sixth, student-faculty interaction (furr & elling, 2002; sidle & mcreynolds, 1999; tinto, 1993). the seventh factor mentioned in the literature to increase college student retention and persistence is effective teaching practices (baxton, milem, & sullivan, 2002). the eighth factor related to retention and persistence were students living in residential learning communities (edwards & mckelfresh, 2002; berger, 1997; pike, schroeder, & berry, 1997). the ninth factor was learning communities as a concept (summers, 2003; zheng, saunders, shelly, & whalen, 2002; muraskin, 1998; weissman, bulkowski, & jumisko, 1998; dunwoody & frank, 1995). the tenth factor was cooperative/active learning (baxton, milem, & sullivan, 2002; thompson & geren, 2002; weissman, bulkowski, & jumisko, 1998). the eleventh factor related to retention and persistence is the freshmen year experience course (furr & elling, 2002; sidle & mcreynolds, 1999). the twelfth factor is holistic, multidimensional components (fields, 2002; furr & elling, 2002; muraskin, 1998). the thirteenth factor is firstsemester freshmen year student orientation and bonding experiences with the institution (woolsley, 2003; fenzel, 2001; weissman, bulkowski, & jumisko, 1998; muraskin, 1998; pascarella & terenzini, 1992). last, the fourteenth factor related to retention and persistence is support programs such as mentoring (furr & elling, 2002; fields, 2002). at the university, as on many of the california state university campuses, the reported best practices to increase retention and persistence are spread throughout an assortment of program endeavors in academic affairs and student services. at the university the presence of best practices can be characterized as a series of programs, many times isolated, that are encouraged to integrate into a unified, clearly articulated set of strategies. at the university, in 2005, to better articulate and unify strategies to assist in the retention and persistence of students the mentoring institute (mi) was created. 20 the mentoring institute is the first of its kind in the nation and is driven by the long-range goal of offering a mentor to new students and to evaluate the effectiveness of this endeavor. the responsibility of recruiting and training campus mentors, and evaluating the effort is under the auspices of the university mentoring institute. the office of the provost and vice president for academic affairs provides program funding. the purpose of mentor training according to light (2001) university student success is enhanced by matching new students with an informed and caring mentor. the immediate purpose of the mentoring institute at the university is to offer selected first year students a mentor who is recruited and trained from the ranks of the faculty, staff, and academically successful students. the guiding principle is that culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate mentoring will serve to assist all students, particularly historically underrepresented student populations such as latino, asian, and african american, to persist and to graduate. the long-range purpose of the mentoring institute is to engage university faculty, administration, student service professionals, first year students, new, transfer and reentry students, and the university mentoring institute in a strategic program of culturally competent mentoring to improve rates of postsecondary participation, retention, persistence, and graduation. this project leverages existing collaborative arrangements with the office of student success services, digital campus, and other significant student service resources and funds in efforts to reduce university drop out rates, improve academic achievement, and increase the ability of university students to experience academic success. mentor training: integrating counseling methods with mentoring since april 2005, mentor training workshops have been delivered to 270 faculty, staff, and student participants. after successfully completing the mentor training workshops participants are typically assigned 1-to-3 first-year students. initially, the majority of the students were recruited from our freshman seminar course, university one, a 3-unit elective course. students were invited to participate in the program and received a letter of invitation from the provost. later, in 20062007, the focus shifted to include 256 “atrisk” first year students who had grade point averages of 2.5 or below, scored less than 950 on their sat, were “low income”, parents having no college background, and, were not involved in any other campus support service. the director of the mentoring institute prepares, delivers, and facilitates the mentor training workshops at the university. the director is associate professor, department of counseling, special education, and rehabilitation, and was recruited for special assignment by the provost and vice president for academic affairs. the mentor training information is divided into three sections, and is offered in one 90-minute training session. 21 the first section of the mentor training workshop is titled, “introduction” and offers information regarding the cultural and historical traditions of mentoring, the role and expectations of mentors, and a discussion regarding ethical and legal boundaries. the first section concludes with a discussion focusing on the legacy and importance of mentoring. the second section of the mentor training workshop is titled, “from first year trauma to first year success”. the initial part of this section speaks to the many issues that a first year student will confront including self-identity, social, family, and academic expectations, as well as time management, financial management, library competence, alcohol and drug abuse, and relationships. the second part of this section speaks to the many ways a trained mentor can assist first year students to navigate the labyrinth of university life. the third section of the mentor training workshop is titled, “mentoring skills”. incorporating themes from the counseling literature this section focuses on three areas. the first area encourages the mentor to become a skilled listener; the second area focuses on learning two techniques: “scaling questions” and the “miracle” question; and, the third area features the practice of interview skills using role-playing vignettes. the section begins with a discussion about mentoring as a mentee-centered relationship and concludes with the concept of unconditional positive regard. participants at the mentor training workshops receive a copy of the mentor training handbook, a list of campus resources and programs, and actual practice in interviewing skills. the interviewing skills are practiced with one participant playing the role of mentor and a second participant playing the role of student mentee. after the interview practice sessions the participants are encouraged to discuss what they observed, what they heard, and what they felt. participants have commented that the practice interviews have been most helpful and worthwhile. at the end of the training sessions, the name of each successful participant is added to the list of eligible mentors. much of the written information offered in the mentor training workshop is posted on a web site along with a variety of academic and student service related links. the mentor training workshops emphasize that mentors aspire to become culturally competent, self aware, and respectful of the similarities and differences among and across our students and colleagues (see: mentor training handbook, valencia, 2005). the mentor training workshops include direct examples and metaphors that are intended to assist in building respect and understanding between our diverse first year students and the mentors who wish to serve them. in the fall and spring semesters, “meet your mentor” events enable students to meet their mentors in an open, public place. perhaps because we serve food at these events, the attendance is generally strong on the part of students. of greater significance is the feedback that we receive from students, primarily females, who report that meeting a mentor, especially male, in an open, public place is more congruent with their cultural values. that is to say that it may be unrealistic 22 to expect a female student to initiate a meeting with an unknown male mentor in a private office. for students who have been raised in sheltered, loving, home environments, it appears from our anecdotal information that providing an open, public meeting place is a good first step in building trusting mentoring relationships. the benefits of mentoring to the mentor in the spring of 2006, to determine the costs and benefits of mentoring, a confidential email survey was administered to 120 university mentors. the mentors were faculty, staff, and academically successful students at the university who were recruited and trained to mentor selected freshmen students many of whom arrived to campus under prepared by their k-12 experience. sixty-two surveys were returned for a 51% response rate. the purpose of the survey was to learn about the personal benefits, costs, and motivation to become a mentor. the survey was a 10-item questionnaire that included both quantitative questions (forced choice) and qualitative questions (open-ended). quantitative assessments utilizing a likert response scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree), were made of mentor perceptions of the mentoring experience including cost/benefits, desire to help underrepresented or first generation students, effectiveness with students that share ethnic/cultural background, and value of university recognition. openended questions allowed mentors to elaborate on personal benefits, costs, and motivation to become a mentor. notably, a majority of mentors made qualitative comments. results descriptive analyses were conducted using spss (frequency counts, means, and standard deviations). in addition, graphics for each quantitative item were created and are available upon request (executive summary, zelezny, 2006). major quantitative findings: • mentors strongly agreed (6.25/7.00) that the benefits of mentoring outweigh the costs. • mentors have a strong desire (6.21/7.00) to help underrepresented or first generation students move toward educational success. • mentors did not agree (3.18/7.00) that they were more effective with students that shared their ethnic/cultural background. • mentors did not (3.36/7.00) value university recognition for mentoring. qualitative analyses revealed several important themes. • mentors most often reported they gained the most satisfaction from helping others and enjoyed working with students • mentors most often reported the greatest cost was time; however many viewed this as an investment not a cost. some mentors reported that frustration, 23 disappointment, and emotional energy as a cost. • mentors were most often motivated because they wanted to help students. many mentors reported having a mentor in their own educational experience. other comments to evaluate: • mentors reported frustration with mentees that did not return calls or missed appointments. recommendations based on the zelezny (2006) survey results the following recommendations were offered: 1. focus on the greater benefits versus the costs; use the data as a public relations theme to recruit new mentors. 2. facilitate veteran mentors to recruit new mentors. capitalize on the power of person-to-person recruitment and referrals in the recruitment of new mentors. 3. develop strategies to communicate with and support mentors who are frustrated by mentee no-shows. 4. pairing a student mentee with a mentor who is ethnically and/or culturally different does not appear to be an important factor. 5. because mentors report a desire to help underrepresented and or first generation students to move toward educational success, train mentors to be intentional, deliberate, and direct advisors. conclusion one way for the university to fulfill its educational promise to the large, diverse latino population living in its service area is to continue in its efforts to assist students to succeed and to graduate. in this regard this essay has attempted to outline the implementation of an idea whose time has come. mentoring is a culturally appropriate method for first year students to learn how to navigate the complicated maze called university life. mentoring gives back to the community and honors people who take time and energy from their life to mentor others. data indicates that mentoring is beneficial to the student mentee as well as to the university-trained mentor. lastly, the integration of counseling methods into mentoring allows mentors to understand that a student mentee who has missed scheduled meetings and has not answered emails and therefore does not deserve our compassion is someone who probably needs it the most. references american college testing (1998). act institutional data file, act inc. astin, a. (1975). preventing students from dropping out. jossey-bass, san francisco, ca. baxton, j., milem, j., & sullivan, a. (2002). the influence of active learning on college student departure process. the journal of higher education, 71(5), 569-590. berger, j. (1997). students’ sense of community in residence halls, social integration, and first-year persistence. journal of college student development, 38(5), 441-452. 24 chemers, m. m., hu, l., & garcia, b. f. (2001). academic self-efficacy and first-year college student performance and adjustment. journal of educational psychology, 93, 55-64. deneui, d. (2003). an investigation of first-year college students psychological sense of community on campus. college student journal, 37(11), 224-238. duggan, m. (2001). factors influencing the first-year persistence of first generation college students. paper presented at the annual meeting of the north east association for institutional research. (eric document reproduction service no. ed 459673.) dunwoody, p., & frank, m. (1995). why students withdraw from class. the journal of psychology, september, 553560. edwards, k., & mckelfresh, d. (2002). the impact of a living learning center on students’ academic success and persistence. journal of college student development, 43(3), 395-402. erikson, l. (1998). at-risk student perception of the values of their freshmen orientation week experiences. paper presented at the annual meeting of the eastern educational research association. (eric document reproduction service no. ed 446540.) fields, c. (2002). taking a holistic approach to retention. black issues in higher education, 19(3), 28-34. fenzel, m. (2001). predictors of the adjustment of first-year students to college: the role of early involvement and type of residence. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association. (eric document reproduction service no. ed 451798.) fresno bee, “fresno county api scores lag”. article by christina vance appearing wednesday, march 22, 2006, section a, p. 1. fresno bee, “hispanics driving valley growth ”. article by vanessa colon and brad brannan appearing thursday, august 9, 2007, section b, p. 1. furr, r. s., & elling, t. w. (2002). african american students in a predominately white university: factors associated with retention. college student journal, 36(15), 188-204. gardner, j., and, jewler, a.j. (2003). your college experience: strategies for success (6 th edition). new york: wadsworth publishing. gerdes, h., & mallinckrodt, b. (1994). emotional, social, and academic adjustment of college students: a longitudinal study of retention. journal of counseling and development, 72, 281-287. hoyt, j. e., (1999). remedial education and student attrition. community college review, 27(2), 51-73. hurd, h. (2000). staying power: college work to improve retention rates. black issues in higher education, 17(18), 42-52. light, richard j. (2001) making the most of college: students speak their minds. harvard university press. boston; ma. mcdaniel, c., & graham, s. (2001). student retention in a historically black institution. college student journal, 35(1), 143-161. murphy, k., & welsh, f. (1993). inequity and relative wages. american economic review, 83, 104-109. muraskin, l. d. (1998). a structured freshman year for at-risk students. washington dc: national council of educational opportunity. (eric document reproduction service no. ed 420265.) pascarella, e., & terenzini, p. (1992). designing colleges for greater learning. planning for higher education, 20, 1-6. pike, g., schroeder, c., & berry, t. (1997). enhancing the educational impact of residence halls: the relationship between learning communities and first year college experiences and persistence. journal of college student development, 38(6), 609-621. 25 saunders, p. (2000). meeting the needs of entering students through appropriate placement in entry-level writing courses. forest park, mo: saint louis community college. (eric document reproduction service no. ed 447505.) sidle, m., & mcreynolds, j. (1999). freshmen year experience: student retention and student success. naspa journal, 36(4), 288-300. summers, m. (2003). eric review: attrition research at community colleges. community college review, 30(21), 6482. thompson, b., & geren, p. (2002). classroom strategies for identifying and helping college students at risk for academic failure. college student journal, 36(5), 398-405. ting, s., grant, s., & plenert, s. (2000). the excellence-commitment-and-effective-learning (excel) group: an integrated approach for first-year college students’ success. journal of college student development, 43(3), 353-361. tinto, v. (1993). leaving college: rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. second edition. the university of chicago press, chicago, il. valencia, a. (2002). decreasing latino university dropouts. hispanic outlook on higher education. april, 63. weissman, j., bulakowski, c., & jumisko, m. (1998). a study of white, black, and hispanic students’ transition to a community college. community college review, 26(1), 19-40. windschitl, m. (1998). participant perspective on the learning teams experience. journal of college student development, 39(4), 373-382. woolsley, s. (2003). how important are the first few weeks of college? the long term effects of initial college experiences. college student journal, 37(7, 201-211.) zelezny, lynnette (2006). executive summary, mentor cost/benefit survey. monograph prepared june 2006 for the mentoring institute, california state university, fresno. call 559-278-7766 for reprints. zheng, j., saunders, k., shelly, m., & whalen, d. (2002). predictors of academic success for freshmen residence hall students. journal of college student development, 43(2), 267-283. __________ dr. valencia is an associate professor, department of counseling, special education, & rehabilitation, director, mentor institute california state university, fresno email: albertv@csufresno.edu amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 inputs and student achievement: an analysis of latina/o-serving urban elementary schools julian vasquez heilig and amy williams university of texas su jin jez california state university, sacramento one of the most pressing problems in the united states is improving student academic performance, especially the nation’s burgeoning latina/o student population (rumberger & anguiano, 2004). according to the federal mandate of no child left behind, all children must test at a profi cient level by 2014 (darling-hammond, 2007). this goal may prove to be elusive for latina/os, many of whom struggle academically (crosnoe, 2005). the achievement gap on some tests is as high as 30 percentage points between latina/o and white students (torres, 2001). in an effort to understand what infl uences student achievement and the gap between ethnic minority and white students, many variables have been analyzed, such as student, teacher, community, and school characteristics as well as fi nancial expenditures. however, there is a dearth of research on variables associated with student achievement in latina/o majority schools in urban districts. as the majority of latina/o students are segregated into central cities (arias, 1986) and latina/o achievement issues tend to start in the fi rst three years of school (espinosa & ochoa, 1986), a study focused on urban elementary schools would help decipher what variables affect latina/o student achievement during the fi rst few years of school. considering the continuing challenge of the latina/o achievement gap, an analysis to understand the relationship between key inputs and latino/a student achievement is important. the purpose of the research was to better understand the association between fi nancial resources, student demographics, school capacity, and student achievement in majority latina/o schools. this study asked the following questions: what inputs are related to school level status and growth of mathematics and reading achievement? do these inputs differ for achievement growth in majority latina/o elementary schools? inputs and student achievement prompted by decades of litigation, many states have changed how they distribute resources—moving from local to state based distribution schemes (kirst, goertz, & odden, 2007). over the past several decades, school fi nance reform has been litigated in 45 states (dunn & derthick, 2007). since 2002, the struggle over inadequacy and inequity of resource inputs for schools has led to litigation in 32 states (national access network, 2010). texas was similarly challenged to craft school fi nance legislation that would survive the state’s supreme court. the systems to distribute fi nancial resources to schools are decided by judicial enactments and statute. state and local policy makers seek to use these resources to improve student performance (dee & levine, 2004). it is assumed that fi nancial resources impact student achievement and success. however, researchers have debated this relationship. whereas some studies have demonstrated a relationship between school expenditures and student achievement (archibald, 2006; ram, 2004; roscigno, 2000), others have disagreed (grubb, 2009; hanushek, 1997; okpala, okpala, & smith, 2001). large disparities in the distribution of school expenditures are evident in many states. darling-hammond (2007) reported that u.s. public schools spend $3,000 to $30,000 per pupil—with urban schools tending to be on the lower end of this spectrum—leaving inadequate resources for majority minority schools. texas has 48 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 a codifi ed, statewide school funding equalization scheme, but there is still within district variation. jimenezcastellanos and rodriguez (2009) argued that this inequality in resource allocation within districts affects latina/o student achievement. what constitutes teacher quality also has been debated in the literature (rivkin, hanushek, & kain, 2005). teacher experience is an important input for student achievement (darling-hammond, 2007; nye, konstantopoulos, & hedges, 2004). research has shown a positive relationship between teacher certifi cation and student achievement (darling-hammond, berry, & thoreson, 2001; darling-hammond, holtzman, gatlin, & vasquez heilig, 2005; lankford, loeb, & wychkoff, 2002), but other researchers have not viewed teacher certifi cation as a signifi cant variable (boyd, grossman, lankford, loeb, & wyckoff, 2005; kane, rockoff, & staiger, 2006). more specifi cally, for latina/o students, bilingual teachers improve achievement for spanish speakers (gersten, 1984) and are important for urban student success (torres-guzmán & goodwin, 1995). bachelors and graduate degrees also have been identifi ed as a factor in making a teacher “highly qualifi ed” (bolyard & moyer-packenham, 2008). further debate in the literature is whether student–teacher ratio is associated with student achievement. the student teacher ratio can be similar to class size, but is usually a more conservative estimate (lewit & baker, 1997). hanushek (1999) argued that reducing class sizes does not increase student achievement. proponents of reducing student teacher ratios have found a signifi cant relationship between increased test scores and reducing class sizes, especially in the fi rst years of school (achilles, 2001; haenn, 2002). notably, minority and disadvantaged students experience larger and lasting achievement gains from reduced class sizes (haenn, 2002; nye, hedges, & konstantopoulos, 2004; pate-bain, boyd-zaharias, cain, word, & binkley, 2007). student achievement is also associated with socioeconomic characteristics (woolley, grogan-kaylor, & gilster, 2008). for example, students who live in low income areas often start school with a smaller vocabulary range than their more affl uent peers (krashen, 2005) and underperform on standardized tests (cunningham, 2006; kinnucan, zheng, & brehmer, 2006). schools with high concentrations of low income students are more likely to be low performing (krashen, 2005), and their growth lags behind that of schools in wealthier areas (lyons, 2004). considering the variety of inputs purportedly related to student achievement, this study examined what readily available, observable inputs in the large scale datasets held by the state of texas are associated with student achievement in schools that are majority latina/o. we examined input variables in three large, urban school districts in texas over 4 years (2005–2008). the school districts included in the study are three of the four largest urban school districts in texas: austin, houston, and dallas. we evaluated variables such as school funding expenditures, tests scores, ethnicity, and teacher certifi cation and degree obtainment to identify any impact on student achievement in urban elementary schools. methodology overview of data set we constructed a school level dataset of publicly collected public education information management system (peims) variables for 419 schools from three urban texas districts over 4 years (2005–2008). houston, dallas, and austin are fairly typical urban school districts, serving mostly low income students who are predominantly latina/o and african american. in 2007–2008, all of the urban districts enrolled large proportions of students of color, bilingual learners, and low income students (see table 1). 49 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 table 1 percentage student demographics for texas districts and large urban u.s. school districts (2007–2008) demographic houston dallas austin los angeles chicago new york city (geographic district 1) african american 28.5 28.7 12.1 9.6 46.5 19.0 latina/o 60.3 65.3 58.0 62.4 39.1 48.0 white 8.0 4.8 26.4 15.4 8.0 13.0 asian/pacifi c islander 3.2 1.0 3.3 8.2 3.3 * native american 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 1.0 econ. disadvantaged 79.5 84.7 60.8 68.0 83.6 58.0 bilingual learners 29.5 32.5 28.3 34.7 14.8 12.0 note. sources include popular annual financial report for the year ended june 30, 2008, by chicago public schools, 2008, chicago, il: author, and the new york state district report card accountability and overview report 2007–08, by new york city geographic district 1, 2008, new york city, ny: author. the peims data include school level demographic characteristics (percentages of students by ethnicity; income; language status; special education status; and at risk status, defi ned by a multifaceted state index and student teacher ratio), school capacity (percentages of teachers who are novice, have advanced degrees, and are bilingual certifi ed), and texas assessment of knowledge and skills (taks) math and reading achievement scores for each year linked to school level fi nancial variables. all school level peims fi nancial variables were adjusted from total expenditures by school to a per student basis. operating expenditures is the most comprehensive fi nancial input variable, as it is composed of instruction, instructional resources and media, curriculum and staff development, instructional leadership, school administration, guidance and counseling services, social work services, health services, transportation, food, cocurricular activities, general administration, plant maintenance and operation, security and monitoring, and data processing services. the instruction variable addresses activities that deal directly with the interaction between teachers and students. the curriculum variable includes money used by instructional staff to plan, develop, and evaluate the process of providing learning experiences for students. instructional leadership includes fi nancial resources allocated to managing, directing, and supervising staff that provides instructional or instructional related services (texas education agency, 2006). analysis our analyses were designed to address many of the questions raised in the literature about the effects of student inputs on student performance. we used generalized least squares (gls) regression models to examine what input changes were associated with taks math and reading test score growth (see appendix for descriptive statistics for variables used). using school level data, we examined pass rates on each of the elementary tests over time in relation to changes in fi nancial, school capacity and school demographic inputs. we used a set of gls regressions to consider the statistical relationships between year-to-year changes in school expenditures (operating, instructional, curriculum, leadership) and changes in school test scores, controlling for changes in the school’s teaching capacity and changes in the school’s student demographics. the gls regression models tested the relationship between school level changes in average taks exam scores and changes in student progression trends, demographics, and teacher capacity split by a latina/o majority grouping variable. we analyzed achievement trends for the population of 419 elementary schools arranged in a panel format with school and years as the units of analysis. the model is yit = b0 + sbkxkit +eit, where eit = ui + vi + wit. gls regression coeffi cients are denoted by b, k indexes measured independent variables, i indexes elementary schools, t indexes school years, e is the error term, u is the school component of error, v is the error across years, w is the random component of error, 50 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 and b0 is the intercept. the dependent variable, y, is measured as year-to-year changes in percent profi cient on taks mathematics and reading scores for each school 2005–2008. to predict changes in school level taks scores, we estimated both random effects and fi xed effects models. a school fi xed effects model is often used to remove bias created by the inability to include controls for unmeasured school characteristics, for example, unchanging aspects of school culture, school staff capacity, parental involvement, and other characteristics that have additive effects (vasquez heilig & darling-hammond, 2008). in this case, effects were fi xed for schools and years. we compared the results of the two models and conducted a hausman test to determine whether the coeffi cients estimated by the effi cient random effects estimator were the same as those estimated by the consistent fi xed effects estimator (stock & watson, 2003). the hausman test found no signifi cant difference, suggesting that the use of fi xed effects was not necessary in this case. the random effects equations used controls for changes in school level demographic variables and measures of teaching capacity, including year-to-year changes in student characteristics (percentage white, bilingual learner, special education, and at risk students) and teacher characteristics (percentage teachers bilingual certifi ed, with fewer than 3 years of experience, and with master’s degrees). the dependent variable in the random effects regressions considered change in taks reading and math scores for each elementary school. each year-to-year change represented a separate observation in the random regression models. year-to-year change variables for school expenditures, school capacity, and student demographics, as well as school-level taks profi ciency, were calculated as  v t = v t – v t-1. together, these analyses helped us to understand the relationship between inputs and student achievement for latina/o majority schools in large urban districts. findings gls regressions: inputs and student achievement we conducted gls regression analyses to evaluate whether inputs raised test scores in majority latina/o schools. tables 2 and 3 show the results of analyses examining predictors of changes in reading and mathematics scores, using random effects for year and school with a fi ltering grouping variable for latina/o majority schools. in each case, we added school expenditures—changes in operating expenditures and then curriculum, leadership, and instructional as separate blocks—having controlled for changes in student characteristics and school capacity (teacher bilingual certifi cation, experience, and advanced degree). 51 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 table 2 changes in percentage of students passing texas assessment of knowledge and skills math: gls regression with random effects random effects variable modela model b model c constant 1.047*** .878*** .920*** (.227) (.271) (.277) d school expenditures operating .001*** .001*** (.000) (.000) curriculum -.001 (.004) instructional -.001 (.004) leadership -.007 (.004) d school capacity % novice -.004 -.003 (.028) (.028) % with master’s .058 .021 (3.404) (.012) % bilingual -.034*** -.035*** (.012) (.012) d school demographic % white .110 .112 (.113) (.113) % bilingual learners .045 .050 (.045) (.045) % special education -.028 -.038 (.124) (.125) % at-risk -.001 -.002 (.020) (.021) student–teacher ratio -.260* -.304* (.136) (.138) r2 .019 .034 .031 n 1,169 1,118 1,118 note. standard errors are in parentheses. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001. 52 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 table 3 changes in percentage of students passing taks reading: gls regression with random effects random effects variable modela model b model c constant 2.206*** 2.632*** 2.609*** (.200) (.265) (.270) d school expenditures operating -.001 -.001** (.001) (.001) curriculum -.007 (.004) instructional -.001~ (.001) leadership -.001 (.009) d school capacity % novice -.045* -.055~ (.024) (.027) % with master’s 2.545 1.923 (2.905) (3.321) % bilingual -.023* -.020* (.011) (.011) d school demographic % white .229** .217* (.096) (.110) % bilingual learners -.171*** -.152*** (.038) (.044) % special education .149 .170 (.105) (.122) % at-risk -.007 -.018 (.017) (.020) student teacher ratio -.332*** -.363*** (.116) (.134) r2 .001 .050 .059 n 1,169 1,118 1,118 note. standard errors are in parentheses. ~p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001. we found that increases in operating expenditures were signifi cant for predicting increases in math scores and reading scores when controlling for changing teacher quality and demographics. adding the more specifi c vector of fi nance variables (instruction, curriculum, and leadership) increased the proportion of explained variance in math and reading taks scores. increased spending on instruction was signifi cantly related to increases in math scores, whereas a modest decrease in curriculum spending was related to increases in reading scores. (this might be because increases in operations overshadowed curriculum spending.) some changes in school level variables infl uenced changes in taks scores: for example, the change in the percentage of bilingual certifi ed teachers signifi cantly impacted both math and reading achievement on the taks. however, the direction of association was positive for reading scores and negative for math scores. a decrease in the percentage of novice 53 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 teachers was also associated with an increase in math scores. in terms of student demographics, an increase in the proportion of white students concurrent with a decrease in bilingual students marginally improved reading scores. after controlling for these changes, the most powerful predictor of changes in reading and math in all models was decreasing the student teacher ratio. in terms of effect size, a decrease of third of a percentage point and a fourth of a percentage point in the student teacher ratio predicted a 1 point increase of percentage profi cient in reading and math, respectively. essentially, decreasing the student teacher ratio by 1 percentage point would increase the percentage of students profi cient on the taks by 3% for reading and by 4% for math. not surprisingly, the addition of school capacity and school characteristics increases the variance predicted for both math and reading achievement. breaking out school expenditures into more detailed categories led to a slight decrease in the r-squared for the math model (from 0.034 to 0.031) but an increase in the reading model (from 0.050 to 0.059). discussion this study breaks new ground by focusing on urban latina/o majority elementary schools to understand student achievement in relation to inputs. we examined trends in student performance while investigating inputs identifi ed in previous studies: teacher quality, school expenditures, and student demographics. we conducted gls regression “change” models (which measure the growth) to understand the relationship between inputs and reading and math achievement in urban elementary schools. as might be expected, the gls regressions show an infl ux of white students and bilingual learners have positive and negative associations, respectively, with reading scores. there was no signifi cant association with changes in student populations and math scores. this fi nding suggests that policy makers and district and school staff should be mindful and proactively develop strategies to address possible shortfalls in reading achievement as student populations change in latina/o urban schools. districts can focus resources on inputs such as increasing the numbers of bilingual teachers and reducing the number of novice teachers, as these variables showed a signifi cant relationship to increasing reading scores. a concurrent effect of increases in bilingual teachers appears to be a modest reduction in math scores. perhaps the proportion of bilingual teachers simply matters less in elementary level math; this might not be the case if the data were focused on middle or high schools, where subject matter competency in math has stronger links to instructional quality and student achievement (see e.g., clotfelter, ladd, & vigdor, 2007). in the gls regression models, when controlling for student background and teacher quality, increases in instructional, curriculum, and leadership spending do not appear to increase reading scores in majority latina/o schools. yet, we found a statistically signifi cant relationship between increases in instructional spending and mathematics scores. overall, a more promising input for improving test scores appears to be increasing overall operating expenditures. this calls into question the policy strategies codifi ed in texas house bill 3 (2009) that focus mainly on increasing instructional expenditures. operating expenditures is an all encompassing peims fi nancial category that includes line items such as social work services, health services, transportation, and co-curricular activities. thus, more work is necessary to understand what specifi c components of operating expenditures in schools that serve racially and linguistically diverse students that are not typically treated in the research literature and school fi nance policy are important for increasing student achievement in majority latina/o schools in urban areas. these fi ndings do highlight how nuanced educational policy should be and how diffi cult it is to measure the impact of school fi nance on student achievement in urban latina/o majority schools. as more and more scholars are noting, it may not be so much how much money is spent (past a certain minimum threshold) but how the money is spent. while this study is able to delve deeper into how money is spent, we are still 54 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 bounded by broad categories such as instructional spending. instructional spending is loosely defi ned by tea as including “all activities directly related to the interaction between teachers and students.” moreover, a savvy administrator could likely spend money more effectively in a category that generally leads to less productive gain, which would muddy results in any analysis of spending. finally, schools spend money in a given area for a reason and this reason likely infl uences student achievement. for example, a school that is struggling may decide to throw a signifi cant amount of resources into their curriculum. the impact of the new curriculum may take years to appear— after teachers gain experience using it. until the impact is seen in the classroom, the data show a school whose performance is lagging and is spending a lot on curriculum— which may lead one to incorrectly draw the conclusion that spending on curriculum relates to lower achievement. this, of course, would be the wrong conclusion, but the example does demonstrate how tricky the understanding of school spending relationship to achievement can be in schools that serve large numbers of racial/ethnic and language minority students. another interesting fi nding is that reduction in the student teacher ratio, controlling for changes in other inputs, was the largest predictor of increases in student achievement. a long running debate in the literature regards the effi cacy of class size reduction (csr). california and tennessee have served as the gold standard for research on csr in the empirical literature. however, the contexts in these states are somewhat different than texas. tennessee does not have the same demographic composition and thus likely has other contextual differences and social history. in california, the statewide implementation of csr began in the late 1990s; an unfortunate by product on the california teacher labor market was decreased teacher quality in majorityminority schools (jepsen & rivkin, 2009). in texas no statewide csr policy was enacted, and for urban majority latina/o schools, investments in reducing the student teacher ratio can have the largest effect of all inputs available in texas data. in conclusion, for urban latina/o majority schools that serve large numbers of ethnically and linguistically diverse students, if the reauthorization of the no child left behind act focuses on teacher quality inputs such as decreasing the number of novice teachers and increasing the number of bilingual teachers to address the infl ux of bilingual learners, it could be a boon for majority latina/o schools. further, funding increases, whether federal, state, or district, may be best spent on operating expenditures, rather than pigeonholing fi nancial resources into curriculum, leadership, or instructional line items. although not on the top of the current educational policy agenda, reductions in the student teacher ratio appear to yield the most benefi t for increasing both math and reading scores. these fi ndings may not be ubiquitous for schools and students of all types, but boutiqued fi nance policy solutions for urban, majority latina/o elementary schools may be more fruitful for increasing achievement rather than the current one-size-fi ts-all school fi nance environment in texas and elsewhere. references achilles, c. m. (2001, july). testimony and evidence to support small class sizes, k–3. presented to the new york state senate democratic task force on school and equity. archibald, s. (2006). narrowing in on educational resources that do affect student achievement. peabody journal of education, 81(4), 23-42. arias, m. b. (1986, november). the context of education for hispanic students: an overview. american journal of education, 95(1), 26-57. bolyard, j. j., & moyer-packenham, p. s. (2008). a review of the literature on mathematics and science teacher quality. peabody journal of education, 83, 509-535. boyd, d., grossman, p., lankford, h., loeb, s., & wyckoff, j. (2005). how changes in entry requirements alter the teacher workforce and affect student achievement (nber working paper no. 11844). washington, dc: national bureau of economic research. chicago public schools. (2008). popular annual fi nancial report for the year ended june 30, 2008. chicago, il: author. clotfelter, c., ladd, h., & vigdor, j., (2007). how and why do teacher credentials matter for student achievement? (nber working paper no. 12828). washington, dc: national bu-reau of economic research. 55 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 crosnoe, r. (2005). the diverse experiences of hispanic students in the american educational system. sociological forum, 20, 561-588. cunningham, p. (2006). struggling readers: high poverty schools that beat the odds. reading teacher, 60, 382-285. darling-hammond, l. (2007). race, inequality and educational accountability: the irony of “no child left behind.” race, ethnicity and education, 10, 245-260. darling-hammond, l., berry, b., & thoreson, a. (2001). does teacher certifi cation matter? evaluating the evidence. education evaluation and policy analysis, 23(1), 57-77. darling-hammond, l., holtzman, d. j., gatlin, s. j., & vasquez heilig, j. (2005). does teacher preparation matter? evidence about teacher certifi cation, teach for america, and teacher effectiveness. education policy analysis archives, 13(42), 1-51. dee, t. s., & levine, j. (2004). the fate of new funding: evidence from massachusetts’ education fi nance reforms. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 26(3), 199-215. dunn, j., & derthick, m. (2007). judging money: when courts decide on how to spend taxpayer dollars. education next, 7(1), 68-74. espinosa, r., & ochoa, a. (1986). concentration of california hispanic students in schools with low achievement: a research note. american journal of education, 95(1), 77-95. gersten, r. (1984, april). structured english immersion for hispanic students in the u.s.: findings from the fourteen year evaluation of the uvalde, texas, program. paper presented at the meeting of the american educational research association, new orleans, la. grubb, w. n. (2009). the money myth: school resources, outcomes, and equity. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. haenn, j. f. (2002, april). class size and student success: comparing the results of fi ve elementary schools using small class sizes. paper presented at the meeting of the american educational research association, new orleans, la. hanushek, e. (1997). assessing the effects of school resources on student performance: an update. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 19(2), 141-164. hanushek, e. (1999). some fi ndings from an independent investigation of the tennessee star experiment and from other investigations of class size effects. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 21(2), 143-163. h.b. no. 3, tx. law § 7.009 (2009). jepsen, c., & rivkin, s. (2009). class size reduction and student achievement: the potential tradeoff between teacher quality and class size. journal of human resources, 44(1), 223-250. jimenez-castellanos, o., & rodriguez, j. (2009). intradistrict resource reallocation for latino english language learners: an exploratory multiple case study approach. bilingual research journal, 32, 298-316. kane, t. j., rockoff, j., & staiger, d. (2006). what does certifi cation tell us about teacher effectiveness? evidence from new york city (nber working paper no. 12155). washington, dc: national bureau of economic research. kinnucan, h. w., zheng, y., & brehmer, g. (2006). state aid and student performance: a supply–demand analysis. education economics, 14, 487-509. kirst, m., goertz, m., & odden, a. (2007). evolution of california state school fi nance with implications from other states, getting down to facts. stanford, ca: stanford university, institute for research on education policy and practice. krashen, s. (2005). the hard work hypothesis: is doing your homework enough to overcome the effects of poverty? multicultural education, 12(14), 16-19. lankford, h., loeb, s., & wyckoff, j. (2002). teacher sorting and the plight of urban schools: a descriptive analysis. education evaluation and policy analysis, 24(1), 37-62. lewit, e. m., & baker, l. s. (1997). class size. the future of children, 7, 112-121. lyons, r. (2004). the infl uence of socioeconomic factors on kentucky’s public school accountability system: does poverty impact school effectiveness? education policy analysis archives, 12(37). retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/192 national access network. (2010). recent litigation events. retrieved june 23, 2010, from http:// www.schoolfunding.info/litigation/recent_decisions.php3 new york city geographic district 1. (2008). the new york state district report card accountability and overview report 2007–08. new york city, ny: author. nye, b., hedges, l. v., & konstantopoulos, s. (2004). do minorities experience larger lasting benefi ts from small classes? journal of educational research, 98(2), 94-100. 56 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 nye, b., konstantopoulos, s., & hedges, l. (2004). how large are teacher effects? educational evaluation and policy analysis, 26, 237-257. okpala, c., okpala, a., & smith, f. (2001). parental involvement, instructional expenditures, family socioeconomic attributes, and student achievement. journal of educational research, 95(2), 110-115. pate-bain, h., boyd-zaharias, j., cain, v. a., word, e., & binkley, m. e. (1997). star follow up studies, 1996–1997: the student/teacher achievement ratio (star) project. washington, dc: national education association. ram, r. (2004). school expenditures and student achievement: evidence for the united states. education economics, 12(2), 169-176. rivkin, s. g., hanushek, e. a., & kain, j. f. (2005). teachers, schools, and academic achievement. econometrica, 73, 417-458. roscigno, v. j. (2000). family/inequality and african-american/achievement. social problems, 47, 266-290. rumberger, r., & anguiano, b. (2004). understanding and addressing the california latino achievement gap in early elementary school (working paper). retrieved from the uc linguistic minority research institute website: http://lmri.ucsb.edu stock, j. h., & watson, m. w. (2003). introduction to econometrics. boston, ma: addison wesley higher education. texas education agency. (2006). texas education agency: 2005–2006 peims budget fi nancial data report criteria. retrieved june 23, 2010, from http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/adhocrpt/ abtbud06.htm torres, c. (2001, january). latinos in the south: education trends and outcomes. speech presented at the meeting of the southern rural sociological association, fort worth, tx. torres-guzmán, m. e., & goodwin, a. l. (1995). urban bilingual teachers and mentoring for the future. education and urban society, 28(1), 48-66. vasquez heilig, j., & darling-hammond, l. (2008). accountability texas style: the progress and learning of urban minority students in a high stakes testing context. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 30(2), 75-110. woolley, m. e., grogan-kaylor, a., & gilster, m. (2008). neighborhood social capital, poor physical conditions, and school achievement. children & schools, 30(3), 133-145. 57 inputs and student achievement association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 appendix a: summary of variables used in school-level regression analyses (2008) variable n minimum maximum mean sd taks scores % profi cient reading 419 61 99 85 8 % profi cient math 419 26 99 83 10 school capacity % with 3+ years experience 413 20 100 72 12 % with master’s 407 3 54 24 8 % with doctorates 115 1 10 3 2 % bilingual 413 0 77 14 21 school expenditures operating 419 101 22,507 7,097 1,506 curriculum 419 1 628 128 88 instructional 419 87 16,232 5,135 1,048 leadership 419 0 725 94 52 school demographics % white 419 0 84 9 17 % bilingual learners 413 0 77 14 21 % special education 419 0 34 7 3 % at risk 418 14 94 65 18 taks achievement scores % profi cient reading 1,170 50 -23 27 2 % profi cient math 1,170 53 -23 30 2 school capacity % novice 1,167 59 -27 31 -1 % master’s degrees 1,142 1 0 0 0 % bilingual 1,166 137 -74 63 -6  school expenditures operating 1,169 11,413 -3,109 8,304 461 curriculum 1,169 572 -233 339 5 instructional 1,169 8,268 -1,891 6,377 341 leadership 1,169 546 -273 273 5 school demographics % white 1,170 32 -10 21 0 % bilingual learners 1,170 47 -15 32 2 % special education 1,170 17 -10 7 -1 % at risk 1,144 144 -73 70 3 1. the peims was created in 1983 to provide a uniform accounting system for texas to collect all information about public education, including student demo graphics, academic performance, personnel, and school fi nances. 2. bilingual learners has emerged as a more accurate term to denote english language learners or limited english profi cient students 3. retrieve at http://www.ritter.tea.state.tx.us/school.fi nance/forecasting/summaries/ defi nitions.doc 58 inputs and student achievement amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 undocumented education heidi m. coronado claremont graduate university perdida, herida crossing man-made borders triste, desesperada feelings inside my heart cansada, con fuerza mis ancestros me guían nameless, invisible dicen que no existo persistent, empowered estoy aquí en la lucha resilient, limitless sigo mi camino rooted, connected con mi alma y mi cultura educated, powerful brindando esperanza a mi comunidad valiente, una líder por los que vienen conmigo and those who follow behind 55 amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 professional development of secondary science teachers of english learners in immigrant communities rosa d. manzo, lisceth cruz, christian faltis, and adela de la torre university of california, davis abstract this is a research study of secondary science teacher professional development, in which 30 teachers learned about and implemented a series of teaching strategies aimed at increasing the participation and learning of english learners in schools serving largely latino immigrant communities within california’s central valley. this study focuses on six of the 30 science teachers. through a professional summer development workshop, teachers were exposed to science content that included the use of pedagogical strategies that intended to improve knowledge acquisition for students in immigrant communities. the pedagogical approach used for enhancing teacher skills was the 5e model. the methodology used to examine the pedagogical approach was qualitative teacher observations. results indicate that all 6 teachers and their students increased engagement and explanation abilities, and students had opportunities to explore and elaborate their understanding of science content when teachers implemented the 5e model. introduction across the united states, more than 12% of residents are immigrants. however, in california this percentage is more than 25% of the population (u.s. census bureau, 2009). as a result it is not surprising that, based on recent data, it is estimated that the number of students in k-12 schools who were classifi ed as english learners (els) was more than six million (migration policy institute, 2010). furthermore, school-aged els are highly concentrated in states with high rates of immigrant families (garcía, jensen, & scribner, 2009), and spanish is the language most often spoken in these states, including: arizona, california, illinois, new mexico and new york. in california, with more than 1.6 million school-aged els, 84% of these students speak spanish as their primary language (migration policy institute, 2010). additionally, nearly all spanish-speaking els in california are of latino descent, with the majority of mexican heritage (educational trust, 2006). it is important to note that students classifi ed as els are not always foreign born (hernández, denton, & macartney, 2008). els, and in particularly latino els in california, are performing below profi ciency on standardized reading and mathematics tests (ies, 2009), and the gap in reading and mathematics achievement between whites and latino els has not improved substantially since 1971 (kewal ramani, gilbertson, fox, & provasnik, 2007). in science education, the results are more troubling. a recent study by the institute of educational sciences (2009) reported that 78% of all california students scored below basic and at basic in the state’s standardized science test and 51% of latino students scored at basic or below basic. there are several possible explanations for the poor performance of california students in science. one explanation is that, if el students are challenged by reading and science relies on reading comprehension, then students will also struggle with science (gibbons, 2006; rodríguez, 2010). in other words, if el students cannot access the text, they cannot fully participate in classroom discussions. an alternative explanation, one that we fi nd to be more probable, is that science is challenging for els because science teachers in general are not making the kinds of adjustments needed to ensure that els have access to texts and are able to participate in the class learning experience (de oliveira, 2010; lee & luykx, 2005; lee, 2005). although, california has attempted to address multicultural education and immigrant communities through cross-cultural, language, and academic development (clad), its real intent is to prepare teachers to work with els. the clad certifi cate prepares all current and future k-12 classroom teachers in three domains: second language acquisition theory, theory and methods of teaching els, and approaches to multicultural education, all of which are presented as standards that must be addressed in separate courses or integrated 41 professional development of secondary association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 within existing teacher education courses (california commission on teacher credentialing, 2011). the clad certifi cation makes no distinction between the preparation of elementary and secondary teachers, or among secondary teachers in the various discipline areas. accordingly, a secondary science teacher, for example, typically takes the same coursework for the clad as an elementary teacher. what this means is that in most cases, teachers are prepared with the theory and methods for teaching els in general, but not within particular academic disciplines or immigrant communities. despite the clad certifi cation, the broader issues and needs of immigrant students and els have not been addressed. in this same vein, most professional workshops focus on english teaching strategies to enhance content learning for el students and immigrant communities. research by el specialists who are also science educators supports the contention that els can be successful in science when the teachers have relevant competencies for supporting student learning in ways that engage students, enable them to explore the meanings of scientifi c concepts through hands-on discovery, and scaffold protracted language in which students verbalize what they are learning (lee, lewis, adamson, maerten-rivera, & secada, 2007; ramírez-marín & clark, in press). unfortunately, many secondary teachers, even those with clad certifi cation, remain unable to teach academic content in ways that facilitate learning for els. bryan and atwater (2002) suggest one of the reasons for this is that high numbers of preservice science teachers enter teaching with little or no cross-cultural or bilingual experiences, and they complete their programs with the same worldview they had upon entry. in other words, although they have taken clad coursework, their understanding of els’ language and cultural backgrounds remains limited (gándara, maxwell-jolly, & driscoll, 2005). this phenomenon, coupled with minimal preparation for teaching science to els, we contend, contributes greatly to the continued failure of teachers to engage els in ways that make learning science relevant, meaningful, and challenging. purpose of the study the study described in this article stemmed from a larger study conducted under addiction research and investigation for science education (arise). the arise project was funded through the national institute of drug abuse (nida) within the national institutes of health (nih). an essential feature of the arise project was to provide professional development to science teachers teaching in public schools with large numbers of els. one of the goals of the arise project was to address the science achievement gap that exists between els and english-speaking students attending public schools in california’s central valley. in the state of california, almost 15% of the entire el student population resides in this area. ninety-three percent of els in the central valley speak spanish as their primary language (goodban, hedderson, ortiz, & branton, 2004). the other seven percent of students speak asian or southeast asian languages. the curriculum used in the schools follow the state standards for english-speaking students, makes little or no adjustments for the diverse language and learning needs of els and provide minimal access to college preparation courses or educational resources geared to preparing els for post-secondary education (reyes & salinas, 2004). the purpose of the arise science teacher intervention was to provide middle school and high school science teachers with a long term professional program aimed at preparing them to teach els through a constructive approach to science, one that also was especially attuned to the learning needs of these students. a by-product of the workshop was to integrate an established approach to el science instruction for middle to high school teachers known as the 5e model. as a result of a professional development workshop and program that encompasses the 5e model, the question that motivates this study is whether or not secondary science teachers effectively utilize this model in science instruction with els. 42 professional development of secondary association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 methods participants the arise program recruited 30 clad-certifi ed science teachers from 7th through 12th grade for the yearly professional workshop during the academic school year of 2009-2010 from public schools across california’s central valley. a sub-set of 6 teachers were selected for classroom observations after they participated in the professional workshop and one teacher served as a pilot observation to ensure that the observers knew how to classify instances of the 5e strategies. the san joaquin county offi ce of education site coordinator distributed brochures with information about the project and a registration link to superintendents and academic directors in the central valley. they then distributed the information to science teachers in their districts. teachers who voluntarily signed up were contacted by the arise site coordinator with details about the project. teachers who agreed with the requirements then submitted an application and a refundable check to uc davis. participants received their refundable check and a stipend at the end of the workshop and at end of the program. the mean age for the six participants was 41.8 years old. approximately 29% of the participants were males and approximately 71% were females. figure 1 illustrates the ethnic composition of the students for the six teachers in the study. table 1 indicates the percentage of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and el students in arise teacher classrooms. figure 1. student ethnic composition table 1. socioeconomically disadvantaged students and english learners group percent socioeconomically disadvantaged 62.67% english learners 19% average number of students per school 1,800 43 professional development of secondary association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 procedure the teachers underwent a nine-month program, launched by a fi ve-day intensive neuroscience and cultural nuanced learning summer institute of 6 hours per day. teachers learned about the 5e model and science instructors for the institute modeled the 5e model in a course that focused on neuroscience and addiction. the 5e model of instruction is organized around the following components: 1) engagement, 2) exploration, 3) explanation, 4) elaboration and 5) evaluation for making science accessible to english learners (carr, sexton, & lagunoff, 2007). the 5e model is based on a constructivist approach to science teaching and learning, and it incorporates many of the elements found to be relevant for teaching secondary els (faltis, arias, & ramírezmarín, 2010). this model suggests that el students will improve their science learning if teachers use the 5e teaching strategies. engagement seeks to access learners’ prior knowledge and organize students’ thinking toward learning new concepts by interacting with students to build their prior knowledge using comprehensible language and scaffolds to extend their interaction (hansen, 2006). exploration seeks to examine students’ existing understandings (including misconceptions), and abilities to help them generate student ethnic composition exploratory questions about what they are studying (keenan, 2004). explanation focuses students’ attention on particular aspects of their engagement and exploration inquiries, with an eye toward developing conceptual understanding of processes, concepts, and ways of explaining the inquiry process (gibbons, 2006; stoddart, pinal, latzke, & canaday, 2002). teachers also learn ways of explaining concepts and processes, using visual support and verbal scaffolding to support student explanation. elaboration is when teachers challenge and work to expand students’ conceptual understanding and language abilities (see edelsky, smith, & faltis, 2008, for examples of how teachers support and stretch langu age during science inquiry interactions.) evaluation helps students assess their own understandings and learning abilities and provides opportunities for teachers to evaluate student learning throughout the learning process. as indicated earlier, science faculty modeled the 5e strategies daily to teach neuroscience and addiction content to the teachers. examples used by science presenters included the following techniques: thinkpairshare, word banks, scaffolding exercises, and electronic quizzes using clickers for immediate evaluation of science content knowledge. these activities were done to demonstrate to teachers how the 5e model can be implemented in their own classroom to help els grasp the science content (carr, sexton, & lagunoff, 2007). at the start of the school year, the 30 science teachers who had attended the summer institute enrolled in a series of six follow-up workshops to reinforce their neuroscience and addiction content knowledge, el strategies, implementation of the 5e model, research design, develop an integrated instructional unit (iiu) and construct a research poster to be presented at a research symposium. the iiu is based on the content presented at the arise workshop. more specifi cally, the iiu includes lecture or presentation, individual student reading material, multimedia, and directions for a laboratory experience that incorporates opportunities for inquiry. addiction research and investigation for science education teacher participants also received additional coaching from the san joaquin county offi ce of education site coordinator who visited teachers and provided support in the development of projects and implementation of the 5e model. on average each teacher’s classroom was visited three times by the site coordinator and observed once by three researchers. in addition, teachers were paired with a university science faculty who acted as a mentor and provided support for the research project throughout the tenure of the program. mentors provided teachers with guidance in the design and implementation of their research project. furthermore, and most importantly, the faculty mentors served as a gateway into science for and as a source of inspiration to the el students. at the end of the school year, students presented their research projects orally with visual and textual support. 44 professional development of secondary association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 data collection and analysis to collect data for this study, classroom observations were conducted by three trained researchers who observed together each of the six selected teachers to document the degree to which teachers employed the 5e model in their classrooms. the observation tool (template) was based on a checklist of indicators that described activities that illustrated the use of the 5e model by the teachers (carr, sexton, & lagunoff, 2007). for example, teachers were assessed on engagement by the extent that they could bridge their students’ past knowledge with the current science learning objectives. classroom visitations were scheduled during february to march 2010, in order to observe 1.5 hours of classroom science content presented by the six selected arise teachers. the observational techniques also included an environmental scan of the classroom prior to instruction in order to gauge classroom layout and the content students were able to access to support their learning. for example, science visuals such as posters and scientifi c models were included in the environmental template used for assessment. data examination consisted of content analysis and analytic induction, which is an analysis of the units of measurement (merriam, 1998). in this case, the units of measurement we focused on were frequency and variety of messages presented to students using the 5e model. the researchers checked for consistency of the coding of their 5e observations, and analyses showed nearly 90 percent agreement for each classroom observation. results observations of student-teacher interactions indicated that els appeared to be more responsive to science content material when teachers relied on the 5e strategies. in addition, it was observed that the 5e strategies were employed when teachers engaged students with topics that had meaning for them. that is, if teachers built on past knowledge and bridged this knowledge to current science content, students were more engaged with learning activities. figure 2 illustrates the observed frequencies of each of the 5e strategies in the six classrooms. as indicated in figure 2, the engagement and explanation strategies were the two most used by teachers. explore, elaborate and evaluate were moderately used in the classrooms. it was observed that teachers who were able to employ the engagement strategy early on during the class period were also able to employ more of the 5e strategies. on the other hand, teachers who used the engagement strategy less often were less likely to implement the rest of the strategies. figure 2. observed frequencies of each of the 5e strategies in the six classrooms. 45 professional development of secondary association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 an example of how one of the teachers used the 5e strategies comes from mrs. belmont’s (pseudonym) chemistry class. engage: mrs. belmont asks students what would happen if a match were lit near a gas container. she tells them that chemistry is a “lifestyle thing” that can be applied to many instances, such as the process that goes on when their mom is cooking. mrs. belmont reminds students to write down notes, as she continues to use examples from the students’ own life experiences, such as fog on the roads during wintertime. explain: mrs. belmont explains the concept of depression point by using the mechanical engine example that all students can easily see. once she uses the example, students begin referring to this example. next, she explains the similarity between the mechanical engine example and the way that solutes relate to the melting point of water. evaluate: after explaining a concept, mrs. belmont asks students a question about what she had just presented to evaluate their understanding of the concept reviewed. she also asks students to discuss the ideas to each other to see if students understand the concept. elaborate: mrs. belmont asks students to explain in their own words to each other what they understood, and how it made sense to them. this strategy not only served as a way to have students interact about science ideas, but also helped them extend their understanding. explore: when students do not know how to answer a question or are unsure of the concept, mrs. belmont asks them to review their notes and come up with questions they have about the concept. this strategy encourages students to explore the concept more deeply, by posing questions that are of interest to them, and to provide interpretations of their learning. the fi ndings from the classroom observations also indicated that when teachers were not able to engage students in the lesson, there were fewer instances of the other strategies. for example, one of the teachers in the project, mrs. thompson (pseudonym), spent about 25 minutes to get students’ attention on the goals and procedures for collecting and analyzing pond water. mrs. thompson was fi nally able to engage students in collecting samples, to have them explore the types of living organisms that were present in sample, and explain what kinds of organisms might live in ponds. however, when mrs. thompson and students returned to the classroom for the lab analysis, she again had diffi culty focusing the students’ attention on the task at hand, and students were not fully engaged with the next steps. while this example shows mrs. thompson was capable of using several of the 5e strategies, it was a challenge for her to keep her class on task in the classroom. our observations of other teachers showed that each of the teachers varied in how they incorporated the 5e model during instruction. finally, as indicated in the literature that supports the use of analytic induction techniques in classroom observations, hypotheses may change after several observations. we originally expected equal distribution of all 5e techniques by arise teachers. however, as the data above suggest we found that this distribution was unequal across teachers and across categories. discussion the most important fi nding from this intervention was that the six science teachers who participated in the study were able to incorporate the features of the 5e model into their instruction with el students. we also learned that while the use of the 5e strategies varied across teachers, all teachers incorporated elements of the 5e strategies some of the time during their instruction, which created opportunities for students to explore science concepts on their own, to explain what the concepts meant to them and to the teacher, and to elaborate on their own learning by working with each other. teachers were most able to engage students to interact about and interpret new information, and to encourage students to explain what they were learning, which juxtaposed against the magnitude of challenges these teachers faced with teaching science concepts to their el students in ways that made sense to students, was a huge step in the right direction. as we mentioned in the introduction, while most secondary teachers have pedagogical content knowledge in their subject matter disciplines, few possess the knowledge and practices needed to ensure that el students participate fully in and benefi t from classroom learning about subject matter content. 46 professional development of secondary association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 our fi ndings indicated that the 5e model for science instruction provided experienced science teachers who were unfamiliar with teaching els one critical piece of the complex puzzle of teaching el students academic content. one piece of the puzzle is admittedly not enough, as teachers also need to continually work on providing opportunities for students to interact about important concepts, interpret the information being taught, and present what they have learned (see chapter 6 of valdés, capitelli, & alvarez, 2011). further research is needed for a deeper understanding of the factors that impact successful and unsuccessful integration of the types of pedagogical models science teachers use. as the professional development literature indicates, it is not easy for teachers, especially at the secondary level, to take knowledge presented in a workshop and put it into practice in the classroom (wilson & berne, 1999; stoddart, pinal, latzke, & canaday, 2002), especially when the new knowledge asks them to change the way they understanding teaching (clarke, 2007; lucas, 2011). based on the type and duration of this intervention, it was not possible to examine the capacity of these teachers to sustain the 5e model in their classroom. moreover, we could not differentiate by time of arrival the differential impact of this model. this certainly warrants further attention to better understand the effi cacy and resiliency of this model as a long term teaching strategy for these types of teachers and variations among immigrant students. these variations stem from each students prior formal schooling quality and experiences in their home country prior to their enrollment in schools in the united states (faltis & coulter, 2007). moreover, given that this is a qualitative and exploratory analysis of these data thus far, there are limitations of generalizability to the group. these limitations are a result of the following: sample bias and size, duration of teacher observations, no access to student outcome data, and no inclusion of pre-program teacher observation data. nevertheless, the study does shed light on how science teachers adopt evidence-based el science teaching pedagogy, and the extent to which professional development programs may facilitate the use of these programs in their classrooms. in addition, it is critical to highlight that professional development programs alone may be necessary, but not suffi cient in fully developing el science teachers’ appreciation of their immigrant students’ funds of knowledge as well as the local context in which they teach. future research should include these considerations in order to develop a fuller and deeper understanding of teaching and learning within this immigrant communities. references bryan, l. a., & atwater, m.m. (2002). teacher beliefs and cultural models: a challenge for science teacher preparation programs. science education, 86(6), 821-39. california commission on teacher credentialing. 2011. < http://www.ctc.ca.gov/>. accessed may 12, 2011. carr, j., sexton, u., & lagunoff, r. (2007). making science accessible to english learners: a guidebook for teachers, grades -6-12. san francisco, ca: wested. clarke, m. (2007). common ground, contested territory: examining the roles of english language teachers in troubled times. ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. de oliveira, l. c. (2010). enhancing content instruction for ells: learning about language in science. in d. sunal, c. sunal, m. mantero, & e. wright (eds.), teaching science with hispanic ells in k-16 classrooms (pp. 135-150). charlotte, nc: information age. edelsky, c., smith, k., & faltis, c. (2008). side by side learning: exemplary literacy practices for english language learners and english speakers in the mainstream classroom. new york, ny: scholastic. educational trust. 2006. http://www.edtrust.org. accessed may 12, 2011. faltis, c., arias, m. b., & ramírez-marín, f. (2010). identifying relevant competencies for secondary teachers of english learners. bilingual research journal, 33(3), 307-328. faltis, c., & coulter, c. (2007). teaching english learners and immigrant students in secondary school settings. new york: merrill/prentice hall. gándara, p., maxwell-jolly, j., & driscoll, a. (2005). listening to teachers of english 47 professional development of secondary association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 language learners: a survey of california teachers’ challenges, experiences, andprofessional development needs. policy analysis for california education, pace. berkeley, ca: university of california. garcía, e. e., jensen, b. t., & scribner, k.p. (2009). english language learners represent a growing proportion of u.s. students. to meet these students’ needs, we must understand who they are. the demographic imperative. educational leadership, 66 (7), 8-13. gibbons, p. (2006). bridging discourses in the esl classroom: students, teachers, and researchers. london: continuum. goodban, n., hedderson, j., ortiz, m., & branton, l. (2004). the state of the great central valley of california: assessing the region via indicators—education and youth preparedness. great valley center, modesto, ca. www.greatvalley.org. accessed march 20, 2011. hansen, l. (2006). strategies for ell success. science and children, 43(4), 22-25. hernández, d.j., denton, n.a., & macartney, s.e. (2008). children in immigrant families: looking to america’s future. social policy report, 22(3), 3-23. institute of education sciences (2009). the nation’s report card: science 2009 california snapshot. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. keenan, s. (2004). reaching english language learners. science and children, 42(2), 49-51. kewal ramani, a., gilbertson, l., fox, m.a., & provasnik, s. (2007). status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic minorities. u.s. department of education: national center for education statistics. institute of education sciences. lee, o. (2005). science education and english language learners: synthesis and research agenda. review of educational research, 75(4), 491-530. lee, o., lewis, s., adamson, k., maerten-rivera, j., & secada, w.g. (2007). urban elementary school teachers’ knowledge and practices in teaching science to english language learners. science education, 92(4), 733-758. lee, o., & luykx, a. (2005). dilemmas in scaling up innovations in science instruction with nonmainstream elementary students. american educational research journal, 42(3), 411-438. lucas, t. (ed.) (2011). teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms. new york: routledge. merriam, s. b. (1998). qualitative research and case study applications in education. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass publishers. migration policy institute: migration information source, 2010. <http://www.migrationinformation.org/> accessed on june 15, 2011. ramírez-marín, f., & clark, d. (in press). scaffolding academic language in science education for english language learners. in c. faltis & m. b. arias, (eds.), academic language in second language learning. charlotte, nc: information age. reyes, r., & salinas, c. (2004). creating successful academic programs for chicana/o high school migrant students: the role of advocate educators. the high school journal, 87(4), 54-65. rodríguez, a. (2010). science education as a pathway to teaching language literacy. boston, ma: sense publishers. stoddart, t., pinal, a., latzke, m., & canaday, d. (2002). integrating inquiry science and language development for english language learners. journal of research in science teaching, 39(4), 664-687. u.s. census bureau: american community survey, 2009 <http://factfi nder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en> accessed on september 21, 2011. valdés, g., capitelli, s., & alvarez, l. (2011). latino children learning english. new york: teachers college press. wilson, s.m., & berne, j. (1999). teacher learning and the acquisition of professional knowledge: an examination of research on contemporary professional development. in a. iran-nejad & p.d. pearson (eds.), review of research in education 24, (pp. 173-209). washington, dc: american educational research association.24, (pp. 173-209). washington, dc: american educational research association. 48 professional development of secondary amea_2011 43 amea_2011 44 amea_2011 45 amea_2011 46 amea_2011 47 amea_2011 48 amea_2011 49 amea_2011 50 amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth rebeca burciaga san jose state university nancy erbstein university of california, davis abstract this article builds upon a community cultural wealth framework (yosso, 2005) to discuss how strategies for school persistence are articulated, cultivated and employed through individual aspirations and practices. the analysis draws from testimonios of six latina/o young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 living in california’s 9-county sacramento region who left or considered leaving high school before graduating. findings suggest that the use of “dropout” to describe students who leave school before graduating both shifts disproportionate blame to them and masks the wealth of insight and experiences these youth contribute to their families, communities, and society. to better understand and address the crisis of low graduation rates for latinas/os, it is imperative that we include their voices in our quest for addressing disparities that contribute to educational inequities. introduction i didn’t drop out of school. i still continued all the way. i tried until my senior year. -joaquín joaquín’s voice provides a counter-narrative to widespread perceptions of young people who leave school without graduating as disinterested and disinvested. indeed, there is much to learn from young adults who are dismissed as “high school dropouts” but have a wealth of perspectives on their ability to persist and resist despite not earning their high school diplomas in traditional ways. their insights are critical to improving educational opportunities for latina/o youth. to this end, this work offers an overview of the experiences of 6 latinas/os between the ages of 18 and 20 living in california’s 9-county sacramento, california capital region who left or considered leaving high school without graduating. we build upon a community cultural wealth framework (yosso, 2005) to discuss both the challenges faced and resources utilized by these young adults. literature review at fi rst glance, the national average for high school completion is a promising 70%. however, the dropout rate for students of color and poor students is disproportionately high (rumberger & lim, 2008; rumberger & rodriguez, 2010). only 56% of all latinas/os who begin element ary school receive a high school diploma (burciaga, pérez huber, & solorzano, 2010). even when controlling for class and citizenship status, chicana/o students still have lower rates of educational attainment than their white peers (covarrubias, 2011). there is an inextricable link between individual and institutional factors that infl uence high school completion (brown & rodriguez, 2009; fine, 1991). school factors that have been shown to negatively and disproportionally affect black, latino and native american students include academic tracking, disproportionate placement in special education, high stakes testing for which students are under-prepared, limited support for high school students that have fallen behind academically, school climates that are not conducive to learning, low teacher and administrator expectations and over-reliance on and uneven implementation of punitive school discipline policies (noguera, 2008). in addition, lack of bilingual teachers, counselors and adequate advising especially affects latino students and families (reyes 1990). beyond school walls, broader patterns of regional and local investment, community development, and school fi nance often converge in ways that also constrain the educational opportunities and outcomes of lowincome youth and youth of color (anyon 1997; noguera, 2003). in recognition that multiple factors which impact individuals’ school persistence are well-beyond their 24 latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 control, some scholars and advocates have taken up the phrase “school push-out,” which was fi rst used by michelle fine (1991) to describe school practices of actively discharging students into ged or other alternative programs rather than ensuring they received needed support to complete high school. in comparison, school “pull-out” theories have been described largely as fi nancial and communal responsibilities to family that may compete with the completion of education (bradley & renzulli, 2011). together this body of work suggests that both schools and broader contexts are central factors in school completion. despite this research, latinas/os poor educational outcomes are often attributed to students’ and families’ lack of caring about education (valencia & black, 2002; valencia & solorzano, 1997). in response, researchers are documenting how families and communities play important roles in students’ educational and occupational aspirations (burciaga, 2007; ceja, 2004; gándara, 1995, 1999; solorzano, 1986). dynamic conceptual frameworks undergird these efforts to understand the myriad ways that latina/o families and communities positively infl uence young people’s agency in and out of schools (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992; stanton-salazar, 2001; yosso, 2005). in particular, yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth conceptual framework has been increasingly infl uential in highlighting the agency of latina/o youth in the absence of structural support from schools (liou, antrop-gonzález & cooper, 2009). community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) specifi es values and capacities cultivated by communities of color that enable persistence and social mobility in the face of signifi cant obstacles. such resources and values are often overlooked in widely used analyses of cultural capital and social mobility that tend to frame communities of color and other marginalized populations as merely defi cient with respect to a constructed norm (bordieu & passeron 1977). in doing so, such analyses obscure resources that are produced, deployed and could be further engaged. yosso (2005) has identifi ed six types of community cultural wealth: • resistant capital: challenge inequity and/or subordination • linguistic capital: communicate through different languages and/or styles • navigational capital: maneuver social institutions • social capital: social networks and/or community resources • familial capital: cultural and/or family knowledge and histories • aspirational capital: aspiration and/or hope despite challenges these forms of capital are fl uid in nature – one’s experience can refl ect multiple elements. while some of these values and resources are inherent within families and communities, others are cultivated as protective and resistant measures against the absence of opportunity and basic needs such as quality education, health and social services. these understandings offer an important conceptual framework for scholarship that challenges incomplete and defi cit-based portraits of latina/o communities and provide a powerful foundation for practice and programs that support school persistence. however, to-date, there has been limited attention to how students who do not complete high school are generating and using community cultural wealth. methods we draw here upon research conducted through healthy youth /healthy regions, a partnership between the uc davis center for regional change, the sierra health foundation, and the california endowment to document the connections between improvements in youth well-being and regional prosperity in california’s sacramento capital region (london, erbstein et al., 2011).8 the project adopted a transdisciplinary, mixedmethod approach to learning about young people and the region, producing a multi-faceted dataset that offers insight into their experiences of education, employment, health, civic engagement, and the social and built environments. this research was conducted in accordance with human subjects protocols approved by the uc 8. healthy youth/healthy regions was commissioned and funded by sierra health foundation with additional funding from the california endowment. for more information see http://regionalchange.ucdavis.edu/projects/healthy-youth-healthy-regions 25 latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 davis institutional review board; additional protection of participants’ confi dentiality is afforded through nih certifi cate of confi dentiality cc-hd-10-30. participants we discuss fi ndings associated with six latina/o young adults9 between the ages of 18-20 who left or, in the case of araceli, considered leaving high school without graduating. participants were recruited though a purposive sampling method targeting young adults ages 17-24 years old who embodied demographic and experiential characteristics common to youth in the region who are not completing high school in large numbers. we connected with potential study participants through adults considered by community members to be allies of this young adult population. table 1 provides limited background information on the six latinas/os discussed in this paper. all names are pseudonyms to protect participant anonymity and confi dentiality. table 1. study participants method(ology) while methods are the tools and technique of gathering and analyzing evidence, a methodology is “a theory and analysis of how research does and should proceed” (harding, 1987, p. 3). this study employed ethnographic methods and the methodology of testimonio. testimonio is a qualitative methodology developed in latin america that incorporates the political, social, and cultural histories that accompany one’s life experiences. testimonio is similar to oral history and critical ethnography, yet challenges conventional approaches to collecting and compiling narratives by repositioning the power relationship between researcher and participant (cruz, 2012). here this involved establishing a rapport and providing participants with interview questions and a personal, confi dential journal prior to their interviews so they had an opportunity to consciously construct a narrative of their experiences. doing so better facilitated their refl ections on personal, political, spiritual, and intellectual understandings of self and community (delgado bernal, burciaga, & flores carmona, 2012). testimonio therefore provides a co-constructed epistemic lens to support analytical inquiry of narratives of education, health, civic engagement, employment, and the built environment (benmayor, 1988; burciaga, r. 2007; delgado bernal, burciaga, & flores carmona, 2012; negron-gonzales, 2009; partnoy, 2006; the latina feminist group, 2001). testimonios were revealed across three meetings. each began with a semi-structured interview and discussion between the researcher and participant. participants received a copy of the questions prior to the second and third interviews. in addition to the testimonios, we employed a demographic interview questionnaire at meeting #1, a mapping activity (lynch, 1960) on perceptions of their environment at meeting #2, and photographs (taken by participants between the fi rst and second meetings) refl ecting important aspects of their life-stories at meeting #3. participants were given honoraria of $25 in target gift cards at each of the meetings. testimonios were coded in nvivo8. one coding focus was factors contributing to young people’s school persistence, or lack thereof. in addition, we aimed to identify ways in which community cultural wealth was produced and employed, 9. the larger sample includes 17 young adults. 26 latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 particularly in relationship to school persistence. although the sample size was limited to 6, fi ndings are aligned with themes that emerged through interviews conducted with other youth of different backgrounds and adults in the region. findings by many societal measures these young adults would not be considered successful. all have struggled with school, and some have experienced abuse, the juvenile justice system, or teen parenthood. each has faced family, community and institutional challenges. yet community cultural wealth was abundantly evident within their testimonios. we provide here examples of the six forms of community cultural wealth as they manifested in participant experience: resistant, linguistic, navigational, social, familial and aspirational capital. resistant capital resistant capital, the ability to challenge inequity and subordination, was prevalent among all six participants. when asked to describe common stereotypes of dropouts with respect to their own lives, each noted and resisted stereotypes of dropouts as lacking intelligence and motivation. moreover, the term dropout was used sparingly by the participants and possibly only because this study suggested it as one of many terms (including pushout and pullout) that described their high school completion status. while the term “dropout” evokes the sense of a sudden leave, all six countered the idea of an impulsive departure, describing leaving (or considering leaving) high school as a process. multiple factors – both within and beyond school – contributed to leaving before graduating. for example, while angélica remembered the date she dis-enrolled at her counselor’s recommendation, “march 10, 2009,” she chronicled challenges including years of residential and school mobility, her family’s dependence on her for childcare, and diffi culties securing americ an sign language (asl) interpreters for her parents. she shared, angélica did not experience support for her parents at any of the seven schools she attended. given their understanding of school departure as a complex process, their resistance to the term “dropout” may refl ect their sense that leaving school was neither a sudden decision nor a long-term plan. these young adults never gave up their pursuit of high school completion. araceli pushed through a period of questioning to graduate. joaquín and ricardo completed their ged through alternative programs; the others maintain this as a goal. resistant capital was most often demonstrated through challenging inequity and subordination and articulating a vision for rethinking misconceptions. the aversion to labeling themselves as dropouts and the associated negative connotations signals important critiques of how our society disposes of youth who leave school before graduating, as well as an ability to maintain their own self-esteem in this social context. this resistant capital offered a basis for persisting in school, or their intent to some day complete high school, in the face of diffi cult conditions with inadequate support. linguistic capital linguistic capital highlights capacity to communicate in various modalities (yosso 2005). we provide examples here and extend the construct to include art as a form of communication that facilitates identity development, exploration of ideas and civic engagement, especially among adolescents (kárpáti & kovaks, 2002; stickeler, 2006). 27 i would always explain to [school offi cials] that my parents can’t hear. they always said, “ i want to talk to your parents directly. ” i was like, “ the only way you can do that is if you bring an interpreter. ” and they were like, “ oh. well, can your mom bring one? ” even if we were to be able to bring one, they are too much money . . . i’ve been pulled out of school [to interpret] a lot. latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 six of four participants grew up in households with primary languages other than english (spanish and american sign language (asl)). the concept of linguistic capital promotes attention to these young adults’ roles as linguistic and cultural brokers for people who might otherwise not be able to communicate as effectively, reframing family as a locus of powerful skill development rather than merely as defi cient and linguistically isolated. the contributions to family well-being of these bilingual and bicultural young people are often overlooked by the institutions intended to serve them and society more broadly. for example, angélica spoke at length about her experiences with interpreting for her parents in schools and places of employment. having assumed this role in her family at an early age, she described the nuances involved in interpreting from english to asl, “. . . if i were to talk to you, just how i am now and translate it to my parents, they wouldn’t understand it. i [would] have to sign it in a way [they could] comprehend and it’s hard.” indeed, it is common for asl interpreters to work in teams of two to monitor accuracy during conversations as well as to provide breaks for the interpreter (atkinson, personal communication, january 27, 2010). through serving as her family’s primary interpreter angélica, like other child interpreters, has developed remarkable skills including metalinguistic awareness, civic and familial responsibility, social maturity and cross-cultural awareness (orellana, 2003). young people’s use of the arts (including writing, music, and visual arts) as a form of discovery and communication is often overlooked as a rich resource. in benjamín’s case, a local community art center became an outlet for his artwork. benjamín explains, “they were trying to make people stop tagging so then we started painting and i met this guy, i met [a local chicano muralist] and we started [painting] murals. ever since i met him i’ve just been hanging out with him and learning new things.” as a result benjamín renewed his commitment to high school completion and began developing his portfolio saying, “i want to be an artist when i grow up.” navigational capital all young adults interviewed had cultivated navigational capital – a set of capacities that enable them to navigate complex social institutions and processes. each demonstrated a propensity to employ these capacities on behalf of others’ health, education, and economic well-being. we present two examples of young adults navigating capital region educational contexts in addition to the efforts of angélica mentioned above. joaquín serves as a primary advocate at school for his younger brother, who has a speech impediment that makes it diffi cult for people to understand him. joaquín’s father, a migrant worker, is not often home; while his mother attended as many of the school conferences as she could, her employer’s strict phone use policies limit her ability to communicate with school offi cials during the day. joaquín’s mother had requested his help advocating with teachers, principals and district administrators on behalf of his brother. joaquín shared his frustrations with the school. frustration with school offi cials led joaquín to become more involved (another example of resistant capital). through regular meetings with school and district staff, joaquín successfully negotiated his brother’s removal from the special education class and integration into mainstream classrooms. joaquín’s role as an advocate continued despite living an hour’s drive away and working to complete his ged. 28 teachers are telling him, “ here’s a book, read it. ” he’s not going to learn from it! ... if i show him how to do things, he’ll pick them up immediately … every time i go in [to school] i have to convince them that he’s not retarded, and they think he is. it’s like, “ are you guys serious? we’ve gone through this already. ” i have to convince them [because his teachers] put him in a mentally challenged class ... and i’m like, “ no, my brother is not going to be in there ... i told them, just because you guys don’t want to give him the attention, you’re going to send him there...to get him out of your way? ” that’s how i see it with him. they don’t want to give him the time of day so they’ll just send him into an easier class, back to what they think he is. latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 joaquín’s familiarity with the school system, belief that he had a right to advocate for his brother, attendance at school meetings, and willingness and ability to speak up challenged school offi cials’ approach to educating his brother. joaquín’s navigational capital enabled his advocacy even when not living in the same city. ricardo demonstrated clear navigational capital as a young man who was deaf and openly gay. ricardo never formally learned any signed languages or lip reading and had limited reading and writing skills. despite these challenges, ricardo earned his high school equivalency, became a self-advocate for resources including transportation and interpreting, and became active in his local lgbtq center by starting a support group for the deaf. a striking commonality among the six participants was their movement through different neighborhoods, cities/areas, states, in some cases nations, often for reasons that were mostly fi nancial in nature such as periodic homelessness and following employment as migrant families. this mobility also resulted in their transfers to different schools. participants attended an average of six schools from kindergarten to high school.10 this movement often placed them at a disadvantage for various reasons including peer relationships, credit transfer problems, and needing to learn new systems and curriculum (the material had already been covered and they were bored or were advanced having missed important information). this level of mobility at times overwhelmed young people’s capacity to adapt and/or overcome social and institutional challenges. nonetheless, these young adults possess navigational capital as a result of their perseverance in maneuvering across new school environments from kindergarten through high school. when joaquín was asked if he dropped out of school or was pushed out, he stated “no, i didn’t drop out of school, i still continued all the way, i tried until my senior year.” their experiences challenge us to inquire what it must have taken for these young adults to stay in school despite signifi cant obstacles. social capital depictions of social capital amongst these young adult interviewees refl ected yosso’s (2005) description of social capital as human and community resource networks. while peer networks were important to these young adults, here we focus in particular on relationships developed and cultivated with adult allies. the young adults interviewed spoke highly of the few adults with whom they had established close relationships. most of these adults were employed by social services, some worked at schools, and others were family or community members who dedicated time to provide individualized support to the young people they served. throughout most of our work, we call these “adult allies” because they are in meaningful, authentic relationships with young people, providing critical assistance and advocating on their behalf. ricardo stantonsalazar’s (2011) concept of “empowerment agent” helps further explain how some young adults were served through this type of relationship. empowerment agents provide not only institutional resources but also “a commitment to empower youth with a critical consciousness, and with the means to transform themselves, their communities, and society as a whole” (stanton-salazar, 2011, p.1068). adult allies played a key role in anticipating and supporting access to material resources instrumental in day-to-day living and fostering social mobility. for example, while waiting for a participant to arrive, the interviewer noticed a young man trying on dress shoes in front of one of the adult allies’ desks. upon asking about this exchange, another adult ally replied, 10. this may be a low estimate since two participants had diffi culty recalling all schools attended. 29 i try and help him as much as i can in school. i would make him give me almost weekly reports. i called at school randomly, “ hey, how’s my brother doing? is there anything you guys need? ” or they call me, “ hey your brother’s acting up, you need to talk to him. ” latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth . . . frequently we have to [do] “ creative ” things to get our students what they need. we buy things with our own money when they are on sale or keep stashes of whatever under our desks (we can hardly scoot in [our desk chairs] for the hygiene kits and duffl e bags). association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 the most trusted adults were those that participants felt genuinely cared about them and supported them unconditionally. in fact, some young adults shared examples of distancing themselves from adults who could provide institutional support but were perceived as uncaring, refl ecting research demonstrating that the effi cacy of resource networks depends heavily on the quality of their engagement with those they are intended to serve (valenzuela, 1999). when asked about what they liked about schools, caring teachers or school staff, in cases where they had experienced them, were framed as the most signifi cant resource. when joaquín became involved in a gang, teachers that he described as authentic and honest told him he was smart but was not going anywhere; their comments, in the context of their meaningful relationships with him, played an important role in his persistence. in contrast, when graciela arrived at the front offi ce of a new high school in the third trimester of her pregnancy, she vividly described the cold response from a staff member indicating that she did not belong in that school. more often than not, these young adults refused knowledge, material resources and enrichment opportunities offered in schools when the adult providers showed disrespect towards them – a fi nding consistent with previous research (valenzuela, 1999). familial capital familial capital includes the cultural, family, and communal knowledge and bonds that model the importance of caring, coping, and providing for others (yosso 2005). while familial capital is often discussed as a dynamic within immediate family, this section also demonstrates how familial capital fosters a consciousness of caring and goodwill towards others that positions young adults as producers of social capital themselves. most participants spoke of family bonds that promoted school persistence. for example, araceli shared that her parents supported and encouraged her through bouts of depression: she noted that her parents communicated their caring, and the importance of caring, through the rituals of regular family meals as well as acts such as driving araceli to activities and taking in struggling nephews even when it caused hardship. we found that these young adults in turn regularly engaged in the civic life of their communities, in some cases in ways that enabled survival and school persistence. everyday examples ranged from walking a friend home from the local community college at night because the bus stops running to opening their homes to classmates who faced family challenges so they could stay in school. these participants did not describe this engagement as purposeful volunteerism, but rather something they felt compelled to do in addition to pursuing their educational and professional goals. while this everyday civic engagement could be considered a form of familial capital because the dedication to help others in need is informed by a spirit of communal good-will, our fi ndings suggest that this may be a new form of community cultural wealth – civic capital because they draw upon accessible resources to meet critical individual and community needs. for example, while all of the participants were socioeconomically poor and spoke of the economic poverty in their neighborhoods, many were considerate and empathetic towards those who had less than them. graciela saves bottles and cans for two homeless people in her community. 30 i mean they [family] were always supportive. it was never really stated. like i realized like from the way my dad was so happy when i got awards that i waslike, “ oh, ok. i guess i’m doing something good. ” he always comes to my door and goes “good morning, ma’am. do you have anything for me today?” i’m like, “yup, i do.” so he knows when to come and it makes me feel good because latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth whenever we are out we pick up job listings and meet management staff. case management is more than 40 hrs a week. really, you have to be on constant lookout for things the students might need. it’s about anticipation. (sa_a_001 personal email communication, june 14, 2010). association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 in return, the homeless man began to pick up leaves from her front yard and she insisted that he not, telling him, “no, i do this because i want to do it. you don’t have to do work for me.” she explained, ”he’s an old guy. he’s very old and when his knee gives up, he’s in his wheelchair pushing the cart and it’s like, ‘no, [you don’t need to do this].’ ” graciela, amongst others, identifi ed a caring consciousness as an important part of who she is despite the tendency of our society to characterize young people like her as “stupid, lazy, and/or irresponsible.” aspirational capital aspirational capital – the ability to aspire and dream despite challenges (yosso 2005) –was abundant amongst participants. interviewees articulated aspirations for themselves, their families, their communities and their localities. many of these aspirations were related to education. these young adults each challenged the notion that youth who leave school early do not care about their education. ironically, all participants described points at which their schooling was a barrier to their learning. subject-specifi c interests that were stymied included psychology, math and a desire to know more about their own history and culture. all shared the desire for opportunities to connect what they learned in school with their own lives and future plans. all young adults interviewed had educational aspirations for their families, as evidenced in some of the examples from angélica’s and joaquín’s testimonios. participants who were parents spoke extensively about their aspirations for their own children. despite their own challenges in school, all aspired to provide their children with better educational opportunities. some, like graciela, planned to move away from their cities with this objective in mind. with limited resources themselves, these young parents invested tremendously in caring for and teaching their children. some participants were certain most of their aspirations are within reach. for example, although motherhood prompted graciela to scale back her initial goal of becoming a judge, she continues her studies for the ged while planning her route to the local community college to become a certifi ed court reporter. others were unsure about their ability to achieve their visions, highlighting challenging and intersecting personal and systemic barriers (london, erbstein et. al., 2011). for example, benjamín’s resource-rich social network and optimism about his future as an artist are counter-balanced by uncertainty about his future in the united states as an undocumented immigrant – even with more education. conclusion in summary, these six young adults provided insights regarding the multitude of challenges they have faced in the past are facing in the present and anticipate facing in the future. although the sample size is small, their stories of cultural wealth and signifi cant structural barriers echo those revealed by quantitative data and other young people and adult allies from throughout the region (eubanks owens, nelson, perry & montgomeryblock, 2010, london, erbstein et. al 2011). the cultivation and employment of community cultural wealth among these participants complicates predominant views of “dropouts” as simply disconnected and apathetic people who have made poor choices. instead, our fi ndings reveal these young adults to be contributing community-members who have neither had equitable access to opportunities nor adequate levels of support. we advocate for a reinvestment of resources to support the various forms of capital that young people manage to create and maintain despite the challenges and disappointments they face. while community cultural wealth alone cannot mitigate all systemic or personal barriers, the various forms of capital used to navigate these obstacles are important to everyday persistence and are too often overlooked. as young adults who have 31 you know i am helping somebody out, you know hopefully somebody could help me out, cash me out and hopefully i can move but in the meantime that’s all i could do. so another lady you know started noticing and he goes you got anything for me? so i am like “not today” so what i do now is like take turns for both of them, i mean that’s the only thing we can do . . . latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 navigated, are addressing, and anticipate facing more challenges, they hold critical insight into how to approach change—wisdom well beyond what could be compiled in this overview. as such, it is critical for decision-makers, adults who work with children and youth anywhere, to recognize the community cultural wealth generated and utilized by these young adults. their insight is critical to developing more effective programs and practices aimed at supporting school persistence. authors’ note: we would like to thank the participants and also larisa jacobson for helping to collect and analyze these testimonios. references anyon, j. (1997). ghetto schooling: a political economy of urban educational reform. new york: teachers college press. benmayor, r. (1988). for every story there is another story which stands before it. oral history review, 16(2), 1-13. benner, c., mazinga, g., & huang, g. (2010). race, space and youth labor market opportunities in the capital region executive summary. healthy youth/healthy regions working paper. center for regional change, uc davis. bourdieu, p., & passeron, j. (1977). reproduction in education, society and culture. london: sage. bradley, c. l., & renzulli, l. a. (2011). the complexity of non-completion: being pushed or pulled to drop out of high school. social forces, 90(2): 521-545. breslau, j., rodriguez, g., erbstein, n., burciaga, r., & hartzog, c. (2010). educating for equity: an analysis of the capital region educational pipeline. healthy youth/healthy regions working paper. center for regional change, uc davis. bronfenbrenner, u. (1974). “developmental research, public policy, and the ecology of childhood.” child development, vol. 45, no. 1 (mar., 1974), pp. 1-5 brown, t. m., & rodriguez, l. f. (2009). school and the co-construction of dropout. international journal of qualitative studies in education. 22(2), 221-242. burciaga, j. a. (1997). en pocas palabras = in few words: a compendium of latino folk wit and wisdom: a bilingual collection. san francisco: mercury house. burciaga, r. (2007). chicana ph.d. students living nepantla: educación and aspirations beyond the doctorate. unpublished doctoral dissertation, university of california, los angeles. burciaga, r., perez huber, l., & solorzano, d. g. (2010). going back to the headwaters: examining latina/o educational attainment and achievement through a framework of hope. in e.g. murillo, s. villenas, r.t. galván, j.s. muñoz, c. martínez & m. machado-casas (eds.), handbook of latinos and education: theory, research & practice. new york: routledge. ceja, m. (2004). chicana college aspirations and the role of parents. journal of hispanic higher education, 3(4), 338-362. cooper, c. r. (2011). bridging multiple worlds: cultures, youth identities, and pathways to college. new york: oxford university press. covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos and education. 10 (2): 86-105. cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. special issue: chicana/latina testimonios: methodologies, pedagogies, and political urgency. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460-471. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (eds.) (2012). special issue, chicana/latina testimonios: methodologies, pedagogies, and political urgency. equity and excellence in education, 45(3). eubanks owens, p., nelson, a., perry, a., & montgomery-block, k. (2010). youth voice matters: toward healthy youth environments. healthy youth/healthy regions working paper. center for regional change, uc davis. faulstich orellana, m. (2003) in other words: en otras palabras: learning from bilingual kids’ translating/interpreting experiences (evanston, il, school of education and social policy, northwestern university). fine, m. (1991). framing dropouts: notes on the politics of an urban public high school. albany: state university of new york press. gándara, p. (1995). over the ivy walls. albany: state university of new york press. gándara, p. (1999). staying in the race: the challenge for chicanos/as in higher education. in j. f. moreno (ed.), the elusive quest for equality: 150 years of chicano/chicana education (pp. 169-196). cambridge: harvard educational review. harding, s. (1987). feminism and methodology. bloomington: indiana university press. institute for the study of social change. (2009, july). hegemony, ideology, and oppositional consciousness: undocumented youth and the personal-political struggle for educational justice (paper issc_wc_ 36). berkeley, ca: genevieve negron-gonzales. kárpáti, a., & kovaks, z (2002). teenager art: creating the self. journal of art & design education, 16(3), 295-302. liou, d., antrop-gonzález, r., & cooper, r. (2009). unveiling the promise of community cultural wealth to sustaining latina/o students’ college-going information networks. educational studies, 45(6), 534-555. london, j. & erbstein, n., et al. (2011). healthy youth/healthy regions: informing action for the nine-county capital region and its youth. davis, ca: uc davis center for regional change. lynch, k. (1960). the image of the city. cambridge: m.i.t. press. 32 latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 moll, l., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzales, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2),132-141. noguera, p. a. (2003). city schools and the american dream: reclaiming the promise of public education. ny: teachers college press. noguera, p.a., & wing, j. (2008). the trouble with black boys…and other refl ections of race, equity, and the future of public education. san francisco: jossey-bass. orellana, m. (2001). the work kids do: mexican and central american immigrant children’s contributions to households and schools in california. harvard educational review, 71(3). partnoy, a. (2006). cuando vienen matando: on prepositional shifts and the struggle of testimonial subjects for agency.” publications of the modern language association of america, 121(5), 1665-1669. reese, l., balzano, s., gallimore, r., & goldenberg, c. (1995). the concept of educación: latino family values and american schooling. international journal of educational research, 23, 1, 57-81. reyes, p. (1990). factors affecting the commitment of children at risk to stay in school. in j. lakebrink (ed.), children at risk. chicago: g. anderson publications, pp.150-175. rumberger, r. w., & lim, s. a. (2008). why students drop out of school: a review of 25 years of research. california dropout research project #15. ucsb, gevirtz graduate school of education. rumberger, r. w., & rodriguez, g. m. (2010). chicano dropouts. in r. r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (3 ed., pp. 114-146). new york, ny: routledge falmer. solorzano, d. (1986). a study of social mobility values: the determinants of chicano parents’ occupational expectations for their children. unpublished dissertation, claremont graduate university, claremont, ca. stanton-salazar, r. (2001). manufacturing hope and despair: the school and kin support networks of u.s. –mexican youth. new york: teachers college press. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2011). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents & their role in the empowerment of low-status students & youth. youth & society, 43(3), 1066-1109. stickeler, h. (2006). critical youth resistance: the use of art and culture in effecting positive social change. perspectives in public affairs, 3, 71-83. the latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham: duke university press. valencia, r., & black, m. (2002).”mexican americans don’t value education!” on the basis of the myth, mythmaking, and debunking. journal of latinos and education, 1(2), valencia, r., & solorzano, d. g. (1997). contemporary defi cit thinking. in r. valencia (ed.), the evolution of defi cit thinking: educational thought and practice. (pp. 160-210). london, washington, d.c.: falmer press. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s. mexican youth and the politics of caring. new york: state university of new york press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. 33 latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 examining the experiences of undocumented college students: walking the known and unknown lived spaces rodolfo jacobo palomar community college alberto m. ochoa san diego state university abstract this article examines the experiences of selected undocumented college-aged (uca) students attending a community and four year college, and the trauma they live on a daily basis. a conceptual framework is provided for examining the tensions experienced by undocumented students. the framework is suggested as a tool to analyze the explicit and implicit lived spaces of uca latino students living in the united states. using qualitative mixed methods, as an exploratory study, undocumented college students identifi ed four themes that uncover the journey they travel in their desire to improve their life possibilities and negotiate access to educational and societal institutions. introduction the criminalization and virtual internment of undocumented youth in the united states is the result of historical prejudice and a failed immigration policy that condemns youth into a lifetime of uncertainty (acuña, 2007; chávez, 1991; pizarro, 2005). the impact of past injustices and a failed immigration policy is painfully clear in k-12 schools and colleges where undocumented students live in constant fear of their status been disclosed and where, despite their educational success, their dreams and professional objectives are currently futureless (olivas, 2004; rincón, 2008). sources estimate that there are some two million undocumented children in schools in the united states with an estimated 65,000 graduating from high school every year with no more than 5% attending college ( cnnu.s., 2009; horwedel, 2006;). existing law established by the supreme court case plyler vs. doe in 1982 gives undocumented immigrant students the right to a k-12 education under the 14th amendment. the court, however, never extended that right to higher levels of education ( horwedel, 2006; olivas, 2004). over the years both federal and state court’s decisions have not only limited the undocumented students by capping their education but also produced a bitter debate throughout the united states on the issue of access to higher education and undocumented students. horwedel (2006) and the ucla center for labor research and education (2007) have estimated that there are some 50,000 undocumented college-age students in united states colleges, with over one-third living in california. given the data, we may deduce that mexican youth are highly represented in this group (díaz-strong, luna-duarte, meiners, & valentín, 2010). for undocumented students the main issues of access to higher education are both legal and fi nancial. passel and cohn (2009) also document that at least 39% of undocumented students live below the federal poverty line and 40% lower than legal immigrant families. overview of the literature the debate over the rights of immigrants, especially from mexico, is not new. the educational rights of mexican origin children in general, and of the undocumented in particular, have historically been at the center of the debate (chávez, 1991; zinn, 2003). a clear pattern of discrimination against the mexican origin population and the marginalization of their children are historically evident (acuña, 2007; zinn, 2003). thus, important questions for understanding the present conditions facing undocumented latino immigrants are: what has been the historical anti-mexican sentiment and u.s. immigration policy? and, how have immigration policies hindered 22 examining the experience of undocumented association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 undocumented collegeage (uca) students’ access to higher education? the vast majority of uca students did not make the personal choice to enter illicitly into the country (chávez, 1991; zinn, 2003). instead, they were caught in the historically complex web of american immigration policy. legal and undocumented immigration from mexico to the united states has been constant for over one hundred years, recurrently triggered by the american appetite for inexpensive labor. along with the demand for labor came a failure to implement a viable and just immigration policy that meets the labor demands of the nation and provides access to post secondary education, while keeping immigrants and their families together (acuña, 2007; diaz-strong et al., 2010; jacobo, 2006). the amnesty act of 1986, known as the immigration reform and control act of 1986 (irca), not only proved the need to secure foreign labor but also created much of the turmoil we are currently experiencing (díaz-strong et al., 2010). the law granted amnesty to undocumented immigrants who entered the u.s before january 1st 1982, and resided here. while the law placed some two million people on a path to citizenship it did little to rapidly unite families, thus creating a wave of unauthorized children into the united states. these children eventually went to school and were the target of proposition 187 in california. the goal of proposition 187 was to bar undocumented immigrants from receiving social services, health care and public education, under the “save our state” initiative. the law was overturned by federal courts but not without adding to the legacy of anti-immigrant sentiment in the united states (acuña, 2007). a consequence of the amnesty act was the infl ux of undocumented children to the united states to be with their families with the hope that one day the laws would change (díaz-strong et al.,2010). in this regard the present continues like the past. today, when undocumented children enter school, they face a world of uncertainty and fear. during their high school years as they apply for work and college they must confront the reality that they are unauthorized in the united states and could very well be detained and deported. for many uca students, the years can go by without ever being detained. nevertheless, they consistently struggle having to negotiate their living spaces and schooling (soja, 2007). they live hidden lives. immigration raids have a direct impact on undocumented youth as they experience severe emotional strain and trauma and suffer from extreme isolation, are vulnerable, and are easily exploited (capps, chundy, & santos, 2007). students tend to live in fear and shame, feelings that are often fueled by political discourse and biased media in the united states (díaz-strong et al., 2010; jacobo, 2010). the psychological stress experienced by undocumented youth builds up as they enter high school and college. the recent defeat of immigration reform at the federal level, including the dream act in 2010, further alienated uca students as their legal and academic status continues to be unresolved. the dream act of 2010 was proposed federal legislation that would grant high school students with good academic standing legal status in the united states. legal status would also be extended to undocumented immigrants of good moral character who wanted to serve in the armed forces or attend college. the support and resistance toward accessing higher education for uca students can be seen in the conditions placed upon them by states in our nation. since 2001, 11 states have passed laws that allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition in public universities in their state of residence (california, illinois, kansas, nebraska, new mexico, new york, oklahoma, texas, utah, washington, and wisconsin) under the criteria that they need to have attended for at least three years and graduated from a high school in their state of residence. this has created uproar in many american communities who see such laws as pandering to undocumented students. against such access, since 2006, arizona, alabama, colorado, georgia, missouri, and oklahoma, north and south carolina, have voted against in-state tuition for undocumented students or banning undocumented students from attending (díaz et al., 2010; frum, 2007). more recent studies of uca students have begun to document the path and challenges faced by these students, specifi cally with regard to college persistence (muñoz & maldonado, 2011), their resiliency (pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, & cortez, 2009), their struggle for opportunity (pérez-huber, malagón, & solórzano, 2009), and their struggle for human dignity and equality (rincón, 2008). 23 examining the experience of undocumented association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 framework for framing the experiences of undocumented college students to examine the pressures and social-psychological forces that shape the daily-lived experiences and negotiated spaces of uca students pursuing higher education, a conceptual framework developed by the authors is provided. the framework in figure 1 emerged from our work with k-12 southwest school districts near the mexican border, viewing and experiencing the daily presence of the border patrol in border communities, through our engagement in higher education institutions and direct interaction with college-aged undocumented students in our courses. also supporting the framework is critical theory (kincheloe, 2008; mclaren, 1997) that is concerned with issues of power, justice, and specifi cally diverse forms of oppression. critical theory as “a perspective searches for new theoretical insights and interconnected ways of understanding power and oppression and the way they shape everyday life and human experience” (kincholoe, 2008, p. 49). in the context of one’s legal status in a global economy the struggle of contesting one’s residency is both a political, psychological, and social struggle (aronowitz, 2003). figure 1 illustrates two dimensions and four quadrants that allows one to refl ect on how undocumented college students navigate their lived spaces on a daily basis. the fi rst dimension (vertical) consists of explicit and implicit modes of behavior—behaviors that are seen by others who interact with the individual (explicit) and behaviors that are not see by others (implicit). the second dimension (horizontal) is the legal status of the individual or the unauthorized status of the person living in the united states. the legal dimension is expressed from a legal continuum—at one end are unauthorized and unregulated social policies where the individual is able to negotiate his/her lived space by being very familiar with his/her surroundings. at the other end are unauthorized and regulated social policies, where the individual in public spaces runs the risk of being apprehended for not having legal documentation. to examine the lived spaces of undocumented youth/students living in the u.s., the framework offers four quadrants of analysis. in the fi rst quadrant (unauthorized and unregulated legal social policy and explicit lived space) the uca student experiences ambivalence and incomprehension, a state of living in a part of the community where s/he feels familiar and has a high degree of awareness of civic behavior while understanding his/her legal status and interacting in low risk social activities that are part of the daily social dynamics of the community. while experiencing a sense of “zone of comfort” in the community, the undocumented youth/student nevertheless has the constant worry or trauma of not being “legal” and living under stress. involvement in church activities or family gatherings at a park are enjoyed but not without the fear of legal ramifi cations. s/he lives in a space of ambivalence (miao, esses, & bell, 2000). 24 examining the experience of undocumented association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 figure 1. framework for understanding the lived spaces of unauthorized youth under the second quadrant (unauthorized and unregulated legal social policy and implicit lived space) the undocumented youth experiences encapsulation, a state of constant fear only known to him/her or an intimate other. the uca student is constantly aware and on the lookout and negotiating the lived spaces that offer him/her a sense of control. trauma under quadrant ii is expressed as an emotional distress. teachers and peers are unaware of a student’s legal status in an implicit lived space. therefore, a school fi eldtrip designed to be educational and fun can elicit feelings of fear and apprehension in the unauthorized student as legal and physical barriers may be present. s/he lives in a space of encapsulation (clark, aaron, & beck, 2009). under quadrant iii (unauthorized and regulated legal social policy and implicit lived space) the undocumented youth experiences dissonance, a state of living in trauma and out of harmony within the community and within the self. the inability to share the legal status with others creates confl ict, a feeling of helplessness, and depression. a simple college night out with friends to establishments that require a driver’s license for identifi cation becomes an emotional test for unauthorized individuals. s/he lives in a space of dissonance (goldsmith, barlow, & freyd, 2004). under quadrant iv (unauthorized and regulated legal social policy and explicit lived space) the undocumented youth experiences rejection, a state of living outside of the community where he/she feels excluded from civic participation. in this quadrant, the individual suffers the trauma of having no legal assurance and exclusion from 25 examining the experience of undocumented association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 social integration and civil social identity. not being able to take part in the political process during this historic period serves as an example of such exclusion from social and civic integration. s/he lives in a space of rejection (pehrson, brown, & zagefka, 2009). methodological approach qualitative mixed methods were used in ascertaining the concerns and issues faced by uca students (denzin & lincoln, 2000). specifi cally a three-phase approach was taken. the fi rst phase consisted of submitting an institutional research board (irb) proposal to a csu university to identify a pool of uca students enrolled in the community college and/or the csu systems of california. upon receiving irb approval that involved participant consent, recruitment process, structured interview processes, protocols on data collection, a pool of over 30 candidates were identifi ed and four were selected, by years in the u.s. and level of college, for this exploratory study. all were from mexico, using fi ctitious names, they consisted of one male (roque) and three females (maría, brenda, and norma), two attending a community college and two in a four-year college (csu). all four entered the u.s. unauthorized between the ages of 2 to 5 years old. the second phase consisted of using case study methodology that included semi-structured interviews, personal autobiographies, and face-toface meetings. the four uca students were invited to participate in an open-ended discussion using a focus group approach on their lived experiences as undocumented college-aged students. the focus group lasted three-hours and was recorded with their permission. the third phase was an interactive process of data analysis consisting of data content analysis, data display, data coding, data reduction, and generation of themes and thematic interpretation (denzin & lincoln, 2000). themes were identifi ed and shared with the uca students for accuracy and content validity. examining the experiences of unauthorized college-aged students four salient themes were derived from the interviews and focus group discussion, with each pointing to a social-psychological force that shape the daily-lived experiences of uca students. these themes were: identity and membership, micro-aggressions, trauma, and structural violence. in some direct or indirect form the themes correlated with all of the four concepts that described the psychological feelings of the participants as they described how they navigate their regulated and unregulated lived space, namely living in ambivalence, encapsulation, dissonance, and rejection. a brief discussion of each of the four salient themes, as expressed by the four uca students, provides a glimpse of their identifi ed thematic tensions (ambivalence, encapsulation, dissonance, rejection) that they negotiate on a daily basis: theme one: the identity and membership theme emerged as the inability to have legal documents to have access to services or entry into facilities and preventing deportation. for example, consider not having any legal form of identifi cation that grants access to travel, credit or simply driving from point a to b. the impact of not having a driver’s license goes far beyond not being able to drive a vehicle. in a culture were a driver’s license has become consistent with identity, to be denied one is to live in constant worry of how to access services and entry into institutions. maria tells of her ordeal with identity and belonging after experiencing a traumatizing event that involved the police department. i had never been treated like a criminal. this incident was a huge wakeup call for me. yes, i did come to this country illegally but i was never treated like i was. for the fi rst time in my life, i felt what it’s like to be seen different in someone else’s eyes because i was not born in the united states. while maria negotiated her legal status throughout her life it was a specifi c episode with police and the lack of a driver’s license that made her confront the reality of regulated social policy and the issue of identity. travel and driving have become heavily politicized in the united states in recent years with numerous 26 examining the experience of undocumented association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 states denying the unauthorized population a driver’s license and installing check points on the road. the issues of legality and identity can have more perverse effects. brenda commented of the recurrent reminder of her legal status and identity at work by her boss: i decided to confront the owner one day and ask him why i was not getting paid all the hours that i had worked. he replied, “you have no right to tell me what to pay you because you are an illegal immigrant and if you don’t like it i can fi re you.” i felt so terrible that day and i went home crying, but i did not let my mom see me or know why i was crying. membership was not only described at the macro-level as having no voice in society, but also at the micro-level. the impact of not having a legal document prevents uca students from a fundamental component of the american economy such as applying for a job, obtaining credit, having a passport to travel, or simply accessing a gym membership. while the denial of membership to a gym might appear to some as insignifi cant it has a direct limitation on one’s access to institutions or organizations (encapsulation). such rejection, however, goes beyond the seeking of fi tness. membership denial to a gym based on the lack of valid forms of identifi cation transcends into the realms of inclusive and exclusionary policy in a society (passel, 2005). in other words, who can become a member of a group, and how can the privilege of membership be proven resides in one’s ability to have legal identifi cation. in the united states a social security number or the preferred form of identifi cation of membership is a requirement that uca students do not possess. in the case of roque, he states: i was able to get a part-time job when i graduated high school. the interview was one of the most nerve racking situations i have ever been in since i had no legal documentation. while i worked i was always scared to mess up on the job in any way, because i thought that would be enough reason to review my background and possibly discover that i’m illegal. fortunately i was able to work and save ] money for college. theme two: micro-aggressions are psychological, social, political, economic acts that go unrecognized by the general public. uca student alertness is a constant preoccupation at every hour of the day given one’s unauthorized status in the united states. being on the alert is not without consequences. the reality of living always vigilant of their surroundings, negotiating acts of disrespect and aggression, adapting to restrictions by legal conditions, and negotiating the confl ict produced by their legal status generates trauma, fear, and emotional stress (dissonance, rejection). to respond to the daily psychological trauma (ambivalence, encapsulation, dissonance, rejection) latino uca students create an array of coping skills that positively or negatively confronts complex situations produced by their unauthorized status. brenda personalizes the issues of micro-aggressions in her own social circle. she survives by being silent while enduring the emotional pain. all my life i have heard people use words that caused me to feel uncomfortable and have reduced my humanity. at work for example, when i worked at a restaurant or even with the family members of my ex-boyfriend i would hear people use the word “wetback” when they talked about mexican immigrants. i felt anger but also helpless unable to say anything. norma comments on the fear of living in what to her amounts to living in a militarized zone. going to the store becomes a stressful situation as we see the constant presence of the border patrol around our community and even the knowing that on the trolley there are cameras documenting passengers. passengers. my mother often comes home paralyzed with fear of being apprehended. my mother constantly reminds us to be vigilant, to be on the alert, and to know the streets and routes that we need to travel. prejudice and fear permeate norma’s family as they seek to live and work in their ethnically and linguistically diverse community. 27 examining the experience of undocumented association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 theme three: trauma, described as living always wary of one’s surroundings, can be emotionally draining and psychologically distressing (clark et al., 2009). various types of psychological trauma impact how undocumented youth negotiate their daily-lived situations. trauma is defi ned from a psychological perspective as the feeling of fear, stress, depression, exclusion and apprehension as a result of having unauthorized legal status (goldsmith et al., 2004). in the case of norma, apprehension, deportation, and family separation by immigration authorities generated conditions of trauma or posttraumatic disorder syndrome. norma recalls the emotional depression she suffered when her mother was taken to a women’s prison. norma’s grades in college dropped, as did her overall health when ice arrested her mother. she recounts. in january of 2007 my mother received a letter from the district attorney’s offi ce stating she was being charged with three felonies because she used false documentation to obtain a job. thereafter a series of never-ending court appearances proceeded. we had to get a lawyer, who ended up taking advantage of us. he did nothing to help my mother instead his actions landed her in jail one more time, but this time for nearly a month in late august of this year. it has been a horrible nightmare. the participants in the focus group expressed how they all had been impacted emotionally by their legal status in the united states. at one time or another all have experienced the fear of being apprehended and deported. two had vivid memories of crossing the border (ages 4 and 5) and of loved ones being apprehended. deportation for them would mean the end of all their hard work, dreams and aspirations. it would mean the separation from their family and forceful adaptation to a country that while they were born there, they know little about. structural violence as a theme was expressed as facing institutional barriers that limit the opportunity to fully participate and access their education. brenda lamented the labeling of her legal status: every where i go, anything i see and everything i do, is controlled by being illegal in the united states. on television, in the streets and even in my dreams that word “illegal” terrorizes me, even in a college class or in high school with my counselor the word is mentioned, i feel as if there was something wrong with me, as if i was guilty always guilty of something i had no control over. in the case of maria, she tells about her anxiety and anger in living in a very conservative community where the simple act of seeking an apartment is directly attached to legal status. a few months ago we could not fi nd a place to live. we reside in a city that has a policy that requires proof of legal residency in order to rent an apartment. i will never forget my mother crying not knowing where we would live. despite the many obstacles and tensions faced by uca students, their personal fears, sense of belonging, identity, and the psychological and social traumas, one fi nds them resilient and unwilling to be denied their future and very determined to succeed. they understand the value of higher education and are hopeful that the laws of this country will allow them to live out of the shadows of the law. waiting for change, uca students navigate the parameters constructed by the legal and explicit and implicit lived space dimensions of society. the constant navigation of lived spaces creates experiences that correlate with feelings of ambivalence, encapsulation, dissonance, and rejection. conclusions in synthesis, the jacobo and ochoa conceptual framework (see figure 1) is useful to examine the lived spaces of uca students and as a tool to analyze the explicit and implicit lived spaces of uca latino students living in the united states. this conceptual framework highlights how they negotiate their tensions as illustrated by the four themes derived from interviews and dialogue in this exploratory study, namely: identity and membership, micro28 examining the experience of undocumented association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 aggressions, and structural violence. the voices of uca students reminds us that under federal policy they have a right to access a free public k-12 education, yet, once they reach college age they are abandoned by the public educational system (passel, 2005). given the size of the undocumented immigrant population in the united states, now estimated to number some 11 million (passel & cohn, 2009) a signifi cant public policy debate exists that centers on (1) whether undocumented students should be entitled to attend public postsecondary institutions, (2) whether they should be eligible for resident or in-state tuition, (3) who should have the authority to determine this, and (4) what are the economic and social returns from investing in undocumented immigrants’ higher education. frum (2007) further asserts that passage of the federal dream act is the best solution currently on the table, since it would allow access to federal student loans and enable eligible students to obtain legal permanent residence. yet, the reality is that neither higher education nor immigration policies are made in a political vacuum, and what may be good in the long term from a public policy perspective may not be possible as a political position due to the politics of the next election cycle. lastly, rincón (2008) points to the ideological challenges of educational access by proposing that collectively we reframe the debate on the rights of undocumented immigrants from a lens focused on economics and assimilation to one that emphasizes the struggle for human dignity and equality. such dialogue may help close the deep ideological divides in the existing immigration debate and advance educational policies that reduce inequality in our nation. references acuña, r. (2007). occupied america: a history of chicanos (5th ed.). london: pearson. aronowitz, s. (2003). how class works: power and social movement. new haven, ct: yale university press. california proposition 227 (june 2, 1998). english language in public schools statute, california initiated state statute. capps, r., castaneda, r.m., chaudry, a., & santos, r. (2007). paying the price: the impact of immigration raids on america’s children. washington: the national council of la raza chávez, r. l. (1991). shadowed lives: undocumented immigrants in american society. palo alto: stanford press. clark, d. a., aaron t., & beck, a.t. (2009). cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: science and practice. new york, ny: guilford publication. cnnu.s. (april 22, 2009). report fi nds undocumented students face college roadblocks. retrieved february 28, 2011 from http://articles.cnn.com/2009-04 22/us/undocumented.students_1_undocumented-s denzin, n. k., & lincoln, y. s. (2000). handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, calif.: sage publications. díaz-strong, d., luna-duarte m.e., meiners, e., & valentin, l. (2010, may-june). undocumented youth and community colleges. academe magazine, 96 (3). frum, j. (january 2007). postsecondary educational access for undocumented students: opportunities and constraints. american federation of teacher, 83-108. goldsmith, r. e., barlow, m. r., & freyd, j. j. (2004,winter). knowing and not knowing about trauma: implications for therapy. psychotherapy: theory, research, practice, training, 41 (4), 448-463. horwedel, m. d. (2006). for illegal college students, an uncertain future. retrieved 4/22/08, from www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/printer_5815.shtml 29 examining the experience of undocumented association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 jacobo, r. (2006). frontera del norte : readings in chicano and border history ([3rd ] ed.). san diego, ca: southern border press. jacobo, r. (2010). the negotiation of lived spaces by unauthorized college aged youth. unpublished dissertation, claremont graduate university and san diego state university. kincholoe, j. (2008). critical pedagogy. new york, ny: peter lang. mclaren p. (1997). revolutionary multiculturalism: pedagogies of dissent for the new millennium. boulder, co: westview. miao, g.r., esses, v.m., & bell, d.w. (april 2000). examining confl ict between components of attitudes: ambivalence and inconsistency are distinct constructs. canadian journal of behavioural science, 32, 58-70. muñoz, s.m., & maldonado, m.m. (2011, february). counterstories of college persistence by undocumented mexicana students: navigating race, class, gender, and legal status. department of educational leadership and policy studies, iowa state university, ames, ia, usa. olivas, m. a. (2005, winter). higher education as “place”: location, race, and college attendance policies. the review of higher education, 28 (2), 169-189 olivas, m. a. (2004). iirira, the dream act, and undocumented college student residency. journal of college and university law, 30, 435–464. passel, j. (2005). unauthorized migrants: numbers and characteristics. washington, d.c.: the pew hispanic center. passel, j., & cohn, d. (2009). a portrait of unauthorized immigrants in the united states. washington, dc: the pew hispanic center. pehrson, s., brown, r., zagefka, h. (2009, march). when does national identifi cation lead to the rejection of immigrants? cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence for the role of essentialist in-group defi nitions, british journal of social, 48(pt 1):61-76. pérez-huber, l., malagón, m.c., & solórzano, d.g. (2009). struggling for opportunity: undocumented ab 540 students in the latino education pipeline. csrc research report no. 13. los angeles, ca: ucla chicano studies research center. pérez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h.m., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences 31(2): 149-181. pizarro, m. (2005). chicanas and chicanos in school : racial profi ling, identity battles, and empowerment (1st ed.). austin: university of texas press. plyler v doe 457 us 202 (1982) rincón, a. (2008). undocumented immigrants and higher education. new york: lfb scholarly publishing. soja, w.e. (2007). journey to los angeles and other real and imagined laces. maryland: blackwell. ucla center for labor research and education (2007). undocumented students: unfulfi lled dreams. university of california los angeles, www.labor.ucla.edu zinn, h. (2003). a peoples history of the united states: volume ii, the civil war to the present. new york: the new press. 30 examining the experience of undocumented amea_2011 24 amea_2011 25 amea_2011 26 amea_2011 27 amea_2011 28 amea_2011 29 amea_2011 30 amea_2011 31 amea_2011 32 volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ martínez, hernandez sanchez, flores carmona, & el ashmawi association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 38 testimonio praxis in educational spaces: lessons from mujeres in the field vanessa lina martínez new mexico state university ma. eugenia hernandez sanchez new mexico state university judith flores carmona new mexico state university yvonne p. el ashmawi loyola university chicago abstract drawing from their educational testimonios, in this article the authors explore the notion of leadership via testimonio tenets. the authors share their positionalities as testimonialistas and delve into testimonio as methodology, epistemology, and pedagogy. the authors focus on what mujerista leadership looks like for them inside the classroom and in the community. a reconceptualization of leadership in higher education is discussed. keywords: testimonio pedagogy, administration, higher education, educational leadership community advocacy, chicana/latina/latinx doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.327 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.327 testimonio praxis in educational spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 39 introduction in this article, we interrogate the notion of leadership and whom we think of as ‘leaders’ via testimonio tenets. following chicana feminism and intersectionality, we work toward a liderazgo feminista1 theory and hold that notions of leadership need to be interrupted and re-elaborated in order to explore how testimonio offers a path to acknowledge our community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005). consequently, we posit leadership is a collective reflexive process that results in acts of solidarity and what we term testimonio praxis in educational spaces. we begin our article by introducing ourselves and sharing our positionalities as testimonialistas. next, we delve into testimonio as methodology, epistemology, and praxis. we then share our own testimonio and how we see ourselves as leaders in the field, re/framing how we each make a difference via our academic selves, our personal lives, and our commitment to making a difference in our communities given our intersectional identities. we conclude by offering our thoughts on the need to re-conceptualize how we define and understand ‘leadership’ in higher education. vanessa vanessa is a first-generation chicana/latina and native of the el paso/juárez borderlands. an activist scholar who uses theory, pedagogy, and praxis to impact social change, her work is informed by chicana feminist epistemology and borderlands methodology, as well as transformational leadership practices. influenced by the work of tara yosso, dolores delgado bernal, octavio villalpando, rebeca burciaga, and judith flores carmona—and after living in california for several years—vanessa returned to her borderland community to pursue her doctoral studies and begin to research effective higher education practices surrounding the areas of critical race theory, testimonio, and chicana/latina feminist theory. judith serendipitously joined the new mexico state university (nmsu) community in 2012, and upon hearing the news, vanessa met with judith to discuss shared research interests and goals. judith has remained vanessa’s advisor and mentor since 2013. constantly offering consejos, judith has had an influential role on vanessa’s growth as a student, researcher, educator, and higher education leader. ma. eugenia ma. eugenia is mexicana, a native of the borderlands raised in ciudad juarez, chihuahua. the youngest in her family and the first generation to experience higher education, she engages in constant dialogue between the tension represented by memory and national narratives, between voice and legitimate accounts. her pedagogical journey includes chicana/latina/latinx feminisms, critical 1 included in this liderazgo feminista are chicana/latina/latinx peoples. martínez, hernandez sanchez, flores carmona, & el ashmawi association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 40 epistemologies and visual narrative construction. her first encounter with chicana feminisms began at the university of texas at el paso (utep) where she studied the decision-making process of deported adults into ciudad juarez. ma. eugenia was also part of the women’s leadership institute and studied social anthropology centering around the experiences of deported children—where she spent five years teaching and painting with them. ma. eugenia is pursuing a doctorate in education and is mentored by chicana feministas who support her by connecting her academic work with the possibilities of transnational solidarity and scholarship. judith has been a tremendous support and mentor. ma. eugenia makes the critical connection between education and various border crossings that happen in academia and beyond. specifically, she considers how we are presented with the opportunity to resist oppression and build solidarity. how, she asks, does our work promote justice as an everyday, collective, hard and beautiful practice of reflexión-acción? judith judith is a first-generation, mexicana academic—born in veracruz, mexico, raised in los angeles. she is one of eight children, the oldest mujer. her pedagogical praxis is informed by critical race feminista scholars and her educational trajectory in higher education began at california state university, monterey bay (csumb), where she was recruited and mentored by cecilia p. burciaga. judith was undocumented when she entered csumb in 1997, and it was cecilia who, through her incessant advocacy for students from historically underserved communities, displayed a feminista leadership praxis that inspired judith, and many others, to pursue social change through work in higher education. one example of such commitment to social justice came when judith was nominated to be the student representative in the review process csumb was undergoing. this was arduous work, which included reading many materials for each major the campus offered. there was compensation offered to each member of the group, but since she was undocumented she could not get paid. creatively, cecilia decided she would get compensated by purchasing her books and groceries for each week she worked for the committee. “if you work, you should get paid,” and “no te dejes” were constant consejos that cecilia shared with many of us who work in academia. yvonne yvonne is a northern california native of mexican and guamanian descent. initially raised catholic, when she was six her mother converted to islam and raised all her children as conservative muslims. this included limits on music, movies, and television, strict separation of boys and girls except for at home and in school, and donning the headscarf from the early teen years. because more emphasis was placed on religion, it was not until the move from california to las cruces, new mexico testimonio praxis in educational spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 41 for doctoral studies that yvonne began to consciously explore what it means to be latina, and what it means to be latina muslim. her doctoral studies gave her the vocabulary for talking about what had long been rendered invisible about her embodied social identities, including gendered and racial oppression both in her faith community and in the community at large. this oppression is based on her visible markers of ethnicity, race, gender, and religion. thus, when judith introduced her to testimonio as a genre of research that would get at the deeply political work of sharing one’s lived experiences, the decision to use testimonio as her primary method of research felt right. testimonio methodology, pedagogy, and praxis in order to add to the genre of testimonio pedagogy and envision new conceptions of leadership rooted in testimonio, we begin by reviewing the genre as method and methodology. first, we address how testimonio interrupts what knowledge is and how knowledge is legitimized. second, we focus on the organization of knowledge by situating the subaltern, and third, we elaborate on the notion of leadership as an act of reflexión-acción. testimonio methodology creates a space where the narrative centers lived experience and interrupts the existing structural way of organizing and recognizing what knowledge is and how it is constructed. testimonio begins by taking into account a historical context of power relations; therefore, third space feminism is the analytical space that allows us to address social inequality, envisioning a transformative practice during the research process and build our resistance capital to form a community cultural wealth (flores carmona, 2014; yosso, 2005). drawn from chicana feminist methods, empathy and compassion, establishing confianza is one of the major tenets of testimonio. but perhaps more important is the acknowledgement of the tension developed by how the researched and the researcher have interwoven stories that produce a reciprocal deep learning experience (flores carmona, 2014). viewed from traditional paradigms, this is a limitation of testimonio—it is seen as lacking rigor, as unscientific. however, chicana feminisms recognizes the value of opening our subjective self, our vulnerability, to establish a more leveled relation with the testimonialistas, to draw from our facultad. anzaldúa (1990) notes the facultad is “the capacity to see in the surface phenomena the meaning of deeper realities, to see the deep structure below the surface” (p. 38). researchers are thus encouraged to draw on their intuitions and inner wisdom to dive deeply into what is underneath what is said and left un-said. cervantes-soon (2012) also contributes to the way we understand the transversality of testimonio as a tool to uncover both violence and resistance from a subaltern position—to seek deeper meanings. cervantes-soon (2012) stresses the importance of testimonio methodology in areas of violence where stories are otherwise silenced. moreover, testimonio connects body violence with structural inequality. martínez, hernandez sanchez, flores carmona, & el ashmawi association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 42 to engage with testimonialistas in a way that honors their experience, compassion, and relation are necessary. beyond this, researchers must understand testimonio as a dialogic process, sustained by dialogue (benmayor, 2012; latina feminist group, 2001)—a collective “i” that recognizes both individual agency and collective solidarity. this collectivity comes from shared oppression that forms a political conciencia desde abajo as subaltern. collectivity is expressed in testimonio by its democratic production of knowledge (benmayor, 2012) and the voice of the subaltern represents how structural violence is enforced (latina feminist group, 2001). testimonio, then, is both theory and practice; it constructs and occupies a space of possibilities for our thriving and survival in academia. life is complex and testimonio imitates life by including its contradictions. it involves a practice, a space, a product, an emotion, and much more. “testimonio is a form of expression that comes out of intense repression or struggle…the testimoniantes (subjects of the text) admit that they withhold secrets about their culture or details of their personal lives that for political reasons are not revealed for the most part” (latina feminist group, 2001, p. 13). the work of testimonio “differs from oral history or autobiography in that it involves the participant in a critical reflection of their personal experience within particular socio political realities” (delgado bernal, burciaga, & flores carmona, 2012, p. 364). the researcher asks the testimonialista not only what she has lived, but what meaning she has made from it. testimonio is a personal account, not factual (in terms of presenting the material evidence of truth like documents, scars, maps). it is a memorial interpretation of events, including our past selves. so, what happens to testimonio when you yourself are the other? the latina feminist group (2001) moves us from the rights of self-narration towards self-definition within narration, i.e., ‘self-construction.’ testimonio responds to the need to position “women center and in opposition to masculinity and white feminism” (latina feminist group, 2001, p. 9) in order to gain insight from “the interrelationships among these systems of power” (p. 19). the latina feminist group (2001) describe testimonios as “narratives lodge[d] in memory, shared out loud and recorded” (p. 20). testimonios as a methodology explores the relation between the intimate and the collective (not necessarily the public). blackmer reyes and curry rodriguez (2012) concur stating, “although a testimonio is technically an account made by one person, it represents the voice of many whose lives have been affected by particular social events, such as totalitarian governments, war violence, displacement, or other types of broad social affronts on humanity” (p. 528). benmayor (2008) recognizes testimonio as “the result of an oral process of telling, recording, and bearing witness to each other’s life stories” (p. 507). in this vein, we can ask questions such as: how is love possible under a dictatorship? in what ways do part of our life story entail feeling like a foreigner in our own country, in our own home? or how can motherhood testimonio praxis in educational spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 43 include separation from your children? in order to get to know the stories of testimonialistas, sustained dialogue (latina feminist group, 2001) is used to allow the connection between the researcher and the researched to unfold. according to alarcón, cruz, guardia jackson, prieto, and rodriguez-arroyo (2011) “testimonio requires a deep learning, necessitating an openness to give oneself to the other” (p. 370). through constant dialogue a “space of disclosure” (latina feminist group, 2001, p. 10) can be built. for benmayor (2008), “to testimoniar (bear witness, to testify) involves an urgent voice of resistance to social injustices, an urgency to speak out, a collective interlocutor, and a collaborative process of production and interpretation” (p. 510). however, in terms of the space of disclosure, benmayor (2008) distances herself by acknowledging that the notion of a safe space of disclosure as a personal experience cannot be generalized nor achieved in equal terms (p. 512). for example, with digital testimonios, the experience is sensorial, by listening to the (recorded) voice we can deepen our understanding of the testimonio itself; we can experience the sound of the voice, the tension, the silences, and the arrebatos (anzaldúa, 1987; saavedra & pérez, 2012). because testimonio is based on a sustained dialogue (benmayor, 2012; latina feminist group, 2001), which implicates the superiority of the act of listening in order to understand the testimonialistas’ experience, there is an emphasis on the analytical element that connects a personal story to its social implications of inequality and possibilities of solidarity (flores carmona, 2014). that is, testimonio produces valuable data and also deconstructs oppressive power structures, decolonizes, and fosters transnational understanding and solidarity (saavedra & pérez, 2014). perhaps pérez huber (2009) summarized the power of testimonio most succinctly when she stated that it “counter[s] traditional research paradigms and lead[s] to a more complete understanding of the experiences of people of color within and beyond educational institutions” (p. 640). one of the values of testimonio is that an individual account simultaneously reveals oppression and the autonomy of the testimonialistas within that system of oppression. thus, testimonio recognizes the importance of individual agency and collective solidarity (flores carmona, 2014). each story is a unique experience, but at the same time connects to other stories with those undergoing the same circumstance. for women of color, testimonio has broken the chain of the grand narrative that divided us and showed a path for organic solidarity. testimonio recognizes women’s diversity in order to uncover common sources of oppression as peoples coming from colonial countries trying to unlearn oppression by developing our voices, our ideas, and the images of what we want to become. however, testimonio goes beyond the recognition of the self; our personal story is only the beginning that helps us connect with other testimonialistas across borders as the result of “a relational framework” (latina feminist martínez, hernandez sanchez, flores carmona, & el ashmawi association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 44 group, 2001, p. 19). what is powerful is the way in which we learn to listen to each other’s testimonio with respect and compassion. testimonio knowledge is not neutral, however, and it does not try to be neutral; it recognizes the value of tensions, contradictions and representations across the stories of mujeres. testimonio is a learning experience that rescues situated knowledge given through generations of women’s complicity. in consequence, testimonio has educational implications. by connecting testimonialistas across borders we are employing community cultural wealth and expanding upon a variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities utilized by testimonialistas to continue resisting different forms of oppression (yosso, 2005). testimonio pedagogy and praxis testimonio is deeply associated in the chicana tradition—we hold that there is great value to centering a chicana narrative form in our pedagogy, research, and praxis. testimonio represents el camino/path for a more representative and democratic educational environment—especially with working in and with students of color. while reaching its preeminence in higher education as a process and a product of academic research, testimonio has also become its own pedagogy. testimonio pedagogy allows people to connect across social positions, across differences, across language. testimonio pedagogy facilitates opportunities to learn and perform aspects of testimonio, including issues surrounding reflexivity, collectivity, social awareness, and power imbalances (flores carmona & luciano, 2014, p. 85). because testimonio has a broad variety of pedagogical uses, and is typically coupled with a theoretical grounding, it is impossible to make simple generalizations about the purposes for which it might be used in the classroom, nevertheless many chicanas and latinxs have embraced this pedagogical and methodological genre. in education, texts are never simply products; they are also vehicles through which instructors impart particular theories, methodologies, and epistemologies. when instructors incorporate testimonio into their curriculum, they are teaching not only the specific text and its historical context, but also introducing their students to concepts including intersubjectivity, subaltern studies, first-person narrative, and “alternative” epistemologies. for example, too often multicultural curricula “otherizes” the experiences of historically oppressed groups by making them objects of study and analyzing them using dominant pedagogies and modes of analysis (ladson-billings, 2000; lewis, chesler, & forman, 2000). testimonio creates an intersubjective, accessible learning experience that encourages new, radical ways of listening and connecting with a text. cruz (2012) wrote that testimonio can be used to deconstruct and dismantle the ways that students have been taught to engage with academic texts. she explained that traditionally, students are taught to identify with the first-person speaker in a text and testimonio praxis in educational spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 45 construct him or her as an individualistic hero or protagonist; however, testimonios configure their speakers as part of a community, and reject the reader’s “imperialist substitution” (i.e., identification) of themselves for the narrator (cruz, 2012, p. 461). instead, they invite the reader to engage in “radical listening,”2 in which the reader is not just an observer but a participant. furthermore, testimonio genre’s portrayals of injustice and calls to action leave little room for the reader to maintain a neutral, critical distance as one might when reading a conventional nonfiction text. these aspects of testimonio force the reader to take a side, and in doing so, engage with the content not just critically, but personally (cruz, 2012). prieto and villenas (2012) praised this relational aspect of testimonios, noting that they “revealed fruitful tensions for mining the liminal and relational moments across difference and privilege” (p. 411). instructors can also use testimonios as a tool to encourage their students to recognize alternative, non-positivist epistemologies based on communally understood truths rather than logic and scientific proof (cruz, 2012; delgado bernal, 2001). testimonio itself is also a pedagogy in the sense that it is an inherent chicana/latina traditional mode of learning and of knowledge transmission. as in many marginalized societies, impoverished chicana/latina and latinx people use oral tradition for functions that would be fulfilled by formal education and ‘book learning’ in mainstream u.s. american society. passed from woman to woman, the chicana/latina tradition encompasses not only family and personal histories, but also communal history. often, it also transmits a set of values and beliefs that run counter to dominant ideology (latina feminist group, 2001). as esposito (2014) and the latina feminist group (2001) noted, social justice, activism, and resistance have an important place in chicana/latina feminism, and this is at least in part because they have been enshrined in the oral tradition. it should be no surprise, then, that introducing chicana/latina/latinx modes of learning to the united states higher education system has been a difficult process that challenges both the dominant epistemologies and pedagogies of the academy. yet, by adopting a chicana feminist pedagogy, and the epistemologies that accompany it, we ensure that the classroom is a place where latina/o students have their home epistemologies validated rather than rejected or excluded. when it is practiced at the university, the pedagogy of testimonio challenges dominant assumptions about truth, objectivity, and marginality. testimonio’s way of transmitting knowledge 2 cruz draws on a personal communication from regina day langhout (2011) to explain radical listening this way: “angela davis defines ‘radical’ as ‘grasping things at the root.’ radical listening, therefore, is listening for root ideas that are connected to a structural analysis. this means listening for what is being said and what is left unsaid. it means co-creating a space where what has been rendered invisible can be seen, spoken, and heard. to practice radial listening is to take seriously what is being said and to be in dialogue with the speaker in ways that facilitate a structural, radical analysis” (cruz, 2012). martínez, hernandez sanchez, flores carmona, & el ashmawi association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 46 depends on the reader’s ability to accept that the text is true, and that there are multiple layers of truth: the personal, the communal, the ideological, and the political. a personal anecdote might be fictionalized in service of relating a broader communal truth, or in building a cohesive ideological message. this disrupts and unravels the epistemologies that u.s. college students have learned since childhood: the scientific method, the supremacy of verifiable facts, and the ‘unreliability’ of subaltern voices. if instructors can successfully teach students to accept a testimonio-based pedagogy, it will not only help them to read and understand testimonios, but also introduce them to new critical orientations that they will apply elsewhere in their education. extending the genre of testimonio pedagogy given the profound capacity of testimonio as a genre of research to support individual agency, recenter the voices of the collective of marginalized communities, and advocate for social change, we seek, through our work not only as researchers, but also as teachers, and leaders to extend the testimonio genre. in this section we will each share, via our testimonios, how we employ testimonio as pedagogy as teachers and leaders, followed by a discussion of how we view the impact of our individual and collective works. disrupting traditional notions of leadership informed by our testimonios and lived experience provides us with new visions and possibilities to reflect and enact a praxis that is informed by our feminista epistemologies and our cultural intuition (delgado bernal, 1998). chicana/latina/latinx liderazgo feminista honors the uniqueness and the wholeness of every person and in the service to individuals and the collective. this praxis promotes the sharing of testimonios en confianza. listening deeply is an essential trait of this feminista praxis—an important leadership quality but often overlooked. we now shift to each sharing our reflections on our leadership and pedagogy. vanessa as a faculty adjunct instructor, i noticed that testimonio’s pedagogy changes when it is introduced to the university, but the university can also be changed by its exposure to testimonio (burciaga & cruz navarro, 2015). when chicana/latina perspectives take their place in the classroom, they validate the experiences of chicana/latina students and their epistemologies. according to delgado bernal, alemán, and garavito (2009), latinx students are still underrepresented and marginalized on university campuses, despite universities’ apparent attempts to diversify and be inclusive. furthermore, these students’ experiences are “often more complex and tumultuous” (p. 560) than those of their white peers, because they must adjust to an environment that is irresponsive to them at best, and hostile at testimonio praxis in educational spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 47 worst. engaging with testimonio has the potential to be one of the few inclusive experiences chicana/latina students have in their college careers (urrieta jr. & villenas, 2013). when students engage with testimonio, they are learning, using familial and communal epistemologies and forms of knowledge transmission, rather than being excluded, otherized, and/or having their experience seem illegitimate (delgado bernal et al., 2009; solórzano & villalpando, 1998). students engage with a pedagogy that places chicanas/latinas in a position of authority and as knowers—the students are also holders and producers of knowledge (delgado bernal, 2002). this pedagogy has the potential to empower chicana/latina students and faculty alike. this validation of narratives and overall sense of empowerment are testimonio tenets that emanate what a mujerista leadership looks like to me, both inside the classroom and in the community. my curriculum encompasses concepts from chicana feminist theory and pedagogy to encourage and empower students to transcend borderlands and equip them to become active agents for social change. ma. eugenia testimonio speaks to the marginalization that chicanas and latinas experience in educational spaces (latina feminist group, 2001). testimonio pedagogy allows us to represent our lived experiences, becoming the collective “i”. my pedagogy is informed by mujeres such as the authors of telling to live: latina feminist testimonios (2001), gloria e. anzaldúa, cherrie moraga, dolores delgado bernal, c. alejandra elenes, and of course by the works of mujeres activas en letras y cambio social (malcs). judith has modeled by sharing her own testimonio of oppression and her growth. in this way, a profound intimacy emerged and the classroom became a sort of kitchen-space where each of us represented an ingredient that created both a personal and collective testimonio. as a result, after constant discussions, we participated in the malcs summer institute—where we shared our testimonios. there, at el rito, we were able to meet with feministas chicanas/latinas and indigenous mujeres who have been resisting for years the structural and personal elements that subjugate us in academia and in our communities. these feministas have created cadenitas de solidaridad (flores carmona & delgado bernal, 2012) whose fruits will help us continue our resistance in education. judith i serve as advisor and mentor to the three co-authors of this piece. we expand on testimonio scholarship and incorporate our own commitments and passions. we each are drawn to testimonio for similar, yet different reasons, and enact it in different ways—in our classroom and beyond. we all center testimonios as the foundation of our courses from which to then explore critical theories. i have martínez, hernandez sanchez, flores carmona, & el ashmawi association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 48 been profoundly impacted by pedagogues who employ testimonio in their praxis and i have learned greatly from testimonios of mujeres who were or are leaders in higher education. now, i am also constantly learning from students, such as vanessa, ma. eugenia, and yvonne, who push the genre further, methodologically and pedagogically. together, the four of us locate our motivation and our ganas to persevere because we have been influenced and inspired by mujerista leaders in higher education. however, these mujeres have enacted a praxis that deviates and challenges our traditional understanding of “leader” by putting into practice the tenets of testimonio. yvonne what testimonio has given me is a conceptual framework that feels aligned with who i aspire to be as a chicana feminista scholar. delgado bernal et al., (2012) explains that testimonio “is and continues to be an approach that incorporates political, social, historical, and cultural histories that accompany one’s life experiences as a means to bring about change through consciousness-raising” (p. 364). what particularly moved me was learning about testimonio as an inherently political act because it seeks to compel the testimonialista as well as the reader to action (anzaldúa, 1990; saldana, castro-villareal & sosa, 2013; delgado bernal et al., 2012; latina feminist group, 2001; prieto & villenas, 2012; saavedra & pérez, 2012; saldaña, castro-villareal, & sosa, 2013; sánchez & ek, 2013). the idea of having a political impact spoke to my heart because at my core i want to know, or at least believe, that someone may, in a tangible way, benefit from my work. what called my soul to employing testimonio as methodology and pedagogy is the theoretical framework in which it is founded. i met myself in the lives and pages of the chicana feminists i studied. in making face, making soul: haciendo caras (1990), i found an intellectual home for both my head and heart. in the introduction, anzaldúa (1990) writes, “the pull to believe we ‘belong’, that we can blend in, that we can be accepted like any other ‘american’ can seduce us into putting our energies into the wrong battles and into picking allies who marginalize us further” (p. xxii). anzaldúa hooked me because i identify as muslim and what she wrote spoke to me about what it means to be a mexi-cali muslim. i have experienced islamophobia, racism, and sexism, and it has been painful. i have also experienced the hurt that comes with finding that someone you love and respect holds deep-seated bias against your community. in my role as researcher, i see myself in solidarity with the testimonialistas in my study. they have been so generous with me, not just with their time but with their vulnerability and openness. as a teacher, now when i ask my students to write about their educational experiences i feel a deeper sense of compassion. i feel sad about the pain they have experienced by institutions that should serve them but don’t. however, i also recognize that it is through our teaching that we come full circle—we testimonio praxis in educational spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 49 continue to self-reflect and implement the learning from our testimonios. this knowledge becomes part of our praxis. to the four of us then, testimonio pedagogy serves multiple, simultaneous purposes—to engage in the deeply personal (and political) work of writing our own testimonios. in these testimonios we are telling the collective his/her story of our communities. however, we move beyond merely telling our stories to reflect on our privileges, oppressions, beliefs, and the tensions we bring to academia. such work, by definition pokes at the sore spots and (re)opens many old wounds. in this sense, we name our privilege, our oppression, and we tend to the ensuing feelings of collectivity and solidarity. the end goal of testimonio pedagogy and methodology is not only to re-center our marginalized experiences as sources of knowledge, but to legitimize our agentic political voices through our struggles and actions. conclusion: testimonios in educational spaces to re-conceptualize leadership i recall several behind closed doors meetings where i meet and discuss the progress of many of my doctoral student advisees. before a proposal or dissertation defense i meet with each committee member to know “how they will vote.” this is a tactic i learned from my mentors. from cecilia i learned to constantly ask how students are doing-personally and professionally. my approach is to serve the whole student, to listen to their testimonios of mindbodyspirit. that is what i learned from mujeres lideres and that is my praxis. –judith in the previous sections, we offered our testimonios about how we arrived at the genre, how we each enact testimonio methodology and pedagogy, and how we are reflecting on our own agency by considering how we lead from our seat in academia. in this section, we offer our experiences and reflection as a way to contribute to the body of literature not only about testimonio, but also leadership. given how we employ testimonio in our work and how it propels us to be leaders in our communities and in educational spaces, we conclude by offering our thoughts on the need to re-conceptualize how we define and understand ‘leadership’ in higher education. for chicana/latina/latinx educational leadership to achieve its full potential, we must (re)envision an educational leadership approach that is transformative and culturally responsive. community cultural wealth is a powerful concept that helps latinx educational leaders to understand our ways of knowing and to enact latinx educational leadership. yosso’s (2005) concept of community cultural wealth refashions the traditional concept of cultural capital. it holds that marginalized martínez, hernandez sanchez, flores carmona, & el ashmawi association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 50 communities, particularly those of color, have valuable forms of cultural capital, such as, traditions of resistance, rich linguistic heritage, supportive social structures, and unique ethical and aspirational values. educational leaders can leverage this cultural wealth to enact resistance and pursue progress toward social justice. bridging our community cultural wealth and testimonio methodology and pedagogy brings a unique value to the latinx educational leadership approach. testimonio helps us consider the sociocultural conditions that have shaped educational institutions and by enacting our cultural wealth, we challenge the narrow parameters of conventional, top-down educational leadership. this allows us to look from within, leveraging our unique chicana/latina/latinx epistemologies in order to enact transformative change in educational spaces (pedroza & mendez-morse, 2016, p. 70). when it comes to educational leadership, racial makeup’s influence is typically overlooked as a factor affecting administrator’s leadership practice. higher education institutions disregard the community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) that latinx educational leaders bring to their practice (pedroza & mendez-morse, 2016) and we are constantly trying to overcome gender and racial barriers. according to cecilia p. burciaga, "with a glass ceiling, you are allowed to see the next level. at least you can see through it and practice or prepare for the promotion. but an adobe ceiling is dense, impenetrable, and it doesn't allow you to see to the next level” (cited in rodriguez, 1994, p. 23). how pertinent to think of chicana/latina leaders as constantly trying to break through an adobe ceiling, even at a hispanic serving institution (hsi). after all, we do live in the borderlands and we all are border crossers of sorts. we are not trying to break through the glass ceiling; we are trying to break through the adobe ceiling. also, darder (2012) posited that as scholars of color/marginalized scholars we are inundated by “neoliberal policies upon the work of border intellectuals within the university, whose scholarship seeks to explicitly challenge longstanding structural inequalities and social exclusions” (p. 412). we believe that we must challenge longstanding definitions and representations of whom we consider leaders and embrace, validate practices such as those enacted by cecilia p. burciaga. however, we believe it is necessary to analyze leadership using a cultural collective approach that unveils the social construction of knowledge and identifies and signifies what a leader is and what transformative leadership looks like. we want to decolonize the individualistic and patriarchal constructions that connect leadership with a person’s individualistic trajectory and move toward a liderazgo feminista. reconceptualizing leadership as a collective effort also relates to chicana feminism as a movement across the fluid latinidades we embody (latina feminist group, 2001). we are lideres testimonialistas as we share our testimonios of resistance, work ethic, and strategic actions to achieve solidarity in and with our communities. in this vein, mujeres lideres have the ability to develop a testimonio praxis in educational spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 51 perspective from below, where we can see beyond specific events by connecting testimonios with major struggles. hence, transformative educational leadership has a dual effect. leaders divulge their testimonios, encourage students to voice their lived experiences on how they navigate the educational system—we share our paths and we model solidarity by taking concrete actions that open a world of possibilities for ourselves and for our students. martínez, hernandez sanchez, flores carmona, & el ashmawi association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 52 references alarcón, w., cruz, c., guardia jackson, l., prieto, l., & rodriguez-arroyo, s. (2011). compartiendo nuestras historias: five testimonios of schooling and survival. journal of latinos and education, 10(4), 369-381. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. anzaldúa, g. (ed) (1990). making faces, making soul= haciendo caras: creative and critical perspectives of feminists of color. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. benmayor, r. (2008). digital storytelling as a signature pedagogy for the new humanities. arts and humanities in higher education, 7(2), 188-204. benmayor, r. (2012). digital testimonio as a signature pedagogy for latin@ studies. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 507-524. blackmer reyes, k., & curry rodríguez, j. e. (2012). testimonio: origins, terms and resources. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 525-538. cervantes-soon, c. g. (2012). testimonios of life and learning in the borderlands: subaltern juárez girls speak. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 373-391. cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460-471. burciaga, r., & cruz navarro, n. (2015). educational testimonio: critical pedagogy as mentorship. new directions for higher education, 171, 33-41. darder, a. (2012). neoliberalism in the academic borderlands: an on-going struggle for equality and human rights. educational studies, 48(5), 412-426. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-583. delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623-639. delgado bernal. d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. delgado bernal. d., alemán jr, e., & garavito, a. (2009). latina/o undergraduate students mentoring latina/o elementary students: a borderlands analysis of shifting identities and first-year experiences. harvard educational review, 79(4), 560-586. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363-372. flores carmona, j. (2014). cutting out their tongues: mujeres’ testimonios and the malintzin researcher. journal of latino/latin american studies (jollas) special issue: (re)envisioning chicana/latina feminist methodologies, 6(2), 113-124. flores carmona, j., & luciano, a. m. (2014). a student-teacher testimonio: reflexivity, empathy, and pedagogy. in j. flores carmona & k. luschen (eds.), crafting critical stories: toward pedagogies and methodologies of collaboration, inclusion & voice (pp. 75-92). new york, ny: peter lang publishing group. flores carmona, j., & delgado bernal, d. (2012). oral histories in the classroom: home and community pedagogies. in c.e. sleeter & e. soriano ayala (eds.), building solidarity between schools and testimonio praxis in educational spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 53 marginalized communities: international perspectives (pp. 114-130). new york, ny: teachers college press. ladson-billings, g. (2000). fighting for our lives: preparing teachers to teach african-american students. journal of teacher education, 51, 206-214. latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nc: duke university press books. lewis, a. e., chesler, m., & forman, t. a. (2000). the impact of “colorblind” ideologies on students of color: intergroup relations at a predominantly white university. the journal of negro education, 69(1/2), 74-91. pedroza, a., & mendez-morse, s. (2016). dichos as cultural influences on a latina's leadership. national forum of educational administration and supervision journal, 33(2), 61-73. pérez huber, l. (2009). disrupting apartheid of knowledge: testimonio as methodology in latina/o critical race research in education. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 22(6), 639-654. prieto, l., & villenas, s. a. (2012). pedagogies from nepantla: testimonio, chicana/latina feminisms and teacher education classrooms. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 411-429. rodriguez, r. (1994). higher education crisis looms for chicanos/latinos: conference articulates new strategies. black issues in higher education, 11(3), 20-23. saavedra, c. m., & pérez, m. s. (2012). chicana and black feminisms: testimonios of theory, identity, and multiculturalism. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 430-443. saavedra, c. m., & pérez, m. s. (2014). an introduction: (re)envisioning chicana/latina feminist methodologies. journal of latino-latin american studies, 6(2), 78-80. saldaña, l. p., castro-villarreal, f., & sosa, e. (2013). testimonios of latina junior faculty: bridging academia, family, and community lives in the academy. the journal of educational foundations, 27(1/2), 31-48. sánchez, p., & ek, l. d. (2013). before the tenure track: graduate school testimonios and their importance in our profesora-ship today. educational foundations, 27(1/2), 15-30. solórzano, d. g., & villalpando, o. (1998). critical race theory, marginality, and the experience of students of color in higher education. sociology of education: emerging perspectives, 211-224. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. urrieta jr, l., & villenas, s. a. (2013). the legacy of derrick bell and latino/a education: a critical race testimonio. race ethnicity and education, 16(4), 514-535. volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 106 martínez v. state of new mexico: the right to a sufficient education diane torres-velásquez the university of new mexico abstract plaintiffs in the martínez v. state of new mexico lawsuit are 51 students, parents, and guardians from seven public school districts across new mexico. this is a school finance case that goes beyond seeking more funds for public education to arguing that providing a sufficient education for new mexico’s 338,307 students enrolled during the 2016-2017 school year (new mexico public education department, 2017) involves more than increasing the amount of money allocated for pupils across its 89 school districts. although the plaintiffs in this case represent low-income and high-need families of many ethnic backgrounds in new mexico, students who are english language learners, and students with disabilities, the outcome has the potential to affect every student, teacher, and administrator in the state. the trial will begin on june 12th of 2017. when the case was originally filed in 2014, new mexico’s public education department (nmped)—the defendants in this case—immediately countered with a motion to dismiss. in october of 2014, as first district court chief judge sarah singleton rejected the motion to dismiss, she also used the opportunity to declare public education a fundamental right in new mexico. martínez v state of new mexico (2014a) has the potential to transform not only the definition of equal protection and educational equity under the law, but also to correct the discriminatory and punitive practices of current reform agendas. the author examines the possibilities of law as a form of social resistance using martínez v. state of new mexico (2014a)— a legal case on school finance—and the concept of sufficient education as guaranteed by the new mexico state constitution. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.334 martínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 107 martínez v. state of new mexico: the right to a sufficient education the frequent prostitution of democratic ideals to the cause of expediency, politics, vested interests, ignorance, class and “race” prejudice, and to indifference and inefficiency is a sad commentary on the intelligence and justice of a society that makes claim to those very progressive democratic ideals. (sánchez, 1934, p. 770) this quote by george i. sánchez, from the 1930’s, demonstrates that the fight for a socially just society is not a new fight. in new mexico, this fight goes back to the beginning of statehood and is one of the dividing issues that we sometimes forget or take for granted. sánchez was a strong and determined activist who helped shape education as the marquee issue for the civil rights agenda of mexican americans in his lifetime (blanton, 2014). while not well known by many mexican americans, sánchez has been recognized in recent years as “the” pioneer of mexican american rights (tevis, 2007). … in 1984 a retrospective honoring him at the university of california at berkeley school of law cited him the single most influential individual in securing equal rights through law for mexican americans…he is as important to equity for mexican americans as booker t. washington and w. e. b. dubois were to equity for african americans. (tevis, 2007, p. 191) born in what is now the barelas community in albuquerque, new mexico, sánchez’s first battle for equity came from his own analysis of education as someone who had worked in this arena as a teacher, principal, and administrator. he recognized inadequate and unequitable funding in both rural and urban schools as a major failing of the state and worked hard to provide equality for all students. it is believed that the equalization plan he took a major role in developing was the first in the united states and would have served as a model to other states, had it not been sabotaged (tevis, 2007). sánchez collected data on the sociocultural and educational inequities of the 1930’s in new mexico when he conducted a research project funded by the carnegie foundation and wrote the report in a book entitled, forgotten people (sánchez, 1940). he provided a detailed and classic account of the condition of spanish-speaking families in new mexico. to contextualize the data, sánchez provided a history of the torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 108 colonization of the state’s inhabitants. blanton (2012) describes the colonial model of later chicano scholars that sánchez observed and named in his research. he states: sánchez insisted in forotten people that mexican ameicans did not choose poverty and discrimination; rather, they had it forced on them by a brutal, exploitive colonial past in which spanish, mexican, and then united states rule consistently championed the wealthy and powerful over the poor and powerless. (p. 6) the fact that new mexico continues to rank the lowest among states in terms of literacy continues to draw headlines in local newspapers. in 2016, new mexico was ranked 50th in education and 49th in child well-being by the annie e. casey foundation (willis, 2016). new mexico education quality in 2017 ranks 49th, according to education week’s “quality counts” research report (burgess, 2017). in 1940, sánchez was hired at the university of texas at austin, and left new mexico for good, partly because of his many embattled controversies over his strong activism for racial and educational integration and equality (blanton, 2014; tevis, 2007). at the end of the 1950’s, sánchez was reporting that 80% of mexican-american children spent more than a year in first grade, and only 8.5% reached twelfth grade (blanton, 2014). as a professor of education at the ut austin, he continued his research on educational equity and the social condition of mexican americans. he worked directly with community organizations and began working directly with attorneys to shape policy through the courts. it is significant to note here that throughout his career, sánchez was a strong proponent of intercultural advocacy. in other words, he conducted research and wrote strongly in support of social and racial equality for african americans and native americans (blanton, 2014). “no tejano supported african-american civil rights more than george i. sánchez in the 1950’s” (blanton, 2014, p. 201). the short list provided below gives a taste of a few of the significant legal cases in which sánchez was directly involved. while this article does not have the scope to go into depth on all of the legal cases sánchez designed, contributed to, or for which he wrote briefs, it is important to note that his research and collaborations with civil rights attorneys on behalf of mexican americans helped establish concepts that would become important for cases involving african americans, including brown v. board of education (1954). when studied in depth, one can see the focus on educational equity and key connections between sánchez and individuals who martínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 109 would continue to play a large role in the legal contributions supporting equality for mexican americans in the united states. • delgado v. bastrop, isd (1948) (school desegregation) • hernández v. texas (1954) (jury desegregation) • hernández v. driscoll (1957) (school desegregation) while the outcomes of the cases varied—and these cases involved years of appeals which did not always end in the decisions that sánchez originally sought, there was progress in each case. most significantly, with hernández v. texas (1954), sánchez and the attorneys on the case developed a theory that was a new concept at the time which they labeled a “class apart.” one attorney for the case was carlos cadena from san antonio, texas. he relied on sánchez to academically ground him in the ways that mexican americans were conveniently labeled as white, yet clearly and severely racially discriminated against for being mexican and brown (blanton, 2014). cadena and sánchez spent many hours across many late nights discussing and developing the “class apart” theory before they ever used it in court (tevis, 2007). cadena took courses to pursue research on the concept, and the two discussed the validity of the theory to become more comfortable with the formal argument and the supporting research. from the analysis of the case by tevis (2007), “…the next step was ‘trying it out’; in other words, they needed a court case” (p. 197). sánchez and cadena were joined by a third collaborator who would become the second attorney on the hernández case, gus garcía. while in 1935 “negro” males had been granted the right to serve on juries in texas, records in the county for hernández v. texas (1954) showed that for the past twenty-five years, no mexican americans had served on any jury of any kind in the county. the attorneys provided numerous examples of discrimination in the county in addition to jury selection, but the court ruled that there was no discrimination. the appeals court in 1952 also ruled that they found no discrimination and noted that no supreme court had ever addressed nationality as a “class apart” (tevis, 2007). sánchez and attorneys sought the support of the league of united latin american citizens (lulac) and took the case to the u.s. supreme court. tevis (2007) reported that a very eloquent chief justice earl warren stated in part: … it taxes our credulity to say that mere chance resulted in there being no members of this class among the over six thousand jurors called in the past 25 torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 110 years. the result bespeaks discrimination, whether or not it was a conscious decision on the part of any individual jury commissioner… (p. 199) after the decision, sánchez wrote, “i had long set forth, in my class, that the xiv amendment protected against discrimination not only on the basis of ‘race, creed, color’ but also on the basis of recognition and differential treatment against a recognized ‘class apart’” (from archived notes by george i. sánchez, in blanton, 2014, p. 196). the u.s. supreme court decided to reverse the texas decision just two weeks before brown v. board of education was argued. critics of brown argue that there is much irony in the fact that it was a school desegregation case and that in today’s schools, the segregation of latinos is even more pronounced than that of blacks (balkin, 2001; montoya, 2001). montoya’s (2001) analysis of the history of chicana/o school segregation leads her to conclude that latino students are the most segregated group in today’s society. while martínez v. state of new mexico (2014a) is not a segregation law suit, montoya’s (2001) analysis of segregation and affirmative action points to the invisibility of the latino population. she states: fast forward with me to 2001. this history of the struggle against the segregation of chicana/o children in the southwest has been largely erased. this jurisprudential history is not taught in law schools; consequently, latinas/os children are not recognized as deserving subjects of this public policy. (montoya, 2001, p. 158) student rights under the new mexico state constitution if sánchez was using his understanding of educational rights as based on the new mexico state constitution, he was holding very high standards. in the late 1800’s and at the turn of the 20th century, new mexico’s forefathers drafted and re-drafted the state’s constitution. new mexico and arizona were intended to enter the united states as one state. due to the insistence of new mexicans to use spanish in state government and education, leaders of what is now arizona decided to break from new mexicans and create their own state (montez, 1973). new mexico refused to accept a state constitution that did not include protection of the language and rights of its spanish-speaking inhabitants. it is the only state in this country with these unique provisions. article xii is devoted to education and guarantees a free and sufficient public education for new mexico’s students; it reads: martínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 111 a uniform system of free public schools sufficient for the education of, and open to, all the children of school age in the state shall be established and maintained. (n.m. constitution, article xii § 1) furthermore, the new mexico state constitution contains the “children of spanish descent clause,” a provision that protects language education rights for english language learners (n.m. constitution, article xii, section 10). while originally written for spanishspeaking children, this clause is now interpreted to protect the rights of students as it pertains to their home language and includes all language groups in the state. article xii, section 10 specifically states: spanish-speaking children shall never be denied the right and privilege of admission and attendance in the public schools or other public educational institutions of the state, and they shall never be classed in separate schools, but shall forever enjoy perfect equality. (n.m. constitution, article xii § 10) plaintiffs, teachers, superintendents, administrators, unions, and school board members across the state have long been concerned about the funding of public education in new mexico. former albuquerque public schools (aps) board member dolores griego (april 2017) testified to the current aps school board that in the late 2000’s, she and other board members had brought the intention of suing the state to the state-wide school board. the new mexico school board association (nmsba) had strongly considered suing the state at that time. in an effort to investigate the sufficiency of public education in new mexico, the american institutes for research (air) (2008) gathered data using surveys, town hall meetings, and panel meetings with the public, educators, advocates, and policymakers. the research team aimed to formulate goals and objectives of the public schools from their input. they estimated that the state needed to increase funding of public education by 14.5% at that time ($334.7 million in 20072008 dollars). district superintendents and school board members across new mexico knew that public schools were sorely underfunded. they wanted a suit based on sufficient education, a term they equated with adequate funding. each district’s school board voted on whether or not to sue the state. when aps voted, the board members were split. when the vote was called to decide if the nmsba would sue the state, again the votes were split. the deciding factor was torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 112 what a lawsuit would cost schools who were already reporting that they felt “amputated” due to the cuts they were being forced to make to keep their districts alive. in the meantime, the latino education task force (letf), a community organization focused on public education and the achievement gap for students of color, was holding an organizational retreat in the summer of 2010. the latino education task force had created, lobbied for, and had a monumental win when the legislature passed the only hispanic education act in the country and it was signed into law. at the end of 2010, the first hispanic education status report was released and the concerns over student achievement and student participation were clearly evident in the data. parents, students, community leaders, board members, superintendents, and even an unnamed legislator approached the group on several occasions, asking if they would consider organizing a suit against the state, based on the new mexico constitution, sufficient education, and perfect equality. the group spent several meetings listing the concerns of the community, gathering information that had been used in prior attempts to sue the state, developing key concepts for the argument, mapping out strategy, identifying other organizational allies they would approach for support, identifying resources for shaping an argument in support of the case, and identifying key components of what they would like to see in public education when the case was won. in spring of 2011, letf members contacted the southwest regional director of the mexican american legal defense and educational fund (maldef), david hinojosa, and continued with a clear understanding that this school finance case would be much more than a case about funds. the first identified need was for new mexico to officially recognize public education as a human and fundamental right. although the constitution includes unique provisions intended to protect the education of all students in new mexico, the state’s constitution, never proclaimed public education to be a fundamental right. the letf imagined what the authors of the state constitution might have desired for their inhabitants, given the fight to keep the spanish language alive and the strength of native cultures and languages. the concept of sufficient education incorporated an assets-based approach to not only maintaining culture and language, but seeing these as strengths that students could use to build on their identity and further strengthen our communities and our state. for the letf, an education sufficient for each student meant strengthening home culture and language and also teaching students to honor and live in both the world of their home culture and that of the dominant culture (for martínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 113 more information on navigating the cultures of two worlds, please refer to the work of gloria anzaldúa, 1987; margaret montoya, 1994; and analouise keating, 2006). the concept of sufficient education was closely tied to that of perfect equality. the logic was that with research around ethnic studies demonstrating much higher rates of graduation, achievement, and passing grade levels, new mexico’s students were not experiencing a level of perfect equality but rather low graduation and achievement rates, due to a curriculum that did not draw on their strengths. parents, educators and community advocates were concerned that funds marked for bilingual education were not reaching their children. they also were concerned that the state did not seem to be monitoring students’ progress in language and academic development. they knew that new mexico valued culture and language in existing law and felt the state was not honoring those laws, but rather was violating them. one concern that became very emotional was around the recent reform initiatives that the new governor and secretary of education were imposing on teachers. parents and community advocates observed teachers in great stress, unable to take sick days when they were ill, lest it affect their teacher evaluation and school grades. they felt the sudden push for more and more testing was not helping their children’s education. as the case developed and was being filed, thousands of students across the state walked out of their classrooms. students in santa fe, the state’s capital, marched to the roundhouse (the state capital building). in albuquerque and across the state, students kept each other informed, operated under a code of conduct of respect and order, and organized marches and protests at almost every high school, opting out of taking the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers (parcc) achievement exam (astorgaramos, 2015). underlying all of these qualitative concerns, the foundational concern was that of school finance. also, parents and students in special education programs were convinced that their schools were not receiving the funds allocated to them from the state. in 2014, maldef attorneys filed martínez v. state of new mexico (2014a) as a school finance case. plaintiffs in the case charge that although new mexico has an equal funding formula, educational resources are not equitably distributed in the state, and that as a result, student performance is affected. martínez v. state of new mexico (2014a) charges that high-needs students, including students in torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 114 low-income families, and english language learners (ell) as a group are highly affected by inadequate funding and that as a result, students are receiving an inadequate education. school finance a concept that is closely related to school finance is one that became prominent in the united states in the 1990’s when adequacy studies were conducted to analyze the amount of resources needed in order to produce desired educational outcomes (jiménez-castellanos & topper, 2012). most recently, courts have equated adequacy to funding equity, rather than student performance. the implied assumption is that if all schools and districts are receiving the same amount of money per student, the students will all perform equally. jiménez-castellanos and topper (2013) conducted a thorough review of the literature focused on school finance and english language learners (ells). their review addressed both the cost of providing an adequate education to ells and the differences among the methods used to study the sufficiency of that funding. the researchers found that current funding levels in the samples they studied across the united states are not sufficient to provide adequate resources for ells. they outlined cautions that need to be considered, especially when public schools are expected to prepare all students, including ells, to meet the demands of standardized assessments as had been required by no child left behind; they recommended cost studies that specifically focused on this group of students. one area of concern that emerged from their work was the need for district and school personnel to clearly articulate the criteria for and measurement of language proficiency and to provide adequate educational resources. one interesting finding included in the literature review was a pilot project in north carolina that provided additional funding to the state’s sixteen districts with the most academically at-risk students (henry, fortner, & thompson, 2010). districts selected for funding were allowed to apply some flexibility to spending their supplemental funds as long as they chose options from a menu of effective strategies for students labeled, “educationally disadvantaged.” educationally disadvantaged was defined as “students currently enrolled in high school who did not achieve proficiency on the state’s assessments for either reading or math the year before they entered high school (eighth grade)” (henry et al., 2010 p.186). all student samples in districts that had received supplemental funding in this pilot project did experience improved performance, although academically disadvantaged students experienced smaller gains martínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 115 than all other students (henry et al., 2010). these effects were significant. findings revealed that high school performance gaps were reduced between districts participating in the study and other districts when districts received additional funds. detailed information on the curriculum might prove helpful in assessing the effects of additional funding, in this case. education as a fundamental right in 2014, maldef on behalf of 51 plaintiffs, both children and their parents or guardians, filed martínez v. state of new mexico (2014). the plaintiffs alleged that the public school system denied their rights under article xii, section 1 (the “education clause”) and article ii, section 18 (the “equal protection” and “due process” clauses). for claims that address violations of equal protection and due process, the plaintiffs include children who are economically disadvantaged, and english language learners. seven districts are represented by students or parents in this lawsuit. these include zuni, las cruces, magdalena, gadsden, española, santa fe and albuquerque public schools. for alleged violations of due process, the plaintiffs are students with disabilities. the state public education department (ped) attorneys followed this action by filing a motion to dismiss on the basis of their determination that the plaintiffs did not have standing and that the claims were not justifiable. they alleged, for example, that mexican-american students were white, not a legitimate group, and therefore did not have standing and they moved to dismiss the case. after hearing arguments from both maldef attorneys for the plaintiffs and from state attorneys for the defendants, the judge denied the motion to dismiss and declared that the plaintiffs did, indeed, have standing and had legitimate concerns that needed to be addressed in court. as laws change to address discrimination, local social movements can make important contributions to the understanding and implementation of human rights. education rights, as written, are highly abstract and yet they are the legal discourse of social justice. by examining how global rights are appropriated at the local level, we can also learn much about how local struggles help construct global discourse (merry, 1997). for the purpose of this article, we examine the ways that a lawsuit might affect the promise of anti-discriminatory practice in the local context and the ways global policies are reflected in the very basic desire for education to be a fundamental right granted by the powers that authorize such rights. most educators and torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 116 families in new mexico likely presumed that education was a fundamental right. at the global level, education is considered a human right in multiple treaties with the united nations and other world organizations; however, the united states has yet to sign a treaty acknowledging education as a human right. lee (2013) explains that our expectation is based upon two premises: first, rights advocates endorse the right to education because they believe that if children receive basic primary education, they will likely be literate and numerate and will have the basic social and life skills necessary to secure a job, to be an active member of a peaceful community, and to have a fulfilling life. second, rights advocates recognize that, despite this recognition of education as a right by the universal declaration of human rights (udhr), for example, many children fail to benefit from even basic primary education. (p. 1) numerous international agreements, mandates, and documents have been written that support public education, human rights, social justice, and earth sustainability at the global level. the universal declaration of human rights (udhr) includes a mandate for the promotion of respect, rights and freedoms to be included in education as a part of the curriculum (united nations general assembly res. 217a, 1948). other united nations documents, treaties, and declarations incorporate the right to public education as a human right. however, signing these documents is voluntary, and the united states has not signed any that confirm education as a human right. implementation among countries who have signed this right into treaty is sporadic and the scope and depth of these policies often does not extend to refining values and taking action (andrzejewski, baltodano, & symcox, 2009). in fact, in the united states, there is no federal constitutional right to an education (imber, van geel, blokhuis, & feldman, 2014). there is no obligation imposed either by the federal or state government that would require the operation of a system of education or assist parents in paying for private education for their children. public education is considered a service, similar to providing police or fire rescue, and in legal terms is a voluntary governmental effort. congress has provided educational assistance to states since 1787, but it was not until 1936 that its constitutional authority to tax and spend for educational activities was cemented. although article xii of the new mexico state constitution is devoted to public education, and there are two departments dedicated to its implementation (the ped for prekmartínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 117 12 and the department of higher education for post-secondary education), public education as a right was critical to this lawsuit. public education had been declared to not be a fundamental right in the state. as part of martínez v. state of new mexico (2014a), maldef regional counsel david hinojosa argued on behalf of families and students that public education in new mexico was a fundamental right at the same time that he was defending the right to move this case forward. in october 2014, judge sarah singleton declared from the bench that public education in new mexico is, indeed, a fundamental right. in the declaration, formally released in writing on november 14, 2014, she solidified the importance of this right by stating: frankly, it is difficult to conceive of a service that the state provides its citizens that is more fundamental than the right to education. nothing really promotes the ability to be a good citizen or to be a productive member of society more than having an education. an educated populace is not only something that is fundamental to our current well-being, it is fundamental to our future well-being. (judge sarah singleton, martínez v. state of new mexico, no. d-101-cv201400793, 1st judicial district court, 2014b pp. 5-6) sufficient education while the concept of sufficient education is one that was first mentioned in the state constitution, attempts to define what that means have been limited. the discussions on its potential for framing and shaping education for the 21st century were frequent discussions in letf meetings. the closest concepts incorporated critical race theory and transformative concepts in education and in the law. transformative group-based theory as used in critical race theory and the law is used to address historical racial/ethnic group-based discrimination (lawrence, 1995). this theory views antidiscrimination law as positive, transformative, and substantive for the purpose of social transformation and targets the present effects of past injustice. this approach “embraces an expansive vision that seeks to enlist the institutional power of the judicial system to play a role in societal transformation” (jabareen, 2006, p. 1053). transformative group-based theory calls for a broader mandate for the role of equality and for sustaining it. a critical aspect of this theory is an anti-subordination principle, in addition to that of anti-discrimination. in other words, the equal protection demand includes a right to be free of subordination or its conditions (crenshaw, gotanda, peller, & thomas, 1995). torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 118 achieving this principle requires balanced educational, social, economic, and political racial effects in society. meaningful equality cannot be achieved without addressing these effects (bell, 2000). this concept is an important concept for addressing the “sufficient education” clause in the new mexico state constitution. given the understanding that this theory requires an assets-based balance needed for sustaining equality, it also means that the remedy is not one of “fixing” the historically oppressed victim, but rather using the assets of oppressed groups to balance society and evolve in a transformational process. the injury of discrimination, when viewed through the lens of transformative theory, is viewed as having been afflicted on society as a whole and “seeks to right historical wrongs” (jabareen, 2006, p. 1054). transformative theory seeks recognition by the legal system of societal harm and advocates for positive remedies for the conditions of racial/ethnic subordination with the goal of societal transformation (lawrence, 1995). in the cultural evolution required for anti-subordination, empowered members of society are learning the new rules and embracing a new identity. plaintiffs allege that beyond the financial resources that provide educational services, the state is ignoring the unique cultures and languages of the children and families of new mexico, and that while policies do exist that honor the rich diversity and history of the state’s inhabitants, the state is choosing to ignore ethical implementation of those policies. for example, the plaintiffs in the martínez case allege that bilingual students are being denied bilingual services, and that the state is ignoring all of the following: the unique spanish teacher training clause (article xii, section 8); the bilingual and multicultural education act; the indian education act; and the hispanic education act. beyond having monetary resources, martínez plaintiffs allege that a sufficient education requires not only acknowledging cultural and linguistic identity, but designing and implementing a curriculum that honors the richness of such diversity. the claim states: 113. a sufficient educational system under the new mexico constitution requires a rigorous, culturally relevant curriculum, a testing system to ensure students are learning, and a fair and effective monitoring and evaluation system of teachers and student performance. (martínez v. state of new mexico, 2014a, p.32) this is not to say plaintiffs support the current curriculum, testing, and teacher evaluation reforms. rather, allegations include the detrimental effects of current state education reform martínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 119 on teacher recruitment and retention, including low teacher salary and the punitive value-added methods (vam) teacher evaluation system. conclusion i have attempted to demonstrate the possibilities of critical law as a form of social resistance supporting societal transformation in the understanding and defense of public education for all and in furthering educational rights. this concept surfaced immediately in the motion to dismiss martínez v. state of new mexico (2014b) presented by the nmped and was addressed firmly by attorney david hinojosa, regional counsel of maldef, and by first district court chief judge sarah singleton when she declared public education a fundamental right in her court in october 2014. the first day of trial is scheduled for june 12, 2017. the historical role of the state as public authority given the protections in the new mexico state constitution, the public has some reassurance that educational rights are to be protected. while martínez v. state of new mexico (2014a) involves individual plaintiffs, it is a case that has already purposefully declared education as a fundamental right for all students. the words written in the new mexico state constitution of 1912 are the same words that are being used to support the current fight for educational rights more than 100 years later. the words of our state’s founding fathers allow the public to voice concern over state funding of public education. during the last week of the 2017 legislative session, the santa fe public school district superintendent and former new mexico secretary of education dr. veronica garcía, considered calling for an emergency snow day (nott, 2017). on march 16, 2017, although the temperatures were in the 80’s, thousands of students, parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, community advocates and legislators participated in a rally that surrounded the new mexico state capitol (the roundhouse). participants ended the rally when they peacefully and intentionally went to the fourth floor to personally hand deliver letters to governor susana martínez, asking her to provide adequate funds to stop the deep cuts of public education programs in the state. although the governor was not in the roundhouse, her staff presented her with the letters. actions such as these are an indication of the climate surrounding public education in 2017 in new mexico. torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 120 updates on new mexico politics and martínez v. state of new mexico at this time, the new mexico public education department (nmped) is attempting to change existing bilingual education statutes, eliminating two models of bilingual education and removing tribal rights to approve programs that use the heritage language model. the public hearing for this proposed change began on may 2, 2017. the hearing was standing room only with over a hundred eduators, parents, and bilingual education experts flooding the room. after two hours of testimony, pleading with and scolding the nmped for considering such a change, only a fraction of tribal leaders and bilingual education advocates had been heard (miller, c., 2017). the nmped decided to resume testimony in august, after the martínez trial. in terms of public school finance, governor martinez has stopped all funding for higher education, including the university hospital, and has not informed any of the 89 districts of their budgets, even though the legislature passed a budget which she vetoed. these actions led legislators to request an extraordinary session to address the governor’s vetoes. laws that did pass both the senate and the house, such as sb269 on anti-institutional racism, were also vetoed and would have supported equitable curriculum and ethnic studies for students of color, an issue pertaining to martínez v. state of new mexico (2014a). martínez pre-trial motions were heard on may 22 and 23, 2017. marisa bono is now the southwest regional director of maldef. as of this writing, maldef’s expert legal team beat state attempts to keep prek and constitutional claims out of the trial. implications equally important to state-level politics and litigation are changes being proposed by our new administration at the federal level. while the new mexico constitution protects the rights of public school students in new mexico, there have already been threats made to the elimination or reduction of federal grants that support public education, and there is word of the mass implementation of vouchers by our current united states secretary of education, betsy devos. although she could not yet provide details about the education department’s budget, there are reports that our new president donald trump has planned to cut the education budget by $9 billion, or 13.5 percent (green, 2017). along with these cuts, trump has proposed to “invest” in charter schools and school vouchers, again without details other martínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 121 than a proposed $1.4 billion funding increase in the fiscal year that begins in october 2017. given the promises trump has made to the public, such as building a wall along the united states-mexico border, and the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants, it is highly likely that it will take a critically informed public to maintain any rights we have won in court battles around segregation, public education as a fundamental right, perfect equality, and a sufficient education in the last hundred years. the new administration in washington, d.c. has sparked a wave of social awakening. for example, the women’s march on january 21, 2017 witnessed millions of peaceful protestors across the nation and “demonstrated that people from vastly different backgrounds can unite behind shared values across a spectrum of issues” (women’s march, 2017). martínez v. state of new mexico (2014a) has the potential to further develop the dreams of new mexicans along their already established rights and develop new paths to reach “perfect equality” that honor their culture and language. this is a lawsuit that has already purposefully declared education as a fundamental right for all students in the state, a right that was not legally proclaimed until 102 years after new mexico became a state. the judicial process has the potential to challenge and sustain educational equality and equity. the outcome of this case will certainly affect the lives of the plaintiffs and has the potential to transform not only our definition and practice of equal protection and a sufficient education, but also discriminatory practices of current reform agendas. holding our power at this time in our history may involve a closer examination of the cultural assets we hold as architects for social change in a legally pluralistic world, and it would certainly require a deeper critical and rich understanding of the law. holding our power includes sharing our histories and connecting at the local community level, exposing deep patterns of racism, sexism, and other forms of exclusion in everyday life, and using our role as academics to inform our activism. as we transition to a new administration, we may recognize and utilize the law as a tool for social resistance and social change. torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 122 references american institutes for research (air) (2008). an independent comprehensive study of the new mexico public school funding formula: volume i final report. retrieved from http://www.nmschoolfunding.org/pdf/air_vol_i_final_report__nm_public_sch ool_funding_formula.pdf andrzejewski, j., baltodano m. p., & symcox, l. (2009). social justice, peace and environmental education: global and indivisible. in j. andrzejewski, m. p. baltodano, & l. symcox (eds.), social justice, peace, and environmental education: transformative standards (pp. 116). new york, ny: routledge. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands: la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: spinsters/aunt lute. astorga-ramos, j. (2015). presentation to the latino education task force board of directors. balkin, j. m. (2001). what brown v. board of education should have said: the nation's top legal experts rewrite america’s landmark civil rights decision. new york, ny: new york university press. bell, d. (2000). race, racism and american law (4th ed.). new york, ny: aspen law and business. blanton, c. k. (2012). a legacy of neglect: george i. sánchez, mexican american education, and the ideal of integration, 1940-1970. teachers college record, 114, 1-34. blanton, c. k. (2014). george i. sánchez: the long fight for mexican american integration. new haven, ct: yale university press. brown v. board of education of topeka, 347 u.s. 483 (1954), supp. op., 349 u.s. 294 (1955). burgess, k. (2017, january 4). nm ranks 49th in quality of education. albuquerque journal. https://www.abqjournal.com/920639/study-nm-ranks-49th-in-quality-of-education.html crenshaw, k., gotanda, n., peller, g., & thomas, k. (eds.). (1995). critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement. new york, ny: new press. delgado v. bastrop, independent school district of bastrop county, civil action no. 388 (w.d. tex. june 15, 1948). green, e. l. (2017, march 29). betsy devos calls for more school choice, saying money isn’t the answer. new york times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/us/politics/betsy-devos-education-school-choicevoucher.html griego, d. (2017). public comment to the albuquerque public schools board of education. (april 19, 2017) henry, g. t., fortner, k. c., & thompson, c. l. (2010). targeted funding for educationally disadvantaged students: a regression discontinuity estimate of the impact on high school student achievement. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 32(2), 183-204. hernández v. driscoll, 2 race rel. l. rep. 34 (1956), 2 race rel. l. rep. 329 (1957). hernández v. texas, 347 u.s. 475 (1954). imber, m., van geel, t., blokhuis, j. c., & feldman, j. (2014). education law (5th ed.). new martínez v. state of new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 123 york, ny: routledge. jabareen, y. t. (2006). law and education: critical perspectives on arab palestinian education in israel. american behavioral scientist, 49(8), 1052-1074. jimenez-castellanos, o., & topper, a. m. (2012). the cost of providing an adequate education to english language learners: a review of the literature. review of educational research, 82(2) 179-232. keating, a. (2006). from borderlands and new mestizas to nepantlas and nepantleras: anzaldúan theories for social change. human architecture: journal of the sociology of self knoweldge, 4, 5-16. lawrence, c. r., iii. (1995). foreword: race, multiculturalism, and the jurisprudence of transformation. stanford law review, 47, 819-847. lee, s. e. (2013). education as a human right in the 21st century. democracy and education, 21(1), 1-9. martinez v. state of new mexico, complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief (1st dist. new mexico, 2014a). retrieved from http://www.maldef.org/assets/pdf/martinezvnewmexico_complaint_04114.pdf martinez v. state of new mexico, no. d-101-cv2014-00793, (1st dist. new mexico november 14, 2014b). merry, s. e. (1997). global human rights and local social movements in a legally plural world. canadian journal of law and society, 12(2), 247-271. miller, c. (2017, may 2). education department to take more time on bilingual revamp. santa fe new mexican. retrieved from http://www.santafenewmexican.com/new/education/ education-department-to-take-more-time-on-bilingual-program-revamp/article_7dfffb40cd74-5e7a-a350-d9f7dcb85c87.html móntez, r. r. (1973). an attorney general’s opinion on article xii, section 8 of the new mexico constitution. new mexico law review, 3, 364-380. retrieved from http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmlr/vol3/iss2/8 montoya, m. (1994). máscaras, trenzas y greñas: un/masking the self while un/braiding latina stories and legal discourse. harvard women’s law journal, 17, 185-220. montoya, m. (2001). a brief history of chicana/o school segregation: one rationale for affirmative action. berkeley la raza law journal, 12(2) 159-172. new mexico public education department (nmped). (2017). school fact sheets. albuquerque: nmped. new mexico. (1917). the constitution of the state of new mexico: adopted by the constitutional convention held at santa fe, new mexico, from october 3 to november 21, 1910 and amended november 6, 1911, november 5, 1912, and november 3, 1914. santa fe. nott, r. (2017). sfps mulls ‘snow day for action’, santa fe new mexican. retrieved from http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/sfps-mulls-snow-day-foraction/article_d92e018b-0136-560c-9f09-5e2a324decf9.html torres-velásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 124 sánchez, g. i. (1934). bilingualism and mental measures: a word of caution. journal of applied psychology, 18(6), 765-772. doi: 10.1037/h0072798 sánchez, g. i. (1940). forgotten people: a study of new mexicans. albuquerque, nm: university of new mexico press. tevis, m. m. (2007). george i. sánchez: “the” pioneer in mexican american equity. journal of philosophy and history of education, 57, 191-205. united nations general assembly. (1948). universal declaration of human rights resolution 217a. women’s march (2017). retrieved april 27, 2017 from https://www.womensmarch.com/ willis, d. (2016). nm again ranks 49th in child well-being, 50th in education, las cruces sun. retrieved from http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/education/2016/06/21/nmagain-ranks-49th-child-well-being-50th-education/86140070/ javascript:__dolinkpostback('','ss~~di%20%2210.1037%2fh0072798%22%7c%7csl~~rl',''); martínez v. state of new mexico: the right to a sufficient education diane torres-velásquez the university of new mexico martínez v. state of new mexico: the right to a sufficient education conclusion green, e. l. (2017, march 29). betsy devos calls for more school choice, saying money isn’t the answer. new york times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/us/politics/betsy-devos-education-school-choice-voucher.html new mexico. (1917). the constitution of the state of new mexico: adopted by the constitutional convention held at santa fe, new mexico, from october 3 to november 21, 1910 and amended november 6, 1911, november 5, 1912, and november 3, 1914. santa fe. nott, r. (2017). sfps mulls ‘snow day for action’, santa fe new mexican. retrieved from http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/sfps-mulls-snow-day-for-action/article_d92e018b-0136-560c-9f09-5e2a324decf9.html documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 49 documenting the undocumented: testimonios as a humanizing pedagogy laura ochoa university of san francisco abstract this article delves deep into the story of “illegal” immigration, while humanizing the issue of those who experience it and its enduring consequences. in so doing, this study seeks to look beyond the broadly articulated claims about undocumented immigrants and shed light on what it really means to be unauthorized in america. this body of research challenges current immigration discourse through personal accounts, by exposing the areas of immigration where understanding is most needed. i use the methodological approach of testimonio to conduct, collect, and analyze four testimonio interviews of current undocumented immigrants living in the united states. towards the endeavor, this article seeks to create a rich narrative of human survival and about the struggles and obstacles undocumented immigrants face within our broken immigration system. introduction migration is fundamentally the story of the human race from its origins to the present. migration is an integral aspect of life on this planet. people move to survive. they move in search of food. they move away from danger and death. they move towards opportunities for life. migration is tied to the human spirit, which seeks adventure, pursues dreams, and finds reasons to hope even in the most adverse circumstances. (parker, 2011, p. 3) for as long as we have known, people have migrated in the world. from one village to another, one city to another, one country to another. the united states of america was founded and settled by immigrants. this is a significant part of the demographic history, known as the land of opportunity where newcomers can, through hard work and determination, achieve better lives for themselves and their families. numbers of foreigners throughout time have traveled to american shores to escape ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 50 famine, poverty, political and religious persecution, environmental degradation, and even war. the country itself has always been a beacon to people from across the globe seeking economic opportunities, safety, freedom, and a chance at the proverbial american dream. up until this day, people continue to cross borders, despite the dangers. over the years, traversing the u.s-mexican border illegally has become increasingly dangerous and expensive. migrants wanting to cross into the united states pay thousands of dollars and face kidnapping, rape, and sometimes even murder at the hands of violent drug cartels and ruthless human smugglers. others are killed in accidents or die harsh deaths of heat exhaustion and dehydration in remote and perilous stretches of scorching, waterless desert (sterling, 2010). nevertheless, the cost of coming to the united states without documents is more often than not a very difficult and traumatic experience for immigrants attempting to cross the border. invisibility undocumented immigrants have no way to tell you what they have experienced, or why, or who they are, or what they think. they are by the very nature of their experience, invisible. most of us pass them by--some of us might say a prayer for them, some of us wish they would return to their countries of origin. but nobody asks them what they think. nobody stops and simply asks. (orner, 2008, p. 5) despite their contributions, undocumented immigrants continue to live in the shadows of our society. much of the public discourse around immigration reform either criminalizes or dehumanizes the undocumented population. both the media and politicians repeatedly use derogatory terms such as “illegal” and “aliens” when describing those without proper documents. national and local immigration policy has only stigmatized and discriminated against migrants, further alienating them from the majority culture. today’s debates over immigration simply revolve around economic and political aspects, while ignoring the human perspective. in his introduction to underground america: narratives of undocumented lives, editor peter orner (2008) writes, “we hear they are responsible for crime. we hear that they take our jobs, our benefits. we hear they refuse to speak english. but how often do we hear from them?” documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 51 (p.7). journalist, david bacon (2009) in illegal people also echoes these concerns: “those who live with globalization’s consequences are not at the table, and their voices are generally excluded” (p. 14). lacking from mainstream politics is the human face to the immigration debate, the voices, the stories, and the testimonies of those living “illegally” in the united states. immigration is not purely a political issue, but a humanitarian one. the reality on the ground is much more complicated than the simple contrast between legal and illegal that characterizes mainstream policy and discourse. undocumented immigrants are human beings and integral parts of our society and economy. these men and women cannot be summed up by the jobs they perform, countries they come from or even immigration status. these immigrants are people; people with families, people with dreams, and people with desires. their voices and testimonies need to be at the forefront of immigration reform discourse and policy. to present only the facts, is to miss those aspects of how migration policy actually affects the people it is intended to regulate. if we are to find our way to a solution on immigration, we must examine the social complexity of the problem and bring the voices of undocumented immigrants out of the shadows of invisibility, silence and shame. theoretical framework and methodology this study is grounded in one main theory: critical race theory (crt) with an emphasis on latina/o critical race theory (latcrit); an overarching branch of critical race theory that examines forms of subordination specifically related to the latina/o community based on immigration status, language, and ethnicity (huber, 2010). latcrit theory, like critical race theory, emphasizes the multidimensionality of oppressions, while claiming that race is central in understanding how individuals experience societal structures and form identities accordingly (fernandez, 2002). in this context, latcrit allows for specific examination of the ways latinas/os experience issues of immigration status, race, language, ethnicity, and culture. thus, latcrit enables researchers to better articulate the evolution and challenges of the undocumented, through a more focused analysis of the unique forms of oppression this community encounters. ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 52 in this study, crt recognizes the experiential knowledge of people of color, specifically immigrants of color, as legitimate, appropriate and critical to understanding, analyzing and teaching about racial subordination. looking through a crt lens means exploring some of the critical race methodological and pedagogical approaches that can help one understand the contemporary experiences of latina/o undocumented immigrants in the united states. crt in immigration research unapologetically centers on challenging dominant ideologies and disrupting dominant perceptions, understandings, and knowledge about undocumented immigrants living in this country (castro-salazar & bagley, 2012). for this field, crt contributes to the centrality of the experiences of immigrants through personal counter-histories and narratives, as a tool for empowerment. these stories challenge the governing historical narratives and current political platforms of exclusion and continue to give a voice to those that have been silenced by white supremacy. finally, critical race theory serves as the unifying framework in this study because it places the oral histories, cuentos, and testimonies of immigrants in the contemporary and historical contexts, while exposing racism as a main thread in the fabric of american society. guided by a latcrit framework, this study employs testimonio as the primary research methodology. a shared definition of testimonio is a revolutionary latin american literary genre that has been used by individuals to tell a collective story and history of oppression through the narrative of one individual (beverly, 2004). i account for the "other" voices that continue to be consistently excluded from mainstream discourses in our culture through testimonio. a testimonio can define a life story; yet, at the same time, it can explain the collective history and spiritual struggle of not only one, but of many. the principle of testimonio is the phrase: “tu eres mi otro yo,” “you are the other me,” our struggle is collective, our voice is one. this form of methodology holds particular importance because it allows researchers to document and inscribe into existence narratives reflective of collective experiences, political injustices, and human struggles that are often ignored in dominant discourses. documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 53 “testimonios” the significance of this work lies within the compelling stories—the testimonios —of the shadowed lives in american society. from a macro and micro perspective of this work, i examine the experiences of undocumented immigrants as individuals trying to survive and settle into a society that, in many ways, rejects their essential humanity. i explore how the media and legal system both portray and affect this population, and utilize testimonio as a tool that challenges the morality of our current immigration discourse that continues to oppress these specific people. this article hopes to put a face to the immigration debate and bring awareness to the large-scale impact immigration reform has on individuals, while also providing an alternative perspective to policy makers and the general public, who might be misinformed about the issue or have conflicting views on immigration. perhaps the opinions of policy makers and others cannot be changed, but counter-narratives to their views can and should be provided. more importantly, this article aims to move public conversation beyond the polarized frames associated with illegality, and position the voices, experiences, and stories of undocumented immigrants at the forefront of research and analysis. esperanza emmanuel garcia "the journey towards you, lord, is life. to set off... is to die a little. to arrive is never to arrive until one is at rest with you. you, lord, experienced migration. you brought it upon all men who know what it is to live who seek safe passage to the gates of heaven. you drove abraham from his land, father of all believers. you shall remember the paths leading to you, the prophets and the apostles. you yourself became a migrant from heaven to earth." -'the migrant's prayer' after my father died in 1999, i had to drop out of school and work for my family. i started working in mexico city, cleaning taxis and recruiting passengers for the drivers. i was 15 years old at the time. i also started hanging out with the wrong people on the street. i began to buy drugs, do drugs, and even sell drugs. i was hustling and making that money. before i delved in too deep, my mother suggested i leave mexico and head to phoenix, arizona with my tío jose. she worried and wanted a better life for me. i ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 54 think i wanted one too. my uncle jose was headed to phoenix to find work. he had three kids and a wife that he needed to provide for. during that time, mexico didn’t have many good jobs available, especially for those without an education. my uncle was a carpenter and had some experience in construction. he loved building and designing things. he once told me that if could have studied, he would have been an architect. in the winter of 1999, my uncle and i boarded an estrella blanca bus in mexico city to a town further north. we didn’t have the money or time to apply for an american visa, so we planned to cross into texas illegally and travel to arizona. before we left, my mother gave me a librito of santo toribio romo oraciones del migrante (a small prayer book of the saint for immigrants); she said it would protect me and bring me back to her. even now, i carry the little booklet with me, everywhere i go. our journey to the united states took more than a week. we rode a bus, walked some many miles and hopped on a train for two days. once at the border, we were smuggled across the line in a van and transported to a drop house in a taxi. the journey itself was horrible. i witnessed a lot of things that i never thought i’d see. i would hear woman and young girls scream at night to “stop,” while the coyotes raped and abused them. i saw families and individuals give up mid-way because they couldn’t go any further. i remember seeing a lot of things like snakes, scorpions and even human remains as we walked. and we walked for hours that felt like days. i had my feet full of blisters and lost some of my toenails from walking so much. there was a time that i think i started hallucinating. but we kept going… once over the border, we were dropped off at the rio grande in south texas at night and we swam across. the water seemed freezing at the time. there was a group of about seven of us. when we got to the other side, a car that was painted like a taxi awaited us. we were driven to a house in texas, where we slept for a few days. there were a lot of people at the house. i am talking like hundreds of people, a lot of women and children, but mostly men. we slept in a room like sardines. on the fifth day, we paid our dues and were on our way. from texas, my tío and i took a bus to phoenix that same day. we arrived three days later. i hated phoenix. the city was hot, noisy, impersonal, and lonely. i started school (even though i didn’t understand one word of english), then worked at a local mexican restaurant bussing tables. when i didn’t work, documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 54 i was often alone. my uncle worked late and i didn’t have any friends. i yearned for my life in mexico, especially on the holidays. in the united states, the holidays were sterile and lonely with no family celebrations or good home cooked food. christmas in america was nothing like the festive celebrations in mexico. three years later, i graduated high school and spoke enough english to get a job waiting tables. i wanted to be a computer technician, but the lack of papers kept me from going to college. my life changed, when i met a blue-eyed blonde named tara. i met tara while waiting on her and her friends one summer day. she was sixteen, the daughter of an unemployed truck driver and a stay-at-home mom. she lived in a trailer park with her grandmother and two other sisters. her father was a drunk and her mother, unfortunately, a drug addict. we married six months after we met at the arizona courthouse. we didn’t have a party. we didn’t have a cake. the only person who attended our wedding was my uncle jose. it didn’t matter to us. we were happy. my marriage to tara didn’t change anything. i remained undocumented, of course. since i entered the united states “illegally,” my marriage didn’t change my status, but i was fine with it. i had tara and to me that was all i cared about. tara and i rented our own apartment in central phoenix. she graduated high school and began working at ross as a cashier. i took a series of low-paying jobs to provide for my wife. i sometimes used her social security to work or bought fake documents to land jobs. i assisted carpenters, painted houses, flipped burgers, and washed dishes to make ends meet. in 2005, i was hired as a painter with a crew that painted public funded projects. i painted hospitals, casinos, fire stations, multimillion dollar homes, restaurants and phoenix’s sky harbor airport. i made about $2,000 a month. it was good money, i thought. that same year, i became a father to my first son miguel. by then, we owned a condo and two cars. i really felt like i was living the american dream. i had a job, a home, and a small family of my own. in 2007, tara gave birth to our second son mark. she stopped working permanently and became a stay-at-home mom. with me personally, something started to change. i felt tired a lot of the times. i would call in sick at least once a week. my back ached and i felt nauseated most days. one morning, i couldn’t even get out of bed, that tara drove me to the emergency room. after a series of tests, i was diagnosed ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 56 with renal disease. i didn’t know what the doctors were talking about when they mentioned kidneys. all i knew was that it seemed serious and i needed help. a social worker explained to me that it was necessary for me to receive emergency treatment if i wanted to live. i couldn’t afford the treatment needed. the treatment for renal disease was about $36,000 per year, not including doctor visits. state laws and my undocumented status, unfortunately, prevented me from receiving any financial assistance. undocumented immigrants were banned from getting any public funded health services in the state of arizona. i also had no insurance. for most of my time in the united states, i avoided the doctor and hospital at all costs. if it wasn’t serious, i wouldn’t go. but sadly, there was no avoiding this. later that year, my social worker called me and said that i was eligible for emergency medical service, regardless of my status. apparently, the state of arizona was forced to pay for my dialysis indefinitely under a disability law because it was a lifethreatening emergency. the doctors told me that i could survive on the dialysis for about five years. but after just a few months, i needed a kidney transplant to stay alive. of course, the state would not pay for a kidney transplant for an undocumented immigrant like me. plus, transplants weren’t considered life-saving emergencies under health regulations. it was then that i realized the gravity of my illness. i didn’t have much time to live without a transplant. i had lost control of my life. nothing seemed easy now. my wife was working two jobs to keep us afloat. my eyesight was failing and my weight dropped from 250 to 200 pounds. we lost the condo. we lost our cars. with less income and more medical expenses, our financial problems mounted. my american dream had evaporated. no kidney transplant. no condo. no health insurance. no documents. and soon no money. after just a year of dialysis, collection agencies called every day. without me working, we weren’t making the bills on time and couldn’t afford to live in phoenix anymore. i decided i was going to move back to mexico to be with my mother. in mexico, transplants and dialysis were free. my mother and sister were also willing to donate a kidney to me. everything seemed more hopeful in mexico city than in phoenix. my family and i would take our $4,000 in savings and move to mexico. in april of 2009, i went to my last dialysis before leaving for the airport. i knew that if i didn’t documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 57 have a dialysis before i left, i risked dying. i had a plan. we were going to go to mexico, get a transplant, save money and come back to phoenix. that was the plan. once in mexico city, my plans began collapsing. i had no transplant donors. my mother, sister and wife were no match. because i never worked in mexico, i didn’t qualify for funded medical assistance. i had to pay for my dialysis and medicines. and it was too much. our savings had dwindled from $4,000 to $1,800 because of my medical costs. there were days that i wondered if i was going to make it. with the money we had left, we decided i’d go back to phoenix to get the medical help i needed. i couldn’t get a transplant, but i could still get dialysis. i felt like a fool. why hadn't i just stayed in phoenix in the first place? now i had to go back and leave my family behind, to stay alive. i set out to cross the border through nogales, sonora. i called my tío jose to make arrangements to be picked up. i did make it to phoenix again. a few months after i arrived, chandler police and federal agents conducted a raid where i had started working, arresting all undocumented immigrants. at that time, i was working at a local car wash in phoenix, cleaning cars. the raid terrified me. i was told that the people of arizona wanted “illegal aliens” gone and i too would soon be deported...i was taken to a county jail at first, then transported here, to this detention center. it didn’t take long for them to learn that i was ill. i passed out in a van, as they transported me to the detention facility. since being detained, my treatments have dropped down to twice a week with little medication. i sleep a lot. i feel worse than before, but try to hang on. i want to see my family again, even if it’s for the last time… ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 58 mario/marisol guerra la vida loca dialéctica del amor/dialectics of love francisco x. alarcón nací en 1977 en tehuacán, puebla. my parents owned a carniceria, a meat market, which supported their three sons and two daughters. we lived comfortably in mexico. we weren’t rich, but we weren’t poor either. i would say my family was working class. our house had 3 bedrooms and one bathroom. we lived just a 10-minute drive from the main city. as a child, i attended a catholic private school, played fútbol and helped out with the family business. growing up, i knew that i felt different. i felt different in the sense that i wanted to wear dresses, play with dolls and spend time with my sisters instead of my brothers. i was also very close to my mother. in a sense, i really felt favored by her. she always confided in me and defended me against my father. my father and i, on the other hand didn’t have much of a relationship. he called me lazy and sometimes would say that i was worthless. i felt as if my own father hated me because he knew. although my parents never mentioned it, i think they knew, i think they knew that i was gay. for years i kept my feelings to myself. i hated myself because i was attracted to boys, partly because i was catholic. at school i was told that being gay was a terrible sin and could mean in spending your afterlife burning in hell. at school, when other students would ask if i was gay or queer, i denied it. i tried to partake in “masculine” activities by playing sports and joking about girls. sometimes i even told myself, “i will like girls someday.” but deep down inside, i worried about myself. conocimiento común yo sé tú sabes todos saben y aún así nadie parece saber common knowledge i know you know everybody knows and yet nobody seems to know documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 59 i had my first sexual encounter with another man when i was 14 years old—with a 19 year-old neighbor. i never viewed this particular experience as child sex abuse, but rather a pleasurable awakening. i had crossed my first border into a forbidden world, which i would never leave. it was the high point of my human experience up to that point. era un joto, i was gay. still, though, i didn’t tell anyone about my new-found sexuality for a long time. when i turned fifteen, i dropped out of school to work at a blue-jean maquiladora (factory) in my hometown. i worked nine hours a day, six days a week sewing jeans that would be shipped out to the united states. i was paid about three to four hundred dollars a month. it wasn’t much, but i was still living at home, so it worked. after work or on my days off, i would spend my nights in la plaza eyeing other gay men and sometimes even married men. i called them mayates. by the time i was nineteen, i’d had several sexual experiences with other men: gay, straight, bisexual, and married. however, i felt empty. i still felt as if something were missing. i was bored, i yearned for something more. it was then that i crossed another border. at twenty, i began dressing up as woman. i’d take the bus to a nearby town, where my friend alicia lived, and dress as a woman there. i became marisol. with my long black hair, revealing dresses and platform heels, i worked part-time as a prostitute. i hung out in local bars and recruited my clients from there. a lot of my clients were married men or guys with girlfriends. it wasn’t easy being marisol. i was taunted on the street with insults like: maricon, pinche joto, puto joto. some of my transvestite friends were raped and beaten up. being a homosexual or a transvestite was looked down upon in mexico. people weren’t very accepting. i managed to escape most of the violence, until one day i was almost stoned to death… one night, i volunteered to work at a booth in a carnival dressed as a transvestite. a gang of boys began throwing stones at me and calling me names. i managed to get away. after that incident and because of my mother’s health, i decided to go to the united states. my motivation was twofold. i needed money to help pay for my mother’s medical bills and was tired of all the persecution i was experiencing for ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 60 being gay. i had heard that the united states accepted homosexuals. they were treated with dignity and respect… even transvestites. in 1998, i decided to go to the united states. i had a friend in phoenix, who said he would help me with lodging and work if i made it across. i am going to the united states, i told my mother. she must have sensed my reasons because she didn’t ask me any questions, but simply gave me her blessing. i promised her that if i made it over, i would send money and return to mexico to visit. one day early in april of 1998, i traveled by bus from tehuacan to agua prieta, a town in sonora, where coyotes smuggled immigrants across the border. i was picked up in a ranch on the mexican side of the border with 13 other immigrants. the ranch was a staging area for human smugglers. a couple hours later, i found myself on the other side of la línea. arizona was dusty, full of cacti and rock, but more than anything hot. i was delivered to my friend (gus), who waited in a car off highway 80 for $1,200 american dollars. gus paid the coyote and we drove to phoenix that same night. early the next morning, i went straight to work. gus already had a job awaiting me to pay off the debt that i had owed him for the coyote. i worked as a painter for about seven dollars an hour at the time. i was paid in cash because i had no legal papers or identity really, except my passport from mexico. i earned twice as much in phoenix than in mexico. it amazed me how much i was able to make in just one month. for me, making two thousand a month was a lot of money. as soon as i paid off my debt, i was able to begin my life in phoenix, arizona. i fell in love with phoenix. it was a different world than that of mexico. compared to mexico, phoenix was new, big, and exciting. it was also culturally segregated. latinos, blacks and whites lived side by side, but in different worlds. i didn’t feel the need to learn english because most of my community was the undocumented latino people. everywhere i went people were hired without papers. hundreds of establishments in phoenix hired undocumented immigrants for work. it was never an issue finding a job or living in arizona “sin papeles.” all my close friends were undocumented. personally, i no longer had to be the closeted gay prostitute. in america, i was able to announce that i was gay and no one seemed to care. i still dressed like a woman and went to bars, but this time i didn’t have to sell myself for documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 61 money. i dressed up for the fun of it and because i liked being marisol. most of my encounters as marisol were with migrant men, who were miles away from their wives and girlfriends. i, unfortunately, ended up falling in love with one. i met pancho one night at a bar in phoenix. his real name was francisco, but he went by pancho. he was an undocumented immigrant (like myself) from southern mexico and worked in construction. pancho was a married man. he lived in phoenix with his wife and three kids in a trailer park with two bedrooms. sometimes he invited me to his house for dinner with his family. pancho would tell his wife that i was a good friend from work. i don’t think his wife (yolanda) ever suspected of our affair. over the years, i fell madly in love with pancho. we saw each other as much as possible for over 5 years. he was tall, slender, handsome, dark hair, light hazel eyes, and dressed like a vaquero. he took me out and bought me gifts, both as mario and marisol. he told me that he loved me and promised that he would one day leave his wife for me. i believed him and promised to wait for him. my life in phoenix seemed to be a dream come true. i had a good job as a painter and an apartment that i shared with another friend. i was able to send money to mexico to my family. i was able to be freely me with no shame and i was in love. it wasn’t until 2007 that i received a phone call from pancho. pancho was picked up by the police and would soon be deported back to mexico. he was asked for his legal papers by the cops and had none to show. his status was an “illegal alien.” he was deported to mexico within days. at first, pancho would call me every day and say that he would come back to phoenix. he promised that we would be together again, one day. after a few months, the phone calls stopped. sometimes, i would bump into his wife, yolanda and ask her about him. she herself was struggling to make ends meet working at a local jack in the box. she would say that pancho was trying to come back, but that it was too expensive. that’s the last i knew about him. in 2008, i lost my job in phoenix because of the employer sanctions act against hiring undocumented immigrants in arizona. i applied for different jobs on a daily basis. i was turned away from fast-food restaurants and construction companies. i had no proof of papers. the state of arizona seemed to have turned against all undocumented immigrants. i could go nowhere without fearing deportation. i hated the so-called racist ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 62 sheriff arpaio’s raids and attacks on immigrants. i felt trapped without a job. my savings began depleting because of my monthly share of rent and food. like all other undocumented immigrants, i began living in the shadows. i didn’t leave my house, except for food. i wanted to leave arizona, but had no money to go anywhere. after 10 months, i moved in with another friend because i could no longer afford the rent for my apartment. there were days that i thought of prostituting myself again for money and returning to mexico. i hoped for immigration reform instead. in july of 2009, i received a phone call from pancho. he was in tijuana and wanted to see me. he was on his way to texas, where he had heard that there was work for undocumented people. we could be together again he said. i was still in love with pancho. i thought about moving to texas, but then i changed my mind. i never thought that i would react the way i did. i decided to stay in phoenix instead. why should i be with someone who was never going to leave his wife? or with someone who was ashamed of his sexuality? i deserved better. maybe one day, i would meet a man who really loved me… as i sit in this detention center now, august of 2014, i am grateful for all the opportunities and experiences that i’ve gone through. i feel so fortunate of having had the chance to come to the united states. it has been good to me. more good than bad i like to think. i won’t get into the details of how i ended up here, but here i am. i’ve been here for almost one year and still now, i have no legal representation. i haven’t been deported; i haven’t stood in front of a judge to determine my fate, so here i am. aqui estoy, esperando. still hoping for immigration reform… conclusion in lak ech tú eres mi otro yo/you are my other me. si te hago daño a ti/if do harm to you, me hago daño a mí mismo/i do harm to myself; si te amo y respeto/if i love and respect you, me amo y respeto yo/i love and respect myself. quote by luis valdez documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 63 the purpose of this study was to go beyond the myths and stereotypes and acknowledge the full humanity of undocumented immigrants. much of my research efforts were to give a glimpse of the complexity of their stories, the richness of their narratives, and profoundness of their experiences. like all people, they have dreams and sometimes even make mistakes. their lives are much more than the potent images and broad claims circulating the media and popular discourse. when they are not being detained or deported, abused or dehumanized because of their status—they are (like you and me) working hard every day to provide and keep their families safe. their story is a testimony of the unified struggle of what it means to be an illegal immigrant within this country. undocumented immigration is not solely an issue tied to corrupt foreign governments and policies, but a humanitarian one. until then, we cannot begin to understand the issue of unauthorized immigration, unless we begin listening to these “illegals” directly. ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 64 references alarcón, f. x. (2002). from the other side of night/del otro lado de la noche. tucson, az: university of arizona press. bacon, d. (2009). illegal people: how globalization creates migration and criminalizes immigrants. boston, ma: beacon press. beverly, j. (2004). testimonio: on the politics of truth. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. castro-salazar, r., & bagley, c. (2012). navigating borders: critical race theory research and counter history of undocumented americas. new york, ny: peter lang publishing. fernandez, l. (2002). telling stories about school: using critical race and latino critical theories to document latina/latino education and resistance. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 45-65. huber, l. (2010). beautifully powerful: a latcrit reflection on coming to an epistemological consciousness and the power of testimonio. journal of gender, social policy and the law, 18(3), 839-851. orner, p. (2008). underground america: narratives of undocumented lives. san francisco, ca: mcsweeney's books. parker, l. (2011). ethics of migration and immigration. retrieved november 18, 2014, from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/more/resources/the-ethics-ofmigration-and-immigration/. sterling, t. (2010). illegal: life and death in arizona's immigration war zone. guilford, ct: lyons press. amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 book review to what ends & by what means? the social justice implications of contemporary school fi nance theory & policy by gloria rodriguez and anthony rolle (eds.) (2007) irina okhremtchouk university of california, davis to what ends and by what means? the social justice implications of contemporary school finance theory and policy (2007) presents an unprecedented perspective on the issues of school fi nance by engaging its readers in how the school fi nance theory and policy can aid in eliminating existing inequalities and support democratic participation by all members of the society. both editors, gloria m. rodriguez and r. anthony rolle, are scholars in the area of education leadership, fi nance, and policy. the forward to the book, authored by patricia gándara, provides a good lead for this piece by highlighting the contextual, theoretical and policy signifi cance this timely collection of scholarly work offers. an introductory chapter presents editors’ defi nitions for social justice in the context of school fi nance and invites the readers to take initial an step forward envisioning new possibilities for social justice frameworks in school fi nance. the collection of work presented in this volume draws on critical discussions as well as advances a number of established prominent theories and policy views. such discussions continue to build upon and support a foundation for piecing together novel contextual frameworks to understand how contemporary school fi nance policies might better support changes needed to improve the educational conditions faced by those individuals and groups who have been traditionally underrepresented in economic, political, and social policy arenas. in constructing this piece of literature, the editors are very cognizant of how the information is presented by showcasing an array of critical debates on theory and policy. this volume highlights not only conventional but widely debated issues involving equity and adequacy in education fi nance – a more traditional approach, but takes its readers one step further through an examination of fi scal issues from a social justice perspective. in all, the book has successfully incorporated the concept of social justice into the fi eld of school fi nance – a much needed framework that has been underutilized in the fi eld. discussions exploring normative political theory, critical race theory, school improvement factors, current views on adequacy, community strength framework, resources and policies necessary to provide high quality instruction for english learner students, eliminating poverty in our local communities, and achieving social justice on an international level, have explored the issues from a socially just perspective as it relates to school fi nance and how we fund schools. this timely piece continues to challenge traditional views and established perceptions in the area of school fi nance in its feat toward a more socially just society – a much needed change that, in the end, affects us all. the book, however, introduces only two sections for readers’ deliberation – theory and policy. thus, making this book more accessible to readers who are academicians or policymakers in the fi eld and less accessible to those who are school and district practitioners. the volume could have been strengthened in its design by including a section on contemporary empirical research in the fi eld in order to make it accessible to a wider scope of audiences. as i conclude this review, i highly recommend rodriguez and rolle’s book. this book has not only brought to light a subject that has been widely overlooked, but also managed to incorporate social justice framework in a multitude of discussions pertaining to various aspects of school fi nance. as a practitioner, policymaker, and an academician, i can truly say that this book has stimulated and challenged my thinking as it 62 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 relates to various aspects of school fi nance and social justice. i am confi dent that this book will continue to promote a more contemporary outlook on how we perceive school fi nance and the lens through which we conduct our scholarly writings and analysis. 63 volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ ventura association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 23 "we created that space with everybody:" constructing a community-based space of belonging and familia in a latina/o youth group julissa ventura university of wisconsin-madison abstract as the latino population grows across the united states and particularly in places outside traditional gateway cities, questions arise around the challenges and opportunities for latinos in these new areas of settlement. situated within this context of latino demographic change, this article examines the construction of a youth-led, grassroots latino youth group in a mid-sized, midwestern city. through a community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) and social justice development framework (ginwright & cammarota, 2002), this article highlights how latino youth and adult community allies constructed a space of belonging where youth shared their experiences and knowledge. in the group youth built upon their familial and navigational capital and developed self and social awareness. this youth constructed space differed greatly from the schools youth attended. drawing from a 16-week, ethnographically informed study this article suggests that when youth are given an opportunity to create and lead their own space, they can provide powerful insight and perspective on educational issues. the findings from this study have implications for educators, youth workers, and policymakers looking for ways to build more engaging, culturally-relevant classrooms and programs for latina/o students. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.326 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.326 “we created that space with everybody” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 24 introduction over the past 30 years, the latino population has grown rapidly across different areas of the united states. as latino families disperse throughout the country, latino children are growing up in contexts that are very different from ethnic enclaves in cities like new york, los angeles, and chicago. in places considered part of the new latino diaspora—areas of the united states that have not traditionally been home to latinos—latina/o youth are growing up in places where they are making sense of who they are, while also confronting how a majority white population perceives them (hamann, wortham, & murillo, jr., 2015). school districts, in particular, are grappling with the impact of these demographic shifts. this article highlights how an out-of-school, youth-led space countered the negative experiences that youth faced in schools. participant observations and interviews with latin@youth, a youth group in the mid-sized, midwestern city of fairview1, revealed how latin@youth became a space where youth found a sense of belonging and also shared and constructed critical knowledge. therefore, in new latino diaspora sites where schools are still figuring out how to best meet the needs of latino students and families, out-of-school community spaces may be sites of insights, resources, and possibilities. youth-constructed spaces: sites of additive possibilities community-based spaces have come into play for many youth of color as educational spaces with an additive approach, in contrast to the subtractive practices found in schools (valenzuela, 1999). although the goals and mission of community-based spaces vary widely, some studies have documented how these spaces can offer additive educational possibilities for latina/o youth by building on youth’s knowledges and cultures, and actively engaging them in a collaborative learning process (cammarota, 2008; flores-gonzáles, rodríguez, rodríguez-muñiz, 2014; roffman, suárez-orozco, & rhodes, 2003). latina/o youth and families usually look towards community-based organizations to find supportive services such as tutoring, mentoring, college advice, and employment assistance (villarruel, monterosieburth, dunbar, & outley, 2005). studies show that community center youth programs often foster positive youth development through a supportive services approach, such as providing youth with caring mentors and role models (rodríguez & conchas, 2009; roffman et al., 2003). even in schools, close relationships between youth and school adults are often developed outside of the classroom, such as in school clubs, athletic teams, special elective courses, and/or after-school programs (gibson, gandara, & koyama, 2004; ream & rumberger, 2008; stanton-salazar, 2001). in addition to social capital accessed through relationships with adult staff, peer social capital—peer networks that provide access to tangible 1 pseudonyms are used for all names of people, places, and institutions throughout this article. ventura association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 25 forms of support—can also play a positive role in latino student academic experiences (gibson et al., 2004). therefore, when community-based youth programs are well designed, they can provide students with a sense of community and access to information and support needed to be academically successful. community-based spaces can engage and support students that are often disadvantaged by stratified school systems where resources are often unequally distributed. in addition, some youth programs engage youth in projects for social change that seek to foster social justice youth development. these programs not only support youth to survive existing structures, but also help them develop a critical lens to better understand the systems of power, privilege, and inequality that affect them and their communities (ginwright & cammarota, 2006). community spaces that engage in critical youth development and youth organizing take a freirean perspective of young people, which recognizes them as subjects of knowledge production rather than empty vessels that qualified adults must fill with the right kinds of knowledge, attitudes, and norms (freire, 2000; ginwright & cammarota, 2006). by building on youth’s cultural and social resources and developing critical thinking skills, these community spaces can positively influence youth’s academic trajectory and can also have an even greater impact on their communities. while many case studies have revealed the ways in which community-based programs are active educational spaces particularly for youth of color, less has been written about how these spaces are constructed, particularly by youth in smaller, demographically changing cities. in this article, i shed light on how meaningful a youth-led space can be, particularly for youth in the new latino diaspora. theoretical framework i entered this study with a worldview that recognizes students of color as creators and holders of knowledge, a perspective that comes from critical raced-gendered epistemologies (delgado bernal, 2002). working from this epistemological stance, i bring together the social justice youth development framework (ginwright & cammarota, 2002) with the concept of community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) to engage in a richer exploration of the relationships and knowledge construction that existed in a latina/o youth group space. the social justice youth development framework acknowledges that youth are capable of understanding and responding to the community problems they face. ginwright and cammarota (2002) argue that in their development of critical consciousness and social action, youth progress through three levels of awareness:  self-awareness: understanding the connection between identity and power relationships  social awareness: knowledge base of social issues; engagement in investigation, analysis, and problem solving “we created that space with everybody” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 26  global awareness: critical engagement with struggles of oppressed people throughout the world similarly to flores-gonzalez, rodriguez, and rodriguez-muñiz (2014), who find the three social justice youth development stages to be continuous (realized, reformed, and developed simultaneously), i see the self-awareness and social awareness stages as closely linked and informing each other. given that this study took place when the youth group was first getting established, i draw from a social justice youth development framework to explore how youth members developed their self and social awareness as the foundation for potential future global awareness and youth-led action. i also draw upon community cultural wealth to inform my analysis of youth and ally interactions within the all-latino youth space (yosso, 2005). grounded in critical race theory (crt) and latino critical theory (latcrit), community cultural wealth decenters whiteness and focuses on the multiple forms of capital (aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, and familial) that communities of color hold, particularly from their legacy of resilience and resistance to racism and other forms of subordination (solórzano & villalpando 1998; yosso, 2005). this conceptualization of cultural capital theory challenges deficit frameworks that see latino youth as lacking the cultural and social capital to succeed within institutional structures. i found the concepts of familial capital and navigational capital particularly insightful in seeing the impact that the group had on its youth members. specifically, the youth group was able to expand familial capital beyond just that found among relatives to include a broad sense of kinship among members and their community. therefore, the community cultural wealth framework is able to capture aspects that are unique in an all-latino space, while the social justice youth development framework captures the critical consciousness that can be fostered in youth spaces more broadly. methodology and positionality this article is based on an ethnographically informed 16-week study at latin@youth, an out-ofschool and youth-led space. the group described itself as “a grassroots collective of youth of color activists from the fairview area, a movement from youth to youth that uses creative art expression and storytelling as a tool for social change and social justice” (march 8, 2013, field notes). the youth and their adult mentors, whom they called community allies, met weekly at one of the local colleges. over the course of the study, i participated in weekly youth group meetings where i listened to youth’s stories, saw their interactions with each other and the community allies, and observed how they represented themselves within the space. i also went to community events to understand how the youth represented the group to different audiences. i conducted a total of 12 interviews: three with adult community allies and nine with youth group members. i recruited a representative youth sample for interviews, which consisted of six female ventura association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 27 youth and three male youth who ranged in ages from 17 to 23 years old. all interviews and fieldnotes were coded with inductive and deductive codes and analyzed for emergent themes. i used holistic, descriptive, and versus coding (e.g. school vs. youth group) and then moved on to developing themes (creswell, 2007; saldaña, 2013). my data analysis also included triangulating interview data with field notes and documents, and sharing my emerging findings with participants for member checks. codes and themes were ultimately organized, transformed, and sometimes taken out in the final phases of data analysis, which involved multiple rounds of analyzing the data for themes and patterned regularities. positionality: ally-researcher i initially met the youth of latin@youth while they were a part of a community center, and i agreed to be a community ally when they left to start their own grassroots group. given the unique nature of the group, a youth-led initiative without an institutional affiliation, the group needed me as an ally, not just a researcher. through the data collection process, i found myself in what green (2013) describes as a game of double dutch: “like the turning ropes, my roles [were] often fluid, with unnoticeable boundaries, and yet at a moment’s notice the same roles may be distinctly pronounced” (p.152). there were times where i was more of a participant than an observer and vice versa so that my researcher and ally roles were not always distinctly separate, but rather responsive to the group’s needs. as a latina, i shared identities and experiences with the members of latin@youth. however, as a researcher i also held a position of power in that i was the one who made final decisions on how their stories and our shared stories were told. my multiple, fluid, and clashing identities as researcher and community ally pushed me to work with the group to create the space they envisioned for themselves (villenas, 1996). research site: the fairview context and latin@youth group within the midwestern county where fairview is located, the latino population has doubled from 3 percent of the total population in 2000 to 6 percent in 2010 (long & veroff, 2014). although fairview continues to be a predominantly white city, the growth of the latino population has been most apparent in the fairview school district. in the early 1990s, latino students made up only 2 percent of the school district, but by 2012, latino student enrollment had increased to 19 percent. the county and district have grappled with how to best serve this increasingly diverse student and family population; however, many non-profit organizations offer programs and services to the growing communities of color in fairview. i first met the youth of latin@youth at a local community-based organization where i volunteered with naida lyna, the coordinator of a youth leadership program. however, in the fall of “we created that space with everybody” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 28 2012, naida lyna and two other youth workers left the organization due to tensions with the executive director. youth workers felt isolated in their work with little access or input into the decision-making. the youth also felt disconnected from the organization’s leadership. jackeline, one of the youth, described how she and many of the youth felt about the executive director: he doesn't even know our names. he has never been to one of our meetings and he would like take credit. he couldn't even really understand where we were coming from, like our point of views. i mean he's white and we're hispanic. we go through different things. he doesn't even speak spanish, i'm pretty sure. interestingly, the executive director did speak spanish; however, many of the youth spoke about how they had never met him and felt that he could not relate to their experiences. feeling disconnected from the community organization’s leadership and losing some of their trusted youth workers, the youth decided to leave the organization and form their own independent youth group: latin@youth. the former youth workers along with myself and a few other adult community members became the group’s community allies. as the group transitioned away from the community center, i saw how they built a space of belonging and fostered trusting relationships that then gave way to an educational space where youth learned from each other and allies. latin@youth: a space of belonging and familia in this section, i discuss the ways in which latin@youth became a place of belonging and engagement for youth, which was particularly important in strengthening their self-awareness. after leaving the community organization, the youth had many discussions about how to define the group, now that they had the autonomy to create their own identity, goals, and projects. throughout the first few weeks of the group, i saw how youth and allies made latin@youth a place where youth found trust and a sense of belonging, which often contrasted with what they found in school. during her interview, jackeline made a sharp distinction between latin@youth and her high school, stating: it's not that i hate school, but i don't like high school. i don't like the people in it. i don't feel part of it. and then [at] the youth group i feel like i'm in it, i'm part of it, i play a role in it. in high school, i'm another hispanic student type of thing. finding a space of belonging allowed many of the youth to develop their sense of self-awareness and recognize that their educational struggles were not just a matter of their individual efforts, but rather a part of a greater system of inequitable schooling of latina/o students. for instance, they started to share how teachers often had lower expectations for latina/o students and how latina/o students were segregated into esl classrooms, sometimes all throughout elementary school and middle school. by sharing these stories with each other, youth started to understand that their negative schooling ventura association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 29 experiences were not a result of their individual shortcomings, but that schools played an active role in perpetuating the unequal education of latina/o students in fairview. in their interviews, many of the youth spoke about the difficulty they had in finding a sense of belonging in schools. anali, who was one of the most outspoken youth in the group, explained how she disengaged from school after exiting the english as a second language (esl) program. in the esl program, she had established caring relationships with peers and teachers, but this was not the case once she transitioned to mainstream courses. she explained: i didn't feel motivated into going because i was just going to go sit there, and even though class might be interesting, i had no one to talk to, and when we had to pair up with someone i didn't talk to anyone, and i always felt left out and lonely. so that's one of the reasons why i kind of lost interest in school for a long time...i would go and then leave or i would just not go at all and be gone for like weeks. for anali, not going to school seemed like a better alternative to sitting in a classroom where she felt she didn’t belong. often, schools see students as truant or disengaged, but fail to see the reasons behind this behavior. for some students, a supportive peer network and a sense of belonging in the classroom are critical elements for their academic engagement. whereas her school might have painted her as a truant student uninterested in learning, anali rarely missed a latin@youth meeting and became a part of the “comité,” a smaller group of youth who volunteered to meet before the larger group meetings to set the agenda. her sense of belonging in the group motivated her to not only consistently attend meetings, but also take on a leadership role. like anali, rolando also had school truancy problems, but consistently attended latin@youth meetings. rolando had been tracked into esl courses all through middle school and most of high school, and he started to disengage from school when he did not feel challenged in his courses. as part of latin@youth, however, rolando began to develop a stronger self-identity. he recalled how a conversation about identity at a youth group meeting had led him to ask his mother about an indigenous language spoken in her hometown in mexico. through his own research, he found that it was an aztec language. rolando said that through his involvement in latin@youth he was learning how to be a leader and added, “i would never learn how to be a leader in school. i don't even know how i would learn to be a leader in school.” for rolando, a sense of belonging also came with opportunities for leadership, which he had not found in school. both rolando and anali, who were likely seen as truant and disengaged students at school, were consistently present and willing to participate in youth group discussions and projects, and perhaps more importantly, they started to develop a positive self-identity as leaders. furthermore, youth like daysi and gabriela, who were enrolled in higher-level classes and found “we created that space with everybody” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 30 school more engaging than rolando and anali, still experienced feelings of not belonging in school. for example, daysi said that for a while she thought that latinos didn’t belong in honors courses. daysi’s observation that there weren’t any students of color in honors classes led her to believe that those courses were just too hard until she decided to enroll in an honors level class. in this way, the school discourses about who does and does not belong in certain courses can in fact influence students’ “choice” in courses (oakes, 2008; tyson, 2011). moreover, when students did enroll in higher-level classes, they felt that they had to work extra hard to prove they belonged. gabriela, who took a number of higher-level classes, explained how she felt in these classes: at school i feel like sometimes people expect me not to do well, so i have to constantly prove them wrong…typically when the teachers hand back tests they don't say anything to other people and then they'll be like "oh good job". like ok, what were you expecting? in many ways, latin@youth served as a space where youth could shield themselves from the messages of exclusion, isolation, and lower expectations they received in school. in latin@youth they could transform negative schooling experiences into motivation to push harder and reach higher in their dreams for a better future. students like daysi and gabriela did not back down from taking honors or advanced placement courses, even if those classes did not provide an inclusive environment. most importantly, they encouraged other youth to also take advanced courses and disrupted the narrative that those courses were too hard for latina/o students. with the support of community allies, the youth were able to not let schools define their potential. a community ally, naida lyna, explained that unlike many traditional youth programs run by adults, latin@youth had: this belief, this energy, this trust, you know like they feel...what i see is that they are empowering themselves, you know it's like they are feeding themselves with their own power, with their own self-determination, with their own aspirations and dreams. through their participation in the group, the youth strengthened their self-awareness by developing a more positive self-regard and spoke with a sense of empowerment moving forward as a group and also individually in their educational trajectory. the new familia of youth and allies at latin@youth, caring relationships created strong bonds among youth and between youth and allies. sharing their experiences as immigrant latino students in the fairview area was an important element in building the sense of belonging and sibling-like camaraderie between them. often referring to the group as a familia, the youth and allies saw latin@youth as a space that truly represented them. katya, a youth member, explained, “we created that space with everybody so that makes it even more ventura association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 31 meaningful.” an important element of latin@youth was that youth felt that they were all equals in the group and therefore had equal ownership over the space. they felt supported by the community allies as well as by each other. unlike schools and many other youth programs, latin@youth was not organized by age, nor was there an age limit. the group members ranged in age from 14 to 23 years old, from high school youth to college or working youth. older youth spoke about a sense of responsibility in mentoring the younger youth. as katya said: we're all leaders, and that's what makes the group so powerful. i see myself as a resource to the [younger] youth. a leader for those that maybe don't know that they are leaders but they need help making that flourish. in seeing each other as resources and leaders, the youth collectively grew their community cultural wealth, creating strong relationships from which to draw social, familial, and navigational capital. throughout the time of this study, i saw older youth help younger youth with homework, college applications, and scholarship applications. in many ways they were able to guide the younger youth on positive academic paths. the community allies were also an important part of the latin@youth familia. the allies were college graduates and were either building their professional careers or pursuing a graduate education. throughout their interviews and latin@youth meetings, the youth acknowledged that they looked up to the community allies as successful latino role models, particularly because of the lack of latina/o teachers and counselors in their schools. gabriela said, “they're people to look up to and they're all really successful so you know sometimes we don't really see that. we don't see it everywhere.” one youth member, lorena, said she came to the group because of “…the group’s energy and the support from the allies” (march 22, 2013, field notes). the community allies acted as “institutional agents,” or adults that youth could trust in navigating the different institutions in the city (i.e. schools, colleges), providing youth with access to social capital (stanton-salazar, 2001). the community allies also modeled a bicultural identity for youth, as they often spoke about how staying grounded in their cultural roots and identity had helped them navigate the school system without losing their connection to their families and communities. therefore, the community allies supported youth in seeing their cultural roots, knowledge, and experiences as strengths, rather than deficits in their education. “la cultura cura:” stretching educational boundaries and constructions of knowledge latin@youth’s move from a community organization to a grassroots, youth-led group allowed “we created that space with everybody” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 32 for them to learn from their individual stories and develop a social awareness. as rfm2, a community ally, described: they [the youth] all have their specific analysis and their own lens on how they see the world that is really unique to themselves…and although they may not have the language to be able to communicate that experience or that history or that struggle, they are able to come to the youth group and use the medium of the arts, dance, poetry, to be able to talk about it. and i feel like that's a powerful thing because not a lot of spaces in fairview allow you to speak about your personal narrative or struggles without having to do it in a specific language. in many ways the role of community allies was one of support, rather than leadership. youth built the agenda for meetings and community allies participated in ways that validated youth’s narratives as legitimate and important knowledge. as rfm explains above, the group’s actions were not directed by adults, but rather by the experiences that youth had in schools and in fairview. unlike after-school programs that have adult-led programming, latin@youth was an open space for youth expression and ideas. for example, after one meeting where youth shared the challenges they faced in schools, they decided that one of their group goals would be to share these stories with the community through art projects, presentations, or theater skits. the youth wanted the broader community to learn about the issues facing latino youth in fairview in hopes that this would be the first step towards change. through their discussions in the group, the youth built an organic culturally relevant pedagogy where they accepted and affirmed their cultural identity while also developing a critical lens with which to see the world (ladson-billings, 1995). sharing their stories with each other became a process of teaching and learning, as well as a process of healing where youth learned that they were not the only ones facing challenges in fairview. latin@youth meetings always started with a “check-in,” and sometimes youth used this time as an opportunity to not only share, but also get advice from the group. for example, one friday afternoon, katya shared that the police had pulled her over. her situation sparked an animated discussion where the youth in the group asked katya about how the police officer had interacted with her. the group asked her: “did the cop say why you got pulled over?” when katya said he hadn’t really given a reason, some youth said that was racist. one youth asked, “how did the cop know she didn’t have a license?” while some of the youth thought katya should fight the ticket in court, others told her about people they knew who had just paid the ticket (february 15, 2013, field notes). katya’s feelings about the situation with the police were validated in the space not only through the other youth and allies listening, but also through the conversation that followed, in which the youth 2 pseudonym chosen by participant. ventura association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 33 shared information acquired through their own experiences. in talking through their knowledge and experiences with public institutions like the police, youth often drew and built upon their navigational capital (yosso, 2005). in addition, they felt that they could talk through issues of racism through racial profiling, which revealed that they understood issues of power at play in their interactions with institutions. the construction of their own space gave youth the opportunity to start developing their critical consciousness and questioning structural systems of power in which they were often marginalized (freire, 2000; ginwright & cammarota, 2002). moreover, having a space to talk about challenging situations such as encounters with the police enabled youth to engage in a healing process from the impact of racial and economic wounds. youth collectively supported each other in building strength and resilience. discussion through the stories of individual youth and latin@youth as a group, this article highlights the important role that out-of-school, community spaces can play in the development of meaningful relationships and constructions of knowledge for youth in the new latino diaspora. for the youth involved in starting the group, it was important to have ownership of their own space and find a place of belonging in contrast to the exclusion they often felt in schools. these youth were able to question the dominant narrative of latinos in fairview through sharing their own narratives. most importantly, the latin@youth space allowed for the growth of community cultural wealth, particularly familial capital, and strengthened youth’s cultural identities to awaken their self and social awareness. latin@youth gave young latinos the room to explore their latinidad, their latina/o identities, in a predominantly white city. all of the youth felt strongly rooted in their latina/o identities, often emphasizing the importance of holding onto who you are and where you come from. yet, they also expressed a connection to fairview as the place that had been and would continue to be their home. in the latin@youth space, they did not have to shed their histories or multiple identities in order to belong. latin@youth was a space where youth began to awaken their critical consciousness about the issues and systems that affect latinos in fairview (ginwright & cammarota, 2002). constructing a grassroots, all-latino space was in itself an act of agency and resistance, as the youth left an organization where their work was unsupported. even though this study is based on one youth group, it provides insight into how latinos in areas outside the traditional gateway states are taking an active role in becoming part of their new host communities and working towards the change needed in these areas. community-based groups like latin@youth give us insight into what is possible when spaces emerge from youths’ lived experiences, suggesting that community spaces should strive to not only be sites of social service, but also ones of social change. by having youth at the center, latin@youth “we created that space with everybody” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 34 became what the youth needed it to be: a space based on a mutual trust to share their stories. it was a space with no rules or external expectations, which gave youth more room and time to explore the issues that they, not adults, deemed important. the fact that latin@youth was an out-of-school space allowed for youth to be openly critical of what happens in schools and became a space where new realities could be imagined. through the sharing of their stories, youth began to deconstruct the dominant narratives that circulated in schools and the broader community. youth began to see issues as systemic, rather than just individualized to their own experience. prior to creating latin@youth, the youth in this study felt constrained as part of a program at a community organization, highlighting how community organizations can sometimes become unresponsive to youth’s needs. there must be an attuned awareness of how to sustain youth spaces without de-centering the youth themselves, and how to construct these spaces with youth rather than framing them as safe havens for youth. in order to build a safe space for exploration and critical consciousness, out-of-school spaces need to be highly aware of the forces that may marginalize youth. on the other hand, operating outside of the dominant institutions of youth work with limited resources is not always easy. while autonomous groups like latin@youth reveal what is possible when youth take ownership of the construction of their own space, its unaffiliated position also raises questions around the sustainability of these spaces. in the current context of education reform, we see little space for youth voices as schools focus on standardized testing, a common core curriculum, and accountability measures. unfortunately, we seem to be moving further away from anyon’s (2005) call to have education policy “join the world of communities, families and students [so that it] advocates for them and emerges from their urgent realities” (p. 199). however, latin@youth illustrates that youth can provide schools with powerful insight into how school structures and school cultures can create barriers for latina/o students’ academic success. for example, youth felt that the current tracking structures at their school perpetuated the idea that latina/o students belonged in lower level and esl courses and this message was further reinforced when latina/o students felt isolated in higher-level or mainstream courses. schools should make greater efforts to learn about how a sense of belonging is fostered and sustained in different community spaces. many out-of-school spaces are reframing youth as powerful holders of knowledge, but it is imperative that this also happens within schools. as many school districts ask why their data shows “achievement gaps,” they can start by including students in the conversation. for instance, schools could allow for more youth-led spaces where they can openly discuss issues that they feel can improve their educational experiences. in addition, it seems that schools would be well served by having youth input in curriculum so that the curriculum could be more diverse and more reflective of student ventura association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 35 experiences. part of the reason why youth felt like they belonged at latin@youth was that they had ownership over their learning and projects. if teachers were to give students a sense of ownership in their own learning, such as by asking for their input on project ideas and asking for student feedback throughout the school year, it is more likely that students might feel like they belong in that classroom. when we ask youth to engage in meaningful ways about the barriers and challenges they face, we open the opportunity for them to provide a vast array of answers, and also push ourselves to change the questions and imagine different solutions (fine, roberts, & torres, 2004). future research creating a youth-centered space with trusting relationships became the foundation of latin@youth. every week, youth used their own narratives to strengthen their desire to make change in fairview. however, these research findings are based on a small group of youth in one midwestern city, and thus there is a need to further explore the experiences of latino youth in other new latino diaspora sites. given the limited number of male youth in this study, further studies could also delve deeper into the gendered experiences of youth. for instance, the youth group was predominantly female, which begs the question about why male youth were less likely to participate. the united states as a whole is changing demographically, so working with youth who are growing up in places of rapid demographic change can give us insight into educational policies and practices that may open or limit youth’s future opportunities. conclusion the literature on out-of-school spaces often focuses on youth action or youth research, but not enough is known about how these spaces get started. in my work with latin@youth, i found that trusting and caring relationships in the group created a strong foundation for youth to engage in self and social awareness. this article illuminates how finding a space of belonging where youth can create trusting relationships with both peers and adults is critical and necessary before youth pursue meaningful actions in their communities. in spaces like latin@youth, developing a global awareness and youth-led actions might not come until much later, but what was most important in starting the group was that everyone’s experience was valued and heard. working from an autonomous position where there were no restrictions on discussions, activities, or their work meant that youth used their own lived experiences to drive their learning. given their experiences of marginalization in a demographically changing city, the youth that constructed latin@youth made sure it was a place of belonging. in latin@youth they explored what it meant to be a latina/o youth growing up in a predominantly white city—discussing the day-to-day experience as latinos, both the promising and the challenging. “we created that space with everybody” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 36 latin@youth is an example of what can happen when youth are not simply consulted, but are actually given the opportunity to lead and create their own space. it is from these spaces that youth might give powerful insight for policy changes that could improve the educational experiences of latinos and all students of color. in a city like fairview, latina/o youth do not have many opportunities to see themselves as leaders or knowledgeable actors, yet latin@youth gives us hope that change is possible when latina/o youth coming of age in these areas of demographic change have the space to share what has been, imagine what could be, and fight for what they believe in. “we created that space with everybody” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 36 references anyon, j. (2005). radical possibilities: public policy, urban education, and a new social movement. new york, ny: routledge. cammarota, j. (2008) sueños americanos: barrio youth negotiating social and cultural identities. tucson, az: the university of arizona press. creswell, j. w. (2007). qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approaches. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. fine, m., roberts, r., & torre, m.e. (2004). echoes of brown: youth documenting and performing the legacy of brown v. board of education. new york, ny: teachers college press. flores-gonzález, n., rodríguez, m., & rodríguez-muñiz, m. (2014). from hip-hop to humanization: batey urbano as a space for latino youth culture and community action. in a. darder & r.d. torres (eds.), latinos and education: a critical reader (pp.19-40). new york, ny: routledge. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum international publishing group. gibson, m. a., gandara, p. c., & koyama, j. p. (eds.). (2004). school connections: us mexican youth, peers, and school achievement. new york, ny: teachers college press. ginwright, s., & cammarota, j. (2002). new terrain in youth development: the promise of a social justice approach. social justice, 29(4), 482-95. ginwright, s., & cammarota, j. (2006). introduction. in s. ginwright, p. noguera, & j. cammarota (eds.), beyond resistance!: youth activism and community change: new democratic possibilities for practice and policy for america’s youth (pp. xiii-xxii). new york, ny: routledge. green, k. (2013) doing double dutch methodology: playing with the practice of participant observer. in d. paris & m.t. winn (eds.), humanizing research: decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities (pp. 147-160). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. hamann, e.t.,wortham, s., & murillo jr., e.g. (2015). revisiting education in the new latino diaspora. charlotte, nc: information age of publishing, inc. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. long, d., & veroff, d. (2014). latinos in wisconsin – a statistical overview. uw applied population laboratory & university of wisconsin extension. oakes, j. (2008). keeping track: structuring equality and inequality in an era of accountability. teachers college record, 110(3), 700-712. ream, r. k., & rumberger, r. w. (2008). student engagement, peer social capital, and school dropout among mexican american and non-latino white students. sociology of education, 81(2), 109-139. rodríguez, l. f., & conchas, g. q. (2009). preventing truancy and dropout among urban middle school youth understanding community-based action from the student's perspective. education and urban society, 41(2), 216-247. roffman, j. g., suárez-orozco, c., & rhodes, j. e. (2003). facilitating positive development in immigrant youth: the role of mentors and community organizations. in f. villaruel (ed.), community youth development: programs, policies, and practices (pp. 90-117). thousand oaks, ca: sage. saldaña, j. (2013). the coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). london, uk: sage. ventura association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 37 solórzano, d. & villalpando, o. (1998). critical race theory, marginality, and the experience of minority students in higher education. in c. torres & t. mitchell (eds.), emerging issues in the sociology of education: comparative perspectives (pp. 211-224). new york, ny: suny press. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2001). manufacturing hope and despair: the school and kin support networks of u.s.mexican youth. new york, ny: teachers college press. tyson, k. (ed.). (2011). integration interrupted: tracking, black students, and acting white after brown. new york, ny: oxford university press. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. villarruel, f. a., montero-sieburth, m., dunbar, c., & outley, c. w. (2005). dorothy, there is no yellow brick road: the paradox of community youth development approaches for latino and african american urban youth. in j.l. mahoney, r.w. larson, & j.s. eccles (eds.), organized activities as contexts of development: extracurricular activities, after-school and community programs (pp. 111-129). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. villenas, s. (1996). the colonizer/colonized chicana ethnographer: identity, marginalization, and cooptation in the field. harvard educational review, 66(4), 711-732. yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity & education. 8(1), 69-81. pg60 pg61 organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 108 organizing for change: latinx im/migrant parents, school decision-making, and the racial politics of parent leadership in school reform verónica n. vélez western washington university abstract this article draws on a multi-year, participatory action case study of alianza, a californiabased latinx im/migrant parent group. grounded in latina/o critical theory (latcrit), this article focuses specifically on the development of political agency among alianza members, highlighting organizational strategies aimed at school reform while strengthening counternarratives to interrupt racist depictions that functioned to cast latinx parents as “unfit” to serve as educational leaders. data suggests that alianza’s approach helped its members heal from past abuse and racist encounters, identify and speak out against injustice, and build a collective and shared political capital to leverage their voice in local reform efforts. the author concludes with implications for future research and practice, providing specific recommendations for other educational leaders and those who train them. introduction it was a typical alianza meeting. i had come to admire the multiple purposes alianza meetings served, one of which was the opportunity to convivir.1 tonight was especially important for nuestro libro,2 3 as olga had coined our collective work to bring attention to their efforts as parent activists. i opened up the conversation by asking the group to define how alianza had impacted their identity as madres y padres valientes en lucha.4 elena responded, “creo que la mejor manera de capturar lo que [alianza] ha hecho por mi es a través del dicho, “no más atole con el dedo.” 5 unclear about the dicho’s 1 convivir is the spanish word for “sharing time and experiences.” 2 translated to english: our book 3 in an effort to honor the voice of my informants throughout this manuscript, i have kept their words unaltered and in the language in which they were originally shared. english translations for each quote, when needed, are provided in the footnotes. 4 translated to english: courageous mothers and fathers in struggle 5 translated to english: i think that the best way to capture what [alianza] has done for me, and i believe for many of us here, is through the saying, “no más atole con el dedo.” vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 109 meaning, i asked elena to elaborate, “cuando una mamá está amamantando es natural que se canse especialmente si le toca un niño comelón. hay momentos que no puedes más y para apaciguarlo entre su horas de comer se le da un poquito de atole con el dedo. pues lo mismo pasa con nosotros – se nos ha dado atole con el dedo para apaciguarnos, para engañarnos, para no quejarnos de las injusticias que se cometen día tras día contra nosotros, contra nuestros hijos. se justifican dándonos una miseria mientras disfrutan de los beneficios de la explotación de nuestro labor. [alianza] nos dío las herramientas para reconocer y desafiar a los que se proponen seguir dándonos atole. antes aceptamos esta realidad pero ¡no más!6” it was common to hear members of alianza, a grassroots organization of latinx7 im/migrant8 parents in california, communicate their critique of social structure, understanding of oppression, and role as resistors through the use of stories, dichos, consejos,9 and metaphors. this was especially true of elena. her analogy, highlighted in the opening vignette, underscored the transformative aspect of alianza in challenging what she felt had become a normalized practice in institutions serving latinx im/migrant parents. at its core, her use of a dicho spoke to a process of silencing by deception, of being tricked into believing they had been equitably “served” through false promises and stand-ins for real reform. she uses the same dicho to credit alianza in providing her the tools to call out acts of deceit on behalf of those in power. most striking, though, was the connection between the dicho and elena’s role as a mother. by using a saying that reflects an act only a mother could fully comprehend, the dicho emphasized the 6 translated to english: when a mother is breastfeeding, it’s natural that she becomes tired, especially if she has a child who is a big eater. there are moments that you can’t anymore, and to calm the baby between feedings, you trick her by giving her a bit of atole (a mexican drink made from cornmeal) with your finger. well the same thing happens with us—we have been given atole with the finger to calm us, deceive us, so that we don’t complain and speak up about the injustices that are committed day-after-day against us, against our children. they justify themselves by giving us a pittance while they benefit from exploiting our labor. alianza has given us the tools to recognize and challenge those who would like to keep giving us atole. before, we accepted this reality but not any more! 7 i use the term “latinx” as a gender neutral alternative to latino. it aims to disrupt the gender binary and represents a grammatical move toward justice. 8 i place a “/” between “im” and “migrant” to challenge the notion that all im/migrants move to the u.s. in pursuit of the “american dream,” often masking the underlying socio-political and economic factors for their migration or that transnational migration is not always one directional. im/migrants may migrate back and forth from the u.s. and their home countries, send remittances to family members outside of the u.s., and/or dis-identify with citizenship structures and efforts to assimilate (morissey, 2013). in an effort to more accurately represent these varied and complex realities, i chose to use “im/migrant” in lieu of “immigrant” as a grammatical move toward justice. 9 consejos is the spanish word for “advice.” organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 110 extent to which a mother, based on her lived experience, could identify, comprehend, and expose acts that render injustice possible. extending elena’s analysis, this article provides a deeper look at how members of alianza developed political agency while also highlighting how they worked to continuously adapt and remake alianza’s political identity as one of madres y padres valientes en lucha.10 while difficult to capture the range and depth of approaches the group has employed since its inception, my goal here is to provide an analysis of those key strategies that best frame how alianza supports and develops the leadership of its members so that collective action to create social change is possible. it’s not meant to be exhaustive. rather, the aim is to share defining group practices that ultimately make the case for using alianza as a platform for unpacking the politics and possibilities of latinx im/migrant parents as leaders in reforming schools and society at large. alianza since its inception in the late 1990’s, alianza defines its purpose as training, organizing, and facilitating the participation of parents in local school reform. in the process, they have called attention to the conditions affecting latinx students and their families, who comprise the majority of students in their district. alianza has organized numerous activities grounded in popular education,11 such as directing leadership development trainings for parents, organizing forums with elected school and city officials, and working with other non-profit and grassroots organizations to bring resources to local families in schools. comprised predominantly of latinx im/migrant parents alianza has been instrumental in foregrounding latinx im/migrant concerns within local school and city politics over several years. the racial politics of parent leadership for latinas/os a large body of educational research unequivocally concludes that parent involvement has a positive impact on student achievement (delgado-gaitan, 1990, 1996; epstein, 2009; henderson & berla, 1994; hoover-dempsey & whitaker, 2010). although such work has been 10 translated to english: mothers and fathers in struggle 11 alianza defines popular education as “. . . a process of analysis, critical and participative reflection through economic, political, and socio-cultural realities that arise from impoverished organized groups” (organizational website, concealed to protect anonymity). vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 111 numerous, it has also highlighted important contradictions in how “parent involvement” is operationalized, the causes for the “lack” of parent participation in schools, and ideas for how to build better partnerships between schools and parents. this is not surprising considering that “. . . the concept of parent involvement is a social construct whose boundaries and expectations are impacted by culture, race, class and gender issues” (jasis & ordañez-jasis, 2005, p. 32). what has become a dominant thread in this work, though, has been the unrelenting search in the home for the “problem” of low parent participation. consequently, much of this research has served to brand parents as the primary culprits for a failed relationship between them and public schools. this has been a popular finding as it pertains to parents of color,12 particularly latinxs (donato, 1997; moreno & valencia, 2002; olivos, 2004, 2006; stanton-salazar, 2001; valdes, 1996; valencia & black, 2002).13 challenging these findings, researchers have found that latinx parents continuously expressed a strong value for their children’s academic achievement (stanton-salazar, 2001; valdes, 1996; valencia & black, 2002) and provided a rich socio-cultural environment of learning at home (delgado-gaitan, 1990, 2001; olivos, 2004; valdes, 1996; valdez, 2015). several scholars have also explored the personal and collective empowerment of latinx parents as they organized to address educational concerns in their communities (delgado-gaitan, 1990, 2001; dyrness, 2011; jasis & ordoñez-jasis, 2012; moreno & valencia, 2002; olivos, 2004, 2006; pardo, 1990). to understand this contradiction—the prevalence of culturally deficit (valencia, 1997) portraits of latinx parents despite evidence to the contrary—i employ latino critical theory (latcrit) to more fully examine how multiple forms of oppression based on immigration status, language, culture, ethnicity, and phenotype intersect to shape the experiences of alianza (solorzano & delgado bernal, 2001). in his work as parent activist in a latinx community, olivos (2004) finds utility in a critical race framework for understanding how the relationship between latinx parents and public schools . . . is negatively affected by the cultural biases . . . inherent within the institution of public education as demonstrated by its historic role of using 12 “students of color” is intentionally capitalized to reject the standard grammatical norm. capitalization is used as a means to empower this group and represents a grammatical move toward social and racial justice. this rule will also apply to “people of color,” “parents of color,” “im/migrants of color,” and “communities of color” used throughout this article. 13 all of the work cited here challenges the argument that latinx parents are to blame for the failed relationship between them and schools. organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 112 its power to impose the values and wishes of the dominant culture onto bicultural student and parent populations (olivos, 2004, p. 29). while latinx parents demonstrate a high regard for education and exhibit multiple forms of involvement, their contributions to the education of their children do not “fit” within the narrowly-defined white, middle-class, standards of what it means to be a “good” and “involved” parent (stanton-salazar, 2001; valdes, 1996). in their research on cultural capital in familyschool relationships, lareau and horvat (1999) argue that “the rules of the game” that mediate the interactions between parents and school are race-specific, where white, middle-class parents have what lareau (1989) calls “home advantage” (lareau, 1989; lareau & horvat, 1999; shannon, 1996). this can translate into an environment where latinx parents are frequently rebuffed by administrators and teachers, not included in school discussions about their children, and even less so in school decision-making (auerbach 2002; olivos, 2004; rogers 2002; valdes, 1996). taken together with dominant notions of parent involvement, educational policies on school accountability only contribute to a further marginalization of latinx parents in schools (rogers, 2002). the ineffective system of implementing such policies through school-based decision-making bodies, like school site councils, has necessitated that latinx parents engage and/or create decision-making spaces in order to generate meaningful change. i argue latinx parent leaders, like those in alianza, acknowledge a relationship exists between the activities and strategies they employ and the context that affects, informs, and may even be contested by such efforts. compared to white, middle-class families with “home advantage,” (lareau, 1989; lareau & horvat, 1999; shannon, 1996), latinx parents are tasked with transforming, not just becoming involved in, the spaces often allocated for them in schools. and for latinx im/migrant parents, particularly the undocumented, there is the additional burden of dealing with the legal boundaries of political membership in the us, that complicate the terms of engagement in school reform. methodology using a participatory action approach, i employed a qualitative case study design to guide data collection. events that were seen as critical, influential, or decisive were extracted as “critical incidents” as a means to understand larger phenomena from the perspective of vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 113 alianza (miles & huberman, 1994). this type of approach allowed me to capture the relationship between alianza and the broader context that informs their work, as they see it. as a research paradigm, participatory action research (par) facilitates a research space for research collaborators to construct knowledge, transform their experiences, and work to change those conditions that affect their lives (gaventa & cornwall, 2001). it demands a move from a unilateral researcher-based approach to a multilateral community-based participatory paradigm. par challenges traditional, positivist research approaches that fail to recognize how knowledge is co-constructed in relationships between the researcher and the informant (gaventa & cornwall, 2001). combined with latcrit, par provided the tools to help capture the experiences of alianza parents while directly engaging my positionality and cultural intuition (delgado bernal, 1998) as a chicana researcher and community organizer with alianza. i conducted observations of alianza’s planning of key group events that occurred from 2008 to 2012, including their internal monthly meetings, community forums, graduation events, parent trainings, and invitations to present at local and national conferences. alianza parents were also asked to participate in three oral history interviews and one focus group during this same time period. in order to protect the anonymity of alianza, its members, and other groups with whom it associates, all names, both individual and organizational, have been replaced by pseudonyms. data collected from this study was analyzed through an inductive grounded theory approach to develop themes and categories from which to make sense and interpret the data (glaser & strauss, 1967; strauss & corbin, 1990). here, i specifically employed a critical race grounded theory approach (malagon, pérez huber, & vélez, 2009), to assist me in isolating emergent themes. critical race frameworks, far from functioning as “predetermined” categories, were necessary for allowing the experiences of the parents to emerge and inform the entire research process. three key themes emerged that defined alianza’s central strategies. the first approach was the creation of counter-spaces where members came together to celebrate culturally-based traditions, share concerns about a range of issues without judgment, heal from past abuse, and build solidarity. collectively, the mothers referred to this function as conviviendo organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 114 y desahogando.14 a second strategy comes in the form of workshops and trainings, where alianza employs popular education to help its members identify, name, and speak out against injustice. they define this as aprendiendo a hablar y luchar.15 finally, the third approach, which is connected to the first two, captures how alianza comes together to create new opportunities for themselves, their children, and communities. this is a strategic effort to build political capital that the group then uses to leverage their voice and participate in reform efforts and rests on members’ confidence and critical know-how of schools and civic institutions. the group defines this last approach as realizando y rehaciendo.16 conviviendo y desahogando: sharing, healing, and honoring lived experience central to alianza was the practice of coming together to share experiences, celebrate traditions, find support, and build solidarity. conviviendo y desahogando, as alianza called it, was similar to dyrness’ (2011) experience working with latinx im/migrant mothers in northern california when she described entering their space as “ . . . soothing, comforting, like background music” (p.139), referring to the “rhythm” of their meetings, which was characterized, among other things, by a sharing of experiences, laughter, food, and the use of “non-traditional” spaces for parent engagement, such as the kitchen table. this was conviviendo and it was core to alianza. to appreciate this process, it’s necessary to understand its relationship to the spaces in which it occurs and, conversely, where it doesn’t occur. alianza’s gatherings occurred primarily in three locales: (1) the home of justo and selina, two of alianza’s founding members; (2) la casita, a small gathering place sponsored by a local non-profit organization; and (3) don beto’s,17 a local restaurant whose owner is a longtime friend of the group. taken together, justo and selina’s home, la casita, and don beto’s, comprise alianza’s working spaces where they conduct group meetings, trainings, workshops, event planning, and other activities. although members held positions on local school or district-level advisory councils, alianza rarely operated from within school or district-supported spaces, such as a parent welcome center or a pta18 office. 14 translated to english: spending time together, sharing, and getting things off your chest 15 translated to english: learning to speak up and fight 16 translated to english: realizing and remaking 17 actual name of restaurant has been replaced by a pseudonym to protect the anonymity of alianza and its members. 18 parent-teacher association (pta) vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 115 i argue that alianza’s convening locales can be more appropriately framed as counterspaces, where they challenged people and spaces that seek to exclude, silence, distort, or delegitimize their lived experiences as latinx im/migrant parents. dyrness (2011) defines a central function of counter-spaces as, “. . . the ability to collectively dissect controlling images of one’s group and fashion alternative selves” (p. 125). similarly, alianza’s use of space suggests the importance of operating from sites not mediated by deficit ideologies of latinx parents, from which they claim institutional spaces suffer. as counter-spaces, justo and selina’s home, la casita, and don beto’s, offer alianza members the opportunity to safely interrogate their experiences as madres y padres en lucha while allowing them to construct new arenas that respect their dignity and value. alianza often discussed the contradiction in using these other spaces as a means of gaining entry into more traditional decision-making arenas. yesenia, a long-time alianza member explained this tactic: somos los de afuera queriendo cambiar a los de adentro. nuestra meta es entrar al sistema, pero para hacerlo, tenemos que analizarlo de afuera y verlo por lo que realmente es. haciéndolo de esta forma como lo hacemos nosotros en [alianza] asegura, yo pienso, que el trabajo nuestro sea honesto y con mayor impacto porque no estamos ligados a las ideas de los que están en poder.19 for yesenia, the purpose of working from the “outside” was essential, where they defined the terms of their participation. but working from the outside did not mean staying there. yesenia and the other parents highlighted how crucial it was to insert themselves politically into these “inside” spaces, or those spaces where power was leveraged. to make this happen, yesenia relies on alianza as a supportive platform. she stressed, “sabemos que allí se toman decisiones importantes. tenemos que entrarle, pero armados y listos para luchar. ellos no nos van a proveer las herramientas de un conocimiento crítico. ese es el trabajo de [alianza]. pero no por eso abandonamos esos espacios.” 20 19 translated to english: we are outsiders trying to change those on the inside. our goal is to enter into the system, but in order to do that we need to analyze it from the outside and see it for what it really is. doing it this way, like we do here in [alianza] ensures, i believe, that our work is honest and will have a greater impact because we are not tied to the ideas of those in power. 20 translated to english: we know that important decisions are made there. we need to insert ourselves, but armed and ready to fight. they won’t provide us the tools of a critical consciousness. that is the work of [alianza]. but not because of that do we abandon those spaces. organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 116 extending yesenia’s comments, elena pointed to the structure of school-based committees as especially alienating for individuals who do not fit the mainstream model of a leader, which she defined as white, middle-to-upper class, male, english-speaking, and of course, a u.s. citizen. according to elena, even when you have knowledge about how the system works, it is still an uphill battle just to be heard, let alone taken seriously. for elena, her experience through alianza has shown her first-hand how easily one is dismissed as a latina im/migrant mother. she highlighted, hace poco, el distrito organizó lo que le llaman un ‘task force’ para desarrollar estrategias para involucrar a más padres. fui, y cuando entré, me entero que contrataron a una firma con supuesto conocimiento en el área de involucramiento de padres para construir un currículo. cuando empezó a presentar el señor americano, gringo, yo levanté la mano pero me dijeron que no podía comentar o preguntar hasta el final. . . . [t]enía que hablar porque el currículo que usamos en [alianza] es igual o hasta mejor de lo que estaban presentando. ¿por qué no usar el de nosotros? . . . prefirieron pagar miles de dólares a este otro señor porque a él si lo vieron como experto en el área de padres más que un propio padre. para mí era obvio. somos padres inmigrantes. si no fuera por [alianza], yo me hubiera desesperado hace mucho . . . [alianza] me ayuda a perseverar cuando te hacen a un lado.21 elena points to several noteworthy reasons for why alianza’s decision to organize outside of schools is needed. the first rests in how these “traditional” decision-making spaces structure and often limit how individuals can participate. second, she notes her frustration at witnessing how an agency was hired to develop curricula for parent workshops when alianza already had a successful curricula and approach for carrying out these same activities. for elena, it was clear that alianza was not seen as possessing the same type of expertise and, therefore, not 21 translated to english: recently, the district organized what they called a task force to help develop strategies to involve more parents. i attended and when i entered i came to find out that they had hired a firm with supposed knowledge in the area of parent involvement to develop a curriculum. when the presenter, a white u.s. american, began i raised my hand but they told me that i had to wait until the end to ask a question or make a comment. . . i needed to speak because we have a curriculum in [alianza] that is as good or better than what he was presenting. why not use ours? . . . they preferred to spend thousands of dollars on this other person because they saw him as more of an expert in the area of parent involvement than a parent herself. for me it was obvious. we are im/migrant parents. if it wasn’t for [alianza] i would have become frustrated long ago . . . [alianza] helps me to persevere when others push me aside. vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 117 capable of performing the task, even in light of evidence showing the contrary. it is this same belief about latinx parents that elena later describes as permeating most “traditional” spaces of parent engagement within schools. because she grounds herself in alianza, she is able to persist and persevere in these arenas, in large part, because the group operates outsides of school and is less susceptible to the raced, classed, gendered, and anti-im/migrant ideologies informing deficit rationales for why voices like hers matter less. in my conversations with other group members, several of them echoed elena’s sentiment, describing a sense of strength because the group operated in ways and within spaces that validated and honored their language, traditions, cultural norms and practices, and lived experiences. all of them stressed at one point or another that these types of validation rarely, if ever, occurred within institutional spaces. in fact, many talked about the need to recover after school board or city council meetings. they described feeling drained, exhausted, and often discouraged from returning to these spaces in the future. having alianza as their home base was necessary to their recovery. a common theme characterizing these moments was the opportunity to come together as a group para convivir y desahogar.22 in describing this function, alianza members highlighted in particular its connection to their autoestima23 that had endured injury and assaults throughout their life, and more recently, as parents working to challenge a system set on keeping them at the margins. since joining alianza, they felt their autoestima nurtured, healed, and strengthened, an indispensible process for doing the work required of them as madres y padres en lucha. as caridad pointed out, the group helped her “. . . volver a encontrar la confianza en mi papél como madre. sólo aquí [en alianza]. . . me siento renovada y lista para seguir luchando dentro y afuera de mi casa.24” similarly, the im/migrant women in coll’s (2010) study identified, “ . . . the importance of engaging in collective political action, but the urgency of many members’ concerns meant that their needs for social and instrumental support demanded attention in order for them to engage at all with politics and politicization” (p. 100). 22 translated to english: to spend time together sharing and getting things off your chest 23 the term autoestima translated literally to english means self-esteem. but, in this study, how alianza uses the term means much more than its counterpart in english. i use the term similar to how coll (2010) uses it in her work on latina im/migrant women. she defines autoestima as a process more aligned with developing a positive self-concept that “. . . encompassed personal transformational processes. . . . tied to peer support and dialogue about social issues and how to address them collectively” (p. 103). 24 translated to english: regain my confidence in my role as a mother. only here [in alianza] do i feel renewed and ready to keep fighting both in and outside my home. organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 118 although conviviendo y desahogando represent only part of what alianza does, it is impossible, i argue, to understand its other activities without first exploring this function. it represents the foundation on which alianza relies to “. . . [support] each other in naming and recording the experiences that [have] been suppressed, [reject] the controlling images that framed them as unworthy or ‘problem parents,’ and [recast] themselves as concerned advocates for their families and community” (dyrness, 2011, p. 140). using counter-spaces, alianza provides a critical platform for its members through conviviendo y desahogando to challenge injustice and find the strength para hablar y luchar, the second function of the group explored next. hablando y luchando: learning to name and speak out against injustice it was common for alianza members to use words like “opresión,” 25 “hegemonía,” 26 and “patriarcado.” 27 justo laughed remembering the shocked reactions they received when alianza spoke in public. for him, these reactions simply affirmed what he’s known all along: that latinx im/migrant parents are often viewed by those in power as incapable and unintelligent and, thus, unable to understand, let alone participate in, important school decisionmaking. he shared, me siento orgulloso . . . cuando reto sus ideas racistas del padre inmigrante. claro, nunca te van a decir que son racistas pero sus caras de sorpresa al momento de escucharnos hablar . . . revela lo que realmente piensan de nosotros—la expresión de ‘¿como es posible que este padre sepa tanto?’ por eso es importante que estemos bien armados con un conocimiento amplio y profundo. . . . para mí es importante nombrar las cosas como son, con sus nombres y términos apropiados. por eso usamos la educación popular. nos enseña a hablar y es a través de nuestra voz que podemos luchar.28 25 spanish word for “oppression” 26 spanish word for “hegemony” 27 spanish word for “patriarchy” 28 translated to english: i feel proud when i challenge their racist ideas about im/migrant parents. of course, they will never tell you that they are racist but their looks of surprise when they first hear us speak reveals what they really think of us. their expression of ‘how is it possible that this parent knows so much?’ this is why it’s important that we are armed with ample knowledge. for me it’s important to call things what they are, with their appropriate names and terms. this is why we use popular education. it teaches us to speak and it is through our voice that we are able to fight. vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 119 for justo, part of the process of becoming politicized required naming injustice, using terms to appropriately describe what informs it, how it functions, and the consequences it has for their lives. he believed that when grounded in the life experiences of alianza, these terms have the power to strengthen the group’s ability to strategize and organize more effectively because they are more aware of what they are up against. others in the group shared justo’s sentiments. several mothers commented that it was not until they joined alianza and began sharing, desahogando and learning from each other that they finally could “name their pain” and muster the courage to change what causes it. prior to alianza, many felt vulnerable to mainstream attacks that blamed them for their social conditions and described often questioning whether they had the right to speak out and demand dignity and respect, even for the most basic things. as felicia so aptly put it, “yo me culpaba. no tenía una visión del mundo que me ayudara a sentirme de otra forma. ahora me siento capaz. puedo cambiar mi realidad y no quedarme con los brazos cruzados. es mi derecho y mi deber. gracias a [alianza] estoy consciente y nadie me volverá a tapar los ojos o hacerme sentir mal por ser madre inmigrante.”29 felicia’s comments capture why desahogando in alianza was so important in the process of coming to consciousness and a necessary step for speaking out against injustice. coll (2010) found a similar process at work. for her informants, being able to speak with other women and articulate one’s story was part of being able to claim rights and demand recognition as political subjects . . . .the ability to desahogarse was critical for those trying to change their lives individually, as well as for those hoping to speak up for their children, their families, and their communities (coll, 2010, p. 116-117). comparably, for alianza, having the space to get things off their chest provided them the opportunity to articulate injustice. combined with popular education, they developed a new set of skills, along with a new vocabulary, for addressing social problems. this is why selina argued that the mothers were able to grasp complex terms and theories with ease. neither she nor justo introduced these ideas in the abstract, but rather made sense of them through what the 29 translated to english: i blamed myself. i didn’t have a vision of the world that helped me feel any other way. now i feel capable. i know i can change my reality and i refuse to sit back, with my arms crossed, and do nothing about it. it’s my right and responsibility. thanks to [alianza] i’m aware and no one will ever cover my eyes again or make me feel bad because i am an im/migrant mother. organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 120 mothers shared cuando se desahogaban,30 and the historical context of the community in which they all work and live. she stressed, “para mi es imposible entender un concepto si no lo veo reflejado en mi vida. los temas de ‘poder’ y ‘patriarcado’ suelen ser difíciles porque son temas complejos. pero si alguien me enseña estos conceptos a través de mi experiencia como mujer abusada es más probable que lo llegue a entender y aceptar.”31 without exception, all alianza parents spoke about the importance of popular education, a method of teaching and learning rooted in freire’s (1973) proposals for liberatory education, most notably, his problem-posing method. popular education is cyclical not linear, with identifiable stages of inquiry. the central goal of its approach is to gain a deeper understanding of the world as dynamic as opposed to static— a historical reality that is susceptible to transformation, as opposed to a fixed fatalistic absolute. as such, it requires that those who use it exercise patience and flexibility as they learn to continuously examine, name, and challenge injustice. it allowed alianza to reclaim their subjectivity and develop a shared language of belonging along with new terms to name and speak out against injustice. it reshaped their, “ . . . normative ideas and aspirations about the relationship between motherhood, rights, entitlements, and politics” (coll, 2010, p. 73). popular education radically shifted their understanding of the social world and their role in it, and only from this re-imagined “place,” i argue, were they able to realize their goals as a group of madres y padres en lucha, and remake opportunities for themselves, for their children, and for their communities. the following section briefly explores the task of realizando y rehaciendo32 as the final approach used by alianza to build political capital and participate in school reform. realizando y rehaciendo: building political capital for social change in alianza, all members are expected to participate in shaping the group’s practices and defining its future. as an example, selina and justo led a revision process of alianza’s mission and vision statements during one of their meetings. although they framed these guiding statements as a perpetual work-in-progress, at the end of the meeting alianza had 30 translated to english: when they got things off their chest. 31 translated to english: for me it’s impossible to understand a concept when i don’t see it reflected in my own life. themes like ‘power’ and ‘patriarchy’ can be difficult because they are complex ideas. but if someone teaches me these concepts through my own experience of abuse as a woman it is more likely that i will come to understand and accept them. 32 translated to english: realizing and remaking vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 121 collectively agreed on what would be the final revisions of their mission and vision for the time being. misión: promover el cambio social, cultural y educativo de la comunidad latina e inmigrante con sentido de justicia social a través de programas que favorezcan su coexistencia y desarrollen su conocimiento y defensa activa de los derechos humanos y civiles. esto se llevará acabo bajo la propuesta pedagógica de la educación popular (ep), que apoya la construcción de una sociedad justa y democrática.33 visión: promover la coexistencia democrática de nuestras comunidades en la vida social con dignidad, respeto e igualdad de oportunidades, favoreciendo la construcción y permanencia de nuestras culturas e identidades como parte de la riqueza socio-cultural con la que contribuimos a esta sociedad.34 both statements clearly reflected an embracing of their collective identity as madres y padres en lucha, one that employs political agency for social justice and reclaims a place of belonging within the bounds of a u.s. political community, asserting rights as citizens, regardless of legal status, on the basis of their humanity and contributions to society. these statements were profoundly radical, especially when considered against the backdrop of continued anti-im/migrant sentiment, legislation, and attacks throughout the country. as i watched its members conduct community forums, speak in front of school board and city council members, and organize marches, among other things, i realized that its mission and vision is fundamentally about realizando y rehaciendo. this does not represent a specific activity as much as an underlying strategy and goal of continuously learning about, deconstructing, and remaking the relationship between their role as latinx im/migrant parents and the spaces where important decisions are made that affect them, their children, and their families. to do this requires the capacity to name and speak out against injustice, but goes one 33 translated to english: to create social, cultural, and educational change in the latino community, particularly among im/migrants, utilizing programs rooted in social justice that belive in an equitable multi-ethnic and multiligual society. our goal is to develop a critical consciousness that can translate into action to defend human and civil rights. to accomplish this we base our work in the pedagogical premises of popular education (pe) that support the construction of a socially just and democratic society. 34 translated to english: to promote democratic co-existence whereby members of our communities can live with dignity, respect, and have access to equitable opportunities. our vision is to foment the development and permanency of our culture and identities as part of the cultural wealth with which we contribute to society. organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 122 step further to actualize efforts to change what is unjust. for alianza, rendered outsiders, this means redefining and remaking the boundaries of belonging in order to realize the hopes articulated powerfully in their mission and vision statements. i argue that central to this third approach is a strategic effort to build a type of political capital that the group then uses to leverage their voice and participate in reform efforts and rests on members’ confidence, knowledge, and critical know-how. through the use of popular education described above, alianza intentionally builds from the community cultural wealth35 of its members. its founders, justo and selina, combine this strategy with a critical know-how of how institutions function, showing parents the ropes of how decision-making spaces work and how to operate within their limitations. for example, learning to speak up in spaces that use robert’s rules of order for conducting business. some of this is embedded in the workshops they provide, but some of this knowledge comes from strategic alliances with other community groups, school and civic leaders, and selected institutional agents. the strategy is meant to develop alianza’s political network and knowledge as a necessary tactic for gaining entry into important decision-making spaces. this has aided them in developing a broad base of support that has proven vital when they campaigned for city-or school-wide policy changes or fought for im/migrant rights. the combination of efforts—identifying and building from the mothers’ community cultural wealth, developing a network of political allies, and providing institutional knowledge—has led to the development of alianza’s political capital, which i define as a set of critical political skills and wisdom grounded in community cultural wealth but developed through strategic engagement with institutions and their agents. it is important to note that in building political capital, alianza adds to its shared community cultural wealth and shapes the spaces and interactions they have within schools. as evidence, all of its members sit on decision-making bodies within schools, and this access has provided them with insight and knowledge that continually shapes alianza’s overall strategy. building political capital has also profoundly affected alianza’s members’ sense of self as 35 community cultural wealth is defined as a community’s cultural assets and resources accumulated over time (solórzano & villalpando, 1998; yosso, 2005). yosso (2005) specifically identifies six types of capital that communities of color possess but are often ignored, largely the result of mainstream cultural deficit arguments more concerned with identifying pathology in these communities than about celebrating their skills and knowledge. the six types of capital include: aspirational capital, familial capital, social capital, linguistic capital, resistant capital, and navigational capital (yosso, 2005). vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 123 capable and confident madres y padres en lucha. they referred to these skills and knowledge as herramientas or tools necessary for the work they do. as clara poignantly described, “es imposible ser buen cocinero si no tienes una licuadora, sartén—pues, herramientas básicas de la cocina . . . de la misma forma creo que es imposible ser buen líder si no tienes las herramientas que resultan de un conocimiento amplio y profundo de nuestro mundo. alianza nos da esa herramientas para poder seguir luchando y peleando por nuestros hijos.”36 in closing, i am reminded of a long conversation i had with justo one afternoon at don beto’s, as we worked to plan a series of popular education workshops that he and the mothers had decided to call, la universidad dentro del pueblo.37 he shared with me that alianza’s efforts to realizar y rehacer do not simply refer to the project of remaking the world around them. realizando y rehaciendo is first and foremost a project of consciousness-raising, of redefining themselves in a way that makes it possible to create change. discussion without question, all of the parents identified alianza as crucial to their development as political actors. my goal here was to capture how they understood the utility and significance of alianza for creating change, as they define it. i grounded my analysis in their meaningmaking about the value of the group and its efforts. this does not mean that future research on alianza should not attempt to affirm what its members have claimed. perspectives outside of, but connected to, the group can serve to better understand how alianza has altered the educational outcomes of latinx students, improved conditions for latinx families, and/or effectively changed the course of civic and educational reform decisions to be more inclusive of latinx participation, particularly that of im/migrant parents. while difficult to capture all alianza has done, there were several defining practices that ultimately make the case for using alianza as a model for unpacking the politics of participation for latinx im/migrant parents in schools and society at large and showcasing what is necessary to engage parents, like those in alianza, in school and larger social reform. three central practices stood out: (1) conviviendo y desahogando, which involved the creation of 36 translated to english: it is impossible to be a good cook if you don’t have a blender, pan—well, the basic kitchen utensils. in the same way, i believe that it is impossible to be a good leader without the tools that come from a profound knowledge of how the world works. alianza has given us those tools so that we can continue fighting for our children. 37 translated to english: the university inside the community organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 124 counter-spaces where members came together to celebrate traditions, share concerns about a range of topics and issues without judgment, heal from past abuse, and build solidarity; (2) aprendiendo a hablar y luchar, where alianza’s leaders employed popular education to help its members identify, name, and speak out against injustice; and (3) realizando y rehaciendo, a strategic effort to build a type of political capital that the group then used to leverage their participation in reform efforts and rested on members’ confidence and critical know-how of schools and civic institutions. viewed through a latcrit lens, these strategies can rightfully be seen as counter-strategies used to resist the ways in which race, language, and im/migration status mediated the experiences of alianza as marginalized subjects in educational reform. for school administrators, teachers, and other school leaders, as well as those who train them, alianza is a compelling case to consider. groups like alianza inform how to build school-community partnerships in latinx im/migrant communities and support a greater inclusion of the latinx parental voice in school decision-making. as concerns of increasing “opportunity gaps”38 continue (oakes, rogers, silver, horng, & goode, 2004; pérez huber, vélez, & solorzano, 2014), the importance of including latinx im/migrant parents, particularly the undocumented, within educational spaces for improving schooling conditions is now more important than ever. the testimonies of alianza parents are a call to shift how educational leaders view, engage and partner with latinx parents. implications from this case study include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) a commitment to re-examine how parent engagement is articulated within school-based decision-making bodies, paying particular attention to the language and intent of policies governing these bodies that can exclude latinx parents, particularly im/migrants; 2) a willingness to step outside school boundaries to understand and make visible spaces where latinx parents convene and often organize, refusing the assumption that because latinx families do not “show up” on school campuses, they do not care about education; 3) an understanding that including latinx parents in shaping school-community partnerships means they are included in the process of defining those partnerships, and not simply viewed as the target or outcome of these efforts; and 4) acceptance and support of latinx families when they 38 here, i am borrowing from the report issued by oakes, rogers, silver, horng, & goode (2004), to define “opportunity gap” as the disproportionate distribution of “opportunities to learn,” such as qualified teachers, facilities that are not overcrowded, appropriate learning material, etc., between schools in affluent, white neighborhoods and schools in low-income communities of color. vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 125 choose to meet and organize in spaces outside of schools, even when every effort is made by teachers, principals, and other school leaders to create inclusive spaces. conclusion alianza challenges educational leaders to expand what we understand as leadership. for these parents, leadership was marked by a deep faith in the inherent capabilities of those most marginalized to transform the world. through conviviendo y desahogando, aprendiendo a hablar y luchar, and realizando y rehaciendo, leadership was (re)born as solidarity for alianza, as a collective commitment and cultural synthesis to work side-by-side toward justice. these counter-articulations of educational leadership, i argue, are deeply respectful of and responsive to latinx communities, while deepening our understanding of how leadership functions as a contested terrain in schools serving racially and ethnically diverse communities. organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 126 references auerbach, s. (2002). “why do they give the good classes to some and not to others?”: latino parent narratives of struggle in a college access program. teachers college record, 104(7), 1369-1392. coll, k. m. (2010). remaking citizenship: latina im/migrants and the new american politics. stanford, ca: stanford university press. delgado-gaitan, c. (1990). literacy for empowerment: the role of parents in children’s education. new york, ny: the falmer press. delgado-gaitan, c. (1996). protean literacy: extending the discourse on empowerment. london: the falmer press. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68, 555-579. delgado-gaitan, c. (2001). the power of community: mobilizing for family and schooling. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. donato, r. (1997). the other struggle for equal schools: mexican americans during the civil rights era. new york, ny: state university of chicago press. dyrness, a. (2011). mothers united: an im/migrant struggle for socially just education. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. epstein, j., (2009). school, family and community partnerships: your handbook for action. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. gaventa, j., & cornwall, a. (2001). power and knowledge.” in p. reason and h. bradbury (eds.), handbook of action research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. glaser, b.s., & strauss, a. l. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory. chicago, il: aldine. henderson, a., & berla, n. (1994). a new generation of evidence: the family is crucial to student achievement. washington d.c., national committee for citizens in education. hoover-dempsey, k., & whitaker, m. (2010). the parent involvement process: implications for literacy. in k. dunsmore & d. fisher (eds.), bringing literacy home (pp. 53-82). newark, de: international reading association. jasis, p., & ordoñez-jasis, r. (2005). convivencia to empowerment: latino parent organizing at la familia. the high school journal, 88(2), 33-43. jasis, p., & ordoñez-jasis, r. (2012). latino parent involvement: examining commitment and empowerment in schools. urban education 47(1), 65-89. lareau, a. (1989). home advantage: social class and parental intervention in elementary education. philadelphia, pa: falmer lareau, a., & horvat, e. m. (1999). moments of social inclusion and exclusion: race, class, and cultural capital in family-school relationships. sociology of education, 72, 37-53. malagon, m., pérez huber, l., & vélez, v. (2009). our experiences, our methods: a research note on developing a critical race grounded theory methodology in educational research. seattle university journal for social justice, 8(1). vélez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 127 miles & huberman. (1994). qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook (2nd ed). thousand oaks, ca: sage. moreno, r.p., & valencia, r.r. (2002). chicano families and schools: myths, knowledge, and future directions for understanding. in r.r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (2 ed.) (pp. 227-249). new york, ny: routledgefalmer. oakes, j., rogers, j., silver, d., horng, e., goode, j. (2004). separate and unequal fifty years after “brown:” california’s racial “opportunity gap.” los angeles, ca: ucla institute for democracy, education, and access. olivos, e. m. (2004). tensions, contradictions, and resistance: an activist’s reflection of the struggles of latino parents in the public school system. the high school journal: chicana/o activism in education: theories and pedagogies of trans/formation, 87(4), 25-35. olivos, e. m. (2006). the power of parents: a critical perspective of bicultural parent involvement in public schools. new york, ny: peter lang publishing. pardo, m. (1990). mexican american women grassroots community activists: “mothers of east los angeles.” frontiers: a journal of women studies, 11(1), 1-7. pearl, a. (2002). the big picture: systemic and institutional factors in chicano school failure and success. in r.r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (2nd ed)., (pp. 227-249). new york,ny: routledgefalmer. pérez huber, l., vélez, v., & solorzano, d. (2014). the growing educational equity gap for california’s latina/o students. latino policy & issues brief, no. 29, ucla chicano studies research center. rogers, j. (2002). the role of california’s parents in insuring quality schooling for all. williams watch series: investigating the claims of williams v. state of california (document wws-rr0101002). ucla’s institute for democracy, education, and access. shannon, s. m. (1996). minority parental involvement: a mexican mother’s experience and a teacher’s interpretation. education and urban society, 29(1), 71-84. solorzano, d.g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. solorzano, d. g., & solorzano, r. w. (1995). the chicano educational experience: a framework for effective schools in chicano communities. educational policy, 9(3), 293313. solórzano d. g., & villalpando, o. (2003). a model of cultural wealth. paper presented at the american education research association, chicago, illinois. stanton-salazar, r.d (2001). manufacturing hope and despair: the school and kin support networks of u.s.-mexican youth. new york, ny: teachers college press. strauss, a. l., & corbin, j. (1990). basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. thousand oaks, ca: sage. valdes, g. (1996). con respeto: bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools: an ethnographic portrait. new york, ny: teachers college press. organizing for change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 128 valdez, v. (2015). bilinugal educación in the home: everyday mexican immigrant family educational practices. association of mexican american educators journal, 9(2), 57-68. valencia, r. (1997). conceptualizing the notion of deficit thinking. in r. valencia (ed.) the evolution of deficit thinking in education thought and practice (pp. 1-12). new york, ny: falmer. valencia, r. r., & black, m.s. (2002). mexican americans don’t value education! – on the basis of the myth, mythmaking, and debunking. journal of latinos and education, 1(2), 81-103. yosso, t.j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8(1), 69-91. verónica n. vélez, woodring college of education, western washington university. correspondence concerning this manscript should be addressed to verónica n. vélez, woodring college of education, western washington university, miller hall 401d, ms 9089, 516 high street, bellingham, wa 98225. email: veronica.velez@wwu.edu. journal_2008._coverpage._final[1] 27 mona romandia previously submitted for our consideration her master’s thesis, case studies of minority students in a transitional bilingual education program, which was an extensive study on four of her former students. only a portion of her work was published in the 2007 edition of the amae journal. in this issue of the amae journal, a second case of her study, alex, is presented. case studies of minority students in a transitional bilingual education program (continues) by mona romandia, m.s. the educational system in many of our schools fails to meet the academic needs of minority students. the dramatic shifts in student demographics are demanding changes in the ways we are teaching them. it is essential to understand the long term effects of our past educational practices and bilingual programs. research indicates that there are many academic, historical, socioeconomic and language factors that can contribute to minority students’ success in schools. this research looked into the factors that have influenced the academic success or failure of native spanish speaking students who were placed in monolingual english instruction programs in their early schooling. the project presents case studies of these students over thirteen years in one district. the students’ case histories reflect many of the same academic and social problems encountered by minority students in our school system. the parents’ lack of formal educational experiences provided limited home support for the students. the families’ and students’ language and cultural backgrounds were in conflict with the school district’s focused method of delivering academic instruction. the students’ academic history showed the limited academic skills learned through their english instruction. test scores did not show a steady upward growth of skills and students never reached parity with their english speaking peers. alex, 18 year old male student family background alex was born in visalia, california in 1982. he was raised in the small rural town where this study took place. he and his siblings have lived in the same house for the last eighteen years. alex’s nuclear family consists of his mother, father, two older brothers, a sister, and three younger siblings. alex’s parents came from mexico as young adults. his mother, toni, came at the age of twenty to california, where she met his father, mario, and they were married. they settled in this town to raise their family. both parents have worked in the fields for many years. this agriculture employment dependence has been hard for the family due to the limited seasons of full employment and therefore, limited potential income. the average income for the family is around six to seven thousand dollars a year. for the past four years, toni, alex’s mother, has played the role of a single parent because mario, alex’s father has been away. mario has been serving time in jail for several years. although mario is away, his influence and place as a father figure is maintained by phone calls and letters. during the interviews, alex and his older sister both referred to their father with respect and sadness due to his absences. the parent interview revealed that there are many relatives in town and in a nearby town. toni comes from a large family that included five sisters and six brothers. four of the sisters and two of the brothers are living in town. on mario’s side of the family, there are four brothers and three sisters. the extended family in town includes a number of uncles, aunts and cousins from both sides of the family. 28 family educational background neither of alex’s parents received any formal education as children. toni cannot read or write and only learned to write her name as an adult. both parents speak spanish, understanding very limited english and are not able to speak english. toni explained, “por que no tuve educación en la primaria, yo no puedo aprender o ir a clases de adultos”. (because i did not have any primary education, i cannot learn or attend adult education classes). alex completed his high school requirements in february 2000 and reported for basic training in the army on may 15, 2000. in the family’s history, alex’s oldest sister finished high school with an “a” average. she completed basic training in the army and planned to enter a college in september 2000. in june of 2001, it was learned that alex’s sister had married, was six months pregnant and working at a local store. her present plan was to return to the army with her husband after the baby was born. family and community language at home and in the work place alex’s family lives in a community where both english and spanish are spoken. the children use both languages to communicate with neighbors and family members. at school the children use english with their teachers, but use spanish and english with their friends. adult members of the family use spanish with each other and the children. in alex’s family, the children use spanish to communicate with their mother. at the parents’ work place, spanish is spoken with peers and the employers who speak both languages. toni feels that it is important to be bilingual for employment opportunities and that is it is easier to learn two or more languages as a child. furthermore, she believes that bilingual persons are more intelligent then monolingual speakers. she believes that it takes one year to learn to speak, read and write a second language. alex’s academic background elementary alex’s elementary school records show that he was in a bilingual setting during his kindergarten and first grade school years. the teachers were bilingual in english and spanish. while in the second through sixth grades alex received only english classroom instruction. during the second grade, the “reading transition entry recommendation form, indicates that alex had scored a four on the english bilingual syntax measure ii. the teacher wrote that “the student functioned in english and refused to read in spanish”. attendance information shows an average of 165 days of attendance and nine absent days each school year. no behavior problems were noted during these seven years. alex did not participate in any after school programs or band during the elementary grades. academic grades were in the “a” and “b’s” ranges from the third to sixth grades. middle school alex’s attendance during his two junior high years showed that he was present 159 days with 5.5 absences during the school year. there were no indications of behavior problems noted in the cumulative folder. alex’s mother did mention that “alex tuvo unos problemitas en esos dos años” (alex had some problems during those two years”). she explained that “alex contestaba mal a los maestros y pasaba su tiempo con sus amigos”. (alex would talk back to teachers, and he spent his time with friends). the questionnaire indicated that he did not participate in band or after school sports programs during the middle school years. the student’s academic profile during the seventh grade year showed low academic grades in math and science/health classes. at the end of the year, his cumulative grade point was at 2.08. an update on the redesignation recommendation form during alex’s seventh grade year indicates a bilingual syntax measure score at level 6 n. his holistic writing score was a four. the 29 language arts teacher for this redesignation recommendation update also wrote that “the student is doing well in class”. alex’s semester grades of a cand c+ in the language arts class contradicts her reported success in his english class. in the following eighth grade year, alex had failing grades in science and social studies. his academic year ended with cumulative grade point of 2.08. during the second student interview alex was asked to review each subject, and to explain his failing grades for each of these two academic years. he explained the failing grades and c’s with the following comments; “i did not care about the class. i was not into the subject. i hated the teacher. i was messing around too much. the advanced class had smart boys and i just wanted a passing grade.” high school alex’s academic plan for the four years of high school was based on following the pattern for required course work, and included whatever was available during the open enrollment period of classes each year. the student did not indicate that he requested or was offered extra guidance from counselors when selecting classes. during the parent interview, his mother indicated that alex had problems in high school “el tuvo problems con sus maestros por sus amigos. el iba a las clases tarde y le contestaba a los maestros”. (he had problems with teachers because of his friends. he was late to classes and he would talk back to the teachers). alex did not show any interest in band, sports, or extra curricular activities while in high school. alex’s grade point average at the end of his freshman year was 1.80. alex explained his low academic grades with the following reasons: he went to mexico for a month from december through january, and missed the end of one semester, and the beginning of the second semester. by working hard during the second semester he brought up his grades and the two semesters averaged out to passing grades. he admitted he was also influenced by friends and cousins. he either did not attend classes or arrived tardy for class often. the most repeated reason given was, “i did not care about the class”. in his sophomore year, his cumulative grade point average was raised to 2.00 by the end of the school year. the second semester grades were lower than the first and he showed excessive tardiness to class. he described his high school experience as: “i was hanging around with friends, not completing group/individual assignments or not turning in the homework. the spanish class was too easy, and i did not take the class seriously, and i did not complete the group/individual project. i got a “c” and now thinking about it i could have gotten a better grade”. his english reading class required lots of writing, and the vocabulary was hard for him. alex could not pronounce or read the long words in reading passages. there were too many words to keep looking in the dictionary for their meaning and after a while he gave up reading the words. he explained that “the math class and the world history course tests were too hard. they required lots of memorization of information.” in addition, alex did not put much effort into homework assignments for these classes during the semester. improvement in his grades in some of the subjects was observed in the junior year. his grade point average for the end of the year was 3.14. when asked why the grades improved or dropped, alex explained the changes with several reasons. he did extra credit work in the science class. he was a teacher’s aide in biology and was able to do the extra work. he learned to type in the computer class. he said that his low grade in the u.s. history class was due to incomplete references for writing the term paper. he also explained that the class was hard because they had a daily quiz and projects. during the first semester in the senior year, alex completed five classes with a cumulative gpa of 2.17. alex’s grade in math dropped because it was hard learning and working the formulas. he did not like the class and expressed great respect for those who can do the math. the “c-” in the english 4 class was due to the class focus on reading for comprehension and poetry. once again he repeated that he could not read or pronounce many of the words. the major difference this time was that the teacher helped him pronounce long words when they read aloud in class. 30 grades in the other two subjects were maintained at a “c” in order to pass the classes. in order to complete credits for the last two classes during his second semester, alex chose to attend adult education classes. he earned the credits needed to graduate early from high school with a “c” average in one month by going through the adult education program. the student’s goal for his senior year was to complete high school credits needed in order to enter the army. california achievement test scores in the following table are alex’s california achievement test scores from second grade to eleventh grade. these yearly test scores show the strengths and weakness in the core areas which are an important foundation for academic growth in the later years. by reviewing the california achievement test scores in the core academic areas of vocabulary, reading comprehension, math, reading and language, any pattern of weakness during the elementary years is evident. any low scores in reading comprehension, math, reading and language totals can be matched with the failing academic grades earned during high school. no scores were reported in science and social studies for the 7th through 9th grades. yearly scores and grades alex’s elementary school records indicated that he was in a bilingual kindergarten and first grade. he earned satisfactory grades for the kindergarten year. during the first grade in 1988, alex finished the year with three “c’s” in reading, english, and math. he had a “b” in spelling. no cat scores were found for the first grade. alex took the spanish assessment basic education exam in second grade. that test reported only four skill areas had been tested. his lowest test score put him in the 1st percentile in reading comprehension and reading and the highest score was 20th percentile in math. alex’s classroom grades in second grade were in the “c” to “b” range. it was not possible to compare the grades earned in his english instruction class to the sabe scores. in the third grade, the lowest scores were below the 23rd percentile in all six skills area and he had a 58th percentile in math. alex’s cat scores did not match grades earned in class. alex’s grades were a “c” for reading, a “b” for english, and “a’s” in spelling and math. his fourth grade cat scores were very low in vocabulary, reading and reading comprehension. the final classroom grades of all “a’s” do not match the cat test scores. in the fifth grade, his classroom grades were in the “b” to “a” range in all subjects. the cat percentiles were higher in all area except in the total reading scores that dropped to the 2nd percentile from the fourth grade year of 5th percentile. the final six grades recorded for the year are one “c” and three “b’s” and two “a’s”. alex’s cat scores in the different skills tested went both up and down from the previous year. scores dropped in vocabulary (8th percentile), social studies (50th percentile) and language (38th percentile). scores were higher in reading comprehension (29th percentile) reading total (14th percentile) and math (70th percentile). the cat scores in seventh grade dropped in vocabulary (1st percentile), reading total (4th percentile), and language (34th percentile). his scores in reading comprehension and math were a little higher than the sixth grade scores. alex’s grades ranged from “d’s” to “b’s” with one “a” earned during the year. grades in the core subject areas were “c’s” and below. alex earned classroom grades in the “f” to “b” range and with one “a” on a elective class during the eighth grade. his grades for core subjects were passing grades one semester then his grades dropped during the second semester. cat scores dropped in the four areas tested, reading comprehension (13th percentile), reading total (14th percentile), and language total (15th percentile). alex’s test score dropped and grades dropped in the core subjects. alex’s california achievement test scores in high school reflected a lack of preparation in the core subjects, and his lack of attention to completing course requirements. during the ninth and tenth grades, alex did not 31 attend classes on a regular basis. his academic focus was drawn away by peer influences not to attend classes. he ended the ninth grade with one “b” in math for the year and with “c’s” and “f’s” in other subjects. alex’s test scores went going up and down on the different subjects tested. the higher test score from the eighth grade do not match the failing grades earned during the school year. alex’s grade point average at the end of the year was at 1.80. in the tenth grade, the cat exam was changed to the stanford achievement test (“sat-9). alex had passing grades starting with a 2.60 grade point average then dropping to a 2.00 by the end of the year. his sat-9 scores dropped in four out of seven areas tested. his lowest scores were in language and social studies (7th percentile), while the highest score was in math (46th percentile). alex’s passing grades for the years do not match failing sat-9 scores. the eleventh grade sat-9 scores continued to improve from the previous test year but five areas are below the 25th percentile. the scores dropped in math (25th percentile) and science (30th percentile) while scores in vocabulary, reading comprehension, social studies and language showed little improvement from the previous year. alex’s passing classroom grades did not match the sat-9 test scores. his grades were lower in the first semester (“c’s” and “b’s”), only improving a letter grade in one core subject and one elective during the second semester. alex ended the school year with a grade point average of 3.14. case study 1 test scores, alex sabe, cat and sat-9 scores grade year grade year grade year second 1990 third 1991 fourth 1992 test sabe 87 test cat 85 test cat 85 scores nat%ile scores nat%ile scores nat%ile voc 1 voc 6 voc 2 rdgcmp 1 rdgcmp 21 rdgcmp 21 rdgtot 1 sci 19 sci 25 mthtot 20 socstd 14 socstd 30 rdgtot 12 rdgtot 5 lngtot 13 lngtot 32 mthtot 58 mthtot 28 grade year grade year grade year fifth 1993 sixth 1994 seventh 1995 test cat 85 test cat 85 test cat 85 scores nat %ile scores nat %ile scores nat %ile voc 19 voc 8 voc 1 rdgcmp 27 rdgcmp 29 cmp 36 sci 41 sci 41 sci n/a socstd 63 socstd 50 socstd n/a rdgtot 2 rdgtot 14 rdgtot 4 lngtot 45 lngtot 38 lngtot 34 mthtot 66 mthtot 70 mthtot 77 32 grade year grade year grade year grade year eighth 1996 ninth 1997 tenth 1998 eleventh 1999 test cat 85 test cat 85 test sat-9 test sat-9 scores nat%ile scores nat%ile scores nat%ile scores nat%ile voc 15 voc 70 voc 21 voc 23 rdgcmp 13 rdgcmp 22 cmp 13 rdgcmp 18 sci n/a sci n/a sci 42 sci 30 socstd n/a socstd n/a socstd 7 socstd 9 rdgtot 14 rdgtot 51 rdgtot 12 rdgtot 18 lngtot 15 lngtot 27 lngtot 7 lngtot 55 mthtot 71 mthtot 42 mthtot 46 mthtot 25 key to sabe, cat and sat-9 scores voc= vocabulary.......................................rdgcmp or cmp= reading comprehension sci = science..............................................socstd = social studies rdgtot = reading total...........................lngtot = language total mthtot = math total...............................np = national percentile sabe = spanish assessment basic education cat= california achievement test sat-9 = stanford achievement test 9 figure 3.1 alex’s test score summary influences that affected alex’s high school years there were several positive influences on alex during his high school years. his parents were supportive of all the family’s children completing high school and continuing into college. his mother believed that the school system had prepared the student for middle school, high school and college. alex credits his completion of classes to his older sister’s help during the four years in high school. in addition, there was a computer in the home for alex’s use beginning his freshmen school year. he also had his own room for studying and working on homework assignments. through information gathered in the second interview, it became clear that the most eventful year of high school, was during alex’s freshmen year when his father had to go away. this had a major impact on alex’s mental state and efforts in his academic grades. during this period he did not care about school or passing his classes. in addition, his older cousins and friends were negative influences and they often dissuaded him from attending school regularly. summary of influences on alex’s schooling the important key points of this case study are the home support for academic success, and the student’s personal investment in his academic work. first, the student’s family influences were divided into two issues. the nuclear family encouraged and supported alex’s academic efforts. his two older brothers and sister were able to help with his development of oral english skills, and supported his academic development during the early years in elementary school. at home, alex had a computer and a personal place to study. alex felt that resources were available from the school or the library whenever they were needed for homework assignments. 33 however during his high school years, alex was also under daily negative influences not to go to classes. in his freshmen year he was greatly influenced by his cousins, many of whom dropped out of school after the first two years. later alex was persuaded by his friends not to attend class. alex was often not prepared with homework assignments. he accumulated many tardy points, or just missed classes in order to be with his friends. this was clarified when he admitted that he did little homework, only the bare minimum to pass the class with a “c”. he acknowledged that he was not a straight 4.0 student nor was he going to be a doctor. he compared his success and passing grades to those of other friends who did not seem to care or did not graduate. alex was a far better student, because he could have gotten higher grades and he was graduating. from now on he was going to work hard to be successful. in addition, alex lacked the necessary skills to handle academic course work. he did not develop the academic vocabulary that was needed in many of the core subjects. during his interview, alex constantly repeated, “that class was too hard, and i did not like the class”. when asked if the teachers made an effort to make assignments clear by using handouts, overhead presentations, or vocabulary lists, alex said that the teachers did use those strategies, but he could not recall or understand the assignments when he got home. he never indicated that he requested extra help from teachers outside of class. a final factor to consider was that alex did not consistently use good study habits. in spite of the fact that his home environment offered a place to study, he spent most of his time watching t.v. or visiting with friends. the average time spent on homework was half an hour. he would work on the assignment if he could do the work, but he often could not. when studying for a test, alex spent about an hour going over the book. he never took class notes or used them to study for a test. he explained he would spend a maximum of four hours on major assignments. alex felt it was easy to wait until the last days because he had learned to type on the computer. alex’s personal reflection on his schooling during the second student interview, the last half hour was spent summarizing the academic grades and answering any of student’s personal questions. alex had previously shared that he did not have a picture of his first grade class. the researcher gave him a copy during the interview. he was very happy to learn that he could keep a copy of the class picture. he spent time looking and laughing at his old friends. alex pointed out students who were still in high school, and those who had dropped out of school. alex asked about other students that might be included in the interviews. he explained that there had been a total of six cousins in this first grade class. as he named each one, he laughed and commented on their hair or clothing. alex was surprised at how much they all had grown up. alex reflected that the elementary years were normal and happy times for him. he talked about his favorite teachers, and expressed how he would like to relive his fifth and sixth grade years. in a more serious tone, he shared that during his freshmen year; he had gone to mexico during the winter break and returned to learn that his father was going to jail. after that, his school life was not important and held little meaning. somehow during the sophomore year, his father made him aware that he needed to go to school. alex’s body language and mood changed as he described his freshman year experience. it was clear that alex did not have an understanding of what to call these “feelings”. the description of his feelings and attitude toward his life indicated a case of depression. when i suggested this term to help explain these feelings, alex reacted in silence then repeated the word. he sat up, raising his head to indicate that he understood. he agreed that he had been depressed for the first two years of high school. alex continued to explain that in his junior year there had been a girl friend and a change in his attitude. he decided to change his circle of friend and his plans for his senior year. his plan was to finish school as soon as possible and to enter the army. he wanted to make the army a career. the army would offer him an opportunity to continue his education at the college level, and a chance to travel the world. when asked if there were any regrets or changes he would like to go back and make, he 34 said that he would have liked to learn to speak spanish better. he would have liked to have learned the correct academic spanish with a good vocabulary and to be able to read and write it. alex explained that for now his spanish was at a “rancho spanish” level. he understands a great deal of spanish but he can not speak it correctly. he is able to speak with his mother and father but can not express himself using long academic words. his lack of this level of spanish has led to teasing by family members, and friends who are more fluent with the spanish language. analysis in alex’s situation, there was misunderstanding on the part of the parents about their role and from the school system about the support alex needed. his mother felt that by sending alex to school, encouraging him, and providing a stable home environment, she had completed her role as a good parent. she believed that the schools had prepared her children academically during the elementary, middle school, and high schools years. she also believed that alex was given equal treatment and opportunities in the educational system. she believed he was prepared to enter a college setting if he wished to do so. in this case, she believed that the overall behavior and low grades were due to the negative influences of friends. because his parents lacked an understanding of how the education system works and the school skills needed to succeed in the academic areas, they were not able to monitor alex’s academic progress in an adequate manner. valdés (1996) explains some of the issues and conflicts encountered by the families of these students. alex’s parents had not asked him to sacrifice his education. alex’s parents wanted him to take advantage of the opportunity to finish high school because they had not been able to finish a primary education. the family’s misunderstanding of the school system and the inability to monitor alex’s education was due to two major points. the first point was they did not understand the differences between the two educational systems. secondly, they didn’t understand the difference in the role of parents in the education of their children. alex’s parents believed in his education but did not understand how to help in the education process. alex agreed that his behavior was influenced by friends and cousins. his low grades were a reflection of his lack of understanding of the academic content which required high levels of thinking skills in english. alex’s difficulties with reading comprehension, writing and vocabulary indicates that he was lacking the academic language explained by cummins’ (1989) as a higher level of cognitive development. alex’s development of oral language skills were begun with the help for his older sister and this gave him a false indication of his readiness for english only instruction. his lack of primary language development and lack of academic language in english led to many of the academic difficulties reported by alex. the fact that alex completed high school credits for a diploma was a big accomplishment for the family. conversations with him indicated that out of twenty cousins of approximately the same age, he was only the third or fourth male to graduate from high school. he explained that compared to his older sister, he did not have the academic grades, or talent to compare to his sister’s accomplishments during her years of high school. due to this fact, alex’s alternative plan was to join the army as soon as possible. he believed the army would provide him with opportunity to attend a college and have a career. leaving the family and his home town was a very important decision, which he made with the approval of his parents. in june 2001, it was learned that alex’s sister was married, six months pregnant and working at a local store. her present plan was to return to the army with her husband after the baby was born. in a conversation with alex in july 2001, it was learned that he had been in the army and stationed in north carolina up until april 2001. he had to return home upon his mother’s request. he was needed at home to help with his younger siblings. alex was working full time at a local chicken processing plant. he plans to attend the local community college this fall and major in criminology. alex is waiting until he turns 21 years old to apply for correctional officer’s training with the state of california. 35 references bruner, j.s. (1975) language as an instrument of thought. in a. davies (ed.) problems of language and learning. london: heinemann. collier, v. p. (1987). age and rate of acquisition of second language for academic purpose. tesol quarterly; v21 n4 , 617-641, dec. collier, v. p. (1989). how long? a synthesis of research on academic achievement in a second language. tesol quarterly; v23 n3, 509-531, sep. collier, v. p. (1992). a synthesis of studies examining long-term language minority students data on academic achievement. bilingual research journal: the journal of the national association for bilingual education, v16 n1, 187-212, winter. collier, v. p. (1995). acquiring a second language for school. directions in language and education, 1:4. cortés, c. (1986) “the education of language minority students: a contextual interaction model” in beyond language: social and cultural factors in schooling language minority students, edited by d. holt. evaluation, dissemination, and assessment center, california state university, los angeles. crawford, j. (1989, 1991). bilingual education: history, polities, theory and practice (second ed.). trenton, nj: crane publishing. crawford, j. (1992). hold your tongue: bilingualism and the politics of “english only”. new york: addison wesley. cummins, j. (1981). the role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. in schooling and language minority students: a theoretical framework. evaluation, dissemination and assessment center, california state university, los angeles, 3-49. cummins, j. (1989) empowering minority students. sacramento: cabe. cummins, j. (1996). negotiating identities: education for empowerment in a diverse society. ontario, ca: california association of bilingual education. donaldson, m. (1978). children’s minds. glasgow: collins. freeman, d. e., & freeman, y. s. (1994). between worlds: access to second language acquisition. portsmouth, nh: heinemann. freeman, y. s., & freeman, d. e. (1992). whole language for second language learners. portsmouth, nh: heinemann. freeman, y. s., & freeman, d. e. (1997). teaching reading and writing in spanish in the bilingual classroom (fourth ed.). portsmouth, nh: heinemann. freeman, y. s., & freeman, d. e. (1998). esl/efl teaching: principles for success. portsmouth, nh: heinemann. kozol, j. (1991). savage inequalities. new york, ny: crown publishers krashen, s. d. (1987). principles and practice in second language acquisition. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall inc. krashen, s. d. (1996).under attack: the case against bilingual education. culver city: language education associates. loide, m. (1991) language development specialist examination preparation book (third ed.) davis, ca: praxis publishing. s ogbu, j. u. (1985) research currents: cultural –ecological influences on minority school learning. language arts; v62 n8, 860-869, dec. ogbu, j. u., & matute-bianchi, m. e. (1986). understanding socio cultural factor: knowledge, identity and social adjustment. in beyond language: social and cultural factors in schooling language minority students (pp. 72-142). los angeles, ca: california state university, los angeles. olsen, d. r. (1977) from utterance to text: the bias of language in speech and writing. harvard educational review, 47, 257-281. ramirez, j. d., yuen, s. d., & ramey, d. r. (1991). final report: longitudinal study of structured english immersion strategy, early-exit and late-exit lingual education programs. u.s. department of education. (no. 300-87-0156), web site: http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/mis...s/ramirez/longitudinal.html. skutnabb-kangas, t & toukomaa, p. (1976) teaching migrant children’s mother tongue and learning the language of the host country in the context of the sociocultural situation of the migrant family. helsinki: the finnish national commission for unesco. snow, c. e., cancino, h., de temple, j., & schely, s. (1991). giving formal definitions: a linguistic or metalinguistic skill? in e. bialystok (ed.) language processing in bilingual children. (pp. 90-112). cambridge: cambridge university press. 36 spring, j. (1994). american education (sixth ed.). new york, ny: mcgraw hill. spring, j. (1997). the american school (fourth ed.). new your, ny: mcgraw hill. sue, s., & padilla, a. (1986). ethnic minority issues in the united states: challenges for the education system. in beyond language: social and cultural factors in schooling language minority students (pp. 35-72). los angeles, ca: california state university, los angeles. thomas, w. p. & collier, v. p. (1998). two languages are better then one. educational leadership; v55 n4, 23-26, dec-jan. 19971998. valdés, g. (1996) con respeto: bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools. new york: teachers college press. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 84 assessing empowerment at hsis: an adapted inputs-environments-outcomes model marcela g. cuellar university of california, davis vanessa segundo university of california, davis yvonne muñoz university of california, davis abstract hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) play a critical role in advancing postsecondary access and success for latinx students. scholarship has begun to examine how hsis influence latinx student experiences and outcomes, yet much remains to be explored. in an effort to inform future research of latinx students at hsis, we argue that student experiences and outcomes should be based on notions of empowerment given the historically marginalized status of this group. we propose a model to guide assessment on latinx empowerment at hsis, which builds on the inputs-environments-outcomes (ieo) model (astin & antonio, 2012) and integrates critical theoretical frameworks, namely critical race theory and community cultural wealth. in proposing an adapted ieo model assessing latinx empowerment, we encourage scholars and practitioners to expand notions of what constitutes success and excellence at hsis in terms of how they educate and empower latinx students. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.362 assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 85 introduction despite steady increases in postsecondary enrollment since the 1980s, only 14% of latinx individuals age 25 or older possess a bachelor’s degree or higher (stepler & brown, 2016). persistent lower levels of educational attainment among latinx students adversely shape the advancement of this historically marginalized group (telles & ortiz, 2008). as latinx students continue to enroll in higher education in greater numbers, many enroll at hispanic serving institutions (hsis), which are broadly described as institutions with at least 25% latinx students. between 1994 and 2014, hsis grew from 189 to 409 and enroll more than 60% of all latinx undergraduates (santiago, taylor, & calderón galdeano, 2016). summarizing the impact of hsis can be challenging given the varied approaches employed towards serving the latinx and general student body (santiago et al., 2016). nonetheless, hsis graduate latinx students at comparable rates to their non-hsi counterparts after institutional and student characteristics are controlled (flores & park, 2015). as such, hsis clearly play a pivotal role in advancing postsecondary access and success for latinx students. the spirit of the hsi designation promotes intentional institutional change to better serve latinx and low-income students (santiago, 2012). these institutions are thus uniquely positioned to challenge majoritarian views of education, which calls for the creation of an affirming and transformational education (garcía, 2012). beyond enrollment and graduation rates, however, there are few indicators to determine the extent to which these colleges and universities serve latinx students (garcia, 2016). while important, conventional metrics of performance (e.g. retention and graduation) provide only a glimpse into the education at hsis that is necessary to ensure the full socioeconomic and political advancement of this racialized group. these measures, for instance, do not capture the experiences of students at these institutions or the quality of education, such as empowerment, which also serve as indicators of success for latinx students (cuellar, 2015). additional metrics are thus necessary to examine how hsis enhance latinx empowerment. in an effort to holistically understand the influence of hsis on latinx students, we contend that future examinations of outcomes at these institutions should be grounded in notions of empowerment given the historically marginalized status of this student population. towards this aim, we propose a conceptual model to guide future research examining empowerment at these colleges and universities. we build on the foundation of the inputscuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 86 environments-outcomes (ieo) model (astin & antonio, 2012) and integrate equity-oriented theoretical perspectives, namely critical race theory (delgado & stefancic, 2012) and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005). given contemporary political, economic, and social attacks to the latinx community and other marginalized communities, we hope our model can inform the ways that scholars and institutional leaders think about assessing the impact of hsis to include how latinx students are holistically empowered for continued socioeconomic and political advancement. hsis as spaces for marginalized student empowerment the notion of empowerment is central to an educational philosophy that aims to foster personal growth and develop critical learners (ashcroft, 1987). ashcroft (1987) broadly defines an empowered person as one who believes in his or her ability/capability to act, which in turn leads to able/capable action. drawing on freire’s liberatory and social justice frames as well as critical social work theory, stanton-salazar (2011) defines empowerment as an active process of gaining resources and competencies that allow for control over one’s life and achieving one’s goals. at its core, empowerment connects beliefs to actions, a connection that takes on a pronounced role with regard to disenfranchised populations. building on these perspectives, we view empowerment as the process through which latinx students draw on their cultural assets and obtain the requisite skills, knowledges, and resources to transform themselves, their communities, and society. we view empowerment as integral to the education of latinx students given the historical marginalization this community has systemically experienced, and the current sociopolitical context. inarguably, the empowerment of latinx students in any educational context is imperative; however, we contend that this process is extraordinarily significant within hsis. as institutions enrolling the majority of latinx undergraduates, hsis are in a unique position to substantially shape these students’ educational and long-term success. such a position provides an incredible opportunity for hsis to define what it means to serve latinx students and promote justice for latinx communities (garcía, 2012; gonzales, 2015). in particular, garcía (2012) challenges hsis to courageously stand against systems of education that dismiss and marginalize latinx students, which we interpret as a call for providing an empowering education. further, hsis can cultivate inclusive and empowering environments by drawing on assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 87 the cultural knowledge and assets embedded within the communities these institutions serve (gonzales, 2015). such views require hsis to intentionally strive to offer an educational experience that values latinx students and provides them with the requisite knowledge and skills that position them to transform themselves, their communities, and society. yet, how do we assess latinx empowerment? how do we ensure that institutions provide an empowering education to latinx students? assessment is one way colleges and universities self-evaluate to improve and assess what they value and aim to achieve (astin & antonio, 2012). what then, is the potential significance of hsis assessing for empowerment? an assessment model grounded on the empowerment of latinx students can serve as a useful guide for hsis to cultivate environments that provide a transformative education and provide useful information to further enhance the empowerment of latinx students. though the process of empowerment is difficult to holistically assess, we propose a conceptual model that captures aspects of this transformative process. an overview of the ieo assessment model the inputs-environments-outcomes (ieo) model provides a simple yet useful framework to assess the empowerment of latinx students at hsis. the ieo model promotes the idea that assessment serves a purpose of enhancing student development, which runs counter to traditional notions of institutional excellence (astin & antonio, 2012). traditional metrics of assessment and notions of institutional excellence, such as graduation rates, are heavily based on the accumulation of resources or academic reputation, thereby failing to capture one of the most important purposes of education, which is to educate students (astin & antonio, 2012). as an alternative, astin & antonio (2012) define excellence as the ability of an institution to holistically develop students’ academic and personal talents and make a positive difference in their lives, which they succinctly refer to as talent development. to this end, astin & antonio (2012) propose that colleges and universities consider how they “add value” to students and assess how they influence students’ development. accordingly, the ieo model shown in figure 1, aims to assess the impact of colleges and universities on students (astin & antonio, 2012). the model is comprised of three components: inputs, environments, and outcomes. it illustrates how students change over time (input to outcome) as a result of elements in the college (environment) that may influence student cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 88 experiences and development. as such, the model posits that we must consider student inputs before considering how the college environment influences student outcomes. figure 1. inputs-environments-outcomes (ieo) model (astin & antonio, 2012) inputs represent the characteristics students possess before entering college, such as demographic background, values and attitudes, behavioral patterns, and educational background. the environment encompasses structural aspects of the institution, such as size, selectivity, and student body composition, that can affect students’ experiences. subenvironments within an institution, such as particular programs or activities in which students are involved, can affect college experiences as well. after taking inputs and environments into account, we can examine the influence of colleges and universities on student outcomes. in a holistic typology, astin and antonio (2012) categorize outcomes as cognitive or affective. cognitive outcomes refer to intellectual capacities whereas affective outcomes reflect non-cognitive attributes. among cognitive outcomes, institutions often evaluate basic and complex academic skills, subject matter competency, and professional competencies. in terms of affective outcomes, institutions consider self-concept, personal values, attitudes, and student satisfaction. to assess these two types of outcomes, psychological (internal characteristics or processes) and behavioral (observable actions) measures can be used. by considering these various elements of the ieo model, we can evaluate how colleges and universities develop the talent of students and add value through the college experience (astin & antonio, 2012). given its straightforward and holistic design, the ieo framework has guided many studies on how colleges affect students (mayhew et al., 2016) and will likely remain an influential guide in assessment. the model and its underlying principle of talent development inform how inputs environments outcomes assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 89 to examine the empowerment of latinx students at hsis by considering how students’ backgrounds and college experiences shape outcomes. however, the ieo model was largely developed with “traditional” students in mind, such as full-time students living on campus, which may not reflect many latinx students at hsis. although the model accounts for race as a demographic characteristic, the racialized experiences of marginalized students are not theoretically embedded in its ieo components, which may further limit its applicability to latinx student populations at hsis. recognizing such possible limitations, astin & antonio (2012) encourage the incorporation of theoretical perspectives into the model to ensure alignment between the values and practices that institutions want to assess. implicitly building on an ieo approach, scholars have developed models that acknowledge how students’ racial and cultural identities shape their experiences on college campuses in order to maximize diverse students’ opportunities for success (hurtado, alvarez, guillermo-wann, cuellar, & arellano, 2012; museus, 2014). however, these models have not centered empowerment as an outcome in itself. as we consider how to build on the ieo model to understand latinx student empowerment, we infuse perspectives that acknowledge and value these students’ racial and cultural backgrounds and their subsequent empowerment. critical perspectives to adapt the ieo model we turn to critical race theory (crt) to re-imagine how a basic ieo model can better capture the ways in which latinx students can be served at hsis. crt takes head on the claim that higher education is the great equalizer by examining racial inequities in school contexts and challenging dominant ideologies (delgado & stefanic, 2012). crt acknowledges that higher education institutions in the united states are premised on false claims of “objectivity, meritocracy, colorblindness, race neutrality and equal opportunity” (yosso, 2005, p. 74). such dominant frameworks of student success often perpetuate the marginalization of students of color by focusing on knowledges these students do not possess, thereby placing the fault on them and their families for lacking normative cultural knowledge and skills to succeed in higher education (yosso, smith, ceja, & solórzano, 2009). a prime example of this deterministic view is well represented in the concept of the achievement gap, a “hegemonic western science view” (garcia, 2012), that serves to support the structural inequities inherent in the ways we cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 90 expect students to succeed and the tools they need to be successful. challenging these dominant ideologies, crt invites us to consider the systemic role of education beyond these conventional metrics. moreover, crt centers the lived experiences of communities of color to advocate for a more socially just society (delgado & stefanic, 2012). crt allows us to name the ways in which race has been an integral factor in the continued marginalization of latinx students in higher education. latinx undergraduate students’ experiences with microaggressions, racism, and institutional oppression are well documented (rendón, nora, & kanagala, 2014; yosso et al., 2009). nonetheless, more scholarship on the salience of race and racialization within the schooling experiences of latinx undergraduates at hsis is necessary. perhaps most importantly, through its critical perspectives, crt extends the invitation for scholarship to work towards the elimination of racism and all other forms of subordination experienced by marginalized communities, while working towards their empowerment (yosso et al., 2009). as aforementioned, deficit-based theories place the fault on latinx students and their families for not possessing normative cultural knowledge and skills to succeed in higher education (yosso et al., 2009). to counter such epistemological foundations, yosso (2005) developed community cultural wealth to better capture latinx students’ knowledges, strengths, and success as manifested in education. yosso (2005) draws from crt to identify six forms of capital: aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial, and resistant capital. aspirational capital refers to the ability of a student to remain hopeful amidst obstacles and barriers they face, while setting high expectations about what they can accomplish because they hold education to a high esteem. navigational capital recognizes that students operate in liminal spaces within educational contexts and adapt to these new cultures. social capital speaks to the importance and value of developing relationships, within schools and their communities, to strengthen a student’s social network and access to resources and mentorship. linguistic capital emphasizes the skills of students to engage in intentional code-switching between languages, and within formal/informal interactions. familial capital positions family as a central source of motivation and strength for students, who share cultural, ancestral, and situated knowledge. resistant capital is represented by the resilience students exercise to challenge inequality when confronting varying degrees of oppression. latinx students draw from these cultural assets to assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 91 navigate systems and structures that were not historically designed with them in mind as evidenced in their college experience (yosso, 2005). rendón et al. (2014) contributed to the community cultural wealth framework by identifying four additional forms of capital that latinx students employ to successfully navigate college within an hsi context. ganas/perseverance acknowledges the inner strength students cultivate to develop self-reliance in order to persist in college. ethnic consciousness speaks both to the cultural pride students develop and commitment to uplift the latinx community, while embracing their membership as part of an hsi. spirituality/faith is the sense that students honor a higher power to make meaning of their experiences and channel strength to overcome barriers. pluiversal represents latinx students’ ability to make sense of and thrive beyond the contradictions they experience in the many systems they navigate. latinx students possess these cultural assets and ways of knowing that are further developed and nurtured throughout their lifetime (rendón et al., 2014). to this end, community cultural wealth and its recent additions, recognizes the cultural contexts of latinx students and values the assets latinx students possess and employ to succeed in higher education. above all, community cultural wealth serves as a tool to re-position latinx students in relation to schooling, and to assess the impact policies and practices have in cultivating or hindering success. as hsis educate the majority of latinx undergraduates, these concepts are especially relevant in considering how hsis empower these students. empowerment broadly represents latinx students’ agency to effect change in their life, in their communities, and more broadly within society. building on earlier work (cuellar, 2015), we posit that empowerment occurs when latinx students’ backgrounds and cultural assets are affirmed and leveraged when they encounter environments that honor their culture, serving as impetus towards their long-term advancement. a model for assessing latinx empowerment at hsis to this end, our model’s outcomes aim to examine the empowerment of latinx students that can occur at hsis. our model is guided by the following principles, which builds from the ieo model through incorporation of crt and community cultural wealth: 1) latinx students are racialized beings who are producers of knowledge (delgado bernal, 2002), a disposition that can be further cultivated during college; 2) hsis have the potential to cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 92 intentionally serve latinx students by providing positive, empowering environments and experiences (garcía, 2012); and 3) it is paramount to institutional excellence to move beyond traditional notions of success to consider ways in which empowerment can be assessed for latinx students, particularly at hsis (cuellar, 2015). by applying crt in our model, we respond to hermán s. garcía’s (2012) question regarding “what role(s) can hsis play in rethinking colleges and universities’ dysfunctional roles in promoting the cognitive justice needs of latin@ students?” (p. 199). in essence, our model provides a blueprint for hsis in assessing a transformative educational experience that considers latinx student assets and their subsequent empowerment. we developed our model by reviewing current literature on latinx students at hsis and weaving in our personal and collective experiences of working at or attending hsis. our model, displayed in table 1, addresses core elements within latinx students’ backgrounds and environmental features that affect student experiences. we propose these elements should be assessed at hsis to capture the empowerment occurring at these institutions. though we recognize that hsis are heterogeneous in several institutional characteristics (núñez, crisp, & elizondo, 2016), our model focuses on elements that broadly promote empowerment for latinx students. we detail each component of our model in the following sections and highlight research addressing corresponding elements as well as provide ideas for future research. outcomes of empowerment our model calls for outcomes that comprehensively capture the ways in which hsis influence latinx students and propel them towards long-term personal, academic, and professional success. while the ieo model classifies outcomes as either cognitive or affective as evaluated through psychological or behavioral measures, our model adopts the view that noncognitive outcomes also involve higher-order levels of thinking (conley, 2013). we take the opportunity to both contribute to and move beyond a binary classification. instead, our outcomes of empowerment focus on three domains that we argue are essential to understanding latinx students’ empowerment: psychosocial, behavioral, and spiritual. psychosocial. within the psychosocial domain, we include outcomes that refer to individual, internal dispositions associated with academic, personal, and professional empowerment. hsis can assist students in developing their academic skills and self-concepts, assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 93 table 1 a model assessing latinx empowerment at hsis inputs environments outcomes = empowerment intersection of social identities racial/ethnic identity geographic region of residence gender socioeconomic status generational status immigration status academic skills and perceptions community cultural wealth aspirational familial linguistic social resistant navigational ethnic consciousness ganas/perseverance pluiversal spirituality/faith campus climate perception of racial tensions microaggressions interactions with diverse peers curricular experiences ethnocentric curriculum validating pedagogies faculty interaction and mentorship bridge/transition programs research/internship opportunities co-curricular experiences cultural centers student organizations on-campus work staff interaction and mentorship psychosocial positive academic self-concept academic skills racial/ethnic identity critical consciousness social justice orientation graduate school aspirations career aspirations behavioral ability to navigate systems civic engagement graduate school enrollment spiritual cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 94 which are associated with persistence and retention (robbins et al., 2004). hsis have shown a positive influence on first year latinx students’ higher-order learning (fosnacht & nailos, 2015) as well as academic self-concepts despite entering college with significantly lower self-concepts than their peers at non-hsis (cuellar, 2014). as such, future research should continue to examine how hsis advance latinx academic skills and self-perceptions given the strong interrelationship with student success. similarly, a holistic approach to engaging students involves a recognition of their personal development. studies have shown that hsis enhance latinx students’ personal development as documented in positive academic and social integration and increased student engagement (abraham, lujan, lópez, & walker, 2002; fosnacht & nailos, 2015; nelson laird, bridges, morelon-quainoo, williams, & salinas holmes, 2007). some studies also demonstrate how hsis facilitate latinx development in other key areas, such as ethnic identity and salience (garcia, patrón, ramirez & hudson, 2016; guardia & evans, 2008). a strong ethnic identity is linked to ethnic consciousness, which manifests in positive self-perceptions of students themselves and pride in attending an hsi (rendón et al., 2014). similarly, the development of critical consciousness, as well as a social justice orientation, among students of color is associated with a plethora of positive outcomes, such as academic engagement, career development and attainment, and political participation (diemer & li, 2011). thus, the consideration of how hsis affect these aspects of latinx students’ personal development seems essential to their empowerment and future success in multiple areas of their lives. further, we encourage the evaluation of how hsis advance latinx students in their future professional success. for example, latinx students have indicated that hsis provide opportunities for professional advancement (abraham et al., 2002) but with few details in what respect. as such, we propose that hsis evaluate professional development, such as graduate school and career aspirations as two indicators of how effectively these institutions are preparing latinx students to navigate educational and employment opportunities for socioeconomic and political advancement beyond their undergraduate education. behavioral. within the behavioral dimension, we highlight actions that result from engaging in environments that foster latinx student talents and position them to successfully navigate within and beyond the confines of the academy. we propose that institutions examine assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 95 to what extent students know how to navigate systems to ensure success in general. we also propose civic engagement as a critical outcome of an empowering education. civic engagement may further advance latinx degree attainment; consequently, it is important to consider how latinx students engage civically on campus and beyond (alcantar, 2014). research shows that civic engagement among latinx students at one hsi has been positively affected by their engagement in student organizations (gonzález, 2008). more research is needed. moreover, one of the most significant testaments to how well an hsi is serving students, is its ability to motivate and prepare latinx students to subsequently enroll in a graduate program. although degree completion at the undergraduate level is a priority for hsis, the pursuit of a graduate education is also telling of the investment these postsecondary institutions make towards empowering their latinx student populations. spiritual. furthermore, we propose that hsis consider assessing spirituality among latinx students. spirituality has been considered more recently as a subset of quantifiable affective outcomes (astin & antonio, 2012); however, we note this as a key gap that remains to be addressed if we are to serve and empower latinx students at hsis and thus advocate for measures of spirituality that are grounded in latinx students’ views. scholars in the field of higher education (rendón et al., 2014) and other disciplines (anzaldúa, 1999) have centered the ways in which spirituality is important in how latinx students define their sense of purpose, retain faith in seamlessly hopeless situations, and are able to humanize themselves in oppressive environments. moreover, notions of spirituality are associated with persistence among latinx students (nora, 2003). these contributions point to the need to further integrate seminal work across disciplines that have laid the foundation for the salience of spirituality as exercised by latinx students. we offer our list of outcomes, not as a comprehensive or deterministic compilation, but rather to stand in solidarity with scholars, practitioners, and administrators who reconcile standard psychometrics with new measures and approaches to holistically assess the ways latinx students thrive in higher education. similarly, we provide the following discussion on inputs and environments in our model as a starting point to advance holistic approaches to evaluating how hsis empower latinx students. as we move forward in this work, we will expand and further ground elements in our proposed model. cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 96 inputs our model acknowledges the entering characteristics of latinx students. consistent with astin and antonio (2012), some of these entering characteristics are demographic while others represent student values, beliefs, and attitudes. our model, however, recognizes some of the racial and cultural realities that inform these entering characteristics among latinx students. for example, our model acknowledges the fluidity and intersectionality of various social identities among latinx students (núñez, 2014) as well as the cultural assets possessed by latinx students and the communities from which they originate (yosso, 2005; rendón et al., 2014). collectively, understanding the inherent diversity among latinx students and the cultural assets they bring into higher education can help institutions account for the empowerment latinx students may already possess to assess how college experiences additionally empower students. intersection of social identities. our model centers the racial and ethnic background of latinx students given the strong representation of these students at hsis. latinx students are more likely to enroll at both twoand four-year hsis than students from other racial groups (núñez & bowers, 2011; núñez, sparks, & hernández, 2011). moreover, latinx students who self-identify as “other latino” are more likely to enroll at four-year hsis and emerging hsis compared to mexican americans, indicating an increasingly diverse latinx student population at these institutions (cuellar, 2015). unfortunately, most studies on latinx students at hsis have not considered the racial and ethnic heterogeneity within this racialized group. although these groups share commonalities in language and aspects of culture, there are also unique experiences that may affect students’ experiences or outcomes. for instance, although mexican americans are the most populous latinx community in the country, this group maintains the lowest level of educational attainment among latinx students (zambrana & hurtado, 2015). further, it is important to consider how geographic region of residence may also shape latinx students’ social identities. thus, hsis should consider how latinx students’ racial/ethnic background may affect their experiences within college in an effort to identify and eliminate any possible inequities within this monolithic group. several other background characteristics also matter in our model. despite growing college enrollment gaps between latinas and latinos (saénz & ponjuan, 2009), latinos are more likely to enroll at two-year hsis than their female counterparts (núñez et al. 2011), whereas assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 97 latinas appear more likely to enroll at four-year hsis (cuellar, 2015), indicating the importance of considering how gender subsequently may shape latinx students’ experiences and outcomes at hsis. socioeconomic background is also important to consider since latinx students attending hsis are more likely to enter with fewer economic resources (cuellar, 2015; núñez & bowers, 2011). in addition, generational status should be considered, both in terms of college attendance and family origin in the united states. many latinx students at hsis may be the first in their family to go to college and consequently face greater challenges than their non-firstgeneration counterparts. in addition, generational status in terms of a latinx students’ family origins in this country can affect academic success. according to a longitudinal study, third and fourth generation mexican americans show a decline in educational attainment despite initial gains in the second generation (telles & ortiz, 2008), suggesting that intergenerational advancement can be impeded by racialized experiences within the united states among some latinx groups. many latinx students at four-year hsis are not first-generation immigrants (nunez & bowers, 2011), which underscores the importance of understanding how this might also affect students’ experiences and outcomes. furthermore, our model accounts for immigration status, both at the student and familial level. we urge scholars and practitioners to recognize that many undocumented latinx students attend hsis and experience their college environments in unique ways relative to their peers as do students who are part of mixed status families, where issues of deportation, financial constraints, and negatively impacted wellbeing are common happenstance. as such, hsis should consider how these various background characteristics among latinx students intersect and simultaneously influence their college experiences and outcomes. academic skills and perceptions. additionally, another set of entering characteristics we include in our model reflect a students’ initial academic preparation and selfperceptions. latinx students attending two-year hsis are more likely to have entered with ap credit in high school and a desire to transfer (núñez et al., 2011), while those attending fouryear hsis are more likely to have lower standardized high school math scores (núñez & bowers, 2011). further, latinx students enter four-year hsis with lower self-perceptions of their academic abilities as compared to their peers attending non-hsis (cuellar, 2014). these studies collectively demonstrate the tremendous potential for hsis to develop the academic cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 98 talents of latinx students (núñez & bowers, 2011). thus, it is essential to understand the entering academic characteristics of latinx students to fully capture how hsis cultivate their scholarly potential. cultural assets. in order to maximize the impact that hsis can have on latinx students’ advancement, our model accounts for the cultural assets latinx students possess that are often overlooked or devalued despite the powerful influence these can have on students’ achievements. in other words, it is critical to assess latinx students’ community cultural wealth so that hsis can account for the influence of these assets on students’ experiences and outcomes. hsis should gather information on the educational hopes students have as they enter college to fully understand the aspirational capital and ganas students possess. institutions should also gauge the familial capital students may possess since family is strongly influential on latinx enrollment at hsis (cejda, casparis, rhodes, & seal-nyman, 2008; cuellar, 2015; núñez et al., 2011). further, the family unit has been identified as a source of support for latinx students attending hsis (kouyoumdjian, guzman, garcia, & talavera-bustillos, 2015), which in turn influences their degree attainment at these institutions (arbelo-marrero & milacci, 2016). familial capital may be measured according to how much the family influences a students’ educational pursuits and knowledge fostered within the home. knowledge that is gained through family and cultural connections can shape learning although these sources of information are rarely acknowledged in the educational outcomes of latinx students (riosaguilar, 2010). moreover, the linguistic capital students possess should also be considered and expanded to account for the multifaceted forms in which latinx students express themselves (martinez & montaño, 2016). for example, latinx students often speak spanish to enhance their ethnic identity and feel more connected to their campus community (garcia et al., 2016; guardia & evans, 2008). several latinx students may also speak other languages, such as indigenous languages. in addition, hsis should consider additional forms of capital that latinx students draw from to succeed in higher education. latinx students’ social capital is especially important to their success in college. for instance, latinx students at hsis receive support from institutional agents, such as teachers and counselors, but also rely on extended family, community leaders, and peers (cejda et al., 2008). in addition, many latinx students pursue a postsecondary degree to transform society, which represents resistant capital (yosso, 2005). furthermore, it is critical assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 99 to also consider spirituality and ethnic consciousness as this can also motivate latinx student success (rendón et al., 2014). thus, it is important for hsis to consider the various assets latinx students possess to cultivate environments that value these, which in turn has the potential to yield more empowerment. environments with regard to environments, our model calls for the assessment of elements across an hsi that provide latinx students with positive and empowering experiences. though hsis have been shown to vary in structural aspects, such as two-year/four-year, public/private, small/large (nunez et al., 2016), we highlight environmental features that support and make latinx students feel valued and can contribute to an empowering education. several aspects within the environment at hsis can help first-generation latinx students balance their academic and personal obligations (dayton, gonzalez-vasquez, martinez & plum, 2014; medina & posadas, 2012). as such, it is important to consider both student perception of and their participation in various environmental aspects of a college that can shape their experiences. we focus on three environmental areas that collectively influence the experiences of students of color and their success in higher education and beyond: campus climate, curricular domain, and co-curricular domain (hurtado et al., 2012). campus climate. understanding students’ views of the campus climate is critical given the adverse influence that student perceptions and interactions with racially diverse students, staff, and faculty can have on the experiences and outcomes of students of color (hurtado et al., 2012; museus, 2014). the campus climate is a multifaceted construct that captures how students perceive the environment, e.g. welcoming or hostile, and how students interact with individuals from different social identities on a campus. students have shared that the atmosphere at hsis is welcoming when institutions embrace and celebrate latinx identity through cultural representations in personnel, events, and organizations (medina & posadas, 2012; perrakis & hagedorn, 2010). although latinx students appear to generally view campus climates at hsis as positive, students have also perceived microaggressions, particularly when linguistic barriers exist for spanish-speaking students accessing resources (cuellar & johnsonahorlu, 2016). latinx students have suggested that offering more courses in spanish and hiring more spanish-speaking personnel would improve the social atmosphere of an hsi campus cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 100 (perrakis & hagedorn, 2010). additionally, interacting with peers from different racial/ethnic groups can positively impact feelings of belonging for latinx students at hsis (maestas, vaquera, & muñoz zehr, 2007). as such, it is important to assess how latinx students at hsis perceive the campus climate, how students interact with diverse peers, and how this influences their success. curricular. considering how latinx students experience the curriculum and classrooms are also critical in our model. culturally relevant curricula can offer latinx students with an affirming and empowering education (garcia & okhidoi, 2015). although many hsis have not incorporated ethnocentric curricula (cole, 2011), it is essential to consider how it shapes latinx students’ experiences and outcomes when it is available. in addition, the pedagogies that faculty employ within the classroom can further affirm or marginalize students of color (hurtado et al., 2012). latinx student interactions with faculty are especially important given the positive influence of such interactions on a multitude of outcomes (crisp, taggart, & nora, 2014). studies situated at hsis document how faculty mentorship enhances the academic success of latinx students (dayton et al., 2014), including degree attainment and sense of belonging (arbelo-marrero & milacci, 2016). in turn, sense of belonging has also been shown to promote latinx student academic achievement at hsis (chun, marin, schwartz, pham, & castro-olivo, 2016). however, it is essential to note conceptual differences on perceptions of mentoring between latinx and students from other racial groups in a survey of students at an hsi, which suggests a need for measures designed for different groups of students (crisp & cruz, 2010). furthermore, it is critical to assess if latinx students are engaging in academic enrichment opportunities, such as bridge or research and internship programs, and how these experiences further empower them. co-curricular. to holistically assess the experiences of latinx students, hsis should also consider co-curricular aspects of the college environment that can directly or indirectly influence experiences and outcomes. for instance, latinx students often find community within cultural centers and student organizations, which cultivates students’ sense of belonging and resilience (yosso et al., 2009). hsis that provide opportunities for latinx students to interact with one another, such as those that allow students to explore their identities within supportive spaces on campus, have been found to positively affect latinx ethnic identity (garcia et al., 2016; guardia & evans, 2008). in addition, co-curricular activities with cultural or social assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 101 justice approaches are opportune spaces in which critical consciousness and awareness of institutional inequities can be enhanced (rendón et al., 2014). as such, it is essential for hsis to assess the extent to which latinx students are engaging in such spaces or activities and how this engagement shapes their outcomes. lastly, as more latinx students work to afford college, institutions must consider how these employment opportunities, particularly those on campus, can be enhanced to foster intellectual and career development (núñez & sansone, 2016). across these various programs and opportunities, hsis should also explore how latinx students interact with staff as well as the possible mentorship received from these individuals. implications for research, policy, and practice as the number of hsis increases, these institutions hold tremendous potential in advancing latinx students’ academic, personal, and professional success. however, more research is necessary to understand how hsis holistically empower latinx students. we argue that future institutional assessment and research should examine how hsis empower latinx students. in an effort to inform future research, we propose a model to guide assessment on latinx empowerment at hsis based on foundational frameworks and critical perspectives. based on our model, future research should honor latinx students’ multiple social identities and assets, assess the environments students experience, as well as the empowerment latinx students embody as a result of attending an hsi. future scholarship and institutional research on latinx students at hsis should examine their experiences and empowerment through comprehensive and novel quantitative approaches. larger-scale national datasets, such as the cooperative institutional research program and national survey of student engagement, may capture facets of our model (astin & antonio, 2012); but, most lack elements for an integrated analysis of latinx students at hsis. while we acknowledge such limitations, we encourage scholars to create studies that center empowerment as a process and an outcome in order to further understand student success beyond conventional metrics. institutional level instruments or smaller-scale studies may already thoroughly assess the influence of hsis on latinx empowerment. in these cases, we encourage researchers and scholars to disseminate and share their assessment approaches and findings to inform how others may follow suit. cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 102 more holistic evaluations of latinx student empowerment at hsis may also require the development of new instruments or measures that capture the concepts we propose are essential. for example, the community cultural wealth of latinx communities is under-examined through large-scale, quantitative studies despite the fact that some of these cultural assets, such as familial capital, are integral to latinx student success (cuellar, 2014, 2015; kouyoumdjian et al., 2015). also, most existing surveys are not grounded in the lived experiences of latinx students. given that hsis can cultivate empowering environments by drawing on the cultural knowledge embedded within the communities these institutions serve (gonzales, 2015), the evaluation of these environments should also be based on the cultural assets and educational views of latinx students. accordingly, latinx student perspectives must be interwoven in the process of creating new measures and surveys for hsis. additionally, we encourage scholars and institutional researchers to explore latinx empowerment at hsis through different methodological approaches. several scholars point to a variety of qualitative and indigenous research methodologies that represent robust and rigorous asset-based approaches, such as interviews, testimonios, and focus groups (rendón et al., 2014; smith, 1999; yosso et al., 2009). of particular importance are the twenty-five indigenous projects smith (1999) describes, with emphasis on envisioning, democratizing, creating, and sharing as these position students as both experts in their own experiences and as stakeholders in hsis. we further recommend the employment of participatory action-research that includes students in the reciprocal process of creating and assessing hsis for continual improvement towards enacting an empowering education. conclusion as latinx students continue to enroll at hsis in large numbers, these colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to educate and empower these students. by centering latinx students at these institutions, hsis are in a position to restructure around the community cultural wealth inherent among communities of color (yosso, 2005), which in turn has the potential to self-correct some of the structural inequities inherent in higher education and society. current approaches to assessing latinx student success do not holistically tap into the transformative form of education that is necessary to fully advance this historically marginalized group. by employing a model that assesses latinx empowerment, hsis can ensure assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 103 that students are obtaining the requisite knowledge and skills to transform themselves, their communities, and society. through the empowerment of latinx students, hsis can proactively promote economic, social, and political equity for this racialized group. cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 104 references abraham, j. p., lujan, s. s., lópez, e. e., & walker, m. t. (2002). graduating students' perceptions of outcomes of college experiences at a predominantly hispanic university. journal of hispanic higher education, 1(3), 267-276. doi: 10.1177/153819270200100 3006 alcantar, c. m. (2014). civic engagement measures for latina/o college students. new directions for institutional research, 158, 23-35. doi: 10.1002/ir.20043 anzaldúa, g. (1999). borderlands: la frontera. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. arbelo-marrero, f., & milacci, f. (2016). a phenomenological investigation of the academic persistence of undergraduate hispanic nontraditional students at hispanic-serving institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(1), 22-40. doi: 10.1177/1538 192715584192 ashcroft, l. (1987). defusing “empowerment”: the what and the why. language arts, 64(2), 142-156. astin, a., & antonio, a. l. (2012). assessment for excellence: the philosophy and practice of assessment and evaluation in higher education. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield publishers. cejda, b. d., casparis, c. a., rhodes, j. h., & seal-nyman, k. (2008). the role of social capital in the educational decisions of hispanic students attending hispanic-serving community colleges. enrollment management journal, 2(1), 32-59. chun, h., marin, m. r., schwartz, j. p., pham, a., & castro-olivo, s. m. (2016). psychosociocultural structural model of college success among latina/o students in hispanic-serving institutions. journal of diversity in higher education. advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039881 cole, w. m. (2011). minority politics and group-differentiated curricula at minority-serving colleges. the review of higher education, 34(3), 381-422. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2011.0010 conley, d. t. (2013). rethinking the notion of ‘noncogntive.’ education week. retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/23/18conley.h32.html crisp, g., & cruz, i. (2010). confirmatory factor analysis of a measure of “mentoring” among undergraduate students attending a hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 9(3), 232-244. doi: 10.1177/1538192710371982 crisp, g., taggart, a., & nora, a. (2014). undergraduate latina/o students: a systematic review of research identifying factors contributing to academic success outcomes. review of educational research, 85(2), 249-274. doi: 10.3102/0034654314551064 cuellar, m. (2015). latina/o student characteristics and outcomes at four-year hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and non-hsis. in a. m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón-galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 101-120). new york, ny: routledge. cuellar, m. (2014). the impact of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and non-hsis on latina/o academic self-concept. the review of higher education, 37(4), http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039881 assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 105 499-530. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2014.0032 cuellar, m., & johnson-ahorlu, r. n. (2016). examining the complexity of the campus racial climate at a hispanic-serving community college. community college review, 44(2), 135152. doi: 10.1177/0091552116632584 dayton, b., gonzalez-vasquez, n., martinez, c. r., & plum, c. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions through the eyes of students and administrators. new directions for student services, 105, 29-40. doi:10.1002/ss.114 delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of colors as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8, 105-126. delgado, r., & stefanic, j. (2012). critical race theory: an introduction. new york, ny: new york university press. diemer, m. a., & li, c. h. (2011). critical consciousness development and political participation among marginalized youth. child development, 82(6), 1815-1833. doi: 10.1111/j.14678624.2011.01650.x flores, s. m., & park, t. j. (2015). the effect of enrolling in a minority-serving institution for black and hispanic students in texas. research in higher education, 56(3), 247-276. doi: 10.1007/s11162-014-9342-y fosnacht, k., & nailos, j. n. (2015). impact of the environment: how does attending a hispanic serving institution influence the engagement of baccalaureate-seeking latina/o students?. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(3), 187-204. doi: 10.1177/1538 192715597739 garcia, g. a. (2016). complicating a latina/o-serving identity at a hispanic-serving institution. the review of higher education, 40(1), 117-143. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2016.0040 garcia, g. a., & okhidoi, o. (2015). culturally relevant practices that “serve” students at a hispanic-serving institution. innovative higher education, 40, 345-357. doi:10.1007/ s10755-015-9318-7 garcia, g. a., patrón, o. e., ramirez, j. j., & hudson, l. t. (2016). identity salience for latino male collegians at hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and non-hsis. journal of hispanic higher education. advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/1538192716661907 garcía, h. s. (2012). hispanic-serving institutions and the struggle for cognitive justice. journal of latinos and education, 11(3), 195-200. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2012.686353 gonzales, l. d. (2015). an acción approach to affirmative action: hispanic-serving institutions as spaces for fostering epistemic justice. association of mexican american educators journal, 9(1), 28-41. gonzález, r. g. (2008). college student civic development and engagement at a hispanic serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(4), 287-300. doi: 10.1177/1538192708320472 guardia, j. r., & evans, n. j. (2008). factors influencing the ethnic identity development of cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 106 latino fraternity members at a hispanic-serving institution. journal of college student development, 49(3), 163–181. doi:10.1353/csd.0.0011 hurtado, s., alvarez, c. l., guillermo-wann, c., cuellar, m., & arellano, l. (2012). a model for diverse learning environments: the scholarship on creating and assessing conditions for student success. in j. c. smart & m. b. paulsen (eds.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 27, pp. 41-122). new york, ny: springer. kouyoumdjian, c., guzmán, b. l., garcia, n. m., & talavera-bustillos, v. (2015). a community cultural wealth examination of sources of support and challenges among latino first-and second-generation college students at a hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(1), 61-76. doi: 10.1177/1538192715619995 maestas, r., vaquera, g. s., & muñoz zehr, l. (2007). factors impacting sense of belonging at a hispanicserving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 6(3), 237–256. doi:10.1177/1538192707302801 martinez, d. c., & montaño, e. (2016). toward expanding what counts as language for latina and latino youth in an urban middle school classrooms. literacy research: theory, method, and practice, 65(1), 200-216. doi: 10.1177/2381336916661517 mayhew, m. j., rockenbach, a. n., bowman, n. a., seifert, t. a., wolniak, g. c., pascarella, e. t., & terenzini, p. y. (2016). how college affects students: 21st century evidence that higher education works (vol. 3). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. medina, c. a., & posadas, c. e. (2012). hispanic student experiences at a hispanic-serving institution: strong voices, key message. journal of latinos and education, 11(3), 182 188. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2012.686358 museus, s. d. (2014). the culturally engaging campus environments (cece) model: a new theory of college success among racially diverse student populations. in m. b. paulsen (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 29, pp. 189–227). new york, ny: springer. nelson laird, t. f., bridges, b. k., morelon-quainoo, c. l., williams, j. m., & holmes, m. s. (2007). african american and hispanic student engagement at minority serving and predominantly white institutions. journal of college student development, 48(1), 39-56. doi: 10.1353/csd.2007.0005 nora, a. (2003). access to higher education for hispanic students: real or illusory? in j. castellanos & l. jones (eds.), the majority in the minority: expanding the representation of latina/o faculty, administrators and students in higher education (pp. 47–68). sterling, va: stylus publishing. núñez, a. m. (2014). advancing an intersectionality framework in higher education: power and latino postsecondary opportunity. in higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 29, pp. 33-92). new york, ny: springer. núñez, a. m., & bowers, a. j. (2011). exploring what leads high school students to enroll in hispanic-serving institutions: a multilevel analysis. american educational research journal, 48(6), 1-29. doi: 10.3102/0002831211408061 assessing empowerment at hsis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 107 núñez, a. m., crisp, g., & elizondo, d. (2016). mapping hispanic-serving institutions: a typology of institutional diversity. the journal of higher education, 87(1), 55-83. doi: 10.1353/jhe.2016.0001 núñez, a. m., & sansone, v. a. (2016). earning and learning: exploring the meaning of work in the experiences of first-generation latino college students. the review of higher education, 40(1), 91-116. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2016.0039 núñez, a.m., sparks, p. j., & hernández, e. a. (2011). latino access to community colleges and hispanic-serving institutions: a national study. journal of hispanic higher education, 10, 18-40. doi:10.1177/1538192710391801 perrakis, a., & hagedorn, l. s. (2010). latino/a student success in community colleges and hispanic-serving institution status. community college journal of research and practice, 34(10), 797-813. doi:10.1080/10668921003723110 rendón, l.i., nora, a., & kanagala, v. (2014). ventajas/assets y conocimientos/knowledge: leveraging latin@ strengths to foster student success. san antonio, texas: center for research and policy in education, the university of texas at san antonio. rios-aguilar, c. (2010). measuring funds of knowledge: contributions to latina/o students' academic and nonacademic outcomes. teachers college record, 112(8), 2209-2257. robbins, s. b., lauver, k., le, h., davis, d., langley, r., & carlstrom, a. (2004). do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? a meta-analysis. psychological bulletin, 130(2), 261–288. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.261 saénz, v. b., & ponjuan, l. (2009). the vanishing latino male in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 8(1), 54-89. doi: 10.1177/1538192708326995 santiago, d. a. (2012). public policy and hispanic-serving institutions: from invention to accountability. journal of latinos and education, 11(3), 163-167. doi:10.1080/15348431.2012.686367 santiago, d., taylor, m., & calderon galdeano, e. (2016). from capacity to success: hsis, title v, and latino students. washington, dc: excelencia in education. stanton-salazar, r. (2011). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. youth & society, 43(3), 1066-1109.http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0044118x10382877 stepler, r., & brown, a. (2016). statistical portrait of hispanics in the united states. washington, dc: pew research center. telles, e., & ortiz, v. (2008). generations of exclusion: mexican americans, assimilation, and race. new york, ny: russell sage. smith, l. t. (1999). decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples. london: zed books. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. doi: 10.1080/1361332052000341006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0044118x10382877 cuellar, segundo, & muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 108 yosso, t. j., smith, w. a., ceja, m., & solórzano, d. g. (2009). critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate for latina/o undergraduates. harvard educational review, 79(4), 659–690. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4. m6867014157m707l zambrana, r. e., & hurtado, s. (2015). the magic key: the educational journey of mexican americans from k-12 to college and beyond. austin, tx: university of texas press. marcela g. cuellar university of california, davis yvonne muñoz university of california, davis abstract introduction hsis as spaces for marginalized student empowerment an overview of the ieo assessment model figure 1. inputs-environments-outcomes (ieo) model (astin & antonio, 2012) critical perspectives to adapt the ieo model a model for assessing latinx empowerment at hsis outcomes of empowerment inputs environments implications for research, policy, and practice conclusion references 3006 robbins, s. b., lauver, k., le, h., davis, d., langley, r., & carlstrom, a. (2004). do psychological bulletin, 130(2), 261–288. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.261 pg15 pg16 pg17 pg18 pg19 pg20 pg62 pg63 pg64 amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 featured articles understanding resource: maldistribution and acting on inequality of resources alberto ochoa san diego state university art pearl professor emeritus, university of california, santa cruz the united states is both morally and legally obligated to equally educate all of its students. as a nation, we have high expectations of our schools and invest in them to provide our children with the means to succeed in an increasingly uncertain world of work (aronowitz, 2008). that would of course mean providing all students with equal access and equal resources. historically and currently this goal has not been met. to truly provide all students with equal resources would require reformative action at many levels. leveling the playing fi eld is more than equally distributing monetary resources (bowles & gintis, 1976; jones, 2003). in this article we examine seven maldistribution conditions that impact educational equity and resources to actualize equal educational access for latino and low income communities. maldistribution of resources cuts across every educational activity and human development domain (brofenbrenner, 1979). maldistribution is defi ned as faulty distribution or apportionment of resources over an area such as a school, school community or a particular group. in the case of schooling, not only is less money spent on “at risk” schools, but students in such schools get less of their teacher’s time, fewer of their teachers are able or willing to be legitimate authorities, students receive a lower level of encouragement because of defi cit thinking, and more of the teachers are not prepared to work in latino and/or low income school communities. misdistribution of resources questions why we fail to fairly invest in all of our schools or school communities. maldistribution of resources is supported by critical race theory (delgado, 1995) that examines the relationship between race and power and “interest-convergence” issues (educational, social, political, economic), in which one group profi ts or benefi ts over the other in society. maldistribution of resources is also supported by bourdieu and passeron (1977) in their analysis of social reproduction and schooling. they argue that schools reproduce class relations by accepting rather than reducing class based resource differentials in working class communities, producing poorly prepared students for academic work, which often leads to limited occupational choices. at the same time in middle and upper income communities students are prepared for a rich intellectual education and higher career opportunities. in this article we examine seven maldistribution conditions that impact educational equity and resources to actualize equal educational access for latino and low income communities, namely: (1) fi scal resource distribution between schools, (2) fi scal resource distribution and use within a school, (3) resource distribution refl ected in teacher quality at the k-12 level, (4) resource distribution in time spent on teaching at the classroom level, (5) resource distribution as refl ected by differences in teacher encouragement within a classroom, (6) resource distribution of classroom authority, and (7) resource distribution as a result of unengaging and mind numbing curriculum. the fi rst area of maldistribution is fi scal resource distribution between schools. jonathan kozol (1991, 2005) clearly delineates how brutally inequitable monetary resources are distributed. there are huge disparities by state and within states. using u.s. census bureau (2008) data, school district spending per pupil was highest in new york ($14,884), followed by new jersey ($14,630) and the district of columbia ($13,446). states where school districts spent the lowest amount per pupil were utah ($5,437), idaho ($6,440) and arizona ($6,472), 4 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 with california spending $8,586 per pupil. in certain high latino populous states, such the california and texas, disparities are signifi cant within a state. kozol described in considerable detail the appalling conditions of schools and life in one of united states’ poorest ghettos, east st. louis, and contrasted it with school and life in wealthy suburbs. he documented that schools in affl uent suburbs spent as much as fi ve times more than schools in impoverished inner cities. in 28 states “high minority districts receive less state and local money for each child than low minority districts. . . . across the country, $908 less per student is spent on students in the districts educating the most students of color, as compared to the districts educating the fewest” (education trust, 2009). inequities exist within schools districts. . . . salaries are not the only problem: districts routinely assign a larger share of their unrestricted funds to lower poverty schools, as well. athough districts distribute earmarked funds such as title i mostly to higher need schools, they undercut the purpose of those dollars to provide “extras” for low income students by sending a higher percentage of fl exible state and local funding to lower poverty schools. (education trust, 2009). furthermore, jimenez-castellanos (2008) found that schools with a higher percentage of poor latino immigrant students tend to be older, have less space per pupil, and have a higher percentage of portables. in comparison schools with more affl uent white students tend to be newer, more spacious, and with a higher percentage of permanent classrooms. the remedy for unequal distribution of monetary resources should be obvious but also diffi cult to actualize. at a time when parents strive for competitive advantage for their children, the pressure is in the opposite direction from equality. diffi cult or not, the struggle for equity must continue, and at the very least a minimum every school should receive what is necessary for a quality education for every child in the school. a beginning point are the demands under the california williams case (2004), the landmark superior court case that calls for all students to receive equal access to instructional materials, safe schools, and quality teachers. to actualize the equity concerns under the williams case, the use of the california school accountability report card (sarc) provides the school community with over ten dimensions to assess the quality of the use of resources between schools. the sarc, provides demographic school data, academic data, fi scal and expenditure data, as well as data on class size, teacher and staff assignment and specialization, curriculum and instruction, as well as safety, cleanliness, and adequacy of school facilities (http://www3.cde. ca.gov/sarcupdate/clink.aspx). the second maldistributive condition is the resource distribution within a school – the amount of money and how it is spent within a school. while the dollar spent per student may be the same throughout a district, how that money is spent can be markedly different. dollars spent in affl uent and smaller schools go almost exclusively for academically rigorous curriculum, while many dollars in disadvantaged low income schools and schools with large numbers of students are defl ected away from rigorous instruction and utilized for security and student control—the bigger the school the more security. security is a major issue in high poverty schools with heavy concentration of students of low income students. penton media (2000) reports that it’s easy to understand the steps that are being taken to ensure personal and facility security. three important questions are raised: what is the ultimate cost to school systems’ budgets and students’ personal freedom? does the cost outweigh the benefi ts? and how much of it is a reaction to the outcry generated by political opportunists and the media frenzy that is sure to follow any school tragedy? in any large urban community, schools with heavy concentration of poor and underserved students tend to look more like prisons, with students required to pass through metal detectors and otherwise be subjected to invasions of privacy than students in affl uent suburbs do not have to endure (kozol, 2005; orfi eld, 2001). the expenditure of resources on security devices changes the atmosphere and the social climate of the school and, in subtle and not so subtle ways, undermines instruction. the remedy here is to transform schools into an inclusive and supportive community. this requires that the schools and community establish a mutually respectful partnership with bicultural parents, develop student leadership and school ownership, introduce 5 resource maldistribution association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 peer counseling, nurture an effective student government, and recruit a culturally competent administration and faculty (lindsey, robins, & terrell, 1999). in addition one needs to question the allocation of resources within the school (authentic assessment, personnel addressing the needs of students, culturally relevant and rigorous curriculum and programs, support personnel, and parent engagement) to assure that they are student centered and advocate for the development of students to access rich intellectual opportunities and careers. the third maldistribution condition is resource distribution refl ected in teacher quality. jimenez-castellanos (2008) affi rms that school achievement seems to be positively related to fully credentialed teachers and with teachers with more experience. at the same time school achievement is negatively correlated to the percentage of emergency credential teachers. regardless of how teacher quality is measured, poor and low income latino children get fewer than their fair share of high quality experienced teachers (peske & haycock, 2010). peske and haycock also make a powerful case for the importance of quality teachers. teacher quality turns out to matter a lot. in the highest poverty high schools that had high teacher quality indices (tqi), for example, one will fi nd about twice as many students meeting state profi ciency standards as compared to similarly poor high schools that had low tqis. in elementary and middle schools, when the tqi increased, so too, did the percentage of students who met or exceeded state standards, even after controlling for students’ background characteristics (peske & haycock, 2010). peske and haycock generate a series of long and short term proposals for more equitable distribution of teacher resources. these include: fi nding ways to get more high quality teachers in low performing schools; connecting measures of student performance to individual teachers; paying teachers in low income schools more; reducing their work loads and provide time off for professional development (such as specialized training, peer coaching, sabbaticals to upgrade skills); rethinking tenure; attracting the best principals; “ramping up” teacher education programs in the supply of “teachers in shortage areas, like math, science, special education and bilingual education” (peske, & haycock, 2010). of importance at the university level is to hold teacher preparation programs accountable for what they produce, and rethinking teacher compensation and pay for performance not years of experience (peske, & haycock, 2010). none of these are remarkable recommendations and none are new. all are based on student performance on standardized test scores not changes in life conditions. yet, missing from those recommendations is cultural relevance, cultural competence, and markedly increasing underrepresented teachers. of importance is that presently in california (2010) over 72% of its k-12, 6.25 million students are latinos and non-white, while over 70% of teachers are white. cultural competence is superfi cially or indirectly addressed through one or two courses in multicultural education or diversity in our teacher preparation programs—understanding the sociocultural complexity and backgrounds of our students matters (kozol, 2005; lindsey et al., 1999; ochoa, 2009; valencia, 1997). the fourth maldistributive condition is associated with resource distribution of time spent on teaching. one signifi cant factor that creates sociocultural dissonance is the demographic gap between teachers of color and students of color (national center for education statistics, 2007) at the national and state levels. in the major urban communities of our nation, over 70% of the teachers are euro-american while 70% of the students are ethnically and linguistically diverse. garcia, arias, murri, and serna (2010) and gay (2010) point to the sociocultural dissonance that creates student resistance or disciplinary attention based on misperceptions of respect and appropriate ways of acting out, which leads to inappropriate use of classroom instruction or time spent on teaching. one impact on time spent on teaching is time that is lost because students are removed from classrooms. a large body of evidence shows that black students are subject to disproportionate amount of discipline in school settings and a smaller and less consistent literature suggests disproportionate sanctioning of latino and native american students in some schools….. , in 2003 . . ., almost 1 in 5 black students were (19.6%) were suspended, compared with fewer than 1 in 10 white students (8.8%). a nationally representative survey of 74,000 tenth graders found that about 50% of black students reported that they had been suspended or expelled compared with about 20% of white 6 resource maldistribution association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 students. (gregory, skiba, & noguera, 2010, p.59) in the case of latino students, a large majority of students are placed in compensatory programs that are guided by a cognitively undemanding curriculum. often less prepared teachers dedicate more instructional time to classroom discipline less to teaching, that equates to students receiving less time spent on learning. jimenezcastellanos (2008) reports that schools with more poor latino immigrant students tend to receive a higher percentage of teachers on emergency credential with fewer years of experience while schools with more affl uent white students tend to have more experienced teachers and fewer emergency credentialed teachers. what is needed in low income school communities is a signifi cant presence of fully credential, dedicated and professional staff, who recognize and address the particular needs of latino and low income students and who can be helpful mentors. to increase time spent on teaching, schools need teachers who provide opportunities for small group work, self directed learning, peer group activities and leadership opportunities. there is also a need for teachers who integrate the culture and cultural awareness into services and programs to help latino students navigate cultural differences between their home, community, and school. to increase academic rigor, schools need personnel who can provide bicultural and bilingual services that include parents in educational development and school professionals and capable leaders who develop strong networks with other stakeholders – including schools and colleges, clinics, other community based organizations, practitioners, and professionals (ochoa, 2009; santiago & brown, 2004). the fi fth maldistribution condition is resource distribution as refl ected by differences in teacher encouragement within a classroom. perhaps the greatest discrepancy in distribution of teaching encouragement as a resource comes in teacher perception of student capabilities. throughout the 20th and 21st century there has been systematic race, ethnic and class bias that has resulted in differential encouragement of students. for much of this period the differences in ability had been “proven” by science. beginning with darwin’s cousin sir francis galton who developed statistical measures that provided the “evidence” that mental capacity was inherited. . . . man’s natural abilities are derived by inheritance, under exactly the same limitations as are the form and physical features of the organic whole. consequently, it is easy, notwithstanding these limitations, to obtain by careful selection a permanently breed of dogs or horses gifted with peculiar powers of running, or of doing anything else so it would be quite practicable to produce a highly gifted race of men by judicious marriages during several consecutive generations (galton, 1869, p. 1). although continually challenged, and in some instances withdrawn, the insistence that there was an inherited difference in the capacity to learn continued to be promoted. arthur jensen (1969) and richard herrnstein and charles murray (1994) made similar arguments for race and class limitations on the capacity to learn. the drum beat for inherited intelligence has been muted, but defi cit thinking –the legacy of justifi cations for slavery, colonization and decimation are very much alive, although in recent years it has taken on different forms – an unwholesome environment, and anti-intellectual culture. defi cit thinking, the insistence that students come to classrooms with limited ability to learn “genetics, culture and class, and familial socialization have all been postulated as the sources of alleged defi cits expressed by the individual student who experiences school failure” (valencia, 1997, p.2) is very widespread. as a result of it, a large number of students are shortchanged. defi cit thinking undermines any effort to close the achievement gap and deprives a sizeable number of students of the full value of the teacher resource. all of the above means a wide range of resource utilization within a classroom and more specifi cally where some students are encouraged to succeed while others are discouraged to achieve their potential (orfi eld, 2001). in a single classroom, the teacher teaches to some students more than to others, and some are virtually ignored. the students singled out for teacher attention are more likely to be advantaged by how they are perceived by the teacher or by how the student perceives the teacher. in either instance attention given to equalizing teaching in the classroom will provide far more benefi ts that trying to raise standardized test scores. 7 resource maldistribution association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 a possible solution is creating a pedagogy of equal encouragement that seeks to examine the “teacher student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously students and teachers” (freire, 1970, p. 72). yet, freire points out that the educator and the student, though sharing democratic social relations of education, are not on an equal footing. the educator must be humble enough to be disposed to relearn that which he/she already thinks s/he knows, through interaction with the learner (freire, 1970). the sixth maldistribution condition is resource distribution of classroom authority. often another resource loss at the classroom level is an unwillingness of students to accept classroom authority—the ability of the teacher to persuade and negotiate with her/his students the relevance and application of their learning. gregory and weinstein (2008) found african american and latino students more defi ant than white students. they suggest that defi ance may not be an attribute of the student but the student’s perception of the teacher. far more students in disadvantaged schools encounter illegitimate authority, that is an imposed authority without the consent of the governed than do students in advantaged schools. here the resource is wasted on teachers who are unable, or unwilling, to develop positive relationships with a large percent of their students (ochoa, 2009). since teachers are not elected by those they will teach, how they are perceived is critical to their legitimacy as classroom authorities. teachers have legitimate authority only when the student accepts that authority. legitimacy is a function of persuasiveness and negotiation (pearl & knight, 1999). in classroom where the vast majority of students are students of color and the overwhelming majority of teachers is euro-american, the legitimacy may be challenged on the basis of race or ethnicity. the defi ance may well be the result of an unwillingness or inability of the teacher to persuade and negotiate with a student rather than a student’s propensity for defi ance. by far the largest complaint about teacher authority is “fairness.” if the teacher is perceived as unfair, teaching as resource is seriously compromised. the unfairness is perceived in classroom management, while race, class and ethnicity become factors that fi lter how the student is treated. in his thirteen years on the santa cruz school board, art pearl heard numerous complaints by mostly latino students of unfairness in disciplinary action. valdez (1996) also documents teacher and school authority through the existing distances between culturally diverse families and schools with regard to lack of respect and belongingness. fairness has also been documented as a signifi cant factor in student perceptions of classroom humiliation and grading. (cullingford, 2002; freidel, marachi & midgley, 2002; wendorf & alexander, 2005). once again, the authority, which the educator enjoys, must not be allowed to degenerate into authoritarianism; teachers must recognize that their fundamental objective is the recovery of the student’s stolen humanity and support their academic development (freire, 1970). from the outset, her/his efforts must coincide with those of the students to engage in critical thinking and the quest for mutual humanization. his/her efforts must be provided with a profound trust in abilities and their creative power. to achieve this, they must be partners of the students in their relations with them (freire, 1970). the seventh maldistribution condition is resource distribution as the result of unengaging and mind numbing curriculum. for nearly three decades, since a nation at risk, a report issued by president reagan’s commission on excellence (national commission, 1983), public education has been hammered for its inability to produce workers capable of competing in the global economy. as a result over the years, fi rst at the state level and with no child left behind (nclb) in 2001 at the national level, public education has come under corporate control and contorted and reduced to preparing docile workers for alleged competition with workers in other countries for preeminence in the global economy a claim made by president obama in every speech he makes about education (obama, 2008). in reality, more and more high tech jobs are being outsourced, not because foreign workers are better educated but because they work for less money. what such changes do is undermine teaching as a resource. no child left behind has not focused on the kind of higher order thinking and performance skills needed in the 21st century. these include the abilities required by social and democratic life to apply knowledge to complex and novel problems, to communicate and collaborate effectively, and to fi nd, manage, and analyze information. instead, federal policy under nclb has encouraged schools to focus on a narrow band of knowledge, exhibited in ways that are not applied to important tasks in the real world 8 resource maldistribution association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 (darling-hammond & wood, 2008). perhaps an even more devastating criticism of current approaches to what is called school reform comes from one time advocate and assistant secretary of education, diane ravitch, who has done a complete turnabout about her views of nclb. she states on our present course, we are disrupting communities, dumbing down our schools, giving students false reports of their progress, and creating a private sector that will undermine public education without improving it. most signifi cantly, we are not producing a generation of students who are more knowledgeable, and better prepared for the responsibilities of citizenship. that is why i changed my mind about the current direction of school reform (ravitch, 2010a, p. 1). public education would be better served if the federal role was severely restricted and teachers liberated to work with local communities (ravitch, 2010b; meir & wood, 2004). what is needed is culturally responsive teacher education programs that can increase the pool from which teachers are recruited (amram flax, hamermesh, & marty, 1988). also needed is a culturally relevant curriculum that is negotiated at a local level and that is not distorted by a mythical global competition. while math and science, now overemphasized at the expense of the arts and citizenship preparation will remain important, they need to be organized for meeting citizenship and other real life challenges. in conclusion, equalizing education resources is diffi cult and complex and will not be solved with simple minded approaches i.e., equalizing dollar distribution (which is probably the most diffi cult and yet, perhaps not the most important). the seven resource maldistribution conditions impacting negatively against the principle of equal access and equalization need to be addressed at every level (local, regional, state, national) and equalization manifested. what is clear is that progress made at any level will facilitate progress at other levels. when our national and state commitment becomes a priority to provide fi scal and people resources for developing the minds of children and youth—such actions will infl uence the local or micro levels of education. conversely, when local school districts engage with their school community to campaign for quality education and democratic schooling for all, fi scal reallocation of resources should become a priority. of interest is the fact that when our nation invests in the protection of other countries or engages in warfare—the nation seems to fi nd billions of dollars to support such efforts. our priority should be in supporting the development of children and youth for civic engagement and democratic participation! other remedies for changing how resources are used within a school include changing the climate and culture of the school. at the heart of the remedy is a culturally responsive teacher – a teacher who understands the students they teach. that teacher has to be of the community, not an outsider. also necessary is the serious consideration that should be given to student voices and grievances (mintra, 2004). accusations of unfairness should not be summarily dismissed, nor are charges of unequal access and practices of racism. these concerns should be used to construct changes in school policies and practices that create equal encouragement and access. the more the school is a community center, the more parents are welcomed, the more an effort is made to recruit and prepare students and families to be members of a mutually supportive community. enabling students to have equal availability to the teaching and instructional resources creates access to opportunities. special attention should also be given to defi cit thinking. a teacher who believes a student cannot learn for whatever reason will not be much of a teacher. special effort has to be made in teacher preparation institutions and in teacher evaluations to help teachers guard against believing that some students cannot learn and as necessary to intervene when such sentiments become apparent. a beginning intervention in each school community is by monitoring teacher preparation programs, school conditions, and the support climate and culture of our schools—with a focus on investing in the support and development of all children and youth. references aronowitz, s. (2008). against schooling: for an education that matters. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. 9 resource maldistribution association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 amram, f., flax, s., hamermesh m., & marty, g. (1988). new careers: the dream that worked. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota. bowles, s., & gintis, h. (1976). schooling in capitalist america: educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. new york, ny: basic books. brofenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development: experiments by nature and design. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. bourdieu, p., & passeron, j. (19977). reproduction in education, culture, and society. london: sage publications. cullingford, c. (2002). the best years of their lives? pupils experiences of school. sterrling, va: stylus publishing inc. darling-hammond, l., & wood, g. ( 2008). democracy at risk the need for a new federal policy in education. washington, dc: the forum for education and democracy. delgado, r. (ed.) (1995). critical race theory: the cutting edge. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. education trust. (2009). education trust releases funding gaps 2006. washington, dc. retrieved february 1, 2010, http://www.edtrust.org/dc/press-room/press-release/education-trust-releases-funding-gaps-2006 freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. friedel, j., marachi, r., & midgley, c. (2002). stop embarrassing me!: relations among student perceptions of teachers, classroom goals, and maladaptive behaviors. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association april 2002, new orleans, louisiana. available at http://www.google.com/search? garcia, e. , arias, b. murri, n., & serna, c. (2010). developing responsive teachers: a challenge for a demographic reality. journal of teacher education, 61(1-2), 132-142. galton, f. (1869). hereditary genius: an inquiry and its laws and consequences london: macmillan and co. gay, g. (2010) acting on beliefs in teacher education for cultural diversity journal of teacher education. 61(1-2), 143-152. gregory, a., skiba, r.j., & noguera, p. a. (2010). the achievement gap and the discipline gap: two sides of the same coin? education researcher, 39(1), 59-68. gregory, a., & weinstein, r.s. (2008). the discipline gap and african americans: defi ance or cooperation in the high school classroom. journal of school psychology, 46, 455-475 herrnstein, r., & murray, c. (1994). the bell curve: intelligence and class structure in american life. new york, ny: the free press. jiménez-castellanos, o. (2008). beyond equality, equity and adequacy: intra-district resource allocation’s impact on school achievement. unpublished doctoral dissertation, san diego state university/claremont graduate university. jones, e. (2003, fall). unequal education: how the legal system shortchanges minority students. connections. washington, d.c.: public education network. jensen, a. (1969). how much can we boost iq and scholastic achievement. harvard educational review, 39(1), 1-23. kozol, j. (1991) savage inequalities: children in america’s schools. new york, ny: crown. kozol, j. (2005). the shame of the nation: the restoration of apartheid schooling in america. new york, ny: crown publishers. lindsey, r., robins, k., & terrell, r. (1999). cultural profi ciency: a manual for school leaders. publisher thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. 10 resource maldistribution association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 meier, d., & wood, g. (2004) many children left behind: how the no child left behind act is damaging our children and our schools. boston: beacon press. mintra, p. (2004). the signifi cance of students: can increasing “student voice” in schools lead to gains in youth development? teachers college record, 106(4), 651-688. national center for education statistics (2007). condition of education: contexts of elementary and secondary education teachers and staff. washington, dc: u.s. department of education institute of education sciences. national commission on excellence in education (1983) a nation at risk: the imperative for educational reform. washington, dc: united states government printing. no child left behind act (2001). washington, d.c.: united states department of education. obama, b. (2010). education: current issues. retrieved june 23, 2010, http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/ ochoa, m. (2009). five concepts for school counselors to incorporate in their work with latina/o youth and parents. association of mexican american educators (amae), 2(1), 30-36. orfi eld, g. (2001). schools more separate: consequences of a decade of resegregation. cambridge, ma: harvard university, the civil rights project. pearl, a., & knight, t. (1999). the democratic classroom: theory to inform practice. cresswell, new jersey: hampton press. penton media (2000). devising an effective school security plan: access control and security systems integration staff. retrieved april 23, 2010. http://securitysolutions.com/mag/security_devising_effective_school/ peske, h. g., & haycock, k. (2010). teaching inequality. how poor and minority students are shortchanged on teacher quality. a report and recommendations by the education trust. education trust. washington, dc. retrieved internet february 1, 2010. http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2010/0315_teacher_corps.aspx ravitch, d. (2010a). why i changed my mind about school reform, wall street journal retrieved march 14, 2010. http://online.wsj. com/article/sb10001424052748704869304575109443305343962.html ravitch, d . (2010b). the death and life of the great american school system: how testing and choice are undermining education. new york, ny: basic books. santiago, d. a., & brown, s.e. (2004). what works for latino students. washington d.c.: excelencia in education, inc. us census bureau, (2008). public schools spent $9,138 per student in 2006. washington, dc: u. s. department of commerce. valencia, r.r. (1997). the evolution of defi cit thinking. new york, ny: falmer press. valdés, g. (1996). con respeto: bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools: an ethnographic portrait. new york, ny: teachers college press. wendorf, c. a., & alexander, s. (2005). the infl uence of individual and class level fairness related perceptions on student satisfaction. contemporary educational psychology, 30(2), 190-206. williams, eliezer et al. v. state of california , et al. (december 10, 2004). san francisco county superior court approved the notice of settlement. retrieved june 21, 2010. http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/ce/wc/noticeenglish.asp 11 resource maldistribution journal_2008._coverpage._final[1] 16 visibly hidden: language, culture and identity of central americans in los angeles by magaly lavadenz, ph.d the history, culture and practices of central america are inadequately addressed in teacher preparation and professional development across the united states, and especially in california based on my analysis of teacher preparation (http://www.ctc.ca.gov/html., 2001). information about the histories, cultures and practices add to the linguistic and pedagogic knowledge-base of bilingual and non-bilingual teachers of central american immigrant students. to this end, this article documents the experiences of central american immigrant families residing in the los angeles area and includes analyses from focus group data, participant observations and interviews collected at the central american resource center, carecen, and with central american families living in this area of los angeles. selected folklore and writing by central american youth in the los angeles area are interspersed within this article. implications for practice conclude this study. my interest in central americans began over 15 years ago while i was a bilingual, first grade teacher in glendale, california, a suburb of los angeles. the elementary school had a reading “exchange” program, where students were sent to different teachers in order to be taught in the first language (spanish or english). during one of the report card preparation meetings for the first grade teachers, a colleague asked “and how is ruth doing, she’s such a space cadet?” this derogatory comment seemed to be a common label for certain children of central american ancestry in our school. ruth, the young girl in my classroom whom the teacher referred to as a “space cadet” was not a poor student; after the author observed her more closely, it was evident that she had difficulty paying attention and completing her work on time. this curiosity also led the author to focus her master’s thesis and doctoral work on central american immigrant children (lavadenz, 1994; 1991). further work allowed the author to find that traumatic war zone experiences for central american children, such as being witness to violence, increased the likelihood that they would have difficulty concentrating. students who formed the case studies for my research on war trauma also reported that they daydreamed about the family members they had left behind, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who were not as fortunate as they had been in coming to the u. s. the author also found that central american immigrant students were more likely to be referred to special education, despite the fact that they were not “low performing students” in regard to academic achievement. suárez-orozco (1989) attributed the “achievement motivation” of central american immigrant students to their success in school. he found that students felt an increased sense of responsibility and obligation in light of the fact that they had been able to escape the horrific war and violence of their native countries while their relatives had not. despite the time that has elapsed since suárez-orozco’s (1989) work, there continues to be little evidence that central american experiences, history, culture and language have been attended to in public schools. teachers receive little to nothing in their initial teacher preparation programs and central american students and families do not see themselves represented in the curriculum, nor are their “funds of knowledge” incorporated into the discourse of the classroom (vélez-ibáñez & greenberg, 1992). sociopolitical background three decades of political and economic turmoil in el salvador and guatemala have resulted in unprecedented immigration to the united states. according to the united states census, there are 3,372,090 central americans 17 living in the united states, accounting for 7.6% of the latino population (2006). the two largest immigrant communities from central america in los angeles county are from el salvador and guatemala (356, 952 and 206,284, respectively). their combined numbers comprise 98.4% of all los angeles residents from central america. los angeles, the setting for this study, has the largest salvadoran and guatemalan population outside of those countries. the largest number of salvadoran and guatemalan immigrants to the los angeles area arrived in the 1980’s, at the height of the civil wars in both countries. following independence from spanish colonial rule, the united states engaged in economic, political and military interventions in those countries that resulted in incredibly divisive, destructive and chaotic conditions. despite requests from international and us based human rights groups, the us denied giving refugee status to salvadoran and guatemalan immigrants (as opposed to the political refugee status granted to cuban and vietnamese immigrants), resulting in large waves of unauthorized immigration (menjivar, 2002). figure 1 the seven countries in central america. figure 1, the map of central america, identifies the region that was once known as the united provinces of central america, immediately following independence from spain in 1821. between 1821 and1839 five countries, excluding panama and belize, formed part of this union. el salvador “guanacos”, as the people from el salvador are nicknamed, have experienced a long history of political, social and economic revolutions.1 as the smallest country in central america, the country was controlled by a strong oligarchy; fourteen families owned major land and agricultural concerns following 1 interestingly enough, the in-group nickname guanacos is now being used in derogatory ways in other spanishspeaking countries. the term is roughly equivalent to being called a “country bumpkin”. independence from spain (clements, 1984). the families maintained control over wealth, mostly in the form of agricultural land for coffee production, and subsequently power, in the nation from the 1860’s forward. a quasi-feudal state existed between the rich landowners and poor peasants, mostly comprised of indigenous peoples, and/or mestizos, who worked the lands continuously until the disastrous depression in 1928. a very brief period of indigenous and peasant uprisings culminated in la matanza (the massacre) of 1932. the massacre, an event that is engraved in the collective consciousness of salvadorans to this day, resulted in the killing of 18 over 30, 000 indigenous peoples and virtually reinstated the shared oligarchy-military rule in central america, which lasted until recent times (menjívar, 2002) the involvement of the roman catholic church in the 1970’s and 1980’s resulted in communication and political involvement of the clergy and a rising awareness on the part of salvadorans. the catholic clergy’s political and human rights involvement, along with the increasingly complex economic and military intervention of the united states, resulted in one of the hemisphere’s most violent periods. in the ensuing civil chaos in el salvador, it was not uncommon for salvadorans to experience and/or have first-hand or family encounters with violence. torture, mutilation and disappearances of any person suspected of siding with either the pro-government or guerilla revolutionaries were everyday occurrences. entire villages were massacred by these death squads, resulting in migration through mexico to the united states. the twelve year cycle of terrorism left an indelible mark on the salvadoran community, both in el salvador and in the united states (menjívar, 2002). today, salvadoran exiles provide the main source of revenue for the country, in the form of remittances sent to remaining family members. guatemala anthropologist loucky estimates that there are over ten thousand mayan guatemalans living in los angeles (2000). guatemala has the largest indigenous population of central america, primarily mayan in origin. billings (2000), citing cirefca (1992) claims that 8090% of new immigrants from guatemala are maya, with 10-20% ladino (european-origin or mixed indigenous/european). although public schools do not request information regarding indigenous languages or origin as part of the enrollment process, many guatemalan-origin immigrants may speak one of the four primary mayan languages upon entrance to american, public schools, based on the home language survey (http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=3 3,47493 &_dad =ptl&_schema=ptl_ep). guatemalan immigrant children who speak an indigenous language as their first language experience difficulties in learning english, or spanish in a bilingual classroom. in the case of the latter, spanish would be the second language, english the third, both of which have important implications for language learning and teaching. teachers need to be aware that the diversity within the mayan community is central to their indigenous identity (for example, the term ‘indio’ (indian) is derogatory to mayans, as it negates the nature of belonging to the community of origin, listed here in order of predominance: q’anjob’al (51%), mam (16%), chuj (16%), and jakatek (7%) (billings, 2000). the shift from being maya in guatemala and to being guatemalan in the united states marks a transformation of language and identity for this immigrant community. in 1996, following a thirty-six year period of civil war, a peace agreement was signed by the guatemalan government. the conflict was a result of similar economic, social and political imbalance as in el salvador. according to menjívar (2002), social networks and organizations formed by indigenous communities were met with strong suppression by the government. the guatemalan government, with support from the american government, believed the indigenous uprisings were leftist in ideology and reacted with an intensely violent campaign. guerilla warfare resulted in the destruction of hundreds of village, the displacement of between half a million and one million people, and estimates of deaths exceeding in the hundreds of thousands. because children were particularly vulnerable to kidnapping and induction into either the government or guerilla armies during the civil war, the separation of guatemalan families is much more marked. as characterized by the film el norte, children and adolescents from guatemala were often sent to immigrate alone in order to avoid transcription in armies of either the guerillas or the government (menjívar, 2002). guatemalans, nicknamed “chapines”, have a well-established history of political organizing. the guatemalan transnational networks linking with the hometowns of immigrants constitute a major source of economic, social and political re-sourcing. (hamilton & chinchilla 1999) these networks are part of life for guatemalan and salvadoran immigrants in los angeles. the strong sense of community for guatemalans is a very important 19 consideration in understanding their challenges and successes in american schools. primary activities and core underlying values relating to work, social interconnectedness and family priorities, as well as prior experience with hardship and even violence, enhance rather than inhibit their adjustment in los angeles (loucky, 2000, p.215). central americans in los angeles the hub of the recently arrived central american immigrant community in los angeles is carecen, a community service organization. it serves as a cultural, legal and educational center since 1983, the year of its founding by a group of salvadorans, us church leaders, attorneys and activists. carecen’s outreach programs have evolved with the community’s transitions; once heavily central american in the 1980’s and 1990’s, it is now shifting to include more recent arrivals from mexico. located just west of downtown los angeles, in the pico-union/westlake area, where 95% of the residents in the area speak spanish, 35% of the population lives at or below the poverty level (as compared to 18.9% for los angeles as a whole), and the dropout rate for latino students at the local belmont high school is 82% (in contrast to the overall dropout rate of 22%) (lausd, http://notebook.lausd.net) methodology the data used in this paper come from two sources: 1) focus groups interviews conducted at carecen in the spring of 2001, and 2) participant observations during several family events that occurred between 2002 and 2004, conducted in several locations in los angeles. 2 this study is not intended to be representative of all central american immigrant experiences, particularly because of its small number of participants. rather, it intends to portray an exploratory examination of the family language and cultural socialization practices for a community for which these issues are not too often explored. language contact in los angeles in language-contact situations, developing languages, receding languages, and maintenance … are characterized by constant and rapid changes which may be observed as they arise and spread in the linguistic and social systems. (silva-corvalán, 1992) 2 to a degree, this represents the distribution of central american families away from the pico union/westlake area after initial arrival after immigration to the united states. two of the families were volunteers from the initial focus groups, the remainder were contacted through referrals from salvadoran or guatemalan acquaintances, from carecen or through schools. silva-corvalán addresses the shifts in language that occurs where languages, cultures and people live in close proximity. garcía (1999) suggests a response to a traditional “purist” approach to language use in defining a latin american ethnolinguistic culture that is so diverse. garcía suggests a focus on traits that address the plurality and diversity of language use that counters traditional (spanish) purist attitudes. these three traits are important to highlight in regard to the varieties of spanish spoken by salvadoran and guatemalan students in american schools. the mayan first languages spoken by many guatemalan immigrants and the specific linguistic features of salvadoran and guatemalan spanish are integrally related to notions of cultural identity. the complexity involved in the languages spoken in latin american countries is further heightened when languages and language varieties come into contact as a result of immigration. language contact and language shift have been well-documented in sociolinguistic research (fishman, 1999; peasealvárez & vásquez, 1994; zentella, 1997; romaine, 1995). unfortunately, scholars of language shift have found that, where language contact occurs in bilingual communities with more “socially powerful groups”, the result is monolingualism (romaine, 1995, p.51) parodi (2003) points out that the contact with english contributes to code switching 20 among spanish speakers in los angeles, a phenomenon that is well documented (zentella, 1997, perisinotto, 2003). lipski (1994) maintains that across latin america and spain, there are “no pan-hispanic norms which unerringly select preferred variants, nor is there any one country or region universally acknowledged as the repository of the linguistic standard…” (p. 136). thus, as language contact occurs between varieties of spanish, and between those varieties and english in los angeles, the differences become increasingly less noticeable over time, according to parodi (2003) and silva-corvalán (1994). this means that central american spanish shifts to become more like the dominant regional variety of spanish in los angeles (mexican/chicano spanish). fictional author hector tabor describes the confusion about language contact in los angeles through one of his main characters—a guatemalan death squad soldier, who observes the following of second generation guatemalan youth: fijáte, vos, que ese vato from la mara got in a fight with that dude from la eighteenth street who lives down the block. yeah, right there in the class. real chingazos. el de la salvatrucha estaba bleeding y todo. (hector tobar, the tattooed soldier,1998, p. 59) the shift described by romaine and others is becoming apparent in this brief excerpt. the differences and similarities between central american varieties of spanish as they come into contact with mexican varieties of spanish are highlighted in table 1. table 1: examples of words/semantic differences salvadoran spanish salvadoran spanish mexican spanish english casamiento arroz y frijoles arroz y frijoles rice and beans cipote patojo chamaquito, escuincle child piscucha, barrilete barrilete papalote kite minutas granizada raspado “snow cone”; shaved ice la cachimbona mi jefita, mother, mom, ma globo vejiga globo balloon chele canche güero blond chompipe chompipe guajolote turkey ayote guicoy calabacita zucchini squash chaqueta chumpa chamarra jacket pajilla pajilla popote straw bolsón mochila mochila backpack diccionario amansaburros diccionario dictionary table 2 provides a selection of the specific pronunciation/phonological differences in salvadoran and guatemalan spanish (lipski, 1994; canfield, 1981). while this list is not exhaustive, it highlights those differences in order to distinguish them from potential errors in reading/decoding for those students who receive reading instruction in spanish through a bilingual program. 21 table 2: examples of pronunciation/phonological differences. salvadoran spanish guatemalan spanish ado [a ddd o/ sounds like “ao”(sentado=sentao) /s/? / aspirated/ /s/? /s/ sounds like hard “s”; salvadoran (español= ejpañol) /n/? ? /n/? ? sound like “ng”, esp. after vowels and pauses (en =eng) /b, d, g/? /b, d, g/ over-emphasis of consonants /y/ /y/ weak pronunciation (silla= sía) typical among salvadoran and guatemalans is the use of “vos” (voseo), a form of address that may or may not be maintained by the children of salvadoran immigrants.3 the more formal “usted” is used for politeness, and is consistent with its use in other spanish-speaking populations. examples of voseo include: • ¿vos sos salvadoreño, no? (you are salvadoran, no?) • vení conmigo a bailar esta noche (come with me to dance this evening). • fijáte, vos, que mañana tenemos la cita con el doctor. (listen (you), we have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow). • ¡dejáte de babosadas y hacé lo que te digo! (stop your foolishness and do what i say!). all of the sessions with participants were conducted in spanish and all of the informants used the formal “usted” with the interviewer. when questioned about the nonvoseo use, they all responded that as a form of politeness towards a non-central american, central american parents in this focus group preferred to use the other form of address. findings: blurring and transforming language, culture and identity the author began her study in the salvadoran and guatemalan immigrant 3 cotton & sharp (1988) describe the use of vos in central america as a specialized use of second person singular with the shift from the spanish second person plural use of vosotros (i.e., vosotros hablaís becomes vos hablás in central america). barrio/community known as picounion/westlake; the neighborhood is centered around macarthur park and the rampart division of the los angeles police department, known as the most violent section of the city (los angeles police department, http://www.lapdonline.org/crime_maps_and_co mpstat). known as the territory where rival gangs, mara salvatrucha (originally only open to salvadorans and guatemalans, but now ethnically mixed with mexicans) and 18th street. it is a bustling area, home to the largest elementary school in los angeles unified school district, hoover street school. the popular documentary “fear and learning at hoover street school” was filmed there shortly after the passage of proposition 187. quality schooling is a key concern for the central american families who participated in the focus groups. the summary of the central themes that emerged from the two focus groups is reported in the table 3 below: 22 table 3: focus group findings (n=18) theme examples child-rearing principles -lack of respect-talking back to parents is not customary in country of origin -“scaffolding” of parental responsibilities due to the need for both parents to work” -children are seen and not heard spanish-language use in the home -concern over loss of spanish -decreased use of spanish in the home in hopes of a better professional future for children literacy practices -homework (in english). -salvadoran literature (poetry, novels) -notes/letters to family members -children’s literature (in spanish), -bibles -notes/letters to family members memories of war -surfacing during conversations, esp. for salvadoran informants -not discussed openly in the home immigration status -concerns over length of time to establish residency, paperwork, etc. -more outreach on the part of us, especially for guatemalans schooling -need for teachers to communicate in spanish with parents -teachers casual/unprofessional dress -need for school uniforms results from the focus group interviews are consistent with the recent research on central americans in los angeles (menjívar, 2002; hamilton & chinchilla, 2001; lópez, popkin & telles, 1996). central american families are highly interested in their children’s education. the parents who participated in the focus groups created spaces, both physical and temporal, for their children to do homework, read books and talk about school. while none of them was highly educated (most had not completed high school) they articulated their concerns about the differences in schooling and the informal dress of teachers in american schools. john ogbu (1978) referred to this as the “dual frame of reference, the comparison between what it is like to live in the country of origin with living in los angeles. one father of a 9 year-old reported watching the violence of the news on television with his daughter “¿ves eso?, yo vivi peor que eso (“see that? i lived through worse than that.”). he was referring to the experiences and memories of the war in el salvador, which he openly shared with his daughter. parents stressed the importance of raising their children to understand the importance of being salvadoran or guatemalan and americans. in these ways, the central american immigrant families who participated in the focus groups revealed that their children are socialized both culturally and linguistically to understand their histories. this important facet of the socialization of central american immigrant students is key to understanding the sociocultural knowledge that is a marker of social identity (ochs1993; 1986). these markers can be captured by some of the writings of central american immigrant youth, as well as by the excerpts from the families that i interviewed as part of this study. what part of mexico is el salvador? on my first day in mr. bax’s fourth grade class, a little boy named alex came up to me and asked me where i was from. i’ll never forget his name. little alex—a boy i had never seen before—looked me right in the eye and smiled. it was an honest smile, unlike how boys smile when they’re about to size each other up. although a nineyear-old boy’s smile can never be trusted, i was captivated by his enchanting honesty. 23 where are you from? i had learned by the time i was nine that there were many answers to this question. i was searching for the one i’d give alex. “here” wouldn’t work… i learned that the hard way. saying “here” always made me the fool of someone’s joke. “mmm,” i started. “mmm,” i continued looking him in the eye. i was going to say mexico, add, “but born here” and leave it at that. my mom said i’m supposed to say this all the time, even at the union avenue elementary school. anything salvadoran like pupusas, pacaya, flor de izote4 and spanish was always left at home, never in public. regardless, i looked back into alex’s eyes. “el salvador,” i blurted out. “i’m from el salvador.” “cool,” said alex approvingly. “what part of mexico is that in?”… was i really mexican after all? was el salvador a state of mexico? i really didn’t know. got to ask our moms. (marlon morales, 2000, pp 66-67.) this excerpt describes blurring of identities that occur in part from the fear of being “found out”. because of the lack of legal status of some central americans, “faking it” meant “passing as a mexican” in order to avoid deportation back to central america. these experiences are similar to those cited by zentella (1997), who discusses the complex and “expanding repertoires” of language, culture and identity. visibly hidden as educators, we seek to create classrooms that are learning sites for democracy. in our classrooms, we can create opportunities for coherence with principles that value and 4.pupusas are a traditional salvadoran (and guatemalan) dish that consists of thick corn meal tortillas, filled combinations of sausage, cheese and beans. pacaya is a type of vegetable and the flor de izote is a type of mushroom that grows from the national flower of el salvador (izote). the title of the book izote voz represents the national flower and a play on the use of voseo, the typical, more formal use of address in the 2nd person singular, used here also to “give voice to”. respect the dignity of human experience of all of our students. through engagement with the lived histories, languages and culture of central american students in our schools, teachers have the power to practice what paolo freire termed as a “pedagogy of freedom” (1998). the type of engagement leads us to examine locally-situated policies and practices through reflection and action. it calls us to question our individual roles in the education of students in the perpetuation of oppressive and subtractive schooling, and to respond in concrete ways to inform and arm ourselves with the knowledge and power of our students’ voices to create change. this process transforms traditional methods of reflection and inquiry into a model of teacher professional development that develops within us the ability to develop a disposition of change agency. this disposition is informed by a deepened knowledge of our students and their worlds, as well as a deepened knowledge of the pedagogic principles and content. classroom implications: a sociocultural approach teachers and other educators need to use the emerging research on central americans to inform their practices. they can also generate their own research about and with students in their classrooms to build a classroom environment using an approach to teaching and learning based on sociocultural/constructivist principles (wertsch, del rio & alvarez, 1995). this approach maintains that academic success involves the interaction of multiple factors mediated through a particular context, and that the relationship between the teacher, student and the task at-hand is paramount. lavadenz and martin (1999) identified the following aspects of sociocultural/constructivist practices: 1. teaching and learning are interrelated and additive processes which should incorporate the funds of knowledge of the participants through which teachers become students of students (freire, 1998; gonzáles, n., moll, l. c., tenery, m., rivera, a., rendon, p., gonzáles, r., and amanti c., 1995). this can occur by including instructional materials that reflect the communities of the learners, and are authentic and relevant to the lived experiences of students. 24 varying the participation structures based on multiple learning/teaching styles of students is another example of the incorporation of concept of funds of knowledge. 2. the role of the teacher is a. one of a facilitator and guide to build on the student’s knowledge base while attending to high academic expectations so that all students do achieve; b. to establish an inclusive classroom climate where multiple voices/perspectives are valued and shared; and c. to understand that conflict can be used as a learning opportunity through a freirian model of inquiry, dialogue and voice (freire, 1998). 3. issues of social justice and equity permeate the teaching/learning process. the classroom becomes a location of democratic coherence, where the educator’s commitment and consciousness acknowledge the dignity of human experience. the sociocultural approach can serve to bridge the information void that exists about the central american communities in the u.s. in the next section, i provide examples of the method of transformative inquiry as a freirian and sociocultural approach for teachers. transformative inquiry the inclusion of students’ languages and cultures into the curriculum in the discussion of the sociocultural approach is one step to shifting the apparent invisibility of central americans in our schools. to close, i propose a model of teacher inquiry which expands upon alma flor ada’s critical literacy phases (2004). ada elaborated upon freire’s model of transformative literacy instruction. in the model for transformative inquiry proposed here, i identify the following: 1. descriptive phaseteachers read, write and record their observations of students, the related professional literature. the question here is “what do i want to learn about and with my students? 2. personal interpretative phase teachers reflect on what they have written based on their own past experiences, beliefs and attitudes. this connects the text with their own past. the question posed here is “what did i learn about my own history, socialization and beliefs as a result of what i found in the descriptive phase?” 3. critical phaseteachers engage in a collaborative evaluation with students. this collaboration occurs through dialogue with students. the question posed here is: how can i share what i learned about my practices and beliefs with my students in order for me to model this and learn from students? 4. transformative phaseteachers’ recursive reflection, selfevaluation, negotiation and dialogue with students. the question to be addressed is “what did i learn from the entire process that allows me to make a change (praxis) in the teaching/learning process for myself and for my students?” finally, through this process, educators exemplify the model of professional, ethical and democratic authority in fostering more equitable learning for the students they serve. for the central american immigrants, who are often ignored in us classrooms, enacting transformative inquiry processes on the part of their teachers can reverse the hidden nature of the hybrid identities they experience as they become participatory citizens. 25 references billings, d. (2000). organizing in exile: the reconstruction of community in the guatemalan refugee camps of southern mexico. in.;j. loucky and m. moors (editors). the maya diaspora: guatemalan roots, new american lives. philadelphia: temple university press. canfield, d.l. (1981). spanish pronunciation in the americas. il: university of chicago press. clements, c. (1984). witness to war. canada: bantam press. commission on teacher credentialing. 2001. <http://www.ctc.ca.gov>. fishman, j. a. (1999). handbook of language & ethnic identity. new york: oxford us. freire, p. (1998). pedagogy of freedom: ethics, democracy, and civic courage. oxford: rowman & littlefield publishers. garcia, o. (1999). latin america. in j. fishman (ed.), handbook of language & ethnic identity. new york: oxford university press. gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research and practice. new york: teachers college press. gonzáles, n., moll, l. c., tenery, m., rivera, a., rendon, p., gonzáles, r., and amanti c. (1995). funds of knowledge for teaching in latino households. urban education, 29 (4), 443-470. hamilton, n. and stoltz chinchilla, n. (2001). seeking community in a global city: guatemalans salvadorans in los angeles. journal of ethnic and migration studies, 28(4), 747. lavadenz, m. & martin, s., 1999 developing a sociocultural/constructivist framework for teacher education: reconstructing theory and practice paper presented at the american educational research association. montreal, canada. april, 1999. lavadenz, m. (1994) the effects of war trauma in central american immigrant children. in: n. stromquist (editor). education in urban contexts. philadelphia: praeger press. lavadenz, m. (1991). post traumatic stress disorder in central american immigrant children. unpublished masters’ thesis. northridge: california state university, northridge. lipski, j. (1994). latin american spanish. new york: longman. lópez, d.e., popkin, e., and telles, e.. 1996. central americans: at the bottom, struggling to get ahead. ethnic los angeles, edited by r. a. m. b. waldinger. new york: russell sage foundation. los angeles police department. http://www.lapdonline.org/crime_maps_and_compstat.html loucky, j. (2000). maya in a modern metropolis: establishing new lives and livelihoods in los angeles. . in.;j. loucky and m. moors (editors). the maya diaspora: guatemalan roots, new american lives. philadelphia: temple university press. luna, m. (2001). diáspora. inventario poético y equinoccio. http://www.cuscatla.com/manueluna.html" menjivar, c. (2002). living in two worlds? guatemalan-origin children in the united states and emerging transnationalism. journal of ethnic and migration studies, 28(3), 531+ montejo, v. (2001). el q’anil: man of lightening. tucson: university of arizona press. morales, m. (2000). izote voz: a collection of salvadoran american writing and visual art. san francisco: pacific news press. morales santos, f. (2003). tu nombre, patria. http://mypage.direct.ca/j/julio/santos.html ochs, e. (1986) introduction. in b. schieffelin and e. ochs (eds) language socialization across cultures (pp. 1-13). cambridge: cambridge university press. ochs, e. (1993) constructing social identity: a language socialization perspective. research on language and social interaction 26, 287-306. ogbu, j. (1978) minority education and caste: the american sytem in cross-cultural perspective. newyork: academic press. parodi, c. (2003). contacto de dialectos del español en los ángeles. in: perisonotto, g. (editor), ensayos en lengua y pedagogía. ca: university of california linguistic minority research institute. pease-alvarez, l. and vasquez, o. (1994). language socialization in ethnic minority communities. in f. genesee (ed) educating second language children: the whole child, the whole curriculum, the whole community (pp. 82-102). new york: cambridge university press. perisinotto, g. (2003). el español en los estados unidos: cuna y crisol de una lengua en busca de normas. in: perissinotto (editor), g. ensayos en lengua y pedagogía. ca: university of california linguistic minority research institute. romaine, s. (1995). bilingualism. oxford uk & cambridge usa: blackwell. 26 reuters. around the world; new el salvador inquiry in killing of archbishop. new york times. 22 august 1985. silva-corvalán, c. (1994). language contact and change: spanish in los angeles. oxford, england: clarendon press. silva-corvalán, c. (1996). language contact and change: spanish in los angeles. oxford, england: clarendon press. suárez-orozco, m. (1989). central american refugees in u.s. high schools. stanford: stanford university press. tobar, h. (1998). the tattooed soldier. new york: penguin books. united states census bureau. (2006). american community survey: los angeles county, ca. velez-ibañez, c. and greenberg, j. (1992). formation and transformation of funds of knowledge among us-mexican households. anthropology and education quarterly 23 (4), 313-335. wertsch, j. v., del rio, p., & alvarez, a. (eds.). (1995). sociocultural studies of mind. cambridge: cambridge university press. zentella, a. c. (1997) growing up bilingual: puerto rican children in new york. oxford: blackwell. amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement and community organizing in popular education efforts linnea beckett ronald david glass ana paulina moreno university of california—santa cruz abstract where dominant models of urban school reform often regard immigrant communities as obstacles that must be managed or reduced, the two projects analyzed in this study (alianza and the project) regard the community as a powerful source of knowledge and as partners working towards educational improvement (nygreen, 2009). this paper analyses the ways in which latino parents involved in these projects, come together to learn about their communities and engage in a process of community building that strengthens their capacity to resist, if not overcome, dominant ideologies and institutions. latino parents in these projects do more than simply challenge the narrative of reform that continues to position them at the margins; they establish their own spaces of learning and solidarity that enable them to crystallize their perspectives and become agents of change in their local context. we posit that community building is key to creating sustained long-term relationships that can survive and withstand the struggle towards institutional change and open doors for latino community empowerment in schools and the broader society. introduction the education reform efforts of recent decades have made little impact on improving school outcomes or broader social realities and opportunities for youth from low-income, racially, culturally and linguistically diverse communities (anyon, 1997; orfi eld & kornhaber, 2001). the “achievement gap” refl ects neither the innate capacities nor the demonstrated abilities of these youth, but exposes an “education debt” that mires their schooling experiences within rote instruction, alienating curriculum, inadequate facilities and co-curricular programs, and lack of access to academically rigorous classes and high-quality teachers (ladson-billings, 2006). the “education debt” disparities in schools for low-income, racially, culturally and linguistically diverse (li/ rcld) students get multiplied by the inequitable out-of-school learning and development opportunities available for these youth (rothman, 2007). sadly, the li/rcld students who ‘succeed’ in the ‘college for all’ competition and enter post-secondary education must contend with the bitter irony that the structural “education debt” that they imagined they had transcended gets passed on in their personal school loans, with often devastating and far-reaching consequences for their individual lives (glass & nygreen, 2011). scholars have thus started to look beyond the school to explore ways that families and communities, and their relationships with schools and school culture, could become a fulcrum for equitable and sustainable school reform to change outcomes for li/ rcld youth (shirley, 1997, 2002; warren, 2001, 2011). in this essay we extend the work of scholars focused particularly on latino parent involvement in school reform (delgado-gaitan, 2001; dyrness, 2011; hurtig & dyrness, 2011; villenas, 2001) and unite fi ndings from two studies of separate paulo freire-infl uenced popular education projects (alianza in los angeles, ca, and the project in watsonville, ca). we examine some ways that latino parents come together to learn through a process of community building that strengthens their capacity to resist dominant ideologies and the oppressive aspects of schools and other institutions. both projects operate outside strictly school-centric domains of activity, but focus part of their work on reimagining and recreating the schools meant to serve the needs of their children. in both case studies we documented latino parents investigating their social worlds, contesting defi cit frames about themselves and their children, and creating counter-narratives that recast possibilities 5 a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 for improving their lives. as the parents engaged these challenges, they creatively built relationships and a united vision of change. we argue that these dynamic processes of community building and ethical and political engagement suggest transformations in conceptions of parent involvement in school reform that could support meaningful and sustained change for schools in li/rcld communities. in our analysis, we adopt a decolonial feminist perspective on popular education’s theoretical frame in order to situate community building as a local and process-based pedagogy (lugones, 2003). we position community building in spaces outside of school as a form of resistance that moves beyond reaction, and as an empowering process independent of reform outcomes inside schools. in this theoretical framework, we can begin to see how the project and alianza parents collaborate within their organizations to build community; they creatively examine preexisting values and principles in a collective process of remembering counter histories, recognizing individual subjectivities, and making knowledge together. the data show how the local and processbased community building experiences within these projects’ spaces strengthens the parents’ capacity to form participatory collectivities, a crucial step to being able to challenge and alter power structures; further, the achievements of these community building experiences do not hinge on actually mobilizing for structural change within the public sphere1. we argue that the participants in alianza and the project develop substantive competencies that are foundational for self-determination in their individual and collective lives, and although the transformations we witnessed are not often recognized in the research literature, they provide an opportunity to rethink what community organizing, parent involvement and school reform can look like and accomplish. in addition, we suggest that re-conceptualizing community building as a pedagogy could unlock new ways of understanding how people come together and build the capacity to change themselves and their environments. situating the studies alianza. in january 2008, a los angeles community-based organization named centro de educación popular (cep) initiated a family literacy program called alianza aiming to engage students, parents, and community members in critically analyzing their own educational development within the context of their socio-political reality. the ultimate goal was to enable the participants to become active agents of social change. alianza became a base for grassroots parent and youth organizing on issues of educational equity when the participants attempted to seize an opening created by the introduction of a “pilot school” reform in los angeles unifi ed school district (lausd). lausd agreed to launch a limited number of small autonomous schools that would operate somewhat like charter schools but remain an integral part of the school district, and the alianza parents and community members tried to secure this opportunity to establish a liberatory school for their children. their decision to start a pilot/charter school emerged from deep concerns about the quality of education their children had been receiving and from parents’ shared frustration with feeling silenced and excluded from mainstream public schools. these were not new concerns for latino/a parents (dyrness, 2007; nygreen 2009; snell, miguel, & east, 2009; villenas, 2001), but few such parents have had opportunities to take the initiative to construct semi-independent public schools (baker et al., 2009). cep started organizing and working with parents to establish their own pilot school, beginning with parent leadership workshops that prepared parents to be critical advocates for their needs in educational reform. one element of these workshops was dinámicas2 that explored participants’ everyday experiences as immigrants and parents, and this essay draws on ethnographic data related to those elements in particular. the project. formed in 2006, the project grew out of a conversation among leaders from communitybased organizations, including the teachers union and other labor groups, and university faculty members who were exploring ways to address the systemic and extreme pressures confronting the low-income residents of the community. and sub-standard housing, poor health, unstable and exploitative employment, substance abuse, and crime, and the group began with the assumption that the community’s very high rates of poverty, transience, overcrowded very low rates of educational attainment, political participation, and civic engagement were 1. delgado-gaitan (2001) explains the importance of seeing community empowerment as a non-linear process that is not dependent on actions of success or failure for the empowerment to have effects. we suggest empowerment happens independent of failure or success through a pedagogy of community building. 2. dinámicas translates roughly as ‘icebreakers.’ 6 a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 interconnected, and that any successful effort to transform them had to build from those interconnections and not focus on the issues in isolation. the project sought to shape a broad strategic response, one based in active public learning processes that build critical consciousness, organizational coherence, and the capacity for transformative action. drawing on paulo freire’s theory (freire, 1970), the project decided to utilize digital stories3 as codifi cations of everyday experience to focus structured community dialogues on an analysis of the limiting conditions of their lives and on strategies for change; the project also adopted a slogan: “another school and another community are possible!” the digital stories were grounded in generative themes that emerged from a series of focus groups with ~125 school parents and community members, ~50 youth, and ~25 teachers, and they were crafted in intimate story circles facilitated by some of the project members. the community dialogue circles were shaped by a series of questions intended to guide a participatory, collective investigation of the life experiences depicted in the stories. this essay draws on ethnographic data and interviews of storytellers and project members collected during the period when the community dialogues were being developed. although the ethnographic studies of the project and alianza were undertaken separately and in relationship to different primary research questions, we have joined the studies in this essay in order to illuminate a similar theoretical contribution they make. while each arose under somewhat different principles and circumstances, they are both freire-infl uenced reform efforts that employ the basic framework of popular education, they are situated in predominantly mexican and central american immigrant communities, and they implement processes designed to elicit li/rcld parents’ engagement not only in school reform, but in broader civic struggles for equity. methodology our fi ndings draw from two distinct preliminary studies that were “snapshot ethnographies” (cruz, 2011); data were collected during either one year (the project) or three months (alianza) of long-term communitybased efforts to build capacity for strategic change in the schools and broader communities. we undertook extensive observations and artifact analysis, and in the study of the project, the researcher also conducted three semi-structured interviews with parents who were project members and storytellers. during the data analysis from the two studies, we discovered similar themes focused on the deconstruction of defi cit framing of immigrant and li/rcld parents and families, and on the construction of counter-narratives; we also discovered the need to analyze the physical and dialogical spaces for both projects in order to elucidate their signifi cance. we argue that these processes of de/construction collectively represent important elements to the experience and space of community building as a pedagogy with transformative possibilities. defi cit frames and counter-narratives parent involvement has largely been defi ned by participation in within-school activities, but this excludes the variety of ways that latino parents engage in their children’s schooling at home (snell, miguel, & east, 2009). dominant approaches to urban school reform often regard immigrant communities as presenting problems that must be managed or reduced and little attention has been given to how latino parents actually embody parental involvement (zarate, 2007). the belief that low-income latino parents do not value education refl ects historically embedded defi cit theories that cast latino family culture as responsible for their children’s low test scores and low graduation rates; that is, some claim that li/rcld students “fail in school because they and their families have internal defects, or defi cits, that thwart the learning process” (valencia & black, 2002, p. 83). this ‘blame the victim’ ideology fails to acknowledge the structural barriers that inhibit the participation of lowincome latino parents in their children’s education and the cultural differences that shape more informal styles of participating in the home. nonetheless, far too often, defi cit theories infl uence teachers’ and school administrators’ perceptions, and thus immigrant parents are “frequently subjected to parental involvement practices that are primarily designed to change or “educate” them” (olivos, 2006, p. 49). in contrast, the 3. digital stories are brief, 3-4 minute, personal narrative videos. 7 a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 project and alianza productively resisted these normative constructs of parent involvement, and built forms of engagement that operated outside school-centric domains or frames. this occurred through activities in which participants investigated their social worlds, contested the defi cit frames that limited them, and created counternarratives that positioned them as historical subjects. alianza leadership workshops fostered capacity building that enabled parents and parent organizers to challenge defi cit constructs of latino immigrant parents and to work towards building parent empowerment by redefi ning their involvement in their children’s education. while the workshops were designed to convey specifi c content or knowledge that was needed in alianza’s campaign to launch its own public pilot/charter school, they also had both deeper and broader objectives, from preparing parents to organize the creation of parent centers at their respective schools to taking district-level leadership. the workshops consistently re-framed immigrant parents as both teachers – los primeros maestros son los padres y nuestros abuelos. entonces reconocer la importancia del rol de los padres en la educación de los niños. [the fi rst teachers are parents and grandparents. thus, we need to recognize the important role of parents in the education of children.] – and as classroom partners and educational leaders whose voices and experiences matter: one key pedagogical component was the use of dinámicas, whose interactive experiences, critical dialogues, and self-refection exercises facilitated the parents’ investigation of their social world. a dinámica often introduced a new topic, or served as a transition from one topic to the next during a workshop. for example, in one dinámica, parents formed into groups that used art, songs, dichos (sayings) and games to refl ect on their own childhood learning experiences. the groups then came back together in a large circle to share responses to or refl ections on the exercise; parents laughed, and some cried, as they listened to the others recount emotionpacked personal narratives about their childhoods. each group then picked a game, song, or dicho with which to engage all the other workshop participants in dialogue. the workshop facilitator (a parent who was also employed by cep) elicited key similarities and differences among their experiences of learning and socialization within their families and mexican schools versus the learning and socialization that their children were currently undergoing in the family and in lausd schools; thus the personal stories became opportunities for critical refl ection on their immigrant experience and on how schools served the needs of their children. the facilitator also fostered discussion about the importance of the parents getting to know one another, and of building the relationships that provide a sense of community and collective identity. nosotros creemos que el aprender no es nada mas una cosa de uno como individuo, sino uno aprende de los alrededores y de la gente que está allí. [we believe that learning is not just done alone as an individual, but rather we learn from people and our surroundings.] the dinámicas provided a pedagogical tool for parents to center their own histories and begin to recognize and develop positive self-confi dence about their skills and cultural resources. the central tenet that drove cep’s work is the empowerment and participation of parents, not just in circumscribed “parent roles” (like fundraising and volunteering), but in all aspects of school governance, curriculum, and vision (nygreen, 2009). as one cep leader argued, they needed to “break the paradigm that [latina/o] parents don’t care about education” and challenge the standard approaches found in many parenting 8 entonces queremos… nada más se incluyen los padres que están allí tomando notas, o haciendo copias, sino que ustedes tengan un rol en la clase como maestros, que pueden ser maestros igual que los maestros…y la segunda parte es el involucramiento de liderazgo de los padres, como los mismos padres se convierten en los propios abogados de sus niños, al saber sus derechos, al ser informado, al desarrollar su liderazgo. pueden tomar un rol más activo en mejorar la educación, no nada más para sus niños, o los niños de nuestra escuela, sino para [los niños] del todo distrito. [so we want to … not just have parents taking notes or making copies, but rather that you also have a role in the classroom as teachers, and that you can be teachers just like school teachers…and the second part is parent leadership. so that as you learn about your rights, become more informed, and as you develop your leadership skills you become an advocate for your child. you can take a more active role in improving education, not just for your children, or the children in our school, but for all [the children] in the district.] a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 interventions in schools and in title i programs responding to the legislation’s demand for parent involvement. the tendency thus becomes to quantify parental involvement by the amount of time parents spend attending their child’s extracurricular activities, volunteering in the school or classroom, or reading to and doing homework with their child. for many li/rcld immigrant parents, however, these measures ignore the substantial time and economic constraints they face as well as their (and their extended family’s) many non-measured modes of engagement with the development of their children. in contrast, cep and alianza acknowledge the culturally specifi c ways that low-income, immigrant parents and families engage with their children at home, and recognize the values and knowledge that li/rcld students and families possess, and thus they work to integrate these “funds of knowledge” (gonzales, moll, & amanti, 2005) throughout their programming. in addition, cep and alianza directly include the parents and families in the workshop designs and implementations, enabling them to practice leadership skills as they learn them and to become active agents and decision makers. by challenging the defi cit framing of parents that prevails in dominant discourses that rationalize the marginalization of li/rcld parents, and by constructing spaces for the parents’ own learning and leadership, cep and alianza build capacity for extending parent engagement far beyond the boundaries of the school. similarly, the project positioned itself at the nexus of school and community change, and built capacity among immigrant parents and li/rcld community members by facilitating pedagogical processes that critically examined everyday life, the limits imposed by dominant orders, and the transformative possibilities residing in the power of the parents. however, unlike alianza’s use of dinámicas as a codifi cation of reality, which have the drawback of being ephemeral, the project developed digital stories that could have a curriculum developed to accompany them and could therefore be used repeatedly in different contexts. in one story, which in part explored an immigrant mother’s relationship with her children’s schools, claudia4 explained her fear of talking to her children’s teachers. she felt shame going to school with dirt on her clothes from working in the strawberry fi elds, and with her limited english, she felt uncomfortable and had diffi culty speaking with the teacher to explain her perspective about her children’s learning experiences. claudia did not simply name the barriers of shame, class and language differences, and emotional distress; her counter-narrative re-centered her power by also detailing her refusal to be defi ned by those limits. her story problematizes dominant perspectives on parent involvement from the perspective of a latina immigrant mother who works long hours in the fi elds simply to provide subsistence living for her family. using the digital story as a curriculum tool enables other parents, teachers, students and community members to explore multiple ways to overcome these barriers and to resist the way that latino parents are positioned by dominant ideologies. this exploration can disrupt the stereotypes, create alternative narratives, and open spaces for more positive constructions of latino parental engagement in their children’s learning and schooling. graciela, an undocumented immigrant parent learning through the project how to support her daughter’s education and to advocate for herself, explained why she decided to tell her own story: graciela’s and claudia’s counter-narratives resonate in a different register than that typically found in dominant constructions of immigrant parents, and offer voices that are productive, positioned and powerful. through the investigation of their social worlds and their articulation of their experiences, graciela and claudia can initiate a generative process of exploring alternatives not only for themselves, but also for their entire community. 4. all names used for the project participants are pseudonyms. 9 otros padres pueden o podemos hacer algo con mi historia pues de ayudar a más personas a dejar de ser tan tímido, de que hablen, de que no importa si no tenemos papeles o porque más que nada de hablar en las escuelas de que no se quedan callados en lo que es injusto porque muchas personas se quedan calladas [other parents can do something with my story to help more people to not be so timid, to speak that it doesn’t matter if we don’t have papers because, more than anything, to speak at the school and not sit silent in what is unjust because many people are silent.] a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 physical and dialogical spaces resistance takes place on a terrain always already defi ned by and permeated by dominant ideologies, by white, patriarchal, middle-class imaginaries; on this terrain, it is diffi cult for conversations to arise that are not tainted by inequitable power relationships that re-inscribe dominant/subordinate subjectivities and thus constrain the transformative potential embedded within the situation. this can occur even when schools or education authorities are explicitly trying to reach out, to be inclusive, to provide spaces for parental involvement. we witness these dynamics in studies by andrea dyrness and sophia villenas that describe the ways schoolsponsored forums, activities, and outreach projects can continue to position li/rcld and immigrant parents as problems to be addressed, or as disruptive to the processes of reform; in these spaces, it seems that the authentic voices and concerns of parents can easily become too loud, noisy, questioning, and assertive to be contained and reinscribed in the dominant order, and so the very parents who are ‘included’ and ‘involved’ get re-marginalized, and only those parents who are docile and fi t the prescribed roles are welcomed into the process (dyrness, 2007, 2011; hurtig & dyrness, 2011; villenas, 2001). in order to move beyond spaces defi ned by dominant ideologies, alianza and the project held meetings and conducted their work outside of the confi nes of school, in spaces that privileged the local knowledges of the community. alianza parent leadership workshops took place in the second fl oor offi ces of cep, a community non-profi t organization located in the pico union neighborhood of los angeles. the location was symbolic to many of the parents because the space represented years of community grassroots organizing and activism efforts. in this space, parents felt comfortable with personal sharing, with learning new things, and with working together in new ways; parents embraced this space as an opportunity to re-tell their stories of frustration and exclusion from schools. as one parent said in a workshop: the parent contrasts the physical and dialogical space that they collectively created, one founded on trust and solidarity and in which they listen to and support one another, to the school space in which they could ‘know’ each other for twenty years and not even know one another’s name. his comment illuminates the importance of a space defi ned and controlled by the parents themselves, a ‘home’ space that elicits alternative imaginaries to the dominant parent involvement methods and offerings, and that escapes the exclusionary and unwelcoming confi nes of the school itself. the project also met outside offi cial school spaces in places that were ‘home’ to various project members: a community center, or a community college classroom, or a parent’s house. occasionally, school-based allies provided space in the widely respected migrant education program, or in the safe stronghold of the local teachers’ union offi ces.6 the project’s evening meetings included potluck meals and convivial conversation 5. the parents rights table listed parents’ rights with regard to the schools and their children’s education, and was used as a reference by the parents when discussing the problems they faced in the schools. 6. the union president and several other members of the union executive committee were widely recognized supporters and active members of the project; similarly, several teachers in the migrant education program were project activists. 10 ese es el tipo de cosas que es muy importante, que ustedes den el espacio cuando van a trabajar con padres, que los padres tengan la oportunidad de expresarse verdaderamente. no sabemos, cuando vamos a dar los talleres, y luego como decían el otro día verdad, allí en la [escuela], tenemos como 20 años de conocernos y no me sé tu nombre ni si quiera. porque eso pasa y mucho menos sabemos el problema que está viviendo alguien. es bien importante, cuando una vez que los padres expresan sus problemas, sus preocupaciones, lo que nosotros podemos hacer es revisar la tabla de los derechos [these are the types of things that are very important, that you provide the space when you work with parents, so that parents have the opportunity to truly express themselves. we don’t know, when we attend a workshop at the school, like they said the other day, we have known each other for 20 years and i don’t even know your name. because that is what happens, we know even less about the problems that person is experiencing. it’s very important, once parents express their problems and share their worries, what we can do is turn to the parents rights table5. ] a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 about the intimacies of members’ lives as they analyzed the digital stories and developed questions to use as dialogue guides with groups in the community. project members would compare themselves and their worlds to the life represented in the digital story being analyzed, repeatedly linking their seemingly personal experience with various social realities. as they talked about the contrasts and connections, they re-centered their own histories, and supported each other in reclaiming and reinventing their heritage. claudia, a mother and grandmother who had been in the u.s. for two decades, refl ected on her experience of watching her own story as a codifi cation of the social reality of the community: i know that it was my life, but i didn’t really see it until when i saw my [digital story]. she was well aware of her life story, but she acquired a deeper, more structural knowledge of her life through the project’s processes.7 others who watched her story were able to make connections to their own lives, and to untangle the ways that they were shaped by historical, cultural, and economic forces. omar, a second-generation mexicanamerican in his early 20s, re-imagined his parent’s stories through claudia’s, envisioning their struggles as similar to hers. in her story, claudia recounts being left alone without a mother at a young age, needing to care for her siblings, and marrying and starting her own family at fourteen years old, all before facing the many diffi culties of migrating to the u.s. and establishing a life here. omar refl ects on his own mother’s isolation from her mother: su mamá no estuvo allá con ella porque estaba trabajando [her mom was not there with her because she was working]. then he imagines his mother’s challenges when marrying and starting a family: omar responded to claudia’s story with “loving perception” and was able to “world travel” between his own experience and claudia’s world, and then also project the insights he gleaned from the themes of claudia’s story to travel into his parents’ world in ways he had never done before (see lugones, 1987). glimpsing the social realities of the older generation, he was able both to make sense of his parents’ subjectivity and to grasp a deeper truth about his own life. he had not previously understood his family’s hunger and life diffi culties outside the context of their particular day-to-day experiences, but the dialogue and analysis surrounding claudia’s story uncovered the structuring forces of immigration, poverty, farm work, and the struggle for an education. he was fi nally able to make critical sense of his own subjectivity within the supportive dialogical space of the project. within the intimate spatial contexts of the project meetings and digital stories, parents, teachers, youth, and community members could dwell in one another’s worlds, and try to grasp the structural technologies shaping the contours of their lives. the meetings fl owed organically from the conversations and needs of the participants, with agendas responding to those present and to the emergent analyses and tasks. in these spaces, the digital stories opened possibilities for engaging differences through dialogue, free from disciplining efforts to homogenize, discredit, or erase difference (rutherford, 1990). hence, the focus was on building relationships or community, on deliberative discussion and active listening, and on learning from one another rather than on the actions or products produced from the meetings. homi bhabha developed the notion of a “third space” to identify an ambivalent space that transects the dialectic of binaries enforced by the dominant ideology; such a “third space” opens up possible futures that break the limits rooted in the realities of the day. the hybridity revealed in these spaces engenders a transformed intersubjectivity that embraces cultural difference at the same time as it yields a solidarity that can reorient 7. cherríe moraga (2002), in her piece la güera, explains “click” moments wherein she came to reconnect with herself by breaking through to a deeper level of knowing. often, through the digital stories, participants encountered these “click” moments where they developed deeper understandings of their lives. 11 … y se caso con mi papá y yo imagino que ellos pasaron por lo mismo de venir siguiendo la ilusión de que iban a tener trabajo y no. aquí fue muy difícil para ellos y yo me recuerdo cuando estaba pequeño y tampoco teníamos casi para comer. no fue hasta que… mejoraran las cosas, pero no entendía desde pequeño […and married my father and i imagine that they went through the same to come here under the illusion that they would have work and they did not. this was diffi cult for them and i remember when i was young and we had almost nothing to eat. it was not until…things got better, but i didn’t understand ever since i was young.] a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 the nature of the public sphere to incorporate a politics “based on unequal, uneven, multiple, and potentially antagonistic, political identities” (rutherford, 1990, p. 208). we witnessed these dynamics at work in the spaces of the project and alianza. we thus can begin to theorize parental engagement in school and community reform outside of a product-based paradigm and instead emphasize the meaning making and learning happening in these communal spaces, and see these as building capacity for even deeper transformations, including of the parents themselves. signifi cance of community building the project and alianza worked to establish forms of resistance to dominant ideologies grounded in social relationships that could sustain people and communities for the long haul demanded in social justice struggles. according to maría lugones (2003), “reaction does not add anything creative to the meaning contained in that which is resisted, except some form of ‘no’” (p. 29). reaction remains within the confi nes of existing social constructs, merely negating the unjust impositions of the dominant order. in contrast, resistance goes beyond a physical, psychological, or logical reaction to encompass an embodied, cognitive, and refl ective response that is a creative, clever, complex and imaginative engagement with “the very intricacies of the structure of what is being resisted” (lugones, 2003, p. 29). dyrness (2011) uncovers this form of resistance in a study with latina women working for school reform. these women do more than challenge the narrative of reform that continues to position them at the margins; they establish their own spaces of learning and solidarity that enable them to crystallize their perspectives and become agents of change in their local context. hurtig and dyrness (2011), highlight the work of parents in changing how they see themselves and consequently feeling more able to speak. in our studies of the project and alianza we found these same dynamics at work. when resistance becomes creative of new positions and not just reaction, then it becomes possible to understand community building as a pedagogy that enables a collective investigation of the social that is positioned, embedded and refl ective (freire, 1970; lugones, 2003). as we witnessed in the project and alianza, in the process of collaborative investigation the participants gained a “cognitive and emotional distance from experience,” (glass, ball, & crain, 2008) and understood more about their dialectical relationship with the world, not only enduring it but creating it. this kind of cognitive and emotional distance is not a move away from, but a “depth into the social” (lugones, 2003, p. 214) in which participants explore their everyday lives and their community with a critical grasp of how their lives are interconnected not only with one another but with larger social, cultural, and economic structures. they come to understand themselves as embedded and positioned, constrained by the dominant ideological limits, but always with possibilities of acting against and beyond those limits to open up possibilities of transformed futures (freire, 1970). alianza and the project demonstrate how critical, creative, dialogical spaces can yield more agentive subjectivities and imaginaries. our research fi ndings push beyond previously conceptualized notions of resistance to name community building as a process wherein community members can operate from their own center. from this new center, it becomes possible not just to sustain the resistance, but to establish the creative processes that build both new subjectivities and new situations. this re-centering space allows participants to open themselves to what is revealed in the dinámicas and digital stories, then to re-imagine and re-invent themselves, not only in the space of their work together but in the other spaces of their lives. this community building gathers together the participants’ own center of gravity, giving them a way to operate with integrity and force to change their lives. the community building spaces and processes of the project and alianza provide an opportunity for a deep re-grounding of their lives, rooting the individuals in meanings and ways of being that reach beyond the dominant discourses toward more self-determined lives. we do not mean to suggest that the participants become wholly free of the distortions in thought, feeling, and action imposed by the dominant ideologies, only that their resistance becomes stronger, and their vision for a more equitable future becomes clearer and more compelling to them. this is why we emphasize the signifi cance of the space of community building that creates a new center from the marginal space allotted or assigned to the li/rcld and immigrant participants in the project and alianza. 12 a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 concluding comments through contesting defi cit frames and creating counter-narratives, the project and alianza participants began to feel a sense of agency; even though they were not necessarily actively enacting power in the public sphere in organized ways, they were becoming more powerful. this becoming illuminates the pedagogical processes of knowing and learning that emerge during a collective, participatory and refl ective investigation of the social, and through creative responses to the discoveries that result. the critical consciousness that arose in the communal pedagogical spaces of these reform efforts came not from a singular moment, but from the sustained relationships and dialogues that were central to the activities of the project and alianza. drawn into these efforts through a desire to overcome the immediate problems their communities faced, participants began to build community as a necessary foundation for any kind of deep change, whether near-term or more long-term and strategic, whether on a personal or social level. community building thus needs to be explored empirically and theoretically as a site of pedagogical work. we believe that if the transformative and pedagogical power of spaces of community building could be better understood then we might better be able to establish broader movements for structural change. we think it is important to give the micro-political its due; the smaller elements of resistance, of communal solidarity in ‘home’ spaces, should not be overlooked. it is time to expand approaches to school reform and parental involvement beyond the confi nes of the school or even of community organizing in order to explore possibilities for even deeper decolonial and critical pedagogical work. we hope that our refl ections on the inspirational efforts of the project and alianza can contribute to this new direction for researchers and activists alike. references anyon, j. (1997) ghetto schooling: a political economy of urban educational reform. new york, ny: teachers college press. baker, s., de léon, e., phelps, p., martín, m., & suarez, c. (2009). education of the community, by the community, and for the community: the language academy of sacramento. in p.l. wong & r.d. glass (eds.), prioritizing urban children, teachers, and schools in professional development schools (87-104). albany, ny: suny press. cruz, c. (2011). lgbtq street youth talk back: a meditation on resistance and witnessing. international journal on qualitative studies, 24(5), 547-558. delgado-gaitan, c. (2001). the power of community: mobilizing for family and schooling. boulder, co: rowman and littlefi eld publishers. dyrness, a. (2007). “‘confi anza’ is where i can be myself”: latina mothers’ constructions of community in education reform. ethnography and education, 2(2), 257-271. dyrness, a. (2011). mothers united: an immigrant struggle for socially just education. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. glass, r.d., ball, t., & crain, r. (2008). freire and vygotsky: praxis and the politics of knowledge. draft, march 2008. for presentation at the aera annual meeting symposium: freire and vygotsky: examining the links between critical pedagogy and dialectical psychology of learning and development. glass, r. d., & nygreen, k. (2011). class, race, and the discourse of “college for all”: a response to “schooling for democracy. democracy & education, 19(1), 1-8. gonzales, n., moll, l.c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, nj: l. erlbaum associates. hurtig, j., & dyrness, a. (2011). parents as critical educators and ethnographers of schooling. in b. a. u. levinson & m. pollock (eds.), companion to the anthropology of education (530-546). oxford, uk: wiley-blackwell. ladson-billings, g. (2006). from the achievement gap to the education debt: understanding achievement in u.s. schools. education researcher, 35, 3-12. lugones, m. (1987). playfulness, “world-traveling,” and loving perception. hypatia, 2(2), 3-19. lugones, m. (2003). pilgrimages/peregrinas: theorizing coalition against multiple oppressions. lanham, md: rowman & littlefi eld publishers, inc. moraga, c. (2002). la güera. in c. moraga & g. anzaldúa (eds.) this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (24-33). berkeley, ca : third woman press. nygreen, k. (2009). community organizing and teaching grant. funding proposal submitted to university of california humanities research institute california studies consortium. olivos, e. m. (2006). the power of parents: a critical perspective of bicultural parent involvement in public schools. new york: peter lang. orfi eld, g., & kornhaber, m. (eds.) (2001). raising standards or raising barriers? inequality and high-stakes testing in public education. new york, ny: century foundation. 13 a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 rothman, r. (2007). city schools: how districts and communities can create smart education systems. cambridge, ma: harvard education press. rutherford, j. (1990). the third space. interview with homi bhabha. in ders. (hg): identity: community culture, difference. london: lawrence and wishart, 207-221. shirley, d. (1997). community organizing for urban school reform. austin, tx: university of texas press. shirley, d. (2002). valley interfaith and school reform: organizing for power in south texas. austin, tx: university of texas press. snell, p., miguel, n., & east, j. (2009). changing directions: participatory action research as a parent involvement strategy. educational action research, 17(2), 239-258. valencia, r., & black m.s. (2002). “mexican americans don’t value education!” –the basis of the myth, mythmaking and debunking. journal of latinos in education, 1(2), 81-103. villenas, s. (2001). latina mothers and small-town racisms: creating narratives of dignity and moral education in north carolina. anthropology & education quarterly, 32(1), 3-28. warren, m. (2001). dry bones rattling: community building to revitalize american democracy. princeton, nj: princeton university press. warren, m. (2011). a match on dry grass: community organizing as a catalyst for school reform. new york, ny: oxford university press. zarate, m.e. (2007). understanding latino parental involvement in education – perceptions, expectations, recommendations. tomás rivera policy 14 a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement journal_2008._coverpage._final[1] 10 telling our stories using chicano literature for children and young adults as a means of promoting cultural awareness and self-worth by rosie a. arenas ed. d. my grandmother josefa alcaraz was born on a little ranch called la viga near puruándiro, michoacán, méxico in 1899. after her father died, my grandmother, her four sisters and mother left méxico to come to the united states. many people from michoacán began traveling north to the united states during the revolution in méxico that began in 1910. they would travel in groups and only during the night, since it was too dangerous to be seen during the day by the troops of men that would travel across the land. during the day, they would rest. they traveled for many, many nights walking over a thousand miles until they got to the border at juárez, chihuahua. even though people could cross the border freely from méxico into the united states by paying 2¢ to cross the bridge, josefa and her family went into the river and crossed the río grande into el paso, texas because they did not have enough money to pay for the entire family. within a few years, josefa met gregorio arroyo and they were married. (arenas, 2002, p. 3) the context stories of our rich past give us a glimpse into the lives of those that came before us, shaping our history in ways that seldom are recognized. these familiar stories told by family members at the kitchen table or under the shade of the avocado tree in the yard hold the key to the discovery and development of our identity–as a people and as individuals. some of these stories have made it into the world of published books for children and young adults. these books written and illustrated by chicano authors and illustrators give young chicano students a different perspective to life that contrasts that of traditional school textbooks. they depict life as it was and continues to be. however, during the past few years, educational policy and law in california has imposed a strong focus on the teaching of reading skills, of phonics and decoding, of spelling and writing, that has all but eliminated the use of children’s literature in its original form from the curriculum. although, major language arts textbook publishers (i.e. houghton mifflin, open court) report that they include authentic literature in the selections found in anthologies. it is not uncommon to find abridged versions with crucial information missing from the text and the illustrations. it is true that proficiency and fluency in reading is essential for having academic success but it is also necessary to access literature and be able to make connections to that literature in order to make a difference in the lives of the children we teach. ada (2003) says, “good literature delves into the human soul, expressing its feelings and emotions, its hopes and its dreams. and good literature gives life to the full range of human relations” (p. 2). these hopes and dreams are expressed in the simple beginnings of many chicano families like the arroyo family. gregorio and josefa moved to the los angeles area of southern california and settled down to have their family. gregorio worked hard out in the field during the day and after work, he would come home to work on the house he had begun to build in watts. during the time he was building it, they had five children–francisco, angelita, amparo, aurora, and reynaldo. they grew up in this house and josefa continued to live in it until the watts riots of 1965. (arenas, 2002, p. 5) 11 current research the role of children’s literature in the lives of the children, who read it, encompasses many areas. one can take a book and evaluate it solely on the topic of the story. the topics addressed in children’s books may reflect the child’s life and experiences. ada (2003) says, “every child needs to reclaim and revitalize his or her sense of self” (p. 8). one of the best ways children can achieve this is to have access to carefully chosen children’s literature. children can see themselves in literature and clarify their sense of self when they see books that mirror their existence, written by authors that share their own experiences in the books they write (ada, 2003; ada & campoy, 2003; day, 2003). this type of literature will allow children to look at their lives and know that others share similar experiences and that it is normal to have had those experiences. “when children enjoy books because they relate to characters, identify with situations, and understand personalities or behavior, they come to the realization that there are others like themselves” (marantz & marantz, 2000, p. 7-8). when children read books that reflect their culture, they realize they are not alone. these books validate who they are and give them a sense of belonging. however, when we think of culture and identity we must reflect upon what greene (1995) stated, “cultural background surely plays a part in shaping identity; but it does not determine identity. it may well create differences that must be honored; it may occasion styles and orientations that must be understood; it may give rise to tastes, values, even prejudices that must be taken into account.” (p. 163) literature takes on the role of giving students the opportunity to see other perspectives and interact with all of the elements of the story critically. morales (2001) says, “promoting a shared experience, yet fostering an exuberance for one’s own identity, will generate a multicultural classroom that empowers all students.” (p. 18) this is one of the outcomes of using chicano children’s literature in the curriculum. by choosing literature carefully and incorporating it within all areas of the curriculum and ensuring that regardless of the percentage of chicano students we have in classrooms, we are developing skills in our students that enable them to reflect upon who they are in this world and be able to live with others in a peaceful way (banks & banks, 1997). the stories that chicano(a) authors and illustrators tell about their own childhoods, about who they are in this country, in this culture are very similar to our students’ lives. as educators using children’s books that reflect the chicano culture of the students in our classrooms we must note that we need to carefully choose books that do this in positive ways. canning, salazarguenther, polanco-noboa (2002) stress, it is important for latino students to see themselves reflected in positive ways so that they develop self-esteem for the person they are and self-images of success. when students see themselves in school– their histories, heroes, customs, and issues–they are more likely to feel included and to envision for themselves a future in school. it is important that our latino students develop pictures of themselves as included in productive, empowering citizenship. at the same time, it is important for all our students to see latinos and latino perspectives reflected in their schools so that latinos do not seem like foreigners and so that all our students develop expectations of a productive citizenry, which includes latinos. (p. 2) ada (2003), reiterates what canning, salazar-guenther & polanco-noboa (2002) believe by saying, “it is important that the people of every culture study, analyze, and define themselves. there is otherwise the risk that we end up believing that we must look, think, feel, as others outside the culture have interpreted us to be” (p. 37). at a conference celebrating multicultural literature for children and young adults, joseph bruchac (2007), a native american author, spoke about the circles in life’s journey. he shared with the audience of 300 librarians, teachers, and educators that we must all have pride in what we are as we take “steps into the circle of a journey.” the steps of that journey that bruchac referred to were 1) listen to and respect each other, 2) observe what is around you, 3) remember what you have heard and what you have seen, and 4) share with others what you 12 have come to know. this is how stories emerge from our existence–as values, beliefs, and stories come to be and it is only in sharing them with others that we give validity to those stories. the journey begins from within as villaseñor (2004) affirms with ralph waldo emerson’s quotation, “what lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. and when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen.”(n.p.) the use of literature in the classroom written by chicano authors can make magic for our chicano students who are not only struggling in the classrooms to achieve academically but also struggling with identity issues. as a young chicana, i clearly recall being ashamed of the color of my skin, not because i did not want to be chicana, but simply because the people around me at school were not like me and my color, my language, and my culture was never validated and was never represented in the stories or illustrations in the books i read. and so, i would never speak up and spent many years as a silent observer instead of an active participant in my education. as educators, we know that children should not have to endure such feelings of not belonging. selected literature for children and young adults literature for children and young adults depicting the chicano culture is still not prevalent enough to really have a strong impact on the cultural awareness of children. in looking at the literature that has been published over the past twenty years about the chicano way of life, children’s picture books and young adult novels seem to fall into three categories. the first category includes books written by chicano authors about their own experiences growing up in the united states, knowing that there was always a disconnect between the home culture and the school culture. the second category represents books written about chicanos by chicanos and third–books about chicanos that are written by authors outside the culture, which will not be addressed in this article. one of the most powerful forms of literature for chicano students are books written by chicano authors about their own experiences growing up in the united states. several authors such as juan felipe hererra, amada irma pérez, francisco alarcón, pat mora, and george ancona are all chicanos who have contributed outstanding books that address these common issues among chicano students. author juan felipe herrera wrote calling the doves/el canto de las palomas about his experience growing up in the central valley of california and living with the people, su familia, as a migrant farmworker child. for children whose parents are migrant farmworkers, this book depicts the beauty of living and working the land, celebrating the language and culture of the chicano. moreover, herrera also wrote upside down boy/el niño de cabeza about the difficulties adjusting to a new life, a new school, but having one teacher that encouraged him to excel using his talents. herrera’s books encourage students to celebrate those parts of the culture that are unique to chicanos. amada irma pérez, author of my very own room and my diary from there to here where she shares about her childhood experiences as an immigrant, the despair of having to leave her home but making the best of things in a new country and a new situation. both of her books are illustrated by chicana artist, maya christina gonzalez, who also wrote, my colors, my world/mis colores, mi mundo, a simple yet powerful children’s book about the colors of the world in which she grew up and the simplicity of opening your eyes to the surroundings to see the beauty all around you. gonzalez’s illustrations represent the chicano faces and colors that had been missing from children’s picture books. 13 poet francisco alarcón wrote a series of poetry books with themes ranging from his surroundings, to families, to heroes, but always based on his experiences growing up chicano. one of his poems from laughing tomatoes and other spring poems/jitomates risueños y otros poemas de primavera (1997) says, “my grandma’s songs would follow the beat of the washing machine, turning our kitchen into a dance floor.” (p. 9) his poems based on the four seasons of the year are short, bilingual, and connect so well with chicano students who have experienced the same things alarcón did as he was growing up. photographer george ancona wrote barrio/jose’s neighborhood about a young boy growing up in the mission district of san francisco and follows a day in the life of jose. realistic depictions allow children to see the daily events in an inner city child’s life. several authors have written books for young adults around the same themes but at a higher level than the picture books mentioned. pat mora, author of several children’s books but also of young adult novels, writes about life as a southwest chicana in house of houses. i walk back and sit under the garden cottonwood with my aunts, the mora sisters, feeling the tensions between them, the different lives they chose, the bodies fate gave them. they talk about their mother, her hands always busy, crocheting or cooking, about her crying, the grandmother who seasons her food with tears, recetas de lágrimas. i ask again for any stories, cures, prayers, recipes. “there’s nothing mama can’t do in the kitchen, m’ija,” her daughters say. “abuela tomasa had a metatito,” says aunt chole, “and she and my mother grind pumpkin seeds to make pipián, make galletitas y gorditas y sopaipillas y menudo y tamales y champurrado.” (mora, 1997, p. 97) mora’s use of familiar themes and authentic language provides young adults with a strong affirmation of the chicano culture. rudolfo anaya, the author of the classic young adult novel, bless me ultima, has also written several children’s books entitled, farolitos for abuelo and maya’s children, a milder version of la llorona. his books delve right into the heart of the culture with the themes and language that many times are left out of books because they might not be understood by other audiences (referring to non-chicanos). however anaya has used both themes and culture effectively within his books through his beautiful use of language. two books that are a must, especially for children living in the central valley of california or those from farmworker families, are francisco jiménez’s, the circuit and breaking through that give honest descriptions of the struggles of every day lives of farmworkers. these honest depictions are also included in walking stars and burro genius (2004), by victor villaseñor in an almost magical use of the language. he states, “unlike most books, mine are not read once, but five or six times, and then they’re passed around to the whole family. why? because my writing provides real-life experience that people want to share with their friends and family.” (p. 12) there are several other chicano writers such as gary soto, illustrator simón silva and victor martínez who have also contributed novels or poetry books for young adults. they give an honest account of the daily struggles of chicanos trying to make it in a world that seems foreign at times. 14 implications for educators in many cases, the only way children are exposed to literature, in particular chicano literature is if their teachers are knowledgeable about the positive effects of using children’s literature, are creative in its uses, and incorporate literature into all areas of the curriculum. however, there is much more to literature than just simply being able to read it or being exposed to it. banks (2007) summarizes several studies that support the use of culturally responsive pedagogy, which includes multicultural literature and concluded that when teachers understood the funds of knowledge their students possessed, achievement increased and students were engaged as active learners in their education. moll (2005) reaffirms this idea as he describes these prior experiences as the funds of knowledge that students and families possess when encountering new experiences. this is how we motivate students to become engaged in learning–by empowering them and their families as resources of knowledge that can connect with what the educational goals and outcomes are at their school sites. when used appropriately, it can allow children’s minds and spirits to open up windows to other parts of the world and to other experiences in addition to allowing them to see themselves in these stories. according to ada (2003), “…good literature aspires to more than mere communication of information or just to be an entertainment: good literature moves the readers. it broadens the readers’ horizons, validates their experiences, invites reflection, and awakens an aesthetic sense”. (p. 2) on august 1, 1942, amparo married andrés gallardo arenas. since andrés was in the army, stationed in san diego and had only been granted a two-day furlough, amparo went to meet him. they went to the cathedral in san diego where many couples were waiting to be married. the priest married one couple after another. the ceremony took place at 7 o’clock in the evening and was very short. amparo did not wear a wedding dress but a skirt and blazer. their “padrinos” were andres’ older brother and sister-in-law. after the ceremony, they all went to have a dinner of roast beef and potatoes. his brother and his wife decided they should all go to tijuana to celebrate but andrés was not allowed to cross the border because it was wartime. so their wedding night was spent waiting at the border for their “padrinos” to return from tijuana. early the next morning they drove to chino where the arenas family lived and when andrés returned to san diego the next day, amparo stayed at the ranch in chino until she joined him in san diego a week later. this was the beginning of a lifetime together of adventures. (arenas, 2002, p. 22) it is not enough to use latino children's books but strive to represent the heterogeneity within the chicano community by using literature with authentic cultural and language practices (alamillo & arenas, 2007). this is the only way chicano stories will be heard and appreciated not only by chicano students but by all students seeking their own identities and striving to make this a better world by recognizing the similarities instead of the differences. references ada, a. f. (2003). a magical encounter: latino children’s literature in the classroom. boston, ma: allyn and bacon. ada, a. f., & campoy, f. i. (2003). authors in the classroom. boston, ma: pearson, allyn and bacon. alamillo, l., & arenas, r. (2007). chicano children’s literature: using bilingual children's books to promote equity in the classroom. manuscript submitted for publication. alarcón, f. x. (1997). laughing tomatoes and other spring poems/jitomates risueños y otros poemas de primavera. san francisco: children’s book press. 15 alarcón, f. x. (1998). from the bellybutton of the moon and other summer poems/del ombligo de la luna y otros poemas de verano. san francisco: children’s book press. alarcón, f. x. (1999). angels ride bikes and other fall poems/los ángeles andan en bicicleta y otros poemas del otoño. san francisco: children’s book press. alarcón, f. x. (2000). iguanas in the snow and other winter poems/iguanas en la nieve y otros poemas del invierno. san francisco: children’s book press. anaya, r. (1972) bless me ultima. new york: warner books, inc. anaya, r. (1998). farolitos for abuelo. new york: hyperion books for children. ancona, g. (1998). barrio: josé's neighborhood. san diego: harcourt brace & company. arenas, r. (2002). amparo arroyo arenas. unpublished manuscript. banks, l. a., & banks, c. (eds.). (1997). multicultural education: issues and perspectives. boston: allyn and bacon. banks, j. (2007). educating citizens in a multicultural society (2nd ed.). new york:teachers college press. bruchac, j. (2007, march). the circle of life. keynote address at the reading the world ix conference, san francisco, ca. canning, salazar-guenther, polanco-noboa (2002, february). reflecting latino culture in our classrooms: a quick start for teachers. paper presented at the annual meeting of the association of teacher educators, denver, co. day, f. a. (2003). latina and latino voices in literature: lives and works, updated and expanded. westport, connecticut: greenwood press. green, m. (1995). releasing the imagination: essays on education, the arts, and social change. san francisco: jossey-bass publishers. gonzalez, m. c. (2007). my colors, my world/mis colores, mi mundo. san francisco, ca: children’s book press. herrera, j.f. (2002). the upside down boy/el niño de cabeza. san francisco, ca: children’s book press. herrera, j.f. (2002). calling the doves/el canto de las palomas. san francisco, ca: children’s book press. jiménez, f. (1997). the circuit. boston, ma: houghton mifflin company. jiménez, f. (2001). breaking through. boston, ma: houghton mifflin company. marantz, s., & marantz, k. (2000). picture books peek behind cultural curtains. book links, 9(3), 13-18. martinez, v. (1996). a parrot in the oven. new york: joanna cotler books. moll, l. (2005). funds of knowledge. mahwah, new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates. mora, p. (1997). house of houses. boston, ma: beacon press. morales, c. a. (2001). “our own voice”: the necessity of chicano literature in mainstream curriculum. multicultural education, 9(2), 16-20. pérez, a. i. (2000). my very own room/mi propio cuartito. san francisco: children’s book press. perez, a. i. (2002). my diary from here to there/mi diario de aquí hasta allá. san francisco: children’s book press. silva, s. (1998). small-town browny: cosecha de la vida. san bernardino, ca: arte cachanilla. soto, g. (1985). living up the street. new york: dell publishing. villaseñor, v. (1994). walking stars: stories of magic and power. houston, tx: piñata books. villaseñor, v. (2004). burro genius: a memoir. new york: harpercollins publishers. gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 144 reframing community partnerships in education: uniting the power of place and wisdom of people. guajardo, m.a., guajardo, f., janson, c., & militello, m. (2016). new york, ny, routledge, 198 pp, isbn: 1317555600, 9781317555605 araceli gonzalez university of california, davis in reframing community partnerships in education: uniting the power of place and wisdom of people, co-authors guajardo, guajardo, janson, and militello (2016) present their theory of change in action called, “community learning exchange (cle),” along with a model they developed and termed, “relationships, assets, stories, place, politic, and action (rasppa),” to engage in social justice efforts. though not explicitly stated, in my estimation, the authors incorporate into their cle model the critical scholarship of funds of knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005), humanizing research (paris & winn, 2013), and freire’s (1970) pedagogies of learning and teaching. cle and rasppa result from the authors’ individual and collective lived experiences. these concepts arose during a gathering hosted by an outside broker—the kellogg leadership for community change. however, its full materialization was a continuous engagement in questioning, active boundary crossing, and reflection of their roles, or positionality, as educators, advocates, and community organizers. for instance, for the guajardo brothers—both phds and both raised in the south texas rio grande valley—family cultural values and the limitless creativity and imagination used during their childhood games in a farm labor camp were foundational to their intellectual development. in terms that moll, et al. (1992) would describe as “funds of knowledge,” assets were discussed by the authors as key learning and educating practices, happening outside the classroom, yet integral to their academic success. most importantly, their experience with socially structured poverty, covert segregation, and systematic inequality in agricultural labor gave them an awareness of the assets, strengths, and possibilities within their own community and its members to challenge and transform a socially unjust reality. reframing community partnerships in education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 145 as a collective, the authors identify five circular axioms of learning forming the proposed cle theory of change in action and rasppa. these axioms shape the three central “ecologies of knowing”—the self, organizations, and the community. interwoven and as a generative process, these schemas or frames of reference organize the ways in which thinking and learning happens, as well as the way in which life is experienced. it is through these life experiences that knowledge is created. those pushed to the margins of society, the authors argue, are best suited to recreate knowledge of themselves, reimagine their existence, and to use their agency and transform everyday conditions of inequity. theoretically speaking, cle is composed of the stories, storytelling, and lived experiences shared in “gracious spaces” or places of trust. through an invitation to participate in questioning of concrete reality, and thus crossing intentionally established boundaries (conscious and unconscious, physical, and imaginary), participants reposition the self and engage in what freire (1970) might describe as the dialogic process of learning, naming, and acting upon the world. these stories are fueled by ancestral knowledge, grounded in the freedom of imagination and creativity and are best told by those experiencing it and invited to reexperience it. this invitation is not just a formal entrance to a consciously and collectively created space, by means of social gathering; instead, this is an invitation to undergo engagement akin to what paris and winn (2013) propose in humanizing research as the “worthy witness” of the true self in the process of liberation. methodologically, the continuous, collective, and reciprocal process of relationshipbuilding is at the core of the ecologies of learning and the cle-informed rasppa method. through a process of questioning, acting, and reflecting upon social reality, cle repositions individuals as subjects rather than objects, actors rather than acted upon, and assets rather than handicaps, needs, or deficits. this reconfiguration and re-authoring of the self and community can be achieved through the use of tools such as, but not limited to, asset and community mapping and two proposed “dynamic-critical pedagogies”—the pedagogies of reflection, which engage participants in a circular practice of appreciative listening, meaningful critical dialogue and the pedagogies with and in community that engage participants in strategic community action, defined by the active problem-posing and recognition of community assets (p. 91-92). thus, individuals are reframed as capable, with the ability to make familiar the unfamiliar, to shift the lens from a deficit view of communities of color, and to instead focus on recognizing and gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 146 employing what yosso (2005) has similarly conceptualized as community cultural wealth (ccw): the wide array of cultural knowledge, skills, abilities and networks possessed by communities of color but uncredited by dominant forces. as a theoretical and methodological tool, this book is seminal for those interested in the creation of a more socially just society, including educators/practitioners, community organizers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers. however, readers may note the absent voices and experiences of women of color in the shaping of the theory proposed. noting this omission runs the risk of falling into a solely gender-binary critique. this observation is thus made in the interest of acknowledging the power of the collective experience, documented by the authors, while also ensuring that we not ignore the detrimental effects of patriarchy, class, race, and institutionalized racism. nonetheless, the inclusion of thirdworld feminist perspectives, such as interwoven trenzas de identidades (see gonzalez, 2010), counterstorytelling and testimonios (delgado-bernal, 1989; 1993; 2002), and community examination through the intersectional lens of race, class, gender, ideological, and political forms of interlocking oppression (crenshaw, 1991) can strengthen the power of the proposed cle and rasppa model and widen the tools needed for recuperating people’s sociohistorical experiences and community memory. much work remains undone in achieving the full inclusion of the heterogeneous voices and experiences of communities of color. rather than solely removing dominant deficit-based notions and practices when engaging historically disenfranchised communities of color, cle and rasppa re-center, honor, and privilege the lived experiences of those at the very margins of society. by allowing individuals and communities to re-gain new insight of their agency and imagination to design the much needed sustainable change, the framework presented in this book moves us forward in an effort to raspar (chip away at) and transform the existing historical structures of power hindering our collective humanity. reframing community partnerships in education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 147 references crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 1241-1299. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-582. delgado bernal, d. (1999). chicana/o education from the civil rights era to the present. in j. f. moreno (ed.), the elusive quest for equality: 150 years of chicano/chicana education (pp. 77108). cambridge, ma: harvard educational review. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. gonzalez, f. e. (1998). formations of mexicaness: trenzas de identidades multiples/growing up mexicana: braids of multiple identities. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 81-102. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132141. paris, d., & winn, m. t. (2013). humanizing research: decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities. new york, ny: sage. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. baltazar-sabbah association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 141 a call to action blanca baltazar-sabbah san josé state university i am enraged by the racism, the stereotypes and the lack of respect for my gente. what makes me angry about education, you ask? silence—the systems and people that make us voiceless passivity—the people who don’t act upon injusticias stereotypes—the lack of expectations because of the color of our skin, our gender, nuestra lengua natal inequities— the tracking of students, the lack of resources, underachievement of latinos apathy—complacency with the status quo silence, passivity, stereotypes, inequities, apathy— that’s what makes me angry i am enraged by the racism, the stereotypes and the lack of respect for my gente. i’ve learned to let my anger fuel my passion for change to make the voiceless have a voice to call out the inequities and challenge the status quo to rise to a position of influence despite being a spanish-speaking, brown-skinned immigrant, born to teenage farm-working parents to be an advocate for our most marginalized students to hold people accountable, including myself i am no longer enraged, i am empowered. i will stand up and speak up, will you stand with me? will you break up the silence, passivity, stereotypes, inequities and apathy? let our voices tear through the silence and oppression! journal_2008._coverpage._final[1] 38 short stories my identity by helen rivas galván, m.a., a.b.d. one of my father’s favorite sayings was from cervantes’ “don quixote". this he always delivered in spanish, as he changed the castilian to a more popular version and added his own addendum to it, which explained the reason for quoting it. he would bring up the saying whenever we started to speak too much english inside the house, and especially if we tried to speak english to him: “hay un dicho: ‘cuando en roma, haz como los romanos’ – y en mi casa, van a hablar español’” (“there is a saying: ‘when in rome, do as the romans do’ – and in my house, you will speak spanish!’”) this was his very subtle way of telling us that english was not permitted inside the house. he would add that we could speak all the english we wanted outside the house to each other, or at school, but not to him inside his house. he even went so far as to ignore anyone who spoke english to him, including his own children. my mother, on the other hand, subscribed to the policy that the schools imposed on parents at that time: an edict that parents should speak english to their children at home so that the children would more quickly learn english. luckily, my mother had attended two years of school in arizona and also worked a few years before she was married, so she spoke some english. and she wanted to perfect it; therefore, she allowed us to speak english to her, and answered as well she could. although my father made it apparent that he didn’t approve of that practice, we continued to speak spanish and english to my mother, but only spanish to my father. one day, when i was around 8 years old, my father called me and asked me to sit down by him. then he asked me “¿qué eres tú?” (“what are you?”) “what am i?” i questioned in spanish, not quite knowing what he wanted me to say. “sí, ¿qué eres?” “mexicana…?” it came out slowly, more like a question – is this what you’re asking me? what i am? i didn’t doubt the answer, only the question. “¿tú crees? ¿tú crees que si fueras a mexico te iban a ver igual a los mexicanos que nacieron y viven allí?” (“you think so? do you think that if you went to mexico, people would see you the same way they look at mexicans who were born and live there?”) “no,” i answered, now a little quicker than the first question. i knew that i couldn’t compare my “mexicaness” with those of my classmates who came from mexico. i was born here in the united states, and my spanish was definitely not as good as those who were born in mexico. “entonces, ¿qué eres?” (then, what are you?) “americana…?” even as i said it, it didn’t sound like a word i would use to describe myself. i knew i was american, i was born in the united states, but it just didn’t feel as comfortable to say i was american as it did to say i was mexican. “¿tú crees? ¿tú crees que te ven a tí igual a los americanos blancos que nacieron aquí?” (“you think so? do you think that people see you the same way they see a white american who was born here?”) “no.” “entonces, ¿qué eres?” my father gave that familiar wave of his arm that seemed to say “this discussion is finished for today. think about what i’ve said.” 39 i knew he wanted me to think about it, but what was there to think about? i was either mexican or i was american. no matter what he said, i still felt more mexican, but i knew i wasn’t as “mexican” as he was. and i certainly wasn’t as “american” as some of my classmates. i wanted to cry out “just tell me! what am i?!!” but it was clear he was finished with the topic, and the ‘problem’ had been passed on to me. it wasn’t until twenty years later, when i was a student at the university of california at santa barbara that i realized that it was my father’s way of telling me that someday i was going to have to deal with my identity, to be able to say what “i am.” during the 1960s and 1970s, the history of the hispanic contribution to the united states was being retold, rewritten, and reinterpreted. it was an exciting time that exposed historical events that many of us had never even heard of. an awareness of who we were and events collectively experienced, bound us together as a people and begged a label that would define us under a spirit of unity and celebration of our culture. but just as our culture is richly diverse, so are the labels that we can choose from to identify ourselves. it is important for us, as hispanics, and especially as teachers, to have our own identity, to be able to express that to our students and to be proud of who and what we are. only then can the students entrusted to us understand that whatever experiences they hold dear are valuable, and help to shape and form their own unique identity. when our students can say what they “are” with pride, they are confident and capable of success. as a teacher, enrolled in a class to teach culture to those who were going to take the bclad, i was somewhat surprised to learn what my hispanic colleagues called themselves. a teacher born in mexico who has lived here most of her life is still “mexican”, while another born here in the united states, like i was, called herself “mexican-american.” another teacher, one i consider a very vibrant activist, calls herself “american.” and mixed races are a whole issue to themselves. i enjoy hearing the identities of persons that i know. there is the chicanofilipino who is a “chipino,” the black-mexican who is a “blaxicana,” and the mexican-chinese who is a “mexichin.” i can be “mexican,” “mexican-american,” “american,” “hispanic,” “latina,” “american of mexican descent,” “first-generation american”, “mexicana-gringa” or any other monikers that i cannot think of now, or that may come in the future. but for me, “chicana” fits perfectly, and that is how i would now answer my father’s question – “¿qué eres tú?” amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 el amor está llamando antonia darder university of illinois la luz de la esperanza nubla in la oscuridad de la miseria, mientras niños olvidados sufren la codicia del mercado. los pueblos gritan encerrados en la prisión de mil angustias, mientras jóvenes se desquitan la rabia torcida de su furia. la impunidad crece dentro las entrañas de la malicia; mientras pobres se desgastan, los ricos bien que se aprovechan. la tiranía oculta lo falso con encantos fabricados, mientras mujeres se fracturan persiguiendo el patriachado. los corrompidos lamentan el despojo de sus industrias, mientras la gente se degenera, mecanizada por sus locuras. salgamos hoy de este camino; el nuevo mundo está esperando; solo requiere un compromiso de corazón que va luchando. ¡hay urgencia! ¡hay urgencia! la justicia está tocando; la consciencia ya despierta el amor está llamando. -antonia darder (2004) 61 amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 dollars for sense: assessing achievement gaps in arkansas in the context of substantial funding increases joshua h. barnett arizona state university nathan c. jensen and gary w. ritter university of arkansas forty-four of the fi fty states have experienced school fi nance lawsuits as a consequence of funding gaps between rich and poor districts (rebell, 2001). in some states, such as kentucky, lawsuits brought about by property poor districts have resulted in a statewide remedy that reforms the property tax system and seeks to provide every child with an adequate education. in other states, such as new jersey, lawsuits brought about by poor districts resulted in legal decisions and legislative responses that attempt to match the lowest wealth districts with the spending levels of the highest wealth districts. throughout the litigation across the country and the respective judicial and legislative responses to those cases, the motivation for the cases is uniform – some individuals within the state contend that their students are being presented inferior educational opportunities compared to other students in the state. as a result of this inferior opportunity, legal action is used to leverage more resources for students (monk, pijanowski, & hussain, 1997; monk, roellke, & brent, 1996; odden, monk, nakib, & picus, 1995; odden & picus, 1992). however, these conversations are generally about all of the students in a particular district or school being underfunded. this fi nance conversation is occurring at the same time that the achievement gap debate continues to occur across the nation (education trust, 2005; hertert, busch, & odden, 1994), especially in light of the 55th anniversary of the brown v board decision and the inauguration of america’s fi rst minority president. while achievement gap conversations can quickly expand to include every group of students, we focus on actual impact of policy decisions targeted to decrease the achievement gap in one state by providing categorical funding for certain students. thus, in this paper, we respond to the nexus of the school fi nance discussion and achievement gap discussion by examining the performance trends for hispanic and low income students on the national assessment of education progress (naep), the arkansas benchmark, and the act. this analysis allows us to examine whether increases in student performance, or the narrowing of achievement gaps, followed these targeted increases in fi nancial resources. specifi cally, we examine two related, but different, achievement gaps: the white-hispanic gap and the gap between those students eligible for free and reduced lunch and those students not eligible. before responding to these questions, we briefl y present the context of our data to explain the school fi nance situation in the state of interest. the policy context: the school finance climate in arkansas for arkansas, the school fi nance legal challenges began in 1983, when the arkansas supreme court initially found the state’s school funding system unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the state constitution (dupree v alma school district no. 30, 651 s.w.2d 90). the court found “no legitimate state purpose” and “no rational relationship to educational needs” in the state’s method of fi nancing public schools. the state responded with minor changes to the fi nance formula, but no substantive changes were required by the court or implemented by the state for nearly a decade. in may 2001, an arkansas trial court declared the state’s education funding system “inequitable and inadequate” under the state constitution and requested an adequacy study be conducted (lake view school district no. 25 v. huckabee, no. 1992-5318). in november 2002, the state supreme court affi rmed the lower 39 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 court’s fi nding and gave the state until january 1, 2004, to improve the system (lake view school district , no. 25 of phillips county , et al. v. mike huckabee, governor of the state of arkansas, et al. no 01-836). in response to the supreme court ruling, arkansas increased the total state appropriation for elementary and secondary education by $400 million to $1.84 billion—a 24 percent increase over the previous year. additionally, the state now provided categorical funding for students with alternative learning environments, english language learners, free and reduced lunch students, as well as providing professional development money for teachers and special appropriations for facilities, debt service, student growth, catastrophic occurrences, and isolated districts. not with standing these increases, the state decided that it would make no further increases to public education funding for the following year, 2004-05, which led to further litigation. ultimately, the supreme court declared that the state had neglected its obligation to adequately fund public education (lake view sch. dist. no. 25 v. huckabee, 355 ark. 617, 142 s.w.3d 643) and that the state “grossly underfunded” education. after further increases in funding, the court decided in may 2007 that the state had met its constitutional mandate and closed the case. however, several questions remain in the background to the constitutionality discussion of arkansas’ educational spending. first, although the emotional appeals of district offi cials seemed to sway the supreme court, all of the discussion centered on district level allocation. there was an attempt to provide targeted resources to the highest need students in these decisions; however, the state has not followed up to measure these impacts. therefore, we determined that such an investigation was necessary to discover ultimately if these additional resources are positively impacting students. this work is important because each state has the constitutional responsibility to educate students and ensure that all students are given an equal educational opportunity. most states have faced lawsuits contending that they have not provided all students with an equal opportunity. one often sought answer, especially in arkansas, to the threat of more litigation was to increase district level resources with the idea that more money will make the system more adequate and equitable. however, we believe that arkansans, and the citizens of other states, are more concerned with whether those resources are reaching the students and resulting in student achievement improvements. with the policy stage set, we now turn our attention to examining the methods, results, and implications of this work. research questions & methodology student performance and achievement gaps research question: how has student performance changed over a fi ve year period from 2003 to 2008 as more resources have been put into the education system? a. has the white-hispanic gap decreased on the naep, the arkansas benchmark, and the act examinations? b. has the poverty gap decreased on the naep? to respond to these questions, we assessed the extent to which these targeted increases in resources were followed by improvements in academic performance for the targeted groups of students. we assessed academic performance on three indicators of achievement: the national assessment of educational progress (naep) exam, the arkansas benchmark exam, and the act exam. the naep is administered to a national sample of students in grades 4, 8, and 12, and assesses student performance in four major subject areas: reading, mathematics, writing, and science. the arkansas benchmark exam, which is administered to students in grades 3-8 in april of each school year, assesses student performance in the areas of math and literacy. finally, the act (formerly referred to as the american college testing program) measures college readiness in four areas: english, mathematics, reading, and science (with an optional writing test). for the naep and the benchmark exam, student performance is reported in four different categories: 40 dollars for sense association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 below basic, basic, profi cient, or advanced. for these comparisons, we choose to focus on the percentage of hispanic and white students scoring in the profi cient and advanced range. for the act, we report average scores compare the change in white and hispanic scores. the purpose for these comparisons was to determine if the gap in achievement levels between these two groups of students was narrowing, which would lend support to the effi cacy of increased fi nancial resources on a per-pupil basis for minority students. naep scores for low and high income students (as measured by free and reduced lunch eligibility) were also compared to determine if the achievement gap between these groups of students has narrowed since 2003. however, performance on the arkansas benchmark exam for frl eligible and non eligible students was not included in this report due to the differences by how students are categorized. for example, on the benchmark, achievement levels are not reported for non eligible students; data are only reported for frl eligible students. similarly, act scores for frl eligible students are not available. testing data for the naep exam were obtained directly from the naep website. data for the arkansas benchmark exam were obtained from two different websites: the national offi ce for research on measurement and evaluation systems (normes), and the arkansas department of education (ade). a breakdown of achievement levels by student sub-groups on the arkansas benchmark exam for the 2008 school year was only available on the ade website. therefore, for continuity purposes, ade data on the benchmark exam were used for 2006-2008, and normes data was used for 2004 and 2005. act data were also obtained from the ade website. not included within the analysis are the number of test takers for each examination. naep does not report this information, and the act data are reported by the districts to the state and no statewide database of test takers is maintained. the state testing offi ce does provide summary reports for the benchmark exams by grade and district; however, the number of test takers is not consistently maintained at the state level. through our efforts to ascertain the impact of the additional categorical funding on achievement, information was also gathered and recommendations were offered (discussed in the conclusions section) regarding why these, and other, data should be maintained by the state department of education for all three exams, achievement gaps were compared starting with the 2003-04 academic year, which allowed for a comparison prior to and after the implementation of the categorical funding (which began in the fall of 2004). after 2003-04, data for every available school year was incorporated into this report. in an effort to maintain consistency with naep, we examined only the 4th and 8th grade achievement levels for the arkansas benchmark exam, as those are the only grade levels tested on the naep exam. by using these grades, as well as including act results, we were able to compare achievement gaps at the elementary, middle, and high school level. additionally, we were able to base our fi ndings on multiple examinations, rather than only a state or nationally administered exam. furthermore, we contend that each of these tests (naep, benchmark, and act) may have methodological and cultural issues, but we believe our analysis is strengthened by the triangulation approach to respond to our research question regarding the impact of additional resources to targeted populations. in the following section, we provide a comprehensive assessment of changes in student performance and achievement gaps during a fi ve year period following the infusion of additional resources (2003 through 2008). 11. http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ 41 dollars for sense association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 results before looking at the student performance data, two previous points need to be reiterated. first, test data is limited. in arkansas, as in nearly all other states, policymakers can opt to change the statewide test offered to students. for example, arkansas students took the stanford achievement test, ninth edition (sat-9) prior to 2003, took the iowa test of basic skills until 2008, and students from 2008 until the next change will take the stanford achievement test, tenth edition (sat-10). therefore, while the arkansas exams are useful, they are arkansas specifi c and change over time. for this reason, we also examined data from consistent and national assessments such as the naep and act standardized college entrance exam. the second important point to reiterate is that the achievement gap data below are discussed in terms of percentage of students scoring profi cient or advanced. we recognize that using this measure comes with some limitations, and using scaled scores might be preferable; however, it is used in this paper for two key reasons. one, profi cient and advanced percentages are recognizable and discussed by school offi cials and policymakers. that is, these numbers are generally not confusing or created by complex statistical formulas that need expansive explanations. the purpose of this paper is to explore the trends in resources alongside trends in performance; therefore, we use the most straightforward data possible to encourage a straightforward discussion with school offi cials and policymakers. two, both the naep and arkansas benchmark exams provide percentages of students scoring profi cient and advanced data, which means we can be consistent across tests. these two reasons led us to employ a comparative percentages analytic strategy. more sophisticated analysis could and have been employed for this work; however, this research responds directly and, we contend, straightforwardly to the research question regarding the infl uence of additional resources on achievement with easy to digest fi ndings. the remainder of this section explores the achievement gaps between hispanic and white students and frl and non-frl students. white-hispanic achievement gap outlined in table 1 are the percentages of hispanic and white students that perform at the profi cient or advanced level on naep exams. again, white students have shown consistent improvement in math since 2003 in both the 4th and 8th grade. however, hispanic students demonstrated growth from 2003 to 2005, but then regressed in 2007. that trend is refl ected in the math performance gap, which narrowed in 2005 (16 percentage points for 4th grade, 13 percentage points for 8th grade), and then grew wider in 2007 (24 percentage points for 4th grade, 23 percentage points for 8th grade). hispanic student performance in reading follows a pattern similar to math performance for 4th graders, where growth is observed between 2003 and 2005, with a decline in performance in 2007. however, from 2003 to 2005, 8th grade student performance showed a signifi cant decline (12 percentage points), with only slight improvement in 2007. because white student performance in reading remained relatively stable, the reading performance gap varies from year to year, although the current performance gap is wider across both grades than it was in 2003. compared to the national average, arkansas’ white-hispanic achievement gap is smaller in all four comparisons of data from the naep – 4th and 8th grade math and reading. 42 dollars for sense association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 table 1 comparison of white & hispanic student naep performance from 2003-2007 math reading 2003 2005 2007 2003 2005 2007 4th grade hispanic % profi cient & advanced 15% 25% 22% 18% 21% 16% white % profi cient & advanced 34% 41% 46% 35% 37% 36% arkansas white-hispanic gap -19% -16% -24% -17% -16% -20% us average gap -27% -28% -29% -25% -24% -25% 8th grade hispanic % profi cient & advanced 7% 15% 8% 25% 13% 15% white % profi cient & advanced 24% 28% 31% 33% 32% 32% arkansas white-hispanic gap -17% -13% -23% -8% -19% -17% us average gap -25% -24% -26% -25% -23% -24% the comparison of hispanic and white students on the benchmark exam, as shown in table 2, reveals similar performance trends for students in 8th grade in both math and reading, as well as students in 4th grade reading. in the 8th grade, both hispanic and white students have demonstrated consistent improvement for both math and reading. while there was a decline in performance from 2006 to 2007 in 8th grade reading, students in 8th grade math have made steady progress in each of the previous fi ve years. however, because the white students in 8th grade still outperform hispanic students in both subjects, the achievement gap between the two groups has persisted (19 percentage points in math, 21 percentage points in reading). the performance trends for students in 4th grade have shown less stability from 2004 to 2008. in math and reading, both student groups declined after 2004, increased after 2005, and then decreased again in 2007 (with the lone exception of white students in math). however, since 2004, white students have shown an increase of 8 percentage points in the profi cient to advanced range, compared to an increase of only 3 percentage points for hispanic students. as a result, this achievement gap has widened in the last fi ve years, with only a recent narrowing occurring between 2007 and 2008. a comparison of the average act performance for hispanic and white students is highlighted in table 3. since 2003, the average score for hispanic students has largely remained unchanged, decreasing from 18.9 in 2003 to 18.8 in 2007. as noted earlier, in the same time period, the average act score for white students has risen by 0.3 points. as a result, the achievement gap between the two student groups has widened from 2.2 points in 2003 to 2.6 in 2007. in summary, the three areas evaluated (the naep, arkansas benchmark, and act), the achievement gap has either remained stable or widened since 2003. while there are a number of instances of hispanic students showing increases in performance levels, white students continue to demonstrate higher levels of achievement, which has led to the persistence of the achievement gap. these trends also challenge the effi cacy of the funding increases, and support the need for further action to be taken to ensure that the educational needs of hispanic students in arkansas are being met. 43 dollars for sense association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 table 2 comparison of white & hispanic student benchmark performance from 2004-2007 math reading 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 4th grade hispanic % profi cient & advanced 64% 47% 57% 55% 67% 64% 44% 52% 44% 54% white % profi cient & advanced 74% 59% 68% 74% 82% 76% 60% 69% 67% 75% arkansas white-hispanic gap -10% -12% -11% -19% -15% -12% -16% -17% -23% -21% 8th grade hispanic % profi cient & advanced 25% 25% 32% 39% 46% 40% 46% 57% 50% 54% white % profi cient & advanced 41% 43% 53% 57% 65% 62% 66% 73% 71% 75% arkansas white-hispanic gap -16% -18% -21% -18% -19% -22% -20% -16% -21% -21% table 3 comparison of hispanic & white act performance 2003-2007 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 average hispanic act score 18.9 18.6 18.6 18.9 18.8 average white act score 21.1 21.2 21.2 21.5 21.4 arkansas white-hispanic gap -2.2 -2.6 -2.6 -2.6 -2.6 poverty achievement gap the fi nal analysis of performance trends compares students eligible for free and reduced lunch to students not eligible for the program, as outlined in table 4. in math, eligible students in both 4th and 8th grade have shown consistent improvement in performance on naep examinations from 2003 to 2007. however, in reading, those same students have steadily declined in performance since 2003, with decreases of 3 percentage points in 4th grade and 4 percentage points in 8th grade. the performance trends for non-eligible students have shown consistent improvement since 2003 across both subjects and grade levels. as a result, the performance gap between frl non-eligible and eligible students consistently widened each year, with the largest gap evident in 4th grade math performance. compared to the national average, arkansas’ poverty gap is smaller in all four comparisons of data from the naep – 4th and 8th grade math and reading. table 4 comparison of frl eligible & non-eligible student naep performance from 2003-2007 math reading 2003 2005 2007 2003 2005 2007 4th grade frl eligible % profi cient & advanced 18% 22% 24% 20% 19% 17% non-eligible % profi cient & advanced 37% 48% 54% 39% 43% 44% arkansas poverty gap -19% -26% -30% -19% -24% -27% us average gap -30% -31% -31% -26% -27% -27% 8th grade frl eligible % profi cient & advanced 12% 13% 14% 19% 16% 15% non-eligible % profi cient & advanced 25% 30% 35% 34% 35% 36% arkansas poverty gap -13% -17% -21% -15% -19% -21% us average gap -26% -26% -27% -24% -23% -24% 44 dollars for sense association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 the performance trends on the naep exam highlight the discrepancy between frl eligible and noneligible students. in the four naep exams, the achievement gap has widened by a sizable margin since 2003 as a result of diminishing achievement levels in reading for eligible students, or greater performance increases by those students not frl eligible. when taken in context with the performance of hispanic students, it appears that improvements for key sub-groups have not followed the targeted increase in fi nancial resources. gap summary table 5 presents a summary of the achievement gaps for each of the previously analyzed student subgroups. the fi gures refl ect the change in achievement levels from the fi rst available testing period prior to the increase in targeted fi nancial resources to levels of student achievement fi ve years after the infusion of resources. in this table, a negative fi gure denotes an achievement gap that is growing wider, whereas a positive fi gure refl ects that the gap has narrowed. in total, the achievement gap widened by more than 1 percentage point in 12 of the 13 student achievement comparisons. table 5 summary of achievement gaps among arkansas student sub-groups white-hispanic achievement gap frl/non-frl achievement gap naep 4th grade math -5 pts. -11 pts. 4th grade reading -3 pts. -8 pts. 8th grade math -6 pts. -8 pts. 8th grade reading -9 pts. -6 pts. arkansas benchmark 4th grade math -5 pts. * 4th grade reading -9 pts. * 8th grade math -3 pts. * 8th grade reading +1 pts. * act -0.4 pts. * note. naep and arkansas benchmark achievement gaps represent percentage point differences of profi cient and advanced scores. the act achievement gap refl ects differences in composite scores. *data not available as discussed previously, the motivation for using three different tests, including the naep and statewide exam, was to triangulate the story. we want to know if the achievement gaps are changing. the results of our analyses presented in table 5 (above) show that the naep and arkansas statewide exam are generally consistent – with only 8th grade reading white-hispanic gap presenting positive results. conclusions arkansas policymakers have achieved a great deal since 2003, increasing overall funding substantially statewide, particularly in districts with high percentages of disadvantaged students. at the same time, arkansas has made considerable strides in improving the educational opportunities for all students. for instance, the number of advanced placement courses offered to students have steadily risen across the state. furthermore, the state recently implemented smart core, a rigorous secondary level curriculum with the ambitious goal of ensuring that all high school graduates are prepared for higher education. as if to reinforce such improvement, former u.s. secretary of education margaret spellings praised arkansas and massachusetts as the two states leading the way in setting new standards in their respective educational systems. 45 dollars for sense association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 nevertheless, it is also apparent that disadvantaged students are still not receiving the academic support they need. the fact that performance increases have not boomeranged funding increases is disappointing, but not altogether surprising. while we realize that long term changes take time to take hold, we also fear that the targeted funding is not being employed effectively for the targeted students. indeed, current data provided by the state do not allow us to examine whether targeted funds reached specifi c students in a district because public school funding data are only available at a district level. state policies also do not require districts to track how those resources are being used within the district or school, which hinders intelligent evaluation of such an investment. so, while we know that certain districts are receiving more resources, we cannot say that the schools – much less the students – are truly receiving these additional resources. we encourage state policymakers to reconsider the reporting of school expenditures at a school level, which would allow an exploration of where resources are being used effectively and ineffectively. perhaps the fi rst step to ensuring that these targeted resources are being used to help the students most in need is to hold schools and districts more accountable for the ways in which this money is being spent. in this way, policymakers can ascertain whether or not these resources are actually reaching the target students, and determine if changes need to be made to how these resources are allocated. further, and perhaps more importantly, by holding schools more accountable (and ensuring transparency in how these resources are used), policymakers can begin to identify the schools that are the most effective at educating these minority and low income students. once these schools are identifi ed, policymakers may well encourage other schools to implement similar programs or strategies to help replicate the success demonstrated by these schools. by building on this success, these additional resources can be used to more effectively reach the targeted student populations. in the end, arkansas policymakers should feel encouraged, yet unsatisfi ed, by their funding reform efforts. indeed, arkansas’ attainment of educational adequacy should be hailed as a long overdue achievement but should not be viewed as an ending point. much work remains. too many of our high school graduates require remediation when they reach college. fewer than one in four 8th grade students scored at profi cient or above in the most recent administration of the naep. most importantly, the analyses presented here emphasize that stubborn gaps in achievement persist between groups of students across the state, even with the additional resources in place. it is imperative that policymakers and educators fi nd effective ways to use the newly allocated resources to help all students, including hispanic and frl-eligible students, meet challenging standards, rather than be content simply to provide such resources. references american federation of teachers. statewide average salary fi gures taken from table i-7 state rankings by 2001-02 average teacher salary adjusted by the 2001 aft interstate cost of living index from nelson and drown, survey and analysis of teacher salary trends 2002. www.aft.org/research arkansas department of education. retrieved july 27, 2008, from http://arkansased.org/ dupree v. alma school district no. 30, 651 s.w.2d 90 hertert, l., busch, c., & odden, a. (1994). school fi nancing inequities among the states: the problem from a national perspective. journal of education finance 19: 231-255. education trust. the funding gap 2005: low income and minority students shortchanged by most states. http://www2.edtrust.org/nr/rdonlyres/31d276ef-72e1-458a-8c71-e3d262a4c91e/0/fundinggap2005.pdf lake view school dist. no. 25 v. huckabee, 10 s.w.3d 892 (ark. 2000). lake view school dist. no. 25 v. huckabee, 355 ark. 617, 142 s.w.3d 643. (ark. 2004). monk, d. h., pijanowski, j. c., & hussain, s. (1997). how and where the education dollar is spent. financing schools 7: 51-63. monk, d. h., roellke, c. f., & brent, b. o. (1996). what education dollars buy: an examination of resource allocation patterns in new york state public school systems. final report prepared for the finance center of the consortium for policy research in education, university of wisconsin-madison. national center for education statistics. (2005). revenues and expenditures by public school districts: school year 2002-03. u.s. department of education institute of sciences nces 2006-312. 46 dollars for sense association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 national offi ce for research on measurement and evaluation systems. retrieved july 25, 2008, from http://normes.uark.edu/ nation’s report card. retrieved august 1, 2008, from http://nationsreportcard.gov/ odden, a. r., monk, d. h., nakib, y., & picus, l.o. (1995). the study of the education dollar: no academy awards and no fi scal smoking guns. phi delta kappan 77:161–68. odden, a. r., & picus, l. o. (1992). school fi nance: a policy perspective. new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. rebell, m. a. (2001). education adequacy, democracy and the courts. in achieving high educational standards for all: conference summary, edited by t. ready, c. edley, jr., & c. e. snow. washington, d.c.: national research council and national academy press. u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. (2003). revenues and expenditures for public elementary and secondary education: school year 2000-01. 47 dollars for sense journal 2007[1]. coverpage 33 case studies of minority students in a transitional bilingual education program mona romandia, ms the educational system in many of our schools fails to meet the academic needs of minority students. the dramatic shifts in student demographics are demanding changes in the ways we are teaching them. it is essential to understand the long term effects of our past educational practices and bilingual programs. research indicates that there are many academic, historical, socioeconomic and language factors that can contribute to minority students’ success in schools. this research looked into the factors that have influenced the academic success or failure of native spanish speaking students who were placed in monolingual english instruction programs in their early schooling. the project presents five case studies of these students over thirteen years in one district. the students’ case histories reflect many of the same academic and social problems encountered by minority students in our school system. the parents’ lack of formal educational experiences provided limited home support for the students. the families’ and students’ language and cultural backgrounds were in conflict with the school district’s focused method of delivering academic instruction. the students’ academic history showed the limited academic skills learned through their english instruction. test scores did not show a steady upward growth of skills and students never reached parity with their english speaking peers. chapter 1 bilingual education in the classroom my first class on august 24,1988, i began a career in education assigned to a transitional bilingual first grade classroom at vandalia elementary school the enrollment was seven hundred and twenty-five students and the school year was on a traditional schedule, (sept.-june), with a teaching staff of twenty-seven teachers, as well as fifteen support staff personnel. the growing number of both main stream and language minority students required the district to make changes in the housing and educational program for the students. the school, located directly across the street from the local community college and along side a middle-school campus, had an ethnic population consisting of hispanic, hmong, lao, native america indians and white students. in 1988 california was experiencing an increase of limited 34 english proficient students. the reported number of lep students in 1987 was at 613,224 students in california public schools. in kindergarten through third grades there were 291,719 students (loide, 1991). with a background in bilingual education i understood the difference among programs such as, immersion, early-exit, late-exit transitional bilingual and the academic success of bilingual students in such programs. during this first year, i had to draw from my previous preschool work experiences as well as from my academic training in bilingual education at california state university, chico. my class that year began with twenty-nine students, but by the end of the school year, a total of forty-two students had been enrolled in the class during the year. there were two months when the class enrollment had increased to thirty students. twenty-five students were in the classroom the entire school year. fourteen students had stayed from a few days to a month; then they were either moved to other schools or their families moved out of the district. the initial make-up of the class consisted of eleven english learners, nine bilingual speakers and nine monolingual english speakers. ten of the students had been together in a bilingual kindergarten and then moved into the bilingual first grade. six additional students had been at vandalia’s other kindergarten classes but although they were english speakers, they were moved into the bilingual setting in first grade by parent request. the parents’ expectations were that their children would read in english but would learn to speak spanish in this bilingual setting. the thirteen remaining students were a combination of new students or transfer students from neighboring schools which lacked space in their school campus during the enrollment period. these transfer students were placed on a waiting list and the parents could move students back to their neighborhood schools when there was an opening in first grade at that site. in my classroom, i had a bilingual assistant for one hour and an english speaking assistant for three and a half hours in the mornings. in the area of curriculum, the district had bilingual text books for the math and reading programs but lacked spanish primary language text books in the areas of science and social studies. there were virtually no primary language library books in either the library or the classrooms. staff development for the year consisted of a grade level expectancies booklet and six hours of training in writing lesson plans following the district’s policy. the district had just adopted its spanish reading program so the certificated bilingual teachers received two hours of training on the use of the program. all other support related to curriculum needs came from teachers helping each other on the campus. i had started the school year expecting to apply my background experience to this bilingual transitional program setting. the school was following the district’s policy to move students into main-stream english classrooms by the third school year. the district’s plan on paper sounded easy but in application it had many problems. this policy was in direct conflict with the needs of the minority students who 35 needed academic instruction in their primary language beyond the second grade in school. by december of that first school year, our school staff was informed that we were going to a year-round calendar in july of 1989. the changes, using the existing classrooms and adding six teachers to the staff, would allow vandalia school to house a total of one thousand students. this information required changes in my approach to teaching the academic areas and using the minority students’ primary language for instruction. the problem was complicated by the year-round calendar and its tracking of students by the academic calendar chosen by their parents at the time of enrollment at the school. district-wide english speaking students would be allowed to change into any of four calendar tracks. at vandalia school english learners were directed to the red track where the only two bilingual teachers had been assigned. therefore, i began to look at the students’ future academic needs. it was clear that the english speaking students were not going to stay in the bilingual track where they were allowed more time to develop their english reading while they acquired the spanish language. many would be moving into the monolingual english tracks starting in second grade. it was important to assure that fluent english speakers be at the same exiting level in english reading as their counterparts in other first grade classes. lacking the program training on the district’s adopted english reading series, i found it necessary to talk to and observe school site teachers in the first and second grades to learn the reading program for both grade levels. the academic needs of the english learners in second grade were of great concern to me because there were no other bilingual teachers beyond first grade assigned to the bilingual track. teachers were told that students needing further primary instruction could be transferred to the other school sites in the district; olive street and doyle school. it seemed necessary to visit the bilingual schools that would be receiving my students as second graders. although the two schools approached the publishers’ goals differently, at the same time, they had many of the same concerns regarding the needs of students. the bilingual teachers found that the material presented was beyond their students’ comprehension levels. they were also in great need of primary language literacy materials that would support first and second language literacy development (freeman and freeman, 1997). in addition, there was a lack of qualified bilingual staff to fill each grade level. placement of teaching staff had been according to the calendar track that the teachers’ chose to teach during the year-round adoption phase at each site. the needs of the students were a second consideration and students were placed on a track where most of the bilingual staff was assigned to red or blue tracks. because of all these complications, some of the students could be placed with a bilingual spanish speaking teacher in first grade, then have a monolingual english speaking teacher in the second grade, then find themselves in a bilingual setting again in the third grade. 36 in july of 1989, the school year was opened with the red track designated as the bilingual track. there were bilingual teachers in kindergarten and first grade with monolingual english teachers in second through sixth grades. my twenty-seven first graders moved into second grade in the following tracks. thirteen of the english learners were placed with miss morgan, a french and english speaking teacher on red track. five of the monolingual english speakers were moved into the other three tracks. six of the advanced bilingual speaking students also moved out of bilingual red track. three students were moved to other schools in the district. going beyond the first grade in the second year of our program a second grade teacher with four years of bilingual teaching experience was hired. the two of us developed a personal and professional team effort in order to help both sets of first graders and second graders in our bilingual classrooms. we spent time discussing the first graders progress in my class and the strengths and weaknesses bilingual students demonstrated entering the second grade. her professional opinion was important in order to make changes to my approach to working with the minority students. i found that this helped to improve my teaching strategies, and it reaffirmed my belief in giving students academic instruction using their primary language. i wanted this year to be a positive experience for all my students. english speakers were learning basic communication skills and academic terms in spanish. english learners were hearing academic english and practicing oral english communication skills with their classmates. all the students were expected to meet district’s grade level expectancies. academic content was presented in both languages in order to meet the learning needs of the students. students were comfortable working and learning from each other in the classroom and on the play ground. as the school year progressed, i wondered if the academic growth in both classes would continue when students entered the third grade. there was no bilingual teacher assigned to the third grade. the problem was that the bilingual students in the red track were going into classrooms with english speaking teachers and classrooms lacked curriculum materials in their primary language. after second grade, these students were not receiving comprehensible instruction. meeting the recent arriving english learners academic needs was not seen as a problem beyond the second grade. krashen’s theory “draws a distinction between language acquisition and language learning”. “we acquire language when we understand it” (p. 101). “the key factor is comprehensible input: messages in the second language that makes sense” (crawford, 1991, p. 101-102). the older english learners in vandalia’s school were not acquiring english because they could not understand the instruction. 37 statement of the problem in each of the following years, the makeup of my class was changing to include more spanish speakers to the point that it created a monolingual spanish classroom with students at different levels of english learning. changes in the educational system came very slowly and without the school wide support; it was hard to implement teaching methods that best support the academic progress of language minority students. the educational system in many of our schools failed to meet the academic needs of language minority students. the past practice that the educational system had in place was a transitional bilingual model with the primary goal of having the students learn english in three years. many educators, those outside of bilingual education, fail to understand “the relationship between language proficiency and bilingual students’ academic progress” (cummins, 1996, p. 55). cummins’ work and that of other investigators clarify the “distinction between contextualized and decontextualized language as fundamental to understanding the nature of children’s language and literacy development” (skutnabb-kangas and toukomaa, 1976; bruner, 1975; olson, 1977; donaldson, 1978, as cited in cummins 1996, p. 56). bilingual students require more than three years to develop first language proficiency and the academic language of english. studies by collier (1987, 1989) have shown that immigrant students require five to seven years to reach national norms in reading, social studies and science. by reviewing the different bilingual models, i intend to use the information to explain the failure or success of students that have spent the twelve years in our educational system. this information is important to help adopt appropriate curriculum approaches to use in the classroom. there are many factors that influence the degree of academic success of bilingual students. these factors are not limited to the school system; but also reflect social attitudes in the community and family structure as influences on minority student success in the schools. cortes’s (1986) contextual interaction model suggests that failure of students is the result of an interaction of social, educational, and psychological factors that influence individuals as they live in the community, the school, and their homes. cultures are dynamic, always changing, so they interact with each other rather than match or mismatch. ogbu and matute-bianchi (1986) note that some minority groups do better than others in the school setting. they attempt to account for these differences by differentiating minorities groups as “immigrant, caste-like, and autonomous minorities”. it is with these constructs in mind that i have chosen to research the twelve years of academic progress of students in my first bilingual class. it is essential to understand the long term effect of our past transitional bilingual program at my school site. the purpose of this research is to take an in depth look at the factors that have influenced the academic success of minority students who are placed in transitional bilingual programs. in this thesis i will answer the question: to what degree did the academic instruction 38 in primary language support the academic growth of students? historical factors in the united states, as well as in california, the educational institutions have not been structured to accommodate minority students. they are organized to meet the industrial and economic needs of the country and the state. this economic focus has caused the continuing separation and inequality of education programs. it has instilled in all phases of our american culture the existence of social classes based on racial and religious differences. the dominant social attitude has been that minority students did not have the intelligence, attitude or economic need to be educated (spring, 1994, 1997). social attitudes and educational focus are in the power and control of the policy-makers who finance schools at the state and national levels of government. decisions made in the political arena are not meant to meet the needs of all students, thus creating our educational class system. bond (1981) presents his general explanations of the poor academic achievement by non-mainstream children dividing explanations into three categories “(1) the genetic argument, (2) the cultural argument, and (3) the class analysis argument” (p. 16). as the educational system has failed to meet the needs of minority students, the public as well as the educational institution have shifted the blame to the family’s lack of support and the students’ lack of the english language when they entered school. in order to understand the complex reasons why minority students are academically failing, one needs to understand the history of education including the history of equality. (bond as cited in valdéz, 1996). the struggle for equality has focused on the civil rights of women and minority groups. educational and employment opportunities continue to be closed for many in these two groups. educational rights have had to be won in both the political and social arenas; “both groups struggle for equal political power, equal access to economic opportunities, equal treatment and access to social institutions, and equality of educational opportunity” (spring, 1994, p.110). it is easy to see how the ruling majority has had the opportunity to gain control over the lives of women and minorities through the educational setting. changes required improving the educational programs for women and minority students have been enforced only after court ruling. 39 present setting of bilingual students the dramatic shifts in student demographics are demanding changes in the ways we are teaching language minority students. these changes have resulted in a stronger political effort to take away the educational gains made in the education of minority students in the california’s educational system. the education of minority students is seen as a political and economic threat to those who are dependent on the cheap labor force that has existed in the past. the economic slavery of minority groups had been fixed by the education system. society has managed to blame minority students and their families for their failure in our present educational system. second language learners learning english but struggling academically are blamed for their lack of success. cummins explains that the school system follows this line of reasoning. because bilingual students are fluent in english, their poor academic performance and/or test scores cannot be attributed to the lack of proficiency in english. therefore, these students must either have deficient cognitive abilities or be poorly motivated (cummins, 1996, p. 55). at my school site, there are now bilingual teachers on red track and support staff throughout our kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms. however, it is necessary to review our past teaching strategies to evaluate what we should do next. we cannot teach effectively utilizing the past teaching methods that have failed to meet the learning styles of minority students. further staff development and training is necessary to insure that the most effective teaching methods implemented are based on current and sound research data. today’s classroom teacher should be a researcher and scholar. this concept refers to the “action research” by teachers into their own classroom practices (freeman and freeman, 1994). the teacher as researcher model assumes that part of the satisfaction of teaching is the active participation in the development of new methods of instruction and the creation of new classroom materials. “teachers assume the responsibility of judging their teaching methods, experimenting with and evaluating new methods, and actively exploring new methods of instruction by working with other teachers and seeking advice from university researchers and scholarly publications” (p. 57). classroom teachers are the best source of information about teaching and that their share experiences provide a method of improving instruction (spring, 1994). __________ mona romandia’s masters thesis presents extensive research on the progress of five students over a period of thirteen years. we will continue publishing mona’s research in future journal editions. mona is a veteran teacher in the porterville school district in tulare county. email: eldragon@charter.net the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 47 the journey from de-culturalization to community cultural wealth: the power of a counter story-telling curriculum and how educational leaders can transform schools p. antonio cuevas downtown college preparatory el camino abstract generations of latino students have been negatively impacted by de-culturalizing policies, epistemologies and pedagogies in the u.s. educational system. this article examines the impact of critical race theory (crt) in the classroom. in this article i give my testimonio documenting my educational journey and how i have been transformed as an educational leader by conducting research on the power of crt in practice. my research demonstrates a revolutionary way to engage latino students. by exploring their personal counter-stories, their testimonios, latino students were able to 1) tap into their community cultural wealth (ccw), 2) provide insight of their social context, and 3) repair some of the wounds caused by a racist and oppressive educational system. replication of this curriculum could redefine educational leadership with disenfranchised raza youth by creating academic opportunities for latino students that would counter the racist and oppressive educational system. keywords: critical race theory, counter-storytelling, de-culturalization, hegemonic educational paradigm, youth participation action research, counter educational approach introduction i stood over his casket and could not believe how atrophied his once powerful body had become. i am haunted by the sound of his mother’s uncontrollable sobbing and the sight of his younger brothers standing by helplessly. antonio (a pseudonym) was just 15 when he died from a bullet to the head from a rival gang member. he was a former student of mine that was pushed out of school because he would not conform to the de-culturalizing forces of the cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 48 united states educational system. antonio was like many latino youth that are not engaged by the traditional educational curricula and dominant ways of thinking. many latino students drop out of school because they are unwilling and unable to navigate the culturally oppressive educational system, many times to destructive ends. as a member of the latino community i have experienced firsthand the impact of the de-culturalization of the u.s. educational system. like antonio, i struggled with the cultural oppression of our subtractive schools that try to eliminate our culture (spring, 2010). i was involved with crime, violence, and drugs. i was fortunate to survive my turbulent adolescence and get a second chance at an education and life. i discovered that i did not have to succumb to the low expectations that teachers had for me and i reinvented myself through arts education. i spent five years teaching theatre to incarcerated men and women. while working with incarcerated felons it became very clear that the latinos in jail were simply the children that slipped through the cracks of the educational system that de-culturalized them and were later caught up in the streets. it was at that moment that i dedicated myself to working with and educating children before the known dysfunctional educational cycle continued. however, my first 10 years working in school systems clearly showed me that the educational system continues to strip away the culture of latino students with many casualties along the way just like antonio. i have since re-committed my life to creating a revolutionary pedagogy of engaging and educating latino students. i have created a counter-storytelling curriculum (cstc) and this article is based on my research of that curriculum and the impact that counter-stories have on latino youth. my research illustrates the transformative power of testimonio, in the form of counter-storytelling, in education and demonstrates an alternative and creative way for educational leaders to address the academic disparities facing disenfranchised raza youth. i am now the founding principal of a school in san jose, california and implemented this curriculum as a core class for all students. this article illustrates the impact of my research and how it can be implemented at an institutional and systemic level illuminating a revolutionary path for educational leaders. the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 49 educational and historical context as previously mentioned i began my educational journey 19 years ago teaching theatre to convicted felons and incarcerated youth. while behind bars it became very clear to me the disproportionate numbers of latinos. it also became evident that they could not read or write. it was in jail that i had an epiphany and decided to get my teaching credential and work with raza youth before they got caught up in the destructive cycle of the u.s. judicial system. i began teaching in oakland at a small school that was nearly all latino and african american in one of the worst neighborhoods i could find. although we had a lot of success and my classroom was particularly successful, after several years it became clear that most other classrooms were not engaging all the students, and i was very aware of many of the students that were unable or unwilling to conform to the de-culturalizing forces and pedagogies. it was during this time that i met and began working with antonio and his family. he did well in my class but was continually in trouble in all his other classes. ultimately he was forced out of our school and turned to the streets, which led to his untimely and tragic end. it was also during this time that i began my journey as an educational leader searching for a new way to engage disenfranchised raza youth. i began the creation of my cstc in order to tap into the ccw of our students and families because what was being done was failing many of our students. a new way of educating latinos is desperately needed because latino youth in the united states educational system are in crisis (covarrubias, 2011; valenzuela, 1999; yosso, 2005). the “educational pipeline” shows us that latinos that do not navigate, or are unable to navigate the educational system, exhibit grave academic disparities. only 44 out of 100 latino students entering elementary school can expect to graduate high school, only seven out of these 100 will graduate with a bachelor degree and less than one will receive a doctorate (covarrubias, 2011; yosso, 2005). the educational pipeline clearly shows that latinos are among the most poorly served of all racial communities and are pushed out of school with some of the highest rates of racialized groups (covarrubias, 2011). there are many reasons for latino underperformance, of which i will briefly address three. specifically, i examine 1) the historic de-culturalization of latino students, 2) the hegemonic eurocentric epistemologies and lack of culturally relevant curriculum, and 3) the impact that de-culturalization has had on latino students’ identities and engagement. cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 50 the de-culturalization of latinos in the united states has inflicted a mental, emotional and spiritual wound on latino youth as they try to navigate the educational system (carrillo & tello, 2008; spring, 2010). this de-culturalization includes the loss of language, values, and ancestral wisdom in the pursuit of whiteness and forced assimilation, which has been reinforced by a series of laws targeting latinos such as california’s propositions 227 and 187 and arizona’s hb 2281 and hb 1070 (spring, 2010). these laws show the dominant culture’s continued effort to de-culturalize latinos through legislation and policies that strip away the language and culture of latinos; a subtractive process which is manifested in the classroom setting (valenzuela, 1999). as delgado bernal explains (2002), “for too long, the histories, experiences, cultures and languages of students of color have been devalued, misinterpreted or omitted within formal educational settings” (p. 105). this eurocentric epistemology creates an environment that makes latinos feel inferior and i refused to be a part of system that continued to de-culturalize our raza youth. my own personal experience and my early experiences as an educator made this very clear to me and was the driving force of my transformation as an educational leader. eurocentric epistemologies are the basis of knowledge and justification of beliefs that place white values and the english language in a superior position to all other ways of thinking (anzaldúa, 2007; delgado bernal, 2002; freire, 2000; smith, 2008; solorzano & yosso, 2002; solorzano & yosso, 2001). these destructive eurocentric epistemologies, which portray latinos as backward, broken and unable to transform their communities, manifest themselves in current educational policy, pedagogies, curriculum, and assessments (tuck, 2009). students express disappointment at the lack of culturally relevant curriculum and the school system’s focus on a eurocentric history that denies the history of students of color (delgado bernal, 2002). these eurocentric epistemologies reinforce the subtractive element of our educational system that strips away the culture of latino students (valenzuela, 1999). valenzuela (1999) describes subtractive schooling as a process that divests latino youth of vital social and cultural resources, which leaves them vulnerable to academic failure. many latino students are negatively impacted by the loss of culture experienced in our subtractive educational institutions (spring, 2010; valenzuela 1999). this de-culturalization manifests itself in the stripping away of cultural identity, which leads to a lowered self-esteem, a the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 51 lessened connection with community, and a loss of family history. the eurocentric epistemologies that dominate schooling make many latinos feel inferior because of the domination of white values and language in the curriculum, pedagogies, and assessments. as valenzuela (1999) clarifies, “schools are organized formally and informally in ways that fracture students’ cultural and ethnic identities, creating social, linguistic and cultural divisions among students and between the students and staff” (p. 5). these fractures result in a loss of cultural identity, perpetuating a destructive cycle that leads many latino students to become lost and disengaged in their educational journey (valenzuela, 1999; tello, 2008). the loss of cultural knowledge, connection with ancestors and understanding of their familial counter-stories creates a cultural vacuum and forces many latino students to search for something to fill the void, many times to destructive ends just like antonio. i have outlined and created a visual representation of the dysfunctional cycle of the hegemonic educational paradigm (hep) (figure 1) that demonstrates the de-culturalization process going from macro policy and legislation to micro implementation and the impact it has on latino student identity and engagement. figure 1. hegemonic educational paradigm de-culturalization: historically racist legislation and policy eurocentric epistemological domination: devalues latino culture subtractive schooling: loss of cultural resources lack of culturally relevant pedagogies disengaged student citizens; negatively impacted cultural identities cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 52 it was during my first several years that i experienced going to the funerals of some of our lost youth. i was also an advocate and support person for many of my families when their children got arrested and went to court. these children would excel in my class and i constantly strived to create opportunities for them to use their voice about their lives which led to them doing well and being engaged in my class. i would also spend much time in the homes of their families and created powerful connections and relationships with my students many of which continue to this day. however, many of the other teachers would continue to struggle and blame the students and their families for their lack of success. these teachers would complain and not reflect on their practice. it was during this time that i began my journey as an educational leader and left the classroom, which was a hard time for me because i enjoyed my time as a classroom teacher. when i began my journey as an administrator i implemented and researched my cstc and the impact it had on latino identity and engagement. in the next section i will briefly discuss the process of the study, but will focus mainly on the impact of the crt on the students as framed within their action steps. the results of the study are important because it was the process of the students giving their testimonio, which allowed me to give my testimonio. implications: our stories do matter! i’d like to thank everyone for their time, devotion, cooperation, but most importantly their stories. i would have no sense of direction and no path paved for me. every story they told, every rule they broke, every obstacle they surpassed only to get me the education and life everyone deserves but few achieve. i have to take advantage that my education has been given to me for free unlike my ancestors that fought so hard but still were ignored. their voices however still live in me, in my culture in my history and in my future. i want…no i need to prove that their struggles weren’t all in vain and that our voices will not be silenced. just as my mother worked for her children, i will work for my future. just as she was forced to quit school for work, i will force myself to stay and achieve my goals and aspirations. she is my inspiration, she is my warrior and i will not let anything my warrior did for me be forgotten and only spoken in the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 53 the whispers of the wind. now that i have portrayed an event that someone else lived i feel privileged to be who i am so i walk like i only have one life to live and stand like i have nothing to lose. i stand here as a proud latina looking ahead to my future (esperanza). the above reflection was written by esperanza (a pseudonym), one of the student/coresearchers as a monologue that synthesized the youth participatory action research (ypar) action steps and integrated the data analysis of her reflections. the monologue/research was performed at the world premier of la guerra cultural: a culture clash. she performed in the play and recited her monologue at the conclusion with her mother in attendance. it was a powerful moment with not a dry eye in the audience. all of the student/co-researchers wrote monologues using the same process and had opportunities to do the same when their parents were present. it was the intersection of research and performance and was amazing to behold. esperanza’s monologue contains some of the answers to the ypar action steps and illuminates the impact that a cstc has on latino students. her monologue also contains some of the components of yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth (ccw) as she describes her inspiration and resilience to overcome obstacles she is connecting resistant, aspirational, and familial capital. this study relied on the student/co-researchers as holders and creators of knowledge (delgado bernal, 2002), tapped into their ccw (yosso, 2005), and implemented ypar as an aligning methodology. since so much of the study depended on the student/co-researcher voice, leadership, data generation, and data analysis, i frame the findings based on the action steps created by the student/co-researchers. four interconnected stages of data collection shaped this research (figure 2). cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 54 figure 2. theoretical construct of methodological stages i highlight stage 4 due to its relevance to the results. my research questions were based on the impact that cstc would have on latino student identity and engagement. stage four was the student’s/co-researcher’s ypar study of the impact of counter-storytelling on their identity and engagement. stage four was the most important because it was the stage that answered my research questions and gave the student/co-researchers the opportunity to answer their co-created action steps. my research questions served as the guide to the research. as the students engaged in the curriculum they became my co-researchers and developed their own actions steps, which then became the co-researcher/iterative process that framed the entire process. the student/co-researcher action steps are as follows: 1. examine the impact of our stories on my motivation towards my education. 2. examine the impact of our stories on my racial cultural identity. 3. examine the impact of our stories on my relationships with my family. 4. examine the impact of our stories on my self-confidence. stage 1: researcher's investigation of family history. literary source of counterstorytelling curriculum (cstc) stage 2: ethnographic portrait of students participating in the project stage 3: student application and analysis of researcher's counter-story narrative ni de aqui, ni de alla stage 4: ypar research on the impact of the cstc on student engagement and identity the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 55 in the next four sections i focus on a small group of participant reflections because although the data on the questions was very similar, some students went into much more detail in their written reflections. i will provide some of the findings of the ypar-generated data and discuss the intersection with ccw (yosso, 2005). i begin with a section that includes the impact on their motivation towards education then a section on the impact on their racial/cultural identity. next, i discuss the impact on their relationships with their families and conclude with the impact on their self-confidence. motivation towards education: sacrificios, oportunidad y agradacimiento the first action step created by the student/co-researchers was to “examine the impact of our stories on my motivation towards my education.” using journals, the student/coresearchers reflected regularly on the impact that the cstc was having. in the analysis that follows i rely upon the student/co-researcher definition of motivation towards education: continuing to get educated and inspired to do well. a yearning to want to accomplish something. these journals capture some of the student journeys that demonstrate a transformation in motivation towards their education during in-class reflections student/co-researchers shared findings with the group. during the analysis of motivation towards education, two things became clear: 1) the student/co-researchers were not aware of the sacrifices made nor the challenges and oppression that their parents endured so that the students could get a quality education and, 2) once the student/co-researchers made this connection and understood the difficulties their parents faced, students shifted their view on education for the better. all of the students relayed conversations with their parents in which their parents would tell them to do well in school because they themselves never had the opportunity to go to school. however, the students also expressed that many times this became a lecture that fell on deaf ears. the student/co-researchers explained that the lectures did not provide the context or counter-story that explained the reason why it was so important to their parents. through interviewing parents, writing them into stories and creating a performance, the student/researchers were able to connect with and understand what their parents were trying to communicate. cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 56 as we went through the process, their reflections became deeper as their understanding of their parent’s journey deepened. esperanza elaborated on the impact shortly before our world premier by writing: i’m much more motivated to continue my education because i know who i’m representing when i receive that diploma. i yearn for a fulfilled life and i’ve learned that it begins with an education. through these stories i’ve gained a unique understanding of exactly what our ancestors had to go through for my success. i feel a strong need to defend what they fought for (esperanza). in this reflection, esperanza connected sacrifices that her mother made with deep empathy and tapped into both familial and resistant capital (yosso, 2005). she explained that through gaining a deeper understanding of her ancestors, in this case her mother, she wanted to do better. she also demonstrated a level of resistance in wanting to defend the progress made by her mother. esperanza described how she was at first unaware of her heritage and did not even realize the importance of exploring her culture. through the interview process, reflections on the coresearcher’s action steps, analysis of data and staging of the final results she was able to reclaim her cultural heritage and also tapped into yosso’s (2005) resistant capital. her transformation also demonstrated her courage and resistance against discrimination that she knows she will have to face, but now knows that she can. reyna was another young chicana that articulated the impact of her journey when she reflected: these stories made me think and realize that my ancestors and family members could not have this experience. so i need to take responsibility for my actions in school and take opportunities that others were not able to have and make them proud. when i realized this, i figured out that i need to push myself to work my hardest and be successful in life to be somebody important not as somebody who joined a gang and took drugs (reyna). reyna was able to reflect on the transformation the cstc had on her motivation towards her education through not only showing how she understood her parent’s sacrifices, but what learning this meant to her. in this reflection reyna also directly addressed intervening obstacles such as: gangs and drugs, which many of them face on a regular basis with a newly found the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 57 resistant capital. her reflection and transformation demonstrates the integration of familial capital, aspirational capital, and resistant capital. her newfound connection to her family and the hopes and dreams found through investigating her counter-story shines in her and through her motivation towards her education. it also gives her the navigational capital to be aware of the obstacles and the resistant capital to engage and resist. racial and cultural identity: what you don’t know can hurt you! the second action step created by the student/co-researchers was to “examine the impact of our stories on my racial/cultural identity.” student/co-researchers defined this action step as: special languages, rituals, food, celebrations and values that make you, you. makes you special and unique and defines where you come from and who you are. your roots. student reflections based on the action step show a transformation in racial and cultural identity. in this section, i discuss how student/co-researchers transformed themselves as they engaged with their families’ counter-stories. as with the previous action steps, in-class reflections and findings were shared with the group. during analysis of racial/cultural identity three things became clear: 1) the student/coresearchers had been de-culturalized and did not even know it, 2) once the student/coresearchers made this connection and understood their loss of culture and the importance of their culture they became determined to reclaim it, and 3) the parents of the student/coresearchers experienced profound racism regularly and now the student/co-researchers were aware of the racism they faced in their lives as well. as a result of this discovery the student/co-researchers became resolute in their role to fight against discrimination. in a written reflection esperanza described the impact that her mother’s story had on her cultural/racial identity by reflecting: before i learned about my family’s story i never felt a need to learn who i truly am and who’s blood flows through me. what heritage that is engraved in my skin, lungs, and heart didn’t matter but now i feel foolish that i ignored all the stories written on me when i look in the mirror, i’ve learned that my race gives me another reason to stand tall and brace against any obstacle in my path. being latina gives me a sense of fear of the discrimination that i will face but with that cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 58 it also brings a sense of courage because i know i am not standing alone. i’m standing with many aztec and mexican soldiers (esperanza). esperanza described how she was at first unaware of her heritage and did not even realize the importance of exploring her culture. through the curriculum she was able to reclaim her cultural heritage and also tapped into yosso’s (2005) resistant capital. she explained how learning about her race helped her develop internal fortitude to “stand tall brace against any obstacle in my path”. it is also an example of esperanza tapping into her familial capital and how that elevated her aspirations, which also allows her to resist oppression. reyna also described her transformational journey of engaging with her counter-story in a written reflection: before these stories i was kinda ashamed that i was mexican because people thought that we would be 16 and pregnant, in gangs or on drugs. but also they think that mexicans cannot succeed or do well but after reading these stories i realized that i am mexican not mexican’t, so now i can go into the world and say that i am mexican and proud. these stories help me understand my culture and why it’s important because if i do not know my culture than i don’t know who i am (reyna). in this reflection reyna directly addressed how important it is for latinos to know their culture. she explains how knowing a culture helps define who a person is and in doing so taps into a resistant capital to succeed. reyna transformed from feeling ashamed to being proud. she also reinforced the importance of knowing your cultural self in order to withstand the intervening obstacles that stop many students from achieving their goals. her journey tapped into resistant capital and familial capital as described by yosso (2005) by proclaiming that now that she has regained her culture she will be able to overcome the negative stereotypes and succeed. relationships with my family: empathy and understanding the third action step created by the student/co-researchers was to “examine the impact of our stories on my relationships with my family.” student/co-researcher’s defined this action step as: how we get along with and understand our parents. student reflections based on this action step show a transformation in their relationships with their family. in this section, i the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 59 discuss how student/co-researcher’s relationships were transformed as they engaged with their family’s counter-stories. esperanza demonstrates the impact and transformation that the curriculum had on her relationship with her mother by describing her shift in perspective as she learned of the daily sacrifices, discrimination, and abuse her mother had to endure. in her final reflection she explains how it made her more grateful: before this experience i wasn’t grateful of every day-to-day sacrifice my mother makes to lift me up and bring forth success. like how she faced discrimination and abuse from her own family. i now feel a sense of pride because i have a mother that went through hell and back and still stands tall with her head held high. she still works for her family and everyday i look at her in awe of how much courage and strength she has (esperanza). esperanza discusses how the cstc transformed her relationship and put her in touch with a familial capital that she was unaware of at the beginning. her mother’s story was made more profound because she played her own mother and portrayed the difficulties she endured as esperanza elaborated: “it was a really challenging experience since most of the roles i played i was being abused. it was mind blowing every time i thought of how much struggle they went through.” through her exploration and subsequent portrayal of her mother she was able to understand her mother’s sacrifices which ultimately led to esperanza being more grateful for her mother. her newfound empathy of her mother’s struggles allowed her to access the familial and resistant capital that her stories reclaimed. her improved self-confidence showed in how she carried herself and by carrying the weight of portraying her mother on stage. both during the show and after the tears shared by her and her mother were the tears of healing and newfound strength. dulce also explained the transformative impact of exploring her mother’s story when she elaborated in her final reflection: my relationship with my family has changed dramatically. i never respected my mom and dad. i always questioned why did they push me to the extremes? or why did they treat me this way? i always discouraged their feelings. then that night it was cold and seemed like the perfect night to surprise them with the cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 60 feeling of me being curious. the memories and the feelings just exploded from my mother’s mouth. the energy and excitement in her voice made me realize that i was wrong all along. i didn’t believe that i can miss out on so much. after that our relationship was so entwined. there was no way i was going back to my old life. i no longer question her authority (dulce). dulce’s journey demonstrates the transformation that the cstc had on her relationships with her mother. before she explored her mother’s story, dulce did not respect or understand her parents. after going through the process of researching her mother’s counter-story, dulce understood her parent’s motivation and decision-making. her journey was so similar to many of the other participants. they simply did not know the struggles and obstacles their parents faced on a daily basis just so their children could get the opportunity their parents never had. by transforming their relationships and opening the lines of communication the student/coresearchers were able to tap into familial and aspirational capital. it also allowed them to feel empathy towards their parents and anger towards the racism and oppression so that they have that capital as they too become young adults and begin navigating a racist world, but now they also have the requisite resistant capital to overcome any and all obstacles. self-confidence: fuerza, orgullo and resistencia the final action step created by the student/co-researchers was to “examine the impact of our stories on my self-confidence.” student/co-researcher’s defined this action step as: stand up for who you are. proud, not afraid to be yourself. speak up for yourself and what you believe in. student reflections based on this action step show the impact that the stories had on their self-confidence. in this section, i discuss how student/co-researcher’s self-confidence was impacted as they engaged with their family’s counter-stories. josé’s journey demonstrated a transformation in his relationship with his grandfather. this improved relationship had a great impact on his self-confidence and gave him access to his familial and aspirational capital. as a result of the curriculum and specifically his grandfather’s story, josé explains the impact that it had on his self-confidence: i feel extremely confident now and feel like i can do great things. these stories have given me the knowledge to keep fighting for what i believe in. i am not the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 61 afraid to change stereotypes because they are wrong and for me that’s enough to fight back. i have the courage to stand up and fight back. i am proud to be mexican, knowing my cultural background has released my mind because i know where to go now. these stories have inspired me to be brave and persist because my grandpa did. he was brave so should i (josé). josé’s self-confidence was transformed, his relationship improved and the understanding of his cultural background deepened. this transformation was buttressed by aspirational, familial, and resistant capital. when he began the leadership program he was quiet and reserved, but at the end he played several different characters and wanting to do more. by accessing his family’s counter-story he was armed with a newfound confidence. he became a very vocal leader within the group and took on more and more responsibility on the project. policy and teacher training recommendations the following is a letter written by one of my student/co-researchers, maria, to an organization in order to secure funds so that the leadership program continues. in it she explains why the program is so important to her and the other latina/o students: leadership is a necessity to our school! we have guiding principles, such as having integrity or being compassionate, and high expectations for each student to lead them to a bright future. leadership clearly makes it easier for students to achieve something beyond what they'd originally do in a classroom. it opens doors to new experiences as well! seventh and eighth grade is where students have to make that sudden change from toys to tools. this program really brings out their maturity. it would be a great gift if we had this beneficial program for generations to come and we'd like you to be the people who help us get to this goal. thank you for your time. this letter highlights the impact and importance of the leadership program. maria also began the conversation about why this curriculum is so important. she also demonstrates the beginning of how this curriculum can be replicated in schools with latino students without betraying the standards that teachers need to adhere to in order to be in academic compliance. the impact is very clear and now the curriculum has been studied by those with the most to cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 62 gain from engaging in this type of research. in maria’s words, “leadership is a necessity at our school!” i expand on maria’s thoughts by providing policy and teacher training recommendations, though it is difficult to reduce such complex issues into bullet points, and i do so with hesitation. each of the following policy and professional development recommendations are very large and complicated issues that must be implemented within already established structures and systems. for my part, i hope that this study and the voice of the student/coresearchers becomes one of the pebbles necessary to create a ripple effect that helps change the course of our toxic, dysfunctional, and failing educational system. i begin with macro level policy changes and conclude by listing teacher professional development recommendations. policy recommendations 1. increase parent and community engagement components for all schools. 2. provide parent trainings and workshops that educate parents on the policy-making process and pressure points in which they can influence decision-making processes. 3. organize parents and families to advocate for legislation that empowers latino communities and against laws that strip marginalized communities of their rights. 4. grant school districts and schools more autonomy in order to choose curriculum that allows teachers to implement curriculum based on the student demographics they teach. 5. extend the hours of all schools to provide adequate wrap around services and create more opportunities for family and community engagement. this would include homework help, counseling services, enrichment programs, and adult classes. 6. foster partnerships with outside organizations dedicated to equity and social justice. 7. create systems that share best instructional practices across district and charter schools. teacher professional development recommendations 1. a realignment of teacher credentialing programs that shifts the epistemological lens to crt. the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 63 2. professional development opportunities for all teachers on the practice of crt, which i have implemented at the school i recently founded. 3. invest money for professional development opportunities on cultural sensitivity and awareness of white privilege, also implemented at my site. 4. professional development opportunities for teachers to learn the languages of the students and families they serve. 5. replication of a cstc for latino students in all middle school settings. i have centered my cstc so that all students have access to my curriculum and have begun researching its impact. educational leadership: adelante con la lucha! as a professional educator, this research illuminated my role and not in a way that made me feel good about my practice. i was participating in an educational system that was contributing to the de-culturalization of latinos and i did not even know it. even though i was experiencing success as first an instructor and later as an administrator, there was something not quite right. the schools that i was working for were experiencing success in the academic performance index (api) which was the measurement of academic performance, graduation rates and college acceptance rates, but i was still witnessing large numbers of our young latinos being pushed out of school and the blame always on the students and their families. through this research i have found that there is so much more that we can do to reach every student. this research has shown me that there is a way to tap into a strength that comes only from the community and culture of the students. my cstc is a way to tap into their ccw and can provide some of the missing ingredients for them to navigate the racist and oppressive systems. while engaging in the cstc the students were given the space to be leaders in co-creating the curriculum. i trusted in them to research their stories and in doing so the student/coresearchers tapped into a strength that can only come from their stories. they began the process of reclaiming their culture, language, history, and identity, which allowed them to take ownership of their educational lives. my research demonstrates a revolutionary way to engage latino students. by exploring their personal counter-stories latino students were able to 1) tap into their ccw, 2) provide cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 64 insight of their social context, and 3) repair some of the wounds caused by a racist and oppressive educational system. replication of this co-created/iterative curriculum could create academic opportunities for latino students so fewer youth end up like antonio, the student of mine that dropped out of school and later died as a result of gang violence. this research also contributed to my departure from the institution where it was conducted. this journey made me understand how dangerous and frightening this type of work is to the status quo. upon completion of the initial year of cstc implementation, the response was incredible. many teachers, administrators, parents, and students talked about how important and special this work was. i felt that the time was ready for me to push this work and get wider implementation within my former institution. however, i believe that this increased pressure to expand on this work made many people feel threatened and contributed to the non-renewal of my contract. anderson (2007) describes how this work can scare some educators: “it is political in the obvious sense that asking critical questions about one’s practice, classroom and school can offend those with a stake in maintaining the status quo” (p. 5). the year following the initial implementation of the cstc was very difficult. it began with my removal as director of the leadership program that i founded, developed, and researched, followed by the elimination of my position from the school. ultimately, i was able to complete the second year of cstc only because some of the teachers spoke up on my behalf and on the importance of the program to this community, but i was still let go from the school. my former school was not ready for such a different approach of educating latinos. students, staff, and family members were devastated by my departure and the way i was treated by my supervisors. my last few days on campus were filled with many tears and sad goodbyes. the year that i spent with my student/co-researchers was the most profound year i have spent as an educator. it has completely changed my views on education and i feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with such amazing students. despite good intentions, despite coming from the community i served i was simply another piece of the u.s. educational system that de-culturalizes latino students. however, the results of this research have demonstrated that there is an alternative way to teach latino students that shifts the epistemological lens. this epistemological shift allows for the culture of latino students to be the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 65 placed in the center of a pedagogical approach that taps into the homeland culture of latino students that increases engagement and has a positive impact on their racial/cultural identity. through the implementation of a cstc, the student/co-researchers demonstrated that they were able to directly tap into their vast ccw. this enabled them to heal old wounds attributed to a loss of culture, reclaim their racial/cultural identity, improve their relationships with their families, experience a heightened sense of self-confidence, which all led to the student/co-researchers being motivated to do better in school. they reported a transformation in their attitudes as a result of understanding the sacrifices, challenges, and racism endured by their family members. the data showed that when students are denied their culture they are missing the very component that makes them who they are, but by engaging the cstc they were able to reclaim their culture and history. as stated previously, my year implementing the cstc was the most profound year of my 15 years as an educator. i set out to examine the impact that the cstc had on latino student identity and engagement not realizing that i would be transformed and tested along the way. as a member of the latino community, one thing i have learned is that our stories, history, language, and culture are incredibly important. without them we are nothing. this journey has had a significant impact on me both professionally and personally. as the student/co-researchers were transformed by the journey, so was i. being dismissed and disrespected from the job i had and losing the opportunity to continue growing the leadership program that i developed and researched was devastating. however, i too now had access to my own ccw and was not going to simply go away. as previously mentioned i embraced my departure as an opportunity to overcome and do something special. i am now working with an organization in san josé, california. our mission is to prepare first generation latino students for college. they believed in my leadership program and the research i have done and i am now a founding principal of a new middle school where my leadership program has been implemented institutionally and all students have access to the curriculum. so now all my current middle school students have the opportunity to reclaim that which was rightfully theirs from birth and it happens daily as a core class. as our program grows and as i grow as an educational leader i am working on taking this curriculum and implementing the ccw and crp aspects into all that our school does. i will begin the research on institutional cuevas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 66 implementation of this curriculum in all content areas in the fall of 2016. my transformation and journey as an educational leader continues as i strive on with the implementation of this curriculum and pedagogy institutionally and organizationally as i prepare for more widespread implementation systemically. the journey from de-culturalization association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 67 references anderson, g. l., (2007). studying your own school: an educator’s guide to practitioner action research (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: corwin press a sage publications company. anzaldúa, g. (2007). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza (3rd ed.). san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. carrillo, r., & tello, j. (2008). family violence and men of color: healing the wounded male spirit (2nd ed.). new york, ny: springer publishing company. covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos and education, 10(2), 86-105. delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical racedgendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed (30th ed.). new york, ny: the continuum international publishing group inc. smith, l. t. (2008). decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples (12th ed.). new york, ny: zed books ltd. solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2001). critical race and latcrit theory and method: counterstorytelling. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(4), 471-495. solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. spring, j. (2010). deculturalization and the struggle for equality: a brief history of the education of dominated cultures of the united states (6th ed.). new york, ny: mcgraw hill higher education. tello, j. (2008). el hombre noble buscando balance: the noble man searching for balance. in r. carrillo & j. tello (eds.), family violence and men of color: healing the wounded male spirit (2nd ed) (pp. 37-59). new york, ny: spring publishing company. tuck, e. (2009). suspending damage: a letter to communities. harvard educational review, 79(3), 409-424. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring (1st ed.). new york, ny: state university of new york press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 178 presidential leadership: improving completion rates of latino male students at texas community colleges luis ponjuán texas a&m university leticia palomín texas a&m university susana hernández texas a&m university abstract enrollment rates for latino male students continue to increase at community colleges; unfortunately, compared to their other racial and/or ethnic male counterparts they are less likely to earn a college credential or degree. this qualitative study explores the narratives of six presidents at texas community colleges designated as hispanic-serving institutions. we asked these presidents to describe their perceptions of their institution’s awareness and commitment to improve degree completion outcomes of latino male students. we utilized cultural and social-cognition theories to help understand how these presidents may change or shift their institution’s efforts to address this pressing issue. based on the findings, three key themes emerged that described how these leaders perceived their respective institution. our findings suggest these presidents are concerned with the low completion rates for latino male students; however, their institutions need to better align their institution's core values, mission, and culture to support educational outcomes of latino male students. lastly, we highlight how other community college presidents could enhance their institution’s commitment to improve degree completion rates of latino male students. keywords: hispanic-serving institutions, community colleges, presidents, degree completion, latino male students doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.366 presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 179 introduction enrollment rates of latino1 male students continue to increase at hispanic-serving institutions (hsis)2 and a majority of these institutions are classified as community colleges. upon closer review of the degree completion rates of male students of color at community colleges, latino male students compared to other male racial groups are less likely to earn a college credential or degree (baber & graham, 2015; sáenz & ponjuan, 2009, 2011; u.s. census bureau, 2012). scholars have noted that latino male students often face unique challenges as they attempt to complete a community college credential or degree. for example, some scholars suggest these students may not be familiar with the financial aid process (fry, 2002; núñez & kim, 2012; sáenz & ponjuan, 2011) and encounter difficulties balancing the demands of academics, family, and work obligations (harris & wood, 2013; sáenz & ponjuan, 2011). these students also tend to lack help-seeking behaviors due to machismo (e.g. cultural value that dictates latino male behavior) (sáenz & ponjuan, 2009), which can stem from a fear of failing when confronted with challenges during their community college experience (sáenz, bukoski, lu, & rodríguez, 2013). while these earlier studies focused on exploring the challenges these students faced, other scholars explored how community colleges can help address these challenges. these institutions have the distinct responsibility of improving educational outcomes of hispanic students. scholars have indicated hispanic students who enrolled at hsis tend to have more positive experiences and outcomes (laden, 2001, 2004; laden, hagedorn, & perrakis, 2008; núñez, hurtado, & galdeano, 2015; núñez, sparks, & hernández, 2011) because these institutions create a physical space to increase their sense of belonging (garcia, patrón, ramirez, & hudson, 2016). despite community colleges commitment to helping latina/o students academically succeed, latino male students still face challenges in completing a community college credential or degree in comparison to their male peers (ponjuán, palomín, & calise, 2015). this may suggest that community colleges need to reevaluate how they are meeting the educational needs of these particular students. 1 we used hispanic and latina/o interchangeably based on the research cited. 2 according to the federal definition, a hispanic-serving institution (hsi) is an eligible not-for profit institution with an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students, which is at least 25% hispanic (us department of education, 2016). ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 180 scholars have found that administrators and practitioners at minority-serving institutions make important efforts to help students of color academically succeed (malcompiqueux & bensimon, 2015; stanton-salazar, macias, bensimon, & dowd, 2010). more specifically, other scholars suggest that community college presidents should strategically focus their institutions to improve degree completion for an increasingly ethnically diverse student population (eddy, 2010; nevarez, wood, & penrose, 2013). in this case, community college presidents at hsis lead their institution’s core values, mission, and culture to ensure that latino students complete a credential or degree. although some studies focused on community college presidents’ leadership styles, behaviors, and self-reflexivity, there is scant research on how their institutions address the specific needs of latino male students. therefore, we need to further examine how community college presidents at designated hsis can lead their institutions to improve degree completion rates of latino male students. the purpose of this study was to explore how community college leaders perceive the efforts of their institutions to improve the education outcomes of latino male students. therefore, the research question guiding this qualitative research study was, “how do texas community college presidents describe their institution’s awareness and commitment to improving degree completion rates of latino male students?” this study advances the research on latino male students at community colleges by examining the role of community college presidents in addressing this critical educational issue. while there are some studies that have examined the leadership role of community college presidents, there is scant research on how these leaders address issues related to latino male students at these types of institutions. review of the literature understanding community college degree completion of latino male students many latino male students start their college careers at community colleges designated as hsis (núñez & bowers, 2011; núñez, crisp, & elizondo, 2012; núñez, sparks, & hernández, 2011). the complex nature of the degree completion issue of latino male students revealed several factors that may delay their academic success. scholars have found that the academic experiences of latino male students can influence their persistence and graduation rates (pérez & taylor, 2015; ross, kena, rathbun, kewalramani, zhang, kristapovich, & manning, 2012). this includes critically examining policies that may impede male students of color academic presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 181 progression. for instance, latino male students placed in a developmental education curriculum often struggle with completing these courses (acevedo-gil, santos, alonso, & solórzano, 2015; crisp & nora, 2010; harris & wood, 2013). unfortunately, students who spend more time in developmental education courses are at a higher risk of becoming discouraged and dropping out since they are investing in non-college credit courses (bettinger, boatman, & long, 2013; crisp & nora, 2010; harris & wood, 2013). some scholars have also examined how community college faculty members are often not adequately prepared to address the unique learning styles of latino male students. for example, scholars suggest that some latino male students enrolled at community colleges experience negative interactions with some faculty members and often perceive them as unapproachable (gardenshire-crooks, collado, martin, castro, mdrc & achieving the dream, 2010; harris & wood, 2013). as a result, these students are less likely to approach faculty members for assistance and utilize institutional academic support services (cabrera, rashwansoto, & valencia, 2016). in contrast, some scholars have found that latino male students had positive experiences with hispanic faculty members at community colleges because they were aware of their academic needs, served as role models (laden, 2001; núñez et al., 2011), and they helped strengthen their racial and/or ethnic identities (dayton, gonzalez-vasquez, martinez, & plum, 2004). coupled with these varied educational experiences, other scholars have focused on institutional characteristics that may also contribute to degree completion rates of latino male students. scholars have started to focus on understanding how community colleges can address or ameliorate the potential barriers that latino male students may face (harris & wood, 2013; ponjuán & hernández, 2016; sáenz & ponjuan, 2011). a national report on the academic success of male students of color at community colleges found that male-focused programs provide specific support for these students (center for community college student engagement, 2014). other institutional policies and practices that contribute to the academic success of latino male students include improving the recruitment and retention of faculty members of color (levin, jackson-boothby, haberler, & walker, 2015), and creating a campuswide awareness of the unique educational experiences of latino male students (sáenz, ponjuán, & figueroa, 2016). however, we know less about how community college presidents can ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 182 shape, guide, and lead institutional efforts to address degree completion outcomes of latino male students. community college presidential leadership and the degree completion agenda community college presidents, as a central figure and leader, play an important role when implementing institutional changes. for example, studies examining community college student success initiatives found that these efforts were highly dependent on a president’s involvement (zachry rutschow, richburg-hayes, brock, orr, cerna, & cullinan, 2011). these presidents play an essential role in constructing a new message that clarifies how the institution will move forward (eddy, 2010). furthermore, new initiatives or institutional changes were more successful when presidents were in the forefront of developing and communicating the message to the campus community (eddy, 2010; zachry rutschow et al., 2011). existing literature highlights the importance of understanding how leaders align their institutional mission and commit resources to create a culturally supportive environment for the increasingly racially and ethnically diverse student population (astin & astin, 2000; nevarez et al., 2013; roueche, baker iii, & rose, 2014; shields, 2010). for example, community college presidents must ensure the institution adapts to the students they serve rather than forcing the students to change to fit the institution (eddy, 2010; gonzalez, 2015). despite these efforts to meet the needs of a diverse student population, some scholars argue that community colleges have become more “enrollment-driven” institutions, and less focused on degree completion (contreras, malcom, & bensimon, 2008; gonzález, 2015; núñez, 2015; núñez, et al., 2011). recently, policymakers have been incorporating degree completion rates as a performance metric through performance-based funding policies to pressure higher education institutions to increase degree completion rates (gonzalez, 2015). this recent focus on the degree completion agenda may require community college presidents to implement institutional policies to address the external demands of improving degree completion rates, which may be at the expense of other pressing institutional goals (e.g. capital expansion). while these aforementioned studies have suggested the importance of community college presidents and the degree completion agenda, few scholars have examined how they leverage their executive positional power to create innovative policies and practices to improve degree completion rates of latino male students. therefore, this study advances the extant presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 183 higher education research literature by exploring the perceptions of community college presidents at hsis about the awareness and commitment of their institution to improving degree completion rates of latino male students. theoretical framework scholars have provided ample evidence on the importance of understanding organizational change in higher education (kezar, 2001; 2013) and even how organizational change could improve students’ of color academic success (kezar & eckel, 2007). past research highlights, higher education organizational change can be best understood using particular change models. kezar (2001) states “[t]he cumulative evidence, so far, suggests that organizational change can best be explained through political, social-cognition, and cultural models” (p. vii). these different models are often used to better understand organizational change “at a macro level—the level at which many institutional leaders view (or should view) their organizations” (kezar, 2001, p. 25). in order to understand how community college presidents can affect organizational change, we used kezar’s social-cognition and cultural models to make meaning of the research study findings. first, the social-cognition model states that organizational change occurs when leaders recognize the misalignment between the organizational functions and those they serve. in response, this allows leaders to alter and create a new organizational frame of mind (kezar, 2001). the purpose of the social-cognition model is to examine “in greater detail how learning occurs and even tying the notion of change more directly to learning” (kezar, 2001, p. 50). more specifically, people “reach a point of cognitive dissonance at which values and actions clash or something seems outmoded, and they decide to change” (kezar, 2001, p.50). this may suggest with an increase of latino student enrollment at community colleges, these institutional leaders are realizing they have to galvanize their institutions to align their functions and services to meet the needs of these students. next, similar to the social-cognition model, kezar (2001) discussed that the cultural model tends “…to emphasize the collective process of change and the key role of each individual” (p. 52). this model focuses on “leaders’ ability to shape organizational culture and on culture as collective or shared” (kezar, 2001, p. 52). more importantly, the leaders play a critical role in organizational cultural change through “modifying the mission and vision, creating ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 184 new myths and rituals, leaders performing symbolic actions, using metaphors, assessing the institutional culture, tapping into energy, developing enthusiasm, altering motivations of people through spirituality, and communicating values and beliefs” (kezar, 2001, p. 52). in this case, community college presidents at hsis play a critical role in shaping their institutional culture to serve latino students. both organizational change models have key elements that complement one another to understand how community college presidents may play an essential role in improving degree completion rates of latino male students. methods data source the data source for this study was part of a larger research project exploring the level of awareness of senior administrators, faculty, and professional staff about the educational experiences of latino and african american male students across several texas independent school districts, community colleges, and universities. for the purpose of this study, we used data collected from six community colleges located in different metropolitan areas across the state of texas. these selected institutions operate in different governing structures where some are a part of a multi-campus community college system and some are standalone campuses. for example, two of these community colleges are standalone campuses with one president while the other four community colleges are part of a system governed by a president at each respective campus. data sample we utilized a purposeful sampling approach in which we aimed to interview with different community college administrators. however, while collecting the interview data, we relied on opportunistic sampling to take advantage of the community college presidents who wanted to express their perceptions about this research topic (creswell, 2012). the sample consisted of two female and four male presidents who all had a terminal degree. the presidents also had an average of 17 years of higher education leadership experience. these senior administrative leaders also discussed their extensive experience with implementing institutional policy and programmatic efforts to address other pressing and multifaceted institutional issues. presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 185 qualitative research methodology scholars suggest that conducting interviews with select, influential, or prominent research participants provide unique insights that few organizational members could provide (dexter, 1970; maxwell, 2012; seidman, 2013). while this study included only six individuals, these individuals provided important and insightful perspectives that only a senior postsecondary institutional leader can offer. therefore, these presidents provide a unique perspective about leading its institution’s degree completion agenda. given the critical importance of the president to this institutional priority, we were able to interview six presidents to learn how they understood their institution’s awareness and commitment to latino male students’ degree completion. research design we utilized a qualitative research methodology for this study to explore how community college presidents understand the importance of improving degree completion outcomes for latino male students at their respective institutions (creswell, 2012; merriam, 1998). each community college president was treated and analyzed as an individual case study (stake, 2000; yin, 2013). then, we conducted a cross-case analysis across six institutions to better understand the insights of community college presidents and demonstrate how the findings do not reflect one institution but across all six institutions (miles & huberman, 1994). therefore, we utilized this approach to understand community college presidents’ perceptions of how their institution understands and addresses the educational outcomes of latino male students. in addition, lincoln and guba (1985) suggested that conducting interviews as a data collection method allows investigators to understand how participants describe their social settings. that is, participants’ insights shed valuable nuanced understandings about how they make meaning of their surroundings. interview protocol, data collection, and analysis we collected interview data for this study using in-person semi-structured interviews (e.g. approximately an hour) with each community college president. the interview protocol focused on four educational constructs: transitions to college, academic experiences, campus engagement, and degree completion. for the purpose of this study, we focused on the perceptions of the community college presidents about latino male degree completion. based ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 186 on the literature, this construct is a critical educational milestone for latino male students because they encounter many challenges that may inhibit them from completing a college credential or degree (bukoski & hatch, 2016; gonzalez, 2015; sáenz & ponjuan, 2009). we transcribed the interview recordings verbatim, read, and coded each individual transcript. we utilized open coding for each individual transcript followed by axial coding to identify primary codes from the interview data (denzin & lincoln, 2011) by using dedoose®, a web-based software. we met as a team to further discuss and crosscheck the initial codes and subsequent themes that emerged from across the six transcripts to gain a shared meaning of the findings (denzin & lincoln, 2011). finally, to confirm our findings, we applied methods of respondent validation and member-checking (creswell, 2012; denzin & lincoln, 2011). positionality of researchers the researchers for this study are self-identified as latina/o scholars who are interested in conducting research focused on latino students in education. we conduct research on these issues to create awareness and advance the latina/o research scholarship. our focus represents our commitment to social justice issues that help improve the lives of the latina/o community. we also acknowledge that our scholar identity may have influenced how the participants of this study responded to the questions and how we interpret the findings in this study. research study limitations we acknowledge there are limitations to our qualitative research study. we accept this research study is limited with only six community college presidents representing one state. the presidents in this study represent community colleges that have unique institutional characteristics that may provide an understanding of presidential leadership at community colleges. finally, we understand that interview participants may provide desirable responses about the educational success of latino male students. despite these potential limitations, we argue that the findings reveal insightful themes that advance the research discourse on latino male students in community colleges. presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 187 findings three primary themes emerged that described the perceptions of senior community college leaders about the educational experiences of latino male students at their respective institutions: 1) institutional challenges, 2) importance of disaggregated student data, and 3) leadership responsibilities to address institutional change. institutional challenges some community college presidents acknowledged they faced challenges when it came to raising awareness on their campus about the low degree completion rates of latino male students. for instance, these leaders often experienced skepticism from other administrators, faculty members, and student affair practitioners about making an institutional commitment to addressing degree completion rates of latino male students. one community college president stated, you know it, sometimes it is painful as a leader of an institution, even though i was fairly new, because you will hear from some of the faculty and staff who are men of color, who are in the faculty and staff administration. you have this courageous conversation and the immediate thought it, oh yeah, well what are they going to do with it. is anything going to change? we have heard this before. these leaders also recognized that gaining institutional support required that they develop a focused message about latino male students. one community college president stated, now it becomes ignorance is bliss. it’s not—again, well-intended folks that just— if you don’t bring the subject to their area, they don’t realize it, and so we’ve created a lot of awareness on—and with y'all's assistance and your teams of really creating an awareness that latino males are an issue; that we don’t have enough of them on campus. until we brought that to their attention, they had no idea. they also recognized that the developmental education curriculum might be a structural institutional barrier for latino male students. for example, one community college president discussed how latino male students might become discouraged while taking developmental math courses: ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 188 you get stuck in a cycle where you’re taking three, four different levels of developmental math before you start and are eligible to take a college ready class, or a college level class, and even though you are taking the developmental classes, in college it’s just hard. we need to make sure that they see it as a milestone to be successful, and not necessarily a roadblock. these community college presidents recognized that there are potential institutional barriers (e.g. skepticism, developmental education curriculum) that may influence the degree completion rates of latino male students. the participants are aware they must work towards reducing skepticism about addressing challenges that latino male students face, framing a focused message to address this issue, and addressing the potential institutional barriers that may inhibit the academic success of latino male students. importance of disaggregated student data a primary theme that emerged was that the community college presidents were the driving force in bringing attention to the degree completion disparity of latino male students at their institutions. for example, one community college president expressed being intentional by using the institutional data to examine disparities in degree completion rates: i would say the first couple years it was what data we need to look at and how to get it. what we did make a commitment to in that is a priority of eliminating the disparity. so that is a core commitment in our achieving the dream in our data collection and all of the efforts we do. we are in the process now of establishing targets. another community college president shared the same sentiment of the importance of using disaggregated institutional data to target specific student groups, “how much are we [institution] going to improve across all ethnicities, gender, and so forth.” finally, some community college presidents used this type of student data to understand student enrollment patterns. for example, a community college president learned an interesting enrollment pattern, “we did that deliberately [disaggregating the data] that the data shows that those students who enrolled last were the first to fail and the first to drop out.” some community college presidents explained the significance of utilizing institutional data to gain support from the institution to advance their leadership efforts and organizational presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 189 changes. for instance, one community college president suggested that institutional change occurs when they leverage student data. this president described this process as, data democracy, which means you gotta get the information, but you gotta share the information. if data democracy allows everyone to have access to information and activism at every level, it’s only true and credible to the people who are closest to the learning, closest to the students, actually see the data and use the data. another community college president also supported the inherent value of student data: it’s good to understand what the data show, because then you can’t say, hey. this is all anecdotal. to look at the data and to wonder what does this mean, and not to let the data drive us but to inform us. what are we doing well? what can we do more of? the narratives from these leaders suggested that they valued institutional data to understand the degree completion rates of different student groups. that is, they recognized that disaggregated data is the first step of organizational change to address degree completion rates of latino male students. moreover, they recognized the importance of detailed student data to inform institutional decisions about planning and policies. leadership responsibilities to address institutional change although these presidents understood organizational change would occur gradually, they also recognized the importance of their leadership responsibilities. for example, one community college president expressed their commitment to this issue by stating, “one thing i realized, you can’t change anything overnight. if it is worth doing, it's going to take some time. you just have to make a commitment to try and make a difference.” another president conveyed the importance of their leadership to address organizational change: i think you have to talk that in front of the faculty and the staff. you have to let them know that this is what we need to be and to highlight those areas that are doing it really well and give them outward praise so that we see when we’re a college like this we serve the student better, we have better outcomes. i think that is the job of the president. ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 190 they also discussed their responsibility to improve the hiring of more racially and ethnically diverse faculty members to reflect the student population at their institution. for instance, one community college president stated, you know, then you look at, if you want to help men of color, people of color, then who is in the classroom, who are the administrators, who are the counselors, who are the advisors? do they look like us? so you have to make sure that, that is ever present in the front of your mind as you are filling positions at all levels. some presidents provided insights on leadership strategies for organizational change. for example, one community college president discussed their leadership role to create a new organizational culture: to continue to model my positive behavior, but also be more intentional in what we can do to help our students and employees. the easier it is to help our employees be successful, the easier it is for them to do their job, and so to make sure that we not only hire the people that enhance the culture here, but also provide professional development for the people that are here, support that, and also for the people who are coming in. finally, another president discussed their leadership role as a way to address how institutional policies may discriminate or hurt specific student groups: we held a conversation with all the leadership team... and we brought them together for a series of workshops and conversations on eliminating institutional racism. and we really got into some of the way we perceive we are doing the right thing and the end result is we hurt somebody because we created a policy, procedure, or process, that we thought was the right thing and you look at it downstream and it caused harm to people, so that conversation stirred up a lot of emotion. these community college presidents recognized the importance of their leadership role to achieve organizational change to improve degree completion rates of latino male students. they also acknowledged that they need to advocate for organizational change, encourage the hiring of diverse faculty and professional staff, provide professional development for faculty and presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 191 professional staff, and address institutional racism to improve the educational experiences of latino male students. discussion this article aimed to explore how texas community college presidents perceived the awareness and commitment of their institution to improve degree completion rates of latino male students. the findings provided unique insights from these leaders that highlighted the challenges of working with their institution to achieve this goal. the themes revealed a complex portrait of how these leaders create greater institutional awareness to address this challenging educational issue. these themes also highlighted that the presidents accepted that their institutions must take on the responsibility of helping latino male students succeed. first, these community college presidents recognized that some institutional members expressed skepticism that their institution should make a commitment to helping latino male students. the presidents commented that they have experienced some institutional resistance about the need to focus specifically on the educational outcomes of latino males. for example, there is a growing concern among scholars that institutional agents are often unaware of the significance and purpose of hsis (núñez, 2015; perrakis & hagedorn, 2010). some scholars suggest we must look beyond this institutional designation and shift our attention towards how these institutions advance their efforts to improve educational outcomes for hispanic students (contreras et al., 2008; núñez, 2015; núñez et al., 2011). relying on the theoretical lens of the cultural model to explain organizational change, institutional leaders play a critical role in reframing how community colleges must change its organizational culture to meet the educational needs of latino male students. in this study, the community college presidents demonstrated that they must be unapologetic about making the institution committed to latino male students. unfortunately, some institutions lack a commitment to address the disparities in educational outcomes. scholars have stated, “it is often the burden of the student to make the most of his/her collegiate experience with little commitment from the institution” (ingram & gonzalez-matthews, 2013, p. 647). community college presidents demonstrate their unwavering commitment to latino male students by critically examining institutional policies. some presidents recognized that they must improve the delivery of the developmental education curriculum. for example, community college ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 192 faculty members who teach in developmental education courses could develop better cultural competency skills via professional development workshops to help their relationships with latino male students. scholars have noted community colleges that provide positive experiences to latino male students ensures their educational success (ingram & gonzalezmatthews, 2013). next, these leaders discussed the importance of using disaggregated institutional student data to highlight differences in educational outcomes by gender and race. scholars have found that latino male students compared to their other racial and ethnic male peers are not completing community college degrees at similar rates (baber & graham, 2015) and they have different completion rates between hispanic sub-ethnic groups (e.g. mexican vs. cuban) (ponjuan, palomin, & calise, 2015). perhaps these leaders could use this detailed institutional student data as empirical evidence to highlight latino males who do not earn a community college certificate or degree. therefore, collaboration between presidents and their institutional research office is a critical element to make informed institutional decisions (calderon & mathies, 2013; swing & ross, 2016). these community college presidents recognized that institutional student data provides empirical evidence to raise awareness and to focus their institution’s attention on students who are not succeeding academically. these findings also underscore the importance for these leaders to leverage this data to make organizational changes. that is, applying the theoretical lens of the social-cognition model to understand organizational change, these leaders could use the disaggregated institutional data to create cognitive dissonance among institutional members to force them to reconcile the misalignment between the institution’s mission and the gender disparities in degree completion rates. scholars have found that hsis mission statements were often misaligned with its purpose (contreras et al., 2008). in addition, the institutional data may create cognitive dissonance for some community members, which may result in a new organizational frame of mind, which is necessary as a precursor to organizational change. these leaders recognized their important role of leading their institution to focus specifically on improving degree completion rates for latino male students. scholars have noted that community college presidents must dedicate appropriate institutional resources and engage faculty and staff, in order to have institutional change (mayer, cerna, cullinan, fong, rutschow, & jenkins,2014; rutschow et al., 2011). our study found that community college presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 193 presidents still face similar issues with not having enough representation of faculty members of color and professional staff in their institutions. over a decade ago, a study found that hsis presidents faced challenges of having a diverse faculty (alfredo & gerardo, 2003). however, scholars highlight that latina/o faculty members still remain underrepresented in higher education (brown, mchatton, & scott, 2017; turner, gonzález, & wood, 2008; urrieta & chavez, 2010). these community college presidents recognized the need to have more racially and ethnically diverse faculty members to help improve the academic experiences of latino male students at their institutions. increasing the representation of latina/o personnel at these institutions may help to improve degree completion rates of latino male students and the overall institutional climate (hurtado & ponjuan, 2005; ponjuan, 2011; sáenz & ponjuan, 2011). applying the theoretical lens of the cultural model to understand organizational change, these leaders believed that hiring faculty of color would be a catalyst for institutional change. as a result, new latino faculty members would compel the institution to focus on improving the academic success of latino male students. these institutional changes are not easy or happen quickly, but these presidents recognized that they must be patient and develop a sustained institutional commitment on this issue. in conclusion, community college presidents are important to guiding community college organizational change in order to improve degree completion outcomes of students of color (kezar & eckel, 2007). this study advances the research literature by exploring how community college presidents describe their institution’s awareness and commitment to improving degree completion outcomes of latino male students. we argue that these leaders must continue being courageous and unapologetic in helping these students academically succeed. ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 194 references acevedo-gil, n., santos, r. e., alonso, l., & solórzano, d. g. (2015). latinas/os in community college developmental education increasing moments of academic and interpersonal validation. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 101–127. doi: 10.1177/1538 192715572893 alfredo, g., & gerardo, e. (2003). hispanic-serving institutions in the 21st century: overview, challenges, and opportunities. journal of hispanic higher education, 2(4), 377-391. astin, a. w., & astin, h. s. (2000). leadership reconsidered: engaging higher education in social change. battle creek, mi: w.k. kellogg foundation. baber, l. d., & graham iii, e. (2015). enrollment and completion patterns among african american and latino males attending illinois community colleges. journal of applied research in the community college, 22(1), 1-11. bettinger, e. p., boatman, a., & long, b. t. (2013). student supports: developmental education and other academic programs. the future of children, 23(1), 93-115. brown, k. h., mchatton, p. a., & scott, m. f. t. (eds.) (2017). faculty of color in higher education: faculty of color navigating higher education. lanham maryland: rowman & littlefield. bukoski, b., & hatch, d. (2016). “we’re still here... we’re not giving up”: black and latino men’s narratives of transition to community college. community college review, 44(2), 99118. doi:10.1177/0091552115621385 cabrera, n. l., rashwan-soto, f. d., & valencia, b. g. (2016). an intersectionality analysis of latino men in higher education and their help-seeking behaviors. in v. b. sáenz, l. ponjuán, & j. l. figueroa (eds.), ensuring the success of latino males in higher education: a national imperative (pp. 209-223). sterling, va: stylus publishing. calderon, a., & mathies, c. (2013). institutional research in the future: challenges within higher education and the need for excellence in professional practice. new directions for institutional research, 2013(157), 77-90. center for community college student, e. (2014). aspirations to achievement: men of color and community colleges. a special report from the center for community college student engagement. university of texas at austin. contreras, f. e., malcom, l. e., & bensimon, e. m. (2008). hispanic serving institutions. understanding minority serving institutions, 71-90. creswell, j. w. (2012). educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). boston, ma: pearson education, inc. crisp, g., & nora, a. (2010). hispanic student success: factors influencing the persistence and transfer decisions of latino community college students enrolled in developmental education. research in higher education, 51(2), 175-194. dayton, b., gonzalez-vasquez, n., martinez, c. r., & plum, c. (2004). hispanic serving institutions through the eyes of students and administrators. in a. m. ortiz (ed.), presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 195 addressing the unique needs of latino american students: new directions for student services (vol.105, pp. 29-40). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. denzin, n., & lincoln, y. (eds.). (2011). the sage handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. dexter, l. a. (1970). elite and specialized interviewing. evanston, il: northwestern university press. eddy, p. l. (2010). leaders as linchpins for framing meaning. community college review, 37(4), 313-332. doi:10.1177/0091552110362744 fry, r. (2002). latinos in higher education: many enroll, too few graduate. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/site/docs/pdf/latinosinhighereducation-sept5-02.pdf garcia, g. a., patrón, o. e., ramirez, j. j., & hudson, l. t. (2016). identity salience for latino male collegians at hispanic serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and non-hsis. journal of hispanic higher education. doi: 1538192716661907 gardenshire-crooks, a., collado, h., martin, k., castro, a., mdrc, & achieving the dream. (2010). terms of engagement: men of color discuss their experiences in community college. mdrc, achieving the dream, inc. gonzalez, k. (2015). increasing college completion for latino/as in community colleges: leadership and strategy. in m. l. freeman & m. martinez (eds.), college completion for latino/a students: institutional and system approaches. john wiley & sons. harris, f., iii, & wood, j. l. (2013). student success for men of color in community colleges: a review of published literature and research, 1998–2012. journal of diversity in higher education, 6, 174-185. doi:10.1037/a0034224 hurtado, s., & ponjuan, l. (2005). latino educational outcomes and the campus climate. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 235-251. ingram, t. n., & gonzalez-matthews, m. (2013). moving towards engagement: promoting persistence among latino male undergraduates at an urban community college. community college journal of research and practice, 37(8), 636-648. kezar, a. (2001). understanding and facilitating organizational change in the 21st century. asheeric higher education report, 28(4), 147. kezar, a. (2013). how colleges change: understanding, leading, and enacting change. new york, ny: routledge. kezar, a., & eckel, p. (2007). learning to ensure the success of students of color: a systemic approach to effecting change. change: the magazine of higher learning, 39(4), 18-21. laden, b. v. (2001). hispanic-serving institutions: myths and realities. peabody journal of education, 76(1), 73-92. laden, b. v. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions: what are they? where are they?. community college journal of research and practice, 28(3), 181-198. laden, b. v., hagedorn, l. s., & perrakis, a. (2008). donde estan los hombres? examining success of latino male students at hispanic serving community colleges. in m. gasman, ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 196 b. baez, & c. s. v. turner (eds.), understanding minority-serving institutions (pp. 127140). albany, ny: state university of new york press. levin, j. s., jackson-boothby, a., haberler, z., & walker, l. (2015). “dangerous work”: improving conditions for faculty of color in the community college. community college journal of research and practice, 39(9), 852-864. doi: 10.1080/10668926.2014.917596 lincoln, y. s., & guba, e. g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. newbury park, ca: sage publications. malcom-piqueux, l. e., & bensimon, e. m. (2015). design principles for equity and excellence at hispanic-serving institutions. american association of hispanics in higher education, educational testing service, and university of texas at san antonio: san antonio, tx. mayer, a. k., cerna, o., cullinan, d., fong, k., rutschow, e. z., & jenkins, d. (2014). moving ahead with institutional change: lessons from the first round of achieving the dream community colleges. new york, ny: mdrc. maxwell, j. a. (2012). qualitative research design: an interactive approach: an interactive approach. sage. merriam, s. b. (1998). qualitative research and case study applications in education. revised and expanded from case study research in education. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. miles, m., & huberman, a. (1994). qualitative data analysis. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. nevarez, c., wood, j. l., & penrose, r. (2013). leadership theory and the community college: applying theory to practice. sterling, va: stylus publishing. núñez, a. m. (2015). hispanic-serving institutions: where are they now?. a discussion paper prepared for “hispanic-serving institutions in the 21st century: a convening”. núñez, a. m., & bowers, a. j. (2011). exploring what leads high school students to enroll in hispanic-serving institutions. american educational research journal, 48(6), 1286 1313. doi: 10.3102/0002831211408061 núñez, a. m., crisp, g., & elizondo, d. (2015). hispanic-serving community colleges and their role in hispanic transfer. hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice, 47-64. núñez, a. m., hurtado, s., & galdeano, e. c. (2015). hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice. new york, ny: routledge. núñez, a. m., & kim, d. (2012). building a multi-contextual model of latino college enrollment: student, school, and state-level effects. review of higher education, 35, 237–263. núñez, a. m., sparks, p. j., & hernández, e. a. (2011). latino access to community colleges and hispanic-serving institutions: a national study. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(1), 18-40. patrón, o. e., & garcia, g. a. (2016). the convergence of social identities and environmental contexts in facilitating latino male resilience. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 38(4), 523-545. presidential leadership association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 197 pérez, d. i., & taylor, k. b. (2015). cultivando logradores: nurturing and sustaining latino male success in higher education. journal of diversity in higher education, 9(1), 1-19. doi:10.1037/a0039145 perrakis, a., & hagedorn, l. s. (2010). latino/a student success in community colleges and hispanic-serving institution status. community college journal of research and practice, 34(10), 797-813. ponjuán, l. (2011). recruiting and retaining latino faculty members in postsecondary education: the missing piece in latino student success. thought and action, 27, 99-110. ponjuán, l., palomín, l., & calise, a. (2015). latino male ethnic subgroups: patterns in college enrollment and degree completion. new directions for higher education, 2015(172), 5969. ponjuán, l., & hernández, s. (2016). untapped potential: improving latino males academic success in community colleges. journal of applied research in the community college, 23(2), 1-20. ross, t., kena, g., rathbun, a., kewalramani, a., zhang, j., kristapovich, p., & manning, e. (2012). higher education: gaps in access and persistence study (nces 2012-046). u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. washington, dc: government printing office. roueche, j. e., baker iii, g. a., & rose, r. r. (eds.). (2014). shared vision: transformational leadership in american community colleges. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. sáenz, v. b., bukoski, b. e., lu, c., & rodriguez, s. (2013). latino males in texas community colleges: a phenomenological study of masculinity constructs and their effect on college experiences. journal of african american males in education, 4(2), 82-102. saenz, v. b., & ponjuan, l. (2009). the vanishing latino male in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 8(1), 54-89. sáenz, v. b., & ponjuán, l. (2011). men of color: ensuring the academic success of latino males in higher education. washington, dc: institute for higher education policy. sáenz, v. b., ponjuán, l., & figueroa, j. l. (eds.). (2016). ensuring the success of latino males in higher education. a national imperative. sterling, va: stylus publishing, llc. seidman, i. (2013). interviewing as qualitative research: a guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. teachers college press. shields, c. m. (2010). transformative leadership: working for equity in diverse contexts. educational administration quarterly, 46(4), 558-589. stake, r. e. (1995). the art of case study research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. stake, r. e. (2000). case studies. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), the sage handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed.) (pp. 134-164). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications swing, r. l., & ross, l. e. (2016). a new vision for institutional research. change: the magazine of higher learning, 48(2), 6-13. ponjuán, palomín, & hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 198 u.s. department of education. (2016). title v developing hispanic-serving institutions program definition of an hsi.washington, dc: u.s. department of education. retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/idueshsi/definition.html turner, c. s. v., gonzález, j. c., & wood, j. l. (2008). faculty of color in academe: what 20 years of literature tells us. journal of diversity in higher education, 1(3), 139. urrieta, l., & chavez, r., c. (2010). latin@ faculty in academelandia. in e. murillo, s. villenas, r. galvan trinidad, j. sanchez munoz, c. martinez, & m. machado-casas (eds.), handbook of latinos and education theory, research, and practice (pp. 219-231). new york, ny: routledge. u. s. census bureau. (2012). educational attainment in the united states: 2012. washington, dc: u.s. census bureau. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2012/tables.html yin, r.k. (2013). case study research: design and methods. los angeles: sage. zachry rutschow, e., richburg-hayes, l., brock, t., orr, g. e., cerna, o., & cullinan, d., martin, k. (2011). turning the tide: five years of achieving the dream in community colleges. new york, ny: mdrc. understanding community college degree completion of latino male students community college presidential leadership and the degree completion agenda theoretical framework methods data source data sample research design interview protocol, data collection, and analysis positionality of researchers research study limitations findings three primary themes emerged that described the perceptions of senior community college leaders about the educational experiences of latino male students at their respective institutions: 1) institutional challenges, 2) importance of disaggregated stu... importance of disaggregated student data leadership responsibilities to address institutional change discussion references 1313. doi: 10.3102/0002831211408061 amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 school finance and english language learners: a legislative perspective oscar jimenez-castellanos arizona state university the state of california educates over six million or twelve percent of the nation’s student population. of the six million students, over three million of california students are enrolled in free/reduced lunch programs. approximately three million are latino and 1.5 million are classifi ed as english language learners (ells). of these, eighty-fi ve percent are spanish speaking (cde, 2009). the clear demographic trend in california is an increase of students in poverty, of latino students and of spanish speaking english language learners (ell), at the same time that we are experiencing a decrease in white students (cde, 2009). for example, the white student population was forty percent in 1995 and dropped to thirty percent in 2005, while the latino population increased from thirty-eight percent to forty-seven percent during this same time period. english language learners are signifi cantly underperforming in math and reading compared to white students in all grade levels (cde, 2009). the achievement gap actually continues to increase the longer that students are in school. the u.s. census data (2000) reveals that only approximately 50 out of 100 latinos graduate from high school, only 10 out of 100 graduate from college, a mere four out of 100 receive a graduate degree, and less than a half percent graduate with a doctorate. these trends create major challenges for policy makers and advocates. most critical is examining the potential causes of the achievement gap. consequently, we need to understand the school fi nance policy that has most affected english language learner students if we expect to improve the educational opportunity and attainment of this growing community. most scholarly articles related to california school fi nance and english language learners focus on court cases (i.e. serrano v. priest ; rodriguez v. lausd ), propositions (i.e. prop. 13 ; prop. 98 ) and/or budget revenue/expenditure analysis (i.e. local property taxes and fees; state general purpose revenue). notably missing from the scholarship is a historical legislative overview to understand entitlement funding earmarked to target ells in california. the author focuses primarily on categorical entitlement funds because entitlement resources are more stable since the funding source is guaranteed to renew each fi scal year, and, due to a long history of availability, we know more about these funds. currently, only two signifi cant entitlement categorical funds designated for ells in california exist. they are state economic impact aid (eia) and federal title iii funds (formerly title vii). the former allocation accounts for the majority of the funds provided to directly serve ells. in addition, other key legislation (e.g. ab 1329. ab 507) related to english language learners is often cited in the bilingual education literature but without an emphasis on the fi scal impact including ab 2284 (1972), the fi rst legislation that provided funds for bilingual education in california.this article provides (1) an overview of the major legislative actions affecting entitlement funding for california english language learners since 1968 and (2) a discussion of the current salient issues to improve education for ells related to school fi nance. the next section will outline germane legislation that has impacted the k-12 school fi nance for ells. 1. serrano v. priest (1976) the serrano ii decision also held that the legislative response to serrano i was insuffi cient, and affi rmed the trial court’s order requiring that wealth based funding disparities between district be reduced to less than $100 by 1980 2. rodriguez v. lausd (1992) california supreme court case related to intra-district inequities 3. proposition 13 (1978) lowered property taxes by rolling back property values to their 1975 value and restricted annual increases in assessed value of real property to an infl ation factor 4.proposition 98 (1988) requires a minimum percentage (39%) of the state budget to be spent on k-14 education. 12 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 historical legislative analysis as shown in table 1, the fi rst contemporary federal piece of legislation that provided entitlement funds to educate english language learners was in 1968 with the passage of the title vii bilingual education act . this was added during the 1967 reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act (esea, 1965). “the passage in 1968 of the title vii bilingual education act as a new provision of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965 authorized funds for local school districts” (escamilla, 1989, p. 1). title vii introduced bilingual education and was originally intended for spanish speaking students, but in 1968 merged into the all encompassing bilingual education act or title vii of the elementary and secondary education act. in its fi rst year, the act provided funding for 76 bilingual education programs and served students who spoke 14 different languages (blanco, 1978). in 1969, only 7.5 million dollars was approved for spending on bilingual education programs. the act encouraged instruction in english and multicultural awareness in the wake of the civil rights movement although it did not require bilingual programs. the act also gave school districts the opportunity to provide bilingual education programs without violating segregation laws. the federal funding provided by this act to school districts was used for resources for educational programs, teacher training, development of materials and parent involvement projects. title vii encouraged the development of bilingual education in general. by 1968, 14 states had enacted statutes that permitted bilingual programs, and 13 others passed legislation that mandated them (national clearinghouse, 1986). as shown in table 1, prompted by the federal bilingual education act legislation, california assembly bill (ab) 2284 (1972) also known as the bilingual education act was the fi rst piece of state legislation in california that pertained to funding school districts for services provided to english language learners. it funded 69 districts (125 schools) and served 20,216 students during the 1974-75 school year. assembly bill 2284 funds for 1974 totaled $4 million. the legislative intent of this bill was to provide supplemental fi nancial assistance for school districts to meet extra costs of phasing in bilingual education programs. because classroom instruction for all subjects must be conducted in both english and the primary language of the limited-english-speaking children, the act excludes fi nancial support for esl programs. assembly bill 2284 provisions require that the state department of education administer all the provisions of the bilingual education act (california advisory committee to the u.s. commission on civil rights, 1976). ultimately, this piece of legislation was quite open and permissive. it did not require districts to provide bilingual education services to english language learners (ells), but merely allowed them to compete amongst themselves in applying for funds to develop bilingual programs (hakuta, 2007). 5. title vii was replaced with title iii with nclb (2001) 13 school finance and ells association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 table 1 chronological timeline of ell school finance legislation legislation year focus esea title vii provision “bilingual education act” 1968 the act provided federal funding to encourage local school districts to try approaches incorporating native language in struction. this was the fi rst time u.s. congress had en dorsed funding for bilingual education. california ab 2284 1972 it was the fi rst piece of state legislation in california that pertained to funding school districts for services provided english language learners (ells). it did not require districts to provide bilingual education. california ab 1329 1976 replaced ab 2284. established the legal framework for a mandatory bilingual education program. california ab 65 1978 consolidates existing state funding sources for compensa tory and bilingual education into a new economic impact aid allocation formula. california ab 507 1980 replaced ab 1329. this act mandated that districts pro vide bilingual instruction for every lep student in califor nia. it strengthened the former act in several ways including expanding the use of students’ primary languages in class room instruction. nclb title iii 2001 replaced title vii. the purpose of the title iii lep student program is to ensure that all english learners, attain english profi ciency. the focus became english profi ciency and not biliteracy. california ab 1802 2006 revised the funding formula for eia for both school districts and charter schools, and requires the use of different data in the new formula. a few years later, california assembly bill 1329 (1976) also known as the chacon-moscone bilingual bicultural education act, which essentially replaced ab 2284, was the fi rst state legislative act that mandated school districts to provide language minority students with equal educational opportunities despite their limited profi ciency in english which established the legal framework for a mandatory bilingual education program (jepson & de alth, 2005). this act was a response to the lau v. nichols 1974 supreme court decision (jepson & de alth, 2005; wiley, 2002). 14 school finance and ells association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 unlike the federal legislation, which left decision making regarding program type for ells to localities, ab 1329 explicitly proclaimed bilingual education as a right of english language learners (hakuta, 2007), trying to make a direct link between funding and instructional program type for students learning english as a second language. more specifi cally, it established transitional bilingual education programs to meet the needs of ell students. program requirements follow federal guidelines for identifi cation, program placement and reclassifi cation of students as fl uent english profi cient (fep). given the broad nature of the federal guidelines, the program specifi cs were omitted, thus leading to inconsistent program implementation. another key issue at the time was the diluted compliance mechanisms in place to hold school districts accountable. this was done as a part of negotiated politics that favored local control versus state mandates. again, the consequences of the laissez faire approach resulted in many inconsistent, low quality programs that went unaccounted for and “promising” programs were not readily identifi ed and replicated. after passing ab 1329, california assembly bill 65 (1977) attempted to equalize california school fi nance and fund school programs for english language learners. the school fi nance portion of the bill arose as a response to the 1976 serrano v. priest ii decision in which the california supreme court said that the existing school fi nance system was unfair to both students and taxpayers. ab 65 provided additional state assistance to increase per pupil expenditures in low wealth districts and imposed new limits on the growth of expenditures in districts with high per pupil property values. as shown in table 1, the bill merged state funding of separate programs for compensatory and bilingual education into a consolidated system called economic impact aid (chaffee, 1979). it guaranteed a dollar amount for each english language learner originally set at $300 per student. the signifi cance of this bill was that funds were now targeted by number of ells and not urban concentration of afdc defi ned poverty. the result was categorical funding to provide support and experimentation with program approaches to support ells. not until ab 65 did substantial state funds begin to be allocated to service english language learners by creating an economic impact aid formula (eia funds) that more fairly provided resources to this growing community. the reason for the dramatic increase is that the formula is based partly on the r-30 language census data, which has shown a dramatic increase in students learning english as a second language since 1977. in addition, the money now followed the ell student and contained instructional program language that supported previous laws. as shown in table 1, california assembly bill 507 (1980) also known as the bilingual education improvement and reform act was designed to update and strengthen ab 1329. this act gave the goal of developing fl uency in second language as effectively and effi ciently as possible to bilingual programs. it listed programs that are available and variations of those programs. it listed teacher qualifi cation requirements. it required bilingual classes at schools where there were more than 10 students in the same grade that spoke the same primary language. it was the most signifi cant bill in terms of articulating bilingual instructional programs for english language learners but it never reached a critical mass above thirty percent of all ells in bilingual programs (crawford, 1991). however, in 1986, the governor of california allowed the (bilingual education act,1980)sunset provisions to take effect by refusing to sign ab 2813 that would have extended the bilingual education act. although some school districts voluntarily continue to enforce the provisions of chacón-moscone, it is done without a clear mandate to do so and without direct funding or bilingual programmatic guidelines. as shown in table i, not until no child left behind (nclb) (2001), 20 years later, did any signifi cant legislative change related to entitlement categorical funds for english language learners occur. the revamping of the esea (1965) brought about signifi cant changes to title ii, not in terms of funding allocation but it terms of philosophical perspectives. nclb replaced title vii (the bilingual education act, 1968) with title iii “language instruction for limited english profi cient and immigrant students”. the major philosophical and pedagogical shift was that the usde no longer supported bilingual education. it now favored an english only approach . 6. lau v. nichols (1974) is a u.s. supreme court case that addressed issues of language minority students 15 school finance and ells association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 the california department of education (2007) synthesizes the fi scal impact of title iii on their website with the following statement: the united states department of education allocates title iii funds to state educational agencies, such as the california department of education, to provide subgrants to eligible local educational agencies based on the number of lep students enrolled. all school districts, county offi ces of education, direct funded charter schools, juvenile/hall court schools, and california department of youth authority institutions that report the enrollment of one or more lep students on the r30language census are eligible to participate in the title iii lep program. funds must be used for the following supplementary services as part of the language instruction program for lep students: • english language development instruction • enhanced instruction in the core academic subjects • high quality professional development for teachers… as shown in table 1, the only other signifi cant state legislative change related to entitlement categorical funds targeted for ell students was ab 1802 (2006). in a 2007 letter, california deputy superintendent, susan lange, provides the following overview of assembly bill 1802 (chapter 79, statutes of 2006). this bill revised the funding formula for eia for both school districts and charter schools, and requires the use of different data in the new formula…a district’s eia eligible pupil count is the sum of the following: • number of economically disadvantaged (ed) pupils... • number of english learners (el), as reported in the prior year r30-lc language census. • a calculated number for each district that has a combined ed and el pupil count (or concentration) greater than 50 percent of the district’s total pupil enrollment, as reported in the prior year california basic educational data system (cbeds)… even though new data is now required for the eia formula, the impact is undeniable in that the funding for ells has increased signifi cantly from 62 million in 1978 to over a billion dollars allocated in 2009 (cde, 2010; chaffee, 1979). these funds continue to be the only earmarked state funding source for english language learners in california, albeit a signifi cant amount. salient issues to address the historical legislative overview highlights that there was originally a strong link between funding the education of english language learners and bilingual education in california. this strong link between funding and bilingual programs was weakened by the sunsetting of the chacon-moscone bilingual bicultural education act in 1986 followed by proposition 227 in 1998. it was furthered weakened by nclb (2001) at the federal level when title vii was replaced with title iii. however, once we go beyond the legislation and examine the scholarship and the practice in schools, it becomes very clear that many important school fi nance issues need to be addressed to better meet the needs of ells. they primarily revolve around concepts of equity, adequacy and social justice. due to the limited space, the author will briefl y focus on three of the most salient issues to improve the education of ells as they relate to school fi nance. the fi rst salient issue is that there is limited public transparency and accountability for resource allocation (espinosa & ochoa, 1992; jimenez-castellanos, 2008) within school districts. the focus of accountability seems 7. the obama administration (2008) favors returning to the pre-nclb support for transitional bilingual programs. nclb has not been reauthorized as of this writing. 16 school finance and ells association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 to be on minimal compliance not on improving equity or student outcomes (adams, 2007). for example, the fi scal mandate is to use state eia funds and other categorical funds to support low income and el learners in order to eliminate the achievement gap. however, there is no credible state or county oversight to assure that districts allocate resources equitably. initial research fi ndings by espinosa (1985), odden (1992) and ladd, chalk and hansen (1999) assert that the direction of fi nancial reporting needs to move from state compliance to a more localized, intra-district and schoolbased school fi nance analysis. in 1995, hertert posited that “school level differences were generally greater than those measured at the district level” (p.78). although in existence, the state’s monitoring structure, the categorical program monitoring (cpm), has been criticized heavily in the past. in california, as timar (1994) and jimenez-castellanos and rodriguez (2009) point out, the categorical programs are rarely (if ever) under any kind of review or scrutiny with regard to equity standards. moreover, timar (2007, p. 17) states that in reality and practice “there is little evidence by which to conclude that the present system of categorical funding is equitable, effi cient, or rational”. and, “economic impact aid, one of the oldest and largest programs, fl ows only marginally to those for whom it was intended” (timar, 2007 p. 29). additionally, the california legislative analyst’s offi ce found that, due to discretion measures that districts choose to exercise, some of the largest categorical programs available “do not follow students to school site level” (california loa, 2003). the second salient issue is that eia funds are related to low achievement for ells (jimenez, 2010). many educators might assume that the previous statement is obvious since schools with more ells receive more eia funds, at least in theory, and ells tend to be low performers on most academic achievement instruments, in particular standardized tests. however, these categorical funds are provided to eliminate the achievement gap, not to institutionalize such a gap. the key question becomes, why would these types of funds be negatively correlated to school achievement? to be clear, eia funds are provided to districts in order to supplement the learning opportunities for low income students and el learners. however, in practice, compensatory funds seem to be used to remediate education for ell’s and low income students. consequently, a school’s curriculum and instructional programs are impacted by the amount of compensatory funds that suggests a low expectations model of education (rodriguez, 2007; jimenez-castellanos, 2010). remedial education, by traditional and popular defi nition, will not be designed to promote high achievement but instead will provide low rigor, typically one or two standard deviation below the mean (espinosa & ochoa, 1992). this remedial perception and use of discretionary funds may institutionalize a low quality instructional program for schools with low income, and english learner students exemplifying the equity and social justice issues embedded in the allocation of resources (espinosa, 1985; jimenez-castellanos, 2008). we must go beyond the low expectations and self-fulfi lling prophecy notions of educating ells. the third salient issue is that there is a lack of understanding regarding the cost of effective programs for english language learners in california. this requires for us to account for not only categorical funds but also base funds. there have been cost studies for ells conducted in several states including: arizona (ncsl, 2005), pennsylvania (augenblick, 2007), new york (nyic, 2008), colorado (augenblick, 2003), new jersey (dupree & augenblick, 2006). all of which conclude that the current funding for ells is inadequate to a varying degree. in california, gandara and rumberger (2007) focus on the issue of what is an adequate education for ells and what should be the adequate funding for this population. they also found the current funding for ells to be inadequate. one of the major fi ndings articulates the complexity of cost studies to get at the adequate funding necessary for ells to reach state benchmarks. according to the authors this depends on the outcome sought by policy makers—this ranges from “reclassifi cation to reclassifi cation to english profi ciency, profi ciency in academic subjects, and biliteracy” (p. 2-3). 17 school finance and ells association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 as previously stated, the issue is not just about the amount of funds but how you use those funds. from their full review, gandara and rumberger (2007, p. 3) conclude that “little consensus exists on either the amount or type of additional resources needed to educate english learners above and beyond those needed for low income students generally”. therefore, they conducted fi ve school case studies, which revealed among other things the following: • additional time (e.g., a longer school day/year) is critical. • non cognitive goals, such as learning to navigate u.s. culture, are very important but receive relatively scant attention because of lack of funding. • computers are critical resources, especially for el pupils, because they allow students to move at their own pace and provide the opportunity to help them catch up outside of class or school; but funding to update and maintain computers is a drain on a school’s core budget. • schools serving el students need libraries and materials that span more than one language and often many grades. • communication with parents is critically important, and almost all strategies require extra resources. • professional development needs to be focused on collaboration, but there is not enough time available because of the cost of providing substitutes for teachers. • independent of the instructional strategies offered, every school needs bilingual personnel because students and families need to be communicated with and understood in order to support student learning. • close collaboration and positive feelings among faculty, both related to staff stability, are important factors in the relative success of these schools. conclusion the fi rst objective of this article was to provide a historical legislative overview of the entitlement categorical funding for english language learners in california. after reviewing legislative and scholarly records, the fi rst federal entitlement funds designated to ells was developed in 1968 via the title vii provision of esea the “bilingual education act” and replaced in 2001 with the title iii provision in nclb. in california, the fi rst entitlement funds were eia funds developed though ab 65 in 1977 and revised in 2006 with ab 1802. these two pots of monies continue to be the only federal and state entitlement funds for ells. the amount of eia allocations in particular have increased exponentially due to a formula based on the number of ells indentifi ed using the r-30 language census data and low income students. the title iii funds (previously title vii) do not have a formula attached to them as do title i funds, therefore; title iii allocation amounts have not seen the same increases. the second objective of this article was to identify and discuss the salient contemporary issues related to school fi nance and english language learners in california. the author identifi ed three salient issues that should continue to be explored to improve school fi nancing to better educate ells: (1) there is limited public transparency and accountability for resource allocation. in other words, we do not know exactly how districts allocate funds among individual schools and how they are spending. (2) eia funds are misused at the school level to such a degree that they are highly related to low achievement. (3) we need to understand the cost of effective programs for english language learners, which include both base funds and categorical funds. in conclusion, there has been an increase in ell funding over the past 30 years in california mostly due to the increased number of ells and the eia formula based on student counts. unfortunately, these funds have 18 school finance and ells association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 not produced the desired results due to a lack of transparency and accountability and ineffective use of eia funds. in the end, there needs to be a policy and practical reengagement to link effective instructional programs for english language learners to adequately fund these effective programs using both base funds and categorical funds. it is unfair and unwise to propose that entitlement categorical funds be reduced or eliminated since costing out effective programs for ell’s has not been accurately done since we do not know if the current amount provided to ells is adequate to achieve high academic outcomes. however, it is clear that districts and schools must utilize categorical funds in a much different manner than currently employed to assure success for ells. references adams, j. (2007). school finance redesign project (sfrp). university of washington, center on reinventing public education. retrieved on november 21, 2007, from www.schoolfi nanceredesign.org anonymous. (n.d.). evolution of important events in california bilingual education policy. retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/www/ policy/ell/timeline.html augenblick, j. (2003). calculation of the cost of an adequate education in colorado using the professional judgement and the successful school district approaches. colorado school finance project. denver, colorado. retrieved january 10, 2010 from http://www.cosfp.org/pdfs/fullrepo. pdf augenblick, j. (2007). costing out the resources needed to meet pennsylvania’s public education goals. pennsylvannia state board of education. retrieved may 10, 2010 from http://www.schoolfunding.info/states/pa/costingout_pa.php3 bilingual education act 1968 p.l. 90-247, 81 stat. 816, 20 u.s.c.a. 880 blanco, g. (1978). the implementation of bilingual/bicultural programs in the united states. in b. spolsky (ed.), case studies in bilingual education (pp. 457-468). rowley, ma: new-bury house. california advisory committee to the u.s. commission on civil rights (1976, june). state administration of bilingual education –¿si o no? report prepared by california advisory committee to the u.s. commission on civil rights. sacramento, ca. retrieved march 5, 2010 from www.law. umaryland.edu/marshall/usccr/documents/cr12ed88.pdf california state legislature (1972). laws 1972, assembly bill 2284 california state legislature (1976). laws 1976, assembly bill 1329 california state legislature (1977). laws 1977, assembly bill 65 california state legislature (1980). laws 1976, assembly bill 507 california state legislature (2006). laws 2006, assembly bill 1802 california coalition for fair school finance (1978). a community education project. summary of provisions of post-proposition 12 legislation for funding education. retrieved january 14, 2010 from www.edsource.org/assets/fi les/.../eds_hist_post-prop13legis.pdf california department of education (1982). the bilingual education improvement and reform act of 1980 (chapter 1339/1980): guidelines for implementation of state bilingual programs. offi ce of bilingual bicultural education. sacramento, ca. california department of education. finance and grants. retrieved may 9, 2010 from http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/eia.asp california department of education. specialized programs. retrieved january 12, 2010 from http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/t3/title3faq.asp california department of education (cde): ed data. retrieved january 10, 2009 from http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/welcome.asp california department of education (2007, september 19). retrieved january 5, 2010 from http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r14/eia07apptltr1. asp?print=yes 19 school finance and ells association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 california legislative analyst’s offi ce. analysis of the 2002-03 budget bill: reforming categorical program funding. retrieved november 12, 2007 from http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_2002/education/ed_09_categorical_reform _anl02.htm california proposition 13 (1978). people’s initiative to limit property taxation. california proposition 98 (1988). classroom instructional improvement and accountability act. proposition 227 (1998). english for the children. chaffee, j. (1979). california schools beyond serrano: a report on assembly bill 65 of 1977. california state department of education. sacramento, ca. crawford, j. (1991). bilingual education: history, politics, theory and practice. los angeles, ca: bilingual educational services inc. elementary and secondary education act of 1965 (esea). escamilla, k. (1989). a brief history of bilingual education in spanish. eric digest. eric clearinghouse on rural education and small schools charleston wv. ed308055. espinosa, r. w. (1985). fiscal resources and school facilities and their relationship to ethnicity and achievement in the los angeles unifi ed school district. san diego ca: the social equity technical assistance center, san diego state university. espinosa, r. w., & ochoa, a. m. (1992). the educational attainment of california youth: a public equity crisis. san diego, ca: the social equity technical assistance center, san diego state university. gándara, p., & rumberger, r. w. (2007, march). resource needs for california english learners. getting down to facts project summary: institute for research on education policy & practice. stanford university. guthrie, j. w. (1978). proposition 13 and the future of california’s schools. phi delta kappan 60(1), 12-15. hakuta, k. (2007, january 10). issues in the education of english language learners. powerpoint presentation for edu 388 at stanford university. retrieved may 21, 2010 from www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/courses/.../lecture1_history_policies.ppt hertert, l. (1995). does equal funding for districts mean equal funding for classroom students? in l. picus & j. wattenbarger (eds.), where does the money go? resource allocation in elementary and secondary schools (pp. 71–84). thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. jepson, c. & de alth, s. (2005) english learners in california schools. public policy institute of california. san francisco, ca. retrieved february 2010 from http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/r_405cjr.pdf jiménez-castellanos, o. (2008). beyond equality, equity and adequacy: intra-district resource allocation’s impact on school achievement. unpublished doctoral dissertation, claremont graduate university/ san diego state university. jiménez-castellanos, o. (2010). relationship between educational resources and school achievement: a mixed method intra-district analysis. urban review. 1-21. doi: 10.1007/s11256-010-0166-6 jiménez-castellanos, o., & rodriguez, j. l. (2009). resource allocation for low income latino english learners: a multiple comparative case study approach. bilingual research jour-nal, 32(3), 298–316. ladd, h. f., chalk, r., & hansen, j. s. (eds.). (1999). equity and adequacy in education fi nance: issues and perspectives. washington, dc: national academy of science press. lau v. nichols (1974), 414 u.s. 563, 94 s.ct. 786 lemberger, n. (1997). bilingual education. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. national clearinghouse for bilingual education. (1986, march). the status of state statutes for language minority students. forum, pp.1-3. national conference of state legislatures, 2005 prepared for the arizona legislative council. retrieved march 1, 2010 from www.schoolfunding. info/states/az/az-ncslenglanglearn2005.pdf 20 school finance and ells association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 dupree, a., & augenblick, h. (2006). report on the cost of education. trenton, nj: new jersey department of education. new york immigration coalition (2008, november). getting it right: ensuring a quality education for english language learners in new york. policy brief. retrieved february 21, 2010 from www.thenyic.org/templates/documentfinder.asp?did=967 odden, a. (ed.) (1992). rethinking school fi nance: an agenda for the 1990s. san francisco: jossey-bass inc., publishers. rivera, c. (ed.) (1984). placement procedures in bilingual education: education and policy issues. clevedon: multilingual matters rodriguez v. lausd (1992) no c 6 11-3 5 8. rodríguez, g. m. (2007). cycling on in cultural defi cit thinking: california school fi nance and the possibilities of critical policy analysis. in g. rodríguez & a. rolle (eds.), to what ends & by what means? the social justice implications of contemporary school fi nance theory & policy (pp. 107–143. new york: routledge. serrano v. priest, 487 p.2d 1241 (1971). timar, t. (1994). politics, policy, and categorical aid: new inequities in california school fi nance. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 16(2), 143–160. timar, t. (2007). financing k-12 education in california: a system overview. technical report retrieved november 12, 2007, from institute for research on education policy & practice, stanford university website: http://irepp.stanford.edu/projects/cafi nance-studies.htm united states census bureau (2000). educational attainment. washinton, d.c. u.s. department of education. (2001). no child left behind act of 2001. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. wiley, t. (2002). accessing language rights in education: a brief history in the u.s. context. in j.w. tollefson (ed.), language policies in education: critical issues (pp. 39-64). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. 21 school finance and ells journal 2007[1]. coverpage 45 mi general daniel hernandez (in loving memory) juan garcía-castañón, ph.d. i always wanted to see you again and thank you for being my older brother. when i needed it the most when i was a young man, just left from the nest. i can’t even remember how we met through armando or romano or through our mutual quest for what was just. you were the leader and led us into battle against the institutions and their reps. it was fun to battle cry and provoke the so called leaders of academe, and fairness for all. you were the visionary. i knew you had talked to armando and with that i would follow you or say the things you didn’t so that you could negotiate; what a brother. so many things that we did in such a short amount of time, as i look back the span of 35 years or so. we were just kids and best friends even though you were the older by 2 or 3 or 5 years, i forget. we went to fresno to rally the other chicano students; to la and berkeley, and oakland, el paso and san antone, too. to talk about and initiate chicano student power, politics in the halls of learning 1000 miles an hour. the daily little “empujos” the reassurance we were right the confidence i felt in you to push a little harder and work and plan deep into the night. the circle of fellow “soldados”, benja, armando, tomas, eduardo, sonny the lowrider, and the batos from oakland, 46 victor, manuel and who could ever forget frank rivas. itz* all coming back to me now. (* it’s) the house on 10th street where it all took place; where we planned it all; who would go to which meeting, who would say what; who would write it up and who would stand up first to interrupt? you were our leader our mentor our brother. who would have ever thought that you would go first. daniel ur* our brother; we will follow you, (*you are) one step after another; one breath after another, after the last, to one another. god took you and you rest my big brother. rip __________ this poem was written in memory of daniel villanueva hernandez who died quite unexpectedly in san jose in june 2003. he was a community activist in san jose and the bay area for nearly 40 years, having been involved in chicano community activities from student initiatives to farm worker and labor issues, housing, health, and police monitoring. as a lawyer he took up many causes over the years in civil, criminal, and family law. he was a great friend, family man, father, brother, husband, and most of all a mentor to young people. catedral de ocotlan, tlaxcala, mexico. photo by: veronica sanchez amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 book review americans by heart: undocumented latino students and the promise of higher education edelina burciaga university of california, irvine americans by heart: undocumented latino students and the promise of higher education is an in-depth exploration of the experiences of latino undocumented immigrant young people. pérez’s primary focus is on the factors that shape the pathway to college for undocumented latino students. the book captures the challenges and risks associated with growing up undocumented in the united states, and also highlights how undocumented latino students cope with these challenges. perez’s compassionate and informative book is a welcome addition to the growing body of research about undocumented immigrant young people. the undocumented immigrant population is currently estimated at 11.2 million. approximately 3.2 million are children and young adults under the age of 24 (passel & d’vera 2011). the supreme court decision in plyler v. doe (1982) guarantees undocumented young people a public education through high school. it is during the critical transition out of highschool that many undocumented latino students begin to fully appreciate the full impact of their legal status and what it means for their future opportunities. undocumented students are eligible for in-state tuition in 13 states2. however, because of their legal status undocumented students are not eligible for federal fi nancial aid; they are only eligible for aid in two states, creating a signifi cant barrier to higher education access. in addition, as undocumented young people transition into adulthood, various rites of passage that many citizens take for grantedsuch as applying for a driver’s license, securing a fi rst job, and voting-each emphasize the salience of their legal status. drawing on data collected through surveys, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic fi eldwork over the course of two years, pérez paints a rich picture of the lives of undocumented latino students in high school and college across the united states. one hundred and ten undocumented latino students were surveyed for the study. fifty-four of the survey participants were interviewed. the majority of these students lived in california, the state with the largest undocumented immigrant population. however, perez and his research team were able to recruit students from texas, virginia, georgia, missouri, new york, and washington d.c., providing a much needed national perspective on the experiences of undocumented latino students. approximately 62% of the college participants were female, which is comparable to the overall female college enrollment rate for latinos. the high school group was gender balanced, with 50% of the participants being female. on average, undocumented latino student participants arrived in the united states at the age of seven, and had spent approximately 13 years in the united states. the average age of participants was about 20 years old. weaving together the narratives of undocumented latino students and theories of social psychology, immigrant incorporation, resilience, and political participation, perez develops a comprehensive conceptual framework for understanding undocumented student achievement and texas and new mexico offer state aid to undocumented students. college access. perez’s conceptual framework expands the explanatory power of these theories through application to the experiences of the undocumented latino student population. for example, previous research on resilience in young people suggests that personal characteristics such as good communication skills, a positive self-concept, and caring attitudes increase a young person’s chances of dealing with diffi culties more effectively. 2 texas, california, illinois, kansas, new mexico, nebraska, new york, oklahoma, utah, washington, wisconsin, maryland, and connecticut offer in-state tuition rates to undocumented students. 49 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 perez fi nds that the same is true for undocumented latino students, but the ways that undocumented latino students demonstrate these characteristics differ slightly because of their undocumented immigrant status. for instance, the undocumented latino students that pérez interviewed described various experiences of being told that their educational aspirations should be limited because of their legal status. pérez fi nds that one protective factor undocumented latino students develop can be characterized as a “motivation to prove others wrong.” rather than accept a limited educational future, undocumented latino students draw on this motivation to continue to pursue their academic goals. perez argues that undocumented status is just one of a complex set of factors that infl uence the pathway to college for undocumented latino students. while their legal status poses a challenge and a risk, undocumented latino students who are able to develop a strong social support network of family, peers, and teachers are also more likely to develop a commitment to education, referred to as academic engagement. perez fi nds that participation in activities like volunteerism, activism, and community service not only allows undocumented latino students to give back to their communities, but may also provide them with a sense of empowerment. a strong social support network, the experience of growing up undocumented, civic engagement and other forms of extracurricular participation, and educational aspirations all work together to infl uence the pathway to college for undocumented latino students. jacinto, a college student, expresses the following: i remember just trying to do the best. i love learning and i love school. in high school, i decided i wanted to do more for my education so i would study really hard and get good grades. i was on the honor roll for 4 years. i remember really wanting to go to college. i knew that if you were in clubs and you had good grades, then you had a higher chance of getting into college. so that’s what i did. (p. 48) the unique value of americans by heart lies in its description of undocumented latino students not only coping with but also exceeding the academic, social and legal limitations imparted by their status. we learn that personal characteristics, individual motivations, and institutional support are integral to undocumented latino student success. a signifi cant portion of the book details the personal and individual motivations of undocumented latino students. however, pérez adds depth to his analysis by specifi cally examining the role that community colleges play in moving undocumented latino students along the educational pipeline. because of the fi nancial constraints many undocumented latino students face, community colleges are often the fi rst step on the pathway to a four-year university. pérez highlights the important role that community colleges can play in the continued educational success of undocumented latino students by emphasizing the signifi cance of informed staff, caring faculty, academic support programs, and a welcoming campus climate. this analysis adds an important layer to the discussion about undocumented latino student success because it moves the discussion beyond personal and individual motivation and addresses how schools as institutions can support undocumented latino students. pérez is a leading scholar in the growing fi eld of research on undocumented latino students. perez’s fi rst book we are american introduced researchers and educators to the educational experiences of undocumented latino students. however, in americans by heart, pérez’s analysis of the experiences of undocumented latino students is richer, and more theoretically grounded. pérez’s contribution to this growing fi eld of research is to examine holistically the lives of undocumented latino students from high school through graduation from college, and beyond. pérez details nearly every aspect of the undocumented latino student experience including their academic and civic engagement as well as their family, peer, and school supports. this provides a much-needed perspective on the lives of undocumented latino students across the educational continuum. it’s focus on the social psychological aspects of the undocumented latino student experience is a nice complement to research about the socio-legal and immigrant incorporation experiences of this population and i highly recommend for both researchers and educators working with undocumented student populations. references 1982. “plyler v. doe.” in 457 u.s. 202. passel, j. s., & d’vera, c. (2011). unauthorized immigrant population: national and state trends 2010. pew hispanic center, washington d.c. 50 amea_2011 51 amea_2011 52 amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 access and opportunity for latina/o undocumented college students: familial and institutional support factors patricia a. pérez california state university, fullerton james l. rodríguez california state university, fullerton abstract this article focused on the educational experiences of latina/o undocumented college students attending a public hispanic-serving institution. familial and institutional factors that promote educational opportunities are explored. a total of 15 semi-structured interviews serve as the data source for this exploratory, qualitative study. interview transcripts were coded into central themes within the broader categories of familial and institutional agent support and infl uences. findings indicated that familial support factors included “non-traditional” forms of encouragement. specifi cally, familial factors sorted into the themes of 1) listening and understanding; 2) goalsetting; and 3) motivation. meanwhile, support factors from institutional agents were mixed in regard to effectively facilitating the college-going process. recommendations for policy and practice are presented in light of the fi ndings. this article contributes to the conversation regarding the education of latinas/os by sharing their voice and using their experiences to promote greater access, opportunity, and success in higher education. introduction the u.s. is in the midst of signifi cant demographic shifts that are transforming its population. california is on the leading edge of this transformation as it is no longer a white majority state with latinas/ os representing the second largest ethnic group (32.4%) behind whites (46.7%, u.s. census, 2010). as california’s ethnic population shift continues, debates over immigration policy are ongoing. these debates are focused on latina/o populations, and the subsequent impacts are primarily felt by latinas/os. the relatively youthful demographics of latina/os, their historical underrepresentation in higher education, and deep cuts to education funding place them in a precarious position and there is a critical need for resources, access, and opportunity throughout the educational spectrum (gándara & contreras, 2009). in this article, we focus on the educational experiences of undocumented latina/o college students attending a public university in california. more specifi cally, we explore familial and institutional factors that promote educational access and college opportunity. our aim is to contribute to the conversation surrounding the state of education for latina/os by sharing their voice and using their experiences to promote greater access to higher education. support for latina/o undocumented college students demographic shifts have given rise to increased attention to the educational plight of latinas/os. this is particularly evident in research on latina/o college students. the heightened focus on immigration policy has resulted in a scholarship vein highlighting the educational experiences of undocumented college students. in a qualitative investigation, contreras (2009) examined the role of in-state tuition laws in facilitating higher education for undocumented latina/o students in washington state. the washington state in-state tuition law, or hb 107911, makes undocumented students who have lived in the state at least three years and have graduated from a washington state high school eligible to pay in-state tuition rates. contreras (2009) focused on the role of legal status in the higher education experiences of undocumented latina/o students as well as 1 several states have their own in-state tuition legislation 14 access and opportunity for latina/o association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 any differences that emerged based on institutional type. contreras (2009) found that critical themes emerged, including, constant fear, fi nancial diffi culty, a hostile campus climate, resiliency, and the hope to give back to their communities. additionally, contreras (2009) found, although guidance differed by institutional type, across institutions there appeared to be a general lack of knowledge of hb 1079. those most apt to be knowledgeable about hb 1079 were of a latina/o background or diversity offi ce personnel. lack of general college knowledge and fi nancial aid information has been a consistent research fi nding (contreras, 2011). based on his work with high-achieving undocumented students, pérez (2010a) puts forth several recommendations for student services personnel to better serve students. he noted that outreach, facilitating transfer, providing fi nancial aid assistance, and social support and services will support undocumented students through higher education. further, the author asserted that training for institutional agents was essential to properly addressing the needs of undocumented students, including specialized training for school psychologists and counselors in order to provide much-needed social and emotional aid (pérez, 2010a). pérez (2010b) highlights that outreach professionals can create “opportunity,” or college access, by giving students the option to attend a postsecondary institution vis-à-vis college information. further, familial and peer networks and contacts were found to be instrumental in latina/o students’ college decision-making process. for example, pérez (2010b) noted, older siblings served as mentors who were able to guide their younger siblings through the college choice process. in each case older siblings were also undocumented and could refer their younger counterparts to pre-established contacts who were former or current advisors, professors and mentors who could assist them. these contacts were unquestionably helpful and supportive to the younger siblings in their own college-going endeavors (p. 26). at the community college level, oseguera, flores and burciaga (2010) concur with fi ndings by pérez (2010b) that student affairs personnel played key roles in access to higher education for undocumented students. meanwhile, pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, and cortes (2009) underscored the importance of parent and peer networks as well as extracurricular activities in the higher education academic success of undocumented students in california. more specifi cally, in a study on the role of social and environmental risk factors on academic resilience, pérez et al. (2009) argued that supportive relationships with friends and parents, along with school engagement, facilitated educational success (as defi ned by high school gpa, high school awards received, and number of honors/ap courses taken). for those students most at-risk, access to resources helped to buffer adversity (pérez et al., 2009). in a quantitative study looking at the persistence rates of latina/o students eligible for instate tuition policies and their u.s. counterparts at a selective, public university in texas, flores and horn (2009) noted that while their fi ndings were limited they shed light on the role of instate tuition assistance to facilitate persistence rates among undocumented students. specifi cally, they highlight that undocumented students had similar persistence rates in comparison to their u.s. counterparts. however, flores and horn (2009) offer, “while we document the academic role, the social forces that impact the college student, especially as defi ned by organizational, psychological, and sociological frameworks, remain unexamined with current data” (p. 71). that is, those infl uences attributed to social networks and institutional agents would not have been captured in their study. existing research on latina/o undocumented students emphasizes the important role of institutional support and state policy in supporting students into and through higher education. in addition, the function of student affairs professionals and familial networks is also outlined in previous research. however, less of the existing research points to the manners in which these players assist undocumented latina/o students. in their own voice, this exploratory, qualitative study sheds light on strategies and infl uences to assist more latina/o students through higher education. ultimately, per pérez (2010b), research focused on the higher education endeavors of undocumented students “will inspire more focused research that will ultimately improve practice” (p. 24). 15 access and opportunity for latina/o association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 social capital within education, social capital underscores the relationships between students, families, communities and teachers, and their potential to support and motivate students toward academic success. social capital theory captures the effects of the school, parents and community on a students’ learning environment (coleman, 1988; croninger & lee, 2001; putnam, 1995; stanton-salazar & dornbusch, 1995). yosso (2005) incorporated this concept within her larger community cultural wealth framework, defi ning social capital as “networks of people and community resources.” however, research highlights that possessing social capital does not always equate with a positive outcome (portes, 1998). per school-based social capital, counselors, teachers and other personnel have the potential to assist and encourage students onto some form of higher education but this assumes students have access to these resources in the fi rst place (mcdonough, 1997; stanton-salazar, 1997). through a social capital lens, this study captures important network infl uences and agents on the college-going experiences of undocumented latina/o students. herein, the goal is to increase the number of latinas/os pursuing higher education. signifi cance of study this study sought to understand familial and institutional support factors latina/o undocumented students used to progress through the educational pipeline to access higher education. using in-depth, oneon-one, semi-structured interviews as the primary data source as well as a protocol developed to capture social capital infl uences within families and educational institutions, this investigation contributes a more holistic understanding of the latina/o undocumented college student plight. interview questions included when and why students decided to attend college; whether family, peers, and/or institutions/agents encouraged college going; and the role of immigration status in their college-going experience. to better understand the latina/o undocumented college opportunity experience, this investigation was guided by the following question: what role did familial and institutional factors play in the college opportunity process for undocumented latina/o students? methods participants the total sample for this research investigation included fi fteen participants (seven female, eight male). all participants attended a public, four-year postsecondary institution located in the diverse state of california. the site was selected for its location within the state and for its reputation as being an “undocumented student friendly” postsecondary institution. the postsecondary institution has also been designated a hispanic-serving institution since 2004. for consistency purposes, all participants met the following criteria: a) came from a latina/o ethnic background; b) were fi rst-generation college students where neither parent (or guardian) had attained an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in the u.s.; c) were transfer-bound or transfer students; d) came from a low-ses background as determined by parent’s occupation(s) and educational background; and f) were undocumented students. prospective students were identifi ed and recruited through word of mouth, class announcements, fl iers where necessary to recruit additional participants, and recommendations. students were informed about the study, the purpose of the investigation and that anonymity would be maintained in any reported results. instruments and data collection the primary data collection instrument was an interview protocol based on social capital theory to better understand the college opportunity experience of the participants through one-on-one, semi-structured interviews. data was collected between march 2008 and may 2010. most interviews took place at the participants’ respective campus and each interview lasted approximately one hour. according to creswell (2003), interviews provide the 16 access and opportunity for latina/o association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 opportunity for participants to speak to a particular topic more in-depth. interviews were conducted by a bilingual research team composed of undergraduate research assistants and one of the authors. interview data were taperecorded and transcribed by the research team members. participants were given the option of reviewing the transcriptions and results and editing in whole or in part any text they saw fi t. this process was useful in making sure that we did not misinterpret the results or misconstrue what a student was attempting to get at (maxwell, 1996). data analysis data was managed, coded and analyzed by the authors. coding and analysis resulted in several topical themes within two broad categories: (1) family support and infl uences and (2) institutional agent support and infl uences. although social capital was used as a framework to guide this investigation, the authors were also open to alternate explanations or theories to interpret fi ndings (glesne & peshkin, 1992). results family support and infl uences in general, this exploratory study revealed the presence of informal, familial support factors. familial support factors identifi ed were embedded within the home/family context as opposed to the educational context. within the theme of family support and infl uences, three sub-themes emerged: a) listening and understanding; 2) goal-setting; and 3) motivation. these themes provide an indication of the psychological support provided by families. this support is somewhat defi ned and limited by the pragmatics of the living situation. as previous research has documented (pérez, 2010b), undocumented students may not live with their immediate families. that is, their families are living in their countries of origin while they fi nd themselves in the u.s. in this study, while some undocumented students were separated from their immediate families, this did not mean that they did not feel supported in their academic endeavors. in such cases, familial support came in the form of encouragement through regular phone calls where listening was instrumental. jaime shares, everything was on the phone. i called my mom every time and i would say mom i just enrolled for math 185, that’s calculus, and she’d say “oh i’m glad, i’m happy for you, just keep going.” she wouldn’t actually see me doing it. i would always say what i did in school like i got nominated for something in a certain club and she would just listen to me but she wouldn’t really understand what i was saying and my family was really supportive even though they were in mexico. they were always supporting me, listening to the things i have to say and that’s how i got the support from my family. mostly not physically seeing them but knowing that they were there. jaime felt supported by his mother because she offered encouragement and motivation through their conversations. it was not necessarily important to him that she understand what he was conveyinghe was content that she was happy he was continuing with his education. the second theme related to familial support and infl uences involving goal setting. the following excerpts highlight the abstract and powerful function of setting goals that involved positive objectives rather than concrete outcomes: viviana: “my family, just knowing that they don’t have a stable job, that breaks my heart all the time so that obviously encouraged me from a young age [to pursue a higher education]that i wanted to have a stable job. i don’t want to get paid a lot but i want a stable job because i saw that.” jaime: “she went to get some money from the bank and she said ‘well, when you grow up i want you to 17 access and opportunity for latina/o association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 be like that guy, like the bank teller. wearing a suit and being somebody in life. not just a construction worker.’” iliana: “well my dad…he is an accountant, he has a degree in accounting [from a mexican university] and…but he’s not with us right now and my mom always told us that we should follow my dad’s steps and go to school and get our education so we don’t struggle throughout life looking for a job so we don’t work…we don’t live paycheck by paycheck like she does right now; so we don’t work with our hands but with our mind.” in the previous examples, students discussed that family encouraged pursing an education, “being somebody,” stable employment, steady pay, and discouraged manual labor. interestingly, family never explicitly stated to obtain a college degree, rather they encouraged this abstract idea of pursuing an education. the fi nal theme related to familial support and infl uences including motivation in the form of encouragement and expectations. in many cases, students were encouraged to pursue higher education because they had older siblings who had attended or were attending some form of postsecondary education whether in the u.s. or in their native country. family members also motivated their children to attend college by sharing stories of dreams deferred and serving as living examples of the consequences of not going to college. for example, mateo shared, when i was young, every day at dinner it was the same thing, ‘look at how tired i am today. i don’t want you to have to come home this tired,’ and it was always from when i can remember, and also i really appreciated the fact that they [family] always told me i was smart and that also kept me motivated and i really appreciated that from my family because it was support that i wasn’t receiving at school. so i think if it wouldn’t have been for my parents, i don’t think i would have been as motivated [to attend college]. similarly, moises offered, i remember my father taking me to school telling me “you know what do your best, try to learn as much as you can” and he also told me his stories that he couldn’t. he wanted to go to get ahead and go to la secundaria [middle school] and college or further but he couldn’the had to work and support his family. indeed, family and most notably parents, played active roles in the lives of these undocumented latina/o students whether physically present or not. institutional agent support and infl uences although data related to support from institutional agents were mixed, for the most part students spoke very highly of and referenced infl uential high school teachers and/or proactive college counselors that made it possible for the students in this sample to attend higher education. for example, vanessa asserted, i started this program at high school, jrotc, where i met this instructor, which was my tutor, my friend.. .he was in a sense l ike my father because he challenged me. he was the one that would challenge me in everythingso going to college was not a big thing once i met him and once i knew my potential that i could do it. another student spoke very highly of his english as a second language instructor who also doubled as his introduction to leadership instructor. he argued, one of my professors from esl classes, the english as a second language, i think that he was very infl uential in my life, i’m not sure why maybe his passion for teaching or the way he structured classes. all of the examples he gave, we would pretend that we were in really life, not just in class. 18 access and opportunity for latina/o association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 antonio asserted that his community college counselor was very helpful. he stated, “…she opened the door to me…she said ‘you know what you can do it, you can go ahead.’ she actually helped me fi ll out the application…” however, because of their precarious immigrant status position and previous academic experiences with school personnel, some students remained skeptical. lourdes offered, i knew that he was trying to help me out but once i got into college and i wouldn’t see much of him i started wondering if he was just a counselor trying to get people into [community] college and not helping them all the way through…because i had all my trust in him and he was the fi rst that taught me everything and i thought that he was going to guide me a little bit and he never really did. unfortunately, as a result of a lack of information amongst institutional personnel, one student discussed paying an exorbitant fee when initially starting college. for example, claudia mentioned that she was forced to pay $5,000 as an international student because her high school counselor was unaware of in-state tuition policies. meanwhile, ana rosa noted that the information she received from her community college was insuffi cient: i feel that it wasn’t really accurate because he helped me with the application process and i wish he would have told me how the system worked; you know what activities or services were at school and i didn’t get that information. as a result of such experiences, miguel made it a habit to triangulate college information. miguel noted that he would ask different people the same questions and draw his own conclusions based on their responses. this would also help him decide who was giving him accurate information and if he needed to move on and ask another person for guidance. discussion this study used interviews with undocumented latina/o college students to understand familial and institutional supports. this study provides a greater understanding of the role and nature of family and institutional factors in the educational experiences of latina/o undocumented college students attending a hispanic-serving institution. for example, familial factors identifi ed in this study were, for the most part, informal, and embedded within the family/home context. institutional factors were more formal and embedded within the educational context. the contrast between familial and institutional factors indicates a discontinuity or lack of connectivity regarding support for latina/o undocumented students. in addition, while recent focus has been placed on understanding the group, latina/o undocumented students remain an understudied population. as a result, they continue to be targets of misconceptions and stereotypes often resulting in exposure to ineffective educational, prevention, and intervention programs that are culturally insensitive. the current exploratory study aimed to provide critical information that can inform future studies and that can be translated into effective, culturally appropriate programs and services for students and their families. key stakeholders including high school personnel, outreach offi cers, policymakers, and politicians can be better informed how latina/o undocumented students specifi cally, and latina/o students in general, transition into postsecondary education. this study highlights experiences in the higher educational process that can be used to promote educational achievement among latina/o undocumented students. in understanding how latina/o undocumented students are infl uenced by key support systems, resources and information can be targeted to enhance their educational opportunities and promote higher levels of achievement. familial and institutional support and infl uences the results presented in this paper indicate that families play an instrumental role in facilitating and 19 access and opportunity for latina/o association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 motivating students to pursue higher education. however, as olivérez (2006) reported, parents support their undocumented children pursuing higher education but do not know how nor have the resources to assist them appropriately. whenever possible, college information shared with students must be shared with their families, especially siblings given the fi nding that students were encouraged to attend college if a sibling was attending or had attended a postsecondary institution. institutions must take advantage of the strong familial network to further encourage college-going-generally cohesive family units and extensive fi ctive kin networks (i.e., compadrazgo) that can be targeted with college knowledge. further, encouraging the family and especially young children to share college knowledge will increase the social capital of the family unit as well as the larger familial network. unfortunately, the extent to which there is a still a lack of general knowledge related to undocumented students among institutional agents at the high school and college levels, given the extensive research noting the importance of such information (pérez, 2010a; pérez, 2010b; perez et al. 2009), is frustrating. students in this sample who have made it to higher education are still not receiving or only receiving limited critical information. how can information be provided to undocumented latina/o students that are most vulnerable? while students are eager for information, critical information and knowledge is not reaching this population widely and regularly. the role of in-state tuition policies has been outlined in a distinctive study by flores (2010) who explored whether in-state tuition policies increased college enrollment rates relative to institutions without such policies for undocumented latina/o students. using a national dataset, flores (2010) found that instate tuition policies increased the likelihood that undocumented latina/o students would enroll in college. indeed, compared to their peers in states without in-state tuition policies, undocumented latina/o students were 1.54 times more likely to enroll in college given in-state tuition programs. however, this assumes that institutional agents have the proper information to share with their students. these statistics would be much more robust if more personnel were armed with college knowledge related to undocumented students. recommendations for policy and practice the fi ndings shared in this paper point to the need to develop policies and programs that take into account latino students’ cultural values and norms in order to more effectively address educational goals. such programs should address heterogeneity among latina/o populations and particularly among undocumented students and families. credential, licensure, certifi cate and/or professional development programs for teachers and counselors must incorporate research and models on latina/o populations into their curriculum and pedagogy. given the fi ndings reported in this paper and within the context of the existing literature on latina/o undocumented students, we offer the following recommendations. • programs for students and families, that take into account latino cultural values and norms, should be developed to promote familial knowledge, engagement, and involvement. • licensure and professional development programs should be developed for high school and community college counselors and teachers that include components that enhance knowledge and skills to better serve latina/o undocumented students. • the development of programs and mechanisms that increase the connectivity between families and institutions that promote consistency and continuity in the support provided by family members and institutional agents. policies and programs that incorporate these elements are more likely to promote greater educational access, opportunity, and success. 20 access and opportunity for latina/o association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 references coleman, j.s. (1988). social capital in the creation of human capital. american journal of sociology, 94, s95-s120. contreras, f. (2011). achieving equity for latino students: expanding the pathway to higher education through public policy. new york, ny: teachers college press. contreras, f. (2009). sin papeles y rompiendo barreras: latino students and the challenges of persisting in college. harvard educational review, 79(4), 610-631. creswell, j.w. (2003). research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. croninger, r.g., & lee, v.e. (2001). social capital and dropping out of high school: benefi ts to at-risk students of teachers’ support and guidance. teachers college record, 103(4), 548-581. flores, s. (2010). state dream acts: the effect of in-state resident tuition policies and undocumented latino students. review of higher education: journal of the association for the study of higher education, 239-283. flores, s.m., & horn, c.l. (2009). college persistence among undocumented students at a selective public university: a quantitative case study analysis. journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice, 11(1), 57-76. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. glesne, c., & peshkin, a. (1992). becoming qualitative researchers: an introduction. white plains, ny: longman. maxwell, j.a. (1996). qualitative research design: an interactive approach. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. mcdonough, p. (1997). choosing colleges: how social class and schools structure opportunity. albany, ny: suny press. olivérez, p.m. (2006). ready but restricted: an examination of the challenges of college access and fi nancial aid for college-ready undocumented students in the u.s. unpublished doctoral dissertation, university of southern california. oseguera, l., flores, s.m., & burciaga, e. (2010). documenting implementation realities: undocumented immigrant students in california and north carolina. journal of college admission, 206, 37-43. pérez, p.a. (2010b). the college choice process of latina/o undocumented students: implications for recruitment and retention. journal of college admission, 206, 21-25. pérez, w. (2010a). high education access for undocumented students: recommendations for counseling professionals. journal of college admission, 206, 32-35. pérez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(2), 149-181. portes, a. (1998). social capital: its origins and appliances in modern sociology. annual review of sociology, 24, 1-24. putnam, r.d. (1995). bowling alone: america’s declining social capital. journal of democracy, 6(1), 65-78. stanton-salazar, r.d. (1997). a social capital framework for understanding the socialization of racial minority children and youths. harvard educational review, 67(1), 1-40. stanton-salazar, r.d., & dornbusch, s.m. (1995). social capital and the reproduction of inequality: information networks among mexican-origin high school students. sociology of education, 68(2), 116-135. u.s. census bureau. (2010). retrieved march 31, 2010 from http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/. yosso, t.j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8(1), 69-91. 21 access and opportunity for latina/o amea_2011 16 amea_2011 17 amea_2011 18 amea_2011 19 amea_2011 20 amea_2011 21 amea_2011 22 amea_2011 23 fuentes & perez_final page proof.pdf our stories are our sanctuary association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 6 our stories are our sanctuary: testimonio as a sacred space of belonging emma haydée fuentes, ph.d. university of san francisco manuel alejandro pérez university of san francisco “another world is not only possible, she’s on the way and on a quiet day, if you listen very carefully you can hear her breathe.” –arundhati roy, 2014 on june 11th 2016, a shooter walked into a gay bar in orlando, florida and killed 49 of our lgbtq brothers and sisters, the majority of whom were latinx, in one of the deadliest mass shootings in our history. the people that were killed were celebrating orlando pride on latinx night in a space that was theirs, a space that affirmed their humanity and that served as a “sanctuary for people who are subjected to violence and discrimination on a daily basis” (greer, 2016). as we sit to write this introduction we carry pain and anger about this incident and hold the people who died and the larger lgbtq community in our hearts and in our actions. we recognize that violence is not a new phenomenon; terror and pain run deep in the economic and political systems of the united states. we also recognize that this particular moment in our country’s history is marked by increased racial and ethnic tensions; police brutality and state violence; homophobia and transphobia; economic insecurity; environmental racism as seen in flint, michigan; and an overall contentious presidential primary season that has allowed space for someone like donald trump to utilize a national platform to stoke white racial resentment, xenophobia, and misogyny. during his campaign trump has said that if he were to win the presidency he would deport millions of latinx immigrants, build a wall between méxico and the united states, and ban muslim immigrants from entering the country, among other deeply problematic statements. statements such as these, in addition to violence in and around most of his rallies, has added to what the southern poverty law center is calling the “trump effect.” in a recently released splc report on the impact that the presidential campaign and trump in particular is having on our nation’s children, costello (2016) found that this so-called fuentes & pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 7 “trump effect” is “producing an alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of color and inflaming racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom” (p. 4). in addition, more than two-thirds of the teachers interviewed reported that their students—mainly children of latino and muslim immigrant parents—“have expressed fears about what might happen to them after the election.” we are undoubtedly living through turbulent times. we believe as julie quiroz (2015) of movement strategy center so eloquently states, “these dark times illuminate what matters most.” it is no surprise then that this moment is also marked by a surge in transformative movements grounded in racial and social justice. communities across the united states and the world are rising up to assert their right to self-determination and to live in dignity. in the united states, young leaders of color have rekindled our collective radical imagination and are inviting us to see that other worlds are indeed possible. #blacklivesmatter, the dream defenders, domestic workers alliance, undocumented queer youth collective, end mass incarceration, and others have blossomed in the last decade and ground their work in the notion of radical love and collective liberation. their work allows us to witness both new ways of building solidarity across difference and creative tactics that challenge white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy, state violence, and narrow notions of citizenship and belonging. these twenty-first century movements and activists are changing the material and social conditions of our lives and are reinventing a society that humanizes us all. at the heart of all of these movements is the use of art and creativity. many of the leaders are artists and cultural workers who see art as a process of story-telling, as an essential aspect of movement building, and a powerful tool to disrupt power. one example of this is seen in the work of julio salgado, a san francisco bay area artivist and cultural worker. salgado is a visual artist whose work brings to life the many stories of queer and straight undocumented immigrants. his work is grounded in the notion that “undocumented immigrants should be leading and constructing the narratives of their own struggle” (jobin-leeds & agitarte, 2016, p. 82). on the use of art as a powerful tool of resistance, salgado says, "we need three dimensional stories that show our beauty and imperfections. but only we can do that” (quezada, 2015). in addition, gaby our stories are our sanctuary association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 8 pacheco, one of many dreamers who participated in the trail of dreams in 2010, shares that “our stories are the most powerful tool that we have” and are central to any organizing effort (jobin-leeds & agitarte, 2016, p. 92). art and story-telling are central to many of the movements we are witnessing today. these transformative movements are weaving together a collective story, or testimonio, that makes the impossible possible by humanizing those whose stories are not told, whose realities are not seen, and whose lives are too often disregarded. this issue is both inspired by and contributes to the use of art, creativity, and story-telling as a tool to dismantle systems of oppression, to inspire social change, and to reclaim the right to survive and thrive. we see testimonio as both a sanctuary and as a tool for creative soulful resistance and utilize it in our work and praxis as both a radical methodology and pedagogy within a human rights and social justice education framework. similar to other forms of “decolonizing methodologies,” including autoethnography, testimonio serves as a conceptual and methodological tool that transforms cultural and personal narratives into critical social analysis. one of the key tenets of testimonio is to analyze and interpret individual stories as part of a collective experience. in this way testimonio is a practice of being with others “that not only can inspire the possibility of political community but also can be understood as an ethical practice of the self” (han, 2012, p. 113). as the latina feminist group (2001) writes, “testimonio [offers] an artistic form and methodology to create politicized understandings of identity and community” (p. 3). we draw on the works of prieto and villenas (2012) who ground testimonio within a chicana feminist critique and see it as an act of “collective sobrevivencia.” three main themes emerged from their work pedagogies from nepantla: cultural dissonance, conciencia con compromiso (consciousness with responsibility and commitment), and cariño (authentic care). we see all three as deeply embedded in the testimonios in this special issue and add the additional two frameworks of testimonio as sanctuary and as creative resistance. each essay in this issue situates individual narratives within a larger collective experience simultaneously marked by oppression, agency, and resistance. each of the authors provide compelling counter-narratives that unveil societal (and educational) inequities while re-centering stories of marginalization as fuentes & pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 9 powerful sites of knowledge production and transformational resistance (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). this issue is motivated by a series of questions that explore the similarities and differences between counternarratives and testimonio: how do the two inform each other and how are the two different? how can we as educators incorporate artful resistance, counter-narratives and testimonios into the field of education? how can we subvert narratives and discourse that normalize whiteness, maleness, and heterosexuality? how do we actively resist promoting hegemonic and oppressive stories that continue to marginalize our communities? counter-narrative and testimonio are methodologies and frameworks from which story-tellers re-center the voice of marginalized communities born into a family of story-telling for liberation, resistance, and radical imagination. both reframe and promote a discourse of liberation and healing for marginalized communities and provide a voice for those who are too often silenced. counter-narratives are necessary, important, and act as an antidote to a dominant discourse that often inflicts pain and violence to marginalized communities. born out of a critical race theory (crt) framework, counter-narratives resist and oppose white supremacy and domination. counter-narratives then become a way to push back against dominant narratives. delgado (1989) asserts that stories serve two functions for members of oppressed groups. stories are a means of psychic self-preservation and serve to lessen group subordination, and that “this proliferation of counter-stories is not an accident or coincidence. oppressed groups have known instinctively that stories are an essential tool to their own survival and liberation” (delgado, 1989, p. 2436). counter-stories are critical to the livelihood of communities who are displaced beyond the borders of master narratives. in turn, we see testimonios as standing on their own without the need to counter, as essential stories of resistance and healing that reignite social change from beyond a binary of us versus them. testimonios reimagine a world of possibilities for truth and liberation in ways that are beautiful examples of soulful, creative resistance, both in terms of process and product (delgado bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012). for example, testimonio, as a methodology, allows for the artful expression of voice and our stories are our sanctuary association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 10 story through the use of theory and praxis simultaneously. the researcher transforms into a part of a dialogue that is both reflexive, critical, and participatory (yudice, 1991). in this spirit, each of the contributors within this space offer their stories as artful resistance in both language and form. in doing so, the stories shared by the authors in this issue are personal stories and also testaments to the ways in which communities share their truths. alarcón, cruz, jackson, prieto, and rodriguez-arroyo (2011) describe the process of story-sharing in the following way, “the personal is indeed political as we acknowledge our collective memories, our shared histories. through testimonio we acknowledge our own resiliency and the histories of our resistance” (p. 370). in essence, testimonio allows for the representation of authentic stories of communities from inception, (co)creation, production, and exposition. cruz (2012) highlights this transformative power of testimonio as having the ability to uproot dominant narratives that historically exclude the voice of marginalized communities. the testimonios shared within this special issue actively participate in naming injustice, resisting oppression, and finding artful ways to allow the soul to breathe and thrive. yosso (2005) discusses this same cycle in the context of race and underscores the importance of examining racism, naming racist injuries in an effort to give voice to the victims of racism. we would argue that this naming process is also helpful to restorative counter-narratives that focus on healing and empowerment after trauma, pain, loss and suffering. in order to heal, it is essential to examine and name the pain in order to deconstruct it. similarly, testimonios offer healing as well, from a space that honors a new world of possibilities outside of comparison to dominant discourse. truth-sharing through testimonios is about the power, resistance, and liberation for oppressed communities that is deeply embedded within the fabric of the story in product and process. these stories of truth thrive within both counter-narratives and testimonios. in a similar way, testimonios can be counter-narratives and at the same time they can also thrive through and beyond stories that exist to actively resist dominant narratives. testimonios are the radical imagination of liberation and artful resistance for marginalized communities. in retelling the stories of pain, empowerment, and transformation of marginalized communities, it is crucial to hear the narrative of the fuentes & pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 11 oppressed as the principal story, not as a secondary subplot or tangent from a grand narrative. counter-narratives and testimonios are not mutually exclusive, and to assume that they should be is to succumb to the very oppressive and hegemonic systems of domination that would render their truth-telling power as null and invaluable. we believe that both frameworks hold space together as camaradas in the world of storytelling for liberation, for healing, and for resistance. without a critical awareness of the power and need to share both essential types of stories, we continue to cultivate a landscape that both directly and indirectly support and promote toxic and violent behaviors that are rooted in the oppression of marginalized communities. these behaviors actively alienate, violate, victimize, and disregard the lived realities of women, trans, and queer-identified communities, people of color, and muslim communities, as is evidenced within the discourse of the 2016 presidential election and the recent shootings in orlando. the authors in this special issue join a growing number of scholars in the fields of anthropology and education who are utilizing testimonio to bring voice to the experiences of communities of color and to better understand how they respond to and heal from oppressive structures and experiences (delgado bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012). utilizing testimonio provides new possibilities for the ways in which we conduct research, heal the fragmented spaces caused by histories of marginalization, and create opportunities for reflexivity and genuine voice, while building community and brave space within in the academy. in sum, the articles and essays in this issue will demonstrate the importance of the telling and re-telling of personal lived experiences as integral to the production of knowledge and as a powerful form of resistance to multiple marginalities. farima pour-khorshid sees collective testimonio as a process for homemade theory making or what anzaldúa and keating (2000) called conocimientos. her essay brings together the stories and experiences of three educators of color who are part of a california grassroots social justice critical study group created exclusively for people of color. in a profession dominated by more than 80% white teachers (goldring, gran, & bitterman, 2013), the testimonios of these teachers are examples of their resiliency, our stories are our sanctuary association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 12 agency, and community cultural wealth that they possess and have utilized to thrive within a oppressive education system. this essay posits that the use of collective testimonio among educators of color serves as a tool for critical teacher professional development, which is centered in political education, solidarity, empowerment, love, and resistance. in his essay, manuel alejandro pérez explores the story of three hermanas and their connections to comunidad, familia, and artful resistance through their involvement in baile folklórico. through their testimonios the hermanas explore their relationship to sexual orientation, their ethnic identity, and cultural heritage as queer mexicanos who have a relationship to traditional mexican folklórico. these stories are examples of testimonio as both a product and a process. more importantly, these testimonios illustrate the ways in which marginalized communities make sense of the world around them in a way that empowers and uplifts the mindbodyspirit. in “documenting the undocumented,” laura ochoa delves deep into the experiences of immigration and notions of belonging. her essay is an example of testimonio as radical methodology that documents the experiences of four undocumented immigrants living in the us. her essay seeks to create a rich narrative of human survival and resistance while highlighting the struggles and obstacles undocumented immigrants face within our current immigration system. rosa jimenez’ “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer): a testimonio from a daughter of mexican immigrants turned professor in the academy,” provides a powerful reflexive piece on the power of community cultural wealth, familia, and the use of testimonio as a sacred space. she shares her story of growing up as a little girl in california’s central valley as the daughter of working class mexican immigrants to being an assistant professor at the university of san francisco. vincent chandler’s essay is a beautiful example of testimonio as creative soulful resistance. he breaks the mold of traditional academic essays and invites the readers into a role-play of sorts. we are drawn into his speech specifically directed at educators around the use of testimonio and the powerful cultural capital latin@/chican@ students bring with them into the classroom. he adds a new dimension to work on community cultural wealth by introducing the concept of the nopal metaphor as a symbolic and fuentes & pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 13 visual representation of the intrinsic wealth latin@ students carry. finally, the special issue closes with two poems by rhummanee hang and olivia muñoz. both poems highlight the power of art, creativity, and radical storytelling. our stories are our sanctuary association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 14 references alarcón, w., cruz, c., jackson, l. g., prieto, l., & rodriguez-arroyo, s. (2011). compartiendo nuestras historias: five testimonios of schooling and survival. journal of latinos and education, 10(4), 369-381. anzaldúa, g.e., & keating, a. (ed.). (2000). interviews/entrevistas. new york, ny: routledge. costello, m. (2016). the trump effect: the impact of the presidential campaign on our nation’s schools. montgomery, al: southern poverty law center. cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460-471. delgado, r. (1989). storytelling for oppositionists and others: a plea for narrative. michigan law review, 87(8), 2411-2441. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & carmona, j. f. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363-372. greer, b. (2016, june 13). gay nightclubs and black churches are sanctuaries. here’s how to make them safer. the washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soloish/wp/2016/06/13/gay-nightclubsand-black-churches-are-sanctuaries-heres-how-to-make-them-safer/ han, c. (2012). life in debt: times of care and violence in neoliberal chile. berkeley, ca: university of california press jobin-leeds, g. & agitarte. (2016). when we fight we win!: twenty-first century social movements and the activists that are transforming our world. new york, ny: the new press. latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nc: duke university press. prieto, l. & villenas, s. (2012). pedagogies from nepantla: testimonios, chicana/latina feminism and teacher education classrooms. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 411-429. quezada, j. a. (2015, march 18). queer, undocumented visual artist speaks out [web log post]. retrieved from http://www.glad.org/blog/queer-undocumented-visual artist-julio-salgado-speaks-out quiroz, j. (2015, dec 10). love, strategy and terror: humanity vs. fear [let’s talk: at the heart of movement building]. retrieved from http://letstalkmovementbuilding.org/love-strategy-and-terror/ solórzano, d.g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342 fuentes & pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 15 yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8:1, 69-91. yudice, g. (1991). testimonio and postmodernism. latin american perspectives, 18(15), 15-31. amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering bianca guzmán california state university, los angeles abstract in this article i argue that mothering in the home is an educational tool for creating positive self-agency in latina girls. this essay articulates the ways in which my lived experiences as a latina mother informs the socialization of guerrera girls. i engage in a process of testimonio to demonstrate how mothering, by using tools such as storiescuentos, adviseconsejos, conversationspláticas can create instances where learning can occur for both mother and daughter that disrupt the racist discourses latinas face in their everyday lives. i discuss how the use of a decolonial imaginary process provides both mothers and daughters ways to re-create the daily lived experiences of marginalization so that they become instances of regenerative resistance. as a tool of latina mothering, i propose the use of suspended spaces within moments of everyday life where individuals simultaneously suspend the social hierarchies that constrain personas to have pláticas that promote a guerrera spirit. finally, this essay is testament to the strong guerrera spirit latina mothers carry and share for future generations of guerreras. introduction arizona passed sb 1070 in april of 2010, which makes it a crime to lack proper immigration paperwork in the state. in addition, arizona also passed hb 2281 a month after sb 1070, which offi cially prohibits public schools from conducting courses or classes, which “promote the overthrow of the united states (u.s.) government” or “resentment towards a race or class of people.” in practice, this targets the highly successful mexican american studies program in the tucson unifi ed school district. as recently as january of 2012 tucson unifi ed school district (tusd) also released an initial list of seven books to be banned from its schools that contain historical information about mexican american and latino history. similarly, during the 1990s in california, proposition 187 denied undocumented individuals the right to social services like healthcare and education, and proposition 227 eliminated bilingual education in the classroom. these laws and restrictive policies, which target latinos in the united states, negatively impact our system of education and the psychological wellbeing of our children by marginalizing the histories of communities of color in the u.s. given the current climate in the u.s. about non-white individuals what histories do latin@ children learn in school? how do schools practice equity when racist legislation suppresses histories of oppression and resistance? as a latina mother14, cognizant of the power of education, i argue that the home is an extension of the classroom in that it is a learning environment that can be utilized to promote agency and positive selfimage for latin@ children. i am also suggesting that until there is a radical transformation of the u.s. educational system which acknowledges the contributions of latin@s and other minorities, much of the responsibility for promoting the psychological wellbeing of latina girls, falls within the home. the home is the fi rst educational setting for children where loving mothers14 and family members have the ability to inoculate and potentially offset some of the negative effects of a racist society and educational system. by defi nition i will be using the term “guerrera spirit” to signify a sense of positive self-agency in latinas. to expand on this defi nition, when i use the term guerrera i am referring specifi cally to a warrior spirit that invokes resistance and resilience. to be a guerrera is to courageously disrupt the defi cit discourses perpetuated about our communities through a healing and transformative self/community love manifested in a decolonizing counter-narrative. moreover, i offer an analysis of my own mothering practices with my two teenage daughters as a testimonio to what mothering tools can be utilized develop a guerrera. as a community psychologist who teaches chicana/o studies at an urban university in the los angeles area, i acknowledge that i have a relatively privileged position in terms of my education and socio-economic 14. the argument is not to minimize the role that fathers or male family members play; however, the emphasis is to examine the roles that mothers have played in the division of household. 45 cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 status and therefore i may have more access to knowledge about certain types of mothering than other latina mothers have. in this sense, my mothering and class status are inextricably linked. it is also the case that this is a tentative privilege because although i received all my education in the u.s. and hold a professional degree, it does not discount the fact that i am an immigrant woman who was mothered by an immigrant single mother with few economic resources. my mothering practices are in constant dialogue with the history of my various class positions. at heart i still retain the working class ethic my mother and my latino community taught me. therefore, while i do have some newly attained privilege i continue to also have the history of my working class heritage. this i argue allows my mothering analysis to be useful to many different types of latina mothers. furthermore, i propose to use a method of testimonio to analyze my mothering practices, which i will explain in more detail in the following section. testimonio to theorize latina mothering in order to fully understand my mothering analysis i must fi rst discuss why testimonio is the most appropriate choice for my analysis. bertaux and kohli (1984) have written an extensive paper on why using the “life story approach” or testimonio is a powerful tool in explaining the lived experiences of individuals in countries like europe, the united states, canada and latin america. this type of testimonial narrative has come to prominence in the social sciences in recent years in part because it intertwines the desire for objectivity and the desire for solidarity in its very situation of production, circulation and reception (beverley, 2005). testimonio has been used effectively to provide the often-chilling stories about the human rights atrocities that have occurred in latin america (blackmer reyes & curry rodriguez, 2012). so, in essence, testimonio is a powerful form of storytelling methodology which privileges the voice of the storyteller while illuminating the political context from which it emanates. the defi nition i will use for testimonio is a novel or novella-length narrative produced in the form of a printed text, told in the fi rst person by a narrator who is also the real protagonist or witness of the events she recounts (beverley, 2005). its unit of narration is usually a signifi cant life experience. furthermore, the word testimonio carries the connotation in spanish of the act of bearing witness to an event. within chicana/o studies testimonio has been used to provide a historical context to breathe life to the oppressive experiences of latinos. some of the early chicano and latino scholars that have used testimonio narratives include galarza (1971), villarreal (1959), and moraga and anzaldúa (1983). during the 1980s and 1990s, as cultural studies and postmodern methodologies began to frame critical scholarship as subjective and political, chicanas in particular drew on the refl exive form of testimonio utilizing such concepts as agency, hybridity, subaltern, and indigeneity (anzaldúa, 1999; lomas, 1994; pardo, 1998; perez, 1999; sandoval, 2000). chicana feminist epistemology (delgado-bernal, 1998) also infl uenced chicanas and empowered them to develop the narrative format as redemption—as takers of the stories, as readers of the narratives, and as creators of the analysis. therefore, this is not a new methodology in the fi eld and it has been used successfully to provide a framework for understanding the lived experiences of individuals. more recently, latina scholars such as the latina feminist group, who analyzed their own education experiences as marginalized, used testimonio as a way to narrate their stories and/or collective histories (latina feminist group, 2001). in this anthology, eighteen latinas share cuentos and consejos with each other and provide a framework for a type of testimonio that critically analyzes their own experiences, thoughts, beliefs and behaviors. based on the information about testimonio reviewed here i fi nd that this is the most useful methodology to examine how my own mothering practices impact my daughter’s sense of positive self-agency or guerrera spirit. moreover, i offer that sharing mothering practices is a dialogical and experiential learning process that simultaneously transforms both my daughters and myself. the following section provides a framework by which to examine mothering. defi ning latina mothering according to merriam-webster mothering is “to give birth and to care and protect.” since everyone 46 cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 has, or has had, a mother or mother fi gure, most people have strong feelings and opinions about the institution of mothering. in the mainstream media it may appear as though mothers are primarily defi ned as apolitical and perhaps isolated with their children in a world of pure emotions. while i acknowledge that motherhood is an individual and highly personal experience it is also a social institution that by its very nature cannot remain apolitical. when we discuss latina mothering15 in particular it is important to point out that as mothers we belong to a historically oppressed group in the u.s. and by this very notion we transmit life lessons through our daily actions and rituals which become pedagogical moments or moments of teaching and learning that are political (villenas, 2006). delgado-bernal (2001) has referred to this as the “pedagogy of the home.” it is through mothering that many of us develop coping skills, empowerment strategies, and ultimately agency. for the current analysis i propose that mothering is a form of compassionate teaching for latina girls that involves learning while encountering confl icts and contradictions that require healing and transformative modes of cultural practice. in order to examine the mothering practices that advocate for a “pedagogy of the home,” i will use the framework of bernal (2006b) who proposes that mothering occurs for latina women through consejos or advice, cuentos or stories, and pláticas or conversations (villenas & moreno, 2001). consejos are usually a unidirectional form of nurturing advice and moral lessons designed to infl uence behaviors. cuentos are stories that are usually told to teach a moral lesson, and pláticas are bidirectional conversations that involve the sharing of personal thoughts and experiences as a means of healing the mind, body, and soul. these relational tools assist latina mothers to teach their daughters how to survive everyday life by providing them with the understanding of how certain situations occur, why certain conditions exist, and how to handle these situations/conditions in and out of school settings. in the following section i will examine how the decolonial imaginary also determines the “pedagogy of the home” in which my mothering is nested in as both a teaching and learning experience. decolonial imaginary and mothering emma pérez (1999) offers the decolonial imaginary to describe the space where differential politics and social dilemmas are negotiated, a space that is intangible, almost a shadow in the dark, a liminal space where women of the americas—generations of mestizas and indias learn to survive sexism, class oppression, and discrimination, while making their mark on the world. as a mother, i am challenged with this concept of the decolonial imaginary in my own home and what that means for my daughters. emma pérez introduces a “third space” for negotiating the decolonial imaginary in which we can unearth the voices of silenced mujeres (perez, 1999). this decolonial imaginary helps me to understand how teaching and learning between and within mothers and daughters also becomes a space of teaching double meanings, where i teach what my culture traditionally expects of women, while also teaching lessons of resistance. by way of illustration, during a plática one day i asked my fi fteen-year-old daughter if she had shorts under the mini-skirt she was wearing. she looked at me and asked, “why?” i replied, “because there are men out there that will look at you in a sexual way, and i don’t want them to do that.” shocked at my words, i stopped and thought back to the times my mother told me, “women are not supposed to provoke a man, sexually,” adding that wearing short skirts, dresses, or tight pants invites trouble. my utterance at that moment sprang from a subconscious well of internalized patriarchal discourse. i instantly wished i had not responded to my daughter in that manner. although i believe that latina mothers who are teaching their daughters about latina feminism should not respond as i did, i understand that my immediate response is to protect my daughter from being objectifi ed. i realize that the internalized conversation that i have inherited from my mother is that women who wear short skirts are whoresputas. aída hurtado (2003) describes the virgen/puta dichotomy as a cultural ideology in which latinas have been historically viewed as either being the good woman who is a virgen and sacrifi cing and putas, on the other hand, framework makes me wonder: could i really be thinking about my daughter as either a virgen or puta? this is painful because i realize that the subconscious machista/patriarchal beliefs i have learned from my latina mother have colonized my mothering. 15. although the focus of this essay is on biological mothers it does not negate the ability of mothering that may occur with a mother fi gure that is important in the lives of latina girls to have an equal positive effect on their self-agency 47 cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 before my daughter responds, i apologize for asking her about the shorts, explaining that i said this out of some culturally ingrained ideas about women either being good girls or bad girls. she looks at me and says, “mom i know, but you can’t shake the old school.” i ask my daughter, “what do you mean by old school?” she says, “anything old like your way of thinking about clothing, girls, and life.” she does not seem to be as affected by the dialogue that we just had. she is happy and bouncy. this is when i realize that this interaction was more about how i judged my own mothering than the impact my mothering has on her. in this instance, the interaction between my daughter and me can be seen as “feminist mothering theory” in which both mother and daughter are re-creating their relationship to traditionally held, deeply internalized beliefs and culture through this process of decolonial imaginary. it has also become a way for me to think about how my mothering continues to be renegotiated. in general mothers and daughters often have special moments throughout the day, which can be, during any small moments of time to informally discuss their daily lives through pláticas. last year my daughter began high school and she is in a private all girls’ catholic school where the majority of the girls are not latina. she is a bright, bubbly, and happy girl. last year, as a freshman in an honors english class, she had to take the profi ciency of writing exam (pow). in california, all students must pass the pow in order to graduate from high school, but students do not necessarily need to take the exam during their fi rst year of high school. during one of our morning pláticas, she talked about how nervous she was about the exam. she felt that she was not as smart as the other girls particularly some of the white girls that were in her class. the issue about being smart could possibly be an adolescent issue in general; however, the issue of comparing herself against her white classmates was clearly an issue of racial positioning. we talked on the twenty-minute drive to school i said “mija you know you are smart right?” she said, “yes” with a roll of the eyes and lots of attitude. her body language said i heard this before and it is not working this time. i believe she does this oftentimes as her way of rebellion. this is her way of letting me know that this conversation is over and she no longer wants to talk about it. in her silence she is speaking volumes about her letting me know that she can handle the situation—it is a way of exercising her agency. two days later as i am picking her up from school she shouts with tears in her eyes “i did not pass the exam okay!” i tell her “you not passing the exam has nothing to do with your intelligence.” she says frustrated with me, “yes mom. i get that. but, ten girls passed. and, they were all either white or asian. it was mostly the brown girls that did not pass.” she also says that if she does not pass the pow she will not be eligible for honors english next year. i think for a long while as she listens to her music as her way of tuning out the world when necessary. i return to the conversation by telling her “mija you are smart and you have to believe in yourself.” i try to ignore the racial implications she has made, however, i understand that private school settings are often a site of racial inequality that many latina girls are unable to tackle regardless of the nurturing they receive by their mothers. despite my thoughts at that moment i wanted to just deal with her self-worth and psychological wellbeing because i need her to be strong so that school does not become a disempowering place. she returns to the racial issue by saying “i know the teacher is partial to white and asian students and i know she graded my paper differently!” as a mother, how do i engage discourse about decolonial imaginary as perez (1997) has suggested, so that my daughter can recreate her experience as a positive event that is a site of resistance and mobilization? is this possible in the face of these happenings? i give my daughter consejos about my own experiences in taking standardized tests with fear because i have never told anyone this before. i share with her that i never did well in any test, not the sat, gre or any other standardized exam. i point out to her that the mere fact that she is in an honors class is an act of rebellion against white society that believes that latinas are not smart enough. she looks at me and says “i know, i know i don’t want to talk about this anymore.” she takes the test the following week, and she fails again. this time she is not as angry, and shares her test with me. we review it and strategize on how to pass. it just so happens that the book that she will be writing about is bless me ultima by rodolfo anaya16 . this is a book she knows well. the previous book was a standard book read in english class and she had no attachment to it. it is fortunate that she has come with me on 16. rodolfo anaya, bless me ultima (new york: warner books, 1999). 48 cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 several occasions to hear rodolfo anaya speak about his writings. all of a sudden, i see how history and culture can empower the next generation. i see her light up and build confi dence by the mere fact that the reading is something she understands and can relate to even if the gender of the character is not female. i remember her reading the book late at night laughing and talking endlessly about the characters to her sister and me. her father and i help her write a practice essay, and she does well. she is able to fully express how the book captures the coming of age of a young boy. she takes the test the next day and passes. on the way home she tells me “mom, i passed that test because i got what the book meant.” i asked her what she meant by this and she says, “i got what it means to learn with examples of your own culture. it just makes learning easier.” as delgado bernal argues my daughter is learning about being a latina through her own experience of racism. it is important to note that she also has an advantage in that her father and i both latinos with post-graduate degrees bring our educational capital and experiences to help her process her experiences. in terms of her psychological development she has used her own form of decolonial imaginary to construct her positive experiences with the exam. she determined that it was culture that allowed her to understand the assignment and she gained a sense of pride for being latina. this is not to negate the idea that she fully understands that her private school setting continues to perpetuate a racist stance but she now has some tools and experience by which to resist the onslaught of the assaults that will continue to come her way in the next four years of her high school experience. moving beyond mothering practices that use a decolonial imaginary there are also mothering practices that can be used in moments of everyday life in which social hierarchies can be suspended in safe spaces. mothering in suspended spaces gallegos-castillo (2006) has described, suspended spaces as moments of everyday life in which individuals can simultaneously suspend the social hierarchies that constrain their persona and operate in a space where there is safety and room for dialogue. my daughters and i have moments throughout the day in which we participate in these suspended spaces in which i share consejos and cuentos. for example, in the morning while we complete our morning routine my daughters and i discuss topics that have come up in school or contemporary political/social issues that impact latinas. these moments are usually short blips of time. it is through the day-today pláticas with my daughters that we gain strength and confi dence to carry out our daily tasks. i also use these spaces as a way for my daughters to see how my thoughts translate into how i create myself daily as a latina professional woman. latina scholars have argued that it is important for latinas to know their collective history in order to better appreciate their culture (anzaldúa, 1999; hurtado, 2000). teaching latina history in the home also becomes crucial given that the political environment of the united states at the moment is hostile towards the teaching of ethnic history in school settings. as mentioned previously, bills like arizona’s h.b. 2281 have prohibited public school teachers in the state from teaching chicana/o and latina/o history for fear that the teaching of this history would promote the “overthrow of the u.s. government.” therefore, my practice of teaching history as a cuento in the home is a rebellious act. this evidences the notion of “la cultura cura” when knowing our cultural history heals the wounds of our oppressive experience and creates young latina feminists with a guerrera spirit (hurtado, 2000). in teaching latina history to my daughters i may be at some advantage because i have been teaching an introductory chicano/a studies course that involves learning about historical chicano/a and latino/a events for several years. i often share the information i have learned with my daughters. we have lively conversations and all of us have benefi tted from reading chicana feminist theory. this knowledge informs our pláticas as we discuss the ways in which women are erased from historical accounts. we have also discussed the point that when men write history, women are usually in the background of the accounts given or they are passive at best and completely invisible at worst. just recently my eleven-year-old-daughter shared with me that her school is no longer going to celebrate cinco de mayo. i ask her why the school was no longer going to celebrate this holiday and she says, “because the principal said that it is unfair to only celebrate mexican holidays.” i think to myself “aha!” some scholars have suggested that claiming unfairness is code for saying that the history and culture of certain ethnic groups is not “american” history (bonilla-silva, 2010; takaki, 2008). i am torn about how to respond. i do not want to tell her 49 cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 something that in my mind makes me sound like a racist. bonilla-silva (2010) suggests that contemporary white americans have learned to be racist without racism—the idea of a post-racial, president obama colorblind society provides white america a passport to continue to be complicit with racist outcomes without the moral burden of overt racist intent. according to bonilla-silva, white americans have learned to “talk nasty about minorities without sounding racist” (2010, 2). he also points out that as the normative racial climate of the u.s. has changed dramatically the language of colorblindness is slippery, apparently contradictory and often subtle. it is in this context that the principal’s comment and change in curriculum is an example of this type of colorblind behavior. paradoxically, the principal justifi ed her actions as not being racist in that she eliminated the history of all ethnic minorities. apparently, it is not racism if all minority groups are discriminated against equally. so instead of trying to explain this concept to my daughter i ask instead “what do you think about what ms. kirk said?” she says “i think that sometimes the principal is being fair because then we would need to celebrate too many holidays for all the other cultures.” she goes on to say, “mommy i don’t know why but even though ms. kirk’s explanation makes sense it doesn’t feel right.” we discuss how it is important to listen to our feelings. i ask her why she thinks something does not feel right. she says, “because it feels like we are leaving stuff out.” we discuss how these feelings are good indicators that give us information about how individuals might really feel about an issue. i tell her “sometimes individuals are being racist and that it might be what they have been taught to do or say. these individuals have the wrong idea about individuals from other cultures and they might sometimes make us feel bad and we may not know why.” she says “yeah” as she thinks about what i have said. “mommy can a principal be racist?” i respond with “mija unfortunately anyone can be racist even your principal.” she thinks about my response for a while and says “but ms. kirk is nice.” i tell her “yes ms. kirk is nice and it does not prevent her from being racist.” i can sense that she is feeling confused. so i tell her “mija sometimes i feel confused about what people say and the way they act.” she says “yeah me too but mom i still like ms. kirk.” i tell her “mija it is okay for you to like ms. kirk i just want you to think about how she may not always be right.” she says, “okay but i can’t tell her that.” i respond “you don’t need to tell her anything else unless you want to.” she says, “no i’m good.” my hope is that she has learned that even people she admires can be racist and that we must always be vigilant about the reasons behind why people act the way they do. i also hope that what i teach her at home provides some buffering for what she experiences in school and she can continue to build positive self-agency despite the cognitive dissonance she experiences. conclusion and un consejo anzaldúa (1990) points out that we must create our own latina feminist theories and scholarship to understand, embrace, and celebrate our mujerismo. therefore, one of the goals of this essay was to demonstrate how latina mothering is a feminist praxis that creates mujerismo through the cultivation of a guerrera spirit. although there has been much written about latina feminist theory, there is relatively little written about how mothering is a feminist practice. therefore, pedagogical theories of mothering can teach the next generation of latinas to disrupt the current systems of oppression in a way that ensures their daily survival and allows these young women to avoid being complicit in their own subordination. this essay is one of the fi rst to explore the pedagogical implications that latina mothers can teach their daughters how to resist racism and sexism through cultural tools like cuentos, pláticas and consejos. as other scholars have done i have used the decolonial space coined by emma perez (1999) as a way to suggest that latina mothers can use this tool as a way to provide nurturing spaces that allow daughters to develop counter-narratives that facilitate their agency and wellbeing. i have also discussed the use of suspended spaces or instances in time where mothers and daughters can safely examine how racist behaviors impact the psychological wellbeing of both mothers and daughters. i propose that examining motherhood and daughterhood in this manner allows for a holistic, decolonizing education that gives latinas the power to thrive despite the endless degradation they face in their daily lives. finally, un consejo: i challenge latina mothers and daughters to look closely because somewhere in the dark shadows of a woman’s psyche we might fi nd that guerrera spirit waiting to be unleashed. 50 cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 references anzaldúa, g. (1990). making face, making soul/hacienda caras: creative and critical perspectives by feminist of color. san francisco: aunt lute press. anzaldúa, g. (1999). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. 2nd ed. san francisco: aunt lute press. briggs, c. (1986). learning how to ask: a sociolinguistic appraisal of the role of the interview in social science research. cambridge [cambridgeshire]: cambridge university press. bertaux, d., & kohli, m. (1984). the life story approach: a continental view. annual review of sociology, 10, 215-237. beverly, j. (2005). testimonio, subalternity, and narrative authority. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln, the sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 547-558). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. blackmeyer reyes, k., & curry rodriguez, j. e. (2012). testimonio: origins, terms and resources. equity and excellence in education, 45, 525-538. bonilla-silva, e. (2010). racism without racists: color-blind racism & racial inequality in contemporary america. new york: rowman & littlefi eld publishers, inc. cruz, c. (2006). toward an epistemology of a brown body. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas. (ed.) chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp.113-32). new york: state university of new york press. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-582. delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623-639. delgado bernal, d. (2006a). mujeres in college: negotiating identities and challenging educational norms. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp.77-79). new york: state university of new york press. delgado bernal, d. (2006b). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp.113-32). new york: state university of new york press. denner, j., & guzmán, b. (2006). latina girls: voices of adolescent strength in the united states. new york: nyu press. galarza, e. (1971). barrio boy. notre dame, in: university of notre dame press. gallegos-castillo, a. (2006). la casa: negotiating family cultural practices, constructing identities. in j. denner & b. guzmán (eds.), latina girls: voices of adolescent strength in the united states (pp. 44-58). new york: nyu press. hurtado, a. (2000). la cultura cura: cultural spaces for generating chicana feminist consciousness. construction sites: excavating race, class, and gender among urban youth, 274-289. hurtado, a. (2003). voicing chicana feminisms: young women speak out on sexuality and identity. new york, new york: nyu press. the latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham and london: duke university press. lomas, c. (ed.). (1994). the rebel: leonor villegas de magnon. houston, tx: arte publico press. moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (eds.). (1983). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (2nd ed.). new york, ny: kitchen table, women of color press. pardo, m. s. (1998). mexican american women activists: identity and resistance in two los angeles communities. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. perez, e. (1999). the decolonial imaginary: writing chicanas into history. bloomington and indianapolis: indiana university press. sandoval, c. (2000). methodology of the oppressed. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. takaki, r. (2008). a different mirror a history of multicultural america. new york: little, brown and company. vera, m. v., & quintana, s. m. (2004). ethnic identity development in chicana/o youth. in r.j. velásquez, l.m. arellano, & b. mcneill (eds.), the handbook of chicana/o psychology and mental health (pp.43-60). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. villarreal, j. a. (1959). pocho. garden city, ny: doubleday. villenas, s. (2006). pedagogical moments in the borderlands: latina mothers teaching and learning. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 147-159). new york: state university of new york press. villenas, s., & moreno, m.. (2001). to valerse por si misma between race, capitalism, and patriarchy: latina mother-daughter pedagogies in north carolina. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 5, 671-687. 51 cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering journal_2008._coverpage._final[1] 43 poetry the “born a” student by alfonso c. hernandez for a “born a” student at american high. i am not the cause of your unhappiness i am not here to soothe your failing tests four weeks per chapter your tests always half done and your parents will cancel your summer camp trip? you hate to study you hate to have homework everyday you hate to memorize and still want a “b?” because you were born obviously an “a” student. you listen to heavy metal and punk music you drink alcohol and tried pot and crack or some other newly invented chemical in raves to find the ecstasy of watching tv until 3 a. m. and you arrive to my class with no brain to learn. and i will be the cause of all your failures in life like not entering the university of your choice? photo by: veronica sanchez tlaxcala, méxico running head: standards for supervision volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 4 latina/o school principals as instructional leaders juan manuel niño the university of texas at san antonio frank hernandez southern methodist university fernando valle texas tech university jon mcphetres university of rochester abstract focusing on the fundamental purpose of schools as student learning, this exploratory study attempts to better understand the role of latino principals’ activities that are centered on the teaching and learning process. specifically, the authors were interested in comparing the instructional leadership literature (what do instructional leaders do) and analyze the time and tasks that describe how latino principals spend their time, and then compare these activites to yosso’s (2005) cultural wealth model. findings from our study revealed how principals create structures to prioritize instructional time by focusing on the relational aspect of the profession. top activities where latina/o principals spend most of their time include 33% in classrooms, 25% connecting with students, 23% pushing paperwork, 18% planning, 16% in meetings, 15% teaching training, and 14% in professional development. additionally, our study highlights barriers for latino school leaders indicating activities to reduce their time in meetings, student discipline, paperwork, and teacher administrator discipline. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.325 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.325 latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 5 introduction the term instructional leaders can be used to describe a principal’s major role in public schools today, yet the accountability demands of high stakes testing occupy principals with technical aspects of the profession which fail to focus on the major purpose of schools, centered on academic achievement. according to researchers and practitioners (backnor & gordon, 2015; gordon, 2005), the main goal and focus of a school is student learning. so, how does the principal shape and prioritize his or her administrative commitments to focus on increasing student learning? as instructional leaders, principals oversee the educational experiences that promote the most effective and exceptional manner to instruct students. as schools become more accountable for their student’s success, a principal has to be sensitive about students’ cultural backgrounds, value students’ prior learning experiences, and engage in dialogue with all educational stakeholders to build a community of learners in schools. the position is a vital link in helping ensure students’ academic success in a time of infatuation with testing and accountability (waite & nelson, 2005), and maximize the ability of the position (weller & weller, 2002). focusing on student learning as the fundamental purpose of schools, this study attempts to better understand the role of latino principals’ activities that are centered on the process of teaching and learning. specifically, the authors were interested in comparing the instructional leadership literature (what instructional leaders do) with the time and tasks that describe how latino principals occupy their day. then compare these activities to a framework (yosso, 2005) developed to address types of capital that educational leaders can use to frame their interactions with students and his or her organization. in other words, to what extent do latino school leaders’ tasks align with instructional leadership behaviors based on current literature and how do these tasks line up with yosso’s (2005) model of cultural wealth. one final important note to make is that the literature on educational leaders and instructional leadership has not often included leaders of color in general or latino school leaders specifically. consequently, our task here is to compare our findings with the literature and also develop baseline data on latino school leaders. literature review recently, the wallace foundation (turnbull, haslam, arcaira, riley, sincalir, & coleman, 2009) developed a time/task analysis tool that allows principals to keep track of their time as closely as lawyers may track their billable hours. the project, school administration manager (sam), addresses the issue that the multitude of management responsibilities deprives the school of a valuable instructionalleadership resource: the principal’s time. in this national project, each participating school hired a sam to assist the principal with administrative and managerial tasks. however, the wallace foundation found niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 6 that most principals overestimate the amount of time they spend on instruction. after completing the time/task analysis, the wallace foundation study found that principals spent 70% of their time on noninstructional duties such as “managing buses,” “student behavior,” and “dealing with teachers and families,” and 30% on instructional related matters (turnbull et al., 2009, p. 2). the sams nationwide study worked with 37 districts in 2008-2009. the original intent of the sam position was for districts to hire an additional staff member for the managerial aspect of the principal. the responsibility shifted over time, however, to an existing teacher or office staff member who took on this additional role. the 75 principals who completed the first full year reported an average increase of almost five hours per week to instruction-related tasks. findings suggest that in cases where sams, who did not have tasks delegated to him/her, the use of the principals’ time did not change. this study presents an interesting experiment in rethinking the role of the principal. the yearlong study did not radically alter the principal’s role. however, it demonstrated that there were other ways of envisioning how the principal can best serve the school. other authors (horng & loeb, 2010) have argued that the literature over time has changed regarding instructional leadership. for example, traditional instruction leadership has been characterized as a focus on teaching and learning. that is, those principals with a strong instructional leadership focus spent their time and efforts on curriculum and instruction. comparatively, that literature now concludes that instructional leadership should be focused in “organizational management for instructional improvement rather than day-to-day teaching and learning” (turnbull et al., 2009, p. 66). according to hoy and hoy (2006), principals’ primary responsibility is to establish a school climate that is conducive to providing effective instructional practices. as such, the principal’s role is centered on establishing working relationships with teachers with the goal of improving the teaching and learning paradigm. lunenburg (2013), similar to horng and loeb, (2010), contends that principals must shift the focus of instruction from teaching to learning so that principals and teachers form collaborative structures and processes to ensure instructional improvement. additionally, spillane, halverson, and diamond (2004) suggest instructional leaders construct an instructional vision so that discipline issues do not dominate instructional focus. however, given the current context of performance standards and accountability as a sole measure of learning, this can limit the scope of instructional practices. as a result of limited time for academic improvement, current leaders must develop the skills to collect and use multiple data sets to inform school decisions (king, 2002). therefore, it is important to understand how instructional leaders set a culture of continuous learning to know how these instructional practices evolve to meet the changing demographics and serve diverse students needs. latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 7 furthermore, horng, klasik, and loeb (2010) collected data by direct observation of 65 principals in a week. the researchers then created a multivariate framework to run regression analyses to investigate the relationships between use of time and school outcomes. findings indicated that time spent on organization management tasks was associated with positive school outcomes while time spent on day-to-day instruction had negative results. this study contends that a narrow focus of instructional leadership based on academics is not as productive as predicted. the authors contend that instructional leadership is more than working directly with teachers in the classroom. hoy and hoy (2006) believe the principal “is responsible for developing a school climate that is conducive to providing the very best instructional practices” (p. 2) and further explain that the principal leads the efforts for instructional leadership and is not solely responsible for the entire effort. six ways instructional leadership is enacted include: 1) strong focus that all students can learn (academic excellence); 2) excellence and improvement are continuous, thus require continuous monitoring; 3) teachers are the center of the instructional improvement; 4) principals must provide support and find resources; 5) principals must be intellectual leaders; and 6) celebrate academic excellence. hoy and hoy’s (2006) vision agrees with horng and loeb’s (2010) view that instructional leadership is not solely about instructional methods and supervision, but that it includes managerial and other leader behaviors (i.e. creating positive climate, securing resources, etc.). like hoy and hoy (2006), king (2002) identified 6 essential tasks that instructional leaders perform: 1) lead learning; 2) focus on teaching and learning; 3) develop leadership capacity; 4) create conditions for professional learning; 5) use data to inform decisions; 6) use resources creatively. king (2002) explains that instructional leadership techniques vary based on the needs of the campus. as such, a principal must know how to implement professional development programs that build professional learning communities to address curriculum, instruction, and assessment to fit the needs of the school. however, lunenburg (2013) argues that alignment of curriculum with instruction and assessment is a key dimensional activity to properly be an effective instructional leader. historically, initial leadership studies focused on personality traits of the top leader in an organization of great man theories. spillane et al.’s (2004) framework centers on “…a distributed perspective on human activity presses us to move beyond individual activity to consider how the material, cultural, and social situation enables, informs, and constrains human activity” (p. 10). according to spinalle et al. (2004), functions of an instructional leader include: 1) constructing and selling an instructional vision; 2) developing and managing a school culture conducive to conversations about the core technology of instruction by building norms of trust, collaboration, and academic press among staff; 3) procuring and distributing resources; 4) supporting teacher growth and development; 5) niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 8 providing both summative and formative monitoring of instruction and innovation; and particularly 6) establishing a school climate in which disciplinary issues do not dominate instructional issues. zepeda (2013) invites principals to view themselves as adult learners and understand the foundations of instructional leadership. to her, instructional leadership is composed of the following elements: 1) prioritization (of teaching and learning); 2) knowledge of scientifically based reading research (sbrr) to assist in material selection; 3) focus on alignment of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and standards; 4) data analysis; and 5) culture of continuous learning for adults. the following table presents common instructional traits found in the literature of instructional leadership. building on the findings from the review, the table highlights the practices associated with how principals establish and define instructional roles and responsibilities. table 1 instructional leadership traits hoy and hoy king (2002) lunenburg (2013) spillane, et al. (2004) zepeda (2013) (2006) provide support and resources x x x x focus on learning x x x x x continuous monitoring x x focus on teachers (growth and dev.) x x x x build culture of collaboration x x x use data to inform instruction x x x x intellectual leader (culture of continuous learning) x x x x align curriculum, instruction, assessment, and standards x x celebrate excellence x latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 9 latino school leaders what is clear about the literature review is that very few studies that have been conducted look specifically at latino leaders and the way in which they spend their time as principals. consequently, missing from the educational leadership literature is the knowledge, skills, and time on task of latina/o educational leaders. while some scholars (hernandez, murakami, & quijada cerecer, 2014; hernandez & murakami, 2016) have tried to capture the contributions that latina/o school are making in us public schools, much more work is needed. studies that investigated latina/o educational leaders vary from parent involvement issues (guerra & valverde, 2008), to leading schools with english language learners (delahunty, 2011; madrid, 1985), and understanding pathways to the superintendency (dillard, 2003). the majority of studies on latino school leaders are unpublished dissertations with a focus on the southwest united states (i.e. carrion-méndez, 2009; cassidy, 2002; davila, 2002; enriquez-damian, 2009; gallegos, 2006; garcia, 2010). adding to the limited latino/a educational leadership skills scholarship, perez (2016) conducted a study focused on latina/o social justice leadership and instructional practices in elementary schools with high numbers of english language learner and economically disadvantaged students. the study identified social justice leaders and examined instructional practices by latino/a principals. the principals provided evidence of implementing tenants of social justice leadership in their daily work to narrow the learning and achievement gap, to build community, and used the understanding of diversity to add value of student learning in schools. as instructional leaders, latina/o principals analyzed data to figure out specific learning goals and targets for ell and underperforming students, and communicated these efforts clearly to staff. additionally, differentiation was adopted with response to intervention (rti) and found highly supported by social justice advocates (theoharis, 2009). in another study, boykin & noguera (2011) found that teachers and principals who focused on daily academic vocabulary building and provided a variety of learning methods to build background knowledge were successful in closing literacy and opportunity gaps). perez (2016) found the latina/o principals outreach efforts were commonplace to inform families, include parents as valuable stakeholders, and make school’s learning and student achievement goals transparent. latinas in educational leadership the research on latina school leaders saw momentum in the 1980s but has slowed in the recent research in school leadership. the initial research on latina leaders focused on structural barriers and on career mobility, barriers, and career paths (armendariz-housen, 1995; avalos & niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 10 salgado, 2016; byrd, 1999; carr, 1996; fleming, 1991; galloway, 1986; madrid; 1985; orta-camilleri, 1999; ortiz, 1982; peery, 1998). common barriers for latinas include negotiating a balance in family, religion, community, and careers. an additional element in the work of latinas has been their commitment to social justice leadership (hernandez, murakami-ramalho, quijada cerecer, 2014; méndez-morse et al., 2015; murakami & hernandez, 2013). latinas are also present in studies reporting on ethnic identity and its impact on management and leadership styles (armendariz-housen, 1995; byrd, 1999; trujillo-ball, 2003). armendariz-housen (1995) demonstrated how latina/o culture influences leadership development and roles. these discussions emanate from latinas working as administrators in white male-dominated educational institutions (armendariz-housen, 1995; carr, 1996; loebe, 2004; méndez-morse, 2000; ortiz, 1982; ortiz & venegas, 1978). in fact, the literature asserts that a relationship exists between latina/o racial identity and leadership practices (hernandez, 2015, 2012, 2005; rodríguez, murakami-ramalho & ruff, 2009). other studies examine the relationship among culture, ethnicity, and gender on latina leadership styles (avalos & salgado, 2016; carrion-méndez, 2009; enriquez-damian, 2009; gallegos, 2006; hernandez, 2005; loebe, 2004). indeed, there is a paucity of literature on latinos and school leadership. as the demographics change and the latino student population continues to grow, we must look carefully at approaches to leadership that mirror these changing demographics. theoretical framework there is a long-held belief from scholars of color that theoretical frameworks and research that addresses the sociohistorical conditions of people of color generally and latinos specifically have been racist and have not been considered legitimate within the research community (see anzaldúa, 1990; collins, 1991; scherich & young, 1997). it is critical, then, that a appropriate and culturally relevant theoretical framework be used to examine latino school leaders time on task. as such, we used yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model as one way of looking closely at the work of latino principals and how the use of their time aligns or does not align with yosso’s work. yosso’s (2005) six part cultural wealth model is comprised of six types of capital wealth that are often forgotten or invisible to others conducting work with latino youth. the six forms of cultural wealth include: 1) aspirational, 2) linguistic, 3) familial, 4) social, 5) navigational, and 6) resistance. aspirational wealth is the notion that students have hopes and dreams and look to parents, elders, and other community leaders to remind them of the importance of persistence in the face of inequities and unjust practices. it is this aspirational wealth were others provide consejos (advice) to keep dreaming and hoping for a brighter future. the second tenet of yosso’s (2005) model is linguistic latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 11 wealth. linguistic wealth is related to the ability of understanding the assess and strength in being bilingual, one’s ability to speak english and spanish. this cultural wealth allows individuals to build bridges across communities and navigate multiple contexts that require dual language approaches. the third type of cultural wealth is familial wealth. this types represents social support that individuals get from their immediate and extended family members. familial wealth often comes with wisdom and beliefs that family is critical and that all success is for the family. social capital wealth is where individuals utilize their friendships, peers, and other social networks to learn and deveop social capital. students may also develop strong relationships with other latino peers and community leaders as they create more important networks. navigational wealth refers to an individual’s ability to navigate different institutions including social and educational institutions. navigational capital allows individuals to move within supportive and hostile work environments. finally, resistant wealth is related to how individuals leverage social justice work conducted on their behalf to work through the challenges that they will experience. it prepares them to face and overcome the academic and social barriers that they will face as they nagivate society. this data will be filtered through this framework to give a more authentic voice to the ways in which latino school leaders spend most of their time to complete instructional tasks. methods this study, called the national latino leadership project (nllp), recruited 231 participants via email invitations, which described the study as a “texas-wide survey of latina/o leaders.” participant email addresses were obtained from the state education records organization which tracks school administrators based on a variety of demographic data. the survey took about 10 minutes to complete and questions utilized both short-essay responses as well as likert-type scale formats; participants were not required to complete all questions and some participants skipped certain questions. the participants were 91 males and 125 females, ranging in age from 28 – 73 years (m= 47.45, sd= 9.04). the majority (58%) of the participants identified as hispanic, with the rest identifying as mexican (20%) and latina/o (7%). less than 1% (n = 2) identified as puerto rican, and 9% identified as “other.” eighty-six percent of participants were born in the united states, 10% were born in mexico, and 3% selected “other”. of the participants born in the united states, 88% (n = 162) were born in texas. ninety percent of participants reported their ability to speak a language other than english, most often indicating fluency in spanish. on average, participants reported that they speak spanish with students, or with the families of students, about half of the time. additionally, 76% of participants indicated that their ethnicity has “rarely” or “never” created barriers or problems in their work as an niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 12 administrator. in fact, 61% reported that their racial or ethnic background positively impacted their work as an administrator (16% responded “neutral”), with 66% indicating that this helped them connect with students (14% responded “neutral”). participants were also asked to indicate the highest level of education they have achieved. only 2% (n = 4) indicated their highest level of education as a bachelor’s degree; 63% indicated receiving a master’s degree; 16% indicated the education specialist certification, and 20% reported having earned a doctorate degree. the majority of participants (81%) currently served as school principals and 10% served as superintendents. only 7 participants were assistant principals, and 11 participants indicated holding another administrative position. the participants were most likely to have earned their principal or superintendent certification at a public (83%) or private (10%) university; very few (n = 4) indicated earning certification from an online university or a liberal arts college (n = 1). additionally, only 27% of participants (n = 57) indicated that they began their education at a community college. likewise, most (75%) of participants indicated that they were “well prepared” or “very well prepared” when they began their current position. for the purpose of this article, we focused on the following research questions according to the self-reporting of latino school leaders: (1) what activities do latino school leaders spend their time enacting? (2) how much of their time is spent on instruction and how much time is spent on management? (3) what tasks do latino leaders report wanting to do more or less of? (4) are their current efforts impacting student learning based on the instructional leadership literature? findings this study highlights how latino/a principals spend their time in instructional leadership activities. the present data include both latina and latino principals’ perspectives. after disaggregating the data, the study found that the latino principals reported spending most of their time performing the following activities: latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 13 table 2 activities principals spend most time spending most time planning 41% connecting with students 36% in classrooms 30% paper work 27% professional development 20% teacher/administrator training 20% supervising extra curricular activities 18% in meetings with parents or community 17% student discipline 12% teacher/administrator discipline 7% when asked what activities they would like to spend less time doing, the following results surfaced: table 3 activities principals would like to spend less time spending less time student discipline 83% in meetings regarding the school or district 81% teacher/administrator discipline 80% paper work 78% supervising extra curricular activities 54% in meetings with parents or community 24% teacher/administrator training 19% professional development 13% planning 6% in classrooms 2% connecting with students 1% niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 14 finally, when asked what activities they would like to spend more time on, the following were the results: table 4 activities principals would like to spend more time spenidng more time in classrooms 73% professional development 70% connecting with students 66% teacher/administrator training 62% in meetings with parents or community 61% planning 55% supervising extra curricular activities 29% teacher/administrator discipline 16% student discipline 9% in meetings regarding the school or district 7% paper work 0% after analyzing the results and reviewing the literature regarding instructional leadership practices of latino and latina school administrators, data suggest participants are interested in spending time on their own professional development as it relates to training and planning. principals are also interested in spending more time with students, families and communities, and in classrooms. the data might also suggest that in order to be an effective instructional leader, principals must be in the classrooms working with teachers and students. for instructional leadership to be effective, it must be context specific and align with school and students needs. additionally, most of the principals described professional development activities as workshops or trainings along with visits to other campuses for instructional practices. when compared, latinos and latinas had a statistically significant difference on one item, with 19% of latinas spending the majority of their time on teacher and admin training, but only 8% of latinos spend time doing this same thing χ2 (1) = 8.53, p = .003. latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 15 discussion one important aspect of instructional leadership is knowing effective components of a strong curriculum. hallinger and murphy (2013) assert that the use of instructional leadership as a means for school improvement requires creative solutions to help principals fulfill these expectations. barriers to instructional leadership practices include limited expertise with content standards. as hallinger and murphy (2013) point out, it is unrealistic for a secondary principal to know all the curriculum. one principal in this study noted, “developing and aligning curriculum and assessments in high school courses is a challenge. the need to show student progress through data becomes a challenge when i have yet to see alignment across the state in these areas. how can i tell if my students are achieving the appropriate measurements at the appropriate dates, according to state graduation requirements of end of course exams?” however, school leaders who join the administrative ranks need to view their role as leaders who transform schools into environments of learning through guidance and support (weller & weller, 2002). as such, participants from this study highlight the need to continue professional development to improve instructional practices centered on students’ needs. some principals point out the instructional challenges leaders encounter when improving the teaching and curricular practices campus wide. as one participant stated, “one of the biggest challenges is to get all students on level. students have academic needs and we try to provide research based interventions to students to get them on level.” while another participant noted, “the biggest challenges are working with students who come to school and do not know the english language and lack educational experiences.” individuals in this position must not infuse themselves into managerial roles as they are better suited to maintain the status quo, but view themselves as educational agents who seek change, transformation, restructuring, and reform (waite & nelson, 2005). principals need to become involved with improving curriculum and instruction by creating new projects to increase student achievement and designing essential environments for student learning (holmes, 1999). principals must know that a viable curriculum is a combination of opportunity to learn and time (marzano, 2003) which focus on content, thinking skills and processes, and accountability to measure student achievement (tyler, 1949). in preparing to lead for diverse schools, educational leaders must be culturally aware of the school’s students of color and poverty. principals, as instructional leaders, need to be well versed with cultural relevant pedagogy to fully immerse the aspect of claiming leadership and ensure learning opportunities for all. according to ladson-billings (1995), educational leaders need to consider the academic success that all students must experience: “despite the current social inequities and hostile classroom environments, students must develop their academic skills….literacy, numeracy, social….to niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 16 active participants in democracy (p. 160).” also, schools must “develop and maintain student’s cultural competence by utilizing student’s culture as a vehicle for learning (ladson-billings, 1995, p. 161).” and finally, “develop a critical consciousness to challenge the status quo and critique social norms, values, and morals (ladson-billings, 1995, p. 162).” normalizing practices and values in schools is one way to limit the opportunity for authentic learning. implications for research and practice the continued challenge for k-12 school leadership insists on the effective balance of leading the daily complexities of managerial tasks and impacting teachers and students through instructional leadership. effective instructional leaders are intensely involved in curricular and instructional issues that directly affect student achievement (cotton, 2003). as society and students in the classroom become more diverse, so does the importance of understanding students on their own terms, and a failure to do this, or acquire the knowledge and skillset to do this could be detrimental to the success of millions of students (ladson-billings, 2013). examining the time on task of latino principals in this exploratory study impacts the direct needs of the school community, specifically addressing the instructional needs of culturally and linguistically diverse k-12 student populations. the time on tasks school principals spend has implications for all students, especially the most diverse populations. an effective principal can move a school and stakeholders toward vibrant growth for sustainable school improvement initiatives. ladson-billings (2013) further argues that the notion of the achievement gap casts blame on individual students, parents, schools and teachers without looking at the structural inequalities that have been at work since the establishment of the nation. reimaging and reframing the principalship through affective, cultural, linguistic, and cognitive frames provides latino k-12 school leaders an opportunity to dismantle the continued achievement gap and existing structural inequalities. ladson-billings (2013) further contends the achievement gap discourse suggests that each individual is responsible for his or her own educational circumstance. with this approach, black and brown students need to “catch up” to their white counterparts without acknowledging the ways that catching up is made near impossible by the many structural barriers the society has imposed on them. the structural inequalities and barriers imposed on students of color in our schools, which ladson-billings (2013) references, provides the charge for continued exploratory studies and development of constructs for latino principals to explore their time on task performance and time spent as a possible barrier to support opportunities for equity, student achievement, and social justice frames in schools. yosso’s (2005) cultural wealth model and framework provide the frame to drive this exploratory study and contribute to the work on latina/o school principals and latino educational latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 17 leadership leaders (méndez-morse, murakami, byrne-jiménez, & hernandez, 2015; murakami, hernandez, méndez-morse, & byrne-jiménez, 2016; prieto, & niño, 2016; rodríguez, martínez, & valle, 2015). it is important to continue framing instructional leadership and the work of the principalship through cultural wealth models to provide actionable leadership competencies and constructs that impact students of color in public schools, and bring culturally relevant leadership to impact the persistent achievement gap between white, black and latino students. as population demographics continuously shift, so too must the leadership practices and school contexts that respond to the needs that accompany these shifts. it is the job of instructional leaders to develop and improve teachers’ craft in ways that result in improved student outcomes, but this must be done with cultural responsiveness (khalifa, gooden, & davis, 2016). this study also intends to advance transformative leadership work in schools, further develop the theory of transformative leadership, and more importantly connect it directly to the work of school leaders, assessing its potential in practice to offer a more inclusive, equitable, and deeply democratic conception of education (shields, 2010). conclusion today, a principal’s focus is multidimensional. the role continues to change. they need to be a visionary, communicator, instructional coach, and developer (holmes, 1999; spillane et al., 2004; zepeda 2013). instructional leaders of schools are required to construct community and foster a culture of collegiality, trust, and bond where a principal fosters a climate that motivates teachers to be innovative and critical thinkers. furthermore, a latino principal needs to help establish an environment where creativity and collaboration is valued to create an inclusive environment for students and teachers. instructional leaders must model innovative practices, from building community and creating a shared leadership to challenging the status quo and giving autonomy back to the teaching profession. additionally, latino principals need to trust and form meaningful working relationships with teachers and celebrate the culture of school and community. by allowing teachers to instill life-long learning in students, latino principals encourage the individuals, both teacher and student, to think critically and value the process of learning and not an end product. however, given the findigns from this exploratory study, many latino principals still struggle with creating a balance with instructional practices and managing administrative responsibilities. as such, principals who spend time away from the classroom are not able to impact more directly curricular changes and advance social justice practices. it is our contention, that further studies investigate how latino leadership on time and task efforts impact instructional improvement so that all students have an equitable opportunity of quality instruction. such niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 18 information would help university professors better prepare aspiring and current leaders understand the demographic shift and cultural differences of communities. latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 19 references anzaldúa, g. (1990). haciendo caras, una entrada. in g. anzaldúa (eds.), making face, making soul hacienda caras: creative and critidal perspectives by feminists of color (xv-xxviii). san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. armendariz-housen, l. (1995). reflective narratives of eight hispanic women administrators (doctoral dissertation). new mexico state university, las cruces, nm. avalos, m., & salgado, y. (2016). legacy of hope: latinas overcoming barriers to success. national forum of educational administration & supervision journal, 34(4), 24-31. backnor, k. t., & gordon, s. p. (2015). preparing principals as instructional leaders: perceptions of university faculty, expert principals, and expert teacher leaders. nassp bulletin, 99(2), 105-126. boykin, a.w., & noguera, p. (2011). creating the opportunity to learn: moving from research to practice to close the achievement gap. alexandria, va: ascd byrd, m. (1999). a study of the differences among african-american, hispanic, and anglo women on the perceived barriers and strategies to career advancement in public school administration (doctoral dissertation). florida international university, miami, fl. carr, c. (1996). mexican american female principals. journal of california association of professors of educational administration, 8, 93-102. carrion-méndez, j. m. (2009). latinas as school superintendents in arizona: voices from the field, hope for the future (doctoral dissertation). arizona state univeristy, tucson, az. cassidy, e. a. k. (2002). a delicate balance: equality, non-discrimination and affirmative action in namibian constitutional law, as compared to south african and us constitutional law (masters thesis). university of stellenbosch, stellenbosch, south africa. collins, p. h. (1991). black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. new york, ny: routledge. cotton, k. (2003). principals and student achievement. alexandria, va: association for supervision and curriculum development. davila, g. h. (2002). factors influencing career decisions to pursue the position of superintendent as identified by hispanic and anglo female administrators in texas public schools (doctoral dissertation). texas a&m university, college station, tx. delahunty, g. (2011). untold stories: perspective of principals and hispanic parents of english language learners (doctoral dissertation). university of cincinnati, cincinnati, oh. dillard, e. a. (2003). hispanic superintendents: challenges and opportunities in the new millennium (doctoral dissertation). stephen f. austin state university, nacogdoches, tx. enriquez-damian, e. (2009). leadership among latina women in education: challenges and rewards (doctoral dissertation). arizona state university, tucson, az. fleming, k. a. (1991). mentoring is it the key to opening doors for women in educational administration? education canada, 31(3), 27-33. gallegos, l. e. (2006). latinas: life histories and the factors that influence success (doctoral dissertation). colorado state university, fort collins, co. galloway, p. (1986). long-term fluctuations in climate and population in the preindustrial era. population and development review, 12, 1–24. gordon, s.p. (ed.). (2005). standards for instructional supervision: enhancing teaching and learning. larchmont, ny: eye on education. niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 20 guerra, p. l., & valverde, l. a. (2008). latina/o communities and schools: tapping assets for student success. education digest: essential readings condensed for quick review, 73(6), 4-7. hallinger, p., & murphy, j. f. (2013). running on empty? finding the time and capacity to lead learning. national association of secondary school principals bulletin, 97(1), 5-21. hernandez, f. (2005). the racial identity development of selected latino school principals and its relation to their leadership practice (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of wisconsin-madison, madison, wi. hernandez, f. (2012). racial identity development in principal-preparation programs: linking theory to practice. in c. boske & s. diem, (eds.), global leadership for social justice: taking it from the field to practice—advances in educational administration (pp.103–118). bingley, uk: emerald group publishing. hernandez, f. (2015). “why did he think i was the custodian or the maintenance person?” the challenges of balancing love, life, and work. in f. hernandez, e. murakami, & g. rodriguez (eds.), abriendo puertas, cerrando heridas (opening doors, closing wounds): latinas/os finding work-life balance in academia (pp. 3-10). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. hernandez, f., & murakami, e. (2016). brown-eyed leaders of the sun: a portrait of latina/o educational leaders. charlotte, nc: information age publishing. hernandez, f., murakami-ramalho, e., & quijada cerecer, p. (2014). a latina principal leading for social justice: the influences of racial and gender identity. journal of school leadership,24(4), 568-598. holmes, j.a. (1999). increasing the leadership role of the assistant principal. schools in the middle, 8(5), 13-16. horng, e., klasik, d., & loeb, s. (2010). principal's time use and school effectiveness. american journal of education, 116(4), 491-523. horng, e., & loeb, s. (2010). new thinking about instructional leadership. kappan, 92(3), 66-69. hoy, a. w., & hoy, w. k. (2006). instructional leadership: a research-based guide to learning in schools (2nd ed). boston, ma: allyn and bacon. khalifa, m. a., gooden, m. a., & davis, j. e. (2016). culturally responsive school leadership a synthesis of the literature. review of educational research, 84(4), 1272-1311. king, d. (2002). the changing shape of leadership. educational leadership, 59(8), 61-63. ladson-billings, g. (1995). but that is just good teaching! the case for culturally relevant pedagogy. theory into practice, 34, 161-165. ladson-billings, g. (2013). “stakes is high”: educating new century students. the journal of negro education, 82(2), 105–110. loebe, a. y. (2004). educational leadership for school change: stories by six latina elementary school principals (doctoral dissertation). university of arizona, tucson, az. lunenburg, f. c. (2013). the principal as instructional leader. national forum of educational administration and supervision journal, 30(2), 30-40. madrid, s. e. (1985). the effects of socialization on goal actualization of public school chicana principals and superintendents (mexican-american, hispanic) (doctoral dissertation). university of washington, seattle, wa. marzano, r. (2003). what works in schools: translating research into action. alexandria, va: association for supervision and curriculum development. méndez-morse, s. (2000). claiming forgotten leadership. urban education, 35(5), 584-596. latina/o school principals as instructional leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 21 méndez-morse, s., murakami, e. t., byrne-jiménez, m., & hernandez, f. (2015). mujeres in the principal’s office: latina school leaders. journal of latinos and education, 14(3), 171-187. murakami e., & hernandez, f. (2013). latino/a leadership: racial-identity fostering social justice. in j. brooks & n. whitherspoon (eds.), racism and educational leadership (pp. 49-74). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. murakami, e. t., hernandez, f., méndez-morse, s., & byrne-jiménez, m. (2016). latina/o school principals: identity, leadership and advocacy. international journal of leadership in education, 19(3), 280-299. orta-camilleri, e. l. (1999). shattering the glass ceiling: critical reflections of latina educational site administrators and what influenced their successes: a participatory study (doctoral dissertation). university of san francisco, san francisco, ca. ortiz, f. i. (1982). career patterns in education: women, men, and minorities in public school administration. new york, ny: praeger. ortiz, f. i., & venegas, y. (1978). chicana [female] school administrators. emergent leadership, 2(2), 55– 60. peery, k. l. (1998). hispanic women in leadership: a multicase study. (doctoral dissertation). university of nebraska-lincoln, lincoln, ne. prieto, l., & niño, j. m. (2016). latin@ school leader epistemologies: a co-created sentipensante testimonio. national forum of educational administration and supervision journal, 29(1), 54-63. rodríguez, c., martínez, m. a., & valle, f. (2015). latino educational leadership across the pipeline for latino communities and latina/o leaders. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(2), 136-153. rodríguez, m., murakami-ramalho, e., & ruff, w. (2009). leading with heart: urban elementary principals as advocates for students. educational considerations 36(2), 8-13. scheurich, j. j., & young, m. (1997). coloring epistemologies: are our research epistemologies reacially biased? educational researcher, 26(4), 4-16. shields, c. m. (2010). transformative leadership: working for equity in diverse contexts. educational administration quarterly, 46(4), 558-589. spillane, j. p., halverson, r., & diamond, j.b. (2004). towards a theory of leadership practice: a distributed perspective. journal of curriculum studies, 36(1), 3-34. theoharis, g. (2009). the school leaders our children deserve: seven keys to equity, social justice, and school reform. new york, ny: columbia university teachers college press. turnbull, b. j., haslam, m. b., arcaira, e. r., riley, d. l., sinclair, b., & coleman, s. (2009). evaluation of the school administration manager project. washington, dc: policy studies associates, inc. trujillo-ball, l. a. (2003). mexican american female principals and their chameleon identity: working against socially constructed identity in a prominently white school district (doctoral dissertation). university of austin, austin, tx. tyler, r.w. (1949). basic principles of curriculum and instruction. chicago, il: university of chicago press. waite, d., & nelson, s. w. (2005). educational leadership reconsidered. la revista española de pedagogía, 63(232), 389-406. weller, l. d., & weller, s. j. (2002). the assistant principal: essentials for effective school leadership. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press, inc. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? race, ethnicity and education, 8(1) 69-91. niño, hernandez, valles, & mcphetres association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 22 zepeda, s. j. (2013). the principal as instructional leader: a practical handbook (3rd ed.). larchmont, ny: eye on education. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 223 latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions: where is the diversity? frances contreras university of california, san diego abstract diversity in higher education with respect to faculty composition and executive leadership remains an elusive goal for many institutions of higher education. over thirty years of research on faculty of color in academe has found that the pipeline for faculty of color still remains a significant challenge across higher education institutions and sectors (turner, gonzalez, & wood, & 2008). for hispanic-serving institutions, that possess a diverse base of students, faculty diversity, and the presence of latino faculty, plays a critical role in academic excellence, mentorship and overall climate (milem, 2003; santos & acevedo-gil, 2013). this study examined two systems of higher education in california to explore the trends in latino faculty diversity, given the critical mass of latino undergraduates at both the community college and california state university systems of higher education. findings suggest a disconnect between student diversity and tenure line faculty diversity exists. for hsi systems, like those present in california, faculty diversity may play an even greater role in raising latino college completion, ultimately transforming the next generation of latinos in california. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.368 contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 224 introduction faculty diversity in higher education, particularly in hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) and minority serving institutions, (msis) is considered an important component of academic excellence, particularly for public institutions that have an additional layer of responsibility to educate and serve the state population. hsis play a distinct role in educating large numbers of latinx students, and are increasingly seen as avenues for raising latinx college completion rates by policy making bodies and higher education institutions. faculty play a critical role in fostering students with the critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills in higher education (gurin, 1999; milem, 2003). and diverse faculty consider mentoring the next generation of students of color and first generations as a personal responsibility, given their experiences in the academy, often being “the first” or “only faculty member” in their respective departments (turner & gonzalez, 2014). faculty diversity plays a key role in providing students with access to mentors, role models, diverse perspectives and approaches to pedagogy in college which helps to challenge the world views of college students and helps them to develop their critical thinking and analytical skills (hurtado, 2001; hurtado & ruiz, 2012, hurtado & ruiz alvarado, 2015; umbach, 2006; turner, 2015). diverse faculty are more likely to mentor students of color, have larger advising loads than their peers, are more engaged with student organizations, and are called to service more often than non-diverse faculty (baez, 2000; griffin, 2012; lopez figueroa & rodriguez, 2015; turner, 2015). lopez figueroa and rodriguez (2015) for example, present a new framework for the mentoring, acknowledging how “mentoring is a racially and culturally mediated experience, instead of a race neutral, objective interaction” (p. 23). that is, for students of color operating in the meritocratic hierarchical academy of higher education, mentoring is often happenstance, and less targeted for students of color. we see this when students of color lack mentors from their fields due to the dearth of latino or faculty of color in their departments, where they are left to find mentors on their own, often from different fields of study (lopez figueroa & rodriguez, 2015). exposure to diverse mentors is an important element to academic success, post graduate aspirations and preparation. since college for many undergraduate students also represents a critical stage in student identity formation and goal setting, having access to diverse faculty plays an even greater role in exposing students to multiple perspectives, expertise, and potentially a shared experience, latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 225 culture or language (turner, 2015). however, postsecondary institutions and systems typically have struggled with increasing and sustaining underrepresented faculty diversity, even if the student body has become increasingly diverse over time, as is the case for the two-year community college system and the four-year california state university system in california. for hispanic-serving institutions, much of the attention is being placed on student services and outcomes rather than the infrastructure that exists to support student academic success. that is, it is equally critical to examine the infrastructural elements within colleges and universities that may better support historically underrepresented, first-generation latino students to succeed in college. faculty diversity (among tenure line faculty) has been noted as an important feature within postsecondary institutions (hurtado & ruiz, 2012; turner, gonzalez, & wood, 2008; turner, 2015) for student support through diverse pedagogies, perspectives, and course content, which is integrally intertwined with promoting academic excellence (hurtado, 2001). this article presents an examination of faculty diversity in two large systems of higher education in california, specifically the california community colleges and the california state university systems which serve the majority of latino college students in the state of california. while each institutional sector has unique priorities and overarching missions, the dearth of latinos in tenure line faculty positions is a common feature across these institutional contexts, particularly given the unprecedented demographic growth of latino students in these respective systems in the past fifteen years. because california is home to 152 hispanic-serving institutions (excelencia in education, 2016), the limited representation of latinos in tenure line faculty positions suggests the need for greater succession planning efforts that specifically addresses diversity. it is even more critical for such systems to reflect on the infrastructure that exists to better serve latino students to ensure they are not commodified for enrollment numbers (contreras-mcgavin, 2009), rather chicano/latinx students are strategically invested in and cultivated for academic success, graduation and graduate school enrollment. for hsi systems, like those present in california, faculty diversity may play an even greater role in raising latino college completion and transform the next generation of latinos in california (contreras & contreras, 2015). contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 226 relevant literature research related faculty diversity has been applied to higher education generally (see turner, gonzalez, & wood, 2008), and less so to hispanic-serving institutions with respect the the limited pool of latinos in administrative and executive positions (santos & acevedo-gil, 2013). faculty diversity has been noted as an important feature of academic excellence in postsecondary institutions because it enhances the overall learning experience of college students through the classroom environment, research experiences, and campus climate (hurtado, 2001; gurin et al., 2002). particularly for underrepresented students in higher education, faculty of color play a pivotal role in mentorship and research apprenticeship, as they are more likely than their peers to mentor historically underrepresented students (milem, 2003). faculty diversity also has the potential to provide a pathway for diverse campus leadership and latinos in administrative positions (haro & lara, 2003; santos & acevedo-gil, 2013) within higher education institutions and systems. impact on student success literature related to the impact of faculty diversity on student outcomes and success has been limited (jacobi, 1991; umbach, 2006; sedlacek et al., 2007). umbach (2006) conducted a national study of 13,499 faculty at 134 colleges where he explored the role of faculty of color on select student outcomes. he found that faculty of color contribute to the education of their students in important ways, including utilizing diverse pedagogical approaches with their students, providing broader course offerings to students, and they were more likely to interact with their students more frequently than their white counterparts (umbach, 2006). umbach argues that “greater structural diversity leads to an increased use of effective educational practices” with their students. this study represents one of the first attempts to quantify faculty practices and levels of engagement with their students, noting distinct approaches by racial and ethnic background as well as gender. hurtado and ruiz-alvarado (2015) also examined the role that instructors within hsis play in utilizing a student centered approaches to pedagogy that better engaged latino students, including reflective writing practices, critical discussions, group projects and journaling practices (hurtado & ruiz, 2015). their study further strengthens earlier arguments made in the higher education literature on the value of diverse faculty as having an impact on student outcomes latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 227 (umbach, 2006). therefore, hsis play a critical role in providing a more engaging academic context that supports student learning and represents tangible approaches to “serving” latino students. núñez (2015) notes the existence of empirical evidence to suggest that hispanic serving institutions do in fact make distinctive efforts to “serve” their latino students. however, the retention and graduation rates, longer completion rates, also suggest that a greater critical mass of latino faculty and faculty of color might greatly improve the ability of hsis in optimally serving their growing latino student bodies (contreras & contreras, 2015). in one of the most relevant studies related to the impact of faculty diversity on student outcomes, tran, gaetane, powers, bell, and sanders (2016) examines the role that faculty play in the success of graduate students (n=198) as their work toward their graduate degrees. using survey data from graduate students on the role of institutional resources and agents in supporting their degree completion, laitno students were more likely to acknowledge that faculty mentors played a significant role in their academic success compared to their peers. the study further found that because latinx students do not possess comparable levels of social capital to their peers and are largely first-generation college students, faculty play an even greater role in supporting their academic pathway and success because they helped to facilitate social capital (tran et al., 2016, p. 5). this study conveys the critical role that faculty mentorship plays in the pathways and lives of latinx graduate students attending graduate programs in an hispanic-serving institution and the potential that exists for such efforts to facilitate graduate degree completion, doctoral degree enrollment and ultimately transition to faculty roles in hsis. systemic diversity in an extensive critical literature review of faculty of color in academia, turner et al. (2008) examined twenty years of literature related to the experiences, supports and challenges that faculty of color encountered at the departmental, institutional and national contexts (turner et al., 2008). this work sheds light on the challenges and supports necessary to increase faculty diversity in higher education. the central challenges identified through this rigorous literature review were primarily related to the documented barriers to promotion and tenure among faculty of color, such as tokenism, institutional racism, navigating departmental politics, and salary inequities. the article further noted best practices that had measurable contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 228 impact on faculty of color who where successful in academia, including the importance of mentorship, institutional policies and merit practices that recognized contributions to diversity, and salary equity. for the few studies related to faculty diversity within hsis, the unit of analysis for these studies has been on the institutional leaders, noting the needs that exist within hsis (de los santos & de los santos, 2003; de los santos & vega, 2008) or the trends in the dearth of faculty and leaders as it applies to four-year institutions (santos & acevedo-gil, 2013). for example, de los santos jr. and de los santos (2003) conducted a study of chancellors, presidents, and ceos of hispanic-serving institutions using a survey that explored the central issues and challenges they faced as leaders within their institutions. with a sample of 91 university presidents and ceos, de los santos jr, and de los santos (2003) found that hsi leaders noted funding, technology, and faculty as their top three concerns in managing their institutions. faculty diversity, specifically “the ability to attract qualified faculty—especially hispanic and other underrepresented groups” was raised as a key challenge within the hsi leaders surveyed (de los santos, jr., & de los santos, 2003, p. 385). hurtado and ruiz (2012) provide an important yet critical overview of hispanic-serving institutions and offer a new framework for understanding this institutional type. they note in particular that there are “multiple aspects of institutional identity and transformation” that have been difficult to identify given the ever changing nature of hispanic-serving institutions and the degree to which the hsi identity is adopted by postsecondary institutions (hurtado & ruiz, 2012, p. 9). that is, colleges may have a critical mass of latino students, the 25% required to be labeled and hsi, however, in practice may not have full adopted this identity with respect to tailoring essential services for latino students to be academically successful (contreras, malcom, & benison, 2008; hurtado & ruiz, 2012). rightfully, hurtado and ruiz (2012) acknowledge that the hsi identity is an “evolving concept” (p. 9). finally, in a report card on latina/o leadership in california’s public universities, santos and acevedo-gil (2013) take a systemic approach in examining latino faculty, students and executives, in the csu and uc systems. however, this analysis was focused on latino faculty within two systems, not necessarily the hsis within these respective systems. they explored the overall status of diversity across these subgroups of stakeholders in these two public systems of higher education and found that the uc system and csu system has a sizable gap in latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 229 the number of latino executives and faculty in both systems, requiring them to better plan for the continued demographic shifts california will witness among the pool of prospective college students. this article extends the work of santos and acevedo-gil (2013), by concentrating on the california state university system, that i consider to be a largely hsi system, with over 78% of its colleges officially reaching the hsi designation over the past 20 years. however, since the majority of latino students that transition to college in california begin their postsecondary path in the community college system, this study also examines the two-year public education system that has also transformed into an “hsi system” in the past twenty years in california. challenges to latinx faculty: the postsecondary pipeline there are several reasons for smaller pools of chicano/latinx faculty across fields compared to their peers. well documented issues of persistence help to explain the limited number of chicanx/latinx faculty across the united states, including: academic challenges based on attending low resource schools in k-12, high levels of remediation, being first-generation without a clear understanding of college options, expectations and competitive environments, limited access and knowledge of academic supports, and working more than 20 hours per week (contreras, 2011; gandara & contreras, 2009; perna, 2010; reyes & nora 2005). another well documented phenomenon for latinx students in higher education is the pipeline, or pool of students that diminishes as students’ progress through higher education. overall, the trends of latinx students enrolling in four-year institutions immediately after high schools has been lower than their peers, as noted in figure 1. since 1976, latinx progress in four-year degree enrollment has remained largely flat until recent years (gandara & contreras, 2009). contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 230 figure 1. percent of students in four-year postsecondary institutions by race/ethnicity, select years 1976-2014. adapted from nces (2016). figure 2. college completion rates by race ethnicity, students entering college 2010. adapted from national clearinghouse research center (2017). 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0 1976 1980 1990 2000 2005 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 white black hispanic asian/pacific islander american indian/alaska native latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 231 one of the most critical challenges is the lower college completion rates among latinx students compared to their peers. if students are not completing their undergraduate degrees, then transition to post baccalaureate degrees influences are also limited. hsis for example, while possessing critical masses of latino students, struggle with college transfer and completion rates for the myriad of reasons noted above (contreras & contreras, 2015). figure 2 shows the national completion rates for latinx students enrolled in four-year colleges. shapiro et al. (2017) found the lowest overall four-year completion rates among latino and african american students and higher proportions of latinx students no longer enrolled in college after a six-year period. these data also convey higher departure rates for latino and african american students compared to all other groups examined. it is not surprising then, why a limited pool of students exists at the doctoral level, and graduate degree production is limited. table 1 shows the percentage of doctorate degrees conferred in the aggregate by race/ethnicity from 1976 through 2015. the national data confirms the majority of students earning doctorate degrees in the united states remains individuals from white backgrounds, while latinos remain less than 8% of all doctorate degrees conferred since 1976. concerted efforts therefore are critical to improving doctorate degree production for latinx students in order to increase faculty diversity in postsecondary institutions. contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 232 table 1 doctor's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and sex of student: selected years, 1976-77 through 2014-15 year white black latino asian/ pacific islander american indian/ alaska native 1976-77 91.9 4.1 1.8 1.9 0.3 1980-81 90.9 4.2 2.1 2.4 0.3 1990-91 86.2 4.7 3.4 5.4 0.4 1998-99 78.3 6.7 4.7 9.6 0.7 1999-2000 77.9 6.6 4.7 10.0 0.7 2000-01 77.0 6.6 4.9 10.8 0.7 2001-02 76.5 7.1 4.9 10.8 0.7 2002-03 76.2 7.0 5.1 11.1 0.7 2003-04 75.8 7.2 5.2 11.1 0.7 2004-05 75.8 7.2 5.2 11.1 0.7 2005-06 75.6 7.1 5.2 11.4 0.8 2006-07 74.8 7.4 5.2 11.8 0.7 2007-08 75.0 7.3 5.3 11.7 0.7 2008-09 74.6 7.5 5.5 11.7 0.7 2009-10 74.4 7.4 5.8 11.8 0.7 2010-11 73.2 7.5 6.0 11.8 0.7 2011-12 72.5 7.8 6.1 11.9 0.6 2012-13 71.6 7.8 6.5 11.9 0.6 2013-14 70.4 8.1 6.8 12.2 0.6 2014-15 69.3 8.4 7.2 12.2 0.6 note. adapted from nces, table 324.20. latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 233 hispanic-serving institutions in california california is home to one of the most diverse base of residents in the nation largely due to the ongoing demographic growth of the mexican american/latinx community. latinos in california represented 39% of the state’s population in 2015, surpassing the white population, which constituted 37% of the state’s residents (u.s. census bureau, 2016). california is unique in that it has surpassed the white population and now represents a state where latinos, african americans, asian americans, american indians, and mixed-race residents together, constitute the majority of the state’s residents. as a result of this tremendous diversity, the composition of k-12 schools has also changed, with latino students comprising over 54% of k12 students in 2016. latino students are a large base of students that institutions of higher education will need to recruit as they work to secure their undergraduate enrollments. the community college system in california is the largest two-year college system in the united states, with 113 institutions serving 2.1 million students in 2016 (csu chancellor’s office, 2016). the mission of the california community colleges, like other two-year college systems, is to provide open access to postsecondary institutions for the state’s residents. the community college system in california is also the most diverse, with over half percent of its students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. in addition, 42.5% of the students attending california’s community colleges in 2015 were chicano/latino. the community college system in the state however, has long struggled with two-year completion and transfer to the four-year sector for its underrepresented students. because the community college system in california is so robust, understanding how to better serve the critical mass of latino students in this system, is increasingly relevant for the system to explore and take action. the california state university serves over 473,000 students system-wide, and is extremely diverse, with latinos constituting 37% of the csu system in 2015. white students comprise the second largest group attending the csu system, with 25.7% in 2015. in addition, eighteen out of the twenty-three csu campuses are designated as hispanic-serving institutions. the csu system is also widely known for preparing california’s teacher workforce, with the majority of csus offering teacher credentials and special certifications to teach at the k-12 level. contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 234 postsecondary policy context in 2012, the california legislature passed the student success act of 2012, which attempted to restructure student success and establish a framework to improve the overall outcomes of community college students in the state. this act provides a framework for assessment for all community colleges, and placed an emphasis on raising the completion rates for historically underrepresented students in the community college system. however, previous research challenges the efficacy of the rubrics used by the scorecard, given that the model is largely focused on a full time student population. yet, the majority of students of color are enrolled part-time in the community college system which presents challenges for accurately accounting for their time-to-degree, hours spent working, and time-to-transfer rates (contreras & contreras, 2015). the bill does however, provide additional infrastructure and assessment support for the community colleges and attention to this population with respect to student achievement and outcomes. however, assessment that replicates and outdated model, one that doesn’t fully acknowledge the student population it serves, limits the overall picture and our understanding of student progress and academic success (contreras & contreras, 2015). the csu system also has a college completion initiative, called the csu graduation initiative, gi 2025 initiative, mandated in part, through assembly bill 1602 in 2016. the bill was passed as part of the budget act “the library services act of 2016” and provides a one-time $35 million grant funding for all campuses within the csu system to focus on increasing graduation rates, develop and adopt a graduation rate improvement plan. specifically, by 2025, all csus are expected to raise their four-year college completion rate to 40% and their six-year graduation rate to 70%, and eliminate all achievement gaps that exist for special populations (e.g., pell eligible, first-generation, etc.) (csu graduation initiative, 2025). this ambitious policy framework responds to the ongoing criticism of the system for its graduation rates, particularly among latino and underrepresented students. latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 235 methods for the purpose of this article, systemic data were utilized to assess student and faculty trends, including historical data from cpec (california postsecondary education commission), 1 data mart from the california community college system and the office of analytic studies from the csu system. for the community college system in california, data was used to analyze faculty diversity over a fifteen-year period. disaggregated faculty data by race/ethnicity and student level data were acquired from datamart, a secondary data system managed and overseen by the california community college chancellor’s office. student diversity was also analyzed to provide valuable context for the transformation that has occurred within the california two-year system to becoming an hsi system. descriptive statistics and analyses are relevant to understanding the baseline for faculty diversity as well as trends over time. for the california state university system, data was analyzed using the secondary data reported by the office of analytic studies for the csu system, which collects data from all 23 csu campuses with respect to enrollment, graduation, staffing and select outcomes like retention and graduation. in addition, secondary data and reports produced by the california faculty association were utilized for this analysis. finally, historical data from the california postsecondary education commission also complemented the office of analytic studies for both the community college and csu systems for historical trend data. analysis this analysis highlights and expands upon previous work that notes the disconnect between rapid demographic shifts in higher education in california, with sizable proportions of latino students entering the two-year community college and four-year csu systems, and the limited growth of latino tenure line faculty in these respective systems (santos & acevedo-gil, 2013; contreras & contreras, 2015). at the same time, the csu system and the community college systems have their own respective completion initiatives, have garnered financial support from the california legislature, and have developed metrics focusing solely on student outcomes rather than also assessing the infrastructural changes necessary to sustain academic support and degree completion. 1 data however from cpec was unavailable as of 2010 when the commission was closed due to funding. contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 236 student enrollments over a fifteen-year period in the california community college system for example, shows chicano/latinx student enrollments have steadily increased. the fact that 95 of the community colleges can be considered hispanic-serving institutions (84%), based on their latino student enrollment greater than 25%, the system can largely be considered an hsi system. no other system of higher education in the united states has the level of student diversity that exists in the california community college system. however, as noted in previous research on hsis, access alone does not necessarily translate into student success (contreras et al., 2008) nor an institutional mission, identity, and effort to raise latino student academic outcomes. figure 3 shows the growing and steady gap in student enrollment between latinos and whites, a phenomenon that continues to widen. chicano/latino students constitute the single largest ethnic group enrolling california community colleges. figure 3. trends in community college enrollment in california, latinos & whites, 2000-2015. adapted from california postsecondary education commission. the faculty data for the california community colleges across select years since fall 2000, show a very different story from the student enrollment growth seen in figure 1, one of ongoing underrepresentation of latino faculty across the same years examined. while modest improvement over a fifteen-year period has occurred, it has not kept pace with the sheer 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00% 45.00% 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 community college enrollment, 2000-2015 latino white latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 237 volume of latino students entering the community colleges in california. and the largest growth in faculty members has occurred among the lecturer pool of faculty, a less secure line of faculty employment, and with varying levels of access to voting rights within academic departments. given the demographic transformation of the community college system over the past twenty years, it is increasingly important to examine the faculty diversity trends, given the benefits having a diverse faculty has on students of color in higher education. a few trends in the community college faculty data in table 1 are important to note. first, that the latino faculty pool has witnessed growth, however, there remains a significant gap between the proportion of tenure line faculty and students across the community college system. in fact, the majority of latinos in faculty positions, with respect to critical mass, are seen in the temporary pool of instructors since 2000 with 2,994 latinos in this pool compared to 75% (n=27,131) of white instructors in the temporary pool in 2000; and 5,004 of latinos compared to 26,185 of white temporary faculty in 2015. the greatest percentage growth, five percent between 2000-2015, also occurred among this pool of temporary community college instructors growing from 45.2% of instructors in 2000 to 47.5% in 2015. it is important to note that the data are limited in understanding whether the faculty that began teaching in the system as temporary faculty actually acquired more permanent positions within the system. however, it suggests that the greatest faculty investment being made by the state’s community college system is in the temporary pool of faculty members rather than tenure line faculty. tenured faculty in academic positions from 2000-2015 showed a decline overall, going from 20.8% in 2000 of faculty to 19.9% in 2015. in terms of overall staff in the community college system, the temporary pool of faculty, as seen in table 2, comprise the largest proportion of employees (48% in 2015) across the system. the challenge with having temporary faculty is the limited ownership these faculty members possess to contributing to curriculum expectations and standards, lack of office space and comparable voting rights to tenured faculty members and overall lack of integration to the academic department and overall campus climate. the community college tenure line faculty pool is important to monitor for a number of reasons. first, students of color are in need of academic connections when they are on campus. having role models who share a common experience, culture, language, or history provides students with a tangible connection to their college environment. second, faculty of color are contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 238 more likely to mentor students of color and take on a sizable advising and mentorship load, ranging from undergraduate research projects, to serving as mentors (ie., puente mentors) or faculty (milem, 2003; turner, 2015; contreras & gandara, 2006). third, tenured line faculty members become part of the pool poised to become department and institutional leaders. the educational administrator data for example, showed latinos at 17.2% in 2015 compared to 54.8% of whites in this same leadership category. having diversity in the tenured faculty pool establishes a base and primer for institutional leadership and diversity to be cultivated and developed (haro & lara, 2003; santos & acevedo-gil, 2013). for these reasons, having faculty members that are tenured rather than occupying the broad pool of contingent/temporary faculty is critical to creating an infrastructure that supports academic development, support and ultimately institutional success. the temporary pool is also important to assess given the larger critical mass of this group. these are the instructors that are more likely to teach the students in need of development courses, rather than the tenure faculty in a given community college setting. a significant challenge exists within community colleges, with respect to motivating more senior and seasoned faculty to teach the students in need of the greatest academic support (contreras & contreras, 2015). as a result, temporary faculty are more likely to teach the students with the highest level of academic support needs while the tenure line faculty possess greater input on their course schedules. community college faculty are often quick to place the onus of achievement on students rather than critically explore the role of faculty in student failure rates in remedial track courses. in addition, tutoring and academic supports are first noted as the solution, rather than assigning tenured faculty members to teach the developmental courses where students in need of highly skilled instructors first enroll (contreras & contreras, 2015). the california state university system the csu system is also one of the largest public higher education systems in california, serving close to half a million students. the greatest growth in the number of students in the csu system has occurred among the chicano/latino student population while other groups have remained relatively flat or declined in student enrollment from 2006-2015. as more latino students constitute the k-12 system in california (55% in 2016), and seek postsecondary latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 239 table 2 california community college faculty by race/ethnicity & level, 2000-2015 fall 2000 fall 2000 fall 2005 fall 2005 fall 2010 fall 2010 fall 2015 fall 2015 employee count employee count (%) employee count employee count (%) employee count employee count (%) employee count employee count (%) state of california total 80,377 100.00% 86,791 100.00% 89,033 100.00% 89,104 100.00% educational administrator total 1,818 2.26% 1,932 2.23% 2,031 2.28% 2,025 2.27% african-american 202 11.11% 201 10.40% 202 9.95% 216 10.67% american indian/alaskan native 24 1.32% 21 1.09% 16 0.79% 15 0.74% asian 116 6.38% 136 7.04% 147 7.24% 174 8.59% hispanic 248 13.64% 290 15.01% 306 15.07% 348 17.19% multi-ethnicity 0.00% 0.00% 12 0.59% 19 0.94% pacific islander 4 0.22% 7 0.36% 7 0.34% 14 0.69% unknown 29 1.60% 62 3.21% 115 5.66% 129 6.37% white non-hispanic 1,195 65.73% 1,215 62.89% 1,226 60.36% 1,110 54.81% academic, tenured/tenure track total 16,689 20.76% 17,594 20.27% 18,086 20.31% 17,709 19.87% african-american 1,072 6.42% 1,100 6.25% 1,110 6.14% 1,032 5.83% american indian/alaskan native 183 1.10% 199 1.13% 167 0.92% 127 0.72% asian 1,184 7.09% 1,412 8.03% 1,501 8.30% 1,681 9.49% hispanic 1,742 10.44% 2,009 11.42% 2,320 12.83% 2,650 14.96% multi-ethnicity 0.00% 0.00% 96 0.53% 188 1.06% contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 240 pacific islander 29 0.17% 37 0.21% 99 0.55% 93 0.53% unknown 265 1.59% 434 2.47% 1,004 5.55% 999 5.64% white non-hispanic 12,214 73.19% 12,403 70.50% 11,789 65.18% 10,939 61.77% academic, temporary total 36,335 45.21% 40,122 46.23% 41,029 46.08% 42,325 47.50% african-american 1,762 4.85% 1,930 4.81% 1,995 4.86% 2,125 5.02% american indian/alaskan native 321 0.88% 317 0.79% 293 0.71% 280 0.66% asian 2,363 6.50% 3,158 7.87% 3,452 8.41% 4,280 10.11% hispanic 2,994 8.24% 3,815 9.51% 4,412 10.75% 5,503 13.00% multi-ethnicity 0.00% 0.00% 123 0.30% 420 0.99% pacific islander 82 0.23% 114 0.28% 209 0.51% 258 0.61% unknown 1,682 4.63% 1,979 4.93% 3,225 7.86% 3,274 7.74% white non-hispanic 27,131 74.67% 28,809 71.80% 27,320 66.59% 26,185 61.87% classified total 25,535 31.77% 27,143 31.27% 27,887 31.32% 27,045 30.35% african-american 2,740 10.73% 2,556 9.42% 2,383 8.55% 2,220 8.21% american indian/alaskan native 307 1.20% 290 1.07% 265 0.95% 213 0.79% asian 2,526 9.89% 3,199 11.79% 3,323 11.92% 3,277 12.12% hispanic 4,974 19.48% 6,167 22.72% 6,773 24.29% 7,505 27.75% multi-ethnicity 0.00% 0.00% 145 0.52% 319 1.18% pacific islander 106 0.42% 143 0.53% 190 0.68% 209 0.77% unknown 756 2.96% 837 3.08% 1,671 5.99% 1,554 5.75% white non-hispanic 14,126 55.32% 13,951 51.40% 13,137 47.11% 11,748 43.44% note. adapted from california community college data mart. latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 241 options close to home (perez & mcdonough, 2008; turley, 2006) the csu system is a viable option for students transitioning to college. these trends illustrate how the system has transformed into an hsi system given the ongoing growth trends in latino student enrollment. chicano/latinx students are attending the csu system in large numbers, given the strong preference of latinx students to remain closer to home or live at home during their undergraduate years (desmond & turley, 2009; hurtado, 1997). latinx students are therefore more likely than their college going peers to only apply to regional institutions. thus, in a state like california, this segment is likely to become even more diverse, as more latinx students graduate high school and transition to college. figure 4. enrollment in california state university system by race/ethnicity 2006-2015. adapted from california faculty association (2016). figure 5 further shows the difference between faculty diversity and student enrollment by race/ethnicity across csu campuses. the percentage of latino faculty is almost three times less than the critical mass of latino students in the csu system. while few would argue that faculty parity with the student demographic composition is a requirement for student success or outcomes (jacobi, 1991), having access to latino and diverse faculty that has been documented in the field of higher education as having a strong commitment to mentoring, a greater likelihood of mentoring students of color, offer more regular and critical feedback, and 0 10 20 30 40 50 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 csu student enrollment by race/ethnicity, 2006-15 mexican american/latino white asian american black contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 242 engage in diverse modes of pedagogical delivery are factors that faculty of color contribute toward in postsecondary institutions (lopez figueroa & rodriguez, 2015; milem, 2003; turner, 2015; turner & gonzalez, 2014). figure 5. faculty diversity compared to students, 2015. adapted from california faculty association (2016). in addition to understanding the composition of faculty diversity compared to students, it is also important to assess faculty diversity by rank. table 3 delineates the percent of csu faculty by race/ethnicity in fall 2015. the data show similar trends to the cc system in california, with the latino lecturer pool comprising the largest proportion of faculty in the system at 10.4% compared to 8.3% of professors, and 9.1% of assistant professors. latino faculty are the least likely to be in the full professor rank, and associate professor (tenured) ranks compared to assistant professors and lecturers. conversely, the greatest proportion of white faculty in the csu system are at the rank of full professor (68.4%) and associate professor at 59.2%. across all categories of faculty in the csu system, white faculty are the majority by a sizable proportion. the challenge and opportunity for these respective public higher education systems is to move beyond acknowledging the limited diversity of their respective professoriates, and to also establish tangible efforts to alter the composition of their faculty by expanding the pools of fte faculty and mentoring latinx and diverse faculty hires to cultivate their success within the institution and system. the limited proportion of latino full professors suggest a limited likelihood of tenure and security of employment beyond the latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 243 assistant professor rank. literature on this drop off from the assistant level to full professor has pointed to the level of racial privilege that exists in the professoriate nationally (contreras & gandara, 2006; haro & lara, 2003; jayakuma et al., 2009). table 3 percentage of csu faculty by race/ethnicity & rank (percent), fall 2015 race/ethnicity full professor associate professor assistant professor lecturer white 68.4 59.2 54.3 64.2 asian/pacific islander 16.5 20.3 20.2 10.7 latina/x 8.3 8.2 9.1 10.4 black 3.1 4.9 3.9 4.0 american indian .6 .6 1.0 .7 note. adapted from california faculty association (2016). because lecturers are a group of non-tenure line faculty that has expanded over the past two decades in the csu system, it is important to also examine this pool of faculty within the csu system. lecturers represent a pool with less job security and autonomy within the csu system, and their employment is contingent upon the demand for courses within a given department, existing faculty loads, and content knowledge/expertise of the lecturer. they also do not have the same departmental standing as tenure line faculty members within a given department. however, empirical evidence related to the impact of contingent faculty on undergraduate education remains difficult to assess (contreras & contreras, 2015; jacobi, 1991; umbach, 2006). the csu lecturer data shows the majority of latino faculty designated as lecturer a, which is the entry level lecturer, and less likely to be at level d, the highest level of lecturers within the csu system. while this is snapshot data for the fall 2015, the data clearly conveys the opposite for white lecturers in the csu system. the majority (81.4%) of lecturers in level contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 244 d are white, and the smallest percentage are classified as lecturer a. however, white lecturers represent the majority across all of the lecturer levels represented. given that in recent years in the csu system (california faculty association, 2016), the greatest growth in table 4 percentage of csu lecturers by race/ethnicity & rank (percent), fall 2015 race/ethnicity lecturer a lecturer b lecturer c lecturer d white 61.6 65.8 73.3 81.4 asian/pacific islander 10.3 11.1 11.8 8.3 latina/x 12.7 8.0 5.9 6.2 black 4.1 4.1 2.6 1.4 american indian .7 .8 .4 0 note. adapted from california faculty association. (2016). faculty positions has occurred among the lecturer pool, it is important to note that faculty diversity is a challenge for this pool of faculty members in the csu system. a stronger infrastructure to cultivate the lecturer pool that tends to be more diverse than the tenured line faculty, is one approach to ensure greater diversity across all lecturer classifications, including level d. recommendations the following recommendations are intended to provide additional considerations for postsecondary systems that are evolving into hispanic-serving systems, in an effort to assist colleges and universities move from latino enrolling to serving latino students (contreras & contreras, 2015; malcom, 2010). states like texas, florida, arizona, new york, and new mexico, that have sizable latino populations that continue to constitute a larger proportion of the k-12 sector, have a vested interest in strategically planning for the wave of latino students that will transition to college in california and across the country. latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 245 1. better data systems to support cross segment analysis and ongoing critical research on faculty trends. data systems are not seamless in california and the state lacks an integrated system of data collection that researchers and campuses can use for comparative analyses. cpec for example in california, which housed data from all systems of higher education, at one time was a highly valuable resource for cross segment comparisons, and added an additional layer of accountability for data accuracy in reporting. however, it was defunded in 2011, leaving the valuable infrastructure built to serve the state in the hands of each respective system of higher education. as a result, each system has its own data collection approach, portals, websites and interfaces that are not directly comparable and have to literally be developed by each entity that engages in conducting cross segment analysis. 2. research on contingent faculty and their role in supporting undergraduate students in hispanic-serving institutions (in both the two-year and four-year sectors). it is important to understand the shifts in contingent faculty that have occurred in hsi systems, as well as the drop off over time that has occurred among faculty attempting to move to secure lecturer levels and positions within two-year and four-year systems. the current model inhibits a foundation for relationship building and mentorship among students, due to the limited stability contingent faculty experience in academic departments. thus, it is increasingly important to understand how to create a network and infrastructure that supports temporary and contingent faculty, while questioning the value, utility and trade-offs for having a less stable and financially rewarded faculty pool provide a sizable teaching role in hsi systems. 3. research on the relationship between faculty diversity and student engagement, mentorship practices, departmental climates, within hsis. there needs to be greater research and academic discussion on the relationship between faculty diversity and the gi 2025 initiative. that is, how might faculty of color support the graduation initiatives in the csu system as well as the strategic goals of the community college success act of 2012. as noted in this article, the research contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 246 documenting student academic outcomes and faculty diversity is limited (jacobi, 1991; sedlacek et al., 2007) in part due to the evaluation processes by campus that varies greatly. it is important to understand the impact of programs or initiatives on practices within the infrastructures of these respective systems and ultimately the outcomes of these higher education policies. 4. examine the infrastructure that exists for non-tenured (but tenure track) assistant professors. examine and create an infrastructure for support among faculty of color at the assistant professor level that actively invests in their career and positive transition to tenure at the associate professor level. it is important for hsi systems to cultivate a critical mass of faculty that have a track record of giving back through being mentors to undergraduates, supervising research and are engaged with the local latino and diverse communities surrounding hsis. 5. establish and utilize offices of diversity and equity to support, develop and monitor faculty recruitments and retention efforts. it is critically important to educate faculty on the importance of recognizing and combatting implicit bias that inhibits hiring diverse candidates in searches (see turner, 2002). while diversity offices in higher education institutions are not new to the postsecondary sector, not all campuses in the csu or cc systems have these offices, and responsibilities vary, with a primary focus on student services, campus diversity and campus climate. greater effort and attention is necessary to better understand the role faculty play in establishing a climate of inclusiveness, engagement, civility, and critical consciousness within hsis and hsi systems. conclusion parallels exist between the csu and california community college system with respect to a greater reliance on temporary or contingent faculty, fewer latinos in the tenured pool of faculty, and limited mobility for latino faculty in the lecturer pools. the data presented shows an upward trend for both hsi systems as well, with latino enrollment steadily increasing over the past fifteen years examined. however, student enrollment growth has not translated into greater levels of faculty diversity, despite what we know about the benefits of having role latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 247 models and instructors that are more likely to serve as mentors and provide research opportunities to students of color in postsecondary contexts. taking a systemic approach to postsecondary sectors that have become hsi systems is a critical aspect of raising latino college transfer and completion, which ultimately has the potential to expand the pool of graduate students and future faculty members. systemic policies that call for increasing faculty diversity in tenure line positions, examining supports for assistant professors in tenure track lines, support for contingent faculty, and building a strong infrastructure that includes best practices for latino student success, are critical for hsi systems as they work to better serve their critical mass of latino students. as more latinx students transition to public postsecondary colleges, their success is intertwined with the economic sustainability of california. greater faculty diversity can serve as a catalyst for increasing college completion and empowering latinos to further contribute to the social, economic and political fabric of communities, states and this nation. contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 248 references assembly bill 1602. california library services act. a bill of the california state assembly. baez, b. (2000). race-related service and faculty of color: conceptualizing critical agency in academe. higher education, 39(3), 363-391. california faculty association. (2016). changing faces of the csu faculty and students volume vi publication of the california faculty association. cfa equity conference, los angeles, ca. contreras, f., & gandara, p. (2006). latinas/os in the ph.d. pipeline: a case of historical and contemporary exclusion. in j. castellanos & a. gloria (eds.), journey to a ph.d.: the latina/o experience in higher education (pp. 91-111). sterling, va: stylus publishing. contreras, f., malcom, l., & bensimon, e. (2008). hispanic-serving institutions: closeted identity and the production of equitable outcomes for latina/o students. in gasman, m., baez, b., & c. turner (eds.), understanding minority-serving institutions (pp. 71-90). albany, ny: state university of new york press. contreras, f. (2011). achieving equity for latino students. new york, ny: teachers college press. contreras, f., & contreras, g. (2015). raising the bar for hispanic-serving institutions: an analysis of college completion and success rates. journal of hispanics in higher education, 14(2) 151–170. contreras-mcgavin, m. (2009). racing? to transform colleges and universities: an institutional case study of race-related organizational change in higher education. dissertation, university of southern california. los angeles, ca. may 2009. de los santos, a. g., & vega, i. i. (2008). hispanic presidents and chancellors of institutions of higher education in the united states in 2001 and 2006. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(2), 156-182. desmond, m., & turley, r. (2009). the role of familism in explaining the hispanic-white college application gap. social problems, 56(2), 311-334. excelencia in education. (2016). hispanic-serving institutions, 2014-15 at a glance. washington, dc: excelenica in education. january 2016. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsi-cp2/research/hsis-at-glance gandara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. griffin, k. (2012). learning to mentor: a mixed methods study of the nature and influence of black professors’ socialization into their roles as mentors. the journal of the professoriate, 2(6), 27-58. gurin, p. (1999). expert report of patricia gurin. in the compelling need for diversity in higher education, gratz et al. v. bollinger et al. no. 97-75231 (e.d. mich.) and grutter et al. v. bollinger et al. no. 97-75928 (e.d. mich.) (pp. 99-234). ann arbor, mi: the university of michigan. gurin, p., dey, e. l., hurtado, s., & gurin, g. (2002). diversity and higher education: theory and impact on educational outcomes. harvard educational review, 72, 330–366. latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 249 haro, r., & lara, j. f. (2003). latinos and administrative positions in american higher education. in j. castellanos & l. jones (eds.), the majority in the minority: expanding the representation of latina/o faculty, administrators, and students in higher education (pp. 153-165). sterling, va: stylus. hurtado, s. (2001). linking diversity with educational purpose: how the diversity impacts the classroom environment and student development. in g. orfield (ed.), diversity challenged: legal crisis and new evidence (pp.187-203). cambridge, ma: harvard publishing group. hurtado, s., kurotsuchi inkelas, k., briggs, c., & byung-shik, r. (1997). differences in college access and choice among racial/ethnic groups: identifying continuing barriers. research in higher education, 38, 43–75. hurtado, s., & ruiz, a. (2012). realizing the potential of hispanic-serving institutions: multiple dimensions of institutional diversity for advancing hispanic higher education. white paper prepared for the hispanic association of colleges and universities, san antonio, texas. hurtado, s., & ruiz alvarado, a. (2015). discrimination and bias, underrepresentation, and sense of belonging on campus. los. angeles, ca: higher education research institute. jayakumar, u., howard, t., allen, w., & han, j. (2009). racial privilege in the professoriate: an exploration of campus climate, retention & satisfaction. the journal of higher education, 80(5), pp. 538-563. laden, b. v. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions: what are they? where are they? community college journal of research and practice, 28, 181-198. malcom, l. e. (2010). hispanic-serving or hispanic enrolling? assessing the institutional performance of public 4 year hsis and emerging hsis. paper presented at the american education research association, denver, colorado. milem, j. f. (2003). the educational benefits of diversity: evidence from multiple sectors. in m. chang, d. witt, j. jones, & k. hakuta (eds.), compelling interest: examining the evidence on racial dynamics in higher education (pp. 126-69). stanford, ca: stanford university press. nun ̃ez, a. m., sparks, p. j., & hernandez, e. a. (2011). latino access to community colleges and hispanic-serving institutions: a national study. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(1), 18-40. núñez, a. m. (2015). hispanic-serving institutions: where are they now? a discussion paper prepared for “hispanic-serving institutions in the 21st century: a convening.” ut el paso. santiago, d. a., & andrade, s. j. (2010). emerging hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): serving latino students. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http:/www.edexcelencia.org/gateway/download/2261/1405004649 santos, j. l., & acevedo-gil, n. (2013). a report card of latina/o leadership in california’s public universities: a trend analysis of faculty, students, and executives in the csu and uc systems. journal of hispanic higher education, 12(2), 174-200. contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 250 sb 1456. student success act of 2012. a senate bill of the california legislature. sedlacek, w. e., benjamin, e., schlosser, l. z., & sheu, h. b. (2007). mentoring in academia: considerations for diverse populations. in t. d. allen & l. t. eby (eds.), the blackwell handbook of mentoring: a multiple perspectives approach (pp. 259-280). malden, ma: blackwell. shapiro, d., dundar, a., huie, f., wakhungu, p., yuan, x., nathan, a & hwang, y. a. (2017, april). a national view of student attainment rates by race and ethnicity – fall 2010 cohort (signature report no. 12b). herndon, va: national student clearinghouse research center. tran, n., gaetane j. m., powers, k. bell, s., & sanders, k., (2016). using institutional resources and agency to support graduate students’ success at a hispanic-serving institution. education sciences, 6(28),1-14. turner, c. s. v. (2002). diversifying the faculty: a guidebook for search committees. washington, dc: association of american colleges and universities. turner, c. (2015). mentoring as transformative practice: supporting student and faculty diversity. new directions in higher education, 171. tuner, c. s. v., & gonzález, j. c. (eds.). (2014). modeling mentoring across race/ethnicity and gender: practices to cultivate the next generation of diverse faculty. sterling, va: stylus publishing. turner, c. s. v., gonzalez, j., & wood, l. (2008). faculty of color in academe: what 20 years of literature tells us. journal of diversity in higher education, 1(3), 139-168. umbach, p. d. (2006). the contribution of faculty of color to undergraduate education. research in higher education, 47(3), 317-345. umbach, p. d. (2007). how effective are they? exploring the impact of contingent faculty on undergraduate education. the review of higher education, 30.2(2006), 91-123. latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions: where is the diversity? frances contreras university of california, san diego abstract introduction relevant literature impact on student success systemic diversity challenges to latinx faculty: the postsecondary pipeline figure 2. college completion rates by race ethnicity, students entering college 2010. adapted from national clearinghouse research center (2017). table 1 hispanic-serving institutions in california postsecondary policy context methods analysis the california state university system table 2 figure 5. faculty diversity compared to students, 2015. adapted from california faculty association (2016). table 3 table 4 recommendations conclusion references contreras-mcgavin, m. (2009). racing? to transform colleges and universities: an institutional case study of race-related organizational change in higher education. dissertation, university of southern california. los angeles, ca. may 2009. ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 11 ternura y tenacidad: testimonios of latina school leaders melissa a. martinez texas state university jocabed marquez texas state university yvette cantú texas state university patricia a. rocha texas state university abstract this study utilized testimonio as method to unearth the voices of four latina school leaders from the southern region of the u.s. to shed light on their experiences, including triumphs and struggles, in navigating their career trajectories. the testimonios revealed distinctions as well as commonalities among the latina administrators related to how they drew on their experiential knowledge and various forms of cultural capital in the process of their leadership development and roles. how they enacted agency, demonstrated signs of resistance and/or a commitment to social justice, and serving latinx communities also emerged. ternura y tenacidad: testimonios of latina school leaders within a week [as assistant principal], i remember coming out of my office one day and there were four moms up in the front who were talking to the receptionist, and they were telling her ‘we want to talk to the one, the new one, not the other one, not the white lady, we want to talk to the young one, the new girl that speaks spanish.’ and so i was coming around the corner and i hadn’t met them yet. so i introduced myself to them. all they wanted to do was bring me what they had made. they had made tamales okay, what a welcome! again, a very traditional, ‘we are here to welcome you.’ i didn’t know who they were, i didn’t know who their kids were, i didn’t know nothing [sic]. but to them that was like their welcoming, we’re bringing you this, and we just wanted to say martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 12 hello, and to introduce ourselves, you know all the comadres...i didn’t know these people, i didn’t have any idea who they were, but the fact [was] that they went out of their way because they had heard that there was somebody new [a latina who spoke spanish]. -rachel, latina elementary school principal latinx1 students, parents, and communities are hungry, waiting in anticipation for school leaders that not only understand their struggles and lived experiences, but who also look like them, and value, respect, and speak their language. such understanding comes with knowing that familia often comes first for latinxs, that relationships are built on confianza and respeto, and that the sacrificios that latinx parents make are necessary to ensure a better life for their children. this is not to say that all latinx school leaders “get this,” but many do. murakami, hernandez, méndez-morse, and byrne-jiménez (2015) argue, “latina/o principals, for example, can successfully cross language barriers and be role models for latina/o students and teachers” (p. 5). as the first spanish-speaking latina administrator of her elementary campus, rachel understood her critical role in serving a predominantly latinx population with over 90% of students that qualify for free and reduced lunch and over 50% of english learners. her identity as a spanish-speaking latina was vital in “being able to have those relationships with those [latinx] parents, for them to be able to open up and share” because she believed “they’re not just going to do that with anybody.” what we know about latinx school leaders the contributions of latinx teachers and administrators are significant as latinx students represent the fastest growing ethnic group in u. s. public schools. among the 45 million latinxs in the country, approximately 13 million are school-age-children (pew foundation, 2008). yet, the teacher workforce does not reflect such diversity. as of the 2011-2012 school year, 82% of u.s. public school teachers were white, while 7% were african american, 8% were hispanic, and less than 3% were asian, native hawaiian/pacific islander, and american indian and alaska 1 the term latinx is a more inclusive, gender-neutral term used when possible, exclusive of direct citations. ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 13 native (bitterman, goldring, & gray, 2013). equivalently, of the 90,000 public school principals, 80% (72,070) were white, 10% (9,110) were african american, 7% (6,120) were latinx, and 3% were of another race/ethnicity including asian (820) and american indian/alaska native (650) (bitterman, goldring, & gray, 2013; snyder & dillow, 2015). females account for 52% of public school principals with the majority leading primary schools (64%); albeit the percent of latina principals in particular is lacking (bitterman, goldring, & gray, 2013). to support and sustain the growing latinx student population, it is now critical that all school leaders are able to meet the needs of latinx students (murakami et al., 2015; rodríguez, martinez, & valle, 2015). however, special attention to support and increase the number of latinx school leaders becomes especially vital as evidence suggests that principals who are of the same background as the students they serve might be more readily able to understand and address inequities in student achievement (magdaleno, 2006; murakami et al., 2015). the work from a number of scholars (hernandez, murakami, méndez-morse, byrne-jiménez, & mcphetres, 2016; méndez-morse, 2004; murakami et al., 2015; pedroza & méndez-morse, 2016) suggests that latinx school leaders understand the challenges latinxs face in schools, while valuing their distinct cultural and linguistic attributes. they set high expectations for latinxs, recognize the extended nature of latinx families, and how the spanish language can be harnessed to build sustaining, collaborative partnerships. latinx school leaders can bridge existing gaps in communication and support between latinx students, parents, and schools, and in some cases help reconceptualize schooling for those latinx parents that experienced marginalization as students (shah, 2009). the leadership styles of latinx leaders are informed by their cultural values and beliefs: family, community, respect, service, humility, care, compassion, and social justice guide how they work with students, staff, and communities (campbell, 1996; hernandez, 2005; hernandez & ramirez, 2001; magdaleno, 2004; romo, 1998). experiences of latina school leaders historically, there have been few women of color in educational leadership positions, and this trend continues today (jones & montenegro, 1982; méndez-morse, 2004; montenegro, 1993). few studies investigate female administrators and only a handful that do include latinas (loebe, 2004; méndez-morse, 2004; palacio, 2013). this phenomenon represents an “exclusion and neglect [of] the contribution[s] of latina leaders” (méndez-morse, 2000, p. 584). martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 14 most of what is known about latina leaders comes from dissertation studies; revealing barriers that latinas face in obtaining and sustaining leadership positions in schools. loebe (2004) studied six latina elementary school principals who perceived discriminatory hiring practices, and barriers to promotion, sometimes at the hands of latino leaders. some experienced tension “when they supported non-latino individuals or causes and were accused of ‘crossing over’ by members of their own communities” (p. 438). yet the ability to speak spanish and having cultural insight were assets to build relationships and trust with latinx parents. the eight latina high school principals in palacio’s (2013) dissertation study shared similar sentiments with regards to discrimination in their roles as principals, while divulging their identities as change agents in their schools. palacio (2013) concluded that the latina school leaders had “incorporated a different approach to analyzing data, problem solving, and resolving issues for fixing academic achievement gaps,” providing impetus for further study in this area (p. 221). undoubtedly, latina educational leaders continue to face challenges within their careers related to their gender or race and inequitable hiring or promotion practices; challenges that need to be further explored (hernandez et al., 2016; loebe, 2004; magdaleno, 2006; méndezmorse, 2004; méndez-morse, murakami, byrne-jiménez, & hernandez, 2015; palacio, 2013). the lack of mentoring and networking available for latina leaders presents another challenge, leaving many latina leaders resorting to mentors outside the traditional mentoring paradigm, including their mothers (méndez-morse, 2004). latina leaders also face conflicting roles at work and in the home; oftentimes feeling guilty for not meeting the societal expectations of motherhood, wife, and caregiver (murakami-ramalho, 2009). therefore, an increased interest in understanding and documenting latina educational leaders’ contributions and the challenges they still face and work to overcome in the field led to the present study. testimonio as method testimonios are first-person narrative accounts rooted in an urgency to speak truth to the struggles of those facing “repression, poverty, marginality, exploitation, or simply [to provide a means of] survival in the act of narration itself” (beverley, 2008, p. 572). testimonios were first utilized to draw attention to the plight of marginalized latin american peoples, and were harnessed as a methodological approach in latin american studies (beverley, 2008; pérez ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 15 huber, 2009; reyes & curry rodriguez, 2012). testimonio is distinct from other methodologies such as autobiographies, personal narratives, and auto-ethnographies (beverley, 2008; delgadobernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012), but can be invoked and expressed through documents, journals, oral histories, song lyrics, and poetry (beverley, 2008; reyes & curry rodriguez, 2012). the latina feminist group (2001) describe testimonio as “a form of expression that comes out of intense repression or struggle, where the person bearing witness tells the story to someone else, who then transcribes, edits, translates, and publishes the text elsewhere” (p. 13). historically, this process was necessary because “the real protagonist or witness” was often “either functionally illiterate or, if literate, not a professional writer” (beverley, 2008, p. 571). numerous scholars in the fields of education, anthropology, psychology, and women’s and ethnic studies embrace testimonio today as a methodological approach (delgado bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012; pérez huber, 2009; reyes & curry rodriguez, 2012). women scholars of color have particularly embraced testimonio to document and/or theorize their own or others’ struggles, resistance, and survival (pérez huber, 2009). the latina feminist group (2001) used testimonios to tell and reflect upon their life stories and gain “nuanced understandings of differences and connections” among group members; highlighting the individual and collective aspect to testimonio (p. 11). individual stories provide space for solidarity, consciousness raising, and bridge building within communities of oppressed individuals or witnesses of the same marginalizing experiences (delgado bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012; reyes & curry rodriguez, 2012; yudíce, 1991). most educational scholarship in the u.s. that draws on testimonio as method is done so by chicanas and latinas whose ways of knowing and agency align with a strong feminista ontology and who “use testimonio as a tool to express marginalization resulting from race, gender, and sexuality” (reyes & curry rodriguez, 2012, p. 528). this study falls in line with this tradition, as we, the authors and interlocutors, identify as chicana/latina females with roots in the u.s. borderlands of south texas. we each have our distinct stories and experiences related to marginalization within schools and society, but share a feminista ontology and a common background as public school educators. knowing that the voices and experiences of latina administrators are often not considered or centered in education research, policy, and practice, four latinas who currently martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 16 or recently served as public school assistant principals or principals, referred to here as elena, rachel, linda, and beatriz, were invited to share their testimonios in being school leaders. at least one of us had an established relationship with the latina school leaders, as former colleagues or current friends; providing for an increased level of confianza and understanding. testimonios were captured through audio-recorded oral history interviews conducted either in person or over the phone. three of us captured the testimonios, with one or two interlocutors interviewing the school leader they knew. the testimonio interviews were guided by six questions, which reflected our intent to understand how participants’ experiential knowledge and various forms of community cultural wealth, including aspirational, familial, social, navigational, resistant, and/or linguistic (yosso, 2005), emerged in their leadership roles and experiences, and impacted how they served latinx communities. examples of questions included: 1) what role did your identity as a latina (cultural and linguistic background) and your gender, play in your career trajectory as a school leader? 2) how did your identity as a latina (cultural and linguistic background) and your gender shape your experiences as a school leader? 3) how did your identity as a latina (cultural and linguistic background) and your gender impact or shape your leadership style? interviews were transcribed, checked for accuracy, and read numerous times to determine which aspects of each latina school leader’s testimonio would be shared through this study. as interlocutors we aimed to relay the most significant aspects of the leaders’ testimonios to highlight each latina’s unique experiences as administrators, while considering the larger collective experience of participants. in this process, it became clear that participants shared a level of tenacity (tenacidad), or persistence even in the face of resistance, juxtaposed with tenderness (ternura), or a genuine kindness with regards to their roles as leaders and the communities they served. to further make sense of their shared experiences, portions of participants’ oral histories were captured in three metaphorical themes that reflect the kind of ternura and tenacidad the latina leaders exhibited: much like seeds planted, cultivated, and able to thrive in spite of weeds of resistance. latina school leader testimonios the latina school leaders in this study included: 1) elena, an assistant principal at a prekindergarten center with prior experience as an elementary and high school assistant principal, ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 17 2) rachel, a principal at an elementary school with experience as an assistant principal at another elementary and middle school, 3) linda, a high school principal with over twenty years of experience in education, and 4) beatriz, a district level administrator with experience as an assistant principal and principal. sembrando la semilla: upbringing, relationships, and preparations for leadership the idea of becoming administrators was not an original goal for all participants, but at some point throughout their lives individuals, some family members and/or mentors, and key relationships played a significant role in the development of the participants’ leadership goals and styles. elena began her testimonio by describing the significant role mentors played in her trajectory to become a school leader. elena situated the relationship with her mother at the core of how her leadership evolved, which is congruent with what the literature (méndezmorse, 2004) suggests with regards to mothers being the first mentors to many latina school leaders. “my mom was a great support. my mom at times even when i was going to [local community college] taking courses at night she would wait for me at the bus...at times when i was taking classes at night my mom would go with me.” elena recounted the role and influence of other mentors as well, key sources of social capital who guided and encouraged her to continue on the road to becoming a school administrator. there was [also] this lady she was my supervisor [when i worked at a bank while attending college] she was african american and i lucked out because she was the only african american in the bank at that level and she was my mentor there. she was single, she was a very smart beautiful woman...[later] ms. v she took me in, well she was the principal at [an elementary later] and she was there for 12 years. so then she was the one that was a 5th grade bilingual teacher [when i became a teacher]...she was the one that told the principal to hire me [at the elementary school]...i was there for three years and the principal there, she told me just give me one more year, just give me one more year, and the reason for that is that she wanted me to replace a teacher that had left. so she kept her promise, but one thing about it is that she sent me to a lot of trainings and she took me under her wing. with that i did learn quite a bit and after the three years, i applied for an esl position in which there was only one position at martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 18 [my former high school where i graduated]...and i applied and got it and i was the only bilingual, i was the only esl teacher [at the high school]. rachel’s testimonio was grounded in her childhood educational experiences growing up on the south texas border. she shared her thoughts on the overwhelmingly white and male demographics of her former school administrators, and revealed how her desire to pursue a leadership role was informed by memories of power structures in the educational system; in this way she drew on her resistant capital to shape her trajectory. when i was thinking about it, the principal at the elementary school he was a man you know and yes he was a hispanic male but it wasn’t [a female] and so as far as i can remember i think maybe only one in my schooling here in texas that i can remember was a female. and that was the only one and if i remember correctly i don’t even think she spoke spanish… rachel also spoke to the role of mentorship, or social capital, in navigating her administrative career and developing into the kind of school leader she wanted to be. there was one principal in particular who i taught for and that is actually where i was teaching where i became an assistant principal at the same campus and that does not happen very often, but it was under that particular principal’s leadership that she encouraged me to get my mid-management [certification]...and you know she was very instrumental, like very much, really just encouraging my leadership, giving me leadership opportunities. she obviously saw something in me that i wasn’t quite sure of it in myself yet because i hadn’t been teaching that long, maybe five years at the time and she would continuously ask me, “have you thought about going into administration? have you looked into any programs?” beatriz’s testimonio began with her transition from bilingual teacher to school principal. her aspirations to become a school principal were rooted in her personal desire to be responsive to the cultural and linguistic needs of latinx students and families. beatriz’s familial and resistant capital proved vital in this process. for me as a bilingual teacher, it was important for me to be a model for my students so that my students know that there’s nothing that latinas or latinos can’t do. i wanted them to see that there’s a variety of choices and i wanted ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 19 them to be able to dream about that and see leaders in their school that reflect their same cultural background...it was also important for the community to see that, to see that the leadership of the schools also looked like the population. i could speak to the parents and children. they didn’t feel intimidated or anxious whenever they came into school to speak about a problem. they knew that they had a leader at the campus that they could effectively communicate with. so, i think i made my parents feel more at ease knowing that somebody like them culturally was leading the campus and taking care of their children. linda was the first person in her family to go to college and attain a university degree. in her testimonio linda revealed she never intended to become a school principal, but was encouraged by her white male boyfriend who was a school principal to get her administrative certification; he was a source of social and familial capital, as extended kin. i taught math for fourteen years, i was a math major. i knew i wanted to do math. my main goal was to go and be a secondary curriculum math director or something in that vein. and when i was at a particular school district there was a really good one [director] there and there was just no room for growth unless she happened to leave which didn’t seem like it was going to happen anytime soon, and nor did i want her to leave, she was great and did a really good job. and so my boyfriend advised me to pursue looking for administrator certification just in case. i never really considered the administrator route...i really had my heart set on a math director/coordinator, that position, but i am glad i did. i am glad i kept my mind open because it led to different roles that have ultimately led me here [principalship]. cultivando la tierra e enfrentando malas hierbas: building community amidst challenges the latina leaders transformed the obstacles in their leadership journeys into opportunities to grow, engage, and flourish while being true to their identities. elena recognized the vital role of her cultural and linguistic ties to her community and how those ties impacted the sustainability of her leadership. her cultural capital enabled her to make connections with martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 20 students and serve latinx communities, although this was met with resistance at times from other non-latino administrators. i always had that inside me that i wanted to be at the high school level, there’s a lack of minority leaders. i remember if you would look at the directory you would see the hispanic names in the foreign language department, the custodial staff, the cafeteria, and if you found a hispanic name in other departments like in math or science they didn’t know how to speak spanish...so, on the first day of school, i remember i was used to doing this, i would go into the classrooms [and] i would introduce myself and i was the ap [assistant principal]. it was a new admin staff they did a wipe out. “it doesn’t matter, i’m here to help you out,” but i said it in spanish as i was introducing myself. well, word got to her [the new female african american principal] that i was speaking in spanish and then she called us up on the radio. i was the first one there, that is when she told me, “you know what, i don’t want you to be talking in spanish, you can’t speak spanish here” and i was shocked and i didn’t know what to say. i had heard it [happened] from older hispanic women in crystal city, but not in my time and i was stunned…it [the school] was predominantly hispanic and they [students] were not treated fairly and the custodial staff they used to tell me “tu eres la primera, tu eres la primera hispana que habla español.” they had a hispanic [administrator], but she didn’t know how to speak spanish so they would call me la primera...also, [at] our little admin meetings she [the principal] would look at me directly, literally she would yell at me and look at me directly and i was able to pull my composure because deep down inside i remember one time i had so much anger and i knew that what she was doing was wrong and i felt like you know what? i did start to think that good guys do come last. elena was assigned to another high school as an ap after this incident. thereafter, her ap high school position was cut when student enrollment decreased, and she had to return to the classroom for several years until she was hired as an elementary ap with the help of a mentor. in closing, elena noted how latina school leaders need to be aware of the racial and political aspects of the job, and how “not everyone who is in a higher position is in it for the kids. they are more in it for themselves and if they see somebody who can outperform them ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 21 they feel threatened.” while she admitted she still had some “resentment and anger” given some of her experiences, she felt there were “more positive things than bad things and somehow i have been able to come out of that misery.” beatriz made the transition to the principalship and worked on building a sustainable community of parents, teachers, and learners where trust was at the center of her leadership. however, the principalship also came with difficulties. beatriz endured hardship that impacted her leadership style, her professionalism, and her identity as a school leader. i am going to speak first to gender and even age discrimination. when i came into leadership, i was still in my 20’s. i think so, i was in my late twenties, yes, when i started in administration and i used to look very young. people would question my experience or how could i be there. i looked very young, short in stature and a little petite. i felt like i had to overcome and get the respect that i felt i should have as a school leader. yes, maybe it was something that i perceived but i had one parent at one point when i was an assistant principal, he questioned my credentials. he said “well i want to see where it says that you can do this because you look very young.” he was just upset with the outcome of his child and that was the first thing in my first year as a vice principal...i felt like i had to keep proving myself. i felt like i had to do everything quicker, faster, farther and i had to be on top of my game constantly. i was being compared with others that had more experience or males that had that job. in addition to the gender and age discrimination she experienced, beatriz described a meeting with an interim superintendent to discuss budget and staffing allocations, which resulted in a sexual harassment case. that meeting was inappropriate. he basically was telling me about his ranch. he said it’s where he goes to ponder the decisions that were going to impact everybody. consequently, what i took away is that he told me that he wanted me to go to his ranch before he made his decision, so that i could help him make his decision. he was giving me directions on how to get to his ranch and what to do if he had some flag up because his wife was there...of course, i was very upset about that. i left that evening and ran into the assistant superintendent. she called me in and said “you look like you just saw a ghost, are you ok?” she gave martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 22 me something to write with and she said i needed to write everything down. consequently i filed a sexual harassment complaint. i had three days left to my contract and so i took three personal days and i finished all my work...i was the youngest principal there, female. i dressed very professionally with a jacket and either slacks or skirt. i wore professional clothes not trendy or fashionable. i have always been very professional and i want people to look at me and not how i dressed. all that came into question and i thought ‘oh my goodness’. at that moment they would never say that to a man but that line of question would never come in with a man and ask about their clothes. it was just the fact that i was female and again going back to that i was latina. while beatriz suggested that such incidents led to her resilience, she acknowledged that the incidents also contributed to her own need to protect herself by portraying a particular professional identity (crow, day, & moller, 2016), “i had to overcome that and i had to overcome the fact that i am latina and that i did. i would say that i don’t know how to describe myself but very professional and put together.” floreciendo y creciendo raíces: nurturing a path and a spirit for social justice no se raje mi prietita, apriétese la faja aguántese. su linaje es antiguísimo, sus raíces como las de los mesquites, bien plantadas, horadando bajo tierra a esa corriente, el alma de la tierra madre tu origen. (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 200) this excerpt from anzaldúa’s poem, “no se raje, chicanita” urges the brown skinned chicana to remain steadfast in the face of adversity, knowing that her roots are ancient and strong like the mesquite tree; roots that physically and metaphorically are born from mother earth. these roots are similar to the kinds of paths that school leaders must forge in the quest for social justice. school leaders must nurture the conditions for meaningful collaboration among educators that stimulate collective thought, inquiry, and reflection, while supporting the ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 23 personal and professional development and leadership capacity of teachers. the foundation for floreciendo and creciendo raíces that nurture a spirit for social justice requires a deep understanding of the importance of building and sustaining relationships with both school staff and local community members that work to transform the educational experiences of children. in their roles as school leaders, the latina administrators leveraged power as mentors, supporters, and dream makers inviting teachers to re-imagine the possibilities and to push boundaries. they equally nurtured and sustained a community of learners built on the assets and strengths of people; empowering their respective school communities and ultimately students and families. such was the case with linda, elena, and rachel, chicanitas who essentially leveled the power dynamics of traditional school leadership into a more collective approach. rachel had applied and interviewed for several principal positions before she was successful in securing her current role. her superintendent reassured rachel that her patience was worth it saying, “you are what they need in this community.” to her, “as an anglo male superintendent, he was recognizing what our district needed because of the population that we served.” now rachel reciprocates the guidance and mentoring she received to develop future school leaders, and particularly latinas. i think it’s important, i look back, like “ok, what can i do now to encourage that growth and leadership in my teachers?” and so i look to, particularly again, my strong latina teachers that just have a strong foundation in curriculum, they have all those good pieces and i try to do some of the coaching and some of the mentoring that i feel was done with me and hopefully again inspire and light something up in them like was done with me. and say, “you know, i see this in you and i really want to encourage you to go for it.” and i can say that in the last couple of years and even when i was an assistant principal, you know that i don’t give my teachers the opportunity to waive their summative conferences. i sit down with every single one of the teachers that i appraise and we talk about professional goals because there’s people that i know want more, and i want them to want more, and i want them to want to become an instructional coach. i want them to become a dyslexia intervention teacher. i want them to become a librarian. and i can say that in the time that i’ve been there we’ve had a lot of promotion and growth with teachers that you know have gone back to school martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 24 and gotten their master’s degree...so i think it’s just a matter of encouraging them and them knowing that they have support and if they need to take a day off to take their state exam or if they need to go do observations for their internships that i’m there to support them because i know that the cause for education extends, it’s more than just in-outside of our walls you know what i mean? these teachers will hopefully have a greater impact and i want them to...to me that’s a sign of a good leader. i’m growing more leaders because i know where the need is... rachel’s dedication in supporting latinx communities, as well as future latina school leaders was evident. she recognized there were other leaders “that don’t feel the same way i do,” but she enacted her own agency for the greater “cause for education”. when speaking about leadership, linda acknowledged that most leaders do not look like her. she did not fit the white, male archetype; her mere presence was a sign of resistance. i am sure you can understand we tend to have male white leaders whether in schools, whether in companies. always, that is the ideal statue. that is what we see a lot and leaders come in all shapes and sizes and genders and i think that is important for our kids to know, for our parents to know. it doesn’t have to be the strong white male it can be a softer type of female figure that still has the vision and goals and the leadership qualities to run a company, or to run a school, or an organization. but i never made that my overlying mission. i am not that overly feminist. i am all about feminine values but i am not overly annoying feminist, “oh we have to do this, we have to do that, and we have to prove it because we are women.” we have to prove it because we are good leaders and good people and we are female at the same time. moreover, when asked if her culture had an impact on her leadership she responded, not overtly i don’t think. i have had a lot of mentors from all [cultures] that i respect and took pieces from but i wasn’t trying to be a copycat of anybody. there were just some things i admired from my role models including my mother that influence some of my leadership qualities. i certainly don’t want to be portrayed, i shouldn’t say this, i don’t want to be portrayed as the angry hispanic lady that only cares about the hispanics you know, or that i am trying ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 25 to get vengeance on the wrongs of hispanic culture. i am just trying to close the gaps that exist and still exist and trying to get better, but we still have a long way to go because of the discriminatory practices that happened in education a long time ago that we had no part of but we are dealing with and still dealing with those effects. i certainly know of leaders i don’t want to be like, and i try hard to avoid mimicking those leadership qualities and i know i have a lot of leadership role models that i highly admire and use pieces of them, but i make it my own. linda’s experiences highlight the importance of her mentors, including her mother, who encouraged her to seek administrative roles and informed her leadership style. interestingly, linda’s story also captures the tension of being a latina school leader who does not want to be seen as a feminist or as solely an advocate for latinx children and families. reflections and hopes for the future the testimonios presented here reflect the tensions and triumphs that can come with being a latina school leader. they also reveal the collective themes of ternura and tenacidad, while honoring the unique lived experiences and cultural ways of knowing of each latina leader. the use of testimonio as a deliberate methodological approach breaks traditional and colonized forms of research and places power and knowledge creation back into the hands of a marginalized community of women within the public school system. this study challenges future research and scholars to adopt more congruent methods like testimonio that are culturally responsive to latinx/chicanx communities and are grounded in non-traditional epistemological frameworks. given the testimonios shared, school districts in conjunction with their respective superintendents and school boards are also called to be more deliberate in hiring and providing support and mentorship to recruit and retain more latina principals. investing in the development of mentoring and peer coaching programs for aspiring and novice school leaders is key (barnett & o’mahony, 2008), although such efforts should utilize culturally responsive and sustaining approaches, such as same-race mentoring (magdaleno, 2006), and be flexible in their structure to foster mutual learning and the development of nonhierarchical relationships between mentors and mentees (peters, 2010). schools and districts can draw upon aspects of successful mentoring and peer coaching programs for school leaders both from within and martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 26 outside the u.s. to guide them in the development of their own programs (barnett & o’mahony, 2008). they can also partner with principal preparation programs in their local communities to share in the costs, development, and implementation of mentoring and coaching programs, as well as professional development opportunities that provide support to current and aspiring latina school leaders. moreover, principal preparation programs must make courageous efforts and become more cognizant of the realities faced by latina school leaders in particular, to ensure their success once in the field. principal preparation programs can begin engaging in these efforts by devoting greater energies into preparing social justice school leaders ready and willing to serve latinx communities. programs should also prepare latinas, as well as other aspiring leaders of color, for the microagressions and overt discrimination they may face by explicitly discussing such possibilities and coaching aspiring leaders on how to respond (peterson & vergara, 2016). inviting current school leaders to share their experiences and strategies for dealing with such inequities in the field is also recommended (peterson & vergara, 2016). preparation programs can also ensure their graduates, including latina leaders, continue to be supported in practice by establishing alumni network organizations that incorporate formal and informal opportunities for the development of mentoring relationships and safe in-person and online spaces to discuss the realities associated with being female school leaders of color. only when more safe and candid spaces for deliberate conversation and support are created will the pipeline for latina school administrators begin to grow. ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 27 references anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. barnett, b. g., & o’mahony, g. r. (2008). mentoring and coaching programs for the professional development of school leaders. in j. lumby, g. crow, & p. pashiardis (eds.), international handbook on the preparation and development of school leaders (pp. 232 262). new york, ny: routledge. beverley, j. (2008). testimonio, subalternity, and narrative authority. in s. castro-klaren (ed.), a companion to latin american literature and culture (pp. 571–583). malden, ma: blackwell. bitterman, a., goldring, r., & gray, l. (2013). characteristic of public and private elementary and secondary school principals in the united states: results from the 2011-12 schools and staffing survey (nces 2013-313). washington, dc: u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. campbell, t. (1996). mental frameworks of mexican american and anglo elementary principals. urban education, 31(1), 57-71. crow, g., day, c., & moller, j. (2016). framing research on school principals’ identities. international journal of leadership in education, 1-13. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & carmona, j. f. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363-372. hernandez, a., & ramirez, a. (2001). reflecting an american vista: the character and impact of latino leadership. national community for latino leadership, incorporated, 1(1). hernandez, f. (2005). the racial identity development of selected latino school principals and its relation to their leadership practice (doctoral dissertation). university of wisconsin, madison. hernandez, f., murakami, e. t., méndez-morse, s., byrne-jiménez, m., & mcphetres, j. (2016). latina/o assistant principals-vague and ambiguous roles in k-12 administration: findings from the national latina/o leadership project. national forum of educational administration and supervision journal, 33(2 -3), 4-28. jones, e. h., & montenegro, x. p. (1982). recent trends in the representation of women and minorities in school administration and problems in documentation. arlington, va: american association of school administrators. latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nd: duke university press. loeb, a. y. (2004). educational leadership for school change-stories by six latina elementary school principals (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of arizona, tucson. magdaleno, k. (2004). development of a formal and informal mentoring initiative for california latino superintendents association (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of california, los angeles. martinez, marquez, cantú, & rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 28 magdaleno, k. r. (2006). mentoring latino school leaders. leadership, 36(1), 12-14. méndez-morse, s. (2000). claiming forgotten leadership. urban education, 35(5), 584-596. méndez-morse, s. e. (2004). constructing mentors: latina educational leaders’ role models and mentors. educational administration quarterly, 40(4), 561-590. méndez-morse, s., murakami, e. t., byrne-jiménez, m., & hernandez, f. (2015). mujeres in the principal’s office: latina school leaders. journal of latinos and education, 14(3), 171 187. montenegro, x. (1993). women and racial minority representation in school administration. alexandria, va: american association of school administrators. murakami, e. t., hernandez, f., méndez-morse, s. e., & byrne-jiménez, m. (2015) latina/o school principals: identity, leadership and advocacy. international journal of leadership in education, 19(3),1-20. doi: 10.1080/13603124.2015.1025854. murakami-ramalho, e. (2009). la reina de la casa quiere democracia: latina executive leaders and the intersection of home and the workforce. women as school executives: celebrating diversity, 192-202. palacio, c. a. (2013). the career development of latina women achieving the position of public high school principal. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of wisconsin, milwaukee. pérez huber, l. (2009). disrupting apartheid of knowledge: testimonio as methodology in latina/o critical race research in education. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 22(6), 639-654. peters, a. (2010). elements of successful mentoring of a female school leader. leadership and policy in schools, 9(1), 108-129. pedroza, a., & méndez-morse, s. (2016). dichos as cultural influences on one latina’s leadership praxis. national forum of educational administration and supervision journal, 33(2 -3), 61-73. peterson, d. s., & vergara, v. (2016). thriving in school leadership: latina/o leaders speak out. national forum of educational administration and supervision journal, 34(4), 2-15. pew foundation. (2008). u.s population projections: 2005-2050. retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/85.pdf reyes, k. b., & curry rodriguez, j. e. (2012). testimonio: origins, terms, and resources. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 525-538. rodríguez, c., martinez, m. a., valle, f. (2015). latino educational leadership across the pipeline: for latino communities and latina/o leaders. journal of hispanic higher education. doi: 10.1177/1538192715612914 romo, j. j. (1998). voices against discrimination and exclusion: latino school leaders' narratives for change. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of san diego, ca. shah, p. (2009). motivating participation: the symbolic effects of latino representation on parent school involvement. social science quarterly, 90, 212–230. ternura y tenacidad association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 29 snyder, t.d., & dillow, s.a. (2015). digest of education statistics 2013 (nces 2015-011). washington, dc: national center for education statistics, institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education. yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. yudíce, g. (1991). testimonio and postmodernism. latin american perspectives, 18(3), 15-31. amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 latina teacher agency in public schools: love, tensions, and perseverance pablo ramírez gustavo gonzález arizona state university abstract this article examined the manner in which latina teachers’ enacted agency to challenge institutional barriers impacting latinas/os in the educational system. a theoretical framework is suggested as a tool to describe the practices of four latina teachers working in elementary schools serving a high population of latino students in southern california. using qualitative mixed methods, as an exploratory study, the classroom teachers identifi ed three themes representing their journey in search of an equitable education for latinas/os. introduction current demographic trends reveal that we are in the midst of a shift in california’s k-12 student population. nearly one-third of the nation’s english learners (els) are found within california (california department of education [cde], 2007), with a total of 1, 571, 463 students identifi ed as els during the 20092010 school year. over the past 25 years, over 75 % of english profi cient latinos have been underachieving in basic skills of reading, writing, and math by the fourth grade (cde, 2007). consequently, the federal government’s national assessment of educational progress (naep) indicates that latina/o students continue to lag behind white students in reading (gándara & rumberger, 2009). a recent study by gándara and rumberger (2009) on english learners demonstrated that els attended segregated schools where facilities and conditions were poor and had teachers with less training, receiving little professional development to aid them in teaching english learners. consequently, graduation rates for latina/o students reveal a decline in recent years (cde, 2009). to challenge and transform current conditions faced by latinas/os in education, teachers must advocate for latinos at all costs. this form of agency examines, critiques, and transforms institutional barriers, shaping the participation and success of latino parents and students in schools. furthermore, the teacher’s role is key in attaining equality for latino school communities. (the term latino school community is used to defi ne a school community where the majority of the student population is latino.) we begin this article by providing an overview of relevant literature informing the research study. a cycle of liberation framework will examine the manner in which classroom teachers enacted agency in their particular school site. next, the methodology section will describe the approach used to collect and analyze data. three themes emerging from the data are presented, which include: (1) intentionality of action, (2) transformative resistance, and (3) negotiation of practice. consequently, the authors will discuss the major fi ndings in regards to teacher advocacy in latino school communities. lastly, recommendations are presented in support of teacher agency in schools and communities. overview of the literature critical pedagogy critical pedagogy (cp) has been acknowledged as a process in which teachers and educators are able to challenge, question, and transform existing status quo practices in public schools (giroux, 2008; mclaren, 2005;). a review of the research (darder, 2002; duncanandrade, 2007; giroux, 2008) reveals that critical pedagogues have used critical pedagogy to identify, examine, and critique socio-political factors infl uencing teacher practice and student achievement in the educational system. 34 latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 according to freire (1974), a liberatory education is guided by love. studies regarding the infl uence of love and caring in schools (ladson billings, 1995; noddings, 1984;valenzuela, 1999) explicate that both constructs are signifi cant to the success of culturally and linguistically diverse youth in the k-12 educational system. for example, valenzuela (1999) draws from noddings’ (1984) conceptualization of teacher caring as a moral ethic caring driven by a need to nurture and value relationships between teacher and student. bartolomé (2008) contends that love must be authentic in education settings where teachers serve culturally and linguistically diverse learners. bartolomé’s (2008) study on teacher beliefs found that teachers believed that love, respect and cariño outweighed any linguistic and cultural difference between teacher and student. following this vein, bell hooks (1994;2003) affi rms that love is essential in combating dehumanizing practices that exist in the educational system. love, as defi ned by hooks, is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust. teacher agency bound closely to acts of love and caring, teacher agency is a component of critical pedagogy that challenges and transforms schooling conditions, shaping the lives of students and communities (freire, 1974; giroux, 2008). duncan-andrade’s (2007) study of urban teachers working in restrictive school settings revealed that teachers that enacted agency were risk takers with students, the curriculum, and associated their teaching with the struggle for human dignity and justice. similarly, nieto’s (2006) study of teacher dispositions found that effective teachers in public schools saw themselves as effective because they had both the courage to challenge mainstream knowledge and a passion for social justice. these studies also refl ect the need for examining the manner in which power is used to control teachers. the works of apple (2005), kozol (2006), and foucault (1977) have outlined the manner in which the power of institutions is exerted on teachers. more specifi cally, foucault contends that those with the most power in society are also those whose ideas are considered to be universal and unbiased truths. pignatelli (2002) posits that in education there is a need to illuminate essential truths about students and teachers. thus, it is imperative to challenge power structures in the educational system. unless leaders transform power structures, schools will remain under “surveillance.” within the context of education, teachers, through advocacy, are seeking a shift in power in schools so that democracy is enacted and schools can be a place where all individuals are valued. jiménez-castellanos’ (2010) study of one latino teacher coalition found that critical teacher networks had a signifi cant infl uence in the decision-making process at the school district level. the latino teacher coalition was composed of one group with 30 members. the teachers advocated for latino youth and consistently challenged their school district for more than 10 years. this study reveals that latino teacher networks are infl uential in challenging power and transforming schools in regards to the success of latinos. teacher agency in latino school communities has been regarded by scholars as necessary for the achievement of latinos (trueba, 1995; valencia, 2002). research on latino parents (olivos, 2011; valencia, 2002) has demonstrated that the education system, historically, has disregarded the contributions of latino parents as it relates to students’ academic trajectory. along this vein, in a recent book on latino parents, bicultural parent engagement, olivos, jiménez-castellanos, and ochoa (2011) recommend that teachers must engage with their community and provide opportunities for parents to engage democratically with schools. further, through a democratic process, latino parents have an opportunity to become critical leaders that examine, critique, and challenge barriers shaping the educational terrain of their children. theoretical framework for naming teachers’ actions in schools the cycle of liberation framework (clf), figure 1, draws from freire (1974) and critical pedagogy, as discussed earlier. the clf was used to analyze actions enacted by classroom teachers in this study—i.e. to closely examine their teacher agency. the clf illustrates the process for analyzing inequities and action towards liberation (harro, 2000). the clf involves a process of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and systemic change with love at the core of all action (freire, 1974; harro, 2000). tension is part of the clf. hence, tension derives 35 latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 from institutional constraints causing stress on individuals seeking equality and liberation. specifi cally, the clf is composed of three stages: (1) waking up and reaching out; (2) building community and coalescing; and (3) creating and maintaining change. a description of each stage follows. waking up and reaching out. in the fi rst stage, the intrapersonal tensions caused by critical incidents create an enlightenment of one’s place in the world, where one’s known reality is now questioned and challenged as being true. individuals or groups in this phase begin to take steps toward self-empowerment by further questioning and understanding the contradictions they have brought to their consciousness (freire, 1974; gioux, 2008). for instance, a teacher that is forbidden to speak spanish by a school principal realizes that her view of education has changed because someone in power is diminishing her most valuable cultural asset in working with latina/o students. the teacher uses this critical incident to empower herself and consequently, names injustices in her school. building community and coalescing. in the second stage, the interpersonal tension that drives the clf involves a change in an individual’s worldview triggered by the need to further understand the personal, social, and systemic forces that cause inequitable conditions. building community allows a space for dialogue with individuals or groups that have similar and different perspectives. a classroom teacher that participates in professional development seeks to build relationships with all members, regardless of ideological differences, in the pursuit of equality in education. creating and maintaining change. the fi nal stage, creating and maintaining change, is fueled by tensions that challenge existing structures, assumptions, philosophies, rules, and roles that stifl e transformative change (harro, 2000). the challenge is to strengthen and integrate change into the daily lives of everyone, through dialogue and cooperation, towards the possibilities for equality, justice, and humanness (freire, 1974; giroux, 2008). a teacher that wants to integrate a program that will benefi t schools, such as technology classes for latino parents, uses dialogue and hope to challenge power structures and institutional barriers undermining latinos’ potential. love, which is the core of the clf, is a fundamental quality needed to battle oppression waged against latinos in the educational system. we have observed a dual language school in southern california that exemplifi es the clf. latinos in this school community continue to go through the stages of the clf as new barriers are presented in the educational system. signifi cance of study this study sought to examine the manner in which four latina teachers enacted agency in their school community. these processes are signifi cant for latinas/os in education given the constrictive practices presently enforced in the public school system (such as the elimination of bilingual curricula and high stakes testing). the investigation was guided by two questions: 1. what guides teacher action? 2. how do teachers enact agency in the educational system? 36 latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 figure 1. cycle of liberation framework methodology a multiple case study approach (yin, 1994) was used to collect data and examine how the four classroom teachers enacted agency in four distinct k-5 elementary school settings. interpretive research (denzin, 2000) was utilized to analyze participants’ practices and beliefs regarding their school community. critical pedagogy was used as a lens to examine how classroom teachers named and challenged the barriers faced at their school sites. selection of participants the participant selection process for this study began by asking california scholars and experts, who are well known in their fi eld of study in education—and have extensive background knowledge in the area of critical pedagogy research, curriculum, and educational processes—to recommend four to fi ve latina/o k-6 teachers from san carlos county11 (located in southern california) whom they determine enact agency in the educational 11. pseudonym given to county. 37 latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 system and qualify as having advocacy strengths. in addition, the participants in this study had to have more than fi ve years of teaching experience and work in a school providing services to els, bicultural students, immigrant students, and other culturally and linguistically diverse learners. in total, 30 teachers, who are latino/a and teach in k-6 schools, were recommended. the ten most identifi ed teachers were contacted. from initial contact and discussions with each of the ten teachers, four were selected based on their willingness to write an autobiography, be interviewed, and be observed in their classroom and community settings. upon agreeing to participate, the four teachers were assured that their names, those of their students, school and district would be kept confi dential. the teachers include: mrs. cruz, mrs. paz, mrs. flores, and mrs. lópez.12 each of the four teachers has more than ten years advocating for latinas/os in the educational system. data collection multiple sources of evidence were essential in gathering data that would address the research questions. because of the qualitative nature of this study, it was important that both validity and reliability be established. this case study included autobiographies, interviews, and classroom and community observations for data collected from september 2010 to august 2011. the participants wrote autobiographies examining pivotal moments in their lives that infl uenced their beliefs about education. each participant was interviewed three times. the questions focused on tensions they faced in the school setting and instructional practices in support of els. each participant was also observed three times in the classroom setting and two times in a schoolcommunity environment. observations in the classroom and school community were essential in terms of examining congruency between teacher ideology and practice. data analysis once the data was conceptualized, a thematic content analysis approach was utilized to code and identify patterns in the data. the themes were determined based on a thorough analysis of interview transcripts and observation notes. moreover, descriptors were highlighted to identify patterns. after the data was coded and patterns emerged, those particular descriptors were placed under a stated theme. this process was repeated three times to seek clarity of themes. consequently, themes were memberchecked (lincoln & guba, 1985) by classroom teachers for accuracy and content validity. teachers’ agency enacted in school communities three salient themes emerged from the autobiographies, interviews, and observations: intentionality of action, transformative resistance, and negotiation of practice. the themes directly correlated with the three stages of the clf. theme one: intentionality of action intentionality of action represents the manner in which pivotal moments or experiences in a teacher’s life shaped the beliefs and attitudes regarding latinos/as in education (bartolomé, 2006). their ideological grounding led them to enact intentional actions in the educational system and in latina/o communities. their practices take into consideration social, political, and racial factors that interplay with the success of latinas/os. at the same time, these actions originate from a love teachers have for the school community which is closely tied to stage one of the clf. teachers’ deep sense of care is demonstrated in their advocacy for latina/o students and parents. consequently, teachers have empowered themselves to speak out and name injustices that exist in their school community. 12. pseudonym given to classroom teachers. 38 latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 39 mrs. cruz has taught in a biliteracy classroom in a kindergarten and fi rst-grade setting for the past twenty years. in this study, we observed her in a fi rst-grade biliteracy classroom. mrs. cruz, through her autobiography, commented on her beliefs regarding immigrant students’ and latino families’ success: i see myself as an immigrant always. i came to this country believing in the united states’ democracy. it exists here, but for immigrants it is different. i feel that my work is to support immigrant students and parents as much as possible because they deserve all the rights possible to be successful in the current education system. over the past 20 years, mrs. cruz has been a leader in multiple organizations in her school community, including english language advisory committees (elacs), teacher committees, and a latino parent school organization. mrs. paz has been a kindergarten teacher for the past 15 years and consequently has taught most of her career in a bilingual classroom setting. in this study, she was observed teaching kindergarten students. mrs. paz has faced discrimination and scapegoating in both her personal life and as a latina teacher during the past 25 years. she describes in her autobiography her beliefs about the power of being mexicana and bilingual and how it impacted her identity: due to her ideology, mrs. paz has been a key member of bilingual committees in san carlos and in california. mrs. paz is a leader of bilingual school committees that work to restore bilingual education in san carlos county school district. in addition, for the past 15 years, she has been a contributing member in community and parent organizations in san carlos. equality for latinas is the foundation of mrs. flores’ teaching ideology. mrs. flores has been teaching fi fth grade structured english immersion (sei) classes for the past 10 years, and consequently, teaches in the community she was raised in as a youth. mrs. flores has been engaged in community programs for the past 10 years providing mentorship and support in academics to latina youth. in her autobiography she chronicles her community work with two latina youth: mrs. flores’ is invested in the community where she grew up. she has high expectations and encourages latina youth to persevere despite challenges they may face. mrs. flores provides mentorship driven by her own lived experiences. love is key to mrs. flores community work. she expresses care and commitment regarding the relationship built with latina youth. theme two: transformative resistance transformative resistance is a method by which critically-minded teachers challenge oppressive conditions in schools that perpetuate defi cit-based practices in the educational system. the classroom teachers are resisting detrimental parental programs, discrimination, and institutional constraints that seek to exert defi citbased schooling practices in their particular school community. moreover, they strive to transform oppressive conditions that have historically shaped the success of latinos/as in the educational system. the teachers in this study are in the process of creating change, which is refl ective of stage three of the clf. teachers are i have always seen myself as a mexicana fi rst, then american. this goes way back to when i was growing [up] in southern california. during this time, there was horrible discrimination towards people of color, but specifi cally mexicans in southern california. i lost my identity by not being able to speak in spanish at school. i mentor two young ladies every saturday. they are very bright girls but they are also struggling. most come from single parent homes, just like me. so i tell them i have been through this. when we meet we have real conversations about problems they are going through. they trust me and tell me when they don’t understand something. if they fail, i fail. this is my community. the young ladies that i meet with—we have strong bond. i love being part of their lives and helping them be successful in life. latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 transforming the process by which schools service latinos by providing mentorship to parents and students, thus, strengthening their leadership skills. mrs. cruz is able to enact transformative resistance practices in her school site because of her past experience and working relationship with school administration. according to mrs. cruz, parents have not been valued in her school site. she has developed parent literacy classes that support their overall learning and builds leadership skills for latino parents. although she was met with criticism by school administration, mrs. cruz negotiated space for parents as documented in an interview: mrs. cruz seeks space for latino parents so that they can become leaders and be able to understand the educational system. in this context, latino parents are valued for their intellectual capabilities. this challenges status quo perceptions of latino parents that are pervasive in schools and undermine latino parents’ value. within the context of parental engagement, mrs. cruz describes the history she has collaborating with latino parents in her school community. she discusses, through an interview, her role with parents: mrs. cruz understands the struggles latino parents encounter. mrs. cruz loves her community and admires their resilience. this form of parent engagement is developed through building community and trust. mrs. lópez has been teaching fi fth grade biliteracy and has been a key member of a latino community organization (comunidad en acción13 ) for the past 10 years. she is passionate about supporting latino parents’ rights and has challenged school administrators about school practices detrimental to parents. mrs. lópez believes schools should provide human rights classes for parents, especially, since many parents in her school are undocumented latinos. mrs. lópez expounds on this topic through an interview: mrs. lópez advocates for undocumented parents by engaging in dialogue with the school principal regarding human rights’ classes. by critiquing the political position that her school takes against latino parents, she identifi es institutional tension that currently exists. mrs. lópez seeks, through a political lens, to transform the manner in which her school views parent involvement. along with parents, mrs. lópez also advocates for her students with great passion. mrs. lópez is conscious of the fact that many latino students need to be full participants in their education. many of the students in the community organization, where mrs. lópez is a member, are undocumented latinas/os. she describes, through an interview, the role of the organization: 13. pseudonym for organization. 40 i have talked to latino parents about community issues such as immigration raids, fear, and education. i have voiced this concern with the school principal and asked for human rights’ forums. the principal does not believe in transformative parent involvement in this school. this is a long process. it takes time. students want to be part of the social justice movement and want to take action in their school and community. some of my students like cornelia [pseudonym], who is undocumented, wants to go to college regardless of barriers. students we work with learn to empower themselves. schools do not do enough. all the work that i do in this literacy project is connected with parents and students learning together and student achievement. parents want the best for their children. they believe in it. i tell parents they may participate when they have time and they are always welcomed. i have been doing this for most of my career. it’s who i am. i love talking and learning from my parents. most of the parents i have known have been disrespected by schools. yet parents continue to come back! i admire my parents so much. latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 mrs. lópez is aware that latino students are not treated equally. she provides critical mentorship guided by social justice. the community organization is a facilitator for information, and consequently, faults the public school system for the lack of communication towards undocumented latino students. theme three: negotiation of practice negotiation of practice refers to the manner in which teachers who subscribe to critical pedagogy dialogue, refl ect, and challenge the educational system so that students and parents obtain the best services a school can provide. the teachers illustrate stage two, building community and coalescing, of the clf. teachers are in the process of working and collaborating with school administration in regards to the needs of latino youth. nevertheless, tension, in the form of institutional constraints, infl uences dialogue. mrs. paz has had to struggle in order for the kindergarten biliteracy program at her school site to begin. she is constantly addressing the role of biliteracy in her school community. mrs. paz, describes in an interview, the challenges faced when advocating for biliteracy: mrs. paz is in constant dialogue with the school principal and is assertive in negotiating for resources needed for latino students. the process is signifi cant because it allows her to challenge the power structures in her school site. her perseverance allows her to maintain a critical dialogue with the school principal, which is key to the negotiation process regarding biliteracy programs. mrs. flores struggles to negotiate with peer literacy coaches at her school site for quality instruction for latino els. she has documented, through interviews, that her school believes in providing quality instruction, but, in the end there is no follow through: mrs. flores is aware of the symbolic practices enacted by her school regarding el youth. she names and documents discrimination towards her students and her classroom instruction. further, mrs. flores advocates for all els and understands the ramifi cations of latinos not receiving quality instruction. her presence and critique are instrumental in negotiating for latino students. overall, the four teachers are committed to their school communities despite tensions their actions may produce. the teachers in this study have unconditional love for their school community. love is refl ected in the teachers’ constant efforts to transform oppressive conditions that exist in their school and community. teachers face tension from school administration due to their beliefs and ideology regarding equality for latinos/as in their school community. moreover, teachers are challenging power structures in schools by negotiating for services needed for latinos in their particular school community. perseverance allows them to continue to advocate for parents and students and to create transformative change in their school community. unconditional love and perseverance guides teachers through the clf. 41 our school is beginning a biliteracy program in some k-1 classrooms, and i have been demanding for things that were owed to us. i have questioned my principal about our resources and curriculum for k-1 classes. i attempt to have conversations with my principal in our professional development meetings. most of our conversations are very tense. i won’t give up my beliefs about bilingual education and she knows that. in the past six months, all of our fi fth grade team has had to change our schedule in terms of our literacy and math instruction due to peer coaches. i have had disagreements with them in regards to the best way in supporting the needs of students. in many instances, they have critiqued the work i have done with my students. what hurt the most is that sometimes they perpetuate defi cit perspective [s] onto my students. i am very honest, and i tell them that as a school we need to refl ect on how to best support latino students latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 conclusion in this article, we document a one-year qualitative study that examined the manner in which four veteran latina teachers enacted agency in their school community. this study employed the clf to analyze practices operationalized by teachers serving latino school communities. the clf was important in examining three overarching themes: intentionality of action, transformative resistance, and negotiation of practices. stage one of the clf, waking up and reaching out, was exemplifi ed by all four teachers. teachers were infl uenced by pivotal moments in there lives, consequently shaping their beliefs regarding issues of equality for latinos in education. more specifi cally, their ideology infl uenced their advocacy for latino students and parents. gándara and contreras (2009), affi rm that the best teachers for latinos are those that understand latinos’ struggles and experiences—consequently, leading to advocacy on their behalf. teachers in this study are invested in their school community. teachers in this study have advocated most of their career for the advancement of latino parents’ rights, bilingual education, and latino students’ academic success. moreover, their ideology and beliefs, which are undermined in the educational system, are powerful tools utilized to unveil the oppression that latinos face on a daily basis. the latina teachers were able to name injustices and challenge practices that dehumanize latinos/as. further, love was a signifi cant construct that shaped their advocacy and ideology. the classroom teachers’ actions in their school community refl ect hooks’ (2003) defi nition of love, which encompasses care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, and trust. mrs. flores’ love and commitment to her community was illustrated through the powerful relationship she developed with latina youth in her school community. the love that teachers have for their community prepares them to combat tension. this resonates with bartolomé’s (2008) fi ndings in regards to the signifi cance of love in educational settings. stage two of the clf, building community and coalescing, represented the process by which the four classroom teachers attempted to collaborate with others in their particular school site. the study revealed that tensions were produced when attempting to work with other school members that had opposite ideological beliefs about latinos/as in the educational system. the study reported that negotiation and dialogue were signifi cant in addressing the need of latinos. the teachers were astute and assertive when seeking resources and instructional programs for latino youth. mrs. flores and mrs. paz denounced their schools for not effectively providing support for students in regards to biliteracy and effective instructional practices for latino students. this form of advocacy aligns with duncan-andrade’s (2007) fi ndings in relation to teachers being risk takers. more specifi cally, the four latina teachers understood the signifi cance of being part of decision-making processes with school administration. their actions were focused on transforming the political and ideological beliefs that schools had about the education of latino youth. this practice reveals a shift in power that the teachers were seeking in reference to the dignity and success of latinos/as in the educational system. mrs. paz, who advocated for biliteracy, understood that it was critical for the school administration to support biliteracy. she addresses this concern directly to school administrators through multiple meetings and conversations. mrs. flores attempted to engage with peer coaches to consider effective instruction for latino students. her presence and critical voice interrupted the manner in which her school addressed the needs of latinos. perseverance was a key characteristic that guided teacher advocacy. teachers did not conform to their schools’ ideology regarding latinos. their perseverance guided their interaction with others who did not share the same beliefs about latino students. this disposition is key in challenging defi cit-based schooling practices and power structures pervasive in the educational system. within stage three of the clf, creating change, all four teachers were critical about the discrimination and marginalization of latino parents and students. according to olivos (2011), teachers must be advocates for democracy for latino parents at all costs. moreover, the classroom teachers in this study believed that latino parents were intelligent leaders capable of empowering themselves and others. teachers worked towards preparing parents to be key members of their schools. in addition, teachers understood parents’ struggles in the community and challenged their schools’ political beliefs regarding latino parents. the parent literacy class developed by mrs. cruz, which focused on leadership skills, illustrated a change in the manner in which parents were treated in her school. teachers’ actions countered the defi cit perspectives (valencia, 2002) of latino 42 latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 parents, which were prevalent in the school system. the community action enacted by mrs. lópez in her school community illustrates stage three of the clf. she enacted agency outside the school and collaborated with latino organizations to serve as a mentor. mrs. lópez, through her community organization, provided advice to undocumented latinos regarding college access and social justice. this form of mentorship was guided by a social justice lens. mrs. lópez understood that latino/a youth do not receive access to information from schools and, conversely, engaged youth to empower themselves. critical latino organizations have an infl uence on the success of latino youth. this form of community action creates change needed in the educational system (duncan-andrade, 2007). given the fi ndings shared in this article and the existing literature regarding latinos and teacher agency, we offer recommendations focused on the advancement of teacher agency in schools. schools must recruit latina/o teachers that are invested in the community. latina/o teachers’ love for a school community infl uences the success of its students and families. model teachers that exemplify a deep sense of care and commitment for latino school communities are an asset. furthermore, teacher mentorship is vital in latino school communities. latina/o teachers must continue to provide mentorship to other teachers that seek justice and equality in the educational system. this mentorship must be guided by a socio-political lens required to challenge and transform power structures in schools. moreover, latina/o teachers are needed in leadership positions in regards to the evaluation of school curricula and programs geared towards latino youth. it is essential that teachers advocate for latino youth’s culture and language in relation to curricular development. in regards to community organizations, schools must make sure teachers are mediators between the community and school so that the best educational services are provided for latinos. this process will have a profound impact on latinos’ academic trajectory, and perhaps, ensure future student leaders return to their communities. references apple, m. (2005). education and power. new york: routledge. bartolomé, l. i. (2008). authentic cariño and respect in minority education: the political and ideological dimensions of love. international journal of critical pedagogy, 1, 2-16. california department of education. california basic educational data system. retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/dataquest california department of education. california basic educational data system. retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/dataquest darder, a. (2002). reinventing paulo freire: a pedagogy of love. boulder, co: westview press. denzin, n. k. (2000). handbook of qualitative research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. duncan-andrade, j. (2007). gangstas, wankstas and riders: defi ning, developing and supporting effective teachers in urban schools. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 20, 617-638. foucault, m. (1977). power/knowledge: selected interviews and other writings. new york: panthean books. freire, p. (1974). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: continuum. gandara, p., & rumberger, r.w. (2009). immigration, language, and education: how does language policy structure opportunity? teachers college record, 111, 750-780. gándara, p., & contreras,f. (2009). the latino education crisis. cambridge, mass.: harvard university press. garcía, e. (2005). teaching and learning in two languages: bilingualism and schooling in the united states. new york: teachers college press. giroux, h. (2008). schooling and the struggle for public life: democracy’s promise and education’s challenge. boulder, co: paradigm publishers harro, b. (2000). the cycle of liberation. in m. adams, j. castañeda, m. l. peters, & x. zuñiga (eds.), readings for diversity and social justice: an anthology on racism, anti-semitism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, and classism (pp. 463-469). new york: routledge. jiménez-castellanos, o. (2010). beyond the school walls. international journal of critical pedagogy, 3, 59-81. hooks, b. ( 1994). teaching to transgress. education as the practice of freedom. new york, ny: taylor and francis. hooks, b. (2003). teaching community. a pedagogy of hope. new york, ny: taylor and francis. kozol, j. ( 2005). the shame of the nation: the restoration of apartheid schoolingin america. new york, ny: crown publishing lincoln, y.s. & guba, e.g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. newbury park, ca: sage publication nieto, s. (2006). solidarity, courage and heart: what teacher educators can learn from a new generation of teachers. intercultural education, 457-473. olivos, e., jiménez-castellanos, o., & ochoa, a. (2011). bicultural parent engagement: advocacy and empowerment. new york: teachers college press. pignatelli, f. (2002). mapping the terrain of a foucauldian ethics. studies in philosophy and education, 21, 157-180 trueba, h.t. (1995). latinos unidos. lanham, md: rowman & littlefi eld. 43 latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 valencia, r. (2002). chicano school failure and success: research and policy agenda. new york: falmer. valenzuela, a. (1999) subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. new york: suny press. yin, r. (1994). case study: design and methods. thousands oaks, ca: sage 44 latina teacher agency in public schools:love, tensions, and perseverance “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 65 “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer): a testimonio of immigrant life in the central valley and the road towards the professoriate rosa m. jiménez, ph.d. university of san francisco abstract throughout my life i have come home to modesto, california more times than my heart can remember; it is my heart that remembers and keeps my hometown ever present. today, i am an assistant professor at the university of san francisco. yet, who i am today is profoundly intertwined with the little girl who grew up in the central valley as a daughter of working class mexican immigrants. this is my testimonio—my truth-telling story—of how i learned from the sacrifices my parents made as mexicano immigrants pursuing a dream of a better life for their children in central valley california, and it is the story of learning from my family’s knowledge, strengths, cultural resources, and community cultural wealth. keywords: testimonio, community cultural wealth, immigration a mi hogar en modesto una y otra vez/coming home to modesto…time and time again throughout my life i have come home to modesto more times than my heart can remember; it is my heart that remembers and keeps my hometown ever present. no matter where i live, i always say, “i’m going home” when i head towards the central valley. as i write this testimonio, i am in modesto—home once again. perhaps it’s meant to be that i’m visiting my parents and sleeping in the house that has been our family home since i was thirteen. i’m no longer a teenager—to an outsider, i am a long way from the little girl with the boyish haircut who lived in “the projects”. i am now an assistant professor at the university of san francisco. yet, who i am today is deeply intertwined with that little girl—my upbringing as a daughter of mexican immigrants in the central valley shaped my educational and life trajectories. jímenez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 66 i was born and raised in modesto, from 1974 until the summer of 1992 when i turned 18 and attended uc davis. after graduating with a double major in spanish and history, i moved to los angeles and spent five years teaching social studies in a latina/o immigrant community. thereafter, i started a masters program in latin american studies followed by a ph.d. in education—both at ucla. in 2010, i was offered my first academic job and moved to arizona. in 2014, i returned to california with as an assistant professor in san francisco. before, after, and in between these life chapters, i have either lived in modesto or visited my family there numerous times a year. on paper my journey may appear fluid, but each of these life chapters was marked by great struggle. life in and beyond the central valley has been one of intense juxtapositions— oppression and resilience, pain and transformation, poverty and cultural richness. yet, they are never binary; they swirl together, overlapping into a process of continual border crossing— physical, metaphorical, cultural, spiritual, and political (anzaldúa, 1987). my testimonio is comprised of memories, journal entries, audio recordings, and transcripts of pláticas (talks) i’ve had over the years with my parents concepción reynalda chávez escobedo and germán jiménez vásquez. from a young age, my parents instilled wisdom, knowledge, and values in their three children. we grew up learning from our pedagogies of the home (delgado bernal, 2001) and my parents’ knowledge of the world through real life stories—our pláticas. my father has a love for words, storytelling, and social analysis; my mother used our talks to give us consejos (advice), love and encouragement. i use critical race theory (crt) and testimonio to understand and frame my lived experiences. critical race theory originates in legal studies and is an increasingly salient framework in social and educational research for examining racial subordination (delgado & stefancic, 2001; ladson-billings, 1998; lynn, 1999; solórzano & bernal, 2001; yosso, 2006). crt’s central tenets include the intercentricity of racism with other forms of subordination, a challenge to dominant ideology, a commitment to social justice, validating experiential knowledge by people of color, and using transdisciplinary approaches (solórzano, villalpando, & osegura, 2005; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). testimonios are examples of experiential knowledge; it is a person’s truth being revealed as they recount the events of injustice, violence, or exploitation that they have experienced and witnessed. testimonio is also defined by urgency; there is a need for telling stories from the past, to reclaiming the past, to give “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 67 testimony to the injustices of the past, to reinscribe local knowledge, to resist and to counter domination (anzaldúa 1987; latina feminist group, 2001 delgado bernal, 2001; ramos, 2003). this is my testimonio—my truth-telling story—of how i learned from the sacrifices my parents made as immigrants pursuing a dream of a better life for their children in central valley california, and it is the story of learning from my family’s knowledge, strengths, and cultural resources. mi crianza en el valle central/growing up in the central valley i am a product of the san joaquin central valley, from a neighborhood mired in poverty and many social ills, but i am also the product of a family and community who are holders and producers of knowledge (delgado bernal, 2002) with funds of knowledge (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005) and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2006). both of these realities—pain and power—and all that lay in-between characterized my upbringing. like prieto (2001) in her testimony of life from the central valley to the ivy walls, i draw strength from memories of tears and laughter, for myself and for reimagining the educational possibilities of latina/o immigrant youth (jimenez, 2012). the central valley is the agricultural heartland of california—many immigrant families work in the surrounding fields picking fruit and vegetables, and in the fruit canning factories; my parents worked in both. modesto is a semi-rural city of 200,000 in california’s san joaquin valley, often simply called the central valley. modesto is approximately 90 miles south of sacramento, the state capital, and 70 miles east of san francisco. the racial makeup of the city is approximately 49.4% white1, 35% latino, 4% african american, 4% asian, 7.6%, other (u.s. census bureau, 2010). my parents left their homeland of ameca, jalisco, mexico in 1972—like many mexican immigrants—in search of work and life opportunities for their family. they immigrated to modesto because they had family; social networks helped them find work, a home, and make a life in america (durand, telles, & flashman, 2006). the economic aspects of poverty included my parents’ struggle in grueling, low paying, and physically exhausting work. we sometimes didn’t have much to eat, but we never went hungry. sometimes our health care was minimal— 1 white alone, not hispanic or latino. jímenez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 68 when my sister and i had our wisdom teeth removed, we endured additional pain because we didn’t have the extra hundred dollars for a more sedated procedure. paying for rent, gas, food, and household bills were a constant tension throughout our lives. to make ends meet, my father often held two jobs or worked double-shifts in the fields, in factory work, and as a bricklayer. as the eldest daughter, i had many responsibilities at a young age to support the household—i helped my mother cook food for my siblings, washed laundry daily including my parents’ work clothes, prepared my father’s lunch for his nightshift, cleaned the home, and helped out as my parents’ translator (dorner, orellana, jiménez, 2008). there was often a feeling of survival on the line and economic desperation, which caused great worry and tension. in 1986 as i entered junior high, we bought a house and we moved closer to the center of town. it was a dream come true for our parents—to become homeowners. it was in a more peaceful neighborhood and felt worlds away from the public housing projects even though it was maybe two miles away. our new home was still west of the train tracks; these tracks divided the poor, the working class, the immigrant, the people of color from the downtown hub of city government and businesses. beyond the downtown were neighborhoods where middle class and wealthier white families lived. as kids, we rarely went downtown except with our parents to pay an electric bill or go to the post-office. instead, we often headed to west and south side modesto to spanish speaking businesses and grocery stores with mexican food products. there, my dad could haggle in his own language with the mechanics to fix a problem our car was having—our cars always seemed to break down and need repairs. i learned how to ask for a “jump-start” and use battery cables at an early age. we often ran into friends or family during our weekend outings to the flea market, don juan foods where we picked up carnitas (fried pork), or la perla tapatía, which had the best tortillas de harina (flour tortillas). these latina/o owned businesses provided vibrancy, were places for our community to obtain the goods and services we needed, and which welcomed our culture and language. it was comfortable and warm, like home. el trabajo adentro y afuera de casa/work in and out of the home my mom and dad are both from the same small mexican town of ameca, jalisco, mexico. in fact they were neighbors, yet they were from two distinct social classes. my maternal grandmother was a successful moneylender and educated my mother in elite private “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 69 catholic schools throughout her life. my father was born into an extremely poor family from a long line of campesinos (fieldworkers), and in his family it was a privilege to obtain a sixth grade public education. my mother has a masters degree in education and was an elementary teacher in mexico before marrying my father. however, she left her teaching job when she immigrated to the u.s. when we were old enough to attend pre-school, she joined my father working in the factory and worked in low-skilled manual labor for the rest of her life. as i got older, i asked her why she didn’t pursue a different line of work. she shared that she didn’t have the english language skills or understand how to navigate the systems in america to use her degree. because there was also a social class difference between her and my father, gender and social roles may have played a big part in her decision. my father worked in u.s. fields picking fruit for several years, but el campo (the fields) had deep historical roots—it was the work he was born into. my grandfather spent all of his life as a campesino (fieldworker). it was not simply an occupation—though it was how they sustained themselves—it was a way of life. my father’s connection to the earth and maíz (corn) was one i would only learn to appreciate later through his stories. corn was a part of their everyday lives and it was sacred—there was a lengthy, rigorous process to prepare the land, plant and harvest, thresh the corn, and bundle it for sale. it was also the staple food in his home with a meticulous preparation process for use in tortillas, tamales, atole, posole, and much more. i often saw my father’s eyes well up when he talked about el campo, corn, and life in mexico. throughout my life though, the cannery was their primary work. both of my parents worked in the fruit-canning factory for over 30 years. one of my chores as a little girl was to wash my dad’s uniform everyday because he worked ‘clean-up,’ hosing down all the machinery with steaming hot water. he wore a bright yellow coat and overalls made of rubber, black rubber rain boots, a hardhat and plastic visor. my mom worked picking the bad fruit from the assembly line, so only the ripened fruit would be canned. as a young girl, i heard the stories my mom’s elite upbringing, but it was hard to register since i always saw her in factory work clothes—a hairnet and hard hat, older comfortable blouses that looked like tablecloths under an apron to take the bulk of the fruit splatter as it rolled in the assembly line. one day i asked my mom if she hated the cannery. she laughed and said, “no hija, es lo que nos da la vida” (no jímenez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 70 sweetheart, it’s what gives us life). it was arduous work under difficult conditions, and i’m sure it contributed to many health conditions in their later years, but they viewed work as a gift. i remember both of my parents missing their family and their way of life in mexico. though they always respected what the us provided our family, they experienced the pain of living in a foreign land. as a young person i witnessed how people in authority demeaned them and questioned my parents’ intelligence because they did not speak english, for being immigrants, or perhaps for being mexican; i wasn’t always sure the reason, but their talk revealed a disdain for their presence. i remember countless visits to english speaking public spaces (i.e., paying bills, the dmv, the post office, and doctor visits). these experiences from my social interactions as a child were reinforced with my experiences in school. when i told a teacher that my mother had a college degree, she retorted, “but not in america” or i’d see judgmental looks when my parents couldn’t attend my parent-teacher conferences because they were working. wittingly or unwittingly, school actors communicated deficit perspectives of my parents, my family, and consequently, of me. yet, i could not reconcile this with what i knew in my heart and experience to be true—both my parents held profound wisdom. my father is not an “educated” man in the formal sense, but he is one of the wisest and talented people i know. i have often wondered what kind of life my dad would have had if he had educational opportunities afforded to him—would he have become a politician or savvy lawyer with his oratory skills and keen ability to discern people’s hearts and souls. had they not immigrated, would my mother have gone back to teaching or had she not been looked down upon for her accent when she spoke english would she have leveraged her education in the u.s.? nevertheless, her education was not wasted; it was poured into her children. she spent time reading with us, going over our homework, ensuring we were doing well in school, instilling in us dreams beyond our everyday realities or “aspirational capital” (yosso, 2006). she taught us her love for reading and to recognize the beauty of learning. my parents also taught us to preserve our maternal language and to value our bilingual identities or “linguistic capital” (yosso, 2006). both of our parents instilled in their children that we were smart, beautiful children of god with a wonderful purpose in life. “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 71 las escuelas y mis experiencias/schools and schooling experiences before i ever read a book about cultural alienation and long before i knew what it meant, i knew what it felt like. i was a child of working class mexican immigrants and labeled an english learner (el) in school. it would be a long journey towards countering the mis-education in k-12 that had also dealt me cultural shame and ignorance of my own history (woodson, 1933, 2000; villenas & deyle, 1999). as early as pre-school, i learned to strip spanish from the pronunciation of my name. “english-only” was the language i learned in school, which for me translated into “don’t speak spanish,” and lamentably “don’t be mexican.” the next year, i entered kindergarten with the only latina/o teacher i had throughout my k-12 schooling. she was one of the most influential teachers i had that affirmed my cultural experiences. i often wondered though, why i never again had a teacher who looked like me. at the start of the year, i thought i would garner her praise when i clearly articulated my name with an english pronunciation as i was taught in preschool. she asked me, “mija, how do your parents say your name?” this time, i said my name with a spanish pronunciation, naturally rolling my “r” a few times the way my mother did. my teacher responded, “that’s how you say your name mija, in english and spanish.” when i told her my preschool teachers taught me to say my name in english, she told me, “they were wrong”. i thought about this for a long time and years later, i vividly remember this moment and the lessons learned—that i could be proud of who i was, my language, and my name. incredibly, my teacher was socializing me into a pedagogy of latina/o knowledge, cariño, and modeling a social critique of schooling in a way that made sense to me at the early age of five (freire, 1970; yosso, 2006). i had a handful of great teachers throughout my k-12 education to which i am deeply grateful—my 5th grade teacher and my music teacher who saw my brother and i grow up and counseled us throughout the ten years we played the violin. orchestra class was an integral part of my socialization and identity formation. for the most part, i did well academically in elementary school. in third grade, i was labeled “gifted” and placed in the gifted and talented education (gate) program, which meant i would now be bussed across town to a wealthier mostly white school; i would later learn this was another way students are sorted and stratified with disparate educational opportunities (oakes, 1985). i was transplanted from the school and jímenez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 72 friends i knew into an educational context with middle-class norms that were foreign to me. i felt different and alone. for a class play, our parents had to make (or buy) ornate butterfly costumes for us. my mom was working and we didn’t have the money to have them professionally made so my teacher helped me make cardboard wings with glitter. i wore jeans, a pink top, and slipped my arms through of the loops of yarn to put on my butterfly wings. at first, i thought they were beautiful. yet, when all the other kids showed up with black leotards, bodysuits, and life-like butterfly costumes made of shiny colorful fabric i wanted to hide; my cardboard wings paled in comparison. the aesthetic differences in our costumes symbolized marked social class differences. in my old school i was smart and outgoing; but here i became shy and silent. a year later, i was thrilled when my mom agreed to let me return to my neighborhood school where i would rejoin my friends from my neighborhood. in time, i thought about why i couldn’t get a high quality education that was affirming in my own community. this theme resonated with me throughout my schooling experiences and shaped my future life’s work as a teacher and educational researcher. junior high was a blur—my teachers didn’t know me and i was lost in the shuffle. i got into trouble often for talking during class and was constantly sent into the hallway. this baffled me. in elementary school my talkative and questioning nature was construed as inquisitive and participatory rather than a distraction. high school started off similarly. my life trajectory may have been very different had it not been for my high school counselor. during one meeting with him my freshman year, he looked over my academic cumulative file and exclaimed, “wait a second you’re gifted!” i was perplexed. i told him i was gifted in elementary school, “but not anymore.” he laughed and said it wasn’t something i could lose. my “gifted” label prompted him to take an interest in my academic journey and enroll me in advanced placement and college preparatory classes. high school counselors are in unique positions to facilitate (or constrain) educational success with direct access to all academic programs, advanced placement and college-bound programs, and insider knowledge about financial aid and scholarship opportunities (martin, 2002; mcdonough, 1997). i am acutely aware that i was granted access to educational opportunities that were unjustly denied to many of my peers. in one day, a change in my course schedule dramatically altered my educational trajectory. overnight, it seemed like i was attending a different high school—what oakes (1985) referred to as schools within schools. that is, different educational tracks within the same school, which “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 73 structure disparate schooling for different groups of students. i applied to college when everyone in my a.p. classes was doing so. my father supported my education, but didn’t want me to go away to school. after many talks and with the help of my mother and cousin, my father gave me his blessing to attend uc davis. la licenciatura y estudios posgrado/my bachelor’s degree and graduate education i have two uc’s as alma maters—my undergraduate b.a. degrees in u.s. history and spanish were from uc davis, and my m.a. in latin american studies and ph.d. in education are both from ucla. both of my siblings were also educated in the uc system—my brother at uc berkeley and my sister transferred to uc davis during my third year there. my brother went into pharmaceutical sales after graduating and later pursued a graduate degree in school psychology. my sister became an elementary teacher and returned to the central valley to teach in our community. the first time i laid eyes on uc davis was when i was starting the special transition and enrichment program (step)—a summer program for first generation or economically disadvantaged college students. it was an amazing and much-needed introduction to college life. my first year was extremely difficult—academically, i was not getting the grades i had in high school and socially it was a vastly different world. i found solace in close friends and other working class students of color who helped support me through the academic, social, and cultural challenges. i also enrolled in spanish courses for heritage speakers and it changed my life. professor francisco x. alarcón taught us the spanish language in a way that was intimately connected to our cultural knowledge, chicana/o history, poetry, political activism, and affirmed our personal experiences as children of immigrants. shortly after graduating, i moved to los angeles and became a social studies teacher. i sought to incorporate students’ life experiences in their academic learning using oral history and family migration projects. during my teaching years, i was also constrained by high-stakes testing, a narrowing of the curriculum, and de-skilling of teachers (darling-hammond, 2004). these tensions coupled with my nagging feeling that i wanted to engage in educational issues with greater freedom led me to seek another path. i decided to return to graduate school to merge my interests in critical and culturally relevant teaching and research. jímenez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 74 el doctorado/the ph.d. in 2004, i began my ph.d. in urban schooling education at ucla. my graduate studies in urban schooling, critical pedagogy, and critical race theory resonated with my own experiences as a daughter of immigrant parents and as a teacher of latina/o immigrant students. i was drawn to investigate how to translate critical pedagogies into the k-12 classroom for transformative educational experiences. the ucla campus was majestic; i could hardly believe i had been accepted. yet, when i started the program, i felt like i was in the third grade again, being bussed across town—out of place. the constraints associated with a working class background and unequal schooling experiences continued to rear their head in graduate school, what prieto (2001) terms “the stings of social hierarchy.” there was an academic language spoken in graduate school and social norms i had not yet learned. my peers seemed well versed in this new world. during a phone conversation with my parents, i shared my struggles about my journey through the doctoral program. i questioned whether the ph.d. was for me. was i selfish to pursue lofty dreams that required elite graduate school training? would this pursuit be what i had hoped for? would i be able to give back to my community in a way that was meaningful? my mom said, “tú puedes…sigue adelante” (you can do it…keep moving forward). my dad repeated it and added, “sigue adelante…nuestro camino es más largo” (keep moving forward…our journey is much longer). my dad’s words revealed the depth and breadth of how different my path was— not only was it longer, but had twists and turns, hills and valleys making it immeasurably more challenging. my parents talked to me about their journey leaving their families behind in mexico to work in the u.s., the linguistic and cultural barriers they faced, threats of deportation, the belittling and dehumanizing experiences they encountered. my pláticas with my parents were one of countless times where they supported me, reminded me where i came from, and inspired me to keep going. i used these pláticas to inform my research where i investigate how k-12 teachers can affirm and access latina/o students’ everyday life experiences for in-school learning. in my dissertation, i drew from critical pedagogies (freire, 1970; morrell, 2004) and oral histories to develop and implement curriculum with a sixth grade teacher about community cultural wealth (yosso, 2006)—the array of skills, talent, and resources within students’ families and “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 75 communities. my research documented the ways youth wrote about their family histories of migration, and drew upon their community cultural wealth for developing academic and critical literacies. i learned to use storytelling and crt counterstorytelling as pedagogy in k-12 schools and simultaneously use it as an analytic tool in my educational research (solórzano & yosso, 2002). a family emergency prompted me to move back home and finish my ph.d. degree from the central valley. once again, during an integral point in my life, i came home to modesto. my father was in a terrible car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury coupled with a swift onset of dementia. he would never be the same again…and neither would we. once an independent hardworking man working the nightshift at a fruit-packing factory and a masterful bricklayer by day, he had become completely dependent on full time care. his quick-witted nature became dormant; his dynamic oratory skills that brought our family stories to life were lost within the deep recesses of his mind. his visual spatial giftedness that made his brickwork an art form had morphed into cognitive and physical difficulties with daily functions like walking, talking, eating, dressing, and showering. i immediately felt committed to help my family, which meant i changed my academic plan and moved back home. while this decision was right for me, it proved harder to accomplish than i had anticipated. every time i tried to write, i hit a wall. i decided to revisit my own family stories. my dissertation was after all about family histories as pedagogical tools. i listened to old tapes of my pláticas with my father, relishing in his vibrant witty voice with his unique intonations, dramatic pauses, hand gestures, passion and humor. that is how i came across the excerpt below; it provided me the inspiration i needed to breathe life into my writing and reminded me of why i had started my ph.d. in the first place. tu abuela nunca escuchó alguien decir “yo quiero ser…” mucho menos alguien decir “yo soy…” ojalá que algún día pudiera ver por lo menos el comienzo de un sueño sus circunstancias no le brindaban ese lujo. tú ya no vas a decir como ellas, “quiero ver uno que es…” vas a decir, “cuántos somos?” jímenez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 76 your grandmothers never heard anyone say, “i want to be…” much less someone say, “i am…” i wish she could have one day seen even the beginning of a dream. their circumstances did not afford them that luxury. you will no longer say as they did, “i want to see someone who is…” you will say, “how many of us are there?” germán jiménez vásquez in this conversation, my dad talked to me about the lack of opportunity dealt to my grandmothers in mexico and the social responsibility i had with a university education. he reflected on her life to convey that she didn’t grow up hearing people say they wanted to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, artists, etc.—let alone see anyone who actually became those things. he said dreams were a luxury not granted to the poor; instead of looking for people who could lead our community, we would now be among the leaders asking, “how many of us are there?” through our conversations, i came to understand my life as one of having the opportunity to dream, to attain an education, and to inspire hope to (and with) our communities. i learned to use my education in the service of others, that my father had much wisdom to share with me, and to recognize that my journey began long before me—it has deep roots that extend to my parents, my grandmothers, and ancestors. mí carrera en la universidad/my university career after graduating with my ph.d., i moved to arizona to begin a career as a researcher and university professor. i struggled deciding whether or not to take the job—i had never lived outside of california and the anti-immigrant climate was increasingly hostile in arizona. i asked my mom for advice. she shared her story of moving to america, “pues claro, mija era difícil. pero se va donde está el trabajo y sabíamos que sería lo mejor para ustedes” (well, of course sweetheart it was hard, but one goes where the work is and we knew it was best for you). i spent four years in arizona during the height of sb 1070, with experiences for a future testimonio. my life as a chicana professor in arizona was tumultuous, but it served to crystallize my commitment as a scholar-activist. a few years later, i accepted a position at the university of san francisco; it was the fulfillment of a dream and full circle moment—being close to modesto (and my family) while pursuing my career with colleagues dedicated to social justice. “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 77 as i finalized this testimonio at my parent’s kitchen table in modesto, i was surrounded by memories—our uc degrees hanging on the living room walls next to my mom’s diploma from mexico, my high school only a few blocks away, and the physical presence of my parents with a daily pláticas—all of which reinforced the beautiful struggle of my journey from child of central valley immigrants to the professoriate. it’s been nine years since my father’s accident and onset of dementia. i’ve learned to see him with new eyes. he may speak anxiously, with muscle spasms as he slowly enunciates his thoughts, he may mix up the dichos, at other times he’s almost as lucid and witty as his former self. through it all his immense heart and wisdom will always be a part of him. and through his stories, he’ll always be a part of me. my life experiences were wrought with many difficulties, but they also fueled and inspired me. i am no longer that little girl with the boyish haircut growing up in modesto…but i’ll always be a daughter of mexican immigrants who settled in the central valley, whose parents worked in the fields and fruit canning industry, whose dad’s hands created masterful brickwork, who experienced the pain of poverty and racism, whose mother’s education nurtured a love of learning, whose dad’s family stories permanently etched his wisdom and strength in her heart, who was nourished by her mother’s love and perseverance, who crossed (and crosses) multiple sociocultural borders everyday, and who weaves together the educación her family gave her, her experiential knowledge and her formal schooling for transformative power with latina/o communities. i am a daughter of west modesto, a daughter of the central valley, and a daughter of mexican immigrants turned professor in the academy. my journey may or may not lead me to the central valley, but modesto will remain and forever be home. jímenez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 78 references darling-hammond, l. (2004). inequality and the right to learn: access to qualified teachers in california's public schools. teachers college record, 106(10), 1936–1966. delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2001). critical race theory: an introduction. new york, ny: university press. delgado bernal, d. (2001) learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestizo consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education 14(5), 623-639. delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical racedgendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. dorner, l., orellana m. f., jiménez, r. m. (2008). “it's just something you do to help your family”: language brokering and the development of immigrant adolescents. journal of adolescent research, 23(5), 515-543. durand, j., telles, e. & flashman, j. (2006). the demographic foundations of the latino population. in m. tienda & f. mitchell (eds.) hispanics and the future of america (pp. 6699). washington, dc: national academies press. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: the continuum international publishing group inc. gonzalez, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (eds.). (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, nj: lawrence earlbaum associates. jiménez, r. m. (2012). latino immigration, education and opportunity. teacher education and practice, 25(4), 569-571. ladson-billings, g. (1998). just what is critical race theory and what's it doing in a nice field like education? qualitative studies in education, 11, 7-24. latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nc: duke university press. lynn, m. (1999). toward a critical race pedagogy: a research note. urban education, 33, 606626. martin, p. j. (2002). transforming school counseling: a national perspective. theory into practice, 41, 148-153. mcdonough, p. m. (1997). choosing colleges. how social class and schools structure opportunity. albany, ny: state university of new york press. morrell, e. (2004). becoming critical researchers: literacy and empowerment for urban youth. new york, ny: peter lang. oakes, j. (1985). keeping track: how schools structure inequality. new haven, ct: yale university press. prieto, l. (2009). the stings of social hierarchies: from the central san joaquin vineyards to the ivy walls. in j. a. van galen & v. o. dempsey (eds.) trajectories: the social and “nuestro camino es más largo” (our journey is much longer) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 79 educational mobility of education scholars from poor and working class backgrounds (pp. 7181). rotterdam, the netherlands: sense publishers. ramos, c. s. (2003). “estudia para que no te pase lo que a mi”: narrativas culturales sobre el valor de la escuela en familias mexicanas (“go to school, so what happened to me won't happen to you”: cultural narratives about the value of school in mexican families). journal of latinos and education, 2(4), 197-216. solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. solórzano, d. g., villalpando, o., & osegura, l. (2005). education inequities and latina/o undergraduate students in the united states: a critical race analysis of their educational progress. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 272-294. solórzano, d.g., & yosso, t.j., (2002) critical race methodology: counterstorytelling as an analytical framework for educational research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. u.s. census bureau. (2010, april 1). city & state quickfacts: modesto, ca. retrieved jan. 11, 2016, from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/pst045215/0648354 villenas, s., & deyhle, d. (1999). critical race theory and ethnographies challenging the stereotypes: latino families, schooling, resilience and resistance. curriculum inquiry, 29, 413-445. woodson, c. g. (1933, 2000). miseducation of the negro. new york, ny: ams press. yosso, t. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline new york, ny: routledge. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/pst045215/0648354 volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 146 mixing time in a bilingual program: when science time is english time jorge l. solís, ph.d. the university of texas at san antonio abstract the setting of this study reflects a common approach for teaching science to k-5 bilingual/ multilingual learners combining science time with english-only language instruction. while programs that use both languages to teach bilingual students are more effective in preparing k-5 latin@ students in science, instruction in science in k-5 classrooms remains largely taught in english. the author examines how a recurring classroom routine, community circle time, exposes the academic and behavioral expectations of a 3rd grade classroom composed of bilingual/multilingual students learning science. the article presents analysis of classroom interactions and teacher interviews connected to “science time” which is also english-only time in this school. several types of activities and participation structures emerge from observations of community circle time. during this time, students talk about sharing, planning, and doing activities related to science. this study finds that, while there are productive opportunities for all students to learn a range of academic language and content knowledge during science time, a more expansive approach to language and literacy is needed for teaching and learning science. keywords: language of science, sharing time, bilingual science, latin@ students, language policy doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.336 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.336 mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 147 introduction this study has implications for teachers, administrators, and researchers interested in improving the science teaching contexts of bilingual/multilingual students. in this article, i draw from collaborative research activities focused on science literacy development in diverse elementary school classrooms to examine how a recurring classroom routine, community circle time, shapes the learning context for bilingual/multilingual students learning science. classroom routines are ever-present in the classroom and are a means for orienting students to focal pedagogical language goals and socializing cultural knowledge. in a previous study, i collaborated with a team of researchers that implemented an intervention study examining the ways that teachers integrated language and science content in linguistically diverse elementary classroom settings including latin@, african-american, and chinese-american students (solis, kattan, & baquedano-lópez, 2009). this study finds that, while there are productive opportunities for all students to learn a range of academic language and content knowledge during science time, a more expansive and dynamic approach to language and literacy development is needed in teaching science beyond dichotomous “english only” or “bics/calp” approaches (bunch, 2014; canagarajah, 2013; garcía & wei, 2014). the setting of this study reflects a common approach for teaching science to k-5 bilingual/multilingual learners combining science time with english-only language instruction. however, a more dynamic use of language and literacy in science teaching would not only enhance the use of students’ literacy repertoires but also significantly transform how language and literacy repertoires are used to perform authentic scientific practices (gutiérrez & rogoff, 2003; lee, quinn, & valdés, 2013). regrettably, science is a subject frequently deprioritized in k-5 grade levels when it’s not part of accountability measures and when taught, science is often treated a language-free subject or at least an “english-only” subject; this last perspective both minimizes the role of language in science and dismisses the potential bilingual/multilingual synergies with learning science. science learning contexts are rich sociocultural contexts for developing biliteracy/multiliteracies and scientific practices when students’ full cultural and linguistic repertoires are activated and leveraged (bruna & gomez, 2009; civil, 2016; lee et al., 2013; martínez-álvarez, cuevas, & torres-guzmán, 2017; reyes, 2009; solis, 2017; varelas, pappas, & rife, 2006; warren, ballenger, ogonowski, rosebery, & hudicourt‐barnes, 2001). moreover, a solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 148 recent analysis of statewide bilingual programs with the most number of 4th grade hispanic english learners in the united states (i.e., texas, california, arizona, new mexico, and colorado) indicates that 4th grade hispanic english learners fare better in science achievement tests if part of strong bilingual programs (one-way and two-way dual language programs) compared to students only exposed to weaker bilingual programs (transitional bilingual programs) or english immersion programs (mceneaney, lópez, & nieswandt, 2014). yet, research and pedagogical attention to science instruction in k-5 classrooms remains largely focused on science instruction in english even in additive bilingual programs including dual language programs. the major theme explored in this paper revolves around understanding and drawing out classroom routines and interactions at la paz elementary school during classroom routines when science is taught. la paz elementary school had an established bilingual education program that endured a decade after the passage of proposition 227 when this study took place. theoretical framework: mediating science time through classroom routines this study uses a sociocultural theoretical framework to examine the mediating role of language in the organization of learning contexts, cultural practices, and social interaction (baquedano-lópez, mangual figueroa, & hernández, 2011; donato, 2004; gutiérrez & rogoff, 2003; mehan, 1998; vygotsky, 1962; wertsch, 1991). to understand how science-related activities are cast in classrooms with emergent bilinguals, it is important to note that classroom interaction often involves collaborative engagement related to language development, social identity, and building community (donato, 2004). within the context of learning science, science-learning expectations also intersect with the socialization of classroom rules and cultural knowledge that are used to express and structure classroom routines. everyday classroom interactions are opportunities for engaging in collaborative activities, lesson transitions, and peer mediated interactions (baquedano-lópez et al., 2011). that is, classroom routines are productive sites of learning activity and are part of the context of learning sociocultural knowledge and developing and using academic language. gutiérrez (2002) succinctly presents the study of classroom practices as the endeavor of “developing a language to describe what happens in learning environments” (p. 314). the use of classroom rules or “regulative discourses” by teachers as classroom practices is a specific way to describe how mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 149 student competence of classroom routines and activity structures are negotiated and assessed. moreover, it is through regulative teacher discourses that we come to understand academic, social, and cognitive expectations for students that mark academic routines in the classroom. rules in community circle time activities function in two distinct and important ways. first, rules primarily mediate student participation and their use of various tools and resources like space, language and the body. rules for participation are necessarily part of every activity system working in conjunction with other mediating tools and processes. secondly, classroom rules are an expression or demand for the enactment of particular interactional norms and practices (turn-taking procedures, language choice, etc.), which is how teachers and students talk about rules. classroom rules function like guiding instructional guides and are constructed as problem-solving methods/procedures for avoiding potential breakdowns in participation and/or anticipating potential breakdowns in student participation. my account of community circle time is based on data collected through classroom observation data and ethnographic fieldnotes. accordingly, descriptions of classroom activities and interactions attempt to reflect the local discourse that members of this classroom use to orient their interactions and make sense of their experiences. a salient and recurring observation in the interactions during circle time activities is the creation, enactment, and dialogue surrounding the rules in terms of both 1) general classroom conduct and 2) how to perform particular activities and roles. the use here of rules to refer to the construction of norms and practices is appropriate because rules mirror the local language used in the classroom between the teacher and students. the focal teacher in this study (mrs. torres1) and students spend a considerable amount of time talking about rules during two months of observing community circle time, which indicates that rules play a vital role in classroom interactions. classroom rules function as general behavioral guides that anticipate or prevent breakdowns from preferred or sanctioned student conduct, participation, and dispositions. inevitably, rules are codes for describing the desired roles of students in the classroom. according to the teacher, rules regulate student participation and give students a certain kind of needed structure. in the words of mrs. torres, the role of students is to “facilitate their learning, so that they know where to be and when to be and how to be.” in effect, rules are the 1 names of schools, participants, and district are pseudonyms. solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 150 means by which the teacher seeks to establish the desired roles and participation of students in the classroom. the way the teacher and students use classroom rules differs from how i use the concept of rules as mediating elements of any activity system. for the participants in the classrooms, rules are public signposts that express and remind participants of expected norms of behavior and obligations for membership in the class. from a cultural-historical perspective, such as engeström’s (2001) model of emerging activity systems, rules themselves, as symbolic resources, represent a key component that mediate actions aimed at achieving collective objectives. that is, whether implicitly or explicitly, rules tend be part of any kind of collaborative activity. rules in engeström’s model mediate and are mediated dynamically by the local community, divisions of labor, mediating artifacts, and the subject. in other words, rules are part of every activity system, and they are locally structured to mediate actions. rules, however, have particular meanings in classroom contexts and part of particular systems of social relations, and rules carry special meanings that mediate actions just like tools mediate actions (leont’ev, 1981). rules in activity systems like community circle time activities necessarily possess a dual and contrasting quality of both facilitating and restricting collective activities and individual participation. in the context of science time, classroom rules are mediating resources used to express and negotiate shared knowledge and attention in the classroom. the research context my role this article draws from classroom data part of a larger study. the broader study was a longitudinal project that involved twelve schools in the greater san francisco bay area referred to in the literature as either science instruction for all (sifa) or science instruction for grade schools (sigs) (baquedano-lópez, solís, & kattan, 2005; ku, bravo, & garcía, 2004; reyes, 2009; solis et al., 2009). my involvement in the sifa project allowed me to collaborate with reform-minded teachers and researchers over the course of four years. my role in the larger study was to qualitatively and quantitatively document how classrooms organized and implemented science lessons and engaged students from a variety of educational backgrounds. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=engestr%f6m%2c%20yrjv/102-9243342-8221769 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=engestr%f6m%2c%20yrjv/102-9243342-8221769 mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 151 la paz elementary school la paz elementary school is a small school of barely over four hundred students, and one of seventy-seven elementary schools in a large metropolitan school district. of the fortythree languages represented in the district, 38.1% spoke spanish and 37.8% spoke cantonese as native languages. these figures indicate that spanish-speaking and chinese-speaking students compose similar proportion of school aged students districtwide. la paz elementary school reflects the increasing percentage of bilingual students in the district with almost half of all students schoolwide classified as english learners (els). this analysis focuses on the practice of doing community circle activities during the teaching of more expository-based science literacy activities in a linguistically diverse thirdgrade classroom. these activities are reflective of the pedagogical habitus present in this classroom (grenfell, bloome, hardy, pahl, rowsell, & street, 2013). i focus here on community circle time activities because it brings to light the structuring of language and cultural expectations through common, everyday classroom routines, which is a defining aspect of the pedagogical habitus of this classroom. the discourse of community circle time activities during “pm” science class is examined through participant observation and the collection of other ethnographic data (i.e., video recordings, lesson artifacts). “pm” class denotes that the class meets in the afternoon. i observed the focal teacher (mrs. torres) 1-2 times per month over the course of two years while teaching science to 3rd graders during pm time. the classroom: pm time, science time, and community circle time over the course of my observations in mrs. torres’ pm class, i noted the repeated and routine practice of a common elementary school activity often called “community circle time.” in a review of the literature on classroom discourse, cazden (2001) notes that “sharing time,” similar to pm class community circle activity, has received a great deal of attention as a common activity where students are asked to “share” individual perspectives and opinions about ordinary questions posed by the teacher. sharing time is an activity that varies across classrooms but often structures longer turns to talk and special opportunities for recounting non-school experiences at home and social life in school. recent attention to sharing time notes the use of this classroom practice internationally with particular cross-cultural differences. in his discussion of la ronda (sharing time), poveda (2001) notes the productive use solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 152 of sharing time as an affective space, a normative space, and in the construction of shared knowledge. my observations of community circle time interactions reflect a recurring and consistent classroom participation structure. figure 1 displays the spatial and corporeal configuration of community circle time in mrs. torres’ classroom. figure 1. community circle time activity several types of activities and participation structures emerge from observations of community circle time. community circles for the purposes of this study are defined spatially, discursively, and corporeally as those interactions and activities where students sit with their legs crossed on top of a carpet located in the front part of the classroom and talk about sharing, planning, and doing activities. this metadiscourse about academic work provided for flexible and repeated opportunities to collectively think about classroom tasks, rules, and learning. community circle activities primarily arranged students in a circular fashion around the rectangular carpet positioning their bodies in a multi-directional gaze frame. sometimes, however, students needed to break the circle formation and shift their bodies and gaze toward the teacher in lecture-style fashion while still bounded by and sitting on the carpet space. teacher mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 153 community circle activities function both as initial and concluding sequences of pm class activities lasting between 15-20 minutes per circle activity. classroom work is commonly discussed during community circle activities as well as planning and doing classroom “jobs.”2 locating classroom interactions as work not only resonates with the construction of individual purposeful activity but also collective responsibilities in the classroom (wertsch, 1991). classroom work here is akin to any goaloriented action mediating available cultural resources like tools and signs (vygotsky, 1962). my focus on community circle time includes several types of classroom work. while the official purpose of pm time is science instruction, other types of classroom work is carried out related to eliciting students’ prior knowledge, managing classroom tasks, and collective problemsolving. therefore, science topics are sometimes the focus of community circle time activities, but not always. the varied classroom work is discussed further in the observation and analysis section. pm time classroom rules this paper concentrates broadly on understanding a classroom routine that constructs and attends to social and academic expectations. in this analysis of classroom rules in routine community circle activities, students are socialized to particular ways of dealing with emerging and familiar knowledge. describing interactions in classrooms is a continual and complex challenge but sustained observation provides varied opportunities to capture individual and group changes in participation over time. documenting how classroom rules are discussed and talked about provides us with a window into how teachers and students view their learning situations. moreover, an analysis of how rules are constructed, enacted, and transformed provides evidence for how teachers and students negotiate shared understandings and expectations of academic tasks and roles. that is, students learn curricular content and how to manage interactions in the classroom (philips, 1983). in this way, classroom experiences like community circle time are coherent and expedient. participation in the classroom involves the 2 students and the teacher use the term job to refer 1) to student classroom roles in specific classroom activities such as the rotating roles of pencil getter, group leader, workbook getter, cleaner etc., and also refer 2) to student responsibilities and norms when conducting themselves in classroom activities such as observing classroom rules and knowing the tasks of different activities. solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 154 appropriate coordination and display of sociocultural resources across similar and distinct contexts and situations (civil, 2016; rodriguez, 2013). district policies connected to pm time the legal and historical background linked to the implementation of pm time at la paz elementary school offers us a glimpse into local administrative perspectives on the teaching of science during this time. this observation is important because classroom activities do not occur in isolation from larger mediating social, political, cultural, and historical forces from which they originate (cole, 1996; gutiérrez, baquedano-lópez, alvarez, & chiu, 1999; lave & wenger, 1991; mehan, 1998; moll, 2000; rogoff, 1990). district and administrative decisions drove the coordination of when science instruction took place at the focal school because it was related to a broader state mandated desegregation policy. the school had complied with third grade integration requirements by purposefully mixing students during designated scheduling blocks including “pm class” (similar to a home room). the purpose of pm time from the school’s perspective is to bring students together normally not grouped together for any other part of the day. each pm class is carefully arranged to represent an equal number of students from each third-grade classroom in the school or about three to five students from each of the four classrooms schoolwide. pm classes, as opposed to am classes (normal class designation), meet four times a week for one hour from monday through thursday. each pm class is designed to represent 25% of the third-grade student classroom of the spanish bilingual class (led by the case study teacher), chinese bilingual class, and each of the english immersion classes. prior to the study, this practice had occurred the previous six years ranging from using pm class for physical education and other kinds of hands on activities. however, during the sifa study, all four third-grade teachers in the school opted to teach science inquiry during designated pm class days. science inquiry was introduced to the school through the initiation of the science instruction for all project (sifa) project, which was a collaborative longitudinal research project between the district and east bay university funded by the national science foundation. students and teachers then referred to this classroom arrangement a number of ways such as “pm class” or “pm time.” another term used by students is “mixing class,” and teachers generally refer to pm class to other teachers as “integration time” or “pm time.” mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 155 teacher perspectives of pm time teacher perspectives regarding the goals of pm class range from promoting student interaction/friendship across diverse racial/ethnic and linguistic student identities to socializing cooperative student habits and of course, to teaching science concepts and inquiry. mrs. torres,3 the third-grade case study pm teacher, likewise reiterates the perspective that the goals of pm science class comprise a widespread set of practices and activities dictated by school and district goals. this teacher is the only spanish bilingual teacher in the third grade and one of four total third-grade teachers at la paz elementary school. mrs. torres is a white, bilingual teacher with a bilingual credential who had been teaching for five years in the district when she participated in the study. nonetheless, teacher perspectives of pm science class suggest a more cautious and conflictive view of science and language learning. mrs. torres indicates that a major purpose of pm science class is to add and develop students’ academic english language skills. she indicates that the linguistic mix of students requires extensive modification of science lessons so as to make activities more “hands on” because for els “hands on [learning] is better because then they don’t have to be worrying about listening.” also, hands on modifications provide students the opportunity to be “figuring out the language sort of as they’re doing something.” making activities and interactions more “hands on” was identified by mrs. torres as a primary strategy for making the material and context more accessible to el students. in spite of recognizing the linguistic needs of students, mrs. torres discourages the use of chinese or spanish between students in the classroom to ensure unity of purpose and fairness in moment-to-moment interactions. mrs. torres hesitates translating concepts or ideas in spanish because she can’t also translate material to her chinese-speakers during mixing time. despite the explicit goal of promoting academic science language through pm class4 activities, mrs. torres explains that several emergent bilingual students had difficulty overcoming the anxiety of not knowing english whereas “if it had been in their own language, they wouldn’t have had that anxiety so they could have just focused on learning whatever the material was.” mrs. torres is expressing here the dual challenge of promoting science literacy 3 mrs. torres is also a pseudonym. 4 science lessons are primarily based on sifa materials focused on developing science inquiry and literacy skills through the teaching of matter and measurements concepts. solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 156 during pm class to emergent bilinguals. according to mrs. torres, not only does she have to organize scientific inquiry activities but she also has to guide several bilingual students in learning academic english (science) discourse with little or no background in the english language. this recurring theme, voiced repeatedly by mrs. torres and other bilingual teachers, includes the challenge of making the classroom context comprehensible to all students, promoting academic english, and science literacy while conducting pm class almost entirely in english despite the presence of untapped valuable bilingual/multilingual resources (civil, 2016; gonzález, 2008). mrs. torres articulates a particular vision of wanting students to teach each other classroom structures so that they know “where to be and when to be and how to be” in class that appear like antecedents or at least foundational structures for participating in learning. expression and demonstration of these behavioral structures are viewed, in effect, as prerequisite competencies for functional learning that encompass all students including monolingual students. the management of student behavior (appropriate conduct, attention, etc.) while promoting collaborative student participation is another prominent teacher theme set that appears intimately connected to the competing goals of pm science class. from this standpoint, community circle activities might be viewed as the primary mechanism by which student roles and classroom structures are learned and negotiated. mrs. torres provides a vivid, albeit multiple and conflicted vision of the learning process, and what her students need to know to be knowledgeable participants in her classroom. she sees interactional competence as the fundamental expectation and possibly most indispensable set of skills for her students to know in order to transcend and meet both behavioral and academic expectations. her vision of knowledgeable or competent participants matches prevailing perspectives of interactional competence. according to mehan (1983), interactional competence is a pragmatic skill tied to speaking and thinking. mehan (1983) similarly describes interactional competence as students learning that “certain ways of talking and acting are appropriate on some occasion and not others, knowing with whom, when, and where they can speak and act…which involves relating behavior to different classroom situations by interpreting classroom rules that are often implicit” (p. 79). cazden (2001) moreover refers to this process as students being socialized into management and activity structures, which are minimized in importance over time and are open for improvisation and evolution (p. 101). mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 157 cazden (2001) similarly makes a distinction between students learning the choreography of activities and the academic content that is possible after the initial skills are mastered. interactional competence and behavior management are intertwined in this classroom by the teacher when it comes to supporting students into expected forms of participation in the classroom and for performing grade-appropriate science inquiry activities. both are part of familiar discourse practices that aim to regulate students into learning and into membership of classroom communities. this familiar discursive theme is in effect the mechanism by which inter-subjective transitions are expressed and reproduced. inter-subjective transitions, meaning the changes and moves that mark student shifts in interactional competence and participation, however are negotiated and not already determined by the teacher’s regulative discourse. that is, while the teachers’ regulative practices are part of their institutional role to monitor and ratify legitimate knowledge, teachers’ power over the unfolding of classroom activities are inevitably shared and often contested by students. for example, candela (2005) in her study of mexican schoolchildren conducting science experiments has repeatedly found that students coauthor what appear to be typical teacher-controlled practices of regulation. while the regulation of classroom norms is not limited to specific academic subjects, science knowledge is often perceived as wholly objective and closed to varied perspectives perhaps contributing to the notion that english language instruction is less demanding in this context and that science is less language dependent. however, work in the classroom fundamentally involves negotiating intersubjectivity through language for the purposes of mutual coordination or understanding, collective perspective-taking, and making-sense of the natural world (duranti, 2010). these negotiations are built into the social architecture of classrooms through everyday routines of communication and co-authoring. for this reason, i focus on the community circle time routine of this classroom that exposes how intersubjectivity, under the guise of promoting interactional competence and science learning, orients participants to each other and to the local context. findings: the work of community circle time during science time observations of community circle time reflect a range of pedagogical purposes for sustaining this practice during pm class and science time. three salient themes emerged from classroom data collected during community circle time including classroom work supporting: solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 158 1) the use of problem-solving rules and metadiscourse as legitimate academic work and 2) collective orientations toward learning, and 3) the language of affect and academic identities. in the context of teaching science during english-only time, these themes counter notions of language-free science learning contexts. more importantly, these themes underscore the potential and urgency for expanding language and literacy practices during science instruction. the following section describes each theme. problem-solving rules and metadiscourse as legitimate academic work community circle time allows for the use of future or predictive conditional semantic structures especially from the teacher. these conditional constructions allow students to practice a range of epistemic stances related to degrees of probability (celce-murcia & larsenfreeman, 1999). excerpt 1 below introduces how the first community circle activity unfolded for pm class where students are asked to share their name and how they are feeling on the first day of pm science class.5 the teacher (mrs. torres) provides a visual guide and oral list of possible responses for students to use while they take their turn going around the circle sharing their response. as students rotate taking turns sitting on the carpet in a circle, students are also asked by the teacher to point to the expression of a set of five cartoon faces or expression contained in a “tribble” card that indicates how they could be feeling during pm time (see figure 2). 5 see appendix a for transcription conventions. figure 2. tribbles card mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 159 excerpt 1 teacher 1 you might feel (1) really excited ((holds tribbles card with both hands starting with rightmost icon)) 2 you might feel .. happy about it 3 you might feel .. happy but a little bit ((moves right hand toward cheek)) 4 nervous or a little bit scared or 5 a little bit feeling not so sure (1) conditional sentential constructions are therefore discursive strategies used to facilitate and guide potential participation structures in the classroom. given that this was the first pm time meeting of the school year, the activity allowed for greater regulation on the part of the teacher and the students over their interactions. students are given a script on how to respond to the first and subsequent community circle questions, which may support student engagement and a particular kind of turn-taking practice. while students may already be familiar with these grammatical constructions and turn-taking practices framing community circles, schieffelin and ochs (1996) keenly note that all cultural practices and communicative resources are intricately allied with “the features of the situation and cultural contexts which that practice invokes” and the preferred or expected competences in those settings (p. 257). that is, students are learning how to participate in pm science class while acquiring affective and culturally specific mindsets for being in the classroom and in learning environments (rogoff, 2016; solis et al., 2009). in addition to promoting the sharing of turns around the circle, the teacher also voiced breaches to classroom rules (even yet unspoken ones here). students have the option to pass and speak later around the rotation or completely not share a response. martín (excerpt 2) takes his turn after eight students have taken their turns. he is a bilingual student whose parents are from nicaragua and who has been designated as both having a speech impediment and “hyper deficit attention disorder.” martín takes his turn initially in spanish clearly understanding the activity by following the topic and sequence of the activity. this setting, while familiar to martín because the physical classroom and teacher are normally part of his homeroom spanish-english bilingual class, ceases to be so during pm time. yet, there is a solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 160 temporal adjustment occurring here that is signaled by contrasting understandings between the teacher and student of which language is expected during this activity and this class time. excerpt 2 santiago 1 my name is santiago (1) 2 pass (1) martín 3 me llamo martín my name is martín teacher 4 sh::::: ((looking at other students)) 5 we’re speaking in english during pm class ((looking at martín)) martín 6 aha yo creía que español oh i thought in spanish 7 my name is (1.5) a:h martín and i feel ha:ppy ((pointing at his tribble fig. 2)) 8 because we won the game figure 3. martín with a tribbles card martín mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 161 in this excerpt, martín follows the teacher’s script by giving his name and expressing that he feels happy to be in pm class. the teacher interjects in line 5 while martin is completing his turn asserting three mechanisms by which classrooms rules are inscribed with the phrase “we’re speaking in english during pm class.” this interjection discursively marks pm time and all activities during this time, like community circle time, as a bounded space where specific interactional norms and expectations need to be observed. first, mrs. torres clearly prohibits the use of spanish and other non-english languages by martín and other students during pm class. second, she does it while using the plural pronoun of “we” to support this normative goal as a collective pm time practice. finally, another mechanism imbedded in this plural construction is that the teacher mediates martín’s turn re-inscribing a classroom rule attached to martín’s turn while still mitigating a direct correction. instead of using a more direct “you” correction for addressing martín, mrs. torres mitigates and lessens a direct correction where responsibility for performing appropriate rules rests on the collective use of new classroom norms. this mitigation may be due to the apparent tension perceived by the teacher of promoting a collaborative classroom context and an equitable participation structure. yet, martín continues his turn in spanish (in line 6) after the teacher prohibits spanish in the classroom perhaps because martín recalls that the teacher is in fact bilingual (she’s his am teacher) and that almost half the students in pm class understand spanish fluently. the teacher uses a range of resources for regulating student participation during community circle time that attend to body positioning, taking-turns to speak, listening to other speakers, and ways of addressing potential problems. these mechanisms again support community circle time norms. understanding and appropriate performance of classroom rules is constructed as a sign of a competent third grade identity and doing science. moreover, following rules is constructed as a sign of a moral, caring, and responsible student. students are expected to “appreciate” each other when other students follow classroom protocols. this rule serves a dual function of also explicitly promoting shared monitoring responsibility of student behavior with teachers. excerpt 3 shows an interaction where the community circle activity is transitioning to a new activity. in instances where pm class held community circle sharing activity, the subsequent transition activity usually led to a planning activity where students would discuss goals and procedures to be used in subsequent activities. this kind of planning activity show solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 162 how students learned how to regulate their talk, enact a particular kind of cooperative discursive practice, and use cooperative problem-solving discursive methods to participate in activities. excerpt 3 teacher 11 it means listening to each other 12 you know what else it means it means 13 not always getting your way 14 sometimes you won’t get what you want 15 you have to say “well this time i won’t get 16 what i want but another time i will” in this instance, the teacher lists the rules of working in groups, which means “taking turns,” “sharing,” “listening to each other,” and “not always getting your way” (line 13). the teacher constructs a temporal aspect to these rules to enforce grade-appropriate academic conduct and participation. the observation here occurred at the start of the school year for these thirdgrade students and with students that are also new to this teacher as some normally are not with her during the day but in other third-grade classrooms. contained within excerpt 3 are several rule-bound constructions that express how students should listen, take turns, and take on a problem-solving stance when problems arise. the whole sequence provides a space for students to practice thinking collectively (metadiscourse) through the use of language about potential pitfalls and desired responses (i.e. line 16. “well this time i won’t get what i want but another time i will”) (hyland, 2017; razfar & leavitt, 2011). in excerpt 4, the teacher elaborates on what it means to be a third-grade student and ties those expectations to students being able to perform a series of classroom habits and practices. in essence, students who can learn and perform those rules are legitimate third-grade students and ready for the responsibilities that come with being in the third grade. this interaction occurs at the inception of pm time. the teacher walks into the circle and “appreciates” four students and goes on to explain why she is appreciating those students to the rest of the class. appreciations can be given and received by anyone but usually are given by the teacher to students for conducting themselves a particular way like when students sit in a mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 163 circle with their legs crossed and hands folded. those students appreciated by the teacher are acknowledged as following the rules while those students not yet appreciated are confirmed as being delinquent and not yet following the rules or not yet ready to participate. excerpt 4 teacher 1 i’d like to appreciate (2) marvin.. 2 for sitting next to people who are not in his am class 3 and for sitting next to people only in his pm class 4 thank you marvin (1) 5 when i say acting like a third grader that means 6 that you’re listening to other people 7 it means you’re following directions 8 it means you’re keeping your hands to yourself 9 and it means you’re taking responsibility 10 for yourself ... you are not worrying about what 11 other people are doing 12 you’re making sure that you’re doing 13 the right thing 14 that’s what being a third grader is all about this year the metadiscourse in excerpt 4 is charged with multiple intentions and goals of community circle time. appreciations here are used as a regulatory device for classroom norms in the mixing of students from am and pm classes. in addition, mrs. torres’ listing rules for “acting like a third grader” (line 5) are expressed in the form of regulations and prescriptions for conduct (“keeping your hands to yourself”), participation norms (“listening to other people”), and problem-solving principles (“making sure you’re doing the right thing”). collective orientations toward learning previous excerpts describe how classroom rules are an expression of academic expectations for students in their participation of community circle time activities. moreover, appreciation 3rd grade behavior solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 164 classroom rules work in concert with sociocultural resources in shaping student use of academic and scientific discourse. taken as a whole, what do classroom rules tell us about local perspectives of learning, scientific inquiry, and academic expectations? the following excerpts illustrate that classroom negotiation of rules are windows into the learning process and that rules are essentially pre-emptive responses to impending conflict, anticipatory scripts, and problem-solving heuristics. problem-solving activities support participant structures in which children can use academic registers in a meaningful fashion “to engage in logical arguments, to share their ideas, and to work together in the pursuit of common goals” (forman & mcphail, 1993, p. 226). classroom rules work together with moment-to-moment goals in framing student participation in problem-solving interactions. the community circle sequence in excerpt 5, takes place in the third week of observations, and unfolds as the class starts with an immediate confrontation between students that escalates into a two-minute verbal altercation. upon observing this conflict, the teacher expresses her disappointment and directs all the students to instantly vacate the classroom. once the students re-enter the classroom and are sitting in a circle around the carpet again, the teacher reframes the subject of the interaction from a problem between individual students to a problem implicating the whole class, which then requires the attention of the whole class to problem-solve. the teacher strategically describes the reason for the conflict as rooted in a problem that requires collective problem-solving and opens up the floor for ideas on how to solve the problem of entering the “classroom properly” (line 8). this problem-solving activity materializes into the community circle subject for the day. the teacher explains the classroom goals of being safe and sitting in a circle when doing community circles and expresses that as “only one” person she needs help from others (line 3). mrs. torres uses the characteristic terms used in mathematical and scientific practices where “problems” (line 3) are identified and “solutions” (line 6 and 17) are sought to answer them in this one sequence that is repeated in several other observations sometimes involving science content. mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 165 excerpt 5 teacher 1 right.. because i need to make sure that people safe 2 are being and sitting on the circle 3 i need help with this problem because there’s 4 only one of me 5 does anyone have any ideas of how 6 we can solve that problem.. where people can be safe on 6 the carpet a:::nd people can (1) come in the 8 classroom properly nicolás 9 () teacher 10 nicolás what’s your idea nicolás 11 um you could just stand out there 12 look at ‘em then.. quickly look back in-inside the room 13 then you could look back out teacher 14 that’s what i was trying to do today 15 and i still missed the problem 16 because the problem was happening right here 17 so that is exactly the solution that i came up with 18 but it’s still not working by redirecting the subject of the activity into an apparent collective problem-solving scenario regarding student behavior and pm time norms, the teacher positions students into the role of rule-makers of their own and the teacher’s actions. nicolás’ solution is “exactly the solution” (line 17) that the teacher had apparently drawn beforehand which still is not working. the implication here is that students need to come up with better solutions or adjust their behavior. in contrast to excerpt 5, where the teacher and students might have been looking for one absolute answer to a problem, excerpt 6 depicts students problem-solving in the context of multiple possible answers with the explicit goal of promoting discussion of why students arrive at different solutions when using non-standard measuring tools. students had previously worked in groups to measure the length of a piece of paper using 1) paperclips and 2) pieces of joint problemsolving solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 166 straw (a tube of waxed paper) of different lengths. this discussion takes place in the community circle carpet and students share answers from the activity that took place previously at their desks. it is agreed that most everyone works out the same length measuring the piece of paper using the paperclips, but there was disagreement with the answers using the pieces of straw as a measurement tool. the teacher starts by repeating the different solutions shared by the student groups involving the pieces of straw. figure 4. teacher introducing measurement activity with paperclips and straw mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 167 excerpt 6 teacher 1 but some people got two straws 2 some people got threes 3 some people got fours 4 some people got five 5 does anybody have any idea raising their hand quietly 6 why:: (.5) everybody got the same answer for paperclips 7 but different answers for the straws 8 jonah what you jonah 9 cuz uh paperclip is all uh short and the same and the 10 and the straws like uh some are small and some are long student 11 uh? teacher 12 interesting idea in this interaction, the goal of the activity is to explore the concept of standard measurements of length. while sharing their solutions, students participate in a joint problemsolving exercise comparing the difference between using paperclips and pieces of straw for measuring a piece of letter-sized paper. jonah shares his perspective on why different solutions were offered when using straws referring to the problem that in the case of straws “some are small and some are long” (line 10) while paperclips are “short and the same.” interestingly, the entire sequence is framed by a kind of indefinite and non-specified problem where the teacher does not directly point out individual student answers after students share their responses to the rest of the group, as in “somebody” (lines 1-4), “anybody” (lines 5), and “everybody” (line 6). not everyone had the same answer using paperclips but the teacher chooses to initially frame the problem as one that had too many different solutions. this recurring attention toward collective problem-solving talk during community circle time therefore allowed for the engagement of classroom rules (excerpt 5: proper conduct in the classroom) and of central science literacy concepts (excerpt 6: standard measurement units). solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 168 expressing affect and academic identities during community circle time interactions in community circle time are also examples of students attempting to create coherence of academic participant structures, academic identities, and scientific discourse while they learn to regulate their participation in class. in excerpt 7, three students (nicolás, diana, and evelyn) demonstrate how students learn and practice taking the floor in vastly different ways. nicolás, having mastered the preferred turn-taking script, manages to translate, challenge, and adapt his participation. nicolás, who had previously asked about how to express feeling “sleepy” and “tired” (line 2), continues with the same theme when it was his turn to speak despite not (and perhaps because) there exists no apparent match of a “sleepy” tribble. in this way, nicolás expands the activity and the potential for collective student responses through his appropriation of the activity to fit his individual communicative intentions. excerpt 7 nicolás 1 -nicolás and my tribble isn’t on there 2 but i’m tired ((looking at tribble card)) teacher 3 ((giggling, moves head forward)) diana 4 my name is diana (dai-æna) and i feel like student 5 i didn’t hear i teacher 6 -put (1) your hand right here diana (djá-na) ((folds hands in front of her knees)) 7 do you want me to call you 8 diana (dai-æna) or diana (djá-na)? diana 9 you can call me anything teacher 10 either one? (1) ok 11 can you share again? (1) ((looking at diana)) diana 12 i feel happy ‘cuz i like mixing class (2) evelyn 13 my name is evelyn eric 14 can you speak louder please teacher 15 thank you eric ((looking at eric in far right hand side of circle)) mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 169 16 can you speak louder ((whispering and looking at evelyn)) evelyn 17 my name is evelyn diana (line 4) follows nicolás and is cut off by an unknown student (line 5), but this is followed by the teacher’s ensuing interjection that focuses on both diana’s corporeal and verbal participation. students are expected to sit with their legs crossed on the carpet. diana’s turn is restarted through an exchange where the teacher positions diana (line 8) as needing to choose between the spanish (djá-na) or english (dai-æna) phonetic version of her name as in “diana (dai-æna) or diana (djá-na)?”. diana chooses to not express a preference although she had initially chosen the english pronunciation of diana (dai-æna) (line 3); hence, her initial english pronunciation of her name is set aside with the question posed by the teacher. this kind of reckoning of student participation is prevalent during community circle time yet contrasts with martín’s exchange where he is not given an option of speaking english or spanish during pm class. proper recognition of student names in linguistically diverse classrooms remains a concern as indicated by a recent national online initiative promoting “belonging and positive relationships” through appropriate naming practices in bilingual/multilingual classrooms (https://www.mynamemyidentity.org/). in the subsequent turn, evelyn also initially interrupted (line 18) but continues with her turn, sharing her name and completing her turn with an ambivalent response of feeling “tired?” (line 19) re-voicing nicolás’ earlier utterance of feeling tired (line 2). excerpt 7 reveals the range of student experiences during community circle time where some students demonstrate their oral language skills to adapt preferred participant structures (nicolás), while other students (diana and evelyn) struggle to obtain the floor and are sometimes cast as less capable co-participants. access to the classroom language and procedures are unmistakably produced and enabled collectively (e.g. incorporation of nicolás’ and the teacher’s words by evelyn and diana), but this does not preclude abundant individual student differences regarding academic language proficiency, comprehension of less explicit classroom norms (e.g. bodily posture), and distribution of power asymmetries of student status (e.g. spanish diana). excerpt 7 illustrates that familiarity with u.s. schooling procedures and the language of instruction are inextricably associated with how participation structures are interpreted, enacted, and transformed individually and jointly in classrooms. solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 170 another example of students reshaping the interactional structure of an activity occurred during community circle time activities focused directly on science related themes. the community circle question on this day is about sharing thoughts and ideas connected to the word “scientist.” the teacher phrases the focus of this community circle activity with the following question depicted in excerpt 8. excerpt 8 teacher l our question today is (1) when you think of the word 2 scientist (1) what do you think of… what do you think 3 of when you think of the wo::rd… scientist the teacher repeatedly mentions ideas connected to stereotypical images associated with scientists as people “working in a lab with white coats on…thinking of things they want to find out…doing experiments to find answers to things they want to find out”6 (transcribed recording js). students begin taking turns sharing their responses in usual rotation fashion, with some students passing, and then coming back to students who wanted to share after initially passing. several students echo the idea of “white coats,” and others make new connections to popular media icons outside the classroom like pokémon, scooby doo, and frankenstein. in excerpt 9, maría holds the teddy bear allowing her the right to respond to the question of the day and then opens up the floor for additional comments from those who had passed previously. robert takes the floor and echoes similar themes to those previously uttered by the teacher, yet extends the connection to the popular frankenstein motifs shown in excerpt 9. 6 teacher comments prior to excerpt 8. mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 171 excerpt 9 robert 1 well u::m: when i think..about scientist i think about… 2 when they doing their experi: ments..like…when they: 3 pla:y frankenstei::n..when they have ‘em covered up 4 and the hand come out…and they say he alive 5 and they thought he was gonna be (bu::ried) 4 because he was real dee::: p…real ta:ll..and 7 he messes ki::ds [and ki::ds] thought he was () student 1 8 [frankenstein] robert 9 () and being kids () padded him on the ba::ck 10 and then he teacher 11 think about the scientist what what did the scientist look like robert 12 the sci:entist..he um ah long white coat (1) he was short… students 13 ((giggling)) robert 14 and he had a hump on his back.. robert’s extended response relates to an adapted narrative (line 1-7) of frankenstein, which demonstrates his familiarity with the reference to scientists but especially his interest in fictional scientists. moreover, he expands on the basic sharing question by introducing the idea of someone acting like a scientist as in “playing” frankenstein (line 3) or replaying the story of frankenstein. the source of robert’s narrative is not clear, yet he mixes icons from horror and animation texts like frankenstein and the hunchback of notre dame (line 14) (hugo, 2012; shelley, 2008). in this case, the distinction between imaginary and actual characters is not significant when the goal is tapping into students’ prior knowledge of texts, icons, and experiences involving scientists. in effect, robert’s turn is an example of a student creating coherence on the subject of being scientists, and a type of persuasive argumentation for including frankenstein in the context of talk about scientists. robert appropriates “scientist” and makes meaning of past experiences of the story of frankenstein within this new context of community circle time. solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 172 the previous excerpts demonstrate how community circle time expectations shape, enable, and sometimes constrain the use of expected “academic” language examples through student participation in community circle time activities. moreover, students actively share in both interpreting participation rules and improvising on them as well. this regulated space is imbued with affective and normative stances on how to proceed in repeated interactions during community circle time. however, as robert’s narrative demonstrates, even the explicit rules here are permeable and allow student adaptation of activities. discussion and conclusion my observations of this third-grade classroom capture prototypical encounters of the unfolding of classroom interactions through the repeated practice of community circle activities and other science-related activities. community circle activities and the use of classroom rules are mundane occurrences. common also is the decision to offer english instruction time with science as this practice also occurs in many bilingual programs. the activities surrounding community circle time are culturally significant in that they serve as critical establishing experiences in the language socialization of students to fundamental elementary school practices and early experiences with respect to what it means to do science in school and learn “scientific” discourses (brown, 2006; lemke, 2001; vygotsky, 1962). the expression of classroom rules appears critical in mediating elements in community circle activities that work in concert with student existing resources, teacher expectations, and administrative goals. when referring to sharing time classroom activities like the one in this case study, cazden (2001) identifies the pedagogical work done by the teacher and students as a pervasive and constant tension because it often requires validation of existing student contributions while simultaneously re-grounding it with additional meaning (p. 22). validation of a student’s meaning in this case is synonymous with using student resources and experiences as critical tools for learning. this tension is clearly evident in the creation and performance of interactional rules where combined pedagogical goals and purposes collide to create multifunctional and multi-purpose spaces like pm science time. moreover, the study of routine and common classroom practices needs to move into understanding actual contexts, like the heterogeneous contexts at la paz elementary school, and not in creating ideal or monolithic language teaching typologies (canagarajah, 2013; gort, mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 173 2015). emergent bilinguals occupy highly diverse educational spaces within and across classrooms. that is, classroom contexts are locally negotiated while influenced by institutional and cultural models. as we see in several of the excerpts, individual participants can and do “evade, bend, or violate the constraints established by the current sequential environment of their talk” (zimmerman & boden, 1991, p. 10). the work of participants is continually constrained and enabled by the sequential context for further actions. interactions in the community circle activities illustrate how some students negotiate those constraints (i.e., using spanish during english-only time, making novel science connections to cultural icons like frankenstein). similarly, teachers and administrators interested in the teaching and learning of science in diverse classroom contexts can similarly question how science teaching spaces are promoted and influenced by larger district and school policies and historical events. why is science taught differently in a specific time period or grade level? how are bilingual/multilingual students able to use their cultural and linguistic repertoires to learn and do science? the potential breakdown of classroom lessons is the explanation for the explicit creation of classroom rules that anticipate and regulate student interactions with the ultimate goal of avoiding derailment or of realigning planned activities. in the context of a classroom where students come from a variety of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, classroom rules take on a new dimension. pm science time was identified by some teachers as the favorite activity of their weekly teaching days because teaching mainstream students all day long was seen as a genuine challenge whereas during pm time, teachers had an opportunity to work with emergent bilinguals mixed from other classrooms for science time. in the words of most teachers, pm time students were just “better behaved” than other students. for these teachers, student behavior was an everyday concern and the formation of rules to regulate participation was a principal concern and solution. studying the socialization of interaction rules and norms in classrooms activities like the one in this case study is moreover ultimately part of the larger project of reconceptualizing learning as a contested space where “trouble is an essential feature of teaching-learning interaction…[a] feature that defies our attempts to correct it, or repair it, or make it disappear” (mehan, 1998, p. 264). daily encounters during community circle activities occurring during english-only time, like any other classroom routine, make visible some of those tensions as well as attempts to manage them. solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 174 appendix. a transcription conventions device symbol notes 1 rising intonation ? or  2 falling intonation . or  3 continuing intonation , listing, falling-rising 4 stress/loud caps louder, stressed 5 pause (1) 6 short untimed pause .. less than .5sec 7 short untimed pause … between .5-1 sec. 8 spoken slowly < > 9 spoken rapidly > < 10 lengthened syllables ha::rd 11 word cutoff abrupt end/interruption 12 latched talk = no temporal gap between speakers 13 overlapping speech [ ] simultaneous talk 14 soft speech °hi ° softer than surrounding text 15 paralinguistic/non-verbal (( )) 16 unclear/unintelligible ( ) lack of certainty adapted from the following sources: jefferson, g. (2002). is “no” an acknowledgment token? comparing american and british uses of (+)/(−) tokens. journal of pragmatics, 34, 1345–1383.
 ochs, e. (1979). transcription as theory. developmental pragmatics, 10(1), 43-72. mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 175 references baquedano-lópez, p., mangual figueroa, a., & hernández, s. j. (2011). an integrated approach to the study of transitions as learning activity: two cases from spanish immersion classrooms. in p. r. portes & s. salas (eds.), vygotsky al sabor latino: cultural historical theory, research, and praxis for and with us latinos and other non-dominant communities (pp. 180-198). new york, ny: peter lang. baquedano-lópez, p., solís, j. l., & kattan, s. (2005). adaptation: the language of classroom learning. linguistics & education, 16 (1), 1–26. brown, b. a. (2006). “it isn't no slang that can be said about this stuff”: language, identity, and appropriating science discourse. journal of research in science teaching, 43(1), 96-126. bruna, k. r., & gomez, k. (eds.). (2009). the work of language in multicultural classrooms: talking science, writing science. new york, ny: routledge. bunch, g. c. (2014). the language of ideas and the language of display: reconceptualizing “academic language” in linguistically diverse classrooms. international multilingual research journal, 8(1), 70-86. candela, a. (2005). students' participation as co-authoring of school institutional practices. culture & psychology, 11(3), 321-337. canagarajah, a. s. (ed.). (2013). literacy as translingual practice: between communities and classrooms. new york, ny: routledge. cazden, c. (2001). classroom discourse: the language of teaching and learning (2nd ed.). portsmouth, nh: heinemann publishers. celce-murcia, m., & larsen-freeman, d. (1999). the grammar book: an esl/efl teacher’s course (2nd ed.). boston, ma: heinle & heinle. civil, m. (2016). stem learning research through a funds of knowledge lens. cultural studies of science education, 11(1), 41-59. cole, m. (1996). cultural psychology: a once and future discipline. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. donato, r. (2004). aspects of collaboration in pedagogical discourse. annual review of applied linguistics, 24, 284-302. duranti, a. (2010). husserl, intersubjectivity and anthropology. anthropological theory, 10(1-2), 16-35. engeström, y. (2001). expansive learning at work: toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. journal of education and work, 14(1), 133-156. forman, e. a., & mcphail, j. (1993). vygotskian perspective on children’s collaborative problemsolving activities. in forman, e. a., minick, n., & c.a. stone (eds.), contexts for learning: sociocultural dynamics in children's development (pp. 213-229). new york, ny: oxford university press on demand. garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education. uk: palgrave macmillan solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 176 gonzález, n. (2008). what is culture? in a. s. rosebery & b. warren (eds.), teaching science to english language learners: building on students’ strengths (pp. 89–97). arlington, va: national science teachers association. gort, m. (2015). transforming literacy learning and teaching through translanguaging and other typical practices associated with “doing being bilingual.” international multilingual research journal, 9(1), 1-6, grenfell, m., bloome, d., hardy, c., pahl, k., rowsell, j., & street, b. v. (2013). language, ethnography, and education: bridging new literacy studies and bourdieu. new york, ny: routledge. gutiérrez, k. d. (2002). studying cultural practices in urban learning communities. human development, 45, 312-321. gutiérrez, k. d., baquedano-lópez, p., alvarez, h. h., & chiu, m. m. (1999). building a culture of collaboration through hybrid language practices. theory into practice, 38(2), 87-93. gutiérrez, k. d., & rogoff, b. (2003). cultural ways of learning: individual traits or repertoires of practice. educational researcher, 32(5), 19-25. hugo, v. (2012). the hunchback of notre-dame (vol. 345). everyman's library. hyland, k. (2017). metadiscourse: what is it and where is it going?. journal of pragmatics, 113, 16-29. ku, y. m., bravo, m., & garcía, e. e. (2004). science instruction for all. nabe journal of research and practice, 2(1), 20-44. lave, j., & wenger, e. (1991). situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. new york, ny: cambridge university press. lee, o., quinn, h., & valdés, g. (2013). science and language for english language learners in relation to next generation science standards and with implications for common core state standards for english language arts and mathematics. educational researcher, 42(4), 223-233. lemke, j. l. (2001). articulating communities: sociocultural perspectives on science education. journal of research in science teaching, 38(3), 296-316. leont’ev, a. n. (1981). the problem of activity in psychology. in j. wertsch (ed.), the concept of activity in soviet psychology (pp.37-71). armonk, ny: m.e. sharpe. martínez-álvarez, p., cuevas, i., & torres-guzmán, m. (2017). preparing bilingual teachers: mediating belonging with multimodal explorations in language, identity, and culture. journal of teacher education, 68(2), 155-178. mceneaney, e. h., lópez, f., & nieswandt, m. (2014). instructional models for the acquisition of english as bridges into school science: effects on the science achievement of us hispanic english language learners. learning environments research, 17(3), 305-318. mehan, h. (1983). the role of language and the language of role in educational decision making. language in society, 12, 187-211. mehan, h. (1998). social interaction in educational settings: accomplishments and unresolved issues. human development, 41(4), 1-25. mixing time in a bilingual program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 177 moll, l. c. (2000). inspired by vygotsky: ethnographic experiments in education. in c. lee & p. smagorinsky (eds.), vygotskian perspectives on literacy research: constructing meaning through collaborative inquiry (pp. 256-268). new york, ny: cambridge university press. philips, s. u. (1983). the invisible culture: communication in classroom and community on the warm springs indian reservation. new york, ny: longman. poveda, d. (2001). la ronda in a spanish kindergarten classroom with a cross‐cultural comparison to sharing time in the usa. anthropology & education quarterly, 32(3), 301325. razfar, a., & leavitt, d. (2011). developing metadiscourse: building mathematical discussions in an urban elementary classroom. canadian journal of science mathematics and technology education, 11, 180-197. reyes, i. (2009). english language learners' discourse strategies in science instruction. bilingual research journal, 31(1-2), 95-114. rodriguez, g. m. (2013). power and agency in education: exploring the pedagogical dimensions of funds of knowledge. review of research in education, 37(1), 87-120. rogoff, b. (1990). apprenticeship in thinking: cognitive development in social context. new york, ny: oxford university press. rogoff, b. (2016). culture and participation: a paradigm shift. current opinion in psychology, 8, 182-189. schieffelin, b. & ochs, e. (1996). the microgenesis of competence: methodology in language socialization. in slobin, j. gerhardt, a. kyratzis, & guo jiansheng (eds.), social interaction, social context and language: essays in honor of susan ervin-tripp (pp. 251-264). manwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. shelley, m. w. (2008). frankenstein, or, the modern prometheus 1818. engage books. solis, j. l. (2017). adaptation and the language of learning science in a bilingual classroom. in juliet langman and holly hansen-thomas (eds.), perspectives on discourse analysis and stem education: exploring english learner interaction in the classroom (pp.195-215). new york, ny: springer/ francis. solis, j. l., kattan, s., & baquedano-lópez, p. (2009). socializing respect and knowledge in a racially integrated science classroom. linguistics & education, 20(3), 273–290. varelas, m., pappas, c. c., & rife, a. (2006). exploring the role of intertextuality in concept construction: urban second graders make sense of evaporation, boiling, and condensation. journal of research in science teaching, 43(7), 637-666. vygotsky, l. (1962). thought and language. cambridge, ma: mit press. warren, b., ballenger, c., ogonowski, m., rosebery, a. s., & hudicourt‐barnes, j. (2001). rethinking diversity in learning science: the logic of everyday sense‐making. journal of research in science teaching, 38(5), 529-552. wertsch, j. v. (1991). voices of the mind: a sociocultural approach to mediated action. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/ochs/articles/the_microgenesis_of_comptenece-methdology_in_language_socialization.pdf http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/ochs/articles/the_microgenesis_of_comptenece-methdology_in_language_socialization.pdf solís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 178 zimmerman, d. h., & boden, d. (eds.). (1991). talk and social structure: studies in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. berkeley, ca: university of california press. journal_2008._coverpage._final[1] 40 tecayates y girasoles para todos los santos by jairo sanchez, m.s. abro los ojos y miro que la luz tierna de la tempranera mañana entra por la ventana. mis ojos no quieren quedarse abiertos. miro hacia el techo y miro los carrizos dorados, alineados juntos como renglones en un libro. los minutos pasan y miro que los rayos del sol empiezan a entrar, poco a poco, más y más por la ventana hasta hacer que los carrizos parezcan estar cubiertos de oro, ensendiendo más el cuarto sobrepasando a lo obscuro. de la cocina oigo ruidos. suenan como aplausos de un evento social de mi escuela. recuerdo que cuando presenté mi poema el día de las madres, la gente me aplaudió con mucho gusto y alegría. esta vez, los aplausos no son muchos, pero suficientes para despertarme. solamente es mamá y mis dos hermanas, gloria y gaby. las tres hacen tortillas frescas a mano para el desayuno. puedo distinguir que mamá es más rápida que goya y gaby. de todos modos, mis hermanas no se quedan mucho atrás. de la sala junto a mi recámara llega un aroma dulce. es principios de noviembre y celebramos todos los santos, aunque hay unos que dicen que es el dia de los muertos. la mesa de la sala está llena de pan fresco, frutas y comidas, las comidas más favoritas de mis abuelos y de mis tres hermanitos ya fallecidos. nunca los conocí a ninguno de ellos; murieron antes de que yo naciera. de pronto, oigo que mamá llama, desde la cocina. “jorge, te toca traer las flores!” ya los sabía, pero la mañana es fría y húmeda. la cama se siente muy sabrosa y no quiero salir de ella. “sí mamá,” le contesto. poco a poco me levanto y me pongo mis zapatos. primero me dirijo a la cocina y saludo a mi mami y a mis hermanas. “buenos días mami’ y le doy un beso en la mejilla. “buenos días hijo,” me dice. a mis hermanas nomás les digo “jey” y me robo una tortilla fresca y calientita del chiquepeshtle (tortilla basket). mis hermanas rápidamente me corren de la cocina. “sácate de aquí” me dice gaby bruscamente. goya, me pega en el brazo y me dice que me espere hasta que esté todo el desayuno listo. mamá las apoya también y me corre, “ve a traer las flores jorge. apurate, que se les hace tarde ir a la escuela.” “si mamá,” le contesto saliéndome de la cocina con mi tortilla calientita en mano. huy, que bien se siente una tortilla calientita en mis manos frías. quisiera tener guantes tan calientitos como esta tortilla, pienso en mí mismo. ya lo sabía, esta mañana me va a llevar más tiempo en encontrar las flores silvestres de tecayates y girasoles para el camino de los muertos. agarro la canasta y me dirijo a la ladera en la barranca en busca de flores de tecayates y girasoles. estas mañanas de otoño la barranca es fría y rociada. nubes de vapor blanco se forman en frente de mi cara a como respiro, mucho más hoy que voy comiendo mi tortilla caliente. siempre me gusta hacer nubes de vapor con mi nariz y boca; me hace sentir como si fuera yo grande. los adultos siempre hacen mucho humo por la boca y nariz. hoy me siento como un adulto por poder hacer mucho humo por la boca y nariz. a como camino por las veredas entre las hierbas y el sacate, mis zapatos y mis pantalones rápidamente se mojan y me entumen las piernas y los pies. aun así debo encontrar suficientes flores para llenar mi canasta de tecayates y girasoles. los tecayates son flores pequeñas de pétalos amarillos con centro anaranjado, y al cortarlos dan un aroma dulce y fresco, como menta y caramelo a la misma vez. 41 los girasoles son de pétalos rositas y blancos con centros amarillos y negros. también los girasoles tienen olor dulce y saben a menta, ligera y dulce. al cortar las flores, mis manos se manchan rápidamente de amarillo y verde obscuro con el color de la hierba. con el rocío y el frío de la mañana, los dedos de mis manos rápidamente se entumen y se ponen tiesos, igual que mis pies y piernas. en lo alto y en los árboles los pájaros vuelan jubilosos y ruidosos, gozando del calorcito de la fría mañana. dichosos son los pájaros que pueden estar arriba de los árboles para gozar de los tempraneros rayos del sol. son gorriones, muchos gorriones. unos con crestas rojas y pechos amarillos. otros son gorriones de plumas cafés y pechos blancos. entre ellos parecen tener fiesta en la mañana. o tal vez no es fiesta lo que tienen, sino que son como mis hermanas quienes juntas me corrieron de la cocina, ruidosas y rudas. tal vez los pájaros también están corriendo a uno de esos gorrioncillos a traer las flores a la barrnaca para los muertos. el otro lado de la barranca, al oeste, se mira más hermoso. ya le cae más luz del sol. cómo quisiera vivir en ese lado de la barranca. mi lado tiene que esperar más tarde en la mañana para gozar del calor del sol. a como voy decendiendo hacia el fondo de la barranca, paso a paso, el frío se siente más intenso. a la vez mis zapatos y mis pantalones se mojan más y más. ¿dónde están las flores de los tecayates y girasoles? ayer levanté un tanto por este lado. hoy tengo que caminar más lejos y más abajo de la fria barranca para llenar mi canasta con tecayates y girasoles. ¿por qué necesitan flores los muertos? me pregunto a mí mismo. si sus almas decienden directo del cielo, ¿por qué no decienden directamente a la mesa donde está la comida y el pan que les hemos preparado? mamá dice que los muertos necesitan saber que sus almas son apreciadas e invitadas y por eso les regamos flores en esto dias de todos los santos. tenemos que hacerles un camino de flores frescas en frente de la casa. por ahora a mí me toca marcarles el camino con tecayates y girasoles. las flores son suaves cuando son frescas, suaves como una alfombra multicolor, con olor dulce y fresco. poco a poco mi canasta se va llenando con tecayates y girasoles. con canasta llena, pantalones y zapatos mojados y manos tiezas de frío, regreso a casa. toda la subida de la barranca camino deseando que el sol del otro lado de la barranca se venga para mi lado. así, mi cuerpo dejaría de temblar. pero sé que pido lo imposible, y me tendré que conformar con el calor del tlequil (open fire) donde mamá y mis hermanas cocen las tortillas y la comida del desayuno. en frente del sagúan empiezo la regada de flores formando un arco de tecayates con una cruz en medio de pétalos de girasoles. completo un rectángulo alrededor de la cruz y el arco. sigo regando las flores como vereda hacia la sala principal donde la mesa y el altar han sido preparados para las almas de los muertos. camino con cuidado y en silencio enfrente del altar para no pertubar sus almas. a veces yo quisiera ver a uno de ellos ahí disfrutando de lo que les hemos preparado. así tendría la oportunidad de conocer a mis hermanos y abuelos. la sala huele muy sabroso con todo el pan de muertos, recién hecho, las guayabas, zapotes, caña de azúcar, plátanos, naranjas, dulce de calabaza y mole. las veladoras encendidas iluminan la mesa y altar. y con la luz opaca y vibrante le ponen más misterio a todo lo presente. entre vibración a vibración de la luz me da el presentimiento y me late que cualquier momento un alma se aparezca, ahi, en frente de mis ojos, pero por mala o buena suerte nunca pasa. en frente del altar termino de regar las flores en forma de cruz. al terminar la cruz, pienso y deseo que las almas de mis parientes aprecien el camino de tecayates y girasoles esta mañana. en cuanto termino de regar las flores, me dirijo hacia la cocina a calentarme cerca del tlequil. mis hermanas me miran llegar, mojado y friolento, y me dicen “ya está el desayuno listo, siéntate manito.” goya me da una taza de leche caliente y me sirve un plato de huevitos revueltos con hongos campestres y tortillas frescas y calientitas. ambriento y friolento a la misma vez, cómo con muchas ganas. ni siquiera me acuerdo de cambiarme la ropa mojada. gaby se retira de la cocina rápidamente y me busca un par de pantalones secos, los plancha rápido y me los da en la mano, aun 42 calientitos de la planchada. “póntelos y cámbiate rápido” me dice con apuro en su voz. “apúrate, que ya nos vamos a la escuela. se nos hace tarde.” al salir de la casa rumbo a la escuela, mis hermanas me dicen que se mira bonita la entrada a la casa con tecayates y girasoles. en mi mente pienso que las almas de mis hermanitos y abuelos deben estar contentos de saber que no nos hemos olvidado de ellos. y si a ellos no les gusta mi regada de flores, al menos, estoy contento que a mis hermanas sí. regada de flores para las almas drawing by: jairo sanchez photo by: cesar sanchez monte albán oaxaca, méxico volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ chavarria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 91 developing transformative space for student resistance: latina/o students’ interruption of subtractive schooling practices karina chavarria university of california, los angeles abstract social reproduction scholars and the literature on critical race theory and student resistance contend that schools are not neutral institutions existing in a vacuum free of the political and social struggles for rights and resources (delgado bernal, 1998; fine, 1991). instead, schools can be institutions that reproduce dominant ideologies and oppressive hierarchies or arenas from which to challenge power and status-quo policies (freire, 1970). drawing from two years of participant observations at hillcrest high school, this study explores how latina/o students in collaboration with their teacher engage in transformational resistance to subtractive schooling. i document how co-leadership in the classroom between teacher and students supports the co-creation of a transformative space for critical reflection. similar to activist groups creating spaces to cultivate youth political engagement, classrooms can be reconstructed to foster the development of students as agents of change. this article presents the process through which latina/o students gain critical reflection of social inequalities and systems of oppression that enables them to advocate for more inclusive and just schooling practices. keywords: latina/o schooling, student resistance, educational inequalities, subtractive schooling. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.330 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.330 developing transformative space for student resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 92 introduction deficit-thinking models like subtractive schooling practices are defined by inequitable school structures that lead to uncaring school environments, inequitable opportunities, and repressive practices (moll & ruiz, 2002; quiroz, 2001;valenzuela 1999). scholars demonstrate that latina/o students’ experiences with subtractive schooling practices detrimentally affect their educational attainment (conchas, 2001; conchas & vigil, 2010; gibson, gandara, & peterson-koyama, 2004). students, though, are not passive beings. research investigating students’ resistance to subtractive schooling practices reveals that their responses comprise negative and positive forms of oppositional behavior (fine, 1991; robinson & ward, 1991; valenzuela, 1999). yet, few have examined student resistance that carries the potential for social change. this article is informed by the following questions: what happens when we have a different model of schooling other than subtractive practices? how does a schooling model that values youths’ social backgrounds affect latina/o students’ schooling experiences? in the case of chicana/o students, solorzano and bernal (2001) theorize transformational resistance as student behavior that demonstrates not just a critique of social oppression, but also carries a desire for social justice. thus, transformational resistance presents the greatest possibility for social change. i offer new contributions to this notion of transformational resistance by examining, empirically, how latina/o students develop and enact transformational resistance to subtractive schooling practices. specifically, i bridge the idea of claiming rights via difference—from cultural citizenship scholarship—with perspectives that students are possessors of experiential knowledge—central to funds of knowledge frameworks—as a tool for documenting how latina/o students and teachers co-construct the classroom as a transformative space for resistance. i define transformative space as intellectual and physical arenas that situate students’ social backgrounds (race/ethnicity, class, and gender) as essential features of the learning process. via participant observations in classrooms over a two-year period, i capture the contextualized interactions informing how teachers and latina/o students co-construct transformative space for student resistance. i document three stages in this process: 1) co-constructing transformative space, 2) cultivating a sense of belonging to the classroom, 3) carving out a legitimate membership to school community. i argue that students’ sense of belonging to an academic classroom community composed of latina/o peers leads to a conception of themselves as legitimate members of their school. students attend school but they may not necessarily feel as legitimate members of that community. i contend that when students are invested as legitimate members, they build internal resilience that supports their confidence to transform feelings of belonging into actions. students then take on leadership roles in the larger community of the school through participation in school-wide assemblies where they openly address social injustices. i conclude with a discussion of the significance that transformative spaces in chavarria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 93 school can play in fostering students’ awareness of systems of oppression and enacting strategies to affect social change. latinas/os and subtractive schooling valenzuela (1999), in her seminal piece on mexican origin students’ school experiences, identifies how subtractive schooling practices—the de-mexicanization that promotes a de-identification from the spanish language, mexico, and mexican culture—have a deleterious impact on students’ educational outcomes. teachers perceive and treat students’ cultural and linguistic characteristics as deficits thereby hampering these students’ academic success. hence, valenzuela (1999) challenges cultural deficiency models that blame families and students for their underachievement, demonstrating instead that the historical racialization of those of mexican descent is inextricably embedded in schooling practices. she demonstrates that the clash between schooling practices and mexican origin students’ upbringing is especially harmful to these students who lose their connection to those cultural beliefs and folk world-views that promote emotional and psychological investment in educational success. scholars examining students’ resistance to subtractive schooling draw our attention to how contradictions and struggles inherent in schools often give rise to opportunities for enacting resistance and social change (solorzano & bernal, 2001; weis, 1990; willis, 1977). some students develop resistance strategies—including disengaging from academic instruction, leaving school altogether, or conforming—that often (re)produce the oppressive conditions experienced (conchas & vigil, 2010; yosso & solorzano, 2006). but, for students who resist subtractive schooling by staying in school, the literature suggests that “transformational mentors” play a critical role in socializing and guiding students to enact their agency via more transformational forms of resistance (ochoa & ochoa, 2004; solorzano, 1998). yet, solorzano and bernal (2001) argue that contemporary literature on student resistance has not provided a model that accurately explains chicana/o school resistance. they build on student resistance literature through their theoretical construct of transformational resistance, which they define as, “…student behavior that illustrates both a critique of her or his oppression and desire for social justice” (solorzano & bernal, 2001, p. 319). their construct allows us to examine how students’ resistant behavior is political, conscious, collective, and activated by a sense that individual and social change are attainable. i build from solorzano and bernal’s (2001) notion of “transformational resistance” by drawing from conceptual frames in cultural citizenship and funds of knowledge scholarship to document the day-today process by which latina/o students and their teacher(s) engage in transformational forms of resistance. first, cultural citizenship is conceived of as the right to retain difference, while also maintaining one’s right to participate in society (flores & benmayor, 1997). this focus on claims making developing transformative space for student resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 94 to social membership via mainting cultural identity allows for exploring the agency enacted by marginalized communities and the ways communities that have been denied access to dominant forms of power create new rights and practice citizenship. for example, literature on chicana/o students’ postsecondary experiences illustrates that marginality, for students of color, is more than just dealing with domination. rather, these students reformulate marginality as a space of resistance and source of empowerment (flores, 2003; solorzano & villalpando, 1998). i employ the idea of claims making via a racial/ethnic identity as a means to document how latina/o students redefine claims to legitimate membership in their school community, thereby establishing the terms under which they become active participants. second, the funds of knowledge framework is conceptualized as the competence and knowledge students develop through lived experience (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzález, 1992; gonzalez & moll, 2002). scholars contend that working-class students and students of color accumulate experiential knowledge through the cultural values and daily experiences of survival (andrew & yee, 2006; thomson & hall, 2008). the experiential knowledge matters because it enables students to maintain high aspirations in the face of structural obstacles (gandara, 1995) and to use essential kinship ties for emotional, moral, and educational lessons (gutiérrez, 2002). scholars propose that teachers who draw on students’ experiences and priorities in schooling validate the knowledge and life values students bring to the classroom enabling students to scaffold learning from the familiar (de los rios & ochoa 2012; moll et al., 1992). the affirmation of students’ knowledge and life values as critical to the learning process allows students to cultivate a sense of belonging to the classroom that goes beyond feeling engaged with the academic content, identifying with peers/teacher, or being active participants in the classroom (esteban-gutart & moll, 2014; fredericks, blumenfeld, & paris, 2004). this article, then, contributes to literature on students’ resistance to subtractive schooling by presenting the day-to-day work latina/o students engage in to gain critical reflection, cultivate a sense of belonging to the classroom, and carve out a legitimate membership to school community. i contend that the work these students perform, in collaboration with their teacher, represents empirical evidence in support of “transformational resistance” strategies (bernal & solorzano, 2001). to specify how classroom daily interactions inform latina/o students’ use of strategies for transformational resistance, which represent positive interventions to subtractive schooling practices, i employ cultural citizenship and funds of knowledge frames. cultural citizenship is manifested as latina/o students’ racial/ethnic identity, which informs their claims making strategies to a legitimate membership to school community. this process is grounded in students’ experiences with being racially othered within and outside of schools. that is, students’ racial identity becomes a filter for making sense of and responding to the classroom curriculum as well as their interactions with school staff/peers. in turn, from funds of chavarria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 95 knowledge i borrow the notion that students hold school competencies and experiential knowledge as a tool to identify how students cultivate a sense of belonging to their classroom. this article addresses calls to capture and better understand students’ engagement in resistance strategies that seek to counteract ineffective educational practices (lópez, 2003; solorzano & bernal, 2001; solorzano & solorzano, 1995). methods i use a qualitative research design, participant observations of classrooms and school sponsored events (club meetings, assemblies) along with informal conversations with students over a two-year period (2012-2013 and 2013-2014), to explore how latina/o students and their teacher(s) enact transformational resistance to subtractive schooling. to ensure the anonymity of participants, the school’s name and those of all individuals who were observed and are quoted have been changed. site and classroom this article focuses on latina/o students at hill crest high school (pseudonym), a public urban school in los angeles. as of 2012-2013, the school’s student population was 54% latina/o, 26% black, 16% white, and 4% asian. although relatively more diverse in student body than other district schools, it still is a majority-minority school with latino and black students making up close to 88% of its student population. the data in this article are based on participant observations in a mexican american literature course and school events. the course was established in the mid-90s by the now principal of the school while he was one of the few latina/o teachers at the campus. following his promotion to principal, the course was taken up by one of the latina teachers. in the subsequent years, she and the principal collaborated in developing the course syllabus and the content covered throughout the year. although titled mexican american literature, the course is more encompassing of the broader latina/o experience given increasing numbers of central american students who are part of the school student body. each year, if enough students enroll, the teacher is offered two periods of the course with each class composed of between 35-45 students. the majority of students in both class periods are latinas/os with 5-10 students who are african american, white, asian, or other race/ethnicity. many of the students choose to take the course as their alternative to the traditional senior english class. i became an active participant observer in both class periods, which over the two years totaled 160-170 students. data analysis the analysis stage began with the use of open coding techniques, applying conceptual labels on developing transformative space for student resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 96 interactions and events that reflected the pattern of interactions between students and the teacher. these labels were then refined into themes that included “establishing trust”, “caring and bonding interactions”, and “addressing social inequalities.” for example, “establishing trust” involved the kind and quality of interactions with peers and teacher that influenced whether students shared in discussions over discrimination and social inequalities. further, i employed analytic memos to track emerging thoughts on how students made sense of the course content and class discussions. i paid particular attention to students’ conversations in and outside of the classroom to assess the evolution of students’ perceptions of themselves and their social location within school. i sought to grasp the process in how sense of belonging to classroom and legitimate membership to school community shaped the co-construction of the classroom as a transformative space. after combining my reflective memos from the field with the analytic codes, i re-evaluated students’ behavioral and verbal responses in the classroom as well as wider school activities to conceptualize the sequential relationship from co-constructing transformative space, cultivating a sense of belonging, and carving out membership. it is important to note that the process i document is not rigid or linear. rather, the nature of interactions amongst students and between students and teacher over time involves more flexibility, a feature that is central to the process i chronicle. findings in the sections below i describe the process by which latina/o students engage in transformational resistance to subtractive schooling. first, i present the classroom as the foundation of relationship building and find that the teacher’s modeling of emotional vulnerability initiates the co-construction of their classroom into transformative space. then i detail how students’ sense of belonging to the classroom as a community of racial/ethnic academic peers is cultivated from their experiential knowledge with prejudice. next, i depict how students carve out membership to school by redefining legitimate forms of being active participants. i conclude with a discussion of the significance of developing transformative spaces in schools for fostering students’ awareness of systems of oppression and setting the foundations for teacher/student collaborations toward enacting strategies for social change. co-constructing transformative space—bonding via vulnerability and honesty co-constructing the classroom as a transformative space is a process defined by the mutual academic and personal risk taking of teacher and students, risk taking that is validated through respecting one another’s vulnerabilities when the curriculum content produces emotionally charged responses. chavarria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 97 ms. gonzalez, a latina in her early 40s, teaches her classes from a chicana feminist perspective fostering students’ critiques of inequalities in the school, the city, and society. at this point in the class (second month of academic year), students have been introduced to events in the civil rights and chicano movements. ms. gonzalez is showing clips of a documentary, “precious knowledge,” to help students connect youths’ past struggles for rights with those of contemporary latina/o youths’ fights for educational freedom. the documentary presents the struggles of latina/o teachers and students in tucson, arizona in their attempts to save ethnic studies classes from being banned. as we all watch the video, i notice ms. gonzalez’s expression begin to change, furrowed eyebrows and glossy eyes as though tears are waiting to burst out. the video ends and she reminds students of her origins in arizona and that her brother actually graduated from the high school featured in the documentary. as she speaks, her voice quivers and breaks. tears streaming down her face, students instantly respond, “ms. don’t cry” and “ms. you’re making us cry.” i look around, some girls are dabbing the corners of their eyes while some of the boys bow their heads. ms. gonzalez continues, “i’m getting so emotional because i have friends there who are going through this [fight for ethnic studies] and i can‘t help them. i just want you guys to understand why i get so emotional because what you will see right now is not history, it is happening now.” the classroom scene above contains a number of features that show ms. gonzalez modeling for students that emotional responses are legitimate forms of engaging with academic content. through her emotional responses, ms. gonzalez guides students to be co-creators of the classroom as a transformative space. that is, as a space where students’ intellectual and social backgrounds (race/ethnicity, class, and gender) are essential features of the learning process. her emotional response is transformative on two aspects. first, by emotionally engaging with the visual images of tucson students’ campaigns to defend their ethnic studies classes, ms. gonzalez is countering the expected objective—often interpreted as unbiased, emotionless—position desired from both teachers and students within a eurocentric dominant pedagogy. second, her emotional response also communicates to students an honesty about her investment in the class’s academic content and her willingness to openly address the educational inequalities that latina/o students face. in this space, students are assured that they are in a safe space because ms. gonzalez is taking the risk of potential embarrassment. she is demonstrating a trust in her students that they will respect and be supportive of one another in times of vulnerability. by revealing an emotionally vulnerable state, ms. gonzalez establishes her classroom as a place where students can share their personal experiences with each other and her as a type of family bonding. for example, the females’ pleading, “ms. don’t cry” while dabbing their eyes reflects an developing transformative space for student resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 98 empathy for her pain and their attempts at providing ms. gonzalez some comfort. the students begin to create emotional bonds with ms. gonzalez, bonds that are built on the trust entailed in honestly sharing personal experiences that may give rise to vulnerable emotional states. the trust and bonds established are the grounds upon which students and teacher co-construct their classroom as a transformative space. in addition to engaging in the construction of a transformative classroom space by bonding emotionally through emotional risk-taking and trust, students were willing to openly discuss their own struggles with discrimination and exclusion that led to conversations about belonging. cultivating sense of belonging—commonalities in experiencing prejudice. sense of belonging is mostly understood as an emotional attachment, as an individual’s feelings of being “at home” and “safe” (flores & benmayor, 1997; yuval-davis, 2006). for students, in addition to feeling safe at school and their classrooms, sense of belonging also involves being part of an intellectual community of academically engaged latina/o peers who share experiences with discrimination. ms. gonzalez designed the course as a combination of literature and history to introduce students to the mexican american experience and struggles of people of color in the u.s., including african american and indigenous. students have learned through readings, documentaries, and field-trips about the social and legal struggles latinos have faced. today principal gomez is lecturing on the evolution of ethnic labels and their significance to developing a notion of a latino community. principal gomez stands at the front of the class, dressed in black slacks, white button-up dress shirt, and tie. he has asked students a number of questions in socratic method trying to help students make sense of why not all who are of mexican descent would define themselves as mexican american. he asks, “do you feel that the u.s. has accepted you as full-blooded american? what would make you feel that you are not accepted?” 5 to 7 hands quickly shoot up. the principal first calls on a light skinned latino male student. the student responds, “i was born here but that does not mean that i am accepted. i don’t look american, i’m dark skin.” i look around the room and see many students nodding their heads. some students comment with, “yeah, at the fancy stores, the workers follow us around” and, “people assume because you’re dark, you’re not from here.” questions and comments as those above are key sources of discussions and analysis during class. the students’ responses to mr. gomez’s question draw our attention to two distinct aspects of belonging— physical presence and social acceptance. in terms of physical belonging, the term “us” refers to the the territorially bounded nation-state and to this idea the students respond by stating that they belong since they were “born here,” referencing the physical boundaries of the nation. yet, the label “american” is chavarria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 99 understood by students to reference the white social community. it is to this community that students’ personal experiences with prejudice tell them they are not accepted and, thus, they do not define themselves as accepted. the young man’s response reflects a keen analysis of the relationship between phenotype and racial categorization that is central to notions about race in the us. although he is a light skin mexican american, the young man is clear on the fact that he is not light enough to be treated or accepted as part of the white racial category. we reach this conclusion from his claim, “i don’t look american, i’m dark skin,” even though phenotypically his skin is light with a pinkish hue. further, their comments integrate the idea that belonging to an ethnic/racial community does not necessarily translate into acceptance by or belonging to white or upper class sectors of society. yet, it is in this struggle over feelings of belonging to the larger american community, understood as white, that students are learning the skills and tools by which to redefine their own claims to membership. the classroom discussions and schooling experiences initiate students in the practices implicated in establishing their legitimacy to claim membership in and rights to participate in america’s social institutions. that is, they come to recognize that being white is not a necessary condition for belonging to american society. the schooling and social experiences, evidenced above, include both learning and becoming active rather passive learners in the classroom. students learn and practice the skills to claim membership from within a place where they belong and are invested—their mexican american literature class. carving out membership—re-defining legitimate participation in school the scene below illustrates how students integrate their personal experiences with prejudice and their newly acquired knowledge of latinas/os’ legal and civil rights struggles as a means to redefine being legitimate members of their school. the critical discussions of mexican americans’ historical and contemporary battles for equality are opportunities for students to apply the lessons from these struggles to their own schooling experiences, shaping how students define themselves as legitimate members of their school community. that is, their connection to latinas/os’ struggles for rights influence students’ investment in claiming membership to their school community. these students’ claims to legitimate membership to school take a variety of forms, from taking ownership of knowledge production in the classroom to being leaders in school-wide events. the scene described next illustrates one of the forms that students enact their notion of legitimate membership to school. today the annual latino assembly is being held in the auditorium. it is an all day event for students taking part in the performances. the latino assembly has been part of this school’s yearly event for more than 15 years now. but, this is the first year that the content of the information, if not developing transformative space for student resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 100 the dance performances, has centered on social and civil rights struggles for equality by different ethnic/racial groups (latinos, african american, native american, and asian american) in contemporary american society. approximately 100 students perform during the assembly. although most are of latina/o descent, there are a few african american and asian american student participants. all the student participants are volunteers, spending months practicing the dances to be performed, writing and rehearsing poetry, and working on the content for the power-point. students from all the small learning communities including the two magnets are attending the assembly: whites, african americans, mexican americans, asian americans, and central americans. teachers sign up to take some or all of their classes to see the performances. the majority of students are attentive, taking pictures or recording on their phones, with a few sleeping or talking with their friends. the theme of this year’s assembly is cultural and social revolutions. the presentation includes a power-point of the social revolutions in mexico, central and south america, and ending with the us this yearly assembly is an opportunity for students to learn about and celebrate each others cultural backgrounds as well as observe their friends participating as members of the racial/ethnic communities they belong to. this venue of a school-wide assembly is a community public space in that the assembly brings together students and teachers from different ethnic/racial groups and social classes. an hour in length, the first period performance is half way to the end. many of ms. gonzalez’s students participate. jamie, one of her students, has taken center stage. he is of mexican descent but is very light skin in complexion. he is performing a poem he has written titled “colors.” the poem speaks to the role that race and racism has played in u.s. society and still plays in students’ lives. he addresses the various contexts in which color is still used to judge others. he speaks to how during lunch students segregate themselves by color, how teachers sometimes “only see students’ color,” and ends with an exhortation “color is just a color.” students, almost in unison, stand from their seats clapping and exclaiming, “yeah, that’s right” and “preach.” jamie’s poem recitation reflects the bonding that has taken place in ms. gonzalez’s class through honest discussions about racism and systems of oppression like class and patriarchy, as detailed in the sections above. through his poem, jamie is illustrating to the rest of his school peers a tool for channeling their personal experiences with discrimination and school inequalities and how these experiences fit into their broader social location. by addressing racism through the repetition of the word “color,” jamie draws attention to the visibility and constancy of race that is part of some students’ school experiences through their encounters with being stereotyped and discriminated. jamie’s participation in this school-wide assembly enables him to engage his peers and school staff in a public conversation about students’ schooling experiences. he is publicly redefining legitimate forms of chavarria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 101 claiming membership to his school community, a membership that does not entail the relinquishing of his racial/ethnic identity in order to be perceived and treated as american. further, he is not only engaging in claims making to equal membership in school community, but also attempts to urge the whole school community to reflect on the impact of judging others based on phenotypical markers. the assembly also demonstrates how students, through the bonding relationships with school leaders (teachers/principal) and school peers, forge connections amongst other peers of color to form a broader community. students’ interactions during the preparation process for and participation in this school-wide assembly represent potentialities wherein students are empowered to employ their cultural and working-class experiential knowledge as sources of pride and agency. in taking part in this assembly and seeing their experiences defined as driving forces in contemporary social movements, students can begin to reframe their experiential knowledge as legitimate grounds by which to participate as equal members and citizens of the larger american society. conclusion we have extensive evidence that subtractive schooling practices have been detrimental to latina/o students’ academic experiences and educational outcomes (conchas, 2001; conchas & vigil, 2010; covarrubias, 2011). yet, as individuals with agency, students have resisted subtractive schooling practices in self-defeating or self-protective ways (valenzuela, 1999; solorzano & bernal, 2001; fine et al., 2004; taines, 2011). expanding the body of literature on student resistance, solorzano and bernal (2001) present a theoretical framework of chicana and chicano school resistance to capture a broader array of students’ resistance that carries the potential for social change. this study presents empirical evidence in support of the conceptual frame of chicana/o transformational resistance (solorzano & bernal, 2001). based on two-years of participant observations, the researcher documents the process by which latina/o students’ interactions with peers and teachers are the foundation upon which transformative school space is co-constructed. in the day-to-day coconstructions of such transformative spaces, latina/o students acquire critical reflection that assists in reframing their relationship to schooling. it is the reframing of their role in the schooling process that presents the potential for interrupting the devastating effects of subtractive schooling practices and often uncaring interactions with school leaders (valenzuela, 1999). instead of responding through what have been termed self-defeating or conformist forms of resistance (fine, 1991; solorzano & bernal, 2001), i illustrate that latina/o students can engage in forms of transformational resistance that are oriented toward social change which is informed by social justice. the findings corroborate prior research that transformative spaces within schools are critical to fostering positive student resistance (delgado bernal, 1998; robinson & ward, 1991; yosso, 2000; developing transformative space for student resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 102 cabrera et. al., 2014). yet, students’ sense of belonging to the classroom and their claims making to membership within the school community represent a new contribution. within the mexican american literature class, latina/o students cultivated a sense of belonging to the classroom through sharing of common experiences with discrimination and poverty. these experiences represent a different approach to belonging in the classroom, which i contend goes beyond feeling safe and academically engaged (cooper, 2013; wigfield & eccles, 2000). that is, students employ their funds of knowledge (gonzalez & moll, 2002; moll et al., 1992) in the form of experiences with discrimination and profiling in stores to form bonds with one another and with their teacher. this bonding fosters the establishment of solidarities across class, gender, and race/ethnicity (stepick & stepick, 2002). further, students’ identities as latinas and latinos connects them to a long legacy of activism in social movements informing a conception of themselves as legitimate members of their school. specifically, they have rights to make claims for more transformational forms of schooling practices. i found that students redefine their legitimate membership to school community by taking on leadership roles via activistinspired presentations in school-wide assemblies. finally, this article details the sustained interactive dialogue through which students engage in strategies for transformational resistance. the transformational feature of the classroom is found in the practice of an engaged pedagogy that includes a critical analysis of power, domination, and knowledge (freire, 1970; giroux, 1983; solorzano, 1997). this engaged pedagogy surfaces in the process of coconstructing transformative space, which represents an alternative discourse and practice to traditional forms of engaging in learning where teachers and students are socialized to be objective thinkers by maintaining an emotional distance from academic material. this emotional distance often centers on an unwillingness to hold honest conversations about racism, poverty, injustice and the continuum of student reactions to such conversations such as anger, tension, sadness, and hopelessness. overall, this study suggests that when co-constructed as a transformative space—an intellectual and physical arena that situates students’ social backgrounds (race/ethnicity, class, and gender) as essential to the learning process—the classroom can be crucial to fostering students’ deployment of transformational resistance strategies. further, this article contributes to our understanding of the potential of schools to be sites of transformational student resistance that can intervene in the damaging effects of subtractive schooling, which reproduce racial inequalities in education. future work should continue exploring the relationship of sense of belonging and claims making to legitimate membership in students’ resistance strategies as well as the difficulties and feasibility of engaging in processes of establishing classrooms as transformative spaces. chavarria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 103 references andrews, j., & yee, w. c. (2006). children’s funds of knowledge and their real life activities: two minority ethnic children learning in out-of-school contexts in the uk. educational review, 58(4), 435-449. cabrera, n. l., milem, j. f., jaquette, o., and marx, r. w. (2014). “missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (political) trees: empiricism and the mexican american studies controversy in tucson.” american educational research journal, 51(6), 1084-1118. conchas, g. q. (2001). structuring failure and success: understanding the variability in latino school engagement. harvard educational review, 7(1), 475-504. conchas, g. q. & vigil, j. d. (2010). multiple marginality and urban education: community and school socialization among low-income mexican-descent youth. journal of education for students placed at risk, 15(1-2), 51-65. covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos and education, 10(2), 86-105. cooper, k. s. (2013). safe, affirming, and productive spaces: classroom engagement among latina high school students. urban education, 48(4), 490-528. delgado bernal, d. (1998). grassroots leadership reconceptualized: chicana oral histories and the 1968 east los angeles school blowout. frontiers: a journal of woman’s studies, 19, 113-142. de los rios, v. d., & ochoa, g. l. (2012). the people united shall never be divided: reflections on community, collaboration, and change. journal of latinos and education, 11(4), 271279. esteban-gutart, m., & moll, l. c. (2014). “funds of identity: a new concept based on the funds of knowledge approach.” culture and psychology, 20(1), 31-48. fine, m. (1991). framing dropouts: notes on the politics of an urban public high school. albany, ny: state university of new york press. fine, m., burns, a., payne, y. a., & torre, m. e. (2004). civics lessons: the color and class of bretrayal. teachers college record, 106, 2193-2223. flores, w. v., & benmayor, r. (eds.). (1997). latino cultural citizenship: claiming identity, space, and rights. boston, ma: beacon press. flores, w. v. (2003). new citizens, new rights: undocumented immigrants and latino cultural citizenship. latin american perspectives, 30(2), 87-100. fredricks, j. a., blumenfeld, p. c., & paris, a. h. (2004). school engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence. review of educational research, 74(1), 59-109. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: seabury press. gandara, p. c. (1995). over the ivy walls: the educational mobility of low-income chicanos. albany, ny: suny press. gibson, m. a., gandara, p. c., & peterson-koyama, j. (2004). school connections: u.s. mexican youth, peers, and school achievement. new york, ny: teachers college press. giroux, h. a. (1983). theory and resistance in education: a pedagogy for the opposition. south hadley, ma: bergin & garvey. gonzalez, n & moll, l. c. (2002). cruzando el puente: building bridges to funds of knowledge. educational policy 16 (4), 623-641. gutiérrez, k. (2002) studying cultural practices in urban learning communities. human development, developing transformative space for student resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 104 45(4), 312–321. lópez, g.r. (2003). the (racial neutral) politics of education: a critical race theory perspective. educational administration quarterly, 39(1), 68-94. moll, l., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (1992) funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 3(1), 132–41. moll, l., & ruiz, r. (2002). the schooling of latino children. latinos: remaking america, 362-374. ochoa, g. l., & ochoa, e. c. (2004). education for social transformation: chicana/o and latin american studies and community struggles. latina american perspectives, 31(1), 59-80. quiroz, p. a. (2001). the silencing of latino student “voice”: puerto rican and mexican narrative in eigth grade and high school. anthropology & education quarterly, 32(3), 326-349. robinson, t., & ward, j. (1991). “a belief in self far greater than anyone’s disbelief”: cultivating resistance among african american female adolescents. in c. gilligan, a. rogers, & d. tolman (eds.), women, girls and psychotherapy: reframing resistance (pp. 87-103). new york, ny: haworth. solorzano, d., & solorzano, r. (1995). the chicano educational experience: a proposed framework for effective schools in chicano communities. educational policy, 9, 293-314. solorzano, d. (1997). images and words that wound: critical race theory, racial stereotypeing, and teacher education. teacher education quarterly, 24, 5-19. solorzano, d. (1998). role models, mentors, and the experiences of chicana and chicano ph.d. scientists. in h. frierson (ed.), mentoring and diversity in higher education (vol. 2) (pp. 91-103). greenwich, ct: jai. solorzano, d., & villalpando, o. (1998). critical race theory: marginality and the experiences of students of color in higher education. in c. torres & t. mitchell (eds.), sociology of education: emerging perspectives (pp. 211-224). albany, ny: state university of new york press. solorzano, d.g., & bernal, d. d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36, 308-342. stepick, a., & stepick, c. d. (2002). becoming american, constructing ethnicity: immigrant youth and civic engagement. applied developmental science, 6(4), 246-257. taines, c. (2011). intervening in alienation: the outcomes for urban youth of participating in school activism. american educational research journal, 49(1), 53-86. thomson, p., & hall, c. (2008). opportunities missed and/or thwarted? funds of knowledge meet the english national curriculum. curriculum journal, 19(2), 87-103.
 yosso, t. j. (2000). a critical race and latcrit approach to media literacy: chicana/o resistance to visual microagressions (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of california, los angeles, ca. yosso, t. j., & solorzano, d. g. (2006). leaks in the chicana and chicano educational pipeline. ucla chicano studies research center. yuval-davis, n. (2006). belonging and the politics of belonging. patterns of prejudice, 40(3), 197-214. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. weis, l. (1990). working class without work. new york, ny: routledge. chavarria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 105 wigfield, a., & eccles, j. s. (2000). expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. contemporary educational psychology, 25(1), 68-81. willis, p. (1977). learning to labor: how working class kids get working class jobs. new york, ny: columbia university press. journal_2008._coverpage._final[1] 37 reflections from the classroom it used to be a nightmare on elm street by art barragan, principal in 2004 i began my first assignment at elm street school in oxnard, california. i had 17 years of administrative experience as an assistant principal at the high and middle school level and believed that i would be a successful elementary principal with ease. elm street elementary was the lowest performing school in ventura county with only 9.6% of the students scoring at a proficient level in language arts. after my first year at elm, which was year round at the time, we only improved to 10.5% on the cst’s. this was statistically insignificant. it’s hard looking at oneself in the mirror every morning and thinking that i was “statistically insignificant.” i knew we needed some kind of direction to improve our school. in the spring of 2005, superintendent, richard miller, introduced me to the concepts of professional learning communities by r. dufour. the implementation of this philosophy is directing us out of program improvement (pi) status. in addition, each member of the staff was given a copy of “whatever it takes,” and “learning by doing,” by r. dufour. the staff has worked diligently to incorporate the plc concepts at elm. during the summer of 2006, nine staff members and i attended a week-long training on the sopris west language program. this is a language arts intervention program that was instrumental in our dramatic increase in the 2007 california standards test. along with demonstrating fidelity to the houghton mifflin program and the implementation of our technology programs, success maker and waterford, we had a 24.8% improvement in language arts. during the acsa leadership academy at ucla during the summer of 2007, the plc concepts were reinforced throughout the week. in addition there were workshops covering curriculum development, data analysis, and school to home communication. teambuilding activities were introduced throughout the seminars; they were easily duplicated at elm. it is fair to say that my personal leadership style has changed over the course of the last few years. in my first year i was quite autocratic and directive. i have learned to work collegially with my staff and increase communication. at elm we are taking the opportunity to learn from our experiences/mistakes to make our school better; it’s about developing positive relationships with all the stake holders at our school. armed with the mantra that at elm, every learner matters, the dedicated staff is looking forward to this years csts and moving out of program improvement. serving a population of over 97% latinos, with the majority of them classified as socially economically disadvantaged, our staff takes great pride in the progress we have made and look forward to developing more success stories. photo by: jairo sanchez guggenheim museum, new york con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 30 con todo mi corazón: mentoring latinas in educational leadership doctoral programs mariela a. rodríguez the university of texas at san antonio abstract personal narrative essays were used to analyze the experiences of four latina doctoral students who completed their first year in an educational leadership doctoral program in a hispanicserving institution (hsi) in the southwestern u.s. four themes emerged from their testimonios 1) con todo el corazón; 2) somos como una familia; 3) hermanas aren’t just doing it for themselves; and 4) echando pa’lante. these themes demonstrate tenets of latina/o educational leadership through the community-mentoring practices described in the study. introduction the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of four latinas in a doctoral program in educational leadership at a hispanic serving institution in the southwestern u.s. two were practicing principals, one was an aspiring principal, and one was aspiring to a career in academia. it is important to focus on the academic success of these women given that only 1,563 of doctoral degrees earned in 2014 were earned by latinas out of the almost 25,000 doctoral degrees earned by women nationwide that year (national science foundation, 2014). when it comes specifically to doctoral degrees earned in educational administration, only 6.8% hispanics, both male and female, earned such degrees when compared to 60.2% white males and females (national science foundation, 2014). such disheartening statistics can be remedied, in part, by retaining latinas in doctoral programs. mentoring latina doctoral students toward program completion is crucial given that they represent a demographic that has low representation in academia (turner & myers, 2000) with just a little over 1,600 of them serving as full professors in degree-granting institutions in 2011 compared with over 44,000 white women professors (u.s. department of education, 2012). that means that out of the almost 53,000 female professors nationwide only 0.03% were latina compared to 83% white women. it is important to consider latina doctorate production rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 31 and the overt and covert marginality (watford, rivas, burciaga, & solorzano, 2006) that these women experience in their doctoral programs. socialization practices (gardner, 2008) to help retain latina doctoral students include offering research support, developing strong working relationships with faculty, maintaining professional networks, and engaging in scholarly productivity. the researcher based her work on two primary research questions: (1) to what extent did mentoring play a role in supporting latina educational leaders? (2) in which ways did latina educational leaders benefit from mentoring practices? theoretical framework the theoretical framework for this study, based on the three dynamics of latina/o leadership as discussed by bordas (2001), are: a) personalismo-establishing self-awareness and finding identity that influences actions, b) tejiendo lazos-literally translates into weaving connections and looks at the aspect of building community, and c) desarrollando abilidades-skill development based on the first two dynamics. through her description of these three dynamics, bordas (2013) emphasizes the importance of “community” in latina/o cultural practice. she attests that latina/o leaders are simultaneously “community builders” and “community scholars” (bordas, 2013, p. 116). this is clearly connected to research conducted by hernandez, murakami, and quijada cerecer (2014) who found that the latina/o educational leadership practices of a latina principal were influenced by her cultural background, experiences, and interactions with the school community. in further work hernandez and murakami (2016) discussed the value of culturally relevant leadership within latina/o communities. it is through the community concept as identified by the aforementioned researchers that i integrate this component of latina/o educational leadership within this narrative. this narrative provides a discussion of mentoring relationships between latinas in an academic community. in his qualitative study of latina doctoral students, gonzález (2006a) identified the critical role of mentors in assisting latina doctoral students as they navigated their graduate experience. similarly, a study of latina junior faculty by ek, quijada, alanís, & rodríguez (2010) described the need for mentoring to extend beyond the doctoral program and into the lives of latinas in the academy whose representation in the faculty ranks remains one of the lowest among ethnic groups. such supportive practices can help students to hone their scholarly con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 32 potential (dalia & castellanos, 2006) into future endeavors within academia or within educational organizations like schools and institutions of higher education as administrators. in this manner they can make contributions to their communities to help improve academic attainment and achievement for students in those communities. background the four doctoral students involved in this study attended a hispanic serving institution (hsi) in the southwestern united states. at the time of the study the institution served almost 30,000 students in over 140 degree programs. the students in this study developed their personal narrative essays during their second year of coursework in the educational leadership doctoral program at this hsi. the program had been in existence for almost 20 years. a unique aspect of the program is the cultural core requirement which focuses nine hours of required coursework on research about traditionally underserved students. most students in the program enroll in 6 hours each semester while they work full-time. a few students completed the program through full-time study as doctoral research fellows who enroll in 9 hours each semester. in the study discussed in this manuscript, three of the latina doctoral students were completing their program while working full-time. two of the women were campus principals and one was a department chair on the science team at her school. only one of the women in the study was a full-time student and research fellow. method personal narrative essays (nash & bradley, 2011) were used to obtain the experiences and perceptions of four latina doctoral students. the use of personal narratives was a method of collecting data based on the participants’ essays. such essays allowed the voices of the participants to come through in a sincere and unique manner. the purpose of this study was to identify the ways in which mentoring and socialization into doctoral education were approached by the participants, all women of color (davidson & foster-johnson, 2001). the writing of these essays was only conducted with four latinas who shared the same academic advisor. given that the latinas in this study engaged in a reflexive narrative based on their own stories (reyes & curry rodríguez, 2012), the use of testimonios was the medium for analysis in this study. the findings presented in this paper are intended to focus on the testimonios (delgado bernal, rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 33 burciaga, & flores carmona, 2009; the latina feminist group, 2001) of the four doctoral students reflecting on their first year of doctoral study then looking toward the future. the students belonged to two different cohorts within the educational leadership doctoral program in a hispanic serving institution in texas. all of the women self-identified as latina (gonzález & gándara, 2005). in the next section, each of the participants will be briefly described, with the use of pseudonyms to protect their identities. las mujeres dalia and lucia were elementary school principals. at the time the women wrote their personal essays, dalia was beginning her second year as a principal and lucia was a veteran principal. these women were strongly rooted in their school communities and they consistently worked to support the educational outcomes of the traditionally underserved student populations in their schools. margarita was a high school science department chair who was pursuing principal certification concurrently with the doctoral program. she aspired to lead her own school one day. esperanza was a doctoral research fellow who left a high school mathematics teaching position to pursue her doctoral coursework full-time. she was considering joining the ranks of academia after completing her degree. thus, her research fellowship allowed her opportunities to participate in the academic threshold through scholarship and dissemination of research. data collection and analysis data was collected at the beginning of the participants’ second year in the doctoral program. the personal narrative essays were coded using first-cycle and second-cycle coding (saldaña, 2013). during the first cycle i read the essays in a general manner familiarizing myself with the words of the participants and the style in which they wrote them. i took notes on what i felt that the participants were conveying. for the next coding cycle i analyzed the data applying the framework of bordas (2001) to explicitly look for themes that reflected the three dynamics of latina/o leadership. the findings discussed in the following section are grouped into the four themes that emerged from the analysis of the data: 1) con todo el corazón; 2) somos como una familia; 3) hermanas aren’t just doing it for themselves; and 4) echando pa’lante. these themes highlight the reflections and actions of the four latina doctoral students through con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 34 mentoring and socialization and are key findings. the voices of the participants will be presented within the aforementioned themes through testimonio. findings the first theme that will be discussed in this section focuses on the value of caring relationships that the participants engaged in during their first year of doctoral study. it was evident that the relationships between the women and those whom they named as mentors were rooted in a strong sense of commitment and dedication to each other’s success. con todo el corazón in their essays, each of the women mentioned their dissertation advisor, another latina who serves as advisor for all four women, as a source of caring and support. dalia, a second year principal stated, dr. corazón is a strong, passionate, and dedicated latina who i truly admire. she is my hero and when i grow up i want to be just like her. she is always there when i need her. i know that she believes in me and would not let me fail. in this description of her relationship with her faculty mentor, dalia expressed evidence of the commitment displayed by her faculty advisor. she also explained how these actions have given dalia inspiration and motivation in her doctoral program and for her future. likewise, margarita, an aspiring principal, also referred to the dedication expressed by her dissertation advisor regarding assistance, “once i told her what my goals were, she took the time to outline each step of the doctoral process and has helped me create a realistic timeline to graduate …” margarita clearly appreciated the time taken by dr. corazón to assist her in a dependable manner. margarita continued by writing, “although i attend a large university, i do not feel like another number because she treats me as if i am a valued student with the potential to impact educational research.” this reflects the value of relationship-building in maintaining a supportive network. esperanza also reflected on her relationship with the same dissertation advisor. she began “dr. corazón understands me. she has validated my concerns and helped me through them.” however, this wasn’t the experience that esperanza had when she was working on her master’s degree: rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 35 when i was at [a research one institution], i remember going to faculty or even to my mentor with my concerns. i remember one time i even cried in front of my advisor because my cousin had passed away. he told me, ‘i’ve seen how students play this game.’ wow! i felt terrible and slowly i closed up … but now that things are different i see that [dr. ______] really cares and that surprises me. esperanza’s recollection about the troubling encounter with the faculty member at the elite institution is reminiscent of the accounts shared by other latina doctoral students in the gonzález (2006b) study who also voiced feelings of oppression. moving from the connections between mentor and mentee, lucia, an experienced principal, considered her calling to the students that she serves. she explained, “as a latina principal, i understand the academic needs of minority students and their families. my objective is to use my personal and professional experiences to improve the chances for minority students to achieve the goals that they set for themselves in life.” in this manner, she expressed how she clearly made the needs of the students on her campus a top priority. all four participants discussed the importance of being selfless and dedicated when it came to mentoring relationships. in essence, it is about the love and care that is sincerely shown to students that makes a difference in their lives. the term love is being used in this manuscript based on work by calafell (2007) who discussed her experiences with supportive mentors who demonstrated loving actions in professional ways such as taking time to talk outside of classes and writing words of encouragement on her papers. this theme in the current article reflected the voices of the four participants through the frame of love having its rightful place in the world of academia when it comes to relationship building. the work of hooks (2002) took a deeply personal look at the ways in which women search for love within themselves and among each other. she describes the journey toward love as a source of liberation, a space where women can truly find their inner selves. the aspect of love that i refer to in the mentoring relationships that the four latinas and their mentor experienced is one that is almost familial. this speaks to the role of academic aunting as posited by ellingson and sotirin (2008) where the authors elaborated on the importance of relationships through (wo)mentoring. in this vein, the following section will illuminate the latinas’ voices regarding peer relationships. con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 36 somos como una familia all of the participants formed part of a doctoral cohort. this model had been consistently used in the program, and it serves as a way to help students build a community. without prompting, each of the women discussed, in their personal narrative essays, the ways in which members of their cohort were like family to them. specifically they described the close bonds that they had built between the other women in the study. margarita referred to the camaraderie of her cohort members: “our diversity in our character traits, work ethic, and social outlook in life significantly impacts the dynamic interaction of our group because we bring balance to each other.” she added, “having them [the other latina participants in this study] when times are tough has made a huge difference in my success in this program.” as one of the cohort members who margarita was describing, dalia described the connection to her cohort members who have become like her “sisters”: “i have really bonded with them. they have become like a second family to me because we are there for each other.” both margarita and dalia commented on the importance of sisterhood or hermandad (bettez, kier lopez, & machado-casas, 2009) as an important peer relationship strategy. the sense of kinship that was expressed by the study participants demonstrates the importance of supportive endeavors within academic study. in the same way, lucia expressed her connection to the other women: “part of getting through the first year of study has been because of the encouragement, contribution, participation and commitment of peers to my academic success.” esperanza, a doctoral research fellow, also reflected on her connection with one of her cohort members who was not part of this study: “we share the struggle of going through the doctoral process together. when i’m down, guadalupe reminds me of the positives in my life. she brings perspective and seeks help for [emphasis by esperanza] me. i trust her very much and lean on her often.” all of the women described the significant role that being a member of a cohort yielded. they felt that they were not alone in the journey. being able to turn to others who shared both their dreams and fears was one of the most valuable aspects of the doctoral program. dalia, now in her second year as an elementary school principal, referred to both formal and informal mentors as familia. she stated, “my familia continues to be my ultimate system of support or mentorship that influences the way i think, act, and perform.” she continued, “as a latina principal, i follow the mentorship from great women … whose actions and successes rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 37 have been untold. to me, my ways of knowing pay homage to them …”. in this manner, dalia offers her gratitude for those mentors who have paved the way before her. she understood the contributions of each of these persons in her own success. lucia also used the spanish term for family when referring to her dissertation advisor: “i feel as though i am part of her familia and with family we always want the best and have their best interest at heart. she has taken me under her wing and has a real, authentic, vested interest in me. i do not know if she intentionally thought she was going to take me under her wing as a mentee, but for me i felt it just naturally turned out that way.” lucia explained the sense of family that she has experienced with her dissertation advisor. thus, family members can come in many forms and not necessarily just blood relatives. in this discussion of theme of family, all of the participants discussed their connections to others within their cohorts and inner circles. this demonstrated the importance of generating a sense of belonging for latinas in graduate programs (winkle-wagner, johnson, morelon-quainoo, & santiague, 2010). perhaps it was through their own participation in cohorts and in peer relationships that the four latina doctoral students in the current study demonstrated their own acts of selflessness in reaching out to others. the following theme that will be presented focuses on the women’s ways of engagement with their dissertation research topics and how these works may contribute to enhanced educational opportunities and outcomes for students of color. hermanas aren’t just doing it for themselves given that a goal of this doctoral program is to enhance the social justice leader in each student, the type of research conducted and who was included as a participant were key. within their personal narratives, each of the women reflected on their selected topic for dissertation research. they were asked to consider the reasons why they were engaging in this type of scholarship. in the following section the rationale for the women’s selection of dissertation topics will be discussed based on their own experiences as students and educators. esperanza is a full-time doctoral fellow who previously served as an advanced mathematics high school teacher. thus, her research focus is on college-age latinas successfully navigating the stem educational pipeline. she stated “i want to gain access to the experiences that help latinas persevere. perhaps it may be a connection to how they will help the world and con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 38 others through their career.” esperanza’s own college-going experiences at ivy league universities helped her gain an understanding of the marginalization that other latinas in stem education face (sayman, 2013). it appears esperanza views her dissertation research as a means to help future latina stem college students in navigating the process more smoothly. dalia, on a different note, acknowledged that she wanted to focus her research on the scarcity of latina leaders in the role of the superintendency. she is an aspiring superintendent who sees this as a future step in her educational career: “as a latina leader, i want to understand the barriers that are preventing latinas from reaching this milestone.” dalia understands that barriers currently exist for latinas ascending to the top ranks. she concluded, “once we see our knowledge, experiences and talents as power, we will be able to transform the face of leadership so that latina representation is present and established in our educational system.” thus, she intends to use her dissertation research as a springboard for not only herself, but other women like her, who aspire to be superintendents in communities that would benefit from their skills. margarita, an aspiring school principal, discussed how unselfish two of her close cohort members have been regarding her own career goals. she referred to lucia and dalia (both school principals) as her mentors and described, “because i want to be a principal, these ladies periodically invite me to their campus to observe or get hands-on experience with some of their responsibilities.” this demonstrates the ways in which both of the principals understood margarita’s need to be socialized into that area of school leadership. thus they were acting as mentors and sponsors into the field, helping margarita to acquire the skills that would be necessary when she was ready to apply for a principalship of her own. in this discussion of the theme that is reflective of research for the greater good, each of the women discussed the ways in which they believed their dissertation work would impact their communities and society. they are beginning to create a bridge between their “practitioner-selves” and their “scholar-selves” through identity development (vetter, fairbanks, & ariail, 2011) as they progress through their doctoral programs. in a similar way, the following theme that will be discussed shows how the four latina doctoral students are sharing what they have learned about themselves with others. rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 39 echando pa’lante lucia noted a sense of familia with her advisor because they are of the same ethnic background: “my mentor is also latina and i feel like we are part of this sisterhood that promotes the academic and professional success of other latinas.” as a result of this positive mentoring experience, lucia has become a mentor to a young woman who works at her campus. she explained, i have taken her under my wing as a mentee because i see a lot of potential in her. sometimes she asks me how i am able to work, go to school, and be a mom. i constantly talk to her about the important role she has in starting a new trend of college graduates in her family. this reflects the work of espinoza (2010) whose research focused on the various demands of latinas in college and aspects of resiliency (morales, 2008). what lucia, the veteran principal, is doing in reaching out to the young staff member is creating supportive behaviors that may support that woman’s persistence in college and eventually work toward a career. doctoral research fellow esperanza has also taken her positive mentoring experience to heart. she has reconnected with some of her former high school students who are now at the same hispanic-serving institution where esperanza is working on her doctorate. her goal is for these young women to “look for me if they ever need help … maybe because i’ve been helpful in the past and i just feel that it’s important to keep helping those that are going through the tracks that i’ve been through.” esperanza confirmed that these college-age latinas had been her students in the past, and she continues to serve as a support system for them. obviously, esperanza understands the importance of making connections with others to support persistence in college. in a similar way, margarita, a department chair and aspiring principal, pays it forward everyday in her interactions with her students in her physics courses: “i chose to work in a title i, latino majority school because those were my demographics growing up. this is where i can make a direct impact.” through these words margarita confirmed her desire to help make a difference in the lives of her students. she doesn’t see teaching as simply a career, but as an opportunity to reach out to students who are growing up in similar conditions to the way in which she grew. perhaps it was a teacher who made a difference in margarita’s life which has propelled her to serve as a role model and mentor for her own students. this speaks to the con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 40 transformative learning process in doctoral education as posited by stevens-long, schapiro, and mcclintock (2011). like margarita, dalia reflected on her own experience as she sought to make a difference in her community: i want my students and community to know that despite the challenges and obstacles that they face every day in el barrio, they can be warriors. even when you face all the faces of fear like poverty, not having your parents in your life and having your elderly grandparents raise you, being an english language learner, and being labeled at risk of dropping out of high school, a latina woman is capable of taking the role of a district administrator. the barriers can be crossed when you are that little brown girl who took all the risks and was determined to be a winner even when everything seemed to point to her failure. having the experience of my community served as my catalyst for change. dalia affirmed the importance that she has given to serving as a role model for her students. as a campus principal she interacts with students and their parents on a daily basis. through these efforts she has demonstrated that perseverance, dedication, and the support of others contributed to her success. all of the latina doctoral students in this study expressed their desires to give back to others. they described the rationale as to why they wanted to help other women and their students out of a sense of sincere caring for the well-being of these persons (vela, martinez, & rodríguez, 2016). the women understood that they did not arrive at their current positions of principal, department chair, and research fellow on their own. this reflective practice of how and where they were raised and their need to reach behind them and help bring others forward stem from a shared latina consciousness, as described by delgado bernal (2001). discussion and conclusion the testimonios of the participants revealed truths and connections to each other in an authentic manner (pérez huber, 2009). the women in this study confirmed how the mentoring process through academic support and personal encouragement (dalia & castellanos, 2006) served as a key motivator to remain in the doctoral program and persevere. returning to the latina/o leadership framework presented earlier in this manuscript, the findings support the three dynamics posited by bordas (2001, 2013). the first dynamic, personalismo, focuses on rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 41 individual preparation for leadership. the theme from this study “hermanas aren’t just doing it for themselves” demonstrated the growth of the four mujeres through the doctoral program and within their respective leadership positions in schools. the findings clearly document how they enacted culturally relevant leadership in the communities that they served. the second dynamic in the framework by bordas was tejiendo lazos. this dynamic focuses on empowerment to build community. the theme from the findings “somos una familia” showed how the four women engaged in community-building practices with each other, their families, and their peers. these practices enabled them to maintain family ties that grounded their leadership work and application toward their doctoral studies. the third dynamic in the framework is desarrollando abilidades. this encompasses the development of latina/o leaders as community-scholars. the theme in this narrative of “echando pa’lante” demonstrated how the four mujeres paid forward the supportive practices that they received and how their goals for the future included the success of the students in the schools where they led and taught. the value of keeping latina doctoral students in doctoral programs through program completion will help to fill the thin pipeline of latina scholars in academia (reyes & ríos, 2005). it is important to mentor latina researchers who will extend the scholarly work that focuses on linguistically and culturally diverse students (ceja & rivas, 2010). as a result of the findings of this research, participants can develop socialization strategies for latina graduate students at their own institutions (turner, 2002). this community-mentoring experience gave the latina doctoral students the support and encouragement (espino, muñoz, & marquez kiyama, 2010) that they needed to thrive. in this manner they will help to increase the number of latina educational leaders holding doctorates who will grow to be scholars in four-year degree granting institutions, and administrators in schools and districts across the country. it is important to consider community-mentoring practices in helping to support latina doctoral students toward degree completion. according to the u.s. department of education (2012), only 8,123 latinas held tenure-track positions in colleges and universities nationwide in 2011. latinas significantly lag behind white females given that over 150,000 of them held tenure-track positions in 2011. thus, the need to support latina doctoral students in educational leadership programs is vital to maintaining a strong stream of candidates for principalships, the superintendency, and academia. con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 42 testimonio from the author as the faculty advisor for the four mujeres whose voices were shared in this article, i want to take the opportunity to offer my own testimonio. i reflect on the work of barnes and austin (2009) who remind us of the value of having doctoral advisors reflect on our roles and how such roles directly impact our students. as a latina educational leader, i take my role of doctoral advisor to heart. i cannot separate my latina identity from my daily work and interactions with students (espinoza-herold & gonzález, 2007). in this way i strive to mentor my students in the same culturally responsive manner in which i want them to serve their own students. for it is from another latina educational leader, my own mentor and doctoral dissertation advisor that i learned that effective mentoring relationships are about love—the kind of love that stems from the emotional qualities found in mentoring relationships (goldner & mayseless, 2009) and genuine caring between the mentor and mentees. it has been my sincere honor to work with the four women in this study. their sense of service and care for the students that they work with feeds my soul. con mi corazón en la mano i offer these women my sincere gratitude for allowing me to join them on their journey toward the doctorate degree. through these experiences i was able to learn more about myself as mujer, maestra, and mamá. these women are my academic hijas. they come to me with corazones abiertos and i return that amor through my support of them as friends, scholars, and practitioners. i was honored to have walked alongside them in their journey. de aquí y pa’lante they will remain en mi corazón. recommendations in this section i would like to share some recommendations for practice. a primary recommendation is related to recruitment efforts and strategies for latinas into doctoral programs. it is important that faculty members connect with networks that reach latinas. outreach efforts must be focused and intentional to recruit women of color into graduate programs of study. then it is vitally important to support latina students upon enrollment in doctoral programs. the goal to support them through the dissertation process and toward graduation with the terminal degree must be done by their faculty advisors, dissertation committee members, and other faculty in the program. this leads to the value of training university faculty about the best ways to mentor and support women of color in doctoral rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 43 studies. training should include a panel of latina graduates and current students who would share which practices worked best for them. con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 44 references barnes, b. j., & austin, a. e. (2009). the role of doctoral advisors: a look at advising from the advisor’s perspective. innovative higher education, 33(5), 297-315. bettez, s. c., kier lopez, j., & machado-casas, m. (2009). “hermandad”(sisterhood): latinas in education. in d. cleveland (ed.), when “minorities are strongly encouraged to apply”: diversity and affirmative action in higher education (pp. 23-33). new york, ny: peter lang. bordas, j. (2001). latino leadership: building a humanistic and diverse society. the journal of leadership studies, 8(2), 112-134. bordas, j. (2013). the power of latino leadership: culture, inclusion, and contribution. san francisco ca: berrett-koehler publishers, inc. calafell, b. m. (2007). mentoring and love: an open letter. cultural studies-cultural methodologies, 7(4), 425-441. ceja, m., & rivas, m. (2010). faculty-student interactions and chicana phd aspirations. journal of the professoriate, 3(2), 75-100. dalia, a. m., & castellanos, j. (2006). sustaining latina/o doctoral students: a psychosociocultural approach for faculty. in j. castellanos, a. m. dalia, & m. kamimura (eds.), the latina/o pathway to the ph.d.: abriendo caminos (pp. 169-187). sterling, va: stylus. davidson, m. n., & foster-johnson, l. (2001). mentoring in the preparation of graduate researchers of color. review of educational research, 71(4), 549-574. delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623-639. delgado, bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. journal of equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363-372. ek, l. d., quijada, p. d., alanís, i., & rodríguez, m.a. (2010). “i don’t belong here”: chicanas/latinas at a hispanic serving institution creating community through muxerista mentoring. equity and excellence in education, 43(4), 539-553. ellingson, l. & sotirin, p. (2008). reimaging feminist (wo)mentoring, teaching, and relationships. women and language, 31(1), 35-42. espino, m. m., muñoz, s. m., & marquez kiyama, j. (2010). transitioning from doctoral study to the academy: theorizing trenzas of identity for latina sister scholars. qualitative inquiry, 16(10), 804-818. espinoza, r. (2010). the good daughter dilemma: latinas managing family and school demands. journal of hispanic higher education, 9(4), 317-330. espinoza-herold, m., & gonzález, v. (2007). the voices of senior scholars on mentoring graduate students and junior scholars. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 29(3), 313335. gardner, s. k. (2008). fitting the mold of graduate school: a qualitative study of socialization in rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 45 doctoral education. innovative higher education, 33, 125-138. goldner, l., & maseless, o. (2009). the quality of mentoring relationships and mentoring success. journal of youth adolescence, 38, 1339-1350. gonzález, c., & gándara, p. (2005). why we like to call ourselves latinas. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(4), 392-398. gonzález, j. c. (2006a). academic socialization experiences of latina doctoral students: a qualitative understanding of support systems that aid and challenges that hinder the process. journal of hispanics in higher education, 5(4), 347-365. gonzález, j. c. (2006b). surviving the doctorate and thriving as faculty: latina junior faculty reflecting on their doctoral experiences. journal of equity and excellence in education, 40(4), 291-300. hernandez, f., & murakami, e. (2016). latinas/os and school leadership research. in f. hernandez & e. murakami (eds.), brown-eyed leaders of the sun: a portrait of latina/o educational leaders (pp. 33-47). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. hernandez, f., murakami, e. t., & quijada cerecer, p. (2014). a latina principal leading for social justice: influences of racial and gender identity. journal of school leadership, 24(4), 568-598. hooks, b. (2002). communion: the female search for love. new york, ny: harpercollins publishers. morales, e. e. (2008). exceptional female students of color: academic resilience and gender in higher education. innovative higher education, 33(3), 197-213. nash, r. j., & bradley, d. l. (2011). me-search and re-search: a guide for writing scholarly personal narrative manuscripts. charlotte, nc: information age publishing, inc. national science foundation. (2014). doctorate recipients by field and demographic characteristics. data tables available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2016/nsf16300/data-tables.cfm pérez huber, l. (2009). disrupting apartheid of knowledge: testimonio as methodology in latina/o critical race research in education. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 22, 639-654. reyes, k. b., & curry rodríguez, j. e. (2012). testimonio: origins, terms, and resources. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 525-538. reyes, x. a., & ríos, d. i. (2005). dialoguing the latina experience in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(4), 377-391. saldaña, j. (2013). the coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed). los angeles, ca: sage. sayman, d. m. (2013). quinceañeras and quadratics: experiences of latinas in state-supported residential schools of science and math. journal of latinos & education, 12(3), 215-230. stevens-long, j., schapiro, s. a., & mcclintock, c. (2011). passionate scholars: transformative learning in doctoral education. adult education quarterly, 62(2), 1-19. the latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nc: con todo mi corazón association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 46 duke university press. turner, c. s. v. (2002). women of color in academe: living with multiple marginality. journal of higher education, 73(1), 74-93. turner, c. s. v., & myers, jr., s. l. (2000). faculty of color in academe: bittersweet success. boston, ma: allyn & bacon. u. s. department of education. (2012). full-time instructional faculty in degree-granting institutions by race/ethnicity, sex, and academic rank: fall 2007, fall 2009, and fall 2011. washington, dc: national center for education statistics, integrated postsecondary education data system (ipeds). available at https://nces.ed/gov/programs/digest/d12/ tables/dt12_291.asp vela, v. r., martinez, g., & rodriguez, m. (2016). challenges and aspirations within gender and race. in f. hernandez, and e. murakami, brown-eyed leaders of the sun: a portrait of latina/o educational leaders (pp. 95-110). charlotte, nc: information age publishing. vetter, a. m., fairbanks, c., & ariail, m. (2011). ‘crazyghettosmart’: a case study in latina identities. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 24(2), 185-207. watford, t., rivas, m. a., burciaga, r., & solorzano, d. g. (2006). latinas and the doctorate: the “status” of attainment and experiences from the margin. in j. castellanos, a. m. dalia, and m. kamimura, the latina/o pathway to the ph.d. (pp. 113-133). sterling, va: stylus. winkle-wagner, r., johnson, s. d., morelon-quainoo, c., & santiague, l. (2010). a sense of belonging: socialization factors that influence the transitions of students of color into advanced-degree programs. in s. k. gardner & p. mendoza (eds.), on becoming a scholar: socialization and development in doctoral education (pp. 179-199). sterling, va: stylus publishing, llc. open_issues-12.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 54 decolonizing literacy: mexican lives in the era of global capitalism. gregorio hernández-zamora, england: multilingual matters, 2010, 232 pages armando garza university of texas – san antonio hernández-zamora challenges the present-day assumptions of how literacy and illiteracy are measured among post-colonial mexican adults who live either in mexico or the united states. by doing so, he states that literacy should be situated within the society rather than the individual. he frames his research by drawing from sociocultural, dialogical, and postcolonial research and theories. since hernández-zamora’s main thesis is that the development of literacy is promoted or hindered by social conditions, he methodologically uses the “study of communities and the study of individual trajectories of literacy practices across time and space” (p. 31) to describe and understand how those trajectories are marked by social, cultural, and postcolonial factors. this book provides valuable contributions to the sometimes overlooked body of research on literacy and language experiences of poor mexicans on both sides of the u.s.-mexico border. decolonizing literacy is divided into three large parts. in the fi rst part, the author portrays and defi nes colonialism and globalization as the socio-historical context/s in which the center focus of the research study, literacy, is located. in this part, hernández-zamora also describes the theoretical frames that support his research. part two is composed of case studies of main participants subdivided into three main categories based on the research subjects: (1) agentive—participants engage and appropriate practices to exert a sense of belonging; (2) mainstream or survivors—participants who grow up and live locally in extreme cases of poverty; and (3) transnational mexican people—these participants at present live in the u.s. but engage in transnational literacy practices. finally, part three encompasses two chapters in which the fi rst one synthesizes key concepts or patterns among participants and locates them within current discussion/s on language and literacy policies and politics in both mexico and the united states. the second chapter of this concluding part describes closing refl ections on issues discussed in the whole book—issues pertaining to decolonizing literacy. hernández-zamora includes long case studies of mexican individuals who have experienced socioeconomic and/or educational marginalization most of their lives. these case studies stem from an ongoing research project carried out between the years of 2001 and 2009 in mexico and the united states—this book presents only eight case studies obtained mainly through “in-depth life-history interviews” (p. 43). all research-subjects were native spanish speakers—fi ve females and three males, with an age range of 34 to early 60s, and with different work experiences (such as factory workers, naturist healer, construction, cleaning, car repair, among others). it is interesting to note where hernández-zamora found his participants. the participants in mexico were residents of large districts of mexico city such as iztapalapa—a 1.8 million-person district in mexico city which is considered “the most chaotic, problematic, and dangerous area of the city” (p. 15). on the other hand, the research subjects in the united states were found in mexican “barrios or ghettos” (p. 14)—words that hernández-zamora used to describe the poor and politically-abandoned areas where his participants resided. it is important to note that the mexican and u.s. sites do not share transnational connections among the selected research participants; however, the two locations were precisely what hernández-zamora wanted to portray— sites populated with poor individuals whose voices do not matter to the post-colonial world. hernández-zamora’s main research question intended to portray the meaning of literacy development of mexicans who were/are marginalized and, as he put it, they “are not yet full citizens in either nation: mexico and the u.s.” (p. 10). to achieve this goal, besides the central research question, the author formulates some focus questions that address such themes as: availability of cultural resources for learning; access to different kinds of literate communities; how access to literacy-mediated dialogues and practices are expanded or constrained; ideas and theories about literacy and being literate; and types of learning and cultural resources aiming to make a difference on individual literacy development experiences. decolonizing literacy: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 55 hernández-zamora asserts that in order to become literate, we need to appropriate the meanings and all discourse practices that are socially created—which, according to him, are indispensable to understand and shape the place and role that we have in our world. in addition, he believes that the action of becoming literate is not “just a psycholinguistic process” (p. 32); instead, it is the adoption and assimilation of the culture, language, and ideologies of the “dominant other” (p. 32). since the focus of hernández-zamora’s research is on learning and literacy in marginalized contexts, according to him, he needed to observe how education and literacy is socially distributed and shared in a particular community. he relies on narratives because he strongly believes that the voices of marginalized people are rich descriptions of both their current social realities and personal experiences entangled with their available learning and literacy practices. for hernández-zamora, participants’ narratives matter because he believes that their voices were lost in many social institutions such as schools, media, workplaces, governmental offi ces, etc. his positionality is marked by his personal experiences as a marginalized man, native of ciudad neza, in mexico city. although he, throughout his book, defi nes and uses the term narrative as a valid tool to portray his research fi ndings, he is very aware that every text is subject to interpretation and he leaves the fi nal judgment to his readers. hernández-zamora conducted lengthy interviews over the course of several months. sometimes he carried out anywhere from two to fi ve 2-hour-long interviews per person that were digitally recorded. these interviews contained semi-structured and open-ended questions on topics about participants’ family backgrounds, their past and current activities, their education, work, social participation in either mexico or the united states, their schooling experiences, and perceptions on literacy acquisition and practices. the physical sites where these interviews took place varied according to each participant—from homes to community centers and public places. hernández-zamora built on data in the form of self-authoring literacy practices, which he defi nes as “practices involving print and multimodal texts that have signifi cantly infl uenced people’s sense of identity, as well as their dis/engagement with particular discourses and communities” (pp. 51-52). he used these kinds of data since he believes that literacy has to be understood as a basic practice of people’s voices. consequently, he aimed to examine the barriers faced by contemporary, but poor and lower castes of mexicans. hernández-zamora elaborates on his data by asserting that his marginalized participants and their practices are truly portraits of how poor people can get access to “broader conversations, intellectual sponsors, powerful discourses, and decolonizing literacy practices for voice and agency” (p. 180). by doing so, he allowed his participants to present to us, as an audience, powerful forces (social, political, economic) that, at present, shape ideas about literacy, language, and learning practices. since literacy is a socially-contested term, hernández-zamora affi rms that researchers and scholars on learning and literacy need to re-conceive the role that language and literacy take in our social global era. he suggests, drawing from his data, that old postcolonial thoughts and actions are still present in the twenty-fi rst century—in both mexico and the united states. in addition, he states that even if mexicans have access to the modern world of a new knowledge-based economy, they are still part of lower castes and silent citizens—if they are considered citizens at all. as he put it, “in the u.s. most mexicans are not citizens but illegal aliens; in mexico they are not full citizens but secondor third-class citizens; in our globalized world they (we) appear to be global outcasts” (p. 183). these assertions lead hernández-zamora to contend that many policies and norms within both countries promote “literacy genocide” (p. 183). however, since many contemporary scholars working from sociocultural, postcolonial, linguistic, and other fi elds are constantly challenging the ideas of having unifi ed and unquestionable language and/or literacy practices, hernández-zamora asserts that the paradigm of acquiring an elite type of language or literacies— which belongs to the dominant other—is being attacked and “in crisis” (p.187). based on his fi ndings, hernández-zamora concludes by suggesting that in order for poor people to become literate, they have to challenge the offi cial models of education that, according to him, “restrict their sense of intelligence, agency, and competence” (p. 196). furthermore, it is interesting to note that hernándezzamora asserts that the process of decolonizing colonized people encompasses the utilization of postcolonial theories and the colonizer’s language as instruments to write their histories and counteract traces of colonialism. thus, we cannot completely escape the grasp of colonization though we may engage in more liberatory practices. decolonizing literacy: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 56 hernández-zamora’s book is an important contribution to the small, but growing, research fi eld on mexicans and their language and literacy experiences on both sides of the u.s.-mexico border. students, educators, and scholars in this particular fi eld will fi nd this book to be an excellent starting point; just as we know that the mexican population will continue to grow in the u.s. (and in mexico)—and that globalization will not cease to produce vast amounts of poverty. therefore, work in literacy studies with marginalized spanishspeakers is ever so important. decolonizing literacy: amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program conrado gómez margarita jiménez-silva arizona state university abstract the purpose of this article is to increase understanding of the factors that most signifi cantly infl uenced the decision made by the tucson unifi ed school district to implement the mexican american studies program in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. this article outlines the process that led to the adoption of the program. the article further delineates the political and social circumstances that made the process smooth, transparent, and effective. to accomplish this goal, the article draws from historical accounts, legal documents, personal renditions, and research publications that were used to arrive at an educational program that was long due to the mexican american young people of tucson. introduction in the spring of 2012, the tucson unifi ed school district (tusd) governing board decided to dismantle the mexican american studies program that was designed for and had been successful at meeting the needs of mexican american students for over a decade. in spite of considerable community protest, the governing board carried out this action in response to pressure from the arizona superintendent of public instruction supported by the arizona legislature that had enacted legislation targeting the mexican american studies program specifi cally. dubbed hb2281, which passed in the spring of 2010, the measure prohibits classes that (1) advocate ethnic solidarity, (2) are designed primarily for students of a particular race, (3) promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group and (4) promote the overthrow of the u.s. government. this article, therefore, attempts to give a historical background for the reasons why mexican americans studies program was created in an effort to address the educational inequality mexican american students experienced in the tucson unifi ed school district. in 1998, after many attempts at meeting the educational needs of its mexican american students, the tucson unifi ed school district (tusd) adopted an educational approach that incorporated students’ identities and backgrounds as a foundation for their education. the overarching goal of the tusd in endorsing such a program was to adopt a research-based approach that would bring into the fore cultures that have been largely denied or omitted from the school curriculum. the intent of this article is to take the reader through a historical journey of how the tusd, in its attempt at identifying and addressing the needs of mexican american students, arrived at its decision to develop a mexican-american studies program. this journey is unique in that it sets the stage for a program that would prove successful, albeit controversial. the resulting program was based on what ladson-billings (1995) and other researchers (gay, 2000; howard, 2001) have described as culturally relevant pedagogy and has been recognized as an effective way of meeting the academic and social needs of culturally diverse student populations. culturally relevant pedagogy is a vehicle for collective empowerment of students as they experience academic success in the context of maintaining and/or educing their cultural competence and developing a critical consciousness (ladson-billings, 1995). it also serves as a means of making learning more relevant to students who have traditionally been marginalized from the mainstream curriculum by validating and affi rming their culture and their contributions to the classroom context. culturally relevant teaching taps into students’ background knowledge and their frame of reference to facilitate academic success and cultural competence. in addition, culturally relevant teaching asserts that students develop a broader sociopolitical consciousness in order to critically engage in social issues such as educational inequities. thus, culturally relevant pedagogy empowers students on an individual as well as 15 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 a collective. this article, however, will not report further on how the mexican american studies program was designed, implemented, or evaluated. a full discussion of the program proper is beyond the scope of this article; interested readers are encouraged to see cammarota and romero (2004), cammarota and romero (2006), and romero (2008). this article, rather, will serve as the historical backdrop for the program’s inception. it is the intent of the authors to inform readers about the responsiveness of a community to its students through a program that was intended to meet, above all, their academic needs. historical background the purpose of providing tucson’s historical background is to establish the claim and the foundation that tucson is different than the rest of the state because of its track record of moderate political and social harmony. this predisposition on the part of tucsonans for peaceful resolution to confl ict facilitated the passing of the recommendations to address the needs of a very important segment of the population, the high school students of mexican american decent. founded by spanish-speaking settlers in 1775, tucson, arizona remained a frontier garrison of méxico up until 1854. in that year, tucson became part of the united states when the united states and mexico negotiated the gadsden purchase. in the years after the annexation, mexicans maintained a majority in tucson, making contributions to the political, economic, and cultural life of southern arizona and the state as a whole (sheridan, 1986). tucson was a beautiful desert oasis. nestled along the santa cruz river and surrounded by four mountain ranges, tucson developed a tolerant attitude about the diverse groups that were to soon migrate to the southwest (sheridan, 1986). consequently, tucson did not go through the growing pains of social and ethnic strife to the same extent that affl icted other parts of the area that once was mexico. on the contrary, groups not indigenous to the southwest, asian americans, african americans, and others, soon found a place where to establish themselves among a variety of ethnicities and nationalities. following the gadsden purchase in 1854, many mexican families migrated north to eke out a living in the territory that had become part of the american union. in southern arizona, tucson became a magnet for many of these families. through determination and hard work as well as impacted by various political, economic and social class factors, families like the carrillos, the ochoas, the samaniegos, the elias, and many others left their imprint in the history annals of a country that they came to respect and honor. they served in city, county, and state governments; they were businessmen and entrepreneurs; and they started the fi rst modern public school in arizona (de la trinidad, 2008). these mexican pioneers made such an impact in the economic, social, and cultural development of the area that modern day tucson still benefi ts by the infl uence of their legacy (sheridan, 1986). in october of 1867, the arizona territorial legislature passed legislation that enabled the creation of public school district (cooper, 1967). arizona governor safford was “an ardent supporter” of public education and with the support of two tucson businessmen, estevan ochoa and sam hughes, he was able to convince the legislature of the advantages of public schooling. in tucson, a partnership of community leaders and educators existed that made the creation of a school district possible. soon after, the state legislature passed a school fi nance law which set a property tax to pay for the costs of public education (cooper, 1967). one important side-bar to this historical narrative is the fact that enrollment was limited to males whose primary language was spanish. one of the fi rst teachers hired for the school was john spring who taught by fi rst giving instruction in spanish, and then in english (cooper, 1867). the public school district that the mexican pioneers were instrumental in starting has survived the test of times. now known as the tucson unifi ed school district (tusd), it is currently the second largest public school district in the state of arizona. its fascinating history from 1867 to 1967 is told in detail in a book written by james f. cooper (1967). so proud is the tusd of its history that cooper’s book is posted in its entirety in the tusd website. 16 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 the desegregation question as the district expanded and the issues became complex, new programs were implemented to meet those needs. the population explosion of the 1940’s and 1950’s caused by the baby boomers along with mexican immigrants seeking employment in the mining industry (cooper, 1967) strained the district’s resources. the increased enrollment in tusd brought about the need for additional classrooms. pre-school examinations and inoculations to insure that children entered school in a healthy condition was an additional issue that was addressed at this time. other areas engaged by the district at this time included programs for crippled children, school lunches, anti-tuberculosis care, dental examinations, and special services for low-income children (cooper, 1967). however, one of the biggest challenges for tusd was the desegregation question which spanned from late 1968 to 1983. even though tusd had voluntarily integrated its african-american students in the fall of 1951before brown v. board of education was decided (de la trinidad, 2008) and had led the federal government in approving federal funding for bilingual education, there were still vexing issues that had neither been addressed nor resolved. the 1c program in which spanish-speaking fi rst graders were placed, the practice forbidding the use of spanish in classrooms and playground, over assignment of students to special education classes, ability grouping in the high schools, and district staffi ng practices were among the queue of unresolved issues about which both mexican american and african american parents were concerned (brousseau, 2011; de la trinidad, 2008). attempts by the district to address the issues included an ethnic transfer policy allowing easier mobility of students within the district, redrawing of attendance lines, a moratorium on new school construction, no further closing of minority schools, establishing of bilingual programs, purchase of bilingual and multicultural books and materials, teacher inservice programs, promotion of involvement of community groups, and increased recruitment of minority and bilingual teachers. nonetheless, these attempts did not eschew two lawsuits fi led in late 1976, one on behalf of mexican american and one on behalf of african american students, (brousseau, 2011). the two lawsuits were consolidated by a judge into one group lawsuit which became known as the fisher-mendoza v. tusd (1978) court case, a case which took a year and a half for the judge to resolve. both plaintiffs were parents of children in the district concerned over a plethora of issues facing the sprawling district. they were openly critical of past educational and administrative practices, school violence caused by racial and cultural incidents, and over the educational needs of bilingual and minority children– all of which were recurring problems not addressed satisfactorily by previous attempts (brousseau, 2011). when the two sides fi nally settled on june 5, 1978, its implementations proceeded in three phases starting in the fall of 1978. in phase one, the district (1) closed three inner-city, minority schools, busing the students to other nearby district schools; (2) adopted uniform standards for suspension and expulsion of students; (3) pilot tested an intensive phonics instructional program for a cohort of mexican american fi rst graders; (4) designed a standard english and a second dialect (sesd) for african american students; and (5) mandated cultural sensitivity training for teachers and counselors at all schools involved that emphasized addressing low expectations of minority students(tusd district history, 2011). in phase two, which started in the fall of 1979, three magnet schools were started, two of which were elementary schools and an additional middle school located in minority neighborhoods. the process involved involuntary busing of k-8 students to predominantly white schools and involuntary busing of white students to a magnet middle school placed in a predominantly minority neighborhood (tusd district history, 2011). in phase three, which started in the fall of 1981, the district created four magnet schools in inner-city barrios to voluntarily attract both white and minority students (tusd district history, 2011). during this phase the district created a black studies program and offered standard english as a second dialect (sesd), offering courses in black history and culture for nearly 3,000 african american students (brousseau, 2011). an important footnote to add to this discussion is that while the district created an african american studies department creating a mexican american studies department was not discussed. it took several years for this inequality to surface as will be evident subsequently. 17 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 the exultation period tusd’s legal troubles did not end with the peaceful settlement of the fisher-mendoza desegregation case. in the early 1980’s, a group of mexican american and native american parents from the predominantly mexican-american west side of the district, fi led a civil lawsuit on behalf of mexican american and native american students in federal district court. the parents voiced concerns over various matters, including the poor state of facilities serving minority neighborhoods, the lack of rigorous programs for minority students, and the unsystematic approach to addressing the needs of english language learners (ells). the district and the offi ce of civil rights (ocr) came out with an agreement, known as the alvarez-jasso consent decree, that avoided a court confrontation (l. basurto, personal communication, september 16, 2011). the case was fi led in 1987 but a consent decree was signed in 1994 (brousseau, 2011). due to a benign and visionary district administration, the district was able to design procedures in identifi cation, placement, and exit for ells from bilingual and english as a second language (esl) programs. in addition, a staff development program for teachers and other employees who were responsible for the education of english language learners was designed and carried out. the facilities and the materials issues also were addressed at this time through an increase in the budget for the affected schools. tusd’s greatest accomplishment during this period was the amount of time and effort parceled out to address the needs of ells in several areas: special education, gifted and talented education, speech and language programs, material development, and staff development. a unique result of this effort was a comprehensive plan for bilingual education and a compliance procedures manual that was used to monitor programs for ells in tusd schools. the comprehensive plan was so effective that ocr used it as model for other school districts in the country to emulate (l. basurto, personal communication, september 16, 2011). addressing the needs of english language learners was fi rst and foremost in the minds of district administrators, even though the alvarezjasso complaint included the lack of a systematic approach to teaching multicultural education. the tucson unifi ed school district administration decided to maintain the label of bilingual education and hispanic studies department for economic expediency. to add a second department to house the mexican american studies instead of simply keeping the add-on of hispanic studies to bilingual education saved the district considerable expenses. however, no additional funding was allocated to the existing department and consequently a formal mexican american studies department and program per se were not instituted. the unaddressed matter in january 1997, a group of tucson unifi ed school district hispanic parents fi led a lawsuit claiming that the district discriminated against hispanic students by failing to run a comprehensive hispanic studies department (tully tapia, 1997, january 8). in a letter to the editor of the arizona daily star, rosalie lopez (1997), a parent and one of the leaders of the group of parents outlined the parents’ concerns. their grievances were based on the fact that mexican-american students did not have a program to address their needs nor a department to spearhead these efforts. they pointed out the success that the african-american and native-american studies departments were having with their respective populations and they wanted mexican-american students, the largest ethnic population in the district, to partake in the effort. additionally, a group of supporters, called the coalition of neighbors for mexican american studies, attended board meetings to promote the proposal to establish a new department under the mexican american studies rubric (l. basurto, personal communication, september 16, 2011). as mentioned before, hispanic studies up until that time fell within the purview of the bilingual education and hispanic studies department even though the hispanic studies component had not properly and systematically been addressed. the parents claimed that the department focused primarily on students’ language needs and slighted hispanic students who were not english language learners (tully tapia, 1997, june 29). they also argued that the district had overlooked the low academic achievement and high dropout rates among hispanic students. romero (2008) reports that 1,805 mexican-american high school freshman entered the tucson unifi ed school district in the fall of 2001; yet, only 1133 of them graduated four years later in the 18 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 spring of 2005, a 37.3% loss. furthermore, they pointed out the fact that the district had an african-american department and, by that time, a native american studies department and the mexican-american parents’ perception was that these departments had been instrumental in boosting academic achievement among students of those particular ethnic groups (tully tapia, 1997, june 29), and that a mexican american studies department, instead of a hispanic department, was justifi ed based on the fact that about 26,600, or 42 percent, of tusd’s 63,300 students were hispanic. the lawsuit’s intent was to have tusd launch a full-fl edged mexican american studies program by fi rst instituting a mexican american studies department with proper administrative to overview it. responding to the lawsuit and community pressure, as well as concerns over the mounting legal fees to fi ght the lawsuit, the tusd school board established a committee to muster public input in the areas of bilingual education, multicultural education, and hispanic studies. this marked the fi rst time that the tusd school board offi cially sought to address the hispanic studies issue (l. basurto, personal communication, september 16, 2011). legitimizing and endorsing the formation of the committee and its charge, a federal judge urged tusd and plaintiffs in the lawsuit to settle the matter out of court since everybody seemed to agree that something needed to be done to solve the dropout rate of hispanic students in the district (tully tapia, 1997, july 2). in fact, james christ, the tusd school board president, in a guest editorial in the arizona daily star (1997), wrote that the proposed hispanic studies curriculum in the tucson unifi ed school district presented a great opportunity to bring immediate relevance and motivation to thousands of students at all grade levels. rosalie lópez, mentioned previously, in her letter to the editor of the arizona daily star (1997), predicted that the voters in the court of public opinion would change the complexion of the tusd governing board at the polls. she predicted that when the complexion of the board changed, mexican-american studies in tusd would become a reality. she continued by stating that only then would the tucson residents see improvement in hispanic students’ stanford achievement test scores. lopez (1997) claimed that tusd high schools with signifi cant numbers of hispanic students scored 30 points below the national average in reading, 25 points in language, and 20 points in math. with lopez’s pronouncement regarding the need for the complexion of the board to change, lopez prognosticated the success that the mexican american studies program would attain in tusd in just a few short years. in 1997, the time was ripe for tusd to take a serious look at developing a hispanic studies program and the committee that had already been established was going to be used as a vehicle to study and legitimize the program. it is worth mentioning that the tucson unifi ed school district governing board had taken independent action in early 1997 by hiring the intercultural development research association (idra), an outside consulting fi rm, to conduct an audit of the bilingual education and hispanic studies department (l. basurto, personal communication, september 16, 2011). the idra audit was intended to evaluate the performance of the bilingual education and hispanic studies department and to study the feasibility of establishing a mexican american studies department separate from and independent of the bilingual education department. the board’s intent was to have the two independent reports, idra’s and the committee’s, along with recommendations, brought to the district governing board in early 1998. according to gómez & benton (1998), in the committee’s charge, drafted by the tusd governing board, the committee was asked to: • review the bilingual education/hispanic studies department in terms of existing programs as they relate to bilingual/multicultural education and second language acquisition • review existing national research and programming related to multicultural education, bilingual education, hispanic studies, and second language acquisition • hold several community meetings • make recommendations to the governing board and the superintendent the tusd superintendent generated a list of thirty-four members of the community to serve on the committee. the committee’s make up was thorough and diverse: parents, community leaders, teachers, 19 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 administrators, union leaders, and university professors, and a student. the committee was given a year to conduct the process which called for bi-weekly meetings and included three public community hearings. recommendations would be submitted to the district governing board at an offi cial public meeting in the spring of 1998. at the fi rst committee meeting, both the president of the tusd school board and the school district superintendent addressed the committee members. the former expressed the seriousness of the committee’s task in terms of how its work was intricately related to the board’s goals; the latter stressed how the committee’s mission fi t within his vision of where he wanted to take the district. their talks had a decisive impact on committee members’ disposition and outlook. this was a privilege, a once in a long time opportunity to make a contribution to the education of hundreds if not thousands of students in tusd (gómez & benton, 1998). during the ensuing months, the committee members immersed themselves in their work. they approached their charge with dedication and diligence. after the committee was divided into three smaller subcommittees, committee members read and discussed the latest professional literature on their specifi c topics. they listened to endless presentations by representatives from the different district departments, fi nance, curriculum, dropout prevention, compliance, bilingual education, etc. ad nauseam. beside the committee of the whole weekly meetings, committee members scheduled individual subcommittee meetings that met independently. committee members were also critically involved in organizing and attending the community meetings, which were the highlight of the process. ultimately, they were voluntarily involved in drafting and debating the content of the report that went to the superintendent and the district governing board. but more importantly, they were part and parcel of the debates that ensued when the time came for drafting specifi c recommendations to the board. three subcommittees were established to (1) listen to expert testimony, (2) review current literature on the topics, and (3) report to the committee of the whole once a month. hundreds of hours went into this process. concomitantly, the committee conducted the three hearings at strategically located high school sites throughout the district. between 500 and 600 people altogether attended the meetings and many of them expressed their opinions, pro or con the issues in the committee’s charge. all proceedings were taped (gomez & benton, 2008), transcribed, and included in the report that went to the school board. the point here is that the process was open to the community and the community became engaged in the process. over ninety-fi ve percent of the speakers at the public hearings favored the creation of a mexican american studies program. as a caveat to the process, it is worth mentioning that on september 16, 1997, the day prior to the committee’s fi rst public hearing, the tucson city council on a 6-1 vote urged the tucson unifi ed school district governing board to create a mexican-american studies program (burchell, 1997, september 16) based on their perception that the district curriculum largely ignored the history and contributions of hispanics. with this measure, the tucson city council was representing and agreeing with the larger tucson community’s sentiment to seriously address the educational needs of mexican american students in tusd. on march 10, 1998 the intercultural development research association (idra), the independent agency hired to report on the same issues as the committee, presented its yearlong audit of the bilingual education and hispanic studies department. beside idra’s favorable review of the bilingual programs in tusd, idra recommended that a hispanic studies curriculum be placed in all schools, and its focus should be separate from bilingual education. the committee submitted their own report to the tusd superintendent at the beginning of march of 1998 and it was offi cially submitted to the tusd school board at an offi cial meeting in mid-march of that year. the decision that is germane to this article is that the committee recommended and the board approved the establishing of a mexican american studies department with the responsibility to design a mexican american studies curriculum in grades k-12. almost immediately, a mexican american studies program coordinator was appointed to spearhead the program, fulltime positions were allocated to the department, and a budget also was determined. as a show of support for decisions made at the local level, arizona state superintendent lisa graham keegan, a republican, remained silent on the new hispanic studies program designed by tusd. her strong belief in local autonomy was demonstrated years later when she fi led court documents against state superintendent tom horne, a fellow republican, when the arizona department of education wanted to require charter schools 20 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 to align their curricula to state prescribed curriculum, despite its lack of regulatory authority. in a show of bullying from the pulpit, tom horne would later interfere with and intrude in the implementation of the mexican american studies program in tusd despite the fact that the tucson community had so decisively embraced the program. conclusion community engagement is the inclusion of community members in school decisions such as planning, activities, visioning, communication, and other school-related functions. after years of neglecting the mexican american student population, in 1997 the tusd initiated a process by asking the tucson community not only for involvement but for permission (vollmer, 2001), permission to adopt a fundamental change in the approach to teaching students of mexican american descent. the clamor of the community in support of such a program was decisive as was determined by their showing at the three public hearings set up for the purpose of eliciting public input. beside the fact that the tucson community was overwhelmingly in favor of this transformative educational program, there were other factors that contributed to the welcoming approval of the program by the community and the tusd school board. historically, the polyglot tucson community, as related above, had created a zeitgeist of tolerance and acceptance toward diverse cultural and ethnic groups. in 1991, tusd, refl ecting the community’s sentiment in the area of ethnic relations, adopted a diversity appreciation education policy with the intent of eradicating the dehumanizing infl uences of sexism, racism, prejudice, and discrimination from its schools and facilities. in addition, the history, anthropology, mexican american studies, and education colleges and departments at the university of arizona in tucson had been graduating a cadre of teachers who were committed to this type of education. these were the best of times in tusd and its mexican american student population. the mexicanamerican studies program in tusd was based on a unique social science program that emphasized an innovative curriculum that serves the cultural, social, and intellectual needs of mexican-american students. called the social justice education project (sjep), the program provides students with all the social science requirements for their junior and senior years of high school (romero, 2008). during the two-year duration in the program, students engage in and develop a curriculum that is culturally, socially, and historically relevant, with issues of race and racism at its center (romero, 2008). the teachers involved in this project were trained in the specifi c methodology and content required by the curriculum. evidence of success includes results from the 2004–2005 reading section of the aims test, where the mexican-american studies participants outperformed all other 11th grade ethnic cohorts at the four sites where the program was implemented. in three of the four participating sites, the gap in performance was equal to or greater than 23%. on the writing section, program participants outperformed all other 11th grade ethnic cohorts at the four sites and the gap in performance was equal to or greater than 23%. at two of the four sites the gap in percentage passed was equal to or greater than 25%. the 2004–2005 math section of the aims test is the only section that program participants did not outperform all other 11th grade ethnic cohorts at the four participating sites. at one of the sites, anglo students outperformed project participants by one percentage point. this trend continued consistently through school year 2008. in 2008, 389 program participants were surveyed with the following favorable results (romero, 2008): • 95% agree and strongly agree that working on this project or taking this class has improved their writing skills. • 96% agree and strongly agree that they talk to their parents and/ or other adults about what they have learned in the project or in the class. • 97% agree and strongly agree that the project or the class has better prepared them for college. • 97% agree and strongly agree that working on this project or taking this class has improved their reading skills. • 96% agree and strongly agree that they are willing to do homework in order to keep the project 21 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 moving along on tome to ensure participation in class. • 97% agree and strongly agree that working on this project or taking this class has helped them believe that they have something worthwhile to contribute to this class. the community at large had provided the tucson unifi ed school district with a blueprint for the future (gómez & benton, 1998). when the tusd school board approved the committee’s report in april of 1998, it immediately became policy. shortly thereafter, the district hired a mexican american studies director whose responsibility was to design and implement the program. the tucson community and the university of arizona experts in the fi eld were involved in the program design. the overarching goal of the program was to boost student achievement among hispanic students by providing them with curriculum materials embedded in hispanic history and culture (gómez & benton, 1998). while the initial study cohort in 2001 consisted of only 17 students (romero, 2008) it is important to note that nearly all the students in the project had been labeled “at risk”, and many had already dropped out or were on the verge of dropping out of high school. two years later in 2003, the program was implemented in a total of 4 high schools (romero, 2008). in just a few years, the program, especially at the high school level, spread and gained popularity among students, especially among the marginalized groups of students that for years had experienced educational neglect. unfortunately, not everyone in the state of arizona felt elation from the program’s success. tom horne, the state superintendent of public instruction, in his capacity as the chief education offi cer for the state of arizona, started probing into the program in 2007. in spite of the program’s popularity and success among mexican american and other students, and the markedly positive support it had among the entire tucson community, tom horne, the state superintendent of public instruction, and the arizona state legislature passed laws that targeted the program and made it diffi cult for the district to sustain it. euphoria soon gave in to despair on the part of the teachers and students in the program. the onslaught of attacks on the program led to the worst of times for students of mexican american descent in the tucson unifi ed school district. only time will tell what becomes of an idea that had strong roots in the tolerant and caring tucson community. references burchell, j. (1997, september 16). city council urges tusd to set hispanic program. the arizona daily star, p. b3. brousseau, g. c. (2011). a revised and updated edition of the fi rst hundred years: on august 20, 2011.the history of tucson school district 1, tucson arizona, 1867 – 1967 by james f. cooper. retrieved from http://168.174.252.75/contents/distinfo/history/history9310.asp cammarota, j., & romero, a. (2004). refl exiones pedagógicas: a critically compassionate pedagogy for latino youth. latino studies, 4, 305-312. cammarota, j., & romero, a. (2006). a critical compassionate intellectualism for latina/o students: raising voices above the silencing in our schools. multicultural education, 14(2) 16-23. christ, j. n. (1997, january 9). hispanic studies can add relevance for underserved tusd students. the arizona daily star, pp. a1. cooper, j. f. (1967). the fi rst hundred years: the history of tucson school district 1, 1867-1967. retrieved from http://168.174.252.75/contents/distinfo/history/ history100.asp de la trinidad, m. (2008). collective outrage: mexican american activism and the quest of educational equality and reform, 1950-1990. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of arizona, tucson, arizona. fisher-mendoza v. tusd, 623 f. 2d 1338 (1978). gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching. new york: teachers college press. gómez, c. l., & benton, b. c. (1998). nuestro futuro: a blueprint for the future. bilingual education, hispanic studies, and second language acquisition review committee report, tucson unifi ed school district, tucson, az. howard, t. c. (2001). powerful pedagogy for african american students: conceptions of culturally relevant pedagogy. urban education, 36(2), 179-202. ladson-billings, g. (1995). but that’s just good teaching! the case of culturally relevant pedagogy. theory into practice, 34(3), 159-165. lópez, r. (1997, july 13). an educational failure [letter to the editor]. the arizona daily star, pp. e2. romero, a. f. (2008). towards a critically compassionate intellectualism model of transformative education: love, hope, identity, and organic intellectualism through the convergence of critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and authentic caring. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of arizona, tucson, arizona. sheridan, t. e. (1986). los tucsonenses: the mexican community in tucson 1854-1941. tucson: the university of arizona press. tully tapia, s. (1997, january 8). mom sues tusd over hispanic studies issue. the arizona daily star, pp. b1. tully tapia, s. (1997, june 29). tusd legal fees for hispanic studies suit raise eyebrow. the arizona daily star. pp. b1. tully tapia, s. (1997, july 2). settle out of court, both sides told in hispanic studies suit. the arizona daily star, pp. a2. tully tapia, s. (1998, march 11). bilingual education report cites good test scores. the arizona daily star, pp. b1. tusd district history (2011). retrieved from http://168.174.252.75/contents/distinfo/history/index.asp 22 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 tucson unifi ed school district governing board. (1991). diversity appreciation education policy. (gbp 6112). tucson, az: tusd. vollmer, j. r. (2001). community permission: prerequisite for change. the school administrator, 58(7), 28-31. 23 mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program pg51 pg52 pg53 pg54 pg55 pg56 pg57 pg58 amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 short essay refl ections of me: divergent educational experiences gabriela romero university of illinois, urbana-champaign my fi rst memory: the line of streetlights illuminated our journey from morelia into san ysidro. i pretended to be asleep and next to me my younger brother niño was sleeping. we were in a car with a couple of strangers. i have no memory of my parents before being put into the car with the unknown faces. i also don’t recall being reunited with my parents after we had entered the u.s. i had fallen asleep and it wasn’t until my mother’s voice that we were awakened. voice: “while most immigrants enter the country with optimism and an energetic work ethic, many of their children are at risk of being marginalized and ‘locked out’ of opportunities for a better tomorrow. why will many immigrant children graduate from ivy league colleges while others will end up in federal penitentiaries?”3 elementary school: mrs. calderon thought the best of me. i was “one of the smart ones.” she comforted me when juan called me four eyes when i wore my plastic, purple, glasses, which the school had paid for. the following year, niño was placed into mrs. calderon’s class. years later, he told me that mrs. calderon always talked about how smart i was and how it made him feel, as if he had disappointed her. me: ¿por qué dices eso? niño: porque…eres mas inteligente que yo. voice: “in schools, where students’ success hinges on their perceived intelligence, latina/o students have been described variously over the years as ‘mentally retarded,’ as ‘linguistically handicapped,’ and, euphemistically, as ‘at-risk’”4 middle school: it was an awkward moment developing as an adolescent pre-teen. i felt that i never belonged. i had experienced bilingual education up until i entered lincoln middle school and my anxiety emerged. meanwhile, my brother, niño was diagnosed and placed in special education for his dyslexia with no esl classes. voice: “the dropout rates for english language learners are 15-20% higher than the overall rate for non-english language learners. this lack of academic success is also the cause for referrals of english language learners to special education.”5 high school: sometimes i would try to convince myself that i really had an illness, which exacerbated the anxiety i felt every moment in those classes. they were the classes all the 3 (suarez-orozco, c. & suarez-orozco, m. m., 2001, p. 3) 4 (bender, s., 2003, p. 105) 5 http://www.misd.net/bilingual/ellsandspedcal.pdf 51 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 white kids took. they were not esl classes. they weren’t ap courses, but college track nonetheless. every day i went to that white, middle class high school, where even the two black kids had white parents, i did not belong. niño was moved out of special education and placed in esl classes and soon after dropped out and began to work as a laborer. voice: “hispanic youth are almost four times more likely than white students and twice as likely as african american students to drop out of school”6 undergraduate school: i graduated high school with honors and went to a university in the northwestern united states. i worked diligently on my studies. i worked for the multicultural center for four years and my last year i was co-coordinator. i had regained my self-confi dence. i majored in ethnic studies and spanish. i was exposed to my history, to truths and misinterpretations, to social theories and to social justice…and injustices. and niño? voice: “while many immigrant children succeed, others struggle to survive”7 graduate school: i graduated from college with a double major and a minor—all with honors. i received fellowships as a master’s student. i continue to be a fellow as a phd student. and niño? voice: “what happens in schools today will to a large degree determine the future of all our children”8 a letter to my brother: i see you as a refl ection of me, even as others including our father see us as polar opposites. he has placed us at two opposite ends of success and failure. however, it’s not only our father that has differentiated us. ultimately, it is the us public school system that perpetuates the haves with the have not’s, even within the same family. i remember the pictures of you in pee wee football and one with a saxophone. but, i can’t remember you actually playing either one. we were not there for you. you fi xed my computer. you fi xed my car. it pains me to see you suffer, to see you struggle. i don’t know how we lost sight of you. i was supposed to be the role model. i was supposed to guide you. be there for you. soy tu hermana mayor. 6 national center for education statistics, 2007. 7 (suarez-orozco, c. & suarez-orozco, m. m., 2001, p. 2) 8 (suarez-orozco, c. & suarez-orozco, m. m., 2001, p. 15) 52 amea_2011 53 amea_2011 54 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ gonzalez & meling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 139 modeling an effective program for latina/o college student success kenneth p. gonzalez el paso community college vanessa s. meling university of texas health science center abstract this article presents a case study of the design, implementation, and results of a program developed to increase latina/o student success at a hispanic-serving institution. a team of university faculty, staff, and administrator researchers drew from four sources of evidence to design and examine the effects of the program, including: (a) longitudinal cohort data, (b) the scholarly literature on latina/o student success, (c) focus group data with students, and (d) syllabi analysis data. participants in the program demonstrated increased mid-term grade point average (gpa), end of first-term gpa, and fall-to-fall persistence. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.364 modeling an effective program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 140 introduction we are a nation of several generations: the gi generation, baby boomers, generation x, millennials, and now, generation z (strauss & howe, 1991). generations are known for their unique circumstances and attributes, i.e., they can be described and discussed due to what makes them unique (strauss & howe, 1991). the gi generation, also called the greatest generation, is comprised of individuals born between 1901 and 1926. this generation was marked by the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that fought and died in world war ii, the spawning of labor unions, and the golden age of radio (delcampo, 2011). the baby boomer generation, which includes people born between 1946 and 1964, was known for their engagement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the large influx of women entering the labor force, and the age of television (cannon gibney, 2017). americans born between 1965 and 1980 are known as generation x. characteristics of this generation include rising divorce rates, a lack of after-school adult supervision, and the hiv/aids epidemic (mulrennan, 2015). millennials include children born between 1981 and 2000 and are known for having omnipresent parents, enormous academic pressure, and computers in schools and homes (howe & strauss, 2000). recently, the millennials surpassed the baby boomers as the largest generation in the united states (pew research center, 2016). the latest generation is referred to as generation z and is comprised of children born after 2001. they are the internet generation and have never known a world without computers or cell phones (white, 2017). examining these distinct generations through the lens of the latina/o experience illuminates an sobering reality. it is not the trends that change over time that calls our attention. rather, it is what persists: the struggle for educational access and achievement in postsecondary education. for those concerned with this struggle, two questions remain: (a) how can more latinas/os enroll in college, and (b) how can more latinas/os complete college degrees? with regard to progress in college enrollment for latinas/os, in 1992, the federal government took action to recognize colleges and universities as hispanic-serving institutions (hsi) if they met an enrollment threshold of 25%. subsequently, federal grants were made available to such institutions with the intention of supporting their efforts to increase college access for latinas/os. today, approximately 409 colleges or universities meet this threshold and gonzalez & meling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 141 are recognized as hsis (contreras, malcom, & bensimon, 2008; excelencia in education, 2015; nuñez, hurtado, & calderon galdeano, 2015; vigil-laden, 2001). progress in college completion for latinas/os is another matter. a college or university earns the designation hsi due to its enrollment of latinas/os rather than the number of latinas/os completing a degree. in fact, there is no substantive accountability structure for hsis that receive funding to increase degree completion for latina/os but that do not succeed in doing so (contreras, malcom, & bensimon, 2008; nuñez, hurtado, & calderon-galdeano, 2015; vigil-laden, 2001). review of college completion rates (college scorecard, 2016) for two states with large latina/o populations, california and texas, reveals several concerning patterns. for example, in california, only six of the state’s 32 public, four-year universities have graduation rates higher than 80%. in five out of these six universities, the representation of latinas/os is small, somewhere between 10 and 13%. conversely, more than two-thirds of california’s public, fouryear universities have graduation rates below 60%. latina/o enrollment for most of these institutions ranges between 25 and 60%. stated differently, nearly every california hsi has a graduation rate below 60%. upon closer examination, california’s public universities with the highest proportion of latina/o students (california state university los angeles, california state university san bernardino, california state university northridge, california state university bakersfield, and california state university dominguez hills) yield some of the lowest graduation rates in the system. california state university los angeles, which serves over 20,000 undergraduates, 61% of which are latina/o, has a graduation rate of only 38%. similar patterns occur in california’s private, non-profit universities. when latina/o enrollments reach 25% or higher, the graduation rate drops below 60%. in sum, too few latinas/os attend california’s four-year universities with high graduation rates and, too few latinas/os graduate from california’s four-year universities with large latina/o enrollments. texas shows similar patterns regarding enrollment and graduation rates for latinas/os (college scorecard, 2016). only the two public flagship institutions (the university of texas at austin and texas a&m university) have graduation rates approaching 80%. the remaining 32 public four-year universities have graduation rates near 60% or below. latinas/os comprise only 18% of the undergraduate student population at the university of texas at austin, despite being more than 50% of the state’s k-12 enrollment. at texas a&m university, the latina/o modeling an effective program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 142 population drops to 14%. mirroring a pattern in california, texas’ public, four-year universities with the largest enrollments of latinas/os have some of the lowest graduation rates in the system (university of texas at brownsville, university of texas at san antonio, texas a&m corpus christi, university of texas at el paso, texas a&m at kingsville, and the university of texas rio grande valley). graduation rates at each of these institutions range between 27 and 40%. similar patterns occur in texas’ private, non-profit universities. institutions with the largest percentage of latina/o undergraduates have the lowest graduation rates in this sector. despite decades of research (baumann, cabrera, scott, & swail, 2007; crisp, taggart, & nora, 2015; nora & crisp 2009; salis & nora, 2012; kuh, kinzie, buckley, bridges, & hayek, 2006) and practice pertaining to latina/o college completion (aac&u, 2014; santiago, 2011), it is clear that much more progress needs to be made. before yet another generation emerges after generation z, more effective answers to the question: how can more latinas/os complete college degrees? must be found, followed by successful implementation of solutions. what is intriguing about this special issue of the association of mexican american educators journal is the notion that both answers and solutions may lie within hsis—institutions that historically have experienced low graduation rates. scholars and leaders in the field of higher education agree that significantly increasing the graduation rates of institutions with large enrollments of latinas/os is an effective strategy to increase the total number of latinas/os earning a college degree (contreras, malcom, & bensimon, 2008; nuñez, hurtado, & calderon galdeano, 2015; vigil-laden, 2001). excelencia in education, a not-for-profit organization that promotes policies and practices that support latina/o college achievement, shares this notion and has consistently recognized a handful of institutions for demonstrating promising practices, or examples of excelencia (see www.ed.excelencia.org). gonzalez and arámbula ballysingh (2012) appraised the value of such programs in light of their effort to increase latina/o college completion. they found that for those programs that exhibited effective practices, the following characteristics were present: (a) use of longitudinal, disaggregated, cohort data; (b) use of scholarly literature; (c) collection and application of local data that identified the experiences and challenges of latina/o students specific to a campus; and (d) use of formative assessment data. the remainder of this article presents a case study (stake, 1994) of the design, implementation, and results of a program that exemplifies these characteristics at a hsi. notably, the program increased latina/o student gonzalez & meling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 143 success and positioned the university to increase latina/o college completion rates in a sustained and broad manner. designing latina/o student success in context the site of this exemplar program was a private, religiously affiliated, hsi in a large, metropolitan city in texas. the university enrolled approximately 2,000 undergraduate students, 71% of which were latina/o at the time of the study. data collection and review of this program occurred between fall 2012 and spring 2014. prior to the design and implementation of the program, longitudinal cohort data indicated that the fall-to-fall persistence rate remained flat at approximately 55% with no clear pattern of increase or decrease. graduation rates also held steady at approximately 37% during this time period. it was clear to the university faculty and administration that both persistence and graduation rates for their predominately latina/o student population were consistently low. to address lagging graduation rates, the institution recognized the first year as pivotal to increasing the retention and graduation rates for latina/o students. the institution set out to design a program to best meet the needs of their distinct student population. to begin, a team of faculty, staff, and administrators used the university’s longitudinal cohort data as a point of departure and consequently delved into the scholarly literature to better understand the factors that supported or impeded latina/o student success in college. they noted the following conceptual insights: latina/o students must achieve a sense of belonging (hurtado & carter, 1997), engagement (kuh, 2001; nora, 2002), and integration (nora & crisp, 2009; tinto, 1975, 1997) fostered by a campus climate (hurtado & carter, 1997) that recognizes and validates (rendón, 1994) their cultural heritage, family relationships, and academic potential as learners. the team also became cognizant of polices, practices, and interactions that engendered microaggressions (yosso, smith, ceja, & solorzano, 2009) and thereby reduced students’ sense of belonging, engagement, integration, and validation. prior to applying the scholarly literature to the design of an intervention, the team of faculty, staff, and administrators conducted a series of focus groups with their latina/o students to acquire a local understanding of the common barriers impeding their success during their first semester. the team argued that coupling the scholarly literature with local focus group data would produce a deeper understanding to inform the design of an effective program. the modeling an effective program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 144 team conducted five focus groups with first-term latina/o students at the university. first-term latina/o students were selected due to the fact that only 55% of this population returned for their second year in college. the team found five common barriers that were consistently noted by the students as the following: (a) difficulty managing time; (b) failure to submit assignments; (c) discomfort asking questions in class; (d) failure to complete online class assignments; and (e) difficulty managing the academic workload of multiple courses. the team noted that four of the five common barriers were interconnected and related to managing their collegiate academic workload (i.e., the assignments, tests, quizzes, and readings associated with being a full-time student). the interconnectedness of these barriers prompted a deeper question posed by the team: how heavy is the students’ academic workload? academic workload analysis to answer the question regarding academic workload, the team conducted an analysis of course syllabi for four different groups of full-time students: humanities majors (first-term and third-year status students) and biology majors (first-term and third-year status students). latina/o students were well represented in both majors, 68 and 57% respectively. the goal of the syllabi content analysis was to quantify the number of assignments, tests, quizzes, and readings required of first-term students and contrast it with students in their third year. the findings were striking and produced a breakthrough insight that drove the design of the subsequent program intervention. with regard to students majoring in humanities, first-term students bore nearly three times the workload of third-year students in the same major. during the fall 2013 semester, first-term students carrying a 13-unit load were given 88 assignments, quizzes, exams, and readings to complete in the month of september; 70 in the month of october; 62 in the month of november; and 48 in the month of december. in contrast, third-year students in the same major with a 13-unit load were required to complete 26 assignments, quizzes, exams, and readings in the month of september; 19 in the month of october; 14 in november; and 12 in december. the same pattern was present for biology majors. first-term students carrying 13 units were expected to complete 90 assignments, quizzes, exams, and readings to complete in the month of september; 74 in the month of october; 69 in the month of november; and 43 in the month of december. in contrast, third-year students in the same major with a 13-unit load gonzalez & meling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 145 were given 26 assignments, quizzes, exams, and readings in the month of september; 20 in the month of october; 16 in november; and 12 in december. although no two assignments can be weighed equally, the sheer number of assignments and the contrast between first-year and third-year was a compelling discovery. tables 1 and 2 describe the number and types of assignments given during the month of september that first-term and third-year biology majors were required to complete with a 13-unit academic load. table 1 academic workload for a first-term biology major biology major: first-term assignment workload (aug-sept) course name week 1 (aug) week 2 (sept) week 3 (sept) week 4 (sept) week 5 (sept) first year english chapter 4: pgs. 62-83 lynda barry’s “the sanctuary of school” pgs. 84-89 questions on pg. 88-89 check for online assignments three essays on ch.4 “an american childhood” pgs. 90-94 discussion questions online assignments quiz readings last week “render unto larry’s” pgs. 9598 “longing to belong” pgs. 99103 questions on pg. 97-98 peer review drafts of paper #1 questions on pg. 102-103 quiz on readings 95-98 short quiz 99103 the way we lie quiz on the way we lie assignment on essay 2 questions on pgs. 343 start essay 2 “mother tongue” pgs. 345-351 “people like us” pgs 357358 questions on 345-351 questions on reading 357-358 draft of essays 1-2 quiz on 345351 quiz on 357358 student success course signature assignments chapter 3 reading demonstration/ review csfi results chapter 4 chapter 5 modeling an effective program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 146 firstyear math course hw 1.1 hw 1.2 my mathlabhw my mathlab hw my mathlab hw quiz 1 over syllabus hw 1.5 hw 1.6 hw 1.7 my mathlab hw my mathlab hw quiz 2 over 1.1-1.4 review test 1 ch. 1 ch.2.1 my mathlab hw hw 2.2 hw 2.3 hw 2.4 hw 2.5 my mathlab hw my mathlab hw my mathlab hw quiz 3 over hw 2.1-2.2 hw 3.1 hw 3.2 hw 3.3 hw 3.4 hw 3.5 my mathlab hw my mathlab hw my mathlab hw quiz 4 over 2.3-2.5 sociology course intro disc due ch. 1 ch. 2 hw #1 due disc #1 due ch. 5 hw #2 due disc #2 due ch. 8 hw #3 due disc #3 due ch. 9 hw #4 due disc #4 due spanish course leccion 1: hola, que tal? leccion 1 websam for ch.1 examen leccion 1 leccion 2 leccion 2 websam for chap. 2 examen leccion 2 leccion 3 total # in a week readings: 5 assignments: 7 quizzes: 1 exams: 0 projects: 0 readings: 9 assignments: 7 quizzes: 2 exams: 0 projects: 0 readings: 6 assignments: 8 quizzes: 2 exams: 1 projects: 0 readings: 8 assignments: 9 quizzes: 2 exams: 0 projects: 0 readings: 10 assignments: 8 quizzes: 3 exams: 1 projects: 0 total # in a month readings: 38 assignments: 40 quizzes: 10 exams: 2 projects: 0 gonzalez & meling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 147 table 2 academic workload for a junior status biology major biology major: junior status assignment workload (aug-sept) course name week 1 (aug) week 2 (sept) week 3 (sept) week 4 (sept) week 5 (sept) biology course chapters 2-3 chapters 4-5 exam 1 chapter 7 exam 2 physics course chapters 1 & 3 lab summary exam 1 chapters 4 & 7 lab summary gen ed philosophy course chapters 1 & 4 dialogue assignment 1 chapters 5 & 7 dialogue assignment 2 chapter 9 gen ed arts course chapters 1 & 2 studio project one draft chapter 4 chapters 5 & 6 studio project one total # in a week readings: 8 assignments: 0 quizzes: 0 exams: 0 projects: 0 readings: 2 assignments: 2 quizzes: 0 exams: 0 projects: 1 readings: 3 assignments: 0 quizzes: 0 exams: 2 projects: 0 readings: 5 assignments: 1 quizzes: 0 exams: 0 projects: 0 readings: 1 assignments: 1 quizzes: 0 exams: 1 projects: 1 total # in a month readings: 19 assignments: 4 quizzes: 0 exams: 3 projects: 0 the team was astounded by the stark contrast between the total number of assignments between first-term students and third-year students. they concluded that the students least prepared to manage the rigors of full-time university study–first-term students–were being required to complete the heaviest workload. the team shared their results with faculty modeling an effective program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 148 members in the humanities and biology departments who taught first-year courses and documented their reactions. although surprised by the total number of assignments required of first-term students, a common response from faculty was that these students would not be successful if their grades were based on fewer but more heavily weighted assignments. instead, they intentionally designed their courses with a higher volume of smaller assignments as a means of scaffolding the learning process. as a result, the notable increase in the total number of assignments resulted in impeding first-term students to effectively manage their academic workload. during this time period, 37% of new students ended their first term with a gpa below 2.0 and were placed on academic probation. only 16% achieved a gpa of 3.0 or higher. many of the students placed on academic probation after their first term remained on academic probation after their second term and never returned for their second year in college. the team discussed two options to address the unintended consequences of this approach: (a) educate faculty regarding the total number of assignments and spark a conversation about what a reasonable workload should be for first-term students; or (b) redesign the university’s student success course in a way that focuses heavily on time management and assignment completion. the team decided to address both options, recognizing that they had little control over the outcome of option a. however, option b, was initially where the team exerted their efforts. they used insights from the scholarly literature, focus group findings, and syllabi content analysis to redesign the university’s student success course. from textbook-driven to data-driven student success course before this effort, the university’s student success course–a one-unit course required of all first-year students–was designed in a conventional manner, driven primarily by the chapters of a textbook. the chapters covered common topics such as the benefits of college, time management, emotional and physical wellness, personality and learning preferences, critical thinking skills, reading strategies, note-taking and study skills, test-taking skills, campus resources, career development, financial literacy, and diversity. the course was redesigned to better align with the insights they gained from the scholarly literature regarding latinas/os in college, the results from their focus group data, and the syllabi content analysis. the university team decided to eliminate the textbook and redesign the course to: (a) equip students with the gonzalez & meling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 149 tools, skills, and dispositions to complete all assignments associated with a heavy workload; (b) facilitate a strong sense of belonging, engagement, integration; and (c) validate their cultural heritage, family relationships, and identities as powerful learners. refer to table 3 for the alignment between the scholarly literature, focus group findings, syllabi content analysis, and the redesigned components of the university’s student success course. table 3 alignment between data findings and components of redesigned student success course findings from scholarly literature, focus groups, and syllabi analysis components of redesigned student success course difficulty with time management and assignment completion 1) academic assignment calendar 2) semester master calendar 3) grade tracker developing sense of belonging, engagement, and integration 1) student success course integration with new student orientation 2) professor communication and meeting assignment 3) staff communication and meeting assignment validation of cultural heritage, family relationships, and identity as a powerful learner 1) family participation in new student orientation. 2) course sessions on (a) cultural ways of being and individual calling, (b) power of execution, (c) foundational values. to address the findings related to “difficulty with time management and assignment completion,” the team designed the following three tools for the student success course: 1) the academic assignment calendar– a weekly, monthly, semester-long calendar built by students that included all assignments for each course taken. the assignments included readings, exams, quizzes, and out-of-class assignments; 2) the semester master calendar– a comprehensive semester calendar that detailed social, family, self, work, and academic responsibilities using an online tool located on the university’s portal; and 3) the grade tracker– an electronic grade monitoring tool that tracked the point and percentage value of assignments, quizzes, exams, or modeling an effective program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 150 projects for each course. students updated the grade tracker tool weekly based upon feedback and assignment of grades from their professors. the team also designed and added three new components to the student success course to reduce the likelihood students would experience microaggressions (yosso, smith, ceja, & solorzano, 2009) and to enhance students’ sense of belonging (hurtado & carter, 1997), engagement (kuh, 2001; nora, 2002), and integration (nora & crisp, 2009; tinto, 1975, 1997. the new student orientation program included a segment where students were grouped together by the instructor of their student success course. this was designed as the first class session for the student success course and enabled the students to quickly build a sense of belonging and community. during the program, the students engaged in discussion and reflection regarding what qualifies as a microaggression and discussed different intervention approaches. the second component required students to draft and send an email to each of their professors to introduce themselves. students were asked to share a few details about their background and what brought them to the university and to request a one-on-one meeting with their faculty. students were also asked to send a similar email to a student support staff member or advisor and request a one-on-one meeting. finally, to address the importance of validation (rendón, 1994), the team added two components. first, students’ families were invited to participate in the new student orientation program. parents met with bilingual faculty, staff, and administrators while younger siblings were invited to meet with current students and discussed navigating the pathway to college. second, course sessions were designed to focus on cultural ways of being (córdova, 2008), individual calling (palmer, 1999), and the power of execution (mcchesney, covey, & huling, 2012). to acquire feedback on the redesign of the university’s student success course, the following formative assessment data were collected and analyzed: (a) mid-term grades for firstterm students; (b) end of first-term gpa; and (c) fall-to-fall persistence rates. three years of trend data for each of the data elements above were identified. for mid-term grades, 35% of first-term students had a gpa below 2.0. during the term of the redesigned student success course, this percentage dropped to 19%. for end of term gpa, 37% of new students ended their first term with a gpa below 2.0 and were placed on academic probation. only 17% had a gpa of 3.0 or above. at the end of the redesigned student success course, 18% of new students ended their first term with a gpa below 2.0, and 36% had a gpa of 3.0 or above. gonzalez & meling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 151 finally, with regard to persistence, three years of trend data spanning the 2009-10 and 2011-12 academic years indicated that the fall-to-fall persistence rate was steady at 55%. after the redesign of the student success course, the students who entered in the fall of 2013 had a fallto-fall persistence rate of 64%. it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine that a redesigned program was the primary factor in increasing student success in the case study offered here. however, the team was emboldened by witnessing the percentage of students with end-of-first-term gpas of 3.0 or higher increase by 19 percentage points. the notable reduction of students with gpas below 2.0 also was a significant morale booster. finally, the team felt that the increase in fall-to-fall persistence rates would translate into increases in degree completion rates. when they looked back at their process, they recognized the importance of using multiple sources of data and asking deeper questions. they acknowledged that much more work needs to be done, especially to address the potential of microaggressions emerging through polices, practices, and interactions. they set an internal goal that their work would not be complete until they matched the success rates of the best universities in the nation. that is a goal worthy of the students that they serve. discussion generations come and go, marked by unique events and changes in societal life (strauss & howe, 1991. the millennial generation, now the largest (pew research center, 2016), should be known not only as one characterized by omnipresent parents, enormous academic pressure, and computers in homes and schools (howe & strauss, 2000), but also the generation that witnessed the rise of hispanic-serving institutions and their role in increasing access to higher education for latinas/os. the case study presented here demonstrates that hsis can be more than places of large latina/o college enrollment; they can be institutions that facilitate and support high levels of success. perhaps, in the future, individuals will look back and characterize this generation as the one that produced the largest increase in latina/o college graduates. modeling an effective program association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 152 references aac&u. (2014). growing knowledge about what works for latino student success. aac&u newsletter. baumann, p., cabrera, a., & swail, w. s. (2007). an annotated bibliography of latino educational research. a paper prepared by the educational policy institute and the college of education, university of maryland, college park. cannon gibney, b. (2017). a generation of sociopaths: how the baby boomers betrayed america. new york, ny: hatchette books. college scorecard. (2016). college scorecard data.washington, dc: u.s. department of education. retrieved from https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/search/?degree=b&state= ca&control=public&sort=completion_rate:desc contreras, f. e., malcom, l. e., & bensimon, e. m. (2008). hispanic serving institutions. understanding minority serving institutions, 71-90. córdova, r. (2008). writing and painting our lives into being: learning to see learning in the transformative space between school and home. language arts, 86, 18-27. crisp, g., taggart, a., & nora, a. (2015). undergraduate latina/o students: a systematic review of research identifying factors contributing to academic success outcomes. review of educational research, 85(2), 249-274. delcampo, r. g. (2011). managing the multi-generational workforce: from the gi generation to the millennials. new york, ny: ashgate. excelencia in education. (2015). hispanic-serving institutions, 2013-14. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsicp2/research/hispanic-serving-institutions gonzalez, k. p., & arambula ballysigh, t. (2012). increasing latina/o college completion: mistakes and opportunities. journal of hispanics in higher education, 11, 279-290. howe, n., & strauss, w. (2000) millennials rising: the next great generation. new york, ny: vintage. hurtado, s., & carter, d. f. (1997). effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on latino college students’ sense of belonging. sociology of education, 70, 324-435. kuh, g. d (2001). assessing what really matters to student learning: inside the national survey of student engagement. change, 33, 10-17. kuh, g. d., kinzie, j., buckley, j. a., bridges, b. k., & hayek, j. c. (2006). what matters to student success: a review of the literature. commissioned report for the national symposium on postsecondary student success. mcchesney, c., covey, s., & huling, j. (2012). four disciplines of execution: achieving your wildly important goals. new york, ny: franklin covey. mulrennan, m. (2015). passed over and pissed off: the overlooked leadership talents of generation x. new york, ny: wave worthy. nora, a. (2002). a theoretical and practical view of student adjustment and academic gonzalez & meling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 153 achievement. in w. g. tierney & l. s. hagedorn (eds.), increasing access to college: extending possibilities for all students. albany, ny: state university of new york press. nora, a., & crisp, g. (2009). hispanics and higher education: an overview of research, theory, and practice. in j. c. smart (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory of research (pp. 321-358). new york, ny: springer. nuñez, a. m., hurtado, s., & calderon galdeano, e. (2015). hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice. new york, ny: routledge. palmer, p. j. (1999). let your life speak: listening for the voice of vocation. san francisco, ca: jossey bass. pew research center. (2016). millennials overtake baby boomers as america’s largest generation. washington, dc: pew research center. rendón, l. (1994). validating culturally diverse students: toward a new model of learning and student development. innovative higher education, 19, 23-32. salis, n. a., & nora, a. (2012). lost among the data: a review of latino first generation college students. white paper prepared for the hispanic association of colleges and universities. santiago, d. a. (2011). compendium of practices to increase latino college completion 2012 profiles of organizational efforts. washington, dc: excelencia in education. stake, r. (1994). case studies. in n. denzin & y. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (pp. 236-247). thousand oaks, ca: sage. strauss, w., & howe, n. (1991). generations: the history of america’s future. new york, ny: quill. tinto, v. (1975). dropout from higher education: a theoretical synthesis of recent research. review of educational research, 45(1), 89-125 tinto, v. (1997). classrooms as communities: exploring the educational character of student persistence. journal of higher education, 68, 599-624. white, j. e. (2017). meet generation z: understanding and reaching the new post-christian world. ada, mi: baker publishing. vigil -laden, b. (2001). hispanic-serving institutions: myths and realities. peabody journal of education, 76, 73-92. yosso, t. j., smith, w. a., ceja, m., & solorzano, d. g. (2009). critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate for latina/o undergraduates. harvard educational review, 79(4), 659-786. stake, r. (1994). case studies. in n. denzin & y. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (pp. 236-247). thousand oaks, ca: sage. strauss, w., & howe, n. (1991). generations: the history of america’s future. new york, ny: quill. amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 red scare in the red state: the attack on mexican-american studies in arizona and opportunities for building national solidarity anita fernández zoe hammer prescott college abstract the attack on ethnic studies in tucson is a local struggle with broad implications. this essay poses that arizona is a testing ground for neoliberal laws, policies and practices, including hb2281, an anti-latin@ law banning ethnic studies courses in public schools. given that many such political “experiments” have been successfully exported from arizona, we raise concerns about the implications of this legislation. hb2281 represents contradictions inherent to a wide ranging anti-latino@ political strategy that deploys an ethic of color-blindness to legitimize attacks on anti-racist projects and produces a rhetoric of new and recycled “enemies” to garner public support for increasingly anti-democratic public policy. we examine some of the stakes of building transformative educational projects in local settings, and pose questions about possibilities for building national networks of likely allies with the capacity to defend and support rigorous, critical public education in the united states. introduction this essay is written from the perspective of two social justice educators living in arizona who have had the privilege to witness the growth, occasionally collaborate with, and draw inspiration from the successes of one of the nation’s most exemplary and transformative public education projects.... and then recoil in shock and outrage as our legislature has attacked, sought to discredit, and fi nally dismantled the tucson unifi ed school district’s (tusd) mexican american studies program (mas). among much more important consequences of these events, we were forced to reckon with our own misguided, tragically uncritical assumption that the program was “safe” because it was producing the results the state demands -high test scores, graduation rates, and college entry levels among mostly latino@ graduates in a low income school district in a state that hovers at 50th in k-12 school funding (u.s. census 2010). these successes, of course, were not the only reason we valued the program; they were what we assumed would be “insurance” against the ravages of no child left behind policies that have devastated so-called “underperforming” schools in low income communities across the nation. we also valued mas because we were inspired by the innovative critically compassionate intellectualism (cammarota & romero, 2009), the ability of the teachers to set high expectations and facilitate each student’s success, to embed curriculum in social justice struggles that are relevant to students’ lives, to foster a profoundly just and radically inclusive learning community, and we were, and continue to be, most spectacularly inspired by the accomplishments and the commitment of the students themselves. despite degrees in multicultural education and cultural studies, despite years of immersion in critical academic scholarship and lived experiences that should have inspired caution, we loved what we saw, and we were inspired to imagine this work expanding, and making a contribution to a more just future. nobody from mas is giving up on their vision, and neither are we. we do, however, see a need to step back from the lure of the local and consider some of the broader forces of neoliberalism that have contributed to the current crisis for mas as well as possibilities for mobilizing resources beyond tucson, arizona to support a transformed future for public education. since the early 1980’s, arizona has been used as a testing ground for neoliberal policies, practices, and rhetoric that, when successful, are often exported. from the rampant spread of charter schools and the statewide elimination of bilingual education, to the use of unmanned drones on the border that now fl y over afghanistan and iraq, to the passage of sb 1070, the draconian anti-immigrant legislation that has subsequently been introduced in over 24 states, arizona has served as a laboratory for ramping up coercive state capacities, 65 red scare in the red state: the attack on mexican-american studies association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 limiting popular participation in governance, redistributing wealth upward, and scapegoating (im)migrants, the latino@ community, and poor people of color. this analysis considers arizona’s recent ban on ethnic studies curricula in the contexts of larger neoliberal trends, explores the stakes of the decision to dismantle tusd’s mexican american studies program, and poses questions about possibilities for building national networks of likely allies with the capacity to defend and support rigorous, critical public education in the united states. while arizona is what john stewart refers to as the “meth lab of democracy” (daily show, april 26, 2010) and ranks as one of the lowest performing states in education, it also offers one the most successful high school mexican american studies program in the country (sleeter, 2011). the tucson unifi ed school district (tusd) is home to the only full-fl edged ethnic studies program for high school students (sleeter, 2011), which includes, among other areas, mexican-american studies. this program was developed specifi cally to address the need for tusd to implement changes to increase the achievement of latino@ students in the district, in response to a desegregation law. tusd’s mexican-american studies program has not only been successful in ensuring that latin@ students stay in school, it has surpassed the percentage of students not enrolled in the program with higher standardized test scores, higher graduation rates and a higher rate of students attending college after high school (scott, 2011). graduates of the mexican-american studies program not only excel in these standard measures of success, they also surpass their peers with attributes that colleges and universities look for when considering admission of students. these include: exceptional communication skills, both written and oral; diversity of thought and openness to multiple perspectives; and the ability to apply theoretical concepts to the analysis of every day issues. a core element of tusd’s program is teaching students to apply academic skills to make positive change in their communities. tusd’s program follows the model of teaching labeled “critically compassionate intellectualism” (cammarota & romero, 2009) combining culturally relevant, social justice curriculum with critically conscious pedagogy and a focus on relationships – between teachers, students, and families. alumni of the mas program describe the impact of their education as life changing: tusd’s demographics include 61% latino@ students and while not all students in the mas program are latino@, these demographics and the focus on latino@ history and literature, attract a majority of non-white students. students engage deeply in the curriculum and its focus on latino@ perspectives giving them the opportunity to critically investigate statistical research, literary works focused on the southwest u.s., and histories often excluded from traditional textbooks and classes. action research is taught as an effective way to learn about an issue and make suggestions or organize actions for direct change in one’s community. students choose projects for their action research that are situated in their own schools or neighborhoods, allowing them to recognize the often unequal distribution of resources and opportunities. one example involved students conducting in depth research of arizona’s anti-immigrant laws, producing fi lms depicting their fi ndings and organizing tours to educational institutions around the state to share their fi lms and raise awareness of these issues. the mas program essentially encourages students to put grassroots democracy into action: by knowing their histories, learning to measure and analyze social inequality in their own communities, understanding the law, and analyzing political and social movements, students learn why they should and how they can participate in shaping the future. mas students read widely from texts usually reserved for college courses – freire, giroux, anzaldúa, acuña etc. and use interdisciplinary frameworks to inform their actions and research – all resulting in a 90% graduation rate and 80% of those graduates moving on to college (cambium report, 2011). in comparison, latino@ students not in the mas program, drop out of high school at a rate of 41% with only 24% moving on to a higher education (solarzano & yosso, 2006). hence, the combination of curriculum grounded in critically engaged practice and the educational outcomes of mas link the project of multiculturalism with the project of 66 red scare in the red state: the attack on mexican-american studies everything i did in those classes, it changed me, it changed how i look at things and the teachers told me they would hold me to high expectations and no one ever told me that before. before mas classes i didn’t care about school. school was so boring i was unengaged and then the things they started to teach me were so interesting i never wanted to miss a class. association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 political transformation. this linkage of cultural and political projects, we argue, is precisely the project that hb2281 aims to destroy. the political purpose of the law is explicit, yet cloaked in the popular understanding that individualism is inherently inclusive, and the related assumption that any form of thought that is not exclusively individualistic is inherently unjust. hb2281 (now ars 15-111 & 15-112), passed by the arizona state legislature in 2010, prohibits arizona’s public schools from offering courses that ‘promote ethnic solidarity or resentment against a particular ethnic group, advocate the overthrow of the u.s. government, treat students as members of an ethnic group rather than as individuals, or are designed exclusively for a particular ethnic group.’ neoliberal racism widely framed in the media as the outcome of az state attorney general tom horne’s personal vendetta against tusd’s mexican american studies program, passage of the law is more than an act of simple vengeance carried out by an ambitious and racially divisive elected offi cial, (though it is certainly also that). the wording of the law itself is exemplary of what henry giroux (2004) calls “neoliberal racism,” a strategy that rejects (and claims to be offended by) older forms of racism grounded in claims of white superiority. horne, in fact, relentlessly quotes dr. martin luther king, jr. in diatribes against the teaching of ethnic studies in public schools. neoliberal racism instead favors an approach that claims to be “racially neutral” in its insistence on assessing failure and success exclusively in terms of “individual responsibility.” among other goals, neoliberal racism seeks to delegitimize assessments of systemic and institutional racial disparities on the grounds that they are “race-based,” in short, insisting that any attempt to measure racism by recognizing the existence of socially differentiated groups of people is, in and of itself, both racist and morally reprehensible. not only does this strategy moralize against the very recognition of systemic and institutional racism, ironically labeling such recognition “racist,” neoliberal racism promotes entrenched racial hierarchies by demanding the use of the institutional capacities of an increasingly authoritarian state to surveil, criminalize, and crush anti-racist, reparational, and unequivocally democratic projects, such as the hugely successful tusd mas program. “bad feelings” the racist and anti-intellectual public sentiments mobilized by the characterization of mas in hb2281 go hand in hand. ruth wilson gilmore argues (2009) that one of the problems in contemporary u.s. politics is the widespread tendency to think of racism as a problem of “bad feelings,” while ignoring the deadly impacts of institutional and systemic racism (bierra, 2009). the language of hb2281 combines this limited understanding of racism as a problematic set of “bad feelings” (especially “resentment” and “ethnic solidarity”) with an argument that understands these “bad feelings” as the manipulative result of an education offering evidence-based understandings of systemic social inequality. this approach not only demands that racism be understood as a set of immoral feelings, it also insists that racism not be understood in terms of its measurable social impacts, such as uneven educational opportunities or racially disproportionate incarceration, poverty, and premature death rates. further, through a strategy that might be interpreted as an attempt to mobilize nostalgia for precivil rights movement school segregation and mccarthyism, the attack on latin@ education and culture in arizona is fueled, in part, by an anachronistic strategy of red-baiting. despite the fact that no mas teachers or administrators have ever described themselves as communist, marxist, or socialist, the law’s sponsors and public advocates have relentlessly used the words “communism,” “marxism,” and “socialism” during media interviews and in public hearings to describe mas teachers, the mas curriculum, and the authors taught in mas courses. though bh2281’s advocates repeatedly call for an educational approach that “includes all sides,” it is notable that their implied demand for the curricular erasure of any intellectual work that references, debates or engages with worldwide traditions and widespread scholarly practices of socialist and marxist thought cannot rationally claim to “include all sides.” it seems possible that the relentless use of red-scare terminology in this setting links a tactic aimed predominantly at white people -to link passionate emotions of moral outrage over 67 red scare in the red state: the attack on mexican-american studies association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 the “racism” of anti-racism (sometimes called “reverse racism”) -with a strategy aimed at arizona’s strong voting block of conservative retirees, to reanimate cold war fears of foreign invasion and domestic labor militancy. regardless of the level of political savvy that may or may not be driving this red-scare messaging, the “feeling” that a powerful anti-racist, working class social movement would pose signifi cant challenges to entrenched race and class hierarchies is not baseless. repeated references to “marxist communists” in public appearances by hb2281’s boosters may sound comical when mocked on the daily show, but they also reveal that the larger vision animating the law is the suppression of future possibilities for both ethnic and class solidarity and movements for social justice. in fact, the attack on mas started with celebrated union organizer dolores huerta making the public statement, while speaking in tucson, that “republicans hate latino@s,” to which arizona republicans responded by dismantling the mas program. (apparently, their outrage in response huerta’s claim was not over its veracity.) the conditions that made this contradictory response achievable have to do, in part, with the capacity of the state to produce common sense and public feelings. as gramsci (1971) argues, the modern state functions as an “educator,” both perpetuating (through the framing and circulation of state narratives) and enforcing (via law enforcement, public policy beaurocracy, and institutions) dominant forms of “common sense” that teach the public to understand themselves as subjects in ways that legitimize state power. in this sense, the framing, wording, implementation, and policy debates over hb2281 aim to “educate” the (imagined as white) public to understand itself as both anti-racist, and vulnerable to cultural displacement. the attack on mas sends different messages to different audiences, seeking to mobilize different kinds of fear: to latino@s, the message is, “we are willing and able to remove you and your culture from our state by any means necessary” and to the dominant demographic, the message conveyed is, “latin@s have a marxist plot to overthrow the government, reclaim the southwest as aztlan, and they are dangerously resentful toward white people.” this narrative has been laid out to ensure that any group encouraging the analysis of unequal distribution of power be marked as racist, dangerous, and communist. black lists and book burning hb2281 cruelly poses the mas program’s success as the rationale for its very demise. teachers who have supported the remarkable educational success of mas students have now been reassigned to non-mas classes, to teach in areas outside of their expertise. the inspired director of mas has been fi red. in addition, many of the most effective books used by these teachers to engage students, have been banned from the classroom (literally boxed up and removed in front of weeping students) along with any discussions of racism and oppression, even if those discussions are instigated by students. such drastic actions make it clear that this successful program has been dismantled due to its success in preparing students to be democratically engaged, activist citizens – all widely celebrated benefi ts of a privileged education, yet when made accessible to low-income, brown youth, laws are passed, hearings are held, the program is abolished and the opportunities eliminated. arizona politicians have fought hard to use the mas program as evidence that anti-racist projects: should be equated with racism, that racism is a problem of “bad feelings,” and that rigorous, intellectual analysis of racism is un-american. the neoliberal ideal of a color-blind society is being actively fought for (and against) as the end goal for the u.s., for education, and especially for public education projects serving students of color. the fight is not finished as stated earlier, no one from mas is giving up on their vision and neither are we. there are a number of obstacles to the triumph of hb2281 that offer possibilities for different outcomes. the law as well as the neoliberal visions that animate it stand in direct contradiction to longtime federal mandates to desegregate arizona schools, to arizona state education standards in social studies, to national and state calls to improve educational equity in contexts of diminishing state budgets, and to the scholarly and institutional accomplishments of ethnic studies and social justice education and activism across the nation. currently, a growing legal team of 68 red scare in the red state: the attack on mexican-american studies association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 attorneys (from as far away as the fred t. korematsu center for law and equity at seattle university school of law) representing mas teachers and students is building a case, including a federal justice department investigation, arguing that hb2281 targets latin@ students and will result in a chilling effect on educational equity. in addition to this legal vulnerability, the curricular mandates of hb2281 are destined to be challenged by the very state government that is tasked with enforcing them. the arizona state standards in social studies require students to study the civil rights movement(s) in depth as well as “apply the skills of historical analysis to current social, political, geographic, and economic issues facing the world,” a performance objective impossible to meet with this kind of censorship. beyond these legal and policy contradictions that make hb2281 vulnerable to state intervention, the fi ght to save ethnic studies is taking a broader, grass-roots turn that exemplifi es the mas educational mission to link multicultural literacy and opportunity with transformative, democratic political empowerment. building power as we watch national solidarity building in response to the recent ban on mexican american studies in tucson, those organizations speaking out give us hope that a network of allies can build power to counter the movement against critical pedagogy, critical theory and ethnic studies. national organizations have made offi cial statements and staged demonstrations criticizing arizona’s racist agenda, which is both welcome, and also is only the fi rst step toward building sustainable, national opposition in the form of organized, effective projects and campaigns. this summer of 2012 marked tucson freedom summer, a call to educators, activists, organizers and artists to converge on tucson and organize resistance to the elimination of mas. such work is necessary not only to counter arizona’s attack on rigorous, critical education and on education equity, but in preparation for the inevitable harassment to come from the neo-liberal, conservative groups pushing for more standardized, rote and ethnocentric education across the country. building national resources and networks to support anti-racist, social justice education that has critical pedagogy and critical theory at their core, must include support from teachers’ unions, social justice organizations, faculty unions, parent organizations, labor organizations and political groups all united for the cause of protecting education. our teachers’ unions must move out of the business model to the organizing model and our future teachers must be trained to not only be critical educators but also activist organizers. in arizona, the need for these coalitions to be put into place is immediate and essential as we watch latino@ children be stripped of their education and the literal banning of latin@ literature taking place in our public schools. from anti-immigrant legislation and the elimination of mas, to the raiding of public education budgets to build more prisons, arizona’s anti latin@ swell has swept so far over to the extreme that small groups of teachers, parents and faculty can no longer sustain this fi ght alone. the stakes are high and risk-fi lled when building power to counter the neo-liberal agenda and yet we can not stand by and allow our educational system, and most importantly our children, be the pawns of a political fi ght to erase the histories of oppressed groups and to eliminate programs that clearly offer success and empowerment to latin@ students. a national call for solidarity to address these issues is an immediate necessity as well as a direct obligation of those of us in social justice fi elds. references bierra, a. (2009). review of public lecture: “life in hell: how capitalism saving capitalism from capitalism should fire our political imagination,” by ruth wilson gilmore at the center for race and gender, uc berkeley. faultlines: news and notes from the center for race and gender. retrieved from http://crg.berkeley.edu/content/ life-hell-how-capitalim-aving-capitalim-capitalim-should-fi re-our-political-imagination cambium report. (2011). curriculum audit of the mexican american studies program, tucson unifi ed school district. retrieved from http://saveethnicstudies.org/ assets/docs/state_audit/cambuim_audit.pdf cammarota, j., & a. f. romero. (2009). “the social justice education project: a critically compassionate intellectualism for chicana/o students.” in w. ayers, t. quinn, & d. stovall (eds.), handbook of social justice in education (pp. 465-476). 69 red scare in the red state: the attack on mexican-american studies association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 new york: routledge. giroux, h.a. (2004), the terror of neoliberalism: authoritarianism and the eclipse of democracy. boulder, co: paradigm. gramsci, a. (1971). selections from the prison notebooks. new york: international publishers. scott, d. (2011). tucson unifi ed school district director of accountability and research report. sleeter, c. e. (2011). the academic and social value of ethnic studies: a research review. washington, dc: national education association. u.s. census bureau. (2010). income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the united states: 2009. retrieved from http://www.arizonaeducationnetwork.com/2010/08/quick-facts-public-education-funding-in-arizona/. yosso, t.j., & d.g. solórzano. (2006, march). leaks in the chicana/o educational pipeline. latino policy and issues brief no. 13, chicano studies research center, university of california, los angeles 70 red scare in the red state: the attack on mexican-american studies amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 poetry la escuela perfecta arianna medina, parent (poet) fatima castañeda-gutierrez (photographer) occidential college todos quisiéramos una escuela perfecta para nuestros hijos, donde hubiera maestros capacitados para cada necesidad de los niños, donde hubiera sufi cientes áreas verdes donde ellos pudieran jugar, donde cada niño sobresaliera en sus estudios, pero sobre todo, desearíamos que cada niño del mundo tuviera una oportunidad de estar en una escuela donde aprendieran las bases para sobresalir en la vida. y esto nos llevaría a un mundo mejor, ya que cada niño estaría preparado para enfrentar la vida de una manera digna. 53 journal 2007[1]. coverpage 43 cinco de mayoa pre-k play ana maria garcia-gomez, ma cinco de mayo—a pre-k play (outdoors or indoors) cast: general zaragoza and 5-15 mexicanos/as in sombreros: “napoleon iii” with same number of “french soldiers” in fancy uniforms and triangle hats. flag holders may dress as benito juarez, maximiliano and carlota. scene: the battlefield (anywhere), the mexicanos and the french facing each other in two rows about 6 feet apart, the narrator (proud teacher) holds the microphone in front with 2 (shy or quiet) students on either side, holding an american flag and a mexican flag. (a third student can hold a french flag) narrator: on cinco de mayo, 1862, a long, long time ago, the french went to puebla méxico to take over the land. the french thought that since everyone in europe said they were one of the best with their fancy hats and fancy uniforms, that the mexican people would be happy to have the french rule them. do you think the mexicanos wanted the french to be their boss? (wait for the crowd to respond no!) this is what happened…these are the french in their pretty uniforms. these are the mexicanos in their work clothes. they were tending their crops when the french came. (mexicanos are bent as though they are planting; french take two steps closer to the mexicano row.) a mexicano and a french officer, by pairs, step up to the narrator to say their lines. after, they pass by their respective rows and rotate to the end of the line. 1st. french officer (dressed as napoleon iii): we came to rule you. 1st. mexicano dressed as zaragoza: ¡no, nos puede gobernar! 2nd. french soldier: give me your land. 2nd. mexicano: ¡no te doy mi tierra! 3rd. french soldier: give me your money. 3rd. mexicano: ¡no te doy mi dinero! 4th. pair and so on: give me your… house, farm animals, wife/husband, children, girl/boyfriend (for a chuckle), toys, clothes etc. (students may compose their own lines). 1st. officer ( napoleon iii) and zaragoza come back to the narrator, officer: if you don’t give us your land then we’ll fight! zaragoza: entonces, vamos a pelear…(both lines pretend to fight without touching; the french fall down, the mexicanos march around proudly waving their arms). narrator: the mexicanos won! they showed others that you can’t just take things! ¡viva méxico! later, the french came back and did take méxico but once again they were driven away. after that, they made friends with méxico. (french stand up and shake hands with the mexicanos). then, they had a celebration! (all may join in dancing la raspa/la molina; students march off hand in hand). the end. 44 corrido a césar chávez cuando me dicen -¡viva la causa! yo les contesto--¡viva césar chávez! y cuando la causa llega a la lucha yo les recuerdo--¡viva también dolores! cuando la lucha es pesada y es largo el camino, podemos mirar las flores, gracias a césar, los campesinos, y no se olviden de los trabajadores. 1927 nació el santo en que tanto confiamos, 1965 fue la marcha que en delano reconquistamos. es una lucha de justicia, que une a la gente de todas las razas y edades gracias a césar--¡viva la causa! ¡seguirás en los corazones! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ballad to césar chávez “long live the cause!” is the shout i hear, reminding me of my césar dear, the great césar chávez! and when the cause gets rough, we’re tough enough because we still have our dolores. though the road winds on for hours, we can still see the flowers, thanks to césar and those who work the soil. the struggle is hard but the cause is just and very much worth our toil. 1927 he was born, but not so forlorn, for this man he won our trust. 1965 we marched and although the road was parched, our boycott they couldn’t bust! the cause is right so we’ll show our might all ages and races united. thanks to cesar and us, who ban poisonous dust, together we can’t be divided! ___________ both pieces, cinco de mayoa pre-k play and corrido a cesar chavez were submitted by ana maria garcia-gomez. ana maria garcia-gomez is now a retired teacher, after working for head start and lausd as a teacher for many years. throughout her career as a teacher, ana maria completed an ma degree in urban education-bilingual and got her national board certification as a teacher of english as a new language and early childhood. ana maria has also been an active member of amae for many years and an active member of the east la community. call to action association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 80 call to action: speaking to educators on the praxis of testimonio and the nopal metaphor vincent chandler city college of san francisco we may literally be too busy to notice or too concerned with the myriad tensions and needs in front of us—this is only normal. yet, we can still provide latin@ and chican@ students and other students of color with moments (great and small) where an educator speaks to the very essence of their humanity and makes them believe it. that is what you can do. and that is what you can commit to doing after our time here together. hello and good morning. it is an absolute pleasure to be here with you today. i have been an educator in high school and university settings for a very long time and when offered this opportunity to speak with fellow educators who are interested in critical, antioppressive pedagogy i jumped at the chance. but i must apologize as i do not have a speech, at least not the one i planned on giving. two recent events have made me question what it is that we actually do in the academy, and i thought that perhaps we might be able to make some sense of this together. in the fall 2013 it was reported that a black, undergraduate student at a local public university had been the victim of hate crimes and systematic bullying at the hands of roommates and floor mates while on campus. on different occasions he had been harassed, tackled, had a bike lock closed around his neck, and was forced to live alongside a confederate flag in the common area of his dorm (murphy, 2013). the university president promised justice and attempted to acknowledge the obvious: "by failing to recognize the meaning of a confederate flag, intervene earlier to stop the abuse or impose sanctions as soon as the gravity of the behavior became clear, we failed him. i failed him" (kearny, 2013, para. 2). but it was soon discovered that the same president worked to hide “an in-depth study [that] found black students experienced troubling and sometimes racist behavior from chandler association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 81 professors, coaches and other students” (murphy, 2013, para. 1). a floor mate of the victim claimed that the abuse was not racist at all, but mere pranks and that she "grew up in the era where it (prejudice) doesn't seem present to us, it's just in the books. it doesn't seem like a big deal for us to do things like this…he's an easy target and he takes it well” (bulwa, 2013, para. 16). at roughly the same time of these revelations we learned about the passing of nobel prize-winning author doris lessing. lessing privileged and revered the story and the storyteller. moreover, she identified their connection to the maintenance and constitution of our lives: a need to tell and hear stories is essential to our species — second in necessity apparently after nourishment and before love and shelter. millions survive without love or home, almost none in silence...it is our stories, the storyteller, that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed. it is the storyteller, the dreammaker, the mythmaker, that is our phoenix, what we are at our best, when we are our most creative. (d. lessing, nobel prize acceptance speech, december 7, 2007) however, as i stand in front of you today the words from lessing’s (2008) preface to her novel, the golden notebook resonate too clear and painful for me to utter while alone: it may be that there is no other way of educating people. possibly, but i don’t believe it. in the meantime, it would be a help at least to describe things properly, to call things by their right names. ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: you are in the process of being indoctrinated. we have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. we are sorry, but it is the best we can do. what you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. the slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. you are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. it is a selfperpetuating system. those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself—educating your own judgment. those that stay must remember, always and all the time, that they are call to action association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 82 being molded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society. (p. xxi) lessing’s passage depicts a struggle that exists inside many students and scholars of color. she does not speak for all, i understand and accept that, but her words so graciously pay homage to those of us who struggle, remain, or vanish and reinvent when faced with an education. it is difficult to be and to learn in this world. hegemony and supremacy make difficult educating towards critical awareness, and sometimes along that path bad things do happen. it is more than enough at times to make someone give up. at other times we simply fold our hands as we whisper, “how can i possibly begin to make sense of this?” you see i prepared a speech but that one will no longer do. knowing what i now know, we are in need of something different. we need to discuss how we begin to make sense of what happens and occurs while on the path towards an education. since i am always grappling with the particular issues of race, place, and higher education, i thought it best to share what i know—what i have gathered, so that we may construct a better understanding of what is possible for our students and each other within the academy and beyond. i am interested in discussing what it means to stand and teach in critical-solidarity with one another so that students who are traditionally marginalized might be better able to flourish the elements of their own humanity. i will do so by utilizing and explicating my research in testimonio, both as a process and product, as well as make suggestions as to what we can do, here and now, to begin to better meet the needs of latin@ and chican@ students. why testimonio? testimonio is the intentional and rhetorical act of speaking and sharing one’s story, history or narrative with a specific focus towards that which is experienced in and around issues of bias, prejudice, oppression, otherness, marginalization, resistance, and survival (bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012; reyes & rodríguez, 2012). in doing so it is also the practice of attempting to raise a critical consciousness by depicting the ways in which we are interconnected among related and seemingly unrelated narratives (bernal et al., 2012). chandler association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 83 with roots in “oral cultures and in latin american human rights struggles” and chicana/latina movements (bernal et al., 2012, p. 363) testimonio is a process, product and pedagogy where “we are able to hear and read each other’s stories…with the goal of achieving new conocimientos, or understandings” (p. 367). listening towards reflection and action are also fundamental to testimonio (espino, vega, rendón, ranero, & muñiz, 2012; reyes & rodríguez, 2012). reyes and rodriguez (2012) further suggest that an objective of testimonio is to flourish critical listening and reflection as a means towards liberation (p. 527). this particular positioning of the audience/listener/observer is what cruz (2012) identifies as an opportunity to “travel,” where the “listener or an audience member is given the opportunity to become complicit as an observer and as a witness…[w]ithin this methodology of travel, it is important to contextualize testimonio in a critical multiculturalism that is concerned with the praxis of antiracist and anti-oppressive pedagogies” (p. 462). thus, it is not enough to simply hear, but one must be willing to (at least philosophically and critically) re-make hegemonic notions that fostered the realities of these testimonios to begin with. negron-gonzalez (2009) reminds us that conceptualizing hegemony and a narrative of counter-hegemony, is a continual process of making and re-making sense—“that consciousness is also dynamic and ever-changing. one of the key ways that this tension is worked out is through the personal-political practice of testimonios” (negron-gonzalez, 2009, p. 32). perhaps a working-through is what is needed here today. i tell you this because my hope is that through our time together perhaps we can begin to foster what scholars (espino, vega, rendón, ranero, & muñiz, 2012) who utilize testimonio have called reflexión: reflexión entails an examination of the inner self and sharing that inner self with a trusted dialogue partner. through reflexión we move beyond self-reflection and selfinquiry toward a shared experience where our dialogue partners reflect our truths back to us as they share their own life journeys… reflexión helps us situate and explain how our lived experiences exist within a broader set of social and institutional structures. (p. 445) call to action association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 84 i cannot enact this literally, of course, as i cannot have an individual conversation with each of you in attendance here today. instead, i am interested in what might come from the sharing of two specific testimonios from olvia and axel, their actual names at their request. i will also share my general reactions and sense making in response to these testimonios. and then there were two recently i invited two wonderful and beautiful people, olvia and axel, to share their testimonios. olvia identifies as chicana and axel as latino. i asked them to share their experiences with education. i was intentionally vague about the definition of education as i am more and more interested in education that happens outside the walls of a classroom. what follows are excerpts of what they shared as well as thoughts i have about how we may be able to move towards productive pedagogies. olvia, 27 i met olvia years ago at the offices of the hispanic scholarship fund (hsf). i was a scholarship recipient and volunteer at hsf, and i quickly grew to like being around olvia. a self-described smartass, she freely speaks her mind and often has me rolling in laughter. olvia spoke about the guidance and messages she received about going to college: my high school counselor discouraged me from going to college, because she didn’t think that i would be able to go to college. so she was one of those. and if anything that motivated me more. i totally coped an attitude with her. i was like wow, because she had said, and i had told her, after i had gotten my acceptance letter to sf state i handed it to her and said, “oh look, you know i got in and i was able to complete the application process by myself.” and i was really proud to show her. and she said something like, “wow i didn’t think you were uhm, gonna get accepted.” and i was like typical smartass olvia, you know, in high school and i was like, “i can’t wait to tell my mom about your reaction.” she didn’t really say much after that. so that was the kind of guidance i got during high school, but luckily i had a very supportive mom, a very intuitive mom because she’s a teacher so she chandler association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 85 knew the ins and outs of the system. and she always told me don’t take any bullshit from your teachers. she was always there for me. she helped me a lot. she’s definitely my rock and she always encouraged me. i mean not going to college was never an option for me at home. she was a single mom and she went back to school as a single mom after she got divorced so she knows how hard it is. and she didn’t want me to go through that so she always encouraged me to go to college and follow through with everything i had to do at school. having that bit of background from my mom, being told to not take any bullshit from my teachers, or anything like that, you know that kind of, that was always in the back of my head when i was in school. so i know, i know it kind of, it was good in that situation, but it probably wasn’t that good, because i really didn’t take a lot of my teachers seriously, but i did well academically. for me, i think it was the lack of motivated teachers, not all of them were like that, but the majority of my teachers in my high school were not very professional and they were, they were…burnt out, i mean i have to say. they were just burned out. they were there because they had to be there. and i mean, it was, it was one of those things where, you know you just did your work to get your good grades or you didn’t and the teachers just really didn’t care. it’s kind of like it just…it was a poor high school, uhm…in san diego and the teachers really didn’t care. i had some teachers that were really engaging and did care, but the majority of them just didn’t—they were there but they weren’t present. you know what i mean? olvia embodies a can-do attitude that she attributes to her mother’s guidance and support. this attitude saved her from the clutches of an inept counselor and possibly others that might have derailed her high school and undergraduate education. she attended san francisco state university where she says she took advantage of every opportunity available. during our interview she described how she had recently been laid off from hsf due to downsizing and was currently temping and looking for work. she said she’d like to return to school to earn a teaching credential, but she is having a hard time justifying the cost of tuition. “the [local private] university was my top choice. i went to one of their open call to action association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 86 houses and everything, but…the cost is so high. i just can’t afford that tuition at all.” i ask olvia if she thinks that hard work and determination still pay off—if youth and young adults like her can still be all they can be, regardless of circumstance. “of course we can. i have to believe we can, i mean...if we work hard enough anything is possible.” her answer is strong and self-assured. the friend in me is with her: anything is possible. but the teacher in me, the teacher who happens to be a professor at this private university begins to think, “i will not have her in our class, in our department.” through no fault of her own, olvia is not able to pay the tuition for our program. she has done everything right and still become an example of what happens to good, hardworking people during a recession and on the path towards higher education. it is not her fault. but i begin to think about what we will miss out on in regards to the benefits of having students like her within our university. olvia will find a program and earn her credential—that is not the issue—i know enough about her to see that nothing will stand in her way. but i am selfish, and i think about what we are missing out on, by pricing-out students like her. are we then less successful in fulfilling the mission statement of our university and college? axel, 25 axel and i met through mutual friends. i was immediately struck by this beautiful and sweet young man. axel radiates love and positivity. axel believed in paying for school himself and was able to leave his hometown in arizona and attend school at a state university in northern california. he refused to take out loans for fear that he might default and ruin his credit. during his junior year he was no longer able to afford tuition, room and board and he decided to drop out. his parents drove from arizona to pick him up and they brought him home. if you were to tell me, or if i were to of thought back then when i was 18, going to school, high school—actually i was 17 i hadn’t turned 18 yet, i’d always get phone calls from recruiters and i was basically like, “fuck you guys. i’m never gonna go that route. i’m going to school, i’m going to college.” oh little did i know, i went to school, i went to college…life’s a bitch. it’s hard. and like five years later went into that recruiting office ready to do this. i never thought i would be where i’m at. uhm, my mom begged and pleaded with me to not join, chandler association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 87 don’t do it, don’t do it. what do you need, what do you want? like, i already made up my mind, i already…i’m gonna do it. the day before i signed my contract my mom sat me—she’s like, we’ll pay for your school. now, fast forward you know we struggled a lot, uhm…a lot, a lot growing up, financially, uhm. now it’s not…my parents aren’t very well off, they’re comfortable. they’re not rich by any means. i mean they still drive old cars and stuff but they live comfortably, uhm can travel and do what they want. so my mom sat me down—you can finish school, you can finish your degree, you just have to live at home and i was like, you know…i love my parents but i cannot live at home any longer than i already had. and part of it is not that i don’t want to live at home because i don’t want my parents to tell me what to do— it’s not that. it’s the fact that i’m the youngest child and i don’t want to be living at home. i’m like, you guys have done your job raising us, like you should enjoy each other. you know, like my mom and step-dad they should enjoy each other. they shouldn’t have to worry about this, you know, kid still trying to figure life out. i was like i already made up my mind and this is what i’m gonna do. i went in and signed my contract on the day of my birthday, my 23rd birthday. we all celebrated by going skydiving. i’m 25 now. but i feel old, especially in the military, because i came in, you know, roughly 5 years after most people join. they join right out of high school. so we’re in boot camp and i’m like holy cow these kids are so young. like, you don’t realize how young 18 looks until you’re in a room of 50 of them. you know that was the first time i failed at something. when i left school and dropped out, i felt like i let everyone down, i let myself down. and it took a long time to get over it. definitely being in the military helped me get over it. i feel like now i am happy because i am doing something positive. i’m having a direct impact on people. and now, everything i have gone through, everything that has gotten me to the point where i am today, has helped me be able to help someone else. now, i’m a corpsman [medic] in the navy and these marines depend on us…they trust us with their lives. call to action association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 88 axel said he succeeds and fails on his own terms, but he is also very aware of how money and resources make different choices easier for some other folks. he sees his current situation as empowering and beneficial, especially when seen in relation to the rapport that is generated between a marine and a corpsman. axel says, “you aren’t just given the nickname ‘doc’ outright. and marines don’t like us, they don’t like the navy, but when you stick with it and like you hear them say, ‘hey, here comes doc,’ you know you’re in and that’s it.” axel, like olvia, seems to embody a persistence and commitment that (although it may not fit a traditional, hegemonic idea of what educational success looks like) enables selfassuredness and the discovery of the benefits and accomplishments to one’s own circumstance. he does not feel sorry for himself and he most definitely is not asking for pity. instead, he sees how all that has transpired to get him to his current situation is actually a good thing. he takes care of injured soldiers in some of the most dangerous of situations, and he does so as an openly gay latino. i don’t think i have ever encountered a more resilient spirit than he. analysis and suggestions axel and olvia are not failures and they do not see themselves as failures. things may not have worked out as they had both planned, but they each view themselves as either doing something worthwhile or on the path towards realizing a better future for themselves. olvia’s testimonio depicts how although one might encounter a gatekeeper such as an academic counselor, one is not beholden to that person’s biased notions of ability or deficit. axel describes so beautifully how true fulfillment and empathy are able to flourish, even without a bachelor’s degree, as he helps marines recover and repair themselves after injury. these elements from both testimonios are in part what makes perseverance and resilience possible. the ability to bounce back ‘cause you’re made like that—the ability to authentically recover from difficulty and adversity in ways that enable future success is key to keeping one foot in front of the other. so how can we take this and place it within situations so that latin@ and chican@ students and other students of color can feel empowered to be all they can be? as teachers we hold the key. and i think we hold a phenomenal amount of power when it comes to helping students feel heard, valued, and respected. chandler association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 89 praxis, pedagogy and people-skills it is not an easy thing to be a teacher, no matter the grade level, even in lesser trying times. politics, policies, and people seem to increasingly adversely encroach upon and threaten any holistic approach to educating and education for reasons that we are not always meant to understand. sometimes educators aren’t listened to when it matters most. and even as many of us are asked to do exponentially more with significantly less, we do it. we show up. we do what we do not because it is easy but because it is fundamental, necessary work. being present and facilitating a classroom when all things are attempting to pull us apart is what makes the teacher necessary in a time of doubt, disagreement, and danger. violence, power, privilege, and access intersect with all things and suppressing dynamic conversations leaves us all in peril. the teacher is a facilitator, not a saint. moreover, i believe they are something better. teachers are wonderful, fallible, capable human beings and at their best they are weavers of critical thought, comprehension, and reasoned action. simply put, teachers help people to help themselves. moreover, “[t]o teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin” (hooks, 1994, p. 130). pineau (1998) beautifully depicts the classroom as “spatial and temporal sites where bodies rub up against one another literally and metaphorically. despite our best efforts to inhabit that space democratically, our bodies always, already, are molded by our different social and institutional status” (p. 131). the teacher as facilitator faces an immense task in working towards a holistic pedagogy, and our reach is never, always perfect. for those of us who “get it” and want to “get it,” we are reflexive to a fault as we strive towards equity within the classroom and beyond. these actions of making and re-making to teach away from marginalization, otherness, and towards inclusion is “[t]eaching as a performative act” (hooks, 1994, p. 11). it is the material manifestation of thought and communication in realness and reality. imagine then what is possible when we teach towards the agency of our students of color. imagine what we could achieve. yes, sometimes “teaching is seen as a duller, less valuable aspect of the academic profession. this perspective on teaching is a common one. yet it must be challenged if we are to meet the needs of our students, if we call to action association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 90 are to restore to education and the classroom the excitement about ideas and the will to learn” (hooks, 1994, p. 12). the question now becomes, what do we do? testimonio as pedagogy means that the act of listening to and witnessing one’s narrative and testimony can lead to new understandings (bernal et al., 2012) and that also requires a doing on your part. and i offer you a challenge. many times as young scholars and teachers interested in equity and social justice we might get tired of just sitting and talking. i myself have fallen victim to this misplaced emotion. calafell (2013) encourages that for scholars of color, simply being and existing within the walls of academia is intellectual activism and presence in itself. if we then absorb the testimonios that were shared today, in this academic space, what then is possible if we allow ourselves to think differently about how we view these particular groups of students? i am not letting you off the hook by simply encouraging you to ponder. no, instead, i am arguing that any informed and reasoned action or micro-praxis that we make today must first come from beginning to understand the particular realities and existences that have brought the olvias and axels into fruition. for if they are already whole and not broken, and if they are already amazing and wonderful while they are simultaneously discovering what the world has to offer them, then how can we as teachers navigate through our critical consciousness so that we see our time with students of color, no matter how brief, as pivotal in adding to their repertoire of critical thought, agency, and humanity. what can we do to help shine and not hinder their light? let me be clear with you. there are systems of hegemony and supremacy that have and will continue to make difficult, painful, and unrealistic the path towards education for our students of color. it may seem odd for me to tell you this. the system is broken in many ways, but all is not lost. even amid color-blind racist policies and campus climate surveys that “prove” all is fine, there is a wealth of tools at our disposal as teachers within higher education. and i believe with every fiber of my being that we here today can make a difference with our own communicative actions. the nopal metaphor as i have been speaking with you today i have talked about students of color and specifically latin@/chican@ students, sometimes interchangeably. i want to focus in on our chandler association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 91 latin@/chican@ students not only because i used to be one, a student that is, but i recently had the privilege and honor of working with a few colleagues on just this one thing. sometimes the problems of this world are too big to handle, so at times it is best to begin by sitting down to work on one thing and that is what we did. we set out to create a method of approach that teachers could use in helping latin@/chican@ students conceptualize their agency and their success, without these things being tied to someone else’s definition or notion of who they are or what they could be. we generated what we call the “nopal metaphor.” the nopal metaphor (figure 1) is a symbol and visual representation of the intrinsic wealth within our latin@ and chican@ students. it is also a tool for better understanding the situated complexities within their educational experience, from a standpoint of assets and not deficits. it is made up of six tenets that in sum speak to how latin@ and chican@ youth and students can resist, persist, persevere, and remain resilient while on their educational path, no matter where the education takes place. lastly, the nopal metaphor is a concept that allows teachers and students to begin to conceptualize that which is already intrinsic to every single child. tenets and structure of the nopal metaphor 1. the nopal as representative of connection—that by virtue of its architecture and shape, the nopal is constructed with multiple connections, interconnections, and overlays. so, too, are the realities and identities of latin@/chican@ youth as they simultaneously navigate issues of race, place, ethnicity, citizenship, gender-sex figure 1. the nopal metaphor. image by ricardo sandoval call to action association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 92 identity, sexuality, socio-economic class, ability, and with differing degrees of power, privilege, and access. in this way there is a privileging and understanding of the critical intersectionality of identities that exist individually, socially, and institutionally. 2. the nopal as (re)generative—the nopal itself can be moved, split in two, or can donate a part of itself and that piece will be able to take root and flourish even in the harshest of conditions. this does not mean that systems, policies and practices that seek to separate and displace our youth are acceptable, but this tenet addresses how our youth need not be broken to the point of obliteration or beyond repair. especially salient when looking at issues of nationality, citizenship, and the fracturing of families due to undocumented immigration, and although a fractured family is not ideal in the least, it is still a family and there is always the potential for nurturing and growth, even in the harshest of conditions. 3. the nopal as self-protective—picos and spines work to keep away major predators and harm, but nothing that grows in this world is ever completely safe. instead, we can teach our young to enact brave spaces—situations and realities where one looks for support, affinity, and guidance among self-identified networks that teach and enact practices of critical self-care. again, this does not imply that pain from inequity or bias be accepted, not at all. instead we encourage latin@/chican@ youth (and adults) to seek out and nurture collaborations that grow strength and resilience in numbers. 4. the nopal as resilient—it may lay dormant, but it is never dead. often times the nopal must conserve energy and resources when the environment has turned hostile. but with time, added water and room to grow the entirety of the plant itself will not only return to its previous size, but it can continue to grow and prosper. not all environments are conducive to the growth and holistic nurturing of our latin@/chican@ students, as many of them have already experienced. but this does not negate their ability to adapt and thrive even in small and meaningful ways. a hostile environment does not define who they are and who they can choose to be. 5. the nopal as fundamentally and intrinsically unique—fundamental to its structure and growth is the reality that there will never be another one like it. and with time, the great uniqueness of the nopal is evident as it grows, completely and fundamentally chandler association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 93 unique, like a giant fingerprint. enabling our youth to see themselves as beautifully unique, especially within our collaborative and collectivistic cultures means that their variance can be seen as positive and not a threat. whoever they choose to be and whatever their results, no one else could ever replace who they are and what they bring into this world. in essence, they are magical and quite real. 6. the nopal as the bearer fruit—the nopal is meant to flower and fruit, a celebration of what it takes to exist and thrive in this world. no fruit and no flower is ever exactly the same. latin@/chican@ students can begin to determine what success looks like and feels like for themselves. it is not about preconceived notions of perfection and success, instead, they are able to see themselves and their movements through this world as part of a path towards and through education (inside the classroom and out) as successful accomplishments in a world than can be of their own making. they can blossom and thrive and this should/will run in direct counter to dominant hegemonic discourses. your call to action as educators you must teach, speak, listen, interact, console, encourage, push, and facilitate in line with what this metaphor dictates in regards to the potentiality of every latin@/chican@ student. i am asking you to see your praxis, pedagogy, and people-skills used consistently in ways that do not diminish the light within each of these students. i used to believe this kind of work was impossible, but it is not. let me explain. what i am asking of you today, my fellow educators interested in critical, anti-oppressive pedagogy—especially and specifically at a time when bad things continue to happen on our campuses, between students, staff, faculty, deans, and presidents—is to begin to see that every movement you make in this world is an opportunity to constitute a living example of your moral politics (hooks, 1998) as you treat and teach others in-line with that which is socially just and severely interested in diminishing inequity. these micro-movements and small actions that i term micro-practices are valuable, because as teachers we do not always know how long we have our latin@/chican@ students—not all of them. simply put: some stay and remain while others dissipate, disappear, or vanish. some never even make it to our office or classroom. and some interact with us in moments that are as fleeting as hummingbirds. we call to action association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 94 may literally be too busy to notice or too concerned with the myriad tensions and needs in front of us—this is only normal. yet, we can still provide latin@ and chican@ students and other students of color with moments (great and small) where an educator speaks to the very essence of their humanity and makes them believe it. that is what you can do. and that is what you can commit to doing after our time here together. axel and olvia’s testimonios are testament to how once students leave our halls, they are out in the world whether we consciously remember it or not. we owe it to our students and to one another to use our everyday interactions as fodder for authentic, humanistic, and altruistic communicative practices so that every student, and especially our students of color, moves through this world feeling validated, encouraged, respected, and heard. it is true. the world does not always make sense. and bad things do indeed happen. but all is not lost, ever. you can use your voice, your presence, to speak towards someone’s humanity. i leave you with that gift and with that challenge. chandler association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 95 references bernal, d. b., burciaga, r., & carmona, j. f. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363372. bulwa, d. (2013, november 25). sjsu president on black student: ‘i failed him’. the san francisco chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/sjsu-president-on-blackstudent-i-failed-him-5011303.php calafell, b. (2013, september 13). intellectual activism and presence. [web log comment]. retrieved from http://academicz.blogspot.com/ cruz, c. (2012). marking curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460-471. espino, m. m., vega, i. i., rendón, l. i., ranero, j. j., & muñiz, m. m. (2012). the process of reflexíon in bridging testimonios across lived experience. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 444-459. hooks, b. (1994). teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. new york, ny: routledge. kearny, l. (2013, november 26). san jose state president says he ‘failed’ black student in hate crimes case. huffington post college. retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/san-jose-state-president-hatecrime_n_4341335.html lessing, d. (2008). the golden notebook. new york, ny: harper. murphy, k. (2013, november 26). san jose state study: black students described campus racism years before hate-crime case. the san jose mercury news. retrieved from http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_24608996/san-jose-state-study-blackstudents-described-campus# negron-gonzalez, g. (2009). hegemony, ideology & oppositional consciousness: undocumented youth and the personal-political struggle for educational justice. uc berkeley: institute for the study of social change. retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6z83w4t7 pineau, e. l. (1998). performance studies across the curriculum: problems, possibilities and projections. in s. j. dailey (ed.), the future of performance studies: visions and revisions (pp. 128-135). annandale, va: national communication association. reyes, k. b., & rodríguez, j.e.c. (2012). testimonio: origins, terms, and resources. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 525-538. http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_24608996/san-jose-state-study-black-students-described-campus http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_24608996/san-jose-state-study-black-students-described-campus amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 featured articles somos iguales…pero no tanto: examining the experience of belonging among undocumented immigrant latina/o students jesús rodríguez california state university, long beach abstract using data collected from a larger ethnographic study that explored the educational experiences of three generational cohorts of undocumented immigrant latino students in a public secondary school setting, this study provides undocumented students’ perspective on barriers (perceived or real) to feeling or not feeling like a member of the school community. qualitative interviews with twelve undocumented immigrant latina/o students identifi ed discriminatory factors that contributed to students’ beliefs about their undocumented status among documented latina/o peers. findings indicate that feelings of belonging within-group variation (1.25, 1.5. and 1.75) of undocumented latina/o students were challenged when issues of language, age of migration and the dominant american narrative projected by their latina/o documented peers placed undocumented students’ outside of the shared cultural group and society. introduction immigration has always played a signifi cant role in the development of america’s narrative on social and economic expansion. while economic reasons remain a signifi cant reason for unauthorized migration, the desire for family unifi cation has led to an increase in the number of women and children making the dangerous journey across the border (biococchi, 2009). once across the border, the process of creating a new designation of space that seeks to recreate their lost world begins (ainslie, 1998). those children and youth entering into the united states as undocumented minors fi nd themselves in a legal tight spot with limited educational opportunities and privileges. many of these same children will grow up in the only country they will ever know and become a generation of youth that will face unique social, political, and legal complications that will place them as “hostages in the immigration crisis” (lopez, 2005, p. 1373). age of migration and generational cohorts the relation of age of immigration and length of residence in the united states has varying effects on identity, mental health, and behavioral outcomes for latina/o youth (alegría, scribney, woo, torres, & guarnaccia, 2007). according to alegría et al. (2007), those “immigrating at an early age may have greater integration into u.s. culture and potentially weaker identifi cation with latino cultural values” because of larger societal forces (p. 3). their socialization process into u.s. culture is far easier than those immigrating at a later age. despite differences in age of migration and adaptive outcomes, undocumented children and youth confront unique challenges in navigating the legal and educational contradictions which may place them at greater risk for social, academic, and mental health problems. the term 1.5 generation is part of a much larger classifi cation of immigrants who arrive as children and youth. it is the most commonly used term given by scholars who distinguish sub-generational cohorts within that group of undocumented children and youth. these classifi cations or distinct groups are based largely on their age at the time of migration formally 4 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 designating members of any ethnic group whose age of migration to the united states ranges from 6 to 12 years of age (gonzales, 2007; rumbaut, 2004; rumbaut & ima, 1988). accordingly, differences in cultural adaptation require a more refi ned designation of those immigrants that came earlier than age 6 and those that came after age 12. use of the terms 1.75 generational cohort and the 1.25 generational cohort helps explain differences in sub-groups of immigrants who migrated as children or youth. table 1 summarizes rumbaut’s (2004) adaptive outcomes for each cohort based on age of migration. table 1. generational cohort, age of migration, and adaptive outcomes generational cohort age of migration adaptive outcomes 1.75 0-5 years arrive in early childhood; experience is closer to that of u.s.-born second generation; are pre-school children with almost no memory of their birth country; were too young to attend school to learn to read or write in the parental language; and are almost entirely socialized here. 1.5 6-12 years arrive in middle childhood; are pre-adolescent, primary school age children who have learned to read and write in the parental language; and whose education is largely completed in the united states. 1.25 13-17 years arrive in their adolescent years; arrive with or without their families of origin; attend secondary schools after arrival; or enter the workforce directly after arriving; and are much closer to the fi rst generation of immigrant adults in terms of developmental life stages. 5 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 students’ sense of belonging: factors that motivate educational aspirations the concepts of belonging and school membership comprise a body of literature that addresses the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported in the school social environment (goodenow & grady, 1993; perry, 1999). a number of studies highlight the problems resulting from adolescents not feeling like they are a part of their school (battistich & hom, 1997; deci, vallerand, pelletier, & ryan, 1991; finn, 1989; gibson, gandara, & koyama, 2004b). if the need to belong is not satisfi ed, the predicted outcomes include diminished motivation, poor performance, impaired development, alienation, and feelings of disconnectedness (osterman, 2000). the construct of belonging is defi ned by osterman (2000) as “‘relatedness,’ ‘support,’ ‘acceptance,’ ‘membership,’ or ‘sense of community’” (p. 326). studies have found a correlation between the role of peers in schooling and the academic performance and aspirations among u.s.-born and immigrant high school aged youth (gándara, o’hara, & gutierrez, 2004; gibson, bejinez, hidalgo, & rolon, 2004; gibson, gándara, & koyama, 2004b; raley, 2004; stanton-salazar, 2004), especially of mexican descent (gibson et al., 2004). for the latina/o student, a network of social support/ peer infl uence (relations) may serve as critical components in their educational aspirations, academic/ social success, school performance, and overall achievement. social-capital or peer social capital “connects the student to peers and peer networks that provide resources and other non-tangible forms of support such as pro-academic norms and identities to the latino student” (gibson et al., 2004, p. 130). such capital can lead the student to the knowledge and resources needed to “decode the system” and “participate in power” (delpit, 1995; stanton-salazar, 1997). as a result, peer experiences and social networks can provide avariety of experiences (positive or negative). these experiences are converted into “capital” when they serve to promote academic or post academic success. those students who lack the peer social capital necessary to decode an institution’s system will fall further behind. latina/o students, like other ethnic groups, tend to select their peers from within, resulting in a lack of contact with peers from other ethnic groups (gándara & contreras, 2009; gibson et al., 2004). the result of such socialization is limited contact with those who may be more socially advantaged. these students who aspire to high achievement are, at times, accused by their lower-performing peers (in this case the same ethnic group) of “acting white” or like a “schoolboy” (gándara & contreras, 2009). a pervasive perception among ethnic-minority adolescents equates school with assimilation into the dominant culture along with a rejection of their own language and culture (gándara, o’hara, & gutiérrez, 2004). the result is low achievement because the thought of assimilation (or any form of engagement with the dominant culture) is met with resistance. while latina/o students may report an overall sense of belonging in school, gibson et al. (2004) found that these same students are “highly uncomfortable in those school settings and situations that bring them into direct contact with peers who they feel neither accept nor respect them” (p. 130). this peer social capital from non-latino peers may serve as a support system that guides, informs, and even models aspects of schooling absent from their own environments. “academic segregation,” on the other hand, is capable of preventing such relations from evolving (gándara, 1995). for minority youth, the experience of school membership or bonds with peers and staff serve as the pre-condition to accessing these and other school resources. latina/o critical theory as a guiding framework a latina/o critical theory framework was used to guide the study. more specifi cally, key fundamental themes of the theory were used to conceptualize and operationalize the study. the fi rst theme guiding this study is that while race may be critical or even central, it is not experienced in isolation nor is it suffi cient as an explanatory factor. an interjection of information provides the critical race theorist with a perspective to examine the interplay between power and authority within minority movements and communities (montoya, 1994). 6 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 this study examines within-group differences among documented and undocumented latina/o students. a second guiding theme is to challenge traditional claims of the educational system: meritocracy, equal opportunity, color-blindness, and objectivity (austin, 2000; montoya, 1994; solorzano & delgado bernal, 2001). as a result, this study draws on the lived experiences of students using story-telling (“cuentos”) or consejos” (wisdom sayings) as a means of reconciling the culture of home with the dominant american culture. a third theme, drawing on the lived experiences of group members, addresses the need for a centrality of experiential knowledge using stories as a powerful way to name a type of discrimination. overview of sample and procedures data analyzed come from a larger ethnographic study that explored the educational experiences of three generational cohorts of undocumented immigrant latina/o students in a public secondary school setting by addressing the following questions: 1. what are the educational, social, and emotional experiences of the undocumented immigrant latino student in a high school setting? 2. what are students’ beliefs about their undocumented status in school? 3. what do undocumented students perceive as barriers to their schooling experience? in this paper, i use interview data from the larger study to focus on the identifi cation of discriminatory factors that contributed to students’ beliefs about their undocumented status and any barriers (perceived or real) to students’ sense of school belonging. although plyler (1982) held that undocumented children are entitled to a free and public education, there are unique challenges to selecting students that belong to a clandestine population. as an insider with a shared language and culture, researcher trust was established with several organizations committed to issues that affect the immigrant latina/o community in order to solicit possible leads and resources to assist with the study. eventually, a lead to the head counselor in a public high school in los angeles emerged. under the guidance of the researcher, the head counselor, alone, became responsible for identifying participants that fulfi lled the sample characteristic assigned by the researcher. participants were selected from leonardo gutierrez high school (pseudonym) in los angeles, california. purposeful sampling was used because the individuals who fi t the study’s criteria were capable of forming an understanding of the research problem by virtue of the shared experience of being undocumented and latino (creswell, 2007). because of the sensitivity in working with this student group, the head counselor was required by the university’s internal review board to complete its online education module on the protection of human subjects as a means to ensure confi dentiality. the study was designed to contain a sample of six males and six females (two from each category below) so that there might be a balanced variation of gender, age of migration, and college-ready status. 1. undocumented student less than twelve years in u.s./non-college ready 2. undocumented student less than twelve years in u.s./college ready 3. undocumented student more than twelve years in u.s./non-college ready 4. undocumented student more than twelve years in u.s./college ready information on the student was not accurate or fully revealed until the interviews began, which provided for an unbalanced sample (table 2). the 12year boundary ensured that at least some of the students would fall under one of the three cohorts. 7 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 table 2. participant characteristics (n = 12) participant name gender/age age of college ready migration/cohort status juana f/17 10/1.5 college ready guillermo m/18 8/1.5 college ready aj m/18 6/1.5 college ready daisy f/17 12/1.5 college ready fv m/18 12/1.5 non-college ready carolina f/17 16/1.25 non-college ready carla f/18 13/1.25 non-college ready jessica f/18 14/1.25 non-college ready erica f/17 14/1.25 college ready alicia f/18 15/1.25 college ready carlos f/17 3/1.75 college ready james f/17 9 months/1.75 college ready college ready and non-college ready status the characteristics that determined college-ready status or non-college ready status was determined by a 3.0 grade point average, which determines college eligibility, based on the statewide general a-g course requirement and any advanced placement courses. those classifi ed as non-college ready had a grade point average below a 3.0, had not completed or were not near completing the a-g requirements, and / or had not fulfi lled the ab-540 requirements of having attended a california high school for three or more years. the status of “college-ready / non-college ready” as a criterion for participant selection is a limitation because the terms were used to designate only those students who met the graduation criteria for eligible entry into the california state university (csu) or the university of california (uc) system even though statewide requirements vary for entry into california’s community colleges and some private colleges and universities. in addition to the criteria described above, all participants were: 1. undocumented; 2. latina/o from mexico or central america because these groups account for roughly 80 percent of the u.s. undocumented population (passel, 2005); and 3. students in their third or fourth year of public high school education because it is here that, for many, the issue of legal status is confronted as they begin the process of applying for college or work. only those students that the counselor knew were comfortable discussing their legal status openly were selected. his knowledge of such students came from his contact with these students and information provided to him by other counselors on his staff. as head counselor, he had the authority to access their academic progress and overall achievement patterns prior to compiling a pool of potential participants. to protect the identity of the participants, several steps were taken to ensure confi dentiality. 8 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 interviews all student interviews were conducted by the researcher in the head counselor’s offi ce, which provided a safe, non-threatening environment. interviews were conducted in spanish if requested by the student. the interviews were audio-recorded and lasted approximately 40-60 minutes, with handwritten notes taken during the interview and used to supplement any discrepancies or clarifi cations in the audio. data analysis the interviews were transcribed verbatim by a paid transcription service and two graduate assistants. each interview was verifi ed by the researcher. using latina/o critical theory as a lens, signifi cant statements emerged which formed the themes from which exemplars were used to support and illustrate the fi ndings and interpretations of each section. from these categories, four key themes emerged to communicate the fi ndings with the participants’ quotes from the transcriptions to, in their own words, support the fi ndings. results the four themes addressed in the larger ethnographic study were: 1) the experiences of displacement, rejection and care for the family; 2) an undocumented immigrant youth subculture; 3) feelings of belonging in the educational setting; and 4) a conceptual model of a shared immigrant narrative. this paper addresses part of the larger narrative on the educational experiences of undocumented immigrant latina/o students in a public secondary school setting. undocumented youth in this study were faced with negotiating how and where they fi t in within their own ethnic group. how he or she integrated into the school community was complicated by a set of factors that challenged their place in the educational and social setting. the central fi ndings addressed in this paper that emerge as sub-sections to the theme of feelings of belonging in the educational setting include language as a form of discriminatory treatment and the concept of somos iguales (we are all the same). language as a form of discriminatory treatment according to valenzuela (1999), “immigrants experience more overt discrimination; including at the hands of many insensitive mexican american youth—than any other group” (p.24). while it may be important to create a community where students are free to be “themselves and where their mexican identity is valued and supported” (gibson et al., 2004, p. 140), some participants in the study, especially the recent immigrants, could not understand why someone from their own ethnic group would tease them about where they came from and how they spoke. such feelings of marginalization were heightened when issues related to language were involved. siento que ellos cuando lo miran latino como que empiezan a decir cosas de nosotros. siento que empiezan a decir cosas de mí porque soy latina o piensan. no sé… porque a veces estoy escuchando música en español y como que se quedan viendo a uno como, “¿quien es esa que está escuchando m ú s i c a ? ” sí me siento a veces como que diferente mas ahorita como cambiamos las clases (carla, 1.25 / non-college ready). (i feel that when they see one as latino, they begin to say things about us. i feel that they are saying things about me because i am latina or they think so. i don’t know…because sometimes i listen to music in spanish and it’s like they are watching me thinking, “what is she listening to?” i feel different especially now that we switched classes [semester changes].) like other 1.25ers and some 1.5ers, language (not speaking english well or at all) served as a trigger to initiate being treated differently. this form of discrimination (linguicism) formed the basis for making some members of the 1.5 cohort and all members of the 1.25 cohort feel separated from their latina/o peers. 9 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 fv defi ned this sort of discriminatory treatment as a form of racism. when asked if the racism came from individuals who were not from mexico or from others who were also latino, fv replied: el “racismo” viene de los dos. yo pienso que hay aquí personas que llegaron de méxico y llegaron chicos y han crecido aquí y ya porque tú llegas de méxico más grande y ellos ya hablan el idioma, yo pienso que quieren hacer diferencias entre él y tú. cuando un idioma o algún color de piel no hace la diferencia en una persona (fv, 1.25 / non-college ready). (the racism comes from both. i believe there are people here who arrived from mexico as small children and grew up here and now just because you come from mexico older and they already spoke the language [english], i think they want to show the differences between them and us when a language or skin color makes no difference in the person.) aj and fv remained closest with those whose age of migration was similar to their own. speaking spanish openly made them and others in the same generational cohort a target for teasing. carolina, a 1.25 member, jokingly commented that although she felt very comfortable speaking spanish on campus with her girlfriends, she admitted to feeling embarrassed when her group of friends became too loud and when even her own friends (some of whom were born here) had trouble following even carolina’s spanish. porque cuando voy con una bola [de amigas] y vamos hablando español, digo, “esos paisas que no saben inglés.” yo pienso que así piensan. yo por eso no hablo tan recio (carolina, 1.25 / non-college ready). (when i go with a group (of friends) and we’re speaking spanish, i say to myself, “they’re probably thinking, ‘those paisas that do not know how to speak english.’” at least that is what i think they are thinking. that is why i do not speak (spanish) so loudly.) for fv and carolina, language appeared as a key indicator of discriminatory treatment between those latinas/ os born in the united states and members of the 1.25 and 1.5 generational cohorts even though differences in achievement between them and their 1.25 and 1.5 peers were not striking. the only differences, according to the head counselor, were where each student fell in completing the statewide a-g requirements for uc/csu transfer. framing the achievement patterns for the latino student within a larger historical and social context (burdens of poverty, economic exploitation, segregation, and discrimination) is one way to understand the disproportionate pattern of educational achievement and attainment among latino youth. these larger issues not only affect the latina/o student outside of the school setting, but they are likely to have a signifi cant impact on their experiences in school. the school setting as más igual (“more equal”) gándara and contreras (2009) describe the educational setting as the “fi rst response system for any kind of social, medical, or psychological problem or disability” and the one most lacking in resources (p. 86). observational data gathered from the campus visits offered a glimpse into the students’ world and its surrounding communities. participants felt safe in the school despite a history of violence in the surrounding neighborhoods. the climate of the campus, a large multi-story complex with bungalows on the periphery of the grounds, was a hive of controlled energy. the hallways were wide and clean with culturally relevant student artwork displayed on both sides of the hallway walls. the principal and other adult supervisors/teachers were regularly observed engaging the students in conversations. several teachers wore t-shirts with the phrase: “cahssee: si puedes” (cahssee: yes you can). it was an encouraging (and constant) reminder that every student could pass the california high school senior exit exam creating for a culture of “high expectations” among the teachers. carolina expressed feelings of comfort while in school—a sentiment shared by all participants. according to the head counselor, the school served as “a safe-haven for these kids” (personal communication, february 10 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 2010). when participants were asked if they believed they had access to all the resources possible to succeed in their education, they all believed they had. for carolina, the campus was the one place where the school was more equal than other settings despite having experienced some negative feelings towards her treatment. la escuela es como más igual. es más igual para todos. pero a veces como afuera, creo que no como no tengo papeles. agarro mi lonche gratis, me prestan libros, voy aquí a la enfermería. todo lo tengo. puedo ir al gym que está aquí. todo. (carolina, 1.25 / non-college ready). (the school is more equal. it’s equal for everyone, but at times, like outside, i think it is not the same for everyone because i do not have papers. i get my lunch free, they let me borrow books, i can go to the infi rmary (clinic) that is available on campus. i can also go to the gym here. i have everything here.) according to carolina, she had access to the same resources others had regardless of status. an essential sameness prevailed and was a dominant theme for the 1.25 members. for the 1.25 members, life on the campus was igual (the same) because of access to resources, pero no tanto (but not that much) because of treatment by members of their own ethnic group, language, and the full rights and privileges afforded only to documented students (e.g. fi nancial aid, job permits, and possible internships). students like carolina and jessica (1.25 generation) appropriated a discourse on equality constructing the space of the school as a “microcosm of the nation” or at least an idealized nation (levinson, douglas, & holland ,1996). in his study of a secondary school in mexico, levinson et al. (1996) established that class and ethnic differences within school were often ignored or downplayed while the educational differences beyond the school became more salient (p. 212). he found that a “discourse of essential sameness (“todos somos iguales,” “we are all equal”) was used to distinguish the schooled from the unschooled. carolina and jessica believed that access to the same resources for the same students created a sense of equality among the school community. yet, they also believed that this same equality should be extended to every person beyond the school, making a subtle case for access to higher education, jobs, and possible citizenship. conclusions issues of language, age of migration, and its intersection with citizen latina/o english speakers served to identify discriminatory treatment experienced among members of the 1.25 and 1.5 generational cohorts and their documented latina/o peers. language, however, remained the form of “linguistically related racism” for undocumented youth in both the 1.25 and 1.5 generations of this study (phillipson & skutnabb-kangas, 1992). linguicism is “prejudice multiplied by power used by members of dominant language groups against nondominant language groups” (chen-hayes, chen, & athar, 1999, p. 20). for the 1.25ers and 1.5ers, language was the only difference separating them from their documented peers. because of their age of migration, 1.25ers remained especially vulnerable to this discriminatory practice. as one indicator of discrimination, the emotional and social experiences of undocumented latino youth posed the question of how subtractive schooling (valenzuela, 1999) was taking place not at the institutional level, but at the hands of other latina/o youth as 1.25 and 1.5 members begin the integration process into the dominant culture. the method of the framework shifted from a critical perspective of the latina/o looking outside of his or her ethnic group as a means to pull back the layers of oppression and racist attitudes to the latina/o looking inward at his or her own ethnic group as participants in the dominant narrative. yet, the latina/o students remained bound by a common culture, language and story. they maintained a strong cultural identity even when faced by the dominant american narrative projected by their latina/o documented peers. challenging the dominant ideology was carolina’s statement: todos 11 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 somos iguales pero no tanto (we are all the same, but not that much). while the school provided the necessary means to succeed academically, the real life resources (affordable access to higher education, jobs, a feeling of safety and security because of undocumented status) were not provided no matter how hard they worked. her storytelling, like that of the others, opened a door into an ignored or alternative reality by providing a snapshot of the recovered memory and story of the undocumented experience. references ainslie, r. (1998). cultural mourning, immigration and engagement: vignettes from the mexican experience. in m. suárez-orozco (ed.), crossings: mexican immigration in interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 285-300). cambridge: harvard university press. alegría, m., scribney, w., woo, m., torres, m., & guarnaccia, p. (2007). looking beyond nativity: the relation of age of immigration, length of residence, and birth cohorts to the risk of onset psychiatric disorders for latinos. journal of research on human development, 4(1), 19-47. austin, r. (2000). the black community, its lawbreakers, and a politics of identifi cation. in r. delgado & j. stefancic (eds.), (2000). critical race theory: the cutting edge (2nd ed., pp. 290-301). philadelphia, pa: temple university press. battistich, v., & hom, a. (1997). the relationship between students’ sense of their school as a community and their involvement in problem behaviors. american journal of public health, 87(12), 1997-2001. bicocchi, l. (2009). undocumented children: invisible victims of immigration control. report delivered to the platform for international cooperation on undocumented \ migrants, eu. chen-hayes, s., chen, m., & athar, n. (1999). challenging linguicism: action strategies for counselors and client-colleagues. in advocacy in counseling: counselors, clients, and community (pp. 21-31). eric counseling and student services clearinghouse, north carolina: university of north carolina. creswell, j. w. (2007). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among fi ve approaches (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. delpi, l. (1995). other people’s children: cultural confl ict in the classroom.new york: the new press deci, e.l., vallerand, r.j., pelletier, l.g., & ryan, r.m. (1991). motivation and education: the self-determination perspective. educational psychologist, 26(3/ 4), 325-346. finn, j. (1989). withdrawing from school. review of educational research, 59,117-142. gándara, p. (1995). over the ivy walls: the educational mobility of low income chicanos. new york: state university of new york press. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge: harvard university press. gándara, p., o’hara, s., & gutierrez, d. (2004). the changing shape of aspirations: peer infl uence on achievement behavior. in m. gibson, p. gándara, j. koyama (eds.), school connections: us mexican youth, peers, and school achievement (pp. 39-62). new york: teachers college press. gibson, m., bejínez, l., hidalgo, n., & rolon, c. (2004). belonging and school participation: lessons from a migrant student club. in m. gibson, p. gándara, j. koyama (eds.), school connections: us mexican youth, peers, and school achievement (pp.129 149). new york: teachers college press. gibson, m., gándara, p, & koyama, j. (2004a). the role of peers in the schooling of us mexican youth. in m. gibson, p. gándara, & j. koyama (eds.), school connections: us mexican youth, peers, and school achievement (pp.1-17). new york: teachers college press. gibson, m., gándara, p, & koyama, j. (2004b). school connections: us mexican youth, peers, and school achievement. new york: teachers college press. 12 somos iguales...pero no tanto association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 goodenow, c., & grady, k.e. (1993). the relationship of school belonging and friends’ values to academic motivation among urban adolescent students. journal of experimental education, 62(1), 60-71. gonzales, r. (2007). wasted talent and broken dreams: the lost potential of undocumented students. immigration policy in focus, 5(13), 1-11. levinson, b.a., douglas, e.f., & holland, d.c. (1996). the cultural production of the educated person: critical ethnographies of school and local practice. new york: state university of new york press. lópez, m.p. (2005). refl ections on educating latino and latina undocumented children: beyond plyler v.doe. seton hall review, vol. 35:1373, 1374-1406. montoya, m. (1994). máscaras, trenzas, y greñas: un/masking the self while un/braiding latina stories and legal discourse. chicano-latino law review, 15, 1-37. osterman, k.f. (2000). students’ need for belonging in the school community. review of educational research, 70(3), 323-367. perry, c. (1999). proactive thoughts on creating safe schools. the school community journal, 9(1), 9-16. phillipson, r., & skutnabb-kangas, t. (1992). linguizismus: kontrolle durch sprache. in rassismus und migration in europa, ed. a. kalpaka & n.rathzel, das argument – sonderband as 201, 204-215. plyler v. doe. 457 u.s., 202 (1982). rumbaut, r.g., & ima, k. (1988). the adaptation of southeast asian refugee youth: a comparative study. washington, d.c.: u.s. offi ce of refugee resettlement. rumbaut, r. g. (2004). ages, life stages, and generational cohorts: decomposing the immigrant and second generations in the united states. international migration review, 38(3), 1160-1205. skutnabb-kangas, t. (2002). marvelous human rights rhetoric and grim realities: language rights in education. journal of language, identity, and education, 1(3), 179-205. solórzano, d.g. & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. stanton-salazar, r.d. (1997). a social capital framework for understanding socialization of racial minority children and youth. harvard educational review, 67(1), 1-40. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2004). social capital among working-class minority students. in m. a. gibson, p. gándara, & j. p. koyama (eds.), school connections: u.s. mexican youth, peers, and school achievement. new york: teachers college press, columbia university, 18-38. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: us-mexican youth and the politics of caring. suny press, albany. 13 somos iguales...pero no tanto amea_2011 6 amea_2011 7 amea_2011 8 amea_2011 9 amea_2011 10 amea_2011 11 amea_2011 12 amea_2011 13 amea_2011 14 amea_2011 15 association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 73 the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies (2010). cambridge, massachusetts: harvard university press. by patricia gándara and frances contreras eden cortez university of utah in the latino education crisis by gándara and contreras (2010), the authors offer an in-depth analysis of the american public school system that has historically failed to provide adequate and equitable education opportunities for the latino population in the u.s. in their book, they argue that the inadequate education of latinos creates a barrier for social and economic mobility and if we fail to address the “low education achievement of latino youth... we will have created a permanent underclass without hope of integrating into the mainstream or realizing their potential to contribute to american society” (p. 13-14). gándara and contreras utilize national data on k-12 latino education achievements, longitudinal studies, and students’ narratives to demonstrate the severity of having an undereducated emerging minority. they address the education crisis by focusing on educational, socioeconomic, political, and immigration policies. this book provides ample information on the current state of latinos in every sector of the education system as well as utilizes the students’ narrative to demonstrate the type of living conditions that can promote or hinder education achievement. gándara and contreras begin with an introduction chapter that provides their readers with background information on the current state of latinos, especially “individuals of mexican origin” (p. 7) or descent, in the u.s. this chapter allows readers to understand the complex education crisis that mexican decent youth have and continue to endure in their educational trajectory. immigration is a central topic in this chapter and gándara and contreras explain the relationship of immigration and education achievement by sharing studies that contradict the relation of low education achievement to immigration background. they conclude that immigrant students outperform their latino native-born peers in the subject of english. therefore, immigration cannot be the sole contributor of the low education achievement of latino students. gándara and contreras explain that it is the current living conditions of latinos in this society that impacts their education attainment. in chapters one and two, gándara and contreras place into context the achievement gaps of latinos students from kindergarten through high school by using multiple assessment data that constantly place latinos at the low performing end. they also provide an in-depth discussion on educational landmark cases (plyer v. doe and lau v. nichols), affirmative action, standardize testing policies, and social conditions that contribute to the marginalization of latinos in education and society. further, the story of carlos and andrés, two of the many latino students whose stories are present in this book, are brought forward to provide a social context of the lives of latinos in the u.s. gándara and contreras seamlessly integrate carlos and andrés’s social and educational background into their book to shed light on the social conditions that impact, negatively or positively, the education attainment of high school and college latino students. the stories of these two students, and others, help the readers understand that whether students have advantages or disadvantages (e.g., parent education background, socioeconomic status, and student education background) do not determine their success or failure in school. it is the “social context in which the students” (p. 55) grow up that can shape “their vision of the future” (p.55), and not having the necessary resources in their communities can impact their level of education achievement. in chapter three, gándara and contreras make an argument that public schools are a critical component for “further occupational opportunities, but also key to” socializing latinos “into american society” (p. 86) but many fail to provide such an opportunity for their students. the data provided by gándara and contreras illustrates the inadequate school facilities and poor educational instructions of public schools in predominantly low-income latino neighborhoods. gándara and contreras end the chapter by emphasizing, “given the enormous barriers that latino children face, is not evidence of a lack of intellectual ability,” (p. 120) a clear proof that our education system lacks support systems needed to facilitate a successful education. furthermore, chapter four is dedicated to answer the beliefs that language deficits cause low the latino education crisis association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 74 education achievement in latino students. gándara and contreras explore the perception that latino children underperform in english due to their native language. by providing data from studies done on latino students’ language acquisition, gándara and contreras questions such perceptions and places the data into an education context. proving that a significant number of latino children are english speakers (contrary to beliefs that they all are native spanish speakers) and that native spanish speakers outperformer latino english speakers, contradicts the issue of language being associated with low education achievement. bilingual education as well as language assessment is at the core of the discussion in this chapter. chapter five and six are connected by a common theme, the experiences of college-going latinos/as who become resilient. these two chapters provide the readers with an inside view of the lives of several latino/a students, their hardships and successes, and the program that supported their transition from high school to college. the story of carlos and andrés and six other latino/a participants of the puente program are shared in this section. the eight students represent a small sample group followed during and after their participation in the puente program and transition to college. the stories of each student demonstrate how regardless of high or low education performance in high school (e.g., gpa, sats, ap and ib courses) students living conditions can either promote a college-going culture or subdue their aspirations to attend college. by sharing the students’ stories and connecting their profile to national statistics on student achievement, gándara and contreras prove that even a high performing latino/a student with all the characteristics that ensure that he/she will attend college can steer the opposite direction. there is no guarantee that a high gpa, sat, and socioeconomic status can predict the overall success of latino students. in fact, gándara and contreras highlight that latinos who come from adverse backgrounds, and despite all odds, have manage to make it through k-12 and into college. regardless of the success of these students, there are many how fall between the cracks of a failed public school system that is not serving its purpose, to educate those who have been historically marginalized, segregated, and oppressed. in the last two chapters, gándara and contreras provide a wealth of information on intervention programs and they describe how to address, through seven initiatives, the several issues affecting latino education. the programs presented in chapter range from early childhood to college. each program promotes and encourages a healthy and high educational environment for latino parents and their children. in chapter eight, gándara and contreras address the “seven areas in which public policy acknowledges the interlocking nature of schools and communities,” (p. 307) therefore, changing the course “of academic achievement for latino students” (p. 307). gándara and contreras recommendations are a small, but significant step to address the education crisis faced by many latinos in the u.s. gándara and contreras’s book provide a complete analysis of the k-12 public school systems and the implications it has on latinos attending post-secondary education. their work is admirable as it counteracts deficit beliefs that place latino students from every sector of the education system at fault for their overall low education achievement. this book is a great addition to the body of knowledge produced on latino education. it is an essential book to read. the latino education crisis association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 75 reference gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, massachusetts: harvard university press. the latino education crisis amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 67 sueños: inspiring a movement for undocumented voices to be heard belinda hernández arriaga university of san francisco abstract this essay documents the work of 67 sueños, a youth-led collective based in oakland, california. the group is committed to bringing to light the stories of the 67 percent of undocumented youth and young adults who would not qualify for the dream act and who are in many ways left out of the dominant narrative around immigration reform. the author examines the use of cultural storytelling, through video testimonio and murals, as an important source of healing and movement building. through their process of refl ection, art and action, 67 sueños provides a powerful lesson on who has the right to be heard and a reminder that all youth have dreams worth pursing. the author pays special tribute to 67 sueños by including the voices of its members throughout the essay introduction in 2010, seven youth from oakland, california, along with mentor and immigration activist pablo paredes came together to create a space for the sixty-seven percent of undocumented youth and families that are missing from the current discussion and activism around immigration reform. in order to honor these unheard voices and aspirations, the group named themselves “67 sueños.” as one youth member states, “to me the most important thing of 67 sueños has been to lift the voices of those that are unheard in the immigration debate, we try to hear the unheard stories, specifi cally those of youth, because many times we are ignored” (j.garcia, personal communication, august 15, 2012). for the past two years, 67 sueños has become a powerful tool of youth driven social agency, creating a movement of empowerment and leadership for undocumented youth to speak out and examine how political actions continue to polarize latinos at both ends of the spectrum. although facilitated by mentor and activist pablo paredes, it is important to note that most of the project has been created and developed by the youth. 67 sueños joins a larger youth movement aimed at challenging current immigration laws and pushing for immigration reform based on dignity and human rights. driven to provide space for healing as well as to create movement for change, the youth have identifi ed four key areas in which to focus their collective work: 1) cultural storytelling, 2) healing, 3) advocacy for human rights justice, and 4) impacting the immigrant rights movement through advocacy and organizing. in this essay, i will describe these four areas while providing voice to those at the core of the organization: the youth and pablo paredes. cultural storytelling 67 sueños uses video as a tool to bring to light these hidden stories in the hopes of impacting public discourse and attitudes, politics of immigration reform, and fi nally policy. they gather every week to listen, share, process and capture personal narratives on fi lm. paredes shared that the group hopes to “… tell our own stories through video interviews, stories of migrant youth who are not 4.0 students or hardened ‘criminals.’ 71 67 sueños: inspiring a movement for undocumented voices to be heard undocumented immigrants have no way to tell you what they have experienced, or why, or who they are, or what they think. they are by the very nature of their experience, invisible. most of us pass them by-some of us might say a prayer for them, some of us wish they would return to their countries of origin. but nobody asks them what they think. nobody stops and simply asks (urrea, 2008, p. 5). association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 these videos will be the vehicle by which we inject the realities and perspectives of the missing 67 percent into the immigrant’s rights movement and the national dialogue.” through the use of video, many of the youth and others in their community are able to share their story of what life has been like living as undocumented individuals. originally the goal was to gather 67 videos of undocumented youth. the interest and outpouring of support has surpassed the standard they had set. in all 67 sueños was able to document the experiences of 67 individuals and have been able to present these stories at various venues, with audiences across california and by using social media outlets. many of the youth members were brought to the united states as young children. although the choice to migrate was made for them, they are clear about not accepting the current dominant narrative that blames and vilifi es their parents for bringing them here. according to the youth, their parents are the heroes that fi ght relentlessly for their survival. in an effort to change the dominant negative discourse about their lives’ and that of their families, they use their personal stories captured through video to provide a counter narrative. their video stories explore the daily fear of deportation, the painful consequences of shattered families due to forced immigration, separation, and the economic and emotional crisis this reality has had on their spirit and wellbeing. one youth member spoke on this collective pain in an interview, “when i speak i want people to feel the pain that i go through, see the reality of what we all have to struggle with and we need to raise our voices to speak.” aside from videos, murals have become anoth er form of cultural story-telling. one of the largest projects the group worked on was a hundred foot long mural in san francisco. local artists, 67 sueños youth, and community members collectively created the mural that stands as a source of power for the undocumented community. painted across the mural are the words “no human being is illegal.” more recently, in august of 2012, the youth painted a forty foot long mural that visually represents the struggles of latinas access to healthcare, entitled “mujer mariposa, libre y poderosa.” along with the main theme of women and healthcare, the mural documents the experiences of several current youth members. for example, yoxeli romero is depicted as a little girl being carried by a mujer mariposa (woman with butterfl y wings) to the united states. romero shared, “i migrated…so the butterfl y represents all of that. ” the powerful visual reminder of her migration story, along with the others, captured in the mural highlights the role of women, community, and hope in creating a life with opportunity. paredes poignantly sums up the power behind cultural storytelling in the following way: healing storytelling in the forms described above provide the youth of 67 sueños and their families a liberating space to share their testimonio of struggle. their hope is to create a healing space that begins with the permission to tell the story of who they are. “once you tell your story you take power over it” shares paredes. no longer do they have to hide in the shadows. “false hope would have us believe in individualized notions of success and suffering, but audacious hope demands that we reconnect to the collective by struggling alongside one another, sharing in the victims pain” (duncan-andrade, 2009, p. 190). in order for youth to heal, they must be heard, they must be mentored and they must have a solid place to trust and share their emotions around the daily traumas that they live with silently. according to paredes: 72 67 sueños: inspiring a movement for undocumented voices to be heard there is a personal connection for all of our youth to the immigration debate and migrant justice movement. youth in the group have had family members deported and held in detention centers. many of our youth have vivid memories of their traumatic migration story. we have members who have faced deportation or the threat of deportation personally and of course all of my youth have faced various forms of discrimination due to theirs or a family member’s migration status. all these experiences make the work we do at 67 sueños a form of healing a way to come to terms with the trauma that these youth have experienced is to take charge of their narrative and what it is used for. this storytelling and advocacy process is deeply empowering. association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 the strong collective the group provides offers a natural and safe space to heal. in their healing, the youth are driven to touch the lives of others by turning trauma into human rights advocacy and organizing. carlos madrilga, a youth activist of 67 sueños refl ected on the impact of the project on his life, “la cultura es grande, we come from a beautiful struggle and it’s beautiful because cada dia estamos luchando for something better. it has helped me and made me more mature and understand where weare coming from.” paredes also discusses the power of transforming trauma into collective strength: advocacy for human rights justice the current movement of student led activism for immigration reform is raising consciousness around abusive human rights violations of the undocumented, forced separation of families and inequitable educational opportunities that latinas/os are challenged with. new dialogues are also emerging that provide opportunities to share the stories that many have kept in silence due to their immigration status. 67 sueños youth activists are committed to shining light on the inequities and human rights violations that many are challenged with every day as a result of living undocumented. the group feels that it is imperative that immigrant advocacy include narrating the chronic human rights violations that undocumented families experience and witness daily. the movement towards accountability of these violations must be questioned and responded to. 67 sueños youth member, carlos madrigal states: 73 67 sueños: inspiring a movement for undocumented voices to be heard i have watched all the youth in 67 sueños embark on a journey where feelings of shame and inadequacy slowly give way to a sense of empowerment and dignity. to quote bayard rustin, “when an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.” i clearly see this dynamic in the youth at 67 sueños. they go from rarely acknowledging their status publicly and seeing it as a liability, a shameful fact, a dangerous weakness to a space where it is this piece of their identity that makes them an authority on immigration issues. they suddenly become powerful and gain rather than risk access into a space based on what was once perceived as a liability. you see the transformation when they go to their fi rst march. suddenly the same person that tip toed around their status when we fi rst met is screaming “we are people we are not illegal” or undocumented ! unafraid!” i believe they are inspired by their experiences and the possibility of transforming their trauma into a source of strength. also i hear my youth speak of the second family they have at 67 sueños. this is no trite expression among our youth since many have lost portions if not most of their families through migration or deportation. so i think they crave that lost sense of family and community. all of our youth have mentioned and many we’ve interviewed talk about the connection to family and community they remember back home and how here in the states things are more segregated and alienated. here in the us everyone goes into their apartment or home and keeps to themselves. at 67 sueños we do a ton of “work” including organizing actions, editing video, creating art, organizing workshops... but we also take a great deal of time building a strong community. we spend 2 to 3 hours a week eating together, preparing the food together, and having a healing ceremony where we burn copal as our ancestors once did. we share our traumas and our success, we laugh we cry and check in often. these are the things i see and hear that are motivating to do more. undocumented youth are tired of the vast inequities and limited opportunities afforded to them because of their citizenship status. we fi ght for the right to education for all, the right to have a job that helps our families get out of poverty, the right to live without fear of incarceration and deportation, the right to keep families together” (suarez, 2010). association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 while often the emphasis of human rights advocacy is based on work with other populations outside the united states. paredes shared the work they are doing to recognize the human rights that each individual should be afforded in this country: in the face of all that is happening, youth are no longer staying silent. they are coming to the forefront to take action. the determination of the youth leading 67 sueños is evident in their energy and enthusiasm to impact change. impacting immigrant rights movement through advocacy and organizing the youth of 67 sueños see their work of capturing the hopes and dreams of the undocumented community as pivotal in countering the dominant narrative around immigrant rights. the work of 67 sueños argues that as a country we can longer limit access to citizenship. the road for youth must be made wider to include thousands of others to fi nd their way down the path to citizenship opportunities. the group fi rmly believes that all youth, regardless of citizenship status should have access to economic rights, educational rights, and fi nally the right to life of dignity. the expectation that only the educated or those that meet conservative standards are “worthy” of a path to citizenship, leaves many out of the dialogue and strips their hopes for a future that will allow them a path to citizenship regardless of educational status. duncan andrade (2009) highlights the pervasive inequity in our educational system when he writes about his three tenants of hope in education as he acknowledges how students are left waiting for an opportunity for their future to improve. this hope is what many undocumented students live for that often never manifests itself: 74 67 sueños: inspiring a movement for undocumented voices to be heard human rights should be addressed by getting the community together, making sure that you teach everybody, making sure the message gets out, making sure that gente keep pushing to want more, that they never stop, never give up. mienteras que tengamos mas es major” (c. madrigal, personal communication, august 11, 2012). our main mantra is that no human being is illegal. we did not originate this statement but we try to be true to it in all of our efforts. we advocate for the human and civil rights of all migrant people. we don’t like to suggest one is more “deserving than another”. in fact we believe that it is almost more important to lift the voices and struggles of the most affected within the migrant community. we think a movement is only as strong as its ability to stand with those who are most impacted. the examples are endless and heart wrenching. quality health care which includes mental health and primary care which should be a right not a privilege is simply out of reach for many migrant people. victimization and vulnerability is another issue to highlight. undocumented people are targets because they lack equal protection under the law. we have students who were victims of violence and the fear of deportation outweighs the fear of violence and abuse. the right to a quality education is so clearly out of reach for so many migrant youth. these youth get the shell of public education without key support structures. when people know you are vulnerable to threats of deportation you become a target. many of the youth have stories of people in their own community taking advantage of them. their parents are abused at work where pay is withheld, workload is increased and they do not have spaces for advocacy. threats to call “la migra” are part of our youth’s lives. (paredes, personal communication, april 20, 2012). “direct actions led by undocumented youth and youth of color are the only reasons that politicians have even discussed immigration reform and the dream act. throughout history, youth have been at the forefront of revolutionary social transformations and our time is no exception. undocumented youth and youth of color are at the forefront of hope we can truly believe in” (alcarez ochoa, 2011). association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 the youth of 67 sueños highlight these social inequities as they share their own narrative based on their intense hope and dispelling the notion that only certain stories are worthy of being heard. as zimmerman (2011) points out “these narratives reveal that the vision for social change of the undocumented youth extends beyond legalization to a broader agenda that includes social and economic justice for immigrant worker and then families” (p. 17). as the youth rally to make a visible difference in the immigrant’s rights movement, their advocacy and organizing are the main platform by which they contribute to both the local and national movement. they organize local marches and have supported continuous efforts for larger immigration political change. some of the recent work of the group includes supporting steel workers in berkeley and campaigning against the construction of increased immigration detention facilities around the united states. 67 sueños are being heard. in the following quote, paredes shares the group’s approach, and in particular the visions of the youth that have made their energy come alive: for greater impact and reform to be made around immigration, it is critcal for advocacy and organizing to begin at the grassroots level locally within communities. when there is a space for voice to be heard in communities then voices are amplifi ed in one common struggle around the nation. moving the 67 struggle forward the work of the youth and the impact they are having cannot be ignored. when we look locally at the bay area, the voice of 67 sueños is is being heard nationally and is at the forefront of immigrant youth advocacy and activism. paredes shared some of the most signifi cant pieces of their work at both the local and national level: 75 67 sueños: inspiring a movement for undocumented voices to be heard “when we are unwilling to confront these harsh realities of social inequality with our pedagogy to cultivate their “control of destiny” all we have to offer youth is hope deferred. this often comes when we ask our students to set their sights on some temporary distant (and highly unlikely) future wellbeing” (p.185). in terms of the methods we believe deeply in the power of storytelling and arts based advocacy. too often activism is seen only as a legislative campaign. however the struggles for equality of the past have demonstrated that before a civil rights act can pass we need black intellectual voices like mlk jr. to become household names. the process of changing the culture of a society always precedes any meaningful political shift. mlk jr.’s i have a dream speech was more important than anything written up for the congress to pursue during the civil rights era. this theory is well articulated by jeff chang. he argues, “cultural change is often the dress-rehearsal for political change. or put in another way, political change is the fi nal manifestation of cultural shifts that have already occurred.” so we have aimed our energy at cultural and narrative based work. our interviews become facebook posts, twitter feeds, and shorts that we play in community spaces and so forth. it’s about engaging america in an intimate discussion about migrant people and their real lives, struggles, successes and challenges. we also believe fi rmly that change comes from the people not the politicians. we think that statement will become real when enough people agree to fi ght for it. so we engage young people in the fi ght. there have been over 160 anti-immigrant bills passed across the country in the last couple of years touching nearly every state and contributing to 1,000,000 plus deportations. two areas where we feel that we have really had an impact are in the dream movement nationally and the local migrant justice movement. in both places we feel that we have played a part in expanding the debate. our critique has been accepted and internalized by many groups doing the work locally and nationally. we have heard from folks involved in the niya national immigrant youth alliance. iyjl in chicago a similar migrant youth group has reached out to work with us and we see a broader critique association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 it is an honor to witness the work of 67 sueños. their story is a testimony of the unifi ed spirit of struggle. the group represents the voices of all of those who have marched before that brought about historic reform, their blood running through the veins of the next generation. they represent the idea that fear will no longer paralyze and that change is imperative and cannot be ignored. the youth of 67 sueños have risen up to create space for the undocumented to be heard, to heal and to impact change. their work creates a space where silence will no longer be an option. clearly what they are doing is necessary and for the youth and their community, it has been a powerful force. we must use their movement as a model to create space for stories to be shared within each of our communities. even as political attitudes or opportunities change and shift, the push for narratives to be told is critical. human rights violations in the undocumented community and anti-immigrant sentiments can no longer take center stage. the youth of 67 sueños have provided tools for those working with undocumented youth and families to empower the lives’ of these families. they have specifi cally shown how advocacy and organizing can impact a broader agenda for immigration reform. through them, a new movement has formed and hope is alive for many youth around our country as their voice is fi nally being heard. references al-qaraz ochoa, r. (2011). a letter to the dream act movement. nacla report on the americas. dudani, p., & mejia, a. (n.d) 67 sueños. retrieved from www.67sueños.org duncan-andrade, j. m. r. (2009). hope required when growing roses in concrete. harvard educational review, 79(2), 181-194. king, j. (2010, november 4). jeff chang: it’s bigger than politics, the real shift is cultural. colorlines news for action. retrieved from http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/11/jeff_chang_interview.html urrea, l. (2008). foreword. in p. orner (ed.), underground america: narratives of undocumented lives (pp. 5). san francisco: mcsweeney’s books. suarez, a. (2010, november 29). papers for all undocumented youth! [weblog comment] retrieved from http://dreamdeployed.blogspot.com/2010/11/repost-for-dream-act-with-no-military.html zimmerman, a. m. (2011). a dream detained: undocumented latino youth and the dream movement. nacla report on the americas 76 67 sueños: inspiring a movement for undocumented voices to be heard in their work since our fi rst dialogues in october of 2010. major dream movement artists like julio salgado and yosimar reyes have collaborated with us and lifted our perspective. so, we feel we have had an impact on the migrant youth movement locally and nationally and hope to keep building together. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 50 the university of texas rio grande valley: reframing hsis through a multi-sited ethnography maritza de la trinidad the university of texas rio grande valley francisco guajardo the university of texas rio grande valley peter l. kranz the university of texas rio grande valley miguel guajardo texas state university abstract this article contributes to the study of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) through a narrative grounded on two points of innovation. it offers frameworks to decenter the conversation on hsis from normative practices in higher education to focus on pedagogical, cultural, and political relational processes that find greater congruence between nominal hsis and the latina/o1 students, families, and the communities that populate those universities. it looks at points of innovation that emerged in two different parts of the country at different places, spaces, and time. one was initiated at the university of north florida (unf) in the early-tomid-1970s, and the second is taking place at the university of texas rio grande valley in south texas (utrgv). the unf experience placed race relations front and center of its innovation, and offers an appropriate historical lens through which to understand the social and 1 this article uses several terms depending on context. hispanic and latino are pan-ethnic terms used interchangeably by the u.s. census bureau to classify a diverse population with origins in mexico, puerto rico, cuba, the dominican republic (and other parts of the caribbean), central america, south america, and spain. the latina/o population in the united states currently stands at 55 million. the mexican-origin population includes mexican nationals, u.s.-born citizens, naturalized citizens, undocumented immigrants, and the children of recent immigrants. mexican american and hispanic is used to be consistent with historical context or literature on hispanic-serving institutions (hsis). chicana/o is used in historical context for mexican americans who call themselves chicanas/os. ennis, s. r., rios-vargas, m., & albert, n. g. (2011). the hispanic population: 2010: 2010 census briefs. washington, dc: u.s. department of commerce, economic and statistics administrations, u.s. census bureau. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.361 de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 51 institutional change taking place in south texas.2 the utrgv work provides an example of how an hsi can align its curricular and core identity to reflect the population and region it serves. this study employs a methodology and theoretical framework that aligns the inquiry, pedagogy, and meaning-making process in a generative and relational discourse. introduction this article contributes to the discourse on the role of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) by escorting the conversation into the uncomfortable place of situating race, culture, and language at the center of analysis and institution-building. the authors view race as a sociocultural, political, and legal construct (haney lópez, 1996; omi & winant; 2014; wexler, 2010), and institution-building as a response to race, culture, language, and identity (guajardo & guajardo, 2017; guajardo, guajardo, militello, & janson, 2016; kranz, steele, & lund, 2005). this work expands the conversation surrounding hsis by focusing on race, agency, and historical consciousness through a comparative analysis. this examination juxtaposes the university of texas rio grande valley’s (utrgv) purpose to become a bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate university with a specific racial project (omie & winant 2014) instituted at the university of north florida (unf). the analysis underscores the importance of how race plays out in the fabric of american society and culture and its impact on higher education. the unf project provides a lens through which to examine leadership in institution-building and contributes to the study of hsis by pushing the discourse toward new analytical and epistemological terrain. this article further contributes to the study of hsis by providing a theoretical framework that informs this analysis and expanded conversation. this framework draws from historical racial projects, identifies cultural fronts as points of tension and innovations, and encourages a dynamic critical pedagogy that privileges the student, faculty, and community as creators of knowledge and power. it adds another dimension to the growing body of literature by breaking the normative approach to the study of hsis, which is necessary for developing hybrid responses to difficult and persistent questions. the authors believe that complex 2 this article uses black and white because the name of class at the university of north florida was titled “conflict in black and white.” it uses white for consistency with the terminology of the u.s. census bureau. it uses african american when used in context of the research literature. the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 52 methods and strategies are required to learn more deeply about historical issues that have persisted in education, including access, quality, and innovation related to climate, curriculum, and knowledge. the article explores historical and contemporary understandings of race through curriculum and institution-building projects. one such project, the venture studies program, took shape at the university of north florida (unf) at the point of its inception and was supported by its founding president. the other project currently is unfolding at utrgv as the institution seeks to implement the university’s guiding principles to promote bilingualism, biculturalism, and biliteracy throughout its curricular programs. the project at unf addressed racial tensions between white and black americans reflected in the demographic realities of place, space, and time. the critical discourse on hsis is significantly aided by looking at pertinent, examples of projects that place race and culture front and center of its new curriculum such as that instituted at unf. the project at utrgv focuses on a more complex dialectic on race and racial tensions, as mexican americans have historically been viewed as “caucasian,” even as they have been treated as a racialized group (anzaldúa, 1987; blanton, 2004; gómez, 2007; guajardo & guajardo, 2004; menchaca, 2001; molina, 2014; montejano, 1987; san miguel, 1987).3 the history of mexican americans is characterized by policies and practices that relegated this population to second-class citizenship as a non-white racial group (menchaca, 2001; gómez, 2007). the historiography chronicles the cultural front that led to the historical racialization of mexican-origin people that resulted in their social, economic, and political exclusion. scholars trace the process of subordination to the industrialization of the southwest that began after the u.s.-mexico war ended in 1848 (acuña, 1988; barrera, 1979; griswold del castillo, 1990; gómez, 2007). like african americans in the deep south and elsewhere, mexican americans experienced residential, school, and social segregation, labor segmentation, and political disenfranchisement throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. unf developed as an institution at a cultural front and point of innovation that grappled 3 after the u.s.-mexico war ended in 1848, mexicans in the acquired territories, which numbered about 100,000110,000 were granted citizenship in the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo. during this period, citizenship was conferred only to white male land owners and only whites could be naturalized, thus under the treaty, mexicans citizenship status was equated with being white. de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 53 with the contentious racial tensions that plagued black-white relations rooted in race relations of the american south. utrgv stands at its own point of innovation, as it seeks to reconcile issues of race, culture, language, and identity through its institution-building efforts. the authors’ roles in participating in the birth and growth of the comparative institutions provide unique perspectives of the development of innovative curricular programming. as faculty members and administrators, the authors are engaged in the response to institutional and regional racial, ethnic, and cultural realities within their respective disciplines. context & institution-building unf and utrgv have distinct histories and were chosen as case studies for analysis because both universities exercised institutional risk-taking during times of social and political contention. unf’s innovation took place while the south continued to grapple with the realities of brown v. board of education topeka (coleman, kelly & moore, 1975). unf’s venture studies program tackled the issue of racial tension that plagued black and white relations through a bold innovative course called “conflict in black and white.” utrgv was born by legislative mandate in 2013 and opened its doors in the fall of 2015 in response to a socio-political and human capital readiness for greater regional investment in higher education. the university’s innovation is marked by the advent of a b3 institute (bilingual, bicultural, biliterate—english and spanish) to expand and promote existing coursework and curricula that can be delivered in spanish or bilingually and through culturally relevant pedagogies. this innovation comes during a time of heightened racial tensions where border walls and deportations shape the social and political discourse, especially in the rio grande valley. both universities played, and continue to play, significant roles in shaping their respective socio-cultural and economic regional environments. similarities exist between the curricular innovations each institution developed to address critical community issues stemming from race relations. unf created an innovative venture studies program that explored race relations at the height of the civil rights movement. along the border, utrgv is transforming itself as a bilingual and bicultural institution through innovative curricular, pedagogical, research and service initiatives at the height of contentious immigration debates. these two examples highlight points of innovation amidst points of tension at different historical times and places. located in jacksonville, florida, unf was nestled in a cultural and political environment the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 54 that mirrored the values and practices deeply embedded in the american south. in the late 1960s and early 1970s, jacksonville was marked by segregation in schools, housing, and discrimination in the job market. the ax handle incident precipitated by boycotts led by black youth in the early 1960s highlighted the racial angst in the community (hurst, 2008). in 1970, jacksonville’s total population was 528, 865 with whites comprising 407,695 and blacks 118,158. whites made up 77.7% of the population and blacks were 22.3%.4 the founding president of unf was hired in the late 1960s to build the infrastructure for new upper-division and graduate programs. unf would be launched with approximately 500 students and would grow to 5,000 during its first decade. the student body was largely white, but saw an increasing enrollment of black students. building a new university combined with the socio-cultural and political milieu of the day formed a backdrop primed for creativity and innovation through curricula and programming. one such innovation supported by the unf’s founding president included a bold experiment that would bring students and community members from different racial backgrounds together through a program called venture studies. shortly after the university opened its doors to students in the fall of 1972, a class called “human conflict in black and white” was developed and taught in the psychology department. the class responded to the institutional impulse for innovation as part of venture studies. it also responded to the need for students to have access to a curriculum that fostered a deeper understanding of the historical racial tension and conflict between white and black americans rooted in u.s. race relations. “human conflict in black and white” would provide a transformative educational experience for who enrolled in this course and would become a celebrated example of the possibilities for higher education to delve into the challenging societal issue of race (kranz et al., 2005; kranz, ramirez, steele, & lund, 2006). the discourse on race in the 1970s drew almost exclusively from the history of race relations between whites and blacks in the united states. the white/black binary was a wellestablished historical narrative in the 1970s, and it continues to dominate the terms for discussions on race well into the 21st century. the demographic shifts in the united states that occurred between the 1970s and the new millennium due to increased migration from areas south of the border caused a dramatic flux in the definition of race and the meaning of ethnicity 4 u.s. census bureau general characteristics of the population: 1970. retrieved from www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/106/508.php. de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 55 and culture. the new demography of the nation requires a redefinition and expanded discourse of this historical framework. the ebb and flow of race relations in american history provides the context for the creation of both universities. while unf was born during the civil rights movement, utrgv was recently created amidst a different socio-cultural and political environment. a different brand of activism defined by institution-building has gripped this region of the borderlands. the founding of utrgv is the most prominent example of this change that includes a new medical school and new state-of-the-art academic facilities. a guiding principle of the new university calls for building an hsi that reflects the cultural and linguistic heritage of its surrounding community. given its location, utrgv is poised to reshape the social, cultural, and economic dynamics of the region as it seeks to integrate bilingualism, biculturalism, and biliteracy through curricular and programmatic innovations. utrgv is leading efforts to create official bilingual zones, dual language programs in local public schools, and stronger connections between the university and families, community organizations and other stakeholders. this article employs a multi-sited ethnographic methodology. it looks at a racial project at unf in the early 1970s that encouraged the creation of cutting-edge courses. and it examines an institution-building initiative at utrgv that is building bilingualism, biculturalism, and biliteracy into its curricula through innovative pedagogy and programming. in studying the two cases, it looks at nuanced racial, cultural, and linguistic spaces through the cultural fronts analytical framework that informs the learning across races and cultural groups. the two sites engage in projects that address racial issues which we use as units of analysis to inform this research and imagine new discourses, practices, and policies for future hsi work. pedagogical practices include building positive relationships, creating community-engagement projects, learning in a bi-directional manner, debriefing conversations, and reflecting on lived experiences. it also includes the art of creating new knowledge and privileging latent community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) embedded in communities of color that are oftentimes not acknowledged or legitimized by formal institutions. we explore the nuanced spaces created by these projects while maintaining the authenticity of the lived experiences. what follows is a snapshot of the lessons learned from the past and how they can be applied to and inform the development of curricula, pedagogical practices, and a new brand of hsis. the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 56 purpose the purpose of this work is to augment the study of hsis by providing a better understanding of how these institutions can move toward curricula, instruction, research, and service that reflect and respond to the populations they serve. it achieves this by analyzing the innovative work of two distinct universities with different populations in two contexts. the article does not intend to engage in an analysis of the entire deep south, but we find that the educational, cultural, and political lessons of the ventures studies program in north florida can inform the racial, political, and pedagogical encounters experienced along the u.s.-mexico border at a different geopolitical context and time. while the demography of each site is different, the conflict created by the encounters of multiple worlds of values, practices, culture, politics, and identities are similar and transferable. this article chronicles the experiences and theories used to make sense of the lived experiences and it places this work in conversation within hsi literature. the authors intentionally de-center the conversation from the hsi by moving it beyond the norm of university learning. the theoretical framework draws from historical racial projects, identifies cultural fronts as points of tension and innovations, and provides a dynamic critical pedagogy that privileges the student, faculty, and community as creators of knowledge and power. in the following sections, we outline the historical background of hsis and the methodology of the article. we also describe a racial theory in practice, and examine lived experiences as observables by delving into micro ethnographies situated in north florida and the rio grande valley of texas. a discussion of the lessons learned and recommendations concludes the document. these are accompanied by a discussion of challenges, possibilities, and opportunities related to transforming higher education environments that respond to the historical, cultural, and racial realities of students. this article highlights a theoretical framework that broadens the meaning of access in higher education beyond the brick and mortar of the university to provide educational equity. it offers a framework that allows faculty, administrators, and students to make meaning of issues of race, ethnicity, and class in different cultural contexts, places, and time. this expanded meaning of access focuses on giving latina/o students enhanced contact with ideas, conceptual knowledge, and the intellectual tools to enable them to challenge historical boundaries and move beyond the “borders” of regional, cultural, and economic isolation. de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 57 historical background of hsis the term hispanic-serving institution (hsi) as an official designation was formalized in 1992 when congress reauthorized the 1965 higher education act (hea) under title iii, and again in 1998 under title v. under this legislation hsis are defined as “…accredited and degree-granting public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education with 25% or more total undergraduate hispanic full-time equivalent student enrollment” (laden, 2001, 2004; santiago, 2006, p. 3). inspired by the opportunities gained by historically black colleges and universities (hbcus) stemming from the hbcu designation under the 1965 hea, the notion of a “hispanic institution,” gained traction during the early 1980s (laden, 1999 & 2001; nevárez, m., personal communication, august 20, 2016). leaders in texas, new mexico, illinois, and puerto rico recognized that latina/o students who were concentrated in colleges and universities with limited resources represented “a definable group in higher education” that faced unique challenges in completing college degrees (santiago, 2006, p. 6). in 1986, leaders from new mexico and texas created the hispanic association of colleges and universities (hacu) and decided that a university or college with a hispanic student population of 25% was a sufficient critical mass for the hsi designation (santiago, 2006; nevárez, m., personal communication, august 20, 2016; avila & pankake, 2016). in 1987 the league of united latin american citizens (lulac) and other advocacy organizations filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of texas, texas higher education coordinating board, and several state universities with the assistance from the mexican american legal defense and education fund (maldef). in lulac et al. v. ann richards et al., maldef lawyers argued that mexican americans in south texas and other areas along the u.s.-mexico border were denied equitable access to the state’s flagship university systems. they were also denied access to comprehensive graduate and doctoral programs, professional schools, and state funding for institutions of higher education in the region. maldef also argued the state’s method of distributing funds for higher education discriminated against students and schools along the border. in response to the lawsuit, in 1989 the texas state legislature created the south texas border initiative to increase funding to nine border universities and brought the university of texas-pan american and university of texas at brownsville under the university of texas system (flack, 2003). in 1992, a district state court ruled in favor of lulac, finding the state’s funding system for higher education unconstitutional the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 58 (muñoz, 1991; santiago, 2006). the following year, the texas supreme court overturned the district court’s favorable ruling in lulac v richards. despite this loss, the reauthorization of the hea and creation of an official hsi designation under title iii signaled a positive move “to improve and expand the capacity of hispanic-serving institutions to serve latina/o and other low-income students” via federal funding (santiago, 2006, p. 7).5 since then, hsis have significantly increased access to higher education for latina/o students nationwide.6 although utrgv’s legacy institutions were predominantly white in enrollment in their early years, they became de facto hsi’s by the 1980s due to the demographic shifts in the region (avila & pankake, 2016; cortez, 2011). this demographic shift was captured by one utpa administrator who stated, “we have always been an hsi and there needs to be a different designation for us who are doing it with greater numbers” (cortez, 2011, p. 162).7 although the university did not gain official hsi status until after 1992, some faculty, staff, and administrators already perceived it as a “hispanic institution” (avila & pankake, 2016; cortez, 5 in 1995 congress approved the first appropriation of $12 million for these schools. in 1998, congressman rubén hinojosa (d-tx) pushed to create title v for hsis to distinguish them from hbcus and tcus and designate specific hsi funding (flack, 2003; santiago, 2006). hsis became part of a larger coalition of colleges and universities designated as minority-serving institutions (msis) to serve underrepresented students including african american, native american, asian/pacific islander and hispanic/latino students. these institutions, which number about 1,200, have played crucial roles in granting access to higher education for minority students (flores & park, 2015). hsi’s are distinguished from hbcus in their history and mission in that hbcus were created as early as the 1830s for the specific purpose of educating african americans and have a longer tradition of providing access to higher education whereas hsis grew out of predominantly-white institutions located in proximity to large latino communities that became hsis solely due to the increased enrollment of latina/o or mexican-origin populations (benítez & dearo, 2004; flores & park, 2015). 6 title v funds are awarded on a competitive basis to officially designated hsis for capacity-building, expansion of educational programs and to improve access to higher education for hispanic students. u.s. congress, 20 u.s. code part a 20 u.s. code subchapter v-developing institutions-hispanic-serving institutions, §1101-findings; purpose; and program authority, authorization of programs under the higher education act of 1965, 1998. title v grants can also be used for professional and curriculum development, academic instruction, faculty fellowships, library materials, and student service programs designed to improve academic success. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/1101. since 1995 the number of hsis has grown from 189 to 435 with a little over half receiving title v funds. between 1995 and 2014, federal funding went from $12 million to $99 million, enabling hsi’s to increase access to higher education for latina/o students. by 2014, hsis enrolled 60% of all latino students, which increased the percentage of latina/o adults who earned an associate's from 12 to 23% and the percentage who earned a bachelor’s degree from 9 to 15 percent. santiago, d., taylor, m., calderón & galdeano, e. from capacity to success: hsis, title v, and latino students (washington, dc: excelencia in education), 4-14; hacu title v grant awards 2004-2015 http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/2016_cf_docs/6a accessed may 18, 2016. 7 this demographic trend in the rgv, state and nation continued into the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. current census figures number the hispanic/latino population at 55 million, comprising approximately 17% of the nation’s total population. sixty-four percent of this population is mexican-origin. texas is home to 10.8 million hispanics/latinos, comprising 39% of the state’s total population. www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/pst045216/48,00 http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/2016_cf_docs/6a http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/2016_cf_docs/6a http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/2016_cf_docs/6a http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/pst045216/48,00 de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 59 2011; nevárez, m., personal communication, august 20, 2016). the continued growth of the mexican-origin population in the region is currently reflected in utrgv’s predominant mexican-origin student population (90%), making it one of the highest latina/o percentage hsis (santiago, 2008; excelencia in education, 2016a).8 because of this demographic reality, recent studies of hsis call for a new mission to provide latina/o students with an equitable education that acknowledges and nurtures their cultural and linguistic wealth to promote academic success and college-completion rates (de los santos & cuamea, 2010; greene et al., 2012; lara & lara, 2012; núñez & bowers, 2011). given persistently low graduation rates, location, and demographics, utrgv looks to other models of student success geared toward latina/o students (contreras & contreras 2015; núñez, ramalho, & cuero, 2010). as a new hsi, utrgv has a rare opportunity to create a “more intentional” “latina/o-enhancing” university that serves students by providing curricula that are culturally relevant, inclusive, and transformative—curricula that focus on latina/o students’ lived experiences, knowledge, and cultural wealth (contreras & contreras, 2015; cuellar, 2016; gonzales, 2016; greene et al., 2012; lara & lara, 2012; núñez et al., 2010; yosso, 2005). utrgv also has a unique opportunity to “develop a culture that is relevant to latina/o students” and become “latina/o-enhancing,” “meaning that students not only see themselves in the institutional practice, but develop a deeper sense of self along the way” (corral, gasman, nguyen, & samayoa, 2015; garcia, n.d.). this paradigm shift compells the university to institutionalize a mission that is historically and epistemologically congruent with the realities of latina/o students and their communities (arciñiega, 2012; brown, santiago, & lópez, 2003; kranz & lund, 1998; santiago, 2009). method and theoretical framework research shows that college choice among latina/o students is based upon proximity to family, cost of higher education (brown et al., 2003; contreras & contreras, 2015; flores & park, 2015; nuñez & bowers, 2011), and the reality of their lived experiences. factors such as cultural and academic capital, family influence, socioeconomic status, peers, and potential 8 the rio grande valley is comprised of four counties (cameron, hidalgo, starr, and willacy) and has a population of 1.3 million residents. latinos/as make up 89% of cameron county, 91% of hidalgo county, 96% of starr county, and 88% of willacy county. (see www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/pst045216/48489,48061,48427,48215,00) the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 60 employment opportunities also determine whether students attend or transfer to a 4-year college, including hsis (núñez & bowers, 2011). students at utrgv fit this general profile. for the most part, students at utrgv choose to attend college close to home because it is more affordable and they can remain close to family. many students have additional responsibilities of caring for their own children, parents, and/or extended family members while working full-time jobs. culturally, students have familial knowledge and experience centered in mexican, mexicanamerican, anglo-american, and trans-national border cultures. family, faith, and a strong workethic are central values. while spanish is commonly heard in the halls and classrooms students vary in their levels of spanish proficiency. according to the american community survey (2013), an estimated 80.4% of rgv residents are spanish-speakers. student skill level ranges from being fully bilingual, partially bilingual, or from having knowledge and understanding of spanish as a heritage or home language (brown et al., 2003; contreras & contreras, 2015; delgado-gaitán, 2004; núñez & bowers, 2011; u.s. census bureau, 2013). to capture the shift of the historical framework that represents the reality of lived experiences within a different time, space, and place, we adopted a multi-site ethnography as method for this inquiry. this methodological approach allows researchers to systematically chronicle, inquire, and examine the phenomenology within lived experiences (marcus, 1995; pierides, 2010). the authors propose this method as a tool for exploring the daily lives of people and communities within a world systems context. this method facilitates the study of academic initiatives that are cross-disciplined, as it probes two dynamic and purposeful crosscultural racial projects (omi & winant, 2014). the projects are grounded in pedagogical strategies designed to influence the human conditions of students, organizations, and communities in two geographic spaces during two different times. the two communities are distinct and diverse in their composition and socio-political dynamics, yet both address issues of race, ethnicity, and culture in different ways. examining these two distinct sites allows the research team to interrogate the stubborn systems that have sustained the status quo in universities and communities as it looks at institutional projects that aim to break the cycle of oppression, racism, and stagnation in higher education. the data sources include student evaluations, student testimonials, and ethnographic notes of faculty members and administrators immersed in the work at both ethnographic sites. the ethnographic data, especially student testimonials of their transformational learning de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 61 experiences, supports the secondary literature that demonstrates the effectiveness of providing culturally relevant pedagogical methods such as building voice and story, community-based projects, and critical self-reflection that brings student knowledge and experience to higher education (alvarez & martínez, 2014; guajardo & guajardo 2017; lara & lara 2012). the authors analyze two racial projects through an examination of pedagogical, political, and transformational strategies to promote change for students and their communities. the purpose is to identify approaches to reframe the status quo (guajardo et al., 2016) with a deliberate focus on points of contact or cultural fronts (anzaldúa, 1987; gonzález, 2001). this ethnography uses thick description (geertz, 1973) to describe the moments of contact for people who come from different backgrounds and experiences. the method provides the space for narrative presentations of experiences and reflective thought by researchers and other participants who have lived these realities. the researchers have spent significant time at both sites at different times and understand the local histories, politics, racial, and cross-cultural experiences. construction of a racial theory in practice race is a signifier and concept that is generative, continuously contested, and informed by a socio-historical amalgamation of events and actions informed by place, values, bias, and preconceived notions. this article proposes a framework shaped by place and people who are in relationship, engaged in institution building, and whose collective histories inspire their work. one clear assumption is to move beyond the idea that race is a biological issue. ornstein (1993) tells us that biology matters little when discussing issues of race, and ample scientific research demonstrates this position (wexler, 2010). though biological premises serve as a sorting trait, science establishes there is little difference between races. the issue of race is largely a social construction grounded in socio-historical perspectives and human actions based on ill-conceived beliefs, values, and misconceptions. this article considers the following theories to make meaning of racial phenomena. the racial formation process outlined by omi and winant (2014) acknowledges that racial formation is a deliberate action. numerous examples in the history of the united states have revealed racial projects intended to hold people of color in marginalized spaces. these projects range from the micro-level of daily lived experiences to the macro-level of structural the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 62 interventions to create barriers to equal opportunity through policy, legislation, and practices. the historical practices marked by chattel slavery, de jure and de facto racial segregation, community planning practices, and school segregation establish a clear pattern and narrative. this pattern has also been contested through persistent efforts to right the historical wrongs of this country’s history. this emerging theory has utility in responding to meta-level analysis and mapping the socio-historical racial formation of communities. gonzález’s (2001) cultural fronts, a framework akin to anzaldúa’s (1987) third space, or borderland, find appropriate theoretical convergence. they speak to the unique intersection that is negotiated by diverse groups who come to the common space with varied experiences, values, and histories. the construction of this contact creates a new reality. the concept of cultural fronts is descriptive for the point of contact that creates the blending of two or more realities. the cultural front is a place of tension created when differences meet. this tension can be the impetus for creativity or conflict. the context and learning are dependent upon the preparation and facilitation of this contact. an additional construct useful to this emerging theory is a framework advanced by guajardo et al. (2016) to “make meaning” of this provocative racial exchange and phenomenon. this framework is guided by a dynamic-critical pedagogy that highlights the learning and development of people, organizations, and communities (guajardo et al., 2016). it is a process that crosses boundaries and is informed by five axioms: 1) learning and leadership are a dynamic social process; 2) conversations are critical and central pedagogical processes; 3) the people closest to the issues are best situated to discover answers to local concerns; 4) crossing boundaries enriches the development and educational process; and 5) hope and change are built upon assets and dreams of locals and their communities. these axioms are situated within a set of ecologies of knowing that span from the micro-level of the self, to the meso-level of organizations, and the macro-level of community, policy, and economy. this framework inspires and produces a dynamic theory of change. it is generative and allows for the topic to be identified, the point of contact to be negotiated, and for participants to be creators of knowledge and agents of their own transformation. we apply this framework to our pedagogical and institution-building practices. in the unf experience for example, interracial activities and assignments formed the essence of the teaching and learning. in the utrgv experience, the integration of bilingual and bicultural curricular development de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 63 shaped the new identity of the institution. courses are taught across disciplines in spanish and bilingually through the use of culturally relevant practices. partnerships with community-based organizations also enhance community participation in shaping an education responsive to the people of the region. lived experiences as observables: the experiment at the university of north florida “the human conflict in black and white” course offers an appropriate micro example of how to engage the challenging issues of race, ethnicity, and history. when “conflict” was created in the early 1970s, it probed deeply-ingrained attitudes about race held by both black and white students through an intensive interactive process where students were required to live in different and often uncomfortable physical, social, and cultural spaces. an examination of the class shows a social and political context of notable racial tension. approximately 90 undergraduate students across disciplines enrolled in the course over a six-year period. taught by a licensed psychologist, course requirements included small group discussions of racial issues in a gracious space. gracious space refers to a learning environment that promotes open and honest dialogue; it engenders climate that invites the stranger to learn in public (hughes, 2004). an important formative step in the implementation of the class was relationship-building between the professor and students, which led to a degree of trust necessary to cross racial borders. the learning taking place in this context allowed the strangers, in this case black and white students and families, to co-construct a learning exchange that confronted issues of race, class, and other differences (hughes, 2004). the learning space facilitated by the instructor allowed for a generative exploration of self, community, and society within a dialogical process driven by the students to places, spaces, and time where differences met. they read about racial issues, kept personal journals about relevant experiences, visited an hbcu, and spent a week in the home of someone from a different racial background. the interactive nature of the course compelled students to explore and define personal racial convictions in significant depth. students realized their own prejudices, biases, and misconceptions as they listened to people from different lived realities. they found that the lack of personal contact with the different racial group engendered their ignorance and racialistic thought and behavior. students came to understand their own negativity, which was often born from unfounded ideas. in addition to the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 64 helping class members learn about a different race, the experience enhanced personal development and self-discovery. while enrolled in the class, two students, an african american student named ann and a white student named judi, reflected on the transformative pedagogical act of being in the same physical space with people of different races. in written testimony, ann wrote that the class forced her to think differently about herself through a different racial lens. she stated that she would not have had this kind of experience had she not been invited to do so through the class and she argued that her understanding of race was enhanced through the experience. growing up black in the deep south kept her from having intimate conversations and exchanges with white people. she asserted that the class forced her to engage in a new cultural front and thereby, her views on race would be changed forever. similarly, judi reflected as she wrote about the prejudices that existed in her family growing up white in jacksonville and how her whiteness would be shaped out of this lived experience. her close personal contact with black students in the class compelled her to rethink her misconceptions about black people. for both ann and judi, the class was instrumental in changing attitudes, perceptions, and feelings about members of the other group. because the class fostered honest dialogue between the two groups, students’ views on race were questioned, discussed and transformed through difficult dialogue. students’ personal growth was further enhanced by the requirement of a 7-day home visit with a family of the other race. in a 20-year follow-up study, which included a reunion of the students from these classes, students reported that their experience was indeed profound and life-changing. their responses reflected the transformative learning that occurred in the classes held during the 1970s. students who took “conflict in black and white” and followed through with course requirements acknowledged that their previous implicit biases and prejudices were significantly altered. by going through this process, the students formed close interpersonal relationships (kranz, lund & johnson, 1996; kranz et al., 2005). the “human conflict in black and white” class created the opportunities for the overlapping of the life worlds of students and communities with the systems world of faculty and university administration (sergiovanni, 1999). the experience afforded faculty the opportunity to take pedagogical risks by engaging with sensitive and provocative issues pertaining to racial realities. students reaped the rewards, as their testimonials demonstrated (kranz et al., 2005). de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 65 one major reason “human conflict in black and white” in the 1970's was successful and received national media attention (thurow, 1997) was due to the university administration’s strong support for the innovative courses of the venture studies program. the department chairs, deans, provost, and president had a clear vision for the university that embraced ground breaking courses in all major fields that challenged student perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. the administration encouraged innovation and creativity; their only mandate was to make courses relevant to regional socio-historical conditions. as risk-taking was encouraged, faculty explored new material and teaching methods without fear of repercussions or censure. student discomfort was anticipated, as these courses extended beyond the typical structure of lecture-only classes. the student was not to be a passive recipient of knowledge but was to be an active learner involved in the community and in dialogue with one another. the result was that students often found themselves reaching beyond their comfort zone as they explored new internal attitudes and external learning possibilities (kranz et al., 2005). the course fostered an exciting environment for creative and engaged learning. the positive working relationship created between faculty and administration enhanced trust and commitment to meaningful educational experiences for students and faculty. this point of innovation reflected in practice is supported by our conceptual framework of cultural fronts. when the dynamic critical pedagogy is employed, as evidenced in the unf class experience, the opportunity for creating a new awareness for student, community partners, and the institution is presented. this dynamic bond added unique value to the learning process that went beyond typical academic pedagogical practices in higher education. this innovation challenged the students to critically think about where they were and where they needed to be and the critical self-reflection enabled students to confront their own knowledge. it is this opportunity for innovation that establishes the relationship between the unf experience and the lived experience in utrgv. through multi-sited ethnography, we can transfer lessons learned from unf to a different socio-cultural context and lived experience in a different time, space, and place. student learning at utrgv occurs within the context of the cultural front of the border region. the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 66 expanding access in a new hsi along the texas-mexico border in 2013, the university of texas pan american and the university of texas at brownsville were dissolved and merged by legislative mandate to create a new regional state university to serve south texas. the legacy schools have historical roots in the region as they had important functions in community and regional development. they existed throughout the nineteen hundreds as comparatively under-resourced institutions. although both joined the university of texas system in the late 20th century, underfunding persisted for much of their existence. the move to dissolve, merge, and recreate was driven by the need to make greater investments in the development of the region, including higher education and healthcare. with the merger, the opportunity to access the permanent university fund (puf), the multi-billiondollar endowment of the university of texas system became possible for the first time in the institution’s history. between the time the texas legislature passed a bill to create the new university in 2013 and the time the university officially opened in september 2015, approximately one-half billion dollars were invested to develop the physical infrastructure of the new institution. a new medical school was built, along with a new science building, and many other brick and mortar additions that would change the look of higher education along the border. scaffolds, cranes, and a new wave of brown-skinned construction workers would characterize the compelling portrait of the emerging university landscape. the physical layout of the university would never appear the same. in the face of the new construction, a new university with a new strategic plan emerged. therein, it promises to pursue the following hsi-congruent goals: (1) it will build a bicultural, bilingual, biliterate infrastructure; 2) it will engage community through curricular and programmatic strategies, and (3) it will become a leading his in the united states. the remainder of the article highlights early actions guided by this strategic plan and lessons from venture studies program. a historical reflection of how the legacy university viewed the local language is captured in a story told by gloria anzaldúa (1987) describing the taming of “a wild tongue.” this story offers a poignant historical context that also serves as parable for the region. anzaldúa attended pan american college as a young woman, but before she enrolled she was first subjected to a speech test as part of a course placement practice. the practice was typically reserved for mexican american students who may have spoken with thick accents. if they spoke with a de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 67 detectable accent they would be expeditiously dispatched to a remedial speech class, where their “wild tongues” would presumably be “tamed” (anzaldúa, 1987; cole & johnson, 2014). the story of taming the wild tongue is not unique to the history of south texas. college-going students from the bronx, new york similarly had their pronounced bronx accents rehabilitated when they attended any of the cuny schools in the mid-20th century. deborah meier, who grew up in new york in the 1950s recalls, “my jewish peers were forced to fix their accents, but so were italians, irish, and other kids from the bronx” (meier, 2016). college-going students from appalachian regions and youth from other parts of the country faced similar institutional attitudes against regional and cultural speech patterns (davis, d., personal communication with francisco guajardo, february 16, 2016). anzaldúa’s wild tongue experience implies much more than a linguistic adjustment and requires deeper levels of analysis. by the mid-20th century, the mexican-origin population in south texas had thus been established as a minority group generally subjected to the sociopolitical and economic conditions of the jim crow south (barrera, 1979; blanton, 2004; montejano, 1987; guajardo & guajardo, 2004; san miguel, 1987; woodward, 1974). the advent of railroads and large-scale irrigation technologies pushed the old economy of ranching to the annals of history and gave way to a new capitalized agricultural economy. the region would be marketed as “the magic valley,” a tropical paradise with fertile land, good year-round weather, and cheap mexican labor (brannstrom & newman, 2009; montejano, 1987; zamora, 1993). a two-tiered society emerged, where young mexican americans were more useful as agricultural or manual laborers than as students in which to invest academic capital. their ability to pick crops and clear fields mattered more to employers than their academic abilities, refined speaking, or intellectual capacities (acuña, 1988; guajardo & guajardo, 2004; gonzález, 1990). throughout the first half of the 20th century, mexican americans were discouraged from attending college due to economic and social reasons—mexican americans could not afford to pay for college and local growers and others did not perceive the educational advancement of mexican americans as expedient (avila & pankake, 2016; guajardo & guajardo 2004). anzaldúa came of age within this socio-cultural milieu, a reality that would later in life inspire her to theorize about growing up in this borderland. the repressive racialist and linguistic practices of the university represented practices common across the region in what emerged as a place that instituted real and symbolic borders for mexican-origin people. the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 68 even as an increasing number of mexican american students gained access to this university in the latter part of the 20th century, institutional practices such as the speech test, failure to recruit and retain a diverse faculty, and a chronic level of underinvestment in the public-school system across the region presented systemic barriers for this group. the wild tongue was much more than a matter of language; it also implicated race, class, regional development, and acceptance of mexican americans as second-class citizens (montejano, 1987; guajardo & guajardo, 2004). the wild tongue symbolized more than speech—it represented an ethos that established a collective expectation for an entire community. while attitudes of the wild tongue persisted through the 20th century, broad sociocultural and economic changes were set in motion in the late 1960s and 1970s that fostered social, political, and institutional change. in 1966, local melon farm workers staged a strike against melon farmers to protest low wages, poor working conditions, and unfair labor practices. two years later, local high school students followed others across the southwest and staged a series of walkouts to protest systemic injustices marked by racism and other forms of discrimination, including language suppression (guajardo & guajardo, 2004; muñoz, 2007; navarro, 1995). the impulses for change mirrored the macro forces of the larger civil rights movement aimed at creating a more just society. in this borderlands region, an irony materialized when anzaldúa’s alma mater emerged as an important incubator for regional transformation. as more mexican american students enrolled at the university in the late 20th century and as many began to graduate, a mexican american middle-class developed. as the old millennium gave way to the next, a new consciousness began to take root, and a strategic push for a more significant investment in higher education for latinas/os eventually made its way into the halls of the texas legislature (flack, 2003; santiago, 2011). compelled by legal action, the argument at the legislature centered upon the historic underinvestment of higher education along the texas-mexico border, and the pressing need to respond to the economic, healthcare, and educational needs of the community. when the governing body proposed a set of principles to guide the creation of the new university, including a move to promote “bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate” programming, it evolved from an institution that “tamed a wild tongue” to one that advocated for bilingualism, biculturalism, and biliteracy. over the years, changes have been palpable at the legacy institutions in terms of physical de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 69 facilities and academic programming that encourages students to critically evaluate issues of race, ethnicity, culture, language, and history. similar to students who took “human conflict” and like courses in the venture studies program, students who enroll in mexican american studies (mas) courses report benefiting from “life changing” experiences when for the first time read rodolfo acuña (1988), engaged with anzaldúa’s borderlands theory, or discovered critical race theory (crt) as a lens of analysis. like the venture studies program that was created at unf in the early 1970s, mexican american/chicano studies also came of age in the early 1970s and shaped by events that occurred during the civil rights era. the programs initially emerged as chicano studies programs within colleges and universities in california and other states in the southwest, however they are now found in colleges and universities across the nation. while mexican american studies at utrgv has existed in different forms, the transdisciplinary nature of the current program offers students the opportunity to critically analyze issues of ethnicity, race, class, culture, language, and political economy in the context of their own lived experiences and that of their families and communities. students and faculty reflect upon the seeming reversal of hegemonic forces. they sense a transformation that is personal, institutional, and regional in the emerging work guided by culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogical practices. writing for excelencia in education, a nonprofit research organization, gina garcía argues that scholars have long advocated for “the importance of developing curricular and pedagogical practices that are centered on the experiences of minoritized students. these types of curricula not only recognize the voices and experiences of students of color, but they encourage critical consciousness and community engagement. the most obvious curricula to model are those found in ethnic studies departments” (garcía, n.d.). amanda t. illuminates the impact of mas on her education: i was alienated from my inner most self for most of my life. lacking direction in life i would drop out of both utpa and stc in 2010. i credit this mostly to my inability to identify with the materials being taught to me…with the guidance of a former friend i was encouraged to return to school in the fall of 2012. in a u.s. history course, i would come across borderlands/la frontera by gloria anzaldúa and suddenly everything changed. i learned to embrace my true self. the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 70 like amanda, other students emphasize the liberating impact of being in class where bilingualism is valued and where their experiences, viewpoints, and history are central to course content, discussion, and analyses. in reflecting upon her experience, leslie s. states, the first mas course i took was in the spring semester of 2016…i quickly became very engaged in the lectures and course work because it was an aspect of american history that i had never learned. in high school, the only time they mention a mexican american at any point in american history is when you're taught about the accomplishments of cesar chavez and even then, the lesson is very brief. history is taught showcasing the accomplishments and shortcomings of white men throughout american history, the accomplishments and struggle faced by black men in the civil rights movement with a little bit of white feminism thrown in there with a lesson or two on the women's suffrage movement and its leaders…in this course, i realized just how excluded i was as an american; as if the history of mexican americans doesn't count or didn't quite make the cut in order to be seen as important…i felt like american history happened around mexican americans, not with mexican americans. it wasn't until i took mexican american history and mexican american civil rights in the fall of 2016 that i realized just how wrong i was. taking mas courses has had a great impact on my life…i have a greater sense of self and admiration of my culture and a newfound respect of both my parents and grandparents who have worked so hard to give me the opportunities that i have had. similarly, jesus s. emphasized the importance of curriculum in student learning: [mas] has given me an opportunity to learn about my history. mas has opened many doors in which i have developed many close friendships and mentors that are supportive of the work that we do. i was always interested in knowing more of our history and started taking courses in mexican american history and felt that it was a major that would suit me. when i was about to finish my undergrad, i was still confused and did not know what i wanted to do. i was advised on continuing my education and now i’m almost done with my mais mas. i am currently also teaching a class and the students that i had in my class de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 71 were very grateful and thankful. … they need to see that they are reflected in the classroom. the above testimonials were provided by the students to the author when asked to reflect on their experiences and the impact mexican american studies had on their educational processes, critical awareness, and drive to continue their education beyond their undergraduate degree. these students took mexican american history courses for the first time in their academic careers in college. these courses incorporated requirements that encouraged students to explore family and community histories through oral history projects and reflective assignments that connected their lived experiences to the history of the region and its people. students’ exploration of their family histories invites them to reflect on their lived realities and explore a critical awareness of their own position in life and the world in which they live. the critical nature of mexican american studies curricula and pedagogical practices enables students to interrogate ancestral knowledge so that they might connect it and their story to prior knowledge that has been explored at different points in their lives. knowledge construction is a relational process that occurs in both a local and a global context. in the case of these students, constructing knowledge occurs in a transnational context within the texasmexico borderlands and is the brand of pedagogy that is practiced in mas at utrgv. multiple cultural fronts in the context of utrgv is the coming together of life stories, culture, language, politics, ways of knowing, and different systems of inquiry. this is done through the communitybased learning in cooperation with local organizations that focuses on applying student knowledge to their history, wisdom, and power. discussion contemporary higher education environments bristle with racial hostility and administrators often respond with reactive approaches. national media tend to shine a spotlight on issues that have led to the dismissal of university personnel and contentious environments on college campuses. the experiment at unf and initiatives that focus on critical reflection and cross-cultural understanding can mitigate historical and systemic prejudice and discrimination and more needs to be done in this regard. like unf, utrgv can expand curriculum and programming to promote cultural competence vis-à-vis students, faculty, curriculum, and the the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 72 institution itself. participants in the “human conflict in black and white” course found that when constructive dialogue on issues of race occurred, greater understanding between the two groups evolved. the success of the lived experience in the 1970s can be attributed to administrative leadership and faculty support. similarly, faculty, administrators, and community at this borderlands hsi should work together to develop innovative educational curricula that prepare students to address complex challenges such as redressing historical discrimination and inequities in education, reducing labor force segmentation, and shaping public policy. as university class sizes increase to raise revenues, the quality of education often suffers and obscures issues of inequity. small classes, once the hallmark of an enriched academic experience, are quickly disappearing. the business ethos of higher education is replacing the innovative, creative spirit that once energized both students and faculty. if universities are to continue to be a central force in the exchange of ideas, discussion, and debate of different theoretical positions and philosophical tenets, the face-to-face dynamic between faculty and students must be preserved. relational processes in smaller teaching and face-to-face learning environments work most effectively for first-generation, minority student populations (delgado-gaitán, 2004; trueba, 2004). the values that nurture this development are access, excellence, and relationships. in contrast, we have witnessed a move towards efficiency, choice, and accountability in which systems are pushed to produce numbers rather than smaller facultystudent ratios and other investments in relational processes. the attitude and philosophy of "getting students in and out" in accelerated time to boost graduation numbers and revenue does not bespeak of quality education that promotes an exchange of ideas and academic capital (núñez & bowers, 2011). the business model of higher education counters educational wisdom of providing students with an equitable education that fosters their intellectual growth and development, self-knowledge and self-discovery to their fullest potential (gándara, 1995). this model perpetuates an educational system that focuses on skills development in preparation for the workforce to satisfy the needs of labor markets and to produce loyal citizen-workers rather than one that develops human capital, cultivates local knowledge, and produces critical thinkers. the example of unf offers a model of leadership and guidance. when university administrators establish an environment for innovation and when they encourage faculty to de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 73 experiment with teaching and learning approaches, some faculty members respond. such was the case with the course entitled “human conflict in black and white.” while utrgv has experienced a change in name and is undergoing dramatic transformation in physical infrastructure, it is also changing the university’s cultural values and practices. through multi-sited ethnography, we have been privileged to explore a point of innovation from a black and white binary experience of the past, while living in the space, place, and time of an institution that is in the process of becoming a new brand of hsi. this work proposes that we learn from the past lived experiences of its members. we employ a dynamic critical pedagogy and encourage the development of the socio-cultural and political context that responds and respects its local ecology. this process of engagement invites students and their families to develop a collective way of imagining the future and its processes in becoming an hsi that goes beyond the quantifiable measures of its student population. this brand of hsi becomes proactive in community-building, pedagogical development, and regional development that respects its stakeholders and their process of becoming fuller human beings. utrgv is geographically and historically situated in borderlands that allow for the theorization of cultural fronts and we propose this too as a viable conceptual framework for theorizing and reframing the conversations about hsis. the opportunity to look back at the venture studies at unf allows us to see the possibilities of applying the cultural fronts theoretical framework not only to hsis, but to any racial project to incorporate local experiences. from a historical perspective, there is value in learning from the diverse experiences of racial projects of the past. the value here is that we bring together scholars from different disciplines who have diverse lived experiences to populate this theoretical framework of cultural fronts. leading social change and in this case, educational change, is a slow process. what strategies and approaches can utrgv implement to be most effective in leading change that embodies the guiding principles it espouses to “…produce state, national and world leaders who are bicultural, bilingual and biliterate,” and to “become one of the largest and most successful hispanic-serving institutions in the country?” these are important and relevant questions for utrgv to consider given its historical development, geographic location, student population, and the community it serves. to its credit, utrgv has seen tangible developments toward innovation and creativity specific to present-day regional and socio-cultural realities. in uniting two universities that the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 74 served traditional functions, the new hsi is attempting to address the specific conditions of its population. the two original legacy institutions experimented with infusing regional linguistic and other cultural elements into coursework, but the efforts were under development. in its new iteration, utrgv is taking the bold step of addressing bilingual, bicultural, and biliteracy as builds its b3 institute to support and foster bilingualism. it has moved one step closer by teaching courses in spanish and bilingually. in building a new partnership between faculty, administrators, school districts, and the community, utrgv is working with community leaders and organizations to integrate community knowledge, expertise, and needs into its curriculum, programs, and community engagement projects. mexican american studies faculty along with faculty across the university work to develop curricula and community-based projects that build on the cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) of the community and informs teaching, research, and service. recommendations research on best practices of hsis that have developed programs, initiatives, partnerships, and services to promote latina/o student perseverance, academic success and college completion rates demonstrate that the model for latina/o student success looks different than at traditional majority white institutions (benítez & de aro, 2004; contreras & contreras, 2015; nuñez & bowers, 2011). this research offers recommendations regarding what works for latina/o students to achieve academic success and facilitates the process of changing higher education to serve these students more appropriately and responsibly (evans, 2009; hagedorn et al., 2007; greene et al., 2012; lara & lara, 2012; núñez et al., 2010; núñez, crisp, & elizondo, 2016; verdugo, 1995). these recommendations are divided into two categories—life worlds and systems worlds. improving life worlds requires increasing the number of faculty who understand the culture, language, and experience of mexican-origin students, and can teach courses that provide culturally and linguistically relevant material. utrgv can identify and hire faculty and administrators who have an awareness of the local ecology, its people, and culture and who are ready to teach courses in a bilingual and bicultural learning environment. much of the hsi literature points to the importance of increasing the number of latina/o faculty and administrators who have direct experience in working with latina/o students and can provide de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 75 culturally responsive mentorship and advising (harper & hurtado, 2007; ruíz & valverde, 2012). considering utrgv’s student demographic and location, it has a relatively low number of latina/o faculty. out of 1,345 faculty, 506 (37.6%) identify as hispanic or latino. of these 267 (52.8%) are lecturers with the remaining 239 (47.2%) being full-time faculty. these figures indicate that more than half of utrgv’s hispanic/latino faculty are lecturers and only 17.8% are full-time faculty.9 the low number of full-time faculty reduces the number of faculty who can serve as role models, advisers, and mentors and potentially the number who can or are willing to offer linguistically responsive courses. these low numbers, combined with utrgv’s predominately mexican-origin student population, suggest this recommendation is even more pressing. another recommendation includes incorporating student perspectives in university curricula and policies to provide a more equitable education because it can foster a sense of belonging and empowerment, two factors that are known to influence student choice when attending an hsi (nuñez & bowers, 2011). courses that encourage students to draw from and enhance cultural knowledge and linguistic skills and placed-based community projects in the core curriculum, promote educational equity by enabling students to draw from their “funds of knowledge” and “cultural wealth” (gonzales, 2016; moll, amanti, neff, & gonzález, 1992; yosso, 2005). utrgv currently has the capacity to integrate the “cultural” and linguistic components of the guiding principles and enhance life worlds through an expanded investment in its mas program. historically, this interdisciplinary program aimed to fundamentally change higher education to meet the needs of mexican american/chicana/o students. student activists of the chicano movement viewed higher education as more than a means to obtaining a job. rather, it was about developing a critical consciousness informed by a socio-cultural understanding of chicanas/os’ role and place in american society. they wanted to connect learning in higher education to their communities through community-based research that would address historical issues of poverty, employment discrimination, educational inequalities, health disparities, and poor infrastructure in barrios and colonias (muñoz, 2007). for chicana/o activists of the late 1960s, knowledge of their history, culture, language, and lived experiences became 9 of the 1,345 faculty, 590 are female and 755 are male. of the 506 hispanic/latina/o faculty, 271 are female and 235 are male. of the 239 hispanic/latino lecturers, 125 are female and 11 are male. these figures were provided by utrgv’s office of institutional research. the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 76 sources of action toward the public good (freire, 2000; mariscal, 2005; muñoz, 2007; peña, 2010). in advocating for a culturally relevant college curriculum, student activists of the day recognized the importance of the spanish language in their identities, cultural heritage, and knowledge. thus, a curriculum that cultivated bilingualism and biculturalism made sense to them: the present needs of the chicano must be met in such a way as to provide relevant programs which will sustain self-confidence and provide a feeling of acceptance on the student’s terms…bi-lingual studies must constitute a part of the university’s realistic recognition of community realities and innovative academic potential…to develop student’s abilities in a bilingual, bicultural manner…by focusing on an intellectual perspective of and about the spanishspeaking communities, [and] to develop a potential for self-fulfillment in at least two cultures (muñoz, 2007, p. 158). looking back at the original intent of chicana/o studies reminds us that students were active in advocating and crafting, the type and quality of education they viewed as relevant for themselves and their communities. in addition to a curriculum that fostered their cultural and linguistic capital, students called for the recruitment of mexican american students, faculty, counselors, and administrators and research programs as a vehicle for producing knowledge through community-based research and for developing bilingual and bicultural community leaders. these goals fall in line with utrgv’s b3 institute and recommendations offered by the extant hsi research. improving the systems worlds calls for hsis to develop and establish partnerships with local k-12 school districts to create curriculum that fosters students’ bilingualism and biculturalism and in this manner, enhance students’ academic capital. the center for bilingual studies, a division of the b3 institute, works to develop the faculty and research capacities in the areas of bilingualism and biliteracy of faculty and public school teachers. administrators should also find way to increase financial investments in research and knowledge production to address issues faced by local communities. studies have established that increasing financial aid to students from low-income families promotes student success by reducing their need to work more than 20 hours per week, as most students at utrgv do (evans, 2004). the need to de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 77 work full-time to pay for college often functions as a barrier to college completion and impedes their time-to-degree progress. when we align curriculum to student and local community needs, we help student resolve issues in their communities and respond to issues in their lives. self-assessment of hsi systems, programs and services is also encouraged to ensure that they have the resources and mechanisms in place to respond to the needs of students and their communities. conclusion the emerging framework that encompasses two ethnographic sites helps us make sense of the task at hand. the venture studies program at unf engendered the creative capacities of faculty to engage the most challenging issues of the day. in the 1970s, the course “human conflict in black and white” tackled the issue of race in creative and transformative ways. testimonials from students and faculty point to the undeniable success of the venture studies experiment. students took the lessons from the class and used those lessons to enrich their cultural and racial lives, even if the institution did not sustain its investment in this aspect of the venture studies program. the creativity that marked its success evaporated when faculty moved on and the university’s leadership changed. utrvg can learn from the venture studies program as it attempts to embed issues of race, culture and history to shape its new institutional ethos. utrgv exists in a place anzaldúa (1987) described as “an open wound”; a place that requires healing through a process of critical self-reflection and an honest critique of the institutions that have created the very “wound” anzaldúa described. whereas the “human conflict in black and white” venture studies course focused on the wounds of the old south, mas courses can heal the “open wound” by affirming the cultural and historic identity of this borderlands region. the work at this hsi thus provides a framework for expanding the meaning of access, excellence, and equity in higher education to specifically serve latina/o students. providing a more equitable education for latinas/os within the context of a new political economy informed by the history, culture, and economic realities of this border region requires a more intentional goal to serve the students, families and communities that populate this hsi. it is our intention to guide the conversation regarding the critical role hsis play in providing latinas/os access to an effective, culturally appropriate educational experience relevant to their communities and current socio-economic realities. the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 78 researchers call upon hsis to provide latina/o students with the academic capital to be culturally informed to serve families, communities, schools, and businesses in an ever-changing social, cultural, economic, and transnational environment (garcía, 2012; gonzales, 2016; núñez et al., 2010). within a short time of operation, utrgv is cultivating and expanding students’ and the community’s knowledge by fostering innovative research, appropriate teaching methods, and community projects with the goals of supporting students in becoming culturally and linguistically informed. the creation of the b3 institute has empowered utrgv to direct and move the university toward instituting the guiding principles of producing bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate students. the institution is thus poised to take the lead in promoting social change and fostering the paradigm-shift of higher education for hsis to provide broader access to a more equitable education that enhances “funds of knowledge” (moll et al., 1992) for students and the communities in which they live. de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 79 references acuña, r. (1988). occupied america. new york, ny: harper collins. alvarez, s., & martínez, j. l. (2014). la palabra, conciencia y voz: tato laviera and the cosecha voices project at the university of texas—pan american. in s. alvarez & w. luis (eds.), the amerícan poet: essays on the work of tato laviera (pp. 204-236). new york, ny: center for puerto rican studies hunter college, cuny. arciñiega, t.a. (2012). the crucial role of hispanic-serving institutions in the education of latino/a youth. journal of latinos and education, 11, 150-156. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands—la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute press. avila, r., & pankake, a. (2016). professor emeritus miguel nevárez: an agent for social change in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education. first published september 22, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192716670995 barrera, m. (1979). race and class in the southwest. south bend, in: university of notre dame press. benítez, m., & de aro, j. (2004). realizing student success at hispanic-serving institutions. new directions for community colleges, 127, 35-48. blanton, c. (2004). the strange career of bilingual education in texas, 1836-1981. college station, tx: texas a&m university press. brannstrom, c., & newman, m. (2009). inventing the “magic valley” of south texas, 1905-1941. geographical review, 99(2), 123-145. brown, s. e., santiago, d., & lópez, e. (2003). latinos in higher education: today and tomorrow. change, 41-46. cole, d. & johnson, r. (2014). “how to tame a wild tongue”: gloria anzaldúa’s borderlands/la frontera and the 1960s-era speech test and speech classes at pan american college. rio bravo: a journal of the borderlands, 23(1), 120-133. coleman, j.s., kelly, s.d., moore, j.a. (1975). trends in school segregation, 1968-1973. washington, d.c: the urban institute, u.s. department of health education & welfare. contreras, f. & contreras, g. j. (2015). raising the bar for hispanic serving institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 151-170. corral, d., gasman, m., nguyen, t., & samayoa, a. (2015). an examination of existing and emerging hispanic serving institutions’ latino initiatives and culture. center for minority serving institutions. retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/344 cortez, l. j. (2011). the campus climate of a border hsi: redefining latino student success (doctoral dissertation). university of texas at austin, austin, tx. cuellar, m. (2016). better serving latina/o student by incorporating their perspectives. washington, dc: exelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hi si-cp2/your-voice/better-serving-latino-students-incorporating-perspectives delgado-gaitán, c. (2004). involving latino families in schools. thousand oaks, ca: corwin. de los santos, jr., a., & cuamea, k. m. (2010). challenges facing hispanic-serving http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/344 the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 80 institutions in the first decade of the 21st century. journal of latinos and education, 9 (2), 90-107. evans, c. (2009). mexican americans acquiring bachelor’s degrees: whose opportunity? journal of latinos and education, 8(3), 199–218. doi: 10.1080/15348430902888583. excelencia in education. (2016a). hispanic serving institutions hsis 2014-2015, at a glance. washington, dc: excelencia in education. excelencia in education. (2016b). analysis using u.s. department of education, nces, ipeds, 2014-15 fall institutional characteristics and enrollment surveys. washington, dc: excelencia in education. flack, t. (2003). presentation on south texas border initiatives before the house border and international affairs committee, march 6, 2003. retrieved from http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/reports/pdf/0592.pdf flores, s. m., & park, t.j. (2015). the effect of enrolling in a minority-serving institution for black and hispanic students in texas. research in higher education, 56, 247-276. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of freedom. new york, ny: rowman & littlefield. gándara, p. (1995). over the ivy walls. albany, ny: state university of new york press. garcía, g. a. (n.d.). developing an institutional culture that is relevant and enhancing to latina/o students. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsi-cp2/your-voice/developing-institutional-culture garcía, h. s. (2012). hispanic-serving institutions and the struggle for cognitive justice. journal of latinos and education, 11, 195–200. geertz, c. (1973). interpretation of cultures. new york, ny: basic books. gómez, l. (2007). manifest destinies: the making of the mexican american race. new york, ny: new york university press gonzales, l. d. (2016). the importance of place in defining a hispanic-serving mission. washington, dc: exelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia. org/hsi-cp2/your-voice/developing-institutional-culture gonzález, j. a. (2001). cultural fronts: towards a dialogical understanding of contemporary cultures. in j. lull (ed.), culture in the communication age (pp. 106-131). london: routledge press. gonzález, g. g. (1990). chicano education in the era of segregation. austin, tx: university of texas press. greene, d., lara, a., lara, d., posadas, c., medina, c., oesterreich, h., ruiz, m., valverde, m., chávez, r. & garcía, h. (2012). cultural citizenship in hispanic-serving institutions. journal of latinos and education, 11, 143–149. griswold del castillo, r. (1990). the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo: a legacy of conflict. norman, ok: university of oklahoma press. guajardo, m. a., & guajardo, f. j. (2004). the impact of brown on the brown of south texas. american educational research journal, 41(3), 501-526. guajardo, m., guajardo, f., militello, m., & janson, c. (2016). reframing community http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/reports/pdf/0592.pdf http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/reports/pdf/0592.pdf de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 81 partnerships in education. new york, ny: routledge. guajardo, f., & guajardo, m. (2017). la universidad de la vida: a pedagogy built to last. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 30 (1), 6-21. hagedorn, l. s., chi, w., cepeda, r. m., & mclain, m. (2007). an investigation of critical mass: the role of latino representation in the success of urban community college students. research in higher education, 48(1), 73-91. na. (2013). the role of hispanic-serving institutions in access and equity. ashe higher education report, 39(1), 81-92. harper, s. r., & hurtado, s. (2007). nine themes in campus racial climates and implications for institutional transformation. new directions for student services, 120, 7–24. hughes, p. (2004). gracious space. seattle, wa: center for ethical leadership. hurst, r. l., sr. (2008). it was never about a hot dog and a coke!: a personal account of the 1960 sit-in demonstrations in jacksonville, florida and ax handle saturday. livermore: wingspan press. kranz, p. l. & lund, n. (1998). design of a race relations course. journal of instructional psychology, 25(4), 271-276. kranz, p.l., steele, r., & lund, n. (2005). the venture studies program at the university of north florida. journal of instructional psychology, 32(1), 17-20. kranz, p. l., ramirez, s., steele, r., & lund, n.l. (2006). challenges of teaching an experiential course in race relations. education, 126(4), 792-798. kranz, p.l., lund, n. l. & johnson, b.o. (1996). a race relations class that made a difference. in c. a. ryan & s. l. woods (eds.), urban multicultural education beyond rhetoric (pp.130136). needham heights, ma: simon & schuster. laden, b. v. (1999). two-year hispanic-serving colleges. in b. townsend (ed.), two-year colleges for women and minorities: enabling access to the baccalaureate (pp. 151-194). new york, ny: falmer. laden, b. v. (2001). hispanic-serving institutions: myths and realities. peabody journal of education, 76(1), 73-92. laden, b. v. (2004, march). hispanic-serving institutions: what are they? where are they? community college journal of research & practice, 28(3), 181-198. lara, d., & lara, a. (2012). from “hell no!” to “¿que pasó?”: interrogating a hispanic serving institution possibility. journal of latinos and education, 11, 175–181. haney lópez, i. (1996). white by law: the legal construction of race. new york, ny: new york university press. marcus, george e. (1995). ethnography in/of the world system: the emergence of multi-sited ethnography. annual review of anthropology, 24, 95-117. mariscal, g. (2005). brown-eyed children of the sun. albuquerque, nm: university of new mexico press. menchaca, m. (2001). recovering history, constructing race: the indian, black, and white roots of mexican americans. austin, tx: university of texas press. the university of texas rio grande valley leading social change association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 82 meier, d. (2016). conversation with francisco guajardo, edinburg, texas. february 15, 2016. molina, n. (2014). how race is made in america: immigration, citizenship, and the historical power of racial scripts. berkeley, ca: university of california press. moll, l. amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching. theory in practice, 31(2), 132-140. montejano, d. (1987). anglos and mexicans in the making of texas, 1836-1986. austin, tx: university of texas press. muñoz, c. (2007). youth, identity, power: the chicano movement. revised and expanded edition. new york, ny: verso press. muñoz, l. (1991). the university is not a factory: fighting for an educational future. the utwatch.org. retrieved from http://www.utwatch.org/archives/tejas/october1991_valleyeducation.html navarro, a. (1995). mexican american youth organization. austin, tx: university of texas press. núñez, a.m., g. crisp, & d. elizondo. (2016). mapping hispanic-serving institutions: a typology of institutional diversity. the journal of higher education, 87 (1), 55-83. núñez, a, e., ramalho m., & cuero, k. (2010). pedagogy for equity: teaching in a hispanic-serving institution. innovations in high education, 35, 177–190. núñez, a. m., & bowers, a. j. (2011). exploring what leads high school students to enroll in hispanic-serving institutions: a multilevel analysis. american education research journal, 48(6), 1286-1313. omi, m., & winant, h. (2014). racial formation in the united states (3rd ed.). new york, ny: routledge. ornstein, r. (1993). the roots of the self. san francisco, ca: harper collins. peña, d. (2010). environmental justice and the future of chicana/o studies. aztlán: journal of chicano studies, 35(2), 149-58. peierides, d. (2010). multi-sited ethnography and the field of educational research. critical studies in education, 51, (2), 179-195. ruíz, m., & valverde, m. (2012). transformative hispanic-serving institutions: realizing equity praxis through community connections and local solutions. journal of latinos and education, 11, 189–194. san miguel, g., jr. (1987). “let all of them take heed”: mexican americans and the campaign for education equality in texas, 1910-1981. college station, tx: texas a&m press. santiago, d. (2006). inventing hispanic-serving institutions: the basics. washington, dc: excelencia in education. santiago, d. (2008), modeling hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): campus practices that work for latino students. washington, dc: excelencia in education. santiago, d. (2009). leading in a changing america: presidential perspectives from hispanic serving institutions (hsis). washington, dc: excelencia in education. santiago, d. (2011). reality check: hispanic-serving institutions on the texas border strategizing financial aid. washington, dc: excelencia in education. de la trinidad, guajardo, kranz, & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 83 santiago, d., taylor, m. & e. calderón galdeano, e. (2016). from capacity to success: hsis, title v, and latino students. washington, dc: excelencia in education. sergiovanni, t. j. (1999). the lifeworld of leadership: creating culture, community, and personal meaning in our schools. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. thurow, r. (1997). how a bruising course on racial conflict changed minds, lives. wall street journal, 230(119), 1-8. trueba, h. (2004). the new americans. lanham, md: rowman littlefield. u.s. census bureau. (2013). language use in the united states: 2011. washington, dc: u.s. department of commerce. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/content/dam/ census/library/publications/2013/acs/acs-22.pdf verdugo, r. (1995). racial stratification and the use of hispanic faculty as role models: theory, policy, and practice. the journal of higher education, 66(6), 669-685. wexler, b. (2010). neuroplasticity, cultural evolution, and cultural difference. world cultural psychiatry research review, 11-22. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8(1), 69-91. zamora, e. (1993). the world of the mexican worker in texas. college station, tx: texas a&m university press. volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 73 graduate school as a site of remembrance: educación for resistance for bilingual teachers blanca caldas university of minnesota—twin cities deborah palmer university of colorado boulder abstract this article is framed by the notion of educación and how it influenced the narratives of resistance of 12 seasoned bilingual teachers (solórzano &yosso, 2002). using an oral narrative approach, we share participants’ descriptions of the connections between their educación within their families and communities and how this educación has helped them navigate, resist, and even “play the game” (urrieta, 2009) during their educational k-16 trajectories, and in their interactions with colleagues, parents, and children as seasoned bilingual teachers. keywords: bilingual, teacher education, community advocacy, latinxs, oral narratives doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.329 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.329 graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 74 educación for resistance education and schooling are not to be confused (illich, 1970). moreover, in spanish, the word educación differs greatly from its counterpart in english. in villenas’ (2001) study with latinx1 mothers in north carolina, educación “meant having the social skills of etiquette, loyalty to family and kin, and most important, respect” (p. 12-13). the worldview behind educación involves moral and ethical values, and beliefs, which speak to a different sense of relatedness. this sense of relatedness is connected to relationality (wilson, 2008) as a way to think of oneself as part of a community and one’s interconnections and interdependence, a sense which in turn is at odds with the hegemonic western society that generally demands individualism, disconnection, and dissociation. therefore, this educación is left to stand on the sidelines in mainstream public schooling institutions. this marginalization places accepted forms of schooling at the foreground, invariably putting people at a disadvantage/advantage according to the color of their skin, their gender (identification) and their socio-cultural and economic status. bilingual teachers are well aware of the distinction between educación and schooling as they mean different things in english and spanish even if only implicitly. being a bilingual teacher means stepping into a controversial and disputed arena where the cultivation of educación—advocacy with/for minoritized language and cultures—may be seen as an attack on american values, identity and ideology, never more apparent than right now (fitts & weisman, 2010; ricento, 2005). a sense of americanness—a pride in individualism, success, nationalism—together with the neoliberal forces pervasive in public education have disenfranchised, assimilated, invisibilized, discriminated, commodified, and gentrified minoritized groups, viewing heir minds and bodies relevant only in terms of productivity and profit. in the educational arena, for example, in order to sustain and foster americanness, the structures of schooling appear bent on homogenizing the population and on violating their right of difference. the erasure of a linguistic identity is more obvious in the policies and practices aimed to teach english to linguistically-diverse populations. gounari and macedo (2009) argue that regarding language, there is still “discrimination with impunity” (p. 37). this discrimination with impunity has targeted millions of latinx children with the passing of language policies mostly inclined toward shortterm support, restriction, and repression since colonial times (wiley, 2007). the dismantling and renaming of bilingual education, the english-only movement, anti-immigrant initiatives, and poor funding and services for emergent bilingual students in public schools speak to a set of ideologies that regards 1 to avoid the implicit gender binary and include all possible gender/sexual identities, the final gender-determining syllable was replaced with an x. caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 75 minority languages as a commodity at best, and as a liability and danger at worst (pimentel, 2011). lately, the question is for whom is quality bilingual education as latinx/immigrant/mexican american communities are gentrified and forced to literally move to the margins of the cities, while white, monolingual middle-class families increasingly become the main beneficiaries of well-implemented dual language programs (cervantes-soon, 2014). as bilingual teachers are at the epicenter of this battleground, they constantly confront and/or become the target of discriminatory and exclusionary practices against brown bodies, be they students, parents, colleagues, and often themselves. their own educación might be one of the forces behind their resilience to stay and survive in the educational field, and at the same time behind their resistance against daily microaggressions. research questions and methodology this study focuses on the role of educación in the way bilingual teachers resist daily microagressions. we use oral narratives as organic and holistic ways to pass down information (chilisa, 2012; wilson, 2008). oral narratives defy the hegemony of the written word and highlight orality. bell (2010) argues that this method allows a deeper understanding and identification with the experiences, worldviews, struggles and feelings of others experiencing oppression. the stories of resistance of bilingual educators shaped by educación not only exemplify daily microaggressions depicting racism, language discrimination, cultural deprivation, xenophobia, and classism, but also present the response of educators (fernández, 2002) despite their feelings of isolation, alienation, or lack of recognition (brayboy, 2005) in their workplace. it is urgent to provide portrayals of the agentic steps taken by individuals in the face of oppression (chilisa, 2012). these stories are crucial in connecting the local contextualities with broader societal issues, and to the sense of relatedness with the teller, since these stories “may be read, and lived vicariously” by others seeking to be validated (connelly & clandinin, 1990, p. 8). the teller reclaims the right to be heard (beverley, 2000) due to the urgency to tell her story as a way of healing (cervantes-soon, 2012) and also as a way to connect and contribute to their communities (beverley, 2000). as an expert in their own lived experiences amidst discrimination and exclusion, these stories become “theory in the flesh” (moraga & anzaldúa, 1981, p. 23). while it is important to create an emotional link between the teller, the story, and the listener, what is needed is the acceptance of the invitation to create more resistance stories (beverley, 2000). examples of resistance, survival strategies, and the teaching of how to play the game (urrieta, 2009) are needed as legacies of trajectories marked with marginalization and hope; a dichotomous relationship at best. even resistance stories that could be labeled as informal infrapolitics of the oppressed (kelley, 1993) have the potential to become transformational, no matter how reactionary, self-defeating, and conforming the resistance might look (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 76 positionality author 1 is a mestiza woman in her 40’s whose first language is spanish. she was raised in a spanish-speaking latin american country. as an immigrant, she obtained her ph.d. in the us. author 2 is a white woman in her 40’s, bilingual in spanish and english. raised in a middle-class english speaking home in the northeastern us, she learned spanish as an adult. author 1 carried out this research project under the umbrella of author 2’s larger project; these twelve selected teachers were among 53 participants in a special cohort master’s degree program supported by a title iii national professional development grant (2007-2013) in the southwestern us that author 2 directed. both authors are committed to critical teaching and research that centers the experiences and education of latinx in the us. data collection and analysis the interviews of twelve bilingual teachers working in the same school district in texas were used for this study (table 1; all names are pseudonyms). all of the participants are graduates of a master’s in education program for experienced bilingual educators with a focus on teacher leadership/advocacy in bilingual/bicultural education. the program took a critical socio-cultural approach. these bilingual teachers have different backgrounds, but all of them have more than five years of teaching experience and are teachers of color. out of the twelve participants, two migrated from latin american countries as young adults having already obtained a bachelor’s degree. five teachers were born in texas and five teachers migrated as children from mexico with different degrees of schooling with different immigration statuses. however, the teachers born in mexico and the teachers born in texas share similarities as their lives fluctuated between the us and mexico directly or indirectly through frequent visits and/or the presence of relatives in their lives. caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 77 table 1 participants’ national origin and immigration age name national origin age of immigration amanda mexico 9 years old ana usa n/a arturo mexico teens aurora usa n/a celia puerto rico2 21 years old elsa mexico 5 years old fabiana mexico 8 years old luisa usa n/a maria mexico 12 years old mayra usa n/a melinda usa n/a pedro colombia 20's author 1 conducted semi-structured conversations (alim, 2004), as this approach decenters the researcher and places the participants at the forefront to facilitate the flow of the interviews (lindlof & taylor, 2011), as well as allowing the connections between the localized experiences and wider societal structures to materialize organically (denzin, 1989). semistructured conversations consist of providing a group of participants with a handout with a list of topics the researcher finds relevant to the research, and it is the prerogative of the participants to develop the ones they deem relevant to them. this approach also took advantage of the fact that the participants knew each other and they were able to 2 technically puerto rican citizens, born with us citizenship with entry/exit privileges to the mainland, experience migration differently from citizens of other latin american countries. however, as per her own account, celia considered her moving from puerto rico to us mainland an immigrant experience because of the ways in which her cultural/linguistic upbringing in her country contrasted with her experiences as a bilingual teacher in the us. graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 78 build on each other’s accounts and even allowed them to remind each other of past events, thus creating a more intimate atmosphere while enriching the data collection. the participants engaged in these conversations in pairs or threes in english and spanish and in many cases they combined both languages to express their thoughts indistinctly. author 1 analyzed the interview transcripts through an inductive mode approach for analysis (connelly & clandinin, 1990) to identify common themes across the data in three stages. the broadening stage generates general comments on the narrators’ character, values, background, and the context in which the narrative took place. the burrowing stage explores the emotional, moral, and aesthetic qualities of the narratives for reconstruction. the restorying stage describes the narrator returning to the present to assign meaning to the lived events for future agency. the themes extracted from this analysis are intimately related to the discoveries and connections the participants made during their master’s degree program. for the purpose of this article, we will focus solely on those themes and not the development of portraits of each of the participants. however, brief background will be added to provide context to the participants’ quotes. findings this study found connections between the participants’ educación and their teaching practices, involvement within their school communities, and acts of advocacy. the participants made those connections upon reflection of their lived experiences and topics explored during their participation in the master’s degree program. the main themes are: home language practices, family literacy practices, family values and respeto, and ethnic identification. we will discuss how each of these features of the participants’ educación is connected to their current practices and activism. home language practices: spanish and espanglish the use of spanish and espanglish was one of the most salient characteristics of the educación these participants received at home. the sense of pride regarding spanish was evident among the bilingual teachers who migrated as young adults and those who were teenagers when they first arrived in the us. arturo, who arrived in the us from mexico in his teens, could not conceive of the fact that people of hispanic descent were not able to speak spanish, since for him speaking spanish was never something negative: “en mi cabeza: ¿cómo van a ser hispanos y no hablan español? nunca vi como algo negativo [to speak spanish], no tenia sentido.” [in my head, how can they be hispanic and not speak spanish. i never saw speaking spanish as something negative, it doesn't make sense]. for the young immigrants, not only was spanish considered an asset, but being bilingual was a must, as it was a requirement to access higher education. for younger immigrants and those born in the us, spanish was caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 79 the language of the household and the means by which they were able to communicate with their parents and other relatives. english was present too, especially when communicating with people of their own generation—siblings, cousins, and friends. even though in some cases spanish was forbidden at home due to parents’ past experiences of linguicism and discrimination, the participants still considered spanish “a more tender language, with more compassion,” according to mayra who was born near the border of mexico and the united states. their connection with spanish as their first language led some of the teachers to deploy ways to make sure their students stayed in bilingual programs for as long as they could in order to keep developing their spanish proficiency. three of the teachers mentioned that they played la mensa, el bobo, and el zorro; they played dumb to outfox their colleagues and superiors in the school context. these were strategies they used to “play the game” (urrieta, 2009) in order to get away with practices that would be frowned upon if discovered. for example, maria stated she played la mensa whenever she was asked to teach only in english, since she knew spanish would provide the scaffolding students needed to learn content: la escuela quería que hablaran inglés afuera del salón, las clases especiales y en el recreo y en todos lados. matemáticas las querían en inglés y lo más que se podía en inglés. y yo pensaba que tenían que aprender español y yo me hacía la que no oía bien y yo les hablaba español casi todo el tiempo. y sí, yo enseñaba ciertas cosas en inglés pero también pensaba que tenían que tener una buena base en español y pues yo me hacía la mensa. [the school wanted students to speak english outside the classroom, in special, during break, and everywhere else. they wanted math in english, and everything i could in english. and i thought they needed to learn spanish and i pretended i didn’t hear and i would speak to them in spanish all the time. and yes, i’d teach some things in english but i also thought they needed a good foundation in spanish and well, i played dumb.] on the other hand, pedro did not actually play el bobo [dumb], but advised a parent whose children were facing early transition to mainstream classrooms to do so as a way to delay this process without putting themselves in the spotlight as troublemakers. me di cuenta de que pensaban hacer la transición de clases bilingües a solo inglés comenzando con el tercer grado. recuerdo a una niña en específico y les decía “¿por qué me la sacan a ella del programa bilingüe?’ ella tenía todas las bases académicas en las matemáticas y ciencias. yo le dije a la mamá: “señora hágase la boba y no firme para hacer la transición.” [i realized they would start transferring students from the bilingual class to the graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 80 mainstream starting in third grade. i specifically remember a girl and i’d say, “why are you moving her out of the bilingual program?” she had the academic foundations in math and science. i told her mom: “ma’am, play dumb and don’t sign the acceptance of the transition.”] playing el zorro, [the fox] as arturo explained was to outfox the system by introducing more humanizing practices—such as literacy circles—and student-centered projects while still doing what he was asked to do in the classroom, such as mandated guided reading. at first glance, playing el zorro, la mensa, and el bobo may seem to be offering band-aids in conformist resistance to oppressive linguicist and homogenizing practices (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). however, the teachers expressed an understanding of the perils of being discovered and fired, thus, no longer able to be a positive influence at school. playing the game” was not the only way in which the participants advocated for the right to use spanish as a language of instruction. luisa, for instance, voiced her concerns over hiring monolingual staff in a school with mostly latinx and immigrant population. her lack of allies resulted in her facing the scrutiny and accusations from her colleagues of being “racist:” cuando estábamos escogiendo directora, yo dije, “sería bueno si fuera bilingüe porque vienen los padres y siempre tienen que ir a buscar una maestra bilingüe para que traduzca.” me dijeron: “tú nomás quieres alguien latino. la directora que tenemos ahorita ha estado con nosotros ya 10 plus years y ella no es bilingüe and she’s done perfect.” ser bilingües no significa ser latino pero ellos asumieron que yo estaba tratando de contratar a alguien de piel morena. [when we were searching for a principal i said, “it would be good if the principal were bilingual because parents always come and we always need to look for a bilingual teacher to translate.” they told me, “you just want a latino. our principal has been with us for more than ten years; she’s not bilingual and she’s done perfect.” being bilingual doesn’t mean to be latino but they assumed i was trying to hire someone with brown skin.] in the excerpt above, luisa exemplified another home language practice of significant importance—espanglish. espanglish was the reflection of the upbringing and educación of the us-born bilingual teachers and the ones who migrated as young children. garcía (2009) refers to this intermeshing of spanish abd ebgish under the umbrella of translanguaging. due to dominant language ideologies, the participants acknowledged that they used to perceive espanglish as a deficient linguistic practice they frequently engaged in, filling them either with shame and/or judgment. reflecting on their change of view towards this stigmatized and marginalized language practice during the master’s program, caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 81 ana admitted to embracing espanglish by allowing herself to use it in front of her students. i have more purpose of what i do. antes me sentía muy mal cuando hacía codeswitching y me decía, “i did it again, that's bad!” ahora ya sé por qué lo hago and when i do it; it's just more of being aware and strategic of what i do. [i have more purpose of what i do. before i felt bad when i codeswitched and i’d tell myself, “i did it again, that’s bad!” now i know why i do it and when i do it; it’s just more of being aware and strategic of what i do.] this minoritized language practice was more difficult to accept for the teachers who migrated as young adults, who initially opted for instruction that reflected the separation of languages reflecting thus standard language ideologies (martinez, hikida, & durán, 2015). these participants admitted that their views towards espanglish shifted in a more positive direction during their master’s program. even if for some of them language separation was their personal language practice, they no longer imposed that preference on the students in their classrooms. celia, who migrated as a young professional from puerto rico—described the transformation of her views towards language: algunos maestros bilingües nos oponíamos a que se mezclaran los idiomas. nosotros, por haber venido de un país donde se habla español, le decíamos a nuestros estudiantes: “no los mezcles; no me dañan ni el uno ni el otro.” nos llegamos a dar cuenta de que es injusto exigir a nuestros niños que actuaran de una manera de donde nosotros vivimos. [some teachers opposed to language mixing. we, because of coming from spanishspeaking countries, would tell our students: “don’t mix them, don’t damage them.” we have realized that it’s unfair to demand our student to speak the way it’s done where we come from.] the teachers interviewed confronted the way negative perceptions towards espanglish affected them and their students in and outside schools. the recognition of spanish and espanglish as the language of their educación at home, especially for the young immigrants and us-born teachers, became one of the reasons to use them as literacy tools (martinez, 2010) in the classroom. family literacy practices part of the participants’ educación was the way they became bilingual and biliterate at home. apprenticeship, orality, and games were some of the means by which the participants became (bi)literate as they reflected on their funds of knowledge (moll, 1992), which appeared to be less important at school. amanda exemplified some of those literacy practices: graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 82 yo aprendí (a leer) con la lotería. esos eran our sight words. mi mamá estudió hasta tercero y mi papá hasta cuarto. mi papá nos contaba muchos cuentos y mi mamá era costurera. no nos enseñaba, nosotros mirábamos. cuando medía, nos decía, “escribe 45” y yo escribía 4 y 5. no era formal pero era en las actividades diarias. no teníamos libros en la casa. [i learned to read with the lottery. those were our sight words. my mom went to school until 3rd grade and my dad until 4th. my dad would tell us a lot of stories and my mom was a seamstress. she wouldn’t teach us, we would watch her. when she’d make measurements she would tell us, “write 45,” and i would write 4 and 5. it was not formal but our daily activities. we didn’t have books in the house.] ana admitted that she wondered how she became literate when books were non-existent in her household and how, despite this and her working at an early age, she turned out to be an outstanding student unlike some of her classmates who had access to libraries and books. i noticed cómo era sobresaliente en comparación con mis compañeras pero como en mi casa no había libros y cuando era chiquita yo vendía tamales. mi mamá no me llevaba a la biblioteca, but i excelled academically. [i noticed how i stood out in comparison with my classmates but at home there weren’t any books and when i was little i’d sell tamales. my mom wouldn’t take me to the library but i excelled academically.] as in these examples, the literacy practices cultivated at home were at odds with the literacy that is conventionally promoted at schools. moreover, due to their schooling and teacher training, the participants did not regard these practices of their educación as valid and valuable until after they had enrolled in graduate school. recognizing the potential of those underrated practices, aurora described the way she had begun to advocate for orality among parents who were unable to provide a library at home: este año los padres en conferencias me pedían cosas para practicar en la casa. me decían; “maestra, no tenemos libros en la casa,” y yo les decía, “pero no tienen que ser libros, platíquenle y pregúntenle. no tenía que ser un libro o sentarse por media hora y escribir planas.” [this year at conferences, parents would ask me for material to practice at home. they would tell me, “miss, we don’t have books at home,” and i would tell them, “but it doesn’t have to be books, talk to them, ask them questions. it doesn’t have to be a book or sitting down for half an hour to fill out worksheets.”] caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 83 among those overlooked literacy practices was the sense of being part of a community of practice in which collaboration and feeling “en familia” (surrounded by family) was as important as reading a book. celia remembered how it was to talk “en familia” as she tried to promote that free exchange of ideas in her classroom. celia likened the conversation style in her pre-kinder classroom to family exchanges at the dinner table, where different conversations took place at the same time, but each member of the family was an active listener and participant. raising hands and turn-taking, according to celia, sometimes deterred students’ participation and the sense of community and selfworth she tried to foster in her classroom, something that was not welcomed by other teachers. mi salón es un poquito alborotado; como latinoamericana, en una mesa hablan cinco personas y tú entiendes al todo mundo. les permites cierta familiaridad, de que eres parte de una familia y queremos escuchar lo que tienes que decir. cuando llegan a kinder las maestras dicen; “tus niños sienten que tienen mucho que aportar pero ellos tienen que callarse la boca de vez en cuando.” no les gusta que mis estudiantes que van de mi salón porque dicen que son muy atrevidos. [my classroom is a little noisy; as a latin american woman, five people speak at the same time at the table and i understand everybody. you give them that sense of family, that you’re part of a family and we want to hear what you have to say… when they get to kinder, the teachers tell me; “your kids feel that they have a lot to say but they need to be quiet from time to time.” they don’t like my students because they say they talk back.] this last example shows that some family practices, some aspects of the educación people like the participants were exposed to as children, were not only disregarded/undervalued, but also misunderstood. community building, storytelling, games, and apprenticeship are practices that exemplify values among the families of these latinx bilingual teachers, which could be understood as contrary to a focus on individualism, written texts, and teacher-centered academic practices fostered at schools. family values and respeto: countering stereotypes for all of the participants, regardless of when/if they had migrated, the values they learned at home—perseverance, resilience, connection, hard-work, family approval—had an important role for their professional success. educación at home dictated that pursuing a post-secondary degree was not optional but a given. all of the participants experienced this push for higher education, whether their own parents had obtained a degree or had left school prior to that. in order to make sure their children graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 84 became professionals, the participants’ parents would resort to different methods. aurora’s mother, for example, would cross the border between juarez and el paso to take her to school every day during elementary school as she thought us schooling would provide her daughter a better chance to succeed. in fabiana’s case, her mother promised the reward of helping her with her expenses if she decided to apply to a university away from her hometown, a city on the us/mexico border that she felt would decrease the chances of a well-remunerated job. mayra’s parents looked for gifted and talented programs and magnet schools to help her escape the prevalence of gangs and teenage pregnancy. these examples in which the participants’ latinx parents pushed for excellence in formal education contradicts the portrayal of latinx parents as the ones to blame for their children’s failure to fit in and succeed academically (zarate, 2007). the contrast between this stereotype and their lived reality was a shock for arturo. this shock inspired him to become a bilingual teacher in order to challenge such misconceptions: cuando llegué aquí fue un shock para mí ver el aspecto negativo que se tiene de nuestra propia cultura, que los niños no aprenden y los hispanos no valoran la educación. y yo decía, “¿de quién están hablando?” porque esa no es la realidad. siempre fueron mis deseos de hacer algo para cambiar eso. los niños van a la escuela y tienen muchas ganas; los padres no los dejan para que se los cuiden sino para aprender: “escucha a la maestra, ponle ganas.’’ [when i arrived it was a shock to see how our culture was perceived negatively, that children won’t learn, and that parents don’t value education. i would say; “who are you talking about?” because that’s not the reality. my wish was to do something to change that. children go to school eager to learn; their parents don’t drop them off to be taken care of but to learn: “listen to your teacher, do your best.”] luisa, who had witnessed her own relatives not being welcomed at school, made a conscious effort to provide a friendly environment for her students’ parents. during her first year as a teacher, she realized latinx immigrant parents were ignored at school and were not provided information pertaining to their children in spanish so they were kept in the dark about academic opportunities, such as application procedures to access magnet schools and other services. luisa also complained about the fact that other teachers would create an unwelcoming environment for parents to ask questions in a neighborhood with a greater population of recent immigrants. she started bi-weekly informal meetings with parents to provide orientation to navigate a new culture: hacíamos eso bi-weekly, y era del tópico de lo que querían saber, y a veces no era ni escolar. a veces era sobre cosas como migración, sobre la renta, cosas así. era un lugar donde podían ir mamás que no tenían, que tenían hijos que necesitaban ayuda. entonces implementé un caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 85 programa en el que podían agarrar ayuda y que podíamos conseguir cosas. [we did this bi-weekly, and the topic was whatever they wanted to know. sometimes it wasn’t related to school, it was sometimes about immigration, house rentals, or something like that. it was a place for poor mothers, mothers with children who needed help. i implemented a program where you could get help and get things.] while luisa created opportunities to support parents’ desire to learn more about how to survive in the us, and thus provide a better future for their children, pedro’s advocacy involved empowering parents to advocate for themselves. pedro migrated as a young professional from colombia and became a bilingual teacher in the us. the principal attempted to move the bilingual program that had been functioning for only three years to another campus in spite of showing signs of success. pedro understood that the voices of teachers would not be enough to prevent the closure of the program so he educated parents about this issue and helped them organize a visit to the school district board to act as witnesses. y nos organizamos y nos fuimos hasta la junta directiva y llevamos a los padres a la junta. la junta directiva era solamente anglos y todos éramos cafecitos. un par de padres se pararon y dieron su testimonio y la directora a regañadientes tuvo que continuar el programa bilingüe. lo primero era hablar con los padres, hacerles saber que tienen vóz y voto. [and we got organized, went to the board meeting, and we took parents. the members of the board were all white and we all were brown. a couple of parents stood up and bore witness, and the principal reluctantly had to keep the bilingual program open. the first thing to do was to talk to the parents and let them know they have a voice and a vote.] having witnessed both the sacrifices their parents made to secure better educational opportunities for them, and the perceptions others had of latinx families in us schools—first as students, then as teachers—the participants felt the need to counter the stereotypes about parents’ lack of involvement and aspirations in regards to their children. in order to dispel those myths, these bilingual teachers offered opportunities to build bridges of trust and collaboration with parents. ethnic identification as mentioned before, the clash between the values at home and at school places latinx families at a crossroad. for the teachers who experienced discrimination due to their color, language, country of origin, and social class, the memories of humiliation at the hands of their own teachers marked their graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 86 vocation to become the teachers they wished they had had. the fragmentation of cultural identities and assimilation with the delusion of finally “fitting in” (urrieta & quach, 2000) may also be further exacerbated by a sense of danger for the ones whose immigrant status is unclear. my teacher didn’t let me go to the bathroom until i asked in english. (maria) en cuarto me la pasé en lunch detention (because of language). no traía la tarea, mi mamá trabajaba, mi abuelita no me podía ayudar. [i spent 4th grade in lunch detention (because of language). i couldn’t do homework, my mom was working and my grandma couldn’t help me]. (elsa) cuando fue mi primer día la asistenta nos apartaba en un grupo a los que hablábamos en español y nos hacía preguntas “¿y ustedes cruzaron el río?” [on my first day of classes the assistant put the children who spoke spanish in a group and asked us ‘so, did you come across the river?’]. (aurora) i wanted to be white. my sister and my brother lost their spanish. (fabiana) yo no quiero que nadie trate a los papás de los niños así como trataron a mi abuelito y a mi familia. la pobreza que vivió mi familia no es acceptable, and i, yo no estoy allí como maestra sino que tengo many roles. [i don’t want anyone to treat the parents of my students the way they treated my granddad and my family. the poverty in which my family lived is not acceptable and i, i’m not here to be just a teacher, but i have many roles]. (luisa) luisa’s determination to serve people like her family was prevalent in the other participants as well. even for the participants who arrived as adults, their goal was to serve “children who look like me,” as celia put it. as a recipient of a scholarship that allowed her to study in a private catholic school, amanda rejected the offer to teach at the same school as she thought that teaching well-off students would not allow her to make a difference. as she graduated with a mexican american major from a university, fabiana vowed to only work in title i3 schools similar to the ones she attended as her way to give back to her community. their own lives and educational trajectories might have reframed the way the participants saw their profession, extending their vision of their roles and duties beyond the classroom. all of the participants have been mentor teachers, conference presenters, curriculum designers, and facilitators either on campus and/or at district level—on top of their daily duties as bilingual teachers. 3 title i schools are those that receive supplemental federal funding because more than 50% of their student population fall below the poverty line. caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 87 the participants identified themselves with the communities they served not only because of sharing similar racial and socioeconomic background, but also due to their similar immigration stories. fabiana and luisa narrated their experiences fighting xenophobia at their schools: tuvimos la primera marcha for immigration y todos estaban diciendo que el mayo primero no vayas a la clase. [we had the first immigration march and everybody was saying nobody should go to classes on may 1]. the school district was ‘you have to come: you can’t call in sick or take a day off.’ ese día yo solo tuve 5 niños. [that day only 5 children went to class]. i was so proud of my parents. (fabiana) en la segunda escuela me di cuenta que los padres no podían entrar a la escuela. entonces los llevé al consulado porque pregunté en el distrito y me dijeron que sí pueden entrar con la licencia mexicana. fuimos todos los padres porque algunos no tenían coche. [in my second school i realized the parents couldn’t get into the school. so i took them to the consulate because i asked in the school district and they told me they could get in with a mexican id. we went to the consulate together because some didn’t have car.] (luisa) fabiana’s background as a former undocumented child and luisa’s childhood at the border created connections with their students’ parents which not only facilitated trusting relationships, but also helped them to support parents to engage in political activism and self-advocacy. discussion and conclusion the stories and trajectories of these bilingual teachers speak to the way the latinx population in the united states is perceived. their stories are full of examples of racism, language discrimination, xenophobia, and classism. but more importantly, their stories provide an account of the way they responded to challenges and microaggressions by drawing on their early educación in spite of isolation, alienation, or lack of recognition (brayboy, 2005) at the workplace. this educación involved a set of moral and ethical values in which respect for others and solidarity with their kin are central. the way the participants became the advocate-teachers they are now is in large part thanks to their educación, which they embody as they understand and embrace the different key roles they play and take responsibility for their community. exploring the origins of educación can elucidate the ways it may have shaped the work of latinx, mexican american, chicano/chicana activists and advocates and provide a point of relatedness and a sense of community in their quest for social justice (solórzano & yosso, 2002; urrieta, 2009). it is important to highlight that the connections these bilingual teachers made between their educación, their k-12 experiences as children, and their teaching experiences could not have been graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 88 possible without the socio-cultural-historical approach (athanases & de oliveira, 2008; menchaca, 2011; ricento, 2005) adopted by the master’s program in which they participated. this approach allowed them to examine their trajectories, language ideologies, teaching practices, and perceptions towards latinx communities. likewise, exploring historical issues that surround bilingual education and the education of latinx/mexican american children was something that the participants claimed to have never been exposed to during their teacher preparation programs. restorying (connelly & clandinin, 1990) was possible after self-reflection, introspection and sharing as the participants looked at their educación with different eyes, which prompted shifts in instruction, outreach, discourse, and their growing activism in and outside the classroom. however, the discussion surrounding educación also needs to be further problematized since educación—whether in the us or in latin american countries—might be colored by other relevant factors, such as social class, gender/gender identification, race and colorism. the participants of this study shared their working-class background and skin color, which may have been deciding factors in the outcomes of this study. more research is needed to examine whether the educación framework presented here is compatible with the experiences of latinx bilingual teachers from more affluent backgrounds, or those who can “pass” as white, or are non-latinx bilingual teachers. it seems especially important to examine these issues in the case of bilingual teachers who are recruited as professionals directly from spanish-speaking countries in order to serve in us bilingual and dual language programs, a phenomenon which appears to be increasingly more common (fee, 2011). there is evidence that many such international teachers struggle to understand us latinx and immigrant communities, and would benefit greatly from more knowledge of their students’ educación (cervantessoon, 2014). taking into account teachers’ own narratives of their experiences in k-12 schooling appears crucial to the project of humanizing schooling experiences for their students. we encourage the development of professional learning experiences for all teachers focused on restorying and building connection in order to understand and embrace their students’ educación. but for latinx bilingual teachers, we have learned that these professional learning experiences must provide emotional support and safety as they go through the often very painful process of making sense of and valuing their own educación in order to draw fully upon these experiences, values, and understandings as they teach and advocate for/with latinx bilingual children and their families. caldas & palmer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 89 references alim, h. s. (2004). you know my steez: an ethnographic and sociolinguistic study of styleshifting in a black american speech community. durham, nc: duke university press. athanases, s. z., & de oliveira. l. c. (2008). advocacy for equity in classrooms and beyond: new teachers' challenges and responses. teachers college record, 110(1), 64-104. bell, l. a. (2010). storytelling for social justice: connecting narrative and the arts in antiracist teaching. new york, ny: routledge. beverley, j. (2000). testimonio, subalternity, and narrative authority. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), the sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed) (pp. 547–558). thousand oaks, ca: sage. brayboy, b. m. j. (2005). transformational resistance and social justice: american indians in ivy league universities. anthropology and education quarterly, 36(3), 193-211. cervantes-soon, c. (2012). “testimonios” of life and learning in the borderlands: subaltern juarez girls speak. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 373-391. cervantes-soon, c. (2014). a critical look at dual language immersion in the new latin@ diaspora. bilingual research journal, 37(1), 64-82. chilisa, b. (2012). indigenous research methodologies. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. connelly, f. m., & clandinin, d. j. (1990). stories of experience and narrative inquiry. educational researcher, 19(5), 2-14. denzin, n. k. (1989). interpretive biography. newburry park, ca: sage. fee, j. (2011). latino immigrant and guest bilingual teachers: overcoming personal, professional, and academic culture shock. urban education, 46(3), 390-407. fernández, l. (2002). telling stories about school: using critical race and latino critical theories to document latina/latino education and resistance. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 45-65. fitts, s., & weisman, e. m. (2010). exploring questions of social justice in bilingual/bicultural teacher education: towards a parity of participation. urban review, 42(5), 373-393. garcía, o. (2009). education, multilingualism and translanguaging in the 21st century. in a. mohanty, m. panda, r. phillipson, & t. skutnabb-kangas (eds), multilingual education for social justice: globalising the local (128-145). new delhi: orient blackswan gounari, p., & macedo, d. (2009). language as racism: a new policy of exclusion. in c. mitakidou (ed.), beyond pedagogies of exclusion in diverse childhood contexts: transnational challenges (pp. 31-46). new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. illich, i. (1970). deschooling society. new york, ny: harper & row. kelley, r. d. g. (1993). we are not what we seems”: rethinking black working-class opposition in the jim crow south. journal of american history, 80, 75-112. lindlof, t. r., & taylor, b. c. (2011). qualitative communication research methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage. martinez, r. a. (2010). spanglish as literacy tool: toward an understanding of the potential role of spanish-english code-switching in the development of academic literacy. research in the teaching of english, 45(2), 124-149. graduate school as a site of remembrance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 90 martinez, r., hikida, m., & durán, l. (2015). unpacking ideologies of linguistic purism: how dual language teachers make sense of everyday translanguaging. international multilingual research journal, 9(1), 26-42. menchaca, m. (2011). naturalizing mexican immigrants: a texas history. austin: university of texas press. moll, l. c. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(1), 132-41. moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (eds.). (1981). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. pimentel, c. ( 2011). the color of language: the racialized educational trajectory of an emerging bilingual student. journal of latinos and education, 10(4), 335-353. ricento, t. (2005). problems with the “language-as-resource”: discourse in the promotion of heritage languages in the u.s.a. journal of sociolinguistics, 9(3), 348-368. solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-42. solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8, 1, 23-44. urrieta, l. (2009). working from within: chicana and chicano activist educators in whitestream schools. tucson, az: university of arizona press. urrieta, l., & quach, l. h. (2000). my language speaks of me: transmutational identities in l2 acquisition. the high school journal, 84(1), 26. villenas, s. (2001). latina mothers and small-town racisms: creating narratives of dignity and moral education in north carolina. anthropology & education quarterly, 32(1), 3-28. wiley, t. g. (2007). accessing language rights in education: a brief history of the u.s. context. bilingual education and bilingualism, 61, 89-107 wilson, s. (2008). research is ceremony: indigenous research methods. black point, ns: fernwood pub. zarate, m. e. (2007). understanding latino parental involvement in education: perceptions, expectations, and recommendations. los angeles, california. the tomás rivera policy institute. university of southern california. amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 liberating ourselves: agency, resistance and possibilities for change among latina/o students, educators, and parents guest editors antonia darder loyola marymount university pedro a. noguera new york university emma h. fuentes university of san francisco patricia sánchez university of texas—san antonio latino communities across the united states are experiencing today the impact of the recent economic collapse in ways that only further exacerbate many of the same social inequalities that have been historically at work for over a century. mass deportations, increasing unemployment and incarceration, poor health care, severe cuts in school budgets, the vilifi cation of teachers, the silencing of parents and students, and wholesale attacks on ethnic studies are highly prevalent conditions in many neighborhoods where large populations of mexican americans, puerto ricans, dominicans, and central americans reside. these conditions are just some of the assaults confronting latino communities, despite the growing number of latinas/os in this country. and as might be expected, education is at the center of many confl icts and struggles associated with these conditions, given its signifi cant role as one of the few contested public spaces that remain within the ever-encroaching privatization schemes tied to neoliberal objectives. hence, just as it was in the days of the lemon grove incident in the 1930s, the mendez v. westminster case in the 1940’s, and the chicano blow-outs of the 1970s, education continues to represent an important arena of struggle for latinas/os in the u.s.—a place where the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of latina/o students can be nurtured and supported. yet, so often the social agency of latina/o students and their communities are fundamentally disabled and their academic and civic needs are rendered invisible by the impact of class inequalities, racialization, and other political and ideological forces that effectively obstruct democratic voice and participation—forces of cultural invasion that subsume the histories, language, and future yearnings of latina/o students. accordingly, many experience a growing sense of social alienation, left to contend daily with the forces of inequality and growing public disengagement that can result. in light of these concerns, this special issue of the association of mexican-american educators journal is dedicated to the theme of resistance. we selected this theme because throughout the country educators, students, parents, and communities are rising up to actively resist attacks on our dignity, our expressions of culture and voice, and our right to participate as world citizens. resistance is a complex social phenomenon that must be understood critically with respect to its meaning and the political intent that portends its rising within human beings. it is not solely a psychological mechanism. nor is it simply a mindless individual response or a knee-jerk reaction to a perceived attack. instead, freire and others who have followed his tradition insist that critical resistance must be engaged as an emancipatory construct of everyday life. as such, emancipatory resistance is rooted in the evolution of critical consciousness or what brazilian educator paulo freire (1971), in his elaboration of a pedagogy of the oppressed, termed “conscientizaçao.” as is true in much of his writings, freire conceived the notion of critical consciousness not as a state of being, but as an active phenomenon born of collective struggle, rooted in the notion that as human beings participate 2 liberating ourselves: agency, resistance and possibilities for change association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 together in refl ection and dialogue about the limiting conditions—many not of our own making—that suffocate our aspiration, we gradually become more conscious of the social, political, and economic policies and practices that constrain and silence our civic participation. as a consequence, through an on-going engagement with that which threatens our self-determination as individuals and a community, we become compelled to take action in order to counter, reconstruct, and transform our world. as educators, scholars and activists, we draw heavily upon the work of paulo freire (and of course many others), as both a source of inspiration and as a conceptual guide for better understanding the limits and possibilities of resistance at this stage of history. freire’s understanding of resistance is closely tied to his understanding of praxis, a regenerative process, which he envisioned as the harbinger of social action, critical consciousness, and political solidarity, among those committed to the struggle for democratic life. for freire, an emancipatory praxis is central to an education that prepares students to become beings for themselves. but more importantly, such a praxis can only be forged within the context of courageous dialogue; for it is only as we come to see the world as subjects who can act upon it—rather than as passive victims of circumstance—that we come to experience for ourselves what it truly means to be human. this is precisely what freire meant when he wrote and spoke of empowerment as a pedagogical imperative. there is no question that the contributors to this special issue share this vital understanding of social agency, consciousness, empowerment, and the political commitment that all of this entails. as such, the contributors embrace a commitment to the larger project of education as a means of student empowerment, through creating the conditions for critical thought. this approach contrasts fundamentally with the deeply fragmented, decontextualized, and racialized meritocratic culture of high-stakes testing, which functions, wittingly or unwittingly, to perpetuate the disempowerment and marginalization of the most vulnerable student populations. inherent in the critical educational approach espoused here is also an uncompromising commitment to community organizing, through critical dialogue and problem-posing strategies, in an effort to achieve a shared understanding of what must be done to confront our own problems and to guide our collective efforts. but, above all, there is a commitment to a humanizing political vision, anchored in the recognition that without active, collective resistance, within schools and society, we run the risk of not only becoming further victimized, but of also becoming more fully marginalized and silenced even within our own communities. writing from their unique social locations as latina and latino teachers, principals, professors, student activists, and parents, the contributors rightly assert that not only is resistance to the forces that oppress and marginalize latino communities possible, it is essential. freire’s vision of struggle is again central to this underlying thesis. it entails a pedagogical and political vision that is inextricably rooted in the radical idea that one person cannot act to liberate another, but rather that through dignity and respect for one another, love for all life, and purposeful and persistent dialogue, we together can devise those strategies that make resistance feasible and transformation possible. as freire so eloquently wrote, “attempting to liberate the oppressed without their refl ective participation in the act of liberation is to treat them as objects that must be saved from a burning building” (p.52). the authors in this volume embrace this sentiment. they understand resistance, not as a slogan or catch phrase, but as a pedagogical and political imperative. through their writings, they demonstrate how resistance must function as an integral part of the educational process, one that affi rms our human rights, nurtures our spirits, and makes possible the fulfi llment of our revolutionary dreams. at a time when policymakers clamor endlessly about the importance of standardization and accountability and educational leaders peddle the latest reform gimmick or instructional fl avor of the month— phonics, open-court literacy curriculum, smart boards, commc ron core standards—to “save our schools,” such an approach is not only refreshing, it is desperately needed to revive latina/o pedagogical debates and a liberatory vision of education in this country. we certainly hope that readers of this special issue will be as inspired as we are, by the excellent questions raised and the empowering possibilities for liberating ourselves offered by these contributing authors. we also trust that these writings will inspire readers to embrace education, once again, as a tool for empowerment, a means for disrupting poverty, a place for the building of solidarity, and as the most vital political tool we currently possess for countering ignorance and bigotry. for latinas/os and for all people, we hope this special 3 liberating ourselves: agency, resistance and possibilities for change association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 issue of amae will indeed make it possible for us all to embrace education as an integral part of the struggle for social justice—a struggle so vital to the future of children and our communities. the fi rst part of the special issue contains six research studies. linnea beckett, ana paulina moreno, and ron glass analyze the experiences of latino/a parents in two popular education projects that engage in a process of community building as a form of resistance. in examining the pedagogical process of community building, the authors present new ways of understanding solidarity and agency. their article is entitled: “a pedagogy of community building: re-imagining parent involvement and community organizing in popular education efforts.” the second study, “mexican american studies: the historical legitimacy of an educational program,” focuses on the process that led to the development and implementation of the mexican american studies program in tucson, arizona. the piece, written by conrado gómez and margarita jiménez-silva, pays specifi c attention to the collective effort of the students, parents, and teachers that “dared to dream big on behalf of mexican american students” in tucson schools. we next hear the testimonios of six latina/o young adults who either left or considered leaving high school before graduation in the piece appropriately entitled, “latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth,” by rebeca burciaga and nancy erbstein. this article, drawing on the community cultural wealth framework, addresses the low graduation rates of latinas/os while at the same time provides voice to the experiences and strategies of school persistence. in the next article, pablo ramírez and gustavo gonzález share with readers the voices of four latina teachers in southern california who enacted agency and challenged institutional barriers impacting latinas/os in the educational system. their portraits, struggles, and triumphs are found in the article, “latina teacher agency in public schools: love, tensions, and perseverance.” bianca guzmán’s “cultivating a guerrera spirit in latinas: the praxis of mothering” provides a powerful refl ective piece on the ways that latina mothers can nurture the guerrera spirit of agency and well-being in their daughters. through her own testimonio, the author positions mothering as a form of decolonizing education. to conclude the fi rst part of the special issue, a group of co-authors wrote, “framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento,” which brings together shared work involving the education of youth and the development of community—all modeled on practices of community engagement taking place in south texas. the writers of this piece are francisco guajardo, miguel guajardo, john oliver, and lia o’neill m. a. keawe. the second part of the special issue is devoted to refl ective essays. the fi rst is by reynaldo reyes iii, who shares his insights in preparing latina/o teachers in a border context; he calls for teacher candidates to use their own life stories and sacrifi ces in the development of their pedagoy. his essay is appropriately called, “teachers of latinos on the margins: beginning at a pedagogy from within.” anita fernández and zoe hammer follow with their essay entitled, “red scare in the red state: the attack on mexican-american studies in arizona and opportunities for building national solidarity.” in this piece, the authors provide a perspective of two social justice educators who bore witness to the tucson unifi ed school district’s mexican american studies program. the authors call for alliances to be built amongst transformative education projects, such as the mas program, across the country. the last essay, by belinda hernández arriaga, discusses the youth-led collective based in oakland, california, which is committed to recognizing the 67 percent of undocumented youth and young adults who would not qualify for the dream act, and is called, “67 sueños: inspiring a movement for undocumented voices to be heard.” finally, the special issue closes with a set of poems by marisol ruiz entitled, “silencing resistance,” that speaks to the courage of pushing back the ban against ethnic studies in arizona and a book review of mothers united: an immigrant struggle for socially just education (dyrness, 2011)—an ethnography of latina immigrant mothers involved in the small schools reform movement in northern california. 4 liberating ourselves: agency, resistance and possibilities for change gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 144 reframing community partnerships in education: uniting the power of place and wisdom of people. guajardo, m.a., guajardo, f., janson, c., & militello, m. (2016). new york, ny, routledge, 198 pp, isbn: 1317555600, 9781317555605 araceli gonzalez university of california, davis in reframing community partnerships in education: uniting the power of place and wisdom of people, co-authors guajardo, guajardo, janson, and militello (2016) present their theory of change in action called, “community learning exchange (cle),” along with a model they developed and termed, “relationships, assets, stories, place, politic, and action (rasppa),” to engage in social justice efforts. though not explicitly stated, in my estimation, the authors incorporate into their cle model the critical scholarship of funds of knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005), humanizing research (paris & winn, 2013), and freire’s (1970) pedagogies of learning and teaching. cle and rasppa result from the authors’ individual and collective lived experiences. these concepts arose during a gathering hosted by an outside broker—the kellogg leadership for community change. however, its full materialization was a continuous engagement in questioning, active boundary crossing, and reflection of their roles, or positionality, as educators, advocates, and community organizers. for instance, for the guajardo brothers—both phds and both raised in the south texas rio grande valley—family cultural values and the limitless creativity and imagination used during their childhood games in a farm labor camp were foundational to their intellectual development. in terms that moll, et al. (1992) would describe as “funds of knowledge,” assets were discussed by the authors as key learning and educating practices, happening outside the classroom, yet integral to their academic success. most importantly, their experience with socially structured poverty, covert segregation, and systematic inequality in agricultural labor gave them an awareness of the assets, strengths, and possibilities within their own community and its members to challenge and transform a socially unjust reality. reframing community partnerships in education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 145 as a collective, the authors identify five circular axioms of learning forming the proposed cle theory of change in action and rasppa. these axioms shape the three central “ecologies of knowing”—the self, organizations, and the community. interwoven and as a generative process, these schemas or frames of reference organize the ways in which thinking and learning happens, as well as the way in which life is experienced. it is through these life experiences that knowledge is created. those pushed to the margins of society, the authors argue, are best suited to recreate knowledge of themselves, reimagine their existence, and to use their agency and transform everyday conditions of inequity. theoretically speaking, cle is composed of the stories, storytelling, and lived experiences shared in “gracious spaces” or places of trust. through an invitation to participate in questioning of concrete reality, and thus crossing intentionally established boundaries (conscious and unconscious, physical, and imaginary), participants reposition the self and engage in what freire (1970) might describe as the dialogic process of learning, naming, and acting upon the world. these stories are fueled by ancestral knowledge, grounded in the freedom of imagination and creativity and are best told by those experiencing it and invited to reexperience it. this invitation is not just a formal entrance to a consciously and collectively created space, by means of social gathering; instead, this is an invitation to undergo engagement akin to what paris and winn (2013) propose in humanizing research as the “worthy witness” of the true self in the process of liberation. methodologically, the continuous, collective, and reciprocal process of relationshipbuilding is at the core of the ecologies of learning and the cle-informed rasppa method. through a process of questioning, acting, and reflecting upon social reality, cle repositions individuals as subjects rather than objects, actors rather than acted upon, and assets rather than handicaps, needs, or deficits. this reconfiguration and re-authoring of the self and community can be achieved through the use of tools such as, but not limited to, asset and community mapping and two proposed “dynamic-critical pedagogies”—the pedagogies of reflection, which engage participants in a circular practice of appreciative listening, meaningful critical dialogue and the pedagogies with and in community that engage participants in strategic community action, defined by the active problem-posing and recognition of community assets (p. 91-92). thus, individuals are reframed as capable, with the ability to make familiar the unfamiliar, to shift the lens from a deficit view of communities of color, and to instead focus on recognizing and gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 146 employing what yosso (2005) has similarly conceptualized as community cultural wealth (ccw): the wide array of cultural knowledge, skills, abilities and networks possessed by communities of color but uncredited by dominant forces. as a theoretical and methodological tool, this book is seminal for those interested in the creation of a more socially just society, including educators/practitioners, community organizers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers. however, readers may note the absent voices and experiences of women of color in the shaping of the theory proposed. noting this omission runs the risk of falling into a solely gender-binary critique. this observation is thus made in the interest of acknowledging the power of the collective experience, documented by the authors, while also ensuring that we not ignore the detrimental effects of patriarchy, class, race, and institutionalized racism. nonetheless, the inclusion of thirdworld feminist perspectives, such as interwoven trenzas de identidades (see gonzalez, 2010), counterstorytelling and testimonios (delgado-bernal, 1989; 1993; 2002), and community examination through the intersectional lens of race, class, gender, ideological, and political forms of interlocking oppression (crenshaw, 1991) can strengthen the power of the proposed cle and rasppa model and widen the tools needed for recuperating people’s sociohistorical experiences and community memory. much work remains undone in achieving the full inclusion of the heterogeneous voices and experiences of communities of color. rather than solely removing dominant deficit-based notions and practices when engaging historically disenfranchised communities of color, cle and rasppa re-center, honor, and privilege the lived experiences of those at the very margins of society. by allowing individuals and communities to re-gain new insight of their agency and imagination to design the much needed sustainable change, the framework presented in this book moves us forward in an effort to raspar (chip away at) and transform the existing historical structures of power hindering our collective humanity. reframing community partnerships in education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 147 references crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 1241-1299. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-582. delgado bernal, d. (1999). chicana/o education from the civil rights era to the present. in j. f. moreno (ed.), the elusive quest for equality: 150 years of chicano/chicana education (pp. 77108). cambridge, ma: harvard educational review. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. gonzalez, f. e. (1998). formations of mexicaness: trenzas de identidades multiples/growing up mexicana: braids of multiple identities. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 81-102. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132141. paris, d., & winn, m. t. (2013). humanizing research: decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities. new york, ny: sage. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. aj_pg18_pg59.psd reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 90 reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities: latina/o parent leadership retreats as sites of community cultural wealth pedro e. nava mills college argelia lara mills college abstract this article examines how the education leadership foundation (a leadership development community based organization) in partnership with the migrant education program use parent retreats for building leadership, and skill development of migrant farm-working families. utilizing cooperative and community responsive practices, these retreats build on the community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) in migrant communities as parents develop cohesive networks and community leaders to engage in school advocacy in the service of their children. this study draws from testimonios and participant observations to reveal the particular ways that social, familial, and resistant capital are activated. we examine the unique dimensions of leadership development within (im)migrant farmworker communities, and argue for the need to rethink the role of testimonios as a pedagogical tool in parent engagement and capacity building for leadership and agency in such communities. introduction no me quedo otra mas que . . . ir a la escuela. —raúl moreno translated to “i had no choice but to go to school,” this quote was uttered by raúl moreno when he delivered his testimonio at the opening of a parent leadership retreat. raul was referencing the cruel realization of knowing that he would no longer be able to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a foreman in the fields—the man he most admired. losing most of his vision after a tragic accident, raúl had to dedicate himself to his studies and obtain the formal education that had eluded his illiterate farmworking father. in sharing his testimonio with participants in parent leadership retreats, raul was modeling for them a type of “teaching that nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 91 enables transgressions” (hooks, 1994, p. 12) against and beyond the boundaries that so often deny migrant families the ability to engage in and with schools. these migrant parent leadership retreats were collaboratively organized by the migrant education program (mep) and the educational leadership foundation (elf) with the purpose of raising consciousness around the needs of (im)migrant families and communities and the roles that parents can play in addressing them. elf is a community benefit organization (cbo) founded on july 3, 2007 in fresno, california by raúl moreno, a university and community leader, and former migrant student himself. the mission of elf is to “empower communities through educational opportunities, leadership development, and civic engagement.” as a community-based organization, elf has strategically focused on forming partnerships with other key community organizations and businesses to leverage different types of support for students and families. in addition to resources and mentorship, migrant students and their families throughout the san joaquin valley also require professional and leadership development. towards addressing these needs, elf develops parent retreats that build on culturally responsive pedagogy (gay, 2002; ladsonbillings, 2014) and community responsive methods (tintiangco-cubales et al., 2015). this article examines the ways that latina/o parent leadership retreats foster community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) in (im)migrant communities as parents develop into leaders through cooperative and community responsive practices (tintiangco-cubales et al., 2015). the purpose of this article is to examine the unique dimensions of leadership development within (im)migrant farmworker communities, and argues for the need to rethink what is meant by parent engagement and capacity building for leadership and agency in such communities. this article is guided by the following research question: how do latina/o migrant parental retreats help develop the leadership skills and abilities of parent participants? in contextualizing parent engagement and capacity building we first review the literature on latina/o parent engagement and examine how these retreats are different from traditional forms of parental involvement. next, we draw on community cultural wealth and document how it provides a powerful framework for illuminating critical features of leadership to understand and engage latino migrant communities. finally, after an overview of the methodology, the study’s findings are revealed and we conclude with a set of recommendations that includes the use of testimonio as a pedagogy of leadership development. reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 92 the power of testimonio for leadership development in migrant communities within the field of education, the use of testimonios has attained heightened visibility broadly and, in particular, within the critical work of chicana/latina scholars undertaking pedagogical and methodological approaches (delgado bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012; cruz, 2012). testimonios are powerful narrative accounts with historical roots in latin american liberation movements (burgos-debray, 1984). testimonios can be understood as an account told by a person who “has experienced or witnessed great trauma, oppression, forced migration, or violence, or of a subject who has participated in a political movement for social justice” (cruz, 2012, p. 461). there is a particular sense of urgency in which the testimonio directs attention to a cause or an issue as a way of raising consciousness (gonzález, plata, garcía, torres, & urrieta, 2003). as pedagogy (freire, 2000), the use of testimonios centers critical reflection of lived experience, connects individual to collective knowledges, and disrupts the silencing of voices so prevalent in “top down” approaches commonly used in parent involvement and leadership development. this approach towards leadership development requires a deep faith in the ability of people to critically think, reflect, and engage as active participants in their local communities, schools, and the social worlds of their children. literature review literature has documented that parental involvement is linked to improved student academic achievement (chavkin, 1993; henderson & mapp, 2002). recently, scholars have examined the engagement practices of low-income latino families (auerbach, 2002; ceja, 2006; delgado-gaitan, 2001; gonzález & moll, 2002; olivos, 2006) and have acknowledged the differing notions of involvement that often times exist between working class and immigrant families and school officials. few studies have yet to examine the engagement practices of farmworking families (lopez, 2001, treviño, 2004), an occupation overrepresented in the region examined here. most research on family engagement still conceptualizes being “involved” in school-centric terms defined by school officials (olivos, 2006; pérez carreon, drake, & barton, 2005) and assumes egalitarian power relations in “partnerships” between the school and the home (auerbach, 2002), ultimately subscribing to assimilatory ideologies. nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 93 a small but increasing number of studies are beginning to examine the role that community based organization can play in developing broader and deeper forms of engagement between families and schools (warren, hong, rubin, & uy, 2009). some cbo’s are developing the leadership capacity of parents to self-advocate and engage with schools around family and community needs, simultaneously building relationships and political power (johnson, 2012; warren et al., 2009). this study makes a contribution to that literature by exploring the ways one cbo utilizes testimonios in leadership retreats as a way to center migrant family and community needs in leadership development. community cultural wealth framework the concept of cultural capital (bourdieu, 1986) has been applied extensively in sociology and education to study u.s. inequality. an overemphasis in that literature toward forms of cultural capital that dominant groups possess (carter, 2003; dixon-román, 2014), has resulted in a failure to examine the cultural capital held by marginalized groups. yosso (2005) has proposed a model of community cultural wealth (ccw) to suggest that centering the research lens on the cultures of communities of color, makes “visible” their “array of knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts” (p. 77). yosso (2005) fleshed out empirical examples in the literature that revealed how communities of color nurture cultural capital through dynamic and overlapping processes leading to ccw in the following ways:  aspirational capital: a hopefulness rooted in dreaming of possibilities beyond what is present today.  linguistic capital: the intellectual and social skills learned from communication experiences, more so than from language or style.  resistant capital: oppositional dispositions undertaken to challenge inequality and marginalization.  navigational capital: maneuvering through social instructions.  social capital: networks of people and resources, often overlooked.  familial capital: cultural knowledges nurtured among familia grounded in community history and memory. in conceptualizing the different forms of capital in ccw, yosso (2005) contributes a framework that struggles for social and racial justice through a firm commitment to “conduct reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 94 research, teach and develop schools” (p. 82). ccw exposes the cultural deficit theorizing privileged in solely “seeing” cultural capital through its dominant forms, while highlighting how societal institutions could potentially transform and be remade by incorporating the experiences and knowledges of communities of color. ccw’s anti-deficit framework focuses on ways to open channels that encourage dialogic leadership to emerge from within latina/o migrant schools, organizations, and spaces. while all six forms of yosso’s capital are present, this article focuses on three dimensions of ccw that exemplify ways researchers can redefine leadership in relation to parent engagement in migrant communities. here, we highlight the role of social, familial, and resistant capitals because they privilege the role of shared experiences, cultural knowledge, and communitybased collective action in the service of challenging inequities in schools and communities of these participants. methods and methodology this qualitative study explored the use of testimonio as part of a case study (yin, 2014) that examined leadership development across two parent leadership retreats led by elf in partnership with mep. the three-day retreats took place in april and october of 2007 in a remote location in the california san joaquin valley. this study relied on multiple sources of data including individual and collective testimonios, ethnographic field notes (bogdan & biklen, 2003), and collective reflections. in addition, leadership style preand post-assessments from participants in both retreats were also examined. data collected from the leadership retreats were analyzed and compiled into two separate reports produced on behalf of the migrant education program. testimonios were encouraged and shared across the 6 days. testimonios were transcribed and manually coded (saldaña, 2015) to identify ways parents articulated roles of leadership and the ways that community cultural wealth was expressed in relationship to schools, families, and communities. raúl’s testimonio raúl moreno frequently opens the parent leadership retreats by providing his powerful testimonio, or his own lived experience, as a product of the migrant farm-working context. as part of his and the elf’s vision, working with communities necessitates a perspective that nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 95 privileges a focus on the lived experience of (im)migrant families, yet from an asset-based perspective. raúl’s parents and older siblings migrated to the u.s. from mexico in 1973 leaving him and his younger siblings behind, until the following year when the family reunited in the community of planada, in the san joaquin valley in california. a few months after settling in, he experienced a life-changing event at 12 years of age that would radically transform his educational and life trajectory. participants in the educational leadership retreat listened intently as he shared his testimonio: i was riding like a kid on a brand new bike . . . i remember seeing a beautiful girl that really caught my attention as she was sitting on the rear seat of the station wagon that her father was driving . . . i pedaled faster . . . to show off in front of her . . . by then i was going full speed, but the station wagon suddenly turned to the left, and i wasn’t paying close attention . . . a car coming from the other side hit me throwing me 12 feet up in the air. i landed on my head in the pavement. six months later, i remember waking up in a hospital in santa clara . . . the first thing that i asked my father when i saw him was . . . “dad, why don’t you bring me a comic?” my father didn’t respond and instead he got up and withdrew a little. then after he came closer, and i asked him “dad, why don’t you bring me a book? bring me the [comic]” . . . it took him a couple of days but he brought me one . . . when he took me the comic, i had a big shock when i realized i could no longer read! i had lost 75 percent of my vision. so i asked him, “what happened dad, why can i no longer read?” he told me, “well, the doctor said that maybe down the line.” “so then, i can’t read?” “well son, what do you want me to do? i would read for you, but i don’t know how to read either.” because he didn’t know how to read, he only went up to the first grade . . excuse my language but i was very angry at god. i would curse at god. “and why me? why did he do this to me? why did i lose my sight?” i was angry at god because i returned to the fields to pick figs and guess what happened to me? i could no longer pick . . . because i could no longer see well. and so i failed . . . my dad pulled me aside one day and said to me, “son, you have no other choice but to [pause] . . . but to go to school.” so there i go with reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 96 a deep pain in my heart off to school. i went with that pain for two reasons . . . because at school i did not know a single person and second, because . . . i deeply admired my father and i yearned to be like him. i would often look at him and say, “one day i want to be like my father. i too want to be a foreman of the picking crew.” so then my dreams of becoming a foreman were shattered. i no longer had an option but to go off to school. go to school without even speaking english, without being able to see the blackboard, and without friends? forget about it. raul had little time to dwell on what he had lost as a result of the accident. he learned to rely on his hearing, he reached out for reading and writing support, and struggled, but graduated from high school. in college, he drew motivation from courageous students struggling against greater adversity. he leaned on study groups for support, transferred to a 4 year university and graduated with bachelors and master degrees, and now assists others. one day a few years ago, when my father visited me at the university he said to me, “do you remember son when you used to curse at god because you suffered your accident and lost your eyesight? do you realize now, that it was all a blessing by god—a blessing in disguise?” raúl’s testimonio conveys a response to experiencing a tragic incident that left him no option but to tackle adversity head on. i tell you my testimonio…to each of us, our task is not so much to see our weaknesses, but to find the means to overcome them, to focus on the assets and strengths that we do have. i no longer have my eyesight, but god helped me to hear better . . . i invite you, if you have a particular weakness or are struggling with something—move that aside and let’s keep going forth as if there is no other option.. he invites participants in the retreat to collectively reflect around their own experiences of oppression and marginalization, and to focus on their areas of strength and think of particular ways to collectivize to overcome adversity. nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 97 findings in this section, examples from the approach employed in education and leadership retreats speak to the particular ways that these less formal, out-of-school spaces, are culturally relevant (ladson-billings, 2014) and responsive (tintiangco-cubales et al., 2015) to latina/o communities. for the purpose of this article, we primarily focus on three of the six ways that ccw of these parents were “seen” and legitimated. building social capital social capital includes the networks of people and the embedded resources within their communities (yosso, 2005). first, teambuilding and icebreaker (dinámicas) activities were utilized strategically from the beginning of the retreat as a way to have parents interact in entertaining and engaging ways with each other. the dinámicas consisted of playing games where they were encouraged to learn each other’s names, birthdays, and ages and line up alphabetically. other collaborative dinámicas/teambuilding activities implemented over the three-day retreat included participating in an assortment of hula-hoop activities, as well as “team skis”—participants utilized listening, communication, positive reinforcement, and cooperation skills. the dinámicas served the purpose of helping to forge relationships among parents, move outside of their comfort zones, and engage in activities that were also entertaining. second, after developing a stronger sense of community through the assortment of teambuilding activities, they began work—hand-in-hand with other parents from their school districts—on student and community needs efforts. in these groups, parents were asked to engage in dialogue identifying specific and common issues in their communities and schools. the primary objective of these dialogues was to begin to discuss and raise consciousness in a community context and propose possible roles parents could play in working towards addressing these pertinent issues. after the identification of the community needs and problems, representatives from each group incorporated possible solutions in their parents advisory council (pac) operational plan and then presented them to the larger group. included in figure 1 are some of the identified needs and corresponding actions parents committed to undertake: reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 98 migrant student & community needs pac operational plan & actions 1. increased parent involvement 2. reliable transportation 3. cleaner and friendlier schools 4. more bilingual/bi-cultural teachers 1. share information we learn with others in community 2. ensure that more parents participate 3. recruit more families 4. create a supportive environment in meetings 1. academic counseling for students and parents 2. information about universities & financial aid 3. better student assessments 1. advocate so that schools provide our children the necessary academic support 2. know about our rights as parents & community members 1. improve one’s own schools 2. add more after school programming 3. improved instruction in math/english 1. work closely with schools 2. organize to generate new ideas 3. participate in mep activities 1. health services (visual & dental) 2. food & clothing 2. racial discrimination in schools 1. participate in direct action in community 2. help create agency in those around me 3. provide help to the neediest students figure 1. parent advisory council identified needs & actions to conclude this session, members from each parent group presented the action steps that they vowed to take as a means towards addressing the needs they had identified. third, parents also participated in a networking and business card session where they were introduced to the hidden curriculum (giroux & purpel, 1983) around networking and engaging school and community leaders through mock school board presentations. parents were provided with a protocol on how to “formally” address and engage school board members and power brokers in their respective communities. for most of these parents, entering formal spaces of power to engage “leaders” on a one-to-one basis is not something nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 99 they have been socialized to do. in this session, facilitators emphasized losing timidity, making eye contact when speaking, and giving a firm handshake as being key. parents were also provided with mep “fill in the name” business cards to take home with them for upcoming engagements. they were reminded that by introducing themselves as members of an organization like mep they are advocating not just for the interests of their own child, but are seen as members of a collective. mock school board presentations provided a safe space for parents to practice and have a platform to raise issues that emerged in prior dialogues. the range of issues raised by parents in these sessions included but were not limited to: the need for a stoplight by the school, after-school programs, services for undocumented students, babysitting services, false accusations of children with lice, police racial profiling, new textbooks, students being called “wetback” by others, unfair disciplinary procedures by teachers, and too many remedial classes. tapping into familial capital familial capital are the “cultural knowledges nurtured among familia,” all of which are grounded in community, history, and memory. in this context, familial capital addresses the migratory experience and how it extends the notion of family to include relatives and non-kin networks such as compadres. this form of wealth engages a commitment to community wellbeing and expands the concept of family. the collaborative approach of the retreats structured opportunities for families to draw on each other’s familial capital and engage with one another in ways that surpassed typical leadership work in school spaces. for instance, raúl moreno guided parents through a reading of angel de mi guarda,1 a play he authored and published as a children’s book (moreno, 2007). the play follows josé and maría martínez, and their three children—concepción, angel, and esperanza—through the turmoil leading to their departure from the state of michoacán, méxico in their journey to the san joaquin valley agricultural town of planada. the 13-scene play critically deals with the martínez family’s social, political, and economic context prior to departure, including hunger and joblessness. this forces josé martínez to draw upon his social and familial capital (yosso, 2005) by seeking the help of his compadre manuel, who now resides 1 ángel de mi guarda translates to my guardian angel. reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 100 in california, and setting off a chain of events that climaxes when he and his family arrive at the mexican border. angel de mi guarda exposes the wide array of social and familial capital that migrant families rely on in order to borrow the $15,000 that “coyotes” charge to smuggle each family into the united states. these seldom told perspectives reveal the many dangers that families face as they attempt to cross the u.s.–méxico border. once in the u.s., exploitative labor conditions arguably structure a modern day version of indentured servitude for farmworker families. for josé and maría martínez, this arduous transnational journey inculcated in their children the importance of obtaining a formal education (lopez, 2001; nava, 2012) in order to escape labor and economic exploitation, attain a higher standard of living, and no longer be subjected to such policies of dehumanization. the most significant scenes of the play focus on the pressures the martínez children face in terms of cultural assimilation. at 17 years old and as the oldest of the three martínez children, concepción has grown tired of her family’s harsh struggles, drops out of school, and elopes with her boyfriend. as time goes by, angel, the middle child, deceives his non-english speaking parents into signing a consent form to enlist into the u.s. army. ashamed of his cultural background and the poverty he grew up in, angel views his enlistment in the army as a way to assimilate into mainstream u.s. society and leave behind his cultural background and heritage. in contrast, the youngest daughter, esperanza, graduates high school near the top of her class and aspires to leave for a top-ranked four-year university, but struggles to gain her father’s approval. while, mr. martínez supports his daughter’s desire to obtain a higher education, his unfamiliarity with the educational system makes it difficult to give his permission. ultimately, though, mr. martínez acquiesces and allows his daughter to go to college with the condition that her family remain a priority. the culminating scene captures the brutal irony of angel—now an agent for the department of homeland security and the border patrol— shooting and killing his own godfather as he attempts to cross the u.s.–méxico border in pursuit of similar opportunities as his compadre josé and the martínez family had done only a couple of years before. the play ends with angel embracing and comforting his dying godfather—angel has finally realized that cultural assimilation and his own desire to dutifully serve his new country have been fraught with serious contradictions and consequences. nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 101 following the play, parents were invited to reflect and dialogue on their reactions to it. one of the mothers, maría, shared her testimonio to address the contradictions of familial pursuit of the american dream: in the play, what was most sad was the young man angel, who was mexican. he came from méxico, he studied here, and then he became an ice agent. the saddest thing to me was that he was there to repress and kill his own people. and it was sad what happened to his godfather and that is what happens with us, with our children today. if they came here or were born here, now they become part of the same machine that does not let us pass through. maría spoke to the tragedy inherent in the socio-political processes that lead people to migrate (gonzales, 2013) across borders. in these scenarios, immigrants face immense dangers, as well as leave much of what they know and love behind. maría’s commentary can also be understood as the fear that many immigrant families have of u.s institutions like the military, or that formal education will erode the cultural imprint that parents leave on their children. in his story of becoming a border patrol agent, in many ways angel symbolizes the failure to cultivate an educación (burciaga & erbstein, 2012; valenzuela, 1999)—or the role a family plays “in inculcating in children a sense of moral, social, and personal responsibility and serves as the foundation for all other learning” (valenzuela, 1999, p. 23). not limited to formal education in the form of certificates and degrees, this notion of educación refers to “competence in the social world.” this competence in the social world would lead angel to “respect the dignity and individuality” and humanity of border crossers grounded on empathy and learned from the lived experiences of his family and as a fellow migrant. another parent shared her testimonio highlighting the challenge to traditional gender roles, the evolving role of fathers, and the potential to also transform cultural knowledge and cultural roles in father–son relationships. the mother confided: this is the first time that i come to a retreat like this one. one always says that one has problems, and we think that no one has problems bigger than our own. i’m starting to find out that for example, it is true that as a parent (more my husband in my case) who is the one that works, he is the one that worries more about putting something to eat on the table at home, than all that having to do with our children’s education. in part my husband used to be like that . . . now reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 102 he is beginning to change because i have a son in high school and he is making his dad understand that he needs help, and not just economic support, but that he also needs to talk to him. he tells him, “look dad i need you to understand that i will be graduating from high school soon, and i want to continue to study.” and my husband would tell him, “it’s just that studying is not for . . . you can’t keep going to school because you don’t have papers.” and my son would respond, “but you have to help to continue to fight so that i can continue to study. you only seem to worry about providing me with something to eat, to give me money with what i may need, but you don’t pay attention to what i may need you beyond those things.” and now i understand, it is true that some parents worry more so about providing the necessities, and school and the children get left in last place. in the beautiful testimonio above, a mother shares the unconditional love a son has for his father and explains to him that he can play a much larger role for him beyond being a provider. despite being undocumented, the son’s desire to continue to higher education reformulated for his father the concept of familial capital, or an evolved “caring, coping, and providing” (burciaga & erbstein, 2012; yosso, 2005) that necessitates expanded roles adapted to the new realities facing migrant students and their families in the u.s. furthermore, raúl moreno helped crystalize this session by reminding parents that evolving gender and leadership roles are important in a family. in fact, moreno then challenged them to take the message to those who could not make it to the retreat. activating resistant capital resistant capital is defined as those “knowledges and skills fostered through oppositional behavior” that are put in motion to challenge political neglect, social inequality, and oppression” (yosso, 2005). while one form of cultural awakening involves understanding oppressive structures, this process also necessitates counteracting them. formal school spaces where parents are typically invited and expected to participate are often not welcoming to migrant latina/o parents (nava, 2012). the leadership retreats facilitated and cultivated the resistant capital of parents through individual and group reflections, in creating spaces for parents to nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 103 articulate the new knowledge co-created in this space, and in helping them build confidence that they can and do play very significant roles in the educational trajectory of their children. the final day of the retreats served as an opportunity for participants to collectively reflect on their participation in the retreat and to share their desires of what they wished to engage in with their newfound knowledge. for example, magdalena, who resided in a community outside of fresno, shared how the retreat provided her an opportunity to practice some of the challenges parents will face in “real life” once they return to their respective communities. a benefit for her was gaining the motivation to follow through on her commitment toward getting her city to build a stoplight at a dangerous intersection across the street from the elementary school, hoping to save the lives of children who cross that intersection on a daily basis. maría, another parent, revealed in her testimonio difficulties that her child has endured as a result of their undocumented immigration. when she sees injustices perpetrated against migrants, maría asks herself, “why don’t you want us? we only come to work the most difficult jobs. i never see a ‘white person’ bending down and picking lettuce like me.” other parents, including guillermina and socorro, took it upon themselves to challenge parents to broaden and expand the migrant education network of participants who attend leadership retreats. for example, guillermina challenged other parents to recruit more and more participants for an upcoming retreat by urging, “we need to fill 3 or 4 buses next time. we need to have different parents next time as well.” she then stated how she pushes her children in school, “we tell them to always work hard so you don’t have to struggle like we do.” socorro, another parent who provided her powerful testimonio, reminded the audience that her own community had originally begun their migrant parent meetings with 4 parents; now, more than 85 parents are often present at their meetings. she asserted, “we need to get and hook those parents that are in the background and reel them in! we can do it.” her successful past strategies included raffles and an assortment of fundraisers to help raise money for scholarships for undocumented students attending college. during moments of reflection socorro was often seen knitting beautiful blankets that she then used to raffle off to raise funds for scholarships for college-going students. the culminating event of the retreat was the creation of individual action plans (iap) where parents made family, educational, and community commitments. iaps provide parents reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 104 an opportunity to utilize the new knowledge and networks established during the retreat to mobilize them towards concretely listing the project and actions they commit to undertaking upon returning home. in their iaps, parents listed commitments including being more supportive of their children, attending more parent–teacher meetings, paying closer attention to the educational progress of their kids, becoming involved in school-sanctioned activities, sharing the newly acquired information with community members, recruiting more parents (especially fathers) to upcoming events and retreats, and organizing their neighbors for social/educational issues, among others. the retreats helped shift the consciousness of many parents by providing them opportunities to reflect on how they already provide apoyo (nava, 2012), or support to further promote for the education of their children, and to imagine particular ways—both as individuals and as a collective—that they can assume leadership roles to help advance academic success and the pressing needs of their communities. perhaps this parent said it best on why the retreats were transformative: i’ve been to many workshops but what i liked about this one is that we worked as a team here, that we all had a place. it was fun, and we went more in depth in many of the things we did. i feel more motivated to return to my district. the information on the service agreement will help me out a lot. and also the event planning information that was given to us. these testimonios depict how migrants in underserved communities can come together, build relationships, identify common problems in their communities, engage in deep critical reflection, while building leadership skills, and begin to exert and enact agency to mobilize for action upon their return to their communities. conclusion in summary, community based organizations like elf in partnership with mep play an important role in bringing parents together to reflect on the educational needs of their community and to devise corresponding action plans that they can enact collectively. beyond traditional programming for parental involvement, these retreats create opportunities for families to build social capital and their ccw is acknowledged. the leadership retreats serve nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 105 as spaces where broader and deeper engagement can begin to take place in ways that are rooted in the migrant experience and also builds on the strengths of migrant communities. the parent retreats also reveal the powerful role that testimonios play as pedagogical tools that serve to affirm and legitimate the presence of migrant parents. this study reveals that when migrant families are engaged in the education of their children in culturally responsive, (ladson-billings, 2014) and community responsive (tintiangco-cubales et al., 2015) approaches and when their culture and history are seen as assets (cabrera, milem, jaquette, & marx, 2014), parents can have deeply transformative and empowering learning experiences. the types of cultural wealth that emerged through the use of testimonios offer a realm of possibilities to develop the leadership capacity of parents looking to more meaningfully engage on their own terms and in ways that authentically address the needs of the migrant community. this study illuminates how cbo’s like the education leadership foundation play an important role in supporting migrant leadership development by authentically drawing from the forms of cultural wealth that migrant families and communities bring to bear in the education of their children. by utilizing testimonios as pedagogy that emphasizes critical consciousness (freire, 2000), educators can center the voices and experiences of families, learn from their struggles, and build upon their strengths in generating forms of educational engagement that are true to migrant families and the broader community. further research should highlight the specific ways that cbo’s can utilize asset based pedagogies and practices to legitimize the cultural wealth among latino families, particularly in migrant communities. in addition, future research should examine how schools can learn from the framework established by the leadership retreats in order to rethink the goals and purposes of their parent engagement approaches. reconceptualizing leadership in migrant communities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 106 references auerbach, s. (2002). “why do they give the good classes to some and not to others?" latino parent narratives of struggle in a college access program. teachers college record, 104(7), 1369-1392. bogdan, r. c., & biklen, s. k. (2003). qualitative research for education: an introduction to theories and methods (4th ed.). new york, ny: pearson education bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in j.g. richardson (ed)., handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). westport, ct: greenwood publishing group. burciaga, r., & erbstein, n. (2012). latin@ dropouts: generating community cultural wealth. association of mexican american educators journal, 6(1), 24-33. burgos-debray, e. (1984). i, rigoberta menchu: an indian woman in guatemala (a. wright, trans.). london: verso. cabrera, n. l., milem, j. f., jaquette, o., & marx, r. w. (2014). missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (political) trees empiricism and the mexican american studies controversy in tucson. american educational research journal, 51(6), 1084-1118. carter, p.l. (2003). “black” cultural capital, status positioning, and schooling conflicts for lowincome african american youth. social problems, 50(1), 136–155. ceja, m. (2006). understanding the role of parents and siblings as information sources in the college choice process of chicana students. the journal of college student development, 47(1), 87-10. chavkin, n.f. (ed.). (1993). families and schools in a pluralistic society. albany, ny: state university of new york press. cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460–471. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: methodologies, pedagogies, and political urgency. equity and excellence in education, 45(3), 392–410. delgado-gaitan, c. (2001). the power of community, denver, co: rowman and littlefield. dixon-román, e.j. (2014). deviance as pedagogy: from non-dominant cultural capital to deviantly marked cultural repertoires. teachers college record, 116(8), 1–30. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary edition). new york, ny: the continuum international publishing group inc. gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106–116. giroux, h. a., & purpel, d. e. (1983). the hidden curriculum and moral education: deception or discovery? richmond, ca: mccutchan. gonzales, a. (2013) reform without justice: latino migrant politics and the homeland security state. new york, ny: oxford university press. nava & lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journa © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 107 gonzález, n., & moll, l. c. (2002). cruzando el puente: harnessing funds of knowledge in the puente project. journal of educational policy, 16(4), 623-641 gonzález, m.s., plata, o., garcía, e., torres, m., & urrieta, l, jr. (2003). testimonios de inmigrantes: students educating future teachers. journal of latinos and education, 2(4), 233– 243. henderson, a., & mapp, k. (2002). a new wave of evidence: the impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. paper presented at annual synthesis, southwest educational development lab, austin, tx. hooks, b. (1994). teaching to transgress. new york, ny: routledge. johnson, m. (2012). the 21st century parent: multicultural parent engagement leadership strategies handbook. information age publishing inc. ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: aka the remix. harvard educational review, 84(1), 74–84. lopez, g. (2001). the value of hard work: lessons on parent involvement from an (im)migrant household. harvard educational review, 71(3), 416–438. nava, p. e. (2012). sin sacrificio no hay recompensa: apoyo as (im) migrant parental engagement in farmworking families of the california central valley (unpublished doctoral dissertation) university of california, los angeles, ca. olivos, e. m. 2006. the power of parents: a critical perspective of bicultural parent involvement in the public school. new york, ny: peter lang. pérez carreon, g., drake, c., & calabrese-barton, a. (2005). the importance of presence: immigrant parents’ school engagement experiences. american educational research journal, 42(3), 465-498. saldaña, j. (2015). the coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed). los angeles, ca: sage. tintiangco-cubales, a., kohli, r., sacramento, j., henning, n., agarwal-rangnath, r., & sleeter, c. (2015). toward an ethnic studies pedagogy: implications for k–12 schools from the research. the urban review, 47(1), 104–125. treviño, r. (2004). against all odds: lessons from parents of migrant high-achievers. scholars in the field: the challenge of migrant education. washington, dc: us department of education. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s. mexican youth and the politics of caring. new york, ny: state university of new york press. warren, m. r., hong, s., rubin, c. l., & uy, p. s. (2009). beyond the bake sale: a communitybased relational approach to parent engagement in schools. teachers college record, 111(9), 2209-2254. yin, r. k. (2014). case study research: design and methods. london: sage publications. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 54 striving toward equitable biliteracy assessments in hegemonic school contexts alexandra babino texas a & m university – commerce ricardo gonzález-carriedo university of north texas abstract american schools today display unprecedented levels of diversity in regard to the linguistic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds of their student population. increasingly, more american students are also emergent bilingual learners. despite this fact, most of the standardized assessments used by schools have been designed and normed for english monolingual students. the lack of specific assessments created for emergent bilinguals provides teachers and other stakeholders with only a partial and often inaccurate view of the students’ literacy growth as they develop proficiency in two languages. in this theoretical article, the authors explore how three complex characteristics of emergent biliteracy development interact: bilingual language proficiency, domains of language use, and language dominance. then, they describe how teachers and school district leaders can begin to create more equitable assessment practices that are more closely aligned with the unique characteristics of biliteracy development admist largely hegemonic, monolingual school systems. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.328 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.328 striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 55 introduction the changing demographics of the student population are happening at a moment when demands for higher academic outcomes are being placed upon schools, especially after the adoption of the common core standards by 46 states and the district of columbia. in the midst of increasingly higher academic expectations, cultural and linguistic differences are widening between students and teachers. in particular, the number of students for whom english is not the first language has been growing steadily in the past decade. as of the school year 2012-2013, there were over four million public school students in grades k-12 in programs for english learners (els), representing 9.2 percent of the total student population (national center for education statistics, 2014). for these students, spanish is the most common first language but many other languages are represented as well. in fact, in five states (alaska, hawaii, maine, montana and vermont) a language other than spanish is the most prevalent among els (ruíz soto, hooker, & batalova, 2015). in texas alone, over 120 languages are represented in schools (texas education agency, n.d.). nationally, as of the school year 2013-2014, 50 different languages are in the states’ top five lists of the most frequently spoken languages among els. at the top of the list are spanish, arabic, chinese, vietnamese, and haitian creole (office of english language acquisition, 2015). while the number of els continues to grow, most schools report low numbers of bilingual education teachers (center of applied linguistics, 2013). in fact, most states scramble to find certified or licensed teachers to work in title iii programs serving els (office of english language acquisition, 2013). the u.s. department of education has listed bilingual and english as a second language (esl) education as two of the most dire teacher shortage areas in the nation (cross, 2016). although multiple terms have been used to refer to students whose home language is not english (garcía & kleifgen, 2010; wright, 2010), in this article we will use the expression emergent bilinguals. these are students “who speak a native language other than english and are in the dynamic process of developing bilingual and biliterate competencies […] with the support of their communities” (reyes, 2006, p. 268). this departs from the terminology used in federal and states legislation that refers to these students as limited english proficient (lep), thus depicting them under a deficit perspective (wright, 2010). the term lep disregards the fact that the students to whom the term refers already know at least one language and that they are in the process of adding english to their linguistic repertoire. the term, instead, focuses on the lack of english language mastery. the term emergent bilingual, in contrast, denotes a positive characteristic, namely the potential to develop bilingualism and add the english language to that linguistic repertoire. the term recognizes the range of languages that the student knows, thus acknowledging bilingualism as a cognitive and social resource (garcía, 2009). when applicable throughout the article, the authors will use the term english learner (el) to refer to babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 56 the subset of emergent bilinguals who are not yet proficient in english according to state accountability language proficiency measures. a major challenge facing emergent bilinguals is that most of the standardized assessments used across the united states have been designed and normed for english monolingual students. the lack of specific assessments created for emergent bilinguals provide teachers, districts, and departments of education with only a partial and often inaccurate view of the students’ literacy growth as they develop proficiency in two languages (escamilla, 2006; gathercole, 2013a, 2013b). tests developed for native english speakers are in fact language proficiency tests when used with non-native english speakers or bilingual students, therefore doing little in the way of measuring content knowledge (menken, 2008). this is because emergent bilinguals must make sense of the language in the test as a prior necessary step to showing knowledge of the content areas. education agencies across the united states seem to concede that students for whom english is not their primary language are at a disadvantage because they provide certain accommodations when taking standardized tests, such as extended time and translations of test directions. however, these accommodations are very problematic. for one, time may not be the issue preventing a student from performing well on a test and demonstrating knowledge. assuredly, if the authors of this article, who do not know the vietnamese language, were given extra time to take a test in vietnamese, the results would not vary much when compared with a test without the additional time. as for the translations, the extent to which they assist els in understanding what is being asked or expected is also problematic, as these translations often fail to capture cultural and linguistic nuances that may exist in the original text. furthermore, some states provide translation only for the instructions provided prior to taking the test, not for the test items themselves. this is the case, for example, in arizona (arizona department of education, 2014): only the verbal directions stated by the test administrator and the written directions that the student is expected to read may be orally translated into the student’s native language. the translation must be an exact translation, which is as close to verbatim as possible, and translation is to be provided on an as needed basis only. students must request the translation. translations that paraphrase, simplify, or clarify directions are not permitted. written translations are not permitted. translation of test items is not permitted. the underlying assumption behind this practice is that bilingual students are able to reach equal competencies in both languages and, thus, can be tested in either language. however, we concur with baker (2011) when he affirms that this is an unfair and inequitable practice emanating from a monolingual viewpoint that disregards the fact that bilinguals use the two languages in different situations striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 57 and unique ways. instead, baker (2011) proposes a holistic view of bilingualism in which the overall communicative competence of the student is measured. this comprises the “totality of the bilingual’s language usage in all domains, whether this involves the choice of one language in a particular domain, or a mixing of these two languages” (baker, 2011, p. 11). in this article, we propose that to mitigate the educational disconnect created when students are tested in only one of their codified languages, formative and summative assessments reflecting the unique characteristics of emergent bilinguals ought to be used. this will allow teachers, school administrators, and departments of education to understand emergent bilinguals’ language skills more accurately as well as make informed decisions for language program determination, program evaluation, and language impairment diagnosis (barrueco, lópez, ong, & lozano, 2012). in sum, our purpose is to explore contemporary notions of biliteracy development with its corollaries to equitable biliteracy assessment practices in an educational context that is largely hegemonic, realizing that the suggestions presented here are the beginning iteration for educators who desire a more robust education for their students. multiliteracies and translanguaging pedagogies to frame this discussion, we use the concept of multiliteracies to acknowledge that in the multilingual context of schools in the united states the “acquisition and use of language and literacies are inevitably bound up with asymmetrical relations of power between ethnolinguistic groups” (martin-jones & jones, 2000, p. 1). literacy practices are embedded in ideological and policy assumptions that are part of the “broader cultural conception of particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing in cultural contexts” (street, 2003, p. 79). also, while recognizing that today’s schools are part of a wider globalization movement and the increasing preeminence of the english language in the world (garcía & wei, 2014), we adopt the vision of a linguistically plural society where a pedagogy based on multiliteracies plays a fundamental role in the education of our students (lobianco, 2000). the notion of multiliteracies as a pedagogical approach was first coined in the 1990’s by the new london group and sought to incorporate the new modes of expression consequence of the changing social environment. these expressions stem from the multiplicity of communication channels and the growing cultural and linguistic diversity in the world (cope & kalantzis, 2000; the new london group, 1996). the latter is manifested in many ways, among them the rich linguistic context that most emergent bilinguals experience in schools and the communities where they live and which is the basis for the development of multiple literacies among these students. a pedagogy of multiliteracies departs from the traditional approach to literacy education based on linguistics to include multimodal textual practices that combine linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, and babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 58 spatial modes in the context of culturally inclusive practices (mills, 2009; takeuchi, 2015). these literacy expressions include reading and writing practices beyond the written text and contain modes of literacy based on sign, symbol, and code systems (baker, 2011). in other words, meaning, thinking, and learning are linked to multiple modalities and not merely to words (gee, 2007). along with a multiliteracies pedagogy, we also affirm a translanguaging pedagogy that aims to leverage students’ total linguistic repertoire for communication and learning (garcía, ibarra johnson & seltzer, 2017). by this, we mean to recommend assessment practices that move toward educators providing spaces for students to develop and employ their languages in a way that allows them to engage and comprehend rigorous concepts and thereby create invested bilingual identities (garcía et al., 2017). for the purposes of this article, it is important to note that (1) spoken and written languages can be acquired through multiple paths and at varying rates; (2) different ethnic and cultural groups may have distinctive views of what constitutes literacy practices, including literacy education in early childhood; (3) on some occasions, the language variety and literacy practices of one group are imposed on the rest of the groups in the context of the mainstream education system (ek, sánchez, & guerra, 2015; martinjones & jones, 2000) so (4) striving toward equitable biliteracy assessments is an imperfect yet worthy endeavor (valdés, 2017). we believe that dual-language programs are especially positioned to accomplish this by transmitting the counterhegemonic idea that the development of bilingual, biliterate, and cross-cultural skills are vital components of a global education. issues in the assessment of emergent bilinguals traditionally, bilingual students have been assessed using tests normed for monolingual students (baker, 2011). the underlying assumption of this practice is that bilingual students demonstrate equal competencies in both languages since bilinguals’ languages develop as parallel monolinguals of each language. however, we concur with others (baker, 2011; escamilla, 2006; garcía, 2009) when they affirm that this is an inequitable practice that does not adequately display the complex language practices and proficiencies of emergent bilinguals. as baker (2011) states, norm-referenced tests often reflect the language style and culture of white, middle-class anglo test writers. for example, the state of texas assessments of academic readiness (staar) for eight grade included the term nasa four times in the reading test (texas education agency, n.d.). it is safe to assume that the vast majority of children raised in the united states have developed a strong familiarity with the term and the organization to which it refers through school and popular media (e.g., television and motion pictures). however, students with a recent arrival to the united states may not be as knowledgeable or informed regarding a term that is specific to the united states or even regarding the concept of space exploration. striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 59 a similar argument can be used with a question in the mathematics portion of the staar test for sixth grade involving violin lessons. do students familiar with the notion of violin lessons have an advantage when processing the information contained in the question? are students who have never heard of paying for learning music at a disadvantage? we believe that the response is in the affirmative for both questions. the examples above illustrate the inherent cultural bias that emergent bilinguals face when taking standardized tests. as a result, decisions taken on the bases of results from normreferenced tests may be inherently biased in the sense that these tests may not have been normed for bilingual students. this has the potential to limit the eligibility of emergent bilinguals who are labeled els by the state for certain educational services, such as programs for gifted and talented students that schools may offer. also, it is not only the language and concepts represented by language in the tests that may be a source of bias, but also the format of those tests. standardized testing relies overly on a format based on multiple-choice questions. while this type of test is likely to be familiar for students who started their schooling in the united states, this may not be the case for students schooled in other countries. furthermore, these types of tests are unable to measure all the different aspects of language, such as the nuances that may be present in spoken language (baker, 2011; escamilla et al., 2014). the very fact that students are required to demonstrate learning in mostly one or completely in one language defies a holistic, multilingual pedagogy. however, we believe that even within false dichotomous assessment contexts it is possible for educators to systematically enact evaluation practices that more closely approximate this counterhegemonic ideal. solutions for assessment of emergent bilinguals: considering biliteracy development in order to embark on equitable assessments for emergent bilinguals, it is imperative to consider the unique nature of biliteracy development in the context of an english superiority ideology (garcía & lei, 2014; henderson & palmer, 2015). biliteracy, like monolingual literacy, is a multidimensional construct involving all language domains (listening, speaking, reading and writing). however, biliteracy development in schools is distinct in that it requires an integrated approach in which students are encouraged to use the totality of their linguistic and cultural resources (de jong, 2011; escamilla et al., 2014; garcía, 2009) in a variety of contexts with diverse language ideologies, from strictly monolingual and hybridized bilingual spaces (henderson & palmer, 2015). the constant, strategic, bidirectional interplay among these domains has an effect on students’ biliteracy abilities and skills. the nature these biliteracy skills can be defined in relation to students’ language proficiencies, domains, and dominance (edwards, 2004; grosjean & li, 2013; weinreich, 1968), which will be explored in the subsequent sections followed by recommendations for assessment. babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 60 proficiency the term bilingual is applied to a person who has knowledge of two or more languages or a person who uses two or more languages (grosjean & li, 2013). the continuum of bilingualism is determined by proficiency (how much one knows the language) and language use (how much one uses the language with different people, places, and purposes). it is important to note that the concept of continuum denotes an infinite number of points exist in relation to biliterate contexts, the development of biliterate development in the individual, and the biliterate media, as stressed by hornberger (2003). far in the past are frameworks that considered bilinguals as either balanced or unbalanced individuals (peal & lambert, 1962). rather, the concept of dominant language expresses more accurately the idea that for many bilinguals proficiency in one language is higher than in the other language in certain contexts (butler & hakuta, 2006). precisely, one of the primary misconceptions regarding bilinguals is that they are equally knowledgeable and furthermore have mastered their two or more languages to the same degree. in reality, however, “the majority of bilinguals do not have equal fluency in their languages, many have an accent in at least one of their languages and may have acquired their other languages when they were adolescents or adults” (grosjean & li, 2013, p. 20). it is imperative to note that a disparity between proficiency in the bilingual’s languages is not an anomaly or necessarily a problem to be solved; rather it is a common characteristic of both emergent and adult bilinguals. these different levels of proficiency have several direct implications in biliteracy assessment. first, in addition to assessing emergent bilinguals in both of their languages, experts in the field strongly recommended bilingual assessments should be normed on other emergent bilinguals (gathercole, 2013a, 2013b). the need for bilingual norming can be explained on the basis of the emergent nature of biliteracy: emergent bilinguals from a monolingual view are by definition not proficient in the majority language (english in the united states). thus, it is inaccurate to compare an emergent bilingual’s english reading score or level to that of a monolingual english speaker (hoff, 2013). as a result, letts (2013) argues that the assessments used should be psychometrically sensitive and based on what is known about the stages of second language acquisition. for students in two-way dual-language programs this would mean english language development for those deemed native spanish speakers and spanish language development for those deemed native english speakers.1 doing so will inform teachers and school administrators about how much students know and what they are ready to learn next in relation 1 later we discuss how designating students as native or non-native speakers with first and second languages is problematic. until this discussion, we use the term native in italitcs when referring to research that includes this term. striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 61 to students’ emergent languages as well as in relation to other emergent bilinguals. in other words, emergent bilinguals’ biliteracy growth would be measured against other emergent bilinguals. nevertheless, norming biliteracy assessments using other emergent bilinguals becomes increasingly more complicated by the diversity within the emergent bilingual community (gathercole muller, 2013b; hoff, 2013). emergent bilinguals use their languages differently depending on how much of each language they hear at home, age of exposure to both languages, and the level of relation between the bilingual’s language pairs in two-way dual-language programs.2 in this context, emergent bilinguals who only hear the minority language at home will most likely develop english proficiency differently than emergent bilinguals who hear and speak both languages at home; likewise, a student deemed a native english speaker who is learning spanish through a dual-language program will perform differently in english and spanish than monolingual english and spanish speakers. subsequently, hoff (2013), gathercole muller (2013b) and others (e.g., pérez-tattam, gathercole, yayas, & stadthagen-gonzález, 2013; place & hoff, 2011) have argued that accurate bilingual assessment should include many norms that take into account the variables affecting academic and linguistic development. in the case of two-way dual language schools, this means creating norms in both languages for what are termed native english speakers learning spanish and native spanish speakers learning english, as well as students who represent a combination of language experiences in the home and community. in light of these complexities, it is vital that emergent bilinguals be provided with consistent, longitudinal normed-based biliteracy assessments on the differing characteristics affecting their biliteracy development. this will yield a greater understanding of the nature of biliteracy development while at the same time provide information with which to make more accurate inferences for instructional interventions, language program determination, and language program success. so how may educators of emergent bilinguals respond? in response to the need for more holistic biliteracy assessments that are normed on emergent bilinguals in dual language and other bilingual education programs, and after numerous studies, escamilla and colleagues (2014) created grade level benchmark ranges for students’ reading (butvilofsky & escamilla, 2011, 2012, 2013a, 2013b). these students were emergent bilinguals who participated in literacy squared ®, a comprehensive biliteracy program that maximizes the development of oracy, reading, writing, and metalanguage. according to the researchers, students whose english and spanish reading levels fall within this grade level range for each language are in what they call the biliteracy zone. the biliteracy zone refers to the range in reading scores on the developmental reading assessment (dra) and evaluación del desarrollo de lecto-escritura 2 language pairs are students of the other language. in english/spanish two-way dual language programs, native spanish speakers are paired with native english speakers, forming a bilingual pair (gómez, freeman, & freeman, 2005). the function of each member of the bilingual pair is to support each other academically and linguistically, acting as linguistic role models for each other. babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 62 (edl), informal reading inventories originally normed on monolingual speakers of each language, that are considered grade-level scores for emergent bilinguals (celebration press, 2007a, 2007b). according to the researchers, this span in reading scores reflects the unique development of students who develop their language at different rates in a paired literacy model, shown in table 1. table 1 biliteracy zone grade level benchmarks in particular, this biliteracy zone operates under the assumption that latino emergent bilinguals’ reading scores in spanish may be slightly higher than their corresponding english, since the data to date shows this trend (butvilofsky, hopewell, escamilla, & sparrow, 2016). as such, instead of providing one cut-off score normed on a monolingual of english or spanish, the biliteracy zone provides a range of scores in each language and each grade that is considered “on target” for students who will become biliterate over time. by doing so, the researchers have created a range of norms for students of spanish-english speaking backgrounds. students in babino’s (2017) exploratory comparative case study of two one-way dual language campuses’ biliteracy trajectories also displayed a range in spanish and english reading levels, with students’ reading in each language spanning anywhere from six to 11 reading levels in second and third grade and five reading levels in fourth and fifth grades. between both schools over the course of 4 years, between 70 to 96% of students demonstrated spanish and english reading in the biliteracy zone. additionally, babino’s (2017) study further illustrates how spanish-english reading levels may differ within the latino bilingual population: the spanish dominant, first generation, latino bilinguals at césar chávez demonstrated a mean initial spanish strength in reading that surpassed their english reading in second and third grades, while performing similarly in both languages in fourth and fifth grade. on the other hand, the students at memorial, as second and third generation, first language bilinguals displayed identical mean reading scores in spanish and english in second through fifth grades. taken together, escamilla and colleagues’ (2014) biliteracy zones approach the ideal of more equitable grade edl2 level (spanish) dra2 level (english) k a-6 a-2 1 12--16 8--10 2 18-28 12--16 3 30-38 18-28 4 40 30-38 5 50-60 40+ striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 63 biliteracy assessments, while babino’s (2017) study also underscores the need for additional considerations in equitable assessment practices by more specific language experiences than the broad category of latino bilinguals. in turn, equitable biliteracy assessment practices include psychometrically sensitive norms on other bilinguals, yet these norms should also account for the inherent heterogeneity of the emergent bilingual population. language domains biliteracy development differs from monolingual literacy development not only in the way and rate that their languages develop, but also in the strategic use of their languages (garcía, 2009). bilinguals often use their languages for different purposes in different situations (grosjean, 2008; myersscotton, 2006). grosjean (2008) explains this phenomenon through the complementarity principle by which bilinguals use their languages for particular domains in life (siblings, parents, relatives, friends, work, recreation, school) to differing degrees. depending on the language community and individual, one language or combination of languages may be used with certain people and contexts. for instance, one language may be primarily used for informal, relational side of the continuum at home, while another language is predominantly used for work and academics, and then a combination of the languages with members of the community (babino & stewart, 2015, 2016). due to this phenomenon, bilinguals may have more linguistic knowledge or comfort using one language for a specific domain but not for another (grosjean, 2008; montrul, 2015). this is especially true if a domain’s language is highly specialized or context-dependent like certain family, religious, and academic activities. furthermore, domain specific language use may also be a consequence of explicit and implicit language ideologies that subordinate languages other than english and disenfranchise its speakers (for a thorough discussion of this topic, see gonzález-carriedo, 2014, 2015). these societal pressures that position english as more valuable are ubiquitous even in one-way and twoway dual language programs that aim for parity of language development (achugar, 2008; potowski, 2007) and families that value bilingualism (babino & stewart, 2016). in turn, students’ specific instructional program, language use at home, and in the community work in concert to develop the extent and scope of their language choices in certain domains. there is no homogenous bilingual language experience (brubacker, 2009). due to these interrelating complexities of language proficiencies, domains, and ideologies, determining which language(s) to use when assessing the emergent bilingual is not obvious or simple; it’s not always the language that school districts label as students’ first or dominant language. this is because emergent bilinguals may have more content vocabulary in one language than in another— especially in dual language programs that reserve one language for certain subjects (gómez, freeman, & babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 64 freeman, 2005), yet this may also occur for students who receive dual language instruction across all content areas (babino & stewart, 2016). no matter the dual language context, students and teachers would ideally engage in and harness both languages in a holistic language assessment like those mentioned in the previous recommendations; however, in contexts like state-mandated tests that are restricted to one language, the following recommendations may approximate more equitable practices by taking the idiosyncricies of the indiviudal bilingual into account. (assessment recommendations that are not confined to one language are explored after the discussion of language dominance.) the first approximation toward more equitable biliteracy assessment practices is acknowledging the distinctive interplay between a student’s proficiencies and domain-based vocabularies. principally, this means a student may take different tests in different languages. just because a student displays a higher reading ability (as indicated by an informal reading inventory or state mandated test) in one language does not necessarly mean s/he would feel more confident and thus perform better on a content area test in that language. students who participated in a one-way, 50/50 dual language program in babino and stewart’s (2016) study explained preffering varying combinations of english and spanish for their state-mandated tests due to the unique way they used and developed their languages. some students reported preferring to take reading and math state-tests in english, while taking a writing test in spanish; other students preferred taking reading and writing state-tests in spanish, while taking math and science in english. to respond to this highly dynamic and personalized language use, educators may create a bilingual profile, like those shared in garcía and colleagues’ (2017) most recent work, to provide an at-aglance view of students’ unique language development, performances, and practices. teachers must especially consider the proficiency levels and language use for all language domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) for each language. in addition to recording students’ biliteracy development, teachers may record and examine the content area formative and summative assessments in each language to gain a holistic sense of students’ strengths across languages and content areas. then, in individual student conferences, teachers can probe/survey students’ language practices by asking questions like: is there one language you read more in than the other? what combination of languages do you normally speak at home? with whom and when? if you had to demonstrate what you know in the best way possible, is there one language in which you feel you can perform better for x test? all the while, teachers must keep in mind the hegemonic nature of english and its influence on students’ language prefernces. certainly, whether conscious or not, students and teachers feel pressure to choose english as a language of assessment in bilingual programs (palmer & lynch, 2008). however, by using the aforementioned data in combination with student conferences, teachers provide a critical heuristic for holistic biliteracy development and strategic language use for high-stakes testing. they striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 65 honor the totality of students’ language development and performances and create space for conversations that highlight the complex use of their languages. even when provided with the false dichotomy of which language to asses in, bilingual educators teach students how to deliberately leverage their langauges for their own advantage. language dominance interwoven throughout students’ language proficiencies and uses over various domains is the concept of language dominance. while some researchers view language dominance as synonymous with language proficiency or the language(s) learned from birth (silva-corvalán & treffers-dallers, 2015), we define language dominance as how (in most cases) bilinguals’ abilities in, use of, and values for their two or more languages differ, with one of the languages occupying a dominant position (baker, 2011; montrul, 2015). thus, language dominance includes proficiency, but it is not limited to language proficiency; it also includes the amount of time over various domains and contexts that a bilingual uses his/her languages as well as the attitudes or beliefs that make up his/her language investments (norton, 2013). when this is the case, bilinguals may spend more time across several domains speaking, reading, and writing in a dominant language. furthermore, it is critical to consider the position of each of his/her languages along the content and contexts of biliteracy continua (hornberger, 2003). in the united states, a minority language like spanish is often times located toward the contextualized, vernacular side of the biliteracy continuum, where the majority language is located toward a more decontextualized, literary dimension of the continuum. due to english being a language of power and prestige at the macro level, this english leakage can permeate into the micro levels of schools and homes (freeman, 1998; garcía & wei, 2014). in light of the structural dynamics of english hegemony, bilingual communities (hill, 1998) and individuals (martínez, 2013) within the same community can have multiple even contradictory beliefs regarding their languages (henderson & palmer, 2015; martínez, 2014). their language ideologies, like their language proficiencies and use, are also multidimensional. this was true for many of the 63 latino bilingual fifth graders who participated in a one-way dual language school spoke mostly spanish in kindergarten (babino & stewart, 2016). the students report through surveys and interviews preferring to use english in both social and academic domains—even those specifically designated as spanish-only domains like church, spanish class, and in and around the home with spanish monolingual speakers. student interviews revealed reasons for this english use including a lack of confidence in their academic spanish. another student reveals that while spanish is “a little important,” “english makes you a lot better in life.” what’s intriguing is that many students show a babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 66 preference for english at the same time they explicitly value both languages; 53 of 63 students state that spanish is important and being bilingual is important. further problematizing students’ stated english preference (or english dominance) is that most students in this study are still labeled el by the state in fifth grade. in essence, as babino and stewart (2016) state, “they do not fully value the very asset that will maximize their english—spanish […] achievement” (p. 21). their language use and ideologies are more complex than the categories of dominance or no dominance, value or no value. instead their nuanced language use and values fall along a continuum. as a whole, the students in this study highlight the dynamic tensions bilinguals experience as they negotiate their biliteracy development along the biliteracy contexts, content, and media continua. even with reported hybridized language practices across domains and contexts, students preferred english as their dominant language; this is true despite still showing emergent english abilities according to the state and claiming investment in bilingualism. to respond to the ever-present english dominance, educators systematically make space to value emergent bilinguals’ two languages through the use of bilingual profile to capture holistic growth and aid in making language of assessment determinations for high-stakes, state-mandated tests. but what can educators do in the day-to-day school context that may more fully employ students’ linguistic repertoire? practitioners may first consider, as otheguy, garcía, and reid (2015) advise, the purpose of a particular assessment. if the purpose is to demonstrate content learning like on many subject matter formative and summative assessments, then students should be allowed to employ a variety of strategic, multilingual competencies consistent with a translanguaging pedagogy. this may mean the student expresses what he/she knows using any combination of languages and tools like videos, dictionaries, and the help of other students; or it may mean providing a variety of resources in both languages to develop depth in understanding and then choosing one language to display understanding. (also see garcía, ibarra johnson, & seltzer, 2017 for more ideas.) the aim here is for the bilingual to more accurately access and express what he/she knows in term of content (garcía, 2009). however, if the purpose of a particular assessment is to demonstrate proficiency in what are codified as autonomous languages, then a separation of languages is equitable (otheguy et al., 2015) so long as these assessments are normed and furthermore psychometrically sensitive to the unique development of emergent bilinguals. long-term implications our discussion of language proficiency, domains, and dominance illustrates the multifaceted, dynamic nature of biliteracy development. we see how a bilingual’s “first language” is not always his/her dominant language, the one with more proficiency, domain use, and value. due to the structural power of english and pervasive, complex language ideologies, a bilingual’s dominant language may wax or wane striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 67 to varying degrees in the course of the life span. in one study (grosjean, 2010), a participant’s language dominance changed four times over 50 years, with his second language serving as his dominant language for 10 years at two different points in his life. thus, in addition to having varying levels of proficiency and language use in each language, bilinguals may also change their language dominance over the course of their lives. this discussion of language proficiency and language use is especially salient for language programs that often rely on first and second language designations to consider language dominance. as shown here, it is far more precise to consider one’s holistic bilingual proficiencies, dominant language use in general, and the domain use in particular before considering the language(s) of assessment. for this reason, recent scholarship is seriously questioning the use of the terms first language, second language, and native language proficiency (cook 2008; garcía, 2009; valdés, 2005). for instructors and other stakeholders of dual-language programs that seek dynamic biliteracy as the goal of their program, it is wise to not assume that a student who shows comparably high levels of literacy in both languages will necessarily maintain his/her high biliteracy through subsequent years of participation in the program (babino, 2017; gathercole, 2013b). instead, they should continue to assess growth and maintenance of biliteracy skills for the entire duration of the program, making any necessary program and instructional changes to protect and promote the minority language. this may include changing a dual language model from 50/50 to 90/10 in order to provide more opportunities to develop the minority language. yet, it could also mean school leadership creating space for educators to discuss campus-wide parity of language goals (collier & thomas, 2014; garcía, et al., 2017). key for educators, who wish to exemplify a multiliteracies and translanguaging pedagogy, is to create classroom ecologies that allow students to make explicit connections within and among their languages (escamilla et al., 2014). including space for self-reflection and explicit discussions about the power structures that privilege english above spanish is equally integral. palmer (2017) especially urges teachers to “not be afraid to intervene to correct [power] imbalances and ensure equity in the moment” (p. 173). she explains that these power imbalances can come in the form of how students are positioned as those with or without power in the classroom as well as how language is used in the classroom, school, and greater community. to this point, bilingual teachers in dual language programs may scaffold instruction for academic minority language development in order to provide students with the linguistic capital to battle the hegemony of english. yet, they may also extend students’ learning from that of their two languages to include learning specific strategies for leveraging their dynamic bilingualism (garcía et al., 2017). babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 68 conclusion an understanding of language proficiency and use leads to the realization that defining equitable biliteracy assessments is a multilayered, intricate endeavor. language proficiency exists along a continuum of proficiency and dominance, which can be strongly influenced by language use and ideologies over time. nowhere is the complexity of language proficiency more clearly seen than through biliteracy development. it is evident that schools have a need for theoretically driven and psychometrically sensitive biliteracy assessments. this type of assessment is possible when classroom practices and the assessment of students account for the specific characteristics that emergent bilinguals display. any attempt to implement a pedagogy based on the concept of multiliteracies ought to consider the multilingual characteristics of schools. the journey toward equitable biliteracy assessments starts with viewing biliteracy development as a unique phenomenon. in addition to assessing students in two languages, there is need to norm assessments on other emergent bilinguals, taking the distinct, dynamic nature of biliteracy development of this heterogeneous group into account. yet, equitable biliteracy assessment practices also include critical conversations through intentionally created spaces to teach students how to harness their languages to their own advantage. doing so will provide all educational stakeholders with a more holistic, precise view of emergent bilinguals’ proficiencies and learning and in turn create ample linguistic and cultural capital for a more just democracy. with the rise in the emergent bilinguals in the u.s. population, educators and researchers alike cannot afford to not make great strides toward enacting more equitable biliteracy assessments. while a beginning iternation, the suggestions proposed in this article more closely approximate the biliteracy assessment practices our multiliteracies and translanguaging pedagogies envision. striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 69 references achugar, m. (2008). counter-hegemonic language practices and ideologies: creating a new space and value for spanish in southwest texas. spanish in context, 5(1), 1-19. arizona department of education. (2014). aims testing accomodations. guidelines for 2014-2016. retrieved from http://www.azed.gov/assessment/files/2014/08/testing-accommodations-20142016.pdf babino, a. (2017). same program, distinctive development: exploring the biliteracy trajectories of two dual language schools. bilingual research journal, 1-18. doi: 10.1080/15235882.2017.1307290 babino, a., & stewart, m.a. (2015). emergent bilinguals' emerging identities in a dual language school. journal of bilingual education research & instruction, 17(1), 28–48. babino, a. & stewart, m. a. (2016). “i like english better”: latino emergent bilinguals’ investment in spanish, english, and bilingualism. journal of latinos in education, 18-29. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2016.1179186. baker, c. (2011). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (5th ed.). bristol, u.k.: multilingual matters. brubacker, r. (2009). ethnicity, race and nationalism. annual review of sociology, 35, 21-42. butler, y. g., & hakuta, k. (2006). cognitive factors in children’s l1 and l2 reading. academic exchange quarterly, 10(1), 23–27. butvilofsky, s., & escamilla, k. (2011). literacy squared® phase ii: colorado case study technical report year one, 2009-2010. bueno center for multicultural education, university of colorado-boulder. butvilofsky, s., & escamilla, k. (2012). literacy squared® phase ii: colorado case study technical report year two, 2010-2011. bueno center for multicultural education, university of colorado-boulder. butvilofsky, s., & escamilla, k. (2013a). literacy squared® phase ii: colorado case study technical report year three, 2011-2012. bueno center for multicultural education, university of coloradoboulder. butvilofsky, s., & escamilla, k. (2013b). literacy squared® at godsman elementary: technical report 2012 2013. bueno center for multicultural education, university of colorado-boulder. butvilofsky, s. a., hopewell, s., escamilla, k., & sparrow, w. (2016). shifting deficit paradigms of latino emerging bilingual students’ literacy achievement: documenting biliterate trajectories. journal of latinos and education, 85-97. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2016.1205987 celebration press. (2007a). developmental reading assessment. parsipanny, nj: celebration press. celebration press. (2007b). evaluación del desarrollo de la lectura. parsipanny, nj: celebration press. center of applied linguistics (2013). directory of two-way bilingual immersion program in the u.s. retrieved from http://www.cal.org/twi/directory/index.html. cook, g. (2008). applied linguistics. newyork, ny: oxford university press. collier, v. p., & thomas, w. p. (2014). creating dual language schools for a transformed world: administrators speak. albuquerque, nm: fuente press. cope, b., & kalantzis, m. (2000). introduction: multiliteracies: the beginnings of an idea. in b. cope, & m. kalantzis (eds.), multiliteracies: literacy learning and the design of social futures (pp. 3-8). new york, ny: routledge. cross, f. (2016). teacher shortage areas nationwide listing: 1990-1991 through 2016-2017. united states department of education. retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.pdf babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 70 dejong, e. (2011). foundations for multilingualism in education: from principles to practice. philadelphia, pa: caslon publishing. edwards, d. j. (2004). the role of languages in post-9/11 united states. modern language journal, 88, 268-71. ek, l. d., sánchez, s. n., & guerra, m. j. (2015). cultural multiliteracies: integrating technology with latino children’s literature. in e. r. clark, b. b. flores, h. l. smith, & d. a. gonzalez (eds.), multicultural literature for latino bilingual children: their words, their worlds (pp. 69-82). landham, maryland: rowman & littlefield. escamilla, k. (2006). semilingualism applied to the literacy behaviors of spanish-speaking emerging bilinguals: bi-illiteracy or emerging biliteracy? the teachers college record, 108(11), 2329-2353. escamilla, k., hopewell, butvilofsky, s., sparrow, w., soltero-gonzalez, l., ruiz-figueroa, o., & escamilla, m. (2014). biliteracy from the start: literacy squared in action. philadelphia, pa: caslon. freeman, d. (1998). bilingual education and social change. clevedon, uk: multilingual matters. garcía, o. (2009). emergent bilinguals and tesol: what's in a name? tesol quarterly, 43(2), 322-326. garcía, o., ibarra johnson, s., & seltzer, k. (2017). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student bilingualism for learning. philadelphia, pa: caslon. garcía, o., & kleifgen, j. a. (2010). educating emergent bilinguals. new york, ny: teachers college press. garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. gathercole mueller, v.c. (2013a). issues in the assessment of bilinguals. bristol, uk: multilingual matters. gathercole mueller, v. c. (2013b). solutions for the assessment of bilinguals. bristol, uk: multilingual matters. gee, j. p. (2007). what video games have to teach is about learning and literacy? new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. gómez, l., freeman, d., & freeman, y. (2005). dual language education: a promising 50–50 model. bilingual research journal, 29(1), 145-164. gonzález-carriedo, r. (2014). the ideologies of the press in regard to english language learners: a case study of two newspapers in arizona. critical inquiry in language studies, 11(2), 121-149. gonzález-carriedo, r. (2015). educación bilingüe o inmersión en inglés: la cuestión programática vista por la prensa escrita de arizona. the nabe journal of research and practice, 6. grosjean, f. (2008). studying bilinguals. oxford: oxford university press. grosjean, f. (2010). bilingual: life and reality. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. grosjean, f., & li, (2013). the psycholinguistics of bilingualism. oxford, uk: wiley-blackwell. henderson, k. i., & palmer, d. k. (2015). teacher and student language practices and ideologies in a third-grade two-way dual language program implementation. international multilingual research journal, 9(2), 75-92. hill, j. (1998). “today there is no respect”: nostalgia, “respect,” and oppositional discourse in mexicano (nahuatl) language ideology. in b. schieffelin, k. a. woolard, & p. v. kroskrity (eds.), language ideologies: practice and theory (pp. 68–86). new york, ny: oxford university press. hoff, e. (2013). commentary on issues in the assessment of bilinguals and solutions for the assessment of bilinguals in v.c. gathercole (ed), solutions for the assessment of bilinguals (pp. 4691-5007). bristol, tn: multilingual matters. hornberger, n. (2003). continua of biliteracy. in n. hornberger (ed.), continua of biliteracy: an ecological framework for educational policy, research and practice in multilingual settings. clevedon, u.k.: http://www.amazon.com/translanguaging-language-bilingualism-education-wei/dp/1137385758/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=utf8&qid=1386091330&sr=1-1&keywords=translanguaging+language%2c+bilingualism+and+education striving toward equitable biliteracy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 71 multilingual matters. letts, c. (2013). what are the building blocks for language acquisition? underlying principles of assessment for language impairment in the bilingual context. in v. c. gathercole (ed.) solutions for the assessment of bilinguals (pp. 1006-1477). bristol, tn: multilingual matters. lobianco, j. (2000). multiliteracies and multilinguism. in b. cope, & m. kalantzis, multiliteracies: literacy learning and the design of social futures (pp. 92-105). south yarra, australia: macmillan. mackey, w. (2000). the description of bilingualism. in l. wei (ed.), the bilingualism reader (1st ed) (pp. 26-54). london, uk: routledge. martínez, r. a. (2013). reading the world in spanglish: hybrid language practices and ideological contestation in a sixth-grade english language arts classroom. linguistics and education, 24(3), 276–288. martínez, r. a. (2014). “do they even know that they do it?”: exploring awareness of spanish-english code-switching in a sixth-grade english language arts classroom. bilingual research journal, 37(2), 195–210. doi:10.1080/15235882.2014.934972 menken, k. (2008). english learners left behind: standardized testing as language policy (vol. 65). bristol, tn: multilingual matters. myers-scotton, c. (2006). multiple voices: an introduction to bilingualism. australia: blackwell publishing. myers-scotton, c. (2010). patterns and predictions for code-switching with arabic. arabic and the media: linguistic analyses and applications, 57, 81-95. martin-jones, m., & jones, k. (2000). multilingual literacies. in m. martin-jones, & k. jones (eds.), multilingual literacies: reading and writing diferent worlds (pp. 1-15). amsterdam: john benjamins. mills, k. a. (2009). multiliteracies: interrogating competing discourses. language and education, 23(2), 103-116. montrul, s. (2015). dominance and proficiency in early and late bilingualism. in c. silva-corvalán, & j. treffers-daller (eds.), language dominance in bilinguals: issues of measurement and operationalization (pp.15-35). cambridge, ma: university press. national center for education statistics. (2014). digest of education statistics. retrieved december 10, 2015, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_204.20.asp norton, b. (2013). identity and language learning: extending the conversation. clevedon: multilingual matters. office of english language acquisition. (2015). languages spoken by english learners (els). washington, dc: u. s. department of education. office of english language acquisition. (2013). the biennial report to congress on the implementation of the title iii state formula grant program, school years2008-2010. u.s. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. otheguy, r., garcía, o., & reid, w. (2015). clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: a perspective from linguistics. applied linguistics review, 6(3), 281-307. palmer, d., & lynch, a. w. (2008). a bilingual education for a monolingual test? the pressure to prepare for taks and its influence on choices for language of instruction in texas elementary bilingual classrooms. language policy, 7(3), 217-235. palmer, d. (2017). why aren’t we speaking spanish? promoting minoritized languages in the two-way dual language classroom. in g. c. gonzales, e. barbian, & p. mejía (eds.), rethinking bilingual education (pp. 170-176). milwaukee, wi: rethinking schools. babino & gonzález-corriendo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 72 peal, e., & lambert, w. (1962). the relation of bilingualism to intelligence. psychological monographs, 76 (whole no. 546), 1–23. pérez-tattam, r., gathercole, v.c.m., yavas, f., & stadthagen-gonzález, h. (2013) measuring grammatical knowledge and abilities in bilinguals: implications for assessment and testing. in v.c.m. gathercole (ed.), issues in the assessment of bilinguals (pp. 111-130). bristol, tn: multilingual matters. place, s., & hoff, e. (2011). properties of dual language exposure that influence two-year-olds’ bilingual proficiency. child development, 82, 1834– 1849. potowski, k. (2007). language and identity in a dual immersion school. clevedon, uk: multilingual matters. reyes, i. (2006). exploring connections between emergent biliteracy and bilingualism. journal of early childhood literacy, 6(3), 267-292. ruíz soto, a. g., hooker, s., & batalova, j. (2015). top languages spoken by english language learners nationally and by state. washington, dc: migration policy institute. retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/top-languages-spoken-english-language-learnersnationally-and-state silva-corvalán, c., & treffers-daller, j. (2015). language dominance in bilinguals: issues of measurement and operationalization. cambridge, ma: university press. street, b. (2003). what's 'new' in new literacy studies? critical approaches to literacy in theory and practice. current issues in comparative education, 5, 1-14. takeuchi, m. (2015). the situated multiliteracies approach to classroom participation: english language learners’ participation in classroom mathematics practices. journal of language, identity & education, 14(3), 159-178. texas education agency. (n.d.). bilingual/esl programs in texas. retrieved from http://elltx.org/bilingual_ esl.html texas education agency. (n.d.). staar released test questions. retrieved from http://tea.texas.gov/student_testing_and_accountability/testing/state_of_texas_assessments_ of_academic_readiness_(staar)/staar_released_test_questions/ the new london group. (1996). a pedagogy of multiliteracies: designing social futures. harvard educational review, 66(1), 60-92. valdés, g. (2005). bilingualism, heritage language learners, and sla research: opportunities lost or seized? the modern language journal, 89(3), 410-426. valdés, g. (2017). introduction. in o. garcía, s. ibarra johnson, & k. seltzer (eds.), the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student bilingualism for learning (pp. v-viii). philadelphia, pa: caslon. weinreich, u. (1968). languages in contact. the hauge: mouton. wright, w. e. (2010). foundations for teaching english language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. philadelphia, pa: caslon. amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas en la legislatura: an empirical analysis of the texas education finance mechanism with special emphasis on bilingual education anthony rolle university of south florida mario torres and noelle eason texas a&m university the state of texas’ education fi nance mechanism – known as the foundation school program (fsp) was challenged in a series of litigation known as edgewood v. kirby i iv and west orange cove iii. though the state supreme court’s holding ultimately moved the texas assembly to make changes in the funding mechanism, not since the 1980s has there been a systematic evaluation of the fi scal effi cacy of the state of texas’ fsp. therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine empirically levels of vertical and horizontal fi nance equity generated by texas’ education fi nance system. information will be presented in fi ve sections that describe and discuss: (a) summations of the texas supreme court decisions on k-12 education fi nance since 1989; (b) analyses of initial statistical results generated from effi cacy analyses of the texas foundation school program; and, (c) policy recommendations guided by the results. edgewood i and ii: “a remedy is long overdue” edgewood v. kirby i (1989), the fi rst in a series of legal challenges co-sponsored by the mexican american legal defense and education fund (maldef) and the american civil liberties union (aclu) that questioned the constitutionality of funding methodologies for texas public schools, sought resolution as to the extent texas was bound legally to provide an effi cient system of education. the original asserted that a system of public school fi nance heavily reliant on property wealth violated the texas constitution’s equal rights guarantee of article i, section 3, the due course of law guarantee of article i, section 19, and the “effi ciency” mandate of article vii, section 1. for example, per edgewood i, indicators presented at the trial level revealed stark contrasts in funding availability between property wealthy and property poor school districts. as an example, property value in the wealthiest school district rose to a value of $14,000,000 per student while property value in the poorest school district fell to $20,000 per student, a ratio of 700 to 1. additionally, evidence presented during the trial phase showed that the 100 wealthiest school districts had more than 20 times the average property wealth than the 100 poorest school districts. and, it was in these types of counties that large proportions of mexican americans – some who needed bilingual services – resided. the state of texas claimed that efforts were made to mitigate the disparities generated through the then current funding mechanism by providing supplemental and categorical funding to property poor school districts. the trial court ruled that these legislative efforts fell short of funding mandated basic educational requirements. ultimately, the texas supreme court affi rmed the trial court decision that the fsp system violated article vii, section 1 of the texas constitution, which provided: a general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature of the state to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an effi cient system of public free schools. the court concluded that the texas funding system, in effect, perpetuated disparities and provided districts “no opportunity to free themselves” (edgewood i, p. 393). further, the court concluded that the high tax rates utilized in low property wealth school districts – while inevitable – produced “typically inferior” educational programming. 29 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 the texas supreme court also disagreed with the state’s contention the state funding system was solely a political matter necessitating the legislature to provide an “effi cient” system of public education by creating a “simple and inexpensive system” (edgewood i, p. 394). supported through various historical accounts regarding the term’s contextual meaning, the texas high court concluded “effi ciency” never was intended to be interchanged with terms such as “economical” or “cheap system.” in the court’s estimation per the historical review, effi ciency meant “effective or productive of results” (edgewood i, p. 395). the court further noted the framers never would have permitted such “gross inequalities” (edgewood i, p. 395) neither in school funding nor in educational programming. as the court asserted, for the state of texas, “[w]ealth, in its many forms, has not appeared with geographic symmetry. the economic development of the state has not been uniform. some cities have grown dramatically, while their sister communities have remained static or have shrunk” (edgewood i, p. 396). in the end, the texas supreme court ruled the then present k-12 education fi nance mechanism was “ineffi cient” as it failed to meet the constitutional standard of “general diffusion of knowledge” set forth in article vii, section 1 of the state constitution. in a clear and resounding ruling, the court stated that “tax effort” should be rewarded in a funding scheme. in other words, districts should have access to similar amounts of per student funding at similar tax effort. although the court offered no guidance to the legislature in terms of funding system design, it did emphasize the legislature carried the “primary responsibility” for reforming the system and that a “remedy was long overdue” (edgewood i, p. 399). as a response to the edgewood i ruling, the legislature enacted senate bill i. the intent of the legislation was to improve the effi cacy of the foundation school program by providing “roughly the same” tax revenue power to 95 percent of districts in texas. the new formula had three parts: (a) tier i distributed funding utilizing a basic foundation funding formula adjusted by specifi c categorical components (e.g., percentage of bilingual or economically disadvantaged students in a district); (b) tier 2 distributed funding utilizing a guaranteed tax yield formula; and, (c) tier 3 allowed non-formula driven (i.e., district wealth-based) revenue to be generated for capital and debt services. and, respect the spirit of local control, the legislation also allowed individual districts to supplement these operational (tiers i and ii) and non-operational (tier iii) revenues through a variety of sources. legal issues would ensue for senate bill i. in edgewood v. kirby ii (1991), school districts appealed to the texas supreme court to readdress the constitutionality of a funding model which would at it’s core make all locally generated property tax wealth eligible for state recapture in edgewood v. kirby iv. and, the court would concur with the plaintiffs again emphasizing that the “ineffi ciency” of the senate bill 1 that draws considerable support from “unequalized” local funding sources. edgewood iii: constitutional constraints to pursuing effi ciency edgewood iii, or more specifi cally carrollton-farmers branch isd, et al., v. edgewood isd and alvarado isd, et al. (1992), addressed the legal viability of the foundation school program funding system which appellants alleged violated article viii, ß 1-e of the texas constitution prohibiting state ad valorem taxes levies on local property. the specifi c legislation in question, house bill 351, represented the second attempt by the texas legislature to ameliorate defi ciencies fi rst detailed in edgewood i. similar to senate bill i, house bill 351 also contained two separate funding tiers but reduced the approximately 1200 independent school districts to 188 county education districts (ceds; i.e., consolidated districts). in addition, a specifi ed tax rate was “required” – and tax limitations imposed – on ceds to generate a mandated “local share” and to reduce variation in discretionary revenue amounts between districts. the court recognized that these prior legislative efforts attempted to create a “suitable” and “effi cient” system for funding schools. nonetheless, it “[could not] brush aside the serious constitutional infi rmities that 30 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 affect house bill 351 in the interest of expediting necessary changes in public school fi nance” (edgewood iii, p. 494). the court’s ruling rested on two key elements. first, the power to regulate and control tax rates was accorded almost entirely to the state through house bill 351, not ceds. such a fi nding, the court held, unequivocally created a state ad valorem tax system in violation of article viii, ß 1-e of the texas constitution. second, in accordance with article vii, section 3 of the texas constitution, the court ruled that any such ad valorem tax in ceds may not proceed without approval of the voters within the jurisdiction. as a result, the texas supreme court again demanded that the legislature make changes to the foundation school program system in order to meet constitutional requirements. edgewood iv: “all things to all people?” the arguments raised in the1995 texas supreme court case of edgewood et al. v. meno et al. (i.e., edgewood iv, 1995) addresses the constitutionality of effi ciency and revenue distribution within senate bill 7, passed in 1993 as a response to edgewood iii. similar to previous school funding legislation, sb 7 included the foundation school program and its three tiers of funding. where the legislation departed from its predecessors came through the integration of $280,000 taxable limit on property wealth per student. school districts whose assessed valuation per student was above the cap were required to choose among fi ve options (i.e., district consolidation; detaching territory; purchasing attendance credits; servicing nonresident students; or, consolidating tax bases other districts) that would allow the state to recapture – and redistribute – revenues to less affl uent districts. after a series of appeals, the texas supreme court upheld senate bill 7 as constitutional. the court fi rst pointed to a diminished ratio in taxable property wealth per student (i.e., a reduction from a ratio of 700to-1 down to 28-to-1) between property wealthy and property poorest school districts; and, a guaranteed yield system that minimized the disparities in revenue yields. another issue addressed by the court regarded a $600 per student difference in yield between the wealthiest and poorest districts when tax effort for both groups is maximized at $1.50 per $100 of assessed valuation. the difference, appellants argued, would greatly disadvantage the education of students in poorer school districts. the court viewed “the state’s duty to provide districts with substantially equal access to revenue applies only to the provision of funding necessary for a general diffusion of knowledge” (p. 465). effi ciency, according to the court, was suffi ciently met even though gaps persisted and tax efforts varied. for the property rich districts like the property poor districts, senate bill 7 symbolized a dysfunctional system that unfairly penalized their schools. at issue for wealth districts concerned the ineffi ciency of the system. in those instances when district property wealth per student exceeded the cap of $280,000, the state was permitted to capture a portion of the surplus yield. any such cap, in the district’s view, was unconstitutional and fell short of meeting the “suitable provision” requirement in the texas constitution. the court concluded differently relying on the following: the present record…does not refl ect any such abdication. total state aid has risen dramatically since 1988-89, from $ 4.9 billion to over $ 7 billion; and while the wealthiest districts are now receiving substantially less from the state than in 1988-89, total state and local revenue has grown signifi cantly for all districts (edgewood iv, p. 470). property wealthy appellants again accused the state of operating an unconstitutional ad valorem tax system. while the appellants characterized the system as “rigid and infl exible” and afforded school districts “no meaningful discretion” (p. 471), the court recognized the bill’s fl exibility in tax rates and incentives, which the court believed distinguished it from the former unconstitutional bill (i.e., senate bill 351) requiring uniform tax rates. in the end, the court was not persuaded by the challenges raised by the wealthy districts. two general legal explanations emerged. first, the legislature’s intention was never to directly burden districts administratively 8. see http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/school.fi nance/index.html for a complete description of the texas fsp. 31 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 and fi nancially, but rather to pursue effi ciency. second, the bill contained provisions that gave districts various options to comply with the law (e.g., alternatives handed to districts that exceeded per student property value of $280,000 such as consolidation and detaching territory). west orange cove i and ii: the more policies change, the more they stay the same for the fi fth time, the texas foundation school program funding system was challenged in west orange cove consolidated i.s.d. et al. v. alanis (i.e., west orange cove i, 2003). because the appellant districts were taxing at the maximum allowable rate, the districts claimed the imposition of a cap equated a state income tax, which permitted no “meaningful discretion” to school districts. the court disagreed. the court further concluded “the concern is not the pervasiveness of the tax but the state’s control of it” (west orange cove i, p. 578). to further make the delineation between legal from illegal state taxes, the court made reference to the “spectrum of other possibilities” that exist which are far more diffi cult to discern when the question arises as to whether the state has “[denied] a taxing authority “meaningful discretion” (west orange cove i, p. 579), which the court surmised imposed a burden on school districts. the court furthermore dismissed the state’s claim that a district’s decision to tax itself at the maximum rate could be only interpreted as a local choice to offer “enhanced educational opportunities and not merely to maintain accreditation” (west orange cove i, p. 581). according to the court, such a rationale was inconsistent with the current legislative aim in providing the children of texas “a quality education that enables them to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the future in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation” (west orange cove i, p. 581). inasmuch as the texas judicial system has attempted on prior occasions to establish legal contours governing school fi nance, a blend of new and old issues invariably emerges when “defects” are “exposed” (west orange cove i, p. 754). this most recent case is no different. the texas supreme court was again asked in the consolidated case west orange ii (2005) to review the constitutionality of the state funding system (neeley, et al. v. west orange cove, et al.; alvarado isd, et al. v. neeley et al.; appellees consolidated with edgewood isd v. neeley, et al., 2005). the suit was brought by three discrete groups of plaintiffs – fi rst, west orange cove i.s.d. along with 47 other school districts, which represented above a quarter of the state’s student population; second, edgewood i.s.d.; and third, alvarado i.s.d. for west orange cove, the issue once again was whether the effect of legislative control over local property taxes created an unlawful state ad valorem tax under article vii, section 1-e of the texas constitution. the plaintiffs for alvarado and edgewood claimed the present funding system fell short of providing the necessary funding for impoverished school districts. despite contrasting claims, all three groups argued that the current system failed to meet the standards of effi ciency (i.e., “substantially equal opportunity to have access to educational funds,” p. 753), adequacy (i.e., “achieving the general diffusion of knowledge,” west orange ii, p. 753), and suitability (i.e., “funded so that it can accomplish its purpose…” p. 753) under the “general diffusion of knowledge” articulated in article vii, section 1 of the texas constitution. the texas supreme court once again ruled the present system violated the state tax prohibition and went to great length to justify its decision. in the end, the texas high court partly affi rmed, modifi ed, and reversed a prior district court ruling. the court further noted that “the public education system need not operate perfectly; it is adequate if districts are reasonably able to provide their students the access and opportunity the district court described” (west orange ii, p. 787). in spite of the record which revealed gaps and disparities in academic productivity by race, ethnicity, and wealth, the court could not “conclude that the legislature [had] acted arbitrarily in structuring and funding the public education system so that school districts [were] not reasonably able to afford all students the access to education and the educational opportunity to accomplish a general diffusion of knowledge” (west orange ii, p. 789). acknowledging changes in accreditation demands and funding necessities described earlier, the court disagreed and affi rmed the district court’s fi nding. with no “meaningful discretion” available to even some school districts, the funding system, in the court’s view, failed to account for changes in context such as more 32 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 investment in discretionary programming “important to keeping students in schools” (west orange ii, p. 796). hence, for some school districts, there was no alternative but to tax at the maximum rate, the court concluded. in the end, the district court’s injunction over the current system was extended to the summer of 2006 but with no political compromise in sight. fsp effi cacy analysis: methodology, data, and analysis9 despite the number of legal challenges to the constitutionality of the texas school foundation program, the basic structure of the funding mechanism has remained unchanged for nearly 20 years. consisting of two primary funding tiers, the funding formula originally was designed to generate substantially equal revenues for school district daily maintenance and operation – not capital or debt servicing – expenses. tier i is structured as a basic foundation formula. consisting of a basic allotment per student and a series of weights adjustment that account for differences in student and district characteristics (e.g., the percentage of students receiving bilingual services within a district) (see table 1). in addition, each district also qualifi es for transportation allotments based on the number of students riding buses divided by the approved route miles 33 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 table 1 texas foundation school program funding formula adjustments for district and student characteristics classifi cation description weight bilingual/esl based on the number of students that participate 0.1 in programs, additional funds are used for salaries and instructional resources. career and technology based on the amount of time students spend in eligible career 1.35 technology courses, additional funds pay for salaries and instructional resources. education compensatory education based on the number of students that are eligible for free or reduced 0.2 price lunch, additional funding assists students performing below grade level. an additional component is utilized for program serving 2.41 pregnant students. cost of education index accounts for differences in resource costs that are beyond the control 1.02 to 1.20 of the district. the fi ve components are the: (a) average beginning salary of teachers in contiguous school districts, (b) percent of economically disadvantaged students, (c) district size, (d) location in a rural county with less than 40,000 people, and (e) district classifi ed as “independent town” or “rural.” gifted/talented based on individual district requirements, additional funding pays for 0.12 salaries and instructional resources. state funding is capped at 5% of each district’s ada. small and mid-sized designed to supplement higher fi xed costs of operating districts in 1.0 less districts populated areas. “small” is less than 1,600 ada. to 1.61 “mid-sized” is between 1,601 to 5,000 ada. sparsity adjustment based on the number of students in district, range of grade levels enrollment available, and distance to a district with a high school if necessary. increased by 60, 75 or 130 special education there are 12 special education instructional arrangements with 1.7 varying weights based on duration of the daily service and location of to the instruction. 5.0 34 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 as such, the basic allotments plus the district, student, and transportation adjustments sum to provide a district’s per student state allocation within tier i. this amount is adjusted by a district’s local fund assignment (i.e., revenue generated through local taxation at a specifi c rate). consequently, adjusted state aid equals the tier entitlement minus the local fund assignment. tier ii operates as a guaranteed yield funding mechanism. unlike tier i, tier ii state revenue is generated based on the maintenance and operations (m&o) tax rates set by local districts. for example, every cent of tax the district levied is guaranteed to receive a specifi ed dollar amount per weighted student. revenues for capital and debt services (i.e., interest and sinking , or i &s, rates) are unadjusted formulaically.10 data collection and analytical techniques data analyzed were obtained, defi ned, calculated, and reported from one primary source: the public education information management system (peims) managed by the texas education agency (tea). the data elements are: a) combined state local expenditures per student; and, b) student and district characteristics defi ned by the fsp (e.g., maintenance and operations taxing effort). statistical analyses will focus on these data elements because state funding mechanisms generally are in place to distribute resources equitably and to reduce the infl uence of district wealth and various student needs. multivariate statistical analyses were conducted to examine operationalized variables and effi cacy relationships for texas school districts during the 1994 to 2007 academic years. standardized beta coeffi cients from ordinary least squares (ols) regression analyses are used to make inferences about the effects of various district characteristics on spending; and, their infl uence on levels of combined state and local expenditures per student. these analytical methods improve on previous equity analyses of texas school districts in three important ways: • using a longitudinal approach analyses allow trends to develop and be assessed over time recognizing that educational change is both continuous and incremental; and does not assume that cross sectional data analyses provide suffi cient policy explanations. • using multiple equity measures allow empirical evidence to be interpreted and assessed recognizing that numerous educational objectives are pursued simultaneously; and does not assume that individual objectives are pursued specifi cally. • using vertical equity measures recognizes specifi cally that demographic differences among communities affect educational processes; and does not assume that all public schools have the same expenditure priorities. ultimately, the goal of this research is to help create a common understanding about the equitable distribution of public education dollars in texas. with this increased level of understanding, policy makers and the public can begin to address the more complex issue of improving levels of equity in the distribution of public resources that produce higher levels of student learning outcomes. analytical results from 1994-2007, the strongest predictor of combined state and local expenditures per student is local assessed property value per student. the standardized beta coeffi cients ranged from 0.322 up to 0.684; and, were statistically signifi cant for all 14 years examined (see table 2v). the second strongest predictor of combined state and local expenditures per student – percentage of students utilizing special education services – had coeffi cients ranging from 0.054 up to 0.325; and, were statistically signifi cant for 13 of the 14 years examined. 10. again, see http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/school.fi nance/index.html for a complete description of the texas fsp. 35 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 next, both attendance rate and transportation expenditures per student were statistically signifi cant predictors of combined state and local expenditures for 11 of the 14 years examined – the standardized beta coeffi cients ranged from 0.057 up to 0.313. table 2 vertical equity analysis for texas independent public school districts combined state and local education expenditures per student 1994-2007 there were mixed analytical results for m&o taxing efforts and average beginning teacher salary. in fact, even though it was a signifi cant predictor for 12 of the 14 years examined – taxing effort exhibited fi ve years of positive beta coeffi cients, four years of negative beta coeffi cients, and two years as an insignifi cant predictor before returning for three years as a positive predictor of combined state and local expenditures per student. similarly, average beginning base salary was a statistically signifi cant predictor of combined state and local expenditures per student for nine of the 14 years examined. but, for six of the nine years, average beginning base salary was negative predictor. 36 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 there were no consistent statistically signifi cant relationships between combined state and local expenditures per student and percentages of students classifi ed as economically disadvantaged, percentages of student participating in vocational education programs, percentages of students participating in gifted and talented programs, and percentages of students receiving bilingual services. in fact, the percentage of students receiving bilingual services was not statistically signifi cant for any of the 14 years examined. overall, the magnitude of local property wealth per student at least twice as strong as all other signifi cant predictors – and as much as six times as strong as the signifi cant predictors with the least magnitude – in its infl uence on combined state and local expenditures per student. summary and recommendations at this point, it is important to remember that the function of the texas fsp is to distribute dollars equitably based on student district need characteristics and fi scal capacity. in essence, the state allocation of dollars is intended to “counter balance” the effect of local spending efforts in order to improve levels of equity overall. unfortunately, when examining combined local state expenditures, levels of inequity remained constant or worsened slightly depending on the measure analyzed. in fact, evidence examined shows that disparities in per-student funding – and ultimately access to a variety of educational services – are driven primarily by the ability of school districts to generate revenues from local property wealth. four fi ndings are of particular note: (a) the fsp components representing percentages of students receiving bilingual services is an insignifi cant predictor of expenditures per student; (b) the fsp components representing percentages of students receiving gifted and talented services is an insignifi cant predictor of expenditures per student; (c) the infl uence of maintenance and operations taxing effort is a positive and negative predictor of expenditures per student; and, (d) the infl uence of average teacher beginning teacher salary is a positive and negative predictor of expenditures per student. as such, in its efforts to improve levels of equity in texas, the state’s distribution formula is failing to “counter balance” the effect of local spending efforts. moreover, given that the magnitude and infl uence of local expenditures is the primary predictor for expenditure levels across multiple spending categories, it can be inferred that general levels of equity are dictated specifi cally by levels of local property values. of particular note is the effect the infl uence of local expenditures also is having on one specifi c demographic subgroup: students receiving bilingual services. therefore, if education fi nance equity and equality of educational opportunity is to remain a policy goal for the state of texas, the foundation school program – and its structural components – needs to be reconceptualized and restructured to alleviate fi scal inequities. in particular, attention needs to focus on: 1) fiscal capacity index: the structure of the regression used to calculate the index needs to be evaluated to determine its effi cacy. due to model specifi cation errors, collinearity of independent predictors, or data errors, estimators – and the predictions based on them – may be producing spurious equalization results. 2) community complexity: the current fi scal capacity index does not (nor does the foundation school program for that matter) alleviate negative – or reward positive – community characteristics; as a result, school districts with differential school climates are being underfunded (or over funded) by the state. the fi scal equity and educational opportunity debate was summarized most appropriately by coons, clune, and sugarman (1970) near its inception: whatever it is that money may be thought to contribute to the education of children, that commodity is something highly prized by those who enjoy the greatest measure of it. if money is inadequate to improve education, the residents of poor districts should at least have an equal opportunity to be disappointed by its failure (p. 30). now, forty years later, this study reiterates the same message: reasonable people almost always will agree that the distribution of resources available to public schools affects their level of performance. but still, the question that 37 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 remains is a political one: how? the moral imperative that all children can succeed may be far more elusive than previously thought. as the protracted texas school fi nance battle illustrates, the hearts and minds of legislators will not be won over easily. perhaps, as welner (2001) suggests, “equity driven, top down mandates should be viewed not so much as attempts to mandate what matters as attempts to change the pre-existing mandates of what matters” (p. 234). it is the pre-existing mandates, welner argues, that are culturally constructed and provoke people implicitly and explicitly to “act, react, or perceive” in particular ways. as to perception, ruiz (as cited in baker, 1994) suggests political posture toward bilingualism seems to play within and across three general categories: language as a right, language as a resource, and language as a problem. the latter of course is most troubling if the ultimate goal of educational fi nance and economic research is to improve the quantity and quality of educational opportunities provided to all children. given that approximately 15% of the roughly fi ve million k-12 students in texas receive bilingual services, it seems that correcting the primary funding component designed to provide resources for these types of services needs is a good place to begin. references coons, j.e., clune, w.h., & sugarman, s.d. (1970). private wealth and public education. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. edgewood v. kirby i (1989) edgewood v. kirby ii (1991) edgewood iii: carrollton-farmers branch isd, et al., v. edgewood isd and alvarado isd, et al. (1992) edgewood v. kirby iv: edgewood et al. v. meno et al. (1995) house bill 351, 72nd leg., r.s., ch. 20, tex. gen. laws 381. (1991). house bill 351 (revised), 72nd leg., r.s., ch. 391, tex. gen. laws 1475. (1991). ruiz, r. (1984). orientations in language planning. nabe journal, 8(2) 15-34 cited in baker, c. (1993,1994). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism.philadelphia: multilingual matters. senate bill 1, 71st leg., 6th c.s., ch. 1, tex. gen. laws 1. (1990). senate bill 7, 73rd leg., r.s., ch. 347, tex. gen. laws 1479. (1993). texas constitution, article i, section 3 texas constitution, article i, section 19 texas constitution, article vii, section 1 texas constitution, article viii, ß 1-e welner, k. g. (2001). legal rights, local wrongs: when community control collides with educational equity. new york, ny: suny press. west orange cove i : west orange cove consolidated i.s.d. et al. v. alanis (2003) west orange ii: neeley, et al. v. west orange cove, et al.; alvarado isd, et al. v. neeley et al.; appellees consolidated with edgewood isd v. neeley, et al., (2005) 38 los elefantes rosas en las cúpulas institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 68 institutionally responsive pedagogies: a community-cultural wealth approach to latina/o student engagement across the educational pipeline louie f. rodriguez university of california, riverside abstract the educational system continues to inadequately serve latina/o students across the educational pipeline. a key shortcoming is the system’s inability to develop, support, and grow educational leaders that can respond. in this article, the author poses a series of pedagogical approaches using a community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) lens. in the spirit of testimonio, the author sets the context by articulating his own principles for engagement as a chicano scholar directly engaged with latina/o students and communities across the educational pipeline. then the author shares four concrete pedagogical principles that have been used in his work with students, communities, parents, and in higher education, particularly in a leadership development program. the article concludes with a proposed set of principles focused on institutionally responsive pedagogies driven by community cultural wealth and centers on the ways in which institutions need to shift so that the cultural wealth of latina/o students and communities are realized across the educational pipeline. framing the problem and possibilities as a chicano scholar i have been interested with the ways in which traditional teaching and learning spaces have engaged1 or failed to engage students, especially latina/o youth across the u.s. for the last 16 years, i have worked in three geographically distinct areas with very similar demographics, challenges, and possibilities. all three regions have been mostly people of color with significant immigrant and english learner student populations. while these communities have faced numerous 1 engagement within the teaching and learning context is drawn from the work of paulo freire (1973). for instance, engagement occurs when students and teachers co-construct knowledge, when students are legitimized for their experiential experiences, and when the purpose of teaching and learning is not only about literacy and numeracy but also critical consciousness. rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 69 challenges, there have always existed “pockets of hope” (de los reyes & gozemba, 2001). at the center of inquiry and action is to promote the cultural wealth of latina/o students, and their peers that sit next to them in classrooms across the educational pipeline (yosso, 2005). in the spirit of realizing a praxis-driven approach, i often ask, in what ways are my research and engagement approaches driven by a perspective that respects, honors, and legitimizes the voices, experiences, and perspectives of latina/o youth? this question urges that my pedagogical and methodological approaches are driven by principles that value the wealth, knowledge, and truth of the people (solorzano & yosso, 2001). this approach obviously departs from the traditional assumption that knowledge is something to be acquired from textbooks rather than something that is co-created and realized in classrooms, schools, and communities. to this point, our communities are the curriculum, and a pedagogy driven by community cultural wealth is centered and driven by our students. in order to legitimize the role that latinas/os play in the educational spaces we call schools, community colleges, and universities, we need a process. while many social justice and equity-minded educators and leaders espouse to engage in this work in authentic ways, there are often huge gaps between the realities on the ground (i.e., interracial conflict on high school campuses, disparities in disciplinary practices by race and gender, and curricular (ir)relevance particularly for students of color) and the methodologies that are used to engage educators. this struggle has to do, in part, with the ways in which teachers and educational leaders are developed in higher education. there remains an overemphasis on technical skills development versus an exposure to the social and cultural conditions that inform and drive much of the work of educators (trueba, 1999). for example, a high school teacher can be exposed to the most up-todate curriculum and assessment approaches in mathematics, but if they are unable to recognize, understand, and reach students via student-teacher relationships and community and cultural relevance, they will struggle. this condition then evolves into a pattern and deficit ideology that is not only destructive to students but seeps into school culture. this only exacerbates the counterproductive policies and conditions that face students and schools. so, the question becomes, how do we get ahead of institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 70 these conditions and what kinds of pedagogical approaches might an educator use if they are currently in the field as a teacher, leader, counselor, or community stakeholder? in this article, i propose several concrete approaches that have effectively engaged latina/o youth in powerful ways. the goal of this article is to articulate what those approaches look like and provide ways that k-12 practitioners, teacher educators, and others concerned with professional development initiatives can consider. because there is often a research-practice gap between the realities on the ground and the ways in which universities develop educators, this article is particularly relevant to any educator concerned with using concrete pedagogical strategies that start with the educator, honor the community, and remain rooted in practice. below i share five principles that guide my work followed by a discussion of four key pedagogical approaches. principles for engagement: teaching, research, service, and leadership in my university teaching, it became increasingly apparent that in-service and preservice teachers, leaders, counselors, and other practitioners are likely to have been in the field or enrolled in an existing graduate program in education without any opportunity to articulate a set of principles that guide their actions. therefore, i created an explicit pedagogical exercise for doctoral students in an educational leadership program that provides them with the opportunity to develop their principles with the input of their communities. on the first day of class i introduce the assignment and share my five principles. i emphasize that my five principles have evolved, changed, are forever developing and emerging for as a long i am honored to work with my community. i charge the doctoral students, many of whom who are current and seasoned teachers in pk-12 and higher education, school leaders, school district executives, and community college and university leaders, with the task of developing their principles over the course of the quarter. students can draw on previous experiences, current literature, and materials and concepts explored in the course, in addition to some aspirational considerations as they strive to complete the program and continue to serve their communities. once they develop their five principles and a working definition of each principle, students are rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 71 asked to garner feedback from their communities/stakeholders. some students elect to use social media, email, or some other medium. the goal is to explore the relevance and clarity of the principles with the people they serve. once the feedback is received, students then incorporate the feedback and submit a complete draft to me. the assignment culminates with a final presentation to in-class colleagues and a final draft that can be displayed in the department offices. one cohort co-presented at a collegesponsored research symposium and shared via poster presentations. once the quarter ends students are encouraged to frequently reference, add, edit, and build upon their five principles. at the end of the quarter i once again share my five principles with the class. in the winter 2016 quarter, my five principles felt particularly good given the evolution of my research, teaching, and collaboration with the community. my five principles are: 1) humanistic, 2) truth-telling, 3) historical, 4) equity and excellence, 5) intentionality. 1. humanistic: through my work i intend to treat all people with respect driven by perspective-taking and reciprocal dialogue. a recognition that each person’s intersectional identities are honored and considered throughout the teaching, learning, research, and collaborative process. 2. truth-telling: there is a continuous goal of truth-building, truth-seeking, and truth-honoring throughout the engagement process. while everyone may not be ready to hear the truth, communities deserve to know the truth. therefore, my teaching, learning, research, and engagement must be a vehicle to unearth that truth. 3. historical: ahistorical approaches to education must be erased. all communities exist within a historical context and we must learn, build, and in some situations honor this history to recognize our community’s contributions to society and the world. 4. equity and excellence: equity must drive the process and outcome we seek in our education and social systems. one approach is to use excellence as an organizing tool. every community exemplifies excellence. we must use excellence to strive for equity. our ability to use excellence as a tool is a institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 72 gesture of equity. our inability to do this work through excellence says something significant about our context and ourselves. 5. intentionality: social justice and transformative change will not happen by accident. we must work in collaboration to intentionally co-create the conditions that facilitate opportunities for engagement and educational, social, and political change. so, not only do i model my principles with my students, but i also use these as a reference and community accountability tool in my classes. these principles for engagement drive my direct work with communities. when it comes to actual praxis with latina/o students across the educational pipeline, these principles become the guiding lenses that inform my work to help explore and unearth the community cultural wealth they bring to the educational space. four pedagogical approaches for latina/o youth there are no magic solutions to engaging latina/o students across the educational pipeline. however, there are approaches that have proven to be particularly transformative in my work in engaging students in various spaces. in a project titled, the praxis project in the inland empire region of southern california, i devised a set of pedagogical experiences that i have articulated elsewhere (rodriguez, 2014). the goal of this section is to describe the significance of these pedagogical approaches for latina/o students and for the educators that serve them. in an effort to apply with these pedagogical approaches, my own guiding principles for engagement must be a lens that informs this work. educational journeys any community engagement approach must begin with a willingness to dialogue with the people. these dialogues must be rooted in respect and a willingness to listen and learn. one of the approaches i have used extensively is educational journeys/caminos educativos (rodriguez, forthcoming). educational journeys were first introduced by my colleague tara brown at the university of maryland college park with her participatory action research (par) work with youth in a continuation high school rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 73 setting. over the last 10 years, i have developed educational journeys as a way to engage youth in powerful storytelling about their struggles, triumphs, and hopes and dreams. as the leader of the work, i always begin by telling my story and i push that all of my university or community team members do the same. then, students are given the opportunity to share their educational journeys. students are given a prompt to reflect on their pk-12 experiences in school and in the community and are asked to identify 2-3 experiences that were defining or transformative in nature. students then develop presentations, videos, poems, raps, maps, or artwork on construction paper. at the time of this writing, i am finalizing a conceptual framework that describes the conceptual foundations to educational journeys and the pedagogy of healing, building, and thriving through this approach (rodriguez, forthcoming). by using this approach with high school youth, college and graduate students, parents, and educators, there are some powerful trends and learning experiences that have evolved out of educational journeys. many participants talk about the healing nature of reflection, storytelling, and truth-telling. for instance, students often recall troubling experiences like embarrassment, public denigration, and low expectations and we discuss that the pervasive presence of these experiences are manifestations of racism, discrimination, policy irrelevance, culturally and community irrelevant curriculum and teaching and learning experiences. however, many of us have never been given the language or liberty to explore these experiences, especially as an academic/intellectual exercise. educational journeys serve as a vehicle to explicitly acknowledge those challenges and constructively theorize and build on those truths. in conjunction with the opportunity to tell one’s stories, we bridge those experiences with policy realities facing latina/o schooling conditions in the u.s. for instance, their stories are contextualized in the ways in which discrimination and special education designations are driven by race or language abilities, or situated in contexts of ability tracking, the use of standardized testing, school segregation, teacher quality, and a host of other issues. through the process of storytelling and theorizing about the ways in which experiences can be historicized and contextualized in school, district, community, state, and national/global realities and trends, the consciousness and scope of students’ lenses begin to awaken/widen. many students begin to ask why they have never been exposed institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 74 to the conditions in their communities or exposed to an analysis on the ways in which policy has impacted their people and communities. almost simultaneously, the healing evolves into a pedagogy of building. because the story is being delivered to a group of listeners, many of the stories told by latina/o students resonate in many ways with their peers. while there are always differences, students begin to reflect on the power of recognizing and understanding one’s existence in relation to one another. the realization and shared space and experience often builds a collective consciousness and a realization of social injustice. on a very basic level, students begin to see each other through a different set of lenses, and as one student put it, “i now know i shouldn’t hate or judge so and so (in reference to a peer in class). i had no idea they had been through so much.” of course one condition is to tell students that they are in no way obligated to share. it is optional and so is the content. however, the stories tend to be powerful. similarly, we emphasis the power of triumphs as well. students share the impact that a particular teacher had on their educational opportunities, the power of a program, or the leadership opportunities afforded to them. participants often talk about that “one teacher” that believed in them, pushed them, or never gave up on them. from storytelling to action we have observed that healing and building leads to an opportunity to thrive. students are provided with an opportunity to envision their future. students begin to create and imagine the conditions required for them to thrive. they may propose projects, policies, or new directions in teaching practices that will have a direct impact on them. students begin to create the stages, venues, and audiences that need to engage with their work. students define their agency as a reflection of their emerging role as a public intellectual in their schools and communities. along the way, they gain valuable skills in perspective-taking, presenting, organizing, analyzing, and synthesizing information, relationship building, and a knowledge about power and politics. in one of our projects, students assembled a series of professional development sessions for preservice teachers. the students were concerned about teacher quality issues and identified five characteristics of a high quality teacher. students assembled themselves rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 75 into groups by theme, created surveys and observation tools that exemplify their particular characteristic (i.e, a caring teacher) and then used the school context as a laboratory for exploration. then they assembled their findings, prepared a presentation, and provided a set of recommendations for policy and practice. it is our hope that students leave with an experience and set of skills that they can use elsewhere, while empowered to build their own educational pathway so that they thrive in and with their communities. we have learned in this work that educational journeys become the foundation of our community work. in order for us to understand where we want to go as a community of scholars, we need to understand the struggles and triumphs that drive us. educational journeys facilitate rich “data” about each student that no file or transcript could ever tell us. teachers engaged in this work are rewarded with a set of knowledge that makes student engagement inevitable, if, they are committed to centering their work on the knowledge, experiences, and truths of latina/o youth. recommendations for practice ● k12 leaders should share their educational journey with staff, students, and parents; they can use professional development time to encourage teachers to share their educational journeys. ● district leadership and policy should support the work through time allocation, materials/resources, and political support. ● university faculty should use educational journeys as a classroom assignment. history of educational inequality when i first met juan he was withdrawn, wore black jeans about 4 times too large, a long white t-shirt, and never said a word. as i began to engage his class in a lesson on the history of educational inequality specifically for black and latina/o communities in the u.s., his physical posture suggested indifference. he sat slouched in his desk with his arms crossed and exuded a “i’m not interested” attitude. i occasionally passed by his desk, asked him questions, and all i got was a shrug. he never verbally engaged with me or the teacher on record. institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 76 it all changed one day when i taught a brief lesson on lopez v. seccombe 1944 (oseguera, 2010). this was a case involving the city of san bernardino’s discriminatory policies against latinas/os’ use of a public swimming pool and other public facilities. when a group of children were denied admission into the public swimming pool, a class action lawsuit was filed and the judge voted in favor of latino community. this case was the first time the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment of the constitution was invoked to protect the rights of latina/os in the u.s. (see oseguera, 2010 for a detailed overview of the case). juan suddenly sat up. “what?? that happened here? why haven’t we ever heard of this?” this information woke him up. for years he passed through the school system with very little interest in what school had to offer him. based on what i observed in my brief experience with him, it is likely the case that his resistance to school was merely a reaction to an environment that failed to meaningfully engage him. teachers could try all they want. they could tell him about the ramifications of his behavior on “his future.” they could kick him out of class. they could fail him. in the end, he refused to entertain a school system and everything they had to offer because the system failed to recognize him, his community, and his history. this is precisely the goal of engaging students in the history of educational inequality. our approach includes a review of plessy v. ferguson, the americanization movement for native americans, women’s access to education and women’s suffrage, mendez v. westminster, brown v. board of education, chicano walkouts, school desegregation in boston, and the more recent jena 6 case. students are provided with an opportunity to discuss its relevance for today. documentaries, readings, news clippings, and social media are used to engage students and teach each case/moment. in some classes, students are expected to research the topic and deliver a 20-minute presentation on the case/moment, and explore evidence of its impact today. the reality is that many of these events are excluded from the traditional statesanctioned curriculum, especially in spaces serving most latina/o students across the u.s. and most universities. while the exceptions lie in ethnic studies departments and given the recent expansion of ethnic studies in high schools in different states should be acknowledged, most latina/o students will not learn about their history and these rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 77 pivotal moments in u.s. history unless educators explicitly engage students with the content. as a pedagogical approach with latina/o students, explicitly and intentionally engaging students in these approaches acknowledges the community cultural wealth of their communities and their contributions to education and society (burciaga & erbstein, 2013). most latina/o children are never taught about the brilliance of their people. such a pedagogy should be non-negotiable and can be integrated in any subject and content area. the challenge to educators is to collaborate with one another and with public partners like universities to approach the work authentically and with relevance. recommendations for practice ● university faculty who are developing future educators should use local moments in educational inequality as curriculum. students can research, share, and develop curriculum. these efforts should be practiced with transparency; future educators should engage youth in similar ways. ● current k12 leaders should support and provide a platform for current teachers to explore topics of educational inequality in the u.s. with their students; such work should be publicized and celebrated with the community. ● district leaders and policymakers should fund and develop policy that builds upon the cultural wealth of students and the legacy of their communities. powerful ideas in education the third pedagogical approach involves a deliberate attempt at exposing students to some powerful ideas in education. while in no way is this list of ideas comprehensive, it does introduce some transformative concepts that they normally do not get until college or graduate school, if ever at all. this is important because of the reality facing many of our “educational” institutions and the presence of a literacy for stupidification that macedo (1993) addresses in his analysis of schools and society. that is, in many educational spaces, students, students of color, and latina/o students specifically are not exposed to critical theories, concepts, or ways of seeing the world. in many instances, this prevention of access is deliberate. the struggle for ethnic studies in arizona over the last 10 years is a perfect example. teachers, scholars, and institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 78 researchers have worked with students to introduce powerful ideas such as paulo freire’s (1973) pedagogy of the oppressed or rudy acuna’s (2015) occupied america. to those of us in the field of education, sociology, ethnic studies, chicana/o studies and others, these are seminal texts. however, they often fail to reach high school or middle school students unless these works are ushered in by ethnic studies programs. without an ethnic studies program to work with, our work through the praxis project with latina/o youth has committed itself to exposing students to concepts like the dialectic approach to teaching and learning and the banking/ domesticating trends in education (freire, 1973), power in classrooms and schools (delpit, 1995), resistance theory and critical race theory (solorzano & yosso, 2001), and subtractive schooling (valenzuela, 1999). not only do we introduce the concepts, but we encourage students to take a critical look at their educational journeys/caminos educativos and draw connections. while many of our students have a critical view of their own educational experiences, they often lack the opportunity to reflect and bridge their experiences with concepts that exist in the world. for many students, feelings and experiences of shame or denigration by teachers or systems have been normalized largely because they do not have a language to critically analyze their social and educational conditions or their resistance emerged in counterproductive ways that resulted in the discipline, punishment, or exporting students from school (fine, 1991). learning about valenzuela’s (1999) subtractive schooling concept allows students to put a language to their experience and then work to envision and create a new reality. engaging with these texts is carried out in small groups of 4 to 5 students. each group is assigned a college student when available. each group is required to define a facilitator, note taker, and speaker although all students are encouraged to speak for the purposes of developing that specific skill. rather than providing students with an entire text, excerpts are used to ease access to the material as many of the writings are considered theoretically dense, even for advanced graduate students. students are encouraged to struggle through the material and identify key takeaways. many students welcome the challenge especially when we tell them that this material is taught to students pursuing a doctorate in education. this latter point also addresses a major rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 79 void and pedagogical experience in middle and high schools serving mostly low-income latina/o youth across the country: intellectual starvation. powerful ideas in education provide students with an opportunity to bridge their inherent forms of community cultural wealth with theories and concepts that often reflect similar contexts, challenges, and possibilities. in the end, students walk away with a language, an analytical experience, and a set of practical skills that they can use later in school, in college, and beyond. wrestling with content, making connections with their own lives, and building with others around these experiences results in transformative pedagogical experiences that help realize the purpose and significance of community cultural wealth with latina/o students. recommendations for practice ● k12 teachers should create lessons where students explore the origins of key concepts, their origins, time periods/political contexts, and relevance/applicability today. ● district leadership and policymakers should provide material support for teachers engaged in this work with students; support needs to come from the top. ● university faculty charged to develop future educators should create similar assignments so they are exposed to the content prior to working in the school system. group research project the culminating pedagogical experience revolves around the group research project. this project uses a participatory action research (par) approach to engaging latina/o students in work related to issues they identify as critical to their lives, especially in their schools and communities (see ayala, cammarota, rivera, rodriguez, berta-avila, & torre, forthcoming).2 traditional research would simply facilitate opportunities to collect students’ experiences via surveys, interviews, and observational techniques. however, par actually engages students as the researchers to the point 2 the author is collaborating with a group of scholars who are currently authoring a book on the par entremundos approach to participatory action research with latina/o communities across the americas. institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 80 where they name the issue to be explored (usually related to some significant theme that emerged from the educational journey/caminos educativos experience), construct a research question that addresses the issue, identify the kinds of data to collect and how to collect it, build bridges with the theories and concepts explored in powerful ideas in education, and collect, analyze, and disseminate their findings to various communities and audiences. the ultimate goal is to facilitate real change in practice and policy at the local level and beyond. researcher/facilitators pose a series of critical questions to initiate the process. students’ responses generate a list which is essentially a set of potential research topics. the collective group narrows the list to roughly 10 topic areas. students then select and assemble themselves into groups by area of interest. there may be roughly 4-6 students in each group. using a discussion template, students begin to discuss why the topic is a problem, to whom, and transforming the problem into a researchable question. over time their research question is refined, data collection methods are identified, surveys and interview protocol are created when applicable, and students lead the data collection and recommendations process. in previous work, students explored issues like teacher quality, student engagement in the classroom, school cleanliness, and student dropout issues. after a series of practice presentations, the school’s principal and superintendent were invited to a presentation. perhaps more important than the content of the presentations was the superintendent’s awe at students exercising their voices via high quality academic work. in this particular instance, the superintendent seemed struck by the students’ level of engagement and enthusiasm with the work. shortly after this meeting, the superintendent decided to implement a district wide policy to be applied at high schools that centered around student voice forums and drawing students in each month to assess and monitor the school’s culture. the goal was for each teacher to identify two students—a highly engaged/high achieving student and a disengaged/low-achieving student—and send them to the student voice forum. at the forum students addressed three key questions: what is working well in school? what is not working well in school? what are some solutions to these challenges? these forums served as an ongoing barometer check on the school culture and served as real time data that the rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 81 principal and district can act on as needed. through this work, latina/o youth exercised their role as public intellectuals. all they needed was an opportunity and a process to help get them there. but how did these opportunities emerge? it was intentional. during the initial brainstorming session, we engage with problem-posing pedagogy in the spirit of paulo freire’s (1973) work. we ask, why do some students succeed and some fail? why do some graduate and some drop out? what is the difference between schooling and education? these kinds of questions generate exciting energy and dialogues with latina/o students. students generate endless reasons to these questions and demonstrate complex understandings of the issues. the facilitators must have strong sensibilities to group process and a mindful eye on both process and outcome goals. it is vital that the historic silencing of students’ voices or devaluing of students’ theories, perspectives, or ideas is not replicated within the par space. for years students have been socialized to believe that their stories, their testimonios, and their educational journeys/caminos educativos do not matter. par works as a process to desocialize students as identified by paulo freire (1973) and from these subtractive forms of education and replace it with an authentic approach that values their voices and experiences. however, this work won’t happen overnight. in one of my projects, a young lady in the back of the classroom sat silent but engaged for nearly three months. while she seemed engaged by producing her educational journey and engaging in small group discussions about the powerful ideas in education, she never stepped up to take a leadership role with the project. it wasn’t until the group project experience where her voice and leadership was exercised. when we asked why it took her so long to engage with us she stated, “i didn’t trust you guys. i didn’t know if you were committed to us or if you would be gone next week.” this experience spoke volumes about the work and the context in which the student attended school. the school had been struggling academically, socially, and economically for years. leadership turnover was high, school violence was on the rise, parent and community engagement was virtually absent, and the school was on notice given it perpetual academic failure. given this context, this student was rightfully suspicious about our intentions and commitment to students. in other words, it was one thing to say we were committed to students and the project; it was another thing to prove it. institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 82 apparently we proved it after three months and this was a major lesson learned about the pedagogy and politics of this work. those wishing to engage in this work cannot simply implement a par-type approach with latina/o youth or any other marginalized students in our schools/colleges/universities. there needs to be a commitment to the patience and process required to move the work forward. it will not happen overnight and facilitators may face resistance. the resistance is not personal. the resistance is not defiance. the resistance is not disinterest. the resistance is simply a learned response from a system that has largely subtracted their spirit from the teaching and learning process. the group research project and the par approach to make this happen is just one way where the community cultural wealth of students can be used to engage in work that is relevant to students’ interests. recommendations for practice ● k12 educators can integrate par approaches during group project and significant assignments; ● school, district, and policymakers should support the work of teachers and students in terms of access to data, access to school, and freedom to engage in the field whether it is on campus or in the community; ● university faculty should model these approaches for future educators; if they experience it, they will be able to practice it in the field. where do we go from here? toward institutionally responsive pedagogies that foster latina/o students’ community cultural wealth much of what has been discussed above has been the why and the how. i addressed how my own principles for engagement shape my work with communities, research, scholarship, and teaching and pedagogical engagement with students across the educational pipeline. then i described four pedagogical approaches that i have used with latina/o students that create the conditions so they position themselves at the center of the educational endeavor. by engaging with these approaches, there is no shortage of curricular ideas, engaging students in creative ways, and findings audiences rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 83 who need to engage with this work. in fact, there are teachers and other pedagogues who do this work every single day. the question now becomes, what conditions are necessary for this kind of work to flourish? how might institutions transform their practices to comprehensively make these pedagogical approaches the norm rather than the exception? the transformative possibilities of community cultural wealth with latina/o students will not be realized unless there is a commitment by leaders. here leadership is not just positional authority as defined by an institutionally ascribed title. rather, leadership is defined by a commitment from any community member—student, teacher, parent, principal, community organizer, nonprofit leader, curriculum specialist, counselor, community college faculty member, tenured university professor, college/university administrator— to exercise a pedagogy that centers on creating conditions with latina/o students that facilitates opportunities to name, dismantle, rebuild, and thrive. at the same time, it is equally important to recognize that pedagogy is in part shaped by the context. thus, for the purposes of this work, and with the intention of working to address the possibilities with latina/o students, the power of policy needs to be included. in order to set the stage for this work to grow and thrive, a pedagogical approach at the institutional level is necessary. historically, pedagogy has been largely viewed as a teacher-centric, classroom level practice that is often confined to the four walls of a traditional classroom space. for the purposes of proposing an institutional pedagogy that is responsive to the power of community cultural wealth, a series of principles that aim to push and promote institutional culture must be considered to move the work forward. because leadership does not occur in a vacuum, institutional culture and all of its associated complexities must be considered as leaders engage with this work. it is my hope that these principles inspire a dialogue within the field that explores what kinds of conditions are required for latina/o students’ community cultural wealth and all forms of capital (yosso, 2005) to thrive. additive and constructive leaders within institutions need to focus on additive and constructive work with latina/o students. in this context, additive refers to the strengths and positive institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 84 developments and contributions within the latina/o community, while constructive connotes a spirit of growth and improvement over time. the additive work in no way subtracts from naming, denouncing, and deconstructing all forms of past and present day oppression facing all marginalized peoples. in fact, that work must be done and perhaps prior to creating an additive agenda. leaders should commit to guiding the community through efforts that build our own practices, pedagogies, policies, and power. it is through these practices that individual and collective consciousness is born. inherently, when an additive lens is used as a guiding principle driving the work, it will be naturally constructive as it contributes to building more humanizing spaces that prioritize, legitimize, and elevate our lives, our communities, and our cultures, languages, and legacies. community as curriculum secondly, leaders need to leverage the community as the curriculum. the community cultural wealth framework allows us to recognize that our community is rich with power, knowledge, history, and skills. this deviates from the state-sanctioned curriculum that drives and defines most of our teaching and learning spaces and for that matter the ways in which our “educators” are trained in higher education. so, not only must leaders recognize the wealth of the community, but they must be action-oriented and willing to put the community front and center in course syllabi, lesson plans, and assessment approaches. one way to do this is to create content that reflects the rich history of the community. this requires an institutional commitment by leaders to create the conditions so this work can happen. an equally important leadership commitment needs to focus on the testimonios of the people (delgado bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2012). each of our communities has a rich history that has largely gone unexplored given the narrow, subtractive, and prescriptive approach to legitimate knowledge. educational journeys is one concrete approach. another example is the 2014 documentary stolen education produced by dr. enrique alemán at the university of texas san antonio. through his own research on his family history he learned that his mother and aunts and uncles were at the center of a major desegregation/school discrimination case in 1950’s in south texas. he collected rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 85 documents, conducted interviews, and toured the community to tell a powerful story about his own community and the mexican american struggles for civil rights in this country (alemán, 2014). these are the types of stories that sit in our communities and will remain covered by a blanket of institutional racism unless we do something about it. leaders play a key role in lifting this blanket so that latina/o students actually lead these community exploration efforts. dialoguing—a skill and a disposition there is no shortage of ideas and creative responses in our communities. however, what is often lacking are leaders who have the capacity to bring people together and have constructive dialogues with our communities and the people who serve them. i have met numerous progressive, equity-minded, and social justiceoriented leaders in many communities. however, they often find it difficult to move a group of people in one particular direction. one of the reasons has to do with a shortage of leaders who know how to employ certain dialoguing sensibilities with communities. facilitating and leading group dialogues is both a skill and disposition and i will attempt to address both of these approaches together. first the leader needs to be committed to dialoguing as a healing and knowledgegenerating endeavor. the leader must recognize that the solutions to the various challenges facing our communities are in our communities. with recognition that our communities are culturally wealthy, leaders can proceed with co-creating processes that capitalize on a problem-posing approach as recommended by paulo freire. through the dialogue, the leader must not only privilege the content and ideas that emerge, but recognition of the process must be monitored as a reflection of the temperature and tone of the community. further, the silenced and the act of silencing must be examined by recognizing the process that comes with the work. over participation and dominating behavior need to also be monitored and called out. similarly, power dynamics by race, gender, class, sexual orientation, immigration status, religion, and language must be acknowledged as well. leaders must also be committed to moving the process forward by exercising a keen sensibility around process and outcome. while the goal is to always work toward equity, social justice, and liberatory outcomes for and institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 86 with our communities, the process is just as important as the end goal. the process itself is an educational struggle where participants learn about group process, capacitybuilding, group dynamics, individual power, group power, and much more. leaders committed to this work must carefully monitor the process-outcome duality (rodriguez, 2015) as they engage with communities committed to developing institutionally responsive pedagogies so that community cultural wealth can grow and thrive. education for liberation the question that occasionally emerges, and perhaps should be asked more frequently is, latina/o education for what? for whom, and for what purpose? elsewhere i have written about transformative recognition and the role that education plays for latina/o youth and communities (rodriguez, 2012). for struggling communities in general and latina/o students specifically, inequalities and injustices persist. whether the analysis is on the input side of the equation or an examination of the outcome or impact of a policy, latina/o students and the communities where they reside are largely operating in state of crisis. yet, they demonstrate incredible collective resistance by overcoming considerable obstacles and showing up to school or class each day and symbolically say, “show me what you got?” if what the teacher, school, or institution is deemed relevant or worthy, students engage. if not, they won’t. the question remains, will we take advantage of this opportunity? i would argue that education for the basic skills is necessary, but not enough. antonio gramsci argues that education, in part, should aim to provide discipline, rigor, and skills for students (giroux, 2000). but again, the question become, education for what? a liberatory agenda realizes what paulo freire (1973) calls reading the word and the world. education should be about transgressing the boundaries as identified by bell hooks (1994). education should afford opportunities to understand the self in the world as gloria anzaldúa (1987) addresses in her work. these perspectives demonstrate that education is far more than an acquisition of skills. leaders should work to develop liberatory education for latina/o students and communities by creating conditions for students to generate knowledge, theorize about their communities, share their rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 87 knowledge, deconstruct their communities, and reconstruct their communities where they can grow and thrive. closing thoughts if we are committed to transforming the latina/o educational condition in the u.s. today, we must be committed to developing and fostering leaders who are principled, bold, community-centric, and committed to education for liberation. community cultural wealth as an approach not only gives us an opportunity, but requires a social, political, and educational commitment to be forthright and visionary so all our latina/o students across the educational pipeline are recognized as agents of their own conditions and have the capacity to transform these conditions by growing, building, and thriving together. institutionally responsive pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 88 references acuña, r. f. (2015). occupied america: a history of chicanos (8th ed.). boston: pearson. alemán, e., jr. (producer), alemán, e., jr. & luna, r. (writers), & luna, r. (director). (2014). stolen education [documentary, feature]. san francisco, ca: video project. anzaldúa, gloria (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: spinsters/aunt lute. burciaga, r., & erbstein, n. (2013). latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth. association of mexican american educators journal, 6 (1), 24-33. de los reyes, e. & gozemba, p. a. (2001). pockets of hope: how students and teachers change the world. westport, ct: greenwood publishing group. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity and excellence in education, 45 (3), 363-372. delpit, l. (1995). other people’s children: cultural conflict in the classroom. new york, ny: the new press. fine, m. (1991). framing dropouts: notes on the politics of an urban public high school. albany, ny: state university of new york press. freire, p. (1973). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: the seabury press.
 giroux, h. a. (2000). stealing innocence: youth, corporate power, and the politics of culture. new york, ny: palgrave. hooks, b. (1994). teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. new york, ny: routledge. macedo, d. p. (1993). literacy for stupidification: the pedagogy of big lies. harvard educational review, 62 (2), 183-206. oseguera, m. (2010). lopez v. seccombe: the city of san bernardino’s mexican american defense committee and its role in regional and national desegregation. history in the making: a journal of history, 3, 1-31. rodriguez, l. f. (forthcoming). our educational journeys: toward a pedagogy of healing, building, and thriving with students of color across the educational pipeline. rodriguez, l.f. (2015). intentional excellence: the pedagogy, power, and politics of excellence in latina/o schools and communities. new york: peter lang publishing. rodriguez, l. f. (2014). the time is now: understanding and responding to the black and latino dropout crisis. new york: peter lang publishing. rodríguez, l. f. (2012). ‘everybody grieves, but still nobody sees:’ toward a theory of recognition for students of color in u.s. education. teachers college record, 114 (1), 1-31. solorzano, d. & yosso, t. j. (2001). from racial stereotyping and deficit discourse in rodriguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 3, issn 2377-9187 | 89 teacher education: toward a critical race theory in teacher education. multicultural education, 2-8. trueba, e. t. (1999). latinos unidos: from cultural diversity to the politics of solidarity. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press.
 yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8 (1), 69–91. volume 11 issue 1 2017 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 125 “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’”:1 the exclusion of mexican children from a louisiana school, 1915-1916 rubén donato university of colorado, boulder jarrod hanson university of colorado, denver abstract this article examines the exclusion of mexican children from a louisiana public school in 1915-1916. a school board trustee threw the children out of the school because he saw them as racially mixed and used the socially recognized argument that they had “negro blood.” although school officials did not see mexican children as black or white, their mestizo appearance became a racial marker. given this time and location—where legal segregation was understood in black and white terms—mexicans posed a dilemma because they did not fit into the binary racial system. although the mexican consul conducted an investigation and the mexican ambassador filed a complaint to the u.s. department of state, the case was never resolved. we want to broaden the conversation about the racialization of mexicans in public schools by highlighting the complexities of race and segregation in the deep south. keywords: school segregation, deep south, mexican american doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.335 1 lozano, 1916. “porque tenian sangre de negros” translates to “because they had negro blood.” http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.332 “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 126 introduction i have the honor to bring to your excellency’s attention a complaint i have received from the mexican consul at new orleans, louisiana, relative to the attitude assumed by a mr. ford, a member of the local board of education, of cheneyville, la., who has forcibly prevented several mexican children from attending school, on the plea that they are mixed blood and ought not to be allowed to attend the school where american children are receiving their education. i am informed that mr. ford has carried his determination to keep the above mentioned children out of school to the extent of menacing them and their parents with violent personal injury if they insisted in entering the school building, and to this end, he stationed himself at the door entrance and actually forced the children to return to their homes. (arredondo, 1916) the excerpt above is taken from a letter written by eliseo arredondo, mexican ambassador to the united states, to robert lansing of the u.s. department of state on february 21, 1916, regarding the exclusion of four mexican children from a white school in cheneyville, louisiana. the complaint asserted that a school trustee had thrown the mexican children out of a white school, threatened their parents, and refused to re-admit them because they were racially mixed. the mexican ambassador called on the u.s. department of state to help “prevent this unjust discrimination” (arredondo, 1916). in 1916, public schools in the south were segregated into white and black schools under the “separate but equal” doctrine (anderson, 1988) sanctioned by the supreme court decision plessy v. ferguson (1896). mexican families and their children were entering a region of the nation where very little was known about them, where their numbers were small, where their racial/ethnic status was uncertain, and where rigid boundaries were drawn between black and white communities in all avenues of life this was also an era when the mexican revolution was raging, when world war i was starting to intensify, when diplomatic relations between mexico and the united states became tense, and when d. w. griffith’s film birth of a nation was released (pbs, n.d.). indeed, the mexican revolution (1910-1920) was pushing thousands of mexicans to the united states. they were seeking refuge and employment in america. in addition, relations between mexico and the united states were strained because of a political incident that took place in mexico in 1914. donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 127 the united states military forces landed at veracruz, mexico, and occupied that port city for more than 6 months. the occupation was, in short, over the treatment of american nationals in mexico (gomez-quiñones, 1994; quirk, 1962). finally, race relations in the united states intensified during this period. birth of a nation, the silent film directed by d. w. griffith, was released in 1915. the film chronicled two families after the civil war and during reconstruction. more than anything else, the film portrayed black men (white actors in black faces) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive toward white women, and the ku klux klan was cast as heroic (wormser, 2002). this was also an era when mexican consulates in the southwest were beginning to receive complaints about how mexican children were being mistreated, segregated, and excluded from schools (exclución de niños en las escuelas, 1911; exclución de niños mexicanos, 1919). in the southwest, the mexican consulate was one of several resources mexicans could draw upon for redress of their complaints. in certain established communities, mexicans had organized for their own advocacy and in some instances had liberal allies to pursue redress for the mistreatment of mexican children. mexican consulates, however, were also registering complaints about mexicans in their schools and communities from locations outside of the southwest. in the south, there were fewer sources of social power for mexican immigrants, and the mexican consulate served as an important resource to draw attention to the struggles of mexican residents. in this article, we seek to understand the experiences of mexican children in the jim crow south in a louisiana community in 1915-1916 to drive further the conversation about their racialization and its impact on their experiences in public schools. this is a case study documenting the exclusion of mexican children from a white school by a local school trustee because he perceived them as racially mixed. this case study further documents how school officials in the parish responded to their removal, what the mexican consulate in new orleans found and reported, and how the mexican ambassador to the united states and the u.s. department of state responded, respectively, to the incident. the story in this case study, however, is incomplete. we do not know if this case was ever resolved. that is, we were unable to uncover or infer whether the lopez and perez children involved in this case were placed in white schools, black schools, or whether they “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 128 were allowed to attend school at all.2 to complicate the story further, available school board minutes provide no record of discussion of the incident by school trustees, and the incident was not reported in the local newspaper, the alexandria (la) daily town talk. finally, although the u.s. department of state ordered the louisiana governor to investigate the incident and that order was passed on to the state superintendent of instruction, there is no record of an investigation. even though the story is incomplete, we have data that illuminate the context of the incident. specifically, we know that orders were given by the county superintendent to permit the children to attend school, how his orders were received by multiple actors in the parish, and what the mexican consulate in new orleans found. this information is not inconsequential, as it reveals potential differences in the roles school officials played in the education of mexican students in the south when compared to cases in the southwest. while we chiefly want to know how school leaders in this louisiana community responded to the school trustee’s actions to keep mexican children out of a white school, we are also interested in understanding how mexican children were perceived in a place and time where legal segregation was understood in exclusively black and white terms. we argue in this article that while mexican children in this louisiana parish were most likely not seen as black or white, their mestizo (indian and spanish ancestry) appearance became the racial marker that kept them out of a white school. given this time and location in the deep south, where a dual system of education existed between whites and blacks, school authorities were uncertain about the racial classification of mexican children. to the extent that mexicans were legally white in the united states, the category in this location was either unrecognized or rejected. we saw in the beginning of this article that a school trustee forced the mexican children out of the school because he saw them as non-white, as racially mixed and, in order to keep them out of the white school, he claimed they had black blood. we hypothesize that the school trustee used a “black blood” argument to “legally” justify keeping them out of the white school. 2 at this time, louisiana had not passed a compulsory education law that would have required the perez and lopez children to attend school (jones, 1967), and we found no evidence that the voters of rapides parish, the local school district or local ward had approved compulsory education for the area as permitted under louisiana law. donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 129 methods we used historical research methods in this case study. in order to access part of our data, we traveled to mexico city and accessed the archivo histórico genaro estrada, acervo histórico diplomático, secretaría de relaciones exteriores. the sources found in the mexico city archives were written in both english and spanish. after initial translation of the spanish language documents was made by the lead author, these translations were professionally reviewed for accuracy. after we analyzed these records, we traveled to alexandria, louisiana, and examined school board minutes from the rapides parish schools (school district office) and additional historical sources available at the rapides parish library, the louisiana history museum, and the louisiana state university at alexandria. in addition, primary and secondary sources, including books, journal articles, newspapers, census records, pamphlets, unpublished papers, online sources, and other material were used in this study. data collected from these locations were digitally photographed and organized according to file number and date. historical context the literature is clear that the racial classification of mexican americans in the southwest was complicated and changed over time. with the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo in 1848 (after the united states–mexican war), the federal government categorized mexicans as white in order to give them american citizenship. in 1930, the u.s. census enumerated mexicans under the category of “mexican race” instead of “white,” but their racial status in the census reverted back to white in 1940 (martinez, 1997; wilson, 2003). although martinez (1997) states that mexican americans were classified as white in the 1950 census, the instructions given to enumerators for the 1940 census clearly instructed mexicans to be classified at white unless “definitely of indian or other non-white race” (haney-lopez, 1997; u.s. census bureau, 1940, p. 43). unlike other groups of color in the united states whose racial categories remained the same, mexican americans’ race was constructed, altered, and modified over time (gomez, 2007). mexican americans in the southwest were legally white but treated as socially “colored” (powers, 2008). that is, most americans did not recognize mexican americans as white in their schools and communities, and they were barred from many public facilities in american life (garcia & yosso, 2013). despite the absence of state statutes that permitted the school “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 130 segregation of mexican americans, a 1930 survey by leis (1931) reported that 84.6% of california schools were, in the words of garcia and yosso (2013), segregating “mexican children entirely or in part from the whites for educational purposes” (p. 72), and in south texas, 90% of the schools were segregated (montejano, 1987). indeed, school officials and school boards of education in the southwest were careful not to justify the segregation of mexican children on race alone. segregation was generally justified using inventive rationales that mexican children needed to be americanized and learn english before they could attend school with white children (blanton, 2004; montejano, 1987; san miguel jr., 1987). in addition, some school boards pointed to the agricultural calendar that many mexicans followed as justification for separation. due to the nature of the work and since migrant life often needed to follow the crops, mexican students would not be able to start school at the same time as white students. school officials argued both that mexican students’ needs could be better served and that white students would not be held back if the mexicans were placed in separate schools. often, the reality was that all mexican children (or those with mexican-sounding surnames) would be sent to the “mexican” school, regardless of when they could start school, whether they could speak english or how long their family had been in the country, and school officials were not interested in making those determinations (carter, 1970; gonzalez, 1990). indeed, it was a contradiction between law, perception, and treatment that made the segregation of mexican americans so complicated in the southwest. this case study documents the events that occurred in louisiana in 1915-1916. very few studies have documented mexican american challenges to unequal education during this time period. one of the few is arnoldo de leon’s (2015) study of west texas. part of his book chronicles a 1910 school boycott by mexican americans, who sought to overturn racial segregation in schools. in this case, whites in the school district argued that “mexicans had no right to complain as long as they were given equal school facilities with the whites, and in order to gain entrance into the white schools the mexicans would have to prove that they were deprived of equal treatment” (de leon, 2015, p. 107). this argument was similar to that used by the u.s. supreme court in the 1896 plessey decision that ruled “separate but equal” facilities for african americans satisfied the requirements of the equal protection clause. de leon (2015) concluded that, at that time, no government agency was able to enforce donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 131 desegregation, safeguards for quality education were not available, and the promises made in the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo for mexicans in the united states were not delivered. the other case during this time period took place in southern colorado. donato, guzman and hanson (2017) argued that the 1914 case of francisco maestas et al. vs. george h. shone et al. was one of the earliest mexican american legal challenges to school segregation in the united states. the lawsuit took place in a region of the nation where mexican americans have deep historical roots. this case was unique because the racial background and linguistic needs of mexican american children were contested. first, plaintiffs (mexican americans) argued their children were racially distinct as mexicans and used the colorado constitution to challenge segregation because the state prohibited public schools from classifying and distinguishing children based on color and race. defendants (school board members and the superintendent) countered that mexican american children were caucasian and claimed they were no different from other white children in the school district. second, school district officials maintained that non-english speaking mexican american children were being served in a separate school in order to serve their linguistic needs. the district court judge discovered that school officials had created a policy that sent all mexican american children to the separate school. to the extent that many mexican american children were english speaking, the district court judge ruled in favor of francisco maestas on the grounds that school officials could not prevent english-speaking mexican american children from attending schools of their choice in general and schools that were closer to their homes in particular. our case study in louisiana unfolds differently. rather than a community movement such as the school boycott in west texas or the legal challenge in colorado, this incident occurred in louisiana’s plantation country, a location with few mexicans and without the benefits of an organized mexican community. in this case, white southerners knew very little about mexicans. the educational expectations in cheneyville were less about enforcing desegregation and ensuring quality education for a community and more about providing access to education for a few mexican students. also, as we argue, the racial classifications of mexicans as shaped by the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo were far away from the minds of the members of this community, whose understandings of race were marked by the black/white racial binary. it is against the backdrop of this time and location that we want to understand how school officials in this southern community responded to mexican children. “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 132 race, segregation, and the deep south the history of mexicans and mexican americans in the south was beginning to emerge. historian julie weise (2008) found that mexicans arriving in louisiana and mississippi during the early 20th century had varied experiences that depended on social class, skin color, and where they lived and worked. indeed, life was different for mexicans who lived in the mississippi delta compared to those who settled in new orleans. new orleans was racially diverse, urban, and cosmopolitan. it also had historical connections to latin america. mexican immigrants coming to new orleans were from diverse social classes, and their immigration more closely resembled that of european immigrants as they arrived by boat rather than crossing the border in the american southwest (weise, 2008). new orleans was also unique in that it had a variety of ethnic communities that were pursuing social mobility in the context of jim crow. these communities provided a variety of models for addressing racialization and its consequences (weise, 2008). as middle class mexicans moved into new orleans, weise notes that some were able to obtain the social benefits of whiteness. this, however, did not mean skin color was unimportant for mexicans. weise, in fact, describes armando amador, the vice consul of mexico in new orleans during the late 1920s. she describes how amador was highly educated, multilingual, a journalist, novelist, and poet before and after he worked as consul for the mexican government. to the extent that amador was a mestizo, weise (2008) recognized that in “louisiana his racial descriptors might have earned him a spot in the back train car along side another mixed-race intellectual, homer plessy” (p. 763). however, amador remained silent about his race. mexicans like amador with social status could rely on class and culture to mitigate the effects of jim crow. others, however, had to remain mindful of the color line in new orleans. weise (2015), however, found that within 100 miles of new orleans, where sugarproducing areas of the state recruited mexicans for low-wage agricultural work that was performed by black laborers, “mexicans were definitely not considered to be white” (p. 35-36). indeed, mexicans in the mississippi delta had a much different experience. to the extent that mexicans went to the delta to pick cotton and to work as wage laborers, they faced significant barriers and they were unable to achieve social mobility (weise, 2008). conditions were harsh donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 133 in the delta, mexicans were seen as non-whites, and jim crow also applied to them (weise, 2008). these experiences, however, were not limited to the mississippi delta or other rural areas outside of new orleans. mexicans were rejected in many southern and border-state communities. in 1911, for example, juan almazán (1911) filed a complaint with the mexican consulate in washington d.c. about his experience in st. louis, missouri, a border state between north and south. in his hand-written letter to the mexican consulate, almazán described how he was invited by his white supervisors to have a beer at a local tavern. when they arrived at the establishment, almazán was denied entry and was not served. he was denied service not because he was seen as black, but because he was “indio.” in his letter, almazán conveyed the message to the consulate that he was aware of his racial identity and that “aun lo seré [indio] … soy ciudadano mexicano” [even though i am indian, i am a mexican citizen]. almazán understood his racial identity and knew he was an indigenous mexican. but, he said, he was a mexican citizen. he wanted to make a point to the mexican consulate that his mexican citizenship in america was meaningless. in 1918, luis rincón (1918) also filed a complaint with the mexican consulate in washington, d.c. he informed the consulate that he had been barred from restaurants, the theater, hotels, and other public establishments in maryville, tennessee. rincón was denied service in maryville’s establishments because he was “mexican.” that same year, the mexican consulate in washington, d.c. received another complaint; mexicans were being denied admission to public parks in oklahoma city (seguin, 1918). it is safe to say that the racialization of mexicans in the south was complicated and it depended on context. in new orleans, middle and upper class mexicans may have had access to white privilege but they appeared to be careful about claiming biological whiteness because of their mestizo roots and national politics in mexico. they pursued “whiteness” in new orleans not on legal or biological grounds, but based on culture and class (weise, 2008). in the mississippi delta and other parts of the south, the mexican experience was similar to that of blacks. they were rejected, exploited, and jim crow also applied to them. it is in the rural south where this case study emerges. “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 134 cheneyville located approximately 25 miles south of alexandria, louisiana, the county seat of rapides parish, cheneyville was settled in 1811 by protestant immigrants from south carolina. the town was named after william fendan cheney, a merchant who settled in the banks of the bayou boeuf country. cheneyville and its surrounding communities, said jimmie charlene hammond, became known for its plantations. it was also “one of the finest agricultural areas in the state” (hammond, 1967, p. 2). the town’s economy prospered not only because of its cotton and sugar cane industry, which were supported by sharecropping, but also because of its proximity to the red river, a tributary to the mississippi river. its location allowed growers to ship cotton “down the bayou and on to new orleans” (hammond, 1967, p. 13). similar to other locations in the deep south, the population in rapides parish was black and white. other racial minority groups were relatively small. between 1910 and 1920, the population in rapides parish grew from 44,545 to 59,444. ward 3 (the cheneyville area) grew from 5,918 to 5,957, and the village of cheneyville grew from 498 to 678. during these years, the white population in rapides parish grew from 20,968 to 33,250, foreign whites dropped from 1,389 to 1,170, blacks grew from 21,445 to 24,992, native americans dropped from 102 to 14, and chinese grew from 7 to 8. the mexican-born population in the state of louisiana grew from 1,641 to 2,399, from 275 to 1,242 in new orleans, and from 22 to 112 in rapides parish. there were about 11 mexican-born residents in cheneyville in 1920 (u.s. bureau of census, 1913, 1922). rapides parish was operating a dual system of education where black and white children attended separate schools. as the school board minutes noted, there were “white schools” and “colored schools.” in 1914-1915, there were 240 white and 174 black children attending schools (rapides parish school board, 1915). the demographic profile of rapides parish and the community of cheneyville was largely black and white. mexicans in the state, in the parish, and in cheneyville were very small in numbers. the cheneyville incident the incident in cheneyville began with the exclusion of four mexican children from a white school by a local school trustee. it is important to understand who the school trustee, walter p. ford, was in the community and why he was so adamant about keeping mexican donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 135 children out of the school. born in 1848, ford was a boy during antebellum america and the civil war, a young man during reconstruction, and a planter, businessman, baptist deacon, and school trustee during his adult years (obituary for walter p. ford, 1916). ford became an influential citizen and a person with relative wealth. his roots ran deep in the community, as he was the son of william p. ford (stafford, 1946), the louisiana planter who purchased solomon northup, the free black man from new york who was abducted in washington, d.c. in 1841, the black man who was sold into slavery, and the black man who spent twelve years a slave in the red river region of louisiana (northup, 1853). raised on a plantation, walter p. ford had steadfast beliefs about race and segregation. after he learned that mexican children were attending the white school in cheneyville in the fall of 1915, he forced them out because he saw them as racially mixed. after ford pushed the mexican children out of the white school, written communication began to flow in the parish between the county superintendent, d. b. showalter, the school principal, j. m. johnson, a school trustee, w. j. orr, and a local resident, ivey cannon. our data show that orr and cannon both wrote to county superintendent showalter on the same day. school trustee orr informed showalter that a “few mexican children have been for a few days to our school and lately they have been objected to and sent home” (orr, 1915). orr did not mention who had thrown the mexican children out of the school, but he was clear that they were forced out because they were racially “mixed.” orr also distanced himself from these actions, stating that he and some of the teachers were not involved in the exclusion of these children. orr requested that the county superintendent come to cheneyville to have the issue resolved (orr, 1915). but it was not as simple as it appeared. trustee orr did not seem to tell the entire story. on the same day orr sent his letter, ivey cannon, a young woman who lived near cheneyville, also wrote to showalter. cannon knew the mexican children who were denied entrance to the school. in fact, the mexican children and their parents were living and working on her father’s property. records show that ivey cannon had previously spoken with showalter over the phone and followed up with a letter. in her letter to showalter, cannon (1915) claimed that after they had spoken, “i sent the mexican children to the school.” however, counter to the letter that school trustee orr had written to showalter that suggested he and the teachers at the school were not involved, cannon (1915) claimed that “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 136 “the teachers refused to give them [mexican children] seats.” it appeared that some teachers at the school were refusing to seat mexican children in class. cannon (1915) continued to explain that mr. ford and mr. johns, two of the three school trustees, were refusing to admit mexican children into the school because they had “negro blood” (cannon, 1915). cannon (1915) retorted that the mexican children did not have black blood. while it was not clear what role trustee orr and the teachers were playing in keeping mexican children out of the school, it was ford and johns, said cannon, who forced mexican children out of the school and were refusing to re-admit them. cannon (1915) told showalter, “ford stood at the gate this morning and sent the children home.” showalter (1915) immediately wrote a letter to the cheneyville principal, j. m. johnson, to inform him that he knew “some mexican children, attending your school, have been excluded.” showalter (1915) explained that he had consulted with the district attorney and found that there was “no law that would exclude from the white schools mexican children.” acting under legal advice, showalter wrote to the principal “…to request that you admit said children.” in response to showalter, principal johnson claimed he “had nothing to do in keeping the mexican children out of school” (johnson, 1915). in fact, said johnson, he informed “those people we could not keep them out and that i would not attempt it.” the new orleans mexican consulate’s report it is not clear who contacted francisco villavicencio, the mexican consulate in new orleans, about the exclusion of mexican children in cheneyville, but it became evident that he quickly became involved. seeking assistance from the mexican consulate was not unusual. when mexicans in the mississippi delta faced problems in their communities during the 1920s and 1930s, said weise (2015), they “turned to the mexican consulate in new orleans” (p. 50). thus, head consul villavicencio in new orleans directed special agent salvador lozano to conduct an investigation of the incident and to report back to him. in his report, lozano (1916) informed villavicencio that the case would be resolved in a manner that would be acceptable to mexico, given the assistance he had received from various individuals in the community. given lozano’s findings, it appeared that the issue was not resolved. the report, written in spanish, read as though lozano began the investigation with phone calls, but he ultimately drove to rapides parish to interview individuals who were donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 137 involved in the case. lozano reported that in october of 1915 four mexican children were removed from the cheneyville school under the leadership of principal j. m. johnson (lozano, 1916). lozano had spoken with ivey cannon. cannon informed lozano that when she found out that the mexican children were thrown out of the school, she confronted the principal (lozano, 1916). the principal told cannon that it was w. p. ford and u. h. johns who had thrown the mexican children out of the school because they were racially mixed and refused to have them interact with white children because they had “sangre de ‘negros’” (lozano, 1916). lozano (1916) claimed that although principal johnson had disagreed with ford and johns, they continued to ban mexican children from the white school. in fact, lozano reported that ford came to the school, positioned himself in front of the door, threatened the children, and told them to go home. in addition, ford told mexican children that he would physically harm them if they attempted to return to the school. lozano also found that ford had threatened the mexican parents. as lozano learned about walter p. ford, he characterized him as arrogant and despotic. given ford’s actions, cannon contacted showalter to inform him what ford had done (lozano, 1916). to the extent that showalter subsequently ordered principal johnson to reinstate mexican children into the school, lozano (1916) discovered that ford continued to impose himself and prohibited mexican children from attending the school. lozano made clear in his report that most of his information was orally communicated and most of it was coming from ivey cannon and her father. at first, said lozano, the cannons were unwilling to put anything in writing because they feared walter p. ford. they feared the financial repercussions they could suffer and the power and influence he possessed in the community. but ivey cannon ultimately made a formal complaint (the letter she had written) because of the harm ford was imposing on mexican children and their parents. the cannons, the report noted, were willing to assist the mexican consulate in any way they could. up to this point, lozano (1916) had been unable to obtain sufficient proof of ford’s actions because the incident had been orally communicated. he went to alexandria to gather information that would be the hard evidence he needed. he interviewed jonas rosenthal and r. s. cummins, school board president of rapides parish and the principal of the grammar school at alexandria. the essence of the interview was that rosenthal and cummins were more than “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 138 willing to help resolve the case. rosenthal, however, wanted to resolve the case internally and did not want the complaint to go to washington, d.c. lozano (1916) reported that rosenthal had also heard that ford was trying to exclude the mexican children as a private citizen. in other words, he was not acting in his role as a local school trustee but as an ordinary citizen when he blocked the mexican children from entering the school. rosenthal told lozano that he supported the mexican consulate and was in favor of having the mexican children reinstated into the white school and hoped justice would prevail on the side of the mexican government. lozano (1916) was finally able to acquire information about ford’s actions in writing. county superintendent showalter shared the letters with lozano to show how the district was responding. this was the hard evidence lozano needed to go forward with the case. indeed, showalter wanted to demonstrate that the exclusion of mexican children in the cheneyville school did not come from him but from walter p. ford. he presented evidence that he had contacted the district attorney, received legal advice, and ordered principal johnson to allow the mexican children back to the school. the letters also disclosed that ford was recalcitrant, uncooperative, and that his reason for removing mexican children out of the white schools was based on race (lozano, 1916). to the extent that the issue had not been resolved, new orleans consul francisco villavicencio contacted the mexican ambassador in washington, d.c. in his letter to the mexican ambassador, villavicencio (1916) informed him of lozano’s investigation and forwarded all the information. after mexican ambassador arredondo received the information, he contacted the u.s. department of state. the mexican ambassador provided the department of state evidence that walter p. ford had removed and was keeping mexican children out of a white school because they were racially mixed. the third assistant secretary of state (1916) responded and confirmed that they had received the information about walter p. ford and how he was “preventing certain mexican children from attending schools for white children at that place.” it was understood that mexican ambassador arredondo wanted the department of state to act and to “exert its good offices to prevent this discrimination” (third assistant secretary of state, 1916). the department of state confirmed that it would send the mexican ambassador’s complaint to the louisiana governor with the request to investigate the case. the department of state conveyed to arredondo that they did “not doubt that the governor will take steps to donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 139 obtain for these mexican children such educational facilities as the laws of louisiana may seem to entitle them to” (third assistant secretary of state, 1916). the mexican ambassador received another letter from the department of state in march of 1916 to inform him that they were aware of the “the alleged refusal of the authorities of rapides parish of louisiana, to permit certain mexican children to attend schools at cheneyville” (second assistant secretary of state, 1916). this letter, moreover, displayed that the governor of louisiana had ordered the state superintendent of instruction to investigate the case. also, once the governor received a report from the state superintendent of instruction, the department of state would then respond (second assistant secretary of state, 1916). however, there is no record that the mexican ambassador received a report from the department of state. discussion the complaint about the exclusion of mexican children in this louisiana town reached washington in 1916, but it was not clear why school officials did not record the issue in their school board meetings, why the case was not reported in the local press, and why the department of state did not receive a report from the louisiana governor. we hypothesize that a number of events made it difficult to bring closure to this case. first, walter p. ford and d. b. showalter died when the case was pending. because two major players in the case passed, the complaint may have been dropped. walter p. ford was no longer around to be charged for his actions and there was little reason to see if d. b. showalter had mishandled the case. second, ford’s social and economic standing in the community as a businessman and planter may have influenced the local press not to cover the story. this was not unusual in the parish. in fact, louisiana historian sue eakin (1987) argued that after the plessy decision in 1896, planter action in rapides parish was clear and vocal since they were the government. they also owned the newspapers. so great was their confidence that movements of great importance simmering beneath the surface of society received little, if any, notice. or, if noticed, they were ridiculed. (p. 47) in other words, residents with social, political, and economic stature in rapides parish were not going to challenge walter p. ford. finally, when the department of state ordered louisiana “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 140 governor luther e. hall to investigate the issue in march of 1916, his term ended 2 months later. ruffin g. pleasant then took office. because the governorship in louisiana was in transition, correspondence could have been lost or ignored, especially if the department of state did not press the case. it is unsettling that we do not know what happened to the lopez and perez children and their families after the incident. the records of the parish do not list names of individual students, and other available information does not indicate whether they attended school that year, whether “white” or “colored.” their families also do not appear in the 1920 census records as residents of the cheneyville area. their lives remain largely invisible in the public records. as we assembled this incident and in spite of what cannot be known, there is much to learn from this case study. it supports some things already known about the racialization of mexicans in the southwest. mexicans were generally not viewed as white in their schools in their communities. but the case raises new questions about mexicans in the south. in the black/white racial world of central louisiana, there was no consensus on how people like mexicans, who did not fit into the binary system, should be classified. school officials and community members were divided on how mexicans should be “raced.” indeed, there were disagreements about whether mexican children had “negro blood.” ford claimed the mexican children had black blood while ivey cannon disagreed. but no one in this case claimed mexican children were white, the legal classification that was given to them by the american government at that time (gomez, 2007). as we think about the disagreement that took place about the racial category of the lopez and perez children, they positively did not “pass” as white in the cheneyville school. they were also not of a social or economic standing that could have provided additional leverage to challenge their exclusion from school. indeed, they were excluded because they were viewed as racially mixed. this attests to the importance of continuing the work on the experiences of mexicans in the south. we need to better understand the social construct of race as it was applied to mexican mestizos in southern schools. this incident also raises new questions about the interaction between race, education, and the local political economy. as we saw, the lopez and perez students were attempting to enroll in the white school in late october. according to school records, the white schools donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 141 would have been in session for well over a month and the “colored schools” would just be starting so that the black students could work through the harvest. in instances in the southwest, school administrators often used this late enrollment and the work life of mexican families to provide cover for segregating mexican students. the claim was that their different schedule would be disruptive to white students and that entering a white school at a later date would put mexican students at a disadvantage. that excuse for enrolling the mexican students into the “colored schools” would have been readily available for school officials in cheyneyville, but no school official made this argument to justify keeping the mexican children out of the white school. in fact, there were no attempts or discussions about enrolling mexican children in a “colored school.” the incident was about keeping “racially mixed” mexican children out of the white school. the controversy, it seemed to us, was about mexican children’s access to public education in the community. this case points to a difference in how race was perceived and acted upon in this place and time. the social context of this community was different from that of other cases in the southwest because school officials did not try to mask the exclusion of mexican children. they excluded mexican children from a white school on the grounds that they were racially “mixed” or that they had “black blood.” there is more work to be done to determine the extent to which the mestizo backgrounds of mexican children factored in decisions to exclude or segregate them in southern schools. what we found in this case was that mexican children in cheneyville, louisiana, were excluded from a white public school because of how their race was understood. this incident also shows the crucial role the mexican consulate played at the time the case was occurring and in recounting the incident today. at the time of the incident, the mexican consulate provided support to ivey cannon and the school officials who were willing to admit the mexican students into the white school. several months had passed between the initial complaint by ivey cannon and lozano’s report, and the mexican students were still excluded from the school. although we have no evidence of a positive outcome for the mexican students, it is likely that the situation would not have changed for them without the consulate’s involvement. the importance of mexican consulates becomes more apparent because it provided additional perspectives (balderrama, 1982; gonzalez, 1999). in this case, the report from the “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 142 mexican consulate provided a point of view that would otherwise have been unavailable in the public records of the time. for example, we gain information about the social context of the incident through reports that ivey cannon and her father feared walter p. ford. they feared him because of the financial and political power he held in the community. moreover, we gain further understanding of why incidents involving race are often hidden from the public record. school board president jonas rosenthal expressed to investigator lozano that he did not want the complaint to go to washington, implying that he would have been pleased to keep other public records devoid of the incident. in the end, it is the involvement of the mexican consulate and the records kept in the mexico city archives that preserves what we know about the exclusion of mexican children from a louisiana public school. it was the mexican consulate that pushed for written evidence that was needed to move the complaint forward. if the records in this incident were limited to those of the dominant groups in cheneyville (i.e, the local press) and rapides parish (i.e., school board minutes) this story would have been lost and certainly could not have been told. the research in this article was made possible by a grant from the spencer foundation. the data presented, the statements made, and the views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors. donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 143 references anderson, j. d. (1988). the education of blacks in the south, 1860-1935. chapel hill: university of north carolina press. almazán, j. (1911, august 3). letter from juan almazan to mexican consulate, washington, d.c. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 377.7/37. arredondo, e. (1916, february 21). letter to robert lansing, secretary of state of the united states, washington, d.c., from mexican ambassador, eliseo arredondo. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. balderrama, f. (1982). in defense of la raza: the los angeles mexican consulate and the mexican american community, 1929-1936. tucson: university of arizona press. blanton, c. (2004). the strange career of bilingual education in texas, 1836-1981. college station: texas a&m university press. cannon, i. (1915, november 1). letter from ivey cannon to d. b. showalter. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. carter, t. (1970). mexican americans in schools: a history of educational neglect. new york, ny: the college board. de leon, a (2015). tejano west texas. college station: texas a&m press. donato, r., guzman, g., & hanson, j. (2017). francisco maestas et al. v. george h. shone et al: mexican american resistance to school segregation in the hispano homeland, 19121914. journal of latinos and education, 16(1), 3-17. eakin, s. (1987). rapides parish: an illustrated history. northridge, ca: windsor publications. exclucion de niños en las escuelas de texas. (1911). archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 11-14-300. exclucion de niños mexicanos de las escuelas publicas de san francisco, ca. (1919). archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 16-29-156. garcia, d. g., & yosso, t. f. (2013). “strictly in the capacity of servant”: the interconnection between residential and school segregation in oxnard, california, 1934-1954. history of education quarterly, 53(1), 64-89. gomez, l. (2007). manifest destinies: the making of the mexican american race. new york, ny: new york university press. gomez-quiñones, j. (1994). roots of chicano politics, 1600-1940. albuquerque: university of new mexico press. gonzalez, g. g. (1990). chicano education in the era of segregation. denton, tx: university of north texas press. gonzalez, g. g. (1999). mexican consuls and labor organizing: imperial politics in the american southwest. austin, tx: university of texas press. “porque tenían sangre de ‘negros’” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 144 hammond, j. c. (1967). a brief history of cheneyville, louisiana. unpublished manuscript, watson special collection, northwestern state university of louisiana. haney-lopez, i. f. (1997). race, ethnicity, erasure: the salience of race to latcrit theory. california law review, 85(2), 1143-1211. johnson, j. m. (1915, november 2). letter from j. m. johnson to d. b. showalter. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. jones, w. l., jr. (1967). a history of compulsory school attendance and visiting teacher services in louisiana (doctoral dissertation). lsu historical dissertations and theses. retrieved from http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1340. leis, w. (1931). the status of education for mexican children in four border states (master’s thesis). university of southern california dissertations and theses. retrieved from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll30/id/11630 lozano, s. (1916, january 23). report written by salvador lozano to francisco villavicencio. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. martinez, g. a. (1997). the legal construction of race: mexican-americans and whiteness. harvard latino law review, 2, 321. montejano, d. (1987). anglos and mexicans in the making of texas, 1836-1986. austin, tx: university of texas press. northup, s. (1853). twelve years a slave. auburn, ny: derby and miller obituary for walter p. ford. (1916, may 9). alexandria (la)town talk. orr, w. h. (1915, november 1). letter from w h. orr to d. b. showalter. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. pbs. (n.d.). d. w. griffith’s the birth of a nation. retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/birthofanation_a.html plessy v. ferguson. (1896). 163 us 537, 16 s. ct. 1138, 41 l. ed. 256. powers, j. m. (2008). forgotten history: mexican american school segregation in arizona. equity & excellence in education, 41(4), 467-481. quirk, r. e. (1962). an affair of honor: woodrow wilson and the occupation of vera cruz. new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. rapides parish school board. (1915). minutes of the rapides parish school board. vol. 7-29, alexandria, la. rincón, l. (1918, august 5). letter from luis rincón to mexican consulate in washington, d.c. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 635(1)18/59. san miguel jr., g. (1987). let all of them take heed: mexican americans and the campaign for educational equality in texas, 1910-1981. college station, tx: texas a&m university press. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16038751515555215717&q=how+to+cite+plessy+v.+ferguson&hl=en&as_sdt=4006 donato & hanson association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, open issue, vol. 11, issue 1 | 145 second assistant secretary of state. (1916, march 16). letter sent from second assistant secretary of state to eliseo arredondo. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. seguin, m. g. (1918, june 14). letter from mexican consulate seguin in san antonio, texas to ignacio bonillas in washington, d.c. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 635 (1). 8/59. showalter, d. b. (1915, november 1). letter from d. b. showalter to j. h. johnson. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. stafford, g. m. g. (1946). three pioneer rapides families: a genealogy. baton rouge, la: claitor’s publishing division. third assistant secretary of state. (1916, february 29). letter from third assistant secretary of state to eliseo arredondo. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. u.s. census bureau (1913). thirteenth census of the united states taken in the year 1910: statistics for louisiana. retrieved from https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/abstract/supplement-la.pdf. u.s. census bureau (1922). fourteenth census of the united states taken in the year 1920. volume iii. population. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html. u.s. census bureau (1940). instructions to enumerators: population and agriculture, 1940. washington, dc: u.s. department of commerce. villavicencio, f. r. (1916, february 2). letter from francisco villavicencio to eliseo arredondo. archivo histórico genaro estrada. acervo histórico diplomático. secretaría de relaciones exteriores. file 494.14/18. weise, j. (2008). mexican nationalisms, southern racisms: mexicans and mexican americans in the u.s. south, 1908-1939. american quarterly, 60(3), 749-777. weise, j. (2015). corazon de dixie: mexicans in the u.s. south since 1910. chapel hill, nc: university of north carolina press. wilson, s. h. (2003). brown over “other white”: mexican americans’ legal arguments and litigation strategy in school desegregation lawsuits. law and history review, 21(1), 145– 194. wormser, r. (2002). d. w. griffith’s the birth of a nation (1915). retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_birth.html http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 276 flipping the hsi narrative: an hsi positionality anne-marie núñez the ohio state university in the landscape of higher education research and in media discourse around higher education, the study of less selective, broad access institutions too often gets lost, dominated instead by discussions of selective admissions to and affirmative action in what are thought to be the nation’s most “elite” institutions (deil-amen, 2015). this historical tendency obscures the contributions of less selective, broad access institutions to the country’s workforce, civic development, and knowledge production, leading deil-amen (2015) to characterize these institutions as the “marginalized majority,” because they in fact serve the majority of students in u.s. postsecondary education. likewise, it might be said that hsis play a key role among the “marginalized majority” of institutions (núñez, 2017), because they enroll 62% of the fastest growing racial/ethnic demographic in the nation, the latinx population (excelencia in education, 2016). historically, the predominant narrative framing hsis is that they are monolithic and underperforming, inscribed in a false dichotomy as “hispanic-serving” or merely “hispanicenrolling” (núñez, hurtado, & calderón galdeano, 2015). together, these narrative threads weave a deficit perspective on hsis that manifests itself too often, either implicitly or explicitly, when hsis are addressed in research, policy, and practice. unfortunately, such tendencies can result in unintended negative consequences for hsis, including reduced institutional resources if inappropriate evaluations of institutional performance are conducted for performance funding purposes (núñez, 2014; núñez & rodríguez, in press; webber & ehrenberg, 2009). to authentically support hsis and their students, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners need to flip the traditional narrative around hsis. this does not mean superficially celebrating the accomplishments of hsis without being critical of their limitations in serving latinx students; it does mean conducting the most rigorous research to reveal the complex realities in which faculty, staff, and students at hsis operate. it also means being self-reflexive about how one conducts the research and how one frames their relationship with the researched. exercising this self-reflexivity is particularly critical for researchers at more doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.370 flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 277 selective and well-resourced institutions who have had less exposure to the inner workings of hsis. serving as a researcher of hsis, as a past faculty member at an hsi, and as a public scholar engaged in policy work to support hsis has shaped my conviction that although knowledge about hsis is increasing, future research about hsis needs to be more rigorous to achieve an “intimate knowledge” (rose, 2012) of these institutions. specifically, i argue to advance an “hsi positionality” that centers hsis’ realities, rather than externally imposed frames, as a central departure point to infuse future research, policy, and practice concerning hsis. this move can mitigate the epistemic injustice (frank, 2013) that traditionally has characterized the description and recognition of hsis through deficit perspectives that do not fully recognize the contexts and contributions of hsis. as research on hsis grows, i take time here to suggest how to build dispositions to conduct equity-oriented research on hsis. first, i outline the importance of mitigating epistemic injustice, by advancing a more socially just, holistic, and informed way of understanding hsis. second, i discuss the importance of distinguishing between methodology and methods in higher education research, calling on researchers to employ a transformative paradigm (hurtado, 2015; mertens, 2009) in studying hsis (núñez, hurtado, & calderón galdeano, 2015). third, i delineate how three components of a transformative paradigm—epistemology, ontology, and axiology—can constitute an hsi positionality that can shape the last component of a transformative paradigm—methodology—to be more inclusive of the perspectives of hsis and the personnel in them. finally, to empower hsis from the hsi positionality and the transformative paradigm, i address how researchers can partner with faculty and staff at hsis to flip the narrative around hsis. mitigate epistemic injustice when i arrived in 2007 to take my first faculty position at the second largest hsi on the u.s. mainland, the university of texas at san antonio (utsa), i had the unique opportunity to work with and serve latinx students and faculty on issues related to equity in higher education. upon arrival, i quickly set out to find the research on hsis, so i could learn more about how to enhance my own research, pedagogy, and practice to promote latinx success in hsis. soon it became clear that, at that time, just a handful of peer-reviewed articles, and no books, existed núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 278 on hsis. many of the existing pieces were by berta vigil laden (e.g., laden, 1999, 2001), who passed away in an untimely manner as she was launching this important line of scholarship, and to whom scholars of hsis owe an enormous debt. this was before the first edited volume on msis, which included a subset of chapters on hsis (gasman, baez, & turner, 2008). looking back on my own experiences, i now realize that was searching for the epistemic resources (frank, 2013), or knowledge grounded directly in the environmental contexts of hsis, to navigate my role as a faculty member at an hsi. subsequently, i have spent nearly a decade aiming to contribute to the epistemic resources to understand hsis not only from my perspective as a scholar, but as a participant-observer faculty member in an hsi. the concept of epistemic justice (frank, 2013) provides a useful guiding principle for researchers seeking to conduct rigorous research on hsis. the concept of epistemic justice is based on frank’s call to mitigate epistemic injustice, the exclusion of marginalized groups (and in this case, personnel at hsis) from knowledge creation that has resulted in a lack of understanding of their lived realities and consequently, a lack of available knowledge resources (epistemic resources) for them to make sense of their everyday experiences. the study of hsis has been conducted within the context of the broader landscape of higher education research that has emphasized the study of the most selective and elite institutions, rather than the “marginalized majority” (deil-amen, 2015) of less selective four-year or two-year institutions that enroll the most students (núñez, 2017). in fact, only six percent of students in u.s. postsecondary education enroll in the 172 institutions considered to be the most highly selective in the country (a group that comprises just 2.5% of all postsecondary institutions) (rodríguez 2015). thus, the historical research trend of both explicitly and implicitly focusing on topics like selective institutions, affirmative action, and selective admissions has perpetuated epistemic injustice about institutional diversity and the experiences of diverse students in higher education. with respect to hsis, this trend has limited the epistemic resources available to make sense of hsis and their organizational cultures and identities. promoting epistemic justice means expanding the traditional concept of “diversity” in higher education to include the role of all institutions in fostering postsecondary opportunity (deil-amen, 2015). to reach and reflect more students from historically underserved backgrounds, the traditional notion of diversity in higher education, which tends to focus on selective admissions, ought to include institutional diversity as well as individual student diversity flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 279 in a small subset of highly selective institutions. when considering how to broaden diversity in higher education and in the workforce, the focus on selective institutions obscures possibilities to reach the greatest number of low-income students and students of color. as deil-amen (2015) suggests, “…the diversity agenda [in higher education] needs to expand to recognize that privilege is structured, and equity needs shift as institutional contexts shift” (p. 145). she adds that “…there is almost no discussion of how nonselective nonprestigious four-year colleges and universities have increased their racial/ethnic minority enrollments drastically…” (p. 145). according to several annual indicators from hispanic outlook magazine, at least half of the top institutions that produce latinx bas in math and science are perennially hsis. to mitigate epistemic injustice, it is important that scholars be current on scholarship on hsis. fortunately, epistemic resources have recently increased to understand the institutional contexts of many hsis, as exemplified in this special issue of the association of mexican educators journal. in addition to the growth of peer-reviewed scholarship, within the past five years, the first books emerged about hsis (e.g., núñez, hurtado, & calderón galdeano, 2015); broad access institutions (kirst & stevens, 2015), and comprehensive institutions (schneider & dean, 2015). notably, most four-year hsis can be characterized as broad access institutions. such institutions can overlap, for example, in the case of non-flagship public schools in state systems that offer significant postsecondary regional access for hispanics. notably, the research of vega and martinez (2012) indicates how the non-flagship public institutions that are hsis in texas generally do a much better job of enrolling and graduating hispanic students in texas than do flagship institutions (see also perna, li, walsh, & raible, 2010). this illustrates the importance of considering access as a dimension of institutional performance in broadening demographic diversity in higher education (deil amen, 2015) and for more fully recognizing hsis’ contributions. with respect to epistemic resources on hsis, it is critical to have a grounding in the history of hsis. between the years that hsis were initially designated to receive federal funding as part of the strengthening institutions act, 1994, and 2016, the number of hsis has more than doubled, from 189 to 472 (excelencia in education, 2017). moreover. hsis have grown not only in numbers, but also in institutional diversity. while hsis have historically been highly constituted by community colleges and less selective four-year institutions, in 2015, the university of california santa barbara became the first american association of universities núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 280 (aau) school to become an hsi. in 2017, the university of california irvine became the second aau to become an hsi. despite this development, hsis on the whole remain woefully under-resourced (ortega, frye, nellum, kamimura, & vidal-rodríguez, 2015). the entrance of such highly active research universities into the pool of hsis poses a watershed moment for hsis. it also poses a watershed moment for higher education, demonstrating how the provision of access to demographically diverse groups does not have to preclude high research activity, or high student retention in institutions, which are measures often associated with high institutional performance. notably, the two aau institutions that have become hsis as of 2015 and 2017, ucsb and uci respectively, now stand in second and first place, respectively, in a 2017 national new york times ranking of institutions that provide college access in terms of economic diversity, entitled “the top colleges doing the most for the american dream” (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/25/sunday-review/opinion-pell-table.html). these hsis are leading the way in combining excellence in and access to higher education, which too often are framed as mutually exclusive. furthermore, this particular recognition reflects the fact that hsis tend to provide significant access to postsecondary education not only for latinx students, but for low-income students as well. indeed, hsis enroll student bodies among whom half, on average, receive pell grants (núñez, crisp, & elizondo, 2016), and enroll more african american and native american students than historically black colleges and universities or tribal colleges and universities (núñez et al., 2015). with respect to epistemic justice, this recent development reinforces the importance for hsi researchers of recognizing hsis’ institutional diversity when designing studies, or situating particular hsis within a broader context. too often, i have heard scholars, practitioners and policymakers erroneously express the view hsis are mostly composed of community colleges. in fact, the reality is that about half of hsis are four-year institutions and half are community colleges (núñez et al., 2016). while the entrance of two research universities (out of 472 hsis) might not significantly alter the composition of a recent typology of hsis, this development does pose questions for the organizational identities of hsis, which have diverse missions; span the 2and 4-year, and public and private, sectors; and are located in puerto rico as well as the u.s. (garcía, 2017, in press; núñez, 2017; núñez et al., 2016). for flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 281 example, administrators in less selective and less well-resourced hsis have expressed concerns that such newly minted and relatively well-resourced hsis may draw away funds from the institutions that serve the largest shares and numbers of latinx students (cortez, 2015). in addition to recognizing hsis’ institutional diversity, researchers seeking to promote epistemic justice on hsis should be cognizant of how they as scholars both implicitly or explicitly compare the institutional performance of hsis to that of other institutions, and consider the extent to which other institutions constitute an appropriate comparison group for hsis. these researchers should be cognizant of research indicating that hsis have lower retention rates than other institutions largely because, in comparison to other institutions, these particular institutions often enroll students who have fewer financial resources and are less well academically prepared, and because hsis are institutionally under-resourced. that is, when student and institutional resource characteristics are statistically adjusted for, students at hsis, compared with their counterparts at non-hsis, have equivalent graduation rates (rodríguez & calderón galdeano, 2015) and equivalent post-graduate earnings (park, flores, & ryan, 2017). furthermore, researchers who wish to advance epistemic justice on hsis must recognize that research indicates that latinx students at hsis, compared with their counterparts at non-hsis, experience multiple benefits beyond the common metric of graduation rates, including increased academic self-concept and community involvement (e.g., cuellar, 2014). this may be related to the distinctive organizational cultures in some hsis in which faculty and staff orient their teaching and practice toward supporting the well-being of latinx students (e.g., garcía, 2017) and toward creating knowledge and fostering epistemic justice that enhances an understanding of latinx communities (e.g., gonzales, 2015, 2016). although hsis’ numbers, institutional types, and organizational identities may be in flux, the following trends look to have future momentum. first, hsis will continue to grow in numbers, as the latinx population grows. second, hsis will continue to diversify institutionally – by sector, mission, location, or control. third, more hsis will be competing for less funding. fourth, as trends in performance-based funding increase (dougherty & reddy, 2013), hsis will increasingly be called on to demonstrate the adequacy of their institutional performance, both generally and specifically with respect to latinx students (garcía, 2017, in press; núñez, 2014; núñez & rodríguez, in press). núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 282 in the current economic, political, and social climate, and postsecondary landscape in which over 6 in 10 of latinx students are enrolled in hsis, rigorous and thoughtful research on hsis has never been more critical. how can scholars advance epistemic justice and flip predominant deficit-oriented narratives about hsis to provide more authentic portraits of these institutions? similar to what rose (2012) says about community colleges and broad access institutions, it can be said of hsis that there is a “need for intimate knowledge of [such] institutions” (p. 15) and an imperative “to use methods of investigation that capture a fuller story of the institutions and the people in them” (p. 16). in the next section, i suggest how to expand research approaches to be less more institutionally inclusive and cognizant of hsis’ complex realities. employ the transformative paradigm many researchers do not explicitly write about the distinction between methods and methodology in their work, or they may use the term interchangeably, to denote the “means by which data are collected” (jones, torres, & arminio, 2014, p. 9). researchers may not delineate between methodology and methods because it is not the normative practice in educational research articles, possibly because of limited journal space (jones et al., 2014). when examining historically marginalized institutional types or demographic groups, however, it is important to specify components of methodology including epistemology (assumptions about how knowledge is accessed) and ontology (assumptions about the nature of reality/what we see), because hidden assumptions can obscure oppressive power relations (hurtado, 2015). according to jones and colleagues (2014), methodology may be characterized as “that which guides research design” (p. 9). in this section, i follow arguments my colleagues and i have made elsewhere (núñez, hurtado, & calderón galdeano, 2015), and argue that researchers must employ a transformative paradigm (hurtado, 2015) in designing research on hsis. this means scholars on hsis must go beyond “identifying a method and its appropriateness for a question” to “clarifying their own worldview[s] and [their] implications for research and practice” (hurtado, 2015, p. 286). put differently, i encourage researchers to focus on methodology as well as methods. there are four components of a transformative paradigm: methodology, ontology, epistemology, and axiology (hurtado, 2015; mertens, 2009). in this piece, i focus on the latter three, because they flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 283 tend to receive less attention than methodology. however, together ontology, epistemology, and axiology influence the “worldview” that shapes a researcher’s methodology (hurtado, 2015, p. 286). thus, in this piece, i sketch a methodology that can promote epistemic injustice for hsis, highlighting assumptions in traditional higher education research that need to be challenged. as such, i encourage higher education researchers, to challenge their existing mental models (argyris & schön, 1996), to lay bare the assumptions they may be making that limit research that authentically portrays the realities and contributions of hsis. before exploring ontology, epistemology, and axiology, it is important to begin by noting that a historical emphasis on selective institutions has perpetuated what could be called “methodological elitism,” as adapted from shahnajan and kezar’s (2013) notion of methodological nationalism, which reveals predominant, yet limited, assumptions about educational research as a domestic, rather than global, phenomenon. in response to the tendencies of methodological elitism, deil amen (2015) promotes a broadening of lenses for higher education researchers— moving beyond a narrow vertical, hierarchical, and elite conception of u.s. institutions to incorporate a horizontal dimension that includes the full range of institutions that provide access. for latinx, low-income students, and other historically underrepresented groups, hsis are critical institutions constituting that horizontal dimension that provides significant access. a transformative paradigm as applied to the study of hsis encourages researchers to step back, clarify, and apply a mindset, or mental model (argyris & schön, 1996), to enact methodological choices that seek to challenge epistemic injustice perpetuated by methodological elitism and move toward recognizing the experiences of historically marginalized institutions. this process involves attending to the following guidelines: …an awareness of contextual and historical actors, considering forms of oppression. multiple methods, techniques, and theories may be necessary. relies on crystallization (multifaceted perspectives and data sources) rather than triangulation, assumptions of heterogeneity rather than homogeneity, and attention to structures of opportunity and inequality, conditional effects (specific groups are affected differently by the same practices), and cultural norms in their influence on individuals and groups. avoids an acontextual focus on individuals [and by extension, institutions]. (hurtado, 2015, p. 291; also see mertens, 2009) núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 284 what does applying the transformative paradigm to the study of hsis look like, then? any research on hsis must be grounded comprehensively in the growing body of peer-reviewed research that provides increasing epistemic resources to make sense of hsis and their organizational dynamics. this brings us to ontology as a critical dimension of the transformative paradigm. in this case, ontology might be thought of as assumptions about the working reality of hsis, recognizing that “privilege influences what is accepted as real” (hurtado, 2015, p. 291). understanding the reality of hsis includes examining the history of hsis and how they have changed over time. in terms of considering oppression and power dynamics, it means taking into account the differential access to institutional resources that hsis have, compared with other institutions, and, even compared with one another, as signaled by the entrance of aau institutions into the hsi pool. in tandem, research seeking to actualize epistemic justice on hsis should recognize the institutional diversity of hsis. aiming to accurately depict the reality of hsis entails being transparent about sample selection, the characteristics of the subset of institutions one is studying, and the extent to which these institutions are representative of all hsis. recent typologies of hsis based on structural and demographic characteristics (núñez et al., 2016) and on organizational culture and identity (garcía, 2017) can inform dimensions of research design such as site selection and representativeness. another dimension of ontology with respect to hsis is employing asset-based theoretical perspectives in understanding the contributions and organizational behavior of hsis. for example, employing a funds of knowledge perspective (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992) highlights how and faculty and students in hsis can be positioned as knowers and thinkers who contribute to new kinds of knowledge, particularly about latinx communities and histories (e.g., gonzales, 2015, 2016). employing asset-based theoretical perspectives is especially crucial, when we consider that in research and teaching grant applications, minorityserving institutions and hsis are often treated as inferior to other institutions. specifically, they are too often positioned merely as suppliers of students to selective institutions in the educational pipeline, or required to partner with selective institutions to conduct research, as if hsis themselves cannot foster environments in which students and faculty independently conduct innovative research. flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 285 applying the transformative paradigm to inquiry on hsis with respect to the dimension of epistemology, or assumptions about how knowledge is accessed through research, arguably requires immersion and contextualization. immersion entails spending extended time in hsis, to gain a fuller understanding of the activities, norms and behaviors in these institutions. this approach contrasts with the approach of merely conducting “drive-by” research (hurtado, 2015) in which a scholar visits hsi campuses only briefly. the guideline of immersion is particularly salient when a scholar has never had lived experience—that is, attended or worked—in an hsi. scholars who have not had such immersion in hsis should be particularly conscious and self-reflexive about their positionalities when examining hsis. as part of epistemology, such scholars should especially attend to spending time to get to know and engage personnel at hsis directly in shaping research, policy, and practice agendas. i will return to this particular point when i discuss axiology, another component of the transformative paradigm, in the next section. beyond immersion, contextualization involves the assumption that understanding the broader historical, economic, and institutional contexts within which hsis operate as organizations is essential to capturing the fuller lived realities of hsis. the implications of immersion and contextualization are that a scholar must draw on extensive and multiple data sources, and multiple ways of gathering data, to understand the dynamics of hsis. for example, recent research on the organizational culture and identity of hsis has drawn on extensive immersion in hsi campuses, involving data collection through document analysis, observations, and interviews with multiple stakeholders (e.g., faculty, students, staff), in multiple units (e.g., academic affairs, student affairs) to provide a multifaceted picture of organizational identity at hsis (e.g., garcía, 2017, in press). an epistemology guiding research in hsis is assumes that there are multiple ways of knowing and consequently, of gathering and/or analyzing, data that can work toward common goals. apply an hsi positionality in addition to epistemology and ontology, axiology, or the way a researcher positions herself in relation to the object of inquiry, poses an additional dimension of the transformative paradigm (mertens, 2009). accordingly, axiology entails how and the extent to which a researcher is conscious of her own views and is transparent with others about those views núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 286 regarding her study (positionality), her relationships with the individuals or institutions she researches, how and the extent to which she accounts for ethics in her work (including reciprocity with the researched), and goals for the research itself, such as empowerment and advocacy for the marginalized communities of inquiry. in the transformative paradigm, ethics of “inclusion” are followed, and goals for the research are “empowerment” for the community (hurtado, 2015). in the transformative paradigm; scholars work directly with communities they are studying to establish and reach common goals. consequently, not just the researcher, but both the researcher and the researched, profit from the efforts. the resulting “…continuum of engagement and impact stands in contrast to ‘drive-by’ research which takes information from marginalized communities but rarely informs research participants about the findings and much less empowers communities to create change based on the research” (hurtado, 2015, p. 288). although higher education researchers rarely discuss axiology, addressing one’s positionality in relation to the object of inquiry is standard and expected in qualitative research (jones et al., 2014). an “hsi positionality” integrates the concept of axiology in the transformative paradigm with specific dispositions to advance epistemic justice on and empowerment of hsis. one disposition is that scholars should be “self-conscious enough to understand how our own language and framing contribute to the marginalization and continued reification of the traditional college student and traditional college-going patterns” (deil-amen, 2015, p. 140), and then take steps to correct these tendencies. one such tendency is the methodological elitism referred to earlier. if it is the case that higher education researchers have traditionally focused on “elite” and selective institutions, valued the behaviors in these institutions, and worked in these institutions, they may unconsciously be carrying mental models that are incongruent with the realities of the mental models of personnel who work in hsis. for example, researchers may unconsciously impose assumptions that hsis operate under the same institutional capacities as those of other institutions, when the research evidence clearly illustrates that hsis have far fewer resources (e.g., ortega, frye, nellum, kamimura, & vidal-rodríguez, 2015). when researchers and policymakers judge hsis under the standards of institutions that have more resources, they can perpetuate unwarranted deficit perspectives of hsis that can have unintended negative consequences, including reducing the resources of hsis even further, when hsis are evaluated on an uneven playing field (núñez, 2014; núñez & rodríguez, in press). flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 287 with respect to practice, recommendations about how to better serve latinx students must be grounded in the realities of hsis, including the limited resources that hsis may have. otherwise well-intentioned recommendations that are not made in the context of such resources can have the unintended negative consequence of creating unrealistic or blameworthy expectations for hsis. by contrast, working alongside hsi personnel by developing new and/or building on existing innovative strategies in hsis (e.g., gasman & conrad, 2016) demonstrates more possibilities to recognize the potential of these institutions, because designs that evolve from such contexts are more responsive to hsis’ institutional realities. put differently, it is critical, when making recommendations to guide hsis’ institutional practice to recognize, name, account for, and challenge “structures of opportunity and inequity” (hurtado, 2015) that affect hsis’ capacities to serve their students, particularly those from latinx backgrounds. to authentically advance the interests of hsis and their students, it is important for higher education researchers to be reflexive about the institutions they have attended and taught in, and to be cognizant of the historical predominance of scholarship in higher education, other social science fields, and the media, on selective institutions. because i myself had attended highly selective, well-resourced, predominantly white institutions with high levels of prestige or “symbolic capital” (bourdieu, 1986) for my degrees, working in an hsi exposed me to nature of exclusion and invisibility that too often characterize hsis. at the same time, this experience introduced me to the distinctive impact that i could make as an equity-minded researcher (dowd & bensimon, 2015) in conducting more informed scholarship on and training students to promote equity in higher education. as i have described elsewhere (núñez, murakami, & cuero, 2010), my students at utsa taught me about the latinx communities i was researching, and helped me to crystallize my findings through sharing their perspectives. while i was presenting policy briefs to federal audiences about how narrowly framed ratings systems might have adverse consequences for hsis (núñez, 2014; núñez & rodríguez, in press), one observer pointed out virtually all of president obama’s cabinet members had only attended ivy league schools. thus, the responsibility of portraying hsis to such individuals and staffers, whose mental models likely positioned hsis as invisible or inferior, took on particular importance. since my mental model around hsis prior to working at utsa was probably like theirs, i aimed to shift their mindsets, to portray a fuller picture of the realities of hsis, núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 288 stressing the tremendous responsibility hsis take on for educating large shares of demographic groups who otherwise might not attend college. serving at an hsi also raised my awareness of the multiple talents and distinctive knowledge students at these institutions bring to higher education, following a “funds of knowledge” (moll et al., 1992) framework that highlights how students and faculty cultivate distinctive skills that build culturally relevant frameworks to guide research, policy, and practice (gonzales, 2016). many students who performed less well on traditional admissions metrics (e.g., gre scores) and who might not have been accepted to pursue graduate study at more selective graduate institutions demonstrated their talent and thrived at utsa. recognizing that the symbolic capital of the institution might be limited in comparison to more selective institutions, i saw that faculty at utsa connected many students with national opportunities, and several students demonstrated that they could make distinctive contributions to the field on a national scale. working at an hsi taught me how far hard work and motivation (ganas, in spanish) could take a student in their studies. some students were extremely proactive at seeking out constructive feedback and opportunities. others worked many hours to support themselves and their families, and demonstrated incredible capacities to balance many personal and professional responsibilities. my experiences with these students have taught me the most about strengths that diverse learners bring to the classroom (núñez, murakami, & cuero, 2010). in addition to reflecting on their own direct exposure to hsis (or lack thereof), researchers who seek to advance epistemic justice on hsis must consider how their research will serve the communities they are studying. this entails reflecting on and enacting ethics and values that center inclusion. it requires working directly with personnel at hsis to decide on the goals of research, establish the research questions, collect data in non-exploitative ways, and develop the research products, whether that be new scholarship, policy briefings, and/or interventions. it is important that researchers interrogate how their own individual careers benefit from their own research on hsis, and the extent to which their own research will actually improve conditions in hsis. that is, scholars following a transformative paradigm must consider how they will give back to the hsis they are researching, rather than merely “drive by” (hurtado, 2015) and ride away with all of the profits from the research. thus, reciprocity between the researcher and the researched is a fundamental principle of an hsi positionality. flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 289 how can such reciprocity be enacted? scholars, especially those from more selective and well-resourced institutions, should engage personnel at hsis in designing research that supports capacity building for hsis. those researchers conducting qualitative case studies, for example, might work directly with personnel at these institutions to address research questions that will generate effective organizational strategies to serve latinx students, while those conducting larger scale quantitative analyses might work directly with associations of hsis and advocacy organizations, to advance knowledge and policies that will benefit the functioning of these institutions. one guideline to follow is to engage hsi faculty and administrators as equal partners in grant applications, to develop capacity-building grants toward pure or applied research, or toward building academic support programs for students. such an approach contrasts to several examples i have heard from personnel at minority-serving institutions, in which these personnel only learned that their institutions had been included on grants with the more selective institutions, after the grant was submitted. that is, the minority-serving institution was not aware they were a “partner” in the grant until after the grant had been submitted. recognizing faculty, administrators, and staff at hsis as producers of knowledge in their own right (gonzales, 2015, 2016) and jointly engaging in intellectual work with these personnel is another way to offer reciprocity. such intellectual work can include authoring publications as well as research grants. facilitating contact with academic networks that may typically be closed to personnel at hsis, through mentoring, making introductions with individuals at foundations, or other types of connections, can also help personnel at hsis access the academic, cultural, social, and economic capital from which these institutional personnel are too often excluded, because of their institution’s comparative lack of symbolic capital and perceived prestige. in short, rather than imposing external frameworks that do not apply to their institutional contexts, or assuming what is right for hsis, valuing and working directly with personnel at hsis to build professional development opportunities can most effectively engage hsis’ faculty and staff to support latinx students. researchers can learn more about the contexts within which specific hsis operate, and work with personnel at those institutions to design professional development or interventions that are based on those contexts. they can also work with hsis to challenge what are too often deficit narratives around these institutions. núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 290 engage hsis to flip the narrative as the accountability in higher education movement grows, it is increasingly evident that if hsis and other higher education institutions do not tell their stories, they will have their stories told for them. accordingly, researchers can also enact reciprocity and authentic partnership with hsis through working with hsis to flip the narratives in which these institutions are too often represented. by flipping, i mean developing more well-rounded narratives that are grounded in the organizational complexities of diverse hsis. personnel at hsis themselves must better engage in internal conversations to review the range of activities that are going on at these institutions in order to be able to tell their stories to external constituents, such as state and local policymakers. such conversations are not a given; excelencia in education annually identifies exemplary programs at hsis, and it is not rare for leaders at these hsis to learn about these programs for the first time, when these initiatives are celebrated by a national, external audience. sharing findings and applying them toward empowerment is a key dimension of the transformative paradigm, and researchers could solicit what hsi personnel perceive as helpful in making sense of their organization’s behavior as hsis. once, i gave a talk to leaders at one hsi, in which i presented general research on hsis’ organizational characteristics, while also addressing diverse indicators based on that institution’s various activities, to illustrate how that institution specifically served latinx students. the talk evolved into a more interactive conversation that began with leaders asking me about the meaning of these indicators and proposing different interpretations. this conversation continued into a lively question and answer period; even after my talk, several leaders were waiting to speak to me, wanting to make sense of their own organizational experiences as part of an hsi. this experience shaped my view that, in responding to interests articulated by hsi personnel, researchers could facilitate conversations to educate personnel about the general research on hsis. then they could present specific data about the institution itself, engage leaders in conversation, and coordinate common themes that emerge from the conversation. in working directly with personnel to distill these themes, scholars could support hsis in articulating their internal and external organizational identities, and in developing strategies to better serve latinx students at their particular institutions. flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 291 beyond supporting single hsis, researchers could help groups of hsis identify and represent the commonalities of their organizations to forge a collective hsi identity. being able to present a multi-faceted collective hsi identity could help federal policymakers and other external constituents build mental models of hsis as organizations that serve important and distinctive functions to serve latinx students. such collective sense making would benefit efforts to advocate for federal and other sources of funding based on the distinctive contributions of hsis to the nation. hsi researchers seeking to advance epistemic justice can work as true partners with hsis to: (1) sort through the nuances, complexities, and differences in organizational behavior across institutions, (2) distill common themes across institutions, and (3) to articulate and present a “collective hsi identity” to targeted external audiences. in short, scholars can help hsis tell their stories, both as individual institutions and as a collective group of institutions, that are at the vanguard of advancing the educational attainment of historically underserved groups in the u.s. employing multiple methods and multiple metrics of success (e.g., retention, academic self-concept, community engagement, return on investment) can enrich these stories, creating new narratives that are more well-rounded, attuned and compelling to multiple audiences. (see garcía, 2017, and in press, in this special issue, for a range of ideas on how to identify meaningful indicators.) skillful deployments of large scale statistics, case studies, and anecdotes, complemented by details grounded in the local realities of audiences (e.g., the economic and social dynamics in a congressperson’s district) can generate more realized portraits of hsis and help external audiences build mental models to recognize hsis as distinctive and critical institutions. conclusion in this article, i have drawn on extant research, my experiences as an hsi faculty member, and my experiences working in the policy arena to sketch what an hsi positionality that advances epistemic justice (frank, 2013) and employs the transformative paradigm (hurtado, 2015) would look like. i encourage researchers on hsis to reflect on, expand, and transform their own mental models (argyris & schön, 1996) to be more responsive to and reciprocal with personnel in the hsis they work with. researchers can take active roles to work with hsi personnel so that these personnel can clarify their own mental models about hsis, and extend this work to engage other external audiences in expanding their own mental núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 292 models about hsis. scholars who want to conduct equity-minded research can not only employ an hsi positionality in their research framing and design, but also be transparent about it in their presentations and written work to: (1) illustrate the nature of their specific relationships with hsis, including the extent of their respect for and reciprocity with these institutions, and (2) serve as models to future researchers about how to apply the dimensions of a transformative paradigm (hurtado, 2015; mertens, 2009) to working with hsis. in sum, i call on researchers who wish to advance epistemic justice on hsis to fully engage the emergent body of research in this area, including the articles in this special issue that are expanding this field of inquiry. similarly, scholars should reflect on their own particular individual and institutional positionalities, to become more cognizant of how they can be most attuned to learning about, representing, and supporting the realities of hsis. to truly support hsis, scholars must enact reciprocity and work with hsis and their advocates as true partners. only by engaging in a constant cycle of informed personal and professional reflection can research, policymakers, and practitioners best serve hsis and the students enrolled in them. flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 293 references argyris, c., & schön, d. (1996). organizational learning ii: theory, method, and practice. reading, ma: addison-wesley. bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in j. g. richardson (ed.), handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241-258). westport, ct: greenwood press. cortez, l. j. (2015). enacting leadership at hispanic-serving institutions. in a.-m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 136-152). new york, ny: routledge. cuellar, m. (2014). the impact of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and nonhsis on latina/o academic self-concept. review of higher education, 37(4), 499–53. deil-amen, r. (2015). the “traditional” college student: a smaller and smaller minority and its implications for diversity and access institutions. in m. w. kirst & m. l. stevens (eds.), remaking college: the changing ecology of higher education (pp. 134-165). stanford, ca: stanford university press. dougherty, k., & reddy, v. (2013). performance funding for higher education: what are the mechanisms? what are the impacts? ashe monograph, 39(2), 1-134. dowd, a. c., & bensimon, e. m. (2015). engaging the "race question": accountability and equity in u.s. higher education: teachers college press. excelencia in education. (2017). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): 2014-15 at a glance. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsi-cp2/research/hsis-at-glance frank, j. (2013). mitigating against epistemic injustice in educational research. educational researcher, 42(7), 363-370. garcía, g. a. (2017). defined by outcomes or culture? constructing an organizational identity for hispanic-serving institutions. american educational research journal, 54(1s), 111-134. garcía, g. a. (in press). what does it mean to be latinx-serving? testing the utility of the typology of hsi organizational identities. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(3). gonzales, l. d. (2015). the horizon of possibilities: how faculty in hispanic-serving institutions can reshape the production and legitimization of knowledge within academia. in a.-m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 121-135). new york, ny: routledge. gonzales, l. d. (2016). an acción approach to affirmative action: hispanic-serving institutions as spaces for fostering epistemic justice. association of mexican-american educators journal, 9(1), 28-41. hurtado, s. (2015). the transformative paradigm: principles and challenges. in a. alemán, b. p. pusser & e. bensimon (eds.), critical approaches to the study of higher education (pp. 285307). baltimore, md: johns hopkins university. jones, s. r., torres, v., & arminio, j. (2014). negotiating the complexities of qualitative research in higher education (2nd ed.). new york, ny: routledge. núñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 294 kirst, m. w., & stevens, m. l. (eds.) (2015). remaking college: the changing ecology of higher education. stanford, ca: stanford university press. laden, b. v. (1999). two-year hispanic-serving colleges. in b. k. townsend (ed.), two-year colleges for women and minorities: enabling access to the baccalaureate (vol. 16) (pp. 151– 194). new york, ny: garland. laden, b. v. (2001). hispanic-serving institutions: myths and realities. peabody journal of education, 76(1), 73–92. mertens, d. m. (2009). transformative research and evaluation. new york, ny: the guilford press. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132–141. núñez, a.-m. (2017). centering the “marginalized majority”: how hispanic-serving institutions advance postsecondary attainment. american educational research journal, 54 (1s), 135-139. núñez, a.-m. (2014). counting what counts for latinas/os and hispanic-serving institutions: a federal ratings system and postsecondary access, affordability, and success. policy brief presented to the president’s advisory commission on educational excellence for hispanics, new york, ny. núñez, a.-m., crisp, g., & elizondo, d. (2016). mapping hispanic-serving institutions: a typology of institutional diversity. journal of higher education, 87(1), 55-83. doi: 10.1353/jhe.2016.0001 núñez, a.-m., hurtado, s., & calderón galdeano, e. (2015). why study hispanic-serving institutions?. in a.-m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 1-22). new york, ny: routledge. núñez, a.-m., murakami, e., & cuero, k. (2010). pedagogy for equity: teaching in a hispanicserving institution. innovative higher education, 35(3), 177–190. núñez, a.-m., & rodríguez, a. (2014). how the shortcomings of a postsecondary ratings system could lead to shortchanging hsis and their outcomes. a commissioned paper presented at the ucla civil rights project conference, will higher ed accountability proposals narrow opportunity for minority students and minority-serving institutions?, washington, dc. núñez, a.-m., & rodríguez, a. (in press). making accountability fair for hispanic-serving institutions. in n. hillman & g. orfield (eds.), facilitating educational success for migrant farmworker students in the u.s. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. ortega, n., frye, j., nellum, c., kamimura, a., & vidal-rodríguez, a. (2015). examining the financial resilience of hispanic-serving institutions. in a.-m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 155-176). new york, ny: routledge. flipping the hsi narrative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 295 park, t., flores, s. m., & ryan, c. j. (2017). labor market returns for graduates of hispanicserving institutions. research in higher education. doi:10.1007/s11162-017-9457-z perna, l. w., li, c., walsh, e., & raible, s. (2010). the status of equity for hispanics in public higher education in florida and texas. journal of hispanics higher education, 9(2), 145– 166. rodríguez, a. (2015). on the margins. in m. schneider & k.c. deane (eds.) the university next door: what is a comprehensive university, who does it educate, and can it survive? (pp. 4367). new york, ny: teachers college press. rodríguez, a., & calderón galdeano, e. (2015). do hispanic-serving institutions really underperform? using propensity score matching to compare outcomes of hispanicserving and non-hispanic-serving institutions. in a.-m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 196-216). new york, ny: routledge. rose, m. (2012). back to school. new york, ny: free press. schneider, m., & deane, k.c. (eds.). (2015). the university next door: what is a comprehensive university, who does it educate, and can it survive? new york, ny: teachers college press. shahnajan, r., & kezar, a. (2013). beyond the “national container”: addressing methdological nationalism in higher education research. educational researcher, 42(1), 20-29. vega, a., & martínez, r. a. (2012). latino scorecard for higher education: a focus on texas universities. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(1), 41–54. webber, d. a., & ehrenberg, r. g. (2009). do expenditures other than instructional expenditures affect graduation and graduation rates in american higher education? ithaca, ny: cornell higher education research institute. flipping the hsi narrative: an hsi positionality anne-marie núñez the ohio state university mitigate epistemic injustice employ the transformative paradigm apply an hsi positionality engage hsis to flip the narrative conclusion argyris, c., & schön, d. (1996). organizational learning ii: theory, method, and practice. reading, ma: addison-wesley. rose, m. (2012). back to school. new york, ny: free press. shahnajan, r., & kezar, a. (2013). beyond the “national container”: addressing methdological nationalism in higher education research. educational researcher, 42(1), 20-29. amea_2010.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 revisiting rodriguez v. los angeles unifi ed school district: a case of intra-district inequities ruben w. espinosa san diego state university the educational community and the courts continue to struggle with the challenges of intradistrict resource inequality revealed by the california supreme court landmark case rodriguez v. los angeles unifi ed school district (1992). intra-district school resource inequality is one of the remaining bastions of major inequalities in the united states. academic researchers and school districts have yet to develop and examine current intra-district frameworks and models for effectively implementing and monitoring equality of resources. in short, this area that affects the quality of education for our children in schools should be a priority for our nation. this is especially true in lausd. the purpose of this article is to revisit not only the consent decree, but also a comprehensive timeline of the rodriguez case (1980-2007). surprisingly, very little has been published on this important case especially regarding the actual results and basis for this case. more specifi cally, the author examines the pre-consent decree era (1980-1986). this pre-consent section reveals that mexican american parents initiated the consent decree, and the espinosa lausd study (1985) results provided the research basis for the consent decree. the second section includes the timeframe between 1986 and 1992 regarding the negotiations and the agreed upon consent decree framework. the third section examines the post-consent decree era (1992-2007) with a focus on the implementation of the consent decree. the fi nal section is a discussion on the rodriguez v. lausd case. pre-consent decree era (1980-86) in the early 1980’s, mexican american parents from lausd initiated the rodriguez case. the author received a phone call one afternoon from a mexican american parent organization from lausd. the researcher was told that the mexican american parents had a gut feeling and perception that their community schools were treated unequally and that the facilities clearly revealed part of the problem. they asked the author if he could do a study to test their perceptions since no one else would conduct such a study. the author agreed to conduct the study but many challenges were involved in such an endeavor. first, the lausd offi ce had no public studies available on resource allocations. second, a literature review at the time also revealed no research on the facilities inequity that the parents were raising. no study had ever been done in the southwest to answer the kind of questions the mexican american parents were posing. third, no major studies were found in the literature that was related to the parents’ concerns on school fi nance resources and facilities to inform the methodology. lastly, the parents had no funds or funding source for the study but they were hoping it could still move forward. the researcher met with the parent representatives a number of times and also conducted site visits to see what challenges they perceived. the mexican american legal defense and education fund (maldef) and the rosenberg foundation eventually provided some fi nancial support for the study. espinosa lausd study (1985) the purpose of the espinosa (1985) lausd study was fourfold: (1) to describe and compare the distribution of fi scal resources, achievement scores, poverty, language classifi cations, percent and number of students, and school size using 86 randomly selected schools within the los angeles unifi ed school district during 1985-86 school year, and (2) to analyze the relationship between fi scal and school environmental resources and achievement data using a stratifi ed sample based upon ethnicity of the student population, (3) to create, a technical research study that was required as part of the formal complaint process that included the us justice department and (4) to present to twenty legal organizations to determine the feasibility and legal challenges possible in lausd. in order for the rodriguez v. lausd case to move forward, the legal community had to be convinced there were causes of action and that there was data to support the concerns of the parents. the 22 association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 united states justice department had to be convinced, based on technical data results that the concerns of the parents were not only blatant, but also substantiated with systemic means results and specifi c examples of gross inequalities. most of the research focuses on all the cases, for example 375 elementary schools. stratifi ed samples were used to demonstrate the ethnic differences in school size, resources and facilities as well as almost all other variables. eighty-six elementary schools (20%) were randomly selected to serve as the district sample in this study and data from these schools have provided fi ndings illustrating district patterns and trends in the data results. thirty-four schools were randomly selected to represent the stratifi ed sample. the statistical packages for the social sciences (spss) was used to conduct the analysis. descriptive, analytical and path analysis was conducted to summarize the results. some key study results were the following: achievement students in predominately hispanic schools scored signifi cantly lower in math and reading achievement than students in predominately white schools. an analysis of the data reveals a clear positive relationship between fi scal resources, school facilities, and achievement; all favoring white schools. higher achieving schools were also smaller and had less categorical funding and fewer hispanic, limited english profi cient (lep) and poor students. school facilities facility resources increased and decreased according to concentrations of hispanic and lep students in school sites. this fi nding supports the claim of hispanic parents in the district who alleged there were racially related resource disparities, which results in “separate and unequal” education for their children. the data in this study show that students in white schools consistently received more library, cafeteria, multipurpose, landscaped, garden, playground, and restroom space per pupil than did students in hispanic schools. fiscal expenditures lausd spends less on a per pupil basis on schools that have concentrations of poor, hispanic, and lep school children, as well as larger schools, than on schools that have wealthier non-hispanic white children. the former receive less general, total, and instructional funds. furthermore, these schools also receive a low level of base funding and a high level of categorical funding that may cause institutionalization of remedial curriculum and standards that work against achievement gains. categorical funding is not supplemental in this study. these lower levels of resources provide poorer and fewer facilities in schools with concentrations of hispanic and lep children. the minimum total expenditures per pupil for the schools in this sample were 1,029 dollars per pupil while the maximum was 3,117 dollars per pupil, a 2,088 dollar per pupil difference between the minimum and maximum. school size hispanic schools were shown to be the most heavily populated when compared to white schools across the district. average daily attendance (ada), an indicator for school size, was revealed to have a strong negative relationship to school facility space per pupil, base funding, and achievement. these variables all impacted more heavily upon students in hispanic schools than upon students in the white schools. to compound this disparity, hispanic schools were built on fewer acres and planned to accommodate more students than white schools. size had a strong negative relationship to reading achievement. for the 86 cases in the district sample, size related to third grade reading achievement at r= -.53 and to fi fth grade reading achievement at r= -.60. the percent whites was negatively related to size at r= -.65 respectively, while percent of hispanics related to size at r= .66. size also related positively to lep students (r= .71) and with percent of poverty (r= .63). as disclosed by 23 revisiting rodriguez v. lausd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 these data, reading achievement was lowest for students in schools with a hispanic majority and schools, which had high rates of poverty and lep students. negotiated consent decree (1986-1992) the espinosa study was distributed to the united states (us) justice department as part of the complaint process. the study supported the plaintiffs’ concerns that mexican americans were in fact being treated inequitably based on legal standards guided by the united states and california constitutions. the espinosa study found both systemic and specifi c examples of inequalities at the elementary, middle and high school levels. in order to verify the inequalities found in the espinosa 1985 study, dr. espinosa was hired as a consultant by the united states justice department to disprove his own results to determine if the results were valid and reliable. numerous studies were conducted to see if the inequalities could be dismissed based on different types of statistical analysis. since dr. espinosa was the only researcher at that time with a comprehensive database on lausd and had developed the research methodology to conduct the original study and results, this was most likely the reason. in fact, lausd did not have such a database at that time. it turns out that no matter what statistical tools were applied, the inequalities remained. in some respects, this was a turning point for the case. at this point the us justice department agreed that the plaintiffs had legal cause for action based on the espinosa 1985 study. as a result, the lausd was required to take assertive action to address the inequalities and causes of action presented in the original 1986 consent decree fi ling that included a requirement for the lausd to develop a plan of action. for example, the us justice department agreed that schools in lausd should have caps that were substantially lower than what was standard practice for elementary schools, 20 of which were over 1,000 and built for 500. however, the author was disappointed that the justice department did not support viable solutions or provide sanctions to support the intent of the case, which was to support the concerns of the growing mexican american community. more importantly, the justice department ignored the larger issue, which was that inequitable fi scal resource allocation is a national problem. it remains a mystery to the author, why the us justice department did not intervene in a more assertive role to support and protect the 13th and 14th amendments of the us constitution in such a high profi le case. the rodriguez v. lausd consent decree was originally fi led on july 22, 1986 in the superior court of the state of california for the county of los angeles. basically, the consent decree was a complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief for violations of article i, section 7(a) and article iv, section 16 of the california constitution. the consent decree (also referred to as a consent order) is a judicial decree expressing a voluntary agreement between the plaintiffs, ron rodriguez et al. all and lausd parties to avoid a suit. it is also a legal document, approved by a judge that formalizes an agreement reached between the plaintiffs ron rodriguez et al. al and the responsible parties defendants lausd. the original consent decree fi ling during 1986 and the 1992 fi nal version evolved substantially. the 1986 version focused on defi ning and clarifying the legal causes of action, which were nine areas. the nine areas focused on allocation of resources based on race, ethnicity, wealth, and general disparities; allocation of facilities by ethnicity and wealth disparities; allocation of instructional staff by race, ethnicity and wealth; allocation of instructional staff general disparities; fi nally illegal use of public funds. the lausd was required to develop a master plan to alleviate the gross inequalities. the systemic inequalities found in espinosa 1985 turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. in the beginning, the gross inequalities were great in scope and challenge. however, the closer one looked there were more and more inequalities. the inequalities were so gross and systemic that this remains an unprecedented challenge, especially once politics enter into the equation. the small elementary schools around 300 are primarily white, while all of the schools over a 1,000 are mexican american or hispanic. the schools without credentialed teachers were mexican american. mexican americans and english learners 24 revisiting rodriguez v. lausd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 shared the lowest achieving schools. most of the mexican american high schools had no advanced placement (ap) classes programs or prerequisites for ap. very few mexican americans were eligible for entrance to local universities. there was as much as 2,000 dollars per pupil difference between fi scal resources for mexican americans at a school when compared to a high spending white school. the low base funds represented lower average teacher salaries or less experienced teachers. originally, it was thought that per pupil costs could be reallocated to make the system fairer. once the justice department was supportive of the complaint, lausd was required to make a good faith effort to address the parent complaint. as a result, the negotiations were focused on clarifying the defi nitions, setting the standards, requesting a plan, requesting reports, and requiring infrastructure support to comply with the on going monitoring proposed. according to the lausd legal department, there was no requirement to keep the lausd school board updated with progress or monitoring of the rodriguez case. as a result no reports were provided and as a result none are available to the public. there appears to be an informal policy that separates the legal issues from the board in terms of legal documents and district progress. this is really quite an amazing informal policy where the people in charge do not know what is going on in their own district and community. interestingly, lausd has increased their legal department dramatically since the beginning of the consent decree. however, the focus appears to be on protecting the district from legal liabilities versus addressing the educational needs of the children. the court offi cially accepted the rodriguez v. lausd consent decree in 1992. the consent decree is an agreement by the lausd to implement a court ordered directive to evaluate and implement short and long term plans for intra-district violations. the lausd through the consent decree agreed to fi nd relief to the plaintiff’s legal concerns, which are summarized below. it is important to note that each of these areas were supported by the original espinosa 1985 study and that the major results have never been disputed by lausd, the courts or other researchers. some salient exerpts from the 1992 consent decree are the following: 1. resources – one of the major goals of the consent decree focused on fi scal resources to equalize norm resources, teacher experience, and teacher training among schools operated by the district. a related goal was to provide all students with maxim access to teachers with experience and training. a third goal related to resources was to mitigate the consequences of limited teacher experience and training wherever equaliza tion cannot be achieved. equality was defi ned to exist at any school where the actual expenditures of basic norm resources differs from the allocation fi gure calculated for that school by less than $100 per enrolled student. 2. facilities—one of the major goals was to provide a classroom seat for all students in their local resident schools, consistent with sound educational policy for school size and density and recognizing that the total number of students to be served by the district may increase by as many as 200,000 students by the year 2000. another related goal was to further the construction and maintenance of schools with smaller enrollments, again recognizing that the district’s total enrollment is increasing. 3. density standards were created to support elementary, middle and high schools. for elementary schools—1.4 playground acres for up to 500 students, 1.7 playground acres for up to 750 students, 2.0 playground acres for up to 1000 students. for middle schools— 2.3 playground acres for up to 1,250 students. for high schools— six playground acres for up to 2,400 students and 9 playground acres for up to 3,600 students. of course, there was an escape clause that allowed a school to opt out of the standard. 25 revisiting rodriguez v. lausd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 beginning in 1992-93 annual reports to the board of education would focus on the following: • need for new construction • status of pending construction • plans for future construction • funds available to addressing immediate needs • the district will recognize the agreed upon density enrollment goals • enrollment reports are to be made available to all parents with attending schools at the time of the report • internal transparency requirements—a minimum of 13 annual reports were agreed upon and two biannual reports, to document progress and documentation for the main focus of the consent decree as listed above. • infrastructure goal changes—the district shall retain an independent accountant who shall examine whether the district is making allocations of basic norm resources as required by this agreement. the accountant shall prepare annual reports for school years 1997-98 and 1998-99, and biannual reports for school year 2000-02 and 2002-004. none of these reports as well as other required reports is available to the public. a computer system was to be fully operational in 1995-96 to provide each school with an accounting of actual expenditures of base norm resources compared with average expenditures of basic norm resources. • independent account to be hired to examine allocations and prepare annual reports. • supplanting of categorical funds—the basic norm resources shall not be supplanted by any categorical funds allocated to the district’s schools. • annual reports—annual reports are to be made of basic norm resources, categorical funds, schools exceeded the norm expenditures, schools unable to use their full allocation of basic norm resources, those schools with additional basic norm resources, number of teachers and administrators by step, schools identifi ed and directed to take interim steps toward reducing their expenditures of basic norm resources, standards and criteria for implementing teacher assignment provisions, racial and ethnic enrollments, currently approved construction projects. • process for disagreement—in disputes regarding application, implementation or interpretation or compliance parties will fi rst attempt to resolve dispute within before submitted dispute to the court. lack of implementation (1992-2007) the consent decree provided a seemingly workable framework to collaborate on change that could support the joint goal of equal opportunity for mexican american students. according to roos (2000), sugarman (2002), and bradley (1994), progress has been made regarding the equalization of fi scal resources in lausd. according to roos (2000), the rodriguez v. lausd consent decree did not impose forced teacher transfers. however, the lausd district provided each school with a dollar budget with which to hire teachers. the decree also forced cuts in schools with per-pupil spending well above the district average. sugarman (2002) reports that the district has substantially equalized spending across schools, though high poverty schools continue to have lower proportions of more experienced teachers and additional money for non-teacher spending. according to bradley (1994) as part of the consent decree, the lausd agreed to equalize non-categorical per-pupil spending in 90 percent of schools to within $100 of the district average. however, no transparency or accountability exists regarding progress made by lausd in published reports or research documents for public consumption. as a result, there is no verifi cation that there has been any progress. the issue of transparency and accountability remains a lausd and national legal issue that is troubling to concerned taxpayers, parent advocates and educational organizations. while the plaintiffs provided an equitable plan, the district receives an “f” for transparency and implementation of effective changes for supporting the 14th amendment of the us and equal opportunity rights of mexican americans. 26 revisiting rodriguez v. lausd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 the largest escape clause turns out to be pitting teaching equity against student equity. the teacher union focus on teacher equity provided the ideal escape clause for the district by arguing that fi scal equity is not possible since 80% of the funds required for equity are related to teacher costs, and the majority of teachers have no interest in being forced to equalize expenditures by moving to overcrowded mexican american schools. while there was a most inspiring plan and hope for a growing mexican american community, it was short lived and progress was basically lost in the implementation and escape clauses. the additional 200,000 students in the growing mexican american community contributed to the reality of trying to fi x a system that had systemic problems when the consent decree started. in 2005-06 during the consent decree, miles elementary, a mexican american school, was identifi ed in an article as being the 2nd largest elementary school in the nation. related to density and size, the district is now ignoring the original caps. the cap for elementary schools was set at 1,200. miles elementary was originally at 2,400, the web site as of today reports 2,700 for 2005-06 during the consent decree. for a school that was originally built for 500, this is truly a new level of inequity. most disconcerting is that ed-data a national database, reports 1,772 students for 2008-09. the school is currently on 4 tracks and is ranked at the 3rd percentile, one of the lowest in the state. this means that 97% of schools in california are above this school in average achievement. yet, this school has been identifi ed as exemplary. how is this possible to receive such a high rating with such inequitable and poor results by any standard? base funds remain inequitable since experienced and more competent teachers do not wish to work in the high density mexican american city schools. in fact, teachers continue to leave because of the issues related to overcrowding and density as well as facilities. miles elementary in 2005-06 was still on 4 tracks and at 2,700 students with an increase of 300 since the 1986 consent decree started. currently miles elementary is at 1,700 and is identifi ed as exemplary though it is at the 3rd percentile in student achievement. on july 11, 2007, a legal appeal was fi led in the 2nd appellate district, div. 2, by law offi ce of lew hollman, lew hollman; peter roos; et. al. by its own terms the consent decree expired in 2006. the appeal was a request for an extension of 5 years to implement the consent decree goals of reducing the inequalities in school funding. the trial court denied the plaintiffs’ request for an extension. the appeal supports the assertion that the consent decree goals were never met and as results an extension was requested. how much progress was made is speculative since the facts are not available to the public. supposedly millions were reallocated and spent on implementing the consent decree goals. discussion the 1992 consent decree version focused on a good faith master plan with assumptions about transparency and implementation of change, which would turn out to be the major weaknesses. the allocation of resources was operationalized and defi ned in a manner that could allow identifi cation, tracking and research as well as discussion. a standard taken from the serrano v. priest cases of $100 per pupil difference was used to gage implementation of the different fi scal resources, such as base and instructional funds. ethnic schools as well as poverty and wealthy schools were also operationalized including over enrolled schools. what are missing are yearly studies to monitor the progress in the key areas identifi ed in the consent decree to determine school change and systemic change. the advocate legal approach was fl awed in approach for the following reasons: • the major components of an effective program should have been defi ned and identifi ed to determine the cost by resource type to close the achievement gap at the beginning. this would have allowed for implementation of change with potential for positive goals. • schools and district should have run simulations for the entire district with current and proposed changes to determine exact negotiations. • expert researchers and school fi nance experts should have been used as consultants to conduct the simulations for exact costs and estimates and yearly studies monitoring progress. • projections should have been included in the simulations using the projected 200,000 district projections 27 revisiting rodriguez v. lausd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2010 to project demographic growth and impact of facilities. • major changes in resource allocations, staff development and training cannot be assumed. • sanctions were not applied as is evident since the district has not honored the school density caps. • issues with the teacher union need to be addressed early since this could affect feasible solutions. the fi ndings of this article raise a number of equity issues that go beyond the scope of serrano v. priest that focused on inter-district disparities. according to the fi ndings in this research study, it is of little use for the state legislature to distribute funds equitably among districts if the districts do not distribute their funds in a like manner among schools. eventually a new fi nance formula must be devised in the state which will equalize the distribution of base funds, instructional dollars, and total expenditures between schools. in addition, it is recommended that a more advanced monitoring system be used by the state on a regular basis to see that an equal distribution or resources does occur. lack of transparency of fi scal resources at the school site level belittles any accountability. in accordance with the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, every person is entitled to equal protection of the laws regardless of race or color. the ruling lau decision and statements made in the equal opportunity act of 1974 declare that states have a responsibility to provide a meaningful and fair education to children. los angeles appears to be in non-compliance with these statutes and decisions through its fi scally unsound practices and unfair distribution of resources. the high likelihood of supplanting, coupled with the above mentioned resource disparities, lead to the conclusion that the district’s policies have been ineffective in promoting equity. the persistence of inequality in the distribution of resources stands as a paradox to america’s egalitarian philosophy and principles. the continued tolerance of this discrimination by leaders, stakeholders and political leaders is a shameful refl ection of social institutions’ lack of commitment in providing equal education opportunity. it is time for change to occur before another generation of students is lost. one of the most important lessons the author has learned is that even when gross inequality problems are well documented, this does not encourage any stakeholders, such as, the 30% of legislative districts cutting across la to support the constitutional equal education rights of mexican americans. the implementation practices by the city planning and lausd district are so inequitable that the problems they have created cannot be resolved as agreed upon in negotiations. thousands of inequitable leadership decisions have been made to get us to the current policies and practices as well as inequitable resources. references bradley, a. (1994, september 12). equation for equality. education week, 28-34. brown v. board of education of topeka, 347 u.s. 483 (1954). civil rights act of 1964 § 601, 42 u.s.c §241(1964). espinosa, r.w. (1985). fiscal resources and school facilities and their relationship to ethnicity and achievement in the los angeles unifi ed school district, social equity center, san diego state university. san diego, ca. plessy v. ferguson, 163 u.s. 537 (1896). rodriguez v. los angeles unifi ed school district, ca 6 11-3 5 8. rodriguez v. los angeles unifi ed school district, (cal. app. ct. 2007) roos, p. d. (2000). intra-district resource disparities: a problem crying out for a solution. in m. gitell (ed.), strategies for school equity: creating productive schools in a just society (pp. 40-52). new haven, ct: yale university press. sugarman, s. d. (2002). charter school funding issues. education policy analysis archives, 10(34). u.s. constitution, amendment 13. u.s. constitution, amendment 14. 28 revisiting rodriguez v. lausd amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento francisco guajardo university of texas—pan american miguel guajardo texas state university—san marcos john oliver texas state university—san marcos lia o’neill m. a. keawe university of hawai‘i—mānoa abstract this article uses story as a process to highlight the work in a south texas community that focuses on the education of youth and the development of community. the work is guided by a new consciousness of place, community engagement, and identity formation. the work is local, but breaking the isolation of youth, families, and ideas has been part of an emerging theory of change. the document takes us in and out of stories of place in an attempt to transfer the work to other communities. it presents the voices of witnesses to take the concepts used in this mexican-american community into other spaces. the work is informed by place, theory, and practice. preface: story of circle at the llano grande center this article begins with a virtual circle that cuts across the life span of the work of the llano grande center, an education nonprofi t organization nestled inside edcouch-elsa high school, a rural school along the texas-mexican border. llano grande employs circle to teach classes at this high school, to conduct staff meetings, to structure community seminars, and to organize for advocacy campaigns. the virtual circle brings together stories from actual circles that transpired between 1996 and 2012. the stories are grounded in place, as “place” is a value that informs the teaching and learning process at llano grande. it includes stories from outside this mexican-american community, because llano grande work is also characterized by a purposeful attempt to breaking the isolation of our own existence. carmen tells the fi rst story, one that begins when she was 12 years old and swam with her mother and sister across the rio grande river in search of a better life in the united states. they fl ed oppressive conditions in their native mexico and entered their new country undocumented. when she enrolled in the high school a few years later, carmen began her work at llano grande, where she would develop as a youth leader and community-based researcher. before she graduated from high school, she and other llano grande youth testifi ed before the texas legislature in support of legislation allowing undocumented students to pursue higher education opportunities. they joined a state-wide youth effort to advocate for legislation that would become the basis for the dream act. the advocacy work persisted for carmen and her peers past their high school days. today, they advocate for issues such as federal rural broadband legislation, a more humane public school accountability system, and greater access to health care for immigrants and indigent people. carmen is a real person, but she is also a metaphor for the numerous students who have been part of the work of the llano grande center since the organization began its work in the mid 1990s. countless mexican-american students have been part of a developmental process where they prepare themselves for college by exploring their personal narratives, learning how to be community-based researchers, and practicing 52 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 policy advocacy. but llano grande has also pushed the idea of breaking the isolation of our rural existence, and of our relative homogeneity, particularly as the student populations in schools where llano grande has a presence are comprised of largely mexican-american students. in edcouch-elsa high, for example, mexicanamerican students make up 97% of the student body. llano grande pursues this goal by forging relationships with a network of diverse schools, organizations, and communities. through the years, it has developed deep relationships with african-american schools and organizations from both urban and rural parts of the country; with native americans from laguna pueblo, lummi, salish, and seneca; and with native hawaiian communities. as carmen opens storytelling around this virtual circle, others similarly share stories about their own lives; some are mexican american, some are not. authorship of this article refl ects the same reality. each of us has been intimately involved in the llano grande work—some as founders and staff members, others as signifi cant partners through what has become the llano grande network. such is the llano grande way. it’s about a way of life that pays attention to local realities, just as it listens to and learns from the stories of others. it is how we teach and learn through a micro-macro dynamic that celebrates our stories and the stories of others. setting: history, geography, and llano grande pedagogy this document expands the discourse on teaching, learning, and leading by focusing on the academic and community work facilitated by an educational community in south texas. it is the product of a sustained, collective conversation facilitated by the llano grande center, focused on teaching, learning, and a call for community change. llano grande’s mission is to revitalize the community through youth and community engagement initiatives born out of the local high school and situated in a community context. the organization creates access to higher education, engages students in community change initiatives, and develops leadership that respects local history and culture. teachers and organizers who facilitate the llano grande work pay particular attention to identity formation of both youth and adults in this largely mexican-american region. the community lies in what economists and demographers count as the most economically distressed metropolitan statistical area in the country in the rural part of hidalgo county, some 15 miles north of the texas-mexican border (u.s. census bureau, 2010). the region is a product of a political economy predicated on three old economic principles: 1) cheap land, 2) cheap labor, and 3) good weather. the political economy mirrors larger international border conditions, as well as other rural communities in texas and across the united states. the historic political and leadership structures are a consequence of an ecology and political dynamic that benefi ts a small group of power-holders who have historically held onto political and economic power, and forcefully resisted change (anders, 1982; montejano, 1988). the results are characterized by communities and institutions marked by underinvestment and persistent marginalization. understanding micro and macro historical contexts is essential to the discourse on educational policy and the development of public schools (guajardo & guajardo, 2004). systemic issues of racism and poverty cannot be undone in an abbreviated period of time. it took years to build unjust and unequal communities and educational systems; deliberate and patient approaches are essential to reverse systemic trends through policies and practices (alemán, 2006; barrera, 1979; montejano, 1988; pizarro, 2005). the persistence of unequal structures creates a current situation with profound economic gaps and wide educational achievement gaps (rothstein, et al, 2008). unfortunately, this historical evidence has been omitted from the prevailing discursive process that informs educational policy and practice (neil, 2004). the current culture of education informed by models of assessment and accountability (padilla, 2005) has become an oppressive force that squashes creativity in schools and communities. this force is based on numbers, incomplete data, and mandatory tests that have not proven to be valid, based on basic psychometric standards and practice (koretz, 2008; lasser, 2004). in short, a single test score is an incomplete measure to determine how much a student has achieved or grown academically, or in other ways that may be social, emotional, cultural—all basic areas of growth that good teaching would engender. mounting evidence points to the fl awed nature of current educational policy and practice; much of the emerging claims argue that no child left behind ignores sound learning theory, while enforcing adverse practices such as 53 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 teaching to the test and other narrow ways of instruction (meier & wood, 2004; ravitch, 2009; rothstein, et al, 2008; valenzuela, 2004). the educational and public policy we experience today has been largely constructed void of an authentic story of practice and absent of a serious cultural analysis (spindler & spindler, 2000). in spite of this, there are places such as llano grande where local people fi nd hope and work toward engaging youth, families, and schools to shape better communities. in this place we view youth as assets and families as pillars of support. our commitment is to raise children with a different consciousness where parents and elders are teachers, local storytellers, and even heroes. we respond to traditional demographic statistics and the socio-historical and economic forces that shape the debilitating statistics, but those do not determine our future, or our ways of knowing. as teachers, learners, and local leaders, we accept the responsibility and challenge of changing the condition of our hometown and communities across the country that may look like ours. this article builds on the work we have done since the mid-1990s as public school educators; advocates for youth, family, and community; and university faculty. we invite partners from diverse communities who have learned, witnessed, and contributed to the development of the work, and who have carried llano grande practices to their own communities. the practices and theories we have developed have begun to travel to other places where children of color live and learn (fullan, 2008). we use story as a critical tool for identity formation, sound pedagogy, and effective advocacy. stories are data and action. this approach can open up imagination and creativity in the development of a framework for a new political praxis that acknowledges and nurtures the respeto, dignidad y conocimiento (respect or consideration; dignity or self-respect; thorough understanding) of our elders within the existing cultural and political realities of our youth. methodology llano grande’s methodology is grounded in theory and informed by practice—a praxis congruent with and supportive of a dynamic, new political and pedagogical framework. central to the methodology is a theory of change model guided by local conditions and contexts. we use stories of students, their families, and our partners as observables (data sets); we employ story as an organic and life-long tradition for capturing context, inquiry, and pedagogy. this process is encapsulated in a theory of change model that informs the research for this document. theory of change at the center of the practice, this theory of change is a circular process that situates the developm ent of self for both youth and adults in relationship with the local ecology. story is simultaneously the data collection strategy and framework for analysis. we enlist the metaphor of story as “anatomy”—through which we describe the complex and organic process at the core of human activity (see below for a more detailed explanation). story as method is also an invitation to provoke the reader to imagine the possibilities of change. the power of reader generalizability is implied, and we the authors—practitioners ourselves as builders and leaders of the llano grande center—hope readers can fi nd these stories and possibilities of action in their own communities. we look at the components that mold the process, which in turn, fi lters data, organizes it, and puts it back out in a medium that makes sense. this process then informs the necessary action required to move the theory of change into action. observables the observables collected for this document include stories, conversations, and testimonies to the work we have done and its local application. we use the llano grande archives, which include: student narratives; oral histories of parents and other local residents; community forums; student-led ethnographies; and sundry other measures, such as, fi eld notes and video recordings from various llano grande community activities. the practice is grounded on the assets of the work, the places we live in, and the relationships cultivated therein. 54 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 this, too, frames the lens of data collection and analysis. story informs the work and method. the nexus of this process is human agency and identity formation, informed by cultural dynamics, local ecology, history and action. in short, everything is data. the anatomy of story as meaning-making we use the “anatomy of story” metaphor to allow the story to fl ow with a particular rhythm and balance through the presentation of the following components: navel, heart, mind, hands, and legs (guajardo & guajardo, 2010). carmen’s story is a data source. it serves as an examination of culturally relevant theory and practice and as an analysis of the political economy that shapes our communities and schools. carmen’s story helps connect the reader to the abstract process of story-harvesting and meaning-making. navel. just as the umbilical cord feeds human life during its embryonic stages, we see the navel representing the core of the human anatomy, and as the central component that feeds and balances the story. in storytelling a balance must be achieved between the message and the core values within the story. the core questions that emerge from the story are elements that spring from the navel and are essential for developing the core purpose of the story. heart. the human heart gives the body the ultimate meaning and is the source of human passion; in the same way, the heart of the story is typically its meaning and even its passionate quality. the passion is shaped by the values that guide the efforts that fuel action. these values include the emotional, moral, and relational ways of knowing the story. mind. the mind is the center of all analytical thinking, and at this stage of story development we bring critical analysis to its formation. the mind is what fuels the ideas, the imagination, and instructional action. hands. the hands massage and help mold the values, ideas, message, and rhythm of the story. this negotiation of the message is a complex and sophisticated process, and it accounts for environment and tone of the delivery. this is the stage where the story is told and retold until the choice of language, the nonverbal element, and the message are all coordinated and delivered. legs. if a story has longevity, if it impacts others beyond the storyteller, it probably has legs. a story with legs is one that lives and moves, could be passed down from generation to generation, and may just stand the test of time. the story with legs also begins to contribute to the identity of place, people, and organizations. the story with legs moves people to action, provokes new questions, and helps identify the work that is connected to the story. stories with legs also help individuals and groups develop the necessary agency to push, resist and amalgamate the outside forces to allow for the creation of a new reality for the self, the group, and the community in which we live. we offer this metaphor of the human anatomy as a concrete visual and as a framework of analysis for the abstract concept of story making and sharing. we fi rmly believe that everyone can become a storyteller, and we humbly offer this process as a tool for expanding the reader’s imagination while also putting forth the ideas that stories are living constructs and are malleable constructions of humans and our environment. we invite the reader to use this as they read the stories below. theory in action carmen’s narrative at the beginning of this document embodies the dimensions of a theory of change model. her work as a high school student dealt with multiple levels of engagement. she collected data locally to found a spanish immersion institute and petitioned the state to pass dream act-type legislation through the use of public and participatory methods. we believe schools can ground their practice and accountability system within a theory of change model that becomes a roadmap informed by three levels: micro/local, meso/ organization, and macro/state and/or federal. the theory of change model should be accompanied by action research strategies (guajardo & guajardo, 2004; guajardo, guajardo, & casaperalta, 2008; stringer, 2007) that allow educators to continuously assess the progress of children, schools, and communities. action research as method creates the tools and space for local communities and institutions to engage in the data/story collection. 55 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 in this context, analysis and action are situated in the hands of the people that are the closest to the daily reality. when educational politics, policy, and practice of accountability are grounded in healthy relationships, continuous dialogue, and collective refl ection, schools emerge as participatory spaces inclined to include parents, community partners, and students/ children in public and transparent research processes. the current accountability system is grounded in defi cit thinking and is destructive to schools and communities; we propose an alternative framework for mexican-american and other children and communities of color based on a new political praxis informed by respeto, dignidad y conocimiento. new political praxis: teaching, learning, leading & change we put forth a framework to respond to the education of mexican families who are redefi ning the shifting demography in this country. we propose strategies that are researched-based, fi eld-tested through our work as teachers, community organizers, researchers, and university professors. they respond primarily to the condition of mexican-american families and communities, but we invite the reader to take what is relevant and to couch it within their own context. the strategies to reculturalize17 our educational system are interdisciplinary and grounded in the notion that we cannot solve social issues by looking at them through a single lens; this cultural change requires multiple perspectives. we learn from our elders that intimidation and threats do not sustain change—though this is what educational policy seems to be based on. educational policy in texas for the last two decades has become an attack on children, parents, teachers, our cultures, and our schools. we provide stories that highlight our framework and draw direct connection to our use of story as data and action as we elaborate on the process of harvesting and sharing stories. to engage the change process, we urge educators, policymakers, and communities to listen to the stories of children in order to humanize and reculturalize our schools (fullan, 2001). with the following stories, we take the opportunity to put a face on theory, practice and method. josé’s story josé’s narrative teaches us that he experienced a transformation from being ashamed of who he was to feeling powerful because of his family and personal identity. through a series of academic exercises at the llano 17. this concept comes from multiple conversations we have had with educational anthropologists including henry trueba, george spindler, and doug foley. itsuggests that schools are living cultures. to create sustainable change, we must reimagine its social fabric, its social rules for engagement, values, relationships and celebrationsthis process is inherently social and dynamic in nature. 56 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento i would like to speak a little bit about my family. although we are very poor monetarily and we lack the luxuries that other students my age may have, i have to stress that my family has had a great infl uence on me. every time i speak at a conference, it is not i that speaks; rather, it is my father’s wisdom and my mother’s humility that speak. it is the laughter of my brothers and the sparks of friendship of my two sisters. it is the stories shared by my grandfather, and the struggle to live and laugh of my grandmother. everything that i stand for, everything that i am is my family. those are the roots of who i am and that is what i portray. it is the feelings and the sentimiento of my family that speak through me. i am just a vehicle through which their words are spoken… as we are placed in this system where competition and change are introduced, unfortunately the thing we learn most is to assimilate and feel ashamed of what we have. i had always been ashamed of what i was, of what my parents owed, of the food that i ate, and of speaking the language that i speak [spanish]. i don’t feel that way anymore. i have changed, and i believe i have also seen a change in the community in general. i credit much of my transformation to my work with the llano grande center. association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 grande center, josé learned the power of story, of words, and of responsibility. he did this as he also learned advanced reading and writing skills. as he studied in school, his culture became relevant, and he became important. indeed, when he travels, he takes his whole family with him, as he described symbolically in his narrative: “it is not i that speaks; rather, it is my father’s wisdom and my mother’s humility that speak.” jose’s story intersects with what some scholars describe as grounding learning in the familiar (spindler & spindler, 2000). making classroom instruction relevant to the socio-cultural and political reality of children is critical for engagement and lifelong learning. our research and professional teaching experiences teach us that when the learner understands him/herself, the instruction becomes relevant, and the learning process much more engaging and transformational (ladson-billings, 1995). this is true at all levels of instruction (k-life). we recommend schools listen to and learn from josé’s story and redirect the resources they have allocated to test-prep materials toward staff development to ensure that schools become culturally competent learning organizations. ikaika’s story the youth from the leeward coast of oahu push back at the master narrative and privilege their parents, grandparents, and the land. this is where they fi nd their life, feed their soul, and construct their identity. like the mexican-american youth in south texas, they are always burdened by the perceptions of outsiders, but they are also committed to rewriting their narrative. youth redefi ne the stories of their families for the purpose of building personal power, identity, and academic skills. we must engage in conversation and explore the local values of our neighborhoods, families, and community and allow them to guide and inform educational policy and practice. these values then should inform where we go, what we do, how we do it, and how we pay for it. this process should be democratic in nature and inclusive (pearl, 1997). we must be democratic as these conversations take shape in families and schools. delia’s story 57 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento i’m from wai’anae, on the western coast of oahu; it’s one of the most impoverished parts of the island and the place where most native hawaiians live. it’s also a place that is seen as the undesirable part of the island. we have a bad reputation, as people, and as a place. but my story is about how we’re good people. my purpose today as a hawaiian youth is to change the narrative of wai’anae. i’m doing that as an organic farmer and as a producer of digital media who tells stories about the strengths of our community. i love my kupuna, my fellow youths, and my hometown. i am wai’anae. when i graduated from high school, i became the fi rst in my family to leave my rural south texas hometown to attend college. i attended an ivy league school in the northeast, and upon graduation decided to return to teach history at my alma mater. “why are you here, after having gone to yale? aren’t you supposed to be doing more important things?” asked one of my students upon my return. my response was, “because you and this community are important to me.” interestingly, fewer students have asked the same question since my fi rst year in the classroom. more frequently, one can hear students say, “i want to attend an ivy league school and then come back home, just like delia did.” beyond the symbolic value that my return to this community carries, especially for young latinas, i also play an important role as an educator who teaches students to understand their community, their families, and themselves. i assess my students based on their ability to read, write, and think critically, but they’re also measured by their ability to carry on a meaningful conversation, conduct a formal interview, and by their ability to collect data as researchers. through this work, students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 delia’s narrative points to a consciousness cultivated when she was a teenager, and it is an awareness she has sustained. the prototypical pathway for talented young latinas/os is to leave their hometown— especially if they hail from rural areas—to become educated and never return home. delia reverses the trend of this ubiquitous “brain drain” (guajardo & guajardo, 2002) by coming back home, but she does it so she can participate in the development of her community. she represents the person working for the common good, rather than the educated youth who is expected to succeed by leaving the “barrio” in search of more lucrative opportunities. giovanni’s story giovanni’s radical action directly impacted the outcome of an election, but just as importantly, it helped him develop his authentic public voice. the daily conversations in school on the role of citizens in our community gave him the strength and the skill to be public about his ideas and his commitment to this community. this space, similar to the one created at the llano grande center, makes the daily life of youth tantamount to the curriculum of the school. there should be no difference between what we study in school and what we experience in the community. life experiences become the curriculum in the life of a young african-american student, who also acts as citizen and community leader. the story demonstrates the transference of similar practices in different contexts and communities. the power of sharing similar struggles then moves us to a common space and struggle—at which point we become one in the struggle for creating stronger communities for youth of color in this country. reframing the discourse stories in this article have been nurtured by exercises in self-refl ection and identity formation. greater ontological clarity emerges from storytellers—whether they are mexican-american, african-american, or native hawaiian—when family, school, and community contextualize and support the identities of the storytellers. a cultural congruence exists when community/families and our schools are aligned in values, language, pedagogy, and forms of communication. however, presently incongruence exists between the home and the policies and practices that are pushed and passed by state and federal lawmakers (valenzuela, 2007). the politics of education are always in contention. we have historically seen values change from a focus on issues of access, quality, equity, and excellence to what we currently see as a focus on choice and effi ciency. 58 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento i’m a 7th grader at sankofa-shule african-centered charter school in lansing, michigan. i want to tell a story about something that happened recently at an assembly at my school. a candidate for mayor came to talk about his campaign, and after he fi nished his political speech, he asked if there were any questions. the problem was that after he asked, “are there any questions?” he then added, “well, i guess i don’t have to take questions because you don’t vote anyway.” many of my classmates kind of gasped, others rolled their eyes. then, i raised my hand and said, “i don’t think that it is right for you to discount what we have to say, simply because we can’t vote now. we will vote one day, and we will remember that you did not care about what we had to say today.” that day, everybody talked about what i said to the mayoral candidate. by the end of the week, the story made the community paper. i believe that as a result of his comments, he lost major support from the african-american community. ultimately, the candidate lost the race by a very thin margin. everybody at my school said it was because of what i said to him that day at the school assembly. understand the nature of building relationships with family members, just as they learn to build trust and care with others in the community. in short, my students become active citizens both in school and in the community outside the school association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 unfortunately, the value and culture of assessment (padilla, 2005) has prevailed. these values are informed and aligned with market practices rather than democratic principles. working for the common good must return to the public discourse and be front and center of this change process. these conversations should serve to inform the type of organizations we need in our communities. organizations are created to meet the needs of people while schooling should meet the needs of children, teachers, and communities (habermas, 1987; sergionvanni, 2000). however, we have seen some unintended consequences of bad public policy. no child left behind (nclb) and its predecessor in the texas accountability system have created a bureaucratic structure that has made the individual needs of children a priority below the organization’s needs. this has also made the professional and personal lives of teachers and school leaders diffi cult to negotiate and many times survive (mcghee & nelson, 2005). these culturally incompetent organizations also damage the communication with parents that is needed to forge a culture of engagement in schools (padilla, 2005). we must shift our policy framework from reactive to proactive. this country’s history of discrimination and alienation for people of color, the poor, and women requires public policy to address seriously such historical ills. but we must begin to use policy as a method for informing practice that will be relevant to the lives of people. we recommend that people who are most affected by the issues be participants in the policy identifi cation process and its formation. participation is at the heart of a democratic society and we must be democratic in practice—not only in language. closing discussion around circle, youth and adults raise broad-based issues that can inform an agenda to enhance human and living conditions. the conversation on education must include the lessons learned from the fi elds of political economy, community development, and stories of youth and families. schools mirror society, and housing patterns impact who goes to what school. the achievement gap is a fallacy if we do not tend to the conditions that help create the gap (rothstein, 2009), which has also been called the “achievement debt” (ladson-billings, 2006). we suggest that this harvesting and sharing of story is appropriate for closing gaps and paying debts. in this context, housing, health care, nutrition, jobs, after-school activities are all critical components that signifi cantly infl uence the wellbeing of children. we must invest in creating a decent society, if we are to close the achievement gap. the political economy should be informed by the value and commitment to building sustainable communities. this political economy framework supports schools, should respect the ecology, and provide equity for all. educational leaders must be in conversation with local, state, federal, private, and public leadership to inform their local development. schools should put relationship building front and center. learning theory tells us that learning is fi rst social and then cognitive (vygotsky, 1978; trueba, 1999); without the social dimensions of the human being, interaction and engagement are signifi cantly diminished. the relationship process helps individuals understand and negotiate issues of power, courage, and hope. our recommendation for next steps is to engage in a public conversation that includes youth, families, and citizens at the local level. we must engage in a metaphorical circle and converse, where power is distributed and grounded in relationships, respect, dignity, and knowing (respeto, dignidad y conocimiento). the future of our policies must be broad-based and informed by the values of equity and radical participation. it should consider the assets of the local ecology, families, and youth. assets such as language, culture, and identity should be nurtured, preserved and embedded into the climate and curriculum of schools. youth in our communities are waiting for the invitation to engage in a sincere and proactive way, but the systems we build must be congruent with their values, practices, and interests. 59 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 references alemán, e. (2006). is robin hood the ‘prince of thieves’ or a pathway to equity? educational policy, 20(1). anders, e. (1982). boss rule in south texas. austin: university of texas press. barrera, m. (1979). race and class in the southwest. south bend: notre dame press. fullan, m. (2001). leading in a culture of change. san francisco: jossey-bass. fullan, m. (2008). the six secrets of change. san francisco: jossey-bass. guajardo, m., & f. guajardo. (2002). critical ethnography and community change. in y. zou & h. t trueba (eds.), ethnography and schools. lanham, md.: rowman & littlefi eld. guajardo, m. a., & guajardo f.j. (2004). the impact of brown on the brown of south texas. american educational research journal,41(3), 501-526. guajardo, f. (2005). narratives of transformation. in b. engel & a. martin (eds.), holding values. portsmouth, nh: heinemann. guajardo, f., & guajardo, m.a. (2010). cultivating stories of change. in k. ruder et al. (eds.), weaving strong communities: the collective leadership storybook (pp. 85-103). seattle: center for ethical leadership. guajardo, m., guajardo, f., & del carmen casaperalta, e. (2008). transformative education: chronicling a pedagogy for social change. anthropology and education quarterly, 39(1), 3-33. habermas, j. (1984). the theory of communicative action. vol. 2: lifeworld and system. (t. mccarthy, trans.). boston: beacon press. koretz, d. (2008). measuring up: what educational testing really tells us. cambridge, mass.: harvard university press. ladson-billings, g. (2006). from the achievement gap to the education debt. educational researcher, 35(7). ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32, 465-491. lasser, j. (2004). which children will be left behind? school psychologist, 58, 92-95. lazarín, m. (2006). improving assessment and accountability for english language. national council of la raza. issue brief. mcghee, m., & nelson, s. a. (2005). sacrifi cing leaders, villainizing leadership. phi delta kappan, 86(5), 367-372. montejano, d. (1987). anglos and mexicans in the making of texas. austin: university of texas press. national center for education statistics. (2001). digest of education statistics tables and figures. neill, m. (2003). point of view, “leaving children behind: how no child left behind will fail our children.” phi delta kappan, 85(3), 225-228. neill, m. (2004). leaving no child behind: overhauling nclb. in d. meier & g. wood (eds.), many children left behind. boston: beacon press. padilla, r. (2005). (2005). “high-stakes testing and educational accountability as social constructions across cultures.” in a. valenzuela (ed.), leaving children behind. albany: suny press. pearl, a. (1997). democratic education as an alternative to defi cit thinking. in r. valencia (ed.), the evolution of defi cit thinking: educational thought and practice (pp. 211-240). london: the falmer press. pizzaro, m. (2005). chicanas and chicanos in school. austin: university of texas press. rothstein, r., et al. (2008). grading education: getting accountability right. new york, ny: teachers college press. rothstein, r. (2004). social class, students achievement, and the black-white achievement gap. in class and schools: using social, economic, and education reform to close the black-white achievement gap. new york: teachers college. sergiovanni, t. j. (2000). the lifeworld of leadership: creating culture, community, and personal meaning in our schools. san francisco: jossey-bass. spindler, g., & l. spindler. (2000). fifty years of anthropology and education 1950-2000. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. stringer, e. (2007). action research (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. trueba, h. (1999). latinos unidos. lanham, md: rowman and littlefi eld. trueba, h. (2002). multiple ethnic, racial, and cultural identities in action. in journal of latinos and education, 1(1), new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates. united states census bureau. (2010). per capita personal income by metropolitan area, 2008-2010. retrieved from www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/. valenzuela, a. (2007). no child left behind and minority youth: what the qualitative evidence suggests. anthropology and education quarterly, 38(1). vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society. cambridge: harvard university press. 60 framework for a new political praxis: respeto, dignidad y conocimiento association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 72 bridging bilingual and special education: opportunities for transformative change in teacher preparation programs alberto m. ochoa regina r. brandon karen cadiero-kaplan san diego state university pablo c. ramírez arizona state university abstract this article reports on the design and performance of alas (acquisition of language skills and academic literacy) teacher education project designed to bridge biliteracy and special education teacher preparation. alas was designed by faculty in two higher education departments engaged in teacher preparation to respond to california’s need for bilingual special education teachers, where less than 2% of special education teachers in california are credentialed in both bilingual and special education disciplines (cbeds, 2013). in california about 1 in 4 students are identified as english language learners (ells). the alas project actively addresses the lack of academic programming to develop qualified bilingual special education teachers to meet the needs of k-12 ells via teacher education courses, specialized conferences, teaching practicum in the two disciplines of bilingual/biliteracy and special education mild-moderate emphasis. the article reports on five years of data (2008-2013) that examines the conceptual design of the alas two-year teacher preparation program, the use of seven standards to evaluate the program, and participants’ perceptions on the strengths and needs of their training. the evolving results have implications for teacher preparation curriculum change and reform in addressing ells to match the needs of the client school communities. introduction as the nation struggles to enhance access to the general education curriculum for english language learners (ell) and students identified with mild to moderate (high incidence) disabilities, general and special education teachers are being tasked—due to increasing student linguistic, cultural, and learning diversity— to instruct students who are identified as ells with and without an individualized education program (iep). this shift requires general and special education teachers to have more knowledge of educating students who come to school speaking a language other than english. additionally, general education teachers are also now being asked to have increased responsibility for special education students via full inclusion models for students with mild/moderate disabilities (artiles, klingner, sullivan, & fierros, 2010; blanchett, klingner, & harry, 2009; esparza & doolittle, 2008;). further, they face increased accountability in terms of documenting student needs prior to identifying students for special education via response to intervention (rti) (klingner, 2007; orosco & klingner, 2010). such shifts in both demographics and programs require k-12 instructional settings to develop highly qualified general, bilingual, and special educators that have the ability to utilize evidence-based best practices to work with ell students, and students with mild to moderate disabilities and students who are both ell and identified with a disability. this impacts most directly those students in urban and low-performing school settings (lau v. nichols, 1974; lucas, villegas, & freedson-gonzalez, 2008; rance-rodney, 2009). in recent years, data indicate that more and more students with mild to moderate disabilities are receiving their special education services in general education classrooms as a result of full inclusion models of education where students are served within the general education setting and special educators enter the general education classroom to support those students. this has led to the increase of co-teaching models bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 73 that require changes in structure and processes in both general and special education programs. over the past few decades teacher preparation programs in both general and special education programs have seen reforms in certification processes as well. unfortunately there has been little coordination between these changes in instructional settings and in higher education. this lack of articulation between general education and special education teacher education programs has resulted in major gaps and weaknesses in both programs as teacher education strives to prepare teachers to educate students with mild to moderate (high incidence) disabilities in co-taught environments (artiles et.al., 2010). with the growing k-12 culturally and linguistically diverse (cld) non-white student population of california, the state continues to experience severe shortages of highly qualified bilingual and special education teachers in the area of mild to moderate (high incidence) disabilities (cbeds, 2013). less than 2% (563 out of 28,159) of special education teachers in california are credentialed in both bilingual and special education disciplines (cbeds, 2013). yet, approximately 11.16% of california students are designated as needing special education services, 29.4 % are ells (cbeds, 2013). in the urban schools of our nation, low-achieving students are five to six times more likely to have unprepared teachers. these unprepared teachers are often assigned to the state’s lowest performing schools that serve a disproportionate number of cld low-income students, ells, as well as students with disabilities (gándara, maxwell-jolly, driscoll, 2005; hernandez, 2009; menken & klyen, 2010). as a result, in california and the nation, the qualified teacher gap of those with experience and specialized training in the fields of biliteracy and special education is greatly lacking (hernandez, 2009; menken & klyen, 2010; saunders & goldenberg, 2010; hibel, farkas & morgan, 2010). furthermore, historically underserved poor, students with disabilities, and linguistically diverse student populations, have significantly low graduation rates and low academic performance, (hernandez, 2009; hibel, farkas & morgan, 2010; saunders & goldenberg, 2010). if california is to address the shortages of highly qualified biliteracy and special education teachers in the area of mild to moderate (high incidence) disabilities serving the state’s lowest performing schools, it must do the following: prepare mild to moderate (high incidence) special education and bilingual authorized teachers in the use of evidence-based best practices (hernandez, 2009; lucas, villegas, & freedson-gonzalez, 2008; saunders & goldenberg, 2010). overview of salient research and court cases research continues to document that children whose first language is not english are disproportionately represented in special education programs due to the lack of training provided to teachers in distinguishing language difference from language disability (baca & cervantes, 2004; hernandez, 2009; saunders & goldenberg, 2010; valles, 1998). among the concerns is the delivery of instructional services that are comprehensible and relevant to ells with special education needs, and the inappropriate testing of these students that led to pl.94142 (1975). there are salient court cases and federal statutes pointing to the need for specialized bilingual school personnel. before the civil rights act of 1964 and the bilingual education act of 1968, it was common practice for students whose first language was not english to be placed in classes for students with intellectual disabilities . there were thousands of children whose first language was not english, who indeed did have specific learning disabilities. these children were often lost in the system. thus, in the arena of discrimination based on disabilities, legislation affirmed a disabled person’s right to equal protection and equal educational opportunity under the 14th amendment of the u.s. constitution and to do so in a way that it did not violate either procedural due process or equal protection. this led to the passage of the federal law under rehabilitation act of 1973, with section 504 protecting the civil rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance from the u.s. department of education. also in the 1970’s, the courts turned to assessment procedures and processes for delivering educational services to culturally and linguistically diverse students. four court cases involving latino students examined the issue of overrepresentation and indicted the assessment methods used for determining who was and who was not mentally disabled (figueroa, 1986). in diana v california board of education (1970), the court mandated non-bias assessment procedures. in the case of guadalupe v. tempe elementary school (1971), the court ruled that bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 74 other assessment procedures must be used in addition to intelligence tests in considering placement in educable mentally retarded classes, and that parental permission must be obtained for such placements. in covarrubias v. san diego usd (1971), the court ruled that monetary damages could be paid due to misclassifying mexican americans as disabled, and in jose p. v. ambach (1979), the court ruled that school districts must follow timelines for evaluation and placement of students in special education programs, and placement teams should include school personnel who are bilingual and bicultural. the outcome of the court cases in the 1970’s led to the identification and assessment guidelines, which require that when cultural and linguistic factors apply in testing, more testing must be done (hernandez, 2009). another educational tension is the treatment of language minority students with disabilities receive, most particularly their right to bilingual special education services. while federal laws have protected the rights of language minority students with disabilities, under the education for all handicapped children act, public law 94-142 (1975) and the individuals with disabilities education act (2004), culturally and linguistically sensitive mandates have been lacking (cummins, 2009). while these laws secured the rights of language minority students with disabilities to receive proper assessment, treatment, staffing, parent participation, due process, and evaluation of services, congruency between individual student rights and relevant and appropriate services for ell students has been significantly lacking. of great concern is the limited training of teachers to service ells with disabilities (cummins, 2009; menke & klyn, 2010). reflecting on the lack of institutional training that pre-service and in-service teachers receive to address the growing k-12 ell population with disabilities, the existing research points to the importance of preparing special education teachers who are bilingual to meet the needs of ell children. the resulting consequence for bilingual children, who are educated only in english, is the increased potential for these students to exhibit other learning disabilities (cummins, 2009; hernandez, 2009; menke & klyn, 2010; orosco & klingner, 2010; reschly, 2004; valles, 1998). creation of dual credential program in teacher education based on the existing needs for bilingual and special education teachers in california and the nation, faculty from the policy studies in language and cross-cultural education and special education departments at san diego state university in 1996-97 designed a two-year dual credential program named acquisition of language and academic skills (alas) and sought federal support to finance selected students to participate in the program. the alas program was designed to address the need for qualified bilingual (english-spanish) special education teachers in california to teach k-12 english language learners (ells) with special needs in both general education and special education settings. as previously mentioned, in california, less than 2% of the special education teachers are bilingual, while the state has over 1.4 million ells students (cbeds, 2013). alas as a two-year dual credential program is informed and guided by a partnership with local school districts with large populations of ells and the two higher education departments specializing in bilingual and special education teacher preparation. at the end of the two-year program, teacher candidates receive the california general sb 2042 k-8 or 7-12 teaching credential, the bilingual authorization, and the mild-moderate special education credential. this dual credential teacher preparation program is specifically designed for bilingual individuals proficient in spanish and english, seeking a bilingual authorization k-8 or 7-12 credential who have demonstrated commitment to working in special education in the area of mild/ moderate disabilities, while also being dedicated to meeting the specific needs of ells in california. the alas dual credential program philosophy is based on a pedagogy of empowerment that views all k-12 students from an educational benefits model (banks, 2007; cummins, 2009). the pedagogy of empowerment values democratic schooling and integrates the language, culture, and social context of the student into the school curricula giving equal status to home, community, and school experiences (artiles, rueda, salazar & higareda, 2005; gonzalez, moll & amanti, 2005). in addition, the alas dual credential program is based on the belief that all students want to self-actualize, and that students, if properly nurtured, have high expectations of themselves to realize their potential (delpit, 2006). pedagogically, the alas program by design is guided by the following principles: bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 75 (1) while students have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, learning for all students involves four basic processes—experience, reflection, conceptualization, and affirmation of the student’s experiences— and all educational activities should contain elements of each. (2) students learn when they have intrinsic motivation, i.e., when the subject matter is immediately relevant to their existence, and they set their own goals and actively participate in decision making in the learning environment. in such activities, they are the subjects of the learning process. (3) students learn more easily in situations of mutual respect, cooperation, and trust. the affective aspects of individuals should not be divorced from their intellectual and cognitive growth. (4) transformational learning occurs when students’ learning is interactive with the environment, community, and society in meaningful ways. program alas teacher education framework the alas dual credential teacher preparation program is specifically designed for bilingual individuals proficient in spanish and english seeking a bilingual authorization k-8 or 7-12 credential and a demonstrated commitment to working in special education in the area of mild/ moderate disabilities, while also being dedicated to meeting the specific needs of english language learners in california. the program has four areas of emphasis that are covered in the two-year period, covering 31 courses (see figure 1). quadrant i provides for the bilingual pedagogical methods that include: reading in the first language of ells (l1/spanish) and second language (l2/english), math, social studies, science, sdaie (specially designed academic instruction in english), and psychological foundations, plus practicum in bilingual classrooms. quadrant ii provides foundational courses as part of the alas program that includes: bilingual teaching foundations, multicultural education, human exceptionality, typical and atypical learners, and public health for teachers. quadrant iii focuses on the pedagogical methods and skills to work with ells with mild/moderate disabilities that include: applications of technology for individuals with disabilities, rti, assessment practices, behavioral strategies and support of students, ilps, classroom assessment for special populations, adaptive basic skills instruction, issues of autism, collaboration, legislation, and educational planning, advance special education adaptations, transition across educational environments, and practicum in classrooms with ells and students with mild-moderate disabilities. quadrant iv provides for bridging seminars between bilingual/biliteracy instruction and special education instruction that includes: specialized topics addressing pedagogical tensions and approaches to teaching ell students with disabilities, social justice curriculum, bicognition, cultural brokering, linking with school community, and developing home-school partnerships. figure i illustrates the alas teacher education conceptual framework. to assess its overall pedagogical program design requirements, alas uses the california standards for the teaching profession (cctc, 1997) consisting of six standards, plus an additional dimension that focuses on community and culture. the seven areas include: (1) engaging and supporting all students in learning, (2) creating and maintaining effective environment, (3) understanding and organizing subject matter, (4) planning instruction and designing learning experiences, (5) assessing student learning, (6) developing as a professional educator, and (7) link with the school community & a mediator of culture (see figure 1). bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 76 figure 1. alas teacher education framework: preparing educators for dual language/ special education settings methods a mixed method approach was used consisting of a quantitative analysis of a 36-item survey and qualitative interviews of its graduates of the two-year alas dual credential program. this study was conducted with the goal of answering two research questions: 1. what are the perceptions of program graduates in preparing them, as pre-service teachers, to work in the k-12 public school context, to provide academically based instruction to ells who have special needs and disabilities as based on the california standards for the teaching profession (cstp)? 2. what are the challenges facing the alas teacher preparation education program in bridging two disciplines, bilingual/biliteracy and special education mild/moderate, as a leading teacher education program? data sources a quantitative analysis of the 36-item survey based on the cstp provided descriptive and inferential data, and t-test comparisons between bilingual and special education programs was done with regard to perceived knowledge gained and perceived skills gained across the various teaching standards. the qualitative interviews were conducted as part of an exit program process that yielded documented statements of the graduates’ perceptions of the program and their recommendations. approach to evaluating the alas teacher education program the dual credential bilingual special education teacher preparation program focusing on the acquisition of language and academic skills (alas) in its exit interviews asked graduates about their perceptions of their training and specifically on the quality of the program that bridges two disciplines for preparing teachers to work with ells with special disabilities. to assess its impact on the preparation of specialized pre-service candidates, data was collected on 54 graduates from (2007-2013) using the cstp. the california standards for the teaching profession (cstp) standards were developed by the california commission on teacher credentialing (1997) to facilitate the induction of beginning teachers into their professional roles, responsibilities, and to provide a common language and a new vision of the scope and complexity of teaching. six standards are used to guide pre-service and in-service teachers as they define and bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 77 develop their practice. the six standards plus a seventh that was added by the alas program, the teacher as a mediator of culture and link with community, represent a developmental, holistic view of teaching. taken together the standards and processes are intended to prepare teachers and the diverse students they will serve in california. the content of these standards have some duplication and intersections between and among them. the cstp addresses the following seven dimensions and 36 knowledge and skills indicators (number noted after standard indicates the sub skills under the standard): (1) engaging and supporting all students in learning – 5 (2) creating and maintaining effective environment – 6 (3) understanding and organizing subject matter for student learning -5 (4) planning instruction and designing learning experiences for all students – 5 (5) assessing student learning – 5 (6) developing as a professional educator – 5 (7) link with the school community and a mediator of culture – 5 to answer these two questions, an empowerment evaluation process was used by the dual credential alas program that is based on the theory of action. empowerment evaluation is the use of evaluation concepts, techniques, and findings to foster improvement and self-determination of programs and agencies. empowerment evaluation places the primary responsibility for the pursuit of quality in the program staff and participants’ hands (fetterman & wanderman, 2004). three phases guided the alas empowerment evaluation to respond to the seven standards for the teaching profession: 1) taking stock using baseline data, 2) interim measures—to provide a feedback loop and midcourse corrections, and 3) taking stock annually using data points to improve the quality of the program. what is reported here is the data on the final exit interview findings of 54 dual credential graduates. programmatically, alas students completed one academic year of courses in biliteracy teacher education and a second academic year in special education with a mild/moderate emphasis. as previously noted in figure 1 (alas conceptual framework), in every academic year, the alas program held special monthly seminars to bridge the pedagogy of both programs that are guided by differing pedagogical philosophies and approaches (socio-constructivism and behaviorism). results using mixed methods, quantitative (survey) and qualitative approaches (interviews), the program data illustrates the patterns that have emerged in assessing the preparation of 54 pre-service teachers of ells upon completion of the two-year credential program in bilingual and special education between 2007-2013. table 1 reports on the overall alas students’ perceptions of the seven-program evaluation standards, while focusing on the areas of knowledge and skills to discern how program components provided pedagogical support to alas participants. the results represent the perceptions and opinions of 54 graduates who completed the alas program with the focus on addressing ells with mild/moderate disabilities. overall, the 54 graduates rated all seven areas above 3.0, on a scale from 1.0 (disagree) to 4.0 (strongly agree), indicating that they were in agreement with regard to the overall knowledge and skills acquired in the alas program. to ascertain graduates’ opinions under knowledge and skills acquired by the 54 graduates, t-test comparisons were done between the biliteracy/bclad program and sped program components with regard to perceived knowledge gained and perceived skills gained across the various teaching standards. table 1 notes that statistical significance was attained under standards 1, 2, 3, and 7. overall, among the significant results (table 1), the bclad program components were rated higher than the sped program component. gaining the ability to create and maintain effective environments for student learning (standard 2) was rated the highest for the overall alas program, while assessing student learning (standard 5) was rated the lowest. however, the sped program was rated higher than the biliteracy/bclad program in terms of skills gained for standard 4.4 (designing short-term and long-term plans to foster student learning), and in terms of knowledge and skills gained for standard 5.2 (collecting and using multiple sources of information to assess bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 78 student learning) and standard 5.4 (using the results of assessments to guide instruction). table 1 results of participant overall perceptions of knowledge and skills in the two-year dual credential program in bilingual (blad) and special education to serve ell students with special needs (n=54) scale of 1(strongly disagree) and 4 (strongly agree) overall california standards for the teaching profession alas dual credentials mean sd standard 1: engaging and supporting all students in learning 3.79*** 0.28 standard 2: creating and maintaining effective environments for student learning 3.81* .027 standard3: understanding and organizing subject matter for student learning 3.75** .038 standard 4: planning instruction and designing learning experiences for all students 3.76 0.33 standard 5: assessing student learning 3.69 0.36 standard 6: developing as a professional educator 3.79 .027 standard 7: link with the school community and a mediator of culture (added standards by alas) 3.76*** 0.34 *** p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05 qualitatively, nine alas graduates using the end-of-the-year program exit evaluation interview swot process (evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a program) summarize their experience as follows: “both the sped and bilingual credential programs helped me learn a lot about students. the bilingual credential helped me learn about the different ways children acquire the english language, and how important it is to take into consideration their primary language. the sped credential helped me gain knowledge in the different ways children need to be assessed. the bilingual [credential], from the lens of a socio-constructivist, helped me understand the student’s funds of knowledge that s/he brings to school. from the special education m/m focus, from the behaviorist lens and direct instruction, helped me realize that special need students require a very structured learning approach” (graduate 3). another graduate noted another benefit of participation in the alas program: “as a dual credential teacher, i am able to support students, parents, and other educators when situations are presented. i work in collaboration with other teachers and every time we plan our lessons, i remind them to chunk information for contextualizing our lessons and units. i am reminded that when parents need support with students’ academic progress, i need to be ready and able to make recommendations to support their children at home” (graduate 17). data for the five years of the alas project point to the 54 graduates’ recognition of the valuable preparation received as bilingual and special education teachers to serve ell students with mild moderate disabilities. one of the noted: “…i feel more empowered to serve multiple roles in school settings. not only do i have that general education perspective now in place but also know that as a bilingual educator and special education specialist, i can understand the struggles the students have. it is a beautiful thing to having both biliteracy and special education tools. i think it was a win-win situation for me” (graduate 27). bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 79 on the pedagogical approaches under the two disciplines of bilingual/biliteracy and special education, a graduate commented: “i think alas was able to provide a good balance of both [pedagogical perspectives]. the program was very direct in explaining the two different ideologies and i think as a teacher you’re always juggling between the two, because there are situations where a child needs direct instruction. but for the most part, i think in general, you want to approach the constructivist way of the model of teaching. i think it just depends on the child and what their needs are and that’s what you do” (graduate 43). alas graduates noted the importance of their professional experiences and on the formation of a community, which grew organically as participants sought to support each other through the two year rigorous program. s/he stated: “…we have our team of people that we can trust and collaborate with and have a network of people to draw any ideas for curriculum” (graduate 51). another graduate perceived strength of the alas program as being ultimately better equipped to respond to a wide variety of students’ needs: “through the alas program, i have been able to reach all students in my community, not just the english-speaking ones. i think that it is essential to involve all families in the educational process” (graduate 23). “i am able to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all learners. our high school serves students who have fallen through the cracks and therefore a high percentage need added support, even if they don’t have ieps” (graduate 33). “although i teach special education, many of my students come from families whose native language is spanish. it is a huge population of students, who have language as well as individual academic and social needs. i love that i can speak with families, that i have a unique and holistic perspective in iep meetings, and that i came from a credential program that prepared me for multiple diverse teaching environments” (graduate 9). “acquiring the sped alas dual credentials has allowed me to work directly with students in sped programs who need culturally and linguistically competent teachers who can address their unique needs and communicate with parents” (graduate 37). discussion the alas data illustrates that when a teacher preparation program incorporates the key standards for the teaching profession as a key measure for both special education and bilingual teacher education candidates, for most standards, candidates develop critical knowledge and skills required to address the growing linguistic diversity of california, which includes latino students who make up 53% of california’s k-12 students (cbeds, 2013). in california, 504 of 1,131 school districts (45%) have enrollments that are more than 25% latino, and 258 school districts (23%) have more than 50% latino enrollments (cbeds, 2013). english learners comprise about one-fourth of the entire public school population in california and san diego county, and two out of three students in the elementary grades. in total, ell students in california represent over 1.4 million students. over 84% of the california ell students speak spanish as their primary language, and over 38% of the california population is latino/hispanic (cbeds, 2013). with such demographics and educational needs, it is imperative that programs such as alas take flight and emerge as the model for preparing all teachers to be better prepared to teach the growing diverse population in our schools. in addition, such programs are essential for all general education teachers to be prepared to meet the needs of both ell students and special education students in their classrooms. without clearer and more transformative models of teacher preparation that consciously bring together key stakeholders in the community, bridging of philosophical divides that have inherently kept bilingual and bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 80 special education as separate disciplines—and often times separate from general teacher education—we will not transform learning for this the 21st century and beyond. trends and challenges trends and challenges have emerged in the work to improve the quality of the alas teacher preparation dual credential program and in institutionalizing the program into both the bilingual and special education teacher preparation departments at san diego state university. among the challenges are the following: • engaging all faculty members in both programs to integrate elements of alas into the bilingual and special education department programs. • time to improve the program coordination and flow as students transition from the bilingual ell program to the sped program and practicums. • enhancing and institutionalizing the dual credential program biliteracy and special education mild/ moderate emphasis that pedagogically is guided by an educational benefits model value (non-deficit based) that is supported by the principles of democratic schooling. • the need for ongoing dialogue between two departments that approach learning from two different viewpoints (socio-constructivist versus behaviorist) and the tensions for participants in negotiating both philosophical approaches of the programs. the tensions need to be addressed more frequently than in the monthly seminars in order to adequately bridge the disciplines of biliteracy and special education. • negotiating the tensions between the pedagogical needs of the school districts and in developing a model program for pre-service teachers in bilingual and special education in a culture that is often competitive rather than collaborative in the preparation of teachers. • recognizing and working with institutions and colleges of education that are often driven by institutional formulas that work best for the institution and not for its client school communities. • recognizing institutional cultural boundaries that work for and against the incorporation of the two disciplines (bilingual/biliteracy and special education) in modifying and adapting bilingual and special education instructional methods that are research based. • working with higher education institutions to commit to building capacity to train dual credentialed bilingual and special education teachers to teach ell students with mild/moderate disabilities that is often driven by conflict of policy and pedagogical philosophies. recommendations for future research the following recommendations are provided to acquire a deeper understanding of ells with disabilities: • what should be the measures to determine linguistic and cultural proficiency of bilingual special education teachers in order to facilitate academic rigor in the first and second language of ell students with disabilities? • given the growing linguistic diversity of students in california and the nation, how are general teacher education programs preparing pre-service teachers to teach ells and special populations of students? • the principle of student inclusion calls for teacher education programs in california and the nation to prepare teachers to be effective in working in ethnically and linguistically diverse school communities with special populations, how is the principle of inclusion being applied by teacher education programs? what are the guiding standards of teacher education programs that promote inclusion and academic rigor for ells with disabilities? overall, the intensive two-year dual credential program is highly promising in terms of contributing to our understanding of how to combine two disciplines (bilingual/biliteracy and special education), while having data to reflect on the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and tensions of the teacher-training program. furthermore, the alas program contributes to the identification of skills necessary for teachers to be reflective practitioners, to be facilitators of critical inquiry, cultural mediators, and educators linked with the school community. over the course of this dual credential program it is clear that alas graduates are bilingual/biliterate teachers who have the time, support and an educational program to develop both emotionally and intellectually as critical educational professionals, committed to socially just and equitable education for all students, specifically english language learners with special learning needs. bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 81 references artiles, a.j., rueda, r., salazar, j., & higareda, i. (2005). within-group diversity in minority disproportionate representation: english language learners in urban school districts. exceptional children, 71,283–300. artiles, a. a., klingner, j. k., sullivan, a. & fierros, e. (2010). shifting landscapes ofprofessional practices: ell special education placement in english-only states. in p. gándara & m. hopkins (eds.), forbidden language: english learners and restrictive language policies. ny: teachers college press. baca, l. & cervantes, h. (2004). the bilingual special education interface, 4th ed. upper saddle river, nj: pearson/merrill/prentice hall. banks, j. (2007). educating citizens in a multicultural society (2nd ed.) new york: teachers college press. blanchett, w. j., klingner, j. k., & harry, b. (2009). the intersection of race, culture, language, and disability: implications for urban education. urban education, 44, 389-409. california commission on teacher credentialing (july 1997). california standards for the teaching profession. sacramento, ca: california department of education. california proposition 227 (june 2, 1998). english language in public schools statute, california initiated state statute. cbeds (2013). dataquest. california department of education. sacramento, ca. collier, c. (1995). cross-cultural assessment paradigm. vancouver, wa: cross-cultural developmental education services. covarrubias v. san diego unified school district, civ. no. 70-394-s, (s.d. cal., filed feb.1971). cummins, j. (2009). transformative multiliteracies pedagogy: school-based strategies for closing the achievement gap. multiple voices for ethnically diverse exceptional learners, 11(2), 38-56. delpit, l.d. (2006). lessons from teachers. journal of teacher education, 57(3), 220-231. diana v. state board of education, c. a. n. c-70-37 r. f. p. (n.d. cal., filed february 3, 1970). esparza brown, j., doolittle, j. a (2008). cultural, linguistic, and ecological framework for response to intervention for english language learners. national center for culturally responsive educational systems (nccrest). fetterman, d.m. & wandersman, a. (2004). empowerment evaluation principles in practice. new york: guilford publications. figueroa, r. a. (1986). diana revisited. bilingual education paper series. los angeles, ca: california state university, bilingual dissemination and assessment center. gándara, p., maxwell-jolly, j., driscoll, a. (2005). listening to teachers of english learners. santa cruz, ca: center for the future of teaching and learning. guadalupe organization, inc. v. tempe elementary school district, 578 f. 2d. 1022 (1978). gonzález, n., moll, l., and amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates, publishers. hibel, j., farkas, g., & morgan, p.l. (2010). who is placed into special education? sociology of education, 83, 312332. hernandez, j. e. (2009). study to examine the disproportionate identification of minority and linguistically diverse students in special education in the san diego unified school district. study prepared for the san diego unified school district, august 29, 2009. individuals with disabilities education act (idea) reauthorized and amended (2004), parts 300 and 301 of title 34 of the code of federal regulations. jose p. v. ambach, 3 ehlr 551:245, 247 (e.d.n.y 1979) klingner, j. k. (dec, 2007). using rti to address disproportionate representation. retrieved march 10, 2012 from www.nccrest.org lau v. nichols, 414u.s. 563 (1974) lucas, t., villegas, a. m., & freedson-gonzalez, m. (2008). linguistically responsive teacher education: preparing classroom teachers to teach english language earners. journal of teacher education, 59, 361–373. bridging bilingual and special education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 82 menken, k & kleyn, t. (2010). the long term impact of subtractive schooling in the educational experience of secondary english language learners, international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism. london, uk: rutledge. orosco, m. j., & klingner, j. (2010). one school’s implementation of rti with english language learners: “referring into rti.” journal of learning disabilities, 43, 269-288. rance-roney, j. (april, 2009). best practices for adolescent ells: supporting english language learners. educational leadership, ascd. 66(7), 32-37. reschly, d. (2004). analysis of lausd special education representation data. paper prepared for the office of the lausd independent monitor, los angeles, ca. saunders, w. & goldenberg, c. (2010). research guide english language development instruction. in california department of education (eds). research on english language learners. sacramento, ca: california department of education press. section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973. the rehabilitation act of 1973. pub. l. 93-112, 87 stat. 355, enacted september 26, 1973, is a federal law, codified as 5 u.s.c. 790. valles, e.c. (1998). the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education: responding to the problem. the journal of special education, 32(1), 52-54. bridging bilingual and special education special_issues_2014-print-final 72 special_issues_2014-print-final 73 special_issues_2014-print-final 74 special_issues_2014-print-final 75 special_issues_2014-print-final 76 special_issues_2014-print-final 77 special_issues_2014-print-final 78 special_issues_2014-print-final 79 special_issues_2014-print-final 80 special_issues_2014-print-final 81 special_issues_2014-print-final 82 open_issues-12.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 4 globalized students vs. unglobalized families: limiting family participation in education margarita machado-casas elsa ruiz university of texas—san antonio abstract in today’s society, the use technology is no longer a luxury but a need (machado-casas, 2009; sánchez, 2010). considering this, countless education stakeholders have explored the concept of the digital divide, the gap that exists between people who have access to digital technology and those who do not. oftentimes, this divide exists between parents, particularly, latino parents who lack access to technology and their children who have more access to it via school technology-based curriculum and the creation of afterschool technology programs. countless afterschool technology literacy programs have been created to help students improve technology literacy skills; however, many do not offer families the same opportunity. therefore, expanding the digital divide that exists between students and families. based on a three year qualitative and quantitative research study, this manuscript raises questions about the ways schools continue to develop technology programs aimed at schooling (“globalized”) students, yet they do not take into account that while schools are globalizing students their families continue to be less technologically developed (“unglobalized”). this study explores the digital divide that often times is present at home, creating a multigenerational gap between parents and their children, a border that children have crossed and their families have not. the study looks at the example of la clase mágica, a technology literacy afterschool program for student and their families, in which parent workshops were used to explore the technology needs of family members to create a program that was culturally, linguistically, and technologically diverse. the program not only helped parents forge connections with their children, but also facilitated their successful participation in society as they use technological tools to perform everyday tasks and strive to create a “familia global” (globalized family). introduction technology is no longer a luxury, but a basic need (machado-casas, 2009; sánchez, & salazar, 2012), and increasingly, educators are creating innovative ways of working with students to enhance their technology skills, including offering afterschool technology programs. although these programs are necessary in order to enhance and better educate our student population, often they do not consider the issue of technology literacy among latino families (tartakov et al., 2003). research has shown that student performance and academic achievement can be positively infl uenced by the effective use of technology (cradler, mcnabb, freeman, & burchett, 2002). hence, technological tools designed for the web 2.0 such as computers, ipads, iphones, and tablets have become a central focus of academic curricula and have been integrated into everyday tasks. this article focuses on the growing technological disconnect between latino parents and their children. numerous school districts have created technology education standards that stipulate what students should know and be able to do with technology. overall, technology education is a program of studies that leads to students’ technological literacy. yet, although technology education has become standard in many schools, a major assault occurs when administrators often fail to recognize the need to work with families and community members to address their technological needs in terms of skills/training, labor, social, familial and economy. during a time when inequalities are still rampant, not working with families has led to a major technological generational and multilayered gap between students and family members, particularly among marginalized latino and immigrant families, exacerbating an existing generational and cultural divide that affects family dynamics. and as schools aim at “globalizing” students by providing them with the technological tools to be globally competitive (machado-casas, 2011), many ignore the fact that without incorporating students’ home lives and families, their globalized students vs. unglobalized families: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 5 efforts may remain static. in many ways, ignoring the family members of students enrolled in k-12 schools has created a contrast between developed (“globalized”) students and less developed (“unglobalized”) family members. the use of the term unglobalized here does not mean families do not have ways or don’t necessarily take the steps to use technology to engage in globalization or even to be transnational. rather, the use of the term brings to light the fact that only fragmented parts of the family (those enrolled k-12 schools) are learning the new ways of being global. this is especially true for latinos, since many do not have access to computers and are likely to be computer illiterate, thus rendering them unqualifi ed for many jobs (pruitt-mentle, 2002). in a recent report titled latinos and digital technologies, 2010, livingston (2011) asserted that latinos tend to utilize technology (except cell phones) at lower rates than their whites counterparts. additionally, although internet use among latinos increased about 10% from 2006 to 2008 (livingston, parker, & fox, 2009), usage rates continue to lag behind those of whites and african americans. just 80% of latinos in the united states use the internet, compared to 94% whites and 87% of african americans (livingston et al., 2009). according to the u.s. department of education (2000), only 7% of latino students in fi rst through sixth grades reported using a computer at home compared to 31% of white students. in fact, latino families are half as likely to own a computer as white families, and they are 2.5 times less likely to use the internet. of all races, latinos have the fewest number of years of experience with computers (badagliacco, 1990). challenges in technology education research has consistently shown that children learn well when their parents are actively involved in their learning (delgado-gaitan, 1990). further, parental support and modeling helps to enhance and secure student achievement and provides long-lasting educational gains (darling-hammond, 1997). although many latino parents express a desire to be involved in their children’s schoolwork (quiocho & daoud, 2006), they often show little or no school involvement (bauch, 1992; costa, 1991; ferrer, 2007) this is because they are expected to follow traditional involvement methods (volunteer at pta, go to fi eld trips, donate money or goods, etc). and latino families engage in non-traditional school involvement practices that are more diffi cult to quantify and observe (valdés, 1996). thus, some teachers perceive that latino parents do not care about their children’s education (c.f., smith, stern, & shatrova, 2008). nevertheless, valdés (1996) explained that latino parents may not understand the concept of involvement, while bauch (1992) confi rmed other obstacles encountered by latino parents in their children’s schools, including a language barrier, failure to understand school operations, and their own lack of formal education. these hurdles and computer literacy challenges make school involvement diffi cult for latino parents, particularly when the subject is technology. politicians, professionals, and scholars alike have explored the concept of the digital divide, the gap that exists between people who have access to digital technology and those who do not. the digital divide exists at work, in schools, and most importantly, at home, creating a multigenerational rift between parents and their children. not having the opportunity to co-learn with their children often creates a digital divide between latino parents who lack access to technology and their children who have availability to technology. this divide exacerbates the sense of separation many latino immigrant parents already feel when communicating with their children and leads to decreased family communication and closeness, and anxiety about child rearing practices (machado-casas, 2009b). although understanding the impacts of this divide is important, it is even more benefi cial to explore how it can be bridged, so families can begin to see technology as a resource, not an obstacle. afterschool technology programs. one way schools attempt to bridge this digital divide is by providing afterschool technology programs for parents. in one study, duran (2001) assessed an afterschool technology program for low-income latino immigrant families in terms of computer awareness, computer basics, word processing skills, and multimedia and telecommunications familiarity. as parents and children wrote together using computers, they engaged in focused problem solving about language content, language organization, and language form as mediated by the computer and its software. further, through working together with their children, parents began to show evidence that they understood the importance of desktop publishing in globalized students vs. unglobalized families: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 6 computer communication. by exchanging the role of expert and novice, parents and children were able to explore a range of dimensions relevant to literacy and literacy practice (duran, 2001). latino parents showed signifi cant gains in every area of assessment over the course of the project, especially in internet knowledge and multimedia and telecommunications familiarity. overall computer literacy for parents in the program rose from 32% to 73%. afterschool computer learning programs for immigrant latino parents and children are benefi cial because they interconnect family members, teachers, university students and faculty, and community members (duran, 2001). such programs help familiarize parents with the use of computers and information technology by utilizing their children’s knowledge (duran, 2001). valdés (1996) also suggested that latino immigrant families may benefi t from exposure to school personnel who potentially can help parents understand schooling practices and expectations. in another afterschool program called learning together, three university professors and teacher educators recruited seven elementary school students and their parents (tartakov, leigh, & phillips, 2003). participants were low-income families of various ethnic backgrounds, including latinos. the aim of the program was to improve literacy and technology skills, and parents committed to actively engage in the literacy programs with their children. as a result of the program, students experienced increased self-effi cacy with computers, and were excited to be able to work independently and experiment with new programs. as the aforementioned studies show, afterschool technology programs can be pivotal educational tools for latino parents and children. not only do afterschool technology programs allow latinos to gain technology skills, but they facilitate increased interaction between latino parents and their children as they contribute to each other’s development. by participating in the parent meetings offered by la clase magica (lcm), families had opportunities to engage in a political act, a movement that enable them to fi nd better and less dangerous ways of incorporating into society by using technology tools for everyday tasks, and in the process they begin to dismantle the rapidly growing muro tecnológico digital (technological digital gap) among latino and minority families. methodology this study explored the impact of workshops (talleres) offered to parents and/or family members during lcm, an afterschool technology program in the computer literacy and skills of the program participants. the term family members was used in addition to parents, as it is more inclusive and representative of the reality of our latino students who are often raised not just by parents but by grandparents or other relatives (valdes, 1996). the study sought to identify the technology needs of family members and provide them with technological skills as needed to develop or enhance their technology literacy. thus, the research question(s) addressed in this study were: 1) what are the technology needs of the parents and/or family members of the participants in the lcm afterschool program? 2) what is the impact of the talleres in enhancing and developing technology literacy to the parents and/or other family members? 3) how did the afterschool program help parents forge connections with their children, and facili tate their successful participation in society as they use technological tools to perform everyday tasks and strive to create a “familia global” (globalized family)? the la clase màgica (lcm) afterschool program which was held at los árboles elementary school was created as part of two courses for undergraduate bilingual teacher candidates at the university of texas at san antonio (utsa). as part of the classes requirements the teacher candidates attended los árboles elementary globalized students vs. unglobalized families: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 7 school every tuesday afternoon for 3 hours over a 14-week period. each teacher candidate was paired with a young elementary student in grades k-5, called amigas/os. funded through the academy for teaching excellence (ate), teacher candidates were provided with netbooks and iphones/ipods to use with the elementary school students. adult-child pairs were organized to create an opportunity structure in which each learner collaborated with a more experienced peer (vygotsky, 1978). this approach provided the researchers and participants alike with opportunities to test technology’s potential to create innovative learning environments and to study its effect on language, literacy, and cultural development. as the teacher candidates and their amigas/os worked together during lcm, parents and/or family members were invited to attend technology workshops (talleres) on the third tuesday of every month in. between 18 and 30 family members ranging in age from 18 to 80 years old, including young mothers and fathers as well as grandparents, participated in the talleres offered each month. most families were mexican nationals or mexican americans, one family was from honduras and one was from el salvador. each family had one or two children enrolled in the program whose ages ranged from 5 to 10 years old. in an effort to increase family participation, free childcare was provided. in spanish, the term talleres conveys something beyond the simple top-down approach utilized in most workshops; they require what vásquez (2003) calls a participatory approach, where researchers are mediators and families are full participants in their learning processes, determining what they would like to learn and how they would like to learn it. because all participants were immigrants, families were invited to refl ect on their own journeys as immigrants in the united states and how using technology would help them in their new lives. during the talleres families worked on a series of technology activities ranging from the most basic (turning the computer on) to more diffi cult tasks (sending an email or creating a powerpoint or a movie). family participants took a communal approach to learning, sharing, and teaching based on the knowledge they found most useful and necessary for their everyday lives (machado-casas, 2010). during the workshops family members were asked about the importance of technology in school, at work, and with their families. family members were asked which specifi c skills they would like to learn and once there was consensus on the desired technology task to learn about, that was what was taught that day. first, they wanted to learn computer and ipod basics, because those were the technologies being used by their children in the lcm afterschool program. in addition, participants’ created utility knowledge lists (machado-casas, 2009a) of skills that would be useful in their everyday lives, such as sending money home online. the use of the utility knowledge list came about because as busy adults they must not only learn new skills but also skills that have utility to their realities. they named and listed the most important components of their everyday lives and how technology can help do these in a more effi cient ways. through this activity, lcm families were asked to become researchers, observers, and users of technology in multi-situational spaces in everyday life. as participants in the lcm after school technology and literacy program, the families engaged in monthly in-class discussions. these discussions focused on their experiences and thoughts about the need to include families in the development of a globalized population. fifteen to 20 parents were given preand postopenended surveys and were interviewed twice about the afterschool program. families were asked about what they felt their technology needs were, whether the talleres were helping in developing and/or enhancing their technology literacy, and whether they felt they were connecting more with their children, especially in regards to technology. analysis of data the data collected included surveys, interviews, researcher fi eld notes, and in-class discussion notes. all data collected were transcript, coded and analyzed for themes and patterns. two major themes emerged from the data: (a) the existence of a digital divide within families, and (b) challenges encountered in adult technology education programs. findings participants in the lcm afterschool technology program took part in a pre-program survey. our globalized students vs. unglobalized families: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 8 fi ndings reveal that while schools work toward globalizing students, many home environments continue to be unglobalized, creating a wider gap between schools and families. a digital divide afterschool technology education programs are available for children, but many do not include families. thus, families have become global invisibles. global invisibles in this context mean those who do not have equal access or any access to technology as an everyday tool. yet, technology is a growing presence all around them. when these families needs to learn about technology are not taken into consideration in any setting but particularly in academic educational settings, they are left out, without access, and virtually invisible to our ever growing globalized world. one mother, juana, explained: echoing these thoughts, martina, a mother from mexico, said: fernanda also worried about limiting her children’s technological abilities at home because she and her husband lacked the proper knowledge: thus, for parents, simply understanding the importance of technology is not enough. when parents do not have the technology skills to help their children, technology can become another muro a muro tecnológico digital (a digital technological wall) that divides families. ruby refl ected: si han hecho programas para nuestros hijos. y si queremos que aprendan…claro que sí! pero el problema es que pues cuando ya ellos aprenden, nosotros nos estamos quedando atrás. ellos si pueden mandar correos, y meterse a la computadora pero nosotros no. [yes, they have developed programs for our children. and yes we want them to learn… of course, yes! but the problem is that when they learn we stay behind. they can send emails and get into the computer but not us.] si han hecho programas para nuestros hijos. y si queremos que aprendan…claro que sí! pero el problema es que pues cuando ya ellos aprenden, nosotros nos estamos quedando atrás. ellos si pueden mandar correos, y meterse a la computadora pero nosotros no. [yes, they have developed programs for our children. and yes we want them to learn… of course, yes! but the problem is that when they learn we stay behind. they can send emails and get into the computer but not us.] en la escuela le enseñaron a mis hijos a hacer absolutamente todo. hasta se pueden comunicar con otros países ocupando una aplicación que se llama esquipe [skype]. mi hijos se pueden comunicar con cualquier parte del mundo en la escuela pero al llegar a la casa siento que estamos limitados porque ni yo su papa podemos hacer eso. y pues me gusta que aprendan pero—ya en la casa como que nos quedamos atrás. [in school they teach my children how to do absolutely everything. they can even communicate with other countries utilizing an application called skype. my children can communicate with any part of the world in school, but when they get home i feel that we are limiting them because neither i nor their father can do this. and i like for them to learn, but at home it’s as if we are staying behind.] globalized students vs. unglobalized families: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 9 martina understood the importance of technology, but partly blamed technology for a lack of communication within her family: marta spoke of being torn between wanting her children to develop the technology skills and feeling isolated from them because of it: challenges associated with adult technology education programs it seems as though adult technology education programs could provide a simple solution to the digital divide problem. however, latino and immigrant families face challenges associated with such programs. eloisa said: en la escuela le enseñaron a mis hijos a hacer absolutamente todo. hasta se pueden comunicar con otros países ocupando una aplicación que se llama esquipe [skype]. mi hijos se pueden comunicar con cualquier parte del mundo en la escuela pero al llegar a la casa siento que estamos limitados porque ni yo su papa podemos hacer eso. y pues me gusta que aprendan pero—ya en la casa como que nos quedamos atrás. [in school they teach my children how to do absolutely everything. they can even communicate with other countries utilizing an application called skype. my children can communicate with any part of the world in school, but when they get home i feel that we are limiting them because neither i nor their father can do this. and i like for them to learn, but at home it’s as if we are staying behind.] a mi hija le encanta todo que ha aprendido de la tecnología. y le he pedido que me enseñe pero no me tiene paciencia. ahora creo que la tecnología cuando un padre de familia no la sabe ocupar-nos afecta porque no sabemos de algo que es tan importante para ellos—no lo tenemos en común. entre mas tecnología menos nos hablan y mas nos separamos mas. [my daughter loves learning about technology. i have asked her to teach me but she does not have patience with me. now i believe that when a parent does not know how to use technology it does affect us because we do not know something that is very important for our children… we do not share this knowledge. the more technology they have available the less they talk to us and the more distant we become]. desde que la tecnología llego a mi casa – ya casi ni conozco a mis hijos. pero no se que hacer porque si lo quito también les hago mal. yo como no se – no puedo meterme como ellos a eso. [since technology came into my home, i barely recognize my children. however, i don’t know what to do because if i get rid of it, i am doing a disservice to them. since i don’t know, i cannot get involved with it like they do.] a mi hijo mayor lo llevaba a la biblioteca donde le enseñaban de las computadoras, y por eso compramos una computadora. el curso era en ingles y pues no pude tomarlo, ademas no tenia cuidados de ninos. todos los cursos en la escuela son para los niños y muy pocos para mamas como yo. [my oldest son was taken to the library where they would teach him about computers and that is why we bought a computer. the class was in english and i could not take it. in addition, i had to care for the other children. all the courses at school are for the children and very few for mothers like me.]get involved with it like they do.] globalized students vs. unglobalized families: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 10 opportunities for family members like eloisa’s are seldom available, particularly with childcare, which is another limiting factor. many programs also fail to consider language or cultural barriers. however, as eloisa shared, even when accessible, participating in such programs does not always solve the problem. when the content of parent education programs does not include what students are learning in schools or the skills students already know, parents may feel that they do not understand or know how to help their children. in many ways this disempowers parents, and they may not know how to guide their children through this learning process. thus, leaving parents with a feeling of constantly falling behind. fernanda said: in addition, many existing programs are designed for advanced users, but really are not very benefi cial for family members with little technology knowledge. marta shared her experience as a student in a technology class: it is easy to forget that some family members may not have had the opportunity to work with computers before. some participants sit in front of a computer for the very fi rst time in these programs. towards a “familia global” (globalized family) although the literature shows that technology is increasingly becoming a major component of school curricula, our fi ndings show that technology education fails to include families. studies have shown that when parents are actively involved (delgado-gaitan, 1990), supportive, and model for their children what is being taught in schools, student achievement and educational gains increase (darling-hammond, 1997). other studies have shown that latino parents want to be involved and want to help their children at home (quiocho & daoud, creo que como papas tenemos que ser proactivos. creo que lo sido. he tomado clases de tecnología pero siempre cuando pienso que ya—ya los alcance ellos me demuestran que no…porque ya lo que yo estoy haciendo ya es algo que ellos y aprendieron y ahora ya están en otras casas. siempre estoy tratando de alcanzarlos. [parents need to be proactive. i think i am because i have taken technology classes, but when i feel like i am caught up with my children, i am doing something and the children are doing something different. i am always trying to catch up to them.] yo fui a a una clase de computación, pero no en la escuela de mis hijos, pero en un cyber cerca de mi casa. y si aprendí algo, pero no lo que mis hijos están haciendo en la escuela. y por eso se me hace difícil, ya que a mi me enseñaron como manejar la computadora básica, y a mis hijos ya les están enseñando otra cosa. y pues aunque trate—ellos ya iban mucho mas adelantados que yo. [i attended a class on computers but not in my children’s school but in another cyber place near my home. and i did learn something, but not what my children are doing in school. and because of that it has been diffi cult since i was taught basic computing and my children are already learning something else. and even if late, they are way ahead of me.] creo que si hay programas para padres en la comunidad. yo fui a dos ya, pero al llegar ya esperan que sepamos algo de la tecnología. y a las dos clases que fui, no me tenían paciencia. ya esperaban que yo supiera como usar la computadora pero yo no los sabia. [i believe there are programs for parents in the community. i attended two already, but when i arrived there they expected us to know something about technology. and in both classes i attended, they were not patient with me. they already expected that i knew how to use the computer, but i did not know.] globalized students vs. unglobalized families: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 11 2006). ortiz, green, and lim (2011) surveyed a large number of minority parents to assess the importance they place on computer usage for themselves as well as for their children. in their study, most parents (82%; n = 486) felt that technology training is critical and should be offered in school along with other content subjects; participants in our study also agreed that technology skills are important. ortiz et al. (2011) similarly found that fewer minority parents (73%; n = 437) reported participating in their children’s education with the help of a computer. findings from our study may help provide an explanation. first, parents in our study found it diffi cult to help because they lacked technology knowledge compared to their children, which created digital divides in their families. second, when parents tried to bridge this divide by participating in technology education programs, they faced other challenges such as limited availability, language or cultural barriers, a lack of childcare, and discontinuity in technology curricula for parents and children. lastly, parents in our study understand that they are in a constant state of surveillance and assault not only from societal discrimination and oppression but also from schools who fail to recognize that they play a critical role in the development of tomorrow’s society. implications these fi ndings have several implications for educators and administrators who serve latino and immigrant populations. first, schools must make an effort to bring technology curricula into the home. technology training workshops for parents can help mitigate this problem. when workshops are made available to parents, childcare for younger children should be provided, local language and cultural norms should be considered, and family members should be asked about their needs before a program is designed. according to clark (2005), “there needs to be an increased focus on the needs of people as learners – fi nding out why, when, what, and how people prefer to learn, discovering new learning methods, and identifying the basic skills that people need to learn better” (p. 431). instructors must be prepared to teach students with a wide range of abilities, from those who are technology literate to those who have never used a computer. principals can support these efforts by ensuring that parent technology curricula mirror student curricula. principals also can provide teachers with resources such as equipment and access to wireless internet connections, which allow teachers to feel comfortable without fear of technical diffi culties during a lesson. additionally, principals can ensure that teachers have time and space to collaborate on lesson plans and discuss how they are taking advantage of technology as a teaching and learning tool. conclusion today, technology skills are critical for survival and success. this requires an education perspective which arises from the fact that contemporary people live and interact in an increasingly globalized world. this makes it crucial for education to give learners the opportunity and competences to refl ect and share their own point of view and role within a global, interconnected society, as well as to understand and discuss complex relationships of common social, ecological, political and economic issues, so as to derive new ways of thinking and acting (maastricht global education declaration, 2002). suarez-orozco and qin-hilliard (2004) explain that, particularly in schools, two domains must be considered as the greatest challenges for education and globalization: “the domain of difference, and the domain of complexity” (p. 3). the differences and complexities of technology knowledge also must be considered as factors infl uencing education. as children in schools continue to build technology skills, they become more global. their worlds open to possibilities, both present and local, and future and global. in this way, children nurture the skills necessary to “fully engage the larger world and master its greatest challenges, transforming it for the betterment of humanity – regardless of national origin or cultural upbringing” (suarez-orozco & qinhilliard, 2004, p. 6). yet, students’ families often are not provided with the same opportunities to learn about technology, which creates a digital divide between technology savvy children and their less knowledgeable family members. bridging the digital divide requires more than helping parents recognize the importance of technology or globalized students vs. unglobalized families: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 12 providing access to technology training. here, we presented fi ndings from a study of the lcm technology and literacy afterschool program, in which talleres were used to explore the technology needs of family members to create a program that was culturally, linguistically, and technologically diverse. references badagliacco, j. m. (1990). gender and race differences in computing attitudes and experience. social science computer review, 8, 42-64. bauch, p. a. (1992). toward an ecological perspective on school choice. american educational research association, ed346595. clark, k. (2005). communities with instructional technologies: giving them what they need, not what you want. urban education ,40, 430-445. costa, m. (1991). hispanic parental involvement. m. s. practicum. cradler, j., mcnabb, m., freeman, m., & burchett, r. (2002). how does technology infl uence student learning? learning & leading with technology, 29(8), 46-56. darling-hammond, l. (1997). doing what matters most: investing in quality teaching. new york, ny: national commission on teaching and america’s future. delgado-gaitan, c. (1990). literacy for empowerment: the role of parents in children’s education. bristol, uk: the falmer press. duran, r.p. (2001). technology, education, and at risk students. santa barbara, ca: university of california at santa barbara, gevirtz graduate school of education.ferrer, l. (2007). why is hispanic parental involvement a serious issue? washington, dc: national education association. ferrer, l. (2007). why is hispanic parental involvement a serious issue? national education association. retrieved from http://www. abcarticledirectory.com/article/why-is-hispanic -parental-involvement-a-serious issue-/117748 livingston, g. (2011). latinos and digital technology, 2010. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. livingston, g., parker, k., & fox, s. (2009). latinos online, 2006-2008: narrowing the gap. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. machado-casas, m. (2009a). the politics of organic phylogeny: the art of parenting and surviving as transnational multilingual latino indigenous immigrants in the u. s. high school journal, 92(4), 82-99. machado-casas, m. (2009b). “coyotes” tecnológicos: sobrevivencia transnacional de comunidades indígenas latinas en los estados unidos. didac, universidad iberoamericana. 53. machado-casas, m. (2010). the new global transnational citizen: the role of multilingualism in the lives of latino/s indigenous immigrants in the u.s. cimexus: revista de investigaciones méxico estados unidos, 2(7), 99-123. maastricht global education. (2002). declaration european strategy framework for improving and increasing global education in europe to the year 2015. retrieved from http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre/ge/ge-guidelines/gegs-app1.pdf pruitt-mentle, d. (2002) participation in a technological world: the meaning of educational technology in the lives of young adult central american immigrants. research paper proceedings of the national educational computer conference (necc) annual conference. san antonio, tx. ortiz, r. w., green, t., & lim, h. j. (2011). families and home computer use: exploring parent perceptions of the importance of current technology. urban education, 46(2), 202-215 quiocho, a.m., & daoud, a.m. (2006). dispelling myths about latino parent participation in schools. the educational forum,70, 255-267. sánchez, p., & salazar, m. (2012). transnational computer use in urban latino immigrant communities: implications for schooling. urban education, 47(1), 90-116. smith, j., stern, k., & shatrova, z. (2008). factors inhibiting hispanic parents’ school involvement. the rural educator, v1, 8-13. suarez-orozco, m. m., & baolian qin-hilliard, d. (eds.) (2004). globalization: culture and education in the new millennium. berkeley, ca: university of california press. tartakov, c.c., leigh, p.r., & phillips, c.b. (2003). more than access: using technology to support a culturally relevant literacy program for historically underserved inner city children. in c. crawford et al. (eds.), proceedings of society for information technology & teacher education international conference 2003 (pp. 601-602). chesapeake, va: aace. u.s. department of education. (2000). national center for educational statistics, “digest of education statistics”. valdés, g. (1996). con respeto. bridging the distance between culturally diverse families and schools. new york, ny: teachers college press, columbia university. vásquez, o. a. (2003). “la clase mágica”: imagining optimal possibilities in a bilingual learning community. lawrence erlbaum. vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. globalized students vs. unglobalized families: invited.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 22 institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement angela valenzuela emmanuel garcia university of texas—austin harriett romo beatrix perez university of texas—san antonio the case of luz maría demonstrates how even academically outstanding, talented, and mature latino/a youth can fall victim to rigid institutional and structural policies, practices, and barriers. the problem of low academic attainment for latino/a students may be a result of the situation at the k-12 levels, a situation that is beyond the control of students or their families (martínez, 2003). analyses of school success must take into account the social and political hierarchies in schools, school systems, and communities, as well as the economy and class-based institutional resources, such as living wage, adequate housing, and associations with economically stable social networks that infl uence educational opportunities and outcomes (stanton-salazar, 2001). while there are many institutional and structural barriers that can impede academic success for latinos/ as, we focus here on just some of the most salient obstacles including particularly through the no child left behind law; the impact of poverty on achievement; the dropout crisis; teacher quality; special education; and immigrant and language issues. many students, discouraged and defeated by these barriers, drop out of school before graduation or decide not to continue onto higher education. others overcome these obstacles by sheer determination, assistance provided by educational or community programs, or the interventions of caring teachers and administrators. eradicating these structural barriers and policies is a critical component for latino/a school success and warrants further investigation into how such obstacles operate and how they can be effectively mitigated, overcome, and eliminated. to be clear nclb was not the fi rst instance of this high-stakes testing logic at the federal level. still it does serve as the culmination of this school reform rationale. in addition, while examining the act and its effects, we should keep in mind the limitations of federal intervention and the predominant role of the states within the education policy-making system. the no child left behind act (nclb): accountability and the testing regime on january 8, 2002, president george w. bush signed into law the no child left behind act of 2001, reauthorizing the elementary and secondary education act (doe, 2002). the federal education act marked a historic reform of the public education system based on four key pillars, namely, accountability, school choice, luz maría was a female mexican immigrant in the all-english, regular track in a houston, texas high school. she worked after school as an apprentice in a fl ower shop. as a gifted musician and an a and b student in her senior year with a 3.0 grade point average, she was set to be the fi rst of her entire extended family to have ever attended college. luz and her group of musician friends had all planned to leave home together to attend texas state university in san marcos, texas. leaving home as part of a group was the only way her parents would agree to the idea of her going to a college outside of her home town. however, luz’s plans were derailed when she failed to pass texas’ standard exit exam after multiple attempts. even after taking remedial testprep courses for two consecutive semesters, luz failed the reading portion of the state exam. luz maría not only lost the opportunity to go to college, but she also never graduated from high school despite having earned all of her credits and otherwise meeting the necessary courserelated requirements for graduation. institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 23 fl exible usage of federal funds, and an emphasis on practices and programs deemed to be effective by “scientifi callybased research” as defi ned rather infl exibly by nclb (doe, 2004). while these pillars may seem an appropriate and adequate basis for school reform, several of the act’s guidelines impose an unnecessarily rigid system that has deleterious consequences for many latino/a youth. for example, if schools do not make adequate yearly progress after fi ve years, they must make dramatic changes to the way the school is run or risk closure (doe, 2004). along the way, parents have the option to transfer their child from failing schools to betterperforming public or charter schools (doe, 2004). these principles hold serious complications for schools in minority communities that have historically been inequitably funded and understaffed, and where families often feel marginalized. to be clear, nclb was not the fi rst instance of this high-stakes testing logic at the federal level. still, it does serve as the culmination of this school reform rationale. in addition, while examining the act and its effects, we should keep in mind the limitations of federal intervention and the predominant role of the states within the education policy-making system. the intense focus on standardized test scores leads to the use of a single indicator of school performance as the basis of what makes a good school. add to this the punitive measures imposed on school districts when scores are low, and we have an environment in which the pressure to improve is transferred through the education system to teachers and students (mcneil, 2000a). at the classroom level, these pressures inadvertently foster a shift from the teaching of content to the teaching and learning of how to take a standardized test (mcneil, 2000a; mcneil &valenzuela, 2001; valenzuela, 2005), thus creating a perverse incentive to narrow curricula in order to concentrate on improving test scores and inhibiting the development of innovative pedagogical practices. the result is immense pressure on school administrators to raise test scores at the expense of curricular goals and approaches that add depth to, and diversify, students’ learning experiences. such an environment leads to disproportionate student disengagement in learning, resulting in high dropout rates, particularly for minorities and impoverished youth. in many schools across the nation, nclb’s focus on testing and strict measures of accountability have resulted in the abandonment of approaches to education that build on students’ cultures and native languages, such as dual language and other bilingual education programs (capps, fix, murray, ost, passel, & herwantoro, 2005; fine et. al., 2007). critics of nclb and its impact on latino/a students in general, and on english language learners in particular, have not sought to lower the standards or release schools from their responsibility to educate all students to high levels of achievement. rather, they have called upon legislators and school administrators to pay more attention to the quality of education that students receive and the conditions under which they learn (de cohen & deterding, 2005; darling-hammond, 2007). rather than focus on tests that do little to improve the quality of education, we suggest that other institutional issues, both in and outside of school, need to be addressed. these include poverty, the dropout crisis, teacher quality, and special education and language issues, all of which are described below. poverty and achievement it is clear that numerous institutional trends, practices, and policies beyond the control of students and their parents infl uence achievement, the effectiveness of instruction, and the social development of youth. but demographic and economic trends such as poverty, racial and ethnic diversity in schools, mobility, as well as homelessness and other social patterns, also affect schools and students (cunningham, 2003). for example, migration patterns bring increasing numbers of immigrant students to schools that are ill equipped to serve their needs. also, a disproportionate number of minority youth are negatively affected by unstable housing and inadequate funding of public schools. as children are forced into a cycle of movement from school to school, residential instability due to inadequate and unaffordable housing leads to school mobility. poverty contributes to homelessness and to the placement of children in foster care. in addition to the emotional challenges they face, homeless and foster care children also confront academic challenges because the curriculum often changes from school to school (fantuzzo & perlman, 2007). children in multiple foster care placements are especially vulnerable as they experience frequent school mobility when they are moved between foster homes, group homes, shelters, institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 24 and treatment facilities (titus, 2007; conger & finkelstein, 2008). in addition, movement between schools interrupts young people’s ability to build caring relationships with teachers, mentors and peers. adolescents, in particular, are often reluctant to form friendships at school if they know they will be moving again (julianelle & foscarinis, 2003). minority children are overrepresented in homeless and foster care populations and have been traditionally underserved by child welfare agencies (church ii, 2006). in addition, latino/a foster care children may be further disenfranchised if their foster parents lack cultural awareness and knowledge of the unique situation and background of their foster children. these placements may also lead to diminished social networks in the school setting (church ii, 2006). inappropriate academic placements can also further marginalize latino/a foster children. a former foster youth explained her placement in special classes and how it affected her academically: “they put me in these behavioral program classes and it was a downfall because i got behind in subjects and i was exempt all the time. it was easier for me to graduate because they exempted me (from the state test required for graduation)... it was pretty bad.” she continued, “…i’m still behind. i think i’m behind because i think i would have been all caught up, but they put me in those classes…” (perez & romo, 2009a). the dropout crisis dropout rates have been another persistent and thorny reality in the education of latinos/as for many years (margolis, 1968; orfi eld, 2004). according to the national center for education statistics, or nces (2006), the dropout rate among hispanics is 28 percent, compared with 7 percent for whites and 13 for blacks. the numbers are even bleaker for foreign-born hispanics: in 2007 the status dropout rate for hispanics 16to 24-year-olds who were born outside the u.s. was 34 percent—higher than the rate for native-born hispanics (11 percent) (nces, 2010). the dropout rate among latinos/as has remained consistently high for over the past half century, in some cases nearly 80 percent, depending on how the rate is determined (nieto, 2000a). each year in growing numbers and at an alarming rate, latino/a students across the country fail to complete high school “on time” or obtain a general educational development (ged) certifi cate. however, because the dropout rate is calculated in very different ways across local, state, and federal agencies, there is little consistency in statistics. according to a study released by the civil rights project (crp) and the urban institute in 2004, while the graduation rate for white students is 75 percent, only approximately half of black, hispanic, and native american students earn regular diplomas alongside their classmates (orfi eld et al., 2004). according to gary orfi eld, the report’s lead author, “because of misleading and inaccurate reporting of dropout and graduation rates, the public remains largely unaware of this educational and civil rights crisis” (orfi eld et al., 2004). educational research and personal narratives emerging from the latino/a community suggest that dropout rates may in fact be underreported because many youngsters drop out before high school, while others are either undercounted or not counted at all, including those in juvenile detention and those who are undocumented, among others (conchas, 2001; noguera, 2003; valencia et al., 2002). these national trends are exacerbated when we focus on particular regions and states across the country. in the southern states of florida, georgia, louisiana, mississippi, and north carolina, graduation rates in 2002 reportedly ranged from a high of 85 percent in north carolina to a low of 61.8 percent in georgia (wald & losen, 2005). when the cumulative promotion index (cpi)1 was used, the graduation rates for these states sank well below these offi cial estimates. similar to national trends, the cpi method revealed that black and latino/a students fared worse than their anglo counterparts. in georgia, the rates for blacks, latinos/as and native americans were all below 50 percent (wald & losen, 2005). in the state of texas, the dropout rate hovers around 33 percent, which is about 20 points higher than offi cial statistics compiled by the texas education agency (scharrer, 2007). in the class of 2005, more than 119,000 texas students failed to graduate (gottlob, 2007). given the history and high dropout rate among 1 the cumulative promotion index (cpi), was designed by christopher swanson. the method is based on the combined average success of groups of students moving from ninth grade to tenth grade, from tenth grade to the eleventh grade, from eleventh grade to twelfth grade, and from twelfth grade to graduation, at the district and state level. the method sees graduation as an incremental process and allows for comparisons across years, districts, and states. institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 25 latinos/as in the state, as well as the fact that 87 percent of the net increase in the texas population (and twothirds of its labor force), is projected to be people of color, we can understand why scholars say that, “texas must invest in the socioeconomic improvement of its minority populations…” (murdock et al., 1997). california reports a robust overall graduation rate of 86.9 percent, but when the cpi method is used, the 2002 overall graduation rate was 71 percent (civil rights project, 2005). the graduation rates in individual districts and schools, mainly those with large proportions of impoverished and minority youth, refl ect dangerous national trends. sixty-four percent of all students in central city districts graduate with regular diplomas (civil rights project, 2005). racially segregated districts fare no better; only 65 percent of students in segregated districts graduate compared with 58 percent when the metric used is socioeconomic class (civil rights project 2005). according to julie mendoza of the university of california all campus consortium on research for diversity (uc/accord), “black and latino/a students are 3 times more likely than white students to attend a high school where graduation is not the norm and where less than 60 percent of ninth graders obtain diplomas four years later” (see civil rights project, 2005). in the state’s largest district, los angeles, only 48 percent of black and latino/a students who start 9th grade complete grade 12 four years later (civil rights project, 2005). despite the grim news of the dropout situation across the country, several policies and programs have an opportunity to stem the tide and possibly reverse these dangerous trends. in the 80th session of the texas state legislature, the state approved the passage and implementation of house bill (hb) 2237. the bill was the legislature’s combined effort to attempt to reduce the dropout rate and begin to obtain more reliable data. hb 2237 provided $140 million dollars to fund a variety of programs in the preparation and continued education of teachers, dropout prevention, and college readiness (garcía, 2008). at the core of several of the grant programs was a concept of partnership across the public and private sectors, including local businesses, community organizations, institutions of higher education, and local school districts. among these programs was a micro-grant program of extra-curricular activities (section 29.095 of hb2237) developed by the offi ce of the speaker of the house and the texas center for education policy (tcep) at the university of texas at austin (garcía, 2008). the grant program provides state and local funding for extra-curricular activities that enroll “at-risk”2 youth. its structure provides the opportunity for teachers to employ innovative activities that engage these youth and facilitate the development of support structures (garcía & valenzuela, 2007). while hb 2237 is certainly not perfect by any means, and it did not address the tough issue of inequities in public school fi nance or the often perverse pressures of testing and public school accountability, it nevertheless serves as a building block for a concerted effort to improve schools and reduce the dropout rate. still, no one bill or strategy alone can deal with the magnitude of the challenge ahead of us. systemic reform will require much more than a few innovative grant programs. teacher quality teacher quality has serious consequences for latino/a children. in fact, some experts have concluded that much of the low achievement blamed on children and parents is actually the result of depriving the neediest students of the best-qualifi ed teachers (darling hammond, 2000, 2004b). overall, the quality of a school’s teaching staff is an organizational property that varies across schools and is strongly related to differences in student achievement and growth (heck, 2007). a tennessee study has demonstrated that teacher effectiveness is the single most powerful factor in student achievement, 10 to 20 times as signifi cant as the effects of other factors affecting student academic gain (haycock, 1998). in another study, consistent effective teaching resulted in a gain of more than 35 percentile points in reading test scores with similar gains in math scores (sanders & rivers, 1996). the researchers attributed a difference of a full 50 percentile points in math test scores to teacher effectiveness. other teacher-related issues that infl uence children’s achievement are lack of experience, salary gaps, and high turnover. the lack of preparation and inexperience of teachers in urban schools contributes to students’ poor academic outcomes and has been referred to as the “teacher gap” (cunningham, 2003). barth 2 this study acknowledges that terms such as “minority”, “limited english profi ciency”, “dropout”, and “at-risk” have negative connotations and are demeaning to the groups they describe. these terms will be used only when used in the original research or report cited. institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 26 (2000) revealed that schools with higher concentrations of latino/a and african american students had teachers with lower scores on certifi cation exams, less experienced teachers in the classroom, and a higher number of uncertifi ed teachers as compared to more affl uent white schools. hispanic, african american, and low-income students are most likely to be assigned teachers who do not know their subject matter very well or who are not certifi ed (the education trust, 2008). they also tend to be unprepared to teach english language learners. in a letter to president obama before he took offi ce, the institute for language and education policy (ilep, 2008) reported that 43 percent of u.s. teachers had english language learners in their classrooms, yet only 11 percent of them were certifi ed in bilingual education and only 18 percent were certifi ed in english as a second language. the ilep (2008) concluded that, “expertise in second-language acquisition, multicultural awareness, and effective classroom practices are largely lacking among staff responsible for educating these students.” in addition, when urban schools use less prepared teachers, long-term substitutes, and alternatively certifi ed teachers, students are recipients of lower de facto funding (reyes, 2003). in new york, for example, highly qualifi ed teachers tend to transfer or quit due to challenging conditions in large urban schools as compared to those in affl uent suburban schools (lankford, loeb, & lankford, 2002). one parent interviewed in a study of a parent-school collaboration in an urban school district serving primarily latino/a students noted that some of the teachers assigned to urban schools have little experience and understanding of the obstacles facing urban and migrant students: the majority of pre-service teachers in the u.s. are white females and, because of the increased segregation of the nation’s schools, they are likely to have had little personal experience with ethnic or racial minorities in their own schooling. research by marx (2003) using data from stories teachers told about their teaching demonstrated that many new teachers’ altruistic intentions were undermined by an uncritical embrace of covert racist ideologies and defi cit thinking. teachers who have had little contact with latino/a families are unlikely to understand the rich support of social and family networks that exist in latino/a communities. on the other hand, culturally competent teachers can incorporate students’ “funds of knowledge” into the classrooms (moll, gonzález, amanti, & neff, 1992). as mentioned previously, the work of angela valenzuela (1999) introduced the notion of “subtractive” schooling, that is, schooling in which policies, practices, school staff, and teachers ignore or devalue the home culture and linguistic knowledge of mexican origin students, thus effectively stripping them of much of the social and cultural capital, potential, and perspective that they could bring into the classroom. she demonstrated the importance of teachers and institutional structures that value and actively promote positive connections between teachers and students, as well as among students themselves. she noted that this sense of authentic caring is especially important when it is directed toward students who are culturally different from the majority. friendly institutional structures and effective administrators and teachers are instrumental in establishing a culture of caring and effective schooling. family-like school environments created by teachers and school staff contribute to students’ “sense of belonging” (nieto, 1998) and enhance the importance of caring teacherstudent relationships. rather than blame students and their families, effective schools and teachers work with communities and families to achieve student success (cortina, 2003). they build pride in identity into strategies that reinforce academic and social growth and that support the cultures, languages, and diversity that students bring to their schools. these culturally responsive teachers understand that schools and teaching styles need to accommodate the needs of students. “i think some of the teachers that are from this area understand it, because, of course, they grew up here, and then some of the teachers who have recently come here, they’re slowly getting used to it. but i think there are still others that don’t really understand. how can i put it? i think some of the teachers don’t understand where these kids are coming from, and even though they try to fi gure it out, it’s just not clicking. a lot of the teachers are from, you know, nice families with good money and they don’t have to worry about the same things these kids are worrying about, so they don’t think about it when they are here.” (romo et al., 2008) institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 27 a program at the university of texas at san antonio gives head start teachers who understand the cultural and linguistic barriers faced by the lowest income students an opportunity to become better-qualifi ed in terms of formal credentials and knowledge while earning associates and bachelors degrees. the program helps these culturally sensitive teachers overcome structural barriers of attending college (barriers such as tackling on-line registration, consulting with academic advisors, structuring degree plans, applying for fi nancial aid, and choosing classes) so that they can be successful in higher education. many go on to graduate with honors and return to their classrooms better prepared to teach. the majority of these teachers experienced structural barriers in earlier schooling or lacked fi nancial supports to attend college. support services, a family-like learning community, and caring staff helped them overcome obstacles that would have prevented them from becoming successful certifi ed teachers. the puente project in california provides a model of a caring high school environment. this program identifi ed fi ve bridges to students’ success: family involvement, culturally enriched teaching and intensive instruction, counseling, mentoring, and positive peer support (cooper, 2002). the success of puente 9th and 10th grade students demonstrates that programs that incorporate student and community cultures, high expectations for all students to succeed, increased levels of skills and competencies, and social capital (i.e., bonding of students to each other, teachers, counselors and administrators) can help alter tracking systems and ultimately improve student achievement (cazden, 2002). this program shows how positive schooling experiences are a collaborative effort by a complete team of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community agencies. special education the misdiagnosis and identifi cation of latino/a students in special education has been a long-term concern. in fact, research has revealed that latino/a students are six times more likely than the general student population to be placed in special education programs (medina & luna, 2004). latino/a students are also more likely to be incorrectly assessed as mentally retarded or learning disabled (fletcher & navarette, 2003). overall, the literature points to a key structural factor, the racial composition of school districts, as the most powerful indicator of special education enrollment. predominantly white school districts hold higher percentages of minorities in special education than large minority districts (fletcher & navarrete, 2003). this suggests that cultural and linguistic responsiveness need to be addressed in appropriately identifying students with learning disabilities. specifi cally, garcía and ortíz (2006) and fletcher and navarrete (2003) all emphasize the importance, as well as the unique challenges, of understanding student sociocultural, linguistic, racial/ethnic and other background characteristics throughout the evaluation process. timely support systems are critical for struggling learners and may reduce inappropriate special education referrals. prevention and intervention can help resolve the problem of academic diffi culty caused by factors that are not true learning disabilities, such as differences in culture and language (garcía & ortíz, 2006; medina & luna, 2004). according to pérez et al. (2008), it is essential to examine identifying criteria, defi nitions, and the appropriateness of assessment tools used to determine eligibility for special education assistance, particularly when assessing english language learners. historically, learning disabilities have been tied to biological and neurological issues, thus placing the onus on the child and the family. on the other hand, fletcher and navarette (2003) argue that this is a misguided assumption as other factors such as language development and acculturation are also at play. medina and luna (2004) found that latino/a students in special education classes were largely disengaged and disenchanted with their schooling experiences and experienced alienation, disinterest, and anxiety. pérez and colleagues (2008) have also raised concerns about special education placements that move students to separate classrooms, similar to those in english as a second language programs, because this placement may lead to isolation from mainstream populations. for latino/a students with real special education needs, lack of services may be an equally troubling problem. this is illustrated by ramírez (2005) who described the case of an immigrant mother determined to have her child evaluated for services. esperanza, an el salvadoran immigrant, experienced failed attempts to have her second-grade daughter tested for special education and esl placement and was told by school administrators that her child should be placed in regular classes to help her learn english. attempts to address institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 28 her daughter’s academic defi ciencies were met with inaction by teachers and staff. moreover, appointments were rescheduled without her knowledge, causing a loss of wages on several occasions, and misunderstandings and miscommunication occurred when there were no interpreters at school meetings. immigrant and lowincome parents such as esperanza often encounter similar barriers as they learn to advocate for their children’s’ education. esperanza’s child did not receive appropriate assessments until she entered the 9th grade, at which point she was far behind academically. the story of diego told by ruiz, vargas and beltrán (2002) highlights the complex factors associated with bilingual latino/a students in general and with special education assessments and placement in particular. diego arrived as a second grader from guatemala and was placed in a kindergarten class in east los angeles. he completed kindergarten and fi rst grade and was labeled as both “a non-english and a non-spanish speaker.” although his second grade teacher recognized than he knew more than he was producing academically, diego did not receive special education referrals until the third grade and was not assessed until fourth grade. an optimal learning environment project worked with bilingual teachers to implement research-based literacy instruction and immersed diego in interactive literacy routines. after much reassurance from staff, diego’s writing skills began to develop and his confi dence increased. he gradually began speaking and became more actively engaged in learning. immigrant and language issues the english language learner (ell) subgroup of the latino/a student population is part of an impressive demographic shift throughout the united states (capps, fix, murray, ost, passel & herwantoro, 2005; murdock, 2006; murdock et al., 1997). english language learner youth may be immigrants, migrants, or native-born students. one in fi ve u.s. school-age children are the sons and daughters of immigrants (u.s. census bureau, 2001) and 40 percent of foreign-born youths attending school were offi cially designated as students with limited english profi ciency, classifi ed as lep (ruiz de velasco & fix, 2001). english language learners across the country have endured low academic achievement, poor performance on standardized exams, and a high dropout rate (vásquez heilig & lópez, 2008; darling-hammond, 2004a; gándara et al., 2003; rumberger & thomas, 2000; valenzuela, 1999, 2005). these students often deal with a learning environment characterized by critical shortages of teachers specifi cally trained to serve them, inadequate instructional materials, low teacher expectations, a lack of cultural sensitivity, and a high-stakes accountability system that leads to a narrowing of curricula (crawford, 2004; hampton, 2004; mcneil, 2000a, 2000b; mcneil & valenzuela, 2001; valenzuela 1999). students with limited english profi ciency are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty and tend to be more geographically mobile than their peers (u.s. general accounting offi ce, 1994). they are less likely to graduate than the general student population (rumberger, 2003; titus, 2007). geographically mobile students, such as migrants living in poverty and homelessness, experience high rates of absenteeism, thus lagging behind their peers academically (núñez, 2001). in addition, students who experience high mobility and extreme poverty also experience defi cits in health and nutrition and face inadequate study space that limits their ability to learn (ashiabi, 2005; keogh, halpenny, & gilligan, 2006). furthermore, lack of fl uency in english, as well as economic and time constraints, may inhibit parent involvement in their children’s schooling (saenz et al., 2008). these issues may be exacerbated for rural ell youth (saenz et al., 2008). the unique task of mastering academic knowledge and skills while simultaneously acquiring a second language poses a substantial hurdle for ells (baker, 1993). a language student tends to take between 5 to 7 years to acquire native language fl uency and the task becomes even more diffi cult for secondary youth (cummins, 1981; thomas & collier, 1997). these diffi culties are compounded for foreign-born immigrant students. as a result, youths from 16 to 19 years of age are signifi cantly more likely to drop out of high school than their u. s.born peers (tienda & mitchell, 2006). at the same time, it should be emphasized that speaking a language other than english is not in itself a handicap. as a matter of fact, in his research rubén rumbaut (1995) found that assimilation tends to have negative consequences for immigrants, particularly if it leads to students abandoning their native language and their ethnic ties. in data from over 2,000 8th and 9th grade immigrant students in the san diego area, rumbaut found that immigrant students learning english tended to outperform native-born students institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 29 who had great facility in english. being fl uent in english, then, is not the solution to all the problems faced by latino/a students. highlighting another problem, in their research, carola suárez-orozco and marcelo suárez-orozco (2001) found that some students in bilingual programs were kept from integrating into mainstream classes so that they could assist newly arrived students. they also reported that students in the esl and bilingual tracks often have a diffi cult time switching to college bound tracks and may be overlooked by guidance counselors who work as gatekeepers for college applications and recommendations (suárez-orozco & suárez-orozco, 2001). few of the bilingual programs in public schools truly offer bilingual curricula that promote high levels of literacy and cognitive skills in both english and spanish. the suárez-orozco team stated that “the structural barriers of poor, crowded, and violent schools with no meaningful curriculum or pedagogy are for many, especially low status immigrants, simply too much to overcome” (p.152). thus, the primary predicament for english language learners is not that bilingual education does not work, but rather that most bilingual programs are located in poor, under-resourced schools, and are often staffed by inexperienced teachers with little pedagogical knowledge. while many parents and community leaders have long advocated for bilingual education, at the same time their advocacy should have also focused on high quality education in general, whether in english or spanish. according to gándara and contreras (2009), “in many ways, the controversies and debates over language have distracted the latino community from the essential inequities they face” (p. 149). several programs across the country have begun to serve the unique needs of ell youth. in california’s san diego county, approximately 300 students are served each year by la clase mágica (lcm). lcm has served san diego county for over 17 years through university, community and organizational partnerships that use a technology-based curriculum for children from the ages of 3 to 18 (vásquez, 2003, 2006). rather than viewing cultural and linguistic differences as barriers and “subtracting” participants’ culture and language, lcm aims to create an “additive” learning environment (valenzuela, 1999) by fostering active learning through positive, adultpeer interaction, and collaborative activities (vásquez, 2003). in texas, the austin independent school district reported that approximately one-fi fth (21.6%) of its student population (up from 16.8% in 1999) falls under the limited english profi ciency classifi cation (aisd, 2008). lcm is now in the process of establishing itself in austin, texas. the texas center for education policy at the university of texas at austin has led an effort, in collaboration with the city of austin and the austin independent school district, to adapt lcm to serve the needs of austin’s ell youth. as researchers, we believe that schools need to incorporate culture and language into the curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices; that they must support caring professionals who have high expectations of students; that they need to recruit a diversifi ed staff and promote anti-racist professional development; that they must eliminate rigid ability tracking; and that they must create and nurture caring relationships with students through pedagogy, counseling, and other curricular and extracurricular activities. in such a school environment, every parent and every student would be valued. institutional and structural barriers to latino/a achievement receta del testimonio mole association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 33 receta del testimonio mole: a value-rich recipe for folklórico resilience testimonio manuel alejandro pérez university of san francisco abstract this testimonio explores the story of three hermanas and their connections to comunidad, familia, and self-esteem through mexican folklórico. each testimonio is positioned within a latin critical race theory (latcrit) framework and further explored through yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework. the stories within this paper allow each hermana’s truth to take shape in a way that is authentic to their experience through the voice, structure, and tone of each testimonio. in this way, testimonio is used as methodology in radical storytelling (cruz, 2012). the hermanas explore their relationship to ethnic identity and cultural heritage as mexicanos who have a relationship to traditional mexican folklórico. within their stories, each of the hermanas testimonialistas discuss the unique ways in which their ethnicity intersects with other aspects of their identities, including gender, sexuality, and nationality. these stories are examples of testimonio as both a product and a process. more importantly, these testimonios illustrate the ways in which marginalized communities make sense of the world around them in a way that empowers and uplifts the mindbodyspirit. la receta del testimonio mole: a value-rich recipe for folklórico resilience testimonio 1 barra de chocolate 3 cuentos de amig@s 1 google hangout after dance practice 1 bunch of giggles about oral history un pellisco de café con leche 3 chiles tatemados 1 hermana’s failed entrance to la música de lady gaga 1 coming out testimonio 4 hermanas best served bien caliente. pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 34 this article highlights folklórico resilience testimonios as a value-rich process, which i cariñosamente refer to as “la receta del testimonio mole.” this recipe frames the key ingredients for the truth of the queer mexicanos within this testimonio. this recipe is also a tool for sense making and a script for understanding their stories. in order to learn about how to acquire the aforementioned key ingredients, you must start from the beginning. this testimonio begins with a queer mexicanito from sacramento who started dancing traditional mexican folklórico over twenty-years ago. folklórico is a traditional dance form that tells the history of the mexican people through dance, song, and movement. folklórico has always been a way for me to make sense of my identity. through my adolescent, teenage, and young adult years, i grappled with how my ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation intersected and collided with one another simultaneously. my perception of what i believed to be the socially acceptable thing for good mexicano boys to do was overwhelming. the one place that provided me relief from my stressful overthinking was folklórico, or danza. i had always been curious about mexican history and culture. this interest was coupled with a growing curiosity in what it could mean to be both mexican and queer. in her research on community cultural wealth, yosso (2005) challenges the perception that students of color come to education at a deficit with no valuable skills and resources to enhance their student success. moreover, yosso (2005) illustrates the contradictory nature of schools to promote education and empowerment that directly and indirectly fosters oppressive spaces for certain communities. within educational institutions, students of color often learn about their identities from a lens that marginalizes their narratives to the fringe of the dominant narrative. in my experience i learned about my culture and identity within my community and outside of school. folklórico became an essential element to my schooling beyond the classroom. folklórico became a moment of liberation in which i was able to learn about my ethnicity and cultural heritage in a space that embraced my brown skin, that welcomed my spanish/english/spanglish, and that provided a brave space for me to explore my sexuality. as i moved through my education in the classroom, i read stories of historical characters who did not have names that sounded like mine, who did not speak the languages that i spoke, and who did not live in spaces or barrios like mine. in his research on latino family epistemologies, hidalgo (2005) highlights the value of conducting research that is inclusive of the various intersections of identity and that give rise to a latino consciousness. an awareness of latino receta del testimonio mole association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 35 core values and familism reveals the success strategies and skills that latinos use to overcome barriers, especially within the educational system. this research is embodied within the values and objectives of mexican folklórico. in many ways, folklórico became the way that i learned more about myself as a queer mexicano. this education beyond the classroom helped me to envision a harmony amongst all aspects of my identity. in this article, i highlight the testimonios of three hermanas who turned to folklórico as they moved through various stages of their lives. these three hermanas identify as male, masculine-of-center, queer, and mexican. through their bonds of amistad and closeness, these three hermanas have framed their friendship as a sisterhood. as adults, the hermanas reflect on their past and current experiences moving through educational systems, while maintaining a connection to folklórico. in this article, i will first explore how testimonio as a methodology helps to excavate and highlight the unique experiences of the hermanas in a way that honors their voice within the narrative. next, i will offer a brief background on our relationship to one another and to folklórico before sharing their testimonios. lastly, i will weave their testimonios with emerging themes from their own cuentos. testimonio as resilience methodology this testimonio of resilience and orgullo gives voice to the intersections of identities that exist within mexican folklórico. as such, this testimonio is a cuento that tells stories in english, in spanish, and in spanglish. italics have historically been used to identify language that is not part of the dominant language and is a visual reminder to the reader that the language is different and foreign. the relationships within these folklórico testimonios are born of spanish, english, and spanglish tongue. they are home. they are not foreign. this language choice is the story, is our story. these testimonios are their truth. in honor of this truth, i do not use italics to distinguish any part of this testimonio that is not written in english. their testimonio was shared authentically in the name of hermandad. thus, their testimonies of power and resilience will stay true to their original form. in this way, testimonio as methodology allows for risk-taking in incorporating the mindbodyspirit into the research process. delgado-bernal, burciaga, and carmona (2012) describe testimonio as product and process and as a way for the mind, the body, and spirit to pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 36 be sources of knowledge and transformation. in his research on testimonio from a postmodernist lens, yudice (1991) takes on the role of researcher in testimonio. yudice (1991) argues for the elimination of the scholar researcher as the spokesperson for the voiceless. instead, testimonios should tell the story—the cuento—of the testimonialista. the literary components of testimonio provide stories about identity that is not shared solely for the purposes of self-defense and survival, but also for the aesthetic. in this sense, testimonio is artful resistance. in an exploration of testimonio in urban classrooms, cruz (2012) refers to testimonio as a tool for radical storytelling. cruz (2012) paints the image of testimonio as a visceral process that is healthy, nourishing, and necessary for the subversion of dominant narratives. cruz (2012) asserts that the testimonialist is not so focused on story-sharing for an individual gain. rather, testimonio is methodology that transforms and uproots the narratives that so often exclude the voice of the marginalized. testimonio provides a space from which the reader can position critical self-reflection. i would argue that it is not the goal of testimonio to parallel dominant structures. as cruz (2012) asserts, testimonio challenges, invites, and reminds readers to practice a constant critical consciousness. yudice (1991) also posits to preserve the aesthetic and transformative literary value of testimonio within academic research. testimonio is dynamic. testimonio grips at the center of a story to transform the landscape of contested truth for the writer, the reader, and the testimonialista in the construction and reproduction of the testimonio. in this spirit, the goal of my research is to present the following testimonios in a way that honors the voice and authenticity of the storyteller. i also hope to create a space for testimonio to honor the history of our cultural identities and also invite new third spaces from which to witness folklórico testimonio as resilience (anzaldua, 1987). hermanas en el folklóre for purposes of this research, i invited three dancers to share their testimonios of multiple intersecting identities and of the relationships that each of them have with one another as hermanas. all identify as gay, mexicano folkloristas. two of the hermanas are current members of folklórico performing companies in northern california, and one of the hermanas paused his folklórico dancing in 2010. all testimonialistas, including myself, shared several years receta del testimonio mole association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 37 of dancing in the same performing company in northern california from 2006 through 2010. the testimonios of each of the hermanas were collected in multiple ways: in-person meetings, one-on-one meetings, virtual video meetings as a group, and via independent email submissions of testimonio stories. each of the hermanas was given a brief overview of testimonio as methodology. they were also provided a prompt to respond to: folklórico is educación beyond schooling. in the following section, you will read accounts of how each of the hermanas chose to introduce themselves within the framework of their testimonios. this section is immediately followed by a group dialogue that all three hermanas had with one another relative to folklórico as educación beyond schooling. mario dasaev – “dasa” yo soy dasa. i am mario. yo bailo folklórico. i dance traditional mexican regional dances. my name is mario dasaev sosa mendoza. i only allow my family and people from mi rancho to call me dasa, a shortened version of my middle name, dasaev. i love identifying as both mexicano and american, mexican-american. i have the privilege of loving two countries equally. i am a graphic designer because of my love for the visual and i am a dancer because of my love for performance. and i am pretty bad ass. i started dancing so that i could be more social. i think that folklórico also satisfied this need that i had to perform. when i was younger i always had three aspirations: to be an artist, a dancer, and a teacher. i joined dance when i was fifteen or sixteen. it helped me to fulfill ideas about myself that i had had since i was a young boy. i remember living in colusa and being four or five years old and having these same aspirations. dancing has helped me to achieve all of these things. i actually get restless when i’m not dancing. i miss the movement of my feet. i miss my friends. both of the companies that i’ve ever danced for have accepted me for who i am—i am lucky. i did take a break from dance for about five years. when i came back for the second time, i came back because i was on a break with fernando, my ex. i remembered folklórico. i pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 38 wanted to go back to it. i remember fernando asking me, “why did i need to go back to dance?” i just remember thinking, “. . . because i want to.” it’s been such a consistent part of my life since then. it’s a part of me. it’s cute when they tell my little nephew to “dance like dasa.” it gives my family another characteristic of me that’s very special to me. i’m good at these things and i feel good doing them. i consider you guys my best friends. we just get along so well. folklórico brought us together. you and i, we are gays from the ranch. we never talked about it. we never mentioned it. it was awkward. but with dance, the door opened up. let’s keep it real: we were ranch acquaintances . . . i laugh so much when i’m with you. me, being the diva. luis being the enabler. you are the leader. the humor that comes out of us makes me laugh out loud randomly sometimes. we all have a goal to hold on to our culture. ozzy came from mexico and that’s how he expresses his background. you are very academic and you always want to research everything. i love things that represent where i come from and my culture. if i didn’t go back to dance, then i don’t know where i’d be today. i refer to folklorico for lots of things. i refer to folklorico in job interviews, to help explain context. it makes me stand out. folklórico is such a part of me that i can never take a break. it’s a support system. it’s just there. it can drive me crazy, but i know in my heart of hearts . . . that it stabilizes me. osvaldo ramirez vidales – “ozzy” yo soy maestro, bailarin, y amigo. i am an educator, a dancer, and a friend. yo bailo cuando siento que la música me hace moverme dentro de mi. i dance when i'm thrilled to hear music that makes me move. buenas tardes, good evening, my name is osvaldo ramirez vidales. i'm originally from guadalajara, jalisco, mexico raised up to the age of 13. i moved to sacramento, california where i have lived ever since. i'm fully bilingual and biliterate in spanish and english. i began my college career at the age of 17 in which i completed an a.a. degree in arts-social sciences at sacramento city college in 2003, a b.a. in psychology with minors in anthropology and spanish at uc davis in 2006, and a m.s. in career counseling at csu sacramento in 2009. i have worked as an academic advisor assisting undergraduate students with their ge and graduation requirements, and i still currently work as faculty lecturer with the department of receta del testimonio mole association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 39 theater and dance teaching mexican folklorico dance, both positions at csu sacramento. moreover, i've been a dancer for 13 years and 4 of those as instructor and coartistic director. the last 3 years with my colleague and one of my best friends, manuel perez. last, but not least, i identify myself as a gay mexican male who is still developing/shaping who i am today. i first started dancing folklórico because i missed seeing it danced on a regular basis. being in guadalajara, next to la plaza tapatia, watching the holidays, the festivals, the teatro degollado to see amalia hernandez’s dance company, to see la universidad de guadalajara at mariachi festivals, the fiestas de octubre . . . there was a lot going on back then. i enjoyed watching. then moving to the u.s. i missed that. it was like, now i’m here. i’m mexican i need to speak spanish. i need to keep everything in tact about my culture. el son del gusto is the first song that i learned to dance with full choreography and i loved it. i’ve made some of the best friendships ever in my life in the u.s. through dance. i have come to embrace performing in front of people—i used to be really scared. i enjoy the complexity of dances and movements, thinking of choreographies. it’s like a feeling of belonging and wanting to belong. i don’t know what life would be like without dancing. i don’t think i would have done anything else too much more productive. in our home videos, we have folklórico performances from elementary school, memories that have stuck with us. we would go to tlaquepaque at least once a month to see mariachi and dancers with cousins and family. folklórico has been a very crucial aspect of my family. luis navarro – “luis” i am mexican, latino, gay, american. yo soy mexicano, latino, gay, american. i dance because i am proud of my culture. yo bailo por que me emociona. i started dancing because i wanted to feel more connected to my culture. i started in college. it was a difficult time for me —it was an identity thing for me. i was having a really hard time being openly gay. in high school i used to call myself louis. in college, is when i really started referring to myself as luis. i learned to admire my culture and it wasn’t through a class or anything. i remember going to an event at uc davis and i remember seeing the danzantes pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 40 performing and i loved it. i said ‘oh my god’ and that’s why i joined. i loved it and that was in college. then i realized that i was trying to find myself so i stopped dancing. i joined a fraternity and i don’t know . . . but then i started realizing that i needed to explore and connect with my culture, my community, which is why i think i joined our dance company. i think i saw more people there that did it for their passion. i also saw people who were gay. i saw ozzy and i knew he was gay. then you came back from school and joined the company too. it all worked out. i am passionate about dance, but i don’t think i’m as passionate as you or ozzy are. i really admire the passion that you all have for it, more than i do. i feel connected in so many ways. i think about returning to folklórico all the time. it’s hard. it’s a part of me. it’s my cultura. i have a little bit of that through my job now and i enjoy it. when i relocated to southern california i had seriously considered returning to dance. i really missed dancing. however, i was in a different place when i went to visit a different company at the time. if i wasn’t in such a transitional period, i would be doing that now. you all are my extended family. folklórico is where i feel the most comfortable. it’s home. i miss it. we have similar goals. we have similar interests. being around each other and having a good time—it’s exciting. i love performing. i hate dancing socially, but i love performing. isn’t that funny? . . . and having you there . . . you were definitely more of the encouraging people that i met. you definitely helped me out with parts of my life that you know about. you pushed me not to give up on many things. i really appreciate that. i joined when i was going through a really difficult time. i was trying to get over my first boyfriend. i needed to feel something. i was really depressed. i needed to turn to my family and i didn’t have my family. i remember one of the days that my ex had been such an asshole to me. i remember that i called my mom and they were actually in hayward that day. i was so depressed. i called my mom and i just went over to be with my family. i mean i was depressed with them too, but i didn’t tell them why. i was resistant. i think that’s about the time that i turned to folklórico again to avoid depression and it really helped. i mean, we became amazing friends. i remember that my friends from sf were always saying that my dance friends and i were always hanging out, that we were so close, and that we were always together. it was true. we were very close and it was very comforting to me. receta del testimonio mole association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 41 i do carry it with me, what you told me that day about not giving up. i think about that often. i don’t know if you know that, but i do, and it’s meant a lot to me. i want you to know that. remember my old job at kvie? i feel like the dance group was a networking opportunity for me too. i would have never known about that job had it not been for the networking that dancing folklórico offered to me. i feel like that’s something that our white counterparts always have and that’s not something that i ever had growing up. had i not known about these jobs then i never would have made it to where i am at now in my career. in a way, folklórico was a form of networking career wise. it’s done a lot for me. las hermanas for each of the hermanas, folklórico played an important role in shaping their identity, strengthening their voices. their stories detail the unique ways in which their experiences were impacted by their connection to folklórico. their collective testimonio as hermanas is also evidence of the value traditional mexican folklórico had on their relationship. una platica entre danzantes each of the hermanas’ folklórico testimonios represent the resilience found within each of their individual cuentos. as each of the testimonialistas came together to reflect on their friendship as folkloristas and hermanas, the value of their relationships was even more evident as they discussed the experiences that they shared with one another. through this collective testimonio, the strength of their connections to one another, as a value added to each of their individual journeys in identity, is clearer. the following excerpts of dialogue are a product of their conversation together. luis: i think, for me, folklórico was more of a cultural dance kind of thing. it was more about learning about my mexicanidad. that is what folklórico was for me— it was historical. kinda like how we learned about danza de los parachicos, we learned about the european settlers and the indigenous communities in chiapas. dasa: there’s a historical reason for what we learn—like for example when we learned about how the slave trade got to veracruz in méxico. a lot of the movements of the dance come from this blending of history. there’s a reason why we do what we do . . . from pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 42 the dance style, the dress that we wear . . . it’s cuban, caribbean, and from africa. it is educational for us as performers. it shows on stage when we are performing. ozzy: i think folklórico has a lot do with relearning and reintegrating one’s self back into aspects of our own culture that we never knew existed. then we try to pass this on to other generations. we learned these dances from our ancestors and now we’re trying to pass it on to other generations. folklorico seems more to me like a lifestyle and a way to pass on tradition. it teaches a lot more . . . beyond schooling. it teaches me to be responsible. it helps me with my memory. dasa: i compare it to an oral history that is passed on. like, for example, you and ozzy are going to durango to learn a specific set of dances. there is no specific or super strict curriculum . . . you’ll be with maestros who learned it from their maestros and they learned it from other maestros. folklórico is like the tradition of oral history. luis: for me, folklórico was more about community. it was a place where i can be with likeminded people, a place where i could be accepted by my peers. obviously i came out when i was in the dance company—that was a huge step for me. folklórico allowed me to be proud of my culture but it also opened the door for me to be a gay latino . . . a princesa. dasa: i think that you kind of go through life looking for your people . . . your tribe or whatever. for me being born in méxico and growing up here, i could never really relate to mexicans because i was different. i was the one who grew up in u.s. we were different. i am not american either though because i was born in méxico. you seek out the people you relate to most . . . that’s what i found with you guys. luis: i don’t think i would have been able to have found that with other dance companies though. i think it’s also about the people . . . other companies were just at different levels of understanding. dasa: they just weren’t at your level of understanding at that specific moment in time. luis: i think there’s a group of us that assimilated in american culture, but also keep mexican culture. we were college educated at the time that we were dancing or we were pursuing higher education. it’s not that other dance companies were not, but i didn’t see any of that. we were all continuing to evolve on a regular basis. receta del testimonio mole association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 43 dasa: i can add that our dance company was very unique in that we all desired to pursue more than just a high school degree or diploma. we had bachelor’s, master’s, or ph.d.’s. with my current performing company, i haven’t seen that same thing. i think that speaks to the dance company, but also to us individually. luis: i think that could be a function of all of us being there in the company at the same time. nos hemos apoyado en diferentes maneras. i mean everything that you said to me, manuel. i mean when i was looking for a job you asked me, “what thing do you want that you have not achieved or gotten?” you said that to me. we support and encourage each other in different ways. we help each other to excel. ozzy: i want to add two things that i’ve observed about folklorico. one thing is that some companies are more americanized, speak more english. others are not americanized and not yet fully mexican, but speak more spanish. i think the fact that we’re bilingual, speaking english and spanish, had a lot do with our connection. we were able to share those experiences of coming from méxico and the u.s., talking about dance, and also helping each other to be successful. being bilingual, bicultural, biliterate (bisexual?) . . . well, maybe some people, but who knows . . . we were able to shift our mindset through dance. in our dancing we processed everything in two languages. being bilingual was an important aspect of schooling through dance. i’ve seen how not many other groups do that. luis: in our company, i saw people in the same situation as me. i saw young guys, my colleagues, my peers, in the same situation as me and living the same experiences i had, and who were openly gay and were still surrounded by other people who were completely ok with it. i thought the environment was welcoming and warm. i thought, “if they did it then i guess i’m going to be ok.” it then became a family outside of my own family. i think that’s also a really big thing . . . for our culture it’s hard to come out to our family. it was hard for me to actually tell them. it was easier to tell my family once i had told you guys. you guys are like my extended family. pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 44 la receta: extracting the flavor and meaning of the testimonio dasa: so hold up, let me see if i got this right and then you let me know if i got it. so testimonio is kinda like how our moms make mole, yeah? so, ozzy’s mom makes mole a certain way, my mom makes mole a certain way, and then your mom makes mole another way. our moms all make mole but it’s different. then, the internet will have a recipe for mole that will claim to be the “right way” to make mole. so all of these versions of mole are like testimonios, yeah? in the aforementioned passage, dasa has taken the concept of testimonio as methodology and placed it within a context that makes sense for his lived experience, and that of luis and ozzy, by relating testimonio to mexican cuisine. it made sense for the testimonialists. moreover, each of the dancers identified themselves in ways that reference their ethnicity and culture, their identities, their language, and their relationship to folklórico. testimonio as a product and method of latcrit race theory allows for the exploration of identity through ethnicity and race. latcrit race theory also transcends ethnicity and race to include such things as language, sexual orientation, gender, immigration and citizenship status among many more identities (solorzano & delgado bernal, 2001). thus, testimonio as a methodology allows for these rich descriptions and intersectional identities to play a vital role in informing the reader about the factors that influence the lives of each testimonialist. testimonio cultivates the essential elements of our intersectional identities and allows for three themes to emerge. through the aforementioned testimonios, the dancers have discussed folklórico as educación sobre comunidad, folklórico as educación sobre la familia, and folklórico as educación sobre el auto-estima, or self-esteem. through the use of story and personal narratives, the testimonios supercharge the landscape of dominant narratives in academia with powerful cuentos that expose tensions and highlight cultural capital in various languages and formats. testimonio provides a space for the voice and story of multiple truths—life as primary text. in her writing about critical race theory and community cultural wealth, yosso (2005) highlights six distinct elements of cultural capital that students of color bring to the classroom from their home environments. these elements comprise community cultural wealth and are often unrecognized or unacknowledged. folklórico embodies each of yosso’s (2005) elements receta del testimonio mole association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 45 of community cultural wealth. each of the elements—aspirational capital, linguistic capital, familial capital, social capital, navigational capital, and resistant capital—can be found within the three folklórico testimonio themes of comunidad, familia and auto-estima. the dancers address coming out as gay men, finding friendships, and learning about cultural history through a lens of community cultural wealth and in a strengths-based approach to understanding their lived experience. comunidad, familia, & auto-estima the theme of comunidad within the folklórico testimonios bears a striking resemblance to yosso’s (2005) linguistic, social, and navigational capital. the testimonios are delivered in spanish, english, and spanglish. in one instance, ozzy credits the solidarity of their friendships and relationship with the fact that they can switch between each of the languages effortlessly. this multilingual communication created a distinct flavor within the context of the dance company for all three dancers. this dynamic then consequently made their relationships stronger. this linguistic capital then made it easier to utilize the skills that each dancer brought to the performing company relative to social and navigational capital. through these relationships, each dancer’s access to skills and resources for navigating social systems was enhanced. consequently, this additional layer of shared community cultural capital positively impacted each dancer’s resilience in the face of obstacles such as disclosing their sexual identity to their family, similar to what luis shared in his testimonio. in their testimonios, each of the dancers also highlighted the importance of the folklórico company serving as an additional family structure away from home. family is a strong element of community cultural capital. each of the dancers referenced the development of a familia within folklórico which positively impacted the development of strong and healthy identities for each of the dancers. with a familia-based model of performance, folklórico provides an additional outlet through which youth can accumulate additional cultural capital away from the home, but still within a familia structure. this outlet can be beneficial as youth of color push up against social systems that displace their lived experience and make student success more challenging—additional family structures are valuable. pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 46 lastly, folklórico inspires a strong sense of auto-estima in the dancers. the physicality of the movements, the technique of the footwork and styling, and the cultural history component cater to the dancers’ aspirational and resistant capital. folklórico gives youth the opportunity to experience cultural pride in both physical, physiological, and mental contexts. all dancers spoke of the inspirational elements of folklórico, that it just felt right. in her research on performance pedagogy, roberts (2011) offers the concept of dance as a critical site of encounter for dancers and their audience in which the pedagogy reflects a raising of awareness, reflection, and social action. in this way, dance becomes a contested site of social action. this consciousness-raising is evident in the testimonios that discuss the personal awareness that comes as a result of folklórico training. in their introduction, each of the dancers began their testimonios with “i am” poems, which borrows from the critical consciousness and praxis elements of barrio pedagogy (romero, arce, & cammarota, 2009). through these poems, the dancers were able to position their identities in a critical moment of self-reflection for the sake of empowering their stories. dancers are shown a variety of ways in which to find inspiration and cultural pride within themselves. conclusion folkloristas make sense of the world through our cultura. we touch, we sing, and we dance our way to making sense of the world around us because that is how we have come to experience the world around us. we are born of a cultura that embraces, breathes, ebbs, and flows with the expansion of a canvas, the pages of the libro and the rhythms of our movement. for dancers of folklórico, and specifically for these three hermanas, the struggle to find their self and develop a positive identity as they journeyed through education is easier when you can return to a familiar space. more importantly, systems are much more easily navigated when this familiar space capitalizes on the skills and voice that youth of color have always had, but perhaps have not had as many opportunities to practice outside of their home or family structures. folklórico provides an additional space outside of the home through which youth can practice and strengthen their valuable cultural capital in an effort to create healthy and robust identities. folklórico positions the lived experiences of mexicanos throughout history as central to the story. through this cultural art form, dancers are instilled with cultural pride and are receta del testimonio mole association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 47 encouraged to continue fostering environments that welcome comunidad, familia, and strengthen auto-estima. as evidenced through the testimonios of the dancers, folklórico then provided additional foundations through which to practice bringing their cultural capital into other environments, such as the workplace. folklórico teaches dancers to use their bodies, their face, their eyes, their voice, and their rhythm to learn about the past, to learn about the history that informs their brown skin, their dark hair and eyes, and their spanglish tongue. anzaldúa (1987) asserts that this contextualizing of the past within current contexts is key to the development of a mestiza consciousness. this consciousness in turn generates a landscape for people of color to thrive within a third space that is neither here, nor there. this third space exists within the borders of contested and multiple identities. folklórico resilience testimonios create this third space, in what anzaldúa would consider a borderland. i call this series of folklórico resilience testimonios “la receta del testimonio mole,” for it is indeed a recipe for truth as we know it, and it was introduced by the testimonialists as a tool for sense-making and as a script for understanding testimonio in a way that made sense to them. pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 48 references anzaldua, g. (1987). borderlands la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460-471. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & carmona, j. f. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363-372. hidalgo, n. m. (2005). latino/a families’ epistemology. in p. pedraza & m. rivera (eds.), latino education: an agenda for community action research (pp. 375-402). new jersey: lawrence erlbaum. roberts, r. (2011). facing and transforming hauntings of race through the arts. equity & excellence in education, 44(3), 330-347. romero, a., arce, s., & cammarota, j. (2009). a barrio pedagogy: identity, intellectualism, activism, and academic achievement through the evolution of critically compassionate intellectualism. race, ethnicity, and education, 12(2), 217-233. solorzano, d., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8(1), 69-91. yudice, g. (1991). testimonio and postmodernism. latin american perspectives, 18(15), 15-3 documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 49 documenting the undocumented: testimonios as a humanizing pedagogy laura ochoa university of san francisco abstract this article delves deep into the story of “illegal” immigration, while humanizing the issue of those who experience it and its enduring consequences. in so doing, this study seeks to look beyond the broadly articulated claims about undocumented immigrants and shed light on what it really means to be unauthorized in america. this body of research challenges current immigration discourse through personal accounts, by exposing the areas of immigration where understanding is most needed. i use the methodological approach of testimonio to conduct, collect, and analyze four testimonio interviews of current undocumented immigrants living in the united states. towards the endeavor, this article seeks to create a rich narrative of human survival and about the struggles and obstacles undocumented immigrants face within our broken immigration system. introduction migration is fundamentally the story of the human race from its origins to the present. migration is an integral aspect of life on this planet. people move to survive. they move in search of food. they move away from danger and death. they move towards opportunities for life. migration is tied to the human spirit, which seeks adventure, pursues dreams, and finds reasons to hope even in the most adverse circumstances. (parker, 2011, p. 3) for as long as we have known, people have migrated in the world. from one village to another, one city to another, one country to another. the united states of america was founded and settled by immigrants. this is a significant part of the demographic history, known as the land of opportunity where newcomers can, through hard work and determination, achieve better lives for themselves and their families. numbers of foreigners throughout time have traveled to american shores to escape ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 50 famine, poverty, political and religious persecution, environmental degradation, and even war. the country itself has always been a beacon to people from across the globe seeking economic opportunities, safety, freedom, and a chance at the proverbial american dream. up until this day, people continue to cross borders, despite the dangers. over the years, traversing the u.s-mexican border illegally has become increasingly dangerous and expensive. migrants wanting to cross into the united states pay thousands of dollars and face kidnapping, rape, and sometimes even murder at the hands of violent drug cartels and ruthless human smugglers. others are killed in accidents or die harsh deaths of heat exhaustion and dehydration in remote and perilous stretches of scorching, waterless desert (sterling, 2010). nevertheless, the cost of coming to the united states without documents is more often than not a very difficult and traumatic experience for immigrants attempting to cross the border. invisibility undocumented immigrants have no way to tell you what they have experienced, or why, or who they are, or what they think. they are by the very nature of their experience, invisible. most of us pass them by--some of us might say a prayer for them, some of us wish they would return to their countries of origin. but nobody asks them what they think. nobody stops and simply asks. (orner, 2008, p. 5) despite their contributions, undocumented immigrants continue to live in the shadows of our society. much of the public discourse around immigration reform either criminalizes or dehumanizes the undocumented population. both the media and politicians repeatedly use derogatory terms such as “illegal” and “aliens” when describing those without proper documents. national and local immigration policy has only stigmatized and discriminated against migrants, further alienating them from the majority culture. today’s debates over immigration simply revolve around economic and political aspects, while ignoring the human perspective. in his introduction to underground america: narratives of undocumented lives, editor peter orner (2008) writes, “we hear they are responsible for crime. we hear that they take our jobs, our benefits. we hear they refuse to speak english. but how often do we hear from them?” documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 51 (p.7). journalist, david bacon (2009) in illegal people also echoes these concerns: “those who live with globalization’s consequences are not at the table, and their voices are generally excluded” (p. 14). lacking from mainstream politics is the human face to the immigration debate, the voices, the stories, and the testimonies of those living “illegally” in the united states. immigration is not purely a political issue, but a humanitarian one. the reality on the ground is much more complicated than the simple contrast between legal and illegal that characterizes mainstream policy and discourse. undocumented immigrants are human beings and integral parts of our society and economy. these men and women cannot be summed up by the jobs they perform, countries they come from or even immigration status. these immigrants are people; people with families, people with dreams, and people with desires. their voices and testimonies need to be at the forefront of immigration reform discourse and policy. to present only the facts, is to miss those aspects of how migration policy actually affects the people it is intended to regulate. if we are to find our way to a solution on immigration, we must examine the social complexity of the problem and bring the voices of undocumented immigrants out of the shadows of invisibility, silence and shame. theoretical framework and methodology this study is grounded in one main theory: critical race theory (crt) with an emphasis on latina/o critical race theory (latcrit); an overarching branch of critical race theory that examines forms of subordination specifically related to the latina/o community based on immigration status, language, and ethnicity (huber, 2010). latcrit theory, like critical race theory, emphasizes the multidimensionality of oppressions, while claiming that race is central in understanding how individuals experience societal structures and form identities accordingly (fernandez, 2002). in this context, latcrit allows for specific examination of the ways latinas/os experience issues of immigration status, race, language, ethnicity, and culture. thus, latcrit enables researchers to better articulate the evolution and challenges of the undocumented, through a more focused analysis of the unique forms of oppression this community encounters. ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 52 in this study, crt recognizes the experiential knowledge of people of color, specifically immigrants of color, as legitimate, appropriate and critical to understanding, analyzing and teaching about racial subordination. looking through a crt lens means exploring some of the critical race methodological and pedagogical approaches that can help one understand the contemporary experiences of latina/o undocumented immigrants in the united states. crt in immigration research unapologetically centers on challenging dominant ideologies and disrupting dominant perceptions, understandings, and knowledge about undocumented immigrants living in this country (castro-salazar & bagley, 2012). for this field, crt contributes to the centrality of the experiences of immigrants through personal counter-histories and narratives, as a tool for empowerment. these stories challenge the governing historical narratives and current political platforms of exclusion and continue to give a voice to those that have been silenced by white supremacy. finally, critical race theory serves as the unifying framework in this study because it places the oral histories, cuentos, and testimonies of immigrants in the contemporary and historical contexts, while exposing racism as a main thread in the fabric of american society. guided by a latcrit framework, this study employs testimonio as the primary research methodology. a shared definition of testimonio is a revolutionary latin american literary genre that has been used by individuals to tell a collective story and history of oppression through the narrative of one individual (beverly, 2004). i account for the "other" voices that continue to be consistently excluded from mainstream discourses in our culture through testimonio. a testimonio can define a life story; yet, at the same time, it can explain the collective history and spiritual struggle of not only one, but of many. the principle of testimonio is the phrase: “tu eres mi otro yo,” “you are the other me,” our struggle is collective, our voice is one. this form of methodology holds particular importance because it allows researchers to document and inscribe into existence narratives reflective of collective experiences, political injustices, and human struggles that are often ignored in dominant discourses. documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 53 “testimonios” the significance of this work lies within the compelling stories—the testimonios —of the shadowed lives in american society. from a macro and micro perspective of this work, i examine the experiences of undocumented immigrants as individuals trying to survive and settle into a society that, in many ways, rejects their essential humanity. i explore how the media and legal system both portray and affect this population, and utilize testimonio as a tool that challenges the morality of our current immigration discourse that continues to oppress these specific people. this article hopes to put a face to the immigration debate and bring awareness to the large-scale impact immigration reform has on individuals, while also providing an alternative perspective to policy makers and the general public, who might be misinformed about the issue or have conflicting views on immigration. perhaps the opinions of policy makers and others cannot be changed, but counter-narratives to their views can and should be provided. more importantly, this article aims to move public conversation beyond the polarized frames associated with illegality, and position the voices, experiences, and stories of undocumented immigrants at the forefront of research and analysis. esperanza emmanuel garcia "the journey towards you, lord, is life. to set off... is to die a little. to arrive is never to arrive until one is at rest with you. you, lord, experienced migration. you brought it upon all men who know what it is to live who seek safe passage to the gates of heaven. you drove abraham from his land, father of all believers. you shall remember the paths leading to you, the prophets and the apostles. you yourself became a migrant from heaven to earth." -'the migrant's prayer' after my father died in 1999, i had to drop out of school and work for my family. i started working in mexico city, cleaning taxis and recruiting passengers for the drivers. i was 15 years old at the time. i also started hanging out with the wrong people on the street. i began to buy drugs, do drugs, and even sell drugs. i was hustling and making that money. before i delved in too deep, my mother suggested i leave mexico and head to phoenix, arizona with my tío jose. she worried and wanted a better life for me. i ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 54 think i wanted one too. my uncle jose was headed to phoenix to find work. he had three kids and a wife that he needed to provide for. during that time, mexico didn’t have many good jobs available, especially for those without an education. my uncle was a carpenter and had some experience in construction. he loved building and designing things. he once told me that if could have studied, he would have been an architect. in the winter of 1999, my uncle and i boarded an estrella blanca bus in mexico city to a town further north. we didn’t have the money or time to apply for an american visa, so we planned to cross into texas illegally and travel to arizona. before we left, my mother gave me a librito of santo toribio romo oraciones del migrante (a small prayer book of the saint for immigrants); she said it would protect me and bring me back to her. even now, i carry the little booklet with me, everywhere i go. our journey to the united states took more than a week. we rode a bus, walked some many miles and hopped on a train for two days. once at the border, we were smuggled across the line in a van and transported to a drop house in a taxi. the journey itself was horrible. i witnessed a lot of things that i never thought i’d see. i would hear woman and young girls scream at night to “stop,” while the coyotes raped and abused them. i saw families and individuals give up mid-way because they couldn’t go any further. i remember seeing a lot of things like snakes, scorpions and even human remains as we walked. and we walked for hours that felt like days. i had my feet full of blisters and lost some of my toenails from walking so much. there was a time that i think i started hallucinating. but we kept going… once over the border, we were dropped off at the rio grande in south texas at night and we swam across. the water seemed freezing at the time. there was a group of about seven of us. when we got to the other side, a car that was painted like a taxi awaited us. we were driven to a house in texas, where we slept for a few days. there were a lot of people at the house. i am talking like hundreds of people, a lot of women and children, but mostly men. we slept in a room like sardines. on the fifth day, we paid our dues and were on our way. from texas, my tío and i took a bus to phoenix that same day. we arrived three days later. i hated phoenix. the city was hot, noisy, impersonal, and lonely. i started school (even though i didn’t understand one word of english), then worked at a local mexican restaurant bussing tables. when i didn’t work, documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 54 i was often alone. my uncle worked late and i didn’t have any friends. i yearned for my life in mexico, especially on the holidays. in the united states, the holidays were sterile and lonely with no family celebrations or good home cooked food. christmas in america was nothing like the festive celebrations in mexico. three years later, i graduated high school and spoke enough english to get a job waiting tables. i wanted to be a computer technician, but the lack of papers kept me from going to college. my life changed, when i met a blue-eyed blonde named tara. i met tara while waiting on her and her friends one summer day. she was sixteen, the daughter of an unemployed truck driver and a stay-at-home mom. she lived in a trailer park with her grandmother and two other sisters. her father was a drunk and her mother, unfortunately, a drug addict. we married six months after we met at the arizona courthouse. we didn’t have a party. we didn’t have a cake. the only person who attended our wedding was my uncle jose. it didn’t matter to us. we were happy. my marriage to tara didn’t change anything. i remained undocumented, of course. since i entered the united states “illegally,” my marriage didn’t change my status, but i was fine with it. i had tara and to me that was all i cared about. tara and i rented our own apartment in central phoenix. she graduated high school and began working at ross as a cashier. i took a series of low-paying jobs to provide for my wife. i sometimes used her social security to work or bought fake documents to land jobs. i assisted carpenters, painted houses, flipped burgers, and washed dishes to make ends meet. in 2005, i was hired as a painter with a crew that painted public funded projects. i painted hospitals, casinos, fire stations, multimillion dollar homes, restaurants and phoenix’s sky harbor airport. i made about $2,000 a month. it was good money, i thought. that same year, i became a father to my first son miguel. by then, we owned a condo and two cars. i really felt like i was living the american dream. i had a job, a home, and a small family of my own. in 2007, tara gave birth to our second son mark. she stopped working permanently and became a stay-at-home mom. with me personally, something started to change. i felt tired a lot of the times. i would call in sick at least once a week. my back ached and i felt nauseated most days. one morning, i couldn’t even get out of bed, that tara drove me to the emergency room. after a series of tests, i was diagnosed ochoa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue, 2, issn 2377-9187 | 56 with renal disease. i didn’t know what the doctors were talking about when they mentioned kidneys. all i knew was that it seemed serious and i needed help. a social worker explained to me that it was necessary for me to receive emergency treatment if i wanted to live. i couldn’t afford the treatment needed. the treatment for renal disease was about $36,000 per year, not including doctor visits. state laws and my undocumented status, unfortunately, prevented me from receiving any financial assistance. undocumented immigrants were banned from getting any public funded health services in the state of arizona. i also had no insurance. for most of my time in the united states, i avoided the doctor and hospital at all costs. if it wasn’t serious, i wouldn’t go. but sadly, there was no avoiding this. later that year, my social worker called me and said that i was eligible for emergency medical service, regardless of my status. apparently, the state of arizona was forced to pay for my dialysis indefinitely under a disability law because it was a lifethreatening emergency. the doctors told me that i could survive on the dialysis for about five years. but after just a few months, i needed a kidney transplant to stay alive. of course, the state would not pay for a kidney transplant for an undocumented immigrant like me. plus, transplants weren’t considered life-saving emergencies under health regulations. it was then that i realized the gravity of my illness. i didn’t have much time to live without a transplant. i had lost control of my life. nothing seemed easy now. my wife was working two jobs to keep us afloat. my eyesight was failing and my weight dropped from 250 to 200 pounds. we lost the condo. we lost our cars. with less income and more medical expenses, our financial problems mounted. my american dream had evaporated. no kidney transplant. no condo. no health insurance. no documents. and soon no money. after just a year of dialysis, collection agencies called every day. without me working, we weren’t making the bills on time and couldn’t afford to live in phoenix anymore. i decided i was going to move back to mexico to be with my mother. in mexico, transplants and dialysis were free. my mother and sister were also willing to donate a kidney to me. everything seemed more hopeful in mexico city than in phoenix. my family and i would take our $4,000 in savings and move to mexico. in april of 2009, i went to my last dialysis before leaving for the airport. i knew that if i didn’t documenting the undocumented association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 57 have a dialysis before i left, i risked dying. i had a plan. we were going to go to mexico, get a transplant, save money and come back to phoenix. that was the plan. once in mexico city, my plans began collapsing. i had no transplant donors. my mother, sister and wife were no match. because i never worked in mexico, i didn’t qualify for funded medical assistance. i had to pay for my dialysis and medicines. and it was too much. our savings had dwindled from $4,000 to $1,800 because of my medical costs. there were days that i wondered if i was going to make it. with the money we had left, we decided i’d go back to phoenix to get the medical help i needed. i couldn’t get a transplant, but i could still get dialysis. i felt like a fool. why hadn't i just stayed in phoenix in the first place? now i had to go back and leave my family behind, to stay alive. i set out to cross the border through nogales, sonora. i called my tío jose to make arrangements to be picked up. i did make it to phoenix again. a few months after i arrived, chandler police and federal agents conducted a raid where i had started working, arresting all undocumented immigrants. at that time, i was working at a local car wash in phoenix, cleaning cars. the raid terrified me. i was told that the people of arizona wanted “illegal aliens” gone and i too would soon be deported...i was taken to a county jail at first, then transported here, to this detention center. it didn’t take long for them to learn that i was ill. i passed out in a van, as they transported me to the detention facility. since being detained, my treatments have dropped down to twice a week with little medication. i sleep a lot. i feel worse than before, but try to hang on. i want to see my family again, even if it’s for the last time… association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 90 reform without justice: latino migrant politics and the homeland security state by alfonso gonzales, 2013 new york: oxford university press, 240 pages kathleen r. arnold depaul university today, the dominant rhetoric about migration to the united states takes as self-evident notions such as a broken immigration system, no pathway to citizenship, and concerns about “illegals.” in turn, these problematic categories rest on binaries of deserving and undeserving, racial hierarchies intersecting with sexism and classbias, and the denial of linkages to sending countries. alfonso gonzales’ recent book, reform without justice: latino migrant politics and the homeland security state, is an immensely important and informative book that investigates how these claims have come to dominate common sense understandings of contemporary migration and what each of these notions justifies and masks. the sum of gonzales’ arguments suggest that the system does not seem broken so much as purposefully creating public fears about criminal-immigrants, whose criminality is not determined by crime so much as by racial, gender, and economic class statuses. while it may be true that attaining citizenship is difficult, gonzales demonstrates that current proposals from expanded daca (deferred action for childhood arrivals) and the provisions of the various proposals for cir (comprehensive immigration reform) mostly keep immigrants in a legal limbo, ensuring that there is a supply of low-wage labor that can be disposed of while a few who are privileged or lucky will be able to naturalize. the goal is a guest-worker system, with all of its attendant abuses and exploitation, rather than a stable political status. related to these issues, the term “illegal” tells us more about the laws and societal attitudes about immigrants than it does about the immigrants themselves. the term connotes racial hierarchies, class biases, and gendered subjectivities often arbitrarily applied to latin@s as a monolithic whole. gonzales’ approach is gramscian and thus he does not just investigate current immigration policies but the role of civil society actors, the media, and politician-pundits in terms of the current perception that there is an immigration crisis as well as middle-of-the-road reformers and more progressive (i.e. radical) activists. of course, the role of the state is important in shaping the legal status of immigrants, and gonzales goes beyond most immigration analyses’ frameworks by investigating the dynamics of neoliberal policies and trade agreements between the united states and central america as well as the united states’ continued military presence and influence in this area. gonzales does not merely assert the links that are formed with military and economic relationships but investigates certain examples in-depth, particularly regarding southcom and its continued influence in central america after the 1980s. in particular, he establishes “the consolidation of an emergent transnational system of migration control between the united states and el salvador” (p. 106). a parallel trajectory to this transnational power dynamic is accounting for the plight of deportees when they reach their home countries and are often stigmatized at best and brutally beaten or jailed at worst. while some authors like daniel kanstroom provide a legal analysis of detention and deportation, gonzales provides one of the best accounts i have read regarding the meaning of deportation to repressive countries in central america, including first-hand experiences related to him by interviewees. he illustrates how deportation is not the terminus of legal proceedings but the beginning of social stigma, economic exclusion, and the possibility of torture, detention in one’s own country, or death. in effect, gonzales wants to remind us that much of our immigration policy is interconnected with foreign policy, policy in other countries, and neoliberal economic arrangements. interwoven into all of these accounts are stories from the sixty individuals he interviewed for this book. because he is drawing on several methodologies, gonzales’ book is necessarily transdisciplinary. however, this is also necessary to be able to address the complex workings of today’s policies, laws, and attitudes towards migrants in addition to examining the transnational bases of migration flows to the united states. this book could be framed as an important contribution to latin@ studies, political theory, and related disciplines in three different ways. first, gonzales goes beyond much of the latin@ studies literature to not merely study formal politics and statistics related to key institutions but also to analyze the roots of current power dynamics within formal and informal politics. drawing on a unique interpretation of antonio gramsci that emphasizes the role of consent to authoritarian politics, even among the left, gonzales thus explains the structural roots reform without justice association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 91 of today’s institutional behaviors. the notion of “consensual domination” is a particularly important aspect of this, suggesting the complicity of the majority of people to authoritarian and undemocratic practices in migration policy. a second view of this book is that it provides an intellectual history of civil society actors who sought to defeat the sensenbrenner bill and to support different, less problematic versions of comprehensive immigration reform or to pursue more radical ends. in constructing this history, gonzales’ book is a valuable account of specific groups, important actors, and various debates and divisions within these groups. in this way, he explores civil society groups in far more depth than many authors and also provides important insight into how and why some of these groups and their members became co-opted by the obama administration. this is significant to establish a contemporary intellectual history of latin@ leaders as experiencing a specific and contingent form of racism and discrimination based on alienage that cannot be reduced to or subsumed under the experiences of other racial minorities. this book can also be viewed as an important intervention in the social protest literature, examining the various facets of groups and individuals (particularly unaffiliated youth) who supported the “mega-marches” of 2006 and 2007 as well as the great boycott. while gonzales provides unique insight into the role of these different groups, he also discusses why their current efforts have either been neutralized or have failed: they lack long-term vision. in any of these interpretations, it is evident that his investigations—of why and how the mega-marches occurred, led to defeat of the sensenbrenner bill, and yet later fizzled out—expose the degree to which some individuals were often cooperating with the state authority they sought to challenge. to recuperate the radical and more deeply democratic vision of activists, gonzales urges latin@ leaders to formulate a longterm political plan that does not compromise with or consent to the current authoritarian power dynamics governing migration policy at this time. the book could be faulted for not drawing on a more intersectional approach (race and masculinity are the dominant frames), but it is such a valuable resource in terms of deep policy analysis, social movements history, and examining latin@ activism in its own terms, that what gonzales doesn’t do matters less than what he does do. in the end, gonzales’ book is a well-researched, valuable book that will foster dialogue and help us learn how to create a more democratic future. reform without justice open_issues-12.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 57 neltiliztli martha alicia reyes poeta/poet libre . . . yo quiero ser libre, tú quires ser libre, ellos quieren ser libres, pues ¡ya liberémonos! de ese yugo invisible. luchemos por romper esa cadena que no vemos, pero que pesa, cadena que arrastramos hace años, que nos ha dejado huellas tan profundas y nos evita el avance rápido y el ser felices totalmente en nuestra propia tierra, en nuestra querida américa. ¡ neltiliztli! busquemos la raíz de la verdad . . . descubramos la verdad y encontremos los tesoros escondidos en el pasado, busquemos la verdad en las antiguas ruinas, en la voz de los ancianos, en lugares inexplorados y en nuestra olvidada biblioteca . . . en los libros empolvados. la verdad romperá la cadena de la ignorancia que nos ata. es con la verdad que se derrumban barreras . . . es la verdad la que nos dará luz y fuerza. la verdad nos hará libres, la verdad alumbrará lo oscuro de nuestra existencia. miremos la verdad redonda desde todas sus facetas. aprendamos nuestra historia, nuestras raíces, nuestra cultura, mitos y leyendas . . . nuestra base. ¡ neltiliztli! busquemos la raíz de la verdad, y descubramos nuestra esencia . . . y ¡por qué no!, comprendamos nuestro mestizaje, nuestro mestizaje que nos afrenta. hay enterrada en nuestra tierra toda la sabiduría olmeca, maya, inca, azteca, española, árabe, portuguesa, etcétera. somos una mezcla perfecta de culturas antiguas, de incas sabios, de mayas científi cos, de fuertes aztecas, de aventureros y arrogantes europeos, de extravagantes árabes, de españoles renacentistas. ¡no!, no nos perdamos en esta continua conquista por un poder asqueroso, frío y capitalista. lo que tenemos en nuestra sangre, en nuestro corazón, y en nuestro espíritu es innato y nadie nos lo quita . . . ningún conquistador puede quitarnos nuestra historia y sabiduria, y nuestro orgullo de ser fruto de esta tierra, de la tierra prometida. no olvidemos que tenemos las raíces más profundas. no olvidemos que oriundos somos de la américa divina. neltiliztli association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 58 ¡ neltiliztli! busquemos la raíz de la verdad. investiguemos, cuestionemos, exploremos, estudiemos, descubramos, aprendamos, escuchemos, busquemos y encontremos la raíz de la verdad de todo cuanto nos rodea. sobre todo indaguemos el origen de nuestra existencia, y no olvidemos de que seguiremos siendo los primeros aquí, en esta tierra tan amada, en nuestra preciosa américa. neltiliztli http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 109 what does it mean to be latinx-serving? testing the utility of the typology of hsi organizational identities gina ann garcia university of pittsburgh abstract while scholars agree that enrolling a large percentage of latinx students is not enough for postsecondary institutions to be considered “latinx-serving,” there continues to be a debate about what it means for institutions to have an organizational identity for serving this population. the typology of hsi organizational identities is a guiding framework that suggests there are multiple ways for an institution to serve latinx students, and thus multiple “types” of hispanicserving institutions (hsis). the typology considers academic and non-academic outcomes for latinx students as well as the institution’s ability to provide a culture that enhances their racial/ethnic experience. in this study, i used the typology to classify four hsis and two emerging hsis in the midwest, a geographic area in the united states with a growing population of latinxs and hsis. i drew on secondary data from the integrated postsecondary education data system (ipeds) and primary data from institutional websites. in doing so, i sought to test the utility of the typology for classifying institutions for research, practice, and policy, and found that it is a useful tool for looking at how postsecondary institutions may serve latinx students beyond enrollment. implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed. keywords: hispanic-serving institutions, latinx-serving identity, latinx college students, organizational culture, organizational identity doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.363 what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 110 introduction individual identity development of college students is a concept that higher education scholars have grappled with for some time. less effort has been spent trying to understand the organizational identity of postsecondary institutions, with weerts, freed, and morphew (2014) concluding that “literature on this topic has produced a fragmented set of studies only loosely connected to the broad concept of organizational identity” (p. 230). while organizational theorists have spent over three decades conceptualizing, defining, and testing the concept of organizational identity, the extensive body of literature on the topic complicates any endeavor to understand the concept. gonzales (2013) contends that organizational identities of postsecondary institutions are constructed along “institutionalized ways of knowing,” or based on measures that the field of higher education recognizes as “legitimate.” other researchers suggest an organizational identity is embedded within the culture (hatch & schultz, 1997), or rooted in historical legacies and institutional sagas (macdonald, 2013; weerts et al., 2014). the organizational identity of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) is even more complex, with scholars and practitioners grappling with the question, “what does it mean to be latinx-serving?” by definition, hsis are accredited, degree-granting, non-profit institutions that enroll 25% of more fulltime equivalent enrollment of undergraduate latinx1 students (santiago, 2006). santiago (2012), however, points out that this is a political identity, based solely on enrollment and the federal government’s desire to address the low college-going and completion rates of the latinx population. moreover, hsis are newer organizational forms, first being recognized by the federal government in 1992, meaning they do not have extensive histories or organizational sagas from which to construct an organizational identity. while few scholars have attempted to conceptualize an organizational identity for hsis (garcia, 2016, 2017), some argue that hsis are not latinx-serving, simply because they operate like traditionally white2 institutions. researchers have concluded that the mission statements of hsis do not reflect a commitment to serving latinx students (contreras, malcom, & bensimon, 2008), the curricula are not ethno-centric (cole, 2011), and hsis embrace white normative practices that reinforce dominant ways of knowing (ledesma & burciaga, 2015). furthermore, 1 i use the term “latinx” as a gender inclusive term for people who self-identify as having racial and ethnic roots in latin america, south america, mexico, and parts of the caribbean. 2 i intentionally use a lower case “w” when referring to white as a race in order to decenter whiteness in my research and writing. garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 111 the faculty and administration remain predominantly white (contreras & contreras, 2015; santos & acevedo-gil, 2013). although these may all be indicators of a latinx-serving identity (or lack thereof), there is a need to further operationalize this identity in a way that is useful in practice and policy. the purpose of this study was to move from theoretical propositions laid out by garcia (2016, 2017) about the ontological construction of a latinx-serving identity, to a more useful approach to understanding and classifying hsis beyond enrollment. as such, i used the typology of hsi organizational identities (garcia, 2017) to classify six eligible hsis and emerging hsis (ehsis; postsecondary institutions that enroll between 15%-24% latinx students) in the midwest along multiple indicators of a latinx-serving identity, as suggested by the literature and garcia (2017). literature review theoretically, it has been proposed that an organizational identity may be socially constructed by organizational members based on their understanding of the central, distinct, and enduring features of the organization, or developed by organizational leaders based on their desire to gain legitimacy when compared to similar organizations in the field (pedersen & dobbin, 2006). while i contend that both are theoretically useful, i turned to the current research on hsis to better understand how scholars have framed what it means to be latinxserving. while most have not called it a “latinx-serving identity,” i used the literature to understand what a latinx-serving identity may look like in practice. some have implied that if an institution produces positive academic outcomes, it is effectively serving latinx students (and vice versa). in reviewing persistence data (enrolling for three consecutive semesters), 30-unit completion rates, transfer rates (from community college to four-year institutions), and graduation rates (associates or bachelor’s degree) at 56 hsis in california, contreras and contreras (2015) found that while latinx students persisted and completed 30-units in equitable rates compared to white students, they transferred and graduated at lower rates. as such, the authors suggested that california hsis (both two-year and four-year) are not effectively serving latinx students. these findings paralleled earlier work by contreras and colleagues (2008), who provided evidence that hsis are not producing equitable outcomes for latinx students in comparison to white students, and therefore not effectively serving latinx students. what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 112 scholars using advanced statistical modeling, however, have shown that when institutional characteristics, such as selectivity, are accounted for, the significant differences in graduation outcomes for latinx students at hsis versus non-hsis essentially disappear (flores & park, 2013, 2015; rodríguez & calderón galdeano, 2015). others have used alternative measures of academic success to complicate the notion of serving latinx students. in a study of nine community colleges in california, hagedorn, chi, cepeda, and mclain (2007) found that a critical mass of latinx students and faculty on campus was a positive predictor of a variable they called “meta-success,” inclusive of course success ratios, cumulative gpa, and course completion rates. while the authors of these studies did not make strong claims about the extent to which hsis are serving latinx students, they provided evidence to suggest that if academic outcomes are in fact indicators of how well institutions are serving latinx students, hsis may be serving latinx students as well as comparable non-hsis. non-academic outcomes could also be indicators of a latinx-serving identity. fosnacht and nailos (2015) used a counterfactual decomposition technique to account for institutional differences and found that hsis have a positive, yet modest effect on engagement outcomes for latinx students. similarly, gonzález (2008) contends that latinx students at hsis engage in civic activities at similar rates as white students, despite the fact that numerous studies have shown that people of color3 are less likely to be civically engaged. cuellar (2014) found that latinx students at hsis show a significant increase in their academic self-concept over four years. latinx students may also develop racial identity salience as a result of attending an hsi or ehsi (garcia, patrón, ramirez, & hudson, 2016). again, these authors did not discuss an hsi organizational identity, per se, but they framed their studies to suggest that non-academic outcomes may be indicators of a latinx-serving identity. a third way that a latinx-identity may be understood is through the campus culture. in this regard, the argument is that if an institution has a positive, culturally engaging campus, it is effectively serving latinx students (and vice versa). for example, the culture at hsis may help latinx students feel connected to faculty and staff on campus with similar racial/ethnic backgrounds (dayton, gonzalez-vasquez, martinez, & plum, 2004) and may increase their sense of belonging (arbelo-marrero & milacci, 2016; maestas, vaquera, & muñoz zehr, 2007). staff 3 i intentionally capitalize “people of color” and all its forms in order to center the experiences of racialized people within my research and writing. garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 113 and administrators at hsis may also create campus cultures that foster success for latinx students (espinoza & espinoza, 2012; garcia & ramirez, 2015). some hsis incorporate advising models that are culturally relevant (garcia & okhidoi, 2015) while others enact student support programs that validate latinx students (martinez & gonzales, 2015). there are also numerous examples of faculty at hsis that utilize culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms, recognizing the unique ways of knowing of latinx students (cervantes, 2015; kiasatpour & lasley, 2008; lara & lara, 2012; núñez, murakami-ramalho, & cuero, 2010). alternatively, some studies have revealed that the way that latinxs experience the campus culture at hsis is complex (i.e., sometimes positive and sometimes negative) (cuellar & johnson-ahorlu, 2016; garcia, 2015), further complicating the argument about the extent to which hsis are effectively serving latinx students. whether studies are framed around academic and non-academic outcomes, or campus culture, the argument (often unintentionally) is that these variables are good indicators of the extent to which institutions are serving latinx students. theoretical framework recognizing the need to specifically conceptualize a latinx-serving identity, i proposed a typology of hsi organizational identities (see figure 1) (garcia, 2017). drawing on the extant literature on hsis, incorporating two organizational theories (institutional theory and cultural theory), and using data from an in-depth case study of a four-year hsi in the southwest, i synthesized the indicators of a latinx-serving identity. with the typology, i proposed a comprehensive understanding of this identity based on outcomes for latinx students (e.g., graduation, post graduate job placement, post-baccalaureate degree attainment) and a culture that ultimately produces these outcomes (e.g., positive campus climate, support services, community engagement). i developed the typology based on how organizational members in the study constructed an ideal hsi identity and proposed four quadrants based on this construction. the overwhelming majority of participants said that an hsi should produce desirable outcomes typically used to measure institutional success with regard to serving students (i.e., graduation rates). others suggested that an hsi should enact a culture that enhances the experiences of latinx students. the typology, therefore, incorporates both outcomes and culture, complicating what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 114 organizational outcomes for latinxs high latinx-producing latinx-serving low latinx-enrolling latinx-enhancing low high organizational culture reflects latinxs figure 1. typology of hsi organizational identities. adapted from garcia (2017). the ways in which an organization may serve latinx students. in proposing a typology, i intentionally chose not to suggest rank ordering hsis, and instead argue that all types of hsis are worthy and valid within an overly stratified system of higher education. one organizational identity, latinx-enrolling, suggests that an institution enrolls the minimum 25% latinx students needed to become federally designated as an hsi, but does not produce equitable outcomes for latinx students. furthermore, it may not have an organizational culture that supports latinx students. a second organizational identity, latinxproducing, suggests an institution enrolls at least 25% latinx students and produces a significant number of outcomes for latinx students. the institution, however, might lack a culture for supporting the success of latinx students. a third organizational identity, latinx-enhancing, is based on enrolling a minimum of 25% latinx students and enacting a culture that enhances the educational and racial/ethnic experience of latinx students. the institution, however, may not produce an equitable number of outcomes for latinx students, as legitimized by the field. finally, a latinx-serving identity is one in which an institution enrolls 25% latinx students, produces an equitable number of outcomes for latinx students, and enacts a culture that enhances the educational and racial/ethnic experience of latinx students. in this study, i used the typology to classify six hsis/ehsis in the midwest as different types, not necessarily identities, since i theoretically conceptualize organizational identities as socially constructed. instead, this approach is more practical and relevant to policy. garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 115 methods the purpose of this study was to test the extent to which the typology of hsi organizational identities can be used to classify hsis. i used a multiple case study approach, first looking at the single cases, comparing and contrasting them, and then seeking to understand the larger “quintain.” the quintain is the “object or phenomenon or condition to be studied—a target, but not a bull’s eye” (stake, 2006, p. 6). in this study, the quintain is, “being latinxserving,” beyond simply enrolling 25% or more latinx students. i first looked for indicators of a latinx-serving identity as suggested by garcia (2017), then i began to make sense of the quintain by examining the similarities and differences across each case. data collection for this study, i used two sources of data including secondary data maintained by the integrated postsecondary education data system (ipeds) and primary data gathered through a systematic review of each institution’s website. data collection occurred during the fall 2015 semester. as such, the ipeds data are for the 2013-2014 academic year. data gathered from the institutional websites are based on the most up-to-date information available on each site during the time of data collection. from ipeds i collected undergraduate and graduate enrollment for fall 2013, disaggregated by race. i also collected the percentage of faculty and administrators who identify as people of color and latinx (see table 1). to better understand institutional characteristics, i collected sat/act composite scores and data on whether or not the institution has an open admissions policy (indicators of institutional selectivity), information on the number of students who receive pell grants (indicator of percentage low income students enrolled), and institutional expenditures on instruction, academic support, and student support services (see table 2). what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 116 table 1 compositional characteristics for six cases (fall 2013) institution fte undergraduate enrollment latinx undergrad soc undergrad graduate enrollment latinx graduate soc graduate latinx administrators latinx faculty acu 6,635 8,950 35% 55% 1,871 14% 30% 18% 11% mcu 1,971 2,069 40% 50% 1,401 13% 28% 4.5% 3% apc 1,325 1,607 88% 91% ---77% 48% rpu 2,701 2,781 27% 59% 452 15% 55% 7.5% 2% rru 15,914 16,671 24% 56% 11,367 9% 30% 10% 7% ccu 2,636 2,920 23% 42% 1,332 8% 32% 2% 1% note. soc = students of color note. all data were retrieved from ipeds except fte; fte obtained from excelencia in education. garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 117 table 2 institutional characteristics for six cases (fall 2013) institution fte part-time enrollment percent pell sat composite open admission instructional expenditures/fte academic support expenditures/fte student services expenditures/fte acu 6,635 3,882 48% 990 no 14,278 1,936 2,866 mcu 1,971 162 43% 1160 no 14,983 4,150 3,491 apc 1,325 464 70% -yes 4,575 1,077 1,302 rpu 2,701 132 61% -no 7,633 3,636 9,642 rru 15,914 1,269 51% 1240 no 45,852 9,948 3,403 ccu 2,636 468 50% 1115 no 11,621 2,050 3,931 note. all data were retrieved from ipeds except fte; fte obtained from excelencia in education. what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 118 for persistence and graduation data, i gathered six-year graduation rates and data on the percentage of completers, disaggregated by race. as argued by santiago, taylor, and calderón galdeano (2016), completion rates may be better indicators of how well hsis are doing with regard to producing equitable outcomes since these rates account for students who transferred in from other institutions, whereas six-year graduation rates only account for firsttime, full-time students. in order to understand equity in graduation and completion rates, i compared these outcomes for latinx students to all races and white students. while there are numerous data points i could have drawn from ipeds, i chose to limit my analysis to these variables as a way to focus on indicators of access and graduation, both of which have been noted as important indicators of an hsi organizational identity. in reviewing websites of the institutions in the sample, i looked for indicators of what museus (2014) calls a culturally engaging campus environment, including opportunities to engage in meaningful racial/ethnic and cross-racial/ethnic interactions with faculty, staff, and other peers, as well as opportunities to participate in humanizing and validating educational environments. others have expanded and highlighted these factors within an hsi context (garcia, 2016; garcia & okhidoi, 2015; torres & zerquera, 2012). guided by these propositions, i reviewed mission and value statements, strategic plans, websites for programs that support minoritized students (low income, first-generation, students of color), and news articles about the institution’s status as an hsi. i tracked the number of multicultural and/or latinx specific cultural centers, ethnic studies programs, and/or latinx specific curricular programs, pre-college outreach and enrollment programs, such as trio and educational opportunity programs, and academic support programs that are specifically for minoritized students within each institution. i also tracked the number of latinx student organizations. while there are other ways i could have determined how engaging a campus is for latinx and other minoritized students, i limited my qualitative review to these factors based on garcia’s (2016, 2017) theoretical propositions and scholarship reviewed for this study. case selection the cases used in this study are part of a larger project called the midwest hsi study. while there are many geographic areas in the united states worth examining in order to learn about the population of hsis, this project is focused on the midwest for two reasons: (1) there garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 119 is a significant number of latinx people in the midwest, with illinois alone being one of five states with the largest latinx population (2.2 million) (stepler & lopez, 2016), and (2) there are 19 hsis in the midwest and 31 ehsis in the midwest, with a majority situated in the greater chicago area (excelencia in education, 2016, 2017). more empirical research should look at hsis and ehsis in this region, with this project being one of the first to embark on this process. i followed stake’s (2006) suggestion about the three main criteria to consider when selecting cases: (1) relevancy of the case to the quintain, (2) diversity across the cases, and (3) opportunity to complicate overall understanding of the quintain. in order to meet these criteria, i considered all four-year postsecondary institutions in chicago that met the eligibility requirement of 25% enrollment of latinx students to be considered an hsi. at the time of data collection, five institutions met this enrollment criterion, while 11 were ehsis, enrolling between 15%-24% latinx students. four of the five eligible hsis were included in this multiple case study along with two ehsis. all six sites are located in chicago and have been affected in similar ways by the historical, educational, and political contexts of the city (garcia & hudson, in press). in looking to find diversity across the cases and seeking opportunity to complicate an understanding of the quintain, the chosen sites range in size and type, from small liberal arts, to mid-size and large public institutions granting associates, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. using núñez, crisp, and elizondo’s (2016) typology of institutional diversity of hsis, which they developed as a way to more accurately compare hsis for research purposes, two institutions are similar to big systems four-years and four are similar to small communities four-years. the institutions also varied in their enrollment of latinx students (24%-88% at the time of data collection). case descriptions azul city university (acu; a pseudonym) is a four-year, midsize, public institution classified by carnegie as a master’s college/university. it was founded in late nineteenth century as a teaching college, and is now considered an urban comprehensive university offering over 80 degree programs. the undergraduate fte is 6,635 and compositionally diverse, with 39% identifying as white, 35% as latinx, 10% as black, and 9% as asian american. the graduate enrollment is 1,871, with fewer self-identified latinxs (14%). the institution has been recognized as one of the most diverse institutions in the midwest and has been federally what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 120 recognized as an hsi for nearly 20 years. it has received numerous hsi grants from the federal government in order to develop its capacity for serving latinx students. morado catholic university (mcu; a pseudonym) is a four-year, small, private institution classified by carnegie as a master’s college/university. it has a strong tradition as a catholic university, founded as an all women’s college that eventually became co-educational. the undergraduate fte is 1,971, with 40% of all students identifying as latinx and 40% as white. other racialized populations are represented in much smaller numbers, including 7% black and 3% asian american. the graduate population is also significant at 1,401 students, 13% of which identify as latinx. the institution is officially recognized as an hsi and has received some federal funding. amarillo private college (apc; a pseudonym) is a small, private institution classified as an associate’s four-year college offering minimal academic programs, including three bachelor’s degrees and 10 associate’s degree. the undergraduate fte is 1,325 with 88% of the population identifying as latinx. apc was founded as one of few dual-language/bilingual institutions of higher education. the institution is officially designated as an hsi and has received funding from the federal government for this designation as well as accolades from the hispanic association of colleges and universities (hacu) for its work as an hsi. rosado private university (rpu; a pseudonym) is a small, private institution classified by carnegie as a master’s college/university. it is an urban, comprehensive university focused primarily on undergraduate education, with fewer graduate programs. the fte is 2,701 with 27% of the population identifying as latinx. the compositional diversity of the undergraduate population is notable, with nearly 60% of all students identifying as students of color. as such, it has been recognized as one of the most diverse institutions in the midwest. rpu has received at least one department of education title v grant for developing hsis and is federally recognized as an hsi. roja research university (rru; a pseudonym) is a four-year, large, publically funded, research university (very high research activity) offering doctoral degrees. the undergraduate fte is 16,671 and is compositionally diverse, with 24% of students self-identifying as latinx, 38% as white, 8% as black/african american, and 22% as asian/pacific islander. as a doctoral granting university, rru also enrolls a large graduate population of 11,367 with fewer identifying as latinx (9%). at the time of data collection, the institution was aware of its status as an ehsi and garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 121 was undergoing the process of becoming federally designated as an hsi while simultaneously applying for a department of education title v grant. café catholic university (ccu; a pseudonym) is a small, private institution classified by carnegie as a master’s college/university. it has a strong tradition as a roman catholic institution, founded in the mid nineteenth century by the sisters of mercy to spread catholic education in the city. the fte is 2,636 with 23% of students identifying as latinx. ccu also has a significant graduate population, just fewer than 1,400, although less than 10% of the population is latinx. for a summary of the six cases, see table 1 and table 2. findings in order to classify each of the six institutions within the typology of hsi organizational identities, i looked at graduation and completion rates (see table 3) and the number of programs and services that are culturally engaging for latinx, low income, first generation, and other students of color (see table 4). i categorized the institutions by comparing the graduation and completion rates of the six institutions relative to each other. at the same time, i observed the national average, finding that the six-year graduation rate for all first-time, fulltime undergraduate students was 59% for the fall 2007 cohort (national center for education statistics, 2015). five out of the six institutions had six-year graduation rates below the national average. the six-year graduation rate at hsis, however, was 39% for the fall 2007 cohort (santiago et al., 2016). only two of the six institutions had six-year graduation rates below the national average for hsis. it is also important to note that on average, private not-for-profit institutions have slightly higher six-graduation rates than public institutions, which is likely connected to the resources available at these institutions. even further, when selectivity is accounted for, the most selective institutions that admit less than 25% of all applicants have the highest six-year graduation rates in comparison to open access institutions (all students admitted) and broad access institutions (more than 25% admitted) (national center for education statistics, 2015). four of the six institutions in the sample are private, two are selective, and one is open access (see table 2). these indicators were carefully considered as i classified each institution within the typology. based on the data used and considering nuances in what it means to “produce” what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 122 table 3 graduation and completion rates (fall 2013) institution 6-year graduation all 6-year graduation latinx 6-year graduation white completers all completers latinx completers white acu 20% 18% 26% 2,126 22% 48% mcu 63% 63% 69% 1,051 16% 64% apc 26% 24% 0% 474 88% 1% rpu 46% 55% 58% 1,634 24% 41% rru 57% 49% 58% 6,910 14% 48% ccu 47% 43% 58% 1,263 9% 64% note. all data were retrieved from ipeds. garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 123 table 4 number of culturally engaging programs & services institution outreach & recruitment student services grant funded (e.g., trio) cultural centers ethnic studies programs latinx student organizations acu 2 2 5 6 3 8 mcu 0 0 0 0 2 1 apc 0 0 0 0 0 0 rpu 1 0 3 0 0 2 rru 1 1 3 5 4 16 ccu 0 0 1 0 2 1 note. all data were retrieved through document analysis of institutional websites. what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 124 legitimized outcomes and “to be” culturally engaging, i classified two institutions as latinxenhancing, two as latinx-producing, one as latinx-enrolling and one as latinx-serving. i classified azul city university (acu) as a latinx-enhancing institution since its graduation and completion rates for all students, not just latinx students are low. while the six-year graduation rate for all students at acu is the lowest in the sample (20%) and lower than the national average for hsis (39%), the graduation rate is even lower for latinx students (18%), and higher for white students (26%), which reflects racial inequities in graduation. even when contrasting the completion rates for latinx students (22%) and white students (48%), there appear to be gross racial disparities. another way to think about this disproportionality is to compare completion rates to enrollment rates for individual racial groups. with 35% of the population at acu identifying as latinx (compared to 22% of completers), and 39% as white (compared to 48% of completers), the inequities are even further highlighted. this is even more alarming when considering that acu has one of the highest rates of instructional expenditures per fte. in comparison, acu has one of the highest concentrations of programs and services that are culturally engaging (relative to other institutions in the sample). it has three ethnic studies programs, including latinx and latin american studies, african and african american studies, and asian studies. acu also has six cultural centers for historically oppressed groups as well as a branch campus that caters to the latinx community in the city. the campus is also home to multiple federally funded programs such as talent search and mcnair scholars. moreover, the campus has multiple outreach and recruitment programs targeting students of color and low-income students and support programs that assist these students once they matriculate. acu also has notable latinx student organizations with long histories, both on campus and nationally. based on these programs and services, i classified acu as latinxenhancing, despite the campus having low graduation and completion rates. this is not to dismiss the institution’s responsibility in graduating latinx students, but instead to recognize that it is making an effort to support latinx students and to enhance their racial/ethnic understanding of self. i also classified roja research university (rru) as latinx-enhancing based on data collected for this study. of the six institutions in the sample, rru has one of the highest sixgarcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 125 year graduation rates for all students (57%), slightly below the national average (59%), suggesting that it might be considered latinx-producing. of course, this is likely the result of selectivity of the institution and resources available, as it is one of the most selective institutions in the sample and most highly resourced (see table 2), meaning that is should be graduating students in high numbers. as such, i was more critical of the fact that there are racial inequities in graduation and completion rates. the six-year graduation rate for latinx students is 49% while the rate for white students is 58%. even more concerning is the fact that the percentage of latinx completers in 2013 was 14% compared to white students at 48%. this suggests huge disparities worth considering in conjunction with other institutional variables, such as selectivity and resources. similar to acu, the completion rates for latinxs do not parallel their rate of enrollment, which is also worth considering in determining the extent to which the institution is producing legitimized outcomes. like acu, i considered rru to be latinx-enhancing as a result of its culturally engaging programs and services. it has four well-established ethnic studies programs, including asian american studies, african american studies, american indian studies, and latin american and latino studies, as well as cultural centers that parallel these programs. rru is also home to an academic support program that caters to latinx students, with the program providing outreach services and academic support. it also has grant-funded programs that serve minoritized students including upward bound and mcnair scholars. finally, the campus has at least 16 student organizations that cater to latinx students including greek organizations, academic organizations, and political organizations. as a result of these programs that enhance the experience of latinx students, and in many ways value their cultural ways of knowing, i classified rru as a latinx-enhancing institution. i classified morado catholic university (mcu) and rosado private university (rpu) as latinx-producing. not only is mcu’s six-year graduation rate well above the other five institutions in the sample (63%), it is above the national average for all institutions (59%) and all hsis (39%). even further, the six-year graduation rate for latinx students (63%) is at parity with the campus’s overall rate, yet still slightly lower than the rate for white students (69%). what is concerning, however, is the percentage of latinx completers (16%) compared to white completers (64%) and compared to overall enrollment of latinx students at the institution (40%). this, however, may be due to the fact that mcu is a small, private catholic institution what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 126 enrolling a large majority of “traditional” students (first-time, fulltime); therefore the six-year graduation rate may capture the experience of these students more accurately than an institution enrolling a large number of “post-traditional” students (i.e., transfers students; parttime students) (santiago et al., 2016). as such, i classified it as latinx-producing, considering all data points as valid. when it comes to six-year graduation rates, mcu is doing remarkably well, although likely its success in this realm is related to its selectivity as an institution and its available resources, as noted in table 2. alternatively, it has limited culturally engaging programs and services, inclusive of only two ethnic studies programs and one latinx student organization. rosado private university (rpu) was the second institution i classified as latinxproducing as a result of high and/or equitable graduation and completion rates, yet low numbers of culturally engaging programs and services. while the six-year graduation rate for all students (46%) is one of the lower among the six institutions, it is higher than the average for all hsis (39%), yet a bit lower than the national average (59%); however, the rates suggest that rpu is graduating latinx students in equitable numbers (55%), although still slightly lower than that of white students (58%). in 2013, 24% of the completers identified as latinx, which is comparable to the enrollment of latinx students (27%). this is an important finding, as it could be another way to think about equity in completion rates. similar to mcu, rpu has very few programs and services specifically for latinx students, including two organizations that are latinx-centric, and well established federally funded programs that cater to minoritized students such as talent search and upward bound. i considered café catholic university (ccu) to be a latinx-enrolling institution. ccu has a similar six-year graduation rate for all students as rpu (47%), which is higher than the national average for hsis; however, the graduation rate for latinx students is lower (43%) than the completion rate for all (47%) and for white students (58%). even further disparities exist when looking at the percentage of latinx completers (9%) compared to white student completers (64%). this is concerning, as latinx students appear to be earning degrees at rates that are inequitable compared to white students. in considering the resources of the institution, there is further concern, as it is not the most under resourced institution in the sample (see table 2). the institution also has few culturally engaging programs, inclusive of only two ethnic studies programs, one latinx organization, and one grant funded program for minoritized students (student support services). garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 127 finally, i classified amarillo private college (apc) as latinx-serving. while it has a sixyear graduation rate (26%) that is well below the other sites in the sample, the national average (59%), and the hsi average (39%), apc differs in its completion rates, as 88% of all completers in 2013 identified as latinx, which is comparable to the number of enrolled students who identify as latinx (88%). presumably, this difference is related to the fact that a majority of apc’s students are “post-traditional” (i.e., transfers students; part-time students); therefore, the six-year graduation rate is highly inaccurate, yet the completion rate is much more reflective of the ways in which this institution is graduating students. using the completion rate, it appears that apc is producing an equitable number of latinx degree completers in comparison to latinx enrollers. at the same time, apc is somewhat of an anomaly in that it enrolls a majority latinx population; therefore, the completion rates should reflect this percentage. giving value to alternative ways of classifying an institution as successful when it comes to graduating students, i considered apc to be an equitable producer of latinx degree holders. another peculiarity of apc is that it does not have any latinx-specific programs and services; yet, apc is distinct in that it has an historical mission to serve latinx students and was founded as a bilingual english-spanish institution. as such, the institution may not need to establish latinx-specific programs and services, as it is inherently within apc’s mission to serve latinx students. even further, it offers bilingual and bicultural curricula across all disciplines, suggesting there is no need to establish ethnic and latinx-specific programs. as such, the ways in which i operationalized culturally engaging components of a campus environment for this study are highly inaccurate for this institution. taking its unique characteristics into consideration, i classified apc as latinx-serving. discussion the purpose of this study was to classify hsis/ehsis in the midwest within the typology of hsi organizational identities as a way to test the utility of the typology for policy and practice. although i have theoretically described the complexities of an hsi organizational identity (see garcia, 2016, 2017), this study allowed me to test the practicality of these theoretical propositions by using multiple sources of data and examining them across multiple cases. what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 128 before classifying the six institutions within the typology, i first examined the racial composition within these institutions (table 1) as this is the first indicator of a latinx-serving identity, and the most basic factor used to determine hsi eligibility. these data confirmed previous findings about the high concentration of undergraduate latinx students and students of color in hsis. based on undergraduate enrollment data alone, hsis in the midwest are meeting the department of education’s call for hsis to increase educational opportunities and success for latinx students (as suggested by the title v grant competition) (santiago et al., 2016). what the compositional data show (table 1) is that there is a lower percentage of faculty and administrators who identify as latinx and people of color as well as a lower concentration of latinx graduate students and graduate students of color within hsis. although others have noted a lower concentration of faculty of color in hsis (i.e., contreras & contreras, 2015; santos & acevedo-gil, 2013), the compositional diversity of the graduate population within hsis is a relatively unexplored topic. while the federal government does not consider these variables to be essential to the mission of hsis as currently defined by the title v grant competition, research has noted that faculty and administrators have the ability to make latinx students feel a sense of belonging at hsis (e.g., arbelo-marrero & milacci, 2016), which may ultimately contribute to their academic success. as a political construct, perhaps an hsi identity is oversimplified, as it does not consider these dimensions. moreover, these factors do not fit neatly within the typology used in this study, yet these descriptive findings further justify the need to consider the compositional diversity of faculty, staff, and graduate students in a latinx-serving identity. i next considered graduation and completion rates (table 3) as a way to classify institutions within the typology, not because these rates are the best indicators of “serving” a population, but simply because organizational members believe they are important indicators (garcia, 2017), as do researchers studying hsis (e.g. contreras et al., 2008; flores & park, 2013, 2015; santiago et al., 2016). using academic outcomes to classify institutions, therefore, aligned with the current research on hsis, which sometimes frames the extent to which an institution is serving latinx students as determined by persistence and graduation. yet, comparing the six institutions and using both six-year graduation rates and completion rates garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 129 complicated this seemingly simply endeavor, likely as a result of other institutional characteristics (table 2). based on six-year graduation rates alone, three institutions (mcu, rpu, & rru) appeared to be doing well with regard to graduating all students (although likely the result of factors such as institutional resources and/or selectivity); however, there were racial disparities in these rates when comparing white students to latinx students at all institutions except apc. even further, when looking at completion rates by race, there appeared to be inequities in the number of latinx completers at all five institutions except apc. which rate, then, should researchers use to determine how well hsis are doing with regard to academic outcomes for latinx students? santiago et al. (2016) argue that completion rates are better indicators for hsis; however, the legitimized outcome that is most highly regarded by higher education scholars and practitioners is the six-year graduation rate. in this analysis, i placed value on both rates and took equity into consideration, which complicated the ways in which i classified institutions. this highlights the importance of looking at these rates from multiple angles before drawing conclusions about how well an institution in serving a particular population. arguably, an institution that appears to have a low six-year graduation rate could still be considered latinx-serving, as was determined through this analysis (apc). looking next at culturally engaging aspects of the campus, some institutions do not appear to enact a culture that enhances the educational, racial, and ethnic experience of its students (table 4). while some appear to be doing well with regard to producing an equitable number of latinx degree holders, they are operating from a, “latinx-neutral” perspective, meaning they are not centering the experiences of latinx students or being intentional in their efforts to create a culture that enhances the experience of latinx students. although there is no guarantee that creating a culture that values and embraces latinidad will ultimately increase graduation and completion rates, research has shown that students’ perceptions of the campus climate affect their persistence (museus, nichols, & lambert, 2008; rhee, 2008). even further, garcia (2016) suggests that hsis should enhance college students’ racial/ethnic identity and development, regardless of its effects on persistence and graduation. in other words, enhancing students’ racial/ethnic ways of knowing should be considered an important outcome of hsis. two institutions in the sample that i classified as latinx-enhancing are acu and rru, as they have longstanding, historical programs and services that are relevant to the racial, ethnic, what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 130 and cultural ways of knowing of latinx students (see doran & medina, 2017, this issue). while acu has very low six-year graduation and completion rates for all students (not just latinxs), and rru has inequitable outcomes for latinx when compared to white students, both are doing well with regard to providing a culture that enhances the experience of latinx students. again, this is not to say that graduation outcomes are unimportant or that these institutions should not work towards producing equitable outcomes, but rather to suggest that there are multiple ways for an institution to serve latinx students. while i classified institutions along this dimension based on previous research (garcia & okhidoi, 2015; torres & zerquera, 2012), i was unable to determine the extent to which these institutions are actually enacting a latinxenhancing identity, since this concept is better explored through interviews with organizational members and/or through direct observations of the culture (see garcia, 2016). finally, it is worth noting that apc, the only institution i classified as latinx-serving, is a unique case. while it does not appear to have culturally engaging programs as i operationalized them in this study, it does appear to have a culturally engaging campus environment as defined by museus (2014) and other higher education scholars. by this i mean that it does not have any programs and services specifically for minoritized students and does not have any ethnic studies programs; however, it was historically founded to serve the latinx population and therefore engages latinx students within and beyond the classroom. there are numerous opportunities for students to have meaningful within-group racial interactions, as the campus enrolls mostly latinx students as well as the highest concentration of faculty and administrators who identify as latinx or people of color. the educational environment is also humanizing and culturally validating, as classes are offered in english and spanish. for apc, there is no need to establish specific programs for minoritized groups, as serving these populations has been normalized. implications with the number of institutions reaching the eligibility requirement for hsi status increasing each year, researchers, administrators, and legislators will continue to grapple with what it means to be latinx-serving. as i have proposed in other research (garcia, 2016, 2017), an organizational identity for serving latinx students is complicated and should not be reified and validated as a one-dimensional construct. instead, there must be intentional efforts to garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 131 expand what it means for institutions to serve latinx student, beyond simply enrolling them. with the findings of this study, i offer several implications for research, practice, and policy. first, the typology proposed by garcia (2017) proved to be useful for classifying hsis and ehsis along multiple dimensions. this typology, along with the typology proposed by núñez et al. (2016), should be used in future research as a way to compare hsi and ehsis. this is essential, as hsis/ehsis are not monolithic and should not be studied as such. researchers must recognize the diversity of these institutions when asking empirical questions about them, including diversity by type, (two-year vs. four-year), control (public vs. private), location (puerto rico vs. mainland; rural vs. urban), and carnegie classification (e.g., research, masters-granting, religious, liberal arts). yet researchers must continue to test the usefulness of these typologies, as the typology proposed by núñez et al. (2016) was somewhat limiting in this study. for example, while i classified two institutions as big systems four-years, they are not part of big systems, although they have similar characteristics. the typology of hsi organizational identities may also have limited usefulness across institutions. for example, hsis in puerto rico may culturally engage students in very different ways than mainland institutions. this was evident with apc, as it did not have cultural indicators such as special programs and services for latinx students, yet it has an historical mission to serve latinx students, making it unique in comparison to the other institutions in the sample. this site alone is worth further exploration in order to test the utility of the typology, as the typology may not apply to historical hsis. the proposed typology can also be used for policy purposes. as legislators’ grapple with the difficult question about how to evaluate postsecondary institutions for the purpose of funding, they have largely focused on affordability, quality, and accountability (espinosa, crandall, & tukibayeva, 2014). while hsis should meet these criteria, the typology extends the meaning attached to institutional effectiveness. looking at the various graduation and completion rates of the six institutions in this study showed how these rates can tell different stories, depending on the way they are used and evaluated. while these rates are important, they must be considered from different angles as policy decisions are made. the six-year graduation rates, for example, proved to be less useful for institutions that enroll more “post-traditional” students, which is the case for many hsis. also, six-year graduation rates do not capture the what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 132 complexities of available academic outcomes at hsis, as many are community colleges and/or offer limited baccalaureate programs (núñez & elizondo, 2012). i suggest that the federal government also consider its role in shaping the identity of hsis. as institutions apply for federal funding, they are driven by the priorities of the funding agencies. for example, if the department of education’s title v grant competition only places value on two things: (1) expanding educational opportunities to latinx students and (2) enhancing academic offerings (santiago et al., 2016), institutions will not address other aspects of a latinx-serving identity. there must be more emphasis placed on multiple indicators of a latinx-serving identity, including the academic and cultural outcomes suggested by garcia (2017) and tested here. for example, requests for proposals (rfps) from federal agencies should require institutions to show how they will implement grant activities in ways that enhance and utilize the racial and cultural experience and knowledge of all students, rather than focusing solely on providing academic and co-curricular experiences for racialized students. moreover, the racial composition of the faculty, staff, and graduate population should be considered, and could easily be incorporated into federal grant rfps. the typology may also be useful in practice, as this study showed the importance of considering the campus culture for serving latinx students. rather than operating from a “latinx-neutral” perspective, i argue that hsis should use what santiago (2013) calls a “latinx lens,” or one that considers that the growing latinx college student population has unique characteristics and needs. even for those institutions that are seemingly doing well with regard to graduating latinx students, it is important to recognize that colleges should provide an opportunity to earn more than a degree. latinx students attending an institution that recognizes their unique characteristics and ways of knowing are likely to graduate students who are more socially and critically conscious, who become engaged civically, who vote in elections, who volunteer in their communities, and who ultimately give back to their alma mater in monetary and non-monetary ways, all of which are outcomes that most postsecondary institutions desire. hsis must be more intentional about providing curricula, programs, and services that center the experiences, histories, and ways of knowing of latinx students (garcia & okhidoi, 2015). the data in this study showed that the percentage of graduate students of color in hsis is much lower than that of undergraduates. even further, the data revealed that the garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 133 compositional diversity of faculty and staff is not keeping pace with that of the undergraduate population. these are important considerations for administrators. institutions should consider their role in increasing access to post-baccalaureate programs for latinx and other students of color, making intentional efforts to evaluate the recruitment efforts and admissions policies for graduate programs. providing post-baccalaureate opportunities could ultimately alleviate the struggle that hsis have diversifying their administration and faculty. one of the best ways to increase the compositional diversity of administrators and faculty on campus is to “grow your own,” meaning institutions should develop programs that train future faculty and staff who can lead the institution through a latinx lens. institutions such as adams state university have begun such efforts with the development of their higher education and leadership program (heal) (freeman, 2015), as well as northeastern illinois university with their enlace (engaging latino communities for education) program. conclusion researchers, practitioners, and legislators would be remiss to classify hsis as monolithic or to conceptualize a latinx-serving identity as one-dimensional. rather than basing what it means for an organization to have a latinx-serving identity on one or two variables, this study shows that it is essential for multiple factors to be considered. future research should continue to explore what it means for organizations to be latinx-serving beyond the compositional diversity of the undergraduate students. this includes a look at the compositional diversity of faculty, staff, and graduate students, as well as the cultural indicators of a latinx-serving identity, and academic and non-academic outcomes for all members. what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 134 references arbelo-marrero, f., & milacci, f. (2016). a phenomenological investigation of the academic persistence of undergraduate hispanic nontraditional students at hispanic serving institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(1), 22-40. doi:10.1177/1538192715584192 cervantes, m. (2015). culturally relevant performance pedagogies: exploring the value of afrolatina/o music performance projects at a hispanic-serving institution. association of mexican american educator journal, 9(2), 69-77. cole, w. m. (2011). minority politics and group-differentiated curricula at minority-serving colleges. the review of higher education, 34(3), 381-422. contreras, f. e., & contreras, g. j. (2015). raising the bar for hispanic serving institutions: an analysis of college completion and success rates. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 151-170. doi:10.1177/1538192715572892 contreras, f. e., malcom, l. e., & bensimon, e. m. (2008). hispanic-serving institutions: closeted identity and the production of equitable outcomes for latino/a students. in m. gasman, b. baez, & c. s. v. turner (eds.), understanding minority-serving institutions (pp. 71-90). albany, ny: state university of new york. cuellar, m. (2014). the impact of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and nonhsis on latina/o academic self-concept. the review of higher education, 37(4), 499-530. doi:10.1353/rhe.2014.0032 cuellar, m., & johnson-ahorlu, r. n. (2016). examining the complexity of the campus racial climate at a hispanic serving community college. community college review, 44(2), 135152. doi:10.1177/0091552116632584 dayton, b., gonzalez-vasquez, n., martinez, c. r., & plum, c. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions through the eyes of students and administrators. new directions for student services, 105, 29-40. doran, e. e., & medina, ø. (2017). the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions: a critical history of two universities. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(3). espinosa, l. l., crandall, j. r., & tukibayeva, m. (2014). rankings, institutional behavior, and college and university choice: framing the national dialogue on obama's ratings plan. washington, dc: american council on education. espinoza, p. p., & espinoza, c. c. (2012). supporting the 7th-year undergraduate: responsive leadership at a hispanic-serving institution. journal of cases in educational leadership, 15(1), 32-50. doi:10.1177/1555458912440738 excelencia in education. (2016). emerging hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): 2014-2015. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/gateway/download/17266/1453981390 http://www.edexcelencia.org/gateway/download/17266/1453981390 garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 135 excelencia in education. (2017). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): 2014-2015. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/gateway/download/17265/1453981347 flores, s. m., & park, t. j. (2013). race, ethnicity, and college success: examining the continued significance of the minority-serving institution. educational researcher, 42(3), 115-128. doi:10.3102/0013189x13478978 flores, s. m., & park, t. j. (2015). the effect of enrolling in a minority-serving institution for black and hispanic students in texas. research in higher education, 56(3), 247-276. doi:10.1007/s11162-014-9342-y fosnacht, k., & nailos, j. n. (2015). impact of the environment: how does attending a hispanicserving institution influence the engagement of baccalaureate-seeking latina/o students? journal of hispanic higher education, 15(3), 187-204. doi:10.1177/1538192715597739 freeman, m. l. (2015). healing higher education: an innovative approach to preparing hsi leaders (p. 7-18). in m. l. freeman & m. martinez (eds.), new directions for higher education: special issue: college completion for latino/a students: institutional and systems approaches. wiley periodicals. garcia, g. a. (2015). exploring student affairs professionals’ experiences with the campus racial climate at a hispanic serving institution. journal of diversity in higher education, 8(2). doi:10.1037/a0039199 garcia, g. a. (2016). complicating a latina/-o serving identity at a hispanic serving institution. the review of higher education, 40(1), 117-143. garcia, g. a. (2017). defined by outcomes or culture? constructing an organizational identity for hispanic-serving institutions. american education research journal, 54(1s), 111s-134s. doi:10.3102/0002831216669779 garcia, g. a., & hudson, l. t. (in press). exploring the (racialized) contexts that shaped the emergence of hispanic serving institutions (hsis) in chicago: implications for research and practice. in a. hilton, b. hinnant-crawford, c. newman, & s. platt (eds.), multicultural education in the 21st century: innovative research and practices. charlotte, nc: information age. garcia, g. a., & okhidoi, o. (2015). culturally relevant practices that “serve” students at a hispanic serving institution. innovative higher education, 40(4). doi:10.1007/s10755-0159318-7 garcia, g. a., patrón, o. e., ramirez, j. j., & hudson, l. t. (2016). identity salience for latino male collegians at hispanic serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and non-hsis. journal of hispanic higher education, 1-15. doi:10.1177/1538192716661907 garcia, g. a., & ramirez, j. j. (2015). institutional agents at a hispanic serving institution (hsi): using social capital to empower students. urban education. doi:10.1177/0042085915623341 what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 136 gonzales, l. d. (2013). faculty sensemaking and mission creep: interrogating institutionalized ways of knowing and doing legitimacy. the review of higher education, 36(2), 179-209. doi:10.1353/rhe.2013.0000 gonzález, r. g. (2008). college student civic development and engagement at a hispanic serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(4), 287-300. doi:10.1177/1538192708320472 hagedorn, l. s., chi, w., cepeda, r. m., & mclain, m. (2007). an investigation of critical mass: the role of latino representation in the success of urban community college students. research in higher education, 48(1), 73-91. hatch, m. j., & schultz, m. (1997). relations between organizational culture, identity, and image. european journal of marketing, 31(5/6), 356-365. kiasatpour, s., & lasley, s. (2008). overcoming the challenges of teaching political science in the hispanic-serving classroom: a survey of institutions of higher education in texas. journal of political science education, 4(2), 151-168. doi:10.1080/15512160801998064 lara, d., & lara, a. (2012). from "hell no!" to "¿que pasó?": interrogating a hispanic-serving institution possibility. journal of latinos and education, 11(3), 175-181. doi:10.1080/15348431.2012.686355 ledesma, m. c., & burciaga, r. (2015). faculty governance at hispanic-serving institutions through the lens of critical race theory. in j. p. mendez, i. f. a. bonner, j. méndznegrete, & r. t. palmer (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions in american higher education: their origin, and present and future challenges (pp. 40-57). sterling, va: stylus. macdonald, g. p. (2013). theorizing university identity development: multiple perspectives and common goals. higher education, 65, 153-166. doi:10/1007/s10734-012-95263 maestas, r., vaquera, g. s., & muñoz zehr, l. (2007). factors impacting sense of belonging at a hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 6(3), 237-256. doi:10.1177/1538192707302801 martinez, e., & gonzales, l. d. (eds.). (2015). bridging academic and student affairs: working together to craft pathways that advance latinos and latinas in higher education. sterling, va: stylus. museus, s. d. (2014). the culturally engaging campus environments (cece) model: a new theory of success among racially diverse college student populations. in m. b. paulsen (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 29, pp. 189-227). new york: springer. museus, s. d., nichols, a. h., & lambert, a. d. (2008). racial difference in the effects of campus racial climate on degree completion: a structural equation model. review of higher education, 32(1), 107-134. doi:10.1353/rhe.0.0030 national center for education statistics. (2015). the condition of education 2015 (nces 2015144). washington, dc: u.s. department of education. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch garcia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 137 núñez, a.-m., crisp, g., & elizondo, d. (2016). mapping hispanic-serving institutions: a typology of institutional diversity. the journal of higher education, 87(1), 55-83. doi:10.1353/jhe.2016.0001 núñez, a.-m., & elizondo, d. (2012). hispanic-serving institutions in the u.s. mainland and puerto rico: organizational characteristics, institutional financial context, and graduation outcomes (white paper). san antonio, tx: hispanic association of colleges and universities (hacu). núñez, a.-m., murakami-ramalho, e., & cuero, k. k. (2010). pedagogy for equity: teaching in a hispanic-serving institution. innovative higher education, 35, 177-190. doi:10.1007/s10755-010-9139-7 pedersen, j. s., & dobbin, f. (2006). in search of identity and legitimation: bridging organizational culture and neoinstitutionalism. american behavioral scientist, 49(7), 897907. doi:10.1177/0002764205284798 rhee, b. s. (2008). institutional climate and student departure: a multinomial multilevel modeling approach. the review of higher education, 31(2), 161-183. rodríguez, a., & calderón galdeano, e. (2015). do hispanic-serving institutions really underperform? using propensity score matching to compare outcomes of hispanicserving and non-hispanic-serving institutions. in a.-m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 196-217). new york, ny: routledge. santiago, d. a. (2006). inventing hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): the basics. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsicp2/research/inventing-hispanic-serving-institutions-basics santiago, d. a. (2012). public policy and the hispanic-serving institutions: from invention to accountability. journal of latinos and education, 11, 163-167. doi:10.1080/15348431.2012.686367 santiago, d. a. (2013). using a latino lens to reimagine aid design and delivery. washington, sc: excelencia in education. santiago, d. a., taylor, m., & calderón galdeano, e. (2016). from capacity to success: hsis, title v, and latino students. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/research/capacity santos, j. l., & acevedo-gil, n. (2013). a report card of latina/o leadership in california's public universities: a trend analysis of faculty, students, and executives in the csu and uc systems. journal of hispanic higher education, 12(2), 174-200. doi:10.1177/1538192712470844 stake, r. e. (2006). multiple case study analysis. new york, ny: guilford press. stepler, r., & lopez, m. h. (2016). u.s. latino population growth and dispersion has slowed since onset of the great recession. washington, dc: pew research center. what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 138 torres, v., & zerquera, d. (2012). hispanic-serving institutions: patterns, predictions, and implications for informing policy discussions. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(3), 259-278. doi:10.1177/1538192712441371 weerts, d. j., freed, g. h., & morphew, c. c. (2014). organizational identity in higher education: conceptual and empirical perspectives. in m. b. paulsen (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 29, pp. 229-278). new york, ny: springer. abstract keywords: hispanic-serving institutions, latinx-serving identity, latinx college students, organizational culture, organizational identity literature review theoretical framework methods data collection case selection case descriptions discussion implications conclusion references theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 8 poetry: northbound letters poetry northbound letters i heard the news, you were back behind bars, the scars reopened, the madness must have taken over your soul... and i failed you, i did not embrace you goodbye, i did not say those words you might have needed; now i write you letters that carry my soul to you behind those walls, behind those bars, physical and mental... i wish i could break you out with my words, that the brotherhood that binds us could break down walls and rip apart those bars, that your smile would return you to freedom... i remember you as a boy, running free down those mean streets as i hoped you wouldn’t follow the path of street warriors; the path to redemption lies in your soul, in the purity of your heart that will never be imprisoned. by: jesus cortez association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 9 poetry: incarcerated king incarcerated king i remember you as a boy, running playfully through the city, among the wretched of the earth, those rejected by america, learning the ways of street kings. you grew among the spirits of the departed, the children of mothers the color of the earth, children of the sun, sons of the city that condemned them to live amongst a dying city. you became a king among children, a god of the streets among sinners and borrowers of hope, a hope that you carried in your pocket, a hope that would kill the hopes of others. who could blame your ways? who can judge your actions? who is without sin to say you are bad? who can say they would do otherwise? who carries your pain with the same honor? you will always be the king of streets that will remember your soul, your name, until the day of your return. by: jesus cortez journal 2007[1]. coverpage 1 cctc and the process for reauthorization of bilingual teacher preparation standards: a critical-historical perspective dr. karen cadiero-kaplan, san diego state university dr. margarita berta-avila, sacramento state university dr. juan flores, california state university stanislaus introduction and background california and the rest of the united sates are undergoing significant challenges in providing educational opportunities for an increasingly diverse population. these challenges include inadequate literacy and numeracy skills among large segments of our student and adult populations; an ongoing shift in the demographic profile of our population, powered by the highest immigration rates in nearly a century, and the continuing evolution of the economy and the nation’s job structure, requiring higher levels of skills from an increasing proportion of workers (irwin kirsch ets, 2007). in the 1990’s the california commission on teacher credentialing (cctc) responded to these challenges in a forward thinking manner in, through the development of the cross-culture, language and academic development (clad) and the bilingual clad emphasis certificates. the purpose of these certifications was to ensure that every graduate of a credential/licensure program in california was prepared to provide for the educational needs of english learners, whether in an english language development program (via clad) or in a bilingual program (via bclad). the clad and bclad authorizations changed in 1998 when the state of california passed senate bill 2042 (sb 2042). this bill required cctc to restructure the clad emphasis certification that authorized teachers to provide instruction to english learners. the passage of sb 2042 led to greater emphasis on english acquisition and less on biliteracy and bilingual development. though not intentional, the passage of sb 2042 coincided with the passage of proposition 227, which required that english learners be taught in english unless families specifically requested that their children be in a bilingual program. proposition 227 aimed to teach children english in one year and led to the dismantling of many bilingual programs in k-12 schools. proposition 227 “is based on an englishonly ideology that denounces the use of any language other than english as a medium of instruction in the public schools and includes a provision that allows parents to sue teachers and school administrators for using spanish as a means of instruction” (montaño, ulanoff, quintanar-sarellana & aoki, 2005, pg. 103). as a result, since programs were beginning to disappear, one underlying current with the reauthorization of clad and sb 2042 was that there would be less demand for bilingual teachers. it is clear that since proposition 227 implied english only instruction as the norm, and bilingual education as an alternative model the 2 perception of the general public and policy makers was that there would be a decrease in bilingual programs. this further led to the assumption that there would be less demand or need for bilingually certified teachers. in reality, however, the demand for bilingual teachers did not change; in fact bclad certified teachers remain in high demand to teach in classrooms and schools with high english learner populations (montaño, et al 2005). concurrently, senate bill 2042 was approved by the legislature with a comprehensive plan to revamp teacher credentialing in california. this bill was the product of an analysis of the preparation of teachers by a blue ribbon panel of educators. in 1998 the cctc reauthorized k-12 credentials under senate bill (sb) 2042. one major component addressed in sb 2042 was how teacher candidates would be prepared to meet the language and academic needs of english learners. cctc authorized that all teacher candidates would receive the english language authorization (ela) previously known as the cross-cultural, language and academic development (clad) certificate. when clad was aligned with sb 2042, there were certain assumptions operating. the first occurred in the context of proposition 227, that all bilingual programs would be eliminated. this was incorrect because proposition 227 did not address teacher preparation and in fact permitted for parent selection of alternative options that included primary language instruction. the next assumption was that teacher certification in the era of proposition 227 would emphasize mainstream and structured english immersion (sei) for english learners (el’s), and that the need to address specific bilingual programs would decrease. as such, the final assumption would be that el student needs would now be addressed solely through this new certification. many of these assumptions have been proven wrong as our bilingual professionals and our bilingual communities worked with our schools in requesting alternatives to the one-size-fits-all unz plan. at the time of reauthorization of the clad under sb 2042, there was no mention of the bclad, or what the new requirements would be under sb-2042 for the preparation of bilingual teachers. since 2002 the cctc has maintained the bclad under the standards for the clad and bilingual competencies. but as montaño et al. (2005) point out in their study of bclad university programs, even though 98% of bclad program leaders surveyed had a bclad program before and after sb2042, 56% reported removal or restructuring of courses and 44% saw a decrease in student enrollment. alarmed by the change in perceived and actual status of bilingual teacher preparation, bilingual educators and community members voiced their concerns and reminded cctc of the need to provide highly trained bilingual educators to work in primary language programs that were still allowed under the restrictions of proposition 227 initiative. in order to address the inequity of teacher preparation for bilingual candidates, the cctc convened a bilingual work group beginning in late 2005. the group was composed of 15 experts in the area of english language development and biliteracy. they represented k-12 public education, 3 higher education, and professional development organizations. the first author of this article was a member of this group. the bilingual work group’s task was to address four key policy questions that were designed to determine the need and processes for reauthorizing bilingual certification under 2042’s guidelines. the proposals were developed based on public input gathered via three sources: • focus groups held across the state, • an online bilingual survey sent to teachers and administrators, and • online forum questionnaires made available to those who could not attend public forums. input was gathered from more than 900 people from across the state. on the basis of the data gathered, the work group made specific recommendations that addressed each policy question. the details related to the policy questions and resulting recommendations will be considered later in this paper. theoretical frame as teacher educators in bilingual teacher preparation programs we see that our future teachers enter our programs with ability to communicate socially and academically in english and spanish, and sometimes three or more languages. when they exit our programs they have the knowledge, skills and abilities to teach children language and academics in two languages. further, these young professionals are best able to communicate with parents and community members who do not speak english. once hired, bilingual teachers become the cultural brokers for their colleagues and peers, who are limited by only speaking english. it would seem that such skills will be highly valued and desired by policy makers. however, present policy not only makes it more difficult for these young men and women to enter the field of bilingual education, it sends the message often times that their language and community are not valued based on racist and white supremacist ideologies (hooks, 2003). many of these individuals are first generation latino college students, and they have a desire to return to their home communities to teach. this is most critical when 85.4% (1,342,389) of the english learner population is latino (california department of education, 2007). it is no coincidence then that we see a standardization movement within teacher education through nclb with a focus of preparing teachers to meet the needs of english language learners, but this movement makes no statement or mention of the need for bilingual educators. macedo, dendrinos, and gounari (2003) believe that it is this conservative agenda towards bilingualism/bilingual education/bilingual teacher preparation that has promoted “the hegemony of english” as a way to maintain position of power. thus, education has become one entity, among many, used to enforce this hegemony of language through a particular instructional delivery system in which the ultimate goal is to, as macedo, dendrinos, and gounari describe, “…deny effective education to millions of immigrant children in their native language” (p. 9). this theoretical stance is hard to dispute, when the 2005 4 2006 california state language census reports that there are only 181,006 teachers providing sdaie, eld, or primary language instruction to the total english learner population (1,570,424) and of these 181,006 teachers providing such services, only 6,767 are doing so through primary language instruction (cde, 2007). according to macedo et al. (2003), ultimately, the system is perpetuating “linguistic racism” (p. 12) in imposing the idea that the learning of english, in and of itself is education. this type of imposition is a form of neocolonialism that strips children of various ethnicities from their own identity, language, and culture (macedo, et al 2003). the current neoconservative agenda regarding bilingual education is an example of such a correlation. as macedo, dendrinos, and gounari explain: the real meaning of a language has to be understood through the assumptions that govern it and the social, political, and ideological relations to which it points. generally speaking, the issues of effectiveness and validity often hide the true role of language in the maintenance of the values and interests of the dominant class. in other words, the issues of the effectiveness and validity of a subordinate language become a mask that obfuscates questions about the social, political, and ideological order within which the subordinate language exists (2003, p. 13). the issue has never truly been the effectiveness of bilingual education or even the preparation of future bilingual educators. that argument has been used as a “mask” to hide the “fear” and “threat of the other” felt by the hegemonic bloc. bilingual education and bilingual teacher preparation programs are viewed as a threat to that romanticized yesteryear that excluded marginalized communities from equitable access. what is evident now is that there exist two prevailing political views of bilingual education, which have a direct impact on how students are taught and how bilingual teachers are prepared. brisk (1998) defines bilingual education as either "compensatory education" or "quality education". for many bilingual advocates the goal is for students to not just learn english but become bilingual/biliterate through a rigorous academic program, thus emphasizing a quality education. a quality education policy focuses on a student’s right to a good education with the goal being “to educate students to their highest potential” where english is only a part of the educational goal. in a quality model, “bilingual learners access knowledge not only through english but through their native languages” (brisk, 1998, p. xix); there is a recognition and value for their cultural experiences and knowledge. as a result, the teachers best prepared to meet the needs of students under a quality model are bilingual and most often from the same cultural or language group as the students for whom they are being prepared to teach. for neoconservatives, the notion of providing a quality education let alone a “quality bilingual education program” is not the goal. a quality education model poses a threat at many levels, not only language, as previously mentioned. 5 what is advocated, according to brisk, is a compensatory education policy that focuses on the choice of language, where the policy makers determine which language of instruction will be utilized. within this model the overriding goal of education is to “teach students english as quickly as possible." since “english is viewed as the only means for acquisition of knowledge, students’ fluency in english is the essential condition to receiving an education” (brisk, 1998, p. xviii). the irony that exists in this latter quote is the connection between english and success, for it does not take into account the english only speaking students who are not succeeding in school. in particular, african-american students who have had english as their primary language yet are still subjected to systemic inequities that eventually lead them to be “pushed out” of their education (macedo, denderinos, & gounari, 2003). the danger that lies with this compensatory view of bilingual education programs is that they are seen as the vehicle to assimilate students. even in the context of bilingual education there has to be a word of caution, because compensatory programs promote an agenda of losing one’s language. many who are advocates of bilingual education often fall into this belief system that they need to save their students from being identified as english language learners, therefore perpetuating the power status of english and devaluing the fact that these students are bilingual (macedo, dendrinos, & gounari, 2003). when considering the reauthorization of the bclad, it is imperative that future teachers be highly trained pedagogically but also politically critical with respect to their role and positionality in a bilingual classroom. reauthorization of the bclad starting in 2003, several educational organizations including california association for bilingual education (cabe), california association for teachers of english to speakers of other languages (catesol) and californians together, became concerned about the preparation of bilingual teachers and began to collaboratively examine policy and work with both the staff and state commissioners of the california commission on teacher credentialing (cctc). the purpose of this coalition was to make certain that cctc adhered to the law and continued to support the issuance and authorization for bilingual instruction via the bilingual, crosscultural, language and academic development (bclad) certificate. in the fall of 2005 and spring 2006, the cctc initiated a series of community stakeholder hearings on b/clad with the purpose of realigning the credential with sb 2042. stakeholders were asked to address four policy questions: 1) should the commission explore alternatives to the current route to bilingual certification for alreadycredentialed teachers? 2) how shall the commission maintain a structure for bilingual certification for those candidates who are in the process of earning a credential? 6 3) given the increased number of languages spoken by students in california classrooms, how can the commission provide bilingual certification for more languages? 4) how should newer models of bilingual instruction be considered in the development of updated requirements for bilingual certification? the gathered responses would be forwarded to a bilingual workgroup organized by cctc to address the bclad. the cctc authorized staff to establish a bilingual workgroup of selected stake holder committee members representing, and in consultation with, a variety of professional educational organizations including the association of california school administrators, the california teachers association, california association for bilingual education, california association for teachers of speakers of other languages, as well as elementary and secondary public school educators. the charge of the workgroup was to analyze the stakeholder responses to the four policy questions, and come forth with recommendations that would serve as a foundation towards the reauthorization of the bilingual credential. through the initial process outlined above, the coalition stayed diligent in overseeing and informing the cctc workgroup process. moreover, they worked to assure that there was substantial interaction with the field and community groups at the field focus sessions that the commission was scheduling in various parts of california to gather community input. the workgroup and coalition worked together to get the word out regarding the public stakeholder field sessions in order to assure that there was substantial input from community stakeholders. substantial input was gathered from these sessions to reflect the preferences and opinions of the bilingual community and professional constituents. in addition to the various stakeholder field focus sessions, the bilingual workgroup via cctc posted an online survey questionnaire to canvas the professional opinions of educators regarding the bilingual reauthorizations who were unable to attend a public meeting. this survey was disseminated with the assistance of cabe and catesol. the existence of this survey was announced at various professional meetings and conferences and the attending professionals were encouraged to respond to the questionnaire and share this information with their colleagues. results and recommendations from bilingual workgroup the following text is taken from the cctc agenda item (pages psc 4e12 –18). this public document was presented by cctc staff to the commissioners at the may 31/june 1, 2006 commission meeting. the policy questions and recommendations listed below were all approved unanimously at this meeting. to see the agenda document, that includes data from stakeholder meetings and on-line surveys, go to http://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/agen das-2006.html. 7 policy question 1: should the commission explore alternatives to the current route to bilingual certification for already credentialed teachers? teachers who hold a credential that does not authorize them to teach in a bilingual classroom may add a bilingual teaching authorization by passing the bilingual crosscultural and language and academic development (bclad) examination. the work group considered whether an examination route should be the only route to earn a bilingual authorization for those teachers already credentialed (as is the current policy) or whether there should be additional routes to bilingual certification, such as completion of a program of coursework, or a combination of both coursework and passage of an examination. policy question 1: work group recommendations: a: for currently credentialed teachers, bcawg recommends that the current prerequisites to earning bilingual authorizations should continue for future bilingual authorizations issued by cctc: 1. candidates must possess a valid credential or permit as authorized in title 5 regulations, section 80015.2(a) 2. candidates must hold an english learner authorization (clad authorization or equivalent) as authorized in title 5 regulations, section 80015.1. b: the bcawg recommends that a certificate of staff development, as outlined in education code § 44253.10, should also be considered for partial fulfillment of the english learner authorization prerequisite outlined in a2, above.* c: the bcawg recommends that the commission revalidate the six domains currently specified in the bilingual, cross-cultural, language and academic development examinations and authorizations as outlined in education code §44253.5(c). it should be noted that domains 1 – 3 have been already revalidated through establishment of the california teachers of english learners examination (ctel): 1. firstand second-language development and the structure of language, 2. methodology of english language development and specially designed content instruction in english. 3. culture and cultural diversity 4. methodology of content instruction in the pupil’s primary language 5. knowledge of the culture associated with a specific language group 6. competence in a language other than english that is spoken by limitedenglish proficient pupils in california. all candidates wishing to pursue bilingual certification in california would satisfy these domains, once revalidated. d: requirements for domain 4, “methodology of content instruction in the pupil’s primary language”, could be met through examination, cctcaccepted ihe coursework, or cctc approved professional development. 1. it is recommended that the commission review and revalidate the knowledge, skills and abilities (ksas) of the current methodology component. 8 e: the requirements for domain 5, “culture associated with a specific language group” could be met through examination, commission-accepted ihe coursework, or commission approved professional development: 1. it is recommended that the commission review and revalidate the knowledge, skills and abilities (ksas) of the current cultural component of the bclad examination. f: the requirements for domain 6, “competence in a language other than english that is spoken by limitedenglish-proficient pupils in california” could be met in any of the following ways: 1. the candidate passes a cctcapproved examination (example, test 6 of the current bclad examination). this is currently authorized in education code section 44253.6. 2. the candidate holds a california single subject or standard secondary teaching credential with a major in the language to be authorized. this is currently authorized in title 5, section 80015.1(4)(b). 3. the candidate has earned a higher education degree from a foreign institution in which the instruction is delivered in the language to be authorized. this is currently authorized in title 5, section 80015.1 (4)(a). 4. the candidate has passed the language portion of the cset language other than english (lote) examination.* policy question 2: how shall the commission maintain a structure for bilingual certification for those candidates who are in the process of earning a credential? under the ryan credential structure, program standards were developed specifically for bclad emphasis programs so that teacher candidates could earn a bilingual authorization in addition to their multiple subject and single subject teaching credential. the work group considered whether teacher candidates should be able to continue to earn a bilingual authorization as part of their credential program requirements within the sb 2042 credential structure, or whether candidates should earn bilingual authorization through a concurrent program. the commission currently issues multiple and single subject bclad emphasis sb 2042 credentials pending the update of bilingual certification pathways for new and experienced teachers. policy question 2: work group recommendations a: the bcawg recommends that the commission develop bilingual teacher preparation program standards that align with sb 2042 standards and include the following knowledge, skills and abilities (ksas): 1. current research and best practices related to pedagogy, first and second language development, linguistics, and biliteracy. 2. current legislation and policies pertaining to second language learners and teacher preparation. 3. bilingual program models, (e.g., transitional, two-way/dual language immersion, foreign language, maintenance, etc.). 4. other instructional program settings 9 for english learners, including those that provide specialized english language development instruction for secondary students. 5. social, economic and cultural contexts of the target community. 6. student teaching or internship in bilingual instructional settings with english learners in k-12 public schools. b: maintain existing multiple pathways to earn a bilingual credential that include the following: 1. program coursework (e.g., university programs, blended programs, and internships) 2. cctc-approved language competency, culture and pedagogy examinations. c: develop a form of the teaching performance assessment (tpa) that is appropriate to measure teaching in a bilingual setting. d: develop induction support for bilingual teachers in the following ways: 1. support will continue from the preliminary credential through induction to the professional clear credential, 2. support will include assignment of a bilingual support provider when available, 3. complete sb 2042 induction standard 19 in a bilingual educational context when available. policy question 3: given the increased number of languages spoken by students in california classrooms, how can the commission provide bilingual certification for more languages? currently, there are ten language authorizations available through the bclad examination and a total of fourteen language authorizations available through bclad emphasis programs yet over fifty different languages are spoken in california classrooms. in an attempt to address the regional needs for bilingual teachers to provide instruction in less commonly taught languages, the bcawg recommends that the commission increase the number of authorizations from that currently issued for bilingual credential authorizations. in an attempt to address the needs of all english learners, the bcawg explored ways that would allow the commission to expand the number of language authorizations for bilingual certification, yet maintain rigor and flexibility for bilingual certification in less commonly taught languages (lctls). policy question 3: work group recommendations a: the bcawg recommends there would not be a limit to the number of languages for which the commission could provide bilingual authorizations. additionally, the work group advises that all recommendations outlined in policy questions 1 and 2 are also applicable to those candidates wishing to pursue a bilingual authorization in a lctl. b: candidates for the lctls must satisfy the requirements for the six domains currently outlined in education code §44253.5(c): 1. firstand second-language development and the structure of language, 10 2. methodology of english language development and specially designed content instruction in english, 3. culture and cultural diversity, 4. methodology of content instruction in the pupil’s primary language, 5. knowledge of the culture associated with a specific language group, and 6. competence in a language other than english that is spoken by limited english proficient pupils in california. c maintain language competency examinations in those languages that are currently offered in the bclad examinations, maintaining rigor in the target language competency in accordance with cctc approved standards. the exams should include listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translation ability, as well as communicative and academic language skills. d: maintain the current ksas for language competence for the current bclad examinations. e: currently, bclad examinations are only offered in lctls only one time per year. bcawg recommends that language competency examinations for less commonly taught languages (lctls) should be administered at least twice a year. f: for language examinations not currently available through the cctcapproved testing contractor and/or not administered at least twice a year: the cctc could consider the establishment of language panels for the development of assessment criteria and test specifications for the lct language competencies.* g: outside agencies (e.g., county offices of education, institutions of higher education) may develop one examination per target language, to be approved by cctc for each of the less commonly taught languages, with the following considerations: 1. the cctc would be responsible for initial and on-going review and revalidation of these examinations, and 2. cctc approved language exams would be accepted by all institutions that offer teacher preparation programs as meeting the language proficiency requirement for bilingual certification.* h: outside agencies (e.g., actfl, defense language institute) could develop and administer examinations for each of the less commonly taught languages. passing scores on these examinations would fulfill domain 6 requirements and would be accepted by all institutions offering bilingual certification in that target language.* policy question 4: how should newer models of bilingual instruction be considered in the development of updated requirements for bilingual certification? the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for the current bclad have not been updated since 1994. since that time, two-way or dual immersion models of bilingual education instruction have become more predominant in california bilingual education classrooms. some experts report that higher degrees of language proficiency are required for these newer instructional models, and that other knowledge, skills, and abilities are required besides those 11 needed for traditional bilingual instruction models. the work group members considered whether two-way immersion models of instruction should require a different kind of authorization and whether a specialist credential would be more appropriate for teaching in two-way immersion classrooms. policy question 4: work group recommendations a: bilingual certification should continue to authorize teachers to deliver instruction in all bilingual program models. b: review and revalidate guidelines and standards for the current specialist instruction credential in bilingual cross-cultural education, as authorized in education code §44265, based upon a current job analysis and changes in policies, program models and methodologies in bilingual education. guidelines for the new authorization could consider the structures of the reading certificate (education code §44254) and the reading specialist credential (education code §44265). c: consider exemplary professional development models and experimental programs in the development of the bilingual specialist credentials. current status of the bilingual authorization the recommendations above were approved unanimously by the commissioners and at this time cctc approved a work plan to begin the next step of forming a bilingual design team. the purpose of this group, which began meeting in october, 2006, is to update the knowledge, skills and abilities sections of the methodology and culture tests for the bilingual exam as well as to develop bilingual standards aligned with 2042 and current bilingual/biliteracy research. the membership of the bilingual workgroup became the new members of the bilingual design team, with the addition of some new members. the bilingual design team now has the charge of meeting through september 2007 to craft a set of bilingual standards in alignment with sb 2042. the cctc staff will present the results of this work to the commission in october of 2007. it is anticipated that the draft standards will be ready for review by the field prior to the october meeting. we applaud the commission for approving the recommendations and the commitment of the staff to work with the bilingual design team. we also appreciate the commitment over the past year to work with academics and school personnel to move forward on this important work and are cautiously optimistic as to the outcomes that will follow. 12 advocacy grows: birth of the california association for bilingual teacher education in addition to these discussions, professionals in bilingual teacher preparation initiated the establishment of an affiliate group to cabe, called the california association for bilingual teacher education (cabte). they determined that there was a need for a professional organization that would oversee and champion the preparation of highly prepared bilingual educators they proposed the goals of cabte as follows: • to unify the voice of higher education faculty in bilingual education and dual language instruction in matters related to the education of minority and language minority children; • to represent the voice of bilingual education and dual language instruction faculty in higher education and other professionals involved in bilingual teacher preparation in the area of minority and language minority education; • to advocate on behalf of the education of minority and language minority children; • to work for the improvement of bilingual education and dual language teacher preparation. cabte has coordinated its meetings to coincide with the cabe conference , the national two-way cabe conference, and the meetings of the california council for teacher education (ccte) to formalize its membership and is in the process of finalizing its affiliate membership with cabe and ccte. cabte has an interim board that was selected at the spring meeting of ccte. they will carry on the work of cabte until the membership is formalized and a new board is elected at the spring 2008 cabe conference. conclusion bilingual education has had a long history in california, with ebbs and flows of support based on the current political environment. unfortunately, these are times of political retrenchment, with reactionary elements crying out for immigration restrictions and a new iron curtain separating mexico and the united states. but these are also times for activism and consciousness raising in our communities. these are the times to reactivate the allies for bilingual education and diversity. ada and campoy (2004) tell us that we are all oppressed whenever anyone is oppressed. "any time we witness or participate silently in the oppression of others, our own sense of humanity is diminished and our joyful, creative voice is silenced." ( p. 15). ada and campoy say that whenever we ourselves experience oppression, and do not have any allies to offer us support and affirmation, we also are silenced. social injustice cannot not be maintained for long if we are not all conditioned in various ways to accept it. we need to educate our partner immigrant communities and assist them in joining us in our struggle. we cannot rest. so to this end we continue to move forward in our advocacy. 13 references ada, a. f. & campoy, i. (2004) authors in the classroom: a transformative education process. boston, mass: pearson, allyn and bacon. brisk, m. (1998). bilingual education: from compensatory to quality schooling. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. california commission on teacher credentialing. agenda & minutes archives (1998-2006).online: http://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/agenda-archives.html california department of education, educational demographics unit. (2007). california public schools – statewide enrollment reports [data file]. available from california department of education services web site, http://www.cde.ca.us. hooks, b. (2003). teaching community: a pedagogy of hope. new york, ny: routledge. hooks, b. (2003). teaching community: a pedagogy of hope. new york, ny: routhledge. kirsch, i., braun, h., yamamoto, k., & sum, a. (2007). america's perfect storm: three forces changing our nation's future. princeton, new jersey: educational testing service. macedo, d., dendrinos, b., & gounari, p. (2003). the hegemony of english. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. montaño, t. ulanoff, s., quintanar-sarellana, r. & aoki, l. (2005). the debilingualization of california prospective bilingual teachers. social justice, 32, 3. pp.103-117. a journal of crime, conflict, and world order. __________ dr. flores is professor of teacher education and coordinator of the multilingual education program at california state university, stanislaus. email: jflores@csustan.edu dr. karen cadiero-kaplan is associate professor and coordinator of the ma program at the center for policy studies at san diego state university. email: kcadiero@mail.sdsu.edu dr. margarit berta-avila is assistant professor in the bilingual/multicultural department at csu sacramento. email: bamargie@skymail.csus.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 29 the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions: a critical history of two universities erin doran the university of texas at san antonio øscar medina university of missouri, columbia abstract this study examines the institutional histories of loma verde university and azul city university and their development over time into hispanic-serving institutions. utilizing a theoretical framework of transformational change, we focus on various aspects of these institutions, including curriculum, the allocation of physical spaces, and the creation of programs that specifically serve latinx students. the study makes use of archival documents that tell the story of the struggles at each institution to cultivate a campus that addressed the needs of latinx students to promote their long-term academic success. the findings suggest that these institutions were on paths that were heavily influenced by their local contexts and student population; that the transformational process to serving latinx students was long and faced setbacks; and that their successes came in different forms. these conclusions indicate that the histories of hispanic-serving institutions may be as rich and diverse as the latinx population itself, furthering the notion that these institutions are unique among other types of minorityserving institutions. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.360 the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 30 there is a growing focus on hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) by policy makers and researchers considering that these institutions enroll approximately 60% of latinx college students (santiago, taylor, & calderón galdeano, 2016). hsis are defined as two-year and fouryear institutions with at least 25 percent latinx undergraduate students (núñez, hurtado, & calderón galdeano, 2015), and the number of hsis has now reached over 400 across 21 states and puerto rico (excelencia in education, 2016). as a result, hsis enroll notable numbers of latinx students, but it is unclear to what degree or how they actually serve this student population (contreras et al., 2008; garcia & okhidoi, 2015). as such, the hsi designation has been called a “manufactured identity” (contreras et al., 2008), suggesting that this designation is not authentic nor universally understood. previous research suggests that an hsi organizational identity may present itself through a commitment to its surrounding community rather than solely focusing on one racial/ethnic student population (garcia, 2016). given the present and unprecedented growth of this sector of msis, hsis are often seen as a product of the current demographic changes in american postsecondary enrollment (gasman, nguyen, & conrad, 2015; núñez, hurtado, & calderón galdeano, 2015). as such, few studies in the extant literature on hsis have examined the histories of individual hsis or incorporated a historical perspective to the analysis of the development of hsis over time (for examples, see doran, 2015; gasman, nguyen, & conrad, 2015; laden, 2001). this perspective of looking at change over time at hsis may be key to showing whether or not the hsi designation is a “manufactured identity” or if it denotes a discernable organizational mission. the purpose of this study is to fill these gaps in our understanding of the identity of hsis and how they evolve. to do so, we compare the distinct histories of two four-year universities and their development of their identities over time into hsis, drawing from institutional documents to trace the progression of these institutions as hsis over time. the first institution, loma verde university (lvu, a pseudonym), was created in 1969 with the explicit intention of serving the south texas region, an area that has historically been predominantly latinx and continues to be so today. the second, azul city university (acu, a pseudonym), was established in an urban area in the midwest in 1867. its development as an hsi was far more gradual, resulting from changing demographics over decades in the area around its campus and subsequent social activism on the part of latinx students and faculty. doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 31 this study focuses on the following research questions: 1. what were key moments in the histories of loma verde university and azul city university that shaped their hsi identities over time? 2. how did these moments bring about transformative change to support latinx students on these campuses? to answer these questions, we examine the processes that these institutions underwent as they became hsis, how they built their capacity to serve latinx students and the challenges they faced in terms of academic programs, student services, funding, and so on. these universities were chosen for this study given their different routes to becoming hsis; we thus term lvu and acu as “intentional” and “grassroots” hsis, respectively. the histories of these institutions are useful for researchers, practitioners, and administrators as they illustrate concrete examples of how campus agents (e.g., administrators, students, and faculty) responded to the challenges posed to expanding services to latinx students in terms of programming, physical space, and curricula. these responses can inform the work of stakeholders in creating long-lasting change on their campuses in creating a hispanic-serving identity. literature review the geographical spread and institutional diversity of hsis makes research on how hsis serve latinx students challenging and necessitates work that is contextually rich and includes local histories (núñez & elizondo, 2015). hurtado and ruiz alvarado (2015) identify a number of factors that contribute to a dynamic and supportive campus climate for latinx students, and at the organizational level, they specifically name student and faculty composition and links to the local communities. notably, a study by garcia (2012) concludes that institutional resources and selectivity influenced student success at four-year hsis more than student body composition. given that both institutions in this study have traditionally been regional universities that provide broad access to their communities, we focus on institutional programs and resources and how these have been invested in to serve latinx students and promote a hispanic-serving identity on campuses. the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 32 academic programs the literature suggests that various types of academic programs promote latinx student success. first, ethnic studies programs in both k-12 and higher education provide latinx students with spaces in which they can explore and negotiate issues related to their identity and culture (cammarota, 2007; garcia & okhidoi, 2015). despite the well-documented backlash against these programs, particularly in arizona (cabrera, milem, jaquette, & marx, 2014), these programs form spaces for students to engage with material about their own culture while also learning how to critically engage with others who have different backgrounds and viewpoints than their own (núñez, 2011). one concern about ethnic studies program is how pervasive their presence and content are within the whole institution rather than as an academic silo (cabán, 2003; garcia & okhidoi, 2015). hsis in texas have faced criticism for their overall focus on providing degrees in lowpaying, service-oriented fields and prepare students for the workforce rather than professional schools (satterfield & rincones, 2008). there is a well-documented need to boost latinx graduates in stem programs, and hsis have been identified as crucial participants in addressing the disparity in latinx students in stem fields (núñez & elizondo, 2015). however, a recent report finds that while thirteen of the top twenty-five institutions awarding stem bachelor’s degrees to latinx students were hsis, these institutions are geographically isolated in california, florida, texas, and puerto rico and degrees awarded were concentrated at the bachelor’s level and below (santiago, taylor, and calderón galdeano, 2015). student services and programming the diversity of latinx students themselves also necessitates a wide array of student services. latinx students are often treated as a monolithic group despite the diversity of subgroups (ortiz, valerio, & lopez, 2012). these students are more likely to be first-generation students (saunders & serna, 2004), they may have wide variation in terms of bilingualism and esl (harklau, siegel, & losey, 1999), they are more likely to work for pay during their college experiences (núñez & sansone, 2016), among many other needs. short-term programs and interventions to fix short-term challenges for these students often come and go and fade out because administrators fail to make these programs part of the permanent fabric of the institution. doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 33 the creation of dedicated spaces for multicultural student groups continues to be a struggle in institutions (mccoy, 2011). however, culture centers are important in providing student groups their own spaces to create support systems and to discuss issues relevant to their population (lozano, 2010). for latinx students, especially at predominantly white institutions, the creation of a culture center could be the only place where these students have to develop their own racial and ethnic identities and to build a cultural awareness about themselves (lozano, 2010). in effect, academic programs and dedicated spaces for latinx students are two ways hsis and other institutional types can provide validating experiences to students by enabling them to see themselves reflected in the institution (rendón, 2002). theoretical framework we examine the development of these hsis through the lens of transformational change as a means of examining how certain values or commitments become embedded in the fabric of an organization. transformational change is characterized by a deep and intentional change to an organization that permeates all levels of an institution and occurs over time (kezar & eckel, 2002). one marker for whether transformational change has occurred within an organization is through an examination of its structural elements, including curriculum, funding, space allocations, and policies related to the change (kezar, 2014). in short, this type of change is “the attitudinal change that is simultaneously manifested in an organization’s structures” (kezar, 2014, p. 63). judging whether transformational change has occurred is complicated to ascertain, but we specifically looked for practices that were responsive to the needs of the latinx community through programming, pedagogy, and curriculum. these types of structural changes were observable over time in institutional documents such as bulletins, student newspapers, and media coverage on the sites of this study. through the analysis process, we focused on programs, spaces, and interventions that gained permanent status within the institutions. methodology in order to examine lvu’s and acu’s progression towards hsi status, this project utilizes historical methods. acu was chosen because of its presence of puerto rican students outside of puerto rican, showing the diversity of latinx subgroups on college campuses. we selected lvu as an example of an institution that was created to serve a majority-minority area the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 34 with a large concentration of latinx residents. one perspective we adopted was that of critical history, a perspective drawing from critical theory and brings to the foreground power relations and how they influence schooling and education, especially equitable access to education (alridge, 2015). to date, some historical pieces on hsis (e.g., calderón et al., 2012) tend to follow a straightforward narrative approach for informational purposes without assuming any specific theoretical frameworks. a historical approach, combined with a critical lens, enables the examination of two institutional histories and how efforts to support and serve latinx students have been promoted or disrupted. we use archival documents from each institution related to the development of a hispanic-serving identity and how these institutions responded to growing latinx populations on their campus. we took into account academic programs, spaces dedicated to latinx students, debates about latinx student-focused services, and latinx student organizations. we followed humphrey’s (2008) steps for conducting archival research by identifying sources through online finding aids (e.g., texas archival resources online) in order to tailor our time in the archives to this study. documents were gathered through visits to the archives of each institution, online searches through digital archives, and the use of online sources that are salient to the institutions (e.g., digital archives of local newspapers). among the artifacts we gathered were institutional histories written by students who participated in activism and included in the campus history collections; institutional documents that provided some detail on historical enrollment trends; and university websites and public relations offices’ websites. perhaps the most important sources for us were the student newspapers at lvu and acu because they provided primary documents that represented the views of the student bodies at the time of certain incidents. these documents were shared between the researchers and included artifacts such as university press releases, oral histories, pictures, and program records. individually, timelines of institutional histories and preliminary institutional narratives that focused on the hsi identity were drawn up by the researchers and then shared with each other. the researchers analyzed these histories together to look for commonalities and differences in order to answer the research questions and develop conclusions collaboratively. we looked for specific institutional agents or places where a commitment (or lack of commitment) to latinx students developed most prominently and how these moments or agents spoke to the development into an hsi doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 35 over time. the critical historical approach, combined with the transformative change framework, challenged us to look at policies and practices that changed the fabric of the institution and demonstrated a deep committed to latinx students that was sustained over time rather than changes that lost momentum and faded out. limitations there are several limitations to this study. as an archival study, we are limited by the quality and nature of the documents we could locate despite our efforts to be as comprehensive as possible. for example, locating historical enrollment numbers proved difficult at lvu, and official enrollment tallies could only be found going back to 1990. next, we acknowledge that our analysis could be strengthened with other types of data, particularly oral histories. considering this is a starting point in contributing a historical dimension to the research on hsis, we see this as a way to start the scholarly conversation on the history of hsis and hope that this body of literature will grow out of this project. findings loma verde university was authorized in the late 1960s to address the lack of public four-year institutions in the south texas region. lvu was created to serve a region that was and remains predominantly latinx. in explaining this hispanic-serving identity, the first lvu president stated that the university would place emphasis on the spanish language and latinx culture in the curriculum (“[lvu] emphasis,” 1970, p. 18-a). given these stated goals from early on in its history, we examine lvu as an “intentional” hsi, operationalized as an institution created with the specific mission of serving an area of south texas with a large latinx population. azul city university (acu) is located in an urban area in the midwest and boasts an enrollment of approximately 7,000 undergraduate students. while it was not founded as an hsi, it has had this designation for almost 20 years and publically displays this label in places such as its website. the latinx population constituted about one-third of acu’s student body in fall 2016 (acu office of institutional research and assessment, 2016). this diversity can be credited to the racial makeup of the city, as mexicans and puerto ricans are well-represented in the city. in fact, mexicans arrived in the midwest as early as 1915, entering to not only avoid the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 36 the mexican revolution and cristero rebellion (henderson, 2011), but to find work due to the lax immigration regulations in the united states that exempted mexicans from quota laws between 1921 and 1924 (innis-jiménez, 2013). similarly, puerto ricans went to the midwest as early as 1946 (fernández, 2012). by the 1970s, a small but visible puerto rican student population emerged at acu. it was the puerto rican student population who would contribute to acu’s development as a “grassroots hsi,” or an institution that came to serve latinx students as a result of student-led resistance and activism. loma verde university at the time of its creation, the legislature noted that the city in which lvu is located was “the largest metropolitan area in the state without a state supported four-year college within commuting distance” (hb 42, 1969). though the university was created to serve the predominantly latinx region, this intention almost immediately fell by the wayside. early controversy emerged when the campus was placed in the northwest quadrant of the city, where college-going rates of high school graduates were higher compared to the rest of the city (san antonio light, 1970, june 4). low enrollment of latinx and other minoritized students was attributed to this distance (walker, 1979). latinx students did not enroll in significant numbers until the mid-1980s with a 26.4 percent increase between fall 1984 and fall 1988 ([lvu] enrollment by ethnic origin, fall 1984 to fall 1988, n.d.), and latinx enrollment numbers doubled by 1992 (scott, 1992). despite this growth, criticisms of the lack of latinx administrators persisted. a community group known as juntos [together], comprised of alumni, students, faculty, and other interested parties, drew up a latinx education agenda for lvu that included changes to curriculum, recruitment practices, and the appointment of latinx personnel to leadership positions at lvu, especially to the office of minority affairs and international students (scott, 1992). a great irony of the early history of lvu is the extent to which it celebrated itself as an institution committed to latinx students and culture. its first graduate catalog in 1973 stated its commitment to the region and to the influence of latinx culture across disciplines (graduate catalog, 1973), yet representation of latinx people on campus remained elusive for most of the first ten years of its existence and took time to build. doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 37 the struggle to build hispanic-serving capacity. though lvu began with a stated intention of serving latinx students, it did so in name only. in 1982, a student newspaper article started, “although a ‘for white’s [sic] only’ sign has never graced [lvu’s] campus, statistically [lvu] has a predominantly white student population” (hicks, 1982, p. 1). a prominent latino mathematics professor accused university administrators of deliberately poor recruiting practices focused on latinx students, stating: “this university has poor visibility in the community. perhaps that is part of the deliberate plan to keep the university from becoming, in the eyes of certain administrators and some of the professors here, a ‘mexicanized’ university” (hicks, 1992, p. 1). interestingly, the latinx student enrollment at the time was 23 percent, just under what would later become the threshold number to qualify for the hsi designation. a lengthy response to this article and the professor’s comments followed filled with point-by-point rebuttals. the author responded that lvu had a much higher percentage of latinx tenure or tenure-track faculty at 11 percent versus the flagship institution in the state with 1.4 percent (o’neal, 1983, p. 7). what is perhaps most significant about this letter is some of the casual racism hidden in some of the rebuttals. for instance, o’neal wrote: the question prof. berriozabal indirectly asks is: “how can we stop a traditionally anglo school from discouraging minority enrollment?” a more fitting question would be: “what can be done in the minority communities to instill a greater belief in the value of a college (and, more importantly, a high school) education?” essentially the letter’s author repeats a discriminatory assumption that has been commonly made about latinx students and families that they do not value education (valencia, 2002). this struggle to reinforce the campus as a university for latinx students continued into the 1990s. the hopwood decision resulted in the end of race-based admissions in texas (long & tienda, 2008), and comments from a law professor at a nearby institution sparked heated debate at lvu. the professor publicly stated that latinx students could not compete academically with their white counterparts on more selective campuses (college press service, 1997). one presumably latinx student at lvu submitted a letter to the editor in the campus newspaper argued that the american education system was deeply racist and that he was “fearful that by removing affirmative action instead of modifying it will lead to higher education only being for the rich” (garcia-martinez, 1997, p. 10). debates continued in the newspaper the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 38 among white students and students of color, with one student who self-identified themselves as white writing, “walking through the [lvu] hallways, i have counted dozens of posters advertising scholarships with the bottom line being, ‘non-hispanic whites need not apply.’ if 90 out of 100 scholarships apply only to ‘minorities’ do these things make all men equal?” (b.n., 1997, p. 10). this debate regarding the hopwood decision and race-based decision-making in higher education in the 1990s mirrored the campus debates in the previous decade in that as latinx faculty and students tried to affirm practices to boost access to higher education at lvu, a backlash occurred with accusations that latinx students were demanding “to be granted special privileges over the rest of society” (b.n., 1997, p. 10). serving latinx students through academic programming. one place of strength in lvu’s service to latinx students is through its academic programs. the first graduate programs established at the university were in bilingual-bicultural studies, teaching english as a second language, and a latinx literature program ([lvu] graduate catalog, 1973). since 1979, lvu offered a pre-freshman engineering program to encourage the field to middle and high school students (rodriguez, 2013). started by a latinx mathematics professor named manuel berriozábal, this program was specifically designed for underrepresented students and by 2013 served approximately 34,000 students (rodriguez, 2013). lvu’s first doctoral program, approved by the state in 1991, was in biology with an emphasis in neuroscience. a newspaper article covering the doctoral program just ahead of its approval pointed out that out of the 181 students who received doctorates in this field in 1989, only one was latinx (hall, 1991a). this program was hard won considering that at virtually the same time, the league of united latin american citizens (lulac), a latinx-focused civil rights organization, launched a lawsuit against the state of texas alleging discrimination in higher education access and funding (hall, 1991b). it was reported that the south texas border region only held three of the estimated 600 doctoral programs in the state (hall, 1991b). lulac ultimately lost their legal case, but the state legislature approved the south texas/border initiative that greatly increased the fiscal appropriations for colleges and universities in south texas, including lvu (flack, 2003). as a result, lvu added nineteen doctoral programs in computer science, physics and chemistry, among others, between 1993 and 2005 (texas higher education coordinating board, n.d.). despite its early intentions to embody a hispanic-serving identity, this identity took time to build, considering how long it took for latinx students to doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 39 enroll in large numbers at lvu. one of lvu’s biggest successes in supporting this identity was in its pursuit of specific academic programs, especially graduate programs in stem fields. azul city university acu was established in the mid-nineteenth century as a teacher training institution. due to the fact that the makeup of the city was mainly white, and as the institution had a regional focus, the university primarily enrolled white students. but as the city population became more latinx, the university did not recruit or provide the necessary tools and resources to support the success of its increasingly mexican and puerto rican demographic. it became evident that the student body would have to mobilize in order to acquire the proper resources for success. student activism. as a student at acu, rosa hernandez strived to help her community by tutoring english around her home in local churches. recognizing the need to know english to succeed in the u.s. while working with her community, she asked the college’s community service coordinator to help her create a language center. with the help of rosa’s fellow classmates, rosa went on to secure funding from the u.s. office of education funds. the acu president, in his memoir, stated that the center served two purposes. first, to make the community aware of the university; and second, to “give university students firsthand experiences in working with urban problems” (sachs, 1987, p. 83). the name of the language center, aqui estoy (here i am) was also symbolic, as it recognized not only the new student population that was increasingly entering the university but also the population that surrounded the university. the name also reassured the latinx students that they were part of the community, just like their white counterparts, and are there to stay. as well as having a physical place close to campus, estoy aqui served a critical role in providing the foundation for future college students to the latinx community. for example, the center stressed the importance of finishing high school (lienemann & smith, 1974) by providing high school equivalency classes, which began with ten students (gaber, 1971). after passing their equivalency exam, two of these students enrolled in their local college to become teachers and gave back to their communities. additionally, aqui estoy made it their duty to develop leaders to take roles within their communities. the majority of latinx that the center helped were part of the community who worked at factories around the city. after long hours, they would come to learn english for the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 40 several hours weekly. as a grassroots effort, aqui estoy was a first step towards the university taking responsibility for helping the surrounding latinx community believe college was a possibility for them. student mobilization and resistance. students also created organizations as a way to voice their needs and concerns. the union for puerto rican students (uprs) was formed in the summer of 1971 with the intention “to check ourselves to see how we [as latinxs] can go about the business of not only surviving academically, and socially, but thriving and contributing as well” (rosario & rios, 1971, p. 4). the uprs made three initial contributions that laid the foundation for latinx students at acu. first, they made an effort to increase the number of latinx staff members at the university. secondly, they recognized that the latinx student body was small for a city that had such a large latinx population. therefore, the uprs submitted a request for a latinx student recruitment program. lastly, to aid the students who were brought in through the recruitment program, the uprs, along with several professors from various departments, created the english language program to aid in the success of college courses. these efforts made by uprs clearly demonstrate the struggles that latinx felt on acu’s campus as an invisible, yet growing group. as a result, the group pushed for change as a way to bring the necessary resources for success. with a predominantly white staff and student population at acu, the uprs made it their agenda to acquire a latinx staff member by approaching the president and requesting a latinx counselor (torres, 1994). consequently, the university president hired its first latinx counselor in the fall of 1971 who made an impact on the student body at the university by providing guidance to the university’s latinx students. however, the university was not completely committed to supporting this effort, as the counselor’s office space was dilapidated: the furniture that filled his room was broken, filthy, and unstable. according to torres (1994), “it was full of holes, through which the cushion material was clearly visible (p. 8).” as a direct response to the provided office space to the counselor, the uprs students took the broken furniture to the president’s office and demanded that the furniture be replaced. through their actions, the uprs continued to advocate for latinx students at the university. the uprs also developed a recruitment program titled, proyecto pa’lante [project forward]. when uprs approached the president to ask for such a program, the president responded that the organization should talk to the professor in charge of the african american doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 41 recruitment program for help (torres, 1994). the uprs replied by saying that they respected and recognized that the african american program was born from its own struggle, and they did not want to take anything away from that program. additionally, they reiterated their view that the latinx student community at acu had their “own specific need of self-determination” (torres, 1994, p. 7). in the fall of 1972 “in spirit” the president’s administration accepted the latinx recruitment program proposal and accepted the first 80 proyecto pa’lante students. this was indeed a major victory for the organization and a step towards the university becoming an hsi. although proyecto pa’lante was initiated, there was still a dire need to support the latinx students who were not prepared to succeed in higher education, so the uprs created a retention program that focused on students’ writing skills. the english language program (elp) was created with the help of several professors from different departments such as english, linguistics, and foreign languages as an effort to support the incoming students who were struggling with basic writing. this program was critical in that it retained the students from proyecto pa’lante, among others, beyond their first semester or year. before the initial creation of the elp, there was a lack of full support from the president and one of the leading professors who was helping spearhead this program was fired. subsequently, 250 students occupied the dean’s office of arts and sciences demanding to meet with the president to discuss the creation of the elp and to rehire the professor that was fired (torres, 1994). while meeting with the president the uprs stressed that the elp offered the opportunity to retain latinx students on campus and as a result the president “agreed that the idea of an english language program was worthy” (torres, 1994, p. 12). university efforts to dismantle the uprs. although the uprs had several successes, there were also efforts to dismantle their cause. the acu administration’s attempt in dismantling the uprs came in the form of hiring two different latino males in positions of power who were ineffective in their roles and caused tension between members of uprs. the first latino was the director of an organization that catered to the needs of latinx students and also served as a special assistant to the vice president for academic affairs. the new director was not effective in setting up programs or meeting deadline dates that he promised; in fact, he exploited his position by campaigning as an aldermanic candidate as well as enrolled as a fulltime law student at a university in the city (kosinski, 1975a). he displayed a lack of dedication the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 42 to the latinx student population at acu he was hired to serve, and the uprs responded by hosting a sit-in in the president’s office and called for the director’s removal. the second latino hired at acu was the vice president for academic affairs. according to the president of the uprs, “the movements were underway among the administration with the help of faculty members once favorable to the union to appoint a puerto rican administrator to pacify the militant puerto rican population of the university and avoid confrontations which have occurred in the past” (kosinski, 1975b, p. 1). the tensions that arose between this vice president and the uprs came from the threats that the vice president made. in addition to threatening to expel the uprs student president, the vice president allegedly told him, “i will not tolerate what the acu administration has in the past from the [uprs]. i am not bullshitting with you. if i can’t control the union, i will destroy it” (kosinski, 1975c, p.1 & 3). despite these claims made by the president of the uprs, the vice president did indeed take actions to dismantle the uprs, including taking away the facilities that the organization used. again, the uprs demonstrated their concern by occupying the acu president’s office and demanding their space to be returned. after three hours of occupation by the uprs, the president came up with a solution to temporarily provide the uprs an area until the end of the semester. the president of uprs claimed that their success was due to the joint efforts of the uprs and the university arm of the puerto rican socialist party. next, the acu administration also attempted to destroy the uprs from within. uprs president gutierrez says “that camacho [a former uprs student who was expelled due to an infraction] is only a tool of a racist administration which sought to pit ‘students against students, puerto ricans against puerto ricans with regards to controversial matters such as the selection of an executive director for the clases institute” (kosinski, 1975d, p. 1). the president of the university strategically used the student camacho as a way to split the uprs. for example, after camacho left uprs, he attempted to create his own organization which would “deal with specific problems of the latinos with regards to education and culture including financial aid. the new organization would be non-political and not in opposition to the union but an alternative” (kosinski, 1975d, p. 2). historically looking at the way acu has improved the services to its latinx student population, the resources would have not been available if not for the grassroots efforts of the uprs and other students (e.g., rosa). indeed, these resources have historically aided the latinx doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 43 student population for several decades. more recently, acu has taken up the task of helping the undocumented population by putting forth the undocumented student project, which provides help in applying for financial aid as well as hosting deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) application workshops. in addition to the continuation of these specific resources, other support systems have been created to cater not only to the latinx student population but also to the undocumented, women, asian, black, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally student body. the resources attained by the efforts of the latinx students’ activism at acu during the 60’s and 70’s are still present for current latinx students at acu, despite efforts by administration to dismantle the uprs. moreover, each of the gains made by the uprs have improved the lives of the students who attend acu. in fact, the center aqui estoy has expanded not only in size but in providing classes for students at acu as well as the surrounding neighborhood as it has done in the past. after only seven years in service to the latinx community, the storefront aqui estoy was quickly transformed—with a different name—as a satellite extension of acu offering not only an academic program with college credits for the community and incoming students but also a full-time staff. underscoring the lasting impact of aqui estoy, in the late 2000’s the center enrolled more than 1000 students. because enrollment is critical to serving the latinx community, proyecto pa’lante is still ongoing with the same efforts to recruit and admit students. discussion as previous noted, the hsi designation has been criticized as a “manufactured identity” (contreras et al., 2008). in both lvu and acu, however, we observed an organic progression of the hsi identity into what we call “intentional” and “grassroots” hsis. lvu was “intentional” in that its creation specifically centered on serving a predominantly latinx-populated region. however, latinx students did not enroll at lvu in larger numbers for a decade and a half, and despite its presence as an hsi, debates about latinx access and representation on its campus raged on at various points in its history. acu is a “grassroots hsi” in that the struggle for latinx representation, especially in student services and space, was student-led. the resulting programs like aqui estoy impacted not only students on campus but the local latinx community. as noted by núñez and elizondo (2015), there is a large degree of variation in four-year hsis the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 44 because of their individual local contexts. in considering the history and development of hsis as a collective body, researchers should take note that hsis are at once local and collective spaces. in challenging this notion of hsis as a “manufactured identity,” researchers should look at ways that hispanic-serving practices are absorbed into an institutional mission and identity and how the presence of latinx students, faculty, and staff transform the space. the key events of action and resistance in the history of these two hsis reveals several common threads in observing transformational change in developing a hsi identity: latinx students, faculty, and organized groups encountered resistance when trying to create or reinforce a hispanic-serving identity, and these two institutions have provided different types of access and advocacy for latinx students. among the highly contextualized factors of these universities are the students themselves: lvu serves a predominantly mexican and mexicanamerican population while the thrust of influence behind acu’s development into an hsi came from its puerto rican population. the area of south texas where lvu is located has historically had a large latinx population since its establishment centuries ago, given its proximity to the u.s.-mexico border. therefore, english as a second language programs were not just about teaching non-native students to speak english but about preparing future teachers for the region. acu’s early history and location in the midwest does not indicate it was meant to be an hsi. since the 1970s, acu students pushed for academic and social programs for latinx students to promote their long-term retention and success. these efforts prompted the creation of physical spaces and dedicated staff positions to work with this specific student population that are still operating. when students’ efforts met resistance or deflection, the uprs did not hesitate to take their concerns and grievances directly to the acu president. the transformational change in their efforts to embed programs and practices that serve the latinx student population, was largely the work of students and the handful of administrators who supported them. in contrast, lvu’s main successes in serving latinx students was in establishing academic programs, especially graduate programs, in areas where latinx graduates have been historically underserved nationally including stem fields. the pre-freshman engineering program, aimed at boosting minority students’ interests in these fields from a young age, began at lvu and later expanded to other institutions around the city, state, and beyond. what is also notable for lvu doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 45 is its role in providing access to latinx students in times where diversity and affirmative actionbased admissions policies prompted fierce debate about the capabilities of latinx students and their representation in institutions of higher education, especially four-year universities. at lvu, it is worth noting that faculty played a key role in advocating for better access and representation of latinx faculty and students, whereas at acu the efforts were student-led. there are two important points that should not be lost. first, the push to improve the access and quality of academic and student programs on both campuses began as early as the 1970s, demonstrating that at least two institutions strove for a hispanic-serving identity prior to the creation of a federal designation (though calderón galdeano et al., 2012 proves there were many more in addition to lvu and acu). second, they highlight the power of individuals and small groups to enact meaningful change on their campuses in service to latinx students. one mathematics professor at lvu started a program in the 1980s to promote latinx participation in engineering while puerto rican students at acu in the 1970s fought for physical spaces; the fruits of these efforts persist today. conclusions and implications in trying to gauge how hsis engage their hsi identity, a well-documented challenge within the hsi literature (contreras et al., 2008), we argue that researchers should look at the local history and context of the respective institution’s location and how the institution and/or its students have responded. if hsi identity is in fact a “manufactured identity,” we would assume that responses to latinx students would be quite generic and similar. however, in the case of these two hsi, the responses differed greatly. the change brought about at acu in the 1970s was due to a small number of students, so perhaps having a large student population on a campus is not as important as the actions of the collective, regardless of size. as a result, a small group of students were able to push for spaces and programs that eventually became a permanent part of the school’s structure, which gave way to an increased enrollment of latinx students and, eventually, the hsi designation. as hsis develop their capacity to serve latinx students, it is also crucial to maintain awareness about how transformational change occurs in organizations. hurtado and alvarado ruiz (2015) point out that short-term programs and interventions often come and go. the prefreshman engineering program at lvu is a better example of a program that has made the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 46 meaningful impact given its longevity and the high number of students it has impacted over the last nearly four decades. a historical perspective of successes and failures offers a chance for researchers, policy makers, and administrators to see what has worked at other institutions with success and what programs may require further planning or funding prior to implementation that would boost long-term sustainability. while the body of research on hsis is still rapidly expanding, this historical perspective takes stock of the place of hsis before 1992 when the federal category was created. this perspective does not generate a set of common denominators for the change processes that institutions undergo in becoming hsis, at least not in the two institutions in this study. however, there are some similarities the development of lvu and acu both demonstrate a need to look inward at the campus and outward at the community to determine what latinx students need. it shows that resistance is likely, but sustained activism can lead to transformative change. these campuses also show that efforts to create a hispanic-serving identity cannot be done by one lone person; instead, it requires cooperation and collaboration. the latinx struggle for access, representation, and student support services in higher education is not limited to predominantly white institutions, and it is important to understand that hsis are not immune to these struggles by virtue of this designation. as scholars and administrators engage in work that sets out to better define what it is meant to be an hsi, the histories of lvu and acu indicate that this designation is one that is developed over time and is not without controversy, even in majority-minority contexts like the surrounding area of lvu. as such, this study offers a first look at these organizational processes at two hsis with a historical perspective. given the current political climate of the united states, the past challenges of lvu and acu could be instructive to newer or aspiring hsis who want to invest in the success of latinx students. doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 47 references alridge, d. p. (2015). the ideas and craft of the critical historian of education. in a. m. martínez-alemán, b. pusser, & e. m. bensimon (eds.), critical approaches to the study of higher education: a practical introduction (pp. 103-129). baltimore, md: johns hopkins press. b. n. (1997, april 22). all people not treated equally [letter to the editor]. the paisano, 19(26), p. 10. cabán, p. a. (2003). moving from the margins to where? three decades of latino/a studies. latino studies, 1(1), 5-35. cabrera, n. l., milem, j. f., jaquette, o., & marx, r. w. (2014). missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (political) trees: empiricism and the mexican american studies controversy in tuscon. american educational research journal, 51(6), 10841118. doi: 10.3102/0002831214553705 cammarota, j. (2007). a social justice approach to achievement: guiding latina/o student toward educational attainment with a challenging, socially relevant curriculum. equity & excellence in education, 40(1), 87-96. doi: 10.1080/10665680601015153 calderón galdeano, e., flores, a. r., & moder, j. (2012). the hispanic association of colleges and universities and hispanic-serving institutions: partners in the advancement of hispanic higher education. journal of latinos and education, 11(3), 157-162. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2012.686352 contreras, f. e., malcom, l. e., & bensimon, e. m. (2008). hispanic-serving institutions: closeted identity and the production of equitable outcomes for latino/a students. in m. gasman, b. baez, & c.s.v. turner (eds.), understanding minority-serving institutions (pp. 71-90). albany, ny: state university of new york press. doran, e. e. (2015). negotiating access and tier one aspirations: the historical evolution of a striving hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(4), 343 354. excelencia in education. (2016). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): 2014-15 at a glance. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsi-cp2/research/hsis-at-glance fernandez, l. (2012). brown in the windy city: mexicans and puerto ricans in postwar chicago. chicago, il: university of chicago press. gaber, a. (1971). aqui estoy... here i am. american education, 7(1), 18-22. garcia, g. a. (2012). does percentage of latinas/os affect graduation rates at 4-year hispanic serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and non-hsis? journal of hispanic higher education, 12(3), 256-268. doi: 10.1177/1538192712467203 garcia, g. a. (2016). complicating a latina/o-serving identity at a hispanic serving institution. the review of higher education, 40(1), 117-143. doi: 10.1353.rhe.2016.0040 the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 48 garcia, g. a., & okhidoi, o. (2015). culturally relevant practices that “serve” students at a hispanic serving institution. innovative higher education, 40(4), 345-357. doi: 10.1007/s10755-01509318-7 garcia-martinez, a. r. (1997, october 14). discrimination continues to plague our society [letter to the editor]. the paisano, 20(18), 10. hall, g. (1991a, june 16). fate of [lvu] biotechnology doctorate soon in state hands. san antonio express-news, p. 9a. hall, g. (1991b, september 29). lulac higher education suit starts in brownsville. san antonio express-news, 16a. henderson, t. j. (2011). beyond borders: a history of mexican migration to the united states (vol. 13). west sussex, uk: john wiley & sons. innis-jiménez, m. (2013). steel barrio: the great mexican migration to south chicago, 1915-1940. new york, ny: nyu press. kezar, a. (2014). how colleges changes: understanding, leading, and enacting change. new york, ny: routledge. kezar, a. j., & eckel, p. d. (2002). the effect of institutional culture on change strategies in higher education: universal principles or culturally responsive concepts?. journal of higher education, 73(4), 435-460. doi: 10.1353/jhe.2002.0038. kosinski, r. j. (1975a, february 21). latinos move to oust program director. acu student newspaper, p.1. kosinski, r. j. (1975b, july 25). charter new puerto rican group. acu student newspaper, p. 1. kosinski, r. j. (1975c, july 25). gutierrez levies charges. acu student newspaper, p. 3. kosinski, r. j. (1975d, july 18). ‘union is lost,’ says ex-press. acu student newspaper, p. 2. laden, b. v. (2001). hispanic-serving institutions: myths and realities. peabody journal of education, 76(1), 73-92. lienemann, w. h., & smith, a. e. (1974). college in the city: commuters and community houses. improving college and university teaching, 22(1), 55-58. loma verde university. (2016). fast facts 2016. retrieved from https://www.utsa.edu/about/doc/fastfacts2016.pdf long, m. c., & tienda, m. (2008). winners and losers: changes in texas university admissions post-hopwood. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 30(5), 255-280. doi: 10.3102/0162373708321384 [lvu] emphasis to be on spanish-speaking. (1970, august 23). san antonio express/news, p. 18-a. mccoy, d. l. (2011). multicultural student services at public institutions. in d. l. stewart (ed.), multicultural student services on campus (pp. 140-153). sterling, va: stylus. núñez, a-m. (2011). counterspaces and connections in college transitions: first-generation latino students’ perspectives on chicano studies. journal of college student development, 52(6), 639-655. doi: 10.1353/csd.2011.0077 doran & medina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 49 núñez, a-m., & elizondo, d. (2015). institutional diversity among four-year hispanic-serving institutions. in a-m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 65-81). new york, ny: routledge. núñez, a-m., hurtado, s., & calderón galdeano, e. (2015). why study hispanic-serving institutions? in a-m núñez, s. hurtado, & e. calderón galdeano (eds.), hispanicserving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 1-24). new york, ny: routledge. núñez, a-m., & sansone, v.a. (2016). earning and learning: exploring the meaning of work in the experiences of first-generation latino college students. the review of higher education, 40(1), 91-116. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2016.0039 rodriguez, k. (2013, june 14). san antonio pre-freshman engineering program opens on nine local campuses. retrieved from http://www.utsa.edu/today/2013/06/prepopens.html sachs, j. m. (1987). reminiscences about [acu] or there must be a pony here somewhere. campus history collection, azul city university archives. santiago, d. a., taylor, m., & calderón galdeano, e. (2015). finding your workforce: latinos in science, technology, engineering, and math (stem). washington dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/gateway/download/ 23776/1472564477 santiago, d. a., taylor, m., & calderón galdeano, e. (2016). from capacity to success: hsis, title v, and latino students. washington dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/gateway/download/23582/1471381888 satterfield, j., & rincones, r.d. (2008). an evolving curriculum: the technical core of hispanic-serving institutions in the state of texas. college quarterly, 11(4). retrieved from http:// www.collegequarterly.ca/2008-vol11-num04-fall/index.html scott, s. (1992, june 2). it will work with utsa president despite flap. san antonio express news, p. 7a. texas higher education coordinating board. (n.d.). institution’s inventory of degree programs [data file]. retrieved from http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/apps/programinventory/invsearch.cfm torres, m. (spring 1994). chronicles of a midwestern urban university: african american and latino students arrive at [acu]. campus history collection, azul city university archives. valencia, r. r. (2002). “mexican americans don’t value education!:” on the basis of the myth, mythmaking, and debunking. journal of latinos and education, 1(2), 81-103. doi: 10.1207/s1532771xjle0102_2 abstract literature review theoretical framework limitations findings loma verde university azul city university discussion references invited.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 4 introduction sonia nieto university of massachusetts—amherst melissa rivera hunter college city university of new york sandra quiñones university of rochester jason irizarry university of connecticut latino/a students have been educated in u.s. schools for centuries, and still more will be arriving at our schools tomorrow. this reality is but one indication of the multiplicity of experiences that defi ne the long, complex, and troubled history of latinos/as in u.s. schools. although they are more visible today than at any other time in our history, the fact remains that the sociocultural, political, economic, and historical context of latino/a education is hardly known outside the university offi ces of academics who study it, or of teachers and administrators who teach latino/a students. given both the growing number of u.s.-born latinos/as as well as the dramatically increasing number of newcomers, the need to confront the serious shortcomings of the education of latinos/as has never been more urgent. in their comprehensive analysis of the education of latinos/ as in the u.s., patricia gándara and frances contreras (2009) put it bluntly: “today,” they write, “the most urgent challenge for the american educational system has a latino face” (p. 1). nevertheless, there is not just one latino/a reality. the latino community in the u.s. is incredibly diverse in terms of national origin, race, time in the u.s., political orientation, english and spanish language ability and usage (among other home languages), and many other differences. latinos/as in the u.s. include mexican americans, some of whom have been “here” before there was a “here,” that is, before the southwest was annexed by the u.s. through the treaty of guadalupe-hidalgo in 1848. puerto ricans began immigrating in large numbers in the late 1940s, although a puerto rican community existed in new york and tampa as early as the 1860s, as did a small cuban community. the large infl ux of cubans began in the 1960s, and they were joined by large numbers of dominicans, salvadorans, and other central and south americans in the following decades. thus, to claim that there is just one “latino perspective” or “latino experience” is to miss the multiplicity and complexity of our communities. the work of addressing the challenge of the education of latinos/as has begun through, among other efforts, the national latino/a education research and policy project, or nlerap. beginning in 2000 as a national initiative of the centro de estudios puertorriqueños at hunter college, nlerap’s goal has been to add multiple latino/a perspectives to the type of educational research needed to meet the needs of our communities throughout the u.s. after hosting a series of regional meetings around the country that invited educators, community activists, university scholars, and others within the broader latino/a community to comment on the pressing educational needs of latinos/as, the nlerap national advisory board developed and published a research agenda (nlerap, 2003). the agenda articulated a framework for using participatory and collaborative research results to infl uence the outcomes of schooling for latino/a youth. in addition to the agenda document, the project also produced an academic volume (pedraza & rivera, 2005) with chapters written by leading scholars that substantiated the need for a community approach to the investigation of schooling issues for latinos/as. in conjunction with the release of the volume, a press conference was held in washington, d.c. to introduce the concerns it addressed (viadero, 2005). from 2004 to 2009, nlerap conducted its fi rst local research project, with funding from the ford foundation, focused on the theme of arts in education at el puente academy for peace and justice in new york city (rivera, medellin-paz, pedraza et al., 2010). although the work of nlerap has been important in making the issues of latino/a education more introduction association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 5 visible to the general public through national conferences, publications, and press releases, in 2007, the national board met to discuss further actions that could promote the agenda even more vigorously. the board decided that what was needed was a critical review of the literature in one of the four research areas suggested in the nlerap agenda document (2003). after a lengthy discussion, consensus emerged among board members that the sociocultural, political, economic, and historical context of latino/a education was the most useful area to develop further because it could serve as a foundation for the others (assessment and accountability; teacher education and professional development; and arts in education). this document is the result of those deliberations. in it, we address the context of education for latino/ as on the three levels enunciated in the agenda documents (i.e., interpersonal, instructional, and institutional). we envision the review as a critical synthesis of the literature, intended for both professional and scholarly audiences. we expect that it will be used in teacher and administrative professional preparation courses as well as for developing proposals for research studies on the education of latinos/as around the nation. the intent is not to defi ne or limit a priori the parameters of any such research, but rather to provide a useful tool for researchers, practitioners, advocates, and administrators undertaking studies relating to the improvement of education for latino/a students in their local areas. a major purpose is to contextualize the framework and approaches that have been used previously by others to analyze schooling problems found in different latino/a communities around the country. although we include all latinos/as in this document, we are especially mindful of new immigrants, particularly those in geographic areas where latino/a families had not traditionally settled until recently, most notably the southeast and northwest (wortham, murillo, & hamann, 2002). although most data are not disaggregated according to gender, we also want to caution readers that the current available information makes it quite clear that in most areas of schooling (academic achievement, high school graduation rates, college-going rates, and so forth), females outperform males even more so than in the general population. for example, gary orfi eld documented that in 2000, nearly 59 percent of latinas graduated from high school compared with only 48 percent of latinos/as (orfi eld, losen, wald, & swanson, 2004). this is a trend worth heeding as policymakers, administrators, and teachers think about potential programs and policies that will benefi t male students. more recently, patricia gándara and frances contreras (2009) reviewed data that corroborated this trend, not only in terms of high school graduation rates but also in achievement in reading, math, and other content areas. it is our hope that this review will help guide researchers and others willing to initiate efforts to address the complex problems faced by latinos/as in school systems both in regions of the country in which they have traditionally settled as well as in regions that are not accustomed to their presence. the document begins with a description of the nlerap approach to research on the education of latinos/as in the u.s. with a focus on sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts, and a description of participatory action research, or par, an approach to pedagogy and research that shows great promise in both promoting achievement and encouraging civic engagement. this is followed by a brief general overview of the education of latinos/as, including both historical and demographic data and an articulation of some of the foremost challenges concerning educational attainment among the various latino/a communities. the majority of the review addresses three specifi c contexts: interpersonal, instructional, and institutional. the interpersonal context describes the signifi cance of relationships among students, teachers, and families, and also details how using a funds of knowledge approach (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzález, 2005) can promote the educational achievement of latinos/as. the instructional context reviews some of the approaches, both helpful and detrimental, that have been used with latino/a students, and what can be learned from this history. in the institutional context section, issues such as school climate, high-stakes testing, tracking, and the quality of teachers are addressed. we need to emphasize that, although we separate the paper into three disparate sections, the sections are connected and overlapping. moreover, each of these sections addresses political issues that affect the education of latinos/as in myriad ways. for instance, issues of inequitable school fi nancing, privatization, surveillance of undocumented families and raids on immigrants, teacher turnover, the high-stakes nature of testing, and english only policies are particularly relevant in the institutional section, although they are also implicated in the instructional and interpersonal sections. scholars, for example, have found that the teacher turnover rate in some schools in california is higher than 50 percent. clearly, such turnover will have dramatic effects on introduction association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 6 the lives and educational outcomes of young people, particularly for those relying on public schools as a site for growth, support, and stability. throughout all three sections, a number of vignettes and case studies, focusing mainly on immigrant and english language learners, will be used to illuminate the issues. the paper ends with a brief set of recommendations for charting a new course for the education of latinos/as. introduction association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 83 breaking the silence: facing undocumented issues in teacher practice julián jefferies california state university, fullerton dafney blanca dabach university of washington abstract this conceptual article addresses the need for educators to interrupt status-quo silences surrounding the role of immigration status in schools—an issue that disproportionately impacts latina/os. in this article we: (a) articulate the need for teacher education to address the impact of undocumented status in school settings; (b) present ethnographic vignettes of teachers who navigated these issues drawing from two qualitative studies; (c) synthesize understandings related to teaching undocumented youth; (d) highlight emerging areas of focus based on our research; and (e) outline continuing tensions in how teachers address documentation status. this article serves as an entry-way to bridge the lived circumstances of undocumented youth in schools, teacher practice, and aspirations for more equitable schooling. acknowledgements: the authors would like to thank sharon chappell and the blind reviewers for helpful feedback on earlier drafts. research reported by dafney blanca dabach was supported by grants from the spencer foundation and the university of washington’s research royalty fund (rrf). the views expressed here are not necessarily those of the funding agencies. dafney thanks the spencer foundation and the rrf for funds to conduct this research, and also thanks members of the research team who collected data, contributed to the project’s analysis, and have deepened her thinking in this area of scholarship, including aliza fones, natasha hakimali merchant, mee joo kim, and adebowale adekile. most of all, the authors thank the teachers, youth, and other participants in the research projects from whom we learned a great deal. introduction in the midst of long-standing patterns of inequality in latina/o education, language issues are becoming more visible in policy reforms and in teacher education literature (e.g., bunch, 2013; lucas & grinberg, 2008; lucas & villegas, 2011). addressing language issues continues to be a vital need in increasing educational access. and, yet, in our ethnographic work in immigrant latina/o school settings, we noticed how addressing youth’s language issues was a matter of high visibility, while immigration status was largely invisible, but profoundly shaped youth’s educational experiences and outcomes. due to the gap we have seen in schools and within teacher education, we argue that current silences come at a great cost—particularly in light of the emerging research on the impact of documentation status on students’ learning and trajectories (allard, 2013; gallo, 2014; suárez-orozco, yoshikawa, teranishi, & suárez-orozco, 2011). in initiating a conversation on a topic that has been traditionally omitted from discussions of teacher education, we simultaneously highlight the disproportional impact of migration status on latina/o communities while also noting undocumented status’ impacts in other immigrant communities. we also note the significance of addressing these issues, especially within teacher education because pre-service teacher education is one place where issues of diversity are at least partially taken up—at times more so than in school settings—despite the ongoing need throughout teachers’ careers (faltis & valdés, in press). here we call attention to the need for educators to interrupt status-quo silences surrounding undocumented issues. in this article we: (a) articulate the need for addressing undocumented status; (b) present ethnographic vignettes of teachers who navigated these issues drawing from two qualitative studies; (c) synthesize understandings related to teaching undocumented youth; (d) highlight emerging areas of focus based on our research; and (e) breaking the silence association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 84 outline continuing tensions in how teachers address documentation status. through this conceptual article, our aim is to raise visibility and begin conversations about the place of undocumented status in teachers’ practice. teachers will have a greater impact on youth’s life trajectories if they become more knowledgeable about documentation status issues in ways that allow them to better serve youth—especially given the prevalence of documentation issues within immigrant latina/o communities.7 before continuing, we provide additional information about the impacts of undocumented status in schools and present the conceptual orientation for this article. undocumented status in schools an important subset of the growing number of immigrant youth in u.s. schools is undocumented. these are young immigrants who were born outside the u.s., who came here alone or with their parents and who reside here without permanent resident visas or any other kind of longer-term residence or work permit (passel & cohn, 2009). being undocumented represents a set of challenges for students, their parents, and teachers, which greatly impacts students’ ability to enroll in school, stay in school, graduate, and have access to higher education opportunities (abrego, 2006; jefferies, 2014a & 2014b). out of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants residing in the united states (passel & cohn, 2009), undocumented youth enrolled in k-12 education constitute an estimated 2 million (congressional budget office, 2007). due to the plyler v. doe ruling (1982), undocumented youth have legal access to a public education from kindergarten through high school. in the plyler decision, the supreme court ruled that withholding education from this population, and in any way posing a threatening environment in school, violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment (lópez & lópez, 2010). more than thirty years after this landmark ruling, which explicitly marked the public need for educational access for undocumented youth, their educational outcomes lag far behind those of their documented and u.s.-born peers: 40% of undocumented youth (ages 18 to 24) have not completed high school, a statistic far higher than their counterparts who are documented immigrants (15%) or u.s.-born residents (8%) (passell and cohn, 2009). furthermore, only 25% of undocumented youth enroll in college (nienhusser, 2013). clearly, undocumented populations face challenges that go beyond the focus of linguistic and cultural issues that many documented immigrants confront. this article highlights the need to break normative silences regarding documentation status in teacher education precisely because teachers’ roles are significant as they are the ones who interact daily with youth— either developing sophisticated pedagogies and ways of being responsive to undocumented youth, or conversely, continuing the silencing that already exists for youth facing great obstacles in our society. after discussing our conceptual orientation, we present ethnographic vignettes from teachers and students who navigated undocumented status in two urban contexts in different u.s. cities. rather than providing recipes or best practices, our goal is to begin a conversation and surface issues in relation to teacher practice and undocumented youth and families. given the dearth of research on the intersection of teacher practice and undocumented student status, we call for increasing awareness for the need of such work with great sensitivity. by initiating this conversation in relation to teacher education (rather than concluding it definitively), we hope to provide an avenue to break silences about undocumented youth in schools. conceptual orientation: the construction of “illegality” in discussing a population that is often constructed as “illegal” and undeserving of societal inclusion (jefferies, 2009; chávez, 1998; santa ana, 2002), we would like to make explicit the assumptions from which we are working. as de genova (2002) and others have pointed out, undocumented migrants are not a social group to be conceptualized in isolation: they are not the “problem” to be studied. rather, we note the importance of the historical creation of policies in the u.s. that have created categories (such as “illegal aliens”) and how 7 it is important to note that not all undocumented youth are latina/o, and not all or even most latina/os are undocumented. however, a great majority (87%) of the overall undocumented population is estimated to be of latina/o origin (pew hispanic center, 2009). breaking the silence association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 85 these categories have produced a low-wage, expendable labor source for u.s. companies. migrant “illegality” is created and sustained as the product of laws and categories (“legal”/“illegal”), which have been historically drawn in the u.s. to regulate chinese workers first, and then mexican migrant workers in the twentieth century (de genova, 2002). importantly, these categories have been constructed along the lines of race and difference (de genova, 2002; ngai, 2004.) elaborate systems have been created to classify, regulate and criminalize the movement of people. and, post-9/11 immigration policies have focused on deportation as the primary means to deal with undocumented migrants, resulting in seven times the number of yearly arrests than in prior years (capps, castaneda, chaudry & santos, 2007). fear of deportation is a powerful presence in the everyday lives of not only adults, but also youth and school personnel who serve them. despite youth’s rights to education, the plyler ruling comes “at the price of invisibility” (mangual figueroa, 2011, p. 263), protecting the undocumented student population but doing so at the cost of being silenced: a kind of “don’t ask don’t tell” policy where administrators, teachers, parents and students do not have open conversations about the issue. as with other socially consequential categories (race, class, gender, sexuality, [dis]ability, etc.), the cost of silence is the continued invisibility of phenomena that nevertheless exerts a clear impact on people who inhabit those categories. as long as groups’ experiences are rendered invisible, they are subjected to more exploitation and oppression. moreover, invisibility and silencing preclude collective action. we argue that socially-just teaching that conscientiously acknowledges undocumented status (rather than rendering it invisible or aberrant) better serves youth than status-quo silence. first, it allows teachers to recognize current political processes (such as deportations) that affect youth’s abilities to perform in school (i.e., when fear of deportation prevents students from arriving to school or participating actively in the classroom). second, it allows teachers to potentially channel alternative resources for post-secondary opportunities that youth may not know are available to them (which may also affect school performance if students begin to disengage once they realize that college may be out of reach for them). and third, perhaps most importantly, teachers’ acknowledgement and normalization of undocumented migration can potentially partially combat aspects of “illegality” that render youth as less than human and less than equal members of society. research on documentation status has grown substantially in visibility (e.g., suárez-orozco et al., 2011), especially in examining the experiences of undocumented youth in high school and college. findings point to limited availability of information, fear of deportation, different application requirements that vary by state, high out-of-state tuition, and little or no access to financial aid (abrego, 2006, allard, 2013; contreras, 2009; gonzales, 2010, 2011; jefferies, 2014a & 2014b; nienhusser, 2013)—all factors that severely limit their transition to college. despite growing attention to undocumented youth in education, a sustained focus on teachers’ interactions with undocumented youth is largely missing. one exception is the work of gallo (2014) and gallo and link (2014). gallo’s (2014) analysis draws from a five-year study and traces the impact of documentation status on children’s learning. she also highlights how some teachers such as “ms. vega” sought to avoid issues of status: “[ms. vega] emphasized that in all of her teacher education, ‘you talk about cultures, you don’t talk about immigration’” (p. 492). in this way, silences within teacher education served to justify additional silences in practice. still needed are understandings about how teachers successfully take up issues of documentation status in practice. ethnographic vignettes in this section we draw from two ethnographic studies to provide more grounded illustrations of ways in which teachers addressed status issues while interacting with their students. we disclose our own motivations and connections to this scholarship, highlight the aims of our studies, and provide illustrations that speak to how the teachers in our studies broke silences to reach their students. a teacher’s attempt to make undocumented youth visible (julián jefferies) the data for the first study were gathered between 2006 and 2011 at an urban school in an eastern city breaking the silence association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 86 of the u.s. that enrolled only recently arrived immigrant students.8 alongside my role in the school as a teacher, after-school coordinator and soccer coach, i conducted a multi-sited/global ethnography (burawoy, 2000) of the daily lives of latina/o undocumented youth as they navigated school, work, and family. the data collection was shaped by who i am, a bi-lingual white latino male from argentina who migrated ten years prior to the study. my experiences in the u.s. contributed to the motivation for this study and shaped the kinds of questions and observations i made. these formative experiences include: navigating life in the u.s. without a valid migration status at times; being detained at the border once; and contending with undocumented status for many years. this position afforded me a sensibility to the issues of undocumented youth in the high school that facilitated contact, communication, and observation of how their teachers dealt with migration status in their classes. in my data collection, i took written notes at: teacher and administrator meetings, counseling sessions, and classes; these data were supplemented with semi-structured individual interviews with administrators, counselors, teachers, and students. the overall findings of this ethnography revealed in detail how fear of deportation was a powerful presence in the lives of these youth; students were afraid to discuss their status, meanwhile administrators feared bringing up the issue, and teachers remained aloof. this “circle of silence” around immigration status in the daily routine of school put students in danger, threatened their educational investment as well as their ability to graduate high school and continue to higher education (jefferies, 2014b). to expand on the role of teachers, this ethnographic vignette focuses on one teacher, mr. domenico (pseudonym), observed during the third year of data collection, in order to illustrate how he became aware of students’ migration status and integrated this issue into his classes. mr. domenico was a ninth-grade math instructor and baseball coach, originally from the dominican republic, who lived in a neighborhood with a high population of caribbean immigrants and african-american residents. he found out about students’ varied migration statuses, initially, by having conversations out of class and during baseball practice. due to the relationship established and the level of trust garnered by his position as a coach and as an immigrant, students approached him with questions about an array of issues that students and their families were experiencing: … the students already ask me about problems their parents are having with mortgages, with buying the bus ticket. so the subject comes up generally when they are trying to apply to their first job… filling out applications for kids in the summer, to get employment, and they say “mister, i don’t have that important paper.” what do you mean? and then that’s how it comes up. so, it’s about how is one tactful in asking the question… because of the climate of deportations happening in the state where mr. domenico worked, and because he did not know how some of the other school personnel would respond, he made sure the information stayed between the student, other allies in the school, and himself. he did not want to put students at risk by writing down their names on a list, but also wanted to make sure he referred them to the appropriate services: in this school, this meant talking to the counselor about their higher education possibilities, and also conferring with a paralegal that visited the school twice a month to inform students about their rights and possibilities concerning applying for permanent residence. while this approach was productive, there were limitations: only teachers who were aware of the issues and had rapport with the students could act to connect them personally to resources. it was more difficult for the young women in the school to open up about immigration status, because there were no female teachers who had established this kind of trusting relationship with students. for mr. domenico, creating a space in the classroom where students’ migration status was normalized was of utmost importance. as a math teacher, mr. domenico acknowledged bringing up migration status “every couple of weeks or so” as part of mathematics examples he gave in class. for example, while explaining percentages, he talked about the number of documented and undocumented immigrants in the united states and the percentage of growth over the last three censuses. when he approached the subject, he had students explain what documented and undocumented was, addressing the fact that the media sometimes named them as “illegal.” while only mentioning it in passing, he made sure the whole class knew that he would not accept names such as “wetback”, “mojado,” or “illegal” in class discussion. with this move, mr. domenico acknowledged 8 to protect human subjects, our descriptions of school settings and locations are purposefully vague. breaking the silence association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 87 migration status in the classroom, made visible the experience of some of the students in the class, and signaled his supportive stance in ways that could make students more comfortable approaching him about that subject in the future. investigating teachers’ practice in civics classrooms: the significance of a teacher’s signaling moves (dafney blanca dabach) the second study focused on how experienced teachers of immigrants discussed voting, citizenship, and political participation in civics classrooms situated in a western u.s. region (dabach, 2015). the purpose was to better understand how civics classrooms can ultimately be more inclusive spaces despite structural barriers to formal citizenship. one motivation for this study was personal: as a mixed-heritage child of immigrants who were skilled manual laborers (with ties to the middle east, the balkans, spain, and venezuela), some of my family members were undocumented. i also noticed how with the timing of my family’s migration, my relatives were eventually able to regularize their status due to legislative reforms, contrasting sharply with the experiences of youth i later worked with as an adult (e.g., dabach, 2013). for me, this contrast marked how the consequences of undocumented status have become more fixed and severe than they used to be. in addition to the personal motivation of this study, i saw a great need to address undocumented issues in teacher practice based on what i was seeing while working on another study where a social studies teacher struggled to understand citizenship status issues when working with immigrant-origin english language learners (dabach, 2014). the teacher assumed students’ beginning levels of english proficiency meant they lacked status— despite not knowing what students’ actual situations were. she appeared to have few resources for how to think about documentation status in practice. witnessing this, i wanted to find teachers who had in-depth knowledge of how documentation status can play out in classrooms in more productive ways—as they were teaching. i initiated a year-long (2012-2013) ethnographic case study (yin, 2009). our team conducted teacher and student interviews, and classroom observations.9 due to space limitations, i focus on one of four teachers who was especially explicit about how she navigated undocumented status in relation to her teaching practice. ms. scott (a pseudonym) was a white teacher who had over many years of experience and worked in a school that was undergoing demographic change with increasing numbers of immigrant youth. the community she worked in was predominantly middleand working-class. outside of her school setting, she was actively involved in local social justice teaching networks, which provided a means to stay informed about issues, including documentation status. at her site, she developed multi-stranded relationships with youth, especially those who were in her advancement via individual determination (avid) class (a college-access program for first-generation college youth). through her role in this program, ms. scott became more aware of the undocumented population at her site because of the college-access barriers her students faced. one feature that became especially visible in ms. scott’s social studies class was her approach to normalizing undocumented status—rather than it being something that did not exist or was highly unusual. similar to teaching moves that counter heteronormativity, when addressing her class she would acknowledge the possibility of undocumented students in the classroom. she did not come from a place of assuming that students were documented or undocumented, but allowed for the possibility of both. for example, she would make a point to announce to the class that scholarships for undocumented students were available—regardless of who was present. an important aspect was using language in different forms to counter the silences of illegality, both by speaking about scholarships that undocumented youth were eligible for, as well as by leaving written text in the room as a visual signal to students. ms. scott prominently displayed scholarship information on the door at eye level so that students would see the scholarship information every day on their way out of the classroom. ms. scott explained: the language thing is key…i think that posting things in your room with information for undocumented students, mentioning undocumented students a lot, resources available to them, and normalizing that experience—kind of challenging the notion that—even exposing your kids 9 members of the research team included aliza fones, mee joo kim, natasha hakimali merchant, and adebowale adekile. breaking the silence association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 88 to language choices is actually great. highlighting scholarships for undocumented youth served a dual purpose: first, it communicated important college pathway knowledge of actual resources to students who are routinely excluded from consideration of scholarships, and second, it signaled not only her awareness that undocumented students may be in her classroom (and her stance as someone communicating resources available to them) but it also served as a signal to others that their status was not the only one that existed. additionally, by signaling her awareness and support, students would then approach her and at times disclose their status. once they disclosed their status, she connected them with additional resources, and to on-site personnel (especially the advisor to the latina/o club who had become a local expert on helping undocumented students apply to college.) given the heterogeneity of ms. scott’s class (including non-immigrant students, immigrant “legal” residents and citizens, and undocumented immigrant youth), her signaling moves allowed undocumented students to come to ms. scott on their own terms. at the same time, her acknowledgement of undocumented students made them less invisible when others assumed they did not exist. ms. scott recognized status explicitly not only for the benefit of undocumented youth’s safety, but also to challenge discourses of silence and invisibility. understandings, emerging areas, and continuing tensions through our focus on teachers’ navigation of documentation status, we have illustrated different ways mr. domenico and ms. scott broke normative silences at their school sites. in thinking about breaking silences more broadly, we depart from our ethnographic vignettes to draw upon our wider ethnographic research on the subject, as well as the emerging literature on this matter, in order to discuss the larger issues we see in the intersection of undocumented status and teacher practice. first we highlight understandings about undocumented status issues that for us are concrete. second, we highlight key areas of focus that are emerging. third, we turn to the ambiguities and tensions—places of continuing uncertainty that are far from resolved. understandings here we focus on key understandings that we think will help teachers better serve undocumented youth: 1) undocumented youth have educational rights. despite the spectrum of views that teachers may have regarding immigration debates, the plyler supreme court decision clearly establishes educational rights for undocumented children in the us. plyler is a starting place for acknowledging the need to educate all youth, regardless of their documentation status. beyond the plyler decision, others have contributed to understanding the issue in a broader domain: education is a human right (lópez & lópez, 2010; unesco, 1960). 2) (il)legality is a social construct. (il)legality, despite having real consequences for individuals, families, and communities, is a larger societal phenomenon that involves boundary maintenance: decisions of inclusion and exclusion (see faltis, 2012; ngai, 2004). this means that those who have traditionally wielded more power have at particular moments made decisions—not because legal definitions are necessarily intrinsically sound or moral, but because they have had access to being decision-makers. (the writings of martin luther king jr. [e.g., 1964] have contributed to making the distinction between what is right and what is legal.) boundaries can be arbitrary. during the 1920’s immigration debates (which coincided with the eugenics movement), people with epilepsy were excluded because they were seen as undesirable (dabach, 1996). at the same time, immigration debates have historically been linked with larger issues of race, colonization, and exploitation, and currently are bound with larger processes of inequality and globalization. 3) undocumented people can be of any background and may be fluent english speakers. although, as we noted earlier, latina/o immigrants are disproportionately impacted by undocumented status, most latina/ os who live in the u.s. are u.s.-born and have citizenship rights. recent revelations of the award-winning filipino-american journalist josé antonio vargas put a public face on the plight of undocumented youth such as himself (2011). his case and others also demonstrate how many undocumented youth are high achieving and college-going. moreover, white immigrants are also represented among undocumented populations; for example, current irish undocumented migration continues, yet typically irish immigrants are not the targets for breaking the silence association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 89 raids or stereotyped as undocumented (rodríguez, 2007). 4) undocumented status shows up in different ways across life stages. research in early childhood (yoshikawa, 2011) demonstrates clear impacts of parental undocumented status on youth, and additional scholarship highlights how youth in middle childhood are impacted by status issues (gallo, 2014; mangual figueroa, 2011). yet with adolescence, new challenges emerge: undocumented status becomes especially salient during normative rites of passage (getting a driver’s license, dating, transition to work or college, etc.) (allard, 2013; gonzales, 2011; suárez-orozco et al., 2011). key areas of emerging focus building from these understandings, we turn now to three areas of focus that have emerged in our scholarship as significant areas that intersect with teachers’ practice: emotional safety. as the teachers in our studies demonstrated to us, addressing issues of emotional safety are critical. beyond the normalizing moves we illustrated earlier which validated undocumented youth and helped make undocumented status visible, we highlight additional issues. first, during heightened deportation threats, youth may be fearful of detainment of themselves or a family member. second, because immigration is at times a subject of debate in classrooms, undocumented youth may face situations where classmates (or teachers) may invalidate their presence (while either knowing or not knowing of youth’s actual circumstances). having a classroom building and maintaining climates that protects youth’s physical and emotional safety is critical. sometimes hurtful language which is often normatively used in media (i.e., “illegal”) shows up in classrooms as well, or in informal conversations when peers may mock undocumented youth (or youth who are assumed to be undocumented) (jefferies, 2014b). we see a clear need for conscientiousness in regards to classroom and school climate that affects youth’s emotional safety. additionally, if students “out” themselves while seeking support, there is a possibility that they may feel especially vulnerable, depending on how open they are about their circumstances. the need for discretion (and for example, paying attention to who else is in the room or within earshot) when speaking about individual students’ circumstances is also important. however, students’ sense of vulnerability in being “out” may vary greatly due to many factors. increasingly, some youth are deliberately out and take a stance of “undocumented and unafraid” (galindo, 2012), forming part of social movements. and, to add to the complexity, some youth may be out to different sets of people (i.e., out to their science teacher, but not their english teacher.) having a sense of which youth are “out” (or to whom) can be helpful in avoiding accidental disclosures that may increase students’ sense of emotional stress and risk. channeling resources and building local networks. teachers are not legal or financial aid experts. yet once students disclose their status they may seek help from trusted adults at school to help them navigate through these areas. because tuition and college pathway situations vary greatly from state to state, it is helpful to connect to local advocacy groups that are informed. often within local communities, networks develop and local knowledge accumulates regarding how to navigate systems. in some settings, a teacher or other school adult (i.e., librarian, coach) may become especially knowledgeable hubs of information and have embedded community ties that help students once they disclose their status. building local networks of those that are knowledgeable about documentation status is critical to being able to serve students well, especially because local policies and resources vary substantially (i.e., from state to state, county to county, etc.). breaking the silence association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 90 creating spaces of empowerment. spaces of empowerment occur when, beyond having a safe space, youth can collectively share resources and organize. sometimes these spaces may emerge in school clubs. sometimes they may emerge in alternative settings. as noted earlier, youth are spearheading growing movements where they have staged collective actions (s.i.n. collective, 2007). still unclear, though, is under what circumstances youth are able to develop empowering stances towards documentation status, or how teachers can enact curriculum that actually results in youth building systematic critiques of the current system. tensions in teacher practice. our studies begin to shed light on the intersection of teacher practice and documentation status; however, because this terrain is marked by ambiguity and is under-researched, much remains unresolved. here we articulate some tensions in terms of teachers’ uptake of practices in different contexts. in particular, issues of how teachers enact practices (whether inside or outside classrooms) continues to be an area that needs additional consideration. the ways real-time situations unfold can be highly variable and contingent upon many factors that include teachers’: interpersonal skills and sensitivity in picking up information in context; deep knowledge of students and communities; understanding state laws and practices; access to and knowledge of resources (scholarships for undocumented youth, legal counseling, and community organizing networks); and of critical importance, the degree of trust between teachers and students. an important tension arises when teachers of immigrants try to approach migration status without putting students at risk or singling them out. the teachers in our studies were able to do this in ways that helped youth obtain vital resources and made social and material differences in students’ lives. as our vignettes illustrate, teachers who served youth were able to combine a deep knowledge about their students’ outof-school lives with a classroom approach that made undocumented youth visible and comfortable to share their status with trusted adults. as noted earlier, it is not prudent to assume that students are undocumented because of how they look, their level of spoken english, or any other marker. rather, our teachers created an atmosphere where students felt safe opening up through the skillful use of language, by signaling moves. ways that teachers can break normative silences include: making undocumented youth scholarships visible, mentioning the contributions of undocumented people, and noting immigration policy changes (such as the deferred action for childhood arrivals [daca] motion).10 in the event that students do open up to teachers about their status, one initial aspect that helps teachers help students is being well-informed about resources their local contexts. some questions that may orient teachers in other contexts include: • does the school have a student group that advocates for (or with) undocumented youth? does the school have access to professionals who can counsel students (i.e., school counselors, paralegals, or others)? if not, is it possible for school staff to advocate for resources for creating positions to assist youth, or partner with other organizations that already provide services? • what immigrant rights organizations (or other groups like churches or mosques) are working for undocumented students’ rights and are well informed about pending policy issues at different levels (i.e., national, state, local)? • does the state have a policy for in-state tuition for public universities? if so, which students does it include or exclude? if teachers investigate these questions within their local contexts, they will be better prepared to serve their students on occasions when students disclose status. implications and future work 10 daca gives some undocumented youth from ages 16 to 30 a reprieve from deportation and a temporary work permit. for more information, see http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivalsprocess breaking the silence http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-process http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-process association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 91 there is a great need to address the intersections of teachers’ work and documentation status. documentation status is not only about undocumented youth, but also citizen youth from mixed-status families, temporarily documented people, and youth whose citizenship rights (and that of their families and communities) are secure. in a similar vein to research on multicultural education that asserts that multicultural education is not only for students of color (e.g., banks, 1993), we argue here for the development of a broader social awareness of the liminal status of undocumented families, as well as the historical and contemporary circumstances in which they are situated. in addition to broader understandings of documentation status, we also see a great need to better develop a pedagogical-conceptual terrain for this area that tends to be hidden within schools—yet still has great consequences for youth and families. our piece has offered a beginning. lgbtq dynamics also parallel some of the same processes in teaching and working with undocumented youth, especially concerning (a) the variability surrounding which students are “out,” to whom, and under what circumstances, and (b) the ways in which normative silencing has occurred regarding queer issues, especially in schools, where the issues are nevertheless ever-present. future work can examine the similarities and differences between these populations (including undocuqueer youth who are members of both communities) and draw from work that is already underway (e.g., mayo, 2013; seif, 2014). in addition to seeing how some of the pedagogical-conceptual terrain has been developed in relation to groups that face similar dynamics, additional scholarship beyond education may be useful. for example, how have other professions that are similar in some ways to teaching (e.g., social work), dealt with documentation status issues? furman et al. (2012) have specifically examined social workers’ value conflicts in relation to undocumented immigration policy, for example. perhaps moving forward, teacher education can grapple with ways of addressing teachers’ potential value conflicts in relation to documentation status. teacher education is well-placed in teachers’ learning trajectories to process value conflicts; it is preferable for teacher candidates to think about these issues before they are teachers of record in settings where they may have less space and resources to consider working through their dilemmas. finally, drawing from mcdonald et al.’s (2013) scholarship on innovative partnerships between teacher education and community-based organizations (cbos), we see a vital place for partnerships with cbos that may be able to help teacher candidates develop relationships with organizations that may be most knowledgeable about documentation status issues within local communities. conclusion as teacher education programs increasingly include coursework on “diverse” learners, including “english learners,” this article articulates the need for teacher education to account for more than linguistic and cultural differences, but documentation status differences as well. without careful thought about how issues of potential citizenship status disparities are best dealt with, they are likely to be unaddressed, handled unskillfully, or left to teachers’ own idiosyncratic efforts. we call for additional work to investigate what kinds of approaches would best serve teacher candidates and their students. in closing, we reiterate the need to break silences. although silencing is the norm in many contexts, teachers and teacher educators can potentially break the silences associated with undocumented status in a variety of ways that better serve youth. teachers are in important positions with respect to providing information about youth’s educational rights in k-12 schools, transitions to college, and in connecting youth to organizations or people in school settings who are knowledgeable about legal resources. what is at stake is providing a more humanizing schooling experience that works toward fulfilling a vision of a more inclusive society. breaking the silence association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 92 references abrego, l.j. (2006). “i can’t go to college because i don’t have papers”: incorporation patterns of latino undocumented youth. latino studies, 4, 212-231. allard, e. (2013). latecomers in the new latino diaspora. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of pennsylvania, philadelphia. banks, j. (1993). multicultural education: historical development, dimensions, and practice. review of research in education, 19, 3-49. bunch, g. c. (2013). pedagogical language knowledge preparing mainstream teachers for english learners in the new standards era. review of research in education, 37(1), 298-341. burawoy, m. ed. (2000). global ethnography: forces, connections and imaginations in a postmodern world. berkeley: university of california press. capps, r., castañeda, r., chaudry, a., and santos, r. (2007). paying the price: the impact of immigration raids on america’s children. retrieved march 26, 2012 from: http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/411566_ immigration_raids.pdf chávez, l. (1998). shadowed lives: undocumented immigrants in american society. fort worth, tx: harcourt brace college publishers. congressional budget office (2007) the impact of unauthorized immigrants on the budgets of state and local governments. retrieved from http://www.advocacy.collegeboeard.org/sites/default/files/11b-4062_ admisscomplex_web.pdf contreras, f. (2009). sin papeles y rompiendo barreras: latino students and the challenges of persisting in college. harvard educational review, 79(4), 610-632. dabach, d. b. (1996). the immigration act of 1924: japanese exclusion and mexican admission in an age of restriction. politica, 2, 82-98. dabach d. b. (2013). documenting dreams: immigrant girls’ aspirations through shadow portraiture. in s. chappell & c. faltis, (eds.) the arts and emergent bilingual youth: building critical, creative programs in school and community contexts. pp. 27-31. new york: taylor & francis. dabach, d. b. (2014). “you can’t vote, right?”: when language proficiency is a proxy for citizenship in a civics classroom. journal of international social studies, 4:2, 37-56dabach, dabach, d. b. (2015). “my student was apprehended by immigration”: a civics teacher’s breach of silence in a mixed citizenship status classroom. manuscript under review. de genova, n. (2002). migrant ‘illegality’ and deportability in everyday life. annual review of anthropology 31, 419-47. faltis, c. (2012). art and living inquiry into the anti-immigrant discourse. international journal of multicultural education. 14(2). http://ijme-journal.org/index.php/ijme/issue/view/23. faltis, c. & valdés, g. (in press). preparing teachers to teach in and advocate for linguistically diverse classrooms: a vade mecum for teacher educators. in d. gitomer & c. bell (eds.). 5th edition of the handbook of research on teaching. washington, dc: sage/american educational research association. furman, r., ackerman, a. r., loya, m., jones, s., & negi, n. (2012). the criminalization of immigration: value conflicts for the social work profession. journal of sociology & social welfare, 39(1), 169-185. galindo, r. (2012). undocumented & unafraid: the dream act 5 and the public disclosure of undocumented status as a political act. the urban review, 44(5), 589-611. gallo, s. (2014). the effects of gendered immigration enforcement on middle childhood and schooling. american educational research journal, 51(3), 473-504. gallo, s., & link, h. (2014). exploring the borderlands: elementary school teachers’ navigation of immigration practices in a new latino diaspora community. manuscript under review. gonzales, r. g. (2010). on the wrong side of the tracks: the consequences of school stratification systems for unauthorized mexican students. peabody journal of education 85(4), 469-485. gonzales, r. g. (2011). learning to be illegal: undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. american sociological review, 76(4), 602-619. breaking the silence http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/411566_immigration_raids.pdf http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/411566_immigration_raids.pdf http://www.advocacy.collegeboeard.org/sites/default/files/11b-4062_admisscomplex_web.pdf http://www.advocacy.collegeboeard.org/sites/default/files/11b-4062_admisscomplex_web.pdf http://ijme-journal.org/index.php/ijme/issue/view/23 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 93 jefferies, j. (2009). do undocumented students “play by the rules”?: meritocracy in the media. critical inquiry in language studies, 6(1), 15-38. jefferies, j. (2014a). the production of “illegal” subjects in massachusetts and high school enrollment for undocumented youth. latino studies, 12(1), 65-87. jefferies, j. (2014b). fear of deportation in high school: implications for breaking the circle of silence surrounding migration status. journal of latinos and education, 13(4), 278-295. king, m. l. (1964). why we can’t wait. new york, ny: mentor/new american library lópez, m. p., & lópez, g. (2010). persistent inequality: contemporary realities in the education of undocumented latino/a students. new york: routledge lucas, t., & grinberg, j. (2008). responding to the linguistic reality of mainstream classrooms: preparing all teachers to teach english language learners. in m. cochran-smith, s. feiman-nemser, d. j. mcintyre & k. e. demers (eds.), handbook of research on teacher education: enduring questions in changing contexts (pp. 606-636). new york, ny: routledge/taylor & francis & association of teacher educators. lucas, t., & villegas, a. m. (2011). a framework for preparing linguistically responsive teachers. in t. lucas (ed.), teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms: a resource for teacher educators (pp. 55-72). new york: routledge. mangual figueroa, a. (2011). citizenship and education in the homework completion routine. anthropology & education 42(3), 263-280. mayo, c. (2013). lgbtq youth and education: policies and practices. new york, new york: teachers college press. mcdonald, m., brayko, k., & bowman, m. (2013). learning to see students: opportunities to develop relational practices of teaching through community-based placements in teacher education. teachers college record, 115, 040304. ngai, m. m. (2004). impossible subjects: illegal aliens and the making of modern america. princeton, nj: princeton university press. nienhusser, h. k. (2013) role of high schools in undocumented students’ college choice. education policy analysis archives, 21. retrieved june 10, 2012], from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1398 passel, j. and cohn, d. (2009). a portrait of the unauthorized migrants in the united states. retrieved march 7, 2012 from http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/126.pdf pew hispanic center. (2009). between two worlds: how young latinos come of age in america. washington, d.c.: author plyler v. doe, 457 u.s. 202 (1982). rodríguez, g. (2007, april 8). illegal? better if you’re irish. retrieved from: http://www.latimes.com/news/ opinion/commentary/la-oprodriguez8apr08,0,1081193.column santa ana, o. (2002). brown tide rising: metaphors of latinos in contemporary american public discourse. austin, tx: university of texas press seif, h. (2014). “coming out of the shadows” and “undocuqueer”: undocumented immigrants transforming sexuality discourse and activism. journal of language and sexuality, 3(1), 87-120. s.i.n. collective (2007). students informing now (s.i.n.) challenge the racial state in california without shame: sin verguenza! educational foundations 20, 71–90. suárez-orozco, c., yoshikawa, h., teranishi, r. t., & suárez-orozco, m. (2011). growing up in the shadows: the developmental implications of unauthorized status. harvard educational review, 8(3), 438-472. united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (1960). convention against discrimination in education. retrieved on march 31, 2012from: http://www.unesco.org/education/pdf/discri_e.pdf vargas, j. a. (2011). my life as an undocumented immigrant. new york times magazine. available at: http://www. nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/my-life-as-an-undocumented-immigrant.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 yoshikawa, h. (2011). immigrants raising citizens: undocumented parents and their young children. new york, ny: russell sage. yin, r. (2009). case study research: design and methods, (3rd ed.). thousand oaks: sage. breaking the silence http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/126.pdf invited.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 32 conclusion and recommendations sonia nieto university of massachusetts—amherst melissa rivera hunter college city university of new york sandra quiñones university of rochester jason irizarry university of connecticut as we have seen throughout this paper, the education of latino/a students is in crisis. at the same time, based on our review of promising practices and creative projects, we also believe that this is a time of great opportunity. there are a number of areas that are especially crucial in improving the education of latinos/as. based on our critical synthesis of the literature, in what follows, we briefl y address what we see as positive future directions in four broad areas: teacher preparation for diversity, services for ell and immigrant students, family outreach and community engagement, and school, state, and federal policies and practices. teacher preparation for diversity because of the important role that teachers play in creating culturally responsive environments and learning experiences for students, it is imperative that teacher education and in-service professional development programs develop a vision for improving the preparation of all teachers, and especially those working with students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, including latinos/as. the lack of knowledge and readiness to work with such students is at the heart of the problem. for example, a survey of more than 5,000 teachers concerning their preparedness to teach found that fewer than 34 percent had participated in professional development programs focused on teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds. even worse, only 26 percent had any training at all in working with students who are learning english (parsad, lewis, & farris, 2001). clearly, teachers who do not know their students or the issues they are facing will fi nd it more diffi cult to connect with them, and to teach them well. successful programs at schools and universities ensure that issues of cultural and linguistic diversity are central to teacher learning. creating appropriate programs entails overhauling the curriculum and fi eld placements in teacher preparation and the nature of in-service education. for example, rather than passive professional development where teachers simply listen to outside experts, it makes more sense to create a climate in which teachers are active co-constructors of their learning. also, programs in which school districts partner with universities to offer graduate degrees, and where courses are offered onsite at schools, are another model that has been successful. as we have seen in this paper, culturally responsive pedagogy, an anti-racist climate in schools, research in “funds of knowledge” literature and approaches, and both par and ypar have proven to be helpful in familiarizing teachers with appropriate strategies in teaching latino/a students and in helping to change institutional structures in schools. another way in which teacher preparation programs can improve is by focusing on teaching as a vocation based on relationships. relationships among students and teachers are central to students’ feelings of acceptance and competence. yet in too many cases, students feel unwelcome and alienated in their schools even to the point that they are reluctant to ask for help from the people who are there to help them. for example, in a recent study, the authors quote a student, sophia, who said “i wouldn’t ask for help because i didn’t know anyone in the class…and i thought the teacher wouldn’t help me so i just didn’t ask” (hondo, gardiner, & sapien, 2005, p. 112). if students do not even dare ask for help, how can teachers help them learn? sophia’s words demonstrate conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 33 dramatically the need for teacher preparation to focus on promoting relationships as a key element of teaching. schools of education and in-service professional development also need to approach teaching as an intellectual endeavor in which teachers view their role in multidimensional ways: as curriculum developers, as researchers of their own practice, and as learners of their students’ lives. in this way, teachers also learn to advocate for their students. all of these issues can be included in a quality teacher education program where teachers develop identities as intellectuals and leaders rather than as technicians and test-givers. support for english learner and immigrant students given the growing number of immigrant and english learners in u. s. schools – the vast majority of whom are latinos/as – it is imperative that schools offer appropriate support for these students. unfortunately, in too many cases, newly arrived immigrants and english learners are simply warehoused in special programs (“newcomer” programs or immersion english classes) until they learn suffi cient english to be placed in mainstream or general education classes. in the meantime, they lose valuable learning time in other content. in other cases, they are allowed to “sink or swim” by placing them in regular classrooms in hopes that they will soon catch up with their peers. neither of these is a viable option. appropriate programs for immigrant and english learners include english as a second language (esl) and bilingual programs, intensive counseling, and in-school and after-school support services. bilingual education, as we have seen earlier in this paper, has been successful in both teaching english and content in the native language. the controversies surrounding bilingual education, however, have meant that many bilingual programs have been curtailed, with at least three states (california, arizona, and massachusetts) having eliminated them entirely. yet, according to patricia gándara and frances contreras (2009), a case in point is massachusetts, where bilingual education was eliminated in 2002 as the result of question 2, a voter initiative. the following year, students who had previously been in bilingual classrooms were placed in structured english immersion (sei) classrooms, the thinking being that they would learn suffi cient english to be removed to general education classes within a year. a recent comprehensive study of the effect of question 2 in boston, however, found mostly negative results of the change. for example, in the years following this policy change, grade retention among english learner high school students in massachusetts increased from 17.2 to 26.4 percent yearly; in fact, students of limited english profi ciency went from being the group with the lowest dropout rate to that with the highest dropout rate in the city. the study also found that achievement gains were “equivocal at best” (tung et al., 2009, p. 11). that is, although there were some gains, english learners did not improve in their pass scores in the mcas, the state’s mandated high-stakes test, compared with the steady score increases among english profi cient students. two-way immersion programs in which latino/a immigrant and ell students learn in both english and spanish alongside their english-speaking peers have proven to be a popular alternative supported by both latino/a families and english-speaking families. in addition, these programs have resulted in high levels of achievement for both english speakers and spanish speakers. for example, in a longitudinal study by elizabeth howard, donna christian, and fred genesee on two-way immersion spanish/english programs (2004), the researchers found impressive levels of performance in reading, writing, and oral language in both english and spanish. both native english speakers and native spanish speakers had very high levels of english fl uency, and while native english speakers scored lower on reading spanish than native spanish speakers, their oral spanish profi ciency was quite high. in cases where bilingual education is not an option, ell and immigrant students should be offered esl instruction by qualifi ed teachers who have received specialized training in the fi eld. what is clear is that english many of the problems of cultural mismatch, lack of understanding of students’ social and educational circumstances, and inability to communicate with students and parents who do not have a good command of english could be ameliorated if the schools had more well-trained bilingual and bicultural teachers. (p. 107) conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 34 learners and immigrant students can no longer be ignored or denied the quality education they deserve. family outreach and community engagement since the nlerap project began, a central principle underlying our work has been that community engagement and family outreach are necessary for the improvement of the education of latinos/as. in fact, as we have seen throughout this paper, when families and communities are signifi cantly involved in the education of the youth, great strides can be made. this has certainly been the case where par and ypar approaches are used, but even in more traditional programs, family and community engagement are key factors in improving the education of students. finding ways to foster communication between the school and latino/a families is not only an important step in promoting involvement, but is also a proven strategy in raising student achievement. traditional family outreach strategies that work with middle-class families will not always work for families living in poverty, families where english is not the primary language, families that feel uncomfortable in the school setting, or families where the parents have not had the privilege of a higher education. expecting families to help children with homework, while a laudable goal, may not be possible in families where the parents themselves have not had access to a quality education. another popular approach, “parent education” workshops, can be condescending because they fail to take into account the expertise and experiences that families already have. having meetings at times when families cannot attend, or in venues that may be diffi cult to get to, are also not good approaches. teachers and administrators need to think more critically and creatively about what it means to involve families in the education of their children. this means taking into account the talents and skills that families possess, and fi nding more respectful ways to encourage them to become active in their children’s schooling. it also means welcoming other community members and resources into the school, whether individuals, or community organizations. these approaches tend to be much more helpful and successful than assuming that families are not interested in, or committed to, the education of their children. school, state, and federal policies and practices policies and practices at the school, state, and federal levels also need to be addressed if the education of latino/a students is to be improved. although limited space does not permit us to address adequately all the policies and practices at each of these levels, in what follows, we focus on several crucial areas. at the school level, the nature of the curriculum, the pedagogy used by teachers, and the counseling services offered to students have a tremendous impact on the experiences and life chances of latino/a students. throughout this paper, we have seen that the curriculum offered in many schools has little to do with the realities of latino/a students’ lives and experiences. yet time and again, when the curriculum does include these concerns, students have been both more engaged and more academically successful in school. we are not suggesting that the curriculum should focus only on students’ experiences but rather that it must begin with and honor these experiences. at the same time that they build on the knowledge and experiences in their lives and communities, latino/a students should also be exposed to a wide-ranging curriculum that is expansive and inclusive of the nation and world. another vexing and continuing problem is that the traditional curriculum to which latino/a students are exposed does little to prepare them for postsecondary education. too often, students reach their fi nal years of high school without having taken some of the courses required to apply to college. by then, it is too late for some. the implications for counseling services are clear. in fact, in all the successful programs we have reviewed, comprehensive counseling services were a key element in developing a sense of belonging in students, as well as in raising their achievement and preparing them for postsecondary education. policies at the state and federal levels also need to be reviewed critically. we have certainly seen the results of the contentious debate over bilingual education in several states where it has been eliminated, but even in cases where bilingual education is available, the quality of the programs leaves much to be desired. simply offering bilingual programs is not enough; also needed are teachers who have been appropriately prepared in conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 35 content and pedagogy, adequate resources to run programs well, and administrative and community support to keep them viable. testing policies also need revising. since the early 1980s, the nation has been gripped in the throes of a standardization movement that has done little to improve the education of students but much to improve the bottom line for test publishing companies. in the process, latino/a student dropout rates have continued to grow, while their college-going rate lags far behind that of other groups. state and federal laws that mandate rigid testing policies need to be overhauled to take into account the unique needs of latino/a students, and especially students with limited english profi ciency. in addition, because the pedagogy in many schools has been severely restricted as a result of rigid testing policies – particularly in schools in poverty-stricken communities – latino/a students have been especially hard-hit by these policies. the elimination of the arts, physical education and recess, and in some cases even social studies and science, have left latino/a students with an even more inferior education than before the obsession with standardized testing began. final thoughts given the plight faced by latinos/as not only in our public schools but also in housing, employment, health care, foster care, and other institutions, it is fair to say that schools alone cannot tackle such massive problems because poverty is often at the center of these problems. it is clear, then, that education cannot be separated from the consequences of poverty, and although this paper focuses on education, some caveats are in order. poverty is not simply an individual problem. instead, poverty is created within a particular sociopolitical context characterized by complex structural problems and inequalities. as a result, confronting poverty is a community and national responsibility. while schools have historically been expected to bear full responsibility for educating children who live in poverty, this expectation is both unrealistic and myopic. schools can, of course, do a great deal, but they cannot do it all. in a recent and comprehensive analysis of factors related to poverty that must be addressed if schools are to provide students living in poverty with a quality education, david berliner (2009) described six out-of-school factors that greatly affect health and learning opportunities of children: (1) low birth weight; (2) inadequate health care; (3) food insecurity; (4) environmental pollutants; (5) family relations and stress; and (6) neighborhood characteristics. until we take seriously the responsibility to improve these conditions, schooling in and of itself cannot solve achievement problems and inequities. larger institutional issues shape children’s educational experience, and although solving particular crises in the lives of individual children is an important step in improving educational outcomes for those children, it is not enough to turn the situation around for the vast majority. for example, preschool education is not universally accessible to all families. as a result, young latinos/as as a group attend preschool at much lower rates than any other group of children in the nation, thus placing them behind their peers even before they begin formal schooling. according to the national hispanic leadership agenda (nhla 2008), latino/a children are less likely than their african american and white peers to participate in early childhood education programs. in 2005, 59% of white children participated in center-based preschool education programs, while only 43% of hispanic children participated. clearly, universal preschool is one concrete action that cities, states, and the federal government can take to help level the playing fi eld. another concrete issue affecting many latino/a families is homelessness. the stigma associated with foster care, migratory lifestyles, and homelessness infl uences student disengagement, alienation and non-participation (keogh, halpenny, & gilligan, 2006). one young woman, formerly in foster care, recounted her experiences with homelessness as she attempted college. she described her inability to complete assignments or take an exam and the embarrassment she felt in having to explain her situation to the professor. she stated “…school was so connected to housing, it wasn’t funny… i went to the university not looking for sympathy but for them to understand.” she further explained, “…okay, now you’re going to fail me because now you dropped me a whole letter grade because i didn’t turn in one assignment or i didn’t take one test… understanding that there’s circumstances beyond our control, and i wasn’t looking for sympathy but at the same time, i didn’t want to tell all my personal business… i’m embarrassed by this” (perez & romo, 2009b). while it is true that larger structural problems such as lack of access to preschool and the growing conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 36 problem of homelessness greatly infl uence student learning, it is also true that schools – and the policymakers, administrators, and teachers who determine what happens in schools – can do a great deal to become places where latino/a students want to go, where they feel included, and where they can learn successfully. thus, in spite of the massive structural problems in our society, if we were to address in a consistent and meaningful way such issues as teacher preparation, bilingual and other services for students learning english, and other school, state, and federal policies and practices such as an enriched and multicultural curriculum, culturally responsive pedagogy, consistent counseling, fair and fl exible testing policies, and respectful family outreach and involvement, schools would inevitably become spaces of hope and learning. although we have focused on students in this essay, our concern here is also the communities from which they come, for this is the crucible of human development that will ultimately sustain the progressive social change we desire. the socioeconomic and cultural development of our communities in our view is ultimately the road to achieving sustainable and ever greater individual academic achievement. school transformation is a critical component of community development. with community development as the long-term goal, reciprocal support between schools and communities is a benefi cial result. although we have emphasized the communityto school direction in this essay because our focus has been an educational one, we also need to explore the interconnectedness of the school and community for mutual support. in addition, if neighborhoods, communities, and ethnic/racial groups are understood as sociocultural products of history, they should not be ignored but rather engaged by schools. approaches to educational improvement that espouse market-based reforms ignore this reality because a one-dimensional conceptualization of education results in marginalizing a potentially – and in our view, in the long run, an essentially powerful – alliance. as latinos/as we also aspire and claim the rights to the benefi ts and joys of sociocultural continuity and our identities as life-sustaining and enriching. the right to self-determination is not just enhanced, but is based upon, a community’s ownership of history and consequently the future, something that democratic societies should encourage and protect. it is clear that if we do not heed the imperative to connect schools and communities in their mutual improvement, we risk failure even with the most well-meaning of intentions and actions. the education of latino/a students is at a crucial juncture, not only for latino/a students for also for our nation as a whole. as we have seen in this paper, the latino/a community is growing at an unprecedented rate; at the same time, the academic progress of latinos/as is either at a standstill or regressing. this is bad news not only for latinos/as but also for the future of our society as a whole. in this paper, we have attempted to demonstrate that there are major institutional and structural barriers that present obstacles beyond the control of students and their families. there are also glimmers of hope and these are evident through the creative programs and approaches we have reviewed, through school environments that nurture students both academically and emotionally, and through the committed and caring educators who make a difference in their students’ lives. these glimmers of hope reinforce our conviction that teachers and administrators, latino/a and other researchers and policymakers, as well as the general public must work collectively to create policies, practices, programs, and school structures that will remove barriers and build upon foundations that promote educational success. along with policies and practices – and equally crucial – are the personal and collective values and sensibilities among educators and others that insist on educational justice for all students, including latinos/as. conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 37 references abedi, j., & gándara, p. (2006). performance of english language learners as a subgroup in large-scale assessment: interaction of research and policy. educational measurement, issues and practice, 25(4), 36-46. addy, s., & wight, v. r. (2012). basic facts about low-income children, 2010. new york, ny: national center for children in poverty. antrop-gonzález, r. (2003). this school is my sanctuary: the dr. pedro albizu campos alternative high school. journal of the center for puerto rican studies, 15, 232–255. antrop-gonzález, r. (in press). toward a conceptualization of the third space in the school choice debate: can there be a radical politics in school choice? in t.c. pedroni (ed.) educational markets and the dispossessed: how educational markets appeal to the educationally marginalized. new york, ny: teachers college press. antrop-gonzález, r., & de jesús, a. (2006). towards a theory of critical care in urban small school reform: examining structures and pedagogies of caring in two latino community-based schools. international journal of qualitative studies in education 19(4), 409-433. antrop-gonzález, r., velez, w., & garrett, t. (2005). ¿dónde están los estudiantes puertorriqueñas/os exitosos? where are the academically successful puerto rican high school students? journal of latinos and education, 4(2), 77-94. anyon, j. (1997). ghetto schooling: a political economy of urban education reform. new york, ny: teachers college press. ashiabi, g. (2005). household food insecurity and children’s school engagement. journal of children and poverty 11, 3-17. au, k., & kawakami, a. (1994). cultural congruence in instruction. in e. hollins, j. king, & w. hayman (eds.) teaching diverse populations: formulating knowledge base (pp. 5-23). albany, ny: state university of new york press. aud, s., hussar, w., johnson, f., kena, g., roth, e., manning, e., wang, x., & zhang, j. (2012). the condition of education 2012 (nces 2012-045). washington, dc. department of education. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch austin independent school district. austin isd data (20072008). our students. austin, tx: department of campus and district accountability. retrieved from http://www.austinisd.org/inside/factsfi gures/ baker, c. (1993). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. clevedon, england: multilingual matters. barth, p. (2000). honor in the boxcar: equalizing teacher quality. thinking k-16, 4(1), 1-27. berliner, d. c. (2009, march). poverty and potential: out-of-school factors and school success. boulder, co: education and the public interest center. bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in j. richardson (ed.), handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241258). new york, ny: greenwood. bourdieu, p., & wacquant, l. j. d. (1992). an invitation to refl exive sociology. chicago, il: university of chicago press. bucchioni, e. (1982). the daily round of life in the school. in f. cordasco, & e. bucchioni (eds.), the puerto rican community and its children on the mainland (3rd rev. ed. pp. 201-238). metuchen, nj: the scarecrow press. cammarota, j. (2007). a social justice approach to achievement: guiding latina/o students toward educational attainment with a challenging, socially relevant curriculum. equity and excellence in education, 40(1), 87-96. cammarota, j. (2008). sueños americanos: barrio youth negotiate social and cultural identities. tucson, az: the university of arizona press. cammarota, j., & fine, m. (eds.) (2008). revolutionizing education: youth participatory action research in motion. new york, ny: routledge. capps, r., fix, m., murray, j., ost, j., passel, j. s., & herwantoro, s. (2005). the new demography of america’s schools: immigration and the no child left behind act. washington, dc: the urban institute. cazden, c. (2002). a descriptive study of six high school puente classrooms. educational policy 16(4), 496-521. church, w. t. ii (2006). from start to fi nish: the duration of hispanic children in out-of home placements. children and youth services review 28, 1007-1023 civil rights project. (2005, may 25). confronting the graduation rate crisis in california. cambridge, ma: civil rights project, harvard university. coleman, j. (1988). social capital in the creation of human capital. american journal of sociology, 94, 95-120. cockcroft, j. d. (1995). latinos in the struggle of equal education. new york, ny: franklin watts. conchas, g. q. (2001). structuring failure and success: understanding the variability in latino school engagement. harvard educational review, 71 (3), 475-504. conchas, g. (2006). the color of success: race and high achieving urban youth. new york, ny: teachers college press. conchas, g., & rodríguez, l. f. (2008). small schools and urban youth: using the power of school culture to engage students. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. conger, d., & finkelstein, m. j. (2008). foster care and school mobility. journal of negro education 72 (1), 97-103. cooper, c. r. (2002). five bridges along students’ pathways to college: a development blueprint of families, teachers, counselors, mentors and peers in the puente project. educational policy 16(4), 607-622. cordasco, f. (1998). america and the quest for equal educational opportunity: the schools and the children of the poor. selected documents in social policy (reprinted from the british journal of educational studies, 21, february, 1973, 50-63). new york, n.y.: edna vaughn publishing group. cortina, r. (2003). transnational factors and school success of mexican immigrants. in r. cortina, & m. gendreau (eds.). immigrants and schooling: mexicans in new york. new york, ny: the center for migration studies. conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 38 crawford, j. (2004). no child left behind: misguided approach to school accountability for english language learners. silver springs, md:national association for bilingual education. retrieved from http://www.nabe.org/documents/policy_legislation/nabe_on_ nclb.pdf cummins, j. (1981). age on arrival and immigrant second language learning in canada: a reassessment. applied linguistics, 11(2), 132149. cunningham, c. (2003). trends and issues in social and economic context. washington, dc: offi ce of educational research and improvement. darling-hammond, l. (2000). teacher quality and student achievement: a review of state policy evidence. education policy analysis archives, 8(1), 1-44. darling-hammond, l. (2004a). from “separate but equal” to “no child left behind”: the collision of new standards and old inequalities. in d. meier, a. kohn., l. darling-hammond, t.r. sizer, & g. wood (eds.), many children left behind: how the no child left behind act is damaging our children and our schools. boston, ma: beacon press. darling-hammond, l. (2004b). teacher inequality and the right to learn: access to qualifi ed teachers in california’s public schools. teachers college record, 106(10), 1936-1966. darling-hammond, l. (2007). evaluating “no child left behind.” the nation, 284(20), 11-18. de cohen, c.c., & deterding, n. (2005). who’s left behind? immigrant children in high and low lep schools. washington, dc: program for evaluation and equity research, urban institute. de jesús, a., & vásquez, d. (2005). exploring the educational pipeline and profi le for latino students in new york state. centro de estudios puertorriqueños, 2 (2), 1-14. delgado-gaitán, c. (1991). involving parents in schools: a process of empowerment. american journal of education, 100(1), 20-46. delpit, l. d. (1988). the silenced dialogue: power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. harvard educational review, 58(3), 280-298. department of education. (2002, january 8). paige joins president bush for signing of historic no child left behind act of 2001. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2002/01/01082002.html department of education. (2004, july 1). four pillars of nclb. overview. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www. ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/4pillars.html department of education. (2011). winning the future: improving education for the latino community. white house initiative on educational excellence for hispanics. washington, dc: author. drakeford, w. (2004). racial disproportionality in school disciplinary practices. denver, co: national center for culturally responsive educational systems (nccrest). duncan-andrade, j.m.r. (2007). urban youth and the counter-narration of inequality. transforming anthropology, 15(1), 26-37. education trust. (2008). their fair share: how texas-sized gaps in teacher quality shortchange low-income minority youth. washington, dc: the eli and edythe board foundation. fantuzzo, j., & perlman, s. (2007). the unique impact of out-of-home placement and the mediating effects of child maltreatment and homelessness on early school success. children and youth services review, 29, 941-960. fine, m. (1993). [ap]parent involvement: refl ections on parents, power, and urban public schools. teachers college record, 94(4), 682-729. fine, m. (2008). an epilogue, of sorts. in j. cammarota, & m. fine (eds.). revolutionizing education: youth participatory action research in motion (pp. 213-240). new york: routledge fine, m., jaffe-walter, r., pedraza, p., futch, v., & stoudt, b. (2007). swimming: on oxygen, resistance, and possibility for immigrant youth under siege. anthropology and education quarterly, 38(1), 76–96. fletcher, t. v., & navarrete, l. a. (2003). learning disabilities or difference: a critical look at issues associated with the misidentifi cation and placement of hispanic students in special education programs. rural special education quarterly. 22(4), 3746. flores, b. m. (2005). the intellectual presence of the defi cit view of spanish-speaking children in the educational literature during the 20th century. in p. pedraza and m. rivera (eds.) latino education: an agenda for community action research (pp. 75-98). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. fry, r. (2008, june 26). the role of schools in the english language learner achievement gap. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. gándara, p. (1982). passing through the eye of the needle: high-achieving chicanas. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences,4(2), 167179. gándara, p. (1995). over the ivy walls: the educational mobility of low-income chicanos. albany, ny: state university of new york press. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. gándara, p., rumberger, r., maxwell-jolly, j., & callahan, r., (2003). english learners in california schools: unequal resources, unequal outcomes. education policy analysis archives, 11(36). retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/264/390 garcía, e. (2008). stemming the tide: the texas dropout conundrum and the pursuit of policy. (doctoral dissertation, university of texas at austin). garcía, e., & valenzuela, a. (2007, 13 february). extracurricular clubs and curbing texas’ dropout problem: research evidence in support of hb 3418 and sb1515. policy memorandum. austin, tx: university of texas at austin, texas center for educational policy. conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 39 garcía, e. e. (2001). hispanic education in the united states: raíces y alas. lanham, md: rowman and littlefi eld. garica, s. b., & ortiz, a. a. (2006). preventing disproportionate representation: culturally and linguistically responsive pre-referral interventions. teaching exceptional children, 38(4), 64-68. gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice. new york, ny: teachers college press. gibson, m. a. (1988). accommodation without assimilation: sikh immigrants in an american high school. new york, ny: cornell university press. ginwright, s. (2008). collective radical imagination: youth participatory action research and the art of emancipatory knowledge. in j. cammarota, & m. fine (eds.). revolutionizing education: youth participatory action research in motion (pp. 13-22). new york, ny: routledge. ginwright, s., & cammarota, j. (2007). youth activism in the urban community: learning critical civic praxis within community organizations. qualitative studies in education, 20(6), 693-710. ginwright, s., cammarota, j., & noguera, p. a. (2005). youth, social justice, and communities: toward a theory of urban youth policy. social justice, 32(3), 24-40. gonzález, n. (1995). the funds of knowledge for teaching project. practicing anthropology, 17(3), 3-6. gonzález, n. (2008). what is culture? in a. rosebery, & b. warren (eds.), teaching science to english language learners (pp. 89-98): national science teachers association press. gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). theorizing practices. in n. gonzalez, l. c. moll, & c. amanti (eds.), funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms (pp. 1-27). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. gottlob, b. j. (2007, february). the high cost of failing to reform public education in texas. indianapolis, in: milton and rose d. friedman foundation, national center for policy analysis, hispanic council for reform and educational options. retrieved from http://www.friedmanfoundation.org/friedman/downloadfile.do?id=107 gutiérrez, k. d., & rogoff, b. (2003). cultural ways of learning: individual traits or repertoires of practice. educational researcher, 32(5), 19-25. hampton, e. (2004). standardized or sterilized? divergent perspectives on the effects of high-stakes testing in west texas. in a. valenzuela (ed.), leaving children behind: how texas style accountability fails latino youth (pp. 179-200). albany, ny: state university of new york press. haycock, k. (1998). good teaching matters…a lot. education trust 3(2), 3-14. heck, r. (2007). examining the relationship between teacher quality as an organizational property of schools and students’ achievement and growth rates. educational administration quarterly, 43(4), 399-432. hondo, c., gardiner, m. e., & sapien, y. (2005). latino dropouts in rural america: realities and possibilities. albany, ny: state university of new york press. howard, e. r., christian, d., & genesee, f. (2004). the development of bilingualism and biliteracy from grade 3 to 5: a summary of fi ndings from the cal/crede study of two-way immersion education. santa cruz, ca: university of california center for research on education, diversity, and excellence. institute for language and education policy. (2008, december 15). dear president-elect obama: visions for k-12 education. portland, or: author. retrieved from http://www.elladvocates.org irizarry, j.g. (2007). ethnic and urban intersections in the classroom: latino students, hybrid identities, and culturally responsive pedagogy. multicultural perspectives, 9(3), 1-7. irizarry, j.g. (2011). the latinization of u.s. schools: successful teaching and learning in shifting cultural contexts. boulder, co: paradigm publishing. irizarry, j.g., & antrop-gonzález, r. (2007). ricanstructing the discourse and promoting school success: extending a theory of crp to diasporicans. centro journal of the center for puerto rican studies, 20(2), 36-59. irizarry, j.g., & nieto, s. (2010). latino/a theoretical contributions to educational praxis: abriendo caminos, construyendo puentes. in e. g. murillo, jr., s. villenas, galván, muñoz, martínez, & machado-casas (eds.), handbook of latinos and education: research, theory, and practice (pp.108-124). new york, ny: routledge. jacob, e., & jordan, c. (1987). moving to dialogue. anthropology and education quarterly, 18(1), 259-261. jullianelle, p., & foscarinis, m. (2003). responding to school mobility of children and youth experiencing homelessness: the mckinney-vento act and beyond. the journal of negro education 72(1), 39-140. keogh, a. f., halpenny, a. m., & gilligan, r. (2006). educational issues for children and young people in families living in emergency accommodation an irish perspective. children and society, 20(5), 360-375. kewalramani, a. k., gilberston, l., fox, m. a., & provasnik, s. (2007, september). status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic minorities. washington, dc: american institutes for research and national center for education statistics. ladson-billings, g. (1994). the dreamkeepers: successful teachers of african american children. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. lankford, h., loeb, s., & lankford, h. (2002). teacher sorting and the plight of urban schools: a descriptive analysis. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 24(1), 37-62. lareau, a. (1987). social class differences in family-school relationships: the importance of cultural capital. sociology of education, 60, 73–85. liou, d. d. (2008). beyond politics of school size: an essay review. education review: a journal of book reviews, 11(5), 1-20. macdonald, v.m., & monkman, k. (2005). setting the context: historical perspectives on latino/a/a education. in p. pedraza & m. conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 40 rivera (eds.), latino education: an agenda for community action research (pp. 47-73). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. margolis, r. j. (1968). the losers: a report on puerto ricans and the public schools. new york, ny: aspira. martínez, m. d. (2003). missing in action: reconstructing hope and possibility among latino students placed at risk. journal of latino and education, 2(1), 13-21. marx, s. (2003). entanglements of altruism, whiteness, and defi cit thinking: white preservice teachers working with urban students. educators for urban minorities, 2(2), 41-56. mccarty, t. l., & watahomigie, l. j. (1998). indigenous community-based language education in the usa. language, culture and curriculum, 11(3), 309-324. mcneil, l. (2000a). contradictions of school reform: educational costs of standardized testing. new york, ny: routledge. mcneil, l. (2000b). sameness, bureaucracy, and the myth of educational equity: the taas system of testing in texas public school. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 22(4), 508-523. mcneil, l., & valenzuela, a. (2001). the harmful impact of the taas system of testing in texas: beneath the accountability rhetoric. in g. orfi eld & m. kornhaber (eds.), raising standards or raising barriers? inequality and high-stakes testing in public education (pp. 127-150). new york, ny: century foundation press mcquillan, p. j. (1998). educational opportunity in an urban high school: a cultural analysis. albany, ny: state university of new york press. medina, c., & luna, g. (2004). learning at the margins. rural special education quarterly. 23(4), 10-16. mehan, h., hubbard, l., & villanueva, i. (1994). forming academic identities: accommodation without assimilation among involuntary minorities. anthropology and education quarterly, 25(2), 91-117. mehan, h., villanueva, i., hubbard, l., & lintz, a. (1996). constructing school success. the consequences of untracking low-achieving students. cambridge, ma: cambridge university. menchaca, v. d. (2001). providing a culturally relevant curriculum for hispanic children. multicultural education, 8(3), 18-20. moll, l. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31 (2), 132-141. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (2005). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. in n. gonzalez, l. c. moll & c. amanti (eds.), funds of knowledge (pp. 71-87). mahwah, nj, lawrence erlbaum. moll, l., & gonzález, n. (1997). teachers as social scientists: learning about culture from household research. in p.m. hall (ed). race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism: policy and practice (pp. 89-114). new york, ny: garland. moll, l. c., gonzález, n., amanti, c., & neff, d. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: a qualitative approach to connect households and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. morrell, e. (2008). critical literacy and urban youth: pedagogies of access, dissent, and liberation. new york, ny: routledge. murdock, s. h. (2006, june). texas: a changing landscape. presentation at the university of texas at san antonio superintendents conference, san antonio, tx. murdock, s. h., white, s., hoque, n., pecotte, b., you, x., & balkan, j. (1997). the texas challenge: population change and the future of texas. college station, tx: texas a & m university press. national center for children in poverty. (2008, october). who are america’s poor children? the offi cial story. new york, ny: columbia university mailman school of public health. national center for education statistics. (2006). status and trends in the education of hispanics. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. national center for education statistics, (2010). number and percentage of 16to 24-year-olds who were high school status dropouts, by nativity and race/ethnicity with hispanic and asian subgroups: 2007. washington, d.c.: u.s. department of education. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010015/tables/table_18_1b.asp national hispanic leadership agenda. (2008). 2008 national hispanic policy agenda. washington, dc: author. national latino/a education research agenda project. (2003). education research framework and agenda. new york, ny: research foundation, city university of new york. negrón de montilla, a. (1975). americanization in puerto rico and the public school system, 1900-1930. rio piedras, pr: editorial universitaria. nieto, s. (1998). fact and fi ction: stories of puerto ricans in u.s. schools. harvard educational review, 68(2), 133-163. nieto, s. (ed.) (2000a). puerto rican students in u.s. schools. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. nieto, s. (2000b). puerto rican students in u.s. schools: a brief history. in s. nieto (ed.), puerto rican students in u.s. schools (pp. 5-37). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. nieto, s. (2003). identity, personhood, and puerto rican students: challenging paradigms of assimilation and authenticity. scholarpractitioner quarterly, 1(1), 41-62. nieto, s. (2005). schools for a new majority: the role of teacher education in hard times. the new educator, 1(1), 27-43. nieto, s. (2007). latino/as and the elusive quest for equal education. in j. flores & r. renato (eds.). a companion to latino/a studies. malden, ma: blackwell. nieto, s., & rolón, c. (1997). preparation and professional development of teachers: a perspective from two latinas. in j. irvine (ed.), critical knowledge for diverse teachers and learners (pp. 89–124). new york, ny: american association of colleges for teacher education (aacte). conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 41 noguera, p. (2003). city schools and the american dream: reclaiming the promise of public education. new york, ny: teachers college press. noguera, p. (2007). “¿y qué pasará con jóvenes como miguel fernández?” education, immigration, and the future of latinas/os in the united states. in j. flores & r. renato (eds.). a companion to latino/a studies. boston, ma: blackwell. núñez, r. (2001). family homelessness in new york city: a case study. political science quarterly, 116(3). 367-379 oakes, j. (1985). keeping track: how schools structure inequality. new haven, ct: yale university press. orfi eld, g. (2004) (ed.) dropouts in america: confronting the graduate rate crisis. cambridge, ma: harvard education press. orfi eld, g. (2004). losing our future: minority students left out. in g. orfi eld (ed.), dropouts in america: confronting the graduation rate problem (pp. 1-11). cambridge, ma: harvard education press. orfi eld, g., losen, d. wald, j., & swanson, c. (2004, february 25). losing our future: how minority youth are being left behind by the graduation rate crisis. cambridge, ma: civil rights project and the urban institute. retrieved from http://www.urban.org/ publications/410936.html parsad, b., lewis, l., & farris, e. (2001). teacher preparation and professional development: 2000 (nces 2001-088). washington, dc: u. s. department of education. pedraza, p., & rivera, m. (eds.) (2005). latino/a education: an agenda for community action research (pp. 459-466). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. pérez, b., choong-guen, c., & skiba, r. j. (2008). latino students and disproportionality in special education. center for evaluation and education policy. education policy brief, 6(2), 1-8. pérez, b.f., & romo, h (2009a) school mobility and educational experiences of youth in foster care placements. paper presented at the annual meeting of southwest sociological association, denver, co. pérez, b.f. & romo, h. (2009b) “where am i going to go?”: the impact of housing on foster care alumni. paper presented at the annual meeting of southwest sociological association, denver, co. pew hispanic center. (2006a). statistical portrait of hispanics in the united states. washington, dc: author. pew hispanic center. (2006b). poverty by age, race, and ethnicity: 2006. statistical portrait of hispanics in the united states. washington, dc: author. portes, a. (1998). social capital: its origins and applications in modern sociology. annual review of sociology, 24, 1-24. portes, a., fernandez-kelly, p., & haller, w. (2008). the adaptation of the immigrant second generation in america: theoretical overview and recent evidence (working paper #08-02). princeton, nj: center for migration and development. portes, a., & rumbaut, r. g. (1996). immigrant america (2nd ed.). berkeley, ca: university of california press. quiroz, p.a. (2001). the silencing of latino/a student “voice”: puerto rican and mexican narratives in eighth grade and high school. anthropology and education, quarterly, 32(2), 326-349. ramírez, a.y. (2005) esperanza’s lessons: learning about education through the eyes of the innocent. multicultural education, 13(2), 47-51. reyes, a. h. (2003). does money make a difference for hispanic students in urban schools? education and urban society, 35(4), 363379. rivera, m., medellín-paz, c., pedraza, p. with el puente academy for peace and justice. (2010). imagination for the imagined nation: a creative justice approach to human development. final report. new york, ny: ford foundation. romero, a., cammarota, j., dominguez, k., valdéz, l., ramírez, g., & hernández, l. (2008). “the opportunity if not the right to see”: the social justice education project. in j. cammarota & m. fine (eds.), revolutionizing education: youth participatory action research in motion (pp. 131-154). new york, ny: routledge. rodríguez, r. l (2007). leaving most latino children behind: no child left behind legislation, testing, and the misuse of data under george bush administration. datacrítica: international journal of critical statistics, 1(1), 3-7. romo, h. d., & falbo, t. (1996). latino high school graduation: defying the odds. austin, tx: university of texas press. romo, h., aguilar, e., hansen, m. l., hurley, a., ordner, j. p., & pleasant. a. e. (2008). united way of texas and bexar county parentschool-community partnership fi nal report and evaluation. san antonio, tx: university of texas at san antonio bank of america child and adolescent policy research institute. rosebery, a., & warren, b. (2008). teaching science to english language learners: building on students’ strengths. washington, dc: national science teachers association. ruiz, n. t., vargas, e., & beltrán, a. (2002). becoming a reader and writer in a bilingual special education classroom. language arts, 79(4), 297-308. ruiz de velaso, j., & fix, m. (2001). overlooked and underserved: immigrant students in u.s. secondary schools. washington, d.c.: urban institute press. retrieved from http://www.urban.org/pdfs/overlooked.pdf rumbaut, r.g. (1995). the new californians: comparative research fi ndings on the educational progress of immigrant children. in r.g. rumbaut & w.a. cornelius (eds.), california’s immigrant children: theory, research and implications for educational policy (pp. 17-69). san diego, ca: university of california center for u.s.-mexican studies. rumberger, r. (2003). the causes and consequences of student mobility. the journal of negro education, 72(1), 6-21 rumberger, r. w., & thomas, s. l. (2000). the distribution of dropout and turnover rates among urban and suburban high schools. sociology of education, 73(1), 39-68. saenz, v.b., yamamura, e., cabrera, n., lopez, p., martinez, m., aguilar, a., najera, t., munoz, i., & richardson, c. (2008). understanding the perception of college readiness in the rio grande valley of texas. edinberg, tx: texas valley communities conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 42 foundation. sánchez, g. i. (1940). forgotten people. albuquerque, nm: university of new mexico press. sanders, w.i., & rivers, j.c. (1996) cumulative and residual effects of teachers on future student academic achievement. knoxville, tn: university of tennessee value-added research and assessment center. scharrer, g. (2007, january 29). dropout rate a crisis for state, experts say: some estimates show half of all students in urban high schools quit. the houston chronicle, p. a1. stanton-salazar, r. d. (1997). a social capital framework for understanding the socialization of racial minority children and youths. harvard educational review, 67(1), 1-40. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2001). manufacturing hope and despair: the school and kin support networks of us-mexican youth. new york, ny: teachers college press. stanton-salazar, r. d., & dornbusch, s. m. (1995). social capital and the social reproduction of inequality: the formation of informational networks among mexican-origin high school students. sociology of education, 68, 116–135. stovall, d. (2006). from hunger strike to high school: youth development, social justice and school formation. in s. ginwright, s., p. noguera, & j. cammarota, (eds.), beyond resistance: youth activism and community change (pp. 97-110). new york, ny: routledge. suárez-orozco, c., & suárez-orozco, m. (2001). children of immigration. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. suárez-orozco, c., suárez-orozco, m. m., & todorova, i. (2007). learning a new land: immigrant students in american society. cambridge, ma: belknap press of harvard university press. thomas, w. p., & collier, v. (1997, december). school effectiveness for language minority students. national clearinghouse for bilingual education resources collection series, no. 9. washington, d.c.: national clearinghouse for bilingual education. tienda, m., & mitchell, f. (eds.). (2006). multiple origins, uncertain destinies: hispanics and the american future. washington, d.c.: the national academies press. titus, d. (2007). strategies and resources for enhancing the achievement of mobile students. nassp bulletin, 91(1), 81-97. torre, m. e., & ayala, j. (2009). envisioning participatory action research entremundos, feminism & psychology, 19(3), 387-393. torre, m. e., & fine, m. (2008). participatory action research in the contact zone. in j. cammarota & m. fine (eds.). revolutionizing education: youth participatory action research in motion (pp. 23-44). new york, ny: routledge. trueba, h.t. (1991). from failure to success: the role of culture and cultural confl ict in the academic achievement of chicano students. in r.r. valencia (ed.) chicano school failure and success: research and policy agendas for the 1990s (pp. 151-163). london, uk: falmer press. trueba, h. (1998). the education of mexican immigrant children. in m. suárez-orozco (ed.), crossings: mexican immigration in interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 253– 275). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. tung, r., uriarte, m., diez, v., lavan, n., agusti, n., karp, f., & meschede, t. (2009). english learners in boston: enrollment, engagement, and academic outcomes, ay 2003-ay 2006. final report. boston, ma: gastón institute u.s. census bureau. (2001). the hispanic population reports: census 2000 brief. washington, d.c.: u.s. department of commerce, economics and statistics administration. u.s. census bureau. (2007). population estimates and projections. washington, dc: author. u.s. census bureau. (2010). the hispanic population: 2012. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/ cen2012/briefs/c212br-04.pdf u.s. general accounting offi ce. (1994). limited english profi ciency: a growing and costly educational challenge facing many school districts (no. hehs – 94-38). washington, d.c.: government printing offi ce. valdés, g. (2001). learning and not learning english: latino students in american schools. new york, ny: teachers college press. valencia, r. r. (ed.) (1997). the evolution of defi cit thinking: educational thought and practice. washington, dc: falmer press. valencia, r. r. (2002). (ed.). chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (2nd ed.). new york, ny: routledge/falmer. valencia, r. r., menchaca, m., & donato, r. (2002). segregation, desegregation, and integration of chicano students: old and new realities. in r. r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (2nd ed., pp. 70-113). new york, ny: routledge. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. new york, ny: state university of new york press. valenzuela, a. (ed.) (2005). leaving children behind: how “texas-style” accountability fails latino youth. albany, ny: state university of new york press. valenzuela, a., & dornbusch, s. m. (1994). familism and social capital in the academic achievement of mexican-origin and anglo high school adolescents. social science quarterly, 75(1), 18-36. vásquez, o.a. (2003). la clase mágica: imagining optimal possibilities in a bilingual community of learners. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. vásquez, o. a. (2006). a pedagogy of the future. inaugural issue of pedagogies: an international journal, 1(1), 43-48. vásquez heilig, j., & lópez, p.d. (2008, march). understanding the impact of texas-style testing and accountability policy on low-income rural immigrant students. paper presented at the annual meeting of american educational research association, new york, ny. vélez-ibañez, c. g., & greenberg, j. b. (1992). formation and transformation of funds of knowledge among u.s.-mexican households. anthropology and education quarterly, 23(4), 313-335. viadero, d. (2005, may 8). latino research group sets ambitious agenda. education week, 24(26), 10. retrived from http://www. edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/03/09/26latino.h24.html conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 43 villegas, a., & lucas, t. (2002). educating culturally responsive teachers: a coherent approach. albany, ny: state university of new york press. wald, j., & daniel, l. (2005). confronting the graduation rate crisis in the south. cambridge, ma: civil rights project, harvard university. retrieved from http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/school-dropouts/dropouts-in-the-southconfronting-the-graduation-rate-crisis/crp_confronting-dropouts-south-2005.pdf wortham, s., murillo, e., & hamann, e. (2002). education in the new latino diaspora: policy and the politics of identity. westport, ct: ablex. wortham, s., & contreras, m. (2002). struggling toward culturally relevant pedagogy in the latino/a diaspora. journal of latinos in education, 1(2), 133-144. yosso, t. (2006). critical race counterstories: along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. new york, ny: routledge. conclusion and recommendations association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 17 looking for science and mathematics in all the right places: using mobile technologies as culturally-sensitive pedagogical tools to capture generative images maría g. arreguín-anderson elsa cantu ruiz university of texas at san antonio abstract the exploration into cultural practices occurring in households has become more fluid and transparent process thanks to the presence of mobile technologies that allow members of a group to capture daily occurrences. this case study explored ways in which three latino preservice teachers used mobile devices to discover connections between scientific/mathematical knowledge generated in their household and the academic curriculum. through reflection and dialogue, three prospective latino teachers were prompted to transform the focus of their exploration. the findings indicate that through prompted praxis our participants discovered science and mathematical connections in cultural practices emerging from their household. introduction mobile technologies (e.g., ipods, ipads, digital camera, video recorders, and cell phones) have emerged as possible venues for access to education and social equity empowering students to explore and validate learning spaces traditionally ignored in the academic context. with trends in media use indicating that 69% of all 8-18 yearolds have their own cell phone (rideout, foehr, & roberts, 2010) and that a substantial number of young people “carry most forms of portable digital media to school with them” (roberts & foehr, 2008, p. 15) educators are faced with the task of designing instruction that integrates these technological devices so that students continue to learn while on the move. hence, teacher preparation programs must equip prospective teachers with pedagogies that address the challenges and opportunities that the use of media technology entails. in this study we present the case of three latino bilingual preservice teachers who, through dialogue and reflection, were prompted to use mobile technologies to explore their home as a valuable source of scientific and mathematical knowledge. theoretical consideration for mobile learning the practice of using knowledge that originates in non-traditional spaces can be traced to freire’s (1994) use of locally generated words and images to conduct literacy circles and discussions closely related to the audience’s lives. this notion connects to the idea that households are sources of knowledge and skills that have been historically accumulated and culturally developed and are “essential for household or individual functioning” (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005, p. 72). the exploration into cultural practices occurring in households has become more fluid and transparent thanks to the presence of mobile technologies that allow members of a group to capture daily occurrences. operating under the freirean premise that learning is facilitated when content introduced holds deep connections with one’s familiar context, we find intersections between scientific/mathematical learning and the use of generative images. based on a critical framework, we define generative images as pictures or video clips captured directly by the students within their social and familiar space using technologies or devices such as their cell phone camera, digital camera, portable video recorder or any device at hand. because these digital images emerge from authentic settings, they can potentially generate further explorations and discussions when brought to the classroom allowing teachers to connect students’ cultures to the official curriculum. however, “while a looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 18 situated curriculum is one way for the teacher to practice democratic authority, this is not a static entrapment in what students already know and say. what students bring to class is where learning begins” (shor, 1992, p. 44). this type of students’ active involvement in the learning process opens the door to generative themes connecting academic, community, and home issues to the multiple contexts in which students learn while on the move contributing to solve the mismatch between the school and the outside world (gonzalez et al., 2005). in this sense, mobile learning “offers new ways to extend education outside the classroom, into the conversations and interactions of everyday life” (sharples, milrad, sanchez, & vavuola, 2009, p. 5). sharples et al. (2009) advanced a theory that defines mobile learning as “the processes (both personal and public) of coming to know through exploration and conversation across multiple contexts, amongst people, and interactive technologies” (p. 5). they state that exploration is mobile and involves learning that may take place across space, time, and from topic to topic. mobile learning has the potential to transcend general traditional dynamics usually found in minority classrooms and become a pedagogy of possibility and social mobility. kim, mirand, and olaciregui (2008) propose that access to learning through mobile technology is a viable option worth exploring for underserved individuals and stated that “recent innovations in mobile learning technology offer promising opportunities to combat the deep seated chasm of inequality entrenched in latin america and many places on earth” (p. 417) including the united states. review of the literature mobile learning literature suggests that hand-held devices hold significant potential for learning and teaching (johnson, smith, willis, levine, & haywood, 2011; rideout et al., 2010; sharples et al., 2009). through a variety of innovative projects, teachers in k-12 settings have gradually engaged in the design of lessons and activities that are completed over a virtual space or beyond the confines of the classroom walls (kim et al., 2008; shuler, 2009; valk, rashid, & elder, 2010). these opportunities to learn in asynchronous ways have changed traditional patterns of knowledge construction. today’s emerging technologies allow learners to take a more active role in activities that are relevant, significant, and personalized. the potential for enriched learning in the mobile era is currently maximized by students’ permanent access to devices that facilitate ‘anytime, anywhere’ social interactions (lenhart, ling, campbell, & purcell, 2010). this type of social skills are essential in a globalized world, thereby allowing students to widen the circles of collaboration and communication in project-based tasks that range from exploration of community resources at the elementary level to the study of chemistry terminology at the college level (kolb, 2008; pursell, 2009; shuler, 2009). however, wide acceptance of mobile learning pedagogical design is still not the norm. shuler (2009) warns that prior to launching formal initiatives in mobile learning, current cultural norms, and teachers’ negative attitudes represent a challenge that must undergo transformation. change of attitudes and beliefs in regards to technology is perhaps better addressed at the teacher preparation level. gado and ferguson’s (2006) research on the integration of mobile technology into a science methods course explored aspects of student learning that would be affected by hand-held based science activities. their findings indicate that preservice teachers’ inquiry skills and organizational skills, engagement in science content learning, and attitudes and self-efficacy were enhanced. scholars have also investigated the pedagogical and content knowledge relevant to the teaching of mathematics in primary and secondary schools that could be activated by the use of mobile technology (chinnappan, 2009; hlondan, 2010). these studies emphasized the role of the teacher in developing a good understanding and familiarity of the mobile technologies they will be using in class. although these studies recognized the key role that technology plays in today’s classrooms, research is needed that situates the use of such technology within the dynamics of culturally and linguistically diverse settings. our study explored the educational potential of mobile learning and focused on this research question: what type of cultural and academic science and mathematics connections were identified as preservice bilingual teachers explored their home environment using mobile technologies? looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 19 methods the purpose of this study was to explore and describe the potential of mobile learning for scientific/ mathematical inquiry with preservice bilingual teachers at a hispanic serving institution (hsi) in south texas. the instructor used mobile technology to complement and extend formal face-to-face class meetings as a regular instructional strategy. mobile devices used in this course included cell phones, digital, and video camera. initially, this intervention study involved 15 bilingual preservice teachers enrolled in one science methods course. all participants owned cell phones previously provided to them as part of a grant awarded by the academy of teacher excellence (ate). given the intricacies of all data collected and our overall purpose to identify specific instances of home-school exploration with mobile technologies, we decided to focus on data produced by three students. participants the authors utilized purposeful homogeneous sampling as the guiding strategy to select three participants based on characteristics that were consistent with the overall objectives of this inquiry (miles & huberman, 1994). we selected carlos, magda, and perla out of the 15 preservice teachers because they sought bilingual certification ec-6 (race will not be a variable in this study); were enrolled in a science methods course; had access to a cell phone and other mobile technologies such as video recorder, and digital camera; and collected data in various formats. data collection and analysis data collection included semi-structured interviews, reflections, field notes, blog posts, and multi-media presentations. all students were interviewed during and after the semester. additionally, we recorded field notes in 5 x 8 index cards limiting one topic per card in order to facilitate coding (glesne, 2006). maxwell (2005) proposed coding as the main categorizing and analytic strategy in qualitative research and defined it as a strategy that “applies a pre-established set of categories to data according to explicit, unambiguous rules” (p. 5). miles and huberman (1994) stressed the need to code field notes using predetermined categories as a prerequisite step in preparation for effective data representation or display. this multiple case study focused on the following categories: academic connections, cultural connections, and mobile technologies. participants also created a personal blog in which they included weekly personal reflections, pictures, audio recordings, and interviews related to a variety of science and mathematics topics. students used mobile technology to explore their households and other personal spaces as sources of scientific and mathematical knowledge. a preliminary analysis of students’ posts on their personal blogs revealed a noticeable absence of cultural significance within the events and objects captured leading the instructor to plan intervention. using prompted praxis the authors chose prompted praxis as the intervention strategy for this study. rodriguez, zozakiewics, and yerrick (2005) defined this strategy as one that seeks to solve the disconnect between “espoused beliefs” and beliefs in action. in a study conducted with inservice teachers zozakiewics and yerrick identified the need to intervene or prompt teachers to “reflect and take action in a manner more congruent with their stated professional development goals” (p. 357) as well as the goals of their project. this type of intervention can occur before, during, or after teaching and seeks to encourage transformative action. a similar approach was adopted in this course where the instructor identified opportunities for purposeful intervention. focusing on praxis while teaching, in the next section the authors describe the type of dynamics that prompted the instructor to encourage reflection. then, the results of such intervention are narrated. looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 20 findings prompted praxis while teaching as part of the requirements stated in the syllabus of the science methods course, preservice teachers completed an assignment titled: “science and mathematics found at home.” the general purpose was to compile digital images with cultural significance that could be connected to the science and mathematics curriculum. in order to allow sufficient time for discussion and feedback, the instructor divided students’ individual presentations into two groups, each presenting on a different day. during the first day of presentations, seven students described their projects. in most cases, students included pictures of objects and living organisms found at home such as a chair, a tree, and other items randomly selected and categorized under science or mathematics related topics such as states of matter, living things, geometrical figures, etc. once again, the instructor noticed the cultural disconnect initially identified in the students’ weekly blogs. after all presentations had concluded and an open discussion began, the instructor used a student’s picture of rocks (see figure 1) to pose a variety of questions. field notes of this discussion reflect students’ ideas of what they perceived as valid representations of scientific/mathematical knowledge with cultural relevance. interesantes rocas encontradas en el pa o de la casa. figure 1. objects found at a students’ home. professor in what ways do we make culture at home? what does a rock represent to me? does my family manipulate that rock in any way? let’s talk about objects that we manipulate. what happens when some of us get a stomachache? student 1 grandma makes tea. professor what tea would that be? student 1 chamomile tea or spearmint tea sometimes professor isn’t that part of our cultural practices? student 2 yes, but that is not in the teks (state curriculum) student 3 culture is in the teks but the tea is not. student 1 well, i guess when the water boils to make the tea then we actually witness part of the water cycle. professor great! so an herb or an object holds very little meaning if we do not act in relation to this object. looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 21 so in a way we create culture. let’s think what other connections can we make? in what ways is scientific and mathematical knowledge available at home? let’s talk to our parents, our neighbors, our children, and see what we can find. generative images after prompted praxis the presentations designed during our second meeting included a variety of “generative images”. in contrast to day one, students’ pictures and video showed important changes in content (see figure 2). in most cases, students began to identify objects, organisms, and experiences that could be dissected in terms of their academic and cultural significance. day one sample images before prompted praxis day two sample images after prompted praxis looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 22 figure 2. images presented on day 1 and day 2. in this section the authors included three cases that were representative of the new focus undertaken by the students. a variety of comments reflected in field notes indicate this change in view, “i had to look at things with new eyes” stated magda, who just like carlos explored and inquired about their families’ activities related to the care and use of plants. a series of interviews revealed the significance of the topics selected, “yo quería incluir esto porque esto era muy importante para él (his father).” [i wanted to include this, because it is important to him], stated carlos. as part of his presentation, carlos included an interview with his father, who eagerly shared a love for plants that could be traced back to his years in nicaragua where he crossed the border with honduras to work in a plantation. although he now supported his family with income earned in construction jobs, plants remained his passion. carlos’ recorded images showed his home’s backyard, a special pace where his father cared for a variety of plants including trees and herbs such as guava, mango, grapefruit, papaya, fig, pepper, mint, epazote, and rosemary. magda’s cell phone and video recorder images also related to plants, however, contrary to carlos’s father, magda’s mother initiated this activity as a hobby which gradually allowed her to supplement the family’s income as she began selling plants in small pots at a local flea market. magda’s presentation included pictures and an interview with her younger brother who initially gew epazote plants with the help of his mother out of curiosity, but later realized that those plants were in high demand at the flea market as ladies used them for culinary purposes. encouraged by an initial sale, magda’s brother expanded both the quantity and type of plants he grew. during the second day of presentations students also captured images of family pets and farm animals, such as the case of perla who included goats and an interview with a relative who raised them. in class, perla explained how, the process of raising and caring for goats was labor intensive. she was particularly impressed by the techniques and equipment involved in dehorning the goats and added that “ni idea tenía yo de lo que implicaba cuidar a las chivas”. [i had no idea about everything involved in taking care of goats]. although her uncle was instrumental in the administration and management of the ‘goat business’ the entire family participated in different roles. figure 3 shows scientific/mathematical connections that carlos, magda, and perla identified in their home-family environment and shared with their classmates. looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 23 sample generative images connection to curriculum perla’s uncle: “hay varios productos que se pueden elaborar con la leche de cabra, por ejemplo el delicioso dulce de leche quemada. con un litro de leche y dos tazas de azúcar tienes.” [there are a variety of products that can be made with goat’s milk, for example burned milk candy. all you need is a liter of milk and two cups of sugar]. mathematics: grades 3–5 expectations (measurement). understand the need for measuring with standard units and become familiar with standard units in the customary and metric systems. science: grades k-4 standards (life science) children learn that all animals depend on plants. some animals eat plants for food. other animals eat animals that eat the plants (national research council, 1996, p. 129). carlos’s father: “este es un palo de “grapefruit” a este también...cuando se siembra si la cubeta es de 6 pulgadas hay que hacer el orificio 12 pulgadas y echarle “mulch”. [it is a grapefruit tree... when you plant it if the bucket is 6 inches then you have to dig a hole that is 12 inches wide and cover it with mulch.] mathematics: grades 3-5 expectations (algebra). investigate how a change in one variable relates to a change in another variable (national council of teachers of mathematics, 2000). science: grades k-4 standards (life science) children learn that plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying (national research council, 1996, p. 129). looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 24 magda: en la casa mi mamá utiliza las naranjas y los limones para varios propósitos: cocinar, limpiar, etc. con las cascaras de 15 limones y 1 litro de agua por ejemplo se puede hacer un limpiador. [at home, my mother uses the oranges and lemons for various purposes: cooking, cleaning, etc. using 15 lemon shells and a liter of water you can make a cleaning substance]. mathematics: pre-k–2 expectations (number and operations). connect number words and numerals to the quantities they represent, using various physical models and representations; science: grades k-4 (life science) standards humans depend on their natural and constructed environments. humans change environments in ways that can be either beneficial or detrimental for themselves and other organisms (national research council, 1996, p. 129). figure 3. generative images and their connections to the curriculum. historical and cultural connections of mathematical and scientific knowledge students discussed the cultural and historically accumulated meaning that plants and animals held for their families, as expressed by carlos’ father who stated that: “en mi ambiente era muy fácil aprender como sembrar productos para vender y comer porque el clima está perfecto para la agricultura, también tuve que aprender hacer esto porque era la única manera de sobrevivir en mi país.” [in my environment, it was very easy to learn how to plan products that you could later sell and eat. the weather was perfect for agriculture, plus i also had to learn because it was the only way to survive in my country]. magdas’ brother also shared the cultural connections of the plant sold and commented “mi mamá y las señoras usan mucho el epazote para sus guisos y podemos hacer negocio vendiéndolas en la pulga” [my mother and other ladies use epazote as a spice when cooking and we can make business selling epazote plants in the flea market). in all cases, the activities stemmed from intergenerational practices such as ‘goat raising’ that reminded perla’s uncle of his childhood years in the ranch, “es lo que hacía mi padre y todo lo que yo sabía como niño y como adolescente.” [this is what my father did and all i knew as a child and as a teenager]. implications for practice carlos, perla, and magda identified the pedagogical implications of a teaching and learning approach that establishes connections between the home and school: “this type of connections allowed students to experience real life learning. they can connect what they are learning in school with their home. this will definitely maximize their learning,” expressed carlos. in essence, preservice teachers perceived themselves as future ‘agents of change’, specifically in terms of validating parents as key participants of the education process as expressed by perla who identified the potential for parental involvement: looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 25 invitarlos y que vengan y nos ayuden a hacer una actividad y luego podemos relacionar eso con ciencia o matemáticas y es la mamá la que lo está presentando, entonces ellos a la vez se sienten orgullosos de su cultura, de sus padres, pero a la vez están aprendiendo ciencia de una manera diaria osea de algo que ven a diario en casa y utilizando a los padres como un medio informativo va a ser algo que sí quiero hacer en clase. [i would invite them to come and help us with an activity which could later be connected to science or mathematics. all while having the mother present, so that they feel proud of their culture and proud of their parents while at the same time learning they learn science using what they see at home daily. this is something i definitely want to do in the classroom.]. in his future classroom, carlos and magda saw themselves integrating mobile technology in different ways. a camera, for example, can capture images that can be archived for later use in the classroom if there is no time to discuss such images at the moment. carlos suggested a compilation of photographs sent by the parents through e-mail to be used when pertinent in connection with the curriculum. these pictures, taken with any mobile device can also reflect moments that are significant in students’ culture, such as his own family tradition of making naca tamales (nicaraguan tamales) from scratch. magda talked about the possibility of having her students capture real life events using cell phone technologies such as the digital camera, como la vez en que mis perros pescaron un tacuache y yo lo tengo en mi teléfono porque era lo único que tenía. o luego cuando se me descompuso la troca y le tomé fotos.” [like the time when mi dogs caught a possum and i recorded it in my cell phone because that was all i had with me, or when my truck broke and i took pictures of it]. generative images and mobile learning: implications for teacher education given current trends in media use, today’s learners and educators possess tools to transform learning into a fluid process that transcends the walls of the classroom. with this in mind, teacher preparation programs are in the position to prepare educators to face the challenges posed by emerging mobile learning environments. there is a need to equip preservice teachers with pedagogical practices that are responsive to the needs of a technologically-bound generation whose mobility currently influences how they gain new knowledge and skills. this is crucial at a time when most children in the u.s. have access to a mobile device (shuler, 2009) and 83% of teen cell phone owners already use their phone to take pictures (lenhart et al., 2010). the use of generative images to establish relevancy in the teaching of mathematics and science content is essential at a time when the interest and motivation of latinos in stem fields continues to show a significant gap as only 8% of stem bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2006 were received by latinos nationwide (dowd, malcoml, & bensimon, 2009). the process of validating bodies of knowledge, or funds of knowledge, (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005) generated at home should begin with exposure of preservice teachers to experiential learning. in other words, there should be a systematic effort to immerse preservice teachers in the identification of knowledge found in their own environment to create awareness that can eventually lead to transformation of their own practices. the goal is to counter the deficit views of minority groups. conclusions generative images, as democratic tools, place learners in a position to construct meaning while advancing academically in the science and mathematics fields. this is particularly important for linguistic and culturally diverse learners whose academic advancement is often hindered by narrow representations of their cultural background in the school curriculum. mobile learning technologies have now the potential to empower, validate, and extend the discussions of mathematics and science to often unexplored social spaces. a purposeful inquiry into historically and culturally accumulated bodies of knowledge can create personal connections contributing to a perception that science and mathematics occur everywhere. this exploration generated in non-traditional spaces can now transcend barriers and reach the academic environment providing the mirror so that minorities can begin to see their image reflected on the stem arena. looking for science and mathematics in all the right places association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 26 references chinnappan, m. (2009). role of mobile digital technology in fostering the construction of pedagogical and content knowledge of mathematics. retrieved from http://ro.uow.edu.au/edupapers/83 freire, p. (1994). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: continuum. gado, i., & ferguson, i. (2006). using handheld-computers and probeware in a science methods course: preservice teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy. journal of technology and teacher education, 14(3), 501-529. gonzalez, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. hlondan, o. (2010). mobile learning anytime, anywhere. bioscience, 60(9), 682. johnson, l., smith, r., willis, h., levine, a., & haywood, k. (2011). the 2011 horizon report. austin, texas: the new media consortium. kim, p., miranda, t., & olaciregui, c. (2008). pocket school: exploring mobile technology as a sustainable literacy education option for underserved indigenous children in latin america. international journal of educational development, 4(28), 435-445. kolb, l. (2008). toys to tools: connecting student cell phones to education. eugene, or: iste book publishing. lenhart, a., ling, r., campbell, s., & purcell, k. (2010). teens and mobile phones. washington: pew internet & american life report. miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. pursell, d. p. (2009). adapting to student learning styles: engaging students with cell phone technology in organic chemistry instruction. journal of chemical education, 86(10), 1219-1222. rideout, v. j., foehr, v. g., & roberts, d. f. (2010). generation m²: media in the life of 8-to 18year-olds. menlo park, ca: the henry j. kaiser family foundation. roberts, d. f., & foehr, u. g. (2008). trends in media use. the future of children, 18(1), 11-37. rodriguez, a. j., zozakiewics, c., & yerrick, r. (2005). using prompted praxis to improve eacher professional development n culturally diverse schools. school science and mathematics, 105(7), 352-362. sharples, m., milrad, m., sanchez, i., & vavuola, g. (2009). mobile learning: small devices, big issues. in n. balacheff, s. ludvigsen & t. d. jong (eds.), technology enhanced learning: principles and products (pp. 233249). heidelberg: springer. shor, i. (1992). empowering education: critical teaching for social change. chicago: the university of chicago press. shuler, c. (2009). pockets of potential: using mobile technologies to promote children’s learning. new york: the joan ganz cooney center at sesame workshop. valk, j. h., rashid, a. t., & elder, l. (2010). using mobile phones to improve educational outcomes: an analysis of evidence from asia. international review of research in open and distance learning, 11(1), 117-140. looking for science and mathematics in all the right places http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education caroline s. turner california state university, sacramento victor b. sáenz guest editors tracy arámbula turner university of vermont desiree d. zerquera university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 199 a critical look at perspectives of access and mission at high latinx-enrolling urban universities desiree d. zerquera university of san francisco tracy arámbula turner university of vermont emerald templeton university of san francisco abstract this article examines administrators’ perspectives related to embracing and fulfilling a diversity and access-centered mission at urban-serving universities with high latinx enrollment. considering today’s context of higher education—whereby access and opportunities for latinx and other marginalized populations has become increasingly stratified—this timely work seeks to foster dialogue regarding how to best uphold an access-centered mission. to achieve this, we framed the study using a critical lens that defines leadership for access as a leadership model that must focus on transformation for the greater good. our critical lens also critically interrogates the meaning and implementation of “diversity” agendas on america’s college campuses. organizational sensemaking offers an analytical frame to situate administrators’ accounts and trigger sensemaking processes, particularly with respect to identity and enactment of the environment. the study analyzes interviews with 21 administrators across four urban campuses within the same state and examines the administrators’ commitment to and fulfillment of an accessand diversity-centered mission. the study categorizes the administrators’ perspectives into three key areas: 1) diversity as an assumed identity as a byproduct of situation within a diverse region; 2) diversity as a double-edged sword; and 3) enactment of a diversityand access-centered mission. keywords: access, leadership, higher education, mission management doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.367 zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 200 introduction the u.s. system of higher education is a “driver of the nation’s economy…an engine of social mobility…a key contributor to this nation’s commitment to democratic values” (bowen, kurzweil, & tobin, 2005, p. 259). while a college degree is in many ways essential to attain lifelong social benefits for individuals and society at large, structural inequalities disproportionately preclude access to higher education opportunities for large segments of our nation’s population. though access to higher education in the u.s. has expanded significantly in recent decades (engle & tinto, 2008; musu-gillette et al., 2016), opportunity across the system has been stratified by race and ability to pay (bastedo & gumport, 2003; carnevale & strohl, 2013; posselt, jaquette, bielby, & bastedo, 2012). attainment gaps persist along these same demographics, as institutions fail to retain and graduate black (41%) and latinx1 (53%) students at the same rates as other students (59% for all students, 63% for white students) (musugillette et al., 2016). for latinx students in particular, while enrollment has increased, stratification into open access institutions and lagging success rates are of great concern (krogstad, 2016), with nearly half of all latinx college students enrolled in the community college (excelencia in education, 2015). as our most selective institutions have become increasingly inaccessible to students of color (carnevale & strohl, 2013; haycock, lynch, & engle, 2010; posselt, jaquette, bielby, & bastedo, 2012) and as tuition has increased at an alarming rate (baum & ma, 2013), opportunities for students from marginalized backgrounds have been primarily provided by a particular set of institutions, i.e., community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and urbanserving universities. consequently, these institutions serve our nation’s most marginalized students at disproportionate rates. as a key example, hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) have been conceived as those that serve large latinx proportions of undergraduates (25% or more of student population). though hsis comprise just 13% of all u.s. colleges and universities, they enroll over 60% of all latinx undergraduates, with the majority of these institutions situated within regions that have dense latinx populations (excelencia in education, 2017). though a number of these institutions have committed to supporting latinx student success through 1 the term latinx is used throughout this manuscript in line with a movement for usage of more gender-inclusive terminology for how we refer to those typically called latina/o, latino, latin@, or hispanic. please see this volume’s introduction for a more robust discussion on the utilization of latinx. a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 201 their admissions, programs, curricula, and services (andrade & lundberg, 2016; garcia & okhidoi, 2015; torres & zerquera, 2012), the extent to which many institutions are actually serving latinx students versus merely passively enrolling them has been questioned by scholars (e.g., andrade & lundberg, 2016; malcolm, bensimon, & dávila, 2010; santiago, 2012; torres & zerquera, 2012). similarly, urban-serving research universities (usrus) are institutions that have a historical mission to serve their surrounding cities, including via mechanisms of access (lynton & elman, 1987; zerquera, 2016). questions about their commitment to this mission have been raised (e.g., doran, 2015; zerquera, 2014) given a context of diminished resources for higher education (state higher education executive officers, 2014) and shifts in state policies that reward institutions based on measures that may unintentionally contradict access (umbricht, fernandez, & ortagus, 2015). thus, while an espoused commitment to serving latinx students is present within these institutions relegated to do so by higher education opportunity structures, close attention to the ways in which these types of institutions perceive and enact their diversityand access-centered missions is needed. higher education leaders play an important role in upholding equitable access, in fostering campus environments that are inclusive of students from diverse backgrounds, and in promoting success for historically marginalized groups. as captured by bensimon (2005), “institutional actors, as a consequence of their beliefs, expectations, values, and practices, create or perpetuate unequal outcomes” (p. 101). while an espoused commitment to access and diversity is important, upholding this mission must go beyond simple recognition and be embedded in the mission, policies, and practices of an institution (bell, 2004; bensimon, 2005). university leaders often passionately highlight diversity measures while simultaneously supporting traditional markers and measures that exclude students of color and impede their success, resulting in “too much love and not enough justice” (reider, 2004, p. 6). in reality, higher education today sorely needs more creative approaches to ensure an enacted mission that supports marginalized students while navigating the aforementioned context. it is within these tensions and needs that we situate the current work. the purpose of this study is to critically examine leadership perspectives related to embracing and fulfilling a diversityand access-centered mission, particularly as it pertains to serving latinx students. by offering a social justice-focused lens to the accounts from administrators and other leaders within hsis, we hope to contribute to the literature by offering a more in-depth understanding zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 202 of the approaches to this mission and how perceptions of these notions are shaped. to do so, we focus on urban-serving universities within the shifting higher education context, which as described includes stratification of opportunity for students of color, diminished resources, and pressures from ranking systems to conform to metrics misaligned with an urban-serving mission. urban-serving universities provide an important context as a whole, as these institutions serve large proportions of students of color in their cities and states. to achieve this, we draw from interviews with 21 administrators from four urban-serving universities within the same state. these institutions each play a large role in educating the latinx population in their state, with undergraduate latinx enrollment of over 20 to nearly 70%. as such, two of these institutions meet criteria to be hsis and the two others meet criteria as emerging hsis (ehsis)—institutions with latinx undergraduate populations of 15-24% and which may potentially become hsis in the next few years (santiago, 2010). the findings from this study are important for informing the policies and practices of those committed to an access and diversity-centered mission, but also for those who may struggle to enact that commitment. these findings are also important for informing leaders of hsis and other institutions committed to serving latinx populations. we advance this work with the hope that this understanding will foster a creative imagination regarding how to work towards greater equity, particularly within the institutions facing the most urgent call to uphold opportunity for latinxs in higher education. conceptual framework leadership committed to diversity has the potential to shape an institution, affecting all aspects of higher education—students and faculty experiences, administrator recruitment, curricular reform, academic support, and institutional mission (hurtado, milem, claytonpedersen, & allen, 1999; smith, turner, osei-kofi, & richards, 2004). as we focus on perspectives of leaders and their own challenges in navigating their diversity-centered missions, we draw from the rich body of research pertaining to leadership in higher education focused on change for the greater good. sensemaking in organizations is used to frame and connect these ideas to better understand these administrators’ commitment to upholding an institutional commitment to access and diversity. a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 203 transformational leadership for diverse missions numerous studies underscore the benefits of fostering diversity in higher education, even among various institutional types (chesler, lewis, & crowfoot, 2005; hurtado, milem, clayton-pederson, & allen, 1999) yet the actual and potential role of leadership in fostering diversity remains elusive. opinions regarding the definition of effective leadership in higher education vary widely among individuals along racial, class, and gender lines, shaping the perceptions and experiences of those in leadership roles (bray, 2003; minor & tierney, 2005). definitions of leadership also vary amongst students, staff, faculty, and administrators (bensimon, 1989a, 1989b; bensimon, neumann, & birnbaum, 1989; tierney, 1989) as well as by institutional type (rosser, johnsrud, & heck, 2003). while varying roles and identities may offer different perspectives, ditomaso and hooijberg (1996) suggest leadership for diversity is "mostly about developing awareness of difference, rather than about leadership skills from the perspective of diversity” (p. 164). turner (2007) argues that presidents that share certain identities can leverage their influence to serve underserved communities and nurture their educational institutions to achieve access and equity goals. therefore, emphasizing the awareness that leaders have of diverse others as well as one’s social identity as a leader is important. in a classical but progressive defining of higher education leadership, trow (1985) described leadership as taking “effective action to shape the character and direction of a college or university, presumably for the better” (p. 45). however, higher education leaders do not generally pursue their roles in the name of social justice (birnbaum, 1988; green, 1988). even when administrators articulate a value for diverse and accessible campuses, they rarely support efforts that enact these values. for example, a survey of administrators in colleges and universities by rothman, lipset, and nevitte (2002) suggests that while 39% supported the availability of courses on the experience of racial minorities, only 17% indicated they would actually require those courses to be taught. aguirre jr. and martinez (2006) posit that the challenges facing higher education demand new conceptual framings and practices in leadership to adapt to an increasingly diverse environment, yet they also admit that "...diversity is pregnant with turmoil when it challenges societal institutions to alter their structure" (p. 1). thus, alternative perspectives of leadership are needed to advance leadership that works for the complex difficulties that diverse campuses present. zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 204 leadership for diversity requires leadership beyond typical framing of administrative roles emphasizing management. as explained by aguirre and martinez (2006), "managing uses power and privilege to get people to subscribe to organizational expectations regarding performance, whereas leading promotes change as a vehicle for organizational members to transform organizations as a collective enterprise” (p. 72). they further argue that true leadership for diversity is “highly multidimensional and complex...about the intergroup dynamics that characterize colleges and universities in both structure and culture...nested in organizational roles and practices that promote changes in higher education’s organizational culture" (aguirre & martinez, 2006, p. 39). while others have advanced notions of transformational leadership within higher education (e.g., hill, green, & eckel, 2001; kezar, carducci, & contreras-mcgavin, 2006), aguirre and martinez (2006) center equity, defining transformational leadership as leadership that attempts to alter the values of exclusionary organizational cultures to better serve diverse populations. transformational leadership requires higher education to respond to recognizable changes in society (astin & astin, 2000; hartley, 2004). as argued by aguirre and martinez (2006): transformation, unlike social change in general, is radical fundamental change that is the result of deliberate efforts by leaders and followers. as a result, transformational leadership is conceived as a type of leadership needed by organizations to respond and adapt to environmental change, that is, demographic and cultural diversity (p. 35). nonetheless, leadership for diversity as a means to achieve organizational transformation is often lacking (mitchell & kumar, 2001) and too few perceive leadership as an opportunity to enact organizational transformation (diamond, 2002; hill et al., 2001). in that, leadership becomes a mechanism to perpetuate traditional practices within an institution or institution piece-meal change, without enacting a perspective that fundamentally changes the values and policies that inform the practices of an organization. transformational leadership is enacted throughout the organization, including the cultures within and in the defining and enactment of an institution’s mission. an organizational culture that is guided by a valued mission is the glue that binds an institution. while mission statements themselves often play a normative role rather than a functional one (davies, 1986; morphew & hartley, 2006), some argue that mission statements may help organizations convey a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 205 a shared sense of purpose across an entire institution (hartley, 2002). as such, mission statements both describe the current state of things and also what institutions strive to embody (lang & lopers-sweetman, 1991), which may have little to do with written documents (goodsell, 2011). in this way, they operate more so as the notion of an institution’s purpose and functions. a commitment to diversity must be enacted by a leader through the various channels of an institution. transformational leadership has the potential to incorporate diversity into organizational culture holistically as a core value that extends throughout an institution (aguirre & martinez, 2006; chang, 2002). more is needed to better understand the ways in which leaders enact diverse missions in their work. co-optive and color-blind approaches to diversity management while transformational leadership invaluably enable campuses to serve diverse missions, many institutions fail to acknowledge diversity as an important attribute of their organizations (jacobs, cintron, & canton, 2002; smith, altbach, & lomotey, 2002; turner & myers, 2000), forcing diversity to the margins of institutions of higher education as a valued practice. some have described this process as co-optive. selznick (1949) describes a “co-optive” approach as a "process of absorbing new elements into the leadership or policy determining structure of an organization as a means of averting threats to its stability or existence” (p. 34). building upon this notion, aguirre and martinez (2006) argue that higher education has not embraced diversity as a core value but instead employs co-optive strategies that add diversity dimensions to the existing organizational culture. these qualifying tactics preclude the need for fundamental organizational change. examples of this include: the addition of minoritized faculty, a focus on multiculturalism, and the provision of role models for minoritized students. these co-optive methods result in leadership that treats diversity as institutional window dressing. similarly, contreras (1998) argued that tokenism in higher education incorporates demographic diversity into the existing normative and authoritative structure as a means to demonstrate that the organization values diversity. this minimizes threat without requiring true organizational transformation as diverse institutions. brayboy (2003) likewise asserts that meaningful leadership for diversity is challenging because “predominantly white institutions of higher education often view diversity as a freestanding policy...that diversity is something that zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 206 can be implemented without necessarily changing the underlying structure of the institution and its day-to-day operations” (p. 73). in contrast, institutions of higher education must seek to integrate diversity by wholeheartedly transforming their organizational structures and thereby, their organizational cultures. without doing so, these approaches devalue the complexity involved in upholding a diversityand access-centered mission and simplify it to an additive outcome. in other instances, color-blindness is utilized as an enticing but idealized approach to diversity leadership. however, color-blindness fails to acknowledge certain critical “societal phases and stages” by which the dominant group works to overcome bias, accept others as equals, and “systematically dismantle” inequitable social structures. evolution toward a colorblind society requires that the perspectives and interests of other groups are considered when seeking solutions to societal and institutional problems (aguirre & martinez, 2006, p. 74). color-blind ideology has been critiqued for allowing oppression to persist via the guise of good intentions and equality. bonilla-silva (2009, 2014) describes four ideological frames that people use to explain racial outcomes (e.g., standardized test scores of black students or graduation rates for latinxs). briefly, these frames include: abstract liberalism, which argues that equal opportunity exists and that individualism can explain racial differences; naturalism, which attributes racial inequalities to inevitable and natural occurrences; cultural racism, which justifies racial inequality by attributing outcomes to cultural attributes and generalizations about groups of people; and minimization, in which racism and discrimination are ignored and claimed to be nonexistent. bonilla-silva (2014) argues that these frames serve to rationalize policies and practices that cause inequitable outcomes for people of color. leaders must not focus merely on the “old racism” (bonilla-silva, 2014, p. 62) but instead they must consider the ways held ideology “otherizes softly” (bonilla-silva, 2009, p. 3). this perspective deepens the complexity involved in examining perceptions of diversity, but offers a necessary critical lens to understanding leaders’ perspectives of access within their institutions. we include the framing of both co-optive and color-blind approaches to diversity to help interrogate more general descriptions of diversity that were offered by administrators in this study. a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 207 sensemaking in organizations combined with the perspectives presented above, the work of weick (1995) and colleagues (2005) provides both theoretical and analytical frameworks for this study. described as the “black box” between inputs and outcomes (maitlis, 2005), sensemaking centers on the ongoing understandings that are created and interpreted through a co-constructed view of an organization. the concept of sensemaking builds upon several principles (weick, 1995): all meaning is made of actions that have already occurred, sensemaking reflects what an organization considers itself to be, is ongoing and not static, depends on organizational members’ own socialization processes and values, and is based upon plausibility and sufficiency rather than a sense of absolute truth. while sensemaking processes occur within the organization, they are connected to a process of enacting the environment—engaging with the environment in light of a change in effort to adjust to the changes being imposed (jennings & greenwood, 2003). in the process of enactment, actions taken often reinforce previously held understandings of the organization’s identity and reflect individual values and preconceptions (jennings & greenwood, 2003). leaders play a significant role in driving sensemaking, particularly through the identification of the conditions that necessitate enactment (pye, 2005). thus, through the lens provided by sensemaking and the perspectives of leadership and diversity presented above, the continuous engagement with the external environment plays an important role in reifying an institution’s self-proclaimed identity and how that identity is enacted. this identity might be shaped by an espoused or understood mission which is largely upheld by leadership. as it pertains to a mission centered upon diversity and access, with our explicit focus on how this interacts with serving latinx students in particular, careful consideration of the complexities involved is needed. when combined, these perspectives provide a critical organizational lens through which to analyze the perspectives of administrators and thereby, to better understand how their institutions consider access in light of their core institutional missions. this framing will aid our understanding of organizational members’ perceptions of their own universities and enable us to better situate individual perspectives within the broader organizational context. zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 208 methodology this article seeks to critically examine leadership perspectives related to embracing and fulfilling a diversityand access-centered mission within the context of latinx-serving universities in light of changing higher education contexts. this work draws from a larger study that examined the perceptions of administrators from four urban-serving research universities (usrus) across the same state, each located within large metropolitan regions and serving large proportions of latinxs and other students of color. twenty-one administrators from across four universities participated (see table 1). the majority were white (12) and male (12), with a number of people of color and female administrator participants also participating. administrators were recruited via email based upon their position titles at their respective institutions. participants represent the functional areas of student affairs, academic administration, admissions, and public relations. table 1 study participant information participant information number of participants campus campus a 5 campus b 4 campus c 6 campus d 6 race/ethnicity black/african american 4 latina/o 4 white 12 asian 1 gender male 12 female 9 a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 209 participants were interviewed and asked to describe their perceptions of the following: 1) mission and identity, 2) excellence, and 3) challenges to mission fulfillment within their institution. interviews were conducted either in person during campus site visits with one conducted via telephone and the other video conferencing. interviews lasted between 45 minutes to an hour and a half. interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed utilizing the constant comparative method (glaser & straus, 1967; lincoln & guba, 1985). the data were initially analyzed using open coding for a preliminary review. a series of research team discussions informed by our conceptual framework helped to refine our codes, with particular attention dedicated to transformational leadership processes, co-optive and color-blind values of diversity, and enactment around identity, in particular. we conducted a second round of more selective coding for the manuscript at hand. although we considered all interview data during this second round of coding, we focused in particular on those data that had been coded during the first round under the categories of access, diversity, and institutional identity. these engaged research team discussions ensured trustworthiness in the data. as our manuscript considered administrators’ perspectives within the broader context of the demand for and barriers to access and diversity in higher education, our analysis focused on the common narratives emerging from these campus leaders, as opposed to consideration of differences between them. though surely differences are present between narratives, it is beyond the scope of this article to center on examining these differences. we instead underscore the shared themes in these administrators’ experiences. following further research team discussions, three dominant themes emerged and are presented in the following section. findings the perspectives of the administrators in this study centered upon three key areas: diversity as an assumed identity, diversity as a double-edged sword, and the enactment of a diversityand access-centered mission. diversity as an assumed identity emerging as one of the primary themes across the institutions, participants discussed diversity as integral to their institutional identities. diversity was described primarily with regards to students: as an institutional charge (e.g., we serve diversity), as a description of the zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 210 student body (e.g., our students are diverse), and as a goal to be achieved (e.g., we strive for diversity). racial and ethnic descriptions were rarely used to define diversity, but participants used euphemisms such as: first-generation, low-income, urban, and international to depict the faces of diversity that comprised their student body. still, these descriptions widely centered diversity as a defining characteristic of the institution at all of the campuses. for example, in answering the question, what makes your campus special?, participants responded: campus a: i think it’s also the rich diversity of our student body too. we’re about i think 42% now ethnic, you know in terms of racial diversity... campus c: i think the number one thing that makes [this campus] special is our diversity. we're at approximately 56% minority student population, which is one of the highest in the state… and one of the highest in the nation. campus d: i mean, one thing is obviously where we are and who we are...i don’t think there are a lot of places that really have this mix of students… these excerpts demonstrate how the diversity of the student body was often heralded as a key feature of their institutions, simultaneously acknowledging the overall lack of diversity within higher education as well as their unique institutional identity within that organizational milieu. some institutions explicitly emphasized this commitment. for instance, one participant shared their own perception of a commitment to access at their institution: “i kind of say it’s in our dna.” participants described practices that demonstrate that commitment, such as community partnerships, recruitment and support efforts focused on access and diversity. in contrast, others suggested that the diversity on their campuses was not necessarily tied to intentional efforts by the institution, but rather a function of how they were externally perceived or geographically situated, as reflected in the comment above by the participant on campus d. participants described their institution’s surrounding communities to connote parity in characteristics with their student body. concurrently, participants noted admission growth trends for student populations from outside of the surrounding community as well as efforts to support their recruitment. therein, these descriptions reflect an embedded notion of diversity as an assumed identity resulting from an institutional mission that may actually be shifting. a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 211 diversity as a double-edged sword discussions of access and diversity reflected a widely-shared perception that upholding diversity may work for and at times against an institution. as captured in the comments above, it provides an institutional rallying point for these institutions, a central ethos that guides the collective understanding of the work they do. it was sometimes described as a recruitment tool for students and faculty alike, and provided connection points with the surrounding community, particularly helpful for political leverage with that community. despite the celebration of a mission centered on access and diversity, the diversity of the institution frequently was depicted as approximate to a liability, and for some, as something they actively worked to circumvent. these discussions were almost entirely motivated by resources. as one participant stated, “‘sin azucar no hay pais’ [without sugar there is no country]. so, i would like to translate that into money: without the necessary funding, we cannot realize [our] mission, or we can only realize part of [our] mission.” the dependence upon resources is viewed, at least partly, as a necessity for implementing the access and diversity mission these institutions espouse. according to participants, resources came in two forms: monetary currency from state appropriations but also from prestige pursuits. these differing but similar perspectives are exemplified in the following: campus b: what i mean by the students that we’re admitting, we are striving for aau so that means our academic profile continues to increase. campus d: we’re going to have to start to say no to some people. we just are... performance metrics [the base funding connected to performance relative to other institutions in the state] can be scary…fortunately, the urban institutions are still faring okay, but at a certain point we’re all going to be at the bottom. in both of these accounts, participants reflected an understanding that the values within these resource streams were in direct conflict to an accessand diversity-centered mission, or more specifically, to the students served by it. these specific accounts further reflect a prevalent sense that the status quo for institutional mission enactment had been adjusted or was expected to face an inevitable shift. zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 212 enactment of a diversityand access-centered mission while depictions of diversity were somewhat constant, leaders across campuses demonstrated varying understandings regarding how their missions were understood and enacted. at the most fundamental level, mission appeared to be grounded in serving the needs of students on their campuses. for example, administrators heralded their institutional commitment to hiring faculty and staff who more closely reflected the diversity of the student body. however, there were clear distinctions implied by accounts of administrators regarding their approaches to serving diverse students and to serving students who were not necessarily within their access focus. consider the following two accounts of services provided on campus: campus b: we’re admitting students who are already academically prepared, but those students are also very involved before they come here, so they want to be involved when they get here. we are now more intentional…in making sure that we have programming throughout the semester and that we’re looking at the population of students that we’re serving to make sure that we’re programming to those student needs. campus c: [w]e have a high number of underrepresented students here, but the attrition rate tends to be higher from the represented students…this program is sort of a holistic approach…and it’s very, very intentional. it’s taking services to students, or students to the services, versus ‘these are all your resources, if you need them, go get them.’ because we know that these students won’t actively seek some out and if they do, they tend to do it at a point where they’ve sort of already fallen through the cracks, or it’s too late to try to assist them. it’s a very intentional approach that we take in order to be sure that the student has those support systems and opportunities to seek out engagement. both administrators frame their thinking in terms of serving students’ needs. however, while newly-served populations of students were offered opportunities based upon enriching the student experience within a traditional paradigm of student engagement, whereas the diverse students’ needs were approached through a need-based, but possibly deficit-oriented lens. furthermore, and related to the points previously raised, serving diverse students while honoring a diversity mission at times necessitated strategic navigation. this represented a a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 213 circumventing strategy that was not reflected in discussions of, for example, providing more oncampus housing facilities for out-of-state students. that is, serving diverse students was something that institutions needed to creatively approach; whereas providing resources that serve high-achieving students could be done more explicitly. one participant described such a strategy: “we continue to invest in national merit scholars even though people wonder ‘how do you do that with access in the mission?’ but doing that allows us to bring in more students at a lower level.” this works because performance levels offset class scores to improve the scores of the institutions incoming class. another widely-cited approach included transfer programs that defers university applicants to nearby community colleges to admit at a later date. one participant illustrated this phenomenon when she described spring as the “access term.” this reflects greater institutional flexibility in the range of students who can be admitted outside of the traditional incoming first-year fall class. all of these efforts, however, were described as approaches that enacted a diversity-centered mission, reflecting an awareness of the challenges inherent therein. discussion and implications this work set out to examine the perspectives of leaders working within institutions that have historically espoused a diversity-serving mission. given the context of higher education today, whereby access has become increasingly stratified and opportunities limited for latinx populations and other marginalized groups, this work is intended to foster and contribute to conversation regarding how to best uphold an access-centered mission to benefit outcomes for all students, particularly within these institutions that serve such large proportions of latinx students. to do so, we framed this study through a critical lens that defined leadership for access as one which must focus on transformation for the greater good and critically interrogates the meaning and implementation of a diversity agenda. organizational sensemaking was used as an analytical frame to situate the accounts by administrators and trigger sensemaking processes, particularly regarding identity and enactment of the environment. zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 214 role of collective sensemaking as noted earlier in this manuscript, collective sensemaking by an organization upholds the ideas an organization embraces regarding itself. in that lens, it is difficult for an organization to face their limitations when it comes to notions of racial equity. a shared narrative centered upon a historical mission inhibited leaders from viewing their own contradictions regarding how they described, approached, and enacted diversity-centered missions. this played out within our findings. for many participants, enactment processes, such as consideration of external pressures and comparisons to peer institutions, drew upon sensemaking to reaffirm a particularly-held narrative rather than drawing a critical eye inwards. for instance, while administrators widely lauded the significance of diversity and access, mixed messages were frequently conveyed that conflicted with this mission. though some offered critique, it was coupled with rationalization of practices or descriptions of circumventing strategies. though some of the strategies and initiatives described equity-centered goals in their consideration, they seem to fall short of providing the transformational power needed to re-shift sensemaking around mission enactment, pointing to significant misalignments between espoused commitments and their fulfillment. diversity in the age of color-blind racism the institutions in this study are distinct in that they make explicit their commitments to upholding diversity in higher education. however, the findings of this study point to pervasive dominant ideologies regarding diverse students and how to fulfill a diversity-centered mission in light of environmental pressures that may impede the accomplishment of these significant goals. in many ways, diversity was described as a commodity—a thing of value that can be exchanged. however, like all commodities, the value of diversity to an institution, as depicted by participants in this study, fluctuates. this somewhat co-optive approach to diversity (aguirre & martinez, 2002, 2006) raises questions about the ways in which market-based values have permeated the way we think about who is deserving of higher education. in particular, some of the administrator comments were deficit-oriented and pejorative towards the diverse students they espoused to serve. this likely did not represent the internal values of the leaders to whom we spoke, but rather, reflects the dominant ideologies of the a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 215 higher education system. this was particularly reflected in the descriptions of serving students. serving students of color was viewed as a costly endeavor in need of circumvention. in contrast, serving high-achieving students did not require such a strategy. these representations reflect the pervasiveness of color-blind ideology (bonilla-silva, 2009, 2014). though institutions of higher education in the u.s. no longer uphold explicit policies barring admission by race, it is clear from these findings that the ways in which “racism lite” (bonilla-silva, 2009, p. 3) manifests itself vis-a-vis the rationalization of oppressive frameworks. these points raise important recommendations regarding what leaders and researchers can do to better challenge these systems and foster more equity in higher education. recommendations for research and practice as higher education opportunities become increasingly stratified in light of rising costs and policy-making that favors particular models of higher education (bastedo & gumport, 2003; carnevale & strohl, 2013), institutions with this shared commitment to a diversity-centered mission must be supported to achieve their missions. furthermore, their leaders must be prepared to enact these goals. the restrictive context of funding provides real challenges to these higher education organizations and their leaders; research has shown us the potential and realized implications of these constraints in various areas of institutional activity (e.g., fowles, 2014; jaeger & thornton, 2005; jaquette & curs, 2015; jaquette, curs, & posselt, 2016). the us system of higher education can, and must, do better. greater preparation of higher education leaders focused on cultivating critical and transformational leaders is needed. this preparation, both within formal education and professional spaces, should focus on fostering skills in facilitating difficult conversations regarding what it means to cultivate environments grounded in the foundations of inclusive excellence and equitable access. this would further require more complicated conceptions of diversity and access cultivated through centering and challenging deficit notions of communities of color and unpackaging the ideologies of what bonilla-silva (2009) calls the new racism. true transformational leaders centered on upholding an access and diversity mission within their universities must be able to be more than co-optive and color-blind but forge ahead to better serve our latinx and other marginalized students. zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 216 in doing so, leaders could take an active role in challenging dominant sensemaking processes to shift them for greater awareness of the expansive reach of inequity. this means intervening during the collective sensemaking processes that occur, for instance, during strategic planning sessions. these engagements require deep consideration of who the institution is and who it aims to be (hinton, 2012). reaching these shared ideas must involve critical reflection as well on the ways these types of efforts do more to rationalize and reflect dominant ideologies (i.e., color-blindness) than to push the vision of an institution towards one that better upholds equity. research can support these efforts by extending more critical conceptions of organizations. as sensemaking centers upon how and what we see and understand, without cognitive frames that support critical consciousness, sensemaking falls short of its potential to shift the range of possibilities of action for leaders and researchers alike. organizational literature should forge sensemaking that challenges organizations’ actions rather than rationalizing them, and position that process upon achieving equity in society. additionally, the findings here point to the chronic and complex relationship between diversity and resources, adding qualitative insights into ways these relationships are complicated by dominant ideologies regarding diversity. institutions that espouse commitments to diversity and access, like hsis, in particular are subject to pressures for prestige (daly & dee, 2006; zerquera, 2016). particularly within the changing context of higher education in which resources for public education have declined, and institutions have adapted to a new normal of funding (state higher education executive officers, 2014), considering prestige pursuits at these institutions is imperative as it may potentially exacerbate stratification of opportunity for students of color. this is particularly alarming within institutional contexts like those of our study which either by mission or default enroll large proportions of latinx students. more research and collaboration between researchers and policy-makers is needed to advance strategic and critical ways of upholding access and diversity. conclusion as our nation becomes increasingly diverse, our institutions of higher learning must mirror, celebrate, and embrace that diversity or risk facing institutional upheaval that is characteristic of so many campuses across our country today. though many institutions and administrators espouse a commitment to serving latinx students, close attention to the ways in a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 217 which these types of institutions perceive and enact their diversityand access-centered missions is needed. the accounts of these administrators reflect belief in their espoused missions and a genuine commitment to the diverse students they serve. however, the ideologies regarding these missions and students illuminate challenges in upholding these service commitments. if we are to better serve our latinx and marginalized populations, more must be done to push beyond our current frame of what is possible and to forge ahead with new ways of thinking and action. zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 218 references aguirre, a., jr., & martinez, r. (2002). leadership practices and diversity in higher education: transitional and transformational frameworks. journal of leadership studies, 8, 53-62. aguirre, a., & martinez, r. (2006). diversity in higher education: perceptions, opinions, and views. diversity leadership in higher education, 32(3), 1-113. andrade, l. m., & lundberg, c. a. (2016). the function to serve: a social-justice-oriented investigation of community college mission statements. journal of hispanic higher education, 17(1), 61-75. doi: 10.1177/1538192716653503. astin, a., & astin, h. (2000). leadership reconsidered: engaging higher education in social change. battle creek, mi: kellogg foundation. bastedo, m. n., & gumport, p. j. (2003). access to what? mission differentiation and academic stratification in us public higher education. higher education, 46(3), 341-359. baum, s. & ma, j. (2013). trends in college pricing. new york, ny: the college board. retrieved from https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/college-pricing-2013-full-report140108.pdf. bell, d. (2004). silent covenants: brown v. board and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform. new york, ny: oxford university press. bensimon, e. m. (1989a). a feminist reinterpretation of presidents' definition of leadership. peabody journal of education, 66, 143-156. bensimon, e. m. (1989b). the meaning of "good presidential leadership": a frame analysis. review of higher education, 12, 107-123. bensimon, e. m. (2005). closing the achievement gap in higher education: an organizational learning perspective. new directions for higher education, 131, 99-111. bensimon, e. m., neumann, a., & birnbaum, r. (1989). making sense of administrative leadership: the "l" word in higher education. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. birnbaum, r. (1988). consistency and diversity in the goals of campus leaders. review of higher education, 12, 17-30. bonilla-silva, e. (2014). racism without racists: colorblind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the united states (4th ed.). lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. bonilla-silva, e. (2009). racism without racists: colorblind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the united states (3rd ed.). lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. bowen, w. g., kurzweil, m. a., & tobin, e. m. (2005) equity and excellence in american higher education. charlottesville, sc: university of virginia press. bray, n. j. (2003). differences among faculty members' perceptions of norms for academic deans. paper presented at the association for the study of higher education, portland, or. brayboy, b. m. j. (2003). the implementation of diversity in predominantly white colleges and universities. journal of black studies, 34, 72-86. carnevale, a. p., & strohl, j. (2013). separate and unequal: how higher education reinforces the intergenerational reproduction of white racial privilege. washington, dc: georgetown public policy institute and the center on education and the workforce. a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 219 chesler, m., lewis, a. e., & crowfoot, j. e. (2005). challenging racism in higher education lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. contreras, a. r. (1998). leading from the margins in the ivory tower. in l. valverde & l. castenell (eds.), the multicultural campus: strategies for transforming higher education (pp. 137-166). walnut creek, ca: altamira press. daly, c. & dee, j. (2006). greener pastures: faculty turnover intent in urban public universities. the journal of higher education, 77(5), 776-803. diamond, r. (ed.) (2002). field guide to academic leadership: a publication of the national academy for academic leadership. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ditomaso, n., & hooijberg, r. (1996). diversity and the demands of leadership. leadership quarterly, 7, 163-187. doran, e. e. (2015). negotiating access and tier one aspirations: the historical evolution of a striving hispanic-serving institution. the journal of hispanic higher education, 14(4), 343354. doi: 10.1177/1538192715570638 engle, j., & tinto, v. (2008). moving beyond access: college success for low-income, first generation students. washington, dc: the pell institute. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed504448.pdf excelencia in education. (2017). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) fact sheet: 2015-16. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsicp2/research/hsis-fact-sheet-2015-16. excelencia in education. (2015). the condition of latinos in education: 2015 factbook. washington, dc: author. fowles, j. (2014). funding and focus: resource dependence in public higher education. research in higher education, 55(3), 272-287. garcia, g. a., & okhidoi, o. (2015). culturally relevant practices that “serve” students at a hispanic-serving institution. innovative higher education, 40, 345-357. glaser, b. g., & strauss, a. l. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. chicago: aldine. goodsell, c. t. (2011). mission mystique: belief systems in public agencies. washington, dc: cq press. green, m. (1988). leaders for a new era: strategies for higher education. new york, ny: macmillan. hartley, m. (2002). a call to purpose: mission-centered change at three liberal arts colleges. new york, ny: routledge. hartley, d. (2004). management, leadership, and the emotional order of the school. journal of education policy, 19, 583-594. haycock, k., lynch, m., & engle, j. (2010). opportunity adrift: our flagship universities are straying from their public mission. washington, dc: the education trust. retrieved from http://www.edtrust.org/sites/edtrust.org/files/publications/files/opportunity%20 adrift%28%29.pdf zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 220 hill, b., green, m., & eckel, p. d. (2001). what governing boards need to know and do about institutional change. washington, dc: american council of education. hinton, k. e. (2012). a practical guide to strategic planning in higher education. ann arbor: mi: society for college and university planning. hurtado, s., milem, j., clayton-pederson, a., & allen, w. (1999). enacting diverse learning environments: improving the climate for racial/ethnic diversity in higher education. washington, dc: author. jacobs, l., cintron, j., & canton, c. (eds.). (2002). the politics of survival in academia: narratives of inequality, resilience, and success. boulder, co: rowman & littlefield. jaeger, a. j., & thornton, c. h. (2005). moving toward the market and away from public service? effects of resource dependency and academic capitalism. journal of higher education outreach and engagement, 10(3), 53-67. jaquette, o., & curs, b. r. (2015). creating the out-of-state university: do public universities increase nonresident freshman enrollment in response to declining state appropriations? research in higher education, 56(6), 535-565. jaquette, o., curs, b. r., & posselt, j. r. (2016). tuition rich, mission poor: nonresident enrollment growth and the socioeconomic and racial composition of public research universities. journal of higher education, 87(5), 635-673. jennings, p. d., & greenwood, r. (2003). constructing the iron cage: institutional theory and enactment. in r. westwood & s. clegg (eds.), debating organization: point-counterpoint in organization studies (pp. 195-207). malden, ma: blackwell publishing ltd. kezar, a. j., carducci, r., & contreras-mcgavin, m. (2006). rethinking the “l” word in higher education: the revolution of research on leadership. san francisco, ca: josseybass. kincheloe, j. l., & mclaren, p. l. (1994). rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (pp. 138–157). thousand oaks, ca: sage. krogstad, j. m. (2016, july). five facts about latinos and education. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/28/5facts-about-latinos-and-education/. lang, d. w., & lopers-sweetman, a. r. (1991). the role of statements of institutional purpose. research in higher education, 32(6), 599-624. lincoln, y. s., & guba, e. g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. beverly hills, ca: sage publications, inc. lynton, e. a., & elman, s. e. (1987). new priorities for the university: meeting society's needs for applied knowledge and competent individuals. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. maitlis, s. (2005). the social processes of organizational sensemaking. academy of management journal, 48(1), 21-49. malcolm, l. e., bensimon, e. m., & dávila, b. (2010). (re)constructing hispanic-serving institutions: moving beyond numbers toward student success. (education policy and practice perspectives brief no.6). ames, ia: iowa state university. a critical look at perspectives of access and mission association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 221 minor, j., & tierney, w. (2005). the danger of deference: a case of polite governance. teachers college record, 107, 137-156. mitchell, c., & kumar, r. (2001). the development of administrative discourse in a pluralistic society. journal of educational administration and foundations, 15, 47-67. musu-gillette, l., robinson, j., mcfarland, j., kewalramani, a., zhang, a., & wilkinson-flicker, s. (2016). status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups 2016 (nces 2016007). u.s. washington, dc: department of education, national center for education statistics. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016007.pdf. morphew, c., & hartley, m. (2006). mission statements: a thematic analysis of rhetoric across international type. the ournal of higher education, 77(3), 456-471. posselt, j. r., jaquette, o., bielby, r., & bastedo, m. n. (2012). access without equity: longitudinal analyses of institutional stratification by race and ethnicity. american educational research journal, 49(6), 1074-1111. pye, a. (2005). leadership and organizing: sensemaking in action. leadership, 1(1), 31-50. reider, j. (2004, february 8). righteousness like a mighty stream. new york times book review. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/books/righteousness-like-a-mightystream.html?_r=0. rosser, v. j., johnsrud, l., & heck, r. (2003). academic deans and directors: assessing their effectiveness from individual and institutional perspectives. journal of higher education, 74, 1-25. rothman, s., lipset, s., & nevitte, n. (2002). diversity and affirmative action: the state of campus opinion. academic questions, 15, 52-66. santiago, d. a. (2012). public policy and the hispanic-serving institutions: from invention to accountability. journal of latinos and education, 11, 163–167. doi:10.1080/15348431.2012.686367 santiago, d. a. (2010). emerging hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): serving latino students. washington, dc: excelencia in education. selznick, p. (1949). tva and the grassroots. berkeley, ca: university of california press. smith, d. g., turner, c. s. v., osei-kofi, n., & richards, s. (2004). interrupting the usual: successful strategies for hiring diverse faculty. the journal of higher education, 75(2), 133160. smith, w. a., altback, p. g., & lomotey, k. (2002). the racial crisis in american higher education: continuing challenges for the twenty-first century. new york, ny: suny press. tierney, w. (1989). advancing democracy: a critical interpretation of leadership. peabody journal of education, 89, 157-175. trow, m. (1985). comparative reflections on leadership in higher education. european journal of education, 20, 143-159. torres, v., & zerquera, d. (2012). hispanic serving institutions: patterns, predictions, and implications for informing policy discussions. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(3), 259-278. zerquera, arámbula turner, & templeton association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 222 turner, c. s. v. (2007). pathways to the presidency: biographical sketches of women of color firsts. harvard educational review, 77(1), 1-38. turner, c., & myers, s. (2000). faculty of color in academe: bittersweet success. boston, ma: allyn & bacon. umbricht, m. r., fernandez, f., & ortagus, j. c. (2015). an examination of the (un)intended consequences of performance funding in higher education. educational policy, 1-13. weick, k. e. (1995). sensemaking in organizations. thousand oaks, ca: sage. zerquera, d. (2014). the consequences of prestige seeking on fulfilling an access-centered mission: an analysis of changes in access over time at urban-serving research universities (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations & theses database (umi no. 3621731). zerquera, d. (2016). urban-serving research universities: institutions for the public good. higher learning research communications, 5(2), 137-154. doi: 10.18870/hlrc.v6i2.320. funding for this research was provided by the jesuit foundation of the university of san francisco. amae intro pageproof name update2023.pdf 73-article text-129-1-10-20200304.pdf zerquera et al_page proof name update.pdf http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education caroline s. turner california state university, sacramento victor b. sáenz guest editors tracy arámbula turner university of vermont desiree d. zerquera university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 6 answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education tracy arámbula turner university of vermont desiree d. zerquera university of san francisco caroline s. turner california state university, sacramento victor b. sáenz the university of texas at austin answering the call the body of scholarship focused upon hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) is steadily growing and advancing with key paradigmatic shifts supported by organizational theory (garcia, 2017; núñez, crisp, & elizondo, 2016). however, important gaps remain to be filled to achieve a more complete and nuanced understanding of the increasingly critical role hsis provide in the american higher education landscape. while college admissions processes, matriculation, and completion remain socioeconomically stratified and class divisions in the u.s. become increasingly entrenched (reeves, 2017), hsis serve as key access points for a large number of low-income, first-generation latinxs and other students of color. this reality underscores the need for continued study of these institutions as potential opportunity engines for a growing number of americans. this special issue of the association of mexican american educators (amae) journal titled “answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education” seeks to meet this need. although they are in a state of identity development as a diverse institutional cohort, hsis offer great promise to ameliorate a variety of inequality measures vis-à-vis the successful cultivation of human capital for a growing segment of the american population. demographic shifts in the u.s. portend a majority latinx population in coming decades, thus necessitating changes to better meet the needs of increasingly diverse latinx student bodies. furthermore, as a growing number of twoand four-year institutions obtain the federal hsi designation, we doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.359 arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 7 must consider whether these entities are provided and follow exemplary models of leadership through existing hsis policies, practices, and theoretical premises. we must look to thought leaders who are expanding the way we frame discourse surrounding hsis and to current institutional designates that are consciously evolving to meet the needs of their students in increasingly diverse contexts. finally, we must critique existing practices that do not promote the excellence and cultural awareness our students deserve. while it is important to recognize and honor the unique characteristics of individual institutions within this framework and more clearly defined typologies (núñez et al., 2016), it is also essential to consider the shared challenges, pressures, and needs of hsis as a collective body. some common challenges include: limited resources for which institutions must increasingly compete, student affairs and leadership practices that have an impact on student retention and success, balancing the need for legitimacy, status, and prestige with the practical realities associated with serving the least privileged students of the college-going population, satisfying standard performance metrics in conjunction with understanding the holistic impact the college experience has on students as individuals (núñez, hurtado, & galdeano, 2015), and engaging in misguided efforts to embrace missions that do not historically center the “racial and cultural ways of knowing of raza students” (garcia, 2017, p. 2). through the diverse collection of manuscripts featured in this special issue, the co-editors encourage the reader to remain cognizant of the collective experiences of hsis while striving to understand the complex dimensions of their organizational contexts that are most often functioning within the shadow of missions and histories rooted in a “coloniality of power” (garcia, 2017, p. 2). this volume seeks to provide insights from research and practice that advance our understanding of the significant promise hsis offer or still must achieve if they are to lead the charge of upholding and redefining access, equity, and excellence in higher education in light of demographic shifts, persistent economic stratification, and misguided missions. the following introductory chapter begins with a discussion regarding how the co-editors of this volume made intentional choices surrounding language use, and what this says about the current state of our community. this is followed by a brief overview of the status and role of hsis in higher education today. we then offer a short summary of each manuscript in this volume and highlight how they contribute to our larger focus on advancing research, policy, and practice to understand and support the work of hsis with regards to access, equity, and excellence in answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 8 higher education. answering the call for inclusiveness via language: editorial choice to employ latinx throughout this issue, individual authors have made their own intentional decisions regarding how to employ terminology to describe and capture the diaspora of the latinx community in the u.s. as co-editors, we chose to employ the term latinx in our framing as a deliberate effort to be inclusive and considerate of the intersectional elements of diversity that comprise our community. this reflects what zerquera, haywood, and de mucha flores (in press) argue; that in defining an individual and group identity of latinxs, a sociological rather than heritage-based definition should be employed. in doing so, the focus turns from the ethnic and cultural origins of latinx identification, and instead centers within the social construction of racial and ethnic identity (zerquera, haywood, & de mucha flores, in press). this emphasis on the social construction of identity is an important framework that guides the work of this volume, and it draws from historical and sociological perspectives regarding how latinxs are positioned within the u.s. and the u.s. system of higher education. latinx groups in the u.s. advocated for a unifying term to leverage collective political power during the civil rights movement (acuña, 2014; mora, 2014; omi & winant, 1994). the term hispanic emerged within this context and was embraced as an alternative to others such as spanish-speaking and spanish-origin, which were being advanced by the johnson administration (humes, jones, & ramirez, 2011). latino, and relatedly latina/o, emerged more so from a need for interconnection within the latinx community between those of varying ethnic subgroups embattled in conflict in chicago and other major u.s. cities (padilla, 1984, 1985). both latina/o and similarly latin@ have been used as derivations of latino as efforts to be more gender inclusive and to reflect the implied masculine generalizability of the spanish language. thus, while hispanic was a governmental term imposed upon the community and latino emerged from political activism, both reflect collective efforts toward achieving solidarity within the broadly defined and diverse latinx community (caminero-santangelo, 2007). today, the terms imply different meanings for different people, with latino being more widely used within the western geographical region of the u.s. and hispanic being more widely used in the southwest and eastern regions (office of management and budget, 1997). arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 9 this context provides an important and often presumptive rationale for how we use terminology and the impact of the words we employ. latinx was an intentional choice made by the co-editors of this special issue and latinx-identified scholars of higher education in an effort to more broadly encompass and reflect the demands of our current socio-political context. although latinx emerged in the early 2000s within queer activist spaces, it has more recently appeared within higher education (salinas & lozano, 2017). the term was introduced as an effort to encompass the fluidity of gender identity and to help move our community forward by providing space—even as a modest beginning through language—in which trans* and gender non-conforming latinxs might identify (pastrana, battle, & harris, 2017; reichard, 2015). the use of an x instead of an o or an a can be used to connote a feminine or masculine identification without privileging one over the other. furthermore, it is inclusive of people whose gender expression exists outside the gender binary of wo/man. despite these intentions, employment of the term latinx met criticism for its failure to address and for perpetuating key issues of racism, ethnocentrism, homophobia, and transphobia (alamo, 2015; marín gonzález, 2017). further, as salinas and lozano (2017) argue, “using the term latinx does not necessarily create inclusivity to all communities of people, as many people still have not seen or heard, agree with, or understand the term latinx” (p. 11). regardless, its undeniable emergence has prompted critical reflection regarding the language scholars and practitioners use to refer to our comunidad and what the power of language to shape its direction. given that racial and ethnic identities are socially constructed and variable for different individuals and communities rather than fixed (haney lopez, 1994; torres et al., 2012; z. valdez, 2013), it is our responsibility as scholars to listen to the diverse needs of our latinx community and to advance the conversation. as we do, it is also important that we adjust our framing and language to more fully answer the call for access, excellence, and equity. as captured by mijente website cofounder marisa franco in an interview with latina magazine, “[w]e can no longer afford to exile whole parts of our community and whole parts of ourselves” (as quoted in reichard, 2015). nonetheless, while the choices we make about language are our own, greater awareness regarding how these choices promote or impede inclusivity within and with respect to our communities is needed. thus, our intentional use of the term latinx was one that we felt was necessary to promote a justice-orientation towards the work and future direction of hsis. answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 10 inter-generational mentorship and trans-functional collaboration in the special issue research on diverse students and faculty in academe invariably identifies mentoring as critical to their persistence and advancement (turner & gonzález, 2014; turner, gonzález, & wood, 2008). definitions of mentorship vary in concept and practice due to its complex and highly individualized nature. blackwell (1989) defines mentorship as a process in which a person of superior rank, achievement, and prestige counsels, instructs, and guides the intellectual development of his or her mentee(s). this process can also guide the protégé’s social and career development. in essence, the mentorship relationship is one that is built upon trust and can result in lifelong, bidirectional benefits for both the mentor and the protégé. delving into the nuances of the mentoring relationship, researchers conclude that “mentoring is not simply to teach the system, but also to change the system so that it becomes more flexible and responsive to the needs and pathways of its members—mentors and protégés” (bernstein, jacobson, & russo, 2010, p. 58). mentors can be peers as well as those holding higher positions in academe. this special issue reflects our belief as co-editors in the importance of mentorship across generations and academic ranks. our composition as co-editors represents collaboration between junior and senior faculty and we embraced the goal of providing opportunities for junior faculty to publish but also of encouraging senior faculty authors to collaborate across ranks. the articles included here reflect a commitment to the goal of mentorship that spans generations, student/faculty ranks, and academic/practitioner perspectives and experiences. for example, the turner et al. contribution included co-authors who are full professors as well as sitting academic administrators within postsecondary hispanic-serving institutions. doran and medina and zerquera et al. represent collaboration between junior faculty and a graduate student, cuellar et al. embodies collaboration between a junior faculty member and both doctoral and master’s level students, and ponjuan et al. demonstrates senior faculty collaboration with graduate students. as co-editors of this special issue, we intentionally strived to provide scholarly experiences that are critical to the development of all minoritized groups, including latinxs, to apply for and to attain faculty positions, and to advance in the faculty ranks toward full arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 11 professor and ultimately toward academic administrative positions. this is a critical issue, as latinxs remain grossly underrepresented among the faculty and administrative ranks in higher education. for example, higher education alamanc data (2016) show that among all full-time faculty in 4-year colleges, 74.9% are white. in contrast, the percentages for faculty of color are as follows: asian (9.9 percent), black (5 percent), latinx (3.7 percent), multiethnic (0.6 percent), native american (0.4 percent), and pacific islander (0.1 percent). beyond this, a small percentage of faculty are “unknown” (2.3 percent) and non-resident alien [sic] (3.2 percent). recent data indicate that the portion of latinx presidents stayed roughly steady—rising to 3.9 percent in 2016 from 3.8 percent in 2011 (seltzer, 2017). furthermore, it was also reported that fewer minority-serving institutions (msis) were led by presidents from underrepresented groups in 2016, decreasing from 53% in 2011 to approximately 36% in 2016. with these data in mind, we assigned great import upon the value of support via mentorship. thusly, as co-editors we present the work of knowledgeable and productive scholars who represent a spectrum of voices inclusive of graduate students, junior and senior professors, and hsi administrators who are conducting research on the increasingly critical role hsis serve in american higher education. the present and future relevance of hsis for a great number of latinx students, the pathway to higher education begins through an hsi. the u.s. department of education defines hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) as those serving large numbers of first-generation, low-income hispanic students, i.e., a minimum of 25% total enrollment and a minimum of one-half of all students must qualify for need-based financial aid (brennan & lumina foundation for education, 2011). initially, the significance of the federal designation was that it enabled eligible institutions to apply for federal monies under title iii in 1992 (p. valdez, 2013). just six years later, in 1998, and due to the rapid and projected growth of hsis, congress added title v to the higher education act of 1965 for the specific purpose of funding hsis (valdez, p., 2013). so why is the hsi designation important now and why will it remain such well into the future? to begin, current trends in hsi data tell part of the story: there are over 370 hsis, and they enroll more than half of all latinx students enrolled in higher education; approximately one-half of hsis (48%) are community colleges (178), and 4 percent (15) are private not-foranswering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 12 profit two-year institutions (santiago, calderon galdeano, & taylor, 2015). nearly half of all hsis are located in texas and california, and most of these are community colleges (perrakis & hagedorn, 2010). currently, more than half of community colleges across the united states qualify as hsis, yet most of these institutions do not engage their qualifying status for federal funding to directly contribute to latinx student success (nora & crisp, 2009). student enrollment and demographic trends suggest the number of hsis will only increase in the future. similarly, forecasts suggest that latinx students will be disproportionately enrolled in them. thus, hsis as an institutional sector of higher education represent an essential conduit for latinx college student success, and one that must be increasingly examined and understood. herein lies the purpose of this special issue. p. valdez (2013) urges scholars to critically consider the past, present, and future trends of the hsi designation, but to likewise attempt to understand the contentious political strategies proponents of hispanic higher education were required to employ to codify this into federal statute. if we as scholars of hsis better understand the contentious past regarding how this designation came to exist, we will be more effectively position to understand its future. the hsi designation was codified into statute over twenty-five years ago, therefore the time for scholars to consider the significance and relevance of an arbitrary 25% threshold is overdue. at the very least, we must engage institutional leaders in critical dialogue surrounding the meaning and definition of hsi to include other factors beyond a 25% federal threshold and encourage them to consider the larger symbolic nature of this designation for latinx student success. the authors in the special issue offer stimulating starting points for this critical dialogue from a variety of perspectives. the work featured in this special issue collectively, the work presented in this volume seeks to deepen our understanding of the organizational mission and future of hsis as this nation struggles with how to maintain an equity agenda and how to promote access to opportunity for all people, while redefining excellence in a way that promotes justice for latinx communities. the following provides a brief overview of each unique contribution included in this special issue. arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 13 the intentional and the grassroots hispanic-serving institutions: a critical history of two universities dr. erin doran and øscar medina offer a robust analysis of transformational change through the archival investigation of two geographically distinct organizational contexts and histories. the authors demonstrate how local contexts shaped the paths of these institutions before and regardless of the 1992 federal designation of hsis. moreover, they show us the unique paths and individualized institutional struggles to meet student needs characterized by setbacks, persistence, and differential means to achieve success. the institutional heterogeneity of hsis as members of the msi landscape reflect the distinct nature of hsis as institutions not created to serve a given population. the notion of a “manufactured identity,” termed by contreras in 2008 is offered in contrast to the demographic changes that demanded service to latinx students rather than a particular organizational agenda. doran and medina inform us regarding how hsis are often communitybased organizations in which a key distinguishing feature is their commitment to community versus the racial or ethnic makeup of the student population. the authors fill gaps in our understanding of hsi identities and their evolution over time by describing 1) an intentional organizational type, created to serve a particular region already inhabited by predominantly latinx students, and 2) the grassroots, an organizational context in which demographic shifts evolved over time and changes were made in reaction to student and faculty activism. the authors remind us that the majority of hsis do not overtly express a mission focused on serving latinx students and that many are emerging in states that do not have historically significant latinx populations. through the theoretical lens of transformational change, doran and medina teach us that institutional commitments and values embedded in the organizational fabric at multiple levels and over time, are indicative of their commitment to the surrounding community. certain structural elements that reveal attitudinal change via transformational change in organizational structures are highlighted, including: curriculum, funding, space allocations, and policies. the authors simultaneously demonstrate that hsis are not immune to struggle for access and representation by and for latinx students in higher education. support is not a given, and opportunities to bolster it are sometimes met with resistance and counter-resistance. certain commonalities were identified through examination of transformational change: 1) the answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 14 development of hsis are highly contextualized; 2) resistance is common when trying to reinforce hsi mission and identity; 3) access by and advocacy for latinx students differs; 4) assignment of the his designation does not connote institutional progress; and 5) actualizing the embodiment of service to latinx students is a gradual process of resistance and progress. the authors show us that hsis represent a diverse set of institutions that are simultaneously embodied by the latinx population and remind us that scholars must consider the history, context, and localized response by stakeholders in their discourse. the university of texas rio grande valley: reframing hsis through a multi-sited ethnography drs. maritza de la trinidad, francisco guajardo, peter kranz, and miguel guajardo employ methodological and theoretical frameworks that align inquiry, pedagogy, and meaningmaking processes to provide us with a unique conceptual case study analysis that offers contrast between the curricular choices of a historical institution with those of a new institution in a state of genesis. their multi-site ethnographic analysis evaluates the innovation employed at these two institutions in different geopolitical contexts and eras, thus revealing the lessons learned from history and applying them to curricular and pedagogical developments for a “new brand of hsis.” poignant and timely, their comparison underscores the myriad ways “race plays out in the fabric of american society and culture and its impact on higher education.” one case study is derived from the university of north florida (unf), an institution that “developed at a cultural front and point of innovation that grappled with the contentious racial tensions that plagued black-white relations rooted in race relations of the american south.” the second case study is drawn from the current day context at the university of texas rio grande valley (utrgv) in the borderlands region of south texas, whose birth represents a “different brand of activism defined by institution-building” that is guided by the purpose of reflecting the cultural and linguistic heritage of its students. the authors assert that utrgv is “poised to reshape the social, cultural, and economic dynamics of the region as it seeks to integrate bilingualism, biculturalism, and biliteracy through curricular and programmatic innovations.” by way of example, de la trinidad et al. argue that utrgv is “leading efforts to create official bilingual zones, dual language programs across rio grande valley public schools, arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 15 and stronger connections between the university and surrounding communities.” the authors posit that because unf placed race relations front and center of its curricular innovation, it therefore offers appropriate historical instruction through which to understand the social and institutional change taking place in south texas. de la trinidad et al. offer the work being done at utrgv as an example of how hsis might align curricular choices and their core identity with the population and regions they serve. importantly, they remind us that curricula, teaching and research practices, and service must be reflective of and responsive to the institutions they serve. in other words, we must promote the development of hsis within localized ecological contexts. assessing empowerment at hsis: an adapted inputs-environments-outcomes model in this contribution, dr. marcela cuellar, vanessa segundo, and yvonne muñoz remind us that because hsis play an important function in promoting postsecondary access and attainment for latinx students, institutions must engage in intentional institutional change that empower latinx students socioeconomically and politically, but also holistically. what’s more, the authors call upon institutions and researchers to challenge traditional measures of success to better serve latinx students. cuellar et al. offer a compelling expansion of the inputsenvironments-outcomes (ieo) model offered by astin & antonio (2012) by adding layers of critical race theory and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005). for example, they underscore the reality that the ieo framework is often applied to traditional students who are enrolled on a full-time basis on residential campuses, when that often does not reflect the reality of students attending hsis. they aptly remind us that the study of higher education is rife with “false claims of ‘objectivity, meritocracy, colorblindness, race neutrality and equal opportunity’” (yosso, 2005, p. 74). cuellar et al. challenge the reader to consider the very mission and purpose of education for latinx students. while traditional measures—including retention and graduation rates—are important, holistic measures such as: empowerment, student development, and human cultivation for positive influence and value-add to students’ lives must also be considered. they call on scholars to consider and name additional metrics that might be used to measure enhancement of student experience. in addition, they call upon researchers to answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 16 consider the myriad possibilities of nuanced student inputs before attempting to understand how college affects latinx students. adhering to certain principles that 1) latinx students are racialized producers of knowledge; 2) hsis have the potential to intentionally serve through empowering environments and experiences; and 3) institutions and scholars must move beyond conventional measures of success toward more tailored notions of empowerment for latinx students. cuellar et al.’s model provides a blueprint for hsis to assess the definition of a transformative educational experience that considers latinx student assets and their essential empowerment outcomes, including pyscho-social, behavioral, and spiritual domains. they further call for a more nuanced account of background characteristics to be considered as input variables, including: the racial heterogeneity of latinx students, gender differences, socioeconomic background, first-generation status, generational status, immigrant status, academic skills and self-efficacy, and community cultural wealth. in terms of environments, they encourage scholars to consider: campus climate, curriculum, and co-curricular considerations. cuellar et al.’s contribution represents a call to action for researchers to develop studies that holistically consider latinx empowerment using innovative methodologies and instruments, including participatory action research. what does it mean to be latinx-serving? testing the utility of the typology of hsi organizational identities in this contribution, dr. gina ann garcia offers an expanded analysis of the multiple types of hsis based upon academic and non-academic outcomes and enhanced racial/ethnic experiences. using ipeds data and analysis of institutional websites, garcia examines how institutions serve latinx students beyond superficial enrollment. her analysis is contrasted with prior casting of organizational identities, including “institutionalized ways of knowing” and “legitimate” modes of measurement, institutional sagas and historical legacies to more fully consider the hsi organizational identity. garcia posits that the hsi organizational identity might be viewed politically, i.e., based upon enrollment numbers and federal interest in latinx college completion rates. institutions may lack extensive histories or organizational identities because they function as predominantly white institutions. their mission statements or curricula may not reflect commitment to the hsi designation, while their white faculty and administration arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 17 reflect dominant ways of knowing. thusly, the author questions: how is the hsi identity to be measured? garcia suggests we move beyond the ontological understanding of a latinx-serving identity to greater practical implications using a clearly defined typology that tells us what the latinx-serving organization looks like in practice. she suggests that a more robust analysis considers positive academic and non-academic outcomes, campus culture, improved sense of belonging, culturally relevant pedagogy and advising, and validating support programs. garcia generated four categories through her research: 1) latinx-enrolling: an institution that enrolls 25% but does not produce equitable outcomes and may not embrace an organizational culture that supports latinx students; 2) latinx-producing: an institution which enrolls latinx students and produces outcomes, but lacks a supportive culture; 3) latinx-enhancing: an institution which enrolls 25% latinx students and enhances educational and racial/ethnic experiences, but does not produce traditional outcomes of success define by the field; 4) latinx-serving: an institution which enrolls 25% latinx students, produces equitable outcomes, and enacts a culture that enhances the latinx student experience. garcia employed museus’ (2014) model of the culturally engaging campus environment to consider student opportunities to engage with faculty, staff, and peers in meaningful and cross-racial/ethnic ways, as well as the existence of humanizing and validating educational environments. garcia evaluated six institutions using two major measurement areas, including: 1) graduation and completion rates, and 2) the number of programs and services deemed culturally engaging for latinx, low-income, first-generation, and students of color. garcia found a lower percentage of faculty and administrators that identify as latinx and people of color, as well as lower rates of latinx and students of color graduate students in hsis. while these measures are not deemed essential to the mission of hsis by the federal government’s title v grant competition, research on belongingness suggests they are key to student success. similarly, institutions that are “latinx-blind,”—i.e., they do not center the latinx student experience institutionally and are not intentional in their efforts to enhance the latinx student experience—can negatively influence campus climate while the existing body of research suggests that student perception of climate affects persistence. thus, garcia demonstrates, the department of education’s title v valuation system, which merely considers expanded educational opportunities and enhanced academic offerings, is therefore limited. garcia’s answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 18 contribution suggests that enhancing racial and ethnic ways of knowing should be an outcome of the work of hsis. moreover, these measures are useful for classifying institutions, measuring institutional effectiveness, basing funding decisions, and engaging in the practice of campus culture improvement. modeling an effective program for latina/o college student success this contribution to the special issue was written from the perspective of scholars who have also been in positions of hsi leadership. drs. kenneth gonzalez and vanessa meling’s work reveals promising findings from their case study analysis of the design, implementation, and results of a localized intervention program created to increase latinx student success at an hsi. the authors begin by sounding the alarm regarding the disparate achievement levels found in lowand high-latinx enrolling institutions, with particular focus on california and texas as high-latinx enrolling states. calling for improved practices that promote completion rates in light of decades of research that have pointed to gaps in latinx student achievement, the authors describe in detail the group-process of institutional-level program design and evaluation. specifically, the intervention sought to mediate lagging graduation rates that correlated with the critical first year of college at a small, private, religiously-affiliated hsi in a large, metropolitan city in texas. the manuscript offers a descriptive account of the process that a team of university faculty, staff, and administrator/researchers took to better understand latinx student success and to design a locally-informed intervention response. their assessment and evaluation process drew from four sources of evidence that shaped the re-design of an intervention program, including: 1) longitudinal institutional cohort data, 2) extant scholarly literature on latinx student success, 3) student focus group data, and 4) syllabi content analysis data. the team conducted five focus groups with first-year, first-term students to achieve a contextualized understanding of the barriers to success they faced. first-term students were chosen for the focus groups because data suggested that only 55% of this cohort returned for the second year of college at the case study institutional site. through their focus group interactions, the team found five common barriers within this group: 1) time management; 2) failure to submit written in-class assignments; 3) discomfort asking questions in class; 4) failure to complete online class assignments; and 5) difficulty managing the workload of multiple arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 19 courses. the authors describe how the diverse interdisciplinary team noted the interconnected nature of the barriers students faced and that they were thusly prompted to answer a deeper question related to student workload. gonzalez and meling then describe the academic workload content analysis the team conducted which uncovered a stark and alarming contrast between the sheer volume of assignments that were expected of first-term students compared with third-year students. through a contextualized and local team-based approach, the highvolume task-based assignments that were intended to scaffold student learning were exposed as a potential barrier to success. the authors reveal how the data-driven assessment and evaluation approach used in this case study led to options that would address the unintended consequences of course design at this hsi. the authors present post-redesign assessment data that suggest changes to the intervention program led increased mid-term grade point average (gpa), end of first-term gpa, and fall-to-fall persistence. in this piece, gonzalez and meling offer a tangible example of a case study that demonstrates the great promise hsis hold to go beyond being merely hispanic-enrolling. rather, hsis can to be conduits for latinx student success when locally informed policy and practice decisions are made and implemented. becoming an hispanic-serving research institution: involving graduate students in organizational change dr. patricia marin and priscilla pereschica make a unique contribution by examining the graduate student experience at an emerging hsi that is also a r1, or institution of “highest research activity.” the authors bring into sharp focus the ways in which the shifting institutional identity institution as it approaches the federal hsi designation might have an impact on the significant proportion of students who are pursuing graduate degrees. the authors advance the term hsri (hispanic-serving research institutions) to distinguish this institutional cohort from other hsis. they also highlight the diversity of identities carried by hsis generally, and the diversity of the students served specifically. this approach provides a compelling rationale for focusing on graduate students within the context of a research institution that is actively seeking and on the threshold of achieving the hsi designation. marin and pereschica integrate an organizational cultural framework to capture shifting change in the beliefs, values, symbols, communications, and other cultural elements of the hsri answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 20 context. through focus groups with 45 graduate students pursuing masters and doctoral degrees from a range of disciplines, the authors explored concepts related to the current institutional status and potential implications of the potential shift to an hsi status. their focus group discussions with graduate students yielded four key findings. among these findings and worthy of noting; students emphasized the need for their institution to demonstrate more pride in the hsi designation, thus highlighting a tension often associated with being given the hsi label. this finding also signals the need for clearer internal and external communication from the institution regarding institutional mission to serve latinx students. their findings also underscore graduate student perceptions that the institution should demonstrate an equal commitment to promoting student success as to latinx student enrollment. marin and pereschica’s findings underscore the importance of the graduate student perspective within hsris and institutions with emerging hsi identities. their work highlights the need for focus on institutional climate and graduate student engagement in shifting organizational processes. presidential leadership: improving completion rates of latino male students at texas community colleges dr. luis ponjuan, leticia palomin, and susana hernandez utilize qualitative methods to consider hispanic-serving community colleges as key access points to higher education for latino men. ponjuan et al. examined the perspectives of six texas community college presidents to assess their awareness and commitment to degree completion for latino men at their respective institutions. ponjuan et al. found that presidents are concerned with the low completion rates of this population, but better alignment of core values, mission, and campus culture is needed to improve their educational outcomes. the authors question how one might enhance degree completion when increased time in developmental courses leads to less favorable educational outcomes and community college faculty are often ill equipped to address diverse learning styles. the authors also draw attention to the reality of a community college culture that is enrollment-driven rather than degree completion-driven. the authors utilize kezar’s (2001) social cognition and cultural models framework to make sense of their findings and to provide insight regarding how executive leaders might leverage their positional power to implement innovative practices, and thereby to improve outcomes. they argue that 1) organizational change is possible when leaders recognize the misalignment between arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 21 organizational functions and the entities they serve and 2) leaders have the ability to shape organizational culture and enact a critical function as agents of organizational change as they hold the power to shape the mission, vision, and rituals of their institutions through communication and symbolic action. ponjuan et al. elaborate upon three major themes from their data, including: 1) institutional awareness of institutional data, 2) institutional challenges, and 3) awareness of presidential leadership responsibility. more specifically, the authors assert that presidents possess the positional authority to 1) compel institutions to provide disaggregated data on key outcomes and varying levels of understanding of enrollment patterns, 2) to utilize data to garner support to advance leadership initiatives, and 3) to bear in mind that improved disaggregated data is important but meaningless if not backed by institutional action. the authors findings highlight the need for institutional research offices that can coordinate with leadership and leadership that can leverage data for change. given the finding that institutional agents were sometimes unaware of their hsi function and mission and in light of a cultural model of organizational change, the authors call on scholars to reframe how hispanic-serving community colleges change to meet their needs. a critical look at perspectives of access and mission at high latinx-enrolling urban universities this manuscript examines perspectives of leaders at urban-serving hsis and emerging hsis related to embracing and fulfilling an access-centered mission. in it, dr. desiree d. zerquera, dr. tracy arámbula ballysingh, and emerald templeton situate institutions charged with upholding an access-centered mission in light of external environmental pressures that impose expectations of excellence that promote or impede institutional mission. the authors develop a rich conceptual framework of leadership, organizations, and equity to capture the complexity of their topic. first, they discuss the type of leadership needed to effectively advance an equity agenda, focusing on transformational leadership for diversity that channels equity agendas into the different activities of an institution. the authors argue that emphasis on diversity can come in other ways that impede achievement of an equity agenda, and they posit two particular ways this can happen: through co-option and through professed color-blindness. the authors then center the perspectives of the 21 institutional leaders they interviewed answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 22 through an organizational framework of sensemaking, which takes into account how organizational members collectively process external messages and use that to shape their identity. this conceptual framing allows for a deep and critical analysis of their interview data, which reveals telling perspectives leaders hold regarding how to uphold their access missions. zerquera et al.’s analysis highlights ways diversity was an assumed and integral identity for these institutions. though leaders assumed their students would be diverse and expressed commitments to upholding this diversity, they also described perceptions of the ways this commitment simultaneously served as an opportunity and a challenge for the institution. ability to enact this mission varied, with a tension emerging between students who are typically served by the institution and a newer cohort of more high-achieving students. the authors highlight ways the assumed identities of institutional leaders may impede the ongoing enactment of these important missions, and how colorblindness still dominates logics of diversity. recommendations center upon policymaker support for institutional leaders charged with upholding these types of missions, research to forge through with more complexity regarding how organizational fulfillment of equity agendas is captured, and consideration for the myriad ways pressure for excellence within the dominant policy frameworks may impede institutional success toward achieving equity. latino faculty in hispanic-serving institutions: where is the diversity? currently serving as associate vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion at the university of california, san diego, dr. frances contreras’ contribution draws attention to the differences between student enrollment and faculty diversity by examining faculty makeup across california’s community college and state university systems. she highlights the significant role of latinx faculty in contributing to the success of latinx students and the challenges of latinx faculty retention. arguably, the california systems of higher education serve the majority of latinx students in the united states and, as contreras reminds us, the state is home to over 150 hsis. the context of california state policy emphasizing accountability measures attached to student success rates is also highlighted in her extensive evaluation of the status of latinx faculty diversity in these systems. contreras’ analysis of data trends across the two california systems over the past two arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 23 decades juxtaposes student enrollments and graduation rates with faculty appointments and demographic information. key findings highlight the exponential expansion of latinx student enrollment across the community college and state college systems; far exceeding that of students from other demographics. both systems, however, demonstrate significant gaps between student enrollments and tenure-track faculty lines, with greater representation of latinx faculty in temporary and short-term faculty positions (i.e., adjunct and lecturer positions). to achieve greater equity within california and other states with large latinx student populations, contreras recommends strengthening data systems to provide more accurate data to critically analyze enrollment and hiring trends. she also emphasizes further consideration of the contingent faculty role in supporting student success and support sources available to these contingent faculty. she closes with an argument that research and policy must take a systemic approach to promote the success of latinx students and to strengthen the latinx faculty pipeline. hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators1 on improving latina/latino/latinx/hispanic2 teacher pipelines: critical junctures along career pathways dr. caroline s. turner leads a cohort of select hsi deans and educators chosen by president obama’s white house initiative on educational excellence for hispanics to explore the practices, programs, and research relevant to the hsis they lead as latinx teacher-serving. dr. 1 the u.s. department of education’s office of the under secretary, the hispanic-serving institution division, and the white house initiative on educational excellence for hispanics hosted a 2016 convening of education deans from hispanic-serving institutions across the country to brainstorm ideas for getting more latinos into the teaching profession. addressing this topic, a committee of hsi administrators authored “on improving inclusive teacher pipelines with a focus on hispanics.” this paper emerges from that work and presents co-author perspectives only. we appreciated the opportunity to work with one another and support efforts to promote future such convenings. 2 this article uses the terms latina/latino/latinx/hispanic. latina/o encompasses both female and male individuals; latinx is a gender inclusive term. writing in 1991, nieves-squires used the designator “hispanic” to refer to people of cuban, mexican, mexican american, puerto rican, south or central american, or other spanish ancestry or descent. hispanic is also the term used in several datasets referred to in this paper. terminology used by researchers is not changed. niemann (2002) notes that “like the term hispanic, the label latina/o is inclusive of all persons of spanish-speaking descent” (p. xii). gonzález and gándara (2005) write that many call themselves latinas to “acknowledge their non-european heritage while affirming their dignity and expressing confidence in their growing political importance” (p. 398). niemann (2002) reminds us, however, that “a label does not define a woman or her ideology and that labels are fluid and, for many women, interchangeable” (p. xii). answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 24 turner and her co-authors argue that latinx teachers play a significant role in strengthening the educational pipeline for latinxs students. they likewise draw our collective attention to the need for enhanced consideration of the way these individuals are served within the hsi context and their potential to contribute to latinx success nationally. latinx teachers have the potential to combat deficit notions commonly held in traditional education spaces. moreover, to attract these change-makers, it is important for institutions to emphasize the valueand culturallybased aspects of educating latinx populations. the team of esteemed authors seeks to address the critical issues of latinx teacher representation by focusing on the significant role hsis play in attracting potential teachers and in preparing them to serve latinx students. the team draws from literature and provides examples of current effective programs that are working to address the critical latinx teacher need. they call for “grow your own” partnership programs that integrate college students into the classroom while they are still in school to develop the pipeline from college to the classroom. examples provided also include application of this model to high school students. they also note the need to address organizational and cultural issues throughout the institution related to stereotyping, implicit bias, and insufficient financial support to strengthen the latinx teacher pipeline. flipping the hsi narrative: an hsi positionality finally, dr. anne-marie núñez provides a closing reflection essay featuring critical insights offered by this collective body of work. dr. núñez advances our understanding and framing regarding where hsis stand within the higher education context and their role in society more broadly. she integrates the extant hsi research and the practice of research in education with her own experience in policy and academia to craft an argument for how researchers can better support the work of hsis to answer the call. núñez calls on researchers to challenge the epistemic injustice that has characterized hsis through deficit perspectives and proposes a transformative paradigm to be employed through methodology and methods, researcher positionality, and partnerships and practices in the study of hsis. of utmost importance, she argues, is the need for researchers who examine hsis from outside or inside these institutions to work with staff and personnel at these institutions to foster more reciprocal partnerships with them. she also calls upon researchers to work through the mental arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 25 models they employ as researchers and to better understand the models that guide practitioner efforts in these institutions. conclusion in summary, impending demographic shifts in the u.s. portend a majority latinx population in the coming decades, even as socioeconomic stratification and class divisions become increasingly entrenched. achieving access, equity, and excellence for all latinx americans in higher education are not mutually exclusive goals, and they are the goals for which we must continually strive. hsis offer great promise as key access points and potential opportunity engines for a growing number of low-income, first-generation latinx students, and are therefore worthy of continual examination. this special issue seeks to offer a holistic complement to the growing body of research and scholarship focused on hsis. we hope that the work within this issue will continue to advance key paradigmatic shifts that combat epistemic injustice and expand our understanding of the increasingly well-defined typologies of their institutional corpus as a growing number of twoand four-year institutions become federal designates. we believe the scholarly community is obligated to provide practical and theoretical exemplars of best practice and policy to better support the work of hsis and thereby to answer the call. we must also center the notion that institutions continue to function within colonized historical roots that have shaped their infrastructure, culture, and missions. therefore, we must continue to strive to expand the limits of our own understanding and the way we frame discourse surrounding hsis in critical and innovative ways. we must employ transformative paradigms through our methodologies, researcher positionalities, and stakeholder partnerships and practices. the future history of hsis remains to be written. this diverse collection of manuscripts seeks to provide new insights from research and practice to tell a story of the complex dimensions of their unique organizational contexts. as our nation engages in an internal battle over the adoption of an equity agenda, we must resist deficit characterizations of hsis, and we must redefine excellence in a manner that seeks justice for latinx communities through the achievement of curricular and cultural self-determination. dr. núñez’s concluding manuscript aptly reminds us that the research community can and must do better through our work on answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 26 and with hsis. if we as a community of scholars truly desire to support hsi efforts to provide enhanced access to high-quality education to our nation’s latinx population and thereby, to enhance equity across all domains of american higher education, it is the only path forward. acknowledgements: the authors wish to thank dr. claudia sofia garriga lopez for comments on an earlier draft of sections of this introduction. arámbula turner, zerquera, turner, & sáenz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 27 references acuña, r. (2014). occupied america: a history of chicanos (8th ed.). new york, ny: pearson. alamo, h. l. (2015, december 12). the x-ing of language: the case against ‘latinx’. latino rebels. retrieved from http://www.latinorebels.com/2015/12/12/the-x-ing-of-languagethe-case-against-latinix/ bernstein, b. l., jacobson, r., & russo, n. f. (2010). mentoring women in context: focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. in c. a. rayburn, f. l. denmark, m. e. reuder, & a. m. austria (eds.), the praeger handbook for women mentors: transcending barriers of stereotype, race, and ethnicity (pp. 43–64). westport, ct: praeger. blackwell, j. e. (1989). mentoring: an action strategy for increasing minority faculty. academe, 75(5), 8–14. brennan, p. l., & lumina foundation for education. (2011). un nuevo dia: as latino population grows, so must college attainment. lumina foundation focus. lumina foundation for education. caminero-santangelo, m. (2007). on latinidad: u.s. latino literature and the construction of ethnicity. gainesville, fl: university press of florida. garcia, g. a. (2017). decolonizing hispanic-serving institutions: a framework for organizing. journal of hispanic higher education, 1-16. doi:10.1177/1538192717734289 haneylópez, i. f. (1994). social construction of race: some observations on illusion, fabrication, and choice. the harvard civil rights-civil liberties law review, 29, 1. higher education almanac. (2016). race and ethnicity of full-time professors at 4-year institutions, by carnegie classification, fall 2013. washington, dc: the chronicle of higher education. humes, k., jones, n., & ramirez, r. (2011). overview of race and hispanic origin: 2010. washington, dc: us department of commerce, u.s. census bureau. mora, g. c. (2014). making hispanics: how activists, bureaucrats, and media constructed a new american. chicago, il: university of chicago press. nora, a., & crisp, g. (2009). hispanics and higher education: an overview of research, theory, and practice. in j. c. smart (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (pp. 317–53). the netherlands: springer. núñez, a. m., crisp, g., & elizondo, d. (2016). mapping hispanic-serving institutions: a typology of institutional diversity. the journal of higher education, 87(1), 55-83. núñez, a. m., hurtado, s., & galdeano, e. c. (eds.). (2015). hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice. new york, ny: taylor & francis. office of management and budget. (1997). revisions to the standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity. federal register 60, no. 210, 30 october. omi, m., & winant, h. (1994). racial formation in the united states: from the 1960s to the 1990s. new york, ny: routledge. padilla, f. m. (1984). on the nature of latino ethnicity. social science quarterly, 65(2), 651-664. padilla, f. m. (1985). latino ethnic consciousness. notre dame, in: university of notre dame press. answering the call association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, vol. 11, issue 3 28 pastrana, a., battle, j., & harris, a. (2017). an examination of latinx lgbt populations across the united states: intersections of race and sexuality. new york, ny: pagrave macmillan. perrakis, a., & hagedorn, l. s. (2010). latino/a student success in community colleges and hispanic-serving institution status. community college journal of research and practice, 34(10), 797–813. doi:10.1080/10668921003723110 reeves, r. v. (2017). dream hoarders: how the american upper middle class is leaving everyone else in the dust, why that is a problem, and what to do about it. washington, dc: brookings institution press. reichard, r. (2015, august). why we say latinx: trans and gender non-conforming people explain. latina magazine. retrieved from http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/ourissues/whywe-say-latinx-trans-gender-non-conforming-people-explain salinas, s., & lozano, a. (2017). mapping and recontextualizing the evolution of the term latinx: an environmental scanning in higher education. journal of latinos and education, 1-14. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2017.1390464 santiago, d. a., galdeano, e. c., & taylor, m. (2015). factbook: the condition of latinos in education. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/research/2015-factbook seltzer, r. (2017). the slowly diversifying presidency. inside higher education. retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/06/20/college-presidents-diversifying-slowlyand-growing-older-study-finds torres, v., martinez, s., wallace, l. d., medrano, c. i., robledo, a. l., & hernandez, e. (2012). the connections between latino ethnic identity and adult experiences. adult education quarterly, 62(1), 3-18. turner, c. s. v., & gonzález, j. c. (eds.). (2014). modeling mentoring across race/ethnicity and gender: practices to cultivate the next generation of diverse faculty. sterling, va: stylus. turner, c. s. v., gonzález, j. c., & wood, j. l. (2008). faculty of color in academe: what 20 years of literature tells us. journal of diversity in higher education, 1(3), 139–168. valdez, p. (2013). hispanic-serving institution legislation: an analysis of policy formation between 1979 and 1992 (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/21872 valdez, z. (2013, february 24). ethnicity is a social construction too. racism review: scholarship and activism toward racial justice. retrieved from http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2013/02/24/ethnicity-is-a-social-construction-too/ zerquera, d., haywood, j., & de mucha flores, m. (in press). more than nuance: recognizing and serving the diversity of the latina/o community in research, policy, and practice in higher education. in r. teranishi & c. alcantar (eds.), racial heterogeneity in education. 73-article text-129-1-10-20200304.pdf amae intro page proof nameupdate2022.pdf association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 55 latino college presidents latino college presidents: in their own words (2013) by david j. león and rubén o. martinez (editors) bingley, u.k.: emerald group publishing limited amelia marcetti topper arizona state university abstract this book review examines latino college presidents: in their own words (2013), a recent volume edited by david j. león and rubén o. martinez and part of the “diversity in higher education” series. the volume features 11 bio-professional essays written by current and/or former college and university latino/a presidents. this collection of stories is particularly relevant to latino/a graduate students and junior faculty and staff who are seeking insight into the realities of pursuing executive leadership positions in higher education. to fully understand what an individual has accomplished one must hear their story, and latino college presidents: in their own words does just this by providing latinos/as in executive leadership positions a space to share their varied pathways to the college presidency with a new generation of aspiring latino/a leaders, including their successes, challenges, and advice. part of the “diversity in higher education” series, this pioneering work is a thoughtful collection of bio–professional, and often very personal, essays written by 11 current and/or former latino/a college presidents with additional contextualization by the volume’s editors, david j. león and rubén o. martinez. the volume is particularly relevant as recent studies suggest that the percentage of latinos/ as in postsecondary faculty and leadership positions has declined despite increasing latino/a undergraduate and graduate student enrollment (cook & kim, 2012; u.s. department of education, 2013). it is the hope of these authors that this collection of stories will encourage and inspire the next generation of latino/a college leaders–and, as argued by the editors, that these future provosts, presidents, and chancellors will work against the pervasive neoliberal10 ideology that currently dominates the american higher education system. alfredo de los santos, jr.’s forward to the volume draws on his rich experiences as el paso community college’s founding president, his position as former vice chancellor of the maricopa county community college system, and his connections to the authors of this volume—illustrating how small the world of higher education latino/a leaders is. in the first two chapters, león and martinez discuss the volume’s genesis, which began with their earlier survey of latino/a college presidents, followed by a brief review of the (limited) literature on latino/a executive leaders and a preview of the themes apparent across the essays. contributing authors were asked to explore their upbringing and family life, educational experiences, how they negotiated the administrative ladder and discrimination, examples of successful and less successful programs they helped to create, and advice to latinos/as aspiring to executive leadership positions in higher education. the editors made an intentional decision to organize the remaining chapters by institutional type, moving from less selective community colleges to more selective universities “because that is both how latino students and presidents are distributed” (martinez & león, 2013a, p. 10). part i contains essays by four community colleges presidents, part ii includes essays by six presidents at different types of public and private four-year institutions, and part iii includes an essay by the chancellor of the university of texas system. while many of the presidents featured in this volume have worked at multiple and varied colleges and universities, as the editors point out there are still no latinos/as in executive leadership positions at any of the nation’s ivy league institutions. 10. neoliberalism is the set of economic, political, and social practices that enable individuals to be economic actors. privatization, deregulation, and the valuing of individual agency over public welfare are some examples of neoliberal practices. in higher education, these market-based practices also include viewing students as “consumers” and education as a private good, reductions in federal and state tax support, and the emphasis on “innovation”–such as massive open online courses (moocs)–to increase institutional efficiency. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 56 latino college presidents although these authors come from different parts of the country, including puerto rico, have diverse family backgrounds, and have followed both traditional and non-traditional pathways to the college presidency, león and martinez identify four themes that are consistent across their stories: 1) family support for education and character development; 2) perseverance when faced with discrimination and discouragement; 3) the importance of mentors; and, 4) a deep commitment to public service. while many of the contributing authors were the first in their family to graduate from high school and pursue a college education, all of these current and former presidents came from families that valued education and hard work. for president rodolfo arévalo, his family’s commitment to education was reflected in his father’s decision to stop migrating out of texas for seasonal farm work for the sake of his children: “education was important to both my parents, as they understood the lack of it” (2013, p. 119). likewise, “college became a given not an option…” for president erlinda j. martinez and her siblings, “…they wanted us to succeed and believed in us” (martinez, 2013, p. 52). similarly, almost all of the authors cite encouragement from a critical friend–a professor, colleague, or supervisor who encouraged them to go to graduate school, apply for fellowships, and urged them to pursue “unobtainable” positions, as well as painful instances of discrimination and prejudice. president leslie ann navarro, who holds the distinction of being the youngest college president appointed to date, shares her stories of having her car vandalized and being sexually assaulted by a community member during a party held by the board in celebration of her second year as president. other presidents, such as president mildred garcía and president arévalo, encountered high school counselors who discouraged them from applying to college or faced biased hiring practices: “…i [president arévalo] was informed that even though [the dean] thought i was the best suited for the position, he could not support my application because the university was not ready to appoint a hispanic (mexican) as a full dean” (arévalo, 2013, p. 124). the authors persisted despite these barriers, often driven by their commitment to public service and a deep-held belief that these positions would allow them to positively affect the lives of a greater number of students. it should be noted that many of the authors in this volume attended college during a time when higher education was commonly viewed as a public good and received national support through a variety of social and financial programs that made attendance more affordable (e.g., the g. i. bill, the civil rights act of 1964, the higher education act of 1965). in addition, the massification of the american higher education system in the years following world war ii–in both number of institutions and enrollment growth–allowed for more faculty and administrative opportunities across all institutional levels (gumport, iannozzi, shaman, & zemsky, 1997). today, however, future college and university leaders face declining state and local appropriations for public higher education institutions, the pressure to increase access and efficiency, the pervasive focus on student and institutional accountability, and in general a more competitive academic and employment market (thelin, 2011). these new realities, which the authors attribute to the adoption of neoliberal policies and practices across higher education, make pursuing and obtaining an executive leadership position more challenging, and perhaps less appealing, for latinos/latinas as education has come to be seen more as a private good. martinez and león’s concluding chapter revisits the essays’ major themes and includes suggestions for latinos/as interested in pursing senior administration positions. many of the presidents cautioned aspiring leaders that the pathway up the administrative ladder is fraught with setbacks. president william v. flores advises that latinos/as should “not expect it to be easy to advance up the ranks…work twice as hard and achieve results that no one can question. think big and achieve big” (2013, p. 171). the editors also provide an overview and critique of professional development programs for aspiring higher education leaders, which in their view have “had a limited positive impact in positioning latinos to assume leadership roles” (martinez & león, 2013b, p. 271) given the decline in latino/as pursuing these types of positions. leon raises concerns about how these programs treat the topic of diversity: programs that primarily serve white administrators and include diversity as only a small part of a larger leadership curricula or programs that target diversity but primarily serve a nonwhite population. while all of the stories shared in this volume are engaging and insightful, what distinguishes the collection from similar literature are the stories from the latina college presidents and how they have successfully negotiated the cultural and social tensions associated with tradition and educational and professional aspiration. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 57 latino college presidents president martinez shares the challenges she faced in pursuing her graduate degrees and career goals while balancing her responsibilities as a young wife and mother, and the anger she incurred when she moved her family away from southern california to accept a position as administrative dean for student and community affairs: “my father did not speak, write or call me for months. i knew that i had angered him. i was no longer the dutiful daughter doing what was encouraged and expected…i doubt if he truly came to understand my desire to use my education” (martinez, 2013, p. 54). for president herlinda martinez glasscock, being the only female and only latina in a leadership position was a source of both isolation and opportunity–“as one of the few latinas in college administration from the panhandle of texas, i was called upon to serve on many statewide committees…this level of work gave me a broader perspective of higher education in texas and exposure to committee members who became colleagues, role models, and friends” (pp. 66-67), and when asked to serve as interim president: “i was treated with courtesy, but at an arm’s length. it was evident that i was not an insider, not only because i was different, but also because of the campus i represented” (p. 67). for these latina presidents, professional success required them to work harder and be better than their male counterparts while also renegotiating cultural norms that preferred women to stay close to home and out of the workforce. in perhaps an equally interesting contribution to the literature, the final chapter of the volume also includes the editors’ elaboration on the impact of neoliberalism on latinos/as in higher education. león and martinez challenge the research community to consider why latinos/as are being left behind and/or choosing not to pursue leadership positions within higher education, as well as the extent to which neoliberalism is at fault (for the reasons mentioned above). however, their suggestion that we look outside academe for accomplished latinos/as to fill executive leadership positions would seem to undermine their initial critique of neoliberalism. by looking to the market for future administrators, are we not then eating our cake and having it too? while the editors argue that “outsiders who promote the public good would be much more acceptable to the internal constituents of higher education” (martinez & león, 2013b, p. 275) than perhaps others who come from industries and occupations outside the university, it may be challenging to find candidates who view education as a public good if they have been successful in private industries where neoliberalism is most pervasive. it would seem that investment in national and institutionally based professional development programs that develop and enhance the leadership capabilities of latino/a graduate students and junior faculty and staff would be a more promising in the long run, even if their impact is currently limited. latino college presidents: in their own words is a necessary read for undergraduates, graduate students, junior faculty and staff, and all those who are considering senior administrative and leadership positions in higher education, particularly latinas who often face additional cultural and institutional barriers to advancement. this collection of stories is a reminder that assuming the presidency is a process built on hard work, developing and sustaining professional relationships and networks, perseverance, and a deep commitment to public education and service. this volume is hopefully the first of many collections focusing on the leadership stories and pathways to the college and university presidency. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 58 latino college presidents references cook, b., & kim, y. (2012). the american college president. washington, d.c.: american council on education. gumport, p. j., iannozzi, m., shaman, s., & zemsky, r. (1997). trends in higher education from massification to postmassification. stanford, ca: national center for postsecondary improvement. retrieved from http://www. stanford.edu/group/ncpi/documents/pdfs/1-04_massification.pdf thelin, j. r. (2011). a history of american higher education. johns hopkins university press. u.s. department of education. (2013). digest of education statistics. institute of education sciences, national center for education statistics. washington, d.c.: author. amae-open-issue-final 55 amae-open-issue-final 56 amae-open-issue-final 57 amae-open-issue-final 58 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 117 teacher preparation for bilingual student populations: educar para transformar (2011) new york: routledge by: belinda bustos flores, rosa hernández sheets, ellen riojas clark darlene m. gonzales arizona state university bilingualism has taken a swing on the pendulum in a negative direction when it comes to education. programs are being dissolved and are disappearing at startling rates, meanwhile the population of bilingual students continues to grow on a daily basis. in teacher preparation for bilingual student populations: educar para transformar, belinda bustos flores, rosa hernandez sheets, and ellen riojas clark (2011) create an argument aligned to the need for reform in teacher preparation programs with a focus on bilingual education and bilingual learners in particular. the purpose of this book is thus to raise awareness about the need to incorporate culturally responsive pedagogy, including bilingual and bicultural pedagogy, multiculturalism, and multilingualism, into the curriculum, beginning at the university with teacher candidates and feeding down into k-12 schooling. the authors problematize current teacher preparation programs by focusing on how such programs might be reformed in order to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. the authors present a new educational model, educar para transformar, which is designed to be implemented by teacher preparation programs in an effort to address the ever-changing landscape of schools in the united states. specifically, they propose that educar para transformar offers teacher preparation programs, especially those in areas with highly diverse populations, new possibilities for meeting the needs of students. in demonstrating how many educational programs are failing to effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population, this collection aims to bring greater awareness to educators by providing sound, research-based curriculum and instruction to this change in demographics. in particular, the authors suggest that authentically meeting the needs of a diverse body of students requires cultural awareness in the form of self-reflection, praxis, social justice, and social activism. understanding different ways of knowing and being is of the utmost importance, and the authors address epistemologies of student and teacher selves through social contexts and a sociopolitical frame. conceptually, this kind of thinking allows teachers to decenter the knowledge implemented by the school system and the curriculum, and thereafter, validates students and their funds of knowledge. for example, flores, et al. (2011) highlight the importance of empowering educators through the process of educación (learning provided by home, school, and community, not necessarily a formal curriculum), rather than through schooling (learning to promote socialization and control) (p. 3). empowerment comes through opportunities to use authentic teaching through strategies like teacher-research by teacher candidates to bring community into the school. there are also several examples provided within the text of student-teacher dialogue where the authors analyze the dialogue between the two, to build an understanding of how the strategies being implemented through the use of questioning are effectively being used. authentic assessment is also promoted in this text to help teachers gauge student learning in a way that will be useful and not just used to find funding for schools nor to track students. this focus on empowerment creates a space for learning that promotes cultural awareness and competence, critical consciousness, and social activism through culturally responsible teaching and learning. this book provides an organized and concrete explanation of the educar para transformar model in a format that is easy to follow and purposeful for those who either teach in a teacher education program, are teacher candidates, or serve as administrators and specialists within the field of education. the collection is organized into 5 sections that each follows a logical sequence from the micro to the macro-level for educators. the first section, transformación, focuses on a rationale for addressing bilingual learners in teacher preparation programs, while the second section, iluminación, discusses the importance of self-reflection amongst teachers and teacher candidates. in praxis, the authors address the relationship between theory and praxis in the classroom through a discussion of curriculum, curriculum design, instruction, and assessment. concientización, on the other hand, teacher preparation for bilingual student populations association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 118 focuses on issues of policy and practice toward social justice, while the final section, revolución, calls for greater social activism, transformation, and reform of current educational policy. in addition, the collection further breaks down each chapter into three parts: 1) an explanation of the study or idea presented; 2) recommendations for teacher preparation programs; and 3) recommendations for future-research. this scaffolding throughout the text provides accessibility to the reader and allows the text to flow. in the era of english-only policies that have led to the demise of bilingual education programs and the increasing segregation of students of color in u.s. schools, the content of the text speaks to the efficacy of teacher preparation programs in meeting the needs of bilingual learners. this text positions itself in a probilingual education platform to promote the efficacy of these strategies in meeting students’ need, while at the same time critiquing the way this issue is being addressed at the university level through teacher preparation programs. of utmost importance, however, is that this collection strives to further the reader’s understanding of the different risk factors facing students and their families such as low ses, parent literacy rates, single vs. double parent households, etc., and how these factors contribute to the achievement gap. in line with the premise of this book, the authors further emphasize the role that teacher education programs play in preparing educators to effectively help at-risk students by providing a framework that addresses these factors within teacher preparation and teacher preparation programs. in addition, the authors provide a scaffold that challenges teacher candidates to reach a greater sense of cultural awareness and means of culturally responsive teaching through the education they receive in their preparation programs. the overarching theoretical framework informing the authors’ work is vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural learning theory. the authors adopt this framework to make meaning and promote the importance of using language, culture, and education from the home and the community in the classroom to promote cultural awareness and student achievement. they believe that through the incorporation of cultural capital (bordieu 1977), students will be more apt to be successful when it comes to understanding curriculum and performance on standards-based assessments. in addition, they pull from vélez-ibáñez (1995) and gonzález, moll, & amanti’s (2005) “funds of knowledge” theory to showcase the importance of understanding families, their communities, as well as their ways of being and knowing and using these funds in the classroom to make curriculum more comprehensible to bilingual learners. they look to research on identity and identity formation from researchers like erikson (1950) and holland, lachicotte, skinner, and cain (1998) to create a framework for teacher candidates to not only practice self-reflection in terms of their own identity and identity formation but also to analyze how their own biases might impact student identity and identity formation. finally, they use kincheloe’s (2008) critical pedagogy to problematize education for bilingual learners so that teacher candidates, as well as students, can begin to question their circumstances and find ways to work to transform their education and educational policy as a whole. this book provides the field with a positive and practical framework for addressing the changing demographics in the u.s. and for addressing the change through praxis in k-12 schools and in teacher preparation programs. the text is well written and organized in a rational sequence, as it takes the audience from the impact on teacher candidates to the impact on communities and educational policy. additionally, the collection provides both graphics and illustrations that visually illustrate the framework and program model proposed to address bilingual and bicultural pedagogy in teacher preparation programs. the book also provides a consistent outline from chapter to chapter to provide the reader with new information and suggestions for future programs and research. what is missing, however, is comparative information on how current teacher preparation programs are working to address issues of bilingual and bicultural pedagogy in their curriculum. such a comparison could potentially create a link between the importance of applying the proposed framework to teaching all students, not just bilingual learners. the focus on bilingual learners in the text may discount the importance of such theory and praxis on all student populations and on all teacher candidates, despite the population they intend on teaching. focusing on how these strategies are best practices for all learners will promote the impact of this book on the field of education as a whole. overall, this text serves as an excellent resource for university teacher preparation programs that not only benefits students, but also professors in the field, teacher candidates, administrators, specialists, and active teacher preparation for bilingual student populations association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 119 teachers, especially those working with diverse populations. as discussed above, the ideology presented across the text is beneficial to the field of education and to all types of learners despite their cultural or language background as diversity comes in many different shapes and forms. the book is also useful in providing teacherresearchers with ideas on topics of study for research within their organizations. in conclusion, teacher preparation for bilingual student populations: educar para transformar provides the field with an excellent tool for teaching and learning and provides educators with an education model that is useful to teacher candidates, educators, and all stakeholders within the field of education. this book provides a useful resource for educators who want to promote education reform, advocacy, cultural awareness, and culturally responsive education in the k-12 school system and beyond. the information contained within provides understandings for a transformative model of education that promotes cultural sensitivity and social justice for students, families, and communities throughout the education system. teacher preparation for bilingual student populations association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 120 references bordieu, p., & passerson, j. (1977). reproduction in education, society, and culture. london: sage. erickson, e. (1950). childhood in society. new york: w.w. norton & company, inc. flores, b.b., hernandez sheets, r., & riojas clark, e. (eds.). (2011). teacher preparation for bilingual student populations: educar para transformar. new york: routledge. gonzález, n., moll, l.c., & amanti, c. (eds.). (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practice in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, nj: erlbaum. holland, d., lachicotte, w., skinner, d., & cain, c. (1998). identity and agency in cultural worlds. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. kincheloe, j. (2008). knowledge and critical pedagogy: an introduction. dordrecht, london: springer. vélez-ibáñez, c. g. (1995). the challenge of funds of knowledge in urban areas: another way of understanding the learning resources of poor mexicano households in the u.s. southwest and their implications for national contexts. in j. friedenberg (ed.), the anthropology of lower income urban enclaves: the case of east harlem, annals of the new york academy of sciences, 749, 253–280. vygotsky, l. (1978). mind in society. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. teacher preparation for bilingual student populations special_issues_2014-print-final 117 special_issues_2014-print-final 118 special_issues_2014-print-final 119 special_issues_2014-print-final 120 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 10 conciencia con compromiso: aspirantes as bridges for latin@ bilingual learners linda prieto university of texas san antonio abstract the study examined the influence of culture on the desire of a group of six aspirantes (spanish/english bilingual education teacher candidates) from texas to become bilingual education teachers of latin@ bilingual learners. chicana/latina feminist thought is utilized as a lens to understand the role teacher education programs can play in helping teacher candidates explore their cultural backgrounds and critically assess hierarchical systems of oppression. incorporating latina teacher candidates’ cultural resources in teacher education programs can prove beneficial in preparing all teachers to meet the strengths and needs of latin@ bilingual learners. introduction the strengths and needs of latin@ youth remain largely underserved in u.s. public schools. given the increasing number of emerging english learners (els) across the nation, most of whom are latin@, it is imperative to examine ways in which teacher education programs prepare teacher candidates to understand issues concerning these growing student populations. due to the high number of emerging els enrolled in texas elementary schools, it is important to interpret the preparation and experiences of minority group teacher candidates who are soon entrusted with their care, learning, and development (quiocho & rios, 2000). to do so, i analyze testimonios from six aspirantes enrolled at a four-year university in texas (prieto, 2009). they trustingly shared their experiences in and out of school leading to their senior year in college, and for a smaller group of them, incidents from their first year of teaching. chicana/latina feminist thought (c/lft) a chicana/latina feminist lens suggests that aspirantes in this study draw upon cultural domains such as gender, language, class status, and race/ethnicity as they develop their interest in teaching latin@ bilingual learners (prieto, 2009, 2013). this framework helps me consider how the aspirantes think about and enact their cultural codes, beliefs, and practices in their roles as future teachers of latin@ bilingual learners. anzaldúa (1999) proposed that the new mestiza (woman of mixed indigenous and european ancestry) learns to juggle cultures. “she has a plural personality, she operates in a pluralistic mode—nothing is thrust out, the good, the bad and the ugly, nothing rejected, nothing abandoned. not only does she sustain contradictions, she turns the ambivalence into something else (p. 101).” in this case, cultural codes connect to the need of latinas to construct alternative knowledge in varied social contexts (e.g., teacher education programs, bilingual education classrooms) and can prove a helpful tool for aspirantes as they learn to live, operate, and teach within and across hybrid spaces. c/lft embraces and challenges cultural ideas about latinas—not all latinas speak spanish and english or do so fluently and not all latin@ families are havens of love and support in isolation of pain and fear. often, contradictory notions exist simultaneously and c/lft helps us value the situatedness of this complexity of women’s lives. in my work, mestiza consciousness is used for understanding, complicating, and being sensitive to how the aspirantes, as mestizas, navigate and make sense of their experiences in conjunction with their professional development and practice as aspirantes of latin@ bilingual learners. chicana/latina feminist pedagogies reveal fruitful tensions through affirmations of collective identities and individual integrity. i attempt to mine these sites of tension to explore how we might experience transformative teaching in colleges of education and public schools by linking anzaldúa’s notion of ‘mestiza consciousness’ (1999) and the chicana/latina cultural knowledge base delgado bernal (2001, 2006) terms ‘pedagogies of the conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 11 home’ to reflect and dialogue about issues concerning latin@ emerging els. this epistemological frame allows me to explore and understand the lived realities and experiences of aspirantes in their home spaces and local communities with an aim of informing pedagogy in the classroom. such an exploration is important because as nietogomez (2003) states, chicana feminist thought provides a pedagogy, in which we can discuss our political, social, economic, and cultural conditions, a forum where we can raise questions that challenge the institutions predetermining our conditions, a medium where we can discuss how to make our situations better (p. 90). using c/lft in teacher education programs can encourage aspirantes to challenge mainstream understandings of teaching and learning to improve issues concerning latin@ emerging els. their lived experiences may be teeming with non-traditional knowledge and healing practices, which can help inform classroom pedagogies. a note on terminology. the terms ‘chicana’ and ‘latina’ are used as explained by villenas et al. (2006): chicana is often used to refer to u.s.-born women of mexican or latin american descent who identify with a collective history or oppression and pride connected to a political consciousness with its origin in el movimiento or the mexican american civil rights movement. latina is used in varying ways. authors may employ it as an umbrella term to encompass the diversity of women in their studies, including immigrant and u.s.-born women from different latin american countries (p. 7). in this article, the term aspirantes implies a chican@/latin@ identity, regardless of birthplace. researcher background my autobiographical backdrop is informed through my experiences growing up in the central san joaquin valley of california as the daughter of farmworker mexican immigrants. as a result of working in the agricultural fields alongside my family, i learned early on that when faced with damaging state and federal educational policies informed by social hierarchies of difference and anti-immigrant agendas, a strong work ethic alone does not produce equitable results for all children and their families. through daily routines, i learned the strategies of organization, structure, doing for others, love, survival, and accountability. these tools became scripted on my body. my lived experiences inform and shape my research agenda, which focuses on teacher formation across the teacher candidate to teacher educator continuum. i approach my work from a critical perspective using life (her)stories and testimonio (politically urgent life stories) informed by c/lft. my role as an educator includes participating in the production of increased access to a quality pre-k–20 education for all students. centering the experiences of aspirantes aspirantes are often overlooked in teacher education; even research in the areas of multicultural education and bilingual education fail to address the particular experiences of latin@ teacher candidates. aspirantes, their experiences and perceptions, remain mostly absent in the literature on teacher education, and chican@/latin@ educators as authors of these articles are not prevalent in the top teacher education journals. according to sleeter (2001), most work by teacher educators examines issues related to the approaches needed in diverse contexts while continuing to center the conversation on whiteness. although this work is valuable, we must also address the gap regarding the experiences of aspirantes, if we are to understand the hegemonic powers impacting the experiences of latin@ emerging els. critical teacher education scholars (e.g., gay, 2000; villegas & lucas, 2002) agree that preparing teachers to better address diversity in u.s. public schools is necessary and call on institutions of higher education to rethink the curriculum in their teacher education programs. scholars in bilingual teacher education call for culturally relevant approaches that ensure aspirantes are prepared to enhance the academic achievement of emerging els (dubetz & de jong, 2011; flores, sheets, & clark, 2011). we cannot expect aspirantes to increase the achievement of emerging els without first providing them opportunities to learn. the acquisition of english with the use of spanish instruction is the highest expectation placed on spanish/english bilingual education teachers, yet guerrero (2003) reports that bilingual education teacher candidates receive inadequate opportunities to learn academic spanish. in my study, the aspirantes conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 12 mentioned receiving only one course instructed in spanish as part of their teacher education program. they mentioned wanting and needing additional opportunities to speak and instruct in academic spanish as a way to better serve latin@ emerging els. if the aspirantes themselves are not fluent in academic spanish, we cannot expect them to adequately teach latin@ spanish/english bilingual learners1. if we are ever to improve bilingual education programs, i agree that language practices and policies must be fundamentally altered including formal opportunities for aspirantes to participate in a community of spanish language users as part of their preparation. flores (2001) confirms that prior life experiences influence bilingual education teachers’ beliefs. she associates a teacher’s awareness of a child’s cognition as one that stems from their personal background, teacher preparation, and professional teaching experiences. teacher education programs must understand the background and lived experiences of aspiring teachers to inform their professional development. methods: documenting conocimientos de las aspirantes across three years (2006-2008), i documented the knowledge of aspirantes and explored factors that account for their interests in bilingual education certification and teaching latin@ bilingual learners. specifically i examined: 1) how latina university students narrate their lived experiences and articulate a sense of self, family, and community in their development as aspirantes; 2) how they develop their perspectives and philosophies for teaching in spanish/english bilingual education classrooms; and 3) how their beliefs, values, and approaches to teaching are articulated, enacted, or contradicted in the classroom. although there were ten participants in the original study only six are featured here. the qualitative study consisted of: 1) oral (her)story interviews, 2) paired (auto)biographical dialogues (p(a)bds2), and 3) ethnographic observations. the individual oral (her) story interviews, a chicana feminist practice of oral history, are conducted to explore how a participant comes to know and understand the role of gender, race and social class, as structural and ideological relations in their lived experiences (pérez, 1994; sangster, 2005). i designed p(a)bds as a pedagogical exercise to allow the participants to openly share their life stories with one another. participants were paired at random and encouraged to question how particular beliefs and ideologies related to race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and language within the contexts of family, home, and community informed their lived experiences and desire to teach (prieto, 2009). secondary data sets included: email communications and assignments completed during the participants’ teacher education program. the data provided insight into the lived experiences of aspirantes and their perspectives of and desires for teaching latin@ bilingual learners. ethnographic observations were collected via note-taking during one of the teacher education courses, their student teaching, and their first year of teaching. qualitative analysis of the narratives line for line as well as across testimonios uncovered these cultural strategies: a) sobrevivencia (survival, transcendence, and self-sufficiency), b) esperanza (hope), c) amor (love, including a pursuit for social justice), d) coraje (courage and rage), e) cariño (critical and authentic care and caring as political), and f) conocimiento (knowledge and understanding). employing the above cultural strategies the maestras developed, what i term, una conciencia con compromiso—a process by which they understand, nurture, and develop their commitment to community. (prieto, 2013, p. 137) my earlier work with their testimonios unveiled four themes as the most salient factors influencing the decisions by the aspirantes to pursue degrees in bilingual education: 1) culture, 2) language, 3) familismo (familism), and 4) sobrevivencia. the first, culture, serves as an umbrella for the others and is the focus of this article. the intimate spaces between these themes are at times difficult and perhaps unnecessary to disentangle. the focus here centers on how the border experiences of the aspirantes inform their development as aspirantes. the theme of culture includes notions of what it means to be mexican/american, chicana, latina, or hispanic and the influence of such beliefs on teaching latin@ bilingual learners (prieto, 2009, 2013). 1 the experiences of indigenous latin@ bi/trilingual learners are beyond the scope of this study but also warrant attention. 2 paired (auto)biographical dialogues are described in more detail in prieto (2013) and the original study prieto (2009). conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 13 las culturas que traicionan/the cultural traditions that betray us like me, most of the aspirants in my study were the daughters of immigrants. “the cultural values learned were a transnational blend of u.s.-latin@ ideologies” (prieto, 2013, p. 177).). mora (1997) describes this legacy: “we hoard what our mothers, our tías, our abuelitas [aunts, grandmothers] hoarded: our values, our culture” (p. 292) and cautions: much as i want us, my daughters, my niece, chicanas of all ages, to carry the positive aspects of our culture with them for sustenance, i also want us to question and ponder what values and customs we wish to incorporate into our lives, to continue our individual and collective evolution. such emergence, the wriggling from our past selves and experience as both women and women of color, brings with it mixed blessings (p. 292). the aspirantes understand, embrace, and reject the mixed blessings of which mora (1997) warns. they learned cultural beliefs from their familias. authoring their sense of self involves what zentella (1997) explains as “trying on, discarding, integrating the many ways of speaking and behaving that surround them” (p. 2). a ‘theory in the flesh’ was embodied and transmitted from generation to generation—“one where the physical realities of our lives—our skin, the land or concrete we grew up on, our sexual longings—all fuse to create a politic born out of necessity” (moraga, 1983, p. 23). table 1. aspirantes first name ethnicity age1 linguistic background hometown 1. cici mexican 26 spanish dominant home north tx 2. mariela mexican 22 spanish dominant home east tx 3. diana mexican 22 spanish dominant home south tx 4. jessica mexican 21 spanish/english bilingual home south tx 5. soar israeli/argentinean 21 spanish/hebrew bilingual home east tx 6. valentina mexican 21 spanish dominant home the valley, tx note: pseudonyms are used for all participants and names that appear in italics participated in both phases of the study. refers to their age on august 1, 2006. valentina: mis raíces when valentina spoke of her cultural and ethnic affiliations she mentioned her family’s connection to méxico and the u.s. she self-identified as mexican-american: ... my roots stem from mexican and american ancestry. my mother moved to the u.s. in the 1970s, and my father is third-generation texan. i used to identify myself as ‘hispanic,’ but i’ve become aware of new things about my culture. i have learned that hispanic is a term given to us by the dominant class (whites) in an effort to group us without taking into consideration who we are. by saying, ‘i’m hispanic,’ i feel that i don’t have a true identity. in college, valentina learned to question assigned ethnic labels. by self-identifying as mexican american, she felt more validated in her cultural experiences and able to identify with her future latin@ students. in their development as aspirantes, a growing awareness of their cultural backgrounds, along the lines of race, ethnicity, and nationality, and the ensuing questions or confirmation regarding how they self-identified were common experiences. as an undergraduate student, valentina felt others held a limited perception of her cultural and ethnic background. “in college, i’m just clumped into the masses of minorities,” she said. back home she had family and friends with whom she identified, but in college she found it difficult to find peers with whom she shared culturally familiar experiences. valentina grew weary of the unspoken borderlands between white and ethnic minority students. even though her light complexion and slender build allowed her to become neutral and conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 14 sobrevivir in the mainstream, something was missing. she added proudly, “but i’m changing this. i feel like i have a newfound respect for my culture and who i am; that it’s time that i take pride in myself. if i stand out, who cares because i truly am different. i’m not part of the dominant class.” this new conocimiento allowed valentina to embrace her diversity and differences, a new and empowering perspective. this perspective could then allow her to see and value the diversity latin@ students have to offer. becoming a part of the bilingual education teacher candidate cohort provided valentina the culturally familiar support she could not find among white peers. for example, she described feeling isolated from and misunderstood by her white roommate freshman year: when you know you don’t belong somewhere, you’re not gonna go. like, i had a white roommate. it didn’t work out, but she’s like, “let’s go to a sorority party,” a sorority thing, a frat party. i’m just like, “no! don’t you know i’m mexican! i’m not gonna go over there!” and she’s like, “i know you have dark hair, but it’s ok.” i’m just like, <voice lowers> “no, it’s not.” and i won’t have the money. i’m not gonna go. in college, ethnic relations were complicated along the lines of class status. jessica: reclaiming cultural identity growing up jessica received mixed messages about the importance of bilingualism. her maternal grandmother served as a constant reminder for her to speak spanish, when i was little all i would speak was english right, with everybody, and my grandma would be like, “¡vete de aquí, cabrona3! ¡no me hables!¡ si no me vas a hablar español, no me hables!” <laughs> (“get out of here, brat! don’t talk to me! if you’re not going to speak spanish to me, don’t talk to me!”) so i’d be like, “well, i need to talk to my grandma,” so i would just speak in spanish with her. she was the one who would tell us, “tienes que hablar español porque si no, no vas a saber nada, y la gente va hablar de ti.” (“you have to speak spanish because if you don’t, you won’t know anything, and people will talk about you.”) so that’s how i learned and kept my spanish. jessica’s grandmother cautioned her on the importance of preserving their native tongue as a way to relate to others who speak spanish. she also believed it was necessary to speak spanish as a way to avoid having others ridicule you. although her grandmother valued jessica’s acquisition of spanish as a way for her to maintain cultural connections, jessica’s parents also had her removed from a spanish/english bilingual education classroom as a young child. jessica depicted her parents’ concern over her placement in a bilingual education classroom, “my parents didn’t want me in a bilingual class, so they fought with the school. then in first grade they took me out of bilingual, so i was in the mainstream classes or the regular ed. classes up until i graduated.” deficit views of bilingual education influenced jessica’s switch to mainstream english monolingual classrooms. then in college, jessica, sought to improve her spanish language skills as a way to both regain and maintain her cultural connections and identities. jessica’s college peer group was from a u.s.-méxico border town. by sharing aspects of their background with her, they helped increase her interest in her mexican culture. she described her friends’ affiliations with a border culture: i didn’t grow up in mexico, but i’m very, very proud of it. so i think i can give back to that community regardless of whether i’m from there or not ‘cause i have a passion for it. i feel it in me. it’s in me ‘cause <laughs> i’m a mexican. and that pride i think is more so from being here in the university. all my friends are from [a border town]. they’re very proud of [their home town] and the border, so i think they’ve helped me a lot become familiar with my own culture. associating with a peer group in college that was deep-rooted in their ethnic and cultural background helped jessica more strongly identify as mexican even though she was born in the u.s. on her mother’s side of the family, one grandmother emigrated from méxico, but on her father’s side they had been present in texas before its incorporation in the u.s. en el tiempo antes de los gabachos 3 cabrona directly translate to: “bitch,” but in this context, jessica’s grandmother uses the term to imply “brat.” conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 15 cuando tejas era méxico4 (anzaldúa, 1999, p. 222) exposure to peers who were transnational mexicans and their experiences within a border culture helped jessica learn more about her background and strengthen her commitment to helping others. she viewed teaching latin@ bilingual learners as one way to achieve that goal. mariela: mexicanidad el movimiento (the chican@ civil rights movement), a 1960s-initiated social movement rallied the mexican-origin community and raised awareness regarding our experiences as a people in the united states during this time more mexicans proudly identified with their ethnic background. in the post-movimiento era we no longer sought to conceal our ethnic background for social acceptance. as a result, the aspirantes in this study more easily identified with their ethnic background as well. for example, mariela strongly identified as mexican. her sense of cultural pride was fostered at home: i think i would rather be a mexican than a mexican-american since i grew up more with pure mexican people all my life, and i identify with them with no problem. so i identify myself as mexican. i think i am supposed to be considered mexican-american since my parents are from mexico, and i was born in the u.s., but for me, i feel that i am more engaged with the mexican culture than anything else. her family’s transnational life between the united states and méxico included a constant flux of recent mexican immigrants living with them in their home in the united states. these networks contributed to mariela’s sense of self and positive view towards other latin@s. mariela stressed how the role of family and community informed her cultural affiliations, “i also express my culture by being with my family and spending time with them. i will be at parties and do what my family does. i will dance and do all the wonderful things that mexican families will tend to do.” she identified her ability to connect with other people of mexican descent as a resource for teaching latin@ bilingual learners. however, there were also cultural blessings that provided mariela with challenges: one example, along the lines of gendered socialization, espoused the cultural belief (informed by catholic religious ideology) that mexican daughters remain in their parents’ home until they wed. so to attend college, mariela had to challenge her parents to allow her to pursue her undergraduate education away from home (prieto, 2013, p. 174). diana: family identity like mariela, diana also was born in the united states and her parents were both born in méxico. she also grew up on both sides of the méxico-u.s. border. diana’s close relationship with her family played a central role in shaping her cultural beliefs. she explained her cultural identity as guiding the way she lived her life, not as a banner she wore on her sleeve: i like the way i have balanced my culture and the culture i live in; both are very different. one is very involved with the family. the other is very independent. i don’t like to express my culture yelling, ‘¡viva méxico!’ i think that my identity and culture are reflected in my decisions in life and the way i relate to my surroundings. diana did not choose to portray her ethnic identity overtly. her transnational sense of self was constructed as she attempted to balance her home culture with the mainstream u.s. culture. in the united states, mainstream college students tend to covet spring break as a time to unwind and self-indulge. yet, diana spent her spring breaks at home helping with the family business: this spring break instead of going to have fun, i’m gonna go [home] and work, and i’m gonna take them money ‘cause they need money for some permit stuff they have to pay for. so i’m doing that, so that’s how i’m gonna help ‘em. by doing so diana conveyed family as her number one priority. it would be considered culturally inappropriate had she shown any sign of being upset at giving up her spring break to help her family. with her response, both she and her parents saved face. throughout her college experience diana maintained close family ties, as she also grew more independent. 4 in the time before the whites; when texas was mexico conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 16 soar: half-israeli + half-south american = whole american i come from a mixed family. i am an interesting combination of three cultures: american, israeli, and argentinean. i consider myself a part of all three, and it has been a challenge coming to terms with the fact that i will never be just one. my parents are from israel and argentina, so those two cultures are the dominating ones at home, especially israeli, and the american culture comes from my daily life outside my home. as soar came to terms with “the fact that i will never be just one” culture, she lived her life at transnational crossroads, borderlands created by cultures of warmth, sacrifices, and war torn histories spanning three continents across distant shores. anzaldúa (1999) describes this “plural personality, she operates in a pluralistic mode—nothing is thrust out, the good the bad and the ugly, nothing rejected, nothing abandoned” (p. 101). as a way to maintain their cultural ties to argentina and israel soar’s family spoke both spanish and hebrew at home. they also lived in israel and the united states as she was growing up: i also speak three languages, one for each culture. we’re jewish, but my dad is from argentina, and my mom is from israel. so i have that cultural background. so speaking a total of three languages is kind of what attracted me to a certain extent to bilingual education. speaking more than one language and negotiating more than one culture influenced soar and the other aspirantes to pursue a degree in bilingual education. soar went on to describe her multicultural and multilingual identities intricately: i identify myself as half-israeli and half-south american and whole american. that’s who i am. it will never stop being confusing, but i can’t pick one culture over the other without lying to myself and others. i always feel torn when i fill out my race on formal documents (white, hispanic), because i consider myself multiracial/multicultural. i think that is one of the biggest inner struggles i had growing up. other aspirantes expressed a similar sense of ambiguity regarding their cultural affiliations. cici: relating without self-identifying both of cici’s parents were born in méxico and later immigrated to the united states where cici was born. at the age of 11 cici’s mother returned to méxico with cici’s younger brother. this experience of abandonment informed the kind of teacher cici sought to be for other latin@ bilingual learners. she also perceived her experiences growing up in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood as helping her relate to the experiences of other working-class latin@s: i’d know about the gangs and know about the peer pressure and the drugs and stuff. so i am a little bit more aware of where these kids live, than let’s say…than another person who grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. so that would help me with them because i’d kind of know what they are dealing with in being latina. cici overlaps the domains of ethnicity and class status as she speaks to her ability to connect with latin@ families. perhaps teachers who grow up in middle-class neighborhoods cannot easily relate to the working-class conditions cici and other latin@s experience day-to-day. one way in which i observed cici trying to be a “good” teacher included caring for the overall well-being of children. she identified with their personal and family struggles. the following entry details an emotional moment where i observed cici connecting personally with a child in a pre-k classroom: cici walks towards a little girl, carla, and asks, “¿no tienes frio, carla?” (“carla, aren’t you cold?”) carla responds, “no, maestra.” (“no, teacher.”) “ok,” cici does not probe further. i look at carla and notice that one of her pant legs appears torn. it’s rolled completely above her thigh. cici notices me looking at carla and approaches. standing very close to me she whispers, “she comes from a family of 13.” “wow,” i respond and ask, “is she the youngest?” “i don’t know,” replies cici, “but it’s a tough environment. sometimes she even comes dirty to school.” cici’s eyes tear up. … “ay, i’m going to cry.” looking away she dabs her eyes. … “i wonder if she even knows,” cici whispers. “maybe, hopefully she’s too young to know what happens at her home,” she adds. i try to comfort cici placing my arm on her shoulder. “who knows, when i was 4 years old, i don’t think i knew,” i add, “but by the time i was 5, i think i knew that my dad was mean to conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 17 my mom. so school was like an escape. i loved school! so you just have to have your classroom be like a haven for her, you know?” cici nods in agreement. (field notes february 2007) as a result of the painful experiences she suffered at home, cici stated that she did not strongly identify with her mexican background. however, the children in her classroom were all latin@, predominantly mexicanheritage, and she did very much relate to them. cici and the children shared threads along class status, ethnicity, personal challenges and language. cici could not embrace nor feel legitimized by what she experienced as hispanic culture. no formal academic space was provided in her teacher education program for her to express shifting and often contradictory subjectivities. she was not provided chicana/latina feminist insights, which holling (2006) identifies as helping chicana/latina students work “through the tensions and frustrations they experience” (p. 85). mestiza notions of learning and teaching since the participants played escuelita (school) with family members, friends, and neighbors, in reality their journeys to pursuing bilingual education began in the home. their teacher preparation began as they helped others with homework, served as role models, took on part-time jobs, and helped their families negotiate the outside world. as they left to attend college they strengthened their sobrevivencia and further developed their conciencia con compromiso or sense of wanting to do with and for others. their stories reflect the intricacies, adjustments, and disorientations of living at the crossroads of cultures as experienced by many chicana/latinas in the united states gonzález (2001) notes this complexity in her own study writing, “i recognize their diverse and often conflicting ways of giving meaning to the world” (p. 14). the aspirantes lived complicated lives. i argue that their complexities and contradictions are at the core of their development of conciencia con compromiso. although the aspirantes were not presented with critical opportunities to discuss, understand, and complicate their cultural backgrounds in college they did become more aware of their differences from the mainstream along the lines of race, ethnicity, language, and nationality. they questioned aspects of their cultural background and upbringing. as they were exposed to various ethnic labels such as chicana, latina, mexican, mexican american, american, hispanic, the aspirantes expressed uncertainty in their attempts to reconcile their multiple identities. valentina initially identified as hispanic and then via her college experience self-identified as mexican-american. through her college experiences jessica also developed more pride in her cultural affiliations with her roots. given her difficult upbringing cici only identified as american. not all aspirantes identified positively with their cultural background, but learning more about their heritage by associating with peer groups in college (e.g., teacher candidate cohort, college friends) that were deeply-rooted in their ethnic and linguistic backgrounds helped them more strongly identify with positive aspects of their culture. learning to embrace their diversity and difference presented them with new and empowering perspectives. they shared their emotional educational experiences with family, community, and schools. they spoke of the role culture, language, and family played in the development of their sense of self. the participants mentioned the role family networks had on informing their development as aspirantes. they learned to draw strength from their families while at the same time revolting against harmful family, home, and community belief systems. to draw strength from and sobrevivir the mixed cultural blessings inherited from their families, the aspirantes struggled to envision different realities for themselves. on their path of sobrevivencia, the aspirantes enacted an individual responsibility for bringing about change. most had obligations to their families even after leaving home to attend college. they were aware of their unspoken role as surrogate parent to younger siblings and relatives, so they worked diligently to serve as positive role models. establishing support networks in college along shared cultural domains (e.g., language, ethnicity, gender, religion) assisted the aspirantes on their tensely lived paths of sobrevivencia. on these admirable journeys they demonstrated sensibilities of cariño, coraje, amor, and esperanza as they expanded their conocimiento. notions of sobrevivencia, amor, and esperanza as influenced by culture are closely linked to the sense of self of the aspirantes. in essence, their life struggles informed their pursuit of bilingual education and the education of latin@ students. their authentic and vivid narratives draw attention to lived tensions that develop uneasy, even anxious feelings, build stress, provide motivation, and afford reprieve as they reveal a development of conciencia con compromiso. conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 18 conclusion the cultural backgrounds of the aspirantes influence their sense of self and inform their perspectives on teaching latin@ bilingual learners. through their shared critique of patriarchy, recognition of the hegemony of english, and commitment to serving as a positive role model for others, the aspirantes illustrate a sense of their mestiza consciousness. so that although some of the aspirantes were raised in home environments where patriarchy served as an oppressive mechanism, they resisted this system of oppression by negotiating their relationships with their fathers into a source of motivation. delgado bernal (2001) notes that the pedagogies chicanas learn at home serve as tools of resistance and resilience, which help them navigate their educational obstacles and university experiences. these characteristics, although not always positive, serve as cultural resources for latinas in their successful maneuvering between issues of race, capitalism, sexism, and patriarchy. cultural sensibilities, which include resistance, resolve, and sobrevivencia become necessary when working in constraining times in u.s. public schools. different from other teachers of color, they recalled their individual experiences as bilingual children and children of immigration and identified such experiences as contributing to their desire to teach latin@ bilingual learners. the politically urgent stories of these aspirantes make a call for changes in teacher education and professional development so their compromiso to teach latin@ students is not jeopardized. the nuances of shared cultural practices in the classroom informed the sense of esperanza for the aspirantes of what is still possible for bilingual learners in today’s u.s. public schools. one of the most potentially destructive dangers of being raised in schools and trained in teacher education programs designed for both mainstream youth and teacher candidates is that aspirantes may still speak and act in ways that unintentionally perpetuate deficit approaches to teaching latin@ students. ongoing reflection, dialogue and action become necessary to help aspirantes situate themselves in their conciencia con compromiso. although their stories were not fully explored by their teacher education program, they are full of emotions, human affections, weaknesses, anxieties, and transcendences and can confirm the social and cultural experiences of latin@ bilingual learners. what we do with what we know of the cultural wealth of aspirantes will impact their sense of self and the educational access and success of generations of latin@ bilingual learners to come. conceincia con compromiso association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 19 references anzaldúa, g. (1999). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. (2nd ed.). san francisco: aunt lute books. (original work published 1987). delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623-639. delgado bernal, d. (2006). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. a. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 113-132). albany: suny press. dubetz, n. e., & de jong, e. j. (2011). teacher advocacy in bilingual programs. bilingual research journal, 34(3), 248-262. flores, b. (2001). bilingual education teachers’ beliefs and their relation to self-reported practices. bilingual research journal, 25(3), 277-299. flores, b. b., sheets, r. h., & clark, e. r. (2011). teacher preparation for bilingual student populations: educar para transformar. new york: routledge. gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice. new york: teachers college press. gonzález, n. (2001). i am my language: discourses of women and children in the borderlands. tucson: the university of arizona press. guerrero, m. d. (2003). acquiring and participating in the use of academic spanish: four novice latina bilingual education teachers’ stories. journal of latinos and education, 2(3), 159-181. holling, m. a. (2006). the critical consciousness of chicana and latina students: negotiating identity amid socio-cultural beliefs and ideology. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. a. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 8194). albany: suny press. mora, p. (1997). nepantla: essays from the land in the middle. in a. m. garcía (ed.), chicana feminist thought: the basic historical writings (pp. 292-294). new york: routledge. moraga, c. (1983). theory in the flesh. in c. moraga, & g. anzaldúa (eds.), this bridge called my back: writing by radical women of color (2nd ed.) (p. 23). new york: kitchen table, women of color press. nietogomez, a. (2003). response: chicana print culture and chicana studies: a testimony to the development of chicana feminist culture. in g. f. arredondo, a. hurtado, n. klahn, o. nájera-ramírez, & p. zavella (eds.), chicana feminisms: a critical reader (pp. 90-96). durham: duke university press. perez, e. (1994). the decolonial imaginary: writing chicanas into history. bloomington, in: indiana university press. prieto, l. (2009). conciencia con compromiso: maestra perspectives on teaching in bilingual education classrooms. unpublished dissertation. university of texas, austin. prieto, l. (2013). maestras constructing consciousness through agency within bilingual education. journal of latino/latin american studies, 5(3), 167-180. quiocho, a., & rios, f. (2000). the power of their presence: minority group teachers and schooling. review of educational research, 70(4), 485-528. sangster, j. (2005). telling our stories: feminist debates and the use of oral history. in r. perks & a. thomson (eds.), the oral history reader (pp. 8-100), new york: routledge. sleeter, c. e. (2001). preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools: research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. journal of teacher education, 52(2), 94-106. villegas, a. m., & lucas, t. (2002). preparing culturally responsive teachers: rethinking the curriculum. journal of teacher education, 53(1), 20-32. villenas, s. a., godinez, f. e., delgado bernal, d., & elenes, c. a. (eds.). (2006). introduction to chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 1-9). albany: suny press. zentella, a. c. (1997). growing up bilingual: puerto rican children in new york. malden, ma: blackwell publishers. conceincia con compromiso special_issues_2014-print-final 10 special_issues_2014-print-final 11 special_issues_2014-print-final 12 special_issues_2014-print-final 13 special_issues_2014-print-final 14 special_issues_2014-print-final 15 special_issues_2014-print-final 16 special_issues_2014-print-final 17 special_issues_2014-print-final 18 special_issues_2014-print-final 19 pg7 pg8 pg9 pg10 pg11 pg12 pg13 pg14 open_issues-12.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 30 “the road to freedom”: how one salvadoran youth takes an agentive stance to narrate the self across time and space theresa ann mcginnis andrea garcia hofstra university abstract in this article, we use narrative theory to analyze and discuss how one salvadoran youth, thomas, constructed three different yet overlapping narratives, including a digital story, on his family’s movement across borders. we describe how each telling of his narratives is situated in time and space, where thomas reveals his understandings of current social, political and hegemonic forces. further, we demonstrate how thomas is taking an agentive stance countering u.s. national anti-immigrant narratives that position latino immigrants unfavorably. we suggest that narratives and digital technology offer latino youth a vehicle to become theorists of, and change agents of their own and of others’ worldviews. introduction it was ten to two in the morning and i just couldn’t drag myself anymore. cuts and scrapes embodied my tattered torso, arms and legs. the lack of food and water had taken a serious toll on me. i couldn’t climb another barbed wire fence. helicopters desperately searched for any remnant of us... (thomas18) so writes thomas in his journal as preparation for the making of his digital story entitled, “the road to freedom.” thomas, a salvadoran and bilingual spanish/english youth, created his digital story, “the road to freedom,” as part of the young men’s writing project established in 2009 by the authors of this article. this after-school writing workshop focuses on supporting culturally and linguistically diverse young men, who attend middle schools in a new york suburban community, in writing practices and in the use of new digital technologies for multimodal composition. thomas’ narrative of migration, described in closer detail in this article, evokes a situated interplay among his family’s experiences, history and culture, and the larger salvadoran american community. thomas, like other immigrant youth or children of immigrants, whose histories and experiences involve migration, tells narratives that reveal transnational stories. these transnational biographies or testimonial narratives (testimonios) can be entangled with political discourse. more specifi cally, latino youth, both from documented and undocumented families, are often positioned unfavorably by u. s. local and national politics. these national anti-immigration sentiments, which position latino youth and their families, as “outsiders’ to the dominant national identity, cannot be separated from the identity construction or narratives of latino youth (mcginnis, goodstein-stolzenberg, & costa-saliani, 2007). thus, in this article we discuss how narratives allow thomas a space to defi ne himself and his family, and also to make visible the sociopolitical structures that surround him. more specifi cally, in this article we describe how thomas constructed three different yet overlapping narratives on his family’s movement across borders. thomas’ main narrative, the digital story “the road to freedom,” is a fi rst person account of an immigrant’s border crossing. we view his digital story as a symbolic resource, and share an analysis of how thomas constructs two more narratives around his digital story to describe its context and purpose. drawing upon narrative theory (georgakopoulou, 2006; ochs & capps, 1996; wortham, 2000; 2001), we reveal how each telling of his narratives is situated in time and space, where thomas 18 pseudonym has been used for the participant to ensure anonymity. “the road to freedom”: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 31 considers his particular audience with critical understanding of his positioning in the world. further, we discuss how these narratives surrounding his family’s movement across borders become a civic dialogue; they demonstrate an agentive stance on thomas’ part, because each are situated in local and global contexts revealing his understandings of current social, political, and hegemonic forces. in addition, we raise new pedagogical possibilities and questions about latino youth as producers of digital texts in the context of their multilayered and multimodal world, where they often encounter complicated and contradictory experiences in today’s transnational processes. narratives as socially situated activity and identity work we situate this research within the theoretical framework of the new literacy studies (nls). work within the new literacy studies examines the ways literacy and discourse practices, like narratives, are situated in social, cultural, and political contexts, and the ways these practices and contexts play a role in identity construction (moje & luke, 2009; street, 2003). more recently, nls scholars have recognized the intersection of local and global contexts and the effects of that intersection on literacy practices (street, 2003). therefore, we consider how thomas’ narratives, including his digital story, produced within a local setting of an out-ofschool-time program are connected to larger sociopolitical infl uences and to transnational processes. with a view of narratives as socially situated practice mediated by context, audience, purpose and power, our study is informed by research in the fi eld of sociolinguistics (georgakopoulou, 2006; hymes, 1996), linguistics and anthropology (ochs & capps, 1996; wortham, 2000), and latina/o critical race theory/testimonios (guitiérrez, 2008; huber, 2009). in addition, we consider the role of digital storytelling as a multimedia hybrid narrative form, which blends narrative with multimodal composing. many researchers have discussed both the narrative power of digital storytelling (davis, 2009; hull & nelson, 2005) and the power of the multimodal compositions of digital storytelling (hull & nelson, 2005; vasudevan, schultz, & bateman, 2010). hence, we also draw on the research in these areas to frame our discussion of thomas’s digital text. generally, narratives are viewed as stories where experience is shared and the experience itself is “storied” (mishler, 1986), or as “small stories” occurring in ordinary conversational contexts (georgakopoulou, 2007). wortham (2000) conceptualized the self as narrated through mediated interactions with others, while georgakopoulou (2007) suggests that narrative mediates between self and world so that narratives can be a way of making sense of one’s world. both wortham (2000) and georgakopoulou (2007) argue therefore, that narratives can link the micro with the macro, or connect local experience with global events. in addition, anh (2011) explains that youth “weave life experiences into coherent stories, or narratives, in ways that reconstruct images of themselves and the groups or communities with which they affi liate” (p. 416). thus, narratives can be considered a way for how one constructs, deconstructs and reconstructs one’s identity in relation to others and within social relations how one narrates the self across time and space (anh, 2011; hall, 1997). transnational social spaces and experiences shape the narratives and identities of immigrant latino youth (sánchez, 2007). as transnational biographies that span time frames and geographical space, thomas’ narratives are inextricably related to wider social and cultural formations (giroux, 1997), and to the salvadoran community with which he affi liates (anh, 2011). therefore, we specifi cally examine how thomas’ narratives are socially constructed through the ways he, as a salvadoran youth, is situated and positioned in relation to others, and how his narratives are in dialogue with, and sometimes in struggle against wider, longer term social and political forces. digital storytelling as political commentary digital storytelling is considered to be the modern art of oral narrative telling through which people make sense of their world, construct a sense-of-self, and/or narrate the self (davis, 2009; hull & katz, 2006). the affordances of digital storytelling have been noted to include the youth’s ability to develop an “authorial stance” or the “practice of taking on literate identities and claiming a presence as an author and narrator of one’s own experiences” (vasudevan et al., 2010, p. 461). hull and katz (2006) extend this idea in their discussion of the “the road to freedom”: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 32 potential for authorial agency, or the ways their case study participants “borrowed and repurposed texts, images, photographs, and music in their multimodal compositions” (p. 52). that is, they found that their participants took an agentive stance toward themselves and their social worlds through their multimodal compositions, which did not simply refl ect social life, but also commented critically on that life. the narrative power of digital storytelling is therefore seen in its ability to afford youth a space to mediate their experiences of the world, or to shape their interpretations of life in relation to broader sociopolitical contexts (davis, 2009; hull & nelson, 2005). thus, there can be a political aspect to digital storytelling where the producer can position himself in order to shape and tell his story (davis, 2009). it is this relational nature of digital storytelling, the interpretation thomas makes on the salvadoran transnational story in relation to the broader sociopolitical issues of u.s. immigration, we consider in this paper. we view digital storytelling as a literate practice that plays a role in thomas’s identifi cations and positioning as a means for enacting a self in relation to others (hull & katz, 2006). more specifi cally, we explore how thomas uses the art of digital storytelling to counter offi cial narratives about latino immigrants and their families, and analyze thomas’s narratives within a framework that recognizes the relationship between textual production and its wider sociopolitical context. the salvadoran community the civil war of 1979-1992 in el salvador produced massive migration of the salvadoran people, who were fl eeing for political and economic reasons (baker-cristales, 2004; coutin, 2003). many of the salvadorans who left el salvador did so without the necessary immigration status to enter the united states legally. these salvadoran migrants hired smugglers or coyotes to help them move through guatemala, mexico, and into the united states (coutin, 2003). the nature of these transnational movements was not easy, and the effects contributed to the personhood of the salvadorans. once settled in the united states, many salvadorans made the effort to obtain refugee status. in the 1980’s, humanitarian movement within the receiving states supported these efforts of the salvadorans to be viewed as asylum seekers who were fl eeing from persecution and violence (menjívar, 2000). during the 1990’s, however, there was a turn in the context of reception, and u.s. immigration laws made it more diffi cult for salvadorans to seek refugee status. immigration law played, and continues to play, a powerful role in the identities and challenges for many salvadorans living in the united states (coutin, 2003). within many salvadoran families, like thomas’ family, members have differing immigration status, which often carry crucial invisible characteristics that shape their everyday experiences (yoshikawa, 2011). in addition, the differences in family legal status remain as “hidden stories” (yoshikawa, 2011), and can result in confl ict and turmoil within families due to both social and legal factors. baker-cristales (2004) indicates that salvadorans continue to migrate to the united states. with a steady fl ow of immigration to the northeast, data from the 2005-2009 u.s. census bureau american community survey indicate that salvadorans constitute the largest foreign-born population in the new york suburban community where our work is located, and where thomas and his family live (winslow, 2010). within this suburb, a salvadoran community has been developed creating a new designation of space with many salvadoran small businesses lining the main street of the town. life in the suburbs has not been easy, however. the salvadorans have experienced issues of poverty, discrimination, segregation, and anti-immigrant sentiments (garland, 2009). in addition, the schools in this suburban community, are labeled as “high needs,” and the experiences of the students in school and their educational outcomes mimic those of their low performing urban counterparts (ascher & branch-smith, 2005). because this salvadoran community and its youth are an under researched population, educators often have access to information that is inaccurate or inadequate at best. what has been written about the community focuses on youth gang involvement (garland, 2009), or on the nature of undocumented families living in crowded conditions (berger, 2008). we believe, therefore, our research is a small contribution that offers an alternative view of the lived experiences of one salvadoran youth and his family, who shares his understandings of complex sociopolitical and global infl uences on his life in this suburban community of new york. “the road to freedom”: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 33 context and methodology thomas’ case study is part of a larger project conducted in an after-school writing workshop that met in a university-based literacy clinic in a suburb of new york city. the overarching goals for the project, co-directed by the authors of this paper, included developing a writing workshop for youth, specifi cally male middle school students. the project focused on supporting culturally and linguistically diverse youth in their development of 21st century literacies through participation in a digital storytelling workshop, where the young men would be introduced to multimodal composition. participating youth were enrolled in four local middle schools from three different school districts and were recommended to the project by their guidance counselors. participation in the writing workshop entitled, young men’s writing project, was voluntary and a total of twenty african american, caribbean american, and latino young men accepted the invitation to attend the program during the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011. in the program, they used technology and writing for self-expression, as spaces to explore identities and as a way to consider issues they faced as adolescent males of color the youth in this project lived in communities with a long history of changing demographics due to shifts in local immigration patterns, thus resulting in communities with rich cultural and linguistic diversity. thomas, the focal student in this paper, attended a middle school that reported the following demographic composition in the 2009-2010 academic year: 39% of the population identifi ed themselves as hispanic or latino and 63% as african american. other socioeconomic indicators of his community revealed that 80% of the students qualifi ed for free lunch, while 12% were eligible for reduced lunch. in terms of language, 13% of the students in his school were english language learners, identifi ed by the school as limited english profi cient students. since we view narratives as situated within the social and cultural contexts of activity in everyday practices and in relation to audiences, the ethnographic approaches of the new literacy studies were adopted. this approach allowed for an investigation of the intersection of the youth’s identities with their hybrid narrative and discourse practices across time and space. we combined several data collection methods: in-depth and ongoing interviews, observational data obtained during the project hours, and review of their textual productions. in particular, the use of ongoing interviewing provided information on the youth’s production and story choices, and provided more of an understanding of the youth’s experiences. our data analysis was informed by narrative theory (georgakopoulou, 2007; wortham, 2001), and by the concept of “design,” or how the maker of the digital story combines multimodal forms to express and convey meanings, and to enact and maintain socially situated identities (hull & nelson, 2005). “the road to freedom”: thomas’s digital story moje and luke (2009) state, “the access youth have to particular kinds of space shape the texts they consume and produce, which in turn shape the ways they choose to identify or are identifi ed” (p. 431). we believe we had created the young men’s writing project as this kind of space where the young men could “communicate critically, aesthetically, lovingly, and agentively” (hull, 2003, p. 230). therefore, when thomas, a quiet, serious 13 year-old salvadoran american male entered the young men’s writing project, he was provided choice in topic and language, and did not hesitate to write what he called an “immigrational story from el salvador.” thomas’ digital story, becomes his main narrative, and serves as an anchor narrative for the telling of the other two narratives. thomas titled his immigration story, “the road to freedom,” which is an approximately two-minute digital story. to explain his topic and his use of a fi rst person narrative for his digital story, thomas told us, “this is not my story, but my family’s story.” we consider this a “small story” occurring within the conversational context of the after-school program (georgakopoulou, 2007). through this “small story,” thomas positioned himself as knowledgeable of his family’s history, of the use of fi rst person as a narrative tool for his digital story, and of the fact that we were a respectful audience to whom he could make such a “hidden story” public. thus his narrative of how he came to write his digital story begins to show his critical understandings of larger sociopolitical infl uences on transnational biographies, and reveals his agentive stance as the teller of the story. “the road to freedom”: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 34 thomas narrates his digital story, the road to freedom, from a fi rst person account, authoring himself into the narrative, or aligning himself with the immigrant story. thomas has an artful command of the english language, using expressive language that depicts the feeling, or event he wants to convey. the images are downloaded from google-images and are mostly literal representations of his words, however through the juxtaposition of the images with his authorial stance, thomas has orchestrated a personal history of the immigrant experience of border crossing. his complex linking of narrative, imagery, transitions, and music evokes emotion in the viewer similar to a documentary portrayal of a transnational crossing. through his digital story, thomas aesthetically constructs a rendering of the transnational processes that are part of his identity as a salvadoran american youth. the road to freedom (thomas’ formatting of his story frames for his digital story.) it was ten to two in the morning and i just couldn’t drag myself anymore. cuts and scrapes embodied my tattered torso, arms and legs. i couldn’t climb another barbed wire fence. helicopters desperately searched for any remnant for us. the lack of food and water had taken a serious toll on me. dog barks could be heard in the distance. they had picked up our scent. in a frantic moment, i stumbled upon a dead branch and fell, scraping my hands and face. i knew it was over and as footsteps rapidly approached the dream of a better life faded with the moonlight. in a futile attempt to avoid being discovered i rolled into a small shrub unfortunately possessing thorns. luckily the search man took a different route then the one i had previously taken. it was pitch black and i couldn’t see my bleeding hand in front of my face. as i arose from the prickled bush, i found myself with a strange object. and much to my surprise grass under my feet instead of sand. my eyes had been sore from so many days of force vision through painful sand storms. and violent winds i tried to make out the words on the strange object. i approached it and it said, “welcome to arizona.” incredulous, i couldn’t believe i had made it. thomas carefully crafts every detail of his story of the salvadoran experience of border crossing. he begins with the light of the moon as his title page; “the road to freedom” plays on the screen. his descriptions and images of crossing the desert and the heat clearly depict one’s movement through, while not named, mexico. his penultimate image, a sign stating “welcome to arizona!” does name his entry point into the u.s. and, his last frame of “incredulous i had made it” brings the story full circle as the shadow of a fi gure jumps into the air with the sun rising behind him. thomas’s knowledge of multimodal composition is revealed through his complementary use of image with each line of his text. he engages in critical analysis and selection of images that would not only communicate his message, but would extend the meaning of his words to evoke emotions. thomas invites the viewer into a multisensory experience, where the dust of the desert and the pain from the thorns pushed against his skin become vivid images of someone’s lived-through-experience. this ability to narrate himself into the story adds to the power of his multimodal expression. it is therefore, not only through the appropriation of images and music through which thomas refl ects on the immigrant’s story, but also through his appropriation of the immigrant narrative (jenkins, purushotma, clinton, weigel, & robinson, 2006). this appropriation, a “process that involves both analysis and commentary” (jenkins et al., 2006, p. 33), signifi es thomas’s authorial agency (hull & katz, 2006), his self-identifi cation with the salvadoran immigrant’s experience, and his self-positioning within the larger latino immigrant struggle. presentation to families and community members “the road to freedom”: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 35 it has been noted that once a digital story is complete, “its ‘telling’ does not require the participation of the storyteller: it stands as a work of art, a representation apart form the teller, an ‘object’ for refl ection and critique” (davis, 2009, p. 3). while we accept this as true, and assert that thomas’s digital story can stand alone as an artful representation of an immigrant narrative, thomas’s presentation of his digital story to an audience composed of the youth’s families and of community members was critical to the positioning of his digital story, of his message, and of himself. at the presentation in which we celebrated the digital productions of the project’s participants, each youth gave a brief introduction to his story. prior to the showing of his story the road to freedom, thomas stood up and explained to the audience, “i made this story as a way to share the immigrant’s story and as a way to honor the immigrant’s story” (fi eldnotes, july 2009). through this third narrative in action, thomas decenters himself and his family from the story of border crossing. as a “testimonio,” he tells the events as he sees signifi cant and as “an expression of a collective experience, rather than the individual” (huber, 2009, p. 644). we were struck by how in this context, thomas is conscious of his self-positioning within the sociopolitical climate, and enacts a self of authority, a political commentator on the issue of immigration. within this space, his digital story becomes a shared narrative of perseverance, strength, and survival as the immigrant searches for freedom. he positions the audience as viewers to the experiences and struggles of the immigrant as a story to be proud of, countering the national narratives that position latino immigrants unfavorably, and more specifi cally, that position undocumented latinos as lawbreakers and fugitives (rodriguez, 2010). we view this act as an agentive social critique on the way latino immigrants are positioned by current national politics. thomas was able to defi ne and redefi ne his positioning within the salvadoran immigrant story, enacting two different stances through his narratives. his dual stances involved one where he authored himself into the story, becoming the central character, and one where he enacted an authorial self, an expert on this immigrant experience. thus, we consider his digital story a sociopolitical narrative/testimonio (gutiérrez, 2008), and a political commentary on the salvadoran immigrant experience. conclusion in this 21st century, where youth’s social worlds are infl uenced by transnational processes, we believe that narratives can be a powerful research methodological tool and a pedagogical tool for understanding the lived experiences of latino youth and their families. as we have learned from thomas’ experience, narratives are constructed in relation to family transnational histories, to local audiences, and to broader sociopolitical issues. narratives offer a vehicle for a transformative practice where latino youth become theorists of and change agents of their own and of others’ worldviews. we also know that in the context of today’s world, youth actively transform content and recreate their realities through the use of digital tools. we believe that thomas’s digital hybrid narrative exemplifi es the nature of participatory culture, described as not only individuals consuming information but actively participating in the creation of content (jenkins et al., 2006). in this digital writing workshop, new media literacies afforded thomas the space to compose a counter-narrative about the salvadoran immigration experience, thus exercising his agentive stance. he makes use of digital tools to represent, recreate, repurpose, and to retell a transnational experience that is not his own, but related to his family’s history and to the history of the larger salvadoran community. in essence, he authors himself into the shared experiences of the salvadoran community while at the same time, counters larger anti-immigration sentiments. thomas’s stance as a multimodal composer helps to ratify the idea that latino youth living in transnational communities have access to complex sets of everyday knowledge that crosses boundaries, even if they have not themselves experienced that border-crossing. their narratives are shaped by their understanding of the larger global experience as they live in communities where the fl ow of people, knowledge, and experiences across borders, both physical and imagined, is a source of knowledge. in the case of thomas’s narrative and political commentary made through his digital story, we believe these transnational funds of knowledge (sánchez, 2007) provide him the ability to take an authorial stance that is intrinsically shaped by local, national, and global knowledge and understandings. “the road to freedom”: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 36 references ahn, j. (2011). review of children’s identity construction via narratives, creative education, 2(5), 415-417. baker-cristales, b. (2004). salvadoran transformations: class consciousness and ethnic identity in a transnational milieu. latin american perspectives, 31(5), 15-33. doi: 10.1177/0094582x04268400. berger, j. (2009, may 4). salvadorans, building their own cultural bridge. new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/04colli.html?pagewanted=all coutin, s. b. (2003). legalizing moves: salvadoran immigrants struggle for u.s. residency. ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. cuero, k. (2010). artisan with words: transnational funds of knowledge in a bilingual latina’s stories. language arts, 87(6), 427-436. davis, a. (2009). co-authoring identity: digital storytelling in an urban middle school. retrieved from http://www.thenjournal.org/feture/61/ printable. garland, s. (2009). gangs in garden city: how immigration, segregation, and youth violence are changing america’s suburbs. new york city: nation books. georgakopoulou, a. (2006). thinking big with small stories in narrative and identity analysis, narrative inquiry, 16(1), 122-130. giroux, h. (1997). pedagogy and the politics of hope. new york city: basic books. gutiérrez, k. d. (2008). developing a sociocritical literacy in the third space, reading research quarterly, 43(2), 148-164. hall, s., (1997). old and new identities, old and new ethnicities. in a. king (ed.), culture, globalization and the world system: contemporary conditions for the representation of identity (pp. 41-69). minneapolis: university of minnesota press. huber, l. p. (2009). disrupting apartheid of knowledge: testimonio as methodology in latina/o critical race research in education, international journal of qualitative studies in education, 22(6), 639-654. hull, g. (2003). youth cultures and digital media: new literacies for new times. research in the teaching of english, 229-233. hull, g., & katz, l. (2006). crafting an agentive self. research in the teaching of english, 41, 44-81. hull, g., & nelson, e. (2005). locating the semiotic power of multimodality. written communication, 22(3), 224-259. hymes, d. (1996). ethnography, linguistics, narrative inequality: toward an understanding of voice. london: taylor and francis. jenkins, h., purushotma, r., clinton, k., weigel, m., & robinson, a. (2006). confronting the challenges of participatory culture: media education for the 21st century. retrieved from http://www.newmedialiteracies. org/fi les/working/nmlwhitepaper.pdf. mcginnis, t., goodstein-stolzenberg, a., & costa-saliani, e. (2007). “indnpride”: online spaces of transnational youth as sites of creative and sophisticated literacy and identity work. linguistics and education, 18, 283-304. menjívar, c. (2000). fragmented ties: salvadoran immigrant networks in america. berkeley: university of california press. mishler, e. g. (1986). research interviewing. context and narrative. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. moje, e., & luke, a. (2009). literacy and identity: examining the metaphors in history and contemporary research. reading research quarterly, 44(4), 415-437. ochs, e., & capps, l. (1996). narrating the self, annual review of anthropology research, 25, 19-43. rodriguez, j. (2010). viviendo en las sombras: examining the educational experiences of undocumented immigrant latino students in a public secondary school setting. phd dissertation, california state university long beach. sánchez, p. (2007). cultural authenticity and transnational latina youth: constructing a meta-narrative across borders. linguistics and education, 18, 258–282. street, b. (2003). what’s “new” in new literacy studies? critical approaches to literacy in theory and practice. current issues in comparative education, 5(2), 77-91. vasudevan, l., schultz, k., & bateman, j. (2010) rethinking composing in a digital age: authoring literate identities through multimodal storytelling. written communication, 27(4), 442–468. doi: 10.1177/0741088310378217 winslow, o. (2010, december 19). coming home: four immigrant stories. newsday. retrieved from: www.longislandwins.com/index.php/blog/tag/ newsday/p36/ wortham, s. (2000). interactional positioning and narrative self-construction. narrative inquiry, 10, 157-184. wortham, s. (2001). narratives in action: a strategy for research and analysis. new york city: teacher’s college press. yoshikawa, h. (2011). immigrants raising citizens: undocumented parents and their young children. new york city: russel sage foundation. “the road to freedom”: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 251 hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators1 on improving latina/latino/latinx/hispanic2 teacher pipelines: critical junctures along career pathways caroline s. turner, pedro x. cosmé, laura dinehart, raquel martí, david mcdonald, martin ramirez, lester sandres rápalo, and juana zamora3 abstract this article emerges from the collaborative work of hispanic-serving institution (hsi) scholars and administrators. from their perspectives as acting hsi leaders, the authors examine research/programs/practices [relevant to their institutions] pertaining to attracting, preparing, employing, and retaining latina/o/x/hispanic teachers. research and programs noted here identify challenges, facilitators, and recommendations for improving latina/o/x/hispanic 1 the u.s. department of education’s office of the under secretary, the hispanic serving institution division, and the white house initiative on educational excellence for hispanics hosted a 2016 convenings of education deans from hispanic-serving institutions across the country to brainstorm ideas for getting more latinos into the teaching profession. addressing this topic, a committee of hsi administrators authored “white paper: improving diverse and inclusive teacher pipelines with a focus on latinas/latinos/hispanics” (turner et al., 2017). we appreciated the opportunity to work with one another and support efforts to promote future such convening. this article emerges from that work and presents co-author perspectives only. 2 this article uses the terms latina/latino/latinx/hispanic. latina/o encompasses both female and male individuals; latinx is a gender inclusive term. writing in 1991, nieves-squires (1991) used the designator “hispanic” to refer to people of cuban, mexican, mexican american, puerto rican, south or central american, or other spanish ancestry or descent. hispanic is also the term used in several datasets referred to in this article. terminology used by researchers is not changed. niemann (2002) notes that “like the term hispanic, the label latina/o is inclusive of all persons of spanish-speaking descent” (p. xii). gonzález and gándara (2005) write that many call themselves latinas to “acknowledge their non-european heritage while affirming their dignity and expressing confidence in their growing political importance” (p. 398). niemann (2002) reminds us, however, that “a label does not define a woman or her ideology and that labels are fluid and, for many women, interchangeable” (p. xii). 3 co-author names and affiliations: caroline s. turner, professor & former interim dean, college of education, california state university, sacramento pedro x. cosmé, associate professor of psychology-sociology, union county college, member of mensa elizabeth campus, elizabeth, nj laura dinehart, executive director school of education and human development, professor college of arts, sciences & education, florida international university, miami, fl raquel martí, director, title v cooperative project, office of development, upr-carolina david mcdonald, associate vice president for public affairs and strategic initiatives, western oregon university, monmouth or martin ramirez, hsi-stem, sesi project director, sacramento city college & former assistant principal, rosa parks k-8 school, sacramento city unified school district, sacramento, ca lester sandres rápalo, dean of social sciences, business & history, interim dean of american honors, union county college, cranford, nj juana zamora, director, california mini-corps, butte county office of education, sacramento, ca doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.369 turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 252 educational outcomes and for increasing the number of latina/o/x/hispanic teachers. increasing the number of latina/o/x/hispanic teachers involves processes that are circular and iterative; encompassing their educational pathways from early schooling experiences to the more advanced stage of the teaching workplace. introduction while the representation of latina/o/x/hispanic teachers has increased in recent years to nearly 8% of the teacher workforce, this growth has not kept pace with corresponding student demographic shifts. currently, 82% of public school teachers identify as white, and primarily are women. meanwhile, approximately 25% of students in u.s. public schools identified as hispanic (national center for education statistics, u.s. department of education schools and staffing survey (sass), 2011-2012; u.s. department of education, 2016, p. 1). in 2011, 23.9% of pre-k–12 students in u.s. public schools were latina/o/x/hispanic (fry & lopez, 2012). to further sound the alarm, retention rates are lower among latina/o/x/hispanic teachers compared with retention rates for white teachers (u.s. department of education, 2016, p. 4). educational leadership, i.e., k-12 principals and superintendents, is also predominantly white. in 2011-12, 20% of public school principals were people of color (u.s. department of education, 2016). furthermore, according to sleeter (2016), the lack of faculty diversity in teacher preparation programs creates contexts that permit trends to continue with little, if any, change on the horizon. hsis with teacher preparation programs can play an integral role in improving this situation. núñez et al. (2015) note that hsis graduate 40% of latina/latino baccalaureates in the u.s. and, despite challenges they face, these institutions “have great potential to ultimately reduce the gaps in u.s. educational and economic inequality” (p. 5). despite this, the majority of extant research focuses on the educational pathways of minoritized teachers generally rather than specifically on latinas/os/xs/hispanics within hsis. much more research must to be done to examine hsis and their teacher preparation programs. findings from the literature presented here have implications for the latina/o/x/hispanic teaching career pathway. ocasio (2014) and gándara et al. (2013) note that latinas/os/xs/hispanics progress through critical junctures in the teacher pipeline: pre-school experiences, high school graduation, college access and persistence, attaining a teaching https://sites.ed.gov/hispanic-initiative/files/2015/04/final_hispanic-teacher-recruitment-factsheet_04272015.pdf hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 253 credential, and securing a job as a classroom teacher. this article presents aspects of the nation’s teaching workforce throughout the k-12 system focusing on the research and practice literature related to attracting, preparing, employing and retaining latina/o/x/hispanic teachers. many of the example programs and practices referenced in this article were provided by the co-authors who are working as scholars and administrators within hsis. increasing latina/o/x/hispanic teachers involves processes that are circular and iterative, and they encompass early schooling experiences and those in the teaching workplace. highlighted are facilitating factors, challenges, and recommendations to diversify the teaching workforce. this article addresses the following topics: 1) the importance of representation in the classroom; 2) attracting latinas/os/xs/hispanics to the teaching profession; 3) critical junctures along the latina/o/x/hispanic teacher pipeline, including preparation, attaining a position, and persistence; and 4) recommendations to address critical issues of latina/o/x/hispanic teacher representation. the importance of representation in the classroom irizarry and donaldson (2012) underscore that while there are non-hispanic teachers who effectively teach hispanic youth, studies provide evidence that suggest 1) academic, psychological, and social benefits are cultivated when students of color are taught by teachers of color; 2) teachers of color are more likely to value the knowledge and cultural frames of reference students ‘‘bring to school’’; 3) teachers of color tend to hold higher expectations for minoritized students; 4) teachers’ perceptions influence student aspirations and likely achievement; and 5) teachers of color typically enter the profession with a heightened awareness of the sociopolitical contexts in which students of color are educated (p. 156). for latina/o/x/hispanic student success, students need teachers peppered throughout their educational experience who know and value their community’s inherent assets, who understand and can communicate with parents, and who serve as role models. other research suggests the racial diversity of teachers can provide significant benefits to students. cherng and halpin (2016) conclude that “students, particularly minority students, perceive minority teachers more favorably than white teachers” (p. 407). these perceptions motivate youth to strive for academic excellence (p. 408). their article also presents previous studies indicating that “race matching between teachers and students is also linked to other turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 254 academic and social outcomes, such as…lower rates of student absenteeism and suspension” (cherng & halpin, 2016, p. 408). “minority teachers are said to be able to relate more easily with minority youth…by drawing from their own experiences navigating society as nondominant persons” (cherng & halpin, 2016, p. 412). cherng and halprin (2016) state the importance of having a diverse teaching force to help “close longstanding racial achievement gaps,” “to form strong ties with students,” and “to empower youth of all racial/ethnic identities” (p. 417). in their extensive review of the literature, villegas and irvine (2010) provide empirical studies supporting the assertion that “students of color accrue academic benefits when taught by a same-race teacher or when exposed to a teaching force…that is racially/ethnically representative of the student population” (p. 180). they further assert that “teachers of color use their insider knowledge about language, culture, and life experiences of students of color to improve their academic outcomes and school experiences” (villegas & irvne, 2010, p. 185). on the other hand, villegas, strom, and lucas (2012) warn their readers that a focus on increasing the presence of minority teachers must not “place the full responsibility for successfully educating students of color on teachers of color. efforts to diversify the teaching force should be seen as only one component…in a broad and comprehensive policy designed to ensure that children who historically have been marginalized in schools receive the high quality of education they deserve” (p. 298). all involved in education must take on this responsibility. the authors of this article discussed what might attract latinas/os/xs/hispanics to consider the teaching profession. in the process, they also shared what attracted them to become teachers and educators. attracting latinas/latinos/latinxs/hispanics to the teaching profession teachers as change agents weisman and hansen (2008) found that many latina/o/x/hispanic teachers feel that they are change agents within their community. they often choose to teach in largely latinodominated schools and are able to relate to students and families in ways that non-latino teachers cannot. this connection to students and families, as well as a desire to serve as role models, are important narratives within their roles as classroom teachers (ocascio, 2014, p. hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 255 143). according to fullan (1993), teaching at its core is a moral profession. teachers play key roles in realizing successful changes in education. at the university of toronto (fullan, 1993), an examination of why people enter the teaching profession reported that the most frequent answer was “to make a difference in the lives of students.” opportunities to do the following were found to promote an interest in teaching: 1. working with all students in an equitable, effective, and caring manner by respecting diversity in relation to ethnicity, race, gender, and special needs of each learner; 2. being active learners who continuously seek, assess, apply, and communicate knowledge as reflective practitioners throughout their careers; 3. developing and applying knowledge of curriculum, instruction, principles of learning, and evaluation needed to implement and monitor effective and evolving programs for all learners; 4. initiating, valuing, and practicing collaboration and partnerships with students, colleagues, parents, community, government, social and business agencies; 5. appreciating and practicing the principles, ethics, and legal responsibilities of teaching as a profession; 6. developing a personal philosophy of teaching informed by and contributing to the organizational, community, societal, and global context of education teachers as cultural workers the teaching profession provides an opportunity for future latina/o/x/hispanic teachers to become cultural workers who can inform students about historical injustices and current challenges that may not be emphasized in their school curriculum (friere, 2005). teachers can use justice-oriented critical pedagogies to engage students and use statistical data tools to make students aware of the status for latinas/os/xs/hispanics within k-12 and higher education. this knowledge can empower youth to become responsible for their learning. teaching provides a great opportunity for future latina/o/x/hispanic educators to promote systemic transformation. for example, as tillet (2015) underscores in her work, “the attempt to bring black girlhood to the forefront of public consciousness at a time when organizing, theorizing, and imagining black girlhood are still invisible to the vast majority of policymakers, academics, and activists is my form of cultural work” (p. 482). turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 256 to be successful in the classroom and within their communities, educators aim to instill hope for change. duncan-andrade (2009) explains that this must be critical hope encompassing many characteristics including: teaching that connects students to networks, teaching that supports the development of courage, and educator willingness to self-sacrifice. it is important to underscore here that if latina/o/x/hispanic students have a positive school experience, they are more likely to consider a career in teaching. in “making education work for latinas in the u.s.,” gándara et al. (2013) provide an analysis which demonstrates that latinas are more likely to go to college if they have latino teachers. unfortunately, due to biases and stereotypes, many latina/o/x/hispanic students do not experience a positive education during their early schooling years. as a result, they are not frequently inspired to pursue higher education. for example, sáenz and ponjuan (2009) note the effect on latino boys: “the disconsonant learning styles between boys and girls in the early schooling years have other consequences that may serve to redirect boys away from traditional educational pathways” (p. 60). teachers touch eternity tom barone’s touching eternity: the enduring outcomes of teaching (2001) explores how teachers can make a long-term impact on the lives of their students. examples of how teachers can inspire and promote passions (that can touch eternity) for latina/o/x/hispanic students can be shared with potential latina/o/x/hispanic teachers. irizarry and donaldson (2012) report that many latinas/os enter teaching wanting to give back to their community, ideally in their home communities, by serving students of color and low-income students. they also express a desire to transform schools and create more positive learning environments for students like themselves (p. 183). teachers are role models several articles detail the importance of latina/o/x/hispanic teachers as role models across institutions including at the elementary, secondary, and community college levels (postsecondary). laura dinehart, one of the article co-authors, noted how important it was not only for latinos/hispanics to have latino/hispanic teachers but also for others to interact with latino/hispanic teachers. the question was posed: what can others who are not latino/hispanic learn from a latino/hispanic teacher? she stressed the need for latino/hispanic hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 257 teachers to remain in their communities and to go outside of the community as well. frankenberg (2009) contends that teachers of color “bring knowledge, insights, and perspectives to schools that otherwise would not be there, including raising issues of structural inequality present in schools and society” (p. 4). one recommendation for this representation to be realized was through exchange programs. how people can be attracted to teaching at different phases of one’s life was also discussed. for example, latinas/os/xs/hispanics in other professions or who are retired may wish to change their career paths and, if interested, could be recruited to a teacher preparation program. litow (2008) addresses the lack of latinas/os in stem as teachers and in other professions; a reality that could compromise the future of the u.s. economy. he recommends second-career latina/o teachers be recruited from the ranks of current math and science professionals, urging the collaboration of private and public sectors to develop financial incentives for tuition, in-service professional development, and competitive salaries. critical junctures along the latina/latino/latinx/hispanic teacher pipeline: preparation, attaining a position, and persistence as noted earlier, publications address how latinas/os/xs/hispanics progress through critical junctures in the teacher pipeline: high school graduation, college access and persistence, obtaining a teaching degree, and securing a job as a classroom teacher. these publications provide insight regarding the challenges and opportunities they face as they pursue teaching careers. findings suggest that the latina/o/x/hispanic teacher pipeline is unique and often nontraditional. the critical junctures along this pathway that are particularly challenging for students are explored and opportunities for growth are noted. most of these articles do not examine the hsi context and are not specific to the latina/o/x/hispanic teacher pipeline, but they are instructive and have implications for hsi teacher preparation. recruiting potential latina/latino/latinx/hispanic teacher candidates gándara et al. (2013) provide evidence that latina recruitment to the teaching profession, which could also be relevant for the recruitment of latinos, must focus on elements contributing to their success from pre-school experiences through the attainment of a teaching credential. to that end, scholars note several points in time for improving latina educational turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 258 outcomes, emphasizing the creation of a sense of belonging throughout their educational pathways. related to the identification of potential candidate pools, gándara (2016), reports that twenty-two states, including california and washington, d.c. offer the seal of biliteracy.4 in california alone, there are more than 125,000 high school graduates who have received the seal of biliteracy and they are overwhelmingly spanish speakers. gándara (2016) recommends that if a pathway to become teachers is created and incentivized for them, this may be an ideal candidate pool. gándara (2016) states that “one important distinction with latino teachers is that they are more likely to speak the language of the students and their parents, a critically important asset that many of these teachers have.” challenges to a strong teacher candidate pool include the passage of laws such as proposition 227 in california, and similar laws in arizona and massachusetts. such laws require all children to be taught in english and have prompted precipitous drops in bilingual teacher production. in 2016, california passed proposition 58, which allowed the development of multilingual programs and a pathway for the increased production of bilingual teachers (kong, 2016; ulloa, 2016). an additional challenge to increasing latina/o/x/hispanic teachers is the introduction of new exams for certification and teaching entry (ingersoll & may, 2011; mader, 2016). passing the exam and the additional time and money these exams require may present barriers for minoritized teacher candidates. additionally, diverse issues in higher education (2016) publishes lists of the top 100 producers of degrees awarded to underrepresented students. not surprisingly, most of the colleges and universities listed are hsis. for example, the 2016 hispanic heritage month issue listed the top producers of hispanics graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. the same data can also be found for hispanics graduating from business administration, engineering, and the social sciences. 4 the seal of biliteracy is an award given by a school, district, or state in recognition of students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. http://sealofbiliteracy.org/ hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 259 persistence of latina/latino/latinx/hispanic teachers in teacher preparation programs latinas/os who successfully progressed through the teacher pipeline found ways to counteract barriers with support systems and thereby cope with negative factors and challenges (ocascio, 2014, p. x). potential negative factors included: racial discrimination, financial barriers, multiple life roles (issue of time), and a lack of support and resources (ocascio, 2014, p. 144). this ability to persevere can inform those aspiring to become teachers coming up behind them. as noted above, latina/o/x/hispanic students who have positive school experiences are more likely to consider a career in teaching. upon entering teacher preparation programs, mentors and role models further inspire them to persist. latinas/os/xs/hispanics thrive in programs which include a culturally-relevant curriculum and cultural role models who can support and encourage latina/o/x/hispanic career aspirations and connect them with resources such as the funding opportunities necessary to navigate the pipeline (ocascio, 2014, p.141). offering classes and programming outside of the traditional 9 to 5 weekday timeframe is important to meet the needs of this population of educators (ocascio, 2014, p.147). one pathway, or “bridge” to teaching for latinas/os interviewed by ocascio (2014) was the “master’s degree + teacher certification” route to teaching (p. 143). further exploration and development of “grow your own” programs, alternative certification, and other models of teacher preparation within colleges and universities will offer more opportunities for latinas/os/xs/hispanics to become teachers. examples of “grow your own” programs are provided in the recommendations section of this article. persistence of latina/latino/latinx/hispanic teachers in the classroom as previously noted, most of the extant literature is focused on minoritized students/ teachers as a monolithic group. relatively few studies focus specifically on latinas/os/xs/ hispanics. ingersoll and may (2011) found that while efforts to recruit new minority teachers have been successful, retaining them has not. teacher retention rates are higher among whites than black and hispanic teachers (u.s. department of education, 2016). studies examining the persistence of minoritized teachers (ingersoll & may, 2011; mader, 2016) point to the need to improve workplace conditions. mader (2016) notes that the “number of hispanic, black, asian turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 260 and native american teachers has more than doubled…minority teachers are more likely than their non-minority colleagues to work in hard-to-staff schools, and to leave these schools or the teaching field overall” (p. 1). however, mader (2016) contends that minority teachers placed in schools serving disadvantaged students do not leave for this reason. rather, they leave due to undesirable workplace environments. according to ingersoll and may (2011), minoritized teacher turnover is strongly associated with lack of teacher classroom autonomy and few opportunities to contribute to school wide decision-making. improving teacher working conditions by providing more autonomy in the classroom, providing more supplies and resources, and giving teachers more of a say in school-wide decisions could contribute to the retention of minoritized teachers (mader, 2016). such findings underscore the importance of school organization, management, and leadership to address these issues. flores (2011) examined the workplace experiences of latina elementary school teachers in two contexts. the first was a latina dominant school (kindred) with over 70% of teachers with a latino background. the second was a predominantly white school (citrine) where over 80% of the teachers were white women. both schools serve low-income latino families. in these diverse school sites, latina teachers described vastly different experiences with their work. latina teachers in a predominantly white context encountered subtle forms of racism where they felt the need to minimize the expression of their culture and were burdened by heavier workloads. they described experiencing feelings of disadvantage and disempowerment. in the predominantly latina school, teachers described positive relationships with co-workers, freedom to express their culture through their dress and use of spanish, and through celebrations of cultural holidays. even if anti-immigrant sentiments were expressed in the school or in society, latinas described an overall environment that was supportive and cohesive in the predominantly latina school (flores, 2011, p. 331). in these examples, it seems that informed and supportive leadership could shape environments to be more inclusive and welcoming. doing so would contribute to the creation of a sense of belonging for latina teachers (gándara et al., 2013). flores’ (2011) work focused on latina teachers in elementary schools. recent work is emerging on recruiting black and hispanic/latino men to the teaching profession (networked improvement community (nic) sponsored by aacte, 2015) and examines the experiences of latinos once they attain a teaching position (lara & franquiz, 2015). lara and franquiz (2015) hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 261 note that latino and black men teachers are approximately two percent of the total teaching population. they also state that in a highly feminized profession, latino men may be viewed with suspicion and/or be used to curb student misconduct. their study concludes that latino men must be positioned as belonging in classrooms. in their unpublished paper, sandres-rápalo and cosmé echo the experience of latino men and point to the importance of mentorship and addressing implicit biases described as “often subconscious stereotypes that guide our expectations and interactions with people” (turner, 2016) along the educational pathway for all minorities (see also egalite, kisida, & winters, 2015; grissom & redding, 2016). sandres-rápalo and cosmé also emphasize the diversity within the hispanic population, which is important when considering policy. they report that the hispanic population, as categorized in the u.s. census, is comprised of individuals of mexican, central and south american, puerto rican, cuban, dominican, and of other hispanic origins. ahmad and boser (2014) report that teachers of color leave the profession, in part, due to low salaries and difficult working conditions. these authors also present a set of policy recommendations to increase the pool of effective teachers of color. at the federal government level, creation of a national public-private partnership teacher corps and congressional authorization of grants to teacher preparation programs at minority serving institutions is proposed. at the state and district level, they propose providing pathways from 2and 4-year colleges, providing scholarships, changing compensation packages, and promoting statewide initiatives that attract hispanics to teaching (ahmad & boser, 2014, p. 18-20). they conclude their article by describing the circular nature of the teacher of color pipeline, stating that “when we have more teachers of color in the classroom, they will encourage students of color to aspire to be educators and help them to realize that they too can become teachers of color” (ahmad & boser, 2014, p. 21). bireda and chait (2011) underscore this conclusion: “teachers of color provide real-life examples to minority students of future career paths…increasing the number of current teachers of color may be instrumental to increasing the number of future teachers of color...there are effective teachers of many races, teachers of color have demonstrated success in increasing academic achievement by engaging students of similar backgrounds” (bireda & chait, 2011, p. 1-2). turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 262 recommendations to address critical issues of latina/latino/latinx/hispanic teacher representation recruitment and retention of latina/o/x/hispanic teachers are critical issues to address. ocascio (2014) states that, “this conversation needs to take place alongside the discussion of what high-quality, culturally-responsive latino teachers look like. this will ensure that the future teacher workforce is equipped with high quality, culturally-responsive latino teachers who can serve as mentors and role models for future generations of latino (and non-latino) youth” (p. 153). such concerns are also addressed by valenzuela (2016) in her edited book, growing critically conscious teachers. nieto (2016) describes this book as “for latino/a and nonlatino/a teachers alike, and for the university faculty and school and community-based facilitators who help prepare them” (p. ix). below are policy and research recommendations that have emerged from the literature presented above and from discussions among hsi educators. following this section is a list of references and, in the appendix, a partial listing of hsi best practices currently implemented toward building a latina/o/x/hispanic teacher pipeline. recommendations: improving latina/latino/latinx/hispanic teacher pipelines the recommendations below may be relevant for latina/o/x/hispanic teacher education pathways from early schooling experiences to the more advanced stage of the teaching workplace. most examples provided are located within the context of postsecondary hsis. continued investment in latina/o/x/hispanic teacher preparation efforts at hsis. because hsis graduate 40% of latina/o/x/hispanic baccalaureates in the u.s., federal, state, and institutional investment in hsi teacher preparation programs would do much to support the recruitment and development of future latina/o/x/hispanic teachers. for example, in 2017, three hsis in the california state university system (csus) were awarded more than $8 million in grants from the u.s. department of education. the grants were granted to support the development of the latina/o/x/hispanic teacher pipeline within csu sacramento, sonoma, and long beach. a sacramento state newsletter stated that the “developing hispanic-serving institutions program funding will help empower hispanic and bilingual students pursuing a teaching credential with the tools they need to succeed and graduate” (http://www.csus.edu/news/articles/2017/10/11/grant-helps-recruit-more-latino-teachers.shtml) hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 263 in 2015, in commemoration of the white house initiative on educational excellence for hispanics 25th anniversary, the initiative released a national call for commitments to action, encouraging public, private, and nonprofit investments in the creation and/or expansion of quality education programming throughout the nation serving hispanics (gross, 2017). several of these high impact, long-term commitments to action focused on latina/o/x/hispanic teacher recruitment at hsis. for example, felician college in lodi, nj, committed a minimum of onehalf million dollars to improve the academic success, persistence, and graduation rates of their hispanic students by 5% each year. this will be accomplished through initiatives ameliorating challenges faced by the students, scholarships for teacher education bachelor's degree completion, and experiential learning internships linking fields of study with future careers for our hispanic students over the next 5 years. institutional partners included: washington elementary school, statewide hispanic chamber of commerce of new jersey, latinas in stem foundation, and volunteer center of bergen county, inc. the focus of this initiative is on postsecondary completion and latino teacher recruitment (http://www.ewa.org/blog-latinoed-beat/whats-next-white-house-initiative-educational-excellence-hispanics). while the above initiatives are not deemed as “grow your own” programs, two of the article co-authors describe their programs as such and recommended that states and institutions create more such programs. implement more “grow your own” partnership programs. david mcdonald (2016) describes below the western oregon university bilingual teacher scholars program, a successful “grow your own” initiative on his campus: latinas/os comprise nearly one-quarter of oregon’s students, but only four percent of licensed teachers. within this context, the western oregon university bilingual teacher scholars program offers an innovative partnership. western oregon university (wou), two of oregon’s largest school districts, two local smaller districts, oregon’s most diverse school district, and a community college have created a partnership that will seek to address the chronic and growing disparities between the number of k-12 latino students and the number of latino and spanish speaking teachers. the bilingual teacher scholars program provides students with three foundational pillars (academic, financial, and co-curricular) needed for college success and effective preparation for a teaching career. the fourth pillar—student motivation—is identified by working with high school-based future teacher tracks and the pre-education program with the community college. turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 264 academic work includes completion of the rigorous wou teacher education curriculum, including the courses required to receive the bilingual teacher endorsement. spanish language requirements of the program recognize the distinctions between heritage speakers and those who learned spanish as a second language. content courses in us history and teaching pedagogy are taught in spanish to model effective instruction in spanish. scholars receive a generous financial support package that is built upon federal and state aid. the university provides at least $4,000 per-year in scholarship support and partner school districts hire students each summer to work as tutors or classroom assistants. the cohorts meet monthly for professional development and social activities designed to maintain student progress towards degree completion and the commencement of a successful teaching career. every scholar is placed into one of three existing wou support programs to help students create additional pieces of their university networks. the lack of additional scholarship funding prevents this program from scaling up to serve more school districts (http://www.wou.edu/teachered/bilingual-teacher-scholars/). juana zamora, director of california mini-corps, describes her award-winning program funded by the california department of education in the following paragraphs: the california mini-corps program is an example of a successful teacher pipeline model that has been in existence since 1967. the program is federally funded through the california department of education, under the auspices of the butte county office of education (california mini-corps, 2016). in august 2016, mini-corps was recognized through its two satellite programs at california state university, fresno as a “bright spot in education” by the white house (ceja, 2016; salazar, 2015). it currently has over 400 bilingual culturally proficient tutors working in k-12 settings in california. the california mini-corps’ mission is to develop bilingual teachers and to increase the academic achievement of migrant students. the program hires college tutors who are mostly latinos/as and data show that 80% of the tutors go on to obtain a teaching credential or some type of teaching permit (california mini-corps, 2016, p. 5; gonzalez, 2012). by the time mini-corps tutors enter a credentialing program and step into their first classroom as teachers, they already have an impressive record of working in the classroom with students. tutors also receive ongoing supervision, coaching, and mentoring by a program coordinator who observes them bi-weekly in the classroom hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 265 and provides verbal and written feedback during debriefing sessions. the coordinator is a certificated teacher who provides six hours per-month of professional development in core content areas and shares best teaching practices to their cohort of 18-20 tutors. the tutors are full-time college students and part-time tutors. their compensation for tutorial work supports them financially while enabling them to focus on their career goal of becoming a teacher (gonzalez, 2012). program coordinators monitor tutors' grades, and program data suggest that tutors' average gpa is 3.0 or greater (california minicorps, 2016). mini-corps uses the aforementioned "grow our own" approach: the program graduates migrant high school students who are recruited to work as college tutors. as evidence of the effectiveness of this “grow your own” model, numerous california mini-corps alumni hold positions as district and county superintendents, college presidents, professors, principals, teachers and central office administrators (association of california school administrators, 2016). the california mini-corps program has received three resolutions for exemplary performance by members of the california legislature. as part of the "grow our own" model, mini-corps incorporates collaboration with 22 higher education institutions, some of which are hsis, approximately 50% are community colleges, and the rest are universities. this network supports the transfer of tutors from community colleges to 4-year institutions and the recruitment of tutors into the credential programs. while in college, mini-corps tutors work in 161 school districts throughout the state and within the 20 migrant regions (california minicorps, 2016). since tutors are collegians with roots in the migrant community, they demonstrate a greater understanding of the challenges migrant students face as well as their remarkable potential (gonzalez, 2012; sepúlveda, 2011).5 increase financial support to latina/o/x/hispanic students. there are several ways this might be accomplished, including strengthening federal financial aid support, by offering scholarships and programming for low-income latina/o/x/hispanic students entering the teaching field. in addition, statewide initiatives might be created to fund teacher preparation programs aimed at low-income and latina/o/x/hispanic teachers. reducing the cost of becoming a teacher could be more feasible by creating additional avenues to enter the field and 5 https://bcoe.org/cms/one.aspx?portalid=757608&pageid=1011618 turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 266 by increasing the number of qualified credentialing organizations. current populations could be incentivized as part of a teacher recruitment strategy. these populations might include secondcareer teachers and those high school graduates who earned a seal of biliteracy. second-career teachers could be recruited from the ranks of current math and science professionals and could be supported through collaboration between private and public sectors. this might include offering financial incentives for tuition, in-service professional development, and competitive salaries (litow, 2008). most of the students who earn the seal of biliteracy are spanish speakers and could be a rich potential teacher pool. creating pathways and financial infrastructure for this group would contribute to the production of future latina/o/x/hispanic teachers (gándara, 2016). emphasize the importance of leadership. as they create inclusive and welcoming learning environments, the significance of school and college/university leadership cannot be overstated. in addition to promoting contexts supportive of latina/o/x/hispanic student achievement, on-site leadership can also promote the satisfaction of latina/o/x/hispanic teachers and address workplace difficulties as they arise. for example, district/school leadership can provide teacher support, include teachers in decision making, promote teacher classroom autonomy, create on-site networks to counter feelings of isolation, and advocate for higher salaries. furthermore, based upon research presented here and the observations of the authors of this article, educational leaders have opportunities to: 1) affirm that “students of all backgrounds deserve teachers of all backgrounds” (boser, 2011, p. 11); 2) highlight the value latina/o/x/hispanic teachers and “their potential for improving the quality of education for latina/o/x/hispanic…youth” (irizarry & donaldson, 2012, p. 184); 3) include in their institutional mission that “the diversity of the teacher force …[is a] central component of any policy initiative intended to provide a high quality education to all students, not just some” (villegas & irvine, 2010, p. 188); and 4) hire teachers who understand the power of teacher expectations to influence latina/o/x/hispanic student success (gershenson & papageorge, 2017). educational leaders can also work with other policy makers to create expanded networks to attract and retain latina/o/x/hispanic teachers. finally, they can work together toward reducing teacher bias, diversifying the teaching workforce, and retaining current latina/o/x/hispanic teachers. this is a circular process: the more latina/o/x/hispanic teachers hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 267 retained, the more latina/o/x/hispanic teachers will be attracted to the profession and to the schools/colleges that successfully retain them. challenge implicit bias and stereotyping. research articles referenced here and discussions held by the co-authors of this article point to the need to recognize and challenge implicit bias and stereotyping along the entire educational pathway for latina/o/x/hispanic students and teachers. negative interactions from early schooling and in teacher workplaces create a continuous cycle of distancing latinas/os/xs/hispanics from the field of education. implicit bias, which creates unsafe learning environments for students and teachers, can be combated in a number of ways. these might include: 1) workshops on unconscious bias and microaggressions inside and outside the classroom; 2) professional development for teachers and classified staff regarding equity and cultural sensitivity; 3) student and teacher empowerment via culturally relevant curriculum such as chicano/a studies and ethnic studies6; 4) culturally relevant/welcoming environments that promote community, belonging, and positive climate; 5) development of restorative justice7 disciplinary practices in place of traditional zero tolerance policies which fuel the school to prison pipeline for students of color; 6) workshops focused on growing the capacity of latina/o/x/hispanic students around club advising that helps to build their social and cultural capital. club activities might include: guest professionals/motivation speakers, networking opportunities, academic conferences, community organizing, and college preparation opportunities; and 7) after-school program mentoring opportunities for latina/o/x/hispanic teachers to lead. special projects might include: culturally relevant mural projects, stem classes, robotics, debate, and math-athletes. further research examining hsi latina/o/x/hispanic teacher preparation. in addition to the recommendations from the literature and practice discussed above, one critical finding from this work is that few research articles focus on the study of the latina/o/x/hispanic 6 for example, in los angeles unified, home to nearly 470,000 latino students, ethnic studies is now a graduation requirement. all lausd students, latino or otherwise, receive a high school diploma only after gaining a foundational understanding of the experiences of latino and other people of color. districts that do not yet have an ethnic studies curriculum can look towards the model curriculum that the state’s instructional quality commission is currently developing. the state can go the next step by supporting districts in adoption of this curriculum through training and incentives (https://west.edtrust.org/resource/the-majority-report/, p.13). 7 one example is richmond high school in contra costa county instituted a restorative justice program. the school partners with catholic charities of the east bay, which received funding from the city of richmond to provide training on restorative justice for richmond high teachers. the program has included a conflict resolution circle and a “youth court” system, and was expanded to nine additional schools in the district (https://west.edtrust.org/resource/the-majority-report/, p.11). turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 268 teacher pathways, especially within the hsi context. the authors recommend analyses of hsi student outcomes as well as the creation of program assessments and evaluations to understand the impact of interventions on student outcomes. quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research approaches should be used to capture parent, family, and community perspectives in addition to hsi student and educator perspectives for a more complete understanding of the barriers and facilitators along the latina/o/x/hispanic teacher pathway. conclusion the education trust-west, based in oakland, ca, recently released a report entitled “the majority report: supporting the educational success of latino students in california.” this publication sums up the educational challenges latinos in california continue to face. based upon discussions with practitioners and the review of literature presented here, these conditions are likely common amongst latinas/os/xs/hispanics across the country: across the state, hundreds of thousands of latino students are still denied the education they need to succeed in college, career, and beyond…numerous hurdles stand in their way, including insufficient access to early childhood education, low expectations in school, teacher and staff biases, less access to rigorous coursework, and lack of engaging and welcoming school environments. students with additional needs, such as english learner, migrant, and undocumented students, face an additional set of obstacles (p. 9). the report also indicates: our state cannot afford to fail latino students. with an increased sense of urgency for the changes our students deserve, our educational system can prepare the future scientists, artists, economists, academics, and business and government leaders that will change the world (p. 2). we agree, and hasten to add, that the preparation of latina/o/x/hispanic teachers is a critical part of the solution to address the hurdles faced by latina/o/x/hispanic students across the country. as documented by the report quoted above, in the literature highlighted here, and through discussions amongst hsi educators, many hurdles must be overcome to increase latina/o/x/hispanic representation in the teaching profession. furthermore, hsis are well poised to play a significant role in providing leadership and remedies. hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 269 references american association of colleges for teacher education (aacte). (2015). black & hispanic/latino male teacher’s initiative networked improvement community. washington, dc: american association of colleges for teacher education. retrieved from http://theinnovationexchange.net/networked-improvement-community/ ahmad, f. z., & boser, u. (2014). america’s leaky pipeline: getting more teachers of color into the classroom. washington, dc: center for american progress. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2014/05/04/88960/americasleaky-pipeline-for-teachers-of-color/ barone, t. (2001). touching eternity: the enduring outcomes of teaching. new york, ny: teachers college press. bireda, s., & chait, r. (2011). increasing teacher diversity: strategies to improve the teacher workforce. washington, dc: center for american progress. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/reports/2011/11/09/10636/increasin g-teacher-diversity/ california mini-corps. (2016). evaluation report 2014-16. oroville, ca: butte county office of education. ceja, a. (2016, august 11). certificate: national bright spot in hispanic education. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. boser, u. (2011). teacher diversity matters: a state-by-state analysis of teachers of color. washington, dc: center for american progress. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/reports/2011/11/09/10657/teacherdiversity-matters/ cherng, h. s., & halpin, p. f. (2016). the importance of minority teachers: student perceptions of minority versus white teachers. educational researcher, 45(7), 407-420. diverse issues in higher education. (2016). diverse issues in higher education, 33 (17), 18-22. retrieved from http://diverseeducation.com/top100/pages/index.php duncan-andrade, m. r. j. (2009). note to educators: hope required when growing roses in concrete. harvard educational review, 79(2), 1-13. retrieved from http://hepg.org/herhome/issues/harvard-educational-review-volume-79-issue-2/herarticle/hope-requiredwhen-growing-roses-in-concrete_696 egalite, a. j., kisida, b., & winters, m.a. (2015). representation in the classroom: the effect of own-race teachers on student achievement. economics of education review, 45, 44-52. retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0272775715000084 flores, g. m. (2011). racialized tokens: latina teachers negotiating, surviving, and thriving in a white woman’s profession. qualitative sociology, 34(2), 313-335. frankenberg, e. (2009). the segregation of american teachers. education policy analysis archives, 17(1). retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v17n1/ freire, p. (2005). teachers as cultural workers: letters to those who dare teach. boulder, co: westview press. turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 270 fry, r., & lopez, m. h. (2012). hispanic student enrollments reach new highs in 2011. washington, dc: pew research hispanic center. fullan, m.g. (1993). why teachers must become change agents. the professional teacher, 50(6), 12-17. retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/mar93/vol50/num06/why-teachers-must-become-change-agents.aspx gándara, p. (october 2, 2016). personal email. gándara, p., oseguera, l., pérez huber, l., locks, a., ee, j., & molina, d. (2013). making education work for latinas in the u.s. retrieved from https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/college-access/underrepresentedstudents/making-education-work-for-latinas-in-the-u.s gershenson, s., & papageorge, n. (2017). the power of teacher expectations: how racial bias hinders student attainment. education next. retrieved from http://educationnext.org/power-of-teacher-expectations-racial-bias-hinders-studentattainment/ gonzalez, e. (2012). the impact of participation in the mini-corps program as an undergraduate on alumni’s professional careers (unpublished doctoral dissertation). california state university, sacramento. gonzález, c. m., & gándara, p. (2005). why we like to call ourselves latinas. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(4), 392–98. grissom, j. a., & redding, c. (2016). discretion and disproportionality: explaining the underrepresentation of high-achieving students of color in gifted programs. aera open. retrieved from https://news.vanderbilt.edu/files/grissom_aeraopen_giftedstudents1.pdf gross, n. (2017). what’s next for the white house initiative on educational excellence for hispanics? a q&a with outgoing executive director alejandra ceja. washington, dc: education writers association. retrieved from http://www.ewa.org/blog-latino-edbeat/whats-next-white-house-initiative-educational-excellence-hispanics ingersoll, r.m., & may, h. (2011). the minority teacher shortage: fact or fable? kappan magazine, 93(1), 62-65. kong, d. (2016). california can lead the nation on multilingualism and diversity. huffington post. retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-kong/california-can-lead-then_b_13129466.html lara, g. p., & franquiz, m. e. (2015). latino bilingual teachers: negotiating the figured world of masculinity. bilingual research journal, 38, 207-227. litow, s. (2008). a silent crisis: the underrepresentation of latinos in stem careers. education week. retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/07/18/44litowcom_web.h27.html mader, j. (2016). how do we stop the exodus of minority teachers? the hechinger report. retrieved from http://hechingerreport.org/stop-exodus-minority-teachers/ hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 271 mcdonald, d. (2016). western oregon university bilingual teacher scholars program retrieved from http://www.wou.edu/teachered/bilingual-teacher-scholars/ national center for education statistics. (2011-2012). characteristics of public, private, and bureau of indian education elementary and secondary school trends in the united states: results from the 2011-2012 schools and staffing survey. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/ niemann, y. f. (2002). chicana leadership: the frontiers reader. lincoln, ne: university of nebraska press. nieto, s. (2016). foreword. in a. valenzuela (ed.), growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice curriculum for educators of latino/a youth (pp. ix-xii). new york, ny: teachers college press. nieves-squires, s. (1991). hispanic women: making their presence on campus less tenuous. washington, dc: association of american colleges and universities. nuñez, a-m, hurtado, s., & galdeano, e.c. (2015). hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice. new york, ny: routledge. ocasio, k. m. (2014). pathways to teaching: exploring the latino/a teacher pipeline (order no. 3633469). available from proquest dissertations & theses full text: the humanities and social sciences collection. (1611960808). retrieved from http://proxy.lib.csus.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.csus.edu/docview /1611960808?accountid=10358 sacramento state news. (2017). $2.6m grant aims to open sac state's latino teacher pipeline. retrieved from http://www.csus.edu/news/articles/2017/10/11/grant-helps-recruit-morelatino-teachers.shtml sáenz, b. v., & ponjuan, p. (2009). the vanishing latino male in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 8(1), 54-89 retrieved from http://jhh.sagepub.com salazar, a. (2015, october 14). mini-corps program recognized by white house. the collegian. retrieved from http://collegian.csufresno.edu/2015/10/13/mini-corps-programrecognized-by-white-house/ sandres-rápalo, l., & cosmé, p. x., (2016). illuminating bias: mentoring future hispanic educators and administrators. unpublished manuscript. sepúlveda, e., iii. (2011). toward a pedagogy of acompañamiento: mexican migrant youth writing from the underside of modernity. harvard educational review, 81, 550-572. sleeter, c. e. (2016). critical race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. urban education, 1-15. retrieved from http://uex.sagepub.com.proxy.lib.csus.edu/content/early/2016/09/09/0042085916668957.f ull.pdf+html the education trust−west. (2017). the majority report: supporting the educational success of latino students in california. oakland, ca. retrieved from https://west.edtrust.org/resource/the-majority-report/ turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 272 tillet, s. (2015). make revolution irresistible: the role of the cultural worker in the twenty first century. publications of the modern language association of america, 130(2), 481-487. retrieved from http://mlajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1632/pmla.2015.130.2.481 turner, c. (2016, september 28). bias isn't just a police problem, it's a preschool problem. npr. retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/09/28/495488716/bias-isnt-just-apolice-problem-its-a-preschool-problem turner, c. s., cosmé, p. x., dinehart, l., martí, r., mcdonald, d., ramirez, m., sandres rápalo, l., and zamora, j. (2017). white paper: improving diverse and inclusive teacher pipelines with a focus on latinas/latinos/hispanics. white house initiative on educational excellence for hispanics white paper. washington, dc: u.s. department of education. retrieved from https://sites.ed.gov/hispanic-initiative/files/2015/03/improving-diverse-and-inclusiveteacher-pipelines_whitepaper.pdf ulloa, j. (2016). bilingual education has been absent from california public schools for almost 20 years. but that many soon change. retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/politics/lapol-ca-proposition-58-bilingual-education-20161012-snap-story.html u.s. department of education. (2011). fast facts, english language learners. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=96 u.s. department of education, office of planning, evaluation and policy development, policy and program studies service, the state of racial diversity in the educator workforce, washington, d.c. (2016). retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racialdiversity/state-racial-diversity-workforce.pdf valenzuela, a. (2016). growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice curriculum for educators of latino/a youth. new york, ny: teachers college press. villegas, a. m., & irvine, j.j. (2010). diversifying the teaching force: an examination of major arguments. urban review, 42, 175-192. retrieved from http://www.montclair.edu/profilepages/media/439/user/villegas_%26_irvine--2010.pdf villegas, a.m., strom, k., & lucas, t. (2012). closing the racial/ethnic gap between students of color and their teachers: an elusive goal. equity & excellence in education, 45(2). retrieved from http://www.montclair.edu/profilepages/media/439/user/villegas-stromlucas--2012--eee.pdf weisman, e. m., & hansen, l. e. (2008). student teaching in urban and suburban schools: perspectives of latino preservice teachers. urban education, 43(6), 653-670. hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 273 appendix partial listing of hsi best practices in building a more diverse and inclusive teacher pipeline prepared by david mcdonald, western oregon university (note: based on power points presented at the hispanic serving institution teacher diversity convening on september 22-23, 2016 at the white house eisenhower executive office building, washington, d.c.) 1. academic preparation and alignment dual credit to align high school and postsecondary curriculum. dual credit programs between high schools and colleges and universities accomplish two significant outcomes— increased high school graduation rates and improved matriculation rates to college. examples: • exitos cooperative and title v puentes grant –san antonio college, patricia medina • willamette promise—western oregon university, david mcdonald • university of the incarnate world, arthur hernandez 2. grow your own systemic programs designed to identify, nurture and graduate future teachers by creating structured academic and professional pathways from k-12 through college. examples: • california state university, dominguez hills, john kennedy davis • bilingual teacher scholars program, western oregon university, david mcdonald • california mini-corps program, butte county office of education, juana zamora 3. create a compelling, accurate and continuous conversation that increases student interest in teaching through demystifying the negative stereotypes connected to teaching careers. early outreach including teacher academies with local high schools that enroll significant numbers of diverse students (florida international); high school advisory courses, summer camps, focused marketing (eastern new mexico university); use culturally relevant messaging in a marketing campaign that uses traditional and social media to reach potential teachers, hold regional and statewide conferences for future teachers (sacramento united turner et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 274 school district); align local efforts with national initiatives such as trio, gear up, and troops to education (lehman college, cuny) • florida international university, laura h. dinehart • eastern new mexico university, bianca belmonte-sapien • sacramento unified school district, martin m. ramirez • lehman college, city university of new york, deborah shanley • california mini-corps program, butte county office of education, juana zamora • sacramento state, caroline turner, stephanie biagetti, and karina figueroa-ramirez 4. expose college students in non-teaching majors to a k-12 classroom experience to expand the pool of potential teachers. • florida international university, laura h. dinehart 5. teacher preparation programs offer multiple pathways to a teacher certification with a focus on taking the student from where they are and adding the necessary skills needed to be an effective classroom teacher. these alternative certification programs should be flexible enough to build on the strengths of candidates, typically content knowledge, while addressing weaker areas of preparation such as pedagogy (university of texas, rio grande valley). for states with fifth-year teacher preparation requirements, create blended (4+1) pathways that add teacher preparation content into the content specific curriculum (sacramento state); night and weekend certification only program offer residency programs to increase the depth of preparation of new teachers (heritage university); create career pathways that support the movement of individuals from stem professions into teaching (florida international university); • university of texas, rio grande valley, patricia mchatton • sacramento state, caroline turner, stephanie biagetti, and karina figueroa-ramirez • heritage university, kari terjeson • florida international university, laura h. dinehart 6. reduce the affordability barrier reduce the affordability barrier through service grants, forgivable loans and scholarships (ut rio grande valley); create a scholarship bank for students starting in middle school based hispanic-serving institution scholars and administrators association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 275 upon high performance in academic and non-cognitive behaviors linked with success in school (university of incarnate world) • university of texas, rio grande valley, patricia mchatton • university of the incarnate world, arthur hernandez 7. provide new teachers with training focused on the administrative aspects of their positions especially lesson plan development. • eastern new mexico university, bianca belmonte-sapien 8. predictive analytics and assessment develop predictive analytical tools that allow high schools and colleges to identify potential quality teachers through performance characteristics exhibited by the students. based upon the assessment data, create an effective proactive response system that enhances student success. • texas a&m international university, selina v. mireles 9. increase k-12 student retention and success develop culturally-relevant curriculum for middle and high school students, provision of summer camps, creation of professional networks for latino k-12 administrators and teachers, and create partnerships with higher education. • sacramento unified school district, martin m. ramirez • california mini-corps, juana zamora 10. enhanced preparation programs increase the depth of training by imbedding high need endorsements like esol and sped produce teachers that are better trained to meet the educational needs of more students. • heritage university, kari terjeson journal 2007[1]. coverpage 26 selecting chicano children’s literature in a bilingual classroom: investigating issues of cultural authenticity and avoiding stereotypes laura alamillo, ph.d. before the civil rights movement, the lack of accurate representations of people of color was evident. children’s literature did not present accurate depictions of mexicanamericans in the text. sarapes, sombreros and fiestas were typical symbols used to identify mexican culture and traditions. the civil rights movement sparked a change for accuracy and culturally conscious children’s literature in order to provide equity in a diverse classroom. the field of children’s literature has made great strides in this area making choices easier for teachers looking to integrate chicano children’s literature in their classroom. do teachers know how to make informed decisions regarding what is an accurate or authentic depiction of mexican-american/chicano culture? what is informing these decisions and why must teachers make educated decisions in literature selection? in making these decisions, teachers are looking at cultural and linguistic authenticity in specifically bilingual children’s literature. these must be informed decisions based on several factors: insider-outsider perspective, overall theme of book, and overall authenticity of the themes presented. in this article, criteria and questions are presented in order to provide assistance for teachers who are making these curricular decisions in their classroom. for schools that provide access to authentic chicano children’s books, selection criteria can be useful in identifying literature reflecting their student’s lives. readers of this article must also keep in mind that there are many experiences represented in one culture and community. in this essay, criteria does not mean that there is one experience or that the culture is homogenous, instead, it provides a context and questions for understanding certain distinct qualities allowing a critical analysis of text in order to identify stereotypes and misrepresentations of mexicanamericans. chicano children’s literature the need to distinguish chicano children’s literature from latino children’s literature can be helpful for researchers, educators and parents. there is a growing move for chicano/a writers to transition from adult poetry/novels to children’s literature, often addressing similar topics but adjusting the tone, style and themes for a younger audience, appealing to bilingual, chicano/a young children. many of these books tend to follow within the contemporary genre area of children’s literature. writers like gloria anzaldua, sandra cisneros and juan felipe herrera, to name a few, have published literary acclaimed children’s books relating to experiences of being chicano living in the united states. some of the children’s books considered 27 culturally authentic have been recognized by the tomas rivera book award and the pura bulpre award. these awards look at stories with authentic and accurate depictions. because these books tend to fall under the contemporary issues genre of children’s literature, they tend to be more relevant to the everyday lives of children living in the united states. i also used rudine sims bishop classifications of culturally conscious african-american literature (simsbishop, 1982). because both types of literature came out of the civil rights movement, i felt that her criteria would be useful to identify and describe chicano children’s literature. i found similar themes within african-american children’s literature and chicano children’s literature. they will be discussed later. what is considered a culturally authentic chicano children’s book? would a cultural outsider be able to write an authentic piece of literature? this issue is debated in a recent publication on culturally authenticity and children’s literature. in that book, rosalinda barrera and ruth quiroa (2003, p.249) stated, “ the use of spanish words and phrases holds considerable potential for enhancing the cultural authenticity of english-based text.” in order for this to occur, the words must be strategically and skillfully placed. language is an important indicator for an authentic text. criteria when examining chicano children’s literature i looked specifically at certain elements sims-bishop (1982) found to be crucial when identifying culturally conscious books, those which came closest to depicting the social and cultural circumstances associated with growing up black in the united states (sims-bishop). the label culturally conscious suggests that elements in the text, not just the pictures, make it clear that the book consciously seeks to depict a fictional afroamerican life experiences. at minimum this means that the major characters are afroamericans, the story is told from their perspective, the setting is an afro-american community or home, and the text includes some means of identifying the characters as black physical descriptions, language, cultural traditions and so forth. (p.49) i found commonalities between chicano children’s literature and the underlying themes in culturally conscious africanamerican literature. for example, chicano children’s books, as africanamerican literature, allow children to become in touch with history, traditions and cultural values. even though the chicano stories took place in the united states, characters in the book referred back to mexico or their parents’ experiences living in mexico. the past 28 seemed to influence the current situation emotionally and physically. in my diary from here to there (perez, 2002), amanda the main character writes in her diary as she travels across the u.s.-mexican border and longs to return home to see her friends. amanda has a friend in mexico whom she frequently writes expressing her frustrations and concerns traveling without her father. the theme of family relationships is present throughout the book. the theme of border crossing runs throughout many chicano children’s books. the u.s.-mexican border is a common setting for stories to take place. the stories take place crossing the border to the united states or living on the border. in my diary from here to there, the main character remembers friends from mexico as her father is driving through mexico and eventually across the border. in friends from the other side, prietita meets a friend from mexico who crosses the border to the u.s. side, her backyard (anzaldua, 1995). heritage and tradition are valid criteria when investigating the representation of a romanticized notion of latino traditions, barrera (1997). there is a common stereotype of traditional foods such as enchiladas, tacos and other stereotypical foods that are commonly associated with being “latino.” this notion become the norm and is often romanticized. i look critically for what types of foods and traditions are presented. are they authentic? how often are these symbols used throughout the book and in what context? were they placed for a strategically or “tokenly” included? sims-bishop describes “living in the city” as another relevant criterion. this is useful when reviewing chicano children’s literature because chicano experiences do not only take place in rural mexico or in an urban city. the experiences that come with living in an urban neighborhood are important to distinguish from living in a rural town. this is a sensitive area because literature that only represents these realities may perpetuate stereotypes (barrera, 2003). there should be an even, accurate balance between these portrayals. i also found the family relationships criterion as useful in describing themes within chicano children’s literature. the family is often the central unit and/or theme to a story. i consider this as an important theme due to the frequent mention of family in chicano children’s books. most of the books center around family units or how the characters actions affected the family unit or an individual family member. for example, in my diary from here to there, the father’s decision to leave mexico affected amada and her family. the brothers were excited to leave but amada was emotionally distraught. this sense of family is a strong theme running across the literature. language is a central issue in the literature. in chato’s kitchen , gary soto uses code switching throughout the text. i questioned that text. are spanish words strategically placed? is the book translated from english to spanish? is the language authentic to the time and setting of the story? i considered all of these aspects of the language factor when reviewing literature. barrera’s study, discussed in 29 stories matter (2003), focused on the frequent use of certain words in latino children’s books. barrera’s work provided a guide to look for these characteristics. sims-bishop describes black english as the most easily distinguishable feature identifying a book that attempts to reflect an africanamerican experience. spanish, chicano spanish and chicano english are therefore distinguishable factors when identifying chicano literature. the language must be strategically placed, authentic and sensitive. it should not be confused with what sims-bishop describes as, “street talk” or “slang.” would chicano children be able to identify with castilian spanish? does the language reflect the language(s) spoken in the classroom? these are questions teachers should consider when choosing literature. barrera and de cortes (2004) in their in-depth study of books considered mexican-american children’s literature also reported that the language used was the standard and/or academic form of spanish. the implications of using the standard or more traditional form of spanish with chicano/a children needs to be considered in the context of children’s language identities. the diversity of languages within the mexican community includes representing chicano/a spanish, english and caló but this diversity is rarely addressed in children’s literature. the linguistic diversification has been characterized as problematic by the “language police” on both sides of the border: english speaking extremist groups, such as the advocates of u.s. english, and those selfappointed members of the academic real de la lengua who are dedicated to the preservation of the “mother tongue” have very narrow views as to what constitutes high status spanish and standard (high status) english. (mercado, 2001) mercado argues that educators do not address how the history of the mexican people is reflected in the language(s) spoken at home and school. the use of chicano spanish or castilian spanish is not relevant in teaching spanish to children. there is little research available to show how these variations of spanish serve as linguistic input. it can be problematic if children are only being exposed to one perspective of the language and diverse voices are not represented in the classroom. rudolfo anaya, a legendary chicano adult and children’s writer, poses questions to schools and publishers of children’s books. he states: “what literature are we teaching in the classroom? who writes it? what social reality does it present? who packaged it for us? how much choice do we have as teachers to step outside the mainstream packaging and choose books?” anaya (1992) presents critical questions educators must ask themselves when selecting children’s literature. sims-bishop review of africanamerican children’s literature found that when language is poorly depicted, the literature will reduce characters to caricatures. when language is poorly 30 depicted in chicano children’s literature, children are not only exposed to inaccurate, unauthentic language, they are also seeing stereotypes of mexicanamerican people. barrera and quiroa (2003) question these stereotypical or token bilingual language representations. this aspect of language should also be considered in selecting chicano books as well as in evaluating books used in the classroom. in addition there are other key issues, for example, the illustrations depicted in the literature. what skin colors are represented? when was the book published? sims-bishop argues that books written before the 1960’s must be questioned. post-civil rights, schools, libraries and publishing companies were required to make and supply culturally conscious books. in addition, looking at allows teachers to identify insider/outsider perspective. who wrote the book? what are their cultural experiences? do they offer an insider or outsider perspective? when evaluating literature ethnic background, cultural and language experiences of the author help determine accuracy in the literature. authors who do not talk about their invested interest may present inaccurate portrayals. researchers in this field (simsbishop, 1997; barrera, 1997; nieto, 1997 1992) have concluded that an author’s ethnic background plays a role in what themes an author chooses to write on and how they portray language and culture in the text. their cultural experiences influence the language they use, contribute to how they represent the characters in the book, and ultimately play a role in determining if the book is authentic. these are all factors to consider when choosing literature. the push towards english immersion in california is affecting the literature used in the classroom. schools push for english only limits the use of the first language in the classroom. even though schools may not provide bilingual education, chicano/a children’s literature is a potential outlet for children who are not seeing their first language in the classroom. chicano/a children are provided with another option to see themselves, their language, culture and bicultural identities. chicano/a children’s literature provides a space for both languages to be used together. selecting the literature can be difficult for teachers who do not have these lived experiences. when selecting chicano children’s literature there are many issues to consider. first and foremost, teachers should aim for accurate depictions in the literature. stereotypes represented in culture and language should be avoided. the selection of literature should be informed by investigation and research. also, knowing of publishers who aim for cultural authenticity is an effective way to research and select children’s literature. there are publishers who aim for accuracy and authenticity. publishing firms and non-profits such as children’s book press, lee and low books and piñata publications place cultural and language authenticity as a priority when publishing multicultural children’s literature. teachers can begin with these publishers. also, looking at the tomas rivera award for awarded children’s literature provides a starting point as well. in order to present authentic 31 views of the mexican american/chicano community, children must be presented with authentic views in the classroom. literature makes a long lasting impression on children and teachers need to be aware of this impact. by using the criteria presented in this article, teachers can make informed decisions on the images they present in their bilingual classrooms. references alamillo, laura (2004). chicano children’s student’s responses to bilingual children’s literature, dissertation, university of california at berkeley. amada, irma perez (2002). my diary from here to there. children’s book press. san francisco, ca. anzaldua, gloria (1995). prietita and the ghost woman. children’s book press. san francisco, ca. anzaldua, gloria (1987). borderlands, la frontera. aunt lute books, san francisco, ca. baker, colin (2001). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism, 3rd edition, multilingual matters. banks, james (1995). multicultural education and curriculum transformation. journal of negro education, vol. 64, no. 4., howard university. baquedano-lopez, patricia & hector alvarez, kris gutierrez (2001). literacy as hybridity: moving beyond bilingualism in urban classrooms. in the best for our children. teachers college press, columbia university, ny. barrera, rosalinda and robert t. jimenez, luis c. moll and flora v. rodriguez-brown (1999). latina and latino researchers interact on issues related to literacy learning. in reading research quarterly, vol. 34. no. 2 april/may/june, p. 217-230. bishop, r.s. (1994). kaleidoscope: a multicultural booklist for grades k-8. urban, illinois: national council of teachers of english. cummins, jim (1989). empowering minority students. sacramento: california association for bilingual education. cummins, jim (2000). language, power, and pedagogy: bilingual children in the crossfire. clevedon: multilingual matters. day, frances anne (1997). latina and latino voices in literature: for children and teenagers. heinemann and portsmouth, nh. delpit, lisa (2002). the skin that we speak: thoughts on language and culture in the classroom. the new press, ny. dyson, anne and celia genishi (1994). the need for story: cultural diversity in the classroom and community. ncte. fernandez, ramona (2001). imagining literacy: rhizomes of knowledge in american culture and literature. university of texas press, austin, tx. freeman, david and yvonne freeman (1994). between worlds: access to second language acquistion. heinemann, hanover. freire, paulo and donaldo macedo (1987). literacy reading the word and the word. bergin and harvey, wesport ct. gonzalez-jensen, margarita (1997) the status of childrens fiction literature written in spanish by u.s. authors. in bilingual research journal, spring & summer, volume 21, no. 2 & 3. 32 halcon john j. & maria de la luz reyes (eds.) the best for our children. teachers college press, columbia university, ny. harris, violet (ed.) (1996). using multiethnic literature in the k-8 classroom. christopher gordon publishers inc., norwood, massachusetts. herrera, juan felipe (2002). grandma and me at the flea. children’s book press. san francisco, ca. martinez, elizabeth (1991). 500 years of chicano history in pictures. southwest organizing project, albuquerque, new mexico. mercado, carmen (2001). reflections on the power of spanish, in the best for our children: critical perspectives on literacy for latino students. teachers college press, columbia university, ny. nieto, sonia (1992). affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of bilingual education. longman publishing group, white plains, ny. nieto, sonia (2001). foreword. in the best for our children. teachers college press, columbia university, ny. pogrow, stanley (2000). the unsubstantiated success‚ of success for all. in phi delta kappan, april, p.596-600. sims-bishop rudine and mingshui cai (1994). multicultural literature for children: towards a clarification of the concept. in dyson, anne and celia genishi (eds.) (1994). the need for story: cultural diversity in the classroom and community. ncte. soto, gary (1995). chato’s kitchen. the putnam and grosset group inc., berkeley, ca. suarez-orozco, marcelo and carola (2001). children of immigration. the developing child series, harvard university press, cambridge, massachusetts. wong-fillmore, (1991). when losing a second language means losing the first. early childhood research quarterly 6, 323-346. wong fillmore, lily & catherine snow (2000). what teachers need to know about language. center for applied linguistics. ___________ dr. alamillo is an assistant professor at california state university, fresno. department of literacy and early education. email: lalamillo@csufresno.edu. theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 10 punishing youth and saturated violence in the era of casino capitalism essays punishing youth and saturated violence in the era of casino capitalism henry a. giroux mcmaster university an earlier version of this article fi rst appeared online in counterpunch magazine, http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/31/casino-capitalism-and-higher-education/ abstract this essay powerfully describes the rise of a neoliberal or “casino capitalism” as a punishing state that has been largely ignored by the mainstream media but is actively resisted by young people around the world. i highlight the pervasive use of violence and the celebration of war-like values that are no longer restricted to a particular military ideology, but have become normalized throughout our entire society, especially in public schools that serve vulnerable student populations. i also portray how schools have become militarized and prison-like sites that criminalize the behavior of young people, particularly that of poor males, minorities, and immigrants. this imposition of violence on children constitutes the “punishing of youth” as the title alludes to, and depicts the substantial numbers of latin@ children who move straight from a prison-like school to becoming inmates in the us’s ever-increasing private, for-profi t prison complex. there is by now an overwhelming catalogue of evidence revealing the depth and breadth of the state sponsored assault being waged against young people across the globe, and especially in the united states. what is no longer a hidden order of politics is that american 1 society is at war with its children, and that the use of such violence against young people is a disturbing index of a society in the midst of a deep moral and political crisis. beyond exposing the moral depravity of a nation that fails to protect its youth, the violence used against american youth speaks to nothing less than a perverse death-wish, especially in light of the fact that as alain badiou argues, we live in an era in which there is zero tolerance for poor minority youth 2and youthful protesters and “infi nite tolerance for the crimes of bankers and government embezzlers which affect the lives of millions.” while the systemic nature of the assault on young people and its testimony to the rise of the neoliberal punishing state has been largely ignored by the mainstream media, youth in canada and the united states are resisting the violence of what might be called neoliberalism or casino capitalism. for instance, the occupy wall street movement and the quebec protest movement are demonstrating against such assaults while simultaneously attempting to educate a larger public about the degree to which american and canadian public spheres, institutions, and values have been hijacked by a culture of spectacular and unrelenting violence— largely directed against youthful protesters and those marginalized by class and race, who increasingly have become the targets of ruthless forms of state-sanctioned punishment. put into historical context, we can see that collective insurance policies and social protections in the united states, in particular, have over time given way to the forces of economic privatization, commodifi cation, deregulation, and hyper individualism now 3driving the ongoing assault on democratic public spheres, public goods, and any viable notion of equality and social justice. at least since the 1980s, the american public has witnessed the transformation of the welfare state by punitive workfare programs, the privatization of public goods and 1. j. f. conway, “quebec: making war on our children,” socialist project, e-bulletin no. 651, (june 10, 2012). http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/651.php 2. alain badiou, the rebirth of history, tr. gregory elliott, (london, uk: verso, 2012), pp. 18-19. 3. see loic wacquant, punishing the poor: the neoliberal government of social insecurity (durham, n.c.: duke university press, 2009). association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 11 punishing youth and saturated violence in the era of casino capitalism spaces, and a hollow appeal to individual responsibility and self-interest as a substitute for civic responsibility and democratic engagement. embracing the notion that market-driven values and relations should shape every domain of human life, a business-centered model of governance has eviscerated any viable notion of the public values and interests, while insidiously criminalizing social problems and cutting back on basic social services, especially for young people, the poor, minorities, immigrants, and the elderly. as young people and others organize to protest economic injustice and massive inequality, along with drastic cuts to education, workers benefi ts and pensions, and public services, the state has responded with the use of injurious violence, while the mainstream media has issued insults rather than informed dialogue, critical engagement, and suggestions for meaningful reform. indeed, it appears the united states has entered a new historical era when policy decisions not only translate into an intentional, systemic disinvestment in public institutions and the breakdown of those public spheres that traditionally provided the minimal conditions for social justice and democratic expression, but are also merging with state-sanctioned violence and the use of mass force against the state’s own citizenry. i am not referring to the violence now sweeping the united states in the form of the lone, crazed gunman shooting innocent victims in colleges, malls, and movie theaters. as horrifying as this violence is, it does not fully equate with the systemic violence now waged by the state on both the domestic and foreign fronts. on the domestic front, state violence in4 5 response to the occupy movement in its fi rst six months has been decisive and swift: “there have been at least 6705 arrests in over 112 different cities as of march 6, 2012.” similarly, in montreal, canada thousands of peaceful protests have been arrested while protesting tuition increases, increasing debt burdens, and other assaults on young people and the social state. what does it mean as young people make diverse claims on the promise of a radical democracy and articulate their vision of a fair and just world that they are increasingly met with forms of physical, ideological, and structural violence? abandoned by the existing political system, young people are placing their bodies on the line, occupying shrinking public spaces in a symbolic gesture that also deploys concrete measures demanding their presence be recognized when their voices are no longer being heard. they have, for the most part, protested peacefully while trying to produce a new language, political culture, public institutions, and a “community that manifests the values of equality and mutual respect that they see missing in a world that is structured by neoliberal principles.” young people are organizing in opposition to the structural violence of the state while also attempting to reclaim the discourse of the common good, social justice, and economic equality. rejecting the notion that democracy and markets are the same or that capitalism is the only ideological and economic system that can speak in the name of democracy, youth movements are calling for an end to poverty, the suppression of dissent, the permanent warfare state, and the corporate control of the commanding institutions of politics and culture. many of us have been inspired by the hope for a better future that these young people represent for the nation as a whole. yet, of utmost concern is the backlash the protesters have faced for exercising their democratic rights. surely, what must be addressed by anyone with a stake in safeguarding what little remains of u.s. democracy is the immediate threat that an emerging police state poses not just to the young protesters occupying a number of north american cities but to the promise of a real democracy. this threat to the possibility of a democratic social order only increases with the ascendancy of a war-like mentality and neoliberal modes of discipline and education which make it that much more diffi cult to imagine, let alone enact, communal obligation, social responsibility, and civic engagement. unless the actions of young protesters, however diverse they may be, are understood as a robust form of civic courage commensurate with a vital democracy, it will be diffi cult for the american public to resist an increase in state violence and the framing of protests, dissent, and civic responsibility as un-american or, even worse, a species of criminal behavior. stuart hall suggests that the current historical moment, or what he calls the “long march of the neoliberal revolution,”6 has to be understood in terms of the varied forms of violence that it deploys and reinforces. such anti-democratic pressures and their provocation of the protests of young people in the united states and abroad have deepened an escalating crisis symptomatic of what alex honneth has termed the “failed sociality” 4. see http://occupyarrests.moonfruit.com/ 5. kyle bella, “bodies in alliance: gender theorist judith butler on the occupy and slutwalk movements,” truthout (december 15, 2011), http:// www.truth-out.org/bodies-alliance-gender-theorist-judith-butler-occupy-and-slutwalk-movements/1323880210 6. stuart hall, “the march of the neoliberals,” the guardian (september 12, 2011), http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/12/march-of-theneoliberals association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 12 punishing youth and saturated violence in the era of casino capitalism characteristic of neoliberal states.7 in turn, state and corporate media-fueled perceptions of such a crisis have been used to stimulate fear and justify the creeping expansion of a militarized and armed state as the enforcer of neoliberal policies amid growing public dissent. police violence against young people must therefore be situated within a broader set of categories that enables a critical understanding of the underlying social, economic, and political forces at work in such assaults. that is, in order to adequately address state-sponsored violence against young people, one should consider the larger context of the devolution of the social state and the corresponding rise of the warfare state. the notion of historical conjuncture—or a parallel set of forces coalescing at one moment in time—is important here because it provides both an opening into the factors shaping a particular historical moment and it allows for a merging of theory and strategy in our understanding of the conditions with which we are now faced. in this case, it helps us to address theoretically how youth protests are largely related to a historically specifi c neoliberal project that promotes vast inequalities in income and wealth, creates the student loan debt bomb, eliminates much needed social programs, eviscerates the social wage, and privileges profi ts and commodities over people. within the united states and canada, the often violent response to non-violent forms of youth protest must also be analyzed within the framework of a mammoth military-industrial state and its commitment to extending violence and war through the entire society. as the late philosopher tony judt put it, “the united states is becoming not just a militarized state but a military society: a country where armed power is the measure of national greatness, and war, or planning for war, is the exemplary (and only) common project.”8 the blending of the military-industrial complex with state interests and unbridled corporate power points to the need for strategies that address what is specifi c about the current neoliberal project and how different modes of power, social relations, public pedagogies, and economic confi gurations come together to shape its politics. such considerations provide theoretical openings for making the practices of the warfare state and the neoliberal revolution visible in order “to give the resistance to its onward march, content, and focus, a cutting edge.”9 it also points to the conceptual value of making clear that history remains an open horizon that cannot be dismissed through appeals to the end of history or end of ideology.10 it is precisely through the indeterminate nature of history that resistance becomes possible. while there is always hope because a democratic political project refuses any guarantees, most americans today are driven by shared fears, stoked to a great extent by mediainduced hysteria. corporations stand ready to supply a culture of fear with security and surveillance technologies that, far from providing greater public safety, do little more than ensure the ongoing militarization of the entire society, including the popular media and the cultural apparatuses that shape everyday life. images abound in the mainstream media of such abuses. there is the now famous image of an 84-year-old woman looking straight into a camera after attending a protest rally, her face drenched in a liquid spray used by the police. there is the image of the 19-year-old pregnant woman being carried to safety after being pepper-sprayed by the police. there are the now all-too-familiar images of young people being dragged by their hair across a street to a waiting police van.11 in some cases, protesters have been seriously hurt. scott olsen, an iraq war veteran, was critically injured in a protest in oakland in october 2011. on march 17, 2012, young protesters attempting to re-establish an occupy camp at zuccotti park in new york were confronted by excessive police violence. the guardian reported that over 73 people were arrested in one day and that “a woman suffered a seizure while handcuffed on a sidewalk, another protester was thrown into a glass door by police offi cers before being handcuffed, and a young woman said she was choked and dragged by her hair….witnesses claimed police punched one protester several times in the head while he was subdued by at least four offi cers.”12 another protester claimed the police broke his thumb and injured his jaw. such stories have become commonplace in recent years, and so many are startling reminders 7. alex honneth, pathologies of reason (new york: columbia university press, 2009), p. 188. 8. tony judt, “the new world order,” the new york review of books 11:12 (july 14, 2005), pp. 14-18. 9. stuart hall, “the neo-liberal revolution,” cultural studies 25:6 (november 2011), p. 706. 10. daniel bell, the end of ideology: on the exhaustion of political ideas in the fifties (new york: free press, 1966) and the more recent francis fukuyama, the end of history and the last man (new york: free press, 2006). 11. philip govrevitch, “whose police,” the new yorker (november 17, 2011), http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2011/11/occupywall-street-police-bloomberg.html 12. ryan devereaux, “dozens arrested as occupy wall street marks anniversary with fresh protests,” the guardian (march 18, 2012), http://www. guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/18/occupy-wall-street-six-month-anniversary/print association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 13 punishing youth and saturated violence in the era of casino capitalism of the violence used against civil rights demonstrators by the forces of jim crow in the fi fties and sixties.13 these stories are also indicative that a pervasive use of violence and the celebration of war-like values are no longer restricted to a particular military ideology, but have become normalized through the entire society. as michael geyer points out, militarization in this sense is defi ned as “the contradictory and tense social process in which civil society organizes itself for the production of violence.”14 the war on terror has become a war on democracy, as police departments and baton-wielding cops across the nation are now being supplied with the latest military equipment and technologies imported straight from the battlefi elds of iraq and afghanistan. procuring drones, machine-gun-equipped armored trucks, swat vehicles, “digital communications equipment and kevlar helmets, like those used by soldiers used in foreign wars,”15 is justifi ed through reference to the domestic war against “terrorists” (code for young protesters) and provides new opportunities for major defense contractors and corporations to become ever “more a part of our domestic lives.”16 as glenn greenwald confi rms, the united states since 9/11 “17 has aggressively paramilitarized the nation’s domestic police forces by lavishing them with countless military-style weapons and other war-like technologies, training them in war-zone military tactics, and generally imposing a war mentality on them. arming domestic police forces with paramilitary weaponry will ensure their systematic use even in the absence of a terrorist attack on u.s. soil; they will simply fi nd other, increasingly permissive uses for those weapons.” with the growth of a new militarized state, it should come as little surprise that “by age 23, almost a third of americans are arrested for a crime.” 18 in a society that has few qualms with viewing its young people as predators, a threat to corporate governance, and a disposable population, the violent acts infl icted on youth by a punishing state will no doubt multiply with impunity. domestic paramilitary forces will certainly undermine free speech and dissent with the threat of force, while also potentially violating core civil liberties and human rights. in other words, the prevailing move in american society toward permanent war status sets the stage for the acceptance of a set of unifying symbols rooted in a survival-of-the-fi ttest ethic that promotes conformity over dissent, the strong over the weak, and fear over civic responsibility. with the emergence of a militarized society, “the range of acceptable opinion inevitably shrinks,”19 as violence becomes the fi rst and most important element of power and a mediating force in shaping all social relationships. 2021the grave reality is that violence saturates almost every aspect of north american culture. domestically, violence weaves through the cultural and social landscape like a highly charged electric current burning everything in its path. popular culture has become a breeding ground for a form of brutal masculine authority and the celebration of violence it incorporates has become the new norm in america. representations of violence dominate the media and too often parade before viewers less as an object of critique than as a forprofi t spectacle and heightened source of pleasure. as much as any form of governance seeks compliance among the governed, the permanent war state uses modes of public pedagogy—practices of pedagogical persuasion—to address, enlist, and construct subjects willing to abide by its values, ideology, and narratives of fear and violence. legitimation in the united states is largely provided through a market-driven culture addicted to consumerism, militarism, and spectacles of organized violence. circulated through various registers of popular culture, cruelty and violence imbue the worlds of high fashion and hollywood movies, reality tv, extreme sports, video games, and around-the-clock news media. the american public is bombarded by an unprecedented “huge volume of exposure to... images of human suffering.” as zygmunt bauman argues, “the sheer numbers and monotony of 13. phil rockstroh, “the police state makes its move: retaining one’s humanity in the face of tyranny,” commondreams (november 15, 2011), http:// www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/15 14. michael geyer, “the militarization of europe, 1914–1945,” in the militarization of the western world, ed. john r. gillis (new york: rutgers university press, 1989), p. 79. 15. andrew becker and g.w. schulz, “cops ready for war,” readersupportednews (december 21, 2011), http://readersupportednews.org/newssection2/316-20/9023-focus-cops-ready-for-war 16. becker and schulz, “cops ready for war.” 17. glenn greenwald, “the roots of the uc-davis pepper-spraying,” salon (november 20, 2011), http://www.salon.com/2011/11/20/the_roots_ of_the_uc_davis_pepper_spraying/ 18. erica goode, “many in u.s. are arrested by age 23, study finds,” new york times (december 19, 2011), p. a15. 19. judt, “the new world order,” p.17. 20. zygmunt bauman, life in fragments (malden: blackwell, 1995), p. 149. 21. bauman, life in fragments, pp. 149-150. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 14 punishing youth and saturated violence in the era of casino capitalism images may have a ‘wearing off’ impact [and] to stave off the ‘viewing fatigue,’ they must be increasingly gory, shocking, and otherwise ‘inventive’ to arouse any sentiments at all or indeed draw attention. the level of ‘familiar’ violence, below which the cruelty of cruel acts escapes attention, is constantly rising.” when an increasing volume of violence is pumped into the culture as fodder for sports, entertainment, news media, and other pleasure-seeking outlets, yesterday’s spine-chilling and nerve-wrenching violence loses its shock value. one consequence is that today’s audiences exhibit more than mere desensitization or indifference to violence. they are not merely passive consumers, but instead demand prurient images of violence in a way that fuels their increasing production. spectacularized violence is now unmoored from moral considerations or social costs. it now resides, if not thrives, in a diverse commercially infused set of cultural apparatuses that offers up violence as a commodity with the most attractive and enjoyable pleasure quotient. representations of torture, murder, sadism, and human suffering have become the stuff of pure entertainment, offering a debased outlet for experiencing intense pleasure and the thrill of a depoliticized and socially irresponsible voyeurism. the consuming subject is now educated to take intense pleasure in watching—if not also participating as agents of death—in spectacles of cruelty and barbarism. after all, assuming the role of a fi rst shooter in the age of video game barbarism has become an unquestioned badge of both pleasure and dexterity, leading potentially to an eventual employment by the defense department to operate drone aircraft in the video saturated bunkers of death in some suburban west coast town. seemingly unconstrained by a moral compass based on a respect for human and non-human life, u.s. culture is increasingly shaped by a disturbing collective desire for intense excitement and a never-ending fl ood of heightened sensations. although challenging to ascertain precisely how and why the collective culture continues to plummet to new depths of depravity, it is far less diffi cult to identify the range of horrifi c outcomes and social costs that come with this immersion in a culture of staged violence. when previously unfamiliar forms of violence, such as extreme images of torture and death, become banally familiar, the violence that occurs daily becomes barely recognizable, relegated to the realm of the unnoticed and unnoticeable. hyper-violence and spectacular representations of cruelty disrupt and block our ability to respond politically and ethically to the violence as it is actually happening on the ground. how else to explain the public indifference to the violence waged by the state against non-violent youthful protesters who are rebelling against a society in which they have been excluded from any claim on hope, prosperity, equality, and justice? cruelty has saturated everyday life when young people, once the objects of compassion and social protections, are treated as either consumers and commodities, on the one hand, or suspects and criminals on the other. disregard for young people and a growing taste for violence can also be seen in policies that sanction the modeling of public schools after prisons. we see the criminalization of disadvantaged youth, instead of the social conditions which they are forced to endure. behaviors that were once handled by teachers, guidance counselors, and school administrators are now dealt with by the police and the criminal justice system. the consequences have been disastrous for young people. not only do schools take on the technologies and culture of prisons and engage in punishment creep, but young children are being arrested and put on trial for behaviors that can only be called trivial. there was the case of the 5-year-old girl in florida who was put in handcuffs and taken to the local jail because she had a temper tantrum; or the 13-year-old girl in a maryland school who was arrested for refusing to say the pledge of allegiance. alexa gonzales in new york was another student arrested by police— for doodling on her desk. there is more at work in these cases than stupidity and a fl ight from responsibility on the part of educators, parents, law enforcement offi cers, and politicians who maintain these policies. clearly, embedded in these actions is also the sentiment that young people constitute a threat to adults, and that the only way to deal with them is to subject them to mind-crushing punishment. students being miseducated, criminalized, and subjected to forms of penal pedagogy in prison-type schools provide a grim reminder of the degree to which the ethos of containment and punishment now creeps into spheres of everyday life that were once largely immune from this type of offi cial violence. some of the most shocking examples of the increasing tendency to use excessive forms of punishment on students as well as process them through what is called the “school-to prison pipeline” is on full display in two recent reports. one stateimpact report stated that public schools in florida and ohio often used a disciplinary association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 15 punishing youth and saturated violence in the era of casino capitalism practice called “seclusion.”22 that is, they repeatedly 2324locked “children away in cell-like rooms, closets or old offi ces, sometimes without their parents’ knowledge.” in ohio, “which sent students to seclusion rooms 4, 236 times in the 2009-2010 school year, sixty percent of these students had disabilities.” such practices boggle the mind and have no educational value whatsoever. in fact, seclusion has been found to be deeply traumatizing to some students and in some cases children have tried to hurt themselves or commit suicide. 252627thinkprogress reported that “in one special education school in georgia, a 13-year-old boy hung himself in a seclusion room in november 2004.” it gets worse. a department of justice report uncovered a “school to prison pipeline” in mississippi which revealed that principals and teachers in the schools in meridian, mississippi sent largely black and disabled students “to prison for minor disciplinary problems [such as] dress code violations, fl atulence, profanity and disrespect.” these disciplinary practices suggest that students who are poor, disabled, and vulnerable now inhabit schools that have become “zones of abandonment” that exist beyond the formal rules of school governance where students “become unknowable with no human rights.” under such circumstances, students become voiceless and thus powerless, subject to disciplinary procedures that erase any vestige of agency, subjectivity, or self-recognition. all of these violations point to the ongoing and growing fundamentalisms and “rule of exceptions” in the american polity that bear witness to a growing militarization of american society. such disciplinary practices also point to a society that is not only at war with its children, but is also in the thrall of a galloping authoritarianism in which the chief function of schooling is repression, especially for low-income and poor minority students as well as those with disabilities and special needs.28 public schools for low income and poor minority children have become what joão biehl calls a “machinery of social death” where young people considered disposable are “often placed in a state of ‘terminal exclusion.’”29 governing-through-crime policies also remind us that we live in an era that breaks young people, corrupts the notion of justice, and saturates the minute details of everyday life with the threat if not yet the reality of violence. a return to violent spectacles and other medieval types of punishment infl ict pain on both the psyches and the bodies of young people. equally disturbing is how law-and-order policies and practices in the united states appear to take their cue from a past era of slavery. studies have shown that “arrests and police interactions… disproportionately affect low-income schools with large african-american and latino populations,”30 paving the way for these youth to move almost effortlessly through what has been called the school-to-prison pipeline. sadly, the next step one envisions for such a society is a reality tv franchise in which millions tune in to watch young kids being handcuffed, arrested, tried in the courts, and sent to juvenile detention centers. this is not merely barbarism parading as reform—it is also a blatant indicator of the degree to which sadism and the infatuation with violence have become normalized in a society that seems to take delight in dehumanizing itself. the prevalence of institutionalized violence in american society and other parts of the world suggests the need for a new conversation and politics that address what a just and fair world looks like. young people and others marginalized by class, race, and ethnicity appear to have been abandoned as american society’s claim on democracy gives way to the forces of militarism, market fundamentalism, and state terrorism. until educators, 22. john o’connor and sarah gonzalez, “many florida schools use seclusion rooms for students with disabilities,” stateimpact (april 9, 2012). online: http://stateimpact.npr.org/fl orida/2012/08/09/many-fl orida-schools-use-seclusion-rooms-for-students-with-disabilitiesstudents with disabilities,” stateimpact (april 9, 2012). online: http://stateimpact.npr.org/fl orida/2012/08/09/many-fl orida-schools-use-seclusion-rooms-forstudents-with-disabilities 23. see john o’connor and sarah gonzalez, “many florida schools use seclusion rooms for students with disabilities.” 24. aviva shen, “ohio and florida public schools lock mentally disaled chldren in closets,” thinkprogress (august 9, 2012). online: http://thinkprogress.org/education/2012/08/09/667931/ohio-fl orida-school-closets/ 25. ibid. aviva shen, “ohio and florida public schools lock mentally disaled chldren in closets.” 26. annie-rose strasser, “mississippi schools sending kids to prison for misbehaving in the classroom,” thinkprogress (august 13, 2012). online: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/13/681261/mississippi-schools-sending-kids-to-prison-for-misbehaving-in-the-classroom/ 27. joao biehl, vita: life in a zone of social abandonment (berkeley: university of california press, 2005), p. 4 28. i have borrowed this idea of school as a repressive institution from stanley aronowitz, “paulo freire’s pedagogy: not mainly a teaching method,” in robert lake and tricia kress, paulo freire’s intellectual roots: toward historicity in praxis (new york, ny: continuum, 2012), in press. 29. ibid. pp. 10-11, 14. 30. smartypants, “a failure of imagination,” smartypants blog spot (march 3, 2010), http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2010/03/failure-ofimagination.html association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 16 punishing youth and saturated violence in the era of casino capitalism intellectuals, academics, young people, and other concerned citizens address how a physics and metaphysics of war and violence have taken hold on american society and the savage social costs they have exacted, the forms of social, political, and economic violence that young people are currently protesting against as well as the violence waged in response to their protests will become impossible to recognize and act on. the american public needs to make visible and critically engage the underlying ideological, political, educational, and economic forces that embrace violence as both a commodity, spectacle, and mode of governing. such an approach would address the necessity of understanding the emerging pathology of violence not just through a discourse of fear or isolated spectacles, but through policies that effectively implement the wider social, economic, and political reforms necessary to curb the culture of violence and the institutions that are sustained by it. there is a cult of violence in america and it is reinforced by a type of collective ignorance spread endlessly by special interests such as the national rifl e association, politicians wedded to the largess of the military-industrial complex, and a national entertainment-corporate complex that both employs violence and uses it to refi gure the meaning of news, entertainment, and the stories america tells itself about its national identity and sense of destiny. violence is not something to be simply criminalized by extending the reach of the criminal justice system to the regime of criminals that now run the most powerful fi nancial services and industries. it must be also understood as part of a politics of distraction, a poisonous public pedagogy that depoliticizes as much as it entertains and corrupts. that is, it must be addressed as a political issue that within the current historical moment is both deployed by the neoliberal state against young people, and employed as part of the reconfi guration or transformation of the social state into the punishing state. at the heart of this transformation is the emergence of new form of corporate sovereignty, a more intense form of state violence, a ruthless survival of the fi ttest ethic used to legitimate the concentrated power of the rich, and a concerted effort to punish young people who are out of step with neoliberal ideology, values, and modes of governance. of course, these anti-democratic tendencies represent more than a threat to young people, they also put in peril all of those individuals, groups, public spheres, and institutions now considered disposable because that are at odds with a world run by bankers, the fi nancial elite, and the rich. only a well-organized movement of young people, educators, workers, parents, religious groups, and other concerned citizens will be capable of changing the power relations and vast economic inequalities that have generated what has become a country in which it is almost impossible to recognize the ideals of a real democracy. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 3 2017 amae invited special issue answering the call: hispanic-serving institutions as leaders in the quest for access, excellence, and equity in american higher education guest editors tracy arámbula ballysingh caroline s. turner university of vermont california state university, sacramento desiree d. zerquera victor b. sáenz university of san francisco the university of texas at austin editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 154 becoming an hispanic-serving research institution: involving graduate students in organizational change patricia marin michigan state university priscilla pereschica university of california, santa barbara abstract the changing demographics of higher education have led to an increase in the number and type of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis). as research universities continue to see a rise in the enrollment of latino/a students, a better understanding of the implications of this change within the existing institutional context will be essential to best serve this growing community of students. we position our study within a tradition of organizational culture theory that points to the importance of organizational actors’ interpretations, perspectives, and actions in order to understand an organization’s general behavior and change. by acknowledging the importance of graduate students within research universities, we focus on their perspectives at an emerging hispanic-serving research institution (hsri) and ask, “what are the organizational culture implications of an hsi designation for a research university?” our analysis revealed four important themes: communicating institutional pride as an hsri, engaging the benefits of an hsri, operationalizing a serving mission, and involving graduate students as institutional actors at hsris. institutional recommendations that follow from our findings include providing clear communication regarding hsi status, objectives, and commitment; assessing the campus climate; and increasing graduate student involvement as key leaders within hsris. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.3.365 association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 155 introduction for decades, demographers have predicted increases in the u.s. latino/a population. this growth has resulted in significant changes in latino/a higher education enrollment: in 2014, 35% of latinos/as ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in college, an increase of 13 percentage points since 1993. this represents a greater enrollment increase than that observed for whites, blacks, or asians during approximately the same time period1 (krogstad, 2016). because hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) are largely classified based on latino/a enrollment—they must have at least 25% latino/a undergraduates—the changing demographics of higher education have led to an increase in the number and type of hsis (excelencia in education [excelencia], 2016). although historically the vast majority of hsis have included community colleges and teaching-focused comprehensive universities, over time this designation has expanded to other sectors. most recently, due to changing enrollment, research universities with the highest research activity (research 1 institutions) are adding hsi to their list of classifications, deliberately or not (excelencia, 2016). despite the various types of institutions now included among the hsis ranks, however, the policy, practice, and research conversations have primarily centered on institutions that are under-resourced, broad-access institutions (e.g., conrad & gasman, 2015; núñez, hurtado, & galdeano, 2015). while this narrative is important, it is no longer the story of all hsis. consequently, as more types of institutions take on the hsi classification or meet the criteria for being eligible to do so, it is critical that researchers continue to trace such shifts so that hsis are not characterized as a monolithic group. ultimately, as research universities continue to see a rise in the enrollment of latino/a students, a better understanding of the implications of this change within the existing institutional context will be essential for these institutions to incorporate the hsi designation into their identity and best serve this growing community of students they enroll. different from most hsis, research 1 institutions typically include a substantial graduate student body. this group of individuals is essential to an r1 for many reasons, including the service and support they provide as teaching assistants, research assistants, lab instructors, and mentors to undergraduates. because of their engagement with the organization through 1 data for asians are only available starting in 1999. marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 156 multiple roles, these students provide unique insight into the implications of organizational change. with this important vantage point in mind, in this study we focus on the perspectives of graduate students at a research 1 emerging hsi2 to answer our research question: what are the organizational culture implications of an hsi designation for a research university? to frame this work, we first provide a brief history of hsis and summarize existing strands of hsi research. to make clear why graduate students’ perspectives are particularly important in the emerging hsi context, we then highlight studies of the contributions of graduate students within research institutions. next, we position our study within a tradition of organizational culture theory that points to the importance of considering organizational actors’ interpretations, perspectives, and actions to understand an organization’s general behavior and change. finally, after explaining our methodology and presenting our four major themes, we discuss the related implications for hispanic-serving research institutions (hsri)—the term we use to distinguish this group of institutions from other hsis—with a focus on recommendations for institutional practice. hispanic-serving institutions: history and research hispanic-serving institutions are unique among minority-serving institutions (msis) because they were not necessarily created with a mission to serve latino/a students. in fact, their mission statements may not even reflect their hsi status (núñez & elizondo, 2012). rather, these institutions became hsis through population shifts and increasing latino/a undergraduate enrollment, resulting in institutions that are hsis due to demography and not necessarily intention. in the 1980s a growing concern emerged among higher education leaders about latinos/as’ limited access to college and low college degree completion rates. further fueling these concerns was the fact that large percentages of latino/a students were enrolled in a concentrated number of poorly funded institutions. these institutions carried a great responsibility to educate latino/a students and to provide them a quality education (santiago, 2006). as a result, at that time concerned advocacy groups and institutional and government leaders explored ways to support these institutions with the goal of improving latinos/as’ access to higher education as well as their college completion rates. after various failed 2 excelencia (2016) defines emerging hsis as having “15–24% undergraduate hispanic fte enrollment” (p. 4). association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 157 legislative attempts, hsis were finally federally recognized in 1992 as institutions with a latino/a undergraduate enrollment of 25% triggering access to federal funding supporting the development of these institutions. as latino/a enrollment in higher education continues to increase, so does the number of hsis. in 2014–2015, 435 institutions were identified as hsis and 310 institutions were identified as emerging hsis (excelenica, 2016), representing increases of 26 and 14 institutions, respectively, from the previous academic year. of the current hsis, the majority of institutions are public, two-year (46%); 28% are private, four-year; 21% are public, four-year; and four percent are private, two-year. nearly 40% of these institutions (n=172) have graduate programs and, among those, 90 institutions have doctoral programs (excelencia, 2016). seven of the hsis with doctoral programs are listed in ipeds as “highest research activity” with 17 more institutions with similar classification identified as emerging hsis. as the number of hsis with graduate programs has more than tripled in the last 20 years, it is a phenomenon that deserves further study to better understand the similarities and differences of these institutions as compared to other hsis. despite these changes in the landscape of hsis, the majority of research continues to focus on other institutional types. current research on hsis includes several lines of inquiry. for example, some strands of research have focused on the development of hsis, their institutional characteristics, and the institutional agents of hsis (e.g., de los santos & de los santos, 2003; doran, 2015; garcía & ramirez, 2015; laden, 2004; murphy, 2013; santiago, 2006). additional research has examined factors that influence latino/a students’ persistence, success, and college-going experiences at hsis suggesting that the unique context at hsis is an important factor impacting educational outcomes for these students (e.g., arana, castañeda-sound, blanchard, & aguilar, 2011; arbelomarrero & milacci, 2016; cuellar, 2012; fosnacht & nailos, 2016; maestas, vaquera, & zehr, 2007; musoba, collazo, & placide, 2013). other studies have focused on why students choose to attend hsis (e.g., cejda, casparis, & rhodes, 2002; núñez & bowers, 2011; núñez, sparks, & hernandez, 2011; santiago, 2008; torres & zerquera, 2012). generally, with a few exceptions, research institutions are not reflected in these bodies of work. a handful of studies have focused solely on graduate students at hsis (e.g., craven & kimmel, 2002; perez, 2011; tran, 2011; vaquera, 2008). vaquera’s (2008) study of doctoral student persistence at the university of new mexico, an r1 hsi, found that latino/a students marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 158 reported higher levels of persistence than their peers of other racial/ethnic groups. the author suggests that the institution itself, as an hsi, created an environment conducive to their success. this environment included the visibility of latino/a students and faculty, positive relationships with faculty advisors, and positive academic integration (e.g., participation in academic activities like conferences) and academic satisfaction. another study on graduate students at hsis found that while graduate students’ persistence/dedication and time-on-task to their academics were the strongest variables contributing to their success, graduate student involvement, positive interactions with faculty and peers, and the structure and organization of the students’ departments and programs were also important factors (perez, 2011). generally focusing on the experiences of the graduate students themselves, this literature suggests the importance of involvement, integration, and positive relationships with others. to fill the gap in the hsi literature that examines r1 institutions, our study focuses on graduate students as members of the university who play vital roles within the institution. the institution in our study is a public, four-year research 1 university that offers master’s and doctoral degrees. at the time of our study, it was an emerging hsi, closely approaching hsi status. graduate students as important and influential actors in research institutions the roles of graduate students position them as important and influential actors within research institutions. in this study, we focus on the roles that connect graduate students with undergraduates as this is the population that determines hsi status. graduate student roles include: teaching assistant, graduate assistant, research assistant, and mentor (austin, 2002; dolan & johnson, 2009; flora, 2007; gardner & barnes, 2007; park, 2004). graduate students who serve as teaching assistants, for example, teach in classrooms and laboratories, lead discussions, grade student work, and advise undergraduates on academic and non-academic issues (park, 2004). these opportunities, while providing support to undergraduates, simultaneously train graduate students to deepen their understanding about their discipline and provide opportunities to practice faculty duties (austin, 2002; park, 2004). mentorship between graduate and undergraduate students can also be a mutually beneficial experience (dolan & johnson, 2009; reddick, griffin, cherwitz, cérda-pražák, & bunch, 2012). graduate student mentors often train undergraduate students in research, supervise them on research projects, and provide academic and interpersonal support. in association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 159 particular, graduate students have noted the importance of mentoring female students and students of color to advance these students through the educational pipeline, thus increasing diversity in graduate school and academia (reddick et al., 2012). in turn, graduate students benefit from help that undergraduates provide on research projects, opportunities to develop their advising and mentoring skills, and an increased sense of empathy and self-awareness from these experiences. many of these benefits make them more marketable, especially when they have worked with students with a diverse set of backgrounds (dolan & johnson, 2009). overall, literature on the roles of graduate students indicates they can have significant involvement with and impact on undergraduate students, while simultaneously benefiting from these experiences. tying this to the organizational culture literature we use as our conceptual framework, we focus on the perspectives of graduate students to examine the organizational culture of emerging hsris—institutions that are shifting demographically because of undergraduate enrollment. conceptual framework: organizational culture literature and hsis given this important background and the need to better understand research universities within an hsi context, we turn to organizational theory and respond to garcía’s (2015) call to use this theory to study change within hsis. using organizational theory allows researchers to uncover “ways in which hsis are in fact changing…into organizations that embrace their newfound role to serve latina/o students” (p. 84). in this context, we can broadly consider “values, processes, and goals” (tierney, 1988, p. 3) of members of the organization and how, or even whether, changes are occurring. although few studies on hsis use organizational theory, “empirical research suggests that the organizational culture of each hsi is unique and enhances a number of important outcomes” (garcía, 2015, p. 89). for example, cuellar (2014) studies the impact of the institutional contexts of hsis, emerging hsis, and non-hsis on the academic self-concept of latino/a students. doran’s (2015) case study of the university of texas at san antonio focuses on an hsi with tier one aspirations and the impact of this “striving” on its historical focus on access. another study “complicate[s] what it means [for an hsi] to have a latina/o-serving identity” (garcía, 2016a, p. 137), suggesting that “a latina/o-serving organizational identity is multifaceted” (p. 137). collectively, these studies highlight the developing literature on hsis and organizational culture. marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 160 turning to the broader literature, researchers often employ organizational culture perspectives to study change in higher education institutions (garcía, 2015; kezar & eckel, 2002) because, in addition to external factors of influence, institutions “are also shaped by strong forces that emanate from within” (tierney, 1988, p. 3). as suggested by tierney (1988), this internal dynamic has its roots in the history of the organization and derives its force from the values, processes, and goals held by those most intimately involved in the organization’s workings. an organization’s culture is reflected in what is done, how it is done, and who is involved in doing it. it concerns decisions, actions, and communication both on an instrumental and a symbolic level. (p. 3) concepts used to study the organizational culture of a university include: environment, mission, socialization, information, strategy, and leadership (tierney, 1988). while each concept occurs within institutional settings, they can differ in “the way they occur, the forms they take, and the importance they have” (p. 9). ultimately, tierney posits that to understand organizational culture one must include the interpretations of those individuals within the organization. this is supported by the work of gonzales, lanhai, and hall (forthcoming) who indicate: it is important to note that although an organizational theorist’s overriding concern is the organization, this does not preclude them from being interested in questions related to human perspectives, experiences, or interactions. indeed, people’s experiences and engagements are very often the entry point for understanding and theorizing about organizations and have been for a long time. our study, then, contributes to the literature by examining the organizational culture of an emerging hsri, in broad strokes, using graduate students as our “entry point” (gonzales et al., forthcoming), a group “most intimately involved” (tierney, 1988, p. 3) in essential functions of an r1 institution, especially those pertaining to undergraduate students. methodology, data, & analysis this study focuses on the perspectives of graduate students at an emerging hsri and broadly asks, “what are the organizational culture implications of an hsi designation for a research university?” as two latina researchers who have worked in higher education, this study stemmed from our interests in and commitment to hsis and our belief in the importance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 161 of these institutions serving their students. further, our interest in research institutions and graduate students raised questions for us about potential changes to organizational culture and the related unique possibilities and challenges of this sector among hsis. we employed a qualitative design for our study. using purposive sampling we selected an r1 emerging hispanic-serving research institution to study a university just before it became an hsi, allowing participants to consider future changes to organizational culture as a result of an eventual hsi designation. when we conducted the research, the institution was on the cusp of reaching 25% latino/a undergraduate enrollment3 providing a unique opportunity to expand the hsi literature by studying an emerging hsri. once we identified an institution, we emailed a public graduate student listserv to solicit participants. all masters and doctoral students were eligible to participate. the invitation stated that students would discuss their awareness of the institution’s hsi status and their related experiences and perspectives. we indicated that participants were not required to have prior knowledge of hsis. a $20 amazon gift card was offered to each participant. forty-five graduate students participated across 10 open-ended, one-hour focus groups. we employed focus groups because the interaction among participants would “highlight the agreements and disagreements in a particular population” (holstein & gubrium, 1995, p. 70)— in our case, graduate students. further, group interviews can yield a wider range of ideas, as well as reconstruction of viewpoints (morgan, 1988). in a group interview, students would be able to gain knowledge through the process and respond based on the information obtained during the focus group. students were assigned to groups based only on availability not by any other criteria or characteristic(s). ultimately, our sample was diverse and included representation from various racial/ethnic groups, as well as both domestic (35) and international students (10). of the domestic students, 18 self-identified as white, 11 as latino/a, two as black/african american, and four as asian/south asian. twenty-nine participants were female and 16 were male. participants included nine masters students, five masters/ph.d. students, and 31 doctoral students from a range of disciplines (social sciences, humanities and fine arts, education, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [stem]). only two 3 since the time this research was conducted, the institution has crossed the 25% threshold needed for hsi status. to maintain confidentiality promised to our participants, we do not identify the institution by name and minimize providing identifying characteristics. marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 162 participants previously attended an hsi. this diverse group of participants allowed us to simultaneously bring a wide range of viewpoints to the study while also benefiting from the unified experience of students enrolled in the same university. we designed our semi-structured interview protocol to gain insights from graduate students on the organizational culture implications of an hsi designation for a research university. with a focus on organizational culture, graduate students were encouraged to discuss the institution in its present context, as well as offer thoughts on a future that could include an hsi designation. this allowed students to compare and contrast potential cultural changes to an r1 that they thought should occur as the institution became an hsi. throughout the process, researchers encouraged participants to have exchanges with each other and not focus solely on responding to questions and prompts. to analyze our data, we used dedoose—a cross-platform application for analyzing qualitative data—to inductively code focus group transcripts guided by lincoln and guba’s (1985) method of qualitative data analysis. specifically, we started with the data, versus a priori categories, and allowed “the categories and names for categories to flow from the data” (hsieh & shannon, 2005, p. 1279). this allows “new insights to emerge” (p. 1279) instead of being limited by existing theory. lincoln and guba (1985) explain data analysis as having two main components: unitizing and categorizing. a researcher unitizes his or her data by searching for an element (phrase, sentence, paragraph) that is “heuristic” or “aimed at some understanding or some action that the inquirer needs to have or to take” (lincoln & guba, 1985, p. 345). in addition, this unit “must be the smallest piece of information about something that can stand by itself” (p. 345). this unitizing process, then, was applied to the qualitative data. after units were identified, they were grouped into broader categories. finally, we reviewed the data put into each category to confirm whether they were similar, and should be in the same category, or different, and should be put in other or new categories. ultimately, we used the final categories to observe patterns about the organizational culture of an emerging hsri as described by its graduate students. findings and discussion in this study, we focus on the perspectives of graduate students as individuals involved with essential functions of their institution to offer insights into the organizational culture of an association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 163 institution on its way to becoming an hsri. before discussing our resulting themes, we provide important context about our participants. first, prior to the information we shared in the study’s focus groups, graduate student participants held little to no knowledge concerning their institution approaching hsi designation. while some of the participants had heard the term “hispanic-serving institution,” the information they held was quite basic and generally incorrect. for example, one participant, acknowledging her confusion about the definition, asked “does that mean 50/50?” regardless of the awareness some had of the hsi term, most did not realize their own institution was on the verge of becoming an hsi. the few participants who had more knowledge of the topic tended to be in disciplines that would discuss the matter as a relevant academic subject—chicano/latino studies, education, sociology, or spanish/portuguese. after we provided graduate students with information about hsis (e.g., the federal definition, available funding opportunities and uses) and encouraged them to ask questions and discuss the issues with each other, many were able to contemplate the impact of the designation and related institutional issues, discussing both potential positive and negative effects. ultimately, our analysis revealed four important themes related to organizational culture from the perspective of graduate student participants: communicating institutional pride as an hsri, engaging the benefits of an hsri, operationalizing a serving mission, and involving graduate students as institutional actors at hsris. communicating institutional pride as an hsri participants first focused on the importance of a public acknowledgement from the institution regarding its new status upon becoming an hsi. as participants came to understand that their institution would be unique in its position as an hsri, they hoped that the institution would take the opportunity to demonstrate pride and encourage other institutions to do the same. as one student suggested, “[the institution should say], ‘we’re an hsi and not only that but we’re proud that we’re an hsi.’” one student indicated: if you become an hsi, being responsible about the portrayal of the emerging increase of hispanic students going to college [is important]…. and so i think it’s responsible for an hsi to make sure that the perception of that trend is a positive one. marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 164 participants agreed that there was great potential for this new designation to be seen as a negative both within and outside the campus and, therefore, highlighted the need for a positive institutional message because some people might not welcome the new hsi label. in fact, some participants indicated that any negative stereotypes about latinos/as could result in students and their families saying, “i don’t wanna be associated with that school.” as one student said, “in the short-term i think maybe the perception would not be universally favorable.” this would require a commitment to educating people about the benefits of the designation and addressing any misconceptions. participants articulated that there was potential for people to assume that the institution was changing its admission process to benefit latinos/as (which would be illegal), and that they also might assume the institution “will just start catering, only serving the latino population” which would generate “resentment” on the part of other racial/ethnic groups. in fact, some participants even wondered these things themselves, raising the issues in the focus groups. one student suggested that by becoming an hsi the institution was “going to push really good students out to get substandard people.” as these perceptions would not be in the institution’s interest, participants concluded that active institutional engagement to combat these notions, which would reflect a cultural change for the institution, would be important for the campus. because most of the students had not even heard about this on their campus, however, they questioned the plans the institution might have noting that it had not yet been incorporated into the institution’s messages but believed it was important for the campus to serve as a role model to other institutions and communicate, both internally and externally, about their new status. in particular they emphasized the responsibility of campus leaders to open and maintain communication with all students, faculty, staff, and external stakeholders, not just a select few, which would reflect a significant change. overall, students described a need on the part of the institution “to circulate information about this change,” “to be very transparent,” and to communicate a strong message of pride in the new hsi designation. participants believed that an hsi designation for a research institution in particular could lead to negative reactions and so leaders would be obligated to be proactive to address this. these insights of participants shed light on the mission and information components of an organizational culture framework and align with tierney’s (1988) discussion of organizational culture as he points out that institutions “can perform quite differently because of the way their association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 165 identities are communicated to internal and external constituents and because of the varying perceptions these groups may hold” (p. 3). engaging the benefits of an hsri participants discussed the benefits of an hsi designation for the campus due to increased student diversity. with regard to the campus, students imagined existing racial barriers breaking down as a result of increased interaction across racial lines but also suggested that this would require “a certain awareness across campus about how to effectively use those opportunities.” within the undergraduate classroom, students suggested that more diverse classes would provide an opportunity to “change the nature of the discussion or the examples that get brought up” making classes “more interesting” “because then we get to profit from that level of knowledge and that level of perspective.” one student concluded, “it’s diversifying perspectives that really allows research universities to flourish.” this aligns with existing literature on the educational benefits of diversity that highlights the potential educational opportunities resulting from increased campus diversity (e.g., chang, 2011) and that requires the intentional engagement of this diversity to reap its benefits (marin, 2000). echoing the sentiments of other participants, one student emphasized the benefits resulting from “the cultural change that will occur with a demographic change of students.” this aligns with the organizational culture literature that has examined the resulting benefits at hsis to educational outcomes (e.g., cuellar, 2014; doran, 2015). these insights from participants address environment, mission, and socialization components of organizational culture as articulated by tierney (1988), highlighting how the ongoing demographic changes at an hsri would, in fact, allow a research institution to “flourish” and more fully address its mission. operationalizing a serving mission as graduate student participants discussed the implications of organizational change at their institution, they couched some of their insights in a concern that the current hsi definition only emphasizes undergraduate enrollment and does not focus on student experience or other critical outcomes such as retention and graduation. participants acknowledged, then, that enrolling an increasing number of latino/a students includes the institutional responsibility to provide the support necessary for their success. as one student described, marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 166 it’s one thing to let people in but then it’s something else to make sure that they are supported…that they have resources….i mean, even if you’re hitting that 25% that still means that three out of every four people don’t look like you and aren’t like you and aren’t coming from a background like you and maybe don’t have the same first language as you and don’t have all of these social things that you don’t necessarily think about if you’re in the majority but all of a sudden when you’re not in the majority you can feel very different very quickly. and so part of that support is on the academic side but i think part of that support is also social support. it’s making people feel like they do belong at this institution and they’re not different or separate or whatever those things are. so, i think there’s a dual responsibility there and both of those contribute to helping people get through. it’s not just ‘let you in.’ it’s ‘get you through and help you be successful in whatever comes afterwards.’ ultimately, participants emphasized that even at an institution with 25% latino/a undergraduates, latinos/as would still be a numerical minority and the institution would need to be mindful of the need to ensure the students did not feel “different or separate.” furthering their thinking on operationalizing the “serving” part of the hispanic-serving institution term, graduate students decided that additional institutional responsibilities would include educating the campus and prospective students about hsis, dispelling stereotypes about latinos/as, and articulating how the institution planned to implement an hispanic-serving mission. these responsibilities stemmed from an acknowledgement of a current lack of knowledge about hsis as well as proliferating stereotypes about latino/a students that would need to be addressed because an increase in the population would not, in and of itself, change the stereotypes. in fact, several study participants thought that the increase in the latino/a population would lead to an increase in students with academic and language barriers, thus hurting the reputation of the institution. another student offered, “maybe more people will know how to dance.” overall, these insights suggest the importance of minimizing stereotypes, especially as new members join the community, and clearly articulating an hsi plan that requires the involvement of all members of the community. here participants engage organizational culture concepts of environment, socialization, information, and leadership (tierney, 1988) as they relate to the changes they believe are needed at an r1 institution becoming an hsi. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 167 involving graduate students as institutional actors at hsris although graduate students initially focused on the responsibilities of the formal institutional leadership, in due course and through discussion of their roles as graduate students, a majority of the students eventually saw clear and important responsibilities for themselves and other graduate students as their campus became an hsri. building upon the roles many of them already play as researchers, teaching assistants, and lab instructors for undergraduate students, they believed that their direct contact with undergraduates carried great responsibility to mentor latino/a students, both formally and informally, encouraging these undergraduates to persist and continue through the educational pipeline. one participant shared: i think for me specifically i would probably take on more of a mentorship type of role because i ta. i definitely would want to encourage latinas or latinos to pursue higher education, if that’s something that they’re thinking of. so i think it’s important to be a mentor. this mentorship also included exposing latino/a undergraduates to research, changing their position from “i don’t know if i can do that” to “i could do that,” as one participant suggested. ultimately, participants indicated that a challenge to being able to successfully contribute to the new designation would be the overall lack of awareness and knowledge on this topic on the part of graduate students. students, therefore, suggested institutionally provided training for graduate students, especially those who interact with undergraduates. such training would include information about hsis and latino/a students, as well as opportunities to increase cultural competency. in addition to the roles that they saw themselves playing, graduate students began to consider ways that a change in organizational culture would benefit them as well, even if they are not part of the hsi definition. in addition to simply increasing their own knowledge on the topic, one person described some potential spill-over benefits: “my hope would be that we would also see an increase [in], and also increased support for, graduate students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.” participants expressed an interest in being able to hire latino/a students to assist with research projects that required spanish speakers, as well as having a more diverse undergraduate population to expand their research pool (for those who require college-level participants). several participants acknowledged that they considered the overall marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 168 experience to provide them with a “marketable skill.” one participant framed it as: “after grad school you could be like, ‘yeah i was a grad student at an hsi university….i’ve worked with diverse undergrads.’ so that’s something you can take to the job market with you.” regardless of the responsibilities and benefits described by participants, generally they believed that it was essential for graduate students to at least be aware of the upcoming hsi designation and, at best, be involved with it. this, once again, relates to the institutional responsibility identified by participants. one student indicated: “i just think that we as students in general need to be more informed about [our campus’] participation in becoming an hsi because before this study i basically had no idea that this was going on.” another student added: well, i think with any institutional decision being made it’s important that all players are involved in that…. even though it may not directly impact them you never know. we’re still all a part of the same university so there can certainly be indirect benefits or consequences for certain decisions pertaining to subpopulations within [the institution]. so i think it’s important. ultimately, then, institutional leaders should be thinking about the contributions graduate students, an often-ignored population in the hsi conversation, can play to help with the responsibilities and challenges that exist for the campus and the information they need to better take on these roles within a changing organizational culture. this leads us to recommendations for institutional practice. implications for hispanic-serving research institutions this study expands the hsi literature by highlighting an emerging hsri approaching hsi designation and focusing on the perspectives of graduate students as key actors within these institutions. our findings present the insights of participants and their recognition of important aspects of a changing organizational culture as a research institution becomes an hsi. more specifically, they see themselves as important actors that need to be educated and trained to successfully contribute to the changing institution and contribute within a community that needs to intentionally adjust practices to be more aware, welcoming, and supportive of the changing student population, encouraging a collectivist cultural orientation. guiffrida, kiyama, waterman, and museus (2012) discuss the importance of institutional culture shifts that association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 169 consider the development of more communal environments that involve a wider range of campus and local community members. although guiffrida et al. (2012) specifically reference faculty, staff, parents, and community members, they do not mention graduate students. it is clear that our participants believe that as important members of research institutions they also have roles in this cultural shift that would “provide a more communal, welcoming environment for all students” (p. 83). although institutions generally become hsis due to changes in latino/a undergraduate student enrollment and not by mission, practice, or culture changes, our participants indicated that institutions must look beyond enrollment numbers and focus on serving their latino/a student population to ensure retention through graduation and beyond. while santiago (2012) posits that a “critical mass of students motivates an institution to change how it operates to better ‘serve’ these students” (santiago, 2012, p. 163), participants offered specific examples of such needed changes. from the perspective of the institution, this study offers concrete ways to educate, engage, and incorporate more members from the campus into the hsi process, especially graduate students. the recommendations that follow from our findings fall into the following categories, each suggesting changes to current organizational culture: provide clear communication regarding hsi status, objectives, and commitment; assess the campus climate; and increase graduate student involvement. provide clear communication regarding hsi status, objectives, and commitment study participants emphasized that a lack of communication regarding an institution’s hsi status, goals, and objectives makes way for misconceptions about the hsi definition and significance of this status, mistrust of institutional motives, and stereotypes about latino/a students and the latino/a community. it is, therefore, important that institutional leaders create a communication plan that is thoughtful in explaining how the institution’s hsi status will impact the campus and how it has the potential to benefit all students, including graduate students, and not just latino/a students. additionally, this messaging needs to reach all members of the campus community, including potential applicants, and not just select departments. the way the university chooses to unveil its messaging and incorporate it into the current culture may help set the tone for how the campus embraces the hsi status. one option for disseminating marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 170 information is to follow the model of the focus groups used in this project. ultimately, the study served not only as a research project but also as an opportunity to educate participants about their campus’ hsi designation. regardless of their motive to participate, at the conclusion of each focus group and the discussions that occurred among participants, most students indicated they had learned a great deal, were thinking further about the issues and their roles, and were interested to see how the institution would proceed. assess the campus climate graduate student participants shared concerns about the effects of an hsi designation on an already challenging campus climate and misconceptions and stereotypes directed towards latino/a students. campus climate can positively or negatively impact the academic and social experiences of students, thus, institutions should assess the campus climate for latino/a students prior to and after becoming an hsi. this can be achieved through surveys, interviews, and forums. following the recommendations of garcía (2016b), an additional step would be to more closely examine “microclimates,” a practice not currently employed, to identify differences that can be found within smaller units, such as departments, when compared to the campus as a whole. this information can help understand students’ experiences across the campus and can be used to educate those, including graduate students, who interact with undergraduate students in a range of environments. doing so ensures that community members contribute to an institutional culture that cultivates learning, research, and academic performance. increase graduate student involvement based on participants’ responses, we found that an institution’s hsi status does, in fact, implicate and impact graduate students—something not acknowledged in previous literature. graduate students are highly involved on r1 campuses and interact with undergraduates in many capacities—this tends to be typical of the organizational culture of an r1. they are the first point of contact for lecture and laboratory classes, they provide undergraduates with research opportunities, and they assist them with their academic and postbaccalaureate choices. just like staff and faculty, graduate students also support undergraduate students personally and academically. even though the hsi designation is based on undergraduate enrollment, graduate association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 171 students will be impacted by the changing undergraduate population and can contribute to the needed cultural change. therefore, institutions should maximize the roles and contributions of graduate students by including this population as it becomes an hsi. many campuses have a graduate student association that represents the graduate student constituency and interests. these types of associations can help institutions disseminate hsi information to educate graduate students, address any concerns or impacts that graduate students may face as a result of demographic shifts in their classes or labs, and connect with graduate students to increase their involvement with the changing undergraduate population. conclusion demographic changes to higher education institutions will continue. in particular, growing latino/a enrollment in all higher education sectors is resulting in an increase in the number of hispanic-serving research institutions—particularly doctoral granting institutions—a newer phenomenon in the hsi arena. for both research and practice this means that we must take a closer look at these institutions and not assume that everything we know about hsis will apply to them since the culture of each institution is different. for this reason, in our study we chose to focus on graduate students—key actors within research institutions who serve multiple roles and contribute to the institutional culture. our findings highlight benefits to take advantage of and responsibilities to act on. these require a shift in organizational culture to address existing and future challenges and point to the gains of including graduate students in that process. marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 172 references arana, r., castañeda-sound, c. l., blanchard, s., & aguilar, t. e. (2011). indicators of persistence for hispanic undergraduate achievement: toward an ecological model. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(3), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192711405058 arbelo-marrero, f., & milacci, f. (2016). a phenomenological investigation of the academic persistence of undergraduate hispanic nontraditional students at hispanic serving institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715584192 austin, a. e. (2002). preparing the next generation of faculty: graduate school as socialization to the academic career. the journal of higher education, 73(1), 94–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2002.11777132 cejda, b. d., casparis, c., & rhodes, j. (2002, april). influences on the educational decisions of hispanic students enrolled in hispanic serving institutions. paper presented at the annual conference of the council for the study of community colleges, seattle, wa. chang, m. j. (2011). quality matters: achieving benefits associated with racial diversity. columbus, oh: kirwin institute for the study of race and ethnicity. conrad, c., & gasman, m. (2015). educating a diverse nation: lessons from minority-serving institutions. cambridge, ma: harvard university. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674425477 craven, a. e., & kimmel, j. c. (2002, january). experiential analysis of a multicultural learning adventure in a hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 1(1), 59– 68. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192702001001006 cuellar, m. (2012). latina/o student success in higher education: models of empowerment at hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and non-hsis (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from eric. (1312420461; ed538768) cuellar, m. (2014). the impact of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and nonhsis on latina/o academic self-concept. the review of higher education, 37(4), 499–530. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2014.0032 de los santos, jr., a. g., & de los santos, g. e. (2003). hispanic-serving institutions in the 21st century: overview, challenges, and opportunities. journal of hispanic higher education, 2(4), 377–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192703256734 dolan, e., & johnson, b. j. (2009). toward a holistic view of undergraduate research experiences: an exploratory study of impact on graduate/postdoctoral mentors. journal of science education and technology, 18(6), 487–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956009-9165-3 doran, e. e. (2015). negotiating access and tier one aspirations: the historical evolution of a striving hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(4), 343–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715570638 association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 173 excelencia in education. (2016). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): 2014-15. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsi-cp2/research/hsis-at-glance flora, b. h. (2007). graduate assistants: students or staff, policy or practice? the current legal employment status of graduate assistants. journal of higher education policy and management, 29(3), 315–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600800701460867 fosnacht, k., & nailos, j. n. (2016). impact of the environment: how does attending a hispanicserving institution influence the engagement of baccalaureate-seeking latina/o students? journal of hispanic higher education, 15(3), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715597739 garcía, g. a. (2015). using organizational theory to study hispanic-serving institutions: an imperative research agenda. in a.-m. núñez, s. hurtado, & e. c. galdeano (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 82–98). new york, ny: routledge. garcía. g. a. (2016a). complicating a latina/o-serving identity at a hispanic-serving institution. the review of higher education, 40(1), 117–143. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2016.0040 garcía, g. a. (2016b). exploring student affairs professionals’ experiences with the campus racial climate at a hispanic serving institution (hsi). journal of diversity in higher education, 9(1), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039199 garcía, g. a., & ramirez, j. j. (2015). institutional agents at a hispanic serving institution: using social capital to empower students. urban education, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085915623341 gardner, s. k., & barnes, b. j. (2007, july/august). graduate student involvement: socialization for the professional role. journal of college student development, 48(4), 369–387. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.0036 gonzales, l. d., kanhai, d., & hall, k. (forthcoming). reimagining organizational theory for the critical study of higher education. in m. b. paulsen (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research, 33. new york, ny: springer international publishing. guiffrida, d. a., kiyama, j. m., waterman, s. j., & museus, s. d. (2012). moving from cultures of individualism to cultures of collectivism in support of students of color. in s. d. museus & u. m. jayakumar (eds.), creating campus cultures: fostering success among racially diverse student populations (pp. 68–87). new york, ny: routledge. holstein, j. a., & gubrium, j. f. (1995). the active interview. thousand oaks, ca: sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986120 hsieh, h. f., & shannon, s. e. (2005). three approaches to qualitative content analysis. qualitative health research, 15(9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687 kezar, a., & eckel, p. d. (2002). the effect of institutional culture on change strategies in higher education: universal principles or culturally responsive concepts? the journal of higher education, 73(4), 435–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2002.11777159 marin & pereschica association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 174 krogstad, j. m. (2016). 5 facts about latinos and education. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/28/5-facts-aboutlatinos-and-education/ laden, b. v. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions: what are they? where are they? community college journal of research and practice, 28(3), 181–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668920490256381 lincoln, y. s., & guba, e. g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. newbury park, ca: sage. maestas, r., vaquera, g. s., & zehr, l. m. (2007). factors impacting sense of belonging at a hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 6(3), 237–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192707302801 marin, p. (2000, may). the educational possibility of multi-racial/multi-ethnic college classrooms. in does diversity make a difference? three research studies on diversity in college classrooms (pp. 61–83). washington, dc: american council on education and american association of university professors. morgan, d. l. (1988). focus groups as qualitative research. newbury park, ca: sage. murphy, j. (2013). institutional effectiveness: how well are hispanic serving institutions meeting the challenge? journal of hispanic higher education, 12(4), 321–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192713493010 musoba, g. d., collazo, c., & placide, s. (2013). the first year: just surviving or thriving at an hsi. journal of hispanic higher education, 12(4), 356–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192713497222 núñez, a.-m., & bowers, a. j. (2011). exploring what leads high school students to enroll in hispanic-serving institutions: a multilevel analysis. american educational research journal, 48(6), 1286–1313. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831211408061 núñez, a.-m., & elizondo, d. (2012, july). hispanic-serving institutions in the u.s. mainland and puerto rico: organizational characteristics, institutional financial context, and graduation outcomes. washington, dc: hacu. retrieved from http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/h3erc/2012_papers/nunez%20elizondo%20%204yr%20hsi%20characteristics%20-%202012.pdf núñez, a.-m., hurtado, s., & galdeano, e. c. (eds.). (2015). hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice. new york, ny: routledge. núñez, a.-m., sparks, j. p., & hernandez, e. a. (2011). latino access to community colleges and hispanic-serving institutions: a national study. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(1), 18–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192710391801 park, c. (2004). the graduate teaching assistant (gta): lessons from north american experience. teaching in higher education 9(3), 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/1356251042000216660 perez, k. (2011) gre as a predictor of graduate student success at a hispanic serving institution of higher education (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from eric. (1023531997; ed532238) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 3 175 reddick, r. j., griffin, k. a, cherwitz, r. a., cérda-pražák, a. a., & bunch, n. (2012, january). what you get when you give: how graduate students benefit from serving as mentors. new forum press, 26(1), 37–49. santiago, d. a. (2006). inventing hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): the basics. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsicp2/research/inventing-hispanic-serving-institutions-basics santiago, d. a. (2008). choosing hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): a closer look at latino students' college choices. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/hsi-cp2/research/choosing-hispanic-serving-institutions-hsiscloser-look-latino-students-college santiago, d. a. (2012). public policy and hispanic-serving institutions: from invention to accountability. journal of latinos and education, 11, 163-167. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2012.686367 tierney, w. g. (1988). organizational culture in higher education: defining the essentials. the journal of higher education, 59(1), 2–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1988.11778301 torres, v., & zerquera, d. (2012). hispanic-serving institutions: patterns, predictions, and implications for informing policy discussions. journal of hispanic higher education, 11 (3), 259–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192712441371 tran, m.c. (2011). how can students be scientists and still be themselves: understanding the intersectionality of science identity and multiple social identities through graduate student experiences (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from eric. (1651847541; ed549146). vaquera, g. (2008). testing theories of doctoral student persistence at a hispanic serving institution. journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice, 9(3), 283–305. https://doi.org/10.2190/cs.9.3.c association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 30 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children: pointing toward needed public policies donald j. hernandez hunter college and the graduate center city university of new york jeffrey s. napierala university at albany state university of new york abstract this article presents findings from two research projects concerning the educational achievement and well-being of hispanic children. the first set of findings is from the first-ever study to calculate high school graduation rates for children with different levels of reading skill in third grade, by race-ethnicity and poverty experience. this research analyzes data from the 1979 national longitudinal survey of youth (nlsy79) and is funded by the annie e. casey foundation. the second set of findings draws on indicators from the foundation for child development’s child well-being index (cwi), which is the nation’s most comprehensive measure of the overall well-being of children. results for these indicators presented here measure poverty, median family income, prekindergarten enrollment, and naep fourth-grade reading test scores (for data sources, see hernandez & napierala, 2012). additional indicators measure parents’ educational attainments and fluency in speaking english. finally, policy and program initiatives are recommended to improve the educational achievement and outcomes of hispanic and other children, and to increase the economic security and well-being of their families. introduction this article presents findings for hispanic children from two research projects. the aim is not to test specific theoretical hypotheses. instead, the goal is to present new findings from research studies that describe important aspects of the lives of hispanic children, compared to other children, with regard to early education, family economic circumstances, and parental circumstances. detailed descriptions of the data and methodologies used in these research projects are available in the citations provided. two main sets of research findings are discussed here. one set of findings from the first-ever study to calculate high school graduation rates for children with different levels of reading skill in third grade, by raceethnicity and poverty experience. this research analyzes data from the 1979 national longitudinal survey of youth (nlsy79) and is funded by the annie e. casey foundation. the second set of findings draws from a study using indicators from the foundation for child development’s child well-being index (cwi), which is the nation’s most comprehensive measure of the overall well-being of children. results present here for these indicators measure poverty, median family income, prekindergarten enrollment, and naep fourth-grade reading test scores. additional indicators measure parents’ educational attainments and fluency in speaking english. finally, policy and program initiatives are recommended to improve the educational achievement and outcomes of hispanic and other children, and to increase the economic security and well-being of their families. results presented here are statistically significant at the .05 level or better, unless indicated otherwise. the first years of education, poverty, and high school graduation the minimal milestone for children to reach is high school graduation, if they are to transition successfully into the labor force as young adults. formal education that begins early in the lives of children can play a critical association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 31 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children role in ensuring children’s long-term educational success. it is particularly important that children become proficient readers, but lacking access to high-quality early education and obstacles posed by limited economic resources can slow or block the progress of children. this section presents new research focused on these issues. third grade reading skills third grade is a pivot point in a child’s education, because third grade marks the point when children shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” until about third grade, teachers and students spend a great deal of time in the task of learning to read. but then the educational process with regard to reading pivots 180 degrees. after third grade, elementary school curricula generally assume that children have achieved a mastery of reading. the focus shifts to using these reading skills to learn about other topics. as a result, students who have not mastered their reading skills by third grade will be at a substantial disadvantage, compared to other students, as they move further through elementary school, and beyond. the new study of how third grade reading skills are related to high school graduation began with a review of results from the national assessment of educational progress (naep), which served as a guide for classifying children by reading skill level. the naep found in 2009 that only about one-third of fourth-grade students are proficient readers, that is, only one-third read at or above grade level (annie e. casey foundation, 2010). one might plausibly assume, or hope, that most children would be reading at or above grade level. however, it turns out that about two-thirds of fourth-graders read below grade level, that is, they are reading below the proficient level. among students who are not proficient readers, naep finds that one-third are reading at the basic level, and one-third are reading below the basic level. given these facts, this study divides the sample into thirds, reflecting the different reading skills in the naep results. high school graduation rates for these three groups are calculated from the 1979 national longitudinal study of youth (nlsy79), because this is the only nationally representative survey that has tested the reading skill of third graders, and then followed these same children into young adulthood. rates are calculated for graduating from high school on-time, that is, graduating by age 19, for children who have never been poor during the study, and for those who have experienced at least one year of family poverty, separately for hispanics, whites, and blacks. the sample is 3,975 children born between 1979 and 1989 to mothers who were in the age range of 22 to 32 years (for additional information, see hernandez, 2011). third grade reading proficiency and high school graduation overall, 88 percent of the children in this study graduated from high school by age 19, while the remaining 12 percent did not. graduation rates vary enormously for children with different reading skills in third grade. among proficient readers, only 4 percent failed to graduate, compared to 16 percent of those who were not reading at grade level at that age. among those not proficient in reading, 9 percent of those with basic reading skills failed to graduate, and this rises to 23 percent for those with below basic skills (hernandez, 2011). hispanic children are much less likely to be reading proficiently than white children. results are presented here for hispanic students tested by naep, separately for those who were and were not classified by their schools as english language learners. in 2011 (naep, 2011), 56 percent of white students not classified as ell were not reading proficiently in fourth grade, compared to 74 percent and 95 percent, respectively, among hispanic students who were not and who were classified as english language learners (naep, 2012). between 1998 and 2011, the improvements in reading proficiency rates among students not classified as english language learners were slightly larger for hispanic students than for white students, at 10 versus 7 percentage points, but substantially smaller at 3 percentage points for hispanic students who were classified as english language learners. the new study using nlsy79 data found that among children not reading proficiently that hispanic children were nearly twice likely as white children to not graduate from high school, at 24 percent versus 13 percent (figure 1). thus, hispanic students who have not mastered reading in third grade are 11 percentage association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 32 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children points less likely to graduate from high school than white students with similar reading skills. only about 4 percent of white students who read well in third grade failed to graduate from high school, compared to 9 percent of hispanic students, a difference that is not statistically significant (hernandez, 2011). reading proficiency, poverty experience, and high school graduation poverty contributes further to high rates of not graduating from high school. hispanic children in 1994 experienced poverty rates 3-4 times greater than white children. the official, federal poverty rates for hispanic children with u.s.-born parents and those in immigrant families, respectively, were 37 percent and 44 percent in 1994, compared to 12 percent for white children with u.s.-born parents. by 2010, poverty rates had declined for hispanic children with u.s.-born parents and those in immigrant families, respectively, to 28 percent and 40 percent, while the rate for white children with u.s.-born parents remained unchanged. despite these improvements, by 2010 poverty rates for hispanic children in native-born and immigrant families continued to be 2-3 times greater than for white children in native-born families. because poverty rates pertain to specific years, and because from one year to the next some children live in families whose income rises above the poverty threshold, while others live in families whose income drops below the poverty threshold, the proportions of children who over an extended period of time spend at least one year in poverty are even higher. because nlsy79 data were collected every other year, it is possible to ascertain whether a child lived in a poor family in at least one of five years between second grade and 12th grade. based on these data, 49 percent of hispanic children lived in a poor family for at least one year, compared to 31 percent for white children. the proportions would be even higher if it had been possible to determine the poverty status of children for every year between 3rd and 12th grade. thus, more than one-half of hispanic children and more than one-third of white children experienced at least one year of poverty during their school years. among the large numbers of children who experience family poverty, many are not reading proficiently by third grade. this proportion who experience poverty and are not reading proficient in third grade in the nlsy79 sample is four-in-ten for hispanic children at 41 percent, compared to two-in-ten at 22 percent for white children. among children who experience family poverty and who are not proficient readers in third grade, the percent not graduating from high school is 33 percent for hispanic children, substantially higher than the 22 percent for white children. the rates are about one-half as large, but still substantial, for children with poverty experience who did read proficiently in third grade, at 14 percent for hispanic children, compared to 11 percent for white children. thus, children in poor families are in double jeopardy: they are more likely to have low reading test scores, and at any reading skill level, they are less likely to graduate from high school. the consequences for hispanic children are particularly profound, because they are more likely than white children to experience family poverty and to not read proficiently, and among the larger proportion of hispanic children who experience both, the chances of not graduating from high school are substantially higher for hispanic children than for white children (31 percent versus 22 percent). prek-3rd education and hispanic prekindergarten enrollment these findings point toward the need to improve the educational experiences of children, and especially hispanic children, for the years leading up to third grade. high-quality prekindergarten programs can play a critical role in raising reading skills by third grade, because they can dramatically expand the time that children devote to learning the cognitive and socioemotional skills needed to become reading proficient. during the elementary grades, children spend three full years in school by the end of third grade. in addition, for many children kindergarten brings this up to 3 ½ or 4 years depending on whether they attend half-day or full-day kindergarten. however, if children begin prekindergarten at age 3 in a full-blown prek-3rd program, they increase the total to a much longer six years in school (see below for discussion of the components of prek-3rd programs). this greatly expands the amount of time available for teachers and for children to work together on association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 33 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children developing children’s reading skill. beginning with these earliest years of education, high-quality early education programs have been found to promote school readiness and educational success in elementary school and beyond (gormley, phillips, & gayer, 2008; haskins & rouse, 2005; heckman & masterov, 2007; lynch, 2004; reynolds et al., 2011). hispanic children of immigrants with limited educational attainments and limited english proficiency, in particular, may be especially likely to benefit from such programs (gormley, 2008). however, hispanic children are less likely than others to be enrolled in prekindergarten. in 2009, for example, prekindergarten enrollment for hispanic children ages 3-4 was 40 percent overall, at 42 percent for those with both parents born in the u.s., and 38 percent for hispanic children in immigrant families with at least on immigrant parent, compared to 55 percent for white children with u.s.-born parents. particularly low rates of prekindergarten enrollment for hispanics are found for mexican-origin children both in immigrant families and with u.s.-born parents and for children in immigrant families from central america (hernandez, denton, & macartney, 2011). these hispanic children account for 79 percent of hispanic children aged 3-4, and of these this 79 percent 28 percent are mexican-origin children with u.s.-born parents, 44 percent are mexican-origin children in immigrant families, and 7 percent are children in immigrant families from central america. why prekindergarten enrollment is low for hispanics one plausible reason for low prekindergarten enrollment that is sometimes cited, particularly for hispanic immigrants, is a more familistic cultural orientation. the idea is that immigrants from familistic cultures may prefer child-care provided at home by parents or other relatives, instead of by non-relatives in formal settings. there are, however, alternative, socioeconomic barriers that can limit enrollment. early education programs may cost more than parents can afford to pay, or the number of openings available locally may be too small to meet the demand. although federal and state governments have policies that are intended to reduce or eliminate such difficulties for poor families, these policies are severely underfunded. also, available programs may lack home language outreach, or they may lack teachers with a minimal capacity to speak to a child in the home language. in addition, parents with limited educational attainments may not know how to access early education programs, or may not be aware that these programs can foster school success for their children. a recent study has estimated the extent to which enrollment gaps separating white children with u.s.-born parents, on the one hand, from immigrant or race-ethnic minority children, on the other, can be accounted for by socioeconomic barriers or cultural preferences (hernandez, denton, & macartney, 2011). altogether, for mexicanamerican children in immigrant families and with u.s.-born parents, as well as children in immigrant families from central america, the results indicate that socioeconomic barriers can account for at least one-half and perhaps all of the enrollment gap separating them from white children with u.s.-born parents, while most estimates indicate that cultural influences play a comparatively small role in accounting for the gaps in low prekindergarten school enrollment for these groups (figure 2). these results may be surprising. but they are consistent with the strong commitment to early education in contemporary mexico, where universal enrollment at age 3 became a national requirement in the 2008-2009 school year, although it has yet to be fully implemented (yoshikawa et al., 2006). in fact, in 2005, 81 percent of children age 4 in mexico were enrolled in preschool, substantially more than the 71 percent enrolled in preschool at age 4 among white children with u.s.-born parents in 2004. given that preschool is less costly in mexico than in the u.s., and given that poverty for the mexican immigrant group in the u.s. is quite high, it is not surprising that the proportion enrolled in the u.s. for the immigrant mexican group at 55 percent is substantially lower than the 81 percent enrolled in mexico. in sum, familistic cultural values are sometimes cited to explain lower early education enrollment among some hispanic immigrant groups, but this research shows socioeconomic barriers can account for at least 50 percent, and for some groups, perhaps all of the gap. these results point toward the need for public policies that increase access to and the affordability of high-quality early education. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 34 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children family economic circumstances results reported above highlight the critical role that economic resources play in ensuring that children have access to high-quality early education and health insurance. this section of the paper focuses on the economic resources available in the family homes of children, and on two key family circumstances that influence the magnitude of available resources. median family income the typical hispanic child in the 2010 current population survey lived in a family with a median annual income that was less than half as large as the median family income of white children with u.s.-born parents, at $35,000 versus $73,000. compared to the average for hispanic children, those with u.s.-born parents had a median family income that was $6,000 higher, at $41,000, while hispanic children in immigrant families had a median family income $4,000 lower than the average at only $31,000. overall, the typical white child with u.s.-born parents experienced a median family income that was an enormous $32,000 greater than for hispanic children with u.s.-born parents and an even larger $42,000 greater than for hispanic children in immigrant families. these findings point toward the need for public policies that will lead to increased family incomes for a large proportion of hispanic children in both immigrant families and in families with u.s.-born parents. parents’ education the educational attainments of parents are important for a complex set of reasons. in the short run, parents with lower educational attainments tend to work at occupations that offer lower incomes, which limits the economic resources available to children in these families. it also has long been known that children whose parents have completed fewer years of schooling tend, on average, to themselves complete fewer years of schooling and to obtain lower paying jobs when they reach adulthood, compared to children whose parents have completed more years of schooling (blau & duncan, 1967; featherman & hauser, 1978; sewell & hauser, 1975; sewell, hauser, & wolf, 1980). the 2010 american community survey indicates that 7 percent of white children with u.s.-born parents have fathers who have not graduated from high school. this more than doubles to 17 percent for hispanic children with u.s.-born parents, and it increases seven-fold to an enormous 51 percent of hispanic children in immigrant families (results for mothers are similar and are not reported here). at still lower educational levels, parents whose education does not extend beyond the elementary level may be especially limited in knowledge and experience needed to help their children succeed in school. immigrant parents often have high educational aspirations for their children (hernandez & charney, 1998; kao, 1999; rumbaut, 1999), but may know little about the u.s. educational system, particularly if they have completed only a few years of school. parents with little schooling may, as a consequence, be less comfortable with the education system, less able to help their children with school work, and less able to effectively negotiate with teachers and education administrators. among white children with u.s.-born parents, 1 percent have a father who has completed only 8 years of school or less, and this is somewhat higher at 3 percent for hispanic children with u.s.-born parents, but this rises to nearly one-third (31 percent) for hispanic children in immigrant families. the comparatively high proportion of hispanic children with u.s.-born parents who have not graduated from high school, and the even higher proportions of hispanic children in immigrant families with parents who have limited educational attainments no doubt contribute to their comparatively low family incomes, as well as posing a challenge as parents seek to facilitate their children’s success in school by helping with homework or by engaging the educational system. these findings point toward the need for public policies to foster increased education for many hispanic parents. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 35 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children parents’ english fluency insofar as parents are less than fully fluent in english, they also may experience difficulty finding well-paid work, and they may experience barriers to engaging schools on behalf of their children. the 2010 american community survey indicates that only 0.2 percent of white children with u.s.-born parents do not have an english fluent parent in the home. this rises to 5 percent for hispanic children with u.s.-born parents and jumps to 58 percent for hispanic children in immigrant families. thus, limited english fluency may have a small comparative effect on the parental income and parental school engagement for hispanic children with u.s.-born parents, but it has a potentially large impact for hispanic children in immigrant families. these findings point toward the need for public policies to ensure that schools and other public and private agencies reach out to many hispanic immigrant parents in spanish, and also for public policies to facilitate the learning of english by hispanic immigrant parents who have moved to the u.s. seeking success economic and educational success for themselves and their children. public policies to improve education and economic well-being the findings presented here point toward two arenas where public policies are needed to improve educational outcomes for children. first, high-quality prek-3rd education is critical to improving the reading skills of children by third grade, and therefore to increasing high school graduation rates. second, it is important to increase education and income among parents. particularly promising are dual-generation programs that link high-quality prek-3rd education with sector-based work force development program for parents which provide high-quality job training for high demand-occupations that provide good, middle-class incomes (for additional policy recommendations in each of these policy arenas see hernandez, 2012). the prek-3rd approach to high quality education high-quality prekindergarten programs are critical to raising reading proficiency levels by third grade. but many young hispanic (and non-hispanic) children are not enrolled. the expansion of public policies, such as statebased prekindergarten or head start, is essential to increase access to and the affordability of prekindergarten for these children. to really make a difference, this must high-quality prekindergarten education. but this is only the critical first step. programs that are continued into elementary school with high quality are most likely to be sustained in their long-term effects (brooks-gunn, 2003). in other words, the approach most likely to have the maximum positive effect in the long-term is one that is aligned and coordinated for children ages 3 to 8 (bogard & takanishi, 2005). this idea, which has become known as the prek-3rd approach to education, incorporates five key components: (1) alignment of standards, curricula, and assessment connected across grades from prekindergarten through third grade, (2) features of school organization that include voluntary full-day prekindergarten for all threeand four-year old children, (3) qualified teachers who are prepared specifically to teach at any grade from prekindergarten to third grade, (4) research-based approaches to creating classrooms that are effective learning environments, and (5) teachers and parents working together to foster the educational success of children (foundation for child development, 2013). return on investment in prek-3rd. specific policies can be crafted to foster and ensure the implementation of these features of a successful prek-3rd educational system. how much difference does a high-quality prek-3rd program make? increased skills and success for children can lead to very large, long-term benefits, not only for children but also for society as a whole. a recent study of an integrated prek-3rd approach implemented in child-parent centers in chicago found improved educational outcomes. for every $1.00 invested in the first 4-6 years of school, there was long-term societal return of $8.24 (reynolds, 2011). this is an enormous long-term return on investment. there are, of course, costs associated with implementing high-quality prek-3rd education. in the childassociation of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 36 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children parent centers, for prekindergarten the additional cost per year is about $1700, with a total cost per child of $5,000 per year. for k-3 the additional cost per child is about $1200 per year. the return on these significant, but small, investments is enormous at 18 percent for prekindergarten over the long-term, and 10 percent for the early elementary school years’ investments. strategy for implementing prek-3rd. it is important to begin making these investments now. prekindergarten and prek-3rd are not luxuries. they are essential to meeting the early-learning needs of young children. because high-quality education is critical, insofar as funds are available but limited, it may make sense to invest first in a smaller number of schools to develop high-quality programs, rather than spreading additional resources widely across lower-quality programs. after high-quality programs are implemented, these programs can serve as a model and can provide best-practice lessons and technical assistance to diffuse high-quality education more widely for ever larger numbers of children. (for additional information about the prek-3rd approach, see foundation for child development, 2012). language instruction. in addition, results presented here highlight the fact that special attention should be paid to english language learners. children who learn english after their home language is established, typically around age three, can add a second language during the prekindergarten and early school years. this bilingual skill leads to long-term cognitive, cultural, and economic advantages. a dual-language approach to teaching has been found to be effective for english language learners, while not having negative consequences for other students (espinosa, 2013). even if prekindergarten teachers are not fluently bilingual in a child’s home language, they can introduce young english language learners to english. they can also adopt teaching practices that support home language development. teachers who encourage the families of children to talk, read, and sing with the child in the parents’ home language, and to use the home language in everyday activities, will foster the child’s first language development even as the child is learning english (espinosa, 2013). in designing education programs for students who are english language learners, results from two studies are especially important. the first, conducted by psychologists, is the international comparative study of ethnocultural youth (icsey) spanning in 13 countries including the u.s. the second, conducted by sociologists, is the children of immigrants longitudinal study (cils) of adolescents in southern california and southern florida. these studies find that children in immigrant families who identify with and participate in the cultures of both the society of origin and the society of settlement, and who become fluent in both languages, adjust to the settlement society more successfully than do children with other patterns of acculturation (hernandez, macartney, & blanchard, 2009; phinney et al., 2006; portes & rumbaut, 2001; sam, 2006). dual-generation strategy for academic success and economic well-being it also is essential that public policies address the problems of low family income and poverty, because children in families with limited economic resources experience a variety of negative development outcomes, reflected in their cognitive and socioemotional development, educational achievements, and incomes during adulthood (duncan & brooks-gunn, 1997; mcloyd, 1998; sewell & hauser, 1975). one very promising approach is a dual-generation strategy which links high-quality prek-3rd education with sectoral job training for parents that leads to a credential for well-paid, high-demand occupations. this approach is more than just job training in three important ways. first, it is sector-based. the idea is to identify occupations such as nursing, or high-tech jobs where there is a growing demand in the local labor market. these jobs should provide a clear path of credentials and skill improvement which lead to middle-class incomes. second, it is essential that the program include well-targeted family support and peer support services. to ensure that low-income and english language learner parents succeed, they need an extensive set of services ranging from english-language training, to peer-support activities, to financial assistance, to internships, and clear access to actual jobs in the local economy. third, this workforce development program should be linked with high-quality prek-3rd education, because of the potential synergies between the two. for example, parents who see their children in a safe, highassociation of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 37 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children quality early education programs with caring and effective teachers will feel more comfortable in leaving their children while they participate in their own skill development, and ultimately in the labor market. by the same token, children who see their parents in engaged in their own school work, studying and doing homework, are more likely to be motivated to succeed in school (for additional information about the dual-generation approach see foundation for child development, 2012; for additional recommendations regarding investments in the economic well-being of children and families, see hernandez, 2012.). conclusion in sum, many hispanic children are not reading proficiently by third grade, many live in low-income or poor families, and many have parents with limited education. because low reading skills and poverty lead to high rates of not graduating from high school, and because limited parental education can act as a barrier to children’s educational success, these children are especially vulnerable, and it is critical that effective policies and programs be developed and implemented to provide the opportunity for these children to succeed in school and in life. this is important not only for these children and their families, but also to the larger society, and to the predominately white non-hispanic baby-boom generation in particular, because the baby-boom generation will depend for their own retirement on the economic productivity of these children as they enter the labor force during the coming years. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 38 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children references american community survey. (2011). retrieved from http://www.census.gov/acs/www/about_the_survey/ american_community_survey_and_2010_census/ annie e. casey foundation. (2010). early warning! why reading by the end of third-grade matters. a kids count special report from the annie e. casey foundation. baltimore, md. annie e. casey foundation. blau, p. m., & duncan, o. d. (1967). the american occupational structure. new york: wiley. bogard, k., & takanishi, r. (2005). pk-3: an aligned and coordinated approach to education for children 3 to 8 years old. social policy report xix (iii), 1-16 (society for research in child development). brooks-gunn, j. (2003). do you believe in magic?: what can we expect from early childhood intervention programs. social policy report xvii (i), 1-16 (society for research in child development). duncan, g. j., & brooks-gunn, j. (1997). consequences of growing up poor. new york: russell sage foundation. espinosa, l. m. (2013). prek-3rd: challenging common myths about dual language learners: an update of the seminal 2008 report. foundation for child development policy to actionbrief. retrieved from http:// fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/challenging%20common%20myths%20update.pdf featherman, d. l., & hauser, r. m. (1978). opportunity and change. new york: academic press. foundation for child development. (2012). our work. retrieved from: http://fcd-us.org/our-work/prek-3rdeducation. foundation for child development. (2013). prek-3rd education: components. retrieved from http://fcd-us.org/ our-work/prek-3rd-education/components gormley, w. (2008). the effects of oklahoma’s pre-k program on hispanic students, social science quarterly ,89(5), 916-36. gormley, w., phillips, d., & gayer, t. (2008). preschool programs can boost school readiness, science, 32, 172324. haskins, r., & rouse, c. (2005). closing achievement gaps. policy brief, the future of children 15(1). heckman j. j., & masterov, d. v. (2007). the productivity argument for investing in young children.” review of agricultural economics 29(3), 446-493. hernandez, d. j. (2011). double jeopardy: how third-grade reading skills and poverty influence high school graduation. baltimore: annie e. casey foundation. hernandez, d.j., & charney, e. (eds.). (1998). from generation to generation: the health and well-being of children in immigrant families. washington, d.c.: national academy press. hernandez, d. j., denton, n. a., & macartney, s. e. (2011). early childhood education programs: accounting for low enrollment in newcomer and native families. in r. d. alba and m. c. waters (eds.), the next generation: immigrants in europe and north america (pp. 2007-2011). new york: new york university press. hernandez, d. j., macartney s, & blanchard, v.l. (2009). children in immigrant families in eight affluent countries: their family, national, and international context, florence, italy: unicef innocenti research centre hernandez, d. j., & napierala, j. (2012). children in immigrant families: essential to america’s future. fcd child and youth well-being index (cwi) policy brief. new york, foundation for child development. kao, g. (1999). psychological well-being and educational achievement among immigrant youth. in d.j. hernandez (ed.), children of immigrants: health, adjustment, and public assistance (pp. 410-477). washington, d.c.: national academy press. lynch, r. (2004). net benefits of early childhood development. washington, d.c.: economic policy institute. mcloyd, v. (1998). socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. american psychologist, 53(2), 185-204. naep. (2012). retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/ naep. (2011). the naep reading achievement levels by grade, retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/ nationsreportcard/reading/achieveall.asp#2009 naep. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 39 early education, poverty, and parental circumstances among hispanic children phinney, j. s., berry j. w., vedder, p., & liebkind k. (2006). the acculturation experience: attitudes, identifies, and behaviors of immigrant youth. in j. berry, j. s. phinney, d. l. sam, & p. vedder (eds.). immigrant youth in cultural transition: acculturation, identify, and adaptation across national contexts (pp. 71-116). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. portes, a., & rumbaut, r.g. (2001). legacies : the story of the immigrant second generation. berkeley and new york: university of california press and russell sage foundation. reynolds, a. j., temple, j. a., white, b. a., ou, s., & robertson, d. l. (2011). age 26 cost-benefit analysis of the child-parent center early education program. child development, 82(1), 379-404. rumbaut, r. g. (1999). passages to adulthood: the adaptation of children of immigrants in southern california. in d. j. hernandez (ed.), children of immigrants: health, adjustment, and public assistance (pp. 478545). washington, d.c.: national academy press. sam, d.l. (2006). psychological and sociocultural adaptation of immigrant youth in j. berry, j. s. phinney, d. l. sam, & p. vedder (eds.). immigrant youth in cultural transition: acculturation, identify, and adaptation across national contexts (pp. 117-142). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. sewell, w.h., & hauser, r.m. (1975). education, occupation and earnings. new york: academic press. sewell, w. h., hauser, r. m., & wolf, w. c. (1980). sex, schooling, and occupational status. american journal of sociology 83(3), 551-583. yoshikawa, h., mccartney, k., myers, r., bub, k., lugo-gil, j., knaul, f., & ramos, m. (2006, november). educación preescolar en méxico (preschool education in mexico). presented to president vicente fox, secretary of education reyes tamez guerra, and federal and state education officials of mexico, at the presidents’ residence (los pinos), mexico city, november 6. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 114 “don’t tell me: ask me!” an engaged latina mother’s voice lilian cibils new mexico state university don’t tell me what language i must speak! don’t tell me who i must be! don’t tell me how to become a better parent to my kids! what will you tell us next? who or what or where or even in what language we should worship—if at all? don’t tell me! ask me, instead! what language do i love my children in? what is the color of my dreams when i imagine a future for my kids? which one is our sweetest shortest bedtime story? or, is our favorite road song always playing on resume? don’t tell me: ask me association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 115 who are we? who am i? and who my children? you may ask. but please stop telling us who it is you would rather see instead of them and me! why not ask of us what latin rhythms reverberate at the bottom of our heartbeat? what dichos and consejos can we share with you and you with me? don’t tell us who we are supposed to be! ask us who we really are who our parents were and who our children dream of growing up to be! let us be ourselves! and together we may grow to know each other listen to each other’s voices and respect each other’s choices! love our children for who they are and for who they can and will become –only with our joint work our mutual respect and our dignity! don’t tell me: ask me association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 116 don’t tell us who we must be! don’t tell me how to be a parent! let me be me! be not-you but me! don’t tell me what language i must speak at home or how to sooth my children with an unfamiliar lullaby! the honey in our voices and the music in our home language(s)—mind our choices! hold all the magic we may need for them to fall sound asleep! don’t tell me to become you or a better me—and here con mucho respeto, gloria, i paraphrase— for, me-without-my-language(s) is not-me! it is no-body! don’t tell me who to be! ask me who i am and be ready to respect our language choices our rich distinctive voices and our children’s unique selves and history! don’t tell me: ask me special_issues_2014-print-final 114 special_issues_2014-print-final 115 special_issues_2014-print-final 116 association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 35 unauthorized education: challenging borders between good and bad immigrants jennifer r. nájera university of california—riverside abstract this article presents a case study that examines how undocumented youth reject notions that, as students, they are more deserving of state-granted rights (e.g., citizenship, but also temporary rights through daca). it highlights the use of what i call undocumented pedagogy as a form of everyday activism for greater immigrant rights. this unauthorized pedagogy largely takes place outside of the classroom and disrupts traditional hierarchies within education. through offering informational workshops and providing personal testimonies among other educational activities, undocumented students in this study aim to 1) broaden access to rights for the larger undocumented immigrant community and 2) challenge negative preconceived notions about undocumented immigrants among citizens. these are key elements to moving forward the struggle for immigrant rights. coming out of the shadows the bell tower at the center of campus casts a long shadow on this sunny day in april 2014. administrators in suits mingle with staff and the few faculty members who are spending their lunch hour here. while some undergraduates sit at attention, others mill around talking to friends. still other students speed by on bicycles and scooters, craning their necks to see and hear what is happening. members of poder (providing opportunities, dreams, and education in riverside), the undocumented student advocacy group on campus, are giving their testimonios as part of an event they are calling “coming out of the shadows.” a young man with dark hair and expressive eyes takes the microphone and introduces himself. “my name is beto, and i am an undocumented student.”1 he is clean cut and athletic looking; on another day you might expect him to be recruiting members for a fraternity on campus. he tells the group at the bell tower about a conversation that he had with a cousin— his childhood best friend—who, like him, resides in this country without legal documentation. because beto committed himself to school and his cousin had not, the two drifted apart as teenagers. one day they ran into each other at the intersection of two streets in their neighborhood in orange county. upon seeing that beto was carrying several books with him, the cousin asked, “beto, why are you carrying all that?” beto responded, “well, man, i have to study for my ap exams. i have to really do my work.” then his cousin said, “i don’t get it, man. why do you continue studying? you know that you can’t do anything with it, and if you graduate, what are we going to do? where are you going to work? how are we going to work? you’ve got to think about that beto.” at this point in his story, beto paused, allowing his words to reverberate and settle into the air while we who are listening are struck by the apparent hopelessness of beto’s situation. finally he continued, “you might be right, but for me, i’m just going to keep on trying. i don’t know why, but i’m just going to keep on doing my work.” beto’s story demonstrates the very fine line between the undocumented migrant that society deems deserving of citizenship because of his decision to pursue higher education and the members of his extended family who society deems undeserving. in his testimonio, beto primarily focuses on a conversation with his cousin, who we understand has opted to forgo school for work. in his testimonio, beto emphasizes that he and his cousin are similar in many ways. they come from the same community in orange county; they are the same age; they are part of the same extended family; and they are both undocumented. as far as we can tell, the difference between them is that beto has chosen to believe that something good will result from his choice to pursue school. he is choosing to be optimistic about an immigration system that exploits peoples’ labor without guarantees of rights, regularly separates families through practices of deportation, and does not reward the investment that undocumented migrants make in their communities. beto knows that his choice to pursue school does not make sense to his cousin, and beto does not distinguish himself as different, better, or more deserving than him. instead, he crafts a testimonio that captures the ways that particular subjectivities lead 1 all of the names of undocumented students in this article have been changed to pseudonyms to protect their privacy. unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 36 undocumented immigrants to make different choices that result in diverging life circumstances. this article presents a case study that illustrates the complex subjectivities and the pedagogical imperatives of the undocumented student group at the university of california at riverside, poder (providing opportunities, dreams, and education in riverside). as beto’s testimonio suggests, undocumented students grapple with the exceptionality that society grants them as students. while mainstream media regularly labels undocumented immigrants as “illegals,” it labels young people like beto as “dreamers.” undocumented students at ucr never express the sentiment that they are more deserving than other undocumented immigrants, especially considering that the “other” unauthorized people are often their own family members and friends. i argue that, for this reason, undocumented students at ucr use their positions as university students to create spaces of learning outside of the classroom to accomplish two key imperatives. first, through events such as coming out of the shadows, poder students teach the general public about the life circumstances of undocumented people in their community. the goal of such events is to cultivate citizen allies who will support humane, comprehensive immigration reform. second, poder students actively teach other members of the undocumented community how to access the rights and resources that are available to them through state and federal policies. in this way, undocumented students at ucr use their own knowledge and political capital to increase access to rights that progressive immigration policies make available to the larger undocumented community. this article also examines undocumented pedagogy as a central part of poder’s activism. poder planned the coming out of the shadows event as part of immigrant awareness week, a week of activities and discussions that highlighted the circumstances of undocumented immigrant communities. in its inaugural year (2014), immigrant awareness week was one of the group’s bigger events, but members regularly facilitate smaller events that teach about resources available to the undocumented community, often translating federal and state policies that affect the undocumented immigrant community. when these occur on campus, they are geared toward students, staff, and administrators. however, poder’s events frequently take place off campus, where members of the group can engage with the broader undocumented community who might benefit from the information they present. by using the resources available to them as university students and educating their communities, they facilitate an important kind of public pedagogy that decenters traditional teacher-student power relationships and effectively disseminates critical information about the undocumented community. by raising consciousness and inspiring people to take action, this undocumented pedagogy cultivates the liberatory potential of education, the potential to change society from the bottom-up. undocumented students in higher education latino/a immigration scholars have long abandoned theories that immigrant assimilation occurs in a linear fashion. latino/a immigrants’ race, class, and gender positionalities as well as their receiving communities all affect assimilation.2 the literature reveals that for undocumented youth, particularly the 1.5 generation, the school system is a powerful institution that shapes immigrant incorporation.3 scholars argue that during their k-12 education, undocumented youth are treated as de facto citizens because of their equal access to public education per the supreme court decision in plyler v. doe (gonzales, 2011). furthermore, completing primary education in the u.s. inculcates young undocumented immigrants with the same cultural knowledge as their american-born peers (gonzales & chavez, 2012; perez, 2012). this illusion of inclusion is shattered as undocumented youth near the end of high school when they face realities of limited access to higher education and the job market (abrego 2006; abrego and gonzales 2010; gonzales & chavez, 2012). the expense of a college education and limited financial aid preclude many undocumented youth from enrolling in college after high school. upon graduation, the same institution that shaped their identities as american then casts out undocumented students as foreigners who often have to pay out of state tuition rates to enroll in their local institutions. as they move from childhood to young adulthood, scholars have demonstrated that undocumented youth must contend with the stigma of “illegality” and must learn to live without the protections that k-12 education provided them (abrego 2008; gonzales, 2011; gonzales & chavez, 2012). a key aspect of the literature on undocumented students in higher education is about civic engagement 2 for recent examples of latino/a immigrant assimilation theory, see jimenez (2010) and zavella (2011). 3 i use this term to refer to immigrants who were born in another country but have been educated primarily in the united states. unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 37 and activism, in particular how undocumented students use civic engagement and activism as a way to push for immigration reform. gonzales (2008) offers important analysis about how undocumented students increasingly become activists as young adults. he argues that after high school, undocumented students have fewer opportunities for political engagement (e.g., they cannot vote; they cannot serve on juries). at the same time, if they have matriculated to college, their political resources deepen, as do the social networks that might inspire and instruct political involvement. this combination of factors often mobilizes undocumented students to become activists. scholars have carefully traced undocumented youth involvement in the immigrant rights movement in terms of its messages and the political strategies and tactics that undocumented youth have used (negrón-gonzales, 2015; nicholls, 2013). while this important literature focuses on students’ work in mounting protests, civil disobedience, and political organizing, little has been written about undocumented students’ everyday forms of activism. my research at uc riverside reveals that a major characteristic of the undocumented student movement involves educating and informing the community about issues facing undocumented people as well as rights and resources available to them. while these actions can be understood as everyday activism, i argue that this kind of community organizing dovetails with public pedagogy to create what i call undocumented pedagogy. undocumented pedagogy describes how undocumented students assume roles as teachers, educating immigrants and citizens outside of traditional spaces of learning (e.g., the school system) about immigrant issues using platforms such as public testimonios, workshops, panel presentations, and conferences. while the literature about undocumented students in higher education has generally focused on undocumented youth’s experiences as students, this research expands such notions to include their experiences as teachers. when undocumented students teach, they challenge the borders that limit access to the university as well as the hierarchical borders that exist within the institution. i argue that poder students use undocumented pedagogy as a way to create spaces of possibility for the larger undocumented community. this pedagogical approach takes education out of the classroom and into alternate spaces; it challenges hierarchies between teachers and students; and it rests between teaching undocumented people how to navigate federal and state immigration policies and encouraging citizens to think beyond the ways that the state constructs legality. it is an undocumented pedagogy not only because undocumented students put it to use, but also because it is an unsanctioned attempt to challenge boundaries between teacher and student in the struggle for immigrant rights. the long-term goal of undocumented pedagogy is humane and comprehensive immigration reform, but the short term goals are to teach migrants how to navigate state bureaucracy with regard to ever-changing state immigration policies and to cultivate citizen support for federal immigration reform. the concept of undocumented pedagogy draws from theories of public pedagogy as well as freierian notions of liberatory education. though theories about public pedagogy are broad-reaching, scholars generally agree that it promotes the idea that “schools are not the sole sites of teaching, learning, or curricula, and that perhaps they are not even the most influential” (sandlin, schultz, & burdick, 2010). one of the most prolific theorists of public pedagogy, henry giroux (1994), posits that public pedagogy can signify sites of unconventional learning that challenge the ways that capitalist culture undermines democracy. indeed in the introduction to their handbook of public pedagogy (2010), sandlin, schultz and burdick assert that public pedagogy “reframes inquiry into the relationships among pedagogy, democracy, and social action—regardless of where these relationships occur” (p. 3-4). the intersection between teaching/learning, social justice, and activism defines the heart of the work that ucr undocumented students perform in the ucr community and beyond. undocumented pedagogy creates alternative and oppositional spaces of learning. by educating immigrants how to maneuver through immigration policy and educating citizens about the complexities of the immigration debate, undocumented students open possibilities of social agency and, by extension, greater democracy, one that represents the voices and concerns of more people who reside within the borders of the united states. undocumented pedagogy rests firmly within freire’s theories about how education can be both liberatory and transformational as a practice that recognizes the many ways that knowledge is embodied and disseminated. he asserts that in the process of education, we must recognize that teachers and students engage in an exchange of knowledge such that “both [groups] are simultaneously teachers and students” (freire, 2000, p. 72). drawing from the resources of their university education (both in and outside of the classroom), this case study reveals unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 38 that undocumented students regularly assume teaching roles both on and off campus in order to educate people about issues that are salient to the undocumented community. while these actions are significant, it is but one piece of a pedagogy whose goal is societal transformation, particularly in terms of humane and comprehensive immigration reform. other aspects of this pedagogy include “problem posing,” which in this case is manifested by challenging people’s limited ideas about what it means to be undocumented in this country among both citizens and unauthorized immigrants. while some citizens hail from communities where they have personal relationships with undocumented people, many do not; members of poder aim to educate the latter group, whose views may be narrowly informed by negative media representations. they also recognize that even unauthorized immigrants internalize negative images of their community and limited notions of their possibilities. for these reason, undocumented pedagogy is critical to generate what freire (2000) calls “the emergence of consciousness and critical intervention in reality” (p. 81, emphasis original). indeed undocumented pedagogy is meant to inform and to challenge, but it is ultimately meant to transform the way that undocumented immigrants exist in u.s. society. undocumented pedagogy is at the heart of undocumented action at ucr as a unique blend of everyday activism and public pedagogy. poder members draw knowledge as well as social and political connections from the university in order to advocate for their communities (gonzales, 2008). though they are students, they assume the role of teachers as they create spaces of learning outside of the classroom. they share their navigational capital with other undocumented immigrant youth and families, and they challenge citizens to rethink their perceptions of the undocumented community and, by extension, to rethink their approach to comprehensive immigration reform.4 this form of teaching—undocumented pedagogy—is an essential part of propelling forward the movement for immigrant rights. methodology this article is based on ongoing fieldwork with the undocumented student community at the university of california, riverside (ucr). as a professor in the department of ethnic studies and as someone who has been allied with the office of chicano student programs over the past nine years, i have made many informal connections with undocumented students on campus. with the encouragement of two undocumented students, i approached the leadership of poder to ask if i could conduct fieldwork with the group. after those conversations, i applied for and received irb approval to conduct research. i then acquired collective consent from the group to begin research in the fall of 2013; the following school year (2014-2015), i again requested and received collective consent to continue my study with the new and returning members of the group. my ongoing fieldwork includes attending poder’s regular weekly meetings, events they sponsor on campus (e.g., their annual conference for undocumented high school students, california dream act workshops), and some of the meetings that they have with university administrators. off campus, i also accompanied group members to presentations and workshops in riverside and in neighboring communities. to supplement my fieldwork, i have conducted twelve qualitative interviews with eight undocumented members of poder. these open-ended interviews focused on understanding the purpose of poder and each student’s involvement with the poder. interviews were recorded and lasted between 45 minutes to two hours. i recognize that, especially as a professor at the university where these students attend, my relationship to students in the group can be as a friend, a mentor, a professor, and/or as an ally. as a researcher, i am keenly aware of the power differential that is embedded in each of these relationship configurations, and i take seriously the process of research return (velasquez, 2015; hale, 2001). my interpretation of research return is both academic and service-oriented. first, i share my writing with the group prior to publication and invite feedback. in this way, i ensure transparency and open the possibility for collaboration. second, i make myself available for any service that the group requires, such as speaking at conferences or events, providing academic advice to students, and sitting on scholarship committees in order to help them fulfill some of their logistical needs. 4 see yosso (2006) for an in-depth discussion of navigational capital. unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 39 blurring the boundaries between “good” and “bad” immigrants undocumented student members of poder at uc riverside use undocumented pedagogy to actively blur the boundaries between so-called good and bad immigrants. while the concept of undocumented pedagogy encompasses a range of political and pedagogical actions, for the purposes of this article, i focus on two major methods that poder students use to challenge the false binary between those immigrants who deserve citizenship and those who do not. the first of these practices is through actively and publicly giving their testimonios to challenge public understandings of undocumented immigration; the second is by teaching their fellow undocumented community members how to navigate the state and federal immigration policies that directly impact them. before my discussion of poder, i will provide context by detailing how student activists, particularly in california have shaped the immigrant rights movement. the dream of immigration reform students have played a central role in the immigrant rights movement since the early 2000s. the creation of the dreamer as a collective subject successfully challenged and broadened popular understandings of the immigrant community and, more importantly, who would benefit from immigration reform. though in many ways effective, the dreamer prototype had the unintended consequence of casting one cross section of the immigrant community as “good” and another as “bad,” particularly during the first decade of the twentieth century. while that began to change after 2010, undocumented students at ucr struggled with the message of an immigrant rights movement that was meant to benefit them, but was dissonant with their personal relationships. keenly aware of the fine, even porous, line that separated so-called good from bad immigrants, these students often used their families as a way to anchor their political subject positionalities. from 2000 to 2010, the dreamer emerged as a politicized subject with a very carefully crafted profile. mostly of the 1.5 generation, they had not made the decision to migrate; their parents had made that decision for them. in other words, they had not willingly broken any immigration laws. even though they did not have legal documentation, they represented themselves as “all american” youth.5 it was a profile and a narrative that appealed to conservatives and liberals alike. dreamers and their particular kind of activism were part of a carefully planned political strategy to pass the dream act, one piece of what would hopefully lead to federal comprehensive immigration reform. though focusing on dreamers made political sense, it also positioned these young people against immigrants who had willingly chosen to migrate and those who did not graduate at the top of their high school class, or did not graduate at all. by emphasizing how these students deserved citizenship, the implicit message was that other undocumented immigrants were undeserving. certainly, not all undocumented activist youth in the movement accepted such rigid categorizations of themselves or of their community. while these youth fought within the movement to broaden the struggle for immigrant rights, other undocumented youth chose to invest their political energy in different arenas. alba, a poder alumna from orange county, was active in her high school’s student organizations and approached her matriculation to uc riverside with a desire to be politically involved. however, she initially eschewed participation in the undocumented student movement precisely because she was uncomfortable with its exclusivity. she recalls: generally speaking, i did not like being involved in undocumented groups just because they were a little … it was a little too focused on the undocumented student rather than the broader prospect. it was very much push for the dream act, push for relief. and it was a little, “let’s throw our parents under the bus” sometimes. and so i had conflicting views. not with poder necessarily, it was just the general movement. so i generally didn’t like being involved in the undocumented student movement because of that. alba critiques what she perceives as the narrow political goals of the initial dreamer movement that excluded and even vilified undocumented parents. on the other hand, she felt conflicted because she knew that—as 5 perez’s book american by heart (2012) demonstrates how undocumented high school students used civic engagement to cultivate an outward presentation of americanness. unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 40 an undocumented student—the movement was meant to benefit her. ultimately, she decided to commit her limited time and political energy into labor union organizing on campus.6 invoking her family and its connection to labor, she states, “my parents did come from a union, they worked for unions. my grandparents were bracero workers. so there was that kind of connection to labor that i had.” rather than invest in a political movement that she perceived to be disparaging to her parents, she turned to the union, whose political goals seemed broad enough to benefit the immigrant community as a whole. fissures in the dreamer political strategy became apparent after 2010, when many undocumented youth activists broke with their traditional supporters by crafting new images and promoting more radical politics (nicholls, 2013). undocumented youth championed the “undocumented and unafraid” movement; an overlapping group highlighted their intersectional identities by coining the term, “undocuqueer.”7 both of these rhetorical shifts signaled that undocumented youth activists were not separating themselves within the phenomenon of family migration. on the contrary, they challenged what they perceived to be unjust immigration laws that allowed for the exploitation of immigrant labor but refused to grant civil rights. in 2013, slogans and images began to circulate emphasizing that undocumented parents were the “original dreamers.” with the new rhetoric came new goals. rather than focus solely on the dream act, legislation that would only benefit a limited number of undocumented youth, activists began to push for humane, comprehensive immigration reform. to achieve these goals, undocumented youth adopted more confrontational tactics, such as sitting in at their congressional representatives’ offices and purposefully trying to be detained by ice—immigration and customs enforcement (nicholls, 2013). in this way, undocumented young people began to actively challenge the border between “good” and “bad” immigrants and to push for social justice. undocumented at uc riverside within california’s conservative inland empire, uc riverside undocumented students were generally removed from many of the more radical politics of the immigrant rights movement during the first decade of the twenty first century.8 modeled after already existing programs in the uc system, poder was established in the spring of 2008 for the purpose of providing a safe space to support undocumented students at ucr, to provide community members both on and off campus information about relevant immigration legislation, and to provide scholarships for undocumented students.9 during the organization’s first several years, it was working with extremely limited institutional and financial support. however, because of broad-based uc undocumented student activism, uc riverside undocumented students have recently begun to benefit from a commitment by janet napolitano to allocate $5 million over three years to fund scholarships and programming for undocumented students.10 on the ucr campus this has translated into student scholarships, emergency loans, programming, and the employment of a student affairs officer specially trained in undocumented issues. additionally, the recently passed california dream act enables undocumented students to apply for state-based financial aid as well as private scholarships. these scholarships and services are available to the nearly 300 undocumented undergraduates who enrolled at uc riverside in the fall of 2014, a student population that has more than quadrupled over the past four years.11 these scholarships and services in conjunction with the establishment of an undocumented student programs office have created a campus environment that is more positive than it was in the early days of poder. 6 like many undocumented students, particularly before the california dream act was passed, alba worked several hours a week to pay her way through school. during her first year at ucr, she was working 35 hours a week while attending school full time. 7 see terriquez (2015) for an excellent analysis of the undocuqueer movement within the immigrant rights movement. 8 some of the more politicized students attended actions, particularly in los angeles. 9 poder constitution 10 news of napolitano’s appointment as the new president of the uc system triggered student protests on several campuses. undocumented student leaders cited fears of deportation given her previous position as director of homeland security. in the wake of these student protests, napolitano established an undocumented student task force and committed $5 million dollars over three years to undocumented students enrolled in the uc system (http://abcnews.go.com/abc_univision/undocumented-students-describe-fears-napolitano-uc-president/story?id=19731262). 11 personal communication, bryce mason, 2/25/15 unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 41 testimonio as pedagogy within the context of uc riverside, a common aspect of undocumented pedagogy involves the use of testimonio to challenge the boundaries between so-called good and bad immigrants. sharing one’s personal story through testimonio is an important tool that subjugated communities use to show far-reaching impact of the state on people’s lives. while generally testimonios are understood as individual life stories, negróngonzales (2014) reminds us that “creating and sharing testimonio is a practice of reflecting on one’s own life and connecting one’s own personal experience to broader social and political context” (p. 272). indeed testimonios are not gratuitous tales of self; they are significant for the ways that they illuminate larger social, economic, and political processes. i argue that undocumented students use their testimonios to challenge the criminalization of undocumented immigrants who, for myriad reasons, are not enrolled in institutions of higher education, including members of their own families. these testimonios not only render undocumented student stories public, they also encourage listeners to understand that undocumented students are embedded in and buttressed by social relationships with other undocumented people, many of whom do not fit the good immigrant prototype. in other words, students’ deservingness of citizenship does not emerge in a vacuum; it is forged in the cauldron of an undocumented immigrant community that is under siege. the opening of this article highlights a young man giving his testimonio at the bell tower of the university. i emphasized how beto compared himself to his cousin as a way to demonstrate the easy slippages between deserving and undeserving immigrants in relation to education. it is important to note the frequency with which poder students refer to their families to illustrate injustices within the immigration system. beto’s testimonio focuses on his relationship with his cousin and the starkly different life paths that they chose despite their very similar circumstances growing up together. other students often refer to the struggles and sacrifices of their parents within their testimonios. this frequent invocation of family demonstrates not only the intimate connections between so-called good and bad immigrants, it also challenges those borders altogether. i have heard miriam give her testimonio several times over the past few years at the events that poder organizes both on and off campus. though sometimes she emphasizes certain points over others, she always talks about her parents’ decision to migrate. miriam’s story is unique because it was her medical condition that compelled her family to migrate. she was born with a floating spine, missing three vertebrae and her tailbone; this condition affected her leg muscles and nerves such that doctors in mexico told her parents that miriam would never walk or even be able to sit up. in fact, they predicted that she would spend her entire life lying down. she recounts, “my parents paid thousands of dollars on specialists and none of them could give them any answers.” then her parents heard about shriners hospital for children in los angeles as a place that could potentially help. they flew to los angeles with miriam for a consultation, and the doctors at shriners told the family that they could do a series of operations that would enable their daughter to walk. by the age of three, after several surgeries, miriam was walking. while this was a medical victory, it would not be the end of her treatment. she states, “once [my parents] realized that the medical care would be ongoing, they were like, ‘okay, well, let’s move here,’ because the one thing that my parents cared about [was] my … wellbeing.” to date, miriam has undergone eleven surgeries and, with the help of leg braces, traverses the campus by foot and scooter. in her narrative, miriam focuses on the urgency of her family’s situation; mexican doctors predicted that her parents’ newborn daughter would spend her entire life bedridden. in a recent speech on campus, miriam spoke about how her parents had a good life in mexico. they were educated, professional, and they had an affinity for travel. they had strong family and community ties. however, they were willing to sacrifice all of those things in their home country so that their daughter would have a chance to walk and live a more normal life. by highlighting her parents’ point of view in her testimonio, miriam complicates the idea of good and bad immigrants. though the choice to migrate and overstay a visa might be viewed as bad and, indeed, “illegal,” she asserts the inherent goodness of parents who would make such a choice—a choice that involved a great deal of sacrifice—for the wellbeing of their child. unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 42 daca and the dreamers though over the past five years undocumented activist youth, including beto and miriam, have resisted facile representations of good and bad immigrants, the image of the law-abiding, all-american dreamer remains a powerful political tool. two years after the undocumented youth movement began to take more militant actions, and in the last few months of his re-election campaign, president obama announced deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca). issued as an executive order, daca provided relief from deportation for immigrant youth who fit the original dreamer profile. eligible daca youth could receive a social security number, which would enable them the ability to apply for jobs and obtain drivers licenses. eligibility was restricted to those immigrants (under the age of 31) who had arrived in the united states before the age of 16, had graduated high school or completed a ged, and had no serious criminal record.12 in other words, even while activist youth were challenging the dreamer prototype for its unfair exclusion of the other cross sections of the immigrant community, the introduction of daca created a legal division among undocumented immigrants, solely granting rights to those youth who did not choose to migrate, finished school, and maintained a clean record. despite the mixed implications of daca, many undocumented youth, particularly college students, have benefitted from its implementation.13 recent quantitative and qualitative studies have outlined some of the benefits of daca, including enabling undocumented youth better jobs, drivers licenses, and a sense of security that they will not be deported (martinez, 2014; teranishi, c. suárez-orozco, & m. suárez orozco, 2015). though many—but not all—undocumented poder students are now “dacamented,” they have not been rendered politically complacent. valeria reflects on how poder has helped her to remain vigilant despite legislative gains that benefit her. she states: we’re in this together, and there’s more people [than those with daca]. i think if poder wasn’t there, it would have been easy for me to be just like, ‘well the california dream act worked out, and i have daca, and i can work, so i don’t need to care about this issue anymore because i’m good.’ [the group has] prohibited me from going to that type of mentality… it’s more like, ‘yes, i have these two things, but i need to be extremely grateful that i have them and be aware of the fact that they’re temporary, and they can be changed.’ and that there’s others that for one reason or another might not have fit into the categories, and there’s others like our parents that are still struggling. and there’s still a lack in what we can have as ‘almost citizens.’ valeria emphasizes the importance of poder in keeping her accountable to the larger undocumented community and attentive to quickly shifting legislative politics. in her narrative, she recognizes that while the policies that currently benefit her particular cross section of the undocumented community are good, they are temporary, and they are still only a fraction of the rights that citizens enjoy. for this reason, valeria along with other member of poder remain politically aware and active in pressing for greater immigrant rights. furthermore, it is important to note that valeria does not distinguish herself as more deserving than those members of her community who “for one reason or another” do not fit into the categories for dacamented status, including her parents. the categories of good and bad immigrant do not exist for valeria; rather, for her, being undocumented is a shifting borderlands identity that requires political and tactical vigilance. for this reason, a key part of the poder agenda and its undocumented pedagogy is to educate citizens through their testimonios about the situations and struggles of undocumented people within the borders of the united states. family defenders while the use of testimonio can be a powerful pedagogical tool to blur the boundaries between “good” and “bad” immigrants, it is but one way that poder students use pedagogy to empower the undocumented community as a whole. this section explores how students teach members of their community to navigate 12 immigrant youth who had been honorably discharged from the armed services were also eligible. 13 see gonzales et al., 2014. unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 43 state and federal policies that affect undocumented people. drawing from the formal education and the political resources that the university provides, undocumented students learn to navigate the bureaucracy of the state, especially in regard to immigration policies. students use this knowledge to teach other members of their community how to claim the rights that are currently available to them even while continuously advocating for humane, comprehensive immigration reform. a key part of poder’s activities since 2012 has been to educate undocumented people on and off campus about state and federal policies that affect undocumented immigrants. for potential and current college students, poder actively disseminates information about ab 540 and the california dream act, two california state policies that deflect some of the costs of attending a college or university. more broadly, since the summer it was announced, current and former poder students have been offering free daca clinics to the general public. the latter is significant because many families are unable to pay the daca filing fee in addition to a lawyer’s fee to help them fill out the paperwork. students often train themselves to offer these services. for the former, undocumented activist students access webinars and trainings from the california student aid commission website. for daca, some students are formally trained by local immigrant rights organizations; others are self-taught or seek advice on online forums (such as facebook). for daca cases that are complex (e.g., applicant has a criminal history or has left the country for a period of time), students refer applicants to lawyers. nevertheless, these trainings are a major part of the everyday activism and the undocumented pedagogy of undocumented students. while stop gap immigration policies have primarily benefitted those undocumented immigrants who fit the dreamer profile, poder students and alumni quickly responded to president obama’s announcement of deferred action for parents of americans and lawful permanent residents (dapa) and an expanded daca program in november of 2014. under dapa, immigrants who have been in the united states since 2010 who have children who are citizens or permanent residents would be eligible for three-year work permits.14 the announcement elicited mixed reactions from members of poder because not all of their parents had u.s.-born children. in fact, many dacamented students’ parents would be ineligible for dapa. nevertheless, current members of poder and locally based alumni began to organize to help those members of the community who were eligible to apply for the dapa and expanded daca programs. less than three months after the president’s announcement, poder alumni and current students began to work with the family defenders program. alba, who is currently working as a staff member at ucr, announced the program at a regular group meeting in february 2015. ucr’s office of undocumented student programs would be working in conjunction with the office of congressman mark takano to make dapa and daca more easily accessible to the local undocumented community. modeled after a program in chicago, the family defender program would make lawyers available to provide daca and dapa training to community members. the program was specially aimed at college students so that they, in turn, could offer support in filling out the applications to members of the undocumented community. at the time, ucr was the only university and riverside was the only congressional district to enact such a program. members of poder embraced the opportunity to work on a project that would help them to serve their families and the larger undocumented community. for beto, involvement in poder has served as a springboard to broad-based activism across communities of color at the university. nevertheless, he gravitated to the family defender program because it enabled him to help his family and other members of his home community to access the same kinds of rights that he has as a student at uc riverside. beto explains: i’m in the process right now, with family defenders, with getting educated on my own status…helping out my brothers and sisters back home. my friends, they don’t know what i’m doing, what i’m going to study or what i’m going to do, but when they get their dapa and i sign and i fill it out, … and i give them the research, [i’ll show them that] this is what i want to do for a living. not only for myself, but for my family… because if i can’t help my family, then what does 14 please see: http://www.workpermit.com/news/2015-07-13/us-immigration-dapa-executive-order-heard-by-appeals-court unauthorized education http://www.workpermit.com/news/2015-07-13/us-immigration-dapa-executive-order-heard-by-appeals-court association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 44 that say about everyone else? i can’t really be helping out everyone else and just forgetting about the people that brought me to where i am today. in many ways, beto has maximized his experience as a college student, not only taking the requisite coursework to graduate, but also becoming involved in the campus community through activist work. however, he recognizes that the people who “brought him” to college do not have the same rights and resources that he does as a student in higher education. rather than distinguishing himself from his family or his community as someone deserving of increased rights, his involvement in the family defender program provides a way for him to give back and to extend rights to his family and friends back home. just a week after the alba made the announcement about the family defender program at the poder meeting, a federal judge in the southern district court of texas issued a temporary injunction against dapa and expanded daca from going into the effect after 26 states filed a lawsuit to block the programs.15 current poder students and alumni immediately organized and participated in a demonstration to protest the injunction. isabel, a poder alumna and local community organizer, helped to connect poder students with a protest sponsored by inland congregations united for change, a faith-based community organization, at the san bernardino city hall. the current poder president and her mother were both speakers at the protest. isabel posted about the event on poder’s facebook page, writing, “when our community is under attack, what do we do? stand up, fight back!”16 her statement coupled with beto’s narrative clearly indicate the ways that ucr undocumented youth view themselves as closely connected to the larger undocumented community, not distinguishing themselves as more deserving, but rather as in the struggle together. engagement in programs like the family defenders is a key part of poder students’ undocumented pedagogy. students are able to use the political resources available to them at the university to disseminate knowledge to members of their community who do not have access to such resources. undocumented students become educators for their families and their friends as they teach them how to navigate the bureaucracy of the state. in this way, they challenge traditional boundaries between teacher and student, creating democratic spaces of learning. we can also read a second aspect of undocumented pedagogy in the protest and defense of undocumented communities. poder students and alumni in conjunction with community organizations render undocumented lives visible to the public through testimonios and through protests in their push for humane, comprehensive immigration reform. these aspects of undocumented pedagogy are important to view the multifaceted struggle to challenge false divisions in the undocumented community and to extend rights to students’ families and friends. conclusion this article presents a case study that illuminates the ways that university students use their social and political capital to challenge the rhetorical and increasingly legal borders between so-called good and bad immigrants. poder students at ucr work to render visible the complex situations of the undocumented community in the united states. they do not cast themselves as exceptional, but rather as young people who stand on the shoulders of family members who have sacrificed for them to have a place at the university. in addition to challenging stereotypical public perceptions of the undocumented community, poder students also focus on helping their families and communities to access the limited rights that are available to them through state and federal policies. departing from the dreamer political tactics that emerged in the early 2000s, ucr undocumented students engage in activism that includes shining light on their complex family migrant subjectivities and working toward immigration reform that is recognizes the humanity of all migrants. in the case of poder, i argue that this activism is inherently educational and can be understood as undocumented pedagogy. undocumented pedagogy provides a useful framework to understand the ways that ucr undocumented youth actively and urgently create spaces of learning outside of the classroom. in these spaces, students directly challenge the politics of immigrant deservingness through their use of testimonios and work to cultivate citizen allies. by educating their fellow undocumented immigrants about policy, students 15 http://www.natlawreview.com/article/dapa-and-daca-what-happened-to-president-obama-s-executive-action 16 fb post, 2/17/15 unauthorized education http://www.natlawreview.com/article/dapa-and-daca-what-happened-to-president-obama-s-executive-action association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 45 challenge educational hierarchies in terms of who has the right to teach and who has the right to learn. at its heart, the goal of undocumented pedagogy is about promoting social justice in the form of increased rights for undocumented immigrants. in this way, it is not only a critical, political tool, it is also a strategy of unlocking the liberatory potential of education. unauthorized education association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 46 references abrego, l. (2006). “i can’t go to college because i don’t have papers”: incorporation patterns of latino undocumented youth. latino studies, 4(3), 212-231. abrego, l. (2008). legitimacy, social identity, and the mobilization of law: the effects of assembly bill 540 on undocumented students in california. law and social inquiry, 33(3), 709-734. abrego, l., & gonzales, r. (2010). blocked paths, uncertain futures: the postsecondary education and labor prospects of undocumented latino youth. journal of education for students placed at risk, 15(1-2), 144157. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. giroux, h. (1994). between borders: pedagogy and the politics of cultural studies. new york, ny: routledge. gonzales, r. (2008). left out but not shut down: political activism and the undocumented student movement. northwestern journal of law and social policy, 3, 219. gonzales, r. (2011). learning to be illegal: undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. american sociological review, 76(4), 602-619. gonzales, r., & chavez, l. (2012). “awakening to a nightmare”: abjectivity and illegality in the lives of undocumented 1.5-generation latino immigrants in the united states. current anthropology, 53(3), 255281. hale, c. r. (2001). what is activist research? ssrc, 2(1-2), 13-15. jimenez, t. (2010). replenished ethnicity: mexican americans immigration, and identity. berkeley, ca: university of california press. martinez, l. 2014. dreams deferred: the impact of legal reforms on undocumented youth. american behavioral scientist, 58(14), 1873-1890. negrón-gonzales, g. (2014). undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic: re-articulatory practices and migrant youth ‘illegality.’ latino studies, 12(2), 259-278. negrón-gonzales, g. (2015). undocumented youth activism as counter-spectacle. aztlan, 40(1), 87-111. nicholls, w. (2013). the dreamers: how the undocumented youth movement transformed the immigrant rights debate. stanford, ca: stanford university press. perez, w. (2012). americans by heart: undocumented latino students and the promise of higher education. new york, ny: teachers college press. sandlin, j., schultz, b., & burdick, j. (2010). understanding, mapping, and exploring the terrain of public pedagogy. in j.a. sandlin, b.d. shultz, & j. burdicks (eds.). handbook of public pedagogy: education and learning beyond schooling (pp. 1-6). new york, ny: routledge. teranishi, r., suárez-orozco, c., & suárez orozco, m. (2015). in the shadows of the ivory tower: undocumented undergraduates and the liminal state of immigration reform. los angeles, ca: the institute for immigration, globalization, and education at ucla. terriquez, v. (2015). intersectional mobilization, social movement spillover, and queer youth leadership in the immigrant rights movement. social problems, 63(3), 343-362. velasquez, t. (2015). activism, research, and sovereignty on the extractivist frontier. paper presented at latin american studies association conference, puerto rico. yosso, t. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. new york, ny: routledge. zavella, p. (2011). i’m neither here nor there: mexicans’ quotidian struggles with migration and poverty. durham: nc: duke university press unauthorized education amea_2011.indd association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 the college pathways of foreign-born and native-born latina/o college students at four-year institutions victor b. sáenz university of texas, austin angélica aguilar rodríguez university of texas, austin melissa a. martínez texas state university, san marcos enrique romo university of texas, austin abstract with the continued growth of latinas/os in higher education, it has become more important than ever for university leaders, administrators, and policy makers to understand the complex factors that lead to their participation and success. it is also important to acknowledge that a good proportion of these latina/o students are foreign-born. this study explores key differences between foreign-born and native-born latinas/os as they enter four-year institutions in key areas such as academic preparation and reasons for choosing college. employing longitudinal trends data from the cirp freshman survey, we utilize chi-square analysis to explore differences across key groups (by place of birth and gender) over three decades. our results suggest that foreign-born latinas/os lag behind their peers in academic preparation, have greater concerns over fi nancing college, and are likely to choose college due to low tuition. our fi ndings demonstrate each group’s unique profi le upon entering four-year institutions and provide a historic glimpse of how these student populations have changed over three decades. introduction continuing challenges exist for foreign-born latina/o students who want to pursue a college education in the united states. many of these students—brought here by their immigrant families—are provided with quality educational experiences within our k-12 schools, and many work hard to prepare themselves for the rigors of post-secondary education. however for many, their hopes of accessing higher education are effectively out of reach, inhibited by a lack of affordable opportunities and a complex policy debate surrounding the rights of immigrant students. this ongoing policy debate focuses primarily on the rights of undocumented immigrant students in higher education, and it tends to overshadow any discussion about the opportunities of all other latina/o immigrant students within our higher education systems, be they documented or not. in addition, there is little research that explores the college pathways of foreign-born latina/o students, as most scholarship in this area focuses on all latina/o students and rarely disaggregates by characteristics such as place of birth or national origin. this study aims to bridge this void in research by identifying academic, fi nancial, and familial factors that facilitate access to higher education for foreign-born and native-born latina/o students that enroll in four-year institutions. latina/o students are often aggregated in research; however, there are critical distinctions to be examined between foreign-born students— those latinas/os born outside of the u.s. who immigrate with their families—and their nativeborn peers, or those born in the u.s. we examine key points of conversion and diversion in the experiences of these two latina/o student groups as they arrive at four-year colleges. employing longitudinal trends data from the cirp freshman survey, we utilize chi-square analysis to explore differences (by place of birth and gender) over three decades. areas examined include: academic preparation, fi nancial concerns, and reasons that infl uence their college choice. based on the analysis, we offer policy implications on the unique experiences of foreign-born latina/o entering college students. 31 the college pathways of foreign-born association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 background and policy context the 2010 u.s. census reported that the latina/o population has grown to an estimated 50.5 million, representing almost 16.3% of the u.s. (passel, cohn, & lópez, 2011). in fact, half of the country’s overall population growth between 2000 and 2010 was due to hispanics alone, and their percentages increased in every state of the union (pew hispanic center, 2011). the latina/o population is very young, as over 17 million latina/o children are under the age of 18 (ibid.). also, an estimated 11.1 million are unauthorized immigrants, the majority located in states like california (2.5 million) and texas (1.6 million) (ibid.). this new demographic reality underscores the need to better understand the population of foreign-born and native-born latina/o students as they navigate their college pathways, especially in states where latina/o immigrants are concentrated (e.g., az, ca, fl, nm, and tx). over the past three decades, national immigration policies have directly and indirectly impacted the opportunity of immigrant foreign-born latina/o students to access higher education (olivas, 2004). twelve states (ca, il, ks, md, ne, nm, ny, ok, tx, ut, wa, and wi) have instituted policies over the last decade to allow immigrant students to pay in-state college tuition regardless of their legal status (undocumented student tuition, 2011). other states (e.g., az, co, ga, & in) have responded by banning in-state tuition for undocumented students (ibid.). at the federal level, an attempt in 2010 to pass the development, relief and education for alien minors act, or the dream act, was led by senator richard durbin (d-illinois) as s. 729 (s. 729, 111th cong., 2009), but it was unsuccessful. the future of the dream act may remain uncertain, yet challenges persist for foreignborn latina/o students as they navigate their college pathways. this federal and state policy context serves to underscore the urgency of examining the postsecondary pathways of latina/o immigrant students. while the study is unable to focus explicitly on undocumented college students, even focusing on the category of foreign-born latina/o students represents an important contribution. literature review social science research focused on latina/o college students is rarely disaggregated by place of birth. latina/o foreign-born and native-born students come equipped with different skill sets, funds of knowledge (gonzález, moll, tenery, rivera, rendón, gonzales, & amanti, 1995), and future aspirations. immigrants, particularly those that are undocumented, have several barriers in pursuing and completing higher education. foreign-born latinas/ os worry about career opportunities afforded to them after graduation because of their inability to work in the u.s. legally (abrego, 2006). moreover, regardless of immigration status, most students are concerned about costs affi liated with attending college (santiago, 2007). many latinas/os, both foreign-born and native-born, attend high poverty, high minority schools that limit their educational opportunities. such challenges are exacerbated if latina/o students’ parents lack a formal education, if students come from low-income families, are held back in school, and/or have a low gpa (swail, cabrera, & lee, 2004). latino parents, however, maintain strong support for educational goals by instilling in students the concept of an educación (auerbach, 2006; reese, balzano, gallimore, & goldenberg, 1995) and motivating students through the use of consejos, or words of wisdom (delgado-gaitán, 1994; fránquiz & salazar, 2004; villenas, godínez, delgado bernal, & elenes, 2006). some researchers have documented how latina/o parents can draw upon their funds of knowledge (gonzález, et al., 1995) in order to help students navigate the american educational system, despite the fact that they may lack profi ciency with the english language or have little familiarity with the american educational system themselves (ceballo, 2004). also, the college decision-making process is directly tied to parental and sibling infl uences. for instance, in ceja’s (2004) study on the college choice process of chicanas, participants consistently noted parents as infl uential in their academic success. pérez (2010) also identifi ed parents as essential in this process, but also found peers and siblings to be infl uential. nevertheless, pursuing social and economic mobility through education is a prominent feature of the contemporary immigrant experience (tseng, 2006). as a result of this desire, latina/o immigrant students tend to have higher levels of motivation to climb the academic ladder. 32 the college pathways of foreign-born association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 immigrant students also have to contend with defi cit thinking on the part of educators and administrators (valencia, 1997, 2010; valenzuela, 1999). suárez-orozco and suárez-orozco (2002) note that many teachers view their immigrant students as less intelligent than their native peers even though the teachers believe that their immigrant students are more eager to learn. with immigrant students facing an uncertain future in higher education, this brief literature review is useful in framing our study, which focuses on the academic preparation, fi nancial concerns, and the college choices of latina/o foreign-born and native-born students in an effort to better understand and support them through their college pathways. methodology this study focused on institutions that participated in the cirp freshman survey in the years 1985, 1994, and 2004 from fi ve states: arizona, california, florida, new mexico, and texas. these states where chosen due to their large latina/o immigrant populations. these years were selected in order to maximize the number of four-year institutions that participated in the cirp freshman survey. this group of states includes three that offer in-state tuition to immigrant students (ca, nm, and tx), one that prohibits it (az), and one that has failed on its attempt to pass similar legislation (fl). given this geographic and policy context, two interrelated research questions guided our analysis related to differences between foreign-born and native-born latina/o students entering college over the last three decades: 1. how do they compare on academic preparedness as they enter college? 2. what are key differences that infl uence their fi nancial concerns and college choice? data and analysis the primary data source for this study was cirp freshman survey trends data, collected annually since the late 1960s by the ucla higher education research institute. the cirp freshman survey is administered every summer to incoming college freshmen at hundreds of four-year institutions across the country, and it is the nation’s longest running study of entering college students. the survey items cover a variety of pre-college experiences, motivations, aspirations, life goals and objectives, and expectations for college. the data are collected according to a sampling strategy that ensures broad representation of fouryear institutions to refl ect a national normative profi le of the entering fi rst-year population at all four-year public or private colleges and universities across the country (pryor, hurtado, sáenz, santos, & korn, 2007). the cirp freshman survey trends data offer a unique historical context with which to examine entering college students over the last four decades. our study parallels a recent trends report of latina/o students in higher education (hurtado, sáenz, santos, & cabrera, 2008). due to limitations in the types of demographic questions that have been asked in this survey, we cannot explicitly identify students’ undocumented status or their country of origin, but we are able to distinguish between foreign-born and native-born latina/o students. focusing on fouryear colleges represents a limitation given that a slight majority of latinas/os are enrolled in the two-year sector, yet there is important value in examining this context given the prevailing degree attainment goals (e.g., president obama’s 2020 goal) that call for more four-year degrees. another limitation lies with our use of the latina/o label, as there are many terms that can be used to refer to individuals of latina/o or hispanic origin in social science research. throughout the study we employ the term latinas/os and hispanics interchangeably to describe students that are of mexican, puerto rican, or other latina/o descent, acknowledging that this imperfect grouping could serve to mask important variances that inevitably exist between such sub-groups. these limitations do affect the specifi city of our analyses with respect to national origin, but we are nonetheless able to make meaningful comparisons between foreign-born and native-born entering latina/o college students. 33 the college pathways of foreign-born association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 our analyses of the cirp freshman survey trends data for the three survey years of 1985 (n=4,915), 1994 (n=17,421), and 2004 (n=40,870) focuses on documenting signifi cant betweengroup differences through descriptive summaries and chi-square analysis. we employ this analysis to examine key comparisons by gender across these sub-groups. table 1 displays a frequency distribution of these sub-groups. good place to begin. table 1. sample by place of birth & gender foreign-born males 224 1148 1287 native-born males 1793 6142 15137 foreign-born females 195 1458 2165 native-born females 2703 8673 22281 total 4915 17421 40870 source: cirp freshman survey, ucla higher education research institution. notes: data are from respondents to the cirp freshman survey, and sample sizes are weighted to refl ect the national normative profi le of entering freshmen for the given year. data include respondents from institutions in fi ve states (az, ca, fl, nm, tx) across three years: 1985, 1994, and 2004. for additional information on these data, see: hurtado, s., sáenz, v. b., santos, j. l., & cabrera, n. l. (2008). advancing in higher education: a portrait of latina/o college freshmen at four-year institutions: 1975–2006. los angeles: higher education research institute, ucla. appendix a displays the results of selected chi-square analysis in tabular format. our results are focused on differences in academic preparation for college, fi nancial concerns, and factors that infl uence where they decide to go to college. we were unable to employ more advanced analytic techniques due to the fact that these data are aggregate in nature and do not allow for unit-level analysis. results demographic portrait the proportion of entering foreign-born latina/o students at four-year institutions has been increasing over the last several decades, although there has been a decline in the last few years. a closer look at cirp freshman survey trends data corroborates this, as the proportion of foreign-born latina/o students was under 4% in 1971, reaching a high of 12% in the mid-1990s and then settling back at about 7% in 2008 (see figure 1). in addition, we have mapped onto this enrollment timeline some key federal immigration policies that in some cases have coincided with sharp increases or decreases in enrollment. the movement of the trend line suggests such policies may have some effect on college enrollment rates of foreign-born latina/o students, although further research would be necessary to further extend such a conjecture. the general trend since 1971 indicates a steady increase in the proportion of foreign-born latinas/ os entering four-year colleges, providing an important demographic context with which to consider our analysis of survey differences between these students and their native-born latina/o peers. 34 the college pathways of foreign-born association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 academic preparation as students transition from high school to college, it is vital that they are academically prepared and college-ready. research suggests that immigrant students in high school often demonstrate stronger academic motivation when compared to their native-born peers (suárezorozco & suárez-orozco, 2002). this may be because immigrant students often have an increased desire to do well for their parents, repaying them for the sacrifi ces they made to provide students a better life (tseng, 2004). this increased level of academic motivation, however, does not always translate to higher academic achievement, in part because the greater familial interdependence that immigrant students experience can result in increased family obligations (fuligni & pedersen, 2002; sy & romero, 2008; tseng, 2004). tabular results for our analysis can be found in appendix a. high school grade point average. the difference in high school gpa between both native-born and foreignborn students is signifi cant in 1994 and 2004 but not in 1985, indicating that native-born latinas/os are academically outperforming foreign-born latinas/os in high school in more recent years. additionally, the proportion of foreign-born students that received top grades increased by more than 12% in two decades. differences by gender present more of a mixed picture. even though in each year, native-born students outperformed their foreign-born peers, it was only signifi cant in 1985 for males. male foreign-born and native-born high school gpas have converged, while their female peers have diverged. similarly, females outperformed males in self-reported gpas in both native-born and foreign-born populations each year and were signifi cant. these fi ndings provide support for a gender gap in latina/o academic achievement, regardless of citizenship status (saenz & ponjuan, 2009). college choice. the analysis revealed several signifi cant fi ndings when comparing college choice to gender and citizenship. in 1994 native-born males and foreign-born females were more likely to enroll in their top two choices than their peers, while in 2004 it was foreignborn females and males who were more likely than their native-born peers. the data is limited, however, in that it does not indicate what the actual choices of these individuals were. it may be that foreign-born latinas prefer public, four-year institutions that are more affordable and closer to home than their native-born latina peers. latinas’ sense of obligation and decision-making process are directly tied to parental and sibling infl uences, trends corroborated in prior research by ceja (2004) and pérez (2010). 35 the college pathways of foreign-born association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 time spent studying. the analyses indicate that foreign-born latinas/os actually spend more time per week doing homework or studying than do native-born latinas/os. in this instance, foreign-born latinas/ os’ commitment to succeed may have taken priority, perhaps enabling them to more effi ciently manage their time between studying and familial obligations. another explanation for these fi ndings may be that foreign-born latinas/os recognize that they need to devote more time and energy to their studies due to a difference in motivation that has also been noted in prior research (suarez-orozco & suarez-orozco, 2002). financial concerns financial and social capital factors can affect access to pre-college opportunities—such as access to ap courses, access to reading materials, etc.—that can positively impact students and lead to increased college success (contreras, 2005). differences in fi nancial and social capital between foreign-born and native-born latinas/os could help to account for some of the differences in achievement and graduation rates between these two groups. level of aid & concern over fi nancing college. in our analysis, parents of native-born latina/o students were better able to provide higher levels of assistance than foreign-born counterparts. by gender, male foreign-born latinos had higher levels of aid than foreign-born latinas, making the challenge to be successful in college even more diffi cult for foreign-born students. lower levels of parental aid can impact foreign-born latina/o students in a variety of ways, including college choice, time to graduate, and necessity of procuring a job in college (hurtado et al., 2008). it is important to note that for foreign-born latinas/os, a third to more than a half across the three cohort years noted that fi nancing college was a major concern. foreign-born latinas also had higher levels of concern than their male counterparts. however, these fi ndings should not underestimate the fact that nativeborn latinas/os are also concerned about affordability. the majority of these students had at least some concern about fi nancing college with a substantial amount having major concerns. along with possibly lacking the income to pay for school, their concern could also be linked to the student and their families’ ability to work in the u.s. reason to go to college: low tuition. financial concerns are also exhibited when looking at the infl uence of low tuition on the college choice process for entering latina/o students. foreign-born latinas/os consistently reported that low tuition at an institution was more important than did native-born latinas/os. interestingly, when comparing across the cohort years, both foreignand native-born latinas/os reported the increasing importance of low tuition in choosing a college. for both groups, the proportion viewing the importance of low tuition as “very important” more than doubled from 1985 to 1994. as the costs of college have increased, along with fi nancial aid focusing more on loans and less on scholarships and grants, the draw for an institution with low tuition intensifi es. it is useful to consider these fi ndings in conjunction with the amount of aid from family and concern about fi nancing college that foreign-born latina/o students indicated. a student who anticipates little to no family fi nancial support would be concerned about paying for college and would look to perhaps attend a school with lower tuition. this becomes even more challenging when coupled with the limited opportunities to access federal and/or state funds due to their immigrant status. desire to live close to home. our analysis found that foreign-born students were more likely to want to live closer to home. both female and male foreign-born latina/o students were more likely to attend a college or university that is less than 50 miles from their home. females, both nativeand foreign-born, were also signifi cantly more likely than their male counterparts to opt to attend a university closer to home. this fi nding is signifi cant as it is consistent with prior research on why latinas/os opt to live close to home while pursuing their degree, namely due to the reasons of access, location, and affordability (santiago, 2007). being close to home allows students to commute, work, study, and above all fulfi ll their family obligations. 36 the college pathways of foreign-born association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 conclusion and implications this study found several key differences between foreign-born and native-born entering latina/o college students attending a four-year institution within the fi ve target states (az, ca, fl, nm, & tx) that could affect the success of these students in college. these range from differences in their academic preparedness to the level of aid they receive from their families to the key infl uences on their college choice. our results suggest that differences persist between the academic preparation of foreignborn latinas/os and their native-born peers as they enter four-year institutions over the last three decades. these differences warrant further investigation to aid in improving the quality of support that is currently provided to foreign-born latinas/os in accessing, enrolling in, and graduating from college. further, families of foreign-born latinas/os have a diminished ability to fi nancially support them through college, which could lead to higher expectations to work while in college. all of these factors affect a student’s concern about fi nancing their education, a concern that remained strong across all groups across the three decades. though fi nancial barriers exist for both groups, foreign-born latina/o students as a whole experience them with higher frequency and with more severity. parental and family encouragement, the distance between college and home, and participation in religious services are decisive factors in how students, and in particular foreignborn latina/o students, approach their fi rst year in college (santiago, 2007). our fi ndings demonstrate that parents and family members can be a strong positive infl uence on a student’s college career. college administrators should evaluate how to integrate family members into programming, such as orientation and fi nancial aid programs. additionally, a substantial proportion of both foreignand native-born latina/o students report living close to home as an important infl uence in their college choice. accordingly, institutions should actively engage their surrounding latina/o communities in light of this fi nding though aggressive recruitment and outreach services that engage the entire family. finally, our study fi ndings suggest some important implications for policy and practice: 1. increase opportunities for affordability and funding of higher education that target immigrant students. as the cost of higher education keeps increasing, fi nancial aid subsidies for latina/o immigrant students need to continue to come from local, state, and federal sources. current legislation in states like ca, nm, and tx that provide in-state tuition for their residents regardless of citizenship status, along with providing some form of state fi nancial aid, has provided many foreign-born (and undocumented) students the opportunity to attend college. more states, especially those with increasing immigrant populations, should seek to enact similar legislation to make higher education more accessible. the federal dream act needs to continue to be a strategy to make college more affordable and attainable for all eligible students. 2. degree completion should lead to the ability to work legally. some immigrant students who are attending higher education in the u.s. face the prospect of being unable to utilize their degree because they may not have the legal right to work. foreign-born latina/o college students represent perhaps america’s most under-utilized source of human capital. in using a human capital argument, a strong economic rationale could be a politically palatable strategy to build support for enhancing the higher education opportunities for all immigrant latina/o students. 3. increase focus on latino male students, regardless of native-born or foreign-born status. the difference in participation in higher education by latinas and latinos at the undergraduate level is staggering (saenz & ponjuan, 2009), and though the focus has been to increase the participation of women due to past gender inequities, there is now an imperative to increase 37 the college pathways of foreign-born association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 the participation and academic success of all latino men as well. increased mentorship opportunities and specifi c programs conducted by schools to raise participation and degree aspiration are necessary to clarify the pathways to higher education that may seem out of reach. ultimately, institutions must realize that focusing on latino males is a key strategy towards making signifi cant gains in their goals around increasing college completion, as there is more room for growth. 4. provide more funding for hispanic serving institutions (hsis). hsis educate the majority of latinas/ os in the country and awarded over 40% of bachelor’s degrees to latinas/os in 2003-2004 even though they made up 7% of all four-year institutions (santiago, 2007). hsis are located in areas with high latina/o populations and generally serve the local region. as the fi ndings demonstrate, foreign-born latina/o students are more likely to stay close to home, so it is imperative to increase funding at schools where they attend: hsis. such funding increases should not be left to title v efforts at the federal level, as states can be more strategic in targeting these institutions as the chief economic engines in regions where the latina/o population growth is strongest (i.e., az, ca, fl, nm, & tx). 5. tap into family structures. families provide a strong support system to students and also induce students to be hard-working, to stay motivated, and to ultimately be successful. it is vital that higher education institutions and primary and secondary schools connect with parents and students’ immediate and extended families to provide information regarding opportunities for immigrant latina/o college students. institutions should work to demystify the higher education pathways available to these students, and the sharpest strategy for this intervention is to engage latina/o families and communities proactively and purposefully. references abrego, l. j. (2006). “i can’t go to college because i don’t have papers”: incorporation patterns of latino undocumented youth. latino studies, 4(3), 212-231. auerbach, s. (2006). “if the student is good, let him fl y:” moral support for college among latina/o immigrant parents. journal of latinos and education, 5(4), 275-292. ceballo, r. (2004). from barrios to yale: the role of parenting strategies in latino families. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 26, 171-186. ceja, m. (2004). chicana college aspirations and the role of parents: developing educational resiliency. journal of hispanic higher education, 3(4), 338-362. contreras, f. e. (2005, july). access, achievement, and social capital: standardized exams and the latino college-bound population. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 197 214. doi: 10.1177/1538192705276546 delgado-gaitán, c. (1994). consejos: the power of cultural narrative. anthropology and education quarterly, 25, 298-316. fránquiz, m., & salazar, m. (2004). the transformative potential of humanizing pedagogy: addressing the diverse needs of chicano/mexicano students. the high school journal, 87(4), 36-53. fuligni, a. j., & pedersen, s. (2002). family obligation and the transition to young adulthood. developmental psychology, 38(5), 856-868. gonzález, n., moll, l.c., tenery, m.f., rivera, a., rendón, p., gonzález, r., & amanti, c. (1995). funds of knowledge for teaching latina/o households. urban education, 29(4), 443-470. hurtado, s., sáenz, v. b., santos, j. l., & cabrera, n. l. (2008). advancing in higher education: a portrait of latina/o college freshmen at four-year institutions: 1975–2006. los angeles: higher education research institute, ucla. national immigration law center (nilc). (2010, december). dream act summary. retrieved from http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/dream/dream-bills-summary-2010-09-20.pdf 38 the college pathways of foreign-born association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 39 the college pathways of foreign-born olivas, m. (2004). iirira, the dream act, and undocumented college student residency. immigration and nationality law review, 323-352. passel, j.s., cohn, d., & lópez, m.h. (2011). census 2010: 50 million latinos. retrieved from: http://pewhispanic.org/fi les/reports/140.pdf pew hispanic center. (2011). statistical portrait of hispanics in universe: 2009 hispanic resident population, table 6. retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/fi les/factsheets/hispanics2009/table%206.pdf. pérez, p. a. (2010). college choice process of latino undocumented students: implications for recruitment and retention. journal of college admissions. retrieved from http://www.nacanet.org pryor, j. h., hurtado, s., saenz, v. b., santos, j. l., & korn, w. s. (2007). the american freshman: forty year trends. higher education research institute. los angeles: ca. s.729, 111th cong. (2009). reese, l, balzano, s., gallimore, r., & goldenberg, c. (1995). the concept of educación: latina/o family values and american schooling, international journal of educational research, 23(1), 57-81. saenz, v.b., & ponjuan, l. (2009). the vanishing latino male in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 8 (1) 54-89. santiago, d. (2007). choosing hispanic serving institutions: a closer look at latino students’ college choices. excelencia in education, 1-17. stanton-salazar, r. d., & dornbusch, s. m. (1995). social capital and the reproduction of inequality: information networks among mexican-origin high school students. sociology of education, 68(2), 116-135. suárez-orozco, c., & suarez-orozco, m. (2002). children of immigration. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. swail, w. s., cabrera, a. f., & lee, c. (2004). latino youth and the pathway to college. pew hispanic institute. retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/fi les/reports/31.pdf sy, s. r., & romero, j. (2008). family responsibilities among latina college students from immigrant families. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(3), 212-227. tseng, v. (2006). unpacking immigration in youths’ academic and occupational pathways. child development, 77(5), 1434-1445. tseng, v. (2004). family interdependence and academic adjustment in college: youth from immigrant and u.s.-born families. child development, 75(3), 966-983. undocumented student tuition: state action. (2011). national conference of state legislatures. retrieved july 19, 2011 from http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=12846 valencia, r. r. (1997). conceptualizing the notion of defi cit thinking. in r. r. valencia (ed.), the evolution of defi cit thinking: educational thought and practice (pp.1-12). new york, ny: the falmer press. valencia, r. r. (2010). the plight of chicano students: an overview of schooling conditions and outcomes. in r. r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (3rd ed.). hoboken: taylor & francis. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s. mexican youth and the politics of caring. new york: state university of new york press. villenas, s., godínez, f., delgado bernal, d., & elenes, a. (2006). chicanas/latinas building bridges. in d. delgado bernal, a. elenes, f. godínez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life. feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 1-9). albany, ny: state university of new york press. association of mexican american american educators (amae) journal © 2011 • volume 5, issue 1 source: cirp freshman survey trends data (1985, 1994, & 2004). ucla higher education research institute. * p < 0.01; ** p < 0.001. notes: data are from respondents to the cirp freshman survey, and sample sizes are weighted to refl ect the national normative profi le of entering freshmen for the given year. chi-square tests were run between foreign-born and native-born and gender within each year. data is not available for some years. only selected comparisons are displayed here. additional trends tables available upon request from the lead author. data includes institutions from fi ve states (az, ca, fl, nm, tx) across three years: 1985, 1994, and 2004. sample sizes are available in table 1. for additional information on these data, see: hurtado, s., sáenz, v. b., santos, j. l., & cabrera, n. l. (2008). advancing in higher education: a portrait of latina/o college freshmen at four-year institutions: 1975–2006. los angeles: higher education research institute, ucla. 40 the college pathways of foreign-born amea_2011 33 amea_2011 34 amea_2011 35 amea_2011 36 amea_2011 37 amea_2011 38 amea_2011 39 amea_2011 40 amea_2011 41 amea_2011 42 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 73 the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action in fisher v. university of texas: lessons for institutional policies and practices liliana m. garces pennsylvania state university abstract in fisher v. university of texas at austin (2013), the u.s. supreme court most recently recognized the right of universities to pursue a mission-centered interest in the educational benefits of student body diversity. the decision, however, also reminded institutions of the limited ways they are allowed to consider race in admissions policies to advance this goal. as institutions assess how to proceed in the aftermath of fisher, it is important to consider any lessons learned from the case that can guide future efforts. in this article, i consider how the university of texas at austin’s arguments in support of its policy can guide future efforts to support latina/os in higher education. the university’s arguments offer a more contextualized way to think of diversity-related policies, which can support the educational experiences of latina/os more effectively and advance the long-term interests of this community and other underrepresented populations in higher education. introduction the debate over affirmative action is frequently a central issue at highly selective undergraduate institutions and graduate and professional schools (see, bowen & bok, 1998).19 this is not surprising as these are the primary institutions that provide pathways to positions of power and influence in the united states. the college a student attends matters a good deal in terms of shaping their future opportunities, particularly for students of color. for example, research shows that students of color who attend selective institutions are more likely to graduate than their peers who attend less selective institutions (bowen, chingos, & mcpherson, 2009; carnevale & strohl, 2013; melguizo, 2008; small & winship, 2007), to have higher earnings (dale & kruger, 2002, 2014), to become leaders in their chosen professions and to initiate and lead activities that assist communities of color and contribute to the social and economic health of our nation (bowen & bok, 1998). for these reasons, race-conscious admissions policies at selective postsecondary institutions remain a critical factor in advancing the educational opportunities and interests of latina/os across the nation. while the u.s. supreme court’s decision in fisher v. university of texas at austin (2013) recently recognized the right of universities to pursue a mission-centered (i.e., “compelling”) interest in the educational benefits of student body diversity, it also reminded institutions of the limited ways they are permitted to consider race or ethnicity in that process. as institutions assess how to proceed in the aftermath of fisher, it is important to consider lessons learned from the case that can guide future efforts. therefore in this article, i outline how the arguments the university of texas at austin (ut-austin) and its supporting amici curiae (friends-of-court)—advanced in support of the university’s race-conscious admissions policy—can inform institutional policies and practices aimed to support latina/os in higher education.20 the context within which ut-austin sought to implement and defend its race-conscious admissions policy—in texas—is particularly relevant for informing policies that seek to address educational inequities for latina/os in the nation. in texas, as in the nation as a whole, latina/os are the largest minority 19. for the purpose of this article, i employ the terms “affirmative action,” “race-conscious admissions policies,” and “race-sensitive admissions policies” interchangeably; they refer to the consideration of race as one among many factors in admissions decisions. 20. these friend-of-the-court (amicus curiae) briefs are filed by individuals or organizations that are not direct parties in the lawsuit but have an interest in the outcome of the case. in this analysis, i focus primarily on an amicus brief filed by american social science researchers in support of the university, as it was one of the primary briefs that summarized many of the research findings that supported the arguments by ut-austin that are highlighted in this article. the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 74 group.21 yet at ut-austin (and at other selective institutions across the nation), they remain underrepresented in the student body (about 15% at ut-austin) relative to their representation in the state (about 38% in texas). in addition, the educational disparities for latina/os in texas reflect educational disparities for this population across the nation. in 2002, amongst 18 year olds in texas, only 33% of latina/os had a high school degree (compared to about 50% of whites) and 18% held a college degree (compared to 65% of whites) (nchems). in 2010, amongst adults 25 years old and over in the u.s., only 63% of latina/os had a high school degree (compared to about 88% of whites) and 14% held a college degree (compared to about 30% of whites) (u.s. census bureau, 2012). and as is the case in the u.s., pathways to leadership positions for latina/os in the state are notably lacking. in texas for instance, latina/os make up 37.6% of the population (ennis, rios-vargas, & albert, 2011), but only 7.3% of the leadership in state and local government (brief of national latino organizations, 2013). considering these inequities and demographic realities in the state, ut-austin implemented race-conscious admissions policies to further its mission of “preparing educated, productive citizens who can meet the rigorous challenges of an increasingly diverse society and an ever-changing global community”22 —a mission that closely matches those of other selective postsecondary institutions across the nation. the university’s defense of its policy in fisher, thus, can offer important lessons for institutional policies that seek to increase access for latina/ os in higher education. in my analysis, i argue that the university’s arguments in defense of affirmative action in fisher call for a more contextualized understanding of diversity and its justifications in a manner that can more effectively advance the long-term interests of latina/os and other underrepresented populations in higher education. this more contextualized understanding of diversity and its justifications can help guide institutional efforts postfisher in three main areas. first, as with ut-austin, postsecondary institutions that seek to increase access to higher education for latina/os and other underrepresented populations will not only need to pay attention to their admissions practices, but also to the learning environments on campus and to the conditions that are necessary to support a positive learning environment throughout their students’ educational journeys. second, as the demographics of the nation shift and latina/os represent a larger percentage of the population, institutions will need to consider how policies intended to further institutional missions need to change to address these changing demographics in a broader societal context within which racial and ethnic inequalities persist. finally, as legal decisions restrict the consideration of race in admissions and reinforce a “color-blind” approach in education policy, institutions will need to craft policies and engage in practices that address the real ways in which race continues to operate to shape educational access and success. before i turn to ut-austin’s arguments in fisher and the lessons for institutional policies and practices, i first outline the legal background that led to fisher, as it illuminates the contentious and complex legal terrain underlying the efforts selective institutions are making to implement race-conscious admissions practices in order to further their educational missions. legal background: the path toward fisher in texas the court of appeals prohibits affirmative action in hopwood in texas, the controversy over the legality of affirmative action dates back to the now well-documented case of hopwood v. university of texas law school (1996). in hopwood, which took place two decades after the u.s. supreme court narrowly upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action in regents of the university of california v. bakke (1978), the fifth circuit departed from bakke, finding that the consideration of race or ethnicity as a 21. by 2011, latina/os made up the largest minority group among the nation’s four-year colleges and universities (fry & lopez, 2012). texas registered the second largest number of latina/os (after california) and third largest number of african americans (after new york and florida) [ennis, rios-vargas, & albert, 2011]. indeed, by 2020, latina/os and african-americans will represent roughly half of the total population ages 25 to 64—with both populations projected to grow at much higher rates than whites (nchems). by the year 2050, latina/os will make up 30 percent of the u.s. population (u.s. census, 2008). 22. see mission statement: the university of texas system, available at http://www.utsystem.edu/osm/mission.htm the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action http://www.utsystem.edu/osm/mission.htm association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 75 factor in admissions did not serve a compelling interest.23 the case involved a challenge by cheryl hopwood and three other white students who had been denied admission to the university of texas law school in 1992. the law school based its admissions on the texas index score, a composite of grade point average and standardized test scores, and an interpretation of the index score that took into consideration an applicant’s race. cheryl hopwood argued that the admissions policy violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment because minority applicants who had lower texas index scores than white applicants were admitted, and because the law school had separate admissions committees for white and minority applicants. the law school defended its policy on the grounds that it met the requirements of the court’s decision bakke, which had endorsed a compelling interest in diversity. the fifth circuit, however, disagreed, finding that the law school did not have a compelling interest in student body diversity. the fifth circuit rested its finding in part on the argument that bakke had been a divided opinion, as justice powell was the only justice who recognized student body diversity as a compelling interest. moreover, the sitting u.s. supreme court at the time was more conservative than the one that had decided bakke, and it had fallen short of endorsing affirmative action in cases decided in the employment context (see, adarand constructors, inc. v. peña, 1995). these factors led to the unusual circumstance in which a lower court failed to apply an otherwise binding u.s. supreme court ruling to a case that raised a similar legal issue. in 1997, the texas attorney general interpreted the hopwood decision to apply to both public and private institutions in the state and to extend to admissions decisions, financial aid, scholarships, and recruitment and retention practices (chapa et al., 1997). following hopwood, higher education institutions in texas, and those in mississippi and louisiana that were not under orders to desegregate, replaced the consideration of race with other criteria intended to increase the representation of students of color on their campuses. ut-austin, for instance, began to use a personal achievement index, which considered such factors as a student’s socioeconomic status, whether the student spoke a language other than english at home, and whether the student lived in a single-family home. the texas state legislature also adopted related initiatives and in 1997 passed the top ten percent plan (hb 588), which granted high school seniors in the top 10 percent of their class automatic admission to the state’s universities, including their campus of choice, which generated a hyper-competitive admissions process at utaustin. the plan’s creators noted that the law was not intended to become an alternative to affirmative action, nor was it likely to reverse the decline in racial and ethnic diversity at undergraduate institutions in the state following the prohibition of affirmative action under hopwood (brief of the authors of the texas ten percent plan, 2003, p. 3). in addition, the state’s public flagship institutions, particularly ut-austin, supplemented the top ten percent plan with targeted scholarships and retention programs intended to increase representation of students of color (horn & flores, 2003). during this time, ut-austin was able to regain some of the losses in racial and ethnic diversity that had taken place after hopwood banned the consideration of race as a factor in admissions, although not to the level it had achieved with its pre-hopwood race-conscious policy (long & tienda, 2008). the court overrules hopwood: another challenge is brought in texas in june 2003, six years after hopwood went into effect, the u.s. supreme court again upheld the constitutionality of considering race in admissions, relying in part on research documenting the benefits of student body diversity (see, e.g., chang, witt, jones, & hakuta, 2003). the case, grutter v. bollinger, involved a challenge to a holistic admissions policy at the university of michigan law school that considered race, among 23. in considering the constitutionality of a policy under the 14th amendment of the u.s. constitution, a court will apply one of three standards of review: 1) rational basis, 2) intermediate scrutiny, or 3) strict scrutiny. under a rational basis standard, the lowest level of review and easiest standard to satisfy, the court will uphold the policy if the institution is pursuing a “legitimate” objective and there’s a “rational relation” between the means chosen and the objective. under intermediate scrutiny, the objective needs to be “important” and the means need to be “substantially related” to the objective. strict scrutiny, which requires a “compelling” interest and means that are “narrowly tailored” to this objective, involves the court’s highest level of review and it is the hardest one to meet. the court applies the strict scrutiny standard to “smoke out” illegitimate uses of race by assuring that the institution “is pursuing a goal important enough to warrant use of a highly suspect tool” (johnson v. california, 543 u.s. 499, 506 (2005)). these requirements apply to any institution that receives federal funding, which include the majority, if not all, of the nation’s private postsecondary institutions. the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 76 other factors, as a circumstance that could enhance an applicant’s chances of admission. barbara grutter, a white female applicant who had been denied admission, argued that the policy violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment because a higher percentage of minority applicants were admitted than nonminority applicants with similar test scores, even though the minority applicants had lower grade point averages. the law school argued that the policy was needed to further a compelling interest in student body diversity, which required the enrollment of a “critical mass” of students of color (i.e., more than a token number of minority students to help diminish the threat of stereotypes24) (see garces & jayakumar, 2014, for an extended analysis of the concept of critical mass). the law school also argued that the admissions process met the narrow tailoring requirements of strict scrutiny because it was based on individualized consideration of every applicant. the u.s. supreme court agreed, in a 5-4 majority opinion authored by justice o’connor.25 as justice powell had found in bakke, the court in grutter found that universities had a compelling interest in student body diversity. importantly, by acknowledging the broad implications of diversity for society and our democracy, the court’s decision also expanded the justification for affirmative action beyond the educational benefits of a diverse student body. the majority opinion emphasized the role of universities—professional schools such as law schools, in particular—in providing “the training ground for a large number of our nation’s leaders” (grutter, 539 u.s. at 332). the court also stressed the need for these institutions to be inclusive of individuals of all races and ethnicities so that all members of our society can have “confidence in the openness and integrity of the educational institutions that provide this training” (grutter, 539 u.s. at 332). with this expanded rationale, the court recognized the important role postsecondary institutions play in sustaining the health of our democracy by creating pathways to leadership for a racially diverse student body. grutter thus overruled hopwood, which allowed higher education institutions in texas (as well as louisiana and mississippi) to again consider race as a factor in their admissions decisions in a narrowly tailored manner.26 in 2005, after grutter had lifted the prohibition on affirmative action policies at postsecondary institutions in texas, ut-austin reintroduced the consideration of race in admissions. it did so only after commissioning two studies that explored racial diversity in its classrooms and across its campus. one study showed that africanamerican and latina/o students remained underrepresented in small to average-sized undergraduate classes, which offered the best opportunity for classroom discussion. the study found that “90% of undergraduate classes of the most common size at ut—sections with 10-24 students—enrolled zero or one african-american student in 2002, and nearly 40% of those classes enrolled zero or one [latina/o] student” (brief for respondents, 2013, p. 10). ut-austin also conducted a student survey, which revealed that minority students were feeling isolated and that a majority of all students felt there was “insufficient minority representation” in their classrooms for “the full benefits of diversity to occur.” in light of these findings, ut-austin concluded that it had yet to achieve “the critical mass” of underrepresented students necessary to obtain the full educational benefits of diversity under the top ten percent plan. following the implementation of the race-conscious policy in 2005, abigail fisher, a white female applicant who had been denied admission to ut-austin sued the university, arguing that ut-austin’s policy did not follow the parameters of grutter, and therefore, violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. the main legal issues involved were not whether the educational benefits of diversity were a compelling interest, one of the primary legal issues in bakke, hopwood, and grutter, but whether the individualized consideration of race 24. steele (2010) defines stereotype threat as “a situational threat—a threat in the air—that, in general form, can affect the members of any group about whom a negative stereotype exists. where bad stereotypes about these groups apply, members of these groups can fear being reduced to that stereotype. and for those who identify with the domain to which the stereotype is relevant, this predicament can be self-threatening” (p. 614). 25. a separate case involved a challenge to an admissions policy at the undergraduate college of literature, science, and the arts, which awarded extra points to candidates on the basis of their race. in that case, gratz v. bollinger (2003), the court issued a separate decision striking down the undergraduate admissions policy on the grounds that the policy’s point system was not flexible enough to comply with the individualized consideration outlined in grutter. 26. the court has not articulated a fixed or singular measure for determining whether a policy is “narrowly tailored,” but has instead outlined a number of relevant criteria, which are ultimately context-specific. these criteria include making sure that the policy: (a) does not operate as a quota; (b) is adopted after an institution’s good faith consideration to workable race-neutral alternatives; (c) involves a flexible, individualized consideration of applicants so that race, while important, is only one of a number of factors being considered; (d) does not unduly burden disfavored groups; and (e) is limited in time or includes a periodic review to assess its continued necessity. in fisher, the court clarified that this narrow tailoring determination is one that courts need to make themselves, with great care, while taking account of a university’s experience and expertise. the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 77 was necessary to attain the goal of diversity. abigail fisher argued that the university had reached an adequate level of racial and ethnic diversity through race-neutral means, the texas top ten percent plan, so that the consideration of race as a factor in admissions decisions was not necessary and thereby unconstitutional. utaustin, on the other hand, argued that it needed the race-conscious policy so that it could attain a more racially and ethnically diverse student body than it had been able to attain under the top ten percent plan. in the next section, i summarize the court’s decision in fisher before considering these arguments in more detail and the lessons for institutional policies and practices. the court’s ruling in fisher after considering all the arguments in fisher, the court, in a 7-1 majority opinion written by justice kennedy, with justice kagan recused, endorsed the right of universities to pursue diversity as a compelling educational interest, leaving in place prior holdings in regents of the university of california v. bakke (1978) and grutter v. bollinger (2003). however, the court also remanded the case back to the lower courts for further deliberation on whether the race-sensitive admissions policy is necessary to further that compelling interest— that is, whether the policy was narrowly tailored. it clarified that prior cases like bakke and grutter required closer examination to determine whether the university used race in a careful and limited manner to achieve a compelling interest in diversity. the court was concerned that the lower court had reached this conclusion by relying primarily on the university’s judgment without conducting its own independent assessment. the court thus sent the case back to the lower court to undertake an independent review, guided by the expertise and experience of the university. on july 15, 2014, the fifth circuit court of appeals issued a ruling in the case affirming the lower court’s ruling that ut austin’s plan met strict scrutiny requirements. following the fifth circuit’s decision, abigail fisher filed a petition for review by the full circuit (i.e., petition for en-banc review), which the fifth circuit denied. she and her legal team thereafter filed another request for the u.s. supreme court to hear the case (i.e., petition for certiorari), which the court granted june 29, 2015.27 because fisher resulted in a remand, there has been some disagreement as to whether the case established any new precedent. some commentators have described the case as establishing a tighter narrow-tailoring requirement than the one articulated in grutter (see, e.g., somin, 2013). conservative organizations have used this interpretation of fisher to threaten institutions with future litigation. for example, the center for equal opportunity (2013) issued a press release in response to the fisher decision, stating that “we wish the supreme court itself had concluded that all racial preferences in university admissions are illegal, but it certainly has left the door open to that possibility in this case and future cases,” which means that the group “will continue to work toward that end.” the u.s. department of justice (2013), however, clarified that fisher did not change the legal standards in grutter. putting aside the legal nuances of whether fisher established a different standard than grutter, however, the practical reality is that the decision reminded institutions of the importance of documenting the reasons why the consideration of race as one of many factors in admissions is necessary or justified on their specific campuses. this is because, as lower courts undertake an independent review of the need for such policies, they will be relying on evidence that supports the judgment of institutions within their specific contexts that the institutions themselves are in the best position to provide. the arguments that ut-austin and amici advanced in support of race-sensitive admissions can help guide future efforts (see, e.g., jayakumar & garces, 2015). these arguments also guide institutional policies and practices that can support the educational experiences of latina/os more effectively and advance the long-term interests of this community and other underrepresented populations in higher education. next, i outline these arguments in more detail before turning to the lessons for institutional policies and practices. 27. the case will be argued during the court’s 2015-2016 term. the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 78 ut-austin’s arguments in fisher to justify its policy, ut-austin specifically highlighted the need to address students’ feelings of racial isolation, the need to have more racially and ethnically diverse classrooms and broader diversity within racial groups, and the need to further its educational mission of training future leaders of the state. these arguments can be placed in three main categories: (1) the importance of attending to the conditions institutions need to leverage the educational benefits of diversity; (2) the need for institutional policies to account for the broader local and national demographic context in which they operate and for the lingering effects of historical discrimination; and (3) the limits of race-neutral policies in expanding access for underrepresented populations in a society where race continues to matter. attending to the conditions necessary to obtain educational benefits of diversity at the time of the fisher litigation, latina/os made up about 15% of the student body at ut-austin and african-american students made up about 5%.28 opponents of ut-austin’s efforts argued that these percentages indicated that the institution was sufficiently diverse so that the use of race-conscious admissions practices in addition to the top ten percent plan was not constitutionally permitted or justified. ut-austin, however, pointed to the fact that despite their current level of representation, students of color reported feeling isolated on campus and that african-american and latina/o students remained underrepresented in undergraduate classes that offered the best opportunity for classroom discussion. in its legal brief, ut-austin argued that it was important to consider each group’s representation on campus separately and highlighted the fact that african-american and latina/o students who were admitted through the top ten percent plan possessed a different range of personal and educational experiences than other applicants. thus, ut-austin argued that it needed a higher level of diversity—as well as more diversity within each racial group—to further its institutional mission and obtain the educational benefits of diversity. with these arguments, ut-austin put a renewed focus on the importance of furthering a positive racial climate on campus, on attending to students’ experiences in the classroom, and on realizing the educational benefits of diversity by admitting individuals from each racial group who had a diverse range of experiences. i discuss each of these in turn below. a positive/healthy racial climate. as noted previously, ut-austin reintroduced the consideration of race as a factor in its holistic admissions process after learning that minority students reported feeling isolated on campus. with this argument, ut-austin emphasized the importance of considering the campus racial climate to further the educational benefits of diversity. racial climate is an important part of the institutional context and includes community members’ perceptions of “issues of race, ethnicity, and diversity” (hurtado, alvarez, guillermo-wann, cuellar, & arellano, 2012). to support ut-austin’s argument, the american social scientists amici presented evidence that summarized the importance of a positive racial climate in obtaining the educational benefits of diversity and demonstrated how low levels of racial and ethnic diversity harmed a campus’s racial climate, thereby impeding students’ ability to benefit from diversity (brief of american social science researchers as amicus curiae in support of respondent in fisher, 2013; see also elgart, plaut, hirsch, & paterson, (2015); garces & jayakumar, 2014). the amicus brief cited, for example, data from a survey of 31 institutions across the u.s. showing that a low level of racial and ethnic diversity at colleges (e.g., when underrepresented minorities make up 0% to 20% of the student body) reinforced stereotypes and discrimination, and thus had a detrimental effect on the campus climate (hurtado & ruiz, 2012). the findings from this survey showed that minority students were more likely to feel excluded from campus events and activities at institutions with this low level of racial diversity than they did at institutions with a higher level of underrepresented minorities (21%-35%) in the student population. the brief also highlighted the fact that institutions that were not able to consider race in their admissions policies, such as those in california where proposition 209 banned affirmative action, experienced 28. these figures are below the representation of latina/os and african-american high school graduates. in 2010, 38% and 13% of texas’ high school graduates were latina/os and african americans, respectively. the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 79 a more difficult racial climate than ut-austin (brief of american social science researchers, 2013). the brief of american social science researchers (2013) cited national survey data demonstrating that the racial climate for underrepresented minority students at the university of california, which has not been able to consider race as a factor in admissions since proposition 209 passed in 1996, was worse than at ut-austin. “only 62.2% of african-american students on eight of the university of california campuses reported feeling that students of their race are respected on campus, compared to 72.3% of african-american students at the university of texas” (p. 37, referencing appendix figure b). the brief further noted that “the comparison for latino students also reveals a more difficult racial climate when institutions are prohibited from considering race as a factor in admissions (77.2% for latinos at the university of california, compared to 89.9% at the university)” (p. 37). classroom diversity. ut-austin also sought to justify the consideration of race as a factor in its holistic admissions policy after learning that a majority of all students felt there was “insufficient minority representation” in the school’s classrooms for “the full benefits of diversity to occur,” and that african-american and latina/o students remained underrepresented in undergraduate classes that offered the best opportunity for classroom discussion. with these arguments, ut-austin introduced the importance of considering racial and ethnic diversity in learning spaces where cross-racial interactions can take place, such as the classroom. before fisher, arguments for diversity had focused on the importance of having a critical mass of students on college and university campuses, without necessarily giving specific attention to racial and ethnic diversity at the classroom level. in light of these arguments, the amicus brief of the american social science researchers summarized research studies, noting that classroom diversity was essential in many instances to provide the educational benefits of diversity endorsed in grutter. some of these findings demonstrated that racially diverse students’ presence and participation in the classroom enhanced curricular content (milem et al., 2012), class discussions (deo, 2011), and cross-racial understanding (chang, denson, sáenz, & misa, 2006; gurin, nagda, & zúñiga, 2013; saenz, ngai, & hurtado, 2007; zúñiga, williams, & berger, 2005). the findings also showed that racial diversity at the classroom level improved the quality of solutions envisioned collectively for solving complex problems (page, 2007) and helped avoid the harm caused by racial isolation and tokenism, which can prevent institutions from attaining the educational benefits of diversity (hurtado et al., 2012; steele, 2010). studies also showed that students who reported having had negative racial experiences in the college classroom or elsewhere on campus were more likely to express overall dissatisfaction with their college experience (harper & hurtado, 2007; hurtado, han, sáenz, espinosa, cabrera, & cerna, 2007; miller & sujitparapitaya, 2010). thus, these studies demonstrated that racial diversity in the classroom helped institutions retain minority students, improve graduation rates, and create a learning environment that improved white and minority students’ ability to gain the educational benefits of diversity (jayakumar, 2008).29 diversity within racial groups to help break down stereotypes. in fisher, ut-austin also pointed to the fact that its holistic policy was needed to obtain diversity within racial groups, or what ut-austin termed “diversity within diversity.” the university noted that the degree to which the top ten percent plan contributed to racial diversity at ut-austin was primarily the result of de facto segregation throughout texas high schools. because this segregation produced clusters of overwhelmingly majority-minority schools, the plan yielded a large number of minority students from these schools who were eligible for admission to utaustin. these students clearly contributed to racial diversity at the university in important ways, but ut-austin argued that admitting latina/o and african-american students who had varied backgrounds and perspectives was necessary to promote cross-racial understanding and help break down stereotypes. to support this argument, the social science researchers’ amicus brief explained that, due to factors beyond their control, such as tracking, african-american and latina/o applicants from educationally demanding 29. many of the briefs submitted in support of ut-austin summarized the extensive body of research on the educational benefits of student body diversity that had accumulated since the court’s 2003 ruling in grutter. as had been documented by social science research in grutter, this body of work continued to demonstrate that student body diversity leads to important educational benefits, including increased cross-racial interaction among students, reduced prejudice, improved cognitive abilities, critical thinking skills and self-confidence, greater civic engagement, and improved leadership and workplace skills (see, e.g., brief of american educational research association et al., 2013; sturm & johnson, 2015). the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 80 and racially integrated or largely white schools might not find themselves in the top 10 percent of their class (card & rothstein, 2007; oakes, 2008; schmidt, 2012; venezia & kirst, 2005). the brief argued that these students’ presence in the classroom could help to dismantle stereotypes and bridge the gaps that exist between white and non-white students in racially isolated schools. these arguments brought a much more nuanced approach to the consideration of diversity in higher education, and they pointed to the need to consider each individual’s personal, family, community, and academic histories to build truly diverse learning environments (brief of american social science researchers, 2013). aligning policies with societal and institutional contexts in addition to focusing on students’ experiences on campus and in the classroom, ut-austin sought to implement a race-conscious admissions policy as a way to align its policies more fully with the broader context in which it sought to further its educational mission. for instance, the university sought to increase latina/o representation to further its goal of producing “future educational, cultural, business and sociopolitical leaders” in a state where latina/os make up 38% of the population but only 15% of the student body (brief for respondents, 2013), and where pathways to leadership positions for latina/os were also notably lacking (brief of national latino organizations, 2013). ut-austin was well aware that it was seeking to promote racial and ethnic diversity in a state that had legally enforced the racial segregation of students during the first 70-plus years of the university’s existence. the first african-american student, heman sweatt, was not admitted to ut-austin until 1950 after the u.s. supreme court held in sweatt v. painter (1950) that the university could not exclude him on the basis of his race. for decades after sweatt and another landmark court opinion, brown v. board of education (1954), which outlawed legally enforced racial segregation in public schools, discrimination persisted against african americans and latina/ os in texas public schools. ut-austin noted concerns over the lingering effects of state-mandated segregation policies that were in existence through 1969 and of the university’s subsequent years of discriminatory practices against african americans and latina/os. the university stated in its brief that “ut is painfully aware of that history, and the lingering perception that ‘[ut] is largely closed to nonwhite applicants and does not provide a welcoming supportive environment to underrepresented minority students’” (brief for respondents, 2013, p. 4). by adopting a policy that considered race as one of many factors in admissions, ut-austin sought to send a welcoming signal to students of color. these arguments highlight the importance of implementing admissions policies that account for past racially discriminatory practices and their ongoing effects in order to improve the educational experiences of students of color by helping them feel welcomed on campus (brown-nagin, guinier, & torres, 2015).30 the limits of race-neutral policies when race continues to matter another important line of argument that ut-austin advanced highlighted the decline in racial and ethnic diversity that has taken place at institutions that are no longer allowed to consider race as a factor in admissions practices due to statewide bans on affirmative action policies, despite myriad efforts to implement “race-neutral” policies as a way to maintain racial diversity (see brief of american social science researchers, 2013). the arguments were presented to demonstrate that race-neutral policies have not been an effective alternative to race-sensitive admissions policies in maintaining a racially and ethnically diverse student body. the brief of american social science researchers (2013), for example, demonstrated that bans on affirmative action led to a decline in the racial and ethnic diversity of student bodies at selective undergraduate 30. it is important to note that ut-austin faced an uphill legal battle in justifying its policy based on the lingering effects of this history. this is because justice powell’s opinion in bakke invalidated past racial discrimination as a rationale for affirmative action policies. the arguments were nevertheless important to consider because the court had also clarified that strict scrutiny review is a contextual determination. these arguments were relevant, therefore, because ut-austin is seeking to promote the educational benefits of diversity in an environment in which students of color continue to experience racial and ethnic tensions that can be traced back to a history of racial discrimination. for a more detailed account of the ongoing racial and ethnic tensions on ut-austin’s campus and ut-austin’s history of racial discrimination, see brown-nagin, guinier, & torres (2015). the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 81 institutions, in the professions of law and medicine, and in other graduate programs critical to our nation’s future economic success (see, e.g., garces, 2012, 2013; garces & mickey-pabello, 2015). the brief summarized some of this decline at selective university campuses in states with bans on the policy. at the university of michigan, for instance, from 2006 (the year before proposal 2, which banned affirmative action, could have affected enrollment) to 2010, the percentage of african-american students enrolled decreased from 6% to just over 4%, a relative decrease of more than 25%. in addition, the percentage of latina/os enrolled at the university of michigan in that period fell from more than 5% to just over 4%, nearly a 20% change (yun, moses, & marin, 2012). the brief described a similar trend in california, where minority enrollment at the university of california’s (uc) flagship campuses also declined after the use of affirmative action was banned. according to data from the uc president’s office, “between 1997 and 1998, enrollments of african-american freshman at uc berkeley declined by 53% and latina/o enrollees fell by 45%. in the same period, african-american enrollments at ucla dropped by 38%, while latina/o enrollments declined by 30%” (brief of american social science researchers, 2013, p. 30) (see also kurlaender, friedmann, & chang, 2015). the brief of american social science researchers (2013) also highlighted the fact that bans on affirmative action have shifted student of color enrollment to less selective institutions, thereby harming the educational opportunities of these students, who are being denied the greater benefits associated with attending more selective institutions. the brief cited studies documenting these benefits, such as higher graduation rates, graduate or professional school attendance, and higher incomes and job success, particularly for latina/o and african american students. in texas specifically, one study showed that freshmen retention and the college graduation rates of minority students not in the top 10 percent of their class declined after hopwood and during the implementation of the percent plan (cortes, 2010). the study’s author argued that lower-ranked minority students had lower admission rates to selective public colleges under the percent plan, thus they “cascaded down” and ended up attending less selective institutions after the plan was instituted. the brief further argued that mechanistic “race-neutral” policies like percent plans do not yield the level of racial diversity that could be accomplished by race-sensitive admissions. for one, as the court recognized in grutter, percent plans are unsuitable for graduate and professional school admissions, which cannot rely on high school rankings. in addition, studies show, for example, that replacing a race-conscious policy with a top 10 percent plan nationwide would not successfully restore a comparable presence of students of color at the most selective four-year campuses (espenshade, & radford, 2009; howell, 2010; long, 2004). moreover, these plans depend on a number of other policies for their success. for instance, it was not until ut-austin complemented the percent plan with outreach, recruitment, and retention strategies that it began to see the increased enrollment of latina/o and african-american students eligible for admission under the top ten percent plan (domina, 2007). lessons of ut-austin’s arguments in fisher for institutional policies and practices ut-austin’s various arguments provide a helpful guide for institutional efforts going forward, as they highlight: (1) the need to consider students’ educational experiences by attending to learning environments and diversity within racial groups; (2) the broader societal and institutional contexts that require aligning institutional missions with changing demographics; and (3) the importance of addressing the ways in which race continues to matter in shaping students’ educational opportunities and their experiences once on campus. attending to learning environments and diversity within racial groups as with ut-austin, postsecondary institutions that seek to increase access to higher education for latina/os and other underrepresented populations will not only need to pay attention to their admissions practices but to support these students once they are on campus. admissions decisions are important, as they can increase the number of students of color on a campus. and the number does matter, as it signals that diversity is valued, helps students of color feel welcome, and helps prevent tokenism and racial isolation, all of which lead to more positive learning experiences, participation, and engagement for students of color (see, e.g., the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 82 garces & jayakumar, 2014). however, numbers alone do not produce educational benefits; what institutions do during a student’s years of education matters in terms of generating the educational benefits of racial diversity. practically speaking, this means that institutions should be conducting studies of their campus racial climate, of students’ experiences, and of the opportunities students have to engage in productive cross-racial interactions (garces & jayakumar, 2014). these are some of the factors that garces and jayakumar (2014) call for to help generate “dynamic diversity,” as they can provide evidence of the ongoing need to consider race as one of many factors in admissions decisions. institutions can use tools from models such as the culturally engaging campus environments project (museus, 2014), which is intended to help administrators achieve environments in which students from all backgrounds can thrive. like ut-austin, other institutions of higher education should seek ways to attain “diversity within diversity”; that is, to consider the diverse experiences of latina/o students, which can range across various social dimensions, such as language, culture, social class, and citizenship or immigration status, among others. having a meaningful representation of students across these dimensions can help break down racial stereotypes and contribute to students’ sense of belonging and their college success (see, e.g., garces & jayakumar, 2014). núñez’s (2014) framework of intersectionality is particularly promising for helping institutions identify the complex ways in which identity, context, and systems of interlocking power and oppression shape individual experiences. the model is especially promising for understanding the experiences of an increasingly diverse latina/o population. for example, by considering social dimensions of geography and history, institutions can better understand that the experiences of latina/o immigrant students in california could be very different from those of their latina/os counterparts who live in states that have seen more recent immigration of latina/os, such as georgia, north carolina, mississippi, south dakota, pennsylvania, tennessee, virginia, and wisconsin (núñez, 2014). by understanding the multiple dimensions across which latina/os’ experiences can vary, institutions can be better positioned to support students’ educational experiences and promote productive cross-racial interactions on campus. considering the broader societal and institutional context postsecondary institutions can also learn from ut-austin’s efforts to align its institutional policies with its mission, a process that necessarily involves acknowledging the changing demographics in the state of texas and the nation. through its admissions policies, ut-austin has sought to further its mission of “preparing educated, productive citizens who can meet the rigorous challenges of an increasingly diversity society and an ever-changing global community” (university of texas system, 2014)—a mission that closely matches those of other selective postsecondary institutions across the nation. opponents of the university’s admissions policy challenged the notion that latina/os remained “underrepresented” at ut-austin because they made up about 15% of the student body. however, as noted, ut-austin’s determination was made in a state/local context where latina/os made up about 38% of the population, and where pathways to leadership positions for latina/os are notably lacking (brief of national latino organizations as amici curiae, 2013). the university, moreover, noted concerns over lingering effects of state-mandated segregation policies through 1969 and its subsequent years of discriminatory practices against blacks and latina/os (brief for respondents, 2013). these contextual factors can be considered to support a determination that the representation of latina/os on campus is not sufficient. the determination may be different in another state, local, and institutional context—where pathways to leadership are visibly open (e.g., the presence of latina/os in leadership roles is not grossly discrepant with state demographics) and ongoing effects of state-mandated segregation do not persist (garces & jayakumar, 2014). ut-austin’s arguments thus demonstrate that, as latina/os make up a growing percentage of the population in texas, other states, and the nation, it will become increasingly important to consider their representation in different areas of leadership, as well as the role selective institutions, including graduate and professional schools, play in providing them with pathways to these positions. this is particularly important in light of the ruling in grutter, which stressed the need for postsecondary institutions to be inclusive of individuals of all races and ethnicities so that members of our society can have “confidence in the openness and integrity of the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 83 the educational institutions that provide this training” (grutter, 539 u.s. at 332). by examining the representation of latina/os at selective institutions within a broader understanding of whether pathways to leadership remain visibly open for this population, institutions can make informed determinations as to whether this population remains underrepresented to justify the ongoing need for race-conscious admissions to further their institutional missions. addressing the ways race continues to matter ut-austin’s defense of its race-conscious policy also illuminates the challenges institutions will face as legal decisions like fisher continue to restrict their ability to explicitly consider race in admissions policies and reinforce a “color-blind” approach toward education policy (garces, 2014). institutions that turn to “raceneutral” policies over race-conscious ones in order to satisfy the requirements of fisher may experience a decline in the racial and ethnic diversity of their student bodies, as has been the case at institutions in states with bans on affirmative action. as scholars who focus on racial inequity have demonstrated (see, e.g., bonillasilva, 2014; lopez, 2007), a color-blind approach is an illusion, and obscures the ways in which race continues to matter in shaping students’ experiences, educational opportunities, and the mechanisms that advantage whites within and outside education in american society. this approach also ignores the persistent, stubborn link between historical racial and ethnic exclusion and contemporary reasons for racial and ethnic inequality. institutions will therefore need to consider and address the ways in which race continues to matter in shaping students’ educational opportunities and their experiences once on campus. as much as we aspire to a society where it does not, the reality is that race continues to matter (orfield, 2014). indeed, much of u.s. history is characterized by stratification on the basis of race in housing, education, and employment. these policies perpetuate racial inequalities and the salience of race in the lives of millions of americans. given that race/ethnic background can help predict key social outcomes, such as availability to health care (institute of medicine, 2002), education (orfield, losen, wald, and swanson, 2004), wealth (shapiro, meschede, & osoro, 2013), poverty (macartney, bishaw, & fontenot, 2013), quality of work (mishel, bernstein, & allegreto, 2005), civic participation (lien, 2000), and imprisonment rates (alexander, 2012), members of racial minority groups can “feel the often negative impact of their racial background on their identities, life experiences, and outcomes, while majority group members continue to receive privileges on the basis of theirs” (peery, 2011, citing mcintosh, 1989, p. 482). when racial inequities are properly understood to be a consequence of social and legal structures that perpetuate them, it becomes clear that the mere fact of stopping classifications on the basis of race will not address the many broader ways that race matters in u.s. society (e.g., gross, 2008). addressing this reality requires an understanding of the complex and nuanced ways in which race can influence our everyday interactions, particularly in subconscious ways, and the lingering effects of past discrimination. going forward, therefore, it will be important for institutions to consider ways that their institutional context (i.e., predominantly white institutions with a history of de jure or de facto segregation) may have lingering effects that shape the campus climate and students’ educational experiences (garces & jayakumar, 2014). to facilitate such efforts, higher education institutions might consider a critical framework or approach that places race at the center of discussions about social justice. one promising approach would be for these institutions to view their policies through a “critical race theory” perspective. based on the assumption that race is a social construction that permeates all aspects of social life, the theory helps promote social justice and transformation by legitimizing the voice of marginalized communities and highlighting students’ multiple identities through the concept of intersectionality (e.g., crenshaw, 1991; delgado & stefancic, 2001; núñez, 2014; solórzano & yosso, 2002). viewing institutional policies through this lens would highlight the salience of race and racism in students’ lives, and in certain aspects of institutional structures and actions that perpetuate racial inequities, even though they may not be intended to be racist or exclusionary (e.g., bonilla-silva, 2014). institutions could consider how to build in educational programs and structures that facilitate conversations around race, which are often difficult and can generate intense and uncomfortable emotions (pollock, 2004). students of color, for example, may become tired of reporting acts of racism and of not being believed by fellow white students or faculty, or by having to educate their peers on racial issues (quaye, 2012). for white the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 84 individuals in particular, conversations around race can generate feelings of guilt, resistance to discussions of privilege and power, a lack of trust, and general avoidance of the topic (singleton, 2013). for these reasons, discussions around race and racism are difficult to sustain. however, we can learn from strategies educators have employed to facilitate these conversations, including shifts in perspective from “educator” to “facilitator,” developing ground rules, considering students’ comfort and developmental readiness, and structuring racially/ ethnically diverse groups (quaye, 2012). institutions, moreover, will need to consider how they can empower and support educators in engaging in these practices. these efforts require supportive protocols that provide a common language for discussing race and a shared understanding of systems of privilege that exacerbate inequities. as justice sotomayor stated in her compelling dissent in schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action (2014), the court’s most recent decision evaluating the constitutionality of bans on affirmative action, “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race” (p. 46). institutions will need to implement policies and practices with “eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination” (schuette, p. 46) and the ways race matters in shaping our experiences and identity in multifaceted ways. while the effect of the court’s decision in fisher remains to be seen, ut-austin’s defense of its raceconscious admissions policy in the case offers important lessons for institutional efforts that seek to expand access to latina/os going forward. as the debate over affirmative action continues in the struggle for access to the resources selective institutions can provide, institutions will need to rise to the challenge if they are to advance the nation’s best interests in a society in which latina/os constitute one of the largest and fastestgrowing population, yet face persistent inequities in educational opportunity and attainment. the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 85 references adarand constructors inc. v. pena, 515 u.s. 200 (1995). alexander, m. (2012). the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. new york: ny: the new press. bonilla-silva, e. (2014). racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the united states. lanham, md: rowman and littlefield. bowen, w. g., & bok, d. (1998). the shape of the river: long-term consequences of considering race in college and university admissions. princeton, nj: princeton university press. bowen, w. g., chingos, m. m., & mcpherson, m. s. (2009). crossing the finish line: completing college at america’s public universities. princeton, nj: princeton university press. bowen, w. g., kurzweil, m. a., & tobin, e. m. (2005). equity and excellence in american higher education. charlottesville: university of virginia press. brief for respondents, fisher v. university of texas, 570 u.s. ___(2013). retrieved from http://www.utexas. edu/vp/irla/documents/brief%20for%20respondents.pdf brief of american educational research association et al. as amicus curiae in support of respondents, fisher v. university of texas, 570 u.s. ___ (2013). retrieved from http://www.utexas.edu/vp/irla/documents/ acr%20american%20educational%20research%20association%20et%20al.pdf brief of american social science researchers as amici curiae in support of respondents, fisher v. university of texas, 570 u.s. ___(2013). retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/ supreme_court_preview/briefs/11-345_resp_amcu_assr.authcheckdam.pdf brief of authors of the texas ten percent plan as amicus curiae in support of respondents, gratz v. bollinger, 539 u.s. 244 (2003). retrieved from http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/admissions/legal/ gra_amicus-ussc/um/10percent-gra.pdf brief of national latino organizations as amicus curiae in support of respondents, fisher v. university of texas, 570 u.s. ___(2013). retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/ supreme_court_preview/briefs-v2/12-96_resp_amcu_nlo.authcheckdam.pdf brown v. board of education, 347 u.s. 483 (1954). brown-nagin, t., guinier, l., & torres, g. (2015). tejas es diferente: ut-austin’s admissions program in light of its exclusionary history. in u. m. jayakumar, & l. m. garces, with f. fernandez (eds.), affirmative action and racial equity: considering the fisher case to forge the path ahead (pp. 63-79). new york: routledge, taylor & francis. card, d., & rothstein, j. (2007). racial segregation and the black-white test score gap. journal of public economics, 91, 2158-2184. carnevale, a. p., & strohl, j. (2013). separate and unequal: how higher education reinforces the intergenerational reproduction of white and racial privilege. washington, dc: georgetown university, georgetown public policy institute. retrieved from https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/zhi9ilgzba9ncmr16ral center for equal opportunity. (2013). ceo praises supreme court’s fisher decision, calls for end to racial admissions preferences [press release]. retrieved from http://www.ceousa.org/ attachments/article/707/fisher_decision_press_release.pdf chang, m. j., denson, n., sáenz, v., & misa, k. (2006). the educational benefits of sustaining cross-racial interaction among undergraduates. the journal of higher education, 77, 430-455. chang, m. j., witt, d., jones, j., & hakuta, k. (eds.). (2003). compelling interest: examining the evidence on racial dynamics in colleges and universities. stanford, ca: stanford university press. chapa, j., et al. (1997). the hopwood decision in texas as an attack on latino access to selective higher education programs. retrieved from http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/college-access/affirmative-action/ the-hopwood-decision-in-texas-as-an-attack-on-latino-access-to-selective-higher-education-programs/ chapa-hopwood-decision-97.pdf crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 43, 1241–1299. cortes, k. e. (2010). do bans on affirmative action hurt minority students? evidence from the texas top 10% the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action http://www.utexas.edu/vp/irla/documents/brief for respondents.pdf http://www.utexas.edu/vp/irla/documents/brief for respondents.pdf http://www.utexas.edu/vp/irla/documents/acr american educational research association et al.pdf http://www.utexas.edu/vp/irla/documents/acr american educational research association et al.pdf http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs/11-345_resp_amcu_assr.authcheckdam.pdf http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs/11-345_resp_amcu_assr.authcheckdam.pdf http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/admissions/legal/gra_amicus-ussc/um/10percent-gra.pdf http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/admissions/legal/gra_amicus-ussc/um/10percent-gra.pdf http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs-v2/12-96_resp_amcu_nlo.authcheckdam.pdf http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs-v2/12-96_resp_amcu_nlo.authcheckdam.pdf https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/zhi9ilgzba9ncmr16ral http://www.ceousa.org/attachments/article/707/fisher_decision_press_release.pdf http://www.ceousa.org/attachments/article/707/fisher_decision_press_release.pdf http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/college-access/affirmative-action/the-hopwood-decision-in-texas-as-an-attack-on-latino-access-to-selective-higher-education-programs/chapa-hopwood-decision-97.pdf http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/college-access/affirmative-action/the-hopwood-decision-in-texas-as-an-attack-on-latino-access-to-selective-higher-education-programs/chapa-hopwood-decision-97.pdf http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/college-access/affirmative-action/the-hopwood-decision-in-texas-as-an-attack-on-latino-access-to-selective-higher-education-programs/chapa-hopwood-decision-97.pdf association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 86 plan. economics of education review, 29, 1110-1124. dale, s. b., & krueger, a. b. (2002). estimating the payoff to attending a more selective college: an application of selection on observables and unobservables. the quarterly journal of economics, 117, 1491-1527. dale, s. b., & krueger, a. b. (2014). estimating the effects of college characteristics over the career using administrative earnings data. journal of human resources, 49, 323-358. delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2001). critical race theory: an introduction. new york: new york university press. deo, m. e. (2011). the promise of grutter: diverse interactions at the university of michigan law school. michigan journal of race & law, 17(1), 63-118. domina, t. (2007). higher education policy as secondary school reform: texas public high schools after hopwood. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 29, 200-217. elgart, a. s., plaut, v. c., hirsch, n. a., & paterson, e. j. (2015). the promise of diversity in remedying he harms of identity-related threats and racial isolation. in u. m. jayakumar, & l. m. garces, with f. fernandez (eds.), affirmative action and racial equity: considering the fisher case to forge the path ahead (pp. 42-62). new york: routledge, taylor & francis. ennis, s.r., rios-vargas, m., & albert, n.g. (2011). the hispanic population: 2010. washington, dc: u.s. census bureau. espenshade, t. j., & radford, a. w. (2009). no longer separate, not yet equal: race and class in elite college admission and campus life. princeton, nj: princeton university press. fry, r. & lopez, m. h. (2012). hispanic student enrollments reach new highs in 2011. retrieved from http://www. pewhispanic.org/2012/08/20/hispanic-student-enrollments-reach-new-highs-in-2011/ garces, l. m. (2012). racial diversity, legitimacy, and citizenry: the impact of affirmative action bans on graduate school enrollment. the review of higher education, 36(1), 93-132. garces, l. m. (2013). understanding the impact of affirmative action bans in different graduate fields of study. american educational research journal, 50, 251-284. garces, l.m. (2014). what to do about a “color-blind” supreme court? american education research association, division j (postsecondary education) blog. garces, l. m., & jayakumar, u. m. (2014). dynamic diversity toward a contextual understanding of critical mass. educational researcher, 43(3), 115-124. garces, l. m., & mickey-pabello, m. (2015). racial diversity in the medical profession: the impact of affirmative action bans on underrepresented student of color matriculation in medical schools. the journal of higher education, 86(2), 264-294. gratz v. bollinger, 539 u.s. 244 (2003) gross, a. j. (2008). what blood won’t tell: a history of race on trial in america. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. grutter v. bollinger, 539 u.s. 306 (2003). gurin, p., nagda, b. a., & zúñiga, x. (eds.). (2013). dialogue across difference: practice, theory, and research on intergroup dialogue. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. harper, s. r., & hurtado, s. (2007). nine themes in campus racial climates and implications for institutional transformation. in s. r. harper & l. d. patton (eds.), responding to the realities of race on campus: new directions for student services (pp. 7-24). san francisco: jossey-bass. hopwood v. university of texas law school, 78 f.3d 932 (5th cir. 1996). horn, c. l., & flores, s. m. (2003). percent plans in college admissions: a comparative analysis of three states’ experiences. cambridge, ma: the civil rights project at harvard university. howell, j. s. (2010). assessing the impact of eliminating affirmative action in higher education. journal of labor economics, 28(1), 113-166. hurtado, s., alvarez, c. l., guillermo-wann, c., cuellar, m., & arellano, l. (2012). a model for diverse learning environments. in j. c. smart & m. b. paulsen (eds.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (pp. 41-122). dordrecht, netherlands: springer. hurtado, s., han, j. c., sáenz, v. b., espinosa, l. l., cabrera, n. l., & cerna, o. s. (2007). predicting transition and adjustment to college: biomedical and behavioral science aspirants’ and minority students’ first year the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/08/20/hispanic-student-enrollments-reach-new-highs-in-2011/ http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/08/20/hispanic-student-enrollments-reach-new-highs-in-2011/ http://aeradivisionj.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-to-do-about-color-blind-supreme.html association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 87 of college. research in higher education, 48, 841-887. hurtado, s., & ruiz, a. (2012). the climate for underrepresented groups and diversity on campus. los angeles: ucla higher education research institute. institute of medicine (2002). unequal treatment: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. (p. 5). washington, dc: national academy of sciences. jayakumar, u. m. (2008). can higher education meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and global society? campus diversity and cross-cultural workforce competencies. harvard educational review, 78, 615-651. jayakumar, u. m., & garces, l. m., with fernandez, f. (eds.) (2015). affirmative action and racial equity: considering the fisher case to forge the path ahead. new york: routledge, taylor & francis. kurlaender, m., friedmann, e., & chang, t. (2015). access and diversity at the university of california in the post-affirmative action era. in u. m. jayakumar, & l. m. garces, with f. fernandez (eds.), affirmative action and racial equity: considering the fisher case to forge the path ahead (pp. 80-101). new york: routledge, taylor & francis. lien, p. (2000). who votes in multicultural america? new york, ny: new york university press. long, m. c. (2004). race and college admissions: an alternative to affirmative action? the review of economics and statistics, 86, 1020-1033. long, m. c., & tienda, m. (2008). winners and losers: changes in texas university admissions post-hopwood. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 30, 255-280. lopez, i. h. (2007). ‘a nation of minorities’: race, ethnicity, and reactionary colorblindness. stanford law review, 59(4), 985-1064. macartney, s., bishaw, a., & fontenot, k. (2013). poverty rates for selected detailed race and hispanic groups by state and place: 2007-2011. washington, dc: u.s. census bureau. melguizo, t. (2008). quality matters: assessing the impact of attending more selective institutions on college completion rates of minorities. research in higher education, 49, 214-232. milem, j. f., o’brien, c., miner, d., bryan, w. p., sutton, f., castillo-page, l., & schoolcraft, s. (2012). the important role that diverse students play in shaping the medical school curriculum. tucson: arizona medical education research institute. miller, b., & sujitparapitaya, s. (2010). campus climate in the twenty-first century: estimating perceptions of discrimination at a racially mixed institution, 1994-2006. new directions for institutional research, 2010(145), 29-52. mishel, l. r., bernstein, j., & allegretto, s. (2005). the state of working america 2004/2005. ithaca, ny: ilr. museus, s. d. (2014). the culturally engaging campus environments (cece) model: a new theory of college success among racially diverse student populations. in m. b. paulsen (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (pp. 189-227). new york: springer. national center for higher education management systems (nchems). as america becomes more diverse: the impact of state higher education inequality. retrieved from http://www.higheredinfo.org/analyses/ texas_state_profile.pdf núñez, a. m. (2014). employing multilevel intersectionality in educational research latino identities, contexts, and college access. educational researcher, 43(2), 85-92. oakes, j. (2008). keeping track: structuring equality and inequality in an era of accountability. teachers college record, 110, 700-712. orfield, g. (2014). tenth annual brown lecture in education research: a new civil rights agenda for american education. educational researcher, 43(6), 273-292. orfield, g., losen, d., wald, j., swanson, & c. b. (2004). losing our future: how minority youth are being left behind by the graduation rate crisis. cambridge, ma: publishing group. page, s. e. (2007). the difference: how the power of diversity creates better groups, firms, schools, and societies. princeton, nj: princeton university press. peery, d. (2011). the colorblind ideal in a race-conscious reality: the case for a new legal ideal for race relations. northwestern journal of law and social policy, 6(2), 473-495. pollock, m. (2004). colormute: race talk dilemmas in an american school. princeton, nj: princeton university the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action https://portfolio.du.edu/downloaditem/268308 https://portfolio.du.edu/downloaditem/268308 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 88 press. quaye, s. j. (2012). think before you teach: preparing for dialogues about racial realities. journal of college student development, 53(4), 542-562. regents of the university of california v. bakke, 438 u.s. 265 (1978). saenz, v. b., ngai, h. n., & hurtado, s. (2007). factors influencing positive interactions across race for african american, asian american, latino, and white college students. research in higher education, 48(1), 1-38. shapiro, t., meschede, t., & osoro, s. (2013). the roots of the widening racial wealth gap: explaining the blackwhite economic divide. waltham, ma: institute on assets and social policy. schmidt, w. h. (2012). at the precipice: the story of mathematics education in the united states. peabody journal of education, 87(1), 133-156. schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action. 572 u.s. __(2014). singleton, g. e. (2013). courageous conversation about race: a field guide for achieving equity in schools. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. small, m. l., & winship, c. (2007). black students’ graduation from elite colleges: institutional characteristics and between-institution differences. social science research, 36, 1257-1275. sólorzano, d., & yosso, t. (2002). a critical race counterstory of race, racism, and affirmative action. equity & excellence in education, 35, 613-629. somin, a. s. (2013). a lady or a tiger? thoughts on fisher v. university of texas and the future of race preferences in america. engage, 14(3), 17-23. steele, c. (2010). whistling vivaldi: and other clues to how stereotypes affect us. new york: w. w. norton. sturm, s., & johnson, o. c.a. (2015). leadership, citizenship, and civic capacity: the imperative of racial diversity for realizing higher education’s public mission. in u. m. jayakumar, & l. m. garces, with f. fernandez (eds.), affirmative action and racial equity: considering the fisher case to forge the path ahead (pp. 21 41). new york: routledge, taylor & francis. sweatt v. painter, 339 u.s. 629 (1950). venezia, a., & kirst, m. w. (2005). inequitable opportunities: how current education systems and policies undermine the chances for student persistence and success in college. educational policy, 19, 283-307. university of texas system. (2014). mission statement. retrieved from https://www.utsystem.edu/about/mission u.s. census bureau. (2008). an older and more diverse nation by midcentury. retrieved from http://www. census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb08-123.html u.s. census bureau. (2012). statistical abstract of the united states. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/ compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0230.pdf u.s. department of justice. (2013). questions and answers about fisher v. university of texas at austin. retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-qa-201309.pdf yun, j. t., moses, m., & marin, p. (2012, march). impact of anti-affirmative action policies in higher education. presentation at the university of michigan national center for educational diversity symposium. ann arbor, michigan. zúñiga, x., williams, e. a., & berger, j. b. (2005). action-oriented democratic outcomes: the impact of student involvement with campus diversity. journal of college student development, 46, 660-678. the university of texas at austin’s defense of affirmative action https://www.utsystem.edu/about/mission http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-qa-201309.pdf volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ kids in the middle association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 179 kids in the middle: how children of immigrants negotiate community interactions for their families vikki s. katz (2014). new brunswick, nj, rutgers university press, 192 pp, isbn: 970-0-8135-6218-6 janeth martinez, m.a. university of texas at san antonio over the years, scholars have documented the work that children of immigrants engage in at home and in the community as language brokers. children may place phone calls, schedule appointments, fill out applications, solicit social services, and stand in the middle communicating for parents, teachers, medical personnel, and other providers. these activities may be invisible to the outside world, but are critical in the establishment and survival of some immigrant families living in the u.s. in her recent book, kids in the middle: how children of immigrants negotiate community interactions for their families, vikki katz offers an in-depth analysis of the language brokering activities of latino children of immigrants from mexico and central america. katz, an associate professor of communication, examines how children develop and improve the strategies they use in assisting their families across various physical locations that parents and children come into contact with in their everyday life. in this four-year ethnographic study, katz documents the experiences, struggles, and practices of latino immigrant families living in the city that katz calls greater crenshaw in california. a central focus of the book is how children influence family interactions that take place in the home, at school, at healthcare facilities, and at social service institutions where families most often solicited services. using a family system approach framework, katz examines how the family unit influences brokering and how children and parents are able to individually and collectively learn from each other and develop strategies to understand their community. the latino families katz studied lived in a predominantly low-income and underserved community where access to resources and spanish personnel were scarce and scattered. katz points out that the dynamics of the institutions that families entered also influenced how effectively families were able to use the strategies they knew in order to achieve particular tasks and goals. katz uncovers how children’s activities as brokers contributed to families’ engagement with local resources within the community. the narratives from children, family members, community martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 180 service providers, and teachers demonstrate how the activities enacted by child brokers often involved complex interactions and negotiations between parents and children, providers and children, and teachers and children. katz is able to capture children’s perspectives on their positionality and agency as language and cultural brokers and the implications brokering has on their personal goals and lives. between 2006 and 2009, katz conducted a series of in-depth interviews with parents, children, and service providers and conducted extensive field observations at select locations. using a randomized telephone survey of the local community, katz identified 20 latino parents and 22 children between the ages of 11 and 19 that met criteria for her study. katz and her two bilingual research assistants conducted semi-structured interviews with the parents and children in their home. during the face to face interviews, that usually lasted between 45 to 120 minutes, the children and parents were interviewed separately in their preferred language. all parent interviews were conducted by katz and one research assistant to ensure fidelity, since katz was not a native spanish speaker, and all but one child was interviewed in english. despite katz limited spanish proficiency, she was able to build rapport through the aid of her bilingual research assistants who facilitated spanish language interactions as she notes in the appendix. written for both the general audience and scholars, katz traces children’s language brokering activities across various community spaces. katz makes the case for a family system approach that involves family dynamics and interactions revealing the various strategies that parents and children used in the home and community to communicate and obtain services. katz vividly illustrates how children brokered for parents and for siblings at home, at local schools, at healthcare facilities, and at social service locations using children, parents, and service provider personal narratives. katz is able to capture how within these spaces, brokering involved more than merely translating interactions with english-speaking providers, but it consisted of brokering cultural knowledge and norms of the u.s. (white, middle-class) mainstream—of which, latino immigrant parents lacked knowledge of. throughout her book, katz highlights how children and immigrant parents worked together to acquire information from media sources, community members, and schools to effectively broker and engage with service providers and teachers in the community. she attempts to illustrate this through the various voices and actors involved in brokering activities children engaged in on a daily basis. kids in the middle association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 181 a central aspect of katz book is her portrayal of children as active agents as they engaged in brokering activities, illustrating how children enacted their agency through language brokering within various social spaces. in particular, katz examines how the immigrant bargain (louie, 2012; suárez-orozco & suarez-orozco, 2001) was a central aspect of brokering activities and motivation for the children of immigrants. children who were the primary brokers in their family felt a sense of responsibility and honor in helping their parents through their brokering. for most children, brokering served as a form of repayment for parents’ sacrifices as immigrants, while also acknowledging their parents’ limited english skills and the language barrier imposed on their families. for the immigrant families in katz’s study, doing well in school was a way to fulfill the immigrant bargain; however, as she points out, most child brokers were not doing well in school. katz documents how brokering placed a strain on children’s education and academic success. she points out the negative consequences of brokering: low grades, increased absences, and negative perceptions from teachers. katz emphasizes the constraints that brokering placed on children and their future, noting that the immigrant bargain is never fully obtained in the long-term. katz seems to view brokering as important for making local connections, and thus focuses on evaluating the impact of brokering activities on immigrant families’ engagement with the community. less emphasis is placed on how children develop their learning and bilingual competencies through language brokering. katz seems to suggest that despite children's language brokering efforts, their language and learning was falling behind. she notes that most of the children in her study were either failing a class or exhibited limited language proficiency in english, spanish, or both, raising questions about the effectiveness of their brokering. children's capacity to translate was questioned by katz since students were not performing well academically; however, she concludes that parents and children developed their spanish and english through scaffolding activities when brokering, learning new concepts through the media or other resources. marjorie faulstich orellana would disagree with katz’s view of children’s development and learning; in her work, translating childhoods: immigrant youth, language and culture (2009), orellana considers the role that translation work plays on children’s learning and developmental process through a sociocultural theoretical framework. although coming from different disciplines, both authors would agree that the efforts of these children should not go unrecognized, but should be identified and supported by teachers and service providers. martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 182 what sets katz’s study apart from orellana's (2009) work, is that she brings light to children's, parents’, and service providers’ perspectives on language brokering and the role all three play in language brokering activities and in communicating to acquire resources. for educators, understanding language brokering requires a deeper understanding of the process and the activities in which children engage. katz presents teachers in her study as being ambivalent and unaware of the brokering activities children of immigrants enacted. she finds that teachers’ presence in the lives of these children were neither overtly negative nor positive. therefore, connections to teachers and other educational resources were limited. in her concluding chapter, katz offers recommendations for providers to better assist latino immigrant families as well as recommendations for educators. katz suggests providing support and developing best practices to communicate with parents and interacting with child brokers. however, katz fails to address how to better improve child brokers’ educational attainment outcomes and academic success in the long-term. as educators, teachers are often times a direct source of support and resource for children of immigrants. teachers should be more attuned to latino children’s sociocultural context of brokering activities outside of the classroom and how these activities may influence their learning. teachers could take advantage of children’s brokering activities by allowing students to bring in their knowledge as brokers into the classroom and further developing their language skills and learning. educators can help improve children’s skills as language brokers and help the children of immigrants fulfill the immigrant bargain. kids in the middle association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 183 references louie, v. (2012). keeping the immigrant bargain: the costs and rewards of success in america. new york, ny: russell sage foundation orellana, m. f. (2009) translating childhoods: immigrant youth, language, and culture. new jersey. rutgers university press. suárez-orozco, c. & suarez-orozco, m. m. (2001). children of immigration: the developing child series. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. invited_issues_2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 61 �“where i�’m from�” pomes: an introduction �“where i�’m from�” poems: an introduction margarita jiménez-silva in the mid-1990s, i was working as a middle-school teacher at a charter school in oakland, california within a newcomer program. most of my 7th-9th grade students were recent immigrants from mexico and central america. building community within the classroom was a primary focus during the  rst few days and weeks of school and i was always looking for ideas that would allow me the opportunity to learn about my students�’ backgrounds in ways that valued their voices and respected their experiences. this was the era of proposition 197 in california, a proposition that among other things, asked that all state and local government workers report suspected undocumented immigrants to the attorney general�’s of ce. given the political climate at the time, students in our school were being told at home not to reveal anything about their home situations, immigration status, much less anything about their immigration stories. we had estimated through a community scan and informal conversations with our community liaison that 90% of the students in our newcomer program at that time were undocumented. as a teacher who believes strongly in culturally relevant pedagogy and in addressing the academic, linguistic, and socio-emotional needs of my students, it was a critical for me that i learn as much about my students�’ backgrounds as possible. i started sharing my own story about my family�’s immigration to the united states from mexico during the  rst day of class and then invited my students to share their stories in whatever language they chose and using whatever format they preferred �– through art, using family pictures, a traditional essay, music, or poetry. perhaps because i chose poetry as the vehicle for my own story, many of the students chose poetry as well using a variety of formats. through this activity, students often shared details that then led to conversations that in turn led to revelations about their immigration stories. for example, i vividly remember sandra who as an 8th grader used poetry to describe a scene at a cemetery in which three crosses stood on a hill. through conversations, i learned that her father and two uncles had died in the previous year�’s uprisings in the yucatán region in mexico. she had lost all the important men in her life and now lived with three sisters and her mom in one of the toughest neighborhoods in oakland. this information allowed me to understand some of the struggles she was experiencing in class. a few years later, i came across an article by linda christensen titled �“where i�’m from: inviting students�’ lives into the classroom.�” i adopted the poem format and have used it with almost every group of students with whom i�’ve worked. the format was developed by poet george ella lyon and there are a number of resources online that are available to support use of the poem in the classroom. these resources include a reading by lyon herself, examples of poems, and the history of the poem format. (http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html). another valuable format is a template (http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm) that has been very useful when working with english learners or students who simply struggle with writing poetry. since beginning my work with preservice teachers at asu, i have consistently used it in my traditional face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes. it is the very  rst assignment due in class and i begin my classes by sharing my own poem, included in this special issue. i give students the freedom to adapt the format and many do. as i read preservice teachers�’ poems during the  rst week of class, i always  nd myself laughing, crying, and in amazement at the diversity of my students�’ life experiences. preservice teachers are invited to share only what they feel comfortable sharing with others and the second assignment of the class is to read others�’ poems and share a personal connection to three classmates�’ poems. this works well for building community as connections are made about places of origin, family traditions, and/or shared experiences. in this special issue, we have included two poems from arizona state university students who have shared where they are from through their poems. i hope you enjoy the poems and that you are inspired to use �“where i�’m from poems�” in your own work�…or perhaps to write your own. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 62 �“where i�’m from�” pomes: an introduction references christensen, l. (2001). where i�’m from: inviting students�’ lives into the classroom. in b. bigelow, b. harvey, karp, s. & l. miller (eds). rethinking our classrooms: teaching for equity and justice (pp. 6-10). association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 63 �“where i�’m from�” pomes: an introduction where i�’m from�… diana alarcon i am from pyramids and temples from feathered serpents and prophecies of the feared dioses i am from the city that builds and builds on top of mountains, on top of  elds from where the cerros can be seen no more i am from where the metro becomes a can of sardines due to overpopulation from where clouds are non existent due to the pollution situation i am from my mother maria guadalupe esteban with no father and my sister maria adriana too from having a single parent never understanding what its like to have two i am from crossing the border wandering through the scorching desert and swimming across the violent rio grande from where many die in hopes of attaining the american dreams i�’ve been so lucky to have been given i am from sleeping in a cramped two bedroom apartment with thirteen tios and tias, primos and primas i had never met from never seeing my madre because she worked 12 hour shifts and sometimes more in order to feed my sister and me i am from my mother telling me every day �“los errores se pagan muy caros�” and �“no salgas con tu domingo siete�” from �“ya ves a tu hermana, tres niños y batalla, no seas como tu hermana�” i am from getting a call that someone�’s been deported and i have to leave class immediately from where helping family comes  rst rather than studying for a  nal exam i am from a family that asks �“why don�’t you have a boyfriend?�” or �“why aren�’t you married or have children?�” from a family that tells me i think i�’m better than them because i go to college instead of congratulating me on awards and excelling i am from having to attain the highest grades because my mother sacri ced so much for me to be the best from where the pressure of family and working two jobs while going to school full time is not an excuse to get anything lower than an a my life is split in two from that girl who crossed the border with a life of hardships who puts family  rst and the student who must maintain her grades while keeping a smile on her face. in my mind are my memories, both big and small, happy and sad, but all of which have shaped the woman i am today. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 64 �“where i�’m from�” pomes: an introduction where i�’m from�… laura gomez i am from that which you (racists/nativist) fear i am the daughter of a gardener and a housewife i am from the product of the crossover i am that little girl who crossed the border in plain sight from memorizing a fake name, a fake address, a fake school, and a fake friend from being coached to say �“i am a u.s. citizen�” to hide her true nationality from not being questioned because of her light complexion and dirty blond hair i am part of the one percent of immigrants, which a fence did not and will not keep out i am from rejection for being the one no one wanted to play with because i was mexican i am the one no one wanted to sit next to because i spoke spanish and not english i am from segregation to �“learn�” english i am the translator for mom when she is scared of being judged i am from a family where no one asks questions, but me, an individual full of questions i am from being afraid i do not know enough i am from being afraid i know too much i wonder if i am a statistic gone wrong i am from a community where very few make it out; the one who made it out i sometimes wonder why? i am from seeing dad physically hurting from a long work-day to support his family i am from getting angry when they say we are here to take i am from seeing my family work extremely hard to obtain the �“american dream�” i have witnessed how most of them never make it out of the low-income status i am from crying when a family is broken by unjust deportation fueled by corporate greed i am from wondering �“what if it had been my family?�” i am from seeing immigrants become for sale like raw material i am from rebelling when they say i can�’t, we can�’t i am from proving that i can, we can i am from where they say �“close the boarder�” �“build a fence�” i see hatred based on misconceptions i want these misconceptions to change i am from a place of hope that one day they will i worry that it won�’t and that it never will i am from dreaming that i can bring a voice to those that are silenced by oppressive laws and policies i hope that one day i can i say we can change it i hope one day we can association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 65 �“where i�’m from�” pomes: an introduction where i�’m from�… margarita jiménez-silva i am from stainless steel pots bought with mamá�’s savings from selling avon and tupperware, bubbling over with sopas and frijoles, from carne asada on sundays, tamales at christmas and capirotada every friday during lent. i am from the olive and  g trees that i liked to climb on summer afternoons, rollerskating around abandoned cars in the backyard, and from playing in the street with the neighborhood kids until the street lights came on. i am from chicken coops and rabbit cages, the goats in pens, stray kittens brought home, and sultan, the faithful collie we got for free outside the boys�’ market grocery store in southern cal. i�’m from abuelita lencha, abuelita juanita, one abuelito, more tias and tios that i could keep track of and countless cousins. from relatives from mexico, who would visit unexpectedly from places with exotic names like tenochitlán and soyatlán del oro. i am from a dad from mexicali, the capital of the world where everything was invented and is the most beautiful and technologically advanced city anywhere. from a mom who dreamed of harvard, but was held back by her role as the eldest daughter of a much older dad, a very traditional mom and the sister of three brothers who went on to become doctors while she stayed back and helped pay their tuition. i am from the jiménez, carrasco, mesa and basulto families. from short, tall, dark, light, thin, and thick relatives. from eyes as blue/green as the ocean and eyes as dark as the night sky. i am from three younger sisters and a younger brother, from �“you�’re the oldest and have to set the example�” after every time i got in trouble. from �“you�’re so lucky�” uttered after every award i have ever received. i am from sitting in classrooms where i understood no english, the busing era forcing school integration. from private christian schools where we worked as janitors to pay the tuition. i am from the numbered rented stalls of the swap meet, working from sunrise to sundown on weekends to help support the family. from the halls of harvard where i nodded in agreement during lectures and then ran to the library to look up all the words and read about ideas i hadn�’t understood, feeling again like an english learner in mrs. dyer�’s kindergarten classroom. i am from �“you�’re too smart to be a teacher�” and from �“maestra, gracias for helping me learn english.�” from being mom to two boys, sweetie to my high school love and now husband of almost 20 years, and tita to most of my family. my closet is full of scrapbooks, pretty boxes over owing with old pictures, my mom�’s wedding veil and brother�’s baptism gown on shelves. on the  oor there are many journals full of poems and stories about things that have happened and dreams i still nurture. i am from la familia and la familia is from me. theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 54 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? smoking guns or smoke & mirrors?: schools and the policing of latino boys victor m. rios mario g. galicia university of california, santa barbara one october morning in 2009, as one of the authors of this article, mario galicia, was driving to a local high school where we were collecting fi eld notes, surveys, and interviews for a larger research project following gang-associated youths across institutional settings,47 he received a phone call from richard,48 the gangintervention program coordinator for the youths whom we were studying. richard asked mario to meet him across the street in a supermarket parking lot, instead of the usual meeting place on campus. he exclaimed, “the campus has been placed on lockdown!” upon arriving, mario noticed that the shopping center parking lot, adjacent to the high school, was fi lled with dozens of middle-aged white adults, mostly females in mini-vans and a handful in luxury sedans. two local television news vehicles were also at the scene. most of the people in the parking lot looked distraught as they stared towards the school. one of the white women was crying hysterically as she talked on the phone. “i think there is a shooter in the school…i don’t know what to do!” she was the mother of one of the students at the school. as mario approached richard, he overheard another mother addressing a news station reporter. she described witnessing an earlier incident involving a group of boys getting into an altercation outside of the supermarket. “he pulled something out that looked like a gun and pretended to shoot at the other boys, but i did not hear any gunshots. that’s when i decided to tell the school.” richard explained to mario that, shortly thereafter, the school was placed on lockdown and a group of about twenty local police and sheriffs scoured the campus for the boy involved in the incident. richard pointed towards the school where a cluster of about eight swat team offi cers, all dressed in black and wearing helmets, moved in unison along the side of the school, and then went in, combing through hallways and classrooms. an hour into the incident, four sheriffs walked out of the school with a group of four latino male boys, ages 15-16. the boys all had shaved heads or short buzz haircuts. they wore baggy pants or long shorts with extra-long white socks. two of them wore pendleton style dress shirts. all of them wore black and blue. the boys kept their heads down, apparently in shame, as they were escorted into patrol cars. law enforcement offi cers cleared the school, allowing parents to pick up their children. as she returned to her vehicle, one of the white mothers blurted out, “i’m so glad they are taking those gangsters away. i hope they rot in jail!” the boys later reported that they were held for six hours, without food or water, when they were interrogated. after the incident, we interviewed two of the four boys, ruben and vince, and then held a focus group with all four boys. after this, we informally interviewed other students that witnessed the event. from this data and media reports, we developed an account of the incident. the four youths, ruben, cairo, mike, and vince,49 had been gathered across the street from their high school at a super market. they had all met up prior to the start of classes to purchase snacks and beverages for school that day. shortly after purchasing their soft drinks and potato chips, the boys were approached by two young men driving a vehicle. they told us, “fuck you lames, we’ll get out of the car and beat your asses to the ground.” we all laughed. they got pissed off and then acted like they were gonna’ get out of the car…that’s when we grabbed whatever we could grab. the white mother that witnessed the boys “grabbing whatever they could grab,” panicked when she saw the boys in a confl ict and apparently witnessed seeing a gun. she ran to the school to report the gun sighting to high school administrators. the school immediately reported the incident to local law enforcement and put the school’s students, staff, and administrators on lockdown until the investigation was over. shortly thereafter, all of the schools’ entrances and exits were blocked by local law enforcement, as were the adjacent traffi c 47. rios, v.m. (forthcoming) missing fire: gangs across institutional settings. university of chicago press. 48. the name of the intervention program coordinator has been changed in order to maintain his confi dentiality. 49. the names of the youths in this paper have been changed to maintain confi dentiality. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 55 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? intersections. as parents were escorted away from the school to the supermarket parking lot located across the street, they were briefed by other witnesses as to what had occurred to cause the lockdown. most of the witnesses, who were informing other parents about the events that led to the trouble, had heard the story from someone else. the account escalated into a narrative of gun-slanging, gang-banging thugs who were ready to shoot at each other. two parents were overheard talking, “…they were gang members, who got in a fi ght before school, that started this mess…” and the other parent replied, “…they all had guns and then ran towards the school...” by the end of the day, after extensive investigation and interrogation, police announced to the school, parents, and the media that none of the boys involved in the incident ever displayed a gun. parents had somehow confused a water bottle that one of the boys pulled out as a gun. ruben explained: nah man, it was me. i was scared and i had a water bottle in my pocket. so i pretended to have like a knife on me and reached in my pocket, and as the guys drove off, i pulled it out to make fun of them being scared of something as simple as a stupid water bottle. this misinformation and hysteria delivered by parents to other parents, the school, media, and social media exemplifi es how, in an era of mass incarceration, schools, law enforcement, and community members perceive and interact with young black and latino boys as culprits and suspects, even before any concrete evidence arises against them (rios, 2011). we found, in this particular incident, and, in the larger four-year ethnographic project from which this case study was derived, latino boys at this school were often labeled, stigmatized, and criminalized. we defi ne criminalization as the process by which individuals are denied the opportunity to prove their innocence and legality, within a context where institutions such as law enforcement and schools exacerbate punishment in an attempt to regulate and control racialized and poor populations (cacho, 2012; rios, 2011). criminalization exists within a process that diego vigil (2002) describes as “multiple marginality.” multiple marginality theory examines the various micro-level, meso-level, and macro-level factors that create and construct youngsters as gang members. vigil fi nds that constantly changing political, social, economic, and psychological processes in society must be accounted for in analytical approaches. who is considered a gang member today might be different than a decade ago, and the social control imposed on gang-associated populations might also differ, depending on larger cultural and political economic forces. the criminalization of latino boys as gang threats has become exacerbated during the current era of mass incarceration, “school-to-prison pipelines,” and the increase of latino immigrant populations throughout the united states. the xenophobia follows. multiple marginality can help us explain how the boys in this study became constructed as criminal threats in the multiple contexts and institutions in which these boys navigated. from learning to labor to preparing for prison the united states has now reached a point where an average of 600 juveniles are arrested each day, and where every black boy born in 2001 has a one-in-three chance of going to prison, while a latino boy, born in the same year, has a one-in-six chance of facing the same fate (campaign, 2008). research dating back to the work of david tyack (1974) argues that mass education ultimately fails to provide working-class students with the credentials necessary to experience upward social mobility, and, instead, operates to reproduce the very class inequalities that it purports to ameliorate (althusser, 1971; anyon, 1981; anyon, 1997; anyon, 2005; bourdieu & nice, 1984; freire, 2000; willis, 1981).50 thus, this body of work provides a critical framework for 50. paul willis, in learning to labour, provides a thorough discussion of the literature on mass education. willis begins his discussion with john dewey, an american philosopher and an early major proponent of the social reform potential provided by mass education. john dewey argued that education could serve as a means to provide “members of the underclasses, especially black and hispanics” access to “better jobs and a higher standard of living” (willis, 1981:127). however, implicit in paul willis’s ethnography is his engagement with john dewey and his vision of upward social mobility delivered through education. willis duly notes, through his analysis of working-class, young british males, that this is a rhetoric that obfuscates the reality of a class-based society because “the whole nature of western capitalism is also such that classes are structured and persistent so that even relatively high rates of individual mobility make no difference to the existence or position of the working class… no conceivable number of certifi cates among the working class will make for a class society” (willis 1981:127). association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 56 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? understanding the school as a site of stratifi ed social reproduction. yet, much of this research took for granted the terrain of public education in a redistributive state where manufacturing jobs were the next logical step for many of the youths they studied. however, as the prior bodies of work show, the redistributive state has been largely eradicated, (with public education being one of its remaining vestiges), in the aftermath of postindustrialization and deindustrialization manufacturing jobs, which working-class children were overtly and subtly prepared to do. the jobs no longer exist, and prisons have become the places where people left unemployed by deindustrialization will likely fi nd themselves. in light of capitalist globalization, many critical-education scholars and youth advocates use the term, “school-to-prison pipeline,” in order to encapsulate the processes that continue to inequitably classify youth along racialized class lines through mass education, and then pipeline them into the growing prison-industrial complex. literature on the punitive turn in public education helps us to identify watershed moments in history— such as the shifts in funding away from education and toward incarceration that occurred throughout the 1990s (campaign, 2008; connolly et al., 1996; gold, 1995; taqi-eddin, macallair, & schiraldi, 1998), and the moral panics, through the mid-to-late 1990s, based on a string of violent school shootings at suburban and rural high schools (binns & markow, 1999; brooks, schiraldi, & zeidenberg, 2000; donohue et al., 1998; dwyer, osher, & warger, 1998; dycus, 2008; mukherjee & karpatkin, 2007) that facilitated punitive investments into public education. this research also helps to identify the specifi c “objective features” of these punitive investments —in the form of zero-tolerance polices, school-resources offi cers (sros), surveillance technologies, and informationsharing linkages between the education system and the criminal justice system—as well as the impacts they have had on rising rates of suspensions and expulsions, drop-out (or “force-out”) rates, and school-based arrests.51 finally, within academic literature, there has been a debate emerging in recent years over the impacts of these punitive investments into schools, on these institutions themselves, and on the trajectories of students in mass education. the “convergence” camp asserts that the impulse to heavily invest punitive resources into schools has reached not only schools in poor communities but also in middle-class, suburban, and rural schools, so that all schools share the similar contours of a securitized terrain—which includes, for example, cameras; full-time, school-based police offi cers; zero-tolerance policies; and normalized law enforcement responses to otherwise non-criminal issues (kupchik, 2009). this camp argues that the dissemination of this institutional surveillance regime will reproduce, on the one hand, a criminalized class that serves to justify the securitization of social trends, and, on the other hand, a compliant class accustomed to surveillance techniques and technologies; the presence of law enforcement personnel in daily life; and a law-enforcement response to non-criminal issues (kupchik & monahan, 2006). pointing to the class variation in the vehicles through which administrators and teachers manifest these punitive investments, (i.e., in middle-class schools with drug-sniffi ng dogs and school-based police offi cers, who see themselves as mentors fi rst, and as offi cers second, and, in schools largely composed of workingclass students of color, all of whom are subjected to humiliating and aggressive metal-detector programs and mandatory pat-downs by condescending police offi cers), paul hirschfi eld (2008) asserts that there are key differences in how poor schools are securitized, “[i]n short, the gated community may be a more apt metaphor to describe the security transformation of affl uent schools, while the prison metaphor better suits that of innercity schools” (2008b:84). in the latter form of school, administrators, educators, and sros can label youths of color as “animals,” “inmates,” or “killers,” and they can also project criminal futures onto their students, as well as lead their students to believe that their teachers don’t support them or care about their success (blum & woodlee, 2001; ferguson, 2000; fine et al., 2004; noguera, 2003; nolan & anyon, 2004). policing the (latino youth) “gang crisis” working-class latino youth commonly experience negative educational encounters, intensifi ed by punitive school policies and adversarial treatment by teachers, which tend to lead some of these youngsters to 51. allen et al., 2004; ambrosio and schiraldi, 1997; bonczar, 2003; bowditch, 1993; brooks et al., 2000; campaign, 2008; cantu, 2000; connolly et al., 1996; dycus 2008; ekstrom et al., 1986; figlio, 2006; fine, 1986; harlow, 2003; mukherjee and karpatkin, 2007; noguera, 1995; noguera, 1994; sanders, 2000; skiba, 2000; skiba and rausch, 2006; stoneman, 2002. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 57 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? being pushed out of school altogether (conchas & vigil, 2010). in our study, we found that the school played a signifi cant role in facilitating the criminal-justice-system processing of many of the boys we studied. many boys, in particular, were identifi ed as gang threats by school offi cials and, as such, were reported to police offi cers. parents were advised about the “gang crisis” by school offi cials. this, in turn, created paranoia among parents. parents pushed law enforcement to crack down on (latino) gang members. law enforcement focused more of their resources on this targeted population. the ultimate outcome was a state of hyper-surveillance and hypercriminalization where young latino boys became scrutinized and punished for common adolescent behavior such as group bonding, loitering, arguing, and experimenting with rule-breaking. discipline for these kinds of transgressions was now handed over to police by institutions—school, the family, community programs—that, traditionally, would have intervened in these minor offenses. since schools have the power to package, construct, label, and deem students as troublemakers and offenders, they often become a launching pad from which young people are catapulted into the criminal justice system. schools have the power to determine the life-course outcomes of marginalized young people. when schools involve law enforcement to compensate for lack of solid discipline strategies, such as restorative approaches, they end up, often unintentionally, contributing to the systematic stripping of dignity, the police mistreatment, and the incarceration of the students whom they serve. while some young people might commit crime and deviance on the streets, it is in the schools, often for minor infractions, where their deviance and defi ance is amplifi ed by offi cials, who then collaborate with law enforcement to further penalize students perceived to be at-risk or unruly. it is important to develop a framework for understanding how schools not only educate and socialize students, but also how they package and prepare certain students to be handed over to law enforcement. in other words, the school-to-prison pipeline should be understood as a mechanism by which schools are the initiators of the criminalization process. school personnel must acknowledge their participation in this process of criminalization, and take inventory of the school practices that prepare some children for prison. the fact that the boys, in this particular instance, were already part of a criminalized class, produced hysteria in the school, as well as among police, parents, and the media. latino boys who are criminalized often encounter a system of ubiquitous punitive social control that begins in school and spills over into the community, with police and adults reading their everyday behavioral practices as criminal. ruben described his feelings regarding how white adults reacted to him in public: ...if you go with your homies, they stare at you, baggy clothes make you look suspicious around here. if you’re walking in a little group, people are all scared of you. if hueros [spanish slang for whites] are coming towards you, they’ll get off the sidewalk so you can pass by, they’re scared as fuck. it’s like we’re gonna’ give them a disease. in his interview, ruben explained that the only guns he had ever been around were those used when hunting with his family. he appeared perplexed that a water bottle would get him in so much trouble: i know that the teachers think i am some kind of trouble maker, but i never imagined that they would call the entire swat team to come hunt me down!...i’ve been taught that i should never carry a gun, i don’t even know where my dad keeps his guns. i’m scared of guns. so how do you think i felt when those [police] guns got pointed at me? in the focus group, the boys talked about their morning ritual. they went to the supermarket every morning, before making their way to campus for their fi rst period. the boys talked about how the cafeteria food repulsed them. some of their teachers encouraged healthy eating habits and even taught them lessons on eating nutritional food. however, the school did not provide them access to these kinds of foods. “it’s like now we have a chance to eat a snack without getting into trouble in class, but some of us don’t even bring snacks, and some of us don’t get no lunch money,” vince explained. vince was frustrated that, although they were being taught healthy eating habits, they were unable to partake in the routine because they did not have enough money to eat well. ruben further explained, “it only makes it more obvious who’s got money, because that’s who brings snacks and association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 58 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? stuff to school. the rest of us get hungrier just watching them eat.” when we asked if anyone ever shared their snacks with the rest of the classroom, they all looked at each other, and one of the boys answered, “nah. why would they give us any of their food? usually, it’s the homies that offer each other to hook you up with some chips or something.” in their search for affordable food options, the boys became exposed to potential victimization from older youths, who would drive by the school looking for rival gang members or younger people to mess with. according to the boys’ own accounts, if the school had been able to provide them with tasteful snacks, it would have prevented their altercation in the fi rst place. soon after the water bottle incident, the boys returned to their classrooms. they quickly forgot about the altercation and moved about their regular school routine. ruben: the thing is, we didn’t even know they [the police] were looking for us, we just knew the school had been locked down and the cops were searching for somebody who had a gun. since i didn’t have a gun, i never even thought they were after us for that argument. vince: yeah, and when they came into the class they came in with guns and dogs. then they got us, but were all rough with us. one cop tried turning my wrists and when i pulled away, he said he would break my arm, and not even hesitate. i was like, “you’re hurting me. i didn’t even do anything.” ruben: yeah, that was messed up. they had these big ol’ rifl es and were pointing them at us until they took us to some rooms. they put us in separate rooms for a long time, too. it was like at least six or seven hours. and, they didn’t even want to tell my mom why i was still at school with the police. she heard the news from other neighbors at her job that there was a gun at the school. she got all worried and left work to see if i had been sent home. then she found out i was being questioned by the cops. she got all mad and thought i had done something. mario: did you tell her what really happened? ruben: nah, she didn’t care. i guess she was just all worried and stuff ‘cus she thought the same thing that happened last time was going to happen again. mario: what happened last time? ruben: i was held at the police station like all night, because they thought i was involved with that one stabbing a couple years ago. they’re just always messin’ with me, though. vince: yeah, they always mess with us. like when they left us in those little rooms for like half the day. i even asked the cops that would check in on me if i was going to get lunch, and no one answered me. they just laughed at me and went away. ruben: i asked one of the cops for lunch and he told me to shut up. his partner, or whatever, stepped into the room with an open bag of chips and i thought he was going to be cool and share with me. next thing i know, the cop throws a chip at me and says, “there’s your food; eat that if you’re hungry. if you’re not hungry, shut up.” vince: yeah, and that wasn’t even the worst part of all. the worst part came when they put us all in the same room. mario: so, what happened when you were all put in the same room? ruben: they were shady. that’s all i can say. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 59 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? vince: they had us in that room together for like half an hour. we were all asking each other what the hell was going on. plus, we were all like, “did any of you guys get any food?” we weren’t even given food from the cafeteria and that’s where they were getting their chips from. ruben: yeah, then some police offi cer walks in and grabs one of the empty chairs in the room and puts it next to this cabinet. all of a sudden he stands on the chair and reaches into the box. the cop pulled out this recorder that was inside the box, then he looked at all of us and said, “we got you now. you should have cooperated earlier.” many of the youth who participated in our study shared that they had had enough negative experiences to outweigh the few positive ones with police offi cers, community center workers, and school offi cials. most of the boys we interviewed expressed the belief that they were experiencing what we call “a youth control complex…where various institutions were collaborating to form a system that degraded and criminalized them on an everyday basis” (rios, 2011). the boys felt as though their schools and communities were working towards pipelining them into incarceration, particularly when they were being arrested in their respective schools, and, later, fi ned by the courts for minor infractions. these violations came in various forms, the most common being possession of small amounts of marijuana, truancy infractions, and other forms of “aggressive” behavior that might be deemed too violent for the classroom. these actions were common practice in our observations, and were even acknowledged by a campus counselor whom we interviewed: these kids aren’t thugs or killers. i think all kids need some guidance and discipline, but the way the cops treat the students isn’t right either. they talk to the kids with little or no respect. then they get angry at the students’ response to their maltreatment. usually, the kids talking back to the police offi cers, results in the police being extra rough on them physically. some kids show up with bruises they claim were from being slammed to the fl oor by the police. for a simple “stop and search?” that ain’t right, man. i think if you treat the students like adults, they’ll begin to act like one. ruben had encountered other major negative experiences with police. in early 2007, two groups of youths were involved in a fi ght that resulted in one of the youths being stabbed, and, eventually, dying. local law enforcement agents began rounding up many suspected gang members and their relatives, or known affi liates, for questioning. one of the 25 youths brought in for questioning was ruben. the police knew that ruben was related to a known gang member. they had gathered this information from the high school when ruben was a freshman. upon arriving at school, for his fi rst day of classes, ruben was asked by the principal if he was related to james, a former student. he told the principal that james was his brother. according to ruben, the principal relayed the information to the school resource offi cer who then tracked ruben down and placed him in a gang database. ruben was friends with the boy who was killed, and was in shock upon hearing of his friend’s death: it was diffi cult to process what was going on. one minute i thought i was getting messed with for no reason, again. then, all of a sudden, i found out this guy i knew was dead. they [the police] didn’t even let me tell them where i was [when the killing happened]. they were all like in my face and yelling at me, telling me they knew i wasn’t telling them what i knew. according to ruben, he had been across town when the stabbing occurred, and he had explained to the offi cers that he had no prior knowledge of who could have been involved in the altercation or stabbing of the other youth. ruben told me that after they interrogated him for several hours, they left him alone in a room for another couple of hours before they came back for him. when they confi rmed ruben’s alibi, the police released him without an apology or an explanation as to why they believed he was involved. juvenile incarceration association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 60 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? while conducting our observations at this school, we observed dozens of citations and arrests of latino boys. most of the citing and arrests occurred outside of school, and were primarily for minor infractions. some of the youth would hang out all day on street corners and parks during their school vacations, generally because many were too young for employment. however, while hanging out in their neighborhoods, especially in front of local establishments, the boys would receive police charges for loitering or disturbing the peace. many times, the youths were trying to get out of the sun and cool off, because they didn’t have air-conditioning at home. other times, the youth shared with us, they were just quickly rushed through their purchases, and not allowed to “shop around” by merchants. the minor negative treatment and citations imposed on the boys, nearly on a daily basis, would later play a bigger role in further criminalizing them. one such example came a couple of years into this study, when the efforts of the local police department were directed towards having conversations with local civic and community leaders about creating a gang injunction. twelve of the boys in our study were named in the injunction. in addition to facing a continuum of school discipline, school-referrals to police, police harassment, gang injunctions, and labeling by adults in the community, some of the boys also faced being questioned by immigration enforcement offi cers about their citizenship status in the united states. many of the boys’ early memories are of their relatives being arrested and deported. seven students remembered hiding from “immigration” even though they were born in california. they had to hide because their parents were undocumented or they had relatives from méxico living with them. one youth, julio, was undocumented. he remembered hiding in bushes, behind trees, fl at on the ground, or in the bed of a pickup. he remembered hearing his parents speaking to him, in spanish, and telling him, “mijo, escondete. por que si te ve la policia van a encontrar a ti y a tu tio y se los van a llevar a mexico. calladito, ok?” (“son, hide. if the cops see you, they’ll fi nd you and your uncle, and then they’re going to send both of you back to mexico. quiet, ok?”). this young man had been detained before by border patrol for looking suspicious and undocumented, and when julio was nine, and he lived in los angeles, his home was raided by the immigration and customs enforcement (ice) agency. julio felt that it was harder for him, as an undocumented immigrant, to stay under the radar, even if he “followed all the rules,” because he would always have to worry about both local law enforcement agencies and federal customs enforcement offi cials. some young latinos face layers of illegality, when the system has deemed them to be a criminal suspect group because of their racial and class status. layers of illegality include being questioned and degraded for dressing in baggy clothes, being asked for citizenship status because they are brown, or being placed in a gang database because their friends or relatives are involved in gang activity. julio recalled being told by a school vice principal, “we know you are illegal and we want to help you, but don’t push your luck, because we will start letting people know who you really are, and they will come here and take you away.” the school offi cials made the boys feel as if they had the power to garner police and immigration resources on call. all four boys who were involved in the water bottle incident believed that the school had called the police about them to teach them a lesson, to discipline them for being the “bad guys” at the school. community segregation and marginalization on another occasion, when we started conducting a focus group with all four of these boys, three pointed at their friend, marcos. one of them instructed him to tell us his story. marcos told us about an altercation that had occurred earlier in the day. there were several youth gathered at a local boys and girls club, playing basketball and tossing a football around. marcos and his friends decided it was too hot to stick around, and, instead, walked over to one of their houses to hang out, watching music videos in the air-conditioning. after a few hours of hanging out at their friend’s house, the boys became bored, and began walking back to the boys and girls club, where they had been hanging out earlier in the day. this time, however, they were stopped at the entrance of the facility and were told that they were no longer allowed to be there because of the fi ght they had caused earlier in the day. community center workers then threatened to call the police on these boys if they did not leave the premises immediately. the staff told the boys that the vice principal had told them of the trouble they were causing at school. “they told us that the vice principal said we were instigating fi ghts, association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 61 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? and that they should not let us hang out at the center.” here, again, the school, the police, and the community center collaborated to criminalize and punish young latinos deemed as threats. this in turn created a system of exclusion from institutions originally intended for nurturing—such as schools and community centers—and inclusion in institutions intended for punishment and control—such as probation, juvenile facilities, and jails. negative encounters with police, schools, and community centers led the boys into the streets to seek out older boys, with whom they would feel that they were affi rmed and protected. vince reported being told by an older gang member in the neighborhood that if he ever wanted to get the cops off his back, all he had to do was start hanging with the gang. we asked vince, “did any of your homeboys decide to take the older guys up on their offer?” vince looked around for a little bit, and fi nally answered, “yea, some of them decided to kick it with the older homies. i hardly see them anymore, though.” in this instance, public humiliation by the authorities did not serve as a deterrent for the future, but rather added “street cred,” or street celebrity, to these youth (vigil, 2007). being labeled or marked for minor transgressions would place the boys at the risk of being granted additional, more serious labels. in this case, the boys’ risk factors were hanging out with the veterano homeboys from the neighborhood, and, possibly, turning into one of the “shot callers”52 of the gang. in turn, some of the boys would eventually be coerced or compelled by older boys to prove themselves by committing a crime. these negative interactions with authority fi gures strain young peoples’ ability to trust the system. in turn, the boys fi nd an alternative institution to put their faith in, the gang, and, in particular, the older boys in the gang. marcos explains, “i trust them [older boys]. guys i trust and like, whenever i need anything, they are there. they are older guys, so when i need something, they are there.” we also noticed heavier policing in the boys’ neighborhoods over the next few weeks after the water bottle incident. an example of heavier policing included the police driving up to where the youths were, getting out of their car, and then slamming the boys against walls, or against curbs. some police offi cers would even go as far as handcuffi ng the youths in order to search them. the boys said they were embarrassed and humiliated by the cops and by the people from the community center. some of their neighbors began calling the police about them. according to another youth, people in his neighborhood also began acting differently around him. the public humiliation brought on by the police offi cers and community center management was beginning to label the boys in new ways. historically, gang prevention or street-based programs have been organized by, or in conjunction with, churches and local organizations for youth delinquents. in this case, despite the youths’ attempts to enter the community center, they were turned away. the community center staff members were unwilling to assist boys who had been labeled gang members, and the staff’s actions created additional barriers for the boys to overcome. teacher and administration discrimination teachers were observed to be intolerant to any type of “attitude” from the boys involved in the incident. students were constantly compared to their “well-mannered” peer counterparts, and were asked to invoke their “good-spirited nature” in order to succeed in life and in their academic studies. ruben described his very fi rst interaction with a teacher, shortly after the school had been locked down: ruben: “hey.” teacher: “hey? is that all you have to say for yourself?” ruben: “what do you mean, is that all i have to say?” teacher: “yeah, i didn’t think you had it in you. none of you ever apologize for the damage you cause. the school is the real victim here, not you.” the teacher was referring to the school being the victim of ruben’s and his friends’ actions the previous 52. “shot callers” is urban vernacular that refers to the gangs’ leadership. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 62 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? day, which resulted in the high school being locked down. the teacher told ruben that she was bothered that he was allowed back on campus without a suspension or alternative punishment. ruben told us that the teacher made similar comments out loud in front of the class. when ruben asked the teacher to “back off” and “leave him alone,” the teacher replied, “…if the school or local police can’t change you, i will.” as ruben told us this story, his lips began to quiver and his eyes were slightly lubricated with what appeared to be rigidly held-back tears. we asked him, “are you ok?” ruben: “nah, i’m cool. just tripping on how teachers don’t really care about you.” victor: “why do you say that they don’t care about you?” ruben: “it’s like they never really liked me because they knew my family [his older brother and cousins had dropped out of school] and were just waiting for me to slip.” victor: “what makes you think they were waiting for you to slip?” ruben: “like, the minute they fi nd any little thing on you, they want to call the pigs to come and arrest you. i mean, that’s messed up. i’m not even from nowhere and they want to treat me like i’m a criminal.” conclusion schools have tremendous positive power over the lives of students—the power to teach them academics; the power to socialize them to be engaged citizens; the power to transform their lives in positive ways—but schools also have negative power: the power to mark a student with a discipline record; the power to force a student out of school; and the power to catapult students into the school-to-prison pipeline. the multiple marginality that many working-class latino students face in hyper-criminalized schools stems from a societal, racialized fear of immigrant populations, and a macro-economic transformation in which de-industrialization and post-industrialization have created the conditions for education systems to restructure themselves more punitively. ergo, some marginalized latino youths are no longer “learning to labor” but rather “preparing for prison” in their school settings. the multiple marginality that young working-class latinos face today is one of a punitive society that treats and manages them, across institutional settings, as a suspect criminal class which is immersed in layers of illegality. one key instrument for reversing the school-to-prison pipeline could be the implementation of restorativejustice approaches. richard has assisted the school studied here to implement a restorative-justice process by facilitating conversations with students who are fi nding it diffi cult to learn confl ict resolution skills and to share issues at home and at school with each other. often, in this process, the youths address each other and discuss how they could treat each other on and off campus. sometimes richard guides the conversations, and, at other times, professionals from the local community take hold of the lessons. the youth fi nd common ground, and, eventually, learn to respect each other and socialize in less confrontational and aggressive manners. in addition to culturally-competent outreach workers, culturally-responsive teachers might help to ameliorate this school-to-prison pipeline. when educators fear young people because of the way they dress, where they come from, or where they live, they have little capacity to educate them, and, instead, have to rely on discipline as the key system for managing their pupils. there is a greater opportunity for equitable schools when classrooms are “responsive to the social and cultural diversity of the communities that they serve” (cairney, 2000, p.10). cairney cites researcher jim cummins’ work that “identifi ed four structural elements of schooling,” which, cummins argued, “infl uence the extent to which students from minority backgrounds are empowered or disadvantaged.” these elements include: incorporating minority students’ culture and language; including minority communities in the education of their children, pedagogical practices operating in the classroom, and the assessment of minority students (cairney, 2000, p. 6). in addition, culturally-responsive teaching recognizes certain cultural features of latinos, and incorporates association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 63 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? those aspects into the curriculum (waxman & pardon, 2002). for example, a teacher who understands that latinos place great importance on family and community would incorporate those aspects into their lessons (waxman & pardon, 2002). teachers can also create a cooperative-learning environment where students work in small groups, which has been found to decrease student anxiety and improve english profi ciency and social, academic, and communication skills (calderon, 1991; chrisitan, 1995; rivera & zehler, 1991). also, teachers who provide opportunities for extended dialogue are especially effective in teaching latino students, because students are able to develop language skills and higher-level thinking skills (tharp, 1995; august & hakuta, 1998; duran, dugan, & weffer, 1997). while school offi cials can claim to have their hands tied due to larger economic, political, or policy forces, there are some pragmatic steps that educators may take to begin to reverse at least some of the effects of the school-to-prison pipeline on latino youths. schools have the potential to change the pipeline because factors within schools may be controlled and transformed, such as improving relationships with teachers and implementing restorative-justice practices and policies. as such, school factors may infl uence student engagement as well as their personal chara cteristics, and these may play a role in providing protective factors that rival the protective factors provided by the gang (sharkey, 2011). when high schools adopt a more empathic role with atrisk youth, and provide services like counseling, mentoring, and tutoring, research shows that violence and gang membership reports decrease. while educators don’t have the resources to reverse the effects of structural forces that impact their students’ lives, they do have the ability to change their interactional practices with students, become more culturally relevant, and implement restorative approaches. these minor changes might help to begin the process of eliminating the school-to-prison pipeline and create a cradle-to-college staircase instead. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 64 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? references akiba, m., letendre, g., baker, d., & goesling, b. (2002). student victimization: national and school system effects on school violence in 37 nations. american educational research journal, 39, 829-853. althusser, l. (1971). lenin and philosophy and other essays. new york: monthly review press. ambrosio, t.j. & schiraldi, v. (1997). from classrooms to cellblocks: a national perspective. washington, d.c. the justice policy institute. retrieved from: http://www.cjcj.org. anyon, j. (2005). social class and the hidden curriculum of work. journal of education, 162(1), 67-92. anyon, j. (1981). elementary schooling and distinctions of social class. interchange, 12(2): 118-132. anyon, j. (1997). ghetto schooling: a political economy of urban educational reform. new york: teachers college press. august, d., & hakuta, k. (eds.). (1998). educating language minority children. washington, d.c.: national academy press. binns, k., & markow, d. (1999). the metropolitan life survey of the american teacher, 1999: violence in america. new york: metropolitan life insurance company. retrieved from http://www.metlife.com/about/corporate-profi le/citizenship/metlife-foundation/metlife-survey-of-the-american-teacher.html. blum, j., & woodlee, y. (2001, may 31). tour was for youths ‘beyond control’: teacher requested prison experience. washington post, b1. bourdieu, p., & nice, r. (1984). distinction: a social critique of the judgment of taste. cambridge: harvard university press. brooks, k. et al. (2000). school house hype: two years later. [policy report]. the justice policy institute, washington, d.c. retrieved from: http://www.cjcj.org. cacho, lisa. (2012). social death: racialized rightlessness and the criminalization of the unprotected. new york: new york university press. cairney, t.h. (2000). beyond the classroom walls: the rediscovery of the family and community as partners in education. educational review, 52(2), 163-174. cairney, t.h., & ruge, j. (1998). community literacy practices and schooling: towards effective support for students, vol.1. canberra: deetya. isbn 1-86341-517-3. calderon, m. (1991). benefi ts of cooperative learning for hispanic students. texas research journal, 2, 39-57. christian, d. (1995). teaching linguistically and culturally diverse learners: effective programs and practices. santa cruz, ca: national center for research on cultural diversity and second language learning, 8-11. conchas, g. q., & vigil, j. d. (2012). streetsmart schoolsmart: urban poverty and the education of adolescent boys. new york: teachers college press, columbia university. connolly, k. et al. (1996). from classrooms to cell blocks: how prison building affects higher education and african american enrollment. san francisco: center on juvenile and criminal justice. retrieved from http://www.cjcj.org. cradle to prison pipeline campaign. (2008). california children in the pipeline. los angeles: children’s defense fund california. retrieved from http://www.cdfca.org/fi les/cppfactsheet.pdf. donohue, e. et al. (1998). school house hype: school shootings and the real risks kids face in america. washington, d.c.: the justice policy institute. retrieved from http://www.cjcj.org. duran, b., dugan, t., & weffer, r. (1997). increasing teacher effectiveness with language minority students. the high school journal, 84, 238-246. dwyer, k. (1998). early warning, timely response: a guide to safe schools. washington, d.c.: u.s. department of education. retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/offi ces/osers/osep/earlywrn.html. dycus, j. (2008). hard lessons: school resource offi cer programs and school-based arrests in three connecticut towns. new york: american civil liberties union. retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/racialjustice/hardlessons_november2008.pdf. ferguson, a. a. (2000). bad boys: public schools in the making of black masculinity. ann arbor: university of michigan press. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 65 smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? fine, m. (1986). why urban adolescents drop into and out of public high school. the teachers college record, 87(3), 393-409. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: continuum. hirschfi eld, p. j. (2008). preparing for prison? the criminalization of school discipline in the usa. theoretical criminology, 12(1), 79-101. gold, s.d. (1995). state spending patterns in the 1990s. albany: center for the study of the states. howell, j. (2010). gang prevention: an overview of research and programs. washington, d.c. offi ce of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. kupchik, a., & monahan, t. (2006). the new american school: preparation for post-industrial discipline. british journal of sociology of education, 27(5), 617-631. kupchik, a. (2009). things are tough all over: race, ethnicity, class and school discipline. punishment society, 11(3), 291-317. lee, v., & burkam, d. (2003). dropping out of high school: the role of school organization and structure. american educational research journal, 40, 353-393. li, x., stanton, b., et al. (2002). risk and protective factors associated with gang involvement among urban african american adolescents. youth & society, 32, 172-194. maxson, c., whitlock, m., & klein, m. (1998). vulnerability to street gang membership: implications for practice. social service review, 72, 70-91. mclaren, p. (2007). life in schools: an introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of education. new york: pearson press. mcintyre, a. (2000). constructing meaning about violence, school, and community: participatory action research with urban youth. the urban review, 32, 123-154. mukherjee, e., & karpatkin, m.. (2007). criminalizing the classroom: the over-policing of new york city schools. new york civil liberties union. retrieved from: http://www.aclu.org. noguera, p.a. (2003). the trouble with black boys: the role and infl uence of environmental and cultural factors on the academic performance of african american males. urban education, 38(4), 431-459. nolan, k. & anyon, j. (2004). learning to do time: willis’ cultural reproduction model in an era of deindustrialization, globalization, and the mass incarceration of people of color. in n. dolby et al. (eds.) learning to labor in new times. new york: routledge. rios, v. (2011). punished: policing the lives of black and latino boys. new york, london: new york university press. rivera, c., & zehler, a. m. (1991). assuring the academic success of language minority students: collaboration in teaching and learning. journal of education, 173(2), 52-77. rosenblom, s.r. et al. (2004). experiences of discrimination among african american, asian american, and latino adolescents in an urban high school. youth & society, 35, 420-451. sharkey, j. (2011). protective infl uence of gangs: can schools compensate? aggression and violent behavior, 16, 45-54. solis, a., schwartz, w., & hinton, t. (2003). gang resistance is paramount: final report 2003. usc center for economic development. solorzano, d. g., & bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework. urban education, 36, 308-342. spradley, j. (1980). participant observation. belmont, ca: wadsworth cengage learning. taqi-eddin, k. et al. (1998). class dismissed: higher education vs. corrections during the wilson years. san francisco, ca: the justice policy institute. retrieved from http://www.cjcj.org. tharp, r. g. (1995). instructional conversations in zuni classrooms. teaching linguistically and culturally diverse learners: effective programs and practices. santa cruz, ca: national center for research on cultural diversity and second language learning, 12-13. tyack, d.b. (1974). the one best system: a history of american urban education. cambridge: harvard university press. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 66 vigil, j. d. (2007). the projects: gang and non-gang families in east los angeles. austin: university of texas press. vigil, j. d. (2002). a rainbow of gangs. austin, tx: university of texas press. vilenchik, m. (2008). hopeful diversions: youth intervention programs and their potential for preventing delinquency and crime. washington and lee university. waxman, h.c., & pardon, y.n. (2002). research-based teaching practices that improve the education of english language learners. teacher training and effective pedagogy in the context of student diversity. greenwich, ct: information age, 3-38. willis, p. (1981). learning to labor: how working-class kids get working-class jobs. new york: columbia university press. smoking guns or smoke & mirrors? association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 7 an introduction to critical issues in teacher education: building a bridge between teacher education and latino english language learners in k-12 schools guest editors christian j. faltis university of california, davis ester j. de jong university of florida pablo c. ramírez arizona state university irina s. okhremtchouk arizona state university according to the united states census, latinos are the fastest growing segment of the u.s. population. by 2050, it is predicted that the population of school-age latinos will soar to 28 million and surpass the number of non-latino white students. as a result, this demographic shift will considerably alter population trends and needs in the k-12 educational system. despite the fact that latino students enter schools with rich cultural, linguistic and schooling backgrounds as well as comprise a significantly large segment of the emergent bilingual and english language learner (ell) population in the k-12 public school system, latino youth continue to be underserved in the u.s. research reports reveal that in the past 10 years latino ells have continued to underachieve in literacy and mathematics as compared to their monolingual white counterparts. moreover, latino ells represent the group with the highest high school dropout rates in the public school system. much of the concern in the k-12 school system has been the preparation of teachers for new realities in school, and consequently, teachers’ readiness to effectively address the needs of latino ell populations. the relationship between latino ells’ academic achievement and teacher education programs that prepare pre-service teachers for working in latino ell contexts has not been at the forefront of the research literature to date. a review of research studies on teacher education reveals that a low percentage of teachers are well prepared to teach latino ells. in fact, teacher education programs nationwide tend to gloss over the learning needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students in k-12 schools settings. studies affirm that the dearth of quality coursework and teaching practices specifically in contexts with latino ells has had a lasting impact on teachers. those who serve in the frontline (teachers) can ultimately influence the academic trajectories of youth in the public school system. without quality preparation, student teaching experiences and critical inquiry, new teachers entering public schools may continue to perpetuate deficit views of latino ell students—views which can ultimately impact the academic attainment of latinos. further, new teachers as well as practicing teachers who know little about ells and have no experience with latino communities, families, and children may have a deleterious impact on future latino ell populations. a particularly relevant finding from a review of studies associated with latino students contends that the academic achievement of latino students is predicated on the development of caring relationships between students and their teachers, counselors and other school agents. that said, latino youth are currently all too often confined to classrooms in which teachers cannot or will not cross cultural or linguistic boundaries to affirm students’ identities or engage in pedagogy that promotes academic and personal success. latinos are more likely to attend schools with newly prepared teachers, and teachers with little experience in culturally relevant teaching. in a related manner, schools with a high concentration of ells often employ teachers with provisional, emergency or temporary certification. this special issue of the association of mexican american educators journal presents a series of articles that focus on issues that we believe are central to the educational success of latino ells and teacher education. further, this issue highlights and examines the various ways teachers are prepared through teacher education an introduction to critical issues in teacher education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 8 to meet the sociocultural, linguistic, and academic needs of latino ell students in the k-12 u.s. public school system. this volume documents the manner in which teacher education programs guide teachers to engage in culturally and linguistically diverse academic contexts and conversely, sheds light on theoretical frameworks that inform teaching practices that ultimately benefit latino ells. the first part of the special issue contains seven research studies. the volume opens with an article, “conciencia con compromiso: aspirantes as bridges for latin@ bilingual learners,” by linda prieto. the author draws from a chicana/latina feminist lens to understand the role teacher education programs can play in helping teacher candidates explore their cultural backgrounds and conversely, critically assess hierarchical systems of oppression. this qualitative study examines the role culture has in influencing aspirantes in becoming bilingual teachers. the next article, “meeting the needs of english language learners: perspectives from arizona’s latino/a teachers,” authored by irina okhremtchouk and taucia gonzález, examines in-service teachers’ reflections on their experiences during pre-service preparation and in-service practices while engaged in ell contexts in arizona. this study reports a number of salient themes associated with instructional practices for ells, which include: pedagogical knowledge and strategies, effective communication with students, engagement with student families, and challenges in school contexts where ells are present. this article contributes to the much needed pedagogical knowledge required to enhance learning for ell students. the third article, “translanguaging in a latino/a bilingual community: negotiations and mediations in a dual-language classroom,” by armando garza and juliet langman, explores the manner in which a bilingual teacher and her bilingual students utilize translanguaging as a learning and teaching tool in social studies and science classes. the authors suggest that translanguaging allows for fluidity of the teaching and learning process with bilingual learners, thus, fostering language as well as content development in youth. in the article, “developing linguistically responsive teachers: learning through latino/a student stories,” rosalie rolón and lei chen present a qualitative study of two linguistically diverse students. the study highlights the value of linguistic and cultural elements present in students’ stories. the authors reveal that profiles of students, either presented to pre-service teachers in classes or developed as a result of field experiences, can help pre-service teachers understand linguistically diverse students and consequently, develop orientations conducive to meeting the academic needs of youth. the following piece entitled, “teacher candidates and latino/a els at felton elementary: the role of early clinical experiences,” by ambareen nasir and amy j. heineke, focuses on the influence early clinical experiences have on teacher candidates’ learning about the experiences of latina/o english learners in a fieldbased program housed in an urban elementary school. this study draws from a multiple-case study design and uses discourse analysis to explore the journey of three teacher candidates. further, this study illustrates how field-based teacher programs support candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for working with latina/o els. in “bridging bilingual and special education: opportunities for transformational change in teacher preparation programs,” alberto m. ochoa and his coauthors report on five years of data that examines the conceptual design of the alas program (acquisition of language skills and academic literacy) in a two-year teacher preparation program. this study describes the manner in which the alas program contributed to the identification of skills necessary for teachers to be reflective practitioners, facilitators of critical inquiry, cultural mediators, and educators linked with the school community. the final article, “breaking the silence: facing undocumented issues in teacher practice,” authored by julian jefferies and dafney b. dabach, presents an ethnographic study of two teachers working with undocumented students in the educational system. the authors articulate the need for teacher education to address salient issues associated with undocumented status in school settings and consequently, advance the notion of equitable schooling for undocumented youth. the second part of the special issue is devoted to reflective essays. the first essay, “22 students and 22 teachers: socio-cultural mediation in the early childhood classroom,” by leticia lozano, chronicles the experience of one dual-language kindergarten classroom through the lens of socio-cultural mediation. a community of practice theoretical framework guides and informs instructional practices in dual-language settings. lozano identifies three significant roles associated with being a dual-language teacher: teacher, social cultural an introduction to critical issues in teacher education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 9 mediator, and advocate. nancy l. commins follows with her essay entitled, “supporting bilingual learners and their families: key understandings for pre-service teachers and the institutions that prepare them.” the essay provides specific examples of understandings that preparation programs can instill in new teachers; such efforts will help teacher candidates envision community outreach practices as essential to creating a positive and supportive school environment for all learners. finally, the special issue closes with a set of poems, “querido idioma” and “don’t tell me: ask me!” and a book review of teacher preparation for bilingual student populations: educar para transformar ( bustos flores, hernández sheets and riojas clark, 2011). we hope the research articles and other contributions that have been included in this special issue will encourage continued conversations and scholarship regarding the intersection of teacher education and latino ells in k-12 schools. an introduction to critical issues in teacher education special_issues_2014-print-final 7 special_issues_2014-print-final 8 special_issues_2014-print-final 9 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 18 language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users: challenging the common knowledge theory in teacher education & k-12 school settings christian faltis university of california, davis abstract popular views about language and how children and youth learn language are based mainly in cognitive approaches in support of a common knowledge theory of language development. this common theory feeds into the efforts to increase teacher and learner accountability as measured on narrow assessments of what it means to use language well and in academic contexts. i show how certain scholarship supports popular view of language and of firstand second-language development, and explore further the connections between the common theory and educational policies for teaching emergent bilinguals students and english learners. the article concludes with a discussion of alternative approaches to language and bilingualism, and particularly, what these alternatives mean for teacher education and practicing teachers who teach emergent bilinguals and english learners across disciplines. alternative approaches include arguments for language learning as a complex adaptive system in which language emerges from localized practice, self-organizes in unpredictable ways, and co-adapts in a nonlinear fashion depending on the kinds of interpersonal interactions learning bring to and are afforded by practices. introduction nationwide, it is well-known that the majority of public school classroom teachers are monolingual l1 users of english (gitomer, 2007), with minimal formal preparation in teaching emergent bilingual users (garcía, 2008) and english learners (national center for educational statistics, 2004; villegas & irvine, 2010). it is also widely known in educational circles that the number of english learners in public schools has been on the rise since the 1990s (allen, 2005). by the first decade of 2000, 20 percent all of public school-aged students (5-18) were considered to be english learners or emergent bilingual users of english (national center for educational statistics, 2004; see valdés & castellón, 2011). what this national scenario of language diversity strongly suggests is that public school classroom teachers need to be much more knowledgeable about the learning needs of emergent bilingual children and english learners (gándara, maxwell-jolly, & driscoll, 2005; wright & sung, 2012). now, more than any of time in the history of public schools, classroom teachers are being held responsible for ensuring the success of english learners in their classrooms; i.e., that english learners in their classrooms show english language development on standardized measures of english language proficiency along with content learning. and yet, it has been pointed out that classroom teachers already have common, popular knowledge about language and language development of monolingual children (wong & snow, 2002) because most teachers have learned in and about english throughout their lifetimes. what classroom teachers appear not to know much about, however, are the complexities of language, bilingualism and language acquisition, particularly as posited in the new wave of sociocultural theories of second language development in the contexts of bilingual and polylingual communities (de jong & harper, 2011; faltis, arias, & ramírez-marín, 2010; gándara, maxwell-jolly, & driscoll, 2005; jørgensen, 2008; pennycook, 2010). the common knowledge that teachers do have, often translates into misguided practices and misunderstandings about bilingual language development: bad (non-standard) vs. good (standard) language; conversational (bics) vs. academic language (calp); and bilingual students as two monolinguals vs. bilingual students as dynamic, interactive bilingual users. accordingly, in today’s educational climate of accountability, high stakes testing and sharp focus on learning outcome-measures, it appears that numerous teachers, particularly those who entered teaching in the past 10-15 years, and many teacher educators may be out touch with new scholarship about language and language association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 19 language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users development. the new scholarship on the language development of bilingual language users (karabenick & clemens noda, 2004; hawkins, 2011) rejects popularly held top down views of language learning currently being promoted as the most effective way to teach english to emergent bilingual students and english learners. it takes the position that at best, the popular view is theoretically misguided (larsen-freeman, 2011), misunderstands and discounts the role of bilingualism in language development (garcía & kleifgen, 2010), and relies on a narrow view of english-only instructed language education (reeves, 2006). at worst, it argues that the popular view of language contributes to the swelling number of english learners who make little progress in english development as they move through the grades from elementary to secondary schooling (see olsen, 2010). overview of the paper this paper begins with claim that the general teaching force holds a set of popular views about language and how people learn first and second languages, and that these views are based on cognitive approaches that support a common knowledge theory of language development. i make the argument that these popular views dovetail nicely with efforts to increase teacher and learner accountability, the new education discourse. i also attempt to show how certain research-based literature supports both the new education discourse and popular views of language and of first and second language development. next, i explore how educational policies directed at teaching emergent bilingual students and english learners support and are supported by the new education discourse and the common knowledge theory of language development. the paper ends with a discussion of alternative approaches to language and second language development, a set of less well-known theoretical arguments about language and language development, and what these arguments might mean for teacher education and practicing teachers. among the alternative arguments i suggest have important implications for teacher education and teachers of emergent bilingual students and english learners are that language learning is a complex adaptive system (larsen-freeman, 2002) in which grammatical structures and meaning (a) emerge from localized practices and repeated interactions (hopper, 1998; pennycook, 2010); (b) self-organize in unpredictable ways (tomasello, 2003), and (c) co-adapt in a nonlinear fashion depending on the kinds interpersonal interactions, among other resources learners bring and are afforded (larsen-freeman, 2011); and because english learners are emergent bilingual users, their bilingualism, which is a complex adaptive system, needs to be viewed as an essential part of their language development. in other words, emergent bilingual users develop proficiency and literacy in english in school contexts from the base of home language practices through dynamic, interactive bilingualism (garcía, 2012). popular views of language and language development the current teacher force responsible for teaching emergent bilingual students, either in separate or heterogeneous classrooms, has been socialized in their homes and through formal k-12 and college schooling to accept certain popular views about the nature of language and how people learn languages. among the popular views of language and language development that have been formally and informally taught with good intentions are as follows: (1) language is a separate entity that originates inside the heads of learners and develops into an increasingly complex grammatical system of structures, which become the basis for how learners communicate thoughts and ideas. (2) language complexity, fluency, and accuracy develop in a linear process, from words and phrases to simple and complex sentences; from halted to native-like rapidity; and from error-laden to error-free speech. (3) knowledge of the grammatical rules of a language enables learners to master the language being taught; mastery means producing error-free, fluent language using complex language systems. (4) mastering a language is facilitated when learners are explicitly taught the grammatical rules for using the language correctly. all four views stem from a long standing cognitivist perspective of language and language development, in which the individual learner’s capacity to develop language used in complex tasks, with fluent and error-free association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 20 language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users speech ultimately depends on explicit instruction in which learners take in language, which is then used to generate language needed for new tasks at hand (ellis, 1994). this perspective focuses attention on language as a separate, countable entity, which implies that it is not essential for teachers to understand bilingualism and its role in the development of english. for the purpose of this paper, i refer to popular views collectively as the common knowledge theory of language development. in very simple terms, the common knowledge theory posits that language is an internal code that is organized mentally through a universal grammar that adjusts to the specific language rule systems (phonology, morphology, syntax) of the input language (chomsky, 1965; harris, 1981). the complexity, fluency, and accuracy of the learned language develop interdependently in a linear fashion: learners generate more complex rules from simpler rules, a kind of built-in syllabus; speech becomes more fluent, with fewer pauses, false starts, and repetitions (tavakoli & skehan, 2005); and errors decrease over time as the learner’s language—the interlanguage—becomes more like the language being learned—the target language (selinker, 1972). gaining language fluency and using language accurately are a function of repeated practice, error correction, and attention to how rules work (schmidt, 1990). learners who internalize the rule system through practice, error correction, and noticing rules master the language; that is, the size, elaborateness, richness, and diversity of their developing linguistic system increases. according to this set of ideas, the best way to develop complexity, fluency and accuracy in the l2 is through explicit instruction of the rules of language, coupled with error feedback, over a range of language tasks that enable students to practice language, which in turn enables students to acquire communicative proficiency. an example of the enactment of this common knowledge can be seen in the traditions of how foreign languages and english for newcomers are taught. this common knowledge theory of language development has directly and indirectly informed educational policies, such as nclb derivatives and state level language policies, particularly in states such as california and arizona, where there are large numbers of english learner students and english-only policies (see arias & faltis, 2012). in many instances, schools interpret these educational policies as a reason to mandate teachers to explicitly teach and correct language forms to english learners, which are then assessed on english language tests leveled by proficiency along a linear order of development, from novice, basic, intermediate to advanced levels of proficiency. language development and teacher quality under nclb legislature and new state language policies, teacher effectiveness has become a central focus of the national dialogue on educational reform, and teacher education programs are being scrutinized (e.g., the national council on teacher quality is conducting an evaluation of all teacher education program in the u.s., and rating them according their own criteria) and held accountable by school districts for preparing teachers who can ensure that english learners in their classrooms become fully and flawlessly proficient in english. under the mandates, the common knowledge theory of language development have been appropriated as part of the new educational discourse about second language development aimed at improving language and academic assessment scores (garcía & kleifgen, 2010). teacher educators and classroom teachers are being pressured, and in some cases directly ordered to explicitly teach english learners language forms and language functions in order to meet language-learning objectives, english language proficiency standards, academic standards, and ultimately, to raise each school’s academic performance index, as required by nclb legislature. this new educational discourse has been informed by a small number of language education specialists from the field of instructed second language education who draw mainly from cognitive approaches to language and language development listed above. many of the specialists are either anti-bilingual education, english-only advocates (e.g., clark, 1999; rossell & baker, 1996) or tend to view language development strictly from a second language perspective (e.g., ellis, 2005; saunders & goldenberg, 2010). educational discourse and what teachers need to know about language association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 21 language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users the beginnings of the new educational discourse on what teachers need to know about language teaching and accordingly, and what teacher educators should teach them can be traced back to a position paper written by lily wong fillmore and catherine snow (2000), which subsequently published as the opening chapter of what teachers need to know about language (temple, adger, snow, & christian, 2002). wong fillmore, a preeminent l2 acquisition expert, and snow, a noted cognitivist, lament that “…poor language outcomes for english language learners in california and elsewhere could have been avoided had teachers known enough about conditions for successful second language learning to provide explicit instruction in english” (2002, p. 32-33). among the many conditions wong fillmore and snow (2002) cover in their chapter as important for teachers to know (e.g., differences between vernacular dialect and standard english, literacy and spelling), the ones that receive much attention are (a) explicit attention to language forms, (b) the need to explicitly teach language forms and uses to english learners, and (c) an increased focus on academic language over social language. they proclaim that, “often, explicit teaching of language structures and uses is the most effective way to help learners” (p.29). research in support of wong fillmore and snow’s (2002) endorsement of explicit instruction and attention to language forms and uses appeared the same year as their paper. in a highly cited meta-analysis of the effectiveness of explicit and implicit language teaching, norris and ortega (2000) concluded that explicit language instruction was more effective than implicit language instruction (the following analysis of norris & ortega (2000) paraphrases a summary of the study by valdés, capitelli, & alvarez, 2011, p. 28). norris and ortega (2000) reviewed 77 experimental and quasi-experimental studies that related instructional approach to language outcomes as measured by metalinguistic judgments about language, discretepoint responses, constructed, or open responses. norris and ortega distinguished between studies that had a focus on form (fonf), that is, focus on form was tied to interaction, in order to clarify meaning, and studies that focused on forms (fonfs), where the focus was on explicit forms without attention to meaning or to specific learner conversational needs. they defined instruction as explicit if teachers explained rules or asked students to pay attention to rules and come up with their own understanding of the rule. on the basis the their metaanalysis, the conclusion they offered was that learners who made the greatest gains in language proficiency learned in classes where teachers relied on explicit instruction that focused on language forms (fonfs). however, they cautioned readers with the caveat that “measurement of change induced by instruction is typically carried out on instruments that seem to favor more explicit memory-based performance” (p. 483). in other words, if language learning is measured by assessments that call on learners to show they have memorized specific language forms, then it is safe to conclude that students who learn language this way will show improvement over time if they received explicit instruction about language forms (fofs). of the 77 studies norris and ortega included in their meta-analysis, 51 (two-thirds) of the studies were conducted at the college level, 5 were conducted on high school english learner classrooms, 10 were done in junior high school classrooms, and just 1 came from an elementary classroom setting. moreover, norris and ortega included studies that reported minimal information concerning variation in language proficiency within the treatment settings. evidence for language development depended mainly on how well students performed on discrete-point assessments that focused on specific linguistic features: “90% of the dependent variables [used in the analysis] required the application of l2 rules in highly focused and discrete ways, while only 10 % of the dependent variables required relatively free productive use of the l2” (norris & ortega, 2000, p. 483). in less opaque terms, the studies selected for inclusion in this meta-analysis included mainly adult, college learners (many from outside the u.s.) and mainly measured language learning with discrete-point language tests. findings from the norris and ortega study have been interpreted widely in recent educational literature on research-based approaches to teaching english learners in public school contexts. for example, dutro and kinsella (2010) writing on english language development in grades 6-12 declare unabashedly: “there is ample evidence [my emphasis] that providing carefully planned lessons explicitly addressing specific aspects of the second language is far more productive than merely exposing students to abundant english and incidentally addressing specific forms” (p. 169). for them, exposing students to english matters for helping students interact with meaning to become socially fluent: “meaning-focused exposure to a second language through communicative activities allows students to develop greater oral fluency and confidence” (p. 169). but, they caution that students who association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 22 language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users learn english through communicative-based activities “may never acquire [my emphasis] many critical linguistic forms and have persistent difficulties with pronunciation as well as with morphological, syntactic, and pragmatic features of the second language” (dutro & kinsella, 2010, p. 170). the evidence they provide for these claims comes from the conclusions drawn by the norris and ortega (2000) meta-analysis and the position on explicit language teaching espoused by wong fillmore and snow (2000). in a synthesis of educational research on teaching english learners in k-12 settings, saunders and goldenberg (2010) rely heavily on the norris and ortega, but are more careful than dutro and kinsella (2010) in making claims for the strength of the evidence with respect to implications for the kinds of knowledge and practice teacher educators should draw on for preparing teachers of english learners. they present 11 guidelines, based on “good evidence” (p. 59) for what schools and teachers need to do to provide effective instruction for english learners, with the implication that teacher educators should promote their guidelines. two of the 11 guidelines for improving english language instruction they propose are their “best guesses” (p. 59) based on the research they reviewed. their guideline 5 states that, “eld instruction should explicitly teach elements of english (e.g, vocabulary, syntax, grammar, functions, and conventions)” (p. 60). they admit that the guideline “has a strong supportive body of evidence, but few of the studies were conducted with u.s. with english learners in the k-12 or use outcome measures that are good gauges of language proficiency; instead, most use narrow assessments that measure specific language features…” (p. 61). their guideline 6 proposes that, “eld instruction should integrate meaning and communication to support explicit teaching of language” (p. 60), combining explicit instruction that focuses on forms, with communicative, authentic uses of language in the classroom along with a focus on form and use. they caution readers that there is “no definite empirical research answer about the appropriate balance and exact relationship among these elements” (p.61). based on the research evidence they cite for this guideline (norris & ortega, 2000), coupled with guideline 5, it appears that the message to teachers is to err on the side of explicitly teaching english learners with a focus on form, even if the research evidence comes from studies that do not reflect the contexts of u.s. public school languages. none of the guidelines saunders and goldenberg (2010) propose for teaching english learners mentions using the students’ first language, translanguaging, or dynamic uses of two languages (garcía, flores & woodsley, 2012; garcía & kleifen, 2010) for promoting english language development. in other words, because the students’ l1 and l1/l2 language abilities are not mentioned in the work, their relevance to a teachers’ knowledge framework about how best serve the language and educational needs of emergent bilingual students is left unexamined and thus, presumably of little or no importance for teachers. state policies about teaching english to emergent bilingual students within current climate of accountability, state-sponsored educational and language-related policies about teaching emergent bilingual students and english learners ignore the irrelevance of the educational research on instructed second language teaching for k-12 u.s. classroom settings or for developing bilingualism among emergent bilingual users. rather, the policies align uncritically with common knowledge theory language development and the new education discourse about needing to hold teachers and teacher educators accountable for developing english in the english learners they teach. in arizona, california and other states, policies concerning language teaching call for english language instruction that focuses on form through direct instruction and error correction over approaches that promote content-based meaningful communication in l1 and l2. for example, in arizona, all teachers are required to have a structured english immersion (sei) endorsement on top of their elementary or secondary teaching credential (arias & faltis, 2012). the curriculum for this english-only endorsement is heavily slanted toward explicit teaching of language forms in sequential order, providing corrective feedback, and teaching english separately from other content areas (murri, markos, & estrella-silva, 2012). the state also mandates separate classes for english learners who test below proficient, as measured by the azella. in sei classes, students must study the language forms of english (e.g., morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics) and are expected to produce error-free language, ideally within one academic year. students can exit from these english-focused classes and join “regular” classrooms, only upon earning a composite score of proficient across listening, speaking, reading association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 23 language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users and writing on the azella test. august, goldenberg, and rueda (2010) question the legitimacy of this form of sei for teaching english learners. in california, english learners who score below advanced on the celdt language proficiency exam are required to study english as a language 45 minutes a day, taught by an english language development specialist. for the remainder of the school day, students are placed with credentialed teachers who have been minimally prepared to teach english learners. all california credentialed teachers are required to earn a cross-cultural language and academic development (clad) certification, either through a series of examinations or by taking specific coursework (typically 2-3 college courses) in which clad standards are addressed in an approved teacher preparation program or a combination of both. the clad certification covers three domains: language structure and first and second language development; methodology of bilingual instruction, including instruction for english language development and specially designed instruction delivered in english (sdaie); and culture and cultural diversity in the u.s. and california (diaz-rico, weed, echevarria, vogt, & short, 2004). a bilingual clad or bclad is also offered in california (blum-martínez & baker, 2012). this authorization requires a certain number of hours of student teaching in a non-english language classroom (e.g., spanish, mandarin, korean, depending on the teacher education program’s state certification), and evidence of language proficiency in the non-english language of instruction (california commission on teacher credentialing, 2011) along with the general requirements for the clad. neither of these ways of preparing teachers for teaching english learners adequately equips teachers with the theoretical and practice knowledge needed to meet the complex learning needs of emergent bilingual children and youth in classrooms where all instruction, materials, and other resources are in english (arias & faltis, 2012; wentworth, pellegrin, thompson, & hakuta, 2010). according to olsen (2010), 59% of all secondary level english learners in california are considered to be long term english learners – having been in english development courses from 6 or more years. both are the result of educational policies and educational research that support a common knowledge theory of language development and popular views of how children, youth, and adults learn a second language, and thus, should learn english. as well-intentioned as sei, clad and bclad education might be, it is unlikely that teachers prepared under these mandates have an understanding of language and language development that reflects contemporary understanding of language – l1, l1/l2, and the l2 (valdés, 2005) as a complex adaptive system which develops from participation in local interpersonal practices that involve language, both l1 and l2, in dynamic ways. contemporary alternatives to the common knowledge theory contemporary scholars interested in language and language development reject the basic premises of the common knowledge theory of language development, and by implication, the educational assumptions about the role of explicit instruction of language forms for developing mastery of language. there has been what block (2003) calls a “social turn” in second language acquisition theory that looks to other fields beyond the cognitive sciences for understanding language and language development. rather than viewing language as an internal built-in syllabus that guides learners along a predictable path of development, contemporary scholars who have made the social turn posit that language is a complex dynamic system, which emerges from interpersonal and localized interactions (garcía & kleifgen, 2010). in contemporary scholarship on language and language development, cognition is necessarily tied to social activity, and language emerges from, not prior to social interaction. moreover, english learners in school are better understood as l2 users, whose language-using patterns emerge from and within a complex dynamic system, in which elements of l1, l1/l2 and l2 co-adapt over time (cook, 2002; valdés, 2005). in contemporary socio-cognitive and sociocultural approaches to language theory, there is no such thing as a universal grammar (chomsky, 1965) that organizes language into a code that must be attended to in order to become proficient in language (tomasello, 2003). this is a “language myth” (harris, 1981) that has become popularized in the general public, and especially so among the teacher force (pennycook, 2010) as a central feature of the common knowledge theory of language development. drawing from alternative approaches (see atkinson, 2011), contemporary scholars argue that language is association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 24 essentially a social construct that is non-linear, unpredictable and that emerges only through interactive practices that are local, repetitive, and focused on forms and functions according to community norms of usage. in this manner, language development (l1, l1/l2, and l2) is characterized by fits and starts, periods of stagnation and growth, and continuities and discontinuities, as the systems co-adapt, organize, and reorganize to reflect learners’ group identity affinities and complex engagements with the environment (pennycook, 2010; larsen-freeman, 2011). seen from this theoretical framework, grammatical structures in language emerge from interpersonal interactions across multiple localized settings in which children and youth use language socially and in academic contexts to explain, greet, hypothesize, joke, narrate, persuade, etc. (larsen-freeman, 2011; also see lee, mikesell, joaquin, mates, & schumann, 2009). ellis and larsen-freeman (2009) explain the process as follows: “as speakers communicate, they co-adapt their language use on a particular occasion. from such repeated encounters, stable language-using patterns emerge” (p.92) and continue to emerge as new counters transpire. l1, l1/l2 and l2 grammatical structures live and grow within the language-using patterns, and the languageusing patterns change and co-adapt, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, and sometimes, even revert to earlier patterns. emergent language also depends on other variables– the users age, investment, resources, patterns of interpersonal interaction, and prior l1 and l1/l2 language experiences, but not on pre-existing mental codes. stability in emergent language is temporary as emergent bilingual users of english interact across local environments for different purposes, at times relying on their l1 as well as their l1/l2 language-using patterns, to interact with others who may or may not be l1/l2 users (jørgensen, 2008). the development of l2 grammatical structures for language users involves a process of partial settling or sedimentation of language(s) used in frequently repeated and practiced social contexts (hopper, 1998). it is important to point out that from socio-cultural and socio-cognitive perspectives of language development, the emergent grammar in the language-using patterns of second language learners is necessarily flawed and imperfect (valdés, capitelli, & alvarez, 2011). second language structure and uses emerge from interpersonal interaction and participation in local social practices as l1/l2 users communicate in their developing, imperfect l2 to interact with others, interpret meanings, and show their knowledge. it is untenable from sociocultural approaches to language development to propose that perfection in language ability (l1 or l2 or l1/ l2) is a pre-requisite or a target for participation (as the common knowledge theory does) -to get things done in social practices (especially those localized in school contexts); all language users can and do participate with flawed language in all sorts of interactions involving various degrees of content and linguistic complexities. some of these interactions are deemed essential for understanding specific content areas, and all result in complex grammatical structures and language patterns that work across localized content areas. there are certain members of a language community who may help learners to notice how their participation improves if they focus attention on certain things about content, but attention to learners’ imperfect forms of language separate from the social context in which language is used is in and out itself ineffective for the reasons presented above. implications for teacher education and teaching english learners in k-12 contemporary scholarship on language (l1, l1/l2, and l2) as a complex system that emerges from local interaction has implications for teacher education and classroom teachers. teacher education should orient teachers to viewing the teaching of english learners as the development of uses of language (l1, l1/l2, and l2) in the various content areas in school – art, language arts, literature, music, mathematics, social studies, and science– in ways that promote the emergence of language-using patterns through interpersonal, interpretive and presentational communicative events (valdés, capitelli, & alvarez, 2011). in a promising 5 year study of latino bilingual children learning english, valdés, capitelli, and alvarez (2011) found that when young english learners interacted with adults (who did not explicitly teach language or correct errors) around stories, interpreted what they heard, and gave accounts of what they understood using art, written text, and other presentational means, their language blossomed. the children conversed about many topics using language for social interaction as well as for academic purposes. their language-using patterns were imperfect as should be expected, and their language usage varied in complexity, as their emergent complex systems co-adapted to new localized language language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 25 and content learning experiences. in this study, there were no expectations of linear language development or perfect language use. the children interacted with adults about the meanings they interpreted from the stories. in a study involving older emergent bilingual users, bunch (2006) described how middle school students gained access to and participated in a rigorous curriculum by engaging in a range of social interactions around academic content areas. bunch (2006) concluded: “this study suggests that, under the right instructional conditions, (my emphasis) students described as being fluent in ‘‘conversational english’’ yet lacking in ‘‘academic english’’ can participate successfully in challenging academic work in english” (p. 298). in other words, english learners can interact, interpret, and express understanding of academic content when teachers organize instruction around interactive, communicative-based classroom experiences. what this new sociocultural and socio-cognitive research and theoretical perspectives are saying is that teachers and the teacher educators who prepare them need to learn how to plan challenging classroom experiences that develop content and language over time (schleppegrell & o’hallaron, 2011), with the understanding that language english learners use to communicate thoughts and ideas will be flawed, and that students rely on and use their l1, their l1/l2, and their developing l2 for a range of purposes within academic contexts. children and youth with imperfect abilities in conversational english are capable of interacting with, interpreting, and performing in language across all of the content and language that lives in the local contexts of schools (bunch, 2006), when teachers focus on what emergent bilingual students can do with both long-term and moment-tomoment support (schleppegrell & o’hallaron, 2011), including support for their l1, their l1/l2, as they develop their l2. it is counterproductive for teachers to be overly concerned with what students can’t express perfectly in the l2 (reeves, 2006), because that is the inherent social nature of dynamic bilingualism (garcía, 2012), and polylingual development (jørgensen, 2008; pennycook, 2010). when teachers explicitly teach and expect students to learn language forms there is little opportunity for students to hear language being used to express ideas, to use their full communicative repertoire in support of translanguaging (garcía, flores, & chu, 2011; garcía, flores, & woodsley, 2012), or to engage in interpersonal interactions about meaning and the construction of ideas. emergent bilingual students’ l1-, l1/l2and l2-using patterns emerge and develop, but not in a linear fashion, or in predictable ways, when they are invited to participate in social interactions around academic content topics. students who become bilingual in school need to interact with language (l1, l1/l2 and l2) over and over with the help of teachers who scaffold their learning within and across content areas (walqui & van lier, 2010), so they can engage in the practices that involve l1-, l1/l2and l2-using interaction patterns needed to learn fully in school contexts. changing popular views on language development and bilingualism it will take much study on the part of teacher educators and teachers to recalibrate thinking about the principles and practices embodied in the common knowledge theory of language development. the ideas and new theoretical work presented in the final sections of this paper are the tip of the iceberg with respect to understanding the complex adaptive systems approach to language or the language as local practice theory in social-cultural literature on language and languages. the challenge is there, and my hope is that teacher educators and teachers alike realize that the common theory that guides much of what is happening in schools today is misguided, and must be replaced with more sociocultural understandings of language and language development. emergent bilingual children and youth will not learn the kinds of language and language functions needed to be successful in academic contexts by exclusively focusing on forms of english and expecting language (l2) to develop in a linear order from simple to complex, from less fluent to more fluent, or from less accurate to more accurate. to continue to teach language to english learners based on this view of language can only contribute to frustration among teachers and schools. emergent bilingual students will, however, show progress if they engage with the teacher and classmates in well planned and well supported interactive, interpretative, and demonstrative communicative events that draw on their l1, l1/l2, and l2. the evidence is mounting to suggest that among the chief reasons for the burgeoning number of long term english learners are that these students’ l1 and l1/l2 profiles are ignored, and instead they are provided with a narrow english only-curriculum, in which english is taught through explicit focus on forms, student errors language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 26 language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users are constantly corrected, and communication with english speaking students is reduced. in addition, english learners in k-12 setting increasingly are provided with only partial access to the core content courses (gifford & valdés, 2006; olsen, 2010), which contributes to the high numbers of long-term english learners – students who continue to perform poorly on english language exams after 5 or more years in esl support classrooms. what all emergent bilingual students need is full access to the content with teachers who have a sociocultural understanding of language and language development among bilingual and polylingual language users. as de jong & harper (2011) point out, teacher education programs may help teachers accomplish this when they ask them to look at rather than through the language demands of the classroom in order to support language scaffolding for english language and literacy development (p. 87; emphasis in original). as teacher educators and teachers learn more about contemporary theories of language (l1, l1/l2, and l2 use) and language development, to seriously question the validity of the common knowledge theory of language development, and to see language-using patterns, there is new hope that emergent bilingual users will be more equitably successful in the core content areas of art, language arts, literacy, mathematics, music, science, and social studies than is currently happening. such a turn toward understanding language and language development of emergent bilingual users is particularly important with the inevitable advent of the common core standards, in which language practices permeate the standards in every content area (see bunch, 2013). not only will teachers and teacher educators need to re-orient their pedagogical knowledge toward the common core standards, but they will also need to re-think their understandings of bilingual language development to develop language pedagogical knowledge (galguera, 2011). pedagogical language knowledge is knowledge of language practices directly involved in teaching and learning academic disciplines that includes knowledge of how emergent bilinguals use language practices (translation, paraphrasing, code-switching, and imperfect language) to make sense of content area knowledge and activities. now is an opportunity for teachers and teacher educators to reflect deeply about language, to renovate ideas about bilingualism (move from the idea of two separate languages) to more sociocultural understandings of dynamic bilingualism, and to pay more close attention to the language demands made across the academic content areas. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 27 references allen, m. b. (2005). eight questions on teacher recruitment and retention: what does the research say? denver, co: education commission of the states. arias, m. b., & faltis, c. (eds.) (2012). implementing education language policy in arizona: an examination of legal, historical, and current practices in sei. clevedon, england: multilingual matters, ltd. atkinson, d. (ed.) (2011). alternative approaches to second language acquisition. new york: routledge. august, d., goldenberg, c., & rueda, r. (2010). restrictive state language policies: are they scientifically based? in p. gándara & m. hopkins (eds.), forbidden language: english learners and restrictive language policies (pp. 139-158). new york: teachers college press. block, d. (2003). the social turn in second language acquisition. washington, dc: georgetown university press. blum martínez, r., & baker, s. (2012). preparing teachers of bilingual students. in c. faltis & g. valdés (eds.), educating immigrant students, refugees, and english learners (pp. 319-350). new york: national society for the study of education. bunch, g. (2013). pedagogical language knowledge: preparing mainstream teachers for english learners in the new standards era. in c. faltis & j. abedi (eds.), extraordinary pedagogies for working in school settings serving non-dominant students, review of research in education, vol. 37 (pp. 298-341). new york: sage. bunch, g. (2006). “academic english” in the 7th grade: broadening the lens, extending access. journal of english for academic purposes, 5, 284-301. california commission on teacher credentialing. (2011). bilingual authorizations. retrieved from http://www. ctc.ca.gov/credentials/leaflets/cl628b.pdf. chomsky, n. (1965). aspects of a theory of syntax. cambridge, ma: mit press. clark, k. (1999). from primary language instruction to english immersion: how five california districts made the switch. washington, dc: read (institute for research in english acquisition and development). cook, v. (2002). portraits of the l2 user. clevedon, england: multilingual matters. de jong, e., & harper, c. (2011). “accommodating diversity”: pre-service teachers’ views on effective practices for english language learners. in t. lucas (ed.), teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms (pp. 73-90). new york: routledge. diaz-rico, weed,k, echevarria, j., vogt,j. & short, d. (2004). crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook. boston: allyn & bacon. dutro, s., & kinsella, k. (2010). english language development: issues and implementation at grades six through twelve. in california state department of education (ed.), improving education for english learners: research-based approaches (pp. 151-207). sacramento, ca: author. ellis, n., & larsen-freeman, d. (2009). constructing a second language: analyses and computational simulations of the emergence of linguistic structures from usage. in n. ellis & d. larsen-freeman (eds.), language as a complex adaptive system (pp. 90-125). ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. ellis, r. (2005). principles of instructed language learning. system, 33(2), 209-234. ellis, r. (1994). the study of second language acquisition. new york: oxford press. faltis, c., arias, m.b., & ramírez-marín, f. (2010). identifying relevant competencies for secondary teachers of english learners. bilingual research journal, 33, 307-328. faltis, c., arias, m. b., & ramírez-marín, f. (2010). identifying relevant competencies for secondary teachers of english learners. bilingual research journal, 33(3), 307-328. galguera, t. (2011). participant structures as professional learning tasks and the development of pedagogical language knowledge among preservice teachers. teacher education quarterly, 38, 85–106. gándara, p., maxwell-jolly, j., & driscoll, a. (2005). listening to teachers of english language learners: a survey of california teachers’ challenges, experiences, and professional development needs. los angeles: university of california regents. garcía, o. (2012). vision statement of the city university of new york-new york state initiative on emergent bilinguals. unpublished paper. garcía, o. (2008). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. malden, ma: wiley-blackwell. language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 28 language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users garcía, o. & kleifgen, j. (2010). educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english language learners. new york: teachers college press. garcía, o., flores, n., & woodley, h. (2012). transgressing monolingualism and bilingual dualities: translanguaging pedagogies. in a. yiakoumetti (ed.), harnessing linguistic variation to improve education (pp. 45-75). bern: peter lang, garcía, o. flores, n., & chu, h. (2011). extending bilingualism in u.s. secondary education: new variations, international multilingual research journal, 5(1), 1-18 gifford b., & valdés, g. (2006). the linguistic isolation of hispanic students in california’s public schools: the challenge of reintegration. yearbook of the national society for the study of education, 105 (2), 125-154. gitomer, d. h. (2007). teacher quality in a changing policy landscape: improvements in the teacher pool. policy evaluation and research center, policy information center, educational testing service. harris, r. (1981). the language myth. london: duckwork press. hawkins, m. (2011). dialogic determination: constructing a social justice discourse in language teacher education. in m. hawkins (ed.), social justice in language teacher education (pp. 96-118). clevedon, english, multilingual matters. hopper, p. (1998). emergent grammar. in m. tomasello (ed.), the new psychology of language (pp. 155-175). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. jørgensen, j. n. (2008). polylingual languaging around and among children and adolescents. international journal of multilingualism, 5(3), 161-176. karabenik, s., & clemens noda, p. (2004). professional development implications of teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward english language learners. bilingual research journal, 28(1), 5575. larsen-freeman, d. (2011). a complexity theory approach to second language development/acquisition. in d. atkinson (ed.), alternative approaches to second language acquisition (pp. 48-72). new york: routledge. larsen-freeman, d. (2002). language acquisition and language use from a chaos/complexity theory perspective. in c. kramsch (ed.), language acquisition and language socialization: ecological perspectives (pp. 33-46). london: continuum. lee, n., mikesell, l, joaquin, a, mates, a, & schumann, j. (2009). the interactional instinct: the evolution and acquisition of language. london: oxford university press. murri, n., markos, a., & estrella-silva, a. (2012). implementing structured english immersion in teacher preparation in arizona. in m. b. arias & c. faltis (eds.), implementing educational language policy in arizona: legal, historical and current practices in sei (pp. 142-163). clevedon, england: multilingual matters. national center for educational statistics (2004). characteristics of school, districts, teachers, principals, and school libraries in the united states, 2003-04. schools and staffing survey. retrieved january 12, 2012, from http:// nces.ed.gov.pubs2006/200613.pdf. norris, j. & ortega, l. (2000). effectiveness of l2 instruction: a research synthesis and quantitative metaanalysis. language learning 50(3): 417-528. olsen, l. (2010). reparable harm: fulfilling the unkept promise of educational opportunities for california’s long term english learners. oakland, ca: californians together. pennycook, a. (2010). languge as a local practice. new york: routledge. reeves, j. (2006). secondary teacher attitudes toward including englishlanguage learners in mainstream classrooms. journal of educational research, 99(3), 131-142. rossell, c., & baker, k. (1996). the educational effectiveness of bilingual education: research in the teaching of english, 30(1), 7-69. saunders, w., & goldenberg, c. (2010). research to guide english language development. in california state department of education (ed.), improving education for english learners: research-based approaches (pp. 21-81). sacramento, ca: author. schleppegrell, m., & o’hallaron, c. l. (2011). teaching academic language in second language secondary settings. annual review of applied linguistics, 31(1), 3-18. schmidt, r. (1990). the role of consciousness in second language learning. applied linguistics, 11(2), 129-158 selinker, l. (1972). interlanguage. international review of applied linguistics, 10(3), 209-231. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 29 tavakoli, p., & sheken, p. (2005). strategic planning, task structure, and performance testing. in r. ellis (ed.), planning and task structure in a second language (pp. 239-277). amsterdam: benjamins. temple adger, c., snow, c., & christian, d. (eds.) (2002). what teachers need to know about language. mchenry, il, center for applied linguistics and delta systems. tomasello, m. (2003). constructing a language: a usage theory of language acquisition. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. valdés, g. (2005). bilingualism, heritage language learners, and second language acquisition research: opportunities lost or seized? modern language journal, 89(3), 410-416. valdés, g., capitelli, s., & alvarez, l. (2011). latino children learning english. new york. teachers college press. valdés, g. & castellón, m. (2011). english language learners in american schools. in t. lucas (ed.), teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms (pp. 18-34). new york: routledge. villegas, a. m., & irvine, j. (2010). diversifying the teaching force: an examination of major arguments. urban review, 42(3), 175-192. walqui, a. and van lier, l. (2010). scaffolding the academic success of adolescent english language learners: a pedagogy of promise. san francisco, ca:wested. wentworth, l., pellegrin, n., thompson, k., & hakuta, k. (2010). proposition 227 in california: a long-term appraisal of its impact on english learner student achievement. in p. gándara & m. hopkins (eds.), forbidden language: english learners and restrictive language policies (pp. 37-49). new york: teachers college press.wong fillmore, l., & snow, c. (2002). what teachers need to know about language. in c. temple adger, c snow, & d. christian (eds.), what teachers need to know about language (pp. 7-53). mchenry, il: center for applied linguistics and delta systems. wong fillmore, l., & snow, c. (2000). what teachers need to know about language. (contract no. ed.-99co-0008). u.s. department of education’s office of educational research and improvement, center for applied linguistics. wright, w., & sung, k., (2012). teachers’ sheltered english immersion views and practices. in m. b. arias & c. faltis (eds.), implementing educational language policy in arizona: legal, historical and current practices in sei (pp. 86-106). clevedon, england: multilingual matters. language, language development and teaching english to emergent bilingual users association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 5 the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students james l. rodríguez ioakim p. boutakidis california state university, fullerton abstract the study examined the relation of cognitive and emotional engagement and academic achievement across three generations (immigrant, children of immigrant parent(s), non-immigrant) of 474 mexican american adolescent students attending a junior high school in southern california. regression analysis revealed a generational shift in regards to the specific academic engagement components that predicted grade point average (gpa). cognitive engagement was a positive predictor of gpa for first-generation students while both cognitive and emotional engagement were positive predictors for second-generation students. meanwhile, only emotional engagement positively predicted gpa for third-generation students. educational responsiveness is utilized as a conceptual framework to understand, interpret, and discuss the study findings. implications for the development and implementation of policies and practices for mexican american students responsive to this generational shift are discussed. introduction school engagement is considered a critical factor in academic achievement (fredricks, blumenfeld, & paris, 2004). while school engagement has been defined in various ways across various theoretical frameworks, it is typically characterized as a psychological process that involves positive attention, interest, and/or commitment to academics (connell & wellborn, 1991; fredricks et al., 2004; marks, 2000). school engagement is also associated with volition or motivation that, in turn, impacts academic performance. educational researchers have begun to consider students’ self-beliefs and attitudes, such as motivation, personal agency, and engagement, as keys to improving student learning, above and beyond the more traditionally studied schooland familylevel factors (dweck & master, 2009; klem & connell, 2004; you, hong, & ho, 2011). finally, it is important to recognize that engagement is an interactive process in which engaged students are more likely to be involved in school activities and in relationships with teachers (willms, friesen, & milton, 2009). studies have shown that academically engaged youth consistently outperform their less engaged peers and are at lower risk for other academic problems, such as dropping-out of school (fredricks et. al., 2004). the role of school engagement in the academic achievement of immigrant youth, in general, and mexican americans specifically has also been noted (gonzales et al., 2008; ibañez, kuperminc, jurkovic, & perilla, 2004; suarez-orozco, rhodes, & milburn, 2009; suarez-orozco & suarez-orozco, 1995). it is noteworthy that differences between immigrant and non-immigrant latino adolescents in regards to school engagement as a global concept (suarez-orozco, rhodes, & milburn, 2009) and academic achievement (buriel & cardoza, 1988; padilla & gonzalez, 2001; suarez-orozco, bang, onaga, 2010; suarez-orozco et al., 2010) have also been found. this article reports the findings of a study examining the relation of school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american adolescent students attending a junior high school in southern california. the unique contribution of this study is the examination of cognitive and emotional components of school engagement in relation to academic achievement across three generations of mexican american students. educational responsiveness is presented as a theoretical framework to better interpret, understand, and discuss the study’s findings. educational responsiveness has been defined as an approach to policies and practices that promote positive educational outcomes through the recognition, understanding, and utilization of students’ cultural, linguistic, and psychological assets (cadiero kaplan & rodríguez, 2008). within this particular study, educational responsiveness provides a conceptual perspective to understand the relation between school the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 6 engagement and academic achievement among mexican american junior high school students whose school experiences occur within dynamic and diverse sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts. components of school engagement and achievement beyond definitions that treat school engagement as a unidimensional factor, researchers have also attempted to identify specific components that may act independently. one common approach is to separate the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive components of engagement (fredricks et al., 2004). the emotional component of academic engagement could include a student’s feelings of belonging and her emotional reactions toward teachers and staff, whereas behavioral components would include things such as asking questions in class, following rules and studying habits. the behavioral component, which has been the most widely studied, broadly captures behavioral conduct, including completing school work, attending classes and following classroom instruction. the cognitive component of engagement typically involves concepts related to students’ investment in learning, the perceived utility of learning, and interest in the subject matter above and beyond the requirements of the course or class (fredricks et al., 2004). the various components of school engagement impact volition or motivation that, in turn, impact academic performance. the importance of assessing these different components of school engagement has become increasingly clearer as researchers have determined that different forms of school engagement may be differentially related to academic outcomes. the association between cognitive engagement and academic achievement appears to be strongest in reviews of the literature (see fredricks, et al., 2004; national center for school engagement/ncse, 2006), whereas behavioral engagement appears most predictive of outcomes related to school attendance and dropping out (connell, spencer, & aber, 1994; ncse, 2006). interestingly, emotional engagement has not been generally shown to significantly predict academic outcomes. however, while previous studies have reported generational differences among latinos for school engagement (suarez-orozco, rhodes, & milburn, 2009) and academic achievement (buriel & cardoza, 1988; padilla & gonzalez, 2001; suarez-orozco & suarez-orozco, 1995), the study reported here is the first to examine the relation between cognitive and emotional engagement as separate components to academic achievement across three generations of mexican american students. educational responsiveness to understand school engagement and achievement as previously mentioned, educational responsiveness serves as a conceptual lens to understand the relation between school engagement and academic achievement among mexican american students. educational responsiveness is enacted in various aspects of the educational process ranging from policy development to policy implementation through best practices, curricula, teacher professional development, etc. it has been previously applied to retention, preparation and professional development of teachers to work effectively with english language learners (cadiero kaplan & rodríguez, 2008; gonzales & rodríguez, 2007) and to school finance in regards to the allocation of fiscal and human resources in schools serving english language learners (jimenez-castellanos & rodríguez, 2009). in this article, educational responsiveness is used as a conceptual lens to better understand how school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students can be better understood within dynamically diverse everyday contexts influenced by a myriad of cultural, economic, linguistic, political, and social factors. this conceptual lens is used to frame the interpretation and discussion of study findings including the identification of policies and practices sensitive to within-group diversity among mexican americans. the application of educational responsiveness is critical to schools’ attempts to meet the needs of multigenerational mexican american students as vital to improving their school engagement, and in turn, their academic achievement the present study the study described in this paper examined the relation of cognitive and emotional engagement and academic achievement (grade point average) across three generations (immigrant, children of immigrant the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 7 parent(s), non-immigrant) of mexican american students attending a junior high school in southern california. while previous studies have found generational differences for school engagement and achievement among latino students, the study reported here is the first to examine the relation between cognitive and emotional engagement as separate components to academic achievement across three generations of mexican american students. method school context student data was collected from a public junior high school located in southern california. the total school enrollment during the 2011-2012 academic-year was 767 students, of which 80% were identified as hispanic or latino. the school serves a primarily lower income district with 58% of students enrolled in a free or reduced-price lunch program, and 36% of the parents had not completed high school. over one-third (37%) of the student population was also classified as english learners at the time of data collection (california department of education [cde], 2012). participants data for this study was collected in two ways. first, student achievement data (cumulative grade point average [gpa]) and enrollment in the national school lunch program (nslp) for 7th and 8th grade students was provided by the school administration. measures also included assessments on academic engagement and demographic background collected by the authors, in which case each participant’s active consent was sought. these two datasets were matched using students’ lunch id numbers. all told, the final data set included 707 students, of which 474 identified themselves as mexican or mexican-american (see table 1 for additional demographic details). measures school engagement. cognitive and emotional engagement were assessed using two subscales from the school engagement scale (national center for school engagement/ncse, 2006). cognitive engagement was assessed using a 22-item subscale (e.g., “how important do you think an education is?” “i study at home even when i don’t have a test”) to which students responded using a 5-point likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). the emotional engagement subscale contained 16 statements (e.g., “most of my teachers care about how i’m doing,” “i enjoy the work i do in class”) to which students responded using a 5-point likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). the subscales have demonstrated strong reliability in previous applications with cronbach alpha values ranging from .867 to .992. (ncse, 2006). the authors could not find a previous application of this scale with a strictly mexican american sample, however reliability values were similar to previous applications. in this study’s sample cronbach alpha values for cognitive and emotional engagement were .832 and .891, respectively (see table 2 for means by generational status). academic achievement. academic achievement was assessed using cumulative grade point averages (gpa), ranging from 0.00 to 4.00 (f’s = 0 to a’s = 4) from the students’ last completed academic year (averaged across 3 quarters from 2011 to 2012) as taken from official school transcripts (see table 2 for means by generational status). demographics. students self-reported on the personal characteristics including their gender, grade level, ethnicity and generational status. students were asked to select their ethnicity from a list of labels and could insert their own label. only those students who selected “mexican” or “mexican american” or who wrote in the equivalent (e.g., “guadalajaran”) were selected for this study. generational status was assigned based the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 8 upon participants’ responses regarding their own and their parents’ birthplace. participants who responded that both they and their parents were born outside of the u.s. were classified as first generation. participants who responded that their parents were born abroad, but that they were born in the united states were classified as second-generation, and participants who responded that both their parents and they were born in the united states were classified as third generation. finally official school reports identified participants as either enrolled or not enrolled in the national school lunch program. this program provides free or reduced-cost lunch in public schools based upon economic need. results the following analyses all utilized an alpha level of .05 in representing statistical significance. mean comparisons on school engagement standard analysis of variance followed by scheffé post hoc comparisons were used to compare mean subscale scores for cognitive and emotional engagement. no statistically significant differences in either cognitive or emotional engagement scores were found across first, second, and/or third generation mexican american students in this sample (see table 2 for specific means by generational status). independent samples t tests conducted on other group comparisons did reveal some notable differences, however. cognitive engagement subscale scores were significantly lower for 8th graders than for 7th graders, t (451) = 2.03, p = .043. mean comparisons on gpa standard analysis of variance followed by scheffé post hoc comparisons were used to compare mean gpa’s from the previous academic year among the three generations of mexican american students. a statistically significant difference (p = .030) was found between second and third generation students, such that second generation mexican american students had higher gpas than third generation mexican american students, f(2,394) = 3.69, p = .026 (see table 2 for specific means by generational status). independent samples t-tests revealed no additional differences by grade level for gpa scores. regressions predicting academic achievement linear multiple regressions using maximum likelihood estimation and listwise deletion were conducted in order to determine which variables were predictive of academic performance, as indicated by cumulative gpa scores, across three generations of mexican american junior high school students. the following variables were all entered as one block in order to predict gpa: grade level, enrollment in the national school lunch program, cognitive engagement subscale score, and emotional engagement subscale score. separate regressions were run for each generation of mexican american students (first, second, and third). for first generation mexican american students, cognitive engagement subscale scores were significantly associated with gpa such that greater cognitive engagement was associated with higher gpa (p = .041). however, both cognitive and emotional engagement were significant, positive predictors of gpa for secondgeneration (p = .019, p = .003) students. the pattern changed once again for third-generation students, with only emotional engagement significantly associated with gpa (p = .029) (see table 3 for full regression results). discussion the principal finding of this study is the pattern or generational shift in whether cognitive and or emotional engagement predicted gpa across three generations of mexican american students. cognitive engagement was the sole positive predictor of gpa among first-generation, immigrant students. meanwhile, there was a shift among second-generation students (children of immigrants) where both cognitive and emotional engagement the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 9 positively predicted gpa. another shift was found among third-generation students (non-immigrant) where emotional engagement was the sole positive predictor of gpa. the significance of these findings cannot be overstated. while generational differences on school engagement and achievement (buriel & cardoza, 1988; lopez, ehly, & garcia-vasquez, 2002; suarez-orozco, rhodes, & milburn, 2009; suarez-orozco & suarezorozco, 1995) have been previously found, this study has two significant finding that, to our knowledge, have not been previously reported in published work. first, the findings of this study revealed differences between the cognitive and emotional engagement domains of overall school engagement (i.e. among first generation students, cognitive engagement was significant while emotional engagement was not significant). second, this study found a generational shift in the prediction of gpa through the examination of specific components of school engagement. of course, caution should be taken in regards to the generalization and interpreting of findings. this is one sample from a single junior high school in one region of southern california, and variations by region and school are possible. future studies of these phenomena with student cohorts at the same school site and other school sites will provide the opportunity to replicate the findings of this study and to understand the phenomena over time and across contexts. nonetheless, is it important to further discuss these findings using the conceptual lens afforded by educational responsiveness. cognitive engagement has been found to be most associated with the quantitative metrics or academic performance (e.g., grades and standardized test scores) for general adolescent populations. and this was in fact what was found for first generation immigrants. and yet, moving crosssectionally across generational status, we found the increasing prominence of emotional engagement as a factor. this may speak to the importance of social connections and personal relationships that may form the basis for emotional engagement in schools for second, and even more so, third generation mexican american students. it may be that second and third generation students feel more culturally dislocated than first generation adolescents who may still feel strong connections to their ethnic, heritage culture as evidenced through research on acculturation and ethnic identity (keefe & padilla, 1987; lopez, ehly, & garcia-vasquez, 2002). therefore, schools may prove an important anchoring point, if they can access the necessarily relationships and resources to foster emotional engagement. it should also be noted that this study found a decline in gpa from firstand second-generation to the third-generation that is consistent with previous research on academic achievement among mexican americans (buriel & cardoza, 1988; suarez-orozco & suarez-orozco, 1995). educational responsiveness requires the consideration of these findings of within-group diversity for school engagement and achievement in order to address how to develop and implement curricula, student programs, and teacher professional development to more effectively promote the school engagement and achievement of mexican american students. the implications of the study findings for research, policy, and practice will be discussed in the following section. educational responsiveness to promote school engagement and achievement this discussion of study findings and their implications for the education of mexican americans is guided by the conceptual lens provided by educational responsiveness. as previously defined, educational responsiveness is an approach to the development and implementation of policies and practices that promote positive educational outcomes through the recognition, understanding, and utilization of students’ cultural, linguistic, and psychological assets. keeping educational responsiveness in mind, the findings of this study indicate that the development and implementation of educational policies and programs that target school engagement among mexican american students should not be done uniformly across immigrant and later generations. the findings of this study reveal generational heterogeneity among mexican american students in regards to school engagement and achievement. educational policy and practice should be responsive to this within-group diversity. efforts to promote higher levels of school engagement and achievement should take into account this diversity via curricular, academic enrichment, and other types of programs serving mexican american students. the findings of this study suggest that different educational models and programs are needed to address school engagement for different generations of mexican american adolescents. also, as the heterogeneity the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 10 within the group is better understood, enrichment and intervention programs should be sensitive to the specific characteristics of the group and should incorporate mechanisms that utilize mexican american students’ cultural, linguistic and psychological assets in order to enhance responsiveness to educational needs. in addition, efforts to be educationally responsive to the heterogeneity of the group should be take various cultural, linguistic, and psychological factors (such as school engagement) and their impacts on educational success into account. efforts to be more responsive to these factors must also consider the dynamic nature of the cultural and linguistic processes that help shape the mexican american adolescent experience. policies and programs to enhance school engagement among mexican americans should take into account the generational differences found in this study and previously published research that indicates the presence of cultural and linguistic assets and coping mechanisms among immigrants and children of immigrant families that promote positive development and academic success (buriel & cardoza, 1988; padilla & gonzalez, 2001). teachers and counselors have a critical role in the design and implementation of educationally responsive programs and practices. the findings of this study highlighting each type of engagement and their relative importance across generations provide further evidence of the need for highly prepared, high quality teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students (including mexican americans). the findings of this study can support others who have argued the positive impact of high quality teachers on the academic achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse students (gándara, maxwell-jolly, & driscoll, 2005; rumberger & gándara, 2004). teachers are initially prepared by teacher education programs to enter the profession with a beginning level of competencies and the development and maintenance of quality teaching requires continuous learning (darling-hammond & youngs, 2002). teacher education programs should continuously refresh and incorporate new research findings such as those from this study to ensure beginning teachers have foundational knowledge including generational differences in school engagement and achievement to promote educational responsiveness. efforts to ensure educational responsiveness on the part of policymakers. educators, and researchers must continue to ensure that the continual challenges of meeting the needs of mexican americans maintain prominence especially considering the “educational crisis” confronting the group (gándara & contreras, 2009). responsibility for these efforts do not rest solely at the policymaking and practice levels, but at the higher education level too. coordinated efforts between educational researchers, policy-makers, and educators, to meet the diversity, strengths, and needs of mexican americans are necessary to ensure educational responsiveness and will be more effective in yielding higher levels of school engagement and achievement. the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 11 references buriel, r., & cardoza, d. (1988). sociocultural correlates of achievement among three generations of mexican american high school seniors. american educational research journal, 25, 177-192. cadiero kaplan, k., & rodríguez, j.l. (2008). the preparation of highly qualified teachers for english learners: educational responsiveness for unmet needs. equity and excellence in education, 41, 372-387. connell, j. p., spencer, m. b., & aber, j. l. (1994). educational risk and resilience in africanamerican youth: context, self, action, and outcomes in school. child development, 65, 493-506. connell, j. p., & wellborn, j. g., (1991). competence, autonomy, and relatedness: a motivational analysis of selfsystem process. in m.r. gunnar and l.a. sroufe (eds.), self-process and development: minnesota symposium on child psychology (vol.23). chicago: university of chicago press. darling-hammond, l., & youngs, p. (2002) defining “highly-qualified teachers”: what does “scientifically-based research” actually tell us? educational researcher, 31(9), 13-25. dweck, c. s., & master, a. (2009). self-theories and motivation: students’ beliefs about intelligence. in k. r. wenzel, a. wigfield, k. r. wenzel, & a. wigfield (eds.), handbook of motivation at school (pp. 123-140). new york, ny us: routledge/taylor & francis group. fredricks, j. a., blumenfeld, p. c., & paris, a. h. (2004). school engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence. review of educational research, 74, 54-109. gandara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latina/o education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. harvard university press. cambridge, ma. gándara, p., maxwell-jolly, j., & driscoll, a. (2005). listening to teachers of english language learners: a survey of california teachers’ challenges, experiences, and professional development needs. santa cruz, ca: the center for the future of teaching and learning. gonzales, n., german, m., kim, s., george, p., fabrett, f., millsap, r., & dumka, l. (2008). mexican american adolescents’ cultural orientation, externalizing behavior and academic engagement: the role of traditional cultural values. american journal of community psychology, 41(1-2), 151-164. gonzales, s. a., & rodríguez, j.l. (2007). resource implications of nclb for the recruitment, preparation, and retention of highly qualified teachers for english learners in california. in g. rodríguez & a. rolle (eds.), to what ends & by what means? the social justice implications of contemporary school finance theory & policy. new york, ny: routledge. ibañez, g., kuperminc, g. p., jurkovic, g., & perilla, j. (2004). cultural attributes and adaptations linked to achievement motivation among latino adolescents. journal of youth and adolescence, 33(6), 559-568. jimenez-castellanos, o., & rodríguez, j. l. (2009). intradistrict resource reallocation for latino english language learners: an exploratory multiple case study approach. bilingual research journal, 32, 298-316. keefe, s., & padilla, a. (1987). chicano ethnicity. albuquerque: university of new mexico press. klem, a. m., & connell, j. p (2004). relationships matter: linking teacher support to student engagement and achievement. journal of school health, 74(7), 262 – 273. lopez, e., ehly, s., & garcia-vazquez, e. (2002). acculturation, social support and academic achievement of mexican and mexican american high school students: an exploratory study. psychology in the schools, 39(3), 245-257. doi: 10.1002/pits.10009 marks, h.m. (2000). student engagement in instructional activity: patterns in the elementary, middle, and high school years. american education research journal, 37, 1, 153-184. national center for school engagement (2006). quantifying school engagement: research report, 1-16. padilla, a., & gonzalez, r. (2001). academic performance of immigrant and u.s-born mexican heritage students: effects of schooling in mexico and bilingual/english language instruction. american educational research journal, 38(3), 727-742. rumberger, r. w., & gándara, p. (2004). seeking equity in the education of california’s english learners. teachers college record, 106(10), 2032–2056. suárez-orozco, c., & suárez-orozco, m. (1995). transformations : immigration, family life, and achievement motivation among latina/o adolescents. stanford, ca.: stanford university press. the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 12 suarez-orozco, c., rhodes, j., & milburn, m. (2009). unraveling the immigrant paradox: academic engagement and disengagement among recently arrived immigrant youth. youth & society, 41, 151-185. doi: 10.1177/0044118x09333647 suarez-orozco, c., bang, h.j., & onaga, m. (2010). contributions to variations in academic trajectories amongst recent immigrant youth. international journal of behavioral development, 34(6), 500-510. suárez-orozco, c., gaytán, f. x., bang, h., pakes, j., o’connor, e., & rhodes, j. (2010). academic trajectories of newcomer immigrant youth. developmental psychology, 46(3), 602-618. doi:10.1037/a0018201 willms, j. d., friesen, s., & milton, p. (2009). what did you do in school today? transforming classrooms through social, academic and intellectual engagement. (first national report) toronto: canadian education association. you, s., hong, s., & ho, h. (2011). longitudinal effects of perceived control on academic achievement. the journal of educational research, 104(4), 253-266. doi:10.1080/00220671003733807 the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 13 the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 14 the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 15 the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 16 the association between school engagement and achievement across three generations of mexican american students theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 85 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline: the role of educational leaders in developing a college-going culture eugene fujimoto yvonne garcia noemy medina eduardo perez california state university, fullerton abstract as the largest and fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the country, latin@ educational success is a national priority. in the los angeles unifi ed school district, the country’s largest, high school graduation rates for latin@s hover at near 40%. examining this institutional and societal tragedy through the school-to-prison pipeline has yielded crucial insights. less understood are alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline and the vital role of educational leaders. this qualitative study of principals and counselors in southeast los angeles schools asks: what is the relationship between the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ and the lacking of a ‘college going culture’ in underserved communities? how do educational leaders perceive their role in creating a “college-going culture” in largely underserved, under-resourced communities? among the fi ndings is the continued existence of defi cit explanations of school failure and the need for school-community partnerships to move toward more assetbased frameworks. introduction the school-to-prison pipeline is the collection of education and public safety policies and practices that push our nation’s school children out of the classroom and into the streets, the juvenile justice system, or the criminal justice system (archer, 2009, p. 868). as our public education system continues to be under intense scrutiny, pressure to increase graduation rates becomes a focal point. nationwide, 68% of students who enter the 9th grade make it to graduation four years later (orfi eld, losen, & wald, 2004). in urban areas with high concentrations of low-income and communities of color, the rates are substantially lower. in the los angeles unifi ed school district, the largest in the country, the four-year graduation rate is 46.4%. within this rate, 48% of african americans and 40% of latin@s graduate (orfi eld, losen, & wald, 2004). when juxtaposed against this failure to educate our youth, examination of our juvenile and criminal justice system reveal alarming data. in a 2006-07 study of incarcerated 16-24 year olds, those who dropped out (or stopped out) of high school were 63 times more likely to be institutionalized than those with fouryear college degrees (sum, khatiwada, mclaughlin, & palma, 2009). it is this linkage between those who are not making it through our educational system and ending up incarcerated by the state that has drawn attention as the “school-to-prison pipeline”. increasingly prevalent is research about the relationship between schools and prisons as social institutions that contribute to societal inequities (sum, khatiwada, mclaughlin, & palma, 2009). this includes studies of mediadriven, fear-based responses that result in stricter disciplinary policies and practices that have had disproportionate punitive effect on low-income black and brown students (fowler, 2011). studies have also looked at schools that have been successful in providing alternatives to “over-policing” (new york civil liberties union, 2009). a report entitled “safety with dignity” looked at over 100 schools in new york city serving students with similar demographics. the new york civil liberties union (2009) examined these schools based on twelve indicators of success. these criteria included high school graduation rates; level and types of crimes committed in school; average daily attendance; and suspension and expulsion rates. also among success indicators were the percentages of students planning to attend 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities. the results categorized schools into “successful schools”, “permanent metal detector schools”, and “impact schools.” (the latter were association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 86 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline schools with high crime rates targeted for increased policing by the nypd). the “successful schools” scored highest on the twelve success indicators, and had developed alternatives to zero-tolerance, increased policing procedures. these alternatives included peer-mediated student confl icts; students involved in establishing and enforcing school rules; and individualized attention to issues that students faced. this nyclu (2009) report showed that when the seven “successful schools” that used no metal detectors were compared to the 89 “permanent metal detector schools” and the 12 “impact schools”, “successful schools” rated higher in nearly all indicators, including students planning to attend college. seventy percent of students from “successful schools” had college aspirations; compared to 58% of students from “permanent metal detector schools,” and 45% of the students in “impact schools” (nyclu, 2009, p. 22). the premise behind the present study is: developing a college-going culture can interrupt the school to prison pipeline that has engulfed so many school systems. and, as reaffi rmed by the nyclu (2009) fi ndings, there are few, if any, more important factors in interrupting this pipeline, than the role of school leaders. the fi ndings support not only the notion that the development of a college-going culture is a core component of a successful school and interrupting the school to prison pipeline, but that leadership is one of the most important factors in infl uencing a school’s culture and climate. in this context, this research attempts to extend our understanding of these questions: what is the relationship between the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ and the lacking of a ‘college going culture’ in underserved communities? is the development of a college-going culture a legitimate alternative to interrupting the ‘school-toprison pipeline’ in urban communities of color? through the eyes of school leaders in the largest school district in the country, los angeles unifi ed school district, this qualitative study of 8 school principals and 3 counselors hopes to answer these questions: 1. what is the role of educational leaders in moving toward a college-going culture? 2. how do educational leaders perceive their role in creating a college-going culture in largely underserved, under-resourced communities? what follows is an explanation of the theoretical foundation for this study; a literature review; the methods used to collect the data; the results of our interviews; and a discussion and analysis of the fi ndings. theoretical framework rooted in critical legal studies, critical race theory (crt) emerged in response to the historical inability of our system of jurisprudence to effectively understand and adjudicate cases of racial inequality (crenshaw, gotanda, peller, & thomas, 1995). branching to other fi elds, including education (parker, deyhle, & villenas, 1999; ladson-billings, 2012), crt is a vital analytical tool in examining educational inequalities. particularly relevant for this study, is the crt tenet that institutional racism is a “normal” and embedded aspect of everyday life in the u.s. while supported both historically and in the current day, this study presumes that the school-to-prison pipeline is but another manifestation of this racial reality. moreover, crt introduces us to important concepts that help explain how we have arrived at and continue to maintain systems of inequality, both individually and on an institutional level. one of these concepts is essentialism, which is used to create a story or idea about an entire group of people based on experiences of a few (delgado & stefancic, 2012). as a result of these socializations, any successful attempts to interrupt this racial inequality must be intentional and systemic (harro, 2012). along with crt, a critique of the genetic and cultural defi cit explanations for the academic failure of lowincome students of color (valencia, 1997) is part of the analysis used in this study. this critique has increased understanding of the ways in which schools have historically and systematically attempted to “deculturalize” students of color through educational processes (spring, 2010). freire (1973) contends that communities in the margins of society are not only perceived as defi cient but receive “deposits” of dominant ideologies, which they are expected to accept and model without question. moreover, this “banking” method of education establishes norms based on a dominant culture, which then deepens the gulf between educational institutions and the lowassociation of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 87 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline income, communities of color they purport to serve. “funds of knowledge” (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), for example, is evidence of the ignored history of “cultural and cognitive resources” (p. 134) present in latin@ homes. subsequently, the need to effectively bridge the chasm between schools and communities has taken on increasing importance. yosso (2005) proceeded to utilize critical race theory and the work of freire to identify forms of “community cultural wealth”. guided by crt, yosso (2005; 2006) reframes common, defi cit-based misperceptions of communities of color, while introducing alternative forms of capital, such as linguistic, resistant, and navigational capital, that are often rooted in urban communities, but remain ignored or denied by dominant cultural norms and ideologies (yosso, 2005). this asset-based approach to marginalized communities is of particular importance as we engage the participants of this study in conversations about their community’s cultural wealth. using an analytical framework based on community cultural wealth allows us to understand these communities as sites of cultural richness and potential and at the same time uncovering how “ordinary” and institutionalized racism and dominant ideologies can distract us from seeing the assets each community possesses (delgado & stefancic, 2012). literature review the school-to-prison pipeline grew out of public concerns regarding juvenile delinquency. characterizations were fed by popular media through terms such as “youth predators” and claims of out-of-control crime in schools (fowler, 2011). according to fowler (2011), these often unwarranted concerns continued through widespread publicity centering on relatively few isolated incidents of extreme school violence, such as the mass shooting in columbine, chardon, and taft union high school. this perpetuated growing fears that ultimately led to zero-tolerance discipline policies (turner & goodner, 2010). criminalization of youth of color many states have shifted policies and practices toward criminalizing student behavior (fowler, 2011). student discipline is moving from the principal’s offi ce to the courts (turner & goodner, 2010). such disciplinary practices can remove students from the educational environment and prematurely introduce them to the criminal justice system. archer (2009) examined student experiences with the criminal justice system and found the following: children who are removed from the academic environment are more likely to have future experiences with the criminal justice system; this directs children on a path that often ends in incarceration; and the school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately impacts schools with high percentages of low-socioeconomic and underrepresented student populations. another trend that demonstrates the shift toward criminalization of youth of color is that most states have created policies that move juveniles to adult courts (ginwright, cammarota, & noguera, 2005). heitzeg (2009) maintains that the juvenile justice system has moved rehabilitative reform to an institution that has created a “second-class criminal court” absent of therapy or justice. new policies have dismantled the original belief that courts were to protect youth from adult justice systems (ginwright, cammarota, & noguera, 2005). in essence, juveniles are less likely to have access to the rehabilitation that is needed to escape the prison pathway. also noted is that youth from urban communities of color are feeling the effects of such policy changes at disproportionately higher rates (archer, 2009; ginwright, cammarota, & noguera, 2005). ginwright, cammarota, & noguera (2005) noted that between 1985 and 1990 the number of minority youth incarcerated under age 18 increased by almost 10% while the incarceration rates for white youth declined by 11%. more recent data shows continued disparities in treatment based on race, as “black and hispanic juveniles represented about one-half of california’s juvenile population age 10 through 17 in 2005, but they accounted for almost two-thirds of juvenile arrests” (legislative analysts offi ce, 2007). the effect of these practices has resulted in large numbers of latin@s serving prison time. in 2010, 345,900 latin@s were serving sentences in both state and federal prisons. in the same year, the california attorney general’s offi ce (2010) reported 22,273 latin@ juveniles in detention. this is equivalent to 51% of the total youth housed in detention facilities in california. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 88 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline data compiled in the fastest emerging latin@ immigrant communities displayed a trend of low-achievement and high dropout rates among latin@ students (wainer, 2004). garcia-reid (2007) notes that latina females in particular, are disproportionately dropping out at greater rates than their non-latina counterparts. according to heitzeg (2009), elevated dropout rates impact the school-to-prison pipeline coinciding with wald and losen’s (2003) fi ndings on the educational attainment of those in the correctional system. these fi ndings include that the largest predictor for females in the criminal justice system was disciplinary action during middle school. some educational decision-makers make the assumption that zero-tolerance policies should control and contain youth to preserve the general public safety (polakow-suransky, 2000). even as youth crime declines, public fear of urban youth has contributed to harsher youth policies (ginwright, cammarrota, & noguera, 2005), and less attention to the creation of a college-going culture. more research is needed on how educational decision makers see their role in providing needed alternatives such as a focus on higher education for all youth. methods twenty-four educational and community leaders were interviewed during spring 2011. for this study, we focused on 11 educational leaders, including principals and academic counselors of both public and private local elementary, middle and high schools. schools were selected based on their proximity to the predominantly latin@ communities in southeast los angeles. interviewees responded to an inquiry for leaders to participate in this study. the 13 remaining participants were elected offi cials, clergy members and community members. only educational leader interviews were used for this analysis as researchers believe educators’ work and perceptions of their educational leadership are directly relevant to the interruption of the school-to-prison pipeline. participants consisted of 6 males and 5 females. in regard to their ethnic background, individuals identifi ed as latin@ or hispanic (n = 5), mexican or mexican-american (n = 4), and multi-ethnic (n = 2). interviews were conducted by faculty and research assistants using a semi-structured interview protocol. the questions focused on: leader’s perceptions of the issues impinging upon their students’ academic success; infl uences on their students’ likelihood to attend college; and recommendations toward the establishment of a college-going culture. for example, participants were asked, “what do you believe guides and contribute to students’ academic success in your community? what is your responsibility in this process?” and “how do you defi ne success? how do youth in your community defi ne success? how important do you think college degree attainment is for youth?” all participants were recruited via emails and phone calls. consents were obtained in-person at the start of the interview and verbal consent was given for audio recording. one participant declined consent to be audio-recorded. for this interview, analysis was completed using contemporaneous notes that were taken during discussion. all audio-recorded interviews were then professionally transcribed. notes and transcriptions were analyzed using an open-coding software, atlas.ti. two faculty members and one research assistant coded interviews and established an inter-coder agreement which allowed for control of inter-rater reliability (creswell, 2007). the major codes emerged as refl ected in the results section. thereafter, member checks were completed as transcripts were sent to participant in order to ensure data accuracy (creswell, 2007). participants noted minor changes. results educational leaders in this study were asked about their role in creating a college-going culture within the low-income, latina/o communities in which they worked. their responses are presented here in four thematic areas: 1) the immediate needs in the schools; 2) expectations of students and possibilities; 3) the relationship between the educational leaders and the community; and 4) being stakeholders versus change agents. need to focus on immediate needs when asked about their roles as educational leaders, several of the principals focused on the immediate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 89 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline student needs that make up a signifi cant part of their responsibilities. these student needs ranged from the basic, physical human needs of food and clothing to the emotional needs of family trauma and death, to students helping their families pay the monthly bills. yvette, a principal at an elementary school reported: [i]t’s really hard to. . . talk to a child about college when they don’t even have a backpack and crayons, and so it’s really diffi cult for us here at the elementary level to—to have kids look so far into the future. it’s so hard because it’s about today. i’m more worried about today and next week. look, i’ve got boxes of shoes over there because i have kids that don’t have shoes. i can’t talk to them about college that’s in eight years when i don’t have a pair of shoes to wear. so, we really focus on today, (laughs) the next two weeks and—getting kids—when they’re in the fi fth grade we—we even talk about getting through middle school. the low socioeconomic levels of the families in the area are clearly evident here. the challenge in creating a college-going mindset when basic needs are unmet is obviously complex. and this type of problem is not just physical needs, but helping children and families get through emotional hardships as well. monica, another elementary school principal, grew up and still lives close to the community she serves. she relates strongly to the children and community, and has become known as “the savior of all”. she shares one of her experiences: one of the kids that’s coming today, his father passed away. he’s in third grade… they’re owners. . .of this mexican restaurant. he hasn’t been . . . doing his homework and mom’s working a lot. today i told her that this was unacceptable. i have the referral on my desk. the teacher has been working with her, and he’s still forgetting the homework. . . i told her, ‘i have this (referral), but if you need help i’m here for you. . . . don’t feel guilty that you’re not there. if he knows that he’s going to be here with me until he’s done, i bet you he’s going to get it done. so feel free to use me. for other principals, the present issues become even more pressing because of the lack of staff to support their efforts. shawna, a former assistant principal for eight years recently became the principal of the same school. a promotion for shawna has become a mixed blessing, as the assistant principal position was eliminated. this leaves her and three coordinators in charge of everything from instruction to everyday operations. shawna says she “has the energy” to play a more active role in creating a college-going culture, but does not have the resources. this leaves her spending most of her time on “operations” or “safety” issues. the educational leaders also related the issues of high school students and their immediate needs. all of the leaders affi rmed that fi nancial issues are a primary obstacle for students attending college. this takes various forms. one is the more obvious inability to pay for rising tuition costs. principal lucia says: parents come to us and say, ‘well, how in the world can i pay for college if my child is supposed to go to college? there is no money for college.’ i think people actually see it that way. that [a college education is for the] privileged because it depends on what your economic status is. another perception shared by the leaders is the students who see their role as contributing to the family income. in the immediate, this is perceived to be an obstacle to a college-going culture, as many students consider getting a job out of high school as the priority. christian, a college and school career counselor, shared his view of who the students are that are unlikely to make it to college: [b]asically a student that is living for the here and now and is not really thinking about the future… there’s probably a lot of community or home issues that are affecting—when he comes to school . . . upset and not really ready to learn and his mind is probably concerned about something else, . . .—i think that would be your at-risk student. when you have teenage moms, when you have teenage boys that the girlfriend is expecting—these are some of the things that are affecting what happens to them here at school. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 90 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline principal charlie shared similar sentiments when he stated: [t]he family, the hispanic community a lot of times, they’re hurting for their support and some of their parents want their kids to, soon as they graduate from high school, get a job to help support the family. these perceptions by educational leaders are evidence that their work is in many ways determined by a sense of immediacy and the prioritization of meeting current needs as they arise. the perception that underachieving students and their families are psychologically and situationally prone to the need for more immediate gratifi cation can also affect the leaders’ level of student expectation and limit what may be deemed possible from the students and the school from their positions as leaders. expectations and possibilities for some educational leaders, consistently being faced with the need to respond to immediate needs and at times crisis situations of their students appears to have resulted in lowered expectations of the students. for example, principal alex, defi nes success for his students as a high school diploma. merna, a high school counselor, defi ned success for her students to becoming “productive members of society” and that for students who do not choose college, “just helping them, whether it be a trade school or application . . . something that they want to learn that’s going to help them get a better job.” two of the principals discussed the infl uence of materialism and how youth defi ne success by making money and purchasing a particular lifestyle. often this is not connected to educational goals. a number of the leaders talked about the goal of “survival” for the students and families who are struggling fi nancially. interestingly, in spite of the immediate needs of the students and families they serve, a number of the leaders in this study displayed a remarkable ability to continue to express the belief that all students can learn, and all students have the potential to be college graduates. monica states: so success is, number one, instilling the belief that you can learn, that you can do, and that you have – it’s about what you put in it. you come in having all those tools. use them. so as teachers and as personnel, we’re just helping them grow and blossom because they have it. there is an important level of optimism expressed here, with the caution to not fall into a level of “hokey hope” (duncan-andrade, 2009) that fails to recognize real societal limitations based on race and class. richard, a principal at one of the largest middle schools in the country and a former principal at a large local high school, appeared able to maintain a more “critical” level of hope. while he acknowledged that two-thirds of the students in his school were not on track to attend college, he expressed belief that all of his students had the potential and ability to be college graduates. when he was asked if the large percentage of those not planning to attend college was based in cultural factors, he responded: i think it’s more a social thing because i ask the kids all the time, “where are your parents from?” and a vast majority of the parents were not born here, so they were laborers...and a lot of the mothers are at home. so the experience of higher education for the majority of the kids isn’t the parents’ background, so they don’t know exactly how to push or when to push the kids in that direction. richard believed that these two-thirds of the students were largely helping their families to survive. and his recognition of the levels of poverty, issues of social and cultural capital, and societally-based limitations is important. walking this fi ne line between recognizing the signifi cant social, racial and economic barriers that their students face, while maintaining a sense of “critical hope” (duncan-andrade, 2009) is no easy task. (the limitations that this can place on the potential for leaders to move to a place of possibility will be discussed in the conclusion section.) how do these expectations and sense of possibility for their students that are tempered by a dose of association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 91 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline reality, effect the leaders relationship with the community they serve? relationship between leaders and community educational leaders had mixed information about available resources in the community. they also expressed a lack of clarity about their relationship and the school’s relationship with the community. there appears to be a perceived barrier between the community and the schools. principal lucia stated in response to a question regarding the schools-community relationship: we just had . . . three. . . days of professional development with different groups of teachers. and we actually thought…because we sometimes… can’t control what’s beyond these walls, we can only control what’s inside these walls. so we have been working together as…a professional learning community so that together we can… look… at academic success…so, we’re looking at how do we get as many children to learn as possible given their different backgrounds? and so we can’t control those things that are outside of our school. some of those things are good and some of those things are not so good. and even the things that aren’t good, we still have to work to try and get every child to learn. this perceived barrier of what is “inside these walls” and what is in the community is an important perception to understand vis a vis the student and family experience. while there is a commonly held perception that many parents lack adequate knowledge or awareness about college, parents and the rest of the community are not often invited to engage in events or activities that foster a college-going culture. merna emphasizes the point: [u]nfortunately, a lot of the parents … don’t have, a high level of education, so even though they—know that education is important, they don’t understand, what sat’s or act scores are—what fi nancial aid is--. . . [another] obstacle we face with those—and it may be a few parents, but, because they’re very family oriented they want the students—they’re like, okay, ‘i’m fi ne with you going to college, attending college, but why don’t you go and commute?’ and so, i think it’s important for students to really, spend their fi rst year on campus just so that they have that college experience, and if they choose to, move out, after and move back home, that’s fi ne. but, it’s very important—but it’s very hard to—to get parents to accept that, that—and with the meeting, we did have some parents, you know, say, ‘okay.’” christian explains the problem from his view: i think there is (sic) a variety of different programs available for the kids. it’s just a matter of them participating in the various programs. monica states: for those boys and girls that are not successful, with my experience at my school, the parents are absent. i’m not saying physically absent, but absent from giving education that importance that is needed. the most commonly stated activities by educational leaders that could foster a college-going culture were college fairs and visits to campuses. some mentioned a desire to be sponsored by a university, which would bring resources to assist the students in attending college. others mentioned individual efforts by teachers to focus on college and school efforts to have all teachers wear their college shirts on a college day to show students where they attended school. one principal recommended the development of a college fair with a collaboration between educational leaders and community members. this was one of the few activities mentioned that would appear to cross the barrier between school and community. this raised questions about the degree to which the leaders were invested in the development of the community. to what degree do the leaders see themselves as stakeholders in the educational effort? stakeholders versus change agents association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 92 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline the educational leaders were asked who the stakeholders were in the goal of creating a college-going culture. many articulated students, parents, teachers and administrators as stakeholders. the degree of their investment likely varied depending on a variety of circumstances. the fact that 10 of the 11 leaders were of latino or mexican-origin is not insignifi cant. the investment to serve those with which you feel a connection is an important factor. however, the diversity within the latina/o population also plays a role. diversity based on class, gender, citizenship status, language, culture, generation in the u.s., are key factors in the ability to understand and relate to the population being served. additionally, proximity of the location of residence likely plays a role in the degree of investment as well. for example, monica grew up in the local area of her school, and continues to live in a nearby community. this connection would imply a strong investment in the success of the students and the community. shawna lived for 20 years in the community in which she now works, but moved to a city 20 miles away. her investment is likely still signifi cant, but tempered by her home and family being a distance away. richard, although obviously invested in the students and his role as a leader, resides in a beach community in commuting distance to his school. the degree of his investment is likely infl uenced by his residing in another community as well. an indicator of the sense of common mission and goals for both community and school can come from an analysis of the use of language by the educational leaders. several of the leaders consistently used the term “they” or “them” when referring to the community. for example, shawna stated: well, one way would be to have college fairs and invite the parents and the community. and in planning it, they could plan with the educational leaders as well for the elementary schools in the community, the middle schools, the high schools (emphasis added). in other settings of a collaborative nature, the more common pronoun would be “we” when referring to a joint effort. the use of “they” is also evident in a number of the quotes used earlier in the results section. while there is clear indication of the leaders claiming themselves as stakeholders in the creation of a college-going culture, largely absent is the notion of seeing themselves as “change agents.” while the populations served by the schools represented in our study continue to struggle to adequately serve the low-income, latin@ community, the current state of education in the area remains at a crises level. further analysis of the fi ndings in this study and the potential for change agents to create meaningful change in collaboration with community will be elaborated on in the discussion section. discussion there is no doubt that educational leaders in urban schools are often faced with monumental tasks. the needs are many and resources provided are few. consistent with the fi ndings in this study, it is predictable that the immediate needs of students can take precedence over visioning or even long-range planning. in that sense, the leaders interviewed in this study are, in many cases, doing heroic work. at the same time, the focus on the immediate can lead to reductionist views of educational inequality. the researchers attempted to remain cognizant of this, while understanding the limitations of personal agency in the context of systemic, institutional, and societal problems. one of the limitations of such “heroic” work is to engage in a “savior” mentality. this allows leaders to focus on those students who are seen as being of greatest need who are capable of being helped, whether this means providing a pair of shoes, or a place to study. while admirable in many ways, the savior model can lead to lowered expectations for some, and for those that do go on to college, fosters a myth of “exceptionalism.” this means that those who do succeed are doing so due to their exceptional character, innate ability, or work ethic; which then can lead to individualized, defi cit explanations for those that end up dropping out or being incarcerated. the lowered educational expectations were evident in leader’s responses that defi ned success as a “high school diploma”, getting a “better job”, while explaining that college is not for everyone. this lowered educational expectation is often seen as being reinforced by parental pressure to “get a job to help support the family,” even association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 93 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline though research indicates a high level of educational aspiration for latina/o families overall (auerbach, 2004). although some leaders continued to display confi dence that all students could go to college, many appeared infl uenced by their perception that students’ and their families lack educational ambition. this tended to infl uence leaders toward having lowered student expectations as well. for example, the leader who believed students should move onto a college campus to have the full “college experience” and go against family wishes that he/she might choose a local commuter campus might consider reframing this situation by recognizing the “familial capital” (yosso, 2005) that can fuel a positive college experience. from school-to-prisons pipeline to college-going-culture in order to move from the school-to-prison pipeline dynamic to a college-going culture, educators and policymakers need to engage students with alternative approaches. understanding that 95% of all children of immigrants and 91% of all children considered to be of limited english profi ciency (lep) attend urban schools, and that disproportionately these populations are low-income, and racially and ethnically segregated (fix & capps, 2005), the real and potential relationship with the school-to-prison pipeline becomes clear. the complex dynamics of the school-to-prison pipeline requires a shift in thinking and understanding of the cultural dynamics between communities and schools and how particular groups fail and succeed. it is from this perspective that educational leaders and policy makers need to understand the “community cultural wealth” (yosso, 2005) of such groups in order to inform policy and practice. the generally unrecognized educational knowledge and values in the homes of communities of color (delgado-bernal, 2001; villenas, 2001) calls for schools to transform policies and practices and increase their involvement with the communities they serve. this transformation may include theoretical expansions that re-examine the k-12 pipeline to higher education that recognizes community-based forms of social and cultural capital (yosso, 2005). other areas of research may provide evidence that k-16 schools must re-examine and recognize the community context in which they serve. in this sense, efforts in school policy, practice and curricular reform that are separated from its community will likely have minimal impact on academic success (warren, 2005) and only exacerbate the schoolto-prison pipeline problem. urban communities are in need of effective school-community collaborations that build upon the diversity and assets that currently exist, but are often overlooked and underutilized. while the gap between schools and communities remains large, partnerships with the government, colleges, and universities are gaining importance within the k-16 pipeline. in some areas, city offi cials are making noticeable efforts to improve education for youth as they act as supporters for educational issues and encourage city services such as afterschool programs (kirst & edelstein, 2006). furthermore, schools also collaborate with colleges and universities to help develop college pipelines. k-12 administrators work with college personnel to receive professional development and strategies on how to successfully prepare students for college (nunez & olivia, 2009). the state departments of education have also provided fi nancial support for state and local activities, projects, and programs that enable access to higher education for students of color (hawthorne & zusman, 1992). lastly, collective programs work with colleges and universities to pave a pathway to college for disadvantaged students (hawthorne & zusman, 1992). while not all of these efforts have adopted the asset-based approach advocated for here, they remain evidence that urban school leaders such as the ones in this study are pivotal fi gures in transforming a school-toprison pipeline model, to a school-to-college culture, where community assets become the dominant form of capital. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 94 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline references archer, d. (2009). introduction: challenging the school-to-prison pipeline. new york law school law review, 54(4), 867-872. auerbach, s. (2004). engaging latin@ parents in supporting college pathways: lessons from a college access program. journal of hispanic higher education, 3(2), 125-145. bernburg, j., krohn, m., & rivera, c. (2006). offi cial labeling, criminal embeddedness, and subsequent delinquency: a longitudinal test of labeling theory. journal of research in crime & delinquency, 43(1), 67-88. butcher, k., & piehl, a. (1998). cross-city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime. journal of policy analysis and management, 17(3), 457-493. california attorney general. (2010). juvenile justice in california. retrieved from: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/fi les/pdfs/ cjsc/publications/misc/jj10/preface.pdf california department of finance. (2013). report p-3: population projections by race/ethnicity, detailed age, and gender, 2010-2060. retrieved from http://www.dof.ca.gov/research/demographic/reports/projections/p-3/ costelloe, m. t. (2008). immigration as threat: a content analysis of citizen perception. the journal of public and professional sociology. retrieved from: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jpps/vol2/iss1/5 crenshaw, k., gotanda, n., peller, g., & thomas, k. (1995). critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement. new york: the new press. creswell, j.w. (2007). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among fi ve approaches (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. qualitative studies in education. 14(5), 623-639 delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2012). critical race theory: an introduction. new york: university press. duncan-andrade, j.m.r. (2009). note to educators: hope required when growing roses in concrete. harvard educational review, 79(3), 1-13. fix, m. & capps, r. (2005). immigrant children, urban schools, and the no child left behind act. migration information source. retrieved from http://lwvindy.org/fi les/migrationinformationsource_immigrantchildrenurbanschoolsandthenclb.pdf fowler, d. (2011). school discipline feeds the “pipeline to prison”. phi delta kappan, 93(2), 14-19. harro, b. (2013). the cycle of socialization. in m. adams, w.j. blumenfeld, r. castaneda, h.w. hackman, m.l. peters, and x. zuniga, readings for diversity and social justice (3rd ed.) routledge. hawthorne, e.m., & zusman, a. (1992). the role of state departments of education in school/college collaborations. the journal of higher education, 63(4), 418-440. heitzeg, n. (2009). education or incarceration: zero tolerance and the school to prison pipeline. forum on public policy, (2), 1-21. garcia-reid, p. (2007). examining social capital as a mechanism for improving school engagement among low-income, hispanic girls. youth & society, 39(2), 164-181. ginwright, s., cammarota, j., & noguera, p. (2005). youth, social justice, and communities: toward a theory of urban youth policy. social justice, 32(3), 24-40. kirst, m.w., & edelstein, f. (2006). the maturing mayoral role in education. harvard educational review, 76(2), 152-164. ladson-billings, g. (2012). through a glass darkly: the persistence of race in education research & scholarship. educational researcher, 41(4), 115-120. legislative analysts offi ce (2007). california’s criminal justice system: a primer. retrieved from http://www.lao. ca.gov/2007/cj_primer/cj_primer_013107.aspx#who%20are%20juvenile%20offenders lucas, s., & beresford, l. (2010). naming and classifying: theory, evidence, and equity in education. review of research in education, 34(1), 25-84. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 95 alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline nbc news. (2012). offi cial: 1 dead, 4 hurt in ohio school shooting. retrieved from http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_ news/2012/02/27/10517706-offi cial-1-dead-4-hurt-in-ohio-school-shooting nunez, a., & olivia, m. (2009). organizational collaboration to promote college access: a p-20 framework. journal of hispanic higher education, 8(4), 322-339. new york civil liberties union. (2009). safety with dignity: alternatives to over policing of schools. new york civil liberties union, 1-56. orfi eld, g., losen, d., wald, j., & swanson, c.b. (2004). losing your future: how minority youth are being left behind by the graduation rate crisis. retrieved from http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu parker, l., deyhle, d., & villenas, s. (1999). race is…race isn’t: critical race theory and qualitative studies in education. boulder, colorado: westview press. polakow-suransky, s. (2000). america’s least wanted: zero tolerance policies and the fate of expelled students. in v. polakow (ed.). the public assault on america’s children. new york: teachers college press. shippen, m., patterson, d., green, k., & smitherman, t. (2012). community and school practices to reduce delinquent behavior: intervening on the school-to-prison pipeline. teacher education and special education, 35(4), 296308. simmons, a., & mather, k. (2013). teen shoots high school student before being disarmed by teacher. retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/10/local/la-me-taft-shooting-20130111 solorzano, d. (2005). educational inequities and latina/o undergraduate students in the united states: a critical race analysis of their educational progress. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 272-294. spring, j. (2011). the american school: a global context from the puritans to the obama era (8th ed.). new york: mcgraw hill. steer, j. (2013). chardon high school shooting victims’ families sue united way over chardon healing fund. retrieved from http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/oh_geauga/chardon-high-school-shootingvictims-families-sue-united-way-over-chardon-healing-fund#ixzz2cvsdgctd sum, a., khatiwada, i., mclaughlin, j., & palma, s. (2009). the consequences of dropping out of high school: joblessness and jailing for high school drop-outs and the high cost for taxpayers. boston, ma.: center for labor studies, northeastern university. wainer, a. (2004). the new latin@ south and the challenge to public education: strategies for educators and policymakers in emerging immigrant communities. the tomas rivera policy institute, 1-48. turner, r.k., & goodner, m. (2010). passing the paddle: nondisclosure of children’s criminal cases. austin, texas: state bar of texas. u.s. census bureau. (2013). state and county quick facts 2010 retrieved from http://www.census.gov/2010census/ popmap/ipmtext.php?fl =06 u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. (2012). the condition of education 2012 (nces 2012-045), table a-47-2. u.s. department of justice. (2011). prisoners in 2010. retrieved from: bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p10.pdf valencia, r.r. (1997). the evolution of defi cit thinking: educational thought and practice. bristol, pa: falmer press, taylor & francis inc. villenas, s. (2001). latin@ mothers and small-town racisms: creating narratives of dignity and moral education in north carolina. anthropology & education quarterly, 32(1), 3-28. wald, j., & losen, d.j. (2003). defi ning and redirecting a school-to-prison pipeline. new directions for youth development, (99), 9-15. warren, m.r. (2005). communities and schools: a new view of urban education reform. harvard educational review, 75(2), 133-173. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. yosso, t. j. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. new york: routledge. association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 48 using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life debby zambo cory hansen arizona state university abstract many nineand ten-year-old boys find reading interesting but begin to feel insecure about themselves as readers and avoid reading whenever they can. reading avoidance starts early and for many boys, especially those of color living in poverty, fourth grade seems to be the time when this downward spiral begins. national and state assessment data consistently and currently indicates a gap and stall in the reading achievement of male latino and english language learners living in poverty. however, as weaver-hightower (2008) notes, when educators talk about boys and their literacy achievement, they must not only ask which boys are failing but must also ask why? the goal of this study was to answer the why to weaver-hightower’s questions for mexican boys living in phoenix, arizona in the early part of 2010. toward this goal, we established a fourth grade boys’ book club in a neighborhood which presented many challenges for its inhabitants but especially for the mexican boys who were learning english at their local school. immigration sweeps and state bill 1070 permeated their lives and skewed their vision of academic and social success. regardless, our book club members emerged as tolerant, courageous, and generous individuals who do enjoy reading but too often find themselves reading alone. from these findings implications for educators are provided. introduction over our collective twenty years plus of teaching, we have found the early elementary years especially important in boys’ views of literacy. many nineand ten-year-old boys find reading interesting but too soon begin to feel insecure about themselves as readers, perceive reading to be a feminine task, and avoid reading whenever they can (brozo, 2002; payne & slocumb, 2011; smith & wilhelm, 2009). in elementary school, struggling male readers earn the lowest grades, boys are retained more often than girls, and males dominate special education and remedial classes (o’connor & deluca fernandez, 2006). reading avoidance starts early for many boys and boys of color living in poverty often begin a downward spiral in fourth grade (brozo, 2002). national and state assessment data consistently and currently indicates a gap and stall in the reading achievement of male latino, african american, and english language learners living in poverty (national center for education statistics, 2009). however, as weaver-hightower (2008) notes, when we talk about boys and their academic and literacy achievement, we must not only ask which boys are failing but must also ask why? reflecting on these questions prompted a study designed to investigate how fourth grade boys living in an inner city transacted with text and to shed light on their interpretations of manhood through talk about men in stories. a safe place to think and talk about storybook characters would help these boys learn themselves, literacy, and honorable traits of manhood. to do this we read books that focused on archetypes, or modes of thought about honorable manhood derived from experience because their traits (e.g., tolerance, courage, generosity, persistence) are valued and consistent cross-culturally. these archetypes teach boys how to act for the common good and how to cope with the inward and outward struggles they face on their journey to manhood (zambo & hansen, 2010). then we listened to the boys’ genuine response to story and engaged them in relevant learning activities including drawing and writing. theoretical frameworks we filtered our work through a systems perspective and complex ecology. we use using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 49 bronfenbrenner’s (1979) bio-ecological model of development because it allows us to understand the importance of context on children’s lives. every child lives in a microsystem, or immediate setting, an exosystem, a distant social setting, and a macrosystem, the bigger picture that influences his/her development. a systems perspective highlights how environments affect children and that children have the agency needed to affect the systems in their world. lee’s (2010) complex ecology, or theory of learning that focuses on the interplay between human dispositions, physiology, cultural practices, and environment, builds on previous systems perspectives, and includes the child and the environment. as teacher educators and early childhood researchers, we believe honorable manhood and literacy relies on both internal and external factors. honorable manhood, as brozo (2002) notes, is an idea or mode of thought derived from cultural and personal experience that points a boy in the way honored by tradition in his society. honorable manhood means having values like cooperation, courage, generosity, honesty, perseverance, responsibility and respectfulness (zambo & brozo, 2009). tales of honorable manhood began as oral stories passed down from generation to generation and today, are found in the words and illustrations in children’s picture books. self and literacy are shaped by one’s own biology, disposition, use, and motivation; these are nested in one’s cultural, social, and political landscape. literacy in this sense becomes transformative and much more than a skill. for example, freire (1970) helped brazilian students understand the unforeseen structures suppressing their lives through photographs of their impoverished surroundings. through visual literacy and texts, freire helped students beware of their situations, to think critically about them, and begin to think that things do not have to remain the same. effectively, he led students to empowerment through literacy. therefore, when it comes to literacy a boy must have a reason to read, the understanding he will be transformed by literacy, and perceive that he is respected as a learner and young man. while there is no doubt boys of all ethnicities need the insights literacy provides this is not always the case due to poverty. poverty affects children of all racial and ethnic backgrounds but living in the inner city and being a black, hispanic, or native american male places one more at risk. too often, mexican children attend impoverished inner city schools, are in segregated classrooms, and cannot use their native language to learn. this situation is growing and becoming more severe. according to the pew hispanic center (2011), the number of hispanic children living in poverty jumped by 36 percent from 2007 to 2010 and the youth of this group and recession were factors as to why. children living in young households with young earners earning below minimum wage struggle to put food on the table. however, even with older parents, hispanics suffered more than some ethnicities in the recession because their heads of household were employed in service-oriented occupations that experienced sharp declines. furthermore, if a breadwinner was an immigrant or spoke spanish they were more likely to be cut. of the 6.1 million latino children living in poverty, more than two-thirds have immigrant parents even though they themselves were born in the united states. nowhere in our country is this more prevalent than arizona (oakes, 2008). stevens and stovall (2010) note that xenophobia (fear of foreigners) is enacted in arizona with the passage of arizona state senate bill 1070 (which requires that immigrants have registration documents in their possession at all times, allows those without registration documents to be imprisoned, and enforces jail time for anyone who shelters, hires, or transports an illegal), and arizona revised statutes § 15-756.01 (which places children learning english in sheltered english immersion programs). such legislation promotes intolerance, racism, and the suppression of mexicans. our study will rely on these points to investigate the influence of race, class, and gender as the boys in our club responded to literature and to understand the complex ecologies that surrounded the boys, any xenophobia they felt, and how each of these intertwined and affected their perceptions of themselves as readers and young men. methodology the goal of our book club was to provide a safe place where a group of inner city mexican boys could listen to stories with male characters, do activities, and talk about what they knew and felt. to help the boys feel comfortable club sessions had a routine. the second author always read the stories while the first author using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 50 managed the tape recorder, gathered field notes, and led the activities. both researchers selected the books that were used and planned response activities. two weeks was spent on each book and in sum 10 books were read. we chose books with male characters because we felt they would help the boys make text-to-self connections and that this would benefit their literacy and language development. we also thought that these characters and discussions about them could be a vehicle to help us understand why these boys were not faring well. weaver-hightower (2008) reminds us of the importance of this work and encourages educators and researchers to not only look at which boys are failing but to also question why certain boys fail. aligned with this idea o’connor and fernandez (2006) remind us that if we do not, “examine “what” (poor) minority students “are,” we will lose sight of what we can do. while there are many strategies and curricula for english language learners, there is little deep insight into these children and why, despite policy and efforts, they continue to struggle so much. the literacy field needs this research because it has the potential to reveal how political forces against certain groups impact the academic success of younger generations. participants all of the boys were mexican, a subgroup of the hispanic population which is the fastest-growing group in the united states (sadker & zittleman, 2012). the boys were first generation english speakers and were not doing well on standardized tests of english, were classified as limited in english proficiency, and they were typical of many others in our state and nation. national assessment of educational progress scores for fourth grade reading indicate that latino males trail behind other ethnicities and behind the nation as a whole. this was true for the 23 members of our club. the boys were all struggling readers between the ages of 9 and 11. the boys in our club walked to school and came from the impoverished neighborhood surrounding it. boys were recruited into our club through their teacher, rosa. we had both parent and child consents to participate in the study. to keep the names of boys confidential and meet irb requirements, each boy created a code name which we use in this manuscript. examples of names are junior, shredder, brain, pitbull, pepe, 2pac, superman, and wrestler. rosa (also a pseudonym), the boys’ teacher with 15 years experience, was interested in our study because she grew up in mexico and immigrated to the united states as an adult. conversations with rosa after book club served as a member check and a source of data through field notes. setting our book club operated from january to april 2010 in a classroom nested in a district surrounded by iterative poverty defined in terms of substandard housing, low median salaries, and struggling families. district scores indicated that 19% of its students fell below the standard in reading, 36% were approaching, 43% met, and only 2% exceeded. saguaro (a pseudonym for the school) fell below these district percents. the average growth index at saguaro was -8 in reading and students did not meet annual yearly progress. labeled as underperforming, saguaro was in its second year of corrective action. students included 97% latino/a population with 48% of students labeled as limited in english proficiency. ninety-two percent of the students qualified for free or reduced lunch programs (arizona department of education, 2013). the median household income in the neighborhood was $25,562, an amount slightly above than the federal poverty level of $21,200 but significantly below the u.s. average of $56,604 (prior, 2010). these figures must be taken with caution because of the mobility of immigrant families and their fear of being counted in any type of census data (berliner, 2006; pew hispanic center, 2009; zacher, 2008). data sources our data consisted of 1) one opened-ended survey we created to learn about the boys’ reading preferences, which was given once midway through the study. sample items on this survey include: tell us about the type of books you like to read. where do you like to read? who do you like to read with? when do you using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 51 like to read?; 2) 100+ response activities, including drawings, produced by the boys; 3) 60 transcribed pages of book conversations; and 4) field notes gathered every moment we were with the boys and their teacher, rosa. every thursday for twenty weeks, we read and discussed picture books for one or up to two hours. we present results from four of the ten books in this article. data analysis through a constant comparative approach, we moved between our data sets, codes we developed, and final assertions that linked to both a systems perspective of literacy development and complex equality (glaser & strauss, 1967; strauss & corbin, 1998). un-packing the data into codes both researchers read and reread all data independently. at this stage, initial labels, key words, and broad codes, were established. next, one researcher linked data to these codes question by question in a partially ordered matrix checklist (miles & huberman, 1984). using a spreadsheet format, raw data was housed in the right column and emerging codes on the left. our choice to link codes to questions at this phase was careful and inductive. data were labeled systematically and examined for confirming and disconfirming ideas. nascent codes were discussed, clarified, and refined with the other researcher. re-packaging and aggregating data and developing themes both researchers met and discussed prominent codes, ordering, and how codes fit into themes. to achieve transparency, preconceived beliefs were discussed and ideas were continually compared to participants’ perspectives, words, and pictures. next, data were examined for relationships and the writing of analytical memos began. we moved inductively from our data set, to the matrix, to the themes looking for linkages (strauss & corbin, 1998). we then broke apart the matrix and created a conceptual map. themes were fit together to show relationships and hierarchies. salient, repeated findings allowed us to formulate nascent assertions. solidifying assertions and creating an emergent framework the conceptual map and nodes solidified emerging assertions. narrative assertions supported participants’ words, and linked to theories. as assertions were drawn, we constantly reflected on our analysis and data. using this constant comparative approach ensured that patterns, not merely two dimensional pictures of the boys, revealed the more complex, multidimensional ecology around each boy individually and as a book club member. to assure our findings were inclusive, trustworthy, and credible we met often. to assure the correctness of our analyses, we took our assertions to rosa and the boys for member checks. with a few minor exceptions, the interpretations of participants’ responses were consistent with their intentions. as a result of carefully applying the previous analytical procedures, we claim process validity. additionally, reflectivity, detailed procedures, a clear and comprehensive audit trial, and member checks warranted for credibility. however, despite this detailed process, we cannot claim generalizability nor do we present our findings as true or the only perspective known. we simply tell our story as honestly and truthfully as we can. results challenges a bothersome trend started early. our club started with 32 boys but the number of boys constantly went up and down. new boys transferred in for a short time, boys who left came back, and some boys simply using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 52 disappeared. rosa informed us that even though there was a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy at the school, most of her students were legal but most of their families were not. the political world influenced attendance, success in school, and had major implications for the boys. sheriff arpaio was conducting immigrant sweeps. families, relatives, and friends could be jailed and deported. governor brewer was about to sign senate bill 1070 which would require immigrants to have registration documents in their possession at all times. those without required documents would be imprisoned and anyone who helped them would also face jail time. daily attendance at school and consistent participation in our book club paled in importance to the bigger issues in their lives. language emerged as our second challenge. arizona revised statutes § 15-756.01 was requiring children classified as english learners to be educated in a sheltered english immersion program. rosa was required to provide four hours of english language development daily with english materials. a glance around the classroom showed a disrespect for the boys native language. even though they were proficient in spanish not a book, poster, or any other educational material ever appeared in spanish. this was obviously hampering the boys’ reading achievement because as research shows, children the boys’ age learn best when they are allowed to learn in their native language then transition to their second language (garcia bedolla, 2012). being that the boys were placed in rosa’s classroom because of their lack of proficiency in english, this was a challenge each boy faced. despite arizona’s law, it was evident that the boys were below grade level in speaking, reading, and writing english. language caused us to rely on the boys’ ability and passion to draw and willingness to act out what they could not express in words. tolerant men look at the inside, not the outside teammates (golenback, 1992) the story of jackie robinson, the first negro player in major league baseball, was our first book. teammates engaged the boys in conversations about tolerance and as we listened, we came to understand that they were very aware of tolerant and intolerant men. when asked to present examples of the tolerant men, the boys identified fathers, stepfathers, uncles, teachers, the principal, and the janitor. to pocho, tolerant men were respectful, patient, did not fight with their mother, and spoke kindly to everyone regardless of the color of their skin. tolerant men, in 2pac’s words “look at the inside of a person and do not think they are better or smarter than anyone.” junior and wrestler experienced tolerance when men taught them to throw a ball or ride a bike. the boys felt tolerant men were patient with them when they made mistakes. the boys also identified with the intolerance jackie faced. four boys strongly and repeatedly objected to using the word “negro” in the book because it was “mean.” three expressed bewilderment when hearing jackie could not drink from the white drinking fountain. wrestler said jackie’s situation was, “messed up” and brain said he felt like jackie when, “people look funny at him.” the boys’ lives taught them about intolerance first hand. rosa told us that junior and shredder had been called “inhuman” when they marched against sb 1070 with their parents. pepe stated the local sheriff was an intolerant man. pitbull said, “he is not respectful to somebody that’s a different color.” pitbull’s words align with a picture he drew of tolerance. when asked to draw his perspective of tolerance, pitbull drew a man with a gun smiling as he shoots another man (explained to be mexican). critically examining this image shows pitbull’s realities, identities, and subjectivities as a mexican boy growing up in poverty in phoenix, arizona (kincheloe, 2010). pitbull and his classmates were nested in a neighborhood, state, and nation where due to policy, poverty, and their gender, language and ethnicity, violence and intolerance were a part of their world. several boys noted that they felt divided because of the intolerance they faced. the boys talked about achieving the american dream but also yearned to return to mexico where their families lived. they felt caught between two countries, cultures, and languages. when asked to draw a picture of their family, wrestler and soul revealed their divided lives. their families stand under the mexican and american flag. using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 53 courageous men do what they have to do we read the man who walked between the towers (gerstein, 2003) about philippe petit, because he was courageous and defied odds to live his dream. philippe knew it was illegal to tight rope between the twin towers but he defied authority to do it. we investigated the boys’ perspective of courage by asking them to write and draw what they thought philippe was thinking as he pondered his plan. results reveal that all the boys thought philippe was justified in walking across the towers and agreed that they would have done the same thing. superman said philippe was thinking, “i’m not going to listen to the police,” “i don’t care what the police say, i am going to cross it.” wrestler recognized that philippe would face consequences because he wrote, “i know i am going to get arrested but i don’t care.” there were also words of determination like, “i know i can do this, i can,” “i have to concintrade [concentrate], and “i am not going to fall.” when we asked the boys about the courageous men they knew, their answers were similar to the tolerant men they knew. their number one choice was their fathers, followed by their stepfathers, uncles, and the school janitor. to find out what the boys thought about fatherhood, we presented five images of men and their sons (peter and stewie griffin, homer and bart simpson, an african american father and his son, a latino father and his son, and a caucasian father and his son). the boys selected who was the best father and explained why. twelve boys chose peter griffin, six chose homer simpson, three chose the african american father, two chose the hispanic father, and no boy chose the anglo father. the boys felt the best fathers worried about their sons, spent time with them, allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do, and were generous. important to shredder was a father who was cool, caring, and funny. important to wrestler, pocho, superman and wrestler were fathers who spent time with them, acted responsibly, and were not angry or mean. pepe and pitbull had different opinions reflecting the pressure they felt to be tough and manly. to them fathers and sons, “hate, do pranks, and steal stuff together.” when we talked with rosa after this club session her words added insight: most hispanic families are very traditional and they want their boys to be tough and manly. fathers, especially, are like this. they don’t want their sons to cry, wear bright colors such as pink, and they have a great fear of them becoming homosexuals. some fathers include their sons in mafia or gang related activities. most of the time boys feel they do not have a choice with the decisions their families make for them. asking boys to be tough causes them to grow up fast and the book we discussed helped us understand what this meant to the boys. fathers are generous men oscar wilde’s the happy prince (grodin, 2006) tells the story of a fancy prince statue overlooking his kingdom and becoming aware of the poverty and despair below. the prince befriends a swallow that removes a ruby from his crown, gold paint from his body, and sapphires from his eyes to give to the needy people below. their generosity comes at the expense of their own demise. using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 54 the number one generous man the boys knew was their father. junior said his father was generous when he, “helped him with his homework”. shredder said his father was generous like the happy prince and because of this it has changed his life. when asked to draw a picture of a generous man, shredder drew his father going off to work at a mexican restaurant (with a mexican flag outside) where he washes dishes. soul said his father was generous because he “gives all his money to his family and keeps only a little for himself sometime.” beside fathers, the boys also mentioned president obama, cesar chavez, god, and michael jackson as generous men because they give things away and ask nothing in return. pocho and wrestler said generous men worked at their church and gave away food boxes at christmas time. the boys in our club read what they enjoy more than anything else (bradby, 1995) is a fictionalized account of the life of booker t. washington, an ex-slave who became a leader in the african-american community. nine-year-old booker did not go to school or learn to read because he worked from sunup to sundown in a salt mine. his real dream was to become literate and gain the knowledge books contain. booker’s dream seemed unattainable until he met a man, as brown as him, who taught him how to read. more than anything else helped the boys understand perseverance as it related to themselves as readers. we used this book conversation and the all about me survey to explain book and reading preferences. all 23 of the boys felt that reading was important and that they did read outside of school if they could, “read what they wanted to read.” typical boy preferences included comics to make them laugh, scary stories, and non-fiction books for facts. superman and wrestler especially liked books about ufos and monsters “just in case they are real.” pitbull liked books like more than anything else because booker overcame obstacles and came out on top. the boys knew reading was important. on our survey 12 of them felt positive personal connections to reading but 9 boys noted that when they read at home, it was typically alone. the other 11 boys relegated reading to times of boredom or unhappiness. 2pac “never does and never will like to read.” conclusions the goal of our book club was to understand the reading passions and habits of the fourth grade mexican boys in our club and how these were influenced by the contexts surrounding their lives. we also sought to know if our use of male characters displaying positive traits would allow us to gain insight into the boys’ perceptions of these qualities and their own lives. our theoretical frameworks, varied forms of data, and careful analysis allow us to make assertions that explain why these boys are struggling and how important literature is to their lives. our book club was situated in a school surrounded by generational poverty and a political storm that using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 55 picked up force in the early months of 2010. it took place in phoenix, arizona as sb 1070 was about to be signed, immigration sweeps were in the news, and sheltered immersion became a reality in schools. as researchers, we had an opportunity to witness first hand, the impact these actions and legislation had on young mexican boys. through literacy we discovered that even though the boys in our club were only in fourth grade, they were very aware of what was going on around them. some of the boys marched against sb 1070 with their parents and all of the boys knew someone who had been affected by immigrant sweeps. characters like booker t. washington and jackie robinson resonated with the boys and helped us understand that the boys in our club did not live in world that was neutral or color-blind (stevens & stovall, 2010). living in a xenophobic society relegated the boys’ caregivers to long hours in low paying jobs that left little time for them to read at home with their children. generational poverty and literacy struggles are recursive and spread across our country but in phoenix, arizona they seem to be particularly harsh. the boys and their families did not live in a meritocracy. the boys faced adult-like problems and we can only conclude that these were not good for their literacy or language development (bernard, 2004; lee, 2010). our club was also nested in a classroom full of kindness and care. rosa worked tirelessly. she reminded her students how lucky they were to be in the u.s. and have an opportunity to achieve the american dream. rosa knew literacy was the way to do this and she worked very hard to help her students become literate. but not being able to teach in spanish or use spanish materials made her job very difficult. even though the intent of english immersion may have been for the good of children it was obvious it was not working for these boys. the boys in our club were struggling with reading and writing so we had to use alternate activities that asked the boys to respond to texts through short segments of writing, discussion, and drawing. instead of looking at worksheets, or tests the boys could not do, we discovered how clever, creative, and good they were. like booker t. washington, jackie robinson, philippe petit, and the happy prince the boys in our club were persistent, tolerant, courageous, and generous. they were tolerant with us every thursday when we came to their class to read and they were persistent as they worked on response activities. the boys generously gave us their drawings, words, and stories and, as we analyzed these data sources, we came to understand how the systems surrounding their lives affected their literacy, language, and socialemotional development. over time we came to realize just how courageous the boys in our club were. they faced media portrayals of illegal immigrants as thieves and drug lords and they were fearful of intolerant men who were ready to sweep their loved ones away. through literacy we discovered that these boys were failing because the systems around them are just too harsh to nurture literacy development. if we want these boys to become literate, we need to work to remove xenophobia, provide systems of support for their families, lead them to literacy in ways that fit their needs, and simply listen to what they have to say. the field of literacy strives for scholarship, curriculum, and instruction that address diversity and equality but it overlooks how systems around certain groups allow them to develop the persistence and courage they need to become literate. the school experience of mexican boys, like those in our club, is preparing them to become citizens, fathers, and workers who will embrace literacy and democracy or turn their backs on both (garcia bedolla, 2012). more research on the lived experience of these boys is needed. ecological systems surround children and seem to be recursive for mexican boys. the 1946 mendez v. westminster case challenged the segregated schooling of mexican and mexican american students in california. the plaintiff ’s most enduring vision was that there would be educational equity for all children; that schools would treat every child with dignity and respect, and accommodate children’s realities as much as they ask children to respect and accommodate the realities that schools pose (cole, 2010). yet, 65 years later mexican boys, like the ones in our club, still attend schools isolated by poverty and need, are placed in segregated classrooms, and fail to receive the dignity and respect they need to become literate young men. using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 56 references arizona department of education. (2013). health and nutrition services: percentage of free and reduced reports. retrieved from http://www.azed.gov/health-nutrition/frpercentages/ arizona revised statutes § 15-756.01 arizona english language learners task force; research based models of structured english immersion for english language learners; budget requests; definitions (2008). retrieved march 23, 2008 from http://www.azleg.gov/formatdocument.asp?format=print&indoc=/legtext/48leg/ 2r/bills/hb2699p.htm arizona state legislature. (2010a). text of senate bill 1070. phoenix: author. retrieved from www.azleg.gov/ legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf berliner, d. (2006). our impoverished view of educational research. teachers college record, 108(6), 949–995. benard, b. (2004). resiliency: what we have learned. san francisco, ca: wested. bradby, m. (1995). more than anything else. new york, ny: scholastic. bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development: experiment by nature and design. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. brozo, w. g. (2002). to be a boy, to be a reader: engaging teen and preteen boys in active literacy. newark, de: international reading association. cole, m. (2010). what’s culture got to do with it? educational research as a necessarily interdisciplinary enterprise. educational researcher, 39(6), 461-470. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum international publishing group. garcia bedolla, l. (2012). latino education: civic engagement, and the public good. review of research in education, 36, 23-42. doi: 10.3120/0091732x11422666 gerstein, m. (2003). the man who walked between the towers. new york, ny: scholastic. glasser, b.g., & strauss, a.l. (1967). discovery of grounded theory. hawthorne, ny: aldine de gruyter. golenbock, p. (1990). teammates. new york, ny: harcourt. groden, e. (2006). the happy prince. chelsea, mi: sleeping bear. kincheloe, j. (2010). beyond reductionism: difference, criticality, and multilogicality in the bricolage and postformalism. in g. s. goodman (ed.), educational psychology reader the art and science of how people learn (pp. 26-48). new york, ny: peter lang. lee, c.d. (2010). soaring above the clouds, delving the ocean’s depths: understanding the ecologies of human learning and the challenge for education science. educational researcher, (39)9, 643-655. miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1984). qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. national center for education statistics. (2009). the condition of education. retrieved from htte://nces.ed.gov/ programs/coe/2010/section1/indicators.asp oakes, j. (2008). keeping track: structuring equality and inequity in an era of accountability. teachers college record, 110(3), 12-13. o’connor, c., & deluca fernandez, s. (2006). race, class, and disproportionality: reevaluating the relationship between poverty and special education placement. educational researcher, 35(6), 6-11. payne, r. k., & slocumb, p. d. (2011). boys in poverty: a framework for understanding dropout. bloomington, in: solution tree. pew hispanic center. (2009). latinos and education: explaining the attainment gap. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. pew hispanic center. (2011). the toll of the great recession: childhood poverty among hispanics sets record, leads nation. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. prior, p. (2010). foreclosure activity slowing in the hardest hit areas of the country. retrieved from http:// www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles sadaker, d. m., & zillteman, k. r. (2012). teachers, schools and society (3rd edition). new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. smith, m. w., & wilhelm, j. d. (2009). boys and literacy: complexity and multiplicity. in l. christenbury, r. bomer & p. smagorinsky (eds.), handbook of adolescent literacy (pp. 360-371). new york, ny: guliford. using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 57 stevens, l. p., & stovall, d. o. (2010/2011). critical literacy for xenophobia: a wake-up call. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 54(4), 295-298. strauss, a. l., &. corbin. j. m. (1998). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. weaver-hightower, m. b. (2008). the politics of policy in boys’ education: getting boys right. new york, ny: palagrave. zacher, j. c. (2008). analyzing children’s social positioning and struggles for recognition in a classroom literacy event. research in the teaching of english, 43(1), 12-41. zambo d., & brozo, w.g. (2009). bright beginnings for boys: engaging young boys in active literacy. newark, de: the international reading association. zambo, d., & hansen, c.c. (2010). once upon a theory: using picture books to help students understand educational psychology. in g.s. goodman (ed.), educational psychology reader: the art and science of how people learn, (pp. 641-650). new york: peter lang. using literacy to understand mexican boys’ perspectives of life association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 88 a map for return aracely mondragon san francisco organizing project/peninsula interfaith action we almost lost each other in our migration an iron fence tugging at your sand-encrusted skin claiming the memories you left behind as your rite of passage we were left barren with no map of return i grew up not knowing how to love you thinking we were too different que me faltaba lengua para apreciar la belleza de tu tierra que me faltaban callos en las manos para poder reunirme con las tuyas today, words linger in the darkness of the 3-hour difference between us from california to guerrero they float around like vanishing hope rising up from the smoke of an adobe stove evaporating off their sun-kissed foreheads we are left suspended there made to feel invisible, sin palabras so much emptiness between our bodies our feet dragging through the dirt from one side of the border to the other our hands tied to a chain of anhelo in a faraway cage but i’ve learned quizás the best remedio is to listen a map for return association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 89 así, wrapped in her silence find warmth in it and love her in her own tongue a map for return association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 6 privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic aurora chang loyola university abstract in this article, i seek to explore the tensions of what it means to be a “deserving” native researcher. i begin by experimenting with the meaning of a borderland love ethic as a theoretical framework that centers on: nurturing our strength to love in spaces of contention, tolerance of ambiguity as a revolutionary virtue, and humbly beginning anew again and again. drawing from an extended interview with a participant of a larger study about undocumented students, i describe our positionalities with respect to privilege and undocumented status as the central foci. i use my own dilemma of understanding and reconciling my position as a once-undocumented immigrant to a now hyperdocumented (chang, 2011) native researcher, studying undocumented people, to work through the possibility of a borderland love ethic. relying primarily on the theoretical works of anzaldúa (1987), darder (2003), and hooks (2000), i ask, how we as scholars, enact love in our research amidst our seemingly contradictory positions of oppression and privilege. i contend that one possibility is by employing a borderland love ethic that embraces ambiguity, rejects binary positions and humbly acknowledges our constant state of arriving, both as researchers and participants. introduction as i sit with guadalupe, one of the undocumented participants in my study, i begin to feel a common dis-ease. it is as if i am outside of myself, looking into the interview process from a corner on the wall. there i am, the once undocumented guatemalan immigrant now turned hyperdocumented (chang, 2011) professor at a private university that costs $40,000 a year to attend, sitting a few feet from the subject of my study a brilliant activist and a master’s student in social work from another public university in the area, articulately and generously sharing his story with me. we could easily switch places, be it not for the 1986 immigration reform and control act (irca), also known as amnesty, when i was naturalized. i am slightly distracted and trying mightily to stay focused. i begin to have an internal dialogue with myself. “who am i to be interviewing guadalupe? he could just as easily interview me. he’d probably be better at it. maybe this is just a common manifestation of imposter’s syndrome.” i can’t help but wonder what guadalupe must be thinking about this dynamic, but in that moment of the interview, i haven’t established the rapport to ask. i begin to experience a strong sense of survivor’s guilt, the condition that occurs when a person perceives herself to have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not. the traumatic event we share, albeit completely dissimilar in its details, is our border-crossing. at that moment, i don’t see guadalupe. instead, i clearly see the larger injustice embedded in this interaction—the inhumane, nonsensical and xenophobic policies around immigration that have somehow deemed me worthy of citizenship and guadalupe in a limbo of dacamentation. i heed dowbor’s (1997) words of warning, that capitalism is the generator of scarcity. in a country with an abundance of all things material, the gap between the rich and poor grows each minute. depending on what is politically and economically palatable to those in power, commodities like citizenship are strategically distributed. my citizenship was bought and sold in the political marketplace of the day. for guadalupe, it simply is not for sale today. i am perplexed and angry because guadalupe’s situation is unfair and i can’t understand where i fit into this power dynamic. something within me feels culpable. what was once a shameful secret, my undocumented status, is now my ticket to access my study participants. in this article, i seek to explore the tensions of what it means to be a “deserving” native researcher. i begin by experimenting with the meaning of a borderland love ethic as a theoretical framework that centers on: nurturing our strength to love in spaces of contention, tolerance of ambiguity as a revolutionary virtue, and humbly beginning anew again and again. drawing from an extended interview with a participant (guadalupe) of a larger study about undocumented students, i describe our positionalities with respect to privilege and undocumented status as the central foci. i use my own dilemma of understanding and reconciling my position privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 7 as a once-undocumented immigrant to a now hyperdocumented (chang, 2011) native researcher, studying undocumented people, to work through the possibility of a borderland love ethic. relying on previous work on the dilemmas of native ethnography, i explore the specific struggle of being undocumented (native) and privileged (non-native) by comparing and contrasting my experience as researcher and guadalupe’s experience as research participant. i offer a borderland love ethic as an “untested feasibility” (darder, 2003, p. 502) for approaching our work in a way that sustains both researcher and participant and stays true to our integrity. relying primarily on the theoretical works of anzaldúa (1987), darder (2003), and hooks (2000), i ask, how we as scholars, enact love in our research amidst our seemingly contradictory positions of oppression and privilege. i contend that one possibility is by employing a borderland love ethic that embraces ambiguity, rejects binary positions, and humbly acknowledges our constant state of arriving, both as researchers and participants. a borderland love ethic allows researchers to engage with research participants in a conversation among equally broken subjects. that is, the researcher is a subject of academia, at once studying and being studied, while the participant is a subject of research, at once researching and being researched. in fact, a borderland love ethic feeds this cycle of ‘re-searching’ our own subjectivities, searching again and again, infinitely, as we move dynamically and amorphously within, between, and outside of academic borders. love and research it may seem counterintuitive to conceive of love in the context of research. this is because we are taught that research is unemotional, distant and objective, rather than centering the self and others as sentient, complex, and intersectional beings. “though epistemologically and methodologically indefensible, this view is still largely dominant in social science practice,” (greenwood & levin, 1998, p. 53) and while this positivistic credo is prevalent, it is in direct opposition to the kind of research practices that are grounded in love because it removes humanity from the scientific process and in its absence, is replaced by a mythological objectivity. love, in the context of educational research, feels awkward because, as bell hooks (2000) understands, we are perplexed about how to talk about love, hold conflicting beliefs of what love entails and/or perpetuate overlyromanticized myths about the meaning of love. this is especially true as love relates to education. this is how antonia darder (2003) articulates love: i am neither speaking of a liberal, romanticized, or merely feel-good notion of love that so often is mistakenly attributed to this term nor the long-suffering and self-effacing variety associated with traditional religious formation. nothing could be further from the truth. if there was anything that freire consistently sought to defend, it was the freshness, spontaneity, and the presence embodied in what he called an ‘armed love—the fighting love of those convinced of the right and the duty to fight, to denounce, and to announce’ (freire, 1998, p. 42). (p. 497). for me, love has always been inextricably bound with education because i have always connected love to struggle, conviction, and voice. my roots as an undocumented immigrant from guatemala exposed me to the type of tragedy, loss and corruption that could only be understood and combatted with a spirit of armed love. as darder (2003) so articulately notes, love is not about butterflies and roses: “instead, it is a love that i experienced as unconstructed, rooted in a committed willingness to struggle persistently with purpose in our life and to intimately connect that purpose with what [freire] called our ‘true vocation’ –to be human” (p. 498). a borderland love ethic the theoretical framework i propose, a borderland love ethic, is a hybrid of three concepts: borderlands theory, a love ethic, and interactionality. specifically, a borderland love ethic encompasses: (1) anzaldúa’s notion of borderlands and the mestiza consciousness required to claim all parts of one’s identity within a provisional space constructed with one’s own feminist architecture (anzaldúa, 1987); (2) hooks’ (2000) and darder’s (2003) reconceptualization of love as an “armed” love that is global in its vision, intimately engaged with the collective good, and oriented toward the continual process of self-actualization; and (3) chavez’s (2013) privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 8 notion of interactionality that builds on the critical concept of intersectionality (crenshaw, 1991) as “a form of rhetorical confrontation that begins critique from the roots of a problem or crisis and methodically reveals how systems of power and oppression interact with one another in ways that produces subjects, institutions, and ideologies and that enable and constrain political response” (p. 51). i suggest that a borderland love ethic melds anzaldúa’s (1987) definition of borderland and hooks (2000) definition of a love ethic that leads to agentic action propelled by interactionality (chavez, 2013). anzaldúa (1987) says, borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe, to distinguish us from them. a border is a dividing line, a narrow strip along a steep edge. a borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary. (p. 25). bell hooks (2000) defines a “love ethic” as “choosing to work with individuals we admire and respect; by committing to give our all to relationships; by embracing a global vision wherein we see our lives and our fate as intimately connected to those of everyone else on the planet...a belief that honesty, openness, and personal integrity need to be expressed in public and private decisions” (p. 88) and “concern for the collective good of our nation, city, or neighbor” (p. 98). it incorporates the kind of convivencia (coll, 2004) that is had by “getting to know one another by spending time, talking, and doing things together, as well as learning more about their shared collective concerns and experiences” (p. 189). interactionality (chavez, 2013) highlights the complicated and dynamic way in which our intersectional identities, power and systems of oppression intermesh, interlock, intersect, and interact. in this way, “it holds in tension both the predictable ways oppression and power manifest in relation to and upon particular bodies while also carrying possibilities for creative and complicated responses to oppression” (p. 58). a borderland love ethic, then, is an ethic that can be understood as, at once, undetermined and specific to each individual, resulting from the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary as manifested by varying dichotomies. a borderland love ethic encourages us to make purposive public and private choices as researchers about how much we give, to whom we give and why we give, all in a quest for an interconnected collective good with a clear understanding that rejects essentialist compartmentalization of identities and embraces the inherent tensions involved in the power dynamics of conducting research. a borderland love ethic must engage three tenets: (1) nurturing our space to love in spaces of contention, (2) tolerance of ambiguity as a revolutionary virtue, and (3) humbly beginning anew, again and again. nurturing our strength to love in spaces of contention as researchers with multiple identities, we are inevitably bound in spaces of contention. our identities can be in conflict with one another or with those of others. our work is contentious because it is not in isolation, rather it is inextricably connected to the worlds around us. this contentiousness takes a toll on our health (gutiérrez y muhs, flores niemann, gonzález, & harris, 2012) if we fail to nurture the necessary strength to remain centered and exercise love in our practice. hooks (1994), in her discussion of engaged pedagogy, states that holistic education emphasizes well-being: that means that teachers must be actively committed to a process of self-actualization that promotes their own well being if they are to teach in a manner that empowers students. thich nhat hanh emphasized that the ‘practice of a healer, therapist, teacher or any helping professional should be directed toward his or herself first, because if the helper is unhappy, he or she cannot help many people.’ (p. 15). what if we were to translate this engaged pedagogy into an engaged research practice where the research actively commits to a process of self-actualization, where she directs her own practices toward herself first and in this way models for and empowers participants in this process? as a once-undocumented immigrant, i must acknowledge my privilege as a current u.s. citizen and active member in the same institutions that oppress those undocumented people that i claim to advocate for and write about. yes, i love working with undocumented privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 9 people but at times i feel emotionally spent because i am not taking the time to acknowledge the sacredness of my own intactness. what good am i in a situation where i don’t have the energy or disposition to truly be present in listening to their stories? audre lorde (1988) proclaimed, “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare” (p.132). likewise, caring for ourselves, refusing to give in to dominant narratives of unworthiness and undeservingness as researchers, especially as marginalized researchers, is absolutely necessary for self-preservation. it is a love ethic manifesto, screaming, i will not allow this process to dehumanize me, to damage me, to crush me. furthermore, i would proffer that a borderland love ethic honors the emotional well being of undocumented students themselves involved in navigating love, in all its iterations, across borders (abrego, 2014). dr. martin luther king jr. said, “we’re split up and divided against ourselves. and there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. there is a recalcitrant south of our soul revolting against the north of our soul. and there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life” (loving your enemies, delivered at dexter avenue baptist church montgomery, alabama, november 17, 1957). we require a respite in warring with our multiple selves, a borderland space that allows for dynamic movement and repositioning. tolerance of ambiguity as a revolutionary virtue anzaldúa (1987) spoke of the importance of our tolerance for ambiguity. she notes that for a mestiza: “in perceiving conflicting information and points of view, she is subjected to a swamping of her psychological borders. she has discovered that she can’t hold concepts or ideas in rigid boundaries” (p. 101). a borderland love ethic embraces the intersectional, oppositional and transgressive border identities that embody us. as negróngonzales (2014) notes through her work with migrant youth, “as their lives are fundamentally characterized by the legal and social contradiction that arises from growing up in the united states yet facing barriers to full participation in us society, the production of migrant youth illegality is a process marked by both distinct forms of regulation and exclusion as well as a sustained connection to institutions central to u.s. society” (p. 275). as undocumented people, we embody ambiguous contradictions. we are implicated in our positions as academics. we are oppressed as faculty of marginalized backgrounds. we were once a part of an othered community. now we are part of privileged communities as well. we have entered into new realms of otherness we knew not existed. our very bodies and mouths silence the otherwise powerful and incite the roots of hatred. all at the same time and ever changing, our identities sway, ebb, shift and evolve. we, like those we study, are native and semi-native and non-native within our own communities. rather then see this as a deficit, we need to consider adopting this ambiguity as a revolutionary virtue. it takes extraordinary courage to accept every part of who we are and engage every part of who we are in our research process. in the gathering of patience and quiet within a space of not knowing, we can sit with our contradictions and “operate in a pluralistic mode—nothing is thrust out, the good, the bad, and the ugly, nothing rejected, nothing abandoned. not only does she sustain contradictions, she turns the ambivalence into something else” (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 101). humbly beginning anew again and again these contradictions require us to constantly reconstruct our identities. our research processes require us to engage with a new set of people, emotions, and identities. a borderland love ethic embraces the capacity to always begin anew, to make, to reconstruct, and to live in the split. not only does it embrace intersectionality but further evolves this paradigm through a framework of radical interactionality: an idea that builds on the women of color feminist notion of intersectionality. it is a form of rhetorical confrontation that begins critique from the roots of a problem or crisis and methodically reveals how systems of power and oppression interact with one another in ways that produce subjects, institutions, and ideologies that enable and constrain political response. (chavez, 2013, p. 51). chavez (2013) elaborates on her term, interactionality, by stating that it “is equipped for addressing the privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 10 complexity of a problem’s roots” and “has been advanced to understand the complicated interworking of power that constitutes the situation of people who experience interlocking oppressions” (p. 57). interactionality “works against reductionism and purity, promoting instead a perspective that accounts for differences that make a difference in how people can maneuver their worlds” (p. 58). we operate interactionally, under consistent change and are naïve to resist this state of always arriving embodied in our interactional selves. as freire (1993) declares: “refuse to bureaucratize the mind, to understand and to live as a process—live to become—is something that always accompanied me throughout life. this is an indispensable quality of a good teacher” (p. 98). i believe that as researchers, we too, can benefit from honoring our process by understanding that our identities are never concretized; we are always in a state of renewal. when we engage with our participants, we start anew by explicitly sharing our vulnerability as works in progress, co-producers of knowledge and people with pain. our research process can be one of renewal where we gather what we have learned from our previous experiences and then incorporate those lessons into our new practice. we will never be experts because knowledge is never static therefore our expertise is always obsolete. that is why we begin again, each time, knowing that we enter this work with a spirit of awareness, humility and regeneration. the moment what follows is a moment during my interview with guadalupe that prompted my reflection of the intersection of undocumented status and privilege. following the advice of abu-lughod (1991), i “focus[ed] closely on [a] particular individual and [his] changing relationships” in an effort to “necessarily subvert the most problematic connotations of culture: homogeneity, coherence, and timelessness” (p. 476). in other words, guadalupe does not necessarily represent all undocumented students nor does our exchange represent all of my exchanges with all of my participants. instead, this moment serves as a phenomenological window into discussing how a borderland love ethic might play into our research process. i thought i was alone in recognizing the national discursive disease around immigration advocate strategy and my aforementioned disease as a researcher. like a cancer, essentialized notions of depictions of undocumented immigrants, can insidiously toxicize immigration reform discourses, creating a single story that privileges “deserving” immigrants as uniquely “dreamers,” as an example, at the expense of the other millions of immigrants that have not had the same academic opportunities, forms of capital, and/or luck. these singular notions feed my own dis-ease as a researcher, a form of epistemological discomfort, that emerges from my apparent undocumented experience’s lack of politically expedient authenticity (that of poor, uneducated, brown immigrant crossing the desert or river, drawn to a better economic life in america). they also underscore the nature of my ‘nativeness’ to the undocumented student lived experience. however, guadalupe revealed that he too was grappling with his own struggle of duality around his position as a “privileged” undocumented student: interviewer: how do you feel about the dream act and daca? guadalupe: so i never liked the dream act. so i don’t like the dream act. i didn’t apply for the dream act. i don’t know whether it is because i was like, it is just going to be me. it is not going to be our parents; they are still deportable. i mean they can get deported. if you look at my friends that dropped out of high school so now they can apply for the dream act. so i mean i don’t like daca because it assumes that people just came here and are doing things that are not the right way or whatever. it kind of goes with this idea of pull yourself by the bootstraps society that we live in. i mean what is going to happen with the rest of the immigrants here? we don’t even talk about who has been deported because they don’t have daca. guadalupe spoke adamantly about the lack of fairness implicit in legislation like the dream act and daca, explaining, in so many words, that to apply for and receive such benefits equated to leaving others behind such as his parents, friends, and other students. he asserts that such legislation makes a lot of assumptions, particularly about the deservingness of a tiny minority of immigrants to obtain minimal rights while leaving millions of others to fend for themselves. guadalupe honed in on the very minute sliver of the undocumented privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 11 population that both benefits from such legislation and those of us (he and i included) who luxuriate in academic conversations around daca-related issues. unless you are an academic, there is no talk in the media of who has benefited from daca; the poor haven’t benefited because they can’t afford the paperwork fee and most of them had to drop out of high school to help the parents. i think now it’s even harder because of the ways that they are framing the dream act. sure if i am the valedictorian of harvard university, of stanford university or whatever, then i’m good. but it is hard to find those students; there are so few valedictorians. i mean there is going to be only one valedictorian in every school. he situates himself as part of that minority and explains his perceived privilege as perpetuated by the assumptions others make of him. yeah i mean so sometimes i feel like i hang out with two different crowds. like more of my work crowd which seems to be kind of whiter and young people … most of them are older. but there, you have some kind of privilege; there are certain expectations of you being a typical latino. and then my fellow students wonder… my classmates that i went with to high school that always see me as the guy who is going to do good things. my dad had a decent job, a stable job. i was a nerd in school so they always see me as the guy that is going to do good things, the guy that is happy, the guy that has economic stability. but you don’t know, i mean they don’t know beyond that. i think right now that i am in midwest city university, there are a lot of assumptions when i tell them that i am an undocumented student, even to my friends. guadalupe describes the pressure he feels as an undocumented latino with academic, social, and economic privilege to live up to certain expectations and to carry himself as one who is happy, successful and ultimately, a good guy with few problems. guadalupe’s conflicted identity as both oppressed and privileged do not fit neatly into a compartment. his identity resides in a borderland, a location that is in direct opposition to the essentialist depictions of the undocumented latino. a borderland love ethic moves away from this tension to one of embracing and nurturing our ability to love in this space of seeming contention. rather than viewing guadalupe’s borderland identity as a space of angst, it can be refashioned as a revolutionary virtue that is at peace within its ambiguity. it resists the need to hide aspects of our identity that seem incongruent and instead invites us to boldly and humbly announce its complexity as an agentic tool of resistance. one, you have money, you are nerd, you are happy, your life is solely happy and i mean that’s not necessarily true. like i work hard. i am happy but i mean there are some days that i’m happy, there are some days that i am not happy. but there are just a lot of assumptions. mainly i don’t even tell my friends that i go to midwest city university or that i have this job. every once in a while i complain about my job to someone and they are like, what are you complaining about? that shit happens to me every day, friends that are working in restaurants, friends that are working in different places. for them, my complaints are their day to day life. i don’t even go there… everyday talk such as complaining about work become sources of contention for guadalupe, as, relative to his friends who do manual labor and/or operate under abusive work conditions, he is in a place of privilege through his office job. even his upbringing, where his father albeit undocumented, made a decent living; his academic achievement; and his general upbeat disposition situate him uncomfortably as one who simultaneously struggles through being undocumented and has the luxury of having the financial means and academic capital to access what is deemed as success. through guadalupe’s discussion of his own perceived privilege, i was prompted to further think about my own complex identity as researcher relative to my participants. in him, i saw a reflection of myself. he was beating himself up, questioning his right to complain, feeling guilty about what he does have and can use to help privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 12 others. he withdraws. he “doesn’t go there.” he puts on a happy face. how often have i reacted the exact same way in response to my study participants, disconnecting from my genuine feelings? and what does this say about my research process? how can we, as undocumented people at different ends of the immigration status spectrum, be kinder to ourselves and in this way, refuse to reproduce the kind of blaming and shaming already imposed upon us by the master narrative of undocumented immigrants as undeserving, criminal and inhumane? guadalupe’s border-crossing here, i relay a bit about guadalupe’ border-crossing experience, followed by my own, as an exercise in contrasting knowledges of what it means to ir al norte. i contrast our border-crossing experiences to highlight the heterogeneity of undocumented experiences and simultaneously expose the commonality we share in our framing of, feelings about, and struggles with this so called position of occupying spaces of both privilege and undocumented status. i chose guadalupe as one participant to situate my analysis of my positionality as a native undocumented researcher, emphasizing the particularity of our conversations rather than generalizing. guadalupe is a 30-year old mexican immigrant who came to this country when he was eleven years old. he crossed through tijuana, mexico. at the age of 11, my grandpa, my dad, decided we all needed to be in one place instead of everywhere but this time i had a brother, two brothers and a sister so we made the journey to the united states. i didn’t really want to leave, my first attempt to cross the border kind of ended sadly. i was deported. we were trying to cross with this 65-year-old man through ciudad juarez. my grandparents had left us in juarez so they didn’t know where we were. so we crossed my brother and me, he was 8 or 9. i was 11. to add to it, we were going to tell the agencies that we were going to the mall that was on the ciudad juarez side. but that didn’t work out. so we were taken to the equivalent of the united states department of child and welfare services; that is what it is called in mexico. so my grandparents didn’t know where we were; they looked everywhere for 2 ½ days to see where they can find us. so finally they found us. we were back but for those two days i didn’t want to eat; the only thing i wanted to do was cry. so we went back to the tijuana, we have family members in tijuana and about two weeks later i was ready to go back but my younger brother and my sister were already in the u.s. they crossed the first time so now it was just me and my mom who also got deported, detained because of the time we were in tijuana but my sister and my brother were already on this side. so there was a question whether do they go back, how do we do this? should we come here? so i was the last one to enter the country and i mean i didn’t want to come i just wanted to leave. i remember the perception in my town especially from my teacher was kind of a bad perception of el norte; you are going to el norte which is kind of bad. the imperialist, capitalist place; this is what my teacher would tell us; she was a very revolutionary teacher. besides, in third and fifth grade, i had the same teacher and she just had a bad perception about it and i learned that in the elementary school. guadalupe’s story is not one of eager departure to escape poverty, seeking opportunity in the land of milk and honey. as he so vividly recalls, going to el norte was not something that his community members reveled. quite the opposite, this traversing of the border was more of a paradigmatic shift, leaving one’s home culture and stepping foot into the disturbing land of imperialism and capitalism. there is a common myth that immigrants come to the united states looking forward, but, as we well know as immigrants, we may be walking forward but our heads are always looking back. guadalupe, not unlike many immigrants, came to the united states with the intention of temporarily resettling but always with the hope of going back to his native country. it is less of an american dream we seek and more of an american daydream we long for that we will one day snap out of only to return to our national reality. my border crossing resulted from different circumstances yet, again, not for the reasons that the dominant privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 13 narrative would have us believe; we did not seek a land of opportunity. in fact, we were destined to lose our once upper-middle class socioeconomic status by leaving our native guatemala. amidst the multiple and multiterrained borders that guadalupe and i crossed—geographically, academically, and personally—i theorize about the ways in which we might embrace these topographies. researcher’s crossing of multiple borders geographical border when i was five years old, my papa fled to the united states, unbeknownst to my pregnant mama and my then sister and brother (we would grow to a family of eight). it was good friday, 1979, thirty-six years ago to the day. eventually, my mama, being who she is, found my papa and we landed in west covina, california (i have skipped over a mirage of important details but as with most immigrant stories, there are secrets i will not share, cosas que no se dicen). my parents were the first in their families to attend college. my papa had his master’s degree in civil engineering; my mama had some years of college under her belt – this socioeconomic status allowed us to get a visa through guatemalan consulate connections. in a guatemalan context, we were financially well off. as we know, class is something that rarely rears its head in the context of the immigrant narrative since media images would have us believe that all immigrants share a monolithic experience that begins with crossing the border by desert or river. however, the less told story (probably because it does not incite xenophobic sentiments therefore serving no political purpose) is that many undocumented immigrants go to el norte by obtaining a temporary visa, flying on a plane, and overstaying their time limit. this was my family’s case. academic border fast-forward to my life as a tenure-track assistant professor engaged in research about currently undocumented people. i am no longer undocumented, benefiting, through no effort of my own, from all the rights and privileges associated with american citizenship. i sit at my desk, overlooking lake michigan, reviewing interview transcripts, coding data, reading books of theory and slowly in time recognizing only a blurring of the life i once occupied. the 37th floor at lakeshore east is far away from the realities of my family’s once undocumented life. the distance—geographical, spatial, and emotional—renders me floating in a space that is “betwixt and between,” as anzaldúa (1987) might say. i am certainly not the first nor will i be the last to reside in the borderland of research and researched, native and non-native, oppressed and oppressor. personal border in the same vein that guadalupe questions his position and deservingness as an undocumented person with privilege, i question my own deservingness of this role as researcher, given my once undocumented status, and work to chart my path towards a borderland love ethic as a native researcher (villenas, 1996), to understand and reconcile my position as a once-undocumented immigrant to a now hyperdocumented (chang, 2011) researcher studying undocumented people. i want to explore the ways in which love of self and love of the other play out in my research process. as abu-lughod (1991) explains, “because of their split selves, feminist and halfie anthropologists travel uneasily between speaking ‘for’ and speaking ‘from’” (p. 470). similarly, i speak in the borderland tongue from being once undocumented and for those who are currently undocumented. i own the tensions i experience around “deservingness” and representation as a native undocumented researcher. i find it necessary to unpack my positionality as it relates to my current work with undocumented students and specifically, in relationship to guadalupe, one of my undocumented student participants who led me to problematize my position an insider (native) researcher. my once undocumented status feels null and void amidst those who currently live their undocumented status. the insider (native) /outsider dilemma many scholars have problematized the insider/outsider dilemma. arguments regarding this dilemma have ranged from lack of objectivity, an insider’s knowledge not being sufficient, to questioning the extent of a privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 14 native anthropologist’s nativeness, to enacting colonizer and colonized practices. abu-lughod (1991) explained that “the problem with studying one’s own society is alleged to be the problem of gaining enough distance” and continues on, “these worries suggest that the anthropologist is still defined as a being who must stand apart from the other, even when he or she seeks explicitly to bridge the gap” (p. 468). narayan (1993) asked, “how native is a native anthropologist?” in her discussion of native anthropology, she problematizes the value given to so-called native anthropologists and the dichotomous nature of the native (insider) vs. regular (outsider) researcher, arguing for enactment of hybridity in our texts where researchers are “viewed in terms of shifting identifications amid a field of interpenetrating communities and power relations” (p. 671). after all, she insists, who is this generic subject, “the native”? instead she focuses on the importance of seeing our participants as people with voices, views, and dilemmas rather than as an essentialized other. she claims that by situating ourselves as subjects simultaneously touched by life experiences and swayed by professional concerns, we can acknowledge the hybrid and positioned nature of our identities. sofia villenas (1996) asked, “what happens when members of low-status and marginalized groups become university-sanctioned ‘native’ ethnographers of their own communities” (p. 712)? she argues that while qualitative researchers theorize their own privilege in relation to their research participants, native researchers must deal with their own marginalizing experiences in relation to dominant society. the native researcher becomes both the colonizer, via her position as university expert investigator and the colonized, as a member of the othered community she studies. she finds herself complicit in the manipulation of her own identities and participating in her own colonization and marginalization. she challenges majority culture researchers to call upon their own marginalizing experiences and find a space for the emergence of new identities and discourse in the practice of solidarity with marginalized peoples. jacob (2006) discusses the ways in which power dynamics affect the knowledge production processes involved in research. she focuses on researcher reflexivity and the problematics and power dynamics involved when a native attempts to “go researcher.” she finds how the complications of researcher subjectivity, research ethics, and identity work took shape during her research process. chicana scholars, patricia zavella (1996) and maxine baca zinn (1979) explore racial subjectivities within their research, discussing the dilemmas that insiders face during the research process, such as abiding by community norms and writing in a way that accurately and respectfully represents the community while adhering to academic protocols. because we present the other as we present ourselves (abu-lughod, 1991), native researchers “speak with a complex awareness and investment in reception … forced to confront squarely the politics and ethics of their representations. there are no easy solutions to their dilemmas” (p. 469). many of these dilemmas lie in shifting/evolving identities of the researcher relative to the researched. for example, researchers, once part of a lower socioeconomic class trouble their new positionality as upper middle class professors. others who came from families with little formal education note the challenges with their newfound highly educated status. still, others discuss evolutions of their sexual, racial, and ethnic identities over time and the ways in which these identifications contrast with that of their participants who are from communities which they once identified with but no longer. as a once undocumented immigrant conducting research on currently undocumented immigrants, i am met with similar conundrums of native researchers but specifically with one very poignant impasse. immigration status is an entity that, while remaining with you as an aspect of your identity (regardless of immigration status), is something over which individuals have little to no personal control over. in other words, immigration status is not an identity that you can self-select; the state determines that identity. therefore in engaging with my participants, i am, in fact, an institutional agent acting from the same place where others once limited my life’s potentiality. i did not pull myself up from my bootstraps to arrive at this documented point—the state determined my status. and because the nature of migration and immigration policy is one that is always in flux, what applied then is not what applies now. the political environment, the laws and executive orders, the resources and the global climate around immigration require a relevant, current and thorough understanding in order to then disseminate appropriate, responsible information to those seeking a pathway to citizenship. when i have conducted studies on another native community of mine, the multiracial community, i was able to envision possible scenarios down the road, commiserating with my participants and anticipating possible outcomes with regards to identity development and life choices. i don’t have this vision with undocumented students because i, privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 15 we, am at the disposition of lawmakers. certainly, we can and have exerted agency in this regard, but there is a ceiling. there is a dangerous line i tread that balances hopefulness with the political and legal realities of this country. there are too many unknown variables in the lives of undocumented students to determine what may be ahead. so as a researcher who strives to be socially just, what is my role as i interact with my participants? in one of my researcher journal entries, i focused on the visceral discomfort, symptomatic of my duality. i am pulled. my body feels as if it will split in half if i continue to do this work. every time i interview another undocumented student, i feel that i will come undone. i know this work is important. i feel a deep connection with my participants. i push hard through feelings of inferiority. it is like grieving. the once undocumented guatemalan immigrant in me feels survivor guilt. the researcher in me feels the potential lack of ethics involved in the lack of reciprocal benefit. the teacher in me mourns for the wasted educational potential. the neighborhood girl in me is wading in a new adolescence where the more i learn, the less i know, the less i understand. the border lives and dies in me and through every interview i conduct, every word i transcribe, every memory that reemerges. and i have it easy, so easy. but this work of researching is not fate; it is a choice. this is not a feeling, this is an action. i am lost in love. (research journal entry, 1/15/2015) in another piece, i discuss in detail my journey from undocumented to hyperdocumented immigrant, perhaps perpetuating the now common belief that in order to qualify for u.s. citizenship, not only do you have to follow all the rules and be behaviorally upstanding, but also a straight-a student, activist and community heroine. i often think of this notion that guadalupe also raised in his interview, of “deserving immigrant” and ruminate on the psychological and emotional stakes that we are holding. how does my own research (including my choice of participants) feed this myth? how do we so-called native researchers reconcile luxuriating in the powerful abstraction of the ivory tower while claiming a native stance in solidarity with our study participants? how do we negotiate dichotomous positions of oppression and privilege as we carry out our research, specifically in the context of studying people of undocumented status? villenas’ (1996) notion of the colonizer/colonized chicana ethnographer: i am the colonized in relation to the greater society, to the institution of higher learning, and to the dominant majority culture in the research setting. i am the colonizer because i am the educated, ‘marginalized’ researcher, recruited and sanctioned by privileged dominant institutions to write for and about latino communities. (p. 714) while undocumented people are dying crossing borders, their remains often unidentifiable from the scorch of the desert heat; mothers and children are detained at privately funded, grossly profitable detention centers (heidbrink, 2014) often called hieleras (iceboxes) because of the chilling air conditioning that remains on 24 hours a day; lgbtq detainees suffering horrendous abuses after fleeing their home countries from persecution only to find worse treatment within disguised prison walls—i write. i want to believe that this is my activism. but to go from a once undocumented child, crossing the geographical southern border to a now hyperdocumented professor, crossing the metaphorical border is a leap that situates me in a unique borderland of sorts. like guadalupe, i grapple with the ways in which my privileged status interrupts, impacts and colors my interactions. i believe we must be intentional in the ways in which we approach our research so that we leverage our multiple, often-ambiguous identities as sources of strength, love, and humility. i offered an approach that might help to take us closer towards a borderland love ethic. contradictions a borderland love ethic is an attempt to reconcile a removed privileged identity with an identity in privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 16 solidarity with research participants’ struggles against oppression. my borderland identity as a now documented researcher is quite different than guadalupe’s identity as an undocumented graduate student of color. the act of writing about having once been undocumented creates an immediate riff between researcher and participant with the ironic twist that such an identity perhaps facilitated my entrée into the lives of my participants and initiated a type of familiar rapport. the truth of the matter is that i am able to enact a borderland ethic because of my privilege. guadalupe, on the other hand, is always arriving. even though he resides in the united states and is considered successful, he is still absent in many ways, living his social reality with the knowledge that legality remains an impossibility. conclusion often, researchers of marginalized statuses and identities privately wrestle with powerfully mixed emotions regarding their positionalities as researchers and the positionalities of those who they research. this can lead to debilitating feelings, including imposter syndrome, survivor’s guilt, and analysis paralysis. this inquiry is important because it invites a conversation, one that is open, nonjudgmental and courageous about the emotional and practical realities of a native researcher in academia. as hooks (2000) so beautifully notes: to live our lives based on the principles of a love ethic (showing care, respect, knowledge, integrity and the will to cooperate), we have to be courageous. learning how to face our fears is one way we embrace love. our fear may not go away, but it will not stand in the way. (p. 101). the seemingly contradictory positions of privilege and solidarity with our study participants are important in understanding how we can purposively instill love in our research practice and perhaps become transformed in the process. we have all heard the adage that love is a verb, not a noun, and this is particularly true in research. as researchers, we have been trained, for the most part, to see participants as the researched, the subjects, the nouns versus seeing them as living, dynamic, active verbs. this paradigmatic change transforms the research process from one of bystander, objective observer to engaged, subjective partaker. it allows us to “live and love in the present—as much personally as politically” (darder, 2003, p. 499). as researchers, we must transgress the rules of academia by showing up to our research fully with our beautiful mess of powerful contradictions, engaging a borderland love ethic that moves us to face our work with nurturing strength, compassion, and renewal. privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 17 references abrego, l. (2014). sacrificing families: navigating laws, labor and love across borders. stanford, california: stanford university press. abu-lughod, j. (1991). writing against culture. in r. fox (ed.), recapturing anthropology (pp. 466-479). santa fe, nm: school of american research press. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands: la frontera the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. chang, a. (2011). undocumented to hyperdocumented: a jornada of protection, papers, and phd status. harvard educational review, 81(3), 508-520. chavez, k. (2013). queer migration politics: activist rhetoric and coalitional possibilities. chicago, il: university of illinois press. coll, k. (2004). necesidades y problemas: immigrant latina vernaculars of belonging, coalition and citizenship in san francisco, california. latino studies, 2, 186-209. crenshaw, k. w. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 43(6), 1241-1299. darder, a. (2003). teaching as an act of love: reflections on paolo freire and his contributions to our lives and our work. in a. darder, m. baltodano & r. d. torres (eds.), the critical pedagogy reader. new york, ny: routledge. dowbor, l. (1997). preface to pedagogy of the heart by p. freire. new york, ny: continuum. freire, p. (1993). pedagogy of the city. new york, ny: continuum. freire, p. (1998). pedagogy of freedom: ethics, democracy, and civic courage. lanham, md: rowman and littlefield. greenwood, d.j., & levin, m. (1998). reform of the social sciences and of universities through action research. in n. denzin (ed.), the handbook of qualitative research (vol. 3) (pp. 43-64). thousand oaks, ca: sage. gutiérrez y muhs, g., flores niemann, y., gonzález, c.g., & harris, a. (eds.). (2012). presumed incompetent: the intersections of race and class for women in academia. boulder, co: university press of colorado. heidbrink, l. (2014). migrant youth, transnational families, and the state: care and contested interests. philadelphia, pa: university of pennsylvania press. hooks, b. (1994). teaching to transgress. new york, ny: routledge. hooks, b. (2000). all about love. new york, ny: first perennial. jacob, m. (2006). when a native “goes researcher”: notes from the north american indigenous games. the american behavioral scientist, 50(4), 450-461. king, jr., m. l. (november 7, 1957). loving your enemies. delivered at dexter avenue baptistchurch. montgomery, alabama. lorde, a. (1988). a burst of light, essays. london: sheba feminist publishers. narayan, k. (1993). how native is a “native” anthropologist? american anthropological association, 95(3), 671686. negrón-gonzales, g. (2014). undocumented, unafraid and unapologetic: re-articulatory practices and migrant youth “illegality”. latino studies, 12(2), 259-278. villenas, s. (1996). the colonizer / colonized chicana ethnographer: identity, marginalization, and co-optation in the field. harvard educational review, 66(4), 711-731. zavella, p. (1996). feminist insider dilemmas: constructing ethnic identity with chicana informants. in d.l. wolf (ed.), feminist dilemmas in fieldwork (pp. 158-159). boulder, co: westview. zinn, m.b. (1979). field research in minority communities: ethical, methodological, and political observations by an insider. social problems, 27(2), 209-219. privileged and undocumented: toward a borderland love ethic association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 40 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms ester de jong university of florida abstract increasingly, mainstream teachers rather than specialist language teachers (english as a second language, bilingual teachers) are expected to work with english language learners (ells) in their classrooms. this reality has drawn attention to the quality and content of the teacher preparation for this group of ell teachers. situated within this framework, this article problematizes an acceptance of mainstream classrooms as english-only, monolingual learning environments in mainstream teacher preparation. while english is the dominant medium of instruction in mainstream classrooms, a monolingual approach is problematic as it fails to draw attention to the role that ells’ native language resources play in learning. the article thus advocates for ensuring that mainstream teachers embrace and know how to engage in bilingual practices, broadly defined. introduction english language learners (ells) continue to outpace the non-ell population in k-12 school enrollment (shin & kominski, 2010; uro & barrio, 2013) with the largest increases observed in regions with traditionally low numbers of ells (ramsey & o’day, 2010). ‘new destination’ states such as georgia, north dakota, and south carolina have experienced a more than 200% increase in their ell population, which has put unprecedented demands on schools and has created an urgent need for large-scale teacher professional development (mikowporto et al., 2004). these ell enrollment increases combine with political, economic, and other educational trends to create a situation where many ells are placed fulltime or for most of the day in mainstream rather than specialist language programs. schools with low incidence ell populations and/or those experiencing a rapid influx of ells in a relatively short time may not always have access to the necessary human and material resources to support ells solely through a specialist language program, such as a bilingual or english as a second language (esl) program. in these cases, administrators often resort to mainstream placements for their ells. in 2003, nearly 50% of all ells received minimal (fewer than 10 hours) or no special services, compared to 32% a decade earlier (center on education policy, 2005). it is likely that these percentages are even higher today, particularly in rural districts (american association for employment in education, 2008; flynne & hill, 2005). this trend does not imply that instructional time that is dedicated to specialized language and literacy development is not necessary or that the reduction in specialist language teachers and programs is necessarily a positive trend. in fact, a recent report of the council of great city schools (horwitz et al., 2009) identified the presence of specialized ell expertise at all decision-making levels in successful school districts. the increase in ell mainstream classroom placement has been accompanied by targeted accountability for ells under no child left behind. as a result, attention has shifted from bilingual and esl classrooms and specialist teachers to what happens in mainstream classrooms and how to effectively prepare mainstream teachers to work with ells. most states are only in the beginning stages of including requirements for preservice mainstream teacher preparation and/or developing policies for systematically providing ell-related inservice professional development for practicing teachers on a statewide basis (menken & antuñez, 2001; quality counts, 2009). a recent study by akiba, cockrell, simmons, han and agarwal, (2010) suggests that preservice teacher education programs pay closer attention to cultural diversity and multicultural education through a ‘human relations approach’ than through an approach that supports teachers in using students’ cultural experiences as resources for teaching. in this study, california distinguished itself by its focus on linguistic diversity, as opposed to issues of culture and race, which tend to be the focus of courses related to ‘diversity.’ uro and barrio (2013) report that, while the states surveyed required certification or endorsements for bilingual or esl specialist teachers, only 10 out of the 44 districts reporting were in states with such requirements for general education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 41 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms teachers. in addition, three districts were in states with a requirement of a certain amount of professional development hours. it is perhaps not surprising, then, that many mainstream teachers lack basic foundational knowledge about ell issues, despite the fact that 88% teach ells. in california, only 29% teachers with more than three ells in their classrooms reported being professionally certified in either english as a second language (esl) or bilingual education (gándara, maxwell-jolly, & driscoll, 2005). mainstream teachers also vary greatly in their willingness to accommodate their instruction for ells in order to ensure the integration of language and content development (reeves, 2006; walker, shafer, & iiams, 2004). moreover, some research suggests that general accommodations for comprehensibility appear more likely to emerge than the use of second language-specific support for ells (de jong & harper, 2011). when these findings are juxtaposed with the increased placement of ells in mainstream classrooms, the need for more comprehensive approaches to teacher preparation for english language learners (ells) is clear and has indeed been recognized. several frameworks for improved mainstream teacher preparation for ells have been suggested (e.g., coady, de jong, & harper, 2011; fillmore & snow, 2002; lucas, 2011; lucas & grinberg, 2008). these frameworks do not intend to replace existing professional standards for specialist language teachers nor do they deny the need for the continued preparation of language specialists. they aim to outline the necessary knowledge and skills related to issues of language and culture in the classroom that mainstream teachers need to develop in addition to those presented in their general educator preparation (de jong & harper, 2005). after briefly outlining the main components of these conceptual frameworks, this article focuses on a dimension that receives minimal attention in these frameworks, namely the monolingually oriented learning environments that by default dominate mainstream classrooms. i argue that, while the frameworks often include reference to the role of the native language in second language acquisition processes, actual classroom practices provide minimal guidance for mainstream teachers to become advocates for additive bilingualism. mainstream teacher preparation for ells to date, most studies on mainstream teacher ell preparation and ell student achievement have been conceptual; that is, scholars have sought to outline what mainstream teachers should know and be able to do when working with ells (commins & miramontes, 2006; de jong & harper, 2005; fillmore & snow, 2002; lucas & grinberg, 2008; lucas & villegas, 2013). broadly conceived, the various frameworks share their emphasis on the roles that language and culture play in school for ells and the ell-targeted second language, literacy, and content area classroom practices needed in mainstream classrooms. lucas and grinberg (2008), for instance, introduce the term ‘linguistically responsive practices’, a set of language-related knowledge and skills that mainstream teachers of ells need to have. they subsequently outline understandings about language, language proficiency, and second language acquisition (theory) and strategies for scaffolding instruction for ells (practices) for preservice teachers. similarly, lucas and villegas (2013) frame the ell preservice teacher knowledge base in terms of sociolinguistic consciousness and valueing linguistic diversity. sociolinguistic awareness focuses on the integral connection between language, culture, and identity and the sociopolitical contexts of language use. they add that preservice teachers also need to develop a readiness to advocate for ells (de oliveira & athanases, 2007). in addition to these foundational skills, teachers need to command a set of strategies to get to know their students and ways to scaffold their instruction. interestingly, while some bilingual strategies (i.e., translation, native language writing) are mentioned for getting to know the ell, such strategies are not mentioned under curriculum planning and delivery. the role of the native language is thus acknowledged as an influencing factor in second language acquisition but how mainstream teachers can use and be taught to use the students’ native languages as a resource for teaching is largely invisible. unfortunately, the research base documenting how ell-related knowledge and skills are and can be effectively included in the teacher preparation program lags far behind the discussions on conceptual frameworks. small-scale studies that focus on individual programs has indicated that institutional support is important and that changes in course syllabi, professional development for faculty, and content and esl faculty collaboration can be effective in helping candidates develop a more effective “ell lens” (e.g., brisk, 2006; costa, mcphail, association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 42 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms smith, & brisk, 2005; gort, glenn, & settlage, 2011; lucas, 2011; meskill, 2005). since these preparation models are connected and linked to general education teacher preparation programs, it is almost unavoidable that they focus on how english-medium environments can be made more accessible to ells. the role of the native language in second language learning is acknowledged and respect for students’ linguistic and cultural resources is viewed as an important value. in terms of classroom practices, however, the default is english (sheltering english instruction, teaching academic english). the remainder of this article illustrates the sociopolitical context of this monolingual stance, its potential impact, and the importance of ensuring that mainstream teachers (and administrators), as one important group of educators working with ells, are prepared to effectively negotiate monolingual policies and practices for their ells. monolingual lenses in u.s. educational policy language policies for ells are typically considered from the perspective of explicit policies that affect special language programs for ells. current policies clearly favor an english-only approach to teaching ells. only a handful of states officially encourage or allow bilingual education. legislation such as proposition 227 in california, proposition 203 in arizona, and question 2 in massachusetts mandated the default placement of ells in structured english immersion (sei) programs. although the definition of role of the native language within sei has changed significantly over time (mcfield, 2006), sei is an english-only program option, which severely limits and/or prohibits the use of and access to core instruction in languages other than english. though not explicitly formulated or positioned as language policies, national and state educational reform efforts to improve the quality of schooling for all students nevertheless greatly shape language practices in schools (harper, de jong, & platt, 2008; menken, 2006, 2008; shohamy, 2006). the monolingual practices that have accompanied many of these educational policies are reinforced through the monolingual assumptions that are explicitly and implicitly made about the nature of language, language proficiency, and language development. these assumptions and practices greatly affect the mainstream classroom environment for ells. the nature of language proficiency and language development the federal no child left behind (nclb) act and the development of new accountability systems has raised important questions about what language proficiency is needed for schooling purposes. that is, what is the specific register of language of school (also referred to as ‘academic language’) that students need to learn to meet the language demands of content learning (bailey, 2007; krashen & brown, 2007; scarcella, 2003; schleppegrell, 2004). to date, researchers and teacher educators have focused on identifying the specific linguistic features of academic english in general and for specific content areas, how these features can best be taught (in english), as well as the relationships between academic english proficiency and performance on content assessments in english (anstrom et al., 2010; bailey, butler, laframenta, & ong, 2004). importantly, attention to issues of linguistic diversity are largely absent from these discussions, with the exception of (spanish-english) cognates (e.g., august & shanahan, 2006). similarly, the measurement of achievement, annual growth, and learning gains in and through english on standardized reading tests has intensified english-only practices nationwide (evans & hornberger, 2005; menken, 2006; valenzuela, 2005). these tests are normed on native english speakers rather than bilingual learners. moreover, there is an expectation that ells will achieve sufficient proficiency in english within less than two years such that their scores on an english achievement test are reliable and valid. even with the most academically prepared ells, this expectation is unrealistic; for those who come with gaps in their schooling, two years is even more in conflict with current research on second language acquisition for school purposes. regardless of these and other reservations by assessment experts (abedi, 2004), the accountability expectations under nclb have led to a resurgence of the view that bilingualism is a liability rather than a resource for ells’ school success (black, 2006; escamilla, chavez, & vigil, 2005). it has also led to a narrowing of the curriculum where the literacy curriculum stresses the basic, lower-level, discrete reading skills that are measured by the test (cummins, 2007; sleeter & stillman, 2005). association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 43 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms monolingual stance through standardization another aspect of the monolingual lens of current educational reform is the assumption that, despite student diversity, the same approach to school improvement or classroom interventions will be appropriate. like nclb, other national and state educational reform efforts (such as the common core standards, the response to intervention movement) assume that they are inclusive of the needs of ells. in practice, however, these policies tend to glance over significant implications for working with ells. while the proposed curricula, interventions, and strategies can be appropriate for some ells, they are not necessarily sufficient to meet their diverse linguistic, academic, and cultural needs (buck, mast, ehlers, & franklin, 2005; harper & de jong, 2004, 2009). for instance, in the wake of nclb and reading first, older ells were often assigned to receive interventions designed for struggling native english speakers. however, the texts used in these classes were often too difficult for ells and the curriculum was generally inappropriate for those whose reading difficulties in english lie in vocabulary development and reading comprehension, and not in the decoding and basic skills practice provided in these remedial classes (callahan, 2006). the limitations of monolingual stances or the need for multilingual orientations the placement of ells in monolingual settings becomes problematic when teachers or administrators fail or are unable to mediate their practices to address the specific linguistic and cultural needs of ells. the mere placement of ells in mainstream classrooms without attention to their linguistic and cultural needs can lead to significant inequities in student participation, access to quality curriculum, and opportunities to learn for ells (cohen, 1997; de jong & harper, 2005; losey, 1995; verplaetse, 2000). although the focus here is on mainstream classroom settings, it should be noted that the shift to more english-only special language programs also contributes to a monolingual definition of the schooling of ells. when it comes to effective practices for ells, the research consistently points out that additive rather than subtractive responses to linguistic and cultural diversity significantly and positively affect ell achievement and performance. policies and practices that affirm and create learning environments that purposefully build on ells’ language and cultural resources are the most effective for ells (brisk, 2006; de jong, 2011; genesee, lindholm-leary, saunders, & christian, 2005; lucas, henze, & donato, 1990; miramontes, nadeau, & commins, 1997; nieto & bode, 2008). this additive stance is grounded in a basic learning principle that students’ prior knowledge and experiences affect how and what they learn. applying this principle to ells implies using and accessing ells’ native language because ells’ prior and on-going learning and knowledge development is encoded in that language (cummins et al., 2005). high-quality and well-implemented bilingual programs that reflect this additive principle have consistently demonstrated positive academic and language outcomes for ells (august & hakuta, 1997; cummins & corson, 1997; lindholm-leary, 2001). it is important to stress, however, that an additive bilingual stance goes well beyond bilingual programming (de jong, 2011). even in english-only classrooms (including sei classrooms), effective english teachers strategically use students’ native language resources for multiple purposes, such as clarifying and assessing content learning, building social relationships, teaching key concepts, making crosslinguistic connections (gersten & baker, 2000; karathanos, 2010; lucas & katz, 1994; tikunoff & vazquezfaria, 1983). effective teachers use their students’ cultural experiences in order to mediate unfamiliar content for their ells and ensure better comprehension (herrera, 2010; moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992; nieto, 2002). from these observations we have to conclude that, even when ells are placed in english-medium settings, these schools and classrooms should not become monolingually-oriented contexts of learning. arguably, they do not need to – taking an additive multilingual and multicultural stance can and needs to extend to mainstream classrooms; it is not limited to bilingual educators teaching in bilingual programs. simply because the language of instruction is in one language (english), this should not imply that these educators should engage in monolingually oriented policies and practices that largely ignore the cultural and linguistic resources that ells bring to school. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 44 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms in fact, doing so would deny ells equitable access to opportunities to learn and achieve optimally within the school system (cummins, 2005; de jong, 2011). teacher preparation for ells in monolingually oriented classrooms if the majority of teachers of ells will in fact be working as mainstream teachers in english-medium classrooms that are monolingually oriented, it challenges teacher preparation program to provide them with the tools to be able to effectively leverage students’ linguistic (native language and second language) and cultural resources for instruction in these contexts. given equity and excellence for ells as our goal, the ability to challenge monolingualizing trends in educational policies and to advocate for multilingually oriented practices become essential, non-negotiable skills for teachers and administrators working with ells. while it is understandable that most mainstream teacher preparation frameworks take a monolingual focus (i.e., how to teach english within the existing mainstream classroom structure), this will not be sufficient to prepare them to create the most optimal learning environments for ells. teachers and administrators need to show respect students’ native languages and understand its role in supporting second language and literacy development (lucas & grinberg, 2008; proctor, august, snow, & barr, 2010). however, they also need to move beyond tolerance of the native language at beginning stages of second language development and develop the knowledge and skills to actively engage in language practices that reflect this additive stance. second, they need to be able to critically analyze their mainstream context from a bilingual learners’ perspective and understand where mainstream policies and practices are inappropriate and insufficient and where they are useful for specific ells. both dimensions are presented in more detail below. supporting a multilingual stance ell-specific expertise combined with proficiency in a language other than english (lote) would certainly more easily implement bi-or multilingual practices (karathanos, 2010). learning another language, traveling abroad, and exposure to culturally diverse settings assists in the development of more empathy for the task ells have to face . research on study abroad and other culturally diverse placements have demonstrated that these experiences positively affect teachers’ perceptions of effectiveness and efficacy working in diverse contexts, including ells (barkhuizen & feryok, 2006; clark & flores, 1997; ference & bell, 2004; pence & macgillivray, 2008; reyes, 2009; teague, 2010; willard-holt, 2001). this finding points to the importance of actively recruiting bilingual individuals into the mainstream teaching force and to provide opportunities within teacher preparation for study abroad experiences for those with less proficiency in a language other than english. even when teachers of ells are limited proficient in lote, however, they can be encouraged to adopt an additive stance in their practices (schwarzer, haywood, & lorenzen, 2003). teacher educators can explain the importance of multilingual practices such as the use of cognates in vocabulary teaching, grouping strategies by native language, cross-age tutoring with students from the same language background, creating bilingual books, and building metalinguistic awareness through cross-linguistic analyses (cummins, 2005, 2006; de jong & freeman, 2010; irujo, 2005; schwarzer et al., 2003). teacher candidates can be taught to use specific strategies that tap into students personal and communal funds of knowledge and use these understandings to adapt curriculum in ways that are more appropriate for ells, student-centered, and still connected to content standards (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005; herrera, 2010). they can assist teacher candidates in identifying bilingual resources for the classroom (bilingual dictionaries, bilingual children’s books, books in lote, students’ native language supplementary materials) and in the community. administrators, too, need to develop knowledge and skills to support multilingual approaches. examples may include finding ways to ensure multilingual home-school communications, how to produce multilingual signage, bilingual hiring practices, and how to facilitate access to interpreters. when evaluating teachers, they can encourage and expect multilingual practices and materials and ensure that teachers use appropriate differentiation strategies for ells. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 45 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms bilingual advocacy teacher candidates also need to learn to critically use bilingual lenses to reflect on policies and their practices related to curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. preservice teachers need to understand the linguistic and cultural needs of ells and how these needs intersect with general state and federal educational policies (de jong, harper, & coady, 2013). recent initiatives, such as no child left behind, the common core standards, and response to intervention carry the assumption that the needs of ells will be addressed. in practice, however, implementation of such policies and initiatives has consistently overlooked the distinctive needs of bilingual learners or addressed them only as an after-thought (e.g., harper & de jong, 2009; herrera & murray, 2006). curricula and instructional interventions that are promoted for “diverse” mainstream classrooms may be effective for some ells; however, they are not necessarily appropriate or adequate to meet the diverse linguistic, academic, and cultural needs of many ells (harper & de jong, 2004, 2009), nor do they typically take bilingualism into consideration. mainstream teachers need to understand the difference and use their understanding the role of language in school and the processes of bilingualism and second language acquisition to advocate for effective practices for ells (lucas & grinberg, 2008). a second step is to enhance this critical analysis with a bilingual lens. when discussing home-school relations and communications, teacher preparation programs can discuss how to support parents in their efforts to maintain the native language and design home-school literacy projects that involve both languages (de jong, 2008). teachers and administrators can interpret accountability results from a bilingual perspective (escamilla, chavez, & vigil, 2005); for example, one that acknowledges the nature of second language development and the importance of including native language assessment data. they can learn how to disaggregate assessment data by important background variables that affect ells, such as transiency, initial english proficiency, and prior schooling. conclusion the increased linguistic and cultural diversity combined with the monolingualized nature of schooling in the united states adds a new layer of complexity for mainstream teacher preparation. the diversity of ells and the importance of additive multilingual and multicultural practices for effective ell schooling challenges teacher preparation programs to go beyond providing teachers with a toolkit of second language methods and basic principles of learning a second language. rather, they need to ensure that mainstream teachers understand bilingual learners, bilingual development, and ways that they can build on and extend students linguistic and cultural resources. moreover, they need to provide future educators with the skills to critically analyze national, state, and district policies through a bilingual lens and identify areas where change is needed. advocacy for a multilingual stance and practices is more important than ever as more and more ells are schooled in english-only mainstream classrooms or language programs. preparation programs need to provide their candidates with the conceptual and practical understandings to take ells’ l1 and l2 resources into consideration as a starting point for district, school and classroom policies and practices. such expertise includes: • an understanding why multilingual practices are essential for ells and why this stance is not limited to bilingual education programs. they need to understand the role that ells’ linguistic and cultural resources play in content learning, in language and literacy development, and in their successful integration into the sociocultural environment of the school. • advocacy for and engagement in multilingual practices. they need to be able to examine policies from an ell perspective and ‘teach for transfer’, i.e., use strategies for accessing students’ linguistic and cultural resources for instructional purposes and to leverage school and community resources to support their instruction for ells. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 46 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms references abedi, j. (2004). the no child left behind act and english language learners: assessment and accountability issues. educational researcher, 33(1), 4-14. akiba, m., cockrell, k. s., simmons, j. c., han, s., & agarwal, g. (2010). preparing teachers for diversity: examination of teacher certification and program accreditation standards in the 50 states and washington, dc. equity & excellence in education, 43(4), 446-462. american association for employment in education (2008). educator supply and demand in the united states. 2008 executive summary. columbus, oh: american association for employment in education. anstrom, k., dicerbo, p., butler, f., katz, a., millet, j., & rivera, c. (2010). a review of the literature on academic english: implications for k-12 english language learners. arlington, va: the george washington university center for equity and excellence in education. august, d., & hakuta, k. (1997). improving schooling for language-minority children. a research agenda. washington, d.c.: national academic press. august, d., & shanahan, t. (eds.). (2006). developing literacy in second language learners. report of the national literacy panel on language-minority children and youth. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. bailey, a. (2007). the language demands of school: putting academic english to the test. new haven: yale university press. bailey, a., butler, f., laframenta, c., & ong, c. (2004). towards the characterization of academic language in upper elementary science classrooms. los angeles, ca: university of california national center for research on evaluation, standards, and student testing. barkhuizen, g., & feryok, a. (2006). pre-service teachers’ perceptions of a short-term international experience programme. asia-pacific journal of teacher education, 34(1), 115-13. black, w. r. (2006). constructing accountability performance for english language learner students. an unfinished journey toward language minority rights. educational policy, 20(1), 197-224. brisk, m. e. (2006). bilingual education: from compensatory to quality education (2nd ed.). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. buck, g., mast, c., ehlers, n., & franklin, e. (2005). preparing teachers to create a mainstream science classroom conducive to the needs of english-language learners: a feminist action research project. journal of research in science teaching, 42(9), 1013-1031. callahan, r. m. (2006). the intersection of accountability and language: can reading intervention replace english language development? bilingual research journal, 30(1), 1-20. center on education policy. (2005). state high school exit exams: states try hard, but gaps persist. washington, dc: author. clark, e. r., & flores, b. b. (1997). instructional snapshots (is) in mexico: pre-service bilingual teachers take pictures of classroom practices. bilingual research journal, 21(2&3), 273-283. coady, m. r., de jong, e. j., & harper, c. a. (2011). preservice to practice: mainstream teacher beliefs of preparation and efficacy with english language learners in the state of florida. bilingual research journal 34(2). cohen, e. g. (1997). equity in heterogeneous classrooms: a challenge for teachers and sociologists. in e. g. cohen & r. a. lotan (eds.), working for equity in heterogenous classrooms: sociological theory in practice. new york, ny: teachers college record. commins, n. l., & miramontes, o. b. (2006). addressing linguistic diversity from the outset. journal of teacher education, 57, 240-246. costa, j., mcphail, j. s., smith, j., & brisk, m. e. (2005). faculty first: the challenge of infusing the teacher education curriculum with scholarship on english language learners. journal of teacher education, 56(2), 104-118. cummins, j. (2005). a proposal for action: strategies for recognizing heritage language competence as a learning resource within the mainstream classroom. the modern language journal, 89(4), 585-592. cummins, j. (2006). identity texts: the imaginative construction of self through multiliteracies pedagogy. in association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 47 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms o. garcía, t. skutnabb-kangas & m. torres-guzmán (eds.), imagining multilingual schools: languages in education and glocalization (pp. 51-68). clevedon: multilingual matters. cummins, j. (2007). pedagogies for the poor? realigning reading instruction for low income students with scientifically based reading research. educational researcher, 36(9), 564-572. cummins, j., bismilla, v., chow, p., giampapa, f., cohen, s., leoni, l., et al. (2005). affirming identity in multicultural classrooms. educational leadership, 63(1), 38-43. cummins, j., & corson, d. (eds.). (1997). bilingual education. dordrecht, the netherlands: kluwer academic publishers. de jong, e.j. (2008). contextualizing policy appropriation: teachers’ perspectives, local responses, and englishonly ballot initiatives. urban review, 40 (4), 350-370. de jong, e. j. (2011). foundations of multilingualism in education: from principles to practice. philadelphia, pa: caslon publishing. de jong, e. j., & freeman, r. (2010). bilingual approaches. in c. leung & a. creese (eds.), english as an additional language. a reader for teachers working with linguistic minority pupils (pp. 108-122). uk: sage publications. de jong, e. j., & harper, c. a. (2005). preparing mainstream teachers for english language learners: is being a good teacher good enough? teacher education quarterly, 32(2), 101-124. de jong, e. j., & harper, c. a. (2011). “accommodating diversity”: pre-service teachers’ views on effective practices for english language learners. in t. lucas (ed.), teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms. a resource for teacher educators. new york: routledge. de jong, e.j., harper, c.a., & coady, m. (2013). enhanced knowledge and skills for elementary mainstream teachers of english language learners. theory into practice, 52 (2), 89-97. escamilla, k., chavez, l., & vigil, p. (2005). rethinking the “gap”. high-stakes testing and spanish-speaking students in colorado journal of teacher education, 56(2), 132-144. de oliveira, l. c., & athanases, s. z. (2007). graduates’ reports of advocating for english language learners. journal of teacher education, 58(3), 202-215. evans, b., & hornberger, n. h. (2005). no child left behind: repealing and unpeeling federal language education policy in the united states. language policy, 4, 87-106. ference, r. a., & bell, s. (2004). a cross-cultural immersion in the u.s.: changing preservice teacher attitudes toward latino esol students. equity & excellence in education, 37, 342-350. fillmore, l. w., & snow, c. e. (2002). what teachers need to know about language. in c. t. adger, c. e. snow & d. christian (eds.), what teachers need to know about language (pp. 7-53). washington, dc: center for applied linguistics. flynne, k., & hill, j. (2005). english language learners: a growing population. denver, co: midcontinent research for education and learning (mcrel). genesee, f., lindholm-leary, k. j., saunders, w., & christian, d. (2005). english language learners in u.s. schools: an overview of research. journal of education for students placed at risk, 10(4), 363-385. gersten, r., & baker, s. (2000). what we know bout effective instructional practices for english-language learners. exceptional children, 6(4), 454-470. gonzalez, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. gort, m., glenn, w. j., & settlage, j. (2011). toward culturally and linguistically responsive teacher education: the impact of a faculty learning community on two teacher educators. in t. lucas (ed.), teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms. a resource for teacher educators (pp. 178-194). new york: routledge. harper, c. a., & de jong, e. j. (2004). misconceptions about teaching ells. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 48(2), 152-162. harper, c. a., & de jong, e. j. (2009). english language teacher expertise: the elephant in the room. language and education, 23(2), 127-151. harper, c. a., de jong, e. j., & platt, e. j. (2008). marginalizing english as a second language teacher expertise: the exclusionary consequence of no child left behind. language policy, 7, 267-284. herrera, s. g. (2010). biography-driven culturally response teaching. new york: teachers college press. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 48 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms horwitz, a. r., uro, g., price-baugh, r., simon, c., uzzell, r., lewis, s., & casserly, m. (2009). succeeding with english language learners: lessons learned from the great city schools. council of the great city schools. irujo, s. (2005). promoting native language and culture in english-only programs retrieved from http://www. coursecrafters.com/elloutlook/2005/may_jun/elloutlookitiarticle3.htm karathanos, k. a. (2010). teaching english language learner students in us mainstream schools: intersections of language, pedagogy, and power. international journal of inclusive education, 14(1), 49-65. krashen, s., & brown, c. l. (2007). what is academic language proficiency. stets language & communication review, 6(1), 1-4. lindholm-leary, k. j. (2001). dual language education. clevedon: multilingual matters. linton, a., & franklin, r. c. (2010). bilingualism for the children: dual language programs under language restrictive policies. in p. gándara & m. hopkins (eds.), forbidden language. english language elarners and restrictive language policies (pp. 175-194). new york: teachers college press. losey, k. m. (1995). mexican american students and classrooms interaction: an overview and critique. review of educational research, 65(3), 283-318. lucas, t. (ed.). (2011). teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms. a resource for teacher educators. new york: routledge. lucas, t., & grinberg, j. (2008). responding to the linguistic reality of mainstream classrooms: preparing all teachers to teach english language learners. in m. cochran-smith, s. feiman-nemser and d. j. mcintyre (eds.), handbook of research on teacher education: enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd ed., pp. 606636). new york, ny: routledge. lucas, t., & villegas, a.m. (2013) preparing linguistically responsive teachers: laying the foundation in preservice teacher education, theory into practice, 52 (2), 98-109. lucas, t., henze, r. c., & donato, r. (1990). promoting the success of latino language minority students: an exploratory study if six high school. harvard educational review, 60(3), 315-340. lucas, t., & katz, a. (1994). reframing the debate: the roles of native languages in english-only programs for language minority students. tesol quarterly, 28 (3), 537-561. mcfield, g. p. (2006). the many faces of structured english immersion. international journal of foreign language teaching, 2(2), 16-24. menken, k. (2006). teaching to the test: how no child left behind impacts language policy, curriculum, instruction for english language learners. bilingual research journal, 30(2), 521-546. menken, k. (2008). english learners left behind: standardized testing as language policy. clevedon, uk: multilingual matters. menken, k., & antuñez, b. (2001). an overview of the preparation and certification of teachers working with limited english proficient lep students. washington, d.c.: national clearinghouse for bilingual education. meskill, c. (2005). infuding english language learner issues throughout professional educator curricula: the training all teachers project. teachers college record, 107(4), 739-756. mikow-porto, v., humphries, s., egelson, p., o’connell, d., teague, j., & rhimm, l. (2004). english language learners in the southeast: policy, research and practice. greensboro, nc: university of north carolina serve. miramontes, o. b., nadeau, a., & commins, n. (1997). restructuring schools for linguistic diversity: linking decisionmaking to effective programs. new york, ny: teachers college press. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: a qualitative approach to developing strategic connections between homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31, 132-141. nieto, s. (2002). language, culture, and teaching: critical perspectives for a new century. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. nieto, s., & bode, p. (2008). affirming diversity (5th ed.). boston, ma: pearson. pence, h. m., & macgillivray, i. k. (2008). the impact of an international field experience on preservice teachers. teaching and teacher education, 24, 14-28. proctor, p. c., august, d., snow, c. e., & barr, c. (2010). the interdependence continuum: a perspective on the nature of spanish-english bilingual reading comprehension. bilingual research journal, 38(5), 553-573. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 49 preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms quality counts. (2009). portrait of a population: how english language learners are putting schools to the test. education week, 28(17), ramsey, a., & o’day, j. (2010). title iii policy: state of the states. washington, d.c.: american institutes for research. reeves, j. r. (2006). secondary teacher attitudes toward including english-language learners in mainstream classrooms. journal of educational research, 99(3), 131-142. reyes, r. (2009). frustrated, but hopeful and empowerd: early field experiences shaping the thinking and pedagogy of future educators of english language learners. tabe journal, 11(1), 130-161. teague, b. l. (2010). preparing effective teachers of english language learners: the impact of a cross-cultural field experience. vanderbilt university, nashville, tenessee scarcella, r. (2003). accelerating academic english: a focus on the english learner. oakland, ca: regents of the university of california. schleppegrell, m. j. (2004). the language of schooling: a functional linguistics perspective. mahwah, nj: lawrence earlbaum associates. schwarzer, d., haywood, a., & lorenzen, c. (2003). fostering multiliteracy in a linguistically diverse classroom. language arts, 80(6), 453-460. shin, h. b., & kominski, r. a. (2010). language use in the united states: 2007. washington, dc.: u.s. census bureau. shohamy, e. (2006). language policy: hidden agendas and new approaches. new york, ny: routledge. sleeter, c. e., & stillman, j. (2005). standardizing knowledge in a multicultural society. curriculum inquiry, 35(1), 27-46. tikunoff, w. j., & vazquezfaria, j. a. (1983). successful schooling for bilingual children. peabody journal of education, 59(4), 234-271. uro, g., & barrio, a. (2013). english language learners in america’s great city schools: demographics, achievement, and staffing. washington dc: council of great city schools. valenzuela, a. (ed.). (2005). leaving children behind. how “texas-style” accountability fails latino youth. new york: state university of new york press. verplaetse, l. s. (2000). how content teachers allocate turns to limited english proficient students. journal of education, 182(3), 19-35. walker, a., shafer, j., & iiams, m. (2004). “not in my classroom”: teacher attitudes towards english language learners in the mainstream classroom. nabe journal of research and practice, 2(1), 130-160. willard-holt, c. (2001). the impact of a short-term international experience for preservice teachers. teaching and teacher education, 17, 505-517. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 94 22 students and 22 teachers: socio-cultural mediation in the early childhood classroom leticia i. lozano university of texas at san antonio abstract it is essential for teachers to provide a setting where student interaction is fostered as a mediational tool for learning, thus expediting the natural transfer of language and knowledge among students (cummins, 1979). doing so provides students a way of learning in an additive environment (soltero, 2004). could such a classroom have the potential to transform and empower students to feel valued, impacting their cognitive and self-identity growth? this reflective paper looks at the experience of one dual language kindergarten class through the lens of socio-cultural mediation (donato & maccormick, 1994) while considering the communities of practice as a theoretical framework (wenger, 1998) for dual language classrooms. implications indicate that these classrooms could potentially be communities for transformative pedagogy where interactive practices are developed in a way that advances life-long academic success for spanish-speaking students and english-speaking students alike. introduction as a teacher i believe that there is a correlation between socio-cultural mediation (donato & maccormick, 1994) and the educational experience of spanish-speaking students in the classroom. i believe that moving away from traditional roles can impact how a second language learner is valued in the classroom, therefore potentially changing a child’s feelings towards language, school, and the learning experience. i feel that it is my responsibility as a teacher to have a positive effect on students in their cognitive, developmental, and self-identity growth. the positive effect is built upon relationships developed in the classroom between the teacher and student and secondly between student and student. in my classroom the socio-cultural mediation of a student’s home language and academic language is enacted through the use of workstations as an organizational tool for classroom management, student agency, and purposeful scaffolding because i provide students with as many opportunities as possible to build relationships and to engage with each other through language and learning. my positionality falls within three roles: teacher, social cultural mediator, and advocate of transformative pedagogy within my classroom. my role within the educational institution as teacher requires me to negotiate myself within the bilingual education arena while maintaining balance among a two-sided rhetoric where the environment calls upon me to mediate two registers and two realities; one, the language of the student and the other, the academic language of the school. enacting the pedagogy of the chameleon (machado-casas, 2009, p. 543) enables me to disguise myself in multiple ways in the classroom, for example, as teacher, student, life-coach, and nurturer; this sort of chameleon work-style is accentuated by the many different cultural and linguistic experiences of my 22 students. with 22 students comes 22 ways of learning and 22 ways of teaching; as a chameleon, i am able to change gears with fluidity in order to meet the individual needs of each of the students (p. 543). i accomplish this fluidity by participating in genuine purposeful dialogue with my students. in doing so, i enact mediation through language for learning and personal growth. my role as dual language teacher i am currently a kindergarten, dual language teacher at a school in urban san antonio. in order to envision this particular environment, i give you some background information about the school, teachers, and students. at the school where i teach we follow a 90/10 two-way dual language model of instruction, this means that the student population is a mixed population of spanish-speakers and english-speakers (soltero, 2004, p. 6). this mixed population of students begins their educational experience functioning in spanish 90% of the time while experiencing literacy in spanish first, eventually moving to 50% of the time in spanish and 50% of 22 students and 22 teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 95 the time in english by third grade. in the dual language classroom, at this school, reading and writing is taught in spanish first for both spanish and english speakers. although reading and writing are explicitly taught in english beginning in the 2nd grade, teachers in kindergarten and first grade expose the students to english literacy during science and social studies class by modeling the language orally and through the reading and writing format. the school is a bilingual cluster campus which means that students who are labeled as limited english proficient (lep) are bussed to our campus for bilingual services from other schools in the nearby neighborhood. this school offers two types of bilingual education: dual language and transitional bilingual education for english language learners. in this dual language program all students are taught math and literacy in spanish by a teacher who will only speak in spanish, making it a spanish immersion environment. science, social studies, art, music, computers, physical education, counselors, and library time are taught in english by a different teacher who only speaks english. some are confused by the needs of the spanish-speaking students, which is evident throughout the institution; many question the use of spanish as a tool for learning. i feel that if teachers do not shift their traditional pedagogy, then spanish-speaking students are missing out on valuable lessons and relationships that could be formed with the teacher (freire, 2000). the typical student population of my class consists of ten english-speakers (who come from various ethnic backgrounds including latino, african american, and white) and twelve spanish-speakers (typically coming from families that maintain connections with relatives from spanish-speaking countries). four of the spanish-speakers and two of the english-speakers are fairly bilingual, these students act as language brokers; all of the students are either five or six years old. each grade level provides a spanish model teacher and an english model teacher. the spanish model teachers, when with their homeroom class –– which is in the dual language classroom, only speak spanish. the english model teacher comes to the dual language classroom during the designated instructional english time and speaks only english. at our school, in kindergarten the instructional english time is during science and social studies. if the students approach the teacher during instructional spanish time in english, the teacher asks the student to repeat in spanish. if the student does not know how to communicate their thoughts in spanish, the teacher will offer vocabulary choices or will ask the student to ask a friend, thus empowering the helping student to become the language expert. this is also the case during english time, if a student approaches the teacher in spanish the teacher will ask the student to repeat in english. the reason we chose to do things this way is because we feel that, for many of the students, the only opportunity to speak spanish may be at school. outside the classroom the students are faced with a society that is typically english-speaking. antonia, darder, and torres (2014) discuss addressing the growing needs of latino students in educational settings and that we must link their needs with the ways that “structural dimensions shape daily institutional life” (p. 11). in order to address the meta-structure in place in schools we need to look at what happens in places around the school such as the cafeteria, the playground, meetings with the counselors, parent teacher association (pta) meetings, field day, morning announcements, etc. although seemingly harmless areas of schools, the reality is such that if a student does not speak the language of the school, which is english, they will be at a huge disadvantage being left out of activities and missing out on important messages that inform and educate. i am not saying that this school should switch to spanish as the language of the school, but language equity should be evident throughout a school that is a bilingual (english and spanish) cluster school so that those who do not speak english can feel part of the structural dimensions that shape the institutional life of the school and can survive by having access to the school community through a language that they understand. our program was initiated in 2009 and the first cohort is currently in the 4th grade. prior to implementation, we researched dual language models for 2 years. we visited many dual language classrooms across texas, california, new mexico, colorado, and louisiana; we realized that although it was called dual language, each school’s program was organized differently. we read countless books and were privileged to attend la cosecha in new mexico, beems –– bilingual education emphasizing multicultural settings at the university of texas in el paso, nabe –– national association of bilingual educators in texas, colorado, and louisiana, tabe –– texas association of bilingual educators, saaabe –– san antonio area association of bilingual educators, and the texas region 20 dual language conference. this privilege has sustained a continuous flow of new information enabling us to continue to learn how to facilitate classrooms with diverse populations. while at dual language 22 students and 22 teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 96 conferences i began to hear about the use of workstations with the purpose of utilizing students as peer teachers. when discussing interaction among students, collier and thomas (2004) report that in a classroom community if students become peer teachers, they feel valued and respected as equal partners in the learning process. this strategy began to make sense to me in my role as a teacher. i recognized the need to expand my role to include that of a mediator. i have found that when i participate in purposeful dialogue with my students and facilitate, rather than control student learning, the learning environment is transformed into a community for deep cognitive skills (howard, sugarman, christian, lindholm-leary, & rogers, 2007). my role as social cultural mediator in my classroom socio-cultural mediation is enacted through the use of workstations, student agency, and purposeful scaffolding. in order to do this i get to know my students through personal dialogue which enables me to familiarize with their prior knowledge and socio-cultural and socio-linguistic experiences (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005); this interaction enables me to construct relationships with my students. understanding that my students have a lot to bring to the educational table, by way of cultural and language capital, i seek out the individual wealth of each of my students. i adjust my teacher lens with each of my students where i focus and refocus by getting to know each student’s academic needs. i do this in order to differentiate lessons and activities to meet their academic goals through culturally responsive teaching practices. irizarry and antrop-gonzalez (2014) look to the work done by moll, amanti, neff, and gonzalez (1992) and villegas and lucas (2002) when they discuss enacting culturally responsive pedagogy, asserting that “culturally responsive teacher practices are contingent on teachers knowing their students well, viewing themselves as agents of social change, and connecting curriculum to students’ funds of knowledge” (p. 247). implementing these teaching practices privileges me to be a multi-situational teacher who can address a variety of student needs and doing so has helped me place value on my students’ cultural and linguistic capital; a pedagogy not typical of the traditional classroom. the resulting positive outcomes have led to my interest in initiating a discussion on the shift of traditional roles of teacher and student in the classroom to an understanding that students can take on the role of peer teacher, transforming them into teachers themselves. i consider myself to be a social cultural mediator because i mediate learning through workstations as a form of classroom management. in this early childhood dual language classroom the mediating entity is the language. here, not only are the students mediating academic concepts but also informal and social concepts where idioms and colloquialism are being exchanged. i manage my class daily by conducting a quick whole group activity to activate prior knowledge of language usually through music or letter games. after we complete the whole group activity the students go to workstations where they work on academic concepts with their peers. workstations are a key factor when facilitating a classroom mixed with students who speak spanish and others who speak english. when the students are at workstations, the students become the social cultural mediators. bound to a common activity, they are essentially forced to interact and therefore come together to share language and knowledge. the interaction enables them to construct new knowledge for themselves and for each other. i recommend modeling the language and work with the whole group first, then demonstrating what to do and say during work at stations. students must also learn what to do when it is time to move to the next station. i play classical music during workstations because i feel it adds another layer to the environment, creating a peaceful atmosphere that encourages students to continue working. the music also adds a sense of timing; students know that when the music stops there is a change coming. i have seen that it eases the students giving them a sense of organization, and initiative as they know what to do when the music ends. this leads them to become agents of their actions within the classroom. as a model for transformative pedagogy, small group work as a teaching strategy in reality is not a learning strategy exclusive to the dual language setting, this strategy is a good one for any student in any setting; i find it to be an important one because it establishes a routine where you enable your students to manage themselves, know what to expect, and makes for confident students thus “facilitate[ing] linguistic and academic development”(alanis, 2011, p. 21). working in small groups offers opportunities for second language learners to engage in interactive learning, peer-teaching, and student 22 students and 22 teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 97 sharing time because “small group discussions might promote exploratory thinking and speech” (smagorinsky, 2011, p. 32). in my classroom, typically “students are learning to speak at least one new language and learning academic content in a second language” (p. 21). alanis (2011) cites collier and thomas (2009) as noting that when students work together they learn academic concepts “through cognitively challenging and interactive lessons or projects” (p. 21). if we look at the concept of agency through the lens of socio-cultural mediation in the dual language classroom, we can understand that children can “actively use and respond to the ideas they encounter in educational sites” (toso, 2012, p. 2). based on my experiences in the classroom i have found that the easiest way to make this happen is to consider socio-cultural mediation strategies for the early childhood environment as the basis for fostering relationships in the classroom firstly between teacher and student and secondly between student and student. this type of classroom climate produces a particular engagement not typically seen in a traditional classroom allowing for “considerable agency on the part of learners-as-teachers” (smagorinsky, 2011, p. 56). agency, according to toso (2012), means that people, and in this case students, have the power to “envision and express [their] identity and take actions to achieve [their] desires and goals” (p. 2). in my classroom this means teaching my students, who are five and six years old, to enact their voice. i teach my students that using their voice means being respectful towards others and yourself when considering personal choices or options while making decisions on learning and behavior within the social structure of the school — but most importantly making my students aware that their voice is tightly linked to their opinions and their voice and actions matter in my classroom. building community through socio-cultural mediation as a socio-cultural mediator i build a community in my classroom that facilitates the use of cultural and linguistic capital in order to foster the acquisition of a second language whether it be english and academic english for spanish-speakers or academic english for english-speakers. from the socio-cultural perspective “individuals are ontological constructs of the interactions they participate in within their culture” (cousin, diaz , flores, & hernandez, 1995, p. 657). in this case, interaction with the purpose for learning takes place in the classroom community. i argue that the traditional role of the teacher must change. considerations must include not just what you talk about, but also how long you are talking, what artifacts are being used, and where you are positioned within the learning environment. according to cousin et al. (1995), the everyday experiences and interactions within the community form a child’s development (p. 658); each child walks into the classroom with individualized practices learned within their home community prior to coming to the school. the authors go on to explain that “if the socioeducational contexts support and build on the experiences of these children in their homes and communities, then their individual development may continue in a positive way” (p. 658). teachers have the opportunity to use these experiences and a student’s home language in order to help bridge to the mainstream language of the school. when teachers use the home language, we acknowledge their literacy abilities. flores, cousin, and diaz (1991) tell us that we as teachers must be willing to accept that students do come with a particular proficiency that has been socially constructed through their community of practice, and validating this knowledge validates the child (p. 373). validation promotes encouragement to learn. i have found that giving a student a role, such as peer teacher, in the gives them an automatic sense of worth. organizing the early childhood classroom in this way appears to build confidence and character, thus facilitating learning through the development of cognitive skills that promote academic achievement. this type of organization permits the students to ask each other questions and to be good problem solvers. these skills are especially important in a classroom environment using small workstations because it allows for students to make their own decisions. workstation groups mixed by academic ability and language organize learning in a way that puts the teaching into the hands of the students. with careful organization and observation of what the students are sharing the classroom becomes an environment where i am not the only teacher the students are as well. i act as a facilitator of this environment. i provide the artifacts, manipulatives, and language; the students reinforce the learning through their exchange of language and peer teaching while working at stations. through observations of my students, i am able to reflect on mediating levels of knowledge. 22 students and 22 teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 98 when reflecting on this i look to the work by flores et al. (1991). these authors assert that, “the teacher acts as a cultural mediator, organizing the learning in order to mediate levels of knowledge between the teacher and the students and among students themselves” (p. 373). i find that workstations are a way of sharing knowledge because the student work is differentiated by academic skills. for example, i have four workstations in my classroom. during language arts our focus is on reading and writing in spanish. while at language arts stations the students build high frequency words with letter cubes based on a list of words that is at their reading level. as the students learn the words, i switch out the old ones and replace with more difficult words, allowing each student to work at the level that is appropriate for them. i teach my students to recognize when others need help so that those who can, help those who are struggling. if we look at the interpretation of vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (zpd) by smagorinsky (2011) we understand that all students go through three zones of cognitive development: a student who cannot work alone, a student who can work with help, and a student who can work alone. it is essential that teachers be able to recognize the zpd because in a socioculturally mediated classroom, the interaction among the students will help move a student from zone to zone. by getting to know the students’ academic needs before they go to workstations the teacher can form groups for optimal learning where mixing the students heterogeneously by those who are more comfortable with the academic concepts and those who are not. a teacher can gain this knowledge by having individual meetings with their students and basic exploratory tests to find out where they are academically. in a socio-culturally mediated classroom, teachers must recognize the difference in abilities between what the student knows and what the student will learn. interactive, peer driven teaching and learning will help those students who can work alone collaborate with students who cannot work alone. smagorinsky (2011) tells us that “vygotsky’s outline of the zpd occurs solely within the context of a teaching-learning relationship between a pair of people, one more and one less knowledgeable (usually a teacher and child, but also a child and more competent peer)” (p. 51). pairs of people in a classroom can be made up of teacher and student or student and student. when the student and student are paired for peer teaching, vygotsky as cited by smagorinsky claims that learners, when “teaching can evoke and promote their cognitive development” (p. 51). any classroom organized in a way that implements social cultural mediation is one that maximizes its resources; that capital can be found within the student population. we can see that when students from different learning zones are mixed into heterogeneous groups at workstations a natural interaction emerges: “individuals become proficient learners by engaging in social interactions and experiences under the direction of those more proficient than themselves” (flores et al., 1991, p. 371). advocate for transformative pedagogy i contend that teachers who advocate for transformative pedagogy will find that through socio-cultural mediation students are motivated to take on a more active role in the classroom when they know that the teacher shares in the learning process and that the teacher values the students opinion and voice because the students are influential in the outcome of each activity. a socio-culturally mediated classroom, organized by a teacher who provides students the opportunity to share knowledge through interactive activities will find that learning occurs through teaching others. in kindergarten we use workstations in order to optimize the interaction. in my classroom interactive activities are characterized by hands on lessons, with manipulatives, which makes learning easier when working in a small group. for example, in groups of five or six students the children will play a matching game where they have to match the upper case letter with the lower case letter or another game where the students match the beginning sound with a picture card. sharing the details of a drawing with a partner is another example of learning mediated through the use of language. when students work together in the learning process, “they mutually influence one another” (smagorinsky, 2011, p. 53). with smagorinsky’s (2011) idea of scaffolding, i utilize student peer teachers as a scaffolding tool to influence learning by other students in the classroom. one of the favorite workstations of the students is one where they work in pairs. one student has a list of words that the second student is working on. the student with the list of words has the list because they have already learned the words and will be scaffolding or helping the second student by working with them on words that they are still learning. the student with the list will 22 students and 22 teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 99 call out the words while the second student writes the words and checks for correct spelling. if they notice incorrect spelling they will say “piénsalo otra vez (think about it again)” and the student writing will erase and start over. this strategy allows both students to be active in the learning process. when discussing the scaffolding, smagorinsky turns to dyson’s alternative idea of the weaving metaphor; instead of a stiff and rigid classroom structure where there is a “focus on the teacher as [the] expert” (p. 53) she looks at scaffolding as a shared practice where “while the teacher often leads, she remains open to the idea that the student may come up with an approach to learning to which a more impervious ‘scaffold’ might be insensitive” (p. 53). scaffolding also occurs when the students act as language mediators. at the beginning of the school year, those who did not understand the language of the classroom experience a lot of difficulty realizing that they need help. at times, ignoring the teacher came easy because we did not speak the same language, but a teacher must be pro-active in keeping students’ attention in order to help them make connections with their language capital. students of a socio-culturally mediated classroom learn to become language mediators, thus the teacher has access to another form of scaffolding to make meaning of the learning. language mediators emerge and step up to translate messages without my having to ask because they have developed empathy toward their peers and have learned to judge the linguistic abilities of their peers (olmedo, 2005, p. 137). students also know that if they do not understand something they can turn to their neighbor and ask for help. this provides an effective way to empower the students to raise “their metalinguistic and metacommunicative awareness” (p. 150) while also validating the importance of learning a second language. teaching students to be language mediators can be challenging because in order to be a mediator, students need to be able to recognize others’ burdens. however, with time and encouragement from the teacher, dual language students begin to realize that some of their peers do not speak english and some do not speak spanish. being that my students are five and six years old, the awareness usually occurs after a few months of me asking for the emergent bilinguals to help another. when they develop an understanding of the burden, students take on the role as language mediators by offering help or checking to see if their classmates understand what’s going on. teaching students to be language mediators has been one of the most beneficial strategies i have found in a two-way dual language classroom. students who are aware of their classmate’s confusion or misunderstanding of language when instructions are given in spanish before beginning a task will automatically interpret my instructions into english for the person next to them or just simply state them out loud for everyone to hear. olmedo (2005) discusses a technique called the bilingual echo. in a two-way classroom you can expect to find the student population to be a heterogeneous group of spanish-speaking students and english-speaking students (soltero, 2004, p. 6). olmedo (2005) states that “placing [students] in situations with a diversity of language backgrounds and opportunities for peer interaction facilitates the growth of their proficiency and comprehension” (p. 151). the author describes the bilingual echo explaining “the most common way that children perform as language mediators involves translation of a message” (p. 145). i have taught my students to do two things, either try to figure it out on their own based on what you see is happening as it is happening, or ask a friend for help. one of the fundamental practices of a two-way dual language program, such as the one where i teach, is that the teacher should not provide direct translations because there are times when things cannot be translated and some of the meaning may be lost. instead, students serving as language mediation messengers should interpret from spanish to english with words with which they feel most comfortable in order to get the message across. i see this as an opportunity for the language mediator to use their second language system that is being developed. serving as a language mediator also develops their leadership skills as they become a go-to person, which i see as validating; in this case it is typically a spanish-speaking student who has the know-how because the language of my classroom is spanish. when following this model, if the teacher takes away the opportunity to use language or does not follow through, a couple of things happen: 1) the child seeking help will not get the help and will be left in the dark, 2) the child who can help is not given the opportunity to use one of the two language systems they possess. ultimately, an opportunity for language enactment by the student has been lost. 22 students and 22 teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 100 conclusion if you are a teacher or anyone working with children in a k-12 setting, i urge you to shift your view as i have in order to share in the role as teacher with your students. the message is clear, as teachers, we all have the choice to take advantage of our opportunity to contribute to the educational experiences of our students. shifting the way we see our roles and that of our students changes the paradigm within the classroom, but most importantly, initiates the commencement of our transformation as teachers and that of our students as active participants with voice in the daily dialogue of their educational experience — which in itself is transformational. i believe that socio-cultural mediation fosters relationships where teaching and learning are interchanged between the traditional and non-traditional roles of both teacher and student. fostering an environment through sociocultural mediation, to me as a teacher, means using workstations in order to facilitate opportunities for students to become active and resilient participants of the learning process. it means that teachers provide time for collaborative learning and for constructing new ideas. it means that teachers recognize that the class is filled with 23 learners and 23 teachers, therefore providing each child with the opportunity to work with a teacher that gives them purposeful attention within open learning dialogues. through interactive activities, in a dual language classroom, students’ cognitive development grows because of shared learning experience (alanis, 2011). interaction enables the development of rigorous skills in two languages when multiple opportunities for students to speak and show knowledge are offered (alanis, 2011). when teachers and students act as comediators of their learning in a purposeful manner, knowledge is elevated for both teachers and students and among students themselves (flores et al., 1991). i argue that these changes empower a second language learner to feel valued; thus having a positive effect on cognitive, developmental, and self-identity growth. soltero (2004) refers to children as authentic models of language and culture for their peers when they work together (p. 28). i contend that workstations are an easy way to motivate students to actively learn, interact, and be language and cultural peer models for their classmates. the use of socio-cultural mediation led me to the realization that my classroom and, most importantly, the interactions i have with my students transforms not just me, but the way everyone in the classroom interacts with each other. i implemented a transformative pedagogy that requires me to reflect, which is key in finding my inner student. i put myself in my students’ shoes. if we think about this through the eyes and hearts of our students, what we are really doing is a systematic removal of the student’s cultural and linguistic capital as the students are “transitioned” into using the mainstream language and institutionalized ways of the school. i understand that at some point students will have to take standardized tests in english, but learning a second language can be accomplished in a way that is beneficial to the students. as an advocate of transformative pedagogy, but most important, as an advocate of my students, i believe that teachers should serve to tap a student’s cultural and linguistic capital, while supplementing that knowledge with new knowledge constructed in the classroom in order to further learning. i also feel that when looking at institutional discourses we should reflect on the outcome socio-cultural mediation can have on learning. i assert that teachers should assume a sense of commitment and accountability towards their students for the betterment of all. as i try to implement my vision of education, i am hopeful and feel that i do not have to face the challenge alone. 22 students and 22 teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 101 references alanis, i. (2011). learning from each other: bilingual pairs in dual-language classrooms. dimension of early childhood, 39(1), 21-27. collier, v. p., & thomas, w. p. (2004). the astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all. nabe journal of research and practice, 2(1 winter), 1-20. collier, v. p., & thomas, w. p. (2009). educating english learners for a transformed world. albuquerque, nm: fuentes press. cousin, p. t., diaz , e., flores, b., & hernandez, j. (1995). looking forward: using a sociocultural perspective to reframe the study of learning disabilities. journal of learning disabilities, 28(10), 656-663. cummins, j. (1979). linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children review of educational research, 49(2), 222-251. darder, a., & torres, r. d. (2014). introduction. in a. darder & r. d. torres (eds.), latinos and education: a critical reader (2nd ed., pp. 1-16). new york, ny: routledge. donato, r., & maccormick, d. (1994). a sociocultural perspective on language learning strategies: the role of mediation. the modern language journal, 78(4), 453-464. flores, b., cousin, p. t., & diaz, e. (1991). transforming deficit myths about learning, language, and culture. language arts, 68(5), 369-379. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. gonzalez, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practice in households, communities, and classrooms. new york, ny: routledge howard, e. r., sugarman, j., christian, d., lindholm-leary, k. j., & rogers, d. (2007). guiding principles for dual language education (2nd ed.). washington, dc: center for applied linguistics irizarry, j. g., & antrop-gonzalez, r. (2014). ricanstructing the discourse and promoting school success: extending a theory of culturally responsive pedagogy for diasporicans. in a. darder & r. d. torres (eds.), latinos and education: a critical reader (2nd ed., pp. 243-260). new york, ny: routludge. machado-casas, m. (2009). the politics of organic phylogeny: the art of parenting and surviving in the us as transnational multilingual latino indigenous immigrants. the high school journal, april/may, 82-99. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. olmedo, i. m. (2005). the bilingual echo: children as language mediators in a dual-language school. in m. farr (ed.), latino language and literacy in ethnolinguistic chicago (pp. 135-155). mahway, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, publishers. smagorinsky, p. (2011). vygotsky and literacy research: a methodological framework. rotterdam, the netherlands: sense publishers. soltero, s. w. (2004). dual language: teaching and learning in two languages. boston, ma: pearson. toso, b. w. (2012). educational and mothering discourses and learner goals: mexican immigrant women enacting agency in a family literacy program (pp. 1-4). university park, pa: goodling institute, penn state. villegas, a. m., & lucas, t. (2002). preparing culturally responsive teachers: rethinking the curriculum. journal of teacher education, 53(1), 20-32. wenger, e. (1998). communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. new york, ny: cambridge university press. 22 students and 22 teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 31 poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias1: immigrant young people and their families’ transformative engagement with high school leticia alvarez gutiérrez university of utah abstract this research examines how high-school-aged undocumented immigrant latinas/os and their families resist being marginalized in schools and in communities. these young people and their families are part of a university intergenerational participatory action research collective, family school partnership2 (fsp), located within an urban high school in the western mountain region of the us. the theoretical framework for the intergenerational collective research is rooted in participatory action research (par). my analysis focuses upon the disjuncture among the dominant notions of family engagement and the exclusionary practices of schools towards latina/o undocumented students and their families. findings suggest that despite the plethora of “inclusive” policies adapted by school districts, undocumented students and their families in my study perceived schools as exclusionary, especially with regards to family engagement and equitable educational opportunities. my research chronicles how undocumented students and families revolutionized their feelings and experiences of powerlessness and exclusion into activist transformative school engagement. this article concludes by discussing future directions that schools could take to increase family engagement with latina/o undocumented immigrant students and their families and the implications for student academic success. introduction [from a parent] cuando voy a la escuela, nos reciben con caras de hostilidad, como diciendo, “no perteneces aquí— eres ilegal.” por lo menos, esa es la impresión que dan por cómo nos tratan...no tratan de entendernos o que nosotros les entendamos, sino luego, luego nos tratan como si no tuvieramos el derecho de estar presente. es terrible y terrorífico sentir así, porque yo me pongo nerviosa. por eso no digo mucho sobre cómo me tratan porque tengo miedo que reporten mi familia a la inmigración. [from a parent] when we go to school, we are greeted with hostile faces, like saying, “you don’t belong here— you are illegal.” at least, this is the impression they give based on the way we are treated…they don’t try to understand us or ensure that we understand them, instead they treat us like we have no right to be present. it is a terrible and terrifying feeling, because i get nervous and don’t say too much about how they treat me because i fear they will report my family to immigration officials. —doña elisa, fsp co-researcher doña elisa candidly describes how school personnel greet and interact with her when visiting her son’s school. inimical staff, teachers, and administrators regularly communicate unwelcoming expressions—verbally and/or through their body language. yet doña elisa negotiates these unfriendly exchanges by self-regulating her interactions in school for fear that school officials might report her family to immigration and customs enforcement (ice). these tense interactions for families demonstrate the nuanced complex ways immigration policies impact family-school engagement. these exchanges further reveal “how race is embedded in education and shows how deeply ‘race’ matters are embedded in the educational structures that are in place. it also shows how power is at the center of belief and behavior” (hilliard, 1999, p.7). 1 translation: power in community voices and actions. 2 family school partnership (fsp) is an intergenerational research collective made up of high school students, their families, teachers, community members, and university students in the teacher education licensure program, directed by a university faculty member. poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 32 despite the supreme court’s decision in plyer vs. doe (1982)—which ruled that k-12 students, regardless of their immigration status, were constitutionally entitled to a free public education—anti-immigrant educational public policies continue to threaten this landmark decision. for example, alabama’s hb 56—beason-hammon alabama taxpayer and citizen protection act (2011)—is the most xenophobic anti-immigrant bill signed into law. alabama’s hb 56 proposed immigration verification of public k-12 students and their families prior to enrollment and prohibits undocumented students from attending all institutions of higher education. arizona’s hb 1070 (which alabama used to model its own bill) and alabama’s hb 56 are both extreme anti-immigrant bills; arizona’s hb 1070, in fact, sparked arizona’s hb 2281—the dismantling of ethnic studies, particularly targeting mexican american studies in the tucson school district. the bill states: “the legislature finds and declares that public school pupils should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate other races or classes of people” and “should not promote the overthrow of the united states government or advocate ethnic solidarity or promote ethnic chauvinism” (hb 2281, 2010). much like alabama’s hb 56, arizona’s hb 2281 reflects political interests disguised as beneficial educational reform policies that promote equality; however, educational policies such as these are in place to limit historically marginalized immigrant young people’s access to equitable educational opportunities. the presumed immigration status of latinos (regardless of documentation) often shapes how school officials characterize, relate to, and interact with them, either as youth or academic learners in school. these preconceived notions further shape how schools engage with students’ family members and build family-school partnerships. undocumented latina/o young people and their families in this study describe interactions with school officials as often unpleasant, tense, and depleting. despite these type of interactions, young people and their families take actions to resist deficit discourses about them and engaged in familial engagement that transformed the abrasive interactions they experienced within school. the national center for education statistics (nces) reported that 49.7 percent of students entering school in 2014 were white compared to 50.3 percent of students who identify as black, latino, asian, or other minority group. by 2022, white students are projected to be 45 percent of the school population (nces, 2013). despite these student demographics, k-12 teachers of color are few. in fact, 89 percent of all teachers are white, 7 percent are black, and 2 percent are latino (nces, 2013). gender gaps continue to persist in k-12, too. three out of every four public school teachers is female. current research asserts that students of color perform better academically when taught by teachers of color (boser, 2011). boser (2011) reports that students of color who are taught by educators of color perform better academically and are able to relate to teachers of color as role models. oftentimes, teachers of color have sociocultural knowledge of students lived realities that serve to strengthen teacher-student relationships. in so doing, student-learning opportunities are enhanced as are the academic identities of students. this study illuminates how undocumented young people and their families collectively resist marginalization in schools and transform family-school engagement practices to avoid the “school-to-sweatshop pipeline” (cahill, alvarez gutiérrez, & quijada cerecer, 2015). the school-to-sweatshop pipeline conceptualizes how “policies and everyday racialized cultural practices work in concert to dispossess immigrant students of potential futures” (cahill et al., 2015, p. 3). this article discusses how undocumented young people and their families collectively transform and redefine family engagement and their respective roles within educational contexts through an intergenerational participatory action research collective, the family school partnership (fsp), to disrupt being marginalized in schools. the purpose of this article is two-fold. first, to extend understanding of undocumented students in the u.s. educational system, particularly high school students. second, to demonstrate how immigrant young people and their families strategize to resist being voiceless and marginalized in school contexts. young people and their families resist the deficit identities imposed upon them by schools through collective agency in the school and community. the overarching ethnographic research included participant observations, ongoing planning meetings, and interviews. the research is guided by the following two research questions: first, how do factors outside the family (i.e., anti-immigration discourse and policies, school climate, interactions with school personnel) impact interactions between school personnel and undocumented students? second, how do undocumented young people and their families collectively transform the meaning of conventional parent involvement? this research poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 33 highlights undocumented young people and their families’ collective agency and refusal to be ostracized in schools due to their documentation status. fore-fronting the collective voices, experiences, strategies, and actions taken by undocumented latina/o students and their families to defy marginalization, this research demonstrates how they negotiate and resist the “school-to-sweatshop pipeline” (cahill et al., 2015) by transforming family-school engagement practices in school contexts. literature review in the balance of this literature review, i describe how national immigration policies impact school culture and family-school partnerships. first, i provide an overview of conventional parent involvement programs in school contexts followed by research that focuses on latino family-school engagement. parent involvement in schools parental involvement in schools has been defined and conceptualized differently across the literature. approaches to parental involvement that utilize prescriptive roles for parents include epstein et. al.’s (2009) prominent framework of six types of involvement. epstein et al.’s model has six elements that include: 1) parenting, 2) communicating, 3) volunteering, 4) learning at home, 5) decision making, and 6) collaborating with the community. this framework is a comprehensive guide for schools and “re-directs old notions so that family involvement is not viewed solely as or measured only by ‘bodies in the building’” (epstein et al., 2009, p. 14). yet, this directive framework grants schools power to dictate how families can and should be involved in schools. families must acquiesce to the school’s engagement practices with students and family members. that is, the framework asserts what are acceptable family-school engagement practices. in so doing, the communitybased sociocultural resources of undocumented families are disregarded; hence families are marginalized from engaging in school contexts. other frameworks advance similar directives for parents. for example, schools and families: issues and actions, published by the national education association (rich, 1987) proposes four models for parent involvement. these include: 1) parents as volunteers, 2) parents as receivers of information about the school, 3) parents working in the school, and 4) parents working with their own children at home. the no child left behind act also has provisions for title i schools. more specifically, schools that receive title i funds must comply with the following requirements: 1) develop a written parent involvement policy with parents and approved by parents; this policy must include how it will build the school’s capacity to engage families, address barriers to their involvement, and coordinate parent involvement in other programs; 2) notify parents and the community about this policy “in an understandable and uniform format”; 3) use at least 1 percent of the school’s title i funds to develop a parent involvement program; this money can be used for a wide range of activities—to hire parent liaisons, hold workshops and meetings, provide transportation and childcare, and make home visits. the policy defines parent involvement as activities that “improve student academic achievement and school performance” (henderson & mapp, 2002, p. 76). however, a lot of these requirements get lost in the midst of high stakes testing, and seem to distance relationships between parents and schools since schools are not legitimizing the practices enacted upon at home to support student academic success. these frameworks for family involvement direct the way(s) in which parents are able to engage in their children’s schooling. for example, parent-teacher conferences, parents assisting children with homework, schools soliciting parent volunteers—all exemplify how schools direct the ways in which parental involvement manifests in school contexts (carreón, drake, & barton, 2005). when schools guide engagement practices it also establishes clear parameters of whose knowledge and cultural practices are validated in school and are embedded within mainstream definitions of parental involvement. given such constraints, parental involvement becomes a unidirectional relationship. the school in this relationship holds power over the type of roles parents/ family members undertake. moreover, schools that subscribe to traditional parent-school involvement models set limits on immigrant families and their respective agency, as they do not recognize them as knowledge producers and experts in their cultural learning practices. that is, u.s. schools limit the role that undocumented immigrant families can have within school contexts as parameters of parental involvement are designed to poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 34 assimilate students and their families to current educational organizational structures and practices rather than engage or harness their cultural practices and values. valdés (1996) so clearly states: relationships between parents (families) and schools do, in fact, reflect the structural locations of these individuals in the wider society. simply bringing parents (families) to schools will not change the racist or classist responses that teachers or other school personnel have toward them and their behaviors. parenting classes alone will not equalize outcomes. (p. 39). therefore, for the purposes of this study, the family engagement paradigm embraces familial and communitybased sociocultural structures and resources that legitimize the funds of knowledge (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005) undocumented families bring to school contexts. latino immigrant family engagement latino family’s concept of education (educación) includes having a moral, social, and personal responsibility to the family and community (delgado-gaitan, 1992; valenzuela, 1999); however these funds of knowledge (gonzález, moll & amanti, 2005) are often misunderstood and not legitimized within u.s. k-12 schools. family engagement strengthens the relationships and interactions that teachers and other school personnel build with students and their families, which in turn strengthens the communication regarding students’ academic goals. yet, the asserted decline in immigrant family involvement in secondary schools may partially stem from schools embracement of traditional developmental paradigms that position students and their families around mainstream developmental identity paradigms (erikson, 1968). for example, these frameworks assert a fixed notion of student identity that is confined to a developmental stage whereby independence and autonomy are seen as healthy pathways to adulthood. unfortunately, these developmental paradigms conflict with the fluidity of identity or the cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic differences that exist between latino families and school personnel (alvarez gutiérrez, 2014; delgado-gaitan, 1992; cammarota & romero, 2006). for example, school personnel who prevent family engagement in schools too often see the perceived immigration status of the students and families in deficit ways. school personnel often have preconceived biases regarding latino families’ interest in education. these deficit notions often stereotype latino families and characterize them as not caring about school; this non-caring is then equated to students’ low academic performance (alvarez gutiérrez 2014; cammarota & romero, 2006; quicho & daoud, 2006; valenzuela, 1999); these deficit notions do not hold the school accountable for the low academic performance of their students. meanwhile a growing body of research (chávez-reyes, 2010; delgado gaitan, 2012; lareau & weininger, 2003; lopez et al., 2001; valdés, 1996; valenzuela, 1999) has shown that conventional definitions of family engagement in schools often “exclude particular communities in meaningful and empowering ways, contributing instead to ongoing marginalization based on race, ethnicity, class, language, and immigrant status” (carreón et al., 2005). latino families often feel undervalued and dismissed by teachers and school personnel (alvarez gutiérrez, 2014; delgado-gaitan, 1992; martinez et al., 2004; carreón et al., 2005), especially when they are not fluent english speakers. moreover, they may define education differently as well as have other expectations about their role as adults in the educational process of young people (alvarez gutiérrez, 2013; delgado-gaitan, 1992). in the following section, i describe the theoretical framework, par, which serves as an important tool to empower and foment the agency of marginalized communities. theoretical framework participatory action research (par) is a collaborative process intersecting research, education, and action, explicitly oriented towards social transformation (hall, 1981). par recognizes the plurality of knowledge in various institutions and communities. “those who have been most systematically excluded, oppressed or denied carry specifically revealing wisdom about the history, structure, consequences and the fracture points in unjust social arrangements. par therefore represents a counter-hegemonic approach to knowledge production” poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 35 (kindon, pain, & kesby, 2007, p. 9). par challenges hegemonic conceptions of where social problems originate, and awakens a sense of injustice (deutsch & steil, 1998). par is appropriate to help re-conceptualize undocumented young people and their families’ engagement with education. “par commits to human rights, social justice, and scientific validity” (torre, fine, stoudt, & fox, 2012, p.182) through a cyclical process of exploration that “softens the power of the oppressor in deference to the weakness of the oppressed” (freire, 1994, p. 26). the cyclical par process is fluid and includes: 1) questioning and identifying a particular issue; 2) analyzing and reflecting upon and investigating the issue identified; 3) creating an action plan to address the problem; 4) implementing and refining the plan of action (duncan-andrade & morrell, 2008; mcintyre, 2008). par does not guarantee that resistance will take place; however, it does “help students and families participate and examine vital issues that affect their experience on a daily level” (mclaren, 2003, p. 85), especially as these experiences are impacted by their immigration status. the par project discussed herein is an inter-generational collective, fsp, in which a set of activities were linked together that promoted change through various actions, such as: testimonios, letter writing, legislator phone calls, rallies at capitol, after-school teacher appreciation events, meeting with administrators, clothing drives, raising funds for refugee families, and other community-centered activities, to name a few. these activities became pathways of inquiry; thus creating opportunities for reflection, investigation, and the co-construction of knowledge between co-researchers. methods community context this study was conducted in salt lake city, utah, located in the rocky mountains with close to 200,000 residents. while the state of utah has been notorious for passing anti-immigrant policies (i.e., hb 497, show me your papers please), it is also 1 of 18 states that has provisions allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students (hb 144). latinos make up 1 in 7 people in utah and 36.2% of immigrants in the state are naturalized citizens. locally, the demographics comprise one of the largest ethnically and culturally diverse populations in the state with over one-third of salt lake city’s population being ethnic minority, and 65% of this one-third are latinos. salt lake’s residential areas are segregated by race with the majority of ethnic minorities residing on the city’s westside, which is often characterized as the “hood” part of town by many city dwellers who do not dare cross west of the railroad tracks. the westside3 is thus marked as “dangerous” due to the high number of immigrants, refugees, and other people of color residing in the area. one of the few times that individuals from the eastside are spotted in large groups on the westside is on the sidewalk outside of a well-known, locally-owned mexican restaurant, waiting to be seated for dinner. the youth co-researchers in this study attended victory high school, the largest of the five high schools in the salt lake city school district (slcsd) and the most ethnically/racially/linguistically diverse. the student enrollment at victory high school (pseudonym) at the time of the research was approximately 2500, of which 60 percent were minority students and 73 percent were identified as economically disadvantaged. overall, the graduation rate in the state is 86 percent, and the slcsd graduation rate is 77 percent; however, the graduation rates for latino english language learners at victory range from 61 to 72 percent. interestingly, the graduation rates for students in high schools with low diversity range from 95 percent to 98 percent. due to these graduation discrepancies, state officials propose to reach a 90 percent graduation rate across the state by the year 2020. participants participants of the study resided in salt lake city less than 7 years, but did not possess the required documentation to be in the u.s. there were 21 co-researchers who ranged in age: ten were high school 3 the author resides in this area. poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 36 students (6 females, 4 males) who were between 15 to 18 years of age; three were in middle school students between 11 to 13 years old (1 female, 2 males); and eight (4 females, 4 males) of the co-researchers were family members (e.g., parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents) who were between 34 to 42 years of age. sixteen members of the participating co-researchers were from various states in mexico, and the other five co-researchers were from other countries in latin america (i.e., costa rica, peru, and venezuela). procedure participation in the intergenerational par project was voluntary. together, the collective agreed to meet weekly for the first couple of months for continuity and then scheduled meetings twice a month on saturday mornings (9am 12noon) at the local community recreation center. teachers met with families mainly during the meetings at school. our meetings were held in the community recreation center on the westside of the city, close in proximity to the high school and to students’ homes. each meeting began with a continental style breakfast and ended with lunch provided by the slcsd. during our first meeting, we each introduced ourselves, engaged in a number of culturally-relevant team-building ice-breakers that provided opportunities for participants to share their identities as family members, youth, and/or students who were actively engaged in the production of new knowledge and who all shared the commonality of having a relationship with a u.s. school system. during our initial discussions, we engaged in politically and culturally relevant interactive pláticas (discussions) that included the foundational components of the fsp par project and listened to their educational and social concerns. while families expressed unfamiliarity with u.s. educational and political systems, they were also weary to be involved because of their documentation status. yet, after the first month of weekly meetings, the collective brainstormed and agreed that they wanted to address the following questions: 1) what can we do to be more engaged with the school, but on our terms? 2) what are possibilities to re-define how immigrant families engage with schools? data analysis par methodology was utilized for this study and drew upon a larger corpus of data. the analysis focused on the disjuncture between the dominant anti-latino immigrant discourses and the everyday experiences of young latino undocumented immigrants who attend victory high and their families’ engagement with the school. data collection included co-researchers’ semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, field notes, analytical memos, journal entries, and participant observations. the audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed for analysis. data analysis was conducted in two phases. during the first phase, the co-researchers (young people and families) and i coded all the interviews to identify salient themes, patterns, and relationships (strauss & corbin, 1994). mapping was also used to ensure that the thematic analysis was clear and defined. during the second phase of the data analysis, the co-researchers and i participated in focus groups to discuss and provide feedback on the co-constructed thematic categories and interpretations of the data. this collaborative process provided a space for the co-researchers and i to discuss our understandings of the data and re-construct knowledge. as a result of this collaboration, new practices of awareness were co-constructed with the co-researchers (youth and their families). in the next section, i describe how the fsp collective proactively resisted their invisibility and refusal to be silenced in the school by “talking back” to the marginalization that they experienced due to their documentation status. second, i discuss a subsequent action taken by fsp to counter being silenced and thought of as invisible in the school, specifically how we integrated a par project entitled voices of diversity into the curriculum. poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 37 results cultivating mobilization fsp co-researchers were excited about the possibilities of engaging with teachers, administrators, and school staff in new transformative and productive ways. central to our work was learning how the school as an organization functioned. we also wanted to better understand the roles of personnel within the school while also learning what the roles and rights were of the families of high school students. given the group’s interest, it was timely to partner with the slcsd along with the university students in a graduate course i developed to support the families’ interests in learning more about their roles and rights in schools, despite their immigration status. based on our research, we developed a one-day conference entitled, familias, estudiantes y escuelas: enlazando conocimientos a través de colectivas (family, students and schools: bridging knowledge through partnerships), as an “action” to address family and students concerns. the conference took place at the university and included topics that fostered dialogue among families, students, educators, and communities. despite a huge snowstorm that occurred the morning of the conference, there were approximately 150 attendees. workshop titles included: “breaking down racial and ethnic barriers,” “surviving life after high school,” and “navigating the ins and outs of the u.s. school system,” which was presented by slcsd assistant superintendent of the equity department. the fsp collective organized interactive workshops for a day of learning and reflecting on the topics. given the linguistic diversity within fsp—spanish, karen, arabic, and somali—translators were present for each workshop. in fact, one of the most powerful outcomes of the conference resulted from the communication across linguistically and culturally diverse communities (e.g., spanish speakers and arabic speakers). educators and participants became aware that many of the same concerns were shared across the communities. central to the fsp participatory research group were concerns on successfully navigating the u.s. political system, particularly due to their immigration status and everyday fears of being deported. after much discussion, it became evident that partnering with a local non-profit organization, comunidades unidas, would be the best solution. the partnership with comunidades unidas would provide opportunities to build coresearchers’ leadership skills through a series of training sessions aimed at empowering participants so that they can mobilize themselves around issues that affect them. comunidades unidas utilized the democracy schools of utah (dsu) program for leadership training. this consisted of two phases which the collective completed: 1) the democracy schools curriculum, and 2) civic engagement activities. the activities provide hands-on experiences related to government processes, put community organizing into practice, and empower the undocumented to make their voices heard through letter writing campaigns, legislative visits, phone trees, petition signing, and the like. through these mobilizing efforts and exchange of knowledge, participants were empowered to seek clarification of and question school policies. patricia, a mother of two high school students, shared her experience this way: ya me siento más equipada para enfrentar los problemas que suceden en la escuela porque ya sé mis derechos como mamá de dos muchachitas que quieren ir a la universidad. ya no tengo tanto miedo porque sé mis derechos y sé con quien hablar en la escuela. también siento que tengo más sabiduría sobre el sistema político en los estados unidos y aunque sea indocumentada, ya me siento fuerte para compartir esta información. now i feel more equipped to deal with the problems that happen in school because i know my rights as a mother of two girls who want to go to the university. i am not that afraid anymore because i know my rights, and i know who to talk to at school. also, i feel that i have more wisdom about the political system in the united states and even though i am undocumented, i feel stronger to share my knowledge with others. judie, patricia’s daughter, shared the following about cultivating their mobilization: poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 38 me siento mejor porque sé mis derechos en la escuela y mi mamá sabe con quién hablar si hay algún problema. también ya sé exactamente cuales clases se requieren para asistir a la universidad. veo que mi mamá se siente fuerte, y yo me siento fuerte. hemos compartido esta información con nuestros conocidos en la comunidad y por eso quieren venir a nuestras juntas. i feel better because i know my rights in school and my mom knows who to talk to if there is a problem. also, i know exactly what classes are required to enroll in the university. i see my mom feel strong, i feel strong. we have shared this information with our acquaintances and that is why they want to come to our meetings. the co-researchers expressed that in addition to feeling more knowledgeable, confident, and empowered, they also realized the relationships with fsp members were strengthened. many fsp members began to view the fsp collective as an adopted family. many of the co-researchers commented how family members who lived outside of the area did not have a network of trusting friends, making this collective very important. they knew they could count on each other. the inter-generational fsp collective embraced the ethic of care, solidarity, cultural pride, and a commitment to each other while placing research and action within the community. lucy shared: “ustedes son la familia que no tenemos aquí. siento que hay confianza y cariño entre todos nosotros. [you are the family we don’t have here. i feel the trust and care among all of us.]” the fsp collective transcends all social categories because the end goal is to achieve social justice and equity while offering what the collective referred to as a refugio comunitario (communal safe haven) that has allowed them the space to disrupt anti-immigrant discourses, racist and oppressive educational and social acts that perpetuate the school-to-sweatshop pipeline (cahill et al., 2015). central to the co-researchers becoming integrated where elements of “familismo,” which refers to the “roles on dependence and reliance on others for emotional support, and one’s sense of obligation to others” (cuéllar, arnold, & gonzalez, 1995, p. 341). this group created a sense of familismo that included feelings of loyalty, solidarity, and attachment among its members (alvarez, 2007). while operating within the confines of reciprocal trust and respect, the collective functions within the scope of power relations of knowledge holders (e.g., young people, family, faculty, community members, and the like). and the familismo they had for one another extended to members of the refugee community. more specifically, after talking with a few teachers, fsp collective members learned that some refugee families were in dire need of food for thanksgiving and many children needed winter coats. the collective quickly mobilized and put an action plan together to raise money and organize a clothing drive. to fundraise, families prepared a menu, cooked food, and sold lunch plates at a luncheon sponsored at the recreation center. the collective also organized an auction at the luncheon. family members brought items from home (i.e., radios, piñatas made by the collective, stereo speakers, games). through these fundraising activities, fsp co-researchers raised $250 dollars. all of the monies were used to purchase grocery gift cards for refugee families. the fsp collective also organized a coat drive. members worked with local coffee shops, bakeries, and grocery stores around the neighborhood to solicit gently used or new coats. fsp collective members organized and planned a rotation schedule so that all members could participate and be involved in the coat drive. once the coats were collected, an fsp member took the coats to the school and neatly placed them in a classroom so students could select a coat. the collective delivered the gift cards with the coats selected by the refugee high school students. after the experience, lulu, a senior, stated the following: hay personas más necesitadas que nosotros y es nuestro deber como comunidad de ayudar. no es que nosotros tengamos mucho, pero entendemos la situación de la comunidad refugiada. fue una experiencia inolvidable ya que fue muy claro que esto fue la mejor decisión para ayudar en la comunidad. y aparte, en la escuela fue claro que nosotros organizamos esta recaudación de fondos, así que se vio nuestra presencia más que nunca. nos sentimos con mucho orgullo ser parte de este grupo familiar. there are people who are in more dire need than we are and it is our duty to help. it is not that we have a lot, but we understand the situation among the refugee community. it was an unforgettable experience and it was clear that it was the best decision to help in our community. besides it became clear in the school that we raised funds and our presence was seen more than poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 39 ever in the school. we feel very proud to be part of this familial group. juan, a grandfather of an 11th grader stated the following: ya no nos pueden ignorar, no nos pueden callar o tratarnos como si fuéramos invisible en la escuela solo por ser indocumentados. muchos maestros nos dieron las gracias por organizar la recaudación de fondos y abrigos. yo pienso que nunca esperaba la escuela que hubiéramos podido haber hecho esto porque nos tratan como si no fuéramos parte de la escuela, pero ya las cosas cambiaron. they cannot ignore us anymore, or silence us or treat us as if we are invisible in the school simply because we are undocumented. a lot of the teachers thanked us for organizing the fundraiser and gathering coats. i think the school never expected that we could have pulled this off because they treat us as if we are not part of the school, but things have changed. the fsp collective was patient yet attentive in learning how the school leadership functioned and how the political system worked in order to actively engage. they were also strategic, organized, and efficient as leaders. this demonstrated to school officials that despite their documentation status, they are upstanding citizens that can contribute to the larger school community. this strategy of supporting the refugee community was a powerful accomplishment on part of the undocumented community. aside from being a huge success, it disrupted the ongoing media reports of undocumented individuals being “gangsters, taking resources from americans, and taking jobs.” this community service action proved to the school community that the fsp intergenerational collective was actively seeking change and contributing to the community. following the fundraising and coat drive, the families with the support of two esl teachers requested a family resource center in the school. the resource center was conceptualized as a space to disseminate information, referrals, distribute food, clothing and a space for families to use during and after school. the fsp collective decorated, painted the room, and created art to put up on the wall. they also had food at the grand opening. for parents and families, this was an excellent way to voice their presence and demonstrate their tenacity for supporting the education of their youth and engagement with the school. these types of activities are not considered mainstream parental involvement activities. as a result, the principal criticized the fsp collective. during a meeting with district office members, the principal stated that “the fsp collective was bringing in activism into the school and the school did not need this type of family engagement.” it became clear that there was a fear that the undocumented families were strategically and systematically organizing change within the school and community. diversity voices the second action that the fsp collective took to disrupt their marginality in the school was an art project that provided undocumented students and families as well as other english language learners the opportunities to share their immigration stories. utilizing participants’ narratives excerpted from their immigrant story, i theorize how the fsp intergenerational collective community created an action product to question exclusionary immigration policies and marginalized school practices. in this process of making art through storytelling, co-researchers learned how the school as an organization, and the personnel who comprised the school organization, treated undocumented students enrolled at the school, their parents, and family members. central is how they each were positioned as undocumented youth rather than as engaged academic learners or families invested in the learning processes. for example, sammie, an 11th grade student, said it best: they [school officials/teachers] think we [latinas/os] have not earned the right to be in school or in this country… in my history class we were talking about the constitution and immigration came up…the teacher asked if undocumented people should be deported. most of the students said yes, and a few made racist comments but the teacher just laughed and looked at us. it made poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 40 us feel uncomfortable, but we didn’t want to say anything; we just wanted the topic to change because we knew everyone was staring at us…sometimes we laugh about it and say that they are acting like ice agents and it scares us. sammie’s experience highlights the nuanced and unintentional ways that being undocumented manifests in school and impacts the identities of undocumented students as academic learners engaged in the learning process. these unintentional ways reinforce anxiety and fear, which diminishes young people’s feelings of belonging. feelings of belonging are important for young people’s success, including caring relationships with teachers and peers, yet this was not occurring. similarly, jacobo describes how “they [teachers] think just because we don’t know english we are not smart, but we are and we have great ideas.” juan jose, a father of two high school and two elementary students, describes it this way: esto nos asusta. queremos que estén seguros nuestros hijos en la escuela pero cuando vamos, nos tratan como que si fuéramos marcianos. this scares us. we want our children to be safe in school but when we go, they treat us as if we were martians. both undocumented students and their families described the way in which the school formed a precarious relationship with them. the fsp co-researchers shared how they felt excluded from the school learning community and educational opportunities to pursue postsecondary educational opportunities because they were often treated and perceived as not deserving of the public education services due to their undocumented status. despite these interactions, family members continued to visit schools, continued to interact with school personnel and persisted to seek answers to questions regarding their children’s educational journeys. moreover, the co-researchers agreed with señora ampi when she expressed that these chilling feelings also trickle into the classrooms about how undocumented immigrants are perceived. señora ampi and her son marco shared the following: estoy preocupada porque la maestra de mi hijo le dijo que no siga investigando la universidad porque no calificaba para la universidad ya que era indocumentado. pero ahora nos está diciendo usted que ¡sí califica! esto no es justo; mi hijo es buen estudiante y merece seguir estudiando. no entiendo por qué la maestra le dio la información incorrecta. i am worried because my son’s teacher told him that he should give up researching the university because he didn’t qualify to go to the university because he was undocumented. but now you are telling us he does qualify! this is not just; my son is a good student and he deserves to keep studying. i don’t understand why the teacher gave him the wrong information. marco followed up with: sí, mi maestra me hizo sentir bien mal porque siempre me estaba ayudando, pero cuando le dije que era indocumentado, allí paró toda la ayuda. a lo mejor no le hubiera dicho nada para que siguiera ayudándome. pero no pensé que ella se molestaría. ahora voy a clase y nunca hablamos sobre becas o la universidad. por eso le dije a mi mamá que teníamos que ser parte de fsp. yes, my teacher made me feel really bad because she was always helping me, but when she found out i was undocumented, the help stopped. i didn’t think that this was going to bother her. now i just go to class and we never talk about scholarship or the university. that is why i told my mom we needed to join fsp. señora ampi’s and marco’s narratives illuminate how the student’s immigration status took precedence poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 41 over their identities as students. in doing so, their role as academic learners engaged in the production of new knowledge was dismissed and made invisible. despite such challenges, the fsp intergenerational collective was determined to find a space for students and their families to engage in the educational discourse while navigating their educational journeys. in so doing, the fsp collective was also working toward disrupting the nuanced ways that undocumented status trumped their engagement with the school. after ongoing discussions and reflections about the unfriendly school climate towards latino immigrants (regardless of their immigration status) and researching the rights that the co-researchers had in the educational setting, the collective decided to disrupt the imposed invisibility and silence by talking with the esl teachers and incorporate their immigration experiences through art. more specifically, high school students presented their poems, collages, drawings, and short stories about their journeys as immigrants and refugees. a junior from guinea in west africa hopes to do her part to fight discrimination and make the world a better place. she wrote and read aloud at the voices of diversity: if you really believe that love is what puts families together, then you must believe that love can change into paradise, especially for education. one of the esl teachers stated: we often see our ell students as lacking things. they lack english or they lack money or lack cultural understanding. however, the reality and the truth is these students are incredibly intelligent, skilled… and they are making the community richer. the student writings, often in two or three languages, hung on colored butcher paper throughout the performance hall. some of the students shared the stigma they experienced because of their cultural dress while others shared the heartbreak of being separated from family members because of immigration laws targeting latino immigrants. sergio, an 18-year-old senior, spoke of fleeing drug violence in chihuahua, mexico, to find safety. as a 10-year-old boy, he escaped a kidnapping and when he was 13, his uncle was shot and killed crossing the street. a year later, his family immigrated to utah state. as a high school freshman, he played on the soccer team but felt like an outsider when the white players referred to him as “wetback” and “beano.” following the voices of diversity art project, the fsp collective requested to meet with the principal; however, no response or acknowledgement of the request was given. the collective decided that writing a letter would be the best way to communicate with the director of the school, given the lack of response. the drafting of the letter amongst the co-researchers was completed in small inter-generational groups (e.g., high school and university students, family members and teachers/university professor). it was decided that the collective would divide themselves into four different small groups, and each group would address one of the following points in the letter: 1. hire a full-time counselor who is bicultural and bilingual (spanish/english) and culturally aware of the latino community’s needs. 2. make accessible special and advanced programs for students who are english language learners. 3. support and approve the student group latino student alliance. 4. open the family resource center for families and community members. after the principal read the letter, i (as a university professor/researcher) was asked to meet with the administrators to explain the “activism that was taking place from latino immigrant families.” once i discussed the purpose of the fsp collective’s letter, the co-researchers were allowed to enter the principal’s office to share their concerns. after the meeting, several members described feeling empowered. jose, a father, said “finalmente sentí que nos escuchó el jefe [i finally feel that the boss heard us].” nayeli followed up with: “did you see their faces? i think they were shocked that we were so well prepared.” a university student expressed: “that was a powerful meeting to be a part of, thank you!” a strong allied teacher said: this has never happened in my time here. you are all amazing, you got the ball rolling! a month after the meeting with the administrators, the latino student alliance group was formally approved as a student group at school through the district. many poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 42 of the other issues, however, were not addressed. the fsp intergenerational collective continued to gather and strategize to make substantial structural and practical changes in the school. yet, additional obstacles and roadblocks were created. despite the school leadership’s reactions, and the emotional depletion experienced by the fsp co-researchers, fsp members continued to meet to strategize on alternative way(s) to work with the school as well as way(s) to sustain their/our voices, presence, and knowledge production as a collective group. therefore, regardless of the small structural changes made, the co-researchers were empowered by their collective actions, and realized that they have the agency to make an impact despite their undocumented status. in the end, the collective provided a space to be heard and take action to disrupt the voicelessness, invisibility, and overall marginality imposed on undocumented immigrant young people and their families implications in sum, this research extends our current understandings of how undocumented students and their families, together, experience liminal educational citizenship in u.s. high schools, and how, in turn, they disrupt this positioning through their role as active agents of change by refusing to be marginalized, silenced, and rendered invisible. by doing par research, taking action on our findings, and raising up concerns that are too often unheard, families disrupt this positioning through their role as active agents of change by refusing to be silenced. more specifically, the research illuminates how undocumented young people and their families are invisible in the interactions, feel included or excluded in the high school educational context, and the specific ways they transformed their engagement with the school. when young people and their families are given clear and positive messages about their worth and abilities, they succeed. however, when young people and their families are bombarded with undeserving and exclusionary messages, they may internalize that they are outsiders and undeserving, thus they begin to believe it is normal for them to be surveilled (alvarez gutiérrez, 2014; alvarez gutiérrez & rios, 2012). the results of the par project suggest that undocumented young people in high school and their families disrupted their liminal school engagement. as rosita, a mother, stated: estamos en un país nuevo, escuelas nuevas, comunidades nuevas, sistema político diferente, idioma que no hablamos o entendemos, pero colectivamente hemos podido cumplir el cambio que necesitamos para apoyar a nuestros jóvenes en la escuela. y ahora sabemos nuestros derechos y sabemos que la escuela no puede por ley discriminarnos solamente por ser indocumentados. este refugio ha sido nuestro lugar de aprendizajes, pensamientos y acciones. mi hijo y yo somos diferentes personas por esta experiencia familiar. we are in a new country, new schools, communities and a different political system, a languge we are not fluent in or often don’t understand, but collectively we have been able to achieve what we need to support our young people in school. and now we know our rights and know that the school cannot discriminate against us simply because we are undocumented. this safe haven has been a place of learning, thinking and actions. my son and i are different people because of this familial experience. more university-community-school partnerships like the fsp collective are needed across the country to help undocumented immigrant students and their families create spaces for change and springboards for positive action. poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 43 references alvarez, l. (2007). ¿derecho u obligación? parents’ and youths’ understanding of parental legitimacy in a mexican origin familial context. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 5(29), 192-208. doi: 10.1177/0739986306297002 alvarez gutiérrez, l. (2013). costo alto de política anti-imigrante sobre la familia y educación: the adverse consequences of anti-latino immigration laws. theory into practice, 52(3), 169-179. alvarez gutiérrez, l. (2014). youth social justice engagement in the face of anti-latina/o immigrant illegitimacy. the urban review, 46(2), 307-323. alvarez gutiérrez, l. & rios, f. (2012). la política vecindaria: a micro to macro lens on immigrant newcomer students in us schools. in s.a. hughes & t. r. berry (eds.), the evolving significance of race: living, learning, and teaching (pp.199-213). new york, ny: peter lang. boser, u. (2011). teacher diversity matters: a state-by-state analysis of teachers of color. center for america progress. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/ issues/2011/11/pdf/teacher_diversity.pdf cahill, c., alvarez gutiérrez, l., & quijada cerecer, d.a. (2015). dialectic of dreams and dispossession: the school to sweatshop pipeline. cultural geographies, 1-17. doi: 10.1177/1474474015597431 cammarota, j., & romero, a. (2006). a critically compassionate pedagogy for latino/a youth. latino/a studies, 4(3), 305-312. carreón, g. p., drake, c., & barton, a. c. (2005). the importance of presence: immigrant parents’ school engagement experiences. american educational research journal, 42(3), 465-498. chávez-reyes, c. (2010). critical liberal education: an undergraduate pedagogy for teacher candidates in socially diverse university settings. teaching and teacher education, 21(3), 297-311 cuéllar, i., arnold, b., & gonzalez, g. (1995). cognitive referents of acculturation: assessment of cultural constructs in mexican americans. journal of community psychology, 23, 339356. delgado-gaitan, c. (1992). school matters in the mexican-american home: socializing children to education. american educational research journal, 29, 495–513. delgado gaitan, c. (2012). culture, literacy and power in family-community-school relationships. theory into practice, 51, 305–311.doi: 10.1080/00405841.2012.726060 deutsch, m., & steil, j. (1998). awakening the sense of injustice. social justice research, 2, 3-23. duncan-andrade, j., & morrell, e. (2008). the art of critical pedagogy: possibilities for moving from theory to practice in urban schools. new york, ny: peter lang. epstein, j., sanders, m., sheldon, s., simon, b., salinas, k., jansorn, n., et al. (2009). school, family, and community partnerships: your handbook for action. thousand oaks, ca: corwin. erikson, e. h. (1968). identity, youth and crisis. new york: w. w. norton. freire, p. (1994). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum publishing company. gonzález, n., moll, l.c. & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, nj: lawrence earlbaum. hall b.l. (1981). participatory research, popular knowledge, and power: a personal reflection. convergence, 14(3), 6-17 henderson, a. t. & mapp, k. l. (2002). a new wave of evidence: the impact of school, family and community connections on student achievement (annual synthesis). national center for family and community connections with schools. austin, tx: sedl. hilliard iii, a. (1999). what do we need to know now. race, identity, hegemony and education. rethinking schools online, 14(2), 1-10. kindon, s., pain, r., & kesby, m. (eds). (2007). participatory action research: origins, approaches and methods. in s. kindon, r. pain, & m. kesby (eds.), participatory action research approaches and methods: connecting people, participation and place (pp. 9-18). new york city: ny: routledge studies in human geography. lareau, a., & weininger, e. b. (2003). cultural capital in educational research: a critical assessment. theory & society, 32, 567-606. poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2011/11/pdf/teacher_diversity.pdf https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2011/11/pdf/teacher_diversity.pdf association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 44 lopez, g. r., scribner, j. d., & mahitivanichcha, k. (2001). redefining parental involvement: lessons from highperforming migrant-impacted schools. american educational research journal, 38, 253-288. martinez jr., c. r., degramo, d. s., & eddy, m. (2004). promoting academic success among latino youths. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 26(2), 128-151. mcintyre, a. (2008). participatory action research (vol. 52). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. mclaren, p. (2003). life in schools: an introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of education (2nd ed.). boston, ma: allyn & bacon. nces. (2013). the condition of education 2013. national center for education statistics. u.s. doe. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013037.pdf quiocho, a.m., & daoud, a. (2006). dispelling myths about latino parent participation in schools. the educational forum, 70, 255-267. rich, d. (1987). schools and families: issues and actions. national education association. washington, dc. strauss, a., & corbin, j. (1994). grounded theory methodology. in n.k. denzin & y.s. lincoln (eds.). handbook of qualitative research (pp. 273-285). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. torre, m. e., fine, m., stoudt, b. g., & fox, m. (2012). critical participatory action research as public science. apa handbook of research methods in psychology, 2,171-184. valdés, g. (1996). con respeto: bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools: an ethnographic portrait. new york: teachers college. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013037.pdf theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 67 “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration” “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration”53 luis f. nuño william paterson university “we have seen that, in penal justice, the prison transformed the punitive procedure into a penitentiary technique; the carceral archipelago transported this technique from the penal institution to the entire social body.” michel foucault, discipline & punish (1977: 198) introduction my father died two weeks before my college graduation. two weeks before i was to see him in a suit and tie for the fi rst time in my life, he died from a massive heart attack in the agricultural fi elds of the imperial valley where he’d spent almost his entire life working. i remember going to class the day that my father died to inform my professors that i would be missing the fi nal week of the semester so that i can attend my father’s funeral. i promised i would be back for fi nals. it was too soon to realize that any children i would have in the future would grow up never having met their grandfather. i evolved a sixth sense that allowed me to absorb life’s jolts by sidestepping past emotional highs and lows. i had grown accustomed to uncertainty. in a way, i was too slow to realize that, this time, this goodbye would be a permanent exit. on the morning of may 6, 1998, i received the phone call from my oldest sister breaking the news that my father had passed away from a severe heart attack only a couple hours earlier. everything was fi ne. we shared a very ordinary conversation. we talked like rational adults. we spoke of death now, reassured each that everything would turn out okay, with a reminder that the obligatory funeral would be later in the week. it was a very matter-of-fact conversation. minutes later, the phone rings. this time my mother is on the other line. this time emotions poured over tears in the barely decipherable words of our native tongue. to hell with the english-speaking world is what we cried. the story of my father’s death goes back to a common passage my mother and i had traveled through seven years earlier. together, my mother and i confronted my father’s arrest, visited him in jail, and attended his trial hearings. we shared a carceral bond. in a way, we had been through this ceremony of death before. the last time we went through this, however, life was too busy for a pause, we missed the opportunity to cry. we experienced my father’s social death together; as a family unit, we were witness to and participants in a successful degradation ceremony. social death is the symbolic process describing the condition of exclusion whereby one’s identity is replaced by a dehumanizing offi cial government label, in this case, the felon. while there is emerging research literature on the school-to-prison pipeline understood as the process by which the zero tolerance discipline in the school precedes and prepares minority youth for punishment in the criminal justice system , what i write about here is something slightly different (see children’s defense fund 2013). i’ve written in other places about how zero tolerance policies and support for community policing strategies function as mechanisms reinforcing the structures of hyperincarceration (nuño 2013). in what follows, i narrate a mirroring extra-penal process: how parental incarceration is a secondary prisonization for the families of convicted men. the “pains of imprisonment” extend beyond the prison walls. this essay is composed in three sections. first, i describe the ordinariness of social suffering in a household with an incarcerated family member. next, i apply sociological and criminological theory to the circumstances surrounding the extension of carceral detention beyond the physical architecture of the modern penitentiary. last, i review the literature on reentry in light of my family’s role in reintegration following my father’s release from prison. in an effort to shed light upon an angle of the cradle-to-prison pipeline, this essay offers examples from my own life navigating the free world in the shadows of an invasive hyperincarceration social order. 53. “whisper to a scream” is the title of a song by the icicle works, “(birds fly) whisper to a scream” (1983). association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 68 “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration” confronting a new ordinary “children who are present for an arrest at the very least experience an abrupt removal of a parent, most likely with no explanation beyond the general assertion that their mother or father has done something wrong.” (comfort 2007: 276) it was a normal october evening in 1991. “they’re here for my dad. do you know where his shoes are? he needs some shoes.” these are the words my younger sister uttered through my bedroom door. sure enough, as walk out to the living room i see my father standing outside the front door, in handcuffs, with police offi cer standing on either side. he wasn’t wearing any shoes. the plain white t-shirt was thrown on after his hands were shackled behind his back leaving it draping over his neck. the police explained that my father asked if he could at least put on some shoes. the offi cers advised that we should meet with an attorney. what were the immediate day-to-day consequences of having a parent arrested, detained in jail awaiting trial? in the weeks following my father’s arrest, i visited as many attorneys’ offi ces as i could. really, i only visited those that offered free advice. most of these trips resulted in recognizing that our family was unable to afford a private attorney. we learned immediately that bail was not an option. bail was set at one hundred thousand dollars. there was no way we could come up with that amount of money, or even the ten percent bail amount that we could post if we had one hundred thousand dollars of property as collateral. we were too poor to defend ourselves and too weak to confront the humbling power of the state. it was left up to me to relay to my father’s employer the news of our situation. then we had to fi gure out how we’d handle work, making money to pay the bills from that point forward. what were my mother, younger sister and i going to do now? i had just dropped out of community college. the bills never stopped coming. i kept my job as a day laborer in the agricultural fi elds of the imperial valley. within a month i turned to delivering pizzas. these jobs served as a temporary reprieve from the ordinary, everyday world shattering all around. when i wasn’t at work, i had to confront the obvious suffering my mother was experiencing. moreover, since my mother never learned to drive, it fell upon me to drive her to visit the county jail to visit my father. nonetheless, the doubly low status and low pay worlds of agricultural labor and pizza delivery offered sanctuary from the insecurity of the world crumbling all around our family. trips to the country jail were never easy, either on our souls or within our own daily schedules. megan comfort vividly describes the secondary prisonization extended to visitors of incarcerated men at san quentin prison in california (2008). although local county jails hold detainees awaiting trial or serving short sentences, these spaces also function as domains of “contested personhood, an intermediary zone where visitors continually defi ne and defend their social and physical integrity against the degradation of self (garfi nkel, 1956) required by the prison as a routine condition for visiting” (comfort, 2008, p. 22). those of us visiting the detainees had to sign up for visitations a full two hours prior to the visitation hour. nobody was allowed to sign up for visits in the hour before visiting hour began. if the visitation list fi lled up before the one-hour cutoff time for visitation, visitors would be turned away. this means that we would sit in a cold bland room of the county jail alongside other lost souls waiting for two hours to be shuttled down a long corridor with many twists and turns en route to the visitation room with the plexiglass and phones on either side and jail guard eavesdropping on our conversations. beyond the immediate, day-to-day issues that my family had to confront at the time of my father’s detention at the county jail, there were also the long-term realities that were not going to go away. where would we sleep when we inevitably lost our home? where would we live? how much longer could we withstand the daily anguish of not only struggling with fi nances, but the enormous emotional burden of trying to stand up to the criminal justice system? alas, the present was merely a placeholder for the inescapable future that would be, unlike the past, a future where i would forever be the son of a convicted felon. the present was simply a turning point marking the transition towards the new segregation of the hyperincarceration social order. oftentimes my mother would ask out loud if maybe the shock of a sudden death was preferable to the slow, daily torture of confronting the unknown in the months after my father’s arrest. approximately three months after my father’s arrest, following countless trips to criminal defense attorneys’ offi ces, the public defender’s offi ce, and visits to the county jail, my father pled no contest to the charges before him. he was sentenced to seven-years incarceration in a california state prison. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 69 “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration” on degradation ceremonies, social death, and secondary prisonization my father immigrated to the united states as part of the bracero program in 1954. his education level was minimal, having gone to school only as far as the third grade. a consistent fi nding in hyperincarceration literature is that low level of formal schooling is a strong predictor of the lifetime likelihood of incarceration (western, 2006). in the years since his migration to the u.s., he learned to speak, read, and write english. one of the lasting words forever burned in my memory was this advice he offered as i shared with him my anxiety at moving away to a four-year university after transferring out of community college, “at least you know the language.” in these few words, i was reminded of my privileged status in american society prior to my father’s prison sentence. the transformation of my public life from the privileged-american-born-son-of-mexican-immigrants to the dishonored-son-of-a-convicted-felon shook my core essence, forced me to replace my private identity with a new state-sanctifi ed soiled identity. in the sections that follow, i summarize theoretical works that bear upon the post-release condition of incarcerated men and their families. the meaning of ritual destruction. garfi nkel’s (1956) essay on status degradation ceremonies painstakingly encapsulates the process and functions of our law courts, as well as the essence of what it means to transform personal, private lives into formal, public inanimate labels. there are three concepts in the classic sociology on imprisonment that apply to the secondary prisonization of the families of incarcerated men. below i discuss the concept of rituals, mortifi ed self, and status degradation to shed light on the consequence of hyperincarceration to penalize families of incarcerated men. for durkheim, “a society is to its members what god is to its faithful” (durkheim, 1912, p. 208). society reproduces itself through the minds of the individuals that make up society. like all religious life, one of the fundamental means by which society stamps the values of the moral community is through the ritual. the courts and the rule of law are a passage through which we can witness the values of the moral community at work. what are these values? who is the moral community expressed in the discourse of america’s courts? growing up a child of mexican immigrants in the borderlands of the southwestern united states shaped my distinctive orientation to american life. our family was one divided by an international border. uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents all still lived in mexico. the anglo-world was the world we lived in, but not the moral community that shaped the core of our collective identity. social outcasts from mexican life, not fully integrated into american society; neither good enough for mexico nor accepted in the united states. through ritual of my father’s arrest to his detention, sentencing and incarceration we found our legal and quasi-legal status in american society. the prison transformed the identity of my father from agricultural laborer to ex-felon, “mortifi ed self” (goffman, 1961), as well as my mother’s and my new public label as quasi-convicts. degradation ceremonies are rituals concerned with “the alteration of total identities” (garfi nkel, 1956, p. 420). the public denunciation of our family from the neighborhood to the individual, private transformation of our social selves, the sociology of moral indignation captures the feelings of shame, guilt, and identity transformation in a family traveling through the police, courts, and prisons in a hyperincarceration social order. garfi nkel lays out three conditions to a successful degradation ceremony. first is the necessity of a total identity transformation in a total institution. second is the function of shame that results from the public denunciation of the accused. third, the new identity shapes the future new normal, which must be seen in light of a social calculus that represents “the former identity as accidental: the new identity is the ‘basic reality.’ what he is now is what, ‘after all,’ he was all along” (garfi nkel, 1956, p. 422). in short, the successful degradation ceremony marked our baptism into american society. we learned how to be american by accepting our new soiled identity as markers of our status in the social hierarchy. we are forever wedded to the modern prison. wacquant (2000) and alexander (2010) describe this hyperinceration social order as america’s new ‘peculiar institution’ or the new jim crow. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 70 “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration” social death and the pains of imprisonment. “the individual is no doubt the fi ctitious atom of an ideological representation of society; but he is also a reality fabricated by this specifi c technology of power that i have called ‘discipline’. . . in fact, power produces; it produces domains of objects and rituals of truth. the individual and the knowledge that may be gained of him belong to this process.” (foucault, 1977, p. 194) two concepts extend upon garfi nkel’s “degradation ceremony” for making sense of the transformation of public self. first, the idea of social death communicates the mechanism by which persons are deprived of their full humanity in the existing social and legal order. slavery is the clearest illustration whereby people are denied their essential humanness. i argue that, as an extension of the peculiar institution, hyperincarceration functions as a symbol of social death for those touched by the professionals in the law, courts, and prisons. the society of captives is now no longer exclusively that population of men warehoused in america’s prisons. today, the society of captives extends to the partners and children of the incarcerated population. gresham sykes summarizes “the pains of imprisonment” in his book, the society of captives (2007 [1958]), outlining the conditions fl owing from the loss of freedom inside the prison walls. below, i explain how these pains of imprisonment reach out and extend to the families of people doing time in america’s prisons. rios shows us how social death results from the criminalization and punishment of black and latino boys in the streets of oakland, california in the contemporary hyperincarceration era. he argues that social incapacitation is the process by which punitive social control becomes an instrument which prevents marginalized populations from functioning, thriving, and feeling a sense of dignity and humanity in their daily interactions with institutional forces (rios, 2011, p. 160). similarly, parental incarceration greets children of men doing time as little more, not-quite-fully-human beings trapped in a penal web of social suffering. “the impact of incarceration on families ranges from lost income and help with child care to diminished relationships and social isolation” (braman, 2002, p. 117-118). having an incarcerated parent creates what braman refers to as prison worries (p. 119-120). prison worries range from the day-to-day dynamics of trying to fi gure out how to provide for loved ones behind the prison walls in the form of money for the commissary and planning for trips to the prison for visits to the daily anxiety and emotional toil of handwritten correspondence. social death is the process of social negation. here the concept applies to families of incarcerated men as a way of describing a life that is marked by the paradox of nonbeing, a life fi lled with constant struggle to only be marked as indelibly defective (patterson, 1982, p. 38). gresham sykes examination of the society of captives penetrates the walls of a new jersey maximum security state prison to relay the pains of imprisonment. the pains of imprisonment, for sykes (2007), are “the punishments which the free community deliberately infl icts on the offender for violating the law” (p. 64). sykes describes the deprivations of liberty, goods and services, heterosexual relationships, autonomy, and security as only the offi cial pains of imprisonment. the suffering that attacks the prisoner’s psyche are the more profound pains of imprisonment. the individuals caught up in the penal archipelago of the hyperincarceration social order retreat into the world of fantasy as a strategy to confront state power. prison letters can be a means by which incarcerated men and their loved one withdraw “into a fantasy based on fondled memories of the past or imaginary dreams of life after release” (sykes, 2007, p. 80). for those on the outside, confronting the pains of imprisonment can mean a withdrawal into the realm of fantasy through abusing recreational drugs or falling into a forlorn depression. the pains of imprisonments then become a vicious cycle of punishment, degradation, and depression, followed by escape into the world of recreational drugs. recreational drug use is often a symptom and not the cause of social isolation, structural dislocation, and angst. yet, the war on drugs grants the police license to target recreational drug users, whereby the criminal justice system captures the loved ones of people doing time, processing entire communities through the penal state. the tragedy of hyperincarceration becomes a farce through the persistent war on drugs association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 71 “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration” secondary prisonization. data on parental incarceration is scant. the clearest estimates suggest that as many as 2.3 million children have a parent in prison, and for 90% of these children the incarcerated parents are fathers (comfort, 2007, p. 274). in doing time together (2008), comfort meticulously describes the secondary prisonization of women whose partners are doing time in san quentin prison in california. she shows us that “women with incarcerated partners undergo a secondary prisonization,” (comfort, 2008, p. 15) understood as developing a subcultural worldview that mimics that of incarcerated men; in essence the women in comfort’s study become “quasi-inmates.” below, i use my family’s experience to argue that children, as well as the female partners of incarcerated men undergo a secondary prisonization. in her study of prisoner reentry, petersilia (2003) observes that “male prisoners who maintain strong family relationships during imprisonment have higher rates of post-release success” (p. 41). yet, not much is made in when prisoners come home of the emotional, fi nancial, and overall social strains that are required of families to maintain strong relationships during imprisonment. petersilia points out that “prison phone calls are very expensive” (p. 45). since these calls must be collect calls, the costs falls on the backs of families whose primary breadwinner is the one serving his prison sentence. in my own experience, collect calls from the state prison resulted in my phone service being shut off. i worked the graveyard shift earning a little over minimum wage. my telephone service was an expense that i could no longer afford. letter writing became the only means of communication between my father and i during his incarceration. the pictures below are christmas cards my father sent from prison. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 72 “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration” in his description of the typical pattern of daily life inside a modern american prison, norval morris recounts the nonsensical boredom that is prison life. “day in, day out, life is the same, unless there is a ‘lockdown.’ and during lockdown is even more the same” (morris, 1998, p. 202). television shows and news media all-toooften fail to capture the “deadening sameness” that is prison life. our letters to each other were our best effort to escape the daily pattern of socially wasting life away in the modern panopticon, one of us inside the prison, the other in the free society. although i was not old enough to buy alcohol, i always managed to secure booze when i craved it. in the years during my father’s incarceration, my life became more reclusive and detached from mainstream society. working on the graveyard shift i was exposed to a wide variety of stimulants. cocaine and methamphetamine were a part of life in the graveyard shift. work and recreation would lapse into one. those of us in the graveyard shift become accustomed to rarely ever seeing the normal world. co-workers would stop coming in. rumors were that they’d turned toward rehab or tested positive during a random drug test or been arrested. work turnover was high. one of my closest friends during the period of my father’s incarceration was a fellow co-worker who had recently completed his prison sentence. we can call him dave. he was the only one of my co-workers who’d stay away from drugs and would drink alcohol only in moderation. while in prison he had tattooed his kids’ names around his neck. he was quite a bit older. i was only twenty years old then, living in a world among fathers whose children were only about fi ve years younger than me. maybe dave symbolized a deeper understanding of penal degradation than i had known up to that point. dave would silently offer commentary about the drugs and excessive drinking in the world around us. he’d often point out that i had to fi nd a new group of friends, that the work on the graveyard shift was a road to nowhere, that my life was still ahead of me. as i wallowed in my own self-pity, the only voice that offered useful advice was that of an ex-felon. perhaps dave saw the tentacles of the penal state wrapping itself around me. perhaps dave saw me in need of personal guide through the maze of obscurity in the suburbs of hyperincarceration los angeles. post-incarceration/reentry my father was released from prison early, after serving half of his seven-year sentence. my sisters and i helped to fi nd a place for my mother and father to live upon his release. since he’d be out on parole, there would be restrictions on his movement, as well as residency restrictions upon his reentry to society. my oldest sister and her husband purchased a lawnmower and other equipment so that my father could work mowing lawns for business offi ce complexes that had sprung up around the eastern suburbs of los angeles. for a few months, i held on to my job working the graveyard shift at night and helping mow lawns in the mornings. i’d then go home around noon to sleep about seven hours before returning to work at eleven at night to start the process all over again. while working with my father, we talked about what my future would be like. i was twenty-one years of age now. soon after my father’s release, i would spend weekends at the home my parents were renting. it was nice being able to spend some time with my family after all we’d been through. my parents would try to talk me into going to school to learn how to become a truck driver. they’d talk to me about joining the army or navy. we all felt that where i was at the time needed to change. in their eyes, i was still doing time. it wasn’t long after my father’s release that i quit my job working the graveyard shift. my parents invited me to live with them on the condition that i give community college another try and help my father with his lawn mowing when i wasn’t in school. for the next two years, i attended community college. being back at school after nearly four years of life in the shadow of the penitentiary, i felt at ease. my mother and father were living under one roof again. my father had to meet with his parole offi cer at fi rst every week, then eventually once a month. he’d always come home a little on the edge. he was having trouble accepting his “stigmatized self” in a free society. all these years his penal habitus had been confi ned, hidden behind prison walls. now, among free society where souls were ranked in a hierarchy of value, the ex-felon label didn’t come easy. prisoner reentry is often examined as if it’s a process only ex-felons go through. this criminological focus is too narrow. most successful reentry is predicated upon strong or stable connections to family. family members association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 73 “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration” reenter mainstream society together with the ex-felon, although in the private sphere of the family home. of course, i did not know that these years would be our last together. these fi nal two years together were spent with me commuting to the community college, helping my father mow lawns when i wasn’t in the classroom, and mending relationships that were broken through my father’s incarceration. in some respects, these may have been the greatest years of our lives. concluding remarks the last time i saw my father alive was the day before i left to live in the dorms at the university of california at berkeley. not even two years after i left for college, i received that morbid phone call we all know is bound to happen, but never fully accept. it seems reasonable to look back and conclude that the prison has been an unfortunate, yet “happy accident” in my mexican life. growing up, my parents always threatened to move the family back to mexico if their children became too american. i never knew what to make of that threat, beyond understanding that it was, in fact, possible for my parents to move us back to mexico. as fi rst generation immigrants, our home was neither in mexico nor in the united states. the trappings of the penal archipelago changed that. there was no turning back. we were here to stay. merton describes serendipity as a process of self-discovery, as kind of a “happy accident.” in the introduction to the travels and adventures of serendipity, we are told “serendipity can be about fi nding something of value while seeking something entirely different” (merton & barber, 2004, p. xiv). it’s been nearly twenty years since my father’s release from prison. it’s been almost fi fteen years since his passing. in the time since, all or most of my energies have been directed at drawing light upon this dark era in american history. in their study of lives of delinquent boys at age seventy, laub & sampson (2003) point out that desistance is always marked by turning points in life – “changes in situational and structural life circumstances like a good marriage and a stable job” (p. 278). they found that men who desisted from crime were men who were embedded in healthy structures of informal social control. men that were able to disentangle themselves from the webs of the criminal justice system were the men who had wives and children who loved them, employers who cared about them, and neighbors who counted on them. something as simple as a meaningful social bond is what laub and sampson (2003) found to be missing from the men who were lifetime persisters (p. 278-282). our hyperincarceration social order is historically unprecedented, as well as unusually harsh. at the same time, the carceral archipelago connects all the souls who share in the suffering of the contemporary penal state. the social solidarity among community activists, engaged scholars, and others who recognize the failings of the harsh discipline and penal suffering infl icted upon our current generation offers hope for a future social movement wedded to chipping away at the hyperincarceration social order. we are in the depths of a hyperincarceration society. there are three prisons within ten miles from my home. friends that i went to high school with have found steady careers either in law enforcement or as corrections offi cers in one of california’s prisons. many small towns throughout the state depend on the presence of the prison in their backyard. our schools’ harsh discipline policies are mimicking the culture of policing predicated on the war on drugs where a militarized language sees the world in stark binaries of good and evil. such is the current state of the world we have come to inherit in the post-segregation era united states. yet, there is reason to be hopeful. there are spaces to resist the pressures of conforming to the logic of the penal state in our everyday life. teachers, principals, counselors, and educators must be granted discretion to weigh the infl uence of intervening variables contributing to kids’ misbehavior. schools must resist the pornography of law and order; police offi cers belong out in public space not in school hallways. administrators need to continue the education, or, at minimum, be open to the idea that they’ve succumbed to the perversion of the law and order pornography, which fetishizes zero tolerance discipline at the expense of healthy social interaction built on negotiation and peace-making confl ict resolution. we must all work together to resist the temptation of punishment for punishment’s sake. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 74 “‘whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration” references alexander, m. (2010). the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. new york: the new press. braman, d. (2002). families and incarceration. in m. mauer and m. chesney-lind (ed.), invisible punishment: the collateral consequences of mass imprisonment (pp. 117-135). new york: the new press. children’s defense fund. (2013). “dismantling the cradle to prison pipeline: preventing pushouts in mississippi schools.” from children’s defense fund – southern regional offi ce. (february) retrieved from http:// www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/dismantling-the-cpp.pdf. comfort, m.. (2007). “punishment beyond the legal offender.” annual review of law and social science, 3: 271296. comfort, m. (2008). doing time together: ove and family life in the shadow of the prison. chicago: the university of chicago press. comfort, m. (2011). taking children into account: addressing the intergenerational effects of parental incarceration. criminology and public policy. 10(3), 839-850. durkheim, e. (1995) [1912]. elementary forms of religious life. translated and with an introduction by karen e. fields. new york: the free press. foucault, m. (1995) [1977]. discipline and punish: the birth of the prison. new york: vintage books. garfi nkel, h. (1956). conditions of successful degradation ceremonies. american journal of sociology, 61(5), 420424. goffman, e. (1997). [1961]. the mortifi ed self. in c. lemert and a. branaman (ed.), the goffman reader (pp. 5571). malden, ma: blackwell publishers. laub, j. h. & sampson, r. j. (2003). shared beginnings, divergent lives: delinquent boys at age 70. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. mcnabb, r. i. (1983). (birds fly) whisper to a scream. by the icicle works. in dance vault mixes: whisper to a scream (birds fly) ep. beggars banquet records limited (2006). merton, r. k. & barber, e. (2004). the travels and adventures of serendipity: a study of sociological semantics and the sociology of science. with an introduction by james l. schulman. princeton, nj: princeton university press. morris, n. (1998). the contemporary prison, 1965-present. in n. morris and d. j. rothman (eds.), the oxford history of the prison: the practice of punishment in western society (pp. 202-231). new york: oxford university press. nuño, l. f. (2013). police, public safety, and race-neutral discourse. sociology compass 7(6), 471-86. patillo, m., weiman, d., & western, b. (eds.). (2004). imprisoning america: the social effects of mass incarceration. new york: russell sage foundation. patterson, o. (1982). slavery and social death: a comparative study. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. petersilia, j. (2003). when prisoners come home: parole and prisoner reentry. new york: oxford university press. rios, v. (2011). punished: policing the lives of black and latino boys. new york: new york university press. sykes, g.m. (2007) [1958]. the society of captives: a study of a maximum security prison. princeton, nj: princeton university press. wacquant, l. (2000). the new ‘peculiar institution’: on the prison as surrogate ghetto. theoretical criminology, 4(3), 377-89. western, b. (2006). punishment and inequality in america. new york: russell sage foundation. invited.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 7 the nlerap approach sonia nieto university of massachusetts—amherst melissa rivera hunter college city university of new york jason irizarry university of connecticut from the start, nlerap has been based on two major premises: one is that a sociocultural and sociopolitical approach to learning is more effective than a traditional approach, particularly in the case of populations that have historically been marginalized through their education; and the second is that research is more meaningful and inclusive when it is defi ned through a participatory action research (par) approach. each is described below. a sociocultural and sociopolitical approach to teaching, learning, and research because there is no such thing as a “generic” student, the nlerap approach to research honors students’ particular sociocultural realities. that is, students’ cultures, languages, and experiences should be taken into account in the design, development, and implementation of research studies. this means that linguistic variations (spanish, english, bilingualism, bi-dialecticism, and youth language) all need to be acknowledged when conducting research on latino/as. furthermore, because latinos/as refl ect a tremendous diversity in terms of ethnic origin, history in the u.s., race, language use, social class, and other differences, nlerap is based on the principle that research studies must recognize both commonalities and differences in these origins and experiences. rather than assuming that these commonalities and differences are of little consequence, studies based on nlerap’s principles recognize that sociocultural realities are an essential component of any research on latino/as. the nlerap approach is also guided by a sociopolitical perspective. to view education within its sociopolitical context means to understand that education does not exist in a vacuum but instead is immersed in—and infl uenced by—particular political, economic, and social circumstances. this context includes both societal and school-based institutional structures, racism and other biases based on human and social differences (i.e., social class, language, sexual orientation, gender, and others), and the resultant traditions, laws, policies, and practices as well as school-based policies and practices such as ability tracking, high-stakes tests, curriculum and pedagogy, outreach to families, disciplinary policies. these policies and practices, in turn, refl ect, albeit unwittingly, our society’s ideas and values about intelligence, culture, and other human differences. the belief that some groups have an inherently superior culture, while others are less worthy, is unfortunately a deep-seated ideology in our history. for example, educational research literature on the experiences of latinos/as in u.s. schools has historically been rooted in a defi cit perspective (flores, 2005). that is, rather than focus on school factors (funding, class size, curriculum, pedagogy, outreach efforts to families, tracking, disciplinary policies, and so on) and societal factors (inadequate health care, poor housing, lack of employment and educational opportunities for families, among others) that can lead to educational failure, the lack of educational success among latinos/as has been largely attributed to cultural, linguistic and even genetic defi ciencies. this is changing as new researchers begin to focus on sociocultural and sociopolitical factors that can infl uence schooling. at the same time, while defi cit-centered research about latino/a students has often been done by “outsiders” (i.e., individuals who are neither latino/a nor who have been meaningfully connected to latino/a communities), some scholars—primarily but not only latino/a researchers—have challenged this defi cit perspective for years (cordasco, 1998; garcía, 2001; nieto, 2000a; romo & falbo, 1996; sánchez, 1940; valencia, 1997; valenzuela, 1999). the nlerap approach association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 8 a growing body of research demonstrates how the lack of value placed on latino/a students’ cultural, linguistic, and experiential resources has been both cause and effect of the low quality education they have received throughout their time in u.s. schools (irizarry & nieto, 2010; macdonald & monkman, 2005). for example, both mexican americans in the southwest and puerto ricans in the northeast, the largest groups of latinos/as in the u.s., have endured sustained efforts to signifi cantly compromise their access to quality education through segregation, poor quality of instruction, “sink or swim” approaches to language learning, substandard facilities, lack of representation in the curriculum, and lack of representation in decision-making, among other factors (bucchioni, 1982; margolis, 1968; nieto, 2000b; pedraza & rivera, 2005; sánchez, 1940; valencia, 2002). this lack of access to quality education comprises what some have viewed as acts of violence, both physical and symbolic (bourdieu & wacquant, 1992). more recent examples of educational failure have been no less evident, although hope for change is also more apparent. participatory action research, another hallmark of the nlerap approach, is one hopeful approach to teaching, learning, and research in the latino/a community. participatory action research (par) a second fundamental principle of nlerap is that community perspectives should be included in research. this means that research needs to be collaborative, engaging diverse community members as co-researchers in an investigative and action-oriented process (torre & ayala, 2009). given this perspective, a par approach is fundamental to how research should be conducted. as such, nlerap’s fi rst research project on arts in education both embraced a par philosophy and implemented a par methodology with school-based educators, community-based organizational staff, and university scholars, grounding our collective efforts in fi ve principles: to root our work in critical scholarship and sociopolitical movements, to encourage democratic participation, to facilitate co-construction of knowledge, to incorporate a creative process, and to commit to action and social justice (rivera, medellin-paz, pedraza, et al., 2010). a par approach also affi rms the signifi cance of latino/a researchers as a force for transforming education because, until quite recently, the voices and perspectives of latino/a researchers were nearly invisible in most of the research addressing the education of latino/a youngsters (pedraza & rivera, 2005). par has emerged as a promising practice with the potential to improve educational experiences and outcomes for students of color (cammarota & fine, 2008). with a focus on engaging youth in research connected to the material and socioemotional conditions of their lives, par “is typically undertaken as critical scholarship, by multi-generational collectives, to interrogate conditions of social injustice through social theory with a dedicated commitment to social action” (fine, 2008, p. 213). more than a tool for inquiry solely for use by experienced researchers in the ivory tower, par is deeply rooted in the struggle for social justice and educational equity. according to ginwright (2008), “with an emphasis on democratizing knowledge, fostering critical inquiry of daily life and developing liberatory practices, par is both an art and a method to engage youth in democratic problem solving” (p. 14). as such, many of the scholars working on par projects with youth have documented societal changes brought about as a result of these efforts as well as the positive impact such projects have had on students’ academic and personal development. documenting the power of engaging youth of color in par, david stovall (2006) speaks to the struggles of latino/a and african american youth to have their voices and perspectives included in the process of school reform in chicago, illinois. the students in his study collaborated on a proposal for a new community high school in their neighborhood, organizing a youth collective across lines of linguistic and cultural difference, collecting data, crafting the proposal and advocating for its adoption by the school board and city council. their innovative proposal challenged the conventional power relations that too often dominate schools where students are perceived as empty vessels waiting to be fi lled by teachers rather than as active contributors to various aspects of school governance including curriculum design and discipline (freire, 1970). in another par project documenting the outcomes of a multi-year critical inquiry that engaged african american and latino/a students, ernest morrell (2008) convincingly documented growth among student participants as a result of engaging in collaborative research that focused on simultaneously engaging students in the nlerap approach association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 9 activism and improving their literacy skills. as a result of this project, which took place over the summer during school vacation, students became more critical consumers of text as well as skilled producers of textural products, giving presentations from their research at various professional meetings and conferences and developing skills essential to successfully navigating school and gaining access to higher education. documenting the power of student voice and the impact of participatory action research as a pedagogical tool, jeffrey duncan-andrade (2007) described the fi ndings of a study of critical media literacy and urban youth. in this research, students were involved in a summer seminar building on their consumption of electronic media. the goal of the project was to develop students’ academic literacies through critiques of the media and the creation of counter narratives that challenged majoritarian narratives rooted in negative, stereotypical depictions of urban youth. students disseminated their fi ndings in a number of venues, including local and national conferences, through presentations that incorporated various forms of media representations. the benefi ts of this project are not limited to the youth engaged in research, but also extend to the audiences, including pre-service teachers and community members, to which they have presented their work. scholars engaged in par serve as bridges between students and their communities, and they help students (and the educators, administrators and community members) develop the skills they need to transform themselves and simultaneously challenge systemic structures that foster inequality. unlike other approaches to instruction and research with latino/a students that seek to collect data to inform a body of literature (often inaccessible to the general public) in hopes that it might positively infl uence the work of practitioners and policy makers, par directly engages participants through instruction in the process of identifying problems and creating and implementing solutions to address the issue. as a pedagogical tool, it fosters the development of academic skills at the same time that it promotes positive change based on student research. while there is a wealth of research on teaching and teacher education, very little of it draws on the experiences and recommendations of youth. defi cit-centered literature regarding latino/a students characterizes them, their families and communities as the “problem” and as the primary impediments to their own educational and personal success. instead of being positioned as the “problem” within school reform efforts, youth involved in participatory action research directly address the issues they have identifi ed. the skills students develop through these fi eld-based research projects have been far-reaching, preparing them not only to meet state standards for graduation but also making them more active, critical consumers of democracy, one of the espoused goals of public education. in these studies, par serves as an “activist pedagogy” (torre & fine, 2008, p. 23), transforming the educational landscape and positively impacting the education of latino/a students. in an effort to offer promising, empirically-based strategies for improving student achievement, studies based on participatory action research and culturally responsive pedagogy (to be addressed in the instructional section) with latino/a youth offer new possibilities for classroom practice and community uplift. the research cited in this paper does not constitute an exhaustive list, but rather is meant to highlight the potential that exists when latino/a youth have access to academically rigorous curricula that affi rms their identities and engages them in the struggle for social justice and educational equity. the nlerap approach amea_2012.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 silencing resistance marisol ruiz new mexico state university the following poems contest the places that try to silence and prohibit ethnic studies. i ask them: what are you afraid of? are you afraid of a politicized raza population? are you afraid of people who will no longer stay silent? are you afraid of brown bodies having the tools and voice to speak back to power? is it fear of the brown conscious bodies? it seems to me that you only want to prohibit ethnic studies where there is a critical mass of students who will become concientizados and politicized. but i ask again: what are you afraid of? resisto i resist quieren they want y yo resisto. and i resist. quieren they want prohibir to prohibit lo que what i veo, toco, see, touch, leo, oigo read, hear y siento. and feel. quieren they want controlar to control lo que sé what i know lo que what i enseño. teach. quieren they want to enjaular incarcerate mi risa my laugh mi sueño my dream mi pensar my thinking mi amor my love pero but mi alma my soul resiste. resists. censura censorship me da risa i want to cuando laugh out loud piensan when que la censura they think 77 silencing resistance association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, theme issue, volume 6, issue 1 pueda that censorship encarcelar can keep mi pensar my mind que grita caged up libertad. locked up silent and lost as it screams freedom. 78 silencing resistance h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 16 h.e.l.l.a.: collective testimonio that speak to the healing, empowerment, love, liberation, and action embodied by social justice educators of color farima pour-khorshid university of california, santa cruz (ucsc) abstract this author utilizes collective testimonio (sánchez, 2009) as a process for homemade theory making or what anzaldúa and keating (2000) called conocimientos. this collective testimonio brings together the stories and experiences of three educators of color within a california grassroots social justice critical study group created exclusively for people of color. in a profession dominated by more than 80% white teachers (goldring, gray, & bitterman, 2013), these teachers of color share stories of resiliency and the community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) they possess and have utilized to thrive within an oppressive education system. applying critical race theory’s tenet of counternarrative, their individual and collective testimonio speak back to the dominant discourses about people of color as being deficient and lacking dominant cultural capital (bourdieu, 1986) and instead, highlights how internalized and institutionalized forms of racism serve as obstacles as well as motivation to fight against oppression. the role of collective testimonio among educators of color can serve as a tool for critical teacher professional development (kohli, picower, martínez, & ortiz, 2015) centered in political education, healing, empowerment, love and transformative resistance. introduction recruiting and retaining teachers of color in public education has become a growing national concern across the country and has been deemed a social justice issue (sleeter, neal, & kumashiro, 2014). currently, students of color make up almost 50% of the student population in u.s. public schools, yet only 18% of all public school teachers in this country are teachers of color (goldring, gran, & bitterman, 2013) and data show that they leave the field at a rate 24% higher per year than their white counterparts (ingersoll & may, 2011). the disproportionate representation between students of color and teachers of color is an important issue in relation pour-khorshid association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 17 to equity and diversity. yet, we also need to move beyond simply diversifying the profession by race and think more deeply about the need for developing and supporting teachers of color committed to social justice if the goal is transformation in service of those historically marginalized. public schools shaped by systemic discriminatory policies upholding racism, homophobia, sexism, and other systems of oppression in the u.s., are increasingly impacted by corporate interests, standardization, and high-stakes accountability (picower, 2012). in response to these trends, teachers committed to social justice strive to combat these issues in solidarity with all stakeholders, including families, students, and community members (picower, 2012). considering that teachers of color are likely to have also experienced oppression as students prior to becoming educators, their stories are important to critically reflect upon and heal from (kohli, 2008). therefore, teacher learning and professional development approaches for supporting and sustaining anti-oppressive diverse teachers is a fundamental factor in retaining teachers who are committed to equity and racial justice in public education and in society at large. mandated forms of teacher professional development is often shaped by state standards and reforms in which hegemony is implicit in their resulting professional standards, as well as teaching and learning conditions. imperatives to diversify the teaching profession cannot ignore the struggles related to discrimination and structural oppression that teachers of color have often experienced and fought through, especially in relation to the historical context of white supremacy and neoliberal capitalism (keisch & scott, 2015). although diverse teachers committed to social justice are an asset to students and schools, they are commonly pushed out of the profession for enacting their commitments in restrictive school climates (achinstein & ogawa, 2011). initiatives and approaches to simply diversify the teacher workforce must take into consideration the specific needs and support for teachers of color who do not ascribe to the dominant practices of american schooling or culture. in california, a collective of teachers within a social justice grassroots organization have organized alternative forms of professional development led by and created explicitly for teachers of color committed to social justice in education. this critical professional development space (kohli, picower, martinez, & ortiz, 2015) incorporates critical dialogue, popular education (friere, 1970), and radical healing (ginwright, 2016) as professional support for teachers of color in the california bay area, who are interested in deepening their analyses of education and teaching through the lenses of critical race theory and community cultural h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 18 wealth (yosso, 2005). this form of teacher support serves as a tool to enact a collective vision of education for liberation, which can potentially lead to creating context-specific, critical professional development frameworks such as the one described below. h.e.l.l.a.: critical professional development towards healing, empowerment, love, liberation, and action for teachers of color for over fifteen years, the grassroots teachers 4 social justice organization in the bay area of california has been engaging in and facilitating critical study groups, annual conferences, events, and forums for educators and organizers committed to social justice. the organization is volunteer-based and considers the work to be a labor of love. their mission is to provide opportunities for self-transformation, leadership development, and community building for educators in order to affect meaningful change in the classroom, school, community, and society. the h.e.l.l.a. educators of color study group is one of several that is created by and offered to educators, the acronym stands for healing, empowerment, love, liberation, and action. the term hella was intentionally chosen because it is also a very popular and widely used slang term originated from the bay area which is defined by the urban dictionary as an all-purpose word: it has its roots deep in the soul of northern california. it means something along the lines of "very" or "really," but it's much more than that. it's not just a word, but a statement of cultural identification, of a long-standing bond of trust and respect for fellow northern californians, and of a mutual understanding between you and the rest of the world that you are from (or, in the case of anyone who has lived with [folks] from norcal, that you are an honorary resident). as the subtle innuendoes of the word can only be understood by absorption, one must experience and be engulfed by it (as northern californians are from birth) to truly understand when its usage is appropriate. hella is a word. it's a symbol. it's a way of life. (urban dictionary, n.d.) pour-khorshid association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 19 the h.e.l.l.a. group is composed of twelve educators of color who teach in a variety of settings such as k-12 schools to juvenile halls, and in a variety of roles such as classroom teachers to english learner specialists. in addition to the professional diversity, the group is also diverse in terms of race, sexuality, age, language and life experiences, which adds a beautiful mix of perspectives at each monthly meeting. our overarching goal is to build on the leadership strengths, critical analyses, intersectional experiences/testimonios, and pedagogical creativity of social justice classroom and community based educators of color. more specifically, this critical learning space was designed to explore how yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework can be used to empower us as teachers of color to identify the strengths and assets we bring to the profession, while also planning and workshopping ideas on how to teach about and nurture these capitals in our practice and personal lives. yosso’s framework builds on bourdieu’s (1986) theory of cultural capital which he argues positions the white, middle class culture as the “norm,” wherein cultural capital refers to an accumulation of specific forms of knowledge, skills, and abilities that are valued by privileged groups in society in order to be successful. yosso uses critical race theory (crt) to argue that there are various forms of cultural capital that marginalized groups possess which are not recognized or valued within the dominant capital framework, including aspirational capital, linguistic capital, familial capital, social capital, navigational capital, and resistance capital (yosso, 2005, p. 78-81). this framework allowed us to reflect on our own cultural capital as intersectionally diverse educators of color and also work with one another to workshop lessons and strategies to incorporate this framework in our practice. collective testimonio (sánchez, 2009) as a methodology for critical professional development (cpd) within social justice grassroots teacher networks and coalitions can be actualized in the form of teacher inquiry groups (kohli, picower, martínez, & ortiz, 2015). some of the key attributes that make these cpd groups and learning spaces so necessary and effective is the sense of solidarity, love, community, shared experiences, political education, and critical dialogue that leads to action and agency in and out of classrooms (kohli et al., 2015). another important aspect is its anti-hierarchal element that resists the common model of professional development, wherein individuals who are often arbitrarily deemed as experts “train” teachers even when they might be disconnected from the communities and contexts that teachers work in (duncan-andrade, 2004; kohli et al., 2015). the incorporation of testimonios in our group has historically been used to build solidarity among women of color h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 20 (anzaldúa, 1990) and although our group is composed of a mixture of multi-age, cis-gender, transgender, and gender nonconforming classroom and community educators, we believed that testimonio could also serve as a tool in our cpd space to build solidarity and unity among us. testimonio as a method engages storytellers and witnesses in critical reflections about our racialized lived experiences as a means to bring about awareness and possible change through consciousness-raising about our collective struggles and resistance. when teachers of color testify and theorize our lived experiences navigating the oppressive systems that we are committed to transforming in an era of neoliberalism, neocolonialism, racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, and other inequitable relations, it serves as a tool of resistance, love, and comradery. in this bridge called my back (moraga & anzaldúa, 1983) and, more recently, telling to live: latina feminist testimonios (latina feminist group, 2001) written by chicanas and latinas, women of color have demonstrated the power behind the telling of testimonio as a method that exposes injustices and disrupts silence. sánchez (2009) describes a participatory action research project she was involved in, and her group’s use of collective testimonio as a process for homemade theory making or what anzaldúa and keating (2000) called conocimientos. she quotes aurora levins morales in telling to live: latina feminist testimonios (2001): my thinking grew directly out of listening to my own discomforts, finding out who shared them, who validated them, and in exchanging stories about common experiences, finding patterns, systems, explanations of how and why things happened. this is the central process of consciousness raising, of collective testimonio. this is how homemade theory happens (p. 87). when educators of color come together across generations, geographic locations, and intersectional identities to listen to our collective testimonio and to participate in our homemade theory by reflecting on and sharing our own stories, we find shared meanings, patterns, and ways that we enact and embody resistance and love as radical practices of social justice. this practice also develops an ethic of collective self-care as it opens up a space for healing and love. cruz (2012) describes her use of testimonio as a teacher in her classroom and names it a “methodology of travel” that positions audience members for self-reflection. she grounds her work in the theoretical work of lugones (1987) which states that to fully become subjects to one another we must travel with playfulness and loving perception to each other’s worlds. cruz (2012) draws important connections between testimonio, listening with love, being wholly pour-khorshid association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 21 “present...and vulnerable in a way that allows travel” and “profound empathy” (p. 468). she frames this combination of skills as “necessary to move forward social justice work” (cruz, 2012, p. 468). h.e.l.l.a. educators of color embarked on this journey by writing our own testimonios and traveling to each other’s worlds with love and solidarity. we connected with one another’s stories and found collective themes among us, which validated our stories and empowered us to share them. we hope to allow readers to also travel with us as you engage in deep, reflective, and powerful storytelling that bridges our lived experiences to theory, love, healing, and transformative praxis in teacher professional development. katina castillo’s testimonio it’s hard to reflect on myself as an educator of color, particularly for system involved, system tracked, system attacked youth on the margins of society. because they always teach me so much—about humility, about gratitude, about perseverance, about faith—and with only short-term interactions visiting their class, youth program, or controlled environment, i can only hope the glimmer in their eyes that sparks as they hear the historical overview of what brought us to this point—of social disparity, inequity, monoculturism, and mass incarceration— will stay with them far beyond our brief encounters. i cash in on my linguistic capital to connect with street-organized, street-affiliated young people to share knowledge and complex analyses of the systems out to get them (from school houses to jail houses and foster care) by “keepin it 100,” speaking colloquially in the terms and phrases that as urban young poc we have come to utilize as a way of identifying when “game recognizes game.” my linguistic capital spans that of the youth i’ve trained in social justice organizing, and my own mixed-ethnic background. my mother was born and raised in the mission of san francisco and my father in detroit, two u.s.-born mixed-latinos heavily influenced by black music and culture in the 50s, 60s and 70s. we spoke soul in my house, and listened to jazz, funk, hip-hop, and salsa on saturday nights. their working-class parents came from nicaragua, el salvador, méxico, and greece to root down in the belly of empire as early as the 30s and 40s. although my mexican grandfather didn’t pass spanish down to my dad after having been prohibited from speaking it in texas public schools, i had heard enough of my mom’s phone conversations with my grandmother to apply a perfect accent to the language when i learned it in high school and college. so black h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 22 kids, latino immigrant youth, native, and even poor whites, can connect with me on a linguistic tip—it’s the vernacular of struggle, of “i ain’t no square” or no punk, of “i feel you.” when i review u.s. history from native genocide and boarding schools to african slavery and jim crow to operation wetback and illegalization of spanish to japanese internment and foster care trains, all the way up to three strikes, gang injunctions and private prisons, young people of color and poor youth who have all in one way or another been impacted by these hostile policies, either directly or via familial experience, are able to make the connections, see the forest from the trees, and follow the arc of historic colonial oppression that has created the suffering conditions which surround them because i skip the theories and academic rhetoric and just give it to them straight. they reflect on their great grandparents struggles as intergenerational trauma, in the same way that i make sense of my family dysfunction by looking back on the conditions we were forced into 5 plus generations ago—pushed off land and into industrial centers and taught to hate everything we once were. when we close a session with assata’s chant regarding our duty, even if they have only just heard of who she is, they understand the depth of her urgent call to action, and they wit it. i acknowledge our cultural wealth as a given, and encourage young people to look toward not those that “made it” in their families/communities in the conventional sense i.e., by smooth assimilation and nearly arriving to whiteness in a social sense (although never, ever making it), but specifically toward those who “fell” through the cracks at some point in their lives, similarly to the ways in which they might be struggling now, and were able to pick themselves up each time the system pushed them down. or to those who resisted the dominant narrative that told them to be ashamed of themselves—our loved ones formerly incarcerated, recovered addicts, formerly homeless, survivors of violence, undocumented, differently-abled learners, queer and non-conforming, etc. i have found that honoring and promoting these non-traditional success stories, oftentimes the former black sheep of families and communities, as the real heroes, success stories, trusted guides and mentors, not only broaden young people’s perspective of their hood/barrio resources who could be helpful to them in navigating a societal infrastructure never intended to serve them, but to give them full permission to love these members of their familias—blood or chosen—without shame or explanation, and to more deeply love themselves for all the shadow parts of themselves and their stories that they’ve been able to move through, constantly pushing toward the light of a new day. pour-khorshid association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 23 personally, i’m not inspired by my grandmother’s success in completing 20 plus years of work as cafeteria staff for san francisco general hospital or my grandfather’s slow but steady climb in the furniture industry. i commend them for making a life for themselves, but their conformity to the amerikkkan way proliferated the internalized racism that had begun for them in u.s. marine and navy seal-occupied central america. they became materialistic, ruined their health with american food, and alcohol to numb the painful void of their average lives, beat and neglected their children while dressing them in the finest american fashion they could afford, and all but denied their cultural history leaving no legacy of pride for me or my sister. i’m more impressed and grateful that both my parents were rebellious hippies that supported the black panther party, were artists and bicycle riders and self-taught nutritionists, that were careful to buy us brown dolls, had us watch the color purple, and reclaimed our identity as descendants of los maya. for me, aspirational and resistance capital go hand in hand for people who have been wounded and are ready to heal and reclaim their dignity and value. when i help young people have a better understanding of the oppositional history in which most systems we and our families interface with have been built, and the very technical ways in which these systems continue to overtly and covertly try to negate our value, dignity, and basic human rights, they embrace this history as proof that their struggle is not their fault and yet entirely within their power to overcome, and to me this is the most aspirational and resistant response one could have. they may not necessarily aspire to graduate from a university, and they may not be moved to resist through direct action and organizing, but they do aspire to love themselves and their histories for all its laughter and tears, and to make a better way for their people—and nothing could be more resistant to the imperialist agenda than that. like my elders have taught me, la cultura cura, and the shared values and traditions of our cultures prior to colonization are the greatest tools we have to take back our freedom. nick easter’s testimonio ask my mom to tell one of her favorite stories of me as a child, and she’ll probably mention the time that i screamed, “fight the power!” at a white lady in the grocery store. now i can’t say that i was all that socially aware at the age of four but what i can tell you is that for better or worse, i was raised on the likes of public enemy and tupac. so i guess the seeds to a combative spirit were planted well before i could even read. anyhow, the lady smiled and h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 24 laughed like, “oh, how cute.” a microcosm of her people’s position. what a privilege it must be to not be the punch line of america’s sick joke. by the time i finished elementary school, i had many reminders of my place in society. it was only the beginning of the continuous attacks on my identity. from my kindergarten days when they tried to shove me in a special education class for being shy even though i could read better than most students… to my fourth grade teacher who told me not to speak out or else i’d end up like malcolm x (shot dead). or the time i got called nigger in the 6th grade and was yelled at by a white teacher after reporting what was said to me. as a matter of fact, he reprimanded me with, “i have a problem with you for using that word!” i guess i should have lowered my head and said “sorry massa” and got on with my day. then there was that time in high school at a business competition in socal where my bro and i presented a marketing campaign to a judge who ignored us the entire time. we’re sitting face to face with this guy, and he’s looking to the side and even turned his neck to look behind him as we presented our pitch. he did happen to leave some very valuable feedback on the evaluation: “earrings are distracting.” i knew we weren’t supposed to be at that conference, and they made sure that i knew it even though i mastered enough of their linguistic capital to earn various ribbons on the written exams. i mean there’s also the micro-attacks like being asked to read the black dude’s lines in huck finn during class or being the only one in my group that was handed a cue card to read from instead of my own prepared slides for our group presentations because the black dude wasn’t going to have anything prepared, right? like, how is he even in honor’s lit? best believe i read my own damn slides! so many reminders of my place in society during my k-12 years, man. i mean it even followed me to my first job at the finish line shoe store. i would be in full uniform with a nametag and still be asked if i really worked there or, when they would mistake me with my bro, tyronne. yes, we were both black, but it was like comparing will smith and idris alba. by the time i was done with k-12 schooling, i had enough material for about twelve greatest hits albums and a couple of novels about racism. the crazy part is that as forward thinking as i thought i was, i had not yet developed the lenses to begin understanding the complexity of the attacks i had faced. but i knew i was mad. from day one at san josé state, i was introduced to higher level struggle. my classes were on lay-away, and i had a few weeks to pay before they were dropped. i had no idea what was going on with my financial aid or how it worked. of course, when i went to the financial aid office, i left feeling lost, confused, and overwhelmed. this was not my realm and no one pour-khorshid association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 25 seemed eager to allow me to join. by the grace of god, on the way to my dorm, i crossed paths with two older black students who sought me out in a sea of white. they introduced themselves and then proceeded to share with me some statistics about the black male survival rate at the school. i cannot remember the numbers but the odds were clearly against me in terms of graduating so if i were to take a semester off, forget about it, black males hardly ever come back. but these brothas genuinely asked to see how i was doing. i told them about my financial aid situation and one of them directed me to another black lady who worked in the financial aid office. upon meeting her, there was an unspoken but felt truth of, in order to survive, we have to look out for each other with whatever resources and knowledge we have. she got me the answers i needed and allowed me to save my classes, but i still carried the feeling of, i’m not really supposed to be here, but it motivated me to stay in spite… in spite of the expectations of my classmates shocked to see me score high on assignments; in spite of all the times i was asked if i had just finished smoking; in spite of numerous battles with the financial aid office that shut off my meal plan and tried to starve me off campus. i was so prideful, but eventually i did fall. the final straw was being thrown off a bus for absolutely nothing. in fact, i was sleeping. i still don’t know what it was that i was doing wrong, but i woke up to five police cars waiting at the great mall transit stop. i called my mom who repeatedly told me to calm down because she knew all too well how this could end up. after the ordeal, they finally let us go and luckily, a black bus driver called up to the bart to have the train wait for us since it was one of the last departures. during that same time, i had the audacity to also have personal struggles with finances, an unhealthy relationship, and overall uncertainty. things were snowballing and while sitting on bart, i painfully decided to withdraw from my second semester. next thing i knew, i was working part-time in a warehouse when all the while my family was thinking i was in school. some days, i would go to my empty apartment that i could barely afford even with roommates and after hours of cleaning an already spotless place with no furniture, i would just lay on my back on the carpet in silence. the hurt was deafening. i would just lay there and cry on mute. thinking about my addition to the statistics they told me about. i reached a point through listening to lupe fiasco’s food and liquor album and gravitated to the line, “struggle… another sign that god loves you.” i won’t say that the song alone brought me back, but i began to cling to artists who were hella unapologetically black and proud. though secular, i know god finds us where we’re at and delivers messages of hope or whatever we may need. i can’t say my flame was back, but i had enough of a flicker to get up and walk again. by faith, i quit my h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 26 job, enrolled back in school, changed my major to african american studies and defied the seen and unseen enemy. i had mentors/professors who acted as second parents. dr. milner and dr. wilson did just as much “raising” as teaching. dr. milner literally lectured us about punctuality, attire, and how to carry ourselves. sometimes, he made you want to cry with just the thought of disappointing him. he was like a father, and we loved him. and love is what brought me back. anger and rage, though not absent, was not enough to allow me to sustain. alone, it damn near killed me. i was so busy with attacks that i never really took the time to love myself. when i fell, on the way up i began to discover a new love for me and my people. i still had multiple runins with racial profiling from the police and the daily micro racist attacks, but i just couldn’t let them win. i do still wonder though, can we truly “fight the power” if we’re still playing by their rules? farima pour-khorshid’s testimonio i am the daughter of a muslim, iranian man and a catholic, nicaraguan woman that both immigrated to california because of u.s. imperialism and war. my parents fell in love, in spite of the opposition from their families for dating outside of their race and religion, which led them both to be disowned for some time. their radical love also inspired the births of three beautiful biracial children. five months after my baby brother was born, my father was murdered and my mother was left to care for three children in a country where she was still read as “illegal” by eurocentric standards any time she’d have the audacity to speak her broken english in her nicaraguan-creole accent. i grew to hate the term “broken english” i’ve always loved her accent, to this day it gives me life and makes me feel whole every time she speaks to me in spanish, english, or the beautiful creative mixture of spanglish with a touch of creole. growing up, however, i felt torn between multiple worlds. i can remember when people would tease me about looking middle-eastern; being read as iranian seemed to be synonymous with alien in my surroundings. my bonds with iranian relatives were painful because they mostly only spoke farsi, and i constantly carried guilt for learning my mother’s language but not my father’s; i felt like i let him down. even my spanish felt crippled each time my teachers corrected me with their cold, stale standard spanish accents and vocabulary in classes. the confusion drove me crazy as i tried navigating english learner classes for most of my schooling as a child. language, in several ways compounded my identity development. i felt that because i couldn’t speak farsi i was not iranian enough, and i felt disconnected to my father’s family and culture as a result. pour-khorshid association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 27 likewise, because i could not speak spanish well enough, i didn’t feel very latina either. and, according to the public education system, apparently my english didn’t fit their criteria to be placed in non-ell classes, so i didn’t feel very “american” either. this confusion and pain followed me throughout my k-12 academic experience. at one point, i refused to identify myself by my last name or by my parents’ ethnicities because i grew tired and stressed by the labels that inevitably led to internalized racism. i can remember praying and asking god to lighten my skin, shrink my nose, and to somehow make me look and sound more “american,” though i wasn’t quite sure what that even meant. i have vivid memories of my academic struggles and fears that i would not graduate high school. i never thought i would go to college. during my senior year, however, a latina professor from a local university came to recruit seniors who might be interested in becoming bilingual teachers since there was such a severe shortage in california. meeting her changed my life. somehow, she convinced me that i was not only capable of becoming a bilingual teacher but that i was also desperately needed in the profession. just like that, my multicultural and bilingual background, which had triggered deep identity struggles throughout my adolescence, were suddenly assets that would help me garner funding and support for college. through her program i began volunteering in schools in my neighborhood. i started to understand how critical it was to serve in my own community by becoming an advocate for students like me; i was determined to become the kind of teacher i always wished i could’ve had, unapologetically utilizing all of my complex multicultural and bay area swag that i embody. becoming an educator became my life’s purpose and the belief that i could become an agent of change and potentially impact the lives of students and families in my community made me feel a sense of empowerment i had never felt before…until i was quickly caged by the bars of our education system. my first few years of teaching felt like a novela, only the drama was way too real. upon finishing my credential, i was immediately hired late into the school year because there was an overflow of ell kindergarteners at the school, so i was given the staff lounge as a classroom. i had very few materials or books, i racked up hundreds of dollars on my credit card buying classroom materials, and i’d always stay hella late working in my classroom until the janitor would finally kick me out. i wanted so badly to make the staff lounge look somewhat like a real classroom for my babies. one day during a read-aloud i glanced at the window and realized my car was getting broken into in the school parking lot, so i quickly dialed 911 while trying to h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 28 remain calm for my kindergarteners. i remember exhaling deeply that night as tears flowed down my face, thinking that if i could make it through the rest of that year, then i knew i could make it through any year. my second year teaching, i had to move into a brand new school, so while i was ecstatic that i was no longer teaching in a staff lounge, i was given a kindergarten/first grade combination dual immersion classroom. i felt completely lost in terms of how to work the percentages of english/spanish out pedagogically, especially considering that some of my students were on a kindergarten half-day schedule with a specific percentage of spanish instruction, and the others were on a full-day first grade schedule with a different percentage. i thugged it out, because i was fearful that the administration would confuse my need for support with incompetence. i always carried the fear of being judged as a poor brown girl from the hood that wasn’t smart enough to figure things out herself. i decided that instead, i would reach out to my students’ parents, who for me, felt like my tias every time i would talk with them before and after school. one day i asked some of the mothers if they wanted to volunteer in our class since i knew many of them were not working because they were undocumented. the mothers became like honorary teachers in our class, and the love we all shared fed my spirit through the madness, well, that and the tamales, flan, pupusas and so many other foods from their countries of origin that they’d always bring me. that year california’s budget cuts and massive teacher layoffs resembled the evictions, displacement, and gentrification in the bay area today. when i received my pink slip, i felt so devalued by my school district especially because i was a product of it. i went to elementary, middle, and high school within this school district, and i even went to junior college and graduate school in my community, too, but that didn’t matter. the lay-offs were based on my seniority—i was a second year teacher, so i was disposable. i wept in my classroom like someone had died. i didn’t know how i was going to tell my students and families that i would not be coming back the next year. when i did finally tell them, their rage touched my heart. some of the parents organized and brought their kids to the school board meeting and spoke out against my pink slip advocating for my rehiring. i felt so humbled and empowered by these parents and their kids, our kids, right by our side holding protest signs, some that had their tiny hand prints, their large shaky backward-written letters and colorful drawings of me smiling next to them. the same parents that were often silenced, disregarded, and disrespected in this country were now unapologetically advocating for me in their vibrant english, because their pour-khorshid association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 29 words were far from sounding “broken”. it was their love and courage that reminded me of why i couldn’t quit. that radical love is what pushed me to get back up, wipe my tears and keep fighting. although i didn’t get hired back at that school the next year, i’m still teaching in the community that i belong in, despite the powers that be which almost pushed me out. i’m here to stay, and i vow to inspire more students of color like me to experience the gift and power of teaching in their own communities, too. our collective testimonio each testimonio shared within our critical professional development (cpd) space sparked deep emotions and created a sense of unity, support, and compassion in ways that allowed us each to travel to each other’s worlds with playfulness and loving perception (lugones, 1987). while there were many other testimonios shared among our group, these three serve as examples of the deep, raw, painful, and empowering racialized experiences we carry as educators of color. through sharing our individual testimonios, each of us identified the various forms of cultural capital in our collective testimonio. for example, each of us experienced structural racism and maintained aspirational capital to thrive within inequitable systems and institutions, despite the obstacles and barriers. from katina’s work with, “system involved, system tracked, system attacked youth on the margins of society,” to nick’s experiences navigating k-12 schooling and college with racist educators and peers, as well as racial profiling by police, all the while trying to survive economic and academic hardships to thrive and graduate; to farima’s experiences being pushed out of the profession despite the bilingual teacher shortage within a predominantly latina/o, low-income, underserved public school district in her own community. even in the face of systemic injustices that disproportionately impact people of color, all of us aspired to overcome these obstacles by utilizing our community cultural wealth, individually and collectively. the critical dialogue that was sparked by our testimonios led us to the realization that as educators of color, we also possess transformative resistant capital because we embody the first-hand knowledge of the structures of racism and the motivation to transform such oppressive structures (freire, 1970; pizarro, 1998; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; villenas & deyhle, 1999; yosso, 2005). our lived experiences shaped by structural oppression led us to draw on our community cultural capital to take different forms of action in order to resist and transform the spaces we operate in. h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 30 our h.e.l.l.a educators of color study group intentionally sought to disrupt the “professional” in professional development because as we learned about critical theories, we unapologetically brought our whole selves and all of the intersections of our identities, all of our traumas with systemic and internalized racism, and all of our dreams and aspirations that dismantle white supremacy, to engage in collective healing while reimagining what education can be. as we engaged in personal storytelling and critical dialogue, we were also workshopping lessons and plans to manifest our visions and commitments to social justice in our practice. as educators of color committed to the radical notion that education can serve as a tool for liberation, we believe that we must create the spaces we need to empower ourselves, to sustain ourselves, to heal ourselves in solidarity with others through the reflexive praxis necessary to build collectively in love. we created the kind of professional development space that we needed and that we cannot get within institutions. this space allowed us to share our fears and tears, our anger and love-uncensored and in community with other people of color that we have built relationships with. our space is anti-hierarchical and allows for each of us to share our expertise while learning that critical academic theory is just as important as our collective homemade theories (anzaldúa & keating, 2000). in our space, our lived experiences carry power, they inform our perspectives when we feel tensions with oppressive educational practices, curricula, standards, and reforms and they remind us of why they are poisonous to our collective spirit. our stories remind us that we are not alone. our stories are healing, empowering and resurrecting. our stories matter. pour-khorshid association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 31 references achinstein, b., & ogawa, r. t. (2011). change (d) agents: new teachers of color in urban schools. new york, ny: teachers college press. anzaldúa, g.e. (1990). making face, making soul/haciendo caras: creative and critical perspectives by feminists of color. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. anzaldúa, g.e., & keating, a. (ed.). (2000). interviews/entrevistas. new york, ny: routledge. cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education. 45(3), 460-471. del alba acevedo, l., alarcon, n., saldívar-hull, c., behar, r., benmayor, r., de filippis, d. c., & lomas, c. (eds.). (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. duke university press. duncan-andrade, j. (2004). toward teacher development for the urban in urban teaching. teaching education, 15(4), 339-350. freire, p. (1970) education for critical consciousness. new york, ny: continuum publishing company. goldring, r., gray, l., & bitterman, a. (2013). characteristics of public and private elementary and secondary school teachers in the united states: results from the 2011–12 schools and staffing survey (nces 2013-314). washington, dc: u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. retrieved january 21, 2016 from http://nces.ed.gov/ pubsearch. ingersoll, r. m., & may, h. (2011). recruitment, retention and the minority teacher shortage. consortium for policy research in education. cpre research report #rr-69. keisch, d. & scott, t. (2015) u.s. education reform and the maintenance of white supremacy through structural violence. landscapes of violence, 3(3), 1-44. retrieved from http://scholarworks.umass.edu/lov/vol3/iss3/6 kohli, r. (2008). breaking the cycle of racism in the classroom: critical race reflections from future teachers of color. teacher education quarterly, 35(4), 177-188. kohli, r., picower, b., martinez, a. & ortiz, n. (2015). critical professional development: centering the social justice needs of teachers. international journal of critical pedagogy, 6(2) latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nc: duke university press. lugones, m. (1987). playfulness, “world”-travelling, and loving perception. hypatia, 2(2), 3-19. moraga, c. & anzaldúa, g. (1983). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color. kitchen table: women of color press. picower, b. (2012) teacher activism: enacting a vision for social justice, equity & excellence in education, 45:4, 561-574. pizarro, m. (1998) ‘chicano power!’ epistemology and methodology for social justice and empowerment in chicana/o communities, international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 57–80. sánchez, p. (2009). chicana feminist strategies in a participatory action research project with http://scholarworks.umass.edu/lov/vol3/iss3/6 http://scholarworks.umass.edu/lov/vol3/iss3/6 h.e.l.l.a. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ©2016, vol 10, issue 2, issn 2377-9187 | 32 transnational latina youth. new directions for youth development, 123, 83-97. sleeter, c.e., neal, l.i., & kumashiro, k.k. (eds.). (2014). diversifying the teacher workforce: preparing and retaining highly effective teachers. new york, ny: routledge. solórzano, d. & delgado bernal, d. (2001) critical race theory, transformational resistance and social justice: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36, 308–342. urban dictionary. (n.d). “hella”. retrieved from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php? page=2&term=hella villenas, s. & deyhle, d. (1999) critical race theory and ethnographies challenging the stereotypes: latino families, schooling, resilience and resistance. curriculum inquiry, 29(4), 413–445. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?page=2&term=hella http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?page=2&term=hella association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 112 querido idioma nora reyes mesa college erica reyes arizona state university madre: querido idioma, central a mi identidad poco te apreciaba por tan fácil encontrar siendo parte de mi hogar fuiste natural y esencial aunque poco valorado por la sociedad en general les doy gracias a mis padres por su ayuda a mantener a mi querido idioma tan central a mi poder …a mi poder lograr los sueños por medio de mi aprender querida hija, esencia de mi vida con cariño, mi idioma te quisiera regalar pero siendo yo bilingüe batallo más para encontrar las palabras para convencerte del valor de esta herencia natural hija: querido idioma, central a mi identidad tan duro he luchado para dominar tu majestad poco te apreciaba a principios…en realidad no eras gran parte de mi hogar te conocí como bebé; mi lengua madre eras pero al entrar a la escuela, nuestra conexión se debilitó hasta que, años después, decidí adoptarte de veras “i will raise my children bilingual” ser bilingüe yo misma la misión necesitó querido idioma association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 113 les doy gracias a mis padres they taught me almost everything i know y a mis abuelitos, who rooted us in this country many years ago los estados unidos de américa, my home sin ustedes ¿dónde estarían mis 15 tíos, mis 25 primos que formaron la mini-comunidad chicana en que formé mi identidad méxico-americana? querida mom, educadora de mi vida it’s not your fault i speak spanish like a pochita but an educated one, eh! no te preocupes mami, agarré la onda – el español es parte de quien soy, parte de la patria de la cual procede mi familia los reyes tanto como los amavisca el lugar hasta donde ya mero estoy lista de regresar por algunos años pa’ preparar el regalo que un día daré a mi propia hija conferiré nuestro querido idioma a la esencia de mi vida querido idioma association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 42 sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate: an analysis of affirmative action as racial remedy and silent covenant michelle m. espino university of maryland abstract this article focuses on the extent to which affirmative action policies and practices as remedies for racial injustice in higher education reflect a silent covenant that sacrifices the cultivation and presence of latina/o faculty. drawing upon the lived experiences of 22 mexican american faculty and post-doctoral fellows, the author argues that, by invoking affirmative action policies and practices, institutions of higher education can promote the value of racial/ethnic diversity while still limiting the presence of latina/o faculty. meanwhile, the few latina/o faculty who manage to gain access to research-intensive universities are commodified and sacrificed within hostile department cultures and through oppressive institutional practices. introduction racial justice…when it comes, arrives on the wings of racial fortuity rather than hard-earned entitlement. its departure, when conditions change, is preordained. (bell, 2004, p. 9) affirmative action policies were intended to promote, at the very least, the illusion of equity in higher education for racial/ethnic minorities throughout the educational pipeline, including the professoriate (ledesma, 2004). substantive racial remedy is not yet realized. legal challenges continue to slowly erode race-conscious admissions policies at the most selective universities in the country (i.e., hopwood v. state of texas, 1996; fisher v. university of texas, 2011), while the constitutionality of voter referenda (schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action, 2014) has been upheld to challenge these policies. rulings from these landmark cases confirm what many have feared since the impetus of affirmative action policies: the erosion of even “legal lip service to the material trappings of equality” (holmes, 2007, p. 36) while ignoring the current and historical racial injuries experienced by, in this instance, latina/o students and faculty through structures that perpetuate white supremacy. this article draws from the lived experiences of 22 mexican american12 faculty and post-doctoral fellows to uncover the complex interpretations of affirmative action policies as racial remedy and silent covenant. according to bell (2004), “a silent covenant” is a compromise in which “policymakers who approve policy do so with the knowledge…that they or those who follow them stand ready to modify or even withdraw the reforms where adverse reaction or changed circumstances threaten” the comfort and stability of white power structures (p. 5). in this case, research-intensive universities leverage affirmative action policies as a proclamation of their commitment to diversity while, in practice, provide limited access to highly qualified latina/o students and faculty. i focus on research-intensive universities because they often garner the highest levels of prestige, funding, and resources; have the lowest rates of latina/o faculty representation; and are the key legally contested spaces where affirmative action is practiced. the purpose of this article is two-fold; first i will demonstrate the benefits of affirmative action programs in cultivating a presence of latinas/os along educational pathways to the professoriate. second, i will explore how interpretations of affirmative action policies reflect a silent covenant among policymakers, universities, and external funding agencies that allow research-intensive universities to promote the value of racial/ethnic diversity while in actuality limiting the presence of latina/o faculty. 12. the term mexican american is defined as individuals of mexican descent living in the united states. i employ racial/ethnic identifiers ascribed by the participants as well as terms cited in studies to describe mexican american communities (e.g., hispanic, chicana/o, or latina/o). sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 43 latina/o pathways to the professoriate although latinas/os enter higher education at higher rates than whites, they are less likely to enroll full-time in a four-year college and complete a bachelor’s degree (fry & taylor, 2013). in addition, they only represent eight percent of the total graduate student population in contrast to whites who represent 62.2%. it has taken at least a decade for latinas/os to double in proportion with regard to doctoral degree attainment, moving from 3.3% in 1992 to a mere 6.5% in 2012 (national science foundation [nsf], 2014). this slow increase demonstrates that the latina/o share of doctoral degrees is miniscule, even as the number of latina/o undergraduates and graduate students has increased (lopez & fry, 2013). the dismantling of affirmative action policies has resulted in detrimental effects for communities of color along educational pathways. the “average proportion of graduate students who are students of color across all the fields of graduate study” has dropped by 12% in states with affirmative action bans (i.e., texas, california, washington, and florida; garces, 2012b, p. 4). the decline in graduate school enrollment is indicative of the challenges latina/o students encounter requisite to accessing undergraduate education and preparing future latina/o faculty. in 2011, latinas/os represented only three percent of full-time professors, in contrast to 84% white (national center for education statistics [nces], 2013). latinas/os are “saturated at the bottom levels of the academic prestige hierarchy,” as evidenced by their concentration in non-tenure track positions at hispanic-serving institutions and two-year colleges (delgado-romero, flores, gloria, arredondo, & castellanos, 2003, p. 259). the lack of latina/o faculty representation is startling, especially with a growing latina/o student body which serves as the wellspring of the latina/o pipeline to the professoriate. theoretical framework i employ critical race theory (crt) as the primary scholarly tool for understanding how race and racism inform and affect the experiences of people of color in u.s. society. five tenets of crt (solórzano & yosso, 2001) informed this study: the centrality of race and racism and their intersectionality with other forms of subordination; the challenge to dominant ideology; the commitment to social justice; the centrality of experiential knowledge; and the transdisciplinary perspective. educational researchers utilize crt as “a set of…perspectives, methods, and pedagogy that seeks to identify, analyze, and transform those structural, cultural, and interpersonal aspects of education that maintain the subordination of [students] of color” (solórzano, 1998, p. 123). for the purposes of this article, i also incorporate two critical race concepts not yet fully explicated in educational research: interest convergence and racial fortuity. according to bell (2004), interest convergence occurs only when “policymakers recognize and act to remedy racial injustices [and] perceive that such action will benefit the nation’s interest without significantly diminishing whites’ sense of entitlement” (p. 9). the intent is centered on whites, therefore, any benefits to communities of color are a “racial fortuity;” happenstance that can easily be taken away because communities of color are not entitled to indirect benefits (bell, 2004). for example, bell (1980) argued that the ruling of brown v. board of education (1954) only occurred because the racial remedies of desegregation would “secure, advance, or at least not harm societal interests deemed important by middle and upper class whites” (p. 523). african americans were not central to the decision; rather, they were fortuitous beneficiaries of a legal decision predicated on defeating communism. as bell (2004) asserted, communities of color were more likely to “focus with gratitude on the relief obtained” rather than interrogate white “self-interest factors without which no relief might have been gained” (p. 56). a contemporary example of interest convergence involves the initial argument for upholding affirmative action in the regents of the university of california v. bakke (1978), gratz v. bollinger (2003), and grutter v. bollinger (2003) cases. the defendants in these cases claimed that racial diversity would lead to positive learning outcomes for white students, which ostensibly normalized and centered whiteness while excluding from the discourse any possible educational benefits for students of color (yosso, parker, solórzano, & lynn, 2004). the underpinnings of affirmative action policies in education have centered on the benefits of “a racially and ethnically diverse learning environment” for white students in particular (garces, 2012a, p. 123). unfortunately, the distinct arguments that frame the importance of race-conscious admissions policies such as “institutions’ educational sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 44 autonomy…diversity as fundamental to competing in a global marketplace” as well as the historical legacy and permanence of racism are not always sufficient to legally challenge “normative ideologies, which have historically been shaped by whiteness and white supremacy…” (ledesma, 2013, pp. 230-231). of greater importance was the inclusion of students of color at predominately white institutions as a value-added outcome for whites rather than a remedy for historical exclusion and marginalization of students of color (bell, 1979). in fact, the educational outcomes outlined in defense of affirmative action acknowledged that the primary benefit that students of color would receive was access to an education, rather than the “enhanced educational benefit” (original emphasis) that whites would obtain (kow, 2010, p. 163). white students were positioned within the arguments as the central beneficiaries of affirmative action policies at the commodification (leong, 2013) of qualified students of color who would earn “access to an education in exchange for serving as a source of enrichment to fellow students” (kow, 2010, p. 163). at the initial development of affirmative action, policymakers were willing to accommodate more supposedly equitable educational opportunities for students of color because the benefits to white students would be significant (hurtado, milem, clayton-pederson, & allen, 1999). these actions signal racial fortuity, or as bell (2004) explains, “the two-sided coin, with involuntary racial sacrifice on the one side and interest-convergent remedies on the other…” (p. 69). the effectiveness of affirmative action policies, albeit nominal rates of increase for communities of color completing college and graduate school, led to an infringement in the extent to which whiteness is protected in educational institutions. once the outcomes of the policy hit a “tipping point” (urrieta & villenas, 2013, p. 530) whereby students of color were admitted under the guise of benevolent paternalism to a certain point before it became too much of an infringement on white entitlement, racial remedy and social reform regressed. as a result, one might wonder if there is a compelling interest in increasing latina/o faculty representation at selective institutions. to date, there are no studies that have analyzed how latina/o faculty may enhance the diverse learning environment for white students specifically, but studies have claimed that “latino faculty members benefit higher education by uniquely engaging students in the classroom, improving latino students’ higher education retention and degree completion rates, [and] enhancing campus pluralism” (ponjuan, 2011, p. 100). it is reasonable to assert that the main beneficiaries of latina/o faculty representation at researchintensive universities would be latina/o students. therefore, i argue that the presence of latina/o faculty at research-intensive universities will remain sparse until postsecondary institutions recognize and embrace an investment in latina/o students as a compelling interest. the silent covenant is further illustrated in aguirre’s (2010) research on the extent to which diversity is coopted as a measurable outcome and as a commodity that can be distributed throughout the curriculum. because any faculty member can now teach “diversity,” institutions can dismantle racial/ethnic-specific departments while other departments reap the financial rewards of offering diversity courses and obtaining additional resources such as new faculty lines (aguirre, 2010; mayhew & grunwald, 2006). in addition, institutions can claim that there is no need for minority faculty to specifically teach these courses, which moves “minority academics farther to the periphery in academia” (aguirre, 2010, p. 767). the content area is neutralized and the presence of latina/o faculty can be maintained at lower rates. without a core commitment, financial and otherwise, to the increased presence of latina/o and minority faculty, the racial reality reflects inclusive and race-conscious hiring practices that merely exhibit “symbolic encouragement” and empty promises (bell, 2004, p. 5). although difficult to digest, bell encourages communities of color to adopt a mind-set he terms “racial realism” and recognize that communities of color “will never gain full equality in this country” because of the permanence of racism and the permanence of white supremacy (delgado & stefancic, 2005). by clearly stating and accepting racial realities, bell believed that “people of color [would] be able to envision strategies outside of the civil rights incremental model that [had] more promise to alleviate the injustices that endure” (alemán & alemán, 2010, p. 4). similar to other legal cases that veiled white interests in arguments for rectifying systemic racism (kow, 2010), affirmative action is a short-lived panacea relying on “legal advocacy as the explicit and sanctioned remedy to racism” (holmes, 2007, p. 35). the intent of affirmative action, although noble in its moral proclamations and vital to establishing and maintaining a latina/o presence in higher education, was planted in infertile ground. sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 45 methodological approach this article is part of a larger study that analyzed the life narratives of 33 mexican american ph.d.s along their journeys to the doctorate (espino, 2008). i employed narrative analysis, which “takes as its object of investigation the story itself” and analyzes how the story is ordered (riessman, 1993, p. 1). context is especially important because it involves the “historical moment of the telling; the race, class, and gender systems the [participants] manipulate to survive and within which their talk has to be interpreted” (riessman, 1993, p. 21). this approach dispels dominant cultural assumptions and encourages reflexive relationships between the researcher and participants (auerbach, 2002). participants the participant sample extracted for this article consisted of 16 females and six males of mexican descent who successfully completed their doctorates at 12 different u.s. universities. the participants’ occupations ranged from post-doctoral fellow to full professor, with the majority working as tenure-track assistant professors (12 participants). i categorized participants’ doctoral disciplines based on the national research council’s (2006) taxonomy of doctoral fields: arts and humanities (3); education (3); life sciences (1); physical sciences, math, and engineering (3); and social and behavioral sciences (12). as a means to respect how the participants identify themselves, their chosen racial/ethnic identities were included in their quotes. table 1. participant demographics (n=22) self-identified race/ethnicity gender discipline bi-racial (white and mexican) (3) mexican american, chicana/o, hispanic (19) female (16) male (6) education (3) humanities (3) life sciences physical sciences, math, & engineering (3) social and behavioral sciences (12) faculty rank doctoral institutions visiting professor lecturer assistant professor (12) associate professor full professor head librarian university archivist post-doctoral fellow (4) arizona state university (5) california state university-sacramento ohio university stanford university university of arizona (2) university of california-berkeley (2) university of california-los angeles university of michigan university of new mexico university of southern california university of south florida university of texas (5) sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 46 university and external agency fellowships university recruitment/dissertation fellowship (4) american psychological association american sociological association minority mental health fellowship chicano foundation of northern california consortium for a strong minority presence ford foundation (5) hispanic scholarship fund national academy of sciences internship national aeronautics and space administration national institutes of health national institute of mental health internship national science foundation smithsonian institute social science research council (2) i conducted all of the semi-structured interviews via telephone with the exception of two participants i interviewed in person while attending two separate education conferences. the interview protocol focused on participants’ family histories, educational experiences, and the mechanisms they employed to successfully complete the doctorate. each audio-recorded interview lasted at least 1.5 hours, and participants were interviewed at least twice to ensure that the interview protocol questions were answered. data analysis by using a narrative analysis perspective, my role was to (re)present participants’ stories and (re) interpretations, considering five levels of representation. participants first think about their experiences and decide how they will share those experiences with others. the telling of those experiences are then recorded by the researcher and (re)presented in text. the researcher critically interprets the transcribed experiences based on the theoretical framework employed; and, finally, participants and external readers encounter the written work and provide feedback on how the narratives are (re)presented (riessman, 1993). the data from the larger study were analyzed as “verbal action…explaining, informing, defending, complaining, and confirming or challenging the status quo” (chase, 2005, p. 657). for this article, i focused on any stories pertaining to experiences with affirmative action in college, graduate school, and work. the narratives shared and analyzed were (re)presentations of the realities experienced and remembered by the participants at particular moments in time. trustworthiness member checks are critical analytic tools (jones, torres, & arminio, 2006). when asked to provide feedback on the transcription drafts, participants added new narratives, requested edits to their responses in order to protect themselves when referencing racist interactions with colleagues and faculty, and one returned the actual transcriptions with corrections. i utilized the finalized transcripts when interpreting the data. i felt an obligation to (re)present the participants’ narratives in a responsible manner. many of these participants are the only mexican americans or faculty of color in their departments and may be easily recognizable depending on their discipline and social identities. to protect their anonymity, i do not connect the participants to institutions attended, graduation dates, or ages and only describe self-identified race/ethnicity, faculty/researcher position at the time of the interview, doctoral discipline, and general geographic location, if necessary, within the context of the narratives. limitations sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 47 this study illuminates the experiences of a small group of mexican american ph.d.s who successfully navigated through educational systems and cannot necessarily be generalized to the entire population of current mexican american ph.d.s or those who aspire to earn the doctorate. despite these limitations, i understood the power i had as an interviewer and my role as a narrator, weaving together participants’ recollections into a larger story about the role of affirmative action in the educational pathways of mexican american ph.d.s and the responsibility for (re)presenting these narratives with care and respect. a brief note about stigma by (re)presenting participants’ experiences with affirmative action policies and programs, i recognize that the findings could be misconstrued as stigmas of inferiority to fuel a long-standing argument against affirmative action (bracey, 2007; kow, 2010). some participants did not necessarily want to acknowledge the overt and covert forms of racism found within their interactions with white classmates and colleagues. rather, the distancing they expressed may have been more of a coping mechanism than internalizing stigma of inferiority, especially as these individuals were highly qualified in their graduate programs and accomplished scholars. similar to the work of cuádraz (2006), this article is not intended to tout these participants as the exception to the rule and applaud their individual efforts. stories such as the ones illustrated in this article are often used within social policies to focus solely on individual achievement rather than transforming institutional structures that could further increase rates of latina/o educational attainment. these arguments detract from the institutional culpability and the “encounters with everyday racism” (kow, 2010, p. 186) across campus. fulfilling the intent of affirmative action within the anti-affirmative action discourse, discussions about merit and affirmative action seem to blend together, implying that mexican americans who enter college, graduate school, and the professoriate do not deserve to have access to highly selective institutions. what is often ignored are the ways in which affirmative action programs enable mexican americans to access educational opportunities and networks that are not readily available to them. some mexican american communities have limited access to hidden knowledge and social networks that are prized by the dominant culture that make educational opportunities for white, affluent communities more readily available. i contend that these are consequences not of affirmative action, but of institutionalized racism that is pervasive in practice and throughout the educational pipeline. the findings below depict the value of affirmative action programs in ushering mexican american students from college to the professoriate. in each section, i provide an in-depth narrative that is illustrative of a majority of participants’ experiences. minority undergraduate outreach programs many of the participants disclosed that they participated in various under-represented minority student programs. some participants credited affirmative action policies for providing access to college and graduate education while other participants distanced themselves from those connections because of prior racist interactions with peers and faculty who questioned their presence in well-regarded programs and selective institutions. all of the stories shared provide a strong justification for the maintenance of race-conscious admissions policies and college programs that can sustain mexican american students as they navigate hostile educational environments. prior to entering college, several participants were involved in summer bridge programs sponsored through equal opportunity initiatives and utilized campus centers dedicated to serving students of color, which were often funded through equal opportunity program (eop) offices. minority undergraduate research programs provided seven participants with research experiences and funding that encouraged them to aspire to graduate school. victoria (mexican american/bi-racial, assistant professor, physical sciences) was admitted into sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 48 an undergraduate program for students in the physical sciences at a west coast research-intensive university. the program was “developed because [the university] found that the minority students were isolated in their classes and because so many of them had to overcome…obstacles to get there, they were less likely to ask for help when they needed it.” the program included a summer bridge program for freshman students prior to their first semester with “extra discussion sessions for all the preliminary classes [and] free tutoring for any class you needed,” especially for courses that enrolled over 1500 students such as chemistry. victoria characterized her physical sciences major as, …a weeder program…because it is the top [program] in the state….[t]hey have to have a certain number of slots available by junior year for the transfer students. the only way to do that is to get rid of the students that are there…and so…it’s a very demoralizing experience…especially [for] people that were good students in high school. i’ve never witnessed it to the extent that i did at [research-intensive university], and i’ve seen some of the top, most brilliant students that i ever met have their ego just totally broken down by the experience. the undergraduate minority program was focused on uplifting students and providing them with hidden knowledge and critical resources to complete their degrees such as sitting in the front row during class, collaborating on research projects, obtaining research internships within industry, networking, and completing graduate school applications. these resources could not always stem the challenges of a rigorous program. out of the 60 students who were part of her undergraduate cohort, 10 completed their degrees within five years. without the program, the completion rates within victoria’s major would have been significantly lower. minority fellowships opportunities to network with fellow doctoral students of color and more seasoned faculty of color mentors were available through annual meetings sponsored by minority fellowship programs, many of which were developed as a way to “invest [corporate] resources on increasing the numbers of the most underrepresented minority groups in the teaching and research faculties of higher education” (solórzano, 1998, p. 126). twelve participants received pre-doctoral, dissertation, and/or post-doctoral fellowships through the ford foundation, the national institutes of health, the american sociological association, and the american psychological association, to name a few (see table 1). the participants who received these fellowships were relieved that they could concentrate on their research because of external funding and, most importantly, they were able to build social networks with emerging and established faculty of color from across the country as noted by lynn (mexican-american/chicana, visiting professor, social and behavioral sciences), [minority fellowship] has been instrumental in me finishing, not just because of their deadlines but because of the support that you get when you go to these conferences. [i]t’s just so amazing to be in this rather large group of academics of color and you can share everything that you’ve gone through, they’ve gone through. it’s an amazing group of people. as a result of developing these networks, participants connected with potential employment and publishing opportunities after graduate school. these fellowships also lessened the pressures of contending with graduate socialization processes, hostile departmental cultures, and competitive peers. earning these fellowships also translated into the commodification of mexican american graduate students. nieves (chicano, assistant professor, humanities) provides an interesting narrative about how prestigious, funded research opportunities could serve as capital within highly selective academic spaces. on his second attempt to apply to doctoral programs, he was accepted into a master’s program and applied to a doctoral program for a third time. his diligence was marked by a commitment to apply to the most prestigious programs and pre-doctoral fellowships during his second year in the master’s program, [t]he second time around, i got them all. so i kicked butt and…i incidentally got, not the minority one…i got the straight up [federal fellowship], the ones for scientists [and] lawmakers. i got into the best ph.d program—the one i wanted. and i got rejections, too, but it was just not psychologically damaging. sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 49 nieves’s narrative depicts the extent to which, after the third time applying for doctoral programs, he understood how to navigate a system rooted in prestige and hierarchy. although he seems to distance himself from the “minority fellowships” and celebrates his ability to obtain the “one for scientists and lawmakers,” nieves saw the fellowship as a strategic tool for being admitted to the top humanities program in the country as evidenced in his story of visiting a west coast research-intensive institution, when i was at [the university], they had a two-day thing. they invited…all the people they were trying to accept, or the main people. some people didn’t get invited…..it was totally a tiered thing. i felt kind of shy, you know, and [the other students] were just better talkers and better students. this is where i realized their academic training earlier was good, while i was just playing catch-up as a master’s student. on the first day, nieves was ignored by the professors and most of the prospective students “who were fast talkers and playing smart.” on the second day of his visit, nieves was informed that he received the fellowship, which was announced by one of his friends who was also in attendance, [t]he next thing you know, i was the center of attention because at the time i was only the second person in [humanities] ever to have received the pre-doc in itself. people get [private fellowship], but again, this wasn’t the affirmative action grant; this was the white competition grant. so then everyone wanted to be my friend. nieves perceived that he was a strong candidate, but the department seemed to think otherwise until a nonminority fellowship, as a white standard of value inherent in perceptions of prestige, transformed him into a person of interest, “i thought that was a good example, like how people ignored me day 1, but then wanted to be my friend day 2.” nieves thought, “this is crap, but i’ll take it,” because admission into this particular program would garner greater recognition for him in the future. his narrative reflects how external funding transforms mexican american students into valuable commodities for graduate programs whose interests converge with the institution’s quest for prestige. it is unknown whether nieves would have received similar treatment had he received a minority-based fellowship, but his story depicts how distancing oneself from the intent of affirmative action maintains white power structures. the department’s decision was an example of interest convergence: by admitting one mexican american doctoral student, nieves’s prestigious non-minority fellowship would garner more prestige and national attention to their program. as an added incentive, they did not have to financially invest in nieves due to external funding. involvement in programs centered on increasing the number of women in the sciences along the educational pipeline inspired the three female participants who were scientists; especially darcy (hispanic, post-doctoral fellow, physical sciences). her encounter with a white male peer who claimed the “reverse discrimination” argument was one of the most striking examples of confronting overt racism in graduate school. the white male often stated that he was “oppressed because all the fellowships go to the minorities” and engaged darcy in heated debates about affirmative action. darcy explained in her narrative that all graduate students in her department were fully funded as teaching or research assistants, but she recognized that there were some fellowships designed to assist students of color and women in the sciences. as the three women scientists asserted, regardless of how they were admitted to their programs or funded throughout graduate school, they still had to produce “good science” and felt that they exceeded the minimum standards for all graduate students in general. nevertheless, darcy noted a tone in the discussions with her white male colleague that implied, “i worked very hard to get to where i am today and you just got stuff handed to you.” the affirmative action programs that supported increasing the representation of women and people of color in underrepresented fields had complex outcomes. these programs were, in many instances, the only mechanisms that helped female participants enter science fields, despite their academic achievement, yet these programs could not necessarily protect the participants from hostile environments perpetrated by white men. white men, who represent 51% of all scientists and engineers working in the u.s., still vastly out-rank and outnumber any advantage women and people of color have gained (nsf, 2013). despite their success in college and graduate school, a majority of participants felt constantly interrogated about their intelligence and held under suspicion because they supposedly had not “earned the right” to be in college and graduate school. it is clear how fellowships funded through external agencies are beneficial but limit the accountability sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 50 of institutions to intentionally recruit students of color. these prestigious fellowships awarded to outstanding minority students have already sorted out the “highly qualified” minority candidates, those who are most worthy of investment, those who can be commodified to serve institutional interests by earning access to the most selective programs in the country. target of opportunity programs various interventions have been created to address the paucity of latina/o faculty at research-intensive institutions, such as the target of opportunity (top) program. the official purpose of a target of opportunity program is to encourage departments to hire outstanding, “highly qualified” minority applicants and diverge from traditional hiring protocol that seems to lean toward hiring white applicants. the unstated purpose is to provide examples of the institution’s commitment to diversity, even when a faculty of color is not hired due to bureaucratic processes that are conducted outside of the department at the provost level (aguirre, 2000). departments that hire faculty of color are rewarded with an additional faculty line for a white person; an example of the extent to which institutional policies reify whiteness. therefore, in the event that the search fails or the hired faculty of color does not earn tenure, the department retains the new white faculty line in their budgets. aztlán (chicano, full professor, life sciences) explains that this signaled to departments, “don’t worry, you’re not gonna sacrifice a white fte for a minority fte.” so what did they do? oh, they invited what they thought were [the best] chicanos and blacks to interview. and it didn’t matter as far as they were concerned what you were doing. they were just gonna pick the best one. but you have to realize that’s not the way it works. what they also did was [say], “oh, by the way, if that minority doesn’t get tenure, guess what? you can turn that into a white fte.” you see? these are the little games that these predominant white males [are] playing. rhonda (chicana/bi-racial, head librarian, social & behavioral sciences) provided the most extensive discussion of being a target of opportunity hire at a west coast university. at the time of the hiring, rhonda was not aware that she was a target of opportunity and she “encounter[ed] people telling you, ‘the only reason you got this position was because you’re a person of color,’ and…they’re implying that you’re not qualified.” based on her experiential knowledge of witnessing “the racism that my mother and my tias [aunts] faced,” rhonda rejected the label of stigma. however, at the onset of her hiring, the racism and “backlash from a number of faculty” caused rhonda to question not whether she belonged on the campus, but whether she wanted to stay at her institution, “is this important for me to be here in this fight? i mean, this fight is critical, but who is going to help me?” rhonda experienced the prevalence of racism on her campus and fought “for more open ways to recruit incoming faculty of color.” her quest was often met with the response, “‘well, why do you need to do that?’ or, ‘[t]here just isn’t anyone out there.’ [t]hat is totally untrue.” rhonda gathered colleagues who also believed in diversifying the faculty and administrators on her campus and understood the importance of institutional leadership in creating that change, [y]ou have to maintain an institutional commitment that goes all the way to the top; from the faculty to your dean to your chairs, to your provost and the president to…fight that institutional racism encountered and to really identify and recruit a very motivated, talented, and diverse faculty. in a similar vein, aztlán shared his perspective on the dearth of latina/o faculty and research scientists at the most elite universities, [i]t’s the worst times for our people, partly because…the attacks on affirmative action, and the comfort that the ruling majority white [males] and now white female[s] [have]. cannot discount the white female…because they sure as hell aren’t advocating for latinas in science—that i can assure you. that really causes a lot of concern, but also, outrage in me that we have allowed it to get to this point. [c]learly racism is very much alive. [the university will] be jumping up and down for white guys…knowing good and well that we are chicanos and chicanas [and] we’re also damn good scholars….we will impact the community. that’s what you learn when you’re a sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 51 minority faculty member: you are not a white faculty. don’t forget that. as bell (2004) contends, within white power structures, “each black or hispanic or asian that is hired for a tenure-line position makes it that much harder for any subsequent minority applicant” (p. 46). minority faculty often contend with being the “first and only” faculty of color in departments and are often confronted with suspicion, especially if they excel at their job (urrieta & villenas, 2013). if more faculty of color are hired, white academic spaces are threatened and any potential discomfort experienced by white faculty leads to a “tipping point.” “as long as a faculty has one minority person, the pressure is off and the recruitment priority simply disappears” (delgado & stefancic, 2005, p. 187). target of opportunity programs provide the cover to channel underrepresented minority faculty candidates into a separate hiring process while also maintaining the status quo by hiring a white faculty member. when the top process fails, the focus turns to the purported failings of the minority candidate rather than a separate but equal hiring process that placates to white entitlement. incentivizing the hiring of minority faculty by generating an additional line (top and fte) is highly problematic as it sorts minority faculty into one option (the top line) rather than a candidate who is entitled to compete for the fte position (aguirre, 2010). therefore, the department is able to shift the blame to high-level administrators and bureaucratic processes while still claiming to be open to diversity hires. fulfilling the silent covenant within affirmative action most striking of the arguments against affirmative action policies and interventions that support raceconscious admissions into college and graduate school and race-conscious hiring practices, is that stigma is invoked. little research focuses on whether “de facto affirmative action for wealthy and well-connected white students, in legacy-, celebrity-, and donor-based preferential admissions” (kow, 2010, p. 160) results in stigma for their preferential treatment. as noted in aztlán’s observations of faculty hiring practices at ivy league institutions, the unspoken agreement via social networks rarely is critiqued for its support of the “buddy system” for white faculty. these practices and unspoken rules that garner access and opportunity for some but not for latina/o students and faculty is an illustration of the silent covenant. by touting diversity and a public commitment to affirmative action, institutions participate in “non-action. for the university to declare racism and promote ‘diversity,’ is to simultaneously declare the university as non-racist….” (urrieta & villenas, 2013, pp. 530-531). the silent covenant is a compromise between the institution and white power structures, a sacrifice of latina/o rights and access to higher education. latinas/os are the “fortuitous beneficiaries” of affirmative action, but the unspoken rules that maintain affirmative action for whites is the compromise that must be made in order to protect white interests. this is a far better option than dismantling the racist structures and policies that prohibit minority applicants from enrolling in and working at research-intensive institutions. discussion although posters calling for the exclusion of mexican americans are no longer posted in restaurants and businesses, the message rings clear when considering the academic and career trajectories of mexican americans at research-intensive institutions. mexican americans, representing 63% of the latina/o population, have the lowest levels of educational attainment in the aggregate, but are considered the future of the u.s. workforce (ennis, rios-vargas, & albert, 2011). as of 2010, only 57.4% of mexican americans over the age of 25 have graduated from high school and 10.6% over the age of 25 have obtained college degrees (u.s. census bureau, 2012). in some instances, depending on the field, the proportion of doctoral production would need to increase by 3 to 17 times for mexican american men and women to reach parity (solórzano, 1993). the purported causes of these disparities are rooted in historical contexts such as discriminatory educational policies that segregated mexican children and “americanization” programs that attempted to enforce “american” values and proper hygiene (delgado bernal, 2000). in addition, deficit-centered and culturally determinist theoretical models were employed to perpetuate negative cultural stereotypes (solórzano & solórzano, 1995) that continue to inform how educational policies are developed and the extent to which they truly serve as a racial remedy sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 52 for latinas/os. as evidenced by a majority of the participants, affirmative action programs are essential to establishing and maintaining a latina/o presence in higher education. the participants’ involvement in these programs further solidified their commitment to completing their degrees, gaining vital research experiences and national networks. the necessity of equal opportunity programs and minority fellowships is apparent when considering the strong academic and social foundations they provide for mexican american students and faculty on hostile college campuses. based on the participants’ narratives, external funding was essential to their survival and was often used as a protective layer against competitive, unsupportive, and politically charged departments. as a matter of interest convergence, i argue that the external funding also provided a protective layer allowing research-intensive universities to claim “diversity” in their graduate student population without needing to transform their environments. by relying on external funding groups, these institutions did not necessarily need to hold faculty and administrators accountable for creating support mechanisms that would lead to success for all students, especially latina/o students and faculty. the implementation of affirmative action becomes mere lip service, a symbolic offering that has little bearing on the daily practices that perpetuate dominant ideologies. the contentious discourse regarding affirmative action reflects the concerns about the application of race-conscious admissions and hiring policies at the most selective, research-intensive universities in the country. white entitlement to earning doctoral degrees and tenure-track faculty lines becomes marred when creating more inclusive and racially just mechanisms for increasing the latina/o presence in higher education. although the hope was that a legal intervention such as affirmative action would serve as a racial remedy and lead to social reform, the effects of the practice reveal the silent covenant. our racial reality proves that the effects of affirmative action practices may have a shelflife, unless, in keeping with bell’s (2004) charge, we divert our attention outside of the law and commit to building the infrastructure for supporting latinas/os along the pathway to the professoriate on our own. to paraphrase ledesma (2004), can we truly arrive at diverse institutions of higher education that reflect the changing demographics of this country without race-conscious admissions policies and hiring practices? when considering historical and existing educational inequities, latina/o racial realities reveal that our communities cannot rely heavily on the law to alleviate racial injustice, just as we cannot depend on our educational system to provide quality education nor an equal opportunity to learn and teach (oakes, 1990 as cited in ledesma, 2004). we cannot wait for the benevolence and empty promises of whites to push for educational reform. coalitions among communities of color must recognize that the law is constructed to serve white power structures and will never be the right tool to dismantle oppression. the interpretation and implementation of affirmative action policies and programs reflects a silent covenant that deflects the racial realities of hiring latina/o faculty and enrolling latina/o doctoral students; shifting the institution’s responsibility for creating inclusive, supportive environments and cultivating the next generation of latina/o scholars to external agencies and to the latina/o community itself. the silent covenant becomes a waiting game: waiting for the retirement of the original recipients of racial fortuity via affirmative action policies in the 1970s; many of whom were the first mexican americans in their fields, and sadly, some of the only mexican american faculty at the most elite and selective institutions. based on the findings, affirmative action policies are beneficial to latina/o students and faculty, and are also beneficial to maintaining the stability of white power structures. since the introduction of the concept of interest convergence (bell 1980), critical race theorists have been encouraged to present solutions that converge with the dominant culture’s interests and are perceived to not disrupt “a normal way of life for the majority of whites” yet create positive change for marginalized communities (decuir & dixson, 2004, p. 28). numerous recommendations abound that adhere to bell’s (2004) call for relying less on judicial decisions and “more on tactics, actions, and even attitudes that challenge the continuing assumptions of white dominance” (p. 9). communities of color and white allies need to think differently about bolstering the intent of affirmative action, especially if, as current trends indicate, going through the court system is slowly eroding affirmative action’s promise. based on historical context, however, it seems that there is limited incentive to make such a commitment when the focus is and will remain on the benefits and entitlements that white students and faculty receive from diversity that does not necessarily need to include sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 53 latinas/os. that lack of interest is a mistake for the future of u.s. society. latinas/os are now a majority in secondary schools and are a political power that will assert its interests over education, policy, and industry, regardless of white interests. to stem possible racial strife and so-called white discomfort, maintaining affirmative action programs is common sense. latina/o communities are slowly becoming the cornerstone of this country, yet the threat that these communities bring to traditionally white academic environments is, at this point in time, a greater concern. as a result, latina/o students and faculty at research-intensive universities will continue to be sacrificed. sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 54 references aguirre, jr., a. (2000). academic storytelling: a critical race theory story of affirmative action. sociological perspectives, 43(2), 319-339. aguirre, jr., a. (2010). diversity as interest-convergence in academia: a critical race theory story. social identities, 16(6), 763-774. alemán, jr., e., & alemán, s.m. (2010). “do latin@ interests always have to ‘converge’ with white interests?”: (re)claiming racial realism and interest-convergence in critical race theory praxis. race ethnicity and education, 13(1), 1-21. auerbach, s. (2002). why do they give the good classes to some and not to others? latino parent narratives of struggle in a college access program. teachers college record, 104(7), 1369-1392. bell, d. (1979). bakke, minority admissions, and the usual price of racial remedies. california law review, 67(1), 3-19. bell, d. (1980). brown v. board of education and the interest-convergence dilemma. harvard law review, 93, 518-533. bell, d. (2004). silent covenants: brown v. board of education and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform. new york: oxford university press. bracey, c.a. (2007). the cul de sac of race preference discourse. southern california law review, 79, 1231-1325. brown v. board of education, 347 u.s. 483 (1954). chase, s.e. (2005). narrative inquiry: multiple lenses, approaches, voices. in n.k. denzin & y.s. lincoln (eds.), the sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 651-679). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. cuádraz, g.h. (2006). myths and the “politics of exceptionality:” interpreting chicana/o narratives of achievements. the oral history review, 33(1), 83-105. decuir, j.t., & dixson, a.d. (2004). “so when it comes out, they aren’t that surprised that it is there:” using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race and racism in education. educational researcher, 33(5), 26-31. delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (eds.). (2005). the derrick bell reader. new york university press. delgado bernal, d. (2000). historical struggles for educational equity: setting the context for chicana/o schools today. in c. tejeda, c. martinez, & z. leonardo (eds.), charting new terrains of chicana(o)/ latina(o) education (pp. 67-90). cresskill, nj: hampton press, inc. delgado-romero, e.a., flores, l.y., gloria, a.m., arredondo, p., & castellanos, j. (2003). developmental career challenges for latina/o faculty in higher education. in j. castellanos & l. jones (eds.), the majority in the minority: expanding the representation of latina/o faculty, administrators, and students in higher education (pp. 257-283). sterling, va: stylus. ennis, s.r., rios-vargas, m., & albert, n.g. (2011). the hispanic population in the united states: 2010. washington, dc: u.s. census bureau. espino, m.m. (2008). master narratives and counter-narratives: an analysis of mexican american life stories of oppression and resistance along the journeys to the doctorate. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). the university of arizona, tucson. fisher v. university of texas, 631 f.3d 213 (5th cir. 2011), cert. granted (no. 11–345). fry, r., & taylor, p. (2013). hispanic school drop-out rate at record low: hispanic high school graduates pass whites in rate of college enrollment. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. garces, l.m. (2012a). racial diversity, legitimacy, and the citizenry: the impact of affirmative action bans on graduate school enrollment. the review of higher education, 36(1), 93-132. garces, l.m. (2012b). the impact of affirmative action bans in graduate education. retrieved from the civil rights project / proyecto derechos civiles website: http://civilrightsproject. ucla.edu/research/college-access/affirmative-action/the-impact-of-affirmative-action-bans-in-graduateeducation gratz v. bollinger et al., 539 u.s. 244 (2003). sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 55 grutter v. bollinger et al., 539 u.s. 306 (2003). holmes, d.g. (2007). affirmative reaction: kennedy, nixon, king, and the evolution of color blind rhetoric. rhetoric review, 26(1), 25-41. hopwood v. state of texas, 78 f.3d 932 (5th cir. 1996), cert. denied, 518 u.s. 1033 (1996). hurtado, s., milem, j.f., clayton-pederson, a., & allen, w. (1999). enacting diverse learning environments: improving the climate for racial/ethnic diversity in higher education (ashe-eric higher education report, 26, no. 8). washington, dc. jones, s.r., torres, v., & arminio, j. (2006). negotiating the complexities of qualitative research in higher education: fundamental elements and issues. new york: routledge. kow, d. (2010). the (un)compelling interest for underrepresented minority students: enhancing the education of white students underexposed to racial diversity. berkeley la raza law journal, 20, 157-190. ledesma, m.c. (2004). contesting an illusion of equity: a textual analysis of “friend of the court” briefs in the university of michigan’s affirmative action cases. interactions: ucla journal of education and information studies, 1(1), 1-27. ledesma, m.c. (2013). revising grutter and gratz in the wake of fisher: looking back to move forward. equity & excellence in education, 46(2), 220-235. leong, n. (2013). racial capitalism. harvard law review, 126(8), 2151-2226. lopez, m.h., & fry, r. (2013). among recent high school grads, hispanic college enrollment rate surpasses that of whites. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/04/hispaniccollege-enrollment-rate-surpasses-whites-for-the-first-time/ mayhew, m.j., & grunwald, h.e. (2006). factors contributing to faculty incorporation of diversity-related course content. the journal of higher education, 77(1), 148-168. national center for education statistics. (2013). fast facts: race/ethnicity of college faculty. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=61 national research council. (2006). taxonomy of fields. retrieved from http://www7.nationalacademies.org/resdoc/taxonomy_list.html national science foundation. (2013). scientists and engineers working in science and engineering occupations: 2010. retrieved from http:// http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/2013/digest/ theme4.cfm national science foundation. (2014). doctorate recipients from u.s. universities: 2012. (nsf publication no. 14-305). retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/2012/start.cfm ponjuan, l. (2011). recruiting and retaining latino faculty members: the missing piece to latino student success. thought & action, 99-110. regents of the university of california v. bakke, 98 s. ct. 2733 (1978). riessman, c.k. (1993). narrative analysis. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action, integration and immigration rights and fight for equality by any means necessary (bamn) et al., 572 u.s. ___ (2014). solórzano, d.g. (1993). the road to the doctorate for california’s chicanas and chicanos: a study of ford foundation minority fellows (cps brief, v5, no. 16). berkeley, ca: the california policy seminar. solórzano, d.g. (1998). critical race theory, race and gender microaggressions, and the experiences of chicana and chicano scholars. qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 121-136. solórzano, d.g., & solórzano, r.w. (1995). the chicano educational experience: a framework for effective schools in chicano communities. educational policy, 9(3), 293314. solórzano, d.g., & yosso, t.j. (2001). from racial stereotyping and deficit discourse toward a new critical race theory in teacher education. multicultural education, 9(1), 2-8. urrieta, jr., l., & villenas, s.a. (2013). the legacy of derrick bell and latino/a education: a critical race testimonio. race ethnicity and education, 16(4), 514-535. sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 56 u.s. census bureau. (2012). educational attainment by race and hispanic origin: 1970-2010. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0229.pdf. yosso, t.j., parker, l., solórzano, d.g., & lynn, m. (2004). from jim crow to affirmative action and back again: a critical race discussion of racialized rationales and access to higher education. review of research in education, 28, 1-25. sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate pg43 pg44 pg45 pg46 pg47 pg48 pg49 pg50 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 50 views from inside a pediatric clinic views from inside a pediatric clinic: how arizona’s political climate has impacted arizona’s youngest latino learners margarita jiménez-silva arizona state university gregory a. cheatham university of kansas laura gomez arizona state university abstract it is critical that we examine impacts that recent immigration policies such as sb1070 are having on arizona’s youngest latino learners. the large number of latinos under the age of five, and the impact that this upcoming generation of latinos will have on all aspects of life in arizona merits a closer look. in this qualitative study, we examined the perspectives of five adults working in an arizona pediatric clinic (i.e., “pediatrics plus”). the themes of fear and community tension which arose throughout the interview data demonstrate that the health of our youngest learners as well as their access and ability to attend extended learning opportunities provided by community partners such as pediatrics plus, is being impacted by the wider anti-immigrant policies in arizona. by taking a comprehensive approach using bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory to examine the health and enrichment opportunities of arizona’s youngest learners and how recent policies can impact young learner’s development, we can work with other stakeholders to improve their opportunities for healthier minds and bodies, for academic success, and for a brighter future. introduction the first three years of life are crucial for creating a foundation for certain competencies and skills which are vital for school and life success (shonkoff & phillips, 2000). these early experiences can place young children on a trajectory of risk or achievement (cálderon, 2007). unfortunately, latino children, the fastest-growing segment of the u.s. child population, are too often placed on the trajectory of risk (morse, 2003; winter et al., 2007). in arizona, latinos are the largest ethnic minority and account for almost 87% of the total growth in the k-12 system over the past ten years (garcia, ozturk, & wood, 2009). for this reason, it is imperative that the needs or well-being of the fastest growing population of children are met because they are an important part of arizona’s future. the earliest years of life are crucial to school readiness and future academic achievement (cálderon, 2007). for example, preschool prepares children to read by building cognitive and verbal skills which can help close the preparation gap between students from lowand middle-class backgrounds (mead, 2004), and between minority and white children (lee & burkum, 2002). additionally to help ensure that children are able to focus on learning, regular checkups to prevent or detect medical problems are necessary (arizona’s school readiness action plan, 2005). also, young children should have regular vision and hearing screenings, immunizations against childhood diseases, and dental care services (arizona’s school readiness action plan, 2005). school readiness or the lack of it is strongly correlated with factors such as access to health care and wellness services, access to early literacy, and early care experiences, maternal education, and poverty (see rouse, brooks-gunn, & mclanahan, 2005). association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 51 views from inside a pediatric clinic demographics within the population of children currently preparing to enter our education systems, latino children are the fastest-growing segment across the united states. they currently constitute 22% of public school students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade (aud, hussar, kena, bianco, frohlich, & kemp, 2011). furthermore, latinos constitute 24% of the child population of the united states under the age of five (beltran, 2010). latino children represent the overall diversity that exists within latinos, which hernandez (2005) reported as 73% being of mexican descent followed by puerto ricans (6%) and those of south and central american descent (14%). the latino population overall grew by 45% in arizona in recent years with some counties seeing increases of over 280% (mcconnell & skeen, 2009). in 2003, there were almost as many latino babies born in arizona (43.1%) as non-hispanic white babies (43.1%) (luna, 2009). in 2007, it was reported that approximately 88.6% of latinos in arizona identified themselves as mexican. however, the latino population in arizona also includes individuals who self-identified as central american (primarily from el salvador and guatemala), puerto rican, south american, and “other hispanic or latino” (mcconnell & skeen, 2009). in maricopa county, one of the largest counties in arizona, children under the age of 5 years constitute 12.8% of the latino population. according to the census bureau’s american community survey (acs), the majority of arizona’s latino population (72.4%) was born in the united states. socio-economic diversity also exists within the latino population. while many latinos have achieved middle and high ses status, 67% of latino families in the united states with children under the age of 3 years old have incomes that are 200% below the poverty threshold (calderon, 2007; hernandez, 2005). in arizona, 32.7% of hispanic children (birth-17 years old) live in poverty compared to 22.5% of white children (us census bureau, 2011). furthermore, about 64% of latino children under the age of 6 years old come from families considered low-income and 33% come from families living in poverty (nccp, 2009). the need to improve academic outcomes among young latinos cuts across social class lines, because even children from middle and high ses families lag behind comparable whites in school readiness and achievement (national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007). nevarez and rico (2007) reported that poverty impedes many latino families from enrolling their children in preschool. the cost of tuition and the lack of transportation are cited by latino parents as the major deterrents to preschool enrollment (nevarez & rico, 2007). the growing population of latino children is impacted by a number of key factors known to impact school readiness. two-thirds of latino infants and toddlers have mothers who have not attended or completed college and reside in low-income households (hernandez, 2005). latino children under the age of three years are also more likely than their white counterparts to lack health insurance (flores, abreu, & tomany-korman, 2006) and have less access than white children to reading activities and educational resources (llagas & snyder, 2003). furthermore, the vast majority of latino families with young children chose to use relatives versus childcare or preschool services and most do not enroll their children in enrichment activities outside the home (capizzano, adams, & ost, 2006). in sum, there are significant challenges to the academic success of our growing latino population. importance of regular pediatric care families’ regular contact with their children’s pediatricians is important to their developmental, physical, and educational outcomes. for example, prenatal visits provide an opportunity to prevent and address disabilities and delays through early detection and counseling expectant mothers’ to support a healthy pregnancy. moreover, family and child visits during children’s early years (e.g., well-baby checks, regular check-ups) are also important to promote health as well as both prevent and address disability and delay. physicians assume a primary role in systematically screening young children for both developmental risks (e.g., violence, trauma, abuse) as well as protective factors (e.g., appropriate nutrition, safe environment, nurturing relationships) (pizur-barnekow et al., 2010). outcomes of physicians’ screenings may indicate the need for more in-depth evaluation to determine presence of a disability. through comprehensive evaluation, some association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 52 views from inside a pediatric clinic disabilities can be diagnosed in very young children, for instance, autism (woods & weatherby, 2003). therefore, it is imperative that families have consistent contact with their children’s pediatricians to provide screenings for children. additionally, children who have many types of disabilities benefit from early identification and intervention. to illustrate, intervention for younger children with autism spectrum disorders results in greater positive impacts (e.g., communication, behavior) than those accrued by children as they get older (woods & weatherby, 2003). finally, regular contact with a pediatrician provides opportunities for children’s immunizations, which prevent diseases that may lead to health issues and developmental delays and result in great cost for children, families, communities, and society. for example, one child’s case of measles can cost approximately 23 times more than the cost to vaccinate that child against measles; similarly, for every one dollar spent on diphtheriatetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine (dtap), the saving amounts to twenty-four dollars (armstrong, 2007). these and other preventable diseases can have long-term impacts on children’s health and education. by promoting health as well as preventing and addressing disability, we not only help children and families, but we also can avoid societal expenditures associated with children’s disabilities and delays (guralnick, 2004). the health and well-being of young latino children is not just important to their immediate families; issues impacting latino children can affect all children and families within the community. access to pediatricians is often tied to having health insurance. it is estimated that nationally, 20% of latino children are uninsured (denavas-walt, proctor, & smith 2008). in arizona, garcia-perez and szkupinski quiroga (2010) examined data from the child and adolescent health measurement initiative from 2005 and reported that approximately seven out of ten latino uninsured children who may be eligible for health coverage through the arizona health care cost containment system (ahcccs) or the state children’s health insurance program (s-chip) are not enrolled in either program. furthermore, out of the total of uninsured children in arizona, 35% are latino (garcia-perez & szkupinski quiroga, 2010). political climate u.s.-born and immigrant latino children in arizona may not be receiving proper regular health care due to racial profiling and immigration raids targeted at latino communities. in urban neighborhoods of arizona with a high population of latinos, arizona’s immigration policies can create a sub-class of women and children who live in fear of being detained, trapping many women in abusive relationships and work environments thereby rendering them unable to report crimes against themselves or their children (ammar, orloff, dutton, & aguilarhass, 2005). santos, menjivar, and godfrey (2013) assert, because of recent immigration policies including sb1070, children feel a distrust of law enforcement agencies as well as have lower self-esteem. immigration roundups can systematically marginalize latinos resulting in lack of accessibility to needed services, including healthcare (pianta, 2007). thus, these policies can place latinos in urban, working-class neighborhoods as second-class citizens with inferior rights (romero, 2006). to date, approximately five million children who live in the united states are in the care of undocumented immigrant parents and three million of these children are u.s citizens (vazquez, 2011). it is important to examine how these children are being affected by the recent roundups in maricopa county. parents may feel that the risk of being picked up in a roundup is too great and may stay home even if it means missing a doctors’ appointment for their children’s vaccinations, regular medical checkups, and subsequent educational intervention services. theoretical framework bronfenbrenner (1979) and others (haste, 1993; rogoff, 1990; vygotsky, 1962) have stated that we should acknowledge that the individual and the socio-historical environment integrally build on each other. bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological theory of human development provides a particularly illuminating structural framework for analyzing and understanding how various contexts interact with and influence arizona’s youngest learners. he delineated four systems of influence on an individual’s development. each system is embedded within the previous system(s). association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 53 views from inside a pediatric clinic the microsystem refers to the relationships between a person and his or her immediate setting. the example bronfenbrenner (1979) provides is that of home and school. second, the mesosystem is composed of the relationships among an individual’s major contexts. these include interactions among family, school, and peer groups. third, the exosystem is an extension of the mesosystem and includes both formal and informal social structures. these structures do not necessarily contain the individual, but do impact the individual’s immediate settings. examples of the exosystem include the neighborhood, the mass media, all of the various levels of agencies of government, the distribution of services and goods, and informal social networks. last, the macrosystem differs from the previous systems in that it does not refer to particular contexts but rather to broad institutional patterns of the culture. macrosystems carry information and ideology. bronfenbrenner (1979) emphasizes that priorities for children in a macrosystem can impact how a child is treated in different types of settings. vygotsky (1962) also discussed how an individual’s historical and cultural context influences his or her development. vygotsky emphasized that human learning is always mediated through interactions with others, such as parents, peers, and other community members. these interactions, in turn, are influenced by the culture and context in which we live. haste (1993), expanding on vygotsky’s work, stated that individuals are influenced by social interactions. arizona’s youngest latino learners’ interactions with others in their immediate communities will influence how they see themselves as learners (also see rogoff, 1990). significance of study as other states (e.g., alabama and georgia) enact policies that impact latinos and immigrants, there remains a shortage of studies that investigate how such policies impact the youngest latino learners. studies such as this one have the potential to inform discussions by all stakeholders, from policymakers to those who regularly interact with young latino learners. therefore, the current qualitative study examined and documented the perspectives of five individuals working in an arizona pediatric clinic serving a predominantly latino clientele in a community heavily impacted by recent immigration policies. methods research questions in general, what are the perceived effects of recent immigration policies on arizona’s youngest latino learners who are serviced by one pediatric clinic? more specifically, how have recent immigration sweeps impacted arizona’s youngest latino learners’ access to the clinic? community environment we have focused on one pediatric clinic because of the scope and exploratory nature of this study. sudman (1976) states that a small, local study is appropriate for a researcher who is just beginning an inquiry into a particular topic, as is our case. indeed, at the time of this study, there had been very little research conducted in arizona examining the effects of current immigration policies on our youngest latinos. this qualitative study of five participants allowed us to develop a deeper and more contextual understanding of their perceptions about how recent immigration policies have impacted arizona’s young latinos than might be achieved with a more superficial study of a larger group of participants (matsumoto, 1991). pediatrics plus (pseudonym) opened the doors of its first pediatric clinic in 2002 in a predominantly latino community in a low-income area in the greater phoenix area of arizona. pediatrics plus currently operates five clinics within 40 miles of each other. according to the pediatrics plus’s chief financial officer, approximately 80% of the clients served at pediatrics plus are latinos/as and about 75% are from low-income backgrounds. the pediatrics plus billing office reports that on average, three hundred patients are seen per day across the five clinics. the clinic focuses primarily on health services but also provides academic and literacy enrichment association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 54 views from inside a pediatric clinic opportunities for children and adults. participants in the current study all work at the largest pediatrics plus clinic, situated on a major street in a city that has experienced frequent immigration raids. furthermore, several raids took place at the supermarket directly across from the clinic two months prior to the beginning of this study. participants five individuals were interviewed as part of this study. pseudonyms are used to identify all participants. the first participant is sixty-two years old, male, and is the head pediatrician and owner of the practice, dr. ruben. he was born and raised in mexico and immigrated to the u.s. at age eighteen years. he has led the practice for the past sixteen years. dr. suarez, the second participant, is second-generation mexican and at age thirty-four years, has worked as an attending doctor at pediatrics plus for the past eight years. mrs. casillas is the billing office manager and is sixty-five years old, female, and was born and raised in mexico and immigrated to the u.s. at age nineteen years. she has worked for pediatrics plus for twelve years. the fourth participant is the building manager, mr. basulto, who is sixty-three years old and was born and raised in mexico and immigrated to the u.s. also at age nineteen years. he has also worked for pediatrics plus for twelve years. the fifth participant, ms. lopez, is a twenty-seven year old female, and self-identifies as a second generation mexican. she has worked as a medical assistant at pediatrics plus for the past five years. interviews community members’ voices are powerful and useful tools in both practice and research, yet their voices are rarely heard (jalongo, isenberg & gerbracht, 1995; witherell & noddings, 1991). because of the importance and value of tapping community members’ voices, participants’ perceptions regarding the impact of recent immigration policies on arizona’s youngest learners were collected through in-depth individual interviews. each participant was interviewed on two separate occasions and each of the two interviews took place over a minimum of one hour. most of the interviews were conducted over a total of two and one-half hours. the purpose of in-depth interviews was to understand the experiences of the participants and the meanings they make of those experiences (seidman, 1998). the interview protocol that we used draws on the theoretical framework provided by bronfenbrenner (1979), vygotsky (1962), and haste (1993). participants were not constrained by the format of the interview protocol, but were encouraged to include all pertinent information that they felt influenced their perceptions. as seidman (1998) has stated, when researchers encourage participants to tell their stories, they can hear about their experiences in illuminating and memorable ways. with each participant’s permission, interviews were conducted and audio recorded by the lead author. each audio recording was transcribed verbatim. two of the interviewees, mrs. casillas and mr. basulto, requested to be interviewed in spanish. their interviews were translated by the lead author. after the initial interview, we began analyzing the data and used that information to ask any follow-up or clarification questions during the second interview. we verified the contents of the individual interviews and observations by reviewing them with each participant either in person or via e-mail and made changes where needed (i.e., member checks). data analysis and coding the analysis of the data focused on the participant interviews. we divided the analysis procedure into the five modes suggested by marshall and rossman (1999): (a) organizing the data; (b) identifying themes, patterns, and categories; (c) testing the emergent hypothesis against the data; (d) searching for alternative explanations of the data; and (e) writing the report. each transcript was read multiple times. we analyzed and categorized the interview data, identifying emerging themes and patterns (patton, 1987). initial coding categories were developed. coding categories were further developed to allow for new information to be included and to collapse some of the previous categories. two colleagues of the lead author were asked to independently code association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 55 views from inside a pediatric clinic 20% of each of the five interviews to ensure reliability. after the first reliability check, codes were modified and the colleagues were then asked to code an additional 20% of each interview using the improved codes. a minimum score on cohen’s kappa of .82 was then reached among the three coders. findings two major themes emerged from the interview data, with several subthemes within each theme. the first theme identified in the data was that of young children’s declining participation in the clinic’s services. a second theme was fear in the community and its impact on the lives of arizona’s youngest learners through their families and communities. more specifically, transportation issues, access to insurance and health services issues and educational services issues arose due to fear in the community. the third theme was tension within the community; more specifically, participants discussed rising tensions between latinos born in the u.s. and latinos who immigrated to this country. in addition, they also discussed families’ growing feelings of distrust of government representatives in their communities, including law enforcement officers. each theme will be discussed in greater detail below. first, all five participants commented on the loss of clientele at pediatrics plus over the past several years, and most recently since the passage of sb1070 in arizona. in fact dr. ruben, the owner of pediatrics plus, began the interview by commenting on the significant decreases in the number of children who are presently seen in the clinics. he estimated a forty percent loss of clientele over the past three years. although dr. ruben perceived that much of that loss was due to fear of those still living in the community (as discussed in the next section of this article), he also indicated that he was aware that many families have self-deported back to their home countries. dr. suarez, an attending physician at the clinic, additionally commented that when he first joined the clinic five years ago, “there were hardly any gaps between patients; the schedule was always full.” in recent months, he stated that he had days in which he went an hour without seeing a patient. mrs. casillas, who manages the billing office, also noted that the clinics overall, but especially the clinic which was the focus of this study, has seen steady decreases in clients in recent years. she noted that the loss of revenue resulted in laying off about thirty percent of the clinic employees. in her words, “we have had to let go of people at all levels, from doctors to janitors.” mr. basulto, whose duties as building manager included monitoring the parking lot, also noted the drop in patients at the clinic. he reported that while the parking lot at times had not seemed adequate for the number of patients seen at the clinic, more recently there were more than enough open spaces and patient parking was no longer problematic. ms. lopez expressed worry about losing her job as the numbers of patients seen daily has dropped significantly since she first began working at pediatrics plus six years ago. the second major theme to emerge from the interview data was that of fear. although dr. ruben has been practicing pediatric medicine in phoenix, arizona, for the past fifteen years, he stated that the climate of fear over deportation for those who are undocumented or fear of being profiled by law enforcement has impacted parents’ abilities and willingness to attend to regular medical checkups and immunizations for their children. mr. basulto repeatedly discussed how parents of children being brought to the clinic seemed to be constantly looking over their shoulders. “the moms are always peeking around the corner onto the main street to make sure police cars are not around. they ask me if it is safe to go.” mrs. casillas also spoke to this idea of fear commenting on when they have to call homes to verify information on their medical records; clinic staff encountered parents’ growing fear about how information they give may be used to determine their legal status. dr. suarez and ms. lopez also addressed this theme of fear stating that patients appeared fearful of the return trip home after visiting the pediatric clinic. in regard to the theme of fear, one subtheme that arose was that of transportation. four of the five participants, not ms. lopez, reported that recent immigration policies and raids in the community caused parents to be concerned about making unnecessary trips for fear of being racially profiled and stopped by police for minor infractions. according to mrs. casillas, when parents do bring in their children the clinic, they often report taking routes that avoid busy intersections preferring to travel by side streets. these alternate routes often add significant time to their commute to the clinics. as mentioned before, the clinic is adjacent to a local supermarket, association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 56 views from inside a pediatric clinic which caters to latino communities and was recently subject to two immigration raids. regardless of families’ mode of transportation, visits to the medical clinic significantly dropped in weeks immediately following the raids as parents sought to avoid the area. mr. basulto, who became a naturalized u.s. citizen in 2000, shared this story: i can understand why parents want to avoid any unnecessary trips. right after sb1070 passed, i started changing out of my work clothes and into my sunday clothes before driving home from the clinic. i cannot avoid major streets going home and i drive a beat-up car. i was scared to get pulled over just because i’m mexican. i started carrying around my u.s. passport all the time – just in case. mrs. casillas shared this story about one of the female custodians, who has legal documentation to be in the united states, at the office building: cindy changed her whole schedule to avoid times when there is lots of traffic getting to and from the clinic. she has two small children at home. she had printed out all these maps and figured out how to avoid any major streets. of course, this added at least 30 minutes to her commute. she shared that she knew several other people who were doing the same thing to avoid running into any police officers or other law enforcement agents. i’m sure some of the parents who come to the clinic are also figuring out the safest routes. we all know what major streets to avoid. ms. lopez communicated the story of a parent who was more than ninety minutes late for an appointment because instead of driving her car to the appointment, she rode the bus due to fear of being racially profiled and stopped in her car. ms. lopez commented that “she was pretty shaken up when she arrived with her two-year old and three other older children.” within the theme of fear, the second subtheme identified was that of fear preventing patients from applying for the arizona health care cost containment system (ahcccs), the state children’s health insurance program (s-chip), or other government support available for children who are us citizens. this was mentioned by three of the five participants –dr. suarez, dr. ruben, and mrs. casillas. all three shared stories in which parents reported not feeling safe applying for ahcccs or in one case, food stamps, because parents worried that they would be required to show some documentation of their legal status. dr. suarez stated, “no matter how many times i reassure them that they have nothing to fear, some parents refuse to believe that it will be okay.” dr. ruben also commented how some parents have offered to pay cash for services instead of applying for help for fear of having to provide information as simple as their address. according to dr. ruben, “one parent says that his apartment building is known to have lots of undocumented families” and that is why that parent did not want to provide his address. mrs. casillas reported that she daily explained to families that as long as the child or children were born within the u.s., they could apply for ahcccs. parents’ immigration status was not relevant for the children to access government services. in addition to medical services, pediatrics plus was actively involved in bringing educational opportunities to the community by offering saturday literacy classes for parents and their children and providing parents with opportunities to learn ways in which they can better support their children’s academics. similarly, there were monthly support group meetings, one for families of children with developmental delays and one for families of children with down syndrome. however, the number of parents who participated in saturday morning classes significantly dropped as well. dr. ruben reported that many of the parents remarked that they were unsure about how long they would remain living in arizona due to the negative political climate; consequently, they did not want to commit to participating in a class or educational group. the literacy classes and support groups were running with very low numbers of participants at the completion of this study. currently, the classes and support groups are completely closed due to lack of family participation. the third major theme, was that of tension in the community. specifically, participants discussed the growing divide between mexicans who have emigrated from mexico and those who identify themselves as mexican but were born in the united states. several of the parents, according to mrs. casillas, reported being harassed by u.s.-born latinos while in the clinic waiting room. returning to the issues of applying for ahcccs, association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 57 views from inside a pediatric clinic mrs. casillas retold the story of a parent who commented that she was afraid to go back and talk to someone about ahccs coverage for her toddler because the last time she was there and needed a translator, “the mexican-american translator was ruder to her than the white women – like the translator wanted to prove she was better than her.” in response to incidents like this, mrs. casillas stated that they have held two staff development sessions to discuss the importance of treating all parents who come to the clinic with respect and stepping in when tensions may arise in the waiting room. dr. ruben reported that he wants immigrant families to feel welcome and as such, has launched a series of local advertisements sharing his own story as an immigrant to the united states. he expressed concern that if immigrant families do not feel welcome in clinics like pediatrics plus, they will not attend regularly to their children’s medical needs. the second subtheme to emerge under the major theme of community tension was family’s sense of mistrust of government agencies or officials. several examples of this have already been shared as they pertained to other themes and subthemes (see above). all five participants shared the existence of a general sense of mistrust that extends past immigration and customs enforcement (ice) to law enforcement and even to schools. ms. lopez stated, “i hear a lot of parents in the waiting room saying [to other parents] not to share any information such as who they live with or where they were born if anyone in the [school] office asks.” some parents even reported an unwillingness to tell school officials that they speak spanish at home with their children. she added, “i wonder what that is teaching the kids about who it is safe to trust.” families’ reticence to share may also prevent educational professionals from providing children with supports necessary for academic success. discussion the interview themes can be examined through the lens of bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (1979) as well as vygotsky’s (1962) understanding of how historical and cultural contexts influence a child’s development. as young latino learners in arizona, parents’ and other family members’ fears and worries regarding safety as well as their access to medical care and educational enrichment will likely impact their overall development. impacts may include their challenges to their identity development as learners as they interact with various members of their school communities. applying bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (1979), brendtro (2006) discussed the importance of circles of influence (i.e. microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem) and emphasized that healthy ecologies help young learners have a sense of balance in their lives whereas high risk ecologies create stress and tension in learners’ lives. fear and tension in the community (identified as themes within the data of the current study) appear to negatively impact young latino learners’ ecologies. all of the participants in the current study noted that the number of children being seen at the clinic had dropped significantly. one possible explanation is that the children are simply going to other clinics. to further explore this possibility in a follow up discussion with the participants, they were asked whether this was the case. unfortunately, the four participants who work directly in the pediatrics plus office stated that children’s immunization were sometimes incomplete and that during informal conversations, some parents stated that they only came to the office when absolutely necessary because it entails taking risks and potentially exposing themselves to being “picked up.” thus, a worrisome consequence of arizona’s immigration policies appears to be that some children are missing important developmental check-ups and immunizations; some parents may not be taking their children to see a physician until the child is seriously ill. as woods & weatherby (2003) stated of children with autism, regular screenings are vital to identifying issues that will impact early learning. if parents are not keeping doctor appointments, young latino learners may be more likely to have health and developmental issues overlooked at a time when it may critically impact their learning. because parents also expressed fear that prevented them from applying for state assistance (e.g., medical insurance coverage), again, young latino learners may be missing medical screenings that can identify issues which can negatively affect their learning in the early stages of their lives. these same issues could be addressed early resulting in more positive health and developmental outcomes for individual children and association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 58 views from inside a pediatric clinic potentially others in the community. in addition to missed physician appointments, literacy classes and support group participation rates at pediatrics plus appeared to be negatively impacted by immigration policies, also pointing to missed opportunities to provide young latino learners with support that can positively impact their current and future learning. even prior to sb1070, latino families typically were less likely than whites to enroll their young children in enrichment activities (capizzano, adams, & ost, 2006), though community partners like pediatrics plus were trying to offer such services. given this limited exposure to enrichment activities in many latino families, the decline in participation in the literacy classes at pediatrics plus is especially regrettable. conversations about when it is safe to travel to and from the pediatrics plus clinic and the comments about how parents seem to always be looking over their shoulder also likely impacts young learners’ health, development, and educational trajectories. because transportation is often cited by latino parents as a major deterrent to preschool enrollment (nevarez & rico, 2007), fear of being exposed to law enforcement agencies on the road may be impacting preschool attendance as well. as santos, menjivar and godfrey (2013) noted, youth seem to have a distrust of law enforcement agencies and it may be that this distrust is developing in younger children as they witness their parents’ fear of those agencies. in addition, the law enforcement agencies comprise young learners’ exosystem (bronfenbrenner 1979), which also includes neighborhood and mass media. the various immigration roundups and the media coverage of those roundups impact young learners’ ecologies (e.g., fostering a negative perspective of latinos regardless of age). to what extent these policies impact young learners and how aware they are of the media coverage and effect on the community merits further investigation. the theme of tension in the community also appears to impact each system within young learners’ ecology. the tensions between mexicans born in mexico and those born in the u.s. surely affects many families as these two groups frequently come in contact within neighborhoods, schools, and other contexts. once young learners enter the u.s. education system, they will meet classmates who are u.s.-born as well as those who are immigrants. the impact of one group seeing the other as inferior may have consequences that cause divisions among school populations. the messages young latino children may be getting at home or through the media about tensions between the two groups may influence their own sense of identity as well as the relationship between themselves and their peers. conclusion examining the impact that arizona’s political climate including immigration policies are having on its youngest latino learners is important. we have a large number of latinos under the age of five who, as a part of the upcoming generation, will significantly influence all aspects of life in arizona. certainly, immediate consequences of the political climate will be on our pre-k-16 educational system and community health. in this study, we examined the perspectives of five adults working in an arizona pediatric clinic. the small number of participants and their employment within a single clinic presents limitations to the study. however, this does not diminish the importance of fear and tension discussed throughout the interviews. the health of our youngest learners as well as their access and ability to attend extended learning opportunities provided by community partners such as pediatrics plus, is being impacted by arizona immigration policies. furthermore, the divide between u.s.-born latinos and foreign-born latinos also potentially impacts young children’s sense of identity and warrants further investigation. using bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (1979), we can see how policies at the state level can directly negatively impact a child’s life in perhaps unintended ways. beyond issues of racial profiling, immigration, and discrimination, child and family health and well-being are not restricted to a single latino family. the political climate impacts the entire metropolitan phoenix and arizona community (regardless of race/ethnicity) in which all children and families are linked, for example in a system of community health and education. by comprehensively examining the health and enrichment opportunities of arizona’s youngest learners and the consequences of recent state-level policies, we can work with other stakeholders to improve their opportunities for healthier minds and bodies, for academic success, and for a brighter future for arizona’s youngest latino learners. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 59 views from inside a pediatric clinic references ammar, n. h., orloff, l. e., dutton, m. a., & aguilar-hass, g. (2005). calls to police and police response: a case study of latina immigrant women in the usa. international journal of police science & management, 7(4), 230-244. arizona’s school readiness action plan: the ahcccs report card on children’s preventive health initiatives (2005). retrieved from http://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/cdm/ref/collection/statepubs/ id/259 armstrong, e. p. (2007). economic benefits and costs associated with target vaccinations. journal of managed care pharmacy, 13, s12-15. aud, s., hussar, w., kena, g., bianco, k., frohlich, l., kemp, j., & tahan, k. (2011). the condition of education 2011. nces 2011-033. national center for education statistics. beltran, e. (2010). responding to the needs of young latino children: state efforts to build comprehensive early learning systems. national council of la raza. retrieved from http://www.nclr.org/images/uploads/publications/ respondingtoneedsoflatinochildren.pdf brendtro, l. (2006). the vision of urie bronfenbrenner: adults who are crazy about kids. reclaiming children and youth, 15(3), 162-166. bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development: experiments by nature and design. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. capizzano, j., adams, g., & ost, j. (2006). caring for children of color: the child care patterns of white, black, and hispanic children under the age of five. washington, dc: urban institute. calderón, m. (2007) buenos principios: latino children in the earliest years of life. national council of la raza. retrieved from http://www.nclr.org/content/publications/detail/45609/ carmen, d. w., proctor, b. d., & smith, j. c. (2008). current population reports, p60-235, income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the united states: 2007. washington, dc: us census bureau. denavas-walt, c., proctor, b. d., & smith, j. (2007). income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the united states: 2007. current population reports, 60–229. washington, dc: u.s. census bureau. flores, g., abreu, m., & tomany-korman, s. c. (2006). why are latinos the most uninsured racial/ethnic group of u.s. children? a community-based study of risk factors for and consequences of being an uninsured latino child. pediatrics, 118(2), 730-740. garcia, e., ozturk, m. d., & wood, j. l. (2009). the critical condition of latino education in arizona. in state of arizona: a report presented by the arizona latino research enterprise, arizona state university, department of transborder chicana/o and latina/o studies, and arizona state university office of public affairs. tempe, az: arizona board of regents. garcia-perez, h., & szkupinski quiroga, s. (2010). toward a healthy latino population in arizona. state of latino arizona report, 64-74. tempe, az: arizona state university. guralnick, m. (2004). family investments in response to developmental challenges of young children with disabilities. in a. kalil & t. deleire (eds.), family investments in children’s potential (pp. 119-137). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. haste, h. (1993). the sexual metaphor. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. hernandez, d. (2005). nclr latino birth-to-three project, from u.s. census bureau population projections for 2000 – 2050. washington, dc: u.s. census bureau. lee, v., & burkham, d. (2002). inequality at the starting gate: social background differences in achievement as children begin kindergarten. washington, dc: economic policy institute. llagas, c., & snyder, t. (2003). status and trends in the education of hispanics. washington, dc: national center for education statistics, u.s. department of education. luna, p. (2009). each of us has a role. state of latino arizona report, 41. phoenix, az: arizona state university center for community development and civil rights. retrieved from http://www.asu.edu/vppa/asuforaz/downloads/ state_of_latino_arizona_report.pdf mcconnell, e. d., & skeen, a. (2009). contemporary characteristics of a dynamic population. state of latino arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 60 views from inside a pediatric clinic report, 23-31. phoenix, az: arizona state university center for community development and civil rights. retrieved from http://www.asu.edu/vppa/asuforaz/downloads/state_of_latino_arizona_report.pdf morse, a. (2003). language access: helping non-english speakers navigate health and human services. washington, dc: national conference of state legislatures children’s policy initiative. national task force on early childhood education for hispanics. (2007). para nuestros niños: expanding and improving early education for hispanics. retrieved from http://www.ecehispanic.org. nccp (national center for children in poverty). (2007). 50-state data: income status of children under age 6, by race. new york, ny: national center for children in poverty. nevarez, c., & rico, t. (2007). latino education: a synthesis of recurring recommendations and solutions in p-16 education. new york, ny: college board. pianta, r. c. (2007). preschool is school, sometimes. education next, 7(1), 44-49. pizur-barnekow, k., erickson, s., johnston, m., bass, t., lucinski, l., & bleuel, d. (2010). early identification of developmental delays through surveillance, screening and diagnostic evaluation. infants and young children, 23, 323-329. romero, m. (2006). racial profiling and immigration law enforcement: rounding up of usual suspects in the latino community. critical sociology, 32(2-3), 447-473. rogoff, b. (1990). apprenticeship in thinking: cognitive development in a social context. new york, ny: oxford university press. rouse, c., brooks-gunnm, j., & mclanahan, s. (2005). school readiness: closing racial and ethnic gaps. the future of children, 15(1), 5-14. santos, c., menjivar, c., & godfrey, e. (2013). effects of sb1070 on children. in l. magana & e. lee (eds.), latino politics and arizona’s immigration law sb1070 (pp. 79-92). new york, ny: springer. shonkoff, j. p., & phillips, d. a. (2000). from neurons to neighborhoods: the science of early childhood development. washington, dc: national academy press. vazquez, y. (2011). perpetuating the marginalization of latinos: a collateral consequence of the incorporation of immigration law into criminal justice system, howard law journal, 54(3), 639. vygotsky, l. (1962). thought and language (e. hanfman & g. bakar, eds. and trans.). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. winter, s. m., zurcher, r., hernandez, a., & yin, z. (2007). the early on school readiness project: a preliminary report. journal of research in childhood education, 22(1), 55-68. woods, j. j., & weatherby, a. m. (2003). early identification of and intervention for infants and toddlers who are a risk for autism spectrum disorder. language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 34, 180-193. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 13 a chican@ pathways model of acción: affirming the racial, cultural and academic assets of students, families and communities enrique alemán, jr. dolores delgado bernal eden cortez university of utah abstract this article presents our conceptualization, initial creation and implementation of a university-school-community partnership, the westside pathways project. we introduce our work in developing and sustaining this k-16 educational pathways partnership as one way of broadening the affirmative action discussion. by describing a model of acción that addresses college access starting at the earliest educational stage in which students and families interact with public institutions of education, we pivot from traditional notions of affirmative action research. in delineating our partnership, we argue for affirming chicana/o students culturally and academically while simultaneously taking action to create awareness of and access to higher education across educational settings, with students of varying ages, together with families and community members. introduction throughout south texas and south central texas, mexican origin women helped establish and operate private escuelitas to offer tejano children the opportunity to study academic subjects and to maintain their culture and language…teachers could set up an escuelita in a room in their homes. they used simple equipment and supplies, making do with what they could obtain…escuelita teachers used a bilingual-bicultural curriculum in language, social studies, science, mathematics, geography and physical education. they also offered classes in music and drama...while the escuelitas educated a number of tejanos who entered the professions, they likewise provided the children of the poor the opportunity to learn…[one student] recalled that she learned almost nothing at the ranch school, where the students were predominantly anglo and classes were conducted in english. in addition, anglo students regularly harassed the mexican students…in contrast, she recalled with relish her success during her brief attendance at the escuelita in crystal city, where her family moved when they left loma vista. there, in the company of other mexican children and under the tutelage of a mexican teacher, she learned to read and write sufficient spanish to serve her throughout her adulthood. (acosta & winegarten, 2003, pp. 152-155) the first of the escuelitas opened in 1897 in hebbronville, texas, and represented parents’ dedication to struggling against the inequitable opportunities their children faced in public, rural schools (acosta & winegarten, 2003). these parents, both mexican and mexican american, possessed a deep understanding of the racist schooling their children would experience. seeking to counter the lack of access to equal opportunity and knowing that a caring teacher with high expectations and a culturally additive perspective could best prepare students, the escuelita movement in texas served thousands of children in the early to mid-20th century (salinas, 2000). lessons were taught in spanish and included mexican history. teachers very often were strict, but they cared about their pupils and understood their families (acosta & winegarten, 2003; montejano, 1987; san miguel & valencia, 1998). this early chicana/o history informs our conceptualization and the initial creation of the universityschool-community partnership, the westside pathways project, that we co-direct. guided by our desire to a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 14 counter the ways in which many children have been made to feel less than in k-12 schools, we are ever cognizant of the pervasive inequitable schooling conditions that educational systems produce for students of color and chicana/o students specifically. while escuelitas sought to affirm mexican american students for who they were and where they came from, they were not necessarily designed to create an avenue toward universities and colleges. the westside pathways project is a contemporary example and an educational progeny of the escuelita movement, but with an explicit goal of creating educational pathways to higher education. it is a response to the historical neglect (delgado bernal, 1999; san miguel & valencia, 1998) and current state of educational inequity for chicanas/os. drop out rates for chicana/os – or as we call them “push-out” rates – are among the highest of all student groups (gándara & contreras, 2009; rumberger & rodríguez, 2002). while parents and families continue to be viewed as deficient and uncaring by those who make policy, implement programs, and lead classrooms (garcia & guerra, 2004), the spanish language, as has been historically (san miguel, 2004), remains characterized as a detriment to student success (solórzano & yosso, 2001; trujillo, 2005). access to colleges and universities remains challenging for the large majority of chicana/o students (lópez & moreno, 2014; solórzano, villalpando, & oseguera, 2005). in fact, the school to prison pipeline, particularly for chicana/ os, is more solidified than the school to college pipeline (valles & villalpando, 2013). scholars like solórzano and yosso (2001) have demonstrated how these leaks in the school to college educational pipeline begin at the earliest educational stages and are systemic and pervasive at all levels. it is with these understandings that we enter the discussion about and around affirmative action in higher education, especially as the conversation relates to chicana/o students, families, and communities. the debate consistently incites conflict and tension among practitioners and policy makers, while garnering a significant amount of rigorous research and commanding the attention of the courts. we understand that policymakers continue to legislate and appropriate funds that neglect equity across k-12 systems (alemán, 2007; darling-hammond, 2007), and while often these same policymakers and educational leaders influence decisions and propose policy changes on affirmative action, the fastest growing and youngest of the student groups remains underserved both in public k-12 and higher educational contexts (gándara & contreras, 2009). rather than center our article on the judicial aspects or institutional policies that often surround affirmative action scholarship, we instead introduce our work in developing and sustaining a k-16 educational pathways partnership as one way of broadening the affirmative action discussion. by describing a model of acción that addresses college access starting at the earliest educational stage in which students and families interact with public institutions of education, we pivot from traditional notions of affirmative action research. in delineating our westside pathways project, we argue to affirm chicana/o students culturally and academically – as was endeavored by teachers and parents of the escuelita movement – while simultaneously taking action to create awareness of and access to higher education across educational settings, with students of varying ages, together with families and community members. in the section that follows, we first outline our rationale for inserting a k-16, community-based model into the affirmative action debate. next, we situate the development of our acción model in sociopolitical context that includes fiercely anti-immigrant and anti-latina/o forces in one of the most conservative states in the u.s. then, we describe our foundational principles and outline the three partnership programs that form the westside pathways project. we highlight strategies for creating a culture of higher educational awareness and expectation and propose our westside pathways project as one model of acción that works across k-12 and higher educational institutions from within and among communities and families of color. finally, by sharing two examples of affirmation and action that resulted from our partnership work, we conclude by illustrating how any future affirmative action literature and discussion would benefit from including the voices and experiences of students, families and historically underrepresented communities along the educational pathways. our premise for models of acción: racial realism in k-16 pathways in the spring of 1961, president john f. kennedy first put forth the term “affirmative action” with his issuing of executive order 10925. meant to address the continuing inequalities that existed in employment and housing practices, his administration actively sought to provide redress for the centuries of discriminatory acts a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 15 directed against people of color and women in the u.s. in his issuing of the emancipation proclamation almost one hundred years earlier in january 1863, president abraham lincoln also leveraged the weight of the federal government behind the “freeing of the slaves,” and in a sense began to re-frame the debate on human rights, the morality of holding persons in bondage, by re-centering foundational tenets of the u.s. constitution2. almost a half-century after the issuance of president kennedy’s executive order, abigail noel fisher, a white female and recent texas high school graduate, was denied admission to the state flagship university, the university of texas at austin (ut-austin). challenging the university’s narrowly written affirmative action policy, she sued utaustin for violating her rights under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. characterizing the university’s affirmative action policy as one that gave unfair preference to – as she and her lawyer’s claimed – underachieving students of color over high-achieving white students like herself, they argued that the university’s race-conscious admissions process gave preference to racial minorities while specifically discriminating against whites. although race continued to be a factor in the university’s calculation of admissions index scores, it was not the primary, sole, or overriding factor used in determining admission. stated plainly, the university did not assign a specific numeric value based on an applicant’s race during review of applications. abigail fisher was not disadvantaged for being white, she was denied because all the factors considered for admission were evaluated and her academic record did not meet the necessary cutoff score. kennedy’s executive order, lincoln’s proclamation, and fisher’s suit are instructive in that they help us to historicize the ongoing struggle to provide equal rights and equal access for persons in the u.s. the legal decisions made and policies implemented because of their actions are innately political. a struggle to live up to lincoln and kennedy’s calls for equality and for ending discrimination continues today. we specifically mention fisher because its ruling, although settled in the courts, has not ceased to impact and influence development and implementation of institutional affirmative action policies across the country. similar to what president kennedy first called for in seeking to “affirm” and “act” on behalf of persons of color who “have often been unjustly denied the opportunity to work for the government or for government contractors,” we have developed westside pathways project to create spaces where students and families can be affirmed as people and have the opportunities to act against their disempowered positions. while we stand with scholars of affirmative action who continue to argue for creating equal opportunities and with those who struggle to make equal educational opportunity more of a reality, we also argue here that our thinking and praxis on creating more effective affirmative action must be broader than what the conventional thinking on this issue has been. calling for the inclusion of student, parent/family, and community voices as a way of supplementing how affirmative action is often thought and talked about, we call for an approach that centers chicana/o schooling histories, affirms chicana/o educational realities, and cultivates spaces for action where chicanas/os are positioned to advocate and struggle against their neglected educational predicament. an expansion of this dialogue and inclusion of chicana/o students, parents, and community perspectives and voices along the k-16 pathway is necessary because we understand that public schools are not necessarily “broken” as some in legislative and media circles might characterize them (paul, 2013; sinquefield, 2013). rather, we argue that systems of education are actually structured to disadvantage students and communities of color. as several chicana/o educational scholars have comprehensively documented, these histories of racism and oppression (blanton, 2004; delgado bernal, 1999; donato, 1997; san miguel, 2004; valencia, 2005) have been foundational to the ways public schools have operated. because public schools – where the majority of chicana/o students continue to be educated – remain inequitably funded (alemán, 2007; carey, 2004), provide little access to advanced coursework (ford, harris, tyson, & trotman, 2002; solórzano & ornelas, 2004), and shortchange chicana/o students’ rights to quality, caring, and rigorous teachers (nieto, 2003), having a discussion of effective affirmative action programs or policies without basing the discussion on chicana/o k-12 experiences does not serve the debate well. our second premise for creating more opportunities for student, parent, and community perspectives in the affirmative action debate is that we also believe that any model of action must begin by incorporating students and their families at the earliest possible educational stage. in utah – as is the case for many states in 2. we understand that the actions of these presidents and their administrations were not motivated solely by a pursuit of equity and social justice. the interest convergence (bell, 1995) that led to these actions is beyond the scope of this article. a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 16 the union – disadvantaging of youth of color, lowering expectations and denying educational opportunity begins very early in their educational pathway (see alemán, 2009; alemán & rorrer, 2006; perlich, 2008). coupled with a lack of rigorous academic programming, discipline policies exacerbate negative schooling experiences for utah students of color. as chiang’s (2014) recent school-to-prison pipeline report demonstrates, the priming of young children for the criminal justice system has tragic effects on the so-called drop-out rates of chicanas/os and other students of color. these practices begin with very young students and continue along the educational pathway. deficit thinking and practices unfortunately continue to hinder the inculcation of higher educational aspirations so that rather than prepping students for higher education, they are being prepped for the criminal justice system (garcia & guerra, 2004; solórzano & yosso, 2001). an acción model has to start at the earliest point in which students and families interact with institutions of education. beginning this work with students in middle or high school is too late. finally, we contend that any affirmative action model must cultivate “action” by and with parents and communities. the literature on “parent involvement” is voluminous (epstein, 2007; sanders, 2008), and we too believe in the important roles that parents can and do play in supporting the educational success of their children. but what about students who do not come from so-called traditional family units? what of those parents and families who must contend with immigration status, with school personnel who do not have the language capacities to work with persons who speak languages other than english, or with single-parent or same-sex family structures? our belief and the strategies that we utilize include affirming all family structures. affirmative action is necessary but cannot work without a relevant model of acción that includes students, families and communities of color. working with students only is not enough (lópez, scribner, & mahitivanichcha, 2001; olivos, 2007), just as working in an english-only environment is not enough. (fránquiz & salinas, 2013). a majoritarian context: xenophobia and the pipeline to prison in the new west the office of civil rights education data (crdc) reports 20,153 disciplinary actions in utah schools in 2011. based on the total student population, we found that american indian, black, and hispanic students all faced discipline at disproportionately higher rates. american indians were disciplined three and a half times more often than expected, black students were disciplined three times more often than expected, and hispanic students were disciplined one and a half times more often than expected. (chiang, 2014, p. 10) tragic as it may be, it unfortunately comes as no surprise for those of us working in the utah public schools that the “school-to-prison pipeline in utah starts with children in elementary school, ranging in age from five to twelve years old” (chiang, 2014, p. 6). with disproportionate rates of punishment – including in-school suspensions and expulsions – students of color face consistent surveillance and inequitable disciplinary action, even while in elementary school. the political landscape, long known for mirroring the conservative values of the predominant faith, the church of jesus christ of latter day saints (otherwise known as the mormon church), is one that ironically promotes family and children on one hand, but passes anti-immigrant and antilatina/o legislation3 and largely ignores the multiple educational achievement gaps that negatively impact utah latina/o students (alemán & rorrer, 2006). the drop-out rates in utah, like in other states, has been masked by ineffective data collection and an ever-changing formula for calculating those that are pushed out of the public school system. chiang’s (2014) policy report found what many community leaders know from their advocacy with communities of color, that in utah “over half of students learning english as a second language (52%) dropped out…[and that] nearly 70% of those incarcerated in state prisons did not complete high school” (p. 10). latina/os make up 12% of the total state population and 14.4% of k-12 student population, however the state of utah continues to fail to provide equal educational access and opportunities for students of color, and latina/o and chicana/o students in particular (alemán & rorrer, 2006; sanderson, 2005). in the urban district in which our pathways partnerships are located, 40% of the total student enrollment 3. utah’s illegal immigration enforcement act (hb 497) is a far-reaching enforcement-only bill that copied several provisions virtually outright from arizona’s controversial sb 1070. while utah’s law is not quite as extreme or draconian, the core provisions remain in tact and have the same goal of driving latinas/os from the state. a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 17 is latina/o. it is one of the largest and most diverse districts in the state and provides a window into what the future of utah school districts will encompass. exhibiting segregation along geographic lines, eastside schools in the district are disproportionately white and have the largest numbers of students categorized as high socioeconomic status. westside schools, on the other hand, are mostly made up of students of color and families are disproportionately classified as low socioeconomic status. in regards to access to rigorous and specialized academic programming, magnet programs and those developed as college preparatory programs are mostly located in eastside schools. the only program not located in an eastside school – the district’s high school international baccalaureate (ib) program – is located in a school that is 60% students of color and 42% latina/o. despite being located in this school, within school segregation is evident in that 73% of students in the ib program are identified as white and only 8% are latina/o. with this racial segregation and inaccessibility to specialized, enrichment, or college preparatory curriculum as a backdrop, it was clear that some form of affirmative action to address the existing racial inequalities was needed. we specifically sought to engage in community-based acción in westside neighborhoods. the neighborhoods and its students have for generations been denied opportunities afforded by the state’s flagship higher educational institution. our goal was to work with these communities in neighborhoods and communities often portrayed as overrun by gangs, where students are thought to come from families that pass on their socalled cultural disadvantages. unlike this perception, we see a community with untapped knowledges and families with cultural assets not always valued and/or utilized by traditional manners of schooling. because research supports the idea that if students have good academic preparation and are well grounded culturally they can succeed wherever they go in higher education (mclaughlin & blank, 2004; solórzano et al., 2005; yosso, 2005), a conscious choice was made to form our partnerships with schools and with students from these communities. although the students we work with are predominantly latina/o and chicana/o, we also work with students from various communities of color and those classified as first-generation college students. westside pathways project: our model for k-16 acción in the ten years since founding adelante, our first university-community partnership, and with our most recent organization and formation of the westside pathways project, we have attempted to remain steadfast to foundational principles that value reciprocal, community-engaged scholarship (guajardo, guajardo, & del carmen casaperalta, 2008); culturally relevant and assets-based reform and practice (solórzano & yosso, 2001); parents and students as holders and creators of knowledge (delgado bernal, 2002); and, academic enrichment and racial identity formation activities for youth (flores & benmayor, 1997; pizarro, 2005; romero, arce, & cammarota, 2009). although we have remained keenly aware that the systems and institutions in which we work are foundationally racist (bell, 1995), our intent in working within them long-term has been strategic, political and pragmatic. by linking our three partnerships to form the westside pathways project we have sought to create transformative educational spaces – or as duncan-andrade (2009) refers to them, those “cracks in the concrete” that when nurtured allow “roses to grow” – that would affirm students’ racial, cultural and academic identities while fostering possibilities for action and transformation. the westside pathways project, therefore, is organized around increasing college awareness and access and the fostering of educational leadership and academic enrichment, but centrally it is meant to affirm the racial and cultural identities that the youth and families with whom we work carry within them, as a means of developing their educational, social, and political tools. a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 18 figure 1: overview of the westside pathways project the westside pathways project came into existence in fall 2013, when drs. delgado bernal and alemán merged, expanded upon, and directly linked up three college-access, university-community partnerships with which they had been working to develop independently. the merging of these partnerships involved parents, teachers, educational leaders, community members, university partners, undergraduate student mentors, and nearly 50 graduate students, mostly students of color from the college of education, who have served as graduate research assistants or volunteers with adelante, alas or maa partnerships over the last ten years. what follows is our description of the three partnerships, each in different stages of development, along with brief discussions of the overarching goals that link them all under the umbrella of the westside pathways project. adelante partnership: the elementary school model adelante, founded in 2005, is a k-6 model premised on the belief that all young people, including students of color and students from lower-socioeconomic families should be expected and prepared to enroll and succeed in college, and that college preparation must emphasize students’ intellectual development in relation to community, culture and pedagogies of the home (flores carmona & delgado bernal, 2012). adelante provides higher educational experiences to elementary school students and fosters a college going culture in the school. by providing university visits, science camps, and college students of color mentors who work in the classrooms, students at this elementary school are exposed to hands-on enrichment activities, but also get university role models throughout their time in elementary school. the most developed and longest standing of the three partnerships, adelante’s programmatic activities also include support for teachers and parents. over the years parents have participated and initiated activities ranging from group dialogues with teachers and “dia de los niños” celebrations to managing a community garden and having bi-monthly meetings to talk about school and community issues (alemán, perez, & oliva, 2013). their activism and leadership was particularly visible when they wrote a letter to the university president in support of adelante after threats to its stability were made by a former principal.4 4. this event is discussed below and is used as an example of affirming parent perspectives and providing spaces for action to occur in a public school setting. a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 19 there is a need for establishing culturally relevant partnerships in urban settings that will help in the development of academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical/sociopolitical consciousness (ladsonbillings, 1995). to address this need and to support teachers in this area, adelante has reinforced teacher efforts by providing professional developments related to culturally relevant pedagogy and teacher assumptions and expectations of their students. in one professional development, we shared some of our preliminary findings about the school culture and teacher perceptions--some of which were very deficit oriented-from a survey teachers completed. during the professional development, teachers spent time watching video narratives of the educational journeys of college students of color. these narratives pointed to the challenges in their journey including being placed in lower-track courses and teachers who held low expectations of them. teachers spent time reflecting on these narratives and did some collaborative thinking and talking about what it means that some teachers believe a college-going culture is too lofty of a goal for adelante. though it was a difficult discussion, it was certainly a small step in the right direction toward developing teacher leaders and a more culturally relevant partnership. delgado bernal and alemán’s research finds that after ten years of partnership work, the elementary school, its faculty, parents and students, is one that now promotes a college-going culture and creates awareness. their research also points to how the original cohort of kindergarteners, who are now ninth graders at the local high school, articulate their desire to go to college, what they need to do to get there, and their concerns about how to pay for college (delgado bernal, alemán, & flores carmona, 2008; delgado bernal, alemán, & garavito, 2009; alemán, delgado bernal, & mendoza, 2013). activists, leaders & scholars (alas) partnership: the middle school model alas has been in development since fall of 2012 when the first of the elementary school student cohorts who participated in the adelante partnership began to attend middle school. most of these students attended one middle school so we strategically began to build a relationship with this school’s principal and faculty. this partnership seeks to maintain contact with students as they transition and progress through the middle school years. similar to adelante, programming includes mentoring from undergraduate students of color and university visits throughout the academic year, however, we have also begun to develop programming that includes college access workshops and youth-based research projects that explore cultural, ethnic and racial identities. in summer 2014, alas piloted the first overnight university camp where students transitioning to high school were provided the opportunity to consider college options, stay in college dorms, and attend a college class. the alas middle school students (as well as the elementary school students in adelante and high school students in maa) regularly interact with university students of color as mentors and role models at their school or in the community. since alas’ inception, 75 college students have served as mentors at the middle school and some have served for consecutive years. in 2007-2008, we began to partner with two campus entities (ethnic studies program and center for ethnic student affairs) to develop and institutionalize an ethnic studies service-learning course that serves as a cohort class for the diversity scholars program, a first-year program serving first-generation college students and students of color (delgado bernal et al., 2009). each year between 90 and 120 freshmen students of color participate in the scholars program and by extension serve as mentors in adelante, alas, or maa and receive service-learning credit. teachers consistently cited the significance of the undergraduate mentors of color as influencing the school culture. these undergraduate students of color embody the goals of westside pathways project, and their physical presence in classrooms signified college awareness for the teachers and the younger students. while the daily presence of college students of color has contributed to a college going culture, our research also demonstrates that the retention rates of the mostly first-generation college students has been positively associated with their mentoring experience (delgado bernal, alemán, & garavito, 2009). alas is clearly our least developed partnership, as we have not had as long a relationship with the middle school’s faculty and school leadership. currently, we are building trust with the school’s new principal and assistant principals, the second school administrative team since 2012. three other elementary schools feed into this school and we are challenged with issues related to funding coordinators, sustaining relationships a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 20 with the student cohorts, and working with new families that, although are very similar demographically, have not had the chance to work with us. what has remained consistent is our commitment to creating spaces for transformation, where students and their families are affirmed for who they are and encouraged to act upon the access to higher education expectations that we can help facilitate. mestizo arts & activism (maa) youth collective: the high school/youth model maa, founded in 2007 by university professors who specialize in youth studies, urban education and participatory action research methodologies (cahill, 2010; cahill, quijada cerecer, & bradley, 2010), is a youth of color collective that exposes high school students to participatory action research, civic engagement, and college readiness. maa youth are predominately chicana/o latina/o students who attend local high schools and live in westside neighborhoods. the collective meets after school twice a week at a community-based art gallery. programming engages youth in participatory action research with their college student mentors and partnership staff and allies. maa’s emphasis on academic enrichment and college readiness is achieved through “research and personal experiences as a way of promoting social justice and of making youth voices heard.”5 because youth are addressing sociopolitical issues in their communities and personal lives, the curriculum includes the use of media, spoken word, and dialogue to introduce students to a range of ideas that can be helpful in understanding their own racialized, gendered, or classed experiences. for example, listening to and interacting with awardwinning poet joaquin zihuatanejo talk about his love for the spanish language, all that he learned from his grandfather, or the ‘isms he experienced growing up, allows youth to critically think about their individual and collective experiences as latina/o youth. maa youth take leadership positions in directing their research projects, conducting community needs assessments, co-facilitating group dialogues, and presenting their work to others. over the last seven years, they have produced a body of work that articulates concerns related to issues such as immigration, child abuse, educational inequities, legislative policies, and body image. they have distributed their community-based research via blogs, websites, videos, digital stories, and via community talks and about a dozen national and local conferences. simultaneously, within this community learning space, the students receive college access information including assistance with the college application and admissions processes, as well as information and support for those seeking scholarship/financial aid. most importantly, in terms of the educational pipeline, in the last four years approximately 90% of the seniors have applied to and attended college after graduating from high school. the majority of these students are first-generation college students, demonstrating that maa is contributing to a strong foundation for creating college access for underrepresented students. we completed our educational pathways k-12 link when we partnered with the maa collective in 2013. at the time, maa had undergone several transitions in faculty leadership. in the early years, the collective was guided by three professors, dr. david quijada, dr. caitlan cayhill, and dr. mathew bradley. however, after two of them accepted faculty positions at other universities, and dr. bradley lost his life in a tragic accident, the youth were left without any full-time faculty advisors/mentors. we6 had collaborated with maa faculty in the development of adelante and our community-based scholarship, and we had presented to maa youth researchers in the past so we had a deep familiarity with the youth leaders and the philosophy behind the work. because we were seeking to make further linkages to the k-16 pathways work we had been developing, our conversations with maa youth and other concerned faculty at the university led to our accepting an invitation to work with the youth into the future. maa remains solid programmatically, and the adelante students with whom we have worked with since 2005, now have access to youth research and leadership programming at the maa site. nonetheless, the last two years have been a time of organizational transition, trust building, and solidifying the goals and mission of the program. 5. see http://maacollective.org/about-us/maa-staff/ for the collective’s youth-authored mission statement and youth project examples. 6. delgado bernal and alemán were university faculty colleagues of drs. cahill (urban studies), quijada cerecer (education) and bradley (honors), and had participated with them as a part of community-engaged scholars collaborative sponsored by the university neighborhood partners at the university of utah. a chican@ pathways model of acción http://maacollective.org/about-us/maa-staff/ association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 21 affirming identities and fostering action for and with chicana/o students, families and communities each of our partnership sites commenced at different times and we continue to serve students of varying ages and grade levels. the challenges of implementing these programs remain – sustainability, logistics, funding, and the building of trust with educational leaders, each with fluctuating levels of commitment to social justice and transformation. as in the case of the escuelitas, the partnerships have caring mentors throughout and the programming validates the rich knowledges, cultures, histories, and personal experiences that the students, youth, and families bring with them to these spaces. students, youth, and families are not only situated to access information and the expectation of higher education, but they are fundamentally affirmed for who they are. spaces are facilitated so that action is sparked and transformation occurs via the acknowledgement, validation, and celebration of the cultural, racial and academic identities that students, youth and families have. in the following section, we highlight two examples of affirmation and action that were cultivated in these educational spaces. parents creating spaces of transformation when we first developed adelante and began working with kindergarteners and their parents, an educational leader told us, that latina/o parents at the school did not participate in their children’s education. she said, “i don’t know how many you will actually get involved. my hispanic parent involvement at this school is pretty low. they don’t value it. i can’t get anyone here on a family math night even though i offer to feed them.” fast forward a few years later, and parents (mostly immigrant spanish speaking mothers) gathered together in a series of community advocate workshops to discuss the needs of the community and formulate recommendations for improving the education of their children. following the workshops, parents stayed engaged in the school in a variety of ways including a parent group called, segunda taza de café. more recently, that group of parents transformed into padres en acción, a school-based advocacy group, which provides a forum for parents to advocate and support their children’s education. the account7 below describes their acción on behalf of their children when a number of issues related to a problematic discipline policy that had their children sitting on the hot pavement during recess and a possible cut to the spanish dual immersion program came to the forefront. we believe it demonstrates one of the ways in which parents, in particular, are creating spaces of transformation. it was the first time this group of mothers had decided to take a concern to the district office. there had been numerous meetings with the principal, but this time she had insulted them to the point that they felt they needed to speak to someone at the district office. on one occasion, an educational leader, mrs. diaz8, stated within earshot of a mother, “the mothers involved with the school’s parent group are a bunch of vigilantes. they’re just starting trouble in the school and not making my job any easier.” on this morning, parents had decided to take their concerns directly to a district leader who had direct supervision over the school. parents had made a list of talking points they wanted to discuss with the district, and as we waited in the school parking lot for everyone to show up they organized the caravan. delgado bernal, alemán, neri, the graduate student working with the parents, and one of the parents drove the group of 12 to the district office only a few miles a way, but what seemed a world apart from the school’s neighborhood. when we all exited the cars, the mothers led the way through the front door where a receptionist was sitting at a desk. the receptionist looked up from her computer when she realized that there was a group of people right in front of her. “how may i help you?” she asked with a surprised look on her face. “we are looking for mrs. jones,” replied one of the mothers. do you have an appointment?” asked the receptionist. “no, but we would still like to speak with mrs. jones.” the receptionist told us what floor and room mrs. 7. the account is written based primarily on the field notes of nereida oliva, a doctoral student studying latina parental leadership who has been involved with the partnership for nearly six years and has close relationships with many of the parents, and on the field notes of delgado bernal and alemán. 8. persons other than the authors and graduate students cited within these examples are pseudonyms. a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 22 jones was located. we all took the stairs up to the third floor. the office was located to the right of the stairway. delgado bernal and alemán were the first to walk into the small office. the administrative assistant immediately greeted the group and asked what he could do to help us. delgado bernal began to explain to the receptionist why we were there when mrs. jones, an older white woman who had been working for the district for almost thirty years, walked out of her office. “ms. jones. this group is here to talk you,” the receptionist said. ms. jones was taken aback to see such a large group of mothers in her office and very quickly stated that she was busy, and “i don’t have time to meet with anyone today. in fact, i have a meeting in a few minutes. you can’t just come in here and expect to meet with me.” neri translated for the mothers. “tell her that we are here to discuss serious issues and concerns,” one of the moms said to neri in spanish. neri communicated that to mrs. jones, but mrs. jones abruptly stated, “i understand, but you can’t just come in and expect to be able to talk to me. you need to schedule an appointment first.” delgado bernal and alemán told her they would like to schedule an appointment and she motioned them, but not the group of mothers, into her office. she proposed a meeting in two days, and delgado bernal stepped out of the office to confirm with the mothers waiting in the reception area with neri that the day and time worked for most of them. once the meeting was confirmed, mrs. jones stepped out of her office and walked past the group of mothers without saying anything to them. as she was leaving out the door, mrs. hanson, an african american district leader who has been an educator for 40 years, entered from a back hallway. she greeted all the mothers, and alemán briefly told her why they were there and that mrs. jones could not meet with the parents today. mrs. hanson quickly invited the parents to a very small conference room down the hall, apologizing that she didn’t have a larger space to meet at the moment. during an hour-long meeting, mrs. hanson listened, asked questions, and took notes as the parents expressed their concerns in spanish and explained why they had come to the district office on this day. neri translated for mrs. hanson. she made no promises and took no action, but she expressed concern and informed the parents that she would be present at the meeting in two days with mrs. jones. as we exited the small conference room the parents all thanked her and shook her hand goodbye. as we walked outside the building, the mothers started speaking in spanish and one of the mothers asked, “so what are we going to do now?” we all stopped to talk outside of the main entrance. responding to the question, but also speaking to the rest of the group, another mother said, “we are all going to come to the meeting. we have two days to notify more parents about the meeting. hopefully more parents can come.” the mothers nodded in agreement. “we can ask those that can’t come to the meeting to write a letter stating their concerns and experiences at the school,” suggested a third often very quiet mother. someone offered to begin making phone calls to other parents. and someone else suggested that some of them talk to parents and families as they are picking up their kids today and tomorrow. before walking to the cars, the mothers confirmed their action plan to prepare for their meeting. the mothers’ action in taking their concerns to the district and in preparing for the next steps clearly contrasts the views held by the dominant discourses that frame them as “uninvolved” parents. they approached the district specifically because school policies and practices (unlike the escuelitas of the early 1900s) were not affirming their children’s learning, and unfortunately it was their brown bodies that were so disrespected when they first entered the district space. the mothers expressed frustration with the way they were initially treated at the district. yet, they were appreciative of the district administrator who listened to them, seemed satisfied with the preliminary outcome, and were hopeful that their voices would be heard. their collective actions are illustrative of the ways in which parents come together to create spaces of possibility for educational transformation. “roses that grow from concrete” via ethnic studies for fifth and sixth graders similar to the escuelitas of the early 1900s, and as response to the historical neglect and current state a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 23 of educational inequity for chicanas/os, adelante offers an ethnic studies after school “college class” to fifth and sixth graders. the class, taught from a chicana feminist perspective by two of our graduate research assistants, offers a curriculum and pedagogy that allow students to think and analyze their lives critically. although the course is held on school grounds, we argue that it provides an alternative relational space in which students use theoretical ideas to meaningfully discuss issues such as borderlands, gender, immigration, and stereotyping. the account9 below is from a fall afternoon when the fifth and sixth graders watched a four-minute clip of family guy, a show all of the students are familiar with. the clip highlights interactions consuela, the family maid, has with others on the show. using a familiar show/media source, the purpose was to begin a critical examination of stereotypes and deficit thinking. we believe the chicana/o studies class is just one example of the westside pathways project cultivating transformative spaces in which to grow roses from concrete (andrade, 2009). we start the clip. this particular clip highlights consuela’s “english accent”. consuela becomes the butt of the joke because of her lack of “english proficiency” which creates miscommunication between her and peter. at the same time that she can’t understand him, she also manages to be “smart enough” to steal from him and the family. the students instantly recognize family guy as many of them shared that they watch it at home. they are excited because they consider it a funny show, and they anticipate laughing throughout the clip. some are even fidgeting in their chair from excitement when they see what we are planning to show them. at the beginning of the clip, most of the students are laughing. in exchanges between consuela and peter, it is clear that consuela’s lack of understanding english is a funny and laughable thing they are picking up on. as co-instructors, the two of us exchange glances as they laugh, but we do not say anything. we allow the clip to play. as the clip progresses, we notice that the students are not laughing as loud as they were at the beginning. the four-minute clip is a constant repetition of the ways that consuela is portrayed stereotypically. at some point towards the end of the clip, consuela is seen crossing the border to meet with an estranged man that she seeks to have relations with. this image, combined with her job, accent, and skin tone on the show, forms a clear picture of the way that society generally thinks of latinas/os and in particular mexicanas/os. as the clip comes to the end of its four-minute run, the students have become more quiet than loud. their initial excitement and energy had changed into quiet stares, and inaudible small talk. when the clip stops, we flick the lights back on and see the students staring at us, each other, and the projector screen. based on their body language, it seems apparent that the repetitive nature of consuela’s behavior has communicated something to them about not only her, but perhaps even about themselves. what they at first found to be hilariously funny, turned into something more serious and perhaps even disturbing. as we open up the discussion, socorro [the co-instructor] shares that her mother has been working many years in the housekeeping department at a hospital, cleaning beds and rooms. this conversation sparks some students to share their own stories, where two of them share that they also have mothers who clean houses and take care of children. after having opened up the conversation through sharing information that is personal to us, we then ask the students “what are some of the stereotypes associated with consuela?” the first student to make a comment about this question is emma who says that consuela “is dumb.” we follow up with “why do you think that?” this time, not only does emma respond but other students chime in as well, shouting over one another that consuela is seen as dumb because she knows limited english, 9. the account is written based on the field notes of socorro morales and sylvia mendoza, doctoral students studying student engagement in the ethnic studies class. each have been involved with the partnership for over five years and have close relationships with many of the students. see also morales, s., mendoza, s., and delgado bernal, d. (2014). education in nepantla: a chicana feminist approach to engaging latina/o elementary youth in ethnic studies. unpublished manuscript. a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 24 has an accent, attempts to steal things when no one is looking, and does not have common etiquette such as not going into a restroom when someone is using it. we discuss these actions as being a stereotype because they are widely held perceptions that people have about latinas/os, rather than actual things that latinas/os do in practice. the two students who shared about their mothers earlier then begin sharing that their mothers have a tough job because their bosses treat them unfairly. in particular, emma shares how americans (but really she means white people) treat her mother unfairly because she gets underpaid for the amount and type of work that she performs. they also both share they have sometimes gone to help their mothers at work and know that their mothers receive less pay than they should compared to other workers who are white. in sharing these aspects about their families, we then move to asking them the question of why do they think that school is important? socorro shares that her mother always told her education was important because her mother did not want her working labor jobs where socorro would be underpaid, like her mother was. this comment once again sparks discussion among all the students who unanimously had experiences with their parents telling them to stay in school. they all knew school and education is an important means to not being treated the way that their parents were being treated in their jobs. they understood that without an education, it would be more difficult for them to be able to defend themselves in the world of work and they would have less access to jobs that are less labor intensive. as these conversational threads end, the students start to take up topics that are tangential to the discussion and we decide to break for recess. like the escuelitas, this class is founded on a deep understanding of how these fifth and sixth graders have been made to feel less than in schools and society and of the racism they face on a daily basis. cultivating a space of affirmation for young people and stressing the importance of schooling, the ethnic studies course explicitly articulates a healing pedagogy that combines critical thinking and sophisticated discourse analysis in a space that validates the students and their material realities in order to allow roses to grow from concrete. concluding thoughts the affirmative action debate must more fully incorporate the perspectives of students, families and communities who experience unequal and inequitable schooling along the educational pathway to higher education. our westside pathways project is but one example of how educational spaces – both in and out of educational institutions – may be fostered. the two scenarios that we share can also provide some insight into affirming chicana/o identities as one way of preparing students and their families for the challenges they will face prior to matriculating into higher educational institutions. they also provide a view of how sites of action can provide transformational moments not only for individuals but also for the collective. in fostering strong partnerships and building relationships long-term from kindergarten through high school, we see this project as one that can be organized to inform educational policy and practice. we believe that our long-term growth and sustainability – and our potential for contributing to the dialogue on affirmative action – will hinge on our ability to create spaces where “roses can grow” in the spirit of escuelitas that sought to welcome, care, and love their students from the onset of their educational journey. a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 25 references acosta, t. p., & winegarten, r. (2003). las tejanas: 300 years of history. austin: university of texas press. alemán, e., jr. (2007). situating texas school finance policy in a crt framework: how “substantially equal” yields racial inequity. educational administration quarterly, 43(5), 525-558. alemán, e., jr.. (2009). through the prism of critical race theory: niceness and latina/o leadership in the politics of education. journal of latinos and education, 8(4), 290-311. alemán, e., jr., delgado bernal, d., & mendoza, s. (2013). critical race methodological tensions: nepantla in our community-based praxis. in m. lynn & a. dixson (eds.), handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 325-338). new york: routledge. alemán, e., jr., perez, j., & oliva, n. (2013). dilemmas of latina/o leadership and chicana/o college student access in a university-school-community partnership. journal of cases in educational leadership, 16(3), 7-30. alemán, e., jr. & rorrer, a.k. (2006). closing educational achievement gaps for latino students in utah: initiating a policy discourse and framework. salt lake city, ut: utah education policy center. andrade, j. m. r. (2009). note to educators: hope required when growing roses in concrete. harvard educational review, 79(2), 181-194. bell, d. a. (1995). racial realism. in k. crenshaw, n. gotanda, g. peller & k. thomas (eds.), critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement (pp. 302-312). new york: the new press. blanton, c.k. (2004). the strange career of bilingual education in texas, 1836-1981. college station, tx: texas a&m university press. cahill, c. (2010). “why do they hate us?” reframing immigration through participatory action research. area, 42(2), 152-161. cahill, c., quijada cerecer, d. a., & bradley, m. (2010). “dreaming of...”: reflections on participatory action research as a feminist praxis of critical hope. journal of women and social work, 25(4), 406-416. carey, k. (2004). the funding gap 2004: many states still shortchange low-income and minority students. washington, dc: education trust. chiang, e. (2014). from fingerpaint to fingerprints: the school-to-prison pipeline in utah. salt lake city, ut: university of utah, s.j. quinney college of law. darling-hammond, l. (2007). the flat earth and education: how america’s committment to equity will determine our future. educational researcher, 36(6), 318-334. delgado bernal, d. (1999). chicana/o education from the civil rights era to the present. in j. f. moreno (ed.), the elusive quest for equality (pp. 77-108). cambridge, ma: harvard educational review. delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. delgado bernal, d., alemán, e., jr., & flores carmona, j. (2008). negotiating and contesting transnational and transgenerational latina/o cultural citizenship: kindergarteners, their parents, and university students in utah. social justice, 35(1), 28-49. delgado bernal, d., alemán, e., jr., & garavito, a. (2009). latina/o undergraduate students mentoring latina/o elementary students: a borderlands analysis of shifting identities and college persistence. harvard educational review, 79(4), 560-585. donato, r. (1997). the other struggle for equal schools: mexican americans during the civil rights era. albany, ny: suny press. duncan-andrade, j. m. r. (2009). note to educators: hope required when growing roses in concrete. harvard educational review, 79(2), 181-194. epstein, j. l. (2007). connections count: improving family and community involvement in secondary schools. principal leadership, 8(2). flores carmona, j., & delgado bernal, d. (2012). oral histories in the classroom: the latina/o home as a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 26 a pedagogical site. in c. e. sleeter & e. soriano ayala (eds.), building solidarity between schools and marginalized communities: international perspectives (pp. 114-130). new york: teachers college press. flores, w. v., & benmayor, r. (eds.). (1997). latino cultural citizenship: claiming identity, space, and rights. boston: beacon press. ford, d. y., harris, j. j., tyson, c. a., & trotman, m. f. (2002). beyond deficit thinking: providing access for gifted african american students. roeper review, 24(2), 52-58. fránquiz, m. e. & salinas, c. s. (2013). knowing english is not enough! cultivating academic literacies high school newcomers. high school journal, 96, 339 – 357. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. garcia, s., & guerra, p. (2004). deconstructing deficit thinking: working with educators to create more equitable learning environments. education and urban society, 36(2), 150-168. guajardo, m. a., guajardo, f. j., & del carmen casaperalta, e. (2008). tranformative education: chronicling a pedagogy for social change. anthropology and education quarterly, 39(1), 3-22. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465–491. lópez, g. r., scribner, j. d., & mahitivanichcha, k. (2001). redefining parental involvement: lessons from highperforming migrant-impacted schools. american educational research journal, 38(2), 253-288. lópez, p. d., & moreno, c. (2014). a latina/o k-12 and higher education policy agenda in texas. senate hispanic caucus, mexican american legislative caucus and latina/o education task force. mclaughlin, m., & blank, m. (2004, november 4, 2004). creating culture of attachment: a community-as-text approach to learning. education week. montejano, d. (1987). anglos and mexicans in the making of texas, 1836-1986. austin: university of texas press. nieto, s. (2003). challenging current notions of ‘’highly qualified teachers’’ through work in a teachers’ inquiry group. journal of teacher education, 54(5), 386-398. olivos, e. m. (2007). the power of parents: a critical perspective of bicultural parent involvement in public schools. new york: peter lang. paul, r. (2013). the school revolution: a new answer for our broken education system. new york: grand central publishing. perlich, p. s. (2008). utah’s demographic transformation: a view into the future. utah economic and business review, 68(3), 1-11. pizarro, m. (2005). chicanas and chicanos in school: racial profiling, identity battles and empowerment. austin: university of texas press. romero, a., arce, s., & cammarota, j. (2009). a barrio pedagogy: identity, intellectualism, activism, and academic achievement through the evolution of critically compassionate intellectualism. race ethnicity and education, 12(2), 217-233. rumberger, r. w., & rodríguez, g. m. (2002). chicano dropouts: an update of research and policy issues. in r. r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (2nd ed.). new york: routledge/falmer. salinas, c. (2000). el colegio altamirano (1897-1958): new histories of chicano education in the southwest. educational forum, 65(1), 80-86. san miguel, g. (2004). contested policy: the rise and fall of federal bilingual education in the united states 19602001. denton, tx: university of north texas press. san miguel, g., & valencia, r. r. (1998). from the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo to hopwood: the educational plight and struggle of mexican americans in the southwest. harvard educational review, 68(3), 353-412. sanchez, j. w. (2007, january 31). bill ok’ed to allow utah officers to act as immigration agents. salt lake tribune. sanders, m. g. (2008). how parent liaisons can help bridge the home-school gap. journal of educational research, 101(5), 287-297. sanderson, h. l. (2005). trends and patterns of utah’s white and hispanic 4th grade students compared to the a chican@ pathways model of acción association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 27 nation: an naep achievement gap analysis. salt lake city: utah state office of education. sinquefield, r. (2013, september 20, 2013). public schools are failing, and that’s a healthy sign for good teachers. forbes. solórzano, a. (2005). at the gates of the kingdom: latino immigrants in utah, 1900 to 2003. in e. m. gozdziak & s. f. martin (eds.), beyond the gateway: immigrants in a changing america (pp. 177-212). lanham: lexington books. solórzano, d. g., & ornelas, a. (2004). a critical race analysis of latina/o and african american advanced placement enrollment in public high schools. the high school journal, feb/mar, 15-26. solórzano, d. g., villalpando, o., & oseguera, l. (2005). educational inequities and latina/o undergraduate students in the united states: a critical race analysis of their educational progress. journal of hispanic education, 4(3), 272-294. solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2001). from racial stereotyping and deficit discourse: toward a critical race theory in teacher education. multicultural education, 9(1), 2-8. trujillo, a. (2005). politics, school philosophy, and language policy: the case of crystal city schools. educational policy, 19(4), 621-654. valencia, r. r. (2005). the mexican american struggle for equal educational opportunity in mendez v. westminster: helping to pave the way for brown v. board of education. teachers college record, 107(3), 389-423. valles, b., & villalpando, o. (2013). a critical race policy analysis of the school-to-prison pipeline for chicano males. in m. lynn & a. d. dixson (eds.), critical race theory in education handbook. new york: routledge and taylor & francis group. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. a chican@ pathways model of acción http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 111 latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades in the community college hortencia jiménez hartnell college nereida oliva hartnell college abstract latinx are one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the country and their growth is visible in higher education. using focus groups with student mothers, we examine the narratives of four latina student mothers pursuing higher education at the community college. using chicana feminist theory as our theoretical framework, we apply trenzas de identidades (godínez, 2006; montoya, 1994) as a metaphorical and analytical tool to understand the experiences of latina community college student mothers. the student mothers’ trenzas de identidades demonstrate the ways their mother, student, and professional identities intersect and influence how they experience and navigate the educational pipeline. we call upon higher education faculty and administrators to reject deficit ideologies of latina student mothers, and we offer recommendations for creating a receptive environment for them. keywords: chicana/latina, student, mother, parent, motherhood, community college, education, pipeline, metaphor, trenzas de identidades, braids doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.2.352 jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 112 introduction i just want to come to my class. i don’t have time for anything even if i wanted to i really don’t have time.—anayeli student mothers, like anayeli, juggle parenting, family obligations, jobs, and school commitments, leaving little time or energy to participate in anything else. in college campuses, the parenting status of student parents is not recognized as an important part of their identities and experiences (national center for student parent programs, 2017). as a result, student parents, particularly latina1 student mothers, have received scant attention in the academic literature on the community college student experience (oliva & jiménez, 2017). here, we analyze what these educational experiences look like for chicana/latina student mothers and what this means for the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline. montoya (1994) and godínez (2006) offer the framework of trenzas de identidades (multiple strands of identity) to better understand their experiences as a student, mother, and professional. to be specific, the student mothers’ trenzas de identidades “illustrates the emotional and spatial rhythms, difficulties, and opportunities of shifting work, domestic, and familial spaces” (matta, 2013, p.137) within and along the educational pipeline. all student mothers face challenges similar to those of other non-traditional college students; however, their challenges magnify with motherhood because they deal with society’s cultural ideals, expectations, and definitions of a mother’s role in higher education. as will be seen in the findings, latina student mothers have additional territories to navigate. despite the increasing number of student parents at the community college, u.s. social policies provide little support to student mothers (green, 2013). additionally, campus climates tend to be negative toward student mothers; notably the belief that students who have kids do not belong on campus and cannot devote enough time to their student responsibilities (duquaine-watson, 2017). hence, it is important to narrow our focus on latina student mothers, a hidden population within the non-traditional student population. this article is organized into five parts; first, we provide background on latinas mothers in higher education and the growing number of student parents in community colleges. second, 1 we use chicana to refer to women of mexican descent and latina to refer to women of latin american ancestry. latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 113 we introduce trenzas de identidades as a metaphorical and analytical tool for understanding the experiences of latina student mothers at the community college. we then discuss the research site and methods. subsequently, we introduce analysis of each strand: motherhood, student, and professional. we conclude with recommendations. latina student mothers in higher education the number of latinas in higher education has increased substantially over the past decades (sapp, marquez kiyama, & dache-gerbino, 2016). however, their rate of degree attainment compared to non-latina peers is relatively low (gandara & contreras, 2009). chicana/latina students in higher education face unique challenges and barriers in postsecondary education, including access to college admissions information (kimurawalsh,yamamura, griffin, & allen, 2008), financial aid (perna, 2006), citizenship status (gonzalez, 2016), and campus climate (hurtado, milem, clayton-pederson, & allen, 1998; solórzano, allen, & carroll, 2002; villalpando, 2003). explanations for college access and educational opportunities for latinas have relied historically on gendered explanations emphasizing marianismo—latinas’ self-sacrificing role, underscoring women’s roles inside the home (sy & brittian, 2008). this deficit explanation sees latinas as incapable of succeeding as students while taking care of family. however, what is seen as a weakness is actually a strength. as delgado bernal (2006) found when examining the role of family in the educational experiences of chicana college students, chicana students draw on their “bilingualism, biculturalism, commitment to communities, and spirituality” to overcome challenges and barriers to academic achievement (p.118). they also rely on counselors, teachers, and friends to address barriers while in college (sapp et al., 2016). chicana/latinas face stereotypes that reduce their multi-dimensional and complex identities to oversimplified binaries as “college-bound/drop-out, good/bad; sexually promiscuous/academically talented” (sapp et al., 2016, p. 42). student mothers must negotiate the presumed conflicts between the binaries of mother/student, good mother/good student, as well as the socially constructed narrative of the “good” versus “bad” mother (duquainewatson, 2017; lynch, 2008). literature on student mothers focus primarily on the graduate level (castañeda & isgro, 2013; gonzález, 2007; lynch, 2008; springer, parker, & leviten-reid 2009), with little attention to community college student mothers, rendering them “unexplored jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 114 and, as such, an unacknowledged population” (oliva & jimenez, 2017, p. 239). jillian duquainewatson’s (2007) study on single student mothers at a community college revealed the “chilly climate” they must navigate while pursuing their education (p. 229). that climate stigmatizes them because of “their marital status and their status as parents” (duquaine-watson, 2017, p. 145). deficit ideologies range from blaming student mothers for poor judgment for pursuing an education while deciding to have children, to cultural stereotypes and beliefs that single student mothers are bad mothers (cunningham, 2013; duquaine-watson, 2017). these deficit ideologies view student mothers with mutually exclusive identities, incapable of parenting well while pursuing an education. these ideologies are further complicated by the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, and immigration status. women of color historically have been sexually stereotyped. for latina women that means sexually provocative and hypersexual. since the early days of hollywood, latinas have been presented as hypersexual, sexually promiscuous, prostitutes, and spitfires (ramírez-berg, 2002). current political discourse frames latina immigrant mothers as hyper-reproductive, hyper-fertile, and producing anchor babies.2 they are vilified as “bad mothers” and “bad immigrants” (escobar, 2016; meacham, 2016, para 12). chicana feminist scholars have challenged these deficit ideologies and binaries (anzaldúa, 1987; castillo, 1994; escobar, 2016; segura, 1994; smith-silva, 2011, téllez, 2013) by humanizing, honoring, respecting, and recognizing chicana/latina mothers as distinct, multidimensional, and complex. their writings underscore intersections between chicana/latina cultural identity and motherhood and social forces such as migration, violence, poverty, sexism, education, homelessness, mass incarceration and deportation, to name a few. the enrollment of student mothers of color has significantly increased in the past several decades (christopher, 2005; duquaine-watson, 2007; katz, 2013; snyder & dillow, 2010). student parents make up 26% of u.s. undergraduate students (4.8 million) of dependent children in 2011 (christopher, 2005; duquaine-watson, 2007; katz, 2013; snyder & dillow, 2010); the majority, about 71%, are women. about 2 million students, or 43% of the total student parent population, are single mothers (gault, reichlin, reynolds, & froehner, 2014a). about 45% of student parents are enrolled in public two-year institutions, while 16% attend 2 anchor babies is a racist, racialized, and gendered term that centers around latina immigrant women’s reproductive bodies. it implies that undocumented latino parents, particularly, mothers immigrate to the u.s with the goal of establishing citizenship for their children. latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 115 public four-year schools (gault, reichlin, reynolds, & froehner, 2014b). the majority of student parents who are matriculated at community colleges are mothers of color: black mothers compromise 53.7%, latina mothers 40%, and american indian mothers 40.1%. they are also low-income, work full-time, need childcare, and graduate with high debt (reichlin, 2015). a 2013 report published by the american association of university women (aauw) found that the lack of on-campus child care prevents many community college student mothers from reaching their educational goals. only 26% of two-year student parents attain a degree or certificate in six years (reichlin, 2015). student parents at the community college have been most dramatically affected by the decline of childcare from 53 percent in 2003-2004, to 46 percent in 2013, with less than half of all two-year campuses offering campus child care services (gault, reichlin, reynolds, & froehner, 2014b). finding affordable and reliable child care is important for student parents and with the rising costs and limited childcare options, it’s difficult for them to complete their college education. theorizing trenzas/braids in chicana/latina educational scholarship our individual and collective experiences as former first generation graduate student mothers of color offer a unique understanding—a cultural intuition—that is sensitive to the experiences of community college student mothers (delgado bernal, 2002). as chicana/latina mother scholars, we use frameworks and tools that honor and validate the complex lived experiences of student mothers. we draw on chicana feminist theory utilizing trenzas de identidades/braids as a metaphorical and analytical tool in understanding latina student mothers (delgado bernal, 2008; espino, muñoz, & marquez kiyama, 2010; godinez, 2006; gonzález, 1998; montoya, 1994; montoya, cruz, & grant, 2009; quiñones, 2016). margaret montoya (1994), a feminist legal scholar, first utilized trenzas as a conceptual metaphor in her bilingual (auto)biography about a mother-daughter braiding story. for montoya (2009), trenzas is about intertwining stories, topics, and experiences that are fluid and require constant “unbraiding and recombing and rebraiding. in the process you comb things out” (montoya et al., 2009, p.188). gonzález (1998) furthers trenzas as an analytical tool in her qualitative study exploring the development of womanhood and the multiple identities of mexicanas in california (p. 5). delgado bernal (2008) utilizes the framework of trenzas to theorize her personal, professional, and communal identities as a latina in the academy, jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 116 challenging academia’s continuous attempt to separate these identities. she argues that “we are often stronger and more complete” (p. 135) when we weave together these identities, but they can also “overlap, merge, collide, and sustain each other” (p. 147). espino et al. (2010) also theorize how multiple strands of their identities have shaped their doctoral education. they use testimonio to analyze how their trenzas de identidades multiples of motherhood, social class, and public intellectual have shaped their transitions from graduate school to faculty positions at different institutions. quiñones (2016) uses a methodological application of trenzas around the notion of being a well-educated person to understand the experiences of six latina teachers in new york and found that her puerto rican teachers took a bilingual-bicultural stance employing a broader view of what it means to be a well-educated person. trenzas de identidades allows us to explore the experiences of latina student mothers at the community college as they weave the three main strands of their braided identity: mother, student, and professional (dolores bernal, 2008; godínez, 2006). these three strands intersect and influence how they navigate the educational pipeline to find their way to success. what makes trenzas particularly relevant to chicana/latinas is the way relationships among them are shaped by the actual physical process of braiding each other’s hair. professor of law, zuni cruz comments that, from an indigenous perspective, braids allow her to connect to her ancestors, both male and female relatives who wore braids. for her, braids are “a link to [her] grandfather” (montoya et al., 2009, p.179). we recognize that our goal of centering trenzas de identidad explicitly as a chicana framework is not new; however, it is one that is rarely used to understand the experiences of latina community college student mothers. we utilize one trenza with three strands: student, mother, and professional identities. the order of the strands does not matter; however, what we have found in our research is that the strand of motherhood is more salient. it is nearly impossible nor do we want to separate each strand of their trenza because the strands are interconnected. as caballero, pérez-torres, martínez-vu, téllez, and vega (2017) noted “our identities are not only intersectional but also interwoven because we cannot easily compartmentalize the work we do within our communities, families, and academic spaces” (p. 64). for organizational purposes here, however, we place the strand of motherhood first, followed by student and then professional strands. in latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 117 examining each, we do not separate these identities, but rather seek to tease out how each strand separately and together shapes the educational pipeline for these mothers. description of research as faculty we have regularly signed and checked student progress reports for calworks. we have also interacted with student parents who talk to us about their struggles and challenges. as a result, we are convinced we must make student parents visible to community college decision makers. once approval for this research was obtained from the director of institutional research in the office of institutional planning, research and effectiveness, at pacific coast community college , we conducted focus groups in the spring and summer of 2016 to gain a better understanding of the student parent population.3 specifically, we collected information on student parent experiences, their challenges, types of support system, thoughts about parenting, education, long term career aspirations, as well as mental health and self-care. we recruited participants through flyers, word of mouth, and with the help of the pacific coast community college calworks counselor. thirteen student mothers—representing a diverse group based on marital status, social class, age, career aspirations, and ethnic and racial background—participated in four focus groups. our respondents found the focus group discussions useful because they were able to share their stories in a supportive environment, and many wanted to continue the process. for example, one participant said “as busy as we are, this was a mini support group. is there a support group for mothers?” participation in the focus groups made them feel their experiences are valuable. we utilized a semi-structured open-ended interview guide, which allowed participants to speak freely about experiences that were meaningful and private to them (emerson, fretz, & shaw, 1995). our research question was: how do latina student mothers interweave multiple identities as they navigate the educational pipeline? interview questions emphasized how students understood education and motherhood (e.g., have your educational and career goals been shaped by motherhood), their goals and aspirations (e.g., what are your educational and career goals?) if they knew campus resources for student parents (e.g., are you aware of programs in campus that help student parents? low income students?). developing trust with 3 pacific coast community college is a public two-year community college designated as a hispanic-serving institution (hsi) with an enrollment of at least 25% latinx students (excelencia in education, 2017). jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 118 the participants was important, particularly with the student parents who did not know the researchers. to do so, we shared our experiences as former student parents navigating the educational pipeline while parenting, we also allowed the participants the opportunity to ask us questions and reach out to us beyond the focus group if they needed any social support. focus interviews were recorded and transcribed by both researchers. focus groups allow the opportunity to collectively engage other student mothers in ways that otherwise would not happen (wilkinson, 1998). we followed the tradition of qualitative research of coding, which involves “bringing together and analyzing all the data on major themes, ideas, concepts, interpretations, and propositions” (taylor & bogdan, 1998, p. 151). the codes that were more recurring across interviews became the core codes. after identifying core codes we underwent a careful line-by-line reading with the aim of identifying additional instances and variations of the core codes. the core codes that we focus on in this manuscript are mother, student, and professional identities in the community college pipeline and serve as the basis of our analysis. out of the 13 students who participated in the focus group, we chose to focus on four self-identified latina student mothers: anayeli, adriana, krystal, and rosa to demonstrate how their various and complex identities affected how they navigated higher education and their professional goals. we focus on these four participants because it became evident in the focus group transcripts the common intersectional and interwomen identities of mother, student, and professional. the narratives also show how the student mothers worked out some of the tensions in their trenza such as choosing a career that provides them the flexibility to “be there” for their children. what we present here comes from a place of care and respect for respondents who entrusted us with their lived experiences. pseudonyms are used for the participants who requested their anonymity. findings: intertwining chicana/latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades the following narratives outline the student mothers’ trenzas de identidades. the student mothers’ trenzas de identidades capture how their motherhood, student, and professional identities influence how they navigate and experience the community college. we understand each identity to be a part of or a strand of the students mothers’ trenzas de identidades. each latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 119 strand builds on one another and carries very intimate, painful, and life-changing experiences and stories. motherhood strand in this section we introduce the motherhood strand of the student mothers’ trenza de identidades. the motherhood strand revealed: 1) how the respondents defined and understood motherhood, 2) the intersectionality of motherhood based on race and class, and 3) how motherhood affected and influenced the student mothers’ educational journey and professional goals. for anayeli, a mother of four, becoming pregnant at 17 with her first child was a lifechanging experience even though she had already graduated from high school. she came from what she referred to as a “traditional” family, and the expectations of that traditional latinx family created a taxing situation at home. as she explained, we came from mexico, they are really you know traditional. so, my dad especially, he was like, “you are pregnant. hay pero who is the guy? why didn't he come ask me for permission?” no, i was more like open. no, asking my dad for permission? i'm not his...i’m not really his, you know. the quote above illustrates the ways patriarchal ideologies influenced how anayeli’s parents received her pregnancy announcement. anayeli’s brown pregnant body was perceived and treated like property, in particular by her father. asking for “permission” is a common practice in mexican and mexican american families that implies possession or control over the female body by the father or male figures in the family (gonzales, sable, campbell, & dannerbeck, 2010). patriarchy is not exclusive to the latinx community; women of different class and racial background and sexual orientations experience patriarchy in different ways (walby, 1990). patriarchy within the latino community does not occur in isolation; it occurs alongside and at the intersection of race, class, and other forms of oppression. ana castillo (1994) critiques the subordination of women's sexuality within patriarchy. she writes, “la hembra first submits to parents, next to extended family; if she belongs to the church, she then defers to that institution” (p. 183). becoming pregnant at a young age also contributed to anayeli’s experience of jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 120 motherhood. mcdermott and graham (2005) assert that “early motherhood has become synonymous with a number of social ‘problems,’” particularly for women who become mothers before age 20 (p. 59). anayeli’s young pregnant body was further scrutinized after her then partner decided to end their romantic relationship. anayeli recalled her father’s reaction, “te dije, i told you that was going to happen. he wasn't serious with you, if he was serious he would have come and ask for permission.” in the quote, anayeli demonstrates her father’s perceived authority over her body. for anayeli’s father, asking for “permission” was a verbal agreement between him and anayeli’s former partner. anayeli’s father’s desire to have been asked for permission may have come from a place of care for his daughter; however, the expression of care in this manner reflected a patriarchal transaction of authority over anayeli’s body. adriana, a 20-year old mother of an infant, also experienced being stigmatized for becoming a teenage mom. adriana was 19 when she got pregnant and even though her boyfriend supported her, family members insisted she would never amount to anything. at one point, adriana thought of having an abortion, but her partner and parents dissuaded her. she remarked that her “baby is the best thing” as her eyes filled with tears and began to cry. she said her father's side of the family believes that “if you are pregnant, it’s over.” as the first in her immediate family to become pregnant, adriana said “i felt discriminated.” she became the subject of gossip and criticism of the family. as she said “it's so bad to get pregnant and it's like a sin. because i was not with the guy. now, i’m married.” the criticisms continued even after adriana got married because her husband is a few years older than her and has a child from a previous relationship. the beliefs held about anayeli and adriana’s young pregnant brown bodies reflect the way virginity or marriage elevate a woman’s status (anzaldúa, 1987; castillo, 1994), but it falls if she is sexually active outside of marriage. a pregnancy is undeniable public proof of extramarital sexual activity. furthermore, under traditional and religious views, both anayeli and adriana’s pregnancies, unlike other pregnancies in the community, could not be celebrated (téllez, 2013). thus it is “simultaneously juxtaposed with equal denigration of the mother status” (castillo, 1994, p. 183). in the same vein, rosa, single mother of one, also explained how becoming a mother affected her life. as she stated, “after i got pregnant, everything fell apart, i lost my job. there was a lot of turmoil.” losing her primary source of income while being pregnant brought on unforeseen stressors, such as losing her home. additionally, her partner at that time had drug latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 121 problems, and rosa eventually left him. the “turmoil” rosa began to experience immediately began to shape and challenge her beliefs about mothering. she said, “how you said, everything on tv, oh you have your family, is nice, you have your house, on the outside everything looks good but in the inside everything is falling apart.” popular culture images portraying “the perfect family and home” only made her feel worse about her situation. additionally, at this time in her life, rosa was desperately committed to finding employment to provide for her soontobe born child. college attendance seemed impossible under the circumstances: “i got laid off, so i was like, ‘maybe i should go back to school,’” she said, “but school was still not a priority…like i needed to be more a mom than the student.” like anayeli, rosa understandably prioritized employment and being a “mom” over attending college. in addition, rosa felt that attending school in addition to working would prevent her from “being there” for her daughter. she was aware of how she felt when her own mother returned to school and often didn’t have time to spend with her as she would have liked. thus, rosa did not initially perceive college as an option. yet, with time, rosa realized “that being a student is actually gonna…help me be a better mom.” latina student mothers experience motherhood within interlocking systems of oppression such as race, class, and gender (hill collins, 2000). such interlocking structures intersect and manifest themselves in the student mothers’ lives and affect how they navigate higher education and other institutions. the motherhood narratives help locate the student mothers within the current sociopolitical context, and as a result, within the educational pipeline. the motherhood strand serves as the entry point for exploring further chicana/latina trenza de identidades. the following two strands—student and professional—both build on and weave themselves into the motherhood strand. student strand in this section we introduce the student trenza strand to show (1) that the educational experiences of student mothers in the community college are nonlinear, (2) how teenage mothers deal with the stigma of stereotypes, an underappreciated and unacknowledged journey; and (3) how student mothers deal with the consequences of higher education fraud. trenzas de identidades depicts the latina student mothers’ nonlinear educational pathways as a multidirectional fluid process that includes stopping out of the educational system jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 122 for extended periods of time and returning later in life. for anayeli, krystal, and rosa, a better future for their children was central to the choice to further their education, but it took time for them to realize this, due to financial instability. motherhood delayed anayeli and rosa’s enrollment in postsecondary education because they needed to figure out their lives as new mothers. as young and single mothers they dealt with the everyday circumstances of life— worrying about money, food, and shelter for their kids, and dealing with the pressures from over their single mother status. motherhood is an underappreciated and unacknowledged journey because motherhood is assumed to come naturally. as discussed earlier, anayeli faced a series of challenges that delayed her matriculation at pacific coast community college. in the fall of 2009, she enrolled at pacific coast community college and stayed for two semesters. she stopped because her partner at the time did not support her. she tried to maintain a relationship with her daughter’s biological dad, but his lack of support caused her to fail and/or drop her courses. by the time she returned to school, she had four children, her 8-year-old daughter from her first relationship, an 11-yearold step daughter from her current husband, and their 4-year old twins. her transition “back to school” involved fear and self-doubt. anayeli’s racial identity as a chicana/latina further complicated her educational experience because of her racialized brown body (cruz, 2001). being a young chicana/latina mother of four children automatically placed her in the stereotype of young chicana/latina moms stopping out of school—which she did, temporarily. anayeli described it this way: like everyone expected me to not do anything because i was a teenage mother. i was like not going to do anything with my life. at the beginning i actually did believe it. i actually did believe that i couldn't really do it. anayeli experienced stereotype threat, feeling that perhaps she would confirm the stereotype of the latina teenage mother (steele & aronson, 1995). the intersection of motherhood, race, and age significantly affected her confidence in her status as a student mother. in contrast to anayeli, rosa was a second generation college student who grew up exposed to the college setting via her immigrant mother; however, this exposure still did not help her understand the intricacies of the educational system. rosa lacked a strong knowledge base; in particular, she did not understand federal financial aid. this ultimately led her to latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 123 become a victim of fraud by the for-profit institution, heald college. she tried enrolling first at pacific coast community college in 2010 when she was pregnant, but she did not get the help she needed. all rosa wanted to know when she tried to enroll in pacific coast community college was “what is fafsa”? she sought help from the financial aid office, but in effect they blocked her from receiving that information from a disinterested source. rosa described her experience: what is fafsa, what is this? they said, “come tomorrow at 8 o’clock in the morning. they're going to be open from 8.” so i went and the line was out the door and i’m pregnant. i’m like, what do i do? i have to pee every 5 minutes. you get out of line, they don’t want to hold your spot so you get back in line. finally, i got in the room. it’s hot. i’m bothered. i haven’t ate, i’m cranky, and i just walk up. we had to sign in so i back up to the desk where the lady had the sheet and i’m like, “i’ve been here since 8 o’clock in the morning and i just want to know what’s fafsa, can i do it on my own?” she’s like, “well, you’re just gonna have to wait, they’re gonna help you.” the embodiment of rosa’s pregnant body further complicates her experience trying to get information about financial aid while constantly needing to use the restroom, and no other student would save her spot in the line. rosa was near her “breaking point” and “stormed out of there” a few hours later, without any help or direction. instead, rosa was enticed to enroll at heald college in oakland, california, after “seeing all these commercials, get in, get out, get ahead, you know.” in her mind, rosa had it all figured out. by the time her daughter turned two she would have a career. she stated: “(my daughter) won’t even know that i was broke you know, she won’t even know i went to school.” rosa was not considering enrolling at heald. she went to heald only to get information about financial aid. but in less than two hours rosa left heald college with her financial aid application completed and a schedule of her classes. rosa earned an a.a. in applied science from heald college after three years. however, when she left heald her debt was over $30,000 and she had no job. her first student loan statement was more than her car payment, $300. rosa struggled financially despite her degree—or perhaps, because of it. she moved four times in one year and eventually moved in to live with her parents. but, she held on to a dream jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 124 because, as she said, “i always knew school is going to get me through this, like, if i just hold on to school, and i was holding on to the wrong school but i held on, you know.” little did rosa know that she was one of thousands of student victims deceived by misinformation and misrepresentation by heald college. in 2015, corinthian colleges, heald’s parent company, closed all of its 28 ground campuses misrepresenting job placement data. using those inflated placement rates, they encouraged students to take out expensive private loans (whittaker, 2015). hundreds of students were deceived by heald college, but rosa received no compensation for the fraud. on the contrary, the insurable debt she acquired left her with no job security or financial freedom. since she earned an a.a. degree she was disqualified from receiving california work opportunity and responsibility to kids (calworks), a type of temporary cash aid when she enrolled at pacific coast community college. this made it even more difficult for her to continue her education while parenting. nonetheless, rosa developed strategies to make things work. among other sacrifices, rosa compromised her privacy and parental autonomy by moving in with her parents to save money, enabling her to graduate with an associate in arts degree for transfer (aa-t). through the lens trenzas de identidades offers, we can identify the various ways motherhood has influenced anayeli and rosa’s educational experiences. navigating the educational pipeline for latina community college students, particularly student mothers, multidirectional rather than linear. both anayeli and rosa began their postsecondary education at pacific coast community college but left and returned once they were mothers. although returning to college was not easy, they continued to push through the self-doubt and financial challenges. the narratives in this section further our understanding of the “leaks” in the chicano educational pipeline, in particular for those who begin their postsecondary education at a community college. the student trenza also demonstrates how the mother identity influences their educational experience. several scholars note that identity development has a significant influence on the overall college experience. however, mother identity for latina community college students has not been included in the discourse (caballero et al., 2017). this is problematic because unless the mother identity in addition and in relation to their other identities is explored, best practices will not fully reflect and include latina community college student mothers. latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 125 the professional strand the professional strand highlights how student mothers negotiate the conflicts between career choices and parenting responsibilities, selecting education that will lead to careers that align with their priorities and responsibilities as mothers. some had to negotiate “big” dreams with more realistic professional careers. for example, the career paths krystal, anayeli, and rosa chose will allow them to achieve their personal academic goals, provide for their family while still allowing them to raise their children in ways that meet their motherhood standards. krystal, a thirty-year old single mother of two children ages six and eight enrolled in the nursing program at pacific coast community college in the fall of 2014. originally, krystal wanted to be a physical therapist, but after considering what that would require of her she realized it would not be possible to combine that with her responsibilities as a mother. pacific coast community college did not offer physical therapy programs. i have to work [and] … the closest [program] is san francisco and it's super competitive, it's like 35 spots, it's $50-$60,000 a year and it's continuous, and it's clinical hours are 40 hours a week, so i would go to work. i wouldn't be able to go to school and take care of children at the same time. the cost, commute, expected clinical hours, work, and necessary child care meant she couldn’t pursue her first career choice. she chose pacific coast community college nursing program instead because it would allow her to weave her student and mother strand. anayeli also had to compromise her professional goals along the way. initially, anayeli dreamed of “owning a business” but she believed being a mother cost her that dream, “before i wanted to be like something big, a business woman or something and now i just kinda like...i want to be a math teacher; math is my major and i want that.” when i became a mother i was like, like you lose a dream, it's like your kids only, that was like for me, my kids and then my boyfriend was going to the [police] academy, so, it's kinda like his turn kinda thing, so, i was put in the back burner kinda thing until right now that i started. i actually you know, taking classes. jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 126 mothering pushed anayeli to negotiate her “dreams” with more “practical” goals and aspirations. when she returned to pacific coast community college in the fall of 2014 she discovered that she was “really good” at math and enjoyed taking math courses. she recognized the perks of teaching—getting the summers off and being able to spend more time with her children. anayeli feels she had to compromise her professional aspirations, choosing to become a math teacher because the job aligns with the demands of motherhood. in 2014, after focusing on her responsibilities as a mother, rosa gave pacific coast community college another try. she enrolled full time and has been matriculated every semester since. she will graduate with an associate in arts in sociology for transfer (a.a.t.) and will attend uc berkeley in the fall 2017. rosa’s academic goal is to earn a master’s degree in counseling so she can be a guidance counselor for high school and college students. that career choice also fits well with the demands of motherhood. the professional strand builds on the aforementioned two strands, the mother and student trenza. the career paths krystal, anayeli, and rosa have chosen will allow them to achieve their personal academic goals, provide for their family, and have the necessary flexibility to raise their children. conclusion latina community college students mothers are often invisible on college campuses and in the education literature. in order to improve their chances for success, we must understand the lived experiences of latina community college student mothers, and perhaps student parents overall. we must acknowledge and validate their experiences and identities using frameworks providing a “holistic, culturally rich, and family inclusive model” (sapp et al., 2016, p. 53) such as trenzas de identidades, so we can better serve them as administrators and faculty. the student mothers’ trenzas reveal the centrality of their motherhood and its influence on their educational and professional experiences and goals. additionally, the student mothers’ trenzas de identidades challenge the deficit ideologies (valencia, 2012) about latina mothers and latinx community college students. they affirm motherhood as a positive force and source of strength and wisdom that contribute to their educational pursuits. as other scholars have noted and as these narratives exemplify, latina community college student mothers are neither “lazy” nor “uneducated”(cunningham, 2013), but rather “creators and holders of knowledge” latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 127 (delgado bernal, 2002). student mothers face circumstances similar to those of all nontraditional students, but because they are parents, their challenges magnify exponentially, particularly on hostile, unwelcoming college campuses. their experiences and identities play a critical role in who they are as mothers today, where they are located academically, and whom they hope to become professionally and personally. the stories shared in this article are a testament not only to their persistence, but also their resiliency and ganas to obtain a postsecondary education in order to be role models for their children. we urge others to recognize that the educational pipeline for latina student mothers, often begins at the community college. this is critical because the literature on the latinx pipeline does not address the detours community college student mothers must make after they enter and return later. we know that out of 100 students, 17 go to the community college and only one transfers to a fouryear university (pérez huber et al., 2015; yosso & solórzano, 2006). we question who those 17 students are and to what extent they include student mothers. we also wonder who is the one student who transfers to a four year university. the affirmation of latina community college student mother trenzas de identidades warrants culturally responsive policies and practices in higher education. administrators, practitioners, and educators need to create appropriate services and resources to support student parents. we provide a list of recommendations in creating college campuses that are welcoming to student parents: • extend childcare during evening classes • offer child-friendly spaces throughout campus that include changing tables in campus restrooms and lactation rooms for nursing mothers. • provide a library study room for student parents equipped with computers. • collaborate across campus programs and community organizations to support student parents and their children by providing student parents with mentoring, scholarships, and parent education workshops. in addition, administrators can provide professional development opportunities for faculty and staff to attend conferences and workshops on student parents, such as the annual student parent support symposium organized by endicott college. community colleges can create a student parent center offering services that target student parents. community college administrators can collect data on their student parent population so they may better jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 128 understand this group and respond with programs and services to meet their needs. the national center for student parent programs (2017) launched the family friendly campus toolkit to enable colleges and universities to begin collecting relevant data. by creating a campus culture that is receptive and welcoming, we can increase student parent retention rates. we call upon administrators, faculty, and staff in other community colleges to join in these efforts. latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 129 references anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute press. caballero, c., pérez-torres, j. c., martínez-vu, y., téllez, m., & vega, c. (2017). “our labor is our prayer, our mothering is our offering:” a chicana m(other) work framework for collective resistance. chicana/latina studies: the journal of mujeres activas en letras y cambio social, 16, 44-75. castillo, a. (1994). massacre of the dreamers: essays on xicanisma. albuquerque, nm: university of new mexico press. castañeda, m., & isgro, k. (2013). mothers in academia. new york, ny: columbia university press christopher, k. (2005). welfare recipients attending college: the interplay of oppression and resistance. journal of sociology and social welfare, 32, 165-185. cruz, c. (2001). toward an epistemology of a brown body. qualitative studies in education, 14, 657-669. cunningham, s. r. (2013). how higher education became accessible to single mothers: an unfinished story. in m. castañeda & k. isgro (eds.), mothers in academia (pp.181-190). new york, ny: columbia university press. delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8, 105–126. delgado bernal, d. (2006). mujeres in college: negotiating identities and challenging educational norms. in d. delgado-bernal, c. a elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 5-94). albany, ny: new york press. delgado bernal, d. (2008). la trenza de identidades: weaving together my personal, professional, and communal identities. in k. p. gonzález & r. v. padilla (eds.), doing the public good: latina/o scholars engage civic participation (pp. 135-148). sterling, va: stylus. duquaine-watson, j. m. (2007). “pretty darned cold”: single mother students and the community college climate in post-welfare reform america. equity and excellence in education, 40, 229-240. duquaine-watson, j. m. (2017). mothering by degrees: single mothers and the pursuit of postsecondary education. new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press. emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i., & shaw, l. l. (1995). writing ethnographic fieldnotes. chicago, il: university of chicago press. escobar, m. d. (2016). captivity beyond prisons: criminalization experiences of latina (im)migrants. austin, tx: the university of texas press. espino, m. m., munoz, s., & kiyama, j. m. (2010). transitioning from doctoral study to the academy: theorizing trenzas of identity for latina sister scholars. qualitative inquiry, jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 130 16, 804-818. excelencia in education. (2017). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) fact sheet: 2015-16. washington, dc: excelencia in education. gandara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino educational crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. green, a. (2013). patchwork: poor women’s stories of resewing the shredded safety net. affilia: journal of women and social work, 28, 51-64 gault, b., reichlin, l., reynolds, e., & froehner, m. (2014a). 4.8 million college students are raising children. washington, dc: institute for women’s policy research. retrieved from https://iwpr.org/publications/4-8-million-college-students-are-raising-children/ gault, b., reichlin, l., reynolds, e., & froehner, m. (2014b). campus child care declining even as growing numbers of parents attend college. washington, dc: institute for women’s policy research. retrieved from https://iwpr.org/publications/campus-childcare-declining-even-as-growing-numbers-of-parents-attend-college/ godínez, f. e. (2006). haciendo que hacer: braiding cultural knowledge into educational practices and policies. in d. delgado-bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godínez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 25-38). albany, ny: state university of new york press. gonzales, e. u., sable, m. r., campbell, j. d., & dannerbeck, a. (2010). the influence of patriarchal behavior on birth control access and use among recent hispanic immigrants. journal of immigrants and minority health, 12, 551-558. gonzález, f. (1998). the formations of mexicananess: trenza de identidades multiples growing up mexicana: braids of multiple identities. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 81-102. gonzález, j. c. (2007). surviving the doctorate and thriving as faculty: latina junior faculty reflecting on their doctoral studies experience. equity and excellence in education 40, 291-300. gonzalez, r. (2016). lives in limbo: undocumented and coming of age in america. oakland, ca: university of california press. hill collins, p. (2000). black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. new york, ny: routledge. hurtado, s., milem, j. f., clayton-pederson, a. r., & allen, w. r. (1998). enhancing campus climates for racial/ethnic diversity: educational policy and practice. the review of higher education, 21, 279-302. jiménez, h. (2017). challenging inequalities: readings in race, ethnicity, and immigration. san diego, ca: cognella publishing. katz, s. (2013). “give us a chance to get an education”: single mothers’ survival narratives and strategies for pursuing higher education on welfare. journal of poverty, 17, 273 304. kimura-walsh, e., yamamura, e., griffin, k. a., allen, w. r. (2008). achieving the college latina student mothers’ trenzas de identidades association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 131 dream: examining disparities in access to college information among high achieving and non-high achieving latina students. journal of hispanic higher education, 8, 298 315. lynch, k. d. (2008). gender roles and the american academe: a case study of graduate student mothers. gender and education, 20, 585-605. matta, a. a. (2013). revolving doors: mother-woman rhythms in academic spaces. in m. castañeda & k. isigro (eds.), mothers in academia (pp. 137-148). new york, ny: columbia university press. mcdermott, e., & graham, h. (2005). resilient young mothering: social inequalities, late modernity and the “problem” of “teenage” motherhood. journal of youth studies, 8, 59– 79. meacham, c. (2016). “anchor babies” and birth tourists: birthright citizenship and the racialized politics of belonging. the journal of social and cultural analysis. retrieved from https://wp.nyu.edu/as-journalofsca/2016/05/02/anchor-babies-and-birth-touristsbirthright-citizenship-and-the-racialized-politics-of-belonging/ montoya, m. e. (1994). mascaras, trenzas, y grenas: un/masking the self while un/braiding latina stories and legal discourse. chicano-latino law review, 15, 1-37. montoya, m., zuni cruz, c., & grant, g., (2009). narrative braids: performing racial literacy. american indian law review, 33(1), 153-199. oliva, n., & jiménez, h. (2017). nepantleras in a community college: student mothers negotiating mothering, school, and work. in h. jimenez (ed.), challenging inequalities: readings in race, ethnicity, and immigration (pp. 237–249). diego, ca: cognella publishing. pérez huber, l. , malagón, m. c., ramirez, b. r, gonzalez, c., jimenez, a., & vélez.v. n. (2015). still falling through the cracks: revisiting the latina/o education pipeline (csrc research report no. 19). retrieved from http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/files/rr19.pdf perna, l. w. (2006). studying college access and choice: a proposed conceptual model. in j. c. smart (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 21) (pp. 99-157). dordrecht, the netherlands: springer quiñones, s. (2016). (re)braiding to tell: using trenzas as a metaphorical–analytical tool in qualitative research. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 29, 338 358. ramírez-berg, c. (2002). latino images in film: stereotypes, subservsion, resistance. austin, tx: university of texas press. reichlin, l. (2015). supporting student parent success in community colleges. washington, dc: institute for women’s policy research. retrieved from https://iwpr.org/publications/supporting-student-parent-success-in-community-colleges/ solórzano, d., allen, w. r., & carroll, g. (2002). keeping race in place: racial microaggressions and campus racial climate at the university of california, berkeley. chicana/o latina/o law review, 23(1), 15-112. jiménez & oliva association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 132 sapp, v.t., marquez kimaya., j., & dache-gerbino, a. (2016). against all odds: latina activatist agency to secure access to college. naspa: journal about women in higher education, 9, 39-55. segura, d. a. (1994). working at motherhood: chicana and mexican immigrant mothers and employment. in e. n. glenn, g. chang, & l. r. forcey (eds.), mothering: ideology, experience, and agency (pp. 211-233). new york, ny: routledge. smith-silva, d. (2011). latina/chicana mothering. toronto, canada: demeter press. springer, k. w., parker, b. k., & leviten-reid, c. (2009). making space for graduate student parents: practice and politics. journal of family issues, 30, 435–457. snyder, t. d., & dillow, s. a. (2010). digest of education statistics, 2009. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010013 steele, c. m., & aronson, j. (1995). stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of african americans. journal of personality and social psychology, 69, 797-811. sy, s. r., & brittian, a. (2008). the impact of family obligations on young women’s decisions during the transition to college: a comparison of latina, european american, and asian american students. sex roles, 58, 729–73. taylor, s. j., & bogdan, r. (1998). introduction to qualitative research methods (3rd ed). san francisco, ca: john wiley & sons, inc. téllez, m. (2013). lectures, evaluations, and diapers: navigating the terrains of chicana single motherhood in the academy. feminist formations, 25(3), 79-97. the national center for student parent programs. (2017). keys to degrees. retrieved from http://www.endicott.edu/national-center-for-student-parent-programs.aspx valencia, r. r. (2012). the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. new york, ny: routledge. villalpando, o. (2003). self-segregation or self-preservation? a critical race theory and latina/o critical theory analysis of findings from a longitudinal study of chicana/o college students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 16(5), 619–646. walby, s. (1990). theorizing patriarchy. cambridge, ma: basil blackwell. wilkinson, s. (1998). focus groups in feminist research: power, interaction, and the co-construction of meaning. women’s studies international forum, 21(1), 111-125. whittaker, b. (2015). heald college in salinas shut down abruptly. ksbw. retrieved from http://www.ksbw.com/article/heald-college-in-salinas-shut-down-abruptly/32609240 yosso, t. j., & solórzano, d. g. (2006). leaks in the chicana and chicano educational pipeline. latino policy & issues brief. number 13. ucla chicano studies research center. pg37 pg38 pg39 pg40 pg41 pg42 association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 58 teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio lilliana p. saldaña university of texas—san antonio abstract relying on life history and memory as methodology, this essay unearths the memories of schooling of five mexican american teachers at a dual-language school in san antonio, locating their memories of trauma within the history of language oppression and cultural exclusion in u.s. public schools. in re(membering) their schooling experiences as working-class, spanish-speaking, racialized students in san antonio’s segregated westside, teachers pointed to schools as the source of their miseducation and trauma and framed these experiences within a shared history of institutionalized language oppression and educational inequality. historias, semi-structured life history interviews, and conocimiento—reflexive and dialogical focus groups—reveal that teachers’ memories of racialized cultural violence in schools are central to their personal and professional identity formation. as ethnic/ race teachers with embodied knowledge of racialized cultural violence, they transform the culture of schooling for mexican origin students as they move within the dialectic of domination and empowerment in their everyday teaching practices. introduction [f]or blacks, chicanos/as, and native americans, memory allow us to resist and to heal: we know ourselves through the act of remembering. when we lose sight of who we are, when we lose touch, when we lose our minds, we find ourselves through remembering, through talking cures, which are reenactments of remembering. and memory becomes a thread that can bend, bind, and gather broken bits and pieces of ourselves (bell hooks in hooks & mesa-baines, 2006, p. 107-108). this essay examines the memories of schooling by mexican american teachers at emma tenayuca elementary8, a dual-language school in san antonio’s westside. most teachers at tenayuca entered elementary school as spanish speakers during the 1950s and 1960s. through semi-structured in-depth interviews that i call historias (oral histories), and a methodological process of conocimiento (coming to consciousness), participants shared the psychological and physical trauma of language oppression they experienced as working class, mexican school children.9 teachers recalled their memories of schooling during the historias and the conocimiento—many of which had been suppressed.10 teachers framed these memories as part of the collective experience among spanish-speaking mexican barrio children in san antonio’s westside. with that, they identified the “system,” 8. in my study, the school is named after emma tenayuca, a chicana labor organizer from san antonio who organized numerous labor unions and defended the rights of working-class mexican women. a member of the communist party, she received many death threats and as a result, left to california where she pursued a teaching degree. she returned to san antonio where she worked as a teacher for over two 9. montejano (1987) argues that by the turn of the 20th century, mexican people became racialized as an ethnic group. regardless of their social class, nationality, or skin color, mexicans became incorporated into a culture of segregation in rural and urban areas in texas. racial separation was an indispensable component in the creation of a racialized dual-wage economy where mexicans became relegated to low wages, little to no schooling, and segregated in separate living quarters. as mexicans left the rural areas and migrated to cities like san antonio, schools continued to segregate mexicans where they had to contend with racism, including language oppression, thus directly linking language violence to racism and class oppression. 10. grounded in freire’s (1970) notions of critical dialogue and conscienticization, where the teacher-student relationship is reciprocal, as well as chicana feminist perspectives that privilege self-reflection in the production of knowledge, conocimiento is a method for understanding oneself in relation to others and with others (j. méndez-negrete, personal communication, october 8, 2006). the conocimiento, or process of awareness, started with an individual conocimiento survey, which included demographics, open and close-ended questions, and educational and work legacies that map the generational, sociohistorical and sociocultural experiences of teachers at the school. the conocimiento served as the means by which i designed the questions for the historias and the teacher pláticas. teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 59 that is, the ideological practices of k-6 public education, as the source of their trauma, academic failure, and internalized language, race, and class oppression. in his historiographic analysis of the mexican school system, gonzalez (1997) posits that americanization, as an assimilationist schooling campaign, lasted until the 1930s. however, teachers in this study point to its persistence in san antonio public schools throughout their schooling. through these assimilationist practices that stripped mexicans of their language and culture in public schools, the majority of the teachers in this study experienced racialized cultural violence on a daily basis as mexican, working class, spanish-speaking children.11 many endured physical punishment for speaking spanish, while others were forced to anglicize their names to go along “with the mainstream,”12 as one teacher said. still, other teachers, particularly those of the 1980s generation, lack the recollections of their early schooling experiences as english language learners. unlike the teachers who were schooled before the civil rights era, teachers of this generation did not endure corporeal punishment for speaking spanish. identified as spanish-dominant speakers, these teachers were placed in earlyexit transitional programs aimed at assimilating students linguistically and culturally into the dominant language and culture of the nation. like the ideological goals of the mexican school system throughout the southwest, san antonio public schools did not “abandon the objective of assimilating mexicans into the dominant culture” (p. 170). in this essay, i rely on the teachers’ memories of schooling—memories that evoke anger and pain, as well as emotional healing, to explore the insight they carry about this kind of racialized cultural violence and how this has shaped their personal and professional lives as children, students, parents, and ultimately as teachers, illuminating the dialectic between domination and empowerment. while many experienced racialized cultural violence in their individual psyches, they spoke about this as a historical and collective trauma endured by mexicano children in the barrio. in this article, i unearth teachers’ memories of schooling and analyze the ways in which their memories of schooling, particularly the racialized cultural violence, mis-education, and everyday microagressions, they experienced in school, frame their personal and social identities as barrio teachers. the language oppression and mis-education of mexicans in u.s. schools in u.s. schools, mexicans and mexican americans have endured a history of language oppression and mis-education. in mexicans and anglos in the making of texas, 1836-1986, chicano historian, david montejano (1987) argues that the mis-education of mexicans in texas, including language oppression and segregation, is founded in the racial and class formation of the state. following the mexican american war (1846-1848), in which the u.s. appropriated and colonized half of mexico’s national territory, mexican and mexican americans lost their lands and became segmented into a racialized dual-wage economy as landless peones. with the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo of 1848 and the territorial annexation of the southwest, mexicans had to learn their place as second-class citizens of the nascent nation-state. the denial of their language was the first step of exclusion. the hegemony of english in segregated mexican schools with u.s. incorporation of the southwest, states like arizona, california, colorado, new mexico and texas institutionalized “english only” policies (montejano, 1987; valencia, 2002). in texas, this meant that mexicans often endured corporal punishment, school fines, and “spanish detention classes” for speaking spanish 11. i extend on freire’s (1970) concept of cultural invasion, where the “invaders penetrate the cultural context of another group, in disrespect of the latter’s potentialities; they impose their own view of the world upon those they invade and inhibit the creativity of the invaded by curbing their expression” (p. 152). within the context of colonialism and neocolonialism, this form of cultural invasion and cultural imposition, as freire posits, is a form of violence as those who are invaded “lose their originality or face the threat of losing it.” in this article, i use the term “racialized cultural violence” to point to the ways in which members of the dominant culture racialized mexicans as inferior to anglos, subjecting them to physical violence, as well as cultural violence, deriding their worldview, inhibiting their way of life, and prohibiting the use of the spanish in the public space. language oppression is one form of cultural violence, where the dominant group prohibits, silences, or punishes those who speak a non-dominant language. 12. past research by scholars like concha delgado-gaitan (2001) and cummins (1989) have examined language loss in the context of assimilationist educational policies and practices. teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 60 in school. these language restriction policies were often anchored in the racist and hegemonic ideology of americanization, an ideology that was based on the assumption that immigrants and people of color had to discard their culture of origin to be recognized as authentic cultural citizens. unlike the experience of european immigrants who were able to “melt” into dominant u.s. culture, as a racialized group, mexicans could not assimilate. gilbert gonzalez (1997) describes the americanization of mexicans as the “political socialization and acculturation of the mexican community, as well as, ironically, the maintenance of those social and economic relations existing between anglos and mexicans” (p. 158). americanization, gonzalez (1997) argues, became the main goal of schooling during the era of segregation. as a pedagogical practice, americanization projects in schools involved the “elimination of linguistic and cultural differences, but of an entire culture that assimilation advocates deemed undesirable” (gonzalez, 1997, p. 163). according to gonzalez, educators promoted activities that enforced white, middle-class values and ideals that would make mexicans as “american” as possible. moreover, proponents of americanization programs often “reinforce[d] the stereotypes of mexicans as dirty, shiftless, lazy, irresponsible, unambitious, shiftless, fatalistic, selfish, promiscuous, and prone to drinking, violence, and criminal behavior” (gonzalez, 1997, p. 163). through this ideology, mexican children learned that their cultural customs, language, family, and community were undesirable traits and barriers to academic success. the assumption was that mexican children were culturally inferior and came to school with limited intellectual knowledge and skills. this ideology was woven into everyday classroom learning. in sum, americanization was an oppressive curriculum that reproduced an ideology of white supremacy and mexican inferiority (gonzalez, 1997; for a discussion on the intersections of race and class in mexican and anglo schooling, see montejano, 1987). in texas, americanization took place in the rural and urban segregated school system. in the rural areas, the anglo power structure—which included large farm owners, local authorities, and state policymakers— created mexican schools to maintain a subordinated, uneducated, and racialized work force. the sharp, racial separation between mexicans and anglos in schools was “rationalized on the grounds that it was necessary in order to provide effective remedial instruction in english to students who were ‘language handicapped’ ” (cummins, 1989, p. 9). many english-speaking students were placed in remedial instruction simply because of their spanish surnames. dolores delgado bernal (2001) argues that these language-based segregationist policies became “a social philosophy and a political tool used by local and state officials to justify school segregation and to maintain a colonized relationship between mexicans and the dominant society” (p. 261). similarly, social historians like acuña (2000) and montejano (1987) argue that the anglo power structure created the mexican school system to keep mexicans politically, socially, and economically subordinated, keeping them tied to commercial farm interests during the era of jim crow segregation. throughout the southwest, mexican families and communities challenged segregated schooling. in 1931, parents of 75 chicano students in lemon grove, california, refused to send their children to a segregated mexican school. the school board justified this segregation, claiming that the district was “[helping] mexicans learn english” (acuña, 2004, p. 234; see also delgado bernal, 2001). parents organized a committee, sued the school district, and won. chicanos continued to contest segregated schooling on the basis of language. in1946, with méndez v. westminster school district case, the u.s. district court in california decreed that the segregation of mexican children was unconstitutional and that neither language nor race could be used to justify segregated schooling (acuña, 2004; delgado bernal, 2001). a year late, in delgado v. bastrop independent school district, the western district of texas also found that segregated schooling violated mexican children’s rights under the fourteenth amendment, ruling that this was unconstitutional. these cases preceded brown v. board of education case in 1954 (acuña 2004), creating a movement that “would expand in later decades to include not only the desegregation of mexican schools as a means to equal education but also the need to restructure curriculums to account for the bilingual, bicultural traditions of mexican americans” (garcia, 1989, p. 83). the chicano civil rights movement and the affirmation of cultural rights while cases like méndez v. westminster school district (1946) and delgado v. bastrop independent school district (1947) found segregated schooling unconstitutional, mexicans continued to contest language oppression teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 61 and cultural exclusion in everyday curricular practices. a case in point is that of crystal city, texas, where chicano activists, teachers, and families, pushed for bilingual-bicultural education as a way of dismantling the anglo power structure that had kept mexicans politically and economically subjugated since the mexican american war in which the u.s. annexed texas and other parts of the southwest (trujillo, 1998). self-determination and community empowerment and the cry for chicano political representation in the school board yielded a cultural revitalization movement to preserve the spanish language and teach chicano culture and history in local schools. although the inclusion of mexican american history and culture never came to pass, mexican american educators continued to call for and support the implementation of bilingual education because it “purported to use a pedagogically sound, language-based approach which led to increased educational achievement and higher self-concept among language minority children” (cummins, 1989, p. 193). it is important to note that the bilingual education programs that were implemented during this time were couched in a deficit ideological discourse in which poverty programs were created for the “educationally disadvantaged.” bilingual education programs were not necessarily intended to maintain students’ heritage language or to produce bilingual and biliterate students. instead of seeing students’ home language as a resource and strength, these policies promoted notions of otherlanguage speakers as a disability. bilingual education policy made it clear that a student’s native language could only be used to the extent necessary for a child to achieve competence in the english language. as such, the government favored programs that transitioned students into mainstream classrooms. in practice, there were very few opportunities to incorporate students’ home language and culture in the classroom. the history of bilingual education policy after el movimiento with the implementation of the bilingual education act of 1968, the federal government encouraged local districts to incorporate native language with the purpose of transitioning students into an all-english learning classroom. while the government provided funding for incorporating native language instruction, it did not offer a specific model to promote student learning among linguistically diverse students (crawford, 1999). in 1974, the supreme court unanimously ruled that school districts were responsible for educating linguistically diverse students in their native language, recognizing that equal education for linguistically diverse students involved native language instruction and that “equal is not the same.” through lau versus nichols, the u.s. supreme court argued that treating everyone the same did not lead to equality and ruled that schools that did not offer linguistically diverse students with an education in their own language were violating the students’ civil rights (acuña, 2004; nieto, 2004; ovando, collier, & combs, 2003). the lau versus nichols thus expanded bilingual education, as the lau remedies “provided guidance in identifying students with a limited proficiency in english, assessing their language abilities and providing appropriate programs” (nieto, p. 223). in the 1980s, bilingual education came under attack by conservative educators and government officials including secretary of education william bennett who argued that “limited english proficient” students had not benefited from the bilingual education act (crawford, 1999). as such, the federal government reduced federal funding for bilingual education, even when the number of english language learners increased in states like california. the u.s. government placed a three-year limit for funding students in bilingual education programs, requiring schools to mainstream english language learners in three years as part of its assimilationist agenda (ovando, collier, & combs, 2003). under the administration of president clinton, in 1994 title vii, also known as the bilingual education act, was modified to provide “educators with the flexibility to implement and expand programs that built upon the strengths of linguistically and culturally diverse students” (u.s. department of bilingual education). in 2002, under bush’s no child left behind act (nclb), the bilingual education act “expired quietly,” replacing it with english acquisition act which stressed english language skills and solely funded programs that 1) rapidly mainstreamed english language learners to english language classrooms and 2) reclassified students as english dominant speakers (crawford, 2002. still, despite this anti-bilingualism context, some schools, inspired by canada’s success with its immersion bilingual education in the 1960s, have implemented two-way or dual language programs to promote academic gains and linguistic and cultural enrichment among bilingual students (crawford, 1999; ovando, collier, & teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 62 combs, 2003). this approach has an equal number of “language minority” students who speak a language other than english, and language “majority” students, who are english heritage speaker in the same classroom. in the 90-10 model of the two-way or dual-language program, 90% of the instruction is in the “minority” language (i.e. spanish), with 10% in the “majority” language (english) beginning in kindergarten. the majority language then gradually increases with each grade level until the 5th grade, when curriculum and instruction is offered in both languages (baker, 1997; crawford, 1999; ovando, collier, & combs, 2003). based on a pluralistic ideology, this program aims to produce biliterate and bilingual students, as well as multicultural attitudes. research studies on dual language programs show a strong correlation between bilingualism and academic achievement (crawford, 1999). in the mid 1990s, abolishing an early-exit “bilingual” model, emma tenayuca school implemented a duallanguage program. this was the result of a university-community partnership that prepared the bilingual teachers within an additive language philosophy and practice. bilingual teachers, many who completed graduate studies in dual-language education, support this program because it is “designed to eliminate the academic achievement gap for english language learners and hispanic children. the program develops bilingualism and biliteracy in english and spanish in classrooms, where english language learners and english speakers are integrated” (emma tenayuca elementary, two languages…a world of opportunity, p. 1, 2006). it is within the sociohistorical and political context of language oppression and language rights that i examine and locate teachers’ memories of schooling as sources of healing and praxis, since many of the teachers experienced physical and psychological trauma from assimilationist practices in mexican, working-class, spanish speaking schools. i begin with juanita martinez, a third grade dual-language teacher who has been at emma tenayuca for 35 years, longer than any other teacher at the school. interestingly, she is also one of two teachers at tenayuca to have attended this school as a child. memories of racialized cultural violence in the barrio juanita martinez, who also goes by janie martinez, is a third-generation mexican american woman in her late fifties. her grandparents immigrated to san antonio, texas, from mexico. without formal education, her grandfathers worked as carpenters and plumbers and supplemented their wages as migrant workers, bringing along their wives and children to work the fields. without any education, her father worked as a gas station attendant, while her mother, who had some primary education, worked as a waitress. like her parents and grandparents, martinez grew up on san antonio’s westside and learned spanish as her first language. she is the first in her family to complete primary and secondary education, pursue higher education, and obtain professional employment as a bilingual education teacher. from denial of language and dehumanization to language empowerment martinez attended tenayuca elementary in the late 1950s when the main objective of instruction was americanization. like others of her generation, their memories of schooling are connected to the collective history of language oppression and cultural violence experienced by mexicans. she entered the first grade as a spanish dominant speaker. martinez’ first three years in elementary school were “really rough.” speaking about her schooling experience at tenayuca elementary, she recalls: “i cringe when i think about elementary school…i had very, very bad experiences here…it’s not something i like to think about.” she continues by describing an incident in which her teacher hit her for requesting to use the bathroom in spanish. when she tells me about this, her voice quivers. as she attempts to hold back her tears, she adds, “imagine being hit for wanting to go to the bathroom!” not only was she physically punished for speaking spanish, martinez also had to endure the discipline and control of the body as her teacher imposed english as the language of schooling. the violence she experienced for speaking spanish is only softened by martinez’ recollection of her mother’s encouragement for her to persevere and excel in her studies despite the physical and psychological trauma. “my mom always said, ‘mijita, haz todo lo que puedas—do all you can.’” this type of sociocultural muting over time shaped martinez to become “shy and reserved” as a result teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 63 of “not being able to speak english and not being allowed to speak spanish.” after being punished so many times for speaking spanish, before long, martinez “refused to speak it after learning to speak english in school.” despite these oppressive experiences, martinez opted to teach at emma tenayuca elementary where she has taught for over three decades, with the objective to create an empowering educational experience for mexican american students in her community. because of the linguistic trauma she survived, martinez became an active supporter of bilingual instruction in her school. when the school implemented the dual-language program in the mid-1990s, she supported the program’s goal of producing bilingual and biliterate children who were not ashamed of speaking spanish or identifying as mexicans. this was her way of giving back and redressing the damages done to her. however, this has not been an easy process. the injuries of language carried over into her daily professional life, initially establishing language boundaries to ensure she only spoke spanish in the classroom, fearing that at any moment her colleagues would hit her over the head or criticize her language abilities. as a working-class, spanish-speaking, mexican american woman, these traumatic schooling experiences shaped her personal and social identity. describing her path, martinez remembered how she had once rejected spanish and racialized signifiers associated with being mexican. as a child and adolescent, “i didn’t want to speak spanish... i didn’t want to dress like a mexicana.” by the time she was in college, she had already internalized the institutional racism that forced her to shed the spanish language. during her college years, she made every effort to shed all that marked her a mexican, expressing that her ethnicity had become a source of shame. when she graduated with her bachelor’s degree at the age of twenty-two, martinez demanded that the university write “janie” on her diploma rather than “juanita.” this is a story she had never told anyone. it was not until she participated in a conocimiento plática with other teachers at the school—thirty-five years after that experience— that she voiced her papelito guardado. in their book, telling to live: latina feminist testimonios (latina feminist group, 2001), the authors refer to papelitos guardados as hidden writing pieces that speak to the multiple forms of oppression they have experienced as women of color inside and outside of the academy. i use this term metaphorically so as to speak about the personal and institutional injuries that are kept as secrets by those who survive social and cultural violence in schools. the racialized cultural violence not only led her to anglicize her name in college, she also made the conscious decision to only speak english to her children as a way of protecting them from the trauma she experienced. while working at tenayuca elementary’s early-exit bilingual program, martinez did not teach her children to speak spanish, a decision she regrets today. placing the onus on her own personal loss, she offered: “i regret that there was so much that i could’ve learned, so many of the holidays i could have attended or taken part in and take for myself and taught my [children] that i didn’t. i didn’t want my kids speaking spanish…” to protect them from “what i went through.” through the retelling of her life history and sharing and reflecting on these memories, martinez has come to a greater awareness of the ways in which she internalized the racialized cultural violence as a child, as adolescent, and as young adult. in retrospect, martinez thinks about it differently. “now, i wish i had kept my language…i forgot it because when i was younger, i didn’t want to speak [spanish].” that is precisely the reason why, despite the language oppression and cultural loss, martinez sought employment at tenayuca after graduating from college—it was her desire to change the schooling experiences of spanishspeaking barrio school children. while she taught some spanish within the school’s early-exit bilingual program, she supported a university-community partnership to implement a dual-language program, the first of its kind in the community. unlike the early-exit bilingual model, which aims to transition students into english language instruction, the dual-language model values students’ linguistic and cultural knowledge and promotes bilingualism and biliteracy. like martinez, second-grade dual-language teacher, graciela linares, also supported the program to create an enriched educational experience for students. transnationalism as language validation and language practice linares, a third generation mexican american who grew up in san antonio’s westside, learned spanish as her first language. her maternal grandparents worked as self-sustaining farmers in mexico before immigrating to texas, where her grandfather died unexpectedly. as a single parent during the depression, her grandmother teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 64 sewed and cooked outside the home, and often pulled resources with other women in the family, to make a living amidst poverty. with only a third grade education, linares’ mother helped raise her siblings in the united states and made the best out of their poverty-stricken circumstances. “i think my mom had a ph.d. in life,” she adds. she emphasizes that from a very young age, these stories of survival taught linares about her “humble beginnings” and reminded her “not to forget where [she] came from.” in addition, she often traveled to her family’s rancho in mexico as a child, experiences which affirmed her cultural identity as a mexicana. even though her father spoke english, linares grew up speaking spanish as her first language. like colleagues of her generation, she remembers the teachers hitting students on the hand with a ruler and pinching their cheeks for speaking spanish. her brother also endured language oppression, but her younger sister, who passed as a “little anglo girl,” because of lighter complexion, did not experience similar nuances of racism. color privilege protected her sister from the injuries siblings experienced in school. in addition to being linguistically subtracted from her first language, linares also learned english within an americanization model, “repeatedly reading much about dick, jane and their dog.” within the context of the poor, working-class, spanish speaking schools of the westside, the dick and jane readers, which portrayed the idyllic life of white, middle-class children, were intended to instruct children in english, but also to socialize them into a culture of whiteness. as gilbert gonzalez (1997) notes, “the objective [of americanization] was to transform the mexican community into an english-speaking and american-thinking community” (p. 163). while linares does not remember exactly how she learned english, she was determined to learn it and resist school failure. she adds: i wasn’t going to let these people—the system—not let me learn. so as i started getting a little older, third, fourth, and fifth grades, i told myself, “i’m going to learn this and learn it to understand it, not just to mimic it.” i actually wanted to learn and understand what we were doing. linares recognized the consequences of not learning the dominant language at an early age and resisted academic exclusion at a time when schools systematically failed mexican students (valencia, 20002). she survived the “sink” or “swim” english language approach, transitioning to english by third grade. unlike martinez, who refused to identify as mexican, linares drew from her cultural knowledge in the barrio to forge a positive ethnic identity, bridging her frequent trips to mexico as a child to reinforce her cultural citizenship as a u.s.-born mexicana. as a bordercrosser, she learned to navigate multiple cultural codes in the westside barrio and in her family’s rancho. her classroom motto, a reflection of her lived experiences: “you can’t know where you’re going, unless you know where you come from,” evidences a philosophy she nurtures in her classroom so that her students are not ashamed of identifying as mexican, working class, and spanish-speaking. despite the racialized cultural violence she and other barrio teachers experienced in barrio schools, linares’ cultural ties to mexico provided her with the sustenance to overcome language oppression and americanization as a student, and the epistemological foundation to bridge academic and community knowledge as a teacher in her everyday teaching at tenayuca elementary. the trauma of schooling in americanization and language loss tomas huerta, a first grade general education teacher in his mid-fifties, also experienced similar schooling as janie martinez and graciela linares, but unlike his bilingual education colleagues, he privileges english-language and the middle class life of americanization in instruction, despite their collective histories of language oppression and cultural violence he has in common with his colleagues. huerta is an immigrant from nuevo laredo, mexico, who came to san antonio’s westside at the age of six. his mother was a stay-at-home mom, while his father worked as a carpenter, laborer, and steel worker until he secured a position as a manager at a fast food franchise. this provided huerta’s family with social status, which took him out of the housing projects to a small, modest home in the neighborhood. “we did move up going from the projects to our own home … it made a big difference … even though we were still poor, we had a bed, a tv, sofas, a refrigerator—things we didn’t have before.” huerta’s family and he continued to frequent mexico every weekend, maintaining connections teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 65 with their roots. however, as a teenager, he preferred to hang out with his neighborhood friends, and his father, who had responsibilities as a manager and worked weekends and longer hours, limited his visits to mexico. with fewer ties to mexico, it was then that huerta “started to become assimilated here.” like martinez and linares, huerta’s experience at school was traumatic. huerta attended various public schools in the westside where he contended with the injuries of language oppression. huerta recalls the collective experience of language oppression in elementary school, where teachers physically punished him and his peers for speaking spanish. “we were either hit, spanked … on the calves, on the palm of your hands, you know [shows me], behind your hands.” also, “they would ask us to kneel down in the corner with books in our hands and i remember and i think that was really traumatic.” according to him, his schooling experiences “had a big impact psychologically” and academically (valenzuela, 1999). like the latino students that angela valenzuela (1998) writes about, huerta attended schools that divested him and other students of color from their cultural knowledge, marginalizing them from the school culture and the process of learning. huerta has become aware that his subtractive schooling experiences have shaped his personal and social identity as a teacher. as a result of the teaching practices he experienced as a student, huerta developed anxiety towards academics—he was afraid of asking questions, he feared the consequences of not knowing, and amassed a “mental block” about learning. he adds, i couldn’t read. i couldn’t spell. i was afraid. and it stayed with me the rest of my life. and, it’s not that i was dumb or anything. it’s just that the teachers just put this fear into me that i was afraid every time we’d go to reading . . . i was already panicking, [feeling] like ‘what’s the next page. how do i do the reading?’ i was just terrified. i was just terrified. he still carries the trauma of those times. to this day, huerta sees himself as a “terrible speller” because of his experiences as a second language learner of english. in addition, during our pláticas, he often described himself as “not very articulate” like his colleagues who readily shared their ideas and concerns at faculty meetings; he often remained quiet and rarely spoke when in a group or public situation. i was rather surprised to hear him say this. every time i observed his classroom, he expressed himself quite eloquently and demonstrated a panaché for storytelling. however, i did notice that while he attended all of the faculty meetings, he seldom said a word, keeping to himself. initially, i attributed his detachment as disinterest. however, with time i understood his silence at meetings and his self-perception as “not very articulate” as sources of trauma. given the physical and emotional repercussions of his schooling, huerta told me that he developed a profound anger as a student. through our interviews, he has verbalized awareness that the injuries were in his “sub-conscious mind.” [the injuries were] always there . . . why i did certain things, why i acted a certain way—and it was all due because of that. because my parents didn’t know any better. también, they didn’t speak any english at all . . . so they really didn’t know how to handle it. they were just happy that we were in the united states and i was going to school. but they didn’t realize what i was going through. huerta’s schooling years gnawed at his self-concept. in huerta’s own words, he was “emotionally and psychologically destroyed or eaten up.” moreover, he adds that, “the teachers were really rough on us…they were really hard times and not just me, but on anyone who didn’t speak english. so that was real hard on me.” unlike his dual-language colleagues, huerta promotes english-first in his personal and professional life. as a father, he became “adamant about [his] kids not being in a bilingual program, telling them, ‘you’re gonna learn english. you’re gonna go [to an english classroom] because everything you do is gonna be in english.’” at one of the faculty meetings, one of huerta’s colleagues reflected on their schooling experiences, stating that they spoke english at the expense of spanish because of what happened to them as children. after hearing his colleagues share their ideas he told me that, it just clicked. and how naïve of me not to have seen all of this . . . i was kinda taken aback because i teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 66 said, ‘my god . . . how simple. the answer was so simple and i never saw the forest for the tree in front of my face … and that’s why basically, that’s why i feel the way i do or felt the way i did, the way, ‘well, my kids aren’t going to a bilingual classroom. they’re gonna learn english. that’s all they’re gonna do.’ as a result of language trauma, huerta made a conscious decision to privilege english as the language of learning. however, he only became aware of his decision, listening to other faculty members speak about the legacy of language oppression and the cultural violence that they experienced. this offered huerta a critical lens to reflect on his own lived experiences with language oppression. huerta’s evolving consciousness emerges as he interacts with his community of practice, as he reflects on how his schooling experiences shaped his parenting and his pedagogical beliefs and practices. the memories of schooling offered by martinez, linares, and huerta give insight to the ways in which the process of remembering is more than the recollection of past experiences. as teachers like huerta and martinez unearth the past, they articulate an awareness of the ways in which public schools fractured their cultural identities and shaped their personal and social identities. in voicing their race, class, and language experiences in school, these teachers came to a greater awareness of how schooling, as a process of linguistic violence and cultural loss, inscribed their academic success, ethnic and racial identity formation, and self-concept as mexican working class spanish speaking barrio students. for example, martinez became aware of internalizing race oppression as a result of the linguistic violence she experienced at tenayuca elementary school. as a result, she disassociated herself from the spanish language and other ethnic/racial markers to conform to anglo society because it marked her inferior as a mexican (montejano, 1987). as huerta became “subtracted” of his language, he performed poorly in school. as he traveled less to mexico, he identified less and less with mexico, and more as an “americanized” mexican. linares, who also experienced linguistic violence and a mainstream curriculum in school, embraced the spanish language and mexican culture. she learned english as a way of resisting academic failure and learned to navigate multiple cultural and geographic spaces inside and outside the barrio, asserting her right to learn the language of her everyday discourses as she maintained her spanish language abilities. memories of learning within a culture of low expectations with the exception of carolina rubio, who attended a prestigious public university in the midwest, all teachers i interviewed grew up in racially and class segregated working class barrios and attended schools that tracked mexican students to pursue vocational employment, regardless of whether or not they excelled in their studies. all were schooled inside a culture of low expectations. for example, huerta’s teachers did not expect him or his peers to graduate from high school much less pursue a college degree. “we were expected to go to trade school. ‘you’re gonna be a mechanic. you’re gonna be a plumber . . . a carpenter . . . that’s what it was . . . but not to go to college; oh, no way!” reminiscent of jim crow culture in rural schools, where anglo farmers and politicians mis-educated mexicans, urban schools relegated mexican students to a racialized dual-wage economy, where they continued to work in low-status and low-paying employment (montejano, 1987). in writing about the experience of urbanized mexicans before world war ii, montejano notes, “the urban situation for the majority of mexicans was not vastly different from that found in the rural areas, in spite of some concessions…. ‘urbanization’ merely signified the geographic expansion of segregation” (p. 265). like huerta the majority of mexican students were not expected to attain a higher education and were systematically funneled into vocational tracks to reproduce the existing race and class arrangements (montejano, 1987; and valencia, 2000). mis-education through the discipline of sports huerta suffered academically throughout his primary and secondary education. in elementary school, he began to play baseball and by middle school he had decided to play semi-professionally. still, he recalled that, “no one told me i couldn’t play in college unless i did good.” with regret in his voice over what could have been, he said, “no one ever pulled me aside, guided, and directed me or told me, ‘look, if you don’t study, educate teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 67 yourself, all this athletic ability you have is not going to do you any good.’” even though his coach “helped [him] develop as a player,” by encouraging him to become the best player, “the academic part was never there, not from the counselors, not from the coaches, except from dr. valdez,” his former seventh grade teacher who encouraged him to go to college. he continues, “no one was there for mexicanos. there was no one to tell mexicanos, ‘don’t be pendejos [dumb].’ do well in school. if not, you can’t play.” throughout our pláticas, huerta criticized the school system for failing him academically. still, while he believes that he did not become a professional baseball player because of his low academic record, huerta offers that he was not destined to become a professional sports player. instead, he is confident he was destined to become a teacher so that he could make a difference in the lives of mexican american students through english language instruction. scholarship mexicanos and their self-made trajectory graciela linares also experienced low expectations in westside schools, despite her good grades and leadership. in high school, linares played in band, maintained satisfactory grades, and became involved in student council. however, teachers and the administration overlooked her potential to further her education. “the biggest deficit or shortcoming of the school administration was [that they held on to that] ‘i-don’tthink-you’regoing–to-college mentality.’” as she states, there were only a few handful, a dozen [students] that counselors spoke to all the time, and said ‘you’re going to college.’ i wasn’t on that list. and, not just me, but i felt others were being oppressed and discriminated against, ignored … displaying the resentment of being overlooked, she added, “no one ever talked to me about going to [college], bettering my life, being successful. i did well in school . . . no one ever explained these things to me . . . i just felt ignored.” because she lacked the social capital the school values, she was treated differently from those who were identified as college bound. linares also recalls that as a high school student, she became aware of the ways in which schooling shaped her peers’ identity, particularly those who excelled in their studies. she recalled: the students who were the elite, were very americanized in their mannerism. i would eat bean tacos for lunch and they were like ‘ugh!’ so, their ways had changed …their mannerisms and their way of thinking. and maybe because of their parents they were socialized that way. at home, we had fideo [vermicelli] and beans…but you could tell the difference between the elite students and those of us who were ignored because we were still eating beans. linares associated poverty and economic class status to her academic neglect. she adds, “i probably didn’t have those thoughts when i was in high school, but as i’ve grown, matured, and experienced, i’ve realized that.” in other words, as a more class and race conscious educator, linares has become aware of how these “elite” students enacted their race and class privilege and sense of superiority over their working-class peers. in order to succeed, they disassociated from anything mexican, including eating food that marked them as working class. attending high school in the late 1960s, ismael balderrama spoke about not being encouraged to pursue higher education, even though he ranked high in his graduating class and participated in his school’s band, where he developed a life long love for music. with limited possibilities of going to college, he contemplated joining the army. his high school, which had an army office to recruit young men into the vietnam war, “made it so easy to enlist.” however, rather than follow that path, he took his family’s advice and enrolled in a community college where “there were very few mexicanos [mexicans].” telling me about the way he saw his educational preparation, he adds, “i wasn’t smart enough to have anybody tell me to apply for a scholarship. i didn’t know that. i graduated tenth out of 300, but i never applied for a scholarship. i wasn’t planning on going to college.” the education system failed balderrama and linares even though they excelled in school, reflecting the pervasive structural inequality that mexicans face in public schools (valencia, 2000). he also remembers the 1968 walkouts, where he and other students in the edgewood independent teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 68 school district protested the inequitable conditions. this walkout launched the rodriguez versus san antonio independent school district case, one of the most important school finance reform cases in the country. this lawsuit is considered a chicano civil rights landmark case that went to the supreme court in 1972 (acuña 2001; kozol, 1992). balderrama remembers, “i was a freshman so i didn’t know what the hell was going on, but everybody walked out of the school and i said, ‘hey, get outta class!’” while he adds that, “i didn’t know what the hell was going on,” his narrative suggests that this is when he started to interrogate the quality of education, availing a glimpse into the educational inequality in his community. i joined the walk out . . . we marched down to the central office . . . i didn’t know what we were protesting, but we wanted the same opportunities everybody else had. and things were bad in edgewood. the school was broken down—the windows were broken—missing equipment, not enough books. it wasn’t that good. there were a lot of things that were wrong. we needed money, but we didn’t have the money in the community … that’s the way it was. his re-telling of the story suggests that even though he claims to not have been “politically knowledgeable” and that he “didn’t know what we were doing,” balderrama was aware of the structural inequalities and the ongoing struggle for educational justice in his community. he recognized that “there were a lot of things that were wrong” because he lived inside the educational inequality and poverty of his barrio. the memories of schooling by linares, huerta, and balderrama give insight to the ways in which these teachers understand the culture of schooling as a system of social reproduction in working-class, barrio schools where mexican children were academically neglected, even when they were stellar students in their community. their memories of schooling are inscribed in their everyday teaching as they teach within a culture of high expectations where college is an attainable, if not expected goal for their students. for example, huerta became aware of the culture of low expectations for barrio children as a result of the lack of encouragement to do well academically. as a result, he was not able to pursue higher education right after high school, even though he was a star athlete, but instead enlisted in the army to serve in the vietnam war. linares and balderrama were both in band and were ranked high in their class. however, neither were encouraged to pursue higher education, leaving them to struggle. linares worked as a secretary after high school, while balderrama enrolled in a community college. their memories serve as sites of knowledge as they theorize barrio schooling, as well as sites of resistance as they create a culture of high expectations for their students at tenayuca elementary. “catching up” – speaking out against educational inequality in barrio schools teachers’ historias of language oppression, cultural violence, negligence, and the structural inequalities they faced in their schools (from funding to curricular materials), experienced in mexican barrio schools evoked anger, resentment, confusion, and tension. like the teachers, these were emotions that i had learned to carefully negotiate, if not dismiss, in my formation as a mexicana working class scholarship girl. as a second-generation working class mexican female in the u.s., i was an outsider to the culture of academia. like the teachers in this study, their narratives become a mirror for viewing our common catching up experiences. i knew what it was like to “catch up” and negotiate a new culture—its practices, ideologies, and cultural expectations—as a firstgeneration college educated chicana. with the exception of one teacher, the participants in this study are first generation college-educated. when balderrama enrolled in a community college in san antonio, he thought, “‘i can’t compete with these people.’” but, later he found out, “‘hey, these bolillos [anglos] aren’t that smart. i’m smarter than they.’ so, it was okay. even though i didn’t have the same opportunities, i learned a lot in college and i was able to catch up.” college was a new cultural and psychological environment for balderrama. being new to the culture of academia, he asserts, what was difficult was that i didn’t have nobody to look up to that had been to college so i couldn’t ask anybody any questions like ‘what was it like?’ or ‘what’s it gonna be like?’ i had no idea what it was going to be like. i didn’t even know if i could make it in college, but i did . . . it’s a big step for me, from the westside to teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 69 becoming a teacher because i didn’t start off with a lot of opportunities that a lot of people do. when he says that he went “from the westside to becoming a teacher,” he is not only speaking about being an outsider to academia but also to the privilege of having become part of the middle-class culture, as a firstgeneration college educated mexican american from a working class background. huerta also learned the extent of his mis-education in college, an experience he was able to access through the support of his seventh grade teacher who continued to mentor him. also, from the support of his college professors, and long hours of day and night school, huerta succeeded in his coursework and earned a bachelor’s in education. he was the first in his family to obtain a college degree, although tomas huerta had to enroll in day school, night school and summer school for four consecutive years to “catch up” and finish his degree like “the normal kids.” with little academic preparation, huerta became aware of the inequitable education he had obtained in predominantly mexican public schools. his first year in college was very difficult. “i thought, ‘i can’t be any more of an idiot.’ they were up here [points up to his head] and i was down here [points to the ground]” academically. he felt “very, very embarrassed” about his abilities in college. he continues, i wanted to hide. i couldn’t talk like the rest of the kids that came from alamo heights, the northside, whose families were very well off. i mean my oral language was terrible. my vocabulary was at the bottom of the barrel. and i heard these people talk and i couldn’t understand what they were saying. one of his professors made the commitment to work with huerta if he did his part, which he did by meeting with him before and after class started. this professor taught him writing skills, such as looking up words in the thesaurus and how to write essays—skills that many of his peers already had in college. throughout the first year, huerta worked hard at playing catch up, learning “what i didn’t learn in four years in high school.” his other professor offered constant motivation, always telling him, ‘come on tomas, you can do it.’” he describes these professors as teachers who “understood what we had gone through, coming back from vietnam, where we came from [the community], the schools, edgewood. they knew what was going on. they knew what it was all about.” by his junior year, huerta excelled in his studies and thrived in his education courses, completing his studies “like the normal kids” in four years. while a message of democratic education has continued to evolve in san antonio, through this project and my own personal experience, i have concluded that mexicans continue to contend with educational inequality, a form of oppression that includes racialized language oppression, a culture of low expectations, and a differentiated curriculum where mexicans are schooled within vocational tracks that promote work in san antonio’s downtown tourist industry. in their historias, huerta and balderrama unearthed their feelings of frustration, anger, and resentment they experienced from “catching up” in college—learning what they believe they should have learned in their primary and secondary education. in doing so, they spoke against the mis-education they endured in westside schools. their historias offer knowledge about the ways in which segregated, barrio schools reproduced race and class arrangements in san antonio where mexicans were expected to seek vocational tracks, rather than pursue higher education. while they were never encouraged to pursue higher education, they did with little or no support, and excelled despite the legacy of educational inequality in mexican, working-class schools. navigating racial microagressions in higher education carolina rubio, the youngest of the teachers interviewed, did not grow up in the mexican, working-class barrios of san antonio’s westside. among all the participants i observed or interviewed, rubio was the only one whose family helped her navigate both schooling and home cultures. as a cultural bordercrosser rubio stands out as the exception because of her status as second-generation college educated. “my family was very supportive. they were the ones who emphasized the maintenance of identity. and my parents were educated. they were proud to be chicanos. they didn’t immigrate from méxico so they had an understanding of both cultures and could move in and out. and they set a large example for me. so, that helped me become who i was teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 70 as far as my identity.” in other words, their cultural and schooling experiences provided rubio with the cultural capital to navigate school and home cultures. while she credits her family for shaping her bicultural and bilingual identity, rubio states, “i didn’t really feel like i had ownership of [my identity] until i went to [the university] because i had to present myself that way and because there were so few of us [mexican americans], we had to represent the people that way.” she adds, “whenever we did something, it was assumed it was what mexicans did.” it was in college where rubio experienced what solorzano (1998) calls microagressions, unconscious and subtle forms of racism that take place in private conversations and interactions with whites. rubio’s memories of microaggressions in college offer much insight about the ways in which she negotiated the collegiate racial climate at a predominantly white campus, and the ways in which these experiences now inform her teaching practices. after high school, rubio pursued her undergraduate studies at a prestigious university in the midwest where she majored in biology. in a campus that was predominantly white, she and other students of color were “clearly a minority.” as she states, “there were a lot of questions about who i was. i was often asked to identify myself and my ethnicity and it was difficult for me.” this was a time of intense debates about affirmative action, which “made it very difficult, especially in classroom discussions, dorm room discussions, about whether or not i belonged there as a hispanic and as a female.” given the hostile environment, rubio changed her major to latino studies and spanish “because i felt i needed information to defend myself for my position [in college]. my grades didn’t seem sufficient. the social pressure that was placed on me at the time, i was very defensive and i actually became quite an activist on campus.” due to the limited representation of ethnic groups on campus, rubio realized that she was not only representing herself but also mexicans/chicanos as a whole. she recalls the time one of her friends introduced her to a group of white students as the “mexican” friend because many of them had never seen a mexican before in the midwest. she was, needless to say, angry that her friend hadn’t distinguished other people’s ethnic/racial background (‘john, he’s jewish.’). this was one of the many times she realized “i was representing a people. i wanted to make sure i made a positive impression, that they had a clear understanding of not only my personal background, but the background of our people.” it was these experiences that led her to develop closer networks with other chicanas/os and people of color. “i didn’t want to be with anybody else. i wanted to be with our people and for our cause. i know that a lot of my anglo friends had a hard time with that. ‘what do you mean, ‘my people?’ your cause?’ i wanted to ensure that the community i grew up with will be there for the children i will have. for that to happen, i need to make sure we promote the language and culture.” to contest dominant notions of affirmative action as a form of tokenization, she and other student activists participated in multicultural student organizations to assert that she and other students of color were there on her own merit. in addition, she participated in school programs in latina/o communities. most of her activism focused on education, even her one-on-one experiences. whether it was in the dorm or cafeteria or classroom, rubio “challenged her peers for their thoughts” in an attempt to disrupt their assumptions about “hispanics.” as she states, “i knew that education was valued and important [in my family] and when i was in [college], i realized it was the only way that people changed their mind, where people realize things.” going to michigan alone was “frightening, yet empowering.” she understood her parents’ insistence on going to an outof-state university, because it gave her alternative view of the social world. conclusion through historias, conocimiento, and pláticas, i have unearthed and examined teachers’ memories of schooling to better understand the ways in which schooling shapes the personal, social and professional lives of mexican descent teachers. naming the source of their oppression—whether teachers, administrators, or the “system”—teachers contest unequal and assimilationist practices based on their lived experience. critical theorists, donaldo macedo and ana maria araujo, argue that reflexive knowledge is the process of “the sharing of experiences” and that these “must always be understood within a social praxis that entails both reflection and political action. in short, it must always involve a political project with the objective of dismantling oppressive teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 71 structures and mechanisms” (in freire, 1998, p. xiv). teachers’ memories of schooling implicate power and agency. as they made sense of their personal and social identities, ethnicity was framed through their racialized and class experiences. moreover, these teachers link their schooling experiences to the historical legacy of mis-education, language oppression, and cultural violence, often referring to the hidden injuries experienced by working-class, spanish speaking, and mexican americans in the barrio. their historias suggest that they live with the memory of historical trauma, displacement, and pain associated with oppression. in this project, they are not merely sharing their stories or engaging in self-therapy (macedo & araujo, 1998), they are voicing their legacies of pain to document their experiences as teachers who have been mis-educated within public education, as well as voicing their commitment to creating a more transformative culture of schooling that values the knowledge students bring to their classrooms. similarly to juanita martinez, who had never shared her story about anglicizing her name, teachers in this study demonstrate an awareness of their oppression, with rubio displaying consciousness about the colonizing impact of the curriculum. these teachers have become aware of the ways in which their own schooling experiences have prepared them to teach as evidenced in their pedagogical practices, in their communities of upbringing, having examined the subordination they survived as mexican working-class students in the barrio, naming the cultural violence they endured as racialized students in mexican schools. while none of the teachers use a radical discourses of domination, mis-education, and cultural violence they experienced in schools, they name the source of their oppression and come to what donaldo macedo calls a “cultural voice” (in freire, 2000, p. 12). revisiting and reflecting on these members is an emotional process that necessarily leads to personal transformation or what chicana feminist gloria anzaldúa theorizes as the “coatlicue state.” these teachers have charted a way station or a way of life as they begin to re-create, re-piece, and re-invent their personal and social identity through reflexive memory-work. it is by reflecting on these cultural injuries that teachers move in and out of resistance, internalized oppression, decolonization, to create transformative change in their community of practice, even when it means teaching students to deal with the structural inequalities—racism, classism, and language oppression—and assimilationist ideologies that they will continue to face. as they have reflected on their schooling, these teachers have come to a greater awareness of their own subjectivity. they have learned to see themselves as teachers who are not merely servants of the state who disseminate official curricula, but as barrio teachers whose philosophical orientation is informed by their chicana/o working class barrio ethos. as teachers who grew up in the barrio, they bring cultural wealth as mexican people who have struggled to understand their racialized schooling experience in a dual-wage economy that did not imagine them as potential agents of change. as a result of their own schooling experiences and the injuries they survived, these teachers made the conscious decision to teach at emma tenayuca school to transform the culture of schooling in the barrio. teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 72 references acuña, r. (2000). occupied america: a history of chicanos (4th edition). new york: longman. anzaldúa, g. (2007). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza (3rd ed.). san francisco: auntlute books. baker, c. (1997). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (2nd ed.). philadelphia: multilingual matters ltd. crawford, j. (1999). bilingual education: history, politics, theory, and practice (4th ed.). los angeles: bilingual educational services. cummins, j. (1989). empowering minority students. sacramento, california: california association for bilingual education. delgado bernal, d. (2001). chicana/o education from the civil rights era to the present. in d.j. bixler márquez, c.f. ortega, r. solorzano torres, & l.g. lafarelle (eds.), chicano studies: survey and analysis. dubuque, iowa: kendall/hunt publishing company. emma tenayuca elementary school (2006). two languages… a world of opportunity. san antonio, texas. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppression (m. bergman ramos, trans). new york: continuum. freire, p. (1998). teachers as cultural workers: letters to those who dare teach (d. macedo, d. loike, and a. oliveira, trans). boulder, co: westview press. freire, p. (2000). education for critical consciousness (m.b. ramos, trans). new york: continuum books. garcía, m. (1989). mexican americans: leadership, ideology, & identity, 1930-1960. new haven, connecticut: yale university press. gonzalez, g. (1997). culture, language, and the americanization of mexican children. in a. darder, r.d. torres, & h. gutierrez (eds.), latinos and education, pp. 158-173. new york: routledge. hooks, b. & mesa-bains, a. (2006). homegrown: engaged cultural criticism. boston: south end press. kozol, j. (1992). savage inequalities: children in america’s schools. new york: harper perennial. latina feminist group (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. north carolina: duke university press. montejano, d. (1987). mexicans and anglos in the making of texas, 1836-1986. austin,tx: university of texas press. nieto, s. (2004). affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of multicultural education (4th ed.). boston: pearson at school and allyn & bacon, inc. ovando, c.j., collier, v.p., & combs, m.c. (2003) bilingual and esl classrooms: teaching in multicultural contexts (3rd ed.). boston: mcgraw hill. solórzano, d. (1998). critical race theory, race and gender microaggressions, and the experience of chicana and chicano scholars. qualitative studies in education, 11, 1, 121-136. valencia, r. (2002). chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (2nd ed.). new york: routledge/falmer. valenzuela, a. (1998). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, new york: state university of new york press. teachers’ memories of schooling: the sociocultural injuries and the mis-education of mexican teachers in the barrio association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 7 introduction: immigrant latina/o youth and illegality: challenging the politics of deservingness genevieve negrón-gonzales1 university of san francisco leisy j. abrego university of california, los angeles kathleen coll university of san francisco on september 23, 2015, 5-year-old sophie cruz made headlines when she crossed security lines to run to pope francis during his visit to washington, d.c. despite heavy security, sophie successfully delivered her message—an appeal for his support for the implementation of deferred action for parents of us citizen and legal permanent resident children (dapa). sophie’s undocumented parents stand to benefit from the legislative action announced by president obama in november 2014, but at the time of this writing, anti-immigrant forces in congress have mounted legal challenges to indefinitely stall the implementation of the program. as this political spectacle plays out at the federal, state, and local levels, draconian immigration policies continue to tear families apart, create a climate of fear, and criminalize the immigrants whose labor contributes crucially to keeping this nation afloat. in this context, children like sophie have fought for—and at times won—the opportunity to make their case in the court of public opinion for greater inclusion. not all children, however, are represented in the media with sympathy, nor are their messages received so enthusiastically by those in power. the notions of innocence and inherent value that are commonly associated with white children in u.s. society have often been denied to immigrant latinos and other children of color. in this special issue, we bring together a set of papers that examines the particularities of how latino immigrant children and youth are both included and excluded from rights and protections in this country, particularly on questions of “illegality.” the authors in this issue critically explore the boundaries that are constantly being drawn and redrawn to include and exclude children of immigrants and immigrant young people, for whom age alone does not guarantee basic rights. within the dialogue across regions, disciplines, and age groups that the papers represent, we center the notion of deservingness. deservingness, as we apply it here, refers to a method of discipline that is based in a politics of respectability. deservingness sets the rubric against which society determines the worthiness of immigrants to access basic human rights; it is a process with roots in decades past, part of an ongoing effort to further re-entrench borders both literal and figurative. in the summer of 2014, tens of thousands of children and families made headlines as they crossed into the u.s. through the southern border fleeing multiple forms of violence. the sorting of bodies takes place at various points throughout the process, in countries of origin and as u.s. trade and foreign policies stratify migrants’ designations of worthiness by nationality, class, race, gender, and sexuality. in this special issue, our focus is on designations of worthiness that begin at the border but stretch beyond this entry point; where mexican youth are summarily deported without the possibility of any official review of their claims; where unaccompanied central american children and youth are detained and then allowed to remain with sponsors around the country only while they await court hearings that will likely lead to deportation orders; and where adult women travelling with their children are transferred to now-infamous for-profit immigrant family prisons. although such movement across borders is not new, the summer of 2014 was the first time in recent memory that mainstream media exposed large numbers of the u.s. public to images of refugee children in this country packed into bare rooms, sleeping on the floor, in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in makeshift detention centers. a collective, if short-lived, outrage at the treatment of these central american children was simultaneously accompanied by angry nativist protests that blocked buses of children and their families from entering towns, inspiring counter-demonstrations by people who argued for their basic human rights as refugee children. anti-refugee protestors spoke of the children as dangerous, germ-carrying invaders, while supporters invoked 1 each author contributed equally. immigrant latina/o youth and illegality association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 8 notions of innocent childhood, a discursive move that despite being well-intentioned, served to distinguish the children’s deservingness from their adult counter-parts, including their own parents. the media coverage and competing actions illuminated the ways in which children are caught up in the cross-hairs of a violent u.s. immigration system inextricably tied to foreign and trade policies. more than a year later, and despite ongoing efforts from a broad range of advocates, lawyers, scholars, and faith leaders, these children’s rights continue to be denied. there is insufficient will in the u.s. to extend humanitarian relief or refugee designations to brown children displaced by poverty, war and violence. by the summer of 2015, when media attention turned to the refugee crisis in europe, the images and stories of mesoamerican refugees had all but disappeared from public view and public consciousness. despite the opportunity to draw parallels about the horrors of forced migration around the globe and the practices and policies that fuel exodus, the conversation in this country has turned to a disdain for “foreign” regimes, sympathy for the overwhelmed european receiving countries, and debates about whether governors have the legal right to block syrian refugees from entering their states. the refugee babies washed ashore and the migrant bodies languishing in detention centers quickly recede into the forgotten annals of the u.s. collective conscience. on another front, u.s.-based undocumented and daca-recipient youth continue to demand a more just immigration system. a movement that was initially marked by an upholding of values of innocence and inherent value of children has since evolved along multiple lines, often including a critique and rejection of tropes that uphold the boundary between deserving youth/children and undeserving adults/parents. many of the undocumented young people designated as “deserving” within and through these binaries are collectively pushing back against the devastating consequences that these politics of respectability have had for others in their own communities. some of these young people are now also at the forefront of fighting for the rights of refugee children, denouncing the practices and policies that suspend dignity and humanity for refugees. undocumented youth in the immigrant rights movement continue mobilizing to put an end to the reprehensible immigrant detention and deportation system devastating their families and communities. careful attention to their stories reveals the dangerous inadequacy of formulations that reduce them to ideal types of deserving/undeserving objects of sympathy or tragic figures “caught between two worlds.” by exposing the complexity of subjectivities, tremendous diversity of experiences, and messiness of their full humanity, we hope this collection of academic articles and creative works contributes to undocumented latina/o youths’ own efforts to demand recognition of their rights. as editors, we draw on our many years of experience in various sectors of the immigrant rights movement—the undocumented student movement, immigrant women and domestic worker rights movements, and central american solidarity work—to bring attention to the temporality of the issues covered in this collection. undocumented youth have lived through vast changes in policy, organizing tactics, and discourses over the past 15 years. some have benefited from daca, many have access to new (though temporary and conditional) rights and privileges, and their movement is continually redefining itself, trying to be more inclusive while also limited by a pervasively xenophobic political context. while there are various narratives that intersect with the lives of undocumented youth at this current historical moment, the politics of deservingness continues to be centrally deployed to sort, prioritize, and ascertain worthiness of immigrant groups. this special issue is devoted to a critique of deservingness as an axis of stratification and as the metric by which immigration policy is debated and decided. the articles in this collection highlight the complex and important ways in which the experiences and institutional interactions of refugee children, undocumented youth, and young immigrants are both distinct and interconnected. challenging notions of deservingness that distinguish between “good” and “bad” immigrants, contributors share a structural analysis of the categories and associated experiences of childhood and youth. the goal of this special issue is to contribute to the body of critical immigration scholarship that grapples with the production of illegality, citizenship as a commodity, and a disruption of the deserving/undeserving immigrant narrative. we have included pieces that complicate the contemporary conversation about undocumented young people as well as those that problematize the myth of a u.s. context that protects childhood and families of color. the special issue brings together conversations about “dreamers,” unaccompanied migrant children, deported youth, and undocumented workers to analyze the current immigration system and consider ways to end the institutional violence it engenders. immigrant latina/o youth and illegality association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 9 leigh patel’s theoretical essay draws from legal case law, educational research and policy to explore the trope of deservingness as a form of racialized legitimacy, examining how deservingness acts as a discourse of racialization, narrating across racially minoritized groups to reinstantiate the benefits for the racially majoritized. lindsay perez-huber utilizes a latina/o critical theory framework to analyze national newsprint media coverage of dreamers and central american unaccompanied children. she finds that constructions of “deservingness” are divergently employed in these narratives that assign values of non-nativeness to both groups to justify continued subordination. jennifer nájera examines how the activism of undocumented college students in southern california’s inland empire is productive of not only new political subjectivities, but also contributes to new forms of teaching and learning by explicitly challenging the hierarchies and divisions that the ideology of deservingness fosters among and between undocumented students, immigrant students, latina/o students and their non-latina/o peers and professors. shannon gleeson’s article analyzes the impact of immigration discourse and policies such as daca and the u-visa on immigrant youth and young immigrant low-wage workers in houston and the san francisco bay area. she argues that young adult workers are structured into the us economy as “institutional youth” with exclusionary consequences. katie dingeman-cerda, edelina burciaga, and lisa martínez combine their diverse research projects and results from multiple sites with dacamented, formerly documented, and deported migrants in el salvador to reveal how structural conditions lead to different experiences and understandings of the politics of deservingness. luisa heredia’s work explores how undocumented youth are using their liminal legal status and their valorized social status to access and challenge invisible spaces of migration control and the technologies of discipline enacted on migrants. chantiri ramirez resendiz and aracely mondragon contribute creative pieces to this special issue, illuminating the connection between the structural and the personal. finally, kathleen arnold provides a review of alfonso gonzales’s, reform without justice, a book that centers analysis on how the politics of deservingness have played out in the immigrant rights movement in the context of securitization and the “war on terror.” while articles in the volume highlight problems that emerge when the immigrant rights movement mobilizes tropes of deservingness in service of administrative relief and legislative reform, they also call attention to the structures of violence that enforce the ideology of deservingness; u.s. intervention, global capitalism, geopolitics, and racism are all implicated in this multi-layered migration regime. children from mexico and central america would not have a need to risk their lives and place themselves in the path of such violence if they were not being expelled from their home countries. the lack of educational and economic opportunities along with the growing insecurity can all be traced back and identified as devastating consequences of u.s. foreign and trade policies in the region. humane refugee policy would recognize most of these youth as meritorious of protected, refugee status; instead, these young people confront a racialized enforcement regime that discursively and materially denies them their humanity in service to a political-economic regime that depends upon accelerating social inequality rather than equity or justice. for those already based in the united states, the struggle over the politics of deservingness is about challenging the idea that one monolithic dreamer experience, frame, or political platform exists. rather than seeing undocumented youth as “caught between two worlds” or in some “grey area between two ideals” we seek to re-center the racialized experiences of migrant latino youth within the structural context of the deportation regime. divisions amongst un/deserving undocumented youth align with other fundamental drivers of inequality in the u.s., where meritocratic rationales are still employed to explain disparate opportunities and outcomes for youth that are structurally determined by nationality, age, race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. in the wake of persistent state violence against children of color and their families for generations, rejecting the politics of respectability and hierarchies of deservingness requires recognition of the potential for solidarities between communities of color and the institutional-rootedness of these conditions. to return to the story of little sophie cruz, the fact that she and her family appeared in the media at all is a testament to grassroots immigrant rights organizing in los angeles. these activists seized the opportunity of pope francis’ visit in light of his advocacy for “welcoming the stranger” everywhere from refugees of the war in syria arriving in europe to immigrants arriving to the u.s. from economically and politically ravaged oaxaca. mobilizing key tropes of deservingness, the exceptionally articulate five-year-old sophie asserted (in perfect english and spanish, for multiple audiences) her parents’ right to remain in the u.s. based on their desire of a better life for their family. sophie’s interjection in the immigration debate and national discourse about who has the immigrant latina/o youth and illegality association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 10 right to belong helps undermine hierarchies of deservingness in law and in discourse by demanding attention to the humanity of undocumented immigrant subjects, especially undocumented youth but also their often mixed status families. as editors, our goal in this project has been to contribute to the reframing of a politic of “illegality”; one that rejects categories of un/deservingness that divide immigrants in the us, as well as those that reify distinctions between politically convenient refugees fleeing military violence and changing political regimes versus those escaping structural violence of poverty and global inequality. humane immigration policies should recognize all subjects as equally deserving of the right to work, shelter, education, family integrity, and to live without fear of violence. critical immigration scholarship must contest narratives of deserving/undeserving immigrants that correspond with the discursive and intellectual production of illegality and its violent consequences, while always contextualizing movement across borders within a global neoliberal capitalist system. the articles in this volume, along with the creative works and reviewed book, are diverse in focus, theoretical and methodological approaches, yet together they offer resources for social analysis and political critique of an untenable immigration system and the ideologies of division and hierarchy amongst immigrant subjects that help sustain it. immigrant latina/o youth and illegality association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 31 methods and beyond methods and beyond: learning to teach latino bilingual learners in mainstream secondary3 classes laura schall-leckrone lesley university christina pavlak quinnipiac university abstract this article reports empirical evidence about the influence of a pre-service methods course on preparing aspiring and practicing content teachers to work with adolescent bilingual learners in secondary schools. qualitative methods were used to analyze the extent to which participants developed abilities to plan instruction and to think complexly about instruction for bilingual learners in mainstream classes. data sources included surveys, observations, interviews, and student work including an electronic blog. findings suggest that although participants felt more prepared to teach bilingual learners, their skill in planning instruction for bilingual learners and ability to think complexly about such instruction varied. secondary content teachers also recognized roles as language teachers and advocates for immigrant and bilingual adolescents. further research is recommended to follow participants into the classroom, provide site-based coaching, observe continued teacher development, and assess pupil learning. acknowledgements: we would like to thank marilyn cochran-smith for introducing us to practitioner research, audrey friedman for supporting our efforts, and lauri johnson for providing helpful feedback on an early draft of this article. introduction throughout the united states, schools are experiencing a dramatic increase in the enrollment of latino youth who are rapidly immersed in “english-only” classes due to political and financial pressures as well as the accountability mandates of no child left behind and race to the top (lucas & grinberg, 2008; pandya, batalova, & mchugh, 2011). currently, latino bilingual learners (bls)4 must learn academic content through english as they develop english proficiency to pass high stakes assessments in english (lucas, villegas, & freedson-gonzalez, 2008). yet the vast majority of teachers have received little to no training to teach culturally and linguistically diverse youth (lucas & grinberg, 2008). given these factors, it is no surprise that the academic achievement of latino bls lags behind native english-speaking peers on virtually all education measures (seeking effective policy for ells, 2007). as a matter of social justice, teacher education programs must equip all teachers to work with latino bls. accordingly, in this article we assess the influence of coursework within a teacher education program on preparing secondary teachers to teach bls in english language arts, history, math, science, and world languages classes. teacher education programs with an explicit social justice mission envision a dual role for teachers: they provide quality instruction to all learners in the status quo while working to transform educational systems from within (cochran-smith, 2010). arguably, the most important component of a social justice teaching practice is the ability to teach diverse learners well (mcdonald & zeichner, 2010). aspiring teachers can learn to implement 3. with our title, we pay tribute to bartolomé, l. (1994). beyond the methods fetish: toward a humanizing pedagogy. harvard educational review, 64(2), 173-194, whose work influenced our study. 4. we use the asset-based term “bilingual learners” instead of “english language learners” (ells) to represent these students in recognition of the fact that another language—spanish— is spoken at home. our research focuses on the population of bls that is still developing academic english proficiency prerequisite to school success. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 32 methods and beyond research-based instructional approaches that have been developed to teach bls in content classes. for example, the sheltered immersion observation protocol (siop) was designed to guide planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective mainstream instruction for bls (echevarria, vogt & short, 2013). with siop lessons, content and language objectives are identified, presented, and enacted through a variety of instructional practices (echevarría, et al., 2013). see table 1 for six siop tenets of effective instruction.5 table 1: siop tenets of effective instruction (adapted from echevarría, et al., 2013) tenet 1 activate prior knowledge and build background tenet 2 provide comprehensible input tenet 3 teach learning strategies and strategic thinking tenet 4 create varied opportunities for student engagement and interaction tenet 5 provide opportunities for students to practice and apply knowledge using all communicative modes tenet 6 review and assess learning objectives and provide feedback to students siop teachers first activate prior knowledge and build background knowledge, for instance, by teaching key vocabulary. they provide comprehensible input by using extra-linguistic scaffolds such as visuals and graphic organizers, speaking clearly, and using gestures. they model strategic thinking and explicitly teach learning strategies, then create opportunities for students to engage in structured interactions through group/partner activities using all communicative modes: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. siop teachers assess students’ mastery of content and language objectives, provide feedback and review their objectives at the lesson’s conclusion. researchers suggest that siop methods engage bls in rigorous content learning in mainstream settings and improve learning outcomes (echevarria, et al., 2013; echevarría, short & powers, 2006; short & echevarría, 1999). nonetheless, teaching is more than a technical matter or a “politically neutral activity” (bartolomé, 1994, p.178; cochran-smith, 2010); faithful mastery of particular teaching techniques does not guarantee student learning (bartolomé, 2004). teachers also must learn to critically examine instructional methods— intended to increase access to academic content—to understand their actual impact on diverse learners. as richert, donahue, and laboskey (2010) noted in regard to teaching students of color, but also applicable to working with latino bls: [t]eachers need to learn . . . pedagogical approaches that have resulted in high achievement for students of color, but not in a rote fashion. if new teachers are to employ these strategies appropriately, they must understand their philosophical, theoretical, and empirical justifications. (p. 645) in other words, teachers must think critically about instructional methods and the learning needs of bls within the current accountability culture of u.s. schools (bartolomé, 1994; sleeter, 2009). along these lines, cochransmith (2010) suggests it is not just about “what teachers do” but “how [they] think about their work” (p. 454, emphasis in original). as part of teacher preparation, bartolomé (2004) further recommends teachers examine the “ideology,” that is, beliefs, values, and assumptions that may unconsciously inform their thoughts and actions when working with linguistic minority students (p. 97). teachers can learn to think critically about their work during coursework according to sleeter (2009), who developed a matrix for evaluating complex thinking. (see table 2.) 5. we borrow usage of the word “tenet” to describe components of siop instruction and conceived of this table based on a presentation by dr. c. patrick proctor within a secondary bilingual methods course at boston college. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 33 methods and beyond table 2: matrix for evaluating the complexity of teacher thinking (adapted from sleeter, 2009) perspective taking self-reflexivity novice assumes there is a correct body of knowledge and way to teach. strives for certainty. developing willing to consider multiple ways of knowing and teaching. willing to acknowledge uncertainty. accomplished actively seeks multiple perspectives on knowledge and teaching. views uncertainty as a tool for learning. two components of complex thinking are perspective-taking and self-reflexivity. when teachers develop skills in these areas, “they actively seek multiple perspectives” and “view uncertainty as a tool for learning, monitoring, questioning, and evaluating practice and the ethical impact of work on students” (sleeter, 2009, p. 5). teachers, who think complexly about the instruction of bls in mainstream secondary settings, learn to critically examine their role, the role of students, and the power dynamics of historically marginalized groups in schools (martin & vangunten, 2002). similarly, santoro (2009) quoting palmer says, “when i do not know myself, i cannot know who my students are…and when i cannot see them clearly i cannot teach them well” (p. 41). some researchers claim the ability to think complexly is an aspect of the development of reflective judgment within the larger context of adult maturation (friedman & schoen, 2009; kitchener & king, 1990). similar to sleeter (2009), we believe the ability to think complexly about teaching latino bls can progress in the context of teacher education coursework. there is a small body of literature that describes thoughts, attitudes or beliefs of teachers who demonstrate expertise in working with culturally and linguistically diverse learners (bartolomé, 2004; clayton, 2008; see especially lucas & villegas, 2011; lucas, villegas & freedson-gonzalez, 2008). as part of a larger framework for preparing teachers to work with linguistically diverse students, lucas and villegas (2011) define three related “orientations” that should be integrated into teacher belief systems: “sociolinguistic consciousness, value for linguistic diversity, [and the] inclination to advocate for ell learners” (see pp. 56-60). first, teachers with sociolinguistic consciousness understand how language, culture, and identity interconnect in the learning process. as lucas and villegas (2011) further explain: such teachers [reflect on] their assumptions about ells and [understand] their perceptions of language, language use, and language learning are shaped by their own and their students’ sociocultural positioning. (p. 59) second, by valuing linguistic diversity: that is, use of home language and/or non-standard forms of english, teachers promote relationships with students that are conducive to learning and increase classroom interaction (delpit, 2006; heath, 1996; nieto, 2000). with the third orientation, developing the inclination to advocate for bls, teachers assume a role beyond the classroom to address systemic inequities that affect the educational experience of individual students or groups of students (cochran-smith, 2010). however, limited empirical research explores how teachers develop these attitudes/beliefs to work effectively with bilingual learners. through case study research, clayton (2008) found commonalities among exemplary teachers of bls; they had experienced immersion in another culture and second language learning, understood second language development, and demonstrated kindness, sensitivity, and encouragement toward association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 34 methods and beyond students. similarly, bartolomé (2004) noted exemplary educators of non-white and linguistic minority students shared “border-crossing experiences” that enabled them to see how certain cultural groups are marginalized, empathize with them, and take action on behalf of students (see pp.109-112). through surveys, researchers also have found experiencing another culture, learning a second language, and working with bls results in more positive attitudes (youngs & youngs, 2001). however, o’brien (2009) found that florida history teachers who experienced 60 mandated hours of in-service training to work with bls demonstrated negative attitudes toward bls, which were perhaps “rooted in the teachers inability to effectively modify instruction” (p. 36). in this qualitative study, we built on prior research to examine whether teachers develop skill in particular instructional methods and the ability to think complexly about such teaching in the context of teacher education coursework, so they might work effectively with latino bilingual learners within the current system while also working toward transforming it. research design our practitioner research study (cochran-smith & lytle, 2009) took place within a secondary bl methods course in a teacher education program at a jesuit university in a city in the northeastern united states. we explored the following two-part research question adapted from sleeter (2009): what is the influence of a methods course on a) teacher development of instructional strategies to teach bls in mainstream settings and b) to think critically about their role as educators? to understand the influence of the methods course on participants, we drew on the following data sources: observations, surveys, and assignments. the second author observed while the first author taught the fall 2011 course section. overall, however, surveys and class assignments were used most extensively in our analysis. surveys were administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester. the pre-survey elicited basic demographic information from students and information about their “border-crossing” experiences. it also consisted of open response questions, prompting participants to consider what they hoped to learn (see appendix a). mid-term and post surveys asked participants what they had learned and still hoped to learn regarding teaching latino bls. assignments included pre and post course reflections on how their beliefs, values, and assumptions would affect their teaching practice with bls (see appendix b), electronic blogs in which students responded to readings and one another, and a culminating assignment in which students wrote a complete siop lesson plan in narrative format (see echevarría, et al., 2013, pp. 297-302 for sample siop lesson templates). (see table 3.) table 3: research methods data source participants frequency data totals reflections 4 students 6 times over the course of the semester: prereflection, 4 reading responses, and post-reflection 24 completed reflections surveys all 54 students pre, midand end of semester 162 surveys class assignments 4 students evaluation of siop lesson plan. (4 students) 4 completed siops class observations 33 students 1 instructor four times over the course of the semester 4 sets of field notes interviews 3 instructors once prior to teaching the course 3 interview responses association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 35 methods and beyond we analyzed surveys from students in two sections of the bilingual methods course: one taught by the first author in the fall of 2011 and the other, by the second author in the summer of 2011. students completed more assignments than those listed in table 3. since a choice was offered among several inquiry projects, including a school ethnography or interview with a bl, for consistency, we do not include them as data sources. four students were selected for in-depth study (see below) whose reflections and siop lesson plans are presented in more detail. in sum, we looked comprehensively at the influence of the course on all students via the surveys but more closely examined selected students’ development in specific areas through their course assignments: namely, the abilities to develop targeted instructional strategies (see table 1) and also to think complexly about their teaching (see table 2). bilingual secondary methods course the bilingual secondary methods course is designed to promote awareness of methods that help bls develop academic language and content concurrently in mainstream classes. further, participants explore contextual factors that influence how bls negotiate the secondary school experience including educational policy and issues of language and culture. each session consists of an interactive powerpoint presentation, practice with siop components, and discussion. the first class, students form content-based interest groups to provide structured peer interactions in which to explore discipline-specific readings and language demands, and to, ideally, develop more complexity in their thinking. throughout the semester, students write reflections in which they consider their role, the role of students, and their responsibilities as teachers of linguistically diverse adolescents in the current accountability culture in u.s. schools. participants fifty-four of the 73 students enrolled in two sections of the course consented to participate in our study. six were undergraduates and 48 were graduate students representing varied content areas: 21 english language arts (ela), 12 history, 7 math, 6 world languages, 4 science, 2 math/science, 1 special educator, and 1 focused on esl. the four graduate students selected for further study were chosen to represent core content areas and a range of backgrounds but shared one common characteristic: they each appeared highly engaged in the course, so we felt we could learn the most from them (sleeter, 2009). table 4 provides basic information on each focus student. table 4: focus students name content area demographics age evelina math white, female, monolingual from northeastern united states 24 becky science white, female, monolingual from southern united states 26 victoria history white, bilingual (french-english) female from southeastern united states 23 gabriel ela male of african ancestry who immigrated as a child from a latin american country 30 focal students ranged in age from 23 to 30 years of age. three were white females and one, a man of color, reflecting a typical racial and gender balance in the female-dominated, predominantly white u.s. teaching force (zumwalt & craig, 2008). they also ranged in language-learning experience; victoria is bilingual; becky and gabriel first spoke non-standard dialects of english, while evelina is monolingual. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 36 methods and beyond data analysis we collected and analyzed data in an iterative fashion using inductive and deductive reasoning. ryan and bernard (2000) note, “researchers start with some general themes derived from reading the literature and add more themes and sub-themes as they go” (p. 781). based on our review of the literature, we pre-established two themes connected to our research question: the development of targeted instructional strategies and the ability to think critically about such instruction. we evaluated participants’ ability to plan instruction in siop lesson plans (echevarria et al., 2013). we also rated the complexity of participants’ thinking in reflections and electronic blogs using sleeter’s (2009) rubric. we coded surveys and participant reflections using constructivist grounded theory to identify additional themes (charmaz, 2000). as lather (1986) noted: data must be allowed to generate propositions in a dialectical manner that permits use of a priori theoretical frameworks, but which keeps a particular framework from becoming the container into which the data must be poured. (p. 266) in sum, we started with two broad themes based on extant literature and added sub-themes during the research process (ryan & bernard, 2000). multiple data sources: survey and class assignments (including reflections, electronic blogs, and lesson plans) were triangulated to identify and substantiate research themes. further, the validity of findings was enhanced by a consensual approach to data analysis (hill, thompson & williams, 1997). as such, the two authors agreed on themes and ratings for each of the focal students and student surveys. this iterative process of reviewing literature, data collection, coding (charmaz, 2003; strauss, 1987), and consensual data analysis allowed us to attend to the nuances of students’ experiences in the methods course. results overall, we sought to ascertain the influence of the methods course on the development of targeted instructional strategies to teach latino bls in mainstream settings and to think complexly about such instruction. analyses of participant reflections, blog postings, surveys, and siop lesson plans revealed three additional themes: content teachers as language teachers, the importance of getting to know students, and teachers as change agents. accordingly, this section is divided into five parts: the development of instructional strategies; content teachers as language teachers; thinking complexly about instruction; getting to know students; and teachers as change agents. the development of instructional strategies on pre-surveys, the vast majority of participants reported wanting to learn effective methods to teach bls. fewer than half had worked with bls previously, and only one third had prior teaching experience. on postsurveys, most students seemed to feel more prepared. one participant explained the importance of activating prior knowledge and making content comprehensible: key siop components: i must … be mindful day in and day out of how the material is . . . presented…. it is essential to value … students’ backgrounds and ... prior knowledge, and… to make the curriculum . . . relevant to every student. analysis of lessons from focal students, however, revealed a range in abilities to plan siop instruction. becky’s 21-page, single-spaced science lesson reflected painstaking attention to detail. an introductory section explained the class context and included a color-coded system of worksheets for bls at different proficiency levels. vocabulary was sub-divided into sections including “brick” terms, “mortar” terms (see zwiers, 2008), primary, and secondary words. similarly, in math and history lessons, respectively, evelina and victoria incorporated key siop elements: precise language and content objectives, vocabulary instruction, and opportunities for interactive and presentational communication in speaking and writing. though less detailed than becky, these two students also mastered how to plan a siop lesson. in contrast, gabriel’s ela lesson featured some siop elements, such as a graphic organizer and group and pair discussions, but lacked sufficient detail to convey how various activities were connected. even though he identified a content objective, “students will demonstrate . . . they can use textual evidence to answer a posed question and justify an interpretation of a text,” it was unclear how this objective would be implemented. he also called for students to share rituals related to their cultures, but there was no corresponding activity. although gabriel showed the ability to think complexly about issues of teaching association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 37 methods and beyond and learning, he struggled with lesson planning. while students felt better prepared to teach bls having been exposed to siop, their ability to create siop lessons varied. further, we recognized participants would need additional support for this preparation to translate to effective teaching practice. content teachers as language teachers on post-surveys, many content teachers expressed awareness of the need to teach language— a key theme of the course. as one math teacher noted, “…i learned . . . every teacher, no matter their content area, is a language teacher.” similarly, evelina acknowledged a shift in her language awareness: “i’ve. . . developed a deeper appreciation for providing students with the opportunity to produce language in a mathematics classroom.” she sought to move beyond traditional math instruction characterized by “the teacher explaining information and the students listening, reading and taking notes, and then solving calculations-based problems.” instead, she aimed to “increase language production” by “explicitly encouraging . . . students to engage in mathematical conversations with each other.” evelina also recognized “specific [linguistic features] of mathematics (e.g. long, complex noun phrases; passive voice),” noting, “i now feel better prepared to address these challenges in the classroom.” these results are encouraging; for bls to succeed in grasping relevant content knowledge and develop proficiency in content language, content teachers must embrace their role as language teachers (de jong & harper, 2005) and provide students with abundant opportunities to interact (verplaetse, 2008). thinking complexly about instruction as mentioned, we used sleeter’s (2009) matrix to evaluate the complexity of students’ thinking (see table 2). most participants began as novices “assum[ing] there is a body of ‘correct’ knowledge or attitudes to teach” and “striv[ing] for certainty.” over the semester, however, many shifted towards a developing stance, characterized as being “willing to consider multiple ...definitions of what is most worth knowing, ask what is most worth teaching, and why” and “able to acknowledge how one’s ...identity shapes perspective [and] uncertainty” (sleeter, 2009, p. 5). some even stretched towards the “accomplished” category particularly in the area of selfreflexivity, described as “consistently monitors, questions, and evaluates practical and ethical impacts of one’s work on students. questions how one’s own positionality, experiences, and point of view affect one’s work but can move forward while doing so” (sleeter, 2009, p. 5). overall, most participants articulated increasing complexity in their attitudes toward students and their role as teachers. for instance, in an electronic post, victoria emphasized the importance of thinking critically about her practice: the danger in studying research is to accept it as a panacea––when, in fact, as strong critical thinkers (which we must be in order to be effective teachers), we should rage against the blind acceptance of any one theory...we need to read these documents together and against each other in order to extract meaning relevant to our own practice. [emphasis in the original] this comment not only reflects the complexity of victoria’s thinking but also further demonstrates her tendency to emphasize the importance of practice. victoria asked deep questions such as, “where do our responsibilities begin and end as educators if our students lives do not begin and end in our classrooms?” she also critiqued the methods focus in one reading: the list of methods was useful insofar as it gets the discussion rolling, but without an explicit connection to students as individuals, i find myself growing frustrated with the onslaught of ‘method...method...method...’ where is the human element? to victoria, teaching is about more than good strategies. similarly, a critical thread runs throughout gabriel’s electronic posts. teachers do need to realize that, with . . . schools, they are working within and against a system that reproduces what . . . society values and sees as norms. a teacher’s ability to work outside [a] mentality that they themselves . . . have been brought up in and, maybe even held at one point, is association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 38 methods and beyond fundamental to their success with the current needs of our [students]. like victoria, he seemed to consistently “question how one’s own positionality, experiences, and point of view affect one’s work” (sleeter, 2009, p. 5). in contrast, evelina, largely summarized course readings. becky’s postings showed the least complexity. she believed federal mandates would benefit bls if teachers taught well, as expressed in the following: “in order for initiatives like nclb to actually work, it is paramount that as a country we provide a more consistent curriculum to ell students. not only do these students all deserve to have qualified teachers, they also deserve to have a standard by which they are taught.” still, becky recognized “there is no ‘one size fits all’ strategy for teaching bls”. she commented, “each teacher has to discover what works best for them and for their class.” though the depth of participants’ responses varied, electronic blogs seemed to provide a forum for students to explore their thinking about complex issues. course readings seemed to influence students’ ability to locate themselves as learners and educators. one student whose family emigrated from africa wrote, “through selected reading assignments . . . i saw reflections of myself—many of my experiences were mirrored by those of children who were subjects of case studies...” in the closing lines of his post-survey, gabriel described the impact of the course on his perceptions of bls: i have served in various positions such as a counselor, a child care worker, a psychiatric attendant, youth advisor, case manager, student intervention specialist, and . . . as a teacher. . . . yet, i have never served in a position that would have granted me such insight into the needs of ells the way . . . this course has. class readings, discussions, and assignments seemed to deepen the complexity of many students’ thinking about teaching and the needs of their students. beyond methods: getting to know students indeed, participants recognized teaching as more than learning methods. for example, “[t]his class . . . put faces on a too often intellectual issue. i learned specific methods for teaching bls, but i also got into the heads of bls.” many highlighted that getting to know students was of paramount importance: …”i’ve learned that the first step is . . . getting to know how [my] students learn, the knowledge they bring to the table, and allowing students to tell their stories within an environment that is comfortable and respectful.” similarly, victoria commented, “we can read all the books we want, but unless we speak to students in real practice, this all means nothing.” evelina also expressed a commitment to getting to know her students, “. . . [t]eachers should get to know all of their students individually and must be careful not to make assumptions about individuals based on trends observed in the larger group.” she continued, “it is important to strike a relatively even balance between adopting strategic methods of teaching and thinking complexly about individual student needs. ideally, a teacher will get to know his/her students and use that knowledge to determine what methods, if any, are appropriate.” she further noted, “it is dangerous to rely too heavily on teaching methods as a ‘one size fits all’ approach to education . . . .as a teacher i will work hard to get to know my students and provide multiple modes of representation so . . . all students can access the material.” evelina concluded, “ i would like to have one-on-one conversations with bls to learn what works for them . . . which teaching methods they prefer, whether they like to work in groups or independently and any other concerns they have about the class.” generally, participants became aware of the need “to teach the students, not the course,” a mantra that we emphasized throughout the course, but we continued to wonder to what extent some students were able to think complexly about their own roles within the larger institution of schools. teachers as change agents in post-surveys, a few students expressed interest in acting as change agents. one remarked, “now i see that with more training, i can be that teacher, the one who advocates for them . . . i wish to be an agent of change for all students, not just the ones who are most easily taught.” another participant demonstrated awareness of her position in relation to students: i believe that i have a responsibility to . . . become the learner and allow [my students] to teach me about their lives, histories, and ideas—while also passing on to them my familiarity with the culture of power association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 39 methods and beyond in the u.s. yet another teacher thought more deeply about the high drop-out rate among latino males in her school and what she might do about it: “since january, i have lost three sophomore males, all hispanic . . . i can’t let go of the fact that these boys are 15 years old and out in the world with barely a tenth-grade education.” she committed to identifying at-risk students earlier and contacting parents. drawing from his own experiences as an immigrant, in his first reflection gabriel noted: because of my background i feel that it is my responsibility to convey to my english language learners that they can succeed in an environment that . . . might . . . at first be foreign to them. understanding . . . what they . . . go through and being able to empathize with others, . . . it is my responsibility to encourage and support them while finding the most effective way to reach and teach them. that some participants reflected on their own positionality and aimed to advocate for students is encouraging. connections with supportive teachers can play a pivotal role in latino bls’ academic success (suárez-orozco, suárez-orozco & todorova, 2008). discussion in this study, we sought to determine the influence of one methods course on participants’ development of instructional strategies to teach bls in mainstream settings and to think critically about their role as educators. in sum, our participants generally felt an increased sense of preparedness though their actual skill in creating siop lesson plans varied. some embraced their roles as teachers of language and content and showed increasing ability to think complexly about their teaching. most understood the importance of “teaching the students not the course,” a promising development for secondary educators. some even claimed expanded roles as advocates for students, which is significant since teaching practice aimed at promoting social justice presumes that teachers take on multiple roles within the school community as learners, teachers, researchers, and advocates (cochansmith, 2010; lucas & villegas, 2011). in fact, mainstream content teachers who advocate for adolescent els can improve students’ life chances (suárez-orozco, suárez-orozco & todorova, 2008). analysis of varied data sources allowed us to understand in a more nuanced fashion that teaching is a complex profession, requiring a host of skills. the ability to think complexly does not necessarily translate into being an effective lesson planner and vice versa. becky, for example, mastered siop lesson planning but we wonder if her attention to painstaking detail and desire to “get it right” precluded complex thinking. she assumed there was a “right way” to lesson plan and was determined to master it, which is compatible with sleeter’s characterization of “novice” in perspective taking, in that students see “...a body of ‘correct’ knowledge or attitudes to teach” and “strive for certainty” (sleeter, 2009, p. 5). evelina also developed strong siop planning skills but thinking complexly for her was more about differentiating instruction for individual students as a form of “best” practice. gabriel thought complexly and demonstrated sociolinguistic consciousness (lucas & villegas, 2011), but struggled with lesson planning. his case, in particular, shows that teaching requires foundational knowledge and a repertoire of learned skills, fundamental among them the ability to plan and implement lessons. of this small, focal group, only victoria demonstrated attitudes/beliefs of effective teachers of bls (clayton, 2008; lucas & villegas, 2011), and the abilities to develop a comprehensive siop lesson plan and to think complexly as she questioned the readings, her classmates, and her own presumptions throughout the course. we wonder whether people develop different propensities at different times influenced both by life experiences and adult maturation (friedman & schoen, 2009; kitchener & king, 1990). even if aspiring teachers demonstrate that they can plan effective siop lessons, this learning needs to be situated in a developmental perspective. we believe pre-service preparation is a key interval in learning how to teach for social justice (cochran-smith, 2010). nonetheless, to ascertain whether pre-service preparation translates into effective teaching practice, it would be necessary to follow our participants into their teaching sites, observe them teach, and study the impact on pupil learning, we also recognize the limitations of using a construct like a rubric to examine the complexity of participant thinking. sleeter’s (2009) matrix provides a heuristic to evaluate learning in particular categories, association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 40 methods and beyond namely perspective-taking and self-reflexivity, which we believe are integral to effective teaching practice. still, we wonder whether mastery of lesson planning, thinking complexly, and the development of attitudes/beliefs consistent with effective instruction of latino bls progress along a continuum based on experiences in particular contexts and whether a foundational skill like lesson planning should take precedence in methods course instruction and novice teacher practice. ideally, lesson implementation eventually could become a data source for subsequent lesson planning and further inquiry so that teaching and thinking complexly about one’s practice become recursive, integrated, and habitual (mcquillan, welch, & barnatt, 2012). still, we noted a desire even at the graduate level for participants to be compliant students. during one observed class session, some students thought that because certain readings were included in the syllabus, we as instructors must agree with them. we clarified that readings were selected and juxtaposed because they presented opposing viewpoints. like becky, some students desired to find the right answer, which represents a novice way of thinking (sleeter, 2009). our hope is that students realize teaching is a fluid process; there is no “one right way.” rather, there are many ways to tackle certain lessons and decisions can be informed by taking an inquiry approach to one’s practice, namely reflecting on the needs of one’s students. we learned there might be a dynamic tension between mastering particular lesson planning skills and being able to think complexly about instruction. there is discipline to getting siop right, demonstrated by becky’s extraordinary efforts, which can be situated in a complex framework (sleeter, 2009), a developmental perspective, or the siop rubric itself. certainly, evaluation of teaching skill and teacher thinking remains a controversial topic. moreover, we question how successfully one course can balance learning how to teach with learning how to critically view the roles of teachers and latino bls in mainstream public school settings. learning to teach and to think complexly about teaching linguistically diverse youth may only develop over time in a multifaceted, coherent teacher education program and with significant, supported classroom experience. as evelina wrote: in terms of my own progress, i feel . . . [graduate] coursework has been doing a good job preparing me to think critically about the nature and context of education. however, i realize ... such issues are continuous and dynamic. hence, there will always be room for progress in this regard. as evidenced in evelina’s comments, learning to teach is an ongoing process, which must be reinforced in multiple contexts. implications our inquiry provides evidence about the influence of a methods course on aspiring and novice teachers of adolescent latino bls. pre-service and practicing secondary content teachers exhibited increased confidence in their ability to plan instruction for bls in mainstream content classes as demonstrated in siop lesson plans, embraced roles as language teachers, and developed complexity in their thinking about their role as teachers in varying degrees (sleeter, 2009). we recommend further research to follow participants into early teaching experiences, provide site-based coaching/support, and assess continued teacher development and pupil learning. developing an inquiry stance toward teaching, learning, and getting to know students is a process rather than an outcome. since teachers serve at the “front lines” and as “the bottom line” for the instruction of latino bls, (gandara, maxwell-jolly, & driscoll, 2005), improvements to how teacher education programs prepare teachers to work with bls in mainstream content classes can be developed by listening to the teaching candidates, themselves (friedman, 2002). we engage in inquiry to better meet the learning needs of our students with the hope that they will better meet the needs of their own latino bilingual students in an ever-changing society. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 41 methods and beyond references bartolomé, l. (1994). beyond the methods fetish: toward a humanizing pedagogy. harvard educational review, 64(2), 173-194. bartolomé, l. (2004). critical pedagogy and teacher education: radicalizing prospective teachers. teacher education quarterly, 31(1), 99-122. charmaz, k. (2000). grounded theory: objectivist and constructivist methods. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, 2nd edition, (pp. 509-535). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. charmaz, k. (2003). grounded theory: objectivist and constructivist methods. in n.k. denzin & y.s. lincoln (eds.), strategies of qualitative inquiry, 2nd edition. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. clayton, c. (2008). whatever it takes: exemplary teachers of english language learners. unpublished doctoral dissertation. boston college. retrieved from proquest. cochran-smith, m. (2010). toward a theory of teacher education for social justice. in a. hargreaves et al. (eds.). second international handbook of educational change. (pp. 445-467). dordrecht, springer. cochran-smith, m., & lytle, s. (2009). inquiry as stance: practitioner research for the next generation. ny: teachers college press. de jong, e. j., & harper, c. a. (2005). preparing mainstream teachers for english-language learners: is being a good teacher good enough? teacher education quarterly. 101-124. delpit, l. (2006). other people’s children: cultural conflict in the classroom. new york, ny: the new press. echevarría, j. short, d. & powers, k. (2006). school reform and standards-based education: a model for english language learners. the journal of educational research, 99 (4) 195-210. echevarria, j., vogt, m.e., & short, d. (2013). making content comprehensible for english learners: the siop model (third edition). boston: pearson education, inc. friedman, a.a. (2002). what we would have liked to know: preservice teachers’ perspectives on effective teacher preparation. in z.f. beykont (ed.). the power of culture: teaching across language difference (pp. 193-217). cambridge, ma: harvard education publishing group. friedman, a., & schoen, l. (2009). reflective practice interventions: raising levels of reflective judgment. action in teacher education, 31(2), 61-73. gandara, p., maxwell-jolly, j., & driscoll, a. (2005). listening to teachers of english language learners: a survey of california teachers’ challenges, experiences, and professional development needs. santa cruz, ca: the center for the future of teaching and learning. heath, s.b. (1996). ways with words: language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. new york, ny: cambridge university press. hill, c. e., thompson, b. j., & williams, e. n. (1997). a guide to conducting consensual qualitative research. the counseling psychologist, 25, 517-572. kitchener, k.s., & king, p.m. (1990). the reflective judgment model: transforming assumptions about knowing. in j. mezirow (ed.). fostering critical reflection in adulthood: a guide to transformative and emancipatory learning (pp. 159-176). san francisco: jossey-bass. lather (1986). research as praxis. harvard educational review, 56(3), 257-277. lucas, t., & grinberg, j. (2008). responding to the linguistic reality of the mainstream classroom: preparing classroom teachers to teach english language learners. in m. cochran-smith, s. feiman-nemser, & j. mcintyre (eds.), handbook of research on teacher education: enduring issues in changing contexts (pp. 606-636). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. lucas, t., villegas, a.m., & freedson-gonzalez, m. (2008). linguistically responsive teacher education: preparing classroom teachers to teach english language learners. journal of teacher education, 59, 361-373. lucas, t., & villegas, a.m. (2011). teacher preparation for linguistically-diverse classrooms: a resource for teacher educators. new york, ny: routledge. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 42 methods and beyond mcdonald, m., & zeichner, k.m. (2010). social justice teacher education. in a. hargreaves et al. (eds.). second international handbook of educational change. (pp. 445-467). dordrecht, springer. mcquillan, p.j., welch, m. j., & barnatt, j. (2012) in search of coherence: ‘inquiring’ at multiple levels of a teacher education system. educational action research. martin, r., & van gunten, d. m. (2002). reflected identities: applying positionality and multicultural social reconstructionism in teacher education. journal of teacher education, 53(1), 44-54. nieto, s. (2000). affirming diversity: the socio-political context of multi-cultural education. white plains, ny: longman publishing group. o’brien, j.l. (2009). high school social studies teachers’ attitudes toward english language learners. social studies research and practice, 4(2), 36-48. pandya, c., batalova, j., & mchugh, m. (2011). limited english proficient individuals in the united states: number, share, growth, and linguistic diversity. washington dc: migration policy institute. richert, a.e., donohue, d.m., & laboskey, v.k. (2010). preparing white teacher to teach in a racist nation: what do they need to know and be able to do? in a.hargreaves et al (eds.) second international handbook of educational change (pp.445-467). dordrecht, the netherlands: springer. ryan, g.w., & bernard, h. (2000). data management and analysis methods. in n. denzin & y. lincoln (eds.). handbook of qualitative research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, 769-802. santoro, n. (2009). teaching in culturally diverse contexts: what knowledge about “self” and “others” do teachers need? journal of education for teaching: international research and pedagogy, 35(1) 33-45). seeking effective policies for ells. (2007). cambridge, ma: rennie center. www.renniecenter.org. short, d. &, echevarría, j. (1999). the sheltered instruction observation protocol: a tool for teacher-researcher collaboration and professional development. (educational practice rep. no. 3). santa cruz, ca: center for research on education, excellence, and diversity. sleeter, c. (2009). developing teacher epistemological sophistication about multicultural curriculum: a case study. action in teacher education, 31(1), 3-13. suárez-orozco, c., suárez-orozco, m., & todorova, i. (2008). learning a new land: immigrant students in american society. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. verplaetse, l.s. (2008). developing academic language through an abundance of interaction. in l.s. verplaetse & n. migliacci (eds.). inclusive pedagogy for english language learners: a handbook of research-informed practices. new york, ny: lawrence erlbaum associates. youngs, c. s., & youngs, g. a. (2001). predictors of mainstream teachers’ attitudes toward esl students. tesol quarterly, 35, 97–120. zumwalt, k. & craig, e. (2008). who is teaching? does it matter? in cochran-smith, m., feiman-nemser, s., mcintyre, d.j. & demers, k. (eds.) handbook of research on teacher education: enduring questions in changing contexts. third edition. new york: routledge. zwiers, j. (2008). building academic language: essential practices for content classrooms, grades 5-12. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 43 methods and beyond appendix a a quick survey 1. what is your status (circle 1)? masters senior 2. have you been a classroom teacher before? ___yes ___no if yes, for how long? ______________ 3. what content area(s) are you teaching, or interested in teaching? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 4 what is your place of birth? _________________________________________________ 5. what is your first language? ____________________________________________________ 6. what is your second language (if applicable)? ______________________________________ 7. what is your third language (if applicable)? ________________________________________ 8. have you ever lived outside the us? ___yes ___no if yes, where and how long? ________________________________________________ 9. have you ever worked with bilingual students? ___yes ___no what do you think is the most challenging aspect of working with bilingual students? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 10. what do you hope to get out of this class? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 44 methods and beyond appendix b ed 346 teaching bilingual students required course assignment: self-study: reflections on beliefs6 teachers’ beliefs affect their practice. this course requires participants to reflect on their beliefs twice during the semester. the purpose of these reflections is to engage participants in critical reflection on their beliefs in order to raise awareness of these beliefs and their impact on their current or future practice. grading of reflections will be based on timely submission and depth of reflection; actual beliefs and assumptions are not graded. self-study and beliefs reflection 1 due by date indicated on syllabus. the overarching question for this self-study is: how do you see yourself in relation to your bilingual learners or ells (or your future bilingual learners or ells)? how do you see your role and responsibility? of critical importance to this question is thoughtful reflection on the following: a. how do you think your own culture, language, ethnic background, socio-economic status, personal family history, place of birth and education affect your assumptions about yourself? b. how do you think your culture, language, ethnic background, socio-economic status, personal family history, place of birth and education affect your assumptions about your bilingual learners or ells (or your future bilingual learners or ells)? c. how do your assumptions about yourself and your learners affect your perception of your relationship to them and your roles and responsibility within that relationship? two pages. self-study and beliefs reflection 2 due by date indicated on syllabus. re-read your first self-study and beliefs reflection. record your reaction to your earlier statement and note any changes and the rationale for the changes. two pages. [or four pages if you actually comment on the same document (in bold, for example)]. 6. dr. anne homza, who teaches the bilingual methods course for elementary teachers at boston college, shared this assignment with us. amae-open-issue-final 31 amae-open-issue-final 32 amae-open-issue-final 33 amae-open-issue-final 34 amae-open-issue-final 35 amae-open-issue-final 36 amae-open-issue-final 37 amae-open-issue-final 38 amae-open-issue-final 39 amae-open-issue-final 40 amae-open-issue-final 41 amae-open-issue-final 42 amae-open-issue-final 43 amae-open-issue-final 44 volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 18 the impact of living in a mixed-status family on pk-12 students allison mass northern illinois university james cohen northern illinois university sadie mccarthy northern illinois university gonwo dahnweih northern illinois university myia franklin northern illinois university introduction juan, a 2nd grader, catches the school bus with his mother at his side. he goes to school as he does every weekday morning, just like other students in this country. when school is over, he takes the bus home. unfortunately, no one is waiting for him at the bus stop when he arrives. he looks around for his mother, but she is nowhere to be found. he runs home and finds the house empty. although juan is documented because he was born in the u.s., neither of his parents has documentation to legally reside in the u.s. his parents were detained by immigration customs and enforcement (ice) as part of a raid in the factory where they work. juan is sent to live with a foster family, unsure if he will ever see his parents again. although the scenario described above was created by the authors of this article, this scenario happens to more u.s. children than one might expect. between july 1, 2010, and september 31, 2012, “nearly 23% of all deportations—or 204,810 deportations—were issued for parents with citizen children” (wessler, 2012). in addition, homeland security reported that 315,943 immigrants were “removed” from the u.s. in 2014 alone (u.s. homeland security, 2014), which is added to the nearly two million people who had been deported since president obama took office (corones, 2015). hence, the government’s enforcement of its immigration policy has helped create several problems: 1) the foster care system is now more overwhelmed mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 19 (wessler, 2011); 2) the fabric of thousands of families is being destroyed (wessler, 2011); and 3) students are being emotionally, psychologically, physically, and academically affected by these deportations. ice is separating family members, especially undocumented parents from their citizen children, by deporting parents and leaving children behind in either the foster care system or with relatives. the purpose of this article is to map the impact that current immigration policies have on students in mixed-status families by reviewing the existing literature. mixed-status families consist of at least one family member without documentation and at least one member with documentation (newman, 2016). we begin by describing the problem, including discussion on the psychological, physical, and academic effects of living in a mixed-status family on pk-12 students. we conclude with potential solutions that teachers and schools can execute to improve the schooling experiences of pk-12 students in mixed-status families. the problem a review of the impact of living in a mixed-status family on pk-12 students is essential because of the sheer quantity affected. one in ten children in the u.s. is growing up in a mixedstatus family (suárez-orozco, yoshikawa, teranishi, & suárez-orozco, 2011). nearly 7% of pk12 students have at least one undocumented parent, whereas only 1.4% are undocumented themselves (passel & cohn, 2014). moreover, “on average, one or two students per american classroom live in mixed-status families” (suárez-orozco et al., 2011, p. 242). if students living in a mixed-status family were born in the united states, they are citizens and entitled to an education by law. some students living in mixed-status families were brought to the united states as children and are therefore non-citizens. nevertheless, according to plyler v. doe, all pk-12 students are entitled to a primary and secondary education, “whether they are documented or not” (gonzales & chavez, 2012, p. 258). psychological and physical effects living in a mixed-status family has both psychological and physical impacts on pk-12 students. these children face several stressors that pose psychiatric risk, including: loss of family, friends, and country, language difficulties, poverty, discrimination, isolation, fear, and hopelessness (mahoney, 2008). these students, documented or not, carry greater the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 20 psychological risk than students from documented families. ortega, horwitz, fang, kuo, wallace, and inkelas (2009) found that mexican children with undocumented parents have greater parent-reported developmental risks than mexican and white children with documented parents. the following research highlights specific psychological and physical risks for children living in mixed-status households. stress and anxiety students living in mixed-status families experience a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety, especially regarding deportation. even if students are unaware of their family’s mixedstatus, they still live in a culture of fear, as spanish-language media frequently feature stories of deportations. in some homes, this is a topic of “family conversation that children begin to metabolize” (suárez-orozco et al., 2011, p. 451). yoshikawa (2011) indicates that the psychological stress suffered by undocumented adult immigrants can be transferred to even young children, which is then carried into adolescence. these children may develop health risks like alcohol use, smoking, sexual activity, and depression, higher than those of u.s. born families (yoshikawa, 2011). the american psychological association (2012) explains that these children are also at heightened risk of mental health issues, including anxiety, fear, depression, and anger. their stress levels are high, and family relation-ships often become strained not only due to being caught between the culture of their parents and that of the new community (ornelas & perreira, 2011), but also to the looming threat of family separation (chavez, lopez, englebrecht, & viramontez anguiano, 2012). roblyer, grzywacz, and apanecatl-ibarra (2015) found that major sources of stress for those in mixed-status families include fear of their loved ones not returning home, encounters with police, and family fragmentation. deportations in the community add to stress levels of children, who then have more reason to fear the same will happen to their family (human impact partners, 2013). abrego and gleeson (2014) elucidate that the “anguish that citizen children experience” in mixed-status families is a direct “result of current u.s. implementation of immigration policies” (p. 220). stresses of multiple dimensions, including psychological, social and physical well-being undermine the health of undocumented immigrants (cavazos-rehg, zayas, & spitznagel, 2007). cavazos et al. (2007) examined the connection between undocumented immigrants’ legal status and their health. they state that an undocumented status produces stress; although not always mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 21 acute in nature, it nonetheless persistently remains an “insidious psycho-environmental stressor” (cavazos-rehg et al., 2007, p. 1126). cavazos-rehg et al. (2007) learned that for undocumented immigrants, “worries about their legal status and pre-occupation with disclosure and deportation can heighten the risk for emotional distress and impaired quality of health,” and that prolonged exposure to this stress is a great concern (p. 1126). identity and self-esteem eighty-one percent of undocumented immigrants are latino (passel, 2005). latino and “undocumented” children living in mixed-status families carry multiple identities that can be difficult to hold. roman’s (2008) research shows that the united states is experiencing heightened stigmatization and even demonization of latinos. negative media portrayals of latinos and immigrants are common, and consequently, “non-latinos commonly believe many negative stereotypes about these groups are true” (barreto, manzano, & segura, 2012). massey (2012) asserts that latinos have become an “underclass,” and that immigration policies “affect latinos in the same way that the criminal justice system affects blacks” (p. ii). the more latino students internalize this stigmatization, the worse the effect on their self-esteem (suárezorozco et al., 2011). students from mixed-status families often face additional negativity specifically in regards to their family members’ undocumented status. that is, the “barrage of derogatory portraits of immigrants, particularly of unauthorized immigrants in the media, school, and community settings, will shape at the individual level a number of critical developmental outcomes for these children and youth” (suárez-orozco et al., 2011, p. 450). compared to those with nonimmigrant parents, young children with immigrant parents fare worse on emergent reading and math skills assessments, and older children experience less academic success (suárez-orozco et al., 2011). these derogatory portraits can affect them as they learn to view themselves as family members of these negatively portrayed immigrants. in some instances, it has an even greater impact on their identity and self-esteem if they learn that they themselves are undocumented. undocumented youth are at heightened risk of anxiety and depression compared to documented adolescents, and often feel uncomfortable talking to mental health professionals—let alone anyone in a position of authority—for fear of them disclosing their immigration status (bonifacio, 2013). these negative psychological the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 22 ramifications are in part due to the fact that they face discrimination not only from outside groups but also from their documented latino peers, who sometimes wish to separate and differentiate themselves from undocumented children (o’leary, 2014). for students from mixed-status families to maintain a positive self-image and selfesteem, they are forced to oppose what society communicates about them. suárez-orozco and suárez-orozco (2001) write about social mirroring, or the notion that one tends to view oneself as society views one’s racial and ethnic group. they state that, “when the reflection is generally negative, it is extremely difficult to maintain an unblemished sense of self-worth” (suárez-orozco & suárez-orozco, 2001, p.98). hence, in regards to undocumented students, the intersectionality (crenshaw, 1991) of their identities, heavily influenced by society’s regard for immigrants (or lack thereof), makes it more difficult to maintain a positive self-image. health in addition to psychological implications, living in a mixed-status family can have direct ramifications on health. of all uninsured children in the united states, 42% have immigrant parents (wolters kluwer health, 2015). although this data corresponds to children of all immigrants, the financial status of mixed-status families is likely to put their children in even worse medical circumstances than other immigrant families. for example, though undocumented parents are eligible for perinatal and postnatal health care, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap), and cash welfare assistance, they are ineligible for most federal public benefits, such as medicaid or medicare (yoshikawa & kholoptseva, 2013). although the affordable care act aims to expand health care insurance, some undocumented parents incorrectly assume they cannot “apply for benefits even on behalf of an eligible child” (offfice of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, 2012, p. 6). as a result, students in mixed-status families, even if documented themselves, have disproportionate access to health services than students in documented families (office of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, 2012). many of the costliest health consequences of being undocumented are likely to emerge later in life (suárez-orozco et al., 2011). according to crosnoe (2013), “evidence suggests that early childhood may be an at-risk period for immigrants in terms of physical health” (p.8). a child’s health and educational well-being are intertwined, and early cognitive development is mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 23 linked with physical health, especially since health problems disrupt a child’s ability to regularly attend school or fully participate in other school activities (crosnoe, 2013; hook, landale, & hillemeier, 2013). academic effects poverty the authors of this article have chosen to separately address poverty’s impact on the academic success of pk-12 students from mixed-status families for two reasons. one, the correlation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement is too strong to ignore for any population of students. two, in addressing poverty as a separate entity, we aim to quell the tendency to attribute the findings on the academic performance of students living in mixedstatus families to their poverty level alone. assuming that the academic performance of these students is solely related to poverty would undermine the academic effects of living in a mixedstatus family. for example, undocumented low-wage workers experience substantially poorer work conditions than documented low-wage workers and have less access to sick days, overtime pay, and employer-provided health benefits (bernhardt et al., 2009; luce, luff, mccartin, & milkman, 2014). hence, in addition to other academic challenges, it is likely that pk-12 students from mixed-status families experience poverty that is more impactful than most. students living in mixed-status families often attend under resourced schools (suárezorozco et al., 2011), have high mobility rates (rumberger & larsen, 1998; c.m. suárez-orozco et al., 2011), and lack rich early-learning experiences (yoshikawa & kholoptseva, 2013). by the time the children of undocumented immigrants reach age two, they show significantly lower levels of language and cognitive development than the children of documented immigrants and native-born parents (yoshikawa, 2011), putting them at an academic disadvantage from the start. since 79% of children of immigrants were u.s.-born citizens in 2008 (passel & taylor, 2010), any social policy directed at their noncitizen parents automatically impacts them, resulting in fear and confusion, prohibiting these eligible noncitizens and their children from accessing necessary benefits for which they qualify (yoshikawa, 2011). in some cases, it is mainly correctable misinformation that trigger these parents’ fear (ku & jewers, 2013; the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 24 yoshikawa, 2011), though there have been some outright efforts, like proposition 187 1in california in the late nineties “that barred illegal immigrants and their children from public education, non-emergency health care, and social services” (hayes, 2001, p. 1). the effects of proposition 187 have had a lasting effect on the social climate of california and across the country. in california, people are still protesting undocumented immigrants. with the wave of unaccompanied refugee children arriving to the u.s.-mexico border in 2014, hundreds of protesters flocked to several sites across the state proclaiming their disgust with the federal policies regarding undocumented immigrants (shafer, 2014). proposition 187 influenced the notion that undocumented immigrants are a group of people who can be held as the scapegoat for many of society’s ails and be discriminated against without much protest. in 2010, arizona passed sb 1070 which essentially outlawed undocumented immigrants in the state making their lives unbearable, forcing them to move to other states. this ‘papers please law’, which allows police and regular citizens on the street to stop people who look ‘undocumented’ for their papers, has now been copied by many other states (i.e. georgia, alabama, indiana, south carolina, and utah) (cohen & wickens, 2015). the effect these laws have on children in mixed status families is chilling. at welfare offices across the country these aforementioned policies coupled with a general distrust of undocumented immigrants can further scare non-citizens with citizen children. in their study, kalil and crosby (2009) concluded “...we found more negative health outcomes among children of immigrants leaving welfare than among any of their counterparts. we might expect that immigrants fared worse afterward, particularly if they left the system because of fear or confusion despite continued need (p. 204).” hence, policies such as proposition 187 and others that are directed towards the undocumented members of a family, also directly affect the documented members. school success though students from mixed-status families face many academic obstacles, it is not to say that they have no means of overcoming them. an important academic support they may have is their parents’ high hopes for their educational achievement. although immigrant 1 proposition 187 was ultimately found unconstitutional in the courts and was never enacted (aclu, 1999). mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 25 parents may not have attended school in their own country and may not be able to help their children with academic material or navigate the u.s. educational system, they still “carry tremendous hopes about u.s. schools and value education” (l. m. gonzales, borders, hines, villalba, & henderson, 2013, p. 2). in fact, undocumented parents are just as dedicated to their children’s education as are parents with documented status (yoshikawa, 2011). perez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, and cortes’ (2009) study on the personal and environmental protective factors of undocumented students shows that, despite the challenges they face such as societal rejection and low parental education, those with high levels of personal and environmental protective factors have more academic success than those with low levels. these protective factors include supportive parents, friends, and school personnel, and participation in school activities. finally, while many schools that students from mixed-status families attend are under resourced (c. m. suárez-orozco et al., 2011), they can still provide the stability and structure these students need for positive academic and personal development (chaudry et al., 2010). specifically, “students appear to have benefitted from school routines and the support they received from teachers and school personnel” (chaudry et al., 2010, p. x). potochnick and perreira (2010) found that social acceptance from school staff and peers can ameliorate the stress associated with discrimination and living in a mixed-status family and boosts psychological well-being. parental engagement with the school offers children even more benefits in terms of academic achievement and self-esteem (c. m. suárez-orozco et al., 2011). unfortunately, these forms of support are sometimes not enough. school challenges for many students in mixed-status families, school is not a place where they readily find success. a solid 49% of undocumented immigrants in the united states drop out of high school, compared with only 11% of citizen children (golden door scholars, 2012). covarrubias and lara (2013) found that undocumented mexicans are “pushed out” of high school at nearly three times the rate of their u.s.-born peers. having at least one undocumented parent is also correlated with lower education rates, as having an undocumented mother is associated with 1.25-1.5 less years of schooling compared to those with documented mothers (leach, brown, bean, & van hook, 2011). the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 26 students from mixed-status families have unique needs and “may need additional school support for esl, trauma, legal entanglements, and poverty” (saenz-alcantara, 2015, p. 2). consequently, schools are frequently ill-equipped to meet the needs of this population (tamer, 2014). lópez and lópez (2010) attribute this decreased educational achievement to racially blind school policies, which marx and larson (2012) elucidate is “the avoidance of talking about race, racism, and systemic inequality...which contributes to racial inequality by preventing useful conversations about race and racism” (p. 265). not understanding racial issues directly affects culturally and linguistically diverse students due to the lack of awareness that many school personnel have regarding the privileges their own skin and language afford them (bennett, 2011). by being unaware of these privileges, school personnel tend to be less empathetic than those with similar backgrounds or do not have the awareness that lives, and thus experiences, are different depending on skin color or linguistic repertoire (lensmire, 2012). another reason students may not find academic success is due to fear of immigration authorities (lopez & lopez, 2010). although it is not common practice for ice to raid schools, it is not unprecedented (mendoza & olivas, 2009). typically if rumors spread through a community that a raid is going to happen by ice, parents keep their children home to prevent separation (lofholm, 2013), disrupting the lives of everyone involved. in alabama, after hb 56 was passed in 2011, requiring school personnel to discern the residency status of all students, thousands of undocumented immigrants left the state overnight and 7% of the state’s total latino student population was reported absent from school (afl-cio, 2011). much of the school policy that endangers the academic achievement of students living in mixed-status families has to do with language, as many are english learners (els). only five states require bilingual education (harris, 2012); therefore, many els are not taught in a way that promotes the development of content-area knowledge by strengthening their native language. in addition, schools that serve a high number of els more frequently hire unqualified teachers and experience high teacher turnover rates (orfield & ee, 2014). finally, of secondgeneration latino immigrants, 28% have parents who did not graduate high school (pew research center, 2013), so parents may simply lack the experience needed to help their children successfully navigate school. while they can certainly rise above the challenges, living in a mixed-status family often puts students at an academic disadvantage. mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 27 schools as a source of fear it can be difficult to learn while afraid. for many pk-12 students and their mixed-status families, schools evoke fear of exposure due to the types of information collected from them (i.e. during registration) and the uncertainty of whether or not immigration enforcement may happen within or around their school (lopez & lopez, 2010). according to morse and ludovina (1999), there are three practices that make schools a source of fear for mixed-status families: chilling, exposure, and disparity. chilling refers to any action that causes fear such as using documents requesting, but not requiring social security numbers. that is, the effect of asking parents and families for documents that could possibly reveal their status has a chilling effect on them. exposure refers to providing information to agencies, such as immigration enforcement, that would expose citizenship status. the simple act of enrolling their children can create feelings of exposure for the family. finally, disparity refers to using different rules for different individuals or groups, such as accepting copies of documents from some students, but only original documents from more “suspicious” families (morse & ludovina, 1999). all three of these practices could lead to reduced parental and student involvement, negatively affecting students, families, school officials, and, ultimately, the community. while legal protections are in place to prevent some of these practices from happening, they still occur. in 2012 in alabama, the legislature passed section 28, an anti-undocumented immigration law. the u.s. court of appeals for the 11th circuit enjoined section 28, “which required school officials to determine whether a child enrolled in school was foreign-born and, if so, to determine the child’s immigration status” (belanger, 2012, p. 2). section 28 was later overturned; however, it serves as an example that chilling, exposure, and disparity are practices that still happen in today’s schools (belanger, 2012). for another example, we turn to no child left behind (nclb), which currently allows “recently arrived” students a one-year grace period before they are tested in reading/language arts. in order to qualify, students and families must reveal how long the child has attended schools in the united states, which may encourage students and families to hide or misrepresent their status (lopez & lopez, 2010). students in this situation may be forced to enter the testing stream prematurely. the practices of chilling, exposure, and disparity can have a major impact on the academic achievement of pk-12 students from mixed-status families. at the basis of it all, though, is the fear of deportation. the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 28 immigration enforcement some argue that mixed-status families do not have to fear immigration enforcement in schools. ice spokeswoman virgina kice claims, “a school is not a place we would routinely conduct an enforcement operation” (tucker & van derbeken, 2008). others claim, however, that mixed-status families do indeed have reason to fear immigration enforcement in schools. cullen casey, a lawyer for the national school boards association, warned that in schools, as anywhere else, anyone could make a phone call to immigration authorities and report information about a particular person's legal status (zehr, 2007). schools following the practices of chilling, exposure, and disparity may have even more access to this type of information than other types of services. yet, others claim that similar to the “school-to-prison” pipeline for african-american youth, there exists a “school-to-deportation” pipeline for undocumented latinos (saenzalcantara, 2015). in 2012, the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) was passed, protecting individuals under 31 years old who came to the united states before age 16 from deportation who “are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general educational development (ged) certificate, or are [an] honorably discharged veteran” (u.s. citizenship and immigration services, 2014). despite this, some students through-out the country still face the fear of deportation at their schools. jeffries (2014) explains that, “even though there are policies in place that impede immigration and police authorities from accessing information about students in schools... it is the mere threat of deportation, not the practice of deportation, that has such an important effect” (p. 286). in richmond, virginia, for instance, latino students reported having their bags searched and being threatened with deportation by school staff (reid, 2015). in addition, in 2014, a texas student was deported to mexico after punching another student at his high school (kriel, 2014). however, the los angeles unified school district, which has the highest number of els in the country, has taken a stand against the deportation of its students by permitting its staff attorneys to represent students pro bono at deportation hearings (blume, 2015). while there are measures set in place to protect students, schools may very well be a dangerous place for mixed-status families. this does not support the nurturing environment in which students should be able to expect from school. mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 29 implications school officials may never know that they are serving students in mixed-status families. these children make up an invisible, yet important, student body entitled to a pk-12 education (office for civil rights, 2014). school officials can create an educational experience sensitive to this population by understanding their special needs. educators should assume that there is always a student living in a mixed-status family in their classrooms. this is the only way to improve their educational experiences, as they will likely never know who has documentation or not. attending to the psychological needs of students from mixed-status families is similar to those of other students from difficult family situations. first, while educators may be unable to ameliorate the stress of living in a mixed-status home, they can be deliberate about making the class-room a more welcoming, reduced stress learning environment. they can ensure students are taking advantage of their school’s health services and free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs. educators can support the positive identity development of students in mixed-status families by actively opposing stereotypes, as well as opposing school policies and programs that perceive els as “deficient.” educators can, and should be, an oppositional force to eliminate the negative psychological impact of living in a mixed-status family. there are numerous ways educators can work to make schools less intimidating to mixed-status families and students. they can be on the lookout for practices of chilling, exposure, and disparity and work to create change. for example, they can re-view school documents for any request for social security numbers and create documents that are not discriminatory toward mixed-status families. school personnel can also implement a policy for dealing with immigration enforcement with the safety of students as primary importance. lópez and lópez (2010) make the following suggestions to execute this policy: 1) inform the school district attorney and the superintendent immediately when immigration enforcement is at the school, 2) put possible affected children in a safe room, never turning over the students unless advised to do so by the school district’s attorney, 3) if immigration enforcement insists on entering a school campus, always accompany them with a witness for the entire process, and 4) document all incidents, conversations, and proceedings. school can play a significant role for a child who has experienced the detention or deportation of a family member. if the school is aware that a raid or other type of immigration the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 30 enforcement has recently taken place in the community, school personnel can ensure that no children return to an empty home. they can work to increase the attendance of affected students by explaining to families the school’s plan to keep students safe from further immigration enforcement. schools can also raise money for affected families and students. teachers can track make-up work and help them catch up on what they missed while in hiding. if teachers notice a drop in attendance, significant changes in student behavior, or student references to immigration law enforcement, they can notify administration and consult the school psychologist or social worker. not only are these students often missing a primary caregiver, they are also undergoing severe family hardship. following a detention or deportation of a family member, the school may be the most consistent and structured place for the child. educators can also be aware of the challenges that await their students from mixedstatus families, especially those that are undocumented, as they transition into adulthood. some undocumented students benefit from support from school counselors and psychologists during this transition. above all, educators can advocate for their students’ access to higher education, understanding that this goal may not be financially viable for them. teachers can inform students of their options and get involved in movements to increase their access to higher education and citizenship. the authors of this article are troubled that many students in the united states are prevented from obtaining the same opportunities as others, so we have written this article with the intent of educating the reader to advocate for their students. like all children, those in mixed-status families have the right to an appropriate education. the office for civil rights (2014) unequivocally states, “the undocumented or non-citizen status of a student (or his or her parent or guardian) is irrelevant to that student’s entitlement to an elementary and secondary public education” (p. 2). students in mixed-status families face enormous stress and uncertainty, but schools can and should act as stable, safe havens for these children. mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 31 references abrego, l.j., & gleeson, s. (2014). workers, families, and immigration policies. in t. payan & e. de la garza (eds.), undecided nation: political gridlock and the immigration crisis (pp. 209-228). new york, ny: springer. aclu. (1999, july 29). ca’s anti-immigrant proposition 187 is voided, ending state’s five year battle with aclu, rights groups. new york: american civil liberties union. retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/news/cas-anti-immigrant-proposition-187-voided-endingstates-five-year-battle-aclu-rights-groups afl-cio. (2011). crisis in alabama: investigating the devastating effects of hb 56. washington, dc: afl-cio america’s unions. retrieved from http://www.aflcio.org/about/execcouncil/ec-statements/crisis-in-alabama-the-devastating-effects-of-state-antiimmigrant-laws american psychological association. (2012). undocumented americans. retrieved from http://www.apa.org/topics/immigration/undocumented-video.aspxvii barreto, m.a., manzano, s., & segura, g. (2012). the impact of media stereotypes on opinions and attitudes towards latinos. seattle, wa: latino decisions. retrieved from http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/files/news/nhmclatinodecisionsreport.pdf belanger, m. (2012). immigration –policy update state immigration laws suffer more legla blows. [web log post]. retrieved from https://immigrationforum.org/blog/ bennett, c.i. (2011). comprehensive multicultural education: theory and practice (7th ed.). boston, ma: pearson. bernhardt, a., milkman, r., theodore, n., heckathorn, d., auer, m., defilippis, j.,…spiller, m. (2009). broken laws, unprotected workers. new york, ny: national employment law project. retrieved from http://www.nelp.org/page//brokenlaws/brokenlawsreport 2009.pdf?nocdn=1 blume, h. (2015, february 10). l.a. school district lawyers will assist students facing deportation. l.a. times. retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-lnlausd-legal-20150210-story.html bonifacio, k.a. (2013). undocumented youth struggle with anxiety, depression. the chicago bureau. retrieved from http://www.chicago-bureau.org/undocumented-youth-strugglewith-anxiety-depression/ cavazos-rehg, p.a., zayas, l.h., & spitznagel, e.l. (2007). legal status, emotional well-being and subjective health status of latino immigrants. journal of the national medical association, 99(10), 1126-1131. chaudry, a., capps, r. pedroza, j.m. casteneda, r.m., santos, r., & scott, m.m. (2010). facing our future: children in the aftermath of immigration enforcement. washington, dc: urban institute. retrieved from http://www.urban.org/research/publication/facing-our-future chavez, j.m., lopez, a., englebrecht, c.m., & viramontez anguiano, r.p. (2012). sufren los niños: exploring the impact of unathorized immigration status on children's wellbeing. family court review, 50(4), 638-649. cohen, j., & wickens, c. (2015). speaking english and the loss of heritage language. tesol-ej, 18(4), 1-18. corones, m. (2015). tracking obama's deportation numbers. [web log post]. retrieved from http://blogs.reuters.com/data-dive/2015/02/25/tracking-obamas-deportation-numbers/ the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 32 covarrubias, a., & lara, a. (2013). the undocumented (im)migrant educational pipeline: the influence of citizenship status on educational attainment for people of mexican origin. urban education, 49(1), 75-110. crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 43(6), 1241-1299. crosnoe, r. (2013). preparing the children of immigrants for early academic success. washington, dc: migration policy institute. retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/ preparing-children-immigrants-early-academic-success golden door scholars. (2012). closing the gap. retrieved from http://www.goldendoorscholars .org/learn_more.html gonzales, l.m., borders, l.d., hines, e.m., villalba, j.a., & henderson, a. (2013). parental involvement in children's education: considerations for school counselors working with latino immigrant families. professional school counseling, 16, 185-193. gonzales, r.g, & chavez, l.r. (2012). "awakening to a nightmare": abjectivity and illegality in the lives of undocumented 1.5 generation latino immigrants in the united states. currenty anthropology, 53(3), 255-281. harris, r. (2012, february 10). suburban chicago schools lag as bilingual needs grow. the new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/education/suburbanchicago-schools-lag-as-bilingual-needs-grow.html.?_r=0 hayes, h. (2001). u.s. immigration policy and the undocumented: ambivalent laws, furtive lives. london: praeger. hook, j.v., landale, n.s., & hillemeier, m.m. (2013). is the united states bad for children’s health? risk and resilience among young children of immigrants. washington, dc: migration policy institute. retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/ united-states-bad-children%e2%80%99s-health-risk-and-resilience-among-young children-immigrants human impact partners. (2013). family unit, family health: an inquiry on federal immigration policy. oakland, ca: human impact partners. jeffries, j. (2014). fear of deportation in high school: implications for breaking the circle of silence surrounding migration status. journal of latinos and education, 13(4), 278-295. kalil, a., & crosby, d.a. (2009). welfare-leaving and child health and behavior in immigrant and native families. in m.e. fix (ed.), immigrants and welfare: the impact of welfare reform on america’s newcomers (pp. 193-228). new york, ny: russell sage foundation. kriel, l. (2014, june 1). woodlands student got deported: youth seeks asylum after school fight led to his deportation to mexico. houston chronicle. retrieved from http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/woodlandsstudent-got-deported-5521431.php ku, l., & jewers, m. (2013). health care for immigrant families: current policies and issues. in m.e. fix (ed.), immigrants and welfare: the impact of welfare reform on america’s newcommers (pp. 153-192). new york, ny: russell sage foundation. leach, m.a., brown, s.k., bean, f.d., & van hook, j. (2011). unathorized immigrant parents: do their migration histories limit their childdren’s education? retrieved from rusell sage foundation websit: http://www.russellsage.org/research/reports/unauthorizedimmigrant-parents lensmire, a. (2012). white urban teachers: stories of fear, violence, and desire. plymouth, united kingdom: rowman & littlefield education. mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 33 lofholm, n. (2013, january 15). fear from swift plan raid resonates in greeley six years later. denver post. retrieved from http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22374170/fear-from-swiftplant-raid-resonates-greeley-six lopez, m.p., & lopez, g.r. (2010). persistent inequality: contemporary realities in the education of undocumented latina/o students. new york, ny: routledge. luce, s., luff, j., mccartin, j., & milkman, r. (2014). what works for workers? public policies and innovative strategies for low-wage workers. new york, ny: rusell sage foundation. mahoney, d. (2008). undocumented adolescents: building hope. clinical psychiartry news, 36(5), 34. retrieved from http://psych.imng.com/fileadmin/content_pdf/cpn/archive_pdf/vol 36iss5/70319_main.pdf marx, s., & larson, l. (2012). taking off the colorblind glassess. educational adminstration quarterly, 48(2), 259-303. massey, d.s. (2012). the new latino underclass: immigration eforcement as a race-making institution. standford center on poverty and inequality. retrieved from http://inequality.stanford.ed u/_media/working_papers/massey_new-latino-underclass.pdf mendoza, m., & olivas, e.m. (2009). advocating for control with compassion: the impact of raids and deportations on children and families. oregon review of international law, 11(1), 111-122. morse, m.c., & ludovina, f.s. (1999). responding to undocumented children in the schools. ericdigest. retrieved from http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.3011204233499; view=1up;seq=1 newman, j.a. (2016). psychological welfare of u.s. citizen and legal permanent resident parents in mixed-citizenship status families. (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1720843605 o’leary, a.o. (2014). undocumented immigrantss in the united states: an encyclopedia of their experiences (vol.1). santa barbara, ca: abc-clio. office for civil rightss. (2014). dear collegue letter: school enrollment procedures. washington, dc: u.s. deparment of justice. retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr /letters/colleague-201405.pdf office of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation. (2012). barriers to immigrants’ access to health and human services. washington, dc: u.s. department of human and health services. retrieved from https://aspe.hhs.gov/basic-report/barriers-immigrantsaccess-health-and-human-services-programs orfield, g., & ee. j. (2014). segregating california’s future: inequality and its alternative 60 years after brown v. board of education. retrieved from https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k12-education/integration-and-diversity/segregating-california2019s-future-inequality-andits-alternative-60-years-after-brown-v.-board-of-education ornelas, i.j., & perreira, k.m. (2011). the physical and psychological well-being of immigrant children. future of children, 21(1), 1-24. retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/future ofchildren/publications/docs/211_01_09.pdf ortega, a.n., horwitz, s.m., fang, h., kuo, a.a., wallace, s.p., & inkela, m. (2009). documentation status and parental concerns about development in young u.s. children of mexican origin. academic pediatrics, 9(4), 278-282. passel, j.s. (2005). estimates of the size and characteristic of the undocumented population. washington, dc: pew research center hispanic trends. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/reports/44.pdf the impact of living in a mixed-status family association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 34 passel, j.s., & cohn, d.v. (2014). unathorized immigration total rises in 7 states, fall in 14. washington, dc: pew research center hispanic trends. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/2014/11/2014-11-18_unauthorized-immigration.pdf passel, j.s., & taylor, p. (2010). unathorized immigrants and their u.s. born children. washington, dc: pew research center hispanic trends. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org /files/reports/125.pdf perez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h.m., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(2), 149181. retrieved from http://www.williamperezphd.com/articles/perez-espinoza-ramoscoronado-cortes-2009.pdf pew research center. (2013). second generation americans: a portrait of the adult children of immigrants. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/02/07/second-generation-americans/ potochnick, s.r., & perreira, k.m. (2010). depression and anxiety among first-generation immigrant latino youth: key correlates and implications for future research. journal of nervous and mental disease, 198(7), 470-477. retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc3139460/pdf/nihms3005767.pdf reid, z. (2015, march 2). richmond superintendent, huguenot principal issue public apology. richomond times-dispatch. retrieved from http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-ofrichmond/article_8795e2ba-9011-5b50-a2f5-d5cec5df7a6a.html roblyer, m.i., crzywacz, j.g., & apanecatl-ibarra, e. (2015). stress and trauma in mixed-status families. paper presented at the center for family resilience, oklahoma state university. roman, e. (2008). the alien invasion? houston law review, 45(3), 842-899. rumberger, r.w., & larsen, k.a. (1998). student mobility and the increased risk of high school dropout. american journal of education, 107(1), 1-35. saenz-alcantara, c. (2015, march 20). the school to deportation pipeline. the latino rebels. retrieved from http://www.latinorebels.com/2015/03/20/the-school-to-deportationpipeline/ shafer, s. (2014). political effects linger 20 years after prop. 187 targeted illegal immigration. the california report. retrieved from http://www.kqued.org/news/2014/11/04/politicaleffects-linger-20-years-after-prop-187-targeted-illegal-immigration suarez-orozco, c., & suarez-orozco, m.m. (2001). children of immigration. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. suarez-orozco, c.m., yoshikawa, h., teranishi, r.t., & suarez-orozco, m. (2011). growing up in the shadows: the developmental implications of unathorized status. harvard education review, 81(3), 438-472. retrieved from http://her.hepg.org/content/g23x203763783m75/ fulltext.pdf tamer, m. (2014). the education of immigrant children. cambridge, ma: usable knowledge harvard graduate school. retrieved from https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/14/ 12/education-immigrant-children tucker, j., & van derbeken, j. (2008, may 7). ice raids on homes panic schools, politicians. sf gate. retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/ice-raids-on-homes-panicschools-politicians-3285207.php u.s. citzenship and immigration services. (2014). frequetly asked questions (consideration of deferred action for childhood arrival process). washington, dc: u.s.citizenship and http://her.hepg.org/content/g23x203763783m75/ mass, cohen, mccarthy, dawhweih, & franklin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 35 immigration services. retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/considerationdeferred-action-childhood-arrivals-process/frequently-asked-questions u.s. homeland security. (2014). fy 2014 ice immigration removals. washington, dc: u.s. immigration and customs enforcement. retrieved from https://www.ice.gov/removalstatistics wessler, s.f. (2011). shattered families: the perilous intersection of immigration enforcement on the child welfare system. new york, ny: applied research center. retrieved from https://www.sph.sc.edu/cli/word_pdf/arc_report_nov2011.pdf wessler, s.f. (2012, december 17). nearly 205kdeportations of parents of u.s. citizens in just over two years. colorlines. retrieved from http://www.colorlines.com/articles/nearly205k-deportations-parents-us-citizens-just-over-two-years wolters kluwer health. (2015). nearly half of uninsured children live in immigrant families, reports studdy in medical care. retrieved from http://www.wolterskluwehealth.com/ news/pages/nearly-half-of-unisured-children-live-in-immigrant-familie,-reports study-in-medical-care.aspx yoshikawa, h. (2011). immigrants raising citizens. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. yoshikawa, h., & kholoptseva, j. (2013). unauthorized immigrant parentss and their children’s development. washington, dc: migration policy institute. retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/coi-yoshikawa.pdf zerh, m.a. (2007, september 10). with immigrants, districts balance safety, legalities. education week. retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/09/12/03safehaven. h27.html invited.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 17 instructional practices and approaches sonia nieto university of massachusetts—amherst jason irizarry university of connecticut as documented in the demographic data presented earlier in this review and as demonstrated through noemi’s words above, large numbers of latinos/as have not experienced academic success as measured by traditional indicators such as high school and college completion. in addition to addressing structural barriers impeding academic success, reversing this deleterious trend involves providing latino/a students with genuine access to rigorous and culturally responsive curricula that respond to the material conditions of their lives. unfortunately, too many latino/a students languish in classrooms and schools where this is not the case. in this section, we examine some of the historical instructional approaches that have been used with latino/a students, and we analyze the impact these have had on their educational experiences and outcomes. we also highlight some participatory action research projects and culturally responsive pedagogy as promising instructional practices that have the potential to transform students’ personal and professional trajectories as well as empower them with the skills to meaningfully participate in and transform society so that it is more inclusive and just. drawing on these approaches provides a stunningly different vision for latino/a education than is currently the case, one that can serve as a vehicle for both personal transformation and community empowerment. a brief historical overview of instructional strategies used with latino/a students the educational experiences of latino/as have been characterized, among other realities, by segregated classrooms and schools, limited access to qualifi ed teachers, corporal punishment, and “sink or swim” approaches to language learning. historically, for example, mexican americans in the southwest were prevented from attending “anglo” schools with better facilities and curricular materials. parents and community members organized to combat the segregation of mexican american students, winning important legal battles in lemon grove, california in 1931 and throughout the southwest, marking the fi rst victories against school segregation policies and establishing legal precedent for the 1954 supreme court decision in brown v. board of education (macdonald & monkman, 2005). in puerto rico, during some periods of the u.s. colonization of the island beginning at the turn of the 20th century, schools were forced to operate in english, a language spoken by few of the students or teachers. the schools were renamed after famous fi gures in u.s. history, and the school curriculum was changed to introduce puerto ricans to the espoused benefi ts of american culture (negrón de montilla, 1975). in fact, english was imposed as the major language of instruction until 1949, more than fi ve decades after the u.s. acquisition of the island. the education of puerto ricans on the mainland united states through the mid-twentieth century was equally problematic, characterized by instructional practices based on defi cit perspectives (flores, 2005), in guererra’s class, i feel important. like, he cares that i’m there and stuff . . . i don’t feel like he is pushing me out like the other ones. like the other teachers are so negative. they are like, “if you miss one more day, you won’t graduate.” he’s not like that. he has *never* said that to me, ever. he’s just, “mija, make sure that you are doing something” you know, trying to help me… i feel like i do better because [mr. guererra] cares. that’s one of the main things, why i like the class, ‘cause he’s not just there to get paid . . . . it’s different in that class. like, you feel way more um, important, than just a student in the class. (cristina, interview) instructional practices and approaches association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 18 corporal punishment for speaking spanish in school (cockcroft, 1995; nieto, 2007), and discipline practices that have limited students’ access to appropriate instruction (drakeford, 2004). basing their perceptions of latino/a students on standardized test scores as well as stereotypical, racist notions of latino/a academic capabilities, teaching practices in these classrooms were often refl ective of perceived low-levels of intelligence. while students in the upper tracks were being prepared for higher education or white-collar positions in the workforce, the education of most latino/a students prepared them for menial jobs in the service industry that provided few, if any, opportunities for upward mobility. for example, according to cockcroft (1995), in the early part of the 20th century “the california guide for teaching non-english speaking children encouraged teachers to comb their students’ hair, clean their faces, and present them to the class with the words ‘look at josé. he is clean’” (p. 29). while past approaches to teaching latino/a students may seem deplorable, there is evidence to suggest that despite efforts to change the situation, the current climate for latino/a students is also oppressive. for example, as a result of the no child left behind (nclb) act of 2002 – the federal legislation that purports to improve the performance of all students through the use of standardized tests – many teachers in schools labeled as “underperforming” have narrowed their curricula to focus solely on the content that will appear on the state tests. this “test prep pedagogy” (rodriguez in liou, 2008) approach to teaching and learning has resulted in the elimination of “specials,” that is, classes such as music, art, and physical education, among others. in some schools, even science and social studies (subjects not yet included in the tests) are sacrifi ced. in addition, many school districts have purchased curricular materials based on “skill and drill” approaches that simulate the skills students need to pass the test while they ignoring the critical thinking and other skills that students need if they are to become active participants in a democratic society. schooling for many latino/a students has thus become a barrage of test preparation rather than meaningful learning. schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress, or ayp (determined in part by scores on standardized tests which are fraught with problems including cultural bias; see, for example, abedi & gándara, 2006), are often penalized. consequently, structural inequalities are exacerbated, making it more diffi cult, if not impossible, to provide students with the same facilities and resources as their more privileged peers. the stated goal of nclb – to close gaps in achievement between white students and “minority” students – is a positive one. yet, because of its focus on testing and standard english literacy, nclb has been particularly harmful for recent latino/a immigrants for whom english is not a primary language (rodriguez, 2007). although nclb is a relatively new law, it has had a devastating impact on instructional practices, and has resulted in metaphoric leaks along what some scholars have referred to as the “educational pipeline” (de jesús & vázquez, 2005; yosso, 2006), further exacerbating the dropout crisis and low achievement levels described earlier. while the situation is dire, there have been rays of light within an otherwise dismal picture. an emerging body of literature highlights the journeys of latino/a students who have been able to successfully navigate the system (antrop-gonzález, vélez, & garrett, 2005; conchas, 2006; gándara, 1982; gándara, 1995; irizarry & antrop-gonzález, 2007). this literature challenges defi cit perspectives regarding latino/a students and families, making important contributions to our understanding of underachievement by examining factors that might instead foster high academic achievement. these factors include some of the social and cultural support networks described in other sections of this paper. understanding the factors that contribute to student success can help researchers and practitioners create learning experiences that promote achievement among latino/a students. in what follows, we discuss several promising practices and innovative approaches to latino/a education. promising and innovative approaches to latino/a education numerous research projects have documented the adverse impact of schooling on latino/a students (conchas, 2001; portes & rumbaut, 1996; quiroz, 2001; trueba, 1998; valdés, 2001). several studies point to specifi c aspects of schooling – including culturally insensitive teachers and administrators, curriculum that is disconnected from the histories and lived experiences of latinos/as, and poor learning environments – as root causes for latino/a underachievement (mcquillan, 1998, nieto, 2007; noguera, 2007). as a result of these conditions, latino/a students are often disengaged, alienated, and disconnected from school. at the same time, instructional practices and approaches association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 19 throughout their history in the u.s., latinos/as have challenged institutional forms of oppression in the schooling of their children, resulting in research-based, promising approaches. more recently, scholars in the fi elds of participatory action research and culturally responsive pedagogy have documented the fi ndings of their work, offering new possibilities for latino/a education. although not widespread or systematically implemented, there is empirical evidence to suggest that these approaches have positively infl uenced the educational experiences and academic outcomes of latino/a students. culturally responsive pedagogy and latino/a students a promising practice gaining traction within schools serving latino/a students is culturally responsive pedagogy (crp). also referred to as culturally relevant (ladson-billings, 1994), culturally congruent (au & kawakami, 1994), and culturally sensitive pedagogy (jacob & jordan, 1987), this kind of pedagogy refers to the effective instructional implementation of multicultural education, building on students’ cultures to promote their academic achievement. the work of ana maría villegas and tamara lucas (2002) offers a vision of culturally responsive teaching by describing the characteristics they believe teachers should embody. according to their research, culturally responsive teachers: 1) are socio-culturally conscious, meaning that teachers understand that peoples ways of being and thinking are infl uenced by a variety of factors including race, class, gender and language; 2) have positive views regarding students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; 3) act as agents of change, embodying a sense of commitment and skills to using teaching as a platform for engaging students in social change; 4) have constructivist views of learning where students are encouraged to make meaning of their experiences and academic content; 5) know their students well and affi rm the “funds of knowledge” (moll & gonzalez, 1997) that are present in their students’ communities; and 6) are able to incorporate the knowledge of the students, families and communities they serve into their teaching. villegas’s and lucas’s (2002) comprehensive overview provides a clear goal for teachers and teacher educators and offers strategies to lessen the cultural confl ict that can emerge between teachers and students in diverse classrooms. certainly, crp has the potential to positively infl uence the education of students, particularly for those whose cultural identities and histories have been maligned or completely disregarded by schools (nieto, 1998). however, it is imperative that conceptualizations of culture as it relates to crp remain fl uid and multidimensional and avoid essentialization. notions of fl uidity and cultural hybridity have characterized the literature regarding culturally responsive pedagogy for latino/a students. for example, centering pedagogy, a framework introduced by carmen rolón (nieto & rolón, 1997), “consists of instructional and curricular approaches that begin where students are at—experientially, cognitively, psychologically, and socio-politically—in order to move them beyond their own particular experiences” (nieto, 2003, p. 54). to address the fl uid nature of culture, kris gutierrez and barbara rogoff (2003) use a cultural-historic approach to help “researchers and practitioners characterize the commonalities of experience of people who share a similar cultural background, without ‘locating’ the commonalities within the individual” (p. 21). this perspective deliberately describes culture not as a set of fi xed traits or immutable characteristics but instead focuses on cultural practices. essentializing culture and further marginalizing members of cultural groups that have been oppressed, they argue, can be avoided by understanding how group members’ participation in fl uid cultural practices of various communities and their distinct histories and experiences help shape – although they do not determine – their identities. recent research by jason irizarry (2007) describes practices that latino/a students have identifi ed as culturally responsive. drawing from data collected through classroom observations and in-depth interviews with a group of latino/a high school students and their african american teacher, jason irizarry (2007) posits that culturally responsive pedagogy must be more broadly conceptualized to address the cultural identities of students who have complex identities because of their experiences with peers of many varied identities, those whose urban roots have resulted in hybrid identities, and those who are multiethnic/multiracial. although much of the research literature regarding culturally responsive pedagogy focuses on singlegroup studies (i.e. mexican-americans or african americans), irizarry (2007) suggests a framework for culturally responsive pedagogy that is rooted in a view of culture as fl uid and multidimensional, that is, one that acknowledges instructional practices and approaches association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 20 the diversity within and across cultural groups and accounts for the development of hybrid identities. this view of culturally responsive pedagogy calls for teachers to move beyond treating cultural groups as monolithic entities and develop approaches to teaching that acknowledge, affi rm and respond to the various sources from which individuals draw to create their identities. attempting to explain the low levels of achievement among chicano students, enrique trueba (1991) found that there is a relationship between the support of students’ language and culture and their school adjustment. he conducted research in two underperforming school districts in southern california and focused on developing culturally appropriate methodologies for teaching english. in his research, trueba (1991) found that the teachers in the study, the majority of whom were white monolingual english speakers, had negative views about the potential of their students and did not believe the students could be successful. nevertheless, when the classrooms were reorganized into smaller communities within the larger class context and built on issues that were important to the students in their writing assignments, students acquired essential literacy skills and made positive changes in their schools and communities. in addition to documenting the academic benefi ts of culturally responsive pedagogy, menchaca (2001) found other positive impacts of a culturally relevant curriculum. illustrating culturally congruent lessons for mexican american students, menchaca (2001) integrated content related to the mexican american experience in language arts, health, science, and social studies. this included, for instance, using familiar foods in a health lesson about food groups and drawing on students’ familiarity with mexican fl ora and fauna in teaching science. like all of the scholars in this review, menchaca (2001) asserts that learning is most meaningful when it is connected to, and refl ective of, the experiences of the learner. in sum, culturally responsive pedagogies that account for the fl uid and multidimensional aspects of culture have the potential to improve the academic achievement, sense of effi cacy, and feeling of belonging of latino/a students. the studies mentioned here, as well as others (moll, 1992; wortham & contreras, 2002), focus on foregrounding the cultural knowledge in latino/a communities to foster the academic and personal success of students. while still an emerging body of research, crp suggests that as teachers search for strategies to improve student achievement, it is imperative that their approaches build on students’ cultural identities and the strengths students bring with them to the classroom. examples of par as an instructional strategy youth participatory action research (ypar) is emerging as a potentially transformative pedagogical approach with latino/a students. notably, the work of the social justice education project (sjep), located at a high school in the tucson unifi ed school district (romero, cammarota, dominguez, valdéz, ramírez, & hernández, 2008) enrolls students across three different high schools in a series of credit-earning social science courses aimed at addressing the educational, personal and professional needs of latino/a students. using a critical pedagogical framework (freire, 1970), the project engages latino/a students in the study of structural issues that impede their access to quality education and obstruct their full participation in civic life. through participation in sjep, students conduct research and present their recommendations for addressing issues of social injustice at various community engagements as well as academic conferences and professional meetings. the sites for research include neighborhoods, schools, peer groups, and workplaces so that the students’ social contexts are key milieus for study and analysis. the knowledge gathered in their analyses is not limited to cultural aspects, but also emerges from understanding how social relationships may impede or enhance their life chances (cammarota, 2007; cammarota, 2008; ginwright & cammarota, 2007). sjep’s social justice orientation fosters the formation of academically orientated social networks that build on students’ cultures to advance school achievement. contrary to conventional compensatory programs that seek to increase academic achievement by focusing on institutional literacy, the success of this program comes from its explicit embrace of students’ home cultures and their intellectual capacities to bring social change to schools and communities. another ypar project engaging latino/a youth is illustrated in research by jason irizarry (2009). dubbed project fuerte (future urban educators conducting research to transform teacher education), participants instructional practices and approaches association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 21 in this research collaborative critically examine the quality of education in urban schools and develop researchbased recommendations aimed at improving the educational experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for students who have been traditionally underserved by schools. a signifi cant feature of the project is to encourage students of color to consider teaching as a profession. project fuerte, therefore, not only aims to transform the preparation of teachers but also to diversify the teaching force by “home-growing” teachers of color for urban schools. student researchers participating in the project are enrolled in a social science elective course entitled action research and social change, where they learn skills in conducting research that will simultaneously enhance their academic skills and address issues related to the material conditions and socio-emotional aspects of their lives. class sessions and assignments focus on generating research questions and learning the skills necessary to answer them. students are encouraged to draw from a variety of “funds of knowledge” including, but not limited to, existing research in their areas of interest, various electronic databases, and community resources. a primary goal of the course is to familiarize students with the conventions of ethnographic research as a means of exploring the ways in which power and opportunity manifest themselves in urban schools and to consider the implications of their fi ndings for teacher education. the fi ndings from both of these studies identify and challenge those policies and practices that serve to limit opportunities for personal and academic success among latinos/as. the work of romero et al. (2008) and irizarry (2009) also document positive outcomes for student participants, including increases in academic achievement and the development of critical consciousness. instead of being positioned as “problems” within school reform efforts, latino/a student participants in the aforementioned ypar projects are assets, asserting themselves in decision-making processes that directly impact – yet typically exclude – youth. moreover, because they are grounded in schools, these projects offer potentially libratory spaces within institutions that have, by and large, underserved latino/a students and families. instructional practices and approaches http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal valencia association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 172 this is your utopia? beatriz t. valencia chapman university this dark long stretch of land you called your home. once my home. i mimicked, i ran. small legs of a child keeping up with the large world around me. helicopter sounded above—what are you looking for? what do you want from us, from me? danger of crossing this boundary you have created. gunshots ring, the blast is defining and deafening. danger is non-discriminating. my mother missing—what did you do with her. you start robbing me of what is mine from the moment i was near and what i need, only to tease me of what was to come. feeling of death lack of oxygen—you would rather kill than allow. the grass was greener on this side. your utopia. you mock me. you start right away taking my voice. picking out parts to dispose. i can’t speak. do not speak. my language is less than trash, you don’t want to know it hear it feel it. you want to kill it. another boarder erected. valencia association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 173 held back from grades, held back by a tether that is your customs, your language, your home. i get it, i am not welcomed. animosity and harassment are your daily gifts. reminding me daily you don’t want me, you don’t care for me, you have a gun pointed to my head. normal daily interactions become the daily denial of self. russian roulette. is today when you discover me? when that helicopter finds me? when the gun goes of? i deny who i am, i deny my own mother. there is no protection from you. you thief. you rob me daily. dropping, kicked out—as if you weren’t involved. trash collection—humiliation this is what you carved out for me. your generous gift for me, as if there is nothing worthier. i can’t participate in your world? where do i belong? where do you want me? in school suspension is a training ground for the future you see for me. prohibit socialization, isolation, privacy panels, no breaks, alienated, a nuisance, detatched. you are committed to breaking me, to erasing me. exceeded my time in your environment. culmination of years of neglect have led to my own neglect. i am yours now. how do i get back? you kidnapping my soul. back to where i belong. i want my mother back. you took her from me the moment you laid your standards down for me and on top of me. suffocating me with the weight of hate. my mother exists, i long for her, look for her. valencia association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 174 your boarder now is my boarder. i keep myself away from my mother. suffering from stockholm syndrome. i hear her far away in song. you tricked me, you promised me, you pretended you wanted me. what a joke i am to you. you brainwashed me into thinking i was equal. the helicopter still looking, you muted the sound, and i no longer noticed it. i can never get away. you trapped me in your land. this is what you call freedom? this doesn’t feel free. i flirt with the idea of freedom, but you are no freer than i am. you have kept me down. manipulated me to be on your side, while i neglect my own. break me you did own me you did freedom your freedom is not mine. your freedom is not mine. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 45 paradox of performing exceptionalism: complicating the deserving/ underserving binary of undocumented youth attending elite institutions claudia a. anguiano california state university, fullerton lourdes gutiérrez nájera drake university abstract this article examines the problematic labels of “deserving” and “undeserving” within a broader context of undocumented immigration. specifically, we interrogate the categorization of “deservingness” that imposes distinctions between “good” versus “bad” immigrants. we demonstrate these categories are assumed and subverted by undocumented youth in order to challenge disempowerment and racism experienced at both an interpersonal and institutional level. our findings reveal how narratives of hard work and perseverance mitigate stigma to help youth reframe narratives of “undeservingness” at a micro-level of analysis. by contrast, racialization shapes individuals’ experiences and motivations for activism at the macro-level. this study highlights narrative strategies used by youth to frame their accounts of inclusion and exclusion. it also contributes to the scholarship of undocumented youth in higher education through its examination of the experiences of latin@ undocumented students in northeastern elite private institutions. introduction the terrain has shifted both legislatively and culturally since the dream act was first introduced.1 but the story of undocumented youth does not end with the defeat of the dream (development, relief, and education for alien minors) act by the u.s. senate in 2007 or the implementation of the deferred action for childhood arrivals. it continues—vigorously. in the face of a hostile climate of nativism that has drawn on damaging, if not negative, discourses surrounding undocumented immigration, a contingent of latin@ undocumented youth have used activism to regain control over their images and representations.2 in this article, we examine the relationship between “deserving” and “undeserving” migrants by focusing on the narratives of undocumented youth making sense of experiences fraught with complexity. our analysis integrates research about undocumented youth in a geographical location for which there is relatively little research. scholarly attention has documented the experiences of dream-eligible youth in several states with successful enactment of in-state tuition bills granting undocumented youth the possibility to attend college, showing how these experiences play out differently in educational systems across the country. these states include: california (abrego, 2008; gonzales, 2011; seif, 2004), illinois (diaz-strong & meiners, 2007), texas (jauregui, slate, & brown, 2008), new york (muñoz, 2009), north carolina (lopez, 2010), washington (stevenson, 2004), and the general midwest (morales, herrera, & murry, 2009). however, with the exception of jefferies’ (2014) ethnography of undocumented immigrant youths’ navigation of high school enrollment in the state of massachusetts, little scholarly attention has been paid to northeast regions, where latino youth populations are also present. the u.s. census indicates that approximately 206,000 undocumented immigrants live in new england, and about 121,000 are under age 35, and thus would have been potentially eligible for dream act benefits (aaron, 2010). also, while few students who have disclosed their immigration status are enrolled at elite schools, the annually held ivy league immigrants’ rights coalition summit shows a changing trend and growing politicized student body with awareness of such issues. this study expands such scholarship by reflecting on the marginalized voices of undocumented student activists in elite private institutions in the northeast. it also contributes to a broadened scholarship on migration 1 first introduced in 2001, and modified numerous times, the latest version of the dream act (h.r. 6497, 2010; s. 3992, 2010) stipulates that candidates who completed two years of college or served two years in the u.s. military; have lived in the united states for at least five years; were between the ages of 12 and 29 at the time of bill enactment; possessed no criminal record; and demonstrated good moral character, would then be eligible to apply for conditional legal residency after a 10-year waiting period. paradox of performing exceptionalism association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 46 through a consideration of youth struggling against forces of exclusion and creating new possibilities for inclusion through narratives around their engagement of macro and micro-levels. by featuring what we term, the “paradox of performing exceptionalism,” we bring light to the complicated tension that these students experience—that is, despite the “entitlement” of their elite education youth continue to be racialized as undocumented students of color. we suggest it is as important to point to the sense of disillusionment with the educational system, as it is to discuss the limitations faced by ivy league students despite their efforts to assimilate. while assimilation is often thought of as a method for stripping off one’s cultural roots, student narratives featured in our study suggest students use assimilation strategies to overcome exclusion, by becoming “americanized,” within a broader structure that disempowers them. given their undocumented status, students may seek assimilation as a means to an end. in the cases we discuss, “passing” as “american,” allows students to partake in privileges that are part of the elite private educational experience. students we interviewed described a freedom they experienced being part of the exclusivity of elite higher education, and the removed pressure they felt from having to deal with anti-immigrant onslaughts on a daily basis because of the institutional/geographic setting. at the same time, despite the privileges of their elite environment and their relative assimilation, the undocumented students in this study remained closely linked to their family, took pride in their cultural background and effectively navigated particular challenges. the following critical analysis draws from first-person accounts of undocumented youth to highlight the ways that undocumented youth overcome the limitations of categorization that subject them as “undeserving” by reframing their narratives around inclusion and ultimately, ways in which they are “deserving.” we begin by reviewing the scholarship on undocumented youth in the educational context. next, we demonstrate our method of analysis. next, we discuss the emerging themes derived from students’ engagement in personal and political advocacy. we then examine students’ strategies for overcoming racialized narratives that strive to limit their rights as citizens. we conclude with a discussion on the implications of a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of undocumented latin@ students in the united states. undocumented youth: exclusion, inclusion, and belonging the question of whether or not to provide undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship is hotly debated in the public, many opposing it based on nativist thoughts that to do so would harm the cultural fabric. nativism, produced by political and economic efficiencies and structured by law and legal discourses about citizenship, is part of the larger discourse that demonizes undocumented immigrants (chávez, 2008). the dichotomy of “illegality” versus “legality” fostered by terminology of illegal alien has garnered significant attention by law and humanities scholars alike, which note the prominence of this legal description that emphasizes foreignness (ngai, 2004). the category has been shown to be a powerful rationalization tool to justify harsh treatment and restrictive immigration policy (johnson, 2004; nevins, 2002). there is extensive research and accounts of the way in which illegality is socially constructed to systematically exclude groups of people deemed undesirable and “undeserving” (chávez, 2007; chomsky, 2014; johnson, 2004; marciniak, 2013; ngai, 2004). latin@ undocumented youth in (elite) universities to understand the undocumented student population, it is necessary to look at the social and political factors that impact them. it is equally important to examine the ways in which undocumented students resist exclusionary discourses and structures, by reframing their own narratives and navigating the challenges and benefits of their experience. the educational experiences of undocumented youth begin with knowledge that undocumented youth require specialized informational resources as a result of the institutional barriers created by their legal status. latin@ undocumented students are especially vulnerable to the challenges of attending higher education, including: financial, academic, emotional, and career challenges faced in pursuit of their higher education goals (contreras, 2009; covarrubias & lara, 2013; hernandez et al., 2010; rodríguez, 2011; torres, 2014). for example, being “pushed-out” speaks to the challenges students face in the k-12 educational process, but in the matter of undocumented youth in the east coast, jefferies (2014) notes the circumstances that either delay or keep youth from enrolling in east coast high schools all together (e.g., deportation and de facto economic policies that places them in low-wage manual labor create their “illegal” condition). among other poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 47 things, these experiences present formidable challenges if and when they attend higher education. of those that do go on to higher education, the ethnographic studies of undocumented latin@ youth consistently show how undocumented youths’ precarious legal status translates into additional risk factors and sources of stress. specifically, growing literature on mexican undocumented youth highlights the remarkable resilience and admirable determination of latin@ undocumented youth as they face barriers in the educational process at different levels (enriquez, 2011; wilson, ek, & douglas, 2014). while both documented and undocumented immigrant latin@ youth face similar educational and psychological risks, we know that the transition into predominately white, highly selective institutions, is different for latin@ students (jones, castellanos, & cole, 2002; gonzales, suarez-orozco & dedios-sanguineti, 2013; lopez, 2013). the work of pérez and colleagues (2009) features the variability among undocumented students, as depending on “risk exposure”—the environmental factors that impact academic, psychological, and social functioning in the latino adolescent population. resilient students are said to have higher levels of environmental protective factors; however, little research centers on understanding the educational experiences of undocumented students effectively navigating the high adversity situation of attending ivy league or elite institutions (zepeda-millán, 2014). latin@ undocumented youth considerable media, research, and policy debates about this issue—despite the small size of undocumented college student population— can be attributed in part to the advocacy efforts towards to the federal dream act. despite the diversity of experiences among undocumented youth, there are those that have responded to nativism by engaging in activism. more research has been conducted on immigrant youth involvement in activism and community building as the movement has gained interdisciplinary attention in the last several years (abrego, 2008, 2011; gonzales, 2011; olivas, 2012; pérez huber, lopez, malagon, velez, & solorzane, 2008; seif, 2010). in the matter of how immigrant youth confront and resist inequities, studies have specifically explored cultural and sociopolitical contexts affecting latin@ immigrant youth. for example, the inherent hazards of activism, given the legal restrictions encountered by these youths, mark dream act-related organizing efforts as remarkable acts of resistance. negrón-gonzales (2013) focuses on this population and features the helpful concept of oppositional consciousness, or the ability to confront the political system forged through the constant navigation of “illegality.” however, the traditionally binary discourse of immigrants means those undocumented students are often both extolled as fitting into liberal conceptions of the “good” immigrant and as perpetuating a discourse of “exceptionalism.” the greater visibility of youth who have spoken out about their status has left them open to critique about their advocacy activities. a consequence of greater visibility and vocality means that the media has covered the undocumented immigrant youth movement with greater frequency, often framing dreamers’ activism as acts of deviancy (vélez, pérez huber, benavides lopez, de la luz, & solórzano, 2008). the civil life of latin@ immigrant youth, then, is another point of differentiation between dreamers and the rest of the immigration-rights movement (pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, & cortes, 2010; seif, 2010). undocumented college students who connected around access for educational opportunities used the disidentifying strategy of distancing themselves from other immigrants (anguiano & chávez, 2011). however, advocacy for the dream act, as a stand-alone approach, was critiqued as coming at the possible cost to the larger pro-immigrant campaign. when the dreamers positioned themselves as unique, they were painted as disrupting the image of a unified and collective immigrant-rights coalition (anguiano, 2015). their strategy, critics argue, resulted in a negative depiction and critique of undocumented immigrant youth. methodology this project is based on interview methodology. while we know much about the experiences of undocumented students in public institutions, few researchers have focused on the experiences of students in private institutions. while latino youth share experiences with students in public education, many new england private colleges are located in isolated communities peppered through massachusetts, rhode island, maine, poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 48 new hampshire, and vermont. geographic isolation is compounded by cultural distance from communities of color and anti-immigrant sentiment. our research emerged as an effort to raise awareness on our own campus regarding latin@ migration and to advocate for undocumented youth. it is difficult to know the exact number of undocumented youth enrolled at private institutions, like the one described in this article. since most higher education systems or institutions do not collect or publish their undocumented student enrollment figures, and because unless students come forth and expose themselves as undocumented, their status remains invisible in these institutions. consequently, our study is based on interviews among students who came forth and self-identified as undocumented.2 we began by soliciting the participation of students with whom we were acquainted. they in turn invited other students whom they knew. the anonymity of undocumented youth on campus at the administrative level contributed to our small sample size. we conducted seven interviews with students who self-described as latin@s (with home countries mainly from mexico, but included peru and colombia) and whose grade standing ranged from freshmen to graduating seniors at the time of the interview. of our interviewees, two were female and five were male. at the time of our interviews, only two had successfully been granted deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) status by the government. all interviews were conducted in english by the authors. interviews were open ended, semistructured and lasted approximately one hour each. we recorded all of our interview sessions and transcribed. the following table 1 provides a detailed listing of research participants by category (demographic information withheld). table 1. breakdown of research participants by category identifier gender age student status ethnicity d female 19 freshman; dacamented colombian c male 19 sophomore; undocumented mexican b male 20 sophomore; dacamented mexican a male 20 senior; undocumented mexican e male 22 senior; dacamented mexican p male 22 senior; dacamented peruvian z female 22 senior; dacamented mexican our interview method and data analysis permitted us to focus on the vernacular voices of undocumented youth within one such elite institution. transcriptions were analyzed using the qualitative software dedoose, which provides an organized platform for managing, shaping, and making sense of data. it has been proven useful for expediting data coding, sorting, and analysis. working collaboratively, both authors coded each interview independently and then collectively determined the final codes used in this analysis. results the categorization applied to immigrants as “deserving” and “undeserving” is fraught with tension. the resulting themes that emerged showed a dichotomy that emphasizes both macro (structural) and micro (interpersonal) levels of analysis. in the following section we show how undocumented youth negotiate between “deserving” and “undeserving” categorizations. at the micro level individual narratives focus on interpersonal relations with family and members of their ethnic community while macro levels stress their interactions with 2 institutional review board application was completed and university permission was granted as a mean to ensure proper protocol and anonymity; we use a letter as pseudonyms to protect the student identities. poder en las voces y acciones comunitarias association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 49 university institutional and/or national culture. ultimately, hard work and perseverance mitigate stigma and help immigrants reframe narratives of “undeserving” towards those of “deserving” at a micro-level of analysis, while at the macro level, racialization shapes individuals’ experiences and motivations for activism. micro interpersonal narratives: “i just feel incredibly lucky” based on the interviews and themes derived from coding our data we have more insight into the micro narratives of hard work. specifically, perseverance mitigates stigma and work to reframe narratives of “undeserving” to ones that emphasize “deservingness.” the students we spoke with described several factors that shaped the manner in which they navigate the interpersonal elements that challenges the experienced dichotomy of privilege against oppression. these respondents described the paradox of the performance of exceptionalism with elements that we coupled into the following themes: narratives of perseverance and hard work, family responsibility, and fortune and privilege. narratives of perseverance and hard work. the problem remains frustratingly persistent: an elite education remains the privilege of very few. or in blunt terms, “rich kids graduate; poor and workingclass kids don’t” (tough, 2014). gonzales (2011) has made it clear that structural barriers further complicate postsecondary matriculation of undocumented students (either in-state tuition is not available or minimized by federal laws barring students from receiving financial aid). one of our participating students, e, put it best: “for first generation students, for students of poorer socio-economic backgrounds, and for undocumented students, at the end of the day, the decision [to attend an elite institution] is a lot harder just because you want to help your community. but on the other hand, you know your family’s bank account, your own bank account, so, that’s a different thing.” meaning, these institutions come at a prohibitive cost to their family’s financial possibilities. but certain institutions, in the hopes of diversifying its student body and giving low-income, highachieving undocumented students a chance at a private or public elite education, do support accepted applicants financially. add the long-held assumption of success, meant to come from attending an elite institution, and we see why latin@ undocumented youth would matriculate at a predominantly white institution. acceptance into an elite school illustrates their “deserving” status, as many of the students shared the narratives of high persistence that it took to meet the high levels of rigor demanded by the admission requirements. students spoke of the challenging obstacles, motivation, and discipline it took to achieve the necessary elements that made them competitive students, including gpa and sat scores. one student tells of putting quotes on his desk and literally marking capital letters in the word “persevere.” after the students do persevere and are admitted, what is seldom touched upon—likely because of the small numbers of undocumented students in elite higher education institutions— is the crucial question of what happens once on campus. education scholars have looked beyond the financial expenses of higher education and into the added challenges students of color face in comparison to the dominant student population. in the course of our interviews, the respondents reported feelings of guilt, alienation, and at times sinking selfconfidence. overwhelmingly, participants experienced recurring instances of feeling “undeserving,” akin to the question of, “do i really belong here?” while such concern may be characteristic of what many low-income or first generation students of color experience, in the case of these undocumented youth, it was expressed within a bittersweet acknowledgement of the privilege of “being here.” at the same time, they conveyed a sense that no matter how challenging it was, or how disappointing the difficulty of the situation can be, somehow their efforts could be worthwhile. along with other latin@ student populations who exhibit high academic achievement by relying on effective coping strategies, the story of student success does not provide us with the entire story of what is happening on campus. what is important from these narratives is how they navigate the tensions that are inherent in the process of attending higher education. family responsibility. this refusal to fail, as a goal, is noted by one student, e, who shows such tenacity, “i’m going to succeed, i’m going to prove all of you wrong.” however, a majority of students considered the privilege of attending an elite institution and succeeding part and parcel with repaying their families. in reflecting about his high school days, one young man, describes himself as a “jerk” who really did not put much effort into paradox of performing exceptionalism association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 50 his school work and falls short of deserving rewards associated with completing this rite of passage when he reflects on his parents own sacrifice. c: parents gave up everything, everything. their parents. their brothers and sisters. their whole family. their country. everything they love just to come here and give you a shot; not even a guarantee, just a chance. and it’d be a real slap in the face to your parents to blow that. to be sure, our participants valued the sacrifice of their parents/family as a crucial motivating factor. as one of the students shared: d: by seeing the sacrifice of my parents, and that being a motivational factor and just that there’s a reason why we’re struggling in the united states...i think, to a bigger extent, i’ve talked to a couple of people about this, just this sense of responsibility for your family and that they’ve invested so much effort and money into you, in a way, for me to be here and then, like, how am i going to repay that? as in, you are the one with the opportunity to help the entire family move forward. similarly, another student commented: a: one of the reasons why i’ve always pushed myself so hard and tried to be the best that i can be is because i always think about the sacrifices my parents made to have my brother and i to be here. i think about the idea that my parents continue to do so much for my brother and i and it’s almost like i owe it to them, that as somebody who does have the opportunities that my parents do not and did not have, that i must take advantage of these. fortune and privilege. the students also reported the strength to understand themselves vis-à-vis others, and being unlike the majority of the population who take their citizenship and privilege for granted. undocumented students like the young man described below must fight to belong. p: i think that one of the things that it has given me is a lot of perspective, because i think that a lot of kids that grow up privileged don’t appreciate all the doors that are in front of them. for me and my family, most of the doors that we’ve wanted to walk through we’ve had to struggle and climb and claw to get there, and then struggle even more to bust it open, because we weren’t getting any help to bust it open. growing up in the way that i have, it may still be more opportunities than most – and i think that this is something that someone who grew up privileged wouldn’t say – despite all the hardship, i still have a roof over my head, all the food i would want to eat, and a lot of family, and that already puts me better off than 97% than the rest of the world…but yeah, even just the fact that i have that chance it’s one of the things that i’m appreciative of. it’s tougher for me than it is for others, but i still have it way better than most. i just feel incredibly lucky. that articulated tension and unease, along with the many reasons why they are “deserving,” is a question posed in juxtaposition to the question of, “and why not others?” for example, students acknowledged privilege as something that had to be paid forward: d: i’m going to repay that by doing really well in school, getting here, coming out with a degree, and then doing something else…i think that, seeing how privileged i am to be here in the first place, has motivated me to get the tools, get the knowledge to slowly but surely help… to empower others to overcome the barriers that i faced, in a way. so there’s this sense of giving back, to the immigrant community; there is this sense of empowering them, too, to be where i’m at just because when i look at myself, when i look at my experience, i ask, why me and why not him, or her? paradox of performing exceptionalism association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 51 this respondent, like many other latin@ students felt, responsibility to give back and were acutely aware of the capriciousness of the way socioeconomic issues are a factor. b: we have to fight for the rest of the kids because it’s not fair that i get it just because i’m a good student. what about kids who aren’t 7.0 gpa’s because they have 3 jobs and they have to raise their families? and i was fortunate enough that my parents told me that i didn’t have to work because they wanted me to focus on my school/studies, but i know that not every immigrant family is as lucky. the hard work, perseverance, and resilience they express is buttressed against a sense of fortune/gratitude that features a community-centered perspective. the sense that others from their communities and other undocumented youth were not able to attend these types of schools is featured in their interpersonal reflection. such testimonials points to the sense of responsibility towards their family, community, and just as importantly, to their counterparts: a: and my uniqueness i feel that, as i mentioned earlier, i’ve been very fortunate throughout a string of circumstances that one may call fate of coincidence or just random (unclear) to be where i am today. it is a select few students, especially immigrant students, who can even attend college, or who even think attending college is a possibility. i’m one of the few who does have that opportunity, and more importantly to attend such an elite place. seeing this opportunity to be part of the “ivory tower,” only afforded to such a small minority, exacerbates the sense of obligation. take for example, d’s comment: d: so there’s this sense of giving back, to the immigrant community; there is this sense of empowering them, too, to be where i’m at just because when i look at myself, when i look at my experience, i ask, why me and why not him, or her? and when i look at my middle school class, my high school class there are a lot of immigrant youth, you can say 1.5 generation, but they didn’t make it out of high school, and so, that experience, their experience, in contrast to my experience, has motivated me to try and empower others to not face that same fate. as d notes, a colombian migrant, her community-centered approach did not reflect the desire for direct reciprocity, but to put resources afforded to her to good use by persisting in others educational endeavors and empowering others along the way. when enriquez (2011) looked at educational paths of undocumented latin@ college students who pursued higher education he found success came from espousing a more collectivist framework of empowerment. that study, like others, defines reciprocity as an element in undocumented students that strategically functions to give them continued commitment to give back to the community and create social change. for instance, that same student, d, goes on to describe the way that impacts her academic decisions. d: and so, there’s that divide between doing something that’s going to be lucrative, that’s going to give you a lot of money to help your family move forward, and then there’s doing something to help your community move forward. this response highlights the ways economic stability largely intertwined with the sacrifice of their families, but also with the feeling of responsibility for making it on behalf of all other undocumented youth. next, we feature the macro systems levels experienced by our participants. macro structural narratives: “they are aware we are here but they don’t acknowledge us” these “deserving”/“undeserving” themes point to undocumented youth experiences existing against paradox of performing exceptionalism association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 52 the backdrop of politically legislated and socio-cultural power structures. identifying the rhetoric of illegality as connected to the production of racism, and the inescapable truth that no matter the level of sophistication of student strategies, structural and institutionalized forces are still present. the students we spoke with described elements around the larger standing issues of the paradox of exceptionalism that we discuss. we coupled their responses into the following themes: institutional hardships, questioning the ‘american dream’ and around activism. institutional hardships. universities place great value in international learning, and elite institutions take even more pride in the networking advantages that come from offered internships and research opportunities. the tradeoff expressed here lies in the dichotomy between students’ sense of privilege and entitlement versus the overwhelming disadvantages from their status as a “non-citizen student.” this was a prevalent theme that was expressed by a number of students as being deprived of important parts of the college experience. a student who had just graduated from the university reflected on what that meant and noted: p: i couldn’t really get any meaningful internship opportunities, which kinda sucks because that’s supposed to be a substantial part of your undergraduate education. likewise with study abroad… there is nothing i can do. p recounts the paradox of education and the limited job opportunities with undocumented status. such everyday burdens included: devalued perspectives, inability for study abroad, denied travel and internship opportunities, professors expressing hostile things about immigrants, to a general questioned presence of undocumented youth on campus. this is just scratching the surface on the range of combinations that might create inequity or dissuade students from one major or another. undocumented students like the ones interviewed in this study, often feel marginalized by their experiences in higher education in spite of their graduation from one of the most selective elite schools in the nation. for students like the young man described below, graduation is a bittersweet moment. while they celebrate their accomplishments, it reminds them of the limitations this country’s policies have set in place. that same student, p, lamented, “i’m going to graduate soon. i have not been able to gain any meaningful internship experiences, and that for me foreshadowed a struggle in finding employment.” the state’s stringent immigration policies thus limit his social and economic mobility. it is not surprising that despite the privilege of being educated in this country, he cannot fully embrace it. questioning the american dream. another important feature of these undocumented latin@s were their attitude toward the meritocracy of the “american dream.” an engineering major who was set to graduate at the time of the interview remarked about the educational process in this way: e: it’s not really true, sadly; it’s a lie [the american dream]. the whole idea of, if you really want it you can get it, it’s a lie. and that’s something that i came to learn when i was here. by highlighting the existence of racism through the double standards the undocumented community faces, our participants allowed us to see ways career opportunities are biased. another student who had just graduated and was moving towards her post-bachelorette stage noted: z: so for a really long time i saw the united states as an enemy, just because it wasn’t doing everything that it could for my brothers and my family. they gave us high school education, sometimes even a college education, and when we’re actually ready to put our knowledge to use, they don’t allow us to. the majority of interviewees in this study, including those who were undocumented and dacamented expressed ambivalence towards the u.s., not considering themselves as “americans.” several dialogues focused on whiteness as an organizing structure of the u.s. that limits migrants, based on inherent inequity and forms of paradox of performing exceptionalism association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 53 racialization. for example, one student spoke about the way the u.s. limits options for success. p: so my connection to the united states, obviously, is a lot stronger because all of my friends are here, i was educated here, i was socialized here. american society is the only one that i know. american government is the only one i’m familiar with, and so i’m just acclimated as an american. i don’t really know very much about peruvian life. i have some big snapshots of memories. but even with all the connections that i feel that i have to the u.s., it’s also difficult for me to feel a sense of nationalism for the u.s., where as i do feel a sense of nationalism for peru. i think part of that is some level of disdain from my part for what i thought was, you know, a setup that seems to not want you to succeed. the expressed discontent was often not attributed to a hostile campus racial climate, but to a recognized knowledge of racial inequity. in thinking of the perceived attitudes towards her by alumni, z noted, “i know when speaking to alumni, the very old, traditional ones, of course they don’t know my story. but as far as they see, i’m just a latina girl. and that is what puts them off. i’ve been looked at weird so many times.” the undocumented youth living in a homogenous campus experienced racialized encounters, even if very differently, these circumstances all shaped their experiences. activism. to deal with this contradiction, the students shared in some level activist efforts noting that the goal was seeking greater understanding on campus. the narratives forefront a view that they were not necessarily seeking visibility, but more open dialogue about what it means to be an undocumented student at an elite school and the fact that attending such institution does not “protect you.” for example: d: there’s the idea that if you’re at harvard no one really can touch you; you have that harvard name with you; that’s all i really can say to that, to be honest. [attending elite schools] just gives you a sense of security that you don’t really have. like i mentioned, the fear, there’s the fear of what happens after, when i only have the title, not being at this school. students like d brought up examples and comparisons in efforts to reconcile and highlight the problem with the belief that by attending the best known and regarded ivy-league institutions you are protected. the skeptical view of upward mobility featured the larger “undeserving” messages of the national discourse, and the fact they are not protected from discrimination, deportation or using their educational achievement. meaning, undocumented youth here who are at institutions with high resources are still being schooled under deeply anti-migrant conditions. conclusion in this study we have shown indicators of the way in which latin@ students in elite higher institutions problematize conventional notions of “deserving” and “undeserving.” through this narrative analysis of student encounters at both micro-personal and macro-institutional levels, we argue that their higher education experiences—and efforts to respond to inclusion and exclusion—are utilized as mechanisms to navigate their paradoxical undocumented status. the narratives ultimately show the ways that youth create spaces and narratives of belonging and inclusion as they mitigate hegemonic ideas about “underserving” immigrants. what is significant in our results is the way in which these comments both confirm and differ from the latin@ undocumented youth in other studies. in contreras’ (2009) study, latin@ undocumented students were shown to counter the stigma of status by being “determined, hard-working, engaged, and optimistic despite the additional layer of fear and anxiety they experience due to their legal status” (contreras, 2009, p. 628). in their perspective, latin@ undocumented students were optimistic and believed that they could achieve success, and assist their families financially. the students we interviewed were less so. especially when it came to whether an elite education would improve their standing — many reflected on their experiences during college and learned they were not seen as their white counterparts. moreover, they questioned the criminalizing logic, migration process and possibility of the “american dream”. this study, thus, prompts us to consider paradox of performing exceptionalism association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 54 how young people brought into the country as children are still effectively barred from official recognition as belonging to the nation-state—in addition to a host of other political, occupational, social, and health related services and privileges. rightfully so, the interviews illustrated that students were critical of and cautiously optimistic about what happens after graduation. king and punti (2012) have also examined how race and legal status are reflected in youths’ developing sense of self, society, and schooling. notably, they uncovered the varied ways undocumented latin@ youth discursively manage their immigration status and the way students relied on self-protection strategies and sense that “investing in education will likely not lead to direct benefits on the labor market” (king & punti, 2012, p. 246). the findings in this study point to how youth experienced their immigration status— not as an administrative or bureaucratic obstacle—but as enmeshed with their racial identity. it was such intertwined understanding of their racialized identity that made youth keenly aware that their undocumented legal status puts many of these opportunities out of reach. while most echoed the refrain that education was important, participants simultaneously struggled to make sense of the disempowerment and racism experienced at both an interpersonal and institutional level. finally, despite the “entitlement” of their elite education, these material attempts to dismantle nativist exclusion show that youth continue to be racialized as undocumented students of color. they were not shielded by their education, and so, as conscious educators to latin@ student populations it is important to continue to find ways to support undocumented youth who are left feeling unable to respond to perceived discrimination. paradox of performing exceptionalism association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 55 references aaron, d.p. (2010). dream act: what it could mean for waking new england? new england board of higher education. retrieved from http://www.nebhe.org/newslink/dream-act-what’s-it-mean-for-waking new-england abrego, l.j. (2008). legitimacy, social identity, and the mobilization of law: the effects of assembly bill 540 on undocumented students in california. law & social inquiry, 33, 709-1071. abrego, l. j. (2011). legal consciousness of undocumented latinos: fear and stigma as barriers to claims-mak ing for firstand 1.5-generation immigrants. law & society review, 45(2), 337-370. anguiano, c. (2015). dropping the “i” word: a critical examination of contemporary migration labels. in j. hartelius (ed.), the rhetorics of us immigration: identity, community and otherness (p. 93-111). university park, pa: penn state university press. anguiano, c., & chávez, k. r. (2011). dreamers’ discourse: young latino/a immigrants and the naturalization of the american dream. in m. a. holling & b. callafell (eds.), latina/o discourses in vernacular spaces: somos de un voz?(pp. 81-99). lanham, md: lexington books. chávez, l. r. (2007). the condition of illegality. international migration, 45, 192–96. chávez, l. r. (2008). the latino threat narrative: constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation. stanford, ca: stanford university press. chomsky, a. (2014). undocumented: how immigration became illegal. boston, ma: beacon press. contreras, f. (2009). sin papeles y rompiendo barreras: latino students and the challenges of persisting in college. harvard educational review, 79(4), 610-631 covarrubias, a., & lara, a. (2013). the undocumented (im)migrant educational pipeline: the influence of citizenship status on educational attainment for people of mexican origin. urban education, 49(1), 75 110 doi:10.1177/004208591247046 diaz-strong, d., & meiners, e. (2007). residents, alien policies, and resistances: experiences of undocumented latina/o students in chicago’s colleges and universities. interactions: ucla journal of education and information studies, 3(2), 1-20. enriquez, l. (2011). “because we feel the pressure and we also feel the support”: examining the educational success of undocumented immigrant latina/o students. harvard educational review, 81(3), 476-499. gonzales, g. (2011). learning to be illegal: undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. american sociological review, 76(4), 602-619. gonzales, r. g., suarez-orozco, c., & dedios-sanguineti, m. c. (2013). no place to belong: contextualizing concepts of mental health among undocumented immigrant youth in the united states. american behavioral scientist, 57(8), 1174-1199. hernandez, s., hernandez, i., gadson, r., huftalin, d., ortiz, a. m., white, m. c., & yocum-gaffney, d. (2010). sharing their secrets: undocumented students’ personal stories of fear, drive, and survival. new directions for student services, 131, 67-84. johnson, k. r. (2004). the “huddled masses” myth: immigration and civil rights. philadelphia: temple university press. jauregui, j. a., slate, j. r., & brown, m. s. (2008). texas community colleges and characteristics of a growing undocumented student population. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(4), 346-355. jefferies, j. (2014). the production of “illegal” subjects in massachusetts and high school enrollment for undocumented youth. latino studies, 12(1), 65-87. jones, l., castellanos, j., & cole, d. (2002). examining the ethnic minority student experience at predominantly white institutions: a case study. journal of hispanic higher education, 1(1), 19-39. king, k. a., & punti, g. (2012). on the margins: undocumented students’ narrated experiences of (il)legality. linguistics and education, 23(3), 235-249. lopez, j. k. (2010). undocumented students and the policies of wasted potential. texas: lfb scholarly publishing. lopez, j. d. (2013). differences among latino students in precollege multicultural exposure and the transition into an elite institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 12(3), 269-279. marciniak, k. (2013). legal/illegal: protesting citizenship in fortress america. citizenship studies, 17, 260–77. paradox of performing exceptionalism association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 56 morales, a., herrera, s., & murry, k. (2009). navigating the waves of social and political capriciousness. journal of hispanic higher education, 20, 1-17. muñoz, c. b. (2009). a dream deferred: undocumented students at cuny. radical teacher, 84, 8-17. nevins, j. (2002). operation gatekeeper: the rise of the “illegal alien” and the remaking of the u.s.-mexico boundary. new york, ny: routledge. negrón-gonzales, g. (2013). navigating “illegality”: undocumented youth and oppositional consciousness. children and youth services review, 35(8), 1284-1290. ngai, m. m. (2004). impossible subjects: illegal aliens and the making of modern america. princeton, nj: princeton university press. olivas, m. (2012). no undocumented child left behind: plyler v. doe and the education of undocumented schoolchildren. new york, ny: new york university press pérez huber, l., lopez, c.b., malagon, m.c., velez, v., & solorzano, d.g. (2008). getting beyond the symptom, acknowledging the disease: theorizing racist nativism. contemporary justice review, 11(1), 39-51. pérez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h. m., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(2), 149-160. pérez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h., & cortes, r. (2010). civic engagement patterns of undocumented mexican students. journal of hispanic higher education, 20(10), 1-21. rodríguez, j. (2011). “somos iguales...pero no tanto”: examining the experience of belonging among undocumented immigrant latina/o students. association of mexican american educators, 5(1), 4-13. seif, h. (2004). wise up! undocumented latino youth, mexican-american legislators, and the struggle for higher education access. latino studies, 2(2), 210-230. seif, h. (2010). the civil life of latina/o immigrant youth: challenging boundaries and creating safe spaces. in r. sherrod, j. torney-purta, & a. flanagan (eds.), handbook of research on civic engagement in youth (pp. 432461). hoboken, nj: wiley. stevenson, a. (2004). dreaming of an equal future for immigrant children: federal and state initiatives to improve undocumented student’s access to postsecondary education. arizona law review, 46, 551-580. tough, p. (2014 may 18). “who gets to graduate?” new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/magazine/who-gets-to-graduate.html torres, l. (2014). dismantling the deportation nation. latino studies, 12(2), 169-171. wilson, c. m., ek, l. d., & douglas, t. m. o. (2014). recasting border crossing politics and pedagogies to combat educational inequity: experiences, identities, and perceptions of latino/a immigrant youth. the urban review, 46(1), 1-24. vélez, v., pérez huber, l., benavides lopez, c., de la luz, a., & solórzano, d. g.(2008). battling for human rights and social justice: a latina/o critical race media analysis of latina/o student youth activism in the wake of 2006 anti-immigrant sentiment. social justice, 35(1), 7-27. zepeda-millán, c. (2014). surviving, resisting, and thriving in the ivy league. chicana/o latina/o law review, 32(2), 61-66. retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/48k6j7q1 paradox of performing exceptionalism theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 96 book review book review victor m. rios, punished: policing the lives of black and latino boys, new york, ny: new york university press, 2011, 218 pages, isbn 978-0-8147-7638-4, $21.00 (paperback). sandra quiñones duquesne university victor m. rios’s punished: policing the lives of black and latino boys is a timely and worthy book for readers interested in gaining a multiple-layered understanding of the lives of policed young people in oakland, california. it is also instrumental for readers examining issues relevant to the school-to-prison pipeline in the united states. but more importantly, punished is a book that can be purposefully used in education courses as part of efforts to critically examine interactions between youth, schools, and their communities. in punished, rios (2011) uses ethnographic research methods to study interrelated questions about the process of criminalization with a purposeful sample of forty black and latino boys (ages 14-18) in oakland. all of the participants had been arrested, were on probation, or were socially linked with other young men who had been arrested. the purpose of the study was “to gain a deeper understanding of how surveillance, punishment, and criminal justice practices affected the lives of the participants; what patterns of punishment the participants encountered in their neighborhoods; what effects patterns of punishment had on their daily lives; and how punitive encounters with police, probation offers, teachers and administrators, and other authority fi gures shaped the meanings that the boys created about themselves and about their obstacles, opportunities and future aspirations” (pp. 7-8). to explore this line of inquiry, rios collected data from 2002 to 2005 by conducting extensive participant observations, interviews, focus groups, and fi eldwork across multiple settings, including schools, neighborhoods, community centers, businesses, and homes. a notable contribution that rios makes as a scholar is to utilize a strategic blend of critical criminology and urban ethnography to better understand complex, power-laden processes from the perspective of marginalized youth. from this lens, he illustrates the interactive and catalytic role of agency and structure in the lives of black and latino boys in oakland. for instance, his fi ndings speak to daily, institutionalized practices of “punitive social control” aimed at “regulating deviant behavior and maintaining social order” (p. 21). by examining the consequences of such hypercriminalization practices, rios unveils several potentially transformative forms of defi ance and resistance—a kind of resilience—that the youth enacted. that is, the boys engaged in resistance practices not only for coping with what is imposed on them, but also for reclaiming dignidad (dignity) within an inherently crooked, raced and gendered system. the possibility for alternative forms of social control, as rios notes in his conclusion, lies in garnering the youth’s resilience, and using it to cultivate a more positive landscape toward adulthood. cultivating a more positive landscape toward adulthood is where critical teacher education comes into play. in my position as a researcher and teacher educator, i have access to many resources and materials to use in the preparation of future teachers and the ongoing professional development of practicing teachers in schools. just recently, i was previewing videos clips of teachers that were included in a dvd about ‘effective’ reading instruction (prek-4) in light of common core learning standards. to my dismay, the very fi rst video clip that i previewed was that of a white female teacher encouraging african american students to use the term juvenile delinquents, rather than troublemakers, to describe the characters in a story they were reading. although the authors position the video clip as a model of a text-based discussion which supports the development of strong reading comprehension skills in a third grade classroom, it is also important to consider how the teacher-student interactions in this video clip exemplify the phenomenon of criminalization. more specifi cally, how it supports one of the central problems that victor m. rios vividly surfaces in punished, namely, the “labeling hype” (p. 45) that continuously surrounds the lives of black and latino boys in the era of mass incarceration. rios uses the term labeling hype to discuss how labels serve to hypercriminalize and marginalize the association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 97 book review youth. thus, the bigger picture that needs to be interrogated is the ways that teachers and schools serve to reinforce the labeling hype problem and what rios refers to as the youth control complex (systemic, ubiquitous punishment practices). in other words, how might labeling characters in a story as juvenile delinquents generate criminality and perpetuate criminalization, particularly in an inner-city school community? how might teacher-student interactions of this nature shape the decisions students will make, how they view themselves, their obstacles, opportunities and future aspirations? such questions point to the interplay between teacher education, schooling practices, and the schoolto-prison pipeline. as critical educators, part of our responsibility is to develop teacher-conduits to what rios calls a youth support complex. that is, teachers who fi nd creative ways to educate “young people when they have made mistakes” (rios, 162). teachers that strive to connect with otherwise marginalized youth in meaningful and nurturing ways that support their reintegration and restore their dignity as young people. one area that rios could develop further is an analysis of the sociocultural and linguistic differences between the black and latino boys, particularly in relation to their understandings of masculinity, dignidad/ dignity, and the production of hypermasculinity resulting from “heavily-gendered” (p.130) interactions between the boys and the youth control complex. nevertheless, punished represents a methodologically sound research text written in a narrative style and intimate tone that engages the reader from start to fi nish. for education courses examining the social context of teaching and learning, punished is a welcome companion to erica meiner’s (2007) right to be hostile: schools, prisons, and the making of public enemies or sabrina jones and marc mauer’s (2013) race to incarcerate: a graphic retelling. to close, victor m. rios provides the reader with a formidable account of the patterns of punishment for black and latino youth in oakland. in other words, rios is what i call an “intellectual badass” scholar who knows how to effectively weave theory and research in a sophisticated, yet accessible manner that is provoking and memorable. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 98 references jones, s., & mauer, m. (2013). race to incarcerate: a graphic retelling. new york, ny: the new press. meiners, e. (2007). right to be hostile: schools, prisons, and the making of public enemies. new york, ny: routledge. book review volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 159 critical encounters: negotiating textual connections in a student-led discussion of the circuit christina p. denicolo, ph.d wayne state university carol brochin, ph.d university of arizona abstract this article presents an analysis of two fourth-grade students discussing the circuit (jiménez, 1997) and finding ways to express their understandings and misunderstandings with a critical encounter in the text. the students’ use of freestyling enabled them to recontextualize (dyson, 2001, 2003; gilmore, 1983) the literature discussion. this recontextualization provided the students with a way to remain engaged in the discussion and with each other when tension arose from having different interpretations. the student selected format and use of quality latinx children’s literature, enabled the students to draw on multiple literacies. key words: emergent bilingual, textual connections, latina/o children’s literature, critical encounters introduction the detail that i didn’t get yo, was shoot, when the, the, the boy francisco, left, left, his sister in that tent and then this woman came in doing some voodoo, or i don’t know what they’re doing in there. she pokes him on the face and belly and then puts a spell on him. and then i didn’t like that, because shoot, that was just yo, why would you do that to a baby in the first place? the details i didn’t get was, yo man, jz, takes this from the bottom, yo, yo, yo. in the excerpt above, a fourth-grade student with the self-selected pseudonym of slim shady, shared his initial reaction to reading about a traditional healer in the autobiographical account of a latinx migrant farmworker family titled, the circuit (jiménez, 1997). through denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 160 freestyling, a form of rap, where each person improvises lyrics in the moment (weinstein, 2006), slim shady expressed surprise and concern with what he had read and engaged his classmate, who had selected the pseudonym jz, in a discussion. both students were enrolled in a two-way spanish/english immersion program in an urban midwestern school district. slim shady, an african-american student, spoke english at home, and had been learning spanish as a second language as a student at the school for several years. jz, a mexican-american student, began elementary school speaking primarily spanish and was quite proficient in english at the time of the study. in this article, we examine a discussion between the two fourth graders to explore the ways that the students made sense of a latinx children’s literature selection that positioned one as a cultural insider and one as a cultural outsider. multicultural children’s literature and critical literacy the importance of multicultural children’s literature has been established (bishop, 1990, 1997; clark & flores, 2016; harris, 2003), but there continues to be a lack of access to this type of literature in language arts classrooms (clark & flores, 2016; mcnair, 2013), as indicated by the #weneeddiversebooks movement.1 multicultural children’s literature that accurately represents the language and cultural practices of a particular community (brooks & browne, 2012; galda, sipe, liang, & cullinan, 2016), offers opportunities to connect academic content with students' lives, enabling students to draw on their cultural and linguistic knowledge while developing literacy skills (mcnair, 2008; nieto, 1997). for children from historically marginalized communities, reading texts that authentically represent what they know from home, positions their knowledge as a strength and resource (clark & flores, 2016; martinezroldán, 2003; mcnair, 2013; medina, 2010). additionally, this literature often addresses themes that children may face in their daily lives but do not have opportunities to discuss in school (nieto, 1997; medina, 2006; sánchez & landa, 2016). 1 in 2014, authors ellen oh and malinda lo began a twitter exchange expressing their frustration with the lack of diversity in children’s literature in response to an all-white, all-male panel of children’s authors who would be presenting at bookcon. on april 24, aisha saeed, author of written in stars, tweeted the first #weneeddiversebooks hashtag, and shortly after, the authors and bloggers founded the grassroots organization to produce and promote children’s and young adult literature that reflects cultural diversity. critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 161 the literature discussion explored here is informed by critical literacy that stresses the importance of examining multiple perspectives and the voices of those who have been historically marginalized (freire, 1970; harste et al., 2000). the goals of critical literacy are aligned with perspectives on multicultural children’s literature, particularly the potential for engaging in reflexivity regarding one’s own position in society (cai, 2002). based on the work of freire (1970), critical literacy emphasizes the political and ideological aspects of literacy (street, 1984), and the development of personal consciousness regarding power in society (cai, 2002; freire & macedo, 1987). this perspective on reading and writing runs counter to skills-based approaches—instead, it focuses on the ability to construct meaning based on one’s lived experiences and an understanding of society as a whole (genishi & dyson, 2009). freire and macedo (1987) define critical literacy as the process of reading one’s social context by making sense of one’s experiences. language is at the heart of this process—as understanding and meaning-making occur through language and support the development of awareness. campano (2007) posits that students from historically marginalized backgrounds posses a critical awareness that supports their enactment of a critical literacy perspective. in their study of fourth grade boys reading the text holes (sachar, 1998), campano, ghiso, and sanchez (2013) found that african-american students applied a critical lens informed by ideologies developed in their local community to their textual interpretations, leading them to respond with empathy to the circumstances characters faced in the story. the authors write, “…when given space to direct their own literacies, students engage in critical literacies rooted in cultural legacies” (p.107). campano (2007) refers to this as epistemic privilege, the notion that students’ ideologies and dispositions are developed within their homes and communities. pedagogical opportunities designed to tap into students’ critical literacies will also create ways for students to engage their epistemic privilege. hybrid spaces (gutiérrez, baquedanolópez, & tejeda, 2009) incorporate students’ funds of knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzález, 1992) across languages and language varieties. these spaces result in a more authentic context for learning, as students, particularly those whose knowledge has been marginalized within school settings, can draw on literacies developed in their homes and communities, such as popular culture and hip hop (love, 2015; morrell, 2007). the accessing of language practices and literacies that are meaningful to students opens the door to critical awareness and the transformative potential of critical literacy. denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 162 the data in this article—a literature discussion between two young students—was part of a larger study on the use of multicultural children’s literature and literature discussions with emergent spanish-english bilinguals (denicolo, 2004). through a focus on the textual connections between two students, we explore the tensions and negotiations that arise when students develop differing interpretations of what they read and how they navigate the task of discussing the text with one another. in the following sections, we present an analysis of one literature discussion to show how a critical encounter with text led a mexican-american emergent bilingual to draw on his cultural experience and linguistic knowledge to help his nonlatinx classmate make sense of the text. literature discussions in the language arts this qualitative case study (stake, 1995) utilized ethnographic methods to examine the ways students’ talk supported their understanding of multicultural children’s literature and their own lives. the public prek-8 school had 736 students enrolled when the study was conducted, and 73% qualified for free and reduced lunch. the 26 students who participated in the study self-identified as mexican american, mexican, puerto rican and african american—as well as a combination of ethnicities—and represented a range of linguistic knowledge, reflecting the demographics of the large urban midwestern school district where the school was located. while the students spoke a range of varieties of spanish and english, and the goal of the program was for both english-speaking and spanish-speaking students to develop bilingualism by the 5th grade, many of the students were at an emergent level of literacy in their second language (for a detailed discussion of students’ language use, see denicolo, 2010). additionally, the use of a new, scripted curriculum at the start of the school year did not allow for permeability (gritter, 2012) in the discussions or promote peer interaction, leaving many of the emergent bilinguals disengaged in the language arts class. ms. lynn (pseudonym) was loved by the students and had been involved with the school in a variety of capacities for 11 years at the time of the study. she is african american and an emergent spanish speaker interested in finding ways to support the bilingual students in her fourth-grade english language arts classroom. denicolo, a multilingual brazilian american, collected data as a participant observer in ms. lynn’s class while also working at the school in the role of language arts specialist. having taught at the two-way immersion school as a critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 163 kindergarten and first-grade teacher prior to the study, denicolo was interested in understanding ways emergent bilinguals could participate more in the english language arts classes. brochin, a chicana spanish-english bilingual and former language arts teacher, supported the analysis of the data and reporting of the study findings. we draw on our experiences working in schools, our current roles as educational researchers and our interest in understanding equitable literacy contexts for latinx youth in the analysis of the literature discussion presented here. as teacher educators, we are committed to using latinx and multicultural children’s literature as pedagogical tools/humanizing practices. we decided that small group discussions of texts that connected with students’ lived experiences would enable a greater level of participation, increase language use while supporting cross-cultural understanding across language groups. as ms. lynn was required to follow the district-mandated, scripted curriculum, we sought literature that aligned with the unit of study being covered at the time of the study. additional selection criteria included: reading level, availability in spanish, and connection to the cultural backgrounds represented in the class. the titles for the literature discussion included the following: the circuit (jiménez, 1997); when tía lola came to visit (álvarez, 2001); song of the trees (taylor, 1975); felita (mohr, 1979); locomotion (woodson, 2003); and my name is maría isabel (ada, 1995). to support the students in discussing the literature, they were trained with daniels’ (1994) literature circles method of using specific roles such as discussion director and connector. ms. lynn utilized a fifty-minute block of her language arts time daily for the literature discussion, having students read for approximately 25 minutes and discuss what they had read for 25 minutes. throughout the second semester, denicolo joined this fourth-grade classroom community moving between her role as co-teacher—where she translated ms. lynn’s instructions into spanish to ensure all students’ understanding of the literature discussion process—to researcher, where she focused on taking field notes documenting how students interacted with one another in the discussion groups. to support students’ understanding of the research process, they selected their own pseudonyms and were responsible for recording and stating their pseudonyms at the start of the literature discussions. the boys that are the focus of the article selected pseudonyms that may have contributed to their choice of engaging denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 164 in freestyling: slim shady 2 was an alias for the rap artist, eminem, which he introduced in his well-known song, my name is (mathers & young, 1999), and jz selected a pseudonym that represented the name of the renowned hip hop artist, jay-z. data collection and analysis to understand the ways that students engaged in collaborative sense-making of the texts they were reading, data collection involved field notes, audio recording of each of the discussion groups, along with audio recording of whole class discussions of the literature discussion process. whole group instruction and one of the literature discussion groups was videotaped daily to provide an additional resource for ensuring accuracy in understanding student participation and talk. ms. lynn was interviewed informally throughout the study regarding her observations of student learning and engagement in the discussion groups. at the end of the study, formal individual interviews were conducted with ms. lynn and thirteen students that were selected based on their interest in talking about their experiences in the discussion groups. the interviews with ms. lynn and the students who were learning spanish in school were conducted entirely in english. for students who were bilingual, the interviews were conducted in spanish and english based on students’ preferences. in addition to field notes, audio-recordings, and interviews, student role sheets, notes, and written responses were collected throughout the semester. data analysis involved coding the transcripts of each literature discussion group to identify the ways students used language, interacted within the discussion groups, formed textto-life connections, and accessed knowledge developed outside of school. we looked at the patterns and identified themes. one theme that emerged was critical encounters, examining those encounters that showed that a shift occurred from interpersonal tension regarding power and voice in the groups to collaborative sense-making of the critical encounter in the text. in tracking these patterns, it became evident that differences of opinion in response to the critical encounters with the text were one source of tension. in the next section, we present analysis of the discussion between slim shady and jz and their negotiation of tension due to slim shady being a cultural outsider and jz a cultural insider. 2 students’ self-selected pseudonyms have been maintained in all but one article written about the larger study. in denicolo (2010), pseudonyms were changed to protect students’ anonymity. critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 165 the transcript below occurred during the third month of the study. the literature discussion group being analyzed consisted of four students, but on this particular day, two students (both girls) were absent, which left slim shady and jz to read and discuss on their own. in the discussion excerpt, it is evident that the two boys accessed a range of literacies to negotiate the tensions they experienced from holding differing interpretations of what they were reading. as noted at the start of this article, slim shady began his conversation with jz through the genre of freestyling. he engaged this genre spontaneously without talking it over with jz as a way to creatively comply with the required task. critical encounters: talking through tension critical encounters have been identified as pivotal moments that change the dynamics and patterns of communication within literature discussion groups (denicolo & fránquiz, 2006). these encounters come about when students are startled or caught off guard when reading a particular text. the sense of surprise results in a shift in the way students share their understandings with one another in the literature discussion groups. the following excerpt highlights the critical encounter that slim shady experienced while reading the circuit and how a critical encounter for slim shady became critical to jz through the use of freestyling, in preparation for the discussion, the students had read the chapter titled, “miracle in tent city,” in the circuit (jiménez, 1997). in this chapter, the family of francisco, the main character, had taken the youngest child who had fallen ill to see doña maría, la curandera (the traditional healer). in miracle in tent city, jiménez described how doña maría engaged in the practice of using eggs to remove illness from the body—a traditional healing practice in mexican/mexican-american communities (anzaldúa, 2015; chévez, 2005). this medical approach was unfamiliar to slim shady, and similar to the main character in the story, he found the curandera’s actions both startling and troublesome. for this reason, he was interested in talking about this section of the text and spontaneously engaged in a freestyling format for the discussion: slim shady: what’d you learn today? what’d you learn about the book so far? denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 166 jz: i thought we ought to discuss actually about the details. because if we don’t discuss about the details—ummmm, let’s discuss the details. so today we have to talk and umm, slim shady— slim shady: all right, yo, yo, yo. what i got for this book was that he was, i didn’t like the part—the detail that i didn’t get, yo, was shoot, umm… the vignette at the start of our article is the continuation of the excerpt above. slim shady’s comment that the curandera “came in doing some voodoo” illustrates his lack of the background knowledge necessary to understand the healing practice described in the story. his challenge was not with reading the text in english but with making sense of the character’s actions based on his knowledge and experiences with health care and illness in the u.s. he perceived the curandera’s actions to be violent and reflective of stereotypical depictions of voodoo, drawing on the misrepresentation of voodoo as a satanic ritual, common in film, literature (glazier, 2001) and media (bartkowski, 1998). interpretations of voodoo in the united states have historically distorted the significance it holds for those who practice the religion referred to as “vodun” in haiti. from the time of colonization, voodoo has been described as a dangerous cult. bartkowski (1998) argues that this definition is rooted in political ends as it masks the beneficial ways the afro-caribbean religion contributed historically to resisting colonialism (desmangles, 1977). he highlights how inaccurate descriptions of voodoo are kept alive through claims put forth by the military, law enforcement, and media (bartkowski, 1998). after slim shady expressed his frustration with the actions of the traditional healer through the freestyling genre, he invited jz to discuss the details he felt were important: slim shady: we (rhythmically) gonna talk about the details, we gonna talk about the details, we gonna hand it over to jz, eh,eh, eh, eh (mixing and scratching sounds). jz responded with hesitance at first but as he wanted to scaffold the content for slim shady by drawing on what he had learned from his family and his experiences, he began to freestyle as well. in urban communities, it is common for children and youth to develop understanding, appreciation, and expertise in the language practices and forms of popular culture attributed to critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 167 specific cultural groups (love, 2015). in the transcript segment that follows, jz explained to slim shady how sometimes the traditional healing practices described in the story are necessary to help children heal and recounts having experienced something similar in his own life. he then asked slim shady if he had ever had an egg used on him as a cure. jz: okay, now we’re gonna, the thing that i think, because they do that— because sometimes the kids feel bad and i don’t know, like the eggs— have you had to use eggs to take the bad things away from the kids? that’s what they did to me, but they didn’t crack them on me. the question jz posed indicated that he was not quite sure if this form of healing was unique to mexicans or mexican americans or if it was practiced among other cultures as well. it also showed that this was a topic that he may not have talked about frequently in school, as he seemed to search for the words he needed to explain his experiences to his classmate. the difficulty in describing his experiences in english as an emergent bilingual, along with the different interpretations of what was happening in the story, left a lot of room for misunderstanding. jz used the phrase “feeling bad” to refer to feeling sick, and slim shady understood him to be saying that children feel bad about themselves. he asked jz for further clarification on why people would use voodoo and make everyone feel bad if they didn’t want “nobody to be acting bad or kids to be feeling bad.” jz: i think because the details, because i think that’s how different people do it. because if they don’t actually … if they don’t do that, it’s because sometimes they have to take, like, they have to take the eggs out. i mean, you know, they have to put the eggs and start praying, while they’re doing that thing. this critical encounter functioned as an impetus for accessing literacies that are not usually drawn upon in school. when slim shady communicated feeling perplexed by the traditional healing practices described in the story, jz relied on his personal experiences participating in a similar ritual and mediated the content for slim shady. accessing his lived experiences did not make the discussion smooth or easy; on the contrary, the degree of tension increased because the two students were not reaching the same conclusions. as much as jz tried, slim shady was not able to accept curanderismo as a valid practice for healing a child. freestyling functioned as a vehicle for moving through the tension denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 168 that they experienced from holding different interpretations of the story and wanting their individual interpretations to be understood and viewed as valid. slim shady and jz maintained the rhythm and flow of the discussion even though a consensus or agreement had not been reached. their informal commitment to performing their discussion through freestyling enabled them to continue amidst disagreement. the students’ knowledge of freestyling and choice to creatively respond in the moment, kept them engaged in the task of talking about the text. morrell (2007) states,” …. popular culture does not cohere in the cds and dvds that become cultural products, rather popular culture is embodied in the practices from which these documents result” (p. 249). although ms. lynn did not know the students were discussing the text through freestyling, they stopped when she approached; the freedom of selecting their own method for literature discussion was central to their ability to complete the task she set for class. creating a new role: snoop doggin’ for details slim shady and jz continued with their discussion although the schema they had for comprehending the text differed greatly. jz’s recounting of his personal experiences with traditional forms of healing highlight the relevance of this particular text to his life. it was not easy for slim shady to accept the occurrences in the text or to understand his classmate’s explanation. as jz recognized that he was not moving slim shady towards a better understanding of the curandera, he sought ways to redirect the conversation and look for details. additionally, across the discussion, the two boys differed in their goals for their work together: jz wanted to comply with the teacher’s request that they identify the main details in the section of the text they had read, while slim shady wanted to find an interesting way to talk about the book they were reading. freestyling functioned to support the discussion amidst the tension of slim shady having a misinterpretation of curanderismo and jz sharing his personal experiences to promote understanding. freestlying also encouraged verbal play. the boys had to not only think of what to say in regards to their understanding of the text, but also communicate their contributions in a rhythmic manner. in the final segment of their literature discussion, this creativity led to the development of a new role for the literature discussion groups that the boys named “snoop doggin’.” the transcript excerpt below shows how this critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 169 role emerged through the freestyling exchange as a way to align their two goals, complete the assigned activity, and talk about the text in a fun and interesting manner: slim shady: we gonna have a discussion? are you with me, g? jz: okay, yo, yo, yo, now we have to get another detail. my, my, my, man right here slim shady here. now we’ll have to like— slim shady: snoop dog, snoop dog, and what i mean by snoop, we gonna look through this book and find some good details, like snoop doggy dogg. jz: okay, let’s do that, because if we don’t then [what] else. okay, okay, now we’ll have to find the things that you actually like about the story right now. like you know, yo, yo, so we can take the details out. what are the parts that you been’ liking about the story now? when jz paused to search for the correct word to continue their work on details, slim shady seamlessly adapted the name of yet another well-know hip hop artist, snoop dogg, to stress that the task involved looking closely at the text. by doing so, slim shady was able to merge his interests with jz’s, use the name of the famous rap artist snoop dogg to maintain the freestyling genre, and create a verbal image of snooping for the task of searching for details. this also allowed them to enact the literacy event of literature discussion based on their interests and goals and allowed them to construct their understanding across languages and cultures to negotiate new learning (dyson, 2003). this enactment was important as well due to slim shady’s feelings about the text, responding to jz’s question with the following declaration. slim shady: yo, i didn’t like none of it, it was all boring, and then with that witch woman, it made it even worse ‘cause i didn’t like none of that doggone story, none of it was new to me. this statement by slim shady makes it clear that his lack of familiarity with curanderismo, which was apparent in the previous transcript segments, made it difficult for him to connect with what he was reading. his comment that the text was “boring” and that he didn’t like “none of that doggone story” may also indicate discomfort with jz’s expertise of a topic that challenged his cultural notions of family and childrearing. although slim shady communicated his lack of interest in the text and misinterpretation of the role of the curandera, jz maintained his focus denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 170 on completing their assigned work. the purposefulness of the new role of snoop doggin’ enabled the boys to continue with their discussion, even though they held onto contrasting interpretations of the events that they read. while slim shady insisted, in the excerpt above, that he did not find value in the text, in an interview after he finished reading it, he expressed his understanding of how the challenges that francisco, the protagonist in the circuit, faced were an example of the literature theme they had been studying in his class. he stated, “he never just got to sit somewhere. that was survival to me because he didn’t get to rest” (denicolo, 2004). slim shady’s perseverance in the literature discussion analyzed here, as well as his participation in subsequent discussions, indicated that while he experienced frustration from the critical encounter that occurred, he was expanding his understanding of healing, family, and survival. discussion the discussion between slim shady and jz highlights three benefits to using latinx children’s literature with emergent bilingual students in language arts classrooms: cultural and linguistic mediation; re-contextualization; and transformation of the literacy event. in the literature discussion example above, the two boys were surprised by their different interpretations of the traditional healing practices described in the story they were reading. their critical encounter pushed jz into cultural mediation, as his background knowledge provided him with the schema to make sense of what was occurring in the text. while the two boys had been learning to participate in the literacy event of literature discussions, the critical encounter led them each to examine their individual understanding of the main character’s experiences. the analysis of this literature discussion shows the value of student engagement in speech situations where they acquire tools for talking about topics that are unfamiliar, sensitive or not commonly discussed with members outside of their culture (medina, 2010); critical encounters with text are pivotal opportunities for teaching one another about the beliefs, understandings, and experiences that are rooted in their cultural/racial identities. as was seen in the transcript segments, cultural mediation was not an easy task for jz but provided him with the opportunity to form connections with the text and share his experiences in english. it also positioned jz as an expert, which was contrary to how he and the other emergent bilinguals critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 171 were positioned in this fourth-grade english language arts class prior to the implementation of literature discussion activities. engaging in freestyling enabled slim shady and jz to re-contextualize (dyson, 2001, 2003; gilmore, 1983) the literacy event of literature discussion. the use of an out-of-school genre served two primary functions in the students’ discussion of the circuit (1997): it provided them with a way to talk across cultural experiences when tension arose from having different interpretations of occurrences in text, and it functioned as a way for them to draw on multiple sources of knowledge to engage with and make sense of text. slim shady did not normally freestyle in school or at home; however, his desire to make the discussion process more interesting led him to initiate use of the freestyling genre with jz. the use of freestyling supported turn-taking in their discussion without requiring a correct answer or agreement. this re-contextualization of the discussion format enabled them to work through the tension that arose from their differing perspectives and made the literacy event of literature discussion relevant and meaningful for them (gilmore, 1983). their increased level of engagement also resulted in longer segments of discourse, important for discussing literature but necessary for students learning english in school. this transformation of the literacy event also opened a space for both students to draw on their linguistic repertoires and knowledge of cultural practices as meditational tools that supported their sense making (dyson, 1996). the meditational tools and re-contextualization allowed for a greater degree of creativity in approaching the process for literature discussion as evidenced in the development of the new discussion role they named, “snoop doggin’.” this was possible due to the use of literature that portrayed the main character’s experiences with a traditional healer or curandera in an authentic manner. this authentic representation resulted in a critical encounter for slim shady and led jz to see his own knowledge in relation to the text and recognize what his classmate did not understand. the use of freestyling was important for the re-contextualization of the literacy event and working through the differing of perspectives across language proficiency levels. in an interview after the completion of the study, slim shady stated that he chose freestyling as a response to feeling bored with the structure of the previous discussion groups and that he did not generally use that genre in school or at home. although the boys did not seem concerned that they would be penalized for using this format, they were aware that it could have been denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 172 interpreted as “playing,” inappropriate for a literature discussion and deemed unacceptable by the two group members that happened to be absent that day. this meant that their freestyling most likely would not have occurred had there been a teacher facilitating the discussion or had the two other members of the group been present. similar to other studies, the dynamics surrounding participation depended on the composition of the group (martinez-roldán, 2003). the absence of the female group members was also relevant as they may have been more apt to dissuade the boys from enacting unsanctioned forms of talking in school settings about the text. across the discussion groups in their classroom, this was the only instance in which students engaged in freestyling. there are risks to student-led discussion of literature that authentically portray the challenges and uncomfortable truths of life, society, and history (alvermann, 1996; short, 2012). without teacher facilitation, students may silence one another in the discussions (clarke, 2006) or fail to engage critically with the text. as we saw in this literature discussion, lack of understanding of curanderismo impacted slim shady’s comprehension of what he was reading. this means that it is essential for teachers to have a thorough understanding of the texts that the children will be reading and identify possible topics and themes that may be unfamiliar to students. additionally, in order to support the navigation of collaborative sense-making with peers, both teachers and students must engage in critical literacy to examine the ways power, gender, race, ability, class, religion, and linguicism are addressed within the text and what this means in terms of their own beliefs and cultures (short, 2012). summary and conclusion latinx children’s literature allows mexican-american and latinx students to form connections with their knowledge from their home and communities. for emergent bilinguals, these connections function as pathways for demonstrating their expertise, comprehension of text, and linguistic knowledge. jz’s knowledge of traditional healing practices supported his understanding of what he was reading and his ability to function as a cultural mediator for slim shady. the text highlighted his knowledge and provided an opportunity to discuss concepts he was familiar with in the language he was learning in school. although the boys did not reach an agreement regarding the validity of those practices, their ability to draw on alternative genres for discussion moved them to deeper levels of comprehension (gritter, 2011). cultural and critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 173 linguistic mediation builds on students’ out-of-school knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzález, 1992) and counters deficit messages regarding languages other than english through the valuing of emergent bilinguals’ knowledge and skills. student-led discussion groups may open the door for students’ creative instincts and encourage them to re-contextualize literacy events by drawing on local literacies and knowledge to create their own pedagogical tools to make sense of texts. this in-depth analysis of one literature discussion highlights the role that critical encounters with a text can play in supporting students’ enactment of critical literacy. critical encounters in literature discussions can shift the ways students talk about what they are reading—leading to more critical discussions of text and deeper understandings of what is being read. discussions that follow critical encounters in reading enable students to develop an increased understanding of one another as resources of cultural and linguistic knowledge may shift their perception regarding languages and language varieties other than english. this is of particular importance when looking at the english literacy development of emergent bilinguals. a critical literacy approach to language arts and literacy instruction requires teachers to create the spaces for critical encounters to occur. while teachers may not fully anticipate the aspect of the text that would lead to a critical encounter, they can introduce the themes, potential sites of tension, and social issues that are relevant to the children’s literature they will be reading. incorporating opportunities for students’ lived experiences, questions, and concerns to enter classroom dialogue related to children’s literature may promote greater understanding of their responses to critical encounters and preferred format for talking about the feelings or challenges that arise in literature discussions. the majority of emergent bilinguals receive instruction in english (menken, 2008). this means that it is imperative that teachers such as ms. lynn, who are not proficient in students’ home languages, create spaces for transcultural practices (guerra, 2016); these include translanguaging (garcía, 2009), which enable students to access all forms of knowledge such as popular culture (morrell, 2007), digital and social media (ek, sanchez, & guerra, 2015). the use of latinx children’s literature that reflects students’ languages and lived experiences supports the creation of critical contexts where the superiority of english is challenged (denicolo, 2010; fránquiz & de la luz reyes, 1998; iddings, risko, & rampulla, 2009) and the socio-political context examined (sánchez & landa, 2016). for this to occur, teachers need training in how to denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 174 understand the themes, history, and traditions addressed in the literature so that they support students in building the schema to understand the practices they are reading about. slim shady did not have the cultural understanding of curanderismo; had the class explored traditional healing practices across cultural contexts prior to reading the circuit (or during), his ability to learn from his reading and discussions would have increased greatly. assetbased pedagogies such as these, with latinx emergent bilinguals and all multilingual students of color, pushes back against the discriminatory influences that shape students’ developing sense of school belonging and academic identities (lópez, 2016). however in multicultural classrooms, like the one represented here, to truly push back, students need support in critically examining experiences and traditions that are unfamiliar in order to disrupt metanarratives that marginalize communities of color. critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 175 references ada, a.f. (1995). my name is maría isabel. new york, ny: aladdin/macmillan publishing company. alvermann, d. (1996). peer-led discussions: whose interests are served? journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 39(4), 282-289. álvarez, j. (2001). how tía lola came to stay. new york, ny: dell yearling books. anzaldúa, g. (2015). light in the dark/luz en el oscuro. durham, nc: duke university press. bishop, r.s. (1990). mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. perspectives, 6(3). bishop, r.s. (1997). selecting literature for a multicultural curriculum. in v.j. harris (ed.,) using multiethnic literature in the k-8 classroom (pp. 1-20), norwood, ma: christopher-gordon. bartkowski, j.p. (1998). claims-making and typifications of voodoo as a deviant religion: hex, lies, and videotape. journal for the scientific study of religion, 37(4), 559-579. brooks, w.c., & browne, s. (2012). towards a culturally situated reader response theory. children’s literature in education, 43(1), 74-85. cai, m. (2002). multicultural literature for children and young adults: reflections on critical issues. westport, ct: greenwood publishing group. campano, g. (2007). immigrant students and literacy: reading and writing, and remembering. new york, ny: teachers college press. campano, g., ghiso, m.p., sánchez, l. (2013). "nobody knows the … amount of a person": elementary students critiquing dehumanization through organic critical literacies. research in the teaching of english, 48(1), 99-125. chévez, l. g. (2005). latin american healers and healing. in r. moodley & w. west (eds.), integrating traditional healing practices into counseling and psychotherapy (pp. 85–99). thousand oaks, ca: sage. clark, e.r., & flores, b.b. (2016). multicultural latino children’s literature: a tool to enrich the lives and the learning of latino bilingual learners. in e.r. clark, h.l. smith, b.b. flores, & d.a. gonzález (eds.), multicultural literature for latino bilingual children: their words, their worlds (pp. 3-24). lanham, md: rowman & littlefield publishers. clarke, l.w. (2006). power through voicing others: girls’ positioning of boys in literature circle discussions. journal of literacy research, 38(1), 53 -79. daniels, h. (1994). literature circles: voice and choice in the student-centered classroom. york, me: stenhouse publishers. denicolo, c.p. (2004). connecting literacy, language, and lived experience: examining the use of literature discussion circles in a fourth-grade classroom (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of colorado, boulder, colorado. denicolo, c.p. (2010). what language counts in literature discussion? exploring linguistic mediation in an english language arts classroom. bilingual research journal, 33(2), 220-240. denicolo, c.p., & fránquiz, m.e. (2006). “do i have to say it?”: critical encounters with multicultural children’s literature. language arts, 84(2), 157-170. denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 176 desmangles, l.g. (1977). african interpretations of the christian cross in vodun. sociological analysis,38, 13-24. dyson, a.h. (1996). cultural constellations and childhood identities: on greek gods, cartoon heroes, and the social lives of schoolchildren. harvard educational review, 66(3), 471-496. dyson, a.h. (2001). where are the childhoods in childhood literacy? an exploration in outer (school) space. journal of early childhood literacy, 1(1), 9 – 39. dyson, a.h. (2003). the brothers and sisters learn to write: popular literacies in childhood and school cultures. new york, ny: teachers college press. ek, l., sanchez, s., & guerra, m.j., (2015). cultural multiliteracies: integrating technology with latino children’s literature. in e.r. clark, b.b. flores, h.l. smith, & d.a. gonzález (eds.), multicultural literature for latino bilingual children: their words, their worlds (pp. 69-82). lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. fránquiz, m.e., & de la luz reyes, m. (1998). creating inclusive learning communities through english language arts: from chanclas to canicas. language arts, 75(3), 211 – 220. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: herder and herder. freire, p., & macedo, d. (1987). literacy: reading the word and the world. south hadley, ma: bergin & garvey. galda,l., sipe, l.r., liang, l.a., & cullinan,b.e. (2016). literature and the child (9th edition). belmont, ca: wadsworth publishing. garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. malden, ma and oxford, uk: basil/blackwell. genishi, c. & dyson, a.h. (2009). children, language, and literacy: diverse learners in diverse times. new york, ny: teachers college press. gilmore, p. (1983). spelling ‘mississippi’: recontextualizing a literacy‐related speech event. anthropology & education quarterly, 14(4), 235-256. glazier, s.d. (2001). the encyclopedia of african and african american religions (ed). new york, ny: routledge. gritter, k. (2011). promoting lively literature discussion. the reading teacher, 64(6), 445 449. gritter, k. (2012). permeable textual discussion in tracked language arts classrooms. research in the teaching of english, 46(3), 232 – 259. guerra, j. (2016). language, culture, identity and citizenship in college classrooms and communities. new york, ny: routledge/ncte. gutiérrez, k., baquedano-lópez, p., & tejeda, c. (2009). rethinking diversity: hybridity and hybrid language practices in the third space. mind, culture, and activity, 6 (4), 286-303. harris, v.j. (2003). the complexity of debates about multicultural literature and cultural authenticity. in d.l. fox & k.g. short (eds.), stories matter: the complexity of cultural authenticity in children’s literature (pp. 116-134). urbana, il: national council of teachers of english. harste, j.c, breau, a., leland, c., lewison, m., ociepka, q. & vasquez, v. (2000). supporting critical conversations. in k.m. pierce (ed.), adventuring with books (12th ed.) (pp. 507-554). http://www.amazon.com/bilingual-education-21st-century-perspective/dp/1405119942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=utf8&qid=1296239158&sr=1-1 critical encounters association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 177 urbana, il: ncte. iddings, a.c.d., risko, v.j., & rampulla, m.p. (2009). when you don’t speak their language: guiding english-language learners through conversations about text. the reading teacher, 63, 52-61. jiménez, f. (1997). the circuit: stories form the life of a migrant child. new york, ny: scholastic, inc. lópez, f. (2016). teacher reports of culturally responsive teaching and latino students’ reading achievement in arizona. teachers college record, 118(5). love, b.l. (2015). what is hip-hop-based education doing in nice fields such as early childhood and elementary education? urban education, 50(1), 106-131. martínez-roldán, c.m. (2003). building worlds and identities: a case study of the role of narratives in bilingual literature discussions. research in the teaching of english, 37, 491 526. mathers, m., & young, a. (1999). my name is. [recorded by eminem]. on the slim shady lp [cd]. ferndale, mi: aftermath, interscope (1998). mcnair, j.c. (2008). “i may be crackin’, but ‘um fackin’”: racial humor in the watsons go to birmingham-1963. journal of children’s literature, 39(3), 201-212. mcnair, j.c. (2013). “i didn't know there were black cowboys”: introducing african american families to african american children’s literature. young children, 69(1), 64-69. medina, c. l. (2006). interpreting latino/a children’s literature as critical fictions. alan review, 33(2), 71-77. medina, c.l. (2010). “reading across communities” in biliteracy practices: examining translocal discourses and cultural flows in literature discussions. reading research quarterly, 45, 40– 60. menken, k. (2008). english learners left behind: standardized testing as language policy. clevedon, uk: multilingual matters. mohr, n. (1979). felita. new york, ny: dial press. moll, l.c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice 31(2), 132– 141. morrell, e. (2007). critical literacy and popular culture in urban education: toward a pedagogy of access and dissent. in c. clark and m. blackburn (eds.), working with/in the local: new directions in literacy research for political action (pp.235-254). new york, ny: peter lang publishing. nieto, s. (1997). we have stories to tell: puerto ricans in children’s books. in v.j. harris (ed.), using multiethnic literature in the k-8 classroom (pp. 59-93). norwood, ma: christophergordon publishers. sachar, l. (1998). holes. new york, ny: farrar, straus, and giroux. sánchez, p., & landa, m. (2016). cruzando fronteras: negotiating the stories of latina/o immigrant and transnational children. in e.r. clark, b.b. flores, h.l. smith, & d.a. denicolo & brochin association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 178 gonzález (eds.), multicultural literature for latino bilingual children: their words, their worlds (pp. 69-82). lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. short, k.g. (2012). story as world making. language arts, 90(1), 9-17. stake, r. (1995). the art of case study research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. street, b. (1984). literacy in theory and practice. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. taylor, m.d. (1975). song of the trees. new york, ny: dial press. weinstein, s. (2006). a love for the thing: the pleasures of rap as literacy practice. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 50(4), 270 – 281. woodson, j. (2003). locomotion. new york, ny: penguin group. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 5 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners: examining critical principles of differentiation in lesson design anne rené elsbree ana m. hernández annette daoud california state university san marcos abstract the research emphasizes the need for educators to take more ownership of latino english learners (els) and identify effective lesson differentiation through subject area content (instruction), process (activities), and products (assessments). based on the literature review, school achievement improves when practices address students’ culture, experiences and learning styles in ways that are differentiated in academics. this study examined lesson plans from 35 teacher candidates (86% white, 14% latino) in a single subject credential program in southern california. candidates conducted clinical practice in districts that served up to 70% els, with the majority identified as long-term english learners (ltel). lessons analyzed a five-part differentiation plan: 1) student information, 2) differentiation, 3) appropriateness of differentiation, 4) assessment criteria, and 5) monitoring and adaptations. results indicated 94% (33/35) of the candidates provided data on els’ proficiency levels. all (35) lessons included at least one differentiation. about 26% provided a rationale for lesson differentiation, monitoring or adaption; however, only 9% described assessment criteria. educating ltels is more than just providing access to the curriculum or sheltering instruction. lessons must draw from critical theory/pedagogy for effective ltel practices. teacher educators need to be more strategic in how they teach differentiation to candidates. acknowledgements: this research was funded by a grant from the office of english language acquisition (oela) in the u.s. department of education. introduction at the secondary level, the majority of english learners (els) can be characterized as “long-term english learners.” while there are variations in the definitions provided by researchers, common characteristics of long-term english learners or ltels are: they have been enrolled in u.s. schools for approximately 6 years or more; they generally have grade point averages of below a 2.0; and they have not attained a proficiency level in reading and writing skills needed for academic success in content area classes (olsen, 2010). ltels perform at much lower academic levels than immigrant students who come to u.s. schools with a range of prior schooling experiences from their home countries (callahan, 2005). one challenge facing secondary els is placement— the classes in which they are placed are often not those which are required for future attendance in four-year colleges. secondary english learners often take multiple english as second language (esl) or english language development (eld) classes, thus limiting their access to “mainstream” content classes (barron & sanchez, 2007; callahan, 2005; rumberger & gndara, 2004). unfortunately, it is often the case that the curriculum in esl or eld classes is not challenging enough or aligned to college-track classes for ltels to transfer the information learned and be successful in their content area classes. additionally, the academic demands for secondary els in content area classes are much more complex than those needed for success in elementary schools. at the secondary level, content in textbooks and that presented in content area classes are done so through an increasingly complex level of academic language or the specialized level of vocabulary, grammar and skills of secondary content area classes. for secondary equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 6 english learners, particularly long-term els, attaining and practicing a level of academic english is required for any level of success in content area classes. secondary els come to content area classes with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences in school that require a varied level of scaffolding to access the content. to help els be academically successful, content area teachers should understand their students’ literacy and content knowledge, previous academic experience in u.s. schools, and their knowledge of the english language (dutro & kinsella, 2010). preparing teachers to teach secondary english learners the educational experiences of ltels underscore the importance for teacher education programs to prepare teachers to equitably teach students from culturally and linguistically diverse (cld) backgrounds. in a survey of california teachers, gándara, maxwell-jolly, and driscoll (2005) report on challenges that secondary teachers identify in teaching els. the most commonly cited challenge for secondary teachers is the language and cultural barriers between themselves and their el students. the secondary teachers who participated in the survey stated that the most beneficial professional development trainings are those that focus on understanding the cultural characteristics and learning profiles of els they need to effectively teach them. the more knowledge teachers have about their el students, the better able they are to provide equitable educational opportunities to them. it is therefore imperative that secondary teacher credential programs and professional development trainings prepare secondary teachers to provide els in their content areas classrooms access to the core curriculum in ways that are both comprehensible and academically rigorous. it is also essential that teacher credential and professional development programs explicitly draw from the tenets of multicultural education, social justice and equity to prepare teachers to provide equitable educational experiences for all of their future students. common core standards—new standards, new opportunities as teachers begin to incorporate rigorous common core standards and complex demands of using texts from various content registers, there is fear that els will continue to trail behind or further decline in academic achievement, since els lack understanding of knowledge and skills in disciplines that require high functioning levels of english proficiency (council of chief state school officers, 2012). in addition, according to wested (walki, et al., 2010), “in order to succeed academically, all els must overcome a ‘double gap,’ first to equal the achievement of their native-speaking counterparts, and then to reach a level of achievement that is considered grade-level proficient (p. 3).” however, common core state standards (ccss) and the new eld standards can offer a window of optimism to reconstruct the manner in which teachers instruct els with deeper understandings of content and language. it offers a fresh start to equip linguistically and culturally diverse students who have been denied the right to interact with rigorous content, opportunities to engage in effective communication skills, and ways to apply new knowledge of their english language skills in meaningful ways. for secondary els, this could signify a new dawn for their right to an equitable education and journey into college and career readiness. the purpose of this article is to emphasize the need for educators to take more ownership for el students’ mastery of english and to identify the parts of an effective content, process, and product differentiation in a lesson. the research questions for the study include: 1) in what ways are teacher candidates addressing differentiation? 2) how do teacher candidates articulate their differentiation plan? literature review this inquiry draws from the theoretical foundations of critical theory/pedagogy to develop consciousness of instructional practices in traditional education. to address the educational issues facing secondary els, faculty in the teacher education program highlighted in this inquiry frame our practice in critical multicultural education, equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 7 use a social justice/critical pedagogy approach to design and deliver our program, and teach our candidates how to use effective practices for els in their instruction. multicultural education based on the notion that all students learn when the curriculum is meaningful, comprehensible, and relevant to students’ lives, the lesson planning process outlined in this article draws from the theoretical foundations of multicultural education and critical pedagogy to provide teacher candidates with the tools needed to motivate english learners, along with all students, to learn. improving educational experiences through understanding and respect of all students is one of the foundations of the theories and practices of multicultural education (banks, 2003; gallavan, 2011; nieto & bode, 2008; sleeter, 2005). school achievement improves when instructional practices address students’ culture, experiences, and learning styles in ways that are differentiated to meet each student’s individual academic needs (gay, 2010; ladson-billings, 2001). peer interactions and collaborative activities that are rooted in critical pedagogy are paramount in educating second language learners, particularly in states like california, where approximately 25% of students in public schools (k-12) are classified as els, either immigrants or the sons and daughters of immigrants living in poverty or below poverty level (california department of education, 2013). educators need to understand that educating els is more than just providing access to the curriculum or sheltering instruction for comprehension of content. new standards call for students to be actively engaged in content learning through peer interactions, understand how to conduct research, provide evidence while reading and writing, analyze complex texts, and apply advanced levels of academic language skills to any subject area. therefore, a reconstruction and transformation of the manner in which teachers/teacher candidates design lessons will be the new guiding principles for equitable instructional practices for english learners. social justice approach teacher education programs which are explicitly rooted in tenets of social justice and equity see teaching as the act of enhancing students’ learning and their expanding opportunities both in and beyond school (for example, cochran-smith, et. al, 2009; darling-hammond, french, & garcia-lopez, 2002). social justice teacher education programs highlight inequities that exist in schools and guide teacher candidates in understanding theories and practices that will help them provide equitable educational opportunities for all their future students. in this study, the steps needed to create a differentiation plan approximates social justice from a framework similar to the one described by chubbuck (2010) on conceptualizing and implementing socially just teaching. teacher candidates reflect upon and design their individual socially just and equitable pedagogy to address student learning difficulties using both individual and structural orientations (chubbuck, 2010). to create a differentiation plan, teacher candidates first identify their el students’ proficiency levels, learning profiles and interests, then reflect upon how to choose differentiation strategies that lead to more equitable educational outcomes. in a study of a teacher education program explicitly centered on social justice and equity, cochran-smith, et.al, (2009) found that teacher candidates’ definitions of social justice and equity are placed into four categories: pupil learning, relationships and respect, teacher as activist, and recognizing inequities. across the categories, the teacher candidates define and enact social justice through their own individual actions rather than through policy change or political actions (cochran-smith, et.al, 2009). in a study of two teacher education programs in california to examine how each program implements social justice and equity across their programs, mcdonald (2005) found that translating these definitions into actions can be challenging for teacher candidates. drawing from these studies, one can establish that teacher education programs should: present social justice in ways that the candidates are open to learning; teach candidates to define social justice on an individual level; and help candidates translate their definitions into concrete actions in their future classrooms. the steps that comprise the differentiation plan provide very specific “doable” actions that teachers and teacher candidates can integrate into their teaching practices which directly impact the equitable educational opportunities for secondary english equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 8 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners learners. students of impoverished communities, who are linguistically and culturally diverse, need to connect knowledge to power and freedom of oppression in order to achieve social reconstruction (freire, 1970; giroux, 1988). it is important for teachers to view educational opportunities for students who have been historically disenfranchised by inequitable systems. teachers can transform students into thinkers for social change and active learners in their communities. structures that allow a one-size-fits-all instructional program create a “culture of silence and oppression” for groups of students who are perceived as subordinates in educational stratifications, particularly english learners. this theory permits teachers to re-examine and reconstruct lesson development as a critical process for transformation, rather than to continue a status-quo approach in the classroom. effective strategies for teaching secondary english learners effective instructional planning is a necessity for meeting the needs in today’s diverse classrooms, especially with english learners. three instructional design practices that lend themselves to english language development include: universal design for learning (rose & gravel, 2010; rose & meyer, 2002 ); understanding by design (wiggins & mctighe, 2005); and differentiated instruction (tomlinson, 2001). universal design for learning (udl) is a pedagogical approach based on the universal design movement in architecture, where buildings provide accessible options for entry and use from the initial design, not as an afterthought that requires retrofitting. udl addresses three networks: recognition, strategic, and affective (rose & gravel, 2010). udl requires that each lesson provide multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement (rose & meyer, 2002). while it is critical that educators provide instruction in universally accessible ways, english learners often need further differentiation to guarantee that the access fits their proficiency levels. understanding by design (wiggins & grant, 2005) is a backward planning process, where educators identify the learning outcomes of a unit first and then choose learning activities and materials that would support the identified learning objectives. the benefit of this instructional design is that it focuses on planning the learning tasks and evidence of the students’ understanding. educators can design the tasks with english learners in mind with set criteria to demonstrate language development as well as content understanding. tomlinson’s (2001) differentiated instruction adds to both of these instructional plans by focusing attention on the three main areas of instruction: content (subject objectives, concepts and materials), process (student activities), and product (assessments). each of the three areas can be adapted or modified based on the learner’s readiness level—english proficiency level, learning profile, and interests. tomlinson provides a framework for differentiating based on the specific information of a student. so this instructional design allows for more refined instruction, dependent on the needs of the learners. research findings on effective strategies for teaching secondary english learners provide the foundation for following the steps of designing differentiation plans. teaching methods such as sheltered instruction or specially designed academic instruction in english (sdaie) provide secondary teachers with the pedagogy, methodology, and strategies to effectively teach english learners. in sheltered or sdaie classrooms, language and content objectives are threaded throughout the curriculum so that english learners are able to learn content while improving english literacy skills (echevarria, vogt, & short, 2014). research shows that incorporating language and content objectives based on state standards is an effective competency that teachers of secondary english learners use in their lesson planning (faltis, arias, & ramirez-marin, 2010). using the standards and objectives as a guide, sheltered or sdaie lessons include multiple strategies, methods, and assessments that help make academically rigorous content accessible to english learners at various language proficiency levels, and in multiple contexts including “mainstream” content classrooms (i.e., diaz-rico, 2013; echevarria, vogt, & short, 2014; faltis, arias, & ramirez-marin, 2010). supporting academic language development is particularly paramount for secondary english learners who need academic language to be successful across all their content area classes. effective strategies for supporting english learners’ academic language development include explicit teaching of language forms and metacognitive strategies, building background knowledge, and providing opportunities to practice academic language across association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 9 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners multiple contexts (bowers, et. al, 2010). additionally, els need content presented through explicit scaffolding so that they can perform the academic task required (de jong & harper, 2005). the amount of scaffolding needed is based on the english learners’ language proficiency levels as well as their background knowledge (language, content and culture). building upon students’ background knowledge is an effective strategy to develop language and content mastery as well as to make curriculum culturally and socially relevant to students’ lives (de jong & harper, 2005; faltis, arias & ramirez-marin, 2010). methodology this study uses qualitative methods to facilitate the collection and analysis of data using a “naturalistic” approach (miles & huberman, 1994). the study is an analysis of lesson plans from 35 teacher candidates. the candidates were enrolled in a two-semester fifth-year single subject secondary credential program in southern california. the program has been in existence for over fifteen years and offers single subject credentials in the following subjects: english language arts, mathematics, physical education, science, social sciences and world languages (spanish). the program philosophy centers on social justice, as well as clinical practice and teaching digital-age learners. to prepare teacher candidates to be effective teachers in our service area of southern california, it is essential that we focus on issues of social justice, specifically meeting the needs of diverse students from low socioeconomic statuses, english language learners, and other students traditionally underserved. participants all of the candidates had a bachelor’s degree and had passed the california subject examination for teachers. in the fall semester, each candidate was enrolled in the following: three core methodology courses (teaching and learning, literacy, and multilingual education), one subject-specific methodology course, and full-time clinical practice at a public middle or high school that serves english learners. some of the districts served up to 70% english learners, with the majority of them identified as long-term english learners (olsen, 2010). the demographics for teacher candidates (see table 1) is as follows: 49% women (17) and 51% (18) men; 86% white (30) and 14% latino (5). the candidates’ subject areas were: 14% english (5), 20% math (7), 5.71% physical education (2), 8.57% science (3), 28.57% social studies (10), and 22.87% spanish (8), earning a spanish/ english bilingual authorization. it is important to note that of the eight spanish teacher candidates, three were white, four were latinos (three from mexico and one from honduras), and one was latino/hawaiian with roots from mexico. in terms of language, almost 23% of the candidates were bilingual (spanish/english) and 77% predominantly spoke english only. in addition 14% (5) of the candidates self-identified as english learners, with two of them experiencing high school education in california during proposition 227—an anti-bilingual education initiative that passed in 1998. they have shared their experiences with their colleagues in terms of how their education changed under the reform. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 10 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners table 1. candidate demographic information by content area (n=35) content area gender male female ethnicity white latino bilingual (english / spanish) english language arts 2 3 5 0 0 mathematics 0 7 7 0 0 physical education 1 1 2 0 0 science 2 1 3 0 0 social sciences 9 1 10 0 0 world languages (spanish) 4 4 4 4 8 note: candidates in this study only represented the two ethic groups listed above data collection the candidates were enrolled in multilingual education, which focuses on the goals of multilingual and multicultural education, specifically why and how to support english learners. the assignment for this research study was to design a lesson plan that included differentiation for english learners. the program provided a lesson template that was used across courses and in clinical practice. each lesson included: standards, objectives, assessment, enduring understanding, essential questions, instructional steps, student information, differentiation, and materials. prior to this class assignment, candidates were instructed on how to create a universally designed lesson (rose & gravel, 2010) using backward planning (wiggins & mctighe, 2005) with specific differentiation for content, process, or product (tomlinson, 2001) based on their class profile. first, the candidates created a personal learning profile for themselves, where they identified their strengths, their readiness levels for different content, their learning preferences, their collaboration and leadership styles, and their interests. based on their learning profile, the candidates identified learning activities where they would thrive. the purpose of this activity was to help the candidates understand how this information could inform instruction. second, the candidates were instructed on how to locate student information at their clinical practice sites, such as english proficiency levels and individual education plans. currently the data available for english learners is the california english language development test (celdt). the celdt scores identify the english learners’ ability to listen, speak, read, and write in english. the candidates learned how to match a student’s celdt score to an appropriate level english language development standard: emerging, expanding, and bridging. third, the candidates created and conducted a survey with their middle and high school students to identify their interests and learning profiles. fourth, the candidates were asked to analyze the class profile to identify similarities in their students’ learning profiles, identify students that needed differentiation, and to learn how to choose effective differentiation strategies based on the profiles. data analysis the analysis of the lesson plans focused specifically on the differentiation strategies for english learners. during the analysis, common themes (differentiation strategies) were identified through an open coding process and revisited until patterns emerged (areas of differentiation), allowing us to move from a broad analysis to the specific question of “how” teacher candidates were addressing differentiation (emerson, fretz, & shaw, 1995). we categorized the differentiation strategies into three areas: content differentiation for subject objectives, concepts, or materials; process differentiation for the student activities; and product differentiation for the assessments (tomlinson, 2001). for each strategy we identified if the candidate articulated the five parts of the differentiation plan: association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 11 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners 1) identification of english learner’s proficiency level, learning profile, and/or interests (tomlinson, 2001); 2) alignment of the differentiation to the english learner’s proficiency level, learning profile, and/or interests; 3) explanation of why the differentiation is appropriate for the english learner’s proficiency level, learning profile, and/or interests (tomlinson, 2001); 4) description of the criteria for assessing the english learner’s progress based on proficiency level; 5) plan for monitoring and adapting strategy to support english learner’s progress. the research focused only on the lesson plan design and not the implementation, so there was no reflection analyzed to identify the effectiveness of the differentiation plan. limitations there are at least two methodological limitations in this study: 1) only one lesson to represent all that each of the candidates learned, and 2) the fact that the data only covers lesson designs. the lessons were merely a snapshot in the candidates’ understanding of differentiation in the first half of the credential program. more lessons over the entire program would make this study richer and more reliable. in addition, the data collected were only lesson designs—no lesson was taught, observed, or had a post-reflection. results the research findings covered two areas: the types of differentiation and the plan for the differentiation. the intention of the original analysis was to identify what types of strategies the candidates designed, but we also were curious how the candidates articulated their differentiation plan—which parts were included in their differentiation plan and which parts the candidates needed more guidance and practice for designing socially just and equitable instruction. types of differentiation process differentiation was the most common with 89% of the lessons (31/35); content was the second most common with 80% (28/35); and product was the least common differentiation with 57% of the lessons containing assessment differentiation (20/35). of the 35 lessons, 20% (7) of the lessons contained only one type of differentiation with two that included content differentiation and the other five included process differentiation; 34% (12) of the lessons contained two types of differentiation (with seven that included content and process differentiation, two with content and product, and one that included process and product differentiation) and 46% (16) of the lessons contained all three types of differentiation. content. the content differentiation consisted of content accommodations with no substantial content modifications. content accommodations were minor differentiations that did not substantially change the instructional level, subject content, or assessment criteria for the el, but addressed the delivery method, such as multisensory presentation (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and vocabulary development supports. an example of a lesson that included content differentiation focused on vocabulary. the differentiation plan began with information about the el. the candidate described an english learner with a celdt score of 3, an intermediate level with strong english reading skills, but poor english speaking articulation. in addition he noted that the student enjoys playing soccer and consistently makes an effort to complete his class work. the differentiation plan described how the teacher candidate will directly teach the vocabulary word, “imperialism.” the candidate described projecting the word and its definition on a smart board in bold black font and having the english learner copy the word and definition on a graphic organizer and describing the word verbally. although the candidate did not explain why the differentiation was appropriate based on the student’s information, the candidate did describe how he would check for the el’s understanding by checking what he wrote on the graphic association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 12 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners organizer and listening to the student’s verbal definition and make any needed clarifications immediately to make sure that the english learner comprehended the correct definition. the other content differentiations, 78.5% (22/28), merely described the student and named a differentiation with no specifications as to why the differentiation was chosen, how a plan would assess the effectiveness of the strategy, or how they would adapt the strategy if needed. process. the process differentiations included flexible grouping, graphic organizers, multisensory activities, and tiered lessons. the flexible grouping describes the different ways students can be grouped to maximize learning. the lessons that included graphic organizers were designed to help the student visually process the content. the multisensory activities included visual, auditory, and kinesthetic dimensions. the tiered lessons provided different participation roles for the els based on their proficiency levels. in one of the lessons that included process differentiation, the candidate not only described the english learner’s proficiency level at a celdt 3 score—with visual and interpersonal learning style preferences, that enjoys one-on-one instruction—the candidate also described the latino el’s interests in computers and video games, specifically, “guitar hero.” he was earning a b in the math class and was interested in going to the local community college to pursue engineering. in the lesson, the students are to use their understanding of volume and surface area formulas to design a drink container for another country. in the differentiation plan, the candidate describes how the student would be assigned a group with a reclassified1 spanish-speaking english learner to assist with any translations as well as high-performing english-only students to model proper language and math usage. the candidate provided a strong explanation of why the strategy was appropriate for the el’s proficiency level. although the candidate neglected to address the criteria that would be used for assessing the el’s progress or a plan for monitoring the strategy and adapting it if necessary, the other three parts were very strong: information about student, differentiation aligned to student information, and explanation of why the differentiation is appropriate based on the student proficiency level, learning profile, and/or interest. product. the product differentiations were included in 57% of the (20/35) lessons. over half of the (11/20) lessons included product differentiations that were minor accommodations— where english learners were expected to learn the same content as the rest of the class. almost half of the (9/20) lessons that included a differentiated product (modification), used a rubric to communicate the different language development tasks based on the emerging, expanding, and bridging dimensions that refer to the english language development standard’s proficiency level descriptors. one lesson was a stellar example of product differentiation for a pickleball2 formation in a physical education class. the candidate provided information on a spanish-speaking english learner with a celdt 3 score, who spoke well in class and understood verbal instructions, but struggled with vocabulary, reading, and writing. in addition, the candidate shared that the el was athletic, interested in sports, and enjoyed soccer and shooting video games. in the lesson, the students were instructed to create a pro and con list for each formation of pickleball. the teacher candidate described how he would strategically place the learner in a group with other strong readers and one student that was a spanish-speaking english learner that was recently reclassified as proficient. he explained how this group would provide the necessary language supports for processing the 1. “reclassified” is a term used by the california department of education to identify students who have met reclassification criteria. a district determines whether or not an english learner student has sufficient english proficiency to be reclassified as a fluent english speaker through the following: ec section 313 (d) specifies multiple measures be used to reclassify els, including all four of the following criteria: assessment of english proficiency evaluation of performance in basic skills, such as the cst for english-language arts (cstela) or the california modified assessment for ela (cma-ela), teacher evaluation, and parental opinion and consultation. retrieved on march 27, 2014 from http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/rd/. 2. pickleball is a game based on a baseball play where a runner is “in a pickle”, in jeopardy of being out when advancing to the next base. the game involves three players—a runner and two base players. the base players toss the ball back and forth until the runner is successfully tagged. when a base player tags the runner, the two exchange places and continue playing. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 13 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners different pickle formations and to comprehend what the pros and cons would be for each formation. the candidate described how he would monitor the group discussion and ask the el questions to evaluate his comprehension and to ask him permission if he could be called on during the whole class discussion to share his answers. this not only offered the candidate an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the differentiation, but it would allow him to adapt the instruction to meet the el’s needs. differentiation plan the lesson plans were analyzed for evidence of the five parts of a differentiation plan: 1) information about student, 2) differentiation strategy aligned to student information, 3) explanation of why differentiation was appropriate for student, 4) criteria for assessing student progress, and 5) monitor and adaptation plan. for the most part, the candidates were consistent in gathering information about their students’ english proficiency levels, learning profiles and interests, and choosing a differentiation specifically for their identified students (see table 2) table 2. differentiation used by candidates in lesson plans (n=35) content area design activities based on els’ proficiency levels differentiate content based on student learning profiles differentiate assessments based on student learning profiles english language arts 5 of 5 (100%) 2 of 5 (40%) 0 of 5 (0%) mathematics 6 of 7 (86%) 5 of 7 (71%) 5 of 7 (71%) physical education 2 of 2 (100%) 2 of 2 (100%) 1 of 2 (50%) science 2 of 3 (67%) 3 of 3 (100%) 2 of 3 (67%) social sciences 8 of 10 (80%) 8 of 10 (80%) 7 of 10 (70%) world languages (spanish) 7 of 8 (88%) 8 of 8 (100%) 5 of 8 (63%) first, ninety-four percent (33/35) of candidates provided descriptive data about their students’ proficiency levels, learning profiles and interests. second, 100% of the candidates provided at least one differentiation strategy that was aligned to the student, even the two candidates that neglected to provide information about their students included a differentiation for english learners and students with special needs; in fact, one of the lessons provided differentiation for content, process, and product, and the other included content and process differentiation strategies. third, the differentiation plans broke down from there, with only 26% (9) of the candidates providing a rationale for the differentiation. the candidates often did not explain how the differentiation strategy was appropriate for the specific learner’s proficiency level, learning profile, or interests. fourth, even less candidates described how they would know if the differentiation was effective. only nine percent (3) of the candidates described the criteria for assessing the student’s progress. fifth, the last part of the differentiation plan, monitoring and adaption, was more likely to be described. twenty-six percent (9) of the candidates described how they would monitor and adapt strategies to support student progress. two candidates demonstrated a more thorough differentiation plan than other lessons: “spanish family lesson” and “cylinder geometry.” these candidates were both white women that are native english speakers, representative of the majority of teacher candidates in our program and across the nation. ms. jones, a white, bilingual woman, designed a spanish family lesson with content, process and product differentiation for six english learners (4 spanish, 1 vietnamese, and 1 tagalog speakers). the objective of the lesson is for the students to converse in spanish about their family. the lesson supports el’s content by modeling family vocabulary using a family tree for two different families [modern family television show and graciela repún and elena hadida’s (2006) children’s book, familias, la mía, la tuya, la de los demás]. els are supported in association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 14 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners the process by making their own family tree using a graphic organizer. els are supported in the assessment by pairing them with a partner that has greater english proficiency as well as providing a script for the conversation and time to practice. this lesson addressed three of the five differentiation steps with a description of the students, aligned differentiation strategy, and an explanation of how the strategy is aligned with the students’ strengths and needs. the second candidate, a white monolingual english-speaking woman, ms. smith, designed a cylinder geometry lesson with content, process, and product differentiation supports for three spanish speaking els. the lesson objective is for the students to apply their surface area and volume knowledge by designing and justifying a drink can for a spanish-speaking county. els were supported with the content, by verbally and visually reviewing the surface area and volume vocabulary and formulas. grouping them with native english speakers and building time for the teacher to monitor and provide any necessary one-on-one instruction supported the el’s process. the els were supported in the design presentation (product) by rearranging all of the desks in a circle so students are seated facing one another to lessen the intimidation of a formal presentation. this lesson was thorough in its differentiation plan with a rich description of each of the els, strategies’ alignment with the students’ information, an explanation of how the strategy is a good match for the els, and a plan to monitor and adapt the strategies for the process as well as the product. conclusions and educational significance the analysis of the parts of differentiation, helped us as instructors recognize what our students understood and where they needed more guidance and practice for differentiation. the conversations during our collaborative analysis led us to recommit ourselves to ownership of our teacher candidates’ learning. as a result we are redesigning our lesson plan assignments and the learning activities and materials. we are making our rubrics more specific in regards to what evidence looks like for the five distinctive parts of the differentiation plan. we are condensing the lesson plan contents and making the differentiation a heavier weight for the graded assignment. by engaging in this research study, we realized we needed to take our own advice and be more strategic in how we teach the differentiation. we needed to first, start with our students in mind. second, identify a differentiation that matches their readiness—proficiency level, learning profile, and/or interests. third, explain the reason why the differentiation is appropriate for each teacher candidate. fourth, describe what criteria we will use to assess the candidates’ progress, and fifth, have a plan to monitor and adapt to support candidate progress. returning to the literature reviewed for this study, the differentiation plans created by the candidates allowed them to take definitions of social justice and enact them into individual actions (cochran-smith et. al, 2009; mcdonald, 2005). the lessons themselves focused on multicultural content that was differentiated to meet each student’s individual academic needs while also addressing their culture, experiences, and learning styles (gay, 2010; ladson-billings, 2001). further, each aspect of the candidates’ differentiation plans represents effective instructional practices for english learners; they include language and content objectives, varied assessments, and academically rigorous content presented through accessible and comprehensible instructional strategies (diazrico, 2013; echevarria, vogt & short, 2014; faltis, arias & ramirez-marin, 2010). it is important to note that the majority of candidates in the program are white women, as is the case in most teacher education programs nationally. regardless of their backgrounds, candidates can design socially just and equitable differentiated lessons in their content area classes for their secondary english learners. the importance of this study is that educators of teacher candidates in secondary education must be clear on explanations and monitoring strategies for lessons designed for students who are linguistically, culturally, and educationally diverse. this research advances instructional practices for a transformative education and agency in designing lessons that are in accordance to the proficiency and academic levels of latino english learners. more research is needed in the instruction of secondary latino els and long-term els, particularly on teacher credential programs in higher education. teacher candidates in secondary education programs are likely to have long-term english learners enrolled in their content area classes. by teaching candidates how to differentiate by providing targeted strategies that match their english learners’ needs, we are moving one step closer to providing els with more equitable educational opportunities. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 15 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners references banks, j. (2003). teaching literacy for social justice and global citizenship. language arts, 81(1), 18-19. barron, r. & sanchez, f. (2007). fulfilling the commitment: excellence for all students. leadership, 36(3), 8-10. bowers, e., fitts, s., quirk, m. & woo, j. (2010). effective strategies for developing academic english: professional development and teacher practices. bilingual research journal, 33, 95-110. california department of education. (2013). educational demographics unit. retrieved on february 7, 2013 from http://www.cde.ca.gov/dataquest. callahan, r. (2005). tracking and high school english learners: limiting opportunities to learn. american educational research journal, 42 (2), 305-328. chubbuck, s. (2010). individual and structural orientations in socially just teaching: conceptualization, implementation, and collaborative effort. journal of teacher education, 61(3), 197-210. cochran-smith, m., shakman, k., jong, c,. terrell, d., barnatt, j. & mcquillan, p. (2009). good and just teaching: the case for social justice in teacher education. american journal of education, 115(3), 347-377. council of chief state school officers. (2012). framework for english language proficiency development standards – corresponding to the california state standards and the next generation science standards. retrieved on march 20, 2014 from http://www.ccsso.org/documents/2012/elpd%20framework%20 booklet-final%20for%20web.pdf darling-hammond, l., french, j. & garcia-lopez, s. (2002). learning to teach for social justice. new york, ny: teachers college press. de jong, e. & harper, c. (2005). preparing mainstream teachers for english-language learners: is being a good teacher good enough? teacher education quarterly, spring, 101-124. diaz-rico, l. (2013). strategies for teaching english learners. 3rd ed. boston, ma: pearson. dutro, s. & kinsella, k. (2010). english language development: issues and implementation at grades six through twelve. in improving education for english learners: research-based approaches. sacramento, ca: california department of education press. echevarria, j., vogt, m. & short, d. (2014). making content comprehensible for secondary english learners: the siop model. 2nd ed. boston, ma: pearson / allyn & bacon. emerson, r., fretz, r., & shaw, l. (1995). writing ethnographic fieldnotes. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. faltis, c., arias, m. b. & ramirez-marin, f. (2010). identifying relevant competencies for secondary teachers of english learners. bilingual research journal, 33. 307-328 freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. ny: continuum international publishing group inc. gallavan, n. (2011). navigating cultural competence in grades 6-12: a compass for teachers. thousand oaks, ca: corwin. gandara, p., maxwell-jolly, j. & driscoll, a. (2005). listening to teachers of english language learners. the center for the future of teaching and learning, ucsc. gay, g. (2010). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research & practice. 2nd ed. new york, ny: teachers college press. giroux, h. (1988). teachers as intellectuals: toward a critical pedagogy of learning. massachusetts: bergin & garvey publishers, inc. ladson-billings, g. (2001). crossing over to canaan: the journey of new teachers in diverse classrooms. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. mcdonald, m. (2005). the integration of social justice in teacher education: dimensions of prospective teachers’ opportunities to learn. journal of teacher education, 56(5), 418-435. miles, m. & huberman, m. (1994). qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. nieto, s. & bode, p. (2008). affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of multicultural education (5th ed). boston, ma: pearson education, inc. olsen, l. (2010). reparable harm: fulfilling the promise of educational opportunity for california’s long term english learners. long beach, ca: californians together press. rose, d.h. & gravel, j.w. (2010). universal design for learning. in e. baker, p. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 16 equitable instruction for secondary latino english learners peterson & b. mcgaw (eds.). international encyclopedia of education, 3rd ed. oxford: elsevier. retrieved from national center on universal design for learning website http://www.udlcenter.org/ sites/udlcenter.org/files/technologyandlearning_1.pdf rose, d. & meyer, a. (2002). teaching every student in the digital age: universal design for learning. retrieved from cast, universal design for learning website http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/ tes/ rumberger, r. & gandara, p. (2004). seeking equity in the education of california’s english learners. teachers college record, 106 (10), 2032-2056. sleeter, c. (2005). un-standardizing curriculum: multicultural teaching in the standards-based classroom. new york, ny: teachers college press. tomlinson, c. a. (2001). how to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability differentiated instruction classrooms (2nd ed.). alexandria, va: association for supervision and curriculum development. walqui, a., koelsch, n., hamburger, l., et. al. (2010). what are we doing to middle school english learners? findings and recommendations for change from a study of california el programs. wested. wiggins, g. & mctighe, j. (2005). understanding by design expanded 2nd ed. upper saddle river, nj: pear amae-open-issue-final 5 amae-open-issue-final 6 amae-open-issue-final 7 amae-open-issue-final 8 amae-open-issue-final 9 amae-open-issue-final 10 amae-open-issue-final 11 amae-open-issue-final 12 amae-open-issue-final 13 amae-open-issue-final 14 amae-open-issue-final 15 amae-open-issue-final 16 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 37 translanguaging in a latin@ bilingual community: negotiations and mediations in a dual-language classroom armando garza juliet langman university of texassan antonio abstract considering a latin@ fifth-grade dual-language classroom (spanish/english) as a community of practice, this paper explores how a bilingual teacher and her bilingual students, as members of such community, utilize translanguaging (garcía, 2009) as a learning and teaching tool in social studies and science classes. in this particular classroom, the science curriculum is taught in english, whereas social studies is taught in spanish. using sociocultural theories of learning and development (vygotsky, 1978); “anthropolitical linguistics” (zentella, 1997); and the community of practice (lave & wenger, 1991) approach as theoretical frames, we examined and analyzed linguistic instances as they occurred within natural classroom discourse in the two subject-classes. findings suggest that translanguaging is present within the intersection of a conceptual and pedagogical tool that allows fluidity and movement of the teaching and learning process and maximizes the co-construction of meaning; in doing so, translanguaging identities are being practiced. some implications for teachers and teacher education programs are presented. introduction texas has the second largest latin@ population in the united states comprised of 38.4% of the total state’s population (u.s. census bureau, 2013). as the latin@ student population increases in public schools, so does the presence of spanish-speaking english language learners (ells) who are developing their bilingual skills. as a consequence, the corpus of research addressing issues of culture, language learning, bilingualism, and teaching-learning processes in latin@ classrooms increases as well. the present study examines ofelia garcía’s (2009) concept of translanguaging practices in a latin@ fifth grade dual-language classroom. recent literature, examining the nature of language as a tool for learning, has taken on the term translanguaging as a way of inviting an encompassing rather than a narrowing perspective on teaching and learning in bilingual classrooms (see e.g., canagarajah, 2011b; creese & blackledge, 2010). garcía (2009) conceptualizes translanguaging as more than simply switching between codes or language mixing. moreover, garcía and li wei (2014) explain that translanguaging is different from code-switching in that the latter refers to a simple shift between two languages; implying the idea of having and using two separate linguistic codes. in contrast, translanguaging refers to the “speakers’ construction and use of original and complex interrelated discursive practices that cannot be easily assigned to one or another traditional definition of a language, but that make up the speakers’ complete language repertoire” (garcía & wei, 2014, p. 22). similarly, canagarajah (2011) and creese and blackledge (2010) outline the concept of translanguaging as a fluid linguistic tool that is shaped according to the sociocultural and historical environments where it is found and analyzed. consequently, there is no fixed structure to translanguaging; it is not a unique and standard code-system. thus, translanguaging provides a perspective suggesting that bilinguals draw linguistic features from their entire linguistic repertoire. at present, translanguaging is becoming a recognized teaching and learning tool that takes us to understand the negotiations and mediations that bilinguals develop within the communication processes in their multilingual and multicultural classrooms (see e.g., canagarajah, 2011b; hornberger & link, 2012b; sayer, 2013). in fact, garcía (2009) considers translanguaging as an essential linguistic resource to convey and co-construct meaning among bilingual individuals—a significant linguistic resource in latin@ classrooms (sayer, 2013). in a multicultural and multilingual classroom, a translanguaging approach gives the opportunity to create a new translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 38 reality in which neither language, in our case spanish and english, is seen as dominant (garcía & li wei, 2014). in addition, translanguaging allows bilingual students to develop new identities that are not fixed or strictly related to only one of their languages. language, as a potential influence for identity formation or transformation, constitutes one of the most important markers or symbols among members of a specific cultural group (myers-scotton, 2006). accordingly, li wei (2007) locates language and culture as intrinsic components of identity. as a consequence, translanguaging practices are intrinsically linked to identity formation. an exact definition of translanguaging is still emerging. as lewis, jones, and baker (2012) put it, “there can be no exact or essentialist definition as the meaning of translanguaging will become more refined and increasingly clarified, conceptually and through further research” (p. 642). we define translanguaging as the deployment of a “powerful mechanism to construct understandings, to include others, and to mediate understandings across language groups” (garcía, 2009, pp. 307-308) that draws on the full range of functional and formal elements that comprise an individual linguistic repertoire. theoretical framework the theoretical framework that informs our study is built on sociocultural theories of learning and development (vygotsky, 1978); “anthropolitical linguistics” (zentella, 1997); and the community of practice (cop) approach (lave & wenger, 1991). firstly, sociocultural research treats the whole linguistic repertoire of an individual as a learning tool (vygotsky, 1978). in addition, vygotsky (1986) gives crucial importance to the sociocultural context when exploring the meaning that language conveys, arguing that such context is part and parcel of how individuals learn. thus a sociocultural perspective allows us to focus on the abilities that bilinguals and minority students bring to their classrooms (see e.g., canagarajah, 2011b; moschkovich, 2007). secondly, zentella’s (1997) concept of anthropolitical linguistics is important because it addresses the political aspects of language use and literacy acquisition among minority/marginalized groups. anthropolitical linguistics includes a focus on how bilinguals use their linguistic repertoire to construct and develop multiple identities. furthermore, zentella affirms that whether we choose to discuss the connection between language and politics or not, “there is no language without politics” (p. 14). this is why zentella’s work is important when dealing with issues of language practices; she opened, some decades ago, a dialogue of social, cultural, and political aspects of linguistic practices of bilinguals in social and academic settings. and lastly, lave’s and wenger’s (1991) cop approach allows us to see our findings bounded by social acts performed within a bilingual community of learners. since literacy and biliteracy are socially contested terms (garcía, bartlett, & kleifgen, 2007; gee, 2008), they have to be contextualized within the social and cultural environments where the participants engage in a variety of learning practices. methodology setting: lagos elementary school lagos (pseudonym) elementary school (les) is located in the historical westside of san antonio, texas. this particular community shows vivid ties to mexican and mexican american linguistic and cultural heritage (sayer, 2013). more than 95% of the total student population of les is latin@, the vast majority from mexican heritage, and more than 90% qualifies for free or reduced lunch. les offers a dual-language program that is the school district’s state-required bilingual program. according to les’ school district, this program consists of having spanish-speaking and english-speaking students being taught through two languages with the goal of additive bilingualism for all students enrolled in the program. les also offers regular classrooms in which all classes are taught in english having english as a second language (esl) services. despite of the demographics of the school, a large number of students are considered english dominant or even english monolingual. however, the vast majority of les’s students and teachers are considered, to varied degrees, spanish/english bilinguals; and many parents are regarded as spanish monolinguals. translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 39 we conducted our fieldwork during the school year 2012-2013. before this school year, les used to have one dual-language and three english-only classrooms per grade level. however, in that specific year, les started offering, for the first time, two kindergarten dual-language classes due to the high value and respect that the parental community has for the dual-language programs—bilingual teachers were excited because in the future, les would offer two dual-language classes per grade level (mr. ramos, kindergartner teacher, personal communication, september 25, 2012). ms. ayala and her students ms. ayala is an experienced bilingual educator who grew up in the westside of san antonio. she is familiar with the community and with el barrio, as she called the neighborhood where les is located. although ms. ayala grew up bilingually, she was immersed in english-only classrooms during her k-12 education. for her, teaching in a dual-language class is a privilege because it means that she is giving back to the community un poquito (a little bit) of what she received when she was growing up. despite the fact that the les’s school district labels as ells all students who are enrolled in dual-language programs, ms. ayala is proud to claim that all of her students are proficient spanish/english bilinguals with a strong mexican american heritage. according to her, only two students (one female and one male), out of the twenty-two students in the classroom, are considered as english-dominant. despite many language ideologies that might be present in les, as in any other bilingual community, ms. ayala’s students feel very proud of being bilingual; as she put it, “when they are in the hallway, other fifth graders [in the english-only classes] say to them, ‘hey look, those are the spanish students.’ and they proudly respond, ‘no! we are not the spanish students, we are the bilingual students.’” this is a very strong and true statement in which these bilingual fifth-graders, as members of a community of practitioners, demonstrate their belonging to such community; and most importantly, they depict who they are and what they do (gee, 2008) within their immediate sociocultural and historical learning space. furthermore, as legitimate practitioners, they proudly portray what they understand to be a member of a bilingual community (lave & wenger, 1991). the case at les, in fifth grade, the language of the science curriculum is english, and the curriculum of social studies is taught in spanish. in order to understand our data and findings, we need to point out these characteristics of the language of the curriculum of these two subject-classes (as well as the scope of the data). in science, the first author observed ms. ayala presenting four lessons on weathering, erosion, and deposition, three on renewable and non-renewable resources, and two other on fossil fuels. science presentations usually were complemented by videos, models, and mnemonic devices, displayed on foldables and entered as a log in the students’ mnemonic notebook. as stated above, these lessons were designed to be conducted in english with english curricular materials. in social studies, the first author observed ms. ayala presenting six history lessons on the battles for the declaration of the independence of the united states, the declaration itself, and the initial development of the american government. ms. ayala used audio-recordings in spanish that contained the entire readings from the social studies textbook. she also promoted discussion about what they were listening and reading. the social studies class also has a workbook that was utilized to assign specific homework based on the readings and discussions in class. in social studies, as mandated, all materials and the primary focus on interaction were in spanish. methods having an ethnographic perspective, we employed qualitative research approaches that consisted of observations in both subject-classes and a set of three interviews with ms. ayala. in accordance with ms. ayala, we planned our fieldwork from october to december 2012, and some follow-up observations in january immediately after the winter break. we spent a total of 37 hours in the classroom observing both classes; translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 40 science (28 hours) and social studies (9 hours). it is important to mention that the science class was about 100 minutes per day, and social studies lasted around 30 minutes three times per week; and due to school district policies for fifth grade, they did not have social studies class during the follow-up observations. our guiding question was: what kinds of translanguaging practices do the members of a dual language classroom, conceptualized as a community of practice, carry out within social studies and science classes? we explored translanguaging both from the perspective of identity and from the perspective of translanguaging operating as a pedagogical tool. we examined the dual-language classroom as a community of practice and transcribed and analyzed linguistic instances as they occurred within natural classroom discourse in the two subject-classes. in sum, our data sources included audio-recordings, fieldnotes, and formal and informal interviews with ms. ayala. findings when focusing on translanguaging as a pedagogical tool, we can look for instances that (1) maximize the co-construction of meaning through the use of a whole set of linguistic resources (garcía, 2009; orellana & garcía, 2014); and (2) allow fluidity and movement of the teaching and learning process (creese & blackledge, 2010). by extension, translanguaging provided us, as researchers, an opportunity to appreciate the linguistic competencies that shape the multilingual identities of all members of ms. ayala’s class as a bilingual community (canagarajah, 2011b). in order to recognize translanguaging identities, we begin with an examination of how translanguaging is viewed in this particular community of practice. understanding ms. ayala’s community of practice in a dual spanish/english language classroom conceived as a community of practice, where all participants draw from their linguistic repertoire to convey meaning, bilingual students have the choice of how to use their whole set of linguistic resources for their own advantage—social, cultural, or academic. cazden (1986) interprets this free-language choice, particularly in a classroom environment, as “rights and obligations of participants” (p. 437). thus, ms. ayala’s students, as proficient bilinguals, and in this particular cop, have the right to choose what to say and what language/s can be used. furthermore, they may use their [translanguaging] abilities depending on what they decide to do and say and who they interact with (ek, garcía, & garza, 2014). in this social negotiation of choices, “acts of identity,” as pennycook (2007) suggests, are produced; which in turn, are recognized and validated by all members of the same bilingual community (canagarajah, 2011b). although we are aware of the many social, cultural, and political views of the linguistic practices that might be present in a latin@ community, in ms. ayala’s classroom, both languages are honored and respected. when we interviewed ms. ayala, she clearly stated that there are no preferences to either language; and through fieldnotes and examination of the transcripts, this is borne out. there were no instances in which ms. ayala prompted students explicitly to switch from one language to another. that said, she herself did attempt to frame her lessons to the mandated language of instruction (i.e., social studies lessons in spanish, and science in english). in what follows, we present five excerpts in which translanguaging allows the flow and movement of classroom activities. this suggests, in this classroom, that translanguaging is an unmarked linguistic practice. that is, speakers’ translanguaging is not causing “social ripples because participants expect such a choice, based on experience” (myers-scotton, 2006, p. 159). therefore, being unmarked choices shows the extent how translanguaging identities are being valued in this classroom. furthermore, we examine translanguaging as a potential tool for the teaching and learning process. translanguaging in action excerpt 1 (science; language of the curriculum: english). ms. ayala (ma) is using a document camera to display on the screen what she is drawing: a river that shows how deposition of sediments causes the formation of a delta. ms. ayala, using different colors, included some labels to the elements of the drawing and students were replicating in their notebooks what ms. ayala was projecting on the screen (all names in this translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 41 paper are pseudonyms; see appendix for transcription conventions). 1 ma: create like a four… so, here you are gonna have, water, and i’m doing it to 2 just remember…i’m gonna erase this, so water, and in here we’re gonna 3 have sand, and in here we will have… more sand. 4 john: miss, what does it say up there? (4) 5 jesús: miss, ¿qué dice arriba en lo verde? {what does the green part say?} 6 ma: it’s just the mouth of the river ((soft talk; responding to john and jesús)) … 7 so, you are gonna have a… ((louder tone; addressing the whole class)) ms. ayala is using english, the language of the science-curriculum, addressing the class while she is firmly looking at what she is drawing—which is being displayed on the screen. john and jesús shared the same inquiry about a label written in green. because ms. ayala did not immediately respond to john’s question, jesús waited four seconds and decided to use spanish in order to resonate (line 5) what john asked in english (line 4). it seemed that “up there” in line four needed more clarification; so jesús clarifies by pointing specifically to “a label in green” (en lo verde). during and after this intervention, ms. ayala kept looking at her drawing but answered in english, addressing john’s and jesús’s question, with a soft tone while she kept including more details to her model. this is an unmarked example of translanguaging in the sense that language is not an issue in the classroom. the three participants in this dialogue portray their bilingual identities by choosing pragmatic reasons to “translanguage” so they together co-construct the meaning that is needed at this specific moment—it is not about trying to understand a concept; instead, this practice is used to find some clarity on what is going on at the time of john’s and jesús’s inquiry. although english is the language of the science curriculum, this example also shows how language choice is not a political act since the linguistic rules of the community are not broken. in this cop, the rules of engagement suggest that all the linguistic literacies can be used; and therefore, understood (ravid & tolchinsky, 2002) without having any sort of sanctions. excerpt 2 (social studies; language of instruction: spanish). ms. ayala prompted a discussion after listening to a tape about how the colonists did not want the british king to rule the american land. 1 ma: so, una persona miles de millas afuera, {a person thousands of miles away} 2 quiere gobernar lo que está pasando en {wants to rule what it’s happening 3 lo que ahora se considera estados unidos in what now is known as the united states 4 las personas que viven en las trece the people living in the thirteen 5 colonias, deciden ¿qué es lo mejor que colonies decide, what’s the best 6 quieren hacer ellos, qué es lo que quieren thing they want to do, what is it 7 hacer ellos? that they want to do?} 8 carlos: they wanna rule the land 9 pamela: [iniciar una batalla] {to start a battle} translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 42 10 ma: ¿pero qué es lo que causa la batalla?... {but what is causing the battle?} 11 joey, do you know? ((sudden switch to english; joey was talking with another classmate. joey does not respond)) 12 ma: ¿sabes, no?... pon atención si no sabes {do you know, or not? …pay attention if you don’t know} ms. ayala initiates the above discussion and then asks (lines 5-7) for some students’ input. carlos and pamela responded to ms. ayala’s initiation using different languages. according to ms. ayala, each language of the classroom is sufficient enough to understand a specific instruction of the classroom’s curriculum. this is another unmarked choice where a student, in this case, carlos, clearly breaks the language of the curriculum. however, the classroom structure (initiation, student response, and feedback) was not stopped or interrupted. ms. ayala, regardless the language her students use, respects and honors their participation. therefore, as creese and blackledge (2010) suggest, in this bilingual classroom, the flow of the task in process is more important than which language is being used. another interesting feature from excerpt two is how ms. ayala translanguages (line 11) when she talks to joey directly by shifting from a teaching mode into a behavior mode. this is not an isolated case where ms. ayala switches to the language of control in a specific code. this shift using the non-language of the curriculum (english) also occurs in the other direction (from english to spanish). for instance, in a science class talking about dead organisms, ms. ayala, using english as the language of the curriculum, suddenly switches to spanish, raising her voice, addressing one male student who was distracted with another task: tienes toda la clase para hacer eso, ve y siéntate (you have the entire class to do that, go and sit down). canagarajah (2011b) suggests that translanguagers “adopt certain calculated strategies to gain uptake” (p. 5), and to make themselves clear to others as well. taking this into consideration, we believe that ms. ayala’s translanguaging identity allows her to step out of a linguistic curricular frame. although it has been reported in the literature that the use of a minority language in school settings helps for classroom management, this is not precisely the case in ms. ayala’s classroom; thus, these “calculated strategies” (switching to the non-language of the curriculum for classroom management purposes), in this bilingual community, may remain unclear. excerpt 3. (social studies). ms. ayala and her students are revising some answers from the social studies workbook. as mentioned earlier, ms. ayala’s teaching practices always involve some discussion trying to promote critical thinking and real world applications. 1 mario: la victoria dio nuevas esperanzas a {victory gave new hopes to 2 muchos colonos many colonists} 3 ma: muy bien, algo referente a que dieron {very good, something related to giving} 4 nuevas esperanzas, ¿qué son {new hopes, what does hopes mean?} esperanzas? 5 carla: que tienen hope. {that they have hope} 6 ma: mmm ¿una persona… que…? {hmm, a person who…} 7 lalo: que da oportunidad de …(xxx) {that gives opportunity of…} 8 ma: hope, en inglés es hope, so una {hope, in english it’s hope, so, a translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 43 9 persona que da oportunidad de… person who gives opportunity of…} 10 lalo: que tiene ánimo. {who has encouragement.} 11 ma: okay, so la victoria dio muchas {okay, so, the victory gave many 12 esperanzas a muchos colonos, porque hopes to many colonists, because 13 ganaron… they won…} ((phone rings, ms. ayala answers)) (47 seconds) 14 ma: okay, entonces la pregunta fue ¿cuál? {ok, so, what was the question?} 15 jesús: que por qué fue importante para los {why it was important for the 16 colonos la victoria con los ingleses. colonists the victory over the british} 17 ma: ¿y la respuesta? {and the answer?} 18 jesús: porque les dieron esperanzas y {because they gave them hopes and 19 ánimo a los colonos encouragement to the colonists} 20 carla sí, y esperanzas dan la oportunidad {yes, and hopes give the opportunity 21 de tener felicidad to be happy} 22 ma así es, esperanzas, como dijo lalo, {that’s right, hopes, like lalo said 23 tuvieron ánimo y también el ganar la they had encouragement and winning 24 batalla les dio fuerzas para the battle gave them strength 25 seguir…so…okay, vamos a... to keep going…so…ok, lets…} ms. ayala asks in line 4 what the meaning for esperanzas (hopes) is. carla, one of the english dominant students in this classroom, in line 5, uses spanish and the literal english-translation “hope” as a possible response to what ms. ayala asked in line 4. at first, ms. ayala did not use carla’s response and tried to wait for more students’ input. in line 7, lalo tried to create a definition but he stopped. when ms. ayala saw her students struggling, she validated what carla and lalo said by using their words in the language in which they uttered them; and using their resources around the terms esperanzas and hope. the word “hope” is not stopping the conversation; on the contrary, it is integrated into the dialogue to keep it going. some lines after ms. ayala answered to her classroom-phone, she went back to the previous question (line 14). jesús revoices what carla and lalo had said some lines earlier. and at this point, carla expanded her participation this time in spanish without any prompting, by giving more information around the term esperanzas (lines 20-21). at the end of this instance, ms. ayala provides feedback to the entire class by summarizing what her students contributed. by doing this, ms. ayala showed a preparedness to use all of the resources her students bring to the classroom drawing on their full linguistic repertoire. excerpt 4 (social studies). ms. ayala is talking about how the patriots/colonists did not want the government of england to be imposed on the thirteen colonies. translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 44 ma: él ((rey de inglaterra)) está {the king of england is a miles de millas afuera… thousands of miles away} …él está en inglaterra, los colonistas [sic] {…he is in england, the colonists} están en lo que ahora se considera los {are where now it’s known as estados unidos, en ese entonces… {the united states, back then} darío: [ellos están en el {they are in the west side of the united states] {west side of the united states} ma: in the east side, el este {in the east side, the east} instead of an interruption of the flow of the class, darío’s attempt to finish ms. ayala’s sentence shows a very standard way of translanguaging. again, although spanish is the language of the curriculum, ms. ayala recognizes the content regardless the language being used; thus, she is aware that darío made a mistake and she fixed it by using both languages. this instance is a teaching moment in which ms. ayala says the entire phrase in english and then provides the translation into the language of the curriculum. darío’s ability to translanguage provided an opportunity to promote some biliteracy skills to all participants of this bilingual community. this alludes to what hornberger and link (2012a) have recently added to the continua of biliteracy: “translanguaging practices in the classroom have the potential to explicitly valorize all points along the continua of biliterate context, media, content, and development” (p. 268). excerpt 5. (science). the following excerpt is from a class on fossil fuels; however, ms. ayala and her students are specifically talking about pressure. 1 ma: when you talk about pressure, what does that usually mean to you? 2 daniel: oh, miss, cuando el aire… {oh, when the air…} 3 gustavo: [the force] ((other students talk indistinctively)) 4 ma: [ok, let me listen to daniel] 5 daniel: le da la fuerza para pushear [sic] algo {((the air)) gives force to push something} 6 ma: yes, so, pressure is a force, everybody agrees? usually when i think of pressure, i usually think that somebody is pushing down… in the example above, daniel rapidly tries to answer ms. ayala’s question, but gustavo and other students interrupted. ms. ayala used english, the language of the curriculum, at all times during this lesson. nevertheless, it is important to point out how she not only honored daniel’s participation in spanish by asking the rest of the students to let her listen to him (line 4), but she also validated his answer by saying ‘yes’ (line 6) with a louder tone of voice. another point to note is that daniel, in line 5, uses the word pushear (to push) as a borrowed verb— english verb with a spanish suffix. creese and blackledge (2010), drawing on bailey’s (2007) work, describe these types of words as heteroglossic. in addition, they believe that the use of these types of heteroglossic words is a linguistic strategy among translanguagers to keep the flow of communication. it is important to point out translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 45 that the use of “borrowed verbs” or “heteroglossic words” is a common linguistic feature of latin@ spanish/ english bilinguals in many communities in the united states (sayer, 2008). despite language ideologies against this linguistic practice, we note that, in ms. ayala’s classroom, this translanguaging strategy is utilized, honored, and accepted within the teaching and learning process. furthermore, ms. ayala allows the use of translanguaging practices regardless of the language of the instruction of a specific subject-class; as she put it, “i enjoy seeing my students participating in community no matter what language they use on the spot.” although the social and political contexts in which bilingual students grow might dictate that their linguistic practices are not honored (zentella, 1997), ms. ayala’s cop shows how her latin@ bilingual students can utilize their linguistic repertoire with “a free-choice” in their sociocultural academic context. conclusions: translanguaging in a latin@ classroom in this paper we provide a case study of how the presence of translanguaging practices in a dual-language latin@ classroom is accepted, honored, and valued; leading to the valorization of translanguaging identities. our case study further shows, as other studies have, the power of translanguaging as a pedagogical tool. the structure of dual-language programs often presupposes different subjects in different languages; and the potential stress of separating such languages. however, as our study shows, the use of english and spanish in ms. ayala’s dual-language classroom is permitted at all times. therefore, we learn that the concept of translanguaging provides us a better frame to understand these types of classrooms and their linguistic practices. this study also gives an example of how translanguaging supports rather than deflects away from the idea of the fluidity and movement of the teaching and learning process. we did not enter ms. ayala’s classroom to explore the use of one language itself. on the contrary, we treat and see translanguaging as a positive way of inviting an encompassing a linguistic approach to explore language practices among latin@ bilingual students and their bilingual teacher in their learning school-space. as a consequence, we were able to see each member of this cop “languaging” or “translanguaging” differently (orellana & garcía, 2014). accordingly, we were aware that “the concept of translanguaging makes obvious that there are no clear-cut boundaries between the languages of bilinguals” (garcía, 2009, p. 47) as we saw in ms. ayala’s class, we claim that latin@ dual language classrooms are crucial bilingual communities where the translanguaging practices of all members can be honored, respected, validated, and used. implications: seeing and using translanguaging in latin@ bilingual classrooms garcía, flores, and chu (2011), in the context of dual language bilingual education, warn researchers, teacher educators, and preand in-service teachers to “[acknowledge] the linguistic complexity of [bilingual] students or the translanguaging practices that characterize [their] interactions as they attempt to communicate” (p. 8). in this way, since translanguaging is not a monolithic activity (canagarajah, 2011b), we suggest—joining the body of researchers advocating for the use of the linguistic capital of latin@ students—that translanguaging should be treated as a resource for all in-service and future bilingual teachers and teachers of language minority students. indeed, we urge teachers of multilingual and multicultural students to consider and carefully understand the translanguaging practices of their students. in addition, as we saw with ms. ayala, her own translanguaging practices offered possibilities so she and her students were able “to access academic content through the linguistic resources and communicative repertoires they bring to the classroom while simultaneously acquiring new ones (hornberger & link, 2012a, p. 268). as we have shown in this paper, translanguaging is a “powerful mechanism to construct understandings” (garcía, 2009, p. 307). furthermore, based on ethnographic studies, researchers (e.g., canagarajah, 2011a; velasco & garcía, 2014) in the field claim that translanguaging practices may positively enhance higher schooling standards such as academic writing. therefore, we believe that the concept of translanguaging needs to be explored in teacher education programs so that future teachers are exposed to and aware of the existence of this set of linguistic practices in latin@ multilingual classrooms. translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 46 because translanguaging allows teachers to build on the language practices that their bilingual students already possess, we claim that teacher preparation programs should consider the concept of translanguaging as a powerful pedagogical tool that needs to be understood, valued, and practiced. in addition, teacher preparation programs should see “translanguaging [as] important not only because it allows [teachers] to engage each individual child holistically, but also because it is a way of differentiating instruction…” (garcía & li wei, 2014, p. 92). as we noticed in ms. ayala’s classroom, translanguaging allows multilingual teachers to keep the appropriate fluidity of the communication in the classroom and provides a frame to create an awareness of the cultural and linguistic capital that latin@ students bring to their schools. accordingly, we claim that translanguaging can be used as a pragmatic tool for bounding pedagogical mediations among the members of a bilingual learning community when they actively engage in the process of constructing or co-constructing meaning. we also believe that bilingual teachers, educators teaching minority students, teacher educators, and educational researchers should observe the linguistic practices of their students from a sociocultural perspective. by looking at the social and cultural environments where multicultural and multilingual learners are situated, teachers and researchers will be able to detach themselves from a learning deficiency model. therefore, a sociocultural perspective will allow teachers to use all the linguistic resources that multilingual students bring to their classrooms. in addition, using sociocultural frames, researchers in the educational field will be able to see those linguistic resources as positive abilities that can be used to develop biliteracy and bilingualism skills within a community of bilingual learners. we join the large body of researchers (e.g., ek et al., 2014; garcía, 2009; garcía & bartlett, 2007; moschkovich, 2007, 2011; orellana, martínez, lee, & montaño, 2012; sayer, 2013) and claim that a sociocultural approach will open windows in latin@ classrooms so we—as researchers advocating for the respect and use of the linguistic capital of minority students—will be able to see and use the translanguaging practices that characterize latin@ bilingual students. translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 47 references bailey, b. (2007). heteroglossia and boundaries. in m. heller (ed.), bilingualism: a social approach (pp. 257-276). basingstoke, england: palgrave. canagarajah, s. (2011a). codemeshing in academic writing: identifying teachable strategies of translanguaging. the modern language journal, 95(3), 401-417. doi: 10.1111/j.15404781.2011.01207.x canagarajah, s. (2011b). translanguaging in the classroom: emerging issues for research and pedagogy. applied linguistics review, 2(1), 1-28. doi: 10.1515/9783110239331.1 cazden, c. b. (1986). classroom discourse. in m. c. wittrock (ed.), handbook of research on teaching (pp. 432463). new york: macmillan. creese, a., & blackledge, a. (2010). translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: a pedagogy for learning and teaching? the modern language journal, 94(1), 103-115. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00986.x ek, l. d., garcía, a. s., & garza, a. (2014). latino children: constructing identities, voices, linguistic, and cultural understandings. in b. bustos flores, o. a. vásquez & e. riojas clark (eds.), generating transworld pedagogy: reimagining la clase mágica (pp. 129-142). new york: lexington books. garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. malden, ma ; oxford: wiley-blackwell pub. garcía, o., & bartlett, l. (2007). a speech community model of bilingual education: educating latino newcomers in the usa. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 10(1), 1-25. doi: 10.2167/beb364.0 garcía, o., bartlett, l., & kleifgen, j. (2007). from biliteracy to pluriliteracies. in p. auer & li wei (eds.), handbook of multilingualism and multilingual communication (vol. 5, pp. 207-228). berlin: mouton de gruyter. garcía, o., flores, n., & chu, h. (2011). extending bilingualism in u.s. secondary education: new variations. international multilingual research journal, 5(1), 1-18. doi: 10.1080/19313152.2011.539486 garcía, o., & li wei. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education. new york: palgrave macmillan. gee, j. p. (2008). social linguistics and literacies: ideology in discourses (3rd ed.). new york: routledge. hornberger, n. h., & link, h. (2012a). translanguaging and transnational literacies in multilingual classrooms: a biliteracy lens. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 15(3), 261-278. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2012.658016 hornberger, n. h., & link, h. (2012b). translanguaging in today’s classrooms: a biliteracy lens. theory into practice, 51(4), 239-247. doi: 10.1080/00405841.2012.726051 lave, j., & wenger, e. (1991). situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. new york: cambridge university press. lewis, g., jones, b., & baker, c. (2012). translanguaging: origins and development from school to street and beyond. educational research and evaluation, 18(7), 641-654. doi: 10.1080/13803611.2012.718488 li wei. (2007). dimensions of bilingualism. in li wei (ed.), the bilingualism reader (pp. 3-22). new york. moschkovich, j. n. (2007). bilingual mathematics learners: how views of language, bilingual learners, and mathematical communication affect instruction. in n. nasir & p. cobb (eds.), improving access to mathematics: diversity and equity in the classroom (pp. 89104). new york: teachers college press. moschkovich, j. n. (2011). supporting mathematical reasoning and sense making for english learners. in m. e. strutchens & j. reed quander (eds.), focus in high school mathematics: fostering reasoning and sense making for all students (pp. 17-36). reston, va: the national council of teachers of mathematics. myers-scotton, c. (2006). multiple voices: an introduction to bilingualism. malden, ma: blackwell pub. orellana, m. f., & garcía, o. (2014). language brokering and translanguaging in school. language arts, 91(5), 386-392. orellana, m. f., martínez, d. c., lee, c. h., & montaño, e. (2012). language as a tool in diverse forms of learning. linguistics and education, 23(4), 373-387. pennycook, a. (2007). global englishes and transcultural flows. new york: routledge. ravid, d., & tolchinsky, l. (2002). developing linguistic literacy: a comprehensive model. journal of child language, 29(2), 417-447; discussion 453-417, 466-474. sayer, p. (2008). demystifying language mixing: spanglish in school. journal of latinos & education, 7(2), 94-112. translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 48 doi: 10.1080/15348430701827030 sayer, p. (2013). translanguaging, texmex, and bilingual pedagogy: emergent bilinguals learning through the vernacular. tesol quarterly, 47(1), 63-88. doi: 10.1002/tesq.53 u. s. census bureau. (2013). state & county quickfacts: texas. retrieved january 17, 2014, from http://quickfacts. census.gov/qfd/states/48000.html velasco, p., & garcía, o. (2014). translanguaging and the writing of bilingual learners. bilingual research journal, 37(1), 6-23. doi: 10.1080/15235882.2014.893270 vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge: harvard university press. vygotsky, l. s. (1986). thought and language (translation newly revised and edited by a. kozulin, ed.). cambridge, ma: mit press. zentella, a. c. (1997). growing up bilingual: puerto rican children in new york. malden, ma: blackwell publishers. translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 49 appendix—transcription conventions used in this project ma: ms. ayala [transcribe] overlapping talk (4) timed silence in seconds (.) micro pause (...) longer pause, not timed transcribe emphasis science louder talk xxx unintelligible talk (contest) transcriber’s best guess of talk ((student)) transcriber’s note about nonverbal activities or classroom activities observed español talk in spanish in science class (taught in english) english talk in english in social studies class (taught in spanish) {english} english translation from spanish [sic] a word is written as it is pronounced translanguaing in a latin@ bilingual community special_issues_2014-print-final 37 special_issues_2014-print-final 38 special_issues_2014-print-final 39 special_issues_2014-print-final 40 special_issues_2014-print-final 41 special_issues_2014-print-final 42 special_issues_2014-print-final 43 special_issues_2014-print-final 44 special_issues_2014-print-final 45 special_issues_2014-print-final 46 special_issues_2014-print-final 47 special_issues_2014-print-final 48 special_issues_2014-print-final 49 open_issues-12.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 13 state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona jeanne m. powers tiffany r. williams arizona state university abstract in april 2010, arizona made national headlines when governor jan brewer signed sb 1070, the “support our law enforcement and safe neighborhoods act” which was aimed at deterring illegal immigration to arizona. sb 1070 is the most prominent of a series of laws and other state policies targeting immigrants in arizona that date back to the late 1990s. this period of active legislating coincides with a dramatic increase in the state’s hispanic population. in this paper, we provide an analysis of the state laws that have infl uenced the educational experiences of immigrants in arizona passed during this period: proposition 203 and hb 2064 (bilingual education), hb 2281 (ethnic studies courses), and proposition 300 (higher education and adult education). introduction in april 2010, arizona made national headlines when governor jan brewer signed sb 1070, the “support our law enforcement and safe neighborhoods act” which was aimed at deterring illegal immigration to arizona. as enacted, the bill’s most controversial provisions: a) require immigrants to carry documentation of their legal status; b) criminalizes the work activities of illegal immigrants; and c) empowers law enforcement offi cials to detain anyone they suspect is an illegal immigrant (archibold, 2010; order, 2010). in july 2010, these provisions were enjoined by a federal court and have not taken effect.1 yet sb 1070 is best understood as the latest, and arguably the most prominent of a series of laws and other state policies targeting immigrants in arizona that date back to the late 1990s.2 this period coincides with a dramatic increase in the state’s hispanic population. population estimates from the 2010 census indicate that between 2000 and 2010 the hispanic population in arizona has increased 46 percent; 30 percent of arizona’s residents in 2010 were hispanic (passell, cohn, & lopez, 2011). the vast majority of arizona’s hispanic residents (87 percent) reported that they were mexican (u.s census bureau, 2010a).3 while census data does not allow cross-tabulations across categories, other census estimates indicate that thirteen percent of the state’s residents are foreign-born; of these 64 percent are not united states citizens, and 68 percent were born in latin america (u. s. census bureau, 2010b). additionally, while most arizona residents ages fi ve and older (73 percent) speak english at home, 76 percent of those that do not speak english at home are spanish speakers (u. s. census bureau, 2010b). 1 the lower court’s ruling was affi rmed by the ninth circuit court of appeals. the supreme court will hear oral arguments on the merits of the injunction in april 2012. 2 after sb 1070 was passed in arizona, similar laws were proposed in other states. in september 2011, a federal district court upheld provisions in the alabama law that: a) requires law enforcement offi cials to check a person’s immigration status during routine traffi c stops; b) nullifi es contracts entered into by illegal immigrants; c) forbids illegal immigrants from engaging in transactions with state agencies; and d) requires public elementary and secondary schools to assess the immigration status of their students. emboldened by their success, some arizona lawmakers attempted to pass more drastic laws aimed at illegal immigrants, including a law that denied automatic citizenship to children born in the united states, and laws requiring hospitals and schools to report illegal immigrants seeking their services (“arizona senate rejects,” 2011). we discuss one of these, sb 1611, in more detail below. subsequent political developments have been mixed. in june 2011 the alabama legislature approved legislation widely considered tougher than arizona’s sb 1070 (robertson, 2011). 3 while they do not provide fi gures for individual states, passell and cohn (2010) estimate that 60% of all of the unauthorized immigrants living in the united states in 2009 were from mexico. passell and cohn’s estimates also indicate that the vast majority of foreign-born residents of the united states (72 percent) are legal immigrants. state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 14 in this paper, we focus on the state laws that have infl uenced the educational experiences of immigrants in arizona passed during this period because a large percentage of the state’s hispanic population are children under the age of 18 (lacey, 2011) and public education is a central institution in young people’s lives. to frame our discussion we begin with a brief historical overview of the racialization of illegal immigration and language. conceptual framework and historical context we use omi’s (2001) conceptualization of racialization, the process by which social groups come to be understood in racial terms, as a starting point for our analysis. we also draw from critical race theory analyses that highlight how policies and practices that are neutral on their face perpetuate existing patterns of racial inequality (gunier & torres, 2002). in the united states, race and immigration have been deeply intertwined and must be understood against a backdrop of white domination. that is, immigrant experiences reveal both the malleability and stability of whiteness as a social category, the centrality of whiteness to american national identity, and the privileges associated with whiteness (haney lópez, 2006; pérez huber et al., 2008). the naturalization act of 1790 limited the right to naturalization to “free white person[s]” and thus citizenship to whites. over time, the linked categories of white and citizen came to include european immigrants, not all of whom were considered white at fi rst arrival (jacobsen, 1998). when immigrants from asia and india challenged naturalization laws in the early twentieth century by arguing that they were white and eligible for citizenship, the courts rejected both claims (haney lópez, 2006). the experiences of mexican immigrants complicate the immigrant story in a number of ways. first, mexican citizens living in the former mexican territories that were incorporated into the united states under the terms of the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo and the gadsden purchase retained their property rights and were granted the right to united states citizenship. despite these provisions, in the racial anglo-saxonism that fueled manifest destiny and continued to shape the american west in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mexicans were viewed as racially inferior and unassimilable (acuña, 2000; camarillo, 1979; horsman, 1981; montejano, 1987; perea, 2003). second, in the decades after world war i, immigration laws and policies created a new social category, the illegal immigrant (benton-cohen, 2009; ngai, 2003). immigration restrictions passed in 1921 and 1924 included provisions for deporting immigrants who entered the united states without a visa and created the border patrol. in 1929, congress passed legislation that criminalized unlawful entry to the united states. in this context, the united states-mexico border posed a dilemma for immigration offi cials. in fi rst decades of the twentieth century, mexican migration to the united states grew dramatically, fueled by the economic policies of the porfi rio diaz regime, the mexican revolution, and the employment opportunities created by economic development in the u.s. southwest (gutierrez, 1995). many politicians from border states viewed mexican migration as a public problem, but immigration offi cials had no legal grounds to deny mexicans citizenship (ngai, 2004). as a result, federal offi cials began to use administrative polices including deportation, head taxes, visa fees, literacy tests, and humiliating delousing and medical line inspection procedures to control mexican immigration and construct “a barrier where, in a practical sense, none had existed before” (ngai, 2003, p. 85; see also sanchez, 1993). other administrative policies fostered the racialization of the illegal immigrant as non-white. when policies criminalizing illegal entry began to penalize illegal immigrants from eastern europe and canada, federal offi cials who viewed the deportation of europeans as unjust instituted administrative reforms that allowed these immigrants to legalize their status and become citizens. according to ngai (2004) in the period between 1925 and 1965, as lower status european groups came to be viewed as white and citizens, and the boundaries of whiteness were expanded and reinforced. ngai (2004) observed, “[b]y contrast, [for mexicans] walking (or wading) across the border emerged as the essential act of illegal immigration, the outermost point in a relativist ordering of illegal immigration” (p. 89). like immigrant status, language is another racialized social category,4 and, as sanchez (1997) points out, 4 for an analysis of how language and national origins were used to denote racial boundaries in mid-twentieth century arizona, see powers and patton (2008). state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 15 has been a perennial element of anti-immigrant debates. perea (1992) argued that a key strain in american political thought has been a demand for cultural homogenetity and assimilation to the beliefs, values, and practices of white, protestant, english-speaking, anglo-saxons. throughout american history, laws and legal rules have been potent tools used by the majority to promote and enforce the dominant culture. a key example of this phenomenon are laws aimed at declaring english the offi cial language of the state or, as we discuss below, the primary language of instruction in public schools. likewise, as we noted above, literacy tests were one of the administrative measures used by immigration offi cials to regulate entry into the united states at the u.s.-mexico border. if we consider the demographic trends we described at the outset of the paper in the context of this brief historical overview of the assumptions, rhetoric, and policies aimed at containing mexican migration in the early twentieth century, it suggests that immigration policies and language policies are forms of racist nativism that target latina/os regardless of citizenship status (pérez huber, et al., 2008). in the section that follows, we turn to contemporary immigration related policies in arizona. the fi rst of these, proposition 203, was passed by voters in 2000. we analyze the texts of state statutes, other government documents, and newspaper articles when relevant. anti-immigrant legislation in arizona we begin our analysis in 2000 when proposition 203, english for the children, was passed by voters. according to zatz and rodriguez (2009), between 2000 and 2009, the arizona legislature enacted 65 bills related to immigration or targeted at immigrants. among these bills were changes in state statutes that: required individuals applying for driver licenses to provide proof of citizenship or legal residency, expanded the defi nition of human traffi cking, increased the power of law enforcement agencies to ascertain the citizenship status of detainees, empowered the national guard to enforce immigration laws, created penalties for employers that hire undocumented workers, and prohibited cities from establishing day labor centers that assist undocumented immigrants. seventy-eight percent of these bills were signed into law; governor napolitano (a democrat) used her authority to veto 14 of the 65. governor jan brewer, a republican, has approved all of the immigrationrelated bills passed by the legislature during her tenure. brewer’s support for sb 1070 was widely understood as the key to her re-election in november 2010. according to the arizona republic, the 2004 election was a key turning point in this period (“immigration and arizona”, 2010). moderate republicans lost primary elections to their more conservative counterparts. as a result, the republican-controlled legislature became more conservative and was able to pass a greater number of immigration-related laws. in addition, between 2000 and 2009, arizona voters considered eight ballot propositions related to immigration (zatz & rodriguez, 2009). only one—a law requiring employers to verify the immigration status of their employees—was not passed by voters. in addition to the education-related ballot propositions we discuss below, arizona voters approved measures that made undocumented immigrants ineligible for public benefi ts or services, bail, and punitive damages in civil cases.5 we highlight the broader political climate for immigrants because there is some evidence that the policy context for immigrants is associated with educational outcomes for the children of immigrants. filindra, blanding, and garcia coll (2011) found that the graduation rates of the children of immigrants were higher in states where immigrants had access to the welfare system and where democrats were in control of the state political system. about the latter, filindra et al. (2011) suggest that republicans tend to promote anti-immigrant policies and “this hostility may have affected immigrant families’ sense of belonging in states dominated by the republican party” (p. 430). in the sections that follow, we detail the legislation, ballot propositions, and arizona department of education policies that have shaped the educational experiences of immigrant students in arizona. our primary goal is to analyze the key provisions of these laws, although we also address some of the outcomes of these laws when relevant. 5 these long-term trends in arizona are consistent with the national trends documented by the immigrant policy project of the national conference of state legislatures (www.ncsl.org). state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 16 k-12 education unlike higher education, immigration-related laws and policies aimed at k-12 education in arizona tend to be focused on the curricula offered in k-12 schools. we also address some of the possible spillover effects of other immigration-related laws on public schools. bilingual education. in 2000, arizona’s voters overwhelmingly approved proposition 203, entitled english for children, which fundamentally changed the educational experiences of english language learners in arizona public schools. according to the 2000 census, when proposition 203 was passed, 26 percent of the population fi ve years and older spoke a language other than english at home. approximately 75 percent of this group was spanish speakers (u.s. census bureau, 2000). while 86 percent of arizona’s residents in 2000 were born in the united states, 70 percent of the foreign-born residents were not citizens. as we explain below, while the title and provisions of proposition 203 do not address a specifi c group, the demographics of the state’s population and the proposition’s statement of purpose suggest that the bill was aimed at spanish-speaking immigrants. proposition 203 was part of a multi-state campaign against bilingual education spearheaded by multimillionaire ron unz in the late 1990s and early 2000s. after california voters passed proposition 227 by a wide margin (wiley, 2004), unz and his supporters began a similar campaign in arizona. proposition 203’s fi ndings and declarations raised the specter of uneducated immigrant children who have not learned english: “the public schools of arizona do an inadequate job of educating immigrant children, wasting fi nancial resources on costly experimental programs whose failure over the past two decades is demonstrated by the current high drop-out rates and low english literacy levels of many immigrant children” (arizona secretary of state, 2000, p. 1).6 proposition 203 required students who were classifi ed as english language learners to participate in english immersion, a educational program designed for english language learners but taught in english, “for a temporary transition period not normally intended to exceed one year” (arizona secretary of state, 2000, p. 1). all of the books and instructional materials used in immersion classrooms have to be in english; teachers can use only minimal amounts of the students’ native language while speaking with students. a parent who does not want her child to participate in the english immersion program can request a waiver for one of three reasons: a) her child is profi cient enough in english that she/he did not need the immersion program, b) her child is 10 years old or older and would learn english more effectively in an another educational program, or c) her child has special needs. the law also stipulates that teachers and school districts could reject waiver requests without explanation. proposition 203 also contains provisions that grant parents or legal guardians the legal right to sue their local schools if the schools do not comply with proposition 203. school offi cials found to be out of compliance with proposition 203 can be removed from offi ce and prohibited from holding positions in the public school system for fi ve years. while proposition 203 did not completely remove bilingual programs from public schools, it made english immersion programs the default choice for families unless parents requested waivers and their waivers were approved.7 in 2006, the arizona legislature passed house bill 2064 which expanded the provisions of proposition 203.8 hb 2064 requires school districts to assess the english profi ciency of students whose primary or home language was not english. students whose test results indicate that they are not profi cient in english must be classifi ed as “english language learners” and enrolled in a “research-based” structured english immersion (sei) program (arizona revised statutes, § 15-756). hb 2064 also requires school districts and charter schools to reassess the english profi ciency of students classifi ed as english language learners annually. students whose test results indicate that they are english profi cient must be transferred from the immersion program to mainstream 6 wright (2005) noted that at the time proposition 203 was passed, more than 70 percent of ell students in arizona were being educated in english-only programs, which suggests that bilingual education was not the cause of these problems. likewise, this sweeping statement is not supported by the fi ndings of meta-analyses evaluating the effectiveness of bilingual programs (i.e. greene, 1998; rolstad, mahoney, & glass, 2005a, 2005b). 7 see wright and choi (2006) for some evidence that suggests that students’ access to bilingual classrooms declined precipitously after proposition 203 was implemented. 8 while beyond the scope of the discussion, hb 2064 was passed by the legislature in an effort to comply with the federal district court’s 2000 decision in flores v. arizona (wightman, 2010). state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 17 classrooms. reclassifi ed students must be re-assessed a year after their exit from the immersion program. if reclassifi ed students fail to test as profi cient, they can be re-enrolled in the immersion program with parental consent. hb 2064 also created the arizona english language learners task force, charged with identifying the “research-based” sei models that districts could implement. the law also outlined parameters for the models the task force was charged with developing: students should only be placed in an sei classroom for one year and instruction in sei classrooms must include a minimum of four hours of english language development. in september 2007, the task force developed a model for the four-hour block based on the star english language acquisition program which is primarily focused on developing discrete language skills with little emphasis on academic content (gándara & orfi eld, 2010; for a detailed analysis of the academic content of sei classes, see martinez, 2010). ell students placed in the four-hour block receive instruction largely separate from their english-speaking peers for a year or more. gándara and orfi eld (2010) argued that the four-hour eld block is a form of within-school segregation and highlighted some of the negative outcomes of segregating language learners from native english speakers documented in the research literature. first, english language learners placed in separate classrooms often feel stigmatized as less intelligent and inferior compared to their english-speaking peers (see also benz, 2009). second, english language learners are often tracked into remedial or non-college preparatory courses. finally, some preliminary evidence from arizona suggested that large percentages of students were not exiting sei classrooms after one year; the longer students remained in the sei classroom, the less likely they were exposed to academic content that would allow them to catch up to their peers in mainstream classrooms (gándara & orfi eld, 2010). ethnic studies courses in high schools. in may 2010, a few weeks after it passed sb 1070, the arizona legislature passed hb 2281. hb 2281 was the culmination of a three-year campaign by state superintendent of education tom horne. school districts and charter schools are prohibited from offering courses that “1. promote the overthrow of the united states government. 2. promote resentment toward a race or a class of people. 3. are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group. 4. advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals” (arizona revised statutes, § 15-112). school districts that are out of compliance with the law can have up to 10 percent of their state aid withheld each month until they comply, after which their funding will be restored. while the law is framed in largely race-neutral terms, horne’s efforts were specifi cally aimed at the mexican-american history courses offered by the tucson unifi ed school district (pitzl, 2010). we discuss hb 2281 here because the period this bill was moving through the legislature overlaps with sb 1070. moreover, horne’s public statements about the tusd program have highlighted the immigrant status of teachers and students involved with the program and political debates about border control. one of the features of these courses is that they use texts written by prominent chicano historians as part of an effort to place chicano/latino experiences and history at the center of the curriculum (tusd website). the tusd mexican american studies department described its educational model as consistent with the work of prominent latino/a educational scholars including sonia nieto, angela valenzuela, and luis moll, to name a few. horne viewed the classes as racially divisive because they teach “a radical ideology in raza, including that arizona and other states were stolen from mexico and should be given back” (lewin, 2010, p. a13). while the law drafted by horne that was passed by the senate does not specifi cally mention immigration, horne has invoked political debates about immigration in his public statements. for example, in a 2007 open letter to the tucson unifi ed school district, horne described being troubled by a statement in one of the textbooks used in the course “paid for by american taxpayers used in american public schools” that he read as “gloating over the diffi culty we are having in controlling the border” (horne, 2007). he also raised questions about the legal status of some of the students’ family members (and perhaps by extension, the students themselves) noting that “[m]ost of these students parents’ and grandparents came to this country, legally, because this is the land of state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 18 opportunity.”9 finally, the length and vehemence of horne’s campaign and the national and local news coverage it has engendered might suggest that a large proportion of tusd high school students are participating in these courses. in 2010, 1,400 students enrolled in these courses, an increase of 45% from the 781 enrolled the prior academic year (zehr, 2010). by way of comparison in 2008-2009, approximately 15,000 students were enrolled in the district’s regular high schools.10 these fi gures suggest that approximately fi ve to 10 percent of tusd high school students took these courses. the new state superintendent of instruction, john huppenthal, found that the program was out of compliance with state law, although an audit commissioned by the ade reviewed the program favorably (gersema, 2011). the district unsuccessfully appealed huppenthal’s decision. as a result, the school board voted to suspend the program in january 2012 and removed all of the texts taught in the program from classrooms (“tucson school district,” 2012). spillover effects. in addition to the policies described above, we believe that a compelling case can be made that other immigration-related legislation, coupled with the state’s economic downturn, can have a spillover effect on public schools. since 2007, metropolitan phoenix school districts with large hispanic populations have experienced decreases in enrollment. while this could be due to the decline in the construction and tourist industries, school district offi cials attributed some of the decline in student enrollment to sb 1070 and a 2007 law that penalized employers that hired undocumented workers (mccullough, 2011). the drops in enrollment resulted in a loss of state and federal dollars for these districts, which in turn led to cuts in staffi ng and services. one of the unintended consequences of these policies may be an increase in the class sizes for english speakers in these districts. the english language learners task force requires classes for english language learners to be capped at 23 or 28 students, depending on students’ english profi ciency. when districts do not have the funds to hire extra teachers, they have to increase the class size of the classes for english-speaking students. moreover, all students in these districts—fl uent english speakers and english language learners—are affected by programmatic cuts that result from revenue shortfalls. some projections of the fi nancial impact of sb 1070 suggested a net savings to public education in the aggregate if substantial percentages of undocumented students leave public schools (“arizona immigration law,” 2010). yet these projections do not account for the possibility that in districts with declining enrollment, the fi xed costs of providing services to their remaining students may not decrease as sharply as the reduction in state and federal dollars they receive that are tied to enrollment. likewise, one of the policies in the omnibus immigration bill rejected by the arizona legislature in march 2011 would have created signifi cant additional administrative costs for k-12 schools if the bill had passed and the policy had gone into effect. sb 1611 would have required parents enrolling their children in public schools to provide a birth certifi cate from the united states or one of its territories, a united states passport, or a certifi cate of naturalization; schools would have been required to notify immigration authorities if parents could not produce documentation of their children’s legal presence. some administrators expressed concern that if school offi cials had to implement this law, these requirements would burden school employees already struggling with staffi ng and budget cuts and turn schools into enforcement agencies (doan, 2011; stephenson, 2011). higher education in contrast to k-12 education, anti-immigrant legislation in arizona focused on higher education is aimed at restricting undocumented students’ access to higher education and other educational services. in the early 2000s, the arizona legislature made several unsuccessful attempts to limit undocumented immigrants access to state-funded educational services outside of k-12 education. for example, hb 2030, which restricted undocumented immigrants’ access to adult education classes, esl instruction, in-state tuition, and fi nancial aid was passed by the legislature in 2005 and vetoed by then-governor napolitano (dougherty, neinhusser, & vega, 2010). in 2006, arizona voters approved pr oposition 300, which contained many of the same provisions 9 while horne used the term “legally,” the punctuation draws attention to the term and indexes debates about illegal immigration in a way that a more neutral term such as second or third generation immigrants might not. horne makes a similar statement in lewin (2010). 10 authors’ calculations from ccd data. state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 19 as hb 2030. to be eligible for in-state tuition, or receive access to adult education (which includes esl classes for adults), and child care services, students have to provide documentation that they are legal residents of the united states. while proposition 300 did not formally restrict undocumented students’ access to higher education institutions, students who cannot provide documentation of legal residency must pay out-of-state tuition to attend arizona’s community colleges and state universities, making the cost of higher education prohibitive for many (mckinley, 2008). approximately one year after proposition 300 was enacted, arizona’s colleges and universities reported that 3,850 students did not receive in-state tuition because they could not prove they were legal residents (ryman, 2008). likewise, as of december 2010, over the four years since proposition 300 was enacted, approximately 4.5 percent of the applicants for adult education services classes were denied instruction because they could not document their legal status.11 finally, some state lawmakers view proposition 300 as insuffi cient because it does not prevent undocumented students from enrolling in state colleges and universities (fischer, 2011). sb 1611, the omnibus immigration bill rejected by the arizona senate in march 2011, also contained a provision that would accomplish this goal. conclusion as census fi gures suggest, this period of active lawmaking coincides with a dramatic expansion of the hispanic population in arizona. this ongoing legislative activity has contributed to a climate where the public debates about immigration in arizona have focused largely on the negative costs of illegal immigration. research that suggests that immigrants regardless of status contribute substantially to the state economy through the taxes they pay net of the cost of the services they use (e.g., education, health care, and law enforcement) has had very little traction (gans, 2008). a recent national survey of latino adults suggests that what is now a national campaign fueled by the success of arizona lawmakers has had a collateral effect on the latino population well beyond arizona’s borders (lopez, morin, & taylor, 2010). sixty-one percent of the latinos surveyed by the pew hispanic center in 2010 reported that discrimination against latinos was a “major problem,” an increase of 14 percent since 2002. our goal in this paper was to highlight the policies that have had a direct impact on arizona’s public educational institutions. while we see some striking parallels between the early twentieth century immigration debates and policies described at the outset of the paper and the contemporary period, there are also some important differences. while symbolically important, these early immigration policies were often sporadically enforced and focused largely on the border region (benton-cohen, 2009). in contrast, these contemporary policies can be viewed as part of a sustained campaign to continually expand border enforcement well beyond the geographic site of the u.s.-mexico border and into immigrants’ communities and the public institutions that serve them. while the education policies described here are one part of a broader array of policies, they are signifi cant because young people comprise the largest segment of latino immigrant communities and public education is a central part of their daily lives and a key infl uence on their life chances. we hope that the tide will shift and that political debates and our state polices will begin to refl ect a more welcoming and expansive rather than exclusionary vision of community and the contributions of immigrants, legal or otherwise. 11 authors’ calculations based on information reported in liersch (2011). state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 20 references acuña, r. (2000). occupied america. new york: longman. archibold, r. c. (2010, april 24). arizona enacts stringent law on immigration. the new york times, p. a1. ariz. rev. stat. §§ 15-751-755 (2000). ariz. rev. stat. §§ 15-756 (2006). ariz. rev. stat. §§ 15-232, 15-1803, 15-1825 (2006). ariz. rev. stat. §§ 15-111 – 15-112 (2010). arizona secretary of state. (2000). proposition 203. phoenix: author. arizona senate rejects 5 bills on immigration. (2011, march 18). the new york times, p. a20. arizona immigration law costs and savings. (2010, july 11). the arizona republic. retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ azelections/articles/2010/07/09/20100709 arizona-immigration-law-costs-to-state.html. benton-cohen, k. (2009). borderline americans: racial division and labor war in the arizona borderlands. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. benz, m. r. (2010). is segregation warranted? investigating the sources of self-effi cacy for verbal english acquisition of english language learners. retrieved from proquest dissertations & theses. (no. 3407128) camarillo, a. (1979). chicanos in a changing society. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. doan, c. (2011, march 01). administrators: sb 1611 places unnecessary burden on schools. kgun9 on your side. retrieved from http://www. kgun9.com/global/story.asp?s= 14167483. dougherty, k. j., nienhusser, h. k., & vega, b. e. (2010). undocumented immigrants and state higher education policy: the politics of in-state tuition eligibility in texas and arizona. the review of higher education, 34(1), 123-173. filindra a., garcia coll, c., & blanding, d. (2011) the power of context: state-level immigration policy and differences in the educational performance of the children of immigrants. harvard educational review, 81(3), 163-193 fischer, h. (2011, february 22). split senate committee approves crackdown bill to stop illegal immigration “invasion.” east valley tribune. retrieved from http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/article_93a99966-3f0b-11e0-86b0-001cc4c002e0.html. gans, j. (2008). immigrants in arizona: fiscal and economic impacts. tucson, az: udall center for studies in public policy. gándara, p., & orfi eld, g. (2010). a return to the “mexican room”: the segregation of arizona’s english learners. los angeles: the civil rights project/ proyecto derechos civiles. gamio, m. (1969/1930). mexican immigration to the united states: a study of human migration and adjustment. new york: arno press. (original work published 1930) gersema, e. (2011). tucson ethnic-studies program not illegal, audit says. the arizona republic. retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/news/ election/azelections/articles/2011/06/16/20110616tucson-ethnic-studies-audit0616.html greene, j. p. (1998). a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of bilingual education. claremont, ca: the tomas rivera policy institute. gunier, l., & torres, g. the miner’s canary. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. gutierrez, d. (1995). walls and mirrors: mexican americans, mexican immigrants and the politics of ethnicity. berkeley, ca: university of california press. haney lópez, i. f. (2006). white by law: the legal construction of race. new york, ny: new york university press. horne, t. (2007, june 11). an open letter to the citizens of tucson. retrieved from http://www.ade.az.gov/pio/press-releases/2008/pr06-11-08-openltr. pdf. horsman, r. (1981). race and manifest destiny: the origins of american racial anglo-saxonism. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. immigration and arizona. (2010, july 28). the arizona republic. retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/06/18/20100618arizo na-immigration-law-timeline-slideshow.html?page=1. jacobsen, m. f. (1998). whiteness of a different color: european immigrants and the alchemy of race. cambridge ma. harvard university press. lacey, m. (2011). hispanics are surging in arizona. new york times, a19. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/us/11arizona.html. lewin, t. (2010, may 13). citing individualism, arizona tries to rein in ethnic studies in school. the new york times, a13. liersch, k. (2011, january 6). memo from karen liersch to russell pearce and kirk adams. arizona department of education, phoenix, az. lopez, m. h., morin, r., & taylor, p. (2010). illegal immigration backlash worries, divides latinos. washington d.c.: pew hispanic center. martinez, t. (2010). english as a second language, middle school education, education policy, hispanic american studies. retrieved from proquest dissertations & theses. (no. 1483411) mccullough, j. (2011, february 21). immigration crackdown adds challenge for south phoenix schools. east valley tribune. retrieved from http:// www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/the _valley/article_a3b2a832-3df0-11e0-8638-001cc4c002e0.html. mckinley, j. (2008, january 27). arizona law takes a toll on nonresident students. the new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes. com/2008/01/27/us/27tuition.html. medina, m., jr., & escamilla, k. (1992). evaluation of transitional and maintenance bilingual programs. urban education, 27(3), 263-290. montejano, d. (1987). anglos and mexicans: in the making of texas, 1836-1986. austin, texas: university of texas press. ngai, m. m. (2003). the strange career of the illegal alien: immigration restriction and deportation policy in the united states, 1921-1965. law and history review, 21(1), 69-107. ngai, m. m. (2004). impossible subjects: illegal aliens and the making of modern america. new jersey: princeton university press. omi, m. a. (2001). the changing meaning of race. in n. j. smelser, j. w. wilson, f. mitchell, (eds.), america becoming: racial trends and their consequences, volume 1 (pp. 243-263). washington d.c.: national academies press. order. (10 december, 2010). united states of america vs. the state of arizona, no. cv 10-1413-phx-srb. passell, j. s., & cohn, d. (2010). u.s. unauthorized immigration fl ows are down sharply since mid-decade. washington d.c.: pew hispanic center. passell, j. s., cohn, d., & lopez, m. h. (2011). hispanics account for more than half of nation’s growth in past decade. washington d.c.: pew hispanic center. perea, j. f. (1992). demography and distrust: an essay on american languages, cultural pluralism, and offi cial english. minnesota law review, 77(2), 269-373. state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 21 perea, j. f. (2003). a brief history of race and the u.s.-mexican border: tracing the trajectories of conquest. ucla law review, 51(1), 283-312. pérez huber, l., benavides lopez, c., malagon, m., velez, v., & solórzano, d. (2008). getting beyond the “symptom,” acknowledging the “disease”: theorizing racist nativism. contemporary justice review, 11(1), 39-51. pitzl, m. j. (2010, may 1). arizona bill targets ban on ethnic studies. the arizona republic. retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ local/articles/2010/05/01 /20100501arizona-bill-bans-ethnic-studies.html powers, j. m. (2008). forgotten history: mexican american school segregation in arizona from 1900-1951. equity & excellence in education, 41(4), 467-481. powers, j. m., & patton, l. (2008). between mendez and brown: gonzales v. sheely (1951) and the legal campaign against segregation. law and social inquiry, 33(1), 127-171. robertson, c. (2011, september 28). alabama wins in ruling on its immigration law. the new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes. com/2011/09/29/us/alabama-immigration-law-upheld.html. rolstad, k., mahoney, k., & glass, g. (2005a). weighing the evidence: a meta-analysis of bilingual education in arizona. bilingual research journal, 29(1), 43-67. rolstad, k., mahoney, k., & glass, g. (2005b). the big picture: a meta-analysis of program effectiveness research on english language learners. educational policy, 19(4), 572-594. ryman, a. (2008, january 9). 3,850 college students denied in-state tuition. the arizona republic. retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/news/ articles/0108az-asustudents08-on.html. sanchez, g. j. (1993). becoming mexican american. new york: oxford university press. sánchez, g. j. (1997). face the nation: race, immigration, and the rise of nativism in late twentieth century america. international migration review, 31(4), 1009–1030. sacken, d. m., & medina, m., jr. (1990). investigating the context of state-level policy formation: a case study of arizona’s bilingual education legislation. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 12(4), 389-402. stephenson, h. (2011, february 25). bill would have schools enforce immigration. nogales international. retrieved from http://www. nogalesinternational.com/articles/2011/02/28/ news/doc4d67cba28cc51581438510.txt. tucson school district deeply divided over compliance with arizona ban on ethnic studies. (2012, january 17). public radio international. retrieved from http://www.pri.org/stories/politics-society/tucson-school-district-deeply-divided-over-compliance-with-arizona-ban-on-ethnicstudies-7987.html tucson union school district, mexican american studies. (2011). mexican american studies. retrieved from http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/ depart/mexicanam/index.asp. united states census bureau. (2000). 2000 census, summary file 3, dp-2. united states census bureau. (2010a). 2010 census, summary file 1, tables pct 11. united states census bureau. (2010b). 2010 american community survey, table dp-02. wightman, j. (2010). ell education in arizona: unconstitutional segregation or just inappropriate? texas hispanic journal of law and policy, 16 (1), 121-152. wiley, t. g. (2004). language planning, language policy, and the english-only movement. in e. finegan & j. r. rickford (eds.), language in the usa: themes for the twenty-fi rst century (pp. 319-337). cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. wright, w. e. (2005). the political spectacle of arizona’s proposition 203. educational policy, 19(5), 662-700. wright, w. e., & choi, d. (2006). the impact of language and high-stakes testing policies on elementary school english language learners in arizona. educational policy analysis archives, 14(13). retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v14n13/. zatz, m. s., & rodriguez, n. (2009, november). vulnerable youth: collateral consequences of crime and immigration policies. paper presented at the annual meeting of the asc annual meeting, philadelphia marriott downtown, philadelphia, pa. retrieved from http://www.allacademic. com/meta/p373740_index.html zehr, m. (2010). tucson students aren’t deterred by ethnic-studies controversy. education week, 30(4), 1-17. state of outrage: immigrant-related legislation and education in arizona theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 42 co-researching school spaces of dispossession co-researching school spaces of dispossession: a story of survival patricia krueger-henney university of massachusetts, boston abstract through combining the methodology of portraiture with the epistemological stance of youth participatory action research, this article positions latino/a youth as experts with their encounters with the school-to-prison pipeline. this article examines what it’s like to live within the tight and probational spaces of criminal justicebased school discipline practices. following the journey of a black dominican female high school student, the data from this new york city-based youth participatory action research project fi nd three specifi c processes of dispossession through which latin@ youth are profoundly affected by the school-to-prison pipeline: institutional abandonment as disinvestment in young people’s personhood, social isolation, and deprivation of agency and selfcontrol. introduction through traveling to other people’s “worlds” we discover that there are “worlds” in which those who are the victims of arrogant perception are really subjects, lively beings, resistors, constructors of visions even though in the mainstream construction they are animated only by the arrogant perceiver and are pliable, foldable, fi le-awayable, classifi able. (lugones, 1987, p. 18) this is a story about survival. it depicts the involvement of latin@45 youth in unequal school discipline practices that determine whether they succeed or fail their schooling. the school-to-prison pipeline lies in wait for any young person facing the circumstances outlined in this article. literature on the school-to-prison pipeline (hereafter pipeline) parallels u.s. history: unequal social relations in production have placed groups of people on racialized scales of economic vulnerability that are grounded within broader socioeconomic and geographical landscapes. first nations people and racialized black communities have been positioned at the frontlines of ongoing structural surveillance. rarely does social sciences research excavate details to advocate for more restorative justice practices when documenting the pipeline, even at the dawn of signifi cant population changes. the u.s. census bureau’s announced in 2009 that latin@s are now the largest minority group in the united states (16.5% of the total u.s. population and 23.9% of all pre-k-12 student population). yet, the information about the extent to which latin@ youth are caught in the spaces of the pipeline remains nebulous, if not very limited (fry & lopez, 2012; united states census bureau, 2011). the (dominant) non-committal datafi cation of latin@s as “non-white” and/or “non-black,” the homogenizing label of “latino” to refer to spanish-speaking communities, as well as the interchangeable use of “latino” and “hispanic” silence racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious, and nationality diversities in the many communities who through their colonial pasts fi nd themselves speaking spanish around the world. “minority” has the same distancing effects. all these vaguely defi ning identity markers tend to undercount, or underrepresent, the number of latin@s in any population, and in school suspensions and expulsions, arrests, and incarceration rates generally. hence the focus of the story is latin@ youth. the 1980s war on drugs introduced numerous state and federal policies that created a similar ideology of discipline and punishment in the educational and criminal justice systems. several critical elements are involved in the production and maintenance of this “carceral mesh” (wacquant, 2001) or “a gateway into a much larger system of racial stigmatization and permanent marginalization” (alexander, 2012, p. 12), including zero tolerance regulations, surveillance technologies, and the criminalization of in-school discipline practices. wald and losen (2003) explain the pipeline as “an institutionalized link that places socially unwanted and undesirable youth 45. to avoid the ascribed traditional gender binary in “latino” or “latina,” “latin@” is commonly used as a more gender neutral and thus more inclusive noun. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 43 co-researching school spaces of dispossession into the criminal justice system, and with it, guarantees the burgeoning of the u.s. prison industrial complex” (p. 11). the past three decades of zero tolerance policies in the united states (u.s.) have successfully applied penal mechanisms that turn schooling into an isolating and criminalized journey for its travelers, especially along lines of race, gender, and able-bodiness. systematically, through the overuse of school suspensions/expulsions, criminal justice-based school discipline policies remove students from school grounds for non-violent offenses coded as disruptive (i.e. breaking school rules: not wearing school uniform, talking back at teachers, walking the hallway without a pass) as groundings for identifying potential future violent offenders (miller et al., 2011). black students, latin@, native american, and asian american students (and increasingly gender-non-conforming, working class and immigrant youth), carry the burden of these criminalizing school discipline sanctions, as do male students (himmelstein & brückner, 2011; gregory, skiba, & noguera, 2010). these data map onto larger national incarceration trends. predominantly urban school districts, which are historically underfunded and more racially/ethnically diverse, have been served with an intensifi ed installation of surveillance technologies and police offi cers; not rural or suburban areas where the gross majority of tragic school shootings take place (drum major institute for public policy, 2005). nonetheless, to this day there is no evidence available to argue that law enforcement-based safety practices are creating safer learning environments in schools. neither have there been enough studies that document the life-long effects the pipeline has had on latin@ students’ emotional and physical development. few scholars have foregrounded youth as survivors of racialized state-sanctioned “circuits of dispossessions” (fine & ruglis, 2009) that run through the inter-institutional constellation of the pipeline. as such, the schoolprison nexus inscribes credentials of merit and desirability onto the bodies of most white and elite youth while at the same time it educationally incapacitates low income, non-white and immigrant youth “who either reject or are rejected by the deregulated low-wage labor market” under neoliberal capitalism (wacquant, 2001, p. 97). between 1995-1997 and with 17,000 participants, the adverse childhood experiences (ace) study is one of the largest investigations ever to apply a whole life perspective to evaluating the relationship between mistreatment experienced during childhood and health status acquired during adult life (centers for disease control and prevention, 2013). ruglis (2011) and stevens (2013) took the ace study’s framework and applied it to the pipeline to argue that the overuse of suspensions and referrals to the criminal justice system needs to be added to the list of traumatic encounters that contribute to a young person’s inability to fashioning good health behaviors and acquiring statuses of school completion and professional success. i have argued elsewhere that punitive school safety mechanisms are increasingly reducing a young person’s post-secondary options to either pursuing higher education or serving time in a correctional facility (krueger, 2010). the message current educational leaders are sending to young people is disturbing: not every person deserves an education, and worse, not every person is privileged to control the course of his or her life. this article asserts that more participatory research designs that position latin@ youth as co-researchers are needed to identify the dispossessing wires that run through the inter-institutional groundings of the pipeline. using qualitative data collected with youth co-researchers from a participatory action research project in new york city, this article specifi cally center stages a latina student amidst the tight and probational spaces of the school-prison nexus. specifi cally, the data presented in this article helps to defi ne the pipeline’s processes of dispossession based on manifestations of institutional abandonment as disinvestment in young people’s personhood, social isolation, and deprivation of agency and self-control. this study contends that social sciences researchers need to depart from defi cit-driven discourses because they fail to reconstruct young people as “resistors” and “lively beings” as maria lugones’ words poignantly state in the opening lines. quantifi ed data of latin@ bodies who are pushed into spaces of the pipeline only offer windows into “after the fact” phenomena; they contribute to an epistemological paralysis that does not dissect the reigning silencing of racialized practices and processes leading to a young person’s removal from his or her school. involving latin@ youth in documenting their lived experiences with and inside the spaces of the pipeline is fundamental to piecing together the multi-faceted processes that systematically deprive them of their mental and emotional defenses they need to survive the sorting mechanisms of the pipeline. the purpose of this article is to make more transparent the fully propelled racialized mechanisms of the pipeline that also pull latin@ youth at increasing rates into the warehousing spaces of the pipeline and association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 44 co-researching school spaces of dispossession the prison industrial complex. by following the method of inquiry of portraiture (lawrence-lightfoot & davis, 1997) and the epistemological stance of youth participatory action research, or ypar (cammarota & fine, 2008), this article presents latin@ youth-centered qualitative data to argue that latin@ students fi nd themselves at increasing rates in the emotionally and physically isolating spaces of institutional abandonment, personal isolation and dispossession. methods and introduction of the protagonist: dimples assembling a composite of narratives is also known as “portraiture.” it is a method of inquiry that weaves together individual life circumstances with the ideological structures and social processes of everyday life (lawrence-lightfoot, 2005). “the portraitist insists that the only way to interpret people’s actions, perspectives, and talk is to see them in context” (lawrence-lightfoot, 1997, p. 11). by combining some of the methodological tenets of portraiture with the epistemological stance of ypar, dimples’ story speaks back to one of the main gaps in the current literature: how young latina women are entangled within the ideological spaces of the pipeline. the protagonist and hence the expert of her life is dimples, who at the time of data collection was a seventeen-year-old black dominican high school student from the bronx, ny. the author and narrator of dimple’s portraiture is a dominican scholar who is a former social studies high school teacher and youth advocate in new york city. the data presented in this article reconstruct some of dimples’ experiences with the pipeline. all data were originally collected through a mixed method ypar project in new york city with 10 high school student from january 2008 until march 2009. dimples was one of the youth co-researchers, six females and fi ve males. prior to the group’s fi rst meeting, all youth co-researchers had indicated that each of their schools operated under increased safety measures (i.e. surveillance cameras, metal detectors, search tables, armed police offi cers). youth co-researchers fulfi lled a double role in that each was a participant and researcher throughout the duration of the study. while each member collected survey data on how other high schools students perceived manifestations of the pipeline and its impact on their schooling experiences, youth co-researchers also created individual visual and written narratives to depict their understanding and summarize their lived experiences with spatialized practices of school safety and security (krueger, 2009). co-researchers’ double role of researcher-participant reduced the hierarchized power dynamics that are usually embedded in more traditional and colonizing researcher-researched dichotomies (smith, 1999). in the midst of the study, the research collective bore witness to dimples traveling through the various emotional and physical spaces of the pipeline. dimples endured a series of encounters with school safety agents, a local police precinct, a regional booking center, and her borough’s criminal and family court. her confrontations crystallized the dispossessing processes of the pipeline. details presented about dimples are a composite of her narratives during our research project, two cognitive maps, and excerpts from research meetings during which she described the details of a life-marking altercation in school that confi rmed her journey through the pipeline. the fi ndings are organized according to the three themes that surfaced throughout her portraiture and offer epistemological defi nitions of the pipeline as a process a) of institutionalized disinvestment and systemic abandonment of youth who attend urban schools; b) that socially isolates young latinas into the pipeline’s tight, contradictory spaces while also invisibilizing their presence; c) that denies and deprives latinas of voice they need to fashion their agency and personhood. dimples’ composite narrative reveals that once trapped inside the pipeline, access to life saving support services and networks become increasingly inaccessible for youth who are expected to learn and grow within the pipeline. finally, in her own voice dimples teaches about how latinas are struggling with a constricted schooling process during which they are with increasing despair searching for lifelines in order to complete it. dimples’ story is about her social (educational) survival. institutionalized disinvestment and systemic abandonment of youth throughout the time of working together, dimples frequently expressed her anger and with how ssas seem to racially profi le latin@ students throughout the school day for disciplinary action, thus creating unbearable tensions between latin@ and black students. for example, dimples repetitively told the collective association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 45 co-researching school spaces of dispossession about a particular ssa, offi cer johnson, who consistently demanded from latin@ students, if caught during the school day using their cell phones, to turn their phones in to the school security offi cer, while black students were able to maintain their conversations uninterruptedly. throughout the collective research process, dimples spoke out against her school’s overuse of suspensions as defaulted disciplinary practice and offi cer johnson’s unfair and discretional school safety practices. it was towards the end of her senior year when dimples gathered student signatures on a petition she wrote to demand the removal of offi cer johnson. one of her fi rst drawings included her clear conceptual understanding of the pipeline: figure 1. dimples’ conceptual drawing of the pipeline. her drawing depicts three large rectangles lined up next to each other. each of them is labeled. reading their labels from left to right, the fi rst represents “school,” followed by “susp” (for suspension room) in the middle, and “prison” on the right, as the tallest rectangle. she drew “school” with six barred windows, and two smaller-sized stick fi gures with sad faces in the free spaces between some of the windows. there is one larger sized and smiling stick fi gure. the middle rectangle, the “suspension room,” has eight windows with bars; seven out of eight of them show a face behind window bars. “prison” consists of fi ve windows with bars, and each window displays one face behind bars. all three “spaces” have a door. below them, dimples drew a street with its lines stretching horizontally across the bottom of the paper. she wrote within the road lines, “the picture represent how school is contact with prison. the windows have bars to show how the school has many bars for students not to look outside.” when describing her drawing of the pipeline to her co-researchers, dimples explained: you see the guy right here? this is the security guy (pointing at larger smiling stick fi gure in left rectangle, “school”). and you see this little boy right here? like he has a sad face cuz he doesn’t want to go to class. but that is security in here, and that is the door. and these, the windows, if you see, they have a lot of… you know how they have cages? so people feel like they are in jail. this is supposed to be a suspension room, and this is supposed to be prison. obviously i didn’t fi nish. and i got the road here, cuz the road, you know, it leads to prison.46 46. all qualitative data appears in their original and word-for word compositions to honor dimples and her co-researchers as authors of their own narratives. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 46 co-researching school spaces of dispossession dimples conceptual drawing of the pipeline is a vivid example of an explosive triad that youth are resisting and reacting to: neoliberalism, policed public education, and the policies of incarceration. dimples’ understanding of the pipeline frames the school suspension room as the intermediary between schools and prisons that facilitates and maintains the road, or the pathway between all three spaces. this is a key insight; according to citizen’s committee for children of new york (2010), the suspension room is the last schoolbased place that suspended youth have access to before they are warehoused inside the department of juvenile justice (via city detention and state facilities). her choice of including bars in the windows in all three spaces may be an imagined detail; yet many windows of new york city public schools are equipped with bars to prevent window openings. dimples’ school is one of them. further, the bars in all three spaces could be interpreted as a refl ection of the pipeline’s interinstitutional consistency and uniformity to fashion in young people self-managed physical and emotional constrain and containment while in school. this is indicative of what foucault (1977) had argued; prisons rely on their panoptical and internalized self-regulating mechanisms. dimples’ choice to not include any visual representations of more “school typical” images, such as books, pencils, teachers, desks, tables, schoolyard, or school bus, for example, illuminates an absence of what is perhaps part of a more conventional imagination of school characteristics that expects schools to be places of teaching and learning. dimples’ picture is stripped off such conventions and depicts schools in the pipeline as disinvested places that abandon youth into the criminalizing spaces of suspension rooms and prisons. after researching some of the pipeline’s youth centered reports (mukherjee, 2007), dimples concluded: my opinion of the school to prison pipeline is that school safety agents are ill planned and unfair to students of color in city schools. city schools are over crowded and the money is supposed to be for city schools are used to for other things besides helping students. more than half of people of color are in prison. (reads directly from report) “high school with permanent metal detectors are over crowded with 18% more students than seats” (p. 1). this is where institutionalized disinvestment and systemic abandonment of youth as central characteristics of the pipeline become most apparent: instead of equipping urban schools with more teachers and counselors to alleviate them from ongoing fi scal pressures of under-resourcing, the school-prison nexus defaults to safety technology to dispose of urban youth. the racialization of youth and their institutionalized categorization of social disposability is a fundamental outcome of the neoliberal capitalist momentum. according to henry giroux (2010), under the regime of market fundamentalism or neoliberalism, the pipeline is a widened inter-institutional regime of surveillance of future fi t consumers; those who do not demonstrate obedient and loyal behavior of consumerism must sustain “increasingly powerful modes of biopolitical regulation, pacifi cation, and control” (p. 78). additionally, “with no adequate role to play as consumers, many youth are now considered disposable, forced to inhabit ‘zones of social abandonment’ extending from homeless shelters and bad schools to bulging detention centers and prisons” (giroux, 2013). the fact that dimples connected school and education not with joy, play, humanity, and common good, but with pain, scars, and with an institution that permanently pushes non-white and low income youth into a permanent precarious state of being is a clear example of the long term impact of neoliberal policies in the lives of racially minoritized youth. being pushed into a permanently precarious state of being youth co-researchers were curious about any physical and emotional effects ongoing photographing, fi ngerprinting, scanning, and x-raying by metal detectors and school security technology could have on their bodies. they imagined themselves to be in the position of medical professionals from where they could view any potential harm done to another young person from their schools to then offer medical help or practical advice. dimples sketched the following image with her explanation on the back page: association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 47 co-researching school spaces of dispossession figure 2: dimples’ map and description of imagined physical inscriptions of the pipeline on a young person’s body. her picture depicts the body of a female whose forehead is marked by a scar. a thought bubble in the top right corner reads “dame can school ever be fair?” she left the label for the right hand blank. her heart is split in the middle by a vertical line, possibly representative of the person’s spine. in addition, two arrows pointing in opposite directions emerge from the heart. the person’s triangle-shaped feet appear in two colors; the left foot is labeled with “steps closer 2 prison.” the right foot is left label-less. the back page provided additional – yet incomplete insights to her drawing. it reads: head-she is thinking about why schools (scarr) are not equal to all there students? legs-there 2 colors because one foot is leading her to a right path but the other one is to prison because unfair treatment. -heart in addition, her medical advice consisted of: medical advice-i will give this child advice. i will to (followed by crossing out of “them her”) always keep your head high. these fi nal words of advice are accompanied by a drawing of a smiling individual with a star placed next to the right hand. when sharing her picture with her co-researchers, she explained: her head is, it says, she is like, she is wondering why she doesn’t have fair treatment in her school. and, you see, the heart, it is split in the middle. and the shoes, there is different colors because, one is like saying, yeah, she should continue in school, and the other one is like, pulling her away and stuff, closer to prison. i don’t know her hands, haven’t fi gured out her hands. her cure is to always keep her head up. oh yeah, is basically giving her more advice to just always keep her head up and stay in school and stay focused and not care about anybody else. dimples’ body map of a young person’s bodily entanglement in the pipeline speaks back to wendy hartcourt’s epistemological standpoint towards a body politics that repositions knowledge on bodies as association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 48 co-researching school spaces of dispossession contested sites amidst colliding economic, political, sexual and intellectual power relations (2009). harcourt argues, “knowledge on bodies is irreducibly interwoven with other discourses – social, colonial, ethical and economic” (p. 22). perhaps anchored within her own lived experiences, dimples identifi ed these dismantling inscriptions of the pipeline on a young person’s body as mental and physical injuries. the scar on the young person’s forehead and the split heart are representative of their manifestations. dimples placed young people who learn in spaces of the pipeline at a deadly crossroads that leaves them with only two (and contradictory) destinations: to either stay in school or to go to prison. in other words, latinas like dimples must either behave while in school (i.e. subordinate themselves to school authorities), or else they are fast-tracked into the criminal justice system through racialized suspension practices. it is impossible to declare which option is less deadly to their educational survival. with either direction, latinas remain emotionally and physically stifl ed and trapped, and thus fully exposed to the inter-institutional violence of the pipeline that wears and tears on their bodies. as identifi ed by dimples’ advise to students whose bodies “bear the mark of both conscious and unconscious processes” (krieger, 2005, p. 351) of the pipeline, their survival work entails mental work of imagination. imagining how the material and social world of systems of dispossession such as the pipeline get incorporated biologically cannot be separated “from how students feel about themselves and others, their bodies, futures, and places in society” (ruglis, 2011, p. 632). what i call the “permanently precarious state of being” invisibilizes the bodies of latina students held inside the pipeline. this especially includes the silencing of acknowledgment of the funds of knowledge latinas may potentially tap into to enable the hard mental work needed around maintaining focus on surviving the pipeline. deprivation of voice and agency this last piece of dimples’ composite narrative comes from excerpts of a transcribed conversation between dimples and all of us in the research collective. at the beginning of one of our weekly research meetings in march 2008, dimples told her co-researchers about a fi ght she had at school with another female student. the details of the fi ght triggered dimples’ journey through numerous spaces of the pipeline (local jail, regional booking center, and criminal court) as well as a series of life-marking encounters with authorities within each. her voice echoed sound waves of panic, anger, and hurt, while simultaneously accentuating underlying feelings of alienation, loneliness and fear. the task is not to privilege the pipeline’s structural violence over dimples’ deliberate decision to severely injure another female student. this is not a request to forgive dimples for intentionally endangering another young person. applying physical violence to redeem herself for a student’s unresponsiveness to requested peer mediation is inexcusable. however, it is through dimples’ enacted violence that the criminalizing and pathologizing processes of the pipeline become highly visible. further, placing judgment based on opposite binaries of innocence versus culpability but without taking into account the processes and larger social contexts in which individual acts are grounded only contributes to strengthening the pipeline’s default mechanisms of pathologizing and institutionalizing dimples and other latin@ youth. when reading the following exchange between dimples and her co-researchers, i ask the reader to pay close attention to some of these processes and contexts: dimples: don’t ever go to jail. i am getting tears just talking about it (emotional, voice shaking, in tears). first, i have a urine infection. cuz, i didn’t pee in a day. second of all, all this stuff happened because of johnson.1 mind you, now they are trying to put me on assault and felony. that’s gonna be on my record forever. now i have to do 2 weeks either in rikers island2 or i do rehab for anger management. (co-researchers quite down and listen attentively). patricia: what happened? association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 49 co-researching school spaces of dispossession dimples: the girl, shareen, the girl that jumped me, you know, with her friends 2 years ago, i done harassment reports, i done try to press charges. they say i can’t because i attacked her fi rst. then, while i am in the school, and when they arrested me they didn’t give me my rights. they didn’t say why i am charged. i said, am i getting arrested? am i going to jail? they said, no, we are just going to take you to the precinct to talk to you. little did i know i am there til thursday. thursday night, that’s when i came out. co-researcher 1: then don’t go with them! dimples: no! i couldn’t. they had handcuffs. co-researcher 1: then you were under arrest. dimples: yeah. i was arrested, and then he put me to the 42nd precinct. then they was gonna send me upstate. i wasn’t gonna come out til monday. my bail was $5000. and they put it to $750. first, i said, what’s my charge? he said, oh, your charge is assault and a felony. i said, damn, … a felony is what, is 3-7 years. so i am like, damn, i am a be here for a long time. then, a cop came. i was like, what am i here for? they said, assault with a deadly weapon. cuz i hit her with a stapler. and she had stitches and bruises. they have it all, the report is right here (opens it, fl ips through a few pages)…. i am so angry at this girl. you don’t understand, 3 years she put me through hell! bumped me in the hallway in front of principals, in front of everybody (emphasized). and nobody was on my side. and i was so angry so when i saw her, i had this stapler and i just kept on hitting her with it…. and then, the fi ght was not only in the school, the fi ght took it all the way outside in the streets. the teachers let us fi ght and the security guards let us fi ght. they pushed everybody to the sides, is like, let them fi ght…. i said, can i get an order protection? and he said, no, cuz you attacked her fi rst. and i said, what happened to all the years of harassment? where is my reports at? where are my statements at? where is witnesses? he is like, the girl has 15 witnesses…. you either do 2 weeks in rikers island or you just go to rehab. the rehab that i am gonna go to is not outpatient, it’s inpatient. that means that i have to stay there for at least 6 months. they are saying that i have mental health problems, cuz i am bipolar, and i have a therapist and anger problem. they are making a little thing come to nothing cuz i go to therapy so they are trying to use that against me like…. she was in therapy for 5 years, she is crazy. yeah, i told the judge, i did dirt in my past. i messed up a lot, you understand? i was bad, yeah, i got arrested before and stuff like that. i came to realize that’s not me. i want to go to college, i am trying to do better for myself. i got a 80 average, i got more credits than i need to have. i am only there because i failed the regents.3 teachers let us fi ght. i fought her since 11:30 to 12. a half an hour fi ght. patricia: the original incident, 3 years or so back, whatever she did to you, is that on anybody’s record? dimples: yes, they have that. i reported it, i did. at least 6. i went to the principal. i went to the assistant principal. i done had mediation with this girl, and this girl done walked out and said, (imitating) i am done having mediation with this bitch! in front of the principal, and they didn’t do anything. even though her co-researchers’ initial silence indicated shock and disturbance about the violence to which dimples resorted to respond to her female peer, the group also learned about the institutionalizing aftershocks the dispossessing wires of the pipeline had sent through dimples’ body. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 50 co-researching school spaces of dispossession the series of events that her fi ght at school triggered show insights to the varying degrees of how adults in school abandon latin@ youth. first, the hands-off approach of security guards and teachers to break up the fi ght between the two girls participated in dimples’ entanglement with structures of the pipeline. secondly, school staff not acknowledging the multiple and long-term reporting efforts dimples initiated to document her physical assault by the same young female she fought added to the institutional silencing of her self-chosen method of non-violent self-defense. thirdly, the disappearance of paper trails that dimples created during her proactive help seeking is charged with the pipeline’s carelessness and inability to properly re/store life-saving evidence. instead, it appears that institutionalized deliveries of evidence privilege a chronological order of events. as a result, “offenders” are denied access to previously fi led reports with viable contextual information about processes or encounters (“they say i can’t because i attacked her fi rst”). the inter-institutional composition of the pipeline honors the present and deliberately ignores the past. and fi nally, dimples’ account suggests that cases of students with mental health issues receive additional scrutinizing attention (“they are saying that i have mental health problems, cuz i am bipolar, and i have a therapist and anger problem”). dimples does not reveal whether or not she was working with a professional for her mental health care. her co-researchers did not care; instead they were taken back by the pipeline’s quick willingness to use dimples’ mental health status as a primary rationale for throwing her into the pathologizing and demonizing spaces of her regional booking center. her self-defending voice as well as her willing agency to openly display the extent to which she was institutionally neglected by the staff and offi cers at her school and the local precinct could not sustain the dismantling ambush on her mental and physical capacities. dimples also felt regret, as she understands the serious consequences of her action. but she also reveals an intense level of anger that she directed at the adults of a system whom she perceived as holding positions from where her institutionalization would be supervised, documented, and communicated to her family: dimples: yeah, i was wrong for handling her with a stapler, but no lie (pauses) … i have so much anger in me…. they are making my mother go through hell right now. my mother went to court, my mother did not come out of court til 1 o’clock in the morning. my name wasn’t on the list, somebody kicked me off the list. then put me back on the list. i was supposed to be out the same day monday. dimples became profoundly aware of how her abandonment implies her disposability within the spaces of the pipeline. together, the disappearance of her documentation, the disengaged school staff, the silencing of her lived experiences with an unreliable reporting system, and the questioning of her mental health decomposed her personhood and agency to a faceless aggregate of a latin@ youth inside the pipeline. the signifi cant level of anger she was left with points to the aforementioned unresolvedness of latin@s’ positioning within the pipeline; they remain an open case deserving more attention and caretaking by all of us who are alarmed by the long-term implications the pipeline has for their growing presence in the united states. conclusion at the end of her hearing in the criminal court on march 18, 2008, the judge mandated that dimples completed two days of anger management. many of her co-researchers considered her lucky; even though she had to submit to the managing, molding and sculpting treatments of anger management, she walked away without a criminal record. nonetheless, since the completion of the collective’s data collection and her high school graduation in the summer of 2009, none of the author’s efforts to reconnect, by phone, mobile, or email with dimples were successful. it remains troublingly unknown if her plan to move to a major city on the east coast to attend a liberal arts college for which she had earned a scholarship was fulfi lled. without updates from her, the author’s hopes and worries alike remain speculative. the fi ndings from this study – that the pipeline manifests in institutional abandonment as disinvestment in young people’s personhood, social isolation, and deprivation of agency and self-control – suggest that social association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 51 co-researching school spaces of dispossession sciences research must bear witness to the survival work that latin@ youth are doing at school in order to inform transformative structural change towards equity and justice. more participatory qualitative research studies with youth-centered methodologies and with latin@ youth as co-researchers are needed to document the deadly effects that dominant (and racialized) power structures have on latin@s’ lived experiences with current schooling processes. this also involves positioning targeted latin@s not as damaged research subjects but instead as authors and owners of stories about their dispossessions and the daily violence in their lives. it is the call to “world traveling” that maria lugones invited us to be part of and that can bind social justice research to community and communal activism. this includes de-homogenization of research designs to legitimize every body’s inscriptions and lived experiences with forms of institutional neglect. research that privileges survival instead of social death can guide, teach and mentor to do this world-traveling. this humanizing research activates social movements – actual physical movement not just ideological shifting – to embark on journeys that move us away from selective and internalized predispositions about who deserves to be in this world. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 52 co-researching school spaces of dispossession references alexander, m. (2012). the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. new york, ny: the new press. cammarota, j., & fine, m. (2008). revolutionizing education: youth participatory action research in motion. new york, new york: routledge. centers for disease control and prevention. (2013, january 18). adverse childhood experiences (ace) study. adverse childhood experiences (ace) study. retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ace/index.htm citizen’s committee for children of new york inc. (2010). keeping track of new york city’s children 2010. keeping track of new york city’s children 2010. retrieved from http://www.cccnewyork.org/wp-content/publications/ccclaunch.keepingtrack.2010.pdf drum major institute for public policy. (2005). a look at the impact schools. new york, ny. fine, m., & ruglis, j. (2009). circuits and consequences of dispossession: the racialized realignment of the public sphere for us youth. transforming anthropology, 17(1), 20–33. foucault, m. (1977). discipline & punish. new york, ny: vintage books. fry, r., & lopez, m. h. (2012, august 20). hispanic student enrollments reach new highs in 2011. pew hispanic center. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/08/20/ii-hispanic-public-school-enrollments/ giroux, h. a. (2010). youth in a suspect society: democracy or disposability? new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. giroux, h. a. (2013, july 22). the violence of organized forgetting. truthout. retrieved from http://www.truthout.org/opinion/item/17647-the-violence-of-organized-forgetting gregory, a., skiba, r. j., & noguera, p. a. (2010). the achievement gap and the discipline gap two sides of the same coin? educational researcher, 39(1), 59–68. harcourt, w. (2009). body politics in development: critical debates in gender and development. zed books london and new york. himmelstein, k. e., & brückner, h. (2011). criminal-justice and school sanctions against nonheterosexual youth: a national longitudinal study. pediatrics, 127(1), 49–57. krieger, n. (2005). embodiment: a conceptual glossary for epidemiology. journal of epidemiology and community health, 59(5), 350–355. retrieved from http://jech.bmj.com/content/59/5/350.short krueger, p. (2009). navigating the gaze: young people’s intimate knowledge with surveilled spaces at school. city university of new york, new york, ny. krueger, p. (2010). it’s not just a method! the epistemic and political work of young people’s lifeworlds at the school-prison nexus. race, ethnicity & education, 13(3), 383–408. doi:10.1080/13613324.2010.500846 lawrence-lightfoot, s. (2005). refl ections on portraiture: a dialogue between art and science. qualitative inquiry, 11(1), 3–15. doi:10.1177/1077800404270955 lawrence-lightfoot, s., & davis, j. h. (1997). the art and science of portraiture. san francisco: jossey-bass. lugones, m. (1987). playfulness, “world”-travelling, and loving perception. hypatia, 2(2), 3–19. doi:10.2307/3810013 miller, j., ofer, u., artz, a., bahl, t., foster, t., phenix, d., … thomas, h. a. (2011). education interrupted: the growing use of suspensions in new york city’s public schools. new york, new york: new york civil liberties union. mukherjee, e. (2007). criminalizing the classroom: the over-policing of new york city schools. nyclu. ruglis, j. (2011). mapping the biopolitics of school dropout and youth resistance. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 24(5), 627–637. smith, l. t. (1999). decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples. new york, new york: zed books. stevens, j. e. (2013, april 9). with thousands of schools curbing suspensions, there’s no excuse for the growing discipline gap. huffi ngton post. retrieved from http://www.huffi ngtonpost.com/jane-ellen-stevens/withthousands-of-schools-curbing-suspensions_b_3041833.html united states census bureau. (2011, april 26). profi le america facts for features. hispanic heritage month 2011: association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 53 co-researching school spaces of dispossession sept. 15 oct. 15. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff18.html wacquant, l. (2001). deadly symbiosis: when prison and ghetto meet and mesh. punishment and society, 3(1), 95–134. wald, j., & losen, d. j. (2003). defi ning and redirecting a school-to-prison pipeline. new directions for youth development, (99), 9–15. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 7 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 in arizona: the socio-emotional effects of immigration policy carlos e. santos arizona state university cecilia menjivar arizona state university abstract this article builds on previous research conducted by santos, menjívar & godfrey (2013) and draws on a study conducted with racially and ethnically diverse early adolescents. this research explores youths’ awareness of senate bill 1070 in arizona, and how affected they are by the passage of this bill. wave i (n = 726; mage = 12.4 years; sd = .97) results revealed an indirect relation between awareness of sb1070 and self-esteem via american identity. wave ii (n = 1025; mage = 12.1 years; sd = .98) results revealed a positive association between awareness of sb1070 and youths’ engagement in risky behavior. results also revealed a negative association between youths’ report of being affected by sb1070 and their ability to regulate their emotions in the classroom. finally, results revealed a positive association between youths’ report of being affected by sb1070 with youths’ perceptions of ethnic-based discrimination by authorities and teachers. implications of these findings are discussed. introduction despite numerous protests, several states have adopted immigration laws that have potential for violating basic human rights. recent immigration legislation in states such as arizona and alabama highlights a series of state-level policies that have significant and lasting impact on immigrant children and families. these policies have a wide range of impact on the psychological, social and emotional wellbeing of immigrant and non-immigrant children and families. while there have been efforts to examine the influence of immigration laws on family separation, intergenerational relations (menjívar, 2006; menjívar & abrego, 2009), immigrants’ path to mobility (abrego & gonzales, 2010), and educational opportunities of immigrants in uncertain legal statuses (gonzales, 2010; menjívar, 2008), these effects have received little attention from developmental scientists. and while media and scholarly attention has been given to national public opinion and to the legal and policy ramifications of recent immigration enforcement, such as arizona’s senate bill (sb)1070, less attention has been given to how immigrant youth and families perceive and experience these laws. there have been media accounts of the repercussions that the passing of state-level laws have had on latinos, immigrants and non-immigrants alike, including not reporting crimes to the police in order to avoid contacting authorities, not visiting physicians or hospitals even in emergency situations so as to avoid detection, changing driving habits and staying home more often, and weighing the pros and cons of sending children to school (gonzález, 2011). in many cases, children whose parents are detained are sent to foster care. in other cases, children who are frequently u.s. citizens are sent to their parents’ native country with little linguistic knowledge and awareness of the local culture. in this paper, we also focus on the effects of federal-, stateand local-level laws on the lives of immigrant children and of the children of immigrants who live in households with parents who are at risk of deportation. however, for empirical expediency we focus narrowly on how racially and ethnically diverse youth in one middle school in arizona that caters to a large population of latinos perceive these laws, as these perceptions shape their views of themselves, their identities and, their mental health. an estimated 4 million immigrant youth live with unauthorized parents, and are u.s.-born citizens (passel & cohn, 2009). indeed, a hallmark of today’s immigration landscape is the presence of what are called “mixedlegal status families” (fix & zimmermann, 2001), composed of members with various legal statuses, including u.s. born members. children—both u.s. born as well as foreign-born—in these families are affected by their youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 8 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 own legal status but also by their parents’ legal status. sometimes undocumented parents do not access social benefits to which u.s. citizen children have a right because of fear of deportation (capps, ost, reardon-anderson, & passel, 2005); these children then represent a group of citizens who live subject to the disadvantages of their undocumented parents (fix & zimmerman, 1999). but parental legal status not only affects the links between the family and social institutions; parents’ status may also affect children’s socio-emotional development (yoshikawa & kalil, 2011). thus, new border enforcement and tough immigration laws, particularly those that seek to enforce strategies of “attrition through enforcement,” through which immigrants supposedly will self deport, undoubtedly affect immigrants’ links to different institutions, particularly when the immigrant parents are unsure of when or if they will ever become permanent members of u.s. society. in this article, we take a look at how sb 1070 may influence one slice of social life; the perceptions that racially and ethnically diverse youth, especially latino youth, have of these laws so as to understand the psychological effects that immigration legislation may have on these youth. moreover, we include the perceptions of the law among the non-latino youth with whom latino youth live and who therefore constitute a key component of latino youths’ developmental experience. in this way we can begin to understand the broader ramifications of immigration laws. although the threat of deportation, or as de genova (2002) calls it, “deportability,” profoundly affects the lives of those “at risk,” the passage of laws such as sb 1070 reverberates well beyond the lives of undocumented immigrants, as the undocumented population is not a separate group easily classifiable and isolated from the documented (or u.s. citizens). undocumented immigrants live, work, go to school, pray and play with documented immigrants as well as u.s. citizens, and in the context of the family and schools, they are often found under the same roof. it is within this frame that we examine some of the possible ways that the law affects the emotional lives of young individuals, latinos and those with whom they live in close proximity, focusing on how awareness of arizona’s sb 1070 shapes their views of themselves and of their place in u.s. society. sb 1070 and child well-being an important area in which to begin to explore the consequences of immigration legislation is in perceptions that those potentially affected might form of themselves and of their place in society. this is particularly fruitful to examine among youth during adolescence for whom identity formation is a critical developmental task (erikson, 1968). in this regard, awareness of sb 1070 may be related to important psychological outcomes among youth such as their mental health and wellbeing. we ground our examination of youths’ perception of senate bill 1070 at the entry of adolescence. early adolescence is a critical period marked by important developmental changes, including biological transitions, shifts in interpersonal relationships, increased capacity for complex, abstract and dialectical thought, and increased emphasis on identity formation, racial/ethnic experiences, civic engagement and self-esteem (watts & flanagan, 2007). thus, it is important to understand the links between the passing of this legislation and these aspects of psychological development during this critical developmental period. in this paper, we present findings from two waves of a longitudinal study that examines the relation between early adolescents’ awareness of sb 1070, their perceptions of themselves, their mental health and wellbeing. following research that has linked parental legal status and children’s socioemotional development (yoshikawa & kalil, 2011), the aim of this analysis is to demonstrate the potential impact of the passage of sb 1070 on key psychological aspects of youths’ development such as their sense of identity and psychological wellbeing. our examination should encourage greater attention from researchers and policymakers to the psychological consequences of immigration laws for racially and ethnically diverse youth. further, the experiences with immigration legislation of latino youth in a state such as arizona are key in capturing future potential effects of this and similar pieces of legislation around the country. these youngsters constitute the fastest growing segment of the u.s. population, and their experiences today can have important repercussions for tomorrow’s social, demographic, political, and economic prospects. according to the 2010 census, nearly one in four children in the u.s. are of latino origin; thus, their social and economic integration is fundamental for the future of the nation. an important feature of sb 1070 is that the law, as it was written, never took full effect because a federal judge blocked several of its key (and more controversial) provisions just hours before it was to go into effect. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 9 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 however, the symbolic act of signing this bill into law has had multiple consequences, which points to the powerful messages behind these legal actions. thus, the effects on youth we examine are not necessarily linked to the most controversial provisions in the law but to the passage of the law, and how the mere awareness of the law can have serious repercussions for racially and ethnically diverse youth. thus, as this paper shows, the mere threat of such laws passing is enough to affect the perceptions of youngsters, an observation that should be noted in policy discussions about federal immigration reform as well as in the increasing local-level attempts (varsanyi, 2010) to enact laws similar to sb 1070. data and methods this article is based on data collected in two waves of a longitudinal study designed to investigate the effects of sb 1070 on youths’ psychological development. wave i took place during the academic year 2009-2010, and wave ii took place during the academic year 2010-2011. both waves were collected at the same middle school located in the phoenix metropolitan area. this middle school is composed of racially and ethnically diverse children and serves primarily low-income students. according to the state’s department of education, 81.1% of the student population at the school was categorized as “economically disadvantaged” using parental income as a proxy in 2010 (arizona department of education, 2011). procedure in both waves, students were recruited from all grades in the school (i.e., 6th, 7th and 8th grade). during recruitment, youth were informed about the study by their teachers and provided with a packet in either english or spanish containing information and parental consent forms to take home to their parents. prior to collecting survey data, students’ assent was also obtained. surveys were administered during two class periods (approximately 90 minutes) deemed least disruptive to students’ learning by the principal and social studies teachers. survey questions were read out loud to the class while students answered them individually. survey administration was supervised by two to four trained research assistants. protocols were administered in english and survey administrators circulated throughout the classroom answering questions to ensure comprehension. all survey administrators remained in the classroom while students filled out the protocol and collected the survey at the end of each administration. the length of time between the two waves was approximately 9 months. this was done so that we could follow the same children over time and explore longitudinally the associations we aim to explore. sample the sample size for wave i was 726 middle school students. the average age of participants was 12.4 years (sd = .97), about equally divided between male (52%) and female (48%). participants were european american (17%), african american (17%), native american (10%), asian american (3%), latino/a, mostly mexican american (49%), and mixed1 (4%). the percentage of participants who reported speaking either spanish-only or both spanish and english at home was 51%. approximately 14% of participants reported being separated from both parents at some point in their childhood for longer than 6 months for an average of 2.6 years (sd = 1.8). in terms of immigrant status, 13% of participants are 1st generation immigrants (i.e., foreign-born), 40% are 2nd generation immigrants (i.e., at least one parent is foreign-born), and 47% are 3rd generation (i.e., both parents and child are u.s. born). wave ii was conducted approximately 9 months after the assessment in wave i took place. the sample for wave ii consisted of 1025 middle school students; this increase in the student population of the school from wave i to wave ii was due to the closing of a nearby middle school in the district, which resulted in larger enrollment by wave ii at the school where this study took place. the average age of participants in wave ii 1. those in the mixed category mostly reported having at least one parent who is of latino/a origin. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 10 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 was 12.1 years (sd = .98), equally divided between male (50%) and female (50%). participants were european american (20%), african american (18%), native american (10%), latino/a, mostly mexican american (44%), other (8%). the percentage of participants who reported speaking either spanish-only or both spanish and english at home was 51%. in terms of nativity, 12% of participants are 1st generation immigrants (i.e., foreignborn). thus, despite the increase in the student population of the school from wave i to wave ii, the school remained fairly similar in key demographic characteristics across the two waves. measures awareness of sb 1070. participants were asked the following question: “how aware are you of the recent act called sb 1070 in arizona related to immigration issues?” and were asked to rate how aware they were on a five-point likert scale ranging from not at all aware (1), a little aware (2), somewhat aware (3), very aware (4), extremely aware (5). american identity. participants completed a measure of american identity (phinney & devich-navarro, 1997) that assesses participants’ sense of being american. they were asked to rate how much they agree with statements such as “i think of myself as being american,” and “i feel good about being american.” response options are on a five-point likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neither agree or disagree (3), agree (4), strongly agree (5). cronbach’s α was .92 in wave i and .94 in wave ii of this study. perceived ethnic discrimination. participants completed a measure of perceived ethnic discrimination from authorities (whitbeck et al., 2001), which assessed adolescents’ experiences with ethnic discrimination from authorities. this measure has been shown reliable and valid in studies consisting of latino adolescents (umaña-taylor & updegraff, 2007). participants were asked to rate how often they experienced discrimination on a four-point likert scale from almost never (1), sometimes (2), often (3), very often (4). items include: “how often have others suspected you of doing something wrong because of your ethnicity?” and “how often has the police hassled you because of your ethnicity?” cronbach’s α for this scale was .69 in wave i and .70 in wave ii of this study. self-esteem. self-esteem was assessed using the rosenberg self-esteem scale (rses) (rosenber, 1965). it is considered a general measure of self-esteem, and was developed for use with middle and high school students. it consists of 10 items on a 5-point likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). students indicate their agreement or disagreement with items such as “i feel that i have a number of good qualities” or “i feel i do not have much to be proud of”. the rses demonstrated strong internal reliability in the study; cronbach’s α was .83 in both waves i and ii of this study. risk behavior. this measure assesses the extent to which participants engage in risk behaviors (eccles & barber, 1990). examples include: cheating on school tests, contact with the police, ruined other people’s things, stayed out all night, gotten suspended from school, started a fight in school among others. response options are on a four-point likert scale ranging from never (1), once (2), sometimes (2-10 times) (3), more than 10 times (4). cronbach’s α was .90 in wave i and .89 in wave ii of this study. classroom regulatory behaviors. this measure assesses how easy it is for participants to follow teacher directions, stay quite while others are talking, not yell out answers, stay in one’s seat, and focus on tasks for a long time. response options range from very hard (1), to very easy (4). cronbach’s α was .76 in both wave i and wave ii of this study. affected by sb 1070. the authors developed a scale that assesses how affected children are by sb 1070 which consisted of four items. items include: “how affected are you by the recent act called sb1070?”, “how affected are your family members by the recent act called sb1070?”, “how affected is your community by the recent act called sb1070?” and “how affected are your friends by the recent act called sb1070?” response options ranged from “not at all affected” to “extremely affected.” we conducted an exploratory principal component factor analysis of these four items using varimax rotation. results and scree plot analysis revealed that these items measured a single construct. all items loaded with an eigenvalue above .8 in the same dimension. we confirmed these results by conducting a confirmatory factor analysis. the 4-item scale was shown reliable—cronbach’s was .92 in wave ii of this study. unlike the previous scales, this particular measure association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 11 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 was introduced in wave ii. results we initially conducted a series of analysis utilizing the first wave of data collection, as it was the only data available at the time, and which is presented below. in addition, we present results from wave ii, which highlights additional associations between key study variables. in wave ii, we introduced a scale assessing how affected students were by sb 1070—in addition to how aware they were which we assessed in waves i and ii. wave i as a first step towards understanding the relation between awareness of sb 1070 and identity development, perceptions of discrimination, and self-esteem, we calculated a series of bivariate pearson’s correlations. results revealed that awareness of sb 1070 was positively associated with perceptions of ethnic discrimination from authorities, but negatively related to american identity. additionally, self-esteem was positively related to american identity. finally, ethnic discrimination was negatively associated with american identity (see table 1). table 1. correlation results awareness of sb 1070 selfesteem ethnic discrimination american identity awareness of sb 1070 — self-esteem .04 — ethnic discrimination .12** -.04 — american identity -.13** .10** -.12** — to adjust these relations for demographic characteristics that may be related to awareness of sb 1070, we then conducted a series of multiple regression analyses controlling for age, generational status, gender and family structure. the results of these analyses indicated that generation of immigration, american identity and perceived ethnic discrimination from authorities were all significantly related to awareness of sb 1070. firstand second-generation adolescents reported greater awareness of sb 1070 than adolescents who are third generation (b = .59 (.19); p = .003; β = .13 and b = .48 (.15); p = .002; β = .15, respectively). in addition, there was a negative relation between american identity and awareness of sb 1070 (b = -.07 (.03); p = .020; β = -.09). early adolescents who reported greater awareness of the law also reported a weaker sense of being american. follow-up analyses revealed that this association was significantly moderated by generation of immigration: the negative relation between sb 1070 awareness and american identity was stronger among first-and secondgeneration youth than among youth in the third or later generation (b = -.21 (.09); p = .02; β = -.09 and b = -.13 (.06); p = .04; β = -.10, for firstand second-generation youth, respectively). this relation was not moderated by race/ethnicity however, suggesting that this negative association was similar for youth of all racial/ethnic backgrounds in the sample. finally, we found a positive association between perceptions of discrimination from authorities, and awareness of sb 1070 (b = .28 (.11); p = .011; β = .10). early adolescents who reported higher awareness of the law perceived greater discrimination from authorities. this association was not moderated by either generation of immigration or race/ethnicity. no significant relation between self-esteem and awareness of sb 1070 was found. however, controlling for adolescents’ awareness of the law, we found that american identity was positively associated with self-esteem (b = .04 (.02); p = .010; β = .10). finally, given the negative relation between awareness of sb 1070 and american identity and the positive relation between american identity and self-esteem, we explored the possibility that awareness of sb 1070 was association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 12 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 indirectly related to adolescent’s self-esteem through its relation with american identity (see figure 1). we tested for this indirect relation using the product of coefficients technique presented by sobel (1982). the direct relation between awareness of sb1070 and self-esteem does not need to be significant in order for mediation to be present (fritz & mackinnon, 2007). therefore, the sobel (1982) test for mediation was still conducted. as indicated in figure 1, the direct relation between awareness of sb 1070 and american identity, and between american identity and self-esteem (controlling for awareness of sb 1070) were both significant. in addition, the indirect relation between awareness of sb 1070 and self-esteem via american identity was significant using the sobel (1982) test (b = -0.004 (0.002), p < .05). these results suggest that adolescents who report higher awareness of sb 1070 report a weaker sense of being american, which in turn is associated with diminished psychological health (i.e., lower levels of self-esteem). figure 1. mediational model between awareness of sb 1070, american identity and self-esteem wave ii we added to the analysis conducted in wave i, by exploring additional associations in wave ii. in wave ii, pearson’s bivariate correlation results revealed a positive association between being aware of sb 1070 and youths’ engagement in risk behaviors (r = .17; p < .001) and experiences of discrimination from authorities (r = .19; p < .001). children who reported being more affected by sb 1070, reported lower levels of self-esteem (r = -.07; p < .05), and a weaker ability to regulate themselves during instruction (e.g., sitting still, focusing on material being taught, etc.) (r = -.05; p < .05). to adjust for demographic characteristics that may affect these relationships, we conducted a series of multiple regression analyses controlling for age, race/ethnicity, generational status, gender and eligibility for free and reduced lunch (a proxy for socioeconomic status)2. controlling for these demographic characteristics, results revealed a positive association between awareness of sb 1070 and youths’ engagement in risk behaviors (b = .05 (.01); p < .001; β = .16). early adolescents who reported greater awareness of the law also reported greater levels of engagement in risk behaviors (e.g., skipping school, etc.). results also revealed a negative association between youths’ report of being affected by sb 1070 and their ability to regulate in the classroom (b = 2. we were able to obtain data on youths’ eligibility for free and reduced meals directly from the district in wave ii. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 13 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 -.03 (.01); p < .01; β = -.10). multiple regression results also revealed a positive association between youths’ report of being affected by sb 1070 with youths’ perceptions of ethnic-based discrimination by authorities (b = .04 (.01); p < .01; β = .22). discussion in the midst of the immigration debate in arizona and elsewhere, there is a missing story about the potential psychological consequences, particularly on youth going through critical developmental stages, of acts like sb 1070. our study was conducted in a middle school with a sizeable immigrant youth population (i.e., first and second generation). most of these youth are u.s. citizens, and according to federal estimates, significant numbers of them are likely living with at least one unauthorized parent. thus, the school where our study took place offers an important context to examine the effects of immigration reform. the population of the school is similar to other diverse urban schools in the u.s., and reflects a growing diversity in american education. indeed, the youth in our study, as the youth in other diverse u.s. schools, are learning and living alongside youth of diverse immigrant generation and legal statuses. this reality forces us to examine how immigration issues not only affect immigrant youth directly, but how immigration (and immigration laws) also affects their peers, and the local culture of schools where youth interact. importantly, the psychological well-being of immigrant, and nonimmigrant youth alike, is critical to the development of human and other forms of capital necessary for success. thus, a fruitful avenue for future research would be to investigate the psychological effects of contemporary immigration laws on immigrants and non-immigrants living in close proximity, to unveil links between these legal processes and the wellbeing of immigrant and non-immigrant youth alike. wave i of this study sought to examine more closely the unique experiences of immigrant youth and their peers by using a psychological measure of wellbeing, assessing youths’ awareness of the sb 1070 legislation in arizona, their perceptions of discrimination from authorities, and their sense of being american. our findings indicate that awareness of sb 1070 had a small but significant negative association with youths’ sense of being american, and that this weakened sense of american identity resulted in a small but meaningful reduction in psychological wellbeing (i.e., lower levels of self-esteem). in addition, our results suggest that this negative relation was stronger for firstor second-generation adolescents of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. while this finding may not be surprising given the nature of the legislation, it has potential long-term implications for the development of personal and national identity among a large and rapidly growing group of youth in the united states, the majority of whom are u.s. citizens. because the data are cross-sectional, we cannot be certain that awareness of sb 1070 caused these decreases in american identity and psychological wellbeing. however, these results point to the possibility that sb 1070 may have negative repercussions for outcomes that are key aspects of the developmental period of early adolescence and have long-term consequences for development. as mentioned earlier, youths’ psychological wellbeing plays a critical role in their later emotional, educational and occupational outcomes. in addition, developing a sense of positive national identity may contribute to increase civic engagement and political participation in the future. thus, our study among a diverse sample of youth provides some initial evidence that legislation like sb 1070 may be associated with aspects of psychological development that are important to the long-term economic and democratic strength of the state and the nation as a whole. these results suggest an important avenue for research and a call to researchers and policymakers to continue to track and explore how laws such as sb 1070 may have unintended influences on youth development. an important finding from our study is that the association between awareness of sb 1070 and american identity was not moderated by race/ethnicity. thus, our findings are not specific to latino children—even though a main, implicit or explicit, purpose of the law is to identify undocumented latino immigrants. the associations we found between awareness of sb 1070, american identity and self-esteem were detected in a sample of racially and ethnically diverse youth—including white youth who attend highly diverse schools. on one hand, this is not surprising given that these youth live in environments where their peers belong to groups that are, implicitly or explicitly, a target of this type of legislation. there are various mechanisms through which peers can exert influence on wellbeing (e.g., co-rumination has been looked at as one mediator of depression contagion among friends; see rose, carlson, & walter, 2007). thus, it seems plausible that white youth in settings that are highly diverse are affected by the punitive and discriminatory culture promoted by laws like sb 1070. on the association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 14 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 other hand, it is striking that sb 1070’s negative psychological consequences were also detected among white children as it reveals the law’s reach beyond those who belong to groups that it directly targets—this is how the long arm of the law extends to have unforeseen consequences. indeed, discriminatory messages perceived and embedded in legislation like sb 1070 may possibly affect children either directly or indirectly. and this is an area where the “unintended consequences” of the law need further study, as our results point to potential effects of this legislation on community dynamics, ethnic and racial relations, as well as possible new forms of coalitions and communities. the data from wave ii further support these findings by linking directly youths’ perceptions of how affected they feel by sb 1070 with lower levels of self-esteem. the positive association we found between awareness of sb 1070 and perceptions of discrimination in waves i and ii are also important to note. these results suggest that the adolescents in our study may perceive a hostile environment from authorities around them in light of practices that are seen and perceived as discriminatory, such as the sb 1070. in wave ii, we show evidence that youths’ perceptions of being affected by sb 1070 may be associated with perceptions of discrimination not only by authorities, but also by school staff, including teachers. since these data are cross-sectional, it may also be that youth who already perceive a hostile environment from authorities may be more attuned to legislation such as sb 1070. nonetheless, this positive association suggests of being affected by sb 1070 coupled with perceptions of discrimination from authorities may work together to contribute to a general sense of distrust among youth. future research should endeavor to explore this relation in more detail and assess the causal mechanisms between them. this is particularly important given that sb 1070 awareness and perceptions of discrimination may act in accordance to further complicate key outcomes among children, including their academic engagement. research examining the effects of discrimination on schooling among latino youth has reported various negative outcomes such as lower grade point averages, poor self-esteem, increases in school drop-out, and lower generalized academic well-being (degarmo & martinez, 2006; greene, way, & pahl, 2006; martinez, degarmo, & eddy, 2004). academic success is critical for these youths’ academic future and career opportunities, and research suggests that outcomes in academic domains during adolescence are followed by similar outcomes in later stages of development (henderson & dweck, 1990). school dropout rates for latino adolescents constitute an alarming 2.4 times that of white non-latino students, and 1.6 times that of black non-latino students (u.s. department of commerce, n.d.). these statistics underscore the importance of understanding factors that contribute to the academic engagement of latino youth, particularly when research by the pew hispanic center also has found that young latinos and their parents are fully cognizant, even more than other ethnic and racial groups, of the benefits of a college degree (massey, 2007). given the established literature linking experiences of discrimination with academic dis-engagement, our finding that sb 1070 awareness was linked to perceptions of discrimination lead us to believe that sb 1070 may also result in poorer academic engagement (although this association remains to be tested in future analyses). this is another critical avenue of research that deserves in-depth examination. data from wave ii of our study reveals a significant association between adolescents’ report of being affected by sb 1070 and a weaker ability to regulate their feelings during instruction (e.g., sitting still, focusing on material being taught). this finding reveals the potential for disruption in learning that punitive acts like sb 1070 may have on youths’ ability to regulate themselves in the classroom. there is a vast psycho-educational literature that underscores the critical role that emotion regulation plays in learning (see graziano, reavis, keane, & calkins, 2007, for reviews). additional data are needed to better understand the nuances and directions of these findings; however, this result offers initial evidence that the political and legal context seeps through to impact youth in many ways, ultimately affecting their ability to focus in school. indeed, a striking finding from wave ii is that simply being aware of sb 1070 was associated with higher engagement in risk behaviors (e.g., skipping school, stealing money, etc.). these findings point to the social and economic costs of this legislation, as it may affect the long-term trajectories of racially and ethnically diverse youth, and especially latino youth. additionally, our findings parallel those of a recent report by the pew hispanic research (lopez, morin, & taylor, 2010) in which young latino respondents were the most likely to either have experienced or know of someone who has experienced discrimination because of their race or ethnic group. legal status has certainly become a central axis of stratification (jiménez & lópez-sanders, 2011; lopez, morin & taylor, association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 15 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 2010; menjívar, 2006) and legislation like sb 1070 accentuates the effects that legal status has, particularly with regard to perceptions of discrimination. the pew hispanic center study (lopez et al., 2010) found that of various factors that lead to discrimination, 36% of latino respondents ranked immigration status as the most important, outranking skin color (21%), language skills (20%) and income and education (17%). thus, paralleling our findings, these figures from the pew study highlight the negative effects of current immigration laws that exacerbate perceptions of discrimination based on legal status, a characteristic shared by an increasingly large group of individuals. as our findings indicate, legislation like sb 1070 has the potential to reverberate negatively in the lives of diverse youth well beyond its intent of stopping undocumented immigration. sb 1070 may foster an environment where immigrant youth and their non-immigrant peers are distrustful of authorities. our examination of primarily immigrant youth and their peers suggests that these youths’ identity as americans may be undermined by punitive and exclusionary laws like sb 1070, even though the majority of the youth in our study were american citizens. interestingly, right wing rhetoric that emphasizes so-called american values and traditions (e.g., as evident in the english-only education movement), seems to be doing a disservice to its mission by encouraging the passage of laws that promote suspicion or fear in minority youth. ironically, these pieces of legislation may undermine the very principles of american identity and love for the country that these groups seek to promote. failing to act runs the risk of raising adults who are distrustful of authorities and indifferent or even suspicious of those who write laws and implement them. lastly, an important factor to consider is the long-term effect of punitive legislation such as sb 1070 on the perceptions of young individuals as they become adults and active members of their communities. perceptions of exclusion or of not fully belonging, even when they are u.s. citizens, are amplified by legislation like sb 1070, which are being considered in various states across the country, and can affect how individuals think of their position in society, and what their rights and responsibilities are. thus, laws like sb 1070 may have important repercussions for political participation, citizenship, and membership more generally (see also, fleury-steiner & longazel, 2010; varsanyi, 2010). the unintended consequences of similar legislation may lead to the creation of a marginalized segment of the population with fewer rights (and responsibilities) and a tiered system of citizenship that accentuates and exacerbates the effects of other forms of social stratification (menjívar and kanstroom, in preparation, forthcoming). the aim of this article was to begin to explore some of the unintended consequences of sb 1070 among a small sample of youth in arizona. we hope this work can serve as a call for both researchers and policymakers to more fully and systematically consider the influence of such legislation on the development of our nation’s youth. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 16 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 references abrego, l. j., & gonzales, r. g. (2010). blocked paths, uncertain futures: the postsecondary education and labor market prospects of undocumented youth. journal of education for students placed at risk, 15(1), 144-157. arizona department of education, national school lunch program & school breakfast program. (2011). child nutrition programs: percentage of free and reduced reports. retrieved from arizona department of education website: http://www.ade.az.gov/health-safety/cnp/frpercentages/free-reducedpercentage_oct10.pdf capps, r., fix, m., ost, j., reardon-anderson, j., & passel, j. s. (2005). the health and well-being of young children of immigrants. washington, dc: the urban institute. degarmo, d. s., & martinez, c. r. jr. (2006). a culturally informed model of academic well-being for latino youth: the importance of discriminatory experiences and social support. family relations, 55(3), 267278. de genova, n. (2002). migrant ‘illegality’ and deportability in everyday life. annual review of anthropology, 31, 419-447. eccles, j.s., & barber, b. (1990). risky behavior measure. unpublished scale, university of michigan. erikson, e. h. (1968). identity: youth and crisis. new york: norton. fix, m., & zimmerman, w. (1999) all under one roof: mixed-status families in an era of reform. washington dc: the urban institute. retrieved from: http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/409100.pdf fix, m., & zimmermann, w. (2001). all under one roof: mixed-status families in an era of reform. international migration review, 35(2), 397-419. fleury-steiner, b., & longazel, j. (2010). neoliberalism, community development, and anti-immigrant backlash in hazleton, pennsylvania. in m. w. varsanyi (ed), taking local control: immigration policy activism in u.s. cities and states (pp. 157-172). stanford: stanford university press. fritz, m. s., & mackinnon, d. p. (2007). required sample size to detect the mediated effect. psychological science, 18, 233-239. gonzales, r. g. (2010). more than just access: undocumented students navigating the post-secondary terrain. journal of college admission, 206, 48-52. gonzález, d. (2011). senate bill 1070: 1 year later. the arizona republic, april 23rd. graziano, p., reavis, r., keane, s., & calkins, s. (2007). the role of emotion regulation and the student-teacher relationship in children’s academic success. journal of school psychology, 45, 3-19. greene, m. l., way, n., & pahl, k. (2006). trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among black, latino, and asian american adolescents: patterns and psychological correlates. developmental psychology, 42(2), 218-238. henderson, v. l., & dweck, c. (1990). motivation and achievement. in s. s. feldman & g. r. elliott (eds.), at the threshold: the developing adolescent (pp. 308-329). cambridge: harvard university press. jiménez, t. r., & lópez-sanders, l. (2011). unanticipated, unintended, and unadvised: the effects of public policy on unauthorized immigration. in pathways (pp 3-7). stanford, calif: the stanford center for the study of poverty and inequality. lopez, m. h., morin, r., & taylor, p. (2010). illegal immigration backlash worries, divides latinos. retrieved from the pew hispanic center website, http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/128.pdf martinez, c. r., degarmo, d. s., & eddy, j. m. (2004). promoting academic success among latino youths. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 26(2), 128-151. massey, d. s. (2007). categorically unequal: the american stratification system. new york: russell sage. menjívar, c. (2006). liminal legality: salvadoran and guatemalan immigrants’ lives in the united states. american journal of sociology, 111(4), 999-1037. menjívar, c. (2008). educational hopes, documented dreams: guatemalan and salvadoran immigrants’ legality and educational prospects. the annals of the american academy of political and social science, 620(1), 177-193. menjívar, c., & abrego, l. (2009). parents and children across borders: legal instability and intergenerational relations in guatemalan and salvadoran families. in n. foner (ed.), across generations: immigrant families in america (pp. 160-189). new york: new york university press. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 17 youths’ perspective on senate bill 1070 menjívar, c., & kanstroom, d. (eds.). (forthcoming). constructing immigrant illegality: critiques, experiences, and responses. new york: cambridge university press. passel, j., & cohn, dv. (2009). a portrait of unauthorized immigrants in the united states. washington, dc: pew hispanic research center. retrieved from: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2009/04/14/a-portrait-of-unauthorized-immigrants-in-the-united-states/ phinney, j. s., & devich-navarro, m. (1997). variations in bicultural identification among african american and mexican american adolescents. journal of research on adolescence, 7, 3-32. rose, a. j., carlson, w., & walter, e. m. (2007). prospective associations of co-rumination with friendship and emotional adjustment: considering the socioemotional trade-offs of co-rumination. developmental psychology, 43, 1019-1031. rosenberg, m. (1965). society and the adolescent image. princeton, nj: princeton university press. santos, c., menjivar, c., & godfrey, e. (2013). effects of sb1070 on children. in l. magana & e. lee (eds.), latino politics and arizona’s immigration law sb1070 (pp. 79-92). new york, ny: springer. sobel, m. e. (1982). asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. sociological methodology, 13, 290-312. umaña-taylor, a. j., & updegraff, k. a. (2007). latino adolescents’ mental health: exploring the interrelations among discrimination, ethnic identity, acculturation, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. journal of adolescence, 30, 549-567. u.s. census bureau. (2010). 2008 american community survey 1-year estimates, detailed tables. retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/dtgeosearchbylistservlet?ds_name=acs_2008_1yr_ g00_&_lang=en&_ts=303827884148 u. s. department of commerce (n.d.). current population survey (october 1972-2004). retrieved from http:// nces.ed.gov varsanyi, m. w. (2010). taking local control: immigration policy activism in u.s. cities and states. stanford: stanford university press. watts, r., & flanagan, c. (2007). pushing the envelope on youth civic engagement: a developmental and liberation psychology perspective. journal of community psychology, 35, 1-14. whitbeck, l., hoyt, d., mcmorris, b., chen, x., & stubben, j. (2001). perceived discrimination and early substance abuse among american indian children. journal of health and social behavior, 42, 405-424. yoshikawa, h., & kalil, a. (2011). the effects of parental undocumented status on the developmental contexts of young children in immigrant families. child development perspectives, 5(4), 291-297. notes: 1. this paper is based on a larger project on the effects of sb 1070 on children. portions of this article are also published in santos, c., menjívar, c., & godfrey, e. (2013). effects of sb 1070 on children. in l. magaña & e. lee (eds.), latino politics and international relations: the case of arizona’s immigration law sb 1070. new york: springer. 2. we thank erin godfrey for her assistance with portions of wave i analysis, as well as her input on portions of the text. 3. funds in support of this research were provided by the t. denny sanford foundation and by the t. denny sanford school of social and family dynamics at arizona state university as part of the lives of girls and boys enterprise (livesofgirlsandboys.org). http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ latinx and the community college association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 6 latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees edna martinez california state university, san bernardino nancy acevedo-gil california state university, san bernardino enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino latinx students continue to enroll in u.s. higher education in much greater numbers than in previous decades (gramlich, 2017). therefore, it is no wonder that “since 2006, we have seen a 78 percent increase in the number of institutions classified as hispanic-serving institutions1, and a growing number of emerging hispanic-serving institutions,” the majority of which are two-year community colleges (excelencia & hacu, 2017, para. 3). latinx students represent 23% of community college students nationwide (aacc, 2017). upon completing high school, 46% of latinx students enroll in the community college sector (krogstad & lopez, 2015). moreover, when compared to white students, latinx students are more likely to choose a community college, even after controlling for academic achievement and socioeconomic status (kurlaender, 2006; tovar, 2015). even so, structural and institutional barriers continue to interrupt latinx students’ postsecondary pathways, oftentimes forcing them to leave college without reaching their academic goals. when entering the community college system, approximately 51% of latino/a/x students aspire to transfer to a four-year college, but less than 6% will earn a bachelor’s degree within six years of enrollment (radford, berkner, wheeless, & sheperd, 2010). ultimately, 35% of latino/a/x who earn a bachelor’s degree begin their education at the community college and are transfer students, which is the highest among other racial groups (cataldi et al., 2011). 1 hsis are defined in title v of the higher education opportunity act (2008) as accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education with 25% or more total undergraduate hispanic full-time equivalent (fte) student enrollment. emerging hsis have a 15-24% full-time equivalent (fte) undergraduate hispanic student enrollment. martinez, acevedo-gil, & murillo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 7 although the community college has been established as an instrumental institution that can both support and hinder the experiences of latinx students as they navigate postsecondary education (moore & shulock 2010; núñez & elizondo, 2013; pérez huber, malagon, ramirez, camargo gonzalez, jimenez, & velez, 2015), the community college continues to be an underresearched sector of postsecondary education. accordingly, we sought to propose a special issue focused on latinx2 students and the community college with the aim to publish studies that promote pathways to postsecondary degrees. when developing the call and special issue, we considered three guiding questions: what are the experiences of leaders, instructors, and students when promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees for latinx students? how do scholars and practitioners challenge deficit structures and practices in the community college? what transformative changes (structural, attitudinal, processes) are needed to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for latinx students at the community college? faced with multiple challenges, u.s. community colleges are complex organizations to lead (cohen, brawer, & kisker, 2014; eddy, 2010; nevarez & wood, 2010). for instance, community college leaders must uphold multiple missions (eddy 2012; wood & nevarez, 2014), which include developmental education, community education, transfer education, and vocational/career and technical education (cte). to address the four functions, community college leaders and faculty must respond to the nation’s developmental education crisis (acevedo-gil, santos, & solorzano, 2014; bailey, 2009) and address low completion and transfer rates (bailey, jaggars, & jenkins, 2015). in addition, community college leaders must contend with dwindling, insufficient, and shifting revenue streams (cohen et al., 2014; goldrickrab, 2010; nevarez & wood, 2010) while (re)building relationships with board members (smith, 2016) and operating within a culture of increased accountability (eddy, 2010, 2012). additionally, a number of community college leaders and faculty now face decisions centered on the added role of conferring baccalaureate degrees (martinez, 2014; mckinney, scicchitano, & johns, 2013). 2 although there are varying viewpoints regarding the use of the “x” signifier in “latinx,” as guest editors we purposefully chose to employ the “x” signifier in an attempt to achieve inclusivity and challenge the existing gender binary. for a detailed view into the ongoing discussion regarding the use of the “x” signifer, see m. de onis (2017). latinx and the community college association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 8 within this context, we frame the community college as a sector that can both facilitate college access for latinx students and institutionalize obstacles to completion efforts. nevertheless, the community college represents a sector that students, faculty, and leaders navigate and challenge institutional obstacles to bridge degree aspirations with completions. latinx communities across the united states enact varied forms of social and political agency and claim authority to assert their voices through organizing and knowledge sharing. we see this collective sense of strength and resilience in the actions of latinx who create new spaces from which to enact change. this issue provides a forum to scholarship that addresses the national imperative of the growing latinx community college student population, as well as the possibilities present in college aspirations and persistence. the issue begins with the institutional perspective in, “supporting latinx/a/o community college leaders: a geospatial approach” in which ignacio hérnandez focuses on institutional leaders who are members of one community college professional association. using data from an original survey instrument and an exploratory spatial data analysis (esda), hérnandez uses a geographic information systems (gis) database and finds that latinx community college leaders may be found in metropolitan areas with large latinx/a/o populations. the geo-spatial results of this study offer significant contributions to regional efforts in the identification and preparation of the next generation of leaders to transform and strengthen community colleges as pathways to degrees for latinx/a/o students. in addition, hérnandez posits the powerful notion that the competencies established by the american association of community colleges alone are an ineffective framework to guide leaders towards broadening pathways to degrees for latinx/a/o students. the focus on institutional accountability continues in “chicanas in ir: data-driven advocacy for latinx students from institutional research contexts in the community college,” by elvira j. abrica and martha rivas. the authors use testimonio methodology as institutional research (ir) professionals to examine how they experience, respond to, and challenge institutionalized racism and systemic obstacles as they advocate for latinx students in the california community college system. in particular, the article offers a critique of the pillar of neutrality associated with institutional research and calls for a critical examination of the ways in which ir may support the perpetuation and/or dismantling of educational inequities in community college. martinez, acevedo-gil, & murillo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 9 the special issue continues with a focus on faculty members and their role in supporting latinx student success in an article titled, “connecting through engagement: latinx studentfaculty interaction in community college,” authored by felisha a. herrera, judith w. hernández chapar, and gabriela kovats sánchez. while previous research has focused on the engagement experiences of students enrolled at four-year institutions, it often excludes the experiences of latinx students enrolled at two-year public institutions. in the article, the authors center faculty as institutional agents (stanton-salazar, 2011) and examine the formal and informal contacts between faculty and latinx students. using data from the 2004/09 beginning postsecondary survey, the authors employ descriptive analyses and blocked hierarchical regression to understand the factors that impact the frequency of interaction with institutional agents for latinx students. the issue proceeds by examining the student-level experiences in an article titled “latino men and their fathers: exploring how community cultural wealth influences their community college success,” written by victor b. sáenz, carmen de las mercédez, sarah l. rodriguez, and claudia garcía-louis. in their article, the authors share findings from a qualitative study that examined the role of fathers in the educational success of latino men attending community colleges. using community cultural wealth as a framework, the experiences of 130 latino men enrolled in texas community colleges are highlighted. the following article, “latina student mothers trenzas de identidades in the community college,” authored by hortencia jimenez and nereida oliva, provides insights into the experiences of latina community college students who are mothers. the authors examine the narratives of four latina student mothers enrolled in a community college. using chicana feminist theory as their theoretical framework, the authors apply trenzas de identidades (godínez, 2006; montoya, 1994) as a metaphorical and analytical tool to understand the experiences of latina community college student mothers. in efforts to dismantle pervasive educational inequities exacerbated by existing policies and practices related to developmental education, erin doran contributes an article titled “an empowerment framework for latinx students in developmental education.” in the article, doran provides an overview of the literature related to latinx students in developmental writing and highlights understudied areas. doran proposes a framework for latinx students as a model, which combines a deeper understanding of language, power, and preparing latinx latinx and the community college association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 10 students for college-level writing. in the final research article, “mexican and mexicanamerican student reflections on transfer: institutional agents and the continued role of the community college,” edén cortez and erin l. castro draw upon the experiences of six mexican and mexican american community college transfer students to examine students’ reflections regarding preand post-transfer support from both institutional agents and structured student programs. the issue continues with conference proceedings, which entail the speech made by eloy ortiz oakley, chancellor of the california community colleges during the 2017 latino education & advocacy days (lead) summit. as the first latino to lead the largest higher education system in the united states, chancellor oakley is a passionate and unapologetic advocate for latinx students. since his appointment, chancellor oakley has been instrumental in reframing deficit thinking aimed at latinx students and continues to work arduously to address equity gaps. while fully aware of the “depressing statistics” regarding latino students in higher education, chancellor oakley emphasizes the role of california community colleges in improving educational outcomes of latinx communities, many of which are hispanic-serving institutions. related to this point, oakley underscores the need for hispanic-serving institutions, often times more appropriately referred to as hispanic-enrolling institutions, to become hispanic-graduating institutions. in addition, chancellor oakley addresses questions related to the institutionalization of baccalaureate degrees at the community college as well as transformative policies to promote equity and justice within developmental education. in alignment with chancellor oakley’s speech, martha rivas’s poem, entitled “a real tragedy,” provides insight into the challenges experienced by latinx students in the community college and the institutional obstacles that leaders must address. finally, madeline pérez de jesús provides a book review for hanging out and hanging on: from the projects to the campus (núñez, 2014). pérez de jesús provides a critical review of hanging out, where núñez (2014) discusses the use of institutional partnerships to address college access and affordability. in particular, the book examines the implications of a program that serves students who may not be excelling academically but have a commitment to their communities. in the program, students take courses at the community college and are housed near the campus, which minimizes the stigma associated with attending community college. martinez, acevedo-gil, & murillo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 11 as editors, it is our hope that the collection of articles featured in this special issue continue to engage us to think critically about the role of community colleges in advancing latinx students in higher education. we thank the amae editorial team, for their support of this work. in addition, we thank all the volunteer reviewers for their careful and critical reviews. finally, we thank the contributing authors for engaging in this critical line of work while adopting various methodological approaches and asset-based frameworks. we urge scholars, practitioners, and policymakers alike to consider the recommendations offered in these works in order to advance policies and practices that help latinx students not simply enter postsecondary education, but, in fact, achieve and surpass academic goals. moreover, we encourage readers to consider the areas for future research highlighted by each author. at the same time, we want to stress the need to shift or reframe the discussion about increasing latinx educational attainment from that of an economic imperative, to a social justice concern. our students are more than just workers who will play a vital role in raising the country’s economic prospects and global competitiveness. they are people with hopes and aspirations for themselves, their families, and their communities. these aspirations often begin at home and include earning a college degree. it is our intention that this special issue contribute to ensuring that deficit educational structures do not temper and/or crush these aspirations. in sum, although we have made strides toward expanding access and opportunities for latinx students in the community college, much work remains. in particular, this issue does not include research that addresses the experiences of latinx student veterans, latinx students with (dis)abilities, lgbtq latinx students, latinx students who are undocumented, and other intersectional identities. we encourage scholars whose work centers on the aforementioned areas to consider amae as an outlet to disseminate their work. there is no denying that the current u.s. social, political, and economic context, full of extraordinary vitriol and divisiveness, threatens the progress we have made toward improving the representation of latinx students in all sectors of postsecondary education. now more than ever it is time for our scholarship, teaching, and service to speak truth to power and tear down the walls—both literally and figuratively. guest editors latinx and the community college association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 12 references acevedo-gil, n., santos, r., & solorzano, d. (2014). examining a rupture in the latina/o college pipeline: developmental education in california community colleges (issue brief no. 3). perspectivas: issues in higher education policy and practice. american association of hispanics in higher education, educational testing services, and university of texas, san antonio. american association of community colleges (aacc). (2017). fast facts. retrieved from https://www.aacc.nche.edu/research-trends/fast-facts/ bailey, t. (2009). challenge and opportunity: rethinking the role and function of developmental education in community college. new directions for community colleges, 2009(145), 1130. bailey, t. r., jaggars, s. s., & jenkins, d. (2015). redesigning america's community colleges. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. cataldi, e. f., green, c., henke, r., lew, t., woo, j., shepherd, b., & siegel, p. (2011). 2008-9 baccalaureate and beyond longitudinal study (bb: 08/09): first look (nces 2011-236). washington, dc: national center for education statistics. cohen, a. m. brawer, f. b., & kisker, c. b. (2014). the american community college (6th ed.). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. eddy, p. l. (ed.) (2012). leading for the future: alignment of aacc competencies with practice. new directions for community colleges, 159. eddy, p. l. (2010). community college leadership: a multidimensional model for leading change. sterling, va: stylus. excelencia & hacu. (2017). number of hispanic-serving institutions in u.s. increases, reflects growing student enrollment. retrieved from https://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/newsrel/2017/hsi2015-16lists-mediafinalrelease.pdf godínez, f. e. (2006). haciendo que hacer: braiding cultural knowledge into educational practices and policies. in d. delgado-bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godínez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 25-38). albany, ny: state university of new york press. goldrick-rab, s. (2010). challenges and opportunities for improving community college student success. review of educational research, 80(3), 437-469. gramlich, j. (2017). hispanic dropout rate hits new low, college enrollment at new high. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2017/09/29/hispanic-dropout-rate-hits-new-low-college-enrollment-at-new-high/ krogstad, j. m., & lopez, m. h. (2015). hispanic population reaches record 55 million, but growth has cooled. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/25/u-s-hispanic-population-growth-surgecools/ kurlaender, m. (2006). choosing community college: factors affecting latino college choice. new directions for community colleges, 2006(133), 7-16. http://www.aacc.nche.edu/aboutcc/pages/fastfactsfactsheet.aspx http://www.aacc.nche.edu/aboutcc/pages/fastfactsfactsheet.aspx https://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/newsrel/2017/hsi-2015-16lists-mediafinalrelease.pdf https://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/newsrel/2017/hsi-2015-16lists-mediafinalrelease.pdf martinez, acevedo-gil, & murillo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 13 m. de onis, c. (2017). what’s in an ‘x’? an exchange about the politics of ‘latinx.’ chiricu journal, 1(2), 78-91. martinez, e. (2014). growing pains: exploring the transition from a community college into a four-year comprehensive college. all dissertations. paper 1342. http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1342 mckinney, l., scicchitano, m., & johns, t. (2013). a national survey of community college baccalaureate institutions. community college journal of research and practice, 37(1), 5463. montoya, m. e. (1994). mascaras, trenzas, y grenas: un/masking the self while un/braiding latina stories and legal discourse. chicano-latino law review, 15, 1-37. moore, c., & shulock, n. (2010). divided we fail: improving completion and closing racial gaps in california's community colleges. sacramento, ca: institute for higher education leadership & policy. nevarez, c., & wood, j. l. (2010). community college leadership and administration: theory, practice, and change (vol. 3). new york, ny: peter lang. núñez, e. (2014). hanging out and hanging on: from the projects to the campus. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. núñez, a., & elizondo, d. (2013). closing the latino/a transfer gap: creating pathways to the baccalaureate. perspectivas: issues in higher education practice and policy, 2, 1–15. pérez huber, l., malagón, m. c., ramirez, b. r., camargo gonzalez, l., jimenez, a., & velez, v. n. (2015). still falling through the cracks: revisiting the latina/o education pipeline. csrc research report. number 19. los angeles, ca: university of california, los angeles chicano studies research center. radford, a. w., berkner, l., wheeless, b., & shepherd, b. (2010). persistence and attainment of 2003-4 beginning postsecondary students: after 6 years (nces 2011-151). washington, dc: national center for education statistics. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2011). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. youth & society, 43(3), 1066–1109. tovar, e. (2015). the role of faculty, counselors, and support programs on latino/a community college students’ success and intent to persist. community college review, 43(1), 46-71. wood, j. l., & nevarez, c. (2014). ethical leadership and the community college: paradigms, decision-making, and praxis. charlotte, nc: information age publishing. association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 11 deservingness: challenging coloniality in education and migration scholarship leigh patel boston college abstract rhetoric, policy, and debate about immigration and immigrants are saturated with the trope of deservingness. in nation/states built on stratification, deservingness acts as a discourse of racialization, narrating across racially minoritized groups to re-instantiate the benefits for the racially majoritized. in this theoretical essay, i draw from legal case law and educational research and policy to explore the trope of deservingness as a form of racialized legitimacy. i suggest that the ubiquity of deservingness demands a decolonial reckoning with the specifics of how it is deployed relative to differently racialized peoples in a settler society, how they are racially minoritized and majoritized, and fundamentally, how that creates connected yet distinct social locations, rights, and relationships to self, others, the state, and land. looking within and across how deservingness is leveraged against groups enables deeper comprehension not just of deservingness but of the larger settler structure. introduction current social movements to recognize the material conditions and rights of vulnerablized migrants have, at turns, tempted and withdrawn from a frame of deservingness. posters and campaigns declare that undocumented people deserve access to health care, freedom from unfair employment practices, and basic human rights. this is only intensified when undocumented youth are the focus. they are innocent and restricted due to the unfortunate consequences of someone else’s actions. the associated tropes of innocence, youth, and non-criminality are all outcroppings of the frame of deservingness. while deservingness runs throughout the ways that undocumented youth are framed in the media, policy, and even much of social science research, deservingness is itself a centuries-old discursive frame to delineate humanness and worth. in the united states and its practices within and beyond, it acts as a dominant discourse to differentially racialize. although figurative, it has always held strong material effects, sorting the worthy from the less than worthy. deservingness is deployed differentially relative to different peoples in a settler society, formed on violent seizure and occupation of land. rather than a single event, a settler society has an ongoing structure involving the conversion of land into property, the erasure of indigeneity, and the relegation of some humans into labor and their bodies a form of property. pursuant to this material structure, the figurative narrative of deservingness racially minoritizes and majoritizes peoples with distinct yet connected social locations, rights, and relationships to self, others, the state, and land. i open this essay for this special themed issue on migration and education with a discussion of the racialized laws restricting black rights to lift up the trope of deservingness as a core and long-used tool of governmentality, the enactment of relationships to state in formal and informal practices. in 1896, the united states supreme court ruled that homer plessy was not entitled to damages for being asked to move from a railway car designated for white americans to one for black americans. the ruling of plessy v. ferguson (1896) is one of the watershed moments of legitimization of racism and white supremacy in the united states. despite its shorthand moniker of ‘separate but equal,’ the case confirmed the cultural premise of white racial superiority by asserting that plessy was not damaged by being kept out of a white-designated car but that whites would incur harm by mixing racial backgrounds in transportation. although the decision of the case is widely known and taught, lesser discussed are the reasons that plessy was tactically chosen to be the plaintiff in this case: his light skin and 7/8 composition of white racial descendancy. the day after his arrest for riding in a white railway car, a new orleans daily described plessy as a “snuff-colored descendant of ham” (medley, 2003, p. 85). plessy was chosen to be the man who sat in the white car because he could have passed as white, or more precisely, be seen to be deserving of white status. he held proximity to the metric of deservingness based on phenotype and therefore associated racialized rights. this was the basis of the plaintiff’s case, which argued that deservingness materially impacted life experiences. when plessy was cited for transgressing the legal codes of separation, his attorneys argued that this citation connected blackness with lower worth. the court infamously deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 12 ruled that separate could be equal. despite the saliency of its findings, the court drew upon an uneven mixture of logic in the majority decision, both maintaining that the races could be separated without harm to any group and that there could be no claim of harm from a black person made to sit in a white car; only the converse. it is, arguably, the first juridical assertion of colorblindness that materially functions to reseat whiteness as property. the majority decision also connected to the ambiguous rationalization of race expressed in the dred scott case, which attempted to state a process by which beings that had only been known as chattel, slaves, could be transformed into subjects with due rights from the state. justice daniels, in the dred scott case, first connected former slaves’ relationships to lands in africa that were not recognized as legitimate nation-states in the united states and on that basis decreed that the transformation of chattel into personhood was mitigated. he wrote, “it is difficult to conceive by what magic the mere surcease or renunciation of an interest in a subject of property, by an individual possessing that interest, can alter the essential character of that property with respect to persons or communities unconnected with such renunciation (dred scott v. sandford, 1857). the dred scott case addressed relationships to land and statehood that carried through racialized meanings in later case law, including plessy v. ferguson (1896), and that are also found in the discourse and policies impacting undocumented migrants. the plessy v. ferguson and dred scott decisions were and remain key determinations of the strata of deservingness, with the supreme court ruling that stratification by races was a legitimate and necessary operation of the state. the inconsistencies in the court’s majority opinion, although noted as “pernicious” at the time by dissenting justice harlan in the plessy case, proved prescient for the ways that criteria of distinction, merit, and deservingness would come to manifest across seemingly colorblind policies that enact racist material effects. reading across this case law lifts up questions relative to status, land, statelessness, stateworthiness, and the metrics by which these designations are racially distributed in a settler society in social fields external to the law. deservingness fundamentally conveys how the state confers and delimits legitimacy as well as how it asserts its own existence as arbiter of racialized rights. as evidenced through the dred scott and plessy v. ferguson (1896) cases symbolically, as well as many other examples in case law, deservingness also comes to figure strongly in how codes and practices of exclusion are experienced and challenged by migrant populations. although there is a shared overlap of being subjected to the metrics of deservingness, i do not suggest that racialized racialization for black and white residents of the united states can explain racialized statehood for migrant youth. to do so would barter in an equivocation that perpetuates the project of stratification. rather, i suggest that the ubiquity of deservingness demands a reckoning with the specifics of how it is deployed relative to different peoples in a settler society, how they are racially minoritized and majoritized, and fundamentally, how that creates connected yet distinct social locations, rights, and relationships to self, others, the state and land. ultimately, analyses of governmentality and its actualizations through deservingness will address some of those relations, but not all. the fulcrum in understanding how deservingness creates differential social locations for a settler state, such as the united states is in how it validates and organizes forms of labor, and ownership relative to land as property. property, labor, and ownership are fundamentally crucial concepts for understanding migrants’ experiences in society because of the long-standing, unquenchable settler need to obtain property. a central project of property accumulation creates concordant locations for people as chattel, laborers, and property owners. these needs are imbricated and erased in a global political economy that uses human rights and marketbased frames to justify and delimit migrants’ possibilities. research and theorization of migration and deservingness can both connect itself to other conditions of [un]deservingness and make more explicit undertheorized aspects of migration, including relationships to land. in this paper, i situate deservingness as part of the core logic of a settler state and then discuss the afforded locations for migrants and their education within context. deservingness: a colonial cut that creates and maintains white statehood rhetoric, policy, and debate about immigration and immigrants is saturated with the theme of deservingness. in vitriol that casts migrants as unwanted and damaged/damaging, the primary messaging conduit is their lack of worth. queue jumpers dropping anchor babies and plundering state’s coffers. these stereotypes deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 13 function to delineate who deserves legitimized relationships with the state and who doesn’t. as leo chavez (2012) explores in his thorough analysis of the racialization and gendering enacted through contemporary anti-immigrant discourses, the latino immigrant body is drawn with the patina of undeservingness to legitimate white americans’ alleged whole worth. chavez (2012) pays particular attention to the gendered and racialized accusatory frames surrounding latinas, fertility and reproduction: in the final analysis, the discourse surrounding latina fertility and reproduction is actually about more than reproduction. it is also about reinforcing a characterization of whites as the legitimate americans who are being supplanted demographically by less-legitimate latinos. for this reason, the empirical evidence examined here may be easily dismissed by those who prefer perpetuating a discourse that undermines latino claims of citizenship. (p. xxx) conscription of female reproduction has always been both politically elusive and never not there in projects of nationalism and even in radical collectivities (heng & deven, 1995; nelson, 2001). the ubiquity and contestation over female reproductive rights and tropes of bewitching, fertile women is testimony to this site of [un] worthiness, a context which supports understanding the deployment of it specifically in relation to latin@ migrants. (see figure 1.) figure 1. california road sign of (latin@) immigrants crossing highway. deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 14 chavez’ (2012) analysis of media texts depicting latina migrants and his findings connect to a longstanding field of scholarship of whiteness as property, first established by legal scholar cheryl harris. in her landmark analysis, harris (1993) describes the various ways in which property has been legally conceptualized, codified, and protected for land-owning whites. she provides examples that enacted the overt dehumanizing reduction of indigenous peoples as savage and of black bodies as slave chattel, as well as the ways in which more subtle interactions create and display social locations of more and less entitled. for example, she describes her grandmother’s experience of what critical race theorists have termed racist microaggressions (pierce, carew, pierce-gonzales, & wills, 1977) during her years of gaining higher wage employment through her ability to pass for white: her voice would remain subdued, as if to contain the still-remembered tension. on rare occasions, she would wince, recalling some particularly racist comment made in her presence because of her presumed shared group affiliation. whatever retort might have been called for had been suppressed long before it reached her lips, for the price of her family’s well-being was her silence. accepting the risk of self-annihilation was the only way to survive. (p.1215) though there are many differences between inciting racialized and gendered reactions to immigrants from the global south objectifying comments uttered in the air of upper middle class homes, these acts are fundamentally similar because they operate from a mutually constitutive logic of stratified rights and exclusion. harris (1993) uses historical, legal, and sociological analysis to illuminate the ways that property rights and white legal identities have been defined and how these rights function to protect whites’ status at the top of the social order. harris’(1993) article has become a classic of critical race theory because it provides a coherent yet complex analysis of the sources of codified territoriality and the social relationships borne of stratified property rights protected for whites and inaccessible to people of color. it is relevant here to illuminate the intertwined and interlocking sets of advantage (roithmayr, 2004) that durably work across shifting identity and social categories in the law. in the case of plessy v. ferguson (1896), the coupling of race plus privilege, explained more thoroughly by harris in her 1993 analysis, is leveraged to maintain racial privilege despite the ability for a person to ‘pass’ as white. in fact, the existence and practices of ‘passing’ are a salient reflection of the ways that whiteness is a construct that is produced and sometimes can be approximated but not with full access. whiteness is created as an exclusionary status. this exclusionary status is, in part, established through the appearance of biological rationales, even in contradictory ways. the same blood calculation that is used to demark black peoples as nonwhite through the mere presence of a single drop (one drop rule) exists alongside blood quantum laws that successively reduce indigenous peoples’ proportion of indigeneity over time if they reproduce with nonnative peoples. these practices work together in a settler society to simultaneously erase indigeneity and create chattel property through anti-blackness. a single drop of nonwhite blood carries through a history of black peoples’ fungibility into settler property (king, 2013) and native peoples’ erasure, each manifestation working, despite direct contradiction of logic, to facilitate the accumulation of property, of earth converted into land, for settler ownership. these relationships to the state exist to organize labor, work, property, land, and wealth. in settler societies, worth is distributed unevenly through owning land as property, laboring that land, or being an aspect of property. relative populations are organized accordingly and, yet, connectedly through this architecture. latino migrants, particularly undocumented migrants, are located relative to anti-blackness and the erasure of indigeneity through racializing discourses that meter deservingness. the relationship of person to state is the foundational purpose of the trope of deservingness, who deserves to be included under the state, and who, as a necessary dialectic difference (derrida, 1978), must be stateless. in other words, the definition of stateworthiness is made apparent through the delineation of statelessness. as lisa marie cacho (2012) theorizes, statelessness is purposefully facilitated and created within frames of liberal humanism, guaranteeing that some are entitled to racialized statehood because others are not. cacho (2012) explores the ways that some bodies are criminalized, made to be holders of essence of criminal, such that they are ineligible from statehood by their very existence. the ascendancy and exclusion from legitimacy under the state operates through myriad contexts deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 15 and practices, durably yet impermanently gelling together governmentality. rather than a specific state or governmental institution, governmentality is the cross-sector disciplining practices that literally govern, control and mediate, what can be done. foucault is most referenced for theorization on governmentality, the collection of sweeping and minute practices that gather together, discipline, and make available kinds of being and personhood. however, foucault’s work can only reach so far here, as his work cannot speak to the centrality of the constructs of race and gender in these tropes of worth, merit, and deservingness (for an extensive discussion on foucault’s shortcomings with race, see weheliye, 2014). further, foucault’s work speaks to relationships with the state, but not to land, which is pivotal to the creation and maintenance of stratification of being within coloniality. this is evidenced in the dred scott decision, which linked the claim of lesser humanity of black peoples to assertions of statelessness in the african continent, as well as the policing of created criminality of crossing also created nation state borders. for analytic redress on the constructs of race and gender, so central to understanding the created [un]deservingness of black and brown peoples as core projects of coloniality, the works of denise ferreira da silva (2007). the intellectual work of dorothy roberts, hortense spillers, and sylvia wynter speak much more robustly than does the work of foucault, and more broadly, critical theorists whose theoretical fulcrum is subject to state relations. rather, theorists of coloniality and the global construction of race address the enactment of the constructs of race and gender such that they are not reduced to inherently present biological realities but rather always already becoming necessary productions of coloniality. coloniality, first through the church and then through the state, produced designations of being, differentially overrepresented and valued, as a way to produce and validate knowledge projects that validated and normalized strata between beings and land (wynter, 2003). coloniality is different from colonialism defined as the relationship of more powerful to less powerful nation/states. as maldonado-torres (2007) defines it “coloniality, instead, refers to long-standing patterns of power that emerged as a result of colonialism, but that define culture, labor, intersubjective relations, and knowledge production well beyond the strict limits of colonial administrations” (p. 243). in wynter’s (2003) extensive and transdisciplinary examination of coloniality and its concomitant overrepresentations of some beings and devaluing of others, she centrally asks what knowledge production projects are for, what are their functions. coloniality creates and structures the nation-state, subjects under the state, and relations to the land. migrants from the global south, including latin america, develop pre-migration knowledge and associations with ‘developed’ nations through ideological and material systems (grosfoguel, 2003). extractive colonial practices relative to the land and to people is a fundamental component of the push and pull of vulnerablized peoples across nation-state borders. coloniality, though, is not a static set of relationships; it shifts and is manifested variously within and across contexts. the united states, along with other nation/state entities, is a settler state. its creation and maintained identity involves settlers coming from other lands and engaging in intertwined projects of erasure of indigeneity and anti-blackness to preserve property rights for whites. related to harris’ discussion of whiteness as property, theorization of settler colonialism (wolfe, 2006) articulates the intertwined projects of conversion of seized land into property, erasure of indigenous peoples, and the importing and dehumanization of people into chattel who can work but never own land. this form of colonialism can be understood as connected to other versions of coloniality but not as commensurate and interchangeable. coloniality relies on globally resonant tropes of valid and invalid versions of being, but settler colonialism leverages those distinctions of worth to secure property rights for some based on the erasure of rights of others. through the analytics of coloniality and settler colonialism, the state’s operations to legitimate forms of knowledge and beingness through governmentality are rendered more transparent. deservingness is debated, policy-ed, and policed through governmentality, networked for the larger project of maintaining colonial sets of relationships. this analysis of govermentality through its purpose is a different stance than what foucault’s work offers, which is an analysis of the disciplining done by the state. analysis of disciplining is critically important, but does not necessarily speak to how the webbing of governmentality itself is acting on behalf of a project that reaches beyond the state with designations for lesser beings, higher beings, and land. while deservingness animates the racialized logics used to confer status, as evidenced in the plessy v. ferguson (1896) court case, a frame of coloniality puts in relief how those projects function collectively to create and police disparate locations. deservingness operates out of an architecture of stratified worth. these designations of worth and relative amounts of value work not only to create and re-instantiate race deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 16 but also do so in ways that criminalize and render populations ineligible for rights under the state. for example, in her extensive analysis of the creation and attenuation of some peoples as illegal and therefore bodily ineligible, lisa marie cacho (2012) analyzes commentary in the media on new orleans following hurricane katrina. paying particular attention to the ways that african americans were called, “refugees,” cacho (2012) theorizes this as a move that criminalized as well as alienated and distanced. journalists tapped into what they believed to be true of third world peoples (and worth) to “apprehend what they were witnessing, to make sense of a post-katrina new orleans for themselves and their audiences” (p. 14). although being undocumented is not a crime, it means to be embodied by criminality, not merely stereotyped as criminal, although that also happens, but to be understood as enacting illegality by virtue of one’s existence. this imbuing of liminality in some bodies works in tandem with the ongoing project to devalue and bracket the humanity of black peoples. as cacho (2012) writes, “both undocumented immigrants and unemployed, impoverished citizens are legally ineligible for personhood because they cannot invoke the laws that address unlivable wages or unfair hiring practices” (p. 22). together, wynter’s (2003) work that excavates the knowledge for projects of coloniality and cacho’s (2012) work that offers uncompromising analyses of ineligibility, foreground necessary questions of how deservingness is enacted in the framing and treatment of migrant populations. the challenge of the ubiquity of the colonial trope of deservingness is to ascertain its specific locations and impacts. in determining these specifics, though, it is important to keep both specificity and global connections in mind. one of the affordances of considering coloniality in relation to migrants is that it allows for more robust theorization of movement, place, and the global. as massey points out, “the global isn’t just made up there; it is made in places and there is hardly a place on the planet that in some ways isn’t party to the making” (as quoted by tuck & mckenzie, 2014, p. 412). relatedly, denise ferreira da silva (2007) points out that raciality is inevitably a part of the modern project of state, that it, in fact, psychically and materially produces modern global space (e.g., the darker nations and the global south), and it does so through proxies that can organize racially without uttering race. situating frames of migrant youth, those who do not hold legal authorization to be in a country, within coloniality and subsumed projects of whiteness as property begs the question of what a settler state wants and does not want from undocumented youth. specifically related to undocumented latin@ youth, what does a settler state imagine for these youth and for itself, and from that, what does it allow and what is held at bay. in the next section, i turn to one specific instance of a racial proxy, language in education, to map the colonial logics running through it. more specifically, i analyze what kind of knowledge-for project (wynter, 2003) is materialized for undocumented latin@ youth in formal education. i turn to this example not because of any sort of inherent prevalence it has a site of coloniality but rather as a necessary and insufficient point of analysis. coordinates: latin@ youth, language and racialized statehood formal education in the united states has long been a site of settler logics (calderon, 2014; patel, 2014), with settler grammars enlivening curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. education as a social field, specifically within the united states, is one of the many societal institutions grappling with the significant presence of migrant, children of migrant, and within those demographics, undocumented latin@ children and youth in its classrooms. although plyler v. doe (1982) guaranteed all undocumented children access to a free and appropriate public education, this de jure guarantee has resulted in de facto striations of praxis. the grappling has to do with the ways that this population, with its various and varied racialized experiences of being, migration, and schooling, present a paradoxical challenge to the field of education. on the one hand, undocumented latin@ youth enliven the nation’s imaginary that elevates education as the pathway to social mobility and improvement, part of the logic expressed in the majority opinion of plyler v. doe (1982). this imaginative specter sits neatly with the majoritarian narratives that the nation was built by immigrants, both through labor and ideals of entrepreneurship. the immigrant nation narrative invisibilizes the settler structure that continues to seek the erasure of indigeneity and the reduction of black bodies, initially into chattel labor to quite literally build the nation’s most celebrated homes of formal education (wilder, 2013), and more currently, into unhireable, criminalized segments of the society. the romantic idea of the nation being built by immigrants blurs the material ongoing structures that displace and exploit indigenous and black life. and, on the other hand, undocumented latin@ youth, pose fresh challenges to the whitestream deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 17 (grande, 2004) educational projects in the united states. through both their racial presence in classrooms and their status of being barred from any kind of civic acknowledgement, undocumented latin@ youth push the contradiction of education being both the promissory place of mobility and the premier site of social reproduction in the united states. without any kind of acknowledgement of the settler structure of the society, the field of education situates migrant youth, primarily through language, in distal locations to dominant social positioning. migrant youth are most typically named english language learners, and in that one nominal move, they are located, racialized, relative to a recentered dominant culture that is white, monolingual, and holders of the status-conferring standardized academic english. in this paradox of being part of the american fabric of social mobility through education and through their racialized subalternity, the life experiences and complex personhoods of undocumented latin@ youth are winnowed and collapsed into their english language fluency. with race being the primary organizing tool for transnational dislocation and movement across nation-states and borders (katz, 2004), language is furthered as a logic that carries out the work of racial organization without naming race (bonilla-silva, 2006). language fluency has come to act as a proxy for race, becoming a conduit to minoritize and majoritize, with relative positions for more knowledgeable (re: more worthy) and less knowledgeable (re: less deserving). research, policy, and practice is focused on accelerating the pace of english language learning for migrant youth, particularly latin@ youth. the tacit premise is that through their acquisition of the dominant code of power, migrant youth, purportedly even undocumented racially minoritized youth, will be able to access the nation’s pathways to social mobility and well-being. this tacit premise, though, itself is in paradoxical and contradictory relation to policies and practices that speak more strongly of white settler anxieties that seek to discipline subalterns’ practices and delimit the very possibilities of those practices. as an exaggerated example of the contradictory praxis that emanates from majoritarian stories of social mobility and white settler anxiety that seeks to maintain whiteness as property, three states, california, arizona and massachusetts have outlawed bilingual education as a pedagogical practice. all three states have sizeable latin@ populations, with central american immigrants being particularly prominent demographically in california and arizona. in a less overt but much more deleteriously impactful manner, the elementary and secondary education act of 2002 required english language learners to take standardized tests in english within three years of entering the country, a timeline that sits in direct contradiction to overwhelming research about the time required to become fluent in learned academic codes (cummins, 2000). the time crunch forced many bilingual schools to restructure its programs to prioritize english over home and heritage-language instruction and maintenance. these policies have only intensified in subsequent years of federally mandated and competitive funding based on english language achievement scores. because language here acts as proxy as race, it’s important to not only focus on the policies and research that address the other, the english language learner (patel stevens, 2009). race is a global organizing force because it works at behest of whiteness, therefore, it is important to address the ways that language policies, such as the outlawing of bilingual programs, and the praxis of who ascends to positions of language researchers enlivens white settler logics and reseats whiteness as property. flores and rosa (2015) draw attention to the hierarchies at play, even with additive approaches to language learning, in the production of “racialized speaking subjects who are constructed as linguistically deviant even when engaging in linguistic practices positioned as normative or innovative when produced by privileged white subjects” (p. x). flores and rosa’s (2015) analysis compels consideration of the “listening subject” (inouye, 2006) who is overrepresented. the listening subject being overrepresented is in keeping with wynter’s (2003) analysis of the function of over-representation: to name and index others, in this instance to be the one to remediate ubiquitous linguistic features like accents. the overrepresentation of the listening subject is intertwined with vested material interest in being able to resolve the unresolvable created problem of certain accents or linguistic practices. it is unresolvable because it is not inherently a problem. whiteness renders entirely similar linguistic practices, such as blending of codes or misplacing accented emphases, as normal, inoculating these practices from remediation and overrepresenting other codes, and therefore certain listening subjects as overrepresented. continuing from flores and rosa’s (2015) work, the majoritized listening subject, as well as the minoritized utterers of deficit codes, migrant youth, are based on racialized, classed social positioning that literally shape what is heard and what is unhearable. race and education scholars have long noted the enduring demographic deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 18 mismatch between a largely white, [upper] middle class and female teaching profession versus an increasingly racially minoritized school-going population, of which migrant youth account for sizeable proportions. the sophistication of white settler colonial logics in education acknowledges that monolingual native speakers of standardized academic english may need redress to be ‘culturally responsive teachers’ but seeks that cultural touch-up by putting these populations in contact with ‘at-risk’ populations. novice and minimally trained teachers learn about the subaltern through experimentation-like contact (heilig & jez, 2010). the tacit idea is that through contact (pratt, 1991) and good intentions, the monolingual white subject will be able to hear better. what stays steadfast within that opportunistic project, though, is the reality of social locations, the material invested need for racially minoritized others, and servile to that order, the geopolitical privileging of standardized academic english as a proxy for whiteness and more broadly, humanness. finally, it is important to note that, particularly in relation to undocumented youth, as opposed to those who hold legal governmental status, such concentrations of educational energy also dislocate knowledge of the material realities facing minoritized and criminalized subjects of the state. learning to become illegal, as sociologist and immigration scholar roberto gonzales has written is a, if not the salient, social location of undocumented youth, rendered particularly acute during secondary school years. and yet the overwhelming majority of educational attention on migrants remains on their language fluency and purported impacts on educational achievement. this focus delimits both the available personhood for undocumented youth in research and policy and also cauterizes the ability of the dominant culture subject to disinvest from their vantage place. put another way, could the listening subject, even with an ability to hear past an accent, be able to hear and see the criminalized bodies’ foreclosed chances of being a legitimate being under the state? as i have suggested elsewhere (patel stevens, 2009), the winnowing of migrant youth, particularly racially minoritized and criminalized youth, into english language learners, refreshes the implicit settler logics of education as social reproduction. it does this by, in essence, drawing a curtain between linguistic fluency and the material conditions that meter out social death (cacho, 2012) regardless of linguistic performance. connecting but not resolving deservingness across undeserving populations in 1979, james baldwin addressed language, learning, and larger projects of whiteness as property: the brutal truth is that the bulk of white people in american never had any interest in educating black people, except as this could serve white purposes. it is not the black child’s language that is in question, it is not his language that is despised: it is his experience. a child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled. a child cannot be taught by anyone whose demand, essentially, is that the child repudiate his experience, and all that gives him sustenance, and enter a limbo in which he will no longer be black, and in which he knows that he can never become white. black people have lost too many black children that way (para. 11). racialization and racialized deservingness are not new projects in american education. yet the modern project of identity and its self-to-state categories provides insufficient language to address the specific, connected, and yet distinct manifestations of coloniality (grande, 2004). these categories and attempts to speak within and across them of differential social locations (crenshaw, 1991) often languishes in simplistic tropes of oppression olympics, an ironic re-instantiation of jostling for vertical positioning. coloniality, as wynter (2003) articulates, is fundamentally about creating vertical strata. the ‘for’ of knowledge-for projects is hierarchy through established, measured, validated, yet idiosyncratic strata. this logic of hierarchy, a colonial logic, cannot account for multidimensional dynamics. it cannot account for, as exhibited by its contradictions, the ways that race has to be defined differently for different populations to cumulatively privilege whiteness as property. it cannot account for the dredging of vulnerabilized populations across nationstate borders, a horizontal displacement of people to land that reconfigures space while simultaneously refreshing land as an object to be owned. settler colonial logics rely on, quite literally on top of, a muted set of connected inconsistencies that function in the aggregate to reserve deservingness through the creation of the undeserving. the ways that undocumented latin@ youth are known, unknown, and delimited in various social spaces deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 19 begs specific and linked attention to the ways that deservingness is installed for colonial purposes. it requires us to keep close the coordinates borne of a project of coloniality without collapsing material differences. herein lies the imperative to locate but not equivocate (tuck & yang, 2012) the distinct social locations created by coloniality. the history of miseducation of black children and youth has something to teach education that is prescribed for latin@ immigrant youth, particularly undocumented youth, but it is not a blanket overlay of dispossession and redress. deficit perspectives that elevate whiteness as property are imbued at once but differently for specific and heterogeneous populations. to resist coloniality, then, requires precision to vertical and horizontal workings of oppression. i have drawn from case law and practices effecting migrant latino and black populations not to equivocate those experiences in any form. rather, i assert that a confrontation of coloniality, with its goal of metering out deservingness, necessitates being specific about how it works differently and cumulatively across populations. how are groups and categories created along horizontal, incommensurable planes? how does their incommensurablity speak to the larger project of coloniality? questions such as these will not necessarily dismantle coloniality but they are the questions that need to be taken up in the name of decolonization. disparate questions that address that dispossession of differently colonized populations are necessary but incomplete. the project of coloniality works in the specific and aggregate; so must decolonization. lastly, a largely untapped area of theoretical and praxis impact that migration studies can offer is connecting the global construction of race, with concomitant associations with deservingness, to land and spatiality. coloniality, as theorized by wynter (2003), labels some land as ‘untamed,’ so that the people residing there can be named as savages and removed in the quest of higher being. similarly, when the disenfranchised nation-states in the global south are vilified as incapable of self-government, these narratives are echoes of denigrating land and its inhabitants, all necessary justification for the larger project of holding dominion over others. while it may not seem apparent in the immediate, criminalizing large swaths of the globe criminalizes all those associated with it and, even within the socially progressive social fields like education, casts them as lesser, in need, remedial. for the time being, all students, regardless of documentation status, are entitled to a free and public education in the united states. the letter of that law has within it an impulse to push back against the epistemologies that lower some lands and people as savage, indelibly marking them with an ineligibity. although most educators would not see this k-12 access point as interrupting colonial logics, perhaps one of the best ways that liberatory education for undocumented children and youth can be answerable to these populations is to be less obedient about staying within its disciplinary borders. deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 20 references baldwin, j. (1979, july 29). if black english isn’t a language, then tell me what is. the new york times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-english.html bonilla-silva, e. (2006). racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the united states. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield publishers. cacho, l. m. (2012). social death: racialized rightlessness and the criminalization of the unprotected. new york, ny: nyu press. calderon, d. (2014). uncovering settler grammars in curriculum. educational studies, 50(4), 313-338. chavez, l. (2012). shadowed lives: undocumented immigrants in american society. belmont, ca: cengage learning. cummins, j. (2000). language, power, and pedagogy: bilingual children in the crossfire. tonawanda, ny: multilingual matters. chicago crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 1241-1299. da silva, d. f. (2007). toward a global idea of race (vol. 27). minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. derrida, j. (1978). writing and difference. chicago, il: university of chicago press. dred scott v. sandford, 60 u.s. 393, 15 l. ed. 691, 15 l. ed. 2d 691 (1857). flores, n., & rosa, j. (2015). undoing appropriateness: raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. harvard educational review, 85(2), 149-171. grande, s. (2004). red pedagogy: native american social and political thought. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. grosfoguel, r. (2003). colonial subjects: puerto ricans in a global perspective. oakland, ca: university of california press. harris, c. i. (1993). whiteness as property. harvard law review, 1707-1791. heilig, j. v., & jez, s. j. (2010). teach for america: a review of the evidence. education policy research unit. heng, g., & devan, j. (1995). state fatherhood: the politics of nationalism, sexuality and race in singapore. in a. ong & m. g. peletz (eds). bewitching women, pious men: gender and body politics in southeast asia (pp. 195-214). oakland, ca: university of california press. inouye, m. (2006). vicarious language: gender and linguistic modernity in japan. berkeley, ca: university of california press. king, t, j. (2013). in the clearing: black female bodies, space and settler colonial landscapes. (doctoral dissertation). available from http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/14525/1/king_umd_0117e_14499.pdf katz, c. (2004). growing up global economic restructuring and children’s everyday lives. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. maldonado-torres, n. (2007). on the coloniality of being: contributions to the development of a concept 1. cultural studies, 21(2-3), 240-270. medley, k. w. (2003). we as freemen: plessy v. ferguson. gretna, la: pelican publishing. nelson, j. (2001). abortions under community control: feminism, nationalism, and the politics of reproduction among new york city’s young lords. journal of women’s history, 13(1), 157-180. patel, l. (2014). countering coloniality in educational research: from ownership to answerability. educational studies, 50(4), 357-377. patel stevens, l. (2009). maps to interrupt a pathology: immigrant populations and education. critical inquiry in language studies, 6(1-2), 1-14. pierce, c. m., carew, j. v., pierce-gonzalez, d., & wills, d. (1977). an experiment in racism tv commercials. education and urban society, 10(1), 61-87. pratt, m. l. (1991). arts of the contact zone. profession, 33-40. plessy v. ferguson, 163 u.s. 537 (1896). plyler v. doe, 457 u.s. 202 (1982). roithmayr, d. (2004). locked in segregation. virginia journal of social policy & law, 12, 197. tuck, e., & mckenzie, m. (2014). place in research: theory, methodology, and methods. new york, ny: routledge. tuck, e., & yang, k. w. (2012). decolonization is not a metaphor. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 1(1), 2-40. deservingness association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 21 weheliye, a. g. (2014). habeas viscus: racializing assemblages, biopolitics, and black feminist theories of the human. durham, nc: duke university press. wilder, c. s. (2013). ebony and ivy: race, slavery, and the troubled history of america’s universities. new york, ny: bloomsbury press. wolfe, p. (2006). settler colonialism and the elimination of the native. journal of genocide research, 8(4), 387-409. wynter, s. (2003). unsettling the coloniality of being/power/truth/freedom: towards the human, after man, its overrepresentation--an argument. cr: the new centennial review, 3(3), 257-337. deservingness theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 17 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: the experiences of latin@ youth and families alicia pantoja university of pennsylvania abstract in this paper, i argue that school-to-prison pipeline (spp) research on latin@s shows the existence of an interconnected system of policies and social practices, in and out of schools, punitive and non-punitive in nature, which together work to criminalize latin@ students and their families. this intersection (crenshaw, 1991) and multiplicity (hames-garcia, 2012) of oppressive immigration, mass incarceration and schooling systems, among other factors, shapes the process and outcomes of latin@s’ criminalization (scott & saucedo, 2013; timmons flores, 2013; campano et al, 2013). as a result, i believe we must re-conceptualize the “pipeline” metaphor in a way that views policies and social practices that criminalize latin@ students and their families as part of an interconnected, interdependent system or web. such an expansion of how we understand this term challenges a central assumption inherent in this “pipeline” metaphor; that the criminalization of youth fl ows unidirectionally and unidimensionally from schools to prisons and that disruption of such criminalization should be primarily focused on fi xing punitive policies in schools. advocacy and research efforts built upon the reconceptualization of this system or web would address the criminalizing social practices and policies that, while interconnected with much of the existing spp literature, have been largely missed in the dominant spp discourse. over the last decade, education, sociology and legal scholars have been researching the school-based criminalization of minoritized youth in the united states, particularly as it relates to high u.s. incarceration rates, in order to account for, and disrupt, a disturbing relationship between schools and prisons (e.g., advancement project, 2005, 2010; wald & losen, 2003). what the research on this relationship has yielded is the “schoolto-prison pipeline” (spp), a theory that suggests punitive school policies, such as detentions, suspensions and truancy policies, among others, disproportionately punish minoritized students31 pushing them out of schools and consequently sharply increasing the likelihood they will end up incarcerated32 (e.g., advancement project, 2005, 2010; croger & hewitt, 2011; skiba et al., 2011; wald & losen, 2003, 2011). overall, spp research proposes that there is a direct and explicit connection between institutionalized racism in schools and the growing mass incarceration crisis in the u.s. spp studies often indicate that the factors constructing the “pipeline” – jim crow legacies (alexander, 2010), zero tolerance policies (advancement project, 2005, 2010), high stakes testing (advancement project, 2010), and the “race threat hypothesis” (wald & losen, 2011) for example – do not all, or completely, originate within schools (morris, 2012). yet spp studies are anchored on the “pipeline” metaphor, which implies “the school” as the universal starting point (point a) of the criminalization pipeline and “the prison” as the universal ending point (point b) of it. it is crucial to note that this “pipeline” metaphor has successfully shaped spp advocacy efforts, making clear that there is a troubling relationship between schools and prisons and, in doing so, pointed to two sites – the education and criminal justice system – and to specifi c policies – zero tolerance policies in schools and discriminatory juvenile justice system policies – as central targets in the imperative to disrupt the spp. in doing so, however, the research has also encouraged a linear (school  prison), simplistic and deterministic understanding of the school-based criminalization of minoritized youth. even so, the “pipeline” metaphor has 31. compared to white students, african americans are 3 times more likely to be suspended and 3.5 times more likely to be expelled while latin@ students are 1.5 times more likely to be suspended and twice more likely to be expelled than white students (crogen & hewitt, 2010). 32. currently, latin@s make up 53% of u.s. prison population and african americans make up 37% of it (federal bureau of prisons, 2013). association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 18 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: gone almost completely unchallenged by spp researchers and legal or education practitioners33. as a result, spp scholars and advocates of disrupting the spp have risked ignoring – and thus not researching and addressing – criminalizing policies and social practices that do not originate solely within the school. consequentially, practices and policies that do not result in students’ deterministic interactions with the criminal justice system yet still crucially shape the school-based criminalization experiences of minoritized students and their families, have similarly gone under-researched within the spp fi eld. it is also important to highlight that dominant spp research has focused on the “black-white dyad” (portillos, gonzalez, & peguero, 2012) of school-based criminalization. as a result, the study of the criminalization experiences of african american male students has been prioritized (morris, 2012) while the study of the schoolbased criminalization experiences of other minoritized students (e.g., female, latin@s, native americans, lgbtq students) have been marginalized (gebhard, 2013; meiners, 2011, 2006; morris, 2012; portillos, gonzalez, & peguero, 2012) and thus make up a very small percentage of the spp research. as a result of my interest in these characteristics of the spp literature, in this thinking paper i review the nascent spp research that moves beyond the dominant focus on school-based criminalization experiences of african american males and into that of the less researched experiences of latin@ students and families. as i do so, i challenge the dominant “pipeline” metaphor and argue that spp research on latin@s shows the existence of an interconnected system of policies and social practices, in and out of schools, punitive and nonpunitive in nature, which together work to criminalize latin@ students and their families. i argue that, for this community, the intersection34 (crenshaw, 1991) and multiplicity35 (hames-garcia, 2012) of oppressive immigration, mass incarceration and schooling systems, among other factors, shape the process and outcomes of latin@s’ criminalization (campano et al., 2013; scott & saucedo, 2013; timmons flores, 2013). thus, as i broadly synthesize the literature, i argue for a reconceptualization of the “pipeline” metaphor in a way that views policies and social practices that criminalize latin@ students and their families as part of an interconnected, interdependent system or web. such an expansion of how we understand this term challenges, among other things, one of the current implications inherent in this “pipeline” metaphor; that the criminalization of youth fl ows unidirectionally from schools to prisons (richardson & judge, 2013), that it originates at the school and, subsequently, that disruption of such criminalization should be primarily focused on fi xing punitive policies schools. this framework shift would allow scholars and practitioners to better understand and address the “multiple pipelines” (richardson & judge, 2012) that intersect (crenshaw, 1991) and mutually constitute each other (hames-garcia, 2012) to form a criminalization web or system. thus, advocacy and research efforts built upon this framework would continue to disrupt criminalization in the education and criminal justice systems yet expand to address criminalization policies and social practices that fall outside the school-prison pipeline metaphor and are interconnected to those already identifi ed in the spp literature. for example, in the case of the criminalization of latin@ youth and families, the deportation of latin@ immigrant youth and/or their families would become part of the ongoing spp research and advocacy efforts (scott & saucedo, 2013; timmons flores, 2013) in order to most effectively understand and address this population’s school-based criminalization. 33. richardson & judge (2013), scott & saucedo (2013) and morris (2012) are the only scholars i have found have suggested that the “pipeline” metaphor might not accurately explain the criminalization experiences of minoritized youth in schools. i explicate their critiques later in this paper. 34. kimberly crenshaw’s (1991) “intersectionality” concept refers to the ways in which ascribed social categories (race, gender, sexuality, class, etc.) intersect in ways that shape people’s experiences. therefore, an intersectional approach to social inequity is essential to understanding the ways in which oppression is experienced as various minoritized identities intersect. in the case of the spp experiences of latin@s, i fi nd that crenshaw’s intersectional approach to analysis critically allows us to see that oppressive systems (of immigration, incarceration, schooling, among others) intersect, and as they do, their intersection defi nes the criminalization experiences of latin@s. 35. michael hames-garcía’s (2011) concept of “multiplicity,” builds upon crenshaw’s “intersectionality” one, and argues that assigned identity categories (citizenship, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, etc.) not only intersect but also are interdependent and “necessarily constitute one another” (campano et al,. 2013, p.317). in the context of the spp experiences of latin@s, the concept of “multiplicity” allows us to see that systems of oppression not only intersect, as crenshaw’s intersectional analysis puts forth, but also are interdependent and mutually constitute one another (campano et al., 2013), so that the criminalization experiences of latin@s (a heterogeneous community) are shaped by their identities’ multiplicity and by the multiplicity of the systems that criminalize them. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 19 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: overview in order to address the question of how the criminalization of latin@s in schools takes place, and also to construct the argument above, i fi rst present a brief review of the “school-to-prison pipeline” literature36 (e.g., advancement project, 2005, 2010; bahena et al., 2012; cregor, hewitt, 2011; kim, wald, losen, 2010; losen, hewitt, 2010; naacp legal defense fund, 2005; meiners, 2011, 2007; richardson & judge, 2012; scott, saucedo, 2012; welch, payne, 2011; wald & losen, 2003) as it has been framed over the past decade by the mass incarceration crisis (alexander, 2010) and the prison-industrial-complex (davis, 2003). in this section i highlight the main arguments made in the research about these students’ experiences and consider their implications for latin@s. next, i review the nascent “school-to-prison pipeline” literature on latin@s (gonzales & portillos, 2007). peguero, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008; peguero & shekarkhar, 2011; portillos, gonzalez, & peguero, 2012; rios, 2011, 2006; scott & saucedo, 2013; sallo, 2011; timmons flores, 2013). here, i pay attention to how scholars defi ne “criminalization” of latin@ youth and families and argue that this body of research shows the existence of a web of policy and social practices within, through and outside of schools that – infl uenced by criminality myths derived from current immigration policy in u.s – position latin@ students and families as criminals. finally, in my last section and conclusion, i point to gaps and current directions in the literature in order to propose further research that a) more complexly theorizes the “pipeline” metaphor (morris, 2012; richardson & judge, 2013; scott & saucedo, 2013); b) considers the nascent research on “crimmigration” from legal studies (sen & mamdou, 2008; stumpf, 2006) and theorizes on its implications for the school-related experiences of latin@ families; c) takes up critical race theory analysis frameworks, such as latcrit (fernández, 2002; portillos, gonzales, & peguero, 2012; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; solórzano & yosso, 2002); and d) expands the research on the spp to include the experiences of parents and families (campano, ghiso, yee, & pantoja, 2013; cregor & hewitt, 2011; dyrness, 2011; jasis & ordoñez-jasis, 2011; jimenez-castellanos, gonzalez, 2012). i close by presenting the theoretical and advocacy implications of carrying out more complex studies so that we may best understand and address the equity issues for latin@s within and beyond educational institutions in the united states. the school-to-prison pipeline this section provides a brief overview of dominant spp research in order to contextualize the review of the spp research as it relates to the experiences of latin@s in u.s schools37. below, i fi rst present the statistics that give shape to the pipeline and then present the key factors that the literature argues explain these spp statistics and therefore prove the existence of the spp. overall, spp studies focus on the high correlation between a) the increasing rates of school suspension and school drop out of african american and latin@ students in the united states and b) the rapidly growing incarceration rates of these populations in the us. according to recent data from us department of education offi ce of civil rights, there has been a 50% increase in school suspensions and expulsions since 1970, making these the highest rates of punitive school incidents in u.s history (crogen & hewitt, 2011). compared to white students, today african americans are three times more likely to be suspended and 3.5 times more likely to be expelled while latin@s are 1.5 times more likely to be suspended and twice more likely to be expelled (crogen & hewitt, 2010). further, latin@s currently make up around 35% of the prison population while african americans make up about 37% of it (federal bureau of prisons, 2013). 36. this conceptual piece is intended to present a broad picture and synthesis of the topics addressed in the spp literature and is not intended to be comprehensive. the literature reviewed in this paper was found in peer-reviewed publications and was gathered through online searches using the following terms: school to prison pipeline; latino; immigrants; immigration; race; zero tolerance policy; criminalization; behavior problems; child behavior; young children; violence; prison; education; deviance; penality; discipline; gender; high school; school; educational environment; educational legislation; mothers; parent attitudes; latino parents; hispanic americans; student behavior; family school relationship; minority group children. databases used for the review include: ebsco megafile (education full text (h.w. wilson), education index retrospective: 1929-1983 (h.w. wilson), eric), google scholar, isi web of knowledge, franklin – penn library catalog, amazon; and jstor. 37. for concise comprehensive spp reviews see richardson & judge, 2013, advancement project 2010, 2005 and crogen & hewitt, 2010, among others. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 20 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: across spp research, these alarming statistics are shown to correlate and used to demonstrate that disproportionate punishments in schools for minoritized populations result in disproportionate incarceration for these very populations (e.g., advancement project, 2005, 2010; bahena et al., 2012; cregor & hewitt, 2011; kim, wald, losen, 2010; losen & hewitt, 2010; naacp legal defense fund, 2005; wald & losen, 2003; welch & payne, 2011). factors contributing to the spp disproportionate and discriminatory punitive school policies central spp studies demonstrate that discriminatory and disproportionate punitive school policies overwhelmingly criminalize minoritized youth in u.s. public schools. a representative spp study is skiba et al. (2011) research where, using disciplinary data collected from four hundred elementary schools in the united states, the authors showed that african american and latin@ students were punished in schools at much higher rates than their white counterparts. specifi cally, the study revealed that, while latin@ and african american students tended to be suspended for what skiba et al. called “subjective” reasons, such as “disrespect,” white students were punished for “objective” reasons, such as “smoking” (croger & hewitt, 2011, p. 5). in an earlier (2000) paper, skiba concluded that none of the spp studies “provide any evidence that racial discrepancies in school punishment can be accounted for by disproportionate rates of misbehavior” (as cited in richardson & judge, 2013). this is an important claim consistent across spp literature, and one further strengthened in a study by welch and payne (2011), which concluded that school exclusionary discipline policies were harsher in schools where african american students made up the majority of the student body. the authors claim that the “race threat hypothesis” is correct: the racial composition of a school directly shapes which kind of disciplinary policies are enacted there, so that schools with a minority-majority population enact more “zero tolerance” disciplinary policies in response to a perceived “race threat” irrespective of actual student behavior. a criminal justice system that refl ects jim crow legacies the “race threat hypothesis” that welch and payne (2011) prove in their central spp study aligns with michelle alexander’s (2010) argument that the racial caste in the u.s. did not end but remains alive today in a redesigned manner. this, she explains, means the racism that sustained jim crow laws in the u.s prior to the civil rights movement today shape a criminal justice system that disproportionally incarcerates african american women and men, criminalizing their behavior in a manner wholly inconsistent with how the white population’s behavior is policed and punished. as can be seen by the conclusions of the studies above, spp research is grounded on the correlation between high rates of school punishment of african american students and high incarceration rates of these very youth. thus, the clarity of “the problem” as visualized through the “school-to-prison pipeline” metaphor provides a concrete site of research and advocacy (i.e., disciplinary policies in schools as they connect to the criminal justice system) and heightens the urgency of disrupting this link. this solid framework has a great merit; it has been very useful in evidencing injustice and mobilizing educators, families and advocacy groups towards de-criminalizing minoritized youth and communities. approaches to disrupting the spp while many spp studies do indicate that the factors constructing the pipeline – jim crow legacies, “zero tolerance” policies and high stakes testing38, for example – do not all (or completely) originate within schools 38. dominant spp research has not, as a whole, identifi ed high stakes testing as a central factor in the spp. however, a recent report (2010) by the advancement project (test, punish, and push out: how “zero tolerance” and high-stakes testing funnel youth into the school-toprison pipeline) centers this issue as a school-based non-punitive policy that criminalizes minoritized students. because i could not fi nd other studies that followed up this report and due to time and scope limitations, i did not include a dedicated section in this part of the paper on high-stakes testing. however, a review of studies that center high-stakes testing policies and practices in the conceptualization of the spp would greatly contribute to the process of reframing the spp. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 21 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: (e.g., advancement project, 2010; alexander, 2010), as a whole spp studies largely support a faulty assumption: that the relationship between point a in the pipeline, “the school”, and point b in the pipeline, “the prison”, is unidirectional (school leading to prison). for example, recent spp publications, such as kim, losen and hewitt’s (2010) disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline: structuring legal reform and bahena et al.’s (2012) disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, primarily focus on researching and fi xing school policies and therefore disrupting the pipeline where the metaphor suggests it begins. these scholars and practitioners propose, for example, curbing zero tolerance policies and implementing “restorative justice” or “positive behavior support” practices within schools in order to weaken the relationship between schools and prisons (bahena et al, 2012; kim, losen, hewitt, 2010), in a process that begins at the school. though solutions like these have proven to be successful programs for decreasing punitive incidents and punishment in schools (e.g., mirsky, 2003), minoritized youth criminalization continues to take place in schools via criminalizing policies and practices that are not necessarily disciplinary in nature and/or born solely within schools. thus, conceptualizing schools as “point a” and as the central target for action limits the spp discussion and advocacy to particular policies within specifi c sites and hinders larger possibilities for sustained change. the need to rethink the “pipeline” metaphor as an educator and researcher, one of my concerns with this “pipeline”-driven school-centered research and advocacy approach lies in how it impacts education policy. overwhelmingly, schools and educators are seen as the “point a” of larger societal inequities, such as issues of access to higher education, health or economic disparities, and other social inequities, which have complex, society-wide origins. therefore, citing public schools as “point a” in the pipeline can be used by public school critics to raise support for the privatization of education (i.e. increase creation of charter schools), as well as for mandating militarization and high standardized testing regimes. all of these “solutions” get implemented for the sake of addressing the supposed “point a” of numerous societal ailments. a second crucial concern – one which gets my focus on the experiences of latin@ children and families – is that in embracing a point a  point b approach, the research and policy discourse ignores the web of systems which support and contribute to the relationship between schools and incarceration. even systems widely recognized as broken and as contributing to educational equality, such as u.s immigration policy, are neither objects of study nor targets for reform within spp research. spp factors as interconnected noting this very issues, richardson and judge (2013) thoughtfully caution spp scholars and practitioners to consider the “causal connections”, the “magnitude and directions,” as well as the “theoretical and methodological consequences” (p. 1) of framing this criminalization phenomenon using the “pipeline” metaphor. at the heart of their complex argument is the following multi-tiered claim: the common trend in the spp literature of contrasting student behaviors and positioning “racial disparities as the predictable outcome” (p.4) of such behaviors risks conceiving of these factors as individually independent when, in actuality, all behaviors and events “are embedded, or indebted, to others, and are so across different times and locations” (p.4) while also not always, necessarily or purposefully intending to work together. thus, in spp studies, while the interconnectedness of factors (students’ race, school policies, gender, etc.) are acknowledged in the literature as causing the spp, their intersectionality (crenshaw, 1991) and multiplicity (hames-garcia, 2011) tends to be “blurred or only verbally acknowledged” (richardson & judge, 2013, p. 4) and single factors with “signifi cant” statistical relationships are the only ones studied. thus, richardson & judge’s assertively propose that, instead, spp factors get understood and studied as interdependent ones that behave in relation to each other. this would imply viewing the currently recognized spp outcome – incarceration – as an outcome of these intersecting relationships and the “pipeline” as an interconnected system. richardson’s and judge’s (2013) argument stands out in the larger spp literature as confronting the prevailing assumption that the relationship between schools and incarceration is unidirectional, deterministic and experienced by latin@s and other minoritized groups in ways similar to that of african american students. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 22 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: i here take up their critique and build upon it by suggesting that hames-garcia’s (2011) and crenshaw’s (1991) intersectional and multiplicity frameworks be utilized in researching the roles of additional institutions, systems and student/community populations not yet considered in the dominant “pipeline”-anchored spp research. the need to understand the spp beyond white-black experiences as mentioned earlier, mainstream spp research has historically focused on the school-based criminalization experiences of african american males in relation to those of white males (portillos, gonzalez, & peguero, 2012). there are, however, a small number of scholars who have begun to expand spp research in ways that refl ect the need to consider other spp factors outside of punitive school policies, a discriminatory criminal justice system and the experiences of african american males. for example, morris (2012), who is interested in the spp experience of black girls, calls for spp researchers to go beyond studying the spp in the context of african american males and apply “rigorous intersectional [crenshaw, 1991] and comparative analysis” (p.3) that questions the epistemological assumptions of dominant spp research and works to develop “culturally competent, gender-responsive policies” that may more effectively disrupt the pipeline (p.3). similarly, meiners (2011, 2006) encourages researchers and practitioners to study the spp experiences of lgbtq students, particularly through feminist theoretical frameworks. similarly, gebhard (2013) points out the absence of the study of “aboriginal youth’s” experiences in the spp literature. relatedly, morín (2009), writing about latin@s and incarceration, highlights that we must pay attention to the role that “myths [that link] criminality to immigration status” (oboler, 2009, p. 2) play in the experiences of this population. finally, timmons flores (2013) and scott and saucedo (2013) argue that spp researchers must study the role that deportation, (and its related incarceration), play within the spp experiences of latin@s and immigrant communities, in general. along with other scholars researching families and incarceration (gadsden & genty, in press), timmons flores (2013) argues that spp research and advocacy must expand to include the criminalization experiences of parents and families. as a whole, i believe the arguments of these non-mainstream spp scholars provide a strong rationale for examining the uses and limitations of the current “pipeline” metaphor, and further expanding the spp focus beyond experiences of african american male students, so that school-based criminalization may be more complexly understood and most effectively addressed. spp research on latin@ youth in this section, i review the nascent spp research on the experiences of latin@ youth. the concept of “criminalization” is one consistently present across this non-mainstream spp research branch. thus, in this section i position this term as central to demonstrating how the spp literature on latin@ experiences – albeit not quite questioning the direction, causality and advocacy implications of the “pipeline” metaphor – portrays school-based criminalization as an interconnected system (richardson & judge, 2013) or web of policies and practices that together criminalize latin@ youth and families. thus, the research described below does not fully anchor itself on a “pipeline” metaphor. further, it contains studies which have made a concerted effort to portray latin@s and latin@ immigrants as a heterogeneous groups whose criminalization experiences must be studied through theoretical frameworks that account for this characteristic, such as critical race theory’s “latcrit” (portillos, gonzales, & peguero, 2012. in terms of organization, i begin this section by describing how two central studies conceptualize “criminalization” in ways that resemble a web metaphor. from there, i briefl y discuss the key roles that schools, immigration and families play in the criminalization web that this literature identifi es39. conceptualizing “criminalization” 39. due to time and space limitations, this section does not include all spp studies that address the criminalization experiences of latin@ youth. instead, i focus on a small number of representative studies that portray larger trends in the literature as they relate to a) identifying specifi c points in a web of criminalization, and b) to applying non-mainstream theoretical frameworks, such as latcrit, as analytical tools. further, the particular points in the web on which i focus (schools, immigration and families) are a few from a larger number of the factors and actors (not all reviewed here) that are criminalization players. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 23 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: based on his ethnographic study on the criminalization of black and latino boys in california, sociologist and ethnic studies scholar, victor rios, defi nes “criminalization” as “the [systematic] process by which styles and behaviors are rendered deviant and are treated with shame, exclusion, punishment, and incarceration” by a “youth control complex” – i.e. “schools, police, probation offi cers, families, community centers, the media, businesses, and other institutions” (rios, 2011, p. xiv). this framework speaks to richardson’s and judge’s (2013) proposal to reconceptualize spp as a system of interconnected factors, rios (2011) theorizes school-based discrimination in a way that usefully avoids the unidirectional and essentializing implications of a “pipeline” metaphor. his proposal of a “complex” allows one to see the interconnectedness of various criminalizing institutions (richardson & judge, 2013) and factors, along with their “intersectionality” (crenshaw, 1991) and “multiplicity” (hames-garcia, 2011). furthermore, by suggesting a “complex”, rios shifts the origin (point a in the spp concept) of criminalization away from schools and towards a system. as a result, we are forced to notice that there are interactions between institutions and actors, which together position students as criminals. further, in a “complex” metaphor, imprisonment (point b in the “pipeline” metaphor) is one, out of various, possible outcomes. similarly to rios’ (2011) “complex,” in their study on how “chicanas/os and school offi cials perceive and experience … [punitive] techniques as part of a broader process of criminalization” (p.172), portillos, gonzalez and peguero (2012), do not take up a “pipeline” metaphor. instead, they build upon engel and silver’s (2001) defi nition of criminalization as “unfair punishment in a specifi c setting” (p.173) and further conceptualize this phenomenon as “a broad process where multiple criminal justice policies and agencies are used to disproportionately process latina/o youth through the criminal justice system” (p. 173, emphasis mine). though their defi nition does not provide a clear web-like visual, such as a “complex” (rios, 2011) or system (richardson & judge, 2013), the description of a “broad process” with “multiple” actors, stands in sharp contrast to a “school-to-prison pipeline” metaphor, which clearly identifi es two specifi c actors in the narrow criminalization process that this pipeline creates. further, “broadness and multiplicity of actors” connotes that criminalization takes places across more sites than just “the school”, that there is an interaction between multiple “policies and agencies” and that there are more outcomes than becoming part of the criminal justice system. as these two representative studies show, the “pipeline” metaphor has been far less utilized and centered in research pertaining to the criminalization experiences of latin@s in schools. the role of schools in criminalization web as i mentioned in the introduction to this section, spp studies that focus on latin@s’ experiences of school-based criminalization identify specifi c actors in the criminalization system, “complex” or “broad process” in schools. in this subsection, i present three arguments40 on the role that schools play in the criminalization system that spp researchers on latin@s’ experiences put forth, and which portray the school as one of many players in the criminalization process. it is imperative to note that each of these arguments about the criminalization roles of schools are equally about the role of the jim crow legacies of the u.s. criminal justice system and about the eurocentric ideologies in u.s. society as they are about their manifestations within schools. criminalization in schools leads to multiple outcomes. a key fi nding that rios (2011) discusses in his study, one which speaks specifi cally about the “outcome” of the criminalization “complex” of black and brown bodies in schools – is that criminalization can also lead youth to develop a critical consciousness which allows them to see the dynamics of this criminalization complex and denounce the oppression they endure. students might still end up dropping out, as fine (1991) argues in framing dropouts: notes on the politics of an urban public school. yet, as she points out, and as rios likely believes, their leaving school is often a choice made as a result of developing this critical consciousness and recognizing the institutional racism that criminalizes them within and beyond school. what rios and fine propose here are important points to consider; they allow us to 40. these are not the only three arguments that this literature presents on the role of schools in the criminalization experiences of latin@ youth. however, due to space and time limitations, i present these three as representative of larger trends. there likely are other studies, which highlight additional contributions by schools to the criminalization of this community. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 24 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: conceive of student agency and to also recognize that critical consciousness development – as a result of school disciplinary policies shaped by a racist criminal justice system – does not always guarantee, or imply, a different outcome than incarceration. it does, however, imply different dynamics and causations to incarceration within the criminalization web of policies and practices that shape school environments. similarly to how rios’ introduces agency and critical consciousness as a possible outcome of schools’ punitive policies, portillos, gonzales and peguero (2012), use their fi ndings to argue that criminalization is “one possible outcome of school security measures” (p. 172) and not the sole one, since in some instances their study’s chicano/a students did fi nd that punitive school policies “provide[d] [chicano/a students with] a sense of security” (p.172). thus, though their overall fi ndings do support the claim that punitive school policies turn schools into “racialized spaces” – which the authors defi ne as criminalizing places (resulting from discriminatory school security measures and eurocentric ideologies) that disproportionately punish and devalue the language and culture of racial and ethnic minorities – the authors also emphasize that these spaces are not experienced by all students as criminalizing. portillos, gonzales and peguero (2012) present a complex argument which i believe results from their choice to move beyond the “pipeline” metaphor, as well as to center critical race theory’s lat crit41 as a central analytical framework. their claims, along with rios’ (2011), provide a more complicated understanding of the role that schools play in the process of criminalization of latin@s while still proving that inequity and injustice are prevalent in schools and have serious racialized consequences. schools refl ect societal discriminatory practices. grounding themselves in a latcrit analysis framework, portillos, gonzales and peguero (2012) explain that the school-based criminalization of latin@ students takes place through the eurocentric socialization that students experience in u.s. public schools, so that they are taught to accept their inferiority as students belonging to a culture with social practices, behaviors, knowledge, experiences, languages and cultures that do not match those privileged in schools (solorzano & delgado bernal, 2001). thus, central cultural practices such as speaking spanish or hanging out in large groups with friends, for example, are deemed punishable in schools via “zero tolerance” policies and/or via the social and pedagogical practices of educators and administrators. as mentioned before, though these oppressive practices are reproduced within schools (bourdieu, 1973) and thus shape the role that schools have in the process of criminalization, they do not solely originate in schools. therefore, though portillos, gonzales and peguero (2012) describe these criminalization features as delivered within schools, they are careful to bring it a latcrit framework to explain that the origin of criminalization are the eurocentric and nativist ideologies that enter the schools and get reproduced there (bourdieu, 1973). i would say that these ideologies result from the mutual constitution (hames-garcia, 2011) and intersection (crenshaw, 19991) of various systems of oppression and that, together, they reshape each other and inform educational norms and expectations. the experiences of families in the criminalization web the relationships between the criminalization of students and the criminalization of their parents. an under-researched aspect of spp in relation to latin@’s experiences is that which considers the role that the school-based criminalization of students has on their families. in his 2011 ethnography, rios briefl y discusses the concept of “courtesy stigma” (p.83), which he borrows from goffman (1967), to describe the “countless descriptions [by school police offi cers and administrators] of parents as “deviants” by virtue of being related to the stigmatized, i.e. criminalized, youth (rios, 2011, p.87). unfortunately, beyond rios’ brief exploration, there is a crucial dearth of spp literature that looks into this part of the criminalization web. when considering how the criminalization of latin@ parents affects their children, campano et al. (2013) 41. critical race theory (crt) seeks to theorize race and racism as it intersects (crenshaw, 1991) politically, structurally and representationally with other forms of oppression (sexism, classism, etc.), as well as to challenge mainstream ideologies and dominant eurocentric epistemologies such as fairness, colorblindness, objectivity, truth and meritocracy (sleeter & delgado bernal, 2004). one of the branches of crt is latcrit theory, which layers crt’s intersectionality framing further by analyzing the heterogeneous positionalities, identities and racialized experiences of latin@s in relation to language, culture, accent, gender, immigration status, migration, ethnicity and religion/spirituality, for example. thus, when applied to analyzing the spp as it relates to latin@ families and children, latcrit powerfully enriches the current analysis on the causes and consequences of school-based criminalization by bringing in these complex intersectionality layers and yielding a more nuanced understanding of it. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 25 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: and jimenez-castellanos and gonzales (2012) contribute important arguments. campano et al. (2013) highlight the ways in which truancy policies in schools are disconnected from the realities of immigrant families, so that the bureaucratic and punishing truancy policies ignore the language, literacy, cultural and documentation practices that non-mainstream, non-white families engage in on a daily basis. in doing so, truancy policies position parents as criminals by making assumptions about their behaviors, intentions and abilities that are not culturally nor linguistically knowledgeable, and which assume ease of interaction with mainstream language and literacy practices, as well as with bureaucracy, schools, criminal justice and immigration systems, that is not present. thus, i believe this argument demonstrates that parents and students experience criminalization in interconnected, interdependent ways, so that the criminalization of one affects and defi nes the criminalization of the other. hence, challenging this harsh treatment also requires intergenerational coalitional work. in their paper, campano et al. (2013) emphasize the coalitional work that minoritized parents do engage in to help each other, and each other’s children, move through the criminalization they face in schools, and in society as a whole. regrettably, there is a lack of similar further research, contextualized in the spp, which takes up this kind of resource-approach to how families and their children work experience criminalization and work, in coalition with each other, to challenge the criminalization they face in and beyond schools. the school-based criminalization of families and students is defi ned by nativist ideologies that originate outside of this site. timmons flores (2013) and scott and saucedo (2013) also view the criminalization experiences of students as related to their parents’, as well as fully infl uenced by nativist immigration ideology. for example, these authors argue that the myths of “immigrants as criminals42” (portillos, gonzales, & peguero, 2012; scott, saucedo, 2013) and prevailing stigmas such as “all latin@s are undocumented” (timmons flores, 2013) have “made their way into schools and consequently exarcerbat[ed] the marginalization of an already vulnerable youth population: the children of immigrants” (peguero, 2013). similarly to how campano et al. (2013), timmons flores (2013) and (peguero, 2013) argue that the criminalization experiences of students are tied to that of their parents and vice-versa, as well as to nativist ideologies, jimenez-castellanos and gonzales (2012) have explored the effect that micro-aggressions on undocumented latino fathers have on their levels of parental engagement (which connect to how their children are criminalized in schools). these authors’ argument is simple: parents encounter severe micro-aggressions – related, among others, to their race, gender and immigrant status – which exclude them from the school community and which result in parents’ signaling to the school that they do not value their children’s education. one example of this process is latin@ students’ missing class because their parents fear immigration raids at schools, which is a fear that results from micro-aggressions targeting the parents’ and families’ immigrant status. like campano et al. (2013), jimenez-castellanos and gonzalez (2012) bring the concept of “funds of knowledge” (gonzalez, moll & amanti, 2005) to frame the parents’ resilience in the face of this criminalization through a resource-orientation lens. this is an analytical choice that i believe should be taken up in further spp studies, in order to ensure that the criminalization experiences of latin@s are not understood in simplistic, deterministic or defi cit-oriented ways. similarly, both of these articles seek to understand the criminalization effects of parents in relation to their children and vice versa, as well as to document the role that eurocentric policies and ideologies in our society at large play within and beyond criminalization processes in and beyond schools, which i believe must also play a larger role in the spp literature to come. finally, the immigration-based framing present across the literature i discussed in this section demonstrates that immigration policies and nativist ideologies, as they intersect with the criminal justice system43 42. relatedly, in a study focused on the role that generational immigration status and gender play on latin@ students’ criminalization in schools, peguero and shekarkhar (2011) found that second and third generation students are punished the most in schools and that latinas have higher drop out rates than latinos, a phenomenon which urgently requires further study. i have not included a longer review of this study within this section on immigrant families due to space and time limitations. nonetheless, i want to emphasize that this study challenges the “all immigrants are criminals” myth since it argues that second and third generation youth have higher rates of misbehavior (though their rates of punishment are still discriminatory and disproportionate in relation to their actual rates of misbehavior), so recent immigrants do not misbehave at higher rates than u.s born students. 43. legal studies scholar juliet stumpf (2006) has been researching the collaboration between the criminal justice and immigration systems and calling this scholarship’s subject “crimmigration.” her research helps one see how the education, criminal justice and immigration systems conspire to create a “school to deportation pipeline” (timmons flores, 2013), which identifi es deportation (and its related incarceration) as a possible outcome of immigrant latin@ youth and families criminalization in schools. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 26 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: and education systems, are additional actors – not currently acknowledged in the dominant spp research – in an interconnected, mutually constituting, system of practices and policies working together to construct and sustain the criminalization of latin@s in schools. conclusion in this paper, i have sought to review the spp research, particularly the nascent spp research that focuses on the criminalization experiences of latin@ youth and families, in order to argue for the need to reconceptualize the current “pipeline” metaphor that anchors dominant spp studies. i have also sought to reframe spp studies through intersectionality (crenshaw, 1991) and mutual constitution frameworks (hames-garcia, 2012). my argument’s intention is that we may then view the multiple policies and social practices that together criminalize latin@ students and their families as an interconnected, mutually constituted and together forming an interdependent system or web with factors and actors beyond the currently recognized education and criminal justice systems. my hope is that this expansion and shift in how the criminalization of minoritized students is conceptualized would allow scholars and practitioners to gain a more nuanced, culturally responsive, and comparative understanding of the criminalization process as it manifests within and beyond schools and across communities. and, as a result, that advocacy and research efforts to disrupt the spp would also target institutional policies and social practices that work together to powerfully impact school-based criminalization of minoritized students and yet remain largely ignored in the spp literature. as i sought to demonstrate in this paper, this re-conceptualization of school-based criminalization as a web more accurately illustrates latin@s’ experiences of criminalization than the dominant “pipeline” metaphor does. current spp research on latin@s shows that some of these currently overlooked actors include nativist immigration policies and related ideologies that sustain criminalizing myths about latin@s, as well as discriminatory eurocentric pedagogical and social, linguistic and literacy practices within schools that encourage minoritized students to commit symbolic violence (bourdieu, 1973) on themselves (self-criminalize while believing it makes sense to do so). indeed, the spp criminalization of latin@s we see is a result of injustices within the criminal justice and education systems but we must not limit our research and advocacy to these sites. finally, i also hope that this paper encourages researchers and practitioners to apply intersectional analysis frameworks, such as critical race theory, concerned with understanding oppression in intersectional, nonessentializing and deterministic ways. as scholars whose work i reviewed here already urged us to do, we must pay careful attention to how all minoritized communities (families and children, male, female, transgender and gender non-conforming) experience criminalization within and beyond schools. comparative and intersectional spp research would benefi t all criminalized and mainstream communities equally. researchers and practitioners committed to truly effective, culturally responsive and sustainable equity in schools must build on the incredibly useful groundwork of mainstream spp scholars who constructed the pipeline metaphor and now reframe how we understand and attempt to disrupt criminalization in, and beyond, schools, in a way that most complexly and accurately illustrates what is going on in our communities. i hope this paper, which refl ects a beginning and imperfect thinking-through spp research on latin@s, is a useful step for others in this process. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 27 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: references advancement project. (2010). test, punish, and push out: how “zero tolerance” and high-stakes testing funnel youth into the school-toprison pipeline. washington, dc: advancement project. retrieved from http://www.advancementproject.org/resources/entry/test-punish-and-push-out-how-zero-tolerance-and-high-stakestesting-funnel advancement project. (2005). education on lockdown: the school to jailhouse track, washington, dc: advancement project. retrieved from http://www.advancementproject.org/resources/entry/education-on-lockdownthe-schoolhouse-to-jailhouse-track alabama section 28. (2011). alabama house bill 56, section 28, signed june 9, 2011. retrieved from http://latindispatch.com/2011/06/09/text-of-alabama-immigration-law-hb-56/ alexander, m. (2012). the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. new york: the new press. arya, n., villarruel, f., villanueva, c., & augarten, i., (2009) american’s invisible children: latino youth and the failure of justice. [policy brief]. race and ethnicity series. campaign for youth and justice & national council of la raza. bahena, s., cooc, n., currie-rubin, r., kuttner, p., & ng, m. (2012). disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. cambridge: harvard educational review. benner, a. d., & graham, s. (2011). latino adolescents’ experiences of discrimination across the fi rst 2 years of high school: correlates and infl uences on educational outcomes. child development, 82(2), 508–19. bernhard, j. k., freire, m., bascunan, l., arenas, r., verga, n., & gana, d. (2004). behaviour and misbehaviour of latino children in a time of zero tolerance: mothers’ views. early years: an international journal of research and development, 24(1), 49-62. bracy, n. l. (2010). student perceptions of high-security school environments. youth & society, 43(1), 365–395. cammarota, j. (2004). the gendered and racialized pathways of latina and latino youth: multiple struggles and different resistances in the urban school context. anthropology and education quarterly, 35(1), 53-74. campano, g., ghiso, m.p., yee, m., & pantoja, a. (2013). toward community research and coalitional literacy practice for educational justice. language art,. 90(5). 314-326. casella, r. (2003). zero tolerance policy in schools: rationale, consequences, and alternatives. teachers college record, 105(5), 872-892. children’s defense fund. (2007). america’s cradle to prison pipeline report. retrieved from http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/cradle-prison-pipeline-report-2007-full-lowres.pdf children’s defense fund. (2009). moments in america for latino children. retrieved from www.childrensdefense. org/child-research-data-publications/moments-in-america-for-latino-children.html cregor, m., & hewitt, d. (2011). dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline: a survey from the fi eld. poverty and race research action council, 20(1), 5–7. retrieved from http://www.naacpldf.org/fi les/case_issue/prrac journal jan_feb 2011dismantling_the_school-to-prison_pipeline.pdf crenshaw, k. (1991) mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 43(6), 1241-1299. davis, a. y. (2003). are prisons obsolete? new york: open media. doe v. plyler. (1978). 458 f. sup.569, 577 (e.d. tex 1978). quoted in lopez & lopez, 2010, persistent inequality: temporary realities in the education of undocumented latina/o students (p. 16). new york, ny: routledge. dyrness, a. (2011). mothers united: an immigrant struggle for socially just education. minneapolis: university of minnesota press. evans, m.p., & didlick-davis, c.r. (2012). organizing to end the school-to-prison pipeline: an analysis of grassroots organizing campaigns and policy solutions. ejournal of education policy. fall 2012. northern arizona university. fairclough, n. (2003). analyzing discourse. new york, ny: routledge. farmer, s. (2010) criminality of black youth in inner-city schools: ‘moral panic,’ moral imagination, and moral formation. race, ethnicity and education, 13(3), 367-381. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 28 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: federal bureau of prisons. (2013, february 23). quick facts about federal bureau of prisons. u.s. department of justice. retrieved from http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp fenning, p. a., pulaski, s., gomez, m., morello, m., maciel, l., maroney, e., schmidt, a., et al. (2012). call to action: a critical need for designing alternatives to suspension and expulsion. journal of school violence, 11(2), 105117. fernández, l. (2002). telling stories about school: using critical race and to document latina/latino education and resistance. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 45–65. fine, m. (1991). framing dropouts: notes on the politics of an urban public high school. albany: state university of new york press. fowler, d. (2011). school discipline feeds the “pipeline to prison”. phi delta kappan, 93(2), 14-19. gadsden, v. l. & genty, p. (eds.) (in press).). incarcerated pparents and tctheir children. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. gándara, p. c. & contreras, f. (2008) the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge: harvard university press. gilmore, r. (2007). the golden gulag: prisons, surplus, crisis, and opposition in globalizing california. new york, ny: new press. giroux, h. a. (2003). zero tolerance, domestic militarization, and the war against youth. social justice, 30(2), 59–65. giroux, h. a. (2000). public pedagogy and the responsibility of intellectuals: youth, littleton, and the loss of innocence. journal of advanced composition, 20(1), 9-42. goffman, e. (1967). interaction ritual. new york: pantheon. golash-boza, t.m. (2012). immigration nation: raids, detentions and deportations in post-9/11 america. boulder: paradigm publishers. gonzales, r. (2011). learning to be illegal: undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. american sociological review, 76(4), 602 -619. gonzález, j. c., & portillos, e. (2007). the under-education and over-criminalization of u.s. latinas/os: a post-los angeles riots latcrit analysis. educational studies, 42(3), 247–266. gregory, a., skiba, r.j., & noguera, p. (2010). the achievement gap and the discipline gap: two sides of the same coin? educational research, 39(1), 59-68. heitzeg, n. a. (2009). education or incarceration: zero tolerance policies and the school to prison pipeline. forum on public policy, 2, 1-22. hirschfi eld, pj., celinska, k (2011) beyond fear: sociological perspectives on the criminalization of school discipline. sociology compass. 5(1), 1-12. hames-garcía, m. (2011). identity complex: making the case for multiplicity. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. hosang, d. (2006). family and community as the cornerstone of civic engagement: immigrant and youth organizing in the southwest. national civic review, 58–61. irizarry, j. g. (2011). buscando la libertad: latino youths in search of freedom in school. democracy and education. 19(1), 1–11. jasis, p. m., & ordonez-jasis, r. (2011). latino parent involvement: examining commitment and empowerment in schools. urban education, 47(1), 65–89. jimenez-castellanos, o., & gonzalez, g. (2012). understanding the impact of micro-aggressions on the engagement of undocumented latino immigrant fathers: debunking defi cit thinking. journal of latinos and education. 11(4), 204-217. katz, s. r. (1997). presumed guilty: how schools criminalize latino youth. social justice, 24(4), 77–95. kim, c., losen, d., & hewitt, d. (2010). the school-to-prison pipeline: structuring legal reform. new york, ny: nyu press. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 29 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: kilgore, j. (2011). immigration and mass incarceration in the obama era: the new operation wetback. counterpunch. retrieved from: http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/08/04/the-new-operation-wetback/. kupchik, a. (2009). things are tough all over: race, ethnicity, class and school discipline. punishment & society, 11(3), 291–317. kupchik, a. (2010). homeland security: school discipline in an age of fear. new york, ny: nyu press. lopez, m. p., & lopez, g. r. (2010). persistent inequality: temporary realities in the education of undocumented latina/o students. new york, ny: routledge. losen, d., martinez, t., & gillespie, j. (2012) suspended education in california. los angeles, ca: the center for civil rights remedies at the university of california, los angeles civil rights project. losen, d., & gillespie, j. (2012) opportunities suspended: the disparate impact of disciplinary exclusion from school. los angeles, ca: the center for civil rights remedies at the university of california, los angeles civil rights project. mirsky, l. (2003). safersanerschools: transforming school culture with restorative practices. restorative practices e-forum. retrieved from http://www.iirp.org/pdf/ssspilots.pdf. mediratta, k., shah, s., & mcalister, s. (2009). community organizing for stronger schools: strategies and successes. cambridge, ma: harvard education press. meiners, e. r. (2011). ending the school-to-prison pipeline/building abolition futures. the urban review, 43(4), 547–565. meiners, e. r. (2007). right to be hostile: schools, prisons, and the making of public enemies. new york, ny: routledge. mohanty, s. (1997). literary theory and the claims of history: postmodernism, objectivity, multicultural politics. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. morris, m. (2012). race, gender, and the school-to-prison pipeline: expanding our discussion to include black girls. new york, los angeles: african american policy forum. moya, p. (2001). learning from experience: minority identities, multicultural struggles. berkeley and losangeles, ca: university of california press. naacp legal defense and educational fund, inc. (2005). dismantling the school to prison pipeline. report. retrieved from http://www.naacpldf.org/fi les/case_issue/dismantling_the_school_to_prison_pipeline.pdf national association for the advancement of colored people. (2005). interrupting the school to prison pipeline. washington, dc: naacp. national association of secondary school principals. (2011, may 6). briefi ng for administrators on complying with national and state immigration laws while protecting the rights of undocumented students. retrieved from http://www.nassp.org/content.aspx?topic=undocumented_students no child left behind act. (2001). no child left behind act, reauthorization of the elementary and secondary schools act, public law 107–110—passed january. 8, 2002, retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ esea02 oakes, j., & rogers, j. (2006). learning power: organizing for education and justice. new york, ny: teachers college press. oboler, z. (2009). behind bars: latino/as and prison in the united states. new york: palgrave macmillan. patel, l. (2013). youth held at the border: immigration, education and america. new york: teachers college press. peguero, a. a. (2013). immigration, schools and violence: assimilation and student misbehavior. sociological spectrum: mid south sociological association, 31(6), 695-717. peguero, a. a. (2012). the children of immigrants’ diminishing perceptions of just and fair punishment. punishment & society, 14(4), 429–451. peguero, a. a., & shekarkhar, z. (2011). latino/a student misbehavior and school punishment. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 33(1), 54–70. peguero, a. a. (2011). violence, schools, and dropping out: racial and ethnic disparities in the educational consequence of student victimization. journal of interpersonal violence, 26(18), 3753–72. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 30 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: peguero, a. a. (2009). victimizing the children of immigrants: latino and asian american student victimization. youth society, 41(2), 186-208. peguero, a. a. (2008). is immigrant status relevant in school violence research? an analysis with latino students. the journal of school health, 78(7), 397–404. perez, w. (2012). americans by heart: undocumented latino students and the promise of higher education. new york: teacher’s college. pew research center. (2009, april 14). a portrait of unauthorized immigrants in the united states. washington, d.c. phillips, s.d., cervantes, w., lincroft, y., dettlaff, a.j., & bruce, l. (eds.) (2013). children in harm’s way: criminal justice, immigration enforcement, and child welfare. washington, d.c.: jointly published by the sentencing project and first focus. accessed from: http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/cc_children%20 in%20harm%27s%20way-fi nal.pdf. popp, a. m., & peguero, a. a. (2012). social bonds and the role of school-based victimization. journal of interpersonal violence, 27(17), 3366–88. portillos, e. l., gonzález, j.c., & peguero, a.a. (2012). crime control strategies in school: chicanas’/os’ perceptions and criminalization. the urban review. 44(2). 171-188. plyler v. doe. (1982). plyler v. doe, 457 u.s. 202 457, no. 80-1538. retrieved from http://supreme.justia.com/cases/ federal/us/457/202/case.html raible, j., & irizarry, j. g. (2010). redirecting the teacher’s gaze: teacher education, youth surveillance and the school-to-prison pipeline. teaching and teacher education, 26(5), 1196–1203. richardson, j., & judge, d. (2013). the intergroup dynamics of a metaphor: the “school to prison pipeline.” journal of educational controversy. 7(1). retrieved from http://www.wce.wwu.edu/resources/cep/ejournal/ v007n001/a004.shtml. rios, v. m. (2011). punished: policing the lives of black and latino boys. new york: new york university press. rios, v. m (2009). the consequences of the criminal justice pipeline on black and latino masculinity. annals of the american academy of political and social science. (623), 150-162. rios, v. m. (2009) the racial politics of youth crime. latino studies, 6(1-2), 97-115. rios, v. (2006). the hyper-criminalization of black and latino male youth in the era of mass incarceration. souls, 8(2). 40-54 robertson, c. (2011, september 29). alabama wins in ruling on its immigration law. new york times, a16. retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/us/alabama-immigration-law-upheld.html sallo, m. (2011). school-to-prison-pipeline: zerotolerance policies for latino youth. [fact sheet]. washington: national council of la raza. retrieved from http://www.nclr.org/index.php/publications/school-to-prison_pipeline_zero_tolerance_for_latino_youth/ sanchez, p. (2013). “in between oprah and cristina”: urban latina youth producing a countertext with participatory action research. social justice, 36(4), 54-68. scott, r., & saucedo, m. (2013). mass incarceration, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the struggle over “secure communities” in illinois. journal of educational controversy. 7(1). skiba, r. j., horner, r. h., may, s. l., & tobin, t. (2011). race is not neutral: a national investigation of african american and latino disproportionality in school discipline, 40(1), 85-107. section 287g. (1996) immigration and nationality act of 1996, section 287(g). delegation of immigration authority. retrieved from http://www.ice.gov/news/library/factsheets/287g.htm solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8, 23-44. solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 3, 308-342. suarez-orozco, c., yoshikawa, h., teranishi, r., & suarez-orozco, m. m. (2011). growing up in the shadows: the association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 31 reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: developmental implications of unauthorized status. harvard educational review, 81(3), pp. 438-472. smith, d., & whitmore, k.f. (2005). literacy and advocacy in adolescent family, gang, school and juvenile court communities. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. street, b. (1995). social literacies: critical approaches to literacy in development, ethnography, and education. london, england: longman. taylor, d. (1996). toxic literacies. portsmouth, nh: heinemann. timmons flores, m. (2013). a dream deported: what undocumented immigrant youth need their schools to understand. journal of educational controversy, 7(1). retrieved from http://www.wce.wwu.edu/resources/ cep/ejournal/v007n001/a003.shtml valdes, g. (2001). learning and not learning english: latino students in american schools. new york, ny: teachers college press. vaught, s. (2012). institutional grief: prison, schooling, and racist melancholia. harvard educational review, 82(1), 52-77. vaught, s. (2011). racism, public schooling, and the entrenchment of white supremacy: a critical race ethnography. albany, ny: suny press. warren, m. r. (2010). community organizing for education reform. in m. orr & j. rogers (eds.), public engagement for public education: joining forces to revitalize democracy and equalize schools (pp. 139-172). palo alto, ca: stanford university press. wald, j., & losen, d. j. (eds.) (2003). deconstructing the school-to-prison pipeline: new directions for youth development. hoboken, nj: wiley & sons. welch, k., & payne, a. a. (2011). exclusionary school punishment: the effect of racial threat on expulsion and suspension. youth violence and juvenile justice, 10(2), 155–171. wessler, f. s. (2011). shattered families: the perilous intersection of immigration enforcement and the child welfare system. applied research center. retrieved from http://arc.org/shatteredfamilies winn, m. t., & behizadeh, n. (2011). the right to be literate: literacy, education, and the school-to-prison pipeline. review of research in education, 35(1), 147–173. association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 27 sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys claudia kouyoumdjian bianca l guzmán california state university, los angeles abstract many sex education programs do not conceptualize adolescent sexuality as a normative process of development, thus sexuality is not part of a holistic picture of health education. the current project examines the multiple determinants of adolescent boys’ sexual behaviors in the context of developing sex education. limited research has examined the simultaneous influence of individual, peer, partner, and parent factors on adolescent’s sexual behaviors. results suggest that adolescents’ substance use and self-efficacy were strong predictors of boys’ sexual behaviors. moreover, while parental and peer communication were not significant predictors, partner communication significantly influenced the number of sexual behaviors. overall, the results of the study suggest that comprehensive sex education programming could benefit from having multiple outcome goals that address the dual influence of substance use and risky sex, while including partners in fostering positive adolescent sexual health. introduction a sexual education revolution is needed in public schools that views adolescent sexuality as comprehensive and part of normative health development; this is particularly critical for latino boys. a substantial proportion of sex education within public schools in the u.s. consists of abstinence-only education (gresle-favier, 2010), which presence is determined primarily by the political climate of each state. in recent years abstinence-only education has increased in several states. for example, tennessee and utah have recently introduced legislation to increase abstinence-only programs in schools (the huffington post, 2012), which may encourage other states to pursue such policies. in some states, schools have rejected abstinence only federal funds and have included some comprehensive sex education (freking, 2008). yet, current sex education continues to be insufficient, lacking cultural components or often being conducted after school or in community agencies1. many sex education programs do not conceptualize adolescent sexuality as a normative process of development, thus sexuality is not part of a holistic picture of health education. health education has been consistently linked to academic success (murray, low, hollis, cross, & davis, 2007), thus, a well-integrated sex-education program curriculum can lead to adolescents who have greater health and in turn greater school success. research suggests that abstinence-only education2 renders adolescent sexual behavior as a deviant activity rather than a normative process, emphasizing moral values at the expense of health knowledge and skills (bay-cheng, 2003). an abstinence-only sex education agenda may deny adolescents the opportunity to foster sexual agency, and has been linked to higher teen pregnancy rates (stanger-hall & hall, 2011). alternatively, comprehensive sex education3 that is maturationally appropriate tends to emphasize sexual health as an ageappropriate developmental task. only a handful of programs nationwide cater to the sexual needs of boys in a culturally appropriate manner (i.e., tello, cervantes, cordova, & santos, 2010), leaving latino adolescents with limited health knowledge and at higher risk for negative sexual outcomes. 1. while providing sex education in a community setting is beneficial to both youth and agencies, it is also important to institutionalize sex curriculum into public schools. 2. abstinence-only education promotes being chaste until marriage (bay cheng, 2003). 3. comprehensive sex education includes knowledge, attitudes and skills about sexuality, and has been found to be effective in preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (chin, sipe, elder, mercer, chattopadhyay, jacob, et al. 2012) sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 28 despite decreasing general teenage pregnancy rates in (i.e., california teen birth rate of 29 per 1,0000) latino teens aged 15-19 continue to have the highest birth rate in 2010 (45 per 1,0000) when compared to other ethnic/racial groups. it has also been argued that these drops in teenage pregnancy rates are artificial because the state has continually eliminated funding for comprehensive sex education and it is expected that these rates will shortly continue an upward trend (center for research on adolescent health and development, 2012). given this information it continues to be important to understand why teenage pregnancy still exists, and what factors contribute to what states continually label as a public health concern. many comprehensive sex education programs have targeted adolescent females and in recent years health experts have acknowledged that not enough programming has occurred with adolescent males (ott, 2010). therefore, it can be posited that in order to better understand teenage pregnancy their needs to be more comprehensive sex education programs that specifically target the needs of young men. to more fully understand this argument it is important to examine what determinants influence an adolescent boy to engage in sexual behaviors. it is especially important to examine this perspective with a group of school aged latino males because most of the research that exists about male sexual development has an emphasis on sexual risk and deviance (ott, 2010). an emphasis on negative outcomes coupled with abstinence-only education, sets a tone of deviance in defining latino normative sexual experiences which includes kissing, touching, and intercourse. the current study contributes to the limited research on early adolescent latino boys by examining what sexual behaviors they engage in and what factors determine their sexual behaviors. therefore, the goal of the study was to examine how the following factors determine the number of sexual behaviors adolescent males engage in: (1) home language and maternal country of origin; (2) substance use and gang activity; (3) parent, peer, and partner sexual communication; and (4) sexual efficacy. the following sections provide a brief review of determinants that influence adolescent sexual behaviors. determinants of sex self-efficacy theory proposed by bandura (2001, p. 10) highlights how “competent and capable individuals feel as an important role in predicting behavior”. as part of a social learning perspective, self-efficacy is constructed in a cultural context where individuals learn gender-typed behaviors through reinforcement and observation (bussey & bandura, 1999). consequently, in latino and u.s. society young boys are socialized into constrained definitions of masculinity that are promoting early sexual activity, while living in a social context that deems their sexuality as deviant. in a home environment with conservative family norms, such as youth from immigrant latino families, early sexual activity may be negatively sanctioned (bordeau, thomas, & long, 2008). on the other hand, in a peer context that supports substance use and sexuality, adolescent early sexual activity may be promoted. few studies have examined the competing information adolescent receive, simultaneously. therefore it is important to examine multiple determinants that influence adolescents’ decision to engage in sexual behaviors. home language and maternal country of origin. past research suggests that the more acculturated an adolescent male is the more likely he is to engage in early sexual behaviors (marín & gamba, 2003), yet recent research has found this protective effect to disappear in regards to sexual activity (blake, goodenow, & o’donnell, 2001). acculturation has been defined as the process by which one is influenced by the host culture and one’s own culture of membership (berry 2003), which has been examined through factors such as home language and parental country of origin. substance use. substance use, such as alcohol and marijuana, have been found to be consistently associated with early adolescent sexual activity (deardorff, gonzales, christopher, roosa, & millsap, 2005; guzman & dello stritto, 2012). specifically, 25% of sexually active youth report alcohol or drug use before last sex (cdc, 2004). some studies have found that immigration status can play a protective role, with immigrant adolescent boys participating in less substance use in comparison to their u.s. born counterparts (blake, goodenow, & o’donnell, 2001). thus, substance use is a major determinant of risky sexual behavior that should sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 29 be understood in the context of acculturation. gang activity. research consistently support the theory that boys in gangs are more likely to engage in substance use and delinquent behaviors compared to their non-involved peers (curry & spergel, 1992; walkerbarnes & mason, 2004). additionally, young boys that engage in gang activity are also more likely to engage in risky sexual activity (voisin, salazar, crosby, diclemente, yarber, & staples-horne, 2004). during adolescence, a peer context that supports substance use and risky sex, may increase the need to conform by engaging in excessive substance use that may impair young boys decision-making abilities. parent, peer and partner communication. a factor contributing to adolescent’s sense of competence and decision-making is verbal persuasion, or listening to the encouraging words of trusted individuals. as such, parents, peers, and partners play a role in influencing adolescent’s confidence in their sexual efficacy and the extent to which they engage in sexual activity. research suggests that latino adolescents talk less with their parents about sex compared to other ethnic groups (hutchinson, 2002). when communication occurs it tends to focus on the consequences of sexual activity, such as teen pregnancy (guilamo-ramos, dittus, jaccard, goldberg, casillas, & bouris, 2006; guzman et al., 2003,). research suggests that boys may be receiving more communication from other sources, such as peers, that entail positive messages about sexual activity (epstein & ward, 2006). moreover, studies that have examined boys sexual communication with partners, suggests that partner communication (giordano, longmore, & manning, 2006), and a partner with a positive attitude about condoms are linked to consistent condom usage (small, winman, buzi, & smith, 2010). few studies have examined the influence of parents, peers, and partner communication about sex simultaneously. sexual self-efficacy. there is a growing body of research that suggests that it is a teen’s perception of how much control they have about their sexual behavior that impacts their decision to engage in sexual acts (ryan, franzetta, & manlove, 2007). for the purposes of the current study, sexual self-efficacy is defined as the confidence, perceived capacity/control and perceived ability to choose to engage in sexual behaviors (bandura, 2001; pearson, 2006). research suggests that sexual self-efficacy plays a positive role in birth control use, primarily condom use in latinos who are in a heterosexual relationship (pearson, 2006; ryan, franzetta & manlove, 2007; villaruel, jemmott, jemmot, & ronis, 2004). moreover, sexually active adolescents who have self-efficacy to communicate about sex with peers and parents are more likely to engage in safer sex practices (halpern-felsher, kropp, boyer, tschann, & ellen, 2004). for example, in an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents and young adults, feelings of self-efficacy were linked to contraceptive use, particularly for boys (black, sun, rohrbach, & sussman, 2011). further research is needed to better understand how self-efficacy impacts various aspects of sexuality for early adolescent boys. to better understand how comprehensive sex education can meet the needs of latino early adolescent boys the goal of the current study was to examine how diverse factors simultaneously impact sexual behaviors. we believe that home language and maternal country of origin will play a protective role, being linked to lower levels of sexual behaviors. substance use and gang activity will increase the number of sexual behaviors. maternal and paternal communication will be linked to lower levels of sex, while peer and partner communication will be linked to greater numbers of sexual activity. lastly, sexual efficacy will be associated with lower levels of sexual behaviors. method sample and procedure the data used for the current study are derived from a large scale intervention study called the community awareness and motivation partnership (camp), which is a theater-based project aimed at decreasing teenage pregnancy rates and increasing the safer sex behavior of adolescent males and females through safer sex comprehensive education. the camp theater project is a humorous bilingual, bicultural performance that is sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 30 tailored primarily for latino audiences, through a mix of culturally relevant music and dramatization skits. the use of culturally responsive, age-appropriate actors has allowed the theater presentation to be poignantly realistic to the participating adolescents. the content of the skits is comprehensive, focusing on sexual pressure, hiv/aids, sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancy, drug/alcohol use, lgbtq community and relationship violence (for an additional discussion of the camp project see guzmán et al., 2003). the current study focuses on the 9th grade class from one high school campus in a low-income community. a total of 338 adolescents who returned signed consent and assent forms participated in the intervention. the data from the current study is from the pre-test questionnaire before adolescents had participated in the intervention. the sample for the current study consisted of 167 males who self-identified as being latino and whose mean age was 14.4 years. nearly half (49%) of the boys lived in homes in which spanish was spoken the majority of the time by the adults in the household, 23% spoke primarily english, and 28% spoke both english and spanish. moreover, 95% of adolescents reported being heterosexual and 27.5% reported currently having a girlfriend. table 1 displays the demographic characteristics of the subsample. table 1. participant demographics characteristics frequency percentage (%) language spoken at home english 38 23 spanish 82 49 english and spanish 47 28 maternal country of origin us born 32 19.2 foreign born 117 70.1 i don’t know 18 10.8 grades on most recent report card mostly a’s 36 21.2 mostly b’s 64 37.6 mostly c’s 43 25.3 mostly d’s and f’s 19 11.2 participation in gang activity never 131 78.4 measures sexual behavior. sexual behavior was derived by summing the nine possible sexual behaviors measured as listed in table 2. the sexual behavior total score was created by adding the number of sexual behaviors adolescents reported. scores ranged from 0 = never engaged in any sexual behavior to 9 = engaged in all sexual behaviors listed, with boys reporting a mean of 3.36 behaviors. sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 31 table 2. type of sexual activity characteristics frequency (%) have you ever engaged in any of the following activities? kissing 139 (83.7 %) masturbation 75 (46%) making out with clothes off 44 (27%) anal sex 18 (11.1%) making out with clothes on 117 (70.9%) oral sex 41 (25.5%) hand job 42 (25.9%) vaginal sex 36 (22.4%) digital stimulation 43 (26.7%) *this data does not account for individuals who may have participated in more than one sexual behavior, and therefore percentages will not add to 100%. home language and maternal country of origin. participants were asked what language the adults in their home spoke most of the time, and were provided three response choices: “1= english”, “2= spanish”, and “3= both english and spanish”. moreover, participants reported the country of origin of their mothers (i.e. 1 = u.s.-born, 2 = foreign-born). substance use. substance use was measured by eight items that asked how many times in the last month they had used a particular substance, as listed in table 3. the response choices included 1= “never”, 2= “1 time”, 3= “2 to 4 times”, 4= “5 or more times.” a total substance use score was calculated using the following method. for each substance category, response choices 2 through 4 were collapsed, (combining usage anytime in the past month or earlier). the resulting scores for each substance category were summed to calculate the total substance use score. scores ranged from 0 to 8, with adolescent boys reporting a mean of 1.68 substances used. sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 32 table 3. risky behavior characteristics frequency (%) have you ever engaged in any of the following activities? drank alcohol 91 (55.2%) marijuana 56 (32.9%) inhalants 36 (21.4%) participated in gang activity 36 (21.2%) smoked cigarettes 33 (19.6%) prescription drugs 23 (13.8%) ecstasy 21 (12.7%) cocaine 12 (7.1%) lsd 9 (5.4%) gang activity. participants were asked how often they had participated in gang activities in the last month and were provided with the following response choices: 1= “never”, 2= “1 time”, 3= “2 to 4 times”, 4= “5 or more times.” parent, peer and partner communication. a 3-item sub-scale was used that measured how frequently in the last 6 months (5 = 5 or more times to 1= never) teens engaged in the following conversations: 1) your questions about sex, 2) ways to prevent a pregnancy, 3) ways to protect yourself from sexually transmitted infections/diseases (stis/stds). the same three questions were used to examine maternal communication, paternal communication, peer communication, and partner communication by developing a mean score for each communicative partner. the reliability for these scales were α = .89, α = .93, α = .85 and α = .92, respectively. higher scores on each sub-scale indicated more communication. sexual self-efficacy. this three-item measure asked about the participant’s self-efficacy to abstain from sex based on three vignettes. students responded to, “how sure are you that you could keep from having sex?” with three responses to choose from: “1= not sure at all”, “2= kind of sure”, “3= i’m sure i will.” the three items were scaled and the reliability is α = .69 level. the three scores were averaged and a mean score was calculated. results a correlational analysis was conducted, between the control variables (i.e. language, maternal country of origin) independent variables (i.e. substance use, gang activity, maternal communication, paternal communication, peer communication, partner communication, and self-efficacy) and the dependent variable (sexual behaviors) in order to examine the strength of the relationships among variables. as shown in table 4, the results indicate that there was a significant positive correlation between substance use and sexual behaviors. gang activity was also positively correlated with sexual behaviors. maternal country of origin was negatively associated with sexual behaviors, while home language was not associated with sexual behaviors. there was also a positive correlation between all four types of communication and sexual behaviors. there was a negative correlation between sexual efficacy and sexual behaviors. in order to further test our predictions and explore home language, maternal country of origin, substance use, gang activity, maternal communication, paternal communication, peer sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 33 communication, partner communication, and self-efficacy had a significant impact on boys’ sexual behaviors, a multiple regression analysis was conducted. table 4. zero-order correlations between sexual behaviors and predictor variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 sexual behavior ---language -.07 ---maternal country of origin -.15* .11 ---substance use .64** .07 -.03 --participated in gang activity .33** .10 .03 .46** --maternal communication .16* .16* -.03 -.06 .21** ---paternal communication .15* .29** .05 -.19** .25** .50** -- peer communication .26** .12 -.09 -.03 .18* .40** .18* --partner communication .31** -.14* .02* .01 .18* .45** .30** .45** --sexual selfefficacy -.36** -.13* -.01 -.24** -.25** .01 -.13* .02 -.05 --*p<.05, **p<.01 multiple regression a multiple regression analysis was used to test the predictive value of the multiple determinants of sexual behaviors. in step 1, the control variables, language was entered first into the equation followed by maternal country of origin. in step 2, substance use and gang activity were entered into the model. in step 3, maternal, paternal, peer and partner communication were entered. in step 4, adolescent sexual efficacy was entered. the data was entered in this order given previous evidence of an emerging theory of how sexual behaviors work in adolescent latino populations (guzmán & dello stritto, 2012). the results are shown in table 5. in step 1, the control variables accounted for less than 1% of the variance and were not significant predictors of sexual behavior. in step 2, substance use and gang activity were entered into the model, which explained 42% of the variance. in step 2, substance use was a significant predictor of sexual behavior, as well as language spoken at home. in step 3, we entered maternal, paternal, peer and partner communication, which explained 45% of the variance in the model. in step 3, substance use and home language remained significant predictors of sexual behavior; in addition, partner communication significantly predicted sexual behaviors. in step 4, we entered self-efficacy, which explained 49% of the variance in the model. in step 4, substance use, home language, partner communication remained significant predictors of sexual behaviors, in addition, adolescent sexual self-efficacy significantly predicted sexual behaviors. the results of the combined model proved significant in that r2 = .49, f(9, 125) = 15.06, p < .001, as spanish home language, substance use, and more partner communication increased, sexual behaviors also increased. additionally, as adolescents reported higher levels of sexual selfefficacy, adolescents engaged in less sexual behaviors. sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 34 table 5. regression results of the predictors of latino early adolescents’ sexual behavior model1 variables f (df) r2 δr2 b step 1 language 1.33 (2,132) .005 - -.33 maternal country of origin -.49 step 2 language 25.08 (4,130 ) .42 .42 -.55* maternal country of origin -.14 substance use .83* gang activity .15 step 3 language 14.41 (8,126) .45 .03 -.56* maternal country of origin -.17 substance use .75* gang activity .24 maternal communication -.30 paternal communication .05 peer communication .26 partner communication .52** step 4 language 15.06 (9,125) .49 .04 -.67* maternal country of origin -.17 substance use .71* gang activity .12 maternal communication -.23 paternal communication -.02 peer communication .23 partner communication .46** sexual self-efficacy -.98* *p<.05, **p<.01 discussion the current study is one of the few studies to address multiple influences on latino young boys’ sexual behaviors to aid in developing age-appropriate and culturally competent comprehensive sex education programs in schools. a comprehensive literature review of male adolescent sexuality suggests there is limited research on latino early adolescent boys (see smith, guthrie & oakley, 2005). previous research tends to focus on individual level determinants such as personality and risky behaviors to assess sexual activity in ethnic teens (lescano et al., 2009), and has not examined simultaneously the effects of parent, peer and partner communication on adolescent sexual behaviors. this study also used a normal distribution of boys attending high school, which may assist in generalizing results to a broader population. the results of our study are unique in that we have considered a variety of determinants that can impact the sexual health of latino early adolescent boys. first, the results suggest that maternal immigration status did not significantly predict sexual behaviors; sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 35 however, adolescents who came from homes where spanish was spoken were less likely to engage in sexual behaviors. future research needs to examine the protective factors that immigrant families contribute to adolescent behaviors. second, results suggest that substance use is a strong predictor of adolescent sexual activity. this finding is consistent with the general literature on adolescent sexual activity (donenberg et al., 2006) and suggests that programming that targets sexuality should also target other risky behaviors like alcohol consumption and marijuana use. third, similar to recent research on young girls’ sexual behavior (guzmán & dello stritto, 2012), maternal, paternal, and peer communication were not significant predictors of sexual behaviors. future research needs to consider alternative measures of parent and peer influence, as communication about sexuality may not be a salient topic among latino youth given the way we currently measure it. it may be that parent-child relationship quality in general may be playing a protective role in latino adolescent sexual behaviors. consistent with the literature was that partner communication about sexuality was predictive of adolescent sexual behaviors. lastly, sexual self-efficacy negatively predicted adolescent sexual behaviors, that is, adolescents with higher self-efficacy engaged in fewer sexual behaviors. such finding suggests that young boys may be more similar to girls in their sexual behavioral trends (guzman & dello stritto, 2012) than previously argued. overall, the results of the study suggest that comprehensive sex education programming could benefit from having multiple outcome goals that address the dual influence of substance use and risky sex, while including partners in fostering positive adolescent sexual health. while comprehensive sex education is not a new phenomenon, adolescents continue to be unjustly treated by policies that remove their access to quality sex information (the huffington post, 2012). this is particularly true for latinos, as they are less likely to support sex education in public schools compared to other ethnic groups (chappell, maggard, & gibson, 2010). thus, providing adolescents with comprehensive sex education in schools that allows for a space where youth can develop health-promoting sexual attitudes, knowledge, and skills, requires a culturally appropriate movement for change. adolescents need to feel competent and capable to make sexual decisions, as it is a critical component of sexual health, and thus an integral component of programming. on the other hand, families and schools need to define the sexuality of latino early adolescents as normative, rather than deviant, by embracing a holistic approach that emphasizes health across the lifespan. accordingly, sex education should be embedded into a health curriculum that is taught within the classroom, year round, and begins in early childhood. despite the surgeon general’s call for comprehensive sex education, and consistent research that links it to positive health outcomes, policies that silence opportunities to consider adolescent sexuality as normative continue to appear (the huffington post, 2012). subsequently, leaving adolescents with limited health knowledge, and placing them at a higher risk for negative outcomes and unprepared for adult sexual relations. sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 36 references bandura, a. (2001). social cognitive theory: an agentic perspective. annual review of psychology, 52, 1–26. doi: 10.1111/1467-839x.00024 bay-cheng, l. y. (2003). the trouble of teen sex: the construction of adolescent sexuality through school-based sexuality education. sex education, 3(1), 61-74. doi:10.1080/1468181032000052162 black, d., sun, p., rohrbach, l., & sussman, s. (2011). decision-making style and gender moderation of the selfefficacy-condom use link among adolescents and young adults: informing targeted sti/hiv prevention programs. archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 165(4), 320-325. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.17 blake, s. m., ledsky, r., goodenow, c., & o’donnell, l. (2001). recency of immigration, substance use, and sexual behavior among massachusetts adolescents. american journal of public health, 91(5), 794-798. doi:10.2105/ajph.91.5.794 bourdeau, b., thomas, v. k., & long, j. k. (2008). latino sexual styles: developing a nuanced understanding of risk. journal of sex research, 45(1), 71-81. bowleg, l., belgrave, f. z., & reisen, c. a. (2000). gender roles, power strategies, and precautionary sexual self-efficacy: implications for black and latina women’s hiv/aids protective behaviors. sex roles, 42, 613–635. doi: 10.1023/a:1007099422902 bussey, k., & bandura, a. (1999). social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation. psychological review, 106(4), 676-713. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.106.4.676 carvajal, s. c., parcel, g. s., basen-engquist, k., banspach, s. w., coyle, k. k., kirby, d., & chan, w. (1999). psychosocial predictors of delay of first sexual intercourse by adolescents. health psychology, 18(5), 443452. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.18.5.443 centers for disease control and prevention [cdc]. (2003). aids cases in adolescents and adults, by age-united states. hiv /aids surveillance supplemental report, 9(1), 1-24. centers for disease control and prevention [cdc]. (2004). surveillance summaries, mmwr (vol. 53, no. ss-2). retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf /ss/ ss 5302.pdf center for research on adolescent health and development, public health institute. (2012). no place for complacency. retrieved from http://teenbirths.phi.org/ chin, h. b., sipe, t., elder, r., mercer, s. l., chattopadhyay, s. k., jacob, v., & ... santelli, j. (2012). the effectiveness of group-based comprehensive risk-reduction and abstinence education interventions to prevent or reduce the risk of adolescent pregnancy, human immunodeficiency virus, and sexually transmitted infections: two systematic reviews for the guide to community prevention services. american journal of preventive medicine, 42(3), 272-294. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2011.11.006 deardorff, j., gonzales, n. a., christopher, f. s., roosa, m. w., & millsap, r. e. (2005). early puberty and adolescent pregnancy: the influence of alcohol use. pediatrics, 116, 1451-1456. doi: 10.1542/peds.2005-0542 epstein, m., & ward, l. (2008). ‘always use protection’: communication boys receive about sex from parents, peers, and the media. journal of youth and adolescence, 37(2), 113-126. doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9187-1 giordano, p. c., longmore, m. a., & manning, w. d. (2006). gender and the meanings of adolescent romantic relationships: a focus on boys. american sociological review, 71(2), 260-287. doi:10.1177/000312240607100205 greslé-favier, c. (2010). the legacy of abstinence-only discourses and the place of pleasure in us discourses on teenage sexuality. sex education, 10(4), 413-422. doi:10.1080/14681811.2010.515098 guilamo-ramos, v., dittus, p., jaccard, j., goldberg, v., casillas, e., & bouris, a. (2006). the content and process of mother-adolescent communication about sex in latino families. social work research, 30(3), 169-181. guzmán, b. l., schlehofer-sutton, m.m., villanueva, c.m., dello stritto, m.e., casad, b.j., & feria, a. et al. (2003). let’s talk about sex: how comfortable discussions about sex impact teen sexual behavior. journal of health communication, 8,583-598. doi: 10.1080/716100416 guzmán, b. l., & dello stritto, m. e. (2012). the role of socio-psychological determinants in the sexual behaviors of latina early adolescents. sex roles, 66(11-12), 776-789. doi:10.1007/s11199-012-0133-7 halpern-felsher, b. l., kropp, r. y., boyer, c. b., tschann, j. m., & ellen, j. m. (2004). adolescents’ self efficacy sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 37 to communicate about sex: its role in condom attitudes, commitment and use. adolescence, 39(155), 443-456. hutchinson, m. (2002). the influence of sexual risk communication between parents and daughters on sexual risk behaviors. family relations, 51(3), 238-247. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2002.00238.x kaestle, c. e., halpern, c. t., miller, w. c., & ford, c. a. (2005). young age at first sexual intercourse and sexually transmitted infections in adolescents and young adults. american journal of epidemiology, 161(8), (774-780). doi:10.1093/aje/kwi095 lescano, c. m., brown, l. k., raffaelli, m., & lima, l. a. (2009). cultural factors and family-based hiv prevention intervention for latino youth. journal of pediatric psychology, 34(10), 1041-1052. doi:10.1093/ jpepsy/jsn146 ott, m. (2010). examining the development and sexual behavior of adolescent males. journal of adolescent health, 46(4s), s3-11. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.01.017 pearson, j. (2006). personal control, self-efficacy in sexual negotiation, and contraceptive risk among adolescents: the role of gender. sex roles, 54(9-10), 615-625. doi: 10.1007/s11199-006-9028-9 ryan, s., franzetta, k. & manlove, j. (2007). knowledge, perceptions, and motivations for contraception: influences on teens’ contraceptive consistency. youth and society, 39(2), 182-208. doi:10.1177/0044118x06296907 small, e., weinman, m. l., buzi, r. s., & smith, p. b. (2010). explaining condom use disparity among black and hispanic female adolescents. child & adolescent social work journal, 27(5), 365-376. doi:10.1007/s10560010-0207-8 smith, l. h., guthrie, b. j., & oakley, d. j. (2005). studying adolescent male sexuality: where are we? journal of youth and adolescence, 34(4), 361-377. stanger-hall, k. f., & hall, d. w. (2011). abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: why we need comprehensive sex education in the u.s. plos one, 6(10). the huffington post. (2012, april 8). tennessee sex education bill promotes abstinence-only, warns against ‘gateway sexual activity.’ the huffington post. retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost. com/2012/04/08/tennessee-sex-education-b_n_1411100.html villaruel, a., jemmott, j. jemmott, l., & ronis, d. (2004). predictors of sexual intercourse and condom use intentions among spanish-dominant latino youth: a test of the planned behavior theory. nursing research, 53(3), 172-181. doi:10.1097/00006199-200405000-00004 voisin, d. r., salazar, l. f., crosby, r. r., diclemente, r. j., yarber, w. l., & staples-home, m. m. (2004). the association between gang involvement and sexual behaviours among detained adolescent males. sexually transmitted infections, 80(6), 440-442. doi:10.1136/sti.2004.010926 walker-barnes, c. j., & mason, c. a. (2004). delinquency and substance use among gang-involved youth: the moderating role of parenting practices. american journal of community psychology, 34(3-4), 235-250. doi:10.1007/s10464-004-7417-1 sex education justice: a call for comprehensive sex education and the inclusion of latino early adolescent boys invited.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 10 a brief demographic portrait sonia nieto university of massachusetts—amherst a demographic portrait, with particular emphasis on school-related issues, points to the dire situation of latino/a education. according to the 2010 census, the number of hispanics (the term used in government data) currently was 50,477,594 million, an increase of 43 percent since 2000, making this group the fastest growing of all ethnic/racial groups in the united states (u.s. census bureau, 2010). latinos/as represent 16 percent of the total u.s. population, meaning that they are the largest so-called “minority” group in the nation. approximately 63 percent of latinos/as living in the u.s. are of mexican origin, 9 percent are puerto rican, 3.5 percent are cuban, 3 percent are salvadoran and 2.8 percent are dominican, with smaller percentages of other central american, south american or other hispanic origin (u.s. census bureau, 2010). over half of all hispanics resided in 3 states: california, texas, and florida. nevertheless, the growth of the hispanic population in other regions of the nation has been dramatic. the 2010 census documented what many cities and towns throughout the nation had already experienced: between 2000-2010, the hispanic population grew in every region, most signifi cantly in the south and midwest. one reason for this increase is that the number of hispanics in states where they have not traditionally resided is growing exponentially. for example, in 2010, 36 percent of all hispanics resided in the south, a growth of 57 percent since 2000, or 4 times the growth of the total population growth in the south. in the midwest, the hispanic population grew by 49 percent, or 12 times the growth of the total population in the south. not surprisingly, latino/a children make up a large proportion of the growth of the community. for example, the percentage of latino/a children within the general population increased from 12 percent (5.1 million) in 1990 to 23 percent (12.1 million) in 2010, making this the fastest growing group of children in the country (aud et al., 2012). by 2020, it is estimated that one in every four children will be hispanic, and according to one report, this is already the case in u.s. preschool and kindergarten classrooms (u.s. census bureau, 2007). a young population, there are 17.1 million latinos/as aged 17 and younger in the u.s., more than 23 percent of the total age group in the nation. more than 12.4 million hispanic children attend the country’s elementary and secondary schools. nevertheless, less than half of all latino/a children have access to early learning programs, in spite of the fact that enrollment in such programs have been proven to improve the cognitive, social, emotional, and language development of children (department of education, 2011). although growing in number, the hispanic population is still underserved in many ways. strength in numbers alone, therefore, does not correlate with educational progress. for example, many latino/a children live in poverty. a 2012 report found that 63 percent of latino/a children lived in low-income families (what the national center for children in poverty describes as the “near poor”), and 32 percent lived in poverty, compared with 31 and 13 percent of white children, respectively (addy & wight, 2012). as a result of segregated residential housing patterns, more hispanic and african american students attend high-poverty schools (37 percent) than do asian/pacifi c islander (12 percent) or white (6 percent) students (aud et al., 2012). consequently, the educational attainment of latinos/as remains lower than that of any other group (aud et al., 2012). where students attend schools adds to the problem. urban areas, where most latino/a students live, tend to have school systems with crumbling infrastructures and fewer resources than suburban schools. because about 65 percent of latino/a students live in large urban areas, many attend schools in economically distressed communities. for instance, 37 percent of hispanic students attend high-poverty schools, that is, schools where 76 percent or more of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. in contrast, only 6 percent of white students attend high-poverty schools. at the elementary level, the percentage of hispanics who attend highpoverty schools is even higher at 45 percent, while for white students it is 7 percent (aud et al., 2012). english language learners (ells), who represent a signifi cant number of latino/a students, are especially vulnerable. numbering 4.7 million, they are about 10 percent of the nation’s students in grades k-12 (department of education, 2011). in fact, data show that approximately 37 percent of ells are behind their white peers a brief demographic portrait association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 11 in math and 47 percent are behind in reading. the situation worsens as they progress through the grades: by 8th grade, 51 percent of ells are behind whites in both reading and math (fry, 2008). specifi cally, 72 percent of ells score below basic in reading and 74 below basic in mathematics (department of education, 2011). according to one report, when english language learners are not isolated in low-achieving schools, their gap in test score results is considerably narrower (fry, 2008). given recent trends in dismantling desegregation efforts, the future looks grim for latino/a students who are segregated in low-achieving schools. the dropout rate among hispanic students has remained stubbornly high for decades, fl uctuating anywhere between 40-80 percent depending on the year (gandara & contreras, 2009; nieto, 2000b). currently, only about half of all latino/a students graduate from high school (department of education, 2011). between 1980 and 2011, while the percentage of hispanics who had attained a high school diploma or equivalency increased dramatically, from 58 to 71 percent, it was still markedly lower than for whites at 94 percent and blacks at 88 percent (aud et al., 2012). at the postsecondary level, the numbers are also alarming. from 1980 to 2011, the gap in the attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher between whites and hispanics had widened from 17 to 26 percent (aud et al., 2012). just 13 percent of latinos/as have a bachelor’s degree and only 4 percent have completed graduate or professional degree programs (department of education, 2011). all in all, the lack of academic success among latinos/as presents serious implications that reverberate within and well beyond the latino/a population. in the sections that follow, we discuss some of these implications through three lenses: interpersonal relationships, instructional strategies, and the broader institutional context of schools and society. a brief demographic portrait open_issues-12.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 37 barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: implications for educational achievement and mental health melissa l. morgan consoli university of california, santa barbara andrés j. consoli san francisco state university graciela león orozco san francisco state university rufus r. gonzales depaul university elizabeth m. vera loyola university chicago abstract the adversities faced by latina/o individuals and their families in the u.s. negatively impact educational outcomes as well as their mental and physical health. these adversities are often related to immigration status and acculturation and include diffi culties with immigration, language barriers, and discrimination. given that recent immigrants often experience many barriers, it is important to understand their perceptions of these barriers and their impacts on their lives and educational opportunities. we investigated barriers (social, individual or environmental phenomena which hinder or restrict normal developmental achievement and educational attainment) in the lives of six, fi rst-generation mexican immigrants. participants engaged in one to two hour semistructured interviews refl ecting on their perceptions of stressors, motivation and success in life. using thematic analysis and grounded theory, the barriers identifi ed include cultural, sociopolitical and social factors such as: life circumstances or cognitive barriers, barriers caused by safety concerns, acculturation or the immigration process, language barriers, and lack of resources. implications for educators and mental health professionals are discussed. introduction mexican immigrants to the u.s. make up 32% of all foreign-born residents of the u.s. and 66% of all latina/o immigrants. compared to other immigrant groups in the u.s., mexican immigrants are younger, have lower education levels, and have higher poverty and unemployment rates (pew hispanic center, 2009). there were approximately 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the u.s. as of 2012 with 6.3 million being of mexican origin. children constitute approximately one in six of the undocumented immigrant population (passel & cohn, 2009). almost half of the undocumented immigrants in the u.s. do not have a high school diploma (fortuny, capps, & passel, 2007). immigrant populations encounter multiple adversities, including immigration itself, markedly limited educational opportunities, discrimination, acculturation diffi culties, language barriers, cultural obstacles, economic insecurity, and other systemic oppression (cervantes, padilla, & salgado de snyder, 1991). immigrant individuals experience discrimination at school, at work, with friends and neighbors, and in public settings. encounters with discrimination have been found to be emotionally, psychologically, and physically harmful in multiple studies (alamilla, kim, & lam, 2010) and to affect daily life such that adults may not want to go to work or pursue an education, or children may avoid school. acculturative stressors involve stress in adjusting barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 38 to schools, neighborhoods, religious communities, and/or work places, as well as possible intergenerational confl icts (portes & rumbaut, 1990). language barriers can affect access to education, communication with children’s school personnel, range of job opportunities or job advancement possibilities, and access to healthcare services. a shortage of trained bilingual school personnel and mental health service providers contributes to the diffi culties experienced by monolingual immigrants (partida, 2007). in addition, more latina/o immigrants (18.6%) live in poverty than u.s. natives (12.5%) (u.s. census, 2009); living at the poverty level entails fi nancial stress, limited educational opportunities, less time to spend with family or attending to personal needs, lacking insurance, and living in communities with high crime rates (dohrenwend, 2000). stressors encountered in the u.s. are often different than those faced in the immigrant’s native country. efforts to cope with these stressors while simultaneously dealing with everyday life challenges may create a very high level of strain, which has been associated with depression, anxiety disorders, and suicide (lefcourt, 1989). such stress and illness inevitably impacts educational outcomes. specifi cally, studies investigating latina/o dropout have found it associated with lower socioeconomic status, school disengagement, and early pregnancy (feliciano, 2001). school dropout has been linked to later life problems, including increased adult violence, higher unemployment, and lower wages (laird, debell, & chapman, 2006). given the marked negative impact, it is benefi cial for educators and mental health professionals alike to better understand the barriers faced by mexican immigrants to the u.s., so these stressors can be addressed preventively, before they take a toll on educational achievement or lead to psychological problems. this qualitative study explores the barriers faced by six mexican immigrants to a large city in the midwestern u.s. through analysis of semi-structured interviews, themes of shared and unique barriers relevant to education and mental health emerged. method participants selection. dependable community contacts (i.e., individuals respected in their communities and holding positions of leadership) referred potential participants for the study. potential participants had to be fi rst-generation immigrants to the u.s. from mexico, at least 18 years of age, not currently experiencing severe psychological disorders, and successfully meeting developmental gains that were expected within their communities in at least one of three domains (i.e., work, family, or community) (see morgan, 2007). consistent with grounded theory methodology, participants were recruited until saturation was reached (strauss & corbin, 1998). description. participants were six mexican immigrants raised in various mexican states, four men and two women, ranging in age from 22 to 35 years old. time since immigration ranged from 2 to 17 years. all names were changed to protect the participants’ identities. daniel. daniel is a 22-year-old seminarian who came to the united stated the fi rst time through the services of a coyote, but returned two years prior to the interview with a student visa and studied theology and english in a catholic program that trains spanish speaking priests to serve the local latina/o population. alice. alice was in her early twenties and a recent graduate of a large, urban catholic university. she was born in the united states but moved to mexico (her parents’ homeland) at age two. she and her parents returned to the u.s. when she was a teenager so that her father could earn money toward retirement. the family stayed so that she could attend college. she was unemployed and lived with her parents at the time of the interview. andrés. andrés was a 20-year old seminarian participating in the same program as daniel and living in the same residential facility. he moved to the u.s. from central mexico three and a half years before to participate barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 39 in the religious training program. he also initially traveled to the u.s. illegally, but then studied under a student visa. he had older brothers living in the u.s., but most of his family members remained in mexico. pablo. pablo was a 22-year-old seminarian who moved to the united states four years before. he had no family in the u.s. and stated that he moved as a way to “learn about life.” geraldo. geraldo was a 29-year-old who came to the u.s. for the fi rst time without documentation 11 years ago, and who moved permanently to the u.s. eight years before the interview. he migrated to raise money and send it home to his family who lived in a small rural town. he lived with his male partner of fi ve years and worked as a cook in a restaurant. he lived near a large extended network of family members from his mexican hometown. sandra. sandra was a 35-year old woman who moved to the u.s. 17 years before the interview. she left mexico as a single mother of two sons, to escape an abusive relationship. at the time of the interview, she was married to another mexican immigrant and had a third son. she worked as a waitress, and planned to move back to mexico with her husband once retired. instruments qualitative data for the study was collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observation conducted by the researchers. semi-structured interview. the interview consisted of open-ended questions on daily life and the diffi culties encountered and descriptions of critical incidents where participants were able to overcome adversity. observation notes. the researchers made participant observation notes as journal entries after attending public events in the environments of the participants. notes were used both to develop cases and to provide context for interpretation of results. procedures potential participants were contacted after referral by the community contact. individuals who agreed to participate were given information about the study and scheduled for a one to two hour interview. interviews were conducted in english or spanish, depending upon preference, at a convenient community location chosen by the participant. trained translators were used for spanish interviews, when needed. written materials in spanish were translated and then back translated to ensure accuracy of meaning (marin & marin, 1991). researcher observations included visiting a parish and watching one of the seminarians conduct his work. observations were also made in and around the work or home environments of other participants. transcription of interviews. interview sessions were audio-taped with participants’ consent (all agreed) and then transcribed. spanish interviews were translated into english by one of three translators. if there was uncertainty on the part of a translator, a second translator was consulted to reach consensus (mcgorry, 2000). data analysis. interviews, transcriptions, and researcher observations provided data triangulation and served to increase the quality of the inquiry (creswell, 1998), while using thematic analysis (boyatzis, 1998) and grounded theory methodology (straus & corbin, 1998). two researchers independently reviewed the data, and then came together to reach consensus on themes and their defi nitions. the barriers identifi ed in each case were noted and recorded in the database. barriers were related to any life achievement, education, and/or mental barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 40 health. when a case was determined to exemplify barriers but did not fi t into previously determined categories, subcategories, or tertiary categories, the categories were adapted until all identifi ed cases of barriers were accommodated. the end result was a coding scheme broad enough to encompass all cases from all participants. results themes of barriers emerged as several categories: individual barriers (life circumstances and daily routines) systemic barriers (micro-systems, government, and threats to safety), cross-cultural barriers (acculturation, immigration process), and economic barriers (lack of money or resources) (see appendix a for defi nitions). each type of barrier is discussed below with examples. individual barriers individual barriers, or those barriers related to life circumstances, often created situations that made it diffi cult to consider or continue education. for example, sandra, who wished to fi nd new opportunities in the u.s., including furthering her education, discussed the following life circumstance when asked about experiences she had had where she found the strength to survive or “keep going”: sandra stated that she thought about this experience frequently and the memory disturbed her, at the same time as it reminded her of her own strength. three participants described instances of daily routine barriers. all refl ected tedious jobs and problematic schedules, which particularly interfered with materializing educational aspirations. for example, daniel discussed his life when he fi rst immigrated to the u.s. and took two jobs. he attempted to go to school, but encountered great diffi culties: daniel further described his daily schedule, which made it impossible for him to attend school: systemic barriers half of the participants discussed systemic barriers that were due to micro-systems such as work, gangs, sandra: el coyote trato también (the coyote tried also) and i say, you know, “hey, i’m gonna pay. why are you like… i mean, like what do you want?” (laughs nervously). and he tried, to like “hey, stay with me here in california.” “stay with me and my sisters.” and of course they tried to take … aa… interviewer: advantage? sandra: exactly. and i’m not stupid, you know. come on, i was like 17 years old, so i don’t think that i was… i tried to arrange like a student visa to try to get into school again, through the university, but i didn’t get any help on that. none of the universities would even recognize any of the requisite courses i had taken, i wasn’t even able to get the preliminary exams to even get into school… i realized that i needed to get a job just to survive so i attained a job at this company (company name) where i was a cashier there and worked for several months. i tried to arrange like a student visa to try to get into school again, through the university, but i didn’t get any help on that. none of the universities would even recognize any of the requisite courses i had taken, i wasn’t even able to get the preliminary exams to even get into school… i realized that i needed to get a job just to survive so i attained a job at this company (company name) where i was a cashier there and worked for several months. barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 41 or family. for example, geraldo discussed the expectation that when he moved to the u.s., with the help of several cousins, he would live with them and contribute to the rent so that money could be saved and sent back to their family in mexico. he also planned to attend classes and work. however, he found that that the cousins often drank too much alcohol and that he did not like living in that type of environment. he was faced with the confl ict of the familial expectation to contribute to the rent while at the same time taking care of his own needs. in this case, the necessity of living in crowded quarters with his family became the barrier to his achievements. three participants discussed examples that involved societal conventions, which got in the way of an individual receiving help, support, or education. one example is the societal stigma of seeing a psychologist. geraldo described feeling he needed to see someone for help when he arrived in the u.s. he felt that seeing a psychologist might give him the support he needed to pursue his goals. yet having to deal with his friends’ and families’ negative reactions was a major deterrent: “…they think that going to see a psychologist is for people that are crazy. and that is not true.” another case of societal conventions as barriers involved an immigrant not being initially open to customs in his new culture. andrés describes this feeling and subsequent realization: as andrés was able to become more “open” to different types of people, he felt he could avail himself better of the job and education possibilities in the u.s. government restrictions were illustrated in an instance where the u.s. government did not accept professional training received at a mexican institution. this affected how a hard-earned education was valued in the new culture and exemplifi es another challenge within education for immigrants. threats to safety were discussed by two participants. the threats involved neighborhood gangs affecting family safety. yolanda described being afraid that her son would join gangs in her neighborhood and worrying about “not knowing what he is doing” when he is out at night. she was afraid that his involvement in gangs would hamper his education and ability to “make something” of himself. on a related note, pablo indicated fear of gangs and drug activity and the tendency to isolate himself as protection: “who knows, there’s too much…one comes from over there and does not know many things. when one arrives here, we are fearful because there are too many gangs, and lots of drugs. so one is fearful. one arrives and has a tendency to enclose oneself.” this also hindered his activities and possibilities for self-advancement such as extra classes, friendships and other social connections. cross-cultural barriers cross-cultural barriers concerned mostly the stress associated with acculturation, or the diffi culties that result from attempting to interact within two systems that have competing values and/or cultures. others were about discrimination faced by immigrants, and the process of realizing this, such as alice discussing an event that she did not want to disclose but saw as racism: pablo also discussed a feeling of being discriminated against at some workplaces: “because in other places where i have worked before, there is sort of an oppression over mexicans, there is something against the ah, so it is likely many of us (immigrants) don’t sympathize sharing with other types of people … but then i realized that it was a matter of little by little entering to the (u.s.) culture and knowing about the different activities that are available here. i just remember once at school it was something that happened to me and i didn’t want to see it as racism, but a friend told me, “you know what? i don’t want to be mean or sound bad, but i do think that it was some type of racism.” i didn’t take it too personally, because what could i do anyway? barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 42 hispanic, even if it is from a hispanic toward a hispanic.” other cases were specifi cally about acculturation-related diffi culties in not knowing the dominant language, for example, when alice discussed her parents not knowing english: alice further discusses the language barrier and how it affects her: “like even now, i’m sure you can notice that my accent is still there and sometimes i have troubles with the language. so sometimes i’m like, oh, how can i say it?” similarly, pablo discussed this idea and how it became a barrier to his education: other specifi c stressors of acculturation, such as lack of family time due to having to work a lot to make ends meet in the new culture, were also identifi ed. alice discussed the difference in american and mexican work values and the stress involved with this: four participants discussed barriers involving the immigration process itself. most of these cases had to do with diffi culties associated with one’s legal status, and a few had to do with lack of support in the immigration process. for example, one participant described the diffi culties of crossing the u.s.-mexican border: so, yeah, i think the language barrier is (there)…and i see it with my parents. my mom, she’s willing to learn the language. she takes classes and listens to the radio or the t.v., but my dad is the opposite to her. he really doesn’t want to learn the language. he’s always like spanish channels, spanish radio, talking to people. he understands the language but he sometimes doesn’t quite really understand everything. he’s like, “no, i don’t need to learn it, i’m going back to mexico. i don’t need it.” that’s the way he puts it, “i don’t need it.” but yeah, he does need it. but on the other side, he has my brother, he has me, he’s like, “you go, you do it. you tell them.” so that’s the reason he doesn’t want to do it. but i know it can be stressful to him because sometimes when he gets mail and he doesn’t understand or when people talk to him he gets a little nervous maybe. and i’ve seen it in people on the street, you will see like people talking to a hispanic woman or man… and both sides get really stressed because one is trying to explain and the other is not understanding. so that’s something that keeps people really stressed, like, “what should i do now?” i don’t know if they really have the time to socialize a lot. i think that is really diffi cult. i know back home in mexico, the people socialize a lot more than they do here, so that’s something that is different from here. because even though we’re hispanics and we’re coming from the same country, we don’t do the same activities that we do back there. i think that the social life is suffering a bit more here compared to back in mexico, my country of origin… i think that [immigrants] are more concentrated [on] just working hard. and then their social life will be just at the end of the week. just spend some time with the family. that’s something that we are always looking for – trying to spend time with the family. i think that here time has been reduced – a lot. there were thirty people. and it was true that there were a lot of problems, there were many risks. it rained a river at night and in the day we could not walk. we would use the morning, like six in the morning to nine in the morning. then day would come and we had to camp or cover ourselves because of so many helicopters that were fl ying around… and you can hear when they pass by in front and you... and you simply sleep in the day and in the afternoon. when the sun is down, again you walk until ten, twelve at night and then sleep… and also the animals were what causes me stress is, there are too many things that i don’t understand about the u.s. … when i am studying, there are too many things that i don’t understand, and that stresses me because there are too many complexities in english. barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 43 such experiences were endured with the hope of securing a better life for one’s self and family, but many times the reality of the experience had to be dealt with physically and psychologically before the person could even hope to begin to achieve what he/she migrated to attain. economic barriers economic barriers were discussed by most participants and were all associated with not having money or resources to achieve goals, such as geraldo discussing his living conditions upon arrival in the united states: “when i got here ah...i came with a dream to make money. when i got here we lived in an apartment with two bedrooms and twelve people.” he noted how this interfered with his aspirations of being an educated businessman. often such accommodations disrupted his studying and advancing his english skills. for example, pablo described the primary objective of working to raise money in order to attain his goals of “having and being more.” he acknowledged a signifi cant strain: “you won’t fi nd anything for free here… you will have to be fi ghting constantly in order to make ends meet.” he further discussed the general lack of opportunities and the effect on immigrant individuals: “i think they are motivated, but sometimes there is no time, all is not available and also the opportunities are not there. sometimes there is no other way, the only thing left is to struggle.” discussion the stories of the mexican immigrant participants interviewed in this study illustrate many of the barriers faced on a daily basis by individuals in this population. these barriers clearly interfere with educational goals and employment aspirations, as well as with general wellbeing. acculturation barriers were the most frequently cited type of barriers, which refl ects the prevalence that the issue of adjustment to another culture takes in the lives of immigrants. other barriers had to do with the immigration process, and refl ected, in many cases, diffi culties associated with being undocumented, including various mental health results, which underscores the psychological impact of immigration and the importance of the coping strategies used for maintaining mental health. as seen in the examples from participants, such mental health impact can interfere greatly with accomplishing desired goals or “dreams.” this is consistent with literature showing the relation between stressors and various mental health disorders (lefcourt, 1989). in turn, such mental health issues can have great impact on educational achievement (bradley, doolittle, & bartolotta, 2008; carbonell, 2005; constantine, gloria, & barón, 2006). discussion of language barriers by participants emphasized the limitation placed on individuals once they arrive in the u.s. if he/she is not fl uent in english. these barriers can be particularly important in educational settings and society at large, where, given dwindling resources for public education and initiatives against bilingual education, children or adults can be limited in their achievement possibilities, thus curtailing further opportunities and social mobility (partida, 2007; tashakkori, ochoa, & kemper, 1999). during early education, limited english profi ciency in many u.s. schools may lead to school drop out and being held back academically (abedi, 2002; artiles, trent, & palmer, 2004), and may have emotional ramifi cations such as feelings of inadequacy, lack of acceptance, and social isolation due to discrimination and stigmatization (dawson & williams, 2008). in fact, language profi ciency has been found to be a major determinant in academic diffi culty as well as in teacher perception of the student’s social, behavioral and academic abilities (bohon, macpherson, & atiles, 2005). participants’ experiences of discrimination and racism reported in this study echo fi ndings for immigrant populations in general, where discrimination and racism are ever-present stressors in everyday life. reports by study participants parallel fi ndings in the extant literature of discrimination’s detrimental effect on educational achievement (benner & graham, 2011; dawson & williams, 2008). economic barriers discussed by participants refl ect the fi ndings in the literature on poverty and low socioeconomic status as one of the signifi cant challenges for mexican immigrants (census, 2009; dohrenwend, 2000). a problem, snakes… you would talk amongst yourselves or would stay quiet. the person who helped us cross would tell you to be quiet. maybe because immigration was near or could hear us if we were talking. so, you had to go with caution. and it was an experience that i dealt with twice. barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 44 in many accounts, the barriers discussed by participants led to a temporary or complete halt in their educational processes. participant stories underscored the impact that this type of educational discontinuation has had on later life options, a fi nding corroborated by correlational studies of dropout with later negative life outcomes (laird, debell, & chapman, 2006), given the links of many barriers to external or internalized oppression, it remains important for educators and mental health professionals who wish to promote educational achievement, resilience, and mental health in the face of such barriers to continue to advocate for social justice, or “full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs” (bell, 1997, p. 3) (e.g., see life circumstances barriers in table 1). several factors have been shown to be linked to mediation of such barriers. for example, social support (cabrera & padilla, 2004; fairbrother, 2008) and problem-focused coping (pascoe & richman, 2009), academic motivation (alfaro, umaña-taylor, gonzales-backen, bamaca, & zeiders, 2009), the ability to create meaning in adversity, and contribution to the community (eccles & appleton, 2002) help foster greater wellbeing despite adversities. educators are in a unique role to facilitate some of these conditions, either directly, as advocates (bailey, getch, & chen-hayes, 2003; toporek, 2008), or by helping students to become connected with necessary resources. helping to facilitate such skills and conditions helps to “even the playing fi eld” for the students and thus contributes to the achievement of social justice. understanding more thoroughly the personal and societal impact of the barriers like those highlighted in this study is crucial in designing educational opportunities, mental health services, and policy concerning this growing segment of our population. it also seems important to recognize that in many cases this is a group of individuals self-selected to face hardships “head-on,” in that they often chose to immigrate, knowing the hardships it can entail. as not everyone is able to make this decision, it could be that this group of individuals is better able to deal with barriers than most. although not the focus of this article, participants often mentioned methods of dealing with the adversities that exemplifi ed their resilience. for example, it was common to rely on familial support or hope to get through hardships. knowing possible ways of coping commonly utilized by mexican immigrants may help educators to facilitate strengths in the mexican immigrant students that they work with. limitations and implications one limitation of this study was the cultural and linguistic differences between the researchers and the participants. it is important to note that these differences may have infl uenced the creation of the coding scheme as well as its application. while the researchers tried to be aware of such infl uences to the highest degree possible, it is impossible that all such infl uences were removed from the study design, data collection, or data analysis and interpretation. the researchers believe, however, that the benefi t obtained by the richness of the data resulting from this methodology far outweighs its limitations. the authors believe that results from this study may be used to inform education, general service programs, mental health services, and public policy and advocacy initiatives for mexican immigrants. for example, schools must welcome and orient newcomers, facilitate english skills of students in need, connect families with neighborhood resources, and celebrate the unique contributions made by newcomers. schools should also utilize various programs designed to address environmental concerns (e.g., discrimination and racism) (leos & saavedra, 2010) and prepare school personnel to attend to the distinct needs experienced by mexican immigrants. this may entail individualized training or group dynamics training on diversity and social justice advocacy. additionally, mexican immigrant students and families should be made aware of any community resources or support systems that may aid them in coping with the challenges they have, and will continue to experience in navigating their adjustment to a new culture. detailed and specifi c knowledge about the barriers faced by this population highlights the need for continued efforts in alleviating barriers, or, at least, helping to foster means to cope with the challenges of migrating to a new land. in this “nation of immigrants,” such an endeavor is paramount. barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 45 references abedi, j. (2002). standardized achievement tests and english language learners: psychometric issues. educational assessment, 8, 231–257. doi:10.1207/ s15326977ea0803_02 alamilla, s. g., kim, b. s. k., & lam, n. a. (2010). acculturation, enculturation, perceived racism, minority status stressors, and psychological symptomatology among latino/as. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 32, 55-76. alfaro, e. c., umaña-taylor, a. j., gonzales-backen, m. a., bamaca, m. y., & zeiders, k. h. (2009). latino adolescents’ academic success: the role of discrimination, academic motivation, and gender. journal of adolescence, 32, 941-962. artiles, a. j., trent, s., & palmer, j. (2004). culturally diverse students in special education: legacies and prospects. in j. a. banks & c. m. banks (eds.), handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 716– 735). san francisco: jossey-bass. bailey, d. f., getch, y. q., & chen-hayes, s. (2003). professional school counselors as social and academic advocates. in b. t. erford (ed.), transforming the school counseling profession (pp. 411-434). upper saddle river, nj: pearson education. bell, l. a. (1997). theoretical foundations for social justice education. in m. adams, l. bell, & p. griffi n (eds.), teaching for diversity and social justice (pp. 3-15). new york: routledge. benner, a. d., & graham, s. (2011). latino students’ experiences of discrimination across high school: correlates and infl uences on educational outcomes. child development, 82, 508-519. bohon, s. a., macpherson, h., & atiles, j. h. (2005). educational barriers for new latinos in georgia. journal of latinos and education, 4, 43-58. boyatzis, r. e. (1998). transforming qualitative information: thematic analysis and code development. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. bradley, r., doolittle, j., & bartolotta, r. (2008). building on the data and adding to the discussion: the experiences and outcomes of students with emotional disturbance. journal of behavioral education, 17, 4-23. doi:10.1007/s10864-007-9058-6 cabrera, n. l., & padilla, a. m. (2004). entering and succeeding in the “culture of college”: the story of two mexican heritage students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 26, 152-170. carbonell, s. (2005). immigration and hardship: living with fear. in k.h. barrett & w. h. george (eds.), race, culture, psychology, & law (pp. 435445). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. cervantes, r. c., padilla, a. m., & salgado de snyder, v. m. (1991). the hispanic stress inventory: a culturally relevant approach to psychosocial assessment. psychological assessment, 3, 438-447. constantine, m. g., gloria, a. m., & barón, a. (2006). counseling mexican american college students. in c. c. lee (ed.), multicultural issues in counseling: new approaches to diversity (3rd ed., pp. 207–222). alexandria, va: american counseling association. dawson, b. a., & williams, s. a. (2008). the impact of language status as an acculturative stressor on internalizing and externalizing behaviors among latino/a children: a longitudinal analysis from school entry through third grade. journal of youth and adolescence, 37, 399-411. doi:10.1007/ s10964-007–9233 creswell, j. (1998). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. dohrenwend, b. p. (2000) the role of adversity and stress in psychopathology: some evidence and its implications for theory and research. journal of health and social behavior, 41, 1-19. eccles, j., & appleton, j. a. (eds.). (2002). community programs to promote youth development. washington, dc: national academy press. feliciano, c. (2001). the benefi ts of biculturalism: exposure to immigrant culture and dropping out of school among asian and latino youths. social science quarterly, 82, 865-879. fortuny, k., capps, r., & passel, j. (2007). the characteristics of unauthorized immigrants in california, los angeles, county, and the united states. washington, dc: the urban institute. http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/411425_characteristics_immigrants.pdf henry, h. m., stiles, w. b., & boran, m. w. (2005). loss and mourning in immigration: using the assimilation model to assess continuing bonds with native culture. counselling psychology quarterly, 18, 109-119. laird, j., debell, m., & chapman, c. (2006). dropout rates in the united states: 2004 (nces 2007-024). u.s. department of education. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch. lefcourt, h. m. (1989). personal and social characteristics that alter the impact of stressors. new york, ny: ams press. leos, k., & saavedra, l. (2010). a new vision to increase the academic achievement for english language learners and immigrant students. washington, dc: the urban institute. retrieved from http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?=id412265 marin, g., & marin, b. v. o. (1991). research with hispanic populations: applied social research series, 23, beverly hills, ca: sage publications. mcgorry, s. y. (2000). measurement in a cross-cultural environment: survey translation issues. qualitative market research: an international journal, 3, 74-81. m., jones, m. h., & estell, d. b. (2008).ethnicity and english profi ciency: teacher perceptions of academic and interpersonal competence in european american and latino students. school psychology review, 37, 38-45. morgan, m. l. (2007). international comparisons of resilience in mexican national and mexican immigrant populations. doctoral dissertation, loyola university chicago. dissertation abstracts international. 67(9-b). partida, y. (2007). addressing language barriers: building response capacity for a changing nation; hablamos juntos ii language policy and practice in healthcare. society of general internal medicine, 22, 347-349. pascoe, e. a., & smart richman, l. (2009). perceived discrimination and health: a meta-analytic review. psychological bulletin, 135, 531-554. passel, j. s., & cohn, d. (2009, april 14). a portrait of unauthorized immigrant in the united states. washington, d. c.: pew hispanic center. pew hispanic center. (2009). modes of entry for the unauthorized migrant population. retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/fi les/factsheets/pdf portes, a., & rumbaut, r. (1990). immigrant america: a portrait. los angeles, ca: university of california press. strauss, a., & corbin, j. (1998). basics of qualitative research: techniques and barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 46 procedures for developing grounded theory. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. tashakkori, a., ochoa, s. h., & kemper, e. (1999). pull and push factors in educational attainment of hispanics: current realities and future directions. in a. tashakkori & s. h. ochoa (eds.), readings on equal equation: vol. 16. education of hispanics in the u.s.: politics, policies, and outcomes (pp. 249268). new york, new york: ams press. toporek, r. (2008). counseling from a cross-cultural and social justice posture. in c. m. ellis & j. carlson (eds.), cross cultural awareness and social justice in counseling (pp. 1–21). florence, ky: routledge. u.s. census. (2009). annual social and economic supplement. current population survey. washington, dc: u.s. census. barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 47 appendix a coding scheme for barriers primary category subcategory tertiary category barriers – a social, individual or environmental phenomenon that hinders or restricts normal developmental achievement individual – idiosyncratic conditions that affect only a few people or individuals life circumstances – specifi c experiences or life event unique to an individual daily routines – tedious or repetitive actions specifi c to an individual cognitive – internal judgment causing distress, general stress systemic – rules, regulations or circumstances that affect groups of individuals operating within the same society societal convention – values, practices or role expectations perceived to be held of a broad social environment micro-systems – systems which perpetuate role expectations for a small group or organization, such as a family, community, school, or work environment threat to safety – perceived or actual endangerment in the environment, either physical or psychological (drugs, violence, gang activity, etc.) cross-cultural – rules, regulations or circumstances that affect groups of individuals operating within or between multiple societies acculturation – diffi culties that result from attempting to interact within two systems that have competing values and/or cultures, including racism and discrimination immigration process – diffi culties arising from the experiences of exiting one country and entering another, with the intention to live and/or work for an extended period of time (includes illegal work status) economic – production, development or management of material wealth that is either actual or perceived to be inadequate resources – lack or diffi culty in accessing goods, services, or information money – general depression of monetary resources, impoverished environment, or diffi culty meeting basic needs. this includes the inability to fi nd a way to make money or wages that are perceived as insuffi cient. barriers experienced by mexican immigrants: association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 45 examining my window and mirror examining my window and mirror: a pedagogical reflection from a white mathematics teacher educator about her experiences with immigrant latina pre-service teachers crystal a. kalinec-craig university of texas at san antonio abstract in this pedagogical reflection, a white mathematics teacher educator describes what she learned from three latina pre-service teachers who were recent immigrants from mexico while they completed an elementary mathematics methods course. using rochelle gutierrez’s (2012) metaphor of a window and mirror, the author interrogates her own identity and experiences as a mathematics student and teacher in order to learn more about her students who came from a different background than herself. the reflection concludes with implications for teacher education. introduction as classrooms become more culturally and linguistically diverse, particularly with an influx of immigrant children from mexico (passel & cohn, 2008), teachers and teacher education programs need to be more responsive to the diverse learning needs of all students (hollins, 2011). although we have mathematics teaching strategies that promote equity for all students, such as culturally responsive mathematics teaching (bonner & adams, 2012; gay, 2002) and complex instruction (cohen, lotan, scarloss, & arellano, 1999), there are still some students who face limited opportunities to learn mathematics (gutierrez & irving, 2012). furthermore, many of these children who face limited opportunities to learn come from non-white backgrounds, speak a native language other than english, and/or are typically unsuccessful in traditional classrooms. to address this need, research has begun to closely examine the backgrounds of latin@7 teachers and pre-service teachers (psts) as one way of rethinking how we prepare new teachers for the changing student demographic (achinstein & aguirre, 2008; cavazos, 2009; gomez, rodriguez, & agosto, 2008; hernandezsheets, 2004; tellez, 1999; vomvoridi-ivanovic, 2012). the specific resources that new teachers from latin@ backgrounds bring to their teacher preparation programs can prove useful when thinking about helping more psts adopt mathematical practices that promote equity for all students. therefore, it follows that mathematics teacher educators should model similar practices with all of their psts, especially those psts who reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of their own students. but before teacher educators learn about and honor the specific knowledge and experiences of their psts, we might consider how teacher educators turn the lens back upon themselves and first examine their own prior experiences (aguirre, 2009) and assumptions about mathematics with respect to preparing new psts for the diverse classroom. the purpose of this pedagogical reflection is an opportunity for me to share what i learned from my study of three bilingual, immigrant latina psts who were learning to teach mathematics to students from primarily latin@ backgrounds. i briefly review what we know about preparing new teachers for classrooms with latin@ students (and in particular, latin@ teachers) and will provide an overview of the framework for my reflection. after i describe my positionality, i will discuss what i learned about myself and about the three latina psts when they shared their experiences of learning mathematics in mexico and in the united states. the purpose of this reflection is to consider how we might learn more about ourselves and about our psts if we first reflect upon the assumptions we had about teaching and learning mathematics and about recognizing the knowledge and 7. i have adopted the signifier of “latin@” to honor those persons who do not identify with traditional male and female gender-specific roles (gutiérrez, 2013). association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 46 examining my window and mirror experiences our students bring to the classroom. i conclude with some implications for my future practice as a mathematics teacher educator. existing literature few mathematics teachers would disagree that all students should feel successful when learning mathematics. yet, some students still do not experience equitable opportunities to succeed in learning mathematics, and many of these students come from non-white backgrounds, speak a native language other than english (civil & planas, 2004; gutierrez & irving, 2012), and/or are in traditional, decontextualized classrooms where typically feel disconnected from their mathematics learning (silver & stein, 1996). unless teachers adopt systematic changes to their practice, the cycle of inequitable learning opportunities may be reproduced for future students. as such, teacher education programs need to help psts and in-service teachers adopt pedagogies that honor the knowledge, experiences, and language of all students, especially in the field of mathematics (aguirre et al., 2013; gay, 2002; ladson-billings, 1995; leonard, napp, & adeleke, 2009). to help teachers adopt mathematics pedagogies that encourage equity for all students, research has explored the knowledge, experiences, and resources that teachers bring to the classroom. with the majority of our psts coming from a fairly homogeneous background and little experience with students who represent a cultural and linguistic diversity (hollins & guzman, 2005), we are learning more about providing all psts with worthwhile experiences for teaching children who do not represent their own backgrounds (sleeter, 2001; turner et al., 2012). we are learning even more about the knowledge, experiences, and resources of latin@ teachers and those teachers whose native language is not english to see how they take up pedagogies that promote equity (achinstein & aguirre, 2008; cavazos, 2009; gomez et al., 2008; tellez, 1999; villegas & lucas, 2002; vomvoridi-ivanovic, 2012). for example, cavazos (2009) recognized how her experiences as a bilingual latina immigrant helped her as a new teacher to specifically identify and address the low expectations for success her colleagues placed on many of their immigrant latin@ students. specifically, cavazos reflects that “many latina/o students are labeled as regular or at-risk, and they do not need another label (i.e., non-college material) as they endure their educational journey” (p. 77). similarly to tellez’s (1999) study of the latina psts who leveraged knowledge of latin@ students in the mathematics classroom, teachers bring knowledge and experiences to their practice that can serve as a resource for teaching students from similar backgrounds (flores, keehn, & perez, 2002). although we should never assume that teachers who share the background of their students will successfully provide all students with an opportunity to learn (achinstein & aguirre, 2008), we still have much to learn about the particular experiences of our latin@ teachers and psts. however, the question remains as to why should we know more about our latin@ psts and students? as a teacher educator in san antonio, texas where many of our schools have large populations of latin@ students and non-native english speakers, i want to learn about how my new teachers might leverage their diverse backgrounds when learning to teach students with diverse needs. if my psts are expected to learn about the diverse needs of their students so that all students have an opportunity to be successful in mathematics, then i need to engage in a similar process in my university classroom. ultimately, i hope that by modeling this exploration in class, more of my psts will take up similar practices with their own students. in the next sections, i describe how i came to know miria, maricela, and sara8 as well as my positionality as a mathematics teacher educator. the setting and reflection framework in the fall of 2010, i began my dissertation on the experiences of four psts in a particular elementary mathematics methods course within a teacher preparation program at a large university in an urban city in the southwestern united states. this course was part of a larger research project, teach math (teachers empowered for advancing change in mathematics) (bartell et al. 2010), and the instructor was one of six 8. all names have been changed to maintain the confidentiality of the participants. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 47 examining my window and mirror principal investigators on the teach math project. this methods course was designed to explore how psts incorporate children’s mathematical thinking (carpenter, fennema, & franke, 1996) and children’s funds of knowledge (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005), into their practice. the psts were concurrently completing their coursework in science, social studies, and literacy, and as a part of their coursework, they were placed in classrooms with children who were mainly from latin@ communities and/or from low socioeconomic homes. for my dissertation, i recruited psts who self-identified on an optional demographic survey question as a cultural group other than white and/or spoke a native language other than english. from 27 students in the course, four agreed to participate in my dissertation, and of those four, miria, maricela, and sara were three bilingual, recent immigrants from mexico. for the focus of this pedagogical reflective essay, i will focus on these three psts because of their similar backgrounds. for my dissertation, i conducted individual and focus group interviews and observations of the psts in the field as well as retrieved their assignment reflections9. i also recorded their small and whole group methods discussions. but for the purpose of this particular self-reflection, i focus on only the interview transcripts, their assignment reflection papers, and belief surveys because in this set of data, the psts shared their specific prior mathematical knowledge and experiences as a student. future publications about the psts’ experiences across the semester and the entire data set will focus on issues of status (berger, cohen, & zelditch, 1972; cohen, lotan, & catanzarite, 1988) in the classroom as it relates to their particular cultural and linguistic knowledge and experiences as immigrants. in this reflection, i relied on rochelle gutierrez’s (2012) and botelho and rudman’s (2009) notion of “the window and the mirror” to help me see commonalities and differences among myself, my focal psts, and the students they might eventually teach. gutierrez states: “i had introduced to them [psts] the notion of quality curricula including a window and a mirror —a mirror in the sense of offering students a chance to see oneself; a window in the sense of being able to see a different view onto the world” (2012, p. 44). as i reflected on my dissertation, i noticed the similarities and differences of my prior experiences as a mathematics student with those of my psts. therefore, this mirror/window perspective enabled me to learn more about my psts who came from different backgrounds than my own, to find commonalities among our prior experiences, and to challenge my own misconceptions about teaching and learning mathematics. this reflective essay is the result of that introspective work. i hope this exploration will facilitate a discussion among both my fellow teachers and teacher educators about how we can model similar practices for our new teachers while honoring the resources they bring to the classroom. positionality i identify myself as a white, female mathematics teacher educator. my first language is english and i know very basic spanish and german. as a military child and later as a military spouse, i moved extensively and needed to quickly learn about my new surroundings and those around me. when i was in germany in 2004 as an adult, i found myself in unfamiliar, foreign surroundings again. yet, in many instances, i realized that i did not necessarily need to be fluent in german in order to successfully navigate my neighborhood. when i began teaching in germany, i held fast to the misconception that mathematics was a universal language. yet when my german friends described their experiences learning mathematics, i reexamined these beliefs because there were striking differences between our experiences as mathematics students (e.g., symbolic notation, orchestrating conversations). because of this reexamination and more, i became interested in the lives, culture, language, and experiences of immigrants in my home country and how teachers can help educate immigrants who are new to the united states. if i were to expect my psts to honor the culture and language of students from backgrounds different than their own, then i needed to replicate this experience with my own psts. as a result, i would learn more about myself. in the following sections, i briefly address two misconceptions that i held early in my teaching career about mathematics and how miria, maricela, and sara challenged my misconceptions about mathematics as a universal language: a) students needed to develop fluency in english before they developed their mathematical 9. many of these assignments were part of the learning modules developed by teach math (bartell et al., 2010). association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 48 examining my window and mirror mastery and b) mathematical strategies and algorithms are universal. specifically, i discuss the opportunities to see commonalities (mirror) and insightful differences (window) between the psts and myself with respect to teaching and learning mathematics. misconceptions behind the notion that “mathematics is a universal language” the argument that “mathematics is a universal language” rests in the beliefs that those who use mathematics should also use similar practices, symbols, algorithms, and problem solving strategies (white, 1992). the trends in international mathematics and science study (timss) (national center for education statistics & national science foundation, 1996) refuted this claim by providing research-based evidence that teaching and learning mathematics is a varied and culturally-specific activity. for example, children and teachers in various parts of the world use different mathematical symbolic notations, learn different “standard algorithms” for operating on a number system (perkins & flores, 2002; philipp, 1996), and work under a particular set of sociocultural norms (zevenbergen, 2000). some of these norms may also encourage children to communicate their mathematical thinking in a language other than the dominant language of instruction. teachers can support their students by mapping their mathematical thinking to their native and second languages (abedi & lord, 2001; gutierrez, 2002; moschkovich, 1999). based on this research, i will describe how miria, maricela, and sara challenged my first misconception that students should develop fluency in english before they develop their mathematical mastery. developing english fluency before mathematical mastery at the beginning of their semester, the psts completed a mathematics autobiography in which they described their prior experiences as mathematics students (e.g., what do they remember about learning mathematics in school? how did they use mathematics outside of school?). miria, maricela, and sara had very similar stories regarding their prior learning experiences in both mexico and the united states. the following are excerpts from their autobiographies on august 25, 2010: miria: even though i said that math is a very important subject, for me it is very hard to begin a new math class [feeling] positive and without feeling fear, especially since i moved to live here. i said this because my first two years in high school were really hard, since i was in the process of learning english. i remember that the first year i had a teacher named mr. john, and during the lesson, he [would] begin and ended (sic) the class by only explaining different problem[s] on the board and asking questions about who understood [the problems] and who didn’t. we never did any hands-on activities. i also remember one time i went to him because i was having problems understanding one of the questions [and] when i got there, i couldn’t explain to him what was my problem, and he didn’t do anything to help me. i got out of his classroom feeling really miserable. that day i understood that if i couldn’t communicate in my new language, i was never going to be good at math, and it also made me start hating math [emphasis added]. maricela: i received mathematics instruction in spanish all my life, and coming to the united states was not an easy step. i already knew the language when i came here, so it was not that bad, but it was still frustrating sometimes—especially in math class because all [of] my math knowledge was in spanish. i never took a math class in english before coming to the university, so it was even worse. it is not easy to take a college math class for the first time if you are not a native english speaker, so i had a hard time figuring out the math terminology in english. some terms are very similar to spanish, but some of them are completely different. unfortunately for me, it was a college class, so the teacher did not care if i understood or not. sara: when i started college, i had had only one year of english. the first semester i took a math course, and it was really difficult for me to understand everything the teacher explained; i was frustrated about that class. i wanted to drop it, but at the same time, i did not wanted (sic) to waste my time, so i just try (sic) hard and i looked for help. the teacher did not do anything to support my learning because i never asked; i was really quiet, so maybe he did not even notice my need. because the psts were learning to communicate in english, the dominant language of instruction in their united association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 49 examining my window and mirror states classrooms, they felt trepidation when asking their mathematics teacher for help. when their teachers did not initiate a bridge between their mathematical thinking in spanish and english, they sought out help from others or exercised more efforts into their studies in order to be successful in mathematics. miria’s words evoked sadness and frustration in myself because she felt that she needed to be fluent in english in order to be successful in mathematics. i could envision a young miria seeking help on her mathematics homework, but was unable to communicate her needs to her teacher. ultimately, miria concluded that her mathematical proficiency was dependent upon her english fluency. scholars such as khisty and chval (2002), mosckovich (1999, 2002), and gutierrez (2002) would argue that miria’s conclusion is an unfortunate misconception in mathematics education— students learning english as their second language should not believe that valid mathematical thinking requires a mastery of the english language. although it typically takes second language learners on average seven years to develop their cognitive academic language proficiency (cummins, 2008), they still bring mathematical knowledge and experiences to the classroom that serves as a resource for developing new knowledge (celedón-pattichis, musanti, & marshall, 2010). even more so, linguistically diverse young students can solve challenging mathematics problems if given the chance to model the actions in that problem (turner, dominguez, maldonado, & empson, 2013). although i initially thought my experiences in germany might have mirrored the stories told by the psts, their experiences were a window into the isolation that some non-native english speakers experience when learning mathematics in a second language. maricela’s experiences were particularly insightful because, although she was fluent in conversational english, she still needed a bridge between her mathematical knowledge in spanish and her new mathematical knowledge in english. the psts’ stories served as windows to the experiences of those learning mathematics in a second language and as a way to inform the goals of my course. i realized i needed to provide more subtle opportunities for my non-native english-speaking students to communicate their thinking such as drawing pictures or using their hands to model their thinking. my students should not need to master english first in order to have these opportunities. the issues of learning mathematics in a second language resurfaced in the psts’ preand post-methods belief survey responses. when asked, “how does your own background (e.g. language, culture, class, gender, race) impact your mathematics teaching?” they said, maricela: background is useful because i am bilingual and know what all they [new mexican immigrants] went through to be in this country. miria: my second language is english and i think students might have a hard time understanding me because i do not speak fluently. but i also know that i am going to be able [to teach] students who speak spanish because that is my native language. maricela and miria both viewed their opportunity to communicate in english and spanish as a resource to their practice, but miria also recognized that her emerging english pronunciations also could pose a challenge to her students. as another window moment for me, her story helped me to question my belief that mathematics was a universal language. as a young teacher, i required students to emphasize the “key words” and use correct mathematical terminology. in doing so, i could have neglected to notice the diverse ways that my students could communicate their mathematical thinking. as such, i probably missed opportunities for some of my students to see themselves as smart in mathematics; i now see some of the complex issues facing students who are learning mathematics (or psts learning to teach mathematics) in a second language. in order to recognize these complex issues, i needed to find more opportunities for psts like miria to share her experiences with other psts. mathematical strategies and algorithms are universal in the psts’ description of their prior learning experiences, they described other ways in which learning mathematics in mexico was different than in the united states, specifically the mathematical strategies and algorithms. in one example, maricela described how she became frustrated when her teachers wanted her to mimic the traditional algorithm for a long division problem because they refused to honor her shorter, valid way of solving the problem. while explaining the difference between learning mathematics in mexico and the united states, she said, “[a difference for me was] knowing everything from memory. i did everything in my mind [when association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 50 examining my window and mirror i was in mexico]. [it was] hard for me to do it the way they [my teachers in the united states] wanted me to.” maricela found it challenging to replicate the american “traditional algorithm” even though the method she learned in mexico for dividing whole numbers was still valid. her teachers in the united states did not validate maricela’s mathematical strategies from mexico, and it was challenging for maricela to learn this new algorithm. when i asked her what this experience meant to her as a future teacher and the challenges that she might face in the classroom when students present their own mathematical strategies, she noted in her initial interview that [a challenge might be] teaching them the way you were taught, but you need to teach them the way they learn here [in the united states]. the way i learned isn’t the way [that they are taught here in the united states], doesn’t make sense [to teach them differently]. [i] cannot teach them in a way they haven’t been taught before. sara similarly echoed maricela’s sentiments about being aware as to the different ways that mathematics can be taught. sara more specifically stated in her pre-methods survey “math is not taught using the same methods everywhere. what seems common to one child may not be common for another.” as a future teacher who learned mathematics in mexico, sara was aware that her students might express their mathematical thinking in different ways and that she might not be familiar with all of the strategies at first. in another excerpt from the preand post-surveys, sara and miria reiterated that their experiences with learning different mathematics strategies in mexico might play a role in how they will teach mathematics in the united states; they explained: miria: when i was in my classes [in the united states], it was hard [to learn math] because when the teacher was teaching something new, it was different from what they had teach (sic) me in my hometown [of mexico]. sara: it [my background] will have a big impact because i was taught in a different way. although both miria and sara recognized a difference between how they learned mathematics in mexico and in the united states, they also realized that they needed to be responsive to their students’ learning needs and that this difference in learning and teaching styles might not necessarily be problematic to their practice as a mathematics teacher. as i listened to sara and maricela describe potential challenges in their practice, i had a mirror moment— the challenges she mentioned were now challenges i was facing myself. even as a young teacher, i was confident that if i encouraged my students to use explicit traditional algorithms and procedures (or what i thought to be “traditional”), then my students should easily learn mathematics. yet, by teaching only the algorithms and procedures that are familiar to some united states students, i may have limited opportunities for my students to communicate their mathematical thinking. after learning some other mathematical strategies in germany, i came to realize that there is no one “traditional algorithm” (philipp, 1996). i needed to move away from a firstperson perspective of teaching and step into my students’ mindset as they solved mathematical problems. as i slowly made this shift, more of my students became successful in mathematics. maricela’s words resonated with my new awareness for the cultural differences between doing mathematics and knowing mathematics (gorgorio & planas, 2001). maricela’s experiences mirrored my developing beliefs about teaching mathematics—i, too, did not want to replicate practices that were only familiar to my style of learning. as maricela shared her prior experiences with me, i realized that the work of helping my students to learn mathematics rested with me, not the other way around. even more so, i needed to go beyond honoring the native language of my students; i also needed to honor the valid mathematical strategies of my students, even if i was unfamiliar with these strategies. now, in my methods courses, we explore different, valid mathematical strategies used in other parts of the world. finally, miria returned to the issue of recognizing and validating children’s mathematical strategies as she elaborated in another post-methods survey question: “another thing is that i want to be opened (sic) mind[ed]. when coming to school [as a teacher], i want to make everyone learn and value everyone[’s] background and do not tried (sic) to make them believe the same way as me.” miria recognized that even though her experiences were different than many of her future students, she valued these differences and wanted to always search for new ways to honor how her students learned mathematics. as i read about how miria and sara recognized the difference between their mathematics education association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 51 examining my window and mirror in mexico and traditional mathematics pedagogy in the united states, i was met with both a mirror and a window moment. as a student, i was successful in a very traditional setting where algorithms, procedures, and memorization were emphasized. early in my career, i replicated these ways of teaching mathematics for my students and i found little success. yet, as i grew with experience, i shifted my practice from one that mirrored my own experiences to one that explored my students’ ways of learning mathematics. my experiences in germany and then later with miria, maricela, and sara further solidified this shift in my thinking—i was eager to seek new ways to elicit and honor how my students learned mathematics and communicated their mathematical thinking. this shift was now a resource to my practice as a mathematics teacher educator. after i finished my study with the three psts and my reflections on the experience, i reexamined what any of this might mean for my future practice. how did my own perceptions of mathematics influence and inform my teaching? how might my experiences in germany influence my growth as a teacher? how might my process of seeking windows and mirrors with my psts inform my goals to model responsive pedagogies in my methods courses? more importantly, how might i provide more opportunities to create similar experiences for my psts with their own elementary students? mathematics teachers and teacher educators recognizing their own windows and mirrors before i met the three women in this essay, i believed mathematics was one body of knowledge that transgressed language, culture, and experience—math was just math. but miria’s, maricela’s, and sara’s personal stories of learning mathematics in a second language as new immigrants informed my vision for mathematics and mathematics education. mathematics is not just a body of knowledge, but it can be an activity that we engage in outside of school (foote, 2009; wager, 2012) and can be contextualized in different ways for different people and/or cultures (barton, 1996; d’ambrosio, 1990). we as teacher educators need to provide more window opportunities for our psts to learn new ways that mathematics is used, learned, and interpreted. the process of finding more window opportunities may include the psts watching videos of immigrant children correctly solving a mathematical task and noticing their particular strategies. in the process of finding these new ways of doing mathematics, our psts may identify new mirrors among themselves and their students. my ultimate goal as a teacher educator is to help my psts develop an emerging framework that honors the diverse ways our students are mathematically smart—exploring our own mirrors and windows might be one small step towards that goal. if i were to answer the same survey question as to how my background impacts my practice as a mathematics teacher, i might say that with each year in my career, my background changes. i learn something more than i did the day before about myself and about others. these new experiences add another layer to my role as a mathematics teacher educator. each new experience also adds another opportunity for me to challenge how i position myself in the field of mathematics education research and my assumptions about teaching and learning mathematics. given the dynamic nature of teaching, it is no surprise that we continue to change who we are and how we teach. miria, maricela, and sara provided me another window by which to explore the first-hand experiences of immigrant students and to consider the complex negotiation of how they learned in mexico with how they might teach in the united states. as our classrooms become more diverse, we need to help our new teachers explore their own backgrounds (and the backgrounds of others) in order to reconceptualize how mathematics is indeed a universal language—a complex, diverse language that we all use. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 52 examining my window and mirror references abedi, j., & lord, c. (2001). the language factor in mathematics tests. applied measurement in education 14, 219234. achinstein, b., & aguirre, j. (2008). cultural match or culturally suspect: how new teachers of color negotiate sociocultural challenges in the classroom. teachers college record, 110(8), 1505-1540. aguirre, j. (2009). privileging mathematics and equity in teacher education: framework, counter-resistance strategies and reflections from a latina mathematics educator. in b. greer, s. mukhopadhyay, a. b. powell & s. nelson-barber (eds.), culturally responsive mathematics education (pp. 295-319). london: routledge. aguirre, j., turner, e., bartell, t. g., kalinec-craig, c., foote, m. q., roth mcduffie, a., & drake, c. (2013). making connections in practice: how prospective elementary teachers connect to children’s mathematical thinking and community funds of knowledge in mathematics instruction. journal of teacher education, 64(2), 178-192. bartell, t. g., aguirre, j., drake, c., foote, m. q., roth mcduffie, a., & turner, e. (2010). preparing prek-8 teachers to connect children’s mathematical thinking and community based funds of knowledge. paper presented at the proceedings of the thirty-second annual meeting of the north american chapter of the international group for the psychology of mathematics education, columbus, oh. barton, b. (1996). making sense of ethnomathematics: ethnomathematics is making sense. educational studies in mathematics, 31(1/2), 201-233. berger, j., cohen, b. p., & zelditch, m. (1972). status characteristics and social interaction. american sociological review, 37(3), 241-255. bonner, e. p., & adams, t. l. (2012). culturally responsive teaching in the context of mathematics: a grounded theory case study. journal of mathematics teacher education 15(1), 25-38. botelho, m. j., & rudman, m. k. (2009). critical multicultural analysis of children’s literature: mirrors, windows, and doors. new york: routledge. carpenter, t. p., fennema, e., & franke, m. l. (1996). cognitively guided instruction: a knowledge base for reform in primary mathematics instruction. the elementary school journal, 97(1). cavazos, a. g. (2009). reflections of a latina student-teacher: refusing low expectation for latina/o students. american secondary education, 37(3), 70-79. celedón-pattichis, s., musanti, s. i., & marshall, m. e. (2010). bilingual elementary teachers’ reflections on using students’ native language and culture to teach mathematics. in m. q. foote (ed.), mathematics teaching & learning in k-12. palgrave macmillan. civil, m., & planas, n. (2004). participation in the mathematics classroom: does every student have a voice? for the learning of mathematics, 24(1), 7. cohen, e. g., lotan, r. a., & catanzarite, l. (1988). can expectations for competence be altered in the classroom? in m. webster & m. foschi (eds.), status generalization: new theory and research (pp. 27-54). stanford, ca: stanford university press. cohen, e. g., lotan, r. a., scarloss, b. a., & arellano, a. r. (1999). complex instruction: equity in cooperative learning classrooms. theory into practice, 38(2), 80-86. cummins, j. (2008). bics and calp: empirical and theoretical status of the distinction. encyclopedia of language and education (pp. 487-499): springer. d’ambrosio, u. (1990). the history of mathematics and ethnomathematics: how a native culture intervenes in the process of learning science. impact of science on society, 40(4), 369-378. flores, b. b., keehn, s., & perez, b. (2002). critical need for bilingual education teachers: the potentiality of normalistas and paraprofessionals. bilingual research journal, 26(3), 501-524. doi: 10.1080/15235882.2002.10162575 foote, m. q. (2009). stepping out of the classroom: building teacher knowledge for developing classroom practice. teacher education quarterly, 36(3), 39-53. gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. (2001 aacte outstanding writing award recipient). journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106-111. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 53 examining my window and mirror gomez, m. l., rodriguez, t. l., & agosto, v. (2008). life histories of latino/a teacher candidates. teachers college record, 110(8), 1639-1676. gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, n.j.: l. erlbaum associates. gorgorio, n., & planas, n. (2001). teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms. educational studies in mathematics, 47(1), 7-33. gutierrez, r. (2002). beyond essentialism: the complexity of language in teaching mathematics to latina/o students. american educational research journal, 39(4), 10471088. gutierrez, r. (2012). embracing nepantla: rethinking “knowledge” and its use in mathematics teaching. journal of research in mathematics education, 1(1), 29-56. doi: 10.4471/redimat.2012.02 gutiérrez, r. (2013). the sociopolitical turn in mathematics education. journal for research in mathematics education, 44(1), 37. gutierrez, r., & irving, s. e. (2012). latina/o and black students and mathematics. chicago, il. hernandez-sheets, r. (2004). california’s emergency credential teachers: examining program conditions for sustainability and effectiveness. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 17(2), 183-198. hollins, e. (2011). teacher preparation for quality teaching. journal of teacher education, 62(4), 395-407. hollins, e. r., & torres guzman, m. (2005). research on preparing teachers for diverse populatons. in m. cochran-smith & k. m. zeichner (eds.), studying teacher education: the report of the aera panel on research and teacher education. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. jacobs, j. (2008). what is equity in mathematics education? nctm news bulletin. retrieved august 8, 2014, from http://www.nctm.org/news/content.aspx?id=15973 khisty, l. l., & chval, k. b. (2002). pedagogic discourse and equity in mathematics: when teachers’ talk matters. mathematics education research journal 14(3), 154-168. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. leonard, j., napp, c., & adeleke, s. (2009). the complexities of culturally relevant pedagogy: a case study of two secondary mathematics teachers and their esol students. the high school journal, 93(1), 3-22. moschkovich, j. (1999). supporting the participation of english language learners in mathematical discussions. for the learning of mathematics, 19(1), 11-19. moschkovich, j. (2002). chapter 1: an introduction to examining everyday and academic mathematical practices. journal for research in mathematics education. monograph, 11, 1-11. national center for education statistics, w. d. c., & national science foundation, a.v.a. (1996). third international mathematics and science study (timss). passel, j. s., & cohn, d. v. (2008). u.s. population projections: 2005-2050. pew research hispanic trends project. from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2008/02/11/us-population-projections-2005-2050/ perkins, i., & flores, a. (2002). mathematical notations and procedures of recent immigrant students. mathematics teaching in the middle school, 7(6), 346-351. philipp, r. a. (1996). multicultural mathematics and alternative algorithms. teaching children mathematics, 3(3), 128-133. silver, e. a., & stein, m. k. (1996). the quasar project: the “revolution of the possible” in mathematics instructional reform in urban middle schools. urban education, 30(4), 476-521. sleeter, c. (2001). preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools: research and the overwhelming presence of whiteness. journal of teacher education, 52(2), 94-106. tellez, k. (1999). mexican-american pre-service teachers and the intransigency of the elementary school curriculum. teaching and teacher education, 15(5), 555-570. turner, e., dominguez, h., maldonado, l., & empson, s. (2013). english learners’ participation in mathematical discussion: shifting positionings and dynamic identities. journal for research in mathematics education, 44(1), 199-234. turner, e., drake, c., roth mcduffie, a., aguirre, j., bartell, t. g., & foote, m. q. (2012). promoting equity in mathematics teacher preparation: a framework for advancing teacher learning of children’s multiple association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 54 examining my window and mirror mathematics knowledge bases. journal of mathematics teacher education. 15(1), 67-82. villegas, a., & lucas, t. (2002). educating culturally responsive teachers: a coherent approach. albany: state university of new york press. vomvoridi-ivanovic, e. (2012). using culture as a resource in mathematics: the case of four mexican–american prospective teachers in a bilingual after-school program. journal of mathematics teacher education, 15(1), 53-66. wager, a. a. (2012). incorporating out-of-school mathematics: from cultural context to embedded practice. journal of mathematics teacher education, 15(1), 9-23. white, h. (1992). artificial neural networks: approximation and learning theory. cambridge, ma: blackwell publishers. zevenbergen, r. (2000). cracking the code of mathematics classrooms: school success as a function of linguistic, social and cultural background. in j. boaler (ed.), multiple perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 201-224). westport, ct: ablex. amae-open-issue-final 45 amae-open-issue-final 46 amae-open-issue-final 47 amae-open-issue-final 48 amae-open-issue-final 49 amae-open-issue-final 50 amae-open-issue-final 51 amae-open-issue-final 52 amae-open-issue-final 53 amae-open-issue-final 54 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 20 meeting the needs of english language learners: perspectives from arizona’s latino/a teachers irina okhremtchouk arizona state university taucia gonzález university of wisconsin-madison abstract it has been long established that latino/a teachers have unique capacities to advance educational trajectories for their english language learner (ell) students. however, while the latino/a ell student population continues to expand in numbers, the number of latino/a teachers entering the teaching profession remains small. in this empirical research study, we center our attention on arizona’s latino/a teachers, their pre-service trajectories, and in-service experiences with ells. specifically, we asked participants to reflect on their experiences during pre-service preparation and in-service practices as these relate to students who are learning english. we conclude this article with a number of salient themes, which further confirm the possibility that latino/a teachers are an imperative necessity to improving academic experiences for ells, especially in arizona. introduction for many students, having a teacher of the same linguistic and cultural heritage as their own may not only offer a sense of belonging, validation, and pride, but also support learning through cultural tools the teacher brings into the classroom (villegas & lucas, 2004). considering the above, the contemporary landscape of our schools’ demographics paints a vivid racial disconnect between teachers and their students (villegas, strom, & lucas, 2012). to that end, latino/a students are the fastest-growing segment of school-age children in the united states, and roughly 25% of all students attending public schools in the nation identify themselves with latino/a heritage (fry & lopez, 2012). additionally, 10% of the nation’s school-aged students are classified as ells, although this percentage is not evenly distributed across states or local geographies (aud et al., 2013). states educating higher numbers of ells tend to occur in the southwestern region of the united states and in urban areas (nces, 2014) where the majority of ells are native spanish speakers (ncela, 2011). in essence, all teachers must now face the reality that during their careers they will work with ells, and therefore must be prepared to meet the needs of these students; to do otherwise would be demographic denial (gutiérrez et al., 2002). that being said, however, the teaching force of the nation’s public schools only slightly mirrors the racial makeup of the students they teach. although the teaching force has evolved and diversified demographically over the last several decades—e.g., 17% of teachers in today’s schools are minorities as compared to less than 9% in 1986—clearly it is not representative of student demographics (boser, 2011; feistritzer, 2011; nces, 2009). in this empirical study, we center our attention on arizona’s latino/a teachers by looking at their preservice preparation and in-service experiences with ells. our choice to focus on latino/a in-service teachers is grounded in evidence that these educators have unique capacities to advance ell educational outcomes (boser, 2011; gómez, rodriguez & agosto, 2008; irizarry & donaldson, 2012; monzó & rueda, 2001; nieto, 2000; villegas & lucas, 2002). we asked participants in the study to reflect on their experiences, needs, and challenges in working with ells. accordingly, we framed this study with the following overarching question in mind: what are latino/a teachers’ insights in working with ells? in the following sections, we provide a brief overview of the current state of educational outcomes for ells, illuminating the demographic imperative of looking towards latino/a teachers as a viable resource for improving these outcomes. we then describe the context of arizona as a state leading the nation in strict mandates for working with ells, and lay out the conceptual framework guiding our examination. finally, we meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 21 report the findings from our survey study and discuss predominant themes. ell academic achievement: locating the problem the need for a highly skilled teaching force to address ell needs is quite pressing. research documents that ell students have some of the most dire learning outcomes out of all student population subgroups (kohler & lazarín, 2007). it is well documented that ells are trailing behind their english-only speaking peers and receive a distinctly different educational experience than their counterparts (gándara & contreras, 2009; gándara, maxwell-jolly, & rumberger, 2008). the dropout rates among ell students, especially in secondary schools, continue to rise, and the persisting academic achievement gap between ells and their english-only speaking peers has not changed significantly in years (gándara & contreras, 2009; gándara, maxwell-jolly, & rumberger, 2008; rumberger & gándara, 2004). in addition, studies show that ells are at a disadvantage in access to qualified teachers, rigorous instructional materials, and updated facilities (gándara, maxwell-jolly, & rumberger, 2008; gándara & merino, 1993); ells also lack monitoring services available after they are reclassified to fluent english proficient (bailey & heritage, 2014; bailey & carroll, in press; parrish, perez, merickel, & linquanti, 2006). in an effort to ameliorate existing and persisting issues associated with ell achievement factors, some scholars have turned their attention toward latino/a teachers—a population that reports a greater degree of readiness to work with and address the needs of ell students (gándara, maxwell-jolly, & driscoll, 2005). this shift in attention is largely attributed to the alarming fact that in many parts of the united states, ells are taught by teachers who are not adequately prepared to address the language and academic needs that these students bring into the classroom (barron & menken, 2002; faltis & valdés, in press; kindler, 2002; reeves, 2009; téllez & waxman, 2006). latino/a teachers within the teacher demographic tapestry as student demographics shift and swiftly erase the concept of minority groups, the public school teaching workforce has remained relatively white, female, middle class, able-bodied, and monolingual english speaking (gómez, rodriguez, & agosto, 2008). roughly 40% of the nation’s student population is non-white, yet only 17% of teachers are (boser, 2011). as of 2011 there were approximately 3.3 million k-12 public school teachers, of whom 76% were female, 83% white, and 44% under the age of 40 (usdoe, 2010). boser (2011) found that every state in the nation had a student/teacher diversity gap (calculated by subtracting the percentage of nonwhite students from the percentage of teachers of color), and these gaps were considerably higher in states with more diversity, e.g., arizona. likewise, texas and california have high latino/a student populations (with california taking the lead and arizona included in the top six), yet the percentage of white teachers hovers between 75% and 80% (gómez, rodríguez, & agosto, 2008). age and years of experience add an additional layer of potential tension to the teacher demographics. many teachers are facing classrooms that are significantly different from those they encountered when they first started teaching (garcía & stritikus, 2006). reports indicate a rapid shift in recent trends for teachers with more than 25 years of experience. this population has dropped by 10% (from 27% to 17%), while the percentage of teachers with less than five years of experience rose to 26% between 2005 and 2011 (feistritzer, griffin, & linnajarvi, 2011). connected to this shift, latino/as are the fastest-growing ethnic group entering the teaching workforce (feistritzer, griffin, & linnajarvi, 2011), with prospective teachers demonstrating higher rates of ethnic, language, and gender diversity. the percentage of latino/a teachers is currently estimated at 7% nationally (nces, 2009), which is up from 3.7% in 1991 (galindo, 1996). however, these teachers tend to fall into the segment of the teaching population with five or fewer years of experience (zumwalt & craig, 2005), which also tends to be the population with the highest attrition rates. additionally, according to zumwalt and craig (2005), teachers of color tend to come from lower socioeconomic (ses) backgrounds than do white teachers, and more than 50% work in urban schools and in areas with lower ses factors. in contrast, only 28% of white teachers work in urban schools and in areas with low ses (zumwalt & craig, 2005). in fact, zumwalt and craig (2005) estimate meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 22 that 79% of latino/a teachers work in predominantly minority schools. teacher preparation for ells: why latino/a teachers matter empirical studies are limited on the subject of latino/a teacher readiness to work with ells. in order to examine the intersection of a specific teacher subgroup and teacher readiness, we examined scholarly works on what preparation teachers need in order to successfully instruct ells (cody, harper & de jong, 2011; gándara, maxwell-jolly & driscoll, 2005; polat, 2010) as well as relevant literature on latino/a teachers. our brief synthesis of these works points to a number of competencies that teachers must have in order to work successfully with ell students (see figure 1) and confirms that latino/a teachers are an under-researched resource in teaching ells. we found an overwhelming agreement for the argument that teachers must possess specialized cultural and pedagogical skills (garcía, 1996; moll, amanti, neff, & gonzález, 1992; zeichner & melnik, 1996) to work with ells, one of which is the ability to communicate and engage with students as well as their families and cultural communities. latino/a teachers (and paraprofessionals) have been found to more commonly possess these characteristics and engage in confianza (relationships of mutual trust) practices that form strong bonds (gonzález & moll, 2002). for example, latino/a teachers tend to place strong levels of importance on building personal relationships with students and attending to the whole child, which encompasses social and emotional along with academic needs (galindo, 1996; monzó & rueda, 2001). monzó and rueda (2001) attribute these relationships of confianza to engagement practices that are closer to latino/a students’ home interaction styles, which include approaching tasks cooperatively; translanguaging, or the simultaneous use of multiple languages to communicate (garcía & wei, 2014); playful corrections and/or reprimands; and the use of cariño (affection) (shannon, 1995). many latino/a teachers and paraprofessionals use interactional styles with their students in the classroom that are similar to those of their own home culture. further, latino/a teachers have attributes that more readily allow them to engage with families and communities. monzó and rueda (2001), for example, reported that many latino/a teachers lived near the community where they taught, and all of them spoke spanish and english. another characteristic of ell teacher readiness is competencies in and knowledge of language mechanics, forms, and uses, as well as a clear understanding of how to integrate and teach these critical aspects of language (snow & wong-fillmore, 2000). an advantage that many latino/a teachers bring to instruction is being bilingual in english and spanish. this matters for two important reasons. not only are they able to provide support to many ells in their first language, but they also understand that the students’ first language plays an important role in learning and are typically more accepting of ells’ using their native language in the classroom (garcíanevarez et al., 2005). latino/a teachers also seem able to better differentiate between students with learning disabilities and students who are still developing english proficiency, often times prior to referrals for special education supports (maxwell-jolly & gándara, 2006). this differentiation is invaluable with ells, given ample evidence that ells are disproportionality classified with learning disabilities (abedi, 2009; artiles et al., 2005; sullivan, 2011). lastly, teachers must have a level of self-competency pertaining to addressing the needs ells bring into the classroom and sound content and language pedagogical knowledge that centers on how to instruct these areas (garcía, 1996; bunch, 2013). aside from being a positive role model for diversity, empirical research suggests latino/a teachers positively impact minority student achievement (clewell et al., 2005; flores et al., 2007), which stems from cultural and linguistic experiences (e.g., patterns of interaction, use of time and space, conversational turns) similar to those of minority students (villegas, strom, & lucas, 2012). hence, latino/a teachers are more likely than white teachers to connect classroom instruction to students’ everyday lives (galindo, 1996; garcía, 1991) by embedding this knowledge into their curriculum and assessments, as well as by framing the classroom community with interaction styles more familiar to the students (villegas, strom, & lucas, 2012). as the population of latino/a as well as ell students continues to grow, more attention toward latino/a meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 23 teachers as a viable solution to addressing issues associated with the achievement gaps is long overdue. this layered review of the literature on teacher readiness to work with ells, as well as what we know about latino/a teachers and changing demographic trends in today’s classrooms, suggests that latino/a teachers are imperative to improving the academic outcomes and experiences for ells. conceptual framework to further illustrate what comprises teacher readiness to work with ells, in this section we present a conceptual framework (figure 1) reflecting our review of the scholarly works as presented above and what teachers need in terms of preparation in order to be successful in classrooms where ells are present. this framework, which outlines four key areas impacting teacher readiness to work with ell students, guided our conceptualization of the study, survey instrument development, and analysis of the emergent trends reflected in the findings and discussion sections of the article. figure 1: factors influencing teacher readiness to work with ells arizona context: a case in point arizona is one of six states leading the nation in both latino/a and ell student enrollment (payán & nettles, 2008), with more than 465,084 latino/a students, which amounts to roughly 44% of the state’s public school p-12 enrollments (milem, bryan, sesate, & montaño, 2013). yet arizona’s teacher demographics are more reflective of the national statistics of 80% white and 13% latino/a (nces, 2011). arizona is one of six states (the others are alaska, california, florida, new york, and pennsylvania) with ell competency coursework requirements for teacher certification. although arguably well intentioned, the university/college course requirement to build these competencies is minimal (long & adamson, 2012). the current guidelines for teacher certification are limited to two arizona department of education (ade)-approved courses that center on policies and instructional methods pertaining to ells. pre-service teachers are minimally exposed to meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 24 the realities of contemporary arizona classrooms with ells, where a hit-and-miss tactic is prevalent (long & adamson, 2012; okhremtchouk, newell, & rosa, 2013). moreover, the focus on structured english immersion (sei)—the only methodological option supported by ade—in arizona teacher preparation programs provides a distinct and at times inaccurate perception of best practices that shape teacher readiness to work with ells, as reflected in the literature and synthesized in figure 1. one example of this is that, as a result of arizona’s 2000 proposition 203, instructional use of any language other than english is prohibited for all arizona teachers working with ells (for a detailed description of arizona’s sei program, see gándara & orfield, 2012). ade-required policies and practices distance arizona’s latino/a student population from their heritage and thus from effective learning strategies, directly impacting academic achievement. considering the contemporary landscape of arizona classrooms and state policies impacting teaching practices, and being aware that latino/a teachers tend to place strong levels of importance on building personal relationships with students and attending to the whole child (galindo, 1996; monzó & rueda, 2001), we went to the source—arizona’s latino/a teachers—to inquire about their ell classroom practices. methods the data reported in this study were derived from an open-ended segment of a larger arizona statewide survey. a stratified representative sample was collected (krejcie & morgan, 1970) from 283 participants, 52 (18%) of whom identified with latino/a heritage. in this study we report insights solely from the participants of latino/a heritage. we report these 52 teachers’ day-to-day realities in working with ells—their challenges and their best practices in addressing ell students’ needs as well as data on heritage, language, and professional background. design and survey instrument we utilized a cross-sectional survey research design method (sapsford, 1999) to create our survey. the first section of the survey used structured questions to collect demographic data (i.e., ethnicity, gender) and data related to participants’ pre-service preparation (i.e., education background, exposure to ells). the second section used seven unstructured open-ended questions asking teachers who currently worked with ells to share classroom practices that had been proven to be most effective in addressing the needs of ells. this qualitative component of the survey was used to acquire a deeper understanding of in-service teacher realities as they pertain to addressing the needs of ells (gay & airasian, 2003), and was designed using our conceptual framework (figure 1). after the instrument was designed, we sent the survey to four reviewers who met the same criteria as our sample (arizona practicing teachers) for examination and feedback to further inform the instrument. in addition to providing general feedback, the reviewers were asked to comment on how well the survey instrument covered, as well as conveyed, the four key areas reflected in our conceptual model. the survey instrument was then modified based on the reviewers’ comments and suggestions. after implementing feedback from the reviewers, we conducted a focus group interview with five in-service teachers to further inform the survey instrument. population and participants population. to accurately represent the in-service teacher population, we utilized a stratified random sampling technique to proportionally sample districts based on teacher concentrations including those teachers who work in high-ell districts. although 409 teachers completed the entire quantitative portion of the survey, not all contributed to answering the open-ended questions. in part, this could be attributed to the open-ended segment of the survey being directed at only those in-service teachers who were working with ells at the time of the survey. two hundred thirty-eight participants completed the open-ended questionnaire, of whom 52 identified with latino/a heritage. the insights from the latino/a participants are meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 25 reported in this study. participants. all participants (n=52) identified themselves with latino/a race; 49 selected “latino/ hispanic” category and three reported “mixed-race” with spanish being a heritage language learned through home/primary language exposure. eighty-seven percent (n=45) of the participants were female and 13% (n=7) were male. additionally, 71% of the participants had taught for more than seven years and therefore were considered seasoned professionals. other trends (participants’ educational and professional backgrounds, preservice preparation, etc.) are reported in the findings section below. procedure and data analysis the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (green & salkind, 2008) for the demographic data and constant comparative analysis with theoretical memo writing (bogdan & biklen, 1982) for the qualitative portion of the data. for the qualitative analysis we first used a built-in feature in dedoose software to create a codebook (i.e., code, definition, and example) of parent codes (saldaña, 2012) based on the initial readings of the participant responses. the constant comparative method allowed us to break down the data into discrete “units” (lincoln & guba, 1985) and code them into sub-codes (or child codes) under our parent codes. the researchers then met to begin the second cycle of our coding process—axial coding—to rename, drop, and/ or regroup codes into meaningful categories, resulting in 25 child codes (glaser, 1978; glaser & strauss, 1967; strauss, 1987). the coders then recoded the entire dataset using the final axial coding categories. coders independently coded the full set of responses, and a reliability analysis was conducted to ensure agreement. the kappa coefficient was reported at .82, which suggested a “very good” strength of agreement among raters (altman, 1991). finally, the qualitative demographic and categorical variables (i.e., ell exposure factors during preservice and in-service) were analyzed using descriptive statistics. all analyses were run using frequencies and percentages in spss (green & salkind, 2008). these reports were then used to juxtapose demographic trends with the open-ended survey findings. findings here, we first report findings from the self-reported data, offering insights into participants’ language and heritage, education backgrounds, and pre-service as well as in-service experiences. we then detail key findings from our survey, and end this section with overlapping trends between these reports. descriptive report: heritage, language, education, and professional backgrounds the descriptive statistic findings (see table 1) indicate that the latino/a teachers in this study reported being somewhat fluent spanish speakers (85% with at least a little fluency compared to 15% with no fluency), and their fluency was the result of family or primary exposure rather than coursework (86% of those with fluency). latino/a teachers were also well prepared academically, with over 75% teaching for seven or more years. slightly more than half had elementary teaching certification, 44% held master’s degrees, and 23% had ble or esl endorsements. fifty-six percent (n=29) of the participants reported their pre-service preparation resulted in their being either “well prepared” or “prepared” to teach ells—yet according to their years of experience and teaching credentials, they surpassed the state’s sei endorsement requirements. one interesting area of possible concern was the contradiction between preand in-service exposure to ells. the lack of access to in-service demographics that would reflect their in-service realities may indicate a shortcoming in teacher preparation placement practices. meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 26 table 1: heritage, language, education and professional backgrounds n % spanish fluency 44 85 very fluent 29 66 somewhat fluent 13 30 little fluency 2 4 not fluent 8 15 spanish acquisition family/primary exposure 38 86 other 6 14 teaching experience 10+ years 24 46 7-10 years 13 25 4-6 years 4 8 1-3 years 11 21 teaching credentials elementary teaching credential 31 60 secondary teaching credential 10 19 ble or esl emphasis 12 23 master’s degree 29 44 k-8 or k-12 teaching 8 16 ell pre-service preparation 3+ courses 36 70 pre-service exposure to ells much exposure 32 62 some exposure 10 19 little exposure 5 10 very little exposure 4 8 teacher-reported readiness to work with ells based on pre-service preparation well prepared 16 31 prepared 13 25 somewhat prepared 16 31 not prepared 2 4 not at all prepared 4 8 in-service exposure to ells much exposure 48 92 some exposure 2 4 little exposure 1 2 very little exposure 1 2 meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 27 in-service experience: key themes after careful analysis of semi-structured open-ended responses, we present our findings in the four most salient themes described below. it is important to note, however, that a vast majority of teachers reported that they relied on their heritage to structure and facilitate instruction in classrooms with ells. the salient instructional practice of making instruction relevant and applicable to ells was evident through both individual and collective responses to the open-ended questions. therefore, reliance on one’s heritage served as an overarching theme for all subcategories in our reporting of findings. it is important to note, however, that we are not making concrete recommendations, but rather reporting findings with this overarching theme as a viable and underexplored possibility. pedagogical knowledge and strategies. when we examined strategies used in the classrooms with ells, teachers overwhelmingly reported that they often relied on their primary language skills to explain, clarify, or frame instructional practices in a way that was suitable to students’ learning needs. what was mentioned less often, however, was how students might use their first language (l1) in the classroom to support their target language (l2; in this case, english) learning. the use of the primary language was frequently reported and, in some cases, was deemed essential to ensuring academic success and growth. in the following data excerpt, the teacher understands that the students’ l1 may provide him/her with a valuable formative assessment tool: “i determine what students know about content in l1 [spanish] first to determine how to teach them l2 [english].” another teacher demonstrates understanding that english only can act as an instructional barrier: sometimes it [spanish] is the only way to explain a concept or a word. otherwise there is no connection [capitalization in original data]. i am lucky to know spanish to bridge english language learners into the world of english. another teacher summarized this key strategy to ensure learning with “incorporation of native language as much as possible in the content area.” with the above in mind, however, many teachers reported, referenced, or viewed sei strategies as a key to learning the english language, and many reported ade guidelines for sei instruction as viable and useful tools. for example, one participant quoted the ade’s sei strategies verbatim: always establish language objective. always use the 50/50 rule (students speak 50% and the teacher speaks 50%). pushing students to their productive discomfort level. always remember the teacher does nothing the students can do themselves. others explained variations with responses such as “interaction with students, and having them answer using complete sentences.” teachers also stressed the importance of integrating cultural diversity into classroom and curricular practices. some participants integrated cultural diversity superficially by teaching about world cultures and languages (e.g., geography, foods, holidays, dress); one explained that “whenever possible i incorporate units in which various cultures are explored,” and another used “celebrations and investigations into other cultures through fiction and nonfiction texts, cooking, art projects, and written communications with other cultures.” others integrated diversity by asking students to reflect on and share about their own culture and heritage: “i have made a lot of effort to integrate diversity in the classroom by studying the different cultures and celebrations students and their families have.” one participant commented: we have activities where the students get to share celebrations or traditions their families share. i share with them my traditions and i also tell them of how i embraced the american culture without forgetting my own culture; i tell them that having two cultures can be very fun and that we can get the best of each culture. the participants also described incorporating diverse cultural perspectives through reading selections and other curriculum, sharing strategies such as “multicultural readings and activities that include students’ cultures as well as others [cultures] unfamiliar to the students” and “access to material that is culturally diverse.” effective communication with students. similar to the reports described in the previous subsection, teachers acknowledged and strongly emphasized that a common heritage and ability to speak students’ primary language facilitates their capacity to understand their students. participants explained how their ethnic and/or linguistic heritage facilitated their ability to effectively engage with their students: meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 28 i am latina and grew up in a tough neighborhood. i grew up in a single parent home and faced tough situations. i can tell stories from my childhood and my ells’ faces light up to know that i have gone through the same things. they start to share their stories and we just connect. another statement highlights the importance of one’s heritage in bridging the communication gap: since most of my students are from mexico, we understand each other perfectly. my mother is from mexico. i don’t really do anything different in my classroom but i do think the students regardless of ethnicity are comfortable in my room. another participant further emphasized the importance of shared heritage, explaining, “since i come from a mexican background, i have an upper hand in understanding my students. i have excellent rapport with them.” others commented on how their exposure to cultural differences (although not necessarily claiming the same ethnic or linguistic heritage) helped them facilitate current instructional practices and, thus, better understand their students: i have grown up on the south side of tucson, usually at low income schools, my parents have worked at low income schools with majority ell populations. i have tutored students at title i schools for years. i have asked students what they need from me and moved from there forward. another comment not only emphasizes the importance of knowing one’s students’ heritage, but also speaks to the value of this knowledge that may impact teaching practices in classrooms with ells: if the teacher has strong cultural knowledge, then the teacher knows how to approach the student and how to set goals. if the teacher doesn’t, then the teacher just feels bad for the student and tends to lower expectations and therefore hurts the student. translanguaging, or “hybrid practices of languaging bilingually” (garcía, makar, starcevic & terry, 2011, p. 33), was prominent throughout participants’ responses and was viewed as an essential component of teacher/ student communications. translanguaging was used not only to teach content, but also as a means for building relationships and for making communication with students more effective. one participant explained the importance of “having [an] instructor who is compassionate in their students’ struggles in an english dominated world,” while another described: initially, make ell students feel comfortable by speaking to them in spanish to gain their respect and confidence in me so they can reciprocate. if they feel comfortable, they then start asking more questions if they don’t understand a math concept. engagement with student families. nearly all teachers stressed the importance of parental engagement and a need for a welcoming atmosphere to guarantee parental involvement, with explanations similar to this participant’s: every parent has a great impact in their children’s learning. it is crucial that as an educator you communicate that with parents and always have an open door for parents. i always try to stay positive and always motivate the parents to strive for the best. a vast majority of the participants, however, also felt that this engagement entailed schooling the parents or setting expectations for them (largely around homework expectations or supporting in-class learning). the statement below directly speaks to this notion: i expect their [ells’] parents to show up at conferences and donate a minimum of 1 hour a month to come into the classroom and watch a lesson. most are embarrassed to come in, but a few do to listen and learn english. i hand out a list of websites and books and have even checked out dora the explorer dvds to learn at home (for parents). i am happy to say that i have a 100% contact rate at conferences each and every time for five years straight. one participant commented, “this [family engagement] is important to help families and communities support the children and provide an environment at home that encourages learning.” another stated, “the parents need to be able to support you as a teacher. ell students must practice at home as well, so if parents are not involved, it makes it difficult to continue growth.” meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 29 parental involvement was conceptualized as a directive as compared to a facilitative or a more reciprocal approach (with the exception of a few outliers) by emphasizing how parents must either learn, be taught, or be expected to contribute. a couple of conceptualizations about parental engagement that instead focused on building relationships of mutual learning are highlighted in the following statements: i love talking to parents. i love making phone calls home and being invited to family functions. if there is no family support, it is very difficult to have a bridge that links school and home. to me this bridge is very important so the line of communication must be there. all my students are aware of the different cultures in our classroom. at the beginning of the year all parents are asked to write a letter to me explaining their home lives. almost 100% of the time parents talk about their culture and traditions as it relates to their child. challenges. one of the greatest challenges reported by the participants was figuring out how to meet the needs of a range of language proficiency levels (in both l1 and english) while simultaneously supporting academic goals that were set before them. these challenges were expressed in the following quote: the greatest challenges in instructing ells after entering the teaching profession is to have my students achieve academically at the same time they are learning a second language. the educational system is very cruel. i have felt very frustrated when i see that due to the lack of proficiency in english, my students stay behind academically within the time frame that teachers have to teach determined amount of content, :( [sad face emoticon in original data source]. related to this, several participants reported challenges with the newcomers or those students who are identified as “pre-emergent” in the english language. one teacher identified these challenges as “teaching students who don’t speak english and do not have any or very little education in their own language.” another noted, “initially when i taught third grade, it was extremely hard to teach english, especially when it came to writing. i had students who had never been in the us and it was their first year in a school in the us.” the other overarching challenge, which was prevalent, was the politics undergirding ell instruction and assessment practices that overburdened students. some criticized the ade’s policies. one teacher contrasted the benefits of teaching language through content rather than the ade’s program, which emphasizes teaching language as the content focus: the politics of teaching ells in arizona are nasty and xenophobic. besides that, instructing ells is a blessing particularly when you get to teach them not from a pure language perspective but as they learn content area knowledge such as math and science. another highlighted segregation issues and how these impact learning: the way the law indicates that english language learners are not to be mixed with englishproficient speakers. exposure to the language is vital, and when ell students are only with other ell students, that does not happen. finally, participants reported challenges associated with teacher training and holding all teachers accountable for addressing ells’ needs. one explained: … they [ells] end up getting failing grades due to lack of sei strategies not being implemented in those classrooms. many times our pre-emergent, emergent, basic level students are mistaken for being “slackers, not motivated, not trying hard enough, misbehaving” when really they are very capable but are not able to understand the language spoken much less process at those higher levels, so therefore the level of english must be differentiated and content presented at a lower level for the ell student in a mainstream class. for this to happen, much more professional development must be provided for those teachers who have few ells in their class and feel the need or support in this. another stated, additionally expressing frustration at not having a voice in her school’s practices: others not following the guidelines given. they take classes and learn and place it under a rug. so many teachers do not have the patience for our ells, and it is sad to know we take the same professional development classes and they still constantly complain about how low our kids are. meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 30 this really angers me. i am not afraid to tell parents what teachers to stay away from at the end of the school year either. if i would not place my own child in a class, why should they? thank you for giving me this opportunity to express my thoughts. sometimes it appears that no one listens. i hope that these responses will help you and honestly scare or weed out the teachers who really don’t belong in education. overlapping trends. the participants overwhelmingly reported that their heritage and language background served as a great advantage and strength in the classroom with ells. their education and seasoned teaching backgrounds were impressive and far more substantive than the minimal competency requirements mandated by the state. however, there was an evident disconnect between what participants reported as essential tools in the classroom in helping ells learn the english language (i.e., sei strategies, which are limited and are subtractive in nature) and what was actually practiced in their classrooms, e.g., using students’ primary language to help facilitate academic learning, incorporating diversity into classroom curriculum and teaching, and relying on their heritage to engage in community building in the classroom and assist with teacher/student interactions. in other words, what the teachers learned as part of their training and reports as useful was not necessarily what they inherently and intuitively viewed as best practices or did in classrooms with ells. another interesting finding was an apparent lack of a facilitative approach to parent/teacher engagement. it was vividly apparent that similar heritage and linguistic backgrounds served as a strength in classrooms with ells and in building student/teacher relationships, but very little or nothing was said about how similar heritage and linguistic backgrounds helped participants facilitate parent/teacher relationships. in fact, many teachers (with the exception of two) fell back on a more directive approach to parents—traditionally exercised by the mainstream culture. finally, even with arguably strong pre-service preparation, which should have facilitated deep understandings of key concepts pertinent and essential in classrooms with ells, and while accounting for participants’ heritage and language factors, little over half of the latino/a educators in this study reported that they were well prepared to work with ells in their pre-service preparation. this could be attributed and linked to limited exposure to ells during their pre-service years. in other words, strong knowledge, similar heritage and language background, and understanding of best ell classroom practices from a theoretical point of view may not be enough. the practical component and opportunities to use what is learned as well as inherited through one’s background in a diverse classroom may be the missing link related to ell readiness. it is also possible that cultural and linguistic heritage are not acknowledged as educational tools and strengths in teacher preparation programs; although all of the participants reported drawing on these strengths, they went largely unsanctioned and unacknowledged. discussion english-only without “only”: heavy use of l1 in classroom instruction despite imposed regulations through ade directives stemming from proposition 203, an overwhelming majority of teachers relied on their primary language to support ells in order to ensure learning. some explicitly pointed out that the political context in which they operate was nothing short of revolting and devalued them as professionals. others were unapologetic about using students’ primary language to facilitate instruction. this finding aligns with prior reports on using primary language to facilitate academic achievement (garcía-nevarez et al., 2005; villegas et al., 2012) and using students’ heritage to connect instruction to students’ everyday lives (galindo, 1996; garcía, 1991; villegas, strom, & lucas, 2012). in other words, these latino/a teachers sent a clear message that they would do what is best for their students despite imposed regulations. these latino/a educators are rightfully doing what they deem best for their students by, essentially, subversively challenging rigid state mandates regulating instruction in the classroom that contradict their own professional judgment. despite the fact that by doing what is best for their students, these teachers risk being reprimanded or even dismissed. meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 31 heritage & l1 vs. arizona’s sei a majority of participants reported relying on their heritage to facilitate instruction in their classrooms with ells. some latino/a teachers embraced their ethnicity and/or language skills as an asset for teaching ells. others described how they used translanguaging in the classroom for the purposes of building relationships and safe learning spaces as well as to ensure that students understood academic content. that being said, there is a considerable disconnect between reports of relying on language and heritage to facilitate classroom instruction and at the same time listing principles of sei as effective tools for instruction. as discussed earlier, the ways in which sei instruction is prescribed by ade are largely subtractive and, thus, designed to ensure the loss of not only a primary language, but also one’s heritage (gándara & orfield, 2012; long & adamson, 2012). this disconnect can be perceived in several ways. one way to view this finding is as an adjustment to the current ade policies dictating instruction—a need to state what is perceived as “correct” while at the same time engaging in practices that teachers deemed best for their students. another way to view this is that participants implicitly challenge the current system by showing resistance and creating “safe places” for their students in the classroom environment that they can control and where they can make a difference. concurrently, latino/a teachers shield themselves from scrutiny, which could potentially harm them professionally. in either case, this finding needs further exploration to determine its root cause. diversity: key factor facilitating classroom instruction along similar lines, the participants overwhelmingly reported that they made attempts to celebrate diversity in the classroom to strengthen classroom community, which is consistent with prior reports (galindo, 1996; garcía, 1991; villegas, strom & lucas, 2012; villegas et al., 2012). however, while the majority of the participants reported either supporting or teaching diversity, there was little mention of using diverse knowledge as an instructional tool in classroom planning or instruction. this could be attributed to lack of knowledge in this area and of modalities that serve as essential tools in aiding this process. this finding could help inform teacher education and professional development practices. instructional challenges for the most part, latino/a teachers participating in this study faced many of the same challenges all teachers working with ells face (i.e., figuring out how to meet the needs of a range of language proficiency levels while simultaneously working under prescribed academic goals, political constraints, and lack of resources). tellez and waxman (2006) describe one essential characteristic teachers need to effectively work with ells— advocacy. it is not enough for teachers to just teach; they must also serve as advocates for their students (faltis, 2014). especially since many teachers today serve student populations with histories of restricted access to both resources and high achievement outcomes, it is essential that teachers view themselves as advocates for language diversity and emergent bilingual students during both preand in-service teaching. additionally, perhaps many reported instructional challenges stem from the fact that sei principles are not adequate to ensure proper differentiation of instruction among learners of various levels while at the same time ensuring that students progress academically in various subjects. in order to explain this better, we must circle back and remind ourselves what concepts are deemed appropriate by state mandates and ade as compared to what scholarly works say on this subject. no matter how many times one drills arizona sei principles, they are simply inadequate to bridge content, language, and academic achievement. engaging students and their parents who is engaging whom? student engagement was focused more on facilitative practices with a central focus on diversity and on ensuring that diversity was embedded in classroom instruction. additionally, participants reported that they relied on their heritage to ensure sound pedagogical practices and address social factors in meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 32 classrooms with ells, supporting prior research on latino/a teacher engagement with students (galindo, 1996; monzó & rueda, 2001). on the other hand, participants’ view of parental engagement is prescriptive, demanding, and expressed in forms of directives. while the literature focusing on teachers using students’ community knowledge as resources, the teachers in the study overwhelmingly conceptualized family and community engagement as something the parents were supposed to do or learn how to do, with the teachers holding the resources, rather than viewing parents as a resource or building a mutual relationship of teaching and learning. this interesting finding could be attributed to multiple factors including school culture, influences budding from mainstream perceptions, and possible generational gaps (i.e., the immigrant generational gap separating teachers and students’ parents) and merits further exploration. political constraints and lack of resources the ideological climate of “turn white and speak english politics” (okhremtchouk, 2015) is hard to fully conceptualize unless one lives it and shares the heritage of targeted populations. the following insight from one of the participants describes this notion best: “the politics of teaching ells in arizona are nasty and xenophobic.” to subversively teach, knowing that the political context outside of the classroom is detrimental to ells, is heroic. it is important to remember that teaching, especially for the population of latino/a teachers in arizona, encompasses more than just ensuring that students learn facts and figures: these teachers are also tasked with restoring their students’ pride and belief in themselves. in other words, these educators are charged with the additional responsibility of helping their students to see their role in society — what strengths they offer, their capacity to learn, and the expectations others hold for them — while struggling to survive in a system that attacks and dismisses what they and their students hold dear: their heritage. meeting the needs of english language learners association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 33 references abedi, j. (2009). english language learners with disabilities: classification, assessment, and accommodation issues. journal of applied testing technology, 10(2), 1-30. altman, d.g. (1991). practical statistics for medical research. london: chapman and hall. artiles, a. j., rueda, r., salazar, j. j., & higareda, i. (2005). within-group diversity in minority disproportionate representation: english language learners in urban school districts. exceptional children, 71(3), 283-300. aud, s., wilkinson-flicker, s., kristapovich, p., rathbun, a., wang, x. & zhang, j. (2013). the condition of education 2010 (nces 2010-028). washington, dc: national center for educational statistics, digest of educational statistics. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2013037. bailey, a. l., & carroll, p. (in press). assessment of english learners in the era of new academic content standards. review of research in education, vol. 39. bailey, a.l., & heritage, m. (2014). the role of language learning progressions in improved instruction and assessment of english language learners. tesol quarterly, 48(3), 480-506. barron, v., & menken, k. (2002). what are the characteristics of the bilingual education and esl teacher shortage? washington, d.c.: national clearinghouse for english language acquisition and language instruction educational programs. bogdan, r. c., & biklen, s. k. (1982). qualitative research for education. boston: allyn and bacon. boser, u. (2011). teacher diversity matters: a state-by-state analysis of teachers of color. center for american progress. bunch, g. c. (2013). pedagogical language knowledge preparing mainstream teachers for english learners in the new standards era. review of research in education, 37(1), 298-341. clewell, b. c., puma, m. j, & mckay, s. a. (2005). does it matter if my teacher looks like me? the impact of teacher race and ethnicity on student academic achievement. paper presented at the meeting of the american educational research association, montreal. cody, m., harper, c., & long, e. (2011). from preservice to practice: mainstream elementary teacher beliefs of preparation and efficacy with english language learners in the state of florida. bilingual research journal, 34(2), 223-239. doi:10.1080/15235882.2011.597823 faltis, c. (2014). language advocacy in teacher education and schooling. in m. bigelow & j. enser-kananen (eds). the handbook of educational linguistics (pp. 65-77). new york: routledge/taylor & francis. faltis, c. & valdés, g. (in press). preparing teachers to teach in and advocate for linguistically diverse classrooms: a vade mecum for teacher educators. in d. gitomer & c. bell (eds.). 5th edition of the handbook of research on teaching. washington, dc: american educational research association. feistritzer, e. c. (2011). profile of teachers in the us 2011. national center for education information. retrieved from http://www. ncei. com/profile_teachers_us_201l. pdf. feistritzer, c. e., griffin, s., & linnajarvi, a. l. (2011). profile of teachers in the u.s. 2011. national center for education information. washington, dc: library of congress. flores, b. b., clark, e. r., claeys, l., & villarreal, a. (2007). academy for teacher excellence: recruiting, preparing, and retaining latino teachers through learning communities. teacher education quarterly, 53-69. fry, r., & lopez, m. h. (2012). hispanic student enrollments reach new highs in 2011. august. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. http://www. pewhispanic. org/2012/08/20/hispanic-student-enrollments-reach-newhighsin-2011. galindo, r. (1996). reframing the past in the present chicana teacher role identity as a bridging identity. education and urban society, 29(1), 85-102.gandara, p. c., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. harvard university press. gándara, p. and merino, b. (1993). measuring the outcomes of lep programs: test scores, exit rates, and other mythological data. educational evaluation and policy analysis. 15(3) 320-338. gándara, p., maxwell-jolly, j. & rumberger, r. (2008). resource needs for english learners: getting down to policy recommendations. uc santa barbara: linguistic minority research institute. gándara, p., maxwell-jolly, j., & driscoll, a. (2005). listening to teachers of english language learners: a meeting the needs of english language learners http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2013037 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 34 survey of california teachers’ challenges, experiences, and professional development needs. the center for the future of teaching and learning. santa cruz, ca. retrieved from: http://www.cftl.org/ documents/2005/listeningforweb.pdf gandara, p., & orfield, g. (2012). segregating arizona’s english learners: a return to the” mexican room”. teachers college record, 114(9), 1-27. garcia, e. e. (1991). effective instruction for language minority students: the teacher. journal of education, 173(2), 130-141. garcia, e. e. (1996). preparing instructional professionals for linguistically and culturally diverse students. handbook of research on teacher education, 802-813. garcia, e. e., & stritikus, t. (2006). proposition 227 in california: issues for the preparation of quality teachers for linguistically and culturally diverse students. preparing quality educators for english language learners: research, policy and practice, 45-269. garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education. london: palgrave/macmillan. garcía, o., makar, c., starcevic, m., & terry, a. (2011). the translanguaging of latino kindergarteners. bilingual youth: spanish in english speaking societies, 33-55. garcia-nevarez, a.g., stafford, m.e., & arias, b. (2005). arizona elementary teachers’ attitudes toward english language learners and the use of spanish in classroom instruction. bilingual research journal, 29(2), 295316. glaser, b., 1978. theoretical sensitivity. sociology press, mill valley, ca. glaser, b. g., & strauss, a. l. (1967). discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. chicago: aldine. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis. the consequences of failed social policies (pp. 19-29). cambridge: harvard university press. gay, l.r., airasian, p. (2003). educational research: consequences for analysis and applications (7th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: pearson. gonzález, n., & moll, l. (2002). cruzando el puente: building bridges to funds of knowledge. journal of educational policy, 16(4), 623-641. gómez, m.l., rodriguez, t.l., & agosto, v. (2008). who are latino prospective teachers and what do they bring to us schools. race, ethnicity, and education, 11(3), 267-283. green, s. b., & salkind, n. j. (2010). using spss for windows and macintosh: analyzing and understanding data. prentice hall press. gutiérrez, k. d., asato, j., pacheco, m., moll, l. c., olson, k., horng, e. l., & mccarty, t. l. (2002). “sounding american”: the consequences of new reforms on english language learners. reading research quarterly, 37(3), 328-343. irizarry, j.g. & donaldson, m.l. (2012). “teach for américa: the latinization of u.s. schools and the critical shortage of latino/a teachers.” american educational research journal, 49(1), 155–194. kindler, a. l. (2002). survey of the states’ limited english proficient students and available educational programs and services 1999-2000 summary report. washington, dc: national clearinghouse for english language acquisition and language instruction education programs (ncela). retrieved dec. 26, 2007, from http://www.ncela.gwu.edu. kohler, a. d., & lazarín, m. (2007). hispanic education in the united states. national council of la raza, statistical brief, 8(1), 7-8. krejcie, h.r., & morgan, d.w. (1970). determining sample size for research activities. educational and physical measurements, 30: 607-610. lincoln, y. s., & guba, e. g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. beverly hills, ca: sage. long, m.h. & adamson, h.d. (2012). sla research and arizona’s structured english immersion policies. in m. b. arias & c. faltis. (eds). implementing educational language policy in arizona: legal, historical and current practices in sei (pp. 39-45). clevedon, england: multilingual matters, ltd. maxwell-jolly, j. & gándara, p. (2006). critical issues in the preparation of teachers for english learners in e. burr et al. (eds) crucial issues in california education 2000. berkeley: pace. milem, j. f, bryan, w. p., sesate, d. b., & montaño, s. (2013). arizona minority student progress report 2013: arizona meeting the needs of english language learners http://www.cftl.org/documents/2005/listeningforweb.pdf http://www.cftl.org/documents/2005/listeningforweb.pdf http://www.ncela.gwu.edu association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 35 in transformation. american minority education policy analysis center: tucson, az. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. monzó, l.d. & rueda, r.s. (2001). sociocultural factors in social relationships: examining latino teachers’ and paraeducators’ interactions with latino students. university of california santa cruz: center for research on education, diversity & excellence. national center for education statistics. (2009). characteristics of public, private, and bureau of indian education elementary and secondary school trends in the united states: results from the 2007-2008 schools and staffing survey. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009321/ national center for education statistics (2011). total number of public school teachers and percentage distribution of school teachers, by race/ethnicity and state: 2011–12. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/ surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013314_t1s_001.asp. national clearinghouse for english language acquisition (ncela), u.s. department of education. (2011). what languages do english learners speak? ncela factsheet. retrieved from http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/ uploads/ncelafactsheets/el_languages_2011.pdf. nieto, s. (2000). affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of multicultural education (3rd ed.). new york, ny: longman. okhremtchouk, i.s. (2015/in press). why equity matters in “turn white and speak english” political climate: english language learners and educational trajectories in esposito, m.k. & normore, a.h. (eds.) inclusive practices for special populations in urban settings: the need for social justice leadership. nc: information age publishing. parrish, t., merickel, a., perez, m., linquanti, r., et al. (2006). effects of the implementation of proposition 227 on the education of english learners, k-12: findings from a five-year evaluation (final report). palo alto and san francisco: american institutes for research and wested. payán, r. m., & nettles, m. t. (2008). current state of english-language learners in the us k–12 student population (english-language learners symposium fact sheet). princeton, nj: educational testing service, january 2008. polat, n. (2010). a comparative analysis of pre-and in-service teacher beliefs about readiness and self-competency: revisiting teacher education for ells. system, 38(2), 228-244. doi:10.1016/j.system.2010.03.004 reeves, j. (2009). teacher investment in learner identity. teaching and teacher education, 25(1), 34-41. rumberger, r. & gándara, p. (2004). seeking equity in the education of california’s english learners. teachers college record, 106, 2031-2055. saldaña, j. (2012). the coding manual for qualitative researchers (no. 14). sage. sapsford, r. (1999) survey research. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. shannon, s. m. (1995). the hegemony of english: a case study of one bilingual classroom as a site of resistance. linguistics and education, 7(3), 175-200. strauss, a., 1987. qualitative analysis for social scientists. new york: cambridge university press. sullivan, a. l. (2011). disproportionality in special education identification and placement of english language learners. exceptional children, 77(3), 317-334. téllez, k., & waxman, h. c. (eds.). (2006). preparing quality educators for english language learners: research, policy, and practice. routledge. u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics, common core of data (ccd), “local education agency school universe survey,” 2010-11. see digest of education statistics 2012, table 47. u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. (2014). the condition of education 2014 (nces 2014-083),english language learners. villegas, a. m., & lucas, t. (2002). educating culturally responsive teachers: a coherent approach. albany, ny: state university of new york press. villegas, a. m., strom, k. & lucas, t. (2012). closing the racial/ ethnic gap between students of color and their teachers: an elusive goal. equity and excellence in education, 45(2), 283-301. wong fillmore, l., & snow, c. (2000). what teachers need to know about language. (contract no. ed-99co-0008). u.s. department of education’s office of educational research and improvement, center meeting the needs of english language learners http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009321/ https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013314_t1s_001.asp https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013314_t1s_001.asp http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 36 for applied linguistics. zeichner, k. & melnick, s. (1996). the role of community field experiences in preparing teachers for cultural diversity. in k. zeichner, s. melnick & m.l. gomez (eds). currents of reform in pre-service teacher education. (pp. 176-198). new york: teachers college press. zumwalt, k., & craig, e. (2005). teachers’ characteristics: research on the indicators of quality. in m. cochran smith & k. m. zeichner (eds.), studying teacher education, the report of the aera panel on research and teacher education (pp. 157-260). washington, dc: american educational research association. meeting the needs of english language learners volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 53 parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers in a rural community rosa d. manzo university of california, davis this qualitative study documents the experiences of farmworking parents with their local school system. more specifically, this investigation examines the parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers. the data for this study was collected though parent workshops discussions. utilizing critical counter storytelling and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) to framework this study seeks to bring the voices of farmworking parents to the forefront of the discussions about parent involvement. findings from this study revealed that parents become involved in their children’s education by engaging in three main practices: 1) homework help; 2) consejos, and 3) parental coaching. this study contributes to the existing literature that challenges the deficit arguments that low-income latino parents are not involved in their children’s education (chavez-reyes, 2010; delgado-gaitan, 1992; faltis, 2006; lefevre & shaw, 2011; lópez, 2001). findings from this study have implications for practitioners and policy makers interested in developing culturally-relevant community-campus partnerships that aim to bridge the home and school. introduction the educational literature suggests that integrating the participation of parents in the educational process is beneficial to the academic success of students (delgado-gaitan, 1990; durand, 2011; moll & gonzález, 1997). more recently, empirical studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between parent involvement and student outcomes (barnard, 2004; durand, 2011; lee & bowen, 2006; lefevre & shaw, 2011). the academic literature also suggests that parent involvement can have a higher impact on the academic achievement of minority students (alfaro, umaña-taylor, & bámaca, 2006; jeynes, 2003). however, parents and educators hold conflicting views of what constitutes parent involvement. on the one hand, educators understand parental involvement as the practices that require parents to be active participants by: 1) tutoring children at home; 2) helping children fundraise; 3) volunteering as abstract manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 54 chaperones; and 4) assisting with parent-teacher association (pta) activities (epstein, 1995). on the other hand, latino parents engage in informal parent involvement practices that include cultural narratives, emotional support, and parent-child discussions (auerbach, 2007; barnard, 2004; lópez, 2001). the conflicting views on parent involvement may be due to the lack of acknowledgment of less visible forms. mainstream parental involvement frameworks are limited as the research has been based on homogenous white middle-class groups and do not account for the non-traditional forms of parental involvement practiced by underrepresented groups. in primarily immigrant communities, the lack of mainstream practices of parent involvement is interpreted as a lack of concern for their children's education (payne, 2008; stone, 1998). the perception that parents are not involved in their children's education creates a tenuous relationship between schools and parents. according to olivos (1999), this relationship is a result of the differences in culture, power, and knowledge of the school and community. olivos' explanation of the tension that exists due to the differences in culture, power, and knowledge provides an alternative argument to the lack of mainstream practices of parental involvement. more specifically, this tension creates “asymmetrical relationships of power which hinder their authentic participation in the schools, often causing them to become resistant to the efforts of the schools and at times even challenge them” (olivos, 2003, p. 8). furthermore, olivos explains that the tensions can lead parents to resist and challenge the school system; however, those instances of resistance and challenge can create opportunities for positive change. more specifically, scholars within the community-based and empowerment literature (burt, 1992; fraser & honneth, 2003) would argue that the instances in which parents are resisting and challenging the system can be opportunities for empowerment. the literature on parent involvement is clear on the need for parent participation in the education system and their children's education. however, the literature fails to acknowledge the ways in which parents from non-mainstream backgrounds become involved in their children’s education. studies have demonstrated that parents of underrepresented students hold a high regard for education and become involved in forms not recognized by mainstream society (delgado-gaitan, 1992; lópez, 2001). lópez (2001) demonstrated that farm workers have a unique way of instilling in their children the value of education. for example, a farmworking family may transmit to their children the value of education through hard work, which often consists of taking their children with them to work in the fields. through this practice, parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 55 parents seek to help their children build an understanding of the work they do and how important it is for them to continue their education so that one day they will not have to perform the same work. furthermore, research by delgado-gaitan (1992, 1994) also concludes that mexican families use their sociocultural practices to help transmit a highlyregarded value for education and to become involved in their children’s education. aligned with the literature on consejos (delgado-gaitan, 1994; lópez, 2001), godinez (2006) examines how the concepts of educación and consejos shape the educational experiences of mexican women. godinez (2006) defines consejos “as the telling about values, symbols, and ways of thinking and knowing” (p. 31). the cultural knowledge practice imparted through consejos is what allows students to redefine their thinking about their educational identity and also helps them become motivated to strive for better educational outcomes (godinez, 2006). delgado-bernal (2006) also extends the literature on the ways parents and families contribute to their children's education by introducing the concept of pedagogies of the home. delgadobernal (2006) indicates that "pedagogies of the home provide strategies of resistance that challenge educational norms" (pp. 113). pedagogies of the home extend the discussion of parent involvement by situating cultural knowledge and practices at the forefront to examine the ways in which farmworking parents engage in their children’s education. similarly, moll (1999) defines funds of knowledge as a pedagogical approach in which communities implement their cultural knowledge and resources to develop meaningful learning experiences. these scholars have engaged in culturally relevant research to describe the parent involvement practices of latino immigrant families. this study builds on their work, and redefines the parent involvement practices of immigrant farmworking mothers. furthermore, this study seeks to expand the literature by examining the ways educators can begin to acknowledge and validate these practices to develop culturally-relevant parent involvement models. this qualitative study documents the parent involvement practices of immigrant farmworking mothers within their local school system in a rural community in california. the following question guides this study: what are the ways that farmworking mothers become involved in their children’s education? manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 56 theoretical framework first, through a counter-storytelling method, i aim to challenge the majoritarian narrative that rural farmworking parents are not involved in their children’s education. counter-storytelling is rooted in critical race theory, and it is utilized to provide alternate narratives to the "majoritarian" stories of people of color (solorzano & yosso, 2002). as explained in solorzano and yosso (2002), critical race methodology is an approach that “challenges the traditional research paradigms, texts, and theories used to explain the experiences of students of color, and offers a liberatory or transformative solution” (solorzano & yosso, 2002, p. 24). therefore, a counter-storytelling method approach values parents’ experiential knowledge and places them at the center of the analysis. in the process, it legitimatizes farmworking parents’ non-dominant forms of parent involvement. community cultural wealth second, i draw from yosso’s work on community cultural wealth (ccw) to analyze how parents implement their community assets and knowledge into their parent involvement practices. yosso (2005) challenges the traditional model of cultural capital (bourdieu, 1986) that has been used to argue that students’ of color academic underachievement is a result of not having the same forms of capital that make the middle class and predominately white communities successful. bourdieu’s theory is used to reinforce the idea that cultural capital possessed by middle class and predominately white communities is the only valued capital in mainstream society. however, the traditional perspective on cultural capital has a very narrow focus that only includes a specific set of skills and abilities that are valued by the dominant group in our society. while bourdieu's theory focuses on the narrow forms of knowledge and skills valued by the privileged group, yosso's ccw model encompasses a greater array of skills and knowledge possessed by people of color (yosso, 2005). yosso’s work focuses on the cultural knowledge, skills, and resources that communities of color possess. yosso (2005) builds her theory of ccw from the work of solórzano and villalpando (1998) by conceptualizing six tenets of cultural wealth that are interrelated and build on each other: 1. aspirational capital: “the ability to maintain hopes and dreams for the future even in the face of barriers” (pp. 41). parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 57 2. linguistic capital: “the intellectual and social skills learned through communication experiences in more than one language and/or style” (pp. 43). 3. navigational capital: "the skills of maneuvering through social institutions such as schools, the job market, health care and judicial systems" (pp. 44). 4. social capital: “the networks of people and community resources” (pp. 45). 5. familial capital: "the cultural knowledge nurtured among familia (kin) that carry a sense of community, history, memory, and cultural intuition” (pp. 48). 6. resistant capital: “the knowledge and skills cultivated through behavior that challenges inequality” (pp.49). using yosso’s work allows me to examine different forms of capital that parents possess and how they incorporate ccw in their parent involvement practices. using ccw also helps me redefine mainstream parent involvement practices and identify ways that educators can integrate the cultural assets and knowledge of parents in their parent engagement initiatives. in rural communities, parents may not possess the economic capital or the dominant forms of cultural capital that can easily be activated in the mainstream school system, however, other forms of capital may help them and their children navigate the u.s. school system. furthermore, supporters of cultural capital would argue that latino students are failing because they lack the requisite cultural capital to be successful in school. however, as yosso (2005) proposes, it is not that they lack the cultural capital, but rather that their particular types of cultural capital are not recognized and validated by the school system. additional research by lareau and horvat (1999) suggest that the value of cultural capital depends on the social setting. when educators’ perspectives of the required cultural capital for a school does not match that of the population they serve, students’ and families’ cultural capital may not be acknowledged. yosso’s ccw model helps us understand the cultural capital possessed by latino parents, and how these types of capital are assets to students' educational experience. methodology for this study, i employed a community-based participatory research (cbpr) methodology (israel, eng, schulz, & parker, 2005) to develop a community-school partnership in collaboration with community members, and a cultural practice approach (figueroa & sánchez, manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 58 2005) to facilitate the fostering of trustful relationships with the participants. the difference between traditional research methodologies and cbpar is that cbpar takes a different stance and advocates for “partnerships with community members to identify issues of local importance, develop ways of studying them, collect and interpret data, and take action on the resulting knowledge” (smith, bratini, chambers, jensen, & romero, 2010). figueroa and sánchez (2005) suggests that engaging in a “cultural practice” when conducting qualitative research is a more appropriate epistemology when working with latino communities. more specifically, this approach allows chicana/o researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the emerging themes and facilitates their engagement in culturally relevant methodological approaches (figueroa & sánchez, 2005). the data for this study was obtained from parent workshops that i facilitated as part of my dissertation research. before developing the parent workshops, i conducted focus groups with parents to explore the barriers to education in the community and to identify workshop topics. parents expressed a lack of understanding of the educational system and what educators expected from them and their children. more specifically, many parents wanted to be more involved in their children's education, but did not know how to approach teachers or make connections with the school system. furthermore, they felt they did not know how to help their children in attaining successful academic outcomes. as a result of these parental concerns, the academic success workshops (talleres para el exito académico) were developed and focused on topic areas that would improve parental understanding of how to navigate the school system and identify successful educational strategies to help their children academically. there are four general topics that were discussed in spanish during the academic success workshops: (1) the structure of the school system; (2) grade level state standards and california state testing requirements; (3) how to build strong parent-educator partnerships; and (4) how to support completion of homework assignments. research site and sample selection the school district is composed of five rural communities in central california within a 50-mile radius. there are four k-8th grade schools that feed into one high school. the total student population for the school district is 1,831 students (ca department of education, 2015). because some of the families within these communities lack access to transportation, parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 59 the workshops were facilitated in each of the district communities. workshop participants identified a local church, a classroom in one of the elementary schools, and a local community center as convenient locations for those who did not have access to transportation. the four workshops of the academic success series were offered once a month in each of the communities during the 2012-2013 school year. the total average number of participants for the workshops was 27 mothers (table 1. workshop attendance). table 1 workshop attendance workshop title number of workshops total attendance the u.s. education system 3 27 educational requirements in california 4 28 school-parent partnerships 4 23 homework and academic success 3 30 average attendance 27 all of the workshop participants were of mexican-origin. the workshops were available to all parents in the school district. however, only mothers attended the workshops. the average educational level of the mothers was 9.09 years of education. the average age of the mothers was 32.7 years. the mothers in this community have been in the u.s for an average of 14.97 years (table 2. sample demographics). table 2 sample demographics demographics mean std. dev. family size 4.98 1.35 age of mother 32.7 6.5 years of education (mother) 9.09 3.38 years in the u.s. (mother) 14.97 6.31 manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 60 recruitment and compensation. recruitment methods for workshop participation included automated phone calls through the school district's automated calling system, personal calls to participants, and flyers distributed at the local open market and posted in public spaces throughout the community. everyone who attended the workshops received one raffle ticket. at the end of every workshop, all workshop participants would enter their raffle tickets in a basket for an opportunity to win a $20 gift card. participants were informed that the workshop discussions were going to be utilized for research purposes and that the conversation would be audio recorded. participants were informed of my interest in learning about the way they navigated the u.s. school system, the barriers they faced, and how they were involved in their children’s education. workshop context. the workshops were facilitated in a focus-group discussion format. each workshop was guided by a specific topic, while allowing the parents to engage in discussion amongst themselves and with me, the workshop facilitator. as a way to encourage discussion from the participants during the workshop, the rooms were organized in circular arrangement. i guided the workshop discussion with a powerpoint presentation highlighting research-based information on the topic of each of the workshops. however, the level of the information was adapted to the literacy level of the communities. all workshops were facilitated in spanish. in addition, throughout the presentation, i would weave in personal narratives of my experience as a first-generation mexican immigrant in the education system. this strategy proved to be successful in soliciting the participants to share their experiences. qualitative data analysis. after the workshops were recorded they were transcribed by an undergraduate student fluent in spanish and originally from one of the communities. for the coding of this data, i followed a deductive approach based on strauss methodology (strauss, 1987). the first round of coding that i conducted by hand—or the open coding stage—generated ample categories based on critical words and associated forms of statements in which the parents identified their forms of parent involvement. i then transferred all of the transcription files to dedoose 4.7.1, a qualitative data analysis software. dedoose 4.7.1 provides a structure for the storing, organizing, and the analysis of the data. using dedoose 4.7.1, i created the parent helping child with homework, parent advising child (consejos), and the parental coaching codes based on the initial open coding of the data. the qualitative analysis was guided by the research question and the theoretical framework parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 61 employed in this study. the parent codes generated in dedoose 4.7.1 were specific to my research question. i analyzed each of the transcripts separately using the same codes across all 14 transcripts. once, i finished coding all transcripts, i translated the quotes used in this study from spanish to english. in the next section, i discuss the findings of my study based on these codes. the parent involvement practices of latino rural parents through the analysis, i noticed that although the majority of the parents were not familiar with the u.s. school system, they were very interested in being involved in their children’s education. however, due to the language barrier and the disconnect they experienced from the school system, they were not able to engage in dominant forms of parent involvement. nonetheless, they were actively involved in their children education by: 1) helping their children with homework assignments; 2) encouraging their children to continue with their education through their consejos; and 3) advising other parents on what to do when they encountered a problem. the analysis also confirmed the fluidity of the ccw framework as various forms of capital intersected in the examination of parent involvement practices. in the sections below, i present the counterstories of the parent involvement practices of the mothers in the rural farmworking community and how they implemented navigational, linguistic, familial, aspirational, resistant, and social capital within their practices to engage in their children’s education. homework help helping their children with homework assignments was a common practice that the mothers identified as a way to engage in their children’s education. in the initial workshops, many of the mothers began to discuss their desire to be involved in their children’s education by helping with homework assignments. many of the mothers also stated that they did not know how to go about helping with the homework assignments, or if their practices were appropriate. as a result, they requested that one of the workshops focus on ways to help their children with homework. the last workshop, homework and academic success, focused on strategies that they could engage in to help their children with homework assignments. more specifically, i listed basic strategies for parents on how they could help their children organize manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 62 the homework assignments and align them with specific academic goals, such as reading at grade level. throughout the discussion of the basic strategies, mothers began to describe their own strategies on how they help their children with the homework assignments. the mothers see homework as their responsibility and contribution to their children’s education. the counterstories from the workshops with the mothers indicate that despite the lack of high levels of education and the language barrier, parents were actively engaging in the homework process. in fact, most of the participants indicated that language limited the way they helped their children with their homework, but that did not stop them from assisting their children. for example, one of the mothers who participated in the workshop indicated, “pues es lo que yo hago, asegurarme que hagan la tarea. aunque yo no le entiendo pero si me aseguro que la terminen.” [what i do is make sure they do their homework. even though i don’t understand, i make sure that they complete it.] in this instance, although the mother cannot directly help the child with the homework assignment, her way of assisting with homework completion is by ensuring that the task gets done. although not being able to understand the language has been documented to be a barrier to mainstream parent involvement practices, the mothers engaged in practices that allowed their children to complete their homework that at the same time helped develop children’s bilingual skills. for example, in the excerpt below a mother indicates that she asked her child to translate the homework to spanish for the mother to understand the homework assignment. once the mother knew what the homework assignment was asking for, she then explained the concept to the child in spanish. the child then worked through her homework in spanish and finally completed the assignment in english. primero le pregunto que qué aprendieron en la escuela y ya me empiezan a decir lo que aprendieron. y ya les digo, “¿y que te dejaron de tarea?” porque casi siempre es lo mismo que aprendieron en la escuela, es el trabajo que no terminaron adentro del salón es lo que les dejan de tarea. entonces ya empezamos a repasar lo que no entendieron y porque el inglés yo no lo entiendo muy bien, pero socorro [hija] me explica más o menos y yo más o menos me baso a lo que ella me está diciendo y es de la manera que le puedo ayudar. [first i ask about what they learned in school, and then they [children] begin to tell me what they learned. i then ask what they were assigned for homework because parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 63 oftentimes it is the same thing they learned in school, and whatever they didn’t finish in the classroom is what is assigned as homework. then we begin to review what they did not understand; and because i really don’t understand english, but socorro [daughter] somewhat explains it to me. from what she tells me, i guide myself and that is how i am able to help them.] some of the parents indicated that they would ask the child to translate the homework for them. however, parents indicated that the child would become frustrated. the parents would then find ways to translate the homework to be able to explain the concepts to the child. for example, a parent indicated that she used the dictionary to translate the assignments. les tenía un diccionario bien grande…sabían que ahí iban a encontrar cualquier palabra que no les entendía. y mis hijos también saben que cuando ocupemos algo, sacamos el diccionario y a buscar la palabra. [i used to have a big dictionary…they [children] knew that there we would find any word we did not understand. my children also know that when we need something, we take the dictionary out and we find the word.] in the example provided in the section above, it is clear that the mothers were vested in helping their children with the homework assignments. although, the majority of them did not understand the language, they found ways to translate the homework and in order to be able to help their children with their assignments. within the framework of ccw, the homework help practice presented various forms of capital including navigational, linguistic and familial. yosso (2005) describes navigational capital to be the ways that resiliency developed by individuals is used to navigate through systems or institutions. in the case of the homework help practice, parents demonstrate that one way to help their children progress through the school system is by helping or ensuring that the homework assignments are completed. furthermore, they demonstrated their navigational capital within the homework help practice in the instances in which they maneuvered to find strategies such as asking their children about their classwork in order to determine how to help their children with homework. additionally, within the homework help practice, parents also manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 64 implemented linguistic and familial capital. yosso (2005) defines linguistic capital as the skills individuals learn to communicate in more than one language, and familial capital as the social and personal resources in an individual’s familial and community networks. for example, the parents’ strategy to ask their own children to translate the homework demonstrates the parents’ ability to resort to other family members in order to help their children with homework. furthermore, their capacity to find ways to translate the homework from english to spanish using a dictionary or asking their children to translate for them demonstrates their linguistic capital. in general, the mothers did what they could to help their children with the homework assignments. as one of the mothers mentioned, “yo les ayudo todos los días, y eso es mi trabajo.” [i help them everyday, and that is my job.] the mothers did not only see helping their children with their homework as an option, but also rather saw it as their “job” to do what they could or find ways to help their children. for some mothers, this was on top of already working a full day in the fields. it is interesting to note that many of the mothers engaged in practices such as translating the homework to be able to explain the concepts to the children, but still felt that they were not doing enough. this finding indicates that the non-dominant forms in which the mothers were engaging in to help their children were not being validated. consejos this section focuses on the practice of consejos (advice). the concept of consejos is defined as the sociocultural practice of transmitting the value for education through the telling of one’s lived experiences (delgado-gaitan, 1994; godinez, 2006). the mothers recognized that because they themselves did not go to school in the u.s., they believed they were limited in the advice they could provide their children. nonetheless, they still managed to use their own lived-experiences to encourage their children to continue their education. furthermore, through this practice of consejos, they transmitted to their children the value of hard work (lópez, 2011). the mothers indicated that they begin to engage in this practice early on as a form to begin motivating their children to aspire to a higher education. yo les doy consejos [a mis hijas], están chiquitas pero yo sí les digo que tienen que estudiar para que sean una maestra o doctora o algo que les guste porque si no, van a estar así como su papá—van a ir a trabajar al campo… les digo van a estar como yo—en la casa todo el día. parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 65 les digo yo no tuve la oportunidad porque yo no estudié aquí. les digo si viviera en méxico, quizás si tuviera más oportunidad uno, quizás yo pudiera ser profesora pero aquí yo no soy nadie porque no lo estudié aquí y yo sí les digo a ellas que deben de estudiar para que tengan un mejor futuro. [i advise them [daughters]. they are young, but i do tell them that they need to study so that they can become a teacher, or a doctor, or something that they like because if they don’t, they will be like their dad working in the fields…i tell them they are going to be like me—at home all day. i tell them that i didn’t have the opportunity because i did not study here. i tell them that if i lived in mexico maybe i could’ve had the opportunity. maybe i could’ve been a teacher, but here i am no one because i did not study, and i tell them that they need to study to have a better future.] the mother who shared her practice of consejos describes how she feels about not having a higher education, and she uses her lived-experience as an example to encourage her young daughters to obtain a higher education. through her narrative, she also describes feelings of invisibility in the u.s. because she does not have a post-secondary degree. she also describes how she perceives that if her daughters do not continue with their education, they will have limited opportunities and end up working in the fields. mothers using their lived experiences to advise their children was a common practice described in the workshop discussions. another example includes a mother who shared the following: mira mi’jo, procura de que tus tareas, todos tus trabajos, los hagas bien porque mira, tu papá está trabajando para lo que tú necesites. le digo, el día de mañana, le digo que tú dejes—que no quieras estudiar, ¿a que te vas a dedicar? ¿cómo a tu papá? ¿a andar en el campo?…y le digo, no hijo, tú debes de superarte más ya que tu papá no pudo…le digo, pero al menos tú, que no te toque eso, le digo, mira lo que él está batallando. [look son, make sure that you complete your homework and that you do all your assignments correctly because look, your father is working to provide what you need. i tell him, one day in the future when you stop, when you don't want to study anymore, what are you going to work in? like your dad? work in the fields?…and i tell him, no manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 66 son, you need to achieve more even if your father couldn't…i tell him, as long as you don't have to do that. i tell him, look how much he is struggling.] here, as a practice, consejos help the mother advise her son about doing well in school so that he one day obtains a better job than his father. she also elaborates by reminding her son about the difficult job his father performs for very little money—struggling to make ends meet. at the same time, she reinforces his father's ability to endure and sacrifice to provide for his son. similarly, another mother shares the same type of consejo to her children: yo les explico que tienen que hacerla [tarea] porque es lo único, eso es su trabajo—ir a la escuela y poner atención. y les digo, no tú también tienes obligaciones, estudiar y hacer tarea...tienen responsabilidades y es hacer tu tarea. i explain to them that they need to do their homework because that is their only job— go to school and pay attention. and i tell them that they have responsibilities and that is to do their homework. in this instance, the mother is trying to convey to her children that the parents’ responsibility is to work to provide for their children, and in return, the children’s job is to do their homework and do well in school. the practice of consejos primarily represented aspirational and resistant capital. yosso (2005) describes aspirational capital as the dreams and hopes people of color hold despite the barriers and inequalities. through their consejos, parents demonstrate that they transmit their aspirations for their children to receive a higher education. parents would provide consejos to their children by telling them they needed to do well in school for them to be able to obtain a profession outside of the fields. the parents transmitted their aspirations through their consejos by illustrating how hard they had to work in the fields. additionally, parents also demonstrated resistant capital through their consejos. yosso (2005) describes resistant capital as the skills and knowledge implemented by people of color to resist inequalities. in this case, the parents demonstrate knowledge that one way to resist the inequalities they face, as farmworkers, is to encourage their children to continue their education. the parents transmit their resistant and aspirational capital to their children through their consejos by reminding them that school parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 67 should be their primary responsibility and use their personal stories as farmworkers to motivate their children. as a practice, consejos indicate that mothers advise their children to continue their education, but they do so by sharing their lived experiences as farmworkers. more specifically, mothers share how they use their lives and their hard work to encourage the children to aspire to obtain a higher education that will allow them to escape the cycle of poverty as farmworkers. furthermore, by sharing the consejos with their children, mothers convey that as parents they are responsible for providing for their children, and it is the children’s responsibility to do well in school. parental coaching the parental coaching practice is defined as moments where mothers “coach” other moms by discussing how they became involved in their children’s education; by using personal examples, these moms advise other mothers on how to do the same. for example, in one instance, a mother describes how she struggles to help her child with homework and another mother interjects the conversation to describe how she uses a dictionary to be able to help her kids with homework. madre 1: y uno que no sabe [inglés], a veces no le podemos ayudar mucho [a nuestros hijos], también a veces que ella [mi hija] se enoja porque dice, “esta palabra no me la sé en español.” luego ahí tengo que estar yo adivinando, que medio le atino, que no le atino, madre 2: por eso es bueno tener un diccionario también. yo lo que tengo es un diccionario de inglés a español, palabra que no entiende, que no sepa ella [mi hija] en español, la busco y le digo. [mother 1: and like, us, we don’t know [english] we cannot help them [our children] as much, and sometimes she [daughter] becomes upset and says, “i don’t know this word in spanish.” so then, i am trying to figure it out and sometimes i do and other times i don’t. mother 2: that’s why it is good to have a dictionary. i have an english-spanish dictionary, and when i don’t understand a word, or when she [daughter] doesn’t know a word in spanish, i look for it and i explain it to her. ] manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 68 in the instance above, the mothers are exchanging their experiences and practices with each other about helping their children with the homework. the two mothers describe that both translate the homework assignments to be able to help with the homework. in addition to the mothers advising each other on how to translate the homework assignments, they also shared how to help their children with reading and writing. madre 1: mi hijo lo que hace cuando lo pongo a leer, dice, “¿ma’ puedo leer el [libro] que yo quiera?” y yo, “sí, mi’jo…y dice ‘no, hoy el blanco, no hoy el verde.’” le digo, “cambiale de libros, esos, ya te los sabes hijo”. madre 2: pero no tiene importancia, es de que vayan practicando esa habilidad [de leer]; de que sigan leyendo, no de que estén leyendo libros diferentes. madre 1: ¿no tiene importancia que lean los mismos? madre 2: no, que lean el libro que ellos quieran que les vaya llamar la atención si lo quieren leer. como yo he leído libros tres veces porque a veces estás leyendo un libro y captas una cosa diferente que no captaste la primer vez. [mother 1: when i ask my son to read, he says, “mom, can i read whichever book i want?” and i tell him, “yes, son…and he says, ‘no, today the white one, no, the green one.’” i tell him, “switch the books, you already know the content of those.” mother 2: but the important thing is that they practice that ability [to read]; that they continue reading, not that they are reading different books. mother 1: it doesn’t matter that they are reading the same books? mother 2: no, they should read the books they choose because that is what they are interested in, if that’s what they want to read. i’ve read books up to three times because sometimes when you are reading a book and you catch something different that you didn’t catch the first time around.] in the narrative above, two mothers are discussing reading time with their children. the first mother is concerned that her son always wants to read the same book. she encourages him to read other books. the second mother tells the first mother that she should allow her son to read the book he chooses. she emphasizes that the important thing is that they practice parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 69 reading, not that they read different books. she also mentions that reading the same book more than once could be a good thing because, in her case, she has read books more than once herself and every time she reads the book, she learns something new. although, the mothers do not have a high level of formal schooling, they still managed to encourage their children to write. more specifically, during the parent coaching discussions about writing, i began to notice that the mothers implemented their strategies, such as telling the child to copy a page from a book or encouraging them to write letters to family members who did not live in the area. madre 1: los míos nunca quieren [escribir]. les digo, “mijo me van a escribir una hoja de la página del libro que quieran”… “[ellos dicen] no, yo no. hay, qué aburrido, ya escribimos mucho en la escuela." madre 2: yo los pongo a hacer cartas. facilitadora: ¿hacerles cartas? esa es una buena estrategia. ¿a quién hacen las cartas? madre 2: a su tío y luego las escriben en español. mother 1: my kids never want to [write]. i tell them that they need to copy a page from whichever book they want…[they say,] “no, i don’t want to because it’s boring. we already write a lot in school.” mother 2: i ask them to write letters facilitator: write letters? that's a good strategy. to whom do they write letters? mother 2: to their uncle, and they write them in spanish. within the context of the workshops, the activation of social capital is clearly exemplified by the parental coaching practice. yosso (2005) describes social capital as the networks and resources that help individuals navigate social institutions. within the context of this study, the workshops became the community space where parents began to share their practices. more specifically, through the workshops, parents engaged in discussions amongst each other about the networks and resources they used to help their children succeed academically. for example, as demonstrated by the selected quotes, parents shared how they would help their children with homework by utilizing a dictionary to translate the assignments and be able to explain the concepts to their children. in this instance, the parents are also implementing their manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 70 linguistic and familial capital by finding other ways to communicate the homework assignment or engaging their children in the process. similarly, the practice in which one parent is encouraging the second parent on ways that literacy can be promoted at home demonstrates the manner in which social capital is activated during the workshop. in this instance, the first parent was concerned that her child was not benefitting from reading the same book. the second parent uses her own experience to share with the first parent that reading the same book can promote literacy at home. again, this example also is indicative of the ways that parents are implementing linguistic capital within their practices at home. lastly, the example where the parents are sharing their strategies to encourage their children to write demonstrates the exchange of ideas that occurred within the workshops and also demonstrates the different tools the parents use to encourage their children to write. discussion of findings in this study, the finding related to homework help demonstrates that farmworking mothers actively engage in parent involvement practices at home. for example, the mothers understand that they are limited in their level of engagement during homework time, but make it a priority to ensure that their children are completing their homework assignments on time. epstein’s (1995) mainstream model of parent involvement includes tutoring at home as one of the practices that parents should be implementing. in this study, the way that the mothers describe their homework help practice challenges epstein’s concept of tutoring or learning at home as a form of parent involvement. epstein’s concept of tutoring or learning at home requires parents to have skills and knowledge about each academic subject and to be able to make curriculum-related decisions during the activities with their children. the evidence provided in this study demonstrates that learning at home does not necessarily require parents to have knowledge about a specific subject or be knowledgeable about the curriculum to ensure that their children have learning opportunities at home. in this case, the mothers clearly exemplify how they integrate their ccw to help their children complete their homework. this finding extends the literature on community knowledge or pedagogies of the home. more specifically, the homework help finding in this study exemplifies the ways navigational, linguistic, and familial capital are implemented by the mothers to create a learning environment parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 71 at home. furthermore, the homework help extends the work of moll (1999) on funds of knowledge. moll’s (1999) defines funds of knowledge as a “pedagogical approach that builds on the cultural resources of local communities” (moll, 1999). these cultural resources are the bodies of knowledge that underlie everyday, lived experiences of communities. in the definition of familial capital, the mothers in madres por la educación (yosso, 2006) explain that the concept is rooted in the kinship that evolves from the relationships of an individual. essentially, familial capital is akin to funds of knowledge as it encompasses the set of skills and knowledge that we foster in our own home and community setting (moll, 1999). similarly, according to the mothers in this study, completing a homework assignment is a family affair in which every member of the family contributes their knowledge to help each other. as discussed in the literature, one of the reasons why parents may not be able to engage in mainstream forms of parent involvement is the language barrier (faltis, 2006). however, the mothers in this study have demonstrated that despite not being able to speak english, they are actively helping their children with the homework assignments and actively seeking opportunities to make sure that their children continue their academic preparation at home. in this case, the homework help practice implemented by the mothers is a form of tutoring at home. furthermore, their use of linguistic capital in their homework help practice has an unintended benefit for the child’s literacy and bilingual development (orellana, reynolds, dorner, & meza, 2003). furthermore, research indicates that children’s language brokering skills are associated with their biculturalism and academic performance (buriel, perez, terri, chavez, & moran, 1998). the example in which the mothers are asking their children to translate to spanish and then back to english exemplifies how parents are unintentionally promoting more sophisticated language skills. this is consistent with the literature on literacy development that indicates how diverse language skills such as translating, describing, explaining, or clarifying concepts for parents promotes literacy development for bicultural students (mcquillian & tse, 1995; heath, 1986). through the practice of consejos, the mothers narrate their stories of migration and hard work as farmworkers to inspire their children and encourage them to continue with their education. this finding contradicts the cultural deficit arguments such as those made by the work of ruby payne (2005) which asserts that low-income families will pass on their cultural and social limitation to their children (as cited in gorski, 2008). more specifically, along with manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 72 lópez (2001) and delgado-gaitan (1994), the practice of consejos exemplified by the mothers indicates that they understand their limitations and barriers; however, these obstacles do not preclude the mothers from valuing education and transmitting their stories to their children as a form of encouragement for them to persevere and overcome those barriers involved in obtaining a higher education degree. furthermore, this finding is consistent with the work of godinez (2006) which indicates that consejos help students become motivated and hopeful. similarly, the mothers in this study through their consejos aspire to instill motivation and hope in their children to continue their education. epstein’s (1995) model of parent involvement calls for parents to provide the home conditions and support for students. this type of parent involvement calls for parenting skills that create awareness amongst students of the importance of school. through the consejos practice, the mothers are redefining their role as parents in their children’s education. more specifically, the mothers indicate that part of their responsibility as parents is to provide the moral support and motivation for their children to continue their education. this finding challenges the idea that parents are not involved in mainstream practices of parent involvement. the parents in this study transmit their life lessons through their consejos in order create awareness of the importance of continuing education. similar to the work of auerbach (2007), the mothers recognize that part of their role as parents is to be moral supporters for their children. auerbach (2007) indicates that parents draw from their familial and aspirational capital to foster “moral capital.” furthermore, the practice of consejos through which parents act as moral supporters for their children extends the literature on pedagogies of the home (delgado-bernal, 2006). delgado-bernal (2006) defines pedagogies of the home as the life lessons parents transmit to their children in order to provide strategies of resistances for their children. the mothers in this study integrate their resistance capital in their consejos to encourage their children to challenge the oppressive conditions they experience as farmworkers. more specifically, they tell their children that the only way they can have better opportunities is by continuing their education. the parental coaching practice was an unintended finding that emerged from the interactive format of the workshops. after the first few months of this study, i began to notice that mothers were more vocal during the workshops and began sharing their own lived experiences in the community. the cultural practice (figueroa & sánchez, 2005) and parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 73 community-based approach (israel, eng, schulz, & parker, 2005) to this study facilitated the active engagement of the mothers in discussions about the ways they became involved in their children’s education. the sharing of strategies through the parental coaching practice is indicative of the way the workshops facilitated production of knowledge based on the mothers’ own lived experiences (sandoval, 1998). furthermore, this finding validates the method of counterstories as it legitimizes the parents’ voices in a methodological approach for knowledge production. in the parental coaching finding, there is a crossover of the homework help and the consejos practices. more specifically, in the homework help practice the parents share with each other the ways they help and ensure that their children are completing their homework. similarly, in the parental coaching practice the parents are sharing with each other their own strategies on how they can overcome challenges to homework help and homework completion. the way they share their ways of thinking and knowing is consistent with the consejos definition (godinez, 2006). this finding also suggest that parents in the workshop were activating their social capital and sharing their skills and knowledge with each other. the activation and use of social capital is dependent on the relationships people have with each other. the fact that parents in the workshops engaged in discussions about how they can help their children in school demonstrate that they fostered a trustworthy environment where they were developing a common vision for their children’s education. bryk and schneider (2002) indicate that when teachers, principals, and parents work together, they can implement the necessary changes to create a successful school environment. thus, the parental coaching practice has potential implications for the way educators engage with parents and develop strategies that validate the parents’ voices and their pedagogies of the home. for example, the parental coaching practice that emerged from this study served as the foundation to develop puente cultural. puente cultural is a culturally-nuanced program through which parents from this study serve as parent-facilitators, and lead early literacy workshops in the community. through puente cultural, the school district began discussions about the ways to collaborate with parent-facilitators, and designated a classroom as the parent center. an important consideration for parent involvement initiatives is that educators must acknowledge the power differentials that exist between schools and parents. the power differences often are embedded in a deficit-thinking framework, which places the blame on the manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 74 individual for their lack of success (valencia & solórzano, 1997). in the case of parent involvement, cultural deficit analyses are a result of the lack of understanding of the different ways that low-income students and families express their investment in education. in this study, the workshops created the space where their parent involvement practices were validated and acknowledged as an important investment in their children’s education. the social space of the workshops then facilitated the interactions described in the parental coaching practice. conclusion and implications the counterstories presented in this study demonstrate how the mothers are actively involved in their children’s education. through the implementation of ccw, the mothers’ practices emerged from their life lessons and contributed to their children’s education in very positive ways. the misrecognition of the parent involvement practices of immigrant parents can be interpreted as a lack of concern for their children’s education (payne, 2008; stone, 1998). however, as demonstrated by this study, providing the social space for parents to validate their practices and privilege their voices can help build an understanding of how latino families engage in their children’s education. in turn, having an understanding of the ways parents implement their cultural knowledge and assets can help educators and researchers move beyond the deficit orientations regarding parent involvement practices, and help build an understanding of how to develop strategies to engage parents. for example, the communitybased methodology and cultural approach to the workshops in this study serve as an example of how educators can collaborate with parents. this study makes a contribution to theorizing the connections between parent involvement and ccw (yosso, 2005). over the years, scholars have been documenting the non-dominant forms of parent involvement as a way to provide counterstories to the majoritarian stories of the academic achievement of students of color. scholars like faltis (2006) and chavez-reyes (2010) have provided suggestions for more inclusive models of parent involvement. to begin developing a robust theory or model of parent involvement that is culturally appropriate for latino immigrant farmworking parents, we must draw on multiple traditions and seek connections between theories and disciplines. in this study, i draw from research in education to contextualize the parent involvement expectations immigrant parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 75 farmworking parents face. to challenge the notion that parents are not involved in their children's education, i also draw from critical race frameworks and epistemologies. through the findings of this study, i began to redefine the traditional mainstream definitions of parent involvement. i note the connections between the parent involvement practices of the farmworking mothers and ccw. further examination of the interconnection of ccw and parent involvement practices is vital to the field and the development of culturally relevant programs like community-campus partnerships that work closely with latino parents. as documented by faltis (2006), barriers such as language, multiple demands, unfamiliarity with the u.s. school system, and negative experiences may hinder more formal practices of parent involvement. through the homework help practice documented in this study, i have examined how despite not knowing english, parents have been able to overcome the barrier to assisting their children with their homework, and in turn make positive unintended contributions to their children's literacy and bilingual development. furthermore, although the multiple work demands of parents are seen as a barrier to parent involvement, the mothers in this study express how they used their struggles as life lessons to provide consejos for their children. policy makers and administrators should take an assets-based approach to implement programming that addresses these barriers. for example, policy makers can require school districts or local offices of education to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate programs for parents to become familiar with the school system. also, policy makers and school districts should take into account the socioeconomic barriers and develop policies that target the inequalities that arise due to the differences in socioeconomic status. parents from lower socioeconomic status may not have the transportation or economic resources to be able to engage in practices at the school site; therefore, policies at the local level can focus on providing resources such as transportation to and from the school site to facilitate the physical engagement of parents in the school site. for example, in this study, the workshops were held in each of the communities within the local school district and at locations identified by the parents. lastly, local school systems can provide workshops for teachers to become familiar with the less visible forms of parent involvement and provide them with teacher training on how they can validate informal parent involvement practices rather than discounting them and formulating deficit perspectives. by implementing policies that address the barriers that hinder parent involvement and manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 76 implementing strategies that validate the less visible forms of parent involvement, educators can begin to build collaborations between the school and home. this research was supported in part by a grant from the national institute of food and agriculture of the united states department of agriculture. niños sanos, familia sana (healthy children, healthy families: grant number 2011-68001-30167. parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 77 references alfaro, e.c., umaña-taylor, a.j., & bámaca, m.y. (2006). the influence of academic support on latino adolescents academic motivation. family relations, 55(3), 279-291. auerbach, s. (2007). from moral supporters to struggling advocates: reconceptualizing parent roles in education through the experience of working-class families of color. urban education, 42(3), 250-283. doi: 10.1177/0042085907300433 barnard, w.m. (2004). parent involvement in elementary school and educational attainment. children and youth services review, 26(1), 39-62. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2003.11.002 bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in j. g. richardson (ed.), handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). new york, ny: greenwood bryk, a., & schneider, b. (2002). trust in schools: a core resource for improvement. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. buriel, r., perez, w., terri, l., chavez, d. v., & moran, v. r. (1998). the relationship of language brokering to academic performance, biculturalism, and self-efficacy among latino adolescents. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 20(3), 283-297. burt, r.s. (1992). structural holes, the social structure of competition. cambridge, ma: harvard univ. press. ca department of education (2015). data files. <http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/> chavez-reyes, c. (2010). inclusive approaches to parent engagement for young english language learners and their families. yearbook of the national society for the study of education, 109(2), 474-504. delgado-bernal, d. (2006). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. in d. delgado-bernal, c.a. elenes, f.e. godinez, s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life (pp. 113-132). albany, ny: suny press. delgado-gaitan, c. (1990). literacy for empowerment: the role of parents in children's education. new york, ny: falmer press. delgado-gaitan, c. (1992). school matters in the mexican-american home: socializing children to education. american educational research journal, 29(3), 495-513. delgado-gaitan, c. (1994). "consejos": the power of cultural narratives. antropology & education quarterly, 25(3), 298-316. durand, t. m. (2011). latino parental involvement in kindergarten: findings from the early childhood longitudinal study. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 33(4), 469-489. doi: 10.1177/0739986311423077 epstein, j.l. . (1995). school-family-community-partnerships: caring for the children we share. phi delta kappan, 701-712. faltis, c. (2006). teaching english language learners in elementary school communities: a joinfostering approach. upper saddle river, nj: pearson/merrill/prentice hall. figueroa, j. l , & sánchez, p. (2005). technique, art, or cultural practice? ethnic epistemology in latino qualitative studies. research methods in ethnic studies, 143-178. manzo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 78 fraser, n. , & honneth, a. (2003). redistribution or recognition?: a political-philosophical exchange. new york, ny: verso. godinez, f. (2006). braiding cultural knowledge into educational practices and policies. in d. delgado-berna, c.a. elenes, f.e. godinez, s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life (pp. 25-38). albany, ny: suny press. gorski, p.c. (2008). peddling poverty for profit: elements of oppression in ruby payne's framework. equity & excellence in education, 41(1), 130-148. heath, s. b. (1986). sociocultural contexts of language development. beyond language: social and cultural factors in schooling language minority students, 143-186. israel, b. a., eng, e., schulz, a. j., & parker, e. a. (eds.). (2005). methods in community-based participatory research for health. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. jeynes, w. h. (2003). a meta-analysis: the effects of parental involvement on minority children’s academic achievement. education and urban society, 35(2), 202-218. doi: 10.1177/0013124502239392 lee, j. s., & bowen, n. k. (2006). parent involvement, cultural capital, and the achievement gap among elementary school children. american educational research journal, 43(2), 193-218. doi: 10.3102/00028312043002193 lefevre, a. l., & shaw, t. v. (2011). latino parent involvement and school success: longitudinal effects of formal and informal support. education and urban society, 44(6), 707-723. doi: 10.1177/0013124511406719 lópez, g.r. (2001). the value of hard work: lessons on parent involvement from an (im)migrant household. harvard educational review, 71(3), 416-437. mcquillan, j., & tse, l. (1995). child language brokering in linguistic minority communities: effects on cultural interaction, cognition, and literacy. language and education, 9(3), 195215. moll, l.c. (1999). funds of knowledge: a new approach to culture in education. paper presented at the the green honor's chair lecture, school of education, texas christian university. moll, l.c., & gonzález, n. (1997). teachers as social scientists: learning about culture from household research. in p. m. hall (ed.), race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism: policy and practice (p. 84-114). new york, ny: taylor & francis. olivos, e. m. (1999). power, knowledge, and culture in parent involvement. the journal of the association of mexican american educators, 13-23. olivos, e. m. (2003). dialectical tensions, contracdictions, and resistance: a study of the relationship between latino parents and the public school system within a socioeconomic "structure of dominance". (ph.d. dissertation), claremon graduate university, proquest dissertations and theses. orellana, m. f., reynolds, j., dorner, l., & meza, m. (2003). in other words: translating or" para-phrasing" as a family literacy practice in immigrant households. reading research quarterly, 38(1), 12-34. parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 79 payne, c.m. (2008). so much reform, so little change: the persistence of failure in urban schools. cambridge, ma: harvard education press. payne, r. k. (2005). a framework for understanding poverty: a cognitive approach. highlands, tx: aha! process. sandoval, c. (1998). mestizaje as method: feminists-of-color challenge the canon. living chicana theory, 352-370. smith, l., bratini, l., chambers, d. a., jensen, r. v., & romero, l. (2010). between idealism and reality: meeting the challenges of participatory action research. action research, 8(4), 407-425. doi: 10.1177/1476750310366043 solórzano, d., & villalpando, o. (1998). critical race theory, marginality, and the experience of minority students in higher education. in c. torres & t. mitchell (eds.), emerging issues in the sociology of education: comparative perspectives (pp. 211-225). new york, ny: suny press. solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. doi: 10.1177/107780040200800103 stone, c.n. (1998). changing urban education. lawrence, ks: univerisity press of kansas. strauss, a.l. (1987). qualitative analysis for social scientist. new york, ny: cambridge university press. valencia, r.r., & solórzano, d. (1997). contemporary deficit thinking. in r. r. valencia (ed.), the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice (pp. 160-210). london: the falmer press. yosso, t.j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. yosso, t.j. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. new york, ny: routledge. association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 47 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers shannon gleeson cornell university abstract this article speaks to the special issue’s goal of disrupting the deserving/undeserving immigrant narrative by critically examining eligibility criteria available under two arenas of relief for undocumented immigrants: 1) the 2012 deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) program, which provides temporary deportation relief and work authorization for young adults who meet an educational requirement and other criteria, and 2) current and proposed pathways to legal status for those unauthorized immigrants who come forward to denounce workplace injustice, among other crimes. for each of these categories of “deserving migrants,” i illuminate the exclusionary nature each of these requirements, which pose challenges especially for those workers who have limited education. as such, i argue for the importance of an institutional perspective on youth. specifically, i demonstrate how the educational criteria required by daca privileges a select few individuals who have access to formal educational institutions as deserving, while ignoring other empowering but non-traditional models of worker education. i also examine those mechanisms that reward workers who come forward to contest employer abuse. these include the current u-visa program, which opens a path to legal status for those select claimants who have been harmed by employer abuse and aid criminal investigations (e.g. saucedo, 2010). in a similar vein, some advocates and legal scholars have proposed a pathway to citizenship for those workers involved in collective organizing (e.g. gordon, 2007, 2011). i weigh the benefits and exclusivity of each pathway for addressing the precarity of the millions of undocumented immigrants currently in the united states. in doing so, i highlight how institutions have unevenly incorporated immigrant workers, creating wide categories of vulnerability that go ignored. that is, demographically young immigrants are often privileged as deserving, as are those institutionally mature workers who have been successfully incorporated by civic organizations and legal bureaucracies. meanwhile, institutionally young immigrants—those who have been excluded from these spaces—are framed as undeserving. as a result, rather than to see legal status as a pathway to incorporation, it is extended as a reward for those who have surpassed longstanding barriers. narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers 48 introduction advocates and policymakers alike have debated how to frame the push for deportation relief and a pathway to citizenship. the once reified position that undocumented children are the innocent bystanders and victims of their parents’ poor decision-making is no longer tenable. it has been rejected by leaders in the immigrant rights movement, who highlight the constrained choice that undocumented migrants face in their quest for economic survival and physical safety. even moderate republican leaders conceded that some path to citizenship is just and necessary.1 however, a debate persists regarding exactly which immigrants should be shielded from deportation, and which immigrants deserve a pathway to legal status, or at minimum, deportation relief and work authorization. inherent in this discussion is an assessment of which immigrants add value to u.s. society, and who should be absolved of the purported sin of undocumented migration, and who should receive relief. although countless scholarly studies have confirmed that undocumented status poses a barrier to immigrant incorporation and legal mobilization (abrego, 2011; gleeson, 2010; gonzales, 2011; marrow, 2011), many models for inclusion reward only those immigrants who have against all odds become incorporated. one dominant approach has been to elevate the contributions of high achieving undocumented youth. while many dreamers themselves have rejected this trope, and even transformed the tenor of the debate (nicholls, 2013), policymakers and some well-meaning advocates continue to differentiate the young “innocents.” in the 2012 deferred action for childhood arrival prosecutorial discretion policy, the obama administration made temporary deportation relief and work authorization available for those qualifying individuals who were brought to the united states as children and who had completed either “postsecondary education, job training, or employment.”2 while my evidence confirms that immigrant workers do in fact value educational opportunities, low-wage workers are often precluded from beginning and persisting in school. access to alternative educational pathways (such as english as a second language classes) are limited in practice, and competing obligations can foreclose the reality of reentry to education. other avenues for relief have focused on the need to uphold the legal standards that govern employer practices and to protect the rights of low-wage workers. the particular vulnerability of undocumented workers is an issue that few contest, and some pathways to legal status have been created for those workers who come forward to denounce workplace abuse. the u-visa, which was created to provide a path to legal status for those victims of crime who aid law enforcement, has been expanded to undocumented workers who have been harmed by employer abuse and who are pursuing a legal claim. as such, many state and federal labor standards enforcement agencies have begun certifying u-visa applications for eligible claimants (national employment law project, 2014). successful applicants are then eligible to pursue legal permanent residency and eventually naturalization though there is a yearly cap. while these visas are crucial to protect immigrants from retaliation and to help labor standards enforcement agencies hold egregious employers accountable, they are also limited to those minority of workers who actually come forward to file a legal claim. yet, we know that, even amongst citizen workers, labor and employment law is limited in its coverage (bernhardt, boushey, dresser, & tilly, 2008; garcia, 2012), and a wide array of barriers work in concert to deflect a worker attempt to ascend the “dispute pyramid” (felstiner, abel, & sarat, 1980). some advocates and legal scholars have gone a step further to argue for a path to citizenship for those workers engaged in collective transnational labor organizing (gordon, 2007, 2011). similar campaigns have been successful in other contexts, such as paris, where labor unions have tied legalization efforts to sans papier organzing (barron et al., 2015). while the impetus for this approach heralds the civic spirit of those undocumented workers who are no doubt revolutionizing the labor movement in the united states (and beyond), it is an approach that privileges already engaged workers, who again represent a minority of the precarious workforce involved in either unions or the newer forms of “alt-labor” (compa, 2015; rosenfeld, 2014). based on existing visions for immigration reform, this article has two main goals for reframing the dominant narratives of immigrant exclusion and belonging. first, i argue that just as demographically young immigrants have been viewed as requiring legal status to realize their full potential in the u.s. labor market and civic/political life, so do institutionally young workers require legal status as a step towards addressing their 1 http://americasvoice.org/research/getting-to-a-majority-more-house-republicans-come-out-for-citizenship/ 2 http://www.ilrc.org/files/documents/ilrc-daca-education_req_faq-2013-02_28.pdf narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 49 precarious lives. rather than view legal status as a reward for the few who have surpassed scores of institutional barriers facing low-wage immigrants, legal status should be understood similarly as a broad-based —even if not absolute— mechanism for advancing educational parity and worker justice. while undocumented status is by no means the only barrier facing these immigrants, to reward only the select few who excel runs the risk of replicating existing disparities. further, by focusing on mainstream institutional forms of incorporation, it also devalues existing alternative models of worker empowerment that do not fit into traditional models of formal education. second, i argue that proposals to reward individual and collective claims-making with a path to legal status must also acknowledge the legal and bureaucratic challenges these proposals present. here too, undocumented status intersects with a wide range of other challenges that produce an elite cohort of claimants who come forward to pursue legal remedies and who can actually succeed in doing so (gleeson, 2015b). i discuss the challenges that undocumented workers face in filing a formal claim, and the barriers they face to bureaucratic incorporation in the labor standards enforcement process (gleeson, 2014a; marrow, 2009). in doing so, my aim is not to reject the importance of either program, but rather to highlight the persistent inequalities that these narrow programs are unable to address. i hope to engage both the practical implications of valorizing social change via formal institutions, and the importance of visionary thinking that values broad contributions by immigrants. i end by contrasting the liberating social movement narratives intended by these proposals, with the hegemonic neoliberal framing adopted by many of the workers i interview. methodology this article draws on longstanding research amongst low-wage immigrant workers, and in particular two main waves of data collection. in the first wave, i draw on interviews with 41 documented and undocumented latino restaurant workers in san jose (28) and houston (13), conducted from october 2005 to june 2007. these two sites provide a comparative perspective of two demographically similar immigrant destinations, with two very different contexts for immigrant and worker rights (see gleeson, 2010) for an expanded methodological discussion). additionally, i draw on a survey of 453 workers (331 foreign-born) in the san francisco bay area who were engaged in the process of filing a claim against their employer for alleged violations ranging from wage theft to discrimination, sexual harassment, workers compensation, and unemployment claims.3 this region, home to some of the most progressive policies for immigrant and worker protections, provides a best case scenario that allows for a conservative estimate of the challenges immigrant workers may be facing. among those surveyed, i followed up with 89 respondents (66 foreign-born), 12 to 36 months following their original claim (see appendix, table 1). on average, the 35 undocumented workers interviewed from this survey were 37 years old, and had been in the country for over 12 years. they worked in a range of industries, the most prevalent being restaurants, janitorial services, and construction. three-quarters of undocumented respondents had children, and nearly eighty percent sent money home to their country of origin.4 parallel to this survey effort, i interviewed 25 injured workers (13 foreign-born, and 5 undocumented) following their participation in a workers’ compensation workshop for injured workers provided by the state of california (see appendix, table 2). i attended 29 workshops from december 2008 to december 2013 (14 in english, 15 in spanish), and listened to workers discuss their issues. i also draw on my experience as a volunteer legal interviewer at a workers’ rights clinic located in a predominantly latino immigrant community on the central coast of california. i attended approximately 40 clinics from november 2010 to june 2014 (25 focused on workers compensation, 14 dedicated to wage claims).5 the majority of these interviews were conducted in spanish. all interview quotes presented here are translated from spanish, unless otherwise noted. young immigrants, young workers, and educational access advocates and government regulators have shined a light on the plight of “young workers” in recent 3 total survey sample: n=453 4 for more discussion on the family obligations these workers must balance, see gleeson, 2015a. 5 for more on the challenges facing injured undocumented workers attempting to file a workers’ compensation claim, see gleeson, 2014b. narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers 50 years, focusing on the need to educate and empower those workers often overlooked by labor advocates and other civic institutions (ramakrishnan & bloemraad, 2008). yet, there has been little consensus on who these workers, or what their key needs, are. for example, the occupational safety and health administration has developed savvy outreach material for “young workers” between the ages of 16 and 24,6 as has the equal employment opportunity commission’s “youth at work” initiative.7 in 2015, the american federation of labor and congress of industrial organizations (afl-cio) even convened a young workers summit, with representation from key labor leaders within the immigrant rights community (afl-cio young worker advisory council, 2015). this program, dubbed “next up,” was conceived with the purpose of “engaging, empowering and mobilizing union members and nonunion workers under the age of 35” (boris et al., 2015). alternative labor groups, including worker centers and other non-union organizations, have also aimed to provide marginalized workers with alternatives for mobilizing collectively (fine, 2006). for example, groups such as young workers united in san francisco have taken up the charge to think more broadly about “young workers,” also engaging immigrant workers, and others who are new to the u.s. labor force, with a focus on the service sector. given these various outreach initiatives, how should we understand age, illegality, and immigrant incorporation, in the context of worker rights? on the one hand, young and immigrant workers share a long list of “overlapping vulnerabilities,” as recognized by the national institute for occupational safety (niosh & asse, 2015). yet, if we think more broadly of youth beyond demographic age, and as culturally and spatially bound, as argued by anthropologist tania cruz-salazar (2012), then youth is a fluid, institutionally bound category. undocumented immigrants no doubt often arrive with limited educational background. overall, 47 percent of undocumented immigrants have less than a high school education (passel & cohn, 2009), also paralleled by the 45 percent of undocumented respondents in my sample who have less than a high school degree.8 language skills also pose a barrier for immigrants, both in terms of earnings and occupational safety (chiswick & miller, 1999; dávila, mora, & gonzález, 2011). sixty-five percent of immigrant respondents, and 84 percent of the undocumented in my survey, in fact, reported that they do not speak english well, or at all. however, attaining a formal education does not necessarily present an equal benefit to all workers. a 2015 report by the migration policy institute confirms that immigrants do lag behind the native born in the united states with regard to literacy and numeracy. the report also finds that immigrants have much lower returns to human capital (batalova & fix, 2015). in the secondary labor market, flexibility and precarity, rather than formal human capital, is exactly what employers seek (waldinger & lichter, 2003). the key assets for advancement for low-wage immigrants are often their comparative advantage as precarious workers. thus, undocumented immigrant workers are institutional newcomers to both the formal education system and the legal bureaucracies that regulate the jobs where they work. nonetheless, both institutions—education and labor standards enforcement—are avenues that have been elevated as pathways to legalization. this is not to say that immigrants do not value or seek educational advancement. for example, baldomero,9 an unauthorized restaurant worker in houston admitted how he only recently learned to read and write in spanish, describing proudly how his sister taught him the basics. “i gave it my all, and i learned. so now i read and write, not very fast, but i can read… after many years.” for workers like him, school was not a matter of choice or values. “i went to work with my dad at 12 years old….it was better, i wasn’t going to learn anything in school, and we were 10 siblings (to support).” similarly for julián,10 an undocumented restaurant worker, the costs for attending schools in mexico were prohibitive, so he left school and joined the workforce at age 14. workers were acutely aware of the challenge that educational and language barriers posed. for example, jj,11 an undocumented construction worker in san jose describes how his inability to communicate effectively has kept him from formally complaining about the work speedup. “there are a lot of things i don’t understand, that the boss tells me, and sometimes it makes me nervous (to talk to him).” however, jj attended night classes from 5:30-10:30 p.m. several days a week, where he also picked up a math class. while he eventually filed a wage 6 https://www.osha.gov/youngworkers/ 7 http://www.eeoc.gov/youth// 8 by contrast, only 8% of u.s.-born residents 25-64 are not high school graduates (passel & cohn, 2009, iv.) 9 interview, 6/29/06. here and in the interviews to follow, pseudonyms are used and interview quotes are translated from spanish. 10 interview, 6/25/06 11 interview, 10/29/13 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 51 theft claim against his employer, jj was fired soon thereafter. though he quickly found another construction job, he just as quickly found himself once again the victim of wage theft. this time, however, he weighed his options and chose to avoid a formal claim, ambivalent that the hassle and probability of success would be worth his efforts. the sentiment that workers are making insufficient sacrifices to educate themselves is a popular refrain. yet, often missing from this discussion are all the barriers workers face to actually reach this goal. octavio,12 a former truck driver, had been taking repeated cycles of esl classes, including, english, writing, speaking, grammar, and conversation. although classes are free, he spends about $70 on books per class. despite his dicey financial situation since he has been out of work for a back injury, he reassures me that for him education is “priceless.” before he became injured, octavio had what he described as an impossible schedule. i worked on average 60 hours a week, 6 days…i knew that classes were offered… but what happened is that when i went to register [at the community college], my work schedule just didn’t let me keep going. i would arrive late, and if you don’t attend they drop you from the class…the professor was very clear, “you show up late or miss twice, and you are dropped.” ironically, it was not until octavio became injured that he was able to start attending consistently again. even so, finding the brain space to focus, despite all his other obligations, is also difficult. octavio explained: it’s a lot of effort; it takes a lot to concentrate. i don’t get enough sleep… i even went to the dentist and he confirmed that i was grinding my teeth at night, all of this stress and tension, you can’t even imagine. alonso,13 an undocumented restaurant worker, similarly explains the mental distraction of his own precarious circumstances, although he concedes that there is ample opportunity to pursue coursework. this country offers a lot of opportunities…we need to take advantage of them… but right now i’m not attending adult school because of my pain. i just don’t have the headspace to be in school. i’m not at 100%. i can’t focus, i just can’t…i can’t deal with normal stress… but there is opportunity. other workers simply have no access to school. joel14 worked for years in the san joaquin valley on a ranch where there was no way to get to class even if he wanted to. “it’s nothing but ranches out there. i’d have to walk more than 30 miles to the nearest city. i had no car, nothing. where would one even go?” immigrants in rural settings across the country face similar challenges (sexsmith & dudley, 2015). some workers managed to start classes, but could not sustain the effort after 8 or 9 months due to unpredictable work schedules, a hallmark of worker precarity in the new economy (lambert, fugiel, & henly, 2014). jose luis,15 also an undocumented restaurant worker, went on to explain emphatically that he stopped attending school, not because he no longer cares about school, but because his job as a restaurant worker gave him no certainty from week to week. other workers, particularly women like marta,16 stopped attending due to family obligations: i stopped going. when my mom got sick, or my brother or my nephew got sick, i had to stay home…they [teachers] wanted me to attend every day, so i had to stop going. and now i work taking care of my mom, it is the source of what little i earn. i also met many workers who were engaged in intense courses of training that still did not meet the standard 12 interview, 2/13/09 13 interview, 3/3/09 14 interview, 1/31/11 15 interview, 3/5/09 16 interview, 2/28/09 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers 52 educational eligibility requirements set by uscis. for example, candelaria,17 a subcontracted janitor explained the training she underwent to care for her disabled child. i received training to also support other parents who also had special needs children, for about three months to understand the child development of these kids. during that time parents like us got together to share suggestions and recommendations. sometimes you get to the point where you think you’ve done everything, there is nothing more i can do, but then you learn more techniques, how to help them, so that’s what i’m doing now. i graduated from this parenting class…and now i’m going to a group called mujeres unidas y activas, to learn more, because i want to better myself, for my children. i need to help them succeed, but sometimes it is hard because i don’t have help from others. while this mother, who fled violence in el salvador, was able to receive her permanent residency through other channels, her similarly situated undocumented fellow group members would not. the 2012 deferred action for childhood arrivals program requires a formal plan of education, which excludes training programs offered by nonprofit and community based organizations focused on popular pedagogy and worker empowerment. similarly, the long anticipated and stalled federal dream act would privilege young immigrants brought by their parents, and who have completed a two or four year degree, only certain vocational trainings, or who have completed military service (batalova & mchugh, 2010). this is not to say that heroic efforts have not been made by some local governments, many immigrant rights groups, and educational advocates to make educational training available to a wider array of potential daca beneficiaries (kissam, 2012). however, it is important to recognize how even these efforts are in many ways replicating the same structural inequalities that maintain the precarious immigrant workforce. for example, one adult educator i spoke with felt torn between the important work their institution did to equip immigrants with skills and english capacity, and what they referred to as essentially a “hegemonic and capitalist” ethic inherent in typical courses meant to create better workers. in this regard, we require a re-envisioning of the forms of worker education and empowerment, offered oftentimes by non-traditional educators and advocates. in sum, too often we individualize educational decisions, valorizing those who seemingly make the appropriate sacrifice to attend school, while disparaging those who do not. yet, the cases presented here reveal the structural limitations that shape these institutionally young students, who despite their demographic age, must be understood as newcomers to a system designed predominantly to privilege traditional students with few competing demands. meanwhile, efforts to reach wider groups of disadvantaged groups remain largely absent. empowering undocumented workers and valorizing claims-making while daca provides temporary deportation relief and access to the formal labor market, there are some additional limited forms of relief currently available to undocumented workers (fisk & wishnie, 2005). key among them is the u-visa program, intended for victims of a crime who assist law enforcement in their investigation. given the deleterious effects of employer sanctions under the 1986 immigration reform and control act, legal scholars and advocates such as saucedo (2010) have supported the expanded use of uvisas to “provide leverage to workers who seek to uphold or enforce labor and employment rights in the most egregious settings” (p. 303). in practical terms, u-visas have been applied to certain forms of mental or physical abuse, as long as workers are helpful in an investigation by an agency willing to certify their federal, state, or local claim (national employment law project, 2014). the u-visa program has emerged in a context ripe for workplace abuse, and where unauthorized workers have significantly higher rates of violations (bernhardt, spiller, & theodore, 2013, p. 823). while the u-visa program is a critical tool for advocates, and an important resource for immigrants, it also assumes a two-track approach to remedying employer abuse whereby workers who cannot prove immediate and direct harm are ineligible, and those who come forward to present an eligible claim are valorized and rewarded. however, as my 17 interview, 10/24/11 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 53 research below demonstrates, the process of filing a claim is arduous, and the decision to not come forward, or to abandon a claim, is sometimes the best thing a worker feels that they can do for themselves and their family. consequently, seen from another lens, those workers excluded from this crucial form of relief may in fact be adopting a survival strategy for themselves and their families. for example, i spoke with an undocumented landscaper in his late 50s who regularly worked mandatory and unpaid overtime. although jorge attempted to contest his conditions, the response from his employer was crystal clear, “i’m not going to pay you anything, do what you want.” this worker understood his equal rights as an undocumented worker, though saw his practical ability to move forward as severely limited. his life was riddled with structural challenges. his wife, an undocumented retail worker, had nearly died in a car crash on her way to work 6 months earlier, ultimately spending three days in a coma; three months in a hospital and three more months recovering at home.18 she eventually lost her job, and jorge was left as the sole earner of the household. the risk of coming forward to claim, therefore, became quickly palpable, and he could not afford to lose his job. “when he threatens us, of course people are scared,” jorge recalls. his exact words were, “there’s the door… clock out.” another tortillería worker i spoke with similarly recounted how the (unconfirmed) threat of an upcoming audit was enough to squash the movement of workers who had organized to demand higher wages. each was fired in succession over time, leaving the remainder to wonder who would be next. for both these workers, the overlapping legal regimes of at-will employment (whereby non-unionized workers can generally be fired for good, bad, or no cause) (ncsl, 2012), also clashes with the federal prohibition against hiring unauthorized workers and the constant threat of deportation. as such, the precarious labor market position of undocumented lowwage workers is reinforced by their legal disposability. therefore, while there are indeed many workers who do come forth to file claims, there are many more who act as rationally as one could expect, given an environment of uncertainty. the rocky road to individual claims-making is one that has been long demurred by labor scholars and advocates who caution against the move towards an atomized system of worker protection (lichtenstein, 2002). for this reason, immigrant worker advocates have envisioned bold pathways of worker empowerment via collective resistance. for example, gordon (2007) has argued for a model that “would tie immigration status to membership in organizations of transnational workers rather than to a particular employer.” specifically, …in exchange for the authorization to work that they would receive as members, migrant workers would commit to the core value of labor citizenship: solidarity with other workers in the united states, expressed as a commitment to refuse to work under conditions that violate the law or labor agreements. (gordon, 2007, p. 509) the migrant would be: …asked to take a ‘solidarity oath’ as a condition of membership, promising to take no job that violated basic workplace laws or that paid less than the minimum set by the transnational labor organizations, to report employer violators to their transnational labor organizations once discovered, and to uphold union solidarity with other workers (for example, refusing to cross picket lines). (gordon, 2007, p. 567) in this model, advancing the collective good of workers would be the centerpiece of inclusion, and a commendable goal. similar campaigns driven by immigrant worker power have thrived in europe. for example, in recent years, labor activists in france have used strike activity to force employers to sponsor the legal applications of sans-papiers (undocumented) workers (barron et al., 2015). however, while unions, worker centers, and other worker advocates have become critical sites to collectively contest employer abuse, and have in fact been calling for broad-based reform (trumka, 2014), there remains significant challenges to organizing low-wage workers on the ground. many feel disconnected from the mainstream movement and in some cases have internalized narrow definitions of belonging. to this end, i spoke 18 interview, 9/23/13 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers 54 with workers regarding their relationship to advocacy organizations and mass mobilizations that were happening in their communities. when asked, “in the past few years, there have been several immigrant rights marches in the city. have you participated in any of them?” an impressive 32 percent responded, yes. however, a deeper conversation with respondents regarding their feelings surrounding the mobilizations revealed a wide disconnect between the ideals of worker empowerment and the ways workers feel excluded from these efforts. to be sure, there was no shortage of indignant workers who believed that their hard work merited justice. however, collective solidarity was not a forgone conclusion for all of them. amongst surveyed workers, 14 percent were union members, including only 5 percent of undocumented respondents. the perspective these claimants had towards their union was often complex, given that they typically had come seeking help from the legal aid clinic to address what they perceived as a failure of their union to provide sufficient assistance with their grievance. their unique perspectives nonetheless illuminates a dynamic that complicates the path to “labor citizenship” via worker solidarity. for example, yadira,19 a subcontracted janitor and mother, explained her frustration towards her union and the grievance system following her firing. according to them, supposedly they have to get in there and talk first [with the employer], and they just make you think that they’re going to help, pure lies, because the union never helps anyone… i told them i had never had a warning and had worked for almost five years, it wasn’t right that i was fired. they said that they would go talk [to the employer], supposedly, but nothing [happened]. they said they would call me, but they never did. yadira’s perspective reflects dissatisfaction towards a mode of business unionism that is focused on individual grievances (fantasia & voss, 2004), despite strident efforts to incorporate immigrant workers. unions also face severe constraints from employers who regularly engaged in union busting and other efforts to disrupt immigrant worker solidarity (shapiro, 2014). workers, nonetheless, do not necessarily see collective organizing as a viable strategy to address abuse. similarly, berenice,20 a long-time unionized manufacturing worker reflected on the legacy of immigrant organizing since the heydays of cesar chavez. the farmworkers fought, went on strike, they didn’t back down. i used to go to these huge marches where i saw men on crutches, in wheelchairs, fighting for their rights and everything, and you contrast to today. people aren’t fighting today. thus, despite the inspiring progress of immigrants within the labor movement (milkman, 2010), some workers remain disillusioned. consequently, it is critical to understand that collective organizing and even everyday forms of civic engagement exist in an elite space. amongst survey respondents, 35 percent reported volunteering at church, school (10 percent), a union (7 percent) or other organization (12 percent). while this number represents a small minority of respondents, it is not radically different from what we know about volunteer activity amongst the native-born adults. data from the current population survey confirm that approximately one in four youth reported volunteering in the past year, with rates as low as 10 percent for noncitizen immigrants (lee & pritzker, 2013; wilson, 2012). we also know that rates are lower for latinos and first generation immigrants, as well as youth from families with lower socioeconomic status (ishizawa, 2014). this is not to say that there are not impressive pockets of mobilization, most critically the eruption of mass mobilizations in 2006 (pallares & flores-gonzález, 2009; voss & bloemraad, 2011), and the leadership undertaken by undocumented youth and engaged parents (terriquez, 2011, 2015). however, some immigrants also face significant civic stratification (bloemraad & gleeson, shannon, n.d.), which is reified by proposals that premise deportation relief on their engagement. the narratives some undocumented immigrants adopt about their belonging in u.s. society further reflect this disconnect. 19 interview, 6/6/13 20 interview, 9/25/13 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 55 lessons for inclusion, and towards a way forward in my conversations with low-wage workers, i asked immigrant respondents to consider pending proposals for immigration reform. these findings reveal some immigrants’ ambivalence regarding possibilities for broad based change, and an internalized narrative of individual deservingness. for example, when asked, “do you think that the president and congress should authorize an “amnesty” or “legalization” program?” less than half of immigrants (42 percent) responded, “yes, for everyone.” amongst them, 24 percent of documented (and 16 percent of citizen) immigrants said yes, while 72 percent of undocumented immigrants responded affirmatively. though only 31 percent of documented respondents (and 22 percent of citizens) were in favor of a guest-worker program, a stunning 80 percent of undocumented respondents would support one.21 what might this emphasis on deportation relief and temporary status over full legal incorporation reveal about how undocumented immigrants understand their place in the united states, and the lessons they have learned about who deserves to belong? in order to understand workers’ own views, norms, and ideals of belonging and deservingness, i ended each interview by asking them what policies respondents would advocate for moving forward. the 2005 sensenbrenner bill and the 2006 mass immigrant mobilizations served as a backdrop for my first phase of interviews. in the second phase, the 2010 senate bill 1070 proposals in arizona also were a common topic of conversation. in 2007 i asked alfonso,22 an undocumented restaurant worker who regularly worked double shifts, what he thought of the many mobilizations that had recently taken place. he explained his conflicted perspective regarding calls for deportation relief and a path to citizenship. well, i think their demands are good in some ways, but we’re not in our country. we can’t just ask for so many things. just as long as they let us work, and they give us a drivers’ license, then it’s fine. because it’s not our country, and we’re not really adapting to life here, we go around starting trouble, so that’s what i think. maybe if we started to adapt to life here…americans are more responsible, they work to get ahead, to study, to pursue a career. but we latinos are conformists, if we have enough to eat, that’s enough. armando23 had internalized a similar narrative about his fellow undocumented workers: us mexicans are very disorganized, for example, we have all our things strewn everywhere, whereas an anglo [house] is very neat and clean. i don’t think that everyone deserves papers. depends on the person, if they’ve committed a crime. in my case i don’t want citizenship, just a visa to work and come and go when i need to…like even just for a week to see my family, how different it would be. for armando, the middle class aesthetic had taken precedence in the optics of u.s. belonging, as had an assumption about the need for civility, rather than mass protest.24 while proposals for transnational mobilization resonate within labor advocacy arenas, a broader view reveals a mainstream insistence on using the law and formal channels to air grievances. however, despite widespread efforts to expand access to justice (estreicher & radice, forthcoming), the courts and the administrative bureaucracies that surround them are still highly privileged spaces. immigrants i spoke with also tended to juxtapose their role as committed workers with popular narratives of criminality. for example, rodolfo25 was likewise cautious about the path forward for congress, focusing 21 these data parallel findings by the pew hispanic center that reveal that respondents value deportation relief over citizenship, with 85 percent of hispanics and 79 percent of asian americans approve increasing the number of temporary work visas for agriculture and food industry workers (lopez, taylor, funk, & gonzalez-barrera, 2013). 22 interview, 7/25/07 23 interview, 7/3/07 24 similar parallels have been written about with regards to the palestinian struggle, and the recent #blacklivesmatter mobilizations. 25 interview,7/30/07 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers 56 especially on the need to keep out purported criminals. there are a lot of illegal people who have committed crimes. and i suppose if they are going to pass a legalization program, they’d legalize them as well? …how are we going to legalize people who have committed crimes?...congress is at a crossroads. do i legalize drug-addicts and murderers? similarly, simona26 emphasized the need to include only “honest and working people” in any form of relief. in line with a criminalized narrative of latinos and undocumented immigrants (chavez, 2008; t. golash-boza, 2010; willen, 2007), workers such as these aspired to distinguish themselves as workers first, deserving of relief, and not undocumented criminals in popular media. even engaged workers such as juvenal,27 who had broad experience in agitating for workplace justice, were skeptical of an expansive amnesty program. i know that it would be hard to legalize us all…if they pay taxes, if they are studying english…i don’t know, for those who deserve the opportunity of a legalization. give them permission. maybe not citizenship at first, but at least a permit to work freely, to be able to drive. i’ve always said that if they legalize us, there will be more money, people can travel home to their countries, the planes will be fuller, people will buy more cars. money will flow. these responses suggest a reification of civility, economic contributions, and educational and linguistic assimilation. they no doubt conform to some of the dominant arguments regarding the utility of immigrants, which in turn garner critical political support. however, by premising deportation relief and legal status on these exclusive notions of deservingness, these programs are also replicating narratives that entrench the structural inequalities that undocumented workers confront daily. the stories we tell about the rights of immigrants and their place in society have implications for “how inequalities are maintained and reproduced” (polletta, 2011). forging alternative paths to inclusion the danger of articulating pathways to citizenship, as gordon (2007) aptly argues, is that citizenship’s “inclusive and emancipatory rhetoric can mask a dangerous reliance on exclusion” (p.580). these dominant narratives of inclusion, which often limit relief to elite cadres of immigrants who are already incorporated into educational spaces, legal bureaucracies, and civic institutions, pose a contradiction for advocates and immigrants themselves. rather than facilitate incorporation, current proposals seemingly further entrench the marginalization of those individuals these institutions exclude. one explanation for these narrow framings is the weak salience of international law in the united states, which forecloses the viability of an international human rights frame for advancing immigrant rights more broadly (basok, 2009; bosniak, 2006; cook, 2010; t. m. golash-boza, 2012). however, debates surrounding immigration policy often become a foil for debates surrounding how to structure social provisions in the united states, which largely privileges the marketized solutions and individual grit. by framing formal educational achievement as a basis for legal inclusion, we not only ignore the key barriers to educational access, but also devalue popular forms of worker empowerment, and ignore the contribution of “non-achievers” to economic and social life. similarly, by elevating civic engagement through formal institutions as a personal virtue, we reward the incorporated few. by instead focusing on the support that “institutionally young” immigrants require to be impactful economic and political actors, a broad based approach to immigration reform would see legal status as a first step in fuller future inclusion, a prospect congress is perhaps not ready to swallow. 26 interview,10/8/13 27 interview, 3/16/09 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 57 appendix: tables table 1 profile of foreign-born low-wage workers surveyed and interviewed 2011-2014 # age f/m country of birth undocumenteda # age f/m country of birth undocumented 1 21 m el salvador y 34 43 f mexico n 2 23 m mexico y 35 44 m honduras n 3 25 m el salvador y 36 46 f mexico n 4 25 f mexico n 37 46 m peru y 5 26 m el salvador y 38 48 m mexico n 6 26 f mexico n 39 48 m mexico y 7 26 m mexico y 40 49 m mexico n 8 27 m mexico y 41 49 m mexico y 9 28 f mexico y 42 49 m mexico y 10 32 f mexico y 43 49 f mexico n 11 32 m mexico y 44 49 m colombia n 12 32 m mexico y 45 49 f el salvador n 13 33 m mexico y 46 49 m mexico n 14 33 m mexico y 47 50 m mexico y 15 33 f mexico n 48 50 f china n 16 34 f mexico y 49 51 m mexico y 17 34 f mexico y 50 51 . el salvador n 18 35 f mexico n 51 51 m mexico y 19 36 m mexico n 52 52 m mexico y 20 36 f mexico y 53 52 m el salvador n 21 36 m guatemala n 54 52 f mexico y 22 38 f mexico y 55 52 f mexico n 23 38 f mexico y 56 54 m mexico y 24 39 f el salvador n 57 55 f philippines n 25 40 m guatemala y 58 57 f philippines n 26 40 f mexico y 59 57 f peru n 27 41 f mexico y 60 58 f philippines n 28 41 f mexico y 61 60 f mexico n 29 41 f peru n 62 61 m peru n 30 42 m mexico y 63 61 f colombia y 31 43 f mexico n 64 61 f mexico n 32 43 m mexico y 65 62 m mexico n 33 43 f mexico y 66 71 m china n note: a those respondents denoted as undocumented reflect instances where individuals responded that they were 1) born outside of the united states, 2) were not a u.s. citizen, and 3) were not a legal permanent resident. this serves as a conservative estimate, of “non-citizen, non-legal permanent resident” respondents, and certainly may involve those with temporary or other status. narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers 58 table 2 profile of foreign-born restaurant workers interviewed 2005-2007 san jose interviews houston interviews # age f/m country of birth undocu mented # age f/m country of birth undocumented 1 18-19 m mexico y 1 18-19 f mexico y 2 20-24 m mexico y 2 20-24 m mexico y 3 20-24 m mexico y 3 20-24 m mexico n 4 20-24 m mexico y 4 25-29 m el salvador n 5 20-24 m mexico y 5 25-29 m mexico y 6 20-24 f mexico y 6 25-29 f mexico n 7 25-29 f mexico n 7 30-34 m mexico y 8 25-29 m mexico y 8 30-34 m mexico y 9 30-34 f mexico n 9 35-39 m el salvador n 10 30-34 m mexico y 10 35-39 m mexico y 11 30-34 m mexico n 11 35-39 m mexico n 12 30-34 m mexico y 12 40-44 m mexico y 13 30-34 m mexico y 13 40-44 m mexico y 14 30-34 m mexico y 15 30-34 m mexico y 16 30-34 m mexico y 17 30-34 m mexico y 18 30-34 m mexico y 19 30-34 m mexico n 20 35-39 m mexico y 21 35-39 m mexico y 22 35-39 m mexico y 23 35-39 m mexico y 24 40-44 m mexico y 25 45-49 m mexico y 26 45-49 m mexico y 27 55-59 f mexico n 28 55-59 f mexico n narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 59 references abrego, l. j. (2011). legal consciousness of undocumented latinos: fear and stigma as barriers to claims mak ing for first and 1.5 generation immigrants. law & society review, 45(2), 337–370. afl-cio young worker advisory council. (2015). planning for the economy of the future. retrieved from http:// www.aflcio.org/content/download/148081/3774741/youngworkers_planningeconomyfuture-final. pdf barron, bory, a., chauvin, s., jounin, n., julliard, e., & tourette, l. (2015). making migrant legality: french labor unions reshaping the rights of “sans-papier” workers. law and society association annual meeting. retrieved from http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/6/4/4/9/6/p644969_index.html basok, t. (2009). counter-hegemonic human rights discourses and migrant rights activism in the us and canada. international journal of comparative sociology, 50(2), 183–183. batalova, j., & fix, m. (2015). through an immigrant lens: piacc assessment of the competencies of adults in the united states. washington, d.c.: migration policy institute. batalova, j., & mchugh, m. (2010). dream vs. reality: an analysis of potential dream act beneficiaries. washington, d.c. retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/dream-insight-july2010.pdf bernhardt, a., boushey, h., dresser, l., & tilly, c. (2008). the gloves-off economy: workplace standards at the bottom of america’s labor market. ithaca: ilr press. bernhardt, a., spiller, m., & theodore, n. (2013). employers gone rogue: explaining industry variation in violations of workplace laws. ilrreview, 66(4). bloemraad, i., & gleeson, s. (n.d.). civic stratification and immigrant integration: organizational inequalities in silicon valley. boris, m. b., reynolds, d., dickey, t., grabelsky, j., margolies, k., & the worker institute at cornell universi ty. (2015). afl-cio young worker groups research project. retrieved from http://www.aflcio.org/ contentdownload/42121/640131/young+workers+group+research+report+final+no+bug.pdf bosniak, l. (2006). the citizen and the alien: dilemmas of contemporary membership. princeton: princeton university press. chavez, l. r. (2008). the latino threat: constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation. stanford, ca: stanford university press. chiswick, b. r., & miller, p. w. (1999). language skills and earnings among legalized aliens. population economics, 12(1), 63–89. compa, l. (2015). careful what you wish for a critical appraisal of proposals to rebuild the labor movement. new labor forum, 24, 11–16. cook, m. l. (2010). the advocate’s dilemma: framing migrant rights in national settings. studies in social justice, 4(2), 145–164. cruz-salazar, t. (2012). el joven indigena en chiapas: el re-conocimiento de un sujeto historico. revista liminar, 10(2), 145–162. dávila, a., mora, m. t., & gonzález, r. (2011). english-language proficiency and occupational risk among hispanic immigrant men in the united states. industrial relations: a journal of economy and society, 50(2), 263–296. estreicher, s., & radice, j. (forthcoming). beyond elite law: access to civil justice for americans of average means. new york, ny: cambridge university press. fantasia, r., & voss, k. (2004). hard work: remaking the american labor movement. berkeley: university of california press. felstiner, w. l. f., abel, r. l., & sarat, a. (1980). the emergence and transformation of disputes: naming, blaming, claiming. law and society review, 15(3-4), 631–654. fine, j. (2006). worker centers: organizing communities at the edge of the dream. ithaca: ilr press. fisk, c. l., & wishnie, m. j. (2005). the story of hoffman plastic compounds, inc. v. nlrb: labor rights without remedies for undocumented immigrants. in l. j. cooper & fisk, catherine l. (eds.), labor law stories (pp. 399–438). foundation press. narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers garcia, r. j. (2012). marginal workers: how legal fault lines divide workers and leave them without protection. new york, ny: new york university press. gleeson, s. (2010). labor rights for all? the role of undocumented immigrant status for worker claims-making. law and social inquiry, 35(3), 561–602. gleeson, s. (2014a). navigating occupational health rights: the function of illegality, language, and class inequality in workers’ compensation. in j.s.w. park & s. gleeson (eds.), the nation and its peoples: citizens, denizens, migrants. new york, ny: routledge. gleeson, s. (2014b). means to an end: an assessment of the status-blind approach to protecting undocumented worker rights. sociological perspectives, 57(3), 301-320. gleeson, s. (2015a). between support and shame: the impacts of workplace violations for immigrant families. in j. agius vallejo (ed.), research in the sociology of work: immigration and work (vol. 27, pp. 29–52). bingley: emerald group publishing. gleeson, s. (2015b). brokered pathways to justice and cracks in the law: a closer look at the claims-making experiences of low-wage workers. workingusa, 18(1), 77–102. golash-boza, t. (2010). notes from the field: the criminalization of undocumented migrants: legalities and realities. societies without borders, 5(1), 81–90. golash-boza, t. m. (2012). immigration nation: raids, detentions, and deportations in post-9/11 america. paradigm publishers. gonzales, r. g. (2011). learning to be illegal. american sociological review, 76(4), 602–619. gordon, j. (2007). transnational labor citizenship. southern california law review, 80, 503–588. gordon, j. (2011). citizens of the global economy: a proposal to universalize the rights of transnational labor. new labor forum, 20 (1): 56–64. ishizawa, h. (2014). civic participation through volunteerism among youth across immigrant generations. sociological perspectives, 58, 264-285. kissam, e. (2012). making good on the promise: helping out-of-school mexican immigrants, farmworkers, and other rural immigrants qualify for deferred action. werner-kohnstamm family fund. retrieved from http:// www.gcir.org/sites/default/files/resources/wkf%20%25231-updated%2010-21.pdf lambert, s. j., fugiel, p. j., & henly, j. r. (2014). precarious work schedules among early-career employees in the us: a national snapshot. employment instability, family well-being, and social policy network at the university of chicago. https://ssascholars.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/work-scheduling-study/files/lambert. fugiel.henly_.precarious_work_schedules.august2014_0.pdf lee, s., & pritzker, s. (2013). immigrant youth and voluntary service: who serves? journal of immigrant & refugee studies, 11(1), 91–111. lichtenstein, n. (2002). state of the union: a century of american labor. princeton, nj: princeton university press. lopez, m. h., taylor, p., funk, c., & gonzalez-barrera, a. (2013). on immigration policy, deportation relief seen as more important than citizenship. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2013/12/19/on-immigration-policy-deportation-relief-seen-as-more-important-than-citizenship/ marrow, h. b. (2011). deserving to a point: unauthorized immigrants in san francisco’s universal access healthcare model. social science & medicine. marrow, h. b. (2009). immigrant bureaucratic incorporation: the dual roles of government policies and professional missions. american sociological review, 74(5), 756–776. milkman, r., j. bloom, & v. narro (ed.). (2010). working for justice the l.a. model of organizing and advocacy. ithaca: cornell university press. national employment law project. (2014). the u visa: a potential immigration remedy for immigrant workers facing labor abuse. washington, d.c. retrieved from http://nelp.org/content/uploads/2015/03/uvisa.pdf national council of state legislatures (2012). the at-will presumption and exceptions to the rule. retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/labor/at-will-employment-overview.aspx nicholls, w. (2013). the dreamers: how the undocumented youth movement transformed the immigrant rights debate. stanford, ca: stanford university press. niosh & asse. (2015). overlapping vulnerabilities: the occupational health and safety of young immigrant workers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 60 narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 61 il: university of illinois. passel, j., & cohn, d. (2009). a portrait of the unauthorized migrants in the united states. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/107.pdf polletta, f. (2011). the sociology of storytelling. annual review of sociology, 37(1), 109–130. ramakrishnan, s. k., & bloemraad, i. (2008). civic hopes and political realities: immigrants, community organizations, and political engagement. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. rosenfeld, j. (2014). what unions no longer do. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. saucedo, l. m. (2010). immigration enforcement versus employment law enforcement: the case for integrated protections in the immigrant workplace. fordham urban law journal, 38(1), 303–325. sexsmith, k., & dudley, m. j. (2015). daca’s forgotten youth: educational exclusions among undocumented farmworkers in upstate new york. eastern sociological society annual meeting. new york, ny. shapiro, b. (2014). organizing immigrant supermarket workers in brooklyn: a union-community partnership. in r. milkman & e. ott (eds.), new labor in new york: precarious workers and the future of the labor move ment. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. terriquez, v. (2011). schools for democracy: labor union participation and latino immigrant parents’ schoolbased civic engagement. american sociological review, 76(4), 581–601. terriquez, v. (2015). intersectional mobilization, social movement spillover, and queer youth leadership in the immigrant rights movement. social problems, 62(3), 343–362. trumka, r. (2014). statement by afl-cio president richard trumka on immigration accountability executive action. afl-cio. http://www.aflcio.org/press-room/press-releases/statement-by-afl-cio-president-ri card-trumka-on-immigration-accountability-executive-action turcotte, m. (2015). volunteering and charitable giving in canada. statistics retrieved from canada. voss, k., & bloemraad, i. (2011). rallying for immigrant rights. berkeley, ca: university of california press. waldinger, r. d., & lichter, m. i. (2003). how the other half works: immigration and the social organization of labor. berkeley, ca: university of california press. willen, s. s. (2007). toward a critical phenomenology of illegality”: state power, criminalization, and abjectivity among undocumented migrant workers in tel aviv, israel. international migration, 45(3), 8–38. wilson, j. (2012). volunteerism research: a review essay. nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly, 41(2), 176– 212. narratives of deservingness and the institutional youth of immigrant workers in small construction firms. retrieved from http://www.asse.org/assets/1/7/nioshreport_finaldraft.pdf pallares, a., & flores-gonzález, n. (2009). ¡marcha! latino chicago and the immigrant rights movement. champaign, association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 69 culturally relevant performance pedagogies: exploring the value of afrolatina/o music performance projects at a hispanic-serving institution marco cervantes university of texas at san antonio abstract within this essay, i reflect on my students’ final performative project in my undergraduate latino cultural expressions class at a hispanic-serving institution. i explore how culturally relevant performative pedagogies offer opportunities to examine culture in the classroom beyond mere celebrations of difference and aesthetics. throughout the semester-long course, we conceptualize latinidad as inclusive of blackness and cover musical genres that reflect afrolatina/o histories. this has led many students to recognize the importance of locating and exploring cultural expressions linked to afrolatindad and histories of political oppression and struggle. thus, student performances prompt compelling dialogue involving race, place, and society where musical forms such as cumbia, bachata, and son jarocho offer opportunities to critically examine histories of conquest and enslavement of indigenous and black people. participating in performance pedagogy with my students during the final week of classes in my university freshmanand sophomore-level latino cultural expressions course, i gave my students an overview of the key concepts covered that semester, such as “colonization,” “diaspora,” and “mestizaje,” and mapped them to different latina/o musical forms such as cumbia, bachata, ranchera, conjunto, and hip-hop. i then connected the course material to my own work as a hip-hop artist and scholar. as promised, i gave a performance for the class before they had to share their own performative, collaborative final project. i introduced my track, “put them together,” and explained to my students that i had just played this song at the opening of the afrolatin@ forum at the schomburg center in harlem, new york. i began: most would agree when you examine history it’s easy to see lies hidden for centuries were politically placed at odds through economy highest us jail rate growing increasingly poorest neighborhoods, low quality goods liquor store on every corner, students misunderstood quick loan outlets, cigarette ads every brand of malt liquor making my people sicker and mad black and brown collectives can change perspectives let’s figure it out, take the past and resurrect it, dissect it pick up the parts cause life is hectic put them together, what do you get? as i rapped about the criminalization, social stratification, and systemic oppression black and brown people face in the us, the energy in the room dramatically shifted. eyes were more open, and students were engaged in ways i had not seen all semester. my use of hip-hop performance in the classroom stems from my experiences as a chicano growing up in a working-class barrio in north east houston, texas. in this location, shared spaces among blacks and chicana/ os resulted in transcultural practices that could be seen in food, dress, language, and musical expression. while musically, i remained deeply affected by growing up surrounded by tejano music, boleros, norteños, and cumbias, i gravitated towards black american culture present among peers at school and within the community. further, the burgeoning hip-hop scene in houston presented an avenue to express my subject position as an englishculturally relevant performance pedagogies association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 70 dominant, dark-brown chicano. at the age of 14, i began to rap at school talent shows and community centers, and i never stopped. while i typically thought of hip-hop and mexican music as distinctly black or brown, my research independently and as an academic, revealed black and brown cultural crossings in all of these types of music. subsequently, i not only engage in fusing these genres on stage, i also indicate their complex racial and cultural crossings in my courses through lecture, discussion, and performance. scholars/artists within chicana/o studies have a history of employing musical forms in the classroom to engage their students. américo paredes—a folklore scholar who taught at ut austin—was known to play his guitar for his students in class while describing the origins, history, and lyrical scheme of the corrido. juan tejeda—who teaches at san antonio’s palo alto college— plays texas conjunto accordion for his courses and community to outline the history of the texas mexican struggle. micaela díaz-sánchez brings her quijada (horse jawbone) to her classes at university of california-santa barbara to cover the afromexican musical form of son jarocho. many others have displayed performances within the classroom that offer students a social and political view of musical aesthetics. in the case of my undergraduate class, performance allowed me to open the way before my students began their own final performance projects. in this essay, i argue that culturally relevant performance pedagogies provide helpful avenues towards analyzing culture in the classroom beyond mere celebrations of cultural difference and aesthetics, or as sonia nieto describes “food, fun, and fiesta” (nieto & bode, 2011). this has led many students, for example, to recognize the importance of locating and exploring cultural expressions linked to afrolatindad and histories of political oppression and struggle. for their final project in class, students are encouraged to participate in performative praxis to apply concepts learned throughout the semester. this assignment helps to build a collective community within the classroom and allows students to express their cultural identities beyond traditional student/teacher dynamics. the university of texas at san antonio, where i teach my latino cultural expression course, is a public hispanic-serving institution.1 according to the university of texas at san antonio (n.d.) website, out of a total of 28,628 students, the student demographics read: 27.6 % white-non hispanic, 8.16% black-non-hispanic, 48.4% hispanic, 5.2% asian, native hawaiian or other pacific islander, 0.2%, american indian or alaskan native. two or more races, 2.9%, international 5.9%, and unknown 1.1%. many of the university’s students are from san antonio and south texas, though increasing numbers of students are coming from texas cities like houston, dallas, and austin. the course i discuss in this essay consisted of a total of 40 students, 25 were women and 15 were men; 30 identified as hispanic or latino: of these 30, 20 identified as mexican american or chicana/o, 9 identified as mexican, and 1 as costa rican. of the remaining students, 6 identified as black/african american and 4 as arab from saudi arabia. the majority of the students were from san antonio, with 6 from the rio grande valley area, 4 from houston, and 4 international. because the course serves as part of the university’s core curriculum, it can fulfill the creative arts requirement for students who, in this class, came from a range of majors including finance, mechanical engineering, chemistry, biology, interdisciplinary studies, psychology, mexican american studies, english, english as a second language, communication, kinesiology, psychology, criminal justice, history, anthropology, and business. the diverse racial dynamic and variety of student majors must be taken into consideration when approaching how the course is taught and engaging in cultural relevant pedagogy offers approaches towards valuing these students’ backgrounds. engaging in afrolatinidad through cultural relevant performance pedagogy scholars and educators continue to examine the concept of “culturally relevant pedagogy” in the classroom as a way to improve education for students of color. gloria ladson-billings (1995), who coined the term, states that “culturally relevant pedagogy” allows students to “affirm their cultural identity while developing critical perspectives that challenge inequities that schools (and other institutions) perpetuate” (p. 469). since ladson-billings’ introduction of the concept to pedagogical theoretical approaches, educators have critiqued its uncritical misapplication by teachers (howard, 2003; young, 2010). further, django paris (2012) has expanded 1 according to the us department of education, a hispanic-serving institution is an institution of higher education that has “enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application” (www2.ed.gov). utsa meets criteria of hsi with 48% of undergraduate and graduate students that are classified as hispanic (http:// www.utsa.edu/today/2014/09/hsiweek.html). culturally relevant performance pedagogies association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 71 notions of a culturally relevant approaches to teaching by calling for a “culturally sustaining pedagogy” that “requires that our pedagogies be more than responsive of or relevant to the cultural experiences and practices of young people—it requires that they support young people in sustaining the cultural and linguistic competence of their communities while simultaneously offering access to dominant cultural competence” (p. 95). similarly, christopher emdin (2011), calls for a move towards “reality pedagogy” that focuses “explicitly on understanding the realities of youth within a particular classroom and supports the teacher in utilizing an understanding of these realities as an anchor for instructional delivery” (p. 287). ladson-billings (2014) revisited the concept in her essay, “culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the remix,” by acknowledging the importance of paris’s term writing, “the newer concept of culturally sustaining pedagogy is built on the same foundational notion of students as subjects rather than objects” (p. 77). she further explains, “i hope to help those who subscribe to earlier visions of culturally relevant pedagogy make the transition to the remix: culturally sustaining pedagogy. for if we ever get to a place of complete certainty and assuredness about our practice, we will stop growing” (ladsonbillings, 2014, p. 77). i view the terms “culturally sustaining pedagogy” and “reality pedagogy” as extensions of “culturally relevant pedagogy” and find all of these concepts valuable in the classroom. as i teach my latino cultural expressions courses, i work to provide students with “culturally relevant material” while making efforts to “sustain” their cultural and linguistic backgrounds within and outside of the institution. a crucial element in applying culturally relevant pedagogy and its manifestations requires privileging knowledge that students bring to the classroom. latina/o pedagogues have offered tremendous insight into value students’ experiences and knowledge. moll, amanti, neff, and gonzález (1992), for example, describe how cultural “funds of knowledge” can help “develop innovations in teaching that draw upon the knowledge and skills found in local households” (p. 142). flores, hernández sheets, and riojas clark (2011) highlight the importance of empowering educators through the process of educación (learning provided by home, school, and community, not necessarily a formal curriculum), rather than through schooling (learning to promote socialization and control) (p. 3). ek, machado-casas, sánchez, and alanis (2010) discuss the importance of meeting at a “cultural crossroads” to assist latina/o students by, working “with the latina/o community to take a holistic approach to maintain families’ cultural wealth and to mobilize initiatives by working with parents, teachers, and community members” (p. 842). within my latino cultural expressions courses, the majority of latina/o students who come to the courses announce on the first day that they want to learn more about their culture; yet, i make sure to let them know that while there is much to learn, they also bring their own knowledge and insight to the course—their own lifelong experiences of living as a latina/o. as we undergo culturally relevant material through discussion and lecture, the end-of-semester performances become a way for students to apply their knowledge in the classroom. like my performances—which are based on specially-selected thematic and theoretical problems, the final projects in the course invite students to perform and explore the topic chosen, similar to agusto boal’s (1993) theater of the oppressed exercises, where spectators and actors merge to become “spectators” in the collective survey of an issue selected for analysis (p. xiv). furthermore, i employ what leavy (2009) describes as “arts-based theory” or the centering of artistic expression that “disrupts traditional research paradigms” (p. 9). through performance, one can comment and critique oppressive social norms and educate on issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality. taylor (1991) examines performance and transculturation to locate “which forms, symbols or aspects of cultural identity become highlighted or confrontational, when and why” (p. 91). similarly, alicia arrizón (2006), employs performance as a methodology to complicate essentialist notions of “race, gender, and sexuality” and “reconfigure mestizaje in its polyvalent expression, complexities, and specificities” (p. 9). i apply these valuable conceptualizations in my classrooms because they critically link performance to notions of race, class, and gender and offer valuable insight into the importance of peformative analysis. using performance within the classroom, i urge students to evaluate cross-cultural expressions and explore the circumstances that informed the development of their chosen artistic expressions. insights gained allow students to discuss issues surrounding citizenship, gender biases, and racism. this has allowed many in the class to explore understandings of blackness within latindad and colonial connections to anti-black racism and black and latina/o conflict. agustin laó-montes (2007) suggests that an emphasis on “afrolatindad” can function as a key role in forming black and latina/o alliances that provide “historical agency of resistance and self-affirmation” (p. 118). throughout the course, we conceptualize latinidad as inclusive of blackness and the culturally relevant performance pedagogies association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 72 musical forms we cover in class help us map connections that inform an afrolatinidad. this is important for latino-identified students in my course, because for many, this is the first time they research the black presence in mexico, puerto rico, cuba, and other latin american nation-states. mexico, in particular, is a country that has close ties to my students’ own histories; however, as a nation, it has been slow to acknowledge the black presence within its borders contemporaneously and historically. performance of afrolatina/o musical forms provides invaluable opportunities for researching black diasporic, latina/o, and afrolatina/o cultural identity and helps to formulate new helpful paradigms in these areas. intellectuals within latina/o studies have already engaged in valuable examinations of “afro-latin@” identity (rivera, 2003; román & flores, 2010). furthermore, scholars such as luis alvarez (2009), gaye johnson (2013), pancho mcfarland (2006), and anthony macias (2008) offer critical examinations of black and chicana/o cultural and political crossings. in class we cover the work of these writers to offer black diasporic/mestiza/o readings of black and latina/o cultural production that later inform final course performances. the students’ performative project thus presents material that is culturally relevant to the students and their performances in class, which together lead to examinations of a politicized history of afrolatinidad. correspondingly, these performances prompt compelling dialogue involving race, place, and society. musical dance forms such as cumbia, bachata, and son jarocho, for instance, offer opportunities to look at mexican/ chicana/latina cultural expression critically and examine how these musical forms are tied to conquest and enslavement of indigenous and black people. description of final project the university of texas at san antonio, where i teach my latino cultural expression course, is a public hispanic-serving institution and most of the students who register for my courses self-identify as latina/o or hispanic. the university catalogue description of the course presents the class as “an introductory overview of hispanic visual, performing, and folk arts from their origins in the iberian peninsula, through the later blending of cultures and their parallelism during revolutionary periods, to contemporary latino expressions in the united states.” in the context of historical and cultural knowledge, students are expected to understand the aesthetics that guide the humanities through expressive culture and basic knowledge that governs the arts. the course objectives call for students to: 1) understand the origins and dynamics of latino cultural expressions through visual art, performance, dance, literature, music, and multi-media; 2) analyze the social, political, and cultural forces that have given rise to latina/o cultural production, with particular attention to the ways in which cultural, historical/collective, family, and personal memory shape these expressions; and 3) explore core concepts like historical memory, latinidad, rasquachismo, cultural citizenship, borderlands, diaspora, and mestizaje—in relation to latina/o cultural production. at the beginning of the semester, we examine, evaluate, and question the terms “latino” and “hispanic” and assess what they mean and where they derive. these discussions push students to think more critically about how they choose to self-identify and why. in the weeks to come, we cover spanish and english conquest; mexican and american identity; afromestizaje and the black roots of mexican/chicana/o culture; chicana and latina feminisms; nuyorican cultural identities, puerto rican reggaeton and hip hop; cuba’s music and relationship to the united states; race and place in the dominican republic; columbia and panama and the transnational genres of cumbia and plena; chicana/o theater and performance art; latina/os in film: representation and empowerment; and latina/os in sports. by mid semester, students have an abundance of options to choose from for their final collaborative project. the final project requires that students work in small groups of 4-6 and pull together talents and strengths to identify, plan, and coordinate a performative presentation. depending on abilities or interests, they must choose a group from one of the following areas to: (1) write and stage a play on latino cultural expressions and perform it for the final. (2) organize a musical group that expresses an aspect of the musical expressions of latino culture and perform as a final project. (3) identify a topic about san antonio for a video that documents a cultural expression. (4) create a visual art project—painting and photographs—about latina/o culture in san antonio culturally relevant performance pedagogies association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 73 and curate an exhibit at utsa. (5) organize a spoken word and performance group to perform the last week of class. (6) create a social media page on (facebook/instagram/tumbler/twitter/etc.) focused on a form of latina/o cultural production and/or social justice. give an in-class presentation on the page’s mission and activity. these group presentations must be between 7-8 minutes long, so students must plan a short concise and informative performance. students must also submit a 1-page reflection that includes a discussion section describing how each person exercised leadership to carry out the project. these reflections ask students to share positive aspects of the experience as well as any problems or changes the student would make to the project or overall assignment. the assignment gives the students many options to choose from and they have the semester to network and decide on groups. throughout the course, we discuss students’ artistic interests, which help me to guide them to a suitable final collaborative project. the assignment has spawned a number of different forms of presentations, from cooking shows, to news broadcasts, to novelas. students have shown particular interest in musical genres they listen to in their day-to-day lives. while they listen to a mixture of genres, most students have preferred cumbia, salsa, bachata, and reggeaton. therefore, i encourage students, months before the assignment is due, to select an art form and genre that corresponds with their cultural identity. student performative presentations: critically thinking about cumbia, son jarocho, and bachata in this section, i share the presentations of three groups who situated their presentations on afrolatina/o musical forms. these groups include: 1) columbian cumbia, 2) the black roots of cumbia, and 3) the political and historical roots of bachata in the dominican republic. the first group agreed to work together early in the semester because of their love of cumbia. they began their presentation by discussing the history of cumbia in colombia and reviewed concepts discussed during class. they then mapped movement from colombia to the us and the trends of a commodifed cumbia. the group outlined this history in their presentations and provided a visual map of the coastal region of colombia and made note of cumbia’s roots off of the northern coast, where the slave trade was pronounced in the nation. this allowed them to talk about the history of slave trade on the island and the devastating racism that resulted afterwards. the students expounded on this as they discussed how cumbia was whitened for a mass audience in colombia and the mainstream international market. they also made comparisons to us music and how blues and jazz went through similar processes of appropriation and commodification. with the majority of the group coming from mexico, they discussed the popularity of cumbia in mexico, especially monterrey where cumbia is played at a much slower tempo in comparison to cumbia traditions in colombia. the group also made interesting connections to rap performers in houston who have popularized slowing down the tempo of songs they perform. the group then demonstrated the different dance steps expressed in cumbia and danced to “cumbia sobre el rio” by celso piña—a renowned mexican accordionist and singer. they remarked on how their version of dancing comes from a cumbia style in monterrey called, “cumbia colombianas.” they closed the presentation reflecting on what cumbia meant to them and why they felt it was important to their culture and identity and what it taught them about migratory patterns, trends, and music as a way to transcend borders mandated by various nation-states. another group that made connections to their own histories was a team of latinas that presented a ballet folklórico performance that centered on the son jarocho dance steps of zapeteado.2 in the presentation they explained the history of black and indigenous roots of son jaroch that anita gonzález (2004) reminds us was “once a derogatory term for poor black field workers” (xiii). the students explained how this became one of most popularized musical forms in mexican cultural identity. the group practiced after class for weeks leading up to the final project. they arrived wearing jalisco folklórico dresses borrowed from one of the students’ dance programs. by wearing these dresses while verbally explicating the ways the traditions came from black 2 according to rudy f. garcía (2009), ballet folklórico denotes “a particular kind of folk dancing in mexico” and “plays a role in shaping a cultural or national identity, both here in the united states and mexico” (p. 226). culturally relevant performance pedagogies association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 74 and indigenous roots, the group pronounced the ways traditional mexican culture derives from histories of occupation and slave trade in mexico. the group foregrounded their presentation on histories of conquest as they introduced son jarocho’s ties to the slave trade within the coastal region of veracruz. they remarked on how the slave trade in mexico was once the largest in latin america and further explained the ongoing racism that black and indigenous groups faced through racialized casta systems. this also allowed them to talk about current racism among some mexicans and mexicans americans and how these ideologies are connected to histories of conquest, slavery, and imperialism. they then set in motion to dance, but before beginning, they described the history of zapateado, a traditional percussive dance that sets the beat of son jarocho. referencing, micaela díaz-sánchez and alexandro d. hernández (2013), they described how “hand drums were reconfigured to the lower body feet replaced the percussive movement of the hands” (p. 192). the students then introduced the song they would be dancing to, la bamba, a mexican favorite foregrounded in the history of slave trade and the conquest of indigenous people. as the group danced, the class witnessed connections between traditional ballet folklórico music and black and indigenous mexican histories. the group also discussed the resurgence of son jarocho and contemporary groups such as son de madera, mono blanco, sonex, las cafeteras, los cojolites, and quetzal. in their group reflections, they expressed how the assignment helped them uncover roots of traditions they had been practicing all of their lives and indicated their interest in exploring and joining a local son jarocho group in san antonio. the songs they used were familiar to them, but they were not familiar with the social and political roots of the musical style and dance. they also wrote about reasons why black and indigenous ties might be left out of popular narratives of ballet folklórico and drew connections to discuss racism and colonial control of ideology. the last group i discuss in this essay presented on the politics of bachata music and outlined the history of anti-black racism in the dominican republic. the group discussed the tyranny and genocide under the dictator rafael trujillo as well as his installment of anti-black racism throughout the country. one of the students applied anzaldúa’s (1999) “the borderlands” to the border between haiti and the dominican republic and noted similarities and differences between the us/mexico border.3 these discussions are particularly important given the recent exodus of black haitians in the dominican republic and the need and extension of the black lives matter movement on the island. the students also made connections to other texts we read by such writers as junot diaz (2008), ginetta candelario (2010), and josefina báez (2010), who each detail the complex interweaving of afrodominican identity in the us. the group then drew distinctions between bachata and merengue and explained how trujillo had named merengue the national music of the dominican republic and even had a merengue band named after him. bachata, as my students described, was the music of the black lower classes and due to the prominence of anti-black racism in the dominican republic, the music remained marginalized and banned from national and international release. the group then explained how the popularity of genre increased after trujillo’s assassination and was finally allowed to be exported into the us. for all students in the group, who were avid listeners of contemporary bachata, they did not know this history before researching the musical form. they then danced to the song “corazon sin cara,” by new york’s prince royce (2010), a favorite of many in the class. the students in the audience cheered as the group expertly carried out bachata dance steps to the song’s captivating beat. all groups mentioned engaged in culturally relevant performance pedagogy that allowed for explorations of a cultural afrolatinidad. further, these groups and others connected afrolatinidad to examine notions of racism, citizenship, and the political relationships between latin america and the us. one later group for instance, outlined the history of reggaeton and its link to black west indian laborers sent to panama to work on the canal. others have explored the social implications of nuyorican salsa sounds as well as the roots of hiphop created in the south bronx. in all cases, the students’ performative work surrounding these musical forms offered much in potentially increasing consciousness and theorization of an afrolatinidad within the majority of my undergraduate latina/o students. 3 gloria anzaldúa (1991) makes use of the term “borderlands” to describe a space that allows for the negotiation of contradictions as well as the development of an empowering consciousness within alternating cultures and identities (p. 216). culturally relevant performance pedagogies association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 75 conclusions: rewards of a student-centered performative pedagogy giving the space for students to partake in performance pedagogy allows for discourse between performer and audience that transcends traditional classroom presentations and lectures. this allows students to actively engage in material and critical discussions on the topics at hand. i have witnessed many latina/o students grasping the importance of locating their cultural roots as they find that their education systems neglected to cover important historical moments such as the horrific lynching of mexicans in the us during the early 1900s; the push and pull factors of mexican migration to the us; chicana/o high school walkouts or blowouts; and the meaning and history of the chicana/o movement. within these historical moments and many more, music expression can be found as a backdrop to the struggles, joy, pain, and determination of mexican/chicana/o subjects. further, music offers a lens to critically examine these points in time, and for many of my students, the music we cover in class directly relates to their cultural identities. rewardingly, i have witnessed most students express pride in their cultural roots as a result of their research. these performances allow students to showcase cultural expressions that inform their identities, and the majority of students who take on the assignment draw critical and at times personal connections between course material and their chosen art form; however, some presentations display latino culture in purely a celebratory manner. these usually include surface descriptions of a dish or a musical genre. while a critique of these presentations, both from students and myself, can be uncomfortable for students, this is also an opportunity to review and evaluate sociopolitical histories linked to their chosen topic. the student groups covered in the section above, however, made clear connections to course material through examinations of a cultural afrolatinidad, which is especially important in classrooms where blacks and/or latinos make up the majority. these final projects, predicated on conceptions of afrolatina/o cultures and histories, have helped me reflect and improve my own scholarly and artistic performances. as a hip-hop artist and performance pedagogy scholar, i research how hip-hop performances, including my own, can be used to highlight the potential for black and chicana/o transracial solidarity and cultural fusion. within the performative dimension of my theorizing, i examine and explore the ambiguities that transcend, problematize, and enhance traditional forms of didactic and argumentative research. for these reasons, i view performance as not just enhancing research, but as a central component of it, and i feel the same when students embark on performative research within my latino cultural expressions courses. teaching this course has also allowed me to observe how younger students of color view the world and consume cultural expression, and i have witnessed their eagerness to learn about the cultural expressions with which they grew up. many of these students were raised on tejano, norteño, reggaeton, salsa, cumbia, and the cultural insight they bring to the classroom allows for a closer connection to the material and opportunities for collective learning through shared discourse. i have learned about new songs, traditions, instruments, dances, regional dialects, and foods as a spectator during presentations. further, students have brought forth a number of points in discussions that enlighten the class to new modes of consciousness such as working to combat antiblack biased within their own communities and households as well as working to not only empathize with but challenge unjust social conditions that black americans face in the us. teaching this course has also given me the chance to experience the ranges of talents our students have and witness the courage students demonstrate on stage in front of their peers. finally, it is exhilarating to behold how the classroom shifts during performances and exchanges of ideas. i look forward to these final projects because i learn much from the expertise students bring to the class, and i feel that most leave the course with more conscious perceptions of race, ethnicity, and cultural expression. i recognize that when students step outside the classroom, they are navigating in a world where latino-ness is often presented and marketed as criminal and/or inferior. furthermore the exoticizing of latina/o bodies, the privileging of light skin, and anti-latina/o and anti-mexican biases present even further challenges for young latina/os working to make sense of themselves and others around them. yet, if we can get students to think critically about the history of cultural expressions around them, perhaps these students can more critically identify struggles and social injustices latina/os face and locate methods for improving the social landscape for future generations. culturally relevant performance pedagogies association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 76 references alvarez, l. (2008). the power of the zoot: youth culture and resistance during world war ii. berkeley, ca: university of california press. anzaldúa, g. (1999). borderlands: la frontera the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. arrizón, a. (2006). queering mestizaje: transculturation and performance. ann arbor, ma: university of michigan press. báez. j. (2010). excerpt from dominicanish. in román, m. j. & flores, j. (eds.), the afro-latin@reader: history and culture in the united states. (pp. 266-268), durham, nc: duke university press. boal, a. (1993). theater of the oppressed. new york, ny: theater communication group, inc. candelario, g. (2010). displaying identity: dominicans in the black mosaic of washington, d.c. in román, m. j. & flores, j. (eds.), the afro-latin@ reader: history and culture in the united states (pp. 326-342). durham, nc: duke university press. celso piña (2009). cumbia sobre el rio. barrio bravo [cd]. díaz-sánchez, m., & hernández, a.d. (2013). the son jarocho as afro-mexican resistance music. the journal of pan african studies, 6 (1), 187-209. diaz, j. (2008). the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. new york, ny: riverhead books. ek, l.d., machado-casas, m., sánchez, p., & alanis, i. (2010). crossing cultural borders: la clase mágica as a university-school partnership. journal of school leadership, 20(6), 820-849. emdin, c. (2011). moving beyond the boat without a paddle: reality pedagogy, black youth, and urban science education. the journal of negro education, 80(3), 284-295. flores, b. b., hernández sheets, r., & riojas clark, e. (eds.). (2011). teacher preparation for bilingual student populations: educar para transformar. new york: ny, routledge. garcia, r. f. (2009). dancing culture: a personal perspective on folklórico. in o. nájera-ramírez, n.e. cantú, & b.m. romero (eds.), dancing across borders: danzas y bailes mexicanos (226-236). chicago, il: university of illinois press. gonzález, a. (2004). jarocho’s soul: cultural identity and afro-mexican dance. lanham, md: university press of america. howard, t. c. (2003). culturally relevant pedagogy: ingredients for critical teacher reflection. theory into practice, 42, 195-202. johnson, g. t. (2013). music, race, and spatial entitlement in los angeles: spaces of conflict, sounds of solidarity. berkeley, ca: university of california press. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32, 465-491. ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the remix harvard educational review, 84(1), 74-84. laó-montes, a. (2007). afro-latinidades: bridging blackness and latinidad. in n. r. mirabal & a. laó-montes (eds.), technofuturos: critical interventions in latina/o studies (pp. 117-140). lanham, md: lexington books. leavy, p. (2009). method meets art: arts based research practice. new york, ny: guilford. macias, a. (2008). mexican american mojo: popular music, dance, and urban uulture in los angeles, 1935–1968. durham, nc: duke university press. moll, l.c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. mcfarland, p. (2006). chicano rap roots: black-brown cultural exchange and the making of a genre. callaloo, 29(3), 939-955. nieto, s., & bode, p. (2011). affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of multicultural education (5th ed.). boston, ma: allyn & bacon. prince royce (2010). “corazon sin cara.” top stop [digital download]. rivera, r. z. (2003). new york ricans from the hip hop zone london, en: palgrave macmillan. culturally relevant performance pedagogies association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 77 román, m. j., & flores, j. (eds.). (2010). the afro-latin@ reader: history and culture in the united states. durham, nc: duke university press. taylor, d. (1991). transculturating transculturation. performing arts journal,(13.2), 90-104. university of texas at san antonio (n.d.). student demographics. retrieved from http://www.utsa.edu/about/glance/ demographics.html young, e. (2010). challenges to conceptualizing and actualizing culturally relevant pedagogy: how viable is the theory in classroom practice?. journal of teacher education, 61, 248-260. culturally relevant performance pedagogies http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 14 supporting latinx/a/o community college leaders: a geo-spatial approach ignacio hernández, jr. california state university, fresno abstract community colleges play a significant role in guiding pathways to postsencondary degrees for latinx/a/o students. to gain a greater understanding of ways latinx/a/o students utilize community colleges as pathways to degrees, this article focused on institutional leaders, members of one community college professional assocation. an original survey instrument was administered and an exploratory spatial data analysis (esda) using a geographic information systems (gis) database was conducted. findings suggest greater proportions of latinx/a/o community college leaders may be found in metropolitan areas with large latinx/a/o populations. author reflexivity and implications for research and practice are presented. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.2.348 hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 15 introduction pathways to postsecondary degrees for latinx/a/o students are guided by community colleges’ significant role in u.s. higher education (bailey & morest, 2006; chapa & de la rosa, 2004; chapa & schink, 2006; kurlaender, 2006; rendón, 1993). community colleges help students gain access to a postsecondary education, but decades of research have shown that while access is necessary (dowd, 2007; mcdonough, 1994), access alone is not sufficient for transfer and baccalaureate completion for latinx/a/o and other students of color (gándara & contreras, 2009; harris & wood, 2013; laanan & jain, 2016; vasquez urias, falcon, harris, & wood, 2016; zamani-gallaher, 2007). this paradoxical relationship between access and success remains a significant factor when considering latinx/a/o community college students’ intent to utilize the transfer function as a pathway to a baccalaureate degree. for decades now, researchers have shown latinx/a/o students’ 1) high enrollment figures in community colleges (rendón & nora, 1989; hagedorn, chi, cepeda, & mcclain, 2007); 2) intention to transfer and persist to complete a bachelor’s degree (crisp & nora, 2010; tovar, 2015); and 3) low transfer rates from community colleges (gándara & contreras, 2009; rivas, pérez, alvarez, & solórzano, 2007; solórzano, acevedo-gil, & santos, 2013). to gain a greater understanding of ways latinx/a/o students find support in community colleges as pathways to degrees, this article focused on institutional leaders. specifically, attention was given to members of one professional assocation for community college leaders. the professional association is explicit in its mission to promote latinx/a/o leadership for community colleges, however, the association is open to any individual regardless of racial identity. in this article, community college leaders are defined as members of the professional assocation between 2012-2015. this included community college faculty, student affairs professionals, and administrators. the purpose of this article is to challenge the racial homogeneity of higher education leadership research by sharing the results of a multi-year study of latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges. this article is guided by the following research question: what are the profiles of latinx/a/o community college leaders in the united states? the literature reviewed and results of the study suggest a significant void of latinx/a/o perspectives in both higher education leadership research and practice. as a researcher and professor of educational leadership my goal in studying latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 16 is to contribute to my colleagues’ conceptualizations of leaders (as individuals) and leadership (as a practice). to achieve these objectives, members of the professional association provided data by responding to an original survey instrument developed by the author for the research project. the instrument collected data to understand whom the higher education community is preparing as leaders as well as where professional associations play a significant role in these efforts. an emphasis on where professional associations are—or are not—working is important because place matters to the relationships between people in geographies with growing inequalities (dorling, 2012). the continued growth of latinx/a/o in the u.s. population suggests there should be latinx/a/o community college leaders across the nation. for decades now, latinx/a/o population centers have predominated in states such as california, texas, and florida (ennis, rios-vargas, & albert, 2011), however, demographers have found that many latinx/a/o subgroups are moving into historically white communities in the midwest and south (logan & turner, 2013). by collecting georeferenced data points on latinx/a/o community college leaders, this study adds an understanding of socially-constructed space to the research on higher education leadership. the literature review suggests that professional organizations are major driving forces in establishing the desired competencies of community college leaders (gonzález sullivan & aalsburg wiessner, 2010; hull & keim, 2007; kezar, 1998; kezar & carducci, 2009; laden, 1996; león, 2005; león & nevarez, 2007; mccurtis, jackson, & o’callaghan, 2009). many professional organizations, such as the american council on education (ace), the american association of hispanics in higher education (aahhe), and naspa, sponsor a series of selective leadership development programs for faculty and adminstrators in higher education. according to león and nevarez (2007), search committees and boards of trustees expect community college leadership candidates to be selected and have participated in national leadership development programs. the curricular foundation of many community college leadership development programs, as well as university-based graduate degree curricula, have been the american association of community colleges’ (aacc) competencies for community college leaders (aacc, 2005, 2013; eddy, 2010; friedel, 2010). although the aacc competencies are popular, they fail to live up to the open-access mission of community colleges as both iterations do not overtly state leaders’ need for respect of racial diversity, gender hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 17 equality, and multicultural competencies (aacc, 2005, 2011; wilson & cox brand, 2012). this is troublesome since advancing and respecting diversity are characteristics community college leaders are purported to have deemed important for more than two decades (aacc, 2011; gibson-benninger, ratcliff, & rhoads, 1996; kezar, 1998; laden, 1996). community college leaders play a significant role in broadening pathways to postsecondary degrees and increasing latinx/a/o student success. review of the literature community colleges literature on community colleges’ leaders and leadership holds a distinct, and sometimes conflicting, position in the u.s. landscape of higher education because of two predominant schools of thought. some scholars argue that community colleges are well-suited to counteract the united states’ legacy of racism in educational structures (cohen, brawer, & kisker, 2014; vaughan, 2006) while others argue that community colleges serve to exacerbate the very same social inequities they attempt to improve by contributing to a stratified system of public education (beach, 2011; brint & karabel, 1989; dougherty, 1994; jain, herrera, bernal, & solórzano, 2011). the work of cohen, brawer, and kisker (2014) and vaughan (2006) presents the mission of community colleges somewhat idyllically. to these scholars, community colleges’ affordance of access to higher education for all members of the local communities they serve, ameliorates race-based exclusion from full participation in higher education. other scholars take a more critical view, in particular beach (2011); brint and karabel (1989); dougherty (1994); and jain, herrera, bernal, and solórzano (2011). these scholars’ critical perspectives uncover the multiple ways institutions fail local communities, the students they enroll, and the faculty and staff they hire—especially people of color. irrespective of the philosophical perspective one ascribes to in making sense of community colleges’ position, there should be no doubt that inequitable outcomes persist for many faculty, managerial staff, and students of color in community colleges (brint & karabel, 1989; harris & wood, 2013; jain et al., 2011; rendón & nora, 1989; saenz & ponjuan, 2009; tierney, 1999; wood, 2012). latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 18 race and leadership in higher education because community colleges were founded as extensions of high schools, many secondary school principals and district superintendents were the first leaders of the first junior colleges (cohen, brawer, & kisker, 2014; eddy, 2009; koopke, 1978; nevarez & wood, 2010, vaughan, 2006). vaughan (2006) noted that over a quarter of community college presidents in the 1960s were former k-12 district superintendents. according to koopke (1978), this statistic meant community college presidencies were predominantly filled by white males. according to the aacc’s ceo characteristics webpage, 81% of communty college presidents are white, non-hispanic (aacc, 2017). with extreme under-representation of leaders of color in u.s. schools at all levels, studies focusing on leaders’ race provide rich contexts to study the stratified and marginalized condition relative to institutional leadership (brooks, 2012; de los santos & vega, 2008; ospina & foldy, 2009). much of the literature on leadership and race focuses on identifying, recruiting, and retention of diverse leaders but it excludes references to how leaders are prepared (mccurtis, jackson, & o’callaghan, 2009). a general theme in the literature speaks to leaders of color capacity and need to morph mechanisms of oppression into effective vehicles of social change (alston, 2005). similarly, dillard (1995) and case (1997) each found that leaders of color were keenly aware of others’ perceptions in a social system where race matters, which in turn enabled leaders to transform ascribed deficits into strengths. this ebb and flow within cultures is advanced in bell’s (1990) study which found that leaders of color needed to be bi-culturally fluent as a means of leading in ways that resonate with their own racial group while connecting with the dominant ways of working in white-majority contexts. on the topic of leadership and social change, alemán (2009) utilized critical race theory (crt) to problematize the discourse and politics of education. alemán argues that liberal ideology and whiteness serve to reinforce the status quo by privileging leaders who use niceness, civility, and consensus building in their leadership practice. research by alemán (2007) and parker and villalpando (2007) detailed the tension between educational leaders when latinx/a/o educators and students have challenged the status quo of leading schools and school districts. latinx/a/o leaders offer a shift from mainstream leadership theory and practice by relying on their cultural heritages and the extent of their life experiences (alemán, 2009; hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 19 bordas, 2001; de los santos & vega, 2008; haro, 1995; ospina & foldy, 2009). what was often viewed as a constraint to leadership has shifted and become a source of strength and influence to carry out leadership practices. for latinx/a/o leaders in higher education, race often not only shapes their socio-psychological makeup, but it is also a large part of the collective identity which leadership emerges from and is enacted (de los santos & vega, 2008; haro, 1990, 1995). recent research on latinx/a/o educational leadership, inclusive of k-12 schools and higher education, advances the vision of leadership practices and beliefs that are inclusive of the communities they serve (rodríguez, martinez, & valle, 2016). the literature on latinx/a/o leaders in higher education, while sparce, has centered on college presidents and/or chief executive officers (ballesteros, 2008, de los santos & vega; 2008, esquibel, 1977, 1992; hernández, 2012; haro & lara, 2003, ruiz, 1990). this strand of research suggests latinx/a/o leaders must do additional work, beyond learning the traditional competencies and earning terminal degrees, to achieve upward career mobility. for latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges, these additional responsibilities and career stressors often lead to role conflicts of their professional identities and social realities within their communities (de los santos & vega, 2008; esquibel, 1977, 1992). geo-spatial approaches to higher education lefebvre (1991, 2009), massey (1995), and soja (1996, 2010) have each made significant contributions to academe’s collective understanding of the social relations and spatial organization of society. morrison, annamma, and jackson (2017) move this collective understanding to the racialized place-based context of education. collectively, this spatial turn (soja, 1996) informed how this study made sense of the concepts location, place, and region. observed variables used in empirical studies are overwhelmingly spatial. for example, discussing latinx/a/o population variance must be georeferenced by comparing two or more cities, counties, or states. famously, tobler’s (1970) first law of geography states “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things” (p. 236). this locational and value similarity is what anselin (1998) defines as spatial autocorrelation. geo-spatial analyses have gained popularity as scholars leverage geographic information systems (gis) technologies and research methods across multiple disciplines (steinberg & steinberg, 2015; pacheco & velez, 2009). vélez and sólorzano (2017) propose gis mapmaking latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 20 as an important methodological and conceptual tool to explore, analyze, amd visualize relationships between schools and their geographic space. sohoni and saporito (2009) used gis to show that public schools would be less segregated if children attended local schools, rather than charter or private schools. similarly, tate (2008), in their presidential address to the american educational research association, noted how geo-spatial approaches to making sense of educational opportunity were necessary to consider the multiple roles space plays in the lives and education of students of color and their families. dache-gerbino and white (2016) concluded that community colleges and their open access mission, must be studied considering their location by attending to residential segregation and the criminalization of students of color. similarly, hillman’s (2016) geography of college opportunity found that the number of local colleges varied along lines of race and class resulting in educational deserts. these spatial and geographic approaches to understanding social structures influenced the study’s methods and data collection procedures. methods and data collection the review of literature highlighted multiple ways of understanding the role of community colleges, latinx/a/os position in the higher education leadership canon, and geospatial approaches to understanding higher education. as a first step toward answering this study’s research question: what are the profiles of latinx/a/o community college leaders in the united states? i designed, pilot tested, and administered an original cross-sectional survey instrument—latinx/a/o community college leaders survey (lccls). primary data for this study was collected using a survey research design to report the incidence, distribution, and relationships of variables in a non-experimental setting (creswell, 2013; tourangeau, rips, & rasinski, 2000). secondary spatial data was collected from publically available sources hosted by the united states census topologically integrated geographic encoding and referencing (tiger) databases. latinx/a/o community college leaders and the professional associations that suport them deserve more attention from higher education researchers and policymakers. as a non-experimental ex post facto study, responses to the lccls were disaggregated to study the subpopulation in the sample that participated in the professional association’s leadership development program (creswell, 2013; fowler, 2009; lohr, 2010). hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 21 survey instruments provide opportunities to describe trends or characteristics of a population (creswell, 2013) while serving as data collection instruments for research questions about subjective beliefs and behaviors (newman & mcneil, 1998). in particular, lccls was developed by a combined synthesis of the research literature on educational leadership and the intersection of race and leadership. univariate data analysis was performed in order to develop descriptive profiles inclusive of demographic, institutional, educational, and leadership characteristics of lccls respondents. this analysis offered descriptors of the frequency and percent distributions of variables in the study. each distribution was necessary to understand the respondents’ descriptive profiles as well as to assess item nonresponse rates in the dataset. to uncover the geo-spatial distribution of latinx/a/o community college leaders, an exploratory spatial data analysis (esda) using a gis database following anselin (1998) was conducted. esda is defined as processes used to describe and visualize spatial distributions; identify atypical locations or spatial outliers; discover patterns of spatial association or spatial heterogeneity (anselin, 1998; steinberg & steinberg, 2015). the gis database was built using the self-reported zip codes from the lccls survey instrument administered for this study. steinberg and steinberg (2015) identify zip codes as appropriate geographic identifiers for researchers developing their own databases. the first step in this procedure involved building a gis data file using the zip codes provided by lccls respondents. the zip codes served as georeferenced spatial datapoint to match the location of the college where a respondent was employed. each zip code was cross tabulated with three survey items—leadership program participation, community college attendance, and racial identity. these spatial analyses produced maps showing the spatial association of the three cross-tabulated variables. a gis data file can be used both as an analytical system as well as a decision support system (eastman, fulk, toledano, & huthchinson, 1993; steinberg & steinberg, 2015). thus, analysis of the maps to make inferences can be accomplished through the gis data file (pacheco & velez, 2009). each map is a visual display to help produce a better understanding of latinx/a/o leaders across the u.s. which may contribute to decisions that initiate some action to empower professional associations to understand the spatial characteristics of latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges. latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 22 sample size and response rate the professional association’s executive director provided a listing of 482 individual members, seven of which had incomplete contact information and were deemed not eligible for the study. thus, the eligible sample consisted of 475 members of the professional association. partial responses of the lccls were received from 161 individuals of which 133 identified as hispanic, latinx/a/o, or some other hispanic/latinx/a/o identity (i.e. chicana, puerto rican). each survey item was answered by at least 95 percent of the sample. table 1 provides a summary of the final response rate based on 161 submitted surveys from an eligible sample of 475. table 1 lccls: eligible sample and response rate cases sample 482 not eligible 7 eligible sample 475 no response 314 submitted surveys 161 submitted surveys by hispanic or latinx/a/o individuals 133 overall response rate 33.9% response rate of hispanic or latinx/a/o individuals 28% results demographic profile of latinx/a/o community college leaders results for this study showed 161 respondents shared their gender identity, 55% female (n=89), 45% male (n=72), and 0% prefer to self-describe (n=0). since the study’s sample frame was composed of members of a professional organization i expected a majority of the sampled population to be over the age of 30. educational attainment statistics suggest this age is an appropriate estimate for individuals to have completed the requisite graduate degrees for hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 23 leadership in higher education (ryan & siebens, 2012). my hypothesis was incorrect as a majority (76%) of the sampled population were in fact 40 years or older (n=122). a large proportion (83%) of respondents identified as either hispanic or latinx/a/o. the professional association is open to anyone, but given the association’s purpose and mission it is very likely to attract more members who identify as hispanic or latinx/a/o. non-hispanic or latinx/a/o members of the association are welcomed as allies in support of advancing latinx/a/o leaders for community colleges. the lccls contained a two-stage question where the sampled population could indicate whether they identified as hispanic or latinx/a/o. if they selected yes the survey program directed participants to choose their primary identity: hispanic, latina/o, or some other identity: please state. if they selected no the survey directed participants to choose from five major racial categories: asian, asian pacific islander, or native hawaiian; black or african american; multiracial; native american; or white. overall, 157 individuals provided responses to this survey item with 85% (n=133) identifying as hispanic or latina/o. table 2 provides a complete demographic profile of lcclc respondents’ gender, age, and racial identity. latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 24 table 2 demographic profile of lccls respondents variable total percent gender (n=161) female 89 55.3 male 72 44.7 prefer to self-describe 0 0 current age (n = 163) 29 and under 5 3.1 30-39 36 22.1 40-49 53 32.5 50-59 39 23.9 60 and over 30 18.4 racial identity (n=157) hispanic 48 30.6 latinx/a/o 61 38.9 other hispanic or latina/o 24 15.3 asian pacific islander 1 0.6 black 2 1.3 multiracial 1 0.6 native american 1 0.6 white 19 12.1 educational profile table 3 reports the educational profile of the professional association’s membership. i hypothesized that this profile would demonstrate high rates of educational attainment given the previous study on this population by hernández (2012). this hypothesis proved correct, as over 94% of respondents completed a graduate degree. over 60% of the respondents attended a community college along their educational pathway confirming the findings of solórzano, rivas, and vélez (2005) who found one of four chicana/os with doctorates attended a community college. respondents also had very low rates of completing their highest degrees in k-12 leadership and administration, in contrast to the literature (koopke, 1978). hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 25 table 3 educational profile of lccls respondents variable total percent attended community college (n=161) no 59 36.6 yes 102 63.3 highest degree completed (n=161) bachelor’s 9 5.6 master’s 76 47.2 ed.d. 35 21.7 ph.d. 39 24.2 j.d. 2 1.2 major field of study in highest degree earned (n=161) higher education leadership/administration with community college emphasis 39 24.2 higher education leadership/administration with other emphasis 31 19.2 k-12 leadership/administration 4 2.5 other educational field 42 26.1 non-educational field 45 27.9 professional profile the professional profile of the association’s members indicated that 21% (n=34) hold executive level positions such as vice president, provost, president, or chancellor. table 4 shows the various job classifications of the study’s respondents. these results suggest many of the association’s members hold middle-to-upper level positions and may be poised for further leadership opportunities and career advancement. the mean years in their current position, 6.3 years, is another result that indicates respondents are primed for promotion given that the median number of years workers have been with their current employer is 4.2 years (united states department of labor, 2016). teaching in community colleges was also a common job classification for respondents. this finding suggests that latinx/a/o leaders may open postsecondary pathways for students through their teaching, citing the importance of student interactions in and out of the classroom. teaching in community colleges is one likely way the leadership program latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 26 participants weave the connections necessary for them to remain connected to their students (cooper & pagotto, 2003). these connections are part of what tagg (2003) defined as the learning paradigm. table 4 professional profile of lccls respondents variable total percent job title or classification (n=160) advisor/counselor 20 12.5 director 36 22.5 faculty member 21 13.1 department/division chair 4 2.5 dean 28 17.5 vice president 16 10.0 provost or cao 3 1.9 president 12 7.5 chancellor 3 1.9 other job title or classification 17 10.6 years in current position (n=160) mean 6.27 years - has been a community college instructor (n=161) no 56 34.8 yes, as a full time instructor 43 26.7 yes, as a part time instructor 26 16.1 yes, as an adjunct instructor 36 22.4 currently in a mentor/protégé relationship (n=161) no 92 57.1 yes, as a mentor 25 15.5 yes, as a protégé 8 4.9 yes, as both a mentor and protégé 36 22.4 has latina/o mentors in community colleges (n=161) no 51 31.6 yes 110 68.3 has latina/o protégés in community colleges (n=161) no 46 28.6 yes 115 71.4 hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 27 the final pieces of the professional profile had to do with multi-directional postsecondary pathways—being a mentor and a protégé. mentor-protégé relationships resulted in somewhat of a paradoxical result. turner and gonzález (2015) defined the mentoring relationship as “built on trust and bidirectional benefits” (p. 2) between participants. a significant aspect of the professional association’s goals is to provide mentoring opportunities to its member, therefore i hypothesized respondents would be in some form of a mentor-protégé relationship. fifty-seven percent (n=92), indicated not being in a mentor-protégé relationship. conversely, when asked if they had latinx/a/o mentors in community colleges 68% responded yes. in analyzing this counterintuitive result, hernández’ (2012) study of latinx/a/o community college leaders offers some insight. participants in that study indicated that connection with senior latinx/a/o leaders was a benefit of participating in a leadership development program, while simultaneously feeling disconnected with supposed mentors who did not display caring or nurturing traits, even if they were paired together by some formal mentoring program or structure. spatial analysis table 5 shows the state-by-state distribution of all respondents. the southwestern united states and florida have historically been latinx/a/o population centers and the professional association membership data aligned to this trend (ennis, rios-vargas, & albert, 2011). table 5 lccls respondents’ distribution by state (n=161) state total percent az 39 24.2 ca 34 21.1 fl 24 14.9 tx 23 14.2 mn 8 4.9 il, oh 3 1.9 ct, or 3 1.9 md, nj, nm, ny 2 1.2 co, dc, ia, ma, mi, mo, nc, nd, ne, ok, wa, wi 1 0.6 latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 28 figure 1 shows the geo-spatial distribution of leadership program participants as a proportion of the total sample in relation to the united states population over the age of 25 who has completed a bachelor’s degree. in all 56 leadership program participants provided the zip code of their institution of employment. roughly three quarters (76%) of leadership program participants work in four states: arizona, california, florida, and texas. even more, the concentration is around three urban centers: los angeles, miami, and phoenix— observations in texas were much less clustered around one city or region. as the map layers make evident, these leaders work in regions where more than 25% of the population has completed a bachelor’s degree. the predominance of leadership program participants working in four states may have to do with the institutional classifications and leadership currently in place in these colleges and districts. southern california, south florida, and maricopa county in arizona are home to multipe community colleges designated as hispanic serving institutions (hsi). community colleges in these regions also have positional leaders who historically have demonstrated support for the professional association and the leadership program. in fact, some of the organization’s founding members are still employed in their colleges throughout these four states (de los santos & vega, 2008). hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 29 figure 1. leadership program participants in relation to us population with bachelor’s degrees this generational support is evidence of what bordas (2001) called weaving connections. weaving connections is related to the time elders offer to support future leaders and is a valued characteristic commonly left out of mainstream community college leadership research and practice. the results of this geo-spatial analysis suggest community college leaders in arizona, california, florida, and texas are moving beyond the aacc competencies and enacting a great deal of community based support structures. millions of students attend community colleges year after year. estimates vary, however, most figures suggest about half of all latinx/a/o students enter higher education through a community college (provasnik & planty, 2008; snyder, de brey, & dillow, 2016). results of this study showed over 63% of respondents attended a community college along their pathway to a postseondary degree. the geo-spatial analysis in figure 2 shows community college attendance of the respondents layered in relation to the united states latinx/a/o population. the map latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 30 shows high concentrations of community college attendance for leaders working in arizona, california, florida, illinois, and texas—states with significant latinx/a/o populations. the upper midwest, represented by minnesota and illinois, shows promise as a region from which to draw latinx/a/o leaders who understand and support community colleges and their students. figure 2. community college attendance in relation to us latinx/a/o population respondents of the lccls were allowed to select their primary racial identification under the hispanic and latina/o categorization. considering the terminology described by hayes-bautista and chapa (1987) persons native to the southwest and immigrant laborers from latin american countries have historically been considered as hispanics under federal laws. indeed, the fluidity of terminology remains unsettled as the prolonged search for operationalizing what comprises the latina/o identity in the united states. the results in figure 3 are consistent with analyses of the 2010 census and the 2010 american community survey hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 31 each showing over half of the latinx/a/o population in the united states lived in california, texas, and florida (ennis, rios-vargas, & albert, 2011). the specific differentiation in the nomenclature between hispanic, latina/o, or some reference to national origin can also vary by state and region (hayes-bautista & chapa, 1987). figure 3 is significant because it provides a visualization of the distribution of latinx/a/o community college leaders relative to the united states’ latinx/a/o population. figure 3. latinx/a/o distribution of respondents in relation to us latinx/a/o population discussion as an attempt to understand latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges, this study’s large proportion of latinx/a/o leaders who attended community colleges is noteworthy. it is imperative to note the number of respondents who began their own postsecondary degree pathways by accessing a community college. the search for the next generation of community latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 32 college leaders should begin by helping students consider professions in higher education leadership, especially those in the community college transfer pathway. the geo-spatial results of this study offer significant contributions to regional efforts in the identification and preparation of the next generation of leaders to transform and strengthen community colleges as pathways to degrees for latinx/a/o students. the institutional profile reflected the national trends of community colleges enrolling high proportions of latinx/a/o students while simultaneously having low numbers of latinx/a/o staff, faculty, and administrators. this profile was a significant finding as it relates to making connections in local communities. as leaders on campus, latinx/a/o individuals serve in many roles, not the least of which encompasses being a community scholar and advocate who identifies needs and shapes a vision of what may be (rodríguez et al., 2016; turner, 2007). working in colleges and universities with high latinx/a/o student enrollment and very few latinx/a/o staff, faculty, or administrators can have significant challenges, but may hold promise as one way to positively impact students. latinx/a/o leaders may likely find themselves as the sole committee member or faculty liaison to provide some form of continuity and advocacy for the high proportion of latinx/a/o students on campus (turner, 2007; valverde, 2003). this finding has significant implications on the diverse range of students latinx/a/o leaders can serve in the broad range of colleges and regions across the country. the geographic distribution of this professional association showed where latinx/a/o leaders are working across the country. this mapping followed the national trends of latinx/a/o populations living in the southwest and florida, while slowly moving towards the midwest and south (ennis, rios-vargas, & albert, 2011). conclusion and reflexivity statement the construct of educational leadership moved me slowly away from a positivistic view inherent in statistical and geo-spatial research and closer towards an undertstanding of the power imbalances in the research on higher education leadership. my personal experiences at conferences and other events sponsored by aacc and the professional association in this study helped me come to understand community college leadership as something that should not be summed up by a list of competencies (hernández, 2016). i do not argue against the usefulness of a list of skills community college leaders should know or that some individuals find the competencies to be useful. instead, i argue that it was impossible for me to carry out hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 33 research on the social oppression and exclusion of latinx/a/o community college leaders in a detached, objective manner. it is necessary to make apparent my positionality as a latino, former community college student, and higher education scholar and researcher because the answers to the study’s research question have to do with my epistemological approach to educational opportunity and equity. i support inquiry on latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges as one way of building counterstories to challenge master narratives and unchallenged stereotypes (croom & marsh, 2016; solórzano & yosso, 2002) of latinx/a/os leaders and students in community colleges. from a spatial perspective, gildersleeve and kuntz (2011) helped my thinking move from the temporal closer to the spatial in order to achieve a layered, dynamic, and nuanced investigation that moves towards representations of meaning making. since lccls is a temporal, crosssectional survey instrument, applying a gis visualization as a spatial method produced cartographic displays that transformed the collected data to map outputs as a means of enriching the study’s analyses and meaning making on latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges in the u.s. in undertaking this multi-year research project on latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges, i came to understand my role as a scholar had a larger aim and scope. i urge other latinx/a/o higher education leaders to produce scholarship about our experiences in academe. even a cursory review of higher education and community college research journals would reveal aacc’s competencies as a ubiquitous leadership framework (see eddy, 2012; ottenritter, 2012). i see an over-reliance on the aacc competencies as problematic since they make only vague references to advancing diversity and are void of any epistemological and ontological considerations of latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges. this challenge is not easily overcome. the professional association in this study also uses the aacc competencies as a guiding framework, while advancing culturally-relevant ways of leading that can often feel misaligned and subtly out of step. given this gap in accounting for the different ways of knowing about higher education leadership, the aacc competencies alone are an ineffective framework to guide leaders towards broadening pathways to degrees for latinx/a/o students. the resilient histories of latinx/a/o communities in the united states must be accounted for while valuing the contributions of leaders of color in the ways community colleges think about their leaders. the profile of latinx/a/o leaders presented in this study challenges the mainstream ethos of latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 34 individualism and positional leadership by recognizing that no one individual can accomplish anything worthwhile. results of the study showed participants’ high rates of graduate degree completion as well as leadership development program participation. this finding underscored a mutually beneficial relationship between latinx/a/o leaders, university-based programs, and professional association’s leadership programs. the important role of these programs for community college leaders should not be minimized. as community colleges rely on universities to train and prepare emerging leaders for future leadership, universities rely on community colleges to maintain student enrollment through robust transfer pathways. universities must acknowledge and leverage their symbiotic relationship to the study of community college leadership. this study shows community colleges incubate educational potential while leveraging academic aspirations of both leaders and students. researchers should engage in inquiry that seeks to determine the institutional roots of doctoral degree recipients to learn more about community colleges’ role in doctoral degree production. universities’ roles in advancing latinx/a/o leaders for community colleges are important and urgent as they also work to diversify the student bodies that enroll and complete their master’s and doctoral programs (duvall, 2003). research studies on university-based programs for community college leaders should continue emphasizing how universities are the main providers of the requisite graduate degrees (friedel, 2010). advocacy groups and scholars that track presidents have noted that as many as 70% of college presidents completed a doctoral degree (american council on education [ace], 2012; romano, townsend, & mamiseishvili, 2009). in this study 94% of participants had completed a master’s degree and 47% had completed a doctorate (ed.d, ph.d. or j.d.). these statistics are indicative of the important role universities play in the context of community college leadership (friedel, 2010), and researchers should communicate this reality to interested stakeholders in both community colleges and university sectors. professional organizations will continue to play an instrumental role in promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees for latinx/a/o students. this study showed latinx/a/o leaders rely on multigenerational professional networks. further research should consider the role of doctoral programs and leadership development institutes and programs in preparing equity-minded leaders to facilitate college access and move towards success for latinx/a/o hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 35 students. these implications for research are presented as potential follow-up studies to continue sharing the stories and contributions of latinx/a/o leaders in community colleges. without a dedicated research agenda, the experiences and epistemological expertise of latinx/a/o leaders will remain dismissed and invisible from the national conversation on community college leadership development. latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 36 references alemán jr., e. (2007). situating texas school finance policy in a crt framework: how “substantially equal” yields racial inequity. educational administration quarterly, 43(5), 525-558. alemán jr., e. (2009). through the prism of critical race theory: niceness and latina/o leadership in the politics of education. journal of latinos and education, 8(4), 290 311. alston, j. a. (2005). tempered radicals and servant leaders: black females persevering in the superintendency. educational administration quarterly, 41(4), 675-688. american association of community colleges. (2005). competencies for community college leaders. washington, dc: american association of community colleges. retrieved from http://www.aacc.nche.edu/resources/competencies/pages/partc.aspx american association of community colleges. (2011). aacc’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity. washington, dc: american association of community colleges. retrieved from http://www.aacc.nche.edu/resources/aaccprograms/diversity/documents/ diversity_commitment.pdf american association of community colleges. (2013). competencies for community college leaders (2nd ed.). washington, dc: american association of community colleges. retrieved from http://www.aacc.nche.edu/newsevents/events/leadershipsuite/documents/aacc_core_ competencies_web.pdf american association of community colleges. (2017). ceo characteristics. washington, dc: american association of community colleges. retrieved from http://www.aacc.nche.edu/aboutcc/trends/pages/ceocharacteristics.aspx american council on education. (2012, february). the american college president 2012. washington, dc: american council on education. anselin, l. (1998). gis research infrastructure for spatial analysis of real estate markets. journal of housing research, 9(1), 113-133. bailey, t., & morest, v. s. (2006). defending the community college equity agenda. baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. ballesteros, d. (2008). leadership always makes a difference. in l.a. valverde (ed.). latino change agents in higher education: shaping a system that works for all (pp. 193-214). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. beach, j. m. (2011). gateway to opportunity? a history of the community college in the united states. sterling, va: stylus. bell, e. l. (1990). the bicultural life experience of career oriented black women. journal of organizational behavior, 11, 459-477. bordas, j. (2001). latino leadership: building a humanistic and diverse society. the journal of leadership studies, 8(2), 112-134. brint, s., & karabel, j. (1989). the diverted dream: community colleges and the promise of hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 37 educational opportunity in america, 1900-1985. new york, ny: oxford university press. brooks, j. s. (2012). black school white school: racism and educational (mis)leadership. new york, ny: teachers college press. case, k. i. (1997). african american overmothering in the urban elementary school. urban review, 29(1), 25-39. chapa, j., & de la rosa, b. (2004). latino population growth, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and implications for educational attainment. education and urban society, 36(2), 130-149. chapa, j., & schink, w. (2006). california community colleges: help or hindrance to latinos in the higher education pipeline? new directions for community colleges, 133, 41-50. cohen, a. m., brawer, f. b., & kisker, c. (2014). the american community college (5th ed.). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. cooper, j. e., & pagotto, l. (2003). developing community college faculty as leaders. new directions for community colleges, 123, 27-37. creswell, j. w. (2013). research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. crisp, g., & nora, a. (2010). hispanic student success: factors influencing the persistence and transfer decisions of latino community college students enrolled in developmental education. research in higher education, 51(2), 175-194. croom, n. & marsh, t. e. j. (eds.). (2016). envisioning critical race praxis in higher education through counter-storytelling. charlotte, nc: information age press. dache-gerbino, a., & white, j. a. (2016). college students or criminals? a postcolonial geographic analysis of the social field of whiteness at an urban community college branch campus and suburban main campus. community college review, 44(1), 49-69. de los santos, a. g., & vega, i. i. (2008). hispanic presidents and chancellors of institutions of higher education in the united states in 2001 and 2006. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 693-727. dillard, c. (1995). leading with her life: an african american feminist (re)interpretation of leadership for an urban high school principal. educational administration quarterly, 31, 539-563. dorling, d. (2012). the visualisation of spatial social structure. west sussex, uk: john wiley & sons. dougherty, k. j. (1994). the contradictory college: the conflicting origins, impacts, and futures of the community college. albany, ny: state university of new york press. dowd, a. c. (2007). community colleges as gateways and gatekeepers: moving beyond the access “saga” toward outcome equity. harvard educational review, 77(4), 407-419. duvall, b. (2003). role of universities in leadership development. new directions for community colleges, 123, 63-71. eastman, j. r., fulk, m., toledano, j., & hutchinson, c. f. (1993). the gis handbook. washington, dc: usaid/arts/fara. latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 38 ennis, s. r., rios-vargas, m., & albert, n. g. (2011). the hispanic population 2010: 2010 census briefs. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br04.pdf eddy, p. l. (2009). changing of the guard in community colleges: the role of leadership development. in a. kezar (ed.), rethinking leadership in a complex, multicultural, and global environment: new concepts and models for higher education (pp. 185-212). sterling, va: stylus press. eddy, p. l. (2010). community college leadership: a multidimensional model for leading change. sterling, va: stylus. eddy, p. l. (ed.). (2012). leading for the future: alignment with aacc competencies with practice. new directions for community colleges, 159, 1-120. esquibel, a. (1977). the chicano administrator in colleges and universities in the southwest. [unpublished doctoral dissertation]. university of new mexico, albuquerque. esquibel, a. (1992). the career mobility of chicano administrators in higher education. boulder, co: western interstate commission on higher education. fowler, f. j. (2009). survey research methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage. friedel, j. n. (2010). university-based community college leadership programs: where future leaders are prepared. in d. l. wallin (ed.). leadership in an era of change. new directions for community colleges, 149, (pp. 51-58). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. gibson-benninger, b. s., ratcliff, j. l., & rhoads, r. a. (1996). diversity, discourse, and democracy: needed attributes in the next generation of community college leadership programs. new directions for community colleges, 95, 65-75. gildersleeve, r. e., & kuntz, a. m. (2011). a dialogue on space and method in qualitative research in education. qualitative inquiry, 17(1), 15-22. gonzález sullivan, l., & aalsburg wiessner, c. (2010). learning to be reflective leaders: a case study from the ncchc hispanic leadership fellows program. in d. l. wallin (ed.). leadership in an era of change: new directions for community colleges, 149, 41-50. hagedorn, l. s., chi, w. y., cepeda, r. m., & mclain, m. (2007). an investigation of critical mass: the role of latino representation in the success of urban community college students. research in higher education, 48(1), 73-91. haro, r. (1990). latinos and executive positions in higher education. the educational record, 71(3), 39-42. haro, r. (1995). held to a higher standard: latino executive selection in higher education. in r. v. padilla & r. c. chavez (eds.), the leaning ivory tower: latino professors in american universities (pp. 32-33). new york, ny: state university of new york press. haro, r., & lara, j. f. (2003). latinos and administrative positions in american higher education. in j. castellanos & l. jones (eds.). the majority in the minority: expanding the representation hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 39 of latina/o faculty, administrators, and students in higher education (pp. 153-175). sterling, va: stylus. harris iii, f., & wood, j. l. (2013). community college student success inventory (ccssi) for men of color in community colleges: content validation summary. community college journal of research and practice, 38(12), 1185-1192. hayes-bautista, d. e., & chapa, j. (1987). latino terminology: conceptual bases for standardized terminology. american journal of public health, 77(1), 61-68. hillman, n. w. (2016). geography of college opportunity: the case of education deserts. american educational research journal, 53(4), 987-1021. hernández, i. (2012). developing latina/o leaders: the national community college hispanic council’s leadership fellows program. capstone project, school of education, iowa state university. hernández, i. (2016). la comunidad es la fuerza: community cultural wealth of latina/o leaders in community colleges. in n. croom & t. e. j. marsh (eds.). envisioning critical race praxis in higher education through counter-storytelling (pp. 75-88). charlotte, nc: information age press. hull, j. r., & keim, m. c. (2007). nature and status of community college leadership development programs. community college journal of research and practice, 31(9), 689-702. jain, d., herrera, a., bernal, s., & solórzano, d. g. (2011). critical race theory and the transfer function: introducing a transfer receptive culture. community college journal of research and practice, 35(3), 252–266. kezar, a. j. (1998). exploring new avenues for leading community colleges: the paradox of participatory models. the community college review, 25(4), 75-87. kezar, a., & carducci, r. (2009). revolutionizing leadership development. in a. kezar (ed.). rethinking leadership in a complex, multicultural, and global environment: new concepts and models for higher education (pp. 1-38). sterling, va: stylus. koopke, l. (1978). chancellor, president, superintendent, provost, vice president, director, or a chief executive by any other name. washington, dc: u.s. department of health, education, and welfare, national institute of education. (eric document reproduction service, no. ed 181 981). kurlaender, m. (2006). choosing community college: factors affecting latino college choice. new directions for community colleges, 133, 7-19. laanan, f. s., & jain, d. (2016). advancing a new critical framework for transfer student research: implications for institutional research. in x. wang (ed.). studying transfer in higher education: new approaches to enduring and emerging topics. new directions for community colleges, 170, 9-21. laden, b. v. (1996). the role of professional associations in developing academic and administrative leaders. in j. c. palmer & s. g. katsinas (eds.). graduate and continuing education for community college leaders: what it means today. new directions for community colleges, 95, 47-58. latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 40 lefebvre, h. (1991). the production of space. oxford, uk: blackwell. lefebvre, h. (2009). state, space, world: selected essays. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. león, d. j. (ed.) (2005). lessons in leadership: executive leadership programs for advancing diversity in higher education. new york, ny: elsevier/jai. león, d. j., & nevarez, c. (2007). models of leadership institutes for increasing the number of top latino administrators in higher education. journal of hispanics in higher education, 6(4), 356-378. logan, j. r., & turner, r. n. (2013). hispanics in the united states: not only mexicans. (us2010 project). new york, ny: russell sage foundation. retrieved from http://www.s4.brown.edu/us2010/data/report/report03202013.pdf lohr, s. l. (2010). sampling: design and analysis (2nd ed.). boston, ma: brooks/cole. massey, d. (1995). spatial divisions of labour: social structures and the geography of production (2nd ed.). london: macmillan press. mccurtis, b. r., jackson, j. f. l., &. o’callaghan, e. m. (2009). developing leaders of color in higher education. in a. kezar (ed.). rethinking leadership in a complex, multicultural, and global environment: new concepts and models for higher education (pp. 65-92). sterling, va: stylus. mcdonough, p.m. (1994). buying and selling higher education: the social construction of the college applicant. the journal of higher education, 65(4), 427-446. morrison, d., annamma, s. a., & jackson, d. d. (eds.). (2017). critical race spatial analysis: mapping to understand and address educational inequity. sterling, va: stylus. nevarez, c., & wood, j. l. (2010). community college leadership and administration: theory, practice, and change. new york, ny: peter lang. newman, i., & mcneil, k. (1998). conducting survey research in the social sciences. lanham, md: university press. ospina, s., & foldy, e. (2009). a critical review of race and ethnicity in the leadership literature: surfacing context, power, and the collective dimensions of leadership. the leadership quarterly, 20, 876-896. ottenritter, n. (2012). historic overview of the aacc competencies. in p. l. eddy (ed.), leading for the future: alignment with aacc competencies with practice, new directions for community colleges, 159, 7-17. pacheco, d., & velez, v. n. (2009). maps, mapmaking, and critical pedagogy: exploring gis as a teaching tool for social change. seattle journal for social justice, 8(1), 273-302. parker, l., & villalpando, o. (2007). a race(cialized) perspective on education leadership: critical race theory in educational administration. educational administration quarterly, 43(5), 519-524. piland, w. e., & wolf, d. b. (2003). in-house leadership development: placing community colleges squarely in the middle. in w. e. piland & d. b. wolf (eds.). help wanted: preparing community college leaders in a new century. new directions for community hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 41 colleges, 123, 93-99. provasnik, s., & planty, m. (2008). community colleges: special supplement to the condition of education 2008 (nces 2008-033). washington, dc: national center for education statistics, institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education. rendón, l. i. (1993). eyes on the prize: students of color and the bachelor’s degree. community college review, 21(2), 3-13. rendón, l. i., & nora, a. (1989). a synthesis and application of research on hispanic students in community colleges. community college review, 17(1), 17-24. rodríguez, c., martinez, m. a., & valle, f. (2016). latino educational leadership across the pipeline: for latino communities and latina/o leaders. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(2), 136-153. romano, r. m., townsend, b. k., & mamiseishvili, k. (2009). leaders in the making: profile and perceptions of students in community college doctoral programs. community college journal of research and practice, 33, 309-320. rivas, m. a., pérez, j., alvarez, c. r., & solórzano, d. g. (2007). latina/o transfer students: understanding the critical role of the transfer process in california’s postsecondary institutions. (csrc research report. number 9). los angeles: ucla chicano studies research center. ruiz, a. (1990). a study of leadership behavior and the identification of special problems as perceived by hispanic community college presidents throughout the united states [doctoral dissertation]. retrieved from proquest. (aat 9111088). ryan, c. l., & siebens, j. (2012). educational attainment in the united states: 2009 census briefs. washington, dc: u.s. department of commerce. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p20-566.pdf saenz, v. b., & ponjuan, l. (2009). the vanishing latino male in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 8(1), 54-89. snyder, t. d., de brey, c., & dillow, s. a. (2016). digest of education statistics 2015 (nces 2016014). washington, dc: national center for education statistics, institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education. steinberg, s. l., & steinberg, s. j. (2015). gis research methods. redlands, ca: esri press. sohoni, d., & saporito, s. (2009). mapping school segregation: using gis to explore racial segregation between schools and their corresponding attendance areas. american journal of education, 115(4), 569-600. solórzano, d., acevedo-gil, n., & santos, r. e. (2013). latina/o community college students: understanding the barriers of developmental education (policy report no. 10). retrieved from http://pathways.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/devedpolicybrief.pdf solórzano, d. g., rivas, m. a., & vélez, v. n. (2005). community college as a pathway to chicana/o doctorate production. latino policy & issues brief, 11, 1-4. solórzano, d. g., yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. latinx/a/o community college leaders association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 42 soja, e. w. (1996). thirdspace: expanding the geographical imagination. oxford, uk: blackwell. soja, e. w. (2010). seeking spatial justice. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. tagg, j. (2003). the learning paradigm college. bolton, ma: anker publishing. tate iv, w. f. (2008). “geography of opportunity”: poverty, place, and educational outcomes. educational researcher, 37(7), 397-411. tierney, w. g. (1999). models of minority college-going and retention: cultural integrity versus cultural suicide. journal of negro education, 68(1), 80-91. tobler, w. (1970). a computer movie simulating urban growth in the detroit region. economic geography, 46(supplement), 234-240. tourangeau, r., rips, l. j., & rasinski, k. (2000). the psychology of survey response. new york, ny: cambridge university press. tovar, e. (2015). the role of faculty, counselors, and support programs on latino/a community college students’ success and intent to persist. community college review, 43(1), 46-71. turner, c. s. v., & gonzalez, j. c. (eds.). (2015). modeling mentoring across race/ethnicity and gender: practices to cultivate the next generation of diverse faculty. sterling, va: stylus. united states department of labor. (2016, september). employee tenure in 2016. washington, dc: u.s. department of labor. retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ tenure.pdf valverde, l. a. (2003). leaders of color in higher education: unrecognized triumphs in harsh institutions. new york, ny: altamira press. vasquez urias, m., falcon, v., harris iii, f., & wood, j. l. (2016). narratives of success: a retrospective trajectory analysis of men of color who successfully transferred from the community college. in x. wang (ed.). studying transfer in higher education: new approaches to enduring and emerging topics. new directions for community colleges, 170, 23-33. vaughan, g. b. (2006). the community college story (3rd ed.). washington, dc: community college press. vélez, v. n., & solórzano, d. g. (2017). critical race spatial analysis: conceptualizing gis as a tool for critical race research in education. in d. morrison, s. a. annamma, & d. d. jackson (eds.). critical race spatial analysis: mapping to understand and address educational inequity (pp. 8-34). sterling, va: stylus. wilson, k. b., & cox-brand, e. (2012). reading the competencies through a feminist lens. new directions for community colleges, 159, 73-83. wood, j. l. (2012). leaving the 2-year college: predictors of black male collegian departure. journal of black studies, 43(3), 303-326. zamani-gallaher, e. m. (2007). the confluence of race, gender, and class among community college students: assessing attitudes toward affirmative action in college admissions. equity and excellence in education, 40(3), 241–251. sample size and response rate demographic profile of latinx/a/o community college leaders educational profile professional profile spatial analysis discussion conclusion and reflexivity statement theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 32 undocumented and under surveillance featured articles undocumented and under surveillance: a case study of an undocumented latina with a disability in juvenile justice subini a. annamma indiana university-indianapolis abstract using data collected from a larger qualitative study that explored the educational trajectories of young women of color with disabilities through the school to prison pipeline, this empirical case study focuses on how one student’s undocumented status impacted her education in juvenile justice. research has begun to provide us with statistics about the pipeline; however, there is still very little known about the actual experiences of students. using a combination of interviews, observations, and document analysis, i collaborated with an undocumented latina labeled with an emotional disability to share how her intersectional identities impacted her experiences juvenile justice. introduction veronica and i were discussing her fi rst days at a maximum-security juvenile incarceration setting for girls when she told me she was undocumented. veronica was a part of the growing latin@ population in the school to prison pipeline (the pipeline). the pipeline disproportionately impacted students of color through excessive discipline and increased police in schools (kim, losen, & hewitt, 2010). it is clear that the problematic interactions between education and other social service agencies as well as neoliberal immigration policies directly feed the pipeline, which is part of the trend towards mass incarceration (alexander, 2010; díaz-strong & meiners, 2007). these interactions and policies must be examined and dismantled in order to construct undocumented students not as criminals, but as citizens with signifi cant aspirations that contribute to society and limit their entrance into the pipeline. this article focused on education experiences of an undocumented student inside juvenile incarceration, as it provided an understanding of what occurs once she entered the pipeline (kim et al., 2010). students of color experience the process of being simultaneously raced and criminalized in education (rabaka, 2010). connections between race, education and crime have been essential to understanding how children of color become incarcerated at higher rates than whites. however, there are other points of social location that made it more likely that students were relegated to juvenile detention. pipeline literature often left special education unexamined (kim et al., 2010). however, an average of 33-37% of students in juvenile systems have been identifi ed with a disability44, whereas public schools have a national average of 12-14% of students labeled with disabilities (national education association, 2007; quinn, rutherford, leone, osher, & poirier, 2005). moreover, particular types of disabilities are correlated with being incarcerated; students with an emotional disability designation comprised almost 50% of students with disabilities in juvenile incarceration but less than 1% of public schools (osher, woodruff, & simms, 2002). in this article, i explored how veronica’s education was impacted by her intersectional identities, including race, disability, gender and undocumented status. undocumented and identity construction in schools in 2011, it was estimated that there were 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants in the u.s. and about one million of those were under the age of 18 (passel & cohn, 2012). the construction of an undocumented 44. due to overrepresentation of students from non-dominant communities in judgment categories in special education, i say “labeled with a disability” in order to trouble the medical model of disability as a biological condition. as harry and klingner (2006) note, “many have questioned the accuracy of the professional judgments made in diagnosing” these disabilities. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 33 undocumented and under surveillance status by the state negatively impacted the lives of the unauthorized immigrant population by questioning their legitimacy, affecting their safety and producing feelings of shame (abrego, 2008). basic statistics on students who are incarcerated and undocumented are scarce and literature that captured incarcerated education experiences of undocumented students was almost non-existent (díaz-strong & meiners, 2007). much of the literature on undocumented students’ education focused on public school experiences and higher education access, experiences (abrego, 2006; pérez & rodríguez, 2011). though not directly related to juvenile detention, this literature provided insights about unauthorized students’ education and the construction of their identity in schools. unauthorized students who had access to institutional agents, such as teachers and counselors, through “positive” tracking had better chances of achieving educational success than students who felt disconnected from school and its agents (díaz-strong & meiners, 2007; gonzales, 2010; pérez & rodríguez, 2011). undocumented high achievers spoke of aspirations that allowed them to re-defi ne their citizenship and discussed belonging neither to their home country or the u.s.; this social exclusion resulted in exhaustion (torres & wicks-asburn, 2013). college-going literacies, the learned participation of accessing higher education, were inequitably taught to undocumented students and they had less access to these literacies than peers with citizenship documentation (gildersleeve & romero, 2010). understanding undocumented status not as a demographic descriptor, but a tool in which students can learn about their potential educational outcomes, provided a nuanced understanding of children’s education experiences (gildersleeve, 2009). every aspect of undocumented students’ lives was impacted by neoliberal immigration policies (díaz-strong & meiners, 2007). those disconnected from school and its agents were constructed as not only undocumented but also problematic in achievement, limiting access even further to college-going literacies and their opportunity to re-defi ne their citizenship, while increasing their social exhaustion. conceptual framework critical race theory (crt) and its branches, femcrit, latcrit and discrit, enabled an intersectional analysis that rendered visible how veronica was positioned and educated in the pipeline (annamma, connor, & ferri, 2013; crenshaw, gotanda, peller, & thomas, 1995; montoya, 1994). crt exposed how “neutral” policies and pedagogy reinforced normative standards of white, male and able-bodied; marking those that differ from norms as biological defi cits, medical conditions of bodies and minds (delgado & stefancic, 2001; ferri & connor, 2009; watts & erevelles, 2004). in other words, crt recognized the social construction of race, gender, and disability as society’s response to differences from the norm and the material impacts of those constructed identities. issues viewed uni-dimensionally, (e.g., only race or gender) limited the understanding of how multiple subordinated identities interacted (crenshaw, 1991; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). crt troubled singular notions of identity and deeply analyzed the intersections of race, ability, and gender (garland-thompson, 2003; solórzano & yosso, 2001). finally, crt demanded a focus on counter-narratives contrasted by the master narrative (matsuda, 1987). for example, the master narrative highlights how young women of color are more dangerous than their white counterparts and more deserving of incarceration (chesney-lind & jones, 2010). though there is little evidence for this claim, dominant discourse highlighted the rise of the “bad girl,” a modern girl who is more violent than in the past (chesney-lind, 2010). an analytical approach that emphasizes intersectionality and counter-narratives provided an opportunity to view veronica not as inherently bad or violent, but as a thoughtful young woman maneuvering dangerous situations. this approach allowed me to center veronica’s voice, as a historically marginalized person, in order to understand not only ways hegemony is enacted, but also ways an undocumented student resisted institutional racism, sexism and ableism. methodological pluralism this case study is part of a larger empirical study, in which i collaborated with 10 young women of color with disabilities to map their trajectories through the pipeline. the research site is a maximum-security center (e.g., chain link fences, barbed wire, security guards, intercom system, locked doors). at the time of the study, 26 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 34 undocumented and under surveillance of the 40 girls were females of color and 19 had a disability label (principal interview, 2012). because of the doubly sensitive nature of this case (under 18 and incarcerated), specifi c details about veronica were not provided. critical phenomenology attended to two interdependent strands of social life: “the conditions of structural inequality and structural violence that shape…position and status” and impacts on “individual and collective experiences” (willen, 2007, p. 13). methodological pluralism is, a “strategy of data collection and analysis to document how change and discontinuity, braided with a desire for narrative coherence and consistency, shape the stories young people tell about themselves, over time and space” (katsiafi cas, futch, fine, & seluck, 2011, p. 120). accordingly, this case study included: in-depth phenomenological interviews with veronica (5), classroom observations (12), document analysis of school records (4) and data analysis by the participants. the research question was: how did veronica’s undocumented status impact her education and experiences in juvenile justice? to answer the research question, i sifted data throughout the collection process and included participant analysis whenever possible (erikson, 1996). in mining the data, the girls made connections i had not. data construction was top down from the literature and bottom up from the data. i looked for patterns and disconfi rmed evidence, generated conceptual categories, developed a code thesaurus and frequency counts (erikson, 1998). i refi ned my codes by continually returning to the data, settled on fi nal codes and used them to systematically explore the data for atypicality (glaser & straus, 1967). i then crafted vignettes representative of the common experiences in different points of the pipeline as well as outliers that represented each girl’s individual experiences. veronica’s story emerged from these outliers as someone undocumented in detention. i then re-coded her interviews as single case study (yin, 2009). i faced a precarious position researching undocumented status in the pipeline. i did not want to share veronica’s undocumented status but wanted determine how it was being addressed. veronica told me that all the staff knew, including her teachers. however, the principal and teachers claimed there were no undocumented students. school personnel could have known but did not want to expose the legal status of their students. however, this reveals a complex situation for researchers. how do we recognize the dangerous situations our students face and get them support without exposing them to harsh penalties (paris & winn, 2013)? it is clear that part of the answer is linking undocumented students’ education experiences to neoliberal immigration policies (díaz -strong & meiners, 2007). findings the case study uncovered two major fi ndings: 1.) often in juvenile incarceration, veronica’s behavior was interpreted without consideration of the sociocultural context of her life 2.) efforts to regulate and control veronica’s body and thoughts were not met with passive acceptance or impulsive resistance. instead, they exemplifi ed veronica’s thoughtful and complex negotiation of how to respond to efforts to surveil and control. undocumented and under surveillance over the course of several interviews veronica told me how her undocumented status was discovered, addressed and how that impacted her experiences in juvenile incarceration. saa: how did they fi gure out your immigration status? veronica: they did because i got arrested by the (western city) police…they took my fi ngerprints and they ask me if i have a security number and i was like no. and then they’re like, you’re mexican, huh? and i was like, yeah. and they’re like well you’re undocumented right? and i was like yeah. and then they fi led it and everything. this was the fi rst concerning part of veronica’s story; the police questioned a juvenile with a disability without a lawyer or even an adult present to advise her. veronica revealed her undocumented status without fully understanding the potential consequences. the ramifi cations were long lasting. she explained what she faced association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 35 undocumented and under surveillance after incarceration. saa: what do you want to do after school? veronica: i don’t know. i have this like immigration thing coming up. so before i parole, they come, well somebody has to call them, ya know? and then they’ll come….then i have to go like get detained but we’re fi ghting, because there’s more chances they’ll send me out of the country. saa: so they’re threatening to call? veronica: no, they’re not threatening. they just have to call. so then they make the decision if they want to come or not. they got 24 hours to pick me up. but for that time, i have to have like a packet so like show them that i did good and that i need one more chance, you know? it was diffi cult for veronica to imagine a life after incarceration. uncertainty about her future was compounded by potential deportation. saa: do you know how old you were when you came over? veronica: yeah, i was 7. saa: and do you remember what it was like? veronica: well we came here with our passports and stuff, our visas and stuff. so we came here legal and then i don’t know, we only had it for like 2010 or 2011. then we lost it because we never went back and like, go through the same process again. we were leaving there, my dad had a business and it was too dangerous to go back. so we just didn’t go. saa: so you said your mom and your stepdad are in the process of trying to get their stuff? veronica: yeah. saa: so is part of the stress around that is like, even if you get sent back, would they go back too? veronica: no, they wouldn’t go back. my family would stay here. saa: so you’d have to go live with relatives or something? veronica: well that’s the problem; i don’t have no one in mexico. veronica was fearful of being sent back to a country she had not lived since she was seven. in 2010, over nine million people belonged to a mixed status family, where some family members have documents that authorized them to be in the country while others do not (taylor, hugo lopez, passel & motel, 2011). veronica identifi ed this mixed status as a major stressor because she faced deportation without any family or friends to return to in mexico. she faced losing access to her family and the country she had known since she was seven. i asked her who she talked to about this in juvenile incarceration, saa: have you talked about your immigration status with (your therapist)? does she know for sure? veronica: yeah. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 36 undocumented and under surveillance saa: i don’t think any of your teachers know. veronica: why do you say that? saa: cuz i asked them the general question, are any of your students undocumented and they all answered, no one….the reason i bring this is up is because, i feel like this might be a big stress point in your life and i’m just not sure who you are getting to talk to about it. veronica: i don’t really talk to no one. i just kind of keep it to myself. saa: that seems to be a big part of what your therapy should be about. that’s a scary thing to have hanging over your head. veronica: i know. i go to sleep over it and i’m like, what the fuck? my life depends on what the immigration judge is going to say and i’m like, damn that sucks….yeah, and there’s a lot of things that i haven’t told (my therapist) yet. and she’s like, i don’t know, i would tell my therapist but it doesn’t feel right. i feel like, like i should have never told no one, it was a long time ago when i was young. i thought that if i ever told someone, they better die (laughing). or i’ll be dead or something. like i was going to take that secret with me to the grave. but i let it out and i was like what the fuck, that was a big mistake.…and then i’m just like, oh i should have never done that. veronica suffered from shame and recognized that staying in the us hinged on a packet and an immigration judge. admitting this secret intensifi ed rather than alleviated her struggles. this psychological stress that many undocumented students face was compounded by veronica’s additional status as an incarcerated juvenile (jacobo & ochoa, 2011). she divulged the secret with major consequences and had no one to help her face those consequences. i wondered how compounded psychological stress impacted her behavior and she told me a story about “cheeking her meds,” or saving prescription drugs to ingest many at once, allowing the person to feel high. veronica: i was cheeking my meds and cheeking other people’s meds. everybody was like, what is wrong with you and i was like, nothing….i was just not paying attention in class and anything. i was blowing everything off. and then, they’re like, oh you’re cheeking your meds. cuz one of the other kids said that we were passing meds....and they’re like, wow you’re just wired in the brain to do criminal things. and i was like i know. it’s like that criminal thinking is always on my mind. saa: what do you mean by criminal thinking? where does that language come from? veronica: it comes for t4c, thinking for change. and it was like, you have to like, criminal thinking is like you always want to do the wrong thing to get away with something or hide something. and what i was doing was like, getting high to hide my feelings because the immigration thing had me all upset…and i was like oh my god, this is going to happen. but i was just assuming the worst. and that’s just another thing that i learned in t4c, like i learned a lot. if it happens, it happens. i’m not going to get overwhelmed about things that are out of my power. veronica started “cheeking her meds” directly in relation to her fear of deportation without friends or family. the description of her actions as “criminal thinking” was grossly oversimplifi ed. the thinking for change curriculum (bush, glick & tymans, 2002) never used the term “criminal thinking” but did discuss “self-centered thinking that leads to criminality” (p. 144). this may indicate that staff, teachers, or students were using this term incorrectly. thinking for change did not address social identities. it was not directed toward children or adults but could be used with both, meaning there were no developmental supports for juveniles. i searched for the terms: association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 37 undocumented and under surveillance culture, cultural, ethnicity, race, gender, sex, sexuality, orientation, gay, lesbian, bisexual, lgbtq, immigration, illegal, undocumented, ability and disability and found none were included. the curriculum had no specialized instructions for students with disabilities or english language learners. i discussed this with a child psychologist who had experience working within the juvenile incarceration system and she stated, “cognitive behavioral therapy does not have those identity markers included. however the therapist should be trained in multicultural issues and should integrate them” (dr. amanda bye, personal communication, november 5, 2012). though dr. bye was describing best practice, thinking for change stated, the curriculum has been designed so that any staff person may facilitate groups and teach its content. no special credential or level of education is required. trainers should be caring, like to teach, understand group processes and interpersonal interactions, and be able to control an offender group. (bush et al., 2002, p. 4.) the curriculum ignored ways that structural racism, sexism, ableism, and xenophobia may affect people’s actions and instead labels “offenders” criminals with self-centered thinking. bush et al. (2002) stated that thinking for change builds upon “strategies and curricula to teach skills to skill defi cit individuals.” so, the cognitive behavior therapy in thinking for change took a defi cit approach to the “offender.” overall, it allowed a juvenile’s actions to be considered without context. to describe veronica’s actions as self-centered implied that veronica had no reason to take prescription drugs except for the thrill of doing something wrong. on the contrary, veronica was facing the very real possibility of being deported to a country she had not been to in over 10 years without friends or family to protect or support her. that she was taking drugs because she was self-centered or trying to get away with something seems naïve—simplistic in light of what she was facing. veronica recognized that self-medicating was linked to her anxiety about the pending immigration hearing. the curriculum used by the juvenile justice system addressed veronica’s behaviors punitively and without context. veronica: like sometimes i feel like that’s the pressure on me. that’s why i get so irritated. cuz like whenever staff is doing something to me or like i have a different opinion, i can’t argue with them because they have some kind of power. and i’m like, sometimes i take it out on them…like i was just mad cuz one time (my teacher) told me to go do something. and i was like i already did it and he was like well it doesn’t matter, do it again. and i was like, i hate when people talk to me like that. like, i feel like i’m a dog and like i just get weird feelings and i act on it cuz i don’t know how to handle it. saa: does it make you feel disrespected? veronica: yeah and when that happens, you have this whole other thing going on like if i argue right now, how is that going to help or hurt me?...i hear myself thinking, if you do this, you’re going to get into this kind of trouble. this and that. and my head just doesn’t care. surveillance of her behavior proved to be a continual stressor for veronica. she had to consider not only the immediate consequences of her behavior in an institution that continually criminalized her, but also to weigh how it affected her chance to stay in the country. her statuses as an undocumented student, an english language learner, and a female with an emotional disability had been ignored. at times, the juvenile incarceration system even attempted to eradicate those identities (díaz-strong & meiners, 2007). the only label the teachers and staff embraced for veronica was “criminal.” this limited the support veronica received and the impact the program had on her. fake it to make it socializing practices, defi ned for the purposes of this study as the rituals and routines of the institution, were meant to teach its inhabitants about the philosophy of the program. socializing routines “teach both to association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 38 undocumented and under surveillance and through” institutional practices (gutiérrez & larson, 1994). for instance, in one 45-minute class i observed, implementing these routines took 26 minutes. one major socializing practice for a new female inmate was to keep feet together at all times when sitting. when i asked why this practices was necessary, a security staff responded, “they need to learn to behave like young ladies”. this comment refl ected an attempt to enforce normative femininity on criminal female bodies, a common effort in female juvenile incarceration (chesney-lind & shelden, 2004). in the video data, i noticed that veronica kept her feet apart, however the rest of her body language indicated attending to the conversation (e.g. eyes on teacher, recording notes). even after security staff directed her to put her feet together, veronica would often change her foot position back to open. i asked why veronica continually moved her feet into a position prohibited by the institution. i knew like i could get away with it. and i felt like, i get comfortable in the places i am. i don’t care who says no or what, if i’m comfortable with it, i’m going to sit the way i want. and i’ll just do what i do and i never got in trouble for it. and when i did, i would just close them back and spread (my feet) again. veronica resisted this expectation though it could have made her more susceptible to punishment. teachers and staff did not take these socializing practices lightly. in one 45-minute class i observed, class was interrupted 18 times to enforce these rules. when i asked about the purpose of these socializing routines, one teacher responded, “it’s not that hard to follow the rules here. you follow them and you get more privileges, just like life.” the teacher’s attitude refl ected the beliefs of many experienced, well-meaning juvenile justice educators. she thought the small instances of rule breaking were irrational and was irritated by the refusal to follow simple rules. however, from a youth perspective these small gestures had a different meaning; breaking rules became a resource in a place where the girls had little autonomy. incarcerated girls were continually monitored for compliance and every part of the girls’ bodies was policed, from how they could wear their hair to what color clothes they wore. for some, breaking the rules seemed to be a response to the sheer quantity of rules, their arbitrary nature, and their irrelevance to “real life.” veronica refused to comply with the socializing practices and stated that she is not willing to “fake it to make it.” fake it to make it to me means that you put up a front. that everybody likes, like you’re the golden nickel or whatever. that everybody likes and everybody wants. and i feel like i don’t have to be that person. i don’t want to be that person...i feel like if i’m going to get there, i’ll get there the way i am. i’m not gonna change. i’m not willing to change for anyone. veronica shared how she struggled to comply with rules without changing her character. rios (2011) used the term “striving for dignity” to describe students “demanding the right to be seen ‘as normal’, to be treated as fellow human beings, to have a sense of positive rites and not to feel criminalized” in the community (p. 115). when girls were incarcerated, they still fought to be treated with dignity and this confl icted with the tight regulation and control of their bodies. discussion veronica shared how being an undocumented latina with a disability impacted her education experiences in juvenile incarceration. veronica got tired of holding such a large secret but her impulsive honesty resulted in increased criminalization. confessing her undocumented status during police questioning refl ected how psychological exhaustion that undocumented students experience can actually increase interaction with the pipeline. once incarcerated, the juvenile legal system surveilled and punished veronica’s behavior without consideration of the sociocultural context of her life. every decision was impacted by her undocumented status, but juvenile justice curriculum and school personnel only focused on her behaviors and alleged self-centered thinking. veronica’s responses to efforts to criminalize her thinking and feminize her body were not passive acceptance or impulsive rejection. instead, veronica thoughtfully navigated these complex situations, refusing to association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 39 undocumented and under surveillance conform in order to meet standards. this strategic maneuvering is something students with emotional disabilities are thought unable to do. veronica was continually forced to follow rules in order to stay in the country, knowing she could be deported if too many minor rule infractions marked her case. at times, veronica was able to hold this knowledge and found it motivated her to comply with the regulation of her body. other times, the consequences beat down her will to comply with the rules. veronica knew that her behavior was constantly being surveilled and would affect whether or not she could stay in the country, but she could not constantly comply without losing her dignity. this is the exact opposite effect that potential consequences should have on anyone. the intersections of race, immigration status, gender and ability left her vulnerable to “stated-operated systems of domination” (richie, 2012). implications a student who is undocumented already faces the construction of a criminal identity (abrego, 2008). once the student becomes part of the pipeline, that state constructed undocumented identity is further criminalized, surveilled and punished. the major implication from this study is that all behavior in education should be understood within context. students need to have institutional support, via school and juvenile justice personnel who care enough to listen to why students act in ways not sanctioned by those institutions (pérez & rodríguez, 2011). personnel must be aware of the structural racism, sexism, ableism and xenophobia students face and consider their behaviors within that macro-context. considering sociocultural factors would refl ect authentic care that embraces and affi rms veronica’s culture and community and replaces a false sense of care that is prevalent in juvenile justice, which divorces students from their lives (valenzuela, 1999). in the small, personal setting that many juvenile justice settings provide, teachers could positively “track” students by knowing enough about them to interpret their behavior in context (gonzales, 2010). in this way, teachers and juvenile justice personnel can become college-going pedagogues who focus on empowering and teaching undocumented students in the juvenile justice system about their potential to access higher education (gildersleeve & romero, 2010). this would replace what school and juvenile justice personnel have become within the school to prison pipeline, surveillance pedagogues who focus on identifying and eradicating “problematic” emotions and behaviors from these institutions (meiners, 2007). the rising latin@ presence in the school to prison pipeline continues to be problematic in its own right. veronica’s story illustrates how little understanding is extended to undocumented students in juvenile justice, but it also provides an opportunity to do better. by re-imagining the role of school and juvenile justice personnel within the pipeline, we can improve futures outcomes for students like veronica. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 40 undocumented and under surveillance references abrego, l. j. (2006). “i can’t go to college because i don’t have papers”: incorporation patterns of latino undocumented youth. latino studies, 4(3), 212-231. annamma, s.a., connor, d., & ferri, b, (2013). dis/ability critical race studies (discrit): theorizing at the intersections of race and dis/ability. race ethnicity and education, 16(1), 1-31. bush, j. glick, b., & tymans, j. (2002). thinking for change: integrated cognitive behavior change program. chesney-lind, m. (2010). jailing “bad” girls: girls’ violence and trends in female incarceration. in m. chesney-lind and n. jones (eds.), fighting for girls. state university of new york press. kindle edition. crenshaw, k., gotanda, n., peller, g., & thomas, k. (1995). critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement. new york: the new press. delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2001). critical race theory: an introduction. new york: new york, university press. díaz-strong, d., & meiners, e. (2007). residents, alien policies, and resistances: experiences of undocumented latina/o students in chicago’s colleges and universities. interactions: ucla journal of education and information studies, 3(2). erickson, f. (1996). inclusion into what? thoughts on the construction of learning, identity and affi liation in the general education classroom. in d. speece & b. keogh (eds.), research on classroom ecologies: implications for inclusion of children with learning disabilities (pp. 91-105). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. erickson, f. (1998). qualitative research methods for science education. in b. j. fraser & k. g. tobin (eds.), international handbook on science education (pp. 1155-1173). great britain: kluwer academic publishers. ferri, b. & connor, d. (2009). “i was the special ed girl:” (en)gendering disability from the standpoint of urban working class young women of color. journal of gender and education, 22, 105-121. garland‐thomson, r. (2005). feminist disability studies. signs, 30(2), 1557-1587. gildersleeve, r. e. (2009). organizing learning for transformation in college outreach programs.” pedagogies: an international journal, 4(1), 77–93. gildersleeve, r. e., & ranero, j. j. (2010). precollege contexts of undocumented students: implications for student affairs professionals. new directions for student services, (131), 19-33. gonzales, r.g. (2010). on the wrong side of the tracks: understanding the effects of school structure and social capital in the educational pursuits of undocumented immigrant students. peabody journal of education, 85(4), 469-485. goodwin, m. (2003). gender, race, and mental illness: the case of wanda jean allen. in a.k. wing (ed.), critical race feminism: a reader, 2nd ed., (pp. 228–37). new york: new york university press. glaser, b. g., & strauss, a. l. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. chicago: aldine. gutiérrez, k., & larson, j. (1994). language borders: recitation as hegemonic discourse. international journal of education reform, 3, 22-36. jacobo, r., & ochoa, a. m. (2012). examining the experiences of undocumented college students: walking the known and unknown lived spaces. association of mexican american educators journal, 5(1). katsiafi cas, d. futch, v.a., fine, m., & selcuk, s. (2011). everyday hyphens: exploring youth identities with methodological and analytic pluralism. qualitative research in psychology, 8(2), 120-139. kim, c. losen, d., & hewitt, d. (2010). the school-to-prison pipeline: structuring legal reform. new york university press: new york, new york. matsuda, m. (1987). looking to the bottom: critical legal studies and reparations. harvard civil rights-civil liberties law review, 22, 323–399. meiners, e.r. (2007). right to be hostile: schools, prisons, and the making of public enemies. new york: routledge. montoya, m. (1994). máscaras, trenzas, y greñas: un/masking the self while un/braiding latina stories and legal discourse. chicano-latino law review, 15, 1-37. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 41 undocumented and under surveillance national education association. (2007). truth in labeling: disproportionality in special education. retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/18456.htm. osher, d.,woodruff, d., & sims, a.e. (2002). school makes a difference: the overrepresentation of african american youth in special education and the juvenile justice system. in d.j. losen & g. orfi eld (eds.), racial inequity in special education. cambridge, ma: harvard education press. paris, d., & winn, m. (2013). to humanize research. in d. paris & m. winn (eds), humanizing research: decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities. los angeles: sage. passel, j.s., & cohn, d. (2011). “unauthorized immigrant population: national and state trends, 2010.” washington, d.c.: pew hispanic center. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2011/02/01/unauthorized-immigrant-populationbrnational-and-state-trends-2010/ pérez, p. a., & rodríguez, j. l. (2012). access and opportunity for latina/o undocumented college students: familial and institutional support factors. association of mexican american educators journal, 5(1). quinn, m. m., rutherford, r. b., leone, p. e., osher, d. m., & poirier, j. m. (2005). youth with disabilities in juvenile corrections: a national survey. exceptional children, 71, 339–345. rabaka, r. (2010). against epistemic apartheid: w.e.b. du bois and the disciplinary decadence of sociology. lanham, md: lexington books/rowman & littlefi eld publishers. reid, d. k., & knight, m. g. (2006). disability justifi es exclusion of minority students: a critical history grounded in disability studies. educational researcher, 35 (6), 18-23. rios, v.m. (2011). punished: policing the lives of black and latino boys. new york university press. solórzano, d.g., & bernal, d.d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3) 308–42. solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. taylor, p., hugo lopez, m., passel, j., & motel, s. (2011) unauthorized immigrants: length of residency, patterns of parenthood. washington, d.c.: pew hispanic center, february torres, r.m., & wicks-asbun, m. (2013). undocumented students’ narratives of liminal citizenship: high aspirations, exclusion, and “in-between” identities. the professional geographer. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: us-mexican youth and the politics of caring. suny press. watts, i.e., & n. erevelles. (2004). these deadly times: reconceptualizing school violence by using critical race theory and disability studies. american educational research journal, 41(2), 271–99. willen, s.s. (2007). toward a critical phenomenology of “illegality”: state power, criminalization, and objectivity among undocumented migrant workers in tel aviv, israel. international migration, 45(3). winn, m. (2011) girl time: literacy, justice, and the school-to-prison pipeline. new york, ny: teachers college press. volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ el cruce association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 3 el cruce miguel agustín alvarez, ph.d. the university of texas—san antonio abstract the following reflective essay describes the literal journey of an undocumented immigrant who left his family in jalisco, mexico, as a teenager and eventually became a bilingual educator who earned two master’s degrees and a ph.d. in the united states. within this narrative, the author not only describes the challenges in crossing into the u.s. but also weaves in lessons he has learned as an educator of other bilingual immigrant children. the amae journal is proud to publish this compelling essay posthumously. miguel passed away on november 25, 2015, after three months of battling liver cancer. he is survived by his wife, aracely, and two sons, miguel alejandro and andre. el cruce is the opening chapter of dr. alvarez’s unpublished 2015 dissertation, the role of language in students’ reading trajectory: exploring a summer reading enrichment program. miguel alvarez earned his phd at the university of texas—san antonio in the department of bicultural-bilingual studies. when i began my journey of earning a ph.d. and completing my dissertation, i knew it would be difficult; however, i was confident that i would succeed as i recalled an arduous past experience, which i named el cruce. the crossing of a border is a complex process that requires planning, resources, time, patience, courage, and most of all, luck. the following narrative describes my own experience crossing the u.s.-mexico border as an undocumented teenager during the spring of 1990. although my narrative starts on a bus to tijuana, my reflections during this bus ride allowed me to go further back in time to describe the forces that pushed me to test my luck in the united states, and the circumstances that made it possible for me to undertake such an enterprise. the trip and the crossing experiences were filled with difficulties and sometimes setbacks, but these experiences became enlightening and enriching. it is fair to say that despite having an original plan to reach the city of chicago, and alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 4 failing miserably to carry out this plan, my border crossing experience resulted in a better than expected outcome; sometimes what looks like a failure becomes a victory. one afternoon in late april of 1990, i found myself in the company of two teenage friends riding a bus from guadalajara to tijuana. our objective was to get to the city of chicago in the united states; we were going to cross the border illegally. apolinar, who was 19 years old, was our guide (he had been in the united states before); his brother cesar was 16, and i was three weeks short of becoming 16 myself. my original plan was to work for a year or two in the united states in order to save enough money to come back to mexico and start a small business. as i was traveling i felt nervous, but at the same time i was excited and full of hope. challenging my father’s authority the afternoon expired and as it became darker, i started to reflect on the last conversation with my father before i left home. he became very upset when i told him i was coming to the united states and in his rage he told me that i would not be successful. “solamente te vas a meter en problemas y luego voy a tener que ir por ti para rescatarte y traerte de regreso,” he told me. but i was determined to prove him wrong and i told him that he would not be able to stop me. i also told him that i was fed up with the situation he had created at home. for years, my mom had to work as a dressmaker to support the family because my father’s business was unprofitable. my mom had turned a large room in the second floor of our house into a taller de costurería, a shop where she would spend her days making dresses. she also turned our garage into a tienda de ropa, a boutique. at the age of ten i started to work at la tienda de ropa after school hours. sometimes i would make the sales, or if the clients were interested in buying several garments, i would just call my mom to come down stairs and deal with them. three years later, my mom started to make bed spreads instead of dresses and we closed the store. i started to help my mom cut fabric, and i even learned to use the industrial sewing machines in the shop. working very hard, my mom’s business picked up and we saved enough money to expand. we had plans to purchase more equipment and materials, and we also planned to hire a couple of seamstresses. my mom and i were very proud of our work, but one day my father asked my mom for a “loan”; and a few days later he asked for more; and he kept asking until he depleted her savings. el cruce association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 5 frustrated with this situation, after finishing secundaria (middle school), i decided not to work in my mom’s shop and i took a job at la panadería, the local bakery, because i wanted to save money to start my own business. for nine months i worked very hard and saved most of my money; unfortunately, every once in a while my father would ask me for “loans” that he would never pay back. i also observed my older brother go through a similar situation. after working for five years in the city of guadalajara, he had managed to save enough money to buy a pickup truck, but one day my father asked him for the title of ownership and sold it. my father promised to replace the truck but never followed through with his promise. the situation with my father made me grow very disappointed. it made me start thinking that i needed to stay away from him in order to prosper. this was how i came to take the decision to immigrate to the united states in search of better economic opportunities. on the trip to tijuana, i had mixed feelings about the confrontation with my father. on the one hand i was proud of myself for challenging my father’s authority, and on the other i felt that i was doing something wrong. following the tradition of los hijos ausentes, i was supposed to depart form my hometown with my parents’ blessings: encomendado a los santos y con la bendición de mis padres. but instead, the confrontation with my father felt like a bad omen; “a un hijo desobediente no le va bien en la vida” people would say. this was not just my father’s way of thinking but also the collective thinking of the people of san miguel el alto, my hometown. thus, by challenging my father, i was also challenging the social norms of my community. in retrospect, it seems that i was not only escaping from my father’s authority, but also rejecting what anzaldúa (1987) refers to as “cultural tyranny” which she describes as “[d]ominant paradigms.” according to her, these paradigms are “predefined concepts that exist as unquestionable, unchallengeable, are transmitted to us through culture” and “[c]ulture is made by those in power” (p. 38). according to the cultural tyranny practiced in my hometown, i was wrong for rejecting my father’s authority. “was i unfit to live in san miguel?” i pondered. that night on the bus as i reflected on this issue, i started humming el corrido del hijo desobediente. i had listened to this song a thousand times, but all of a sudden, its lyrics took a different meaning: only bad things can happen to a disobedient child. alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 6 corrido popular del hijo desobediente hijo de mi corazón, por lo que acabas de hablar antes de que salga el sol la vida te han de quitar (anonymous, n.d.) the checkpoints along the way early in the morning the next day, as the bus made its way across the state of sinaloa, the bus made a stop at a police checkpoint on the side of the road. a sergeant of la policía judicial federal asked all males on the bus to grab our belongings and get off the bus. we were asked to line up on the side of the road in front of the checkpoint shed where another three policemen with semiautomatic weapons observed us. the sargento stood in front of us and told us that he “knew,” that since the bus was destined to tijuana, all of us (the male passengers in the bus) were going to try to cross the u. s. border illegally. and then he stated that this was a crime. (in my mind i thought that while this may have been a crime in the u.s., there wasn’t any law in mexico that prevented its citizens from getting out of the country, but i kept this to myself). he said that he would have us all arrested for that, but, if we each paid a small fee of approximately ten dollars, he would let us get back on the bus. at that moment i made a very quick decision; i had to pay the ten dollars or these rateros con licencia para robar would have me arrested for a crime that i had not yet committed. the sargento judicial federal walked along the line collecting the money, but he came to a stop when a man refused to pay the bribe. this individual stated that he would not pay any money for a crime that he did not commit and that asking us for money was an abuse on the part of the authorities. (secretly, i wished i had the guts to do what this brave citizen was doing). one of the judiciales with the semiautomatic weapons asked the man to accompany him to the shed. after that, with a twisted smile on his face, the sargento asked the rest of us if anyone else wanted to also be “interrogated” at the shed. no one else decided to challenge the “authorities,” and after the judicial finished collecting the money, we were instructed to get back on the bus. we left the el cruce association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 7 courageous (and perhaps inept) man behind. as we were getting back on the bus, i overheard other passengers saying that this guy was probably going to receive a beating at the shed. this was the first of several checkpoints along the way where we were robbed by the policía judicial or the ejercito nacional. in my mind i cursed apolinar (our experienced guide) for not warning us about this issue. considering all the bribes that we had to pay along the way, i figured that it would have been a lot cheaper, faster and safer to fly to tijuana instead of traveling by land. in between the checkpoints i had plenty of time to reflect on the system of corrupted authorities in mexico and wondered how it would be in the united states. i wondered why the mexican government became so corrupt, but i could not figure the answer. years later, taking mexican history classes in college, i came to the opinion that mexico’s long tradition of corrupt authorities originated with the imposition of the encomienda, an abusive colonial system imposed by the spaniards after the conquest of mexico (meyer & sherman, 1995, p. 131). seeking fortune, the conquistadores subjugated the indigenous population, placed themselves in positions of authority and utilized this authority to enrich themselves with an abusive system. this tradition of abusive authorities in mexico has persisted all the way to the present times (meyer & sherman, 1995, p. 131). meditation on authority and law my other concern about immigrating to the united states was the act of crossing the border illegally. although, i must admit that i was a little concerned about getting caught, what made me uncomfortable was the fact that i was going to break the law. since i had never broken the law before, i had to find a way to rationalize my intentions. with this in mind, i recurred to reviewing the mexican narrative of the “stolen territory.” i grew up in a place in mexico where most people believed that the southwestern territory of the united states was “stolen” from mexico, and therefore it would be justifiable for any mexican citizen to reclaim this territory. i pondered about this issue all the way to baja california. alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 8 hiring the coyote: a dangerous business upon our arrival to tijuana, at the bus station, from a public phone apolinar called a coyote who went by the nickname of “el gigante.” this individual was originally from the small city of jalostotitlán which is about 18 miles from my hometown. apolinar also called his parents back in san miguel el alto to let them know that we had arrived in tijuana safely and that el gigante was going to arrange our crossing. i must say that these measures gave me some comfort. i felt that it was important to know that our coyote was someone who we knew and could trust, and that our relatives knew him as well. there were too many stories about immigrants who got robbed or even murdered by individuals who pretend to be coyotes. i remember that at the bus station while getting off the bus, at the payphone, and even while we were waiting for el gigante, we were approached numerous times by different individuals who openly asked us if we needed a coyote “pa’ pasar al otro lado.” i tried to imagine how people who didn’t know anyone in tijuana must have felt: “what a leap of faith it must have been to hire a stranger as your coyote!” el gigante, a man about my height of 6’1, met us at the bus station and took us to his apartment in tijuana that afternoon. i learned that he was the leader of a band of coyotes and one of his men would take us across the border very early the next morning. cesar and i waited in a room while el gigante and apolinar talked in another room. in a few minutes they came back and apolinar asked me to hand three hundred dollars to el gigante for my crossing. i didn’t think too much of the situation and complied with this request. as we waited in the apartment, other customers arrived. i remember vividly a young mother and her two children. she was around 23, petite, and very pretty. she had a two-yearold toddler and a baby; she looked very calm, and i admired her strength and resolution. at one point there must have been around twelve prospective immigrants in that room. we were told to get some rest because we would leave at two in the morning the next day. we lay on the floor and used our backpacks as pillows. but sleep didn’t come easily; there were just too many things going on. the day i became a standard mexican at two in the morning we were awakened by our coyote; a short man with a mustache who wore a baseball cap. he looked calm and projected confidence. as we walked out of the el cruce association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 9 apartment, he instructed us to walk individually, following each other, at a half a block distance in order not to attract the attention of the police. he explained that if we walked in groups, the police would detain us and ask for bribes or search us in order to take any money we had. (i remember thinking that the coyote seemed more worried about the police on the mexican side of the border than the border patrol in the u.s.!). the coyote sent one of his helpers ahead to guide the group and after he walked half a block, the coyote sent someone from our group to follow. i waited for my turn and then i had to follow the immigrant ahead of me at half a block distance for about five minutes; we had been four blocks away from the border all this time and i had not even realized it! when i first saw the actual physical border, i must admit that i was a little disappointed. i imagined the border of the most powerful nation on earth superbly protected, but instead, there was a flimsy and rusted chain-link wire fence separating the united states from mexico. i remember walking along the fence where there would be individuals holding wire cutting pliers on one hand and pulling the net of the fence to make an opening with the other; they were asking walkers for two dollars to go through their portals. but our coyotes had their own opening and we followed them to the place where we would make the crossing. the coyote’s assistant held the galvanized steel fabric to make an opening to allow us to cross. when it was my turn, i went through the opening and with one small step i was on the other side. the little step that took me to the united states made feel transformed; i felt that i became what i would at that time classify as a standard mexican. back in mexico there were distinctions between social status, race, and culture. but after crossing the border, i felt that in the united states all these things didn’t matter. it wasn’t important anymore that i had attended a very good private catholic school as a child, or that i was raised with middle class values; i was just as poor and unprepared as everybody else. on that day, i also became a fugitive and an unwelcome guest; i could not speak english and i wasn’t familiar with cultural practices in the united states. in mexico, since i had worked for so many years and had the ability to earn a man’s salary, i was considered a man, but here in the u.s., i was reduced to the status of a child; i was a minor. years later, i would change my opinion about my early classification of immigrants. besides the physical border that immigrants cross, there are the borders of race, class, and gender. fox (1999), for example, points out that a border is a “marker of hybrid or liminal alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 10 subjectivities, such as those that would be experienced by persons who negotiate among multiple cultural, linguistic, racial or sexual systems throughout their lives” (p. 19). when i crossed the border as a teenager i wasn’t able to anticipate that later on in life i would constantly use my appearance, gender and middle class upbringing to my advantage; in other words, there were some borders that i didn’t have to cross. i didn’t realize then that certain attributes that i possessed would help me later on in life to obtain employment and certain educational opportunities. border odyssey once everyone in the group was on the other side of the fence, the coyote instructed us to hide under some bushes and stay quiet. i think that he wanted us to become aware of our surroundings. far in the distance we could see a light tower that projected a sweeping light beam across the field; this is the type of light tower that you see in movies in which inmates are trying to escape from a prison. we could also hear some helicopters in the distance. after a few minutes the coyote told us to stand up and follow him. as we started walking, i remember seeing another group of immigrants walking in the same direction; they were just a few yards from us. then i observed another group, and another, and another. there must have been at least 20 large groups near us; hundreds of people crossing the border simultaneously (i remember telling myself: “these americans are pretending that they don’t want us here, but they are actually letting us in!”). we walked another 150 yards and there was a small creek we had to cross. there were individuals who had built improvised bridges with wooden planks at the creek; they wanted to charge one dollar to anyone who wanted to use them. “órale compas, pásenle por aquí pa que no se llenen de lodo al cruza” one of them said. the coyote guided us to one of these individuals and handed him a five dollar bill. for this amount the man allowed the whole group cross the creek on his improvised bridge. just as soon as we crossed, the coyote told us to hide behind some bushes nearby. once again, it was time for the observation tower to point its sweeping beam of light across our location. after the light was gone, the coyote instructed us to now get under the bushes because he could hear a helicopter coming. and sure enough, a helicopter equipped with powerful lamps illuminated some terrain next to us (in retrospect, considering the amount of el cruce association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 11 immigrants in that field, it seems that the immigration officers on the helicopter were working really hard to intentionally point their lamp lights to places where they wouldn’t find anyone). we waited for a while and once the helicopter was gone we continued walking another three or four hundred yards until we reached a brick wall. this was the last barrier on a stretch of land used by the border patrol to perform their show—a show in which the united states pretended it didn’t need the cheap labor of disposable workers. the mission the beige brick wall was over seven feet high and too tall for most of the people in my group to climb. the coyote approached me and commanded: “oye compa, hay que echarle una mano aquí a todos tus paisanos.” i nodded and started to help my paisanos ascend and overcome a barrier (it didn’t occur to me then that maybe this could be my mission in life). when it became the turn of the young mother and her children, she placed her baby on my hands and said “hay se lo encargo” (curiously enough, in my present job as an elementary school bilingual education teacher, i hear these same words all the time, especially at the beginning of a school year when parents bring their children into my classroom: “maestro, hay se lo encargo”). i lifted the baby very carefully and handed him to another person on the other side of the wall. i repeated this procedure with the two-year old brother and then i helped the young mother and the others in the group to climb. on attributes and obstacles climbing the wall and jumping to the other side was a lot easier for me than to the others. later on in life i would come to the realization that some barriers are not as difficult to overcome if one possesses certain attributes. sometimes the barriers that stand in the way of progress become less challenging not only if you are tall but also if, for example, you are a male, if your skin is lighter, if you are literate, if you dress well, and if you know how to act according to the expectations of others. a person who possesses certain attributes can obtain easy access to the opportunities that are denied to others. another important lesson that i learned was that the degree of difficulty in crossing borders or barriers actually depends on the unfairness of dominant groups who set borders or barriers as tools of exclusion. alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 12 the highway to my surprise, on the other side of the wall there was a highway. when i climbed and was on top of the wall i could see that the last person i helped climb was running across it and join the others. i could not follow him immediately because a lot of vehicles were passing by. i descended from the wall and waited for what seemed an eternity for cars to stop coming in order for me to cross the road. after a few minutes i had my chance and i ran as fast as i could to rejoin the group. when i got there, i was instructed to hide behind some bushes and wait for a vehicle that would take us to a safer place. as we waited silently, i could observe the vehicles that passed along the freeway and, on a couple of occasions, i saw green immigration patrol trucks passing by. i was very anxious and wanted desperately to get out of there. the lift at last, a van pulled out on the side of the road. one of the individuals in the van got out and opened the side door and signaled us to get in as fast as possible. there were no seats in the back of this vehicle and the individual told us to lie down on the floor and be quiet. in less than a minute we were packed in that van like sardines in a can. the van took off, but just after about ten minutes we started hearing the driver and the man on the passenger seat arguing. they spoke spanish with a very strong central american accent and uttered at least two obscenities per sentence. all the sudden the van came to a stop on the shoulder of the road, and we were told to get off the van and hide behind some bushes. at first i could not understand why we were doing this, but then i realized that the van had a mechanical malfunction. we hid quietly, and although no one said anything, but just by looking at the expressions of the people in my group i could tell that everyone was thinking that we were going to get caught. but that’s not what happened. after about ten minutes, our central american coyotes asked the sardines to get back inside the can. the border beyond the border we got back in the van and our drivers took us to a house located some place north of san diego where we would wait for the next three days. no one had explained to me that there was another immigration checkpoint in san clemente that we had to pass before we would get to los angeles. at this point i was very confused because i didn’t see the necessity el cruce association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 13 of going to los angeles. “¿por que no tomamos un avión a chicago del aeropuerto de san diego?” i asked apolinar. he sheepishly replied that he had not told his brother-in-law in chicago that we were coming, and that he had no money for the airplane tickets, so we had to stop in los angeles because he had a cousin there. later on, i would also learn that he didn’t even have the money to pay the six hundred dollars he owed the coyotes for helping him and his brother cesar cross the border. as it turned out, his cousin in los angeles had to borrow money to come up with enough cash for their ransom (i wanted to kill this apolinar!). we waited for three long days, captive in a house that was managed by a couple. the coyota told us not to make too much noise because she didn’t want the neighbors to report to the police or to the immigration authorities that this place was used to house illegal immigrants. during our time in this house, we slept on the floor, we ate sandwiches, and we drank tap water. we were only permitted to take one shower “para conservar la agua” the coyota would say, and we would spend our days sharing our stories and listening to others because there were no televisions in this house. on our third night at the coyote’s den, we were awakened at midnight. apparently, an informant that they had at the san clemente checkpoint had given them the green light to get the people across. somehow the coyotes knew that we would not be stopped at the checkpoint and they asked people to get in different cars. apolinar, cesar, one of the other immigrants and i got in a car driven by a stubby individual with a mustache. i remember being very nervous about this incident, but our coyote drove us through the checkpoint without even having to stop. i have always wondered if the coyotes had bribed one of the immigration officers at the checkpoint. to this day i don’t know how our coyote managed to evade detection by immigration, but the important thing is that he managed to get us los angeles. after the checkpoint, our coyote kept driving for the next two hours. we first stopped at the parking lot of a strip mall to drop off the other immigrant. i saw how his relatives handed the coyote some money before embracing the man. at that point i realized how naïve i had been by allowing apolinar talk me into paying el gigante in advance for my crossing when we were in tijuana. after witnessing the transaction at the parking lot i realized that it was a lot safer to have a person in the united states pay for the crossing; an immigrant who pays the coyote in advance runs the risk of being left behind during the crossing. alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 14 after the transaction took place, the immigrant and his relatives shook hands with the coyote and suddenly i realized that this immigrant had made it; shaking the hands with the coyote marked the end of a complex process of crossing a border. i also realized that for me it would be a little more complicated; it would not be over until i reached chicago. the bargain it is funny to look back at these incidents because in those days i thought that i had paid el gigante too much money for helping me cross the border (back in those days, 300 dollars represented a small fortune for me). what i didn’t realize back then was the complexity, sophistication, and riskiness of his operations. after all, el gigante had to have solicitors at the bus station, an apartment in tijuana to house immigrants, someone to take them across the border, a van and drivers to take them to north san diego, a place in north san diego to house them for a few days, people at the house who made sure that the immigrants would not escape without paying, a spy monitoring the checkpoint in san clemente (and perhaps a corrupt immigration officer who would let coyotes and immigrants go through), and drivers to transport immigrants to los angeles (who were also responsible for the collection of money and for stabbing anyone who refused to pay). all of these things for the bargain price of 300 dollars! the unhappy cousin our coyote drove us to another parking lot where we met apolinar and cesar’s cousin raul, who didn’t seem too happy to see us. he paid the coyote for his cousins’ ransom and shook hands with him. we also shook hands with the coyote, thanked him, and sent our regards to el gigante: “dele las gracias de nuestra parte.” after the coyote was gone we got in raul’s car and he started to curse his cousins for showing up uninvited and forcing him to borrow money to rescue them. cesar said “¿saben lo que les hubieran hecho ese coyote si no consigo el dinero para pagarle?” he burst in anger. raul then told us that he didn’t have a place to accommodate us. he worked as a horse trainer at the santa anita race track in arcadia where his employer provided him with a little room right next to the stables. but he could not bring visitors overnight. el cruce association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 15 raul had called and made arrangements with some friends in costa mesa to take us for a few days. he had also called jose, apolinar’s brother-in-law in chicago to ask for money for the airplane tickets for the two brothers. he also informed jose that i was coming with them, but i had enough money for my airfare. then in a very sarcastic tone raul told apolinar that his brother-in-law had said that he didn’t have the money at the moment, and that apolinar and cesar would have to fend for themselves for a while. and then raul turned to me and informed me that jose had also told him that i would not be welcome in chicago. as raul drove us to costa mesa, i was in shock and could not believe that apolinar had invited me to tag along with him and cesar without first consulting jose if it was “ok” for me to come. the california connection that afternoon in costa mesa, raul asked me if i had the telephone number of anyone in the united states that i knew. i responded that i had. my friend oswaldo who had been a classmate in elementary school in mexico lived in venice, california. he had been born and raised in los angeles, but at the age of nine, his parents decided to move to mexico. because he had not learned to read and write spanish, the nuns at the maria martinez catholic school in san miguel decided to place him in first grade with students who were three years younger than he was. after three years in mexico, oswaldo’s dad decided to bring the family back to california. i kept in touch with oswaldo because from time to time his parents would bring him to san miguel to visit relatives and friends. i personally didn’t want to call him to describe my predicament but for some reason i succumbed to pressure and handed oswaldo’s telephone number to raul. immediately, raul called oswaldo and very bluntly and briefly explained my predicament. “si no lo puedes ayudar entonces lo tenemos que mandar para méxico” i heard him say. he asked if he wished to help me, and then made arrangements to meet at the parking lot of a supermarket in costa mesa the next morning. then raul hung up the phone and said “relájese mi amigo, que todo va a estar bien.” i hated him! the following morning, one of the guys who lived at the house where we were staying in costa mesa (i don’t remember his name), drove me and my friends to the supermarket’s parking lot where we had agreed to meet my friend. when we got there oswaldo was already waiting for us in his supped up black truck. when he saw me i turned as red as a tomato and alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 16 he started laughing. we hung around for a while and had a chance to chat with apolinar and cesar, and when it was time for us to go, apolinar asked me for a 40 dollars loan and promised me that he would send me a money order as soon as he arrived in chicago. knowing fully well that i would never be paid for this loan, i handed him the money and i shook his hand. i also shook hands with cesar and the guy who gave us the ride. and we said goodbye: “que les vaya muy bien en chicago.” this was the last time i saw or heard from apolinar or cesar. oswaldo and i got on the black truck and headed towards his home in venice. i started to recount the misfortunes of the last few days, and he found my stories both amusing and humorous. he laughed all the way to venice, but that didn’t upset me at all! my good friend was genuinely happy to see me and glad that he could lend me a hand. for me, the ride to venice in oswaldo’s truck marked the end of a very complex process: the process of crossing the mexico-u.s. border illegally as a teenager. after my arrival, i made my life here in the united states. i joined the military to serve my adopted country and then got my bachelor’s of arts degree in accounting. although i was an accountant, i did not feel fulfilled, and so i became a teacher. as a bilingual education teacher, i have had students and parents, who have had similar experiences and my mission in life has become assisting my paisanos overcome educational barriers in the united states. as a bilingual education teacher, i know that parents are depending on me, “maestro, aquí se lo encargo” to ensure their children’s educational welfare. as a bilingual education teacher, i saw firsthand how students often struggled with reading and that as teachers we noted a trend in summer reading loss in our dual language students. after much thinking, i wanted to design a treatment that would address summer reading loss. this desire and the recognition that i needed the knowledge and tools to conduct such a study motivated me to continue my education and pursue a doctoral degree. el cruce association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 17 references anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. fox, c. f. (1999). the fence and the river: culture and politics at the u.s.-mexico border. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. meyer, m. c. & sherman, w. l. (1995). the course of mexican history. (5th ed.). new york, ny: oxford university press. invited_issues_2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 66 implementing educational language policy in arizona implementing educational language policy in arizona-legal, historical and current practices in sei m. beatriz arias and christian faltis, new york: multilingual matters, 2012, 181 pages yolanda de la cruz arizona state university implementing educational language policy in arizona-legal, historical and current practices in sei, presents a critical examination of arizona’s restrictive language policies as they infl uence teacher preparation and practice by bringing together scholars, researchers, and educators. the two editors of implementing educational language policy in arizona, beatriz arias and christian faltis have a signifi cant and substantial trajectory in the area of instructional policy of english learners. they have compiled a volume of chapters that provides us with a multidimensional analysis of the implementation and impact of state prescribed educational policies and their impact on language minority students in arizona. these language-learning experts expose the effects of one state with the educational authority to impose educational policies that prescribes structured english immersion as the only model for instruction of language minorities. they reveal, layer-by-layer, the consequences of the structured english immersion (sei) model and how it prescribes the complete segregation of english learners for four hours a day from english speakers and academic content for a minimum of one year. furthermore, the book exposes the limited educational practices available to educational administers, teachers, and parents in determining opportunities for english learners resulting from the mandatory and restrictive language for instructional practices. there are approximately 10 million hispanic students in the nation’s public kindergartens and its elementary and high schools; they make up about one-in-fi ve public school students in the united states (fry & gonzales, 2008). this volume exposes the state of arizona’s restrictive educational policies constricting the use of immigrant languages that resemble rapid assimilation policies from the early 1900’s (wiley, 2010). the state’s sei model is highly prescriptive, outlining discrete skills to be taught and set amounts of time for specifi c isolated language skills. the models design has little or no basis in what is known from research experts about effective language instruction for english learners. the authors expose the questionable basis of the sei model of instruction. throughout each chapter, the multiple layers of fallacies that formed the invalid arguments of the instructional model are disclosed. the editors have selected highly qualifi ed scholars and researchers who serve as advisors and are considered experts in their sphere of educational policies affecting english learners. the authors, all leading experts in their domain of expertise, weave a unique and complying analysis of the impact of these educational policies. they expose layer per layer of the language policy in the raw and artifi cial research it was based on. the volume is divided into three sections. part one includes three chapters that focus on language policies in arizona. part two has three chapters that focus on the implementation of sheltered english immersion in arizona. part three includes three chapters that focus on implementation structured english immersion in teacher preparation in arizona. part one: language policy in arizona part one offers an analysis of the connections between language policy and the connection to teacher preparation in the state. chapter 1, written by one of the editors of the volume, arias, provides a framework that serves as a lens to absorb the slow, unveiling, false premises from which the state sei mandates are based on. the author believes that this lack of tolerance for alternative approaches for english language instruction feeds into the molding of teacher beliefs that can lead to defi cit views of speakers of languages other than english. the author magnifi es the limitations of teacher preparation instructors’ ability to adequately prepare pre-service teachers for instruction of english learners within this state controlled course work. arias argues that it is the role of teacher educators to address the impositions of this detrimental state requirement. by association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 67 implementing educational language policy in arizona disclosing these limitations, teacher educators have the potential of developing critical, culturally responsive and potentially transformative teachers. chapter 2, is written by both of the editors of the volume. faltis and arias provide background information on the creation of the task force that developed the fl awed research based model of the structured english immersion. they go on to inform the reader how this model restricted the use of non-english languages for instruction, and mandated sei programs to teach english to english learners within a one-year period. faltis and arias disclose the failure of the task force to consider the overwhelming evidence by language experts that the sei program model is pedagogically unsound and without a reliable research base. chapter 3, continues to expose the fl aws in the state mandated sei model. the authors, long and adamson inform the reader how the sei program model fails to consider a wider body of second language acquisition research on how children learn new languages. they show the reader how the program model fails to consider best teaching methods to support the learning in a second language. they go on to reveal how the state model fails in the development of academic language required for success in the content areas. they argue that the model fails to consider the difference between academic competence and conversational competence. without adequate development of academic competence, english learners will fail in arizona schools part two: implementing sei in arizona part two offers a detailed examination of the impact of implementing sei in arizona classrooms. in chapter 4, combs discloses how the sei model contributes to the promotion of folk theories that tend to reproduce the discourse and practices of this atheoretical based model. combs asserts that although the arizona state legislation and educational offi cials may believe that one year is a reasonable length of time for english learners to acquire enough english to perform in mainstream classrooms, no research on second langue learning supports this allegation. she asserts that there is no research evidence that supports this allegation that students can learn a second language in one year. this chapter unveils how one models does not meet the educational needs for all english learners. in chapter 5, the authors wright and sung expose that despite the implementation of arizona’s model for english language instruction, many teachers value bilingualism and agree that bilingual education, when properly implemented, is effective in helping english learners learn english and achieve academic success. the sei instructional model does not allow the use of the fi rst language. rather, the requirements of four hours of english language development each day are not based on solid research. the authors argue that this highly prescriptive model has little to no basis in what is known from research about effective language instruction for english learners. in chapter 6, the authors, krashen, mcswam and rolstad continue to disclose how the sei instructional model neglects to reference signifi cant research bearing on questions raised by the task force. incorrect interpretations and inappropriate conclusions were presented in their literature review. this review neglected a body of respected research that was not considered or included in the instructional model. the authors, all experts in the fi eld who have focused for decades on second language acquisition and instruction of english learners, conclude that arizona’s model of english language instruction lacks theoretical and empirical support and rigor. they assert that this model, based on unproven instructional methodology, promotes an english-only ideology. part three: arizona teacher preparation for sei part three addresses the process of how teachers are prepared to address the language needs of english learners in arizona under the state mandated sei model. as thousands of new teachers enter the classroom each year, they have been infl uenced by the models and teaching theories learned in their teacher preparation courses. the sei model has prepared many teachers with an english-only mandate for teaching english learners. in chapter 7, moore’s research sheds light on the english-only methodology and strategies represented in the sei model. the author notes that sei training varies across the state depending on the organization offering the training sessions. the study reveals that for-profi t instructors and community college faculty emphasized methodology over key issues in language minority education, including the sociocultural, sociopolitical and association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 68 implementing educational language policy in arizona historical-structural context of sei in society and research in the fi eld. while for-profi t trainers did consider themselves advocates of english learners, they nevertheless explicitly stated that politics were outright avoided in an effort to stay on task. teachers serve as carriers of the discourses and theories. denying the contexts in sei in society and research in the fi eld discounts the importance of other successful methods. pre-service teachers are subject to only one method and they will be infl uenced by and in turn contribute to the english-only ideology that fails to consider a deeper analysis that challenges the marginalization of the use of the fi rst language. in chapter 8, the authors, murri, markos, and estrella-silva, explore the implementation of sei model in teacher preparation programs and how language policies affect the daily interaction that occurs within teacher education colleges, schools, and classrooms. the authors believe that pre-service teacher must be given opportunities to critically exam the current sei policies and in order to reach their own conclusions as to their effectiveness as the best teaching practices for english learners. changes to this model will not happen until the limitations of the mandated language policy are exposed and viewed through a critical lens. the social marginalization that occurs in schools under this model must be unveiled, revealed, and understood, before necessary revisions to enhance, increase and improve the present model of instruction toward a more equitable model. in chapter 9, the author, olson, considers the importance of having pre-service teachers examine their own ideological beliefs and assumptions in order to counter possible defi cit perspectives that serve to defect from best instructional practices for english learners. the author contends that self-refl ection needs to be included in sei courses as a path to begin examination of their own underlying ideological beliefs and assumptions that might have infl uenced their internalized view of english learners ability to succeed in english classrooms. by including this self-refl ection in sei courses, pre-service teachers will have a better chance of providing instruction practices through a more critical lens that may lead to signifi cant opportunities for their students. conclusion the editors state that educational language policy is a critical component for addressing equal opportunities for language minority students. linguistic and cultural diversity in the united states is represented by about one-in-fi ve public school students in our schools today (fry & gonzales, 2008). this means that in order to serve the needs of these students, as a nation, we must be better informed of the consequences that will affect the educational outcomes of our next generation of americans. as citizens, we must become better informed of the pedagogical choices that affect these outcomes. this volume provides us with the lens to view both the pedagogical limitations under the sei model and the lack of research-based second language development practices that failed to provide the state of arizona with an effective model for approximately one in fi ve public school students. chapter by chapter, the authors deconstruct the layers of unproven methods that form the sei model that failed to consider the vast body of research that argues against a subtractive language policy. the book is a valuable contribution to the fi eld and a “must-read” for those working within the constraints of restrictive language policies. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 2 69 implementing educational language policy in arizona references fry, r., & gonzales, f. (2008). one-in-five and growing fast: a profile of hispanic public school students. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. wiley, t. g. (2010). in j. a. fishman and o. garcia (eds.), handbook of language and ethnic identity. oxford: oxford university press. volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 36 nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education: developing sociopolitical consciousness to contest language education policies juan a. freire brigham young university abstract language education policies in the united states have affected the education of latina/o students, especially those en la frontera, including those enrolled in dual language education. pre-service and in-service teachers in the field of dual language education can benefit from viewing latina/o students as nepantleras/os when examining language education policies. in addition, it is necessary for those educators to develop sociopolitical consciousness in order to advocate for their students and to contest restrictive language education policies affecting nepantlera/o students in the physical and/or psychological borderlands. similarly, dual language teachers need to support their students’ development of sociopolitical consciousness in order to empower them to contest oppressive language education policies impacting their educational lives. for this, there is a need to transform dual language education and include sociopolitical consciousness as one of its goals. keywords: borderlands, language education policy, dual language education, nepantla, sociopolitical consciousness introduction the history of the schooling of latinas/os in the united states is plagued by racism, classism, and linguicism. language education policies have served to maintain the social order, resulting in language loss across generations, assimilation, and poor academic achievement (gándara & hopkins, 2010; valenzuela, 1999; wiley & wright, 2004). additionally, the continuous attacks on bilingual education have served as a stumbling block for the academic success of latina/o students (san miguel, 2004)—attacks that have “more to do with political than pedagogical considerations” (crawford, 2000, p. 7). although there are challenges and contradictions in terms of the real beneficiaries of dual language (dl) education (valdés, 1997; freire association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 37 valdez, delavan, & freire, 2014) this type of bilingual education offers latina/o students the possibility to meet the three goals of dl education—academic achievement, bilingualism/biliteracy, and bi/multiculturalism. dl education has programs starting in kindergarten/first grade, and running for at least five years with 50% or more of the instructional time delivered in the target language (baker, 2011). since the inception of dl education in the united states by cuban refugees in 1963 (baker, 2011), the number of dl programs has grown enormously, especially in the last decade, becoming a popular form of bilingual education across the country. because spanish-english programs are the most common type of dl education, a high number of latina/o students across the nation are registered in this form of bilingual education, which can be greatly beneficial. large-scale studies show how highly effective this type of education can be to obtain academic achievement, bilingualism, and biliteracy for all students regardless of their socioeconomic status or linguistic proficiency (collier & thomas, 2004; lindholm-leary, 2001; thomas & collier, 2002). dl programs provide english learners (els) with academic and linguistic benefits without the need to sacrifice their culture or individual identities (alanís & rodríguez, 2008). additionally, dl education has the potential to validate the unique linguistic experiences and daily linguistic border crossing of latina/o students in dl education while being in the physical or psychological borderlands. in this essay, i use the teoría de nepantla (anzaldúa, 2002; keating, 2006) to portray latina/o students as nepantleras/os in dl education, whether they live in the physical and/or psychological borderlands, to stress the importance of contesting language education policies and practices that overlook students’ linguistic practices and socio-realities in the nepantla. the purpose of this essay is to highlight the need to promote the development of sociopolitical consciousness for pre-service and in-service teachers in the field of dl education and their nepantlera/o students in regards to how language education policies are designed and intended to operate, and how those policies affect the schooling of latinas/os. i hope this work can contribute to pre-service and in-service teachers in dl education—whom i will refer to as dl teachers/educators throughout this essay—teacher educators, and those who are involved in dl education. my positionality is based on my professional experience as a former dl educator, a scholar in dl education, and as a current teacher educator en la frontera (at the time of writing nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 38 this manuscript) whose dominant language is spanish; i also identify as an advocate for latina/o students in spanish-english dl education. in the rest of this essay, first, i situate and expand the concept of nepantlera/o students in dl education. second, i provide an overview of language education policies in this country and present the importance of dl teachers adopting their role of language policy makers. lastly, i discuss the importance of dl teachers and students developing their sociopolitical consciousness in order to contest oppressive language education policies and argue that sociopolitical consciousness should be a goal of dl education. nepantleras/os in dual language education borderlands encompass the physical/geographical location and psychological/symbolic spaces affecting students’ everyday lives. for a better understanding of what i refer to with linguistic borderlands, i find it necessary to adopt the term nepantla. going back to the beginning of the 16th century, jaramillo and mclaren (2011) discuss the origins of nepantla in the colonial context of the cultural and spiritual practices, adopted by las indígenas in méxico as a result of the spanish conquest. this colonial process, which affected language among other things, situated las indígenas in what is now called nepantla, “an intermediary space sin rumbo (a ‘borderland’ of ‘betwixt-and-between’)… in nepantla, las indigenas began to undo the trauma of colonization” (p. 60). the cultural and spiritual practices had the goal of healing and searching for equilibrium and empowerment while being in between border spaces. centuries after the commencement of nepantla, gloria anzaldúa used the term nepantla “to theorize unarticulated dimensions of the experience of mestizas living in between overlapping and layered spaces of different cultures and social and geographic locations, of events and realities—psychological, sociological, political, spiritual, historical, creative, imagined” (as cited in keating, 2006, p. 8). despite those inter-between and overlapping spaces that anzaldúa discusses, it is necessary to indicate the importance of utilizing “nepantla as a space for emancipation and empowerment, rather than oppression or schizophrenia” (alemán, delgado bernal, & mendoza, 2013, p. 336). it is also worth acknowledging the unique nepantla experiences lived by each nepantlera/o, since they all experience different socio-realities. as mentioned earlier, dl education is a very successful form of bilingual education from which nepantlera/o students can benefit. all students enrolled in a dl program have the right to benefit from this type of education for the purposes they wish. however, while traditional freire association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 39 forms of dl education claim to serve all students equally, critical scholars in this field have questioned who the real beneficiaries of dl programs are, since these programs cannot escape asymmetrical power dimensions (palmer, 2010; scanlan & palmer, 2009; valdés, 1997; valdez, freire, & delavan, 2016). a critical approach to dl education gains more relevance when exploring global and neoliberal approaches and discourses taking over dl education at the cost of overlooking the needs of marginalized students (cervantes-soon, 2014; petrovic, 2005; valdez, v., delavan, g., & freire, 2014; varghese & park, 2010). these critiques and trends in dl education create tensions in the promised benefits of this type of bilingual education for nepantlera/o students. in this work, i prefer to use the term nepantleras/os to refer to latina/o students registered in dl education. with the term nepantlera/o, i emphasize the everyday language crossing, the linguistic border experiences, and the in-between and overlapping of spanish and english language experiences latina/o students experience in the dl classroom. educators can benefit from taking this into account in the examination of language education policies. specifically, i conceptualize and relate nepantleras/os to dl education based on the constituencies served in dl education. the three constituencies dl programs serve are: 1) the language maintenance constituency, which refers to native spanish-speaking students whom dl education serves to maintain their home language, whether or not they are already bilingual; 2) the heritage language constituency, which refers to students whom dl education serves to acquire or recover their heritage language; 3) the world language constituency, which refers to all other students whom dl education serves to learn a world language (freire, valdez, & delavan, 2016). with this, i relate the concept of nepantleras/os in dl education to the language maintenance and heritage language constituencies. in spanish-english dl programs, both groups are latinas/os and might share common characteristics, as well as their own unique border experiences on the basis of race, class, gender, and language. each one of these constituencies will see themselves affected differently based on language education policies since these policies operate differently for each one of these constituencies. for dl teachers to be able to contest oppressive language education policies, they need to have an understanding of how these policies have historically operated in this country and how they have affected the lives of latinas/os. nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 40 language education policies traditionally, language education policies have served as a gatekeeper in the educational system (tollefson & tsui, 2014) and have been used to maintain power imbalances in society (revilla & asato, 2002). the implementation and use of language education policies have promoted linguistic subordination among other types of oppressive results, especially in the borderlands. for example, despite spanish being the dominant language in the southwest, spanish in the united states was deliberately expulsed from the classroom by white control. spanish was the dominant language in the southwest from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. however, after the united states had wrested this territory from mexico in 1848, the anglos were able to impose the use of english for all public affairs. as early as 1855, for example, the california state bureau of public instruction was stipulating that english would be the only medium of instruction in the schools. (hurtsfield, 1975, p. 140) the history of spanish exclusion in schools, especially in the southwest, is a sad chapter in the history of this country. disciplinary measures, including physical punishment and spanish detention classes, internal and external segregation, campaigns against spanish usage, and language repression were regular practices employed against spanish-speaking students (hurtsfield, 1975; macgregor-mendoza, 2000; san miguel & valencia, 1998). for example, “in the case of the southwestern united states, schools regularly segregated mexican children from anglo populations on the basis of race and language up to the middle of the 20th century” (macgregor-mendoza, 2000, p. 356). still, schools continue to promote language loss and assimilation across generations of latinas/os (hurtsfield, 1975; moll & ruiz, 2009) through what valenzuela (1999) calls subtractive schooling. language loss in the u.s. leads to monanglicization, “the process by which languages other than english tend not to be passed on from parents to children” (valdez, delavan, & freire, 2014, p. 8), and has damaging effects for students, such as in family relations and identity (wong fillmore, 2000). furthermore, students’ suppression of their first language can “ultimately hinder students’ critical capacities and prevent the development of the understanding necessary to struggle effectively toward their empowerment and liberation” (darder 2012, p. 37). the expectation for spanish-speaking students to assimilate is present even to this day and evident by english-only policies (wiley & wright, 2004). as the second most common language in the u.s., and despite being present in freire association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 41 the southwest prior to it becoming a u.s. territory, spanish is perceived as threatening and its presence in schools has been highly contested (freire, valdez, & delavan, 2016; garcía & torres-guevara, 2010; san miguel, 2004). language discrimination towards spanish is documented by president roosevelt’s words “we have room for but one language here, and that is the english language” in 1915 (edwards, 1994, p. 166), and president reagan’s words in 1981: it is absolutely wrong and against the american concept to have a bilingual education program that is now openly, admittedly, dedicated to preserving their native language and never getting them adequate in english so they can go out into the job market (baker, 2011, p. 189). the political sentiment illustrated in these quotes and the active efforts of the english-only movement have put bilingual education persistently under siege (crawford, 2000). however, it could be argued that these type of english-only statements, as illustrated by presidents roosevelt and reagan, are meant to be sincerely in the best interests of els, such as helping them go out into the job market as remarked by president reagan in the previous quote. however, as cummins (2000) points out, “apartheid in south africa was rationalized in these terms” (p. 235). more than looking for a desire to help, the driving force behind the attacks on bilingual education is fear, a yearning to maintain the social order (crawford, 2000; ovando, 2003), and an expectation of assimilation and domestication for latina/o students. although latinas/os have been historically oppressed by language education policies, it is necessary to highlight their resiliency, organized efforts, and activism. for example, san miguel and donato (2010) highlight forms of latina/o active responses to the continuous inequity in the schooling of latina/o students in the twentieth century; they discuss the contestation of latina/o parents and community members to eliminate discrimination. one of their actions was challenging english-only policies by including spanish as part of the instruction and the expansion of bilingual education programs. bilingual education programs were also expanded thanks to the outcome of lau v. nicholas in 1974, a civil rights case brought by chinese students against their school district in california. this case “was rejected by the federal district court and a court of appeals, but was accepted by the supreme court in 1974” (baker, 2011, p. 380). lau v. nichols outlawed english-only education and demanded bilingual education to provide equal education nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 42 opportunities for language minoritized students. however, despite this law, the english-only movement was launched through the foundation of the u.s. english organization in 1983 and the english first organization in 1987. these organizations were determined to support causes, such as the establishment of english-only policies in education (baker, 2011). the english-only movement demolished the right for many language minoritized students to receive instruction in their native languages. for example, the 1990s brought well-known attacks on bilingual education that resulted in the outlawing of most forms of bilingual education in massachusetts, and the border states of california and arizona (baker, 2011; san miguel, 2004). research shows that with the support of the 1994 reauthorization of the bilingual education act and prior to the ban of bilingual education in the mentioned states, there were thousands of bilingual education programs across the country serving about a million el students (valdez, freire, & delavan, 2016). english-only policies affected els, instruction in students’ native languages, and dl education in the united states. for example, no child left behind (nclb), which eliminated the bilingual education act (title vii) in 2002, encourages english-only instruction, english-only assessment, and does not recognize bilingualism (baker, 2011), which “denies the bilingual condition of u.s. latinas/os” (garcía & torres-guevara, 2010, p. 187). menken (2006) shows that, with nclb, english as a second language (esl) and bilingual teachers, as well as many schools, were under pressure and opted for raising the instructional time in english at the expense of instruction time in students’ native languages. with nclb, language allocation became a dilemma that dl schools and teachers still face, including whether they should opt for a 50:50 dl model—a model that has 50% of the instructional time in both languages throughout the program—rather than a 90:10 model—a model that starts with 90% of the instructional time in spanish and 10% in english and gradually moves to 50% in each partner language by usually 4th or 5th grade. language education policies impact dl education in different ways. for example, fortune and tedick (2008) argue that english-only attacks on bilingual education in california, arizona, and massachusetts created a “tendency to more systematically replace the term ‘bilingual’ with less-politically-charged labels such as ‘immersion’ or ‘dual language’” (p. 7). this was the case with two-way immersion (twi) programs, a form of dl education in which spanish-speaking and english-speaking students are within the same classroom. the stigma of freire association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 43 bilingual education and the social acceptance of twi as a legitimate form of bilingual education resulted in an exception to the law allowing parents to request waivers for their children to be part of this type of dl program. however, a great number of parents were still left who did not know of this right, and waiver requests did not always succeed (combs, evans, fletcher, parra & jiménez, 2005; mora, 2000). another case of dl policies is represented by the critical languages program rule (2012) in utah, which is serving as a dl referent for other states across the nation. this policy mechanism is exclusive of two forms of dl education, the 90:10 model and developmental bilingual education programs in which all students are speakers of the target language (critical language program rule, 2012; valdez, freire, & delavan, 2016). although these are effective forms of dl, especially for latinas/os, and there are two schools with whole-school 90:10 dl programs in utah enrolling a high number of latinas/os, the critical languages program rule (2012) is still in effect. consequently, the state does not acknowledge the 90:10 dl programs of those schools as true forms of dl education. this language policy was created considering the interests and needs of a white student body population at the expense of the interests and needs of a growing number of latinas/os in the state (freire, valdez, & delavan, 2016). the exclusion of the 90:10 and developmental bilingual education programs, and the failure to consider the interests and needs of latinas/os from this policy, positions latina/o interests as subordinate to the interests of whites. latina/o students are being pushed to the margins when taking into account the trends in the distribution of dl programs on the basis of race and class (cervantes-soon, 2014; morales & rao, 2015; valdez, freire, & delavan, 2016). for this reason, when taking into account the needs of nepantlera/o students in dl education, it is critical to adopt an equity/heritage framework, which promotes equity for minoritized students and acknowledges students’ heritages (valdez, delavan, & freire, 2014). this is of importance because new trends of dl policy and practice tend to favor a global human capital framework, which has a clear neoliberal agenda and is exclusive of equity/heritage framework efforts (valdez, delavan, & freire, 2014). this has a special impact on nepantlera/o students who are speakers of the target language in dl education, whose equity and heritage needs can be easily overlooked (valdés, 1997) and their participation in the program can be reduced to offer “language majority students an opportunity to view live specimens of the second language” (petrovic, 2005, p. 406. nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 44 the language education policies discussed until now have been the exclusion of spanish in the united states, english-only policies, and dl education policies overlooking the needs of nepantleras/os. in order to contest any policy, activism is needed. for example, similar to the chinese students who brought to the courts the case of lau v. nichols, there are latina/o students who successfully testified against discriminatory policies and practices against their schooling. mendez v. westminster (1946), which served to pave the way for the historical civil rights decision of brown v. board of education of topeka (1954), was a desegregation federal court case in which “a class-action lawsuit [was] filed on behalf of more than 5,000 mexican american students in orange county, california” (valencia, 2005, p. 389). in this case, “some of those who testified at the hearing were children, who told accounts of the segregation and how it made them feel” (arriola, 1995, p. 185). another case in which children were involved is represented by hernandez et al. v. driscoll consolidated school district (1957). this was a desegregation case in the town of driscoll, texas in which chicana/o students were systematically held back merely because of a spanish name, speaking spanish, lack of english skills, being mexican americans, and deficit views towards their community. in front of the federal judge, and their white teachers, principal, and the district’s superintendent, “the chicana/o children, who testified as 7-, 8and 9-year-olds to prove their english-language proficiency, understood their role in winning this case” (alemán & alemán, 2016, p. 299). the sociopolitical consciousness of these students and their activism in their contestation to racist and linguicist education policies stand as a legacy that students can make a difference in their lives and in society. educators need to learn and be conscious of language education policies and how these promote inequity. as a response to english-only policies, cummins (2002) argues that teachers have the right and responsibility to resist restrictive language policies. additionally, menken and garcía (2010) remind us that “it is educators who ‘cook’ and stir the onion” (p. 250), referencing that at the end of the day, it is teachers who, based on their beliefs and epistemological perspectives, end up making, implementing, and adjusting language education policies within their classrooms, despite how those policies were originally intended to operate in a determined educational context. teachers have an important role in making and implementing language education policy. it is important for educators to understand implicit freire association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 45 and explicit language education policies and the implications of these in their professions (hopkins, 2014; menken & garcía, 2010; varghese & stritikus, 2005). because teachers’ roles in language policy are paramount, menken and garcía (2010) emphasize the importance of teachers understanding and using their role of language education policy makers in socially just ways. for this, it is necessary for teachers to develop their sociopolitical consciousness with regards to historical and current language education policies affecting nepantlera/os students, and that these educators understand the importance of fighting for equity, especially in the linguistic physical and psychological borderlands in which many dl students reside. similarly, dl teachers should support their nepantlera/o students in the conscientization of these language education policy issues. sociopolitical consciousness becoming sociopolitical conscious is the most important tool for educators to fight against oppressive language education policies. the development of sociopolitical consciousness, also called critical consciousness, focuses on the growth of students’ conscientization/conscientizaҫão. paulo freire (2005) says “the term conscientizaҫão refers to learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality” (p. 35). sociopolitical consciousness helps students “achieve a deepening awareness of the sociopolitical and economic realities that shape their lives and their capacity to recreate them” (shor & freire as cited in darder, 2012, p. 96). dl educators need to develop their sociopolitical consciousness (alfaro, durán, hunt, & aragón, 2014), and support their students’ development of sociopolitical consciousness. actually, gramsci argues that educational institutions should develop students’ sociopolitical consciousness by providing a setting for a radical, counter-hegemonic education (giroux, 1988). in order to develop students’ conscientization, freire encourages educators to engage with their students in dialogues. speaking of the freirian notion of dialogue, darder (2012) writes that it is “an emancipatory educational process that is, above all, dedicated to the empowerment of students through disconfirming the dominant ideology of traditional educational discourses and illuminating the freedom of students to act on their world” (p. 96). it is important to highlight the need for pre-service teachers interested in dl education to develop their sociopolitical consciousness to support their future students. bartolomé nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 46 (2004) makes a call for pre-service teachers to develop their political clarity and ideological clarity. she defines political clarity as the development of individuals’ consciousness of how their lives are shaped by macro sociopolitical and economic forces, how individuals can make change, and the understanding of how those forces at the macro-level impact “subordinated groups’ academic performance in the micro-level classroom” (bartolomé, 2004, p. 98). ideological clarity refers to the comparison of individuals’ ideologies with socioeconomic and political mainstream ideologies, which should help teachers align their belief systems in socially just ways. additionally, dl educators can draw on over 25 years of work in culturally relevant pedagogy originated and promoted by gloria ladson-billings (1990). she articulates sociopolitical consciousness as one of the three tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy and defines it as the need to challenge social and institutionalized inequities by helping “students use the various skills they learn to better understand and critique their social position and context” (ladson-billings, 2006, p. 37), which applies to the contestation of restrictive language education policies. dl educators can also benefit from more recent work by django paris (2012), culturally sustaining pedagogy. in his work, he emphasizes the need of fostering, sustaining and perpetuating support to multilingualism and multiculturalism, through techniques like resisting language policies with the “goal of creating a monocultural and monolingual society based on white, middle-class norms of language and cultural being” (paris, 2012, p. 95). thus far, in this section, i have reviewed work related to sociopolitical consciousness by various scholars. dl educators, including pre-service teachers, can benefit from this work and support their students in the analysis of language education policies. for example, they can formally and informally deconstruct racism, classism, and linguicism embedded in language educational policies, such as in the prohibition of spanish, english-only policies, and current dl educational policies discussed earlier in this essay. this can develop students’ sociopolitical consciousness and empower them to fight against inequities and discrimination through social justice activism in order to transform their educational lives. this is a way in which dl teachers and students can not only read the word, but read the world (freire, 2005) thanks to the development of sociopolitical consciousness. however, traditional dl education does not include sociopolitical consciousness as one of its goals and many dl teachers are not supporting sociopolitical practices. when teachers and students have not been exposed to sociopolitical consciousness, students hold what freire freire association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 47 (2005) calls a “naïve consciousness,” which ignores the combination of hegemonic forces in school and society. as discussed earlier, the inclusion of sociopolitical consciousness is necessary; however, this is a hard and challenging task for educators (ladson-billings, 2006; young, 2010), including dl teachers (freire, 2014; freire & valdez, 2016). still, sociopolitical consciousness is a must in the pursuit of social justice. it should be the norm and should not be taken for granted in dl education. the origins of dl education show that washington, d.c.’s oyster school, one of the oldest spanish-english dl programs, and other dl programs have been “specifically established to combat against societal and educational discrimination of minorities” (howard, sugarman, & christian, 2003, p. 38). in the aftermath of the implementation of these dl programs, there were other dl programs that had a social justice focus and fought against inequity (ahlgren, 1993; potowski, 2007). although there is some literature that centers on social justice issues in dl education, there is still a need to show how dl teachers, along with their students, analyze, create, adjust, and implement language education policies in socially just forms in their school settings. although palmer and martínez (2013) assert that in the case of twi, “equity is explicitly one of the goals of the program” (p. 286), traditional forms of twi and other types of dl education only refer to academic achievement, bilingualism/biliteracy, and bi/multiculturalism as their three goals. cervantes-soon (2014) asserts that focusing only on the three traditional goals in twi is problematic because it “may blur critical issues of equity that could continue to disadvantage latin@ children despite well-intended efforts” (p. 64). without an acknowledgment to sociopolitical consciousness, we can only expect to continue dwelling on the status quo. we need to move towards the inclusion of sociopolitical consciousness as one of the intrinsic goals of dl education (cervantes-soon, 2014; freire, 2014; freire & valdez, 2016). in the field of language education, as well as in other areas, it is only through the development of sociopolitical consciousness that we can expect change for all. conclusion language education policies, such as the prohibition of spanish, english-only policies, and dl policies reviewed in this essay, are the reflection of how latina/o children are viewed. historically, latina/o students were not only perceived as linguistically deficient, but also “as nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 48 intellectually and culturally inferior and treated as members of a subordinate population” (san miguel & donato, 2010, p. 44). this has been a constant problem, especially en la frontera. the term nepantlera/o applied to dl education discussed in this essay considers the unique linguistic border crossing of students, both as a result of students’ dl academic experience and in their personal lives. nepantlera/o students, who live within inter-between and overlapping spaces, can benefit from sociopolitical consciousness for transformative purposes as part of their nepantla experience in dl programs. because of the history of language discrimination, it is imperative that dl teachers— pre-service and in-service teachers—and students in the physical and psychological borderlands develop sociopolitical consciousness and that they critique implicit and explicit hegemonic language education policies that can result in subtractive schooling (valenzuela, 1999). there is a need to explore in more detail sociopolitical consciousness in dl with social justice ends, especially in the language policy arena. dl teachers need to understand their role as language policy makers, and how they can implement and adjust language education policies to best meet the social justice needs of their students (hopkins, 2014; menken & garcía, 2010; varghese & stritikus, 2005). for example, the sociopolitical consciousness, activism, and change brought by the court cases discussed earlier show that, in the same manner, dl educators, students, and other stakeholders can make a difference. as a result, they need to be alerted to implicit and explicit hegemonic language education policies in order to contest them. for this to happen, sociopolitical consciousness is necessary and must be included as one of the goals of dl education. freire association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 49 references alanís, i., & rodríguez, m. a. (2008). sustaining a dual language immersion program: features of success. journal of latinos and education, 7(4), 305-319. alemán, s. m., & alemán, e. jr. (2016). critical race media projects: counterstories and praxis (re)claim chicana/o experiences. urban education, 51(3), 287-314. alemán, e. jr., delgado bernal, d., & mendoza, s. (2013). critical race methodological tensions: nepantla in our community-based praxis. in m. lynn & a. d. dixson (eds.), handbook of critical race theory in education (325-338). new york, ny: routledge. alfaro, c., durán, r., hunt, a., & aragón, m. j. (2014). steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards, and critical pedagogy: oportunidades, estrategias y retos. association of mexican-american educators (amae), 8(2), 17-30. ahlgren, p. (1993). la escuela fratney [the fratney school]: reflections on a bilingual, anti-bias, multicultural elementary school. teaching tolerance, 2(2), 26-31. anzaldúa, g. e. (2002). now let us shift…the path of conocimiento...inner work, public acts. in g. e. anzaldúa & a. keating (eds.), this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation (540-578). new york, ny: routledge. arriola, c. (1995). knocking on the schoolhouse door: mendez v. westminster, equal protection, public education, and mexican americans in the 1940’s. la raza law journal, 8(2), 166-207. baker, c. (2011). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. tonawanda, ny: multilingual matters. bartolomé, l. i. (2004). critical pedagogy and teacher education: radicalizing prospective teachers. teacher education quarterly, 31(1), 97-122. cervantes-soon, c. g. (2014). a critical look at dual language immersion in the new latin@ diaspora. bilingual research journal, 37(1), 64-82. doi:10.1080/15235882.2014. 893267 collier, v., & thomas, w. p. (2004). the astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all. nabe journal of research and practice, 2(1), 1-20. combs, m. c., evans, c., fletcher, t., parra, e., & jiménez, a. (2005). bilingualism for the children: implementing a dual-language program in an english-only state. educational policy, 19(5), 701-728. crawford, j. (2000). anatomy of the english-only movement. in j. crawford (ed.), at war with diversity: u.s. language policy in an age of anxiety (pp. 4-30). tonawanda, ny: multilingual matters. critical languages program rule (2012). utah administrative rule r277-488-4. retrieved from http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r277/r277-488.htm cummins, j. (2000). bilingual education and bilingualism. tonawanda, ny: multilingual matters. cummins, j. (2002). rights and responsibilities of educators of bilingual/bicultural children. in l. diaz soto (ed.), making a difference in the lives of bilingual/bicultural children (pp. 195-210). new york, ny: peter lang. nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 50 darder, a. (2012). culture and power in the classroom: educational foundations for the schooling of bicultural students. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. edwards, j. (1994). multilingualism. new york, ny: routledge fortune, t. w., & tedick, d. j. (2008). one-way, two-way and indigenous immersion: a call for cross-fertilization. in t. w. fortune & d. j. tedick (eds.), pathways to multilingualism: evolving perspectives on immersion education. tonawanda, ny: multilingual matters ltd. freire, j. a. (2014). spanish-english dual language teacher beliefs and practices on culturally relevant pedagogy in a collaborative action research process. unpublished dissertation. university of utah. freire, j. a., & valdez, v. e. (2016). dual language teachers’ stated barriers to the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy. (manuscript submitted for publication). freire, j. a., valdez, v. e., & delavan, m. g. (2016). the (dis)inclusion of latina/o interests from utah’s dual language education boom. (manuscript submitted for publication). freire, p. (2005). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. gándara, p., & hopkins, m. (2010). forbidden language: english learners and restrictive language policies. new york, ny: teachers college. garcía, o., & torres-guevara, r. (2010). monoglossic ideologies and language policies in the education of u.s. latinas/os. in e. g. murillo, s. villenas, r. trinidad galván, j. sánchez muñoz, c. martínez & m. machado-casas (eds.), handbook of latinos and education: theory, research and practice (pp. 382-399). new york, ny: routledge. giroux, h. a. (1988). antonio gramsci: schooling for radical politics. in h. a. giroux (ed.), teachers as intellectuals: toward a critical pedagogy of learning (pp. 196-203). westport, ct: bergin and garvey. hopkins, m. (2014). beliefs in context: understanding language policy implementation at a systems level. educational policy, 1-33. howard, e. r., sugarman, j., & christian, d. (2003). trends in two-way immersion education: a review of the research. center for applied linguistics. retrieved from http://www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techreports/report63.pdf hurtsfield, j. (1975). the educational experiences of mexican americans: ‘cultural pluralism’ or ‘internal colonialism’? oxford review of education, 1(2), 137-149. jaramillo, n., & mclaren, p. (2011). rethinking critical pedagogy: socialismo nepantla, and the specter of che. critical science & education, 11, 51-82. keating, a. (2006). from borderlands and new mestizas to nepantlas and nepantleras: anzaldúan theories for social change. human architecture: journal of the sociology of selfknowledge, 4(3), 5-16. ladson-billings, g. (1990). like lightning in a bottle: attempting to capture the pedagogical excellence of successful teachers of black students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 3(4), 335-344. ladson-billings, g. (2006). yes, but how do we do it?: practicing culturally relevant pedagogy (pp. 29-42). in j. landsman & c. w. lewis (eds.), white teachers/diverse classrooms: a freire association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 51 guide to building inclusive schools, promoting high expectations, and eliminating racism (pp. 2942). new york, ny: stylus publishing. lindholm-leary, k. (2001). dual language education. clevedon: multilingual matters. macgregor-mendoza, p. (2000). aquí no se habla español: stories of linguistic repression in southwest schools. bilingual research journal, 24(4), 355-367. menken, k. (2006). teaching to the test: how no child left behind impacts language policy, curriculum, and instruction for english language learners. bilingual research journal, 30(2), 521-546. menken, k., & garcía, o. (2010). negotiating language policies in schools: educators as policymakers. new york, ny: routledge. moll, l. c., & ruiz, r. (2009). the schooling of latino children. in m. m. suárez-orozco & m. m. páez (eds.), latinos remaking america (pp. 362-374). berkeley and los angeles, ca: university of california press. mora, j. k. (2000). policy shifts in language-minority education: a mismatch between politics and pedagogy. the educational forum, 64(3), 204-214. morales, p. z. and rao, a. b. (2015, september 28). how ideology and cultural capital shape the distribution of illinois’ bilingual education programs. teachers college record (id number: 18139). retrieved from http://www.tcrecord.org ovando, c. j. (2003). bilingual education in the united states: historical development and current issues. bilingual research journal, 27(1), 1-24. doi: 10.1080/15235882.2 003.10162589 palmer, d. (2010). race, power, and equity in a multiethnic urban elementary school with a dual-language “strand” program. anthropology & education quarterly, 41, 94–114. palmer, d., & martínez, r. a. (2013). teacher agency in bilingual spaces: a fresh look at preparing teachers to educate latina/o bilingual children. review of research in education, 37, pp. 269-297. doi: 10.3102/0091732x12463556 paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93-97. petrovic, j. e. (2005). the conservative restoration and neoliberal defenses of bilingual education. language policy, 4, 395-416. doi:10.1007/s10993-00502880y potowski, k. (2007). language and identity in a dual immersion school. clevedon, uk: multilingual matters ltd. revilla, a. t., & asato, j. (2002). effect on teacher beliefs and classroom practices. equity & excellence in education, 35(2), 108-118. san miguel, g. (2004). contested policy: the rise and fall of federal bilingual education in the united states 1960-2001. denton, tx: university of north texas press. san miguel, g., & donato r. (2010). latino education in twentieth-century america: a brief history. in e. g. murillo, s. villenas, r. trinidad galván, j. sánchez muñoz, c. martínez & m. machado-casas (eds.), handbook of latinos and education: theory, research and practice (pp. 27-62). new york, ny: routledge. nepantleras/os and their teachers in dual language education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 52 san miguel, guadalupe, jr., & valencia, r. r. (1998). from the treat of guadalupe hidalgo to hopwood: the educational plight and struggle of mexican americans in the southwest. harvard educational review, 68(3), 353-412. scanlan, m., & palmer, d. (2009). race, power, and (in)equity within two-way immersion settings. urban review, 41(5), 391-415. doi: 10.1007/s11256-008-0111-0 thomas, w. p., & collier, v. p. (2002). a national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long term academic achievement. center for research on education, diversity & excellence. retrieved from http://crede.berkeley.edu/research/crede/research/llaa/1.1pdfs/1.1_01es.pdf tollefson, j. w., & tsui, a. b. m. (2014). language diversity and language policy in educational access and equity. review of research in education, 38, 189-214. valdés, g. (1997). dual-language immersion programs: a cautionary note concerning the education of language-minority students. harvard educational review, 67(3), 391-429. valdez, v., delavan, g., & freire, j. a. (2014). the marketing of dual language education policy in utah print media. educational policy, 1-35. doi: 10.1177/089590481455-6750 valdez, v. e., freire, j. a., & delavan, g. (2016). the gentrification of dual language education. (manuscript submitted for publication). valencia, r. r. (2005). the mexican american struggle for equal educational opportunity in mendez v. westminster: helping to pave the way for brown v. board of education. teachers college record, 107(3), 389-423. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: suny. varghese, m. m., & park, c. (2010). going global: can dual-language programs save bilingual education? journal of latinos and education, 9(1), 72 – 80. varghese, m. m., & stritikus, t. (2005). “nadie me dijó [nobody told me]” language policy negotiation and implications for teacher education. journal of teacher education, 56 (1), 73-87. wiley, t. g., & wright, w. e. (2004). against the undertow: the politics of language instruction in the united states. educational policy, 18(1), 142-168. wong fillmore, l. (2000). loss of family languages: should educators be concerned? theory into practice, 39(4), 203-210. young, e. (2010). challenges to conceptualizing and actualizing culturally relevant pedagogy: how viable is the theory in classroom practice? journal of teacher education, 61(3), 248260. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 67 ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california: how student services professionals influence college access for undocumented students lynn j. wang california state university, fullerton cerritos college abstract this was an exploratory qualitative study utilizing tenets of phenomenology to examine the lived experiences of front-line student services professionals in admissions and financial aid and their dilemmas in interpreting and implementing california assembly bill 540 (2001) in their interactions with undocumented students. front-line student services professionals are often the make-it or break-it persons for undocumented students to realize their dreams of attaining a postsecondary education because they determine whether students can pay in-state tuition and receive financial aid. california law ab 540 (2001) was created with the intention of providing a fair tuition policy for all california high school graduates entering college in california. ab 540’s (2001) purpose is to allow all california high school graduates, including undocumented immigrant students who meet the requirements, to be exempt from paying nonresident tuition at california public postsecondary institutions. an undocumented student is classified as someone who entered the u.s. without proper immigration documents or someone who entered the country legally as a nonimmigrant but later never exited the country (internal revenue service, 2014). twelve student service professionals, both part-time and full-time, at public two-year and fouryear higher education institutions shared their experiences regarding management of difficult and sensitive conversations with undocumented students, as they attempted to translate state legislation through institutional polices. many times, these front-line professionals in admissions and financial aid were the first and only people to interact with incoming undocumented students before they set foot in the classroom. these professionals utilized their knowledge, resources, and networks to help students navigate the college-going process. however, unclear and/or nonexistent campus policies, departmental silos, along with a lack of professional development, adequate resources, and appropriate guidance, often limited their capacity to help. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.1.378 ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 68 introduction latinx and mexicans made up over 50% of all undocumented immigrants in 2014 (pew research center, 2014). undocumented students, particularly latinx students, are not accessing higher education at the same rate as documented students and native born students (abrego, 2006). factors such as immigration status, race, ethnicity, family income, family structure, parental expectations, college/university policies, as well as federal and state level legislation, influence the possibility of postsecondary education attainment for undocumented students (castro-salazar & bagley, 2010; chavez, soriano, & oliverez, 2007; contreras, 2009). politically, many united states (u.s.) citizens believe that undocumented immigrants impose high costs in health care, welfare assistance, and public education (watson, 2017). therefore, in some states, it is not favorable to financially help undocumented immigrants with the cost of college attendance. prior to the passage of ab 540 in 2001, california student services professionals worked in secrecy to help undocumented students gain access to college by providing financial and emotional support. for many years, student services professionals who worked closely with undocumented students endured the same secrecy about their role due to the political climate at the time (lopez & lopez, 2010). the majority of the undocumented population does not attend college due to cost (lopez & lopez, 2010). undocumented immigrants have had access to free k-12 education since the plyer v. doe ruling in 1982. the ruling stated that charging a fee to attend public schools violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment; therefore, undocumented students under the age of 18 were allowed to attend school (perez, 2009). although undocumented immigrants can attend k-12 schools for free, undocumented students over the age of 18 have little protection against high college tuition. the illegal immigration reform and immigration responsibility act (iirira) (1996) “prohibits states from providing undocumented immigrants with in-state tuition at public colleges or universities unless the same benefit is provided to all american citizens” (erisman & looney, 2007, p. 20). iirira outlined that: (a) if public colleges offer in-state tuition to undocumented students, they must offer in-state tuition to all legal citizen students, and (b) the defining of state residency is the respective state’s obligation. iirira did not provide a definition for what constitutes a resident; therefore, each state created its own definition of state residency. some states argued that granting undocumented students an in-state tuition waiver and legal state residency are violations of iirira (hyun & newburn, 2010). wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 69 california was one of the most undocumented student friendly states prior to the passage of daca (2012). in addition to having an in-state tuition waiver policy, undocumented students also had access to state-level aid, including student loans, through the california dream act (2011). student services professionals in admissions and financial aid interact with undocumented students more frequently post-ab 540 because of the access to in-state tuition and state-level aid (california dream act). having the ability to access state financial aid and reduced tuition rates, more undocumented students are returning to school. now more than ever, admissions and financial aid professionals exercise self-discretion in interpreting ab 540, while attempting to remain fair to all students. providing financial aid for undocumented college students is losing its stigma nation-wide (harris, 2015). the inception of deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) in 2012, an executive action that allows undocumented immigrants who came to the u.s. as children to legally stay in the country and work, has made it easier for colleges to provide undocumented students with aid. having a federal policy addressing the needs of the undocumented population has allowed college leaders to become more comfortable in providing financial assistance to undocumented youth (harris, 2015). furthermore, in california, community colleges are tasked with carrying out the objectives of student success and support programs (sssp) and the student equity plan (2012). the goals of sssp are to ensure that all students complete their college courses, persist to the next academic term, and achieve their educational objectives through the assistance of admissions, orientation, assessment and testing, and counseling, and encourages student follow-up. through the student success act (2012), each college needs to address the success outcomes and create actions to address disparities between race, ability, and income levels that are discovered. with the demands of these outcome driven bills, student services professionals are now more than ever, involved with the college success of undocumented students. daca (2012), california dream act (2011), and ab 540 (2001) are often confused with the federal dream act (2010). the federal development, relief, and education for alien minors act of 2010, or dream act of 2010, would have provided a pathway to legal status for the thousands of undocumented students who graduate from high school each year. the senate blocked the bill in 2010, ending the possibility of gaining a pathway to citizenship for many undocumented youth. with many conversations around multiple federal and state bills: federal ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 70 dream act (2010), daca (2012), ab 540 (2001), and the california dream act (2011), student services professionals and undocumented students are often confused about the differences between and eligibility requirements for each program. with multiple programs being available and acronyms being used, oftentimes, undocumented youth and student services professionals cannot distinguish between the purposes of these bills. unfortunately, most front-line professional staff are often tasked with supporting undocumented students without formal introduction and training from their institutions on the complex needs of this population. admissions officers can either aid or inhibit undocumented students’ access to higher education based on their knowledge of and interpretation of campusspecific institutional policies and practices. chen (2013) stated, “psychological stress is exacerbated by campus personnel who are unfamiliar with polices regarding undocumented students” (p. 31). admissions officers may not be well acquainted with relevant policies that allow undocumented students to attend college with in-state tuition. financial aid advisors may not know that undocumented students have access to state funded financial aid and may unintentionally turn students away because they lack a full understanding of current practices and policies. oftentimes, student services professionals attempt to cope with changes in the student population and campus policies by developing their own practices and procedures to meet students’ needs (lipsky, 2010). although administrators and upper management have authority when it comes to providing structure and creating policies, front-line student services professionals who work as street-level bureaucrats exercise self-discretion that can provide or deny undocumented students access to higher education. this study examined the experiences of these front-line student services professionals who are “first responders” working with undocumented students in a time of rapidly changing laws, public perception, and cultural context. although ab 540 intends to assist undocumented students with access to postsecondary education, in reality, postsecondary education attainment is still difficult. literature review current literature shows that barriers, such as finances, k-12 academic preparation, college counseling, family familiarity with the college-going process, and inconsistent admission policies, affect undocumented students’ pursuit of higher education (gildersleeve, 2007). field wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 71 (2011) stated that over 70% of higher education institutions do not have an admission policy that specifically denies undocumented students. however, only 36% of higher education institutions have a defined admission policy used to admit undocumented students (field, 2011). undocumented students often cannot find accurate admission policies online or through admissions representatives because there are limited defined practices adapted by higher education institutions (oliverez, 2006). for example, a student mentioned in chen’s (2013) study shared that the student was told by an admissions officer: “you know, we’re a legal institution, but you’re not so there’s nothing we can do” (p. 91). unlike their documented peers, undocumented students choose their colleges based on financial, legal, and familial factors (lopez & lopez, 2010). therefore, undocumented students are mostly going to attend an institution where they can receive in-state tuition, state financial aid, private scholarships, and specialized resources. student services divisions typically include enrollment management, financial aid, housing, counseling, student activities, student academic support, and more. student services professionals have expanded their professional interests in student development and are making an attempt to be an integral part of the academic programs on campus (sandeen, 2004). student services professionals have frequent contact with students; therefore, they are expected to know and understand the diverse academic and personal backgrounds of their students so they can be effective when advocating for their students. research findings on undocumented students suggested that there is a “general sense that ‘front-line personnel’ such as admission and financial aid counselors, and records officers are not trained to handle the unique issues undocumented students bring with them” (oseguera, flores, & burciaga, 2010, p. 41). student services professionals influence student success or failure. front-line practitioners play an important role in improving student success because they are knowledgeable in their field of expertise and have the capacity to interact with students and make students feel valued, appreciated, and respected. bensimon (2007) pointed out that current scholarship on student success often lacks the viewpoint from practitioners. more specifically, “[p]ractitioners are only present indirectly and that we lack a theory of student success based on the characteristics of practitioners” (p. 463). bensimon (2007) urged practitioners to become researchers and assist with the process as facilitators so that they can contribute to the scholarship on student success based on actual practice. while significant research exists on undocumented students and their experiences ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 72 (badger & yale-loehr, 2002; gildersleeve, 2010; oliverez, 2006), there is a gap in research on the experiences and roles of student services professionals who implement policies and procedures related to ab 540 and whose role it is to provide resources and information to undocumented students. adopting lipsky’s (1980) street-level bureaucracy theory, ayon (2009) interviewed child welfare workers to assess the paths to services based on their clients’ documentation statuses and language abilities. undocumented and non-english speaking families experienced additional barriers to services, which affected their compliance with court mandates. however, aside from the clients’ immigration status and their language proficiency, frontline workers’ “knowledge of the welfare system, available resources and their willingness to help families played a role in families’ process of accessing services” (ayon, 2009, p. 612). consistent with lipsky’s (1980) findings, child welfare workers were selective in choosing the cases that they spent extra time on because of their large caseload and a lack of resources. spanish speaking and undocumented families were often viewed as extra work; therefore, they were unlikely to receive additional support from welfare workers (ayon, 2009). this study suggested that although child welfare workers wanted and intended to help every family, a lack of the proper resources needed to help non-english speaking and undocumented clients made it less likely that child welfare workers would go above and beyond their duties with these clients. purpose statement and research questions the purpose of this exploratory qualitative study is to understand the lived experiences of front-line student services professionals who interpret and implement ab 540 related campus policies in admissions and financial aid and their interactions with undocumented students. understanding the experiences of those on the campus who have the most interactions with undocumented students is crucial in order to gain a better understanding of the practical outcomes of ab 540. tenets of phenomenology are woven throughout these research questions to ensure appropriate representation of the lived experiences of those being investigated. to examine this issue, the following research questions were developed: 1. how do current student services professionals in admissions and financial aid describe their experiences in interpreting and implementing california assembly bill 540? wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 73 a. describe how they interpret and implement ab 540 on their campuses. b. describe how they have dealt with changes in campus policies and procedures over time. c. describe their management of the demands and changes of the interpretation and implementation of ab 540. for this study, it was assumed that these student services professionals had experienced dilemmas and exercised self-discretion when working with this student population through the theoretical framework of street-level bureaucracy as developed by lipsky (1980). lipsky (1980) claimed that policy implementation cannot be fully understood until one focuses on street-level service providers. lipsky (1980) argued that the street-level providers’ individual decisions and discretion to choose become the adopted and implemented bureaucratic policies. ab 540 was created to increase access to higher education for all california residents, and yet the law does not provide the necessary guidelines, information, and resources that are required for student services professionals to respond properly to individual cases. lipsky (2010) stated, “the decisions of street-level bureaucrats, the routines they establish, and the devices they invent to cope with uncertainties and work pressure, effectively become the public policies they carry out” (p. xiii). for undocumented immigrants seeking access to education, these decisions made by front-line professionals can define their academic experiences and outcomes. methodology as a theoretical construct, lipsky (1980, 2010) defined street-level bureaucrats as public service workers who interact directly with people in the course of their jobs and exercise selfdiscretion to execute their work. in higher education, street-level bureaucrats can be defined as full-time and part-time, front-line student services professionals. this theoretical framework also influenced the data collection process. research participants needed to have at minimum six months of experience working in the front line and with undocumented students as student services providers. lipsky’s (1980) theory influenced the design of this study. therefore, this study did not address the experiences of undocumented students. rather, it focused on the “street bureaucrats”—those who serve as front-line student services personnel. a qualitative research methodology with a phenomenological design was used (creswell, 2012) to gain knowledge of the front-line student services professionals who work directly with ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 74 undocumented students while interpreting and implementing policies and procedures related to ab 540. this study will help to identify the significance behind the human experience of frontline student services professionals and their work with undocumented students. front-line workers are defined as those who work at the counter or those who have first contact with students in their department. purposive and snowball sampling were utilized in this study. participants were referred by directors in admissions and financial aid at two four-year universities and one community college. the average years of experience in student affairs among the participants was over eight years. additional participants were referred by those who had already participated in the study. rocky college, a public, two year community college, and metropolitan university and valley university both of which are public, four-year universities, were selected because all of these institutions are defined as hispanic serving institutions, which at least 25% of their full-time undergraduate students are hispanic (hispanic association of colleges & universities, 2017) . california community colleges remain the most cost-efficient option for undocumented students. mendoza (2009) revealed that there are over 34,000 undocumented students enrolled in community colleges as oppose to 3,600 undocumented students enrolled in california state universities. after interviewing twelve participants utilizing semi-strucutred phenomenological interviews, which lasted 45-60 minutes per person, the researcher determined that saturation had been reached. one of the limitations of this study is that the interview data from participants may not reflect the experiences of all student services professionals who work with undocumented students across the country. table 1 provides descriptions of the research participants. wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 75 table 1 description of research participants participant name gender schoolposition years in student services ethnicity cecilia female rocky collegefinancial aid 6 years asian pacific islander diana female rocky collegefinancial aid 9 years latina madison female rocky collegeadmissions 33 years latina vanessa female rocky collegeadmissions 11 years latina gwen female metropolitan universityfinancial aid 11 years latina jenny female metropolitan universityfinancial aid 10 years latina lisa female metropolitan university-admissions 8 years latina victoria female metropolitan university-admissions 3 years latina sherry female valley universityadmissions 9 years asian pacific islander yvette female valley universityadmissions 8 years latina mindy female valley universityfinancial aid 12 years latina tina female valley universityfinancial aid 8 years asian pacific islander note. pseudonyms were used for participants and data collection sites. ethnicity was based on visual identification. this research focused on the office of admissions and the office of financial aid because these offices are integral parts of college campuses in providing services and resources to undocumented students, specifically on acessbility and affordability. the office of admissions is responsible for determining residency status for tuition purposes at the california state ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 76 universities and the california community colleges. as stated in the admissions handbook, “each campus’ admission office is responsible for determining the residency status of all new and returning students based on the application for admission, residency questionnaire, reclassification request form, and, as necessary, other evidence furnished by the student” (california state university, 2014, p. 27). the office of financial aid is important to undocumented students’ educational attainment because the office is responsible for disbursing financial aid and advertising and administering scholarships. tenets of moustaka’s (1994) transcendental phenomenology were selected to analyze the data because it focused less on the interpretations of the researcher and more on the descriptions of participants’ experiences. street-level bureaucracy also influenced data analysis. themes were centered on the experiences, challenges, and solutions delivered by street-level bureaucrats— those who work as front-line student services personnel in higher education. themes were generated by keeping the most significant information and statements from participants (moustaka, 1994). peer review was utilized to check for researcher bias (creswell, 2012). peer reviews were conducted during each stage of the coding process. an initial peer review was conducted once open coding was completed. a peer read through the initial coding for accuracy. a second peer review was conducted after axial coding and the last peer review was completed after the selective coding process. it is not uncommon for personal feelings and perspectives including biases and experiences related to the study to be experienced by the researcher; therefore, i utilized transcendental phenomenology to analyze the interviews to highlight the importance of these participants. as a community college counselor, i often assisted students with their academic, financial, and emotional challenges. although i am skilled in counseling techniques, i still feel least competent when working with students resolving personal and social needs, because these needs can vary from one student to the next. providing personal and social counseling is challenging in an academic setting because of the time constraints placed by the institution and the fact that most counseling appointments are brief. i can relate with the difficulty experienced by front-line professionals when addressing the academic and non-academic needs of students in a limited amount of time. similarly, i have felt the pressure to provide students with solutions in a rushed environment. with this lens, the study was limited by the assumption that front-line student wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 77 services professionals faced challenges every day due to the lack of structure, information and resources when working with undocumented students. findings one major theme was found from the data analysis of the twelve semi-structured individual interviews—front-line work is complex. four sub-themes were further determined: (1) front-line work is rewarding but challenging, (2) front-line work and the front counter do not allow the participants to pay attention to students’ individual needs, (3) front-line professionals are limited to what they can do to help undocumented students through their affiliated program and the state’s infrastructures, and (4) front-line professionals want to learn more about their students, but there is no time allotted for professional development. findings suggest that frontline staff is challenged by (a) having to probe and ask multiple questions, (b) feeling caught in the middle between campus policies and students, (c) having their hands tied, (d) not having all of the information and resources needed to help, and (e) dealing with irate students with little to no privacy. more than 66% of the participants shared how happy and empowered they felt after helping students. as a community college student services professional, madison (female, rocky college, latina) who has worked in admissions and records for the last 33 years explained, “it's been very rewarding seeing that some of those students have completed their degree and graduated, and even some of them have gone to ucs, csus, have come back and say thank you.” although working with students can be rewarding, front-line admissions and financial aid professionals talked about how the set-up of their work space can be off-putting to students. from the participants’ perspective, undocumented students may be less likely to disclose their immigration statuses at the front-line due to the lack of privacy. the out-in-the-open interrogations became a part of the unintended implementations that may result in the gathering of inaccurate information to determine eligibility for ab 540. mindy (12 years of experience, latina) from financial aid at valley university shared, “i find myself having to distance myself because it's hard to get personal with each of the students, because, again, we serve so many. and in order to do your job, sometimes there has to be a line [drawn].” similarly, another frontline financial aid staff talked about the series of probing and questioning at the front counter. although the intention for the probing and questioning was to better assist the students, the ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 78 location and the sensitivity of the questions being asked sometimes led to students feeling interrogated and therefore withholding critical information. despite the challenges at the front-counter, many student services professionals intrinsically want to help undocumented students. however, due to their responsibilities and the need to follow regulations and policies, professionals have to distance themselves in order to help everyone equally. although front-line admissions staff want to help students, sherry (valley university, 9 years of experience, asian pacific islander) explained that she could not look the other way, “i always state to these students, if they don't qualify for this because maybe they're missing a semester of high school,. . . it's a statutory law; i cannot make any changes to it.” similarly, at metropolitan university, lisa (female, 8 years of experience, latina) who works in admissions and records stated that it is not up to her to decide if adult school qualifies as years of schooling needed to meet the in-state tuition exemption, it is up to their campus’ legal counsel: “if they approve it, great, we can process. if not, it's not up to me to say, adult school is fine; adult school is not fine.” with limited guidance from their supervisors, front-line student services professionals resorted to self-education through research and making connections on their own time, in order to manage the changes in policy and the demands from students. sherry (female, 9 years of experience, admissions, asian pacific islander), who is a residency specialist at valley university, noted that she read the codes of regulation on her own, and after reading through the educational codes felt more confident about her decisions regarding ab 540. although some departments had trainings, these trainings were not consistent and most of the trainings covered technical knowledge on the ab 540 affidavit and the california dream act (2011) application; however, none of the trainings were about the experiences of the undocumented student population. discussion the purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to understand the lived experiences of student affairs professionals working in the office of admissions and financial aid. by understanding their motivations, daily routines, and interactions with students, the researcher gained insight into the roles and functions of these front-line professionals. some front-line professionals functioned as gatekeepers for in-state tuition and in-state financial aid while others wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 79 took on the roles of being advocates to improve campus policies and procedures for increased access to higher education for undocumented youth. echoing gildersleeve’s (2007) literature, finances and inconsistent admission practices contine to affect undocumented students’ access to higher education. accompanied by limited guidance from their supervisors, front-line student services professionals resorted to self-education through research and making connections on their own time. without proper knowledge of the undocumented population, a major way of coping with the demands of being on the front-line is to treat everybody the same. according to the participants in admissions and financial aid, as students arrived and approached the front counter for the first time, the students’ immigration statuses were not known. immigration status is not a topic front-line personnel automatically address. it is through the series of questions and deductive reasoning skills that student affairs professionals eventually discover students’ immigration status. additionally, the initial contact focused on the tasks that needed to be resolved rather than the individual. moreover, the interview data confirmed oseguera, flores, and burciaga’s (2010) study on staff training. they explained that student affairs professionals face difficulties serving undocumented students due to the lack of training. in this study, front-line professionals indicated that they had minimal institutional trainings specifically focused on the undocumented student population. implications mirroring lipsky’s (1980) theory, front-line admissions and financial aid personnel functioned similarly to the bureaucrats in other public sectors such as social services and other governmental agencies described by lipsky (1980). these front-line people created their own coping strategies to work with the diverse student body. front-line admissions and financial aid professionals also dealt with the lack of resources and the increased demands of work that occurred once undocumented students became eligible for in-state tuition and state financial aid. front-line student services professionals who participated in the study also varied in their skill sets, years of experience, and personal backgrounds. some front-line staff were student workers who only had six months of working experience and others had 30 plus years of student services experience. technical skill levels, personal life experiences, and student service training and exposure influenced their interactions with undocumented students. some front-line staff ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 80 were knowledgeable and aware of the needs of undocumented students because they conducted their own research, attended workshops related to undocumented students, and knew someone or was related to someone who was undocumented. others did not have the opportunity to attend professional development workshops, and, therefore, had little knowledge about the undocumented student population. culturally appropriate staff development opportunities for front-line student services professionals are crucial. currently, our front-line student services providers do not have the support from their supervisor and/or institution, space, and knowledge to effectively work with undocumented students; hence, they are not providing equitable services. all students deserve equitable student support services. equity takes into consideration that some students have unique needs and demand unique attention (shapiro & stefkovich, 2001). front-line professionals will need to recognize students who are going to be comfortable in embracing their identity as dreamers, and those who may never “out” themselves as dreamers, and those who are working on their development of the “coming out” process (villazor, 2013). the spectrum of students’ needs covers a broad range, thus there is no one “right” way of interacting and working with undocumented students. therefore, it may take a longer period of time to serve an undocumented student, similar to ayon’s (2009) findings with welfare workers and non-english speaking and undocumented families. recommendations acknowledge and appreciate front-line workers the majority of the interviewees enjoyed working with students. being in the front line means they have seen it all. most front-line staff had the intention to help undocumented students with their needs; however, sometimes they do not have the skills and/or authority to accommodate these students and their requests. front-line, classified staff do not often receive acknowledgement and appreciation from management, faculty, or students for the work that they provide. in higher education, faculty and administrators are appreciated through various ceremonies and accolades; however, front-line, classified student services professionals often are overlooked. administrators and faculty should provide support, encouragement and symbolic ceremonies to highlight the tireless work these front-line professionals render. wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 81 create easy to understand policies ab 540 opened the doors for many undocumented students to pursue affordable postsecondary education. the lack of clarity on the law creates inconsistent policy interpretations and implementations by front-line personnel across various systems of higher education. many undocumented students have to “shop around” between multiple front-line professionals because they may get different feedback and answers from these individuals. increased communication across systems and campuses is vital. create space or allow individual appointments many participants shared their frustrations with the probing and asking of sensitive questions at the front counter. as a best practice, for some campuses in california, dream centers are designed to provide undocumented students with academic and emotional support, referrals to financial and legal assistance, information on programs and services designed to improve retention and graduation rates, and a comforting environment where students can connect with one another. every dream center provided a safe space for undocumented students where they can lower their defenses, which means student service staff can obtain accurate information in a sensible manner. if creating a dream center is not possible on a campus, having access to private meeting rooms or having the ability to make individual appointments with admissions and financial aid staff can ease the fear and anxiety undocumented students experience when disclosing their immigration status out in the open. a handful of dream centers have developed programs to include connecting undocumented students with mentors and providing ally training and workshops in an attempt to shift the culture on their campuses to become “dreamer” friendly. spaces like dream centers can assist with providing equitable student services because their staff have the ability to focus on creating a space where education, advocacy, and student development can flourish. according to stanton-salazar (2007), institutional agents can add value to low-status youth’s empowerment. prioritization on staff development many front-line staff, including part-time and temporary employees, did not have training on student service etiquette, cultural sensitivity, ethical decision-making, identity development for undocumented college students, consistent policy interpretations and implementations, ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 82 community outreach, rapport building, and self-care. instead of seeing each student interaction as a business transaction, staff should see individual interactions with students as opportunities to develop, engage, and educate students. culturally relevant professional development on immigration laws, identity development, and current events can also benefit front-line professionals. prioritization on departmental collaboration this study suggests collaboration amongst admissions and financial aid as critical in order for undocumented students to make college a reality. when departments work in silos, undertrained staff cannot assist undocumented students properly; therefore, undocumented students suffer the consequences of being left alone to navigate the college-going process. conclusion many times front-line professionals in admissions and financial aid are the first and only people who interact with undocumented students prior to the first day of class. front-line professionals may be the make-it or break-it people for undocumented students to attain their dreams of acquiring postsecondary education. it is evident that many front-line professionals enjoyed student interactions and found their careers rewarding. however, front-line professionals had to balance their roles as advocates and policy enforcers. this study serves as a foundation for further research on the tireless work front-line student services professionals provide for undocumented students. it also adds knowledge to the complexity of front-line work. wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 83 references abrego, l. (2006). “i can’t go to college because i don’t have papers”: incorporation patterns of latino undocumented youth. latino studies, 4(3), 212-231. ayon, c. (2009). shorter timelines, yet higher hurdles: mexican families’ access to child welfare mandated services. children and youth services review, 31, 609-616. badger, e., & yale-loehr, s. (2002). myths and realities for undocumented students attending u.s. colleges and universities. journal of college admission, winter 2002, 10-15. bensimon, e. m. (2007). the underestimated significance of practitioner knowledge in the scholarship on student success. the review of higher education, 30(4), 441-469. california assembly bill 540, chapter 814 section 68130.5 (2001). retrieved from http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/asm/ab_05000550/ab_540_bill_20010221_intro duced.pdf california dream act. (2011). retrieved from http://ab540.com/paying-for-college.html california state university. (2014). admission handbook 2014-2015. retrieved from http://www.calstate.edu/sas/onestopkiosk/documents/admissionhandbook.pdf castro-salazar, r., & bagley, c. (2010). "ni de aqui ni from there". navigating between contexts: counter-narratives of undocumented mexican students in the united states. race ethnicity and education, 13(1), 23-40. chavez, m. l., soriano, m., & oliverez, p. (2007). undocumented students' access to college: the american dream denied. latino studies, 5(2), 254-263. chen, a. c. (2013). undocumented students, institutional allies, and transformative resistance: an institutional case study (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest. (order no. 3557268). contreras, f. (2009). sin papeles y rompiendo barreras: latino students and the challenges of persisting in college. harvard educational review, 79(4), 610-632. creswell, j. w. (2012). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca). (2012). retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/archive/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca dream act, section .3992— 111th congress (2010). retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/3992 erisman, w. & looney, s. (2007). opening the door to the american dream: increasing higher education access and success for immigrants. washington, dc: institute for higher education policy. field, k. (2011). re: public colleges are more likely to admit undocumented students than private colleges [online forum comment]. retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/public-collegesare-more/128257/ gildersleeve, r. e. (2007). college outreach programs and the social organization of learning: pedagogical interventions in mexican migrant college-going. in relating (im)migration to college access: emerging findings from research. symposium presented at the annual meeting for the association for the study of higher education in louisville, ky. ab 540: tuition waiver policy in california association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 84 gildersleeve, r. e. (2010). access between and beyond borders. journal of college admission, 310. harris, e. a. (2015). financial aid for undocumented students is losing its stigma. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/nyregion/financial-aid-for-undocumented-studentsno-longer-discussed-in-hushed-tones.html?mcubz=0 hispanic association of colleges & universities. (2017). retrieved from https://www.hacu.net/hacu/hsi_definition1.asp hyun, j. & newburn, m. (2010). supporting undocumented students. retrieved from http://www.waschoolcounselor.org/files/hyhnwsca%20presentation.pdf illegal immigration reform and immigrant responsibility act, chapter 104 section 208 (1996). retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/ocomm/ilink/0-0-0-10948.html internal revenue service. (2014). immigration terms and definitions involving aliens. retrieved from http://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/immigration-terms-anddefinitions-involving-aliens lipsky, m. (1980). street level bureaucracy: dilemmas of the individual in public services. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. lipsky, m. (2010). street level bureaucracy: dilemmas of the individual in public services, 30th anniversary expanded edition. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. lopez, m. p., & lopez, g. r. (2010). persistent inequality: contemporary realities in the education of undocumented latina/o students. new york, ny: routledge. mendoza, f. (2009). the case for undocumented students in higher education. retrieved from http://www.fullerton.edu/ab540/_resources/docs/undocases.pdf moustaka, c. (1994). phenomenological research methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage. oliverez, p. m. (2006). ready but restricted: an examination of the challenges of college access and financial aid for college-ready undocumented students in the united states (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest (order no. 3257819). oseguera, l., flores, s. m., & burciaga, e. (2010). documenting implementation realities: undocumented immigrant students in california and north carolina. journal of college admission, 206, 37-43. perez, w. (2009). we are americans: undocumented students pursuing the american dream. sterling, va: stylus publishing. pew research center. (2014). 5 facts about illegal immigration in the u.s. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/18/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-inthe-u-s/ sandeen, a. (2004). educating the whole student: the growing academic importance of student affairs. change, 36(3), 28-33. shapiro, j., & stefkovich, j. (2001). ethical leadership and decision making in education: applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. wang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 85 stanton-salazar, r. d. (2007). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in empowerment of low-status students and youth. youth & society, (43)3, 10661109. student success act. (2012). retrieved from http://extranet.cccco.edu/divisions/student services/matriculation/sb1456studentsuccessactof2012.aspx student success and support program. (2012). retrieved from http://extranet.cccco.edu/divisions/studentservices/matriculation.aspx villazor, r. (2013). the undocumented closet. north carolina law review, 92, 1-74. watson, t. (2017). do undocumented immigrants overuse government benefits? retrieved from http://econofact.org/do-undocumented-immigrants-overuse-government-benefits methodology table 1 findings despite the challenges at the front-counter, many student services professionals intrinsically want to help undocumented students. however, due to their responsibilities and the need to follow regulations and policies, professionals have to distance ... implications recommendations acknowledge and appreciate front-line workers the majority of the interviewees enjoyed working with students. being in the front line means they have seen it all. most front-line staff had the intention to help undocumented students with their needs; however, sometimes they do not have the skill... create easy to understand policies prioritization on staff development prioritization on departmental collaboration open_issues-12.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 22 from the fields to the university: charting educational access and success for farmworker students using a community cultural wealth framework cynthia bejarano michelle valverde new mexico state university abstract in 2002, the new mexico state university college assistance migrant program (nmsu camp) was created to increase the number of baccalaureate degrees held by students from farmworker backgrounds by mediating structural impediments that typically normalize post-secondary inequities for this population. migrant and seasonal farmworker students are signifi cantly marginalized and underserved in the united states. there is also a notable lack of research exploring their success in higher education. this article addresses this gap through an exploratory analysis of quantitative and qualitative data spanning years 2006-2011 that include 130 selfadministered questionnaires, six key informant interviews, and numerous observations. a “community cultural wealth” framework [ccw] (yosso, 2005) is utilized to explore factors contributing to students’ entrance into the university and their persistence thereafter. the fi ndings suggest that farmworker students utilized the notions of familia and ‘pedagogies of the home’ (delgado bernal, 2001) to navigate their transition inside an unfamiliar terrain, while the camp program itself utilized similar notions of familia to break the practice of ‘manufacturing sameness’ typically experienced by students in the freshmen year. introduction migrant and seasonal farmworker students are some of the most marginalized and under-served students in the united states. according to the u.s. general accounting offi ce (1998), between 169,000 and 200,000 youth ages 14 to 17 work in migrant agricultural jobs (as cited in cranston-gingras, 2003). farmworkers have one of the highest dropout rates and encounter tremendous obstacles in completing high school and pursuing a postsecondary education, resulting in only 50.7% of migrant students graduating from high school (boces geneseo migrant center, 2009; u.s. general accounting offi ce, 1998). in response, the department of education awarded funds in 2002 to the college assistance migrant program (camp) at new mexico state university (nmsu), a research extensive, land grant hispanic-serving institution. the program’s goal is twofold: to serve the educational needs of migrant/seasonal farm workers and to increase their numbers and graduation rates in post-secondary education. there is a signifi cant lack of educational literature on farmworker students in post-secondary education. aside from the work of cranston-gingras (2003), who explores the high school equivalency program, a camp affi liate that emphasizes ged completion, or araujo’s (2006) ‘pedagogies of the fi elds,’ that describes farmworkers’ lessons learned in the fi elds and their perseverance to succeed in college, few scholars have studied farmworkers’ educational experiences in university settings. most research has centered on farmworker students in high school and their educational struggles or networks of support. the work of lopez (2001), for example, focuses on parental involvement of migrant/immigrant families and how parents expose their children to fi eldwork for ‘real-life lessons’ that fall outside of traditional school-related parental models. salinas and reyes (2004) examine high school migrant students’ educational struggles, but mainly focus on their advocate educators as ‘agents of change.’ still, the most robust body of research on farmworkers remains outside of educational frameworks and instead focuses on health disparities and pesticide exposure. this article is an attempt to address the literature gap on farmworkers’ post-secondary educational experiences with postsecondary retention data collected through nmsu camp. relying on qualitative and quantitative data collected from 130 freshman camp students spanning fi ve years (2006-2011), interviews with six students in 2009, and observations from 2008 through 2011, this research from the fields to the university: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 23 utilizes a “community cultural wealth” framework [ccw] (yosso, 2005) to explore factors contributing to students’ entrance into the university and their persistence thereafter. building upon yosso’s (2005) ccw framework, where familial and navigational capital are just two of the many strengths that non-traditional students bring to the university, we contend that familial and navigational capital are key to farmworker students’ access to, and persistence in, college. in confl uence with ccw, we also assert that delgado-bernal’s (2001) ‘pedagogies of the home’ is actively at play in increasing access and persistence for students. the context at the national level nmsu camp is one of 47 federally funded camp programs serving the postsecondary educational needs of children of migrant/seasonal farmworkers.12according to the u.s.department of education (2012), camp serves 2,000 students annually through competitive grants to institutions of higher education or nonprofi t organizations. since 1972, camp nationwide has helped to improve access and completion rates for many migrant and seasonal farmworker students from secondary to postsecondary education.13 the national high school equivalency program and college assistance migrant program (hep/camp) association states that approximately three quarters of camp freshmen complete their baccalaureate degree (http://www.hepcamp.org/). across the u.s., children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers often move frequently as a result of their parents’ or their own employment, which greatly obstructs their access to consistent and concentrated formal education. adding to this challenge is the geographical marginality of farmworkers, especially in communities along the u.s.-mexico border, one of the poorest regions in the nation (johnson & strange, 2009). the context in southern new mexico the border agricultural worker project reports more than 12,000 farmworkers work in el paso and southern new mexico (carmona & rice, 2010). most of these farmworkers live in colonias, which are communities that lack basic infrastructure, adequate housing, and improved roads (u.s. department of housing and urban development, 2003). the median household income in doña ana county is 69% of the national median household income (colonias development council, 2010); even worse, farmworkers from the area picking green chile, a major crop in the region, earn fi fty cents per bucket, which amounts to roughly $20 a day (carmona & rice, 2010). poverty dictates the quality of life for farmworkers and their access to higher education, despite the presence nearby of a land-grant, research one institution. nmsu camp is located merely 40 miles from the border in a southern new mexico county that includes 1,691 farms (u.s. department of agriculture, 2005), with the primary labor intensive crops being pecan orchards, green and red chiles, and onions (new mexico department of agriculture, 2005). this region is one of the most densely hispanic populated areas in the u.s., one that also experiences severe education problems. according to the 2010 u.s. census, 46.3% of new mexico’s citizens are hispanic and only 25.3% of new mexicans have a bachelor’s degree or higher. in terms of high school graduation rates, the state ranks 46th in the nation; only 55% of new mexico hispanic students graduated from high school in 2007 (alliance for excellent education, 2009). the nmsu camp program nmsu camp was designed as a social justice program to mediate structural impediments that normalize inequities at the university. camp’s primary goal has been to increase the number of baccalaureate degrees held by students from farmworker backgrounds. program objectives include: 1) bridging educational outreach issues for farmworkers; 2) providing assistance with housing and meal costs, book stipends and monthly stipends, art and cultural activities, tutoring and mentoring, and leadership training workshops; and 3) providing overall 12 when available, the program receives state funds. 13 these programs are authorized under title iv, part a, subpart 5 of the higher education act of 1965 (20 u.s.c. §1070d-2). from the fields to the university: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 24 educational support and communication with family, community members, and university administrators who serve as the support network for students to successfully complete their education. since its inception, the concept of familia has been the central principle nmsu camp uses in its educational programming and retention efforts with students from farmworker backgrounds. the concept of familia serves as a retention tool, one typically eschewed by mainstream interpretations of university success and belonging. thus, nmsu camp breaks from hegemonic patterns of “manufacturing sameness” in higher education. we use the concept “manufacturing sameness” to refer to educational institutions’ approaches to the standard freshmen year experiences that often work to undo familial and cultural rootedness.14 under a conventional approach, the expectation is that students will break away from the family and become independent, in spite of the fact that these same students informally rely on family members, friends of the family, or institutional representatives to guide them through the higher education labyrinth. following a common interpretation of the white, mainstream, middle-class rite of passage, turning 18 years of age symbolizes independence from the family. through breaking from the family, youth can forge their own identity while taking on new responsibilities to succeed. in using a ccw framework, we argue against this convention, offering, instead, insight into alternative logics of higher education access and retention by identifying familial and navigational capital (yosso, 2005) and ‘pedagogies of the home’ (delgado bernal, 2001). nmsu camp is an example of the confl uence and praxis of these two asset based theoretical perspectives in supporting non-traditional student success. rooted in nmsu camp programming is the idea that fi rst generation farmworker students are more likely to succeed within a familiar and family-like educational setting. a supportive, comfortable, and academically driven setting is provided to students where they can seek guidance without judgment about their institutional knowledge of the university. each year, nmsu camp recruits 30-35 full-time freshmen students. students range from fi rst-generation immigrant to fourth generation new mexicans working on small family subsistence farms to large-scale dairy and agricultural operations. a small number of students also come from rural educational settings in texas or elsewhere. camp usually serves students from k-12 bilingual and migrant education programs who are not traditionally recruited to the university. in addition to fi nancial support, camp provides academic and emotional support – all elements that have been documented to help retain historically underserved students in higher education (attinasi, 1989; hurtado, 1996; ornelas-gonzález, 2010; pew hispanic center/kaiser family foundation, 2004). camp includes an intensive advising model whereby all freshmen have an individualized educational plan, and freshmen attend a camp course that focuses on study skills and navigating the university. students also participate in saturday morning workshops with their parents three times each semester to strengthen retention efforts and parental knowledge of the university. a critical component of camp is the compas peer mentoring program15 in which upper-class students are hired to assist freshmen with academic guidance and mentorship. this component is designed based on the idea of compadrazco16 whereby camp alumni students take freshmen students under their care and guide them through the educational process. upper class students (a female and a male) are also hired annually as living learning community cluster leaders to live with freshmen in the dorms and to serve as a big brother or sister. overall, this intensive support model allows staff and alumni students to form bonds with freshman beyond the lecture hall or advising offi ce, to not only provides educational guidance, but to create an environment based on the notion of compadrazco. since 2002, 263 students have participated in camp, with 59 completing bachelor degrees, eight completing master’s degrees, eleven completing an associate degree, and a student completing his ph.d. the retention rate for students is 71%, including those who have graduated and those who continue their studies at nmsu. camp students represent many disciplines including electrical engineering, biology, business and 14 manufacturing sameness”, fi rst introduced here, was developed by the fi rst author. 15 this program was designed by martha estrada and jose montoya. 16 compadrazco refers literally to the bond created between godparents who baptize a child within the catholic tradition. the term is also used loosely to refer to the bonds between good friends. here we use it to mean the bond formed between students who share a similar life and work background within an educational setting. students from similar backgrounds learn to look out for one another emotionally, and within this educational environment forging relationships that oftentimes run deeper than being school peers, and more akin to compadres (godparents) looking out for younger students, or like hermana/os (relationships like brothers/sisters), and familia (family) overall. from the fields to the university: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 25 education to criminal justice, social work, government, and animal range sciences. methodology and participant description a mixed method research approach (johnson & onwuegbuzie, 2004) involving selfadministered questionnaires, observations, and key informant interviews is utilized as part of the ongoing evaluation of the camp program. in this process, quantitative and qualitative data are gathered from camp advisory council members, students, and staff. for the purpose of this study, quantitative data collected from 130 freshman camp students spanning cohorts fi ve through nine (academic years 2006-2007 through 2010-20117) were descriptively analyzed using predictive analytics software. in addition, qualitative data from six camp students representing a cross section of the participants (freshmen and alumni) who volunteered to be interviewed in 2009, and observations of camp workshops, graduation ceremonies, annual banquets, and student presentations between 2008 and 2011 were explored in the analysis. using qualitative data to augment quantitative descriptive results allows researchers to dig deeper into the complexities of human behavior that are not readily revealed through quantitative data alone (morse, 2003). the self-administered entrance questionnaire distributed to all freshman camp students at the beginning of every academic year includes 39 closed and open-ended questions. in addition to capturing basic sociodemographic information, students have an opportunity to express their anxieties and worries about college. the data explored herein comprises a subset of a larger research effort, however, for the scope of this paper, this data set specifi cally examines a) the student’s and their family’s experiences doing farm work, b) the kinds of problems, if any, the students experienced from their involvement or their family’s involvement in fi eld/seasonal work, c) what they gained from the experiences that will help them succeed in college, and d) their thoughts about the nmsu camp program. results basic demographics of the 130 camp students surveyed,17 slightly more females participated than males (53% vs. 47% respectively). the majority, 80% of the camp students were 17 or 18 years old at the time of the survey, while 20% were 19 or 20. of the 128 that responded, 59% were born in the u.s. while 41% were born in mexico. when asked where they grew up, 73% of the students identifi ed only the u.s., 20% identifi ed only mexico, and 7% identifi ed both the u.s. and mexico. the average family income of the students surveyed was $16,500 compared to $74,000, as the median parental income of entering freshman in 2006 (higher education research institute, 2008). occupation related challenges for 64% of the participants, they and at least one parent had worked in the fi elds or done seasonal work; for 26% of the students it was one or more parent who worked in this arena; in the case of 10%, only the student had worked seasonally or in the fi elds. when asked about the types of problems they experienced from their or their family’s involvement in fi eld/seasonal work, four themes emerged: long hours (36%), fi nancial challenges (34%), hard work environment (26%), and stressful work (20%). social and cultural factors impacting the educational context and experience when asked how their farm work experience may have helped them succeed at the university, nearly half of the students surveyed (45%) felt the early challenges in their lives taught them to work hard in college 17 data were not included from the fi rst four years since several key questions were not yet on the questionnaire. missing responses were not included in the analyses and some questions allowed multiple responses. from the fields to the university: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 26 and/or in the workplace. close to a third (31%) desired to be/live better as a result of these challenges and 14% believed they were more determined. one student explained, “it pushes me and reminds [me] to keep working and trying my best to get a degree,” while another indicated, “seeing the hard work that my parents did and all the fi nancial problems they had made me more determined to continue my education not only to help myself but them as well.” araujo’s (2006) concept of ‘pedagogies of the fi elds’ is important here as her work is based on nmsu camp students’ farm work experiences which revealed how students learned strategies of transformative resistance as “the memories of working in the fi elds are motivation to continue with school… the participants were able to see their marginalization and transform it into the motivation to fi nish high school and enroll in college” (p.143). students’ memory of struggle kept them focused on their studies as did witnessing their parents’ performing laborious fi eldwork. in addition to the surveys, observations at camp functions confi rmed over and over again that students were thankful that their parents taught them the values of hard work, perseverance, and responsibility. “working this hard made me realize that life can be pretty hard if you don’t have an education,” one student commented, while another said, “working there [agricultural fi elds] showed me how to be responsible.” for the camp students’ parents, their own life lessons learned through fi eldwork, a necessary means for survival, harvested a desire for a better future for their children and an investment in their education despite not knowing university systems. in spite of their lack of familiarity with higher education, parents emphasized to their children the need to break the cycle of fi eldwork. although these parents’ responses are similar to lopez’s (2001) work on farmworker parents’ instilling “real-life lessons” onto their high school children, camp parents were negotiating completely unfamiliar university terrain, its institutional policies and its limited access besides new student orientation that farmworkers parents were often unable to attend because of working in the fi elds. camp parents literally entrusted the program staff to become “encargados de sus hijas/hijos” (responsible for their children) once their young adult sons/daughters entered the university to live in the dormitories, to study disciplines that were very technical, and oftentimes to see their children’s transformation into adulthood. during workshops, parents discussed their own fears of engaging the university, and their fears and anxieties for their own children. yet, they encouraged their children to obtain an education in order to avoid the fi eldwork they themselves endured due to the lack of a formal u.s. education. as mentioned above, it is within the family context that the students developed aspirational capital, which refers to their ability to retain hopes and dreams for the future despite facing real and perceived barriers. one student indicated, “i want to be someone that can help others since i know what it feels [like] to have been living a life where things that others have, my family can’t afford to buy them.” family often served as the inspiration for educational perseverance and the support and encouragement family gave is what drove students to do well academically. despite tremendous fi nancial and work diffi culties, over half of the camp students surveyed (59%), aspired before they were 15 to occupations that require a post-secondary degree, with those requiring a bachelor’s or above most frequently cited. at annual retreats and through written responses in questionnaires, students repeatedly explained that they want to support their families and to make them proud. one student writes, “the reason i’m here [school] is because i want them [parents] to feel proud of me.” in her ethnographic work on a california immigrant community, delgado-gaitan (2001) found that “latino parents confronted distress in their households and workplaces, but they adapted wholly to the strident changes, learned to think differently about themselves and others, and overcame hardships. people’s belief system is the foundation of their transformation” (p. 105). for the above-mentioned student wanting to make his parents proud reinforced building on stronger values and actually holding more tightly to his dreams. when asked what interested students about participating in camp, one student responded that “… [camp] students were going through the same experiences as me, they were also hispanic, spoke two languages like me. it felt like they were a great family i would be welcomed to.” another person said, “well, camp is an awesome program. it really interested me because it seemed more like a new family than just a program.” another student recognized the program as, “camp is, like the staff say, ‘a new family for us,’… [by] helping each camper … [and] pay for almost all your fi rst year of college, [so] it’s really good to be part of the program.” at the end of the freshmen year, one student interviewed said, “the staff cares for you. they don’t leave you from the fields to the university: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 27 alone.” most of the interviewees also mentioned the advantages of having a camp peer mentor because they already knew how the system worked. discussion a descriptive analysis of the camp students surveyed reveals that although as children most of them experienced a variety of challenges related to agricultural work, these challenges may have actually helped prepare them for their transition into and success at the university. the fi ndings also speak to two of the six interrelated forms of cultural capital, familial and navigational, defi ned by critical race theorists (delgado bernal, 2001; stanton-salazar, 2001: solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; faulstich orellana, 2003). the remaining four forms of cultural capital – aspirational, linguistic, social, and resistant – also surfaced in the analysis but were typically in relationship to familial and navigational capital. the six dimensions of capital comprise community cultural wealth which, according to yosso (2005), is a set of “knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts present in and utilized by communities of color to survive and resist macro and micro-forms of oppression” (p. 77). familial capital familial capital can be described as community history, memory, and cultural intuition; in essence, the cultural knowledge that is nurtured in the familia (delgado bernal, 2001). the notion of being bien educado as described by valenzuela (1996), among others, is another dimension of familial capital involving the teaching of morals, character, and proper behavior. delgado bernal (2002) takes this notion a step further with the concept of “pedagogies of the home” which offers “culturally specifi c ways of teaching and learning and embrace[s] ways of knowing that extend beyond the public realm of formal schooling” (p.110). familial knowledge rooted in camp students leads to their culturally entrenched ways of celebrating culture and their pride in their farmworker families and backgrounds that make them more determined to graduate. this strong foundation stems from their families’ teachings and work ethic and exemplifi es familial capital and ‘pedagogies of the home.’ for the camp students in this study whose families faced challenges related to working in the fi elds, all of them listed at least one example of how their family’s experiences will help them succeed at the university. navigational capital navigational capital refers to the skills of moving successfully through social institutions, especially those that were not designed by or for communities of color, while social capital refers to networks of people and community resources (yosso, 2005). numerous avenues for networking and receiving social and emotional support were created by camp staff and the students themselves. students enter the program knowing each other from high school or they quickly create bonds through their shared immigrant, fi eldwork or educational experiences. this helps them navigate the university along with the assistance from staff who facilitate access to the university. other students rely on farmworker community members such as cesario moran, a former science teacher from zacatecas, mexico, known to locals as “el profe,” who loans books to farmworker students and adults from his personal library. el profe and his wife are farmworkers/labor contractors who encourage farmworker youth to attend nmsu camp, the way three of their six children did. thus far, 84 siblings from 39 families have participated in the camp program, which speaks to both social and navigational forms of capital. older siblings serve as a support mechanism as do other camp alumni who are mentors, tutors, and dorm leaders for freshmen. in addition, camp alumni take their cue from the staff and serve as peer mentors, providing advice to students on study skills, job opportunities, and simply “learning the ropes.” as students began graduating from the university, they became part of the compadrazco network, letting younger camp students know of jobs, housing openings, and carpooling opportunities. camp students come to view each other, broadly speaking, as from the fields to the university: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 28 siblings. conclusion as suggested in this brief discussion, past and present sociocultural factors appear to have contributed to the entry and persistence of camp students at nmsu. using aspects of community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) and ‘pedagogies of the home’ (delgado bernal, 2001), this analysis presents descriptive quantitative and qualitative data revealing clear examples of cultural capital. the students experienced a variety of challenges related to migrant and seasonal farmwork, nonetheless they maintained high aspirations and seized the opportunity to enter the university through nmsu camp. such strategies are clearly aligned with the inner resources, social competencies, and cultural strategies documented by previous researchers (stanton-salazar, 2001). camp as family, lessons from ccw and ‘pedagogies of the home’ it is clear from our analysis that students gained strength and perseverance from their experiences working in the fi elds, as well as from the memories of witnessing their parents’ labor in the fi elds. critical lessons of endurance were taught. consequently, since camp’s inception, the program recognized the value in creating an atmosphere of support, culture and a sense of familia for students’ access and persistence. these alternate epistemologies challenge the traditional forms of institutional knowledge about access and student persistence. by recreating a sense of familial capital (yosso, 2005) through programming refl ecting concepts of familia (support, cultural and familiar sustenance, guidance and caring), students were able to acclimate to the university knowing that an academic and emotionally supportive space existed for them within the larger institution. students also understood that their parents had given program staff the responsibility to look after and guide them in their parents’ absence, a culturally signifi cant responsibility for staff, whose latino backgrounds and cultural knowledge allowed for this informal understanding between parent, child, and staff person. this cultural understanding helped facilitate academic success for these nontraditional college students. furthermore, the idea of familia as epistemology and programmatic structure challenged the practice of ‘manufacturing sameness.’ students attended classes, received academic advising, and navigated fi nancial aid systems with the guidance and support of camp staff who informed them of who to talk to, where to obtain information, and where they could “come home to within the academic setting (i.e. camp offi ce).” students felt comfortable with the guidance they received from camp staff who understood their backgrounds and culture and who recognized the novelty of the university bureaucracy that was daunting for them. the guidance provided by staff which created a familial and familiar setting for students facilitated students’ maneuvering of the larger institution and its intricate systems, thus becoming a form of yosso’s (2005) navigational capital. students revealed that camp’s familial approach toward them was critical in helping them to academically persist. in light of these fi ndings, the idea of familia as an epistemological tool can be broadly incorporated into fi rst-generation students’ programming and used as an educational model to break the practice of ‘manufacturing sameness’ for other nontraditional students. research implications students utilized the notions of familia to navigate their transition inside an unfamiliar terrain, while camp utilized similar notions of familia to break the practice of ‘manufacturing sameness’ typically experienced in the freshmen year. as noted by delgado-gaitan (2001), “empowerment of individuals, families, and the latino community at large evolves as individuals emerge from isolation into connectedness” (p. 5). the challenge from this point forward is to continue to research and document the various ways in which, for non-traditional students such as those with farmworker backgrounds, familial and navigational capital intersect with ‘pedagogies of the home’ prior to and after entry into the higher education arena. accomplishing this will require a continued commitment to question and dismantle the status quo of ‘manufacturing sameness,’ and while it is a slow and diffi cult process, it is the only way we will be able to institutionalize alternative educational paradigms that result in greater educational success for non-traditional students. from the fields to the university: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 29 references alliance for excellent education. (2009). new mexico state card. retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/states2/new%20mexico/index.html araujo, b. (2006). in the process of transformation and overcoming tremendous odds: a case study of migrant farm worker students’ enrollment in the university. (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations and theses. (accession order no. 072699) attinasi, l. a., jr. (1989). getting in: mexican americans’ perceptions of university attendance and the implications for freshman year persistence. journal of higher education, 60(3), 247-277. boces geneseo migrant center. (2009). success in secondary school and access to postsecondary education for migrant students. retrieved from http://www.migrant.net carmona, v., & j. rice. (2010). area farmworkers battle labor injustices. retrieved from http://www.grass-roots-press.com/2010/04/01/area-farmworkers-battle-labor-injustices colonias development council. (2010). retrieved from http://www.colonias.org/about_us.html cranston-gingras, a. (2003). reconnecting youth from migrant farmworker families. reclaiming children and youth, 11(4), 242-246. delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623-639. delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latcrit theory and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. delgado-gaitan, c. (2001). the power of community: mobilizing for family and schooling. rowman & littlefi eld: new york. faulstich orellana, m. (2003). in other words: en otras palabras: learning from bilingual kids’ translating/interpreting experiences. evanston, il: school of education and social policy, northwestern university. pryor, j. h., hurtado, s., saenz, v. b., santos, j. l., & korn, w. s. (2007). the american freshman: forty year trends. los angeles: higher education research institute, ucla. hurtado s., carter, d. f., & spuler, a. (1996). latino student transition to college: assessing diffi culties and factors in successful college adjustment. research in higher education, 37(2), 135-157. johnson, j., & strange, m., 2009. why rural matters 2009: state and regional challenges and opportunities. arlington, va: rural school and community trust. johnson, r. b., & onwuegbuzie, a. j. (2004). mixed methods research: a research paradigm whose time has come. educational researcher, 33(7), 14–26. lopez, g.r. (2001). the value of hard work: lessons on parental involvement from an (im)migrant household. harvard educational review, 71(3), 416-437. morse, j. m. (2003). principles of mixed methods and multimethod research design. in a. tashakkori & c. teddlie (eds.), mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp 189-209). thousand oaks, ca. sage publications. new mexico department of agriculture. (2005). new mexico agricultural statistics. las cruces, nm. ornelas-gonzález, a. (2010). support for success: an exploration of the support networks of latino students in the college assistance migrant program. podium presentation, boise state university. pew hispanic center/kaiser family foundation (2004). national survey of latinos: education. washington, dc. retrieved from http://www. pewhispanic.org/2004/01/26/2004-national-survey-of-latinos-education/ the national hep/camp association. (2011). retrieved from http://www.hepcamp.org salinas, c., & reyes, r. (2004). creating successful academic programs for chicana/o high school migrant students: the role of advocate educators. high school journal, 87(4), 54-65. solórzano, d., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36, 308-342. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2001). manufacturing hope and despair: the school and kin support networks of u.s.-mexican youth. new york: teachers college press. u.s. census bureau. (2010). retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/35000.html u.s. department of agriculture. (2005). national agriculture statistics service. new mexico field offi ce, las cruces, nm. u.s. department of education. (2012). retrieved from the offi ce of migrant education, college assistance migrant program: http://www2.ed.gov/ programs/camp/index.html u.s. department of housing and urban development, offi ce of community planning & development. (2003). use of hud resources to assist colonias. retrieved from http://www.hud.gov/offi ces/cpd/lawsregs/notices/2003/03-10. pdf u.s. general accounting offi ce. (1998). child labor in agriculture: changes needed to better protect health and educational opportunities. (gao/hehs-98193). washington, dc. valenzuela, a. (1996). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany: state university of new york press. yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 6991. acknowledgements we would like to thank michelle montano, larry salazar, sonia flynn, jose montoya, eva telles, and martha estrada for their dedication to camp. we would also like to thank nestor vanegas-charry for data entry and analysis support and jeff shepherd and duncan hayse for editing support. from the fields to the university: microsoft word necochea_page proof_final.docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ necochea association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 195 land and water traditions at the core: the importance of community-based and community-created multicultural education models in new mexico virginia necochea, phd center for social sustainable systems (cesoss) abstract for far too long has community been left out of major discussions surrounding educational reform in the state of new mexico. judge sarah singleton’s ruling in martínez/yazzie v. state of new mexico (2018) opens up an opportunity for various stakeholders to offer alternative models in addressing the need to provide a ‘sufficient education’ to students who continue to be marginalized and underrepresented across the state. this article presents three educational models that are community-based and community-created—cultivando nuestro futuro leadership institute, macehualli framework for leadership development, and the ciclos de la tierra: cultivando querencia through mutualsimo and social justice framework. since 2011, the center for social sustainable systems (cesoss), a small nonprofit in the middle rio grande region, has been developing educational models that are founded on indigenous/native philosophies and that strive to connect young leaders, families, and community members to the importance of protecting and preserving land and water traditions in new mexico. it is imperative that educational leaders include the voice and expertise of families and community-based organizations in addressing the recommendations as set forth in the lawsuit findings. the models presented here can offer ideas on how to incorporate transformative multicultural education models into k-12 education. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.3.458 land and water traditions at the core association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 196 introduction over the last several decades, if not more, there is an increasing trend to categorize new mexico’s education system as deficient and lacking (nott, 2018; stych, 2018). there are plenty of yearly statistics that point to educational deficiencies across the state. from continuously ranking at the very bottom in education and lowest in overall child well-being, new mexico is consistently ranked worst in education and top in child poverty (nathanson, 2019). for many in the field of education, these rankings point to major inadequacies and inequities that exist for the majority of children of color across the state. this being especially true for native american, hispanic/latino, special education and low-income students, and english language learners (ell). numerous discussions, conferences, and convenings have taken place where educational experts, academics, administrators, teachers, etc. have debated on these pressing educational issues. but, without support from the state’s public education department (ped) and political administration, any type of educational transformation was challenging at best. but, after years of continued debate and stagnation, a major court ruling took place that finally created an opening for what can potentially be transformative changes in the new mexican educational system (torres-velásquez, 2017; martinez and yazzie consolidated lawsuit). in 2019, first judicial district court judge sarah singleton issued her final ruling in what has become known as the martínez/yazzie v. state of new mexico (2018) lawsuit (gudgel, 2018). judge singleton found that the state had been in violation of students’ constitutional rights to what is considered a ‘sufficient education. the rulings order the state of new mexico to provide students with what is considered a quality education that ‘sufficiently’ prepares them for college or a career path. in essence, the rulings as issued by judge singleton, state loud and clear that this practice of offering less than sufficient education to the most marginalized children of new mexico will no longer be tolerated. the martínez/yazzie v. state of new mexico (2018) lawsuit opens up vast opportunities for change, especially in the arena of more critical and transformative education models. during this pivotal moment, it is imperative that multiple stakeholders in the realm of education, with families and communities at the forefront, develop models that integrate culturally responsive teaching that reflects the history, languages, cultures, and traditions of the people who call new mexico home. local perspectives and the wider community must be necochea association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 197 included in this move towards educational transformation and must be primary authors in the development of new educational models that will truly incorporate the lives and experiences of new mexican students. this article aims to highlight community-based educational models that put new mexican land and water-based traditions at the core. often time, community is excluded from major decisions made in education, from policy to curriculum to teacher preparation (warren, 2005). what the martínez/yazzie v. state of new mexico (2018) does is to create an opening for community to lead in educational efforts across the state. given this historic, game-changing moment in new mexico, community must become a leading force in the education of their children across the state. in this article, three examples of community-based and community-created educational models are presented that speak to the importance and need for including land and water based traditions in the education of young people in new mexico. these are the cultivando nuestro futuro leadership institute, the macehualli framework, and the ciclos de la tierra framework and garden program. all three of these educational frames and programs were created by the center for social sustainable systems (cesoss). cesoss is a small, grassroots nonprofit in the valle de atrisco, a community that is often referred to as the ‘south valley.’ the south valley is an immensely special community that includes rural, semi-rural, and urban spaces. despite urbanization and encroachment, the south valley has retained major agricultural traditions and is a place that continues to see an increase in small farming efforts thanks to several organizations and community members dedicated to revitalizing farming and land-based traditions (colton, 2018; paradox, holmes, demouche, & skaggs, 2014). the mission of cesoss is to protect and preserve ways of life and traditions connected to land and water (cesoss, n.d.). cesoss uses community-based education as a tool in reconnecting families and the larger public to traditional practices connected to agriculture such as the acequias (commonly referred to as ditches), small farming, and irrigation practices. since it was founded in 2011, cesoss has been creating educational frameworks immersed in social justice, critical consciousness, and indigenous philosophies that are used in the training and capacity-building of young emerging leaders. cesoss takes the position that the community must be proactive and intentional in educating upcoming generations of leaders. it moves away from the practice that leaves the education of its youth and leaders up to schools and land and water traditions at the core association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 198 institutions. cesoss works to create leaders who understand the importance and sacredness of land and water and who will work to protect these resources in their communities, something that is vital for the state of new mexico given the educational system has largely omitted traditional knowledge and practices from curriculums utilized across all educational levels. given this pattern of largely excluding land and water issues within schools and institutions, cesoss is intentional in creating its own educational models and frameworks that work to immerse and reconnect young adults and the larger public to traditions and philosophies connected to land and water. this work has taken various forms from special events held in the community such as acequia talk & walks and workshops, to educational programs and policy development. the following provide an overview of three of the core models/frameworks dedicated to placing land and water at the core of education. cultivando nuestro futuro leadership institute in 2013, cesoss launched the cultivando nuestro futuro leadership institute as a means to focus on community-based and community-led leadership training and development for young adults from historically underserved communities (see cesoss website – leadership institute). a major driving force was the need for community to become proactive in the education of its youth and emerging leaders, especially when it came to issues connected to land and water. for far too long have land and water traditions been omitted from general education practices. it was clear that communities could no longer expect or wait, for schools and institutions to teach students about the history and centrality of land and water for people across new mexico. cesoss was also conscious of the fact that in spite of demographic changes occurring across the state and us, there continued to be an inequitable representation of people of color in leadership roles (e.g. city councils, county commissions, legislators, congress members, school boards, administration, nonprofit management, higher education, among many others). what seemed most ironic is that although new mexico has been officially a majority-minority state since 1994, the number of individuals in leadership, administrative, and professional roles do not reflect the demographics of the state. this is not just a problem in new mexico, but across the us as well (dehaas, akutagawa, & spriggs, 2019; weindling, 2017). necochea association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 199 we clearly understood that our communities were dealing with highly inequitable educational systems across all levels where there was a severe lack of opportunity for students of color to engage in learning about leadership and especially to learn about the importance of protecting and preserving agricultural traditions. we also realized that there was a lack of mentorship available from people of color who held leadership positions and understood the importance and complexity of land and water issues. without the appropriate guidance and mentorship, future generations of emerging leaders would not be in the position of understanding and maintaining the land and water based assets in our local communities and across the state. because of these factors and others, it became imperative that the community take on proactive roles in addressing these pressing issues and in educating/training our own youth and emerging leaders. by establishing the leadership institute, not only were we creating leaders from our own communities, but we were being intentional in reconnecting them to traditions linked to land and water that we considered as integral to our communities. cultivando nuestro futuro leadership institute overview one of the primary goals of the institute is to take a proactive role in the development of new generations of leaders in our communities who understand the importance of land and water traditions in the state of new mexico. a major part of the institute focuses on discussing and analyzing significant issues that impact communities in the valle de atrisco (south valley, nm) and larger middle rio grande region. we refer to the students as future community leaders, or fcls. we work with fcls in helping them prepare and execute an analysis aimed at addressing and understanding issues connected to land and water that affect new mexican communities (e.g. water rights issues; urban acequia infrastructure and governance; urbanization and encroachment; food justice issues; environmental injustices; water management and law, among many others). an introduction to legislation and local policy development is included because we see it as vital for fcls to understand how local policy development and legislation work, especially in preserving local traditions. it is imperative for them to understand the connection legislation and policy development have to their lives and how in turn there can be positive or negative impacts on communities. it is our goal for fcls to understand the value of policy development in new mexico and how it affects the social, economic, political, and cultural development of local communities. it is pivotal for developing land and water traditions at the core association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 200 leaders to understand the importance and impact policy has on our local communities. we can no longer afford for our communities and youth to see themselves as detached from legislation and policy development. given that cesoss is firmly grounded in the local valle de atrisco/middle rio grande community, both a semi-urban and rural community, we strongly believe in the interconnectedness of land, water, culture, and traditions. the deep connections that the community has to land and water are at the core of the institute and across all of our programming and advocacy work. our entire curriculum is founded on the macehualli framework. macehualli is a nahuatl word that refers to the people who form the basis of a community. our framework is based on indigenous philosophies that are utilized throughout the entire institute and organization. the importance of ceremony and traditions are woven throughout and we utilize a critical approach based on a social justice lens. this means that we approach and introduce every concept with a more critical perspective that teaches fcls about the inequities that exist in our society. this is done so that fcls understand that we do this work so that we become leaders who are not only aware of the injustices and inequities, but that understand and can analyze the underlying and complex structures in place that perpetuate and uphold oppressive systems. this in turn will help fcls make decisions that work to create change and not remain complicit with unjust practices and structures. it is our goal to help fcls understand that there are alternative forms of leadership and activism that take place in our communities. we want fcls to break from the typical western notions of what it means to be a leader. we want to encourage our fcls to understand the problematic notions behind individuals coming into local communities with top-down and/or quick-fix approaches. local communities are vibrant and complex spaces that need to be treated with utmost respect. our ultimate goal is to help in the development of future leaders who are critical, who develop a critical consciousness, and who work alongside communities in order to elicit change and achieve justice. the following are the main themes that we focus on in the institute: • importance of identity, culture, and traditions • history of the people/struggles • connections to land and water necochea association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 201 • becoming a leader/macehualli model/indigenous philosophies & traditions • legislation/policy development • transformative and community based research the cultivando nuestro futuro leadership institute was created to provide an opportunity for young people of color to learn leadership skills and become familiar with various areas that are directly involved with leadership positions such as policy development, legislation, administration, and research. by using an intergenerational leadership curriculum based on traditional thought and philosophies, we are creating emerging leaders that are not only conscious, but that understand social, cultural, economic and political dynamics in their communities. a major component of the cesoss leadership institute is the development of a strategic plan that fcls develop over the course of an academic year with the guidance of a mentor. the strategic plan includes the identification of a pertinent land and water-related issue that is impacting the community that the fcl is interested in better understanding. this work involves in depth research that is community-centered. the importance of community is central to our work. that means that our entire approach to our programming, advocacy, and educational work puts the community’s well-being at the core. this approach is different from most learning and projects that takes place at higher education institutions, but that we feel is fundamental for our young leaders to learn. it is fundamental for our leadership institute to impart the importance of what it means to place the community at the center and the process that involves—e.g. working alongside community members in understanding current issues, focusing on the main concerns of community and what they believe is most important, and especially creating mentorship opportunities that will last beyond the institute itself. the program culminates with a celebration of cesoss leadership institute participants sharing their strategic plans and accomplishments throughout the year to the larger community, family, elected officials, and the larger public. what we’ve created is an opportunity for young emerging leaders to connect and learn from community leaders, researchers, scholars, and elders who can guide them on reaching deeper understandings of community needs. this leadership institute in essence creates an intergenerational space where many stakeholders become involved in the education of young leaders from across our communities. land and water traditions at the core association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 202 macehualli framework1 – connecting to indigenous philosophies the cultivando nuestro futuro leadership institute is based on the macehualli framework. macehualli, is a nahuatl word signifying the people. this word was also used to describe what is referred to as the ‘common people’ who made up the majority of the population in mexica2 society such as the artisans, the laborers, the farmers, etc. but, the belief was that when the macehual, the common person, followed a path of learning and consciousness, they would be liberated through the act of ‘merecimiento,’ which means to be deserving of (toltecayotl, 2014). the macehual, by following a path of knowledge, would in essence reach a place that is deserving of a greater consciousness. we have taken this philosophy to form the basis of the macehualli framework. we teach our students that to follow the path of a leader is the act of utilizing knowledge to gain greater consciousness so we are then able to work with our communities in fostering wellbeing, health in all of its forms, and justice. we teach students that to be a leader signifies the act of being deserving, to merecer, and that one gains this by being of service to their communities and people. we consciously and intentionally move away from western models of leadership that are often based on notions of individual success and competition. we take the typically used pyramid model where the leader is placed at the top of the triangle and invert it. we use this to teach students that if one aims to follow the path of a macehual, then the leader is placed at the bottom of the inverted triangle. this is used to demonstrate to students that for us, the act of leading, means a leader who exists to serve their community. this philosophy of collective leadership and leadership formations based on notions of the collective group, have been largely ignored by much of western society. instead of understanding leadership through the lens of a collective group or collective good, a more individualistic model has been utilized that situates the leader at the top with everyone else below, as often illustrated with the pyramid model. this idea of ‘individual success’ continues to prevail and reinforces meritocratic ideologies that create a steadfast belief that an individual’s success is a result of their own ‘hard work’ and merit (mcnamee & miller, 2009). meritocratic 1 the macehual framework has been developed by jorge garcia and dr. virginia necochea 2 indigenous mexican necochea association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 203 ideologies that perpetuate false notions of individualistic success that are completely devoid of the community and collective are harmful and self-serving. throughout time, mesoamerican societies have developed leadership formation models that did not follow westernized notions of the individual leader (garcia, 2019; toltekayotl, 2014). these leadership models were well defined and based on notions of the collective group and of collective effort. the creation and use of the macehualli framework for our leadership institute honors mexican indigenous philosophies that have been largely ignored in the united states. we are intentional in teaching our students about the importance of indigenous/native philosophies, histories, and traditions as a way to cultivate future leaders who are conscious of the profound contributions indigenous/native people made and the impacts they have on our lives, education, and professions. we are intentional about teaching this to our students because we are well aware of the fact that the larger educational system in the us continues to exclude these important voices from its curriculum and classrooms (battiste, 2010). the importance of being a macehual in mexican indigenous societies, the macehual were recognized by their community as ‘those who deserved’ because they were people who deeply cared for the community. the macehual were individuals who placed the interest and wellbeing of their communities before their own (toltekatyotl, 2014). the macehual was an individual who knew the stories of their people and their communities. they helped the people maintain their responsibilities with celebrations and events that allowed the community to be in balance with a larger cosmovision. in this model, the macehual was instrumental in maintaining customs and traditions the collective considered as sacred duty to maintain. the macehual was an integral part of the collective. they were in essence the stewards of their community. this idea that the macehualli was ‘deserving’ emanated from the philosophy that the macehual was the heart of their community because not only could the community rely on them for a variety of needs and resolving of issues, but the macehual continuously demonstrated their love and care for the community and the collective good (garcia, n.d.). as part of the leadership institute we teach our students that the macehualli are those that organize for and with their community. they are the first to arrive and the last to leave. they are the individuals who demonstrate their commitment to community through their actions and life-long commitment. the macehualli are those who truly are of service to their communities. land and water traditions at the core association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 204 belonging to a collective is the foundation in the macehual framework. success is not measured in relation to an individual, but as an entire community and/or collective. we emphasize that we owe our successes to our families, communities, and larger networks we are part of. the macehual is an individual who commits to making a positive change in their communities. this journey begins with that intent and continues with building a greater consciousness that includes the act of knowing themselves as a means to confronting their own biases, strengths, and weaknesses. the macehual understands the importance of their identity, traditions, culture, and language. they find their place of origin and understand the deep connection to place and people. the macehual understands history (as told by the people) and is proud of their history. the macehual makes peace with the past and walks toward the future. they become an intricate member of the community who understands that it’s not just about fighting the system, but rather it’s about building social justice and consciousness from within the community itself (garcia, n.d.). the macehual is deeply committed to their family, their community, and to their extended networks. we believe that by teaching our students, emerging leaders of color, these principles, a spiritual connection emerges and develops with themselves, their family, their community, and what they consider their spiritual nation.3 the macehual is capable of discerning the social, cultural, economic, and political forces that affect their community and based on this, they are able to think strategically to support their community in a way that protects and fosters the greater good. to do this, the macehual must first make the commitment and develop a vision that includes all of these parts (garcia, n.d.). we believe that if we build our own, community-based leadership development models that are rooted in culture, tradition, and community, then we can increase the number of young members across our communities who hold leadership positions across various levels and that will contribute to positive social, political, cultural, and economic change in ways that break from institutionalized forms. by creating our own leadership model immersed in new mexican and indigenous cultures and traditions, we are building the importance of community and fostering the collective good. not only is our nonprofit proud of the fact that it has created its own 3 by spiritual nation, we refer to whatever beliefs binds the “leader” with his/her community necochea association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 205 leadership development model, but it also emphasizes the importance of reconnecting young emerging leaders to land and water based traditions. we are planting the seeds of knowledge in the hearts and minds of young people with the hope that regardless of the educational/ professional path they follow, they will keep connected to the sacredness of land, water, culture, identity, and traditions. our ultimate goal in the cesoss leadership institute is that by utilizing the macehual framework, we are ultimately helping in the development of future leaders who have a critical consciousness and who will work alongside communities to elicit change and achieve justice. ciclos de la tierra framework and educational model: cultivating querencia through mutualismo and social justice the ciclos de la tierra framework and educational model is offered as another example of a community-based and community-created education that can be used in schools and organizations across the state. the ciclos framework emanates from the precious knowledge, history, and agricultural traditions of new mexico and utilizes concepts from acequia philosophies that teach individuals, especially children, on how to become better stewards for mother earth by emphasizing the importance and sacredness of land and water. the ciclos curriculum was introduced and created by alicia chavez, a former cesoss leadership institute participant who is currently a board member of the organization. the framework of the ciclos curriculum began as chavez’s initial research project during the leadership institute and continued as part of her master’s thesis project for the community regional and planning master’s program at the university of new mexico (chavez, 2017). her thesis included an expansion of her original project with a more detailed framework based on acequia philosophy and a complete educational garden program for 4th grade students (chavez, 2017). the trajectory of this young leader is symbolic of what cesoss ultimately envisions— to significantly impact the long-term education and professional path of young leaders of color in new mexico who recognize the importance of land and water as part of their educational and professional paths. with the guidance from jorge garcia and dr. virginia necochea, two of the founding board members of cesoss and the creators of the leadership institute, chavez pitched this land and water traditions at the core association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 206 idea of utilizing acequia4 philosophy and knowledge as a model that could be potentially used for local community organizing. from this initial idea also emerged the idea of creating a framework based on traditional acequia knowledge that could be used to teach young children about how to become better stewards of the earth and environment. chavez wanted to not only honor historic and contemporary acequia ways of life, but also wanted children to understand local traditions that had been part of their own families and communities. the ciclos framework was intentional in teaching children about gardening but through the teachings of acequia philosophies that emphasized the importance of land and water traditions from the perspective of the people who call new mexico home. the ciclos framework was a move away from the mostly scripted garden programs that were being used across local schools. what this framework most represents is a return to and focus on the importance of place, history, traditions, and people in new mexico. importance of acequias acequias are historic, life-giving, water-sharing systems, that are part of the culture, essence, and fabric of new mexican communities (arrelano, 2014). acequias are hand-dug irrigation systems that have been part of the state for hundreds of years. acequias, although introduced by the spanish settlers in the 1400s, it is important to recognize that these systems connect back to traditional moorish irrigation systems and native pueblo irrigation systems as well (arellano, 2014). thus, the acequias that exist today are a blend of original moorish irrigation systems, spanish, and pueblo traditions as well. one needs to only realize that the word acequia is derived from the arabic word, al-sāqiya, to better appreciate its origins and history. it is also important to point out that the acequias in northern new mexico, what is referred to as rio arriba, run differently than the urban, semi-urban, and rural acequias found in the middle rio grande region. up north, acequias continue to be maintained and managed directly by acequia associations and community members. whereas, in the middle rio grande region, with the creation of the middle rio grande conservancy district (mrgcd) in the 1920s, the overall management of water and the main acequias are now under the mrgcd purview (the rio grande: a ribbon of life and tradition, n.d.). although the creation of the 4 acequias are historic, hand-dug water sharing systems that exist across the state of new mexico. necochea association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 207 mrgcd created a disconnect between communities and the acequia systems that were originally managed and maintained by community members (markwell, 2015), it is important to recognize that the acequias still belong to the communities in which they are found. main acequias are managed by the mrgcd, but smaller ‘community ditches,’ such as laterals, venas, and contraacequias, continue to be cared for by community members. over the past decade there has been a rise in community-led efforts to re-organize acequia associations in the middle rio grande region, especially in the north valley and south valley communities (garcia, 2015). given continued challenges from climatic and environmental changes, continued urbanization, and over-development, there is a great need across new mexican communities to ensure the longevity of acequias. this is especially felt in the urban and semi-urban areas in the middle rio grande region that includes albuquerque, the largest city in new mexico, and bernalillo county. because of these continued threats and challenges, community-based organizations such as the center for social sustainable systems (cesoss) and the south valley regional association of acequias (svraa), have been intentional in leading efforts to revitalize, protect, and preserve acequia history, traditions, and culture in the middle rio grande region. what both organizations have done is to use acequia traditions as a basis for community-based education in the valle de atrisco, the south valley, the larger middle rio grande region, and beyond. the ciclos framework includes four major concepts that are part of traditional acequia philosophy—resolana, querencia, mutualismo, and self-governance. querencia involves a deep connection and love of place. resolana represents the gathering spaces created for conversation and reflection. mutualismo teaches us the responsibility we have for ensuring the well-being and health of one another and of our communities. self-governance is key and has long been part of acequia communities in new mexico. acequias are an example of democratic models of governance specific to the sharing of water. both the ciclos framework and curriculum are based on traditional agricultural practices and understandings. for us, it was vital to not only teach about gardening practices, but to include the connection that gardening has to our families and ancestors. we wanted children, families, and teachers to understand that this is not a new practice, but something that has long been part of our people and this place we call home. we also wanted to highlight the powerful technologies that our people created to improve agricultural practice. these agricultural and land and water traditions at the core association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 208 water-sharing systems provide sustenance, water, shelter, and community organizing tactics that are powerful, sustainable, and just. the ciclos curriculum represents an ongoing collaborative effort that pushes educators and the community to move away from the typical scripted garden curriculums that leave out the essence and history of agricultural traditions that continue to exist across the state of new mexico. we are certain that many other cultures share similar concepts and ideas used in the ciclos framework and curriculum. it is important to note that these concepts connect to landbased traditions across the world and speak to the sacredness of land and water for new mexican and indigenous peoples. by beginning with the traditions that are part of new mexico, we are promoting multicultural education models that represent the beautiful people of this land. concluding thoughts this article highlighted three relevant and current examples of community-based and community-created multicultural education models in the state of new mexico. these models stress the importance of integrating new mexican culture, history, and traditions across all levels of education. multicultural education cannot be considered complete or authentic if it is not created by the people who represent the diverse cultures and groups across the state. with the recent martínez/yazzie vs. the state of new mexico (2018) lawsuit and ruling, it will be vital for multiple stakeholders such as the new mexico public education department, state legislators, school boards, policy makers, among others, to truly integrate new mexican culture, history, and land/water based traditions across the entire educational system. this is a historic moment in education and it is the hope of educational experts who work primarily on the ground with families and communities that those in power will work to create transformation by placing the voices, stories, and needs of the most marginalized at the core of any and all educational decisions made. necochea association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 209 references arellano, j. e. (2014). enduring acequias: wisdom of the land, knowledge of the water. aburquerque, nm: unm press. battiste, m. (2010). indigenous knowledge and indigenous peoples’ education. traditional knowledge in policy and practice: approaches to development and human well-being, 31 51. center for social sustainable systems (cesoss). (n.d.). retrieved from https://www.cesoss.org chavez, a. s. (2017). ciclos de la tierra: cultivando querencia through mutualismo and justice. (unpublished master’s thesis). university of new mexico, albuquerque, new mexico. colton, h. (2018, june 14). south valley farm grows connections rooted in culture. retrieved from https://www.kunm.org/post/south-valley-farm-grows-connections-rooted-culture dehaas, d., akutagawa, l., & spriggs, s. (2019, february 5). missing pieces report: the 2018 board diversity census of women and minorities on fortune 500 boards. retrieved from https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2019/02/05/missing-pieces-report-the-2018-boarddiversity-census-of-women-and-minorities-on-fortune-500-boards/ garcia, j. a. (2019). tlatoani cuauhtemoczin, el barrio de analco, y la mexicanidad la conformidad de danza azteca-chichimeca de conquista. unm digital repository. garcia, j. a. (2015, november). the genesis of acequias in atrisco (the south valley). green fire times, 7(11), 19-20. garcia, j. a. (n.d.). macehual framework. developed for the cesoss leadership institute. gudgel, r. s. (2018, august 17). yazzie and martínez v. state of new mexico: july 20, 2018 decision and order. retrieved from https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/alesc%2008 1518%20item%2012%20.1%20%20brief%20%20decision%20and%20orderyazzie%20and %20martinez%20v%state%20of%20nm.pdf markwell, s. (2015). the colonial hydropolitics of infrastructure in the middle rio grande valley. wiley interdisciplinary reviews: water, 2(5), 425-431. martínez v. state of new mexico (2018). 1st dist. court of new mexico, d-101-cv-2014 00793. decision and order. martinez and yazzie consolidated lawsuit updates. (2019, december 11). retrieved from https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/yazzie-martinez-updates/ mcnamee, s. j., & miller, r. k. (2009). the meritocracy myth. oxford, uk: rowman & littlefield. nathanson, r. (2019, june 17). nm the worst place in america to be a kid, again. retrieved from https://www.abqjournal.com/1329692/new-mexico-again-ranks-dead-last-in-childwell-being.html nott, r. (2018, january 17). report: n.m. ranked next to last for public education. retrieved from https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/education/report-n-m-ranked-next-tolast-for-public-education/article_19cf834f-9c1b-55dd-b863-762805fbc4b9.html paradox, a., holmes, t., demouche, l., & skaggs, r. (2014 november). the south valley— a look at small farm practices and objectives near albuquerque, new mexico’s largest city. retrieved from https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/research/economics/rr786.pdf land and water traditions at the core association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 210 stych, a. (2018, february 27). why new mexico struggles to rank higher in best states ranking. retrieved from https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2018/02/27/why-newmexico-struggles-to-rank-higher-in-best.html the rio grande: a ribbon of life and tradition.(n.d.). retrieve from https://www.mrgcd.com/history.aspx toltekayotl. (2014). macehualli. retrieved from https://toltekayotlmexico.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/masewalli/ torres-velásquez, d. (2017). martínez v. state of new mexico: the right to a sufficient education. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(1), 106-124. warren, m. (2005). communities and schools: a new view of urban education reform. harvard educational review, 75(2), 133-173. weindling, w. (2017, march 10). minorities equitably paid, but underrepresented in top higher education positions. retrieved from https://www.higheredjobs.com/articles/article display.cfm?id=1226 association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 22 constructing “deservingness”: dreamers and central american unaccompanied children in the national immigration debate lindsay pérez huber california state university—long beach abstract utilizing a latina/o critical theory framework (latcrit), i examine the narratives that emerged within national newsprint media coverage of dreamers and central american unaccompanied children. data included 268 newspaper articles published during periods of heightened national media attention about dreamers (96 articles) and central american unaccompanied children (172 articles). a content analysis revealed that prevalent and contradictory narratives created constructions of deservingness, where one group is positively portrayed as deserving of u.s. opportunity, and the other group, negatively portrayed as undeserving. the analysis shows that regardless of the positive or negative portrayals cast, constructions of “deservingness” are employed in these narratives that assigned values of non-nativeness to both groups that justify their continued subordination in u.s. society. introduction we are at the helm of what many are calling a global immigration “crisis.” the displaced are risking their lives to seek refuge abroad from war and violence, while receiving countries are escalating efforts to shut them out.1 domestically, the u.s. grapples with its own immigration issues, between the hundreds of thousands of undocumented mostly latina/o youth currently residing in the country, and other migrants who continue to arrive to escape similar conditions. this study explores the public discourses around two groups of immigrant youth at the center of recent immigration debates, dreamers and central american unaccompanied children.2 as this special issue suggests, these immigrant youth are similar, yet distinct, and differentially framed by constructions of deservingness that categorize them as either “deserving” or “undeserving” of access and opportunities in the u.s. i utilize latina/o critical theory (latcrit), and specifically, the concept of racist nativism, to examine how these constructions perpetuate the subordination of both groups. first, this article provides a context for understanding the dreamer and central american unaccompanied youth populations. second, i explain how the literature discusses constructions of deservingness for u.s. immigrant groups in the u.s. next, i provide the theoretical and conceptual frameworks utilized, followed by the methodology. the findings section presents the prevalent and contradictory narratives that emerged for both groups of immigrant youth. finally, i provide an analysis of these narratives and the constructions of deservingness employed by them in the discussion, and conclude with implications of the study. political context dreamers there is a lengthy political context significant to the undocumented youth population in the u.s. (seif, ullman & núñez-mchiri, 2014). for the purposes of this article, i focus on a specific and brief political context significant to dreamer youth, which arose around 2001 with the first introduction of the federal dream act (nicholls, 2013). a dreamer identity emerged from the activism initiated by undocumented college students for the federal dream (development, relief and education for alien minors) act, a bill first introduced in congress 1 for example, syrian and north african immigrants have taken mass exoduses from the warfare and civil unrest in their home countries, embarking dangerous journeys by land and sea to seek safety in european countries. hungary, germany, and austria are only a few of the many countries reinforcing their borders to keep these migrants out. see the interactive story of this migration in the new york times at http://www. nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/15/world/europe/migrant-borders-europe.html. 2 dreamers approved under daca may also identify as “dacamented.” for purposes of consistency, i use the term dreamers throughout this paper. a description of each group is provided in the following section. constructing “deservingness” http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/15/world/europe/migrant-borders-europe.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/15/world/europe/migrant-borders-europe.html association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 23 in 2001, and nearly passed in 2010 (olivas, 2012). this bill would have allowed eligible undocumented youth a pathway to citizenship if they attended college or served in the u.s. military.3 undocumented youth who would have benefitted from the bill became known as dreamers (nicholls, 2013).4 i use this term for purposes of consistency with media discourse, acknowledging its fluidity of meaning across individuals and groups, and that this is not a homogenous identity.5 most dreamers migrated to the u.s. as young children to escape poverty, spent the majority of their lives in this country, and attended u.s. schools. having lived in the u.s. for a significant part of their lives, many have developed “american” identities (gonzales, 2011; pérez, 2011),6 adopted dominant meritocratic worldviews to claim u.s. legitimacy, and reject constructions of illegality (abrego, 2008; negrón-gonzales, 2014). demographically, the vast majority of dreamers are latina/o, reflecting the overall undocumented u.s. population (passel, cohn, krostad, & gonzalez-barrera, 2014). when the dream act failed in congress in 2010, dreamers mobilized to place pressure on president obama to utilize his executive power to grant deferred action—a form of prosecutorial discretion that allows the federal government to provide a reprieve from deportation on a case-by-case basis—to undocumented youth that would have benefitted from the dream act. on june 15, 2012, the obama administration announced the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) program that provided this reprieve and a temporary work permit for legal u.s. employment, renewable for two years.7 over 600,000 dreamers have been approved under daca in the u.s.8 central american unaccompanied children in summer 2014, there was a 92 percent increase in the number of central american unaccompanied children entering the u.s., mostly from honduras, guatemala, and el salvador (wolgin & kelley, 2014), fleeing increased death and violence in their home countries (wong et al., 2013). 9 this migration pattern is not new and stems from a long, complex u.s. relationship with central american countries (menjívar & rodriguez, 2005; olivas, 1990). the united nations high commissioner for refugees (2014) reported that 58 percent of those entering the u.s. should be eligible for international protections claims (i.e. asylum) because of the dangerous conditions they are fleeing. human trafficking law protects their immediate deportation and right to remain in the u.s. (with u.s. relatives, if available) for an immigration hearing.10 throughout this article, i choose to use the term central american unaccompanied “children” and “youth” interchangeably, to describe children under the age of 18, who arrive to the u.s. unauthorized, and without a parent and/or legal guardian. i chose not to use the term most often used in immigration policy and media, “unaccompanied minor.” the term “minor” obfuscates the focus on children that further dehumanizes the experiences of this particularly vulnerable group of youth.11 3 in the 2010 dream act bill, an undocumented person was eligible if she or he was under 35 years old, entered the u.s. more than 5 years ago (if 15 years old or younger at the time of arrival), and could demonstrate good moral character. once the student graduated high school, she/he would be able to apply for conditional permanent residence status that would authorize six years of legal residence. at the end of this term, permanent resident status would be granted if the student had attended college or served in the military for at least two years. 4 some scholars use more precise descriptions of dreamers as undocumented youth activists engaged in the dream movement and other national immigrant rights campaigns (nicholls, 2013). 5 i also recognize that many undocumented youth may not use this term to self-identify. 6 the term “american” has historically defined a white racial identity and has strategically been used to exclude people of color in the u.s. (saito, 1997). i use quotes to show this is not my use of the term, but that of others. 7 there are multiple requirements to be eligible for the daca program, some include: arrival to the u.s. before age 16, continuous residence in the u.s. since arrival, under the age of 31 as of june 15, 2012, have graduated high school (or earned a ged) or currently enrolled in school, and have no felony convictions or significant misdemeanors. moreover, the uscis states those eligible must not “pose a threat to national security or public safety” (see uscis at http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-process) 8 see http://immigrationimpact.com/2015/06/15/3-years-in-its-increasingly-clear-that-daca-benefits-all-of-us/ 9 it was also found that more young girls were arriving than in the past, and being targeted by human trafficking (wolgin & kelley, 2014). 10 the william wilberforce trafficking victims protection reauthorization act of 2008 has protected the majority of recent central american child immigrant arrivals from immediate deportation. under this law, unaccompanied immigrant children have the right to remain in the u.s. with a relative or guardian until the date of an assigned immigration hearing (see http://www.state.gov/j/tip/laws/113178.htm). detained children are transferred from u.s. immigration and customs enforcement (ice) to the department of health and human services (hhs) who then coordinates their care and/or placement with family members residing in the u.s. 11 i also choose not to use the term “refugee,” but acknowledge the protections this status provides those under international law. i agree with the use of the term as a political strategy by immigrant groups and allies to implicate the u.s. in migration from latin-american countries. however, a racist nativist lens reveals that the term “refugee” is also problematic because it carries with it a racialized construction of the “non-native” that erases the complexities of within-group differences among latinas/os generally. constructing “deservingness” http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-process http://immigrationimpact.com/2015/06/15/3-years-in-its-increasingly-clear-that-daca-benefits-all-of-us/ http://www.state.gov/j/tip/laws/113178.htm association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 24 the news articles revealed that detainment conditions for this specific influx of immigrant children were horrific, that children’s families did not have the resources to seek adequate counsel, and immigration hearings were sometimes scheduled in different states than where the children resided (aguilar, 2014). in 2014, u.s. immigration and customs enforcement (ice) reported significant efforts focused to “stem the tide” of central american immigrants and as a result, apprehensions drastically declined by the end of the 2014 fiscal year (u.s. immigration and customs enforcement, 2014). dreamers and central american unaccompanied youth are both distinct and similar. unlike dreamers, central american immigrant youth are newly arrived, and entered the u.s. unaccompanied, without parents or adult caretakers. dreamers have spent the majority of their lives in the u.s., and have integrated into the dominant values, customs, and cultural norms of u.s. society. on the other hand, both groups arrived to escape difficult and dangerous conditions in their home countries, often related to u.s. imperialist policies and interventions throughout latin america (menjívar & rodriguez, 2005). both arrived (with or without their families) in search of better lives. finally, both groups have been framed by similar anti-immigrant narratives that frame them as “burdens” who pose a “threat” to u.s. well-being (chávez, 2008). i utilize latina/o critical theory (latcrit) and specifically, racist nativism as frameworks to understand how, despite these differences and similarities, both groups have been targeted by such narratives. latina/o critical theory and racist nativism latina/o critical theory (latcrit) is a theoretical branch of critical race theory (crt) that encompasses the following five tenets: (1) centrality and intersectionality of race and racism; (2) challenge to dominant ideologies and deficit perspectives; (3) centrality of experiential knowledge, (4) interdisciplinary analyses, and (5) explicit commitment to social justice (solorzano, 1998). in addition to these central tenets, latcrit acknowledges the unique experiences of latina/o communities as mediated by immigration, language, ethnicity, culture, identity, phenotype, and sexuality (solorzano & delgado bernal, 2001). thus, latcrit provides a more focused research lens to examine the experiences of latina/o communities. racist nativism has evolved from the overarching framework of latcrit, and provides a focused space of theorizing at the intersections of race and immigration status, two inextricably linked conditions of the latina/o immigrant experience (sánchez, 1997). historically, latina/o immigrants have been targeted by dominant beliefs and values that assign a racial inferiority and consequently, construct an “outsider” status to white mainstream culture and a white “american” identity (acuña, 1978). racist nativism is a conceptual lens to understand this process. racist nativism (pérez huber, 2008) is defined as, the assigning of values to real or imagined differences, in order to justify the superiority of the native, who is to be perceived white, over that of the non-native, who is perceived to be people and immigrants of color, and thereby defend the right of whites, or the natives, to dominance. (p. 43) moreover, because racist nativism is based on perceptions, it targets latinas/os regardless of immigration status. as a result, this form of racism functions to erase within-group differences among latinas/os (i.e. u.s.-born, immigrant, mexican, central american, etc.) that acknowledge the sociopolitical and cultural complexities that exist in shaping the diversity of latina/o experiences. this erasure homogenizes the latina/o population to fit a monolithically subordinate category of people (hernández-truyol, 1994). racist nativism informs the shaping of a public imaginary of latinas/os, and has influenced u.s. immigration policy—policies that often exclude latina/o immigrants, and particularly the undocumented from full participation in u.s. society (pérez huber, 2009). i argue that racist nativism is a useful tool to understand narratives of undocumented latinas/os, and the constructions of “deserving” and “undeserving” these narratives employ. constructions of deservingness and immigrant communities constructions of deservingness are shaped by dominant discourses that discursively position particular constructing “deservingness” association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 25 groups as more deserving than others in policymaking (schneider & ingram, 1993). according to ingram and schneider (2005a) “constructions of deservedness are undergirded and rationalized by well-accepted narratives, or story lines, in which various groups are portrayed as playing more or less positive roles in contributing to a national well-being” (p. 219). moreover, these constructions have existed within policymaking since the early formation of u.s. government (ingram & schneider, 2005a). constructions of deservingness for immigrants, particularly immigrants of color, utilize culturally deficit perceptions that often define these groups as fraudulent, burdensome, and of low morality (yoo, 2008). these narratives justify the exclusion of immigrants of color from policies that provide increased rights and opportunities (fujiwara, 2005; horton, 2004; newton, 2005). for example, in a study examining constructions of deservingness in welfare policy, fujiwara (2005) explained how latina/o and asian immigrants were framed by narratives of “undeserving foreigners” of welfare benefits that only u.s. citizens should have access to. similarly, newton (2005) examined constructions of deservingness within immigration policy for latina/o immigrants. she found that narratives of the “immigrant freeloader,” and the “criminal alien” were used to construct this immigrant group (both undocumented and legalized) as undeserving of government assistance, effectively excluding them from social services u.s. citizens had access to. however, these studies do not explicitly account for the ways racism informs these narratives, and the ways nativism functions to exclude those perceived “foreign” to the u.s. these narratives, and the constructions of deservingness they confer, are about more than just “racial and gender politics,” as some scholars claim (fujiwara, 2005). they establish parameters of racist nativism that assign a non-native status to latina/o immigrants, while reinforcing the perceived native and superior status of the dominant group, historically constructed as whites (pérez huber, benavides lopez, malagon, velez, & solorzano, 2008). brown (2013) would add that racebased narratives incite degrees of “moral worth” that blame latinas/os for the “suffering of deserving white american citizens” in the competition for scarce u.s. economic resources (p. 291). coll (2010) highlights such negative perceptions are also gendered, often targeting undocumented latinas. the dominant narratives of immigrant “criminality,” “resource-drain,” and “freeloader” have emerged as common discourse for latina/o undocumented immigrants, and are indicative of the perceived threat to a u.s. well-being (chávez, 2008). the literature outlined here highlights the significance of constructions of deservingness as a mechanism for shaping public discourse and justifying policy decisions directed toward immigrants of color. an analysis of the role of racist nativism in constructions of deservingness is useful to understand the constructions assigned to latina/o immigrants—constructs that perpetuate the subordination of latinas/os (and other immigrants of color) while establishing a perceived superior status of the dominant group. methods to examine the narratives within newsprint media, i utilize a content analysis of national media coverage in major u.s. newspaper outlets (merriam, 2002). analyzing newspapers allows for an effective assessment of public discourse (brown, 2013). news stories provide an ample opportunity to examine the dominant narratives of these immigrant youth groups. in fact, research has shown the utility of examining newspapers to understand the framing of u.s. immigrants (chávez, 2008; massey & pren, 2012). the newspaper article search began during heightened national media attention for both groups of youth. for dreamers, heightened attention was sparked by the june 2012 announcement of the daca program. for central american unaccompanied youth, media attention increased in june 2014, at the height of the migration surge into the u.s.12 using these dates as starting points, i conducted two article searches, one for dreamers from june 2012 to february 2015, and a second on central american unaccompanied youth from june 2014 to february 2015. i utilized proquest newspapers database, where i was able to simultaneously search indexes for three major u.s. newspapers, including the los angeles times, new york times, and washington post. i utilized a list of relevant key terms, and limited the searches to full-text articles.13 the article search for dreamers resulted in 96 relevant articles during this time period. 12 the pew research center (2014) reported that by july 2014, over 80 percent of americans had heard at least “a little” about the large number of central american children crossing the border into the u.s. during the summer of 2014, while nearly 60 percent reported they had heard “a lot.” see report at http://www.people-press.org/2014/07/16/surge-of-central-american-children-roils-u-s-immigration-debate/ . 13 key terms for the search on dreamer youth included “dreamer,” and “immigrant” or “undocumented.” this key term search allowed me to capture stories that were about dreamer youth specifically, rather than young immigrants generally. key terms for the search on central american constructing “deservingness” http://www.people-press.org/2014/07/16/surge-of-central-american-children-roils-u-s-immigration-debate/ association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 26 the search for central american unaccompanied children resulted in 172 relevant articles. thus, there were 268 total articles included in the analysis. i engaged a content analysis to investigate the dominant narratives of these immigrant groups by identifying common themes that emerged from the news stories (merriam, 2002). i analyzed articles about dreamers and unaccompanied children utilizing merriam’s (2002) approach for content analysis in order to identify themes that emerged from the data, rather than a deductive analysis with a predetermined code list. i utilized atlas ti qualitative software to upload all articles and code for narratives that developed from emergent themes. utilizing this approach allowed for a more flexible identification of portrayals that emerged from the data. in addition, this content analysis was informed by the conceptual framework of racist nativism that examined how race, immigration status, and nativity were discussed within these narratives, and the ways both groups were constructed as either deserving or undeserving of u.s. rights and opportunities. the following section describes the findings based on this analysis. findings the findings are presented in two sections. the first section describes the prevalent narratives that emerged for dreamers and central american unaccompanied children. these narratives occurred most frequently in the data. however, contradictions to these prevalent narratives were also found. the second section discusses those contradictory narratives. although these contradictions did not occur as frequently, they illustrate patterns within a larger and more diverse context of narratives that illustrate the distinct and multiple ways these groups are discussed in public discourse. the discussion of the narratives follows this section, explaining how the theoretical frameworks provide insight to these findings. prevalent narratives dreamers as deserving contributors. this narrative was a positive portrayal of the undocumented rarely seen in contemporary public discourse around immigration. yet, this was one of the most prevalent narratives that emerged from the data for dreamers. news reporters often described this group as “young immigrants,” “youngsters,” and “students” rather than the pejorative terms “illegal” or “alien”—more often used in articles about central american unaccompanied children. news stories emphasized how daca enabled dreamers the opportunity to utilize their education and skills in their chosen fields, constructing these youth as potentially successful professionals deserving of opportunity. for example, a new york times article quoted one dreamer, “i sort of felt that i didn’t go to school for nothing and i could do what i wanted to do, like everyone else in this country. i can go out and execute what i learned” (semple, 2013). the civic engagement of dreamers also emerged, showing they will continue to contribute to the advancement of u.s. society. for example, the wall street journal explained how dreamers led voter registration campaigns during the 2012 presidential elections. it stated, “in swing states like florida, ohio, and colorado, dreamers…are running phone banks, going door to door and approaching students on college campuses to encourage voting…dreamers efforts [sic] could boost democratic support in state and congressional races, supporters and opponents agree” (jordan, 2012a). dreamers were also consistently portrayed as “good” people wanting to give back. a new york times article featured one dreamer who stated, “i’ve been a good boy, you could say…i want to help out my parents and show them their efforts weren’t for nothing” (preston, 2012a). in another article, the los angeles times quotes another dreamer who commented, “i am undocumented and unafraid and unashamed…i choose to empower my community” (zucchino, 2012). this narrative portrayed dreamers as educated future professionals whose skills and talents would be wasted without the opportunity to utilize them. dreamers are not a threat. this narrative challenged dominant perceptions of dreamers as a threat to u.s. well-being. news stories commonly emphasized that dreamers were not at fault for their status unaccompanied children were “central american unaccompanied minor.” i found that using these terms produced the most results of the most relevant articles for the focus of this study. constructing “deservingness” association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 27 of illegality, being “brought” to the u.s. as children. the wall street journal explained, “most undocumented students were brought to the u.s. by their parents when they were children and aren’t eligible for federal grants, loans or work-study positions” (jordan, 2012b). the condition of being “brought” to the u.s. implied dreamers had no choice to come, and thus, were innocent, distancing them from their illegality (nicholls, 2013). dreamers were also cast as fearful immigrants who deserved to “come out of the shadows.” the new york times reported that after daca, “many [dreamers] talked about being able to walk out their front door for the first time without fear that a wrong turn could lead to deportation proceedings” (semple, 2013). stories argued that even after daca, dreamers remained hesitant to apply, “many fearing their data could be used against them one day” (bennett & chang, 2012). living in fear leads to the need to come “out of the shadows.” an article in the new york times stated, “[daca], while not granting any permanent legal status, clears the way for young illegal immigrants to come out of the shadows, work legally and obtain driver’s licenses and many other documents they have lacked” (preston & cushman, 2012). cast by a state of fear reinforces the “not a threat narrative,” that implies dreamers would not do anything to jeopardize their ability to remain in the u.s.14 the prevalent narratives found for dreamers were very different than those found for central american children. central american unaccompanied children as economic burdens. by far, the most prevalent narrative for central american unaccompanied children was the “economic burden” their presence posed to the u.s. recurring articles reported on the drain governmental agencies experienced due to the influx of these youth arriving in the country. for example, the wall street journal reported from a national meeting of state governors, that the increasing numbers of central american children were, “a top concern among state officials gathered here… and a reminder…that congress’s failure to overhaul immigration laws puts heavy burdens on the states” (reinhard & nicholas, 2014). recurring stories also reported how the influx of the unaccompanied children led to the need to hire more immigration judges, social services staff, and attorneys, adding to the resource drain. aside from government agencies, it was reported that this group also strained resources in public schools. for example, in an article in the los angeles times, a local principal commented how “enrollment [of students] skyrocketed…most of them newly arrived from central america…it’s put a burden on me because i’ve run out of space” (hennessy-fiske, 2014). the burden narrative casts this group of immigrants as undeserving of scarce u.s. resources. central american unaccompanied children as a threat. central american unaccompanied children were also portrayed as “diseased,” posing a threat to u.s. well-being. for example, the wall street journal reported, “frustration is building on the front lines of the immigration fight…officials say the volume of illegal human smuggling is creating spillover effects north of the border, including a rise in stash houses to hide immigrants, auto theft, and communicable diseases” (campoy, 2014). in another article, a los angeles times reporter stated, “it may be difficult to screen out immigrants who are too old or unvaccinated…that leaves parents not ‘knowing who your child is sitting next to in history class,’” quoting a high school parent about her concern over the immigrant “newcomers” (hennessy-fiske, 2014). a recurring theme of expulsion was also included in this narrative. articles frequently reported the need for policymakers to expedite the process of deportations for these children. the wall street journal reported, “lawmakers are…considering whether to change u.s. law to speed deportations, an effort aimed in part at discouraging future migrants” (meckler, 2014). a separate article stated, “the exodus from central america has overwhelmed homeland security officials, who have vowed to speed up immigration hearings but have also struggled to house immigrant families and unaccompanied children” (carcamo, 2014). the theme of expulsion reinforces the immigrant threat narrative—if central american unaccompanied children pose a threat to u.s. society, they should be expelled from the country. despite the prevalence of these negative narratives, contradictions did arise from the analysis that portrayed this group more humanely. these contradictions are described in the following section. 14 this theme poses a contradiction to the previous narrative that highlighted the civic engagement of dreamers. this contradiction will be discussed further in the conclusion. constructing “deservingness” association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 28 contradictory narratives examining the narratives that contradicted the prevalent discourses on dreamers and central american children provides a broader context for understanding the multiple ways these groups were portrayed by newsprint media. these contradictions also illustrate the complexities of immigration discourse, showing that public perceptions of the undocumented cannot be explained by rigid dichotomies between “good” and “bad” immigrants, or the “deserving” and “undeserving.” this section provides a description of the contradictory narratives that emerged. dreamers as economic burdens. these stories described the strain on government resources and agencies that daca posed. the los angeles times reported the implications of daca on schools and consulates across the u.s. for example, one article explained that due to the demand for student transcripts prompted by daca, schools in los angeles “battled backlogs of 200 to 300 applicants…which put workers on overtime to catch up” and reported estimated costs of over $200,000. similarly, the new york times reported, “schools were deluged with requests for transcripts, creating a logjam that coincided with the frenetic opening days of the new academic year” (preston, 2012c). the burden narrative for dreamers played out in the same ways as central american children, focused on the strain this group placed on schools and government agencies. dreamers as a threat. dreamers were also sometimes portrayed as a threat to u.s. well-being. for example, in the new york times we see the “threat” narrative and the “deserving contributor” narrative occur in the same story in an article citing a federal lawsuit that challenged daca.15 the article quotes a lead plaintiff in the case stating, “our biggest concern is that safety has just been thrown out the window.” later, the article cites a spokesman for the department of homeland security who stated that daca “ensure[s] that responsible young people, who are americans in every way but on paper, have an opportunity to remain in the country and make their fullest contribution” (preston, 2012b). similarly, a los angeles times article mentions how daca allows “authorities to focus on deporting convicted criminals, instead of students [dreamers],” while also quoting a republican opponent of daca who raises the concern, “such a quick turnaround for these amnesty applications raises serious concerns about fraud and a lack of thorough vetting” of daca applicants (bennet, 2012). in this contradictory narrative, dreamers were cast as possible criminals who pose a threat to the safety of u.s. citizens. central american unaccompanied children: a humanitarian issue. the themes that emerged in this contradictory narrative were explicit references to the migration of this group as a humanitarian crisis or issue. for example, a wall street journal article reported that hundreds of people nationwide are providing foster care for the unaccompanied children. one of these foster parents stated, “they were all living in a state of chaos…they deserve a second chance” (jordan, 2015). many articles referred to president obama’s june 2014 rose garden speech, where he stated that the migration of these central american children was an “actual humanitarian crisis at the border” (julie & shear, 2014). the new york times editorialized their humanitarian stance on this “crisis” in several articles, one stating, “the administration needs to mount a sustained surge of its own, of humanitarian care, shelter, and assistance for children who have faced horrific traumas in fleeing violence in their home countries” (new york times editorial board, 2014). central american unaccompanied children need protection. the need to protect this group of vulnerable children also emerged as a contradictory narrative. for example, a new york times article explained that some cities were “more welcoming than headlines and protests suggest,” and quoted a resident who commented, “i don’t feel we have to solve the border crisis for a terrified child to be shown some compassion” (fernandez, 2014). in a separate article, the mayor of syracuse, new york, stated, “as a city with a rich immigrant tradition, we feel strongly children should be welcomed and protected” (semple, 2014). the new york times reported on the stance of the united conference of catholic bishops that stated, “these children are refugees 15 in crane et al., v. napolitano, dhs agents filed a lawsuit to challenge the directive to enforce immigration law under daca. plaintiffs claimed the directive violates federal law and their oaths to uphold and support federal law. the case was dismissed in u.s. district court for the northern district of texas in july 2013. constructing “deservingness” association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 29 who deserve the protection of our nation. they should not be viewed as lawbreakers” (preston, 2014). the contradictory narratives that emerged cast this group as vulnerable children who deserve just treatment and protection from deportation. discussion as these narratives suggest, categories of deservingness are fluid. they can shift across time and context, and can be simultaneously contradictory. the contradictions found within newsprint media is indicative of what the pew research center (2014) calls a “public divide” of u.s. opinion on immigration, with an equal number of people agreeing that deportation is a “good thing” versus a “bad thing.”16 however, these contradictions represent more than conflicting public opinion. ingram and schneider (2005b) argue, “laws are not just bundles of advantages or disadvantages, but are also messages about who matters and who does not” (p. 106). prevalent narratives of dreamers and central american children supported policies that articulated “who matters” in public discourse on immigrant youth. research has found that differential constructions of deservingness within immigration discourse are mutually constructed categories that cannot exist without an opposite counterpart (dialto, 2005). thus, these contradictions are necessary for the reproduction of constructions of deservingness. however, i argue these constructions are also about racialized perceptions of who aligns with an “american” identity, culture, and values. such perceptions are also significant to defining what groups “matter” in the broader social fabric of u.s. society, and what they deserve. racist nativism affords a lens to explore these dimensions of the findings by revealing the discursive functions of power enacted through dominant discourses that shape constructions of deservingness, that in turn, assign a subordinate status to the latina/o immigrant youth in this study. according to a racist nativism framework, there is an assigning of values (real or perceived) that justifies the superiority of the “native” (historically, white) and his perceived right to dominance, over that of the “nonnative” (historically, people/immigrants of color). the negative narratives found in this study are the same assigned values utilized historically to justify the exclusion and marginalization of immigrants of color as nonnative. the narratives of “economic burden” and “threat” to u.s. well-being were the most prevalent found for central american children, while the same values were assigned to dreamers in the contradictory narratives that emerged. yet, the prevalent narratives for dreamers were positive values. the question then becomes, how does racist nativism explain these positive values assigned to this group? news stories constructed dreamers as deserving immigrants because of their values of hard work, education, and civic engagement. through the assigning of these values, dreamers were portrayed as a group of immigrants more aligned to american ideals and values, and particularly the neoliberal construct of meritocracy. they have spent significantly more time in the u.s. than the newly arrived central american children and thus, are perceived more similar to dominant society than different. the length of time spent in the u.s. is critical for dreamers, as a key justification for their deservingness constructed by the prevalent narratives found in the study. however, their perceived american-ness (the assigned values that cast them as similar to the dominant group) does not provide dreamers the same right to dominance as it does the native. this is simply a nonnative preference discursively assigned over the less deserving immigrant group, central american children. the discursive preference remains one that the dominant group provides, as those who hold a position of power to employ. dreamers have “earned” the preference of the dominant group over other immigrants, and u.s. immigration policy has followed suit to provide increased access and opportunity through daca. however, their status as non-native, informs the reluctance of the dominant group to provide dreamers a legalized status that would allow them to fully participate in the u. s. daca allows dreamers a form of provisional acceptance in u.s. society, while those in power benefit from their material and social contributions (i.e. labor, wages, social advocacy). thus, while this narrative was positive, it constructs dreamers as a preferred group of immigrants but still reinforces their non-native status, where they will remain marginalized and excluded. the same argument can also be made for the contradictory humanitarian narrative found for central american children. similar to dreamers, a non-native preference is also assigned in this narrative, based on the condition of these immigrants as children. the narrative claimed that because these were children, they 16 see results from the pew research center (2014) poll at http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/01/dhs-violence-poverty-is-drivingchildren-to-flee-central-america-to-u-s/ constructing “deservingness” http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/01/dhs-violence-poverty-is-driving-children-to-flee-central-america-to-u-s/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/01/dhs-violence-poverty-is-driving-children-to-flee-central-america-to-u-s/ association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 30 deserved to be cared for and protected. a humanitarian framing of immigration is one that many would agree (particularly advocates) is the most effective to protect the rights of immigrants.17 however, a truly humanitarian perspective is not one decided by age, but by the condition of being human. this version of a “humanitarian” narrative included children, but excluded adults. in this case, the native utilizes his power to provide a discursive non-native preference to children over less-deserving adults, reproducing the subordination of both groups, and the power of the native to determine this preference. in these ways, racist nativism has shaped the prevalent and contradictory narratives found in this study. through these narratives, real and perceived values were assigned to dreamers and central american unaccompanied children that defined their non-native status, reinforcing the superiority of the native (historically perceived as whites), and his right to employ the power to dictate who “deserves” access to the u.s. to serve his benefit. de genova (2005) explains that the discursive power of nativism does not lie in the “preoccupation with the foreignness of any particular migrant or internal minority, so much as with the ‘native-ness’ of u.s. citizens and the promotion of the priority of the latter” (p. 60). thus, throughout the diversity of narratives that emerged, racist nativism functioned to explicitly and implicitly reproduce the status and power of the dominant group. racist nativism then, articulates a theory for the racialized anti-immigrant politics of nativism that shape constructions of deservingness, whether immigrants are perceived as deserving or not. it also explains why immigration policy continues to exclude undocumented immigrant latina/o youth from full participation in u.s. society, even for those deemed more deserving. let us not forget the long legal battle for the dream act that ultimately failed in congress, or that legal challenges to the daca program continue in u.s. courts.18 furthermore, many central american children (and adults) who migrate to the u.s. are ultimately deported following apprehension (u.s. immigration and customs enforcement, 2014) while those who stay are often subjected to legal violence (menjívar and abrego, 2012).19 for the u.s. not to show some degree of compassion towards undocumented immigrants, particularly more vulnerable youth, would mean it compromises its democratic principles of equality, opportunity, and freedom. in his theory of interest convergence, derrick bell (2004) argues that historically, rights of the racially marginalized are “recognized and protected when and only so long as policymakers perceive that such advances will further the interests that are their primary concern” (p. 49). there is a long and consistent history of exclusion of immigrants of color in the u.s. (ngai, 2004). constructions of the deserving immigrant and the (albeit limited) legal protections they justify, allow the u.s. to maintain ideals of democracy, and its position to enforce those ideals domestically and internationally. at the same time, constructions of deservingness assure the continued subordination of immigrants of color. conclusion this study found that diverse narratives framed constructions of deservingness for dreamers and central american unaccompanied children. however, an analysis of racist nativism showed both groups were discursively assigned non-native values, explicitly and implicitly, that justified the perceived superiority and dominance of the native—regardless of whether the narratives were constructed as deserving or undeserving. this study has shown that it is questionable whether constructions of the “deserving” immigrant truly exist, if, our meaning of “deserving” is positioned within an understanding of a shared humanity. such a position would require the belief that all human beings deserve the right to democratic ideals of equality, liberty, and freedom. interrogating constructions of deservingness from a racist nativist lens shows this is not the case. 17 see pérez huber (2009) for further description of a human rights frame. 18 texas v. united states no. b-14-254 is a lawsuit filed on behalf of 25 u.s. states to challenge the implementation of the daca expansion program known as the deferred action for parents of americans and lawful permanent residents (dapa) that was announced by the obama administration in november 2014. in november, 2015 the u.s. department of justice submitted a petition for certiorari to the u.s. supreme court to hear the case. the supreme court will likely decide in early 2016 if the case will be heard. if the court hears the case, it would likely rule in june 2016. 19 menjívar and abrego (2012) found that from since the late 1990’s, central american undocumented immigrants have been targeted by “legal violence,” forms of structural and symbolic violence produced by immigration law that results in suffering, and hinders immigrant incorporation. these researchers found that legal violence has lasting repercussions for those residing in the u.s., as well as for those within their social networks in their countries of origin. these are the conditions that many of the central american unaccompanied minor children experience today. constructing “deservingness” association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 31 within the context of immigration, we must re-think discourses about who “deserves” u.s. integration. finally, it is imperative that we are critical of how some immigrant youth are constructed as deserving, while others are not. we must position this critique within its larger social and political contexts, as young lives and futures are at stake in these debates. constructing “deservingness” association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 32 references abrego, l. (2008). legitimacy, social identity and the mobilization of law: the effects of ab 540 on undocumented students in california. law & social inquiry, 33(3), 709–734. acuña, r. (1978). occupied america: the chicano’s struggle toward liberation. san francisco, ca: harper collins. aguilar, j. (2014, august 22). with waves of migrants, a sea of legal problems. new york times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1555206570?accountid=14512 bell, d. (2004). silent covenants: brown v. board of education and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform. new york, ny: oxford university. bennett, b. (2012, sep 13). first work permits sent to illegal immigrants; more than 72,000 have applied to avoid deportation under a new obama program. los angeles times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/ docview/1039183825?accountid=14512 bennett, b., & chang, c. (2012, october 02). some wary of work permit program: many younger illegal immigrants hesitate to apply, fearing their data could be used against them one day. los angeles times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1081523999?accountid=14512 brown, h. e. (2013). race, legality, and the social policy consequences of anti-immigration mobilization. american sociological review, 78(2), 290–314 campoy, a. (2014, june 15). migrant surge jams border; influx from central america overwhelms system as immigration overhaul dims. wall street journal. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/ docview/1535574518?accountid=14512 carcamo, c. (2014, august 15). detained migrant boy is u.s. citizen: the story of the child released this week highlights pitfalls in handling border cases. los angeles times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/ docview/1553278296?accountid=14512 chávez, l. r. (2008). the latino threat: constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation. stanford, ca: stanford university press. coll, k. m. (2010). remaking citizenship: latina immigrants and new american politics. stanford, ca: stanford university press. de genova, n. (2005). working the boundaries: race, space and “illegality” in mexican chicago. durham, nc: duke university press. dialto, s. j. (2005). from “problem minority” to “model minority”: the changing social construction of japanese americans. in in a. l. schneider & h.m. ingram (eds.), deserving and entitled: social constructions and public policy (pp. 81103). albany, ny: state university of new york press. fernandez, m. (2014, july 17). towns oppose effort to house child migrants. new york times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1545381529?accountid=14512 fujiwara, l. h. (2005). immigrant rights are human rights: the reframing of immigrant entitlement and welfare. social problems, 52(1), 79–101. gonzales, r. g. (2011). learning to be illegal: undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. american sociological review, 76(4), 602–619. hennessy-fiske, m. (2014, september 11). schools taxed by influx of migrants; as districts add staff and space, critics cite financial concern. los angeles times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/ docview/1561196244?accountid=14512 hernández-truyol, b. e. (1994). building bridges–latinas and latinos at the crossroads: realities, rhetoric and replacement. columbia human rights law review, 25, 369-433. horton, s. (2004). different subjects: the health care system’s participation in the differential construction of the cultural citizenship of cuban refugees and mexican immigrants. medical anthropology quarterly, 18(4), 472–489. ingram, h. i., & schneider, a. l. (2005a). constructions by moral entrepreneurs and policy analysts. in a. l. schneider & h.m. ingram (eds.), deserving and entitled: social constructions and public policy (pp. 219-221). albany, ny: state university of new york press. ingram, h. i., & schneider, a. l. (2005b). congressional discourse: forging lines of division between deserving and undeserving. in a. l. schneider & h.m. ingram (eds.), deserving and entitled: social constructions and constructing “deservingness” association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 33 public policy (pp. 105-110). albany, ny: state university of new york press. jordan, m. (2012a, november 01). election 2012: undocumented youth work to boost latino vote turnout. wall street journal. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1124697701?accountid=14512 jordan, m. (2012b, december 02). ‘dreamers’ convene to celebrate--and embrace parents. wall street journal. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1221061087?accountid=14512 jordan, m. (2015, february 02). foreign youths find a refuge with foster families; children fleeing central america violence get a second chance in u.s. wall street journal. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/ docview /1650038232?accountid=14512 julie, h. d., & shear, m. d. (2014, july 17). 57,000 reasons immigration overhaul may be stalled for now. new york times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1545381565?accountid=14512 massey, d. s., & pren, k. a. (2012). unintended consequences of u.s. immigration policy: explaining the post1965 surge from latin america. population and development review, 38(1), 1-29. meckler, l. (2014, july 18). obama, central american leaders to meet about child-migration crisis; leaders to discuss steps to stem flow of unaccompanied children to u.s. border. wall street journal. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1545891687?accountid=14512 menjívar, c., & abrego, l. j. (2012). legal violence: immigration law and the lives of central american immigrants. american journal of sociology, 117(5), 1380–1421. menjívar, c., & rodríguez, n. (eds.). (2005). when states kill: latin america, the u.s., and technologies of terror. austin: university of texas press. merriam, s. (2002). qualitative research in practice: examples for discussion and analysis. san francisco, ca: josseybass. negrón-gonzales, g. (2014). undocumented, unafraid and unapologetic: re-articulatory practices and migrant youth “illegality.” latino studies, 12(2), 259–278. newton, l. (2005). “it is not a question of being anti-immigration”: categories of deservedness in immigration policy making. in a. l. schneider & h.m. ingram (eds.), deserving and entitled: social constructions and public policy (pp. 139-167). albany, ny: state university of new york press. new york times editorial board. (2014, june 17). innocents at the border. new york times retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1535903267?accountid=14512 nicholls, w. (2013). the dreamers: how the undocumented youth movement transformed the immigrant rights debate. stanford, ca: stanford university press. ngai, m. (2004). impossible subjects: illegal aliens and the making of modern america. princeton, nj: princeton university press. olivas, m. a. (1990). unaccompanied refugee children: detention, due process, and disgrace. stanford law & policy review, 2, 159-166. olivas, m. a. (2012). dreams deferred: deferred action, prosecutorial discretion, and the vexing case (s) of dream act students. william and mary bill of rights journal, 21(2), 463–547. passel, j. s., cohn, d., krostad, j. m., & gonzalez-barrera, a. (2014). as growth stalls, unauthorized immigrant population becomes more settled. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. retrieved from http:// www.pewhispanic.org/2014/09/03/as-growth-stalls-unauthorized-immigrant-population-becomes-moresettled/ pérez, w. (2012). americans by heart: undocumented latino students and the promise of higher education. new york, ny: teachers college press. pérez huber, l. (2009). challenging racist nativist framing: acknowledging the community cultural wealth of undocumented chicana college students to reframe the immigration debate. harvard educational review, 79(4), 704–729. pérez huber, l., benavides lopez, c., malagon, m. c., velez, v., & solorzano, d. g. (2008). getting beyond the “symptom,” acknowledging the “disease”: theorizing racist nativism. contemporary justice review, 11(1), 39–51. constructing “deservingness” association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 34 preston, j. (2012a, august 14). young immigrants, in america illegally, line up for reprieve. new york times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1033279519?accountid=14512 preston, j. (2012b, august 24). agents sue over deportation suspensions. new york times. retrieved from http:// search.proquest.com/docview/1034809828?accountid=14512 preston, j. (2012c, september 28). a flood of applications, with a trickle of approvals. new york times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1080844145?accountid=14512 preston, j. (2014, june 03). new u.s. effort to aid unaccompanied child migrants. new york times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1531391006?accountid=14512 preston, j., & cushman, j. h. (2012, june 16). obama to permit young migrants to remain in u.s. new york times. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview1020646732?accountid=14512. reinhard, b., & nicholas, p. (2014, july 12). governor vexed with secrecy in sending illegal immigrants to nebraska; federal government says it is just following the law. wall street journal. retrieved from http:// search.proquest.com/docview/1544533708?accountid=14512. saito, n. t. (1997). alien and non-alien alike: citizenship, “foreignness,” and racial hierarchy in american law. oregon law review, 76, 261–346. sánchez ,g. j. (1997). face the nation: race, immigration, and the rise of nativism in late twentieth century america. international migration review, 31(4), 1009–1030. schneider, a., & ingram, h. (1993). social construction of target populations: implications for politics and policy. american political science review, 87(2), 334–347. seif, h., ullman, c., & núñez-mchiri, g. g. (2014). mexican (im)migrant students and education: constructions of and resistance to “illegality.” latino studies, 12(2), 172–193. semple, k. (2013, june 14). in reprieves, hint of immigration bill’s impact. new york times. retrieved from http:// search.proquest.com/docview/1367478506?accountid=14512. semple, k. (2014, july 18). with surge in child migrants, city forms task force on aiding them. new york times retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1545744807?accountid=14512 solorzano, d. g. (1998). critical race theory, race and gender microaggressions, and the experiences of chicana and chicano scholars. qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 121–136. solorzano, d., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana/latina and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36, 308–342. united nations high commissioner for refugees (2014). findings and recommendations relating to the 20122013 missions to monitor the protection and screening of mexican unaccompanied children along the u.s.-mexico border. washington, dc: american immigration council. retrieved from http:// americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/unhcr_uac_monitoring_report_final_june_2014. pdf u.s. immigration and customs enforcement. (2014). fy 2014 ice immigration removals: shifting migration patterns and demographics. retrieved from: http://www.ice.gov/removal-statistics. wolgin, p. e., & kelley. a. m. (2014). 5 things you need to know about unaccompanied children. washington, dc: center for american progress. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/ news/2014/06/18/92056/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-unaccompanied-minors-crisis/. wong, t. k., garcia, a. s., abrajano, m., fitzgerald, d., ramakrishnan, k., & le, s. (2013). undocumented no more: a nationwide analysis of deferred action for childhood arrivals, or daca. washington, dc: center for american progress. retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/ report/2013/09/20/74599/undocumented-no-more/. yoo, g. j. (2008). immigrants and welfare: policy constructions of deservingness. journal of immigrant & refugee studies, 6(4), 490–507. zucchino, d. (2012, august 19). immigration rule hard for some; misdemeanor records can threaten the hopes of young illegal immigrants for new deportation deferrals. los angeles times. retrieved from http://search. proquest.com/docview/1034236970?accountid=14512. constructing “deservingness” theme issue-2013.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 75 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline richard orozco oregon state university abstract this essay discusses white innocence as a mechanism that may contribute to perceptions of mexican americans as perpetrators. these perceptions are crucial to ways teachers and administrators respond to student actions as the initial steps in the school-to-prison pipeline. specifi cally, this work reviews the rhetoric of white innocence in a high school u.s. history curriculum map and outlines how this rhetoric constructs mexican americans, and other people of color, as threats or perpetrators to the innocence of whiteness. the consequence of perceiving mexican americans as perpetrators may mediate teacher and administrator reactions to student behaviors and ultimately to initiation of the school-to-prison pipeline. introduction mexican americans are often immersed in the school-to-prison pipeline. evidence indicates latina/o incarceration rates beyond those of their white peers (u.s. department of justice, 2011) exacerbated by evidence that race/ethnicity mediates sentencing (bontrager, bales, & chiricos, 2005), and supported by a penal system that, as wacquant (2002) describes, is steeped in “frenetic development of a private industry of imprisonment” (p. 20, author’s italics) operating for profi t and reliant upon the commodifi cation of crime, criminality, and criminals. these indices investigate phenomena occurring in the formal justice system’s contribution to the school-toprison pipeline. however, the school-to-prison pipeline is a conduit that includes the schooling system where latinas/os are disproportionately represented in school discipline (skiba, horner, chung, rausch, may, & tobin, 2011; wallace, goodkind, wallace, & bachman, 2008). while critical, the above cited studies focus on disciplinary actions resulting from student behavior. germane to this investigation, gregory, skiba, and noguera (2010) write, “[a]nother crucial area of research needs to test mechanisms and develop theory regarding the conscious and unconscious processes that result in differential treatment of some racial and ethnic groups” (p. 64). this work attempts to do precisely this by examining how curriculum maps may participate in criminalization projects and ultimately the school-to-prison pipeline. below, i describe white innocence and person of color perpetration as foundational to my analysis and critical whiteness studies as a theoretical frame. then, given that school discipline occurs at the front end of the school-to-prison pipeline, and that teachers are largely responsible for disciplinary consequences (skiba, michael, nardo, & peterson, 2002), i review literature focusing on teacher views of school discipline. after sharing my methods, i describe and analyze data from a high school u.s. history curriculum map to exemplify how white innocence and person of color perpetration are constructed, then discuss its implications vis-à-vis the school-toprison pipeline for mexican americans. white innocence and person of color perpetration examination of court opinions reveals a discourse that avoids racial accountability. ross (1990a) indicts the rhetoric of innocence in promoting unconscious racism because according to this rhetoric, a person who has not committed a racist act is innocent. however, ross suggests that individual innocence moves beyond repudiation of one’s racism and considers ill-gotten privileges. he argues that this rhetoric, “avoids the argument that white people generally have benefi ted from the oppression of people of color, that white people have been advantaged by this oppression in a myriad of obvious and less obvious ways” (ross, 1990a, p. 301). extremely important is that juxtaposed to white innocence is person of color perpetration. ross association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 76 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline explains that any discursive move of white innocence situates the person of color as “the defi led taker” (p. 310), a perpetrator of threat to white innocence. ross (1990b) also describes how in the rhetoric of innocence advances this notion. to do so, he analyzes rhetorical themes of white innocence and black abstraction in historical and contemporary legal opinions. defi ning white innocence as “the insistence on the innocence or absence of responsibility of the contemporary white person” (p. 3), he attempts to demonstrate how the courts’ opinions positioned white absolution since, “the horrifi c circumstances of the blacks were, after all, not the white person’s fault” (p. 6). ross describes buttressing of this absolution through corresponding utilization of black abstraction. conceptualized as, “the rhetorical depiction of the black person” (p. 6), black abstraction works to “obscure the humanness of black persons” (p. 6). framing blacks as lesser humans allows for denial of empathy in social situations. in concert, white innocence and black abstraction work to “obscure the degradation of blacks and to absolve the contemporary whites of responsibility for any images of degradation that might have passed through the fi lter of black abstraction” (pp. 6-7). these works are involved in the project of bringing transparency to a common-sense, naturalized milieu that cultivates unequal and inequitable social outcomes. the present study seeks to further this project. in the following, i outline critical whiteness studies as a theoretical frame within which the discourse of white innocence and latina/o perpetration in curriculum can be understood. critical whiteness studies during the 1990s, examinations of whiteness appeared within the “intellectual genealogy of critical race theory” (yosso, 2005, p. 71). this intellectual genealogy includes roots in critical legal studies (cls) and radical feminism (delgado & stefancic, 2001). with its cls roots, critical race theory (crt) shared a rejection of “the prevailing orthodoxy that scholarship should be or could be ‘neutral’ and ‘objective’” (crenshaw, gotanda, peller, & thomas, 1995, p. xiii). with radical feminism, crt shares a call for critical examination of the “relationship between power and the construction of social roles, as well as … habits that make up … types of domination” (delgado & stefancic, 2001, p. 5). to “ensure that a focus on whiteness doesn’t become one more excuse to recenter dominant voices” (apple, 1998, p. xi), leonardo (2009) reminds that in whiteness studies, “whiteness becomes the center of critique and transformation” (p. 91). vital to examination is understanding the difference between whiteness and white people. making this distinction, leonardo (2002) clarifi es, “‘whiteness’ is a racial discourse, whereas the category ‘white people’ represents a socially constructed identity” (p. 31). driven by ideologies that proclaim whiteness as “nothing but oppressive and false” (roediger, 1991, p. 13), some cws scholars posit that only through eradication can unearned privilege and oppression of whiteness be terminated. ignatiev and garvey (1996) refer to whites who engage in abolition of whiteness as race traitors who reject white privilege participation. in this abolitionist frame, the existence of racism continues as long as there are races. thus, to achieve the goal of transforming inequitable systems, the extinction of race, including the white race as whiteness, must precede the end of racism since “whiteness is the center of the ‘race problem’” (leonardo, 2009, p. 92). in the following, i discuss research attempts to address the discipline gap between students of color and their white peers by focusing on teacher perceptions. while the school-to-prison pipeline certainly includes elements found beyond teachers’ views of school discipline, this literature is relevant to the current examination. teachers’ views of school discipline overrepresentation of students of color in exclusionary discipline was chronicled in the 1970s (children’s defense fund, 1975). still to date, studies have not offered any defi nitive explanation for racial/ethnic gaps in school discipline. likewise, investigations attempting to explain discipline gaps by assessing behavioral differences have shown no supporting evidence (mcfadden, marsh, price, & hwang, 1992; skiba, et al., 2002). germane to this investigation is scant literature regarding the role of schooling agents’ (teachers, administrators) beliefs in assignment of discipline. johnson, whitington, and oswald (1994) surveyed over 3,500 teachers in australia for their views regarding association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 77 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline school discipline. their fi ndings indicated that teachers’ beliefs refl ected social and ideological considerations about the charge of school discipline and how discipline issues should be approached. signifi cantly, the authors found that 1) most teachers’ lacked engaged assessment of socio-ideological constructions of varying school disciplinary approaches, 2) did not consider school discipline as actions that attended to divergent racial group interests, and 3) most teachers believed discipline issues were the product of problem students. the fi nding that teachers perceive students as problems duplicated guttman’s (1982) quantitative study. guttman found that israeli elementary school teachers cited students’ “need for attention … psychological problems” and “parents’ level of education” (p. 18) as among reasons for student disciplinary issues. conversely, these teachers discounted “ethnic discrimination” (p. 18) as contributors to behavioral problems. importantly, guttman noted that teachers directed “the responsibility for behavioral problems onto the child, and away from themselves” (p. 18). missing from investigations was the role of race in teachers’ perceptions. however, gregory and mosely (2004) addressed this gap. their qualitative study examined theoretical foundations upon which teachers explained disciplinary issues. this inquiry, conducted in a large, urban high school, “sought to examine the connection between race and teachers’ views about students in the discipline system” (p. 18). in this work, most teachers disregarded race in their explanations of disciplinary issues. these researchers described that, “teachers did not raise issues of racial profi ling, unconscious racism, or differential treatment as forces that contribute to discipline problems” (p. 25). the authors held that “teachers’ beliefs about race can … impact their participation in the defi nition and creation of discipline moments,” (p. 18), and concluded that their study “set the groundwork for future studies to examine the causal relationship between the type of implicit theory about race and discipline held by a teacher” (p. 28). the current essay builds on this groundwork by positing a theoretical basis for examination of the discipline gap and postulates how racialization may be informed. that is, white innocence is not constructed neutrally. it is rhetoric that contributes to misrecognition of perceptions that “helps smooth over the apparent inconsistency between” (ross, 1990b, p. 20) longstanding discipline inequities and school disciplinary approaches and applications by teachers and administrators that are assumed to be unbiased. in the pages that follow, i present examples of the construction of white innocence and mexican american (and other people of color) perpetration found in a u.s. history curriculum map (hereafter, the curriculum map). before doing so, i share methods used to analyze the curriculum map. methods i requested the curriculum map for high school united states history from a school district in the southwest. written for the 2011-2012 school year, the curriculum map was a district-generated document used as a resource guide for teacher unit and lesson planning. it was a 15-page document formatted with topic titles at the top and several sections below (figure 1). employing document analysis, i performed a detailed examination of this curriculum map. during the course of the inquiry, i engaged in continuous data-theory evaluation. i utilized ’hutchins’ (1977) work to direct my document analysis due to its capacity to discern the of documents. hutchins suggests, “(t)he ability to say what a text is about must be regarded as one facet of our ability to understand a text” (p. 17). central to document analysis is text comprehension; specifi cally, the relationship of extant macrolevel social structures to narrower micro-level structures as transmitted in a document. as hutchins comments, “we may envisage the already established macro-structure as providing the context for the interpretation of a particular episode” (p. 27). thus, document analysis was performed to discern the curriculum map’s connection as a micro-level artifact to larger macro-level descriptions of the rhetoric of innocence as described by ross (1990a, 1990b). in multiple readings of the curriculum map, i conducted line-by-line analyses of content discourse for conceptual connections to descriptions of the rhetoric of innocence. a priori categories i established to analyze the curriculum included the concepts of white innocence and person of color abstraction as described by ross (1990a, 1990b), as well as omission. thus, in three separate readings i wrote memos on printed copies of the curriculum that aligned the text of the curriculum map to these categories in establishing a rhetoric of innocence. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 78 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline figure 1. important to the continuous data-theory evaluation employed in this work is van dijk’s (1992) suggestion that in examination of text and talk there exists “a double strategy of positive self-presentation, on the one hand, and … subtle … forms of negative other-presentation, on the other hand. indeed … out group derogation seldom takes place without expressions of … social face-keeping” (p. 89). thus, throughout the data collection process, i concentrated on two evaluations: 1) how the discursive content of the curriculum at hand (a micro-social analysis) related to analyses of white innocence and person of color abstraction in legal rhetoric described above (a more macro-social analysis), and 2) how discourse utilized in the curriculum engaged in the double “strategy of positive self-presentation” and social face-keeping” for whites through innocence, and “subtle … negative other-presentation” of people of color. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 79 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline white innocence and person of color abstraction while white innocence and person of color abstraction work concurrently and in collaboration to veil racial subordination and benefi ts of white innocence (gotanda, 2004), i highlight each separately in this section to bring clarity to how the present curriculum engages in such constructions. white innocence. the curriculum map succeeds at posting white innocence through “misrecognition and deniability” (dick & wirtz, 2011, p. e5) of white culpability by employing a grammatical and discursive device referred to as mitigating agency (duranti, 2004). mediation (mitigation) of agency is achieved through “grammatical and discourse strategies, including omission (i.e. no mention of agent at all) and alternative grammatical framings (e.g., variation in the expressed connection between an event and the entity that might have caused it)” (p. 460). the curriculum map applies both strategies. mitigation through grammatical framing. white innocence is achieved via grammatical framing and mitigation of responsibility of historical activities through the use of accounts and techniques of neutralization described originally by scott and lyman (1968), and sykes and matza (1957/2003), respectively. an account is “a statement made by a social actor to explain … untoward behavior – whether that behavior is his own or that of others” (scott & lyman, 1968, p. 46). when such acts occur, they “may obligate the actor to give an account to correct impressions … or to save face” (buttny, 1985, p. 58). in the present curriculum, saving face (white innocence) is obtained through justifi cation by way of techniques of neutralization (mcgraw, 1990) of historical proceedings. justifi cation techniques of neutralization invoked in the curriculum map include, 1) denial of injury (to people) (buttny, 1985), and 2) denial of victim (as objects), acknowledgment that actions occurred but were acceptable since “there are objects that have a neutral or ambiguous identity with respect to ownership” (scott & lyman, 1968, p. 51). neutralizing effects are produced through invocation of white innocence and carried out by grammatical framing through use of modally weak nouns, verbs, and verb phrases where whites are involved. this is possible because, as bybee (1985) describes, utilization of modally weak nouns and verbs serves the purpose of mitigating agency. the curriculum map illustrates this in the employment of the modally weak verb contact and the noun relations in passages that mitigate injury to native americans: • when worlds collide: early american civilizations and european contact. • identify the reciprocal impact from early european contact with indigenous peoples. • how did contact with new cultures change both the old and new world? • early relations with native americans … these statements offer modally weak grammar that contributes to frames that neutralize injurious experiences of native americans occasioned by the arrival and actions of white europeans. use of modally weak grammar suggests a reciprocal initiation and interest in social matters. the implication of interest at once palliates injury while indicting, at least in part, native americans for their own injurious experiences with white europeans. when a modally stronger verb is used, mitigation of responsibility can still be maintained. the curriculum map exemplifi es this move in the following: • describe the reasons for colonization of america (e.g., religious freedom, desire for land, economic opportunities, and a new life). despite utilization of a grammatically stronger modality by way of admission of colonization, justifi cation of colonization is created by offering leads that frame colonization in terms of only the victimless activities of white europeans. the move, through omission, neutralizes ill-treatment of native americans in two domains: 1) the denial of injury as a result of violence perpetrated upon native american people in the name of reasons offered, and 2) denial of victims specifi cally in regard to the lead, “desire for land,” wherein no acknowledgment is made with respect to any previous ownership of land. ross (1990b) writes that “[w]hite innocence is the insistence on the … absence of responsibility of the contemporary white person” (p. 3). modally weak grammar in passages of the curriculum map cited here serves association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 80 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline this resolve by neutralizing narratives of the subjugation of indigenous populations, diminishing responsibility, and preserving the innocence of whites. any relative privilege of modern-day whites to that of indigenous peoples as a legacy of white oppression is obscured through use of historical accounts that utilize dual techniques of neutralization: denial of injury and denial of victim. in all, the above examples support van dijk’s (1992) notion of the double strategy of white social facekeeping and negative other presentation. these reciprocating effects occur as the result of inherent framing that is produced in the rhetoric of white innocence (ross, 1990a). mitigating agency by way of accounts and techniques of neutralization serves to frame whites as innocent through social face-keeping with concurrent negative framing of native americans as threats to white innocence. omission. the discourse strategy of omission can be used simultaneously to, 1) perform the hegemonic act of normalizing whites while rejecting person of color voice as a matter of investigation (san juan, 1991), and 2) augment mitigation of agency that is fundamental to white innocence (duranti, 2004). thus, omission of perspectives of people of color valorizes “the self-evident truths” (san juan, 1991, p. 467) of whiteness as “the existing social order” (sleeter, 2002, p. 18) without agent performance, while omissions of explicit identifi cation of agents of activities contribute to misrecognition of agent culpability (dick & wirtz, 2011). the curriculum map here practices such omissions. similar to sleeter’s (2002) fi ndings of exclusion in social studies curriculum, there is omission of people of color in this curriculum map. by counting the number of people appearing in the curriculum map, the group central to study can be determined. results reveal a total of 49 names, 45 (92%) are white people, and 4 (8%) are black people. no person from any other racial/ethnic group is represented in the curriculum map. these omissions contribute to hegemonic acts of normalizing whites as americans while simultaneously dismissing narratives of people of color. such marginalization contributes to white innocence as a technique of neutralization (sykes & matza, 1957/2003) whereby once rendered as absent, construction of the denial of victim (scott & lyman, 1968) of people of color can be achieved with seemingly more ingenuousness. ultimately, omissions aid in production of abstractions that work to “obscure the humanness” (ross, 1990b, p. 6) of people of color. this uncompassionate condition allows for denial of empathy with minimal resistance to oppressive activity and absolved responsibility. abstractions through omissions also serve to mitigate agency for activities. the following moves in the curriculum map exemplify this: • explain the motives for the colonization of america. • describe the impact of expansion on people in the west. • assess how the following social developments infl uenced american society … a. civil rights issues juxtaposed to omission of people of color that constructs denial of victim and empathy, the above omissions buttress the structure of a denial of perpetrator. they do so by omitting explicit identifi cation of agents of activities (colonization, expansion, issues) and, in turn, culpability for objectionable consequences suffered by those upon whom actions were conducted (ross, 1990b). these omissions assist in assembling frames that yield a “misrecognition and deniability” (dick & wirtz, 2011, p. e5) of white responsibility. in this denial, the innocence of whiteness as agent of unbecoming activity is maintained. person of color abstraction. the curriculum map regularly represents people of color abstractly by using notions of time and geography as proxies. the map’s fi rst topic, when worlds collide: early american civilizations and european contact, references native americans by using a notion of time, early. similarly, later in the curriculum, native americans are abstracted by reference to time through use of prehistoric. two instances where this takes place are found in the following passages: • describe prehistoric cultures of the north american continent. • how did pre-historic cultures of the north american continent differ from the europeans whom they encountered? association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 81 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline these abstractions, representing native americans as historical moments, serve the purpose of cloaking natural (native) claims to land. this rhetorical move supports white innocence by substantiating “white privilege through a system of property rights in land in which the ‘race’ of the native americans rendered their fi rst possession rights invisible and justifi ed conquest” (harris, 1993, p. 1721). geography is likewise invoked to abstract native americans and mexican ethnics: • how did the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo affect the people of the american southwest? • evaluate the outcome of westward expansion on people in the west. abstractions such as these position people as locations. the abstractions condition denials of victims (scott & lyman, 1968) since, according to this curriculum map, specifi c groups of people are not involved. each of the above abstractions serves the purpose of dehumanization for reduction of consideration (ross, 1990b) while simultaneously maintaining the presentation of a desirable white social identity (douglas & mcgarty, 2001). in the case of the former passages above, native americans are represented as historical moments, while they and mexican ethnics are signifi ed as regional objects in the latter. this dehumanization along with maintenance of an exculpated white social identity is part of the project of white innocence. ross (1990b) explains clearly this project vis-à-vis blacks: [t]he power of black abstraction is that it obscures the humanness of black persons. we can more easily think of black persons as not fully human so long as we do not see them in a familiar social context … as soon as we begin to imagine the actual circumstances of black persons … the pain and humiliation … the rhetoric … starts to unravel. the great power of … abstraction is its power to blunt the possible empathetic response (p. 6). thus, abstraction of people of color can contribute to social absolution of oppressions by whites and to a nullifi cation of empathy for people of color (ross, 1990a). innocence and perpetration the curriculum map exemplifi es how, by way of mitigation of agency (duranti, 2004), the project of white innocence can be engaged. strategic use of omissions and “alternative grammatical framings” (p. 460) are interspersed throughout the curriculum and perform work that scaffolds white innocence. grammatical frames that mitigate agency are shaped by accounts (scott & lyman, 1968) and techniques of neutralization (sykes & matza, 1957/2003). together with abstractions and omissions that dehumanize people of color and reject their narratives while normalizing whites as american and maintaining a desirable white social identity, white innocence is sustained through “misrecognition and deniability” (dick & wirtz, 2011, p. e5) of white culpability. white innocence in the curriculum map, the result of interplay of the mechanisms of alternative grammatical framings, is conversely paralleled. ross (1990a) conceptualizes this parallel as follows, “the idea of the innocent victim always conjures the one who takes away her innocence and who thereby himself becomes … the ‘defi ler’ … the invocation of innocence is also the invocation of sin, guilt, and defi lement” (p. 309-310). discursive moves that (re)construct white innocence, therefore, simultaneously (re)constructs the person of color as an antagonist to this innocence. the person of color becomes a perpetrator through understanding of the perpetrator or defi ler as a “natural opposite” (p. 310) to white innocence. this frame is a portal through which issues in the schooling end of the school-to-prison pipeline may be addressed. mexican americans as perpetrators and the school-to-prison pipeline several studies fi nd evidence of the infl uence of race in sentencing (bontrager et al., 2005; johnson, 2006; steffensmeier & demuth, 2001). in their examination of penology of racial innocence, murakawa and beckett (2010) write, “racial power is … a systemic institutional phenomenon that reproduces racial inequality and the presumption of black and brown criminality” (my emphasis, p. 701). thus, at the back end of the school-toassociation of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 82 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline prison pipeline, mexican american youth may become victims of presumptions that work against them. i posit that contributing to the construction of frames to which murakawa and beckett refer is the rhetoric of white innocence and its simultaneous opposite, mexican american perpetration. whenever rhetoric of white innocence is presented, whether in school settings or larger social discourse, groundwork is reinforced upon which presumptions of mexican americans, and other people of color, as the “defi led taker” of white innocence are established (ross, 1990b). teachers and school administrators are not isolated from this rhetoric at the social level. likewise, as the examples here indicate, teachers are exposed to this rhetoric in curricula. while most teachers might be able to reject negative, stereotypical frames of mexican americans at the conscious level (ross, 1990b), unconscious racism upon which rhetoric of white innocence contributes remains. in the case of the classroom teacher, the ever-present frame is used to make sense of student actions (tannen, 1993). gregory and colleagues (2010) state, “despite relatively similar rates of disruption, black, latino, or american indian students may be more likely to be differentially selected for discipline consequences” (authors italics, p. 62). thus, perception of mexican americans as perpetrators may adversely mediate assessments of the students’ actions and consequences. when acted upon by teachers, student behaviors assessed negatively may result in consequences that would have uneven distributions. wallace and associates (2008) found these discrepancies and noted that when considering consequences, latina/o students are more likely than whites to be subject to the most punitive discipline (i.e. suspension, expulsion). these consequences set in motion initiation of the school-to-prison pipeline by casting further the frame of mexican american perpetration. hirschfi eld (2008) speaks to this point, expanded school exclusion is a symbolic form of criminalization … education agencies that increase their use of exclusionary punishments endorse the prevailing rationale of contemporary criminal justice practice – deterrence and incapacitation. (p. 82) ultimately, teachers and administrators can be much more than intermediaries between a student’s conduct and deserved consequences; they can become active participants in the initiation and perpetuation of school-toprison pipelines (nolan & anyon, 2004). conclusion while the us history curriculum map presented above engages in the rhetoric of white innocence and person of color perpetration, it is only one example of how and where this rhetoric takes place. critical race theorists are informative to the prevalence of the rhetoric of white innocence when they proclaim that “racism is ordinary, not aberrational … the usual way society does business” (delgado & stefancic, 2001, p. 7). meanwhile, standpoint theory (smith, 1990) informs connections between white innocence in curricula, reactions to student behaviors, and the school-to-prison pipeline as a mode of production in the capitalist system, as leveraged by privileged accounts of assumed “universal and objective knowledge” (grimes, 2001, p. 134) in curricula (a standpoint) that have as its project (weeks, 1996) the marking people of color as defi led takers. thus, addressing formation of mexican americans as perpetrators through framing of white innocence will not be interrupted by merely addressing such rhetoric in curricula or school settings. much larger transformations in social discourse must also occur. that being said, schools and their agents cannot abdicate responsibility for critically refl ecting on the rhetoric of white innocence, its mediation of racial formation of mexican americans and other people of color, and its potential contribution to the school-to-prison pipeline. interventions in the form of assessments of written and spoken text can become part of evaluations of curriculum and practice that can be undertaken in attempts to disrupt such discourse. this would, of course, need to be preceded by professional development that assists teachers and administrators in identifying the rhetoric of whiteness. for researchers, future work should explicitly investigate mediations and contributions of white innocence to racial formation of mexican americans. without a doubt, attempts to introduce white innocence and its rhetoric to educators would be met with some (perhaps much) denial and resistance. still, attempts must be made if there are to be interventions that seek to get to the schooling root of the school-to-prison pipeline. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 83 white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline references apple, m. (1998). forward. in j. kincheloe, s. steinberg, n. rodriguez, and r. chennault (eds.), white reign: deploying whiteness in america (pp. ix-xiii). new york: st.martin’s griffi n. bontrager, s., bales, w., & chiricos, t. (2005). race, ethnicity, threat and the labeling of convicted felons. criminology, 43, 3, 589-622. buttny, r. (1985). accounts as a reconstruction of an event’s context. communication monographs, 52, 1, 57-77. bybee, j. (1985). morphology: a study of the relation between meaning and form. amsterdam: benjamins. children’s defense fund. (1975). school suspensions: are they helping children? cambridge, ma: washington research project. crenshaw, k., gotanda, n., peller, g., & thomas, k. (1995). introduction. in k. crenshaw, n. gotanda, g. peller, & k. thomas (eds.), critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement (pp. xiii-xxxii). new york: the new press. delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2001). critical race theory: an introduction. new york: new york university press. dick, h., & wirtz, k. (2011). racializing discourses. journal of linguistic anthropology, 21,1, e2-e10. douglas, k. & mcgarty, c. (2001). identifi ability and self-presentation: computer-mediated communication and intergroup interaction. british journal of social psychology, 40, 3, 399-416. duranti, a. (2004). agency in language. in a. duranti (ed.), a companion to linguistic anthropology (pp. 451-473). malden, ma: blackwell publishing. gotanda, n. (2004). refl ections on korematsu, brown and white innocence. temple political and civil rights law review, 13, 663-674. gregory, a., & mosely, p. (2004). the discipline gap: teachers’ views on the over representation of african american students in the discipline system. equity & excellence in education, 37, 1, 18-30. gregory, a., skiba, r., & noguera, p. (2010). the achievement gap and the discipline gap: two sides of the same coin? educational researcher, 39, 1, 59-68. grimes, d. (2001). putting our own house in order: whiteness, change and organization studies. journal of organizational change management, 14, 2, 132-149. guttman, j. (1982). pupils’, teachers’ and parents’ causal attributions for problem behavior in schools. journal of educational research, 76, 1, 14-21. harris, c. (1993). property as whiteness. harvard law review, 106, 8, 1707-1791. hirschfi eld, p. (2008). preparing for prison? the criminalization of school discipline in the usa. theoretical criminology, 12, 1, 79-101. ignatiev, n., & garvey, j. (1996). race traitor. new york: routledge. johnson, b. (2006). the multilevel context of criminal sentencing: integrating judgeand county-level infl uences. criminology, 44, 2, 259-298. johnson, b., whitington, v., & oswald, m. (1994). teachers’ view on school discipline: a theoretical framwork. cambridge journal of education, 24, 2, 261-276. leonardo, z. (2009). race, whiteness, and education. new york: routledge. mcfadden, a., marsh, g., price, b., & hwang, y. (1992). a study of race and gender bias in the punisment of handicapped school children. urban review, 24, 4, 239-251. mcgraw, k. (1990). avoiding blame: an experimental investigation of political excuses and justifi cations. british journal of political science, 20, 1, 119-131. murakawa, n., & beckett, k. (2010). the penology of racial innocence: the erasure of racism in the study and practice of punishment. law and society review, 44, 3-4, 695-730. myrdal, g. (1996). an american dilemma: the negro problem and modern democracy (2nd ed.). new brunswick, nj: transaction. nolan, k., & anyon, j. (2004). learning to do time: willis’ cultural reproduction model in an era of association of mexican-american educators (amae) special theme issue ©2013, volume 7, issue 3 84 deindustrialization, globalization, and the mass incarceration of people of color. in n. dolby, g. dimitriadis, & p. willis (eds.), learning to labor in new times (pp. 133-149). new york: routledge. ross, t. (1990a). innocence and affi rmative action. vanderbilt law review, 43, 297-316. ross, t. (1990b). the rhetorical tapestry of race: white innocence and black abstraction. william and mary law review, 32, 1-40. san juan, e. (1991). multiculturalism v. hegemony: ethnic studies, asian americans, and u.s. racial politics. the massachusetts review, 32, 3, 467-478. scott, m. & lyman, s. (1968). accounts. american sociological review, 33, 1, 46-62. skiba, r., michael, r., nardo, a., & peterson, r. (2002). the color of discipline: sources of racial and gender disproportionality in school punishment. urban review, 34, 317-342. skiba, r., horner, r., chung, c.g., rausch, k., may, s., & tobin, t. (2011). race is not neutral: a national investigation of african american and latino disproportionality in school discipline. school psychology review, 40, 1, 85-107. sleeter, c. (2002). state curriculum standards and the shaping of student consciousness. social justice, 29, 4, 825. smith, d. (1990). the conceptual practices of power: a feminist sociology of knowledge. boston, ma: northeastern university press. steffensmeier, d., & demuth, s. (2001). ethnicity and judges’ sentencing decisions: hispanic black-white comparisons. criminology, 39, 1, 145-178. sykes, g. & matza, d. (2003). techniques of neutralization: a theory of delinquency. in p. bean (ed.), crime: critical concepts in sociology (vol. 3) (pp. 51-59). london: routledge. (original work published in 1957). tannen, d. (1993). what’s in a frame? surface evidence for underlying expectations. in d. tannen (ed.), framing in discourse (pp.14-56). new york: oxford university press. u.s. department of justice. (2011). prisoners in 2010. ncj 236096. washington, d.c.: bureau of justice statistics. van dijk, t. (1992). discourse and the denial of racism. discourse and society, 3, 1, 87-118. wacquant, c. (2002). four strategies to curb carceral costs: on managing mass imprisonment in the united states. studies in political economy, 69, 19-30. wallce, j., goodkind, s., wallace, c., & bachman, j. (2008). racial, ethnic, and gender differences in school discipline among u.s. high school students: 1991-2005. the negro educational review, 59, 1-2, 47-62. weeks, k. (1996). subject for a feminist standpoint. in s. markdisis, c. casarino, & r. karl (eds.), marxism beyond marxism (pp. 89-118). new york: routledge. yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8, 1, 69-91. white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to-prison pipeline http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 122 praxis of resilience & resistance: “we can stop donald trump” and other messages from immigrant children silvia rodriguez vega university of california, los angeles abstract in 2018 there have been constant anti-immigrant rhetoric, policies, and enforcement. most recently, trump referred to immigrant children as “future criminals” who needed to be kept in prison-like detention centers and “tender age facilities” (min kim, 2018). meanwhile, the 4.5 million children of immigrants already in the us continue to face possibilities of family separation due to this enforcement-focused political system (suárez-orozco et al., 2015). the goal of this article is to provide insight into the lives of one of the most vulnerable and fastest growing populations in the u.s.—immigrant children. as a researcher and educator, i developed an art-centered methodological and pedagogical tool that can serve those working with immigrant children and vulnerable populations. over a two-year period, i used artistic tools such as drawings, storyboards, teatro campesino’s actos, and various techniques from theater of the oppressed (boal, 2000) to work with children of immigrants in a sixth-grade class of english language learners (ell) in los angeles. through educational, artistic, and anecdotal components of their work, these children created a world where they could resist and fight trump and share that victory by utilizing the transformative imaginary of art. keywords: immigrant children, art, resistance, trump, activism doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.409 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.409 praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 123 rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 124 introduction during an exercise of newspaper theater, in which sixth grade students identify a news article that they think is important and use theater to recreate the issue and think of solutions, twelve-year-old daniel volunteered to show his drawing of what he thought to be the most important news story. daniel quickly stood up from his chair and loudly proclaimed, “my problem is donald trump, we really hate him!” soon after, jorge echoed, “yeah, problem is trump is being racist and not letting immigrants come in by building the wall . . . oh and he is trying to start a wwiii with north korea!” some kids nodded in agreement and others laughed while pointing their hands like machine guns. as an outspoken and energetic student, daniel often gets in trouble while in class. daniel is undocumented. he migrated from el salvador to reunite with his mother when he was ten years old. his friend, jorge, is a secondgeneration mexican-american whose mother is a u.s. citizen and father is a permanent resident. although both daniel and jorge live different legal realities due to their documentation status, they share similar concerns regarding the current president of the united states, donald trump. in this article, i center mexican and central american children's narratives, art, and experiences to answer the following question: what are the experiences of middle school immigrant children in the city of watts in los angeles, california? children not only have important and critical opinions about the current political moment, but also offer hope in the creation of alternative realities, endings, and ways of seeing today’s challenges. i present the narratives of these children through educational, artistic, and anecdotal means to demonstrate the resistance and resilience of today’s youth in the face of trump’s political agenda and twitter/media declarations. my work suggests that educators and researchers should include artistic and expressive methods when working with children and develop new methodologies that include performative and visual epistemologies. in addition to providing candid and descriptive information, the art-making process also allows for meditation, reflection, and innately healing properties. literature review immigrant children during moments of heightened animosity against immigrants praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 125 children of immigrants are the fastest-growing segment of the u.s. child population accounting for one-fourth of the nation’s 75 million children (passel, 2011), yet they do not receive equal protection under the law. in fact, many anti-immigrant policies targeting undocumented adults at the national and local level continue to impact children in harmful ways (dreby & adkins, 2011; yoshikawa, 2011). approximately 5.3 million children have at least one undocumented parent (yoshikawa, suárez-orozco, & gonzáles, 2017). demographers estimate that by 2040, one in three children will live in an immigrant household (passel, 2011). immigrant communities have felt the heavy-handed deportation enforcement implemented by the obama administration that deported more immigrants than any other administration before (nava, 2014; szkupinski quiroga, medina, & glick, 2014). there have been similar enforcement strategies in trump’s first year with his administration increasing immigrant detention by 43% from 2016 (miroff, 2017). coupled with these high rates of deportation, children of immigrants find themselves separated from their families, adopted by family members, or waiting for adoption in foster care (chaudry et al., 2010; dickenson & nixon, 2017; nava, 2014). in trump’s first year in office, his administration has controversially separated asylum-seeking families at the border and created more child-detention facilities. in just the month of november in 2017 alone, state authorities apprehended 7,000 “family units” in addition to 4,000 unaccompanied minors or children traveling without an adult (dickenson & nixon, 2017). even more alarming, the department of homeland security (dhs) apprehended almost 12,000 children and teens in the summer of 2018 placing them in the care of the department of health and human services under the office of refugee resettlement (lind, 2018). although a court order demanded the reunification of children and parents, this process has proven to be long and arduous as the trump administration admitted not knowing the exact number of children they separated from their parents (lind, 2018). it is through this “zero tolerance” approach to immigration policy that the current administration has used family separation and criminalization as purposeful tactics to deter future immigrants from coming to or staying in us (dickenson & nixon, 2017; hennessy-fiske, 2018). moreover, if president trump fulfils his promise of deporting two to three million people while in office, the number of children entering the foster care system could continue to grow exponentially (connecticut law tribune, 2017; dreby, 2012). rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 126 these cases of detention and deportations create detrimental outcomes for all immigrant children vis-à-vis the fear of familial disintegration. even when children do not experience deportation, they fear for the security of their family (dreby, 2012; rodriguez vega, 2015). additionally, children often conflate immigration agents with local law enforcement, resulting in fear of any public official. likewise, children tend to assume all immigrants are undocumented, even seeing themselves as undocumented despite having u.s. citizenship (dreby, 2012; dreby & adkins, 2011). consequently, the psychological and practical effects on children include fear, distrust, depression, anxiety, and financial instability (ayers, 2013). in fact, caregivers have reported frequent crying, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, clingy behavior, and increased levels of fear and anxiety in these children (capps et al., 2007). education, family support, and the role of perseverance educational institutions have historically served as the primary point of assimilation and acculturation for young people, most notably beginning with the creation of native american boarding schools (suarez-orozco et al., 2009). however, educational institutions are now disrupted by today’s immigration enforcement system. for example, when immigrant children are exposed to immigration raids, teachers reported that children often missed school and were seldom able to concentrate when they attended, resulting in the slipping of grades (chaudry et al., 2010). all these consequences of detention and deportation can affect children’s’ ability to transition into healthy and productive adolescents. for instance, undocumented youth describe coming into adulthood like waking up to a nightmare, where the once inclusionary access becomes a denial of mainstream participation in jobs, education, and other privileges like driving (abrego, 2006; gonzáles, 2011). interestingly, even in the face of such high levels of adversity (e.g. having teachers with low academic expectations, attending poorly administered and sometimes violent schools, struggling to learn english, and having little resources), immigrant students tend to outperform their u.s.-born peers when it comes to developmental outcomes and academic achievement; as demonstrated through a study of math exam scores from immigrant students and u.s.-born 10th graders in florida (coll & marks, 2012). theories on immigrant optimism and achievement of newcomer children posit that immigrant children often rely on their social capital and resilience to succeed in this country (suárez-orozco, suárez-orozco, & todorova, 2009). nieto and praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 127 yoshikawa (2013) concur that school-specific social capital acquired through parental involvement in school, support groups, and ethnic community support is vital to ensure that children have the educational resources to grow and be successful. this is an important point, particularly because u.s.-born children in mixed-status families have less access to benefits that the children are eligible to receive. conversely, undocumented children face more challenges in their schooling. not having legal status impacts every aspect of the ecological development of young people from health, cognitive, educational, socio-emotional, engagement, labor-market, and more (suárez-orozco, yoshikawa, teranishi, & suárez-orozco, 2011). coupled with the risk factors of living in poverty and inadequate education, children in immigrant families come of age as they receive a series of societal messages about their cultural, ethnic, and racial group. through societal treatment, media representations, and political sentiments, this social mirroring can influence children’s identities in either detrimental or positive ways (suárez-orozco, 2000). when the social mirror reflects negative images, “adolescents may find it difficult to develop a flexible and adaptive sense of self” (suárez-orozco & qin, 2006, p. 177). hence, being undocumented can cause serious risks to any person’s well-being, particularly during a time of high anti-immigrant sentiment. although undocumented status presents many obstacles and challenges for young people, scholars have noted the optimism present in high school and college students in finding a loophole and making their dreams of getting a college degree possible (abrego, 2006; abrego & gonzález, 2010; gonzález, 2011; pérez huber, 2015; pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, & cortes, 2010). understanding immigrant experiences through art traditional forms of qualitative inquiry such as interviews may not be the best form of capturing children’s experiences, thus prompting an increasing interest in using art to communicate with children (crivello, camfield, & woodhead, 2009; driessnack, 2005). by conducting mixed-method studies that incorporate drawings into longer family interviews and ethnographic work, some scholars have used art to understand views on immigration and family formation (bermudez & maat, 2006; bhattacharya, 2013; dreby & adkins, 2011; katsiaficas et. al., 2016; linesch, 2012; rousseau, drapeau, lacroix, bagilishya, & heusch, 2005; rousseau & rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 128 heusch, 2000; smokowski & bacallao, 2011), however, they have not always centered the art created by their participants. smokowski and bacallao (2011) use children’s drawings—which they deem “cultural maps”—to complement interview data from bicultural children in the us. the drawings and interviews express the confusion and dilemmas that children face navigating two worlds. for example, dreby and adkins (2011) found that children who are part of transnational families develop relationships with those abroad by maintaining an idea about a specific role the person abroad serves. marsh (2017) posits that art activities for marginalized children are important in creating social inclusion, identity construction, and cultural maintenance of bicultural kids. art education is crucial in schools, particularly for its positive effects on the development and education of marginalized children. what is concerning, moreover, are the massive cuts to arts funding particularly in public urban schools that serve the majority of disenfranchised young people (shaw, 2017). methodology positionality my experience working for immigrant rights in arizona has prepared me to understand the potential impact of a trump presidency on immigrant communities, particularly children. through the collection and analysis of almost two hundred drawings by immigrant children in arizona, i found that children were critical of racism and discrimination by police officers and other authority figures (rodriguez vega, 2018). through this community work and personally living in arizona as a prior-undocumented young person, i accumulated substantial experience and training to understand the complexities of navigating an undocumented existence in a particularly draconian anti-immigrant climate. context of the study this study is grounded in art epistemologies to understand the immigrant experiences of children. some scholars (dreby & adkins, 2011; linesch et. al., 2012; rousseau, et. al., 2005; rousseau & heusch, 2000; smokowski & bacallao, 2011) have seen the value of art in research and have incorporated it into their methodology. for example, arts methods aforementioned and others like photovoice, where students explore complex issues through photography, or having children create drawings, or perform issues impacting them have been especially useful praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 129 for children who have experienced traumatic events in their lives such as illnesses, war, and abandonment (johnson et al., 2012). this section will underscore the demographics of the school and the students from which this work took place and provide an overview of the data collected and explain the modes of analysis guided by my reflexive experience of working with immigrant populations in various border states. this reflexive piece draws on institutional review board (irb) approved research from 2015 to 2017, where two cohorts of students participated in a weekly theater class. it is important to note the context for the first year included the presidential elections while the second year occurred during donald trump’s first year in office. in the first year, i worked with 15 students and 31 students in year two1. students in my class were sixth grade english language learners (ell) and/or still working to pass the state’s english exam. as part of my doctoral research on immigrant children and art, i chose to partner with the sixth-grade ell class of newly arrived students, often labeled or thought of as the “difficult” class by the teacher and school administrators. coordinated by a chicana artist and professor and her public art resource center (parc), we partnered with a large urban school district in southern california to bring art classes to one of the elementary schools located in a high poverty neighborhood. this school has faced some challenges including community violence, changes in school administration, a steady increase in the number of foster care youth, and mothers dying prematurely due to cancer. the school is 95 percent latino many of whom are recently arrived immigrants, and an even larger proportion are secondand third-generation youth. the public art resource center program includes multidisciplinary arts classes in choral poetry, music and songwriting, digital media and mural painting, photography, dance, and theater. data collection & analysis my theater class focused on learning about the unique experiences of children of immigrants through carefully analyzing their stories, drawings, performances, alongside interviews with them, their family members, and school officials. i conducted over twelve hours of observations during class time and meetings with administrators prior to teaching and 1 all names of participants are presented as pseudonyms and the school will remain anonymous as a precautionary measure. images used have been approved my participants, parents, and irb. rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 130 working with the students. other data included pre and post evaluations, class recordings of theater exercises and final performances, art projects like self-portraits, reflective drawings, and journal entries, in addition to interviews with the children, parents, teacher, and school administrators. after each class, i recorded my experience and the student’s reaction to class material or topics discussed either to audio recording or written memos that later helped me member-check the themes presented by the students (marshall & rossman, 2011). the program culminated with a school-wide performance by all the participating art classes. these performances, class sessions, and interviews were recorded and professionally transcribed. although a full and in-depth visual content analysis was conducted, in addition to coding the class and interview transcripts with dedoose coding software, this piece will only focus on a portion of my findings about trump and students’ resistance to anti-immigration sentiments. curriculum years one & two to organize data collection and the class, i co-created a theater curriculum for sixth graders that was aligned with the common core state’s standards. as part of the curriculum, we started each class talking about issues in the school and community such as gangs, littering, environment, and bullying and inevitably the topic of immigration would always come up. for students in 2016, there were many thoughts about the first presidential election to include a woman candidate. children also had many other viewpoints and perspectives about the election, donald trump, narco leader el chapo guzman, and police violence. throughout the class, the most pressing and persistent issues were president trump’s initial statements about mexicans as rapists and the proposed plan to build a wall between the u.s.–mexico border. although many of the children were born in the united states—making them u.s. citizens— there were constant conversations about donald trump's unexpected presidential victory. every week, children shared news and personal stories that involved immigration, deportation fears, the u.s.–mexico wall, and other foreign policy concerns including relations with north korea and russia. procedure & participants once the curriculum was ready, i made a callout to any student interested in joining a theater class focused on important societal issues. i talked with parents over the phone and praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 131 met with them after school to answer any questions. a total of 13 students joined the first year: eight boys and five girls. all of them had immigrant parents and five of the students had migrated to the u.s. with the theater class changing its schedule to before lunch time as opposed to after school, the second year saw the entire sixth grade class of 31 students enrolled. while there were many challenges in having a large class of 31 students, there was more representation in terms of family backgrounds including those from mexico, guatemala, el salvador, and honduras) and generation status (e.g. newly arrived to fourth generation). one of the most important reasons for including the entire class was to make sure that more girls participated, resulting in a total of 18 girls and 13 boys. throughout both years, girls tended to be shyer and were hesitant to speak up. as the weeks progressed, shy students felt more comfortable with their voice and presence. once we had common concerns to discuss, i introduced image theater (boal, 2000) where students made statues based on the issues that continuously came up. each student used their body as a canvas and collectively created images that gave life to their stories, concerns, and ideas for possible solutions. once they created the images, we activated the images through actos. defined as a short, improvised scene dealing with the experience of its participants (huerta, 1977) actos were popularized in the united states by el teatro campesino. for both years, the final performance was inspired by children's stories and concerns, like immigration issues and president trump. we collaboratively created a story and once our storyboard was complete, children volunteered to play certain roles, came up with lines, but most of all, developed jokes and punchlines. for the final performance, a large projector displayed the drawings children created while the children performed the story below on stage. parents especially appreciated the images projected, because without speaking english, they could understand what was happening. the next section will provide examples of the types of art children engaged in and created for themselves, the school, and their families. findings the children in this study had many ideas about current issues expressed through their imaginative use of art. the main concern they noted every week was trump—what he said on the news, the policies he was quickly changing, the wars that could start, and the way immigrant rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 132 families might be impacted by his deportation-focused-zero-tolerance plan. even in their worrisome expressions, children constantly affirmed a sense of resistance and a responsibility to change things. this illuminates the way children resist through various art forms. it highlights the tremendous capacity children have to look into the future, be critical about the past, and feel empowered in the present. the first section is on the use of self-portraits in thinking about a future of resistance; the second theme presents the use of theater to reimagine the present; and the last section uses drawings as a way to recreate the past. self-portraits & future resistance the following two cases (figures 1 and 2) are from students who participated in the chicana artist and professor’s painting class and my theater class. the first is diego who at 13 years of age has decided that he wants to be a professional soccer player. through parc’s curriculum that centers students’ dreams and future aspirations, students have the opportunity to create a self-portrait that will be permanently installed in the school. although soccer is his first love, diego decided that if being a soccer player does not work out he will be a basketball or football player. throughout the theme of the drawing you see the importance that sports have in diego’s identity, including the various balls, sports jerseys, nike logo, and large stadium. however, the image strongly juxtaposes these interests by including the face of president donald trump hoovering over the child’s future aspirations. trump’s face has a harsh red cross near the eye that takes up most of his face. the political symbolism of figure 1 poignantly highlights diego’s strong dislike of trump and what he represents. diego has lots of intentions to help others and commit to a variety of causes, yet, one of his primary concerns is to stop donald trump, something he feels simultaneously responsible for and capable of doing. diego specifically points out two issues with the president: one is the racism he believes trump embodies, and the second is the possibility of sending immigrants back. diego came to the us from el salvador with a coyote when he was ten. during an interview with his mom, she shared that they were separated for a period of two years. she worked very hard to save money to bring him, but she could only save $1,000 because she was being exploited where she first started working as a live-in nanny. she asked all the people she knew to lend her money to bring diego. she collected $10,500 to pay the coyote. when diego made it, she was so happy to be reunited, but worked long hours for an entire year to pay back praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 133 all the money she owed. when reunited with his mother in los angeles, diego was happy but had a hard time learning english and spent a lot of time alone while his mom worked. although diego and his mom have been together in the us for three years, she is constantly worried that she could be pulled over for a traffic violation or any other reason that can result in detention and deportation. as such, it is not surprising that diego sees his future as a soccer player intertwined with his goal of stopping trump. during art class, undocumented and documented students alike expressed concerns over trump’s proposed policies. one of the documented students who resonated with this is eleven-year-old marla. marla was one of the girls that really developed her voice throughout the course of the class. she started off being very shy, but volunteering for theater games and icebreakers. this motivated other girls to participate and be more outspoken. one day during a theater activity, students started talking about violence in the community. marla volunteered to play the role of a cop, something only boys had wanted to do. later, i learned that marla wants to be a police officer when she grows up, but not just any police officer, a nice police officer that stops trump. in figure 2, marla personified a police officer holding sunglasses to her face as well as a police hat. although she is wearing a dodger’s t-shirt and jeans, she brings in more police enforcement symbolism by standing in front of a police department squad car. contrasting the police car and accessories is a large thumbs-up-giving donald trump with a red denied sign on his face, a symbol reminiscent of diego’s artwork. the large letters next to him say, “we can stop donald trump” with the stop in large red letters. the image of donald trump takes up as much space on the portrait as marla does, but she positions herself in the foreground appearing unbothered by his existence behind her. however, it almost seems that the police car is potentially stopping trump as the viewer is unable to see his feet, implying that he got runover by the cop car. this image powerfully suggests that to marla, stopping donald trump is part of her future identity equally important to her as becoming a police officer when she grows up. in a sense, she feels like stopping donald trump is her first duty. donald trump takes up space and importance in her personal life, so much so that she must include him in her selfportrait. rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 134 again, we see that the only time marla capitalizes anything is when she is making a statement about trump, one stop is for him and the other is to stop him from separating families, unlike diego’s image, marla includes this powerful message in her portrait. although marla does not make it clear whether she is referring to her own family being separated, the sense of urgency and influence on her identity is very apparent in the image. interestingly, she feels the need to position the word nice before police officer implying there is a difference between nice and mean police officers. although she does not talk about police violence, police brutality, or the role that police officers have in her community, her use of the word nice posits a criticality about police officers. theater & a reimagined present in figure 3, which is a picture of 12-year-old julio, he dons a yellow wig as he becomes donald trump for our play los niños inmigrantes. in this play, julio parades as trump along the san diego/tijuana border to inspect where to build the border wall. there he confronts three children who are crossing to reunite with their parents in los angeles. as they are crossing, the coyote bringing them across immigration check points when he sees trump at a distance. the children and the coyote observe trump talking to obama about the wall. the most important part of the play happens here when trump gets irritated by the dust on the border and lets out a powerful sneeze that makes his wig fly off his head. at that point, the audience uproars with laughter and disbelief. julio enjoys this moment as he feels that by the satire created in the play power is taken away from trump and the present is reimagined in a mighty way. by the second year of the art class in 2017, trump had already been elected as president. the students created a play titled, “trump vs. immigrants.” in one scene, a family gathers together to watch the news and see president trump, played by camilo, stand on a chair in front of them facing the audience to make an important presidential announcement. standing tall with his hands behind his back to transmit notions of authority and power trump declares that the plan for building the wall is underway and will be finished in a month. it should be noted that media plays an instrumental role in this play. for example, family scenes are portrayed with the family gathering around the television to hear the latest news on praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 135 immigration and trump. in his grand entrance, trump looks confident and unbothered by the booing that comes from the audience every time he steps on stage. another scene demonstrates the sense of worry experienced by the family and finding out that the dad has been deported. even the dog refuses to play fetch because he too is also depressed. the main character dago becomes motivated to take action and organizes his classmates to march to the border wall and confront trump. after seeing the news and a racist teacher wearing a “make america great again” hat in class, the students are also ready to take action. they all make their way to the border with signs and banners to confront trump who is in the middle of giving a speech. the play ends with two “men in black/cia agents” announcing that the ballots were wrong—that trump was not elected to be president, and neither was hillary clinton. to everyone’s surprise, the cia brings back president obama for a third term while government agents carry trump away kicking and screaming. across these two years, students believed it necessary to include trump in their plays, yet they did so in such a way that they were able to imagine alternative endings to the presidential election. before the election, students make trump run away from the border exposed by his wig incident. the next year, students implied their belief that hillary clinton was not a worthy alternative, rather, in their imaginative minds, obama returns as the votes were miscalculated. overall, theater provided the space, time, and ability to think creatively and reimagine the present. re-drawing the past one morning during one of the extra classes allowed by the teacher, i asked students to draw what they considered to be the biggest problem they saw on the news. damian, who is 11 years old, shared his drawing (figure 4) and added that he was concerned about trump. the image included trump, north korea, and “the wall.” damian shared that he is afraid of the future—the uncertainty of what might happen makes him think the worst. damian’s drawing presents what he sees as the problem, but it also offers a solution. after writing that “[trump] is racist and sucks at president” damian asks that obama be given a third chance. this “third chance” is his request for a third presidential term, because that would fix all the issues. although children like damian are not aware that the obama rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 136 administration was involved in the mass deportation of immigrants, they see barack obama as a hopeful figure rather than a racist. during the 2016 election, i asked students to draw what they wanted to happen. lola, age 11, made figure 5. although both characters are standing with their arms on their waists in what looks like a powerful pose, there are stark differences between how the characters are portrayed. most notably, trump seems to be positioned slightly behind his opponent with a deep, dark frown on his face coupled with bloodshot eyes and dark circles around his eyes. lola also seemed to have drawn redness into trump’s face, which looks bloody and beat up. conversely, hillary looks pleasant and is smiling. behind them waves a great big american flag. both presidential candidates are standing on wooden podiums with signs labeled “election” and their respective names. while the image is balanced with the flag behind and the lettering below, trump is drawn a bit smaller than clinton. the facial expressions also drastically contrasting one another as trump is depicted with a major frown and hillary with a large smile. the two drawings above convey children’s capacity to recreate the past. to most adults, a recount of the presidential votes would seem impossible, and even more improbable, the return of a past president for an unconstitutional third term. nevertheless, children are not bound by political realities, rather, their capacity to recreate the past gives them the current peace of mind they deeply desire. implications & conclusion the findings demonstrate how children in in a large urban school district resist, reimagine, and recreate latinx past, present, and future through creative expressions. the selfportraits, theater skits, and reflective drawings demonstrate how children are keenly aware of the lived realities immigrants face while living in the us during the trump era. although their families are afraid of being separated, children demonstrate resilience. through their comical representations of power, trump no longer seems as scary as before. this is the power of art. this work illuminates how art can helps us understand the experiences and thoughts of immigrant children in a more profound way than more traditional methods of inquiry provide. overall teachers, school administrators, and after school programmers must be prepared to deal with children’s lived realities and the concerns that they bring to and from school every day. schools need plans in place that prepare them when responding to familial deportations, praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 137 neighborhood violence, and other forms of trauma. to that extent, educators and researchers should include artistic and expressive methods when working with children and develop new methodologies that include performative and visual epistemologies. these outlets can provide candid and descriptive information produced by children, while at the same time affording meditative, reflective, and innately healing properties of the art-making process. these methods are particularly powerful for working with children who are shy, learning a new language, or have experienced trauma in their lives. as a precautionary measure, it is essential to be in contact with a school psychologist and have resources ready for families and children that might need more professional assistance. limitations this work provides important information about immigrant children in a large urban city. however, it is not easily replicable as careful organization and many resources are needed for this work. as such, this work is not meant to be representative of all children of immigrants as experiences and perspectives vary by place of origin, immigration status, geographical location, socio-economic status and even family cohesion. additionally, it is important to be reflexive about my own insider/outsider status and the various power dynamics that can impact this work (lather, 1986). for me, it was important to be clear with the school, parents, and students about my positionality as a doctoral student and researcher in addition to how they knew me as the theater teacher. i concur with fine’s (1994) proposal to, “[be] explicit about the space in which i stand politically and theoretically-even as my stances are multiple, shifting, and mobile” (p. 24). as an insider to the community and ethnic representation of the students, being able to speak spanish with students and parents was helpful in gaining rapport. i constantly reminded myself to listen carefully to the organic themes students presented and represented. finally, the art-making process can be a personal journey where reflection and sensitivity vary, thus yielding divergent results. this work sheds light on the lives of young people as they resist and respond to the challenges faced by immigrant families. implications although the children experience the fear of family separation art allows them to cope in empowering ways. the narratives of resistance and resilience are powerful and have a profound impact on the praxis needed for this quickly changing and polarized world. although rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 138 we know that arts programs help boost student academic performance (shuler, 1996; southgate & roscigno, 2009) and interpersonal development, as well as foster critical thinking skills, the reality is that many art programs are being cut at disproportionate rates, particularly in schools where the majority of students are black and brown. in fact, trump and secretary of education, betsy devos, have released a budget that will cut $27 million in arts education programs (brown et al., 2017). with art programs and funding continuing to be cut at rapid and unpredictable rates, it is imperative that policymakers consider the importance of art programs for latinx, immigrant, and other vulnerable children. to refuse to consider this is an overt act of neglect for these children and the future of the country. acknowledgments work made possible by the social and public art resource center (sparc), ucla’s institute of american culture (iac), the chicano studies research center (csrc), university of california institute for mexico and the united states (uc mexus), and the ford foundation. i am especially thankful for the feedback from my writing group, my generous colleagues, and the amae reviewers and editors. praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 139 references abrego, l. j. (2006). “i can’t go to college because i don’t have papers”: incorporation patterns of latino undocumented youth. latino studies, 4(3), 212–231. abrego, l. j., & gonzales, r. g. (2010). blocked paths, uncertain futures: the postsecondary education and labor market prospects of undocumented latino youth. journal of education for students placed at risk, 15(1-2), 144-157. ayers, e. (2013). is there trauma and resilience in adolescents who experienced immigration raids? an annotated bibliography of research. retrieved from: http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1328&context=honors. becerra, c. (2018). keep the dream alive: the daca dilemma. discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 1-12. bermudez, d., & maat, m. t. (2006). art therapy with hispanic clients: results of a survey study. art therapy, 23(4), 165–171. bhattacharya, k. (2013). voices lost and found: using found poetry in qualitative research. in arts-based research in education (pp. 101-106). routledge. boal, a. (2000). theater of the oppressed. new york, ny: pluto press. brown, et al. (2017). trump’s first full education budget: deep cuts to public school programs in pursuit of school choice. the washington post. retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trumps-first-full-education-budgetdeep-cuts-to-public-school-programs-in-pursuit-of-school-choice/2017/05/17/2a25a2cc3a41-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bc17446c4f1 capps, r., castaneda, r. m., chaudry, a., & santos, r. (2007). paying the price: the impact of immigration raids on america's children. washington, dc: urban institute. retrieved from https://www.urban.org/research/publication/paying-price-impact-immigration-raidsamericas-children chaudry, a., capps, r., pedroza, j. m., castaneda, r. m., santos, r., & scott, m. m. (2010). facing our future: children in the aftermath of immigration enforcement. washington, dc: urban institute. coll, c. g., & marks, a. k. (2012). the immigrant paradox in children and adolescents: is becoming american a developmental risk? american psychological association. crivello, g., camfield, l., & woodhead, m. (2009). how can children tell us about their wellbeing? exploring the potential of participatory research approaches within young lives. social indicators research, 90(1), 51–72. dickenson, c. & nixon, r. (2017). trump administration considers separating families to combat illegal immigration. the new york times. retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/us/trump-immigrant-families-separate.html dreby, j. (2012). how today’s immigration enforcement policies impact children, families, and communities: a view from the ground. washington, dc: center for american progress. dreby, j., & adkins, t. (2011). the strength of family ties: how u.s. migration shapes children’s ideas of family. childhood, 19(2), 169–187. driessnack, m. (2005). children's drawings as facilitators of communication: a meta-analysis. journal of pediatric nursing, 20(6), 415–423. fine, m. (1994). working the hyphens. handbook of qualitative research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. gonzales, r. g. (2011). learning to be illegal: undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. american sociological review, 76(4), 602–619. rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 140 hennessy-fiske, m. 2018). u.s. is separating immigrant parents and children to discourage others, activists say. los angeles times. retrieved from: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-immigrant-family-separations-2018-story.html huerta, j. a. (2016). the campesino's early actos as templates for today's students. latin american theatre review, 50(1), 133–145. katsiaficas, d., alcantar, c. m., hernandez, e., samayoa, e., gutierrez, m. n., texis, o. r., & williams, z. (2016). important theoretical and methodological turning points for understanding contribution with undocumented undergraduates. qualitative psychology, 3(1), 7. johnson, g. a., pfister, a. e., & vindrola-padros, c. (2012). drawings, photos, and performances: using visual methods with children. visual anthropology review, 28(2), 164–178. lather, p. (1986). research as praxis. harvard educational review, 56(3), 257-278. lind, d. (2018) “the trump administration just admitted it doesn’t know how many kids are still separated from their parents” vox. retrieved from: https://www.vox.com/2018/7/5/17536984/children-separated-parents-border-how-many linesch, d, aceves, h. c., quezada, p., trochez, m., & zuniga, e. (2012). an art therapy exploration of immigration with latino families. art therapy, 29(3), 120–126. marsh, k. (2017). creating bridges: music, play and well-being in the lives of refugee and immigrant children and young people. music education research, 19(1), 60-73. marshall, c., & rossman, g. b. (2011). managing, analyzing, and interpreting data. c. marshall & gb rossman, designing qualitative research, 5, 205-227. miroff, n. (2017). "deportations slow under trump despite increase in arrests by ice. the washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nationalsecurity/deportations-fall-under-trump-despite-increase-in-arrests-byice/2017/09/28/1648d4ee-a3ba-11e7-8c37e1d99ad6aa22_story.html?utm_term=.26cd919c47cb min kim. s. (2018) “trump warns against admitting unaccompanied migrant children: ‘they’re not innocent’”. the washington post. retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-warns-against-admittingunaccompanied-migrant-children-theyre-not-innocent/2018/05/23/e4b24a68-5ec2-11e88c93-8cf33c21da8d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a84ca8b9c930 nava, e. j. (2014). federal immigration reform would help new jersey’s striving immigrants and boost the state’s economy. new jersey policy perspective. retrieved from https://www.njpp.org/reports/federal-immigration-reform-would-help-new-jerseysstriving-immigrants-and-boost-the-states-economy passel, j. s. (2011). demography of immigrant youth: past, present, and future. the future of children, 21(1), 19–41. patel, p. (2017). a chance at life: the value of legislative action and institutional leadership for daca students. new england journal of higher education. pérez huber, l. (2015). constructing" deservingness": dreamers and central american unaccompanied children in the national immigration debate. association of mexican american educators journal, 9(3), 22-34. praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 141 perez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h., & cortes, r. (2010). civic engagement patterns of undocumented mexican students. journal of hispanic higher education, 9(3), 245–265. rodriguez vega, s. (2018). borders and badges: arizona’s children confront detention and deportation through art. latino studies, 16(3), 310-340. rodriguez vega, s. (2015). from barbies to boycotts: how immigration raids in arizona created a ten-year-old activist. interactions: ucla journal of education and information studies, 11(2). rousseau, c., drapeau, a, lacroix, l., bagilishya, d. & heusch, n. (2005). evaluation of a classroom program of creative expression workshops for refugee and immigrant children. journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 46(2), 180–185. rousseau, c., & heusch, n. (2000). the trip: a creative expression project for refugee and immigrant children. art therapy, 17(1), 31–40. shaw, r. d. (2018). the vulnerability of urban elementary school arts programs: a case study. journal of research in music education, 65(4), 393-415. shuler, s. c. (1996). why high school students should study the arts. music educators journal, 83(1), 22–26. doi:10.2307/3398990 smokowski, p. r., & bacallao, m. (2011). becoming bicultural: risk, resilience, and latino youth. new york: nyu press. sparcsocial and public art resource center. (2017). sparc’s art education program. southgate, d. e., & roscigno, v. j. (2009). the impact of music on childhood and adolescent achievement. social science quarterly, 90(1), 4–21. suárez-orozco, c. (2000). identities under siege: immigration stress and social mirroring among the children of immigrants." publications-society for psychological anthropology, 11, 194–226. suárez-orozco, c., casanova, s., martin, m., katsiaficas, d., cuellar, v., smith, n. a., & dias, s. i. (2015). toxic rain in class: classroom interpersonal microaggressions. educational researcher, 44(3), 151–160. suárez-orozco, c., suárez-orozco, m. m., & todorova, i. (2009). learning a new land: immigrant students in american society. cambridge: harvard university press. suárez‐orozco, c., & qin, d. b. (2006). gendered perspectives in psychology: immigrant origin youth. international migration review, 40(1), 165-198. suárez-orozco, c., yoshikawa, h., teranishi, r. t., & suárez-orozco, m. m. (2011). growing up in the shadows: the developmental implications of unauthorized status. harvard educational review, 81(3), 438-473. szkupinski quiroga, s., medina, d. m., & glick, j. (2014). in the belly of the beast: effects of antiimmigration policy on latino community members. american behavioral scientist, 58(13), 1723–1742. the connecticut law tribune. (2017). detention and deportation will open foster care floodgates. connecticut law tribune. retrieved from http://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202782163432/detention-and-deportation-willopen-foster-care-floodgates?mcode=0&curindex=0 valdez, l. (1971). actos-y-el teatro campesino. united states: cucaracha press yoshikawa, h. (2011). immigrants raising citizens: undocumented parents and their children. new york: russell sage foundation. http://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202782163432/detention-and-deportation-will-open-foster-care-floodgates?mcode=0&curindex=0 http://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202782163432/detention-and-deportation-will-open-foster-care-floodgates?mcode=0&curindex=0 rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 142 yoshikawa, h., & nieto, a. m. (2013). paradigm shifts and new directions in research on early childhood development programs in low-and middle-income countries. in handbook of early childhood development research and its impact on global policy. new york: oxford university press. yoshikawa, h., suárez-orozco, c., & gonzales, r. g. (2017). unauthorized status and youth development in the united states: consensus statement of the society for research on adolescence. journal of research on adolescence, 27(1), 4–19. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 my name is diego and i want to be a soccer player and stop donald trump from sending immigrants and stop being racist. i’m 13 and when i’m a soccer player, a pro one, i wanna donate my money to hospitals and donate my hair to kids that have cancer. i wanna help others, homeless that lost their jobs and their house, people that can't leave weed, drugs. i’ma help them get a new life and a family. i’ma teach my kids to not mistreat others to help people and to not think they are more than others. to respect others even tho they don't have a job and smell nasty. homeless are still people and we need to respect them or let them be. figure 1. self-portrait. diego, age 13. (2017). http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 144 figure 2. self-portrait. marla, age 11. (2017). my name is marla and i am 11 years old…my portrait is about me being a nice police officer. what i mean by that is me stopping donald trump from separating family! another reason why i want to be a police officer is because it has always been my dream job… i want to help the community. praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 145 figure 3. trump versus immigrants. julio, age 12. (2017). julio dons a yellow wig as he becomes donald trump for our play los niños inmigrantes. in this play, julio parades as trump along the san diego/tijuana border to inspect where to build the border wall. rodriguez vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 146 “[trump] might…start a war—he could come here and send our families back to our country and we’re going to stay…alone with maybe—how do you call it? an orphanage and with another family.” figure 4. donald trump drawing. damian, age 11 (2017). praxis of resilience & resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 147 figure 5. the election. lola, age 11 (2016). “trump lost the election and [h]illary won. trump lost because no one likes him, only a few people like his wife and his son.” association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 57 public discourse versus public policy: latinas/os, affirmative action, and the court of public opinion maría c. ledesma university of utah abstract the purpose of this article is to highlight the power of popular discourse in shaping public policy debates concerning educational access and opportunity for historically marginalized and minoritized students, especially for latinas/ os. i argue that proponents of race-conscious policies would do well to challenge the elimination of affirmative action by employing a more critical approach to discourse consumption, one which interrogates, historicizes, and contextualizes the often truncated and/or deceptive narratives relied upon by critics of affirmative action, to call for the end of all race-conscious social policy. introduction the future of affirmative action in higher education for historically underrepresented students, including latinas/os, may well hinge on how critically scholars, policymakers, practitioners, as well as the general public interrogate public discourses and public narratives framing educational policy-making decisions. even as the supreme court’s majority opinion in the university of michigan’s law school case grutter v. bollinger (2003) continues to uphold the limited use of race in university admissions, the high court’s plurality decision in schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action (2014) is poised to open the door for critics of affirmative action to launch focused, frequently misleading, attacks on these policies with the end goal of eliminating all race-conscious practices. schuette (2014) grants states permission to curtail and/or terminate the use of race-conscious policy via ballot initiative and/or constitutional amendment. this strategy, to use the political process of voter approved ballot initiatives and/or constitutional amendments, to legislate the end of race-conscious affirmative action policies, serves to showcase the importance of the court of public opinion. the purpose of this article is to highlight the power of popular discourse in shaping public policy debates concerning educational access and opportunity for historically marginalized and minoritized students, especially for latinas/os. revisiting california’s anti-immigrant and anti-latina/o propositions of the 1990s provides one example to showcase how public discourse manipulation, informed by racist nativism, helped sideline educational opportunities for latina/o students within a state that houses the largest latina/o population in the nation (brown & lopez, 2013). studying supreme court justice sonia sotomayor’s nomination and confirmation process provides another example of how the power of public narrative shapes perceptions about latinas/ os and educational attainment. finally, in the wake of a resurgent movement towards colorblindness, i review how new narratives around educational opportunity in california and elsewhere, have worked to pit historically marginalized communities against one-another while at the same time deflecting attention away from the real problem of white supremacy. in the end i argue that proponents of race-conscious policies would do well to challenge the elimination of affirmative action by employing a more critical approach to discourse consumption, one which interrogates, historicizes, and contextualizes the often truncated and/or deceptive narratives relied upon by critics of affirmative action, to call for the end of all race-conscious social policy. i began this examination by addressing the importance of a critical discourse analysis approach when reviewing, debating, and deciding race-conscious public policy. critical discourse analysis, framing, and reading race discourse scholars (fairclough, 2013; fairclough & fairclough, 2012; lemke, 1995; van dijk, 1993) have observed that a key function of analyzing language and studying discourse is to uncover, name, and confront social public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 58 inequities. discourse analysts also posit that the use of language is always strategic. as lemke (1995) explains, language does not operate in isolation; rather, we give language meaning in contexts and social expectations by the manner in which we use it. consequently, texts take meaning and convey power. the textual is always political. per lemke (1995), discourses do not just function ideologically as identity kits or to obtain ‘goods.’ they also function to legitimate, naturalize or disguise the inequities they sustain. they function to get us thinking along particular lines, the lines of a common sense, which are not as likely to lead to subversive conclusions as using some other discourses might. (p. 13) in summary, as gee (2011) succinctly points out, “discourse analysis is the study of language-in-use” (p. 8). and while there are different approaches to discourse analysis, they all suggest that the use of language is always purposeful, especially in public forums and public debates. indeed, even in the most benign of circumstances language may be considered a powerful weapon. however, in the case of addressing highly politicized and controversial topics, such as race-conscious affirmative action, understanding how language is deployed and operationalized becomes just as important as understanding the issue(s) being addressed. early on, bolinger (1980) pointed out that “political propaganda is a battleground of goodand badnaming” (p. 119). he added, “the struggle between the haves and the have-nots brings a new confrontation of word-images in every generation” (bolinger, 1980). bolinger’s observations, rooted in history, are reflected in the founding of this nation where poor, marginalized, and otherwise disempowered and minoritized communities, especially latinas/os, have always been subjected to othering (zinn, 2011). as an example, we may look to the perennial immigration debate, in which undocumented persons are labeled, and in the process dehumanized, by the application of the term “illegal.” as lakoff and ferguson (2006) explain, the reliance on the term illegal is deliberate and meant to evoke specific frames. they contend, “illegal,” used as an adjective in “illegal immigrants” and “illegal aliens,” or simply as a noun in in “illegals” defines the immigrants as criminals, as if they were inherently bad people. in conservative doctrine, those who break laws must be punished—or all law and order will break down. failure to punish is immoral (lakoff & ferguson, 2006, p. 3). fairclough (2013) also clarifies, “discourse types and orders of discourse vary across cultures. but in such gatekeeping encounters [such as immigration and education policy decisions], white middle-class gatekeepers are likely to constrain the discourse types which can be drawn upon to those of the dominant cultural grouping” (p. 40). in other words, the use of specific trigger words and imagery is not accidental in debates addressing highly politicized and controversial topics. and those that hold power are often in the position to frame and shape these narratives. for example, while promoting his party’s ticket during the 2012 presidential race, republican vice-presidential candidate paul ryan drew fire upon presenting his budgetary proposal. critiquing the supposed growth of financial “entitlement” programs, including welfare subsidies, ryan declared, “we’re going to a majority of takers versus makers” (chait, 2013, para 5).13 commentators contended that ryan’s phrasing, implying an “us” versus “them” mentality, was laced with racial innuendo and suggested the need to protect financial entitlements for those who truly deserve them (corn, 2014). likewise, in the debate over admissions into the nation’s most elite and selective institutions, critics of affirmative action have sought to differentiate between those students (i.e. students of color, including latinas/os) who are perceived to “take away” admissions opportunities from those students (i.e. white students) who “deserve admissions” (read, rightfully earned) admissions. lakoff’s (2004) explorations into the power of language and framing are particularly relevant in debates over affirmative action. as lakoff (2004) explains, “framing is about getting language that fits your worldview. it is not just language. the ideas are primary—and language carries those ideas, evokes those ideas” (p. 4). in the case of a policy like affirmative action, opponents have come to rely upon ahistorical and acontextual narrative framings, which in turn often serve to elicit heightened visceral responses (ledesma, 2013). indeed, as numerous scholars (armour, 1997; crenshaw, 2007; haney lópez, 2014) have uncovered, narratives around affirmative action are too often presented utilizing color-blind frames. such frames strategically bypass any significant analysis of the legacy of race and racism that has necessitated the need for affirmative action programs 13. ryan stated, “right now about 60 percent of the american people get more benefits in dollar value from the federal government than they pay back in taxes. so we’re going to a majority of takers versus makers” (chait, 2013). public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 59 in the first place; ignoring the need for corrective action, critics of affirmative action can focus on casting affirmative action policies as nothing more than “unmeritocratic” “preferences” for “underqualified” students of color. another common anti-affirmative action trope relies on positioning african-american, american indian, and latina/o students as “preferred minorities” while casting white and asian-american students as “victims” of race-conscious practices (thernstrom & thernstrom, 1997). this trope is problematic on multiple levels, not the least of which is the tendency to essentialize racial minority groups into monoliths, ignoring how unique ethnic and/or cultural differences distinguish students’ educational opportunities and trajectories. for instance, despite sharing the label “latinas/os,” a first-generation chicana/o student is very likely to have a distinctly different educational experience from a secondor third-generation cuban student. likewise, in spite of falling under the same “asian american” veil, a chinese student’s educational experience will almost certainly differ from those of a vietnamese or hmong student. however, an additional criticism of this strategy rests on the fact that by pitting students of color against each other, dominant issues of structural racism and white supremacy are obfuscated. haley and sidanius (2006) make clear that “past research has repeatedly shown that the popularity of affirmative action programs can radically rise or decline depending on how the term ‘affirmative action’ is framed and/or what specific policy is under consideration” (p. 657). in the debate over the future of affirmative action, proponents of the policy support its continuance by citing frames such as inequality, fairness, and opportunity, while opponents rely on frames that describe the policy using terms like mis-match, reverse discrimination, preference or/and stigma (ledesma, 2015). unfortunately, when it comes to a policy as controversial as affirmative action, critics of the policy most often depend on incomplete and/or inaccurate language, including ahistorical and acontextual narratives, to criticize the policy and call for its end (crenshaw, 2007; ledesma, 2013; kennedy, 1986). long ago, kennedy (1986) emphasized the importance of acknowledging the use of both overt and covert discourse in affirmative action debates. he emphasized that, …the affirmative action debate cannot be understood without acknowledging simultaneously the force of the openly stated arguments for and against preferential treatment and the submerged intuitions that disguise themselves in these arguments. to disregard either of these features of the debate is to ignore an essential aspect of the controversy. to appreciate both is to recognize the frustrating complexity of our racial situation. (kennedy, 1986, p. 1328) close to three decades after kennedy’s original observation, the frustrating complexity surrounding affirmative action has only intensified. all of which contribute to what crenshaw (2007) has come to describe as the “distorted discourse around affirmative action” (p. 129). for scholars, educational leaders, policymakers, and practitioners, as well as the general public, concerned with educational equity and social justice, deciphering this distorted discourse, in both its overt and covert forms, is absolutely imperative if we ever hope to have an honest conversation addressing educational equity and social justice. to emphasize this point, i revisit how discourse helped reshape the educational landscape for latinas/os in california, an effect we are still living with today. public discourse vs. public policy: california as a case study the reliance on discourse manipulation as a force to drive public policy initiatives is nothing new. in california, a decade of nativist rhetoric helped produce social policies which would come to redefine issues of access and equity in public education, especially for latina/o students. in the 1990s, california passed the first in a series of what some viewed as seemingly “progressive” propositions, which sought to uphold and protect individual rights. beginning in 1994, voters passed proposition 187, otherwise known as “the save our state initiative,” or “s.o.s.” for short. proponents of proposition 187 sought to restrict social services for undocumented immigrants residing in the state, aiming their attack on california’s mexican immigrant population. resorting to divisive politics and discourse manipulation, anti-immigration pundits characterized undocumented immigrants as “criminal” and “unlawful” by airing sensationalized television ads, which portrayed mexican immigrant hordes swarming across the border (santa ana, 2002). in his study of newspaper articles public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 60 covering the proposition 187 campaign, santa ana (2002) observed how “the metaphorization of the immigrant in public discourse” (p.68) was dominated by textual and visual narratives of mexican immigrants “flooding” into and “invading” california. these narratives depicted mexican immigrants in one-dimensional fashion, as devious law-breakers. indeed, media coverage leading up to and after president barack obama’s 2014 proposed executive action on immigration confirms lakoff and ferguson’s observations.14 contemporary immigration debates continue to stir-up resurgent anti-immigrant, anti-latina/o narratives, framing latina/o immigrants as unlawful perpetual foreigners. for example, as community leaders, politicians, education and health professionals attempted to respond to the humanitarian crisis, which in the summer of 2014 saw tens of thousands of latina/o children crossing the u.s. border to seek asylum from the war-torn and poverty ridden conditions in their central american homelands, critics contended that these children were nothing more than criminals. as detailed by santana (2014), conservative republicans seized this opportunity to paint “latino immigrants as ebola carriers to fan the anti-immigration reform movement” (para 1). citing a letter written by georgia republican, and medical doctor, phil gingrey, santana recounts how gingrey cautioned the director of the center for disease control and prevention about ‘reports of illegal migrants carrying deadly diseases such as swine flu, dengue fever, ebola virus and tuberculosis’ (santana, 2014, para 10). this “ebolification of immigration reform” (santana, 2014), in turn, served to perpetuate anti-immigrant sentiments and stereotypes. and while the most outspoken responses have quelled, they have not disappeared entirely. more recently, alabama republican mo brooks speculated that “illegal immigrants” might be to blame for a high-profile measles outbreak in california. brooks declared, “i don’t think there is any health care professional who has examined the facts who could honestly say that americans have not died because the disease is brought into america by illegal aliens who are not properly health case screened, as lawful immigrants are…” (reilly, 2015, para 3). this anti-immigrant rhetoric ebbs and flows, but it is never too far away from discussions around public policy. just two years after passage of the anti-immigrant proposition 187, california voters approved proposition 209, “the california civil rights initiative,” which brought an end to race-conscious affirmative action in public hiring, public contracting, and public higher education. the california civil rights initiative’s title alone served to confuse many would-be affirmative action supporters into voting against the policy. and while proposition 209 was not exclusively targeting californian’s latina/o population, since its passage in 1996 it has worked to chill the aspirations of a great number of students of color seeking admission into the university of california system (kidder, 2013). in 1998, proposition 227, “the english for the children initiative,” followed with the intent to do away with bilingual education. proposition 227 specifically targeted spanish and bilingual education, and aimed to finalize the unfinished work of proposition 187, which by this time found itself in legal limbo. in each case, the authors of these propositions used strategic language and discourse manipulation to help sway public opinion in support of their initiatives. as bowler, nicholson, and segura (2006) observed, “voting for the initiatives had strong racial and partisan dimensions, further underscoring their salience and widespread voter understanding” (p. 149). despite the fact that the authors of these propositions hailed overwhelmingly from conservative backgrounds, they strategically worded the proposals borrowing from traditional civil rights discourse. as a result, recounting the passage of proposition 209, chávez (1998) explains: when voters walked into the booth in november 1996, they wouldn’t be asked to dump affirmative action. they would be asked to support an initiative that prohibited the state from ‘discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group, on the basis of race or gender. who could disagree with such an exalted principle? the proposal sounded as if it had been written by martin luther king jr. himself. (p. 80) chávez’s analysis exemplifies the power of discourse manipulation. opponents of affirmative action intentionally relied on traditional civil rights language to call for the end of race-conscious policies. 14. in november 2014, president obama announced executive actions on immigration, wherein he expanded the population eligible for the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca); made allowances for parents of u.s. citizens and permanent residents to request deferred action and authorization for employment through a new deferred action for parents of americans and lawful permanent residents (dapa); expanded the use of provisional waivers to allow for the presence of “unlawful” spouses and children of lawful permanent residents and u.s. citizens; modernized and improved the immigrant/non-immigrant visa programs; and, promoted citizenship education and public awareness for lawful permanent residents (see http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction). public discourse versus public policy http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 61 the successful passage of propositions 187, 209, and 227, across a span of less than five years was due to a constellation of factors, including a rise in anti-immigrant discord and a pushback against race-conscious social policies, such as bilingual education and affirmative action, perceived to favor a growing racial “minority” population. however, it is also true that the coded language used to frame and couch these initiatives helped convince voters that they were voting in favor of a more democratic society. as explained by santa ana (2002), for the privileged, the status quo [was] better left unnoticed; for the disadvantaged, pointing out the injustice [opened] up the possibility of change. accordingly, this neoconservative discourse stratagem calling for an indefinite moratorium on discussions of racism [maintained] the comfort zone for white americans. (p. 146) banks (1981) explained the rise of neoconservatism, or the “back to basics movement,” (p.12) as a movement driven by leaders who tired of the efforts focused on advancing a “national commitment to equality for excluded groups,” and who pine for the “good old days” in which there was little, if any, “attention devoted to the problems and promises of ethnic group life in the united states” (banks, 1981). while the successful passage of proposition 209, and its predecessors, may have been led or spearheaded by neoconservatives, ironically, exit poll results found that some voters, confused by how the propositions were framed and worded, voted in support of proposals they did not favor (chávez, 1998; moses & saenz, 2008). for instance, with respect to proposition 209, chávez (1998) explains that “the problem was that most people reading the language of the initiatives had no idea that it would result in wiping out most current affirmative action programs” (p. 99). voters voted against “discrimination” and “preferences” despite being in favor of affirmative action, a term strategically omitted from the language describing the proposition. public discourse vs. public policy: other states follow suit the fallout from the passage of proposition 209 has not been contained to california. close to two decades after california voters endorsed the passage of the california civil rights initiative, similar initiatives have been enacted in six additional states, all borrowing from proposition 209’s original language.15 in arizona (proposition 107 passed in 2010), michigan (proposal 2 passed in 2006), nebraska (initiative 424 passed in 2008), oklahoma (state question 759 passed in 2012), and washington state (aka initiative 2000 passed in 1998), voters have prohibited the use of race and ethnicity in university admissions decisions under their own versions of proposition 209. what is more, california itself is still recovering from the passage of proposition 209 and no group has been more hampered than latinas/os. even while the population of latina/o students has grown to become the majority of the k-12 enrollment in the state, latina/o admission into the university of california system at both the undergraduate and graduate levels has yet to fully recover to its pre-209 figures (garces, 2012; grosky & kurlaender, 2010; kidder, 2013). at a national level the battle over the future of affirmative action has also ushered in a new type of sophisticated first-hand involvement by right-wing conservative think tanks and organizations, skilled in discourse manipulation and intent on dismantling affirmative action. as cokorinos (2003) points out, “an intensive outburst of strategic planning at the beginning of the 1990s, leading to the implementation of another, even more destructive phase of right-wing capacity building through the creation of the groups” (p. 21) that would lead this new anti-affirmative action revolution proved to be on the horizon. as explained by cokorinos (2003), opponents of affirmative action have long recognized that their campaign to overturn decades of progress in civil rights would be made easier if the public faces of their operations were african americans, latinos, and women. they have also recognized that in order to erode the hard-won but solid support for civil rights among the american people, they have to strike at the very heart of the message of racial and gender equity. they have done this by developing a beguiling and confusing vocabulary in which carefully selected ‘victims’ of the correct race and sex pose as defenders of civil rights, when they are in fact fronting for its deadliest enemies. (p. 31) 15. the text of proposition 209 read as follows, “prohibits the state, local governments, districts, public universities, colleges, and schools, and other government instrumentalities from discriminating against or giving preferential treatment to any individual or group in public employment, public education, or public contracting on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.” (retrieved from http://vote96.sos.ca.gov/ vote96/html/bp/209.htm on may 26, 2014). public discourse versus public policy http://vote96.sos.ca.gov/vote96/html/bp/209.htm http://vote96.sos.ca.gov/vote96/html/bp/209.htm association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 62 in the university of michigan’s affirmative action cases, grutter v. bollinger (2003) and gratz v. bollinger (2003), as well as in the more recent fisher v. university of texas (2013), there was an opportunity to follow this script at the highest level. each of these cases provided an opportunity for the architects in charge of dismantling affirmative action to cast white females as victims of race-conscious education policy. even while white women represent the largest group of affirmative action beneficiaries (cho, 2002), affirmative action detractors continue to rely on casting them as victims in order to protest the policy’s continuance. the use of morality has also been a strategy used by critics of affirmative action to call for its end. as described by morrison (1993) “…the habit of ignoring race is understood to be a graceful, even generous, liberal gesture” (pp. 9-10). correspondingly, detractors of affirmative action have learned to couch their opposition to affirmative action in morality laced frames, implying that the policy too often “mis-matches” and/or “stigmatizes,” the very students it tries to help (sander & taylor, 2012; thernstrom & thernstrom, 1997). while the mis-match and stigma frames are frequently relied upon by anti-affirmative action advocates (ledesma, 2013); too often these frames are presented in incomplete fashion, without accounting for how racism and white supremacy are primarily responsible for shaping cognition in the first place (steele & aronson, 1995). nevertheless, the stigma and mis-match tropes allow affirmative action critics to frame their opposition to the policy as an altruistic one; one in which they are looking out for the physical, psychological, and economic interests of under-represented students of color, including latinas/os. through these frames, disapproval of affirmative action is cloaked in a veil of morality, which in turn serves to conceal how opposition to race-conscious policies protects the normative majority’s sense of entitlement into those predominantly white institutions that practice affirmative action. ironically, even when affirmative action has proven to be successful and its beneficiaries embrace and claim the policy as instrumental in their own success, critics are quick to discredit such successes as nothing more than racial gamesmanship. the insinuation here being that no accomplishment is real if it is attained in the shadow of affirmative action. to follow, i revisit supreme court justice sonia sotomayor’s nomination and confirmation process, including the rhetoric used to speak about her and her qualifications. i argue that beyond being a media spectacle, justice sotomayor’s nomination and confirmation hearings showcase how demonizing affirmative action, and those that dare proclaim its benefits, has proven to be much easier than honestly confronting why a corrective program like affirmative action remains necessary in the first place. a wise latina on the supreme court roughly five months into his first term in office, president barack obama selected judge sonia sotomayor for appointment as the one hundred and eleventh justice on the supreme court of the united states. in his nomination speech, president obama praised judge sotomayor’s academic and professional credentials, including degrees from princeton and yale law school, and service on both the u.s. district court and the federal court of appeals. in his speech, president obama took time to explain that “walking in the door, [justice sotomayor] would bring more experience on the bench, and more varied experience on the bench, than anyone currently serving on the united states supreme court when they were appointed” (the white house, office of the press secretary, 2009, para 9). president obama also made clear to point out that the decision to nominate justice sotomayor had been rigorous and exhaustive, including consultation with governmental bodies and agencies as well as with advocacy organizations and bar associations “representing an array of interests and opinions” (president obama, 2009, para 6). in short, the nation’s first african-american president stressed that the decision to appoint the nation’s first latina justice had been an arduous and comprehensive one, not one made in the flight of fancy. still, in spite of the president’s deliberate approach towards her nomination, and irrespective of justice sotomayor’s hard won qualifications, to many, justice sotomayor’s nomination was an affront to the american principle of meritocracy. critics sneered at the fact that justice sotomayor had had the audacity to credit affirmative action with providing her the opportunity to attain success. during her confirmation process, politicians and conservative commentators alike lambasted justice sotomayor for past speeches and decisions she had previously rendered. critics zeroed in on an address delivered to a student symposium at the university of california (uc) berkeley school of law in october 2001, a speech entitled “a latina judge’s voice,” wherein public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 63 justice sotomayor spoke candidly about her experience in the legal profession. her reflections on that day included sharing with attendees the importance of having diverse voices and perspectives on the bench. justice sotomayor (2002) declared: each day on the bench i learn something new about the judicial process and about being a professional latina woman in a world that sometimes looks at me with suspicion. i am reminded each day that i render decisions that affect people concretely and that i owe them constant and complete vigilance in checking my assumptions, presumptions and perspectives and ensuring that to the extent that my limited abilities and capabilities permit me, that i reevaluate them and change as circumstances and cases before me requires. (p. 93) unfortunately, even while justice sotomayor acknowledged that all judges are influenced by their personal histories and experiences, and that, “no one person, judge or nominee will speak in a female or people of color voice” (sotomayor, 2002, p. 91), she was vilified for her candor. critics pounced on justice sotomayor’s every word, most famously of which was her reflections to aspiring latina/o law students with whom she shared, “i would hope that a wise latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life” (sotomayor, 2002, p. 92). under the confirmation spotlight, conservative critics, among them politicians and media analysts, attacked then nominee sotomayor. they implied that she was unqualified and undeserving of an appointment to the highest court in the land. to her critics, justice sotomayor’s self-identification as a “wise latina” coupled with her admission to benefitting from affirmative action, was proof enough to suggest that she had not earned her impressive professional accomplishments. these actions were enough to sully her entire career and to label her as a “reverse racist” and “bigot” in the eyes of right-leaning conservative pundits. the most vocal opposition to justice sotomayor came from far right conservative politicians and pundits. linda chavez, director of the conservative think-tank center for equal opportunity, known for opposing affirmative action of sotomayor’s record, opined “that she has drunk deep from the well of identity politics”16— implying that it was impossible for sotomayor to be a fair judge. more pointed commentary came from figures like rush limbaugh who labeled justice sotomayor a “reverse racist” (hananoki, 2009) and lou dobbs who accused her of “pandering to the hispanics” (hananoki, 2009, emphasis added). in the end, claims accusing justice sotomayor of “blatant racism” (hananoki, 2009) because of her “wise latina” comment were hard to quell but not enough to sideline her appointment to the supreme court. nevertheless, discourse and narrative framings used to scrutinize nominee sotomayor’s credentials highlight how a legacy of racism and white supremacy continues to inform popular discourse, even in the face of stellar academic and professional credentials. to her critics, justice sotomayor’s acknowledgement of the role that affirmative action had played in shaping her educational career was enough to invalidate all of her earned accomplishments. justice sotomayor’s nomination and confirmation hearings can be seen as a type of allegory concerning the nation’s enduring struggle with affirmative action. as justice sotomayor herself explained to students during her highly scrutinized berkeley speech, america has a deeply confused image of itself that is in perpetual tension. we are a nation that takes pride in our ethnic diversity, recognizing its importance in shaping our society and in adding richness to its existence. yet, we simultaneously insist that we can and must function and live in a raceand color-blind way that ignore [sic] these very differences that in other contexts we laud. (sotomayor, 2002, p. 88) justice sotomayor’s observations continue to remain prescient. as culp (1994) observed, “myths are often created to fill a necessary psychological space” (p. 165). and “colorblindness has been [such a myth, one] created to help us get over the difficulty of race in a society where race is particularly powerful” (culp, 1994, p. 165). ironically, so long as colorblindness and post-racialism continue to be championed, we continue to be in need of serious and honest dialogues about the history and future of affirmative action, including candid talk about how race, racism, and white supremacy continue to mitigate and impede equitable opportunities, educational, and otherwise (ladson-billings, 2007; liu, 2003). it is only through such dialogues that we might begin to understand that the act of slandering the accomplishments of the highest-ranking latina in the u.s. 16. see http://www.cnn.com/2009/politics/07/16/sotomayor.hearing/index.html?iref=24hours public discourse versus public policy http://www.cnn.com/2009/politics/07/16/sotomayor.hearing/index.html?iref=24hours association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 64 government was about more than critiquing personal politics and ideologies. following, i speak to the changing national demographics, driven primarily by latina/o population growth, and how this reality presents a unique opportunity to (re)frame educational access and opportunity for latina/o students. i also suggest that we need to be more skilled at identifying and combating narratives that pit disempowered communities against one another while deflecting attention away from the problems of racism and white supremacy. i posit that an important way to challenge these tropes is by pressing for more critical discourse consumption. framing affirmative action in the twenty-first century: why it matters to latinas/os the twenty-first century has ushered in a new racial landscape to the united states. as of 2012, latinas/os comprise the largest share of the population in california and texas (brown & lopez, 2013). these demographic shifts are momentous for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that two of the most populous states in the union are now majority “minority,” and that majority is latina/o. the demographic tipping points in california and texas signal a larger trend, one in which latinas/os are steadily growing across the nation. according to the u.s. census bureau in 2012, for the first time ever latina/o births surpassed white births. and while the “browning” of america is occurring in expected places, like the southwest (i.e., arizona, nevada, and new mexico are now majority latina/o), what is more surprising is that latinas/os are the fastest growing populations in states like alabama, arkansas, georgia, kentucky, south carolina, and tennessee, just to name a few (brown & lopez, 2013). this newfound visibility has proven to be a double-edged sword. on the one-hand, (re)newed attention has been focused on latinas/os core issues, such as immigration and education. on the other hand, latinas/os have become prime targets for politicians, pundits, and the general public who are at odds with the nation’s new and projected demographic destiny. amongst the aforementioned backdrop, latinas/os have come under attack in the form of policies and governmental programs. for instance, nationally, under the obama administration, the deportation or “removal” of latina/o immigrants has vastly outpaced emigration into the united states (united states department of homeland security [usdhs], 2013), making immigration a particularly sensitive topic for many latinas/os. in the south and west, georgia and arizona spearheaded sweeping anti-immigrant campaigns against undocumented communities, zeroing in especially on mexican immigrants. while morally reprehensible, a historical retrospective reminds us that the maltreatment and scapegoating of traditionally marginalized and oppressed peoples, especially latina/o immigrants, is nothing new (acuña, 1988; haney lópez, 1996; santa ana, 2002). after all, history has proven that the present-day united states was built upon a system of racial stratification where white supremacy has reigned (bonilla-silva, 2001, 2014; feagin, 2013; omi & winant, 2015). however, whereas past racial narratives were more overt, today’s racial discourse is subtler and trickier, but equally as pernicious. as explained by haney lópez (2014), the new racial politics presents itself as steadfastly opposed to racism and ever ready to condemn those who publicly use racial profanity… meanwhile, though, the new racial discourse keeps a steady drumbeat of subliminal racial grievances and appeals to color-coded solidarity…the new racism rips through society, inaudible and also easily defended insofar as it fails to whoop in the tones of the old racism, yet booming in its racial meaning and provoking predictable responses among those who immediately hear the racial undertones of references to the undeserving poor, [and] illegal aliens… (pp.3-4). ironically, the election and re-election of the nation’s first african-american president complicated rather than simplified today’s racial discourse.17 as coates (2012) revealed in his detailed exposé of the obama presidency, “after obama won, the longed-for post-racial moment did not arrive; on the contrary, racism intensified” (para 44). these developments while not all together surprising are the latest manifestations of what 17. shortly after his confirmation, attorney general eric holder, the first african american to hold this post, delivered a national address commemorating black history month in which he observed the nation’s recalcitrance in speaking about race. holder stated, “though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. though race related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race” (2009, para 2: emphasis added). holder’s speech drew ire, especially from fox news and affiliated pundits, who among other things, accused the attorney general of playing the race card. public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 65 feagin (2013) has termed “the white racial frame.” feagin (2013) explains that the white racial frame operates by integrating cognitive elements, with visual and auditory elements, and feelings, among other elements, to perpetuate whiteness and white supremacy (p. 10). feagin (2013) suggests that central to the dominant racial frame are several “big picture” narratives that connect the frame elements into historically oriented stories with morals that are especially important to white americans. these emotion-laden scenarios include stories about white conquest, superiority, hard work, and achievement. they make powerful use of stereotypes, images, and other elements from the overachieving frame. (p. 13) as feagin details, once the frame is used it works to activate additional frames and sub-frames. still, while the white racial frame is deeply embedded in society, contemporary attempts to maintain the racial status quo are now often cleverly cloaked in pseudo-altruistic tropes and coded discourse. for example, with respect to affirmative action, critiques have shifted away from maintaining the racial status quo to “protecting” the policy’s intended beneficiaries, who it is argued are likely to be mis-matched and hurt and stigmatized by the very policy that intends to help them (sander & taylor, 2012: thernstrom & thernstrom, 1997). research has suggested that arguments against affirmative action very often rely on ahistorical and acontextual framing (crenshaw, 2007; ledesma, 2013; kennedy, 1986). they also suggest that the practice of discourse manipulation is very real and very powerful. as cited in fairclough and fairclough (2012), van eemeren explains that manipulation of discourse boils down to intentionally deceiving one’s addressees by persuading them of something that is foremost in one’s own interest through the covert use of communicative devices that are not in agreement with generally acknowledged critical standards of reasonableness. (p. 95) fairclough and fairclough (2012) further emphasize that discourse manipulation is “always intentional and always covert” (p. 95). the rhetorical and legal battle over the future of affirmative action has become more important than ever, despite the fact that the limited use of race in university admissions continues to be legal; the supreme court’s majority opinion in schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action (2014) is set to adversely impact the educational futures of many historically under-represented students of color, especially latinas/os, who aspire to attend the nation’s most selective colleges and universities. in schuette (2014) a majority of six justices approved the constitutionality of allowing voters to enact “policies as an exercise of democratic self-government” (schuette, 2014, slip opinion, p. 13). justice anthony kennedy, writing for the court’s majority, emphasized that the case was not about the constitutionality or merits of affirmative action. he stated that the key issue in schuette concerned “…in what manner, voters in the states may choose to prohibit the consideration of racial preferences in governmental decisions, in particular with respect to school admissions” (schuette, 2014, slip opinion, p. 4). justice kennedy also emphasized that the “holding in the instant case is simply that the courts may not disempower the voters from choosing which path to follow” (schuette, 2014, slip opinion, p. 13). however as noted by justice sotomayor (schuette, 2014, sotomayor dissenting, slip opinion), the court’s ahistorical majority decision, while democratic in theory, failed to account for the fact that in light of the nation’s “long and lamentable record of stymieing the right of racial minorities to participate in the political process” (schuette, 2014, sotomayor dissenting, slip opinion, p. 1), not all voters are equally empowered. moses and saenz (2012) have suggested that ballot initiative processes necessitate robust and in depth analysis, especially when initiatives are concerned with the production and implementation of education policy. they stipulate: …whereas in the past these policies were determined by “experts” assumed to possess deep knowledge of the issues—policymakers and political representatives—citizens now hold the power (and responsibility). this shift in policymaking responsibility from experts to citizens means that in order to promote fair and equitable policy decisions, voters should have access to meaningful information about the policy. (moses & saenz 2012, p. 114) crenshaw (2007) adds another dimension to the analysis of deliberate democracy. employing a critical race analysis, crenshaw suggests the need to interrogate “the people have voted” stratagem. unfortunately, the strategic use of narrative to manipulate and influence the political process of voter approved ballot initiatives and/or public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 66 constitutional amendments has proven to be very real and very detrimental to historically disenfranchised groups. and as crenshaw (2007) recounts, part of the problem with initiatives like proposition 209, and its progeny, has been that these invite majority voters to join a “mythical past wherein equal treatment and nondiscrimination ruled the day” (p. 128). what is more, these ahistorical and acontextual framings serve to amplify the false beliefs that racism, discrimination, and inequality are passé (crenshaw, 2007), thereby complicating and contradicting calls for the continuation of race-conscious policies, like affirmative action. in grutter v. bollinger (2003) justice sandra day o’connor writing for the court’s majority declared, “context matters when reviewing race-based governmental action…” (p. 327). o’connor’s directive is apropos for all types of race-based legislative action, but it is especially important when reviewing race-conscious policies. after all, although an imperfect tool, affirmative action has been primarily responsible for opening the doors of opportunity to students of color, including latinas/os, to gain access into the nation’s most elite and selective institutions. justice sotomayor herself has remarked, “affirmative action for me was permission to get to the start of a race that i did not even know existed” (personal communication, january 27, 2015). in the absence of affirmative action programs, colleges and universities—especially those that have historically relied upon race-conscious practices to admit and enroll historically under-represented students— have found their job severely constrained. in california, the wellspring of anti-affirmative legislation, the profound effects of the passage of proposition 209 continue to reverberate across the university of california system even close to two decades after ending the practice of affirmative action. as detailed in their amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief in support of respondents in schuette (2014), the president and the chancellors of the university of california explain that despite having implemented a number of race-neutral admissions initiatives—totaling over half a billion dollars since 1998—the university has yet to recover from the precipitous decline in student of color enrollment that occurred in the aftermath of proposition 209 (brief of the president and the chancellors of the university of california, 2013). these results have been especially consequential for latinas/os, who in spite of representing the majority of the state’s k-12 population still struggle to find placement within the uc’s most selective campuses (brief of the president and the chancellors of the university of california, 2013). even outside of the uc system, in california and beyond, the truth is that students are more segregated now than pre-brown v. board of education (1954) (orfield & frankenberg, 2014). in turn, these racial realities have had, and are projected to continue to have, real impacts on college accessibility and college choice for all students but especially for racially, geographically, and socio-economically isolated students, including latinas/os (hillman, 2014). however, in the absence of critical narratives that account for the continued legacy of race, racism, and white supremacy, critics of affirmative action will most likely continue to be quick to embrace colorblindness and post-racialism. haney lópez (2014) posits that in such instances, communities of color will continue to be pathologized. he explains: colorblindness answers by opportunistically switching to another understanding of race, frequently dropping race-as-blood to talk about racial groups as ethnicities marked by distinct cultures [emphasis in original]… ethnicity provides a basis for blaming minorities for their inferior positions, since it faults their supposedly defective cultures; simultaneously, it exonerates whites, since racism is no longer to blame for inequality. this in turn answers the question of government help: such assistance is futile because only nonwhites can reform their inferior cultures and selfdefeating behaviors. (haney lópez, 2014, p.93) while the supreme court’s decision in schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action (2014), including justice sotomayor’s dissent, will be studied for years to come, schuette’s (2014) impact, granting states permission to curtail and/or terminate the use of race-conscious policy via ballot initiative and/or constitutional amendment, may be more immediate. during the winter of 2014, california once again took center stage in the ongoing debates about the future of race-conscious social policy. during the state’s 2013-2014 legislative session, senator ed hernandez introduced senate constitutional amendment no. 5—better known as “sca5.” the resolution proposed to amend section 31 of article i of the state’s constitution, relating to public postsecondary education. in short, the resolution aimed to re-instate the legal use of race in university admissions by over-riding proposition 209’s public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 67 prohibition of using race in public higher education. while similar resolutions had been introduced regularly throughout the course of the last few years, the most recent resolution unleashed a torrent of heated responses. unsurprisingly at the center of the ensuing debate are very racialized and politicized arguments about who is “helped” and/or “hurt” by overturning proposition 209 and reinstating affirmative action. however, unlike previous debates, which have historically framed discussions concerning affirmative action as black versus white, the sca5 debate resulted in a complicated and very hyper-racialized discourse, one that pitted black and brown californians against asian californians. and while to date there has been less overt vitriol framing the discourse associated with sca5, the opposition to the constitutional amendment has been nonetheless layered with manipulated discourse and racial innuendo—including the exploitation of presumed minority on minority group tensions and the omission of the role of white supremacy on education policy making.18 further complicating matters in california is the new post-209 racial landscape. in the almost twenty years since the passage of proposition 209, california’s legislature as well as its k-12 enrollment has become majority latina/o. in the same period of time, many of the university of california’s most selective campuses, those most contested for admission, have become predominantly asian. the current sca5 controversy has served to exploit an increasingly popular but nevertheless troubling wedge issue, one that perpetuates the myth of asian americans as model minorities and victims of affirmative action policy (thernstrom & thernstrom, 1997). as park and liu (2014) uncover, “the most appealing poster children for the anti-affirmative action movement” (p.36) have become asian americans. indeed, detractors of race-conscious affirmative action have become increasingly skilled at exploiting this narrative. it is this asian american as victim frame which edward blum, the chief architect responsible for legal proceedings against the university of texas in fisher (2013), has continued to lean on to now file charges against harvard university, the university of north carolina, and the university of wisconsin for their use of raceconscious admissions policies (liptak, 2014). under the guise of the anti-affirmative action non-profit “students for fair admissions,” blum is leading a new movement to dismantle all race-conscious policy. his argument is that even with stellar academic records, affirmative action policies adversely penalize asian american students. park (2015) explains that “the narrative that underlies the students for fair admissions lawsuit—that asian americans need higher sat scores to get into elite schools—is powerful. but it is also deeply misleading” (para 4). as park and liu (2014) posit, such narratives obscure the fact that there is widespread, and increasingly vocal support of affirmative action policies within and across asian american communities. nevertheless, clever politicians and anti-affirmative action pundits have seized on the popular asian as model minority and victim of race-conscious policies trope to call for the end of affirmative action. to follow i close by echoing justice sotomayor’s dissent in schuette (2014), wherein she argued that race and racism cannot be wished away. this reality coupled with the rising power and influence of the court of public opinion in public policy decision-making, i argue that as a growing sector of the u.s. populace, latinas/os are in a prime position to help chart the future course of race-conscious affirmative action policy. conclusion as we await developments in the latest affirmative action cases, including the supreme court’s rehearing of fisher v. university of texas, and the outcomes of litigation against harvard university, the university of north carolina, chapel hill, and the university of wisconsin, madison, it would be useful to heed the words of the one hundred and eleventh justice on the supreme court of the united states, the first latina to hold 18. for instance, anti-affirmative action advocates were quick to denounce sca5. in one anti-sca5 ad, the amendment’s acronym is reappropriated. within a backdrop that includes an image of dr. martin luther king, “sca” is presented to spell out the “skin color act.” the phrase is crossed out alongside dr. king’s image with an excerpt from his “i have a dream speech.” the excerpt reads, “i have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (see http://www.saynosca5.com/?page_id=4 ). another anti-sca5 ad depicts a pensive malala yousafzai, the young nobel peace prize recipient best known as the young pakistani teen shot by the taliban. next to malala’s image is a caption that reads, “the talaban tried to stop her; sca5 will stop american children.” the insinuation here being that reinstating the use of race in university admissions will result in the displacement of more deserving american children from california’s universities. public discourse versus public policy http://www.saynosca5.com/?page_id=4 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 68 this post. responding to the court’s majority decision in schuette (2014), justice sotomayor (schuette, 2014, sotomayor dissenting, slip opinion) explained: my colleagues are of the view that we should leave race out of the picture entirely and let the voters sort it out…it is sentiment out of touch with reality…while “[t]he enduring hope is that race should not matter[,] the reality is that too often it does.” [r]acial discrimination is not ancient history…race matters. race matters in part because of the long history of racial minorities’ being denied access to the political process…race also matters because of persistent racial inequality in society—inequality that cannot be ignored and that has produced stark socioeconomic disparities…and race matters for reasons that really are only skin deep, that cannot be discussed any other way, and that cannot be wished away. (schuette, 2014, sotomayor dissenting, slip opinion, pp. 45-46: citations omitted) so, if race cannot be “wished away,” the question remains, “what are latina/os to do in the face of antiaffirmative action discourse and the policies that emerge from it?” justice sonia sotomayor’s dissent in schuette (2014), much like justice thurgood marshall’s dissent in regents of the university of california v. bakke (1978), provides a needed history lesson explaining why race and by extension affirmative action programs continue to matter. affirmative action matters for latinas/os because in spite of their growing k-12 enrollment, latina/o students still encounter great difficulties while trying to access the nation’s most elite and selective campuses (carnevale & strohl, 2013). affirmative action matters for latinas/os because despite confronting a long history of deficit-oriented narratives, which argue that latinas/os are “unmotivated” and/or “underprepared” for college enrollment and completion (valencia, 2010), in truth latina/o parents and students possess high aspirations to attend and complete college (lopez, 2009). affirmative action matters for latinas/os even while critics of affirmative action profess that latina/o students are “mis-matched” (read, academically underprepared) when they attempt to enroll in selective colleges and universities (sander & taylor, 2012; thernstrom & thernstrom, 1997); anti-affirmative action advocates are conspicuously silent on the concept of “under-matching,” which suggests that latino, low-income, and first-generation college students are “more likely to undermatch than their nonunderrepresented peers” (rodriguez, 2013, p. 1). rodriguez (2013) explains that historically underrepresented students in higher education, especially latinas/os, who are eligible and capable of attending selective institutions of higher education are more likely to “under-match”—or attend less selective colleges and universities than their majoritarian peers. however, in the end, narrative framing also matters because most all of these important arguments are glaringly absent in public discourse concerning the future of affirmative action policy. it is only by employing a more critical approach to discourse consumption, one which interrogates, historicizes, and contextualizes the often truncated and/or deceptive narratives relied upon by critics of affirmative action, to call for the end of all race-conscious social policy that we can even begin to prepare for what schuette (2014) might usher in. indeed, post-schuette, the power of popular discourse in shaping public policy debates concerning educational access and opportunity for historically marginalized and minoritized students, especially for latinas/os, will only intensify. as we prepare for the next affirmative action challenge, we can look to justice sotomayor’s schuette dissent for guidance. as fontana (2014) has observed, justice sotomayor’s attention to discourse and language is just one of the many compelling features of her dissent. commenting on what he calls the “sotomayor style,” fontana (2014) remarked, “she uses practical and therefore easily comprehendible language in her opinion. the usage of practical language is a judicial opinion which will reach regular citizens more because it gains more mass and social media attention” (para 8). as such, we might ask, how can this same type of “practical language” be adapted to address the still pertinent benefits, and necessity, of affirmative action policies for latinas/os in the twenty-first century? as one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of the u.s. populace, latinas/os are in a prime position to help chart the future course of race-conscious affirmative action policy. however, in order to do so latinas/ os must pay much closer attention to how narratives are deployed, in both public and private spheres, when it comes to addressing issues of educational equity and social justice. in addition, latina/o families, policy makers, public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 69 higher education researchers and practitioners, among others, must recognize that the future of race conscious policies has come to hinge as much on the court of public opinion as in the legal courtroom. the nation’s demographic transformation has stirred-up old and new debates about power and entitlement, including, “who has the right to gain access to and benefit from the nation’s fountains of power?” if the answer includes latinas/ os, then these rationales must be fully explicated in national forums addressing both public discourse and public policy. public discourse versus public policy association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 70 references acuña, r. (1988). occupied america: a history of chicanos (3rd ed.). new york: harper collins. armour, j.d. (1997). hype and reality in affirmative action. university of colorado law review, 68, 1173-1199. arizona v. united states 567 u.s.__ (2012). banks, j.a. (1981). education in the 80s: multiethnic education. washington, d.c.: national education association. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed204192.pdf bolinger, d. (1980). language – the loaded weapon: the use and abuse of language today. new york: routledge. bonilla-silva, e. (2001). white supremacy & racism in the post-civil rights era. new york: lynne rienner publishers. bonilla-silva, e. (2014). racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in america. new york: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. bowler, s., nicholson, s.p., & segura, g.m. (2006). earthquakes and aftershocks: race, direct democracy, and partisan change. american journal of political science, 50(1), 146-159. brief of the president and chancellors of the university of california as amici curiae in support of respondents, schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action, 572 u.s. __ (2013). brown v. board of education, 347 u.s. 483 (1954). brown, a. & lopez, m.h. (2013). mapping the latino population, by state, county, and city. pew research center’s hispanic trends project: washington, d.c. carnevale, a.p., & stohl, j. (2013). separate and unequal: how higher education reinforces the intergenerational reproduction of white racial privilege. georgetown public policy institute: georgetown university. chait, j. (2013). paul ryan sad that obama quoted ryan correctly. new york magazine. retrieved from http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/01/paul-ryan-sad-that-obama quoted-ryan-correctly.html chávez, l. (1998). the color bind: california’s battle to end affirmative action. berkeley, ca: university of california press. cho, s. (2002). understanding white women’s ambivalence towards affirmative action: theorizing political accountability coalitions. umkc law review, 77, 399-418. coates, t. (2012). fear of a black president. the atlantic. retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/fear-of-a-black-president/309064/ cokorinos, l. (2003). the assault on diversity: an organized challenge to racial and gender justice. lanham, maryland: rowman & littlefield. corn, d. (2014). more evidence of paul ryan’s “inner cities” problem. mother jones. retrieved from http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/paul-ryan-inner-cities-problem crenshaw, k.w. (2007). framing affirmative action. michigan law review first impressions, vol. 105, pp. 123-133. culp, j. m. (1994). colorblind remedies and the intersectional of oppression: policy arguments masquerading as moral claims. new york university law review, 69, 162-196. fairclough, n. (2013). language and power (2nd ed.). new york: routledge. fairclough, i. & fairclough, n. (2012). political discourse analysis: a method for advanced students. new york: routledge. feagin, j.r. (2013). the white racial frame: centuries of racial framing and counter-framing. new york: routledge. fisher v. university of texas at austin, 133 u.s. 2411 (2013). public discourse versus public policy http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed204192.pdf http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/01/paul-ryan-sad-that-obamahttp://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/fear-of-a-black-president/309064/ http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/paul-ryan-inner-cities-problem association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 71 fontana, d. (april 24, 2014). sonia sotomayor is a national treasure: ‘the sotomayor style’ is how america should talk about fairness. new republic. retrieved from http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117501/sonia-sotomayor-schuette-dissent-national-treasure garces, l.m. (2012). racial diversity, legitimacy, and the citizenry: the impact of affirmative action bans on graduate enrollment. the review of higher education, 36(1), 93-132. gee, j.p. (2011). an introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method. new york: routledge. gratz v. bollinger et al., 539 u.s. 244 (2003). grodsky, e. & kurlaender, m. (eds.) (2010). equal opportunity in higher education: the past and future of california’s proposition 209. cambridge, ma: harvard education press. grutter v. bollinger et al., 539 u.s. 203 (2003). haley, h. & sidanius, j. (2006). the positive and negative framing of affirmative action: a group dominance perspective. personality and social psychology bulletin, 32(5), 656-668. hanaoki, e. (2009). conservatives react to historic supreme court nominee by smearing sotomayor as “racist,” “bigot.” retrieved from: http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/05/27 conservatives-react-to-historic-supreme-court-n/150539 haney lópez, i. f. (1996). white by law: the legal construction of race. new york: new york university press. haney lópez, i. (2014). dog whistle politics: how coded racial appeals have reinvented racism & wrecked the middle class. new york: oxford university press. hillman, n. (2014, september). differential impacts of college ratings: the case of education deserts. civil rights project research and policy briefing at the u.s. capitol, washington, d.c. holder, e. (february 18, 2009). attorney general eric holder at the department of justice african american history month program. retrieved at http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090218.html kennedy, r. (1986). persuasion and distrust: a comment on the affirmative action debate. harvard law review, 99, 1327-1346. kidder, w. (2013). misshaping the river: proposition 209 and the lessons for the fisher case. journal of college and university law, 39(1), 53-125. ladson-billings, g. (2007). can we at least have plessy? the struggle for quality education. north carolina law review, 85, 1279-1292. lakoff, g. (2004). don’t think of an elephant!: know your values and frame the debate. white river junction, vt: chelsea green publishing. lakoff, g., & ferguson, s. (2006). the framing of immigration. the rockridge institute. retrieved from: http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/ppandp/pdfs/lakoff%20framing%20of%20 immigration.doc.pdf ledesma, m.c. (2013). revisiting grutter and gratz in the wake of fisher: looking back to move forward. equity & excellence in education, 46(2), 220-235. ledesma, m.c. (2015). walking the diversity rationale talk: a call to institutions. in u.m. jayakumar & l.m. garces (eds.) affirmative action and racial equity: considering the evidence in fisher to forge a path ahead, (pp.165-185). new york: routledge. lemke, j. (1995). textual politics: discourse and social dynamics. bristol, pa: taylor & francis inc. liptak, a. (2014). unofficial enforcer of ruling on race in college admissions. retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/08/us/politics/edward-blum-one-man-organization-keeps-watchful eye-on-college-race-admissions-policies-.html liu, g. (2003). brown, bollinger, and beyond. howard law review, 47, 705-768. lopez, m. h. (2009). latinos and education: explaining the attainment gap. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. morrison, t. (1993). playing in the dark: whiteness and the literary imagination. new york: vintage. public discourse versus public policy http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117501/sonia-sotomayor-schuette-dissent-national-treasure http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/05/27/conservatives-react-to-historic-supreme-court-n/150539 http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/05/27/conservatives-react-to-historic-supreme-court-n/150539 http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/ppandp/pdfs/lakoff framing of immigration http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/ppandp/pdfs/lakoff framing of immigration http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/08/us/politics/edward-blum-one-man-organizationassociation of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 72 moses, m.s. & saenz, l.p. (2008). hijacking education policy decisions: ballot initiatives and the case for affirmative action. harvard educational review, 78 (2), 289-310. moses, m.s. & saenz, l.p. (2012). when the majority rules: ballot initiatives, race-conscious education policy, and the public good. review of research in education, 36, 113-138. omi, m. & winant, h. (2015). racial formation in the united states (3rd ed.). new york: routledge. orfield, g. & frankenberg, e. (2014). brown at 60: great progress, a long retreat and an uncertain future. retrieved from the university of california, los angeles’ civil rights project/proyecto derechos civiles website: http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k 12-education/integration-and-diversity/brown-at-60-great-progress-a-long-retreat-and-an-u ncertain-future park, j. j. (2015, january 2). the misleading lawsuit accusing harvard of bias against asian americans. the washington post. retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-misleading-lawsuit-accusing-harvard-of-bias-against-asian americans/2015/01/02/cc7a7c52-91e5-11e4-ba53-a477d66580ed_story.html park, j.j. & liu, a. (2014). interest convergence or divergence? a critical race analysis of asian americans, meritocracy, and critical mass in the affirmative action debate. the journal of higher education, 85(1), 36-64. regents of the university of california v. bakke, 438 u.s. 265 (1978). reilly, m. (2015). congressman speculates ‘illegal aliens’ could be to blame for measles outbreak. retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/mo-brooks measles-immigrants_n_6607218.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013 rodriguez, a. (2013). unpacking the black box: estimating the high school-level effects of undermatching among underrepresented students (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from publicly accessible penn dissertations, paper 794. sander, r. & taylor, s. (2012). mismatch: how affirmative action hurts students it’s intended to help, and why universities won’t admit it. new york: basic books. santana, m. (2014). ebola fears spark backlash against latino immigrants. retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/10/politics/ebola-fears-spark-backlash-latinos/ santa ana, o. (2002). brown tide rising: metaphors of latinos in contemporary american discourse. austin: university of texas press. schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action 572 u.s. __ (2014). sotomayor, s. (2002). a latina judge’s voice. berkeley la raza law journal, 13, 87-93. steele, c.m. & aronson, j. (1995). stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of african americans. journal of personality and social psychology, 69(5), 797-811. thernstrom, s. & thernstrom, a. (1997). america in black and white: one nation, indivisible. new york: touchstone. united states. department of homeland security. (2013). yearbook of immigration statistics: 2012. washington, d.c.: u.s. department of homeland security, office of immigration statistics. retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ois_yb_2012.pdf valencia, r. r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. new york: routledge. van dijk, t. a. (1993). principles of critical discourse analysis. discourse & society, 4(2), 249–283. the white house, office of the press secretary. (2009, may 26). retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/remarks-by-the-president-in-nominating-judge-sonia sotomayor-to-the-united-states-supreme-court/ zinn, h. (2011). on race. new york: seven stories press. public discourse versus public policy http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/khttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-misleading-lawsuit-accusing-harvard-of-bias-against-asian-americans/2015/01/02/cc7a7c52-91e5-11e4-ba53-a477d66580ed_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-misleading-lawsuit-accusing-harvard-of-bias-against-asian-americans/2015/01/02/cc7a7c52-91e5-11e4-ba53-a477d66580ed_story.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/mo-brookshttps://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ois_yb_2012.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/remarks-by-the-president-in-nominating-judge-sonia-sotomayor-to-the-united-states-supreme-court/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/remarks-by-the-president-in-nominating-judge-sonia-sotomayor-to-the-united-states-supreme-court/ association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 18 a race conscious pedagogy: correctional educators and creative resistance inside california juvenile detention facilities jerry flores university of washington-tacoma abstract the united states leads all advanced nations in rates of incarceration with a total of 2.3 million inmates. although most prisoners are adults, rates of juvenile incarceration are equally high. most scholars overlook the large amounts of young people who attend schools behind bars. this article discusses how teachers in three juvenile detention facilities in southern california adopt a race conscious pedagogy. this teaching approach allows educators to provide incarcerated students with resources unavailable to them in their own communities. through semi-structured interviews and participant observation, i took an in-depth look into the teaching techniques used in these facilities. my results indicate that teachers in correctional classrooms are adopting a race conscious pedagogy that allows them to participate in “creative resistance” inside of institutions of confinement. introduction the united states leads all advanced and developed nations in rates of incarceration with a total of 2.3 million inmates (shelden, 2010). several authors have addressed the issue of mass incarceration and the social repercussion that this incarceration has on communities, especially communities of color (alexander, 2012; davis, 2003; flores, 2013; shelden, 2010). although much has been written on this topic few authors have addressed the education individuals receive inside of detention facilities.1 formal correctional education first began as an established institution in late 18th century philadelphia (roberts, 1975). today, especially in juvenile detention facilities, schools exist as inside of the larger institutions of confinement. currently, california state laws require all minors under the age of sixteen to attend school whether they are free or incarcerated. this means that approximately 100,000 minors attend correctional schools daily (u.s. department of human and health services, 2009). due to the increase in incarcerated youth studies of correctional education are becoming increasingly important. furthermore, the strong relationship between educational attainment and positive outcomes, including a lower likelihood of recidivism (mccarthy, 2006) and the fact that incarcerated youth are receiving their education in correctional institutions, means that studies of education inside institutions of confinement are becoming increasingly important. this study begins to addresses some of these shortcomings by discussing how educators behind bars provide instruction. prior studies of education in correctional facilities evaluate specific programs and their ability to reduce reoffending (berhan, 2007). most of these studies do not explicitly examine educator’s2 pedagogical approach inside detention centers. although recent studies (flores, 2012) give us some insight into teaching in corrections, little to no work discusses how instructors approach teaching incarcerated kids of color who make up the majority of incarcerated individuals in california. the few studies that focus on teachers’ experiences and pedagogical approach in detention facilities identified three common challenges teachers face: frequent harassment of prisoners by staff (gehring, 2007), the high frequency with which incarcerated individuals have lower-than-average levels of formal education compared to their non-incarcerated peers (foley & gao, 2004), and inadequate resources for teachers and students, such as books and basic classroom supplies (thomas, 1983). as helpful as these studies are in identifying some of the challenges teachers face, they do not provide much insight into the teaching approach of correctional educators. further, the literature provides us with almost no insight into how teachers provide instruction to incarcerated youth of color. the goal of this research is to show how educators in corrections are adopting a race conscious pedagogy. 1 detention facilities, juvenile detention facilities, juvenile justice facilities, and institutions of confinement will be referred to interchangeably throughout the article. 2 the terms instructor, teacher, and educator will be used interchangeably throughout the article. a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 19 this “creative resistance” is taking place in the most unlikely of spaces-juvenile detention centers. most work on compulsory education (bowles & gintis, 1976; kim & taylor, 2008) and several theoretical notions of punishment (foucault, 1977), incarceration (goffman, 1961) would lead us to believe that these institutions can provide nothing other than punishment. while detention centers may use education to control and regulate their subjects, the correctional educators interviewed in this research were adopting a teaching approach that gave students opportunities they did not have in their own communities. using interviews with 12 teachers, this article discusses how they developed an innovative teaching approach in this punitive setting. first, i review work that address public compulsory education in the united states. second, i discuss the current state of american incarceration and punishment. i then review work that focuses on teaching in corrections. i follow this with a discussion of my methodological approach. i then segue way into the “creative resistance in correctional classrooms” section where i discuss my central findings. i conclude the article with a discussion of the distinct contributions these findings make to the existing literature in sociology and education. public education and educating people of color public compulsory education in the united states began as a way to transmit dominant cultural norms to new immigrants in the country (neubeck, m. neubeck, glasberg, 2007). proponents of public compulsory education intended to create a system that could serve as the great equalizer, where people from all walks of life could gain skills that would allow them to attain social mobility (kosters & mast, 2003). although the us educational system is a pathway for social mobility the goals of education have expanded. education is also supposed to provide individuals with a basic set of cultural characteristics that will help them assimilate into american culture (neubeck et al., 2007). another goal of public schooling is to give individuals basic skills that will allow them to join the country’s labor force (hochschild & scovronick, 2003). finally, education is intended to prepare students to participate in the american political arena. schools are designed to transfer information to new members of society in order to have students adopt dominant cultural norms (greer, 1972). in the us, these dominant norms include a belief in competition in the classroom that extends to understandings of the economic system and as such serves to promote capitalism as superior to other forms of economic existence (neubeck et al., 2007). further, such competition is encouraged without regard to how it negatively affects others. similarly, young people are encouraged to adopt biased eurocentric ideas that do not address the multiple forms of oppression imposed on subordinate groups by people in power (loewen, 1995; zinn, 2003). students are also encouraged to believe in the “american dream” that through hard work, they will win material security in the form of opportunities for higher education, home ownership, and a life with some degree of security and leisure (hochschild & scovronick, 2003). teaching these inaccurate ideas about an ideal meritocratic society often misleads students who are quick to blame themselves for structural forms of inequality. a related goal of the educational system is to provide students with a basic skill set that will allow them to enter the job market and attain employment (hochschild & scovronick, 2003). the practice of school attendance acculturates students into the life of a desirable employee. specifically, education is designed to make students punctual, disciplined, and willing to accept authority outside of their families (bowles & gintis, 1976; kim & taylor, 2008). mainstream education is often intended to make students more passive and manageable by discouraging spontaneity and creativity (silberman, 1970). the instruction provided to students is designed to prepare pupils for different economic niches (wheelock, 1992). finally, compulsory education is designed to create citizens that are informed and ready to participate in the country’s political system (hochschild & scovronick, 2003; neubeck et al., 2007). however, early proponents of compulsory education were explicit in their belief that creating politically astute citizens would discourage them from participating directly in social change through direct political action. instead, they would be encouraged to channel their dissent through existing political channels (greer, 1972). apple (2004) states that current education fosters political acquiescence instead of encouraging individuals to actively take part in the political spectrum. compulsory education seeks to create a passive, assimilated, and semi-skilled labor force. this process compounded by inferior education students of color receive reinforces inequalities among this group (kozol, a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 20 2005; valencia, 1993). according to kim and taylor (2008) schools in general work to benefit elite and privileged groups at the expense of people in marginal positions (bowles & gintis, 1976). this often results in the reproduction of current social inequities (kim & taylor, 2008). giroux (2001) discusses how students of color are less likely to be included in classroom discourse. schools, especially those that serve marginalized communities often provide their students with basic skill set instead of preparing them for college or teaching them critical skills (dance, 2002; oakes, 2005). similarly, sadker and sadker (2001) found minority students are more likely to “receive fewer academic contacts in class, . . . are asked fewer complex and abstract questions, receive less praise or constructive feedback and are given less direction…” (p. 129). howard (2002) and valencia (1993) finds that schools that serve communities of color, especially latina/o communities, are often underfunded and racially segregated. moreover, students at these schools experience system-wide discrimination by teachers. finally, because poor students and students or color are disproportionately concentrated in underachieving schools, they are more likely to encounter teacher that have low academic expectations (ferguson, 1998; hirschman & lee, 2005). these low academic expectations and lack of resources often result in students performing poorly as compared to their white or more affluent classmates (rose, 1995). incarceration and punishment the us has the largest proportion of prisoners in the world, even though the country makes up only about 5% of the world’s population; it holds 25% of all prisoners (u.s. department of health and human services, 2009, p. 1-2). strikingly, this rise in mass incarceration was not preceded by a surge in crime. in actuality, more prisons, jails, camps and detention facilities, were built when crime was declining (gilmore, 2006 western, 2007). instead, the increase in mass incarceration was accomplished by assigning mandatory minimum terms of incarceration to crimes, which may have previously received no jail or prison time (platt, 2006; reiman, 1995). this is part of general pattern of policing strategies that have put subaltern groups on an accelerated path into incarceration by unequally pursuing, detaining, and prosecuting poor people, especially poor people of color (davis, 2003). whether we examine adults or juveniles one simply truth remains, different populations run different risks of incarceration. in 2004, approximately 95,000 juveniles were incarcerated in the us (u.s. department of health and human services, 2009). however, this number undercounts minors by excluding those who are jailed in adult facilities. while juvenile incarceration has not increased at the same rate as that of adults, both juvenile and adult crime rates roughly increase together and most adult felons have a history of juvenile offending (western, 2007). friedman (2003) state that the demand for beds in juvenile facilities will continue to increase and so will the number of minors sleeping in these beds. once juveniles leave detention facilities they must deal with more than the experience of being incarcerated. past research indicates that formerly incarcerated youths experience difficulties reintegrating into society. for example, they encounter difficulties finding employment, avoiding drug and alcohol use as well as staying away from other high risk criminal behavior that is likely to result in their rearrest and re-conviction (barclay 2004; bullies, yovanoff, & havel, 2004; ramchand, morral, & becker, 2009). these difficulties may be harder to avoid if prisons emphasize punishment rather than rehabilitation. both erving goffman (1961) and michel foucault (1977) see prisons as total institutions. goffman (1961) defines a total institution as “a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life.” (p. xiii). most importantly for the purpose of this article, goffman (1961) argues that total institutions condition inmates to accept notions of social control by stripping them of agency, autonomy, and self-identify. similarly, foucault (1977) says that although imprisonment and executions have shifted from being public acts to now being largely hidden from public view, the goals of these institutions remain the same, to punish and discipline inmates. thus, for foucault and others the primary goal of prisons is to control human behavior and make inmates obedient (ayers, 1997). empirical research suggests that this vision of the prison is consistent with what occurs in juvenile facilities where the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of inmates is ubiquitous (friedman, 2003). yet, when kids are imprisoned they are not just incarcerated they are also supposed to be receiving an education. in the next section, i explore the literature on education including the goals of public schooling. a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 21 teaching in corrections criminologists, rather than sociology or education scholars have written most of the empirical literature addressing correctional education. as a result, they tend to focus on whether education in general or specific educational programs are effective in reducing recidivism. however, information regarding the overall process and outcomes of providing education to incarcerated youths has seldom been the central focus of academic or policy research. typically, when such goals are mentioned they are brief allusions noted only as part of the process of describing and evaluating the effectiveness of specific programs. i identified four major issues in this literature. first, scholars have noted that correctional education programs are more likely to be judged as successful if they prepare graduates to become gainfully employed than if they work towards basic skills (reading, writing and mathematics) proficiency or college preparation. second, these scholars note that incarcerated youth are often several grade levels behind and the knowledge they have may contain substantial gaps (e.g. a student may be a high school senior despite reading at a 6th grade level). third, previous researchers have noted that the safety and control measure of an institution of corrections often interrupts the time that may be set apart for instruction and also limits the instructors’ classrooms activities. finally, many researchers have argued that vocational training is the primary way to get young people re-started on the right track. for example, foley and gao (2004) call for a shift away from programs that are focused on granting ged’s to an educational model that emphasizes vocational training. hollingsworth (2006) writes that specific courses are needed for the professional development of inmates. mattucci (2006), who teaches adult education in a new york state prison, justifies a shift towards vocational training because he believes that these courses provide inmates with practical training that will translate into better prospects for being hired. other research suggests that emphasizing vocational training in corrections is misguided, because higher education has proven to the best way to prevent recidivism (mccarthy, 2006). however, juvenile justice policies that require convicted individuals to pay restitution to their victims or make employment a condition of early release encourage programs that lead to immediate employment rather than programs that require long-term investments before they will pay off in the form of new employment. as a result, some students may re-enter society with the ability to do certain types of labor, but without the basic mathematics and reading skills that would allow them greater flexibility and independence in choosing a lifelong career. teaching in corrections usually involves instructing students who have many educational deficits that are not addressed by penal institutions (zable & nigro, 2007). prison educators encounter students with educational handicaps such as undiagnosed disabilities, linguistic impairments, physical and psychological disabilities, or drug dependence (gehring, 2007; iasevoli, 2007). an increasingly large percentage of inmates are culturally and linguistically diverse, meaning they speak english as a second language (collier & thomas, 2001). in addition, many inmates lack basic academic skills such as phonemic awareness and the ability to add beyond single digit numbers (foley & gao, 2004). not addressing the special needs of inmates can lead to adverse and unintended consequences for both the jail staff and the inmates by leading to behavioral and educational problems in the classroom. in addition to the specific characteristics of the student population, the structure of correctional facilities creates its own special challenges for effective teaching. correctional officers3 are supposed to maintain order inside of the detention facility, enable prisoner rehabilitation, and keep them and other prison staff safe (dvoskin & spiers, 2004; gray & salole, 2006; rutherford, 1993; stadler, 1992). although correctional guards are supposed to enable rehabilitation they tend to view their jobs as primarily about maintaining social control of inmates and ensuring they conform to the rules and regulations of the facility (crawley, 2004). they view educational opportunities and classes as either an undue reward for prisoners or as a situation that presents new challenges for their own safety (crawley, 2004). thus, research has shown that correctional officers tend to view teachers with apprehension and contempt, as they believe instructors are overly compassionate and empathetic (bouchard & kunze, 2003). as a result, guards often engage in behavior that undermines the educational process through the harassment of teachers, the harassment of students, and by micromanaging educational programs. guards sometimes prevent teachers from getting to their classrooms or fabricate rules to justify excessive waiting times for access to facilities and other resources (thomas, 1983; zabel & nigro, 2007). the harassment of students 3 correctional officer and correctional guard will be referred to interchangeably throughout the article. a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 22 by correctional officers can range from rude statements to bodily assault. iasevoli (2007) found that prisoners are often terrorized by the guards when attempting to do homework for class or are physically intimidated when they try to attend their courses. in the state of michigan, a professor in an all women’s facility teaching a women’s studies course, shared this: “ …another [guard]…[told] the women that they would have to stay in the class 100 years because it would take that long to understand women. such comments are unfortunately not unfamiliar…” (lempert, bergeron, & linker, 2005, p. 203). it is not only low-level guards who engage in harassing behavior, wardens and administrators may also put up barriers to effective correctional education. for example, many wardens are constantly reviewing educational programs in an attempt to manage every aspect of their institution (gehring, 2007). often detention centers use access to education as a way to “reward” incarcerated individuals who show “obedience” to detention center authorities. harassment by guards and administrators discourages instructors from working in correctional institutions and also pushes inmates out of educational programs (zabel & nigro, 2007). the school-to-prison pipeline during the early 1990’s, education and policy makers began to notice the increasing connection between public schools and the criminal justice system. however, it was not until the early 2000’s that research began to pay attention to what is referred to as the “school-to-prison pipeline.” the school-to-prison pipeline “pushes children out of school and hastens their entry into the juvenile, and eventually the criminal justice system, where prison is the end of the road.” (naacp legal defense and educational fund inc., 2005, p. 11). this pipeline has contributed to increasing numbers of children being detained and incarcerated in american schools. most scholars agree that a school-to-prison pipeline exists. within this pipeline there are several interlocking practices that place kids on a path from school to secure detention that include zero-tolerance policies, police officers in schools, metal detectors, and school wide searchers (bracy, 2010; hirschfield, 2009; kupchik, 2009, 2010; mcgrew, 2008; thomas & stevenson, 2009; wald & losen, 2003). initially the school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately affected young black boys. however, recent work in this area has explored how this punitive phenomenon is affecting latin@s students. for example, the association of mexican american educators journal recently published a special issue dedicated entirely to the experiences of latina/os in the school-to-prison pipeline. this special issue addresses the unique ways the school-to-prison pipeline has negatively affected latin@s. this issue included discussions on how undocumented students negotiate this pipeline (annamma, 2013; pantoja, 2013; rios & galicia, 2013) and the specific gendered challenges young women with disabilities face when attempting to negotiate the recent fusion between schools and institutions of confinement (annamma, 2013). other work in this special issue address the specific challenges this community faces when attempting to deal with the increasing amounts of latin@ family members who find themselves behind bars and how this affects their educational experiences (nuño, 2013). other research like that of rios and galicia (2013) address the hyper-criminalization of latino youth. for these young men, simple behavior like speaking loudly, defending yourself against an attack, pulling a water bottle out of your backpack or being perceived as “gang member” can result in harassment or even arrest by law enforcement agents (rios & galicia, 2013). this treatment coupled with the fact that students now receive criminal punishment at school for behavior that was previously handed by school staff (hirschfield, 2009; kupchik, 2009) means that latin@s and other students of color are more easily caught up in the school-to-prison pipeline. while this article as a whole is not about the school-to-prison pipeline, it provides readers with any idea of the multiple challenges latin@ students and other students face before ending up in classrooms behind bars. creative resistance my findings illustrate some of the key ways educators in my study participated in “creative resistance” inside these very punitive settings. creative resistance is a phrase i coin to describe the multiple ways instructors in this study undermined the punitive nature of detention centers. the teachers in my study participate in creative resistance in three distinct ways. first, instructors are creating programs in their classrooms that provide students with resources they often lack in their own communities. second, they are emphasizing critical a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 23 thinking skills in their classrooms although it is very uncommon in correctional education. finally, instructors are adopting a race conscious pedagogy that incorporates students’ culture in the classroom. given the harsh nature of life behind bars, the new challenges associated with the school-to-prison pipeline and the increasing amount of latin@s in detention research like this merits sustained critical attention. i will expand on creative resistance later in the article. methods using ethnographic research i entered the social world of juvenile detention facilities for 15 months. according to emerson, fretz, and shaw (1995), the goal of ethnography is to immerse oneself in the lives of the study’s respondents and to understand what is meaningful and important to them. i achieved this by undertaking a two-fold methodology: observations and in-depth interviews. moreover, i supplemented my interviews with participant observations at three juvenile detention facilities in southern california. prior to beginning this project, i developed a key set of questions that guided my research. five main questions guided my semi-structured interviews. 1) tell me how you got into teaching in corrections? 2) how can you describe your teaching experiences in juvenile hall? 3) how would you describe the highpoints you have encountered working here? 4) how would you describe a typical day of teaching? 5) what do you think is most important that your students go away with from your class? during the interviews i encouraged participants to focus on issues that they felt were particularly important to teaching in corrections.4 each interview lasted between one to three hours with most lasting about an hour and a half. at the end of this process i had gathered approximately 18 hours of digitally recorded data. i primarily used snowball sampling to recruit teachers for my study. however, i also used multiple contact points in order to obtain a wider breath of teachers’ experiences. instead of relying on my first respondent as the sole means of find other participants, i randomly called teachers employed by juvenile justice facilities. using this technique allowed me to reduce the bias of using a convenience sample. during our jail visits, we toured the facilities, interviewed teachers and guest-lectured in correctional classrooms. during these lectures i discussed how to gain access to academic resources and how to transfer from community college to four year universities. agreeing to guest lecture allowed me to gain access into the facilities where my respondents worked. this greatly enhanced the study as it allowed us to contextualize the teaching environment of the instructors we were trying to understand. moreover, it allowed me to gain access to total institutions that are often off limits to researchers. of the twelve participants, five were male and seven female. two of the males self-identified as mexicanamerican or latino. two male teachers self-identified as white and one was african-american. of the seven female teachers we interviewed, one identified as chicana while four women self-identified as white. finally, two of the female instructors were african americans. it is also important to note that none of these instructors themselves were previously incarcerated. the teachers varied in age from early twenties to mid-fifties, although most instructors were in their late thirties or early forties. all of the teachers had worked in juvenile facilities for at least one year, but most of them had worked in corrections for ten or more years. while all the instructors were currently teaching in detention facilities, two of them were employed as long-term substitutes rather than as tenure-track teachers. however, all teachers had the same day-to-day responsibilities. of the teachers we interviewed four taught special education, five taught english and history and three taught math and science. most of them were educated at traditional teaching colleges and two were educated in elite research universities. all of them had a bachelor’s degrees and at least one teaching credential. several of the instructors have multiple teaching credentials and/or a master’s degree. as a field researcher who is dedicated to social justice it is also important to reflect on my privilege and power when doing this type of work. as a latino man, individuals like myself do not often get to conduct research in this setting. this is especially the case since latino@s are more likely to end up behind bars than to be a researcher (gilmore, 2006). doing this type of work was also important to me given my history as an “at risk” youth and high school dropout. the young men i saw in these classrooms often reminded me of a younger 4 my findings section doubles as a summary of how instructors answered these interview questions. a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 24 version of myself and of friends and family who currently find themselves behind bars. given how the current system of mass incarceration disproportionately affects communities of color, this research took on special meaning. i also shared my previous challenges in hopes some of these young people would find inspiration or hope in my experiences. i was also aware of my ability to leave these detention centers at any point during my visit. this is a privilege people who are incarcerated do not have and that shapes their daily lives. creative resistance in the correctional classrooms findings in this study, i gained a better understanding of the experiences of teachers who work in juvenile detention facilities in puerto imperial. in particular, i was interested in the pedagogy employed by instructors who work in corrections. during our interviews correctional educators also provided me with several details unique to teaching in this setting. based on my interviews, i found that the teachers who work in this setting are a caring and compassionate group. they seemed very socially conscious and cognizant of the inequalities that contributed to their students5 being incarcerated. several of them noted that most of their students are students of color and talked about discrimination, injustice, sexism, and white privilege freely and openly although half, six of twelve, are not themselves people of color. in spite of working in this unorthodox and often difficult environment, the teachers all described their jobs as being extremely rewarding. nevertheless, all the instructors described teaching in this setting as being challenging and often emotionally draining. as i discussed previously, instructors in this study participated in creative resistance in three separate ways, which i describe in the paragraphs below. nine of the twelve instructors i spoke with created various academic programs for their students. these programs allowed teachers to address the varying needs of their students. creating new programs also allowed teachers to provide more resources for their students while in detention. anna, a seasoned instructor and excorrectional guard started a book club for her students. anna said this about the book club: we try to find authors that are either writing novels that somehow relate to the kids experience. so we don’t do a lot of the traditional classics, we have read jimmy santiago baca who is a man that spent time in federal prison and was illiterate when he went in and he just became this prolific poet while he was there. so we have that extra component in the classroom, the kids can write extra credit essays to go along with so they are actually reading the novel in their room. they are doing that on their own time…which is something they wouldn’t normally do in their homes. so the combination of taking a quiz on the book, reading the book, and then writing a five paragraph essay will get them one additional credit a month. in the book club anna and her students collectively choose the reading material. this allows students to pick texts that speak to their situation or that are relevant to their lives. after they have chosen the text, anna comes in during lunch periods and after school to help lead discussion groups. teachers like anna use these programs to provide students the opportunity to earn units toward a high school diploma, which they often lack. tim, a correctional educator of 18 years started a drama program at his facility. he said this about the program: my big thing now is my drama program. i am excited to see kids get up and use things that i taught them, that they have been able to improve upon. they have taken the skill i have and taken it way beyond what i can do. and that is gratifying when the student becomes better than the teacher. i know that sounds real cheesy but it is true. (for example) i ran into a kid a few months after he had gotten out and he had a speech impediment. he had a really bad lisp and he still remembered all of his lines. he saw me at a coffee shop and just started saying his lines out loud, he still remembered them. 5 the students in these classrooms resemble the general makeup of the imprisoned populace of the us. the inmates in these juvenile facilities range from nine to nineteen years of age. they are predominantly black and latino and come from working class families (gilmore 2007; reiman 1995). according to instructors they often have low academic skills and have not attended school regularly throughout their lives. a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 25 tim discusses his drama program and how his students are able to excel in this area. he also provides an example of a student that retained knowledge of a play after he left the facility. tim also organizes plays and brings in professional actors to teach his students about pursuing acting as a career. several of the instructors i interviewed also started poetry slams, gardens, independent and collective tutoring as well as special education classes for their students. most of these programs are started and managed by teachers volunteering their time after school, during lunch breaks, and on the weekends. these programs not only provide students with resources, they also encourage students to think critically. seven out of the twelve teachers i spoke with emphasized thinking critically in their classrooms. this is unique to the teachers i interviewed as no current research discusses teaching incarcerated students critical thinking skills. the instructors achieved this by overtly emphasizing critical thinking or by providing their students assignments that encourage critical analysis. manuel described this process as follows: a lot of the times it is about building their critical thinking skills. not so much of give me the facts, but also how has that influenced how we are living today and how will our actions and what we do influence our future generations. so getting kids to build their critical thinking skills to think for themselves (is important). i can teach you all you want but if you don’t think for yourself it will not get you anywhere. you have to be a problem solver, you have to be able to do things for your self and that is what employers want. they want people who are critical thinkers who can solve problems and that don’t need someone to hold their hands through the whole thing. so building critical thinking skills (is my goal)… manuel discusses the importance of building critical thinking skills in his classroom. he encourages his students to think about what they are learning using a broader historical and social lens. doing this pushes his students to understand the wider implications of what they are learning. when i asked frank, an african american special education instructor, what kind of education his students needed he said this: frank: i think students need critical thinking skills, they are pretty important. i say that because that is not only important for the ged but also for all students. investigating problems at as deep a level as possible. interviewer: how are you able to accomplish this in your classroom? frank: one, by the projects and things that we study. case and point the current events...we go deeper than the questions on the work sheet. i make sure that i ask the kids questions, i have a list of questions and strategies and i make sure i hit everybody. i visit each question in a number of ways basically restating in a number of ways what they have said. i guess just looking at each answer as deeply as possible. frank embodies the sentiments of the other instructors who believe critical thinking skills are key in correctional teaching. the teachers i spoke with push their students to analyze and deconstruct what they are learning. while the educators i interviewed are emphasizing critical thinking skills, they are also adopting a race conscious pedagogy. finally, ten of the twelve teachers i interviewed are adopting a race conscious pedagogy. they openly acknowledge the social inequalities that contribute to a disproportionate amount of incarcerated people of color. they also speak about race and ethnicity openly although only half are people of color. javier, an energetic and compassionate latino language arts teacher said this about the two largest ethnic groups in the classroom: i am going to be the only thing i know how to be and that is honest and those groups are brown and black. it is as plain as the nose on your face to anybody that works in these places. 90% of my population are kids of color. so it tells me that we as a society, and the juvenile justice system being a part of that, we really need to dig down deep and find some of the deeper root of why my class consist of 90% plus brown and black kids. it is troublesome to me because i think i a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 26 understand some of the issues, the larger societal issues. it is frustrating but again i can get down on that and focus all my energy on that aspect of it or i can say i have these kids now, i can have that opportunity to maybe make a difference. so it weighs on me but i chose to put the energy on them and given them what i have and that is 41 years of life and having gone through some of this stuff my self and just my understanding and those types of things…race is deeply ingrained into the environment...because guess what? you look around we are all black and brown in this place. we are all the other. javier discussed the high amount of people of color in his classes. he also believes society needs to further analyze the reasons that contribute to high amounts of incarcerated people of color. anna, like javier discusses race openly with her students. however, she goes further and simply discussing race and how it affects her students. she said this: …since our students are predominantly students of color we need to understand how our students learn and how their educational experiences have been affected by the color of their skin. and the way they (students) are treated by our society and our educational system and the kind of issues that they bring with them to a classroom. and then how they then interact with a white teacher who might, then just represent every other white teacher they have ever had in their entire life. so what we are doing is really examining the issue of race and its impact on education… because the first thing that we begin examining when we start talking about the impact of race on students and educational equity is we examine the role of whiteness in society. and the idea that a white person just benefits, that they receive white privileged, meaning that they might just from the nature of being white. and a lot of white people in general are really uncomfortable with that idea, they like to believe that everything they have, they have because they earned. they don’t like to acknowledge that they ever received any kind of preferential or differential treatment because of the color of their skin. anna discusses how race affects educational attainment for people of color. she also examined her white privilege and the role of whiteness in society. although she understands that discussing race openly makes several of her coworkers uncomfortable, she believes that discussing race relations in her classroom is necessary in order to provide her students with a better education. finally, instructors are adopting a race conscious pedagogy by connecting students to their culture. manuel said this about incorporating the cultures of his students in a history lesson: …whatever i am teaching i try to incorporate whatever relates to them (students). if we are talking about history stuff i try to bring in as much of how did a chicana/o or african american contribute to that cause. we were talking about the vietnam war and the black panthers and brown berets came into play and we talked about the chicano movement. and everything kind of came into full circle and the kids digged it man, they were all into it. for some of us we hear the chicano movement and we hear dolores huerta, césar chavez, reyes tigerina, and corky gonzalez and all of that makes sense to us, but a lot of these kids have never heard of these people. and i think it is important to teach them about what certain people did, certain voices for the chicanos and african americans like malcolm x. now you are relating it to them, to their background, and to their experiences and as soon as you sparked that interest than that kid is all yours and what every you tell him from that point is money. correctional educators like manuel realize that kids in corrections often have little knowledge of civil rights leaders from their own communities. connecting these events to every day curriculum allowed him to engage students by teaching them about their own communities and cultures. this changed students’ perspective about education and made them more open to accept new academic information. manuel, anna, and javier are adopting a race conscious pedagogy when teaching in corrections. they are questioning the social inequalities a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 27 that contribute to a large incarcerated population of color. finally, they are attempting to aid their students by adopting a pedagogy that better serves the needs of their predominantly black and brown pupils. conclusion given the large incarcerated population, institutions of confinement represent an important social institution that affects the lives of young people and has implications for the long-term health of society. the increase in incarceration rates disproportionately affects people of color. although there is a vast body of literature evaluating specific correctional education programs, little research focuses primarily on the experiences and pedagogy of instructors who work in this setting. this article helps fill that gap by exploring how teachers in juvenile detention facilities provide education. the educators i interviewed provided me with an interesting look into teaching in corrections. initially, i expected correctional instructors to be punitive agents of the detention center. however, the teachers in my study created programs that provided their students with resources. for many of these young men, this was the first time they had access to drama programs, book clubs, and tutoring. they are also teaching their students critical learning skills. this practice is uncommon as no other correctional education study mentions this process. finally, the educators i spoke with are adopting race conscious pedagogy. first they are doing this by acknowledging the social disparities that contributed to a large amount of incarcerated people of color. second, they discuss race and white privilege openly in their classrooms. finally, they incorporate the cultures of their students during classroom exercises and discussions. although i believe these educators genuinely care about their students, i am not trying to condone incarceration and i cannot prove that teachers are succeeding in educating their students. i can, however, show that these teachers are adopting a race conscious pedagogy. in my future work, i would like to explore if teachers are adopting a gender conscious pedagogy, one that seeks to understand the interlocking forms of inequality that contributes to the incarceration of poor women and women of color. i believe that the actions of these educators do more than attempt to provide their students with a quality education. these educators are resisting the racial state. based on empirical and theoretical work, one would expect educators to help reinforce the marginal position of youth in this setting. however, they are doing the opposite by providing their students with resources and by critiquing the social inequalities openly in their classrooms. they are resisting detention facilities that seek to punish inmates and strip them of their individuality (goffman 1961; foucault, 1977). finally, they are fighting against the goals of compulsory education that has historically provided people of color with a marginal and inferior education and has sought to make them passive, obedient, and semi-skilled entities (glenn, 2002; greer, 1972; neubeck et al., 2007). these educators are participating in creative resistance by using their classrooms as a space to provide their students with critical resources and a critical consciousness. thus, the educators i interviewed are participating in creative resistance and are working as agents of change from within an institution that seek to further marginalize people of color. this research provides a key point of intervention for future work. first, this area of study would benefit from a larger investigation that explores the teaching approach of instructors across the united states. this would provide academics and practitioners with a better idea of how these teachers’ pedagogical approach might work across various regions. it also might help strengthen (or disprove) the findings of this study. more research is also needed in understanding this stage of the school-to-prison pipeline. while researchers have built their understanding of this process, academics still know little about how education works behind bars. or how education in this setting influences the future educational trajectory of youth who attend school in detention centers. scholars also know little still about how multiple institutions like home, school, secure detention, and alternative schools like the one in this study might affect the educational and life pathways of students, especially latin@ students who find themselves increasingly attending school behind bars. a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 28 references alexander, m. (2012). the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. new york, ny: the new press. annamma, s. (2013). undocumented and under surveillance. association for mexican american educators journal, 7(3), 32-41. apple, m.w. (2004). away with all teachers: the cultural politics of home schooling. international studies in sociology of education, 10, 61-80. ayers, w. (1997). a kind and just parent: the children of juvenile court. boston, ma: beacon press. barclay, c. (2004). future employment outlook: a tool measuring the perceived barriers of incarcerated youth. the journal of correctional education, 55(2), 133-46. berhan, c. (2007). context, creativity, and critical reflection: education in correctional institutions. the journal of correctional education, 58, 157-169. bouchard, j., & kunze, l. (2003). teaching diverse students in a corrections setting with assistance from the library. the journal of correctional education, 54, 66-69. bowles, s., & gintis, h. (1976). schooling in capitalist america: educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. new york, ny: routhledge press. bracy, n. l. (2010). circumventing the law: students’ rights in schools with police. journal of contemporary criminal justice, 294-315. bullies, m., yovanoff, p., & havel, e. (2004). the importance of getting started right: further examination of the facility-to-community transition of formerly incarcerated youth. the journal of special education, 38(2), 80-4. crawley, e. (2004). doing prison work: the public and private lives of prison officers. portland, or: willian publishing. collier, v. p. and. thomas, w p. (2001). “educating linguistically and culturally diverse students in correctional settings.” the journal of correctional education 52, 68-73. davis, a. y. (2003). are prisons obsolete?. toronto, canada: seven stories press. dance, j. l. (2002). tough fronts: the impact of street culture on schooling. new york, ny: routledge falmer press. dvoskin, j.a., & spiers, e.m. (2004). on the role of correctional officers in prison mental health. psychiatric quarterly, 75(1), 41-9. emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i., & shaw, l.l. (1995). writing ethnographic fieldnotes. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. flores, j. (2012). jail pedagogy: liberatory education inside a california juvenile detention facility. the journal of education of students placed at risk, 17, 1-15. flores, j. (2013). “staff here let you get down”: the cultivation and cooptation of violence in a california juvenile detention center. signs: the journal of women and culture, 39(1), 221-241. foley, r. m., & gao, j. (2004). correctional education: characteristics of academic programs serving incarcerated adults. the journal of correctional education, 55, 6-21. foucault, m. (1977). discipline & punish: the birth of the prison (2nd ed). new york, ny: vintage books friedman, a. (2003). juvenile crime pays—but at what cost? in t. herivel & p. wright (eds.), prison nation: the warehousing of america’s poor (pp. 148-153). new york, ny: taylor & francis books, inc. gehring, t. (2007). the organization of correctional education services. the journal of correctional education, 58, 323-36. gilmore, r. w. (2006). golden gulag: prison, surplus, crisis, and opposition in globalization california. berkeley, ca: university of california press. giroux, h. (2001). theory and resistance in education: towards a pedagogy for the opposition. westport, ct: bergin & garvey. glenn, e.n. (2002). unequal freedom: how race and gender shaped american citizenship and labor. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 29 goffman, e. (1961). asylums: essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. chicago, il: aldine publishing company. gray, g.c., & salole, a.t. (2006). the local culture of punishment: an ethnography of criminal justice worker discourse. the british journal of criminology, 46, 661-79. greer, c. (1972). the great schools legend. new york, ny. basic books. hirschman, c., & lee, j.c. (2005). race and ethnic inequality in educational attainment in the united states. in m. rutter & m. tienda (eds.), ethnicity and causal mechanism (pp. 107-38). new york, ny: cambridge university press. hirschfield, p. j. (2009). another way out: the impact of juvenile arrests on high school dropout. sociology of education, 82(4), 368-393. hochschild, j.l., & scovronick, n. (2003). the american dream and the public schools. new york, ny: oxford university press. hollingsworth, t. (2006). highly qualified correctional educator. in r. wright (ed.), in the borderlands: learning to teach in prisons and alternative settings (pp. 101-113) california: correctional education association. howard, t.c. (2002). hearing footsteps in the dark: african american students’ descriptions of effective teachers. journal of education for students at risk, 7(4), 425-44. iasevoli, d. (2007). behind education: how can you “be the book” behind bars?” english journal, 96, 19-23. kim, j. h. & taylor k. a. (2008). “rethinking alternative education to break the cycle of educational inequality and inequity.” the journal of educational research, 101(4), 207-18. kosters, m.h., & mast, b.d. (2003). closing the education achievement gap: is title 1 working? washingtion, dc: the aei press. kozol, j. (2005). the shame of the nation: the restoration of apartheid schooling in america. michigan: crown publishers. kupchik, a. (2009). things are tough all over: race, ethnicity, class and school discipline. punishment & society, 11(3), 291-317. kupchic, a. (2010). homeroom security: school discipline in an age of fear. new york, ny: new york university press. lempert, l.b., bergeron, s., & linker, m. (2005). negotiating the politics of space: teaching women’s studies in a woman’s prison. nwsa journal, 17,199-207. loewen, j.w. (1995). lies my teacher told me: everything your american history textbook got wrong. new york, ny: new press. mattucci, r. (2006). personal reflections on austin maccormick’s 1931 correctional education book: the integration of vocational, academic, and social education. the journal of correctional education, 57, 26-41. mccarthy, h.j. (2006). educating felons: reflections on higher education in prison. radical history review, 96, 87-94. mcgrew, k. (2008). education’s prisoners: schooling, the political economy and the prison industrial complex. new york, ny: peter lang publishing, inc. naacp legal defense and educational fund inc. (2005). dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. new york, ny: legal defense fund. neubeck, k.j., neubeck, m.a., & glasberg, d.s. (2007). social problems: a critical approach. new york, ny: mcgraw-hill companies. nuño, l.f. (2013). “whisper to a scream’: the collateral consequences of parental incarceration. association for mexican american educators journal, 7(3), 67-74. oakes, j. (2005). keeping track: how schools structure inequality (2nd ed.). new haven, ct: yale university press pantoja, a. (2013). reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: the experiences of latin@ youth and families. association for mexican american educators journal, 7(3), 17-31. platt, t. (2006). “the prison fix.” social justice, 33, 203-205. ramchand, r., morral, a.r., & becker, k. (2009). seven-year life outcomes of adolescent offenders in los angeles. american journal of public health, 99(5), 863-70. reiman, j. (1995). the rich get richer and the poor get prison: ideology, crime, and criminal justice (4th ed.). boston, ma: allyn & bacon. a race conscious pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 30 rios, v., & galicia, m. (2013). smoking guns or smoke & mirrors?: schools and the policing of latino boys. association for mexican american educators journal, 7 (3), 32-41. roberts, a.r. (1975). sourcebook on prison education. springfield, il: charles c thomas publisher. rose, m. (1995). possible lives: the promise of public education in america. new york, ny: penguin books. rutherford, a. (1993). criminal justice and the pursuit of decency. oxford, uk: oxford press. sadker, d. & sadker, m. (2001). gender bias: from colonial america to today’s classrooms. in j.a. banks & c.a. mcgee banks (eds). multicultural education: issues and perspectives (pp. 135-63). new york, ny: john wiley & sons, inc. silberman, c.e. (1970). crisis in the classroom. new york, ny: vintage books. shelden, r.g. (2010). our punitive society: race, class and punishment in america. longgrove, il: waveland press, inc. stadler, r.l. (1992). correctional officer role ambiguity. in the correctional association, the effective correctional officer (pp. 21-30). fredericksburg: bookcrafters. thomas, j. (1983). teaching sociology in unconventional settings: the irony of maximum security prisons. teaching sociology, 10, 231-50. thomas, d.e., & stevenson, h. (2009). gender risks and education: the particular classroom challenges for urban low-income african american boys. review of research in education, 33(1), 160-180. u.s. department of health and human services. (2009). child maltreatment, 2009. u.s. washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services. valencia, r.r. (1993). the plight of chicano students: an overview of schooling conditions and outcomes. in r.r. valencia (ed.) chicano school failure and success: research and policy agendas for the 1990s (pp. 3-26). new york, ny: the falmer press. wald, j., & losen, d. (2003). defining and redirecting a school-to-prison pipeline. new directions for youth development, 99, 9-15. western, b. (2007). mass imprisonment and economic inequality. social research 74, 509-533. wheelock, a. (1992). crossing the tracks: how “untracking” can save america’s schools. new york, ny: the new press. zabel, r., & nigro, f. (2007). “occupational interests and aptitudes of juvenile offenders: influence of special education experience and gender.” the journal of correctional education, 58, 337-55. zinn, h. (2003). a people’s history of the united states: 1492-2001.new york, ny: harper collins. a race conscious pedagogy http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 48 selecting pathways: latinxs, choices, and two-year colleges spencer salas the university of north carolina at charlotte mark m. d’amico the university of north carolina at charlotte cecilia rios-aguilar the university of california los angeles manuel s. gonzález canché the university of pennsylvania adam k. atwell mitchell community college abstract after the choice of a two-year college, more choices follow—and individuals make those choices based on a combination of knowing why (aspirations), knowing how (gaining knowledge and skills), and knowing whom (sources of information about college and careers). in this article, we unpack the relationship between two-year college students’ choices once enrolled in two-year colleges, the alignment of those choices to their projected career goals, and the sources of knowledge/knowing that inform that decision-making. leveraging data captured from a multi-institution, multi-state administration of the college and career capital survey (cccs), we theorize the potential underestimation of latinx students’ decision-making processes for careers while in the higher education setting. findings suggest that despite longstanding mismatching theories, it is also possible that latinx students know or might come to know how to leverage the two-year college pathway in ways that benefit both them and the communities they represent. we conclude with implications for future research emphasizing the development of mediational tools for students’ knowing as they enter postsecondary pathways and leverage their experiences to make such pathways purposeful and sustainable. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.1.377 selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 49 introduction this report … finds that the gap in white/hispanic bachelor’s degree completion could be substantially closed if these well-prepared latinx youth attended the same kind of colleges as similarly prepared whites and graduated at the same rate (fry, 2004, p. v). outside the student activity office at the main campus of northern virginia community college [nova] in annandale on a recent afternoon, students huddled around low-slung tables playing “magic: the gathering”…a music major from a financially comfortable fairfax county household, bovender plans to transfer to virginia commonwealth university. for now, he walks to school. “it’s close and convenient,” bovender said. he gestured over his shoulder: “my house is right across the way” (de vise, 2011). as a starting point, we begin this article about latinx1 students and the choices they make within two-year colleges with a juxtaposition of contrasts. the first, an excerpt of the executive summary of a highly influential 2004 pew hispanic center publication reported fry’s “selective pathways” argument. to paraphrase: “many more latinxs are enrolling in postsecondary education but not graduating; were qualified latinx undergraduates to enroll in more selective institutions (as opposed to, for example, two-year colleges), they would have a better chance of completing a degree. ergo, the community college was, institutionally, counterproductive to college-ready latinxs’ postsecondary achievement.” seven years later, the 2011 washington post excerpt captured the image of a white, male, middle-class two-year community college student, jamming with his classmates in the lounge of northern virginia community college’s annandale campus with every intention of transferring with an associate degree to a four-year institution. in the pew hispanic report, the choices latinxs were making to attend two-year colleges were framed as misguided. in the post article, a white middle-class male’s choice to attend northern virginia community college (nova) was framed as smart. 1 we employ “latinx” (singular) and “latinxs” (plural) as gender-neutral alternatives to “latino, latina, latinos, latinas.” salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 50 our intent in bringing two dissimilar representations of the value assigned to an individual’s decision to attend the two-year college is to expose what has emerged as something of a continuum of choice and its relation to the capital that students leverage in making that choice. for many working for institutions historically committed to openaccess/opportunity, the suggestion that two-year colleges might be flipped as vehicles for consolidating middle class privilege is implicitly contrary to the historically differentiated institutional mission of nova and, more broadly, the community college movement. in this article, we argue that if bovender figured out how to leverage a local two-year college to his immediate and potentially long-term benefit, latinxs might also figure it out and/or are already figuring it out. that is to say, where the decision to attend a two-year college falls on a continuum ranging from an unfortunate under match to middle-class savvy depends, in large part, on who is deciding and the understanding of higher education that informs that process. this article is, thus, about choice making and the ways of knowing that potentially inform the process of becoming a two-year college student and succeeding in that endeavor. our motivation is to draw attention to and challenge the dichotomy captured above—that community colleges are logical, reasonable, and affordable pathways for white middle-class students, but not for latinxs. we locate the theorization that follows in our multi-site research grounded in the notion that leveraging the two-year college as a gateway to the postmodern economic workforce requires more than technical skill, content area knowledge, or simple degree attainment (see d’amico et al., 2012; d’amico et al., 2017; gonzález canché, d'amico, rlosaguilar, & salas, 2014). boundary-less careers involve and revolve around dynamic “ways of knowing” that, in two-year college contexts, take on great import the moment an individual has enrolled in a two-year college institution (cf. defillippi & arthur, 1994). after the choice of a two-year college, more choices follow—and individuals make those choices based on a combination of knowing—who, why, and how to. specifically, we unpack the relationship between two-year college students’ choices once enrolled in two-year colleges, the alignment of those choices to their projected career goals, and the sources of knowledge/knowing that informed that decision-making. turning our attention to broad comparative data gleaned from our self-identified latinx participants versus non-latinx participants captured from a multiinstitution, multi-state administration of the college and career capital survey (cccs), we selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 51 theorize the potential underestimation of latinx students’ decision-making processes for careers while in the higher education setting. we conclude with implications for future research emphasizing the development of mediational tools for students’ knowing as they enter postsecondary pathways and leverage their knowing to make such pathways purposeful and sustainable. we argue that despite longstanding mismatching theories, it is also possible that latinx know or might come to know how to leverage the two-year college pathway in ways that benefit both them and the communities they represent. social capital, knowing, and “the leaking pipeline” with george h. w. bush’s executive order 12729, establishing the white house initiative on educational excellence for hispanics, latinx educational achievement emerged as a national policy concern (https://sites.ed.gov/hispanic-initiative/ )—and was, subsequently, taken up by the clinton, bush, and obama administrations. recent analyses have reported substantial gains in terms of latinx high school graduation and college enrollment. today, latinxs account for the lion’s share of minoritized students in postsecondary education. yet, latinxs continue to disproportionately enroll in two-year colleges where often their pathways through postsecondary education end without a bachelor’s degree—reinforcing longstanding “mismatch” theories such as fry’s (2004) “role of selective pathways” argument (see also alon & tienda, 2005; krogstad & fry, 2014). in the way of a visual illustration, using national center for education statistics data extracted from tables in ifill, radford, wu, cataldi, wilson, & hill (2016), figure 1 shows that latinx students are the only demographic subgroup that is more likely to enroll in a community college than a four-year institution. additionally, figure 2 demonstrates that latinx students were also the least likely to enroll at a university three years later. despite impressive gains in latinx high school graduation and enrollment in postsecondary education, the “leaking pipeline” (hernandez & lopez, 2004) is a disappointing outcome for those students and worrisome at the national and regional levels (see gándara, 2012). college degrees do raise individuals’ educational levels and, by consequence, their earning potential and long-term economic well-being (see, e.g., gándara, 2010; gurantz, hurwitz, & smith, 2017; zarate & burciaga, 2010). what we also know is that important numbers of latinx undergraduates are first-generation college-goers who, as such, face distinct salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 52 figure 1. enrollment distribution by sector and race/ethnicity. data source ifill et al. (2016). figure 2. first-time community college students who began in 2011-12: 3-year attainment/persistence. data source ifill et al. (2016). asian black/african american hispanic/latinx white all first-time students 5.5% 14.0% 19.7% 55.7% enrolled at cc 4.8% 13.4% 23.9% 53.1% enrolled at 4-yr univ 6.8% 13.7% 13.9% 60.5% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% assoc. degree attainment enrolled at 4yr enrolled at cc not enrolled asian 5.8% 14.9% 41.6% 35.5% black/african american 8.2% 5.8% 28.8% 52.6% hispanic/latinx 7.7% 5.4% 40.0% 42.4% white 13.5% 9.4% 28.8% 43.5% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 53 academic and psychological challenges (piedra, schiffner, & reynaga-abiko, 2011) as well as obstacles ranging from bureaucratic hurdles to limited counselor availability (see deil-amen & rosenbaum, 2003), to the labyrinth of remedial, transfer, and applied degree sequences (deilamen & deluca, 2010). social capital and knowing while it is beyond the scope of this article to review the many diverse strands of inquiry that have informed research for latinxs and the two-year college, we underscore that important scholarship has emphasized latinx two-year college students’ identity development— how latinx undergraduates “learn” to be successful and the “ways of knowing” that inform that process (see núñez, hoover, pickett, stuart-carruthers, & vázquez, 2013). robust discussions about latinx two-year college identity development have, among other things, challenged existing deficit thinking in the field through examinations of kin/non-kin collectivism exercised by latinxs in postsecondary education (arevalo, so, & mcnaughton-cassill, 2016). studies have also unpacked the knowledge needed for minoritized students to navigate structural and cultural dimensions of college (deil-amen & rosenbaum, 2003) and, even more recently, their leveraging of social media in that process (gonzález canché & rios-aguilar, 2015). inquiry surrounding “knowing” has also focused, among other things, on the psychological and subjective experiences of latinx community college students and their interplay with degree persistence (zell, 2010), and how shifting demographics combined with fossilized status advantage stymie intergenerational educational immobility within latinx communities (alon, domina, & tienda, 2010). critically oriented inquiry has also generated specific and broad examinations about the sorts of generative “funds of knowledge” that inform latinx postsecondary aspirations and trajectories (kiyama & rios-aguilar, 2018), the “academic ethic” they bring to higher education (pino, martinez-ramos, & smith, 2012), and the transfer of social capital through peer mentoring (moschetti, plunkett, efrat, & yomtov, 2017). these discussions have been accompanied by powerful counter-narratives rupturing deficit-oriented representations of smartness by recognizing and elevating the subaltern, decolonizing, hybrid intelligences that latinxs resource in the face of institutional “whiteness” (see, e.g., carrillo, 2013, 2016; reyes, 2007; rodríguez & greer, 2017). salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 54 what it takes to succeed in two-year colleges depends on a confluence of factors— including institutionally driven variables as well as those that center on individuals. some would argue that becoming an undergraduate is an “apprenticed” identity (see lave & wegner, 1991) that depends largely on a student’s accumulation of social capital and application of that social capital. learning to be something or someone different from the identity to which we are assigned or to which we adhere is more than a question of accumulation of book learning or study/test-taking skills. rather, entry to and full participation within a community of practice such as postsecondary education also requires deep understandings of what that specific community of practice, its values, and the social relationships that support its existence. thus, the forms of “social capital” (bourdieu, 1986) that students bring or do not bring to the twoyear college experience and that they subsequently consolidate and grow (or not) consist of contacts and memberships that might be leveraged as resources to their benefit (cf. riosaguilar & deil-amen, 2012). here we underscore that our colleagues have also argued, “educational research typically treats social capital as dichotomous, presuming students either have it or they don’t” (rios-aguilar & deil-amen, 2012, p. 8). although a broad body of literature has explored why latinxs enroll in two-year colleges (see, e.g., kurlaender, 2006; perez & mcdonough, 2008), scholarship has been somewhat less attentive to the choices latinx make once enrolled, the network of influence that informs those choices, and their alignment with what individual students hope to achieve in terms of careers. in short, at a certain point, we collectively found the under-match argument. the regret that “if only latinxs didn’t go to two-year colleges” frustrates us in that the twoyear college is often the only economically viable choice so many have, and because they are often pushed to do so because they are academically underprepared and/or do not receive adequate counseling (deil-amen & deluca, 2010). turning our focus on two-year college students’ accumulation of know-how once enrolled in two-year colleges, where those ways of knowing come from, and the relationship between their academic choices and career aspirations led to our development of a college and career capital survey (cccs). the study our conceptualization of the cccs was a collaborative exploration of the relationship between the community college experience and the capital they accumulate leading toward selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 55 careers. the cccs was administered at seven southeastern public community and technical colleges representing rural, suburban, and urban institutions as defined by the former basic carnegie classifications (two urban, two suburban, three rural). 1,308 students completed the cccs. the instrument was validated through a pilot study resulting in corrected items that had previously caused confusion with acknowledgement of the possible bias that may result from social desirability (podsakoff, mackenzie, lee, & podsakoff, 2003). survey questions used in this study involved demographics, items related to the alignment between college and careers, aspirations, college and career choices, and sources of information about careers. the non-random sample targeted at least 10 class sections at each institution. to ensure a mix of college transfer and career program students, a minimum of the following class sections were surveyed at each institution: 3 first-semester college-level english sections, 3 developmental english sections, 2 career program course sections, and 2 college transfer course sections in disciplines other than english. of the 1,308 participating students, 83 self-identified as latinx. the latinx students in our sample indicated the following demographics and background characteristics: 59% had attended for one year or less; 58% were female; the average age was 23; and, 60% spoke english as their first language. in terms of employment (hours worked per week): 28% <20 hours; 36% >20 hours; 36% were not working; 6% were or had served in the u.s. military. approximately 19% had completed some college or a degree prior to community college enrollment. in terms of cumulative college gpa, 70% had a cumulative college gpa above 3.0. finally, in terms of developmental course(s) required: 44% english; 11% esl; 3% reading; and 56% math. as a preface, we note that in previous examinations we employed analyses with pilot data to refine our understandings of college-career alignment and rank sources of information regarding college-going decisions and future career fields across respondents (d’amico, riosaguilar, salas, & gonzález canché, 2012). likewise, our collaborations have discussed the larger data set in the context of the shifting geographies of educational opportunity in the “new latino south”—recent, high density, latinx population centers that have spread across georgia and the carolinas (d’amico, salas, gonzález canché, & rios aguilar, 2017). although we had examined both the pilot data and that of the later expanded survey, we had yet to compare more broadly and descriptively the latinx participants’ responses to the entire sample of participants. in the section that follows, we present those comparisons with the intent of salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 56 describing latinx participants’ knowing in relation to their postsecondary choices and projected career trajectories. in terms of method, figures 3 and 4 were the result of the survey data administered on site to students across the participating institutions. the paper survey consisted of 30 questions of which all but three questions were likert type. the remaining questions were a combination of select one choice or select all that apply. question constructs were built on the notion of college and career capital. ccc is founded on students’ know-how once enrolled in two-year colleges, sources of ways of knowing, and the relationship between their academic choices (e.g., reasons for attending a community/technical college, previous education attainment before enrollment) and career aspirations as depicted by previous work experience and local labor market opportunities. the handwritten responses were then entered manually into a data management system and re-checked for accuracy. these figures were generated using statistical software whereby we calculated frequency distributions of the values presented. data from the frequency distributions were converted to images using data management software. thus, these analyses are descriptive in nature and do not intend to make inferences. the comparisons presented in this study are classified as cross-tabulations between categorical variables. although this cross tabulation could have been extended to chi-squared comparisons to test for independence between the categories of interest, we refrained from any attempt to make inferential claims. instead, we proceeded to present the descriptive results as shown in figures 3 and 4. in the cross-tabulation analysis we created two categories for ethnicity: (self-identified) latinx and the remaining participants not self-selecting as latinx. the rest of the categories shown in figure 3 were configured by students’ self-identified reasons to attend a community or technical college in two groups. specifically, students could add a value from 1 to 4 for the importance they attributed to each reason. the options were as follows: 1=no importance at all, 2=little importance, 3=fair amount of importance, and 4=a lot of importance. the categories presented in figure 3 aggregate options 3 and 4 into a single category. from this viewpoint, the bivariate nature of the comparison arises from comparing the proportion of latinxs who selected a given reason as important versus the proportion of everyone else who also selected that same reason with the same level of importance (options 3 and 4). a similar rationale was followed to construct figure 4, wherein the categories of interest were students’ self-identified sources of selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 57 career information. these students’ responses were also aggregated for options 3 and 4. in addition, we compiled and analyzed participants’ optional open-ended responses to “what else would you like to tell us about your college and career experience?” some responses are included in the following section for illustrative purposes. findings the results of the present study focused on the comparisons between latinx and nonlatinx participants to highlight some key differences between the two that describe the latinx experience. first are some overall perspectives about the community college experience and career prospects following completion. the latinx students were somewhat less likely to believe there would be local jobs for them upon graduation (82% as compared with 87% for the non-latinx sub-sample. there were some positive perspectives regarding aspirations, however. greater percentages of latinx students aspired to transfer to a four-year institution (66% compared with 54%) and were more likely to have increased aspirations since enrolling in the community college (61% compared with 57%). one student added the note at the bottom of the survey: “it has showed me responsibility and that life isn't all fun games, you need to get your education and find a good career.” second, we asked respondents to indicate the influences for choosing a community college (figure 3). while there was great consistency when comparing the latinx subgroup to the entire sample, two notable differences were that latinx students see community college as a vehicle for transfer (88% compared with 77%) and that they see community college as the only option for a higher education trajectory (38% compared with 24%). while there were few observed differences, it is important to note the focus on career preparation and affordability for all surveyed community college students. cost can be a significant barrier to completion, as noted by one latinx student: “i just wish i didn't have to work 35 hours a week to take care of myself, and that i could focus more on school to get where i want to be. i don't know if i can reach my educational goals because i don't have the time or money.” third, participants indicated the sources they used for career information (figure 4). the latinx subgroup was similar to the entire sample on some of the sources (e.g., college instructor, advisor, friend); however, there were notable differences as a smaller percentage of latinx students relied on family sources while a larger percentage relied on employers, salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 58 classmates, social networking websites, career surveys, and community/church groups. additionally, while there were not differences, college instructors were a source of information for nearly two-thirds of latinx students (the most prevalent source in our study). one student commented, “the instructors at [college name removed] care about the wellbeing of students. they not only teach but also advise the students.” discussion for the purposes of this article, we limit our discussion to two primary, yet multifaceted conceptualizations: (1) latinx students’ decision to attend community colleges, transfer goals, and related aspirations and (2) the sources of information that contribute to career decisions. we know from figures 1 and 2 that latinx students are more likely to attend a community college and less likely to transfer within three years (ifill et al., 2016). as noted previously, this may perpetuate the negative perspectives around this important subgroup beginning their education in the two-year sector (e.g., fry, 2004). still, the data reflect some of the realities of modern-day college going. for example, community colleges are an important and affordable option, and cost is a factor for many latinx students (o’connor, hammack, & scott, 2010). the results from the present study show that affordability is one of the primary choice drivers for both the latinx students as well as the rest of the sample, which includes the first-generation population as well as students from backgrounds that perhaps present greater economic stability and college and career knowledge as described in the introduction of this article. community college choice becomes a problem when aspirations do not align with results. we learned from this study that transfer is a greater focus for the latinx subgroup than the overall sample, which is connected with affordability and the perspective that community college is the only college option. so, it is critically important that colleges do all they can to ensure successful transfer. again, looking at the national data in figure 2, it appears that despite the transfer intent uncovered in this study, latinx students are not transferring at a rate that keeps pace with asian and white students. however, the data also show that latinx students are more likely to continue enrollment in the community college than african american and white students are. consequently, there may be factors, such as affordability that are leading the latinx students to persist in the community college as long as possible before transferring. selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 59 figure 3. reasons for attending community college. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 prepare for career affordable can succeed transfer to a univ. close to home could work while in school professional advancement only option latinx students 33 87.5 55.1 37.5 75.6 68.4 67.1 35.4 remaining sample 23.9 86.6 40.3 32.7 74.3 67.1 61.4 27 salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 60 figure 4. sources of career information. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 college instructor family member college counselor/ advisor college web page friend college admission/ recruiting reps employer college recruitmen t material college classmates social network websites career interest survey communit y group/chur ch latinx students 64.5 56.4 59.5 53.3 50 43.4 46.1 46.7 47.4 34.2 36.8 35.5 remaining sample 62.7 61.8 58.4 48.6 51 43.1 40.8 36.8 38.3 27.9 24.5 26.6 selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 61 additionally, in our study, we uncover an important outcome that more than half of latinx students have increased educational aspirations since enrolling in the community college. aspirations have been connected with student success (bailey, jenkins, & leinbach, 2007; bers & smith, 1991). the second important piece of our study is in relation to sources of information about careers and the differences between the latinx subgroup and the full sample. notable in our findings is that family was a less prominent a source for latinx students than for the full sample; however, that is not necessarily surprising if we consider that many students in the subgroup are first-generation american and/or first-generation college students and families may not have as robust of a postsecondary background as some other demographic groups. in these instances, it is critical for colleges to work with students whose families do not have as much college experience (baber, 2014; nomi, 2005). while college instructor is the most prevalent source of career information, the greatest difference we see is about community-based resources. to that end, when considering how to inform the career decisions and enhance the career knowledge of the latinx community in community colleges, the roles of employers, college classmates, career interest surveys, church and community groups, and social networking sites are viable options. this also shows that this population is perhaps more receptive to these alternative sources of career information than other demographic groups. moreover, when considering the building of latinx community college student social capital and the ensemble of contacts and memberships that might be leveraged as resources to their benefit (cf. rios-aguilar & deil-amen, 2012), our findings suggest the potential of differentiated, purposeful, and institutionally driven academic and career counseling. for example, counseling aimed at mentoring latinx students toward successful transfer and/or career opportunities might begin with a mindfulness of the experiences of working students and how such experiences might be used to grow college and career aspirations. additionally, community networks, which were more important to the latinx sample, can be leveraged as opportunities to enhance knowledge of and pathways toward careers. salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 62 conclusion we began this article with the contrast of an excerpt of fry’s (2004) highly influential “selective pathways” argument with the image of a white, middle-class two-year community college student, bovender, jamming with his classmates in the lounge of northern virginia community college’s annandale campus. the picture of a millennial music major waiting it out through an associate’s degree with every intention of transferring to a four-year institution— but, we imagine, with far less student debt (if any) and all of the creature comforts of his parent’s four-bedroom ranch “just across the way”—challenges our professional subjectivities. bovender is a synecdoche for a middle class for whom affordability, access, and broad options through the community college are such that community colleges are becoming institutions of first choice. this is also true for latinx students for whom, as martinez and fernandez (2004) explained, “community colleges occupy a unique position in higher education as sites for mining the social and cultural capital needed for upward social and economic mobility in the united states” (p. 51). in this article, we have extended our related discussions surrounding the evolution of our research around dynamic “ways of knowing.” we have argued the potential underestimation of latinx students’ capital acquisition in discussions surrounding the “role of selective pathways”—an important paradigm that nevertheless cedes the possibility that latinxs too might come to know how to in ways that align their choice to attend two-year colleges, the choices they make once enrolled, and the career trajectories to which they aspire. perhaps what we might have to be more willing to accept as individuals and as a discipline is that while the role of the community college has historically been to serve the community, increasingly, students such as bovender are serving themselves strategically and purposefully to the two-year college in ways that we had not previously imagined. while the north carolina department of public instruction, for example, characterizes “career & college promise” (dual enrollment) programming as “a viable option for students who may believe that the cost puts college out of reach for them” (see http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/advancedlearning/ ccp/?&print=true), families and individuals who see such programs as the best bang for their taxpayer buck are also leveraging “early college” programming to their perceived benefit. there is, we argue, absolutely nothing wrong with that—and we too are left wondering what we selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 63 would have chosen should such options have existed for us when we were in high school—and what options we will choose for our school-aged children. what we have hoped to question is the sustainability of the argument that otherwise qualified latinx students should enroll in more selective institutions and not two-year colleges. our hope is that future discussions will move past the very important notion of “selective pathways” toward understanding the development of individual student choice-making and the social capital that informs those decisions (especially that of minoritized students). finally, we hope that the ways of knowing, through which latinxs and others enter the two-year college might be understood, leveraged, and cultivated as mediational tools for more students so that the pathways they select are ones that lead them and the country forward. salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 64 references alon, s., domina, t., & tienda, m. (2010). stymied mobility or temporary lull? the puzzle of lagging hispanic college degree attainment. social forces, 88(4), 1807-1832. doi: 10.1353/sof.2010.0017 alon, s., & tienda, m. (2005). assessing the “mismatch” hypothesis: differences in college graduation rates by institutional selectivity. sociology of education, 78(4), 294-315. arevalo, i., so, d., & mcnaughton-cassill, m. (2016). the role of collectivism among latino american college students. journal of latinos and education, 15(1), 3-11. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2015.1045143 baber, l. d. (2014). when aspiration meets opportunity: examining transitional experiences of african american males in college readiness programs. community college journal of research and practice, 38(12), 1097-1111. bailey, t., jenkins, d., & leinbach, d. t. (2007). the effect of student goals on community college performance measures. ccrc brief. number 33. community college research center, columbia university. bers, t. h., & smith, k. e. (1991). persistence of community college students: the influence of student intent and academic and social integration. research in higher education, 32(5), 539-556. bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in j.g. richardson (ed.), handbook of theory and resarch for the sociology of education (pp. 241-258). wesport, ct: greeenwood. carrillo, j. f. (2013). i always knew i was gifted: latino males and the mestiz@ theory of intelligences (mti). berkeley review of education, 4(1), 69-95. carrillo, j. f. (2016). barrio nerds: latino males, schooling, and the beautiful struggle. rotterdam: sense. d’amico, m. m., rios-aguilar, c., salas, s., & gonzález canché, m. (2012). career capital and the community college. community college journal of research and practice, 36(4), 251-261. d’amico, m. m., salas, s., gonzález canché, m., & rios aguilar, c. (2017). ways of knowing, community/technical college workforce (re)development, and “el mundo de hoy” i. in s. salas & p. r. portes (eds.), u.s. latinization: education and the new latino south (pp. 89-107). albany, ny: suny press defillippi, r. j., & arthur, m. b. (1994). the boundaryless career: a competency‐based perspective. journal of organizational behavior, 15(4), 307-324. deil-amen, r., & deluca, s. (2010). the underserved third: how our educational structures populate an educational underclass. journal of education for students placed at risk, 15(12), 27-50. deil-amen, r., & rosenbaum, j. e. (2003). the social prerequisites of success: can college structure reduce the need for social know-how?. the annals of the american academy of political and social science, 586(1), 120-143. selecting pathways association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 65 de vise, d. (november, 2011). two-year colleges draw more affluent students. the washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/two-yearcolleges-draw-more-affluent-students/2011/10/24/giqadvvigm_story.html fry, r. (2004). latino youth finishing college: the role of selective pathways. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. gándara, p. (2012). expanding opportunity in higher education: leveraging promise. new york, ny: suny press. gándara, p. (2010). the latino education crisis. educational leadership, 67(5), 24-30. gonzález canché, m. s., d'amico, m. m., rlos-aguilar, c., & salas, s. (2014). it's who you know: leveraging social networks for college and careers. community college enterprise, 20(1), 18-35. gonzález canché, m. s., & rios-aguilar, c. (2015). critical social network analysis in community colleges: peer effects and credit attainment. new directions for institutional research, 163, 75-91. doi: 10.1002/ir.20087 gurantz, o., hurwitz, m., & smith, j. (2017). college enrollment and completion among nationally recognized high‐achieving hispanic students. journal of policy analysis and management, 36(1), 126-153. hernandez, j. c., & lopez, m. a. (2004). leaking pipeline: issues impacting latino/a college student retention. journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice, 6(1), 37-60. ifill, n., radford, a. w., wu, j., cataldi, e. f., wilson, d., & hill, j. (2016). persistence and attainment of 2011-12 first-time postsecondary students after 3 years. first look. nces 2016401. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016401.pdf kiyama, j., & rios-aguilar, c. (eds.). (2018). funds of knowledge in higher education. new york: routledge. krogstad, j. m., & fry, r. (2014). more hispanics, blacks enrolling in college, but lag in bachelor’s degrees. washington, dc: pew research center. kurlaender, m. (2006). choosing community college: factors affecting latino college choice. new directions for community colleges, 133, 7-16. martinez, m., & fernández, e. (2004). latinos at community colleges. new directions for student services, 105, 51-62. moschetti, r. v., plunkett, s. w., efrat, r., & yomtov, d. (2017). peer mentoring as social capital for latina/o college students at a hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education. doi: 10.1177/1538192717702949 nomi, t. (2005). faces of the future: a portrait of first-generation community college students. american association of community colleges. núñez, a. m., hoover, r. e., pickett, k., stuart-carruthers, a. c., & vázquez, m. (2013). latinos in higher education and hispanic-serving institutions: creating conditions for success. hoboken, nj: wiley/jossey-bass. salas, d’amico, rios-aguilar, gonzález canché, & atwell association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 66 o’connor, n., hammack, f. m., & scott, m. a. (2010). social capital, financial knowledge, and hispanic student college choices. research in higher education, 51(3), 195-219. perez, p. a., & mcdonough, p. m. (2008). understanding latina and latino college choice: a social capital and chain migration analysis. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(3), 249265. piedra, l. m., schiffner, t. a., & reynaga-abiko, g. (2011). investing in the future: expanding educational opportunities for first-generation latino college students. in creating infrastructures for latino mental health (pp. 117-137). new york, ny: springer. pino, n. w., martinez-ramos, g. p., & smith, w. l. (2012). latinos, the academic ethic, and the transition to college. journal of latinos and education, 11(1), 17-31. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2012.631437 podsakoff, p. m., mackenzie, s. b., lee, j.-y., & podsakoff, n. p. (2003). common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. journal of applied psychology, 88(5), 879-903. reyes, r. (2007). struggle, practice, and possibility: lessons learned from marginalized women of mexican descent in their first year of college through the camp program. equity & excellence in education, 40(3), 218-228. doi: 10.1080/10665680701424107 rios-aguilar, c., & deil-amen, r. (2012). beyond getting in and fitting in: an examination of social networks and professionally relevant social capital among latina/o university students. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(2), 179-196. doi: 10.1177/1538192711435555 rodríguez, l. f., & greer, w. (2017). (un)expected scholars: counter-narratives from two (boys) men of color across the educational pipeline. equity & excellence in education, 50(1), 108-120. doi: 10.1080/10665684.2016.1256004 zarate, m. e., & burciaga, r. (2010). latinos and college access: trends and future directions. journal of college admission, 209, 24-29. zell, m. c. (2010). achieving a college education: the psychological experiences of latina/o community college students. journal of hispanic higher education, 9(2), 167-186. doi: doi:10.1177/1538192709343102 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 102 supporting bilingual learners and their families: key understandings for pre-service teachers and the institutions that prepare them nancy l. commins university of denver abstract an essential component of successful schooling in linguistically and culturally diverse settings is the active involvement of parents and community members. this is made possible when teachers honor families’ languages and cultural traditions and build upon them. teacher preparation programs play a critical role in helping preservice teachers reject deficit views and recognize that issues of status, power, and economic circumstances all play a role in shaping outcomes for students. part of the asset orientation that must be fostered in new teachers is the understanding that primary or home language development contributes to both the academic success of children and the well-being of linguistically and culturally diverse communities as a whole. the article provides specific examples of understandings that preparation programs can instill in new teachers so that they come to see community outreach as essential to creating a positive and supportive school environment for all learners. introduction when parents are unable to talk to their children, they cannot easily convey to them their values, beliefs, understandings, or wisdom about how to cope with their experiences. they cannot teach them about the meaning of work, or about personal responsibility, or what it means to be a moral or ethical person in a world with too many choices and too few guideposts to follow. what is lost are the bits of advice, the consejos parents should be able to offer children in their everyday interactions with them. talk is a crucial link between parents and children: it is how parents impart their cultures to their children and enable them to become the kind of men and women they want them to be. when parents lose the means for socializing and influencing their children, rifts develop and families lose the intimacy that comes from shared beliefs and understandings.” (wong fillmore, 1991, p. 343) these words were written more than a quarter century ago, yet they still evoke a danger faced by many latino families in the u.s.—losing a connection to and role in their children’s lives. affirming the role of parents and community members and the language and cultural traditions they bring with them is a critical component in successful schooling in linguistically and culturally diverse communities. the main focus of this article—support for the development of all of the linguistic resources that bilingual learners bring with them to school—should be at the core of all teacher preparation programs. learning how to reach out to families who speak a language other than english is just one part of a comprehensive set of understandings that address language, cultural identity, and academic achievement. what follows is a rationale for and examples of some of the non-traditional ways in which latino parents can help their children and support their life in school. the practices advocated here reflect the kind of asset orientation towards parents and community members that all teachers should embrace and offer suggestions for ways in which all educators can demonstrate a value for students’ home languages and culture. we have known for decades that parent participation is a strong contributor to children’s academic achievement (see epstein et al., 2009, for a complete review of the research as well as specific strategies for building strong home school partnerships). the literature describes many different roles that families can take in relation to children’s schooling, spanning a continuum that ranges from passive spectators to active decision makers (berger, 2007; swap, 1987). for many latino / spanish-speaking parents, linguistic and cultural barriers supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 103 will make this involvement with the schools their children attend both more necessary and more challenging. new teachers must embrace efforts to reach out to all families, regardless of language or cultural background, as essential to creating a positive and supportive school environment. sociopolitical context as linguistic and cultural diversity increases, teacher preparation programs must provide opportunities for all pre-service teachers to develop a positive view towards the maintenance of students’ primary languages and learn why it is important to advocate for the development of bilingualism as an essential part of home-school partnerships in a multicultural setting. this perspective is reflected in the following “organizing principles” from miramontes, nadeau, and commins (2011): • the more comprehensive the use of the primary language, the greater the potential for linguistically diverse students to be academically successful. there are always ways to nurture the primary language, regardless of school resources. • sociocultural factors and political context must be considered in making decisions regarding every aspect of program planning. • parents and community must play a major role in the learning and schooling of their children. (p. 24) in an increasingly global society, it is critical to prepare children and adults who can interact with, learn from, work for, and care about what happens to people who are different from themselves. ovando, collier, and combs (2003) suggest that “the ability to build a strong partnership is intimately connected with the picture that educators have of the local community” (p. 393). the way that language is used and respected is a critical element of home/school partnerships. at the center of teacher preparation should be a demonstrated value for bilingualism, multilingualism, and intercultural competence. new teachers must come to understand that instructional programs do not exist in a vacuum. rather, they exist within schools that are situated in communities that can be defined along several dimensions. there is the geographic community that physically surrounds a school; there are the ethnolinguistic communities that constitute the student population; and there are the institutions, services, leisure activities, and commercial enterprises that constitute the life of the broader civic community. as pre-service teachers begin their placements and internships, they should be prepared to pay attention to the linguistic and cultural contexts within which they will work. coursework should provide the impetus for them to be asking questions such as: • is there a climate of respect for different languages and cultures in your building? in the larger community? • what is the message sent to parents and children about the value and importance of students maintaining and deepening their primary language? • is trying to address the needs of students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds seen as a burden or as an opportunity? • are families and community members viewed as assets to students’ academic success or as disinterested or counterproductive? to address the complex interactions of language, culture and academic achievement, teacher preparation programs need to make it transparent that nothing that has to do with schooling is neutral. they need to help pre-service teachers reject deficit views and recognize that issues of status, power, and economic circumstances all play a role in shaping outcomes for students. for example, it is common for teachers to see students who come from homes where a language other than english is spoken as broken. new (and practicing) teachers too often believe that their job is to “repair” these students by teaching them english. bilingual students are not broken, they are whole human beings who come with strengths and resources that can be built upon. they have the potential to become academically bilingual and bicultural—a benefit to themselves and to the society as a whole. terminology is also important. preparation programs need to move away from labeling students from supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 104 diverse linguistic backgrounds simply as “english language learners” and help pre-service teachers learn to think critically about what it means to “learn english” as well as the nature of bilingualism and its benefits. it is also important to emphasize that children are not just learning a new language in school: they are becoming socialized into a new culture and set of power relationships. some questions to consider (potentially as part of an action research project) include: • what happens to bilingual learners when they enter schools and embark on the road to proficiency in the dominant language? • what does it mean to their families that children are becoming speakers of the dominant language and being socialized to new ways of acting? • in what ways does the schooling experience maximize or limit students’ possibilities for success? working with families and community—an outreach perspective typically, interaction with families and communities falls under the umbrella of “parent involvement.” in contrast, the term “outreach” describes an effort where school personnel go out and draw in parents, other family members, and the community at large into the school arena as partners (miramontes, nadeau, & commins, 2011). an effective outreach program is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. the goal of community outreach is to build strong relationships based on two-way communication. this entails building trust and breaking down barriers that might be created by language and culture. pre-service teachers should be guided in how to establish mutual respect with the families of their students by adopting an attitude of learning and maintaining a commitment to the good of the whole society. it is important that new teachers come to embrace the need for community outreach and view their roles as outreach ambassadors. one of the most important messages teachers can send is the value for the students’ primary language as a vehicle for strong identity development to support learning in and out of school. one goal of outreach can be to break down fears associated with cultural change. instead of school representing the “other world,” teachers can co-construct the classroom environment so that students’ own linguistic and cultural backgrounds are core variables that drive instruction. the sense of community that develops through school outreach efforts can help reassure families that the school is a safe environment for their children, is understanding and supportive of their values, and is concerned about creating a partnership between home and school. teacher candidates should come to understand that for many parents being physically absent from the school arena does not mean a lack of interest on their part. a lack of familiarity and comfort with the school setting is one reason that many parents are reluctant to get involved in school activities. some issues that may impact latino parents’ willingness or ability to participate include why they have come to the community in the first place, as well as the larger issues of language and/or culture inherent in immigrant group integration. some parents consider teachers to be disinterested and unresponsive to their children. they may feel that their own beliefs about education are ignored or undervalued. because across the world in different countries there are vast differences in the expectations around schooling, including the way teachers dress, when students can enroll, expectations for parental involvement, or the way addition and multiplication are taught; misunderstandings and miscommunications can easily occur. as indicated in the quote at the beginning of the article, one of the greatest dangers in bilingual communities is the breakdown of intergenerational communication and the disruption of family ties. it is inevitable when people leave one country for another that such ties will be strained, but it can be exacerbated by well meaning, yet uninformed, practices and policies in schools. a haphazard or uncritical approach, especially to issues of language use and cultural identity, can result in weakened family ties. when children are exhorted to adapt to the new culture and the dominant language is the only one that is used for instruction, children can receive the message that who they are, as well as the language and culture of their parents, is no longer of value. feelings of alienation and not belonging, caused by communication barriers, can contribute to unrest among adolescents and young adults in linguistically and culturally diverse communities. without strong messages from schools and the larger community to do otherwise, students who arrive supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 105 at school speaking languages other than english typically abandon their first language, reject their home culture, and often lose the ability to communicate with key members of their care-giving community. with so many things to learn in order to survive in the new setting, it can be easy for immigrants to think that the best thing to do is leave the primary language behind and concentrate on fitting in. in my own family, my immigrant grandparents encouraged their children to stop using their home language so that they could fit in and do well in school. as a result, my parents, and so many others like them, gave up their primary language and became monolingual english speakers—inadvertently cutting off my generation and those that come after from a rich cultural heritage. one way to counteract this trend is for schools to send the unified message that the stronger the primary language, the better students will do in all of their academic work. (cummins, 2007; goldenberg, 2013; greene, 1997). through their attitudes and action, educators can help students to maintain their first language while they are learning the dominant language. at minimum, teachers can insist that parents have a role and encourage them to always use their strongest language to continue to develop their children’s linguistic and cognitive strengths. why does maintaining the primary language help? to better understand why the continued development of students’ primary language is so critical, it is helpful to think of the brain as a kind of “conceptual reservoir.” this reservoir contains the knowledge, conceptual understandings, and ways of acting in the world that humans accumulate as they develop from birth through adulthood (commins, 2011; miramontes, nadeau, & commins, 2011). figure 1 below represents the idea that this reservoir of knowledge can be accessed and added to through any language a person knows. the pathways in are receptive—we acquire information and understandings through listening, observing, exploring, reading, and imitating. the pathways out are how we represent thought and ideas—speaking, writing, artistic expression, and physical movement. the arrows on the left labeled l1 (first language or primary language) show these pathways going in and out of the reservoir. as we learn more, the pathways in and out grow stronger. implicit in this discussion is that the primary language is not simply a language, but holds the mores and behaviors of the home culture. figure 1. using both languages. knowledge can be added to and accessed from the conceptual reservoir through all the languages a person knows (miramontes et al., 2011). when people begin to learn a second language, they do not start a new reservoir—rather, they begin to express what they already know and understand through the new language. the arrows labeled l2 (second language) demonstrate adding conceptual knowledge to the reservoir and representing what is known through a second (or third) language. for example, once you know that polygons are distinguished by their number of supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 106 sides and angles, you do not have to relearn the concept of “shapeness”—just the new terms for the shapes you already know. by understanding this relationship between the two languages, pre-service teachers can come to see primary language support as contributing to and not deterring academic success in a second language. a key understanding that teacher preparation programs should impart is that whatever students know in one language, they can learn to express through any language they learn. the more students know, the more there is to transfer. in practice, this means that teachers should be encouraging students to value learning in all languages and affirm that learning through the primary language will strengthen learning through the second. while some individuals may sense this intuitively, many second language learners have the feeling that they are starting over. this is exacerbated by comments from teachers such as, “these students don’t know anything,” when what they do not know yet is how to express their ideas through english. educators must help students see their primary language, not as a stigma, but rather as a gift. for this to happen, part of the understandings that all new teachers should acquire is that the maintenance of the primary language is a way to build academic skills, and not simply a desire to hold onto the past. this is especially important in language restrictive states (e.g. arizona) that dictate that only english can be used for instruction and formal primary language is not permitted. teachers can still send the message to students that their home language is of value. even minimal supports, like having books and dictionaries in languages other than english in the classroom or directing students to web links related to the topics of instruction, will make a difference for the students. there is no law that says teachers cannot encourage students to maintain their home language. parents can and must play an active role in continuing to add to students’ conceptual understandings or “deepen the reservoir.” this does not mean asking them to teach the curriculum, but to focus on continued cognitive development. all parents can extend the kinds of thinking skills critical to academic success such as inferring, predicting, comparing/contrasting, etc. these can be developed in multiple ways using real life experiences, pictures, books, or whatever else is available in the home environment. as an example, in a history class a teacher candidate could send home a copy of a photo or illustration from a textbook for students and parents to use as a basis for discussion. they could discuss what they see; any connections they might have; compare situations, clothing styles, and/or events to those in their own experience; infer what might have happened before and predict what comes next. a powerful way that schools can connect to latino families is to assist students in creating what cummins et.al. (2005) have termed “identity texts.” according to the authors, the products are positive statements that the children make about themselves through written, spoken, visual, musical, dramatic, or multimedia presentations. what is essential is that the topics are of the students’ choosing based on their own experiences at home, and are authentically integrated into the academic curriculum at school. encouraging parents to continue their children’s conceptual development in their primary language— reading and talking in the first language at home—will make it easier to bring the community into the classroom. a major goal is to instill in children a pride in who they are, while at the same time respecting differences and becoming open to new ways of thinking and doing. preparation programs need to give prospective teachers the tools they need to find out what students bring with them to the learning environment and help them to develop a strong sense of self. an added benefit of seeing parents as partners is in diagnosing learning difficulties. when lines of communication are opened between parents and teachers it is possible for them to work together to try understand the nature of any academic problems a child may have. by inviting parents to share how their children learn at home, teachers can better determine whether academic challenges are due to expected second language development patterns or may stem from deeper processing issues, as any underlying cognitive challenges would be evident in the primary language. this both affirms the role of parents in their children’s schooling and increases the likelihood that appropriate instructional interventions will be chosen. tapping into “community funds of knowledge” another aspect of outreach is becoming aware of the cultural assets in the community. in order to supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 107 appreciate the role and importance of language and culture, teacher candidates can begin by analyzing how their own language and culture affect their attitudes and beliefs about learning. because their biases and perspectives will influence how they interact with their students, it is important that they are given opportunities to uncover how they view and value other languages. while it may not be possible to be completely knowledgeable about every culture in a school, all teachers can become more conscious of the possibility of cross-cultural differences, the visible and invisible power relations at work, and seek to understand and accommodate or illuminate them. they also can maintain the perspective that all families and communities have something to offer in support of children’s academic success. pre-service teachers should be provided opportunities to link with families in their school communities and reinforce parents’ role in deepening conceptual understandings through the primary language at home. another way to link families to the instructional program is by incorporating what are termed “community funds of knowledge” into the academic curriculum (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; moll, 1990). funds of knowledge are defined as the essential cultural practices and bodies of knowledge and information that households use to survive, get ahead or thrive. they include the dynamics of the children’s households, and how they function as part of a wider, changing economy. when teacher candidates come to view students’ communities as resources and linguistically and culturally diverse families as having assets, they can build on this knowledge, and help parents work from their strengths by providing ways for them to authentically participate in their children’s education. as part of coursework and internship experiences, teacher candidates should have opportunities to: • interview or survey parents and community members about the kind of work they do and the skills they have. • learn about “survival networks” in the community and how newcomers make sense of new cultural and social patterns. • investigate the kinds of activities, responsibilities, and interactions children have in their home community. • invite family members to share their knowledge and expertise as part of the delivery of the curriculum. • value students’ ability to use more than one language by bringing the languages of the community into the school and classroom. • encourage non-english-speaking parents and family members to communicate with their children in their strongest language. another way to facilitate communication with families is to make use of linguistic resources that exist in both the school and ethnolinguistic community to act as bridges between the two. many schools employ native language tutors, community liaisons, and bilingual teachers. while this support is usually limited and seldom available for all languages, still the message sent is that the education system does support use of students’ primary languages for learning. overcoming language barriers preparation programs should provide all teacher candidates with ideas for how to overcome language barriers that may exist between families and schools. for example, connecting to families through their primary languages will require the use of oral interpreters and translating key documents and information. this entails much more than finding someone who speaks the language on the spur of the moment. the most effective interpretations occur when the person is proficient in the dominant language, has a strong understanding of both cultures, and is familiar with the context about which they will interpret, i.e. school rules, expectations or policies regarding special services. it will be important to find people who speak the same dialect, as there are huge variations in terminology, accent, and semantics across the different dialects of the same language. it is critical that interpreters understand that their role is to communicate the message accurately and help clarify misunderstandings, but not to advocate for a particular response. supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 108 pre-service teachers must also become conscious that children translating for their parents may be perceived as an easy solution but there are many drawbacks to relying on this translation strategy. the children are readily available, but they may not have the skills to go back and forth between two languages or be familiar with technical vocabulary. acting as the translator may also shift the typical power relationships in the family and result in discomfort for both the child and the adult. imagine having been asked as a 10 year-old to tell your mother that she needed an operation or informing your father that he had cancer. if this would be difficult for us as adults, it must be overwhelming to a child. according to the office for civil rights (2010), the use of children as interpreters for school-related issues is never advisable. while these situations are sometimes unavoidable, every effort should be made to minimize their occurrence and help students and their families cope with the dynamics and challenges of children translating for adults. creating partnerships within the context of public schooling all pre-service teachers must see themselves as working in partnership with families. partnerships based on cooperation allow a two-way flow of getting information from and giving information to families. the goal is to let families know you are there to help them and their children as demonstrated in figure 2. there are a multitude of activities that spell cooperation when families do not speak english. they can be as varied as workshops, classes, and training sessions; written communication in the parents’ native language; identification of and communication through media that exist in the home languages of the students; and individual mentors. special classes can be offered for parents in the dominant language and their primary language related to school topics, vocabulary, and procedures. figure 2: “en columbine, todos somos familia.” this bulletin board posted at the entrance to a school in colorado affirms its diversity and welcomes all families. (photo: nancy commins) as pre-service teachers enter their internships, they should develop an awareness of the total school climate and non-instructional aspects of the setting that affect the wellbeing of students and their families. again, course and internship assignments can focus on this aspect and require students to examine elements of a welcoming school community in multilingual settings. for example, the school office is usually the first contact families have with schooling. no matter the location, how families are received makes a difference. words, body language, and facial expressions all send a message. below is a set of “look-fors” that can be used to identify supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 109 many of the simple steps that every school or institution can take regardless of the language skills of the teachers and other staff members. creating a welcoming environment: key look-fors (commins, 2008) • are there welcome phrases, directions, and notices in the major languages spoken by the students? • is there a list of interpreters in each language or a set of contacts in the school or community who can help out if needed? • what kind of informal communication structures are in place (such as “telephone trees” or bilingual parent contacts) for each language group to convey important information? • is there a formal orientation process (tours, videos, conversations, podcasts, etc.) to let families know about school routines and requirements such as school timetables and calendars in languages other than english? • does the school provide opportunities for parents to observe classes either directly or through videos? • does the school maintain a multicultural or multi-faith calendar to ensure that planned events either coincide or do not conflict with significant dates in the community? • is there any formal or informal training for new staff regarding the best ways to reach out to families? • does the school provide childcare for meetings or afterschool events? • is there a tolerance for children being present in all situations? • is food provided or allowed at community-oriented events or meetings? • are parents and community members invited to share their knowledge and resources or involved in any way to help find library materials and websites in their own languages or work with students on dual-language projects? not all parents see their role as being involved in their children’s formal education. when they do get involved, it is often the whole family. no matter what is attempted, it will require acceptance, patience, persistence, and above all, an open-door, welcoming attitude. other assignments might include conducting interviews and talking with parents to seek to learn about their interests and circumstances (ahlquist, 2006). questions can address what the parents want teachers to know about their children, their culture, their hopes for their children’s education and future in the schools of their adopted homes. messages about the importance of the primary language can help students see that they too belong and are valued. teacher candidates working with older students can participate in efforts to learn about the various cultures by conducting mini-ethnographic interviews to get to know the families (flaitz, 2006). as part of history, geography, language arts, music, math or art methods courses, students can compare and contrast a single variable across countries and cultures, e.g. literacy rates, climate, non-verbal communication clues, or how multiplication is taught. they can inform themselves about the places in the world that their students are arriving from and create country reports and display visual images that might help to create a sense of belonging in the school. other activities teacher candidates might engage in to get to know students and their families include: • clarify values around classroom practices. • reflect on thoughts and feelings if one were to trade places. • talk about losses and gains as a result of the immigrant experience. • discuss proverbs and “words of wisdom” across languages and cultures. • create a newcomer’s guide: “understanding your new school.” break down barriers a fundamental disposition that pre-service teachers must adopt is that they have much in common with people they might perceive as different from themselves. most important perhaps is that all parents love their supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 110 children and want them to succeed. teacher preparation programs should provide candidates opportunities to build personal relationships and cross-cultural understanding both for themselves and among different parent groups regarding similar needs, interests, or concerns. this can be as varied as becoming conversation partners, providing each other with cooking classes, or sharing childcare. another way for teachers and families to learn about each other is by jointly creating a community portrait that could include characteristics of ethnicity and the socioeconomic structure in the community, how various languages are used outside of school, or the history of the area and important locales and events. additional ideas include: • link families one on one so that new arrivals and longer-term residents are able to build personal relationships and break down barriers. • encourage parents who are more established to develop a parent network to welcome and support newly arriving families whether from across the city or around the globe. • discuss parenting and how the rules and expectations for behavior might be similar and different across countries and cultures. • recruit and train bilingual peer tutors for new students, who can help with the translation of signs, notices, and newsletters, or act as greeters and guides for parent teacher meetings and events. • help all school community members understand the gift of bilingualism and how all children benefit from adding new languages onto their primary language. a final area of focus for teacher preparation programs is how pre-service teachers can help build a sense of ownership in schools where parents may not speak the language of instruction or know the possibilities for taking advantage of school resources. central to this is exposing candidates to multiple ways of supporting primary languages as a resource. for example, schools provide a natural setting in which to meet the educational needs of adults which has the additional benefit of students seeing their parents actively engaged in the learning process themselves. a parent education program can provide classes in the dominant language. teacher candidates might conduct an assessment of parents’ educational and schooling needs through interest surveys to determine the kinds of classes and opportunities that would be of interest or value to families. this work is most effective when done in collaboration with sponsoring agencies, religious organizations, or other community groups. conclusion this article has explored the knowledge and perspectives all teacher candidates should receive in their preparation programs regarding the importance of connecting with families through their primary language. supporting primary language development will contribute to both the academic success of children and to the wellbeing of their linguistically and culturally diverse communities as a whole. given the widely varying circumstances and program types that pre-service teachers attend, what can be accomplished in terms of application of these perspectives may vary. but all programs can include these perspectives and seek to provide opportunities for all prospective teachers to develop an asset orientation towards and value of bilingualism for all students. supporting bilingual learners and thei families association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 111 references ahlquist, r. (2006). teaching in finland for social justice and worlds of difference: challenging racism and white privilege. in t. merisuo-storm and m. soininen (eds.) cultural diversity and its impact on education (pp. 141-165). university of turku, department of teacher education. rauma unit. berger, e.h. (2007). parents as partners in education: the school and home working together (7th ed.) prentice hall. commins, n.l (2011). meaning is everything: comprehension work with english language learners. in h. daniels (ed.) comprehension moving forward: where we are and what’s next (pp. 262282). portsmouth, nh: heinemann commins, n.l. (ed.) (2008) immigrant integration educator resource guide. colorado dept. of education / colorado trust. cummins, j. (2007). rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. canadian journal of applied linguistics 10(2), 221-240. cummins, j., bismilla, v., chow, p., cohen, s., giampapa, f., leoni, l., sandhu, p. and sastri, p. (2005). affirming identity in multicultural classrooms. educational leadership 63(1), 38-43. epstein, j. & sanders, m. g. (2009). school, family and community partnerships. your handbook for action. (3rd ed.) thousand oaks ca: corwin press. flaitz, j.a (2006). understanding your refugee and immigrant students: an educational, cultural and linguistic guide. ann arbor: university of michigan press. goldenberg, c. (2013). unlocking the research on english learners what we know—and don’t yet know— about effective instruction. american educator, 38, 3-13. gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c.(2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households and classrooms. mahwah, nj: erlbaum. greene, j.p. (1997). a meta-analysis of the rossell and baker r eview of bilingual education research. bilingual research journal, 21 (2–3), 103–122. miramontes, o.b., nadeau, a. & commins, n.l. (2011). restructuring schools for linguistic diversity: linking decision making to effective programs. 2nd edition. ny: teachers college press. moll, l. c. (1990). community knowledge and classroom practice: combining resources for literacy instruction. a handbook for teachers and planners. arlington, va: development associates, inc. office for civil rights (2010). internal staff guidance title vi standards for communication with limited english proficient parents. downloaded from the internet 8/23/14. http://www.google.com/ url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0cegqfjae&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.gadoe. org%2fcurriculum-instruction-and-assessment%2fcurriculum-and i supporting bilingual learners and thei families http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0cegqfjae&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.gadoe.org%2fcurriculum-instruction-and-assessment%2fcurriculum-and http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0cegqfjae&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.gadoe.org%2fcurriculum-instruction-and-assessment%2fcurriculum-and http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0cegqfjae&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.gadoe.org%2fcurriculum-instruction-and-assessment%2fcurriculum-and special_issues_2014-print-final 102 special_issues_2014-print-final 103 special_issues_2014-print-final 104 special_issues_2014-print-final 105 special_issues_2014-print-final 106 special_issues_2014-print-final 107 special_issues_2014-print-final 108 special_issues_2014-print-final 109 special_issues_2014-print-final 110 special_issues_2014-print-final 111 association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 6 introduction: reflections on latinas/os, affirmative action, and education maría c. ledesma maría e. fránquiz university of utah “neither we, nor the university, argue that affirmative action programs should continue forever; however, as long as these discriminatory consequences linger, as long as these consequences translate into a lack of adequate service for these segments of the societysegments which the university has a duty to serve-then the university and indeed all governmental agencies must be permitted to maintain programs such as these.” brief of amici curiae mexican american legal defense and educational fund, la raza national lawyers assn., county of santa clara, calif., league of united latin american citizens, g.i. forum, national council of la raza, los angeles mecha central, image, national association for equal educational opportunity, association of mexican american educators, et al in support of petitioner, 1977. “we take the law school at its word that it would “like nothing better than to find a race-neutral admissions formula” and will terminate its race-conscious admissions program as soon as practicable…it has been 25 years since justice powell first approved the use of race to further an interest in student body diversity in the context of public higher education. since that time, the number of minority applicants with high grades and test scores has indeed increased…we expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.” associate justice sandra day o’connor, grutter v. bollinger, 2003, p. 343 “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination. as members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection; we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society. it is this view that works harm, by perpetuating the facile notion that what makes race matter is acknowledging the simple truth that race does matter.” associate justice sonia sotomayor, dissenting in schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action 2014, slip opinion p. 46. introduction in 1977 the association of mexican american educators was one among many latina/o affiliated organizations to add their name to an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief filed in support of raceconscious affirmative action in regents of the university of california v. bakke (1978). the brief spearheaded by the mexican american legal defense and education fund (maldef) argued in part that chicanos/latinos, just like african americans, encountered disadvantage in preparing for and seeking postsecondary opportunities. the brief also emphasized how persistent residential segregation, high poverty rates, disparate educational opportunities, high incarceration rates, and language issues, all worked together to complicate access to higher education for all students of color, but especially for latina/o students. close to four decades after bakke many of the challenges identified in maldef’s brief continue to impede latina/o students from reaching their higher education aspirations. since bakke, the legality of affirmative action has been challenged at the supreme court level multiple times. in the university of michigan’s undergraduate and law school cases, gratz v. bollinger (2003) and grutter v. bollinger (2003), the supreme court upheld the law school’s holistic admissions practices while at the same time striking down the university’s point-driven undergraduate admissions system. more recently in fisher v. university of texas (2013), the high court upheld the university of texas’ limited use of race in university admissions but not before stipulating that institutions of higher education must exhaust all race-neutral alternatives before introduction: reflections on latinas/os, affirmative action, and education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 7 relying on race-conscious practices. in the wake of bakke and its progeny, the argument has been made that the time has come to abandon all race-conscious practices. indeed, guided by justice o’connor’s “sunset clause” in grutter, highlighted as an epigraph to this chapter, critics of race-conscious affirmative action contend that the time has come to cease all affirmative action policies and practices. and while up to now, affirmative action has managed to withstand legal scrutiny, opponents of the policy have been relentless in seeking to terminate race conscious practices. the supreme court’s recent decision in schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action (2014), which grants states permission to overturn race-conscious practices via ballot initiative or state referenda, is set to radically alter the future of affirmative action, as well as impact the lives of countless under-represented students who have relied upon this policy to gain entry into the nation’s top colleges and universities. the conventional wisdom among educators is that during the past 40 years, affirmative action policies and practices have generally enhanced the educational attainment of latinas/os1. there is clear evidence, for example, that among some highly selective elite universities, latinas/os who qualify for admission have a greater likelihood of attaining their degree than latinas/os who attend less prestigious public institutions, where the impact of affirmative action is muted and indirect (bowen & bok, 1998; carnevale & strohl, 2013). however, there is also evidence to suggest that the increase in enrollment rates among latinas/os in public higher education is not necessarily due to the success of latina/o-centered affirmative action practices, but rather to the demographic increase in the college-age latina/o population who, despite tremendous odds, manage to enroll in college (delgado-bernal, 2002; smith, 2009; villalpando, 2010; yosso, 2005). irrespective of conclusive evidence, educational practitioners, researchers, and policymakers generally accept the notion that the loss of affirmative action practice has, and will continue to inhibit and erode latinas/os’ educational success. despite decades of scholarly work on affirmative action in higher education, little research exists that specifically addresses the role and impact of affirmative action on latina/o educational attainment. as noted by gándara (2010) latinas/os experience “triple segregation”—racial, socioeconomic, and linguistic—all of which complicate their educational pathways into higher education (gándara & contreras, 2010; solorzano & yosso, 2000). latinas/os remain underrepresented in selective and elite universities, and overrepresented in openaccess two-year colleges, and four-year comprehensive colleges designated as hispanic serving institutions (chronicle of higher education almanac, 2014; carnevale & strohl, 2013; santiago, 2013). racialized policies and practices, including academic tracking (oakes 2005; solorzano & ornelas, 2002), continue to impair latinas/ os educational progress by funneling latina/o students away from college preparatory curricula. and, despite latina/o students’ resiliency in overcoming a host of inequitable educational practices, we still find only a dismal and disproportionate number of latina/o students attaining their educational dreams and aspirations (solorzano, villalpando, & oseguera, 2005; solorzano & yosso, 2002). some have argued that affirmative action has yet to fulfill its intended purpose because, since its inception, the policy has been co-opted and consistently redefined by the courts, politicians, and educational policymakers seeking to ameliorate, or at least placate, future challenges (brent & oshige, 1995). others contend that affirmative action’s original purpose and intent was only meant to address the needs and unique experiences of african americans (o’neill, 1985; patterson, 2005). for example, brent and oshige (1995) have suggested that affirmative action in education was initially conceptualized and enacted with a narrow focus on african americans, and was never intended to address the educational exclusion of any of the other “equally marginalized” racial and ethnic communities. consequently, the argument goes, most of the benefit of affirmative action has been diluted for african americans since its original purpose has been repeatedly broadened to include characteristics (such as gender, language, and immigration) and other educational conditions and life experiences (such as economic class and geographic diversity) that are not necessarily associated with the historical racial exclusion of african americans. this position naturally highlights the irony behind white women being affirmative action’s greatest “unintended” beneficiaries (cho, 2002; crenshaw, 2007). in this special issue we focus on latinas/os, education, and affirmative action; we take up the central premise raised by those who argue that affirmative action was not intended to benefit all excluded racial and 1. latinas/os include women and men of mexican, central american, south american, cuban, and puerto rican origin, regardless of birthplace, immigration, or generational status (villalpando, 2010). introduction: reflections on latinas/os, affirmative action, and education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 8 ethnic communities. we proposed to explore this proposition and its ancillary explanations of why affirmative action in higher education has lacked a consistently positive, broad and proportional impact among latinas/os. in light of the reactionary and neoliberal post-racial forces that permeate u.s. education (goldberg, 2009; st. john, duan-barnett, & moronski-chapman, 2013), and the ever-changing social and legal landscape surrounding affirmative action as a race-conscious policy, this special issue problematizes the utility of affirmative action for latinas/os. purpose as guest editors, we were most interested in exploring the role of affirmative action in advancing and expanding educational access and opportunity for latina/o students. our approach to this work led us to conceptualize the term “acción.” while acción is a literal spanish translation for the word “action,” we also envision “acción” as a richer, more complex term. we take acción to represent a model of hope. such a model is dynamic, changing, flexible, and always being constructed. by adapting the word acción we also recognize that the term “affirmative action” for good or bad, is laden with baggage. for critics of affirmative action the term itself is shorthand for unjust preferences and reverse discrimination. for proponents of race-conscious policy, the term affirmative action represents an as of yet unmet promise, an ideal conceptualized but not yet actualized. indeed, it is curious to recognize that in her extraordinary opinion in schuette (2014) justice sotomayor, the first latina justice on the supreme court of the united states opts to use the phrase “race-sensitive admissions policies” (p. 2) rather than “affirmative action” beginning on page 2 of her 58-page dissent. and while we do not mean to suggest that the time has come to abandon the affirmative action nomenclature, we hope that the papers in this special issue help spark new conversations about the future of race-conscious policies, especially for a steadily growing latina/o population. we posit that an acción model recognizes that policy is not enough. indeed, while affirmative action has existed for fifty-four years, it has become the imperfect tool we depend on rather than the ideal tool we need. however, we hope that the papers to follow help get us thinking in new directions. as we embark further into the twenty-first century we stand on the cusp of new possibilities. in fisher v. university of texas (2013) the supreme court left untouched its ruling in grutter v. bollinger (2003), wherein the court’s majority affirmed justice lewis powell’s declaration in the regents of the university of california v. bakke (1978) that student body diversity constitutes a compelling interest in support of affirmative action policies and practices. the supreme court’s decision to uphold the limited use of race-conscious affirmative action policy in fisher (2013) coupled with reports and projections confirming the rapid and expanding growth of the latina/o population (census.org; fry & taylor, 2013) across the u.s. present a timely opportunity to delve deeper into exploring latinas/os’ educational success (or lack thereof). indeed, the rapid and steady growth of latina/o populations across the nation’s most populous states, including california, florida, new york, and texas—along with the population explosion of latinas/os in georgia, south carolina, illinois and the northeast corridor— signal an urgent need to understand how to best serve a growing latina/o student body. this urgency is further compounded by the fact that latina/o demographic growth is no longer confined to coastal and metropolitan states. latina/o demographic growth in new places, like alabama and tennessee, further intensify the need to address issues of educational access and equity. even as we take time to examine the state of latinas/os, education, and affirmative action, new challenges against race-conscious practices are already on the horizon and on the legal docket. next term the supreme court of the united states will again hear arguments in fisher v. university of texas. at issue once again will be the future of race-conscious university admissions plans. at the same time, the center for fair representation and students for fair admissions, spearheaded by their founder edward blum, have brought suit against harvard university, the university of north carolina, and the university of wisconsin, madison, alleging that these universities unduly burden asian american students in the college admissions process. the insinuation here being that unlike other racial/ethnic groups, including latinas/os, asian american students are expected to excel academically (including earning above average sat scores) and are penalized for doing so. as we await the outcome of these latest challenges to affirmative action, it is worth noting the troublesome messages implied in these new lawsuits. first, that students of color, including latinas/os, are displacing “more qualified” racial/ethnic introduction: reflections on latinas/os, affirmative action, and education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 9 minority students in admissions to selective universities. and secondly, the fact that blum’s organizations, which are responsible for taking both fisher and schuette to the supreme court, have seized on the opportunity to exploit the asian model minority myth to pit racial/ethnic minority students against one another in his ultimate quest to finally overthrow all affirmative action practices. critical legal scholar kimberlé crenshaw (2007) has rightly observed, “what most people think they know about affirmative action isn’t right, and what is right about affirmative action most people don’t know” (p. 131). our hope is that the five papers contained in this special issue will contribute to the conversation around race, civil rights, epistemic justice, latinas/os and affirmative action. range of scholarship enrique alemán, jr., dolores delgado bernal, and edén cortez are the authors of the first article in the themed issue. these scholars envision affirmative action as a broader positive action rather than the traditional policies that address discriminatory practices in employment, housing, and access to higher education. with an emphasis in access to higher education, they call for the inclusion of student, parent/family, and community voices as a condition for supplementing affirmative action. in their article, a chican@ pathways model of acción: affirming the racial, cultural and academic assets of students, families and communities, they provide three premises that are necessary for effective realization of affirmative action for latin@s/chican@s. first, effective affirmative action must be based on chicana/o k-12 experiences. second, students and their families must be incorporated into equity efforts from the earliest educational stage. finally, an effective affirmative action model must cultivate action by and with families and communities. together, these premises inform analysis of data collected in k-12 classrooms for more than a decade in the state of utah. the westside pathways project is centered on college awareness and access, fostering academic leadership and academic enrichment and affirming the racial and cultural identities of students and their families. it is a model of acción that incorporates the perspectives of students, families and communities who would otherwise experience inequitable schooling along the educational pathway to higher education. leslie d. gonzales conceptualizes a model of acción for hispanic serving institutions (hsis) in the second article. she presents potential scenarios for application when a comprehensive take up of affirmative action is taken up by hsis. an argument is made in, an acción approach to affirmative action: hispanic-serving institutions as spaces of epistemic justice, for employing funds of knowledge theory and method in order to foster epistemic justice in hsis and beyond. the epistemic justice perspective positions the latina/o community as possessing epistemic riches and important ways of knowing that can inform the daily work, practices and policies in hsis, specifically when these institutions are intent on providing more relevant and empowering spaces for students. the model is conceived as a pathway for leadership in hsis to apply at three distinct levels: 1) leaders and administrators, 2) student service professionals, and 3) the professoriate. she states, “the start point for leaders must be a willingness to ask themselves and others what it means to carry a hispanic-serving designation, and to hold themselves, their programs, and staff responsible for fulfilling what should be a distinctive mission.” in this way, a call for affirmative action is not limited to a policy to ensure equitable admission practices. instead, a call is made to challenge the relations of power that restrict the legitimation of the funds of knowledge from latina/o communities. moving from hsis to research-intensive universities, michelle m. espino, in her article, sacrificing a latina/o presence in the professoriate: an analysis of affirmative action as racial remedy and silent covenant, investigates the lived experiences of 22 mexican-american faculty and post-doctoral fellows. the article explores how affirmative action policies reflect a silent covenant among policymakers and universities to promote racial/ethnic diversity while limiting the presence of latina/o faculty. using derrick bell’s (2004) concept of the silent covenant, espino, argues that remedies to address racial injustice in higher education reflect symbolic encouragement that discrimination can be overcome. in her analysis she shows interest convergence since the benefits of limited diversity does not diminish the entitlement of whites in research-intensive institutions. the narratives presented provide strong justification for the maintenance of race-conscious admissions policies to higher education for mexican american students including summer bridge programs from high school to college, undergraduate introduction: reflections on latinas/os, affirmative action, and education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 10 “minority” programs, and graduate student “minority” fellowships. unfortunately, despite their successes a majority of participants felt constantly interrogated and held under suspicion because they supposedly had not “earned the right” to be in college and graduate school. as target of opportunity hires in the professoriate, racism and backlash from a number of faculty peers was also felt. accordingly, espino concludes, “based on the findings, affirmative action policies are beneficial to latinas/os students and faculty, and are also beneficial to maintaining the stability of white power structures.” in her article, public discourse versus public policy: latinas/os, affirmative action, and the court of public opinion, maría c. ledesma proposes that critics of affirmative action use truncated and/or deceptive narratives in their quest to end race-conscious policies. using the case of california, she argues that popular discourse has the power to limit educational access and opportunity for historically marginalized students, especially latinas/ os of mexican decent. she traces a historical pattern of reliance on media that frames the popular discourse with inaccurate language, strategic language manipulations, and ahistorical and acontextualized narratives. these discourse strategies contribute to a landscape for latinas/os that not only constrains race-conscious policies but also creates an anti-immigrant rhetoric with dangerous ebbs and flows. the passage in california of propositions 187, 209, and 227 strengthened the language of initiatives in six additional states. the result on latina/o admissions into the university of california system is that to date pre-209 enrollment figures have not been attained. ledesma concedes that the power of popular discourse on similar public policies undermines access to higher education and educational outcomes for latinas/os across the united states, particularly in light of the recent schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action (2014). while this decision grants states permission to curtail and/ or terminate the use of race-conscious policy via ballot initiative, ledesma points us to justice sonia sotomayor’s dissent as a point for dialogue to strengthen the language used by advocates for communicating to the populace that affirmative action matters. as shown across the articles in this special issue, race-conscious admissions policies at selective postsecondary institutions remain a critical factor for the educational opportunities of latinas/os in the 21st century. for this reason liliana m. garces analyzes and discusses a significant affirmative action case in her article, university of texas, at austin’s defense of affirmative action in fisher v university of texas: lessons for institutional policies and practices. in fisher, the u.s. supreme court recognized the right of universities to pursue a missioncentered or compelling interest in the educational benefits of student body diversity. at the same time, there are limited ways in which race can be considered in admissions policies. she points out that post-fisher it is important for institutions of higher education to pay attention to race-conscious admissions practices that further their mission but also cautions, “numbers alone do not produce educational benefits; what institutions do during a student’s years of education matters in terms of generating the educational benefits of diversity.” in this way, affirmative action is not just about access. garces highlights that it is also about providing admissions to students across a wide range of social dimensions, engaging in productive cross-racial experiences, assuring a safe racial campus, maintaining a positive racial climate, among other important ways to advance an affirming sense of belonging and success in institutions of higher education. the collection of articles in this special issue provide an expanded landscape for situating latinas/or within conversations about where affirmative action has been, where it is now, and where it could be. the editors and authors contend that affirmative action matters for the educational success of latinas/os from the earliest educational age. together, students, families and communities can create models of acción amidst the local and national vision of advancing racial equity and access to higher education for all. introduction: reflections on latinas/os, affirmative action, and education association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 11 references bell, d. (2004). silent covenants: brown v. board of education and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform. new york: oxford university press. bowen, w.g., & bok, d. (1998). the shape of the river: long-term consequences of considering race in college and university admissions. princeton, nj: princeton university press. brent, p. & oshige, m. (1995). affirmative action for whom? stanford law review, 47(5), 855-900. carnevale, a.p., & stohl, j. (2013). separate and unequal: how higher education reinforces the intergenerational reproduction of white racial privilege. georgetown public policy institute: georgetown university. available at: http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/separate&unequal.fr.pdf cho, s. (2002). understanding white women’s ambivalence towards affirmative action: theorizing political accountability in coalitions. university of missouri, kansas city law review, vol. 71 (2), 399-418. chronicle of higher education (2014). almanac of higher education 2014-15, lx(45). the chronicle of higher education. crenshaw, k.w. (2007). framing affirmative action. michigan law review first impressions, 105, 123-133. delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latcrit theory, and critical race-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. fisher v. university of texas, 133 u.s. 2411 (2013). fry, r., & taylor, p. (2013). hispanic high school graduates pass whites in rate of college enrollment. retrieved from pew research hispanic center website: www.pewhispanic.org/2013/05/09/hispanic-high-school-graduates-pass-whites-in-college-enrollment/ gándara, p. (2010). overcoming triple segregation. educational leadership, 68(30), 60-64. gándara, p. & contreras, f. (2010). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed school policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. goldberg, d.t. (2009). the threat of race: reflections on racial neoliberalism. malden, ma: blackwell publishing. gratz v. bollinger et al., 539 u.s. 244 (2003). grutter v. bollinger et al., 539 u.s. 203 (2003). oakes, j. (2005). keeping track (2nd ed.). new haven ct: yale university press. o’neill, t.j. (1985). bakke & the politics of equality: friends & foes in the classroom of litigation. middleton, ct: wesleyan university press. patterson, o. (2005). on the provenance of diversity. yale law & policy review, 23(1), 51-63. regents of the university of california v. bakke, 98 s.ct.2733 (1978). santiago, d. (may, 2013). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): 2011 -12 retrieved from http://edexcelencia.org/ research/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-fact-sheet-2011-12). schuette v. coalition to defend affirmative action, 572 u.s. (2014). smith, d.g. (2009). diversity’s promise for higher education: making it work. baltimore: the john hopkins university press. solorzano, d.g., & ornelas, a. (2002). a critical race analysis of advanced placement classes: a case of educational inequities. journal of latinos and education, 1(4), 215-229. solorzano, d.g., villalpando, o., & oseguera, l. (2005). educational inequities and latina/o undergraduate students in the united states: a critical race analysis of their educational progress. journal of hispanic higher education, 4, 272-294. solorzano, d.g. & yosso, t. (2002). a critical race conterstory of affirmative action in higher education. equity and excellence in education, 35, 155-168. solorzano, d.g. & yosso, t. (2000). toward a critical race theory of chicana and chicano education. in c. tejeda, c. martinez, & z. leonardo (eds.), charting terrains of chicana(o)/latina(o) education. cresskill, introduction: reflections on latinas/os, affirmative action, and education http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/separate&unequal.fr.pdf http://www.pewhispanic.org/2013/05/09/hispanic-high-school-graduates-pass-whites-in-college-enrollment/ http://edexcelencia.org/research/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-facthttp://edexcelencia.org/research/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-factassociation of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 12 nj: hampton press, inc. st. john, e.p., duan-barnett, n., & moronski-chapman, k.m. (2013). public policy in higher education: reframing strategies for preparation, access, and college success. new york: routledge. . villalpando, o. (2010). latinas/os in higher education: eligibility, enrollment, and educational attainment. in e.g. murillo, s.a. villenas, r.t. galvan, j.s. munoz, c. martinez, m. machado-casas (eds.), handbook of latinos and education: theory, research and practice (pp. 232 – 249). routledge: new york. yosso, t.j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91 introduction: reflections on latinas/os, affirmative action, and education invited.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 30 connecting the interpersonal, instructional, and institutional contexts sonia nieto university of massachusetts—amherst melissa rivera hunter college city university of new york sandra quiñones university of rochester as discussed throughout this paper, many institutional and instructional strategies can facilitate higher achievement among latino/a students. many of these are effective partly because of the relationships they foster. but we also want to point out a few concrete examples of supportive constructive relationships. the common thread in these examples is how the school affi rms the students’ home cultures and ethnicity. when students witness the validation of their culture within the educational process, they connect their home or community identities with an academic identity. most importantly, the cultural substance of their identities feeds and sustains an academic persona, which in turn promotes strong school-oriented relationships among peers, teachers, and parents. the outcome is engaged and interested students who feel their culture is not a defi cit but a benefi t to their academic achievement. these examples demonstrate how student learning is not only a matter of positive interactions between some teachers and their students; institutional arrangements also help create the circumstances and the strategic support that may be available for learning. conchas (2001, 2006) and conchas and rodríguez (2008), for example, have analyzed the connection between particular school programs, or academic groupings, and the variability in latino/a student engagement and learning. as part of a detailed, comparative case study analysis of different school programs in an urban high school, conchas (2001) showed how the social organization and routines of different programs, which he refers to as their institutional “subcultures,” mediate the nature of students’ school engagement, the types of support networks available to them, and their perceptions of and relations with each other, all with implications for their formation (or not), of academic identities, and the effort expended on schoolwork. the program in which latino/a students were most successful was less individualistic than others, and it fostered not only a common academic vision and goals, but also positive social relations with teachers and fellow students, instilling the program with a sense of community. latino/a students in the program experienced close relations with high achieving peers both within and outside of their own ethnic group, thus establishing a peer network, who along with the supportive teachers formed a community of learners to help mediate schoolwork and success. in contrast to the other high achieving programs, conchas (2001) points out that this program, which had a medical theme, also helped students assess critically the status quo, refl ecting upon the role of race, gender and ethnicity in their schooling and future professions, but without inhibiting their educational and personal achievement. the latino/a students in this program, conchas writes, “did not suppress their critical consciousness in favor of academic success”; they “affi rmed that they expected to become medical professionals despite the racial, class and gender obstacles they would confront along the way” (p. 49). hence, the program successfully enacted principles of culturally engaged schooling, acknowledging the ways that race and ethnicity bear on students’ lives. it is the nature of the culture of the program as defi ned by its daily practices, along with academic rigor, strong social relations among students and teachers, and individual sense of agency that offers the institutional support and social capital necessary for academic engagements and success. the funds of knowledge approach (gonzález, 1995; gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; moll, gonzález, amanti, & neff, 1992; vélez-ibáñez & greenberg, 1992) exemplifi es how institutional practices can facilitate the types of interpersonal relationships that account for and privilege students’ cultures, thus increasing their connecting the interpersonal, instructional, and institutional contexts association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 31 likelihood of academic success. in this approach, teachers learn ethnographic research methods and then visit their students’ households to document the cultural practices or “funds of knowledge” that families use for everyday survival. families might share their knowledge about informal economic systems, home-based manufacturing, agriculture, construction, or herbal remedies for illness. once teachers observe and learn how students and their families “live culturally,” they are able to initiate more meaningful relationships with their students. this engagement can facilitate the types of interpersonal relationships that allow students to compensate for discord between their school and community environments. teachers can also integrate their observations into the curriculum and create lessons that are relevant to students, increasing their academic engagement. successful schools often engage students in community-based projects that encourage them to analyze their life circumstances and conditions in their communities, such as poverty, gangs, and housing conditions. they provide familial-like school environments, a safe school, and space in which students are encouraged to affi rm their racial and ethnic pride (antrop-gonzález, 2003). for example, antrop-gonzález (2003) compiled a review of research on successful small, culturally centered charter schools that have become sanctuaries for students, or a “third space,” in urban education. these schools provided meaningful interpersonal relations between students and teachers, community support, and a rigorous curriculum that set high standards of students’ achievement (antrop-gonzález & de jesús 2006). some have suggested alternative school options, such as charter schools or public funding for private school vouchers, as a way to right the problems that latino/a and african american students encounter in the public school system. a number of prominent latino/a and african american leaders have supported public funding for private school vouchers or school choice, arguing that low-income students assigned to failing inner-city schools should have the ability to choose schools that can provide successful school environments. cumulative research suggests, however, that just as with public schools, charter and private schools have the potential to fail urban youth who live in poverty, particularly students of color (antrop-gonzález, in press). while many small, community-based schools have been successful in re-engaging students, charter or voucher schools that are not associated with a school district often must charge tuition to compensate for the high cost of educating students. these schools must also be accredited by several federal, state, and local agencies and are sometimes forced to comply with the same accountability standards that create structural barriers for public schools. while alternative schools have potential to offer successful schooling environments that can counter some of the structural barriers found in traditional public schools, they also face additional barriers such as lack of capacity, inconsistency in quality across campuses, and high tuition rates. connecting the interpersonal, instructional, and institutional contexts association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 38 resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success maría oropeza fujimoto california state university, fullerton abstract this study focuses on how stories influence latinas’ motivation and resiliency toward academic success and how latina parents support their daughters in resisting racial discrimination. in the spirit of critical race theory, it concludes with a counterstory of hope and possibility about how higher education can create a space for all students to achieve. introduction i am named for my grandmother maría mojica oropeza. she had worked in the fields as a migrant prior to getting married and completed only three years of formal schooling. still, she had the foresight to save for her children to attend college. my aunt luisa and my father became college graduates. my grandparents were pragmatists. they had seen disabled veterans unable to provide for their families and the financial hardships that resulted. a college degree was perceived as providing greater economic and social opportunities for their children. my grandmother, in particular, wanted to protect her daughter from financial uncertainty; she saved money and persuaded my grandfather to consider the benefit of having an educated daughter. i never met my grandmother. she died before i was born. however, because of the stories about her, from my father and my aunt, there was little doubt that i would attend college. the stories i heard growing up set particular expectations for me and countered the stereotypical images of latina teen pregnancy, poverty, and limited english proficiency. these negative images were typically validated by statistics about risk factors and popular media headlines4. yet i am not alone in having my life transformed by stories that were counter to the dominant narrative5 of who i was supposed to be as a latina in the u.s. i hope to convey such stories to my daughter some day. this paper presents a snapshot of how stories influenced latinas’ motivation and resiliency as well as how parents supported their daughters to resist discrimination. literature review statistics, risk factors and latinas: an incomplete picture latina/o students are often viewed as poor, with limited or no english, who act in ways that lead to their own under-achievement (e.g. teen pregnancy, gang membership, etc.). however, when the data are examined critically the picture is not so clear. one frequently identified “risk factor” is poverty, yet 66% of hispanic children live above the poverty line (aud et al., 2012). speaking a language other than english at home is considered another “risk factor”. while 76% of hispanics over 5 years-old spoke a language other than english at home, the majority of these spanish speakers spoke english “very well” (hispanic americans: census facts, 2007). moreover the research on bilingual education clearly shows that speaking more than one language has cognitive benefits (bhattacharjee, 2012). with regard to teen pregnancy, these mothers are often highly motivated to obtain a college degree, 4. “53% of young latinas get pregnant in their teens, twice the national average” (the national campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy, 2009). “hispanic kids the largest group of children living in poverty” (morello & mellnik, 2011). 5. dominant narratives are stories of or by the majority culture that perpetuate myths and stereotypes of people of color, women and the poor; (adapted from delgado & stefancic, 2001) resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 39 although many are academically under-prepared (haleman, 2004). it is difficult to generalize about women who had children at a young age because most colleges and universities do not collect data on the motherhood status of their students. this is not to imply that relative income status, teen pregnancy, and english language learner issues are irrelevant to latina student success. rather it is to say that latina students and the reasons for their academic success or failure cannot be understood simply through apparent “risk factors” and aggregate statistics. these “risk factors” and the mainstream media stories that typically follow them convey only part of the reality of latina achievement. in general, these narrow portrayals of complex people and situations focus on deficits and conversely ignore the assets and exacerbate the general sense that this population cannot achieve. they create a norm that oversimplifies an entire population, limiting what is known to racial stereotypes. the “risk factors”, statistics, and stories can become deterministic, self-fulfilling prophecies of underachievement, often creating barriers to what can be achieved by latina/o students. simultaneously, these negative images make invisible the actual academic achievement of latinas and the growing numbers of latinas graduating from high school and college. adichie (2009) describes “the danger of the single story,” the story that is told over and over again about a people or a place we do not know first-hand. the result is stereotypes and half-truths, not the multiple truths that reflect the complexity of lived experiences. the danger is that the “single story” becomes the definitive story about a people or place. this study reveals some of the “multiple truths” about the latina student experience; truths that remain largely concealed and hidden from view. but it is not only the popular media and culture that perpetuates these deficit explanations of underachievement. higher education itself suffers from this malady as well. this study attempts to complicate the picture of who latinas are. disproportionately low income and underachieving, while at the same time graduating in higher numbers than has previously been known; the lives of latinas are far more complex than typically portrayed. latina academic success recently, a chronicle of higher education commentary critiqued elite colleges for seeing a broad range of students (first-generation, non-native english speakers, immigrants, and students of color) in terms of their deficits (alves, 2007). the author urged that these students’ assets, including their strong desire to succeed, enthusiasm about learning, and life experiences, not be overlooked. there is a growing interest in understanding how and why successful latina/os advance academically (conchas, 2001; delgado-bernal, 2001; lópez, 2002; morales, 2008). in addition to focusing on latina/o academic success (as opposed to failure), they include contextual factors and many illustrate the institutional barriers that latina/o students must negotiate in order to succeed. with few exceptions, most institutions are not structured for latina/o student success. given that educational institutions have struggled to effectively educate latina students, families and communities can play a strong part in their achievement. theoretical framework in moving away from individualized, deficit notions of latina student achievement, critical race-based methodologies are particularly useful in recognizing patterns and practices that maintain racial inequities in higher education. critical race theory (crt) and latcrit both have their origins in critical legal studies and are theoretically similar. latcrit extends crt by addressing issues specific to latinos such as language, immigration, ethnicity, culture, and identity (villalpando, 2004). four elements of crt and latcrit contribute to a more holistic understanding of the dominant narrative. 1. racism as normal crt views racism not only as individual, unusual actions (bell, 2008), but as a deeply embedded, pervasive aspect of u.s. society. racism is both a historical and contemporary part of practices, policies, and institutions, including higher education, which perpetuates racial and social inequities (harper & patton, 2007). 2. experiential knowledge resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 40 crt focuses on the lived experiences of students, their families, and communities of color to learn from their racialized lives (solórzano & yosso, 2002). such experiences are not only racialized but gendered as well. for example, the experiential knowledge of latinas is distinctly different than latinos. 3. dominant claims of meritocracy meritocracy reinforces the notion that the primary reason students do not succeed in college is due to personal, familial, or cultural deficiency, with little attention to institutional or societal factors that impact opportunities. (academic deficiency claims can also reinforce false notions of meritocracy, although that is not a factor in this study of graduates). 4. narrative crt theorists identify stories that illustrate how america sees race and inequality. in identifying the limitations of such stories, which have framed society’s racial reality, counterstories of those who have been marginalized emerge. the emergence of stories that have historically been submerged allow racial minorities to “name their reality,” to use their own words to describe how they were wronged or injured (delgado & stefancic, 2001). they give voice to and reveal experiences that are common among minorities. together crt and latcrit provide an analytic framework to examine the motivation and resiliency of latinas, illustrate how parents teach their daughters about racial discrimination and resiliency, and bring to the forefront latinas’ academic achievements. research questions the aim of this study is to illustrate how latinas are influenced by family stories and expectations to counter these “single stories” or dominant narratives through stories of resiliency, motivation, lessons about discrimination, and ultimately, hope. to understand how latinas use stories to counter, respond to, and resist stereotypical representations, this study asks: 1. how do stories influence latinas’ motivation and resiliency toward academic success? 2. how do latina parents support their daughters in resisting racial discrimination? methodology i am latina conducting research about latinas. some may think that there was a particular story i wanted to tell in this research. this is true, to the extent that i believe risk factors do not capture the multitude of experiences and backgrounds about latinas. statistics about latinas suggests that under-achievement will persist until latinas stop being poor, become citizens, speak “standard” english, and not act in ways that ensure their underachievement. my concern is that research has accumulated statistics (and descriptions) about latinas as under-achievers without examining how the pervasiveness of a dominant, deficit narrative presents a limited view of who can achieve academic success. to broaden our understanding of latinas’ academic success, i draw upon their stories. stories can address some of the limitations of risk factors by extending boundaries of what is examined. some might argue that stories are ideological, that they exaggerate the power of context or social identities. i argue that stories provide a framework and conceptual tools that recognize the racialized and gendered experience of latinas. contextualizing latinas academic achievement provides a more holistic and accurate view of latinas. all participants from this study graduated from st. cecilia college. 6 a snowball sample yielded eight latinas who participated in the pilot study. graduates were asked questions regarding culture, family, academic preparation, and college experience. afterwards, seven of those latinas participated in a collective interpretation process in which they were presented with initial themes and asked for their feedback (ladson-billings, 2009). through this process, questions were refined and interviews with twenty-seven latinas who graduated from st. cecilia followed. all data were audio-taped and transcribed. a careful reading of the pilot study, interviews, collective interpretation transcripts, and analytic memos was completed; open coding was then used to analyze 6. the names of places and people are pseudonyms. resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 41 all the data (coffey & atkinson, 1996). results the findings in this study present some of the ways that latinas counter the dominant narrative to create new spaces in which they can be academically successful. these data help us to move beyond stereotypical representations of latinas that utilize statistics to underscore their deficits, when in fact, the percentage of latinas who have graduated from college has grown significantly. the 27 latinas who participated reveal: 1) latinas’ motivation came in part through parental expectations and knowledge of their sacrifices; 2) modeling about resiliency and direct teaching discrimination also impacted latina’s motivation. in an effort to not perpetuate a different single story of latina’s academic success, i present multiple stories, including how the dominant narrative of latina under-achievement seeps into parent’s expectations. the stories illustrate the difficulty and complexity of countering, responding to, and resisting the dominant narrative of underachievement. parental expectations and sacrifices parents conveyed their expectations about college to their daughters. they saw college as a way for their daughters to have a life better than theirs. through stories, parents shared personal sacrifices that they were making for their daughter’s success. isabela, like many in this study, is aware of her parent’s sacrifices. they did everything they could to put me in good schools whether that was working three jobs, or whatever. it was important for them that i have a good education. christina, a child of immigrants, grew up hearing stories about how there were so many opportunities in the united states compared to mexico. these perceived opportunities informed her parent’s expectations for her and her siblings. they expected us to get a college degree. they sacrificed themselves for us. they worked hard so that we could accomplish ourselves as good citizens, and have good jobs, [and] make it big. the knowledge of the personal sacrifices that their parents made for latinas serves as a motivation for them to do well academically. while many latinas reported differences in gender expectations around dating and other social activities, they also shared that the academic expectations for them and their brothers were the same. cecilia, the oldest of four siblings shared there was an additional expectation placed on her as the oldest. the story of cecilia’s academic success would be the story that her parents relayed to her siblings. they [both] expected me to succeed. there wasn’t even a question. there was no doubt that i would go to college, i would set the example for everybody else. difficult financial and social situations also contributed to parental expectations for academic success. lola grew up in a community of poverty, gangs, and drugs in texas. after her parents divorced, lola, her mother, and sister, moved to the midwest. her mother did not have a steady job for a year; they were extremely poor. despite the difficult circumstances, her mother not only maintained high expectations for lola academically, but also modeled resiliency. my mother didn’t work for a year and during that time she did a lot of temp jobs and went to school, [and we were] on welfare. she just kept telling me, ‘you are going to college… you are going to college.’ working hard was part of the expectations behind the stories shared by parents. resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 42 although the parents of most of the latinas in this study expected their daughters to be academically successful, the dominant narrative of latina/o academic failure is so pervasive; it makes it difficult for parents to maintain those expectations. for example, both of faye’s parents are lawyers. as the youngest of four, her parents’ expectations were lowered after her older siblings did not achieve academically. she shares: my sister was a national merit scholar. she dropped out her first year. by the time [it came down to me], they said, “well, she…barely got out of high school. she’s not going to do anything. it was also very difficult to blindly maintain their high expectations when going to college was so far removed from their present reality and the dominant narrative of latinas and teen pregnancy was so prevalent. my mother would go around telling people,..[my daughters] are going to college. hopefully. if they don’t get pregnant. she always wanted us to accomplish much but the support...was negative. finally, eva, whose mother dropped out of high school because she was pregnant, used that knowledge to challenge teen pregnancy as being the only story of latinas. eva relayed the story of participating in a precollege program for latinas in which many of the participants knew they were going to college, it was just a matter of where. eva felt embarrassed when part of the program included a “crying baby class”. students were given a doll that needed to be fed, changed, and held. it bothered eva that other summer programs on campus did not participate in this class. eva wondered if it was because the other programs were predominantly white. she left wondering if the program directors really saw the students as high achieving. latinas’ parents sought to convey expectations of high achievement to their daughters through their stories. at times it was difficult for them to maintain those expectations; yet all the latinas had a sense that college was possible for them. modeling resiliency and direct teaching about racial discrimination some parents shared stories about their own racial struggles with their children so that they would know that race was something that they would have to contend with. isabela explains: as i got older and my dad got a better position, he had to fight and claw [his way] because he was mexican. i didn’t understand at the time but i know when i went to [college] he was like ‘mi’ja you are going to experience that--i went through it at my job’. fed by racist notions of latina/o underachievement being due to their inferiority to other people and groups, latina/o parents are not immune to these narratives. blanca explains, my dad for example walks around with his head down when he is among english speaking people. he feels to be mexican [it is] his destiny to suffer in the world... my dad was never part of our life. my mother was the kind of mother who would fight for her rights and for her children’s rights with a knife. she didn’t see herself as ‘i deserve less because i am mexican [and] neither do my children.’ some families helped their daughters to challenge the dominant narrative. they do this by first identifying the common perception which says that latinas will not achieve and set counter expectations. sofia explains, you can’t ignore statistics…people always tell you—you can’t make it…it starts with family [helping you] to overcome and not just settle. when you have the opportunity you have to take advantage of it. even when parents do not internalize the narratives about latina’s inferiority, it does resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 43 not mean that they necessarily know how to support their daughters, but they know that their daughters have to learn how to struggle on their own in order to be resilient. hermenia shares, we were on the way [back to college] and she was dropping me off and i started crying. i told her ‘ i’ll just work for one year and then i’ll go back, next year.’ she said, ‘well you are not going to do that, because if you stop now, you’ll never go back.’ i was crying...but she didn’t stop, she just kept on driving and dropped me off. finally, there is iris, a high achieving student, whose sister had a learning disability. she was deeply bothered by how special education students were treated in her school. iris wondered why schools could not act more like families. her family knew that her sister could not do everything that they were doing, but they still always found a way to make her a meaningful part of whatever they were doing. in their family, they create a space in which everyone is a valued member. conclusion latina/os have participated in the u.s. educational system for generations, yet there continues to be widespread failure in educating mexican and puerto rican students (donato, 1997; nieto, 2000). as the largest ethnic minority group in the nation, latina/os under-participation in the professional sectors of our economy (which requires higher levels of education) can no longer be seen as a minor issue affecting a small segment of society. what do the stories of the women in this study tell us about what needs to be done to create change? the stories presented here illustrate how latinas and their families disrupt the dominant narrative of educational underachievement. the typical explanation for their achievement tends to reside in a cultural and familial deficit understanding of who succeeds and who does not. in other words, it is easy to explain the success of these students in terms of their being anomalies, their being unusual, and exceptional in terms of their intellect, their passion, their drive, etc. these latinas and their families are not exceptional. this begs the question then, how did these students succeed when so many with similar backgrounds are failing to do so? the answer is obviously complex. for some, it was a family move that took them out of a tracking system that would not have prepared them for college, and landed them into a college bound track. for others, it was encountering key people at crucial times in their lives. such as the chance meeting with alumnae of a four year institution that put them in touch with a university that their own families could not. many other such circumstances had bearing on these students success. but what role did the stories retold in this study play in the student’s subsequent success? and why did these particular stories hold the power that they did for these student’s lives? these stories set expectations, taught about race and modeled resiliency, reminded the student that they are part of a larger family, community, and legacy that is far beyond their individual selves, and taught about the reality of struggle and hard work and that this is part of what life is and much more. these stories show that those who have succeeded learned ways to counter the common misperceptions of latinas. further, these stories may be revealing of insights regarding why these latinas tended to understand these stories in the particular ways that they did. this may be related to how gender tends to play out in latina/o families. girls are often expected to help in the home, with household chores and childrearing responsibilities, much more than boys. this puts latinas in close, consistent contact with family members and the opportunity to hear the family stories and their interpretation and reinterpretation. another insight may be related to the fact that many of the interviewees were children of immigrants. this generally meant that many of the students’ parents were closely tied to their culture of origin, which was often strongly reflected in the home. the findings indicate that this home environment contributed to the conduciveness of the sharing of stories and their influence. finally, the women in this study consistently displayed a high level of maintaining or developing contact resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 44 with their culture of origin. this cultural knowledge appears to be enabling them to understand the stories being told to them in a deep and culturally relevant way which then serves as a guide to negotiating the obstacles that lead to academic success. understanding the role of such stories helps us to imagine new ways campuses can support latina students’ academic success. what is needed for wide-scale success of latina/o students is a transformation in our institutions of higher education. such a transformation is unlikely, but possible if there was a convergence of interests7 by institution(s) of higher education, and external influences such as college rankings and accreditation boards. the convergence of interests would entail reflection about the purpose of higher education and action to achieve that purpose(s). as a result of such reflection, higher education might take a more expansive view of the purposes of education which are congruent with the values of students, families, and communities. 7. the term interest convergence is used by critical race theory scholars (bell, 1992) to analyze societal or macro changes historically and are argues that progress towards racial equity, will only occur if it benefits those who are in positions of power. resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 45 epilogue in the tradition of crt, a narrative of what might be possible in higher education is presented. esperanza’s story takes place 25 years in the future; st. cecilia is a campus that has been transformed toward fostering the success of all students. esperanza i felt awkward visiting st. cecilia after all these years. to be honest, my daughter, esperanza, was more excited about her acceptance than was i. i am grateful for my education, but somehow i just thought my daughter could do better. of course, it didn’t matter how i felt. today was the convocation. it was esperanza’s day. i was surprised at how many families were there. i inquired about the large turnout to a young woman, whom i presumed was a student. she responded, “oh, st. cecilia recognizes the sacrifices that families have to make for students to be successful, and wants to acknowledge them. it is also a time when st. cecilia recalls its transformation.” i must have had a blank look on my face. she went on. “several years back the college was moving up in their rankings and becoming more and more renowned. there was also a growing awareness of the impact our graduates have on communities—as professionals and as individuals who engage in philanthropy. as civic engagement became more important to the rankings there was a fear that we might not be able to maintain our position because our graduates did not know how to work effectively with diverse populations. graduates were not aware how their background had shaped their work and level of community engagement. furthermore, academic majors and careers were narrowly focused. while, we were learning the ‘book stuff ’ significantly less attention was paid to us learning the ‘life stuff ’. “this is really interesting”, i said, “but i am surprised to hear the college’s ‘dirty laundry’ being aired at an event like this.” “let me back up. we are taught the history of the transformation and are encouraged to share it with others. it is not only a tradition, but one of the ways that st. cecilia ‘walks the talk.’ we recount the story of the transformation because it is an essential part of who we are as an institution.” “the transformation in our education started with a group of latina students who challenged st. cecilia’s to do more to support their academic success and the success of all students. they argued that their academic success was threatened through stereotypical encounters with fellow students and faculty; further they reasoned that their fellow students would become professionals who would marginalize their colleagues or those they were supposed to help because they were unaware of their own biases.” “i want to hear more about how students become, transformed, is it?” the student laughed, “well, to begin with, we take a philosophy class. i don’t remember the exact name, but it was based on the african proverb: i am because we are. this course emphasizes critical thinking, cooperative learning, and reflection. the first part of the course helps us to build a strong connection to other students and encourages us to learn together. in the second part, we learn that we are all members of multiple communities and inequity is reproduced within communities. we become aware of what is ‘normal’ in our everyday lives and if there is some aspect of our lives that does not fit what is ‘normal’, we analyze why. we constantly reflect on our actions. it was a really interesting class.” “wow, it sounds like it.” i remained skeptical. “but how does this help you with your career or in working with community?” “the class then helped us understand how all of us make judgments about others based on what is deemed ‘normal’ and because of our positions as professionals, we need to be mindful that our judgments can have unintended negative consequences for those we work with. we are taught that to be effective professionals we need to ask, ‘what is going on here? how do the others understand what is going on here? what is my role? what are the potential negative and positive consequences? by the end of the class, we realize that equity is inseparable from excellence.” “i see your point. so, what about faculty? it sounds like they have been a key component to the resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 46 transformation.” “well, the latinas claimed that the college was not doing enough to support them academically, right around the time of accreditation. st. cecilia did a little self-scrutiny and realized that most of the faculty were raised in middle-class, monolingual english families from the suburbs. the faculty didn’t see teaching students of color as an essential part of their jobs. they were not mean people, but in the grand scheme of things they were more concerned with their specific discipline. however, the reality is ‘minority’ students are the majority on a lot of campuses, and a growing population at st. cecilia. consequently, after the transformation, the curriculum is more infused with diversity than it has ever been; faculty are rewarded for creating opportunities for community engagement by students; racial achievement gaps are measured annually with progress being made regularly. they also successfully recruited new faculty with equity and diversity as part of their research interests. these faculty were encouraged to challenge conventional thinking about what it means to teach and learn. faculty also must mentor new students, so they understand more about students’ lives.” st. cecilia’s campus climate and how it engaged all members of the campus community in the process of learning had been transformed. st. cecilia was a place where esperanza could be successful. resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2013, volume 7, issue 1 47 references adichie, c.n. (2009). chimamanda adichie: the danger of a single story. tedglobal ted.com. retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html. alves, j. (2007, september 28). elite colleges must give low-income students the tools to succeed. chronicle of higher education. retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/elite-colleges-must-give/29737 aud, s., hussar, w., johnson, f., kena, g., roth, e., manning, e., wang, x., & zhang, j. (2012). the condition of education 2012 (nces 2012-045). u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. washington, dc. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch. bell, d. (2008). racism as the ultimate deception. north carolina law review, 86(3), 621-34. bell,d. (1992). faces at the bottom of the well : the permanence of racism. new york, ny: basicbooks bhattacharjee, y. (2012, march 18). gray matter: why bilinguals are smarter. the new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.html?_r=0 coffey, a., & atkinson, p. (1996). making sense of qualitative date: complementary research strategies. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. conchas, g. q. (2001). structuring failure and success: understanding the variability in latino student engagement. harvard educational review, 71(3), 475-504. delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623-639. delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2001). critical race theory: an introduction. critical america. new york, ny: new york university press. donato, r. (1997). the other struggle for equal schools: mexican americans during the civil rights era. albany, ny: state university of new york press. haleman, d. (2004). great expectations: single mothers in higher education. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 17, 769-784. harper, s.r., & patton, l.d. (eds.) (2007). responding to the racial realities on campus. new directions for student services, 120. hispanic americans: census facts — infoplease.com. (2007). infoplease: pearson education, publishing as infoplease. retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/hhmcensus1.html ladson-billings, g. (2009). the dreamkeepers : successful teachers of african american children. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass publishers. lópez, n. (2002). rewriting race and gender high school lessons: second-generation dominicans in new york city. teachers college record. 104(6), 1187-1203. morales, e. e. (2008). exceptional female student resilience and gender in higher education. innovative higher education, 33, 197-213. morello, c., & mellnik, t. (2011, september 28). hispanic kids the largest group of children living in poverty. the washington post. retrieved from http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-09-28/local/35275234_1_ hispanic-children-black-children-poverty-rate nieto, s. (ed.) (2000). puerto rican students in u.s. schools. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. solórzano, d.g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). a critical race counterstory of race, racism, and affirmative action. equity and excellence in education, 35(2), 155-168. the national campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy. (2009). an overview of latina teen pregnancy and birth rates. retrieved from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/ villalpando, o. (2004). practical considerations of critical race theory and latino critical theory for latino college students. new directions for student services, 105(5), 41-50. resisting the dominant narrative: the role of stories in latina educational success http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ latinx and the community college association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 177 latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees chancellor eloy ortiz oakley1 at the latino education and advocacy days, lead summit viii chancellor ortiz oakley: i’m just going to take a few minutes to talk about what’s on your mind and what’s on my mind and that is latino education, latino student success, and then i welcome the opportunity to hear from our panelist and to answer any questions that they might have. you all understand the statistics, there’s no point in me sitting here telling you and walking you through all the depressing statistics that we already know clearly exist, but as was mentioned, the california community college system is the largest system of public higher education in the nation and in being so, opens the door to the majority of latinos into higher education and that is a privilege that we have, and it’s also a responsibility that our community colleges have and it’s a responsibility that we’re going to be talking a lot about over the next several years. my good friend sarita brown who oversees an organization called excelencia in education, we talk a lot about this issue of latino student success. you have institutions like the one i previously had the opportunity to lead, long beach city college or cal state san bernardino or hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the county which are now designated hispanic-serving institutions (hsi) by the federal government through the department of education. and you become a hispanic-serving institution by serving a large majority of latinos. but that’s really the only qualifications a hispanicserving institution has in order to be designated one. so we’ve been talking a lot about changing that dynamic and this is a roundabout to getting to my point, we need to become a hispanic graduating institutions, not just hispanic-serving institutions. we need to give our young people credentials. so, certainly in our 1132 colleges many of which are hispanic-serving institutions, we want to ensure that the responsibility lies within each and every one of our colleges to become hispanic graduating institutions or african 1 reflects q&a portion with chancellor oakley only. for video and complete panel presentation visit lead website. 2 number has since increased to 114 community colleges. ortiz oakley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 178 american graduating institutions, or pacific islander graduating institutions. we need to ensure that more young people, more working class adults, more people, more californians have access to not just a quality education, but leave with a quality credential in their hand because what we know today, clearly week after week we can pick up the paper and read another study that says, clearly the gap between those with the high school education and those with a college credential continues to increase and as such we see a widening gap. this last presidential election showed us a lot, and in some cases showed us too much, but it did show us a lot. but what i want to focus on is the issue of more and more californians, more and more americans becoming disconnected from the economy, because at the end of the day it’s all about the economy and the opportunity to engage in the economy in a meaningful way. and a high school diploma just doesn’t get our kids there, our working age adults there any longer. so we have an imperative, you already know we have a crisis and we’ve tried the moral argument for years and years and years and years and we still are treading water using the moral argument, this is an economic argument. in order for states like california to succeed, in order for our nation to succeed, we need to embrace every single asset in our community and its evident that most of those assets are becoming brown, are becoming black, are becoming asian and pacific islander, we need to embrace all those assets and make sure that we provide them the opportunity for a quality credential. so i appreciate the work that you all are doing in continuing to lead the effort—to focus attention on latino students. our state depends on us being successful, our state will not continue as it was or as it should be if we are not successful at putting more quality credentials in the hands of latino students and i am proud and privileged to have the opportunity to lead our 113 colleges on that journey and it’s a journey that cannot take 5-15 years, it’s a journey that has to take 1, 2, 3 years, we need to make progress today. we need to embrace the urgency of now; we cannot wait and continue to wait until tomorrow. so i hope that you join me in that journey and support our california community college system, support the california state university system, which between the two are the workhorse for our economy in california. and our economy in california cannot do the work it needs to do without more latinos meaningfully participating in the workforce. so we have a lot in front of us, i know you’ve heard about all of the data, were going to be putting a clear focus on that data and being very intentional about what’s going on and very intentional about holding ourselves accountable latinx and the community college association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 179 for what we need to do. so again i thank you for coming out here and continuing to support this effort and support the effort in all of your communities. we need to do this day in and day out, this can’t be about coming to the lead conference once a year, it has to be about living the lead conference everyday in every single one of our communities and pushing and pushing all of our leaders until we see the results that will give us what we have been looking for and allow california to continue to be the leader that it has been. dr. nancy acevedo-gil: latino students have these aspirations to transfer, unfortunately we know that at least 85% of students who are coming into the community college system will be testing into developmental or remedial math and after four years of course work out of 100 students who actually enroll in developmental math, only 17 will complete a transfer level math course. at the institutional level the developmental education system is broken, the basic skills, remedial education whatever terminology you want to use. can you share with us your plan for transformative policies to promote equity and justice within the developmental education? while we have these great much needed programs beginning like, multiple measures and acceleration, systematically what measurements or credentials can you propose to address these deficit ideologies of instructors and administrators that, no matter how amazing the policy once it gets to the institutional implementation level it is going to create a barrier for our students and for other amazing leaders within these systems. chancellor ortiz oakley: well that's the million-dollar question. i will try to give you as succinct an answer as possible because i can probably literally spend all day talking to you about just this question. because it has many many tentacles, many many reasons, and the conspiracy theorist in me would say that it has been complicated on purpose. let me begin with saying clearly that you used a phrase in your question that thousands and thousands of students test in the developmental level and let me focus on the word test. it has certainly been my experience when i worked at long beach city college and the work i've seen happen across the nation that standardize placement exams are some of the worst predictors of college success that exist in our system throughout the country and we need to end the use of standardized placement exams, period. i can tell you that the california ortiz oakley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 180 community colleges will move in that direction at an accelerating pace. we are looking at ways to create a multiple measures platform that allows every college to use multiple measures whether that be high school transcripts, other information that gives us better information about whether or not a student can be successful in a college level course. there are a lot of things we need to do to get there. we need to have better data, we need to have greater access to high school transcripts in a real time basis, but the importance of this is tremendous. one because my experience at long beach was that, the semester after we implemented a multiple measures framework for all long beach unified students coming to long beach city college, we saw a three hundred percent increase in the number of students of color that placed in a college level math. think about that. no student is transferring without successfully navigating college level or transfer level math, that's just a period, you can put a period at the end of that. so, when i got to long beach city college we literally had success rates of latino students in college level math, in the single digits. so it's no surprise what's happening on the other end of that funnel, very few students are getting through to the other end. and you can say the same thing about african american students, you can say the same thing about southeast asian students, pacific islander students, any student who is socio-economically disadvantaged, it's the same story. and you can play this tune across the entire nation. there has been a lot of great work that has been done at the community college research center of colombia teachers college, that clearly shows that we need to move away from these standardized placement exams and we are going to do that. as i’m sure you’ve heard, there is a bill in the legislature that would allow us to do that even faster, but regardless of bills, we know what needs to be done and we are going to set to work on getting it done. it will take a little bit of time because we have 113 colleges and believe it or not i can’t just tell 113 colleges what to do. i have to slowly convince them what to do but we're going to speed that up. the other thing that needs to happen is, i mean, if you take a step back, why do we have standardized placement exams? why? because faculty don’t trust faculty. community college faculty don’t trust high school faculty, cal state faculty don’t trust community college faculty and the uc faculty doesn’t trust anyone, so that is a fundamental problem. latinx and the community college association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 181 how do we get consistency across all segments of public education to ensure that if somebody graduates from garfield high or pacific palisades or anywhere in the state of california those grades are consistently applied to wherever class they need to be placed in. that's the way it should work, but then we’ve created all these complicated structures to try and weed out students from this high school or that high school because we don’t trust their curriculum at their high school or we don’t trust the graduation rates at that high school and the students coming from this high school are much better quality than that high school. that's craziness. again, that plays the notion that the zip code you’re born into will dictate your path in life and we need to end that. so, things like common core implementation, you know we can beat ourselves over the head a lot about whether we’re doing it right, whether we’re doing it wrong, whether local control funding formula is going to get us there, but we need to get behind initiatives that level the playing field and it's going to take time but we’ve got to get it done. so that’s a long term solution, in the short term i know that the cal state system is also, i heard from chancellor white that they’re looking at their placement exams. i think you’re going to see this across the country, more and better ways to assess students ability to succeed and then once we do that, yes we still have a problem with remediation, so we’re investing a lot of resources right now to improve our ability to continue to move students forward regardless of where their gaps might exist. we’ve seen a lot of great practices across the country and we’re going to try and accelerate the adoption of those practices right now and hopefully move those students that still need some remedial support an opportunity to do that in a timely manner without having to sit through three semesters before they get to a college level class. dr. edna martinez: chancellor oakley, we’ve talked a little bit about developmental education and a little bit about transfer education. i’m hoping you can talk to us a little bit about the california community colleges baccalaureate degree pilot program. the discourse surrounding the pilot program is very much centered on “meeting state and local workforce needs,” but the question being, what does it mean for our students? twelve of the 15 pilot sites are hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), and 2 are designated as emerging hsis, so again what does the pilot program mean for our students? is it a potential opportunity to increase baccalaureate degree attainment for latino students? ortiz oakley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 182 chancellor ortiz oakley: so, the short answer is yes, it is an opportunity to increase baccalaureate attainment; there are some challenges with that construct though. first, the real answer to the challenge is increase capacity at the california state university system. that is the ultimate solution. we are now trying to find ways around the lack of capacity at the cal state university system and so we are looking at ways to get the community colleges to provide access to workforce needs, and that runs contrary to the way that we set up our system in california. we have asked the community colleges to serve many, many missions and now we are asking them to serve another. my concern is that california community colleges are already underfunded, per student funding is some of the worst in the country, and now we are asking them to offer quality, and they will, quality baccalaureate degrees, and i’m sure the legislature is going to think, and no offense to my friends in the legislature, but they are going to think we can do it cheaper in the california community colleges. we don’t want cheaper for our students, we want the highest quality for our students, so we have to be careful, we have to be careful if we go down this road that we are not bifurcating paths for, you know the latino or black students who can’t afford, or can’t get access to the cal state system, they can go get a cheaper bachelors degree. that’s not what we want. so i am all for doing everything possible to support the existing pilots, but not without the conversation about what kind of access we need for our students at the csu and why aren’t we funding it and that we will not be the release valve for the legislature when they don’t feel that they want to fund the cal state system anymore and that they believe that we can do it cheaper in the community college system. so, this is going to be a delicate balance, at the end of the day, yes there are communities in the state that don't have easy access to a cal state campus, and in those situation, yes, we should be allowing a community college to provide whatever access that community needs, but not because it is a cheaper way of doing it or not because we don’t want to fund the cal state system. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 60 teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school: the role of early clinical experiences in urban teacher education ambareen nasir amy j. heineke loyola university chicago abstract this study investigates how early clinical experiences impact teacher candidates’ learning and experiences with latina/o english learners in a field-based program housed in a multilingual, urban elementary school. we draw on multiple-case study design and use discourse analysis to explore cases of three candidates. findings reveal exploration of additive language policies, use of cultural tools in academic contexts, and linguistic validity in assessments. introduction in schools across the united states, the number of english learners (els) continues to grow, with approximately 80% of els coming from latina/o families (gándara & hopkins, 2010). despite the large and growing population, schools have failed to maintain pace in demonstrating el achievement, in part due to the disproportionate number of els taught by underprepared teachers (gándara & maxwell-jolly, 2006). teacher education programs must consider effective ways to prepare teacher candidates for work with culturally and linguistically diverse students, particularly the large populations of latina/o els. moving beyond the traditional silos separating esl, bilingual, and mainstream teacher preparation, scholars argue the need to prepare all teachers for els (de jong & harper, 2005; valdés, bunch, snow, lee, & matos, 2005), including assertions specific to early childhood (garcía, jensen, & cuellar, 2006), elementary (de jong, harper, & coady, 2013), secondary (manzo, cruz, faltis, & delatorre, 2012), and special education teachers (artiles & klingner, 2006). overall, the literature calls for programs that target and integrate cultural and linguistic diversity (nieto, rivera, quiñones, & irizarry, 2013) through field-based preparation with university, school, and community partnerships (garcía, arias, harris-murri, & serna, 2010). responding to the call to integrate els into teacher preparation, researchers investigate university-based programs (e.g., deoliveria & athanases, 2007) and coursework innovations (e.g., heineke, 2014; markos, 2012). replying to the specific call to situate el teacher preparation in schools and communities through field-based learning (garcía et al., 2010), a handful of studies begin to analyze the efficacy of candidates’ work with els in clinical settings, including after-school tutoring (fitts & gross, 2012), summer tutoring (spezzini & austin, 2011), and service learning projects (bollin, 2007). building on conceptual papers that highlight the importance of field-based teacher education for els (garcía et al., 2010; nieto et al., 2013), this study investigates candidates’ perception and experiences in practice with latina/o els at a multilingual elementary school. rather than study informal learning settings for clinical practice (fitts & gross, 2012; spezzini & austin, 2011), we focus on the development of knowledge, skills, and dispositions for teaching els while engaged in authentic teaching and learning throughout the academic school day and year. recognizing the demand for well-prepared teachers of els, one midwest university utilizes a field-based program5 designed around culturally and linguistically diverse students (heineke, kennedy, & lees, 2013). through strategically designed experiences, candidates receive early exposure to els, as the four-year program is situated entirely in diverse schools and communities. specific to this study, first-semester sophomores engage in practice at urban schools, with content that begins with a macro-lens on educational policy (e.g., language policy) and ends with a micro-lens on students in classrooms (e.g., els). as field-based modules, which merge traditional university-based coursework and school-based clinical experiences, shift in focus from policy to practice with 5 for more information on modules and other facets of the field-based teacher preparation program, please visit: http://www.luc.edu/education/academics_ugrad_programs.shtml teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school http://www.luc.edu/education/academics_ugrad_programs.shtml association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 61 diverse students, experiences emphasize the connections between layers and actors in education and highlight the role of the teacher in decision making and advocating for els (cadiero-kaplan & rodríguez, 2008). central to this study, sophomore modules are designed for candidates to appreciate, discern, and utilize individual needs of els to plan instruction and support student development (heineke et al., 2013; herrera, 2010). in this paper, we explore how early clinical practices through field-based modules impact candidate learning, perceptions, and experiences with latina/o els. in this next section, we describe the framework that guided our study. studying language and learning in field experiences guided by sociocultural theory (rogoff, 2003; vygotsky, 1978), this study focuses on teacher learning as socially constructed through sustained interaction within authentic contexts of teaching and learning (ball & cohen, 1999). unlike the behaviorist model of teacher education that presumes candidates as passive receptors from expert teacher educators, or the cognitive model that supposes active teachers who independently master the craft of teaching, the sociocultural approach recognizes learning as dynamic collaboration between active teacher candidates and social environments. with cultural processes simultaneously defining and being defined by individuals (rogoff, 2003), candidates’ learning is best understood when situated in the social and cultural context of classrooms and schools (ball & cohen, 1999). we utilize the conceptual framework of d/discourses (gee, 2005). discourses (capital d) describe how individuals put together “language, action, interaction, values, beliefs, symbols, objects, tools, and places” to be recognized as a certain type of person (e.g., teacher) engaged in a certain type of action (e.g., teaching; p. 3). using the concept of discourse models (gee, 2005), we recognize that individuals utilize ideologies to make meaning of daily practice; typically used unconsciously and always oversimplified, these ideological storylines support candidates in understanding complexities of teaching and learning. through exploration of discourses (small d), or language-in-use in activities and experiences, our framework conceptualizes how candidates build identities, politics, and connections to be recognized as teaching professionals: (a) building identities involves using language to be recognized as taking on particular identities, such as being bilingual; (b) building politics recognizes using language to take perspectives on social goods, such as students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds; and (c) building connections focuses on using language to make things relevant or irrelevant to learning and development as teachers (gee, 2005, p. 11-12). by framing our work with sociocultural theory (rogoff, 2003; vygotsky, 1978) and d/discourses (gee, 2005), we pose the following research question to explore candidate learning about els: how can an undergraduate, field-based teacher preparation program support candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for working with latina/o els? two sub-questions guide our investigation: (a) how can early clinical experiences in a culturally and linguistically diverse school impact how candidates perceive and engage in practice with latina/o els? (b) what field-based experiences and instructional innovations affect how candidates perceive and engage in practice with latina/o els? methods fenton6 is a pre-kindergarten-through-grade-3 (pk-3) school located in the culturally and linguistically diverse neighborhood of watertown. historically, watertown has served as a home for newly arrived immigrants, which currently represent a dominant latina/o population amongst a growing diversity of asian and african ethnicities. fenton is home to 390 latina/os, 65% of the school population, and 384 els, 64% of the school population, which includes students from 42 native language backgrounds. fenton utilizes transitional bilingual education (tbe) for spanish speakers and esl pullout for other els in an attempt to accommodate diverse linguistic needs—though these two language instruction models are not ideal. to investigate candidates’ early clinical experiences with latina/o els, we engaged in multiple-case study design (yin, 2009) using purposive sampling of three candidates at one urban elementary school. the criteria for purposive sampling included seeking candidates who (a) consented to take part in research, (b) completed all data 6 school and participant names are pseudonyms. teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 62 points, (c) focused their final case study paper on an el student, and (d) represented diverse cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. of the eight candidates enrolled, study participants included three candidates: sam, fatima, and lisa (all pseudonyms). candidates’ prior experiences and identities informed their initial perspectives on latina/o els. sam, a jewish russian-american in the secondary history program, valued his upbringing in a dual-language, low-income household, which supported his additive stance for bilingual education. fatima, an elementary education major and muslim pakistani-american who grew up in watertown, understood the socioeconomic hardships in the community because her family struggled financially to maintain a restaurant near fenton. raised catholic in a predominantly white monolingual suburb, lisa had limited exposure to diversity, initially finding difficulty in relating to the urban community as a future elementary educator. teachers volunteered to host candidates in classrooms. sam and lisa worked in a second-grade classroom with 70% latina/o and 30% african and african-american students. working with a white, monolingual, female teacher with an esl endorsement and seven years of teaching experience, both candidates worked with els of varying language proficiencies; sam worked regularly with alex, a bilingual spanish and english speaking reclassified student recently exited from the tbe program, and lisa supported mary, a native spanish speaker, and labeled el, still receiving services. fatima observed a third-grade classroom with 21 students, 60% spanish native speakers and 40% from multilingual backgrounds, including urdu and arabic; her cooperating teacher was a white, female, bilingual spanish and english, with 3 years of teaching experience. situated in field-based modules, focused on el policy and practice, objectives included (a) recognizing the role of macro-level policies guiding teachers’ practice with culturally and linguistically diverse students, and (b) enacting policy in practice to support the learning of diverse students in classroom practice. candidates designed and implemented reading, writing, and speaking tasks to identify strengths and weaknesses using rubrics to develop targeted instructional supports. all classes were held at fenton for twelve weeks, where candidates met three times per week with four hours in field-based observations. field-based observations were guided by observation protocols to tally frequency and write descriptions of specific “codes” observed in candidates’ classrooms. candidates observed codes generated by the instructor (e.g., academic language el participation) and created one code to record throughout the semester (e.g., culturally relevant pedagogy). each class began with candidates conducting field-based observations and ended in reflection in study groups using observation protocols, assessment findings, and connections to course readings. we collected two types of data: module assignments and observations. module assignment data included weekly observational reflections, el assessments, case studies, and summative papers. candidates utilized weekly observational reflections to synthesize findings from observation protocols and make meaning of experiences in classroom practice. collaborating with cooperating teachers to engage in el assessments, candidates created, implemented, and scored rubrics on students’ reading, writing, and oral language; an additional assessment measure included funds of knowledge (fok) interviews and community walks to learn how cultural and linguistic practices contribute to instruction and assessment. candidates compiled assessments in a case study paper, evaluating students’ language abilities and providing instructional suggestions. at the end of semester, candidates synthesized learning in a summative paper to address connections between macro and micro layers of education. used to understand the trajectory of learning between formal assignments, observational data included 14 researcher field notes detailing candidates’ evolving perspectives on els. we utilized discourse analysis (gee, 2005) to analyze candidates’ language-in-use for situated meanings and corresponding discourse models, focusing on three buildings tasks to respond to research questions: identities, politics, and connections (gee, 2005). first, by analyzing candidates’ building identities, we recognized the use of background knowledge and experiences to make meaning of field-based practices. second, analysis of building politics focused on candidates’ conceptualizations of macro-level (e.g., policies) and micro-level education (e.g., students’ fok). finally, investigation of building connections allowed exploration of candidates’ learning, analyzing the evolving understandings and changes in discourse models across the academic semester. following discourse analysis using the building tasks, we triangulated findings related to research questions and purposefully selected which candidates to explore in more depth. after selection of cases for the multiple-case study design, we employed the technique of explanation building (yin, 2009) to analyze the data and develop an explanation for each case on how candidates built an understanding of practice with latina/o els in teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 63 early clinical experiences. these case drafts went through iterative analyses to ensure thick descriptions of the development of sam, fatima, and lisa. to maximize validity and trustworthiness, we utilized triangulation between researchers and data sources. acknowledging the inherent bias in that the first author served as researcher and instructor, we triangulated data sources and member checked using the second author’s perspective; we independently coded data to generate themes and debriefed our analyses to verify preliminary findings and case selections (yin, 2009). in developing cases, we triangulated sources using primary data from assignments to cross reference consistency in el perceptions and secondary data from field notes to provide further context for a thick description. additionally, on summative papers, candidates rated and described experiences that supported learning; we tallied frequencies and ranked clinical and instructional experiences to triangulate with findings from discourse analysis. findings in this section, we highlight candidates’ multi-faceted development in clinical experiences, guided by their personal codes, to explain (a) sam’s negotiation of language policy in practice informed by his observation reflections, and summative paper; (b) fatima’s deconstruction of language, culture, and identity became aware as she conducted a fok assessment, observation reflections, case-study, and summative paper; and (c) lisa’s evolving understanding of language and assessment drawn from her observation reflections and reading, oral language, and fok assessments. sam: negotiating language policy and practice entering fenton espousing a self-identified bilingual identity (field notes, september, 2013), sam utilized field-based experiences to build politics (gee, 2005), or evolve ideological beliefs around english-dominant policies and practices with reclassified els. drawing from readings (hakuta, 2011), he framed his classroom observations around lau v. nichols, specifically questioning how language rights for els can be upheld when the “supreme court left it up to the schools to decide how to implement fair el programs” (reflection, september 2013). connecting policy and practice, sam critically considered the effectiveness of tbe when conducting language assessments with alex, a re-classified latino el. although alex exited the tbe program, sam discovered that “students are being pushed out of the el program as success stories, but they still need help...they can’t possibly learn if the classrooms are all english” (summative paper, p. 3). for instance, sam’s reading and speaking assessments revealed alex struggling with fluency and comprehension to understand general vocabulary words and main ideas in texts. when transcribing his conversation with alex, “his voice was hesitant with long lapses and he did not say the word ‘professional.’ he said the word ‘prof’ ‘profession’ instead” (summative paper, p. 2). sam’s discourse built connections to practice about els: (a) the reclassification tbe program exit did not equate to english proficiency, and (b) mainstream teachers needed to provide differentiated and continued language support. challenging the monolingual discourse model guiding the school’s practice, sam critiqued the subtractive model prioritizing english proficiency, instead of additive models of spanish-english biliteracy, recognizing the ineffective supports for alex in the english-only classroom. additionally, sam’s discourse reflected building politics and connections between federal policies to classroom practices. after examining court cases (lau v. nichols, plyer v. doe, and castañeda v. pickard), he realized that federal laws framed language equity to prioritize english and thus impacted practices at fenton because “there is so much distraction on how there needs to be more english” (reflection, september 2013). juxtaposed with the english dominance in mainstream classrooms, sam recognized bilingualism at the school, referencing hallway displays and morning announcements featuring spanish. drawing from this observation, sam contemplated the consequences for students transitioning from bilingual to monolingual classrooms and implications for els’ linguistic and cultural identities. by analyzing the word “transition” in tbe to mean not a transition to english, but a deficit view where school actors “transition out your language, spanish” (field notes, september 2013), sam built politics to recognize els as subjugated “to being treated unfairly because america teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 64 wants to preserve the nationalist perspective. students have been told to assimilate” (summative paper, p. 6). illuminating complexities of language policy, classroom practices, and students’ identities, he recognized that, while federal and school policies held the potential to foster bilingual identities, in practice, they resulted in the opposite: an abandonment of native language identity. sam built his identity as a teacher with the role to preserve students’ linguistic identities, particularly in subtractive settings such as mainstream classrooms. yet, sam struggled to negotiate how spanish and english should be implemented in policy and practice for transitioning els in mainstream classrooms. guided by the instructor, sam generated codes to examine academic vocabulary instruction and understand the resources els harness to learn english. table 2. sam’s codes for observing academic vocabulary code description example word visuals define a word by looking at the picture. teacher shows picture of a shopper. re-sounding say the word with the picture and repeat the word. teacher shows picture and says word “stoop” students repeat. definition question say the word. ask students to define it. teacher says, “what does the word dairy mean?” application question teacher asks how to use the word in a sentence. teacher says, “how do you use dairy in a sentence? after two weeks in the classroom, his data revealed four codes: word visuals, re-sounding, definition questions, and application questions with the takeaway that he “always thought that el students were taken care of and helped on a consistent basis, unfortunately students are not accommodated for” (reflection, october 2013). with the supports resulting in students’ reliance on verbal strategies in english-only, he theorized how alex “wouldn’t be able to answer the teacher fast enough or follow classroom discussions” (reflection, october 2013). considering the possible role of spanish in classrooms, sam built connections to the importance of “every school having access to translators and students feeling they can speak spanish to each other” (field notes, october 2013) to “push policy in schooling to create the right to support native language and resources to all individuals” (summative paper, p. 6). by building politics and connections, paired with his language ideologies as a bilingual individual, sam’s experiences allowed negotiation and development of an additive stance that policies and practices must preserve and foster els’ native language; however, despite the focus on bilingual policies, he did not notice the absence of bilingual teaching strategies, signaling his emphasis on policy over pedagogy that necessitated additional exploration and development. fatima: leveraging funds of knowledge in a multilingual classroom “i came into this course not knowing much at all about how to teach el students and the challenges they face. i used to think the main goal of teaching el students was to teach them english as soon as possible. i have now grown to see it is important to value students’ identity. the culture and language of these students are assets in the classroom” (summative paper, p. 6). synthesizing her learning during the semester at fenton, fatima’s discourse revealed identity building (gee, 2005) as an el teacher, as she recognized that teaching els was not about the rate of acquiring english, but how teachers socially organized learning to capitalize on linguistic and cultural strengths. her shift from deficitto asset-based discourse models emerged during her third week in the multilingual classroom when she perceived that agu failed to participate because his demeanor was “quiet, avoided eye contact, and did not complete class work” (reflection, september 2013). after observing the student with the esl coordinator, fatima felt terrible for judging agu for his poor participation and explained, “agu probably didn’t have anything written down because he didn’t know what was going on. what i found most surprising was that after two weeks of observing, teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 65 i had no idea he was an el” (reflection, september 2013). reflecting on this critical moment, fatima recognized the discourse model she was unknowingly using to identify els; using his race, she generalized him as an africanamerican and native english speaker, rather than an el from africa, thus expanding her understanding of the diversity within the el label. continuing to negotiate the static and deficit-based discourse model of els, fatima examined els’ socialization and participation in classroom activities mediated by teacher accommodations. she reflected, “the teacher did not make an extra effort to work with him [agu] or make accommodations…for spanish[-speaking] students, the teacher translates words or reads a book that was a mix of spanish and english” (reflection, september 2013). fatima’s discourse displayed her perceived value of spanish language support while recognizing the complexities in incorporating multiple linguistic resources. building her identity as an el teacher, she went on to (a) recognize the importance to differentiate based on diversity within the el label; (b) offer differentiated resources and multiple accommodations for els to facilitate participation so that els are not “singled out from the rest of class like agu” (reflection, october 2013); (c) challenge linguistic and cultural practices leveraged or marginalized in the classroom; and (d) consider her agency to “incorporate all cultures and not marginalize one student’s culture while accommodating for another” (case study, p. 7). fatima built politics around social, linguistic, and cultural goods perceived as valuable in practice. after recognizing the complexities in supporting diverse els, fatima explored how to conceptualize, gather, and connect fok to school curriculum. drawing from gonzález, moll, and amanti (2005), she defined culture as “more than just foods and clothes, but students’ daily practices” (case study, p. 3) and corresponding instructional experiences to identify examples of fok (i.e., household, peer, community funds) and possible questions for student interviews. significant to fatima’s perceptions on els was the fok assessment where she conducted a community walk to experience and document her students’ lives in watertown. using thick description and photographs to capture the experience, fatima reflected on how promoting safety was common across the community. drawing from her identity as an el growing up in this community, she explained images taken during the community walk: “different languages which shows the multilingual diversity. i’ve seen the arabic word shaped as a bird saying ‘salaam’ which means ‘peace’” (see figure 1; field notes, september 2013). building connections to her experiences with agu, she discovered that, even though her students differed in linguistic and cultural experiences, the neighborhood provided shared cultural resources, such as where children played in alleys and parks and mutual concerns for community safety. figure 1. community walk fatima found the opportunity to draw on community fok to support all learners, commenting, “i can use what students do in the community to connect their culture to instruction and assessment” (case study, p. 3). building on her interest in how students spent time in the community, she interviewed juan, a latino el, and discovered that skateboarding was an important community practice. considering strategies for how she could draw on his fok to connect to curriculum, she suggested, “i could have him write a persuasive essay on why schools should allow students to ride their skateboards during recess or a math lesson on slope in the context of skateboarding” (fok assessment, p. 3). building identity as an el teacher, fatima: (a) evolved her understanding teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 66 of cultural and linguistic diversity of els; (b) recognized possibilities to differentiate math and reading instruction based on students’ community practices; and (c) synthesized how to leverage students’ fok in multicultural and multilingual classrooms. lisa: exploring culture and language in english learner assessment when her cooperating teacher asked her to assess maria’s academic vocabulary, lisa’s first interaction with an el led her to “imagine myself in charge of a room with this low level of english… overwhelming because of the magnitude of the girl’s language barriers. they [els] struggle to spell every word” (reflection, september 2013). espousing the deficit-based discourse model, lisa described how maria’s limited proficiency inhibited her ability to define academic vocabulary. seeking strategies to enhance vocabulary development, lisa shared an image of the teacher’s word wall, and the instructor connected to the sociocultural framework of language. after reading gee’s (2005) excerpt on discourses to understand vocabulary as embedded in socially situated “ways of behaving, interacting, valuing, thinking, believing, speaking,” (p. 3) lisa became critical of the word wall, suggesting modifications by discourses to ensure validity. she described challenges of the word “mean” due to multiple meanings across discourses such “as an emotion in the reading basal versus in math as an average” and recommended modifications to the word wall including a header entitled, “shoppers,” with vocabulary words listed underneath to avoid confusing the multiple meanings of terms (field notes, september 2013). figure 2. word wall in lisa’s classroom building connections (gee, 2005) between the d/discourse of word walls and assessments, lisa utilized her realization to inform individualized assessments with maria. after collecting data through a fok interview and community walk, lisa recognized how the word-wall term “bulk” in the context of grocery shopping, presented a challenge for maria who “rarely goes grocery shopping” (fok assessment october, 2013). negotiating the deficit-based discourse model, lisa connected the role of els’ fok and discourses in language learning with the assessment of academic vocabulary, realizing that it is “crucial to understand fok so activities and assessments can be linguistically appropriate and yield authentic assessments” (case study, p. 4). as such, lisa built awareness of the need for culturally valid assessments drawing on students’ fok; however, she struggled with the practicality of finding time to assess individual students within rigid daily schedules. she reflected, “the rigor of the daily schedule puts a lot of pressure on the teacher…but it is all within the teacher’s realm of power to administer fok interviews” (case study, p. 5). lisa’s field experience mediated her recognition of the value of fok in authentic instruction and assessment and her agency to create time for fok. lisa continued to negotiate her understanding of culture, language, and assessment. drawing from maria’s knowledge of cats, lisa selected the fat cat for the reading assessment, realizing afterwards that connecting assessments to students’ fok was not enough to reduce cultural and linguistic bias. the book’s linguistic demands, including multisyllabic and “ridiculous last names of characters like skohottentot” and unfamiliar words like “parasol and gruel” (reading assessment, p. 2), allowed lisa to recognize the role of linguistic validity and text teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 67 selection. similarly, lisa probed the impact of her questions on the oral language assessment, which focused on maria’s fok of art by asking her to “bring in pieces of her artwork, describe them, create a drawing, and describe her artistic choices as she went” (oral language, p. 1). after transcribing the dialog, lisa struggled to score maria’s inconsistent amount of talk on the rubric. lisa worked with the instructor to unpack her discourse to reveal how maria responded when presented with (a) unfamiliar or multiple-meaning words, such as maria’s response of “five seconds” when asked how “long” she has liked to draw, and (b) closedrather than open-ended questions, such as the differences in maria’s response when asked “where do you like to do your drawing” versus “why do you like drawing beaches” (oral language, p. 3). lisa built connections between teacher and student discourse in that the “clarity of questioning… have the potential to either set up a pupil for understanding or put up an unnecessary wall to their success” (oral language, p. 4). recognizing the value of fieldwork, lisa described the “invaluable experience to track students’ language assessments and realizing the role of the assessor in making valid assessments” (case study, p. 6). discussion we investigated how early clinical experiences supported candidate learning about latina/o els. through candidate cases, we explored (a) sam’s advocacy for additive language policies contributing to biliteracy development; (b) fatima’s multilingual equity and use of cultural tools in academic contexts; and (c) lisa’s unpacking of cultural and linguistic validity in assessments. in this section, we draw on herrera’s (2010) framework of multiple dimensions of language learning, by adding connections between macro-level policies to micro-level practices, to situate the holistic view of candidates’ perceptions and engagement with els’ sociocultural, linguistic, cognitive, and academic development. while candidates explored els as holistic learners with integrated dimensions, we organize the discussion by foregrounding one dimension in each candidate case, recognizing the other dimensions integrated in the background (rogoff, 2003). figure 3. mediating the policy and practice of language learning we use the case of fatima to foreground candidate learning of the sociocultural dimension defined as “a student’s biography, as it reflects the student’s funds of knowledge (home) and prior knowledge (community)” (herrera et al., 2013, p. 3). often missing from coursework that relies on static textbooks about els (heineke, teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 68 2014), effective field-based learning allows candidates to experience and recognize the diversity within the el label, like students’ varied fok (herrera et al., 2013). going beyond one-size-fits-all strategies for els, fatima negotiated connections between home, community, and school to teach non-traditional math and reading by leveraging variations of culture across els’ community practices (heineke & davin, 2014). in turn, this allowed fatima to learn to teach beyond a singular source of a differentiated resource (e.g. word bank) to multiple sources of differentiated resources (e.g. word bank and visuals) as a way to ensure multilingual equity. by mediating multilingual field experiences, including the fok interview and community walk, and the negotiation of the concept of culture and facilitation of discourse analysis of the fok interview data, fatima discovered the central role of building els’ identities. sam’s case represents the linguistic dimension referring the “role of students’ linguistic assets in their development of elp…native language is either acknowledged and validated…or is ignored and disregarded based on the belief it inhibits the student’s acquisition of english” (herrera et al., 2013, p. 3). informed by his bilingual identity, sam connected program models and linguistic identities by understanding the pitfalls of subtractive language policies and native language resources in a tbe classroom (adelman-reyes & vallone, 2007). the situation of teacher preparation at fenton mediated sam’s evolving understanding of language policies, programs, and identities, as he observed and critiqued traditional acquisition methods of language learning (e.g., vocabulary drills) in contrast to native language incorporation—expanding his understanding of how bilingual students learn in two languages. by merging observation codes with the instructional experiences, sam built connections between native (i.e., spanish) and second (i.e., english) language development for latina/o els. lisa demonstrates the cognitive dimension focusing on “how students know, think, and apply” (herrera et al., 2013, p. 4) and how these are influenced by fok, prior knowledge, and academic knowledge specific to individual student (herrera et al., 2013). lisa developed a sociocultural view of language (gee, 2005) and connected it to linguistic validity in classroom tasks. teacher preparation for els must be grounded in second language acquisition and learning theory (valdés et al., 2005); however, juxtaposed with traditional approaches to teacher education, field-based learning in schools and communities allows candidates to engage directly with the situated nature of language (heineke & davin, 2014). rather than solely engaging in scholarly reading and discussion about language learning, lisa’s field experiences allowed her to negotiate the political, social, and cultural implications of discourse with els (gee, 2005), such as her realization that “bulk” was not a neutral word but instead inferred socioeconomic and cultural identities. through building politics and identities (gee, 2005), she connected theory to practice through deconstructing language demands inherent in assessment and instruction and learning about linguistic validity when taking the roles of teacher and assessor. through clinical observations and experiences including both fok and language assessments, mediated by the instructor’s facilitation of discourse analysis, particularly on the speaking assessment, lisa recognized the inherent connections between language, culture, and cognition and corresponding practical implications. conclusion in this study, we explained how field-based experiences impacted candidates’ perceptions and engagement for working with latina/o els, but a contributing factor for facilitating candidates learning is the role of the instructor. we recommend that instructors teaching at field-based sites consider their own “reflective action, selection of materials, orchestration of the community of learners” (herrera et al., 2013, p. 5), which herrera (2010) refers to as the academic dimension. specifically, we found that the academic dimension in field-based instruction must be grounded across three instructional areas to mediate candidates’ learning: (a) course content, (b) field experiences, and (c) opportunities for reflexivity. teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 69 figure 4. academic dimensions mediating candidates’ learning the course content suggests teaching theory in practice by integrating textual knowledge with immediate access to field experiences to provide candidates with a holistic view of els. unlike traditional field experiences housed inside school walls, we recommend extending the learning environment into communities. significant to our instruction is fostering confianza (gonzález et al., 2005) for conducting and eliciting authentic fieldobservations to include voices from the field, such as parents, teachers, and community members. for instance, when lisa struggled to teach the word “bulk,” the instructor aided her building relationships (gee, 2005) through dialog with students and local storeowners to access the meaning of “bulk” from students’ perspectives. the instructor leveraged lisa’s experiences to mediate learning on culturally and linguistically valid instruction. in addition to establishing authentic relationships in the field, we advocate the value of early field experiences with culturally diverse students, where candidates actively work with els and investigate practice as mediated by various tools and codes. for instance, sam’s personal code on “student resources” and “academic language strategies” helped him develop a closer examination to unpack equitable linguistic resources for els from a bilingual standpoint. framing observations from the lens of a personal code across the span of twelve weeks, allowed candidates to engage in purposeful observations over time and build awareness, rather than merely observing or participating as teacher aides. additionally, it provides other candidates to learn from each other when sharing their findings with varying perspectives of codes. significantly, it is imperative that teacher preparation programs offer multiple opportunities for reflexivity where candidates engage in scaffolded opportunities to mediate learning and theorize their own awareness for working with latina/o els. in our study, opportunities for candidates to engage in reflexivity included (a) individual instructor conferences, (b) weekly reflections assignments, and (c) small group discussions to synthesize observational findings on personal codes, pose questions to course readings, and connect assignments to classroom experiences. by providing opportunities for candidates to reflect individually and collaboratively, candidates transformed in their approaches for teaching latina/o els in the timeframe of one semester. future research must consider a longitudinal study examining the role of early field-based experiences on working with latina/o els throughout the four-year teacher preparation program. additionally, some candidates began this study with an additive bilingual stance willing to incorporate els cultural and linguistic strengths; however, it is worthwhile to investigate the impact of early field-based experiences and instructional innovations for candidates in teacher preparation programs who may resist multicultural or multilingual educational approaches. these future studies will continue to enhance how field-based teacher programs support candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for working with latina/o els through integrating course content, field-experiences, and reflexivity approaches. teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 70 references adelman-reyes, s., & vallone, t. l. (2007). toward an expanded understanding of two-way bilingual immersion education. multicultural perspectives, 9, 3-11. artiles, a. j., & klingner, j. k. (2006). forging a knowledge base on english language learners with special needs: theoretical, population, and technical issues. teachers college record, 108, 2187-2438. ball, d. l., & cohen, d. k. (1999). toward a practice-based theory of professional education: teaching as the learning profession. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. bollin, g. g. (2007). preparing teachers for hispanic immigrant children: a service learning approach. journal of latinos and education, 6, 177-189. cadiero-kaplan, k., & rodríguez, j. l. (2008). the preparation of highly qualified teachers for english language learners: educational responsiveness for unmet needs. equity & excellence in education, 41(3), 372-387. dejong, e. j., harper, c. a., & coady, m. r. (2013). enhanced knowledge and skills for elementary mainstream teachers of english language learners. theory into practice, 52(2), 89-97. dejong, e., & harper, c. (2005). preparing mainstream teachers for english-language learners: is being a good teacher good enough? teacher education quarterly, 32, 101-124. deoliveira, l. c., & athanases, s. z. (2007). graduates’ reports of advocating for english language learners. journal of teacher education, 58, 202-215. evans, c., arnot-hopffer, e., & jurich, d. (2005). making ends meet: bringing bilingual education and mainstream students together in preservice teacher education. equity and excellence in education, 38, 75-88. fitts, s., & gross, l. a. (2012). teacher candidates learning from english learners: constructing concepts of language and culture in tuesday’s tutors after-school program. teacher education quarterly, 39, 75-95. gándara, p., & hopkins, m. (2010). the changing linguistic landscape of the united states. in p. gándara & m. hopkins (eds.), forbidden language: english learners and restrictive language policies (pp. 7-19). new york: teachers college. gándara, p., & maxwell-jolly, j. (2006). critical issues in developing the teacher corps for english learners. in k. téllez & h.c. waxman (eds.), preparing quality educators for english language learners: research, policies, and practices (pp. 99-120). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. garcía, e., arias, b. m., harris-murri, n. j. & serna, c. (2010). developing responsive teachers: a challenge for a demographic reality. journal of teacher education, 61, 132-142. garcía, e. e., jensen, b., & cuéllar, d. (2006). early academic achievement of hispanics in the united states: implications for teacher preparation. the new educator, 2(2), 123-147. gee, j. p. (2005). introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method. london: routledge. gonzález, n., moll, l., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities and classrooms. mahwah, nj: erlbaum. hakuta, k. (2011). educating language minority students and affirming their equal rights: research and practical perspectives. educational researcher, 40(4), 163-174. heineke, a. j. (2014). dialoging about english learners: preparing teachers through culturally relevant literature circles. action in teacher education, 36(2), 117-140. heineke, a. j., & davin, k. j. (2014). situating practice in schools and communities: case studies of teacher candidates in diverse field experiences with english language learners. nabe journal of research and practice, 5(1). heineke, a. j., kennedy, a., & *lees, a. (2013). preparing early childhood professionals for the culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms and communities of illinois. early childhood research and practice, 15(2). herrera, s.g., perez, d., kavimandan, s., & wessels, s. (2013). accelerating literacy for diverse learners: strategies for the common core classroom, k-8. new york, ny: teachers college press. herrera, s. (2010). biography-driven culturally responsive teaching. new york: teachers college press. manzo, r. d., cruz, l., faltis, c., & de la torre, a. (2011). professional development of secondary science teachers of english learners in immigrant communities. amae journal, 5, 41-48. markos, a. m. (2012). mandated to learn, guided to reflect: pre-service teachers’ evolving understanding of teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 71 english language learners. issues in teacher education, 21(1), 39-57. nieto, s., rivera, m., quiñones, s., & irizarry, j. (2013). conclusion and recommendations. association of mexican american educators journal, 6(3). rogoff, b. (2003). the cultural nature of human development. new york: oxford university press. spezzini, s., & austin, j. s. (2011). new teachers for new students: a teacher education program for the linguistically diverse. childhood education, 87(5), 318-322. valdés, g., bunch, g., snow, c., & lee, c. (2005). enhancing the development of students’ language. in l. darlinghammond & j. bransford (eds.), preparing teachers for a changing world: what teachers should learn and be able to do (pp. 126-168). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. (m. cole, v. john-steiner, s. scribner, & e. souberman, eds). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. yin, r. k. (2009). case study research: design and methods. london: sage. teacher candidates and latina/o english learners at fenton elementary school special_issues_2014-print-final 60 special_issues_2014-print-final 61 special_issues_2014-print-final 62 special_issues_2014-print-final 63 special_issues_2014-print-final 64 special_issues_2014-print-final 65 special_issues_2014-print-final 66 special_issues_2014-print-final 67 special_issues_2014-print-final 68 special_issues_2014-print-final 69 special_issues_2014-print-final 70 special_issues_2014-print-final 71 association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 74 of radicals and dreamers: harnessing exceptionality to challenge immigration control luisa laura heredia sarah lawrence college abstract this article contributes to the literature on undocumented youth activism and citizenship by assessing undocumented youth’s challenges to a growing regime of migration control in the us. it uses doug mcadam’s tactical interaction as an analytical lens to explore two consecutive high-risk campaigns, ice infiltrations and expulsion/ re-entry. in this subset of activism, undocumented youth have directly taken on technologies of migration control by forcing the state to adjudicate their status through direct action protest; they have exposed state abuses of law by infiltrating detention centers and have subverted deportation by seeking humanitarian aid and re-entry. undocumented youth use their liminal legal status and their valorized social status to access and launch their challenges from these invisible spaces of migration control. in doing so, i argue, they are challenging the contours of citizenship and destabilizing the state’s power to police and criminalize the unauthorized. assessing these challenges is especially timely given that political movements are expanding their tactics to challenge punitive enforcement measures that states are implementing to control these “illegal” and “expelled” populations. introduction in the summer of 2013, the national immigrant youth alliance (niya) unveiled its latest campaign to challenge us enforcement practices. on the niya website, a timer counted down to the zero hour when activists would embark on their action. short video testimonials released by the organization provided more insight into niya’s newest strategy. they told the heartbreaking personal stories of undocumented youth who had not seen their families or returned to their birthplaces in mexico for most of their lives. that was, until now. “my name is marco,” began one of the testimonials, “and if you’re watching this, i am currently in mexico” (niya, 2013c). marco saavedra and eight other undocumented activists, some who had repatriated and others who had “self”-deported for the action, were in mexico. they were attempting to openly re-enter the united states in order to challenge the obama administration’s unprecedented record on deportation. it was activists’ riskiest strategy to date. “i know you are going to think i am crazy for doing this,” said lizbeth mateo in her video testimonial, “for leaving the us and coming to mexico” (niya, 2013a). by returning to mexico without cover of us citizenship, activists risked not being allowed to re-enter the us and remaining in mexico. and yet activists and organizers were confident in niya’s capacity to rally enough support and to secure activists re-entry and that they embarked on the action. “mama, papa,” lulu martinez said fighting back tears in her video clip, “vamos a regresar. i am going to come home…i am going to come home” (niya, 2013b). on july 22, 2013, when niya’s timer had counted down to the zero hour, marco, lizbeth, lulu and six other undocumented activists clad in graduation caps and gowns marched to the mexico-us border to turn themselves over to immigration officials and to attempt to cross back into the us. the face-off between undocumented youth and the state had begun. niya’s bring them home (bth) campaign highlights a subset of undocumented youth activism that directly and unapologetically challenges the us’s formidable migration control regime (meissner, kerwin, chishti, & bergeron, 2013). in a familiar strategy, activists donned caps and gowns to signal their exceptional status as high achieving, young people whose lives were in limbo to make their protest resonate and to secure their safety. activists also used an embodied form of protest to target us technologies of migration control (mcdowell & wonders, 2010); they subjected their bodies to state control (deportation) as a basis for their broader challenge. bth, along with a subset of the we will no longer remain in the shadows campaign that preceded it, however, departed from earlier direct action tactics by requiring activists’ to enter into invisible spaces of migration control to launch their challenges (detention centers and expelled outside of the us). while there is of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 75 a growing literature on undocumented youth activism, it has yet to examine this escalation in tactics. this article helps to fill this void by examining this subset of activism, in which undocumented youth have directly taken on technologies of migration control by forcing the state to adjudicate their status through direct action protest. in doing so, i contribute to the literature on citizenship and activism by showing that through these campaigns activists are challenging the contours of citizenship and destabilizing the state’s power to police and criminalize the unauthorized. additionally, i highlight undocumented youth activists as strategic and interactive in their efforts to challenge and dismantle migration control technologies by showing that activists use their liminal legal status and their valorized social status to access and launch their challenges from these invisible spaces of migration control. undocumented youth activism, citizenship, and the challenge to state power scholars from a variety of fields have been interested in the relationship between citizenship and the political activism of immigrants and refugees. at issue are the political rights that are granted (or not) by the state and those that are “taken” (or not) by immigrants (beltrán, 2009; honig, 2003; nyers, 2010). rather than defining citizenship simply as legal status, citizenship is conceived of as multi-dimensional, including legal status, a collection of rights, political activity, and collective identity and belonging (bosniak, 2000). undocumented immigrants’ political activism repositions citizenship; by acting politically, the undocumented affirm their rights to make claims against the state and to their membership in the nation despite their lack of formal legal status. immigrants more generally, and the undocumented in particular, challenge legally based notions of citizenship by subverting the link between legal status and political rights (beltrán, 2009; glenn, 2011; nyers, 2010). in this challenge to the state, immigrants and refugees are participating as democratic subjects by raising their political voices and making themselves visible in public and governmental spaces (beltrán, 2009; nyers, 2010). noncitizens can actively practice their citizenship through their political participation. indeed, through their mass participation in the immigrant rights mega-marchas of spring 2006 (gonzales, 2009), noncitizens were said to have “experienced a richer and more expressive instance of citizenship than the vast majority of their legally sanctioned counterparts” (beltrán, 2009, p. 598). whether lobbying governmental officials, demonstrating at marches, or participating in civil disobedience, it is the practice of politics that is central to this dimension of citizenship. scholars have also paid attention to the content of political activity and claim making and the ways that it shapes membership and belonging. in this regard, political participation has been shown to challenge or support narrow state-based definitions of citizenship. the strategic framing of claims and the disciplining of the performance of political activity have helped to cast select migrants as deserving of citizenship based on hegemonic models of “good” citizens. advocacy organizations, immigrants, and their allies have contributed to constructions of migrant un/deservingness by using state-based, normative constructions of citizenship to frame their claims to legal status and to shape political activism (baker-cristales, 2009; cf. nicholls, 2013; unzueta carrasco & seif, 2014). during the immigrant rights mega-marchas the media, advocates, and activists contributed to binaries that cast some immigrants as deserving and others as undeserving of citizenship when they drew on these models of citizenship in their discursive framing of claims (we are not criminals; we are not terrorists) and in their disciplining of protesters (wear white t-shirts, wave american flags) (baker-cristales, 2009; lara, greene, & bejarano, 2011). the activism of undocumented youth has been especially criticized for its contribution to upholding state constructions of migrant deservingness and undeservingness. the dreamer archetype was produced through the early efforts of federal and state immigrant rights organizations working with undocumented youth to pass the dream act (nicholls, 2013). immigrant rights organizations needed to devise a messaging strategy that would make undocumented youths’ claims to membership legible to elected officials and the public at large; undocumented youth needed to be removed from the of stigma of “illegality” and re-imagined as members so that their claims to legal status would be heard (nicholls, 2011). this archetype has been used to discursively frame youths’ claims and to shape the peformative aspect of protest (caps and gowns) in a variety of their political actions. such discursive framings and the managing of protest reinforce normative framings of citizenship that divide migrants into criminals and non-criminals, terrorists and non-terrorists, and dreamers and non-dreamers; in short, migrant criminality versus migrant of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 76 exceptionality. this activism, however, also has its counterpart. scholars have identified how migrant activism can also challenge the state and its restrictive definitions of citizenship (de genova, 2010; unzueta carrasco & seif, 2014). activists have attempted to untether the link between legal status and membership by challenging constructions of migrant deservingness through their discursive framing and political activism. in some instances, migrants have sidestepped the question of legal status and membership altogether. during the 2006 mega-marchas, migrants were not only making claims for legalization they were also challenging the state’s power to stop global migration flows and to expel the undocumented (de genova, 2010). through political chants that dared the state to expel them with concomitant promises to return (“aquí estamos y no nos vamos, y si nos echan nos regresamos”), migrants were asserting their power to stay in the nation or return even if expelled. in this regard, migrants were not asking to be “let in” to the category of deserving citizens, rather they were sidestepping the category altogether asserting their presence within the nation outside of formal state recognition. in other instances, activists attempted to expand narrowed constructions of hegemonic citizenship. while some activists were committed to upholding the dreamer archetype, others have complicated this archetype by including multiple and intersectional migrant identities in their discursive framing and in their activism (nicholls, 2013; unzueta & seif, 2014). rather than adhering strictly to the overachiever identity, young activists have come out as queer and as part of a broader and intersecting community of undocumented people in the us (beltrán, 2015; zimmerman, 2012). undocumented youth and young adult activists have also challenged advocates’ narrow framing of dreamers by aligning themselves with the “undeserving” in their activist work (nicholls, 2013; unzueta & seif, 2014). the immigrant youth justice league, for example, disrupted constructions of deservingness by organizing around the “less-deserving,” “criminal” and poor migrants, in their anti-deportation work (unzueta carrasco & seif, 2014). in doing so, activists have begun expanding the boundaries of citizenship to include those cast as undeserving. overall, scholars have shown that citizenship is a site of contestation via migrant political activism. such activism can reposition citizenship by untethering the links between legal status and political rights, it can also support and/or challenge hegemonic constructions of membership that are linked to legal status. this happens at the same time that political participation can seek formal recognition for migrants on one hand, or target the state’s regime of migration control on the other. my analysis contributes to this literature by moving beyond an interrogation of political rights and of deservingness and membership as the central terrain on which undocumented youth reposition citizenship; i not only consider citizenship as a site of contestation, but also as a tool in contestation. i examine two consecutive high profile and high-risk campaigns that target migration control—a subset of the we will no longer remain in the shadows (shadows) campaign and the bring them home (bth) campaign. as a component of the shadows campaign activists infiltrated immigration and customs enforcement (ice) detention centers to challenge the escalation in the detention of the unauthorized, the conditions and abuses in these detention centers, and the failures in stated us policy to detain and deport only “high priority” cases. in the bth campaign, activists attempted re-entry from mexico to challenge the us’s record on deportation, the separation of families (either via deportation or undocumented status) and the policies that supported this escalation in expulsions. i draw on doug mcadam’s (1983) concept of tactical interaction to situate undocumented youths’ activism within a context of state power and of dynamism in activists’ efforts (tactics and discursive framing) to challenge the state’s enforcement technologies. mcadam (1983) argues that insurgents must consistently devise tactics to offset their powerlessness against more powerful opponents; their opponents in turn, will work to neutralize the effectiveness of activists’ new tactics in order to maintain their power. as a result, insurgency is “influenced by (a) the creativity of insurgents in devising new tactical forms [tactical innovation], and (b) the ability of opponents to neutralize these moves through effective tactical counters [tactical adaptation]” (mcadam, 1983, p. 736). following mcadam, i trace youths’ tactical innovations across two consecutive campaigns to devise more effective tactics to confront the state and its prerogative to control migrants, highlighting their strategic use of citizenship as a tool and site of challenge. in doing so, i complicate the role of undocumented youth activism in repositioning citizenship. activists’ use of their construction as more deserving is central to their activism; by subjecting their more valorized bodies to state enforcement practices and technologies, youth are using state constructs of citizenship of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 77 (their deservingness) to challenge the enforcement apparatus that these constructs (migrants’ undeservingness/ criminality) help to underwrite. activists are destabilizing the state’s power to control migrants by compelling the state to suspend their own legal status in response to their strategic and forced confrontation with the state’s enforcement apparatus. it is through these high profile and high risk efforts that activists are attempting to untether the link between legal status and the right to enter and stay in the nation, as well as the corollary right to be free from state control and violence. undocumented youth have developed a strong and disciplined public media campaign, and it is this public face that i am interested in in this article. as such, i draw materials from the public faces of the shadows and bth campaigns, including publicly available videos, documents, and social media websites. this includes youtube videos, action alerts, and articles for each campaign and available through organizational websites, facebook pages, and the internet more generally. i also analyze outside sources documenting the interaction between those in the movement and those outside of the movement. this includes newspaper and other media sources’ accounts of and responses to these campaigns, as well as elected officials’ press releases and public announcements on key policy changes or on the campaigns. before moving into these campaigns, i outline youths’ positioning in the united states; a position, i argue, youth leverage in the face of a punitive and massive enforcement regime to launch their challenges. setting dreamers apart: liminal legality and social valorization a select segment of undocumented young people have secured a privileged position within the us’s citizenship hierarchy and relative to the us’s enforcement apparatus. this position combines a liminal legal status (menjívar, 2006) alongside a valorized social status. in this regard, dreamers, have been made exceptional relative to the criminalized undocumented masses. dreamers exist in a legal grey area; while they have been afforded policy protections against deportation through the morton memo and through deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca), they are still undocumented with few avenues to regularize their status. on june 17, 2011 the director of ice, john morton, issued a memorandum that stipulated that immigration officials use their prosecutorial discretion to focus on high priority cases for apprehension, detention, and removal. “ice must prioritize the use of its enforcement personnel, detention space, and removal assets,” the memo stated, “to ensure that the aliens it removes represent, as much as reasonably possible, the agency’s enforcement priorities” (morton, 2011). the morton memo identified these enforcement priorities as threats to national security, border security, and public safety. it also singled out special classes of individuals who warranted particular care in not “assert[ing] the full scope of the enforcement authority available to the agency.” this included “individuals present since childhood” (morton, 2011). the morton memo assured undocumented youth that, as lower priority cases, they would not be caught up in the dragnet of the detention center or deportation systems. these protections were further institutionalized through daca. almost one year later on june 15, 2012 secretary of the department of homeland security janet napolitano announced that, “certain young people who were brought to the united states as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings… and will be eligible to apply for work authorization” (dhs, 2012). daca provided undocumented youth who fit certain criteria two-year work permits and halts on deportation. napolitano sent a memorandum to the directors of the different immigration offices housed within dhs further stipulating that prosecutorial discretion be used in the apprehension, detention, and removal of daca-eligible undocumented youth. in the memo napolitano (2012) outlined the rationale for the protection of young people. “our nation’s immigration laws,” she said, “are not designed…to remove productive young people to countries where they may not have lived or even speak the language. indeed,” she reasoned, “many of these young people have already contributed to our country in significant ways.” she further conceded that daca eligibility “be considered whether or not an individual is already in removal proceedings or subject to a final order of removal” (napolitano, 2012). these protections against detention and expulsion partly reflect, but also institutionalize, the exceptional social status of dreamers. of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 78 alongside their legal liminality, dreamers are also socially valorized relative to other immigrants. the dreamer archetype casts the innocent, high achieving student as the exception to the broader construction of the criminalized undocumented immigrant. while its construction was aided by the early efforts of federal and state immigrant rights organizations working with undocumented youth to pass the dream act (nicholls, 2013), it has been supported and reified by politicians, the media, and the undocumented as well. this archetype is cast in relation to and reinscribes the criminality of other groups—undocumented adults, young men and boys of color, and non-gender conforming youth. moreover, this archetype has staying power. it has persisted even in the face of efforts on the part of some undocumented activists and allies to challenge or dismantle it (beltrán, 2015; nicholls, 2012; zimmerman, 2012). a select segment of undocumented youth and young adults have been set apart, legally and socially. rather than supporting or challenging these constructs through their activism, i investigate how some undocumented activists are strategically leveraging this unique positioning to buttress their tactics, press their claims, and to challenge the state and its policing of the undocumented community. challenging the system from within: detention and deportation, infiltrations, and re-entry the shadows and bth campaigns followed in a longer line of direct action activism. young people were increasingly subjecting their “illegal” bodies to the us’s enforcement apparatus. in the initial move to civil disobedience, local police were forced to manage activists’ undocumented status by deciding whether to release activists or to funnel them through the state’s detention and deportation machinery. in the escalation of shadows and in the bth campaigns activists intensified this embodied strategy, launching their challenges from within these invisible spaces of migration control, rather than attempting to evade them. as such they forced the state to adjudicate their legal status from inside its enforcement apparatus. in other words, whereas most undocumented migrants’ lived experience entails a constant maneuvering and evasion of spaces of migration control a subset of the shadows activists and the bth activists strategically chose these sites, detention and deportation, as the basis from which to mount their challenges to the state apparatus. we will no longer remain in the shadows: escalating to ice infiltration on november 10, 2011, twelve activists set out on alabama’s streets in the hopes of getting arrested and transferred to a federal immigration detention center. organizers chose alabama for the initial action because its state legislature had recently passed house bill 56, the most punitive and restrictive anti-immigrant policy in the country; it included provisions for schools to check the immigration status of students, required police to arrest anyone they suspected was undocumented, and even criminalized citizens who drove someone who was undocumented. additionally, a range of activists had organized a broad based series of actions to protest alabama’s new law, all meant to empower the immigrant community in the face of the punitive bill (hing, 2011; vasquez, 2011). it was within this context that the first ice infiltrations were carried out. two of the twelve activists—isaac barrera, 20, and jonathan pérez, 24—were arrested and transferred to a louisiana federal detention facility. four others—jesus barrios, felipe baeza, sonia guinansaca, and reyna wences—were charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct and were incarcerated for two and a half days (nysylc, 2012). after approximately one week, activists rallied to secure isaac and jonathan’s release. the pair had spent more than two weeks in custody before being released. when the action went public, jonathan and isaac stood as the embodiment of the administration’s political failure to detain only high priority cases. “ice keeps on saying they don’t deport dreamers or low-level offenders,” jonathan told reporters, “but that same day [as the tuesday action] we were transferred to this detention center….we have the paperwork. we’re in deportation proceedings” (as quoted in hing, 2011). their dream act eligible status was integral to the action, not only should they have been the lowest of the low priority cases, as dreamers they had the political capital to secure their release and for their challenge to be heard. with the success of the test action (in securing release, although not in getting the bulk of participants of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 79 in detention) proving the viability of this tactic, organizers expanded their efforts. this time, they would launch their attack directly against the federal government without using a protest campaign against a punitive state policy as an intermediary. additionally, empowered by their ability to effectively move in and out of the detention center, activists would lengthen their stay on the inside in order to organize from within the detention center space. in july of 2012, marco saavedra and viridiana martinez infiltrated broward transitional center, a private detention center in florida that had been heralded by the administration as a model center for the detention of non-violent unauthorized immigrants—precisely the migrants that the morton memo was intended to “protect” (may, 2013). unlike the initial test action, viridiana and marco stayed in broward for several weeks with the task of clandestinely organizing detainees. during this time they collected cases, compiling the names and information of individuals that should not have been detained. they then passed this information to a support team on the outside that would then organize to secure these detainees’ release. activists on the inside also passed out an informational hotline to aid detainees in securing their own release. the ice infiltration implicated undocumented activists in directly attempting to secure the release of as many detainees as possible—a further expansion of their activist work. these shadows activists were attempting to expose what was going on behind closed detention center doors in order to hold the administration accountable. “we want to reveal the truth,” jonathan told a reporter, “and show [immigration and customs enforcement] for what they really are, as a rogue agency which has no accountability while they separate families” (as quoted in hing 2011). compiling this information shed light on who was being detained and on the conditions within the detention facility. this provided activists with solid evidence to expose the administration’s failure to comply with the morton memo and its assurances that it was targeting low priority cases. activists’ claims against the administration were upheld when more information came to light documenting that less than half of those detained and deported were “high” priority cases (rosenblum, meissner, bergeron, & hipsman, 2014). activists were infiltrating detention centers to challenge us detention practices by exposing the political failure of stated us policy to detain and deport “high priority” cases. their liminal legal status and their valorized social status were central to this challenge. activists used their political capital to expose who was being detained and the conditions detainees faced in detention centers, and to secure their release by moving into and out of the detention center space. their challenges, however, did not go unchecked. in a tactical adaptation on the part of the state activists’ challenge could be recast as a strictly legal challenge to reform detention practices by ensuring more accurate practices of identifying and detaining high priority cases. the administration followed in this reformist logic. the obama administration was improving its record by shifting the balance between high and low priority cases detained and expelled (rosenblum, meissner, bergeron, & hipsman, 2014). and yet, high priority cases still comprised less than half of those detained. additionally, with the announcement of daca undocumented youth and young adults (those valorized subjects) were offered further protections, an institutionalized guarantee against deportation. this aided in reinforcing the exceptionality of undocumented young people, while keeping the system and its logic intact. while activists were able to make their political case, the logic that coupled legal status with state control remained intact for all but a select segment of the population. despite activists’ efforts, then, the logic of detention was not weakened. as a result, detention as a practice while reformed was also reified. it is important to recognize, however, activists’ challenge to the state and its power to police the unauthorized through the ice infiltrations. in this tactical innovation undocumented activists leveraged their liminal legal and valorized social status to successfully move into and out of the state’s enforcement apparatus and they attempted to do the same with detainees. moving out of detention was also an important aspect of activists’ challenge because they forced the state to suspend their legal status. while governmental officials could explain such a suspension under cover of the morton memo, this action showed that undocumented youth had the power to challenge the state and its logic of security and sovereignty in the policing of migrants that up to that point seemed immune from challenge. they did this despite not having legal status, and in fact because of it. in their next campaign (tactical innovation), undocumented youth shifted their strategies. activists continued their anti-deportation organizing by infiltrating ice detention centers, aiding detainees with their individual cases, and organizing them to launch their own protests within detention center spaces. but, they also moved of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 80 away from a basis in the morton memo and low priority cases. activists launched a moral challenge to the government’s record deportations and moved further along the state’s enforcement apparatus: being expelled to mexico and openly attempting to re-enter the us. #bringthemhome: subverting deportation on july 22, 2013, marco, lizbeth, and lulu, who were introduced at the beginning of this article, along with six other undocumented activists attempted to re-enter the united states. the dream 9, as the initial group of activists was dubbed, were placed into a federal immigration detention facility in eloy, arizona. during their time in detention, lulu and maria peniche were held in solitary confinement for ten days. the pair had jumped up during dinner, provided detainees a hotline to seek pro-bono legal services, and yelled out a signature chant of the movement “undocumented and unafraid;” detainees joined them by chanting and pounding on the tables (bogado, 2013b; cereijido & bishop, 2015). maria was placed on suicide watch as a result of her time in solitary confinement. “you feel like the world has forgotten about you,” she said in a recording from detention released by niya, “i was gonna hurt myself. too much anxiety. too much fear. too much anger at this entire mess. i just wanted to slam myself against a wall or put boiling water on my hands so i could feel some kind of pain or something different,” (as quoted in bogado, 2013b; niya, 2013d). maria and lulu’s experiences sparked a public campaign against their confinement, and more broadly against using such practices in detention facilities. altogether the dream 9 spent more than two weeks in detention before being released into the us pending resolution of their cases. bth introduced a moral challenge to governmental control policies and the obama administration’s record expulsions. by linking activists’ stories of family separation to state control policies, organizers attempted to shift the narrative around expulsion from a governmental prerogative to a moral failure. activists’ dreamer status was also integral to this campaign. they had the social and political capital to make their discursive framing of expulsion and family separation resonate publicly and to help secure their re-entry back into the nation. bth used the dreamer archetype to make the inhumanity of separating families, whether through deportation or through undocumented status, more politically legible and socially distressing to the general public and to the administration. lizbeth mateo told viewers that risking her livelihood in the us by returning to mexico was crazy, but “it’s crazier,” she argued, “that i had to wait fifteen years to see my family” (niya, 2013a). when lulu martinez directs her message to her parents promising to return, “mama, papa, i am going to come home,” (something that is presumably out of her hands) she is linking her act of wanting to reunite with her family with the countless others who had been deported under the obama administration (niya, 2013b). activists used the dreamer archetype as a hook in a broader moral challenge to the state’s enforcement practices framed discursively as keeping families apart. by donning caps and gowns the dream 9 forced the moral upper hand, reminding the public and the administration of their exceptional status and also putting a valorized face to the invisible masses of deportees and their separation from their families. “i did it not just for my own family,” lizbeth tells us, “but, i did it for the families that have been deported.” the 1.7 million that were deported, lizbeth says, “…are 1.7 million families…like mine” (niya, 2013a). to further make the point, niya’s video clip echoes these words and then blasts “1.7 million. families like mine,” as boldfaced text on the screen. it is activists’ embodiment of the valorized dreamer who is being subjected to us enforcement practices (the inability to return/stay) that helps to make the moral claim regarding family separation, and then extends that claim to the rest of expelled population. with the success of this initial action (the re-entry of the dream 9), organizers were again empowered to expand their tactics. the initial round of bth activists, the dream 9, fit within dreamer archetype heralded by the administration and most of them would have been eligible for daca, although a number had repatriated before obama’s executive order went to effect (bogado, 2013a). in the next re-entry action organizers expanded the numbers and “types” of undocumented with each escalation in this campaign, putting their calls for the return of the 1.7 million undocumented that had been deported under the obama administration into action. on september 30, 2013, approximately thirty dreamers crossed at the laredo, texas port of entry. this group of activists, dubbed the dream 30, was a larger group that included an expanded role for parents of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 81 both as crossers and as activists in the us seeking the release of their family members. in march of 2014, in a major escalation of this tactic, over 150 undocumented activists crossed at a san diego, california port of entry over three days. the reforma 150, as they were called, included a much larger number of participants but also a further expansion in who participated; crossers included the more traditional dreamers, but also low wageworkers, and undocuqueer activists. by the time of the reforma 150, organizers had moved from highlighting the college-attending valedictorians to adults, the poor, and undocuqueer migrants. the caps and gowns were still used, but they aided in extending the cover of the dreamer archetype while also contesting the restrictiveness of its protections. undocumented activists challenged the government’s expulsion policies by attempting to circumvent them; participants attempted to re-enter the united states after having repatriated, “self”-deported, or (in later actions) been deported to mexico. they used their exceptional status as a wedge to make and expand their claims to dismantle technologies of control. in order to contest these practices they linked their individual stories with the broader based surveillance and control of migrant communities, and they expanded the categories of migrants to be included under cover of “safety.” as such, this campaign included a call to return the 1.7 million undocumented who had been deported since president obama came to office. the state also had cover in this action. because activists sought re-entry through legal channels, the state’s authority to arbitrate membership was upheld. additionally, the government pushed back against activists. while the full dream 9 was allowed to re-enter, select segments of the dream 30 and the reforma 150 were not. in doing so, the state again re-established the exceptionality of some of the undocumented over others by expanding its protections to some. additionally, government forces were empowered by the public debate over this strategy among activists and their allies. the dream 9 were openly criticized for reinforcing dividing lines of deservingness between them and their peers by playing into the dreamer archetype of the innocent, high achieving student. the campaign was cast by some as irresponsible because it was not a viable or replicable avenue for the resolution of all deportee cases. niya was charged with being self-serving and only seeking to resolve the status of these nine activists (nair, 2013). it was also criticized for organizing actions that did not fall in line with these youths’ privileged status or with broader institutional tactics that relied on a disciplined image of “dreamers” (demby, 2013). these tactics polarized debates, critics argued, both within the immigrant rights community and in their efforts to bring others over to their cause (demby, 2013). despite these tactical adaptations on the part of the state to neutralize the campaign, bth activists contested the state’s power to control migrants. activists forced the state to suspend their legal status by moving into a space of expulsion (mexico) and re-entering the nation. additionally, they pushed the state to recognize the “rights” of less valorized migrants. they did this by linking their claims to the 1.7 million who had been deported and by expanding who participated in each round of the campaign. through the re-entry campaign, then, activists challenged the link between legal status and the right to enter, to stay, and to re-enter the nation. it was a challenge to the enforcement apparatus altogether. perhaps one of the strongest indicators of youths’ power was the successful re-entry of elvira arellano, the first undocumented migrant to seek sanctuary in a chicago church during the mega-marchas. despite having a us citizen son and being a figurehead of the immigrant rights movement, elvira was promptly detained and deported when she left the safety of the chicago church to go to los angeles to speak to immigrant rights activists. elvira re-entered the us with the reforma 150. given their creativity up to now, the next tactical innovation will be equally surprising and challenging. however, rather than turning our critical gaze only to youth activism, we would do well to turn that same gaze to the state and its tactical adaptations. challenging the state in citizenship and enforcement the shadows and bth campaigns highlight undocumented youth’s efforts to target and disrupt the state’s power to police the unauthorized. undocumented activists’ liminal legal status and their valorized social status were critical components of each campaign. these challenges relied on undocumented activists subjecting their more valorized bodies to us enforcement practices, exposing these invisible spaces of control, and then using this valorized status to challenge enforcement practices—first through legal (reform) and then through of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 82 moral arguments (dismantling). the shadows challenge to detention rested on exposing the disjuncture between the government’s policy pronouncements and its practices. moving into detention, however, would only expose the administration’s policy failures if activists themselves fell under the protections of the morton memo and if they had the political and social capital to make this challenge resonate. while there were others who also fit under the morton memo purview, it was these activists that had the political capital (policy protections plus being valorized socially) to effectively launch this challenge. while activists were using the morton memo and their exceptional status to highlight the disjuncture between policy and practice, they were ultimately launching a broader challenge to detention and to those who were being deported. shadows activists did this by making their challenge against the state public, but also directly by aiding detainees. viridiana martinez, one of the broward activists, explained her participation in such a risky strategy, saying, “i told my mom. i told her on the phone. and she was like why are you doing that? and i was like, mom, because it could be you. and it’s not right that people go through this, you know?” (may, 2013). this part of their organizing was especially important in light of the escalation in detention and deportation under the obama administration. the bth challenge to deportation launched a moral challenge to us policy calling into question the us’s enforcement apparatus and the link between legal status and the right to enter and stay in the nation. the campaign launched a direct attack against the us’s enforcement regime. niya makes this broader challenge to the escalation in deportation clearly in the postscript on the youtube video clips it posted: the obama administration has created a deportation machine resulting in the destruction of over 1.7 million lives, and the devastating separation of those families by the border. those 1.7 million people are not lost and forgotten; rather, they are people who deserve to have the choice to return to their home in this country. while we fight to dismantle the system of continued deportations, we must also fight to bring our community home. (niya, 2013a) bth simultaneously used and challenged activists’ exceptionality; undocumented youth used their exceptionality to provide cover to them and others and they challenged their exceptionality by placing themselves back in line with 1.7 million undocumented immigrants that had been deported. through the escalations, bth pushed the boundaries of deservingness by calling for the return of the 1.7 million deportees, most of which did not fit the standard dreamer archetype. in doing so, bth challenged citizenship and deservingness as well as the link between legal status and the right to enter and to stay, and the corollary right to be free from state control practices. conclusion undocumented youths’ tactical innovations provide insight into how the undocumented are challenging the components of citizenship by acting politically (de-linking legal status from political rights) and by calling for the right to stay for those who lack legal status (de-linking legal status from mobility rights). in the latter case, they are sidestepping legal status as the linchpin to rights—which, calls into question state enforcement practices and legality’s association with full rights and freedom from state violence. through their citizenship work (de-linking legal status from the right to stay) and their confrontation with (and wins against) the state’s enforcement technologies, undocumented youth are also attempting to launch a challenge against the logic of the security framework that links immigrants with terrorists and security threats and that underwrites the state’s enforcement apparatus. through their activism, undocumented youth are also showing that the unauthorized are not only subject to enforcement regimes, but they have power in challenging these regimes. tactical innovations are embedded in a broader tactical interaction with the state. organizers escalate their tactics and claims by building upon and leveraging the incomplete gains they make through their prior activism. in these campaigns undocumented youth were not seeking to reinscribe their exceptionality as deserving, rather they were using this exceptionality to challenge the state and to situate themselves among the criminalized, destabilizing the state’s power to police and its constructions of deservingness. counterintuitively, by embodying neoliberal constructions of citizenship that valorize and protect a select segment of the undocumented of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 83 population, undocumented youth challenged legal status as a metric for the right to enter and stay in the nation for all of the undocumented. in doing so, they were attempting to untether the link between undocumented status and subjection to state control practices. rather than conform to their exceptional position narrowly, then, youth used it to expose the state, secure their safety, and challenge enforcement practices and these same constructions of deservingness. assessing these challenges is especially timely in the contemporary moment given that political movements are expanding their tactics to fight back against the enforcement measures that states are implementing to control “illegal” and “expelled” populations. niya organizers form part of this global movement to disrupt and dismantle escalating and punitive immigration control technologies. what the shadows and bth campaigns demonstrate is that it is never a simple matter as to whether activists simply challenge or reify state categories and mechanisms of control. instead, activists can challenge the state through the very same means that the state uses to solidify the status quo and to subvert the movement. of radicals and dreamers association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 84 references baker-cristales, b. (2009). mediated resistance: the construction of neoliberal citizenship in the immigrant rights movement. latino studies, 7(1), 60-82. beltrán, c. (2015). ‘undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic’: dream activists, immigrant politics, and the queering of democracy. in d. allen & j.s. light (eds.), from voice to influence: understanding citizenship in a digital age (pp. 80-104). chicago, il: university of chicago press. beltrán, c. (2009). going public: hannah arendt, immigrant action and the space of appearance. political theory, 37(5), 595-622. bogado, a. (2013a, july 23). undocumented activists take a giant risk to return home. colorlines. retrieved from http://www.colorlines.com/articles/undocumented-activists-take-giant-risk-return-home bogado, a. (2013b, august 5). nine things you don’t know about the dream 9. colorlines. retrieved from http:// www.colorlines.com/articles/nine-things-you-dont-know-about-dream-9 bosniak, l. (2000). citizenship denationalized. indiana journal of global legal studies, 7(2), 447-509. cereijido, a., & bishop, m. (contributors). (2015, october 16). the dream 9. latino usa. retrieved from http://latinousa.org/2015/10/16/1542-the-dream-9/ de genova, n. (2010). the queer politics of migration: reflections on ‘illegality’ and incorrigibility. studies in social justice, 4(2), 101-126. demby, g. (2013, august 20). the dream 9 pushes the envelope (and their allies’ buttons). code switch: frontiers of race, culture, and ethnicity. national public radio. retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/ codeswitch/2013/08/20/213790881/the-dream-9-pushes-the-envelope-and-their-allies-buttons department of homeland security (dhs). (2012, june 15). secretary napolitano announces deferred action process for young people who are low enforcement priorities [press release]. washington, dc: office of the press secretary. retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/news/2012/06/15/ secretary-napolitano-announces-deferred-action-process-young-people-who-are-low glenn, e. n. (2011). constructing citizenship: exclusion, subordination, and resistance. american sociological review, 76(1), 1–24. gonzales, a. (2009). the 2006 mega marchas in greater los angeles: counter-hegemonic moment and the future of el migrante struggle. latino studies, 7(1), 30–59. hing, j. (2011, november 18). alabama dreamers speak from detention: ice is ‘rogue agency.’ colorlines. retrieved from http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/11/dreamers_in_detention_expose_obamas_deportation_lies.html holston, j. (2009). insurgent citizenship in an era of global urban peripheries. city & society, 21(2), 245-267. honig, b. (2003). democracy and the foreigner. princeton, nj: princeton university press. lara, d., greene, d., & bejarano, c. (2009-2010). a critical analysis of immigrant advocacy tropes: how popular discourse weakens solidarity and prevents broad, sustainable justice. social justice, 36(2), 21-37. may, m. (contributor). (2013, june 21). the one thing you’re not supposed to do. this american life. retrieved from http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/498/the-one-thing-youre-not-supposed-todohttp://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/498/the-one-thing-youre-not-supposed-to-do mcadam, d. (1983). tactical innovation and the pace of insurgency. american sociological review, 48(6), 735-754. mcdowell, m., & wonders, n. a. (2010). keeping migrants in their place: technologies of control and racialized public space in arizona. social justice, 36(2), 54-72. meissner, d., kerwin d. m., chishti, m., & bergeron, c. (2013). immigration enforcement in the united states: the rise of a formidable machinery (report in brief). washington, dc: migration policy institute. retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/immigration-enforcement-united-states-rise-formidable machinery menjívar, c. (2006). liminal legality: salvadoran and guatemalan immigrants’ lives in the united states. american journal of sociology, 111(4), 999-1037. of radicals and dreamers http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/08/20/213790881/the-dream-9-pushes-the-envelope-and-their-allies-buttons http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/08/20/213790881/the-dream-9-pushes-the-envelope-and-their-allies-buttons association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 85 morton, j. (2011, june 17). prosecutorial discretion consistent with the civil immigration enforcement priorities of the agency for the apprehension, detention, and removal of aliens [memorandum]. washington, dc: u.s. immigration and customs enforcement. retrieved from https://www.ice.gov/doclib/secure communities/pdf/prosecutorial-discretion-memo.pdf nair, y. (2013, december 11). “undocumented”: how an identity ended a movement. northstar. retrieved from: http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=11527 napolitano, j. (2012, june 15). exercising prosecutorial discretion with respect to individuals who came to the united states as children [memorandum]. washington, dc: department of homeland security. retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/s1-exercising-prosecutorial-discretion-individuals-who-came to-us-as-children.pdf new york state youth leadership council (nysylc). (2012, january 12). support the alabama 4!. retrieved from http://www.nysylc.org/2012/01/jan1112/ nicholls, w. (2011). fragmenting citizenship: dynamics of cooperation and conflict in france’s immigrant rights movement. ethnic and racial studies, 36(4), 611-631. nicholls, w. 2013. the dreamers: how the undocumented youth movement transformed the immigrant rights debate. stanford: stanford university press. national immigrant youth alliance (niya). (2013a). bring them home: lizbeth mateo checking in from oaxaca, mexico [you tube]. available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sduycszvqgk national immigrant youth alliance (niya). (2013b). bring them home: lulu martinez checking in from mexico city [you tube]. available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bavos2qdhsg national immigrant youth alliance (niya). (2013c). bring them home: marco saavedra checking in from mexico [you tube]. available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb8q0ovj1ys national immigrant youth alliance (niya). (2013d). maria checking in after 5 days in solitary confinement, call from eloy 8/2/13 [soundcloud]. retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/theniya/maria-isolated nyers, p. (2010). abject cosmopolitanism: the politics of protection in the anti-deportation movement. in n. de genova & n. peutz (eds.), the deportation regime: sovereignty, space, and the freedom of movement (pp. 413-441). durham, nc: duke university press. rosenblum, m.r., meissner, d., with bergeron, c., & hipsman, f. (2014). the deportation dilemma: reconciling tough and humane enforcement. washington, dc: migration policy institute. unzueta carrasco, t. a., & seif, h. (2014). disrupting the dream: undocumented youth reframe citizenship and deportability through anti-deportation activism. latino studies, 12(2): 279-299. vasquez, i. (2011, december 7). undocumented student activists detained in louisiana ice detention facility arrive in albuquerque, new mexico to share their journeys for freedom and social justice. xicana/o studies university of new mexico. message posted to http://xicana-ostudies.blogspot.com/2011/12/undocumented-student-activists-detained.html zimmerman, a. (2012, june 6). documenting dreams: new media, undocumented youth and the immigrant rights movement. university of southern california: annenberg school for communication and journalism. retrieved from http://dmlcentral.net/wp-content/uploads/files/documenting_dreams_-_working_paper-mapp_-_june_6_20121.pdf of radicals and dreamers http://www.nysylc.org/2012/01/jan1112/ invited.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 12 sociocultural perspectives on interpersonal relationships in schools julio cammarota luis moll maria gonzalez university of arizona chiara cannella fort lewis college cristina is a high school student who exemplifi es the importance of interpersonal relationships for success in school. she is committed to graduating and entering a professional program to become a medical assistant. she is motivated in her classes, making sure that all of her assignments have been received and recorded for mid-semester grades. but she also reports feeling nervous and uncomfortable in nearly all of her classes. cristina’s description of her experience with ms. costello epitomizes missed opportunities to foster stronger interpersonal relationships in schools, thus investing in student success. genuine interpersonal relationships are marked by respect for students’ ethnicity and race. missed opportunities do not necessarily happen simply because any particular people in schools—administrators, staff, or, teachers—do not care about their students, but rather because institutional and administrative practices and structures too often inhibit relationships of authentic care, as angela valenzuela (1999) describes, among students, adults, and peers in public schools. it requires intentional work to develop meaningful relationships in spite of these dynamics. at the same time, contemporary political issues of charters, privatization, school choice, and high levels of teacher turnover mitigate against developing meaningful relationships in school and these cannot be discounted in explaining why students and teachers are often unable to establish such relationships. research tells us that latino/a students (as well as students from other marginalized racial and ethnic backgrounds) succeed in educational environments that support strong social relationships (portes, fernandezkelly, & haller, 2008; suárez-orozco, suárez-orozco, & todorova, 2007; valenzuela, 1999). cristina’s story illustrates the potential for positive relationships within school, and the negative effect when students lack support and care. cristina describes how the connection between an adult in school, ms. costello, and her was signifi cant, even citing how all the other diffi cult things in her life made that positive experience more important to her. but perhaps even more signifi cant than the initial positive bond between ms. costello and cristina was how easily it turned sour, and how severely it pained this student. the resulting betrayal further alienated cristina from school, fueling a lack of trust that school staff truly cared for her. this alienation is consistent in this incident happened in my junior year: i got into a confrontation with another girl and ended up getting suspended during the process. while i was still at school, i was taken into a counselor’s offi ce and was introduced to ms. costello. we started talking and found out that we had a lot in common. our moms died about the same year, and i remember her saying “oh, now i’ll never forget you!” and she took a post note, wrote my name on it and stuck it on her computer. a lot of things were happening in my life at that time so, yes, it made me put a smile on my face. anyways, time went on and i came back [to] school . . . and me and her kind of walked by each other and me thinking that she was going to stop and say “hi!” she passed right by me and didn’t even notice me. but what was weird was i know she saw me because she glanced at me. . . as soon as this happened i thought to myself “what the hell!” it was so [awkward]. when this [happened], i kept thinking to myself maybe she has too many students, and she’s not good with faces. then i realize[d] that . . . maybe it was all just fake, the way she acted that day. maybe she didn’t really care, she was just doing her “job” and she will get paid anyways so why would she care if i was remembered? even to this day, when i see her, she has never said hi once. (cristina’s fi eld notes) sociocultural perspectives on interpersonal relationships in schools association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 13 her descriptions of nearly all her classes, because “to talk in any other class is just nerve wracking,” making her “nervous” that the teacher will say she has given the wrong answer, and causing her to feel “tense.” this tension makes it less likely that cristina will attend school regularly, endangering her achievement. this section explores the importance of interpersonal relationships for facilitating latino/a students’ academic success, focusing on the way that dynamic notions of culture enhance our understanding of these crucial relationships. we discuss two types of relationships that support student success: relationships with adults in schools, and relationships with peers, family, and community members. supportive social relationships among friends, adults, and families both in and out of school provide young latinos/as with the grounding, knowledge and impetus to navigate the diffi cult waters of a highly competitive and often intolerant american society. social scientists commonly categorize such helpful relationships as social capital (see portes, 1998). we argue, however, that “culture”—when understood as the meaningful practices people engage in every day—lays the foundation for the development of constructive relationships and thus for the formation of social capital useful for educational achievement. authentic interpersonal relationships recognize the role that race and ethnicity, among other identities, play in students’ everyday lives. as a consequence, respect for multiple facets of students’ identities help sustain students’ cultural practices. crucial to our discussion of culture and its application in schools and beyond is that formal and informal social practices can promote or inhibit constructive social relationships. institutional practices in particular can inhibit the development of authentic relationships and undermine students’ chances to benefi t from social support of their academic success. in contrast, an educational environment that promotes the cultural practices of latino/a students engenders the interpersonal relationships among students, school staff, and parents that can lead to higher achievement. in what follows, we describe how social capital facilitates educational achievement, focusing on relationships as a form of social capital. we then describe how a comprehensive understanding of “culture” is critical for understanding how latino/a students develop and access social resources. social capital and its cultural contents when coleman (1988) described asian mothers buying extra textbooks for themselves to learn school lessons before they helped their children, the term social capital jumped to the forefront of the social sciences as well as the national imagination. a great deal of research has examined the role of social capital in school achievement (anyon, 1997; delpit, 1988; fine, 1993; lareau, 1987; stanton-salazar & dornbusch, 1995; valenzuela & dornbusch, 1994). however, portes (1998) argues that widespread use of the term has caused inconsistency in its defi nition and application. he calls for a grounding of the term social capital with a defi nition forwarded by pierre bourdieu (1986), probably the fi rst to apply the term in contemporary sociology. bourdieu (1986) describes social capital as “durable networks” that are formed through “institutionalized relationships” which distribute resources—whether information, ideas, or opportunities—to those with access to these networks. the power to leverage social resources is a result of a web of social capital: social networks, educational qualifi cations, institutional connections, and economic resources. these resources allow individuals to access public institutions in economic, educational, political, and employment realms. bourdieu’s (1986) conception of social capital focuses on its instrumentality for economic and social advancement, including education. bourdieu (1986) also emphasizes the cultural processes involved in the formation of social capital, which many contemporary scholars neglect in their treatments of the term. culture entails the production and maintenance of practices, actions, and relationships that mark and sustain common aspects of identity, group membership and participation in social networks. through shared cultural meanings and practices, members recognize other members of the same social group and hence those oriented to accessing its network. the distribution of resources among members of a social group occurs primarily through relationships formed in and through cultural practices. the institutionalization of culture and concomitant relations ensures that the network and patterns of participation in it persist over time. this dynamic understanding of culture is in contrast with the simplifi ed and essentialized version we so often hear about as set values, habits, and characteristics that children inherit and carry around with them like a schoolbag. in this framework of cultural determinism (gonzález, 2008), culture is understood to dictate sociocultural perspectives on interpersonal relationships in schools association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 14 peoples’ actions so much so that it is used as both predictor and explanation of social outcomes. a discouragingly common example of this is the typical explanation for why latino/a students do not score as high as white students on standardized tests: “their families don’t value education; it is just a cultural difference.” this crude notion of culture too often leads to racial and ethnic generalizations, and concomitant identifi cation of patterns of defi ciency—educational, social, intellectual, or moral. culture is not a set of fi xed behaviors, values, or habits that people of different traditions pass down to their children. although ethnic, geographic, spiritual, and linguistic traditions are certainly important to how people construct their identities, these are neither fi xed nor dictated by their “culture”; instead, we are concerned with peoples’ ongoing and co-constructed social practices. this processual conception of culture in turn allows us to see social capital as adaptive and created through enduring and shifting processes of social agency. as a result, social capital can be understood as prospective, bearing the potential for on-going construction of relationships and knowledge building that support peoples’ increasing ability to benefi t from social institutions. our conception of social capital is marked by adaptability, resilience, and dynamic social relationships that are mutually constructed in continuous negotiation across sociocultural contexts. sociocultural capital in latino/a education constructive interpersonal relationships are crucial for success in school. when students experience support and respect from adults in their school, it increases their connection to their school, fostering higher achievement. in addition to support from adults, peer relationships can facilitate academic achievement and serve as key assets for many students. when young people are surrounded by friends who are academically oriented it increases their ability to attain success. in both cases, however, positive interpersonal relationships acknowledge and respect students’ race and ethnicity. a high level of respect for students’ families, communities, and culture is one of the most effective means to tighten personal bonds among students, teachers, and parents (cammarota, 2008; delgado-gaitán, 1991; mccarty & watahomigie, 1998; nieto, 2005; valenzuela, 1999; vélez-ibáñez & greenberg, 1992). but these relationships cannot function to encourage resilience if they challenge or denigrate the person’s cultural practices or the value of their role in them. they must be consistent with and supportive of students’ cultural practices and identity. the “funds of knowledge” framework (moll et al., 2005) in which educators build on the cultures and experiences of students and their families is unfortunately another example of a missed opportunity because too often educators fail to validate and expand on the languages and knowledge that students bring to school. valenzuela (1999) describes well how institutional practices and structures can undermine students’ existing capital, and inhibit the genuine relationships that support students’ achievement. the administration in valenzuela’s (1999) study fosters an anti-mexican environment, inhibiting substantive relationships with adults in the school, as well as the fl ow of intergenerational social networks. the development of positive social relationships, and thus the acquisition of social capital, occurs through what stanton-salazar (1997) describes as “network orientation,” or how people perceive both the value and purpose of that network and its corresponding capital. in describing network orientation, stanton-salazar (1997) advances our understanding of interpersonal relationships beyond common conceptions of social capital. this type of network orientation exemplifi es how students may overcome constraining circumstances while positing culture as the key to equipping them to successfully negotiate mainstream institutions. but stantonsalazar’s (1997; 2001) conceptualization excludes the myriad forms of cultural agencies and practices in which people engage as they transform their subjectivities and aspects of their orientations. this omission places at risk the crucial recognition that network orientations are mutually constructed social practices, and can be the locus of agency and cultural production. we argue that a “network orientation” is linked to an individual’s perception of their role within the cultural group, and how they see themselves as bearing potential to benefi t from and, in the case of education and future economic benefi ts, eventually contribute to the capital available to members of the group. a fuller understanding of individual agency and cultural production are necessary to appreciate how a network orientation sociocultural perspectives on interpersonal relationships in schools association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 15 is continually constructed among individuals and within groups, thus enhancing the formation of social capital. peer groups, family, and community as social capital valenzuela (1999) argues that a nuanced cultural understanding of social capital is especially appropriate for “highlighting the effects of breakdowns or enhancements in the fl ow of school-related information and support” that students and their parents have access to in schools (p. 27). yet the school administration in valenzuela’s study fostered “a powerful, state-sanctioned instrument of cultural de-identifi cation, or demexicanization” (valenzuela, 1999, p. 161). because of the curriculum, teacher attitudes, and administrative and language-limiting policies in the school, being or acting mexican, including speaking spanish, was fraught with tension; as a result, many students ultimately attempted to minimize their association with mexican people and social characteristics. these decisions may inhibit later generations from interacting with fi rst-generation immigrants, whose networks function as academic social capital. valenzuela (1999) found that a “pro-school ethos” is critical to student achievement, and is facilitated by affi liation with academically oriented peers and access to exchanges such as homework sharing, computers, and study groups. she observed that “academic competence thus functions as a human capital variable that, when marshaled in the context of the peer groups, becomes a social capital variable” (valenzuela, 1999, p. 28). peer groups can serve as a major form of social capital for students seeking academic attainment. an example from our research illustrates our discussion. we identifi ed a group of eight fi rst-generation latina students from a tucson high school which we refer to as the a.n.a., for “accommodate not assimilate” (a term fi rst used by margaret gibson, 1988); this is in reference to the fact that these students are accommodating the behaviors that school requires for academic success, but also identifying themselves fi rmly as mexican, without assimilating to mainstream cultural or language practices (gibson, 1988; mehan, hubbard, & villanueva, 1994; portes, fernández-kelly, & haller, 2008). these students sat in the front of the class, were rarely absent, remained focused on class discussion and activities, and excelled in their research assignments. they were all academically-oriented immigrant females who were preparing themselves not only to graduate but also to enroll in college. several characteristics of this group mark it as a site for the development of social capital among members. they supported each other not only as friends, often discussing matters pertaining to family and personal relationships, but they also helped each other with school assignments. it was not uncommon, when one of these students questioned the teacher or indicated that they did not understand, that one or two others would lean over and explain in spanish. they shared information about homework, college recruitment and preparation, teachers, and which classes to take. the a.n.a.’s enacted their cultural identity by always speaking spanish, and by seeking out and including in their circle recent immigrants who might otherwise struggle to “learn the ropes” at their new school. members of the a.n.a. peer group refl ected very different academic abilities, from students receiving top grades to those barely passing. much of this variation may be due to differences in english fl uency; those students who struggled most in their classes had emigrated here more recently and were minimally able to engage in academic discussions or writing in english. the wide range of formal academic achievement means that higher achieving students were sharing their knowledge—redistributing their social capital—among struggling students. research has long demonstrated that ability grouping reinforces failure among so-called “at risk” students (mehan, hubbard, & villanueva, 1994; mehan, villanueva, hubbard, & lintz, 1996; oakes, 1985). this group exemplifi es how peer groups can overcome structural challenges to learning, generating new capital among members of the group who need it. regardless of formal academic success, all of the a.n.a. students were supported in their efforts at school achievement through a social network that was based on—not in spite of—their cultural identities in addition to peer groups, networks located among family and the ethnic/cultural community may provide the emotional and cultural resources to counter the alienation and psychological distress that derive from structural antagonisms and institutional barriers. in other words, bonding culturally with others facilitates mental and emotional resilience and strengthens coping strategies; these can enable people to withstand the sociocultural perspectives on interpersonal relationships in schools association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 3 16 structural constraints and institutional oppression that lead to adversarial stances and prevent young people from developing constructive relationships they need for institutional resources. furthermore, communities and families can build supportive networks and provide cultural resources to break through the institutional barriers that prevent students from establishing relationships with resourceful agents. ginwright, cammarota, and noguera (2005) have found that “for youth in communities, social capital is closely linked to connections with community-based organizations, intergenerational partnerships, and participation in broad networks of informational exchange about political issues, ideas, and events” (p. 33). teacher-student relationships in addition to the academically oriented peer groups that exemplify the social capital latino/a students can develop, the interpersonal relationships they have with adults in schools are central to constructing academic identities. given that most school time is spent in classrooms with teachers, it is no surprise that teachers represent a primary source of support – or lack of support – for academic development in schools. teachers who develop genuine relationships with their students have a signifi cant impact on students’ academic orientation and success, as described by cristina above. nieto (2005) expands the notion of a “highly qualifi ed teacher” beyond acquiring subject matter knowledge, teaching and management skills, or a passing score on a state or national certifi cation exam, to include the formation of relations of trust with students, especially when those students who are “vastly different from them in terms of background and experiences” (p. 7). those types of trusting social relations may be established in a variety of ways, but generally include teachers respecting and taking an interest in the students and their particular experiences and connecting their teaching to those lived experiences, while establishing high expectations for academic learning (e.g. rosebery & warren, 2008). based on her interviews with outstanding teachers, nieto (2005) posits several essential qualities that characterize their teaching. among these qualities is teachers’ willingness to question mainstream knowledge, whether this knowledge is found in mandatory textbooks, or otherwise sanctioned by authorities. this implies that teachers must also be constant learners, and continue developing professionally, enhancing their knowledge. a second characteristic is a disposition to love and stand in solidarity with students. as nieto (2005) writes: a third characteristic is what nieto (2005) calls “a passion for social justice,” that is, a motivation to engage issues such as racial discrimination, economic disparities, and other negative conditions in their schools or neighborhoods. it is the ideals of social justice and equity that help sustain teachers in the profession, even under diffi cult or foreboding circumstances, or in the face of resistance from peers or administrators to their emphasis on such principles. all of these characteristics also inform the instructional practices, or pedagogy, offered in schools, an issue to which we now turn. in guererra’s class, i feel important. like, he cares that i’m there and stuff . . . i don’t feel like he is pushing me out like the other ones. like the other teachers are so negative. they are like, “if you miss one more day, you won’t graduate.” he’s not like that. he has *never* said that to me, ever. he’s just, “mija, make sure that you are doing something” you know, trying to help me… i feel like i do better because [mr. guererra] cares. that’s one of the main things, why i like the class, ‘cause he’s not just there to get paid . . . . it’s different in that class. like, you feel way more um, important, than just a student in the class. (cristina, interview) …it seems almost maudlin to speak about [love in relation to teaching], as if it were inconsistent with professionalism and academic rigor. yet it is well established that teachers who love their students and feel solidarity with them also develop strong and meaningful relationships with them, an essential ingredient for students’ affi liation with school. (p. 206) sociocultural perspectives on interpersonal relationships in schools association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 50 developing linguistically responsive teachers: learning through latino/a student stories rosalie rolón-dow lei chen university of delaware i like to tell stories. i make a story for my life, for each step my brown shoe takes. (cisneros, 1984, p. 109) we must risk telling new stories in and by many voices. this is an act of hope. (florio-ruane, 1997, p. 160) abstract to develop dispositions essential to linguistically responsive teaching (lucas & villegas, 2011), preservice teachers need opportunities to engage in reflection and dialogue about the sociocultural and sociopolitical dimensions of identity, language and culture pertinent to latino/a english language learners. in this article, we present two profiles of linguistically diverse students, highlighting linguistic and cultural elements present in their stories. these profiles of individual english language learners are useful because they personalize the experiences of students and they bring questions and themes relevant to linguistic diversity into the teacher education curriculum. we argue that profiles of students, either presented to preservice teachers in classes or developed as a result of field experiences can help preservice teachers to better understand linguistically diverse students and to develop orientations conducive to meeting the needs of these students. introduction scholars argue that teacher education programs need to place more emphasis on preparing teachers with the expertise to work with linguistically diverse students (ball & tyson, 2011; costa, mcphail, smith & brisk, 2005; lucas, 2011; lucas, villegas & freedson-gonzalez, 2008), the majority of which are latino/a students (valdés & castellón, 2011). all teachers are now more likely to encounter linguistically diverse students in their classrooms; therefore, teachers should be prepared to both address the educational needs of these students and build on the opportunities that these students present (valdés & castellón, 2011). yet, this remains a challenging endeavor partially due to lack of expertise among teacher education faculty on second language learning and identity (costa, et. al., 2005), a history of subtractive linguistic practices in u.s. schools (anzaldua, 1987; valenzuela, 1999), and english-only and anti-immigrations initiatives and legislation (fránquiz & escamilla, 2010; valdés & castellón, 2011). furthermore, preservice teachers tend to be white and female and are much more likely to grow up in monolingual contexts than the latino/a students they will eventually teach (nieto & mcdonough, 2011); thereby, preservice teachers often have limited personal or academic experiences related to managing bilingual identities or to learning english as a second language in school (lucas, 2011). the history of subtractive schooling practices for linguistically diverse students, our national climate related to multilingualism and immigration and the state of affairs in teacher education programs do not engender a fertile context for fostering the dispositions, perspectives and commitments that preservice teachers need to teach linguistically diverse students. given that latinos/as play the most dominant role in diversifying the demographic, linguistic and cultural profiles of u.s. public schools (irizarry, 2011), the preparation of teachers with the expertise to improve achievement and provide educational opportunity for latino/a linguistically diverse students must become a priority in teacher education. how then, should teacher educators develop the capacity of preservice teachers to teach and relate to latino/a students in ways that honor and support their diverse linguistic practices and identities? lucas and developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 51 villegas (2011) introduce the concept of linguistically responsive teaching into the teacher education literature as a way of making language and linguistic diversity a more central dimension of teacher preparation. according to lucas and villegas (2011), linguistically responsive teachers should develop expertise that includes: a) particular orientations related to linguistic diversity, b) knowledge about second language learning, and c) pedagogical skills related to the needs of english learners and bilingual students. in this article, we focus on the first of these three areas of expertise: orientations related to linguistic diversity. we argue that profiles of students, either presented to preservice teachers in classes or developed as a result of field experiences can help preservice teachers to better understand linguistically diverse students and develop orientations conducive to meeting the needs of these students. below, we present two profiles of latino/a students, highlighting themes that teacher educators can explore with their preservice teachers as they help them develop orientations, inclinations and tendencies that are part of a linguistically responsive teaching framework. before turning to the student profiles, we present the conceptual framework that we use for analysis and discussion of the profiles, and we describe the study’s data sources and methodology from which we developed the profiles. conceptual lenses the teacher orientations emphasized in the linguistically responsive teaching framework include sociolinguistic consciousness, a value for linguistic diversity and an inclination to advocate for linguistically diverse students (lucas & villegas, 2011). sociolinguistic consciousness involves understanding the interconnections between language, culture and identity and becoming aware of the sociopolitical dimensions of language use and language education. a sociopolitical understanding of language use acknowledges that language use practices and policies are partially determined by the power accorded to speakers of particular languages in our society (nieto, 2010; nieto & bode, 2012). furthermore, language use and policies are political because they are tied to historical and contemporary issues of citizenship and belonging in the u.s. and to civil rights struggles for equal educational opportunity (nieto & bode, 2012). to develop sociolinguistic consciousness, teacher educators must provide opportunities for their students to understand the link between language and cultural identity development, the ways particular languages are given differential values based on a person’s sociocultural and political positioning and the linguistic complexity that exists within particular classrooms and communities (lucas & villegas, 2011). teachers with a sociolinguistic consciousness are aware that attitudes and policies related to language can impact students’ sense of belonging to particular ethnic/racial groups and to school communities (de jong & harper, 2011). our conceptual framework also draws on the concept of hybridity because it can help linguistically responsive teachers understand the complex nature of linguistic identity development for latino/a students. understandings of cultural and linguistic identities based on hybridity acknowledge that constructing identities is more than a simple choice between two languages or two distinct cultural groups (lowe, 1996). rather, hybridity is an alternative or third way of being that can provide what bhabha (1994) describes as an “interstitial passage between fixed identifications…that entertains difference without an assumed or imposed hierarchy” (p. 5). a hybridity framework advances the idea that cultural identities, choices and practices can be formed in creative and ever-changing ways as individuals and groups respond to particular social, cultural, economic and political contexts (lukose, 2007; nieto, 2010). hybridity is also a useful notion for linguistically responsive teachers to understand because of its interrogation of power in exploring identities. the dichotomous conflicts that arise in colonized relationships create a context for hybridity to develop (yazdiha, 2010). thus, hybridity draws attention to the complex ways that latinos/as negotiate the multilayered tensions and power dynamics embedded in their socio-political positions as spanish/english/spanglish speaking (im)migrants, sometimes living and forging identities in relation to more than one country and more than one language and in the context of multiple histories and cultural traditions. data sources and methods developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 52 the profiles of these students were developed as part of a study conducted in 2008 by the first author . the study participants, latino/a students who graduated from u.s. high schools were part of a program that sought to recruit and enroll u.s. latino/a students at the university of puerto rico (upr). ethnographic methods were used to examine the cultural and linguistic identities and experiences of the students and to document their educational histories. the students’ experiences with esl or bilingual education varied as did their language use preferences and skills in spanish and english. data gathering was conducted in english and spanish according to the preferences of participants. as part of the data organization and analysis, profiles were developed of each of the 39 students, providing a narrative of the educational histories of each student and their cultural and linguistic experiences. the data for the profiles were primarily drawn from survey information and from the semi-structured 60 to 90 minute interviews that were conducted with each student . the interviews focused primarily on the educational histories of the students, asking them to reflect on how their experiences in and out of school contexts shaped their linguistic and cultural identities. the surveys gathered information on students’ educational history, extracurricular interests and activities, and their linguistic practices and preferences. each of the student profiles presented unique experiences but there were some thematic strands found across the profiles. the students highlighted in this article were chosen because their profiles were particularly useful in illustrating themes related to the orientations to linguistic diversity that are part of the linguistically responsive teaching framework. while the majority of participants in this study were puerto rican, the themes raised in this article are pertinent to latino/a students from varied sub-groups who face similar attitudes, values and ideologies in schools related to spanish language use, bilingual identities, and the positioning of latinos in u.s. society. like puerto ricans, many other latino/a sub-groups also face a mismatch between their identities and those of their teachers, and have histories marked by patterns of political subordination and oppression. developing linguistically responsive teachers: learning from students profiles that highlight linguistic elements present in the stories of students provide one way of personalizing the experiences of students and of bringing questions and themes relevant to linguistic diversity into the teacher education curriculum. the profiles that follow highlight several themes that are important to the development of linguistically responsive orientations in preservice teachers. some of the themes can be found across both profiles but we focus special attention on the sociocultural and sociopolitical dimensions of language use in the first profile and the interconnections between language, culture, and a hybrid identity in the second profile. profile 1: understanding sociocultural and sociopolitical dimensions of language use nadine sánchez was born in puerto rico. at age six, she moved with her mother and siblings to a city in florida. she described herself as puerto rican from a middle class background . when she started school in the united states, she was placed in a program for english language learners (ell’s). nadine described her mother as her educational advocate. she explained, “you know if something’s wrong she would go to the school and find out, even if she had to get a translator or had to drag me along to talk to people.” an example of her mother’s proactive role was her request that nadine be pulled out of the ell program after two years. her reasoning was that some students were kept in the program for too long and this was detrimental to their academic progress. nadine described feeling somewhat lost when she transitioned out of the ell program. at home, nadine primarily spoke spanish with her mother and spoke a combination of spanish and english with her siblings and peers. her mother watched spanish language television and this provided another source of spanish input for nadine. her grandparents, who lived in puerto rico, sent spanish books to nadine so she “would read them and not forgot how to speak spanish.” nadine’s mother sent nadine to visit her grandparents in puerto rico during summer or holiday school breaks. nadine explained that her mother “wanted us to still have that connection with my grandfather and my grandmother and for us to learn about where we came from in like an unconscious way.” nadine reported that as she grew older she became comfortable speaking both spanish and english. she developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 53 explained, i worked it out that i if talk spanish in one place then i talk english in another. like i talk english in the classroom, i go home and i talk spanish. here [in puerto rico], it’s the other way around. nadine also changed her language practices over time. for example, although spanish was the primary language she spoke to her mother, in high school she began to speak more english at home because of her mother’s desire to learn english. with friends, she used spanish and english, depending on their preferences and the particular friendship circle. as a student at the university of puerto rico, she reported that she felt very comfortable participating in class discussions and writing and reading in english for academic purposes, somewhat comfortable writing and reading in spanish for academic purposes, and somewhat uncomfortable participating in class discussions in spanish. as nadine grew up, she used and developed linguistic skills along a bilingual continuum. however, her bilingual use and identity was not always welcome in school or among peers. for example, one middle school teacher responded to nadine’s spanish language use by stating, “you’re in america, and you should speak english.” nadine shared this incident with her mother and other family members and stated that she started “looking for an answer, can we talk spanish? are we allowed? it really bugged me.” in response to this incident, she called her grandfather in puerto rico, who was a lawyer, and he informed her, “you have the right to talk any language that you want in the united states cause it’s in the constitution. it doesn’t state a specific language.” nadine reported that this incident sparked her interest in the history of the civil rights movement and that it fueled her desire to pursue law as a field of study because she wanted “to defend people that are considered unequal or immigrants.” nadine also noticed tensions related to language use and identity among the different latino/a sub-groups in her high school. at the time, the latino/a population in the florida high school she attended was experiencing rapid growth, partially due to an influx of puerto ricans moving to the area. she explained, there were people who knew english who only spoke english because they were second generation. there were people that had just come from other countries and then there were the spanglish speakers. and i was the spanglish. even though i spoke a lot of english, i always incorporated spanish in some way. she explained that recent migrants would question whether students who spoke english could really be hispanic. she stated, i think that was more of the problem, the pushing out of the people that spoke english, that you can’t be hispanic if you don’t speak spanish. and i don’t think that’s true. i think you can be. i think that most people that came from south america or puerto rico or whatever tended to push out people that didn’t speak spanish. nadine reported that her high school did not offer opportunities for her to develop her spanish language skills. she saw the opportunity to study at the university of puerto rico as a way to “perfect my spanish. i wanted to learn how to write it better and how to talk it better and what better way to be in a place where they speak only spanish. well, they speak english here but it’s mostly spanish.” profile analysis the use of both spanish and english is a natural part of nadine’s life as she travels between the u.s. and puerto rico, adapts to the linguistic demands placed upon her as her community’s linguistic profile changes and as she responds to the shifting linguistic identities and practices within her own home. nadine’s linguistic practices are not easily compartmentalized under categories of english or spanish dominant, rather nadine draws on her wide linguistic resources to respond to the linguistic needs and preferences she faces across a range of contexts. in doing so, however, she confronts and negotiates monolingual ideologies that discourage bilingualism. for example, her middle school teacher’s policy related to language use reinforces the notion that linguistic assimilation is necessary for belonging in the united states. the teacher employs the institutional power accorded to her through her position as an educator in ways that promote reductionist notions of identity that do not account for hybrid linguistic practices and identities, suggesting that in the united states, one language developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 54 needs to be chosen at the expense of the other language. lowe (1996) reminds that the violence of uneven power relations can serve as a catalyst for hybridity to emerge as individuals or groups produce new cultural alternatives. in community spaces and in schools, latino/a youth continue to negotiate power dynamics and sociopolitical ideologies expressed in and through their use of language and the identities they and others attach to their language practices. rather than adopt her teacher’s monolingual bias, nadine draws on her connections with her grandfather in puerto rico who helps her assert a more inclusive notion of language use and identity. nadine’s use of both spanish and english suggests a hybrid stance as she seeks to insert an identity that includes influences from more than one language and culture in the social context of schooling. nadine also notices a monolingual bias among some of her peers and questions the association that they make between spanish use and a latino/a identity. nadine sees herself as puerto rican regardless of what language she is speaking. having grown up in a community that includes students who are first, second and third generation migrants and having friends and family members in different locations along a bilingual continuum, she argues that being hispanic is not limited to a singular linguistic expression or identity. the sociocultural and sociopolitical nature of language use is illustrated in nadine’s case as the ideologies and policies she confronts in school are deeply tied to notions of cultural belonging in the united states and to the rights of certain language speakers to use those languages in schools (nieto & bode, 2012). the power dynamics at play in nadine’s experiences are striking as they highlight the ways that languages and the groups that speak those languages are pitted against each other, reflecting monolingual ideologies rooted in the notion of prioritizing one language over another. nadine’s case points to the importance of learning about how students negotiate tensions and conflicts and manage their language use and identities in relation to the cultural and linguistic identities and preferences of other speakers, the policies and practices of their home and school contexts and the resources available to them that nurture linguistic diversity. nadine’s experiences also point to the importance of educating teachers to understand the ways that language use is tied to the cultural, political and historical underpinnings of public schooling and to the ways that language policies can advance or disrupt educational inequity (darder, 2012, nieto & bode, 2012). nadine’s experiences begin to nurture her own sociocultural and sociopolitical awareness as she begins to understand linguistic policies through the lens of civil rights and as she observes the identity politics that occur between her hispanic peers and between teachers and students. profiles of students that bring out themes like those featured in nadine’s case can thus be helpful to teacher educators as they seek to develop linguistically responsive teachers with a consciousness of the sociocultural and sociopolitical dimensions of language use, identities, and schooling. profile two: nurturing a bilingual hybrid identity voy a estar brincando de inglés al español porque lo hago automaticamente, ok? es complicado también. yo originalmente trato de hablar español, ciertas palabras en inglés se le zafa a uno, pero tú sabes, es natural. [i’m going to be jumping back and forth between english and spanish because i do it automatically, ok? it’s complicated. i originally talk spanish but certain english words they slip out, but you know, that’s natural.] samuel calderón began a conversation with the first author with the above words, explaining that his use of both spanish and english in a single conversation was automatic, complex and natural. he also explained that he used “special strategies” to nurture and develop both his english and spanish depending on whether he was living in the united states or puerto rico. samuel was born and raised in a primarily latino neighborhood in a u.s. northeast city. he lived with his parents and a younger sibling and described his family as somewhere between poor and working class. for most of his schooling, he attended his city’s public schools. on two different occasions his family moved to puerto rico, and samuel completed half of his first grade year as well as fourth and fifth grade years in puerto rican schools. samuel remembers using both spanish and english during his pre-school years, speaking mostly spanish at home and english at a head start program. his parents both came to the u.s. as young adults and spoke mostly spanish at home. samuel explained, my mom really did stress, when i was a little kid, spanish as a first, primary language. my mom developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 55 was on point when it came to speaking spanish. and i would listen to love songs in spanish and stuff like that, and they have some really big words in there, you know, i would ask her, “what do these words from the song mean?” and she would tell me (portions of quote translated). similar to his bilingual identity, samuel also described his cultural identity as both puerto rican and american. he stated, i identify as american but i also identify as puerto rican. it’s a double bond. i make that choice because i feel like i can’t put aside, even though i was born in the states and people talk about all the stuff that the united states used to do to puerto rico, all that history stuff, but i still can’t put aside the fact that they have provided me that high level of education. and i have read several stories that discuss that indirect war between boricuas and nuyoricans –– boricuas from the island and boricuas from the united states. and i want it to be known that i was raised here and i was raised there. i’m 100% puerto rican and 100% american. as samuel talked of his future, he also envisioned his children would be bilingual and bicultural. he said, i have always said that if i have children, or better said, when i have children, here in puerto rico we are going to speak english at home and when we are over there [in the u.s.], we are going to speak spanish in the house (portions of quote translated). samuel described the linguistic adjustments he made in schools in puerto rico and the united states as challenges that he embraced and learned from. for example, he reflected that his time in puerto rican schools provided an opportunity to improve his written spanish and remembered a fourth grade teacher who helped him learn how to accentuate words in the spanish language. in the u.s., he went from a head start program into a mainstream english-only classroom because there was not a bilingual program in his elementary school. he described himself as a quick learner who eventually became a part of the mentally gifted program at his school. his excellent academic record through middle school allowed him the opportunity to enroll in one of the top academic high schools in his city, open to students with the top standardized test scores and grades. samuel described his high school experience with great fondness, explaining that he loved the opportunities he had for taking courses that challenged him intellectually in an ethnically and linguistically diverse school. he explained that four years of studying italian in high school helped him better understand the structure and grammar of english and spanish. an english teacher also encouraged his use of spanish and exposed him to latino/latin american literature. he explained, [she] loved latin american literature, and because of her, i got into it as well, and i saw latin american literature as an opening to me, you know, respect for my other side. and i saw it as a chance to better my spanish. for instance i read one hundred years of solitude in eleventh grade. that book is hard enough and i read it in spanish. and the thing is that the teacher bought me a spanish dictionary to help me. and i also got chronicles of a death foretold in spanish (portions of quote translated). samuel also reported that his high school offered him the opportunity to become involved in a local chapter of aspira, developing his leadership skills, connecting him with other latino students across the city and helping him gain a richer understanding of issues pertinent to the puerto rican community. samuel pointed to his involvement in aspira as a key factor in helping him navigate the college admissions process, including introducing him to the possibility of studying at upr. samuel explained that the transition to completing the majority of his academic work in spanish required extra effort on his part but he welcomed this opportunity to “improve his spanish.” field notes documenting samuel’s participation in a social science course for students in his program at upr show that he usually initiated class participation in spanish, sometimes switching to english in mid-sentence as he expressed himself. the professor facilitated bilingual use in this classroom as he allowed participation in both languages and often switched back and forth between spanish and english in his teaching. he explained that he did this as a strategy to make sure that all the students in the class understood what he was saying. in addition, students could submit their work in spanish or english and purchase class texts in either language. developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 56 profile analysis hybrid identities emerge as individuals creatively define themselves in ways that capture the multiplicity of their experiences and attachments. samuel’s assertion that he is both one hundred percent american and one hundred percent puerto rican and his fluid use of both english and spanish in his conversations exemplify hybrid and creative processes, demonstrating new possibilities for cultural reconstruction and identity formation (bhabha, 1994; lukose, 2007). samuel’s description of his identity and his linguistic practices move away from assimilation and monolingual models of identity; instead, samuel engages in creative processes of identity formation that embrace the multiple facets of his life that shaped who he is and who he wants to become. samuel’s explanation of his multiple identifications as a “double bond” illustrates how puerto ricans and other latinos/as assert cultural identities that transgress or straddle cultural and linguistic borders (duany, 2002). samuel’s hybrid identity and bilingualism is also nurtured through experiences in his english class; his teacher acknowledged and supported samuel’s bilingual linguistic repertoire by encouraging samuel to use spanish texts as he completed assigned work in a literature class. samuel’s spanish repertoire was thus valued as a resource that facilitated his learning of latin american literature and was regarded as legitimate and important in the school curriculum. the policies and practices in both his high school english classroom and his social science course at upr exemplified creative and flexible ways of addressing students’ bicultural, bilingual or hybrid identities. this flexible use of languages is affirmed by scholars who use the concept of hybridity to provide insights on the ways children and youth, their parents, or educators can affirm and build on student’s linguistic repertoires and resources (enright, 2010; gutiérrez, baquedano-lópez, alvarez & chiu, 1999; manyak, 2001). exposure to and discussion of students like samuel can help preservice teachers develop orientations of linguistically responsive teachers. more specifically, samuel’s case points to the creative process that some students demonstrate as they shape their identities in relation to multiple linguistic environments and affirm new ways of being that challenge assimilationist and reductionist notions of identity. lucas and villegas (2011) explain that teachers who have grown up in the majority culture and language need to understand how language is a medium that communicates cultural norms and values and is deeply entwined with students’ identities and feelings of belonging. samuel’s story illustrates the important ways that his linguistic practices shape his identity, outlook, and experiences. samuel’s profile is also helpful in opening up discussions about how teachers can demonstrate the orientations of valuing linguistic diversity and advocating for linguistically diverse students. the responses of samuel’s high school literature teacher and university professor to his linguistic identity and practices stand out as unique and creative because they demonstrate orientations of linguistically responsive teachers. his high school teacher, for example, showed that she valued linguistic diversity and that she was an advocate for samuel by opening up the social context of a traditionally monolingual classroom to samuel’s bilingual repertoire. viewing samuel’s experiences of hybrid cultural and linguistic identity development as a resource to be nurtured stands in contrast to the overused deficit perspectives that mark students with hybrid characteristics as deficient. samuel’s experience in high school did not occur in the context of an esl or bilingual program. instead, it points to ways that teachers across all classrooms can employ linguistically responsive pedagogy by finding creative ways to attend to the linguistic context of their particular classrooms and students. conclusion the education of linguistically diverse students is no longer the sole responsibility of bilingual or ell specialist teachers (lucas & villegas, 2011). rather, teacher education programs must prepare all teachers to effectively educate learners with diverse linguistic practices and identities (nieto, 2010). teacher educators need multiple approaches to help their preservice teachers know and understand the lived realities of linguistically diverse students. within teacher education, narratives or autobiographical writing and reflection are often used as a means to help preservice teachers explore their own sociocultural identities, ideologies and issues of power and privilege in education (lea, 2004; hale, snow-gerono & morales, 2008). as preservice teachers engage developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 57 in this self-reflection, they also need opportunities to know and better understand the diverse cultural and linguistic stories of the latino/a students they are likely to encounter in their classrooms. while the particular cultural and linguistic histories of each latino/a sub-group are important to understand, there are similar themes that reach across sub-groups making the stories such as the ones of puerto rican students featured in this article helpful and relevant to understanding other latino/a students. profiles such as the ones presented in this article provide an accessible entry point for teacher educators to engage their preservice teachers in learning more about connections between language, culture and identity and the sociopolitical and ideological dimensions of language use. the stories of individual students personalize experiences of managing tensions, conflicts, and challenges related to language use and identity. stories of students thus allow preservice teachers, particularly those who grew up in monolingual environments, a way to imagine new possibilities and beliefs related to language, culture, and identity. the stories of individual students can be used to help preservice teachers understand themes that are relevant to other students with diverse linguistic experiences. reading and discussing the stories of individual students can develop essential dispositions and orientations that preservice teachers can then use as they observe, interact and learn from the linguistically diverse students they encounter in their school settings. service based learning opportunities or field experiences should integrate assignments that highlight the stories of individual latino/a students with diverse linguistic profiles. for example, preservice teachers can conduct interviews of students and gather observational data in ways that will help them write profiles that tell the stories of individual students. to develop the orientations of linguistically responsive teachers, preservice teachers need to be taught how to interpret these stories from a sociocultural and sociopolitical framework (lucas & villegas, 2011). this means that teacher educators need to help preservice teachers understand and discuss the power dynamics inherent in both individual choices and language policies that impact students; the cultural meanings students attach to their language identities; and the ways that language use, identities and policies are nested in broader school, community, and national contexts (nieto, 2010). as preservice teachers become skilled in both listening to or telling the stories of linguistically diverse students, they can learn to honor and support diverse linguistic practices and identities and thus improve their ability to effectively relate to and teach the latino/a students that they will likely serve in their future classrooms. as preservice teachers learn to pay attention to the stories of linguistically diverse students their own sensibilities and beliefs related to language use and linguistic diversity can be reexamined and expanded, providing a first step in developing orientations conducive to linguistically responsive teaching. developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 58 references anzaldua, g. (1987). borderlands – la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: auntlute books. ball, a.f. & tyson, c.a. (2011). preparing teachers for diversity in the twenty-first century. in a.f. ball & c.a. tyson (eds.), studying diversity in teacher education (pp. 399-416). new york: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. bhabha, h.k. (1994). the location of culture. new york: routledge. cisneros, s. (1984). the house on mango street. new york: random house, inc. costa, j.; mcphail, g.; smith, j. & brisk, m.e. (2005). faculty first: the challenge of infusing the teacher education curriculum with scholarship on english language learners. journal of teacher education, 56(2), 104-118. darder, a. (2012). culture and power in the classroom: educational foundations for the schooling of bicultural students. boulder, colorado: paradigm publishers. de jong, e.j. & harper, c.a. (2011). “accommodating diversity”: pre-service teachers’ views on effective practices for english language learners. in t. lucas (ed.), teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms: a resource for teacher educators (pp. 73-90). new york: routledge. duany, j. (2002). the puerto rican nation on the move: identities on the island and in the united states. chapel hill, north carolina: university of north carolina press. enright, k.a. (2010). language and literacy for a new mainstream. american educational research journal, 48(1), 80-118. florio-ruane, s. (1997). cae 1996 presidential address to tell a new story: reinventing narratives of culture, identity and education. anthropology and education quarterly, 28(2), 152-162. fránquiz, m. & escamilla, k. (2010). coeditors’ introduction. bilingual research journal: the journal of the national association for bilingual education, 33(3), 271-276. gutierréz, k., baquedano-lópez, alvarez, h. & chiu, m. (1999). building a culture of collaboration through hybrid language practices. theory into practice, 38(2), 87-93. hale, a.; snow-gerono, j. & morales, f. (2008). transformative education for culturally diverse learners through narrative and ethnography. teaching and teacher education, 24, 1413-1425. irizarry, j. (2011). the latinization of u.s. schools: successful teaching and learning in shifting cultural contexts. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. lea, v. (2004). the reflective cultural portfolio: identifying public cultural scripts in the private voices of white student teachers. journal of teacher education, 55, 116-127. lowe, l. (1996). immigrant acts. durham, nc: duke university press. lucas, t.; villegas, a.m. & freedson-gonzalez, m. (2008). linguistically responsive teacher education: preparing classroom teachers to teach english language learners. journal of teacher education, 59(4), 361-373. lucas, t. (2011). language, schooling, and preparation of teachers for linguistic diversity. in lucas, t. (ed.). teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms: a resource for teacher educators (pp. 3-17). new york: routledge. lucas, t. & villegas, a.m. (2011). a framework for preparing linguistically responsive teachers. in t. lucas (ed.), teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms: a resource for teacher educators (pp. 55-72). new york: routledge. lukose, r. (2007). the difference that diaspora makes: thinking through the anthropology of immigrant education in the united states. anthropology and education quarterly, 38(4), 405-418. manyak, p.c. (2001). participation, hybridity, and carnival: a situated analysis of a dynamic literacy practice in a primary-grade english immersion class. journal of literacy research, 33, 423-465. nieto, s. (2010). language, culture and teaching: critical perspectives. new york, ny: routledge. nieto, s. & mcdonough, k. (2011). “placing equity front and center” revisited. in a. f. ball & c.a. tyson (eds.), studying diversity in teacher education (pp. 363-384). new york: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. nieto, s. & bode, p. (2012). affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of multicultural education, 6th edition. boston, ma: allyn and bacon. valdés, g. & castellón, m. (2011). english language learners in american schools: characteristics and challenges. developing linguistically responsive teachers association of mexican-american educators (amae) special issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 1 59 in t. lucas (ed.), teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms: a resource for teacher educators. (pp. 18-34). new york: routledge. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany: state university of new york press. yazdiha, h. (2010). conceptualizing hybridity: deconstructing boundaries through the hybrid. formations, 1(1), 31-38. developing linguistically responsive teachers special_issues_2014-print-final 50 special_issues_2014-print-final 51 special_issues_2014-print-final 52 special_issues_2014-print-final 53 special_issues_2014-print-final 54 special_issues_2014-print-final 55 special_issues_2014-print-final 56 special_issues_2014-print-final 57 special_issues_2014-print-final 58 special_issues_2014-print-final 59 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 65 connecting through engagement: latinx student-faculty interaction in community college felisha a. herrera san diego state university judith w. hernández chapar clark college gabriela kovats sánchez san diego state university/claremont graduate university abstract student engagement with faculty has received increased attention from scholars and practitioners alike. however, much of the focus has been on the engagement experiences of students enrolled at four-year institutions, often excluding the experiences of latinx1 students enrolled at two-year public institutions. the present study centers faculty, who are situated within positions of power, as institutional agents (stanton-salazar, 2011) and examines their formal and informal contacts with latinx students who began higher education at community colleges. this study utilizes data from the 2004–09 beginning postsecondary survey and employs descriptive analyses and blocked hierarchical regression to gain greater knowledge of the factors that impact latinx students’ frequency of interaction with institutional agents. this study highlights the need to further disaggregate latinx ethnic subgroups. findings show that peer, academic, and social engagement are predictors of increased interaction with institutional agents. of particular interest is the role of institutional contexts, as results reveal unrealized potential for hispanic-serving institutions in promoting opportunities for interaction among latinx and institutional agents. implications for creating environments that foster student-faculty relationships are explored. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.2.350 1 latinx is used in place of latino/a. latinx serves as a gender-neutral term that is not limited by the gender binary. herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 66 introduction interaction between faculty and latinx college students plays a significant role on the academic success of students (tovar, 2014), including gpa (baker, 2013), better defined academic goals (defreitas & bravo, 2012), and increased retention into the second year of college (upcraft, gardner, & overman, 2004). additionally, engagement with faculty increases latinx students’ sense of belonging (hurtado & carter, 1997), social satisfaction (m. e. levin & j. r. levin, 1991), and college adjustment and self-efficacy (santos & reigadas, 2002). in short, interaction with faculty leads to higher cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, and increases the retention and graduation of latinx students. unfortunately, latinx students have the lowest frequency of interaction with faculty (beattie & thiele, 2016; kim, 2010), and interaction with faculty is further reduced when the type of interaction is considered. for example, anaya and cole (2001) found that while more than 50% of latinx students reported interacting with faculty regarding academic matters, less than 20% reported interpersonal (informal) contact with faculty. this point is further amplified by the work of pérez and sáenz (2017) who found that latinx males enrolled in selective predominantly white institutions rarely interact with faculty inside or outside the classroom. similarly, students enrolled in community colleges have less engagement with faculty (price & tovar, 2014). community colleges enroll larger proportions of students of color than public and private 4-year institutions (provasnik & planty, 2008) and latinxs, in particular, are more likely to attend a community college than any other ethnic group (hispanic association of colleges and universities, 2016). forty-eight percent of all hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) are community colleges with a latinx student population of 25% or greater (excelencia in education, 2014). núñez, hurtado, and galdeano (2015) argue that hsis are unique environments, which can be conducive for creating supportive campus climates for latinx students. furthermore, faculty, as institutional agents who hold positions of power within the organizational structure (stanton-salazar, 2011), can play a key role in fostering supportive environments. given the importance of latinx student engagement with faculty, and low engagement rates, especially at community colleges, the purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence latinx community college students’ frequency of interaction with faculty both academically and informally. scholars continue to highlight that latinx students are not a connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 67 homogenous group and demonstrate that postsecondary experiences vary across latinx ethnic subgroups (arellano, 2011); therefore, we heed this call to disaggregate quantitative data with the study’s first research question: to what extent does the frequency of interaction with institutional agents vary across racial and latinx ethnic subgroups? the study’s second research question examines the predictors of interaction: to what extent do demographic, precollege and undergraduate experiences, and key institutional environments (i.e., hsi institutions), influence the frequency of interaction with institutional agents for latinx community college students? conceptualizing faculty as institutional agents this study is guided by stanton-salazar’s (2011) conceptualization of institutional agents. institutions of higher education have historically been designed to support the success of white, upper middle class students (gusa, 2010), often excluding the knowledge and experiences of latinx students. students of color, in addition to navigating postsecondary pathways, must negotiate an educational setting where their values, cultural backgrounds, and experiences are not the center of the institutional context (gusa, 2010). hence, latinx students must utilize other lifelines to succeed in their educational journey. these lifelines, as stantonsalazar (2011) describes them, are institutional agents. institutional agents, as representatives of the institution, occupy positions of power in which they can utilize their social capital, knowledge of the educational system, and access to resources to aid students in navigating the institution. faculty members, “occupy relatively high positions in the multiple dimensional stratification system, and … are well positioned to provide key forms of social and institutional support” (stanton-salazar, 2011, p. 15). in the context of community colleges, institutional agents are faculty with knowledge that provides “a whole spectrum of social and institutional support that contributes to [the students’] social development and academic performance” (stanton-salazar, 2011, p. 8). additionally, institutional agents provide guidance, support, and advocacy on behalf of students, thus removing institutional barriers impeding the success of students (bensimon & dowd, 2009). herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 68 interaction with institutional agents formal and academic interactions outside of the classroom strengthen students’ connections with faculty and informal or social contacts with faculty may foster deeper mentoring relationships (crisp & cruz, 2009). students’ informal interactions with faculty lead students to “feel valued and important” (cox & orehovec, 2007, p. 355). mentoring relationships also facilitate students’ personal and social adjustment to college by providing emotional support and access to resources (santos & reigadas, 2002). the more access to resources and information, the more likely students successfully navigate postsecondary education. beyond gaining a sense of belonging in the educational system, students in mentoring relationships are more likely to have higher grade point averages and increased chances of persistence than peers who are not engaged in these types of relationships (kincey, 2007). when students feel validated, they are more likely to persist in their educational studies (barnett, 2011). across the board, research demonstrates that deeper levels of engagement with faculty increases students’ overall academic, career, and personal development (kim, 2010; tovar, 2014); thus, it is important to understand what factors promote or limit student-faculty interactions outside of classroom. interaction with institutional agents across groups previous literature has highlighted that not all types of students have the same levels of engagement with institutional agents. research findings across race and gender are mixed. kim and lundberg (2016) found that that students of color enrolled at four-year institutions are less likely to interact with their faculty members in comparison to their white peers. other studies focusing on the experiences of community college students have produced contradictory findings. for example, alford (2012) found that latinx students have higher rates of interaction with faculty and kim (2010) produced similar findings related to african american students. the literature examining student interaction with faculty has also revealed differences across gender. kim and lundberg (2016) found that male students had greater levels of faculty interactions than female students, which in turn, resulted in larger gains in cognitive skills. other research found that female students interact with faculty at higher frequencies in comparison to male students, yet the effects of such interaction are greater for male students (sax, bryant, & harper, 2005). connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 69 across socioeconomic lines, low-income students approach engagement cautiously, often working in isolation rather than consulting with faculty (arzy, davies, & harbour, 2006). similarly, first-generation college students tend to have less engagement with faculty (lundberg, schreiner, hovaguimian, & slavin miller, 2007; soria & stebleton, 2012). overall, there are large proportions of latinx students who are low income and the first in their family to attend college (hurtado, santos, sáenz, & cabrera, 2008); yet, there are also differences across latinx ethnic sub-groups. chicanx college students, on average, have lower incomes and are more likely to be first-generation college students in comparison to puerto rican and other latinx students (arellano, 2011). factors impacting interaction with institutional agents for community college students, there are numerous factors outside the campus setting which can limit their interaction with institutional agents. for instance, the more students work off-campus, the less likely they are to be engaged with faculty (pike, kuh, & massa-mckinley, 2008). further, non-traditional students, defined as students older than 25 years of age with delayed or interrupted enrollment into the higher education pipeline, have different enrollment patterns than traditional students, and tend to interact with faculty primarily in the classroom (wyatt, 2011). additionally, students who enroll full-time tend to have higher engagement patterns than students who attend higher education institutions part-time (b. jacoby, 2014). finally, social integration—when students feel connected to the campus community, including other students—is a key component in supporting student retention and completion while promoting student engagement with institutional agents at a community college (barnett, 2011; d’amico, dika, elling, algozzine, & ginn, 2014). institutional agents and the community college context it is important to understand the community college context as it presents unique challenges and opportunities. over the last 20 years, faculty composition at the community college level has shifted from tenure track to predominantly non-tenure track and part-time faculty (kezar, 2012). non-tenure track and part-time faculty make up approximately 66% of all community college faculty (green, 2007). while qualitative data shows that community college faculty are committed to their students and teaching (j. s. levin, cox, cerven, & haberler, herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 70 2010; terosky & gonzales, 2016), the institution itself lacks a culture of support that facilitates or encourages faculty-student interaction. one-year or semester-to-semester contracts, for example, force many non-tenure track faculty to constantly be on the job hunt limiting their time for student contact and teaching preparation (green, 2007; kezar, 2012). research shows that multiple structural barriers cause part-time faculty to have fewer contact hours with students (green, 2007; b. jacoby, 2014; jolley, cross, & bryant, 2014; kezar, 2012). over 50% of adjunct faculty, for instance, teach two or more sections each semester (green, 2007) and teach at multiple community college campuses (kezar, 2012). additionally, non-tenure track faculty are asked to take on additional responsibilities without compensation (kezar, 2012). limited access to physical (i.e. office space) and cognitive/non-cognitive (i.e. feeling of connectedness to the institution) spaces and resources also impacts adjunct faculty’s level of interaction with students (d. jacoby, 2006; kezar, 2012). considering the complicated structural barriers within the two-year sector, there is a need for more research to better understand the opportunities for improving student-faculty engagement within community colleges. methodology this study utilizes data from the beginning postsecondary students longitudinal study (bps). bps is a national probability sample with over 16,000 respondents, representative of about 4 million students who began postsecondary education in the 2003-2004 academic year. the bps followed students for six years with students surveyed during their first year of enrollment in 2003-2004, their third year of enrollment, and finally, in 2009. the present study utilized data from the first and third years of the survey administration. the bps collects data on student demographic characteristics, enrollment patterns, persistence and completion, as well as in-school experiences, such as students’ engagement with faculty (cominole, wheeless, dudley, franklin, & wine, 2007). the analytical sample is limited to degree seeking latinx students who first enrolled at a two-year public college in 2003-2004, which includes approximately 710 students (rounded per nces reporting guidelines). of the latinx community college students included in the sample, 44% identified as mexican american or chicanx, 35% as puerto rican, and 21% as other latinx, which includes cuban, mixed latinx heritage and other latinx heritage students. connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 71 variables and coding table 1 provides a complete description of variables and coding procedures utilized in this study. table 1 variables and coding dependent variable interaction with institutional agents range: min: 0, max: 5 composite variable created from two variables: 1) faculty informal meeting and 2) talk outside of class with faculty (0: never; 2: often) demographics mexican american or chicanx 0: no, 1: yes (cuban/puerto rican/mixed latinx/other latinx reference group) gender: female 0: male, 1: female precollege factors mother’s highest education level 1: less than hs; 10: doctorate/equivalent income percent range: min: 0, max: 1 undergraduate experiences 2004: worked full-time (exclude work-study) 0: no, 1: yes delayed enrollment 0: no, 1: yes degree aspirations 1: no degree; 5: master’s degree or higher enrolled full-time 2003-04 0: no, 1: yes declared a major 2003-04 0: no 1: yes college gpa 2003-04 range: min: 0, max: 400 frequency: participation in study groups range: min: 0, max: 3 social integration index range: min: 0, max: 167 composite variable derived from attended fine arts activities, participated in sports, participated in school clubs institutional context hispanic serving institution 2003-04 0: no, 1: yes herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 72 the dependent variable for this study is a composite variable of two factors: “talk with faculty outside of class” and “informal meeting with faculty.” these variables ask students to identify the frequency in which students talked to faculty about academic matters, outside class time (including email), and the frequency in which they had informal or social contacts with faculty members outside of the classroom and the office. for each variable, students were given the option to select the frequency of interaction (never= 0, sometimes= 1, often= 2). these measures were collected in both 2004 and 2006; therefore, a mean score was calculated from the values for each measure from both time points and then used to create a composite variable measuring frequency of interaction with institutional agents (m= 1.50, sd= 1.06). the independent variables are organized in four categories—demographics, precollege factors, undergraduate experiences, and institutional context. demographics. the first block of independent variables focused on demographic characteristics. only students who self-identified as latinx (the term “hispanic” was used in the survey) were included in the sample. students were also asked to identify the type of latinx origin. the survey included five options—1) cuban descent, 2) mexican or chicano descent, 3) puerto rican, 4) other hispanic origin, 5) mixed hispanic origin (we use latinx in place of “hispanic” and chicanx in place of “chicano”). also, included in the survey was a binary measure of gender, which asked students to self-identify as male or female. fifty-nine percent of students identified as female. precollege factors. the category of precollege factors included: mother’s highest education as proxy for precollege socioeconomic status, which was measured on a 1 to 7 scale ranging from less than high school to doctoral degree or equivalent (m= 2.82, sd= 2.13). the income measure identified income in terms of a percentage of the 2003 u.s. poverty income guidelines, with 49.5% of the sample falling at or below 185% of the national poverty guidelines. undergraduate experiences. the third block of independent variables focused on the undergraduate experiences of students, and included whether a student delayed enrollment (40.8%); worked full-time, excluding work-study (33.2%); declared a major during their first year of enrollment (63.3%); or enrolled full-time during 2003-2004 (50.5%). degree aspirations were measured on a 1-5 scale ranging from no degree to master’s degree or above (m= 0.76, sd= 0.79) and first year college gpa ranged from 0 to 400 (m= 275.01, sd= 83.87). measures of social integration and the frequency of participation in study groups were collected in 2004 connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 73 and in 2006. a mean score was calculated from the values for each measure from both time points and then used to create variables measuring participation in study groups (range: 0 to 3) and composite variable of social integration (range: 0 to 167). overall, students in the sample had a low frequency of participating in study groups (m = 0.76, sd = 0.79) and low levels of social integration (m = 26.16, sd = 32.25). social integration is a nces derived variable from the following measures: attended fine arts activities, participated in sports, and participated in school clubs during the first year of enrollment. institutional context. the final block focused on an important institutional context for latinx students in postsecondary education: enrollment in a higher education institution designated as a hispanic-serving institution (hsi). higher education institutions are federally designated as an hsi when they enroll a latinx student population of 25% or greater of the total student body (contreras & contreras, 2015). in the sample, an hsi was the first institution of attendance for 43% of students. data analysis the present study utilized descriptive statistics to understand the frequency of interaction with institutional agents across racial and latinx ethnic subgroups and blocked hierarchical ordinary least squares (ols) multiple regression analysis to gain greater knowledge of the factors influencing latinx students’ engagement with institutional agents. a key advantage in utilizing ols regression analysis is the ability for the researcher to control for potential biases, thus clarifying the role of each of the independent variables on the dependent variables (astin & antonio, 2012). blocked regression analysis was run in four blocks to assess the influence of student demographics, precollege factors, undergraduate experiences, and institutional contexts as previously described. this step allowed us to examine how each block of variables contributed uniquely to the variance in the outcome measure and identify the amount of explained variance in the outcome variables after controlling for each block. by controlling for independent variables in blocks, we identify and examine the influence of these key experiences and environments. for example, by modeling the variable of interest in the final block of the regression, the contribution of all other independent measures to the variance in the outcome measure was controlled. this allowed us to focus on unique elements in our model like the impact of enrolling in an hsi. to preserve the greatest number of respondents in herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 74 the sample, we employed the expectation-maximization (em) algorithm, as a more accurate estimation method for replacing missing values (krishnan & mclachlan, 1997), listwise deletion removed cases with missing data for the outcome variable, key demographic characteristics, dichotomous variables, and institutional variables. study limitations before we present our findings, it is important to acknowledge the limitations of the study. first, due to the nature of quantitative data, we focused on the frequency and not the quality of interaction between institutional agents and students. while frequent interaction between institutional agents and students is an important component of successful student outcomes (m.e. levin & j.r. levin, 1991), students’ perceived quality of interaction is far more meaningful in supporting student success (cole, 2010; lundberg et al., 2007). another limitation of the study is the usage of the bps. while the bps provides variables to assess student engagement with institutional agents, the variables available may not be representative of the types of interactions students want, or have with faculty, especially at two-year public institutions. further, survey respondents may interpret “interactions with faculty out of the classroom” differently depending on who is considered faculty within their college. within colleges where counselors are also faculty, students may have considered their non-classroom interactions with primarily non-instructional staff as interactions with faculty. other research has highlighted the differential engagement patterns of non-traditional, first-generation, commuter students, noting that the aforementioned student population interacts seldom with faculty outside of class, and the majority of interaction happens within the classroom setting (pike et al., 2008; wyatt, 2011). hence, further research should also consider interactions within the classroom as these may provide a more complete picture of engagement within the two-year sector. lastly, limited sample sizes for latinx students attending community colleges and two-year hsis, did not allow for further disaggregation of latinx ethnic subgroups or separate regression analyses comparing across students attending hsis and non-hsis; therefore, these may be important areas to explore in future research. connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 75 findings descriptive analyses table 2 provides the results of cross-tabulations, which were employed to gain a nuanced understanding of students’ interactions with institutional agents across race/ethnicity and latinx ethnic subgroups. overall, larger proportions of students had some type of interaction (sometimes or often) with faculty academically outside of class in comparison to informal (non-academic) interactions. when compared to other students of color, latinx students had the lowest rates of academic interaction outside of class with 65.5% meeting sometimes or often in comparison to 66.8% and 72.3% for asian american and african american students respectively. disaggregating across latinx ethnic subgroups, mexican american/chicanx students had lower rates of academic interaction outside of class with 64.6% meeting sometimes or often in comparison to 66.2% and 71.6% for puerto rican and other latinx students respectively. similarly, when examining informal meetings, latinx students had the lowest rates of informal interaction with 26.9% meeting sometimes or often in comparison to 33.1% and 40.5% for asian american and african american students respectively. there were only slight differences in informal interaction when disaggregating by latinx subgroups, with 26.9%, 27.2%, and 27.4% for mexican american/chicanx, puerto rican, and other latinx students respectively. herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 76 table 2 interaction with institutional agents by race/ethnicity & latinx ethnic subgroups faculty academic meeting outside class faculty informal meeting outside class % sometimes/often % sometimes/often asian american 72.3 40.5 african american 66.8 33.1 latinx 65.5 26.9 puerto rican 71.6 27.2 other latinx 66.2 27.4 mexican american/chicanx 64.6 26.9 regression analyses table 3 presents the unstandardized (b) and standardized (β) regression coefficients and r-square statistics for each regression model. the first regression model focused on latinx demographic characteristics, including race/ethnicity and gender. considering the descriptive findings indicating mexican american/chicanx students had the lowest rates of interaction with faculty in comparison to other latinx ethnic subgroups, we included this variable in the regression, which allowed us to explore whether or not these differences would remain significant after controlling for other demographic characteristics and precollege and undergraduate experiences. within this first model, identification as mexican american/chicanx was a statistically significant negative predictor of engagement with institutional agents. mexican american/chicanx students have a 0.15 lower frequency of interaction with institutional agents in comparison to latinx students who do not identify as mexican american/chicanx, specifically cuban, puerto rican, mixed latinx or other latinx students. model 2 added variables related to students’ socioeconomic status, namely mother’s education level and income. after controlling for students’ socioeconomic status, students’ identification as mexican american/chicanx is no longer significant. instead, mother’s education was a significant positive predictor with a 0.07 higher frequency of interaction with institutional agents for every additional level of education attained. connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 77 model 3 introduces undergraduate experiences to the regression model. after controlling for demographics, precollege factors, and undergraduate experiences, there are four statistically significant predictors of engagement: mother’s education, enrolling full-time, participating in study groups, and social integration. for every step increase (i.e. from bachelor’s degree to master’s degree) in maternal education, a 0.04 higher frequency in interaction with institutional agents is expected. enrolling full-time during the first year of enrollment is a positive predictor of engagement with institutional agents, as students who enroll full time during their first year of post-secondary education have a 0.17 higher frequency of engagement than students who enroll less than full-time. students who participate more often in study groups have a 0.40-point increase in the frequency of interaction with institutional agents for every one-unit increase in participation. social integration, a variable derived from students’ attendance in fine arts activities, participate in sports, and social clubs, is also a strong positive predictor of engagement. students who had higher frequencies of participating in these social activities have a 0.01 increase in interaction with institutional agents for every one-unit increase in social integration. herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 78 table 3 regression analysis predicting frequency of interaction with institutional agents among latinx community college students (n=710, rounded per nces reporting guidelines) model 1 (r2=.005) model 2 (r2=.023) model 3 (r2=.243) model 4 (r2=.249) b s.e. β sig. b s.e. β sig. b s.e. β sig. b s.e. β sig. (constant) 1.64 0.14 1.43 0.16 0.44 0.30 0.48 0.30 demographics mexican american or chicano -0.15 0.08 -0.07 *** -0.10 0.08 -0.05 -0.06 0.07 -0.03 -0.01 0.08 0.00 female -0.04 0.08 -0.02 -0.02 0.08 -0.01 -0.02 0.07 -0.01 -0.02 0.07 -0.01 precollege factors mother's education 0.07 0.02 0.14 ** 0.04 0.02 0.08 * 0.03 0.02 0.07 * income -0.08 0.08 -0.04 -0.01 0.07 0.00 -0.02 0.07 -0.01 undergraduate experiences 2004: full-time work -0.08 0.08 -0.04 -0.09 0.08 -0.04 delayed enrollment -0.05 0.08 -0.03 -0.05 0.08 -0.02 degree aspirations 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.05 0.05 enrolled full-time 2003-04 0.17 0.08 0.08 * 0.16 0.08 0.08 * declared major 2003-04 0.12 0.07 0.06 0.13 0.07 0.06 gpa 2003-04 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 79 frequency: study groups 2004/2006 0.40 0.05 0.30 *** 0.41 0.05 0.31 *** social integration 2004/2006 0.01 0.00 0.25 *** 0.01 0.00 0.26 *** institutional context hispanic-serving institution 2003 -0.16 0.08 -0.08 * note. * p<0.05 **p<0.01 ***p<0.001 herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 80 the fourth and final model accounts for latinx students’ enrollment in hispanic-serving institutions. in the final model, all the predictors in model 3 remained statistically significant with participation in study groups being the strongest predictor of engagement ( = 0.31) followed by social integration ( = 0.26). additionally, enrollment in a hsi is a negative predictor of engagement with institutional agents; specifically, latinx students who enroll in a hsi have a 0.16 lower frequency of engagement with institutional agents in comparison to their latinx peers who are not enrolled at an hsi. table 3 also includes the r-square statistic for each regression model, which represents the percentage of variance in latinx frequency of interaction with institutional agents accounted for by each block of variables. model 3, focused on undergraduate experiences, (r2 = 0.243) appears to have the most impact on latinx engagement with institutional agents and represents a 0.220 increase in the explained variance over model 2. furthermore, the final r-squared, which takes into consideration the influence of institutional context, accounts for 24.9% of the variance of latinx frequency of interaction with institutional agents, an increase of 0.05% from model 3. discussion and conclusions this study explored formal (academic) and informal (non-academic) interactions with faculty outside of the classroom, both of which are vital in fostering success among latinx community college students. while research suggests that students’ contact with faculty out of class is minimal (abu, adera, kamsani, & ametepee, 2012), our descriptive results show that students interact more with faculty about academic matters outside of the classroom and have very little informal interactions with faculty. students seeking support on academic matters outside of the classroom is an indicator of students’ engagement and sense of belonging (barnett, 2011; dayton, gonzalez-vasquez, martinez, & plum, 2004; tovar, 2014). yet, higher frequencies of student-faculty interaction about personal and family issues is linked to persistence in community college students (bharath, 2009); therefore, informal or social contacts are important to foster mentoring relationships between faculty and students (crisp & cruz, 2009). informal engagement with faculty influences students’ academic success, social satisfaction (m. e. levin & j.r. levin, 1991), and self-efficacy (santos & reigadas, 2002). mentoring relationships facilitate students’ personal and social adjustment to college by connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 81 providing emotional support and access to resources and information (santos & reigadas, 2002). in general, students’ engagement with faculty outside of the classroom is crucial in increasing overall academic, career, and personal development (kim, 2010; tovar, 2014). prior research has noted differences in the amount interaction with faculty for latinx students versus white students (anaya & cole, 2001), but has not been able to tease out the experiences of particular latinx ethnic groups. the majority of empirical quantitative research in higher education treats latinx students as one homogenous group (arellano, 2011). this study, however, capitalizes on its unique capacity to explore interactions with institutional agents across latinx subgroups. our findings reveal that latinx students have the lowest rates of engagement with institutional agents in comparison with all other racial groups. further, when disaggregating across ethnic subgroups we observed lower levels of formal and informal interaction among mexican american/chicanx students in comparison to their puerto rican and other latinx peers. the study was limited by the data available through bps, yet advanced from recent literature by disaggregating across three latinx subgroups; however, due to a lack of specification of ethnicity at the time of data collection and low response rates among specific groups, additional disaggregation by country of origin was limited. future research should heed the call to further disaggregate latinx subgroups to fully understand the nuances of a diverse latinx population. the initial regression model indicated ethnic subgroup differences, with lower interaction rates for mexican american/chicanx students in comparison to their cuban, puerto rican, mixed latinx, and other latinx peers. however, these differences across subgroups were no longer significant after controlling for income and mother’s education. this loss of significance may be explained by the literature demonstrating that chicanx students have on average lower income and higher proportions of first-generation college students in comparison to puerto rican and other latinx students (arellano, 2011). clearly parental education is an important factor, as it remained a significant predictor of engagement even after accounting for college experiences and institutional context. this finding supports prior literature that found status as a first-generation college student to be a negative predictor of engagement with faculty within the classroom (soria & stebleton, 2012). several undergraduate experiences were central factors impacting latinx students’ engagement with institutional agents. participation in study groups was the strongest significant herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 82 predictor of greater interaction with institutional agents, suggesting that students who are more involved with their peers are more academically engaged. this finding is consistent with research indicating students who frequently discussed coursework with other students had a higher sense of belonging at the institution, including interactions with faculty (hurtado & carter, 1997). similarly, study groups create a sense of comfort and belonging for community college students (deil-amen, 2011). this is an important factor for students of color, in particular, as participation in study groups positively influences academic performance and social engagement on campus (kincey, 2007). social integration, a composite variable that includes participation in clubs, sports and fine art activities, is also a significant positive predictor of student engagement with institutional agents. this composite variable is operationalized in the survey as social integration, yet it primarily measures the frequency of behaviors and does not fully capture the complicated reality of this type of engagement for historically marginalized students (hurtado & carter, 1997) and community college and commuter students (deil-amen, 2011). we conceptualize these activities as social dimensions of two-year experience that may promote engagement in information networks that informally facilitate the transfer of institutional knowledge or procedures (karp, hughes, & o’gara, 2010). with fewer opportunities to build these out of classroom relationships within the two-year context, it makes sense that students who are more involved overall and in social and academic activities that engage them in these informal information networks are more likely to interact with institutional agents more frequently. acknowledging the unique nature of community colleges is key to understanding the conditions that promote or hinder latinx student engagement with institutional agents. many students within two-year contexts are low-income, non-traditional, first-generation college students who may be working full-time or have other family or personal commitments—all populations that have shown lower rates of engagement (lundberg et al., 2007; wyatt, 2011). in our analysis, full-time enrollment was a significant positive predictor of interaction with faculty, substantiating prior research suggesting that students who enroll full-time tend to have higher engagement patterns than students who attend part-time (b. jacoby, 2014). many students enroll part-time due to familial responsibilities, full-time employment, or other responsibilities. the two-year environment is one where diverse student populations spend minimal time on campus, only attending classes and consequently have less opportunities to connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 83 interact with faculty (tovar, 2014). thus, faculty play an important role as the primary point of contact with students and impact students’ outcomes through meaningful relationships (nakajima, dembo, & mossler, 2012) particularly for community college students (kim, 2010; tovar, 2014) and latinx students (barnett, 2011). within this context, it is important to ensure that contact with faculty is meaningful, frequent, and focused on ways in which faculty can address systematic challenges for students. unfortunately, the community college environment is often not conducive for promoting advising and mentoring of students as an important component of faculty members’ professional responsibilities (o’meara & braskamp, 2005) nor does it employ sustainable employment practices that promote student-faculty engagement (j. s. levin & hernandez, 2014). part time faculty are a growing presence in higher education, accounting for almost half of faculty in higher education overall and more than two thirds at community colleges (j. s. levin & hernandez, 2014), providing nearly half of all instruction at community colleges (d. jacoby, 2006). high proportions of part-time faculty are associated with lower levels of student engagement (porter, 2006), as part-time faculty report interacting with students at lower frequencies than tenured and tenure-track faculty (nakajima et al., 2012; umbach, 2007). the overreliance on part-time faculty, particularly at community colleges, adds another challenge to fostering student engagement between faculty and students. part-time faculty may lack appropriate support and resources to advocate on behalf of students. many part-time faculty teach at multiple community college campuses making it difficult to stay connected to a particular campus. part-time faculty may not have access to office space which limits the opportunities to meet with students (kezar, 2012). further, lack of adequate compensation diminishes part-time faculty’s motivation to engage with students (eagan & jaeger, 2009; ehrenberg & zhang, 2005). it is important for college leaders to recognize negative impacts of overreliance on part-time faculty (ehrenberg & zhang, 2005). to this end, community college leaders must work towards decreasing reliance on part-time faculty while fostering a campus environment which views faculty, regardless of their status, as “essential contributors to student outcomes” instead of “individuals that are unwilling to cooperate” (levin et al., 2010, p. 54). faculty, including part-time faculty, are professionals generally interested in supporting the critical and creative thinking of their students (terosky & gonzales, 2016); therefore, it is herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 84 critical to create opportunities to compensate faculty (financially and cognitively) who engage with students beyond the classroom setting. it is imperative that community colleges identify strategies to encourage interaction for latinx students. arguably, hsis are the most well positioned to foster latinx engagement as they have greater representation of latinx faculty and administration (núñez et al., 2015). access to role models and faculty of the same ethnicity can greatly impact latinx students’ motivation to succeed in college (dayton et al., 2004). hsis hold potential for creating supportive campus climates and increasing academic self-concept for latinxs (núñez et al., 2015). unfortunately, our findings reveal that hsis fall short of this potential as latinx students who enroll in hsis had lower rates of interaction with institutional agents in comparison to their peers at non-hsis. scholars have criticized low student outcomes of latinx students at hsis by using the term “hispanic-enrolling” instead of “hispanic-serving” suggesting access alone does not fulfill a larger mission and commitment to latinx students (gasman, 2008). garcia (2017) argues that “hispanic-serving” goes beyond the metrics of latinx persistence and attainment, but includes providing community engagement opportunities, positive campus climate, and support programs. clearly an organizational shift is needed within the two-year sector to fully realize the potential of student-faculty relationships in promoting latinx postsecondary success. the onus of accountability must move from the student to the institution, which includes supporting faculty to engage with students. faculty members, as institutional agents, are situated organizationally in a position of power to connect historically underserved students with resources and remove institutional barriers (stanton-salazar, 2011). in doing so, faculty can impact not only the success of latinx students, but also the culture of the institution. the institutional environments of community colleges and hsis add complex nuances to be considered as we reimagine the role of faculty in these unique contexts. connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 85 references abu, s., adera, b., kamsani, s. r., & ametepee, l. k. (2012). addressing the increasing college student attrition rate by creating effective classroom interaction. review of higher education & self-learning, 5(16), 16–25. alford, h. (2012). the moderating effects of racial identity and cultural mistrust on the relationship between student-faculty interaction and persistence for black community college students (unpublished dissertation). university of southern california. anaya, g., & cole, d. (2001). latina/o student achievement: exploring the influence of studentfaculty interactions on college grades. journal of college student development, 42(1). arellano, l. (2011). capitalizing baccalaureate degree attainment: revealing the path of the latina/o scholar (unpublished dissertation). university of california, los angeles. arzy, m. r., davies, t., & harbour, c. p. (2006). low income students: their lived university campus experiences pursing baccalaureate degrees with private foundation scholarship assistance. college student journal, 40(4), 750–766. astin, a. w., & antonio, a. l. (2012). assessment for excellence (second edition). lanham, maryland: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. baker, c. n. (2013). social support and success in higher education: the influence of on-campus support on african american and latino college students. the urban review, 45(5), 632– 650. barnett, e. a. (2011). validation experiences and persistence among community college students. the review of higher education, 34(2), 193–230. beattie, i. r., & thiele, m. (2016). connecting in class? college class size and inequality in academic social capital. the journal of higher education, 87(3), 332–362. bensimon, e. m., & dowd, a. (2009). dimensions of the transfer choice gap: experiences of latina and latino students who navigated transfer pathways. harvard educational review, 79(4), 632–659. bharath, d. (2009). effects of student-faculty interactions on persistence of underprepared community college students [unpublished dissertation]. florida international university. cominole, m., wheeless, s., dudley, k., franklin, j., & wine, j. (2007). 2004/06 beginning postsecondary students longitudinal study (bps: 04/06). methodology report. nces 2008-184. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. contreras, f., & contreras, g. j. (2015). raising the bar for hispanic serving institutions an analysis of college completion and success rates. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 151–170. cox, b. e., & orehovec, e. (2007). faculty-student interaction outside the classroom: a typology from a residential college. the review of higher education, 30(4), 343–362. crisp, g., & cruz, i. (2009). mentoring college students: a critical review of the literature between 1990 and 2007. research in higher education, 50(6), 525–545. herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 86 dayton, b., gonzalez-vasquez, n., martinez, c. r., & plum, c. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions through the eyes of students and administrators. new directions for student services, 2004(105), 29–40. defreitas, s. c., & bravo, a. j. (2012). the influence of involvement with faculty and mentoring on the self-efficacy and academic achievement of african american and latino college students. journal of the scholarship of teaching and learning, 12(4), 1–11. deil-amen, r. (2011). socio-academic integrative moments: rethinking academic and social integration among two-year college students in career-related programs. journal of higher education, 82(1), 54–91. eagan, k. m., & jaeger, a. j. (2009). effects of exposure to part-time faculty on community college transfer. research in higher education, 50(2), 168–188. ehrenberg, r. g., & zhang, l. (2005). do tenured and tenure-track faculty matter? journal of human resources, 40(3), 647–659. excelencia in education. (2014). black + brown: institutions of higher education. washington, dc: execelencia in education. garcia, g. a. (2017). defined by outcomes or culture? constructing an organizational identity for hispanic-serving institutions. american educational research journal, 54(1_suppl), 111s–134s. gasman, m. (2008). minority-serving institutions: a historical backdrop. in m. gasman, b. baez, & c. s. v. turner (eds.), understanding minority-serving institutions (pp. 18–27). albany, ny: state university of new york press. green, d. w. (2007). adjunct faculty and the continuing quest for quality. new directions for community colleges, 2007(140), 29–39. gusa, d. l. (2010). white institutional presence: the impact of whiteness on campus climate. harvard educational review, 80(4), 464–489. hispanic association of colleges and universities. (2016). fact sheet: hispanic higher education and hsi. retrieved from http://www.hacu.net/hacu/hsi_fact_sheet.asp hurtado, s., & carter, d. f. (1997). effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on latino college students’ sense of belonging. sociology of education, 70(4), 324. hurtado, s., santos, j. l., sáenz, v. b., & cabrera, n. l. (eds.). (2008). advancing in higher education: a portrait of latina/o college freshmen at four-year institutions, 1975-2006. higher education research institute. jacoby, b. (2014). engaging commuter and part-time students. in s. j. quaye & s. r. harper (eds.), student engagement in higher education: theoretical perspectives and practical applications (2nd edition) (pp. 289-306). new york, ny: routledge taylor & francis. jacoby, d. (2006). effects of part-time faculty employment on community college graduation rates. journal of higher education, 77(6), 1081–1103. connecting through engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 87 jolley, m. r., cross, e., & bryant, m. (2014). a critical challenge: the engagement and assessment of contingent, part-time adjunct faculty professors in united states community colleges. community college journal of research and practice, 38(2-3), 218–230. karp, m. m., hughes, k. l., & o’gara, l. (2010). an exploration of tinto’s integration framework for community college students. journal of college student retention: research, theory and practice, 12(1), 69–86. kezar, a. j. (2012). embracing non-tenure track faculty: changing campuses for the new faculty majority. new york, ny: routledge. kim, y. k. (2010). racially different patterns of student-faculty interaction in college: a focus on levels, effects, and causal directions. journal of the professoriate, 3(2), 161–189. kim, y. k., & lundberg, c. a. (2016). a structural model of the relationship between student– faculty interaction and cognitive skills development among college students. research in higher education, 57(3), 288–309. kincey, s. d. (2007). mentoring african american students at a predominantly white institution: its relationship to academic performance, persistence, and retention [unpublished dissertation]. the florida state university. krishnan, t., & mclachlan, g. (1997). the em algorithm and extensions. wiley, 1(997), 58–60. levin, j. s., cox, e. m., cerven, c., & haberler, z. (2010). the recipe for promising practices in community colleges. community college review, 38(1), 31–58. levin, j. s., & hernandez, v. m. (2014). divided identity: part-time faculty in public colleges and universities. the review of higher education, 37(4), 531–557. levin, m. e., & levin, j. r. (1991). a critical examination of academic retention programs for atrisk minority college students. journal of college student development, 32, 323–334. lundberg, c. a., schreiner, l. a., hovaguimian, k., & slavin miller, s. (2007). first-generation status and student race/ethnicity as distinct predictors of student involvement and learning. journal of student affairs research and practice, 44(1), 57–83. nakajima, m. a., dembo, m. h., & mossler, r. (2012). student persistence in community colleges. community college journal of research and practice, 36(8), 591–613. núñez, a. m., hurtado, s., & galdeano, e. c. (2015). hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice. new york, ny: routledge. o’meara, k., & braskamp, l. (2005). aligning faculty reward systems and development to promote faculty and student growth. naspa journal, 42(2). pérez, d., & sáenz, v. b. (2017). thriving latino males in selective predominantly white institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(2), 162–186. pike, g. r., kuh, g. d., & massa-mckinley, r. c. (2008). first-year students’ employment, engagement, and academic achievement: untangling the relationship between work and grades. naspa journal, 45(4), 560–582. porter, s. r. (2006). institutional structures and student engagement. research in higher education, 47(5), 521–558. herrera, hernández chapar, & kovats sánchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 88 price, d. v., & tovar, e. (2014). student engagement and institutional graduation rates: identifying high-impact educational practices for community colleges. community college journal of research and practice, 38(9), 766–782. provasnik, s., & planty, m. (2008). community colleges: special supplement to the condition of education 2008. statistical analysis report. nces 2008-033. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. santos, s. j., & reigadas, e. t. (2002). latinos in higher education: an evaluation of a university faculty mentoring program. journal of hispanic higher education, 1(1), 40–50. sax, l. j., bryant, a. n., & harper, c. e. (2005). the differential effects of student-faculty interaction on college outcomes for women and men. journal of college student development, 46(6), 642–657. soria, k. m., & stebleton, m. j. (2012). first-generation students’ academic engagement and retention. teaching in higher education, 17(6), 673–685. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2011). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. youth & society, 43(3), 1066–1109. terosky, a. l., & gonzales, l. d. (2016). re-envisioned contributions: experiences of faculty employed at institutional types that differ from their original aspirations. the review of higher education, 39(2), 241–268. tovar, e. (2014). the role of faculty, counselors, and support programs on latino/a community college students’ success and intent to persist. community college review, 43(1), 46–71. umbach, p. d. (2007). how effective are they? exploring the impact of contingent faculty on undergraduate education. review of higher education, 30(2), 91–123. upcraft, m. l., gardner, j. n., & overman, b. (2004). challenging and supporting the first-year student: a handbook for improving the first year of college. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. wyatt, l. g. (2011). nontraditional student engagement: increasing adult student success and retention. the journal of continuing higher education, 59(1), 10–20. conceptualizing faculty as institutional agents interaction with institutional agents methodology variables and coding findings discussion and conclusions open_issues-12.indd association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 48 revisiting the coleman report: defi cit ideologies and federal compensatory funding in low-income latino school communities oscar jimenez-castellanos arizona state university abstract the essay argues that the coleman report helped give credence to contemporary defi cit ideologies in education by proclaiming that schools do not make much of a difference in the educational outcomes of students in poverty including latino communities. furthermore, the author explores how defi cit ideologies infl uence compensatory funding, in particular title i, and concludes with recommendations to improve compensatory allotments that reject defi cit views for low-income latino students. introduction the united states department of education (usdoe) was founded in 1867 to collect information on schools with the goal of helping states establish effective school systems. a century later, in the midst of progressive “great society initiatives” and civil rights legislation, the u.s. congress passed the elementary and secondary education act of 196519 (esea), a comprehensive set of k-12 programs that includes the title i and title vii (now title iii) program of federal fi nancial support for students in poverty and english language learners (ells), respectively. during the same time period, james coleman and colleagues conducted an educational study on schools and inequality commissioned under the civil rights act of 1964 and sponsored by the usdoe entitled equality of educational opportunity (1966). more commonly known as “the coleman report,” this study still has implications on how we view our public k-12 education system. the author argues that the coleman report helped give credence to contemporary defi cit ideologies in education by proclaiming that schools do not make much of a difference in the educational outcomes of students in poverty including latino students. defi cit ideologies focus on how biological, cultural, and/or environmental factors explain the underachievement of latino students in poverty (valencia, 1997). these ideologies aim to remedy academic defi ciencies of latino children and families in poverty by changing their cultural behaviors and beliefs that are seen as the cause of their low academic attainment (gorksi, 2008; olivos, 2006). furthermore, the author explores how defi cit ideologies infl uence compensatory funding, in particular title i, and concludes with recommendations to improve compensatory allotments that reject defi cit views for low-income latino students. the coleman report the coleman report was monumental in its scope, fi ndings, and impact on education. it drew on data from surveys of 600,000 students, 60,000 educators including several thousand principals and hundreds of school superintendents, and over 3,000 schools across the country, making it the second largest social science research study ever done in the u.s. at the time. many politicians, educators, and education scholars thought that the study would reveal signifi cant school resource inequalities, but it did not. instead, coleman and his colleagues claimed that their fi ndings indicated that a student’s background and socioeconomic status are much more important than measured differences in school resources (such as per pupil spending) in determining educational outcomes. consequently, the coleman report was met with a strong academic and political backlash (see bowels & leven, 1968; moynihan, 1968). in particular, bowels and leven (1968) severely critiqued the study’s methodology including the sampling and response rate of the survey, pointing to an overrepresentation of suburban schools and an underrepresentation of schools in large cities. they pointed, as well, to statistical fl aws 19 currently titled “no child left behind” (nclb) revisiting the coleman report: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 49 in the research design and analysis. regardless of the early criticisms, the coleman report has persevered and continues to affect the public policy in education in signifi cant ways. as borman and dowling (2010) lamented, “despite past re-analyses of the coleman data and decades of research on the effects of schools as organizations, the report’s fundamental fi nding—that a student’s family background is far more important than school social composition and school resources for understanding student outcomes—still retains much of its currency” (p. 1202). ravich (1981) further articulated the effect of the coleman report: in addition, espinosa (1985) explained that one reason the issue of school resources (e.g., fi nances, facilities) had been largely ignored is that: consequently, federal funding for education research has tended toward studies focused on examining individual students’ locus of control, motivation, and behaviors as malleable factors to improve student learning. signifi cantly less education funding has gone to examining the structural issues that contribute to unequal educational outcomes, allowing the coleman report and its fi ndings to gain momentum. if educators take to heart the coleman report that school resources do not make a difference, but student characteristics do, the implication are to focus on changing the culture and behaviors of latino students and families in poverty so that they can resemble that of affl uent families. consider, as an example, this analysis from goldsmith (2010): defi cit ideologies and title i funding the two primary federal funding sources earmarked to support latino students in poverty are title i and title iii (previously title vii), which are related to poverty and english language acquisition. there is no direct funding source designed for latino students in k-12 schools. the title iii funding is designed for latino (and nonlatino) students who are learning english as a second language and title i funding is designed for latino (and nonlatino) students who are in poverty. even though title iii seems to be more specifi c to latino students since some latinos are second language learners; there are still more latino students who are in poverty than there are latino students learning english as a second language. in fact, most latino students are english speaking. in addition, title i is a signifi cantly larger allotment than title iii. for these two reasons, i have chosen to focus on title i funding instead of title iii funding in this paper. arguing that title i has equally if not a more signifi cant impact on latino communities than title iii. however, both are targeting different needs. title i was originally conceived as a compensatory vehicle for distributing federal funding to school …its most pervasive effect was to encourage the feeling that the schools were unable to affect student achievement very greatly…whether students did well or poorly in schools seemed determined for the most part by their human resources, and little, if at all, by anything that teachers or schools did…[therefore] it becomes diffi cult to argue on behalf of any given curriculum, requirement, or policy” (p. 719) [p]roponents of [coleman’s] philosophy believed that future investigation into resource distribution and possible educational disparities would not provide answers on how to improve the opportunities or achievement of educationally deprived students. this helps to explain why attempts to extract information pertaining to school inequality and resource disparities were neglected by many researchers. (p. 3) most studies of peer effects use… a normative model because they theorize that students become like their peers. the peer-effect explanation dates back at least to the seminal work of coleman and his colleagues, who argued that middle-class students often have beliefs and behaviors that associate with greater achievement and that in schools with many of these students, the students create a normative climate that promotes achievement. (p. 509) revisiting the coleman report: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 50 districts based on the number of low-income children enrolled (6,500 or 15%). the intent of title i funds is to “supplement not supplant” the resources provided to children in poverty to support their education. in other words, title i funds should specifi cally target students in poverty, but not replace general education funds. because title i funds are allocated to local educational agencies (leas)—school districts—state educational agencies are in charge of distributing the funds to districts, monitoring district programs for compliance, providing technical assistance and administering special state programs. the united states department of education most recent data on participation in the title i program from school year (sy) 2009-10 show that more than 56,000 public schools across the country received title i funding. that same year, title i served more than 21 million children, many of which are latino students. of these students, approximately 59 percent were in kindergarten through fi fth grade, 21 percent in grades 6-8 and 17 percent in grades 9-12. a critical perspective on the rationale for compensatory education illuminates how defi cit ideologies infl uence the design and perception of title i and other similar compensatory funding programs such as title iii. according to stickney and fitzpatrick (1987, p. 4) the original rationale for compensatory education funding was based on the following premises: 1. the total environment has a profound infl uence on measured intelligence and scholastic achievement. 2. schools are an important part of the total environment. 3. improved schooling for disadvantaged children could compensate for inadequacies in measured intelligence and scholastic achievement caused by inadequacies in the total environment. therefore, defi cit ideologies inform the rationale for compensatory education by believing that latino (and non-latino) students in poverty are “disadvantaged” and there is a need to “compensate” for the “inadequacies” of these students. ironically, the majority of title i and title iii proponents are well-intentioned educators advocating on behalf of student in poverty in the name of fairness. again, stickney and fitzpatrick (1987) express this sentiment as well, however, the original 1965 legislation did not specify the types of services that districts should provide to students leading to abuses and misuses (e.g., tutoring, remedial programs). school districts are responsible for designing and running title i programs, and allocating funding to schools to support educational services for children in poverty. schools enrolling at least 40 percent of children from low-income families are eligible to use title i funds for school-wide programs designed to upgrade their entire educational programs to improve achievement for all students, particularly the lowest-achieving students. one of the major challenges school leaders face in designing and implementing title i programs is the lack of knowledge about what works to improve the achievement of students in poverty including latino students. without this knowledge, providing districts and schools with more resources will be ineffective unless those resources are used in ways that actually meet the needs of students in poverty and enable them to succeed academically. regrettably, title i allotments are too commonly expended to provide a school wide remedial education in high poverty schools helping to create a culture of low expectations and low rigor (jimenez-castellanos, 2008) for low-income latino students. for instance, title i funds are commonly used to purchase test prep materials, grammar programs such as “breaking the code”, and reading intervention programs such as “success for all”. these interventions are in addition to pre-packaged basal reading and math curriculums, such as “open court” and “saxon math,” that stress skills and drills instead of critical thinking and culturally relevant pedagogy. furthermore, most high poverty schools provide minimal history, science, art, music and physical education, since these subjects are seen as non-essential to improve standardized test scores. ironically, this compensatory …if the inequalities in the environment are principally responsible for the inequalities in achievement, then probably the only way to signifi cantly reduce the inequalities in achievement is to signifi cantly reduce the inequalities in the environment. in the meantime, in the fi eld of education, that part of the environment that is compensatory schooling may be one of our most important, though modest egalitarian strategies. (p. 55) revisiting the coleman report: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 51 approach to improving standardized test scores does not properly prepare low-income latino students to meet the minimum standards, much less prepare them to learn complex, high order problem solving skills. ultimately, compensatory education is operationalized through low expectations of children and selecting low rigor programs, curriculums and interventions to address their defi ciencies (jimenez-castellanos & rodriguez, 2009; rodriguez, 2007). thus, title i represents an interesting paradox. on the one hand, title i funding attempts to counter the coleman report’s fi ndings that school resources matter yet at the same time are designed and implemented based on defi cit ideology. given the defi cit based compensatory approach used to serve students in poverty especially latino students, it should not be surprising that title i is not producing the desired results for latino and other traditionally marginalized communities. yet the author argues that low achievement is not caused by a student’s culture, behavior or characteristics but instead the low quality instructional program provided. why should we expect low quality programs to produce high academic outcomes? some suggest that a lack of or negative correlation between title i funds and achievement means money does not matter (hanushek, 1986). however, there is no data to suggest that less funding including reduced title i funds produce better results for latino students in poverty (baker, 2012). in the end, low expectations via compensatory education for latino (and non-latino) students in poverty, and not the title i funding itself, helps to predict low achievement for students in poverty (espinosa 1985; espinosa & ochoa, 1992; jimenez-castellanos, 2010). while there is a great need for additional research on what uses of title i funds are most effective, a growing body of evidence on the educational approaches and programs that are proven to increase achievement among students in poverty can provide a basis for how to better invest title i dollars. however, many districts and schools do not have adequate information about which programs actually work. without such information, districts have been slow to adopt proven, evidence-based practices with their title i funds, particularly when implementing such practices requires a substantial departure from what the district is currently doing. there are several examples of promising practices for spending title i funds that are supported by research and proven to improve the achievement of students in poverty. expanding quality preschool opportunities: districts can use title i funds to support preschool services for young latino children in poverty by increasing access to reach more children or raising the quality of existing programs. implementing early literacy interventions: title i can fund well-designed early interventions to address the reading challenges facing elementary school low-income latino students. intervening earlier can be more successful and cost-effective than providing remedial services in later years. engaging parents in a meaningful way: districts can use title i parent involvement funds to develop strategies that more deeply engage latino parents in their child’s education and address the particular challenges, needs and aspirations of parents in latino communities. creating a culture of high expectations and college-readiness: title i funds can support efforts to cultivate a collegegoing culture that focuses on ensuring that all low-income latino students are held to high standards and provided with the support they need to succeed academically. extending quality instructional time: title i can fund efforts to extend the school day or the school year to provide additional instructional time to help latino student in poverty accelerate academically. maximizing title i per pupil allocations: emerging research suggests that focusing available district title i resources in ways that maximize the per pupil allocation provided to schools may facilitate more effective title i programming by ensuring that funds are not diluted. conclusion revisiting the coleman report: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 52 even though, many scholars have repudiated the coleman report over the years, it continues to have direct impact on how we view and fund public schools, especially high poverty latino school communities. this essay examined the interrelationship among the coleman report, defi cit ideologies and title i funding in high poverty latino school communities. the coleman report to some extent has given credence to defi cit ideologies by asserting that a student’s background and socioeconomic status are much more important in determining educational outcomes than are measured differences in school effects, leading many educators and policy makers to believe that the remedy to improving the educational attainment of students in poverty lies primarily in modifying their cultural behaviors and beliefs. title i funding for high poverty latino schools have been infl uenced by defi cit ideologies, which use remedial education to compensate for students’ academic defi ciencies instead of providing high quality educational programs to eliminate the achievement gap (jimenezcastellanos, 2008). to conclude this paper, a couple of anti-defi cit recommendations are provided to help improve title i funding and the education of latino students in poverty. the hope is that these recommendations serve to improve the way we educate high poverty latino schools, children and families. believe schools can make an impact—it is paramount for policy-makers, researchers and educators to believe that schools can make a difference in the lives of children especially latino students in poverty. they must go beyond the coleman report to continuously examine how school structures and resources can be enhanced to improve the learning of students in poverty. without this belief, it is too easy to become cynical, complacent and/or frustrated with the process of transforming education and begin to blame students and families. it is equally important for educators to hold high expectations for students. we need to make sure not to accept the achievement gap as normal. we need to provide an enriched not remedial curriculum for latino students in poverty. keep and reform title i funds— title i funds should and can have a positive impact on student lives, their learning and outcomes. title i funds should not be eliminated since data suggests that less money will not solve the achievement gap between students in poverty and affl uent students. however title i reform should focus on how these funds are used to enrich the curriculum for latino students in poverty to eliminate the achievement gap. to this end, there should be improved guidelines on how to support schools in effectively utilizing title i funds based on anti-defi cit research-based literature. improve transparency and accountability—another opportunity to reform title i, is to require district and school level expenditure reporting. funding allocations should not only be reported annually but be publically available in a clear manner to increase transparency and communication to local and external stakeholders. at the same time, the accountability should improve to assure that these funds supplement not supplant general funds. the consequences should not be reducing funds, since students are the ones being primarily affected, but instead work with those educational leaders responsible in managing fi scal allotment such as administrators/school boards to improve use of funds. references baker, b. (2012). revisiting that age-old question: does money matter in education? the albert shanker institute. borman, g., & dowling, m. n. (2010). schools and inequality: a multilevel analysis of coleman’s equality of educational opportunity data. teachers college record. 112(5), 1201-1246. revisiting the coleman report: association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal ©2012, volume 6, issue 2 53 bowles, s., & levin, h.m. (1968) the determinants of scholastic achievement-an appraisal of some recent evidence. the journal of human resources, 3(1), 3-24. coleman, j., campbell, e., hobson, c., mcpartland, j., mood, a., et al. (1966). equality of educational opportunity. washington, d.c.: u.s. offi ce of education. espinosa, r. w. (1985). fiscal resources and school facilities and their relationship to ethnicity and achievement in the los angeles unifi ed school district. series on equity issues in education. san diego state university, san diego ca: the social equity technical assistance center. espinosa, r. w., & ochoa, a. m. (1992). the educational attainment of california youth: a public equity crisis. san diego, ca: the social equity technical assistance center, san diego state university. goldsmith, p. r. (2010). coleman revisited: school segregation, peers, and frog ponds. american educational research journal. 48(3), 508-535. gorski, p. (2008). peddling poverty for profi t: a synthesis of criticisms of ruby payne’s framework. equity and excellence in education, 41(1), 130148. hanushek, e. a. (1986) economics of schooling: production and effi ciency in public schools. journal of economic literature. 24 (3) 1141-1177. jimenez-castellanos, o. (2008). beyond equality, equity and adequacy: intra-district resource allocation’s impact on school achievement. unpublished doctoral dissertation, claremont graduate university, claremont, ca. jiménez-castellanos, o. (2010). relationship between educational resources and school achievement: a mixed method intra-district analysis. urban review. 1-21. doi: 10.1007/s11256-010-0166-6 jimenez-castellanos, o., & rodriguez, j.l. (2009). resource reallocation for low-income latino english learners: a multiple comparative case study approach. bilingual research journal, 32(3), 298-316. doi: 10.1080/15235880903372886 moynihan, d. (1968). sources of resistance to the coleman report. harvard educational review. 38(1), 23-36. olivos, e. m. (2006). the power of parents: a critical perspective of bicultural parent involvement in public schools. new york: peter lang. ravitch, d. (1981). the meaning of the new coleman report. the phi delta kappan. 62(10), 718-720. rodríguez, g. m. (2007). cycling on in cultural defi cit thinking: california school fi nance and the possibilities of critical policy analysis. in g. rodríguez & a. rolle (eds.), to what ends & by what means? the social justice implications of contemporary school fi nance theory & policy (pp. 107–143). new york: routledge. stickney, b.d., & fitzpatrick, j. (1987). coleman’s inequality twenty years later: the origins, the issues and the implications. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association, new orleans, la. (eric document reproduction service no. ed297422) valencia, r. (ed.). (1997). the evolution of defi cit thinking: educational thought and practice. london: the falmer press. revisiting the coleman report: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 1 2019 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 124 promoting curriculum of orgullo: latinx’s children’s books and testimonio freyca calderon-berumen penn state university, altoona karla o’donald texas christian university abstract as educators that are committed to democratic liberatory education for all, we are called to create spaces and places where we can cultivate and curate experiences that can provide avenues for students to develop self-awareness and agency. these dialogical spaces and places will problematize and question students’ knowledge and understanding leading them to articulate perspectives inhibited by hidden curriculum that hinders them from developing and actualizing a sense of self and purpose. this essay provides an example of decolonizing curriculum through children’s literature to support students in exploring, analyzing, and creating testimonies as a way to problematize their understandings and experiences with marginalized communities. testimonio, embodied in the aesthetics of children’s literature, provides a pivotal pedagogical tool that allows students to critically reflect on systematic oppression, social inequalities, and hegemonic practices. framed within a curriculum of orgullo (calderonberumen & o’donald, 2017), the testimonies embedded in children’s literature scaffolds the process of reading, producing, and analyzing students’ personal narratives. keywords: testimonio, children’s literature, curriculum of orgullo, students of color. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.449 promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 125 introduction the sociopolitical and cultural climate in the u.s. has historically been contentious and plagued by divisive rhetoric, however, the 45th presidential election exacerbated these divisions through the president’s overtly racist, sexist, and xenophobic discourses. in so doing, people from marginalized backgrounds have experienced alienation and vilification as the dominant discourse purposefully aims to silence counter ideologies. hegemonic rhetoric trickles down to educational settings and manifests as attempts to erase cultural knowledge and ways of being experienced by marginalized communities. this nullification of conocimiento (anzaldúa, 2003) has become pervasive and rampant. we have personally witnessed and experienced this abuse through our lived experiences as teachers of color navigating this narrative with our focus on schools. as educators that promote and support democratic education, we believe it is our responsibility to create opportunities for students and provide spaces within the classrooms to critically (re)(de)construct the self and make sense of the world in which we live. we consider these opportunities as a third-space (bhabha, 1994; anzaldúa, 1987) where students can feel free to ponder, seek meaning, and better understand their realities, where they learn to read the word and the world (freire & macedo, 2005). we also believe that divergent ways of knowing and being are repressed by a hidden curriculum (de lissovoy, 2012; valenzuela, 2010; yosso, 2002) that deprives students, especially students of color, of opportunities to develop a clear sense of self and purpose. therefore, these spaces must allow students to articulate their own interpretation and understanding of their realities in association with the sociopolitical climate they are navigating. we envision the creation of such spaces that can anchor students’ personal, familial, and communal experiences and cultural knowledge as they develop agency to question, analyze, and evaluate the repercussions and capabilities of their experiences. anzaldúa (1987) writes, “awareness of our situation must come before inner changes, which in turn come before changes in society. nothing happens in the ‘real’ world unless it first happens in the images in our heads” (p. 109). alongside, we recognize and value the power of narrative as a catalyst to ignite the process of self-actualization and understanding as the narrator reflects on the lived experiences. anzaldúa (2009) tells us: by writing i put order in the world, give it a handle so i can grasp it… i write to record what others erase when i speak, to rewrite the stories others have miswritten about calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 126 me, about you. to become more intimate with myself and you…the danger in writing is not fusing our personal experiences and world view with the social reality we live in, with our inner life, our history, our economics, and our vision. (p. 30-31) we affirm that voicing and documenting what fuels and informs a person’s curriculum of orgullo (calderon-berumen & o’donald, 2017, p. 36) nourishes the opportunity for contestation and resistance fueling a space where a counter-narrative emerges and denounces the vilification and hyper-surveillance of people of color. therefore, a curriculum of orgullo is foundational to a person’s agency and praxis. our vision of curriculum of orgullo is one that merges the multiplicity and intersectionality of the lived experiences in such a way that incites an understanding of the self. this new understanding fights reductionist hegemonic rhetoric that aim to simplify and categorize a person’s place in the world. within these alternative spaces for expression and examination, assumptions and stereotypes can be challenged and (re)(de)constructed making new perspectives, approaches, and alternatives. this essay invites educators to use children’s literature as a way to incite students to reflect and produce their own stories as counter-narratives. examining and writing their experiences, students will have the opportunity to read the world whilst unfolding a curriculum of orgullo and developing experiential knowledge. in this essay, we propose and present what we believe can be positively introduced in the classroom to incite a curriculum of orgullo through testimonio. first, we introduce our positionalities as latina feminist educators, then we present some of the crucial definitions of the theoretical notions that frame our proposal. second, we present three specific examples of children’s literature that could be used as tools to elicit student’s narratives, and we conclude with an analysis of some implications and considerations. our positionalities and theoretical definitions we consider crucial to include our own positionalities to clarify our approach to this project. we are both from mexican descent. karla came to the u.s. in the middle of her high school journey, while freyca arrived in the u.s. well into her professional and educational career as a graduate student. while our experiences do differ, given our age and education level at the time we migrated to the u.s., our emotional wellbeing and needs related as we shared and traversed similar perplexing situations, both as latinas in the u.s., and as doctoral students. we have spent the last decade studying, working, and practicing the implications of racialized stereotypes of latinas/os in u.s.-based notions of curriculum and pedagogy. we use promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 127 qualitative inquiry approaches and draw upon chicana feminist epistemologies to guide our personal and professional decisions. we are greatly influenced by the work of gloria anzaldúa, and although we don’t teach about her explicitly, her work is foundational to our teaching praxis with pre-service teachers. given our positionalities and our identities as immigrants, latinas, bilingual and multicultural teachers, scholars, and mothers in academia, we are passionately committed to support efforts in education, curriculum, and pedagogy that contribute to raise consciousness of students of color as knowledge constructors and active participants of their societies with voice and agency. our training and experience as educators, and our own lived experiences as immigrant transnational students in the u.s., propel us to promote teaching strategies endorsing the creation and implementation of a curriculum of orgullo in conjunction with the power of narrative through testimonio. in addition to providing our positionalities and interest in this project, we also use this introduction to define key terms used in our approach. decolonizing pedagogy u.s. schools’ demographics have overwhelmingly shifted from a homogeneous population to one that consists of students from distinct backgrounds, multiple socio and economical status, and diverse cultures (nces, 2017). the social condition of the u.s. is defined by buttaro (2010) as colonial because “there continues to be a structured relationship of cultural, political, and economic domination and subordination between europeans and indigenous non-white peoples” (p. 7). she further argues that this situation permeates social institutions like schools that “serve primarily the interests of a dominant white, english speaking, and christian population” (p. 7). the curriculum that is perversely enacted today, decontextualizes and dismisses the experiences, needs, and goals of diverse students that makeup a current classroom in the united states (buttaro, 2010; martin, pirbhai-illich, & pete, 2017; valenzuela, 2019). as other scholars have suggested before (halagao, 2010; martin et al., 2017; sachs et.al., 2017), we advocate for a transformation in approaching, creating, and implementing curriculum within a decolonial framework. we call for the construction and employment of a curriculum that supports, shelters, fosters the experiences and enhances possibilities for students of color while simultaneously problematizes and questions the privileges and advantages of those in charge of educational spaces through decolonizing pedagogy. calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 128 a decolonizing pedagogy is about empowering students by helping them find useful ways to think and discuss their experiences and co-creating ways of resistance (wilson, 2005) and resilience. halagao (2010) indicates that “decolonization is the process of humanizing the dehumanized” (p. 497). since it is a process, we use the term decolonizing to highlight its ongoing practice and implementation that deserves and requires constant and continuous effort, emotional labor, and support. implementing a decolonizing pedagogy demands teachers to believe in their students’ potential and have high expectations for them. buchanan (2013) indicates that decolonizing work is complex and at times produces cognitive dissonance that consequently creates feelings of uncertainty and detachment from our reality. to understand and make sense of these uncomfortable feelings, a revision of our own beliefs and ways of being is necessary as they juxtapose with the dominant discourse. this reflective process necessitates a transitional space that will allow the process of deconstructing and reinventing the self to flourish (grande, 2007). thus, a decolonizing pedagogy also entails accessibility to liminal space(s), not only to encourage students to examine their lived experiences, but also to nurture the learning experience as teachers support their contemplation and the creation of their testimonio. caine, estefan, and clandinin’s (2013) words helps us clarify and solidify our stand, as they indicate: experience in our world is grounded in a relational in-between space where we attend to the multiple dimensions of looking backward and forward, inward and outward, and pay attention to places simultaneously as spaces of being, becoming, and possibility. (p. 582) testimonio is not a new tool for decolonization since there are scholars that have been advocating for a dramatic changes and implementation of a liberatory curriculum (i.e. academia cuauhtli in austin, precious knowledge in the mexican american studies in arizona, or adelante, a university-school-community partnership project in utah) in schools that is comparable to the way we envision (nieto, 1994, 2009; sleeter, 2008; valenzuela, 2010). although these previous efforts have not been identified as decolonizing pedagogies, in and of itself, we dare to characterize them as such since they aim to decenter colonial traditions within the curriculum. in other words, they propose the implementation of curriculum as dynamic praxis that involves and embodies decolonizing theory and pedagogy. such decolonizing theories and methodologies allow possibilities of teaching practices that provide promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 129 students with opportunities to critically reflect on their realities, while simultaneously equipping them with the necessary intellectual tools to deconstruct and analyze them. what is highlighted here, as martin et al. (2017) pointed out, is the focus on the other, which enables teachers to face their privilege and own biases, and reflect on how to address the systemic and structural inequalities to better serve students of color. also, it includes the potential to (re)cover forgotten and voided experiences and knowledge that can lead to new ways of knowing and being in the world filled with hope and healing (bone, 2008; jolly, 2011). in doing so, we propose to foster narratives through testimonio, as it includes emancipatory characteristics offering the possibility of healing an individuals’ quandaries within a supportive community. spear (2014) underlines, “the act of writing trauma narratives holds healing potential for the authors” (p. 59), and we believe that with testimonio this also spills over to potential readers and witness to these narratives. spear (2014) suggests to not pay too much attention to the accuracy or veracity of the story, but to focus on the writing and healing aspect since it is a process of “re-creating the self, reestablishing the subject into a new identity, a transformed self” (p. 66). furthermore, she states that it is imperative to assist individuals in their transformative process because of its emotional and psychological impact. transformation and change is uncomfortable but by providing the necessary support, it can be easier and rewarding for all those involved in the process. testimonio testimonio is a personal narrative written in first person and may entail individual or collective experiences of marginalization. situated as decolonizing theory and methodology, testimonio is a narrative tool that promotes the expression of alternate ways of knowing and being (latina feminist group, 2001). the process of creating testimonio facilitates the (re)(de)construction of personal experiences. this process may result emancipatory, particularly for alienated individuals, by telling and exposing a divergent position embedded in his/herstories (anzaldúa, 2009). however, for some individuals this could be intimidating given the harsh situations they are facing or have faced, so they may refrain from using it because their stories are difficult to (re)tell and (re)live due to its painful or traumatic details. moreover, testimonio offers unique characteristics that facilitate the difficult process of telling complex and complicated stories. jupp, calderon-berumen, and o’donald (2017) in analyzing the various dimensions of testimonio, offered a possibility to use testimonio in a calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 130 fictionalized manner in order to protect the testimoniante and/or the writer as he/she detaches from the story. fictionalized testimonios assumes underlying eyewitness accounts (jupp et al., 2017) and generates a fictional work drenched in the lived experience of the narrator, the person giving the testimonio or his/her community. these fictionalized narratives can be used as helpful tools to implement as early as the elementary level because students are capable of narrating their first-hand experiences either in written form or through drawings (stevenson & beck, 2017). testimonio can be advantageous and easier to implement in middle and high school classrooms as students dabble in making sense of their experiences while supporting and developing their creative and imaginative writing abilities. as a result, we view testimonio as a pivotal pedagogical tool that allows a person to critically reflect on systematic oppression due to social, economic, political, cultural, linguistic, and other sources of inequalities that are embedded in a hegemonic dominant rhetoric. as a pedagogical tool, when using testimonio in classrooms or for educational purposes, it may also be helpful as means of resistance and as source of self-empowerment and self-affirmation. an important component of the decolonizing pedagogy, according to martin et al. (2017) is critical interculturality, which requires “the creation of spaces for interaction and dialogue” (p. 239) and acknowledging that it is not a linear and tidy process, rather one that obliges teachers to enact caring. framed within a curriculum of orgullo (calderon-berumen & o’donald, 2017), we encourage the use of children’s literature to entice and elicit students’ fictional testimonios based on their own lived-experiences, and in that way, implementing testimonio as decolonizing pedagogy. to present a sliver of these efforts, we draw from the work of mariana souto-manning (2009) and her efforts to implement a liberatory pedagogy in the elementary classroom. soutomanning and a group of nineteen first graders, read texts from the civil rights movement in order to analyze the pull-out educational programs implemented in u.s. schools and to understand their segregated nature from a critical lens. souto-manning’s (2009) goal was to expose students to the divisive tactics that such programs produce in the culture of a classroom and of school. she utilized children’s textbooks in order to interrogate, “multiple viewpoints, making differences visible, examining competing narratives and writing counter narratives to dominant discourses” (souto-manning, 2009, p. 52). souto-manning (2009) asserts that “children’s literature can serve as enabler of culturally responsive pedagogy” (p. promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 131 52), and stimulate dialogue that can produce the desire for contestation to relevant issues addressed by the materials in combination to students’ life experiences. inspired by comber’s (2003) work, souto-manning’s (2009) investigation seeks “to engage with local realities, mobilize students’ knowledges, practices, and experiences to examine how power is exercised and by whom” (p.53). similarly, the work of alma stevenson and scott beck (beck, stevenson, & fink, 2015; stevenson & beck, 2017) advances the implementation of culturally relevant children’s literature during a summer literacy program. in their project, students read culturally relevant migrancythemed books (jaramillo, 2008; jiménez, 1999; muñoz ryan, 2007) and they view pieces of the documentary the harvest. these resources were meant to connect closely to the students’ lived experiences as migrant adolescents and begin the process of “conscientization” of the value and importance of their stories. beck, stevenson, and fink (2015) assert: “an essential element in implementing this curriculum is a tight alignment between the lived experiences of students and the literature they will be reading” (p. 66). the authors were guided by ladsonbillings’ (1995) conceptualization of culturally relevant pedagogy, in that: “1) students must experience academic success; 2) students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence; and 3) students must develop a critical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order” (p. 160). under these tenets, the rest of the summer program focused on students’ production of storyboards that form an anthology of their migration journeys. while the efforts mentioned above are not defined as testimonios per se, we contend that within a decolonizing pedagogy framework, testimonio is a narrative tool that will provide opportunities of creating counter-narratives with the capability to describe and understand differing ways of knowing, being, and doing (mcgregor, 2012). these testimonios will then have the potential to unmask the manifold ways students of color have experienced dominance or oppression. the creation of testimonio by students in elementary grades is also not a new enterprise in education since it has already been implemented and explored before. for instance, take a look at the work of saavedra (2011) in which she used testimonio in her third-grade classroom in order to empower students to investigate, create, and claim “nuevas posibilidades” (p. 265) of knowing and being in the world. another example comes from denicolo, gonzález, morales, calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 132 and romaní (2015), who used a children’s book, la mariposa (jiménez, 2000), to spark a group of third graders’ testimonios. these testimonios explored the cultural wealth the students had acquired and developed during their bilingual education experience. testimonio, in both of these investigations, served as an effective pedagogical tool and an avenue for self-affirmation and validation. the work of fránquiz, avila, and ayala lewis (2013) does not centrally deal with the use of testimonio in the classroom, but accrues the stories of two teachers and their students as they explored gloria anzaldúa’s children’s books that we suggest and recommend as primary sources for the creation of testimonios. fránquiz, avila, and ayala lewis (2013), capture the dynamic interaction between the teacher’s personal experiences and professional teaching approaches utilizing anzaldúa’s children’s books, and the impact these texts make in their classrooms and in their students’ reflective process. their work highlights the importance of alternative ways of knowledge-making and producing through anzaldúa’s (1987) concept of nepantla and proves the versatility and importance of her work. we applaud all of these efforts and qualify them as key examples to the possibilities that testimonio has to offer. still, we propose a combination of these enquiries and would like to witness the creation of testimonio by young people that explores the complexity of the self within the intersectionality of political, social, economic, cultural, and linguistic factors. situating this work within a decolonizing aesthetic framework (mignolo, 2012), we present three literary examples that can support the development of a decolonizing pedagogic tool grounded in a curriculum of orgullo. we argue that utilizing children’s books as resources, teachers might incite the creation of children’s testimonios, as personal narratives, founded on their own lived experiences as students of color living in the u.s. in this critical time. eliciting fictionalized testimonios through children’s stories we present three examples of children’s books that could be used while implementing a curriculum of orgullo and eliciting students’ fictionalized testimonies. our first two sources come from gloria anzaldúa, who authored two children’s books (anzaldúa, 1993, 2013) in which she shared her testimonio as a child growing up in a small town at the us-mexico border. in these works, anzaldúa was not only able to reiterate her theories, personal experiences, and views on living in the borderlands, but she used children’s literature to reach another group of readers and offer a foundational example for young potential testimoniantes. promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 133 her first book, friends from the other side (anzaldúa, 1993), provides a glimpse of the perils that undocumented children might experience. the protagonist of the story is prietita, a mexican american girl living in a small town in south texas. she meets joaquin, a young immigrant boy from mexico who comes to her house to sell wood. prietita wants to help joaquin. she wishes to heal his sore arms that are bruise and filled with cuts because he must chop and carry the wood he sells around town. prietita stands up for him when a group of mexican american boys call joaquín a “mojado” (a wetback). anzaldúa through prietita, describes the poverty in which undocumented immigrants live in the border when prietita goes to visit the shack joaquin lives in with his mother and sees the meager state of the dwelling. anzaldúa also describes the kindness and loving relationship people have with one another regardless of their miserable conditions when prietita visits joaquin’s house and his mother offers her a meal knowing that there was not enough even for one person. joaquin and prietita become good friends, and one day “la migra” (immigration border patrol) shows up and searches for “ilegales” (undocumented people). prietita and la curandera (the woman healer) help joaquin and his mother by allowing them to hide from la migra under la curandera’s bed. after la migra leaves, la curandera tells prietita that she now can help her heal joaquin’s arms with the herbs. helping and learning from the curandera is a great honor that prietita receives as reward for her good deeds and kind character. this story touches multiple topics such as immigration status, friendship, bullying, marginalization, poverty, indigenous ways of living and healing, among others. as discussed above, it shows the deplorable and marginalized conditions in which many people live near the border and similar migratory places. it narrates the fear and stress caused by being undocumented and the support that individuals living under these conditions receive from friends, neighbors, and family within their communities. the story presents the courage necessary to believe and value others’ good character and help them while they are being persecuted. discussing the intricacy of these topics in a way that challenges students’ prejudices and misconceptions can be a difficult task, but it is essential within decolonizing pedagogies (martin et al., 2017). as educators that identify deeply with these issues, we must embark in complicated conversation (pinar, 2004) that avoid further victimization of these marginalized groups. every student regardless of their race, cultural background, gender, nationality, or any other label and category, must be provoked and critically supported in the calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 134 process of deconstructing unquestioned views and positions. as sachs et al. (2017) affirms: “it is imperative that educators find ways to provide experiences that challenge the status quo and its debilitating historical legacies” (p. 74), as a condition to move from deficit theorizing towards working on decolonizing their ways of being and doing (martin et al., 2017). as teachers, and with the help of the text, we must nurture the relationship students are developing with themselves as they emerge as knowledge constructors, and highlight the potential, necessity, and support that marginalized individuals bring to the progress and growth of our communities and our communal knowledge. the second book, prietita and the ghost woman (anzalua, 2013), shares alternative ways of knowing embedded in ancient traditions. the story begins with the sad news that prietita’s mother was ill. prietita asked doña lola, la curandera, for a remedy to help cure her. doña lola is able to help prietita’s mother, but she is missing a specific herb that can only be found in the rancho king which is a dangerous place because they shoot trespassers. prietita decides to go into the ranch and gets lost in her search. prietita follows the white tail deer, the salamander, the dove, and the lightning bug’s advice that leads her deeper and deeper into the woods. in a meadow by a lagoon, prietita encounters a ghost woman. prietita has heard stories about la llorona, a woman that steals children’s but instead of harming her, this woman helps prietita find the plant she needs and leads her back home. this story connects the ancient myth of la llorona and presents an alternative view of this character by giving it positive characteristics and virtues provoking the reader to question previous assumptions towards this legend. also, nature and its inhabitants help prietita with the herbs that are needed to cure her mother. therefore, nature is a source of knowledge that is dismissed and devalued but prietita, again with an open mind and kind intentions, is able to tap into its wisdom and resources. finally, pam muñoz ryan (2000) in her work, esperanza rising, provides a different perspective of living within the borderlands. in this story, esperanza and her mother are displaced from their comfortable home in mexico after her father’s death. esperanza’s mom, without much choice, makes the decision to go to the united states to start anew. esperanza narrates the difficult experience of crossing the border and becoming field workers. neither esperanza nor her mother thought that they would ever do such work since they were well to do back in mexico. esperanza describes the strenuous backbreaking work that it takes to promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 135 harvest the fruits and vegetables. still, she finds beauty in the process and cherishes and respects the work done by her and all the other field hands. esperanza learns much about nature while working on the fields and is amazed at the knowledge that others like her have about how nature and life are interconnected. esperanza witnesses the unjust treatment of the field hands by the growers and unites with them in order to receive fair pay and treatment. field workers from different farms and different cultural backgrounds organized a strike to pressure the growers for better wages and living conditions. surrounded by all of these events, esperanza can feel herself becoming a new. she was transforming into a strong young woman that was willing to stand with others against inequality and that found refuge and wisdom in the knowledge that nature provided. esperanza had finally let go of many issues that trapped her in a place of despair and was learning to live in a place filled with possibility and hope that changed continuously like the seasons. muñoz ryan, much like anzaldúa, uses her life experiences and projects them into esperanza’s story. muñoz ryan presents the perils that field workers must manage but in spite of all, they still are able to live fruitful and happy lives as they become agents of change within their communities. in spite of not being classified as testimonio literature, the books included here present the features of fictionalized testimonio (jupp et al., 2017), as anzaldúa (1993, 2013) and muñoz ryan (2002) portrait their personal experiences in the pages of these books enabling them to tell herstories (anzaldúa, 2009). the authors provide resources for preand in-service teachers to use examples of testimonio as decolonizing pedagogy and integrate and compare them with mainstream curriculum. we argue that utilizing these books will incite students to share personal and/or familial stories linked to the topics discussed: immigration status, family, neighbors, community relations, security, social justice, fairness, (in)equality, ancient knowledge, and love (see escamilla & nathenson-mejía, 2003; jans-thomas, 2009; lópez-robertson, 2004; osorio, 2008). fictionalized testimonios have the potential to validate what the individual knows and exalts the opportunity to imagine future possibilities. anzaldúa (2015) writes: “the creative process is an agency of transformation” (p. 35), and by proposing and creating a place and space for our students to imagine, be creative, and reflect on their personal experiences through their narratives, we are transforming the world. we, as teachers, are providing students with safe and brave spaces and places in which they can (re)(co)create new possibilities and realities. calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 136 implications and further considerations using testimonio as a tool to foster the development of a curriculum of orgullo (calderon-berumen & o’donald, 2017) and as decolonizing pedagogy entails multiple complexed and layered implications. first of all, it requires an acknowledgment of its advantages while validating its educational value. this means that an open recognition to legitimize students’ lived experiences as resources of knowledge is essential. this validation disrupts canonical curriculum and decolonizes mainstream pedagogical practices based on book knowledge. rather, creating their own counter-narratives through testimonio offers students an opportunity to critically reflect and analyze on their border-crossing experiences, develop agency, and validate the power of their voice. with this practice, students can search for ways to engage their realities and consequently affect change as social reality through praxis (freire, 1967/2000). another implication involved when utilizing, applying, and supporting decolonizing pedagogies denotes a personal review of the educator’s values and beliefs towards the colonial/decolonial binary, teaching philosophy, views of education, notions of cultural identity, and stereotypes. this is an important condition since, as we mentioned before, classrooms in the u.s. continue to increase their diversity while 80% of the teaching force is still comprised by white teachers (nces, 2017). it is imperative that teachers and educators revise their positionalities and be prepared to embrace conversations that might emerge as a result of engaging in decolonizing pedagogies. pirbhai-illich, pete, and martin (2017) argue that teachers from dominant cultural groups must be prepared to examine their own biases and challenge their stereotypes in order to better serve students from diverse and marginalized groups. we recognize that many non-latinx teachers might not feel equipped to implement this approach. jolly (2011) reminds us that teachers are guided to create and maintain classrooms as “safe spaces,” and in order to do so, sometimes difficult topics are avoided. betancourth, gautreaux, and ross (2016) invite teachers to address such topics through children’s literature, reiterating that young students are capable of understanding complex and problematic issues and willing to discuss them with teachers and other adults. they incite teachers to try such pedagogical approach since “teachers cannot be completely free if their students are not free” (betancourth, gautreaux, & ross, 2016, p.51). we encourage all teachers and educators to provide students of color with opportunities to express their experiential knowledge through promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 137 narratives/testimonios, since the use of stories has proved to be an excellent tool in education, as anderson and mack (2019) affirm: stories assist with reaffirming our lives and experiences, helping us connect with our internal selves and others. in telling a story, we try to make sense of life, and stories of adversity can help make sense of, and give meaning to, difficult and confusing life circumstances. (p. 45) a third implication involves teacher preparation, production of materials and resources, and creation of learning communities for those teachers, students, parents, and community members to discuss ways to work with the challenges this kind of work encounters. undoubtedly, we are going to face resistance from many stakeholders. we must expect and be prepared for some criticism since any change that disrupts and questions the status quo will be distrusted. still, we must not let that discourage us from the potential benefits and positive results of these emancipatory and liberating approaches to the education of our students as they re-create their selves through their writings. regardless of the hurdles, we believe that this work is valuable since it presents opportunities for self-awareness and empowerment that our students desperately need in these divisive times. teachers can provide healing opportunities to those who live disrupted lives. this is ambitious laborious work, but it is one that can help all involved attain a democratic freeing educational experience. as potential resources, we offer a list (see appendix) of other possible books that can become part of a liberatory curriculum based on orgullo and can entice the production of testimonios. as educators, we should strive in our search of pedagogical tools to endorse and reinforce the practice of decolonizing pedagogies in our classrooms. calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 138 references anderson, k. m., & mack, r. (2019). digital storytelling: a narrative method for positive identity development in minority youth. social work with groups, 42(1), 43-55. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lutte. anzaldúa, g. (1993). friends from the other side. san francisco, ca: children's book press. anzaldúa, g. (2003). now let us shift... the path of conocimiento... inner work, public acts. in g, anzaldua and a. keating (eds), this place we call home: radical visions for transformation (pp. 540-578). new york: ny: routledge anzaldúa, g. (2005). la prieta. in m. leñero. (2005). fronteras y cruces: cartografía de escenarios culturales latinoamericanos, (pp. 163-176. mexico, df: unam anzaldúa, g. (2009). the gloria anzaldúa reader. durham, nc: duke university press. anzaldúa, g. (2013). prietita and the ghost woman/prietita y la llorona. san francisco, ca: children's book press. anzaldúa, g. (2015). light in the dark/luz en lo oscuro: rewriting identity, spirituality, reality. durham, n.c.: duke university press. betancourth, s. x. d., gautreaux, m., & ross, e. w. (2016). la literatura infantil como herramienta didáctica para enseñar sobre poder, tiranía y justicia social. íber: didáctica de les ciencias sociales, geografia e historia, 82, 50-55. bhabha, h. k. (1994). the location of culture. new york, ny: routledge. beck, s. a., stevenson, a. d., & fink, l. s. (2015). migrant students scaffolding and writing their own stories: from socioculturally relevant enabling mentor texts to collaborative student narratives. voices from the middle, 23(1), 59. bone, j. (2008). exploring trauma, loss and healing: spirituality, te whāriki and early childhood education. international journal of children's spirituality, 13(3), 265-276. buchanan, j. l. (2013). decolonization and liminality: a reflective process for research as a cooperative and ethical practice. journal of leadership, accountability and ethics, 10(4), 7379. buttaro, l. (2010). decolonizing pedagogy in the american classroom. innovation journal, 15(1), 1-30. caine, v., estefan, a., & clandinin, d. j. (2013). a return to methodological commitment: reflections on narrative inquiry. scandinavian journal of educational research, 57(6), 574586. calderon-berumen, f., & o'donald, k. (2017). a living curriculum of orgullo. journal of curriculum theorizing, 31(3), 31-43. comber, b. (2003) ‘critical literacy in the early years: what does it look like?’. in n. hall, j. larson & j. marsh (eds.), handbook of early childhood literacy (pp. 355–68). london: sage. de lissovoy, n. (2012). education and violation: conceptualizing power, domination, and agency in the hidden curriculum. race ethnicity and education, 15(4), 463-484. promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 139 denicolo, c. p., gonzález, m., morales, s., & romaní, l. (2015). teaching through testimonio: accessing community cultural wealth in school. journal of latinos and education, 14(4), 228-243. escamilla, k., & nathenson-mejía, s. (2003). preparing culturally responsive teachers: using latino children's literature in teacher education special issue: partnering for equity. equity & excellence in education, 36(3), 238-248. fránquiz, m., avila, a., & lewis, b. (2013). engaging bilingual students in sustained literature study in central texas. journal of latino/latin american studies, 5(3), 142-155. freire, p. (1967/2000). pedagogy of the oppressed 30th anniversary edition (m. ramos, trans.). new york, ny: blumsbury. freire, p., & macedo, d. (2005). literacy: reading the word and the world. new york, ny: routledge. grande, s. (2007). red pedagogy: indigenizing inquiry or the un-methodology. in n. k. denzin & m.d. giardina (eds.) ethical futures in qualitative research: decolonizing the politics of knowledge. (pp. 133-144). walnut creek, ca: left coast press. halagao, p. e. (2010). liberating filipino americans through decolonizing curriculum. race ethnicity and education, 13(4), 495-512. jans-thomas, s. (2009). beyond tamales, tacos, and our southern neighbors: exploring latino culture in child and young adult literature. making connections: interdisciplinary approaches to cultural diversity, 11(1), 33-39. jaramillo, a. (2008). la línea. new york, ny: square fish. jiménez, f. (1999). the circuit. new york, ny: houghton mifflin harcourt. jiménez, f. (2000). la mariposa. new york, ny: houghton mifflin harcourt. jolly, r. (2011). witnessing embodiment: trauma, narrative and theory at the limit in field research and in the classroom. australian feminist studies, 26(69), 297-317. jupp, j. c., berumen, f. c., & o’donald, k. (2018). advancing testimonio traditions in educational research: a synoptic rendering. journal of latinos and education, 17(1), 18-37. ladson-billings, g. (1995). but that’s just good teaching! the case for culturally relevant pedagogy. theory into practice, 34, 159-165. latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nc: duke university press. lópez-robertson, j. (2004). crossing consciousness: a literature discussion exploring friends from the other side. colombian applied linguistics journal, 6, 58-76. martin, f., pirbhai-illich, f., & pete, s. (2017). beyond culturally responsive pedagogy: decolonizing teacher education. in f. pirbhai-illich, s. pete, & f. martin (eds.), culturally responsive pedagogy (pp. 235-256). cham, switzerland: palgrave macmillan. mcgregor, h. (2012). decolonizing pedagogies teacher reference booklet. retrieved from http://blogs.ubc.ca/edst591/files/2012/03/decolonizing_pedagogies_booklet.pdf mignolo, w. d. (2012). decolonial aisthesis and other options related to aesthetics. be. bop, 57. calderon-berumen & o’donald association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 140 muñoz ryan, p. (2002). esperanza rising. new york, ny: scholastic inc. national center for education statistics (nces). (2017). the condition of education. retried from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cge.asp nieto, s. (1994). lessons from students on creating a chance to dream. harvard educational review, 64(4), 392-427. nieto, s. (2009). language, culture, and teaching: critical perspectives. new york, ny: routledge. osorio, s. l. (2018). multicultural literature as a classroom tool. multicultural perspectives, 20(1), 47-52. pinar, w. f. (2004). what is curriculum theory?. new york, ny: routledge. pirbhai-illich, f., pete, s., & martin, f. (eds.). (2017). culturally responsive pedagogy: working towards decolonization, indigeneity and interculturalism. location: springer. saavedra, c. m. (2011). language and literacy in the borderlands: acting upon the world through "testimonios". language arts, 88(4), 261-269. sachs, g. t., clark, b., durkaya, m., jackson, a., johnson, c., lake, w., & limb, p. (2017). decolonizing pedagogies: disrupting perceptions of “the other.” in f. pirbhai-illich, s. pete, & f. martin (eds.), teacher education in culturally responsive pedagogy (pp. 73-97). cham, switzerland: palgrave macmillan. sleeter, c. (2008). an invitation to support diverse students through teacher education. journal of teacher education, 59(3), 212-219. souto-manning, m. (2009). negotiating culturally responsive pedagogy through multicultural children's literature: towards critical democratic literacy practices in a first-grade classroom. journal of early childhood literacy, 9(1), 50-74. spear, r. n. (2014). “let me tell you a story” on teaching trauma narratives, writing, and healing. pedagogy: critical approaches to teaching literature, language, composition, and culture, 14(1), 53-79. stevenson, a., & beck, s. (2017). migrant students’ emergent conscientization through critical, socioculturally responsive literacy pedagogy. journal of literacy research, 49(2), 240-272. valenzuela, a. (2010). subtractive schooling: us-mexican youth and the politics of caring. new york, ny: suny press. valenzuela, a. (2019). insurrection and the decolonial imaginary at academia cuauhtli: the liberating potential of third-space pedagogies in a third space. in berry, t. r., kalineccraig, c. a., & rodriguez, m. a.(eds.), latinx curriculum theorizing (pp. 3-12). lanham, ma: lexinton. wilson, w. a. (2005). remember this! dakota decolonization and the eli taylor narratives. lincoln, ne: university of nebraska press. yosso, t. j. (2002). toward a critical race curriculum. equity & excellence in education, 35(2), 93107. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cge.asp promoting curriculum of orgullo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 141 appendix suggested resources alvarez, j. (2009). return to sender. new york, ny: random house children’s books. arias, r. (2016). the wetback and other stories. houston, tx: arte público press. bencastro, m. (1998). odyssey to the north. houston, tx: arte publico press. bencastro, m. (2010). paraíso portátil/portable paradise. houston, tx: arte publico press. bilingual edition. canales, v. (2007). the tequila worm. new york, ny: random house children’s books. caraballo, s. (2008). estrellita en la ciudad grande/estrellita in the big city. houston, tx: arte público press; bilingual edition laínez, r. c. (2004). waiting for papá/esperando a papá. houston, tx: arte público press. mora, p. (2002). tomas and the library lady. the world of work through children's literature: an integrated approach: an integrated approach, 73. quealy-gainer, k. (2016). the midnight war of mateo martinez by robin yardi. bulletin of the center for children's books, 69(9), 496-496. tonatiuh, d. (2015). dear primo: a letter to my cousin. new york, ny: abrams books. villaseñor, v. (1994). walking stars: stories of magic and power. houston, tx: arte público press. association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 62 neither sinners nor saints: complicating the discourse of noncitizen deservingness katie dingeman-cerda university of denver edelina muñoz burciaga university of california—irvine lisa m. martinez university of denver abstract this article explores how non citizens, primarily members of the 1.5-generation, experience and rhetorically contest deservingness. we argue that deservingness is constructed through multiple sources including the media, immigrant rights movements, and the law, resulting in a binary of good/bad migrants that does not fully capture the lived experiences of noncitizens. drawing from three distinct qualitative projects examining the lives of 133 noncitizens, we demonstrate structural conditions underlying divergent experiences of “illegality” and “deportability” (de genova, 2002). we further complicate the discourse of migrant deservingness through an explication of the commonalities of a range of noncitizens, including daca recipients, the formerly documented, undocumented migrants, and deportees, highlighting their humanity and worthiness in the process. introduction on november 20, 2014, president barack obama addressed the nation on immigration, announcing an executive action that would expand the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) program. he claimed that the u.s. has long been a “nation of immigrants” and that current policies toward migrants ought to reflect, if not honor, that history (the white house, 2014). in addition to increasing law enforcement, facilitating streamlined deportations, and expediting the admission of high-skilled migrants, he vowed to utilize discretionary authority to defer the removal of undocumented migrants who met certain qualifications. much of his speech was dedicated to constructing as deserving of administrative relief those who lived in the u.s. for at least five years, had u.s. citizen or permanent resident children, passed a criminal background check, and could pay taxes. he argued that these migrants often labor in difficult conditions to support their families, many of whom are u.s. citizens. they also share social spaces with citizens, including churches and schools, and maintain “hopes, dreams, and patriotism, just like ours” (the white house, 2014). obama complicated popular rhetoric portraying unauthorized migrants as uniformly threatening, burdensome, and incapable of incorporating (chavez, 2013). he also expanded the category of noncitizens considered worthy by drawing on themes, like work ethic, ability to contribute, family connections, religiosity, and patriotism that resonate with the so-called “moveable middle” of the u.s. population—the segment who are not fervently proor anti-migrant, but who can be persuaded to support or at least sympathize with the plight of migrants (martinez, 2008). obama is not alone in such efforts; similar appeals have also been employed by sectors of the immigrant rights movement to garner broad support for the dream act and other antideportation campaigns (bloemraad, voss, & silva, 2014). pro-migrant movements, such as the undocumented student and new sanctuary movements, have encouraged “model immigrants” to “come out of the shadows” and demonstrate social citizenship, good character, and potential to contribute to society (gonzales, 2008; nicholls, 2015; yukich, 2013). such activism helped make possible piecemeal reforms like daca and prosecutorial discretion for “low priority” removal cases. but the “ideal migrant” discourse underlying these reforms continues to reify the problematic notion that most noncitizens are unworthy of regularization and rights. the construction of any “desirable” category rests upon the production and demonization of undesirable “others.” by valorizing “good” migrants who came to the u.s. “through no decision of their own,” hold great neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 63 potential to contribute to u.s. society in particular ways, and have the support of authority figures, non citizens whose lives do not fit neatly into rigid ideal types are systematically excluded. undocumented adults with weak ties to the u.s., youth who are not college bound, noncitizens not regularly employed or bound to the military, and migrants cast as somehow “criminal” are routinely left out of the discourse of the deserving (bloemraad et al., 2014). sometimes their lives are even used as collateral damage to support the more sympathetic (patler & gonzales, 2015). in his speech, obama utilized the “good” migrant versus “bad” migrant binary to fend off detractors and persuade the movable middle of the necessity of deferred action. he claimed the government would focus “enforcement resources on actual threats to our security. felons, not families. criminals, not children. gang members, not a mom who’s working hard to provide for her kids” (the white house, 2014). while such a claim is more inclusive than most discourse on deportable noncitizens, it fails to acknowledge that migrants commit lower rates of crime than later generations (ewing, martinez, & rumbaut, 2015), the way laws and its enforcement actively create felonious noncitizen identities (chacón, 2012; garcía hernández, 2013; stumpf, 2006), and the structural conditions at work in the lives of so-called “felons,” “criminals,” and “gang members.” in glossing over these realities, obama ultimately justified the campaign of detentions and removals undermining migrant communities in recent decades. this article aims to reconcile the false binary between the deserving and undeserving migrant by examining how deportable noncitizen youth experience, internalize, and discursively navigate around deservingness. we draw from 133 interviews from three distinct qualitative studies, 70 of which were conducted with central american and mexican undocumented youth living in the u.s. and 63 with deportees in el salvador. the stories of dreamers, deportees who grew up in the u.s. and other noncitizens demonstrate the limits of a dichotomous framing that casts migrants as either sinners or saints. migrant lives, like those of all humans, are non-linear, messy, and structured by outside forces. the narratives presented here—especially those subjected to criminalization and deportation—show a multitude of ways migrants push back against the discourse of deservingness. the migrants and deportees we interviewed challenge politicians, the media, and the immigrant rights movement to adopt a more inclusive framework that acknowledges the nuances of noncitizen lives, and interrogates the institutions and processes upholding mass deportation. the unintended consequences of dream framing according to snow and colleagues (1986), frames are conceptual bridges that link social psychological considerations with structural/organizational ones (p. 476). in choosing resonant frames such as those emphasizing hard work or family ties, immigrant movement activists render certain meanings and experiences significant, which can then be used to guide action (benford & snow, 2000; cress & snow, 2000). as giugni and passy (2004) argue, the use of culturally relevant frames is especially important for migrants whose claims may be constrained by formal criteria for citizenship. for instance, in the summer of 2010, undocumented youth across the nation emerged from the shadows with the now familiar refrain, “undocumented and unafraid!” up until 2010, an influential faction of the dream movement relied on a meritocracy frame rooted in a discourse of “educational achievement” and “vulnerability.” this frame strongly resonated with the values of achievement and hard work consistent with americans’ notions of deservingness. while the “education” and “vulnerable child” frames resonated with the moveable middle, and in many ways reflected the lived experience of a certain group of dreamers, it also had the unintended consequence of brightening the boundary between “deserving” and “undeserving” undocumented migrants (lamont & molnar, 2010). the dreamer frame became a metaphor for the most deserving undocumented migrants. youth activists invoked these frames primarily because it resonated more strongly with the public, as do frames emphasizing family unity (bloemraad et al., 2014; martinez, 2010). while the failure of the dream act to pass devastated undocumented youth, their families, and movement allies, a key development emerged from the summer’s activism. undocumented youth activists openly questioned the relevance of the “education” and “vulnerable child” frames for both the movement and in their own daily lives as they and their families must navigate an increasingly hostile anti-migrant context (negrón-gonzales, 2013). this has led to a shift in the immigrant rights movement and the undocumented student movement to neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 64 a focus on ending deportations and the criminalization of undocumented immigrants. yet, the deservingness frame endures as undocumented migrants including undocumented youth continue to engage in discourses of contribution, meritocracy, and law-abidingness. these framings continue to re-emerge in response to a powerful and dehumanizing discourse that characterizes unauthorized migrants as lawless and dangerous. in doing so, such framings, perhaps inadvertently, legitimize the detention and removal of those migrants who fall outside categories of “good” migrants. in this article, we examine how some noncitizens and deportees have internalized and distanced themselves from the discourse of the deserving both in the undocumented student movement and in their everyday lives. we argue that the binary of “good” and “bad” migrants does not reflect the humanity of deportable noncitizens, whose lives are often messy and complicated, filled with detours and disruptions. we believe the media and political actors, including the immigrant rights and undocumented student movements, can develop more nuanced frames that acknowledge the complexity and structured nature of migrant lives in order to advance more inclusive and humane immigration law and enforcement. methodology this article draws from three distinct qualitative studies of noncitizens of mexican and central american origin to highlight the ways the 1.5-generation—both those living in the u.s. and those who have been deported— experience deservingness. though we did not initially set out to study deservingness the concept surfaced and resurfaced in our interviews. focusing on 133 of 212 total interviews conducted by the authors between 2008 and 2015, we examined how deservingness constructed, internalized, and contested over time and in transnational space by noncitizens who entered the u.s. before age 18. our research yielded rich data capable of critiquing problematic representations of migrants informing hyper-restrictive immigration policies. between 2009 and 2015, edelina muñoz burciaga conducted research with undocumented students in the los angeles metropolitan area including semi-structured interviews with approximately 20 undocumented student activists in 2010. data also comes from ethnographic research she conducted in the metropolitan atlanta region between october 2014 and march 2015, including 32 interviews with undocumented young adults between the ages of 18-26 years old. this time span allowed her to observe a shift in the discourse and framing of deservingness both amongst undocumented student activists and undocumented young adults who do not consider themselves activists. between june 2012 and august 2013, lisa m. martinez conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with latina/o and undocumented youths ages 16-26 in colorado. the goal of the larger study was to understand youths’ pathways to educational and occupational mobility. a subset of 18 undocumented youth was interviewed to understand their trajectories following the implementation of daca and an in-state tuition bill for undocumented state residents. the analysis in this article is limited to the narratives of the undocumented respondents, permitting us to show how they understood and navigated deservingness within changing national and state-level socio-political contexts. between 2008 and 2013, katie dingeman-cerda conducted life-history interviews with 63 salvadoran 1.5 generation migrants who grew up in the u.s. and were deported to el salvador years later as adults. consistent with national trends (rosenblum & mccabe, 2014), most were deported after immigration violations and misdemeanors, though several self-identified as “gang-involved” or “inactive gang members” and some were convicted of violent crimes.1 together these narratives reveal deportees are diverse in life experiences and degrees of criminalization. the ways they narrate deservingness after removal and within the post-deportation context in el salvador also offer important suggestions on how political actors can move toward a critique of state practices. 1 we recognize the problematic use of the term “gang.” many youth designated by the state are simply “hanging out” with friends and are criminalized as “gangsters” in need of surveillance, criminalization, containment, and deportation (rios, 2011). uncritical use of the term implicitly justifies such practices. still, in our research, many youth identified themselves as belonging to “gangs,” in one way or another. they used terms like “gangsters,” “gang members,” “soldiers,” and “ex-gang members,” “inactive gang members,” and “gang-involved.” though hesitant in our application, we refer to such persons as self-identified “gang-involved,” a term employed by some activists and social service providers. we also note the structural factors that lead youth to involvement in “gangs,” as appropriate. neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 65 “you have to be more worthy”: the long reach of the dreamer frame in 2010, at the peak of dream act mobilization, dolores2, an undocumented student activist explained how she would persuade individuals in the moveable middle to support the dream act and other california legislation that could benefit undocumented youth. i would tell you first, please don’t look at it as an immigration issue. think of it as an educational issue. and we’re all here (in college) because we have worked so hard. just because you’re undocumented the universities don’t hand you the application and you’re accepted. we’ve all worked hard, we have the grades, and we’re smart, and it’s just that we weren’t born here. and it’s an impediment, not just for ourselves but for the fact that we can be helping our communities and progressing as a whole, not just ourselves. dolores, like other dreamers, firmly believed that without legal status they could not attain their own or their parents’ dreams for them. it made strategic sense to appeal to american values of meritocracy and hard work. in this same year, though, the movement was profoundly impacted by the failure of the dream act (pallares, 2013). as movement members and leaders contemplated the unintended consequences of the “education” and “vulnerable child” frames, both frames that resonated with the moveable middle, undocumented children across the country were coming of age in the shadow of the dreamer narrative. this narrative in conjunction with the hyper-criminalization of the undocumented migrant as a subject, constructs undocumented youth, and undocumented migrants generally, as either “bad” or “good” migrants. the long reach of the dreamer narrative came across clearly during interviews conducted with undocumented young adults in georgia in 2015. enid, who came to the united states at the age of six described the ideal dreamer, a category she distanced herself from even though she had completed her ged, was employed at a leading latino migrant rights organization, and was completing a paralegal certificate: “i don’t really consider myself a dreamer…it will be the people who really finish high school and that are ready to go to college, you know, and they don’t have children. so that’s what i think it is, that’s why i don’t think i fit there.” enid, who had dropped out of high school, viewed herself as outside of the dreamer frame because as a teenager she was not college-bound and was a young parent. like enid, several undocumented youth interviewed identified what they considered less than ideal life experiences such as having a ged instead of a high school diploma, losing deferred action, or not being active in the undocumented student movement, as excluding them from the dreamer narrative. this discourse of exceptionalism, both actual and perceived, created a symbolic boundary between undocumented youth who did not consider themselves the cream of the crop and the narrative of the ideal dreamer. while undocumented youth like enid distinguished themselves from the narrow conception of the high-achieving college bound dreamer; those who were ideal dreamers expressed feeling pressure to be exceptional, as alicia shared during our interview: when you’re undocumented you feel like to have to make yourself worthy for this country, and i feel like that’s what drove me throughout high school. i strove to get the highest grades, and take the most rigorous classes, and i was just like i am going to show them who they are missing out on. for alicia and other high-achieving undocumented youth, the dreamer frame alone did not create pressure to be exceptional, but the frame in conjunction with the increasing criminalization of noncitizens made undocumented youth acutely aware of their own potential to change societal perceptions of undocumented migrants by being smart, dedicated, hardworking, and ultimately making a positive contribution to the united states. during our interviews several undocumented youth struggled in their everyday lives with their desire to attend college, and the consequences of “access to higher education” movement framing. as olivia, who migrated when she was fours year old from mexico and who like alicia was an exceptional student in high 2 pseudonyms are used unless otherwise requested by participants. neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 66 school, shared: they present this narrative of undocumented students, we’re good students, this is what we deserve because we’re good students, but the fact of the matter is, we don’t deserve this because we’re good students, we deserve education because we are human beings that have lived here. i mean, yes i worked my whole high school to get a 3.5 gpa and get top sat scores … we’re not presenting some fake narrative that we’re actually good students, we are actually good students, but we’re not coming here for some kind of handout or something. we’re not saying, “we are students” so we deserve this, and that are other undocumented people who are actually criminals who are breaking the law that they don’t deserve it, we’re not saying that all… olivia wanted to make sense of how her experiences as a model student may contribute to excluding undocumented migrants who were not “good students” or even “lawbreakers” from the discourse of the deserving. besides recognizing the unintended, yet possibly harmful consequences of the model student narrative, she and other undocumented young adults had a relatively clear understanding of the structural conditions that contribute to the criminalization of undocumented migrants. several of them had seen their own parents criminalized for minor violations including driving without a license. while dreamers have developed an understanding of the criminalization of undocumented migrants through programs like secure communities, we found that the dreamer discourse endures for two primary reasons. first, as olivia’s narrative highlights, being “good students” is their reality and access to higher education, especially in restrictive states like georgia, continues to be the primary struggle of the undocumented youth movement. secondly, as alicia poignantly captured, once in the country without legal permission, to be worthy undocumented migrants must lead a law-abiding life. in truth, most undocumented migrants do lead lawabiding lives and yet are still vulnerable to deportation. the deeper implicit meaning of alicia’s statement is that noncitizens are held to a higher legal and moral standard, and the discourse of deservingness emerges in large part in response to this standard. yet, this perspective leaves very little room for the reality that undocumented migrants are often criminalized for their very presence in the united states. “everyone who thinks big is a dreamer”: expanding the dreamer frame as the narratives above suggest, some undocumented young adults internalized worthiness as lawabidingness. not only limiting, this framing fails to account for those who straddle a line between the “good” and “bad” migrant. for dreamer youth, the idealized “good” migrants, the path might not always be straight and narrow and may involve brushes with the law or involvement in criminal activities. in some cases, participants’ paths moved them closer to one end of the spectrum and further from the other as a result of personal circumstances or unintended consequences. such was the experience of lupe, an undocumented, self-identified gang-involved youth and straight a student. lupe’s gang involvement stemmed from the alienation she experienced at school where she was one of only a few students of color and from rejection by family members who criticized her academic success. her cousins became gang involved as a result of blocked opportunities that alienated them from school. they told her, “you think you’re all that because you’re going to school?” lupe explained, “i didn’t want that because that’s not how i was trying to be. i was just trying to get educated but at the same time i didn’t want to lose my cred with my family.” lupe claimed she eventually joined a gang because of peer pressure and fear of losing her sense of family, which gang life provided. nonetheless, she felt conflicted: a lot of my cousins at this point either had dropped out or just were doing their own thing. since i was one of the younger ones i hung out with a lot of the older ones. so a lot of the older ones were in gangs and all that and so when i wasn’t in school i was hanging out with them, so i had that influence. and then i had to go to school and to be a kid in a private school, completely different worlds. so i was trying to balance both and it was hard. neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 67 lupe described the tension navigating different worlds, one where she was a model student by day and the other where she was gang involved at night, often having to finish homework in the wee hours of the morning after a night of “go[ing] off and doing things.” despite being gang involved for two years, lupe’s grades never suffered, allowing her to maintain her grades and keep her scholarship. the pressure of leading a double life was not what compelled lupe to leave gang life behind; rather, it was the loss of a cousin to gang violence that prompted her exit. once again, she was faced with the dilemma of fully embracing her academics at the risk of alienating her cousins or continuing to be gang involved at the risk of getting hurt or killed. lupe described her decision as a turning point, which was not well received: there was a lot of calling me names. they said i was scared, that i wasn’t down, that my cousin had passed away in honor and things like that. and to me it was not like that. to me someone got shot and that wasn’t really an honor. and so to me that was the hardest thing was trying to figure out if i did leave this lifestyle and try to get away from it, it wasn’t going to happen because my family was the influence. which also meant that if i stayed in it, what was i going to end up doing with my life? what if the next person to go through that was me? and so, it was hard and i decided i didn’t want that anymore and i lost touch with a lot of my cousins...i found out that most of [them] are either locked up or they got deported to mexico. some of my cousins are single moms because of the violence, because they lost their husbands, because they lost things like that. lupe was one of the few respondents to adopt the dreamer frame. not only did it inform her choice to major in human services, it influenced her perspective on her own challenges such as migrating to the u.s. as a child, attending an under-resourced elementary school, being one of only a few students of color at her middle and high schools, and being gang involved. reflecting on these experiences, she commented, “i am a dreamer because of the dream act. i am a dreamer because i am undocumented and yet i do all these things. but i also refer to dreamers because everyone who thinks big is a dreamer.” by her own admission, lupe was no saint when she was gang involved and recognized her divergent path was at odds with most people’s notions of dreamers as law-abiding straight-a students, but she internalized the dreamer frame and remained resolute that she was no less deserving because of her past. had lupe remained gang-involved, she could have ended up incarcerated or deported like her cousins as unauthorized youth are often criminalized by virtue of their unlawful status in the u.s. (abrego, 2006; annamma, 2013). however, the internalization of the dreamer frame and a belief in her academic promise, coupled with losing a cousin to gang violence, prompted her to leave that life behind to focus on school. in that regard, lupe is similar to the other undocumented youth in our studies, but her conceptualization of the dreamer frame was an expanded one in that it provided a space for her and others who had also fallen off the “right” path. that she internalized the dreamer frame to mean “everyone who thinks big,” rather than just those who excel academically allowed her to be fallible but no less deserving. not everyone is able to escape the “bad” migrant label. once attached, it is difficult to remove, as one respondent, tania, discovered. tania’s mother, inez, was facing a deportation order after a failed attempt to renew her cosmetology license. under a new law requiring individuals to show they were “lawfully present” in the u.s. in order to obtain a license, inez was denied as she could not provide a valid social security number. because her family’s livelihood depended on renewal of her license, she consulted a notario (notary). after paying several thousand dollars, the notary promised inez she would be able to renew her license, but ended up defrauding her and other clients before fleeing the state. during the investigation, authorities were alerted to the fact that inez lacked documents. her brush with the law did not stop there. shortly after the notario investigation, inez’s younger daughter called police to their home, leading to a child neglect charge. tania explained: my mom has a case of neglect and its being considered by ice as child abuse. one day she left my siblings alone to go run an errand [and] as siblings often do they started bickering. my brother was bothering my little sister and making her angry. she called the police. my mother arrived a neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 68 little after the police had gotten there [and] she was charged with neglect. that small incident has haunted us with her case. inez pled guilty to the child neglect charge and was later granted a deferred judgment, requiring her to complete a year of probation and parenting classes to have the case dismissed. what inez did not know was that, by admitting to child abuse, she would still be considered a criminal in the eyes of federal immigration authorities, making it considerably more difficult to petition immigrations and customs enforcement (ice) to drop her case. after being charged with child neglect, inez was placed in deportation proceedings, which she had been fighting for 5 years at the time of the interview. tania noted, “the lawyer who defrauded my mom is on the run from the law. while he gets away with his crime, my mom is in danger of being separated from her family for simply trying to renew her cosmetology license.” as tania suggests, her mother did not deserve the criminal label even though, in the courts of law and public opinion, she was perceived as such for being unlawfully present and the child neglect charge. although tania challenged her mother’s criminalization, inez could not escape the stickiness of the “criminal” or “bad” migrant frame (heath & heath, 2007; see also soule, 2009). the notario went relatively unpunished while inez faced deportation, proof of how draconian immigration policy is used to justify the categorical removal of those deemed undeserving. “i deserve a second chance”: re-imagining deservingness after deportation the discursive production of “undeserving” migrants helps justify the deportation of approximately 400,000 noncitizens from the u.s. annually, rupturing the lives of countless deportees and their family members (dingeman-cerda & coutin, 2012). once deported, notions of deservingness continue to haunt deportees, who are often returned to countries in which they are once again constructed as threats to public safety and economic development (brotherton & barrios, 2011; dingeman-cerda & coutin 2012; golash-boza, 2015). internalization of these multiple layers of stigma interacts with the practical challenges of post-deportation survival, leading deportees to accept their realities without contestation. some believed they “deserved” to be deported because of their unlawful status or criminalized behavior in the u.s. but many others challenge criminalization and removal by employing familiar deservingness frames, re-imagining what it means to be a worthy migrant, or subverting the discourse of deservingness entirely. to demonstrate deservingness despite deportation, salvadoran deportees often highlight their moral character, potential to contribute to society, and social and economic connections to the u.s. they also work to redraw the boundaries of deservingness through contextualization of their lives, especially by articulating structural forces influencing migration and criminalization. the case of antonio is illustrative. he understood himself as an hijo de la guerra, or child of the u.s.-backed civil war that ravaged el salvador in the 1980s. he fled to the u.s. at age five after being caught in a bloody shootout between the military and rebels on a public bus. he eventually settled with his family in los angeles, where he quickly attained asylum and permanent residency. however, like many low-income families, antonio’s parents were constantly working to sustain the family. with few resources to pay for childcare and a dearth of community organizations to support salvadoran refugees, antonio was often left to fend for himself. antonio believed that experiencing civil war at a young age desensitized him to the street violence he eventually encountered in l.a. walking home from school in a poor, racially-charged part of the city, he regularly encountered youth who threatened and tried to recruit him into what he described as “gangs.” antonio initially resisted, but eventually joined and became heavily involved in ms-13. he explained that his decision to enter was “kind of like peer pressure.” he also understood his criminality and ultimately the deportation succeeding it as a product of the geography of violence (zilberg, 2010). reflecting on the area in which he was raised, he said: what really affected me like turning to gangs and stuff is where i grew up…that’s where everything happened…if i would have grew up in iowa or wisconsin or some other state in a little town, i would have probably been a totally different person. antonio’s claim that he might have been a “different person” had he been positioned in a locale with an neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 69 institutional complex to support marginalized youth was supported by his conversion to an “inactive” status after deportation. after spending 19 years of his life in the u.s., antonio encountered his future wife in immigration detention. the two were deported together and eventually became affiliated with an evangelical church supporting deportees and “gang-involved” individuals. with the help of this new community of support, antonio was able to locate employment and mostly avoid police contact in el salvador. at the time of his interview in 2008, antonio’s wife was giving birth to their second child and antonio was focused on dedicating his life to his family. salvadoran deportees like antonio who grew up in the u.s. and were deported many years later often highlight in their narratives the violence of being torn away from the u.s., a country to which they claimed substantive citizenship. noting that they do not “belong” in their post-deportation countries, they argue for a “second chance” to re-enter the u.s. lawfully. most speak english fluently and established families and careers during their time in the u.s. and believe they were denied their right to due process because these factors are not considered in removal decisions. such was the case for jorge, an individual entrapped in the lapd rampart scandal and deported after agreeing to a plea he was not informed carried immigration consequences. jorge was alienated not only afraid for his life in el salvador, but his family was permanently severed by removal. his six children were also placed in foster care, a consequence jorge deeply resented: i used to think being a resident of the united states was—made me a citizen of the united states. but now, i see it’s not like that…i used to think i would be killed in el salvador…but to get sent back over here, it was like that killed me. it was depressing me, my mom, my kids, my girl, my whole family, you know. everything’s over there…when i got here i couldn’t speak spanish. my life was english...i didn’t know my family here. i left young so my family here didn’t know me, [or] how i looked…i don’t know why the government deported me. i got six kids to take care of over there! why do you want to take care of my kids? let me take care of my kids, you know! some deportees understand their removal not only as a form of state violence denying their claims to deservingness, but as a machine that serves specific politico-economic actors often at the expense of the rights of migrants. such individuals focus less on constructing themselves as deserving and more on shifting analytic gaze back to the state. several highlighted that mass deportation is linked to the imbalanced neo-colonial economic relationship between the u.s. and central america, especially the dollarization of the salvadoran economy and remittance dependency. they also point to the existence of an “immigration industrial complex” composed of a complicated and mutually dependent network of military contractors, the prison industry, politicians, and the media (golash-boza, 2009). recognizing that their lives are embedded in these structures, some deportees developed politicized identities post-removal. giovanni was one such individual. after emigrating to the u.s. at age five near the end of the civil war, he and his family became agricultural workers in a town outside seattle. giovanni was aware that his family’s remittance-sending subsidized the wages of family remaining in el salvador. though he recognized his imperfect behavior in the u.s., he did not believe his deportation reflected his deservingness. rather, it was a result of the existence of a transnational “business” in which he and other migrants are pawns. passionately distancing himself from the discourse of the deserving, he proclaimed: man, it’s a business in all parts! you know what i am saying--because the mexican government gets so much money from the u.s. so they can stop the immigration. then, all they do is get you, lock you up, send you to your country, and you just go back. you don’t have much say…who is giving them the money so they can do all this? up there! uncle sam! uncle sam is doing all of this! like giovanni, deported persons who avoid discursive boundary-making emphasize their shared humanity and affirm their right to dignified treatment under the law. they reject association with labels like “alien” and “criminal” and contest inhumane treatment during detention and removal. as armando proclaimed, “they treat us like we ain’t human beings anymore, like we arrived on ufo’s.” pablo added, “they don’t treat you like you are a person. they just treat you like you are a dog, an animal, or a prisoner.” some deportees adopt even neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 70 more explicit human rights frames in efforts to push back against dehumanization. when enrique was asked for final comments at the end of his interview, he simply and poignantly responded, “yes, we are humans and we have rights.” similarly, when reflecting on changes he would make to immigration law if he were given a voice, frank pled, “please don’t view the cover of a book for just what the cover is. view the inside…i mean, we’re all human beings.” frank’s contention that the u.s. should consider the “inside” of noncitizens powerfully challenges the good/bad migrant binary. by asking us to move beyond categorical thinking, he forces us to acknowledge the complexities of human character and behavior. he does not reject immigration law, national borders, or deportation as mechanisms to manage migration, but requests that the law and enforcement practices recognize the humanity of its subjects. such a view affirms our contention that the lives of noncitizens should be represented in more holistic and nuanced ways in political, media, and social movement discourse. it also demands that the u.s. reconsider the institutions and criminalizing processes upholding mass deportation. conclusion in his 2014 address to the nation on immigration, president obama invoked both the “good” and “bad” migrant frames, applauding those who embody the values and ideals of the u.s. and are “a part of american life” while also castigating “lawbreakers” and “violent felons.” such a binary reflects larger public discourse informing immigration policies (patler & gonzales, 2015). as “good” migrants have been placed front and center of progressive efforts to bring about comprehensive immigration reform at the federal and state levels, “bad” migrants have become the face of illegality, supporting restriction (patler & gonzales 2015). accordingly, on the national level, opportunities for undocumented youth (mainly dreamers) have expanded, while deportations of border crossers and criminalized non citizens are at an all-time high. similarly, at the state level, binary discourse informed tuition subsidies for undocumented students, while simultaneously popularizing discriminatory and criminalizing show-me-your-papers laws, 287(g) agreements, and secure communities (cebulko & silver, 2013). that both proand anti-migrant laws and policies have gained such traction speaks to the power of the media portraying unauthorized migrants and other noncitizens as deserving or undeserving (patler & gonzales, 2015). public sentiment tends to be more favorable—or at least more forgiving—of undocumented youth, especially if they are framed in ways that resonate with american ideals of hard work and meritocracy. however, americans are more ambivalent about migrants’ having access to public benefits such as healthcare (marrow, 2012), giving legal status to those who serve in the military (summer, 2015), or their participation in civil society (chavez, 2012). recognizing which frames resonate more strongly with the public (bloemraad et al. 2014; yukich, 2013), migrant rights activists and religious and political leaders portray dreamers as neighbors, model students, and good americans while ignoring or portraying criminal(ized) migrants as aimless and lawless. in other words, dreamers are uplifted and potentially swept into educational pipelines while non-dreamers are tracked into the deportation pipeline. in constructing migrants who will not qualify for administrative relief as “felons,” “criminals,” and “gang members,” political actors fail to acknowledge the ways “illegality” and “criminality” are socially and legally constructed (de genova, 2002; stumpf, 2006). in reality, migrants, including the unauthorized, commit crimes at lower rates than later generations (ewing et al., 2015). moreover, most of the so-called “criminals” to which obama and the media refers were convicted of immigration violations (like unlawful entry) and nonviolent criminal offenses (including misdemeanors) re-classified as “aggravated felonies” for the purposes of prosecution (rosenblum & mccabe, 2014). moreover, while some migrants do commit serious crimes, their lives are influenced by structural forces outside their control, including transnational political-economic inequalities, war, and racial dynamics in u.s. urban spaces. a legitimate political function is served through the rhetorical construction of a category of “undeserving” noncitizens, overestimating their quantity, and negating the factors influencing their lives. for example, the immigrant rights movement could be compromised if it adopted more inclusive frames (bloemraad et al. 2014). by eschewing the good/bad migrant frame, activists risk losing support for incremental immigration reform from elected officials and the moveable middle. nevertheless, the narratives of our interviewees suggest that binary framings foster ignorance around what happens in the grey space between ideal types. they feed into neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 71 individualistic logic, breeding denial about the social problems, legal constructs, and policing practices making vulnerable the lives of deportable noncitizens. in doing so, they legitimize the disproportionate targeting of latinos by immigration and criminal justice enforcement and uphold a deeply inhumane program of mass deportation violently tearing apart migrant families (menjívar & abrego, 2012). we suggest that a more inclusive framework would not only more accurately represent the lives of migrants, but open space for a much needed critique of current immigration laws and practices. neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 72 references abrego, l. j. (2006). “i can’t go to college because i don’t have papers”: incorporation patterns of latino undocumented youth. latino studies, 4(3), 212-231. annamma, s. (2013). undocumented and under surveillance: a case study of an undocumented latina with a disability in juvenile justice. association of mexican american educators journal, 7(3), 32-41. benford, r.d. & snow, d.a. (2000). “framing processes and social movements: an overview and assessment.” annual review of sociology, 26, 611-639. bloemraad, i., voss, k., & silva, f. (2014). framing the immigrant movement as about rights, family, or economics: which appeals resonate and for whom. working paper # 112-14. institute for research on labor and employment. los angeles, ca: university of california los angeles. brotherton, d.c., & barrios, l. (2011). banished to the homeland: dominican deportees and their stories of exile. new york, ny: columbia university press. chacón, j. (2012). overcriminalizing immigration. journal of criminal law & criminology, 102(3), 613-652. chavez, l.r. (2012). shadowed lives: undocumented immigrants in american society. belton, ca: cengage publishers. chavez, l. r. (2013). the latino threat: constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation. palo alto, ca: stanford university press. cebulko, k., & silver, a. (2013). navigating membership at the state and federal levels: a comparative two state study of 1.5 generation young adults. paper presented at the illegality, youth, and belonging symposium, harvard graduate school of education. cambridge, ma. cress, d. m., & snow, d.a. (2000). the outcomes of homeless mobilization: the influence of organization, disruption, political mediation, and framing. american journal of sociology, 105(4), 1063-1104. de genova, n. (2002). migrant ‘illegality’ and deportability in everyday life. annual review of anthropology, 31, 419-447. dingeman-cerda, k., & coutin, s.b. (2012). the ruptures of return: deportation’s confounding effects. in m. zatz, c. kubrin, & r. martínez (eds.). punishing immigrants: policy, politics, and injustice (pp.113-137). new york ny: nyu press. ewing, w. a., martínez, d.e., & rumbaut, r. (2015). the criminalization of immigration in the united states. washington dc: american immigration council. garcía hernández, c. c. (2013). creating crimmigration. brigham young university law review, 6(4), 1457-1516. giugni, m. & passy, f. (2004). migration mobilization between political institutions and citizenship regimes: a comparison of france and switzerland. european journal of political research, 43(1), 51-82. golash-boza, t. (2009). the immigration industrial complex: why we enforce immigration policies destined to fail. sociology compass, 3(2), 295-309. golash-boza, t. (2015). deported: policing immigrants, disposable labor, and global capitalism. new york, ny: newyork university press. gonzales, r. g. (2008). left out but not shut down: political activism and the undocumented latino student movement. northwestern journal of law and social policy, 3(2), 219-239. heath, c., & heath, d. (2007). made to stick: why some ideas survive and others die. new york, ny: random house. lamont, m., & molnar, v. (2010). the study of boundaries in social sciences. annual review of sociology, 28, 167 195. marrow, h. (2012). deserving to a point: unauthorized immigrants in san francisco’s universal access healthcare model. social science & medicine, 74, 846-854. martinez, l.m. (2008). flowers from the same soil: latino solidarity in the wake of the 2006 immigrant mobilizations. american behavioral scientist, 52, 557-579. martinez, l.m. (2010). politicizing the family: the significance of cultural frames on latino protest in colorado. latino studies, 8, 463-484. menjívar, c., & abrego, l.j. (2012). legal violence: immigration law and the lives of central american immigrants. american journal of sociology, 117(5), 1380-1421. neither sinners nor saints association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 73 negrón-gonzales, g. (2013). navigating “illegality”: undocumented youth and oppositional conscious. children and youth services review, 35, 1284-1290. nicholls, w. j. (2015). voice and power in the immigrant rights movement. in c. menjívar & d. kanstroom (eds.). constructing immigrant ‘illegality’: critiques, experiences, and responses (pp. 225-245). new york, ny: cambridge university press. pallares, a. (2013). family activism: immigrant struggles and the politics of noncitizenship. new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press. patler, c., & gonzales, r. (2015). framing citizenship: media coverage of anti-deportation cases led by undocumented immigrant youth organizations. journal of ethnic and migration studies, (ahead-of-print), 1-22. rios, v. m. (2011). punished: policing the lives of black and latino boys. new york, ny: new york university press. rosenblum, m. r., & mccabe, k. (2014). deportation and discretion: reviewing the record and options for change. washington, dc: migration policy institute. snow, d. a., rockford, e.b., worden, jr. s., & benford, r.d. (1986). frame alignment processes, micromobilization, and movement participation. american sociological review, 51(4), 464-481. soule, s.a. (2009). contention and corporate social responsibility. new york, ny: cambridge university press. stumpf, j. p. (2006). the crimmigration crisis: immigrants, crime, and sovereign power. american university law review, 56(2), 367-419. summer, j. (2015). gop split over bill to let immigrants in the u.s. illegally serve in military. retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/13/406309565/bill-endorsing-illegal-immigrants-to serve-in-military-splits-gop the white house, office of the press secretary. (2014, november 20). remarks by the president in address to the nation on immigration. retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/20 remarks-president-address-nation-immigration yukich, g. b. (2013). constructing the model immigrant: movement strategy and immigrant deservingness in the new sanctuary movement. social problems, 60(3), 302-320. zilberg, e. (2010). space of detention: the making of a transnational gang crisis between los angeles and san salvador. durham, nc: duke university press. neither sinners nor saints http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/13/406309565/bill-endorsing-illegal-immigrants-to-serve-in-military-splits-gop http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/13/406309565/bill-endorsing-illegal-immigrants-to-serve-in-military-splits-gop volume 14 issue 2 2020 amae invited issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies guest editors josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 145 reading and remembering butch-femme worlds wanda alarcón university of arizona abstract this essay examines the practice of building a syllabus that centers butch-femme literatures as a pedagogy of gathering and recuperation. prompted by the loss of an early syllabus on lesbian histories, i examine the genre of the syllabus and contend that “butch-femme” is not the same as “queer” or “lgbtq.” through reflective and autobiographical writing on memory, place, queerness, and social media, the essay traces an ephemeral archiving revealing the stakes for naming and remembering butch-femme lesbian “worlds.” the essay highlights a sample student project and offers a syllabus as a teaching resource. keywords: butch-femme, lesbian histories, u.s. woman of color feminisms, queer pedagogy doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.368 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.368 butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 146 this paper is a weaving of two distant yet connected experiences with butch-femme lesbian literatures. reflecting on the process of creating a butch-femme class, i begin with a memory of a rare lesbian studies course and the lost syllabus i am searching for now. my experience as a student and my experience as a teacher are linked through this special archive that needs to be named or it will be lost. writing from the perspective of a teacher, i focus on the genre of the syllabus and the coalitional politics of women of color that shape my pedagogy. this essay also highlights the student work that came out of the butch-femme worlds class and contributes a syllabus for a future archive.1 an insight that emerges is the gathering of new butch-femme literatures that works against forgetting resistant butch-femme worlds. on coming out introductions. that perpetual work of coming out to students every class, every year is something i grow weary of and often resist. i’m not comfortable simply announcing it on the first day, yet my queerness is not always legible at first glance. usually the picture comes into focus when i’m in the company of my butch partner where i am often read as femme or when i drop a “she” or “partner” into a personal anecdote later on in the semester. my femmeness is not always legible along with being a chicana in academia but certainly in the way that “femmeness” tends to be misread and invisibilized. i always “come out” to the students in my class but usually not on the first day. i recently taught a class that was part of a sequence on queer literatures in the english department at ucla. as i prepared to write my syllabus, i drew from my background many times teaching the course “ethnic american writers” and my own experience as an undergraduate student taking a rarely offered course on lesbian studies. focusing on lesbian literatures, i created a class called “butch-femme worlds” which i conceive of as different from and at a significant distance from how “lgbtq” or “queer” are understood. as a particular kind of relation “butch-femme” is not easily translatable to umbrella terms like “lgbtqia” or “queer.” i wondered if in this era of fluid gender expressions and highly visible queer and trans representations in popular culture there is any place for centering butch-femme stories in a syllabus. 1 i would like to thank the students of queer literatures and cultures, spring 2019, at ucla who contributed their zines to pass on to the next butch-femme worlds. alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 147 as part of my introduction of the course to this group of students, i reflected on my own college experience taking a lesbian studies class. i worried a little about my story sounding anything remotely like “when i was young,” but i hoped that these students would be interested in thinking across queer generations. what would be different about this introduction is that this time i felt i had something relatable to discuss about queerness—on the very first day. i was an undergraduate student at california state university long beach in 1993 and had the cosmic luck to take a course in women's studies from sharon sievers called "the lesbian." at the time it was listed as “w/st 356” and i remember that we had the option as students to have it listed generically on our transcripts, the discreet brown paper package version of the class. i chose to have “the lesbian” permanently emblazoned on my official transcript. i was a music and french major, but i took several classes in women’s studies along with many friends, all the cool out queer students on campus. i teach in a gender and women's studies department now and reflecting on the process of how and why one builds a queer syllabus, especially one focused on butch-femme narratives, reminds me of how important this class was and what a difference it made to my experience as a student to take classes in women’s studies. i remember the feminist bookstore pearls booksellers on redondo avenue that also provided intellectual inspiration and respite when i was a student. learning through other students that this bookstore was owned by sievers’s partner, edie odelle, was almost as important as seeing the works of audre lorde and gloria anzaldúa featured in the glass window cases, stacks of feminist poetry on the display tables, and books and magazines with provocative covers on tidy shelves along the walls. my friend verónica reyes worked there when she was a creative writing student and if pearls were open now her own stunning collection of poetry, chopper! chopper! poetry from bordered lives (2013) would be on display. i think about this and imagine how another first-generation chicana lesbian student from east los angeles like we both were would feel holding such a book in her hands, knowing through the breath of those words that such mujer-centered worlds are real. such places of lesbian feminist respite are rare now and most have long closed. you can trace these shifts rather scientifically now with an objective distance of 20 years or more, a simple strategic business pattern that affected women’s bookstores and small independent booksellers nationwide. but i remember the start of that in los angeles, when borders books opened in 1995 directly across the street from sisterhood books in westwood which closed butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 148 soon after in 1999. now the specter of amazon haunts every fledgling endeavor to dare to sell books and create a community of readers through the love of stories, poems, and like-minded company while making rent. remembering those bookstores as a student is like travelling to a forgotten world. these are some of the meaningful events that shape the way i teach. i remember these feminist bookstores, these material lesbian histories, because i do not want to forget and i cannot allow them to be forgotten in my classroom or on my syllabus. over the years and one move too many after leaving long beach, i lost the bulky bubble gum pink 3-inch 3-ring binder that held all my course readings, papers, and the syllabus dr. sievers created for us. at the time i believed the class i took was the first time it was offered but in fact the course was born in the middle of the 1980s when programs like gender and women’s studies were under threat at csulb and across the country. known for such courses like “women and their bodies” that demonstrated activities like vaginal selfexamination, practices that remind students that the body is a political site, are now part of the well documented controversial history of that department. these radical feminist pedagogies drew accusations that women’s studies and feminism encouraged lesbianism. i didn’t know of sievers’s important role in establishing and defending women’s studies at long beach. the hard work had been done by the time i was a student, and i simply got to sign up for this mysterious class called “the lesbian.” i remember reading lillian faderman’s (1991) odd girls and twilight lovers and the stunning stone butch blues by leslie feinberg (1993). mostly we read articles hand selected by our professor, a course design practice i follow now, too. the class is still listed in the university catalog as “lesbian histories and culture.” i can imagine many kinds of introductions and first days in that class. i would love to see that lost syllabus again. the syllabus genre what is a syllabus, formally speaking? in its most general sense a syllabus is an organization of knowledge, an outline of a course of study. “butch-femme worlds” is an evocative title for a “queer” syllabus. but in practice it’s easy for even the most creatively conceived class to become overdetermined by the conventions of the genre. a syllabus includes expectations and consequences even when such disciplinary language is against your teaching philosophy because it is part of the genre. more than ever now, the established form of the syllabus requires language about measurable outcomes that can take you far from your original pedagogical goals. even calling it a contract now sounds overly transactional in the increasingly alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 149 corporatized university. the syllabus is a genre particular to academia that i struggle with every semester to keep the original spark of inspiration alive. i want to resist some of its conventions because i want to make my syllabus full of butch-femme and femme-butch persistence and resistance to do something else. the genre of the syllabus has recently found a wider audience beyond academia. there is a trend on mainstream media to publish reading lists as an intervention to urgent topical issues. at moments of national crisis you will see these impromptu syllabi as reading lists on anti-racism, on underrepresented latinx authors, banned books, and #metoo circulated on social media. the syllabus has also become a form that gives validation to important cultural events such as candice benbow’s (2016) immensely popular #lemonadesyllabus based on beyoncé’s acclaimed genre shattering video album. the author’s blog describes its public impact: with contributions from over 70 black women, candice released the syllabus as a free downloadable resource of over 250 works centered around the lives of black women. within the first week, it was downloaded over 40,000 times and has reached over 600,000 downloads. national and international libraries created "lemonade stands" to highlight the books from the syllabus that were available.2 these kinds of uses of the syllabus occupy a new inside–outside space, partly in academia, partly in popular culture, mediated by the flash fire speed of cyberspace. whether it is used to offer a quick reading list to get yourself (or your friends) woke or as an innovation on the traditional course of study, there are discernable ideas about what a syllabus is and what it can do outside of the classroom. the emergence of these popular syllabi seems to express new kinds of public investments towards creating better worlds. if the genre of the syllabus is perceived as something that can offer solutions to systemic problems, the stakes are high. ultimately, a syllabus is inherently limited and that is good. even a great syllabus can only do so much on its own. yet a syllabus can be in good company and in that way begin to work differently with more possibilities to do something else than its conventions dictate. 2 see https://candicebenbow.com/ https://candicebenbow.com/ butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 150 for example, in the important black feminist anthology, all the women are white, all the men are black, but some of us are brave: black women’s studies, the editors reserve the last section for syllabi reflecting interdisciplinary and literary approaches in the field of black women’s studies (hull et al., 1982). organized under the title, “doing the work,” it was there that i read barbara christian’s syllabus for the course, “major afro-american writers: alice walker seminar.” reading her syllabus along with those of other black women scholars was profoundly moving. more than a syllabus repository, i see a coalitional practice of women of color enacted within the form of the anthology, much like the publication of this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color had done a year earlier (moraga & anzaldúa, 1981). against the individualistic, competitive culture of academia, here was a gathering of black woman centered knowledge generously offered to the reader—then and now. in the company of others the academic genre of the syllabus becomes critical work, both articulating and archiving its intellectual and political project. in whose company was the 1993 “the lesbian” syllabus? the anthologizing practices of women of color in but some of us are brave and bridge are simultaneously intellectual, pedagogical, and activist in scope. reading their introductions, i extend these politics in the making of my syllabus. their introductions reflect the urgency of the work and the expansiveness of their vision that do something else with the form of the anthology. in “the politics of black women’s studies” hull and smith state, “the publication of this book fulfills a long term need for a reference text and pedagogical tool” and note that the section devoted to course syllabi was “perhaps the most valuable part of the book for many readers (hull & smith, 1982, pp. xxiii-xxxi).”3 this is a practical matter on one level, noting how scholars have had to rely on “informal networks and the lucky acquisition of a syllabus here or there,” but these are also the lived conditions that inform the politics of gathering knowledge in the form of the anthology (p. xxiii). in the introduction to bridge, moraga & anzaldúa (1981) state, “we envision this book being used as a required text in most women’s studies courses” and “by every ethnic studies teacher in the country” (p. xxvi). it’s safe to say that this goal has largely been met; however, they also envisioned a home for bridge, “in libraries, bookstores, conferences, and union meetings in every major city and hole-in-the-wall in this country” (p. 3 the introduction to but some of us are brave is co-written by gloria t. hull and barbara smith. alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 151 xxvi). in other words, the editors of bridge had an academic and general public audience in mind for this “revolutionary tool” (p. xxvi). these are examples of the ways women of color innovate and push the boundaries of established forms.4 these anthologies model a way to do something else—because they must. at the same time that they establish intellectual fields, these coalitional works reject those structures and practices that exclude women of color in the first place. the editors of but some of us are brave state: originally, we had thought to make this book, not “black women’s studies” but “third world women’s studies.” it became apparent almost immediately that we were not equipped to do so. we hope that this one volume on black women helps to create a climate where succeeding works on american indian, asian american, and latina women can more swiftly come into being. (hull & smith, 1982, p. xxxi) furthermore, for black women, curriculum could not be about exceptional black women—or a conservative “contributions” approach—but rather it must be clear, courageous work that “saves black women’s lives (hull & smith, 1982, p. xxv).”5 for bridge, the writings cut through genres and their stated and coalitional politics exceed the boundaries of atomized departments and discrete genres. these coalitional projects both share a practice of gathering of the knowledge necessary to their respective and interrelated projects and a commitment to “facilitate the necessary sharing” (hull & smith, 1982, p. xxviii). in her contribution to but some of us are brave, “black women’s health: notes for a course,” beverly smith also sees the possibilities in the form of a future syllabus to properly address black women’s needs, marked by a glaring absence in the research she gathered: the greatest shortcoming in the following materials is the frequent absence of awareness that black women’s health is affected by sexism, racism, and class position. i see the following, though it is in the form of a syllabus, as an initial attempt at gathering the concepts which would be necessary for such an analysis. (smith, 1982, p. 105) smith is calling for an intersectional analysis and her careful notes offer ways to make the academic genre of the syllabus work towards an important intervention in the lives of black women. 4 the histories of independent feminist presses are important to note here too. 5 see paul c. gorski’s (2009) typologies in his study of the philosophies that underlie the “official” multicultural curriculum in multicultural teacher education (mte). butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 152 teaching in los angeles i expect to see first generation, queer, trans, undocumented students of color in my classes and i have them in mind when designing a syllabus. as i began sorting my ever-growing list of potential queer texts, i realized what i wanted my syllabus to do: even though this was not a race and gender studies class, i wanted it to have a rigorous and nuanced discussion of race and gender. even though this was a literature class, i wanted it to be a lesbian literature class. i wanted all the literature to be by working class authors of color. focusing on butch-femme literatures ensured that. knowing this made the task of narrowing down the texts more clear. i focus on butch-femme literatures so that these stories, lives, desires, and struggles are not forgotten. on a personal level, i want students to know that this lesbian literature exists, that it is beautiful and important. on another level, i want my butchfemme syllabus to embody its woman of color feminist politics as i see modeled in woman of color anthologies. i want my syllabus to be an introduction to lesbian literatures with a radical edge, coalitional more than comparative, that names the linked processes of race, class, and gender on the first week. to center these texts, concepts, and perspectives on my syllabus resists reinforcing the canon and its ordering logics and also resists the survey model that i began with when i thought of the class as part two of “queer literatures.” my first draft had a few units dedicated to butch-femme representations but when i decided on the title: “butchfemme worlds,” now i could get to work. butch-femme is not the same as queer naming the course “butch-femme worlds” historicizes working class and women of color lesbian literatures in ways that terms like “queer” and “lgbtq” do not allow these contexts to be seen. in that sense, butch-femme is not the same as queer nor always legible under lgbtq. these terms have been widely debated and part of the problem with “queer” is aptly captured by siobhan somerville’s (2007) entry for keywords for american cultural studies: “queer” causes confusion, perhaps because two of its current meanings seem to be at odds. in both popular and academic usage in the united states, “queer” is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms “gay” and “lesbian” and occasionally “transgender” and “bisexual.” in this sense of the word, “queer” is understood as an umbrella term that refers to a range of sexual identities that are “not straight.” (p. 187) similarly, gloria anzaldúa warns of the way that queer is used as “a false unifying umbrella which all ‘queers’ of all races, ethnicities, and classes are shoved under” (anzaldúa, alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 153 1998, p. 264). we can see in this pointed statement the “race trouble” e. patrick johnson speaks of in proposing “quare studies” to accommodate “racialized sexual knowledge” as part of a bigger project on black queer studies and why the emergence of a “queer of color critique” is necessary (johnson, 2001, p. 1).6 that “queer” needs these negotiations and interventions by people of color points to the hegemonic status of queer theory in the academy.7 more than a convenient or innocuous umbrella term, the homogenizing effect of “queer” actively works to erase gender and race. theoretically speaking this might be desirable but in practice, in the case of butch-femme histories, there is a need to be specific in order to see lesbians through the queer umbrella.8 for instance, writing about the decision to use “gay” in the title to the anthology gay latino studies: a critical reader, editors michael hames-garcía and ernesto javier martínez refer to the way that “queer” elides gender difference and therefore “gay” becomes a more representative term for their anthology (hames-garcía & martínez, 2007). problematically, anzaldúa (1998) claims that the word “lesbian” “doesn’t name anything in my homeland” (p. 263); however, carla trujillo’s (1991) chicana lesbians: the girls our mothers warned us about makes “chicana lesbian” part of my intellectual homeland. this naming matters because “lesbian” simply does not retain the same level of status, visibility, or acceptance, however fraught, that “gay” does for men. these discussions are part of what inform how i teach about non-normative gender. we will likely never get to a consensus on the possibilities and limits of these terms that name parts of our plural selves, but that’s not really what needs to be resolved here. what needs to be understood is how to recognize identity in a way that matters for the survival of marginalized communities. when anzaldúa (1998) states, with prickly reluctance, “if i have to pick an identity label in the english language [emphasis added] … i pick “dyke’ or ‘queer,’” she does so for “different reasons than those of the dominant culture” (pp. 263–264). she is working out the difference maría lugones painstakingly elaborates in her rejection of categorial logics—in the reductive uses of race, gender, queer—for a critical and historicized understanding of identities which arise “at the point of resistance” (lugones, 2011, p. 52). forced into an impossible corner, anzaldúa (1998) acts and makes something with more 6 paraphrasing judith butler’s notion of “gender trouble.” 7 other meanings and contexts for “queer” precede its established use in academia. 8 theoretically speaking, monique wittig has provocatively argued that lesbians are not “women.” butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 154 resistant possibilities out of these terms: “my labeling of myself is so that the chicana and lesbian and all the other persons in me don’t get erased, omitted, or killed … naming myself is a survival tactic” (p. 264). can a syllabus really do all of this? in the academic setting of an english department where literature by authors of color continue to be marginalized and minoritized, i cannot easily assume that a course called “queer literature” means “queer of color” or that “queer of color” means butch-femme lesbians. the history of english departments as arbiters of canonical knowledge, the force of categories and genres, the conventions of the survey style syllabus, all work together so that queer literatures and histories by people of color are hard to see at first glance no matter how much we have done to destabilize its hegemonic meaning. for these reasons, reading white lesbian literature alongside lesbian of color literature lets me see “butch-femme worlds.” but this is not to make new canons or genres. my correction to avoid a bourgeois queer hegemonic syllabus is to bring class to the front. to read butch-femme literatures is to read white working class and woman of color working class immigrant narratives. moreover, the literature itself demands the confrontation of these intersections, tensions, and difficult coalitions. a well-known repertoire of classic lesbian literary works point to these communities and the inter-racial, class, and erotic dynamics that echo the classic ethnographic studies, essays, and dialogues published at nearly the same time: zami: a new spelling of my name (1982) by audre lorde; the persistent desire: a femme-butch reader (1992) by joan nestle; stone butch blues (1993) by leslie feinberg; odd girls and twilight lovers: a history of lesbian life in 20th century america (1991) by lillian faderman; boots of leather, slippers of gold: the history of a lesbian community (1993) by elizabeth kennedy and madeline d. davis. the shared ten-year timeframe for these new literary representations and ethnographic writings about butch-femme communities helps highlight the ways that fiction often works to recover histories that are not officially documented or are marginalized within canonical literatures and genres. it is also important not to make research work to authorize what is told in literature and instead i want to reconsider the capaciousness of literature for representing butch-femme lived experiences, including their aesthetics and formal innovations. my first selections were the classic memoirs stone butch blues by leslie feinberg and zami: a new spelling of my name by audre lorde which, in part, document butch-femme spaces in 1950s new york, the surrounding attitudes towards class and race, and the violent policing alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 155 of gender. these are indispensable generative works in white working class and black lesbian literature that speak well to each other and to our current moment. but the inspiration for building the course around the butch-femme theme came from reading new chicana butch and femme characters in the poems of verónica reyes (2013). it’s not every day that i get to teach chicana lesbian writers and reading her vibrant debut collection of poems that remember familiar times, places, and sounds set in east los angeles, the city i grew up in, made it exciting and urgent. i had also seen the short film ¿tienes hambre? by margo rivera-weiss (2005) at a queer woman of color film festival some years earlier and i never forgot it—but it was not made available in time to show in my class. nonetheless, i could not pass up the opportunity to pair new literary voices and films with the classic texts. designing the course this way helped to disrupt the idea that butch-femme is somehow “old school” and problematizes the sense of linear progress in the area of sexuality and gender sometimes assumed by the visible flourishing of new queer and trans subjectivities in popular culture. of course, i needed to trouble the stability assumed in “the lesbian” too and make room for my own experiences to count, something i remember in hearing the bilinguality of reyes’s poetry. i came out among a group of young women of color at csulb. but it wasn’t until i went to a latina lesbiana support meeting at the east los angeles community union (telacu) with a friend, another chicana, that i met latina lesbians who were not students. we travelled from long beach to east los angeles to attend lesbianas unidas meetings and participate in gay and lesbian latinos unidos (gllu) events. many activities and events were held in community centers around the city including the women’s center for alcoholism, cafés like café tropical, and small jotería owned businesses during closed hours. eventually i attended a camping retreat and it was there under the stars and around the fire that i realized that there were lesbians who spoke spanish. moreover, spanish was their primary language. this had not been my experience in college and i felt somewhat out of place at times. i felt the same way at working class lesbiana butch-femme nightclubs. the lesbianas i met in these spaces were not only mexicanas but guatemaltecas, salvadoreñas, peruanas, argentinas. if ever there was a chicana lesbiana awakening, that experience of hearing spanish spoken, listening, organizing, flirting and dancing to music among lesbianas was it for me! until then, my sense of being queer and being mexican were two different worlds that rarely met. hearing spanish spoken so easily between women, with intimate inflections of understanding, friendship, and desire was what butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 156 gave butch and femme lasting meaning for me. here i’m thinking with juana maria rodríguez’s idea of “queer latinidad” embodied through language in words like “entendidas” that are hard to translate without its intimate, queer, outlaw inflections (rodríguez, 2003). there are limits and complexities in sharing a language, spanish is not an equalizing tool, demarcations of class, colonial legacies, citizenship, and degrees of assimilation all play out in the field of language. somehow, i felt more queer—and more femme—in spanish. in those spaces we fight to exist in, our hometowns, hangouts, families of our own making, even as subjects of literature, recognizing butch and femme worlds pushes back against the forces of marginalization, erasure, and violence. as elizabeth kennedy states in the preface to boots of leather, slippers of gold, we must remember these butch-femme communities as “communities of resistance” (kennedy & davis, 1993, p. xiii). indeed, the terms “butch” and “femme” are quite alive and widely used now, whether creatively paired or kept in the singular. as stacy macías (2020) notes, the meanings and popular use of the terms have been expanded, in particular the uses of “femme.” this new visibility is reflected in our consumer culture and practices. it’s both jarring and fascinating to see a t-shirt for sale at banana republic with the word femme printed on it. these terms with rich lesbian histories and meanings have new queer and trans articulations, and at the same time they are used to make heteronormative claims. these layered processes are worth paying attention to. there is an important literary and cultural history to which we have a responsibility to keep alive by naming it “butch-femme” and troubling how we read queer and lgbtq. perhaps i could have called this class “butch-femme literatures and cultures” as the syllabus includes film, art, and sound. i wanted to evoke another perspective, another pedagogy. i wanted to use language and grammar that resisted categories and hierarchies that we are habituated to think in. i include the hyphen in “butch-femme” to link the phrase in a relation of complementarity. i call it “worlds” because i wanted room to interpret “literature” very broadly. i borrow the term “worlds” and the phrase “worlds of sense” from maría lugones (2003) “against the grain of atomic, homogenous, and monistic understanding of the social in any of its dimensions” and to suggest the possibility for “meaning and communication to be both less coded and less determined” (pp. 25–26). without foreclosing the suggestive possibilities for thinking with lugones’s “worlds,” i find this is a helpful partial description: alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 157 for something to be a “world” in my sense, it has to be inhabited at present by some flesh and blood people. that is why it cannot be a utopia. it may also be inhabited by some imaginary people. it may be inhabited by people who are dead or people that the inhabitants of this “world” met in some other “world” and now have in this “world” in imagination. (lugones, 2003, p. 87) by naming the class “butch-femme worlds,” lesbian communities need not be thought of as “subcultures,” and our approach to texts and people may invite the “sensory” and the body into how we study bodies of knowledge and bodies of literature. sample project: a butch-femme zine figure 1 student work 1 note. the quote by leslie feinberg from stone butch blues is typed in a cursive font and spread over two pages of the zine, made in cardstock, a place of prominence and importance. the goal of the class was “an” introduction to lgbtq literature. i chose to make this class about lesbian literatures because it’s a body of work i care about: how it’s represented, how it’s read and misread. having also seen the introduction of new butch-femme characters in film long after the film bound (1996) in the film pariah (2011) by dee rees which features a young black “stud” as its protagonist, i felt a twinned sense of responsibility to these works and the young queer and trans students of color i imagined would select to be in the class. i did not need to see the prior iterations of “queer literatures and cultures after 1970” to know that a butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 158 class on butch-femme lit would be rare. i knew that and so did the students. on the first day of class, after reviewing the list of books and films, a student who identifies as femme told me that she had taken another queer lit course and that she never read any lesbian literature, let alone butch-femme stories (see figure 1). all “queer” meanings gathered in the course of the class need to be kept alive at the same time without competition for the final word. as someone who grew up politically, musically, and queerly in the 1980s, i don’t expect students to identify as butch, femme, or lesbian—or even chicana. however, we must think and teach historically with these words; we cannot erase them from our lexicon or too much will be lost, forgotten. i created this special topic so that students, whomever they might be, might see themselves in the readings and perhaps imagine their queer forbears speaking to them across time and place, generations, and complex differences (see figure 2). working toward these goals, i created assignments that emphasized exploring concepts rather than defining them so that all students regardless of their background in race, gender, and theories of sexuality could draw from their own experiences, discover their own questions and come up with their own insights into our topic. the raymond williams-style “keyword” essays and the student group co-led discussions support and reinforce these goals (williams, 1976). together they interrupt tidy dictionary logics of meaning, the linearity of chronological time, and orient learning against mastery in favor of playfulness and exploration. a key group activity was close reading which students practiced extensively—and even held a hearty sustained debate over the butch-femme symbolism held in a cup of coffee: black or with sugar and cream.9 there is no “test” that makes sense for me to give as the work of the class is done. ultimately, i wanted students to imagine themselves as part of this literary lineage. i wanted them to write their own stories. the zine project is the culmination of the class. the guidelines are framed by lugones’s (2000) healthy suspicion of any meaning that is too pinned down and an open appreciation of “linguistically improper” words. mimi nguyen’s (2012) theorization of zines as an important archival site comprised of “materials and absences” offer critical questions for the students to examine in the shared process of making zines: 9 referring to the wildly flirtatious femme seduction scene between violet and corky in the film bound (1996). alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 159 i like dictionaries. i am also suspicious of them. i am politically discriminate, critical, active, as i ‘look up’ words. i am particularly attracted to dictionaries of the linguistically improper. (lugones, 2000, p. 246) the archive is not just a place for study, but must be itself an object of it. what is in the archive, and how did it get there? what are the criteria for assembling, organizing and presenting materials? who selects and collects, shapes and donates their stories to an archive? what is not there? how do these materials and absences produce knowledges, including norms and teleologies?” (nguyen, 2012) the pedagogy and politics of the zine project are encapsulated in these epigraphs. the simplest description of the project is to create a publication with an accompanying image discussing any aspect of “butch-femme” students choose including new uses not yet captured by dictionaries or official texts. for further definition i offered the following (see appendix): a zine, short for magazine or fanzine, is typically a diy publication made on a very low budget (often “free”), copied in black and white, stapled, focused on a single topic, with hand made, drawn, or found illustrations and graphics, circulated in small batches. zines are “unofficial” sites of knowledge and labor and often provide important stories and counter-discourses missing in “official” archival sites. zines are meant to be easily accessible and readable and passed on by hand. these definitions link the practical aspect of making the zine and the critical aspect of the politics of the zine. we have a workshop day of high spirits, 80s tunes by request, and shared supplies including sharpies, non-toxic glue sticks, hole-punches, and crafters scissors (see figure 3). i brought a few sample copies from my collection to share, so did another student, and we watched a great “how to” video from the barnard zine library for a more practical example. i’m happy to see that several students decided to collaborate and make their zines together. the activity is friendly enough but the stakes are higher as they are now the authors of these butch-femme narratives and some insecurities were felt and expressed differently. one student asked me if she could turn in her zine to me in private, feeling that she was not yet butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 160 ready to be out to the class. on the final day when students would share and discuss the process of making their zines, she changed her mind and joined in quietly but fully present. i think many students felt the affirming effect of the friendly space they had built with each other. figure 2 student work 2 note. a poetic reflection on zami facing a portrait of audre lorde illustrated in vibrant watercolors and ink. alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 161 figure 3 student work 3 note. close up of a found bingo game card collage remixed as “femme4butch,” juxtaposed on a newsprint background. butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 162 lost and found, some things do come back social media post, january 18, 2019 my la peeps, anyone got a copy of stone butch blues i can borrow? my copy is in an unmarked box somewhere in storage. there’s a free pdf online (courtesy of the author) but bound books are more friendly to my eyes. thanks! i should have kept a journal. instead i left traces of this process on my social media over several months which has helped me immensely in remembering this journey. i did not know this course called “butch-femme worlds” would happen: it was a fortuitous set of circumstances and people that set it in motion. i was to be back in los angeles for a few months. it was a perfect temporary gig. in my mind’s peripheral vision, i’d always had a copy of stone butch blues in my home library, the same edition by firebrand books i had when i was in college. most of my boxes of books were in storage now and i could not find my copy. moreover, i could not be sure that i had actually stored it. all the certainty i had about that particular book and other lost queer things was undone. i kept my worries at bay with the knowledge that there is a free pdf version available made by feinberg hirself. part of the greater problem is that the book, like many other lost lesbian works, was out of print. i sent a plea hoping someone in l.a. might still have a copy that i could borrow. i had also sent messages to old college friends about “the lesbian” syllabus as well as the department of gender, women, and sexuality studies at csulb. no luck. all was lost it seemed. one day later... social media post: january 19, 2019 my new copy of stone butch blues arrived today via special hand delivery. i had to document this epic experience! thank you so much for this wonderful gift, luis! alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 163 figure 4 social media post note. the author with luis alfaro in hollywood, ca. some things do come back, at least in part. i now have a new copy of stone butch blues, gifted to me by luis alfaro, a generous gesture i like to think he made out of friendship to both leslie and i—and to a commitment to our shared queer worlds (see figure 4). his copy included a bookmark from the bookstore a different light, an ephemeral artifact documenting so much in its absence. i think of margo rivera-weiss’s (2005) beautiful and sexy butch-femme film ¿tienes hambre? that was almost lost—which they posted on youtube not too long ago— but our loss of margo and their work in future queer women of color film is felt too now.10 10 margo rivera-weiss (2005) made several films through the queer women of color media arts project (https://qwocmap.org) based in san francisco, ca. https://qwocmap.org/ butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 164 i don’t believe the syllabus to “the lesbian” is truly lost. some of the memories have been awakened by this process and are held now in the space of these pages. having created an ephemeral space archiving the gathering of memory, stories, and artifacts on social media does not replace the practice of a teaching journal, but it does some work to help document and recover some of what has been gained along the way to this class. moreover, it gives form to a recurring theme of loss i mediate in the writing and re-making of my own lesbian syllabus. the many unexpected returns remind me of the stakes for reading and remembering butch-femme worlds. alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 165 references anzaldúa, g. (1998). to(o) queer the writer–loca, escritora, y chicana. in c. m. trujillo (ed.), living chicana theory (pp. 263–276). third woman press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822391272-024 benbow, c. (2016, may 6). lemonade syllabus. [pdf]. issuu. https://issuu.com/candicebenbow/docs/lemonade_syllabus_2016 boros, s. and lazar, a. (producers), and wachowskis (directors). (1996) bound. [motion picture]. united states: dino de laurentiis company. butler, j. (1990). gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. routledge. faderman, l. (1991). odd girls and twilight lovers: a history of lesbian life in twentieth-century america. columbia university press. feinberg, l. (1993). stone butch blues. firebrand books. gorski, p. c. (2009). what we’re teaching teachers: an analysis of multicultural teacher education coursework syllabi. teaching and teacher education, 25(2), 309–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.07.008 hames-garcía, m. & martínez, e. (eds.). (2011). gay latino studies: a critical reader. duke university press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822393856 hull, g. t., bell scott, p., & smith, b. (eds.). (1982). all the women are white, all the blacks are men, but some of us are brave: black women's studies. feminist press. hull, g.t. & smith, b. (1982). introduction: the politics of black women’s studies. in hull, g.t., bell scott, p., & smith, b. (eds.), all the women are white, all the blacks are men, but some of us are brave: black women’s studies (pp. xvii-xxxii). feminist press. johnson, e. p. (2001). "quare" studies, or (almost) everything i know about queer studies i learned from my grandmother. text and performance quarterly, 21(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10462930128119 kennedy, e., & davis, m. d. (1993). boots of leather, slippers of gold: the history of a lesbian community. routledge. lorde, a. (1982). zami, a new spelling of my name. crossing press. lugones, m. (2000). wicked caló: a matter of the authority of improper words. in s. l. hoagland & m. frye (eds.), feminist interpretations of mary daly (pp. 246–265). penn state press. lugones, m. (2003). pilgrimages/peregrinajes: theorizing coalition against multiple oppressions. rowman & littlefield publishers. lugones, m. (2011). it’s all in having a history. in hames-garcía, m. & martínez, e. (eds.), gay latino studies: a critical reader (pp. 46–54). duke university press. macías, s. i. (2020). latina and chicana butch/femme in literature and culture. in l. g. mendoza (ed.), the oxford encyclopedia of latina and latino literature. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.344 moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (1981). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color. persephone press. nestle, j. (ed.). (1992). the persistent desire: a femme-butch reader. alyson publications. nguyen, m. t. (2012, january 13). fales library donation statement. poc zine project. https://poczineproject.tumblr.com/post/40517982011/poczp-news-mimi-collectiondonation-statement-fales rees, d. (director). (2011). pariah. [film]. focus features. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822391272-024 https://issuu.com/candicebenbow/docs/lemonade_syllabus_2016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.07.008 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822393856 https://doi.org/10.1080/10462930128119 https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.344 https://poczineproject.tumblr.com/post/40517982011/poczp-news-mimi-collection-donation-statement-fales https://poczineproject.tumblr.com/post/40517982011/poczp-news-mimi-collection-donation-statement-fales butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 166 reyes, v. (2013). chopper! chopper! poetry from bordered lives. arktoi books. rivera-weiss, m. (2005). ¿tienes hambre?. [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ivbxnugiqe rodríguez, j. m. (2003). queer latinidad: identity practices, discursive spaces. nyu press. smith, b. (1982). black women’s health: notes for a course. in hull, g. t., bell scott, p., & smith, b. (eds.), all the women are white, all the men are black, but some of us are brave (pp. 103–114). feminist press. somerville, s. b. (2007). queer. in b. burgett & g. hendler (eds.), keywords for american cultural studies (pp. 187–190). nyu press. trujillo, carla. (ed.). (1991). chicana lesbians: the girls our mothers warned us about. third woman press. williams, r. (1976). keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society. oxford university press. wittig, m. (1992). the straight mind and other essays. beacon press. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ivbxnugiqe alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 167 appendix syllabus: reading butch-femme worlds description this course is an introduction to butch-femme representations in lgbtq literatures after 1970. we begin with the stonewall rebellions to frame the political and historical contexts for reading “queer” and “queer of color” in u.s. writings and film. major topics include race, class, gender, sexual identities and politics, and theories of oppressing-resisting. in particular, we will examine butch-femme constructions across several texts. we will read a repertoire of classic and contemporary narratives including such forms as the novel, autobiography, memoir, short stories, and poetry, and we will screen both narrative and documentary films. select theoretical readings, critical concepts, and frameworks will complement our analysis and original interpretations. we will give plenty of time to practice close reading of texts, film, and visual art. primarily, this course is dedicated to examining diverse butch-femme representations and creative innovations in the vast repertoire of lgbtq literature and film. books audre lorde, zami: a new spelling of my name. crossing press, 1982. leslie feinberg, stone butch blues. (20th anniversary edition) alyson books, 2003. sharon bridgforth, the bull-jean stories. redbone press, 1998. verónica reyes, chopper! chopper! poetry from bordered lives. arktoi books, 2013. dorothy allison, two or three things i know for sure. penguin books, 1995. myriam gurba, dahlia season: stories & a novella. manic d. press, 2007. films lana & lily wachowski (directors), bound, 1996. dees rees (director), pariah, 2011. harry dodge & silas howard. (directors), by hook or by crook, 2001. margo rivera-weiss (director), (2005) ¿tienes hambre?, 2005. reading schedule introductions overview & introductions cheryl clarke, “of althea and flaxie” & images in narratives: poems in the tradition of black women. kitchen table: women of color press, 1982. what’s in a name raymond williams, “introduction,” “culture,” and other selections in keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society. oxford university press, 1976. audre lorde, zami: a new spelling of my name class, gender, race leslie feinberg, stone butch blues stacy i. macías, “latina and chicana butch/femme in literature and culture,” in l. g. mendoza (ed.), the oxford encyclopedia of latina and latino literature, 2020. jeanne cordova, “butches, lies, and feminism” in j. nestle (ed.), the persistent desire: a femmebutch reader. alyson publications, 1992. butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 168 representing butch-femme film: bound b. ruby rich, “new queer cinema” in sight & sound, 1992. https://www.bfi.org.uk/newsopinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/new-queer-cinema-b-ruby-rich amber hollibaugh & cherríe moraga, “what we’re rollin’ around in bed with: sexual silences: a conversation toward ending them” in the persistent desire. madeline davis, amber hollibaugh, & joan nestle, “the femme tapes” in the persistent desire. butch-femme poetics sharon bridgforth, the bull-jean stories sharon bridgforth, “a wo’mn called sir” in r. labonte & l. schimel (eds.), first person queer: who we are (so far). arsenal pulp press, 2007. butch protagonists and east l.a. verónica reyes, chopper! chopper! poetry from bordered lives gloria anzaldúa, “how to tame a wild tongue” in borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. aunt lute, 1987. letticia d. galindo, “caló and taboo language use among chicanas, a description of linguistic appropriation and innovation” in l. galindo & m. d. gonzales (eds.), speaking chicana: voice, power, and identity. university of arizona press, 1999. maría lugones, “wicked caló: a matter of the authority of improper words” in s. l. hoagland & m. frye (eds.), feminist interpretations of mary daly. penn state press, 2000. macarena gómez-barris, “the plush view: makeshift sexualities and laura aguilar’s forbidden archives” in c. o. chavoya, d. e. frantz, & m. gómez-barris (eds.), axis mundo: queer networks in chicano l.a. prestel, 2017. queer of color coming of age film: pariah dees rees, select interviews (online) femme genealogies and solidarities dorothy allison, two or three things i know for sure dorothy allison, “a woman like an ocean” in the women who hate me. firebrand books, 1983. maya chinchilla, “femme on purpose” in the cha cha files: a chapina poética. korima press, 2014 new queer narratives myriam gurba, the dahlia season juana maría rodríguez, “gesture and utterance: fragments from a butch-femme archive” in a companion to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer studies. blackwell publishing, 2007. femme-butch futures in post-queer times https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/new-queer-cinema-b-ruby-rich https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/new-queer-cinema-b-ruby-rich alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 169 film: by hook or by crook b. ruby rich, “new trans cinema” in new queer cinema: the director’s cut. duke university press, 2013. zine workshop zine presentations & party! more recommended readings dorothy allison, bastard out of carolina. penguin, 1993. maya chinchilla, the cha cha files: a chapina poética. korima press, 2014. sandra cisneros, “woman hollering creek” in woman hollering creek and other stories. vintage, 1992. jeanne cordova, when we were outlaws. spinsters, ink, 2011. raquel gutiérrez, the barber of east l.a., 2009. manuscript held at the university of texas fine arts library. link to 2008 performance at the claremont museum of art: https://vimeo.com/35643903 emma pérez, forgetting the alamo. university of texas press, 2009. tatiana de la tierra, for the hard ones/para las duras: a lesbian phenomenology/una fenomenologia lesbiana. a midsummer night’s press, 2018. kitty tsui, words of a woman who breathes fire. spinsters, ink, 1983. chea villanueva, bulletproof butches. masquerade books, 1997. activities, assignments, projects notes on the main assignments and activities and the complete zine prompt. keyword essays these are a series of short (3-5 page) essays based on raymond williams’s keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society. keywords are drawn from the primary texts and some outside texts. by exploring 1-3 “keywords” across the readings students make an inquiry into a vocabulary and trace how meanings circulate in culture in explicit and implicit ways, in both written and in spoken practices. this approach invites students to contribute their own experiences and knowledges about their keywords. this quote captures the essence of the distinction between a “keyword” from a dictionary “definition” of terms: this is not a neutral review of meanings. it is an exploration of the vocabulary of a crucial area of social and cultural discussion, which has been inherited within precise historical and social conditions and which has to be made at once conscious and critical —subject to change as well as to continuity. —raymond williams while not thesis-driven, the student’s perspective is reflected in the chosen keywords and how they cluster them. this open-ended approach helps create the conditions for students to be comfortable with multiplicity and ambiguity while thinking historically about the words and language we use every day. https://vimeo.com/35643903 butch-femme worlds association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 170 preparation: introduction to “keywords” (assigned reading, lecture & discussion) select entries including “culture” (in-class reading & discussion) background resource: the keywords project, university of pittsburgh https://keywords.pitt.edu/williams_keywords.html group-led discussion questions this activity gives significant time for students to co-lead discussion of a major text. student groups should be formed very early as they will need to spend time outside of class to prepare questions. students should feel free to explore any theme that interests them with no predetermined answers. build in times to check in with the student groups ahead of their facilitation day. students may post their questions and quotes/passages with page numbers to the course website before or after their presentation as a resource for the class. review and practice different ways of posing discussion questions that are grounded in the text. essentially, this is a great way to conduct research and gather a lot of perspectives over the course of the class. if they all write about the same topic, fine, they still have to write their own keyword essay. they are teaching their point of view. preparation: review the main books and films on the first day of class. form book groups on the second day and reserve time for students to meet and exchange emails in class. close reading and analysis needless to say, this class relies on close readings of both images and texts. this will need reinforcing throughout the course with several opportunities built in particularly when shifting genres. how do you read a poem, a passage, a scene, an image, a sound or a song? pool together student knowledge, emphasize observation and details, read out loud, resist summary and quick interpretations. practice! preparation: class activity: read the poem “of althea and flaxie” and one of the images from the book narratives. they are both representations of butch-femme “worlds”—but how? slowly move the discussion from observations to interpretations. final project: a butch-femme zine “i like dictionaries. i am also suspicious of them. i am politically discriminate, critical, active, as i ‘look up’ words. i am particularly attracted to dictionaries of the linguistically improper.” – maria lugones, “wicked caló” “the archive is not just a place for study, but must be itself an object of it. what is in the archive, and how did it get there? what are the criteria for assembling, organizing and presenting materials? who selects and collects, shapes and donates their stories to an archive? what is not there? how do these materials and absences produce knowledges, including norms and teleologies?” – mimi nguyen, “my fales library donation statement” https://keywords.pitt.edu/williams_keywords.html alarcón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 171 taking a cue from maría lugones’s appreciation of “linguistically improper” dictionaries and the work of zinester-scholars such as mimi nguyen, your final project is to produce a zine on the topic of butch-femme or any iteration of this couplet. you may engage the readings and films we have explored this quarter if you wish and/or you may approach and recast your questions about butch-femme in new contexts. you can be compiler, chronicler, journalist, and writerartist all in one. you do not need sophisticated skills, you just need the spark of an idea and some materials you are comfortable working with. what is a zine? a zine, short for magazine or fanzine, is typically a diy publication made on a very low budget (often “free”), copied in black and white, stapled, focused on a single topic, with hand made, drawn, or found illustrations and graphics, circulated in small batches. a quick google search will lead you to many online archives and tutorials on how to make a zine. zines are “unofficial” sites of knowledge and labor and often provide important stories and counter-discourses missing in “official” archival sites. zines are meant to be easily accessible and readable and passed on by hand. imagine a younger member of your family encountering your zine and the valuable information it contains. what do you want to tell them about “femme” or “butch”? how will you show them? ingredients in the mix: • your definition of butch-femme; femme-butch; butch; femme; etc. • a creative-critical elaboration of your definition • a name – if your zine were a punk band what would you call it? • a short statement on the purpose of the zine. who is it for? why did you make it? • aesthetics – the art work/graphics or its “look” are important to consider. how do the written and visual components go together? • if you cite authors, lyrics/music, or reproduce other people’s work in general, be sure to include a list of your sources somewhere so your readers can find them. how many pages or word count? there is no max or minimum, you decide what is the “right” amount—when it’s “done.” alternative formats: a webzine, a podcast or audio zine, a video zine or game—keep in mind that these require more time and it helps to have experience in these formats already. you’re not sure what to make, pitch me an idea! i highly encourage you to work collaboratively in small groups of 2-3. you can pool your knowledge and divvy up the work—research, writing, layout, artwork, printing and binding— there’s lots to do! amae 2020 invited issue cover page alarcón_final page proof http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 169 symbolic sanctuary and discursive dissonance: limitations of policy and practice to support undocumented students at hispanic serving institutions uriel serrano andrea del carmen vazquez university of california, santa cruz raul meneses samperio los angeles unified school district allison mattheis california state university, los angeles abstract an increase in public expressions of xenophobic and racist nativist sentiments followed the election of the 45th president of the united states, and higher education institutions across the country issued statements proclaiming their support for students impacted by changes to federal immigration policy. guided by garcía’s (2017) organizational typology of hsis and critical policy studies (diem, young, welton, mansfield & lee, 2014), we conducted a content analysis of messages distributed via campus-wide email that addressed the vulnerabilities of daca recipients and other immigrant students at two hispanic-serving institutions in california. our examination of these messages as policy documents reveals how campus and university-system leaders—even in a so-called “sanctuary state”—attempt to create a notion of “campus as sanctuary” rather than committing to “sanctuary campus” policies and practices. we conclude with recommendations that push the notion of sanctuary campus beyond symbolic gestures and ask practitioners, scholars, and educators to reflect on the practices that foster true sanctuary environments. keywords: hsi, sanctuary campus, higher education, immigration, daca corresponding author: uriel serrano, serrano@ucsc.edu doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.411 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.411 symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 170 introduction following the election of the 45th president of the united states and subsequent increasingly strict federal approach to immigration policies, communities across the nation began to declare themselves “sanctuary cities” to denote their unwillingness to cooperate with and perpetuate a racist deportation agenda. california is the most populous and diverse state in the u.s. and is home to more than 10 million immigrants from around the world, an estimated 3 million of whom are undocumented. in 2017 california governor jerry brown signed sb54 (the so-called “sanctuary state” bill) into law, effectively indicating that state law enforcement agencies would not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. universities across the state issued statements assuring the protection of students from any attacks deployed by the president’s conservative cabinet, especially in the wake of the rescission of daca (deferred action on childhood arrivals), an obama-era presidential executive order that provides work permits and access to higher education for undocumented individuals who meet certain criteria. a discrepancy exists, however, in the way that california state and city officials have taken up the term sanctuary compared to the leaders of the state’s public higher education institutions. through content analysis of the messages embedded in 20 emails and fact sheets distributed to stakeholders at two hispanic serving institutions (hsis) in california, we found that campus messages construct a limited understanding of the responsibility universities carry with regard to immigrant students. rather than identifying xenophobia and racist nativism as broader social problems to confront—particularly at campuses located in communities that are home to large numbers of immigrant residents—these responses are limited to providing educational access to undocumented students. thus, universities, including hsis which may be presumed to have an additional commitment to supporting students most impacted by racism, elicit a symbolism of sanctuary rather than deploying sanctuary practices. study context a report sponsored by the pew research center estimated that there were 56.5 million latinx people living in the united states in 2015, comprising 17.6 percent of the total u.s. population (flores, lópez, & radford, 2017). of this group, 35 percent of those between the ages of 18-24 were enrolled in higher educational institutions—twoor four-year colleges, alike. while this signifies an increase in latinx college enrollment, this group is still proportionally behind other groups in finishing and obtaining a four-year degree (krogstad, serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 171 2016). student demographics in california’s public university systems are also changing whereby the population of latinx students enrolled in the university of california (uc) system, for example, has doubled in the last two decades, from 12 percent in fall 2000 to 24 percent in fall 2017 (university of california, 2018). given the rapid increase of latinx student in public institutions of higher education, many institutions across the state of california now qualify for the federal designation of hispanic serving institution (hsi). hsis are “defined as accredited two-year and four-year degree granting institutions with a minimum enrollment of 25 percent latinx students” (santiago 2006). in this article we refer to the individual campus sites and university systems by the pseudonyms “dorado state university” (part of “university system a”) and “boardwalk university” (part of “university system b”). based on the classification system employed by nuñez, crisp and elizondo (2016), both campuses are considered “big systems four years” hsis, a category of primarily public institutions with large enrollments of mostly undergraduate students. dorado state and boardwalk university are located in different parts of california— dorado state in southern california and boardwalk university in northern california—and are part of university systems that have distinct funding relationships with the state legislature and independent governance systems. their campus demographics are also distinct; a majority of students (about 60%) at dorado state identify as latinx, while boardwalk university’s latinx population only recently grew past the 25 percent mark in 2012 qualifying it as a hispanic serving institution. both universities are located in communities whose city councils approved the adoption of “sanctuary city” designations in 2017, which limits cooperation of local authorities with federal immigration law enforcement agencies. approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants were living in the u.s. in 2015 (krogstad, passel, & cohn, 2017). of these, the majority were latinx, with mexican migrants counting for 5.6 million of the total number in 2016 and increasing numbers of undocumented immigrants from central america arriving from 2009 to 2015. furthermore, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school every year, and 25,000 of those graduates were from california high schools (u.s. department of education, 2015). of these undocumented students who graduate high school, only 5% to 10% pursue higher education, and far fewer actually attain a higher education degree (u.s. department of education, 2015). while hsis are increasingly essential points of access to higher education for many latinx symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 172 students, there is much discussion surrounding what hispanic serving means and who benefits from the application of such a title (garcía 2017a). debate also exists within this context about the responsibility of hsis to provide sanctuary for undocumented and dacamented latinx students. based on a review of the extant literature and in response to changing conditions for undocumented university students and communities, this study was guided by the following research question: how do two public hsis in california interpret their responsibilities in the context of a changing federal immigration policy environment? how are city and state sanctuary policies reflected in hsi practices? literature review this study addressed the formal institutional responses of two public universities to changes in federal immigration practice. in this section, we briefly situate our research in the context of research on hsis, undocumented student access to higher education, and institutional supports for undocumented students in higher education support. hispanic-serving institutions in the united states research on latinx students in higher education broadly suggests that in order to succeed they must navigate racial tensions in broader society and on college campuses (becerra, 2010; irizarry, 2012; pérez & sáenz, 2017). thus, hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) can serve as a critical point of access to higher education for underserved communities (benítez 1998; benítez & dearo, 2014; conrad & gasman 2015). in california, hsis provide access to higher education by enrolling higher numbers of latinx students; however, completion and persistence rates remain low at many of these universities (contreras & contreras, 2015). as such, scholars argue that not all hsis center the notion of “hispanic-serving” in their institutional identity and practices (contreras & contreras, 2015; contreras, malcom, & bensimon, 2008; hurtado & ruiz, 2012). for example, many hsis utilize grants associated with an hsi designation for the improvement of the campus as a whole and digress from promoting latinx student achievement (contreras & contreras, 2015; contreras et. al., 2008; hurtado & ruiz, 2012). moreover, scholars suggest that the hsi designation is complex, and is an added identity to institutions that did not develop with the intent of serving latinx students (hurtado & ruiz, 2012). therefore, institutions with an acquired hsi designation must interrogate how and to what extent they are “serving” a growing number of latinx students (garcía 2017a, 2017b). serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 173 undocumented latinx students in higher education two prominent themes in the current literature about undocumented latinx students in higher education are the impact of financial constraints (diaz-strong, gómez, luna-duarte, & meiners, 2011; pérez huber, 2009; suárez-orozco et al., 2015), and family supports as a resource (diaz-strong et al., 2011; pérez huber, 2009; pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, & cortes, 2009; punti 2017). financial constraints are evident in the lack of access to many state and federal aid programs, which can lead to increased levels of stress and anxiety that impact the emotional and physical well-being of undocumented latinx students (diaz-strong et al., 2011; pérez huber, 2009; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). however, much research acknowledges that protective factors such as a family’s economic, social, cultural, and emotional support cannot be ignored as contributing factors for academic achievement (pérez et al. 2009; pérez huber, 2009; punti, 2017). for example, students often drew on families’ migration stories for inspiration (pérez huber, 2009), as well as the use of phrases such as “échale ganas” (“put a lot of effort”) from family members to inspire them to do well in school (punti, 2017). higher education support for undocumented latinx students a major theme in the literature is the lack of institutional support for undocumented latinx students, and how it contributes to the difficult experiences they encounter as they navigate educational spaces (diaz-strong et al., 2011, pérez et al., 2009; pérez huber, 2009; suarez-orozco et al., 2015). as a result, undocumented students often rely on individuals as resources to guide them towards information and assistance about financial aid, admissions, networking, and career advice (boden, 2011; contreras, 2009; kouyoumdjian, guzmán, garcía, & talavera-bustillos, 2017; muñoz & maldonado, 2012; pérez & sáenz, 2017). for example, some campus personnel became essential to the academic achievement of undocumented latinx students because they help map out college and career trajectories (boden, 2011), act as sources of inspiration (kouyoumdjian et al., 2017), and are encouraging and positive role models who are empathetic to students’ experiences (pérez & sáenz, 2017). positive faculty and campus personnel become crucial to students’ academic success as they navigated higher education amidst a lack of institutional support. thus, institutions of higher education, and specifically hsis should make particular efforts to support latinx undocumented students. symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 174 theoretical framework we drew on the epistemological assumptions of critical policy studies to frame our examination of higher education administrators’ responses to changes in federal immigration policy stances. diem, young, welton, mansfield and lee (2014) explored the development of critical policy studies in education through a literature review and oral histories with scholars in the field, and identified five fundamental concerns addressed in research that employs these perspectives: (1) attention to the differences between policy rhetoric and practiced reality; (2) concern regarding the policy, its roots, and its development over time; (3) concern with the distribution of power, resources, and knowledge as well as the creation of policy “winners” and “losers;” (4) attention to social stratification and the broader effect a given policy has on relationships of inequality and privilege; and (5) acknowledgment of the agency of non-dominant groups as they resist oppressive policy processes (p. 1072). we conceptualize the official language of higher education administrators as one part of a complex network of policy actors and actions. this approach echoes other research that has examined how language use provides evidence of micropolitical processes and institutional logics involved in navigating contentious educational policy contexts at the k-12 level (whiteman, maxcy, fernández & scribner, 2017). we also borrow from garcía’s (2017a) conceptualization of an organizational framework for hispanic serving institutions to narrow our focus to the interpretation and implementation of policy as practice (see levinson & sutton, 2001) at two hsis in california. garcía (2017a) originally developed a typology of hispanic serving institutions based on extant organizational theory and results of an in-depth case study of an hsi in california; she also employed the typology to classify six institutions in the midwest (garcía 2017b). garcía (2017a; 2017b) characterizes hsis in four ways: (1) latinx-serving, institutions that produce equitable outcomes and have a supportive culture for latinx students; (2) latinx-enhancing, institutions that have a supportive culture but do not produce equitable outcomes; (3) latinx-producing, institutions that produce significant number of legitimized outcomes despite lack of a supportive culture; and (4) latinx-enrolling, institutions which neither produce equitable outcomes nor have a culture for supporting latinx students on campus. combining this typology with a critical policy lens allowed us to identify particular ways that institutional power is conveyed through official modes of university communication with stakeholders. serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 175 methods critical policy studies typically employ qualitative methods and incorporate theoretical perspectives throughout all research processes (young & diem, 2017). qualitative studies are also well-suited to exploring the impact of local context on how broader phenomena are interpreted and enacted (maxwell, 2013); in this case, we examined the purported roles and responsibilities of two higher education institutions in california relative to the protection and academic success of undocumented and other immigrant students. theory-driven content analysis is an inquiry approach that is particularly aligned with research that focuses on communication and the impact and flow of messages, whether qualitative or quantitative in nature (neuendorf, 2017). in this study, we conducted a critical content analysis of email messages and documents posted to institutional websites. as altheide and schneider (2013) have described, analyses of documents drawn from such sources can be connected to broader social critiques, and formats of communication can themselves be significant rhetorical shapers of power, ideology, and influence (p. 3). in this case, we chose to compare messages from two different large public universities in order to remove the focus of critique from the individual message-writers to the larger institutional structures these leaders’ actions may maintain, reinforce, or disrupt. we selected documents for analysis based on the specific sociopolitical context of the impact of changes to federal immigration policy on undocumented communities in california, specifically in the context of higher education. as framed by krippendorf (1989), communications, messages, and symbols differ from observable events, things, properties, or people in that they inform about something other than themselves; they reveal some properties of their distant producers or carriers, and they have cognitive consequences for their senders, their receivers, and the institutions in which their exchange is embedded (p. 403). in adopting such an understanding of the significance of emails to thousands of members of campus communities and fact sheets distributed to even wider audiences, we assume that such documents reflect broader priorities of the two campuses as hsis, and the two university systems as public california institutions. data sources we selected six emails sent to the dorado state university community by the campus president and three messages sent by the chancellor of the associated statewide system, along symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 176 with seven emails sent to the boardwalk university community and four associated public statements released by various campus and university system stakeholders. a total of 20 documents (36 pages of messages) were saved electronically as pdfs. all messages were sent between december 2016 and may 2018. data analysis based on the theoretical frameworks outlined earlier in this article, we developed an analytic matrix (see table 1) that applied the five fundamental concerns of critical policy studies in education drawn from the work of diem et al. (2014) to institutional messaging about immigration policy, including daca, on the two campuses. we also looked for evidence that suggested identification (current and/or aspirational) with garcía’s (2017a) typology of hsis. each author examined all 20 documents and completed a copy of the matrix independently. we then engaged in an iterative process of comparative analysis of each other’s matrices, writing a series of memos, discussing our interpretations, and clarifying any areas of difference. through this process, we identified emergent themes that are presented in the following section. researcher positionality at the time of this research, uriel and andrea were doctoral students at boardwalk university, while raul and allison were an m.a. student and faculty member, respectively, at dorado state university. uriel is also an alumnus of dorado state university, and raul is a current daca recipient. uriel, andrea, and raul identify as latinx while allison is white. we share common interests in exploring how social identities impact student experiences and commitments to advocating for inclusive learning spaces in educational institutions. findings and discussion in this section, we present and discuss findings of our content analysis in three categories: (1) constrained definitions of community; (2) universities as politically neutral government authorities; and (3) responses to immigration policy as reflective of hsi identity. in keeping with a critical policy studies analysis, we highlight particular ways the two universities and systems express and wield authority through both the content and the form of email messages. constrained definitions of community in 2017, an undocumented dorado state student (not a daca recipient) was detained by border patrol authorities in her neighborhood, located a few miles from campus. her serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 177 lawyers claimed the move was retaliation for her activism on behalf of immigrant rights, and for protesting the detention of her mother by immigration officials earlier in the year. the student was kept in detention for almost a month before being released. although dorado state’s president made statements in support of the student as a member of the campus community, these statements carefully avoided direct criticism of federal immigration agencies and did not address her undocumented status. most of the messages we analyzed from both universities were similarly vague in response to broader social tensions and immigration issues and instead focused exclusively on daca, a federal policy. public universities that are part of larger state systems must comply with state and federal statutory authority, particularly in their use of public funds, they have discretion to develop local mission statements and activities designed to address unique community needs. although undocumented status is more than an educational access issue, both dorado state and boardwalk university construct an understanding of community as limited to campus, effectively removing them from responsibility to make broader statements of solidarity. by limiting their focus to campus community only, universities restrict their capacity to offer support to off-campus stakeholders. we found that daca status was almost always referenced only as it pertained to certain students’ university attendance, rather than a federal program that is not specifically tied to higher education. however unwitting this rhetorical conflation between daca and student status may be, it reinforces dichotomous positioning of immigrants more generally. addressing the needs of daca recipients on campus without mention of other undocumented students (non-daca recipients) or undocumented community members who are neither dacamented nor university attendees positions dacamented individuals as good, deserving immigrants. granting such social approval to students merely because they are enrolled in an institution of higher learning tacitly permits unfair stereotyping of other immigrants as less worthy and thus undeserving of support. this was also expressed by campus leaders’ use of the term “dreamers” interchangeably with “daca students;” for example, [dorado state university]’s support of dreamers is unwavering. we will continue to advocate for our students. they deserve nothing less. rather than acknowledging how immigrant status inherently impacts all aspects of individuals’ lives in the u.s., such phrasing suggests dreamers are students who just happen to be immigrants, and therefore deserve the same treatment as other university attendees. symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 178 the broader university systems with which both campuses are affiliated influenced both their definitions of community and the resources they made available locally. the differences in these universities influence both the experience of students and the administrative response to changes in immigration policy. although university system a encompasses twice as many campuses, university system b has a more elite reputation and a less precarious funding situation that provides a certain degree of political insulation. system b also contains certain resources, like law schools, that are not available to system a constituents. a march 2018 boardwalk university email titled urgent message regarding daca directed students to avail themselves of free immigrant legal services at another campus in the system. a message from the head of university system a in february 2018 noted that free legal support services are available in your area to support you in this effort [daca application] but did not provide a link to access these services. several messages from dorado state university noted that the institution would cover the cost of daca applications, clarifying that we have made non-state funds available to cover the fees associated with the application. boardwalk university did not provide direct funds to students in support of their daca renewal applications; rather, students were directed to the website of a nonprofit organization where grants or other assistance to cover your renewal fee may be available. the application requirements of the daca program that potentially place undocumented members of a student’s family at risk of identification have already deterred some otherwise eligible individuals from entering the program, yet this situation was not addressed in university messages. by failing to consistently acknowledge daca recipients as part of a larger community of undocumented individuals, these messages effectively erase the complexities of social, familial, and cultural networks in which undocumented students are situated, particularly those who are part of mixed-status families. universities as politically neutral government authorities the idea that authority figures are the best source of information—and that the university is a trustworthy authority—was common to statements from both institutions. this message was supported by the word choices and phrasing structures present in the documents, as well as the distribution mechanism itself. the ability to disseminate a campus-wide email is typically restricted at large universities, giving central administrators a great deal of influence in determining what situations are seen as “urgent.” students and faculty are not able to disseminate email messages that would reach the entire campus community as this access is serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 179 filtered through upper-level administrative offices. the statements distributed by dorado state university and boardwalk university were all sent on behalf of the president or chancellor or by other high-level administrators on campus. even more explicitly, dorado state university’s messages were formatted on official memo-like letterhead, even when signed in a more casual manner with the president’s first name. almost all were distributed with a subject line that simply read message from the president and required readers to click and open the email in order to learn what topic was addressed. boardwalk university’s subject lines were more descriptive: response to post-election hate flyers; statement on the immigration ban; and trump administration action on daca. in a message from the chancellor of university system a following the initial announcement of the rescission of daca, the phrase do not delay was included as a separate sentence. the use of all caps combined with direct, imperative phrasing emphasizes the authority of the university system to provide guidance to students. although both universities were invested in strengthening their authoritative positions, they also tacitly pointed fingers at the federal government as responsible for the difficult situation faced by undocumented students. from a critical policy perspective, however, this type of messaging reinforces governmental power by heightening alarm about a concerning policy shift without encouraging protest of the law. in a majority of the emails, readers are not directed to participate in efforts to change policy but are instead given clear directions about how to follow it. related to the rhetorical situating of university campuses as separate from the communities in which they are located geographically and socially, we found that the emails sent by administrators frequently referenced institutional “core values,” alluding to a set of principles or standards of behavior. furthermore, these “core values” mirrored popular narratives of “american” values that promote myths of the meritocracy and tropes of the u.s. as a free and welcoming space for all people regardless of background. a september 2017 message from boardwalk university stated: to end the [daca] program is an affront to our nation’s values. it also runs contrary to [university system b]’s commitment to educational access and opportunity to all. these daca students are, for all intents and purposes, americans. both institutions suggested that the political aggression toward daca as a policy threatens the potential of the university to flourish as a space where the exchange of diverse ideas leads to intellectual growth and creativity. thus, by decentering the importance of daca status for many members of symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 180 undocumented communities and re-centering it as a policy that maintains the interests of the university, campus interpretations of equity and diversity are positioned as synonymous with american humanitarianism. we found that the only political actions encouraged by the leaders of dorado state and boardwalk university were those that reinforce hierarchical government authority and place trust in democracy, even in the face of evidence that such faith is potentially misplaced. at the same time that their messages condemned actions by the 45th u.s. president’s administration, they called on readers to contact their representatives and register formal protests with legislative officials. these rhetorical moves implicitly discourage grassroots forms of protest or active resistance. they also fail to propose new policy approaches or invite students and community members to participate in the development of new practices. from a reputational standpoint it is in a university’s interests to suggest that social problems originate—and therefore need to be solved—outside of campus rather than indicate that its own practices and policies frequently directly reflect these same norms and histories. by asking students to get involved in efforts to influence forces outside the university, however, these messages place the labor of social change back on the communities most affected by racist and xenophobic policies, rather than taking a proactive and praxis-oriented approach to enacting reflective, critically conscious transformation within their own institutions. only a few of the messages that addressed daca noted it as a program that provides authorization for recipients to work legally in the u.s., not just attend school; for example, a message distributed across university system a regarding the initial rescission decision in september 2017 was addressed to [university system a] students and employees and noted: renewal of your daca status may be your only opportunity to obtain an additional two years of deportation protection and legal work authorization. following a federal judge’s reinstatement of the program in january 2018, dorado state’s president issued a message that read in part: the injunction allows those who need to submit applications to retain their residency status and work permit to do so and ended with [dorado state] stands with daca students. these messages still positioned employment as something that would accompany an individual’s studies, rather than acknowledging that the ability to earn income to pay for their education—and frequently, contribute economically to support their families—is a primary concern for most undocumented students. serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 181 in contrast with the presentation of daca students as aspirational strivers, tps (temporary protected status) recipients were portrayed as victims. although dorado state university’s president never referred to broader communities of undocumented immigrants in addressing daca, his message from november 2017 specifically noted that this announcement, particularly in the wake of other recent federal actions, may cause fear and anxiety for those in our community who have tps status, or whose friends and family have tps status. because tps recipients were positioned as victims of forces beyond their control (despite the united states' historic and ongoing complicity in creating political and economic instability in their countries of origin), no political risk was posed to university leaders in taking a more expansive compassionate stance. the same email again reinforced the idea that university values reflect the best of american ideals—liberty and justice for all—rather than concrete actions taken by the u.s. government: i want to remind everyone that [dorado state] is, and will remain, committed to our values, even in the face of unsettling actions from washington. yesterday’s decision does not diminish our commitment to the academic success of all of our students, regardless of their immigration status. similarly, a january 2018 message from boardwalk university, issued in part to address actions regarding tps, noted: as a public university, [boardwalk university] has a special mission to serve all californians through research, teaching, and service. our ability to fulfill that mission is obstructed when undergraduate and graduate students are not safe and fear the deportation of themselves, their families, and community members. by limiting their focus to threats to the daca and tps programs, the content of statements made by the administrative authors of the messages we studied reflect well-meaning but short-sighted efforts. a critical policy studies analysis reveals this narrow focus as one that, however unintentionally, reinforces racist nativist ideas that categorize some immigrants as deserving and others as undeserving burdens (perez huber, 2009). responses to immigration policy as reflective of hsi identity although university system a enrolls a higher percentage of students of color, statements from university system b were more direct in acknowledging racial discrimination and naming white supremacy as a problem on campus. we also found that boardwalk university was more explicit in addressing undocumented status in general, rather than more general allusions to daca. while dorado state and university system a messages rarely contained the word undocumented, one statement from the boardwalk university leader symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 182 included the introductory phrase i [chancellor of boardwalk university] am pleased to share the following statement of emphatic support for undocumented members of our community. based on the critical content analysis of email messages and documents posted to institutional websites in response to anti-immigrant rhetoric and changing conditions for undocumented university students and communities, and despite the absence of references to dorado state and boardwalk university as hsis, we find that these two campuses evoke a symbolic latinxenhancing identity. as defined by garcía (2017b), “latinx-enhancing is based on enrolling a minimum of 25% latinx students and enacting a culture that enhances the educational and racial/ethnic experience of latinx students” (p. 114). while the focus of our study was not to measure educational outcomes, our findings do suggest that both hsis attempted to enact and mobilize available resources to support students deemed at risk. many of the 20 email messages we analyzed included live hyperlinks that directed readers to additional sources of information. these links led mostly to offices on the campuses of dorado state or boardwalk university, or to official policy information released by university systems a or b. in the case of directing readers to resources related to countering immigration enforcement threats, these links reinforced a narrow focus on dacamented students, and through further analysis we found that the supports offered aid only those who are current students at both institutions. non-profits or other organizations who advocate for and support the undocumented community and their families outside the campuses and university systems were not typically included in these lists. by not expanding their focus beyond the campus or university system, the ability of these hsis to further support positive identity development for students of color is limited. both universities have active cultural centers and ethnic studies programs and departments with rich histories, and many members of the campus community—staff, faculty, and students—who provide culturally relevant programming and vital academic resources that support students of color. as proposed by garcia and okhidoi (2015), actively working to change and adapt curricula and programming is necessary for hsis to qualify as “serving.” in this study, however, we find little evidence to suggest that the presidents or chancellors of these universities wish to associate themselves with these efforts directly. although administrators proudly tout statistics about the social mobility of dorado state graduates, they do little to talk about the complex role played by u.s. higher education institutions in maintaining social serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 183 stratification. because minority serving institutions, including hsis, have been designated as such as part of efforts to provide developmental support to historically marginalized racial and ethnic minority communities (gasman, nguyen & conrad, 2015), the leaders of these institutions have a responsibility to center the voices of people of color rather than focus solely on the economic advancement of graduates. because serving latinx students was not the historical mission of these institutions, however, they must actively work to develop new organizational strategies that promote liberatory practices (garcía, 2018). by focusing their response solely on threats to daca, the leaders of dorado state and boardwalk university miss an opportunity to mobilize powerful communities on behalf of members made vulnerable by capricious and discriminatory government officials. conclusion in seeking answers to the research questions that guided this study, we were conscious of the complexities of developing and implementing flexible responses to rapidly changing sociopolitical contexts in institutions of higher education, which are often characterized as large bureaucracies prone to stagnation. nevertheless, given the commitments of university systems a and b to be innovative drivers of california’s future, we suggest it is appropriate to examine campus practices as a reflection of underlying values. overall, we find that dorado state university and boardwalk university interpret their responsibilities relative to the impact of changing federal immigration policy enforcement narrowly, with an almost exclusive focus on supporting dacamented students. although this support was sometimes reflected in the offering of concrete resources such as dorado state’s provision of photography services and funds to help students complete their renewal applications, it was more often intimated through rhetorical calls for unity and messages that reinforce narratives of american exceptionalism. despite the sanctuary claims made by the state of california and many local city governments, we find that university campus practices are more risk-averse and engage in symbolic gestures that react and respond to policy changes. although we acknowledge that funding concerns are constant, and university presidents must make difficult decisions about how to prioritize their use of political capital, we call on the leaders of campuses in systems that enroll the highest number of undocumented students (and many more immigrant students) in the country to take stronger actions, and use language that demonstrates a personal understanding of the impact of xenophobia and racism on entire communities—both on and off symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 184 campus­– rather than engage in discursive dissonance. attending to bacchi’s (2000) caution to critical policy analysts to avoid engaging in micro-examinations of discourse without considering what actions can be taken to change the circumstances we critique, we conclude this article by offering the following suggestions for practice. first, we call for hsis to publicly commit to engaging in an ongoing reflexive process in which practitioners account for broader social contexts and threats to the livelihood of the students they serve. by focusing on daca students solely, the presidents’ messages we analyzed cannot be seen as contributing to a broader “latinx-serving” mission because the impact of attacks on undocumented people is felt much more broadly. the unintended effect of invisibilizing other groups contributes to pitting marginalized groups against each other. future research should specifically investigate the impact of intersectional oppression on undocumented students who are members of other marginalized groups, including religious minorities, lgbtqia+ individuals and students with disabilities. it is also not enough to acknowledge the existence of white supremacy and xenophobia as boardwalk university did in their emails to the campus community. universities must also interrogate how white supremacy and xenophobia permeate the educational experiences of the students they serve. alluding to shared values of diversity honors an “enrolling identity” as opposed to a “serving identity” that could affirm and support students through practice. yet, these support systems and practices must also reckon with the fact that attacks on undocumented people transcend the college campus. intuitions of higher learning must move from rhetoric and toward action. for these reasons, we support greater collaboration between different campuses and different public systems of higher education in california. as evident by the emails sent out by administrators, each university system in california has resources that can be mobilized to support the undocumented community in their college campuses and beyond. thus, the possibility of fostering true sanctuary environments is not far-fetched if hsis across the california university system collaborate to support the latinx students—and their communities—they aim to serve. in accordance with our first recommendation, our second recommendation asks campuses to provide additional concrete resources, like food and housing, to undocumented students, especially those who are not dacamented. such a move would prevent the difficult decisions many students have had to make in the current system to potentially place undocumented members of their families at risk by listing a shared address on applications for serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 185 programs like daca, and shift intuitions actions from enrolling to serving, not just their undocumented students but their greater latinx population. ongoing concerns about how to pay for university tuition and fees are shared by many undocumented students (see e.g. diazstrong et al., 2011; suarez-orozco et al., 2015) as well as many other students attending hsis (arbelo-marrero & milacci, 2016). hsis like dorado state university and boardwalk university that enroll a majority of first-generation and low-income students can qualify to receive grants under federal programs like title v and title iii, part a programs; addressing the needs of some of the most vulnerable on campus can help institutions develop practices that benefit all students. although public funds are issued with many restrictions, we call for both dorado state and boardwalk university to articulate their own identities as hsis, and to incorporate protections for undocumented students as part of these commitments. dorado state university’s provision of financial support to cover the costs associated with daca renewal application fees provides a glimpse into practices that can move hsis and other universities towards sanctuary spaces for undocumented students, and to move hsis closer to a multifaceted latinx-serving organizational identity does not only focus on access and graduation rates (garcia, 2016). it is imperative that as a sanctuary city and state practices are developed or redefined in a response to the current federal administration, we hold institutions of higher learning accountable for the ways in which they frame and market themselves. we call for hsis to take actions to serve as sanctuary campuses for the students they so willingly claim to serve. symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 186 references altheide, d.l. & schneider, c.j. (2013). qualitative media analysis (2nd ed.). los angeles, ca: sage. arbelo-marrero, f. & milacci, f. (2016). a phenomenological investigation of the academic persistence of undergraduate hispanic nontraditional students at hispanic serving institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(1), 22-40. doi: 10.1177/1538192715584192 bacchi, c. (2000). policy as discourse: what does it mean? where does it get us? discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 21(1), 45-57. becerra, d. (2010). differences in perceptions of barriers to college enrollment and the completion of a degree among latinos in the united states. journal of hispanic higher education, 9(2), 187-201. doi: 10.1177/1538192709359051 benítez, m., & dearo, j. (2004). realizing student success at hispanic-serving institutions. new directions for community colleges, 127, 35-48. doi:10.1002/cc.162 benitez, m. (1998). hispanic-serving institutions: challenges and opportunities. new directions for higher education, 102, 57-68. doi:10.1002/he.10205 boden, k. (2011). perceived academic preparedness of first-generation latino college students. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(2), 96-106. doi: 10.1177/1538192711402211 conrad, c., & gasman, m. (2015). educating a diverse nation: lessons from minority-serving institutions. cambridge, massachusetts: harvard university press. contreras, f. (2009). sin papeles y rompiendo barreras: latino students and the challenges of persisting in college. harvard educational review, 79(4), 610–632. doi:10.17763/haer.79.4.02671846902gl33w contreras, f., & contreras, g. (2015). raising the bar for hispanic serving institutions: an analysis of college completion and success rates. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 151-170. doi:10.1177/1538192715572892 contreras, f., malcolm, l.e., & bensimon, e.m. (2008). hispanic-serving institutions: closeted identity and the production of equitable outcomes for latino/a students, in m. gasman, b. baez, & c.s.v. turner (eds.). understanding minority-servinginstitutions, (pp. 7190). albany, ny: suny press. diaz-strong, d., gomez, c., luna-duarte, m. e., & meiners, e. r. (2011). purged: undocumented students, financial aid policies, and access to higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(2), 107-119. doi:10.1177/1538192711401917 diem, s., young, m.d., welton, a.d., mansfield, k.c., & lee, p. (2014). the intellectual landscape of critical policy analysis. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 27(9), 1068-1090. doi: 10.1080/09518398.2014.916007 flores, a., lopez, g., & radford, j. (2017). facts on us latinos, 2015: statistical portraits of us hispanics in the united states. retrieved from the pew research center website: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2017/09/18/facts-on-u-s-latinos-current-data/ garcia, g.a. (2018). decolonizing hispanic-serving institutions: a framework for organizing. journal of hispanic higher education, 17(2), 132-147. doi:10.177/153819271734289 garcia, g.a. (2017a). defined by outcomes or culture? constructing an organizational identity for hispanic-serving institutions. american educational research journal, 54(1), 111 134. doi: 10.3102/0002831216669779 serrano, vazquez, meneses samperio, & mattheis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 187 garcia, g.a. (2017b). what does it mean to be latinx-serving? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, 11(3), 110-138. garcia, g. a. (2016). complicating a latina/o-serving identity at a hispanic serving institution. the review of higher education, 40(1), 117-143. garcia, g.a. & okhidoi, o. (2015). culturally relevant practices that “serve” students at a hispanic serving institution. innovative higher education, 40, 345-357. doi 10.1007/s10755-015-9318-7 gasman, m., nguyen, t., & conrad, c.f. (2015). lives intertwined: a primer on the history and emergence of minority serving institutions. journal of diversity in higher education, 8(2), 120-138. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038386 hurtado, s., & ruiz, a. (2012). realizing the potential of hispanic-serving institutions: multiple dimensions of institutional diversity for advancing hispanic higher education. los angeles: university of california, higher education research institute. irizarry, j. g. (2012). los caminos: latino/a youth forging pathways in pursuit of higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(3), 291-309. doi:10.1177/1538192712446322 kouyoumdjian, c., guzmán, b., garcia, n., & talavera-bustillos, v. (2017). a community cultural wealth examination of sources of support and challenges among latino firstand second-generation college students at a hispanic serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(1), 61-76. doi: 10.1177/1538192715619995 krippendorf, k. (1989). content analysis. in e. barnouw, g. gerbner, w. schramm, t.l. worth,& l. gross (eds). international encyclopedia of communication (pp. 403-407). new york, ny: oxford university press. krogstad, j.m. (2016). 5 facts about latinos and education. retrieved from the pew research center website: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/28/5-facts-about-latinosand-education/ krogstad, j.m., passel, s.p., & cohn, d. (2017). 5 facts about illegal immigration in the u.s. retrieved from the pew research center website: http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2017/04/27/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/ levinson, b.a.u. & sutton, m. (2001). introduction: policy as/in practice—a sociocultural approach to the study of educational policy. in m. sutton & b.a.u. levinson (eds.), policy as practice: toward a comparative sociocultural analysis of educational policy (pp. 1-22). westport, ct: ablex. maxwell, j.a. (2013). qualitative research design: an interactive approach (3rd ed.). los angeles, ca: sage. muñoz, s. m., & maldonado, m. m. (2012). counterstories of college persistence by undocumented mexicana students: navigating race, class, gender, and legal status. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 25(3), 293–315. doi:10.1080/09518398.2010.529850 neuendorf, k.a. (2017). the content analysis guidebook (2nd ed.). los angeles, ca: sage. nuñez, a., crisp, g. & elizondo, d. (2016). mapping hispanic-serving institutions: a typology of institutional diversity. the journal of higher education, 87(1), 55-83. perez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h. m., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(2), 149181. doi:10.1177/0739986309333020 symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 188 perez huber, l. (2009). challenging racist nativist framing: acknowledging the community cultural wealth of undocumented chicana college students to reframe the immigration debate. harvard educational review, 79(4), 704-729. retrieved from: http://hepgjournals.org/toc/haer/79/4 pérez, d., & sáenz, v. b. (2017). thriving latino males in selective predominantly white institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(2), 162-186. doi: 10.1177/1538192717697754 punti, g. (2017). echándole ganas: the academic identities of undocumented latino youth. journal of latinos and education,1-16. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2017.1348300 santiago, d. (2006). inventing hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): the basics. excelencia in education (nj1). suárez-orozco, c., katsiaficas, d., birchall, o., alcantar, c., hernandez, e., et al. (2015). undocumented undergraduates on college campuses: understanding their challenges and assets and what it takes to make an undocufriendly campus. harvard educational review, 85(3), 427-463. doi:10.17763/0017-8055.85.3.427 university of california (2017). fall enrollment headcounts. retrieved from https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/fall-enrollment-headcounts u.s. department of education. (2015). resource guide: supporting undocumented youth. retrieved from: https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/focus/supporting-undocumented-youth.pdf whiteman, r.s., maxcy, b.d., fernández, e. & paredes scribner, s.m. (2017). policy enactments and critical policy analysis: how institutional talk constructs administrative logics, marginalization, and agency. in m.d. young & s. diem (eds.), critical approaches to education policy analysis: moving beyond tradition (pp. 175-192). switzerland: springer international. young, m.d. & diem, s. (2017). introduction: critical approaches to education policy analysis. in m.d. young & s. diem (eds.), critical approaches to education policy analysis: moving beyond tradition (pp. 1-18). switzerland: springer international. http://dx.doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.85.3.427 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 table 1. analytic matrix with sample entry criteria document analysis email date: 10-16-17 dorado state (message from the president) evidence that message critiques or at least acknowledges roots and implications of immigration policies (such as daca and tps) none providedmessages implies taken-forgranted assumption that “daca is good.” no evidence evidence that message critiques or at least acknowledges roots and implications of immigration policies (such as daca and tps) the fate of our students rests in the hands of elected officials who need to hear from us* clear finger-pointing at govt. officials as ones with power. resources indicated to belong to hied are voice / influence. suggests that “signing a letter” is the most the president can do. evidence that message critiques or at least acknowledges roots and implications of immigration dorado state’s support of dreamers is unwavering. we will continue to advocate for our students. they deserve nothing less. reinforces construction of dreamers as “worthy” immigrants. speaks to supporting daca recipients because they are students, not because they are undocumented http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ symbolic sanctuary and hsi practices association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 190 policies (such as daca and tps) immigrants being xenophobically targeted by racist govt. policies. evidence that message critiques or at least acknowledges roots and implications of immigration policies (such as daca and tps) those of us who support dreamers cannot afford to keep silent while washington debates daca (deferred action for childhood arrivals). does not clearly invite daca recipients to resist, instead supports “savior complex” that suggests daca students need protecting. evidence that message critiques or at least acknowledges roots and implications of immigration policies (such as daca and tps) i urge you to share your views with congressional representatives. prompt them to enact legislation as soon as possible to protect dreamers. vague reference to lawmakers’ voiced support of daca, but no action taken to preserve it. evidence that message critiques or at least acknowledges roots and implications of immigration policies (such as daca and tps) although more than 65% of dorado state’s students are latinx, and the majority of undocumented students on campus are latinx, message does not address anything specific to latinx students or characteristics of university’s student population beyond “dreamers.” no evidence *italics indicate text copied directly from email correspondence volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 130 the importance of networking and supportive staff for latina/o first-generation students and their families as they transition to higher education lisceth brazil-cruz university of california, davis siria s. martinez woodland community college abstract using qualitative research methods, this study sought to contextualize the ways resources for first-generation college students work in isolation rather than in partnership. based on in-depth iterative interviews with latina/o students and parents, this study aimed to capture how participants’ experiences influenced their opportunities to pursue a college education. using a community cultural wealth framework, we sought to identify and understand the mechanisms through which to better support latina/o first-generation students as they transition to college. findings suggest the need to expose youth to college culture early in their academic trajectories and continue to build on their knowledge base every year throughout their college career. introduction with colleges and universities making major strides towards access to postsecondary education for all students in recent decades, it is tempting for educators to assume that such progress has erased disparities in college enrollment and completion in the united states. yet, despite the united states having one of the highest college participation rates in the world, large gaps persist in terms of academic success in higher education, particularly for low-income, underrepresented, first-generation college students (tinto, 2005). brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 131 although access to higher education has increased, student success and greater equality in the attainment of four-year college degrees has not followed suit (engstrom & tinto, 2008). more than 40% of incoming community college freshmen are considered underprepared and must enroll in at least one developmental reading, writing, or mathematics course (visher, schneider, wathington, & collado, 2010). as many as 60% of incoming students at community colleges require at least one developmental (or basic skills) course, and many drop out before receiving a credential, often because they never progress beyond developmental courses (scrivener, 2008). in california alone, 75% of community college students are identified as “not ready” for college-level math or english (engstrom, 2008). the number of underprepared students creates a problem for postsecondary education in general because student preparation is an important predictor of completing a college degree (engstrom, 2008; offenstein & shulock, 2010; pascarella & tarenzini, 1991). additionally, student preparation is an indicator marking whether a student will be likely to transfer and how long it will take a student to meet the requirements necessary to be able to transfer. furthermore, the increased access to post-secondary education that community colleges offer has not always translated into individual access for students. consequently, colleges are forced to figure out the most effective way to support students who have to enroll in developmental coursework before they can ever reach transfer-level courses, since developmental coursework has become a serious barrier to success for many students (pascarella & tarenzini, 1991). based on the knowledge that many students enter college insufficiently prepared, community colleges across the country have focused on how to facilitate the process for students to attain academic success through participation in learning communities (kozeracki, 2002; tinto, 2005). to address the academic success disparity among first-generation college students entering higher education, this study examines the skills needed to help them persist within a post-secondary education context. specifically, this study focuses on first-generation latino college students that participate in first-year experience programs within learning communities that bridge the gap between home communities and institutional services providing resources to latino students. focusing on the success of first-year experience programs will allow for the examination of the role of learning communities in creating environments that foster student success (cross, 1998; jaffe, 2004; knight, 2003; schroeder & hurst, 1996). to address the the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 132 educational disparities that exist we ask, how do institutions address the needs of first-generation college students? further, how do institutions contextualize the ways resources for firstgeneration college students work? literature review without consideration to ethnicity first-generation college1 students differ from non-firstgeneration college students in many ways, particularly in terms of age and income. first, firstgeneration college students tend to be older. about 31% of first-generation college students in 2001 were 24 years of age or older compared to thirteen percent of students (from the same age bracket) whose parents had some college experience and five percent of students with parents who held (at least) a bachelor’s degree. furthermore, first-generation college students tend to come from families with lower incomes. about 42% of first-generation college students come from families in the lowest family income quartile (less than $25,000 annually (or per annum), compared to 22% of students with parents with some college experience and 18% of students with parents possessing (at least) a bachelor’s degree (choy, 2001). in 2010, a study conducted by the department of education indicated that 50% of the college population in the united states was made up of first-generation students (department of education, 2010). according to the national center for education statistics (2010), minority groups made up the largest demographics of students with parents with no more than a high school education. of these first-generation college students, 48% were latino. additionally, the study found that of all black or african-american students, 45% were first-generation college students. furthermore, 32% of the total asian student population, were first generation and 35% of all native american americans are first-generation college students as well. of students who identify as caucasian, only 28% were first-generation college students. in addition, first-generation college students who make it into college are more likely to enroll with less academic preparation, with minimal academic counseling, and limited access to information about college (thyler, 2000); thus, these first-generation college students are more likely to be placed in vocational, technical or remedial programs in college once they have taken the appropriate placement tests (chen, 2005; striplin, 1999). reflecting their weaker high 1 for this paper, first-generation college students are defined as students coming from families where neither parent had more than a high-school education (pascarella et al., 2004). brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 133 school academic preparation, many first-generation college students need remedial assistance after they enrolled in college (striplin, 1999). these students are arguably the most academically vulnerable (gándara, 1995). in early 2000, fifty-five percent of first-generation college students took some remedial courses during their college years, compared with 27% of students whose parents held a bachelor’s or advanced (professional or graduate) degree (chen, 2005). furthermore, first-generation college students often face obstacles navigating institutions of higher education, while encountering cultural conflicts between previous educational experiences at home and their new college culture (thyler, 2000; vargas 2004). low income, minority, and first-generation students are less likely than their peers to have knowledge about relevant higher education issues, such as financing their education, time management skills, preadmission procedures, and post-admission requirements (thyler, 2000; vargas, 2004). higher education research pertaining to first-generation college students points to the vast differences between this population and majority students (terenzini, springer, yaeger, pascarella, & nora, 1996; tinto, 2005; thyler, 2000). facilitating a smooth and information rich transition to college for first-generation students is critical for both students and their families. it is during the first year of college that students are most vulnerable to drop out (ishitani, 2006; striplin, 1999). research has not been able to fully document the key factors (sense of belonging, resources, campus climate, faculty interactions, peer support groups, mentorship activities) that could influence behaviors, attitudes, and perceptions of students to ensure appropriate retention efforts are made to keep students in school. this is especially important because first-generation students are four times more likely than their counterparts to drop out of school after their first year, and because only forty-six percent of those who enroll in college will graduate with a bachelor’s degree (engle & tinto, 2008). research has been able to document some key factors contributing to the academic wellbeing of first-generation college students. when students have meaningful relationships with their professors, they are more likely to gain access to valuable information to help them in their transition to college and their eventual retention (wang, 2014). providing diversity education courses highlighting students’ cultural background improves academic performance, eases the transition to college process, and exposes students to social class achievement gaps (stephens, hamedani, & destin, 2013). the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 134 although there is a vast array of literature focusing on adjustment to college in the first year of college, research focused on transitions to college from high school is scant. it is known, however, that integration has been identified as a success strategy for students in that first year of college (tinto, 1993). in order to achieve success, a student must be socially and academically integrated into the college environment. it is the responsibility of institutions to provide and facilitate an array of venues for students to feel connected to their campus. furthermore, based on the knowledge that many first-generation students enter college insufficiently prepared, community colleges across the country have focused on how to facilitate the process for students to attain academic success through participation in learning communities (kozeracki, 2002; tinto, 2005). latino first-generation college students latino first-generation college students experience higher education differently than their non-latino peers. the experience differs because latinos are more than likely the first in their families to attend college and at the same time are from an underrepresented community in higher education. latino first-generation college students rely heavily on siblings, peers, and relatives when it comes to making their college plans (perez & mcdonough, 2008). understanding the pivotal role of families on the education of latino students is key to supporting their transition to college as well as their persistence. families are an important source of support for students, therefore they should be valued as important educational partners. much of what we know about latino first-generation college students has been through studies that have examined first-generation students or latino college students. few studies have specifically focused on the experience of latino first-generation students in higher education, and we know very little about their transition to college from high school (hurtado, carter, & spuler, 1996; hurtado & carter, 1997; smith & zhang, 2009). however, we do not know much about the experiences of latino families during this transition. this study adds to the existing literature by providing insight into the parenting practices of latino first-generation college students to help inform university practices regarding both the recruitment and the retention of this population in higher education. it is of upmost importance for educators to understand the experiences of latino firstgeneration students in higher education in order to be responsive to their needs and provide brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 135 services for their persistence. latino students experience a significant amount of adjustment as they transition into any undergraduate institution (hurtado, carter, & spuler, 1996). students experience a feeling of loneliness and isolation due to the dismal numbers of students of latino descent in higher education (corona-ordonez, 2013; salis reyes & nora, 2012). similarly, latino students have difficulty navigating the university (hurtado & carter, 1997; torres, 2006). latino first-generation college students often report being targets of racism and negative stereotypes (corona-ordonez, 2013; nuñez, 2009). however, nora and cabrera (1996) found that academic and social involvement on campus can facilitate a sense of belonging, and this in turn counteracts the negative impact of discrimination and prejudice students experience (gloria & castellanos, 2012; hurtado & carter, 1997; nuñez, 2009). in order to persevere, it is important for students to find safe spaces on campus where they can strengthen their on-campus networks and deepen their sense of belonging (hsiao, 1992; musoba,collazo, & placide, 2013; nuñez, 2009). similarly, by maintaining family and community connections, students find the support, encouragement, and strength to make it through their educational trajectory (early, 2010; gloria & castellanos, 2012). family has been identified as an important source of support during the transition to higher education for latino students (hurtado, carter, & spuler, 1996). early (2010) notes that latino first-generation college students additionally look to the work ethic and determination exhibited by their parents for strength and encouragement. despite feeling lonely and isolated, latino first-generation students feel pride and responsibility with becoming the first in their families to go to college (boden, 2011; borrero, 2011), and have a desire to financially assist their families (boden, 2011). many latino firstgeneration college students display resiliency, and this also aids in their eventual graduation (oseguera, locks, & vega, 2009). learning communities according to the literature, the next step in promoting student engagement and success is through learning communities. learning communities are comprised of students grouped in a cohort-type model with faculty. researchers have indicated that faculty interaction plays a significant role in fostering student success (kuh, kinzie, schuh, & whitt, 2005). furthermore, “learning communities involve curricular structures that link together courses to encourage the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 136 deeper understanding of course material and more meaningful interactions between students and faculty and among groups of students” (knight, 2003, p. 6). learning communities deliberately structure the curriculum so that students are more actively engaged in a sustained academic relationship with other students and faculty over a longer period of time than in traditional course settings (smith & hunter, 1988). according to cross (1998), ryan and glenn (2004), and knight (2003), learning communities attempt to create a knowledge-based environment, a space where students can comfortably develop their own intellect and will stimulate learning by inquiry. in many cases the separation of academic disciplines creates artificial boundaries between subjects that students could better understand as interrelated parts. integrated instruction promotes the discovery of connections and is a vital skill for all students to have in a changing world as they experience learning communities (dodge & kendall, 2004). one of the most effective learning communities restructure the course unit by developing various kinds of interdisciplinary connections or linkages that engage faculty and students in “reconceptualizing social, economic, political, and multicultural issues” (gabelnick, 1997, p. 40). therefore, curricular integration refers to course material that is tied together in such a way as to reveal those connections and stimulate students to think creatively and critically about the material (visher et al., 2010). the friendships formed through co-enrollment may help students stay in school longer (arbona & nora, 2007), but learning communities can offer curricular coherence; integrative, high-quality learning; collaborative knowledge-construction; and the skills and knowledge relevant to student lives. the areas mentioned, which are being fostered by learning communities, are the hallmarks of higher education (lardner & malnarich, 2008; visher et al., 2010). learning communities models although a variety of approaches are used to build learning communities, there are four models most commonly found among colleges and universities across the country: 1. paired or clustered courses: in their most basic form, learning communities are a kind of co-registration or block scheduling that enables students to take courses together. the same students register for two or more courses, forming a sort of study team (gabelnick, macgregor, matthews, & smith, 1990). paired or clustered-course learning communities link individually taught courses through cohort and often blocked scheduling (scheduling of courses in back-to-back time slots). the paired-course model is considered a basic approach that does brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 137 not necessarily involve curricular integration. offerings tend to be courses-typically in writing or math that traditionally enroll a significant number of first year students. these courses can be interdisciplinary and can promote a classroom environment in which students and faculty get to know each other and have more meaningful interactions (gabelnick et al., 1990; laufgraben & shapiro, 2004; tinto, 2005; van slyck, 2006). 2. cohorts in large courses: these learning communities work well at large universities where freshmen typically enroll in at least one or two large lecture courses in which the learning communities students represent a subset of the total enrollment. when a large lecture course also requires enrollment in a smaller discussion session, students are typically enrolled in a designated learning community section led by an undergraduate peer teacher (laufgraben & shapiro, 2004; van slyck, 2006). 3. team-taught programs: typically, learning communities are organized around a central theme that links the courses. the point is to ensure that the shared curriculum provides students with a coherent interdisciplinary experience that promotes a deeper type of learning than is possible in stand-alone courses. themes are created by faculty and are interdisciplinary in nature. themes can be broad and liberal arts based, emphasize skill development in related disciplines, or prepare students for study or practice in professions. small group sections are an important part of this type of learning community. students and a faculty member break off into smaller groups to build upon what is being learned in the other courses in the community and discuss assigned texts (gabelnick et al., 1990; laufgraben & shapiro, 2004; tinto, 2005. team-taught learning communities are also called coordinated studies programs and enroll varying numbers of students in two or more courses organized around an interdisciplinary theme. this type of learning community represents the most extensive approach in terms of curricular integration and faculty involvement (laufgraben & shapiro, 2004; van slyck, 2006). 4. residence-based programs: residence-based programs – involves the adaptation of a particular curricular model to include a residential component. the primary goal of residence-based education is the integration of students’ living and academic environments. in residence-based learning communities, intentionally organized student cohorts enroll in specific curricular offerings and reside in dedicated living spaces. residence-based learning communities are designed to integrate diverse curricular and co-curricular experiences. out of the four models, residence-based learning communities are the most radical because they require changes the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 138 across campus: in curriculum, teaching, and housing (laufgraben & shapiro, 2004; van slyck, 2006). students learning community experience in the past decade, many educators have argued that in order for students to value the democratic process and to develop the skills of social responsibility, they must not be immersed in the traditional higher education model of teach-centered classrooms where students learn in isolation from one another, rather than in collaboration with each other in a shared learning process (astin, 1985; barr & tagg, 1995). according to lardner and malnarich (2008), teachcentered classrooms are the opposite of the learning community model, which is to foster collaborative learning environments. learning communities provide opportunities for students to socialize in an academic context, regardless of their level of academic competence. in addition, living-learning communities encourage socialization beyond the classroom and encourage collaboration among students, faculty, and staff. institutions have come to understand that student learning occurs best in settings that integrate students’ lives and provide social and intellectual support to strengthen the social and intellectual connections between students, which, in turn, help build a sense of community among participants (cross, 1998; schroeder & hurst, 1996; knight, 2003; tinto, 2005). the learning community experience is even more powerful in terms of learning outcomes, particularly when faculty members require students to apply what they are studying in one course to other courses and assignments. taken together, these features strengthen the social and intellectual connections between students, which, in turn, help build a sense of community among participants (gabelnick, et al, 1990; engstrom & tinto, 2008; tinto, 2005). in essence, effective learning communities reach out to make contact not only with students in order to establish personal bonds among them, but also between students, faculty, and staff members of the institution (kuh et al., 2005). kuh and his colleagues (2005) report that these elements represent the best practices in undergraduate education. learning communities attempt to create a cohesive culture of collaborative learning at colleges and universities. in addition, the same researchers indicate that establishing learning communities on a campus is an indicator of the institution being student centered at all levels. brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 139 according to laufgraben and shapiro (2004) and tinto (2005), most learning communities share several basic characteristics that are described as follows: organize students and faculty into smaller groups, encourage integration of the curriculum, help students establish academic and social support networks, provide a setting for students to be socialized to the expectations of college, bring faculty together in more meaningful ways, focus faculty and students on learning outcomes, and provide a setting for community-based delivery of academic support programs. moreover, lardner (2003) states that it is important that learning communities also become places where faculty develop powerful pedagogical strategies that support learning among all students. in addition, tinto (2005) specifies that all learning communities have three things in common: shared knowledge, co-enrollment, and shared responsibility. shared knowledge requires students to take courses together and organizing those courses around a theme. furthermore, learning communities seek to construct a shared coherent curricular experience that promotes critical thinking and contextual learning-skills that are increasingly important in an era of information overload. by constructing courses around a theme, it promotes higher levels of cognitive complexity that cannot easily be obtained through participation in unrelated courses. the second element is co-enrollment. learning communities enroll the same students in several classes so they get to know each other quickly and fairly intimately, in a way that is part and parcel of their academic experience. finally, shared responsibility asks students to become responsible to each other in the process of gaining knowledge. they participate in collaborative groups that require students to be mutually dependent on one another so that the learning of the group does not advance unless all members do their part. a sense of responsible citizenship is often present and purposefully cultivated in learning communities. students feel a sense of community obligation to complete their assignments, attend class, and share their ideas with one another (gabelnick et al., 1990; tinto, 2005). executed well, the interdisciplinary and interactive nature of learning communities introduces students to complex, diverse perspectives, as contrasted with expecting students to come up with the “right” answer, which is characteristic of traditional pedagogical approaches such as the large lecture class. the structure of learning communities also promotes critical thinking and contextual learning-skills that are increasingly important in an era of information overload (zhao & kuh, 2004). the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 140 importance of learning communities engstrom (2008) and scrivener (2008) argue that even one semester of learning community intervention can provide an early boost to freshman, helping students move more quickly through developmental requirements and earn more credits in their first semester. in addition, engstrom and tinto (2008) found that the average difference in persistence between learning community and students in 13 community colleges across the country was slightly more than five percent, although on some campuses it was as high as 15%. many researchers have found that positive student experiences call for learner-centered environments that promote active and collaborative learning. learning communities challenge community colleges to rethink traditional classroom structure and implement new models of teaching and learning that engage and partner students and faculty in the academic enterprise. learning communities are a way to enhance learning outcomes, as well as student success and persistence at community colleges (laufgraben & shapiro, 2004; tinto, 2005; lardner & malnarich, 2008). in learning communities, students will not only learn about various subjects but also about the relationships between these disciplines and how this content transfers to other learning and life experiences. an inclusive curriculum includes books and issues that reflect the histories and cultures of students who enroll, as well as addressing issues that matter to them (dodge & kendall, 2004; lardner, 2003; laufgraben & shapiro, 2004). in addition, visher et al., (2010) note the opportunity of creating connections that will support students as they pursue their academic goals: connections with their fellow students, faculty, and the support services that are available on campus. connections to students, faculty and support services can lead to a heightened sense of engagement with and belonging on campus, which may in turn lead to stronger academic and personal support, and better academic outcomes. as a result of their engagement, students experience a surge of self-confidence as learners (gabelnick et al., 1990). in addition, rendón (2000) states that community colleges, based on the ideal of democracy, are often viewed as vehicles of access and opportunity. the students served by community colleges often come from “ethnic and racial minorities, and [they] view community colleges as their last chance to realize their hopes and dreams” (rendón, 2000, p. 1). due to the brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 141 fact that community colleges are attended largely by commuter students, students who have jobs off campus, and student that are only on campus for their scheduled classes, community colleges often face difficulty in creating a sense of community among their students. nevertheless, learning communities that give students prolonged exposure to their peers and teachers in more than one class tend to build a sense of community that might not have developed under traditional curricular offerings (rendón, 2000; tinto, 2005). according to tinto (1997), visher et al., (2010), and dodge and kendall (2004), students can develop strong relationships when they take linked classes together as a group, because they see each other and work together regularly inside and outside of the classroom. it is evident according to tinto (1997), that participation in a collaborative learning group enables students to develop a network of support—in the form of a small supportive community of peers. additionally, the collaboration that takes place in the groups helps bond students to the broader social communities of the college while also engaging students more fully in the academic life of the campus. learning communities provide students with the ability to meet their social and academic needs, without having to sacrifice one for the other (gabelnick et al., 1990; tinto, 2005; visher et al., 2010). in addition, the literature shows that strong relationships between students and faculty also occur when faculty work to become more accessible to their students and are aware of any issues that students may be facing, through extra outreach, sitting in on their teaching partner’s class, and communicating regularly with their teaching partner(s) about the students in the cohort (dodge & kendall, 2004; gabelnick et al., 1990; pascarella & terenzini, 1991). researchers found that freshman-to-sophomore persistence was positively and significantly related to the total amount of student-faculty non-classroom contact and particularly to frequency of interactions with faculty to discuss intellectual matters. more specifically, researchers found that specific faculty behaviors contributed to student persistence, such as, faculty being supportive of students’ needs, being approachable, and returning telephone calls and emails in a timely fashion (dodge & kendall, 2004; gabelnick et al., 1990; pascarella & terenzini, 1991; visher et al., 2010). faculty contributed in four interrelated ways to create these safe, engaging learning environments through doing the following: promoting active learning pedagogies; faculty collaboration and the use of integrative curriculum; development of college learning strategies; and student validation (engstrom, 2008). similarly, engstrom (2008) in her study of three the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 142 community colleges found that faculty teaching practices created trusting, safe learning environments that promoted student persistence and success. students in the various learning communities indicated that they learned better in learning community classes—the courses felt different from other stand-alone classes or prior schooling experiences. according to engstrom (2008) and pascarella and terenzini (1991) they concluded that the conditions for learning did not just happen because students moved from one class to another, they were created through connecting concepts and themes among the linked courses. ultimately, students in learning communities are more academically and socially engaged (engstrom & tinto, 2008; tinto, 2005). evidence of this was found in a multi-institution, longitudinal study where it employed both quantitative longitudinal surveys and qualitative case studies and interview methods (engstrom & tinto, 2008). at the same time, students perceived themselves as having experienced significantly more encouragement, support, and intellectual gain than similar students not enrolled in learning communities. the research shows that the frequency and perceived worth of interaction with faculty, staff, and other students is one of the strongest predictors not only of student persistence and success, but also of student development (engstrom & tinto, 2008; tinto, 2005). finally, students are connected to resources that are available on campus when support services are integrated into the learning communities. ultimately, learning communities foster and nourish a variety of skills, including self-motivation and self-regulation in order for students to succeed in community colleges (dodge & kendall, 2004; visher et al., 2010). methodology this qualitative study aimed at gaining a deep understanding of the complexities latino first-generation students and their families face as they are transitioning into higher education. students and their parents were interviewed to provide a comprehensive view of latino first generation college experiences in the school, home, and their communities. the researchers used in-depth, in-person structured interviews. questions focused on participants’ interactions with support services, educational trajectories, overall experience with participation in learning communities, and their transition to college. additionally, the study focused on the experiences of students in developmental learning communities, how students exhibited their various capitals as modeled by yosso’s community cultural wealth model in their learning communities, what brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 143 problems they faced, and what difference the learning communities make in maximizing student success. parents in this study provided insights into their interactions with higher education institutions as their children were transitioning to higher education. it is specifically focused on their interactions with educational entities as their students prepared for higher education beginning with their experience in high school, the process they underwent to learn about the educational system in the united states, students application process, college acceptances and denials, college choice, and their experiences during the completion of their first year in college. participants included ten students and four families. parents interviewed had students that just culminated their first year in higher education. participating students were currently enrolled in a puente developmental learning community in a community college at the time of their participation in this study. these learning communities are linked classes that enroll the students in both classes (english and human/career development) for at least one semester and have related assignments. sample this study included ten students who were involved in a puente community college developmental learning community at the time of the study. the learning community was an introductory english writing course linked to a human/career development course as part of the puente program. puente students take two consecutive writing classes, english 102 in the fall semester and english 300 during the spring semester. these accelerated writing classes use a nationally acclaimed teaching methodology and provide supportive and a stimulating environment for puente students to build confidence in their writing skills through an exploration of the mexican american/latino culture. in addition, puente students work closely with their puente counselor to explore career options, develop an academic plan, and identify lifetime goals. students visit the university of california, california state university and various private campuses, and attend an annual puente motivational transfer conference. furthermore, puente students are introduced to mentors from the business, professional, and academic communities. mentors share with students their personal, academic, and career experiences, and provide a window into “real-life work the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 144 environments.” the network of puente mentors provide many resources for the puente students, their families, their colleges, and the community. these learning communities are linked classes that enroll the same students in both classes and have related assignments. participants for this study included any latino student enrolled in the puente learning community mentioned above. in addition, students self-identified through the use of a questionnaire whether they were first-generation and/or latino students enrolled at american river community college developmental learning communities. access to the participants was granted by faculty colleagues teaching in developmental learning communities as a convenience sample. faculty made announcements in their learning community courses asking for volunteers to participate in the study and the researcher also visited the classes to recruit participants. each participant was given a $10 gift card if they chose to participate in a structured interview with the researcher. each participant was aware that the interview was voluntary and confidential. parents were recruited from communities with large latino populations. latino parents, both mothers and fathers, who at the time of this study had a child culminating their first year of college were selected to participate. parents interviewed were recruited after they participated in a scholarship workshop. at the end of the workshop participants were asked if they were interested in sharing the experiences they had during their children’s transition to higher education. data collection four families, primarily mothers and fathers, of latino first-generation college students were interviewed over a period of time. each family was interviewed three separate times. interview i focused on familial demographics and background. interview ii focused on the families’ educational history and parental practices in high school and during students’ applications to college. interview iii focused on parental practices in their children’s transition to college as well as their first two years in college. parents selected what language they felt the most comfortable with and that they wanted the interview to take place in, either spanish or english. all parents selected to have interviews conducted in spanish. the second part of this study focused on in depth face-to-face structured individual interviews with first-generation latino students enrolled in a community college developmental learning community. in addition, a demographic questionnaire was handed to each participant brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 145 prior to the interview in order to gather additional descriptive data about the student’s background. furthermore, observer notes were made during the course of all interviews and used as a means of collecting data. these notes were predominantly summaries of what was said, details of body language, and attitudes as they shared their experiences. they provided clarification and substance to the interview transcripts. all interviews were audio recorded, allowing the researchers to take notes and guide the subjects into areas in more depth or to related areas that appeared a priority to the subject. immediately after each interview, the researchers reviewed the recorded interviews and notes taken during the interview to consider themes emerging from the conversations and what needed to be altered in format or content for the next interview. the researchers kept a reflective journal to focus on learning and adjustments in data gathering and to document methodological choices at the time the interviews were taking place. data analysis the researchers transcribed all interviews. transcriptions of interviews were coded for emergent themes using coding for emerging concepts. clustering these themes and categories was an on-going process, which was repeated by the researchers throughout the data gathering process. data was reported by recognizing relevant themes to current research on learning communities and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2006). inductive coding techniques were employed, aimed at discovering the codes from within the data itself as outlined by miles and huberman (1994). further, data was analyzed through a grounded theory approach. grounded theory is a qualitative method where data collection and analysis inform and shape each other through an emergent iterative process (charmaz, 2011). this method produces a theory that is developed from the successive analysis of the data. grounded theory allows researchers to employ a flexible analytic guideline that allows researchers to focus on their data collection and build middle-range theories that inform the next round of data collection (glaser & strauss, 1967). grounded theory allows the researcher to go back and forth between analysis and data collection because each informs, shapes, and advances the other. this keeps researchers interacting with their data constantly. this method prompts researchers to interact with participants through the coding and analysis process (charmaz, 2011). as a form of triangulation, the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 146 we involved participants by sharing findings with them to ensure we had captured what they really meant to say (erickson, 1986, 2006). results predominant themes lead to the following two results for parents: (1) relationship building through responsive networks, and (2) necessity of entry person and designated staff member. the difference that emerged by comparing the educational experiences of their children in the american educational system to their experiences in the mexican educational system, fostered tremendous awareness in the parents in this study regarding the importance of reaching out to other individuals with greater knowledge of the american educational system. parents wanted their children to succeed in school, but they “lack the knowledge to access the educational resources to support their children” (delgado-gaitan, 2004, p. 82). aware of their limited knowledge of higher education compared to what they know about college in mexico, mexican parents in this study trust and rely on the information given to them at school through their children and/or via the networks they have formed. these responsive networks are created after parents have acquired an awareness of the way higher education operates in the united states. in building educational networks, parents purposefully expand their social networks to include individuals who can guide, mentor, and answer questions about attending college for both their children and the family (auerbach, 2004; perez & mcdonough, 2008; tornatzky, cutler, & lee, 2002). first, parents in this study expanded their networks to include individuals who they believe are “successful” or individuals they have met who have enrolled in, attended, and graduated from a university in the united states. families extended their networks to purposefully include other parents and families who are also supporting their children’s education, are gearing them to attend college, or already have a child in college. families in this study shared feeling alone without adequate support from schools to help their children become college bound. parents gained an understanding and awareness that there was information that was not reaching them, but that other dominant class families were receiving through their children’s interactions with their peers. participating parents knew their children relationship building through responsive networks brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 147 were facing discrimination because their school counselors did not believe their children would make it to college. parents trust that schools will provide the guidance their children need as they have insider knowledge about educational systems in the united states. however, when the time came to look into colleges, families recognized that neither their children, nor they, were receiving the information they needed. parents expressed the desire to be guided and provided with resources to help them along in their journey. they described this as a joint journey between the student, parents, and other members of the family. where they all participated in an equally responsible partnership. for families, this was and continued to be a family venture. in an attempt to share information and to gain access to other information sources, after recognizing there was a knowledge gap, parents extended their social networks to include other families whom they perceived as also supporting their children to get to college. in doing so, they were able to share familial resources and information with one another and form an informal support group among families. parents deliberately gathered their individual resources to collectively provide students with services they believed schools were not giving their children: for example, after-school tutoring, visits to performing arts centers, attending events in the community, book talks, and exposing young adults to speakers. they did this by pulling their network resources together. yo no quería que elizabeth cayera por el mismo camino que mi hijo mayor francisco. usted sabe, francisco no fue aceptado a la universidad porque él no tenía los suficientes créditos de matemáticas. yo no iba a permitir que eso le pasara a elizabeth también. yo no le puedo ayudar con sus matemáticas. mi señor no puede ayudarle con sus matemáticas. yo siempre pongo atención de quien está en sus clases, y me pongo como, como propósito hacerme de amistad con sus mamas. entonces pues, unas mamas, con las que me sentía más en confianza, nos teníamos confianza. pues nos juntamos y hablamos de regularización, usted sabe, como las clases de regularización, a las que puede llevar a sus hijos en méxico. una mama nos dijo que había un joven en sonotville que daba clases de regularización y hablaba español. nos pusimos en comunicación con él y le dijimos que las tres queríamos regularizar a nuestros hijos. nos dio una buena tarifa. yo pienso porque le hablamos en español y le dijimos que siempre le llevaríamos comida. ellos tienen 2 horas de regularización los sábados por la mañana de 9 a 11 am, 3 veces al mes. nos turnamos manejando y nos repartimos el costo en tres. no podríamos pagar por las clases de otra manera. the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 148 i did not want elizabeth to fall in the same path as my older son francisco. you know, francisco was not accepted into college because he did not have enough math credits. i was not going to allow this to happen to elizabeth too. i can’t help her with math, my husband can’t help her with math. i always pay attention to who is in her classes and i make it a point to become friends with their moms. so, a few mothers, the ones i felt more comfortable with and i was “en confianza” [we trusted each other], well we got together and we talked about tutoring, you know… like the classes de regularización [tutoring] that you can take your kids to in mexico. one mom said she knew a young man in sonotville who tutors math and speaks spanish. we contacted him and we told him that the three of us wanted tutoring for our kids. he gave us a good deal. i think because we talked to him in spanish and we told him we would always bring him food. they get 2 hours of tutoring on saturday mornings from 9 to 11 am, three times a month. we each take turns driving and we split the cost in three. we could not afford it any other way. an important resource identified by parents was tutoring sessions outside school hours in subjects that their children were behind in or that they believed were important for college admission. in this preemptive move, the mothers collectively identified a need for their children, understood that the school was not going to provide this for them, and sought out to find an individual who could provide math tutoring for their children. additionally, they collectively brought their resources together: time, finances, and transportation to have their children benefit from the tutoring services they were able to secure for them. in this case, the alcazar family wanted their daughter elizabeth to receive tutoring in a subject they felt they were not able to help her and they had experienced a need through their son francisco. in doing so, they purposefully connected with other parents to make this service available to her daughter and two other families. several parents expressed their desire to be involved in their children’s education, but did not become involved because they felt unwelcomed. additionally, when their students were in college, parents were made to feel as if they did not have a right to inquire about their children due to ferpa regulations. there were however, particular individuals at institutions, particularly dorm room staff, who made themselves available to parents while their children were living in the dorms. key entry person brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 149 for many parents, participation in schools came after either a teacher or an administrator welcomed them and made them feel important and wanted. this “entry person” then served as an institutional broker for the family and became a go-to person for which families relied and needed information from. often, this entry person was a teacher or counselor at the school who was interested in supporting the child to go onto college. parents expressed their gratitude in being able to ask this “key person” about the academics of their children and be able to stay informed of their children’s education. this key person not only facilitated parent entry to schools, but also served as a broker for parents as they sought to navigate the complex roadmap leading to a student applying to college. there are multiple transitions that students undergo as they graduate from high school and begin college. as students experience these transitions, their families do so as well. their roles as parents change because they are now subjected to complex higher education institutions that limit the participation of parents. when students live in the dorms, most universities have career staff who communicate with parents. the families in this study had children who lived in the dorms and who had access to a university staff person who was able to vet their questions. “la encargada de los dormitorios siempre estuvo disponible para nosotros, pero cuando ana se movio a su apartamento ya no podiamas hablar con ella.” “the person in charge of the dorms was always available for us, but when ana moved into her apartment we could no longer contact her.” this support, however, significantly diminished as their children moved out of the dorms. the dorm staff do not speak with parents once their children move out of the dorms, thus marginalizing parents and leaving them isolated as they seek support from university officials when they are trying to resolve an issue. in the transition from the first-year to the second year of college, families are also undergoing a transition. families go from having a staff member whom they can communicate with, to not having a point person in the university whom they can communicate as needed. families expressed a need to be able to contact a career staff member that is culturally sensitive and can tend to the needs of families. for the most part, parents had questions regarding tuition payments and services available to meet the needs of their students. during this time, parents felt isolated from educational systems and had to rely heavily on information from other sources in addition to the information that their college students shared with them. “todo lo que sabía era porque jessica me platicaba. pero me sentía como padre perdida. the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 150 no sabía cómo apoyarla.” “all i knew was because jessica would tell me. but as a parent, i felt lost. i did not know how to support her.” preliminary results for student experiences illuminated the challenges that exist for increasing student academic success in the community college context while addressing the role of learning communities. the specific areas they must tackle in order to foster a positive college transition for first-generation students, include: (a) faculty interaction, (b) academic engagement, and (c) social engagement. colleges and universities that address these three issues during the student’s first year, increase opportunities for student success and a positive transition to college. the following two themes emerged from the learning community students: (1) caring professors and (2) social networks. caring professors students overwhelmingly shared that they felt that their professors in their learning community were caring and made them feel welcomed and comfortable in the classroom. furthermore, they described their professors as family members. one student even described one of the learning community professors as an uncle. k.r. shared her experience of the family atmosphere she felt inside and outside of the classroom with the cohort of students from her learning community: well, puente’s like a community, you know? it’s a family. everybody knows each other inside the classroom. some of us outside the classroom—we have gone to sushi with the classmates. social networks students identified family and friends as members of their social network that first informed them of counselors to meet with at the institution and even courses to consider their first semester. students often first learn about college from their family members and friends. although characterized as first-generation college students, the students in this study constructed conceptions of learning communities from social and familial networks, and specifically by personal experience or family members who had attempted college. most students were introduced to the learning community by a community college counselor whom they were referred to by a family member in many cases. second, a sibling or friend also introduced them brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 151 to the learning community and they enjoyed the sense of accountability and family atmosphere they experienced in the learning community. s.s. shared that her sister told her about the puente learning community, even though she had not taken it herself she knew the counselors that worked with the students enrolled in the learning community: my sister told me, “you can take puente.” she wasn’t in it. but she definitely collaborated with manuel (counselor) and rick (counselor) a lot. just in general—going to get her ed plan and talking to them. i think she had really close relationships with them—with rick. i think she was friends with him. i don’t know. he would talk to her and i would also talk to him, and he was the second one to say, “you should join puente.” and then, i went to manuel at the end of that summer semester, i think, and he was like, “you should join puente.” so, i just…i did it. and not only that, but they had the english that was available. and it turns out it was a really good decision. yeah. furthermore, participants found relationships with classmates as an important part of their learning community journey. within those relationships students found the support they need to complete their academic journey, but also these were the students who also became their friends outside of class. most importantly, the students they met in their learning community became a part of their supportive social network. discussion in summary, latino first-generation students are more likely to succeed when they find themselves at institutions that are committed to their success. additionally, these institutions should hold high expectations for their success, provide needed academic and social support, give frequent feedback, and actively involve them, especially with other students and faculty, in learning. the key concept is creating an educational and familial community. institutions need to establish educational communities that academically and socially involve all students as equal members of the institution, but that also involve the family community as a source of support for latino first-generation students through their transition to college. the researchers work highlights disconnects between student services aimed at providing resources to first-generation college students. we argue that if services worked together with families we could leverage resources and insure students persist and graduate. we find of utmost the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 152 importance to include parents in the conversation and identify their strengths and assets and utilize these to help retain students, and help as they transition into community colleges and/or four-year universities. the goal is to foster parent relationships with the university and provide parents opportunity to become involved with the campus community. this can be done through the development of a parent website and regular bilingual communication through email and newsletters. ultimately this will enhance the student experience by building the connections with parents. as expressed by the families, there is a clear need for a dedicated career staff that is culturally sensitive, bilingual, and can tend to the needs of families. for the most part, parents have questions regarding tuition payments, services available to meet the needs of their students, and resources available to students. during this time, parents feel isolated from educational systems and have to rely heavily on information from other sources in addition to the information that their college students share with them. conclusion parents are a valuable resource that can provide tremendous support to institutions of higher education. in particular, when seeking to retain and graduate latinos, it is important to enlist the support of parents. we know parents want their children to succeed academically and support their children. arming parents with information about the college experience their children are about to undergo before they start college can arm parents with the tools and resources to help guide students. this can be accomplished by hosting workshops for the families of incoming students. thus, helping an allegiance to retain and graduate students. these workshops can then lead to the creation of networks families wish to form. as previously noted, families wanted to create networks with other parents with college attending children, these workshops help facilitate families connecting with other families at the same institution. the educational system in the united states can be characterized as a system where individuality is valued and rewarded (bowles, 2014; hofstede, 2001); where parents are initially seen as important key players during elementary school (epstein 1992; epstein 2001). the importance of this role diminishes, as students get older. this sense of “individualism” increases as a student advances through each school grade and continues as they enter higher grades (bowles, 2014; shain, 1994). there seems to be a turning point in middle school where parents brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 153 are no longer considered key partners in the schooling of children. as the student gets older there is a bigger push to keep parents out of their children’s education. this system of operation fails latino students (barajas & pierce, 2001). it is at these critical turning points, when students need the support of their families, and families need the support of schools (nuñez, 2009). in the united states, families are valued for their participation in schools in k-12 settings. if parents are not present in the classroom during these years, then they are labeled as not caring, not supporting, and not interested in the education of their children. however, if they are then interested in the education of their children when they are in college, they are viewed as “helicopter parents.” helicopter parents (cutright, 2008; hoover 2008), are parents who pay close attention to the experiences of their children in educational institutions and as such do not encourage a student to become independent. parents who deviate from the standard notions and protocols are therefore deemed as not caring for their children. the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 154 references arbona, c., & nora, a. (2007). the influence of academic and environmental factors on hispanic college degree attainment. the review of higher education, 30(3), 247-269. astin, a. w. (1985). achieving education excellence: a critical assessment of priorities and practices in higher education. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass auerbach, s. (2004). engaging latino parents in supporting college pathways: lessons from a college access program. journal of hispanic higher education, 3, 125–145. barr, r.b., & tagg, j. (1995). from teaching to learning: a new paradigm for undergraduate education. change, 27(6), 12-25. boden, k. (2011). perceived academic preparedness of first-generation latino college students. journal of hispanic higher education, 10, 96–106. borrero, n. (2011). shared success: voices of first-generation college-bound latino/as. multicultural education, 18(4), 24–30. bowles, s. (2014). schooling in capitalist america: educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. chicago, il: haymarket. charmaz, k. (2011). grounded theory methods in social justice research. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), the sage handbook of qualitative research (pp 359–380). los angeles, ca: sage. chen, x (2005). first-generation students in postsecondary education: a look at their college transcripts. washington, dc: u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. choy, s. p. (2001). students whose parents did not go to college: postsecondary access, persistence, and attainment. washington, dc: u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. corona-ordonez, h. b. (2013). experiences of latina first generation college students: exploring resources supporting the balancing of academic pursuits and family life (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of massachusetts, boston, massachusetts. cross, k. p. (1998). why learning communities? why now? about campus, 3(3), 1-11. cutright, m. (2008). from helicopter parent to valued partner: shaping the parental relationship for student success. new directions for higher education, 144, 39–48. delgado-gaitan. c. (2004). involving latino families in schools: raising student achievement through home-school partnerships. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. dodge, l., & kendall, m. e. (2004). learning communities. college teaching, 52(4), 150-155. early, j. s. (2010). “mi’ja, you should be a writer”: latino parental support of their firstgeneration children. bilingual research journal, 33, 277–291. engle, j., & tinto, v. (2008). moving beyond access: college success for low-income, first generation students. washington, dc: pell institute for the study of opportunity in higher education. brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 155 engstrom, c. m. (2008). curricular learning communities and unprepared students: how faculty can provide a foundation for success. in j. m. braxton (ed.), the role of the classroom in college student persistence (new directions for teaching and learning, no. 115, pp. 5-19). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. engstrom, c. m., & tinto, v. (2008). learning better together: the impact of learning communities on the persistence of low-income students. opportunity matters, 1, 5-21. erickson, f. (1986). qualitative methods in research and teaching. in m. wittrock (ed.), handbook of research on teaching (pp. 119-161). new york, ny: macmillan. erickson, f. (2006). studying side by side: collaborative action ethnography in educational research. in g. spindler & l. hammond (eds.), innovations in educational ethnography: theory, methods, and results (pp. 235-257). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. gabelnick, f. g., macgregor j., matthews, r. s., & smith, b. l. (1990). learning communities: creating connections among students, faculty, and disciplines (new directions for teaching and learning, no. 41). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. gabelnick, f.g. (1997). educating a committed citizenry. change, 29(1), 30-35. gándara, p. (1995). over the ivy walls: the educational mobility of low-income chicanos. new york, ny: state university of new york press. gloria, a. m., & castellanos, j. (2012). desafios y bendiciones: a multiperspective examination of the educational experiences and coping responses of first-generation college latina students. journal of hispanic higher education, 11, 82–99. hoover, e. (2008). surveys of students challenge “helicopter parent” stereotypes. chronicle of higher education, 54(21), a22. hsiao, k. p. (1992). first-generation college students (office of educational research and improvement). los angeles, ca: eric clearinghouse products. hurtado, s., & carter, d.f. (1997). effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on latino college students’ sense of belonging. sociology of education, 324345. hurtado, s., carter, d.f., & spuler, a. (1996). latino student transition to college: assessing difficulties and factors in successful college adjustment. research in higher education, 37(2), 135-157. ishitani, t. (2006). studying attrition and degree completion behavior among first-generation college students in the united states. journal of higher education, 861-885. jaffe, d. (2004, july 9). learning communities can be cohesive — and divisive. chronicle of higher education, 50(44), b16. knight, w. e. (2003). learning communities and first-year programs: lessons for planners. planning for higher education, 31(4), 5-12. kozeracki, c. a. (2002). eric review: issues in developmental education. community college review, 29(4), 83-100. kuh, g. d., kinzie, j., schuh, j. h., & whitt, e. j. (2005). student success in college: creating conditions that matter. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 156 lardner, e. d. (2003). approaching diversity through learning communities (occasional paper no. 2). olympia, wa: washington center for improving the quality of undergraduate education. lardner, e. d., & malnarich, g. (2008). a new era in learning-community work: why the pedagogy of intentional integration matters. change, 40(4), 30-37. laufgraben, j. l., & shapiro, n. (eds.). (2004). sustaining & improving learning communities. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. musoba, g. d., collazo, c., & placide, s. (2013). the first year: just surviving or thriving at an hsi. journal of hispanic higher education, 12, 356–368. miles, m. & huberman, a. (1994). qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). california: sage. nora, a., & cabrera, a. f. (1996). the role of perceptions of prejudice and discrimination on the adjustment of minority students to college. journal of higher education, 67, 119–148. nuñez, a. (2009). latino students’ transition to college: a social and intercultural capital perspective. harvard educational review, 79, 22–48. offenstein, j., & shulock, n. (2010). political and policy barriers to basic skills education in the california community colleges. american behavioral scientist, 55(2), 160-172. oseguera, l., locks, a. m., & vega, i. i. (2009). increasing latina/o student baccalaureate attainment: a focus on retention. journal of hispanic higher education, 8, 23–53. pascarella, e.t., pierson, c.t., wolniak, g.c., & terenzini, p.t. (2004). first-generation college students: additional evidence on college experiences and outcomes. journal of higher education, 249-284. pascarella, e. t., & terenzini, p. t. (1991). how college affects students: findings and insights from twenty years of research. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. perez, p. a., & mcdonough, p. m. (2008). understanding latina and latino college choice: a social capital and chain migration analysis. journal of hispanic higher education, 7, 249–265. rendón, l. (2000). fulfilling the promise of access and opportunity: collaborative community colleges for the 21st century. new expeditions: charting the second century of community colleges (issues paper no. 1). washington, dc: american association of community colleges. (eric document reproduction service no. ed 440 670). ryan, m. p., & glenn, p. a. (2004). what do first-year students need most: learning strategies instruction or academic socialization. journal of college reading and learning, 34(2), 4-28. salis reyes, n. a., & nora, a. (2012). lost among the data: a review of latino first generation college students [white paper]. retrieved from hispanic association of colleges and universities website: http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/h3erc/2012_papers/reyes%20nora%20 %20rev%20of%201st%20gen%20latino%20college%20students%20-%202012.pdf http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/h3erc/2012_papers/reyes%20nora%20http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/h3erc/2012_papers/reyes%20nora%20brazil-cruz & martinez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 157 schroeder, c. c., & hurst, j. c. (1996). designing learning environments that integrate curricular and co-curricular experiences. journal of college student development, 37(2), 174-181. scrivener, s. (2008). improving individual success for community-college students. focus, 26(1), 7-13. shain, b.a. (1994). the myth of american individualism: the protestant origins of american political thought. princeton, nj: princeton university press. smith, b. l., & hunter, m. r. (1988). learning communities: a paradigm for educational revitalization. community college review, 15(4), 45-51. smith, w.l., & zhang, p. (2009). students’ perceptions and experiences with key factors during the transition from high school to college. college student journal, 43(2), 643. striplin, j. j. (1999). retention of students from first generation and low income backgrounds. retrieved from eric website: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed446633 stephens, n. m., hamedani, m. g., & destin, m. (2013). closing the social class achievement gap: a diversity education intervention improves the academic performance of firstgeneration college students and the college transition for all students. manuscript submitted for publication. terenzini, p. t., springer, l., yaeger p.m., pascarella, e.t., & nora, a. (1996). first-generation college students: characteristics, experiences, and cognitive development. research in higher education, 37(1), 1-22. tinto, v. (1993). leaving college: rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. chicago, il: university of chicago press. tinto, v. (1997). classroom communities: exploring the educational character of student persistence. journal of higher education, 68(6), 599-623. tinto, v. (2005). reflections on retention and persistence: institutional actions on behalf of student persistence. studies in learning, evaluation, innovation and development, 2(3), 8896. thyler, p. b. (2000). retention of students from first generation and low income backgrounds. retrieved from eric website: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed44663 tornatzky, l. g. cutler, r., & lee, j. (2002). college knowledge: what latino parents need to know and why they don’t know it. retrieved from eric website: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed44663 torres, v. (2006). a mixed method study testing data-model fit of a retention model for latino students at urban universities. journal of college student development, 47, 299– 318. van slyck, p. (2006). learning communities and the future of the humanities. profession, 163-176. vargas, j. h. (2004). college knowledge: addressing information barriers to college. boston, ma: college access services: the education resources institute (teri). http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed446633 http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed44663 http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed44663 http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed44663 the importance of networking and supportive staff association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, vol 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 158 visher, m. g., schneider, e., wathington, h., & collado, h. (2010). scaling up learning communities: the experience of six community colleges. new york, ny: national center for post-secondary research, columbia university. wang, t. (2014). formal turning points in the transition to college: understanding how communication events shape first-generation students’ pedagogical and interpersonal relationships with their college teachers. communication education, 63(1), 63-82. yosso, t.j. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. new york, ny: routledge. zhao, c., & kuh, g. d. (2004). adding value: learning communities and student engagement. research in higher education, 45(2), 115-138. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 133 an empowerment framework for latinx students in developmental education erin e. doran iowa state university abstract while developmental education in community colleges has the potential to prepare students for college-level work, its effectiveness and need is often questioned. further, while latinx students are overrepresented in developmental courses, there is a dearth of literature on their experiences in such courses and how to effectively serve their needs in developmental contexts. this article provides an overview of the literature related to latinx students in developmental writing to point out areas that have been understudied and then introduces an empowerment framework for latinx students, a model which combines a deeper understanding of language, power, and preparing latinx students for college-level writing. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.2.353 doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 134 introduction in an era of increased accountability, developmental education remains one of the biggest challenges in community colleges today. when academically underprepared students arrive on two-year and four-year campuses, they may be assigned to a variety of classes and services to help them reach college readiness levels in math, reading, and english as quickly as possible (bailey, jeong, & cho, 2010). the last ten years research has explored an array of interventions including high school programs that help students avoid developmental education later in college and campus-based support programs available to students once they arrive on college campuses (howell, kurlaender, & grodsky, 2009; kerrigan & slater, 2010; rutschow & schneider, 2011). while the enrollment trends in developmental education have declined somewhat, it is estimated that approximately 40% of all students enrolled in the two-year college sector enroll in some sort of developmental education (chen & simone, 2016). one glaring gap in the literature is work on latinx students in developmental education. latinx students are overrepresented on community college campuses nationally (santiago, calderón galdeano, & taylor, 2015), and it is estimated that approximately 75% of latinx students in two-year colleges and 53% of latinx students in four-year colleges enroll in some type of developmental education intervention (chen & simone, 2016). an analysis of latinx students in the california community college system offers some startling conclusions about these students in developmental education: out of 100 students who place into any level of developmental english, a little more than a third are likely to pass into a college-level, creditbearing english course (solórzano, acevedo-gil, & santos, 2013). even more troubling, the higher the number of developmental courses a student is required to take, the less likely they are to pass into credit-bearing courses (solórzano et al., 2013). given these statistics, the extant body of literature does not provide enough information to know how developmental education positively or negatively impacts latinx students (crisp, taggart, & nora, 2015). the large enrollment of latinx students in these courses reveals a research imperative to learn more about what factors promote or inhibit student success and prepare students for college-level coursework. the field of researchers, practitioners, and administrators should focus on the latinx population in particular and take into account issues salient to these students. as stein (2005) argues, “we can no longer work off the false paradigm of believing that by researching what works for the white student and for an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 135 the african american student will by some sort of default work for latino students just because they are ‘minorities’” (p. 84). the purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the literature on latinx students in developmental education, particularly in the context of reading and writing courses. as will be discussed, there is a growing body of research paid to students in developmental math, but there is a noticeably smaller amount of attention given to reading and writing. after identifying research that helps frame what we know about developmental reading and writing, i will provide recommendations for considerations researchers and practitioners should make in engaging students in these subjects. the conundrum of developmental education due to their open access missions, community colleges serve many students who are labeled “at risk” and those who face various academic and/or social challenges that may threaten their persistence in college (porchea, allen, robbins, & phelps, 2010). developmental education interventions, including a broad range of formal classes and services that aim to build the college readiness skills of students, can vary widely in terms of placement policies (bettinger & long, 2009) and the number of courses a college may require a student to take before they may enroll in college-level courses like freshman composition (bailey et al. 2010). though not specific to only latinx students, a number of pre-college factors may contribute to a students’ placement in developmental education. in a study focused on placement and success in college mathematics courses across racial/ethnic groups, parents’ educational attainment levels, household income, and living in predominantly white and more affluent neighborhoods were statistically significant for non-remedial students in a nationally representative sample (hagedorn, siadat, fogel, nora, & pascarella, 1999). high school factors also influence students’ need for developmental education. for instance, a lack of academically rigorous mathematics courses in high school has been identified as a risk factor for placement in developmental education in college (crisp & nora, 2010; swail, cabrera, lee & williams, 2005). latinx students disproportionately attend underresourced high schools that do not offer a rigorous college preparatory curriculum (gándara & contreras, 2009). the role of high school curriculum in preparing students for college may be even more complicated, however. one troubling finding from a more recent study in texas is that 80% of students in a sample of over doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 136 1,300 students completed the recommended or distinguished tracks for high school graduation, indicating that students may be graduating from high school seemingly ready for college and still place into developmental education, suggesting a disturbing disconnect between high school and college curricula and expectations (pretlow & wathington, 2013). a national focus on boosting the representation of latinx students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) fields have placed a focus on developmental mathematics as a critical entry point in students’ early college careers. more students across racial/ethnic groups place into developmental mathematics than any other area, and bahr (2010) illustrates the disparities for latinx and african american students in math, a key gatekeeper course for students that dictates their access to many college-level courses. for example, while latinx students show greater levels of persistence in mathematics, their likelihood of successfully passing a developmental math course was lower than their white counterparts. these disparities are attributed to small differences in math achievement that may appear as early as kindergarten and continue to widen as students reach college (bahr, 2010). given the national imperative to increase latinx representation in stem majors and jobs (flores, 2011), the importance of developmental mathematics is vital. however, the focus on one developmental field away from others, specifically reading and writing, only tells one part of the story. effective reading and writing skills are critical for preparation into the workforce. stories in popular media often lament the literacy skills of college graduates especially in writing (e.g., strauss, 2016). the study of writing possesses unique challenges to better understanding the conditions under which latinx students may thrive. challenges of conducting research in writing settings much of the research surrounding developmental education is anecdotal, largely the result of developmental educators publishing reflections of their experiences without a rigorous research design (cohen & kisker, 2010). over the last decade, there has been an increase on rigorously studying these students and specific interventions, both qualitatively and quantitatively, for example in the last two decades through initiatives such as achieving the dream (bailey, 2009). in understanding success in college writing, an interesting point to note is that scholars cannot fully agree on what constitutes “college-level” writing. the four basic expectations for writing include, “coherence, clarity, consistence, and (not least) correctness” an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 137 (yancey, 2004, p. 306). this seemingly basic definition of what constitutes “good” writing is highly subjective, and differences between individual teachers’ perceptions of essay quality has been documented in the literature (bloom, 2006; sullivan & tinberg, 2006; thompson & gallagher, 2010). one study illustrates the differences between one high school and one college instructor in assessing student papers: there was great variation in the approach to grading both teachers took even though they were both assessing the quality of the writing (thompson & gallagher, 2010). the high school teacher operates in a reality of standardized tests and rubrics, so she was more likely to grade according to her experiences with those. on the other hand, the college professor’s perspective and grading was arguably more subjective and personal. this lack of alignment between high school and writing expectations could potentially fuel students’ needs for developmental writing in college. there is also work in the field of english studies that suggests that the nature of college writing has changed in the last thirty years (harris, 2012; lunsford & lunsford, 2008). building on an earlier study on student error (connors & lunsford, 1988), a more recent study examined student papers from a national sample and compared them to the samples from previous studies (lunsford & lunsford, 2008). they find that students produce longer assignments for their classes and that assignments are far more likely to be persuasive or expository in nature than personal. convoluting this even further, higher education is starting to grapple with what is meant by “literacy” (paulson & armstrong, 2010). scholars who study college writers are paying increased attention to technology and other types of literacy that shape communication in today’s world (relles & tierney, 2013). therefore, the aforementioned four c’s (yancey, 2004) may be a generic start to understanding the form of college-level writing, the nature of the subject has changed and likely will continue to change in light of changes in the ways writing is taught at the college level. in addition to contending with the challenges of what college-level writing is, researchers concerned with latinx students must also take into account issues salient to this student population. latinx students’ transition to college racism and inequality are imbued in the latinx educational experience (gándara & contreras, 2009; kurlaender, 2006; taggart & crisp, 2011). latinx students encounter a number of acculturative stresses when they enter a college campus that has traditionally been a doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 138 predominantly white structure (nora, 2003; rendón, 1994). when campus agents, especially faculty, provide content that honors students’ cultural backgrounds and encourage them, these agents provide students with validating experiences that have been linked to increased persistence of latinx students (rendón, 1994). without this validation, latinx students struggle to find curricula, faculty members, mentors, and services that reflect their respective needs among other challenges (nora, 2003). while research has looked at campus-level factors that promote or predict the success of latinx community college students (cuellar & johnsonahorlu, 2016; hagedorn, chi, cepeda, & mclain, 2007), there is a dearth of research that considers the developmental education context. the stigma of remediation so far, this essay has purposefully avoided use of the word “remediation” in discussing developmental education though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably (e.g., bailey et al., 2010). the word “remediation” is ubiquitous in the field, yet scholars have long criticized the use of the term. rose (1985), for example, argued that the term pathologizes students. bahr (2008) refers to remediation as “by definition, a ‘remedy’ intended to restore opportunity to those who otherwise may be relegated to meager wages, poor working conditions, and other consequences of socioeconomic marginalization” (p. 422). bahr’s (2008) description of developmental education states the proposed goal of the field, yet a large body of literature calls into question its purpose and efficacy. it is estimated that developmental classes account for ten percent of all credits earned at community colleges annually (scott-clayton & rodriguez, 2015), yet one study finds that less than a quarter of students who enroll in developmental education at community colleges receive a degree or certificate within eight years (bailey, 2009). grubb and gabriner (2013), who conducted some of the most in-depth classroom-based research on developmental education, argue that rote teaching and learning is teacher-centered, decontextualized, and lacks meaningful engagement with students. this is troubling considering the system denies students access to mainstream college classes and then fails to prepare them for college-level courses. some critics accuse developmental courses of having an adverse effect on student progress and on stigmatizing students who may not be institutionally recognized as college ready (shor, 2000). shor (1997) compares the field of developmental education as a type of an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 139 institutional apartheid, creating obstacles that cost student precious time and money without providing progress toward a degree program. even when campuses attempt stigma-free remediation, they may provide students with a false sense of confidence or a lack of understanding on the purpose of remedial courses and these courses’ importance for making progress toward degree completion (deil-amen & rosenbaum, 2002). the threat of stigma and of hindrance to degree progress is not imaginary. the developmental education experience can have a tremendous impact on latinx students—for better or worse. participants in a qualitative study on developmental education experiences described placement in these classes a negative experience, particularly in holding them back from their degree programs (acevedo-gil, santos, alonso, & solórzano, 2015). students reported that faculty could demonstrate a lack of respect of their students and could make them feel dumb through their teaching approaches, perhaps through the same type of indifferent or uninteresting teaching described as remedial pedagogy (grubb & gabriner, 2013). however, the work by acevedo-gil and colleagues (2015) suggests that developmental education can provide moments of empowerment for students, helping them to believe in themselves. this study adds to the thin literature on latinx students in developmental education by showing that there are ways to lift up students and contribute to their future success. the challenge, then, is in helping faculty to identify moments of empowerment and to positively respond to situations where students lose their confidence or motivation. the next section offers a discussion of issues salient to latinx students in developmental education, especially in writing contexts, which are understudied in the current body of literature that may help faculty teach with the possibility of transforming students’ experiences. latinx students, language, and writing perhaps the most salient and least understood issue regarding latinx students in developmental writing courses and the community colleges at large is real understanding of their proficiency of english and how their language background may affect their experiences in college. for example, many latinx students who speak spanish at home are mislabeled as english as second language (esl) students despite the fact that they received the majority of their education in the united states (harklau, siegel, & losey, 1999). institutional practices, especially placement policies for developmental education, may not take into account that while doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 140 students may speak spanish, their fluency is verbal only (newman, 2007). the work of valdés (2001) and ferris (2007) explain the complexity of language fluency and acquisition, suggesting that students may be labeled as spanish dominant and place them in esl courses when they should be in developmental reading and writing courses. this extra layer of required coursework only delays students’ progress in college further and puts possibly unnecessary barriers in their way. the biggest challenge higher education needs to address with linguistic minority students is twofold. first, institutions need to find ways to identify linguistic minority students and to distinguish them from similar but separate groups of students. for instance, ferris (2007) pointed out that a developmental writing instructor may encounter both english as a second language (esl) learners and international students. the former group may be generation 1.5 or recent immigrant students who have received some exposure to the american educational system; the latter may be brand new to the united states. while perhaps superficially similar, ferris (2007) argues that these two groups and their differing levels of exposure to the american classroom also impacted their needs from their respective instructors. bunch and panayotova (2008) explicate these issues and show how the language proficiency and academic skills testing that students undergo just before starting college can create barriers to latinx students who are also english language learners. language background no doubt influences some latinx students’ need for and placement into developmental english, and english language learners are more likely to be placed into developmental activities (ignash, 1997). further, some institutions require english language learners to complete multiple levels of developmental courses, including esl-specific courses to more mainstream developmental courses, before they can move into college-level work (razfar & simon, 2011). ignash (1997) draws a connection between esl courses and developmental courses, pointing out that debates emerged among scholars as to whether the goals of advanced esl courses could be or were the same as general developmental writing. in some cases, the separation of esl and developmental writing results in students having to complete two sequences of non-credit bearing courses before they can enroll in college-level courses (razfar & simon, 2011). finding ways to better understand the common purpose of esl courses and developmental reading and writing courses and how they can be combined into one course can potentially save students precious time and money while enabling them to move an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 141 forward with their degrees more efficiently. rather than focusing on functional english (e.g., english for the workplace, conversational english), esl courses might also incorporate elements of academic discourse. academic discourse developmental writing courses presumably orient students to academic writing, or the type of writing they will be expected to do once in college-level courses. this type of writing engages students in academic discourse. hyland (2009) defines academic discourse simply as “the ways of thinking and using language which exist in the academy” (p. 1). academic discourse takes on various forms such as lectures, papers, dissertations, and conference presentations (hyland, 2009). it also serves a variety of purposes including constructing and transmitting knowledge. drawing on gee’s (2008) work on discourse, hyland (2009) also contends that academic discourse shapes behaviors within the academy including training new academics (thereby reproducing academic discourse) and collaboration with others. in short, academic discourse is a way of communicating, but also a way of behaving with peers within the community. to that end, students undergo an acculturation process as they become members of their academic communities (hyland, 2009). prominent composition scholar elbow (1991) concedes that academic discourse is a necessary part of teaching students how to write in college, but he argues that students will write in various ways and across various genres for the rest of their lives in settings that do not follow the conventions of the academy. therefore, the focus of college writing should not be exclusively focused on writing for a professor or speaking to a specific discipline. instead, it enables students to join conversations through their literacy skills in a variety of contexts. this moderate view speaks in agreement to the types of literacy practices that are necessary for college students and their college knowledge (conley, 2005). additionally, there are scholars who see academic discourse as a non-negotiable part of full participation in the academy. in his now seminal work on academic writing, bartholomae (2011) evaluated student writing and how students acquired the voice of their disciplines. bartholomae treated this discourse acquisition as an imperative for students who want to be part of the academy, saying in no uncertain terms, “they must learn to speak our language. or they must dare to speak it, or to carry off the bluff, since speaking and writing will most doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 142 certainly be required long before the skill is ‘learned’” (p. 5). he continued by describing the performative aspects of writing for the academy, stating that students have to “appropriate (or be appropriated by) a specialized discourse” (p. 9). cultural dissonance in the academic discourse villanueva (2011) suggests that the teaching of college writing does not incorporate the full extent of latinx students’ capabilities if they are confined to “traditional” genres and a single language with which to express themselves. ybarra (2001) accuses basic writing courses of having a cultural dissonance between the expectations of academic writing and the backgrounds of latinx students. this dissonance is largely the result of instructors’ lack of understanding of students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds which pervades classroom interactions and writing assignments. even mention of dominant or mainstream culture (e.g., sports, entertainment) can be misguided because this assumes that all students have the same point of reference (pappamihiel & moreno, 2011). students placed in these classes become suspicious of the course and of the education system in general (ybarra, 2001). what is also highly contentious is the way students engage with language and writing in these courses when there is a cultural incongruency. students’ right to their own language and latinx students perhaps the most controversial debate in developmental and college-level composition courses that has tremendous implications for students of color is the debate over standard english. certain myths about college-level writing and academic discourse have conflated correctness and the use of standard english with quality (bloom, 2006). bloom (2006) admits that the adherence to standard english is problematic, but that it is so codified in our educational practices from kindergarten that it is unlikely to be resisted. concepts of “standard” english and discourses have real implications for college students, particularly those who are historically underserved such as latinx students, in college english. english and writing instructors are likely among the first people students encounter when they enter college, especially if the students place into developmental writing courses. lippi-green (1997) argues in her in-depth examination of the standard english debate that the concept of “standard” english is essentially a socially constructed myth. when proponents of this concept refer to a certain an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 143 type of standard english, they are referring to the language of the highly educated (lippi-green, 1997). ultimately, this debate is imbued with power, particularly with the intersections of class, race, and access to quality education. within the field of composition studies, this discussion of standard english and its place in postsecondary college writing settings began decades ago. responding to the growing presence of more students of color entering college in the 1960s and 1970s, the postsecondary branch of the national council of teachers of english issued a policy known as “students’ right to their own language” (hereafter, srtol) in 1974 (smitherman, 2003). the policy flatly rejected any hierarchy of languages and the notion that one dialect of english exerted any domination or correctness over others (conference on college composition and communication [cccc], 1974). instead, it upheld language diversity in the united states as a cultural symbol of the country and advocated training and experiences for english teachers who work with students of different linguistic heritages (cccc, 1972). a later expansion of srtol acknowledged that discrimination on the basis of dialect or accent was a reality, but proceeded with the hope that attitudes regarding language and minority dialects would change in favor of pluralistic language. what is interesting about the scholarly conversations about srtol is the willingness to talk about linguistic diversity as a monolithic entity without differentiating specific racial/ethnic groups (e.g., “world englishes” as described by cliett, 2003) or to focus specifically on african american vernacular english (kinloch, 2005; smitherman, 1999). scholars have noted that students of color, like latinx students, often come from literacy backgrounds that differ from “mainstream” schools and lead to a clash in cultures (white & lowenthal, 2011), and these differences have been specifically noted in reference to latinx students’ linguistic backgrounds (baca, 2008; ybarra, 2001). given the growth of the latinx population over the last thirty years (stepler & brown, 2016) and the growing prominence of this demographic on college campuses across the country, it is time to consider these students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds and how these can be built upon in ways that promote their retention and success in college rather than push them out of postsecondary education altogether. doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 144 an empowerment framework for developmental writing given the complexity of latinx students’ needs in developmental writing, there are various ways institutions and programs can build culturally responsive developmental curricula. building on the work on ladson-billings (1995), pappamihiel and moreno (2011) make the case of cultural responsive instruction in colleges and universities with the purpose of boosting educational attainment for latino students specifically. culturally responsive instruction has four attributes that grow out of critical race theory (crt): it is validating, multidimensional, comprehensive, and empowering (pappamihiel & moreno, 2011). this type of pedagogy provides students with validating experiences (explained by rendón, 1994), moves away from the “remedial pedagogy” solely focused on skills that is described by grubb and gabriner (2013), and empowers students by giving them dignity and respect in the classroom (pappamihiel & moreno, 2011). a similar model for teaching that was developed specifically for the developmental classroom is the multicultural developmental education curricula model (bruch, jehangir, jacobs, & ghere, 2004). within this model, cultural diversity is celebrated, power and oppression within society are discussed meaningfully rather than ignored, and education is presented to students as a means of upward social mobility and empowerment. these models call for a central focus on power, oppression, and difference, subjects that are not often combined with yancey’s (2004) aforementioned four c’s. building on the multicultural developmental education model (bruch et al., 2004), i call for an empowerment framework for latinx students in developmental education that takes into consideration critical issues related to language and writing. in combining the teaching of skills, educational power structures, and more welcoming perspectives toward students’ use of spanish, the developmental education may be positively transformative for students who might otherwise feel stigmatized or held back by placement policies. however, this change can only occur if there is a meaningful, intentional effort to empower students while they are enrolled in developmental courses in ways that provide knowledge about the power systems they will engage with, how to move in between social worlds, as well as building more practical writing skills such as clarity and cohesion. this can be achieved with explicit discussion of the power structure of academia as well as helping students develop themselves as college students without abandoning their other personal identities. an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 145 illuminate the power structure in the college the developmental writing classroom is located at the crossroads of multiple power structures. it is a gatekeeper course to freshman composition, which in turn has been called a gatekeeper course (zeidenberg, jenkins, & scott, 2012). students, especially latinx and other minoritized students, are asked to become part of an academic discourse community that is not only foreign to them but may be hard to make sense of (ybarra, 2001). white and lowenthal (2011) are explicit that academic discourse requires engagement with visible and invisible codes of power and the ability to navigate through or grapple with them. what is more, navigating the power structure of institutions through the use of academic discourse is something that is seldom taught explicitly (white & lowenthal, 2011). rather than masking the purpose of developmental education out of fear of disheartening students, faculty members, and other campus agents who work with developmental students (e.g., advisors, support services staff) have the opportunity to enfranchise students with knowledge about the power structure in higher education and how to navigate it. there is a body of literature related to the negative effects of latinx students’ challenges in navigating their college campus (campa, 2010; núñez, 2011a), and such explicit intentionality in unmasking the tacit codes of power (white & lowenthal, 2011) could help students build what campa (2010) called “critical resilience” (p. 431). this type of teaching requires open conversations with latinx students about an educational system that was not built for them. however, students may be able to make sense of what is going on around them once they know the overt and covert parts of the power structure and can think about how to navigate this structure. in her reflective essay, bernstein (2004) recalls working with latinx students in the houston, texas area and how reading jonathan kozol’s seminal work savage inequalities resonated with students who were given the opportunity to reflect upon the educational inequalities they experienced in k-12 schools. through reading and writing on the topic, the students acquired a way to draw on their experiences in an academic setting and to combine their experiences with academic sources in their final papers. this type of exercise with the combination of critical sources and students’ actual lives provides a way to teach students about power and how to break the cycle of inequality and oppression imbued in educational systems. doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 146 build identities as college students without abandoning other identities teaching latinx students in developmental education how to navigate power structures is not a proposal to teach them how to assimilate into white, dominant spaces. one criticism of academic discourse in k-12 and postsecondary settings is that it diminishes the power of students’ literacy backgrounds, especially their home language practices (delpit, 1995, 1997; white & lowenthal, 2011). rose (1985) argues against deficit-driven concepts of developmental writers’ backgrounds that portray them as little more than illiterate. in his critique of academics’ notions of underprepared students, rose (1985) states: the problem is that the knowledge these students possess is often incomplete and fragmented and is not organized in ways that they can readily use in academic writing situations. but to say this is not to say that their minds are cultural blank slates. (p. 353) put another way, students arrive with a social and culturally rich history and knowledge base that is undervalued in academic settings, but they have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be drawn from. rather than teaching students to assimilate, the emphasis should be teaching them to learn to move in between spaces with knowledge and confidence, or how to effectively codeswitch. codeswitching is “innovative, inevitably changeable, exploratory, and flexible…it is also a socially binding act, a kind of linguistic glue, and at the same time a method of breaking barriers reducing distance, opening lines of communication” (kells, 2004, p. 36). guerra (2004) echoes a similar type of engagement which he terms “transcultural repositioning,” or “shape shifting in cultural, linguistic, and intellectual terms” (p. 15). what is useful about guerra’s (2004) definition in particular is that codeswitching here is not just about the use of conversational language; it is also about participating and engaging with others in a variety of spaces. rather than simply codeswitching between english and spanish, faculty can teach students how to codeswitch between various discourses (e.g., in their homes, in the classroom, in the workplace) by teaching students how to move between discourses and contexts. put another way, a faculty member can build on all of a students’ literacies (reading, speaking, listening, and writing) and discourses across contexts rather than focusing on and privileging academic discourse. the basis of this holistic approach is to help students gain confidence as an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 147 capable, confident college students who can coexist as latinx in a predominantly white space and overcome the challenges of balancing the multiple demands of home and school. this type of teaching must also be reinforced with the course materials students ultimately read and write on. one of the best programs to model a developmental writing program with a latinx studies curriculum is the puente program in california community colleges. the program was specifically developed in the 1980s to address the observed lack of success of latinx students in developmental writing in particular (mcgrath & galaviz, 1996). for over three decades, the program has incorporated a curriculum with latinx writers and an intentionality for “validating” (rendón, 1994) and affirming students’ rich cultural backgrounds. the research on ethnic studies programs has also demonstrated the powerful responses students have when exposed to content that affirms their cultural background (e.g., núñez, 2011b; sleeter, 2011). one final issue that has not yet been fully developed in the literature in building a culturally responsive curriculum for latinx developmental writers is the place of spanish in the classroom and in student writing. in the k-12 sector, the growth of the latinx student population has spurred a growth in dual language programs that provide classroom instruction in english and spanish (alanís & rodriguez, 2008). however, latinx students in college receive no such instruction in college. villanueva (2011) argues that teaching academic discourse does not adequately serve the needs of students of color who are learning how to express themselves and their experiences. villanueva (2011) blends different genres, including narrative and poetry, in his own academic writing and argues that memoria invites students to take part in their own writing. the argument here is that academic discourse, in short, stamps out the ethos of students’ writing, and villanueva (2011) advocates bringing it back to students through the use of their own histories. exploring the relationship between discourses and in helping students understand their dynamics and how to blend them may lead to transformative teaching practices for faculty and writing skills for students. this blending demonstrates that there is beauty and power in a writer’s expression across languages, and by untethering expectations away from the four c’s (yancey, 2004), the door is open for enabling students to shape shift in the academy. this type of teaching also builds students’ linguistic capital, or their ability to communicate in more than one method or style (yosso, 2005). doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 148 recommendations and conclusions since the subject of latinx developmental writers is underdeveloped, more classroombased research should be done to capture successful practices in helping students move from developmental education to college-level courses. many of the practices suggested in this piece, such as the multicultural developmental education model (bruch et al., 2004), have been described in journal articles as theoretical suggestions, yet empirical pieces describing the execution of these models and exploring their effectiveness is non-existent. it is time to put research into practice. as a matter of institutional and classroom practice, more action needs to be taken to fully understand the relationship between english as a second language (esl) and developmental writing (and reading) in order to serve the part of the latinx population who could benefit from these services. previous research suggests that english language learners may have additional obstacles put in front of them as they enter community colleges (bunch & panayotova, 2008; razfar & simon, 2011), and institutional placement policies should carefully consider how students are assigned to esl courses and/or developmental writing courses. as more latinx students enter postsecondary education, it is also advantageous for faculty in writing and reading to obtain professional development related to supporting students’ literacy development in both english and spanish. two-year and four-year institutions do more to hire faculty of color, especially faculty who are fluent in spanish, who can serve as visible examples of former college students who successfully navigated through the academic world. having faculty who are fluent in spanish also enables the respective faculty members to teach the blending of languages in writing, when such blending is appropriately used, and to affirm the power of being bilingual. as more latinx students enter postsecondary institutions, it is crucial that we as a field (researchers, administrators, and campus agents) promote their holistic success, especially in critical points like developmental education, which can promote or hinder progress. through employing culturally responsive practices that invite students to engage in academic discourse as full participants without asking them to sacrifice their identities, we have the chance to positively shape the experiences of a large sector of the latinx student population. an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 149 references acevedo-gil, n., santos, r.e., alonso, l., & solórzano, d.g. (2015). latinas/os in community college developmental education: increasing moments of academic and interpersonal validation. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 101-127. doi: 10.1177/1538192715572893 alanís, i., & rodriguez, m. a. (2008). sustaining a dual language immersion program: features of success. journal of latinos and education, 7(4), 305-319. doi: 10.1080/15348430802143378 baca, d. (2008). mestiz@ scripts, digital migrations, and the territories of writing. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. bahr, p. r. (2008). does mathematics remediation work?: a comparative analysis of academic attainment among community college students. research in higher education, 49(5), 420-450. doi: 10.1007/s11162-008-9089-4 bahr, p. r. (2010). preparing the underprepared: an analysis of racial disparities in postsecondary mathematics remediation. the journal of higher education, 81(2), 209237. doi: 10.1353/jhe.0.0086 bailey, t. (2009). challenge and opportunity: rethinking the role and function of developmental education in community college. new directions for community colleges, 145, 11-30. doi: 10.1002/cc.352 bailey, t., jeong, d.w., & cho, s. (2010). referral, enrollment, and completion in developmental education sequences in community colleges. economics of education review, 29(2), 255-270. doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2009.09.002 bernstein, s. n. (2004). teaching and learning in texas: accountability testing, language, race, and place. journal of basic writing, 23(1), 4-24. bloom, l.z. (2006). good enough writing: what is good enough writing, anyway? in p. sullivan & h. tinberg (eds.), what is “college-level” writing? (71-91). urbana, il: national council of teachers of english. bruch, p. l., jehangir, r. r., jacobs, w. r., & ghere, d. l. (2004). enabling access: toward multicultural developmental curricula. journal of developmental education, 27(3), 1219. bunch, g. c., & panayotova, d. (2008). latinos, language minority students, and the construction of esl: language testing and placement from high school to community college. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(6), 6-30. doi: 10.1177/1538192707310507 campa, b. (2010). critical resilience, schooling processes, and the academic success of mexican americans in a community college. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 32(3), 429-455. doi: 10.1177/0739986310369322 chen, x., & simone, s. (2016). remedial coursetaking at u.s. public 2and 4-year institutions: scope, experiences, and outcomes (statistical analysis report). washington, dc: national center for education statistics, institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016405.pdf doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 150 cliett, v. (2003). the expanding frontier of world englishes: a new perspective for teachers of english. in g. smitherman & v. villanueva (eds.), language diversity in the classroom: from intention to practice (pp. 67-75). carbondale, il: southern illinois university press. cohen, a. m., & kisker, c. b. (2010). the shaping of american higher education: emergence and growth of the contemporary system. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. conference on college composition and communication. (1974). students’ right to their own language. retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/nctefiles/groups/cccc/newsrtol.pdf connors, r. j., & lunsford, a. a. (1988). frequency of formal errors in current college writing, or ma and pa kettle do research. college composition and communication, 39(4), 395-409. doi: 10.2307/357695. crisp, g., & nora, a. (2010). hispanic student success: factors influencing the persistence and transfer decisions of latino community college students enrolled in developmental education. research in higher education, 51(2), 175-194. doi: crisp, g., taggart, a., & nora, a. (2015). undergraduate latina/o students: a systematic review of research identifying factors contributing to academic success outcomes. review of educational research, 85(2), 249-274. doi: 10.3102/0034654314551064 cuellar, m., & johnson-ahorlu, r. n. (2016). examining the complexity of the campus racial climate at a hispanic-serving community college. community college review, 44(2), 135-152. doi: 10.1177/0091552116632584 deil-amen, r., & rosenbaum, j.e. (2002). the unintended consequences of stigma-free remediation. sociology of education, 75(3), 249-268. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3090268 delpit, l. (1995). other people’s children: cultural conflict in the classroom. new york, ny: new press. delpit, l. (1997). ebonics and culturally responsive instruction: what should teachers do? rethinking schools, 12(1). retrieved from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/12_01/ebdelpit.shtml flores, g.m. (2011). latino/as in the hard sciences: increasing latina/o participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) related fields. latino studies, 9(2-3), 237335. ferris, d.r. (2007). one size does not fit all: response and revision issues for immigrant students. in s.n. berstein (ed.), teaching developmental writing: background readings (3rd ed.) (83-99). boston, ma: bedford/st. martin’s. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed school policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. grubb, w. n., & gabriner, r. (2013). basic skills education in community colleges: inside and outside of classrooms. new york, ny: routledge. guerra, j. (2004). emerging representations, situated literacies, and the practice of transcultural repositioning. in m. h. kells, v. balester, & v. villanueva (eds.), latino/a discourses: on an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 151 language, identity, and literacy education (pp. 7-23). portsmouth, nh: boynton/cook publishers. hagedorn, l. s., chi, w., cepeda, r. m., & mclain, m. (2007). an investigation of critical mass: the role of latino representation in the success of urban community college students. research in higher education, 48(1), 73-91. doi: 10.1007/s11162-006-9024-5 hagedorn, l. s., siadat, m. v., fogel, s. f., nora, a., & pascarella, e. t. (1999). success in college mathematics: comparisons between remedial and nonremedial first-year college students. research in higher education, 40(3), 261-284. harklau, l., siegal, m., & losey, k.m. (1999). lingustically diverse students and college writing: what is equitable and appropriate? in harklau, l., losey, k. m., & siegal, m., (eds), generation 1.5 meets college composition. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, publishers. harris, j. (2012). a teaching subject: composition since 1966. logan, ut: utah state university press. howell, j. s., kurlaender, m., & grodsky, e. (2009). postsecondary preparation and remediation: examining the effect of the early assessment program at california state university. journal of policy analysis and management, 29(4), 726-748. hyland, k. (2009). academic discourse: english in a global context. new york, ny: continuum. ignash, j. m. (1997). who should provide postsecondary remedial/developmental education? new directions for community colleges, 1997(100), 5-20. kells, m. h. (2004). understanding the rhetorical value of tejano codeswitching. in m. h. kells, v. balester, & v. villanueva (eds.), latino/a discourses: on language, identity, and literacy education (pp. 24-39). portsmouth, nh: boynton/cook publishers. kerrigan, m. r., & slater, d. (2010). collaborating to create change: how el paso community college improved the readiness of its incoming students through achieving the dream. [culture of evidence series, report no. 4]. community college research center, columbia university. kinloch, v. f. (2005). revisiting the promise of students’ right to their own language: pedagogical strategies. college composition and communication, 57(1), 83-113. kurlaender, m. (2006). choosing community college: factors affecting latino college choice. new directions for community colleges, 133, 7-16. doi: 10.1002/cc.223 ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(2), 465-491. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1163320 lippi-green, r. (1997). english with an accent: language, ideology and discrimination in the united states. new york, ny: routledge. lunsford, a. a., & lunsford, k. j. (2008). “mistakes are a fact of life”: a national comparative study. college composition and communication, 59(4), 781-806. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20457033 doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 152 newman, b. m. (2007). teaching writing at hispanic-serving institutions. in c. kirklighter, d. cárdenas, & s.w. murphy (eds.), teaching writing with latino/a students (pp. 17-35). albany, ny: state university of new york press. nora, a. (2003). access to higher education for hispanic students: real or illusory? in j. castellanos & l. jones (eds.), the majority in the minority: expanding the representation of latina/o faculty, administrators and students in higher education (pp. 47-68). sterling, va: stylus. núñez, a-m. (2011a). latino students’ transitions to college: a social and intercultural capital perspective. harvard educational review, 79(1), 22-48. núñez, a-m. (2011b). counterspaces and connections in college transitions: first-generation latino students’ perspectives on chicano studies. journal of college student development, 52(6), 639-655. pappamihiel, n. e., & moreno, m. (2011). retaining latino students: culturally responsive instruction in colleges and universities. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(4), 331344. paulson, e. j., & armstrong, s. l. (2010). postsecondary literacy: coherence in theory, terminology, and teacher preparation. journal of developmental education, 33(3), 4-15. pretlow iii, j., & wathington, h.d. (2013). who places into developmental education and why. community college journal of research and practice, 37(10), 794-799. doi: 10.1080/10668926.2012.719482 razfar, a., & simon, j. (2011). course-taking patters of latino esl students: mobility and mainstreaming in urban community colleges in the united states. tesol quarterly, 45(4), 595-627. relles, s. r., & tierney, w. g. (2013). understanding the writing habits of tomorrow’s students: technology and college readiness. journal of higher education, 84(4), 477-505. doi: 10.1353/jhe.2013.0025. rendón, l. i. (1994). validating culturally diverse students: toward a new model of learning and student development. innovative higher education, 19(1), 33-51. rose, m. (1985). the language of exclusion: writing instruction at the university. college english, 47(4), 341-359. doi: 10.2307/376957 rutschow, e. z., & schneider, e. (2011). unlocking the gate: what we know about improving developmental education. new york, ny: mdrc. retrieved from http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_595.pdf santiago, d.a., calderón galdeano, e., & taylor, m. (2015). the condition of latinos in education: 2015 factbook. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/research/2015-factbook scott-clayton, j., & rodriguez, o. (2015). development, discouragement, or diversion? new evidence on the effects of college remediation policy. education finance and policy, 10(1), 4-45. doi: 10.1162/edfp_a_00150 an empowerment framework for latinx students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 153 shor, i. (1997). our apartheid: writing instruction and inequality. journal of basic writing, 16(1), 91-104. shor, i. (2000). illegal literacy. journal of basic writing, 19(1), 100-112. sleeter, c. e. (2011). the academic and social value of ethnic studies: a research review. washington, dc: national education association research department. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed521869.pdf smitherman, g. (1999). talkin that talk: language, culture, and education in african america. new york, ny: routledge. smitherman, g. (2003). the historical struggle for language rights in cccc. in g. smitherman & v. villanueva (eds.), language diversity in the classroom: from intention to practice. (pp. 739). carbondale, il: southern illinois university press. solórzano, d. g., acevedo-gil, n., & santos, r. e. (2013). latina/o community college students: understanding the barriers of developmental education (policy brief no. 10). produced by the pathways to postsecondary success project at uc/accord, university of california, los angeles. retrieved from http://pathways.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/devedpolicybrief.pdf stein, k. (2005). meeting the needs of developmental latino/latina students. journal of college reading and learning, 36(1), 82-87. strauss, k. (2016, may 17). these are the skills bosses say new college grads do not have. forbes. retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2016/05/17/these are-the-skills-bosses-say-new-college-grads-do-not-have/#7ce0bfe54916 stepler, r., & brown, a. (2016). statistical portrait of hispanics in the united states. washington, dc: pew hispanic research center. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/04/19/statistical-portrait-of-hispanics-in-the-unitedstates-trends/ sullivan, p., & tinberg, h. (2006). what is “college-level” writing? urbana, il: national council of teachers of english. swail, w. s., cabrera, a. f., lee, c., & williams, a. (2005). latino students and the educational pipeline: pathways to the bachelor’s degree for latino students (part iii). stafford, va: the educational policy institute. retrieved from http://www.educationalpolicy.org/pdf/latinoiii.pdf taggart, a., & crisp, g. (2011). the role of discriminatory experiences on hispanic students’ college choice decisions. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 33(1), 22-38. doi: 10.1177/0739986310386750 thompson, t., & gallagher, a. (2010). when a college professor and a high school teacher read the same papers. in p. sullivan, h. tinberg, & s. blau (eds.), what is college-level writing? volume 2: assignments, readings, and student writing samples (pp. 3-28). urbana, il: national council of teachers of english. valdés, g. (2001). learning and not learning english: latino students in american schools. new york, ny: teachers college press. doran association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 154 villanueva, v. (2011). memoria is a friend of ours: on the discourse of color. in v. villanueva & k. arola, cross-talk in composition: a reader (3rd ed) (pp. 567-580). urbana: national council of teachers of english. white, j. w., & lowenthal, p. r. (2011). minority college students and tacit “codes of power”: developing academic discourses and identities. the review of higher education, 34(2), 283-318. yancey, k. b. (2004). made not only in words: composition in a new key. college composition and communication, 56(2), 297-328. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4140651 ybarra, r. (2001). cultural dissonance in basic writing courses. journal of basic writing, 20(1), 37-52. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43444046 yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8(1), 69-91. zeidenberg, m., jenkins, d., & scott, m. a. (2012). not just math and english: courses that pose obstacles to community college completion (ccrc working paper no. 52). new york, ny: community college research center, teachers college, columbia university. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed538998.pdf an empowerment framework for latinx students in developmental education erin e. doran iowa state university abstract introduction the conundrum of developmental education challenges of conducting research in writing settings latinx students’ transition to college the stigma of remediation latinx students, language, and writing academic discourse cultural dissonance in the academic discourse students’ right to their own language and latinx students an empowerment framework for developmental writing illuminate the power structure in the college build identities as college students without abandoning other identities recommendations and conclusions references http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ cedillo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 195 pilgrim by matt sedillo see some were born to summer homes and palatial groves where pain was only to ever unfold from the pages of secret gardens where the red fern grows but not i see i come from the stock of starry-eyed astronauts who greet the night sky with big dreams and wide eyes always running down the devil’s highway through occupied america on the way back to the house on mango street and all those other books you didn’t want us to read raised on handball off the back wall of a panaderia born east the river post mendez vs westminster one generation removed from the redlines and diplomas that were signed that those dreams https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.413 pilgrim association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 196 in that skin need not apply see i come from struggle and if my story offends you it’s only cause you made the mistake of seeking your reflection in my self portrait see this well this may not be about you because while some were born to the common core whose reflected faces 196where old world hardships crashed against new shores new england new hampshire new jersey new york for others pushed off turtle island aztlan do not call this brown skin immigrant child of the sun son of the conquest mexicano blood running through the veins of the east side of los angeles do not tell him in what native tongue his song would best be sung do not tell me cedillo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 197 who i am cause i was raised just like you miseducated in some of those very same schools off lessons and legends of honest injuns and christian pilgrims and a nation of immigrants all united in freedom that is until they pulled aside my white friend pointed directly at me and said scott i judge you by the company you keep and you spend your time with this and that’s the same old story since 1846 the adventures of uncle sam the stick up man hey wetback show me your papers now give me your labor the melting pot was never meant for the hands that clean it the american dream has always come at the expense of those who tucked it in and you don’t know that cause you don’t teach it could write you a book but you won’t read it so you know what this is about you pilgrim association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 198 and 1492 and the treaty of guadalupe california missions and arizona schools and these racists that try to erase us as we raise their kids in cities that bare our names but you’re going to learn something today cause from ferdinand to minuteman from arpaio to alamo from popol vuh to yo soy joaquin to the indian that still lives in me from mexico 68 to the missing 43 they tried to bury us they didn’t know we were seeds from cannanea mine to delano strike from the plan de ayala emiliano zapata joaquin murrieta las adelitas brown berets y zapatistas from richard nixon to the third napoleon cedillo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 199 from peckinpah to houston from lone star republic to christopher columbus all the way down to donald trump we didn’t cross the borders the borders crossed us who you calling immigrant pilgrim volume 14 issue 2 2020 amae invited issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies guest editors josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ diaz-kozlowski the power of testimonio pedagogy: teaching chicana lesbian fiction in a chicana feminisms course at a predominantly white institution in the midwest tanya diaz-kozlowski1 illinois state university abstract in this essay i extend chicana/latina feminist pedagogies to demonstrate using testimonio pedagogy to teach chicana lesbian fiction: gulf dreams and what night brings opened up dialogical spaces for students as pensadores to critically examine the impact of racialized gender and sexual normativity within chicano culture. exploring the significance of students as pensadores using testimonio pedagogy cultivates pathways of epistemic disobedience that should be understood as responses to institutional power. i suggest testimonio pedagogy mediates marginalization by breaking down the false dichotomy between students and teachers, cultivates feminist consciousness-raising, and refuses hegemonic conceptualizations of schooling. keywords: chicana/latina feminist pedagogies, testimonio pedagogy, chicana lesbian fiction, chicana feminisms doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.365 1 tanya diaz-kozlowski uses she|ella pronouns and is the assistant director & adviser of the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies program at illinois state university. you can reach her at: profediazkoz@gmail.com or @marimachaspeaks. muchas gracias to: chamara, juana maria, justin, jason, cindy, cris, abel, alicia, jazmine, melina, and mariam for the encouragement to prioritize my writing. nwsa and malcs are critical to my growth. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 124 mailto:profediazkoz@gmail.com https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.365 the power of testimonio pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 caminos of testimonio pedagogy: theorizing the flesh testimonio pedagogy is my praxis that serves as a compass for teaching and learning with my students. rather than a compass that directs north, south, east, or west, testimonio pedagogy directs cartographies of non-dominance, non-hierarchy, reclamation, and solidarity. “testimonios focus on collective experiences of conditions that have contributed to oppression, as well as the agency of those who suffer under these conditions. as such, testimonio is a pedagogical tool that lends itself to a form of teaching and learning that brings the mind, body, spirit, and political urgency to the fore” (delgado bernal et al., 2012, p. 367). therefore, testimonio pedagogy offers a way to not merely document my experiences and share practices of sobrevivr and of getting there cuando no hay camino but also to claim my own epistemic disobedience in a theory of the flesh. the telling is political (blackwell, 2011). my use of testimonio pedagogy is informed by gloria anzaldúa’s (1987) conceptualization of a mestiza consciousness that is “reimagining a theory of feminist practice that is enacted by a chicana lesbian whose movement between and among different worlds generates a subject with agency rather than subordinate abject positionalities” (diaz-kozlowski, 2015, p. 89). i contribute to scholarship that breaks down false dichotomies between teachers and students (cortez, 2015; cruz, 2012; freire, 1970; hooks, 2003; love, 2019; torrez, 2015), refusing students as consumers, teaching as transactional, and the academy as a marketplace wedded to hegemonic standardization (giroux, 2011; slaughter & rhoades, 2000). i do this by putting into practice theories of the flesh to re-center voice and agency in the relationships between teachers and students, curriculum and pedagogy, and learning and community. a theory of the flesh means one where the physical realities of our lives—our skin color, the land or concrete we grew up on, our sexual longings—all fuse to create a politic born out of necessity. here, we attempt to bridge the contradictions in our experience: we are the colored in a white feminist movement. we are the feminists among the people of our culture. we are often the lesbians among the straight. we do this bridging by naming ourselves and by telling our stories in our own words. (moraga & anzaldúa, 1983, p. 23) 125 diaz-kozlowski association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 through testimonio as pedagogy i offer insights that build upon the socio-political historical interventions of fellow chicana/latina feminists that continue to reimagine equity driven research, teaching, and learning and theorize from those standpoints: testimonio is and continues to be an approach that incorporates political, social, historical, and cultural histories that accompany one’s life experiences as a means to bring about change through consciousness-raising. in bridging individuals with collective histories of oppression, a story of marginalization is re-centered to elicit social change. (delgado bernal et. al, 2012, p. 364) using testimonio pedagogy in this essay bridges the epistemic disobedience i witnessed my students cultivate in my chicana feminisms course with my own. walter d. mignolo (2009) articulates his argument for epistemic disobedience in this way: my humble claim is that geoand body-politics of knowledge has been hidden from the self-serving interests of western epistemology and that a task of decolonial thinking is the unveiling of epistemic silences of western epistemology and affirming the epistemic rights of the racially devalued, and decolonial options to allow the silences to build arguments to confront those who take ‘originality’ as the ultimate criterion for the final judgment. (p. 160) mignolo’s scholarship in conversation with chicana/latina feminist pedagogies have helped me recognize the significance of using testimonio pedagogy to teach chicana lesbian fiction in a chicana feminisms course at a predominantly white institution (pwi) in the midwest. using testimonio pedagogy enables my epistemic disobedience as an ongoing practice that uproots hegemonic conceptualizations of schooling by affirming the brown body is a source of knowledge, the linkages between marginalized subjectivities and experiences are productive tensions, and theory is mediated through everyday experiences. testimonio pedagogy showcases my epistemic disobedience as embodied resistance that must be understood as a response to white heteropatriarchal institutional power. chicana/latina feminist pedagogies (cruz, 2006) are particularly significant as it relates to epistemic disobedience because they challenge eurocentric conceptualizations of schooling that pervasively use deficit theories to normalize the experiences of chicanas/latinas and other marginalized groups within education as lacking. chicana/latina feminist pedagogies specifically contribute to refusing and challenging deficit theories of latino students in education by 126 the power of testimonio pedagogy reimaging culturally specific ways of organizing teaching and learning in informal sites such as the home and community that embrace chicana and latina ways of knowing and generating knowledge that go beyond formal schooling (darder & torres, 2013; delgado bernal & elenes, 2011; elenes, 2000; valencia, 1997; valenzuela, 1999). using testimonio pedagogy to theorize the significance of my students becoming pensadores teaching chicana lesbian fiction in a chicana feminisms course demonstrates queer modes of disruption with chicana/latina feminist pedagogies is the insistence that the everyday experiences of survival, resistance, compliance, and dis/identification must count as knowledge. therefore, testimonio pedagogy mediates marginalization2, my own and my students, by breaking down false dichotomies between teachers and students so that we confront loss, alienation, and powerlessness and restore connection to ourselves and one another that points towards a practice of healing and learning rooted in the body. catalysts of testimonio pedagogy: the pieces i am3 on the morning of august 5th, 2019, i was sitting at my desk grading final exams. suddenly the twitter notifications on my cell phone began to ping. i glanced down to see at the age of 88 toni morrison had died. i sat in disbelief. i fell backwards into a memory, recalling a significant trip to the public library when i turned eleven years old. sometimes i shuffled up and down the aisles of books, head titled sideways, reading every title, fingers touching every book’s spine. other times i marched to the center of the library, pulling out the drawers of the catalog acting like i knew what i was looking for. this day was special. at eleven years old my mom and i walked together to the library. i was running. my mom was walking. but because i have such a short stride it all evened out. i normally walked to the library by myself which if you think about it was both transgressive and remarkable. where else could an eleven-year-old brown queer girl go without being accompanied by her little brother, her step-dad, or her mom? i had been waiting for this day since before time existed in its colonial construction. i walked into the public library with a swagger that would 2 marginalization is a process by which members of a certain community have historically been and continue to be denied access to dominant decision-making processes and institutions; stigmatized by their identification; isolated or segregated; and generally excluded from control over the resources that shape the quality of their lives. marginalization occurs in part when some observable characteristic or distinguishing behavior shared by a group of individuals is systematically used within the larger society to signal the inferior and subordinated status of the group (cohen, 1999). 3 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9358206/ association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 127 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9358206/ diaz-kozlowski association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 have made the baddest chingona want to take off her hoops. i signed my name in cursive on my first library card. initially, i turned to books out of escape from abuse, but that changed after i got my own library card. my stepfather physically beat me throughout my childhood and adolescence because i had the audacity to repeatedly question his absolute authority as a white man. pero, soy lo que soy. books became my respite, nourishing my spirit while tempering a rage that seethed. words became my fuel, reading my superpower. during my adolescence the library became my homeplace—a site of resistance and liberation struggles (hooks, 1990). books became a place where my imagination, my curiosity, and my body could soar. i read and i wrote to save my own life. yes, my life. soy chingona, y que? i found toni morrison’s fiction at the public library as a brown queer girl, but i didn’t understand the depth of her writing. but when i read, “i don’t want to make somebody else. i want to make myself” (morrison, 1973, p. 92), i wanted to make sula peace a mix tape and ask her if i could hold her hand. none of my high school teachers or college professors incorporated morrison’s writing into their curricula. defiantly reading morrison’s books on my own led me to literature written by chicana and latina writers such as ana castillo, sandra cisneros, isabel allende, julia alvarez, and helena maria viramontes. the writings of black and brown women exposed me to a genealogy of women of color that i did not have the vocabulary to name as feminist until decades later. reading fiction by black and brown women taught me writing is a way to name the conditions that contribute to nuances of oppression and cultivates agency for women of color under those conditions. they taught me that writing is power. i stopped grading final exams, logged into hulu, and watched the documentary the pieces i am for the rest of the morning. it took a week to make the epistemic connections between toni morrison the writer– editor and tanya diaz-kozlowski the teacher–scholar. midway through the documentary, dr. farah jasmine griffin and hilton als both point out when toni morrison worked at random house as an editor she strategically published the writing of black women writers such as gayle jones, lucille clifton, toni cade bambara, and angela davis. i kept coming back to toni morrison’s strategic decisions as an editor at random house to publish the writings of black women and the significance of her writing throughout my life as feminist consciousness-raising. two things came into focus: do what you can where you are and the power of fiction. i grabbed the copy of my chicana feminisms syllabus. i realized i needed to make a change. here’s why. 128 the power of testimonio pedagogy do what you can where you are: feminist consciousness-raising toni morrison’s strategic decision as an editor to publish the writings of black women challenged me to reevaluate the conceptual framework of my chicana feminisms course. toni morrison’s writing and strategic decisions as an editor are linked to a genealogy of women of color writers whose larger project of epistemic disobedience i know well. the combahee river collective along with the authors of some of us are brave and this bridge called my back refused the hegemonic notion that gender is the primary analytic of oppression for women, illuminating how gender subordination is produced, represented, and resisted among women. it was women of color writers who first challenged the notion that woman is a universal category of analysis and identity while unmaking the embedded racism within hegemonic feminism, refusing the claim that all women experience sexism in the same ways. this genealogy of women of color writings effectively re-conceptualized difference4 as a feminist concept that must be applied to the power relationships between and among women, not merely between white cisgender heterosexual able-bodied men and white cisgender heterosexual able-bodied women. these women of color genealogy writings are the foundation for what brittany cooper (2018) writes in her book eloquent rage as intersectionality, “the idea that we are all integrally formed and multiply impacted by the different ways that systems of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy affect our lives” (p. 99). in this way women of color writers reclaim and reimagine feminist consciousness-raising that is attentive to difference, employs intersectional analyses of power, commits to political activism, justice, and equity, and contends the body is a site of knowledge and agency. i reviewed my chicana feminism’s course reading list and wrote down four names: ana castillo, emma pérez, cherríe moraga, and carla trujillo. i decided to incorporate emma pérez’s book gulf dreams and carla trujillo’s book what night brings because i knew their fiction could compliment the non-fiction essays5 i already used in the course. i had a hunch that reading fiction written by these two chicana lesbian feminists would create opportunities for 4 audre lorde’s (1984) essay: “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” is integral to teaching feminist theory because of how she challenges hegemonic feminism and re-conceptualizes difference. 5 already in the chicana feminisms course reading list were: carla trujillo’s (1991) essay “chicana lesbians: fear and loathing in the chicano community”, carla trujillo’s (1998) essay “la virgen de guadalupe and her reconstruction in chicana lesbian desire”, and emma pérez’s (1991) essay “sexuality and discourse: notes from a chicana survivor.” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 129 diaz-kozlowski my students to partake in the power of sitios y lenguas.6 teaching gulf dreams and what night brings could fundamentally change the essence of my chicana feminisms course by showing my students instead of telling them how chicana lesbian feminist writers cultivate intellectual tools as theories of agency (modes of acting upon their world) to respond to multiple forms of oppression happening simultaneously. the classroom is a dialogical space where we would be able to collectively investigate these questions: what can we learn about the conceptualizations of racialized gender normativity and heteropatriarchal power from the fiction written by chicana lesbian writers? whose voices and stories have we been taught to value? what role do institutions play in normalizing the devaluation of chicanas within chicano culture?7 how do chicana lesbian fictions reimagine and attempt to decolonize chicano culture? my students would be able to witness how pérez and trujillo as chicana lesbian feminist writers cultivate in fiction chicana lesbians as agents in their own lives queering the sites/discourses/places/tongues within and of chicanx imaginaries. teaching chicana lesbian fiction: cultivating pensadores re-evaluating the conceptual framework of my chicana feminisms course8 was my attempt to engage with the example toni morrison set as an editor. in november 2019 my students and i read gulf dreams and what night brings chronologically over a three-week period. after completing both books, the students read articles in which lisa cacho (2012), cristina herrera (2009), and ellie hernandez (2003) offer concise analyses of gulf dreams and what night brings. i had the students read both books consecutively to experience the depth and diversity of chicana lesbian fiction unmediated by scholarly voices. the only instructions i 6 emma pérez’s (1991) essay “sexuality and discourse: notes from a chicana survivor” introduced ‘sitios y lenguas’ as a conceptual framework that “attempts to create space and language amid an occupied (read colonial patriarchal) space,” (ikas, 2001, p. 13). 7 the scholarship of patricia hill collins (2000), dolores delgado bernal (1998, 2020), maylei blackwell (2011), and calderón et. al. (2012) documents the myriad ways knowledge produced by black feminist thought and chicana feminist thought have resisted subjugation within academia. this archive of scholarship chronicles the power of black feminist thought and chicana feminist thought as potent political projects that offer us roadmaps towards decolonization. 8 in the illinois state university course directory, the course i teach is not listed as wgs 391: chicana feminisms. the course is listed as “women’s and gender studies seminar course: wgs 391, credit hours: 1-3, course approved for graduate credit, no prerequisites. the way the course is catalogued by the university serves as a chronic institutional barrier (ahmed, 2017) to enrollment because accessing the course information is convoluted and thwarts cultivating interest in a chicana feminisms course. enrollment in wgs 391: chicana feminisms has varied over the last 4 years between 5-19 students, primarily women of color, humanities and social science majors, and range from sophomores to graduate students. during the fall term i teach wgs 391: chicana feminisms and during the spring term i teach wgs 391.001 latinx popular culture. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 130 the power of testimonio pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 gave my students prior to reading each book was: read each book wholeheartedly. stay curious. come to class prepared to ask questions and to read passages out loud from the book that you found significant, confusing, or that made you want to post on facebook or twitter. as we made our way through each book, theoretical questions foundational to the course organically emerged. the students read, got lost, and found their way into the chicana lesbian fictions, creating class discussions that centered on their questions, their interpretations, and undetermined lines of inquiry which collectively positioned kerime, shani, stacy, esther, and damaris to see and come to know themselves as pensadores, which means they saw themselves as “active thinkers who build on their cultural foundations to form political and practical meanings about learning, knowing, teaching, and power” (godinez, 2006, p. 24). i witnessed my students come to see and know themselves as pensadores in the ways they gave themselves permission to take risks, grappled with contradictions, and closed the distance between teacher and student by co-constructing the classroom as a relational and dialogical space we could learn from each other. a pedagogy of pérez’s gulf dreams students came to class prepared to share and read out loud at least two passages from gulf dreams (pérez, 1996) they found compelling, confusing, or worth posting on social media. this encouraged students to read carefully rather than skimming and at the same time gave them autonomy to select whatever passages they wanted, as many as they wanted. some students shared and read passages they were confused by while others read passages they deemed important to a chicana feminisms course. for example, during the first class discussion of gulf dreams all the students began to have a conversation with each other about how the structure of the book left them feeling disoriented. students said: i am not sure what to think about this book but i know something important is going on. i am excited but nervous to talk about it with everyone. i keep wondering why the narrator doesn’t have a name. is it weird to say i want to keep reading this book even though i have no idea what the point of the book is? i am feeling some kinda way. i can’t tell if the book is a dream, a really long poem, a complicated breakup rant, or short stories. collectively the students became pensadores by recognizing pérez (1996) is not writing a hegemonic coming out narrative about chicana lesbian identity that seeks to de-pathologize non-normative sexualities and desires or affirm non-normative sexuality and desires as 131 diaz-kozlowski association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 tolerable. the pensadores were affectively attuned to pérez’s project of exposing the gendered racialized power dynamics of chicano/a historiography through the writing of fiction. after a while damaris spoke up and said, “gulf dreams is like nothing i have ever read. to be honest it’s hard and confusing, and we’ve only read half the book. but i get why it’s art. chicano/a art creates un sitio y una lengua, a space and a language, for those who try to fight these colonial norms. it’s like, in this world, chicanas are constantly rejected or pushed to the side, to have this space and language gives other chicanas an opportunity to speak about their own issues they have experienced. like blackwell was so hard to read too. i wanted to give up a lot. sometimes i think i did. but when i came to class i started to try again. now i understand that gulf dreams is a part of that legacy of a chicana feminist counter public blackwell wrote about. i know i say this all the time because i am a theatre person, but can you imagine if this book was a play?” damaris like her classmates, as pensadores, were developing a vocabulary to articulate: “the novel itself seems to embody a different historical account of the cultural representation of chicana lesbian sexuality by making the visible the psychological ruptures of colonial memory in chicano discourse. by framing historical memory as desire, pérez makes the aesthetic claim that representing chicana lesbians in history is next to impossible without summoning the violent tropes embedded in a chicano/a colonial and nationalistic history.” (hernandez, 2003, p. 155) the students’ embodied knowledge guided them to collectively trust in their disorientation in order to sit with not knowing why pérez played with what is real and what is representable. during the second class discussion about gulf dreams, esther brought up a passage that led to a deeper understanding of the ways chicana feminisms are rooted in theories of the flesh that function as de-colonial strategies and tactics. esther read: a spring day invited muggy heat. i’m awake. dew scattered droplets on a rusty window screen. outside, the wrens that woke me sing. stumbling i bump into my brother. through a bathroom door my father shaves his face. i lean against the wall. i doze. pangs of hunger force gurgles in my stomach, burying the last night’s dreams. when pain jolts through me, i double over, arms crossed my abdomen. “what’s wrong?” my brother asks. i look up with arms protecting a burning stomach. “stomach hurts,” i am barely 132 the power of testimonio pedagogy audible…i wipe my face with a stale towel. beads roll down my waist and navel to pubic hair. for months, soft curls have begun to poke through underwear. i’ve wanted to shave, assuming i shouldn’t. but in the night once, i snuck a razor into bed slicing tender skin, leaving a scar. now my hair grows out prickly. (pérez, 1996, pp. 39-41) esther spoke of how struck she was by pérez’s attention to the physical pain the chicana narrator’s body endured during menstruation. fellow pensadores nodded their heads in agreement and commented about how difficult it is for them to go to class when they are menstruating but friends, roommates, boyfriends, and even parents minimize the pain of it. damaris responded to esther, “i marked that passage too while i was reading. i am glad i am not the only one who felt that way.” it became more apparent to the pensadores as we got lost in collective consideration of gulf dreams that pérez is critiquing the heteropatriarchal violence enacted through the institutions of the family, the law, and religion in the way they distort, erase, and fragment brown queer bodies. the pensadores were uprooting what lies beneath the systemic devaluing of the brown female body. trujillo (1991) says it best: our culture voices shame upon us if we go beyond the criteria of passivity and repression, or doubts in our virtue if we refuse. we, as women, are taught to suppress our sexual desires and needs by conceding all pleasure to the male . . . moreover, we (as well as most women in the united states) learn to hate our bodies, and usually possess little knowledge of them. (p. 186) the conversation shifted again when shani looked directly at esther and said, “it looks like you have more to say, so you should say it.” esther hesitated then said, “i just thought about shaving. like we’re supposed to shave because you know…guys like it. but maybe we start to do it because we start to internalize a deep-rooted shame we have for our bodies.” laughter then silence. their silence demonstrated a collective recognition of how hegemonic white cis heteronormative beauty standards become normalized during adolescence into adulthood. then i asked the pensadores to think deeper about why a chicana writing about her body was so important. stacy chimed in and said, “this is what hurtado (1998) means when she writes the ways gender subordination is culturally specific, right?” i smiled and said yes, drawing attention to how the passage points to the nuanced impact of racialized heteronormative gender and sexual norms upon the bodies of chicanas. the pensadores snapped their fingers in affirmation. the snap functioned as an ongoing collective recognition of the students seeing and association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 133 diaz-kozlowski knowing themselves as pensadores (ahmed, 2017). it is reclamation. class discussion shifted again when damaris spoke up. “i have to be honest. i had to put this book down several times in order to finish it. i have read books about sexual violence before but nothing compares to this. i have never read anything written by a chicana lesbian in a class before and i am 23 years old. this was hard.” silence. damaris looked around and said, “like i knew there was gonna be violence. how can there not be violence? right? but when i read, “her bruises internal, her skin unscathed, the police would lie. she is scarred inner flesh” (pérez, 1996 p. 78), i lost it. pérez captured those feelings that never leave a woman if she has been sexually assaulted.” faces flushed, then deep exhales swirled linking kerime, shani, stacy, esther, and damaris as pensadores who were collectively reckoning with pérez’s project of decolonial memory in the ways gendered and sexual violence endured by chicanas dehumanize us across generations. the rape of ermilia is not singular but gestures to the collective rape of colonization as well as informs how through colonization the practice of “the policing of female desire thus extends beyond the sexual act as a form of violation” (hernandez, 2003, p. 167). the pensadores generated deeper understandings of pérez’s decisions to not name the narrator, to queer colonial constructions of time and space, and transgress genres opening up opportunities for her to write chicana lesbians into history and at the same time critique the multiple levels of trauma inscribed upon chicana lesbian bodies in the multiple forms of institutionalized violence through the law, the family, and the catholic church. as students began to see and know themselves as pensadores, the epistemic significance of gulf dreams became more apparent in how chicana lesbian fiction challenges hegemonic historiography as truth because it decolonizes the chicanx imaginary. the pedagogy of trujillo’s what night brings once the class finished reading and discussing gulf dreams and turned towards discussing what night brings (trujillo, 2003), a substantial theme emerged. the pensadores became co-teachers of the course material and their uncontrollable excitement and imagination flourished. i walked into the classroom and the pensadores were already deep in conversation. stacy sat cross-legged on top of the table and was waiving her copy of what night brings in the air. stacy exclaimed, “i love this book. i hate reading, but i love this book. i read more than we were supposed to and didn’t read for another class. i don’t even feel bad about it.” kerime shouted to stacy, “bro, i need my cousins to read this book. actually like my whole family. but i association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 134 the power of testimonio pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 might have to do certain people first.” i sat down in the circle and listened. damaris chimed in, her words bursting out, “i love that this book is written through the eyes of a queer brown girl. i think that is so hard to do. marci is fierce. honestly, i wish i was as chingona as marci.” everyone snapped. the pensadores settled into their seats and began thumbing through their book for passages to read out loud. while the pensadores searched i went to the board and started writing out pervasive themes discussed throughout the entire semester: the body is a source of knowledge, knowledge is always partial, the vendida logic,9 gender subordination is culturally specific, and theory is mediated through everyday lived experiences. the pensadores began calling out page numbers that coincided with themes. i couldn’t keep up. stacy finally said, “maybe we just start at the beginning. what did you all think about this passage?” i sat down while stacy read the following passage: i have to tell you what i need from god. i have to change into a boy. this is what i want and it’s not an easy thing to ask for. not like wanting a new bike or football. this takes special powers, and let me tell you, i’ve been wanting it a long time. it’s not because i think i’m a boy, although it sure seems like i am. it’s because i like girls. i don’t know how or when it happened. maybe i was born this way, but the second i saw chichis, i wanted them. i couldn’t stop thinking of girls, during the day at school, at night in my dreams, and especially when i watched tv. (trujillo, 2003, p. 9) kerime said, “yeah i get this. i’m catholic. growing up you kinda know how important religion is to being a mexican girl. it shapes who you are, how you come to know yourself.” immediately the pensadores recognized the significance of the knowledge generated from the everyday experiences of marci’s brown queer body by having marci tell the reader she has been praying to god to change her into a boy because she likes girls. the pensadores collectively identified the hegemonic role the catholic church and the chicano family have as institutions that maintain the cultural value of patriarchy, as a sociopolitical system that insists men are inherently dominant, normalizing heteronormative gender and sexual norms. then shani spoke up: “yeah but damn…. the constant violence her and corin experience…and how all the adults in the book basically make excuses for eddie or pretend they don’t know he’s abusing his daughters…i had a hard time with it. like i want to be mad at delia, uncle tommy, and the 9 blackwell, m. (2011). !chicana power! contested histories of feminism in the chicano movement. the university of texas press. 135 diaz-kozlowski association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 nuns. i am mad at all of them.” shani’s anger nurtures her articulation of the nuanced ways heteropatriarchal violence marks marci and corin’s chicana bodies. critically discussing this passage opened up a deeper understanding of the myriad ways gender subordination is culturally specific for chicana girls and women, challenging a common trope of hegemonic feminists that gender is the sole source of oppression for girls and women. testimonio pedagogy loosens the shackles placed upon our imaginations through hegemonic conceptualizations of teaching and learning by bridging the body, mind, and spirit pushing us towards new conocimientos through feminist consciousness-raising. trujillo is making a point about hegemonic heteropatriarchal gender normativity in her fiction, articulating the ways mothers teach their daughters to be silent, subordinate, and submissive. gloria anzaldúa (1987) put it succinctly: “culture is made by those in power: men. males make the rules and laws: women transmit them” (p. 19). shani’s contribution also demonstrates that cultivating empathy is a practice that is never finished because one must commit to bearing witness to the injustice, violence, pain, and trauma inflicted on communities that we may or may not be a part of. esther responded to shani, “i want to hate delia too but i can’t. delia is being abused by eddie too and is complicit in the abuse of her daughters. it’s a both/and. as a white queer woman, i know it’s not as simple as i wish it was.” the exchange between shani and esther brings to light what underlies the trauma of abuse for chicanas: “herrera-sobek describes how the marginalization of women leads to their economic and social dependence on men, which also results in a loss of agency and control over their own bodies. she points to how some victims ultimately seek protection from a man because they may be left with no other resource. the dichotomy of men as perpetrators of violence and then as protectors from violence exists in patriarchal societies because overall men are valued, whereas women are not, men have privilege, whereas women do not, and men possess power, whereas women do not.” (pérez, 2009, pp. 146-147) furthermore, the pensadores bearing witness to the injustice and violence endured by marci and corin through analyzing the significance of what night brings cultivated powerful reactions. they realized the danger in having one story because it erases the multiplicity and plurality of chicanas’ subjectivities, agency, and voices. “in listening to the story of one, we learn about the conditions of many” (beverley, 2005, p. 557). finally, pathways for epistemic 136 the power of testimonio pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 disobedience emerged as the pensadores got lost and stayed lost by refusing to make universal claims about why trujillo did not kill the character of eddie. the pensadores listened to understand, not to reply, imagining a variety of theories. damaris said, “maybe it’s more realistic eddie lives because most domestic abusers kill the victims rather than the other way around.” shani chimed in and said, “i don’t think trujillo wanted corin to have to live with the burden of knowing she had to kill her dad because he was going to kill her mom.” kermie thought, “what if eddie lives because trujillo is going to write another book that will pick up where this one left off? what if eddie lives, but he isn’t really living?” stacy spoke up and said, “like corin and marci go live with grandma flor and they are finally around adults who make them feel seen and heard as the chicanas they know themselves to be, rather than chicanas the catholic church and heteronormative chicano families what them to become. what if trujillo is trying to tell us chicana lesbians know how to live if society would actually let them?” damaris, listening to her classmates, jumped in at the end of class to say, “yeah, maybe trujillo is telling us what we already knew but we needed a chingona like marci to remind us: chicana lesbians aren’t the problem. heteropatriarchy is.” ultimately, no one left class thinking they knew it all or that they had it all figured out by reading what night brings because the pensadores came to a deeper understanding of why knowledge is always partial. there is a power in testimonio pedagogy: you guide your students to cultivate their own internal anchors rather than expecting them to seek your external validation as teacher. stay curious with them. listen to them. find joy with them. witness their pain. let them see you. dare them to reimagine a more equitable world. wander together. the pensadores realized there is no one right answer, but a multiplicity of possibilities. we got lost in what night brings and didn’t want to be found, showcasing that using testimonio pedagogy to direct cartographies of non-dominance, non-hierarchy, reclamation, and solidarity to teach chicana lesbian fiction cultivated theoretical tools and theories of agency that open up pathways of epistemic disobedience. this is what testimonio pedagogy feels like: an appreciation of ambiguity. breaking dichotomies and feminist consciousness-raising: new conocimientos using testimonio pedagogy to teach chicana lesbian fictions opened up dialogical spaces for me as a teacher–scholar to scaffold chicana feminisms course material that broke false dichotomies and cultivated feminist consciousness raising bringing about new conocimientos. 137 diaz-kozlowski we sat in a circle together. we used each other’s pronouns. we found language to discuss trauma. we witnessed wounds surface, yet found joy. during some class periods we spent twenty minutes discussing one passage from gulf dreams or what night brings, only to spend two minutes on another. when someone started to use negative self-talk, we did not stay silent, yet we did not shame each other. we asked one another questions. we snapped. these facts may seem inconsequential, but they are not. we created a non-hierarchical and nondominant class community together that refused to emulate or valorize the culture of power (delpit, 1988) that informs hegemonic conceptualizations of schooling as individual, neutral, and hierarchal. individual competition, productivity, and objectivity are contributing factors to isolating and alienating students in classroom environments by normalizing white, middle class, heterosexual norms that determine definitions of academic success. collective practices of listening, solidarity, and curiosity recalibrated teaching and learning so that our chicana feminisms course became a site of resistance to institutional white heteropatriarchal power mediating marginalization. using testimonio pedagogy to teach gulf dreams and what night brings in a chicana feminisms course weaved ongoing analyses of how racialized gender and sexual normativity inform heteropatriarchal violence within chicano communities into the curriculum rather than tokenizing chicana lesbian writers. this allowed us to collectively reckon with rape, sexual harassment, binary gender policing, homophobia, and machismo as violence circulating within latinx10 communities. yet discussing chicana lesbian fictions dared us to reimagine equitable latinx communities collectively. as the only chicana lesbian in the room, the pensadores never put me in a position to speak for all chicana lesbians. i felt relieved and valued as a chicana butch lesbian feminist teacher–scholar. teaching at a pwi in the midwest, the majority of students and faculty are white, middle class, cisgender, and heterosexual. when i am among faculty or staff of color i am usually the only queer. while i am no stranger to the process of othering at a pwi, the gravity of navigating the multiplicity of otherness has become chronically isolating and alienating. mi locura no se cura, y me ahogo con locura. 10 “latinx” is an intersectional identity term meant to be used by gender fluid and gender non-conforming people, lgbtqia persons, cisgender men and women, and those taking a political stance that ethnicity and gender exist on a spectrum and are not dichotomous” (garcia, 2020, p. 38). association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 138 the power of testimonio pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 a significant question that came to the forefront through collective analyses of gulf dreams and what night brings (a question i should have made explicit in the beginning of the semester) is: how can women take responsibility for fighting oppressions they cannot individually relate to? using testimonio pedagogy to teach chicana lesbian fiction centered this foundational question rooted in the genealogy of women of color feminist writings (abulughod, 2013; anzaldúa, 1983; davis, 2016; hooks, 1997; lorde, 1984; mahmood, 2005; martínez, 2016), grounding practices of feminist consciousness-raising in political solidarities, not a false sisterhood predicated on perceived shared identities of women. political solidarity is thinking through structures of power and identities relationally that demand an understanding of the nuances of the socio-political histories of women. it became clear to me witnessing the pensadores collectively analyze chicana lesbian fiction they confronted why and how women experience oppression in nuanced ways, and sameness can’t bring about equity. esther and stacy, the two white women in my class, began to confront and grapple with their racial privileges by reading and discussing chicana lesbian fiction and exploring the culturally specific ways racialized gender subordination for chicana girls and women functions as a result of the interconnected logics of white supremacist capitalist heteropatriarchy. kerime, damaris, and shani, the self-identified latinas in the class, began to contend with their own internalized racialized gender and sexual normativity, prompting them to acknowledge their complicity and commit to challenging racialized heteropatriarchal norms in their own lives. through collective analyses of gulf dreams and what night brings, kerime, damaris, and shani in particular succinctly identified that, “for many chicanas, our identification as women, that is, as complete women, comes from the belief we need to be connected to a man…we are socialized to undervalue ourselves, as well as anything associated with the concept of self,” (trujillo, 1991, p. 187). solidarity between the pensadores and i developed as each of us grappled with acknowledging and then confronting her attachments to internalized racialized heteropatriarchy. on the last day of class, the pensadores and i discussed emma pérez’s (1991) essay, “sexuality and discourse: notes from a chicana survivor.” the conversation was slow going, but halfway through class damaris spoke up: this essay was hard to read. i had to stop and go back a few times. but if i had read this before i read gulf dreams and what night brings i would have been completely overwhelmed and just quit. but i didn’t give up. when i got to the last section where 139 diaz-kozlowski association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 pérez writes, “we cannot be friends as long as you think you know every part of who i am, as long as you think you can invade my space and silence my language, my thoughts, my words, my rage. mi sitio y mi lengua” (pérez, 1991, p. 175). i understood that. i’m still lost, but i am not afraid. i see myself. i see all of us trying to learn, to unlearn. the growth of the pensadores demonstrates they were able to conceptualize difference as an asset (lorde, 1984) rather than a barrier between women through practicing feminist consciousness-raising and breaking down false dichotomies. the pensadores reclaimed the classroom, collectively making it clear to me that discussing gulf dreams and what night brings cultivated new conocimentos that are powerful and politically urgent. they learned to believe in themselves and in each other. snap. they recognized the plurality of selves alongside a multiplicity of possibilities, which forged deeper practices of empathy, listening, and solidarity, restoring connection to ourselves, and guided us towards a practice of healing and learning rooted in our bodies. writer’s note: enseño desde la herida reevaluating the conceptual framework of my chicana feminisms course and making the strategic decision to teach chicana lesbian fiction became an integral part of understanding the power of testimonio pedagogy. here’s why. testimonio pedagogy refuses the cartesian mind/body dichotomy, the teacher/student dichotomy, and hegemonic conceptualizations of schooling steeped in individual competition, objectivity, and learning as commodity. testimonio pedagogy highlights the fortitude and resilience necessary to mediate pervasive forces of marginalization in the academy rooted in racialized neoliberal capitalism (klein, 2007; melamed, 2006; taylor, 2019). while students may perceive educators as all the same, we are not. working at a pwi, my brown chicana butch lesbian body is read and written over, marked with instructions and narratives that are not of my making. i am consistently taken less seriously, my expertise devalued. we must show our students that our humanity is intimately linked with theirs. testimonio pedagogy cultivates a radical vulnerability that reclaims teaching as a human act, not a business transaction. people aren’t just things you use and toss. this is why i use testimonio pedagogy to cultivate practices of trust and care with my students because: all parts of people enter the pedagogical space as sharing and memory often prompt all our senses when reliving or listening to the stories. feelings, emotions, knowledges, 140 the power of testimonio pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 silences, and identities are integral to learning and connecting with testimonios—to enter a new site of knowledge—a space of reclamation. (delgado bernal et al., 2012, p. 396) using testimonio pedagogy, i extend the genealogy of women of color writings by disrupting epistemological boundaries in order to center voice and agency in the relationships between teachers and students, curriculum and pedagogy, and learning and community. the writings of toni morrison sembró las semillas, that root my commitment to the work i do as a chicana butch lesbian feminist teacher–scholar. “the work. to make revolution irresistible” (bambara, 1983, p. viii). toni morrison taught me that we all have a responsibility to act. por eso, escribo y enseño desde la herida. 141 diaz-kozlowski association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 references abu-lughod, l. (2013). do muslim women need saving? harvard university press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674726338 ahmed, s. (2017). living a feminist life. duke university press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822373377 anzaldúa, g. e. (1983). speaking in tongues: a letter to third world women writers. in c. moraga & g. e. anzaldúa (eds.), this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (pp. 165–174). kitchen table/women of color press. anzaldúa, g. e. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. aunt lute books. bambara, t. c. (1983). foreword. in c. moraga and g. e. anzaldúa (eds.), this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (pp. vi-viii). kitchen table/women of color press. beverley, j. (2005). testimonio, subalternity, and narrative authority. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (3rd. ed., pp. 547–559). sage. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698571 blackwell, m. (2011). ¡chicana power! contested histories of feminism in the chicano movement. the university of texas press. cacho, l. m. (2012). “if i turn into a boy, i don’t think i want huevos”: reassessing racial masculinities in what night brings. glq: a journal of lesbian and gay studies, 18(1), 71–85. https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-1422143 calderón, d., delgado bernal, d., pérez huber, l., malagón, m.c., vélez, v.n. (2012). a chicana feminist epistemology revisited: cultivating ideas a generation later. harvard educational review, 82(4), 513–539. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.4.l518621577461p68 cohen, c. j. (1999). the boundaries of blackness: aids and the breakdown of black politics. university of chicago press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226190518.001.0001 cooper, b. (2018). eloquent rage: a black feminist finds her superpower. macmillan. cortez, r. (2015). how to de-academize theory: accountability and representation. in t. j. cuevas, l. m. mercado-lopez, and s. saldivar-hull (eds.), el mundo zurdo 4: selected works from the 2013 meeting of the society for the study of gloria anzaldúa (pp. 81–89). aunt lute books. cruz, c. (2006). toward an epistemology of a brown body. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f.e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 59–76). state university of new york press. cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698185 darder, a., & torres, r. d. (eds.). (2013). latinos and education: a critical reader (2nd ed.). routledge. davis, a. (2016). freedom is a constant struggle: ferguson, palestine, and the foundations of a movement. haymarket books. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555–579. delgado bernal, d. (2020). disrupting epistemological boundaries: reflections on feminista methodological and pedagogical interventions. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 142 https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674726338 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822373377 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698571 https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-1422143 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.4.l518621577461p68 https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226190518.001.0001 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698185 the power of testimonio pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 45(1), 155–169. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363–372. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698149 delgado bernal, d., & elenes, a. c. (2011). chicana feminist theorizing: methodologies, pedagogies, and practices. in r. r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (pp. 99–119). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203835982 delpit, l. d. (1988). the silenced dialogue: power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. harvard educational review, 58(3), 280–298. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.58.3.c43481778r528qw4 diaz-kozlowski, t. (2015). un camino de conocimiento: a marimacha’s meditation on an lgbtq inclusive charter school. [unpublished doctoral dissertation]. university of illinois at urbana-champaign. elenes, a. c. (2000). chicana feminist narratives and the politics of self. frontiers, 21(3), 105– 123. https://doi.org/10.2307/3347113 freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. continuum. garcia, c. (2020). in defense of latinx. in s. m. shaw & j. lee (eds.), gendered voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings (7th ed.) (pp. 38-39). oxford university press. giroux, h. (2011). on critical pedagogy. continuum. godinez, f. e. (2006). haciendo que hacer: braiding cultural knowledge into educational practices and policies. in d. delgado bernal, c. a., elenes, f.e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 25–38). state university of new york press. hernandez, e. (2003). chronotype of desire: emma pérez’s gulf dreams. in g.f. arredondo, a. hurtado, n. klahn, o. nájera-ramírez, p. zavella (eds.), chicana feminisms: a critical reader (pp. 155–177). duke university press. herrera, c. (2009). “the girls our mothers warned us about”: rejection, redemption, and the lesbian daughter in carla trujillo’s what night brings. women’s studies, 39(1): 18–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00497870903368930 hill collins, p. (2000). black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). routledge. hooks, b. (1990). yearning: race, gender, and cultural politics. south end press. hooks, b. (1997). sisterhood: political solidarity between women. in d. t. meyers (ed.), feminist social thought: a reader (pp. 484–500). routledge. hooks, b. (2003). teaching community: a pedagogy of hope. routledge. hurtado, a. (1998). the politics of sexuality in the gender subordination of chicanas. in c. trujillo (ed.). living chicana theory (pp. 383–428). third woman press. ikas, k.r. (2002). chicana ways: conversations with ten chicanas writers. university of nevada press. klein, n. (2007). the shock doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism. metropolitan books/henry holt and company. lorde, a. (1984). sister outsider: essays and speeches. crossing press. love, b. (2019). we want to do more than survive: abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. beacon press. mahmood, s. (2005). politics of piety: the islamic revival and the feminist subject. princeton 143 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698149 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203835982 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.58.3.c43481778r528qw4 https://doi.org/10.2307/3347113 https://doi.org/10.1080/00497870903368930 diaz-kozlowski association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 university press. martínez, e. (2016). unite and rebel! challenges and strategies in building alliance. in incite! women of color against violence (eds.), color of violence: the incite! anthology (pp. 191–195). duke university press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1220mvs.25 melamed, j. (2006). the spirit of neoliberalism: from racial liberalism to neoliberal multiculturalism. social text, 89(4), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-2006-009 mignolo, w. d. (2009). epistemic disobedience, independent thought and decolonial freedom. theory, culture & society, 26(7-8), 159–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276409349275 moraga, c. l. & anzaldúa, g. e. (1983). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (2nd ed.). kitchen table/women of color press. morrison, t. (1973). sula. plume books. pérez, d.e. (2009). rethinking chicana/o and latina/o popular culture. palgrave macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230101685 pérez, e. (1991). sexuality and discourse: notes from a chicana survivor. in c. trujillo (ed.). chicana lesbians: the girls our mothers warned us about (pp. 159–184). third woman press. pérez, e. (1996). gulf dreams. aunt lute books. rueda esquibel, c. (2006). with her machete in her hand: reading chicana lesbians. university of texas press. slaughter, s. & rhoades, g. (2000). the neo-liberal university. new labor forum, 6, 73–79. taylor, k-y. (2019). race for profit: how banks and the real estate industry undermined black homeownership. the university of north carolina press. torrez, j. e. (2015). translating chicana testimonios into pedagogy for a white midwestern classroom. chicana/latina studies, 14(2), 101–130. trujillo, c. (1991). chicana lesbians: fear and loathing in the chicano community. in c. trujillo (ed.), chicana lesbians: the girls our mothers warned us about (pp. 186–194). third woman press. trujillo, c. (1998). la virgen de guadalupe and her reconstruction in chicana lesbian desire. in c. trujillo (ed.) living chicana theory (pp. 214–231). third woman press. trujillo, c. (2003). what night brings. curbstone press. valencia, r.r. (ed.). (1997). the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. routledgefalmer. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.–mexican youth and the politics of caring. the state university of new york press. 144 https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1220mvs.25 https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-2006-009 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0263276409349275 https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230101685 diaz-kozlowski_page proof_final amae invited issue cover page http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 155 mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer: institutional agents and the continued role of the community college edén cortez university of utah erin l. castro university of utah abstract this qualitative analysis draws upon the experiences of six mexican and mexican american community college transfer students during the 2012-2013 academic year. relying on literature regarding institutional agents, we examine students’ reflections regarding preand post-transfer support from both institutional agents and structured student programs. we provide descriptive information about participation in key student support programs such as camp and trio sss, which provided many students with introductions to institutional agents. a combination of programmatic support and guidance from individuals who acted as institutional agents assisted students in this study throughout the transfer process. overall, individuals employed by the community college played key roles in the lives of mexican and mexican american community college transfer students preand post-transfer. keywords: community college transfer, mexican and mexican american transfer students, student support programs, institutional agents doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.2.354 cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 156 introduction issues on persistence, retention, and completion rates for latinx1 transfer students in higher education continue to garner the attention of researchers, practitioners, and university leaders. this student population faces tremendous challenges in the pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. research indicates latinx students earn fewer baccalaureate degrees than their white peers despite desires to persist (melguizo, 2009), and vertical transfer (e.g. transfer from a community college to a four-year university) rates continue to lag behind white students (crisp & nuñez, 2014). in what nuñez and elizondo (2013) refer to as the latino/a transfer gap, latinx community college transfer students remain underrepresented at four-year universities despite their expressed intentions to transfer and complete degrees. the vast majority of latinx community college students enter with intentions to transfer (martinez & fernández, 2004); yet, only about 35% complete a degree or certificate and/or transfer to a four-year university (crisp & nuñez, 2014). critical research shows that latinx transfer students can face disproportionate bias in the vertical transfer process, preventing full participation in college life and ultimately, completion. such challenges include—but are not limited to—incidents of racism and systemic racism (castro & cortez, 2017; franklin, smith, & hung, 2014; reynolds, sneva, & beehler, 2010), language discrimination and perceptions of limited english language proficiency (alexander, garcia, gonzalez, grimes, & o’ brien, 2007), and potential anxiety and fear related to documentation status (huber & malagon, 2007; stebleton & aleixo, 2015). yet, despite systemic and institutional challenges, latinx community college transfer students can and do persist. like all postsecondary students, latinx community college transfer students benefit from support, caring, and validation from institutional agents who can further support their educational experiences (dowd, pak, & bensimon, 2013; rendón, 2002). dowd et 1 our use of latinx is an attempt at inclusivity and recognition of the non-binary, trans*, and fluid nature of gender—as well as the continuous development of language and linguistic choices. we wish to note that the use of x is not a settled debate and draws ongoing discussion in the field of critical ethnic studies, gender studies, and contemporary publics, among other outlets. our own understandings regarding the use of x continue to evolve. yet, we feel it important to use the x in this moment to keep attention toward gender, gendering, and more expansive and accurate notions of genders and gender identities. as we stated in previous work, this term refers to “female, male, transgender, gender queer, and gender nonconforming individuals who racially, ethnically, and/or culturally identify as descendants of latin americas—including south and central america as well as colonized and borderized territories of north america” (castro & cortez, 2017, p. 1). unless we are directly citing a primary source, we use latinx throughout. for more on this evolving discussion and the politics (and tensions) regarding linguistic choices, see: de onís, c. m. (2017). what’s in an ‘x’?: an exchange about the politics of ‘latinx.’ chiricú journal: latina/o literatures, arts, and cultures, 1(2), 78-91. mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 157 al.’s (2013) research documents how transfer agents or transfer champions, individuals who assist latinx students with understanding and navigating academic and bureaucratic processes related to successful transfer, play a key role in guidance, mentorship, and advocacy. often times, latinx community college students come into contact with transfer agents through their participation in structured student support programs at either or both the sending or receiving institution. participation in select student support programs, such as programming with organized interactions among faculty, academic advisers, and peers, is correlated with increased student success and intentions to persist among latinx students (tovar, 2015). structured support programs can provide direct and consistent access to academic advisors and counselors who are heavily and personally invested in the success of their students. these programs can provide both formal and informal supports, including mentoring, access to resources, and various programming efforts to students who come from low-income backgrounds, are first-generation, are migrant, and/or have disabilities (mahoney, 1998; museus, 2010). indeed, student support programs continue to be a crucial component of postsecondary success among latinx community college transfer students (jain, lucero, bernal, herrera, & solorzano, 2017). the present study contributes to these scholarly conversations in two important ways. first, drawing from previous qualitative research (cortez, 2013), this analysis focuses on the experiences of mexican and mexican american community college transfer students who successfully transferred to a four-year university. secondly, this study specifically examines students’ perceptions and understanding of student support programs accessed through the transfer process. thus, this study addresses the following research question: • in what ways do mexican and mexican american community college transfer students reflect upon their experiences with preand post-transfer support? in sharing their experiences, students elevated both programmatic and individual support in their transfer processes, of which we expand upon and analyze in this study. literature review successfully navigating four-year institutions can be challenging for many community college transfer students. community college transfer students may require additional and different kinds of support given their experiences (townsend & wilson, 2006)—this is cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 158 particularly true for community college transfer students of color attending predominantly white institutions (pwis) (bensimon & dowd 2009; dowd et al., 2013; museus & neville, 2012). museus (2010) and museus and neville (2012) point out the importance of institutional agents in providing access to dominant forms of social capital for students of color to ensure their success at pwis. for example, among the findings in museus’s (2010) study, he identified the importance of institutional agents in providing students of color with access to forms of dominant social capital needed to achieve their academic goals, similar to dowd et al.’s (2013) discussion of transfer agents and transfer champions. in this sense, dominant social capital encompasses the types of benefits accrued by individuals who participate in networks or groups and utilize acquired benefits as sources to gain other benefits (bourdieu, 1985). in the case of transfer students, they can experience limited or no access to dominant capital which include access to accurate and timely information, connections with knowledgeable and helpful individuals on campus, understanding the availability of and how to utilize campus resources— including scholarship and funding opportunities, among related institutional connections that are crucial to successfully navigate their institution. support provided by social agents is not a onetime encounter, as museus (2010) points out, but an on-going relationship or a number of relationships throughout students’ educational trajectories at the university. in sum, institutional agents are more than solely academic advisors or counselors in that they work to understand and empathize with students’ life situations and show this through demonstrating care and trust. committed to student success, institutional agents are part of a larger network at the university, and beyond, and they use this network to address students’ needs and connect them with others within their networks. research on institutional agents serves to elevate the role that institutions play in facilitating and/or limiting student success, and particularly minoritized student success. turning toward institutional agents also helps to understand how actors within the university interact with and influence students’ engagements with and perceptions of higher education. for community college transfer students, making connections with institutional agents can prove challenging during the transfer process (bensimon, & dowd, 2009; fry, 2002). structured student support programs, including federal, state, and locally funded projects, can facilitate connections among incoming students and individuals at the college and university committed to their success. for latinx community college transfer students, having access to transfer mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 159 agents early in the transfer process is essential for decisions regarding how and where to transfer, as well as having the necessary information and materials to do so (bensimon & dowd, 2009; dowd et al., 2013). latinx students often have limited access to necessary information regarding transfer, which contributes to lower transfer and completion rates in general, as well as persistent underrepresentation at selective receiving institutions (bensimon & dowd, 2009). the post-transfer experiences of latinx transfer students at the receiving institution are also mitigated by access to supportive, caring, and well informed institutional agents (dowd et al., 2013). in research conducted by dowd, pak, and bensimon’s (2013), many of their community college transfer participants had consistent support from institutional agents, including program directors, university administrators, faculty, among others, who had high levels of authority at both the sending and receiving institutions. in their study, institutional agents provided students with mentorship that reassured their academic goals at both institutions, and more so at sending institutions—community colleges. their participants did not have positive guidance early in their educational trajectories and all shared how crucial their connection to institutional agents was for them to realize their potential and become successful transfer students. the above research demonstrates that for latinx community college transfer students, connection with institutional agents can positively aid in realizing educational goals regarding transfer and completion. yet, we continue to know little regarding how latinx community college transfer students connect with and perceive institutional agents, as well as where institutional agents are located within the institution. knowing such information can assist in correcting contemporary disparities in vertical transfer—that is, the latino transfer gap—as it can provide insight into if and how latinx students connect with institutional actors at the sending and/or receiving institutions. theoretical framing: institutional agents, social capital, and validation in this study we draw on the concept of institutional agents as conceptual framing for the present analysis (stanton-salazar, 2011). the concept of institutional agents was developed in a secondary education context with high school mexican youth, and we connect the importance of institutional agents in the validation of transfer students as conceptualized by rendón (1994). in addition, social capital is linked to the conceptualization of institutional cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 160 agents in that students benefit from connecting with and accessing institutional agents’ social capital that supports their education endeavours. in this sense, we provide a critique of the deficit thinking that renders minoritized students as having no or low social capital by acknowledging yosso’s (2005) conceptualization of community cultural wealth. stanton-salazar’s (2011) study focused on minoritized youth who he argued have “lowcapital”, meaning, a limited access to and knowledge about crucial resources (p. 1067). stantonsalazar (2011) stated that resources and key forms of social support are embedded in students’ immediate network and can be accessible through nonfamily adult agents with authority, which he refers to as institutional agents. like all students, minoritized students are part of a series of socialized processes and, as such, they engage with multiple individuals, groups, networks, and authority figures. taken together, students are part of a “complex social world” and learning to navigate these networks are crucial for students’ effective participation in society and societal institutions like higher education (stanton-salazar, 2011, p. 1067). because of entrenched structural inequities, students of color and other minoritized students throughout all levels of education are often excluded from learning about and engaging with dominant forms of social capital in meaningful and fulfilling ways. from this perspective, stanton-salazar (2011) argues that minoritized youth consequently have limited social capital that can provide them with the necessary tools, support, language, and understanding of enactment of specific social identities that can prove beneficial in educational spaces. yosso’s (2005) conceptualization of community cultural wealth is important to recognize here, given an emphasis on capital as it relates to institutional agents. according to yosso (2005), minoritized students hold different type of social capital or cultural wealth that helps them navigate dominant environments. often their cultural wealth goes unnoticed by school representatives who value dominant conceptualization of social capital (i.e., socioeconomic status and parents’ education background) over other forms of capital (yosso, 2005). in this sense, community cultural wealth derives from the rich experiences students have in their community. thus, yosso’s (2005) notion of community cultural wealth critiques dominant understandings of cultural capital by illustrating the types of wealth held by minoritized and marginalized students and communities of color. the problem is that such wealth often goes unrecognized and/or devalued within pwis, potentially leading to the development of compensatory programs rooted in deficit perspectives of students of color mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 161 (castro, 2014). contrary to employing educational deficit thinking (valencia, 2010), yosso (2005) argues that latinx students can enact six forms of capital, including aspirational, familial, linguistic, social, navigational, and resistance. an emphasis on institutional agents as an analytic framework aligns with yosso’s (2005) research in that institutional agents can and should recognize the multiple forms of wealth held on behalf of students and communities of color (dowd et al., 2013). stanton-salazar (2011) notes that institutional agents are non-kin individuals who can play empowering roles in the educational experiences of minoritized students. institutional agents use their high-status positions (i.e., administration, faculty, staff, counselors, etc.) in ways to strategically support students to enable them to effectively navigate their immediate environment. rendón’s (1994, 2006) concept of validation theory is useful in understanding the influence that individuals can have on the educational experiences of latinx students. rendón (1994) notes that “validation is an enabling, confirming and supportive process initiated by in and out-of-class agents that fosters academic and interpersonal development” for students and mainly latinx transfer students (p. 44). rendón (2006) contends that while some students can navigate college campuses and form connections on their own, validation theory asks that college faculty, administrators, and staff take the initiative in reaching out to students to assist them in learning “more about college, believe in themselves as learners, and have a positive college experience” (p. 5). when individuals took the initiative to reach out to students and validate them academically and/or interpersonally, rendón (1994) found that students began to believe that they could be successful. indeed, support from institutional agents can help to empower students so that they can understand and learn to counter oppressive systems (stanton-salazar, 2011). in this sense, institutional agents can play key roles in the socialization and empowerment of minoritized students in higher education. methodology the data used in this analysis are drawn from a larger qualitative study conducted in 2013 that examined the transfer related experiences of mexican and mexican american community college transfer students in the pacific northwest during the 2012-2013 academic year (cortez, 2013). the primary study used latcrit (alemán, 2009) to analyze students’ understanding of their preand post-transfer experiences, and interview protocol was designed cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 162 to elicit both students’ experiences with accessing support programs preand post-transfer and their racialized experiences as a community college transfer student of color. this current study draws from data collected from two main interview constructs: a) student access to support programs during the transfer process; and b) formal and informal support received from institutional agents at both the sending and/or receiving institution. participants a total of six mexican or mexican american students, three who identified as women and three who identified as men, participated in this study between 2012 and 2013 (see table 1; pseudonyms used). all participants transferred from the same two-year institution to the same four-year university and identified as either mexican or mexican american. five of the students were the first in their families to attend college and earn a high school diploma, with the remaining student earning a general educational development diploma. academic major at the receiving institution is included in table 1 for further context. table 1 participant demographic information name age sex race/ethnicity college generation status secondary credential major laura 21 female mexican american 1st generation high school diploma animal science blanca 22 female mexican 1st generation high school diploma general science jorge 21 male mexican 1st generation high school diploma computer science alex 35 male mexican american 1st generation ged ethnic studies ruby 21 female mexican 1st generation high school diploma geography saul 29 male mexican american father college graduate high school diploma ethnic studies mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 163 potential participants were recruited via email solicitation. emails were sent to latinx student organizations, advisors from academic colleges on campus, and student support programs aimed at serving first-generation and low-income students at the receiving institution. snowball sampling (merriam, 2009) was used to recruit additional eligible students. eligibility was based on two inclusion criteria; first, students needed to self-identify as mexican and/or mexican american and, second, potential participants must have attended at least one academic year at the community college prior to transfer and completed at least one academic year at the receiving institution. limitations due to the previous study design, there are two important limitations to address in this analysis. first, only one author conducted interviews; thus, data interpretation may have been enhanced with the presence of both authors during interviews and peer-debriefing sessions. second, the original study was designed to elicit the experiences that students had with both institutional agents and structured student support programs. however, the protocol was not designed to probe further into the meaning-making students had with individuals and programs. our current analysis could have been enhanced by asking additional questions regarding students’ perceptions of support programs and institutional agents. future research may want to examine the perceived long impact of these programs and institutional agents on behalf of participants. analysis: student support throughout transfer and transition processes the lived experiences of students in this study were heavily influenced by the institutional and informal support they received throughout the transfer processes. the following section is divided into two parts: student participation in support programs and the role of institutional agents in students’ educational trajectories. discussion and implications follow, with concluding recommendations for policy, research, and practice. cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 164 participation in support programs preand post-transfer five of the six students in this study participated in institutionally supported programs that assisted undergraduate students with academic and social integration of college life. two of three programs, the college assistant migrant program (camp) and trio student support services (sss), were utilized by students at the community college. students utilized the third program, the educational opportunity program (eop), at the university. the only student not to use any formal academic support program was saul and this was likely due to a combination of factors, including his age, his formerly incarcerated status, and his personal relationship with a graduate student who assisted him in navigating the admissions and transfer process at the receiving institution. the institutional support that students obtained dramatically differed between sending and receiving institutions, as illustrated in table 2. laura, blanca, jorge, and ruby all participated in camp at the community college. camp is a federally funded program that aims to support migrant or seasonal farmworkers and their children during their first year of higher education. camp participants must meet migrant or seasonal farmworker criteria and apply to the program. support offered through camp includes academic counseling, tutoring, financial stipends, and health services, among other related services (u.s. department of education, 2017a). because camp is a federally funded government program, only u.s. citizens are able to participate in the program. table 2 participants’ access to support programs preand post-transfer community college university name camp trio camp trio sss eop laura x x x blanca x x jorge x alex x x ruby x x saul two students, laura and alex, utilized trio sss while enrolled at the community college. like camp, trio sss is a federally funded program designed to academically support first-generation students, low-income students, and students with disabilities while enrolled in mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 165 postsecondary education. trio sss participants must meet the aforementioned criteria, apply, and participate in a screening process. trio sss is focused on academically supporting students through degree completion (u.s. department of education, 2017b). like camp, only u.s. citizens are eligible to participate in the program. eop programs vary in shape and size across the country and depending on the institution, non-u.s. citizens may be eligible. in general, eop seeks to support low-income, firstgeneration, and students of color at four-year institutions. services vary depending on institutional commitment, but in general, eop aims to provide students with academic and financial advice, study skills, and scholarships to ensure their success in college (berkley, n.d.). once enrolled at the receiving institution, students in our study did not continue to participate in trio sss or camp. because camp is a first-year program, the students in this sample exhausted their eligibility at the community college prior to transfer and so their lack of formal involvement with camp at the university made sense. however, all of the students in this sample were eligible for services through trio sss at the receiving institution but did not apply nor participate. our research did not examine the reasons why students chose not to apply for trio sss at the receiving institution, but we speculate that limits on program capacity, such as the number of students allowed to enroll and the number of support staff available, influence transfer students’ ability to participate in these programs. institutional programming, staff, and culture among receiving institutions vary, as do services between different institutional types, which can also influence students’ ability and desire to participate in support programming. three of the five students who received formal services at the community college during their first-year post-transfer enrolled in eop at the university: blanca, alex, and ruby. laura also participated in eop but did not enroll until her second-year post-transfer. when asked to describe the kind of support that students received at the university, the four students referenced formal involvement with eop at the university. however, all participants, including those receiving services from eop, mentioned their continued connections with camp at the community college. with the exception of saul, all of the students in this sample participated in institutionally-sponsored support programs geared toward serving underrepresented and underserved students, with the overwhelming majority of that support coming from the community college. cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 166 institutional agents: the continued role of the sending institution when asked to describe the kinds of support that students received during the transfer process, all students referred to at least one individual who played a key role in their decision to and ability to transfer. with the exception of two students, the sending institution employed all individuals who supported students in their transfer process, and who we identify as acting as institutional agents (see table 3). this finding is perhaps a bit surprising, and unfortunately, wholly insufficient. while dowd et al.’s (2013) research found that community college transfer students had individuals who acted as transfer agents at both the sending and receiving institutions, only two of the students in this sample identified someone at the university who was integral to their transfer success. table 3 institutional agents preand post-transfer* name at the community college at the university laura director of student services blanca camp counselor jorge camp counselor camp counselor alex trio sss advisor academic counselor ruby academic advisor saul faculty member *table design borrowed from dowd et al. (2013). the role of institutional agents in promoting transfer access. education policy analysis archives, 21(15), 1-38. three students mentioned an advisor as important to their ability to successfully understand the university setting. for one student, ruby, it was an academic advisor at the university who assisted her in navigation. in describing the role of her academic advisor, she focused on the influence the academic advisor had on her ability to be successful at the university. she described that she initially met the woman through a camp welcome event and said: i met a lady, she is an academic advisor from bioresearch. really random, i just happened to meet her [at a camp event] and she has been more than an academic advisor. she has taken me to the university that i want to go to for mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 167 grad school. she got me into a club. she’s helping me with my purpose of statement, with scholarships, with applications, like everything and, i mean, i’m not even from her department. i just happened to meet her and like within 20 minutes, probably, i introduced myself, and she said “sure come to my office and the we can talk” and then she brought me papers from different schools… you should apply here, there, over there, and here. ruby met the woman whom she refers to as an “academic advisor” through her participation in camp at the community college. it is important to point out that this person is not ruby’s official academic advisor but rather an advisor from a different department who is taking on a supportive and mentoring role for ruby. in further describing their relationship, ruby refers to this academic advisor as an “angel” who has reached out to help her: in the way, she appeared into my life, it’s kind of like an angel because it was random like nothing. and then now, she takes the time, i mean, to the point that she helps me like even say the words that i need to say, the words that i need to write. it is clear that ruby’s self-described academic advisor is taking on a mentorship role outside of her required responsibilities and these kinds of activities align with the aims and actions of institutional agents. the fact that ruby is not in the same department as her academic advisor is striking, particularly given the workload and responsibilities academic advisors have to their home departments. it is also worth asking if and to what extent ruby’s experiences might be different if she were being mentored from someone in her academic discipline. blanca’s experience with a financial aid advisor who assisted in her transfer is similar to ruby’s. blanca described a latina financial aid advisor from camp that guided her during her transition to the receiving institution. the advisor not only helped her apply to the receiving institution, but also introduced her to eop and visited her after enrolling in the receiving institution. blanca explains: the financial advisor (from camp) came to [name of receiving institution]. she did help me with the process of applying and making sure everything was right. but she came a couple of times after i transferred just to make sure i was ok. cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 168 she was the one that introduced me to eop and some resources at [name of receiving institution]. the support from this institutional agent extended beyond the community college, and her basic job obligations associated with being a financial aid counselor at the community college. because of the support provided by this advisor, blanca was able to access additional resources such as eop and the academic student center that helped her balance school work. alex also identified an academic advisor at the university in addition to an academic counselor at the community college as pivotal in his ability to transfer and persist. alex held reservations about his ability to access and be successful in higher education. when asked if there was someone who helped him during the transfer process, he first mentioned his trio sss advisor at the community college: oh yeah, my [trio sss] advisor. she helped me the most. she was always there and making appointments with me. i mean, she would actually leave the [campus tour] group to go to my appointments at the university because she was a little more savvy, i guess. she would walk with me to all my appointments, sit down, and ask questions. i felt like she knew more of the questions than i knew, and so she knew me better that i knew myself, or the questions i should have asked. in expanding, alex elaborates on what he sees as one of the major components of support that he received from his trio sss advisor while enrolled at the university, which is caring: the first few terms that i went there [university], i passed my first term and then the second and third term, i failed. she actually wrote me a letter, you know, because i was having personal problems. she really connected with me. she really showed me that she cared, and then i go into another class and found more people that cared… and having that type of support is what gave me the strength to keep going; hey keep trying, keep trying, there are people here that like you, there are people here trying to help you out, so try not to let them down. mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 169 alex’s trio sss advisor at the community college played an essential role in his ability to persist at the receiving institution, in large part because of what he describes as caring and motivation. when alex was placed on academic probation, his trio sss advisor supported his appeal by being his advocate and, as he emphasized, by being someone in his life who cares. her caring guidance allowed for him to identify other individuals at the receiving institution who cared for him, one person being his academic counselor. the support received by students in the form of individuals who act as institutional agents is rooted in the community college. for saul, a 29-year-old high school graduate who was also formerly incarcerated, a faculty member was critical in his decision to transfer to the university as well as his growing ethno-racial identity development. in describing the significant factors related to his decision to transfer, saul explained how one faculty member inspired an awakening in him to a larger racialized political consciousness—which assisted in his desires and abilities to persist: it wasn’t until, i think it was maybe halfway towards my sophomore year when i took chicano studies with [faculty member] when i really had an awaking. for once, i was kind of wow, you know, ethnic studies is something i found interesting and [faculty member] is somebody who challenged me. he made me think critically … and more so [he] acknowledged me as a scholar. he would even call me dr. [last name], you know. and for somebody to believe that, i know it was kind of like, it wasn’t that i was a doctor but it was something to help me visualize by me hearing it, to actually start thinking—wow being a doctor is actually a possibility. the kind of role that this faculty member played in saul’s life might be broadly described as inspirational or motivational. for saul, his chicano studies faculty member acted as an institutional agent who empowered him by helping him to overcome learned stereotypes and negative perceptions of himself, expanding his vision of what is possible. in describing individuals relevant in his transfer experience, jorge’s spoke of a camp adviser at the community college who guided him in fulfilling his transfer requirements. this advisor also connected him to camp at the receiving institution where he met camp advisors who supported him after transferring. jorge explains: cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 170 there were a lot of people helping me out. i got into contact with the camp office from here [receiving institution] and they [academic advisors] were the ones actually trying to help me get everything i needed, such as my email set up and all that stuff. they also took time to advise me a little bit… like how to go through the [name of receiving institution] registration system, and where to find what classes i needed to take in order to be in good standing. the only participant that did not express having a key institutional agent supporting her post-transfer was laura. however, she acknowledged that her trio advisor at the community college provided her with consistent support throughout the transfer process. after transferring to the receiving institution, laura saw herself as academically positioned well and therefore she did not need extra support during her first year at the receiving institution. however, laura did access eop during her second-year post-transfer. discussion and implications overall, individuals employed by the community college played key roles in the lives of mexican and mexican american community college transfer students preand post-transfer. without his advisor at the community college, it is likely that alex would have faced challenges in identifying someone who was familiar with the university appeal process and who could have written him a strong letter of support. ruby’s reference to the faculty member as an “angel” is striking as she describes meeting the advisor as a chance encounter and her description indicates that she feels quite grateful for this person. without her advisor’s help, blanca may have experienced challenges finding and accessing support programs and similarly, jorge might have taken longer to adjust to the receiving institution’s bureaucratic structures if he did not have access to camp advisors who helped facilitate his orientation to the bureaucracy of the university. saul’s discussion of the chicano studies faculty member speaks to the importance of encouragement and empowerment on behalf of institutional agents. a key aspect of institutional agents is their commitment to empowerment (stanton-salazar, 2011) and this stems, not from a savior mentality, but from an understanding of the ways minoritized students are positioned in disadvantageous ways within educational institutions (valencia, 2010). saul received what rendón (1994) might refer to as validation from his relationship with the chicano studies mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 171 faculty member and it made a lasting difference in his ability to imagine himself pursuing a ph.d. institutional agents who are committed to empowerment are critically important for latinx students who are socialized in a society structured by institutional racism. as a consequence, students of color are at-risk of internalizing dominant ideas and assumptions about their potential, ability, and worth and students must be provided structured spaces to unlearn these falsehoods. the kinds of support and guidance identified in this analysis are not easily categorized as they cover a spectrum of personal, socio-emotional, and procedural support. many of the individuals who act as institutional agents share a latinx ethno-racial identity with the students, which is important. as members of a marginalized population, students understood these individuals as not simply people who “cared,” but as people who provided access and navigational guidance to institutional structures and bureaucracies. however, it is also necessary to recognize that while representation is important, it should not be the burden of people of color to solely serve as institutional agents. all faculty, staff, administrators, and institutional leaders need to build capacities for becoming transfer champions (dowd et al., 2013) for community college transfer students of color. while the students in this study benefitted from a combination of programmatic support and individuals who acted as institutional agents in assisting them throughout the transfer process, it is clear that the majority of support is coming from the community college. several of our participants noted that their previous academic advisor, employed by the structured student support program at the community college, continued to provide crucial support posttransfer. there are a couple dominant ways to interpret this disparity, one being a lack of support at the receiving institution. indeed, it may be inferred that our participants did not have access to similar institutional agents at the receiving institution, therefore indicating that the receiving institution was not adequately supporting students (e.g., jain, herrera, bernal & solorzano, 2011). however, our data cannot specifically speak to this interpretation as the original study was not designed to address the reasons why students may not have connected with an institutional agent at the receiving institution. future research may want to explore if and when mexican and mexican american community college transfer students connect with institutional agents during post-transfer and the mechanisms they use to do so. cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 172 another way to interpret the difference in institutional agents between the sending and receiving institution is related to institutional mission. relationships are important and simply because institutional agents are at the community college—individuals who have shown strong commitments to supporting students post-transfer, is not a negative thing. rather, we see the continuity and continued development of these relationships as positive. it could be inferred that institutional agents from the community college are fulfilling the mission of the community college, working with students throughout the entire transfer process. thus, it makes sense that we would find more institutional agents associated with the community college than with the receiving institution. the disparity may not necessarily be negative in this regard, but given that two-year schools generally have less funding and resources, it would behoove receiving institutions to better understand these relationships and their responsibility in ensuring pathways to completion for latinx students. future research should examine the continued role of institutional agents at the community college in the educational trajectories of latinx students post-transfer and document the specific ways such agents do their work, how they understand the scope of their work—and, importantly, the kinds of formalized connections they have with (if any) the receiving institution. conclusion as four-year institutions continue to develop support programs for transfer students, it is important for student and academic affairs professionals to create formalized spaces where latinx transfer students have access to institutional agents. it is also equally important to ensure that latinx students develop relationships with faculty members early in the transfer process to ensure they have access to the information needed to successfully navigate the receiving institutions’ academic and social environments. in addition, four-year universities need to understand the relationships community college transfer students have with institutional agents at sending institutions as well as collaborate with these schools to better support latinx student transfer. future research would be wise to further explore these relationships, both from the perspectives of students and agents—as well as from organizational viewpoints. mexican and mexican american students in this study underscore the importance of student support services at both sending and receiving institutions, and point to the need for both sets of services to work in coordination with one another. for the students in this study, mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 173 it is important to note that they continued to rely upon support structures at the sending institution throughout their enrollment at the receiving institution, pointing to an opportunity for institutional collaboration. it is also equally important to note that the majority of students in this study were able to have access to institutional agents through their involvement in student support programs. the absence of these services can make it challenging to access the social capital needed to transfer and navigate the receiving institution. cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 174 references alemán jr, e. (2009). latcrit educational leadership and advocacy: struggling over whiteness as property in texas school finance. equity & excellence in education, 42(2), 183-201. alexander, b. c., garcia, v., gonzalez, l., grimes, g., & o’brien, d. (2007). barriers in the transfer process for hispanic and hispanic immigrant students. journal of hispanic higher education, 6(2), 174–184. doi:10.1177/1538192706297440 bensimon, n., & dowd, a. c. (2009). dimensions of the transfer choice gap: experience of latina and latino students who navigated transfer pathways. harvard educational review, 79(4), 632–658. berkley. (n.d.). eop history. retrieved april 21, 2017, from http://eop.berkeley.edu/eop-history/ bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in j. g. richardson (ed.), handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). new york, ny: greenwood press. castro, e. l. (2014). “underprepared” and “at-risk”: disrupting deficit discourses in undergraduate stem recruitment and retention programming. journal of student affairs research and practice, 51(4), 407-19. castro, e. l. & cortez, e. (2017). exploring the lived experiences and intersectionalities of mexican community college transfer students: qualitative insights toward expanding a transfer receptive culture. community college journal of research and practice, 41(2), 7792. cortez, e. (2013). the transfer process of latina/o students from community college to the university: what are their experiences? (unpublished master's thesis). oregon state university, corvallis, oregon. retrieved from http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/handle/1957/39701 crisp, g., & nuñez, a. m. (2014). understanding the racial transfer gap: modeling underrepresented minority and nonminority students’ pathways from twoto four-year institutions. the review of higher education, 37(3), 291–320. dowd, a. c., pak, j. h., & bensimon, e. m. (2013). the role of institutional agents in promoting transfer access. education policy lauralysis archives, 21(15). franklin, j., smith, w., & hung, m. (2014). racial battle fatigue for latina/o students: a quantitative perspective. journal of hispanic higher education, 13(4), 303-322. fry, r. a. (2002). latinos in higher education: many enroll, too few graduate. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed468848 huber, l. p. & malagon, m. c. (2007). silenced struggles: the experiences of latina and latino undocumented college students in california. nevada law journal, 7(3), 841–861. jain, d., lucero, i., bernal, s., herrera, a., & solorzano, d. (2017). developing transfer pride: an exploration of critical ace pedagogy and the summer transfer enrichment program. community college review, 45(3), 171-189. jain, d., herrera, a., bernal, s., & sólorzano, d. (2011). critical race theory and the transfer function: introducing a transfer receptive culture. community college journal of research & practice, 35(3), 252–266. mexican and mexican american student reflections on transfer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 175 mahoney, r. g. (1998). components of trio's success: how one student support services program achieved success. journal of negro education, 67(4), 381-388. martinez, m., & fernández, e. (2004). latinos at community colleges. new directions for student services, (105), 51–62. melguizo, t. (2009). are community colleges an alternative path for hispanic students to attain a bachelor’s degree? teachers college record, 111(1), 90–123. merriam, s. b. (2009). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. museus, s. d. (2010). delineating the ways that targeted support programs facilitate minority students’ access to social networks and development of social capital in college. enrollment management journal, 4(3), 10–48. museus, s. d., & neville, k. m. (2012). delineating the ways that key institutional agents provide racial minority students with access to social capital in college. journal of college student development, 53(3), 436–452. nuñez, a. m., & elizondo, d. (2013). closing the latino/a transfer gap: creating pathways to the baccalaureate. perspectivas: issues in higher education policy and practice, 2, 1-12. rendón, l. i. (1994). validating culturally diverse students: toward a new model of learning and student development. innovative higher education, 19(1), 33-51. rendón, l. i. (2002). community college puente: a validating model of education. educational policy, 16(4), 642-667. rendón, l. i. (2006). reconceptualizing success for underserved students in higher education. washington, dc: national postsecondary education cooperative. reynolds, a. l., sneva, j. n., & beehler, g. p. (2010). the influence of racism-related stress on the academic motivation of black and latino/a students. journal of college student development, 51(2), 135-149. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2011). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. youth & society, 43(3), 1066–1109. stebleton, m. j., & aleixo, m. b. (2015). examining undocumented latino/a student interactions with faculty and institutional agents. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(3), 256-273. townsend, b. k., & wilson, k. (2006). “a hand hold for a little bit”: factors facilitating the success of community college transfer students to a large research university. journal of college student development, 47(4), 439–456. tovar, e. (2015). the role of faculty, counselors, and support programs on latino/a community college students’ success and intent to persist. community college review, 43(1), 46–71. u.s. department of education. (2017a). college assistance migrant program. retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/programs/camp/index.html u.s. department of education. (2017b). student support services program. retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/programs/triostudsupp/index.html valencia, r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and cortez & castro association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 176 practice. new york, ny: routledge. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. abstract keywords: community college transfer, mexican and mexican american transfer students, student support programs, institutional agents doi: literature review theoretical framing: institutional agents, social capital, and validation methodology participants table 1 limitations analysis: student support throughout transfer and transition processes participation in support programs preand post-transfer table 2 institutional agents: the continued role of the sending institution table 3 discussion and implications conclusion references http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 1 2019 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 102 transforming the culture of academia one classroom at a time: testimonio of a latina junior faculty member engaging in latina critical pedagogical activism claudia garcía-louis the university of texas at san antonio abstract inspired by the work of chicana feminist scholars, the author narrates her process of academic awakening and survival by illustrating how testimonio can be utilized as a pedagogical tool within the classroom. she introduces the concept of latina critical pedagocial activism (lcpa) and its’ four tenets—centralización, epistemological engagement, educonfianza, and lengua resistencia—as a tool to be utilized by latina faculty. lcpa serves a pedagogical framework faculty could utilize to validate their experiences in the classroom, while simultaneously communicating to latinx students that their culture matters; that they belong and deserve to be in academia. together, students and faculty disrupt hegemonic schooling practices by centering non-white ways of knowing, learning, and teaching. keywords: latina critical pedagogical activism, chicana feminism, testimonio, pedagogy, latina faculty doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.448 garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 103 i entered the academy naïvely but with eyes wide open. while i did not know exactly what to expect, i knew i needed to remain vigilant and cautious. my trepidation lied in being a mexican immigrant and first generation student—identities that caused me to live at the border of ni de aquí, ni de allá (anzaldua, 2012). for example, as a first-generation college student, i relied on my cultural capital (yosso, 2005) to help me navigate structural and systemic barriers. i had no name for what i was doing but yosso (2005) identified it as community cultural wealth—funds of cultural knowledge seldom recognized by educators but widely used by latinx students. now as a junior faculty member, i continue to navigate the labyrinth of unwritten rules and procedures (urrieta jr, méndez, & rodríguez, 2014) and the marginalization many women of color (woc) endure in academe (turner, 2002). i find myself consistently defying negative stereotypes about my decision of becoming a mother while on the tenure-track (caballero et al., 2019) and the all too common pejorative, “oh, you’re a professor?” comment. the pathway towards tenure has been without a doubt treacherous and unpredictable. nonetheless, chicana scholars before me collectively organized and unapologetically fought for inclusion in academia. their legacy and enseñansas have inspired me to do the same. the latina feminist group (2001) emphasizes that while the academy may not have been designed for us to succeed, we need to assert our presence while simultaneously uplift one another. a much needed reminder to persist even when it feels futile or hopeless. my first year of teaching was challenging as i navigated a new role and attempted to make sense of my fit within the academy. i was wary of introducing concepts related to social justice, inequality, and racial discrimination into my pedagogy, after all, woc professors’ expertise is constantly ignored, dismissed, and challenged by students (rodriguez, 2009; turner, 2002). our marginalization extends into the academy where the intersections of race/ethnicity and gender limit our opportunities (alarcón & bettez, 2017). full-time latina faculty are severely underrepresented at degree-granting institutions comprising only 4% of lecturers, 4% of instructors, 3% of assistant, 2% of associate, and a mere 1% of full professors (nces, 2018). meanwhile, latinx college enrollment rates for 18to 24-year-olds increased from 22% in 2000 to 36% in 2017; the highest increase of any other racial or ethnic group (nces, 2019). these students merit to be served by professionals who understand their gifts, talents, and the barriers they encounter. notably, it quickly dawned on me that my experiences were one in the same with latinx students, “situated at the intersections of our social identities; our stories, transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 104 [and] the interplay of race and gender” (alarcón & bettez, 2017, p. 28), a major difference was that as a faculty member, i have the opportunity to enrich their learning by validating their presence in my classroom. in this piece, i highlight the often-silenced voices of latina faculty while also narrating how i “brown [my] teaching spaces” (alarcón & bettez, 2017, p. 35). i introduce the concept of latina critical pedagogical activism (lcpa) by narrating the process that lead to lcpa’s development using testimonio (bernal, 1998). inspired by the work of so many chicana scholars, i first narrate the process of my academic awakening by highlighting the influence of testimonio in the development of my pedagogy and scholarship, i then introduce lcpa and its’ four tenets—centralización, epistemological engagement, educonfianza, and lengua resistencia. finally, while the work of woc faculty is often devalued and invalidated (urrieta jr, méndez, & rodríguez, 2014), it is my hope that lcpa could be utilized as a tool by other woc faculty to validate their experiences in the classroom, while simultaneously communicating to latinx students that their culture matters; that they belong and deserve to be in academia. process of awakening la intellectual latina feminist for far too long i acquiesced in my discontent with feminist traditions that ignored the multiplicity of my identities. white feminism was decisively exclusive (moya, 2001) and completely overlooked the fact that feminism, for woc, begins with race as a critical variable in analyzing our experiences from several sources of oppression (garcia, 1989). these sources differ based on multiple factors and it is impossible to decide which of these identities are more pronounced than the other. within the academy, “…the work of latina feminist theorists remains understudied, underanalyzed, and tokenized in order to satisfy the demand of inclusiveness and pluralism associated with feminist theory” (ortega, 2016, p. 4). yet, chicana feminist scholarship is not about pleasing the status quo or self-serving. hurtado (2003) asserts chicana scholarship was not, and has never been, about reaching consensus or avoiding disruption. chicanas boldly introduce(d) epistemologies of lived experiences that leave the carnal body and mind replete of open wounds only to be healed through critical action-based reflection. the latina feminist group (2001) terms this process, “flesh and blood theory” (p. x) which fosters a new type of intellectual latina feminist, one who narrates her experiences, and centers her knowledge of the political, cultural, and historical in order to stress the multiplicity of her racialized and gendered identities. garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 105 villenas (1996) and martínez (1996) argue latinas have been academically socialized to believe that their experiences and stories are beyond the scope of formal theory and knowledge. i therefore had to unlearn years’ worth of lies taught to me by my educators in order to believe that i could eventually become an intellectual latina feminist educator. this process has been both psychologically and spiritually fulfilling. i found a new form of liberation in texts like telling to live, latina feminist group, and this bridge called my back. they challenged me to walk in el camino de conocimiento, to encounter the shadow deep within, to confront whatever inhibits the facultades, and begin healing (anzaldúa, 2015). it was their intellectual contributions that awoke a dormant desire deep within my core, silencing the noise of negativity and academic exclusivity, to finally begin claiming my place in academe. chicana feminist scholars had perfectly modeled the challenges and rewards associated with walking en el camino de conocimiento. they declared war against “dogmatic and hegemonic patriarchies, and racist, middle class matriarchies, bent on making invisible the simultaneous experiences of race/ethnicity, gender, and class, not to mention sexuality” (martínez, 1996, p. 117). their intellectual works granted me permiso to challenge deficit perspectives that “judges the scholarship produced by scholars of color as biased and nonrigorous” (bernal & villalpando, 2002, p. 169) and to teach without fear. as i began to understand the role of la facultad in my academic journey, i realized it was imperative to tell my story using testimonio (bernal, 1998), for me, it is about academic survival (anzaldúa, 2012). testimonio runs through my blood chicana feminist scholarship gave me wings to fly. i had felt like a caged bird whose potential was cut back with deficit-based scholarship that insisted on depicting latinxs as deficient. the intellectual genocide of latinxs begins in elementary school and is reinforced by lies printed in academic journals. yet, despite the intentional erasure and misrepresentation of latinxs in educational research, chicanas have long resisted (bernal, 1998). rodríguez (2018) candidly narrates the delicate dance we are forced to perform in order to navigate the self, academe, decolonization, and all the -isms designed to keeping us in our place. chicanas have embraced testimonio as a bridge between antepasados and the self, comunidad and the academy, consejos and academic writing—it serves as a life-line to a cultural tradition that spans generations (bernal, elenes, goginez, & villenas 2006; latina feminist group, 2001; moraga & anzaldúa, 2015). they have broken away from sterile writing-rules to vivid depictions of transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 106 physical and mental turmoil/joys that are skillfully embedded within empirical data. they welcome metaphors, spanish, spanglish, and everything in-between—they grant us permission to be ourselves and invite us to share our testimonio. bernal, burciaga, and carmona (2016a) orchestrate a delightful ensemble of entries that highlight testimonios as an effective approach to understand inequalities within education. contributors underscore the use of testimonio as a way for the “reader to position herself as a listener and witness” (cruz, 2012, p. 98), a process “to expose the complexities within latina[s] lived experiences[s]” (espino, vega, rendón, ranero, & muñiz, 2016, p. 83), and a method for re-assigning “agency to chicana/latina scholars through the telling of one’s history as part of a larger collective memory” (pérez huber & cueva, 2016, p. 35). it is the use of testimonio that connects our stories, the collective desire to forge change and resist marginalization. our antepasados utilized testimonio to pass down a collective history filled with enseñansas, consejos, remedios, traditions and more. the latina feminist group (2001) utilized testimonio to break “down essentialist categories, since it was through the telling of life stories and reflecting upon them that [they] gained nuanced understanding of differences and connections among [them]” (p. 11). thus, testimonio is not only a methodological tool to conduct research, it is also an ancestral mechanism by which to connect with one another and validate our mutual existence in educational spaces. utilizing testimonio to fashion lcpa although there is no universal definition of testimonio (pérez huber, 2009), proponents agree it communicates an authentic narrative propelled by the urgency of the situation (yúdice, 1991), a verbal journey that highlights injustices and their effects (brabeck, 2003), and gives structure and form to our lived realities by providing a means from which to translate our vidas into scholarship. when i discovered the versatility of testimonio, i excitedly pondered on how to utilize it to inform my pedagogy and research. yet, like pérez huber (2009) i had been warned against utilizing methods that were perceived to be made-up and/or unscientific. i had also been advised by many senior scholars that in order to be successful in academe, i needed to remain as objective and distant from students as possible. how then could i embrace the innate characteristics of testimonio while remaining objective and distant from my students? after all, testimonio is about reflecting on lived experiences and utilizing them to connect with others through shared realities (pérez huber & cueva, 2016). i concluded that the demand for garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 107 objectivity was the source of the problem. latinx students deserved to be validated in the classroom and their cultural knowledge recognized—it is about relationship building through our stories. the desire to share my authentic self with my students was fueled by my subtractive educational experiences (valenzuela, 1999). i still find deep inside my being, live remnants of hollowness and feelings of inferiority, gaping wounds inflicted upon me by my educators who in their blissful ignorance, awoke the fire from deep within my soul to become the type of educator i deeply yearned for when i was a student. now that i am a professor, i know i cannot consciously remain compliant and uphold the status quo; even if it means jeopardizing my pathway towards tenure. i know what it feels like to be in a classroom where microaggressions are ever-present, it slowly kills your espíritu guerrero. therefore, in crafting my pedagogy, i knew that it needed to uphold the essence of testimonio. i wanted to fashion a pedagogy that could serve as a tool to breathe academic life into the souls of latinx students and faculty, who have been betrayed by an education system that insists on delegitimizing their worth. thus, i began to theorize what it would look like to include testimonio in my pedagogy. developing lcpa initially my goal of incorporating inclusive pedagogies that “transgress those boundaries that would confine each pupil to rote, assembly-line approach[es] to learning” (hooks, 1994, p. 13) was challenged by students. the fear of negative student evaluations was always on the back of my mind. urrieta, méndez, and rodríguez (2014) described tenure as a “tool of fear” (p. 7); where minoritized faculty express being concerned about engaging social justice topics in the classroom for the fear of not receiving tenure. nonetheless, i felt a moral obligation to challenge the status quo despite the possible backlash, after all i was working at a hispanic serving institution and most of my students were latinxs. i knew exactly what it felt like when faculty failed to address issues that disproportionately impacted minoritized students and i could not fathom replicated those practices. chicana feminist epistemology was developed as “a response to the failure of both mainstream education research and liberal feminist scholarship to address the forms of knowledge and experiences chicanas bring to educational institutions and research” (calderón, bernal, pérez huber, malagón, & vélez, 2012, p. 515). they directly challenge(d) the deficit perspective many researchers adopted about latinxs. transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 108 chicana feminists were at the forefront of centering traditionally marginalized noneurocentric sources of knowledge. alarcón and bettez (2017) briefly noted latina faculty browned research methodologies by introducing materials centering indigeneity, feminism, and non-eurocentric ways of knowing. they expanded content knowledge to be inclusive of multiple marginalized identities—validating their presence in the classroom. furthermore, anzaldúa (2015) wrote about the importance of centering personal experiences, opening all the senses to serve as a bridge; “la nepantlera leads us in celebrating la comunidad soñada, reminding us that spirit connects the irreconcilable warring” (p.149). to that end, bernal, burciaga, and flores carmona (2016a) identified the political urgency of unveiling new epistemological, pedagogical, and methodological approaches that connect bodily experiences of oppression and resistance to each other. their works inspired me to not only celebrate my authentic self within the professoriate but to also actively resist the ideological manipulation of knowledge and white hegemony of the education system. therefore, in the process of connecting my individual experiences to the larger woc faculty collective, i pondered on how i could position my words, teaching, and proficiencies as gifts to be shared. i therefore developed latina critical pedagogical activism (lcpa) to validate, celebrate, and support the existence of latinx students, while simultaneously fostering inclusive classrooms that respect diverse ways of knowing. i took aspects of liberatory pedagogy, my personal and professional experiences, and incorporated practices informed by the works of gloria anzaldúa, bell hooks, kimberly crenshaw, norma e. cantú, and dolores delgado bernal—to name a few. lcpa is a pedagogical tool of inclusivity and claiming space, of doing the work of nepantleras (anzaldúa, 2015; moraga & anzaldúa, 2015) within the classroom, validating the identities of latinx students as pensadora/es by “valuing culture and difference in the formation of identities and education” (godinez, 2006, p. 25). i introduce lcpa and its’ tenets below. latina critical pedagogical activism lcpa was developed out of the need for a pedagogical tool that was not prescriptive of where, when, and how to utilize it, but rather, afforded latina professors with the freedom to teach with honesty, love, and courage. lcpa resists white heteronormative practices and the “apartheid of knowledge that marginalizes, discredits, and devalues the scholarship, [and] epistemologies” produced by woc (bernal & villalpando, 2002). it challenges practices that garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 109 have long been utilized to discredit non-white ways of knowing. therefore, minoritized students are free to learn without the unfair burden of mediating their disadvantaged identities within the classroom. lcpa is a dynamic, introspective, and personal process that helps latina professors, as well as her students, discern the multiple layers of their identities. it encourages her to draw from her educational experiences and the world around her, centering testimonio as a way of connecting with others. then, through constant reflection, she identifies similarities between the transgressions she has endure(d) and those of her students. the goal of storytelling and reflecting is to mediate the intellectual and emotional violence minoritized individuals experience by interweaving their collective (his)stories. lcpa positions latina faculty and students in the same learning process (freire, 2000). it encourages communal theorizing about how their embodied experiences can help decipher the oppressive conditions they navigate, and together, move towards intellectual liberation (anzaldúa, 2015). furthermore, it centers ethnic and cultural pride (bernal, burciaga, & flores carmona, 2016b), the hybridity of racialized identities (moraga & anzaldúa, 2015), and the ancestral wisdom to garner the power of resistance by effecting change for minoritized students (latina feminist group, 2001). lcpa is upheld by four tenets—centralización, epistemological engagement, lengua-resistencia, and edu-confianza. while all tenets are in simultaneous use, each one is introduced separately in order to better flesh out their components and how testimonio informed their development. finally, although course evaluations have been cited as being biased against women and minoritized faculty (see for example laube, massoni, sprague, & ferber, 2007; martinez, chang & welton, 2015), i utilize them to demonstrate the effectiveness of lcpa as a pedagogical tool. centralización latinxs’ academic socialization into a white heteronormative educational system has left us feeling inferior and inadequate (bernal, 1998; yosso, 2005). these feelings never leave as we constantly question our fit and place within the academy (batista, collado, & pérez ii, 2018). however, it is our socialization into a white heteronormative educational system that makes us feel inadequate, as our stories are kept out by design (pérez huber, 2009; rodríguez, 2018). centralización acknowledges it is through institutional erasure and exclusion of latinxs that a violent rupture happens between us and our educational goals. therefore, the violent nature of the schooling system must be countered with love and patience. testimonio centers “first transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 110 person oral or written accounts” (blackmer reyes & curry rodríguez, 2016, p. 162) and centralización takes it a step further to introduce reflection in action. professor and students embark on a communal journey to unlearn lies we were indoctrinated to believe. centralización is achieved when stories of traditionally marginalized populations are centered in classroom discussions and required readings. therefore, primary components of centralización include the intentional diversification of syllabi, halting negative schooling practices, and welcoming difficult conversations. latinas enter the classroom fully equipped with the skills necessary to achieve centralización, after all, we have been navigating systems of privilege and oppression our entire lives (hurtado, 2003; latina feminist group, 2001). facilitating contentious conversations in the classroom that engage relevant topics is both risky but needed. thus, there should always be an intentional connection between theory and classroom dialogue; it is through this practice that third space feminism informs latina classroom pedagogy. pérez (1999) argues time has not granted chicanas a voice, it is in the process of uncovering those voices who have been renegaded to silence where the learner finds liberation. therefore, centralización calls for la profesora to strategically design her syllabi to center scholarship written by minoritized and woc scholars. it becomes a symbolic gesture of giving agency to silenced voices, and in doing so, courses become liberatory and culturally inclusive. they transform into safe and validating spaces for targeted communities. however, diversification of syllabi must be accompanied with critical engagement and facilitation of topics traditionally ignored. thus, centralización directly challenges the status quo by affirming traditionally silenced voices (pérez huber, 2009; martínez, 1996; villenas, 1996). la profesora must decide how, and to what extent, to engage contentious topics as it could come at a cost to her personally and/or professionally (urrieta jr, méndez, & rodríguez, 2014). centralización encourages us to hold difficult, yet intentional, conversations in the classroom that acknowledge the experiences, perspectives, cultures, and ways of knowing of minoritized populations. dialectic encounters coupled with critical facilitation foster a learning environment where students can identify why and how education, social-political events, and transformative change are inextricably linked. the materialization of centralización is evident when minoritized students find validation in course readings and class discussions. garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 111 [professor] understands when to contextualize our academic experience, allowing students to lead discussions and create a space where students are in control of their learning. as an afrolatino, i appreciate the academic freedom to explore my interests… i have matured as a scholar and am beginning the journey to active full critical consciousness. thank you for creating that space. – masters student, summer 2018 it is evident this student felt comfortable and encouraged to engage in lifelong learning. the intentional diversification of syllabi and the deliberate facilitation of critical conversations allows for centralización to unfold. it facilitates the production of consciousness that challenges the dominant eurocentric epistemological perspective which are damaging and demoralizing to everyone—including whites. for those who have felt marginalized, invisible, and/or targeted their entire educational journey, centralización can serve as a tool to actively resist the replication of pervasive negative schooling practices. it encourages la profesora to continue the activism she engage(d) in as student, community member, educator, and/or minoritized individual. testimonio is a tool that helps us heal in comunidad. centralización places the responsibility onto the faculty member, leaving space for marginalized students to learn freely. epistemological engagement seldom are latina profesoras granted permission to bring their traditional ways of knowing and teaching into the classroom. epistemological engagement encourages la profesora to embrace her various forms of knowledge, cultural wisdom, research methods, and personal experiences to inform her pedagogy. inspired by “anzaldúa’s persistent mixing of cultures, languages, and even writing genres” (anzaldúa, 2012, p. 7), epistemological engagement extends her approach into the classroom despite the possibility of being labeled “blasphemous” (p. 7). it calls for an interdisciplinary approach at knowing, embraces critical scholars’ work, the role of students and educator are blurred, cultural and ancestral knowledge are legitimatized, and the decolonization of methods is enacted. furthermore, students are encouraged to question and critique all scholarship, to actively engage with course content and ask questions, to bring their authentic selves to the topic and if they do not see themselves reflected, pose difficult questions. epistemological engagement is not oblivious to the pervasive vilification of woc faculty and non-white ways of knowing. scheurich and young (1997) remind us that when a racially transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 112 exclusive group has remained under control for so long, they develop the epistemologies and legitimate ways of knowing that society accepts as true. consequently, the privileging of whiteeurocentric sources of knowledge over other racial/ethnic and cultural groups is endemic. it legitimizes and normalizes the exclusion of other forms of knowledge deemed as inferior since they do not center around white practices, histories, or social realities (gordon, miller, & rollock, 1990). yet, critiquing systemic evils but not enacting change only reinforces their promulgation. hooks (1994) warns “there can be no intervention that challenges the status quo if we are not willing to interrogate the ways our presentation of self as well as our pedagog[y]” (p. 185) is biased. epistemological engagement proposes an approach that the profesora implement based on her reading of the room, perceived readiness of students to engage, and personal mental health capacities. the profesora is called to actively work towards building trust and community with students—but never at the cost of her own well-being. nonetheless, she must be willing to accept criticism, “without feeling that to question how [she] teach[es] is somehow to question [her] right to exist on the plant” (hooks, 1994, p. 134). both the profesora and students must uphold each other’s stories while at the same time recognizing that systems of privilege and oppression are always at play. an essential component of creating an inclusive learning environment involves the recognition that access should guarantee all students an equitable opportunity to learn (bolitzer, castillo-montoya, & williams, 2016). therefore, the process of resisting the status quo and positioning cultural knowledge as legitimate and rigorous is facilitated when the profesora engages in the same process as her students. she allows everyone to participate in class discussions instead of her only lecturing the whole class period. we are encouraged to share our experiences and ask critical questions and answers. she is all about making sure you get as much as you can from your education and not just wasting your money to not learn anything.– masters student, fall 2016 this students’ evaluation illustrates the impact epistemological engagement had on their learning; they were encouraged to share their experiences while asking critical questions. if educators want to become catalysts for change, they must dismantle the notion that the educator is the only one who bears knowledge (freire, 2000). intentionally incorporate diverse garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 113 epistemological principles through dialectic, theoretical, and participatory components in the classroom is to enact epistemological engagement at its core. honoring students’ ontologies directly combats epistemological racism and resists the use of “ethnocentric paradigms that are generally accepted as scientific truisms, but are lacking validation in the minority scholars’ experiences and/or intuitions” (gordon, miller, & rollock, 1990, p. 17). in validating minoritized students’ experiences, la profesora transforms the learning process into one of healing and reparation. these practices transcend the classroom into everyday life. marginalized students will experience growing pains and intellectual turmoil when encouraged to unlearn deficit stereotypes about their abilities (bernal, elenes, godinez, & villenas, 2006; hurtado, 2003; martínez, 1996). however, it is through the growing pains they build awareness about their social identities and their incredible potential. edu-confianza testimonio cannot happen without raw honesty; the process includes theorizing the body, mind and soul, which are directly connected to the intellectual, spiritual and personal (bernal, 1998). this process requires transparency, vulnerability, and openness. therefore, in order to reach this level of theorizing confianza—confidence based on a mutual understanding and appreciation among a group of individuals—must be established (gloria, 1999). educonfianza centralizes the latinx cultural value of confianza along with an honest recognition that pejorative schooling experiences have lasting negative consequences on latinx students (yosso, 2005). utilizing transparency as a tool to build rapport and establish confianza with marginalized students can help them regain confidence. edu-confianza calls on la profesora to become vulnerable through radically honest, a “strategy that enables scholars and students to bring their ‘whole self’ to the classroom, while getting rid of the shame that frequently accompanies their bodies in academic settings” (williams, 2016, p. 73). this process is beneficial for both the student and la profesora as both are navigating similar experiences. it helps mediate the imposter syndrome minoritized individuals have been forced to believe in. furthermore, students witness critical pedagogies in practice that humanize their experiences by fostering awareness, reflectivity, and critical thought (bernal, 1998). the process of establishing edu-confianza is both scary and liberating for latina faculty. they are asked to play by the rules but serve as role models for minoritized students— amounting to a complex juxtaposition. la profesora is a product of subtractive schooling transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 114 (valenzuela, 1999), demoralizing schooling practices (yosso, 2005), and apartheid of knowledge (bernal & villalpando, 2002); yet, she is asked to serve as the bridge between the institution that has hurt her so much and minoritized students who are being hurt. remarkably, it is their mutual experiences of pain and erasure within academe that serves as the catalyst in establishing edu-confianza. both can come together and reflect on how to withstand their own marginalization. edu-confianza becomes the mechanism by which to establish a safe space where students are welcome to share their experiences, and la profesora feels at ease with her role of being an institutional representative. once la profesora and students identify a commonality “[minoritized students] may be more willing to relate their personal and familial concerns” (gloria, 1999, p. 250). ultimately, radical honesty is a tactic for gaining their confianza and beginning to alleviate systemic aggressions. la profesora is responsible for beginning the process of edu-confianza. it starts the first day of class through the sharing of her testimonio; a brief narrative regarding her educational experiences, research interests, and most importantly, her commitment to their educational excellence. the sharing continues throughout the semester. the process of establishing confianza is underway and students increasingly partake. radical honesty upholds truth-telling to connect personal experiences to theoretical principles (williams, 2016). edu-confianza challenges everyone in the classroom to engage in the process of holistic learning through critical and honest engagement. however, it is important to note that establishing edu-confianza could be risky for both parties. for example, rodríguez (2018) underscored the professional and psychological costs latina faculty are forced to pay when engaging in decolonial pedagogies. practicing edu-confianza can come at a cost and it is up to the profesora to decide how much she can risk, and to what degree she will engage in radical honesty. still, it is important to be relatable to students, to create connections, and establish confianza in order to counter deficit-based narratives about latinxs in academe. [professor] often draws on her personal experiences to help illustrate key points. her experiences and struggles as a first-gen, ell, latina in higher ed proved beneficial in multiple ways and made her completely relatable. she's also not ashamed to put her shortcomings out there for us to learn from as well… she not only says she welcomes opinions that are different from hers, but she actually does welcome them along with the opportunity to openly discuss/ debate them. – masters student, spring 2017 garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 115 the student embraces radical honesty and clearly identified how components of edu-confianza made la profesora “completely reliable.” it is the relatability aspect that makes edu-confianza so powerful. for many minoritized students who seldom see themselves reflected in their educators, relatability to their professors could mean the difference between dropping out or persisting. therefore, fostering safe learning spaces starts with the opportunity to speak. i want to thank you for being so open and honest with giving us a safe place to talk. – masters student, spring 2017 honesty, transparency, and creating safe spaces to hold difficult conversations is important but not easy. the biggest challenge may be facilitating open, honest, and respectful conversation about social justice without disenfranchising or losing student’s interest along the way. edu-confianza helps la profesora maintain a balance by forcing her to confront her biases through active listening. taking on the role of facilitator and engaging with students through dialectic encounters can facilitate the awakening of critical praxis. students should be encouraged to critically assess how they could effect change in their respective fields. [professor] brings a balance of optimism, enthusiasm for the field, and honest, insightful perspective on issues of social justice in higher education. class discussions have been meaningful and educational due to her leadership and tone-setting in the classroom. she is gifted at affirming and challenging students. – doctoral student, fall 2017 this student identifies how la profesora engaged in radical honesty while maintaining high rigor, facilitating difficult conversations, and centering social justice topics. edu-confianza is about the educator building rapport and trust with her students who have been neglected and marginalized in their educational pathway. it is “the commitment to provide an account of selfhood that does justice to lived experience[s]” (ortega, 2016, p. 6) of the marginalized and oppressed. lengua-resistencia to be bilingual (or multilingual) in the united states is often treated as a disease. something to run from and hide. un secreto que no se cuenta or else the consequences could be disastrous. benmayor (2001) affirms spanish provides speakers with a complicated connection to family, culture and history, to traditions, the past and present; it aids in establishing allegiances that extends beyond blood lines. when la profesora refuses to be silenced and transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 116 rejects the demand to speak the academic jargon that alienates and disenfranchises minoritized individuals, she is reclaiming her tongue—embracing lengua-resistencia. hurtado (2003) suggests reclaiming spanish in a public space is the acknowledgment of the linguistic limbo many of us experience. lengua-resistencia reclaims the right of bilingual and multilingual speakers to introduce diverse languages into the classroom. it rejects the language genocide latinxs have endured for generations and english only policies (alcoff, 2005). since the body often communicates what the tongue cannot, lengua-resistencia includes written, verbal, and body language. school environments have silenced spanish speakers, it has told them that their language intertwined with their identity and the way they speak is not welcome in academic spaces (benmayor, 2001). lengua-resistencia recognizes la profesora is also navigating the same pejorative academic environments as her students. yet, she can resist her silencing through the incorporation of spanish in her pedagogy. in doing so, she challenges the notion of proper spanish and language hierarchies that privilege some accents over others (alcoff, 2005). la profesora speaks chicana spanish sprinkled with dichos, enseñanzas, y refranes snubbed by la academia real de madrid. the “linguistic terrorism” (anzaldúa, 2012, p. 80) bilingual speakers are forced to navigate is challenged. they are no longer forced to dispose of their native tongue (accent, slang, and language variations), at least not in the classroom of la profesora. students are encouraged to provide their testimonios through code switching, spanish, spanglish, and slang— learning requires them to process and communicate how the literature affirms or rejects their lived realities. lengua-resistencia calls upon the faculty member to introduce multilingualism into the classroom, as a way to counter deficit perspectives about chicanx students’ linguistic assets (yosso, 2005). bernal (2001) identified how bilingualism and biculturalism has been utilized against chicana/o students by labeling them as limited english proficient, inferior, and not worthy of being on campus. lengua-resistencia is a useful tool that encourages multilingualism in the classroom, regardless of subject-matter. [professor] makes you work for everything in that class and she speaks spanish! love it! – masters student, spring 2017 garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 117 spanish is culturally bound to the identity of la profesora despite it also being utilized as a tool of exclusion against non-spanish speaking latinxs (anzaldua, 2012). yet, when spanish (and all its variations) are utilized in academic spaces, it can turn into a form of inclusion and cultural validation. it allows la profesora to connect with multilingual students through the mutual understanding that bodily experiences and feelings may not have an english translation. lenguaresistencia welcomes and affirms their cultural and linguistic contributions as gifts to be shared with others—in whatever language best communicates their experiences. la profesora encourages her students to move beyond sharing their testimonios in the classroom and into academic outlets. the silencing of latinxs voices and experiences must be challenged (batista, collado, & pérez, 2018; hurtado, 2003; yosso, 2005), therefore, lenguaresistencia calls on the profesora to provide critical honest feedback on their academic writing. students are held to the highest academic standards which includes an invested commitment to their development as effective writers. martínez (1996) notes “that doing theory is often not so much about theory but about who has the power to get their version of the story told” (p. 125), latinx students must be encouraged to theorize about their experiences, write about them, and push methodological and epistemological boundaries that humanize their experiences (bernal, burciaga, & flores carmona, 2016b; ortega, 2016). however, this can only happen if students are provided with critical feedback about their writing as speaking and writing are integrally connected. she genuinely cares about the writing of each student (shown in the elaborate feedback given in papers). i’ve never been given such constructive criticism to improve my writing (and i’m on my third degree!)! – doctoral student spring 2018 lengua-resistencia extends the sharing of testimonios from classroom into written form. la profesora believes it is an ethical obligation that the voices of latinxs does not remain hidden inside the four walls of her classroom. at the same time, she is cognizant that there is risk for students when sharing. therefore, la profesora incorporates course readings and content that gives voice to the multiplicity of their marginalization, hoping to affirm their experiences and inspire them to write. la profesora is impelled to scan the classroom, to read body language, and translate it to live-feedback. she gauges the impact course content and language is having on minoritized students and adjusts accordingly. lengua-resistencia calls on la profesora to identify transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 118 microaggressions, to engage them and resist verbal attacks. lengua-resistencia impels la profesora to celebrate her multi-lingual identity within a monolingual society. it recognizes body language as a valid form of communication as often marginalized communities are forced to sit in discomfort as their bodies processes what their ears cannot censor. lengua-resistencia acknowledges that the body can communicate their testimonio without the mouth ever opening. finally, it recognizes the valuable insights spanish speakers bring to academe and encourages them to write and counter lies told about them and their communities (martínez, 1996; villenas, 1996). rather than keeping her multilingual identity concealed, locked away and forgotten, la profesora is encouraged, and encourages her students, to live through their resistencia. lcpa as a liberatory practice lcpa expands on the works of inspirational and fearless chicanas who put their soul into ink and provided us with tools like testimonio for our academic survival. it is a pedagogy of hope, love, resistance, and compassion, as it centers ancestral forms of knowledge and wisdom and recognizes them as worthy of being studied. lcpa upholds what the latina feminist group (2001) termed “flesh and blood theory” (p. x) as it encourages la profesora to be an unapologetic feminist scholar. she is inspired to leverage chicana feminist pedagogies in order to foster her academic survival as a minoritized, gendered, and racialized individual. latina faculty often encounter isolation and lack of appropriate mentorship (alarcón & bettez, 2017) amounting to unfavorable professional experiences. thus, it is my hope that lcpa could help la profesora (a) challenge feelings of inadequacy, (b) identify epistemologies that are consistent with her realities, (c) utilize her position of privilege (as a faculty member) to fashion a counter narrative to the largely deficit informed assumptions about latinx students, and (d) to utilize scholarship produced by minoritized scholars as seminal epistemologies. since each tenet operates off of unique principles, lcpa could be implemented individually or combined differently; in the classroom or in practice. for example, centralización could be utilized when advising students by leveraging shared cultural strengths. however, lengua-resistencia could also be activated to communicate complex topics in the student’s home language. thus, the use of both tenets could better communicate urgent yet complex information to an individual who may otherwise feel disenfranchised. advising models and institutional policies may require professionals to follow a certain script, but engaging in garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 119 centralización and lengua-resistencia helps the professional meet the students where they are, rather than where a policy says they should be. furthermore, enacting lengua-resistencia could help establish confianza since language often provides comfort and assurance (anzaldúa, 2012). the effectiveness of lcpa in the classroom was evidenced by the written comments in formal evaluations. it is critical to reiterate that la profesora must make a cost benefit analysis of when, how, and to what degree to implement lcpa. the reality is that higher education institutions may profess a commitment to diversity but it is not always welcome (rodríguez, 2018). if la profesora decides to employ lcpa, it could be one more resource in her toolkit to help latinx students see themselves reflected in course materials, epistemologies employed, and their experiences mirrored in those of their educator. la profesora joins her students on their academic journey by being honest, relatable, and preparing them to excel academically. furthermore, it is the hope that when students graduate, they will utilize aspects of lcpa to effect lasting change in their respective communities. transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 120 references alarcón, j. d., & bettez, s. (2017). feeling brown in the academy: decolonizing mentoring through a disidentification muxerista approach. equity & excellence in education, 50(1), 25– 40. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2016.1250234 alcoff, l. m. (2005). visible identities: race, gender, and the self. new york, ny: oxford press. anzaldúa, g. (2015). light in the dark/luz en lo oscuro: rewriting identity, spirituality, reality. durkham, nc: duke university press. anzaldúa, g. (2012). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza (4th ed.). san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. batista, a. a., collado, s. m., & perez ii, d. (eds.). (2018). latinx/a/os in higher education: exploring identity, pathways, and success. washington, d. c.: naspa publishing. benmayor, r. (2001). speaking spanish because you are jewish? in latina feminist group (ed.), telling to live: latina feminist testimonios (pp. 55-59). durkham: duke university press. bernal, d. d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555–582. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 bernal, d. d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623–639. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059838 bernal, d. d., elenes, c. a., godinez, f. e., & villenas, s. (2006). chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology. albany, ny: state university of new york press. bernal, d. d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2016a). chicana/latina testimonios as pedagogical, methodological, and activist approaches to social justice. new york, ny: routledge. bernal, d. d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2016b). introduction chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. in d. d. bernal, r. burciaga, & j. flores carmona (eds.). chicana/latina testimonios as pedagogical, methodological, and activist approaches to social justice (pp. 1-10). new york, ny: routledge. bernal, d. d. & villalpando, o. (2002). an apartheid of knowledge in academia: the struggle over the ‘legitimate’ knowledge of faculty of color. equity & excellence in education. 35(2), 169-180. blackmer reyes, k. & curry rodriguez, j. e. (2016). testimonio: origins, terms, and resources. in d. d. bernal, r. burciaga, & j. flores carmona (eds.), chicana/latina testimonios as pedagogical, methodological, and activist approaches to social justice (pp. 162176). new york, ny: routledge. bolitzer, l. a., castillo-montoya, m., & williams, l. a. (2016). pursuing equity through diversity: perspectives and proposition for teaching and learning in higher education. in f. tuitt, c. haynes, & s. stewart (eds.), race, equity, and the learning environment: the global relevance garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 121 of critical and inclusive pedagogies in higher education (pp. 23-43). sterling, va: stylus publishing. brabeck, k. (2003). testimonio: a strategy for collective resistance, cultural survival and building solidarity. feminism & psychology, 13(2), 252–258. caballero, c., martínez-vu, y., pérez-torrez, j., téllez, m., & vega, c. (eds.). (2019). the chicana motherwork anthology. tucson, az: the university of arizona press. calderón, d., bernal, d., huber, l., malagón, m., & vélez, v. (2012). a chicana feminist epistemology revisited: cultivating ideas a generation later. harvard educational review, 82(4), 513–539. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.4.l518621577461p68 cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698185 espino, m. m., vega, i. i., rendón, l. i., ranero, j. j., & muñiz, m. m. (2016). the process of reflexión in bridging testimonios across lived experience. in d. d. bernal, r. burciaga, & j. flores carmona (eds.), chicana/latina testimonios as pedagogical, methodological, and activist approaches to social justice (pp. 81-96). new york, ny: routledge. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed (thirtieth anniversary ed.). new york, ny: continuum. garcia, a. (1989). the development of chicana feminist discourse, 1970-1980. gender & society, 3(2), 217–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124389003002004 gloria, a. m. (1999). apoyando estudiantes chicanas: therapeutic factorsin chicana college student support groups. journal for specialists in group work (24)3, 246-259, doi: 10.1080/01933929908411434 godinez, f. e. (2006). haciendo que hacer: braiding cultural knowledge into educational practices andpolicies. in d. d. bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 25–38). albany, ny: state university of new york press. gordon, e. w., miller, f., & rollock, d. (1990). coping with communicentric bias in knowledge production in the social sciences. educational researcher, 19(3), 14-19. hooks, bell. 1994. teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. new york, ny: routledge. hurtado, a. (2003). voicing chicana feminisms: young women speak out on sexuality and identity. new york, ny: new york university press. latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nc: duke university press. laube, h., massoni, k., sprague, j., & ferber, a. (2007). the impact of gender on the evaluation of teaching: what we know and what we can do. nwsa journal, 19(3), 87–104. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/233234367/ martínez, t. (1996). toward a chicana feminist epistemological standpoint: theory at the intersection of race, class, and gender. race, gender & class, 3(3), 107–128. transforming the culture of academia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 122 martinez, m., chang, a., & welton, a. (2017). assistant professors of color confront the inequitable terrain of academia: a community cultural wealth perspective. race ethnicity and education, 20(5), 696–710. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1150826 moraga, c. & anzaldúa, g. (2015). the bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (4th ed). albany, ny: state university of new york press. moya, p. m. l. (2001). chicana feminism and postmodernist theory. signs, 26(2), 441-481. national center for education statistics (2019). the condition of education 2019 (nces 2019144). u.s. department of education. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019144.pdf national center for education statistics (2018). the condition of education 2018 (nces 2018144). u.s. department of education. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018144.pdf ortega, m. (2016). between worlds: latina feminist phenomenology, multiplicity, and the self. albany, ny: suny press. pérez, e. (1999).the decolonial imaginary: writing chicanas into history. bloomington, in: indiana university press. pérez huber, l. (2009). disrupting apartheid of knowledge: testimonio as methodology in latina/o critical race research in education. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 22(6), 639–654. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390903333863 pérez huber, l. & cueva, b. m. (2016). chicana/latina testimonios on effects and responses to microaggressions. in d. d. bernal, r. burciaga, & j. flores carmona (eds.), chicana/latina testimonios as pedagogical, methodological, and activist approaches to social justice, (pp. 3048). new york, ny: routledge. rodriguez, d. (2009). the usual suspect: negotiating white student resistance and teacher authority in a predominantly white classroom. cultural studies ↔ critical methodologies, 9(4), 483–508. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532708608321504 rodríguez, c. o. (2018). decolonizing academia: poverty, oppression and pain. fernwood publishing: winnipeg. scheurich, j., & young, m. (1997). coloring epistemologies: are our research epistemologies racially biased? educational researcher, 26(4), 4–16. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x026004004 turner, c. s. v. (2002). women of color in academe: living with multiple marginality. the journal of higher education, 73(1), 74–93. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2002.0013 urrieta jr, l., méndez, l., & rodríguez, e. (2015). “a moving target”: a critical race analysis of latina/o faculty experiences, perspectives, and reflections on the tenure and promotion process. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 28(10), 1149–1168. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014.974715 valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s. mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 123 villenas, s. (1996). the colonizer/colonized chicana ethnographer: identity, marginalization, and co-optation in the field. harvard educational review, 66(4), 711–732. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.66.4.3483672630865482 williams, b. (2016). radical honesty: truth-telling as pedagogy for working through shame in academic spaces. in f. tuitt, c. haynes, & s. stewart (eds.), race, equity, and the learning environment: the global relevance of critical and inclusive pedagogies in higher education (pp. 71-82). sterling: stylus. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8, 69-91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 yúdice, g. (1991). testimonio and postmodernism. latin american perspectives, 18(3), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582x9101800302 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ the grass is greener on this side association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 157 the grass is greener on this side beatriz t. valencia chapman university abstract the pathway to education is two sided. the institutional side, and the side of the student. often, these sides are not in sync. in this essay, i present my personal experience as a student. the process of attainment was both chaotic and filled with personal doubt. using anzaldúa's autohistoria as the foundation, i share memories and story to situate the reader in the collective experience of many students of color. the self-awareness gained from the unfolding of pain, healing, and self-reflection throughout this process, is the empowerment of this framework (anzaldúa & keaton, 2009). as a consequence of using this method, a new voice emerged. a voice of resistance and persistence. the essay takes the reader on a journey of hope. a journey of choices and adaptations from an immigrant’s point of view. a journey of self-discovery. this story, although not unique, traces the history and its relation to my academic struggles and barriers of assimilation, racism, and exclusion. as an immigrant student, the external forces that distract and fill one with self-doubt were in constant motion. it was the acquisition of knowledge and methorship of kind people that carried me to where i am today, and the realization of my oppression has freed me to share this memoir. this is my story. it was 1978, and we were preparing for the journey of a lifetime. my two siblings, my mother, and i were headed to california from mexico city. i was six years old. that same year i had started school in mexico city. i recall how enamored i was with the structure of school and the process of learning. i especially liked my new friends and teachers. to prepare for this trip, my mother was instructed to cut our long hair. i am not sure why cutting our hair was a necessary step. i suppose it was to blend into the new environment. one day we were living in mexico city, and the next day we were on a bus ride to tijuana, mexico. i was seated next to my older sister. between the motion sickness and long hours of travel, we were exhausted. i could not comprehend exactly why we were on this bus, but i knew valencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 158 we were meeting my father and brothers. the process was not explained to us. we were the youngest four of twelve children, which meant people talked over us and not to us. i later found out the plan was not entirely explained to my mother, and she was traveling on the assurances of my father. no one would have imagined the journey would be both life threatening and life changing. the bus finally stopped. exhausted and pale, we were ushered to a nearby vehicle. we arrived at a home where other children, women, and men were gathered. that night, we were fed, and the group was given several instructions. we left the house shortly after dinner. with men, women, and other children, we sat in the dark along a long stretch of land. my mother’s hand was wrapped tightly around mine, and i felt nervous. there was no time to process. spontaneously, we started to run fast and hard. i felt my feet fly off the ground. along the fence were large cutout holes, and we followed the group through them. in one instance, my shirt got stuck and my mother’s hand ripped from mine. my older sister frantically pulled on my shirt, and we were off again. i wasn’t sure what we were running from, nor why we had to flee, but i tried to keep up. loud blasts sounded. it was shocking! yelling and screaming followed. we kept running. i was scared. we stopped, dropped to the ground, and were silent. i mimicked what everyone else was doing. my breath stirred the dirt below me, and my white shirt was brown. it was dark and cold. i do not recall how long we were there, but it felt like a long time. bright lights illuminated the area, and a voice shouted as a helicopter sounded above. i did not understand what the man was saying. i thought if we all stayed still we would not be noticed. that did not happen, and we were forced to our feet. i recall sitting on my older sister’s lap in a patrol car. my mother was not with us. we did not know what happened to her, and we were crying in fear. we were held in a large cold room with one toilet and concrete benches. i did not comprehend why we were in this room. time stood still. the doors opened, and a woman recovered us. we were soon back at the temporary home. we were scared and confused. in the next room, we were able to see a man being treated for a gunshot wound. he was shot; they shot at us. all of us! people doubt the danger of crossing the border. i can testify it is both real and non-discriminating. my mother was still missing. we waited for the next night, and we repeated the process. i cannot recall the details the second time, but i do remember sleeping in a van. the next time i the grass is greener on this side association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 159 opened my eyes, i could see my mother. she was alive, and i could touch her! years later, when we finally could speak about our experience, she stated she was taken during a break in the group and put in a trunk of a car with other people. she recalled the feelings of death from lack of oxygen. she was in distress and complete state of terror. this explained her anxiety of small places. she is now 82 years old. this was the beginning of my story. the story of a new life in a new home. we were now in the united states. it was a strange house, but my family was there. we were together and nothing else mattered at that moment. this made everything we had experienced earlier fade in the background. we were immediately enrolled in the local elementary school. we were excited and impatient. we wanted to be around other children. everything was new and beautiful. the grass was bright green, and it was everywhere! every house resembled a mini park. this was a utopia for a small girl from a concrete city. we had our own grass. i touched it, smelled it, and rolled in it. what an amazing place. what a miraculous change! school started and we began our immersion experience. we were introduced to our new teacher and classmates. we wanted to speak, ask questions, make friends, but we could not do any of that. we could not communicate, for we did not speak english. we were immediately informed of the golden rule: “do not speak to each other in spanish.” it was english language or silence. for fear of reproach, we used nonverbal communication when our teacher was not watching. our elementary school provided one esl class. it was exciting to learn this language, and we applied ourselves wholeheartedly. the first year we were held back. our classmates looked at us with caution. they were both curious and upset we were there. before and after school, we dealt with animosity and harassment. we thought these acts were normal interactions in the new culture. the students had a negative view of foreigners, and made a point to continuously remind us. during school, we felt protected; however, the walk home provided endless opportunities for our classmates, and neighborhood members, to express their dislike both physically and verbally. this was our experience for the next five years. acquiring the language eased the harassment. toward the completion of the sixth grade, we were able to blend in. being in the gate program was a definite advantage. we did not speak spanish anymore, and we denied being part of the mexican culture. at home, we spoke primarily english. we excluded our parents and older siblings who did not have command of the language. valencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 160 we denied being foreign born, watched english only television, listened to english music, and tried everything to not stand out. we had assimilated completely. the transition to junior high was exceedingly painful. the seventh grade was extremely challenging. the new mix of students and the large environment felt foreign again. there was no protection from teachers, and we had to deal with an entirely new student body. managing their attitudes toward us was a full-time job. verbal aggressions and fights continued. the pressure to belong to a group was growing. my sister decided to identify with a group of hispanics who were intimidating and feared. with low grades, she was still promoted to the ninth grade. in the eighth grade i fell further and further behind, and grades kept dropping, i was kicked out of the national junior honor society, and the discipline issues commenced. i was punished with saturday detention, and daily after school trash collection. for the first time, i was failing. graduation was near, and i was told i had to pick up more trash as a way to make up some of my missed credits. i felt humiliated. my name was not included in the graduation program, and i did not attend the graduation. i started high school and was determined to change the course of my future. my sister was having her own struggles in the 10th grade. i tried out for volleyball and made the junior varsity team. i had aspirations of regaining all i had lost in junior high. the 9th grade provided a new environment where i was determined to succeed. the student body was larger than junior high, and finding where i belonged was a constant search. i continued to participate in the volleyball team, and was promoted to the tenth grade with the lowest gpa possible. in the tenth grade i was on the varsity team. as long as i maintained a d average, i was eligible to play. i obtained a varsity letter, and was proud of my physical accomplishment; however, i lacked the money to buy the letterman jacket. i did not have the same success in my academics. during the same time, my sister had become so disengaged with school, she had dropped out before the end of the school year. she started to work, and i was left alone in high school. i fell further behind, and discipline issues started again. i skipped school and was constantly late to class. a form of punishment for being late three times to class was the use of in-school suspension. in-school suspension (also known as in-house suspension) was used as a way to keep the student in school, while prohibiting any socialization with the student body. students were to spend the day with security guards. the in-house suspension was held in a trailer. desks were available with privacy panels. these panels prevented students from speaking to each other, but the grass is greener on this side association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 161 were short enough to make sure heads were seen at all times. lunch time was coordinated earlier, and breaks were during in-class time to avoid interaction with other students. another disciplinary act was the use of saturday school. from the hours of 8 am to12:00 p.m., students sat in the cafeteria benches and read, worked on homework, or stared at the wall. rules were clear: no laying the head down, no breaks unless accompanied by a supervisor, no speaking, no eating, and no chewing gum. i spent an alarming time being excluded from my peers and classes. there was no end to the negative attention. there were entire class periods i was required to sit outside the principal’s office. i was defiant toward some of the disrespectful teachers. those same teachers would often kick me out of class to sit on the concrete floor, or send me to the principal’s office for the remainder of the period. the principal would speak to me in anger and make statements about my future. i recall one instance the principal told me i would end up pregnant. it was rather confusing since i had no relations. she also expressed annoyance with me, and she felt i was a nuisance to the school environment. she demanded i wait for my after-school ride across the street from the school. the reactions and consequences for missing classes and arriving late seemed excessive. my anger increased, and i felt more and more detached from my school and my peers. it was a constant struggle to try to catch up. there was no point. i was never going to graduate. soon a meeting took place between the principal and my mother. it was suggested i attend a different school-a-continuation school. my mother was outraged and declined the request. my older brother had attended such a school. they had assured her the move would help him catch up and graduate. almost immediately after starting continuation school, he joined a gang and left school. she would not repeat the mistake. once again, i tried, but failed. i could not understand math and failed every test. geography was a class entirely made up of drawing maps, while the instructor read the newspaper. history was another painful subject. our teacher would turn down the air conditioner to the lowest setting. this was his strategy to keep us awake while he read out loud from the textbook. we could not put our heads down, and we were prevented from speaking. between the disengaged teachers, insensitive administrators, and students whom i no longer related to, i made the decision to leave school. i did not know where i would go, but i knew i had exceeded my time in that environment. no one cared if i showed up or not. it was valencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 162 very easy to drop out, and no one ever questioned it. this was the culmination of years of neglect and detachment. i felt desperate and lost. i left my home and moved into a convent. the convent provided low cost rooms to single women. i wanted to remove myself from my immediate environment. it was a peaceful place, and i started to work. i was hired for an entry level position in a mortgage company. i did not like it, but it was a job. i started to volunteer for different nonprofits and met a woman whom i confided in. i shared my high school experience with her. once she knew i had dropped out of high school, she insisted i take the ged. i did not have the funds necessary to pay for the test, and i did not understand the purpose. she persisted, paid the fee, and i took the test. i obtained my ged. i thought that was enough. soon after, an energetic and persistent nun insisted i meet her friend at a local community college. out of respect, i hesitantly agreed. before my meeting was over, i was registered for community college, had a five-year plan, and a parking sticker. it happened so fast. i started college and immediately struggled with english and math. i failed several times and wrestled to stay motivated. i felt the inevitable would happen, and i would fail again. i wanted to drop out and start to work, but i could not disappoint the people who were investing their time and energy in me. another nun volunteered to tutor me in english, and i went to the math lab religiously. i was trying to stay afloat. i could not let anyone down. i had built social capital with my mentors. six painful and long years later, i obtained my first associate degree. i transferred to a local university, and i started working on my bachelor’s degree. i felt more confident and enjoyed the environment. before i knew it, i was attending my first graduation ceremony in 1999. i had my first cap and gown. i graduated! i felt i could stop and be happy, but i still needed to make up for the past mistakes. i continued with my masters. i graduated from the university with my first 4.0 gpa. i was finished. i was finally redeemed. i started my career. after thirteen successful years, i returned to school. i am currently 46 years old and working on my ph.d. in education with an emphasis in leadership studies. my experience is not unique, and many students past and present are experiencing the same path of academic failure. pushout rates continue to be high. my story is not mine alone. it is a story composed of people who cared, mentored and helped me when i needed it. i felt worthy and loved. i succeeded because i returned to my early excitement about education, and the grass is greener on this side association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 163 met wonderful supportive people along the way. the story is one of hope and change. many of us still experience stereotypes and discrimination. in today’s climate, i feel compelled to share my story. a private, never-before-shared story. it is important for young people to understand there is hope, and we can achieve the american dream. for many years, i felt guilty and ashamed of my entrance to the united states, my culture, my language, and my high school dropout status. there was no significant amount of degrees that could override any of the past, but i am no longer weakened by my history. i am an american citizen, a college graduate, a professional woman, and a firm believer in sharing my story of hope. i am strong and proud. i now understand i was not alone in my decision to drop out. this story may serve teachers and administrator who continue to feel discouraged and powerless with students who no longer have motivation and detach. i am here to prove hope never dies, dreams can come true, and the grass is indeed greener on this side. the side of life and self-fulfillment is available to all of us. i cannot speak harsh of illegal immigration, for i was too young to decide for myself, nor do i contend to know what drives a desperate family to seek a future elsewhere. i am simply sharing a story of failures and triumphs. a story of human kindness, and my pathway to postsecondary education. dream big, make a difference and keep moving. this is my mantra. this is my belief. this is my message! valencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 164 reference anzaldúa, g., & keating, a. (2009). the gloria anzaldúa reader. durham : duke university press, 2009. association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 28 an acción approach to affirmative action: hispanic-serving institutions as spaces for fostering epistemic justice leslie d. gonzales michigan state university abstract in this article, readers are asked to suspend conventional notions of affirmative action as a policy that ensures equitable admissions practices to the nation’s most elite post secondary institutions, and instead to consider how affirmative action might be understood as a way to challenge the relations of power that govern the legitimation of knowledge and knowers within academia. specifically, i present a model where hispanic-serving institutions employ funds of knowledge work in order to foster epistemic justice: spaces where latina and latino students and the broader communities from which they come are positioned as thinkers, knowers, problem-solvers, and theorists in their own right. introduction perhaps more than ever before, the attainment of a post-secondary education is essential to socioeconomic security and general quality of life. however, researchers have shown that all college degrees are not viewed as equal. specifically, students who attend elite, well-resourced institutions are likely to experience “greater access to graduate and professional schools…substantial labor market advantages, including… and access to professional and managerial elite jobs, as well as careers that bring personal and social empowerment” (carneval & strohl, 2013). for these reasons, civil rights and equity advocates have fought to ensure that underrepresented students of color have equal access to these elite institutions. a key tool in this advocacy work has been affirmative action, which originated as part of the civil rights act of 1964. specifically, civil rights attorneys, legal and social science scholars as well as public activists, argue that colleges and universities have a legal responsibility to ensure equity in the college selection process, just as employers have the responsibility to ensure equity during the hiring process. smartly, advocates argue that if colleges and universities fail to secure equity in the admissions process, then they fail to provide the most robust and challenging teaching and learning dynamic, overall (chang, denson, saénz, & misa, 2006; garces & jayakumar, 2014; hurtado, milem, claytonpederson, & allen, 1998; smith, 2009). clearly, the fight to ensure that underrepresented students have equal access to the kind of elite institutions described above is imperative, but in this paper, i ask readers to suspend this conventional application of affirmative action, and to consider alternative approaches to affirmative action. specifically, the goal of this paper is to argue that hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) — institutions whose student enrollment is at least 25 percent hispanic10 —have the opportunity to employ affirmative action in ways that explicitly challenge the construction, recognition, and dissemination of knowledge within u.s. higher education. i argue that given the critical mass of latinos that are already enrolled in hsis, these institutions have surpassed what i consider to be an insufficient focus on access/admission and are onto the possible achievement of epistemic justice (frank, 2013). defined, epistemic justice is a state where individuals, from all backgrounds, but especially marginalized backgrounds, have the opportunity to leave impressions on old and new knowledge, and especially to articulate knowledges that have long been silenced. to this end, i take frank’s argument concerning epistemic justice and frame it as the ultimate form of affirmative action, and one that hispanic-serving institutions are well 10. typically, i use the identifiers “latina,” “latino,” or “latin@” to refer to the panethnic group of people that the government generally refers to as hispanic. when appropriate, i might reference the specific ethnic group (e.g., cuban, mexican, puerto rican). i only use the identifier hispanic when using legal/governmental references or technical definitions. an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 29 positioned to implement.11 in this way, i also intentionally position hsis as places from which predominantly white institutions can — and should — learn. to illustrate my argument, i present a model (see page 9) informed by a “funds of knowledge” (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992) perspective, which addresses practice and policy at three key levels: hsi administration/ formal leadership, student service professionals, and the professoriate. a theory and a methodology, funds of knowledge assumes that all individuals and communities hold and produce knowledge that is relevant and valuable, although mainstream institutions, including educational institutions, may not always recognize such knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992; rios-aguilar, marquez kiyama, gravitt, & moll, 2011). thus, taken together, i argue that hsis, if informed by funds of knowledge theory and method, are poised to foster epistemic justice — spaces where latina and latino students and the broader communities from which they come are positioned as thinkers, knowers, problem-solvers, and theorists in their own right. to set up the paper, i present a brief history of hsis and then a deeper discussion of both funds of knowledge and epistemic justice. literature review: hispanic-serving institutions defined, hsis are degree-granting, non-profit postsecondary institutions whose undergraduate student enrollment is comprised of at least 25 percent or more hispanic students. unlike the intentionality behind the development of tribal colleges and universities and historically black colleges and universities, there was no purposeful development of hsis. instead, hsis evolved as sizeable numbers of latinas and latinos enrolled in affordable two and four-year institutions close to home, a pattern uncovered in the late 1980s, which led advocates within the latino community to form the hispanic association of colleges and universities (hacu). the key goals for hacu was to highlight how just a few institutions were providing access and opportunity to the latino community. eventually, due to hacu’s efforts, hispanic-serving institutions were named under title iii in the 1992 reauthorization of the higher education act. however, today, hsi matters fall under title v of the hea (calderón galdeano, flores, & moder 2012). in order to officially become designated as a hispanic-serving institution, a college or university must submit an application that documents eligibility and commitment to serve latino students to the u.s. department of education. once an institution earns the designation, it becomes eligible for “special purpose” funding via title v. this funding is intended to assist hispanic-serving institutions in the development of programming and infrastructure to serve their student populations, which tend to not only be latino, but also first-generation, working class, and “non-traditional” in terms of age, working, and familial responsibilities (nuñez & elizondo, 2012). it is important to note that although hsis are eligible for such set-aside funding, historically, they receive and spend substantially fewer resources per student when compared to similar institutions (hurtado & ruiz, 2012). today, there are 409 hsis located across the united states and puerto rico, a number that has exponentially increased in recent years, and that will only continue to grow in the near future (excelencia, 2014). together, these 409 hsis enroll almost 56 percent of the total latino college-going population (excelencia, 2014). a recent degree-of-origin analysis indicated that hsis matriculate the majority of hispanics who hold an associate and baccalaureate degree, and hsis also produce about 25 percent of doctorates held by hispanics (santiago & soliz, 2012). clearly, hsis have been and will continue to be key to the educational advancement of latinos and latinas (hurtado & ruiz, 2012; laden, 2004). it is important to note that despite the success that hsis have had in terms of enrolling and graduating substantial numbers of latinos, some scholars have been frustrated to find that hsis do not necessarily embrace or extoll a hispanic-serving identity (contreras, malcom, & bensimon, 2008; greene & oesterreich, 2012; torres & zerquera, 2012). to this end, contreras, malcom, and bensimon (2008) agued that although there is a 11. it should be made clear that my work is not intended as an argument against affirmative action; instead, it should be understood as another way to advance equity and diversity, particularly in relation to the construction of knowledge and intellectual work. in short, i believe that to stake the struggle for diversity on so few institutions narrows the fight in unnecessary ways. additionally, conventional approaches to affirmative action suggest that only a small pocket of institutions can provide a quality education while ignoring the contributions that minority-serving institutions, like hsis, have made for many years now. an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 30 technical, enrollment based definition of hsis, it is unclear as to what it means educationally, experientially, and culturally to enact a hispanic-serving mission (also see cole, 2011; dayton, gonzalez-vasquez, martinez, & plum, 2004; greene & osterreich, 2012; hubbard & stage, 2009; murphy, araiza, cardenas, & garza, 2013; torres & zerquera, 2012). alternatively, other scholars like murakami-ramalho, núñez, and cuero (2010) and cuellar (2014) provide evidence that hsi faculty members and staff are especially committed to the advancement of undeserved populations, including latinas and latinos (also see ek, cerecer, alanís, & rodríguez, 2010; gonzales, 2014). to this point, hurtado and ruiz (2012) argue that, given their young age, hsis have an incredible opportunity to go beyond the requisite enrollment criteria and to define what it means to be “hispanic-serving” (p. 5). the model that i propose is built on the premise of this incredible opportunity, and the theoretical foundations for this model are described next. theoretical foundations: funds of knowledge and epistemic justice this work is founded on and advances the assumption that there are multiple ways of knowing, and that ways of knowing are inevitably tied to one’s location in broader social and structural systems, to one’s familial and communal ties, and experiences that stem from those ties. here, i summarize the theoretical foundations that inform the model, presented below. funds of knowledge molls, amanti, neff, & gonzalez (1992) introduced funds of knowledge based on their ethnography of mexican communities in the southwestern part of the u.s. there were two major goals for the moll et al., project. first, the researchers aimed to document the knowledge that exists in mexican communities as a result of their cultural, labor, and im/migration histories. second, the researchers aimed to inform education policy and practice by implementing the documented funds of knowledge inside classrooms and in the school community, at large. by developing a curriculum and context steeped in the histories, traditions, and worldviews of their home communities, moll et al., argued that mexican youth would find schooling to be a more relevant and validating experience. taken together, funds of knowledge work can inform education practice and policy in many ways and to different degrees. for example, teachers might include communal and culturally relevant cooking or labor-based knowledge into science and/or civic lessons. furthermore, schools and communities might nurture a reciprocal teaching and learning relationship that is deployed to inform reforms with a potential impact on either party. given its genesis, most funds of knowledge work has been conducted and implemented in the context of k-12 school-community relationships. however, higher education researchers have recently argued that the funds of knowledge approach (and similar perspectives) can help post-secondary institutions build more inclusive teaching and learning experiences for underrepresented and underserved communities (rios-aguilar, kiyama, gravitt, & moll, 2011). for example, yosso (2006), who was influenced by moll et al. (1992), funds of knowledge scholarship and critical race theory built a model entitled “community cultural wealth.” yosso highlighted how chicano families and communities instill their youth with numerous forms of capital, including cultural, familial, aspirational, resistant, navigational, and linguistic capital. additionally and importantly, yosso showed how students usefully deployed these forms of capital throughout their student experience. moving one step further, rios-aguilar, kiyama, gravitt, & moll (2011) argued that the cultural capital and knowledges that are honed within latino (and other underrepresented) communities should be understood in relation to key higher education outcomes. in other words, rios-aguilar et al., not only urge higher education professionals to acknowledge the capital that underrepresented communities bring to post-secondary education, but to position these forms of capital as indicators of success. in sum, funds of knowledge work compels one to uncover, acknowledge, and then apply culturally relevant knowledge, capital, and histories to education policy and practice, and for these reasons, it is a viable theory and method that can be used to defeat epistemic injustice and foster epistemic justice (frank, 2013). an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 31 epistemic justice frank (2013) argued that epistemic diversity — a concept quite similar to funds of knowledge — falls short in terms of ensuring equity and legitimacy in the knowledge production processes within post-secondary education (e.g., researching, teaching, publishing). frank defined epistemic diversity with the following two ideas: “(1) there are multiple ways of approaching a problem,” especially in terms of producing knowledge, and (2) “there are multiple epistemologies [which suggests that] there is no way of adjudicating between them” (p. 363). it is evident that epistemic diversity and funds of knowledge share some key parallels (e.g., recognition that there are numerous ways of seeing the world, developing knowledge, solving problems). thus, initially, it may seem odd to adopt frank’s argument as a complement to the funds of knowledge premise described above. however, frank was legitimately concerned that epistemic diversity risks a relativistic view of knowledge, which allows major structural barriers and unequal relations of power to escape firm critique or dissolution. therefore, frank focuses on the role that researchers and education researchers, especially, can have in fostering space for underrepresented, long-marginalized peoples to create and disseminate knowledge, and to ensure that the truths that they have to tell are allowed to be spoken/written/expressed. thus, when frank writes about the defeat of epistemic injustice and the fostering of epistemic justice, he is arguing for more inclusive epistemological practices (e.g., how research is conducted and shared) where multiple ways of knowing, seeing the world, solving problems, and articulating truths are embraced. frank’s central rationale is that securing epistemic justice is absolutely critical to developing a fuller, more robust, more precise view of the world. frank described how, in a state of epistemic injustice: …those with power often determine what perspectives are important and worth listening to [which means that many] in our social world go unheard [leaving] our collective epistemic resources…less robust than they otherwise would be….those without power are silenced [leading] to an incomplete and inaccurate vision of the social world…. the truth of our social world will elude us until we learn what it means to hear across the social spectrum (p. 365). frank argued that post-secondary institutions and education researchers have a special obligation to advance epistemic justice. in the next sections, i depict how hsis’ leaders, student service professionals, and faculty members can, indeed, employ funds of knowledge work in order to foster epistemic justice [see figure on page 9]. an acción approach to affirmative actions: hispanic-serving institutions as spaces for fostering epistemic justice this model, presented below, is intended as a radical approach to affirmative action. rather than focus on admissions processes alone or what witham and bensimon (2012) call “functional fixes,” (p. 1), which allow post-secondary institutions to largely maintain the status quo, this model illustrates how hsi leadership, student service professionals, and faculty can employ “funds of knowledge” theory and method and foster epistemic justice. the primary or most influential level of the model is the latino community in which the hsi is situated. the latino community is positioned as holding many epistemic riches and important knowledges that can and should inform the daily work, practices, and policies within hsis in order to present as more relevant and empowering spaces to latino and latina students. the hsi, itself, is positioned as a learning organization that employs funds of knowledge theory and method at three distinct levels: (1) positional leaders/administration; (2) student service professionals; and (3) the professoriate. model 1. hispanic-serving institutions as spaces for fostering epistemic justice an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 32 hsi leadership: committing to a culture of inquiry via funds of knowledge to foster epistemic justice via a funds of knowledge approach will require a fundamental shift about how one views the responsibility of higher education providers, especially in relation to undeserved and underrepresented communities, like latino communities. specifically, hsi leaders must begin from the perspective that u.s. higher education in its majoritarian form and function does not present itself as a culturally relevant or friendly place for underrepresented communities, including latinos (rendón, 1994, 2002). with this in mind, the start point for leaders must be a willingness to ask themselves and others what it means to carry a hispanic-serving designation, and to hold themselves, their programs, and staff responsible for fulfilling what should be a distinctive mission. upon reflection of such questions, hsi leaders must be willing to act as institutional agents: individuals who not only possess, but who are willing to deploy key resources in order to advance groups that have historically been marginalized or underserved in higher education (also see bensimon, dowd, chase, sawatzky, shieh, rall, & jones, 2012; stanton-salazar, 2011). one of the first measures that hsi leaders could implement is a culture of inquiry. this culture of inquiry should stress the continual professional development and growth of hsi administrators, staff, and faculty, organizational learning, as a whole, and it should be anchored by funds of knowledge thinking. one of the easiest ways to energize a culture of inquiry is to form and support the development of reading groups or workshops where hsi faculty, administrators, and staff read literature on latino and latina students. because conventional theories of student development are based on majoritarian populations (white, middle-class males), many higher education professionals and much of higher education programming and tradition prescribes activities and engagement that do not reflect the needs or lives of latinos (e.g., on-campus living, minimal and preferably on-campus employment, integration). yet, the research on latino and latina college students reveals a fairly different portrait of behaviors and orientations. for example, according to torres and zerquera (2012), hurtado and ponjuan (2005), and yosso (2006), latin@ students draw heavily on family connectedness as a source of support and can do quite well while living at home. moreover, while there is great diversity in the socio-economic backgrounds of the latino population, most work by necessity, and many take pride in the work ethic instilled by their families (gonzales, 2012). additionally, researchers have found that significant portions of the latino community are hesitant to acquire student debt in order to finance their studies (cejda et al., 2008; cunningham & brown, 2008). finally, espino (2014) recently demonstrated how mexican american students deployed community cultural wealth and capital in order to persevere through their graduate programs. all of these insights are incredibly enlightening, and could help professionals within hsis to reshape their work. however, a funds of knowledge approach requires that institutional agents go beyond learning from literature, and pay close attention to the assets and knowledge within the latino community. for example, hsi leaders should make concerted efforts to recruit, hire, and retain faculty, administrators and staff of color, particularly from latino backgrounds. although it is not fair to assume that all latinos want to serve as role an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 33 models to latino students or even to give them this charge (espino, 2014), students benefit from their presence on campus as they will see themselves in the professionals who teach, administer, and serve on campus. there are a few exemplary cases where hsis are making such strategic hiring investments, which might be of interest to other hsi leaders. for example murakami-ramalho, núñez, & cuero (2010) documented the critical mass of latina and latino faculty that have been recruited at the university of texas san antonio (see gonzales, 2015 for a description of faculty demographics at hsis). in seeking to engender a culture of inquiry that is committed to equity and inclusiveness, bensimon and bishop (2012) offer hsi leaders another simple but powerful starting point: ask different kinds of questions, seek different kinds of data, and look at data in very intentional ways. for example, rather than ask “why latino students lag behind in graduation rates,” which is true even within hsi settings (contreras et al., 2008; murphy, 2013), a better question is “how might we, as institution, better serve latinas and latinos in order to advance them towards graduation?” continuing with this example, and drawing from funds of knowledge principles, if institutional researchers discover that graduation rates are lower among students who work off-campus, hsi leaders must act as institutional agents and consider what kind of innovative services or programming might better serve this student demographic. rather than promote the idea that “students shouldn’t work so much,” as college students are often advised, hsi leaders could develop a campaign that highlights the resilience and commitment of their students, and reach out to city and county officials to develop citywide campaigns that ask local employers to support their working college students through flexible scheduling or helpful benefits. employers could be invited as signatories to such commitments. even symbolic activities like these demonstrate that hsi leaders are investing time and energy to serve their students and validate their lives. most importantly, such efforts avoid deficit assumptions about students who might have to prioritize or balance work with school, as researchers have shown that many latino students have no choice, given the current parameters for student aid, but to work while in college (cejda, casparis, rhodes, seal-nyman, 2008). in keeping with the graduation rates scenario, hsis should seek and leverage knowledge held among the immediate community. community organizations, including faith-based entities and social service agencies, hold an extraordinary amount of knowledge about local community conditions, and formal and informal leaders within the community. community based organizations as well as leaders could be asked to serve as “cultural brokers” that further the partnerships with hsis, businesses, and local government. for example, cooper (2014) recently described how various organizations and actors served as “cultural brokers” that helped immigrant students access higher education and form a college-going identity. finally, hsi leaders must commit to disaggregating data according to identity markers that hold particular significance among that respective latino community. nuñez’s (2014) recently published intersectionality framework can provide hsi leaders and institutional researchers with key insights about how to organize and disaggregate data in ways that are relevant to latino populations. in this framework, nuñez highlights the importance of immigrant status, linguistic background, and high school background in addition to other common identity markers (e.g., gender, race). by accounting for the intersection of multiple identities that seem to matter to student success, hsi leaders commit to holding themselves and their programs accountable. up until now, the suggestions for hsi leaders have circulated around the need to challenge conventional views on the obligations that higher education has to local communities, asking critical questions, and establishing rapport with the community/community organizations. however, to facilitate a funds of knowledge approach and move towards epistemic justice, hsi leaders must deploy resources that support intense institutional research inspired by funds of knowledge methods. following the funds of knowledge work, institutional leaders could provide educational, physical, and fiscal resources so that faculty members, graduate students, student support services, as well as institutional researchers engage in community-based inquiry. the goal of such institutional research is simple, but powerful: build a teaching and learning relationship of reciprocity with the local community, and uncover the assets that exist within the community in order to thread such insights into the campus culture and curriculum. an institutional research team could collect narrative and oral histories from local community members in order to develop a special feature within the campus library. this team might document the labor skills within the local community, and promote homegrown businesses in campus activities. additionally, as funds of knowledge scholars would advocate, this team could also provide support to a community, if needed. an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 34 for example, if a city is developing new housing, professors of anthropology or architecture could ensure that the community has a voice in the process. through such community based, funds of knowledge research, hsis would clearly position the local community as a source of knowledge and instruction, while also making available to that community the skills of higher education professionals. gina núñez (2014) recently wrote about the development and maintenance of an almost decade-old community based research project that hsi leaders can consult for further direction. student services: funds of knowledge, continual learning for practice as noted earlier, student affairs professionals in the u.s. typically adhere rather closely to dominant ideas and idealizations of what it takes to be a successful student. these ideas were developed from research on white, majoritarian, male experiences (astin, 1985; tinto, 1993). however, in an hsi led by leaders who have committed to funds of knowledge and epistemic justice, student service professionals must be offered the opportunity to expand their academic and professional repertoire. thus, one step for student service professionals is to participate in the reading groups and praxis workshops suggested above. key readings for student service professionals should include rendón’s validation theory (1994, 2002), which was developed when rendón determined that the dominant theories of student development did not seem to make sense to the lives, experiences, or perspectives of many underrepresented students, including students of color, students from working class backgrounds, and/or first-generation college students. accordingly, very much like funds of knowledge work, validation theory and research establishes an understanding of the history, needs, and strengths of underrepresented and underserved communities. although rendón (1994) suggests that any member of a university community can validate students, her work holds particular relevance for student service professionals, such as those individuals that administer clubs and organizations, orientation and advising sessions, leadership, professional, and career development; and/or related on-campus programming. student service professionals can also benefit from reading research on the college decision-making processes for latinos. for example, cejda et al. (2008) and torres and zerquera (2012) found that latino and latina students tend to use personal and familial contacts — instead of school counselors — to inform their college enrollment choices. additionally, latino students seem to consider proximity to home/family in their decision-making processes, and núñez and bowers (2011) noted that these factors even impact the choices of the most academically competitive students. based on these readings, student affairs professionals have reason to develop programs where students identify key individuals from their personal and familial networks, who most inspired or influenced their college going process. student services could invite these individuals to attend important (beyond orientation) events that provide insight into college life, time commitments, and critical deadlines. if agreeable to both the student and the individual, the individual could be kept apprised of the student’s college progress and milestones through a variety of formats (e.g., email, letter, phone calls). additionally, these influential individuals could receive early alerts about absenteeism or missed exams. these practices, which are typically referred to as “intrusive advising” (faulconer, geissler, majewski, & trifilio, 2014; jones & hansen, 2014), have repeatedly been found to have a positive impact on student retention and performance. jones and hansen (2014) as well as faulconer et al., (2014) both provide examples of intrusive advising. finally, espino (2014) recently illuminated the many forms of cultural wealth that mexican american phd students leveraged throughout their doctoral studies; the insights in this study could inform graduate student advising and programming. in addition to reading and applying the insights learned from published research, student service professionals must also implement the knowledge and insights gained from the funds of knowledge inspired institutional research described above. a very good example of how student service professionals might implement or draw from funds of knowledge research can be found in the work of guajardo, alvarez, guajardo, garcia, guajardo, and marquez (2014). in this paper, guajardo et al. (2014) described a funds of knowledge research project developed largely by faculty and students, and then suggested that student service professionals could build off of the results in various ways. film screenings, book clubs, and campus activities could be built an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 35 around discoveries made in funds of knowledge research. in order to deeply integrate funds of knowledge discoveries in this way, however, structures that enable university-wide collaboration and communication must be developed and supported. an office of community engagement or a modernized version of extension services might be the sort of structural arrangement that could offer necessary support. if student service professionals find themselves in an hsi that is without the kind of resources suggested above, they can consider a number of exemplary programs already in operation, which reflect funds of knowledge ideals (even if they explicitly do not espouse them). student service professionals can turn to advocacy agencies like excelencia to identify such model programs or martinez and gonzales (2015) identified several programs housed at hsis, which demonstrated culturally informed student programming. using content analysis of programmatic websites and documents, martinez and gonzales highlighted ten programs that seek to understand and honor students and the larger communities from which they come. one of the programs that martinez and gonzales described is titled grow your own teachers (gyo). housed at northeastern illinois university, gyo aims to “develop aspiring teachers from communities of color in order to support their educational goals…[and] is based in the assumption that these communities have much knowledge and ability to serve” (schultz, gillette, & hill, 2011, p. 5). gyo program administrators explain that the program’s efforts were informed by early studies into the lives of their participants. based on the results of this inquiry, administrators realized that in order for them to have the best chance at success, the program would have to dedicate resources to create wide family supports, child care options, financial aid, and career/transition to teaching counseling. another example from the martinez and gonzales paper was the transitional bilingual learning community, established in 2002 at harry s. truman college in chicago, illinois. the stated goal of this learning community is to serve “students who, because of limited skills in english and limited financial resources, would otherwise not be attending college on a full-time basis” (tblc, n.d., para 1). in this particular hispanic community, the college sees promising students with much to contribute to learning and society, including their bilingual skills. to this end, the program offers extensive translation services along with bilingual learning environments for students as they make the early transition into college life. student affairs administrators within hsis might want to consider these two examples — as well as the other efforts documented by martinez and gonzales — to revise or complement current approaches to student outreach and retention. the professoriate: acknowledging, producing, and disseminating knowledge recall that frank (2013) began from the assumption that the production and legitimation of knowledge within academia has historically been in a state of “epistemic injustice,” where underserved and underrepresented populations have been kept out, and generally not given equal access to platforms where knowledge is advanced (e.g., the canon, the curriculum, publication). indeed, many scholars, particularly those who utilize a critical lens in their work, have long described how academia, the teaching and learning process, and related knowledge production processes have historically centered white, western, male, scientistic/positivistic ways of knowing (delgado-bernal & villalpando, 2002; gonzales & núñez, 2014; gutierrez y muhs, flores niehmann, gonzález, & harris, 2012; pasque, carducci, kuntz, & gildersleeve, 2012; smith, 1987; stanley, 2007). with this in mind, it seems that faculty members have the most experience with the epistemic injustice that frank described, as well as the most opportunity to foster space of epistemic justice. the culture of inquiry, anchored in funds of knowledge, and the actual funds of knowledge institutional research described above provide faculty members with a foundation for epistemic justice work. based on the roles and responsibilities of faculty, i argue that faculty have at least three avenues to carry out such efforts; these avenues include (1) the academic curriculum/teaching and learning context; (2) their own research and publication practices; and (3) the development of students into scholars. first, in terms of (re)shaping academic curriculum and experiences based on funds of knowledge, one simple step is to incorporate scholarship produced by latinas and latinos or concerning latino communities (e.g., books, articles, performances) into their course work. although this might seem to be a minor adjustment, cole’s (2011) analysis of university course catalogs revealed that among historically black colleges and an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 36 universities, tribal colleges and universities, and hispanic-serving institutions, hsis offered the fewest number of race/ethnic centered and culturally oriented courses. in other words, hbcus and tcus successfully threaded more racially, ethnically, and culturally relevant courses and elements into their undergraduate curriculum. the inclusion of scholarship by latino scholars, and/or scholarship about latino communities is something that faculty in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and applied fields can easily accommodate. if faculty members are unsure where to begin with such work, there are several free and easy-to-access tools on the internet (e.g., youtube, cuny latinas in history project), national public radio, the public broadcasting system, or the pew research center. in fact, this is an area of potential investment for institutional leaders/agents. a position could be created for the sole purpose of building this academic catalogue, and helping faculty to identify relevant sources for their field/topic. on this note, it is important that hsi faculty members remain aware of the diversity within the latino population, meaning that if an hsi has a predominant afro-latino student population, efforts should be made to include scholars/scholarship from this particular subgroup. one potential reference that could provide latina students from various backgrounds a chance to see themselves in the curriculum is jennifer de leon’s (2014) recent edited collection on latina access and experience in higher education. however, the book is limited to women, and so it would be important for faculty to find additional sources featuring latino males. in terms of shaping the academic curriculum, and essentially changing the teaching and learning context, faculty can actually employ funds of knowledge practices by asking students to draw from their histories in relation to the course materials. for example, a science professor can ask students to describe if and how they/ their family members have ever worked with certain materials/chemicals/processes. if a student described a grandmother who is a savvy gardener, a father with an expertise for building and carpentry, or a sister who works in design, the professor can make references to those activities in relation to the course material. indeed, these are the very kinds of curricular innovations that moll et al. (1992), prescribed for teachers in the initial funds of knowledge project. however, alvarez and martínez (2014) provide solid examples of how faculty can incorporate funds of knowledge work into the curriculum at a post-secondary level. specifically, alvarez and martínez described a classroom experiment in which they invited the late puerto rican poet, tato laviera, into a composition class in their texas-based hsi. recounting the experience, alvarez and martínez wrote: it was a rare occasion in which the institution acknowledged and gave credit to students for the knowledge they possessed while still assisting in the further development of their education…. we were not certain what would come from the course but our selfish hopeswere that laviera… could help students understand the tremendous importance of their work — and that of their families — to the well being of our nation. we believed that if students could come to an understanding of the importance of their stories, there would be no telling how far their new conciencia could take them (p. 208). alvarez and martínez (2014) go on to describe how students were positioned as knowledge carriers and storytellers throughout this classroom experiment. alvarez and martínez’s lesson could be replicated in many disciplines with special lecturers that possess content knowledge on the given topic. professional development for faculty would probably be necessary, and is yet another way that leaders can act as institutional agents: by providing resources for faculty to learn about funds of knowledge work and how to implement such activities. as alluded to earlier, faculty also have the opportunity to shape their own research around funds of knowledge ideals. the most obvious opportunity would be for faculty members, who have an interest, to become involved in the funds of knowledge institutional research being conducted at the institutional level. professors can immerse themselves in the community to understand its riches, to build bridges and share knowledge across those bridges, and to inform institutional practices, such as student support services, the intentional data disaggregation, and overall programming described earlier. hsi faculty might want to consult núñez’s (2014) recent paper, where she outlined several benefits and best practices developed from her community-based scholarship. as a scholar at an hsi, núñez has developed multi-layered community engaged research project that allows students to see the assets in their communities in radical new ways. in describing the impact of participating in community-engaged scholarship, one of núñez’s students said, “i have changed the way i think about the community. i used to take everything for granted and now i appreciate what i see” (núñez, 2014, p. an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 37 94). the work of rios-aguilar, kiyama, gravitt, and moll (2011) provides additional guidance as to how faculty can develop funds of knowledge research projects in connection with the assessment of important student learning outcomes. following the conduct of scholarship, professors are expected to disseminate their work. in line with the praxis orientation of funds of knowledge work, hsi scholars should be prepared to diversify their dissemination strategy. specifically, in addition to academic journal publications, funds of knowledge scholars typically share their work via radio broadcasts, policy and practice briefs, evaluative or technical reports prepared for community partners, or short online videos, like the one created by guajardo et al., (2014). however, if hsi faculty members partake in the funds of knowledge approach and apply it in their teaching, research, and dissemination practices, it is critical that faculty colleagues involved in the tenure and promotion process as well as key administrative leaders (e.g., chairs, provosts) support them. tenure and promotion committees should consider reading studies by bernal and villalpando (2002), gonzales and núñez (2014), and stanley (2007) to understand how bias insidiously operates in the evaluation of scholars and scholarship — a bias that almost inevitably marginalizes action research, local and cultural knowledge and language, and critical scholarship, overall. an additional practical resource for tailoring evaluation systems to recognize community-based, arts, and other “non-traditional” scholarly work is the imagining america website. clearly, faculty members engaged in funds of knowledge work, who aim to share it widely as to highlight local forms of knowledge and position latino communities and students as knowers, thinkers, and problem solvers cannot foster epistemic justice alone; institutions must ensure that space as well. therefore, tenure and promotion guidelines, and other evaluative schema, should be devised so as to reflect the goal of epistemic justice. faculty members have many platforms and tools with which they can engender epistemic justice. they can provide space in their curriculum, they can explicitly employ funds of knowledge research themselves, and finally, they can work to develop the scholarly potential in students. fostering epistemic justice mandates not only that culturally relevant knowledge are acknowledged and threaded into the teaching and learning dynamic, which is largely achieved via funds of knowledge, but it is also about ensuring that others are given the tools to further create knowledge and articulate knowledge within academia as well. in this way, hsi faculty members should consider how they can best prepare and support their latino students to carry out scholarly work. such preparation must not only focus on the mechanics of research, but also on the politics of publication. workshops for graduate students, then, might include readings like stanley’s (2007) essay on the publication process as well as general frank conversations about coping with manuscript rejections or how to identify suitable outlets for various types of work. such explicit preparation for academia is rare, but underrepresented scholars suggest that this is the very kind of information that they believe future faculty can benefit from as described by montgomery, johnson, and dodson (2014). before closing, it is important to acknowledge that not all faculty members, or all course work, or even an entire course must be steeped in funds of knowledge work, latino scholars, or latino communities; indeed, some individuals will not see value in this goal (murphy, araiza, cardenas, & garza, 2013). however, faculty members can practice funds of knowledge principles to the degree that they are appropriate and comfortable. in other words, the assurance of space for those who commit to funds of knowledge work and the creation of knowledge in new, critical and different ways is far more important than a uniform application, overall. conclusion in this paper, i argued that hsis have the opportunity to offer a radically new application of affirmative action. specifically, i argued that by deploying resources and intentionally committing to organizational learning and inquiry anchored in the funds of knowledge approach, hsis have the opportunity to serve as spaces for epistemic justice. this model, of course, requires that formal as well as informal leaders act as critical, institutional agents in the ways that bensimon and colleagues (2011) suggest, and it requires that student service professionals retool their professional repertoires with culturally-relevant practices and theories in the ways that cuellar (2014) and martinez and gonzales (2015) describe. it also, of course, demands that faculty employ any or all of their platforms to honor and advance multiple ways of knowing and producing knowledge, so as to assist latina and latino students to see themselves and their communities as valid, valuable, and indeed legitimate knowers, as has been described in the work of rios-aguilar and colleagues (2011). an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 38 working towards epistemic justice is, i believe, the ultimate form of affirmative action that colleges and universities can commit to as it advances equity beyond structural or numerical counts, and instead commits to equity in terms of the core purposes of higher education: teaching, learning, and the production of knowledge. given the current position that hsis hold in the field of higher education, they have the unique opportunity to demonstrate how colleges and universities can be spaces that serve towards democracy, justice and equity by honoring diverse epistemologies, knowledges, and assets in the production of knowledge. an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 39 references alvarez, s. & martínez, j. l. (2014). la palabra, concinecia, y voz: tato laviera and the cosecha voices project at the university of texas-pan american. in s. alvarez and w. luis (eds.) the amerícan poet: essays on the work of tato laviera. center for puerto rican studies, hunter college: cuny. astin, a. (1985). involvement: the cornerstone for excellence. change, 17(4), 35–39. bensimon, e. m., & bishop, r. (2012). introduction: why “critical”? the need for new ways of knowing. the review of higher education, 36(1), 1-7. bensimon, e. m., dowd, a. c., chase, m. m., sawatzky, m., shieh, l. t., rall, r. m. & jones, t. (2012) community college change agents at hsis: stewarding hsi-stem funds for latino student success in stem. los angeles, ca: university of southern california. bernal, d.d., & villalpando, o. (2002). an apartheid of knowledge in academia: the struggle over the “legitimate” knowledge of faculty of color. equity & excellence in education, 35(2), 169-180. calderón galdeano, e., flores, a. r., & moder, j. (2012). the hispanic association of colleges and universities and hispanic-serving institutions: partners in the advancement of hispanic higher education. journal of latinos and education, 11(3), 157-162. carnevale, a. p., & strohl, j. (2013). separate and unequal: how higher education reinforces the intergenerational reproduction of white racial privilege. cejda, b. d., casparis, c. a., rhodes, j. h., & seal-nyman, k. (2008). the role of social capital in the educational decisions of hispanic students attending hispanic-serving community colleges. enrollment management journal, 2(1), 32-59. chang m. j., denson n., saenz v., & misa k. (2006). the educational benefits of sustaining cross-racial interactions among undergraduates. the journal of higher education, 77, 430-455. cole, w. m. (2011). minority politics and group-differentiated curricula at minority-serving colleges. the review of higher education, 34(3), 381-422. contreras, f. e., malcom, l. e., & bensimon, e. m. (2008). hispanic serving institutions: closeted identity and the production of equitable outcomes for latino/a students. in m. gasman, b. baez & c. turner (eds.), understanding minority serving institutions, (pp. 71-90) new, york, ny: suny press. cooper, c. r. (2014). cultural brokers: how immigrant youth in multicultural societies navigate and negotiate their pathways to college identities. learning, culture and social interaction, 3(2), 170-176. cuellar, m. (2014). the impact of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), emerging hsis, and non-hsis on latina/o academic self-concept. the review of higher education, 37(4), 499-530. cunningham, a. f., & brown, d. (2008). student aversion to borrowing: who borrows and who doesn’t. institute for higher education policy. dayton, b., gonzalez-vazquez, n., martinez, c.r., & plum, c. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions through the eyes of students and administrators. new directions for student services, 105, 29-40. deleon, j. (2014). wise latinas: writers on higher education. lincoln, ne: university of nebraska. ek, l. d., cerecer, p. d. q., alanís, i., & rodríguez, m. a. (2010). “i don’t belong here”: chicanas/latinas at a hispanic serving institution creating community through muxerista mentoring. equity & excellence in education, 43(4), 539-553. espino, m. m. (2014). exploring the role of community cultural wealth in graduate school access and persistence for mexican american phds. american journal of education, 120(4), 545-574. excelencia in education (2014) http://www.edexcelencia.org/ faulconer, j., geissler, j., majewski, d., & trifilo, j. (2014). adoption of an early-alert system to support university student success. international journal for professional educators, 45. frank, j. (2013). mitigating against epistemic injustice in educational research. educational researcher, 42(7), 363-370. garces, l. m., & jayakumar, u. m. (2014). dynamic diversity toward a contextual understanding of critical mass. educational researcher, 43(3), 115-124. an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 40 gonzales, l.d. (forthcoming/2015). a horizon of possibilities for hispanic serving institutions: using funds of knowledge scholarship to reshape the production and legitimization of knowledge within academia in s. hurtado, a.m. núñez, & e. calderón-galdeon (eds). hispanic-serving institutions. gonzales, l. d. (2014). framing faculty agency inside striving universities: an application of bourdieu’s theory of practice. the journal of higher education, 85(2), 193-218. gonzales, l. d. (2012). stories of success: latinas redefining cultural capital. the journal of latinos and education, 11(2), 124-138. gonzales, l. d., & núñez, a. m. (2014). ranking regimes and the production of knowledge in academia:(re) shaping faculty work? education policy analysis archives, 22(31). greene, d., & oesterreich, h. a. (2012). white profs at hispanic-serving institutions: radical revolutionaries or complicit colonists? journal of latinos and education, 11(3), 168-174. guajardo, f., alvarez, s., guajardo, m., garcia, s., guarjardo, j.a., marquez, j. (2014/forthcoming). braceros, mexicans, american, and schools: (re)imagining teaching and learning in mexican america. rio bravo: journal of the borderlands. gutiérrez y muhs, g., niemann, y. f., gonzález, c. g., & harris, a. p. (2012). presumed incompetent: the intersections of race and class for women in academia. logan, ut: utah state university press. hubbard, s. m., & stage, f. k. (2009). attitudes, perceptions, and preferences of faculty at hispanic serving and predominantly black institutions. the journal of higher education, 80(3), 270-289. hurtado, s., milem, j. f., clayton-pederson, a., and allen, w. a. (1998). enhancing campus climates for racial/ ethnic diversity: educational policy and practice.” review of higher education, 21(3), 279–302. hurtado, s., & ponjuan, l. (2005). latino educational outcomes and the campus climate. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 235-251. hurtado, s. & ruiz, a. (2012). realizing the potential of hispanic-serving institutions: multiple dimensions of institutional diversity for advancing hispanic higher education. a white paper prepared for the hacu hispanic higher education research collective. san antonio, tx. imagining america (2014). http://imaginingamerica.org/ jones, s. j., & hansen, k. (2014). technology review: virtual intrusive advising-supporting community college students through web-based synchronous technologies. community college enterprise, 20(1), 89. laden, b. v. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions: what are they? where are they?. community college journal of research and practice, 28(3), 181-198. martinez, e. & gonzales, l.d. (2014, forthcoming). bridging academic and student affairs: working together to craft pathways that advance latinos and latinas in higher education in j. perez-mendez (ed.) hispanic serving institutions. new york, ny: stylus publishing. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. montgomery, b. l., dodson, j. e., & johnson, s. m. (2014). guiding the way mentoring graduate students and junior faculty for sustainable academic careers. sage open, 4(4), doi: 2158244014558043. murakami ramalho, e., nuñez, a. m., & cuero, k. k. (2010). latin@ advocacy in the hyphen: faculty identity and commitment in a hispanic serving institution. international journal of qualitative studies in education,23(6), 699-717. murphy, j. (2013). institutional effectiveness: how well are hispanic serving institutions meeting the challenge? journal of hispanic higher education, 12(4), 321-333. murphy, s. w., araiza, i., cardenas jr, h., & garza, s. (2013). when i grade a paper, i do not look at the name. i grade the paper for content”: teacher perceptions of students at a hispanic serving institution. journal of border educational research, 7(1), unpaginated. núñez, a. m. (2014). advancing an intersectionality framework in higher education: power and latino postsecondary opportunity. in higher education: handbook of theory and research (pp. 33-92). springer netherlands. an acción approach to affirmative action association of mexican-american educators (amae) special invited issue © 2015, volume 9, issue 1 issn 2377-9187 41 núñez, a.-m., & bowers, a. j. (2011). exploring what leads high school students to enroll in hispanic serving institutions: a multilevel analysis. american educational research journal, 48(6), 1286-1313. doi: 10.3102/0002831211408061. núñez, a.-m., & elizondo, d. (2012). mapping the heterogeneity of hispanic-serving institutions. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association, vancouver, ca. núñez, g. g. (2014). engaging scholarship with communities. journal of hispanic higher education, 13(2), 92 115. pasque, p., carducci, r., kuntz, a. k., gildersleeve, r. e. (2012). qualitative inquiry for equity in higher education: methodological implications, negotiations and responsibilities. ashe higher education report, 37(6). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. rendón, l. (2002). community college puente: a validating model of education. educational policy, 16 (4), 642 667. rendón, l. (1994). validating culturally diverse students: toward a new model of learning and student development. innovative higher education, 19 (1), 33-51. rios-aguilar, c., kiyama, j. m., gravitt, m., & moll, l. c. (2011). funds of knowledge for the poor and forms of capital for the rich? a capital approach to examining funds of knowledge. theory and research in education, 9(2), 163-184. santiago, d.a., & soliz, m. (2012). finding your workforce: the top 25 institutions graduating latinos. washington, dc: excelencia in education. schultz, b. d., gillette, m. d., & hill, d. a. (2011). teaching as political: theoretical perspectives for understanding the grow your own movement. in e. a. skinner, m. t. garreton, & b. d. schultz, grow your own teachers: grassroots change for teacher education (pp. 5-21). new york, ny: teachers college. smith, d. e. (1987). the everyday world as problematic: a feminist sociology. university of toronto press. smith, d. g. (2009). diversity’s promise for higher education: making it work. baltimore, ml: johns hopkins university press. stanley, c. a. (2007). when counter narratives meet master narratives in the journal editorial-review process. educational researcher, 36(1), 14-24. stanton-salazar, r., d. (2011). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. youth & society, 43(3), 1066-1109. tinto, v. (1993). leaving college: rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. chicago, il: university of chicago press. torres, v., & zerquera, d. (2012). hispanic-serving institutions patterns, predictions, and implications for informing policy discussions. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(3), 259-278. witham, k., & bensimon, e. m. (2012). creating a culture of inquiry around equity and student success in creating campus cultures: fostering success among racially diverse student populations, (pp. 46-67). new york: routledge. yosso, t.j. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/o educational pipeline. new york, ny: routledge an acción approach to affirmative action http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ babino association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 175 me llamo ale, quien no cabe en tus casillas alexandra babino texas a & m commerce cuando te digo que soy mexicana-americana1 entiendo que no me entiendes— que frunces la ceja. me esperas por una razón para explicar por qué no cabo en tus casillas chiquitas y bonitas de la raza y bilingüismo. “whaaat?!” you say. “but you don’t look it.” también de mi comunidad querida, oigo —pero hablas español muy bien.— memorizo mi charla como una grabación. la toco cada vez que me preguntas— cada vez que cuestionas por qué no cabo en tus casillas chiquitas y bonitas. bueno, tus casillas son tan chiquitas, pero no son bonitas; 1 personalmente, me identifico con el género femenino; de cualquier forma, reconozco que otros prefieren usar términos no-binarios para describir sus experiencias. babino association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 176 no captan mi realidad, como medio pollo— ni de aquí ni de allá: una latina bien güera—pelirroja; quien ama español e english with deep, symbiotic furiosidad; sea lo que sea, entiendo que mi habla y escritura española es su propio acto de resistencia. mi corazón está lleno de un amor por mi abuelita; mi mente siempre se preocupa por mi gente, y trato de mantener las dos manos abiertas, listas para recibir las instrucciones de mi dios. instrucciones para representar, abogar, enseñar, escuchar, darse la mano y levantar. juntxs.2 lado a lado. siempre adelante. más trabajo, con todo mi corazón, para recoger la cosecha 2 utilizo la “x” para resistir el machismo histórico del idioma español. babino association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 177 que mis tíxs y abuelitxs sembraron. entiendo que no me entiendes cuando te digo que soy mexicana-americana. hoy rechazo las casillas, porque soy completamente ale. y todavía me acuerdo de mis maestrxs americanxs que no pronunciaban mi nombre bien, hasta me decían que lo escribía mal. quiero decirles del presente el pasado –no—no escribía mi nombre mal.- ale es mi nombre. soy mexicana-americana, y no cabo en tus casillas. de aquí y de allá, de los dos lados a la vez y otro lado completamente distinto. ubico enfrento celebro mi nepantla contra las mentiras, medias-mentiras, y el muro. amén. y adelante. siempre adelante. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 107 the vulnerable teacher: working towards critical consciousness in a second grade bilingual classroom sandra l. osorio illinois state university abstract telling your students that you are divorced and your two sons no longer live with their father is not the typical kind of conversation you would expect in a classroom, but in my second-grade spanish–english bilingual classroom, it was the norm. i had decided to implement literature discussion around latinx children’s literature. i found that in order for my students and i to develop a relationship built on trust and respect, i had to be vulnerable and willing to share some personal narratives. in the following article, i share how i, the teacher, was vulnerable with my students during our literature discussions around latinx children’s literature in order to have conversations about critical topics, such as, immigration, bilingualism, and family. my ultimate goal was for my students to develop critical consciousness. keywords: bilingual education, critical consciousness, elementary, literature discussions, qualitative research doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.1.390 osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 108 introduction my second-grade spanish–english bilingual students—victor, camila, arcadia, juliana, and lucia—sat around the kidney-shaped table discussing the book we had read, waiting for papá/esperando a papá by rené colato laínez. this story is about a boy named beto, and how he and his mother had to leave el salvador because of a war. beto’s father stayed behind, resulting in them not seeing each other for over three years. for father’s day, beto writes a letter to his father telling his father why he is so special to beto. the letter gets into the hands of a radio personality and beto is invited to read it on air. at the end of the story, beto is finally reunited with his father. my students and i were discussing why beto, his mother, and his father are crying when they said goodbye to each other. during our conversation about beto’s story and his feelings of sadness due to being separated from his father, the group reflected on individuals we missed and how that made us sad. i shared how my own children did not live with their father: por ejemplo, en mi situación, pepito (mi hijo) no vive con su papá. pepito y poncho (mis hijos) viven conmigo. su papá vive en otra ciudad. entonces, ellos en los fines de semana van a ver a su papá. entonces, no viven con él. entonces, durante la semana, pepito de vez en cuando sí se pone triste, y sí extraña a su papá.1 i am a very private person who mostly keeps my work life and personal life separate from each other. during the academic year prior to this discussion with my students, i had divorced my sons’ father and had not told anyone outside my family, not even my closest colleagues at the school, until much after. but here i was sharing this personal information with my students. this is a testament to the relationship that my students and i had built with each other. this was not a conversation i had planned to have with my students, but it gave me the opportunity to reflect upon the images of family that had bombarded me most of my life—a mom, a dad, two kids (one boy, one girl). i wanted to push back against this ideal family image and share with my students, as they had done with me, that families came in many different forms and that no format was better than the other. 1 translation: “for example, in my situation, pepito (my son) doesn’t live with his dad. pepito and poncho (my sons) live with me. their dad lives in another city. so, during the week, pepito sometimes gets sad because he misses his dad.” the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 109 critical consciousness in my classroom, i had implemented literature discussions around latinx children’s literature. i brought in latinx children’s literature to combat the required district reading curriculum that did not reflect my students’ lived experiences. i used the latinx children’s literature as well as the discussions around them to co-construct a curriculum with my students in order to center their linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism. my ultimate goal was to develop critical consciousness along with my students. freire’s (1970) critical consciousness is where the lines of the teacher-student relationship are blurred, and the teacher learns from the student. i wanted to look at the teacher–student relationship at the most human level, one in which trust developed over time, where teacher and student truly cared for each other, and both individuals were considered knowledge holders who have a deeply interconnected relationship. the social ties built between my students and i made all of us feel valued, one in which caring, empathy, and trust connected us, and were reciprocal and collaborative in that everyone in the group was viewed as being an integral part of the learning process. freire (1970) talked about dialogue as the process in which the world is transformed and humanized. this is what i wanted for my literature discussions, for there to be dialogue between the teacher and students as a way of developing critical consciousness. freire (1970) goes on to say that true education is not carried on by teachers for students or by teachers about students but rather by teachers with students. many educational plans have failed because of the lack of realization that it is not a teacher’s role to speak and impose their own view of the world, but rather to dialogue with the student about their various views (denicolo & franquiz, 2006; freire, 1970; osorio, 2012). as the teacher, i worked to create an environment that was conducive to the learning of all its members. if i wanted the teacher-student relationship to change it had to start with me. i had to demonstrate vulnerability if i expected my students to do the same. as bhattacharya (2016) stated in her article, the vulnerable academic: personal narratives and strategic de/colonizing of academic structures, there is strength in vulnerability. we can offer each other that strength through being vulnerable together, making connections and finding ourselves in each other’s stories. this is what i wanted to do with my students. osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 110 literature review there have been some studies concentrating on bilingual students’ participation in literature discussions (denicolo & franquiz, 2006; lopez-robertson, 2004; martínez-roldán, 2005; martinez-roldán & lópez-robertson, 1999/2000). denicolo and franquiz (2006) found in a fourth-grade bilingual english language arts class that students used critical incidents in stories to examine their own personal beliefs and societal realities. the goal of the teacher, mrs. lynn, in their study, was “to immerse all of her students in a process through which they would become full participants in the new literacy practice of literature circles” (p. 158). denicolo and franquiz (2006) found that the students and teacher had “established a permanent relationship of advocacy for and with them” (p. 168). this was done through the use of quality literature that facilitated the literature circle discussions. the teacher and students had to (re)position themselves and blur the line between their relationship in order to develop critical consciousness (freire, 1970). lopez-robertson (2004) presents four students from a second-grade bilingual classroom and their sharing of experiences when discussing the book, friends from the other side/ amigos del otro lado by gloria anzaldúa. the students shared their life experiences which included, having their parents deported, helping others avoid immigration officials, searching for a peaceful resolution to undocumented border crossing and questioning why immigration officials only searched low economic status neighborhoods. the study illustrated that through dialogue, specifically through sharing, questioning and interpreting, students were able to sort their personal understanding of issues brought up by the book and therefore build their critical consciousness. there have also been some studies that represent what it is like to be the teacher in a classroom promoting critical consciousness in students (san pedro, 2017; souto-manning, 2010b). souto-manning (2010) in her book, multicultural teaching in the early childhood classroom presents a massachusetts preschool teacher, dana frantz bentley, that implements culture circles with multicultural literature in her classroom. culture circles are similar to literature discussions in that they happen around children’s literature. one great different is that culture circles start from participants’ individual and collective experiences, from what matters to the students. the teacher investigates the realities and practices of his or her students and then codifies these realities into the multicultural children’s books chosen which serve as the focus for students to engage in questioning and problematizing (souto-manning, 2010a). this is not always the case the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 111 with books chosen by a classroom teacher for literature discussions. dana “created a space where she harvested opportunities, generated from children’s actions and interactions, out of the children’s questions, conflicts and discomforts” (souto-manning, 2010b, 71). while this presents some of the reasoning behind the decisions made by the classroom teacher, it does not explicitly share an important aspect of this work towards building critical consciousness, which is a teacher’s own vulnerability. san pedro (2017) shows us an important example of how a classroom can be transformed when a teacher is willing to be vulnerable. he shares how ms. bee creates a space in her native american literature high school class where students’ lives can be shared. through their storying, trusting and caring relationships are built. in one such assignment, ms. bee asks students to choose from four outlines of symbols (shield, drum, tipi, pottery) for which one best represents them. she asks them to create art of who they are, where they come from and who their families and communities are inside their outline. they are to later form a story from something in their art piece. ms. bee models vulnerability by reading aloud her poem titled “my publishing.” through this poem she shares personal details, which include being a survivor of abuse and attempted suicide. this might not be something many teachers would be willing to share but as ms. bee stated, “i’m not going to ask you (her students) to do anything that i’m not willing to do” (san pedro, 2017, p. 107). while most of these studies demonstrate how literature discussions can be used in a classroom setting, specifically in a bilingual setting, what they do not display a key component to building critical consciousness—teacher’s own vulnerability. in this article, i share how i as the teacher changed my positionality in these literature discussions. specifically, i focus on examples of how i was vulnerable during the discussions with my students and my thinking around doing so. i had to be willing to demonstrate vulnerability if i wanted my students to do the same. i saw vulnerability as a key component in order to develop critical consciousness. in this article, i focus only on the data on the participation of the teacher, although there were interesting findings on the students as well (osorio, 2015; osorio, 2016a; osorio, 2016b; osorio, 2018b). methods context the data shared here is based on a larger qualitative action research study in my own osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 112 second-grade spanish–english bilingual classroom. the elementary school was located in a midsize city in the united states. the school, lincoln elementary school,2 housed the bilingual program, with one bilingual classroom per grade level. the program followed a developmental model of academic enrichment. this model had the primary goal of promoting bilingual and biliteracy development, using both the student’s native language and english for academic instruction. native language learning was an important aspect of the literacy instruction in my classroom. in second grade, the literacy instruction was in spanish. the philosophy behind this was to have students develop a strong base in their native language so that it could be used to facilitate literacy development in english (august & hakuta, 1997; august & shanahan, 2006; francis, lesaux, & august, 2006; rolstad, mahoney, & glass, 2005; slavin & cheung, 2003). teacher’s background i had been a bilingual classroom teacher in the same elementary school for eight years. i had taught mostly first and second grade. my interest in becoming a teacher developed from my personal experience. as a child, i attended a bilingual preschool in the city of chicago. when i entered a monolingual english kindergarten, my teachers told my parents to stop speaking spanish to me because, in their view, it would cause me confusion. luckily for me, my parents ignored their suggestion and continued using our native language, spanish, at home, allowing me a strong connection to my cultural background. i believe my parents were told to stop speaking spanish because of the thick accent they had in english. the school administrators and teachers had made assumptions about me using a deficit view (valencia, 2010) before even meeting me. i wanted to become a teacher so that spanish bilingual students could see someone similar to themselves in the classroom and someone who would not place a deficit-based identity upon them. i wanted to create a classroom space that would welcome and sustain all my students. literature discussions i decided it was important for my students to see themselves reflected in the literature of the classroom, so i brought in latinx children’s literature to encourage literature discussions 2 all proper names are pseudonyms. the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 113 in my classroom. this was after several years of using the school district’s required basal reader program that did not reflect my students’ lives. i wanted to use latinx children’s literature written by latinx authors whenever possible because my students had been sent the message that they were not valued and would not be successful for far too long. i implemented criteria similar to martinez-roldán and lópez-robertson (1999/2000) when it came to choosing which texts to bring into the classroom: (a) stories that were interesting and would appeal to my students, (b) stories that allowed students to see aspects of their lives reflected positively, and (c) books to which my students could connect. now when i say connect, there was no true way to find the perfect book for each of my students given the complexities of each individual. what i did do was choose books i felt might connect with one aspect of their lives and offer students a choice. the students were offered four to five books titles to choose from organized around a particular theme (i.e., family, cultural stories, language, and speaking english). this meant that students chose the books that spoke best to them. i never forced a book on a student and said, “this one is for you.” the majority of the books that i selected were bilingual, written in both english and spanish. for literature discussions, we used sticky notes. i gave students a list of sentence starters that they could use to write ideas on their sticky notes to later share in their groups. some of the sentence starters were: “estoy pensado. . .”; “esta parte me recuerda a. . .”; and “tengo una pregunta sobre. . . .”3 students were expected to prepare for the discussion by reading their chosen book several times and writing ideas or comments on the sticky notes. this way, they could remember what they wanted to say in the literature discussion groups. after a couple of days of preparation, students had three days of literature discussions in small groups facilitated by the teacher. each day each discussion group lasted about 20-30 minutes and was done while other students were in literacy centers. data collection and analysis data collection consisted of audiotaping literature discussions over a five-month time period. data collection included observations, field notes, audio recordings and reflective journal entries of the literature discussions that included the four focal students. this resulted in over 35 hours of audio recordings. 3 translation: “i’m thinking. . .”; “this part reminds me of. . .”; “i have a question about. . . .” osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 114 the findings presented here are from a secondary data analysis. in the first analysis, i had looked at the roles both the students and teacher had taken on during the discussions. for students, i found the importance of students sharing their personal narratives to make meaning of the text (osorio, 2015; osorio, 2016a; osorio, 2016b; osorio, 2018b). this sharing of personal narratives is what promoted the development of critical consciousness which was my ultimate goal. when it came to my role as the teacher i saw that i facilitated the discussions by asking questions, reiterating what others said, clarifying information when necessary, pushing students’ thinking, and trying to make it personal for students whenever possible. since i wanted to promote critical consciousness in my students, i wanted to look closer at the following research question: “how can a teacher encourage student vulnerability and sharing of personal narratives?” in the secondary data analysis, i first pulled every example of student sharing their own personal narratives to look at what the teacher did before and after each particular instance. i organized this into a chart and conducted an overall open coding for themes in students’ and teacher’s responses (bogdan & biklen, 2007). the analysis was grounded in the data gathered during the literature discussions: field notes and the transcriptions of the discussions. the analysis began by reading through my field notes and transcripts related to the examples of personal narratives i had pulled from the overall data and by making comments about each of them. i started to notice that at various times throughout the discussions i was sharing personal aspects of my life that i would have never thought i would. i decided to take a closer look at these times of vulnerability. i therefore conducted a more systematic level of analysis using a constant comparative method. i did a more focused coding where i looked for salient categories and wrote initial memos (emerson, fretz, & shaw, 1995). when looking across all my data in a thorough analysis, i realized that if i expected my students to be part of critical conversations and to make themselves vulnerable, then it was important that i, the teacher, did the same. that is what i share here. more specifically, from the start i knew that i wanted to break the mold of the traditional teacher and student roles and instead form a dialectical relationship with my students and develop our critical consciousness. one way i did this was by being vulnerable in the literature discussions. i became a storyteller, sharing stories about my family, about my father growing up, about my own children and some of the expectations i held when it came to the the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 115 spanish language. the following are some examples of how i became vulnerable in front of my students, in order to encourage them to do the same. teacher as storyteller beyond academics most of my students were of mexican descent, a couple of students had family from guatemala, and my family was from colombia. one of the books we read in literature discussion groups was braids/trencitas by kathleen contreras. braids/trencitas is a story about a girl named isabela and her relationship with her grandmother. throughout the book, grandmother braids isabela’s hair and they both use this time to share stories. isabela shares her written stories while grandmother shares her oral stories. isabela then realizes that her grandmother can’t read and teaches her how to do so. during the discussion of the book with alejandra, adriana, sofia, and mercedes (the girls who had chosen this book), i shared what i had written on one of my sticky notes: “yo extraño que nunca tuve abuela.”4 this was something that had always brought me great sadness, but in that moment i felt compelled to share. i went on to explain what i meant: “porque cuando yo nací, mis cuatro abuelos—dos abuelos y dos abuelas—ya se habían muerto.”5 i then continued reading the rest of the sticky note: “entonces, dice, ‘pero las historias me las cuentan mi papá. me encantan las historias que cuenta mi papá.’ ”6 the memory of the stories that my father had told me about his childhood made me smile. i wanted to share with my students that even though i might not have a grandmother like isabela’s to tell me stories, i had another family member who fulfilled that role. by sharing this, i opened up the discussion for my students to share about their grandparents. sofia shared a story about seeing her father cry after learning that his father had died in mexico. she said, “mi abuelo, de mi papá ya está muerto porque estuvo enfermo y no había medicina allá en méxico, entonces está muerto. y le estuve preguntando, ‘papi, ¿porqué estás llorando cuando tu papá se murió?’ ”7 also alejandra shared how her grandmother died in mexico by saying, “a mi mamá 4 translation: “i miss that i never had a grandmother.” 5 translation: “because when i was born, my four grandparents—two grandfathers and two grandmothers—were already dead.” 6 translation: “then it says, ‘but my dad tells me stories. i love the stories my dad tells me.’” 7 translation: “my dad’s grandfather is already dead because he was sick and there wasn’t medicine in mexico, so he is dead. i had been asking, ‘dad, why were you crying when your dad died?’” osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 116 también le pasó eso. se murió su mamá, en mexico. se durmió y ya no despertó.”8 even mercedes, who tended to be one of my quietest students, said, “a mi mamá y papá también.” 9 i had to ask for clarification but found out she still had one grandmother and one grandfather that were still living. through our continued conversation, i also learned that three of my students in the group (adriana, alejandra, and sofia) each had one grandparent in town. for alejandra and adriana, it was the same grandparent because they were cousins. by putting myself in a vulnerable position and sharing a personal story, my students learned a little bit more about me and felt comfortable sharing personal information about themselves. this was us being vulnerable together and beginning to develop critical consciousness. sofia shared some of the social and economic differences between living in mexico and the united states, she felt that mexico didn’t have the medicine necessary to save her grandfather. i had to become more than a teacher; i had to become a storyteller willing to share my own vulnerabilities and struggles. taking the whole student into account during the discussion of the book waiting for papá/esperando a papá by rené colato laínez with my students victor, camila, arcadia, juliana, and lucia, after i shared that i was divorced and my own children did not live with their father, victor shared, “yo tengo dos [papás]: uno que se fue a méxico, y otra acá.”10 arcadia lowered her head and said, “no, no vivo con mi papá.”11 this was a more recent situation for arcadia, so i knew not to push her to speak more about it. i knew that by creating this safe space, she might share more in the future without me having to pry. lucia reflected on how she was happy to have her parents at home with her, but that she really missed her grandparents, “pero los únicos que extraño son mis abuelitos, porque ellos son los que necesitan mucha ayuda.”12 she went on to share that her parents were currently going through the process of becoming u.s. citizens in the hope of bringing her grandparents over. arcadia then asked the group, “¿pórque el papá de beto se fue?”13 i wondered if she was really asking how her own father could leave her. 8 translation: “that happened to my mom too. her mom died, in mexico. she fell asleep and did not wake up.” 9 translation: “my mom and dad too.” 10 translation: “i have two [dads]: one that left for mexico, and another here.” 11 translation: “no, i don’t live with my dad.” 12 translation: “but the only ones i do miss are my grandparents, because they need a lot of help.” 13 translation: “why did beto’s dad leave?” the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 117 the group continued their dialogue, sharing their thoughts about why beto’s dad had left and how that made beto feel. the discussion moved on to the topic of crying when lucia asked why they were crying in the story. we discussed as a group about missing people. i pointed out how many of them had things in common with beto because i knew they had family in other countries, such as mexico. i also shared my own personal experience: “por ejemplo, yo aquí en los estados unidos tengo mi mamá, papá, hermano, y no más. toda mi otra familia está en colombia.”14 this is something i had struggled with my whole life, the fact that i did not have any extended family here in the united states. i had not even really met my extended family until a trip to colombia at the age of 14; i had previously gone to colombia at the age of 2, but did not have any memories of that visit. my students shared that sometimes they feel sad (“triste”) being separated from family. we then tried to think of ways we could unite our families more and not have this sad feeling. victor said that you can talk to your family over the phone. camila shared how she uses skype to video-chat with her family in guatemala. this way they can see her and she gets to see her uncles and cousins. she said they sometimes like to hear her talk in english. our conversation actually enabled us to learn more about each other. for instance, i had learned that victor considered himself as having two fathers: his biological father, who had been deported when he was young, and his mother’s current partner. victor had not spoken to his father in mexico in a while, so i told him that if he brought his father’s phone number, we could call him using skype. i asked his mother for her permission, and she said yes. on a couple of occasions during lunch recess, victor stayed and we skyped with his dad. i thought it was important that i support this relationship, since i knew it was important to victor. this was going beyond the classroom space and academics. though victor’s calls with his father did not directly connect to the academics in the classroom, it was nonetheless extremely important for victor’s overall well-being. by supporting victor in this way, i was able to show him that i truly cared about him beyond how well behaved he was in class and the grades he received on assignments. this experience greatly improved our relationship and further build the trust we had in each other. 14 translation: “for example, here in the united states i have my mom, dad, brother, and no one else. the rest of my family is in colombia.” osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 118 building that connection like most young children, my students loved sharing stories with me, whether or not they were made up. during many of our literature discussions, i shared some of my favorite stories that my father had told me about his childhood growing up in colombia and about his experiences in the united states. during the discussion of braids/trencitas with angel, diego, josé, and sergio, we talked about storytelling. i shared one of my favorite stories about my father when he was young: estaba enfermo con algo y le tocaba ir todos los días al doctor para que le ponga unas vacunas. él fue el primer día y se dio cuenta que eso le dolió mucho entonces él no volvió. lo que hizo es que metió las inyecciones en su mochila. entonces el iba a la escuela y antes de la escuela necesitaba ir al doctor y él le decía a su mama, ‘o sí, mamá, yo fui al doctor.’ y la mamá le decía, ‘¿adónde te chuzo el doctor?’ y él le decía, ‘aquí, mira ese puntito que tengo ahí.’ (students giggle.) y las vacunas, las inyecciones estaban en la mochila. después la mamá encontró todas las vacunas en la mochila, ¿y qué creen que pasó?”15 josé answered, “lo llevaron al doctor.”16 that was correct, so i continued my story. “lo llevaron al doctor y le pusieron todas esas vacunas de una vez en las pompis.”17 (the boys turn to each other and laugh. sergio contorts his face in pain. josé covers his mouth to laugh.) “entonces el doctor le dijo que esté relajado si no se le iba a romper la aguja de la inyección18—(teacher demonstrates with hand how the needle had to go in.)—y él se ponía todo tieso19—(shows tension by squeezing hands together and shaking.)—porque él sabía que le iba a doler, entonces esa es una de mis historias favoritas.20 angel shared that when his mother was young, her mother had died, so he never got the opportunity to meet his grandmother. 15 translation: he was sick with something and he had to go to the doctor every day for them to give him a shot. he went the first day and realized that it hurt a lot so he did not return. what he did was he put the shots into his backpack. so, he would go to school and before school he was supposed to go to the doctor and he would tell his mom, “oh yes, mom, i went to the doctor.” and his mom would ask, “where did the doctor give you the shot?” and he would say, “see this little point right here.” (students giggle.) and all of his shots were in his backpack. later, his mom found all the shots in his backpack and what do you think happened? 16 translation: “they took him to the doctor.” 17 translation: “they took him to the doctor and they gave him all those shots at once on his bottom.” 18 translation: “so the doctor told him to relax because if he didn’t the needle of the shot was going to break—” 19 translation: “—and he would tense up—” 20 translation: “—because he knew it was going to hurt, so that was one of my favorite stories.” the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 119 i shared another story about my father’s childhood during the discussion for braids/trencitas with alejandra, adriana, sofia, and mercedes. we had just been talking about who had grandparents who were alive and who had some who were already deceased. i shared the following story: era que mi papá tenía muchas hermanas y el novio o algo de su hermana, le traía una bolsa a mi papá de bombones. nosotros les decimos bombones, ustedes les dicen paletas o lollipops. él tenía como dos o tres años, mi papá. lo que él hizo es que se metió con esa bolsa grandísima de esos bombones debajo de la cama y se puso a desempacarlos. entonces desempacaba uno, le lambiaba, y lo ponía ahí a su lado, y desenvolvía otro, lo lambiaba, le pusía ahí al otro lado, después era otro, lo lambiaba y pusía otro, después seguía haciendo eso. siguió así hasta que resultó que se quedó dormido debajo de la cama. pues mi abuelita estaba toda preocupada diciendo a dónde se fue el niño, porque era chiquito, dos, tres años, dónde está el niño, dónde está el niño. al fin lo encontraron debajo de la cama, ahí alrededor de él, todos los bombones de la bolsa solo lamíado una vez. uyyyy, en el problema que se metió mi papá. 21 sofia went on to share how her little sister loved stories so much: “mi hermana le gusta leer muchos cuentos y mi mamá dice, ‘no, no, ya no cuento, ya no cuentos, ya es hora de dormir.’ ”22 though sharing these stories was not directly connected to classroom academics, what they did do was show my students that i was a person. i have a family, some of whom lived far away, and many aspects about myself beyond just being a teacher. we were strengthening our relationship through the sharing of our personal narratives. this allowed my students to feel comfortable in them sharing their own stories. not only did i tell stories about my father’s childhood in colombia, but i also talked about his experiences here in the united states. this was a way for my students and i to forge 21 translation: “my dad had lots of sisters and it one of their boyfriends brought my dad a big bag of lollipops (bombones). we call them “bombones,” you call them “paletas” or “lollipops.” he was like two or three years old, my dad. what he did was he took the big bag of lollipops with him under the bed and started unwrapping them. he would unwrap one, lick it, and put it to the side and then unwrap another, lick it, and put it to the other side, then it was another, lick it and put it to the side, he kept doing that. he kept doing that until he fell asleep under the bed. well my grandmother was all worried, asking where was her baby, because he was little, two or three, where was her baby. they finally found him under the bed, surrounded by the whole bag of lollipops that he had licked each of them one time. ohhhh, the trouble my dad was in.” 22 translation: “my sister likes to read lots of stories and my mom says no, no, no more stories, no more stories, it’s time to go to bed.” osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 120 connections across our similar experiences. most of my students were u.s. citizens, much like myself, with parents who were either undocumented or going through the process of becoming a u.s. citizen, just as my parents had been and done. during the discussion of the book from north to south/del norte al sur by rené colato laínez with alejandra, juliana, and lucia, i told such a story. this book was about a boy named, josé who is separated from his mother after she is deported to tijuana. josé and his father cross the border from san diego to tijuana in order to visit his mother, who is staying in a refugee home. we had been discussing why and how josé’s mother had been deported while she worked in a factory, and whether my students ever knew anyone who had been deported. lucia shared how an uncle had been detained and that her family was still unsure if he would be deported. alejandra shared that her father had been stopped during a trip to chicago: “mi papá, un día que fuimos para chicago, le dijeron que ya nunca podía manejar.”23 juliana said that her own father might be deported. i shared an experience that my father had at work: mi papá trabajaba en una factoría. ya está retirado. era una fábrica donde se empacaban alimentos para otras compañías como kraft, mccormick, y el ejército de estados unidos. todo esto, se despachaba, en grandes camiones a sus lugares de destino. ahí trabajaba con un compadre guatemalteco. un día, llegaron los agentes de inmigración, buscando a alguién. el compadre se puso muy nervioso, pues no tenía papeles. estaba asustado que lo iban a deportar a guatemala. entonces mi papá lo escondió en un tumbo, una cosa donde se empacan cosas, que estaba vacío, lo metió y lo tapó. entonces inmigración pasó, porque lo que hacía inmigración era que pasaban preguntado y pidiendo papeles, los papeles donde decía quién es y esto y lo otro, y lo deportaban. los agentes terminaron su inspección y el compadre pasó el mal rato, ya más tranquilo. 24 23 translation: “my dad, one day we went with him to chicago, they (police) told him never to drive again.” 24 translation: “my dad worked in a factory. he is already retired. it was a factory where they packaged products for other companies like kraft, mccormick, and the u.s. army. all of this was packaged in large trucks and sent to their destination. one day immigration officials arrived, they were looking for someone. my dad’s friend got super nervous because he did not have papers. he was afraid that they would deport him back to guatemala. so, my dad hid him in a container, a thing where they pack things, but it was empty. he put him in there and covered it, then immigration passed, because what immigration would do was pass by and ask for papers, the papers that say who you are and everything and then deport them. the agents finished their inspection and my dad’s friend’s bad ordeal was finally over. he began to calm down.” the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 121 i shared this story in order to help explain how the detainment of josé’s mother in the story might have happened. the experiences that my students had shared about deportation had all taken place during engagements with police, but in the story from north to south/del norte al sur and in my own father’s experience, it was the immigration enforcement agencies (i.c.e.). i also shared this story to show some of the similarities and differences between my students and me. my students knew that some of their parents were undocumented and that someday their parents might be deported. i grew up with parents who were undocumented but i did not live with the fear many of my students seemed to be living with on a daily basis. learning together we used stories not only to go beyond academics and bring in all aspects of our lives, but also to learn from each other. many times, i shared stories about my own children. at the time i had two sons, who my students knew because they attended the same school, though my sons were in lower grades. during the discussion of the book waiting for papá/esperando a papá with my students victor, camila, arcadia, juliana, and lucia, we talked about how beto’s dad stayed behind because he had to work in order to make money, that he needed money in order to survive and pay for bills. i shared how my son pepito always says, “yo quiero esto, yo quiero esto”25 (as he points to different things). “y a pepito le digo, no hay dinero para todas esas cosas.”26 lucia then shared how she sometimes asks for things, but realizes there isn’t money so she tells her mother that maybe when there is money she can get it. she said, “mi mamá a veces dice eso. yo le digo a mi mamá que es mejor no me lo compre que otro día cuando tenemos dinero.”27 i responded by saying, “claro. es lo que yo digo. no se puede comprar todo porque lo más importante es los dos tener una casa donde vivir, ropa para ponerse, comida para comer.”28 lucia went on to share how poor children are more important than toys “ni modo porque hay niños allí ni tienen juguetes, ni carro, ni nada.”29 she went on to say, “los niños pobres son más importante que los juguetes, porque dicen que, 25 translation: “i want this. i want that.” 26 translation: “and i have to tell pepito, there isn’t money for all those things.” 27 translation: “my mom sometimes says that. i tell my mom that it’s better she doesn’t buy it for me, but she can buy it another day when we have money.” 28 translation: “of course. that’s what i say. we can’t buy everything, but the most important thing is for the two of them to have a house to live in, clothes to put on, and food to eat.” 29 translation: “because there are children there that don’t even have toys, or a car, or anything.” osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 122 si eres rico y dices, ‘ah, yo soy rico’ (singing), dice a veces te puede pasar algo.”30 she ended with how we should be helping. here the students and i are discussing our connections to issues in the larger social context; building our critical consciousness. while i was their teacher for this particular grade level, i was still supporting them in the process of becoming active participants in our democratic society. during our discussion about pepita talks twice/pepita habla dos veces by ofelia dumas luchtman with guillermo, sofia, and carlos, we began to discuss who in the story spoke spanish, who in the story spoke english, and who spoke both languages. the book is about a girl named pepita who is a spanish–english bilingual child who always had to interpret for different people in the neighborhood. she tires of interpreting and decides to give up one of her languages—spanish. this comes with its own set of problems. during one of our discussions, i shared with my students the expectation i have for my children about speaking spanish. i told my students about my household rule that only spanish be spoken at home: cuando pepito y poncho están jugando y están hablando inglés, yo les estoy gritando, si yo los oigo abajo jugando y digo, ‘¡hablen español! ustedes saben que se hablan español en esta casa.’ entonces yo los regaño.”31 carlos asked why and i went on to explain: porque ellos saben inglés, ellos saben inglés, pero quiero que practiquen español, porque el español yo tengo miedo que se les vaya a olvidar. el inglés, mucha gente aquí habla inglés, ¿verdad? ellos cuando van a otras cosas necesitan habar inglés, entonces en la casa es que necesitan hablar español, porque necesitan practicar el español, porque sin practicarlo, se les va a olvidar.32 i was sharing with my students my own personal expectation and belief about the spanish language use for my children as a way for them to see the value in it and hopefully encourage their use of spanish as well. the reason i did this was that i felt that many times my students were getting a very different message from the media, the school, and even sometimes their parents. the 30 translation: “the poor kids are more important than toys, because they say that if you think you are rich and say ‘i am rich’ [singing] they say sometimes bad things can happen to you.” 31 translation: “when pepito and poncho are playing and speaking english, i yell at them if i hear them downstairs playing. i say, ‘speak spanish! you guys know that we speak spanish in this house.’ then i yell at them.” 32 translation: “because they know english, they know english, but they need to practice their spanish, because the spanish, i am afraid they are going to forget. the english, lots of people speak english, right? when they go to different places they need to speak english, so at home they need to speak spanish, because they need to practice spanish, because without practicing they are going to forget.” the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 123 message my students received often was that they had to give up spanish, their native language, in order to learn english. this could sometimes come in direct communication (ex. “speak english please.”) or in subtle messages, like the fact that as students moved up in grade levels, the number of english-language subjects increased. i was sending a very different message; one in which the spanish language should be kept and promoted. just as i expected spanish to be spoken in my household, i also expected my students to speak spanish during our time together. i never forced a student to do so, but i always encouraged them to use spanish whenever possible. based on my own experiences growing up, i did not want my students to feel like they needed to choose one language or another. my students and i had many conversations about the benefits of bilingualism, the importance of keeping both languages, and how that is a part of our identity. conclusion this article focused on how, i, as the teacher had to demonstrate vulnerability and share personal narratives if i wanted my students to do the same. instead of seeing vulnerability as a weakness, it was a strength in my classroom. this is similar to how bhattacharya (2016) found vulnerability as a strength in academic spaces. this was just a different space and with students who were much younger. even though my students and i never explicitly discussed being vulnerable, by the fact that i was willing to share personal narratives with my students we were able to build trust and respect in our relationship. this article presents one example of how it can be done in an early childhood setting during the implementation of literature discussions. by being vulnerable together, making connections and finding ourselves in each other’s stories we were able to have critical conversations on topics such as immigration, bilingualism, and family. there is not enough room to go into depth about the students’ discussions around these topics. those discussions can be found elsewhere (osorio, 2015; osorio, 2016a; osorio, 2016b; osorio, 2018b). one of my biggest learning revelations from participating in literature discussions with my students was the fact that i, as the teacher, had to be vulnerable in order to truly build a trusting relationship. i had to share with my students that i was more than just a teacher; i was a mother, a daughter, a bilingual student. freire (1970) calls this blurring the lines of the teacher-student relationship in order to promote critical consciousness. there has been previous research that demonstrated critical consciousness development (denicolo & franquiz, 2006; lopezosorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 124 robertson, 2004; san pedro, 2017; souto-manning, 2010a; souto-manning, 2010b), but this article focused on the role of the teacher. the stories i shared were never planned beforehand trying to get the students to go in a certain direction. they all came up naturally during the conversation, most of the time building off of what a student was saying. i realized through this process that in order to be a true conversation partner, i had to be willing to get personal. relationships are one of the beginning pieces for encouraging students to share their own personal narratives. a teacher has to be willing to become a storyteller. in order to do so he or she has to be willing to move beyond academics, take the whole child into consideration, build connections and learn together. the only way to truly do this is for the teacher to be vulnerable with his or her students. vulnerability means being willing to share aspects of your own humanity, not just what make up your teacher identity but what makes you, you. for example, ms. bee did this by sharing her own story about being a survivor of abuse and her attempted suicide (san pedro, 2017). these topics were appropriate given she was working with high school students. for me the identities i decided to share were a mother raising bilingual children, a daughter of immigrants and a teacher wanting to create a classroom that sustained all the linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism that were a part of my students. one aspect that cannot be ignored is the use of literature that was representative of my students’ lived experiences. i had decided to bring in latinx children’s literature because i did not feel that the required district basal reader, accurately reflected the experiences of my students. i know that i would not have been able to have the same level of vulnerability if i had not drastically changed the type of literature we were reading and discussing. if i wanted to have critical conversations with my students, i had to choose the literature i brought into my classroom carefully. it is not just about bringing in the literature into the classroom, but what you do with it (osorio, 2018a). i had some similarities with my students in that we both came from latinx backgrounds, even though the majority of my students were of mexican descent and i was colombian, we nonetheless all grew up speaking spanish. we also had our share of differences: i had grown up lower middle-class while the majority of my students were from working class families. even if a teacher is not from a similar background as their student, as the majority of teachers are not today, there are still ways to be vulnerable and connect with your students on a personal level. one such example was my opening vignette when i shared with my students that my children the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 125 don’t live with their father. my divorce was something very personal to me that i did not share with many. but i shared this fact with my students because it specifically connected to the discussion we were having. they were being vulnerable and sharing how it felt for some of them to be apart from their fathers, and i felt that the only acceptable response was for me to be vulnerable with my students as well. it doesn’t matter who you are, you can still take steps to build a stronger relationship with your students and work on implementing a pedagogy that helps sustain the linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism present in today’s classrooms. osorio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 126 references august, d., & hakuta, k. (1997). improving schooling for language minority children: a research agenda. washington, dc: national academy press. august, d., & shanahan, t. (2006). synthesis: instruction and professional development. in d. august & t. shanahan (eds.), report of the national literacy panel on language-minority children and youth (pp. 351–363). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. bogdan, r. c. & biklen, s. k. (2007). qualitative research for education: an introduction to theories and methods. boston, ma: pearson. denicolo, c. p. & franquiz, m. e. (2006). “do i have to say it?”: critical encounters with multicultural children’s literature. language arts, 84(2), 157-170. emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i. & shaw, l. l. (1995). writing ethnographic fieldnotes. chicago, il: university of chicago press. francis, d. j., lesaux, n. k., & august, d. (2006). language of instruction. in d. august & t. shanahan (eds.), report of the national literacy panel on language-minority children and youth (pp. 365–414). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. lópez-robertson, j. (2004). crossing consciousness: a literature discussion exploring friends from the other side. colombian applied linguistic journal, 6, 58-76. martínez-roldán, c. m. (2005). the inquiry acts of bilingual children in literature discussions. language arts, 83, 22–32. retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/journals martínez-roldán, c. m. & lópez-robertson, j. m. (1999/2000). initiating literature circles in a first-grade bilingual classroom. the reading teacher, 53(4), 270-281. osorio, s. (2012). letting go: the multiple roles of a teacher in literature discussions. journal of classroom research in literary, 5, 3-15. osorio, s. (2015). “qué es deportar?” teaching from students’ lives. rethinking schools, 30, 2832. osorio, s. (2016a). border stories: using critical race and latino critical theories to understand the experiences of latino/a children. race ethnicity and education. doi: 10.1080/13613324.2016.1195351 osorio, s. (2016b). one test is not enough: getting to really know your students. in w. parnell & j. m. iorio (eds.). disrupting early childhood education research: imagining new possibilities. new york, ny: routledge osorio, s. (2018a). multicultural literature as a classroom tool. multicultural perspectives, 20(1), 47-52. doi:10.1080/15210960.2018.1408348 osorio, s. (2018b). towards a humanizing pedagogy: using latinx children’s literature with early childhood students. bilingual research journal, 41(1), 5-22. doi:10.1080/15235882.2018.1425165 rolstad, k., mahoney, k., & glass, g. v. (2005). the big picture: a meta-analysis of program effectiveness research on english language learners. educational policy, 19, 572-592. doi:10.1177/0895904805278067 https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2018.1408348 https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1425165 the vulnerable teacher association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 127 slavin, r. e., & cheung, a. (2003). effective reading programs for english language learners: a bestevidence synthesis. baltimore, md: johns hopkins university center for research on the education of students placed at risk (crespar). retrieved from http://www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techreports/report66.pdf souto-manning, m. (2010a). freire, teaching, and learning; culture circles across contexts. new york, ny: peter lang. souto-manning, m. (2010b). multicultural teaching in the early childhood classroom: approaches, strategies, and tools preschool-2nd grade. new york, ny: teachers college press. valencia, r. r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. new york, ny: routledge. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 2 2019 amae special issue critical latinx indigeneities and education guest editors luis urrieta, jr. university of texas at austin melissa mesinas stanford university ramón antonio martínez stanford university antonio j. camacho amae, inc. editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ barillas chón 15 indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power: race, labor, and language david w. barillas chón university of denver abstract one highly significant yet under-investigated source of variation within the latinx education scholarship are indigenous immigrants from latin america. this study investigates how maya and other indigenous recent immigrant youth from guatemala and mexico, respectively, understand indigeneity. using a critical latinx indigeneities analytic, along with literature on the coloniality of power and settler-colonialism, i base my findings on a year-long qualitative study of eight self-identifying indigenous youth from guatemala and mexico and highlight two emergent themes: youth’s understanding of (a) asymmetries of power based on division of labor, and (b) language hierarchies. i propose that race is a key component that contributes to the reproduction of divisions of labor and the subaltern positioning of indigenous languages. findings from this study provide linguistic, economic, and historical contexts of maya and other indigenous immigrants’ lived experiences to educators and other stakeholders in public schools working with immigrant latinx populations. key words: critical latinx indigeneities, indigenous youth, coloniality doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.427 association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.425 indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 16 introduction latinxs1 continue to be the largest racialized and minoritized group in the united states (humes, jones, & ramirez, 2011; stepler & lopez, 2016) and its public schools (u.s. department of education, 2017). the number of recent unaccompanied minors coming into the u.s. from mexico and central america (donato & sisk, 2015), however, is currently changing the composition of latinxs. many of the recent unaccompanied youth from guatemala, for instance, come from rural, often predominantly maya, regions such as the western highlands (stinchcomb & hershberg, 2014). destinations for the majority of the new maya immigrant populations are urban centers that have historically consisted of mexican immigrant and/or mexican-descent communities (peñalosa, 1984). this new maya immigrant population is changing the latinx student demographic in urban public schools (lópez & irizarry, 2019). such new change requires of educators, including teachers, practitioners, school staff, and researchers, working with recent immigrants from latin america to understand the markedly different experiences of maya and other indigenous2 youth in their countries of origin and their new contexts of reception (dabach, 2014; peñalosa, 1984). recently, latinx education scholars have started to investigate the experiences of indigenous immigrants, primarily from southern mexico, mapping out identity development (gonzalez, 2019; kovats sánchez, 2018), post-primary and secondary schooling experiences (casanova, 2012; casanova, o’connor & anthony-stevens, 2016), linguistic diversity and characteristics (pérez, vasquez, & buriel, 2016), and pedagogical interventions based on linguistic and cultural assets (menchaca bishop & kelley, 2013; ruiz & barajas, 2012; velasco, 2010). others have examined negative experiences indigenous youth face in and out of school contexts (barillas chón, 2010; stephen, 2007; urrieta, 2003). these studies are important contributions to an emerging field of indigenous immigrant studies; however, they do not investigate the experiences of recent maya immigrants nor sufficiently address indigenous immigrants’ self-understandings of indigeneity. 1 latinx is used as a gender inclusive term with those traditionally not included in the gendered uses of latina, latino, latina/o, or latin@ in the field of education. 2 in this study, “indigenous” refers to a self-understanding process contributing to indigenous group belonging and identification (urrieta, 2018). barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 17 the purpose of this study is to investigate how recent maya immigrant youth from guatemala and recent indigenous immigrant youth from mexico understand indigeneity. i point out that the ways youth make sense of indigeneity is through their experiences with and understanding of asymmetrical relationships of power based on the dynamics of race, labor, and language in guatemala, mexico, and the u.s. i rely on a “critical latinx indigeneities” (cli) analytic developed by blackwell, boj lopez, and urrieta (2017) that accounts for the “coconstitutive relationships of multiple contexts of power and multiple colonialities” (p. 127) present in indigenous immigrant experiences. critical latinx indigeneities assists in analyzing flows of understandings the maya and indigenous youth engage in as they simultaneous make sense of their experiences in the u.s. and places of origin from their new contexts of reception. youth’s flow of understandings reveals layers of coloniality present in their indigenous experiences. empirically, findings from this study provide cultural, linguistic, and historical contexts of recent maya immigrant youth’s lived experiences to educators and other stakeholders in public schools. additionally, this study highlights the importance of utilizing analytics that foreground power and overlapping colonialities. critical latinx indigeneities analytic gives crucial insights into how indigenous youth make sense of power matrices and different colonialities that overlap in the u.s. the following is the structure of this paper. first, i describe the importance of utilizing cli as an analytic that expands understanding of indigenous immigrant experiences. this is followed by a description of the methodology that includes a discussion of my positionality as maya and immigrant. i include my positionality because it informed the focus and purpose of this study. i then discuss the major findings of the study: youth’s understanding of (a) asymmetries of power based on divisions of labor, and (b) language hierarchies. i argue that there is a racialization of labor and language produced by overlapping colonialities that contribute to asymmetries of power. additionally, i propose that outcomes of overlapping colonialities is the subaltern positioning of indigenous languages and the reproduction of divisions of labor. i conclude by providing recommendations for educators working with indigenous immigrant youth. analytic framework indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 18 analyzing the experiences of indigenous immigrants from latin america require expanding the usual analytics used in the study of latinx immigration to include examinations of the complex social dynamics of race, indigeneity, power, and colonialities. critical latinx indigeneities has taken on this task. blackwell et al. (2017) developed cli to understand the multiple contexts of power and multiple colonialities present, sometimes as overlapping structures, in the experiences of indigenous immigrants from latin america. critical latinx indigeneities’ interdisciplinary approach allows the use of distinct frames developed in latin america and the u.s. to address racial constructions, power dynamics, and colonialities that overlap in the lived experiences of indigenous immigrants. frames that i find complimentary to cli are coloniality of power and settler-colonialism. the “coloniality of power” frame was initially developed by quijano (2000) to conceptualize an axis of power based on the relationships between the construction of race and global capitalism. subsequent scholarship has built on quijano’s original work by examining relationships and dynamic of power between literacy (e.g., mignolo, 1995) and personhood formations (e.g., maldonado-torres, 2007). a coloniality of power frame gives us insights into the importance of spanish in latin america for maintaining power imbalances through the creation of racial categories, which became reified through linguistic practices (dussel, 1995; mignolo, 1995; rama, 1996). in guatemala and mexico, for instance, spanish is the primary language of instruction, learning, labor, and social interactions. the coloniality of power allows us to see that intentions behind teaching in spanish are to create a uniformity of language while simultaneously erasing indigenous languages and identities. these intentions and practices are rooted in the colonization of the americas and the ontological and epistemological distinctions established by colonizers between western europeans and the newly invented indio racial category. specifically, racial differences were created in order to establish and sustain power regimes and relationships of marginality between western europeans and the indio (dussel, 1995; mignolo, 1995; quijano, 2000; quijano & wallesrtein, 1992). moreover, such differences were transformed into values whereby western europeans were seen as fully human and indigenous people as sub-human. therefore, all that was connected to indigeneity, that is, to a perceived inferiority, needed to be done away with. instruments for sustaining this regime of power and differences in the americas were race, spanish, and the accompanied hierarchies of race and language (mignolo, 1995). barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 19 in the u.s., settler-colonialism operates as a distinct structure (wolfe, 1999) 3. the basis for settler-colonialism was not originally race, but the dispossession of indigenous people from the original lands they inhabited. nonetheless, settler-colonialism, like coloniality, share the goal of indigenous erasure. some methods of indigenous erasure are the establishment of citizenship categories and construction of race (wolfe, 2006). for instance, the u.s. war against mexico (1846-48) resulted in the creation of citizenship types linked to land, which then re-articulated racial categories. thus, indigenous mexicans living in what was once mexico not only became “illegal” in the lands they originated from, but also non-indigenous according to u.s. racial formulations. exercising power against indigenous communities in the settler-colonial u.s., unlike in latin america, was based on proving how white indigenous people were in order to claim ownership of land. the whiter, the less claims indigenous people had to land. the case of indigenous mexican immigrants, thus, requires us to expand analytics used to understand indigenous migration to the u.s. the cli analytic and complementary frames such as coloniality of power and settlercolonialism help us understand the multiple contexts of power and overlapping colonialities that indigenous immigrants experience. coloniality of power points out racial constructions in latin america tied to labor, race, and language. settler-colonialism illustrates relationships between indigenous erasure and citizenship categories. thus, cli allows us to see “contemporary migration as a continual consequence of settler colonialism” (saldaña-portillo, 2017, p. 143) that intersects with colonialities and racial formations specific to latin america. methodology this study is based on a year-long (2015-2016) basic qualitative research of eight selfidentified indigenous and recent immigrant male youth, between 16-20 year of age, from guatemala and mexico, in northwest high (nh)4. the focal youth consisted of six maya youth from guatemala’s western highlands: edward, weas, joaquín, elías, antonio, and hernández. the remaining youth, adler and pedro, were from the mexican states of morelos and oaxaca, respectively. while adler and pedro did not provide specific ethnic identifications (e.g., zapoteco, tlapaneco, nahua, etc.), i include their experiences because they contribute to 3 see m. bianet castellano (2017) for a thorough discussion of debates regarding settler-colonialism as an appropriate analytic for understanding power dynamics in latin america. 4 pseudonyms were used for names of all participants and of places. indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 20 broader understandings of how recent indigenous immigrants make sense of indigeneity. at the time of the first interview, the youth had been in the u.s. between 6-24 months. primary methods for gathering data consisted of semi-structured interviews with the focal indigenous youth and three non-indigenous latinx peers. all interviews with youth lasted between 30-90 minutes and were conducted in spanish. other data consisted of classroom and school observations. northwest high, located in evergreen, a midsize metropolitan city in the pacific northwest, was selected as the site for this study because it functioned as a newcomer center and high school, and it was in the midst of experiencing an increase of maya students from guatemala. originally designed to be a newcomer center, nh served as a transitional space to orient recent immigrants to life in the u.s., help them gain english language skills, and then transfer them to a neighborhood school5. at the time this study took place, nh had transitioned into full high school status, serving 6th-12th grade levels. the student population was diverse in terms of culture, language, and immigrant status. for instance, during the 2013-2014 school year, spanish was the leading language spoken by the student population (29%) followed by chinese (16%), vietnamese (12%) and somali (11%). of the latinx student population (46 students) during those years, only six were identified as speaking an indigenous language. i learned through informal conversations with a staff in charge of student enrollment that the number of indigenous language speakers from latin america during the 2013-2014 academic year was underreported. given the nature of the school serving as a transitional space for recent immigrants, the student population was constantly shifting. therefore, there were no consistent records indicating indigenous language speaking student populations from latin america in the school during the time of this study. it was primarily through my volunteering, starting in the fall of 2014, that i got to know many of the latin american youth at the school, including those that participated in this study. other ways i met students was through recruitment methods in which i asked for participation from students who self-identified as indigenous, were immigrants to the u.s., between the ages of 15 and 20 years, and had a working understanding of spanish. i narrowed the age group to 5 northwest high is an “option” school, meaning that students are given the option of attending, remaining, or leaving the school at any time. varied reasons affecting students’ attendance include immigration status, work opportunities, family circumstances, or option of attending a neighborhood school. barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 21 15-20 years of age because most of the indigenous youth i had established relationships with were between these age ranges. i focused on students who had a working understanding of spanish simply because i am a spanish speaker. i realize the importance of gender and i made every effort possible to provide an equal representation of gender in this study. however, none of the young indigenous women i met who fit my criteria were willing to participate in this study. it is possible that including their understanding of indigeneity might have provided different insights into racial constructions, power dynamics, and other claims made in this study6. peers often play significant roles in youth’s self-perceptions. moreover, they can impact youth’s self-understanding in negative and positive ways (steinberg & morris, 2001). peers were interviewed in order to understand their perceptions of indigenous people in their countries of origin and in the u.s. the peers in this study consisted of three recent immigrant male spanishspeaking youth from el salvador and guatemala who were students at nh. these peers did not self-identify as indigenous. similar to the youth in this study, i am a member of the maya diaspora who at one point was an undocumented immigrant. not being satisfied with traditional analytics use to understand latinx immigrants and then applied to the experiences of indigenous immigrants like myself, i turned to cli. critical latinx indigeneities affords me the opportunity to incorporate multiple frames that examine how different contexts of power and colonialities overlap in my own lived experiences and those of other maya and indigenous immigrants. my personal engagement in processes of indigenous remembrance and reclamation (barillas chón, 2019) along with my work with immigrant and indigenous communities over the last twelve years, have provided me with specific knowledge about the lives of immigrant and indigenous people. in this case, i am an “insider” (banks, 1998) to the focal youth in this study and their lived experiences. however, my age, documented status, research position, and doctoral degree among other identities that mark differences in power dynamics also makes me an outsider. foregrounding my positionality as an insider also does not guarantee a complete and full awareness of the youth’s lived experiences. in fact, my “outsiderness” secures me a limited understanding of the youth’s sense-making. additionally, it is quite possible that my 6 for a more flushed out conversation on gender and indigenous migration see blackwell (2010, 2017). indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 22 interpretation of the youth’s lived experiences and understandings are different than their own interpretations. therefore, all interpretations being made about the youth’s experiences and sense-making in this study reflects a partial understanding of them. it is not my intention to make generalizations regarding all maya and indigenous immigrant youth. rather, my aims are twofold. first, to investigate the experiences of a specific set of maya and indigenous youth and make a type of localized generalization that is specific to the youth in this study. this localized generalization can be used to contextualize the experiences of other maya and indigenous immigrant youth throughout the u.s. my second goal is to expand the cli analytic employed in making sense of indigenous immigrant’s experiences and understandings by including racialized labor incorporation as an important category of analysis. findings division of labor and race the youth in this study made sense of indigeneity through their experiences with and understanding of asymmetries of power based on divisions of labor in guatemala and mexico. important to notice in this section are the youth’s awareness of the mutual relationship between labor and language. in the next section i take a closer examination at how this division of labor has a relationship with language hierarchies identified by the youth. i propose that race is a key component that contributes to divisions of labor and language hierarchies. the youth in this study were keenly aware that spanish was the language of economic power in their countries of origin. exemplifying this point was adler’s statement regarding how people in mexico were able to obtain jobs: “well, [the language]…that was spoken the most [in mexico] was spanish, and based on that, you could get more jobs…and they [employers] would even ask you, ‘do you speak spanish or other [language]?’ and when you said you spoke spanish, ‘ok. we’ll hire you tomorrow. come at this time.’” while adler pointed out that spanish speakers were more likely to find work or be hired than non-spanish speakers, weas discussed the differences in jobs available to spanish versus k’iche’ speakers. he commented that spanish was important to speak in guatemala and further elaborated by saying that those that “habla[n] bien español y tiene[n] un buen estudio” (“speak spanish well and have a good education”) had better jobs than k’iche’ only speakers. when i asked weas what types of work k’iche’ speakers did, he said, “agricultura. sembrando maíz. trabajo duro” or “agriculture. sowing corn. hard labor.” barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 23 apparent in the youth’s accounts are understandings of a direct relationship between spanish and the types of jobs, along with economic opportunities, available to spanish speakers. for example, weas believed that learning spanish, along with a good education, could lead to jobs that were not confined to outside, hard, manual labor. weas and adler demonstrated awareness of relationships between divisions of labor and language. however, with the exception of edward, the youth did not make any explicit connections to the role that race played in job obtainment. in guatemala, edward worked in construction and selling clothes and explained that “[one that] works in the campo, in construction, that is an indio [indian]”7. here, edward identified a relationship between labor and race that he did not further unpack. building on his insight, i posit that there is a racialization of labor that parallels divisions of labor established by the coloniality of power. for quijano, the coloniality of power established racial hierarchies and a new global capitalism that had a direct and reinforcing relationship to labor divisions (quijano & wallesrtein, 1992). quijano (2000) noted, that “the new historical identities produced around the foundation of the idea of race in the new global structure of the control of labor were associated with social roles and geohistorical places” (p. 536). thus, the new global economic structure imposed a systemic racial division of labor in which each form of “labor control was associated with a particular race” (p. 537). moreover, the control of a particular form of labor was at the same time the control of a particular racial group. in latin america, the racial groups created were the western european and the range of non-western european, including indio/as. indigenous people, because of their ontological and epistemological position as inferior human beings, were relegated to manual, and in many cases, indentured servitude; whereas white western europeans placed themselves in the top division of labor, often remaining there through exploitative policies (rama, 1996). for quijano, this new technology of domination/exploitation, manifested as race/labor, “was articulated in such a way that the two elements appeared naturally associated” (p. 537). the coloniality of power articulated race and labor in such a way that they both became structurally linked and mutually reinforcing. there is a connection between race and labor evident in the youth’s personal work experience as well as in their explanation of the types of 7 edward used “indio” as synonymous to indigenous people. indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 24 work indigenous language speakers in their countries of origin did. table 1 illustrates the relationships between indigenous language and labor histories in countries of origin and the u.s. table 1 relationships between indigenous languages and labor8 name indigenous language: community of origin labor of community of origin labor of family in country of origin youth’s labor: country of origin youth’s labor: u.s. hernández mam campesinos n/d started working at 12 years old dishwasher pedro n/d campesinos campesino campesino dishwasher edward k’iche’ campesinos textile and artisanal work retail and construction work cook/dishwasher part-time janitor adler náhuatl campesinos campesino n/d painting houses with father weas k’iche’ campesinos campesino non-wage campesino work dishwasher joaquín k’iche’ campesinos campesino worked at wholesale of onions restaurant work elías k’iche’ campesinos campesino and merchant non-wage campesino work not working 8 “n/d” indicates no data. also, no information is provided for antonio barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 25 the table shows that across indigenous groups in my study there is a relationship between the types of labor done in the communities the youth originated from and indigenous languages. in this relationship, indigenous language speakers’ labor was characterized as general work in “agricultura” (agriculture) and “campo” (field). subsistence living such as harvesting, sowing corn, and “vender lo que ellos hacen mismo” or “sell whatever they themselves made” (elías) characterized some of the youth’s families’ socioeconomic background, including their labor. most of the youth described the types of labor indigenous language speakers did as campesino work. weas described this type of work as “hard labor,” because as adler said, it was “labor under the sun” that was “muy mala para la gente” or “very bad for people.” there were some exceptions to this pattern, however, as for edward, indigenous people also worked in construction or in textiles (crafts). seen in this table is also a relationship between their families’ labor and their indigenous language use. hernández, edward, weas, elías, and joaquín were born to parents (or grandparents who raised them as it was the case with elías) whose primary (or only) language was k’iche’ or mam. pedro was the only youth who was not born into an indigenous speaking family. additionally, five out of the seven youth originated from families with some history of being campesinos. we see in the table that two out of the three youth that worked for wages associated with campesino labor were primarily k’iche’ speakers (edward and joaquín). out of those who did not work for wages (weas and elías), one was primarily a k’iche’ speaker (weas), and both helped family with campesino work. the table also evidences that indigenous language speakers—as illustrated by the indigenous languages spoken by the youth, their families, and/or their linguistic communities— were relegated to specific labor sectors. more specifically, indigenous language speakers were most likely to be campesinos or do manual labor associated with campesino work. i posit that this demonstrates a division of labor along the lines of race. what is more, such racial/division of labor parallels the coloniality of power whereby indigenous people occupy the lower ranks of the division of labor. for the youth, other forms of labor, that paid better and was less physically demanding, was reserved for spanish speakers. stephen (2007) described a similar labor division along the lines of race that took place in the agricultural work between immigrant oaxacans and non-indigenous spanish-speaking mexican workers in the u.s. because her analysis is situated in the u.s, it provides insights into how colonialities overlap. stephen wrote that the intersections of “the hierarchies of color indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 26 found in mexico, on the u.s. border, and in mexican communities throughout the united states” results in “formidable hierarchy of power differences experienced in its most intensified form by recent undocumented indigenous workers who come from rural mexico” (p. 176). stephen’s work illustrates a hierarchy of labor reflecting a hierarchy of race present in agricultural work in the u.s. stephen described how indigenous migrant workers were often under the direct surveillance of and economic exploitation from non-indigenous/non-indigenous speaking, mexicans. according to stephen (2007), non-indigenous/non-indigenous speaking mexican foremen would identify indigenous workers in order to exploit their labor. indigenous migrants were in turn dependent on these spanish-speaking foremen as intermediaries because they shared a language in common. the exploitation of mexican indigenous labor by their mexican co-workers illustrates overlapping colonialities. many mexicans are mestizos, however, their indigenous roots often are de-emphasized, and in many cases erased. one reason for de-emphasizing their indigenous ancestry is that mestizos, depending on their skin color, education, and language, benefit from the race/labor division made possible by “hierarchies of economic, legal, and cultural power” (stephen, 2007, p. 176) that are foundational to a settler-colonial state. these hierarchies of power overlap with racial/labor dynamics reproduced in mexico, creating “hybrid hegemonies” (blackwell, 2010). the consequence is that agribusinesses take advantage of racial divisions maintained in mexico to utilize non-indigenous/non-indigenous-speaking mexicans to exploit the labor of indigenous/indigenous-speaking mexicans. the division of labor, within marginalized labor, in the u.s. was evident in the type of jobs the youth in this study held. for example, two-thirds of the youth in this study did restaurant work. it is quite possible that the metropolitan location in the pacific northwest where the youth lived contributed to the types of work they did. researchers on agricultural and social networks (e.g., runsten & kearney, 2004) point to how migrant workers use networks to secure jobs. one result of these networks is the concentration of particular migrants in specific geographic sectors associated with agricultural work. while the youth in this study did not work as migrants, it is quite possible that they relied on labor networks to secure restaurant work. for example, hernández, weas, and edward got their jobs because of family connections. lópez and runsten (2004), in their investigation of the labor sectors indigenous immigrants from southern mexico end up in, showed that mixtecos’ labor was barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 27 concentrated in california’s agricultural sector, while zapotecos worked in urban service sectors doing restaurant related work. in my study, the youth’s work history in the u.s. reflected the types of work indigenous zapotecos did in urban sectors. what i want to highlight here is that there are other interpretations situated in overlapping colonialities that account for why two-thirds of the youth in this study ended up doing restaurant work, dishwashing in particular. critical latinx indigeneities allows us to see that structural practices, which are a product of overlapping colonialities, contribute to divisions of labor reflecting the division of race in guatemala, mexico, and the u.s. language hierarchies and race another way youth made sense of indigeneity was through their understanding of asymmetries of power based on language hierarchies. here, i discuss how language hierarchies parallels a division of labor established by the coloniality of power. specifically, i argue that similar to labor divisions, race is a key component that informs hierarchies of language. i begin with two quotations, one from antonio and one from adler, to show youth’s awareness of and understanding of language hierarchies in guatemala, mexico, and the u.s. asked about the importance of indigenous languages, referred to as “dialectos” by the youth, antonio said, in guatemala, some people have told me, because dialecto is only used in your town with those that understand it. on the other hand, spanish is utilized in different countries. in other places. well then, “don’t use it [dialecto]. focus more on spanish.” some people have said that to me, because that is what is always used. on the other hand, dialecto is also good, but is only used in some places. then is better to learn spanish. adler responded to the same questions with: “there are people that sometimes say, ‘i prefer to speak english than to speak spanish or this other language [náhuatl]. it’s not even known. no one is going to speak it.’” for antonio and adler, english, spanish and indigenous languages occupied specific spheres of social and linguistic importance, or lack thereof. when adler said that others preferred to speak english or spanish because no one knows or speaks náhuatl, he was pointing out the global linguistic currency of english and spanish. adler understood the importance of learning spanish in mexico; he specifically said, “they learn the most famous one like spanish. the one [language] that everyone speaks.” other youth such as hernández and indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 28 elías expressed similar views. when i asked what it meant for them to learn english and spanish they said the following: “for me english is very important in order to look for more opportunities; to be able to talk to people…learning spanish is also very interesting, like for people from other countries to be able to communicate with our [spanish-speaking] people” (hernández), and “learning english is something that will help a lot in studies [education], at work. in many things, too. learning spanish is to be able to communicate with people from different central american countries” (elías). here the youth showed understandings of spanish being a transnational language of communication in spanish-speaking countries. this was supported with their view that spanish was “utilized in different countries” (antonio), and that it facilitated communication across latin america. spanish being a “famous language” that “everyone speaks” demonstrates its position as the main language of communication and social interaction in latin america. however, the sphere of influence spanish had, while broad, was limited to spanish dominant geographic locations. this is evident when the youth understood that english in the u.s. was important for the social and economic benefits accessible to english speakers. the youth demonstrated a complex understanding of economic and social matrices of power tied to language hierarchies. from the youth’s awareness of the hierarchies of languages in the u.s, and in their countries of origin, we begin to see how they understand the overlapping of colonialities. critical latinx indigeneities allows us to situate the youth’s experiences and understanding of language hierarchies within the history of colonial languages as mechanism of control. one goal behind imposing spanish as the language of social and linguistic interactions in the americas was to sustain particular relations of power and domination between the colonizers and the colonized (dussel, 1995; mignolo, 1995). the imposition of the spanish language had the effect of molding indigenous people into the image of the western european colonizer through the control of thought and behavior. for instance, indigenous people were made to adapt and reproduce spanish text and thought if they wanted to be part of the new social and political order established by the colonizers and their language of power. in this way, spanish inserted new logics into indigenous people’s everyday understanding of themselves, each other, and the colonizers. when antonio was told to focus more on speaking spanish than k’iche’, because that was the language that was “always used” in guatemala, he was underlining the entrenchment of barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 29 spanish in guatemala’s everyday linguistic interactions. adler’s statement, and hernández and elías’ views about the importance of spanish also exemplify the role of spanish as the dominant language in latin america. this power was evident in that spanish was the language of social and linguistic interactions at school, in their everyday life, and in accessing medical services. when asked how they learned spanish, the youth who grew up monolingual k’iche’ or mam speakers—weas, joaquín, edward, and hernández—responded that it was through schools. edward said, “before when i was five-four years old, i couldn’t speak spanish. it was until i started school, around six years old when i, little [by] little [started to] read in spanish. and like that, little by little i learned.” adler and weas’ following experiences demonstrate examples of how spanish mediated important everyday linguistic interactions. adler shared the following story of helping a náhuatl speaking woman to buy soap at a store back in morelos, mexico: once, a woman went to [the store to] buy jabón (soap) and was saying “jamón” (“ham”) [to the clerk]. she was asking for jamón. and she was given a kilo of jamón. but this woman didn’t want ham. she wanted jabón. then she asked me, “hey friend, do you speak dialecto?” i responded yes in her dialecto. i tell them [the clerk], “listen, she wants jabón.” “oh, jabón! [said the clerk].” and she was given a kilo of jabón. while it may appear that going to the store and not being able to ask for what they want is a minor inconvenience or inconsequence to their personal lives, such experiences, nonetheless, reveal the impact of spanish in the everyday linguistic interactions of indigenous people. other experiences that were of far more consequence are apparent in accessing medical services. weas provided a glimpse of this when he talked about his family’s experience with hospital visits. weas shared that his k’iche’ only speaking parents had difficulties when going to the hospital because “spanish is used there only, and they don’t understand it.” coloniality established spanish as the language of social and linguistic power in latin america through its public sanctioning. thus, spanish had the effect of controlling behavior in the form of indigenous people’s public linguistic interactions. the importance and urgency of speaking spanish was apparent in weas’ example of accessing medical services. youth’s understanding of the importance of spanish in their countries of origin and in the rest of latin america demonstrates the great pressure they were under to learn this colonial language. worthy to note is that not all in mexico and guatemala learn spanish. the fact that weas’, indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 30 hernández’s, and edward’s mothers did not speak spanish points to gender and schools as additional factors that mediate the learning of spanish9. missing from adler’s comment that spanish was the language that “everyone speaks,” is that it is the language everyone speaks in public. spanish is not only a sanctioned language in mexico and guatemala, but also among latin americans and latinxs in the u.s. in my observations at nh i noted the following: during lunchtime i went to sit next to “v” and “m” [two male k’iche’ dominant speakers]. soon after, “bal” [mam and spanish speaker] and “teo” [mexican and non indigenous youth] came over to us and sat at the end of the table [across each other]. [at the same] time, “fran” [mexican non-indigenous youth] joined us. “v” did not talk much and neither did “m.” i saw “m” trying to get “v’s” attention and lean over to talk with him [almost whisper like]. i overheard “m” say something to “v” in k’iche’. (field notes, 1/26/2016) the above is one example that shows how indigenous language speakers would speak their language very softly, almost to a whisper, when in public and communal physical spaces such as the school cafeteria and the hallways. moreover, the frequency of indigenous language use was rare in the cafeteria and infrequent in the hallways. one reason for these patterns might be attributed to the youth guarding themselves from being overheard speaking their indigenous languages. because i was paying particular attention to them, i was able to pick up on their use of indigenous languages. the only exception to youths’ frequency and use of indigenous languages was in the sports field, during their lunch break. in these instances, indigenous language speakers would cluster around each other while being further away from spanish speakers. moreover, indigenous speaking youth, especially the young women, would sit together and speak a mix of their indigenous languages and spanish, with indigenous languages prominently spoken. i did not overhear indigenous language speaking youth speak to one another in indigenous languages in any of the classrooms where i volunteered with classwork. additionally, just because i did not overhear youth speaking indigenous languages in classrooms, it does not mean that they did not do so. it is also possible that they spoke their indigenous 9 see blackwell (2010) and martínez-salazar (2012) for more nuanced investigations of gender and indigeneity. barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 31 languages in others spaces, and/or that the frequency of their indigenous language use was higher than i observed. nonetheless, the sanctioning of spanish in physical and social spaces at nh shows overlapping of colonialities. colonizers utilized spanish in latin america to structure the everyday social and physical life of the colonized. this resulted in the creation of social, physical, and linguistic centers and peripheries where literate white europeans occupied the former and indigenous people were relegated to the latter (rama, 1996). the spaces where the youth in this study frequently spoke their indigenous languages without whispering them were away from spanish dominant linguistic centers. here we see that sanctioned linguistic interactions continued even when the youth no longer lived in their spanish dominant countries of origin as apparent in the public spaces the youth spoke spanish, while reserving their indigenous language use for (semi)private settings. the history of the english language in the americas as a settler-colonial power is different from that of spanish as a power of coloniality. however, the result of english as a mechanism of settler colonialism, much like spanish for the coloniality of power, is the control and marginalization of indigenous people. in their essay analyzing immigration, educational and nation building policies in the u.s., cervantes-rodriguez and lutz (2003) propositioned that the coloniality of power “informs power relations and regimes designed to regulate behavior, including language-regulating mechanism” (p. 523). for the authors, this asymmetrical relationship is rooted in power differentials between the u.s. and latin america that stem from colonial relationships. such power differentials play out in the linguistic experiences of immigrants in the u.s. as english becomes an additional colonial language of power that youth must learn. indigenous language speaking youth in this study are positioned at the intersection of colonialities by the asymmetrical relationships of power between english and spanish. in order to access social and economic resources in guatemala, youth like edward and weas, along with their families had to learn and speak spanish. once they were in the u.s., these youth, while still learning and improving their spanish, must also learn english in order to be part of the linguistic and social settings, outside of their spanish-speaking enclaves (e.g. batz, 2014; ruiz & barajas, 2012; peñalosa, 1984; urrieta, 2013). as hernández said, english was important in order “to be able to express [one self] to the people of this country [u.s.]”, moreover, “sin el indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 32 inglés no puedes hacer nada acá” or, “without english you can’t do nothing here.” even spanish speaking enclaves and latinx spaces in the u.s can be exclusionary and discriminatory of indigenous people (e.g., barillas chón, 2010; fox, 2006; pérez, vasquez, & buriel, 2016); thus, preventing indigenous monolingual speakers to benefit from spanish-speaking networks and communities. the focal youth in this study were aware of english as a language of power, while simultaneously utilizing their spanish to navigate linguistic interactions and dynamics established in their countries of origin that immigrated with them to the u.s. from the youth’s awareness of the language hierarchies in the u.s, and in their countries of origin, we see how they understand the overlapping of colonialities. the colonial logic of dehumanizing indigenous people is not left behind in latin america as immigrants settle into the u.s. rather, it is carried over into the u.s where it is sustained by settler-colonialism and implicitly by latinxs’ exclusionary practices. outcomes of overlapping colonialities: labor divisions and language subalternity youth’s labor and linguistic experiences demonstrates the reproduction of labor divisions in their contexts of departure and reception as well as the subaltern positioning of indigenous languages. i rely on weas’ experiences and understandings of k’iche’ to illustrate how subalternity of language intersects with the reproduction of specific labor done by indigenous youth. first, however, i begin with discussing how the imposition of spanish on indigenous people resulted in the subaltern positioning of indigenous languages and in the learning not to learn them. this subaltern position is evident in the youth’s use of the word “dialecto” when referring to indigenous languages and their descriptions of the importance, or lack thereof, given to them. kovats’ (2010) identified in her study of identity among mixteco youth in southern california that “dialecto” within this community was referred to as “tu’un nda’vi, meaning ‘the poor language’” and spanish was referred to as “tu’un jaan, ‘the rich language’” (p. 47). evident here is that dialectos are placed in economic positions of inferiority. conversely, mixtecos placed spanish as a “proper” language because it was one that was connected to economic and linguistic power. kovats’ work shows that some indigenous communities inadvertently adopt a coloniality of power logic that reproduces indigenous languages as linguistically and economically inferior. barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 33 the youth in this study were proud k’iche’ or mam speakers and understood the cultural importance of indigenous languages. however, similar to what other scholars have documented (e.g., kovats, 2010; pérez, vasquez & buriel, 2016), the youth continued to refer to indigenous languages as “dialectos.” the use of dialectos to refer to indigenous languages demonstrates their subaltern positioning even if the youth did not believe that their languages were inferior. dialectos are subaltern languages because they are not the primary or normalized language of communication and linguistic interactions, and they do not yield well-paying jobs. in other cases, the youth referred to indigenous languages as “un otro idioma” or “an other language.” the usual translation of “un otro” is “another,” by which is meant “one more” or is used to reference one thing from one already mentioned or known about. while it is true that the indigenous languages some of the youth spoke was “one more” language they knew, the term “another” does not correctly translate the youth’s understanding of the positioning of indigenous languages in the larger linguistic, social, labor, and cultural context they are located in. an accurate translation of “un otro” is “an other.” when the youth said “un otro idioma” they did not mean indigenous languages were lesser. nonetheless, their use of the modifier “un otro”/“an other” reified indigenous languages as “other than” the normative language of communication and power10. indigenous languages occupy a subaltern position as evident in the youth’s descriptions of the importance, or lack thereof, given to indigenous languages in their countries of origin. when asked if it was important for him to speak or understand k’iche’, weas responded, “para mí, no. porque siento que k’iche’ no, casi no sirve nada” (“for me, no. because i feel k’iche’, no, it’s almost no good at all”). weas statement indicates that indigenous languages were “no good at all” in guatemala. it must be clear that for him, k’iche’ was not intrinsically “no good;” however, he viewed it as no good because he was understanding its positioning in the larger social-linguistic and economic contexts he lived in and operated from. one outcome of seeing indigenous languages as no good, or being locally useful, is their extinction as evident in adler’s statement that the “[náhuatl language] is becoming extinct; and just we...indigenous people or our people are going extinct and are becoming less.” hernández expressed a similar view when he said that indigenous languages “are becoming lost.” 10 see said’s (1978) work on “othering” as mechanisms of maintaining differential power relations. indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 34 whereas weas perceived k’iche’ to be no good at all, antonio and elías believed that indigenous languages were locally important. for instance, antonio and elías respectively said “dialecto is…good, but is only used in some places,” and “i don’t think that everyone is going to want to learn k’iche’ because that [language] is only used in guatemala.” even when acknowledging their local importance, indigenous languages remained subaltern as they had no transnational, social, and economic authority. here i highlight weas’ negative associations with k’iche’ and his push for learning colonial languages. i focus on him to show the intersections of labor divisions with the subaltern positioning of indigenous languages. weas expressed a deep desire to disassociate himself with k’iche’ and k’iche’ speakers, primarily because these youth spoke mostly in k’iche’ or some spanish. he wanted indigenous people in guatemala to speak spanish and for his immigrant spanish speaking peers to speak english. his perceptions, attitudes and experiences with k’iche’ and spanish illuminate the complexities of learning spanish and indigenous languages along with their intersections with labor. weas’ linguistic, social, and labor experiences as a k’iche’ speaking person in guatemala shaped his views about the utility of the language in guatemala and the u.s. he specifically spoke about the invisibilization of k’iche’ people by the guatemalan government: “porque algunos [que hablan k’iche’ fueron] encontraron muerto en la calle y no hacen nada [el gobierno de guatemala]. no hacen nada porque [los de la comunidad] son indígenos (sic), sólo que hablan k’iche’, y no nos quiere ayudar el gobierno. ayudan más lo que, lo que hablan español (sic)” (“some [k’iche’ speakers] were found dead in the streets and they [guatemalan government] don’t do nothing. they [government] don’t do nothing because they [people in his community] only speak k’iche’. the government helps more those that speak spanish”). the experiences as someone who comes from a campesino community that speaks a subaltern language have greatly influenced weas’ decision to want to learn spanish and english. his wish for indigenous people to learn spanish was made out of a deep desire for them to “no sufrir mucho” or “not suffer much” socially, politically and economically. that is to say, he saw spanish as an instrument for mitigating “trabajo duro” (“hard labor”) and the hard life associated with being indigenous—specifically, political persecution and campesino work in guatemala, and dishwasher/restaurant work in the u.s. there is much agency to his desire to speak spanish and english instead of k’iche’. for him, part of learning colonial languages was about survival, about not becoming invisible. weas’ desire must also be understood against the backdrop in which barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 35 colonialities created hierarchies of race/language and race/labor divisions. the coloniality of power and settler-colonialism made it possible for the youth in their countries of origin, and other indigenous peoples in the u.s., to learn not to learn dialecto. adler’s experiences not learning náhuatl is exemplary of this: “i was taught since little that i should not learn that language [náhuatl] because there was a lot of bullying toward [náhuatl speaking] children. people that spoke spanish really well would do a lot of bullying. so, that’s why my family members stopped learning that language.” while adler is the only youth that talked about the reasons why he stopped speaking náhuatl, his account is important because it points to a process of learning not to learn their indigenous languages. given the sociolinguistic and economic power of colonial languages, indigenous language speakers are restricted in their options for the languages they can use in different social and labor spheres. in their countries of origin, spanish mediates social and linguistic interactions. there is also a belief that speaking spanish allows access to different types of labor. in the u.s., spanish also mediates social and linguistic interactions, but english becomes important for accessing well-paying jobs. however, we see that in both contexts, while learning colonial languages mitigates some of the social and linguistic spheres of interactions, they do not necessarily translate into different labor strata. on the contrary, while the youth may no longer be doing campesino work in the u.s., the type of labor they do continues to be marginal within the already marginal work of latinxs. thus, indigenous people continue to experience the effects of overlapping colonialities through the subaltern positioning of indigenous languages and labor exploitation in their contexts of origin and new contexts of reception. nonetheless, youth, along with other indigenous people, make calculated risks when deciding, or not deciding, to speak colonial languages, in their countries of origin and in their new contexts of reception. implications and conclusion mignolo (2000) wrote that there is an inherent asymmetry as it pertains to colonial and indigenous languages. the reason for this is that languages are connected to larger social, political, economic and cultural institutions that legitimize or place them in subaltern positions. being indigenous or speaking indigenous and colonial languages means living this asymmetry. for mignolo (2000), this asymmetry of languages is about power (p. 231). the youth in this study understood this asymmetrical relationship of power. this understanding was evident indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 36 when they described labor divisions and language hierarchies they experienced or perceived in their countries of origin and in the u.s. for the youth, spanish and english were of transnational and global importance, respectively. indigenous languages were of local importance. in the u.s., english took on the role that spanish did in their countries of origin, as it became important in order to communicate with others and because of the belief that knowing it could yield better economic opportunities. the youth also saw links between a division of labor and the hierarchies of languages. utilizing a critical latinx indigeneities analytic, specifically, the “multiple contexts of power,” (blackwell et al 2017, p. 127), i highlight that there is a racial component to this division of language/labor. the coloniality of power created racial categories, and such categories were tied to language, among other ethnic indicators. race, language, and division of labor have, thus, been inextricably linked since the invention of the americas and they overlap in the indigenous youth’s self-understandings through their immigrant experiences with u.s. racial constructions. education scholarship on native spanish speakers positions the “home language,” which is proxy for spanish, as assets to be utilized by educators in order to enrich their students’ classroom learning (e.g., garcia & kleifgen, 2010; gonza ́lez, moll, & amanti, 2005; nieto, 2002; valdés, 2001a, b). this scholarship continues to be of utmost importance. however, when it relates to indigenous immigrant youth, this scholarship operates under the problematic assumption that “home languages” are situated under the same matrix of racial, linguistic, social, and economic power as other languages spoken in their countries of origin. for the youth in this study, indigenous language speakers, and their languages, are marginally positioned in their countries of origin. often, indigenous languages are invisibilized as evident in that the language of everyday economic, social, and linguistic interaction in their countries of origin is spanish. therefore, when focusing on the strength of home languages, educators must be attentive to the fact that such “home” languages for latinx youth may not be spanish. in some cases, the home language became a language that was adopted in order to navigate broader labor, linguistic, and social spheres. for some of the indigenous youth in this study, a home language included their indigenous language of origin and spanish. for this reason, educators working with latinx youth, including immigrants from latin america, must be aware of the complex relationships between race and language within different groups of youth in their classrooms and schools. language relations operate under more nuanced ways than educators might be barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 37 aware of. simply relying on spanish as a home language and asset can have the unintentional effect of reproducing inequitable power dynamics, which contribute to further invisibilizing and marginalizing indigenous languages. the youth in this study were aware of power codes and the matrices of colonialisms. the youth still had to speak and continue to learn spanish because it is useful for their everyday life, based on the racialized labor incorporation that they enter into. this includes the particular labor sectors where the youth find authorized and unauthorized employment, such as in restaurants. educators must be aware that these youth often work many hours late into the night in the restaurant industry and still manage to attend school early the next morning. english, however, supersedes spanish, as it is the u.s. language of power—one that they are also learning and a primary reason why they are attending school. under these matrices of power, indigenous languages slowly fade and become invisible, reproducing the goals of the multiple and overlapping colonialities—indigenous erasure. lastly, educators working with latinxs, latin american immigrants, and specifically indigenous immigrants should be attentive to the power dynamics between different latin american groups. one way of being attentive to how power dynamics play out within latinx youth is to notice the subalternity of indigenous languages within their schools, classrooms, and peer cliques. as this study shows, some youth are reluctant to speak their indigenous languages in public settings. educators must pay attention to such moments of silence by indigenous immigrant youth. speaking or not willing to speak an indigenous language is both a form of survival and resistance. at no point should indigenous youth be forced to speak their indigenous language, among other reasons, because that may expose them to unwanted negative attention. educators can co-create with indigenous youth and other indigenous allies (boj lopez, 2016) spaces where indigenous youth may feel comfortable to be their indigenous selves. this includes facilitating educational programs or projects in which indigenous youth can improve their spanish and english while maintaining their indigenous languages so that they can pursue educational, social, and economic opportunities. in the case of high school age youth who work, such educational programs should also include information on labor rights and opportunities. finally, educators must be aware that this type of work must be accompanied by larger campaigns aimed at ending racist practices maintained by the multiple and overlapping colonialisms in the u.s. indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 38 acknowledgments i want to thank the youth in this study. they, and others like them, continue to shape our understandings of indigeneities. i also want to thank the editors for this special edition and critical latinx indigeneities in education, and the interdisciplinary research institute for the study of (in)equality (irise) at the university of denver for supporting my scholarship. barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 39 references banks, j. a. (1998). the lives and values of researchers: implications for educating citizens in a multicultural society. educational researcher, 27, 4-17. barillas chón, d. w. (2010). oaxaqueño/a students’ un/welcoming high school experiences. journal of latinos and education 9(4), 303-320. barillas chón, d.w. (2019). ref/lecciones: lessons for my hijo and other children of indigenous immigrants. interactions: ucla journal of education and information studies castellanos, m. b. (2017). introduction: settler colonialism in latin america. american quarterly, 69(4), 777-781. batz, g. (2014). maya cultural resistance in los angeles: the recovery of identity and culture among maya youth. latin american perspective 41(3), 194-207. blackwell, m. (2010). líderes campesinas: nepantla strategies and grassroots organizing at the intersection of gender and globalization. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies 35(1), 13-47. blackwell, m., boj lopez, f., & urrieta, l. (2017). special issue: critical latinx indigeneities. latino studies, 15(2), 126-137. boj lopez, f. (2016). maya youth literature in the diaspora. oxford research encyclopedia of literature. casanova, s. (2012). the stigmatization and resilience of a female indigenous mexican immigrant. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 34(3), 375-403. casanova, s., o’connor, b., & anthony-stevens, v. (2016). ecologies of adaptation for mexican indigenous im/migrant children and families in the united states: implications for latino studies. latino studies, 14(2), 192-213. cervantes-rodriguez, a. m., & lutz, a (2003). coloniality of power, immigration, and the english-spanish asymmetry in the united states. nepantla: views from south, 4 (3), 523–560. dabach, d. b. (2014). “i am not a shelter!”: stigma and social boundaries in teachers’ accounts of students’ experience in separate “sheltered” english learner classrooms. journal of education for students placed at risk, 19, 98-124 donato, m. k., & sisk, b. (2015). children’s migration to the united states from mexico and central america: evidence from the mexican and latin american migration projects. journal on migration and human society 3(1), 58-79. dussel, e. (1995). the invention of the americas: eclipse of “the other” and the myth of modernity. new york, ny: continuum. fox, j. (2006). reframing mexican migration as a multi-ethnic process. latino studies, 4, 39 61. garcia, o. & kleifgen, j. (2010). educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english language learners. new york, ny: teachers college press. gonzalez, e. (2019). ethnoracial attitudes and identity-salient experiences among indigenous mexican adolescents and emergin adults. emergin adulthood 7(2), 128-137. gonza ́lez, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practice in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, n.j.: l. erlbaum associates. humes, k. r., jones, n. a., & ramirez, r. r. (2011). overview of race and hispanic origin: 2010 (2010 census briefs). retrieved from u.s. census bureau website: http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf kovats, a. g. (2010). invisible students and marginalized identities: the articulation of identity among mixteco youth in san diego california (masters thesis). retrieved from indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 40 researchgate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284284728 kovats sánchez, g. (2018). reaffirming indigenous identity: understanding experiences of stigmatization and marginalization among mexican indigenous college students. journal of latinos and education. doi: 10.1080/15348431.2018.1447484 lópez, f., & runsten, d. (2004): "mixtecs and zapotecs working in california: rural and urban experiences". in j. fox & g. rivera-salgado (eds.): indigenous mexican migrants in the united states. (pp. 249-278). la jolla: university of california, san diego; center for comparative immigration studies/center for us-mexican studies. lópez, j. & irizarry, j. g. (2019). somos pero no somo iguales/we are but we are not the same: unpacking latinx indigeneity and the implications for urban schools. urban education, https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085919835292 maldonado-torres, n. (2007). “on the coloniality of being.” cultural studies 21(2-3): 240-270. martínez-salazar, e. (2012). global coloniality of power in guatemala: racism, genocide, citizenship. lanham, md: lexington books menchaca bishop, l., & kelly, p. (2013). indigenous mexican languages and the politics of language shifts in the united states. language issues in contemporary education, 1(1), 97113. mignolo, w. d (1995). the darker side of the renaissance: literacy, territoriality, and colonization. ann arbor: university of michigan press. mignolo, w. d. (2001). coloniality of power and subalternity. in i. rodríguez (eds). the latin american subaltern studies reader (pp. 424-445). durham, nc: duke university press. mignolo, w. d. (2012). local histories/global designs coloniality, subaltern knowledges, and border thinking. princeton, nj: princeton university press. nieto, s. (2002). language, culture, and teaching: critical perspectives for a new century (language, culture, and teaching). mahwah, n.j.: l. erlbaum. pérez, w., vasquez, r., & buriel, r. (2016). zapotec, mixtec, and purepecha youth: multilingualism and the marginalization of indigenous immigrants in the united states. in h. s. alim, j. r. rickford, & a. f. ball (eds). raciolinguistics: how language shapes our ideas about race (pp. 255-271). new york, ny: oxford university press. peñalosa, f. (1984). central americans in los angeles: background, language, education. los alamitos, ca: national center for bilingual research. quijano, a. (2000). “coloniality of power, eurocentrism, and latin america.” nepantla: views from the south 1(3): 533-580 quijano, a. and wallerstein, i. (1992). americanity as a concept, or the americas in the modern world-system. international social science journal 44: 549-557. rama, a. (1996). the lettered city. london, england: duke university press. ruiz, n. t., & barajas, m. (2012). multiple perspectives on the schooling of mexican indigenous students in the u.s.: issues for future research. bilingual research journal, 35, 125-144. runsten, d., & kearney, m. (2004). encuesta sobre las reders de los pueblos oaxaqueños en la agricultura de california. in s. escarcéga & s. varese (eds.) la ruta mixteca: el impacto etnopolitico de la migración transnacional en los pueblos indígenas de mexico. (41-76). mexico: universidad nacional autónoma de méxico said, e. (1979). orientalism. new york, ny: vintage books. saldaña-portillo, m. j. (2017). critical latinx indigeneities: a paradigm shift. latino studies 15, 138-155. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085919835292 barillas chón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 41 steinberg, l., & morris, a. s. (2001). adolescent development. journal of cognitive education and psychology, 2(1), 55–87. stephen, l. (2007). transborder lives: indigenous oaxacans in mexico, california, and oregon. london: duke university press. stepler, r., & lopez, m. h. (2016). u.s. latino population growth and dispersion has slowed since onset of the great recession. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org stinchcomb, d., & hershberg, e. (2014). unaccompanied migrant children from central america: context, causes, and responses. center for latin american & latino studies. washington, dc: american university. urrieta, l. jr. (2003). las identidades también lloran, identities also cry: exploring the human side of indigenous latina/o identities. educational studies 34(2): 147-168. urrieta, l. jr. (2013). familia and comunidad-based saberes: learning in an indigenous heritage community. anthropology & education quarterly, 44(3), 320-335. urrieta, l. jr. (2018). “cultural identity theory and education: what we have learned about selves and others.” in l. urrieta & g.w. noblit (eds). cultural constructions of identity: meta-ethnography and theory (pp. 1-33). oxford university press. u.s. department of education (2017). the condition of education (nces 2017-144). washington, dc: u.s. government printing office valdés, g. (2001a). learning and not learning english: latino students in american schools. new york, ny: teachers college press. valdés, g. (2001b) heritage language students: profiles and possibilities. in j. k. peyton, d. a. ranard, & s. mcginnis (eds.) heritage languages in america: preserving a national resource (pp. 37-77). washington, dc: center for applied linguistics. velasco, p. (2010) indigenous students in bilingual spanish-english classrooms in new york: a teacher’s mediation strategies. international journal of the sociology of language, 206, 255271. wolfe, p. (1999). settler colonialism and the transformation of anthropology. london: cassell. wolfe, p. (2006). settler colonialism and the elimination of the native. journal of genocide research, 8, 387-409. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 2 2019 amae special issue critical latinx indigeneities and education guest editors luis urrieta, jr. university of texas at austin melissa mesinas stanford university ramón antonio martínez stanford university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 122 linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora: zapoteca mothers’ perspectives on indigenous language maintenance ramón antonio martínez melissa mesinas stanford university abstract this article explores indigenous mexican mothers’ perspectives on multilingualism and indigenous language maintenance in their children’s lives. drawing on interview data from a larger qualitative study of language and ideology among multilingual children in los angeles, california, the article examines the perspectives of four zapotec mothers who have children in a local public school with a spanish-english dual language program. the interview data highlight what these women think and do with respect to the maintenance of the zapotec language in the lives of their school-aged children. critical latinx indigeneities and the feminist notion of linguistic motherwork are used to highlight the intersectional nature of these women’s efforts to construct and sustain indigeneity in diaspora. key words: indigeneity; multilingualism; gender; zapotec; indigenous language maintenance doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.431 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.431 linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 123 introduction zenaida: cuando yo llegué aquí, no sabía hablar tanto español. (when i arrived here, i didn’t speak much spanish.) ramón: ¿cuando llegó a estados unidos? (when you arrived in the united states?) zenaida: sí, cuando yo llegué aquí, sabía mucho más de mi idioma que español. pero yo acá llegué aprendiendo español y un poquito de inglés. (yes, when i arrived here, i knew more of my language than spanish. but here i started learning spanish and a little english.) the quotation above is from an interview with zenaida1, an indigenous mexican woman who is raising children in the united states. in the interview excerpt, zenaida reveals that she did not speak much spanish before moving to los angeles, california from the southern mexican state of oaxaca. as she explains, it was only here in the united states that she learned spanish, as well as some english. when she first immigrated here, zenaida spoke more of what she calls “my language,” by which she is referring to zapotec—or zapoteco—the language spoken by the zapotec people of southern mexico. in this article, we explore indigenous mexican mothers’ perspectives on indigenous heritage language maintenance in their children’s lives. drawing on interview data from a larger qualitative study of language and ideology among multilingual children in los angeles, california, we examine the perspectives of four zapotec-origin—or zapoteca—mothers who have children in a local public school with a spanish-english dual language program. the interview data highlight what these women think and do with respect to the maintenance of zapoteco in the lives of their school-aged children. we draw on a critical latinx indigeneities (blackwell, lopez, & urrieta, 2017; saldañaportillo, 2017) framework in order to situate these women’s perspectives and experiences within longer histories and overlapping contexts of colonialism and coloniality across the racialized geographies of mexico and the united states. building on linguistic anthropological scholarship on language ideologies (irvine & gal, 2000; kroskrity, 2004; silverstein, 1979), we examine these women’s attitudes and beliefs about the maintenance of zapoteco in relation to 1 all participant names are pseudonyms. martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 124 larger societal and institutional structures, processes, and discourses. in particular, we draw on the feminist notion of linguistic motherwork (ek, sánchez, & quijada cerecer, 2013) to frame the ways that these indigenous mothers’ language ideologies get embodied and enacted in their reported language socialization practices, and to highlight the intersectional nature of their work constructing and sustaining indigeneity in diaspora. indigenous latinx families and u.s. schools there is a growing population of indigenous latin american migrants, particularly from mexico and central america, here in the united states. as these indigenous latinx migrants raise families in this country, their children increasingly come into contact with u.s. educational institutions (urrieta, mesinas, & martínez, this issue). despite their growing numbers in u.s. schools, however, indigenous latinx children are often rendered invisible (machado-casas, 2009; martínez, 2017; perez, vasquez, & buriel, 2016; urrieta, 2013). unfortunately, when indigenous latinx children are recognized in u.s. schools, this recognition often takes the form of overt discrimination, stigmatization, and social marginalization (barillas-chón, 2010; machado-casas, 2009; ruiz & barajas, 2012). researchers, including the contributors to this special issue, have helped to shed light on the educational experiences of indigenous latinx parents and children in the united states (barillas-chón, 2010; lópez & irizarry, 2019; mesinas & perez, 2016; ruiz & barajas, 2012; urrieta, 2013; vasquez, 2012). while some of this research has focused specifically on indigenous mexican mothers’ ideologies related to language and education (velasco, 2014), as well as on the relationship between schooling and maintenance of the zapotec language (pérez báez, 2012), the growing presence of indigenous latinx students in u.s. schools and their continued erasure from educational discourse and policy warrant additional inquiry into their educational experiences. of particular interest to us in this article are the diverse multilingual practices, experiences, and perspectives of zapoteca mothers who raise children attending u.s. schools. because these mothers and their children are positioned as “part of a ‘latino’ or ‘mexican’ population that is assumed to be linguistically and ethnoracially homogeneous” (martínez, 2017, p. 87), their indigeneity and their indigenous languages are effectively erased. they are “essentialized and racialized as ‘latino,’ and imagined to be only bilingual” (martínez, 2017, p. 87). in this article, we seek to disrupt these forms of erasure by contributing to a more robust and critical understanding of indigenous latinx families. in particular, we hope to linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 125 contribute to deeper and more nuanced understandings of zapoteca mothers’ perspectives on the maintenance of the zapotec language in their children’s lives. framing indigenous linguistic motherwork our inquiry into the perspectives of zapoteca mothers is grounded in the linguistic anthropological literature on language ideologies—or socially situated attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about language (silverstein, 1979). a key insight from this literature is the notion that language ideologies can be both articulated and embodied (krosrkity, 2004). we are particularly interested in how these mothers’ perspectives on indigenous language maintenance get embodied in their language socialization practices—or the ways they socialize their children through language and to use language (kulick & schieffelin, 2004; ochs & schieffelin, 2017). however, because these women’s language socialization practices are both raced and gendered, we adopt an intersectional feminist lens to examine their perspectives. in particular, we draw on the notion of linguistic motherwork (ek, sánchez, & quijada cerecer, 2013). building on the concept of motherwork, which black feminist patricia hill collins introduced to highlight the gendered and raced dimensions of parenting (collins, 1994), ek, sánchez, and quijada cerecer (2013) define linguistic motherwork as “the practices that latina mothers engage in to maintain and develop their children’s heritage language and literacy” (p. 202). the construct of linguistic motherwork allows us to examine these mothers’ perspectives in ways that recognize and honor their intersectional experiences as women of color who contribute their labor towards the maintenance of the zapotec language. of course, these women’s language socialization work takes place within the complex transnational contexts of indigenous diaspora. for this reason, we draw on critical latinx indigeneities (blackwell, lopez, & urrieta, 2017; saldaña-portillo, 2017) as a framework for making sense of their related perspectives. as saldaña-portillo (2017) described, critical latinx indigeneities (cli) is “a transnational commitment to understanding modes of indigenous identification as shifting depending on the colonial particularities of their birth, and to the specific, contemporary conditions of the coloniality of power across the hemisphere” (p. 139). a cli framework “examines mobility as a global indigenous process of displacement” (blackwell, 2017, p. 158) and it “considers the shifts in racial formations and the ways indigenous peoples are racialized differently across and between different settler states” (p. 158). this lens helps us to account for these women’s experiences across both mexico and the martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 126 united states, and to consider how their transnational experiences are related to what they think and do with respect to maintaining zapoteco in their children’s lives. how we came to this work before describing the methods that we employed, we wish to briefly describe how we came to this work, by which we mean both what motivated this particular line of inquiry and who we were (i.e., how we were positioned) in relation to the women on whom we focus in this article. in 2010, ramón began a longitudinal qualitative study of language and ideology among multilingual children at a dual language school in los angeles, california. two of the focal students from this larger study, alma and samantha, are of zapotec ancestry, and ramón has pursued lines of analysis focused on these multilingual girls’ knowledge of zapoteco since they were in kindergarten and first grade respectively (martínez, 2017, 2018). while interviewing alma and samantha on the playground one day, ramón asked them if they knew any adults in their community (other than their parents) who spoke zapoteco. when samantha said that she did, ramón asked to whom she was referring. in response, samantha pointed to a woman who happened to be walking across the playground at precisely that moment, and said, “ella” (“her”). the woman in question was olivia, a zapotec migrant and mother of children at the school. through the school’s principal, ramón subsequently met olivia and three other zapoteca mothers, with whom he began informal conversations about speaking and maintaining zapoteco as a heritage language. all four of these women eventually agreed to participate in the interviews that constitute the focus of this article. below we briefly describe our own respective positionalities in relation to these indigenous mexican mothers. ramón i (ramón) am not of zapotec ancestry. i self-identify as chicano, and i have mexican, hawai’ian, and shasta indian ancestry on my father’s side, and czech, german, and english ancestry on my mother’s side. like my white mother, i have light skin and i am often read as white by people who do not know me. because my skin color typically trumps other phenotypic features, and because i was raised by a white mother, i have benefited from whiteness and white privilege in various ways my entire life. while i have come to understand this differently as i have grown older and studied related theory and research, this is something that i have known experientially since i was a child. my father (like my late grandparents and other family members) has dark skin, and he has experienced various forms of racism linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 127 throughout his life precisely because he is racialized as brown. growing up hearing about and witnessing his experiences, i became acutely aware of how my own embodied position and related experiences differed from his. in countless ways, my racialized subjectivity has influenced how i understand and experience the world, and this fact has directly informed how i approach and conduct my research, including how i make sense of the experiences of those who are positioned differently. as important as naming my whiteness and white privilege is naming my loss of indigeneity. as blackwell (2017) notes, many latinx scholars and activists who work on indigenous issues “fail to name the powerful loss of their indigeneity” (p. 178). although i have indigenous mexican, hawai’ian, and shasta ancestry, i was not raised with a deep connection to any of these indigenous communities. while i was raised to be proud of my indigenous heritage, and while this pride has directly informed my interest in the experiences of indigenous latinx students and families, i wish to explicitly name the loss of indigeneity that has been part of my own family’s experience over the past three generations; to situate that loss of indigeneity within broader contexts of coloniality and longer settler colonial histories of dispossession, genocide, and other forms of anti-indigenous violence; and to clearly distinguish between my own positionality and the positionalities of those whose racialized and/or cultural experiences with indigeneity directly impact their everyday lives. in particular, i wish to emphasize that i am an outsider to this particular diasporic zapotec community. finally, although being a father has positioned me to make sense of these mother’s perspectives in particular ways, i am a heterosexual, cisgender male, and my gendered experiences necessarily preclude understanding these women’s experiences from their perspectives. although these women have welcomed me and invited me to learn more about them and their experiences, i wish to clearly articulate my status as an outsider (along these and various other intersecting dimensions). my awareness of this outsider status has directly informed how i engaged with these women before, during, and after these interviews, as well as how i have sought to make sense of the interview data. because these women have confided in me and entrusted me with their stories, i feel a profound sense of obligation and accountability in sharing what i have learned from them. melissa martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 128 i (melissa) joined the research team in 2016 as a research assistant after i learned about ramón’s longitudinal qualitative study of language and ideology among multilingual children. this study was my first introduction at my graduate institution to a project that included indigenous mexican language use and socialization practices. as a first-year graduate student at the time, i was excited and motivated to learn from a faculty member’s collaboration with an indigenous latinx community in los angeles. i contributed to the analysis of the video data he collected during the interviews with the zapoteca mothers. as an indigenous, oaxacan woman of zapotec descent from the pueblo of santiago zoochila, i am a partial insider of the zapotec oaxacan community. my insider perspective allowed me to share background information on how indigenous people create community and sense of belonging once they migrate to the u.s., the language socialization practices families use to teach their children about their native language(s), and the key role women play in indigenous communities. yet, it is important to note that my role as a researcher situates me as an outsider to the community. as a result, i am aware of my simultaneous identities and positionalities as i engage in critical scholarship that relates to indigenous communities. reflections on our methods this paper focuses on data from semi-structured interviews with four mothers of zapotec ancestry whose children attend the public school where the larger study took place. all four participants immigrated to the united states from southern mexico. three—elena, olivia, and zenaida—are from the north sierra region of the state of oaxaca, while one— yadira—is from a zapotec community in the neighboring state of veracruz. ramón conducted a total of two interviews—one with elena and yadira, and one with olivia and zenaida. during these interviews, ramón asked the women specific questions about their attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about the maintenance of zapoteco in their children’s lives. related to the sense of obligation and accountability mentioned above, ramón sought to establish a certain level of reciprocity during each of the interviews, often sharing relevant information about his own family’s background, his experiences with language, and his experiences as a father raising a bilingual child. as a result, the interviews often took a conversational tone. melissa subsequently transcribed the video-recorded interviews, keeping in mind the political dimensions of the transcription process (bucholtz, 2000), including the representational linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 129 decisions involved in transcribing other people’s speech, as well as the ways in which transcription itself is always already an analytic activity that relies on, reflects, and contributes to the researcher’s ongoing theorizing (ochs, 1979). we (ramón and melissa) both then worked together to analyze the interview transcripts. across multiple coding cycles (saldaña, 2009), we generated both “top-down” (i.e., a priori) codes and “bottom-up” (i.e., inductive) codes, repeatedly applying these codes to the interview transcripts, and then revising our emergent coding scheme through an iterative process of collaborative sense-making. we should note that we did not view coding as an exhaustive process, nor did we see it as a means for objectively ensuring analytic certainty. instead, we used coding as a way to make evident our theoretical perspectives on the data (smagorinsky, 2008). as we made explicit our respective theoretical stances and our experiential knowledge with respect to the content of the interviews, we engaged in ongoing analytic conversations to reflect on, interrogate, and revise our emergent sense-making in relation to relevant theory. a key component of this process involved the use of analytic memos (emerson, fretz, & shaw, 1995). we generated multiple analytic memos throughout every stage of analysis. among other things, we used these memos to document and synthesize emergent themes, generate and reflect on our emergent coding scheme, and make explicit connections to relevant conceptual frames. the findings and analysis that we articulate below emerged from this collaborative and iterative process of putting our empirical data in conversation with embodied and inscribed theory. on thinking about and doing linguistic motherwork in diaspora our analysis of the data suggests that these mothers’ perspectives on indigenous language maintenance get enacted in their language socialization practices. all four of these women said that it was important to maintain zapoteco in their children’s lives, and all four of them reported engaging very deliberately in doing so. through various means, these women exposed their children to zapoteco, and they communicated to them the value and importance of this heritage language. below we provide examples that illustrate these findings. the importance of maintaining zapoteco elena, olivia, yadira, and zenaida all said that it was important for them to maintain zapoteco in their children’s lives. in particular, they noted that the maintenance of zapoteco was important (1) as part of their children’s familial and/or cultural heritage, and (2) in order to martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 130 facilitate communication with their family and/or with the larger zapotec community here and in mexico. familial and cultural heritage. whether or not they or their children spoke or understood zapoteco, all four women said that they wanted their children to learn the language as part of their familial and cultural heritage. just as zenaida referred to zapoteco as “mi idioma” (or “my language”) in the opening quote, olivia and elena also used “mi idioma” to refer to the language. this linguistic heritage is something that all four women reported wanting to pass along to their children. olivia, for example, commented: “para mis hijos, es muy importante que ellos aprendan el zapoteco porque es el idioma con el que nosotros nacimos como sus padres.” (for my children, it’s very important that they learn zapotec because it’s the language that we, their parents, were born with.”) she went on to say, “para mí, sí es muy importante, y es lo que siempre les enseño a mis hijos, que ellos no se olviden de dónde vienen sus padres y el idioma que ellos hablan.” (“for me, it is very important, and that’s what i teach my children, so they don’t forget where their parents come from and the language they speak.”) for olivia, as for the other three women, there seemed to be a very close connection between hometown and mother tongue, and the maintenance of zapoteco seemed to be one way to connect her children to her place of origin. the idea of a place-based linguistic and cultural heritage surfaced as a recurring theme across these interviews, as all four women seemed to articulate the interconnectedness of zapoteco, place, and indigeneity. rather than a pan-indigenous sense of identity, these women tended to focus more specifically on region (e.g., the north sierra of oaxaca for elena, olivia, and zenaida, and the mountains of eastern veracruz for yadira), and, even more specifically, on hometown (or pueblo). indeed, the importance of hometown in relation to language and identity loomed large across all four interviews. these women articulated a sense of collective identity and experience that was focused on the zapotec language and that was tied directly to their hometowns, and this sense of collective identity was sometimes reflected in their use of language during the interviews. for example, all four women used the deictic marker nosotros (we), the possessive pronoun nuestro (our), and the related morphological verb endings -amos, -emos, and -imos (to conjugate verbs in the first-person plural) when talking about themselves in relation to zapoteco. while the women sometimes employed these syntactic and morphological features to signal family relationships, they more often did so in ways that linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 131 seemed to index a connection to other indigenous zapoteco speakers in their respective hometowns. these cultural, linguistic, and place-based notions of collective indigeneity seemed to be central to the heritage that all four women wished to pass on to their children. communication with family and community. on a very practical level, but in ways that are directly tied to notions of familial and cultural heritage, all four women emphasized the importance of their children being able to communicate with zapoteco speakers both here and in mexico. in particular, wanting their kids to be able to communicate with grandparents back in their hometowns seemed to be an important motivation and rationale for teaching their kids zapoteco. when asked why she wanted her children to learn zapoteco, for example, elena replied: más que todo por los abuelitos que tienen allá en el pueblo, como los míos. hay algunos que no entienden, como mi bisabuela, no entiende el español. entonces hablando con ellos es como no entenderle, ni ellos a ella, ni ella a ellos. entonces eso sería bonito que ellos se expresaran, pero en el idioma que ellos hablan. (more than anything else, because of their grandparents back in our hometown, like mine. some of them, like my great-grandmother, she doesn’t understand spanish, so talking with them, it’s like they don’t understand one another. they don’t understand her, and she doesn’t understand them. so it would be nice if they could express themselves, but in the language that their grandparents speak.) here elena emphasizes the importance of her children being able to communicate with her family back in her hometown in oaxaca, something that is currently complicated by the fact that her grandparents speak only zapoteco while her children speak mostly spanish and english. zenaida described how her daughter used to be in a similar situation, but has since learned zapoteco: yo, por mí, sí, yo quisiera que mi niña aprendiera así como yo. es bonito porque ahí ella va a aprender muchos idiomas y se puede comunicar con la gente que no sabe hablar español. entonces, en caso de mi niña, antes no hablaba zapoteco, pero ahora ya, como ya aprendió, y ahorita ya le habla a su abuelita, y como su abuelita no habla español, habla puro zapoteco. (i, personally, would like for my daughter to learn [to speak zapoteco] like me. it’s nice because there she can learn lots of languages and she can communicate with people who don’t know how to speak spanish. then, in my daughter’s case, she didn’t speak martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 132 zapotec before, but now, since she already learned it, and since her grandma doesn’t speak spanish, she speaks to her only in zapotec.) in the quote above, zenaida details how learning zapoteco enabled her daughter to be able to communicate effectively with her grandmother, who speaks only zapoteco. similarly, olivia reported talking directly to her children about these kinds of communicative situations involving their family in oaxaca: le digo cuando ellos vayan a visitar a los familiares de allá, ellos puedan entender y no se queden sin saber qué les están diciendo o qué…entonces, para mí, sí es muy importante que ellos aprendan. (i tell them that when they go visit family from there, they’ll be able to understand and they won’t be caught without knowing what people are saying to them…so, for me, it is very important for them to learn.) this kind of meta-pragmatic discourse—or talk about contextualized language use—is one way in which olivia communicated to her children the importance of learning zapoteco. one thing that seemed clear for olivia, as well as for the other women in this study, is that learning zapoteco was not an all-or-nothing proposition. on the contrary, these women distinguished between understanding and speaking the language, and they framed both in positive terms with respect to communicating with family in mexico. for example, olivia shared an example of her son returning to their hometown in oaxaca and relying on his emergent understanding of zapoteco in order to communicate with his family there: por ejemplo, mi hijo fue hace un año, la primera vez que fue, a él le hablaban en zapoteco. respondía en… aunque él contestaba en español, él sabía lo que le estaban diciendo. (for example, my son went a year ago, the first time he went, they spoke to him in zapotec. he responded in…even though he answered in spanish, he knew what they were saying to him.) in the above quote, olivia emphasizes her son’s receptive language skills, highlighting the way that his comprehension of zapoteco facilitated communication even though he did not speak zapoteco fluently. indeed, olivia seemed very proud of her son’s ability to understand zapoteco, adding: “y ya, pues, allí ya no se…no se quedaba como diciendo, ‘¿qué me dijo?’ no, él ya sabía lo que le decían y él contestaba.” (“and, well, he was no…no longer left as if saying, ‘what did they say to me?’ no, he already knew what they were saying to him, and he replied.”) here linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 133 olivia frames comprehension as an important dimension of overall communicative competence, which is the ability to communicate effectively in specific contexts (hymes, 1972). like the other three women, she underscored the importance of learning zapoteco—whether this learning resulted in productive and/or receptive language skills—in order to be able to communicate with family. in addition to emphasizing communication with family, these mothers also spoke about the importance of learning zapoteco in order to communicate with other zapotec speakers in their community. as zenaida observed with respect to her children, “es importante que ellos aprendan y sepan comunicar con los demás que no saben español.” (“it’s important that they learn and know how to communicate with others who don’t speak spanish.”) similarly, when describing her own children, olivia noted: y es bueno que sepan…que si ellos llegan a ser alguien, por ejemplo, un abogado, y llega una persona que no habla ni español ni inglés, pero hablan en algún idioma, entonces ellos pueden entenderles. (and it’s good for them to know…if they become somebody, for example, a lawyer, and someone shows up who doesn’t speak spanish or english, but they speak in another language, then they’ll be able to understand them.) although only implicit in olivia’s comment above, it seems that she is also pointing to one way in which learning zapoteco could position her children to help others in their community. to illustrate a related point, elena shared the story of a friend whose u.s.-born children went back to live in oaxaca for a few years, and then returned to the united states trilingual. she emphasized that these children could communicate with others in any of the three languages: “ellos se pueden defender y es lo que me gusta de ellos, y es lo que yo quiero para mis hijos, que aprendan eso. en cualquier lugar que vayan, ya están…ya saben los tres idiomas.” (“they can defend themselves and that’s what i like about them, and that’s what i want for my children, that they learn that. wherever they go, they already…they already know all three languages.”) elena explicitly notes how learning zapoteco enabled these children to “defend themselves,” and her admiration for these children’s trilingual competence seemed to directly inform her goals for her own children. finally, because indigenous people and languages are systematically devalued and marginalized in both mexico and the united states, proficiency in and knowledge of indigenous martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 134 languages often gets devalued and/or rendered invisible (martínez, 2017). for this reason, we wish to explicitly emphasize that these women’s comments on the value of learning zapoteco are, of course, also comments on the value of multilingualism. by framing zapoteco as important for communicating with family and community, these mothers are also explicitly valorizing multilingualism in their children’s lives. the deliberate maintenance of zapoteco elena, olivia, yadira, and zenaida all reported deliberately maintaining zapoteco in their children’s lives. in other words, in addition to articulating the importance of maintaining zapoteco, these women also actively engaged in the maintenance of zapoteco by deliberately exposing their children to this indigenous heritage language. while their active efforts towards exposing their children to zapoteco primarily consisted of speaking zapoteco on a regular basis (both in their children’s presence and directly to their children), one of the mothers (olivia) also reported reading to her children in zapoteco. speaking zapoteco on a regular basis. all four women reported being exposed to zapoteco themselves as children, and they connected their respective childhood experiences with the language to their decisions to expose their own children to conversations in zapoteco on a regular basis. of the four women, yadira was the only one who reported not speaking zapoteco fluently. when asked if she spoke zapoteco, yadira replied, “sí, yo, este, entiendo el zapoteco, todo lo entiendo, pero para hablarlo, me cuesta trabajo hablarlo.” (“yes, i, um, understand zapotec, i understand everything, but it’s hard for me to speak it.”) as yadira went on to explain, her personal history of partial language attrition is rooted in the discrimination that she and her family experienced when they moved from their zapotec hometown in rural veracruz to mexico city. notice how she describes these discriminatory experiences in the following exchange: yadira: mis papás, cuando vivíamos en méxico, ellos, este, hablaban mucho, pero cuando nosotros, cuando nosotros le queríamos, le preguntábamos a mi mamá que cómo se hablaba o como qué significaba, mi papá se enojaba que nos hablara en zapoteco. (my parents, when we lived in mexico city, they, um, they would speak [zapotec] a lot, but when we, when we wanted, when we would ask my mom how to speak it or what something meant, my dad would get mad at her for speaking to us in zapotec.) ramón: ¿a poco? ¿por qué? linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 135 (really? why?) yadira: porque en méxico hay más, este, discriminación. (because in mexico city there’s more, um, discrimination.) ramón: en contra de… (against…) yadira: de la gente que venimos de provincia. allá si, por ejemplo, nosotros hablamos otro idioma que no fuera el español, voltean a vernos como diciéndote, “te perdiste aquí, tú no cabes aquí.” o si nos ven con huaraches o más de rancho. entonces sí ya como que hay más discriminación en la ciudad de méxico. (against people like us who come from the countryside. there, for example, if we speak another language other than spanish, they turn around and look at us as if to say, “you’re lost here, you don’t belong here.” or if they see us wearing indigenous sandals, or if they see that we’re from the countryside. so, yes, it’s like there’s more discrimination in mexico city.) ramón: y en contra, específicamente, de la gente… (and, specifically, against people who are…) yadira: de la gente indígena. (against indigenous people.) as yadira explains in the transcript above, her father went so far as to discourage her mother from speaking zapoteco to yadira and her siblings. while this is an understandable strategy for protecting his family from anti-indigenous discrimination, yadira suggests that it also, unfortunately, contributed to her current challenges speaking the language. despite not speaking zapoteco fluently, however, yadira articulated a commitment to exposing her own children to the language on a regular basis. one way that she reported doing this is by participating in conversations with her husband. she shared, for example, that her husband often speaks to her in zapoteco in the presence of their children. while she said that she mostly speaks in spanish during these conversations, she noted that her children are beginning to understand some of her husband’s zapoteco words and phrases. in our view, yadira’s active participation in these bilingual conversations with her husband not only communicates the value and importance of zapoteco to her children, but also increases her children’s opportunities for exposure to the language. in addition, by eliciting and responding to martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 136 her husband’s zapoteco utterances, she likely provides subtle forms of scaffolding that support her children’s comprehension and acquisition of the language. finally, it is worth noting that yadira and her husband chose to give their daughter a zapotec name. this seems like a very powerful way of reclaiming indigeneity and communicating the importance of zapoteco across generations. the three other women in this study—elena, olivia, and zenaida—all reported speaking zapoteco on a daily basis. like yadira, they reported having regular conversations in zapoteco with their husbands. in fact, elena said that she and her husband communicate in “puro zapoteco” (i.e., exclusively in zapoteco). similarly, when asked if she spoke zapoteco with her husband at home, olivia replied: “sí, para nosotros, todo en la casa es zapoteco, todo.” (“yes, for us, everything at home is zapotec, everything.” it is important to note, however, that these women’s conversations in zapoteco also extend beyond the home. as zenaida noted: “lo hablo en la casa y a veces lo hablo en la calle. cuando me saludan en zapoteco, yo les contesto también en zapoteco.” (“i speak it at home and sometimes i speak it when i’m out on the street. when people greet me in zapotec, i also respond to them in zapotec.”) whether at home or in other settings, these mothers reported exposing their children to zapoteco by speaking the language in front of them on a regular basis. in addition to speaking zapoteco in the presence of their children, elena, olivia, and zenaida also reported speaking directly to their children in zapoteco. olivia, for example, shared that she speaks more zapoteco with her children than she does spanish, and she noted that her children understand her and respond physically to her verbal commands. zenaida also reported speaking with her daughter in zapoteco, and she said that her daughter understands and speaks the language. in her words, “sí, yo hablo con mi niña zapoteco, y ella lo entiende y lo habla bien.” (“yes, i speak zapotec with my daughter, and she understands it and speaks it well.”) as these three women explained, their children have increasingly asked them quesions about zapoteco as they have grown older. in particular, they note that their children ask them how to say individual words and phrases in zapoteco. needless to say, these everyday moments of explicit language teaching also involve speaking directly to their children, and thus constitute additional exposure to the language. reading in zapoteco. although speaking zapoteco on a regular basis was the primary way that these mothers reported exposing their children to the language, we would also like to linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 137 briefly highlight that olivia reported reading in zapoteco with her children. in fact, when she arrived for her interview with ramón, olivia brought—without any prompting on ramón’s part—a copy of a book that her brother and father had co-authored with two other men. the book, which had parallel sections in spanish and zapoteco, focused on the history of their hometown back in oaxaca, its founding, cultural traditions, and geography. olivia seemed proud to share the book with ramón, and she described how she used it to teach her children about her hometown: y mis hijos, allí cuando tengo tiempo, cuando ya terminamos todo lo que tenemos, entonces nos sentamos y me dicen, “léeme un cuento, una historia.” porque viene en español y en zapoteco. (and my children, whenever i have time, when we’re finished doing all that we have to do, then we sit down and they say, “read me a tale, a story.” because it’s written in spanish and zapotec.) of course, by reading this book aloud to her children, olivia is not only teaching them about her hometown, but also providing them with additional exposure to the zapotec language itself. moreover, by providing them opportunities to engage with zapoteco in its written form, she is exposing them to the sound-symbol relationships that will likely enhance their overall learning of the language. in our view, this is a powerful literacy event that contributes to the intergenerational maintenance of zapoteco in olivia’s family. to reiterate, elena, olivia, yadira, and zenaida all articulated the importance of maintaining zapoteco in their children’s lives, and all four of them reported deliberately maintaining zapoteco by actively exposing their children to regular input in the language. in other words, these women reported thinking about and doing the work of indigenous heritage language maintenance. our analysis of the interviews suggests that what these women think about zapoteco in their children’s lives directly informs what they do about zapoteco in their children’s lives. in other words, they seem to be motivated to do certain things (e.g., speak zapoteco to and/or in the presence of their children, explicitly teach it to them) because of their attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about the language. from a language ideological perspective, we can frame both their thinking and doing as ideologically mediated. what they think about zapoteco, for example, is not simply a reflection of their individual attitudes and beliefs, but also a reflection of larger cultural, institutional, and social structures, processes, and discourses. and what they do about zapoteco—in other words, socializing their children to speak martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 138 zapoteco and socializing them through zapoteco—can be understood as an enactment of their ideologies since language ideologies can be both articulated and embodied (krosrkity, 2004). below we draw on an intersectional feminist lens and a critical latinx indigeneities framework to theorize how these women’s ideologically mediated language socialization practices are gendered and raced across overlapping colonialities in mexico and the united states. linguistic motherwork across overlapping racial geographies by thinking about and deliberately engaging in the maintenance of zapoteco in their children’s lives, elena, olivia, yadira, and zenaida have created familial and cultural infrastructure to support the intergenerational transmission of indigenous linguistic heritage. we argue that their efforts in this regard constitute “linguistic motherwork” (ek, sánchez, & quijada cerecer, 2013)—critical enactments of their language ideologies that serve important language socialization functions, and that contribute to the construction and maintenance of indigeneity within the context of diaspora. this work reflects the historically gendered division of cultural labor across both mexico and the united states, while also highlighting the important role that women play in indigenous communities. it is important to emphasize that these women engaged in this everyday linguistic motherwork in the absence of the forms of institutional support, such as dual language education, that exist for sustaining spanish in the united states. in addition, we should underscore that they engaged in this work within the larger context of overlapping patriarchies. as some scholars have noted, various everyday forms of structural violence are experienced in the spaces and bodies of indigenous women (zaragocin, 2019). to be sure, this connects to the issue of indigenous heritage language maintenance in multiple ways. blackwell (2017), for example, observed: “with the added layer of gender discrimination, indigenous women often have little formal education and are more likely to be monolingual indigenous-language speakers when they arrive to the united states” (p. 160). this is one way of making sense of zenaida’s experience speaking only zapoteco before immigrating to the united states, and then learning spanish after arriving to los angeles. a cli lens helps us resist simplistic interpretations of her experience. rather than view her learning spanish for the first time in los angeles as either disrupting u.s. imperial logics, or reflecting spanish colonial logics, or connecting to patriarchal logics, we can understand it as being simultaneously related to all of the above. linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 139 given that cli frames indigenous mobilities in relation to colonial histories and contemporary contexts of dispossession and displacement, and given that this framework focuses our attention on shifting racial formations across (settler) colonial contexts, we can understand these women’s diasporic linguistic motherwork as contributing to larger histories of indigenous resistance and resilience within and across the territories that now comprise the nation states of mexico and the united states. across both colonialities, their indigeneity is erased (albeit in different ways). as bonfil batalla (1987) argued, indigenous mexicans are a civilización negada—a denied or negated civilization. through ongoing historical processes of erasure and related ideologies of mestizaje, indigenous mexicans are discursively relegated to the past and imagined to have been completely assimilated into the mestizo majority. when these indigenous people migrate to the united states, they experience a similar (yet different) kind of erasure related to the u.s. settler colonial narrative of indigenous extinction (saldañaportillo, 2017). according to the colonial logic of terra nullius, u.s. northern tribal peoples (including the tongva people, who are indigenous to the part of los angeles where these zapoteca mothers arrived) are imagined to be extinct—indeed, as saldaña-portillo notes, they are narrated into extinction. this narration of indigenous extinction facilitates and perpetuates the discursive framing of the united states as a “nation of immigrants.” this, in turn, makes it possible to frame indigenous latinx migrants (including the zapoteca mothers from this study) as simply another group of immigrants. ironically, of course, for many indigenous latinx migrants, their historical and contemporary marginalization as indigenous people in mexico and central america is largely what has driven them to migrate to the u.s. settler colonial context. once arrived in the united states, however, they are positioned as foreigners—racialized as “brown” latinx immigrants, but not as “red” indigenous people (saldaña-portillo, 2017). the settler colonial racial logic of the united states effectively strips them of their indigeneity and encourages their assimilation into the existing u.s. racial order. as blackwell (2017) argued, this same logic has historically informed the racialization of the southwest since the united states seized the territory from northern mexico. commenting on the period immediately following the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo in 1848, blackwell noted: “ironically, mexicanization was also a survival strategy for many native peoples under the newly imposed, and violently enforced, settler colonial racial regime” (2017, p. 159). the peoples indigenous to california, such as the tongva, martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 140 often deliberately blended into the mexican population in order to escape white american violence in the newly seized territories. for the mothers in this study, some degree of mexicanization is also arguably an option. the dominant racial logic in the united states allows for and encourages their assimilation and disappearance into a larger racialized latinx category. however, by virtue of continuing to speak and/or understand zapoteco, and by passing this language down to their children, the women in this study disrupt the u.s. settler colonial project of narrating indigenous extinction. and by arriving here in the united states as indigenous people, they expose the official mexican myth of indigenous assimilation through mestizaje. they are living, breathing (and speaking) proof of 500 years of indigenous survivance—of resilient indigeneity (casanova, this issue) in resistance to historical and contemporary projects of colonization, colonialism, and coloniality. by exposing their children to zapoteco, and by speaking and/or understanding the language themselves, these women are embodying and enacting resilient indigeneity. indeed, as yadira’s experiences illustrate, spanish, despite being a colonial/colonizing language, can serve as a powerful vehicle for indigenous survivance (morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe, this issue). moreover, as we mentioned above, maintenance of zapoteco is not an all-or-nothing proposition for these women. on the contrary, they articulate a broad definition of what counts as speaking zapoteco, and they frame understanding the language (even without speaking it) as both positive and possible—as a worthy and attainable goal for their children. in this way, these mothers reject notions of linguistic purity (muehlmann, 2008) that, like related notions of cultural and genetic purity—or what saldaña-portillo (2017), following o’brien (2010), refers to as the “colonial calculus of blood quantum”—serve to perpetuate the myth of indigenous extinction and support the project of indigenous dispossession and displacement. the notions of indigeneity that these women construct and sustain, though emerging within (settler) colonial contexts, explicitly disrupt (settler) colonial racial logics. finally, a cli lens helps us contextualize these mothers’ emphasis on the importance of zapoteco with respect to their familial, cultural, and hometown heritage. recall, for example, that olivia reported wanting her children to learn zapoteco so that they could understand where their parents come from. her linguistic motherwork in this regard (e.g., reading the zapoteco book about her hometown) can be seen as a set of spatial practices related to larger geopolitical and historical processes and phenomena. as blackwell (2017) notes: “historical linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 141 dislocation makes indigenous identity and language a matter of cultural survival, and many migrants aim to build translocal notions of indigenous place that tie themselves and their children back to their pueblos of origin, its feast days, and civic responsibilities and cultural practices” (p. 160). these women’s efforts to make connections between their own hometowns and their children’s lives can be seen as forms of translocal place-making. along with the various other examples of their linguistic motherwork described above, such practices constitute powerful contributions to the diasporic construction and maintenance of indigeneity. conclusion in sharing their perspectives on the maintenance of zapoteco in their children’s lives, elena, olivia, yadira, and zenaida revealed the complex and nuanced dimensions of their language ideologies and related language socialization practices. we argue that their everyday linguistic motherwork contributes to the construction and maintenance of indigeneity in diaspora, providing a powerful example of resilient indigeneity within the context of overlapping colonialites across the racial geographies of mexico and the united states. in our view, this study contributes to scholarly understandings of language socialization and linguistic ideologies among indigenous mexican families. by highlighting an under-studied population, this study also contributes to deeper and more robust understandings of multilingualism and multilingual families more generally. indeed, scholarly understandings of multilingualism, multilingual families, and heritage language maintenance that do not include the perspectives of indigenous mexican migrants are necessarily partial and incomplete. in addition, our findings and analysis help to disrupt monolithic and essentialist understandings of both latinidad and indigeneity in education. we suggest that this study has important educational implications related to recognizing and incorporating the knowledge and experiences of indigenous mexican families in public schools. to begin with, we wish to emphasize that indigenous mexican mothers are powerful models of bi/multilingualism for their children, that they can and should be recognized as such by schools, and that they can and should be important partners in culturally relevant/sustaining approaches to pedagogy. given that these mothers’ perspectives help us disrupt essentialist and monolithic notions of latinx culture, we suggest that they can also help us rethink approaches to culturally sustaining pedagogy that erase and exclude indigeneity. we also suggest that it is worth considering what role schools might play in supporting indigenous heritage language martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 142 maintenance for children and families. for example, what if we provided institutional support for indigenous latinx languages in public schools? following morales (2016), we wonder what role dual language programs might play in this regard. of course, while we think these possibilities are worth considering, we also wish to urge caution in this regard. in our view, any efforts to support indigenous language maintenance should proceed only with the leadership and full participation of indigenous latinx families and communities. any support that schools might provide should begin not with the assumption that schools need to take the lead, but rather with a commitment to helping indigenous latinx families connect with the resources that already exist in their own communities, such as hometown associations, philharmonic bands, churches, and grassroots and non-profit organizations. to invoke a popular metaphor, we do not mean to suggest that schools cannot have a seat at the table, but rather that they should not sit at the head of the table. there are things that schools are not best positioned to do, and there are respectful and productive ways for schools to join the conversation and ask for a seat at the table. first and foremost, schools should recognize that there is already a table to join. in other words, schools should recognize and learn about the cultural knowledge, resources, and expertise that exist in indigenous latinx communities, including the kinds of familial and cultural infrastructure that the four mothers in this study actively constructed to support the intergenerational transmission and maintenance of zapoteco. with this as a starting point, schools can follow the lead of indigenous latinx communities in ways that support indigenous latinx children and families. linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 143 references barillas-chón, d. w. (2010). oaxaqueño/a students’ (un)welcoming high school experiences. journal of latinos and education, 9(4), 303–320. batalla, g. b. (1987). méxico profundo: una civilización negada. grijalbo. blackwell, m. (2017). geographies of indigeneity: indigenous migrant women’s organizing and translocal politics of place. latino studies, 15(2), 156-181. blackwell, m., lopez, f. b., & urrieta, l. (2017). critical latinx indigeneities. latino studies, 15(2), 126-137. bucholtz, m. (2000). the politics of transcription. journal of pragmatics, 32(10), 1439-1465. ek, l. d., sánchez, p., & quijada cerecer, p. d. (2013). linguistic violence, insecurity, and work: language ideologies of latina/o bilingual teacher candidates in texas. international multilingual research journal, 7(3), 197-219. emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i., & shaw, l. l. (1995). writing ethnographic fieldnotes. chicago: university of chicago press. hymes, d. (1972). on communicative competence. in j. b. pride & j. holmes (eds.), sociolinguistics (pp. 269-285). harmondsworth: penguin. irvine, j. t., & gal, s. (2000). language ideology and linguistic differentiation. in a. duranti (ed.), linguistic anthropology: a reader, 402-434. kroskrity, p. v. (2004). language ideologies. in a. duranti (ed.), a companion to linguistic anthropology (pp. 496-517). malden, ma: blackwell. kulick, d. & schieffelin, b. b. (2004). language socialization. in a. duranti (ed.), a companion to linguistic anthropology (pp. 349-368). oxford: blackwell. lópez, j. & irizarry, j. g. (2019). somos pero no somos iguales/we are but we are not the same: unpacking latinx indigeneity and the implication for urban schools. urban education. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0042085919835292 machado-casas, m. (2009). the politics of organic phylogeny: the art of parenting and surviving as transnational multilingual latino indigenous immigrants in the u.s. the high school journal, 92(4), 82–99. martínez, r. a. (2017). dual language education and the erasure of chicanx, latinx, and indigenous mexican children: a call to re-imagine (and imagine beyond) bilingualism. texas education review, 5(1), 81-92. martínez, r. a. (2018). intersectionality and possibility in the lives of latina/o/x children of immigrants: imagining possibilities beyond the politics of hate. bank street college of education occasional paper series, 2018 (39). mesinas, m. & perez, w. (2016). cultural involvement, indigenous identity, and language: an exploratory study of zapotec adolescents and their parents. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 38(4), 482-506. morales, p. z. (2016). transnational practices and language maintenance: spanish and zapoteco in california. children’s geographies, 14(4), 375–389. muehlmann, s. (2008). “spread your ass cheeks”: and other things that should not be said in indigenous languages. american ethnologist, 35(1), 34-48. o’brien, j. m. (2010). firsting and lasting: writing indians out of existence in new england. minneapolis: university of minnesota press. ochs, e. (1979). transcription as theory. developmental pragmatics, 10(1), 43-72. ochs, e. & schieffelin, b. (2017). language socialization: an historical overview. in p. a. duff & s. may (eds.), encyclopedia of language and education (pp. 1-14). berlin: springer. martínez & mesinas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 144 perez, w., vasquez, & buriel, r. (2016). zapotec, mixtec, and purepecha youth. in h. s. alim, j. rickford, & a. ball (eds.), raciolinguistics: how language shapes our ideas about race (pp. 255-272). new york: oxford university press. pérez-báez, g. (2012). the unexpected role of schooling and bilingualism in language maintenance within the san lucas quiaviní zapotec community in los angeles. anthropological linguistics, 54(4), 350-370. ruiz, n. t. & barajas, m. (2012). multiple perspectives on the schooling of mexican indigenous students in the u.s.: issues for future research. bilingual research journal, 35(2), 125-144. saldaña, j. (2009). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. saldaña-portillo, m. j. (2016). indian given: racial geographies across mexico and the united states. durham: duke university press. saldaña-portillo, m. j. (2017). critical latinx indigeneities: a paradigm drift. latino studies, 15(2), 138-155. silverstein, m. (1979). language structure and linguistic ideology. in p. r. clyne, w. f. hanks & c. l. hofbauer (eds.), the elements: a parasession on linguistic units and levels (pp. 193247). chicago: chicago linguistic society. smagorinsky, p. (2008). the method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing social science research reports. written communication, 25(3), 389-411. urrieta, l. (2013). familia and comunidad-based saberes: learning in an indigenous heritage community. anthropology & education quarterly, 44(3), 320–335. vasquez, r. (2012). ethnic identity and academic achievement of zapotec and mestizo high school youth in greater los angeles. the claremont graduate university. velasco, p. (2014). the language and educational ideologies of mixteco-mexican mothers. journal of latinos and education, 13(2), 85-106. zaragocin, s. (2019). gendered geographies of elimination: decolonial feminist geographies in latin american settler contexts. antipode: a radical journal of geography, 51(1), 373-392. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 57 bilingual educación in the home: everyday mexican immigrant family educational practices verónica valdez university of utah abstract as we embrace the increasing numbers of young mexican immigrant children and their families present in our schools, it is important for educators to better understand the many family educational practices present in these households. this article examines the strategies and resources utilized by two mexican-born and two u.s.-born mexican immigrant families in teaching and guiding the bilingual educación of their children—an education that encompasses academic teaching but also provides teachings that shape children’s views toward the english and spanish languages and their cultural identities as latinas/os in the u.s. drawing on sociocultural theory, three primary types of teaching practices used by these families to impart bilingual educación in the home are illustrated while highlighting the values and social capital they communicate: 1) school-prescribed teaching practices; 2) embodied teaching practices; and 3) culturally-prescribed teaching practices. the author concludes with implications for educators. acknowledgements: i would like to thank clarena larrotta for constructive comments of early drafts of this manuscript and delila omerbasic for her editorial contributions. the writing of this article was supported by the american educational research association/institute for educational sciences (aera/ies) postdoctoral research fellowship. introduction latina/o parents recognize the importance of academic schooling. in addition, they often view the lessons provided at home as an essential element of their children’s overall education. this combination of academic schooling and the teaching and learning of culturally embedded ways in which a person should live morally in the world with others is what many latina/o families refer to as educación (reese, 2013; villenas, 2002). educación, although similar to its english cognate—education, is understood to be a more comprehensive concept that encompasses academic and non-academic elements. as espinoza-herold (2007) explained, “educación in the latin[a/]o family includes manners, moral values, and rules of conduct, in addition to aspirations and expectations for the future” (p. 262). latina/o parents see academic learning, behavior, and moral values as intertwined and inseparable—all important aspects of their goal of raising children who become good people with strong cultural identities that lead good lives (goldenberg & gallimore, 1995; reese, balzano, gallimore, & goldenberg, 1995) and successfully navigate a society that often constrains them educationally and economically. through home educational practices, mexican immigrant families share their collective, individual, and community experiences to prepare their children for navigating their social worlds. schools, however, have often discounted the educational contributions made by latina/o parents toward this goal (olivos, jiménez-castellanos, & ochoa, 2011). this is problematic because it does not account for the range of teaching and learning ‘naturally’ occurring within latina/o children’s homes that contribute to their future success (delgado bernal, elenes, godinez, & villenas, 2006). in addition, when examining these family practices we often overlook the ideological messages that convey to children what should be valued or discounted. in this article, i draw on a sociocultural framework embedded within theories of cultural agency (holland, lachicotte, skinner, & cain, 1998; wertsch, 1991) and a community cultural wealth framework (yosso, 2005) to examine the varied family home educational practices utilized by four mexican immigrant mothers in teaching and guiding what i term the “bilingual educación” of their children based on their own priorities for their children’s education—an education that provides important teachings about the role of english and spanish in their lives and their cultural identities. specifically, this article addresses the following research questions: what types of home educational practices do mexican immigrant families implement and how do they implement them? what bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 58 beliefs and values about english, spanish, and their cultural identities are communicated through these practices? in the findings, i illustrate three types of teaching practices used by these mexican immigrant families to impart bilingual educación in their homes while highlighting the ideological values they communicate: school prescribed educational practices; embodied teaching (lessons communicated incidentally through parents’ everyday life actions and routines); and culturally-prescribed educational practices (lessons shared intentionally through cultural tools) demonstrating how teaching and learning is done on their terms, as cultural strengths. a framework for understanding latina/o family home educational practices sociocultural theory has taught us that events in the home context are situated within relationships that socialize us to the implicit roles and definitions of what it means to be a member of these contexts. this includes the particular core beliefs and attitudes of latina/o families about how society works, what its practices are, and the power negotiations among and between groups that occur in the context of broad social, cultural, and historic trends (wertsch, 1991). embedded within latina/o families’ practices are particular language ideologies (woolard, schieffelin, & kroskrity, 1998)—ideas, attitudes, and beliefs about the role of spanish and english in their children’s lives—that may stand in support of or in opposition to dominant hegemonic forces such as english-only language ideologies and anti-immigrant sentiment in the u.s. parental language ideologies in particular have been found to shape a parent’s practices and expectations regarding their children’s linguistic, cultural, and social behaviors and development (lópez, 2010; parada, 2013). figure 1 offers an overview of how i conceptualize family home educational practices as centered in acts of parental agency (holland et. al., 1998). figure 1. framework for understanding latina/o family home educational practices. parental agency, as described by holland et al. (1998), is seen 1) when parents intentionally direct their actions within day-to-day interactions and routines toward advancing their own educational outcomes and priorities for their children, and 2) when they draw together the capital they have available in any given moment to adapt their actions to further their family’s and children’s immediate needs and interests when faced with inequitable or uncertain circumstances. through these acts of agency, latina/o parents negotiate between the hegemonic messages conveyed in u.s. society and their own personal beliefs and values about what it means to be un latina/o bien educado/a or a well-educated latina/o. hegemony represents the common sense social values and expectations inherited from the past and uncritically accepted as the way the world works; such a structure serves to maintain unequal power relations that create a subaltern status for those that oppose these common bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 59 sense notions (gramsci, 1971). in the u.s., some hegemonic values and expectations embedded within our social structures include white racial privilege, as well as the privileging of wealth, citizenship, patriarchy, and the english language. however, hegemony is not only domination through passive consent or acceptance but also an ongoing contestation through everyday interactions where individual agency exerts itself in response. in the case of latina/o families, they make choices and exert parental agency to maintain important embodied and culturallyprescribed educational practices that serve their interests while simultaneously responding to the privileged white, middle class school-prescribed forms of education for the home required of them. negotiations of these hegemonic forces guide latina/o families’ enactment of bilingual educación practices as part of routine family and community social interactions that support their children acquiring essential forms of capital—community cultural wealth—necessary to be bien educado. community cultural wealth latina/o immigrant families are empowered with a deep reservoir of resources and capital—what yosso (2005) has termed community cultural wealth. bilingual educación includes an ideological orientation held by many latina/o immigrant families that recognizes that in light of institutional and societal constraints, the procurement of community cultural wealth is an indispensable foundation for any other teaching and learning to occur. thus, the bilingual educación provided by latina/o immigrant families to their children supports formal education while simultaneously prioritizing the acquisition of community cultural wealth. this wealth represents the “array of knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts possessed and utilized by communities of color to survive and resist macro and micro forms of oppression” (yosso, 2005, p. 9). included among this array of community wealth are aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant forms of capital. these different forms of capital are not mutually exclusive or static; rather, they dynamically build upon one another. aspirational capital is being able to maintain hope for the future despite barriers. researchers have found that despite lower educational outcomes, latina/o families maintain high hopes for their children’s future (poza, brooks, & valdés, 2014). the research literature has also documented the linguistic capital gained by children in many latina/o immigrant families through their exposure to two languages such as bilingual children functioning as language brokers (dorner, orellana, & li-grining, 2007; orellana, 2009). many times latina/o immigrant families are able to overcome obstacles in their daily lives through supportive people and community resources (luna & martínez, 2013)—their social capital. when confronted with oppressive structures, many latinas/os call on their resistant capital—strategies they have learned to challenge the inequalities they face (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001) and navigational capital—strategies they have learned to maneuver through social institutions such as schools (yosso, 2005). latina/o immigrant familial capital has been detailed in the funds of knowledge literature that has documented the historically accumulated bodies of knowledge that latina/o families have gained (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005) and in research on latina/o teaching and learning outside of school (lópez, 2001). each of these forms of community cultural wealth is expressed in various ways through latina/o family home educational practices. for this article, i focus on illustrating the educational practices that mexican immigrant families in my study used in pursuit of their children’s bilingual educación. methodology utilizing a qualitative naturalistic inquiry approach (lincoln & guba, 1985) with ethnographic fieldwork strategies of home observation, in-depth interviews, and document review, i examined the practices and perspectives of sra. esther gomez, sra. laura luna, ms. anna salas, and ms. betty mendoza, four mexican immigrant mothers and their families. situated in a small city in south central texas that i call sonoma, i semi-immersed myself in the lives of these four families. to ensure confidentiality, i utilized pseudonyms for all proper names. this community of 44,596 residents had a population that was 96% native u.s.-born, 35% latina/o, and 19% spanish-speaking. this article examines a subset of data built around each of the four families with a focus on the mothers as primary caregivers. they ranged in age from 32-43 years and had a young child enrolled in kindergarten. all four mothers described themselves as having medium to high parent involvement in their children’s schools, a long-term marriage, primary caregiver responsibilities, and between two to four bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 60 children. two of the mothers (sra. luna and sra. gomez) were undocumented mexican immigrants born in mexico who had lived in sonoma for ten to sixteen years. the other two (ms. salas and ms. mendoza) were second-generation, u.s.-born mexican immigrants born and raised in sonoma. both sra. luna and sra. gomez were spanish dominant, with sra. gomez having conversational english skills and sra. luna just starting to learn english. ms. salas and ms. mendoza were both english dominant with ms. salas able to speak and understand spanish and ms. mendoza able to understand spanish but not speak it. these mothers are representative of the mexican immigrant families found in our country’s public schools, with diverse immigrant status and english/ spanish language abilities. data was gathered through a series of one-hour, in-depth interviews ranging from between two to six interviews per mother regarding family history, education, and parent involvement and through informal home observations. observations focused on the ideas and emotions expressed by the mothers that related to education, language, and parent involvement. these observations, conducted during home interviews, also captured telephone and/or face-to-face exchanges that occurred between the mothers, other family members and/or school personnel. a thematic analysis strategy using both theory-driven and inductive codes (boyatzis, 1998) was implemented. among the themes that emerged around the overarching concept of latina/o family home educational practices were: 1) school-prescribed teaching in the home; 2) mother’s embodied teaching (incidental lessons through everyday actions and routines); and 3) culturally-prescribed teaching. i then collected all interview transcripts and observational field notes across all four participants related to each of these three themes. the findings were synthesized to develop an understanding of latina/o family home educational practices as bilingual educación. providing bilingual educación “bilingual educación” is the explicit teaching and learning that occurs within latina/o homes and communities that communicate particular value orientations toward education and language. thus, latina/o parents, whether they intend to or not, constantly communicate both the role and degree of value that spanish has for their family as well as what it means to be latina/o. these messages varied among the mexican immigrant mothers in this study in large part because of their differing social histories and experiences. through selected excerpts and the described lived experiences of these four families, i illustrate the three broad types of teaching and learning that take place in latina/o households: school-prescribed teaching, embodied teaching, and culturally-prescribed teaching. school-prescribed teaching in the home parent involvement is framed around specific responsibilities that parents have to their children as described by epstein’s (1995) typology of parent involvement. these include parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and collaborating with the community. sonoma was no different. there were the parent-teacher conferences, the parent teacher association (pta) meetings, the volunteering, the homework, and the general expectation that parents’ efforts be focused on consciously creating learning experiences for their children that reinforced what was taught at school. as documented in other studies of latina/o parents (durand, 2010; poza et al., 2014), sra. gomez, sra. luna, ms. salas, and ms. mendoza all participated in these school-prescribed activities. in addition, they also took seriously the academic teaching the school expected them to reinforce in the home and incorporated these into their daily family routines. family late afternoons and evenings were dedicated times in all four households where mothers made arrangements to provide assistance and review school-assigned homework with each of their children. for example, ms. mendoza and her husband exerted their parental agency by arranging their work schedules to allow one of them to be home after school and ensure their children completed all school assignments. she describes the instructions she provided her husband to coordinate the family after school routine: i told my husband, “as soon as they get home, if they have anything they need to do, do it and then when i get home you know we can go over what they did and then i’ll put my input …or bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 61 if there’s a project that’s a family thing then we do it when i get home. …buy me one of those big old cork boards.” i put it [the cork board] in the room and i taped their [my children’s] schedules. so here at home with my husband i tell him, i said “whatever needs to be done it’s on the cork board.” by establishing the cork board with the children’s schedule of school assignments, mr. and ms. mendoza incorporated school-prescribed teaching into the home in ways that empowered them by helping them feel they were doing everything possible to ensure their children’s academic success. it was in this area where the mothers’ language proficiency in english and spanish influenced their ability to assist their children and offered important signals about the value of each language. for ms. mendoza and ms. salas who spoke english, this was a routine that was familiar based on their own english schooling experiences in the u.s. ms. mendoza, for example, shared both her own experiences with linguistic discrimination in school and her mother’s experiences with racial and linguistic discrimination stating: i graduated in ’84. of course one of the things was you couldn’t talk spanish. …when she [my mother] was growing up…she was here too you know…you couldn’t speak spanish. she remembers going to the old…theater and the hispanics had to sit up in the upper level and all the whites had the good seats in the bottom. armed with the memories of discrimination faced historically by spanish-speakers in sonoma as well as during her schooling experiences, ms. mendoza chose to balance the provision of linguistic capital with school navigational capital gained as a graduate of the sonoma school district. thus, ms. mendoza enrolled her children in a monolingual english classroom and homework time in ms. mendoza’s home was always in english with spanish reserved exclusively for family gatherings with extended family. for ms. salas, imparting linguistic capital meant enrolling her son in a spanish/english dual immersion program and learning to support spanish homework. for sra. luna and sra. gomez, their children’s enrollment in a spanish/english bilingual program meant that in the early grades most of the homework was in spanish. however, as their children grew older and moved into english classrooms, their ability to assist and review their homework was strained. as sra. gomez detailed in an interview: …algunas veces si trae trabajo que es en inglés y…si necesitas ayuda por decir [mi hija] a veces me pregunta que quiere decir esa palabra. le digo, ‘pues, no sé. … búscala en un diccionario porque no sé.’ …sometimes if she brings homework that is in english and...she [my daughter] needs help, let’s say she asks me what does that word mean. i tell her, ‘well, i don’t know….look for it in the dictionary because i don’t know.’ it was in these situations where they improvised ways to be involved in their children’s homework by directing them to dictionaries, older siblings or neighbors, or looking over homework as if they could read it, as sra. luna often did, just to keep their children guessing as to how much english they actually understood. the overall message each of these mothers conveyed through these practices was that schoolwork was important and should be completed no matter what language it was in. since much of their children’s homework and conversations shifted to english as they grew older, unintentionally english became more prominent in the home over time. another aspect of school-prescribed home practices was parents’ communication with schools. through these practices, mexican immigrant mothers most showcased resistant capital. for example, following an incident where her son mando, a kindergartener, was pushed by a third grader on the bus, ms. salas exerted her parental agency by contacting the school principal directly during one of our interviews stating, “look, this little boy [third grader] needs help…i don’t care if his father is a detective! i don’t care if his mother is barbara bush! i don’t care! you are going to find a solution for this!” evident in her statement is her awareness of how the misbehaviors of students from privileged parents, such as those of a detective or ex-first lady, are often bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 62 overlooked. by raising this perception of inequity directly with the person in a position of authority at the school, ms. salas exerted her agency by drawing on her resistant capital to challenge the school to resolve the issue facing her son and not ignore it. these kinds of efforts to confront the inequities their children faced at school were a central part of the bilingual educación provided by these mothers. embodied teaching within mothers’ everyday actions and routines bilingual educación does not consist solely of the activities and interactions supporting children’s schoolwork or countering bullying on a school bus. it also entails the day-to-day teaching that is imparted incidentally by mothers in the course of their everyday lives through the various roles they enact (i.e., mother, wife, worker, latina). these mexican immigrant mothers often had to navigate social contexts in which they were marginalized or discounted daily. this often required them to continuously adapt and exert agency in order to further their immediate interests. they did this by drawing together the knowledge, resources, and relationships available to them in any given moment to respond to their present circumstances. as these mothers worked toward supporting and guiding the overall development of their children into persons that were bien educados (well educated), they were improvising choices and decisions that aligned with that goal. these mothers’ everyday actions and routines are what i term embodied teaching. i draw on villenas’ (2006) notion of teaching by doing to describe the teaching and learning of life lessons occurring through the performative narratives of mothers’ daily actions and rituals. the daily routines of the four latina mothers generally followed the same schedule. in addition, all four mothers consistently demonstrated their value and support of the learning and use of english through their actions. the main differences between the mothers were in their embodied teachings about the role of spanish. they all talked about valuing spanish proficiency, but its presence and practice in their daily lives varied. i offer a narrative snapshot of sra. gomez’s typical daily routines as she described them in an interview as a way to contextualize the essence of the teaching and learning happening in these homes through embodied teaching. en la mañana me levanto temprano …llevo [a carmen] a las 7:20 a la escuela y ya después… llevo a esperanza y ya me voy yo también. tengo que estar trabajando todo el día.…pues limpio …salgo cansada. llegas del trabajo y a ver qué haces de comer, a lavar, o a recoger. algunas veces no tengo tiempo ni siquiera de sentarme. …yo trato…de ayudarlo [a mi esposo] también. siempre le ayudo [a esperanza] con su tarea, … hago lo que yo puedo aquí en la casa. in the morning, i get up early…i take [carmen] to school at 7:20 and then later…i take esperanza and i go ahead and leave too. i have to work all day…i clean…i leave tired. you return from work and have to see what to cook, to wash, or to clean. sometimes i don’t even have time to sit down. i try…to help him [my husband] too. i always help her [esperanza] with her homework…i do what i can here at home. showcased in this typical day are sra. gomez’s overlapping roles and responsibilities to her children, job, husband, and home. in addition to the activities she was involved in all day everyday, sra. gomez came home to fulfill the school prescribed parent involvement activities for the home. therefore, at the end of the day, sra. gomez arrived home to prepare meals, attend to her husband, and prepare her daughters for school the next day. this entailed reviewing school folders for notes, behavior scores, and homework. sra. gomez, although spanish dominant, had good conversational english skills that she developed through her work cleaning houses. thus, although she tried to use spanish exclusively in the home and watched spanish language television, she took work calls in english, conversed with her oldest daughter in english, and watched her daughter do schoolwork in english. in these ways, english was slowly gaining more prominence in the home while spanish, although still present, was losing ground in its use in the home. to counter this trend, sra. gomez would invite her husband’s parents from mexico to stay several months, instantly converting their home into a spanish immersion experience and forcing her daughters to use their spanish. as sra. gomez explained, “cuando vienen los abuelos de [mi hija] esperanza, ellos no hablan inglés. ellos no entienden inglés. [mi hija] tiene que hablarles en español. / bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 63 when [my daughter] esperanza’s grandparents come, they don’t speak english. they don’t understand english. she [my daughter] has to talk to them in spanish.” evident across every aspect of sra. gomez’s everyday routines were a dynamic conflict between fulfilling the role of a traditional mexican wife and mother by being home and attending to her family—balanced against the role of a working wife and good mother imposed on her through the necessity of work and the requirements of school. sra. gomez’s efforts to make a life in the u.s., buy a home, learn english, and be involved in her daughter’s school sent important messages to her daughters about the value of hard work, the importance of school, her unconditional support, and the oftentimes contradictory lessons of maintaining the traditions of family life as a spanish-speaking latina woman while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of attaining independence as a woman through education, speaking english, and resisting marriage until later in life. sra. gomez’s efforts were symbolic of the future she was building for her daughters, providing a sense of stability to counter the family’s undocumented status. sra. luna and her husband similarly created an environment at home that communicated to their children the value of english and spanish. first, they purchased, used, and prominently displayed in their living room the popular audio english language learning program, “inglés sin barerras/english without barriers,” to demonstrate to their children the importance of learning english and their own commitment to learning the language. however, their ongoing emphasis was on maintaining spanish. to do this, they used spanish exclusively with their children inside and outside the home and selected to attend spanish community events. in addition, television and music engaged in at home was only in spanish and their children were sent annually to visit family in mexico as a spanish immersion experience despite the risks upon re-entry due to their undocumented status. sra. luna’s daily actions taught her daughters the value of being bilingual, while also teaching them how to overcome obstacles, and the importance of persistence and family cohesion to move forward in life. when this study began, english was the dominant language in the homes of ms. salas and ms. mendoza with all of their children speaking predominantly english. while ms. mendoza continued to focus on english with limited social opportunities for her children to hear spanish, ms. salas suddenly became aware that her children were not learning spanish. since ms. salas valued bilingualism, making statements like “[my goal is that] you can actually say they [my children] are bilingual,” and “it’s our language! i have to make sure it doesn’t fade out,” she sought to counter the situation by enrolling her youngest son into a spanish/english dual language program. this action changed the home environment from one that was mostly in english to one in which spanish became more prominent across all home routines, including television, homework, and family mealtimes. each mother conveyed messages to their children through the everyday actions, routines, and choices they made (embodied teachings), illustrating an important way that latina/o families provide bilingual educación. culturally-prescribed teaching there is a growing body of research that has documented latina/o families’ pedagogical use of an array of cultural practices to advance their own educational outcomes and priorities for their children in what are generally referred to as pedagogies of the home (delgado bernal et al., 2006; gonzález et al., 2005; yosso, 2005). these culturally-prescribed teaching practices are part of latina/o families’ collective historically accumulated resources through which cultural meaning and a sense of self as a latina/o is conveyed to children (delgado bernal, 2001). among the culturally-prescribed teaching practices used in this study by sra. luna, sra. gomez, ms. salas, ms. mendoza—which are also documented within other latina/o families—i include consejos [advice] (delgado gaitan, 1994; villenas & moreno, 2001), experiencias de la vida or testimonios [life lessons through oral narratives] (fránquiz & salazar, 2004; lópez, 2001), and el buen ejemplo [modeling expected behavior] (fránquiz & salazar, 2004; stanton-salazar & spina, 2003). these sets of practices are encompassed in what i refer to as bilingual educación. sra. luna describes in an interview the importance of el buen ejemplo. bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 64 me la he pasado diciéndole a [mi esposo], tu responsabilidad es sacarlas [hijas] adelante y enseñarles.…que el hecho de que eres papá y eres él que las manda a ellas, no te da derecho a faltarles el respeto…si quieres que te respeten, respeta. y yo no necesito decirles, respeten a él, tú mismo les vas a enseñar a respetar. el respeto se aprende y se gana ….respetando. i am always telling [my husband], your responsibility is to get them [your daughters] ahead and teach them…the fact that you are the father and that you are the one that tells them what to do, does not give you the right to disrespect them…if you want them to respect you, respect them. and i won’t need to tell them, respect him, you, yourself will teach them to have respect. respect is learned and is earned…. by respecting. sra. luna communicated an important lesson about mutual respect, building confianza (trust) among family members (adult to child, child to adult, child to child), and the obligation each family member has to maintain good behavior for the benefit of the entire family. el buen ejemplo was showcased within everyday events in the home. in the following example, the value of the home environment that sra. luna had established became evident when a spontaneous opportunity for the father to contribute to his daughters’ education emerged and was welcomed. sra. luna’s husband, sr. luna, created a teachable moment from a flying wasp, demonstrating the importance of careful observation and the ongoing nature of learning while sharing familial capital gained during his childhood. according to the field note: today all four girls are home. …suddenly, a wasp flew into the room. all the girls began squealing… in the blink of an eye, sr. luna caught the wasp and held it between two fingers.…his daughters gathered around him and he began identifying the parts of the wasp to them in spanish. he also cautioned them on the stinger and provided suggestions to avoid the full effect of the sting. …he [mr. luna] said he had gained his knowledge from his experiences on the ranch in mexico. another cultural tool utilized in various forms by the mothers in this study were consejos. it was through consejos that mothers taught lessons of morality and cultural values. sra. gomez, for example, agreed with the school’s message that education and a career were important. however, sra. gomez did not agree with the school that valued certain careers over others simply because they were higher paid, and shared the following consejo with her oldest daughter: ”¿quieres ser pediatra porque se gana buen dinero o porque tú quieres hacerlo?” dice [mi hija]: “porque quiero hacerlo.” le digo: “si vas a agarrar algo es porque a ti te va a gustar y porque lo vas a hacer de corazón. no nomás porque aquí [en los estados unidos]…se gana dinero y ya.” ”you want to be a pediatrician because they make good money or because you want to do it?” she [my daughter] says, “because i want to do it.” i tell her, “if you are going to do something it’s because you are going to like it and because you are going to do it from your heart. not just because here [in the united states]…you can make money and that’s it.” within this consejo, sra. gomez teaches her daughter about the value of knowing and following what gives you joy and not only the allure of material things, like money. it is the life lesson that also communicates aspirational capital showcasing that all possibilities are open to her as a woman in the u.s. but that she must make choices based on what it is she really cares about. the consejos that ms. salas and ms. mendoza, u.s.-born mothers, provided were not meant to redirect or realign any of the school prescribed educational demands or messages. this was in contrast to those from sra. gomez and sra. luna, who are both immigrant mothers. instead, ms. salas and ms. mendoza saw their consejos complementing what the school provided to their children. for example, in the following consejo shared during an interview, ms. salas communicates lessons about tolerance and empathy towards others: i don’t shield them. i don’t want to keep them in a little plastic bubble either. they’re going to see bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 65 what happens…we have discussions. for instance, my daughter—there is a little anglo girl that… lives in a real nice home…but she wears her school clothes three and four days a week, the same clothes. and she asked me, “why?” and i said, “you know mija, it could be that her mom hasn’t washed, or it could be that that’s all she has.” ms. salas goes on to state that in sharing these explanations with her daughter, she also encouraged her daughter to extend her friendship to this little girl and not judge her solely by her appearance. thus, this was a lesson about the existence of hardships in life but also builds social capital by showing how to build supportive links to other people no matter what their perceived circumstances. it reflected ms. salas’ commitment to allowing her children to be prepared for the uncertainties present in every area of life, including school, so that they may survive them and be willing to help others survive them as well. at their essence, the consejos these mothers share remain lessons that prepare their children to be world citizens (sánchez, 2007) and survivors (machado-casas, 2012), leading moral lives in a not so perfect world. finally, mothers’ own lived experiences were used to motivate their children to learn from their mistakes. for example, sra. gomez had married early in life and constantly struggled with her marriage even after seventeen years. as she described it, “siempre, siempre hemos tenido problemas.…y como quiera nos casamos y como quiera los problemas siguen./always, always, we’ve had problems. …and we got married anyway and the problems continue anyway.” she pinpoints her current problems with her husband as centering around childrearing, stating, “ahorita, el problema que yo tengo con él es que dice que [mis hijas] son mi responsabilidad./ right now, the problem i have with him is that he says they [my daughters] are my responsibility.” in hopes that her daughter will resist the traditional patriarchal norms and take a different path than she did, sra. gomez describes in an interview the consejos she shared with her oldest daughter, carmen, about the drawbacks of getting married and having a husband as well as the importance of taking the time to carefully choose whom to marry. le digo yo a carmen, “ojala y tú sí te esperes mucho tiempo.”…que no le vaya [a] pasar lo mismo que a mí a los dieciséis años…casada y no tenía hijos, pero, de todos modos...ya no puede [uno] salir, ya no puede ir libremente pa’[sic] ninguna parte sin que le digan, ”¿a dónde fuiste?”...o que le den una regañada o… ojala y…ellas se esperen mucho tiempo. que la piensen muy bien….con quién se…van a casar. i tell carmen, “hopefully you will wait a long time.”… that the same thing doesn’t happen to her that happened to me at sixteen….married and i didn’t have children, but, in any event…[one] cannot go out, you can no longer come and go freely anywhere without them telling you, “where did you go?”...or that they scold you.…i hope that…they wait a long time. that they think about it well….with whom… they are going to marry. by sharing her life experiences negotiating the demands of the traditional mexican patriarchal roles she was raised with, sra. gomez formed the basis for the consejo she provided to her oldest daughter in the presence of her youngest. she offered a life lesson about the need to resist gendered notions of what it means to be a latina woman while navigating the institution of marriage, thus showcasing navigational and resistant capital. the cultural tools of el buen ejemplo, consejos, and experiencias de la vida provide examples of some of the powerful culturally-prescribed family educational practices present in the homes and lives of mexican immigrant families. concluding discussion latina/o parents draw on many resources, histories, and experiences to inform how they provide bilingual educación. this research illustrated not just the school prescribed, embodied, and culturally-prescribed types of teaching practices embedded in households and communities but also the ideological positions that parents negotiated and used to communicate, covering such topics as language, education, and what it means to be latina/o. in addition, the findings showcased many examples of parental agency, the ways in which these teaching practices were used to advance parents’ educational goals for their children. for example, the strong reinforcement of english and school-prescribed forms of parent involvement in ms. mendoza’s home were bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 66 her form of agency: she sought to ensure her children’s educational success through the filter of her own experiences in school where spanish and its speakers were subordinated and left to fail academically. she made the choices that she felt best advanced the goal of her children obtaining success. as in gonzález’s (2001) research, the present study illustrates how these four latina mothers are active agents forging new cultural forms and practices within their families and homes that are linked to the mission of supporting their children’s education and shaping the lessons they impart to their children about navigating through gendered, linguistic, racialized, economic and other institutionalized hegemonic forces. in the case of sra. gomez, direct consejos to her oldest daughter about making choices as a latina woman to marry later and choosing a career because it is something she loves to do rather than because she will earn more money, illustrated her parental agency and the influence of her gendered, raced, and classed position in its enactment. new cultural forms are created by latina/o families in any given moment as they draw on specific latina/o cultural values and practices while navigating and accommodating the relationships and experiences they forge in the u.s. context. for sra. gomez, the cultural value she held for traditional marriage and the role of women was put in dialogue with her own experiences as a woman, a latina, and a wife in the u.s. and mexico to shape the consejo she imparted to her daughter. overall, it was clear that the aspirational, social, resistant, linguistic, navigational, and familial capital that comprises the community cultural wealth of these mexican immigrant families was accessed and shared with their children everyday as they passed on their cultural treasures to the next generation. the findings from this study offer us some cautions as well. as standardization becomes more prominent in public education, we should remind ourselves of the lack of standardization present in the diversity of human experience. it is important that we recognize the significant role parents play in their children’s education in ways not captured by traditional forms of parent involvement. family life is valuable separate and apart from school. we should allow parents to contribute their unique “funds of knowledge” (gonzález et al., 2005) on their own terms, not as dictated by school prescribed avenues. by relying only on the school forms of parent involvement currently available and ignoring their unique forms of capital, latina/o parents are left experiencing social (de)capitalization (valenzuela, 1999), much like their children who attend these schools. this extends our notions of just how far the subtractive schooling experience reaches into the lives of latina/o families. the present research, combined with the work of other researchers studying latina/o students’ educational experiences (fránquiz & salazar, 2004; stanton-salazar & spina, 2003), suggests that latina/o families’ provision of bilingual educación is not only imparting lessons about life but also increasing latina/o children’s academic resiliency and adaptive resources to navigate the many challenges they face across the array of sociocultural worlds they inhabit throughout their lifetimes (machado-casas, 2012; sánchez, 2007). this study helps expand educators’ understandings of what education and particularly bilingual educación represents to latina/o parents and the embedded nature of language ideologies toward english and spanish, which are ever present in the family educational practices of latinas/os. teachers can play a significant role in promoting positive engagement that values the contributions that latina/o families are already making and can continue to make for their children’s educational success (ramírez & gonzález, 2012). bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 67 references boyatzis, r.e. (1998). transforming qualitative information: thematic analysis and code development. thousand oaks, london, & new delhi: sage publications. delgado bernal, d. (2001). living and learning pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14, 623–639. delgado bernal, d., elenes, c. a., godinez, f. e., & villenas, s. (eds.). (2006). chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectivas on pedagogy and epistemology. albany, ny: state university of new york press. delgado gaitan, c. (1994). consejos: the power of cultural narratives. anthropology & education quarterly, 23(3), 298-316. dorner, l. m., orellana, m. f., & li-grining, c. p. (2007). “i helped my mom,” and it helped me: translating the skills of language brokers into improved standardized test scores. american journal of education, 113, 451-478. durand, t. m. (2010). latina mother’s cultural beliefs about their children, parental roles, and education: implications for effective empowering home-school partnerships. the urban review, 43(2), 255-278. epstein, j. l. (1995). school/family/community partnerships: caring for the children we share. phi delta kappan, 76, 701-712. espinoza-herold, m. (2007). stepping beyond sí se puede: dichos as a cultural resource in mother-daughter interaction in a latino family. anthropology & education quarterly, 38(3), 260-277. fránquiz, m.e., & salazar, m. (2004). the transformative potential of humanizing pedagogy: addressing the diverse needs of chicano/mexicano students. the high school journal, 87(4) 36-53. goldenberg, c., & gallimore, r. (1995). immigrant latino parents’ values and beliefs about their children’s education: continuities and discontinuities across cultures and generations. advances in motivation and achievement, 9, 183–228. gonzález, n. (2001). i am my language: discourses of women and children in the borderlands. tucson: the university of arizona press. gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households and classrooms. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. gramsci, a. (1971). selections from the prison notebooks. new york, ny: international publishers. holland, d., lachicotte jr, w., skinner, d., & cain, c. (1998). identity and agency in cultural worlds. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. lincoln, y., & guba, e. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. beverly hills, ca: sage publications. lópez, g. r. (2001). the value of hard work: lessons on parent involvement from an (im)migrant household. harvard educational review, 71, 416-437. lópez, m. m. (2010). language ideologies of mothers and children in a dual language program. national reading conference yearbook, 60, 233-249. luna, n. a., & martínez, m. (2013). a qualitative study using community cultural wealth to understand the educational experiences of latino college students. journal of praxis in multicultural education, 7(1), article 2. doi: 10.9741/2161-2978.1045. http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jpme/vol7/iss1/2 machado-casas, m. (2012). pedagogía del camaleón / pedagogies of the chameleon: strategies of survival and identity for transnational indigenous latino immigrants in the us south. the urban review, 44(5), 534550. olivos, e., jiménez-castellanos, o., & ochoa, a. (2011). bicultural parent engagement: advocacy and empowerment. new york, ny: teachers college press. orellana, m. f. (2009). translating childhoods: immigrant youth, language and culture. new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press. parada, m. (2013). sibling variation and family language policy: the role of birth order in the spanish proficiency and first names of second-generation latinos. journal of language, identity, and education, 12, 299-320. bilingual educación in the home association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2015, volume 9, issue 2 issn 2377-9187 68 poza, l., brooks, m. d., & valdés, g. (2014). entre familia: immigrant parents’ strategies for involvement in children’s schooling. school community journal, 24(1), 119-148. ramírez, p., & gonzález, g. (2012). latina teacher agency in public schools: love, tensions, and perseverance. association of mexican-american educators (amae), 6(1), 34-44. reese, l. (2013). cultural change and continuity in u.s. and mexican settings. in b. jensen & a. sawyer (eds.), regarding educación: mexican-american schooling, immigration, and bi-national improvement (pp. 213-233). new york, ny: teachers college press. reese, l., balzano, s., gallimore, r., & goldenberg, c. (1995). the concept of educación: latino family values and american schooling. international journal of educational research, 23 (1), 57-81. sánchez, p. (2007). urban immigrant students: how transnationalism shapes their world learning. the urban review, 39(5), 489-517. solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). critical race theory, transformational resistance and social justice: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. stanton-salazar, r. d. & spina, s. u. (2003). informal mentors and role models in the lives of urban mexicanorigin adolescents. anthropology & education quarterly, 34(3) 231-254. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s. –mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. villenas, s. (2002). reinventing educación in new latino communities: pedagogies of change and continuity in north carolina. in s. wortham, e. murillo jr., & e. hamann (eds.), education in the new latino diaspora: policy and the politics of identity (pp. 17-35). westport, ct: ablex publishing. villenas, s. (2006). pedagogical moments in the borderland: latina mothers teaching and learning. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectivas on pedagogy and epistemology (pp.147-159). albany, ny: state university of new york press. villenas, s., & moreno, m. (2001). to valerse por si misma between race, capitalism, and patriarchy: latina mother-daughter pedagogies in north carolina. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 671-687. wertsch, j. v. (1991). voices of the mind: a sociocultural approach to mediated action. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. woolard, k. a., schieffelin, b., & kroskrity, p. (1998). language ideologies: theory and practice. oxford: oxford university press yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. bilingual educación in the home http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ education & resistance in the trump era association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 7 latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era patricia d. lópez california state university, fresno william pérez loyola marymount university the 2016 u.s. presidential election and evolving political climate defined by racial bullying and divisiveness. since assuming office, the trump administration has asserted its grip on power, enabling a hostile climate that places money and greed above the sovereignty and human rights of indigenous and historically marginalized people and land. trump’s list of ideological and nationalist agenda is the ongoing assault on immigrant, latinx communities. beginning with trump’s early executive order on “enforcing statutory prohibitions on federal control of education” (executive order no. 13791, 2017) to the current and ongoing threat to end the federal deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) program the administration continues to place the lives of 800,000 young adults and future beneficiaries in limbo as they await the may 2020 trial date for the texas-led challenge to daca (maldef, 2018). these ongoing battles are also a cogent reminder of the need for comprehensive, federal immigration policy. in the case of public k12 and higher education, campuses continue to be sites of horrific waves of racism, bigotry, and violent extremism (splc, 2016; dreid and najmabadi, 2016; adl, 2018; bauman, 2018). these are in part exemplified by charlottesville, where hundreds of white supremacists took to the university of virginia campus motivated by racial hatred, to parkland, where young victims of gun violence sparked youth resistance and walkouts across the country. adding to youth resistance is a surge in voter turnout during the 2018 midterm election, marking a major shift in congress that has already began to destabilize the trump administration. the 2018 midterms also galvanized an unprecedented representation of females in the house of representatives, and a series of firsts: the first black female to represent massachusetts, muslim and native american female representation, and a latina self-identified https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.403 lópez & pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 8 democratic socialist who became the youngest female elected to congress. these changes may arguably provide newfound possibilities for u.s. democracy and the viability of racial, economic, and social justice for all historically marginalized communities. also immanent during the publication of this special issue is the constant criminalization of asylum seekers and the violent separation and detainment of children from their families trump’s current border fight and threat of a government shutdown as a way to strongarm congress to approve his $5 billion funding priority to build a wall on the southern border with mexico. these actions are yet another artifact of the administration’s deplorable zero tolerance agenda epitomized by scorn for immigrant and many latinx communities. these contextual factors, and many more, inform the special issue and contributing authors’ examination of latinx education in the trump era. each piece weaves multidisciplinary scholarship, drawing from critical theories and methodologies, and providing critical insights latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era, while challenging racist nativist framings of latinx youth and broader communities (pérez huber, 2009). opening the issue, fernandez and magaña gamero discuss how the ethnic studies curricula and the use of critical reflective journals are a site of healing and resistance among latinx/chicanx college students in the current political climate. drawing upon students’ reflexive writing prior to and following the 2016 presidential election, the authors humanize latinx/chicanx students’ experiences, capturing feelings of being caught in el compromiso— crossing from one border to another—as a result of the perpetual hyper-militarization of the mexico-u.s. border, while resisting identity formations hinged on the immigrant/foreign born v. u.s.-born dichotomy. the writing process allowed others to name and confront their lived experiences, intergenerational traumas, and the wounds of colonialism by embracing political identities, such as chicanx, while self-defining its multidimensional meaning. also focused on latinx student resistance, beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, and canales’ ethnographic study examines how teachers build upon students’ lived experiences and community cultural wealth to cultivate resistant capital and scrutinize oppressive rhetoric in the current political climate. the authors discuss how high school youth expand their critical education & resistance in the trump era association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 9 literacies about their social contexts while at the same time underscoring the importance of critical pedagogy that calls for teachers to “pause the curriculum” in order to work through the social, emotional, and political issues that are impacting youth. rodriguez vega sheds light on immigrant youth’s artistic expressions and how they signify resistance and resilience to trump politics. using photovoice, drawings, and performance through a weekly after-school theater class focused on societal issues, youth describe and make meaning of the impacts of trump’s zero tolerance campaign agenda and subsequent policies during the first year in office, which included family separation and the detainment of children. rodriguez vega highlights how youth use theater to reject trump’s criminalizing massaging towards mexican and south american communities, while stepping outside of political tradition to reimage a more accepting and inclusive present and future. muñoz, vigil, jach, and rodriguez-gutierrez discuss how undocumented college students navigate institutions of higher education in a climate mired by anti-immigrant discourses and an ensuing elimination of daca. drawing upon interview and focus group data, the authors describe how escalated racist nativism—from racial microaggressions and stereotypes, to collective taunting among trump supporters—impact their daily experiences and safety on and off campus. moreover, undocumented student narratives reveal sentiments of exploitation based on the dual labor they’re confronted with. undocumented students are forced to carry to burden of nativist attacks and policies, while at the same time shouldering the work to make positive changes on their campuses. finally, muñoz and colleagues discuss how undocumented students’ resiliency must acknowledge the trauma they experience from institutional racism and heightened white nationalist aggression targeting immigrant and communities of color. placing a spotlight on chicana/latina voices in higher education, mercado-lópez, alamillo, and herrera analyze graduation caps worn during the 2017 and 2018 chicanx/latinx ceremony. the authors frame the proudly donned political statements worn by chicana/latina graduates as forms of resistance and critical commentary in the wake of trump’s xenophobic and anti-latinx fervor. this post-election climate sparked increases in politicized and creative voicing on graduation caps, whereby three overarching themes emerge: messages of resistance against anti-immigrant sentiments and policies; feminist “refashionings” of latina identity; and lópez & pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 10 familial pride and community belonging. pushing back against racial and xenophobic characterizations of latinx communities, chicana/latina graduates’ declarations honor sacrifices and collective success, upholding their families as central sources of knowledge, rich histories, and pride. also, situated in the context of higher education, allard, sellman, torres, schwartz, bernardino, and castillo unpack an elite private university’s sanctuary status to understand the extent to which institutional policies mitigate undocumented students’ experiences of belonging and inclusion. in addition to establishing protocol for how the university would cooperate with immigration enforcement and programs, support for legal counsel for undocumented students and an emergency fund were also created. while noteworthy and unprecedented, student narratives reveal that institution’s sanctuary campus status did not alleviate broader stress of uncertainty associated with documentation status in the current political climate. adding to the discussion on sanctuary campuses is serrano, vazquez, samperio, and mattheis’ article examining pubic documents and messaging by leadership at two four-year universities in california. the authors find that while both universities express support for undocumented students, their messages are vague and devoid of acknowledgements of broader social tensions surrounding immigration issues. moreover, such policies are entrenched in a paternalistic discourse of protection, conflate dreamer (i.e., ab 540) and daca statuses, and limit higher education supports to immediate campus contexts. these pieces highlight the enduring problems related to a lack of comprehensive immigration reform. rounding out the special issue manuscripts is lópez and matos’ conceptual paper that historicizes the intersection of immigration and education policies and their escalated presence in the trump era. as part of their analysis, the authors underscore how immigration policies targeting adult immigrants will have direct implications for k12 educational institutions and the children of immigrants. moreover, the paper puts forth arguments for how education is both weaponized and used as a bargaining chip, particularly among immigrant latinx youth and families. acknowledging the relentless targeting of immigrant youth and children of immigrants, lópez and matos put forth various acts of resistance that political and educational actors can assert in response to the subordination of these communities. education & resistance in the trump era association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 11 summing up the issue are contributions by irene sánchez and matt sedillo, who use poetry to speak truth to power and inspire us to continue documenting latinx communities racialized experiences. fallas-escobar’ book review of teacher leadership for social change in bilingual and bicultural education by deborah k. palmer, detailing bilingual teachers’ processes of transformation and agents of positive social change. lópez & pérez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 12 references anti-defamation league. (2018). white supremacist propaganda on u.s. college campuses rises 77 percent over past nine months: adl report. retrieved from: https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/white-supremacist-propaganda-on-us-collegecampuses-rises-77-percent-over-past bauman, d. (2018). after 2016 election, campus hate crimes seemed to jump. here’s what the data tell us. chronicle of higher education. retrieved from: https://www.chronicle.com/article/after-2016-election-campus/242577 dreid, n. & najmabadi, s. (2016). here’s a rundown of the latest campus-climate incidents since trump’s election. chronicle of higher education. retrieved from: http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/heres-a-rundown-of-the-latest-campus-climateincidents-since-trumps-election/115553 executive order no. 13791, 20 u.s.c. 3403. (2017). mexican american legal defense fund (maldef). (2018). maldef statement on daca ruling. los angeles: maldef. retrieved from: http://www.maldef.org/news/releases/2018_08_31_maldef_statements_on_daca_r uling/ pérez huber, l. (2009). challenging racist nativist framing: acknowledging the community cultural wealth of undocumented chicana college students to reframe the immigration debate. harvard educational review, 79(4), 704-730. southern poverty law center. (2016). the trump effect: the impact of the 2016 presidential election on our nation’s schools. retrieved online on november 31, 2016 from: https://www.splcenter.org/20161128/trump-effect-impact-2016-presidential-electionour-nations-schools#pdf http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 1 2019 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 1 the fluidity of historical analysis: students’ interpretations of mendez v. westminster maribel santiago jasmin patrón-vargas michigan state university abstract using research from two eleventh-grade u.s. history classrooms in the san francisco area, this article examines how students draw on their lived experiences to create historical meanings. specifically, a three-day lesson on mendez v. westminster was used as part of a curricular intervention to explore the following question: how do students use their experiences with race/ethnicity and language to understand how discrimination was enacted in a different time? a grounded theory approach was used to identify patterns and codes from the data including student work, student interviews, and classroom observations. findings reveal that students’ lived experiences served as a tool for understanding racial/ethnic discrimination and reasons why 1940s mexican americans claimed whiteness. at the same time, students’ lived experiences limited their ability to recognize language segregation in the 1940s. having said this, students in this study view history through various lenses: 1) a racialized lens that recognizes white privilege; and 2) a language lens that reifies language discrimination. the authors conclude by presenting the complexity of students’ intersectional identities in shaping their historical analysis. keywords: historical analysis, intersectionality, white privilege, language discrimination doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.422 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.422 santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 2 introduction school administrators thought that if they put mexican americans with the white kids that it would slow down the learning process . . . i’ve seen like mexican students here, and i agree with [the school administrators] that it slows down everybody’s learning process. i’ve seen kids who like just came from mexico…and they do better because they stay after school to get more help. (nancy, june 6, 2013) in this classroom conversation, nancy, a participant in this study, responds to a question about whether or not mexican americans during the 1940s should have been segregated for allegedly not speaking english. she argues that english-speaking students would benefit from language segregation. surprisingly, nancy is also mexican american. this is startling because we often assume that people of color do not condone discrimination, especially when enacted against their same racial/ethnic group. this example highlights an implicit assumption that students of color are more likely to understand the experiences of historical actors that share their same racial/ethnic identity. such assumptions pose an educational concern, particularly educators’ failure to consider the intersectional identities, experiences, and knowledge that students bring to the classroom. latinx1 communities have stark differences in how they experience class, citizenship status, and gender, among others. these distinct identities intersect, creating a ‘multidimensionality’ in marginalized people’s lived experiences (crenshaw, 1989). race, gender, class, sexuality, language, and other identity markers come together as a set of “…interlocking and mutually reinforcing vectors” (nash, 2008, p. 3), meaning that these identities function simultaneously in how latinx communities experience discrimination. mexican americans, in particular, have a long-standing immigration history that changes between established generations and recent immigrants. for example, second-generation mexican americans and beyond have been partially assimilated into the u.s. mainstream society (jiménez, 2010). still, mexican americans are associated with immigration and thus perceived as perpetual foreigners (devos & banaji, 2005). this is problematic because mexican americans experience the world differently than mexican immigrants. intersectionality, then, offers a lens for understanding the identities, experiences, values, and beliefs that students bring to the classroom as significant 1 our use of latinx is an attempt at inclusivity that acknowledges gender fluid identities. the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 3 factors to consider. as educators, we must apply a sociocultural approach that acknowledges the various lenses—such as gender, ethnic, racial, linguistic—– that shape the perspectives of students. in understanding that young people possess various identities that inform their social and historical interpretations, educators can make more informed decisions about what and how to teach social studies subjects to diverse groups of students. given this concern, we ask: how do students use their lived experiences to understand how discrimination was enacted in a different time? specifically, we examine how students of color use their racial/ethnic and language experiences to make sense of 1940s mexican american segregation. we use the term discrimination to refer to “actions and/or policies that are intended to have a differential impact” (pincus, 1996, p. 186) on historically marginalized people. drawing on research from two eleventh grade u.s. history high school classrooms in the san francisco area, we seek to understand how students use their experiences to make sense of racial/ethnic discrimination, white privilege, and language discrimination. literature review to better understand how students make sense of history, we draw from sociocultural theory. we use the work of james wertsch (1998) to frame how students engage in mediated action, specifically how they draw on unofficial and official histories to understand the past (wertsch & rozin, 1998). people do not simply repeat what they have heard about the past; they use the official (i.e., learned in school) and unofficial (e.g., learned in community, collective memory) accounts to generate their own interpretation of historical events (wertsch & rozin, 1998; wertsch, 2008). this means students are not passive consumers of history, but rather they assimilate new information into their already existing understanding of the past (barton & levstik, 1998, 2004; vansledright, 2008; wills, 2011). in this sense, students are “active agents” who play a role in constructing historical interpretations (wertsch & rozin, 1998; santiago, 2017). this paper aims to document how students use their racial/ethnic and language experiences to understand how discrimination was enacted in the past. in that effort, we use two sources of empirical research that consider what mediated action might look like in regards to race/ethnicity, language, and interpretations of discrimination. the first set of literature provides information about how students of color make sense of race/ethnicity in the past. the second set of empirical research focuses on how students use the present to make sense of the past. we argue that both students’ experiences santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 4 and their sociocultural environment play a role in developing or limiting a student’s historical analysis. collectively, these theories and empirical research help us document how students use their experiences with race/ethnicity and language to understand how discrimination was enacted in a different time. the role of racial/ethnic identities in how students critique history students’ racial/ethnic identities influence the way they ascribe meaning to history. this is true for both the school curriculum (epstein, 2001; an, 2012; santiago, 2017) and the informal curriculum (e.g. commemoration sites) (burgard & boucher jr., 2016). for instance, black and white students interpret historical events differently in the classroom (epstein, 2001). on the one hand, white students assign historical significance to events that teach “everybody’s history” and praise a narrative of progress in u.s. history. on the other hand, black students are more critical. they resist historical events that both limited and expanded black rights. similarly, mexican american students are also likely to resist the historical content of the u.s. history curricula. based on a two-week unit on “westward expansion,” almarza and fehn (1998) found that the teacher’s failure to acknowledge mexican american students’ ethnic identity resulted in resistance of the content offered. this was especially true when discussing u.s. history as being exclusively white. altogether, this research highlights the impact of students’ racialized identities in how they conceptualize what counts as significant into history. in this sense, students bring who they are and what they have experienced in the classroom as another analytic tool for critiquing history. the role of present day in how students interpret the past at the same time, while students’ racial/ethnic experiences may help them scrutinize how race/ethnicity is presented in the past, it may also limit students’ historical analysis. when students use their present-day experiences to interpret the past, they may be applying anachronistic values to their analysis. this is known as presentism, which refers to “the act of viewing the past through the lens of the present” (wineburg, 2001, p. 90). this can pose a problem when students impose current day understandings about discrimination to the past. this is because students carry their own values, beliefs, and principles that may conflict with the values of the given historical event (ashby & lee, 1987; wineburg, 1991; wineburg, mosborg, porat, & duncan, 2007). for example, in the epstein, mayorga, and nelson (2011) study on the the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 5 effects of a culturally responsive teacher’s pedagogy, black and latinx high school students typically depicted whites as the dominant racial group in u.s. history that “mistreated or used blacks” (p. 11). this was the case even after the teacher discussed the diverse historical experiences of white immigrants. part of this lies in students’ contemporary experiences with racism. for example, several students made references to the unjust employment rate saying, “whites get all the good jobs” (p. 13). as such, applying a present-day lens to previous events conflicted with students’ ability to recognize how discrimination functioned in the past. even though students’ racial/ethnic experiences may encourage them to critique historical interpretations, it may not always foster a nuanced understanding of how discrimination has evolved over time. we acknowledge that these are not the only types of experiences students have with discrimination. latinx communities, in particular, can be discriminated against because of language. this can be attributed to the long-standing u.s. history of english-only beliefs. state institutions have pushed language minorities to adopt english as quickly as possible (portes & rumbaut, 1996; schlesinger, 1998). as a result of these efforts, languages other than english, including spanish, are stigmatized. in turn, this creates a “paradoxical relationship” between latinxs and the spanish language (bedolla, 2003, p. 266). in this case, then, spanish can serve as a source of ethnic pride, while also being a source of stigma. theoretically, these language experiences may function as another cultural tool in how students analyze history, yet there is little empirical research that explains how students use such experiences. what this does tell us is that students’ present-day experiences, particularly those with race/ethnicity, play a role in their analysis of historical discrimination. that is, they can further complicate their analysis in that they can either foster critiques of simplistic interpretations of u.s. history or limit how they interpret discrimination in the past. the task then for educators is to find ways to encourage historical analysis that is not solely informed by students’ personal experiences. this requires moving students away from presentism, and towards historical empathy. although there are different definitions of historical empathy, we refer to it as “the ability to put yourself in ‘the other’s shoes’ and to reconstruct historical agency in terms of mentality, context, and intentionality” (goldberg, 2013, p. 43). in other words, analyzing historical events and actions within the context of the time and not imposing present-day standards. the tension, however, is that students’ intersectional identities and present-day santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 6 experiences, such as those with race/ethnicity, do play a role in how they make sense of history and possibly interfere in the process of historical empathy. thus, this study considers how students use their racial/ethnic and language experiences to understand how discrimination was enacted in a different time. methods positionality both authors are chicana scholars committed to including complex latinx historical narratives into k-12 classrooms with the intent to effectively depict the experiences of latinx communities. the first author is an assistant professor and a former social studies high school educator in los angeles. the second author is a ph.d. student who has worked as a community coordinator in several chicago schools. given our work in these k-12 settings, we come to this research not only as researchers, but also as educators. this expertise, along with our personal and professional experiences as chicanas, offers us a unique perspective with which to analyze the data. it gives us insights into the data that perhaps others who have not worked in urban school settings or who have limited experiences with the racial complexities of latinidad may not have. research site and participants to understand how students use their experiences with race/ethnicity and language, the first author collected data in a predominantly latinx high school. the school is 81% latinx, 11% black, 8% pacific islander, and less than 1% white, native/indigenous, or asian. although 65% of the students are first-generation high school graduates, the school consistently sends 90 to 95% of its students to a four-year or two-year college. specifically, the first author observed two eleventh grade classrooms over an eightweek period. in total, 29 students participated in the study, 25 of which were latinx, 2 black, 1 indian american, and 1 tongan. all of the latinx student participants were children of immigrants or came to the u.s. between the ages of four and six. with the exception of the black student, all the students were bilingual. data collection and analysis over the eight-week period, the first author collected data that included observational field notes, teacher interviews, student interviews, curricular handouts, and student work. from the full data set, three days were selected during which students discussed the segregation of the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 7 mexican american students via a lesson on mendez v. westminster. this lesson was part of a curricular intervention that the first author developed for another study on racial/ethnic historical narratives (santiago, 2019). for the purposes of this paper, we focus on student work, student interviews, and classroom observations. the first author conducted fifteen 40-minute interviews with students from both classes. students were a representative sample of the racial/ethnic and gender diversity of the class. the first author interviewed one tongan student, one black student, and one indian american student. the other 12 students were of latinx descent, including seven mexican american students, four mexican immigrant students, and one peruvian student.2 during the interviews, which occurred after their lesson on mendez, the first author showed the students their classwork to help them recollect what they had discussed earlier in class. the first author then followed up with a set of questions in which students were asked to explain the historical significance of mendez. the purpose of the interviews was to examine how students used historical content to explain past and current mexican american discrimination. these interviews were audio recorded and later transcribed for analysis. using atlas.ti qualitative analysis software, the first author followed a grounded approach, where she coded patterns that emerged from the field notes first (glaser & strauss, 1967; charmaz, 1995). the result was a set of codes that documented a phenomenon that she had not originally intended to look for but emerged from the observations. it was through this initial analysis that she first identified differences in how students identified with or disassociated from the historical actors. the data analysis was a recursive process in that the field notes guided the types of patterns she looked for in the student work and interviews. three primary themes emerged from this data: racial oppression, whiteness, and language as a proxy for race. for the purpose of this paper, we focus on white privilege and language discrimination. mendez v. westminster curricular intervention the three-day lesson that provides the context of this study discusses the 1940s mexican american school segregation case. in 1945, the mendez family attempted to enroll 2 when referring to these 12 students we use the encompassing term “latinx” and only use the terms “mexican american” or “mexican immigrant” when referring to specific students or when that status is relevant to the findings or claims we make. santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 8 their children at their local elementary school located in the westminster school district, orange county, california. at the time, the school was not integrated, and as a result, denied the mendez children admission. instead, the mendez children were told to register at hoover school, the “mexican school.” yet, their lighter-skinned cousins, the vidaurri children, were allowed to enroll at the white school. in response, the mendez family filed a class action lawsuit against the westminster school district and four other southern california districts (brilliant, 2010). two years later, in 1947, the u.s. supreme court of appeals in the ninth circuit ruled that mexican americans could not be segregated as there was no state law mandating the segregation of mexican americans. the lesson highlighted key aspects of the court’s decision through primary documents (e.g. the judge’s ruling in the first case and appeal) and secondary sources (e.g. text written by historians adapted for grade level). the documents included the following information: 1) mexican americans were recognized as white, a strategy the mendez family attorney used to gain access to white schools; 2) this allowed mexican americans to enroll in white schools but continued to segregate asian americans and native americans; and 3) the decision upheld language-based segregation, requiring mexican american students to prove their “english proficiency” (brilliant, 2010). the lesson was grounded in the historical question “did mendez end school segregation in california?” to encourage students to evaluate the historical evidence and make claims about how discriminatory practices function. findings the purpose of this study is to examine how students’ experiences with race/ethnicity and language influence their interpretations of past events. the results of this study provided three major findings. first, students identified racial oppression as a source of disadvantages. second, using their own experiences with race/ethnicity, students recognized white privilege. finally, through present-day experiences with language, students reified language discrimination and supported language segregation. for the purpose of this paper, we focus on white privilege and language discrimination. collectively, these findings explain how students’ racial/ethnic and language experiences can function as tools that encourage historical empathy while also perpetuating presentist understandings of discriminatory practices. as such, they inform how students and their identities are active agents in the construction of historical understanding in k-12 classrooms. the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 9 using whiteness as a “cover” using their experiences with race/ethnicity students recognized the benefits of white privilege. white privilege describes the unearned benefits that “white subjects accrue… by virtue of being constructed as whites” (leonardo, 2004, p. 137). for example, when discussing the 1940s racial categories, students were asked the following prompt: “in the 1940s, the u.s. government recognized five racial categories: black, white, indian, asian, and mongolian. if you were a mexican american in the 1940s, which would you choose? why?” (may 21, 2013). in response, students discussed the benefits that mexican americans acquired in being recognized as white. mayra, a mexican american student, wrote, “white because they are superior and had more opportunities than people of colored skin.” others also identified the greater access to quality education that whites had. micaela, another mexican american student, commented: “i would just be white because they could go to white schools and would have more educational opportunities.” by analyzing the benefits of white privilege, students were able to use historical evidence as well as their racialized experiences to understand why mexican americans would claim whiteness in the 1940s. this is best captured during two interviews. araceli, a mexican american student, asserted: i feel like [claiming to be white] gave [the mendez family] a reason to actually fight for [school desegregation] because [gonzalo mendez] was like ‘we’re in the same category as white people, so we should be treated equally, but we’re not (araceli, may 21, 2013). noemi, a mexican american student, also argued that claiming whiteness was a “cover” for mexican americans: i feel [claiming to be white] was just a cover for mexicans, like you know how ms. casillas asked us what would we be if we could choose. i chose white. why, because it gives you more opportunity. but it’s not like you’re really white (noemi, may 21, 2013). together, these two examples demonstrate students’ ability to analyze the benefits of whiteness and understand why the mendez attorney strategically made the move to identify as white. in this occasion, then, students developed historical empathy, as they were able to take the historical evidence and articulate why mexican americans during that time period attempted to classify as white. primarily, students were able to make sense of the historical santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 10 evidence by drawing on their experiences as racialized beings. this is consistent with research that highlights the impact of students’ racialized identities in how they conceptualize historical events (almarza & fehn, 1998; epstein, 2001) “oh, you have a mexican last name, you go here” although students understood the role of white privilege, they struggled to see how language discrimination played a role in the mendez v. westminster case. linguicism or discrimination based on language describes the unfair treatment of an individual based upon the characteristics of their speech (phillipson & skutnabb-kangas, 1986). in fact, there were only 11 instances across the three data sets where students identified language discrimination. during the second day of the mendez lesson, students were asked whether mexican american students in the 1940s should be segregated because they supposedly “did not speak english.” jezebel, a mexican american student, commented “they don’t have to separate them [mexican americans] because they’re not actually dumb! they’re just saying that, ‘oh, you have a mexican last name, you go here.’ some of them were born here and spoke english.” jezebel was alluding to the point that having a spanish surname immediately signaled for discrimination. still, students ignored her comment and discussed whether mexican americans were to be segregated within the same school or different schools. to bring the conversation back, ms. casillas directed the class to another example of judge mccormick’s court decision in which he stated that the only permissible reason for segregating mexican americans was their “english deficiencies.” using this example, ms. casillas asked whether judge mccormick wanted integration or not. maria, another mexican american student, replied: not really. it’s like jezebel said, they were segregated by last name, but what if they were born here, what if they were like third-generation but had a mexican last name? they would probably just stereotype, you have a latino last name, you have to go to a mexican school. again, maria was highlighting the argument that there were mexican americans who were born in the u.s. and spoke english. using maria’s comment as an opportunity, the first author directed students to the instructional handout that highlighted james l. kent’s m.a. thesis. according to james l. kent, an orange county school administrator, segregating mexican american children was okay the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 11 because “…mexican american children have a bilingual handicap when they come to the united states.” following this, the first author commented, “he’s speaking about mexican americans as if they’re all foreigners, as if they’re all immigrants. are they? is that accurate during the 1940s?” sandra, a mexican american student, disagreed and reiterated maria’s earlier point by posing “what if they were third-generation?” at that moment, ricky, another mexican american student, interjected by adding how california was part of mexico. although students laughed at ricky’s comment, the first author highlighted ricky’s point by noting, “but that’s true. there were some people here before it became part of the united states. if they’re third-, fourthgeneration, at that point they might not even know spanish. that’s what maria was talking about.” this discussion captures the difficulty that students had understanding that there were mexican americans in the 1940s who were not immigrants and spoke english. although students like jezebel and maria questioned the assumed foreign status of mexican americans, many students disregarded their comments. instead, they continued to entertain the question about whether or not mexican americans in the 1940s were immigrants who did not speak english. in this instance, applying their present-day lens about english language students deterred students’ capacity to understand language discrimination within this historical context. this shows that while students draw on their racialized experiences, they simultaneously pull from other experiences that are influenced by their multifaceted identities, a new finding not identified in previous research. although there is research that highlights the stigmatized association of language in the latinx community (bedolla, 2003) this finding complicates how students’ identities shape their historical meanings. the “benefits” of language segregation with the incorrect assumptions that mexican americans in the 1940s were english learners and immigrants firmly established, students viewed language segregation as supportive english language instruction. this was often influenced by their present-day views about who needs english language instruction. for instance, during an interview with nancy, she described the language segregation process as follows: [school administrators] thought that they would put mexican americans with the white kids that it would slow down the learning process . . . i’ve seen like mexican students here, and at the same time i agree with [the school administrators] that it slows down santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 12 everybody’s learning process. i’ve seen kids who like just came from mexico…and they do better because they stay after school to get more help . . . we have like a class where it has students who need more help. (interview, june 6, 2013) according to nancy, segregating students in different classrooms is beneficial for all. this was fueled by her own observations at school. nancy wasn’t the only student, however. many students immediately labeled mexican americans as foreigners that did not know english. as such, having segregated schools were reasonable as they provided additional forms of “support.” in this case, then, applying their present-day views and beliefs conflicted with the ability to understand language segregation in the 1940s. therefore, students do not merely rely on the historical content presented; rather, their historical interpretations are a result of the various identities and experiences that they bring into the classroom. “i’m not racist…but i would get irritated if you had to stop class just to talk to that person” the students’ historical empathy shifted on whether or not they categorized the historical actors as mexican americans or mexican immigrants. this is best reflected in their choice of pronouns. in the 810 minutes of the mendez lesson, there were three occurrences in which students used the first-person to associate themselves with mexican americans. in the first occasion, three students used the first pronoun when discussing what racial category mexican americans would fall under. for instance, galilea commented, “black because we’re both equally discriminated against.” jezebel agreed with galilea’s point by adding, “yeah, because we’re both segregated.” finally, ricky said, “i would say asian, indian, or mongoloid because we all kinda look alike.” all three of these students used first pronouns such as “we” or “we’re” to associate themselves with 1940s mexican americans because of a shared history of racial/ethnic discrimination. in the second occasion, students used first-person pronouns to discuss language segregation. following a historical inquiry activity that reviewed how mexican americans were segregated based on the assumption that they did not speak english, students were asked whether or not they agreed with the argument that mexican americans should be segregated because they “slow down white students.” contrary to the example above, students used firstperson pronouns to dissociate themselves from mexican americans. for example, leticia said, “i’m not racist or anything, but i would get irritated if you had to stop the whole class just to the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 13 talk to that person” (field notes, may 23, 2013). noemi agreed with leticia’s statement by adding, “well when i was in middle school there were students who didn’t speak in english and they would split them up into our classes and it would be like so irritating waiting for them.” (field notes, may 23, 2013). in the two occasions above, various students used first-person pronouns. however, in the first occurrence, students used pronouns like “we” or “we’re” to align themselves with mexican americans because of shared experiences of racial discrimination. in the second occurrence, though, when discussing language segregation, students used first-person pronouns to align themselves in opposition to mexican historical actors. this was due to their imposed misconceptions about mexican americans as foreigners who did not speak english and thus, they dissociated themselves from these historical actors. in other words, students brought their present-day misconceptions about mexican immigrants into their historical interpretations of 1940s mexican americans. these misconceptions may be directly linked to what bedolla (2003) tells us about the stigmatized relationship latinxs have to spanish. discussion we often assume that students of color oppose discrimination because a shared racial/ethnic identity helps them identify with the group that is being discriminated. however, findings in this study reveal that students of color analyze history through various lenses that are influenced by their intersectional identities, sociocultural environment, and present-day worldview. students in this study analyze history through two lenses. first, students analyze history through a racialized lens that allows them to recognize the benefits that mexican americans gained in claiming whiteness during the 1940s. second, students analyze history through a language lens that, at times, relies on their present-day misconceptions of immigrants and english learners. as a result, students’ experiences were a tool in developing historical empathy. on the other hand, their experiences hindered that same type of analysis, and instead facilitated presentism or the application of a present-day analysis. in this sense, these distinct analytical lenses are tinted with a set of personal experiences and identities that can either interfere with or encourage complex historical analysis. in this study, students were able to identify the benefits of whiteness. as reiterated by student after student, whites hold a set of rights and privileges that other racial/ethnic groups do not. these responses can be attributed to their own racialized identities. although santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 14 segregation laws no longer exist, students are well aware of present-day forms of discrimination. thus, students used their lived and present-day worldview to interpret the past. using these tools, students were able to develop historical empathy–being able to analyze history within its time period–as they were able to understand the context of mexican americans in the 1940s. specifically, they understood why mexican american historical actors in the 1940s would choose to claim whiteness. this aligns with previous research that has found that the racialized identity and personal experiences of students of color create different historical meanings that may be more critical and resistant (almarza & fehn, 1998; epstein, 2001). at the same time, using lived experiences to analyze history poses limitations. this was the case when discussing language segregation. students struggled to place it within the historical context of the 1940s. when students were asked whether mexican americans in the 1940s should be segregated for allegedly not speaking english, the majority of students immediately assumed that they were immigrants who did not speak english. for this reason, they justified segregation in the 1940s. according to them, segregating schools provided additional forms of “support” that benefited both mexican americans and whites at the time. the truth, however, is that many segregated latinx students, the mendez children among them, spoke english fluently. additionally, students in this study dissociated themselves from mexicans americans who were assumed to be foreigners and non-english speakers. this is exemplified when students used pronouns such as “they” to position themselves against mexicans. in othering these historical actors, students reproduced racial and language stereotypes about mexican americans. this is also known as intraethnic othering: the process of resisting a racially stigmatized status at the expense of reproducing racial stereotypes (pyke & dang, 2003). this aligns with studies that find that ethnic groups’ relationship to their language can become problematic when “the groups’ language exists in a subordinate position within a system of sociolinguistic stratification” (bedolla, 2003, p. 265). in attaching a negative linkage to historical actors’ language, students engage in what bedolla (2003) calls selective dissociation. this refers to “the selective distancing of themselves away from the sectors of the community that they see as to blame for this negative attribution” (p. 266). in this way, students separate themselves to develop a positive social identity for themselves. although there is research that the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 15 corroborates the significance of racial/ethnic experiences in historical meaning, this finding shows us that language serves as yet another factor shaping historical interpretations. in this case, students’ current experiences and beliefs hindered their ability to analyze historical evidence that outlines the discrimination of mexican americans on the basis of language. a contributing factor to these responses is the prevalent media misrepresentation of mexican americans. according to santa ana (2002), englishand spanish-language media reproduce the common portrayal of the latinx community as being an immigrant one. rarely do people consider the differences between established generations of mexican americans and recent immigrants (jimenez, 2010). instead, present-day discourse about mexican americans remains closely tied to immigration. a clear example was the 2016 u.s. elections that discussed immigration reform as being a mexican american issue only. in presenting the mexican american experience as a singular and prevailing story, it is no wonder why students immediately presumed the foreign status of mexican americans in the 1940s. evidently, applying their contemporary views limited students’ ability to recognize language segregation as a proxy for race in the 1940s. the fluctuation between students racialized experiences as an asset but their language experiences as a limitation complicates previous research. the data reveals a complicated limbo between historical empathy and presentism. on the one hand, students’ personal experiences hindered their capacity to understand language segregation in the 1940s. this is more consistent with prior research that documents how presentism interferes with historical analysis (epstein, mayorga, and nelson, 2011). at the same time, it helped students develop historical empathy, the ability to analyze historical events and actions within the context of their time. this complicates existing research (almarza & fehn, 1998; epstein, 2001) highlighting how students understanding of the present can be leveraged to develop historical analysis of a phenomenon of a distinct time period. herein lies our contribution to the field; we argue that it may be unrealistic to think that students’ personal experiences do not play a role in developing historical empathy. this might be impractical because we cannot ask students to leave their experiences, multilayered identities, beliefs, and values at the door. if we wish to engage students in critical understandings of history, it is crucial that we understand how young people enact their intersectional identities in the classroom. santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 16 in understanding that young people possess various identities that inform their interpretations of history, educators can make more informed decisions about what and how to teach social studies subjects to a diverse group of students. however, this does not equate to a generic approach that encourages educators to make a curriculum more culturally relevant (ladson-billings, 1995). this means teaching historical events, such as mendez v. westminster, with their full set of contradictions that highlight the complexities of the given event (levins morales, 2016). that is, prompting students to understand how discrimination functioned in another time period, how it has evolved over time, and what role they may play in these modern-day repressive forces. this is imperative because, as we saw in this study, students of color often perpetuate pre-existing social orders. in providing these opportunities, we can begin pushing students to critically analyze history while giving an avenue to confront their own misinterpretations of history that reproduce hegemonic practices (paris & alim, 2014). conclusion students do not enter the classroom as empty vessels (freire, 1970). rather, they bring their own historical and social understandings that are influenced by their family, communities, media, peers, and racial/ethnic cultures. together, all these factors contribute to the meanings they attribute to historical events. however, these different components are not symmetrical. rather, the identities and experiences of students are fluid as they create meanings about history. having said this, as educators, it is vital that we support the value of multiculturalism and multilingualism in the classroom. this means going beyond cultural sensitivity and awareness and selecting historical lessons that lend themselves to examining the various intersectional factors while also tapping into students’ own misconceptions. the fluidity of historical analysis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 17 references almarza, d. j., & fehn, b. r. (1998). the construction of whiteness in an american history classroom: a case study of eighth grade mexican american student. transformations, 9(2), 196–211. an, s. (2012). korean american high school students’ perspectives on u.s. history. the social studies, 103(1), 12–19. ashby, r., & lee, p. (1987). children’s concepts of empathy and understanding in history. in c. portal (ed.), the history curriculum for teachers (pp. 62-88). london: falmer press. barton, k. c., & levstik, l. s. (1998). “it wasn’t a good part of history:” national identity and students’ explanations of historical significance. teachers college record, 99, 478–513. barton, k. c., & levstik, l. s. (2004). teaching history for the common good. new york, ny: routledge. bedolla, l. g. (2003). the identity paradox: latino language, politics and selective dissociation. latino studies, 1(2), 264-283. doi:10.1057/palgrave.lst.8600038 burgard, k. l., b., & boucher jr, m. l. (2016). same story; different history: students' racialized understanding of historic sites. the urban review, 48(5), 696-717. doi: http://dx.doi.org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.1007/s11256-016-0374-9 brilliant, m. (2010). the color of america has changed: how racial diversity shaped civil rights reform in california, 1941-1978. new york, ny: oxford university press. charmaz, k. (1995). grounded theory. in j. a. smith, r. harré, & l. van langenhove (eds.), rethinking methods in psychology (pp. 83–122). london: sage. crenshaw, k. (1989). demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. university of chicago legal forum, 1989, 139-167. devos, t., & banaji, m. r. (2005). american= white? journal of personality and social psychology, 88(3), 447. epstein, t. (2001). racial identity and young people’s perspectives on social education. theory into practice, 40(1), 42–47. epstein, t., mayorga, e., & nelson, j. (2011). teaching about race in an urban history class: the effects of culturally responsive teaching. journal of social studies research, 35(1), 2–21. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed (m. b. ramos, trans.). new york: continuum. glaser, b. g., & strauss, a. l. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. brunswick, nj: aldine transaction. goldberg, t. (2013). “it’s in my veins”: identity and disciplinary practice in students’ discussions of a historical issue. theory & research in social education, 41(1), 33–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2012.757265 jiménez, t. r. (2010). replenished ethnicity: mexican americans, immigration, and identity. berkeley, ca: university of california press. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32, 465-491. leonardo, z. (2004) the color of supremacy: beyond the discourse of ‘white privilege.’ educational philosophy and theory, 36(2), 137-152. levins morales, a. (2016). the historian as curandera. in k. scott, s. e. cayleff, a. donadey, & lara (eds.), women in culture: an intersectional anthology for gender and women’s studies (2nd ed., pp. 134-147). chichester, west sussex, uk: wiley-blackwell. nash, j. c. (2008). re-thinking intersectionality. feminist review, 89(89), 1-15. santiago & patrón-vargas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume13, issue 1 18 doi:10.1057/fr.2008.4 paris, d., & alim, h. s. (2014). what are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? a loving critique forward. harvard educational review, 84(1), 85 100,134,136-137. phillipson, r., & skutnabb-kangas, t. (1986). linguicism rules in education. roskilde university centre, institute vi. pincus, f. l. (1996). discrimination comes in many forms: individual, institutional, and structural. american behavioral scientist, 40(2), 186-194. doi:10.1177/0002764296040002009 portes, a., & rumbaut, r. g. (1996). immigrant america: a portrait. berkeley: university of california press. pyke, k., & dang, t. (2003). “fob” and “whitewashed:” identity and internalized racism among second generation asian americans. qualitative sociology, 26(2), 147–172. santa ana, o. (2002). brown tide rising: metaphors of latinos in contemporary american public discourse. austin, tx: university of texas press. santiago, m. (2017). erasing differences for the sake of inclusion: how mexican/mexican american students construct historical narratives. theory & research in social education, 45(1), 43–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2016.1211971 santiago, m. (2019). historical inquiry to challenge the narrative of racial progress. cognition and instruction, 37(1), 93–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2018.1539734 schlesinger, a. m., jr. (1998). the disuniting of america: reflections on a multicultural society (revised and enlarged ed.). new york: w.w. norton. vansledright, b. (2008). narratives of nation-state, historical knowledge, and school history education. review of research in education, 32, 109–146. doi:10.3102/0091732x07311065 wertsch, j. v. (1998). mind as action. new york, ny: oxford university press. wertsch, j. v., & rozin, m. (1998). the russian revolution: official and unofficial accounts. international review of history education, 2, 39–60. wertsch, j. v. (2008). collective memory and narrative templates. social research: an international quarterly, 75(1), 133–156. wills, j. s. (2011). misremembering as mediated action: schematic narrative templates and elementary students’ narration of the past. theory & research in social education, 39, 115–144. doi:10.1080/00933104.2011.10473449 wineburg, s. (1991). on the reading of historical texts: notes on the breach between school and academy. american educational research journal, 28(3), 495–519. wineburg, s. (2001). historical thinking and other unnatural acts. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. wineburg, s., mosborg, s., porat, d., & duncan, a. (2007). common belief and the cultural curriculum: an intergenerational study of historical consciousness. american educational research journal, 44(1), 40. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 43 chicanas in ir: data-driven advocacy for latinx students from institutional research contexts in the community college elvira j. abrica university of nebraska-lincoln martha rivas university of california, riverside abstract various inequities and challenges facing latinx students in community colleges continue to be documented. yet, less documented are the challenges associated with advocacy efforts to support latinx and other underrepresented students of color within the community college sector. there is not often pause to consider: who advocates for latinx students? when and how does this advocacy take shape? in this article, we offer chicana testimonios as institutional research (ir) professionals to highlight ways we experience, respond to, and challenge institutionalized racism and systemic obstacles to advocate for latinx students in the california community college system. we situate our testimonios within a critique of the pillar of neutrality associated with the institutional research profession and argue for a critical examination of the ways in which ir may play an active role in the perpetuation or the dismantling of educational inequities in california community colleges. keywords: race, persistence, latinx students, institutional research, community colleges doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.2.349 abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 44 introduction institutional research (ir) offices, sometimes referred to as offices of institutional effectiveness (ie), evaluation, assessment, enrollment research and/or planning, play an important role in shaping decision-making, policies, and practices within colleges and universities (hossler, kuh, & olsen, 2001; volkwein, 2008). although the activities, structure, and organizational placement of ir offices vary widely across higher education institutions, their underlying purpose is to generate information that can guide institutional planning and practice (saupe, 1990). in light of the significant role that ir can potentially play in driving institutional change (bensimon, 2007; dowd, 2005, 2007), it is important to explore connections between institutional research and efforts to promote post-secondary educational pathways for latinx students. equity and advocacy for racial minority students are not routinely part of ir work (see lindquist, 1999 for a description of routine ir activities). indeed, accountability reporting frameworks do not expressly require ir offices to report, assess, reassess, or respond to ongoing student inequities (abrica, 2017; harris & bensimon, 2007). this disconnect is problematic because, “…if the academic outcomes of minority students are not assessed regularly and treated as measurable evidence of institutional performance, we can expect inequalities in outcomes to remain structurally hidden and unattended to” (harris & bensimon, 2007, p. 78). this is especially true for latinx and other students of color who increasingly represent the demographic majority on community college campuses (murphy, 2013). while there has been a proliferation of suggestions for how campus-level practitioners and faculty can better support latinx students, this literature has not attended to the role that ir might play in driving institutional change (dowd, 2005, 2007). meanwhile, research studies of the ir profession have yet to engage explicitly with equity, much less critically engage a discussion of ways in which ir professionals can advocate for latinx pathways in post-secondary institutions. a disconnect between the field of ir and equitable outcomes in post-secondary education reifies two implicit and problematic assumptions: 1) that ir is divorced from racial/ethnic disparities in student experiences and outcomes, and 2) that it is possible to address historic inequities without the critical examination of cultures, policies, and practices embedded within all structures of u.s. higher education. chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 45 an inquiry into the interconnectedness of ir and issues of educational inequity threatens the pillar of neutrality that is associated with the ir (saupe, 1990; terenzini, 1993, 2013; volkwein, 2008). saupe (1990), for example, wrote: institutional research, like other types of research, should be objective, systematic, and thorough. the outcomes of the research should be as free as possible from the influence of personal philosophy, political considerations, and desired results. the information provided by institutional research is combined with academic and professional judgement in planning and other decision-making processes. (p. 2, emphasis added) objectivity and the perception of political neutrality are described as the basis of the ir profession. however, it is our perspective that institutional research is an inherently political endeavor in which the research practices reflect and privilege particular epistemological and methodological traditions that do not necessarily incorporate nor consider the experiences of communities of color (anzaldúa, 1987). moreover, by not engaging, critically, with data and presenting results that are touted as “neutral,” ir professionals become complicit in normalizing discourse, policies, and practice that serve to perpetuate structural racism and educational inequity. practitioners are limited in taking a more critical approachinformed by extant research on the pervasiveness of racism in higher educationto data collection, management, assessment, and data dissemination (bauman, bustillos, besimon, brown, & bartree, 2005; bensimon, 2007; bonilla-silva, 2010; harper & bensimon, 2003; harper, patton, & wooden, 2009; peña, bensimon, & colyar, 2006). as chicanas working in ir, we experienced objectivity as a denial of the gross inequities experienced by communities of color and neutrality of “number crunching” as counterproductive efforts to promote more equitable outcomes for students of color (harper & bensimon, 2003). we offer our testimonios as chicana ir professionals in a single community college district to highlight the ways we experienced, responded to, and challenged systemic obstacles to advocate for latinx in the california community college context. our testimonios—both in method and in content—challenge the presumption that ir is an apolitical endeavor (ochoa, 2016; pérez huber, 2009). abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 46 literature review organizational characteristics of institutional research research on the ir profession has been concerned with documenting the activities, structure, organizational placement, and purpose of ir across post-secondary institutions (brumbaugh, 1960; delaney, 1997; muffo, 1999; peterson & corcoran, 1985; saupe, 1990; volkwein, 2008). within this literature, there has been a consistent interest in the ways external accountability demands, which are ever-changing and intertwined with broader policy shifts, inform the organizational structure and activities of institutional researchers (alexander, 2000; bers, 2011; head & johnson, 2011; mclaughlin, brozovsky, & mclaughlin, 1998; smith morest, 2009; smith morest & jenkins, 2007). this interest has spurred both empirical research (e.g. knight, moore, & coperthwaite, 1997) and reflective essays (e.g. peterson, 1999; terenzini, 1993, 2013) on the changing nature of ir within higher education. notable is a study of a hispanic-serving institution (hsi) community college in southern california by murphy (2013), because it contributes to literature that otherwise would not include any mention of how institutions fulfill (or are unable to fulfill) their unique mission of promoting post-secondary pathways specifically for latinx students. an area of literature has focused on how ir can shape the organizational context, campus climate, or cultures of the institutions and students they serve. mclaughlin, brozovsky, and mclaughlin (1998), for example, emphasized the role that ir can play in promoting specific institutional goals like student retention. more recently, swing (2009) encouraged ir professionals to consider themselves change agents and argued that in many cases, ir professionals already have the training and ability to lead others on campus. an underlying concern was an underutilization of skills of ir professionals and a need to increase individual capacities to establish a common language of change, build awareness, and increase knowledge that can move individuals on campus toward action and change. similarly, other scholars (dowd, 2007; kezar & eckel, 2002; dowd, malcom, nakamoto & bensimon, 2012) have insisted that campus-level practitioners, rather than data alone, is needed to drive organization change and improve student outcomes. chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 47 characteristics and competencies of ir professionals yet another major area of interest within ir literature focuses on the skills, training, and competencies of ir professionals. a seminal scholar in this area is terenzini (1993), who provided a comprehensive framework for the competencies of ir professionals, including technical and social skills needed for successful practices in the field. terenzini (2013) focused on how the originally conceived competencies looked in light of broader changes in higher education (e.g. increased globalization, student diversity, and technological advancements). revisions to the framework include considerations of increased competencies in what terenzini (2013) calls “issues intelligences” (p. 23). this form of organizational intelligence includes “knowledge of the kinds of issues and decisions that middleand upper-level administrators in functional units face” and “understanding how colleges and universities function” with regard to an “institution’s political dimensions and the formal and informal dynamics of power” (terenzini, 2013, p. 141). of note is the emphasis on ir professionals’ need to know how to play the game of navigating the politics of the campus environment. politically-savvy ir professionals, according to this framework, will be most successful in securing access to resources and finding common ground with individuals representing multiple constituencies on campus. terenzini (2013) states: ir professionals need a keen understanding of the people in the college and university settings: what faculty, administrators, staff, students, and others value, what is important to them. it is the ability to anticipate how others will respond to a proposal, and idea or opportunity (or threat) and whether the reactions will be positive, neutral, or negative. ir is knowing what it will take to secure others’ support. (p. 143) the identification of these skillsets is an important contribution to our understanding of the ir profession, however, they beg consideration of the following questions: (1) to what extent is the emphasis on political savviness, attentiveness, and responsiveness to constituencies on campus consistent with what is needed to promote educational equity? (2) what does “playing the game” mean for practitioners of color? (3) how do these skills and savviness ensure research practices will, in fact, present a platform to advocate for latinx students? abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 48 saupe (1999), presley (1990), hirsch (1975), leimer and terkla (2009), delaney (1997), and others describe the socio-behavioral dimensions of the ir profession, all emphasizing political neutrality as a means of maintaining the perceived trustworthiness of the ir among constituencies (leimer & terkla, 2009). literature on ir does not suggest a focus on issues of race and racism, or other forms of marginalization, within studies of institutional researchers. however, harper and bensimon (2003) offer a perspective opposite of what is observed in the literature: that an explicit recognition of race and racism (color-consciousness) is a vital quality for institutional researchers and leaders. equity and ir in california community colleges researchers at the center for urban education have developed an equity scorecard that incorporates equity into broader accountability reporting and measures of institutional efficiency. the equity scorecard represents an attempt to merge ir and equity, recognizing the need to do this work based on ongoing racial disparities experienced by students of color. while the scorecard is presented as a tool to disaggregate data and monitor progress on critical benchmarks to support students, especially highly disproportionally impacted students (majority first-generation, low-income, students of color), the tool itself does not facilitate critical dialogues among key practitioners. critical dialogue would enable practitioners to address and work towards understanding: (a) equity, (b) disparities, (c) impact on students, and (d) perpetuation of racism via complacency and neutrality. meaning, by not having ir practitioners that are versed to speak on various intersectional notions of institutionalized racism embedded in the lack of data interpretation and reporting, college practices are vulnerable to continue doing business as usual. testimonio as primary method a chicana feminist critical praxis framework unapologetically centers the lives of chicana contributors with a commitment to produce scholarship accessible to multiple communities (not just academia) via testimonio (rivas, 2012). this manuscript evokes the history of employing testimonio as both methodology and method. as methodology, we want to strengthen and contribute to the scholarship on the importance of employing culturallyresponsive and appropriate methods to uncover and create new knowledge from voices often chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 49 silenced in academia (flores carmona, 2014). as a method, we engage in critical conversation and exchange, enabling us to highlight a narrative that is too often relegated as anecdotal. thus, testimonios are a process where contributors are able to create knowledge and theory through a conversation of collective lived experiences that may facilitate change (reyes & curry rodríguez, 2012). the latina feminist group (2001) argued that testimonios are created when the personal and private become political—become an entity. during testimonios, the contributor shares her stories without holding or silencing her critique or analysis of any given experience (rivas, 2012). thus, testimonios are a tool where contributors can “theorize oppression, resistance, and subjectivity” (latina feminist group, 2001, p. 19). testimonios call for individuals to recall and share their many untold stories (calderón, bernal, huber, malagón & vélez, 2012; delgado bernal, burciaga & flores carmona, 2012; rivas, 2012). most importantly, testimonios serve as, "…a crucial means of bearing witness and inscribing into history those lived realities that would otherwise succumb to the alchemy of erasure" (latina feminist group, 2001, p. 2). a chicana feminist critical praxis lens reminds us that chicanas are creators and embody knowledge while their testimonios help us document these moments with future generations of scholars and community activists (rivas, 2012). we offer our own testimonios as chicana institutional research (ir) professionals to highlight ways we experience, respond, and challenge institutionalized racism and systemic obstacles to advocate for latinx in the california community college context. previous scholars (e.g. martinez, marquez, cantú & rocha, 2016; latina feminist group, 2001; prieto & villenas, 2012) have similarly relied on testimonio to offer narratives of advocacy and leadership in the realm of education to disrupt what dolores delgado bernal and villalpando (2002) and pérez huber (2009) refer to as an apartheid system of knowledge. while extant research on ir described core competencies and knowledge areas, we posit that our testimonios offer equally valuable knowledge in service of the ir profession (castillo-montoya & torres-guzmán, 2012; reyes & curry rodriguez, 2012). other testimonios highlight experiences of chicanas and latinas very specific contexts within education (e.g. cantú, 2012); however, we focus on the context of institutional research for which there has not yet been a recorded testimonio from the field. abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 50 dr. elvira’s testimonio spss®…. syntax… “number crunching” … student equity plan…de aztlan… these are the terms that come to mind when i think about the time i spent working in institutional research at a community college. these words circled around in my head; as if, personified, they were waiting for me to decide whether institutional research was the right fit for me. they swirled inside me, amidst the shame i felt for having not secured a tenure-track position at a research institution after completing my ph.d. i found it difficult to decipher whether i actually wanted to be a part of academia or whether this instinct was purely a result of my doctoral socialization and normalized expectation that i go the faculty route. i was unsure as to whether i wanted to be a part of academia, knowing full well it had already taken a toll on my spirit. so there i sat, every day, from 8-5, with an uncertainty of where i belonged and where i was going. click, tab, click. mouse swirl. descriptive statistics. assessment, ir, student services, faculty. so many sub-fields within education and i had to figure out where in this vast landscape of opportunity i could insert myself. where could i make the biggest difference? how was i going to put this ph.d. thing to use? they say you grow where you are planted, and i was digging a little spot for myself in ir in the community college sector. the door my office was at the edge of campus in the maintenance building. “there is just no more space anywhere on campus. this is only temporary.” everyone around me is maintenance staff. “there is an ant problem, and so-and-so is going to fix it.” out of place, i closed the door to my office to do “think work.” i didn’t realize that classified staff, as i was, were not allowed to close their door. e-mails were sent. senior chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 51 administrators got involved. i wanted to close my door to focus on my work. as a classified staff member i was not allowed to do so. the senior administrator working in the building says she must be able to watch me, must be able to see me. what could i possibly be doing in this office with a desk and a computer? now administrators are involved in the debacle. janitors are black and brown men. i chat with them and hear their stories from the weekend. we are so separated from campus. in the field. next to a prison. literally. i see clouds and dirt outside my window. i am not allowed to close my door. what do they think i am doing in here? my boss treads lightly, but asserts his authority to protect me. classified staff are not allowed to close their doors. eventually, i broke down crying in my boss’s office. i just don’t know why i am in a field, far away. what am i here for? “okay, we will get you moved to a building on campus.” my new home was a cubicle near our dean of student equity. hallelujah! free at last! “hi i am looking for dr. so-and-so. can you tell me when he will be in? why can’t you just open his calendar and tell me what his schedule looks like?” i am not the secretary to the dean of student equity. i am that ph.d.—yet, labeled as everything but a doctor. ph.d.—the only chicana with a ph.d. on campus; yet, i am the only latina on campus that is not a secretary. classified staff it soon became apparent that being the only chicana ph.d. but also a classified staff member was going to be an interesting experience. i soon learned this campus was all about shared governance. at each meeting, there were representatives of faculty, administrators, and classified staff. i was a classified staff representative for the student success committee and student equity meetings. when i attended meetings, no one knew who i was. no one knew me. no one knew i had a ph.d. i had this secret training in higher education, more specifically in institutional research and data analyses. i wanted to use it, trust me. i felt that i had the content knowledgethe research expertise and “book knowledge” to contribute to discussions but i too often sat silent in meetings because i was trying to get a feel for who these people were. my sense: there were a select few who really cared and others who were there to get out from behind their regular work. this was “shared governance,” where there had to be equal abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 52 representation of all faculty and staff at all meetings. there was a meeting almost every day for some sub-sub-sub-subcommittee and another to that sub-committee. but really, my sense was that major decisions were made behind closed doors, between a select 2-3 people. meetings and minutes were a way to formalize stuff that had already been done, planned, and it was a superficial act to gather everyone together as if it were a democratic process. i often questioned the capacities of individuals to contribute to these meetings. equity falls on deaf ears we traveled to university of southern california (usc) to participate in an equity summit. we heard faculty talk about equity. my boss tells me “this stuff doesn’t really apply to us.” us? we have a conversation about equity. i get the impression that there are “equity folks” and then there is everyone else. a few people are committed to talking about equity. others are silent, or perhaps made to feel silent. we brainstorm how we can promote equity on campus. “ir is just at this workshop because we provide the data,” i am told. all those charts and all those plans. i help write the student equity plan and honestly believe that change will happen. i run the numbers to calculate disproportionate impact in accordance with the student equity framework identified in what i refer to as the equity plan (…de aztlan!). click, tab, click. mouse swirl. descriptive statistics. “i need a number cruncher” i am in my boss’s office, who is the quintessential ir person. he is a walking example of the ir competencies terenzini (2013) outlined: he “protects” me from data requests and says if anyone asks for me to work on a project, they can go through him. he wants to protect my time and keep me focused on the limited number of projects at hand. he is kind and respectful to me. i look up his salary. yeah, i think to myself, i would like to make that salary. his responses to everyone are kind, courteous, and backed up by data. professional and qualified. chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 53 he is endlessly patient when i need a quick refresher on spss commands i have forgotten. he walks me through my analysis and we make data jokes. i am being groomed for an ir career. he supports me as a new ir professional. i take time off to attend national meetings and research conferences. until one day, he denies this: “you can’t take any more time off. this is too many conferences. i see how you are. i see the way you think and the ideas you have. advocacy for students of color. i just need you to focus,” he exclaims. “you should make a list of these ideas and we can have a daydream session in the summer of things we might like to explore in the dataset,” he states. “i only need a number cruncher and i need you to focus,” he confessed! what does it all mean? essentially, the memories i share in this testimonio, be they disjointed and nonsensical, represent painful and confusing moments in my work as an ir professional. in so many ways, i did not belong in this position. i could not brace myself to be just a “number cruncher.” worse, i asked repeatedly to attend different academic conferences and expressed interest in developing my own research projects to focus specifically on outcomes for latinx students. i wanted to drive my own agenda and use the data i was working with to do something more critical and aligned to student needs. i just could not—and would not—be what i was told an institutional research professional is—a number cruncher. a number cruncher, in my mind, is a person who loves the statistics and the data, but is largely divorced from the realities of those who the data represent—latinx students. yes, i was a horrible institutional research professional by established standards. and yet, in feeling like i failed, in being in a perpetual state of confusion, and in always being in trouble for some small thing i did or said, i learned a lot about the institutional climate. i learned a lot about how people see me. i learned what it was like to be out in the world as a formally ph.d. educated chicana. i learned that the culture, practices, beliefs of individuals are what make college campuses and that i, as an individual, was limited in how i could systematically change these. yet, i tried to speak up in meetings. i tried to build community with other individuals of color on campus. i worked after my shifts were over to explore the data for my own research interests. i experimented with new ways of measuring student success. i reflected critically on the ways i was asked to calculate and report on various abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 54 indicators for different student populations. i questioned why we didn’t share our research with wider audiences. i presented my research at academic conferences; i published my own research findings. and, finally, i was just there. i was just there for all eyes to see: a woman of color from a historically underserved background. a chicana with a ph.d. and classified staff member. i was just there. my presence on campus alone was sometimes all i could offer. dr. martha’s testimonio1 my personal introduction to institutional research was all about timing. i pursued a ph.d. knowing it would offer opportunities that my parents, family, and community have fought for me to access. the ph.d. was my ticket for upward mobility (según) and a microphone to exemplify and name the various and multiple forms of marginalization students of color continue to experience. though the expectations to pursue tenure-track faculty positions continue to be the dominant narrative in doctoral training, the real politics of administration— or the attempt to create immediate systemic changes—are learned through lived experiences. as a first-generation scholar and practitioner, the politics maneuvering ir spaces were quite momentous. my research and entire advocacy-research platform continues to assess and document inequities and support systems for students of color, particularly latinx students, and their experience as they transfer from community college onto the four-year, and eventually gain entry into graduate school. i attempted to gain employment in the california community college sector for 15-consecutive years. i was denied 99% of the time. most often i received the, “you are too academic,” or the, “too research-based.” however, the california movement on student equity brought about the need to develop institutional effectiveness departments. here, practitioners are to adequately disaggregate data to fully understand the processes and college efforts to simultaneously respond to student needs. particularly for students of color, this meant an institutional response to understand and provide relevant services to yield positive student outcomes. in theory this sounds great. in theory. what i found was an institutional culture infused with acritical practices too often missing opportunities to address educational inequities—void of critical dialogue to fully understand “equity!” for that matter. 1 as noted in the literature, offices of institutional research are also called offices of institutional effectiveness. these terms are used interchangeably within this testimonio. chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 55 i was hired as dean of institutional effectiveness. that spoke volumes, to me at least, of the commitment the college was making by hiring a critical race theorist to lead their research and assessment of effectiveness. during the 15-year wait to directly support the community college, i became a nationally—and internationally—recognized evaluator for the federal and nonprofit sectors. i continued to teach and lecture on educational inequities and experiences of students of color, but as a practitioner, i excelled in modifying infrastructural data repositories to access adequate data to respond to student needs. the college saw this, and along with degrees and credentials, hired me. however, soon (too soon!), it became apparent the culture within the sector was not ready for someone with my background; my chicananess, doctoralness, brownness, nor my unapologetic focus on student experience! unlike many institutional research and institutional effectiveness practitioners, i hold a ph.d. in social sciences and comparative education with a specialization in race and ethnic studies. further, my doctoral dissertation focused on understanding how community colleges may (or may not) promote and support chicanx/latinx students. this is important to note because when we speak about how ir folks disaggregate data, i begin by asking, “how, where, and from whom are we collecting data?” to, “what and how are data triangulated to understand student experiences? how are we validating data to gain fidelity and reach generalizable statements to inform executive decision-making processes?” but often these questions are repeatedly ignored or marginalized within an agenda that does not allow for critical reflection and strategic assessment. this is infuriating to say the least. you see, i work with a sense of authentic urgency. we know the 1960 california master plan delineates a third sector in higher education as junior colleges—these are often perceived as the bottom of the educational pathways. bottom of the pathway. bottom of the pipeline, easily able to lose students altogether. this often evokes a psychological condition to “cool off” the aspirations our students hold (brint & karabel, 1989). yet, sixty years after the fact, we now have a postsecondary educational system that holds the california community college system as the largest sector in the nation, with 2.4 million students, of which one million are latinx (california community college chancellor’s office, 2016). the california community colleges are the pathway to ensure students of color transfer to obtain baccalaureate and graduate degrees. it is inevitable that i, especially as an ie practitioner, gently remind folks of these global implications and responsibilities. however, here is a systemic challenge: i am the only mexicana-chicana abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 56 with a ph.d., under the age of 40, serving as an administrator at this college and within the entire community college district—this is a systemic problem! trust that while i am vocal about what this responsibility entails, i also have to remind folks of who i am and the wealth of experiences that informs my empirical standpoint. but this is exhausting; too exhausting not to document the following: scenario 1: shared governance sub-sub-subcommittee meeting on student equity. faculty, administrators, classified and support staff, and students present. dra. m: one third of our students are not successfully completing their courses with a “c” or better. male faculty: yeah, that’s because they don’t enroll full-time. male administrator: that’s part of the reason. the other is that most of those kids don’t value education. dra. m: those are interesting statements, opinions rather. the data i present are direct output data from overall course completion rates. your statements, on the other hand, i’m wondering what data informs your conclusions? did you interview students? did you analyze full-time, part-time enrollment patterns? both of your statements are not focused on the actual data presented. what i would ask from these data, for example, are what barriers may be preventing our students from completing the courses they enrolled in? are we scheduling courses appropriately to support completion? do these data help us understand the pedagogy in the classroom that may prevent students from engaging and completing? probably not, but i am asking about institutional efforts, processes and barriers we may be able to modify to address students’ needs, versus blaming students and holding deficit opinions about our students. both men: [ignore my comment and ask for my presentation to “just go on”] scenario 2: southern california regional meeting with institutional research and institutional effectiveness practitioners. there are about 15 colleges represented. ir/ie administrators and support staff in attendance share frustration with annual transfer volume (number of students transferring onto four-year institutions), and executive leadership are also requesting data to be disaggregate by race/ethnicity and gender. chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 57 dra. m: help me understand why the frustration? administrator 1: well, if we want to know how many students are transferring, let us present that number. administrator 2: i understand why we need to disaggregate data, but what are they [executives] going to do with it. dra. m: well, what have they done before? deans: [blank stare] dra. m: okay, well—the truth is that the “transfer volume” itself does not say anything other than the total amount of students who transfer for that specific year. this variable is also contingent on how effective the four-year institution supports transfer students to enroll into their college—is there room for that conversation? but let me not digress. in terms of transfer volume, if we conceptualize the need to measure transfer while simultaneously understand how colleges supported these outcomes, we need to calculate transfer rates. i would recommend we control analyses by considering student aspirations. if we follow students, by aspirations and pathways, we can measure completion rates. these may begin to help us understand whether the college did its job to support students to meet their desired goals. administrator 1: that’s assuming students know what they want to do. most of these kids don’t know what they want to do when they come here. administrator 2: it’s not that easy to control. students change their major all the time. dra. m directed to administrator 2: really? not as i’m in agreement with your comments. what i am hearing you both state is that you are not understanding the variables that need to be controlled, nor measured. a student major is “program of study.” aspirations are what they identify as a goal to accomplish (transfer, associates, certificate, etc.) during their educational experience at the community college. students identify this on their application—we all know where to find this data. if we know what their aspirations are, for example transfer, then we see how the college responds and supports them until they transfer. dra. m directed to administrator 1: i agree. many students may not know exactly what they want to accomplish here, especially if they are first-generation college students. however, if we look at empirical data, we know over half of community college students abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 58 aspire to transfer. for example, at the college i support, 60% of entering students aspire to transfer, 25% want a cte-related certificate, and 15% are undecided. now, if the college is fully invested and does its job well to counsel and support students, a great majority of the 15% undecided would identify as wanting to transfer. in sum, almost 75% of students aspire to transfer. centralizing this data, you would hope the majority of college practices would align accordingly and it would identify itself as a transfer college. but it does not. we should also see a comparable output figure of students meeting the transfer opportunity. but instead we simply have a transfer volume which does not specify how long it took the students to reach transfer. so when there are students who transfer in 2 years and others in 6-7 years, we have to ask ‘why?’ what is this college doing (or not) to increase transfer volume and measure a transfer rate appropriately? administrator 1: i get what you are saying, i do. but it’s not required for us to measure that. we are expected to report on transfer volume, so we do. that’s it. maybe you can do all that transfer work as a “special project” of some sort, but i’m not here to change processes. i’m just here to report the data required by state and my institution. no deviation from there. i’m not responsible to change the system. dra. m: well, maybe we ought to think we may be the researchers and practitioners that can lead our college communities to have critical conversations about systemic changes? if not us, who? while there are countless scenarios to document how other ir practitioners attempted to silence me, or simply ignore me, i embrace these moments as clear indication ‘they’re not ready for systemic and cultural changes!’ nonetheless, these scenarios exhibit various levels of institutional complacency. further, the unfortunate reality are prevalent deficit ideologies that continue to plague the community college sector, and by default directly blame our students for the lack of progress. these deficit ideologies and lack of critical evaluative practices are rampart. further, the role of ir practitioners is to critically analyze, and scrutinize, how the lack of positive outcomes or stagnant progress are heavily complacent due to the lack of innovative practices and acritical data analyses. most importantly, the role of administrators, at all ranks, should centralize how data allow us to strengthen processes to support all students, but especially students of color. we have a long road to ensure our practices are critical, datachicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 59 driven and process-oriented to ensure our students access adequate support to meet their educational aspirations and degrees. discussion our testimonios inadvertently bring to light a gross structural inequity: the underrepresentation of practitioners of color within the field of institutional research. our experiences with being the “only” one of some aspect of our identity (i.e. only woman, only chicana, only chicana with ph.d., etc.) in meetings with ir colleagues, highlights not only our underrepresentation in the ir field, but also a lack of data on the diversity of the ir profession. the most recent statistic available suggests that latinx made up only about 4% of the ir profession (lindquist, 1999), yet latinx students make up the majority of so many community college campuses. it is vital that practitioners of color be represented in the field of ir and be part of the conversations around who gets counted and how, what gets measured and why, and what stories or narratives are told about students of color and other marginalized student populations. we intend to encourage future generations of chicana researchers to consider institutional research as well as academic research professions. in terms of competencies, the literature on ir is clear: political savvy and ability to remain neutral in the eyes of multiple constituencies is prized. however, our experiences suggest that there is no such thing as neutrality, and that practitioner work done under the guise of neutrality only serves to reinforce structural inequities. our experiences have taught us to rely on our ethnic studies backgrounds, to draw on our knowledge of intersectionality, racism, and social inequity to enrich our quantitative work. similar to the critiques made by hernandez, in this special issue, the competencies for community college leaders established by the american association of community colleges’ (aacc) are far from making such connections. institutional research, as a field, ought to assess critically researchers’ background, knowledge, training and expertise to support student outcomes in higher education. conclusion we offer our testimonios as chicana ir practitioners to highlight the challenges embedded within advocacy efforts to support latinx post-secondary pathways in community colleges. each testimonio documents the specific ways in which our own ways of knowing and abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 60 desires to advocate on behalf of latinx students threatened the political neutrality, complacency, and colorblindness that is associated with the field of institutional research. ultimately, we draw on our experiences as practitioners of color to incite a more critical examination of the ways in which, as a field, institutional research can more effectively advance equity for latinx students, particularly in community colleges. as chávez, guido-dibrito, and mallory (2003) point out, true transformation in higher education requires radical and uncomfortable reflection on the ways in which our experiences and backgrounds shape the work that we do. there is indeed room to assess the capacities of ir professionals as they advance data-driven advocacy for latinx and other students of color. chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 61 references abrica, e. (2017). considering cool out and resilience among men of color in community colleges: implications for institutional accountability. paper presentation at the 59th annual council for the study of community colleges conference in fort worth, texas. alexander, f. k. (2000). the changing face of accountability: monitoring and assessing institutional performance in higher education. the journal of higher education, 71(4), 411431. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands: la frontera. san francisco, ca: aunt lute. bauman, g. l., bustillos, l. t., bensimon, e. m., brown, c., iii., & bartree, r. d. (2005). achieving equitable educational outcomes with all students: the institution’s roles and responsibilities. washington, dc: association for american colleges and universities. bensimon, e. m., polkinghorne, d.e., bauman, g.l., & vallejo e. (2004). doing research that makes a difference. the journal of higher education, 75(1), 104-126. doi: 10.1080/00221546.2004.11778898 bensimon, e. m. (2007). the underestimated significance of practitioner knowledge in the scholarship on student success. the review of higher education, 30(4), 441-469. bensimon, e. m., polkinghorne, d. p., bauman, g. l., & vallejo, e. (2004). doing research that makes a difference. journal of higher education, 75(1), 104–126. bernal, d. d., & villalpando, o. (2002). an apartheid of knowledge in academia: the struggle over the" legitimate" knowledge of faculty of color. equity &excellence in education, 35(2), 169-180. bers, t. (2011). program review and institutional effectiveness. new directions for community colleges, 2011(153), 63-73. bonilla-silva, e. (2010). racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the united states. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. brumbaugh, a. (1960). research designed to improve institutions of higher learning. washington, dc: american council on education, office of statistical information and research. california community college chancellor’s office. (2016). student enrollment, 2015-2016 annual headcount by race/ethnicity. management information systems (mis) data mart. retrieved from http://datamart.cccco.edu/students/student_term_annual_count.aspx calderón, d., bernal, d. d., pérez huber, l., malagón, m., & vélez, v. n. (2012). a chicana feminist epistemology revisited: cultivating ideas a generation later. harvard educational review, 82(4), 513-539. cantú, n. (2012). getting there cuando no hay camino (when there is no path): paths to discovery testimonios by chicanas in stem. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 472487. castillo-montoya, m., & torres-guzmán, m. (2012). thriving in our identity and in the academy: latina epistemology as a core resource. harvard educational review, 82(4), 540-558. abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 62 chávez, a. f., guido-dibrito, f., & mallory, s. l. (2003). learning to value the "other": a framework of individual diversity development. journal of college student development 44(4), 453-469. doi: 10.1353/csd.2003.0038 delaney, a. m. (1997). the role of institutional research in higher education: enabling researchers to meet new challenges. research in higher education, 38(1), 1–16. doi: 10.1023/a:1024907527884 delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363-372. dowd, a. c. (2005). data don’t drive: building a practitioner-driven culture of inquiry to assess community college performance. indianapolis, in: lumina foundation for education. dowd, a. c. (2007). community colleges as gateways and gatekeepers: moving beyond the access "saga" toward outcome equity. harvard educational review, 77(4), 407-419. dowd, a. c., malcom, l., nakamoto, j., & bensimon, e. m. (2012). institutional researchers as teachers and equity advocates. in e. m. bensimon & l. malcom (eds.), confronting equity issues on campus: implementing the equity scorecard in theory and practice (pp. 191–215). sterling, va: stylus. flores carmona, j. (2014). cutting out their tongues: mujeres' testimonios and the malintzin researcher. journal of latino/latin american studies, 6(2), 113-124. harper, s. r., & bensimon, e. m. (2003). color-consciousness: a vital leadership quality for urban college and university presidents. urbaned, 1(2), 30–32. harper, s. r., patton, l. d., & wooden, o. s. (2009). access and equity for african american students in higher education: a critical race historical analysis of policy efforts. the journal of higher education, 80(4), 389-414. harris, f., & bensimon, e. m. (2007). the equity scorecard: a collaborative approach to assess and respond to racial/ethnic disparities in student outcomes. new directions for student services, 2007(120), 77–84. doi: 10.1002/ss.259 head, r. b., & johnson, m. s. (2011). accreditation and its influence on institutional effectiveness. new directions for community colleges, 2011(153), 37–52. doi: 10.1002/cc.435 hirsch, p. (1975). organizational effectiveness and the institutional environment. administrative science quarterly, 20(3), 327-344. doi:10.2307/2391994 hossler, d., kuh, g. d., & olsen, d. (2001). finding fruit on the vines: using higher education research and institutional research to guide institutional policies and strategies. research in higher education, 42(2), 211–221. doi: 10.1023/a:1026577604180 kezar, a., & eckel, p. d. (2002). the effect of institutional culture on change strategies in higher education: universal principles or culturally responsive concepts?. the journal of higher education, 73(4), 435-460. chicanas in ir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 63 knight, w. e., moore, m. e., & coperthwaite, c. a. (1997). institutional research: knowledge, skills, and perceptions of effectiveness. research in higher education, 38(4), 419–433. doi: 10.1023/a:1024910409653 latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. durham, nc: duke university press. leimer, c., & terkla, d. g. (2009). laying the foundation: institutional research office organization, staffing, and career development. new directions for institutional research, 2009(143), 43–58. doi: 10.1002/ir.304 lindquist, s. b. (1999). a profile of institutional researchers from air national membership surveys. new directions for institutional research, 1999(104), 41-50. martinez, m. a., marquez, j., cantú, y., & rocha, p. a. (2016). ternura y tenacidad: testimonios of latina school leaders. association of mexican american educators journal, 10(3). mclaughlin, g. w., brozovsky, p. v, & mclaughlin, j. s. (1998). changing perspectives on student retention: a role for institutional research. research in higher education, 39(1), 1–17. doi: 10.1023/a:1018779611043 muffo, j. a. (1999). a comparison of findings from regional studies of institutional research offices. new directions for institutional research, 1999(104), 51-59. murphy, j. (2013). institutional effectiveness: how well are hispanic serving institutions meeting the challenge? journal of hispanic higher education, 12(4), 321-333. ochoa, l. (2016). documenting the undocumented: testimonios as a humanizing pedagogy. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, 10(2), 49-64. peña, e. v., bensimon, e., & colyar, j. (2006). contextual problem defining: learning to think and act from the standpoint of equity. liberal education, 48-55. retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej744031.pdf peterson, m. w. (1999). the role of institutional research: from improvement to redesign. new directions for institutional research, 1999(104), 83-103. peterson, m. w., & corcoran, m. (1985). proliferation or professional integration: transition or transformation. new directions for institutional research, 1985(46), 99-112. pérez huber, l. (2009). disrupting apartheid of knowledge: testimonio as methodology in latina/o critical race research in education. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 22(6), 639-654. presley, j. b. (1990). putting the building blocks into place for effective institutional research. new directions for institutional research, 1990(66), 103-106. prieto, l., & villenas, s. a. (2012). pedagogies from nepantla: testimonio, chicana/latina feminisms and teacher education classrooms. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 411429. reyes, k. b., & curry rodríguez, j. e. (2012). testimonio: origins, terms, and resources. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 525-538. abrica & rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 64 rivas, m. a. (2012). soulfully resistant transferistas: understanding the chicana transfer experience from community college and into the doctorate. university of california, los angeles (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8g46939j saupe, j. l. (1990). the functions of institutional research (2nd ed.). tallahassee, fl: association for institutional research. smith morest, v. (2009). accountability, accreditation, and continuous improvement: building a culture of evidence. new directions for institutional research, 2009(143), 17-27. smith morest, v., & jenkins, d. (2007). institutional research and the culture of evidence at community colleges. report no. 1 in the culture of evidence series. community college research center, columbia university. swing, r. l. (2009). institutional researchers as change agents. new directions for institutional research, 2009(143), 5-16. terenzini, p. t. (1993). on the nature of institutional research and the knowledge and skills it requires. research in higher education 34(1), 1-10. terenzini, p. t. (2013). on the nature of institutional research revisited: plus ça change…? research in higher education, 54(2), 137–148. doi: 10.1007/s11162-012-9274-3 volkwein, j. f. (2008). the foundations and evolution of institutional research. new directions for higher education, 2008(141), 5–20. doi: 10.1002/he.289 chicanas in ir: data-driven advocacy for latinx students from institutional research contexts in the community college association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 86 tell me what happens to the child who crosses the border chantiri ramirez resendiz university of california—los angeles look… there are a few things you should know. first, there are about four houses, three families, five cars from which you will be transitioning. there will be twenty mojados, five coyotes, many cucarachas in the elaborate chain of human smuggling. second, there are no rules. you are safe (at times). you are not (most of the time)… allow me to emphasize my previous statement... there are no rules. you will demonstrate in the border some olympic-winning-skills at track and field: a la mojada: magnificent execution at the long jump, extraordinary timing at the 100, 200, and 400-meter sprint event. jump, run, jump, run (oops, a slight tripping over that rock, get up), jump, run. you will be an awarded first-class champion. with chameleon skills-blending with the scene—first you see me, now you don’t. blending among the piles of trash, the debris of an open wound between the land of the disney castle and the home of “our” athletic role model, speedy gonzales. you will forget about hunger. the fact that you have not had food for about two days will not get in the way of performing your athletic skills. you will feed and drink out of fright; the adrenaline pumping through your veins will keep your body in perfect balance with the 80-degree fahrenheit night. you will suddenly have the ability to be almost non-existent: fifty pounds lighter. that skill will be quite useful for when you try to fit twelve more bodies in the american cr-v, the black one blasting chalino corridos from mexicali to the wall. your eyes will gain super powers. vitamin a will kick in, and in the darkest night from the back of your head, two little holes will develop retinas. all four eyes will have the ability to see and prevent you from stepping on the fastest-moving rats and from being run over by the fastest-moving cars. but if you could just slow down a second you would be able to see how you move with grace and fuse through the shadows. how your body is overwhelmed with sweat and with the smell of the dry calexico desert dancing with darkness kissing the devil, tempting the danger… [and by now you must be thinking: “wow, wow, wow! too much for a ten-year-old girl! slow down, cabrona! this girl is quite young. don’t be telling her about ‘tempting the danger’!”] tell me what happens to the child who crosses the border association of mexican-american educators (amae) ©2015, volume 9, issue 3 • issn 2377-9187 87 i apologize for being too graphic. for telling the truth—that there are no rules. but you have to know. that in the process of migration, you will become a woman. that your passage to adulthood will not be at your quince, nor with that first person who consents sex with you… but it will be with—a wall, bricks, concrete. that in the process you will scrape your knees, sweat out the fear, run like a cockroach, and maybe even bleed. you will gain this so-called “womanhood” before you see little dots of blood in your underwear. that never again you will play with dolls, that your mind will open. it will be angry, it will want to question. “why the fuck do things have to be this way?” --------------------and when you get older and when you can’t sleep at night this will be the question that will haunt you it won’t leave you alone it will give you the reason to keep jumping wall after wall. obstacle after obstacle: jump, run, jump, run, jump… tell me what happens to the child who crosses the border http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 2 2018 amae invited special issue linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands guest editor brendan h. o’connor arizona state university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 20 language hegemonies and their discontents: history, theory, bilingualism, and funds of knowledge carlos g. vélez-ibáñez arizona state university abstract this article reviews hegemonic impositions of language and culture over the history of the southwest north american region, beginning with spanish imperial attempts to erase the existing linguistic and cultural practices of indigenous communities. it goes on to consider the educational processes by which english language and american culture were imposed on mexican american children and communities following the american mexican war. along with hegemonic attempts to subdue and dominate populations, the article also explores the myriad ways subjugated populations have expressed their discontent, from violent revolt to the creation of alternative educational programs. with reference to the latter, given the well-attested benefits of bilingualism, it is argued that one way to capitalize on the cultural and linguistic capacities of transborder populations is to integrate dual-language education and a funds of knowledge approach. engagement in mexican-origin children’s social networks will help educators to counter the process of cultural erasure and to ensure that bilingual programs benefit language-minority students, and not just middle-class, english-dominant students. without support for mexicanorigin and other latino/a students to emerge fully as complex cultural beings, we will continue to perpetuate a situation of linguistic and cultural hegemony where populations are restricted from their full human potential. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.2.393 language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 21 introduction i have been thinking about, first, the effects of the imposition of one language or language hegemony over others at different levels but especially emotional ones and their accompanying discontents and, second, what probable effects can these have in the manner in which we as human organisms emerge and develop culturally and linguistically. third, as types of discontents with these effects, what do we know about learning more than one language and what advantages and disadvantages does this have in the manner in which we can emerge as viable human organisms; and, fourth, at the level of operational programs, what can best be devised to mitigate the first and second, and enhance the advantages of the third. thus, this work, based on many years of observation, experience, and research, has led me to conclude that all we need to know and practice are available and ready to be utilized for the benefit of populations who have been imposed upon by imperial or national language policies or forced to erase their own as a consequence of migrating to new linguistic regions. for me, this is a highly personal task and i do not pretend that my position does not have a historical context, which i lived and continue to observe as well as contend with, especially in public discourse about populations who “must” learn english. this position, in part, stems from a very early introduction into the forcible method of learning english. for my generation, for every word of spanish that we spoke in elementary school, we received a “swat” from a baseball bat whose end was shaved thinly and perforated by dime sized holes. the principal of the school, who was also a baseball coach for one of the local junior league teams, evidently considered our words spoken in spanish to be fair objects for his practice swings. thus, our daily experience was one mixed with trepidation, fear, and muteness coupled with affection, support, and instruction by some caring teachers who sometimes shielded our innocence by warning us of his approach while we filed in line to enter the elementary classroom. others of our generation as well as native american children were not as lucky to have such teachers and suffered psychic, emotional, and cognitive harm, as detailed in a recent work (vélez-ibáñez, 2017, pp. 121-129). language hegemonies and their discontents and the creation of peoples without histories first, let’s explore the often contradictory imposition of one language and culture over another which i simply consider under the rubric of part of a larger process of “hegemony” of vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 22 one population that seeks to impose its political, social, cultural, and psychological architecture upon others through myriad means—from violent conquest in the recent past to highly rationalized institutional inventions, such as “language immersion” programs in the present. equally, however, i as well consider that it is imperative to consider the subtle and unsubtle “discontents” of imposed populations who express their discontent in numerous ways from actual violent revolt in the past and present, such as among indigenous populations in oaxaca, to the creation of dual language programs in the present in the northern part of southwest north america. the southwest north american region is basically a highly diverse and complex region that encompasses the six mexican and four american states sharing a common imposed boundary and ecologically larger than italy, germany, great britain, spain, france, and the low countries.1 so let’s tackle the hegemonic process from two interrelated points of view that are especially salient for this region: first, is the example of the traditional spanish “imperialist” model one in which one population through conquest, purchase, or other means assumes political, social, economic, cultural, and linguistic sovereignty over another. the second is the result of the american mexican war and subsequent educational processes. the first can be seen in the 400 year presence of the spanish empire and its hydra-headed approaches to the hegemonic control of indigenous populations using three modes of oppression and impression: the pen, the cross, and the sword. first, is the pen as manifested in imperial dictums, laws, regulations, rules, and legal impositions, which organized the land, labor, and wealth under imperial control. in tandem is the cross as articulated by the array of religious replacements of myriad indigenous practices, rituals, and beliefs, along with the compression of indigenous peoples into missions, spanish impositions into established pueblos, the corresponding reorganization of labor responsibilities, and, of course, the teaching of sacramental obligations through the learning of spanish catechisms and scriptures. lastly, the sword was the ever present mechanism for obedience and acquiescence and the source for punishment if the pen and the cross were not sufficiently accepted in the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples.2 1 for location i consider that the region has north and south parameters for political and economic discussions, but in reality, it is one huge region ecologically shared. see a discussion of the concept in carlos vélez-ibáñez and josiah heyman (2017, pp. 20-28). 2 spanish violence was the first recourse if not accepted and from the fall of tenochtitlan or mexico city in 1521 to the massacre of the acoma pueblos of new mexico by the colonizer juan de ońate in 1599 the spanish initially used medieval notions of fire by sword for disobedience or resistance. violence, against especially colonized pueblan peoples abated for two major reasons: the realization by spaniards that they needed colonized peoples as protectors language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 23 yet, it must be said, that as well for strategic reasons some indigenous populations, like the tlaxcalans, joined with the spanish against their aztec lords and gained a great deal of special considerations including spearheading many of the explorations and colonizations into the southwest north american region.3 others, of course, continued to express their physical and psychological discontent for much of the presence of the spanish empire in both subtle and unsubtle ways. these included the very use of spanish rules and laws against their own exploitation and demands for equal treatment under spanish laws. however, hegemonic processes are not just about impositions since this coercion is a short-term proposition in terms of legitimacy. the best way in which to impose is to make others believe that it is in their best interests to accept these impositions. language communicated by written pronouncements, performances and engaged participation, schooling of ideological beliefs and the reading of texts all make immeasurable inroads in the acquisition of such legitimacy in following generations. these same populations under such processes sometimes hopped aboard willingly or immediately and at other times did not, but also expressed their discontent. these expressions vary from rebellions such as the great pueblo revolt of 1680, which resulted in the wholesale expulsion of everything spanish from new mexico, to an indigenous person not using spanish during confession to a priest who neither spoke nor understood the array of indigenous sins being articulated which could be quite infuriating. the point to be made is that hegemonies of all sorts, including languages, as well as, counterhegemonic language practices are “distributed” according to methods, techniques, and successes and are seldom only binary models. this is especially so since, after imposition, transcultural processes often arise, such as the development of the matachines dance complex that ranges from southern mexico to taos, new mexico to the creation of a homespun trilingual dictionary after the american conquest of the northern region (vélez-ibáńez, 2017). against such nations as the ute, apache, and navajo, and secondly genetic and cultural exchange became very normative so that by 1810, 40% of the “mexican” population were descendants of spanish-indigenous-african couples. see mccaa (2000, p. 265). 3 the tlaxcalans, for example, did not have to turn over their territory to the encomienda system which required land and labor to an overlord and were crucial in the conquest and colonization of southwest north america fighting as warriors with the spanish against native peoples. they in fact founded a neighborhood “analco” in santa fe, new mexico and were instrumental in the defeat of the pueblos after the pueblo revolt of 1680. see jovita sabes (2010) who carefully lays out the successful method of incorporating tlaxcalan sovereignty for spanish vassalage and without the dreaded encomienda system. vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 24 in contrast to spanish imperial impositions, the second hegemonic process, and the most salient in the near present, is the imposition of english and american culture over indigenous and mexican populations. like the spanish version of hegemony, american hegemony was established and initiated by violence visited on both indigenous populations through continued “indian wars” into the 19th century and the invasion of mexican territories including much of that in the southwest north american region. it was largely religious institutions in the form of protestant and catholic schools on indigenous reservations and military style and often forced attendance in boarding schools, like the famous carlisle indian industrial school (dawson, 2012, pp. 81-82) that attempted cultural and linguistic erasure. for mexican-origin populations newly conquered or newly arrived, secular public schools in the towns and cities like phoenix, tucson, san antonio, laredo, los angeles, albuquerque, and el paso were the single most important institution by which hegemony of language and culture was imposed to various degrees, depending in part on the demographics of the contexts. from corporal punishments to the use of iq and achievement tests to “track” students into simplified curriculums or worse yet to be typed as “educationally mentally retarded,” which followed students throughout their educational careers, entire generations of both mexican origin and indigenous students were typecast. testing, categorizing, placing, labeling, and identifiers (e.g., “english language learner” or ell) excluded the dimensions of home and community from the educational institutions whose responsibility was to teach the “whole” child—except for the indigenous or mexican parts and certainly not their respective languages. the expressions of discontent were many, from civil suits of the 1940s, protests during the 1960’s, student walkouts, and the onset of bilingual education and later dual language programs.4 i would cite these last two educational developments as the institutionalized form of discontent generated by research, study, policy pressures, political action, and discourses of how and why language is crucial to human emergence. such programs capitalize on the cultural and linguistic capacities of transborder populations to enter and exit different language registers, utilize two or more languages simultaneously, and structure meanings dually (or sometimes triply, 4 for a period of twenty years between 1970 and 1990, as a result of the elementary and secondary act (esea) title vii bilingual education act of 1968, the federal government was very much the initiator and designer of bilingual education since the act’s formation. these programs had intellectual, empirical, political, and cultural justifications, some of which operated with great success while others floundered because of lack of institutional maturation, poor funding, inadequate instructional resources including ill-trained teachers, and worse, poorly thought-out models of instruction with varying objectives and goals. see vélez-ibáñez (2017, p. 186). language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 25 as in the case of an indigenous languages, spanish, and english, like among some pueblos and the tohono o’odham peoples, as well as, mexican-origin populations who are interactive with yoeme populations in pascua village in tucson and guadalupe, arizona).5 there is a further element in the discussion of hegemonic processes and that is a methodological one, referred to as the “people without histories” syndrome, which dovetails into the hegemonic processes just described. this concept was articulated by eric r. wolf in a 1983 speech to the faculty senate of the city university of new york, when he stated that, it is only when we integrate our different kinds of knowledge that the people without history emerge as actors in their own right. when we parcel them out among the several disciplines, we render them invisible—their story, which is also our story, vanishes from sight. (wolf, 1983, p. 1) for wolf, parceling out people who have not been afforded the respect of broad and deep historical treatments is an artifact of disciplinary silos’ excluding the rich textures of experience in favor of a europeanized penchant for reducing populations conquered and studied to types or superficial sketches to be replaced by homogeneously defined states, empires, and nations. such peoples “are thought by many to have no history” (wolf, 1983, p. 1). from my point of view, such a process is also deeply tied to removing the manner in which such populations communicated with each others like themselves and with others not unlike themselves. this renders populations mute, without the seeming ability to “talk back,” and therefore guarantees their absence from a more nuanced and enriched historical narrative. i suggest that among the most persistently “siloing” subdisciplines are especially those responsible for the linguistic and learning typecasting of indigenous and mexican-origin populations, which, in effect, strip all identity of potential and emergence to a standard score. reduced to a type or category to meet an imagined normative dimension of value in language and achievement, both populations become 5 shohamy (2006) expands the construct to what anthropology would refer to as “expressive culture” by stating that languaging “refers to the multiple ways of representation that are not limited to words but rather include additional ways of expression, consisting of a variety of creative devise of expression such as languaging through music, clothes, gestures, visuals, food, tears and laughter” (p. 16). if attention were to be focused on the multiple syntheses emerging from the vast repertoire of expressive cultural behaviors just between two “translanguaging” persons and within the historical context of the region and locality, then the “translanguage” process is indeed one of complexity, contradictions, and of variable pitches and registers not reflective of monocultural or monolingual assumptions. vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 26 flattened—not on the basis of what they know and achieve, but on the basis of what they do not know or do not achieve. culture is reduced to a cinco de mayo celebration and the wealth of relationships, practices, behaviors (i.e., “funds of knowledge”) are dismissed as being of limited “home” value, or worse, to be responsible for poor test performance and thus evidence of “linguistic deprivation,” which was the term used 50 years ago, or in the present as linguistically disadvantaged or suffering a language barrier. these two processes of hegemonic imposition, as well as the process of “siloing” populations methodologically, seem to create populations without historical value or narrative and double up renditions of “flat” populations whose only salvation comes from institutions created to erase them, ignore them, or simply continue both processes. yet, there are also profound human processes that are affected by such dynamics and we turn to a consideration of our narrative linchpin: theories of becoming and language. we interrogate various theoretical positions in order to better gauge the manner in which hegemonies affect the emergence of our various selves and the various i’s that make us up. in a direct sense and not merely as a metaphorical device, the phrase “i am my language,” as promulgated by anzaldúa (1987) and gonzález (2001), best advances our understanding by being attentive to the complexity and contradiction that are the hallmark characteristics of the southwest north american region and are embodied in the multiple selves and language repertoires of its populations (gonzález, 2001, p. 14). theories of becoming and language6 so what does occur when one set of people imposes itself on others in trying to impose itself on another by changing its language—the means of sharing not just simple information about the day’s events, but just as or even more importantly, for communicating our senses of ourselves and our relation to those events. language communicates our relation to what we are saying and how it relates to our selves, whether it be passionate, or befuddled, or suspicious, or objective, or neutral, or insightful, or merely uninformed and dumb. by further exploring these dimensions, we can begin to understand the profundity of language hegemonies visited upon others and their effects on the very process of becoming and self-invention. 6 some of the parts of the material provided here may be found in carlos vélez-ibáñez (2017). hegemonies of language and their discontents: the southwest north american region since 1540. tucson, az: university of arizona press. language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 27 how important this is can be partially appreciated theoretically if we borrow insights from evolutionary anthropologists like terrance w. deacon (2012). he, through a number of studies, addresses what it means to be an individual organism with its organizational complexities and, by inference, what this means for language development. for him, individuation is responsible for its own maintenance and perpetuation, which he refers to as “teleodyamics—that both delineates and creates the individuality that is the organism itself” (deacon, 2012, p. 465). here, of course, the organism is our bioneural and biological architecture and contents from the molecular to the developed sense of selves. biologically and cognitively, we create ourselves, but in relation to others, such that the selves of others stimulate our creation and re-creation of ourselves. this provides portability for our various selves unlike a cockroach that follows fixed action patterns, genetically inscribed, no matter what other cockroaches it meets. this self-creative process of self-sustainability and portability more importantly provides the basis of considering how agency is an expanding “built-in” requirement for our selves to evolve, develop, and to expand our capacities for the further individuation of the agent itself. this direction proposed by deacon (2012) is in part a response to earlier biocognitive orientations from the biologists maturana and varela (1987) beginning in 1972 through the present. their notion of autopoiesis (meaning “self-creating”) refers to the process by which each living being is creating itself as it emerges, or, as deacon (2012) describes it, as “the core selfreferential dynamics of both life and mind that constitutes an observational perspective” (p. 6).7 according to mingers (1991), the process of using language or “languaging,” occurs only when the linguistic behaviors become coordinated which can only emerge when the nervous system has so developed itself “that it can interact with its own symbolic descriptions” (p. 329). this can only occur if there is a “consensual coordination of action,” so that language is always an activity intersecting the “self” and the myriad domains of action. agency, it would seem to follow, is a coordinated conjunction between selves, associated others, and their structures of commonalities identified in the flow of the actions. yet, deacon (2012), in a very simple but elegant suggestion, states that this “theory… avoids the challenges posed by phenomena whose existence is determined with respect to something displaced, absent, or not yet actualized, because these are defined in internalized self 7 see this very long developmental “complex adaptive systems” approach by looking at varela, maturana, uribe (1974); and varela (1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1989). vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 28 referential form” (p. 6). for deacon and myself: “such concepts as information, function, purpose, meaning, intention, significance, consciousness, and value are intrinsically defined by their fundamental incompleteness” (deacon, 2012, p. 23; italics in original). “intentionality” is the motor for agency and when that very deeply embedded absential potential is denied or obstructed then what makes us “us” is put into question even though it is not “there” and absent. such potential emerges within social relations in which we have to give and take in order to get what we would like because the basis of our capacity to continue to garner or give—the basis of human groups—is social reciprocity.8 these potentials to signal reciprocity then emerge in not just the relationship and in action as well but in the various “selves” and “others” upon whom we depend for social identity and simple sociability—the core of being able to get and give things while simultaneously “not there.” one way in which such capacities are endangered is to make those relationships so damaging and oppressive that the organism simply becomes confused about its self, denies that such endangerment is occurring (which is not sustainable), or somehow blends the oppressive messages and actions to become part of its internal and intentional selves, which may not be too healthy in the long term for the organism as a whole. and of course, among the multitude of possible responses to such circumstances is that the organism joins with others of like selves and acts out against such oppression through physical violence, ritual adaptation, syncretic mixing, and/or resigned acceptance, but hardly ever surrender. therefore, language impositions and their myriad attending behaviors have profound possible shatterings and degenerative possibilities. but, more important, in regard to hegemonic impositions, are its impacts on the “autopoesis” processes of self-creation and regulation and the emergence of selves who are denied their efficacy by ahistoricism and devalorization through labeling and categorization. i would suggest that the very process of becoming human is placed in jeopardy and endangered through these cultural and linguistic replacements by institutions, where spaces of discontent involve the shattering and shuddering of selves without rest. but among the strongest antidotes to this situation is the knowledge of what we know about not just holding on to the natal language to prevent damage to our various selves, but also 8 marcel mauss’s the gift is the seminal work on the basis of reciprocity and its iterations and has contributed to the creation of the foundation of theories and methods of human exchange systems. language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 29 how to expand our possibilities bilingually. for this consideration we need to understand the bioneural foundation of bilingualism in order to rationalize the development of their programmatic and operational interventions known as bilingual education, which will be discussed shortly. bioneural premises and assumptions: the bilingual brain in order to begin the conversation about undoing english hegemony in the u.s., we need to ask: what do we know about how multiple languages operate in favor of human emergence (rather than to its detriment, as the “english only” proponents would propose)? in other words, as far as possible we need to track down the specific ways in which bilingual neuropathways and associations are affected, made part of, and function as part of the neuroplasticity of the brain and the manner in which this is accomplished. on the negative side, hill (1998) has observed the anxiety of spanish speakers in the u.s. or mexico in demanding contexts often leads to tongue-tied responses or muteness when called upon (p. 684). martinez (2006) describes this process as undergoing a kind of “language panic” (p. 12), while burciaga (1992) stated that in learning spanish, for chicanos “there seems to be a barrier, a phobia that is more psychological than people realize (p. 54). there is a resentment for past treatment. we have scars, and they appear when we talk in our mother tongue.” as well, anzaldúa (1987) considers that “chicanas feel uncomfortable talking in spanish to latinas, afraid of the censure. their language was not outlawed in their countries…even among chicanas. . . we’re afraid the other will think we’re agringadas because we don’t speak chicano spanish” (p. 68). but we need to know how the non-traumatic impacts of bilingualism operate in order to make a rational argument about its potential to enhance human capacities. interestingly, according to bialystok (2009), “individuals who speak a second language have been shown to have increased density of grey matter in the left inferior parietal cortex, a change that is more pronounced in early bilinguals and those with greater proficiency in the second language” (p. 3; citing mechelli et al., 2004). but its benefits seems to translate into old age, in what is termed “cognitive reserve,” which seems to be a sort of protective impact against cognitive decline (fratiglioni, paillard-borg, & winblad, 2004; kramer et al., 2004; staff, murray, deary & whalley, 2004; stern, 2002; valenzuela & sachdev, 2006). the thickening of the gray matter—that is, the denser packing of vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 30 “information-processing nerve cells and fibers is an advantage especially in the brain’s left hemisphere where most language and communication skills are controlled.” bilingual individuals, in comparison to monolinguals, have a thicker packing so that bilingual acquisition from an early age shapes the structure of the brain.9 even more basic are findings regarding attention, consistency, and control of learning for bilinguals. krizman, skoe, marian, and kraus (2014) found that bilingualism increases neural response consistency and attentional control. that is, in comparison to monolinguals, this research concluded that bilingualism, rather than inhibiting or interfering with listening and learning, actually improves these skills. bialystok et al. (2005) found similar results for the neural correlates of a “bilingual advantage.” they wrote: many of the areas associated with faster responding in bilinguals were left hemisphere regions that bordered on language centers in the inferior frontal cortex. it is possible that bilingualism enhances those control processes in the left frontal lobe and makes them available for other inhibitory tasks, even nonverbal ones (p. 48). for bilingual children, however, bilingualism also seems to improve executive function. as bialystok and martin (2004) found, “bilingualism slows vocabulary acquisition but accelerates executive function development across variations in ses and manipulations of task difficulty” (p. 286). executive function refers to the cognitive capacity to sort through a vast amount of sensory input, suppress the majority, and decide what input deserves attention. bilinguals from infancy have developed this capacity to greater degrees than monolinguals because of the necessity of switching syntactic, phonological, and semantic rules, thus expanding this “higher order” function. as diamond (2010) concludes: “evidently, shifting frequently and unpredictably between hearing two parental languages made “bilingual” infants better able to cope with other unpredictable rule changes” (p. 333). it is from this early practice and its continuance that perhaps forms the dynamic basis of “translanguaging,” or “the process of making meaning, shaping experiences, gaining 9 an important and concise work is, perry, s. (2008). the bilingual brain. society for neuroscience. retrieved from http://www.brainfacts.org/sensing-thinking-behaving/language/articles/2008/the-bilingual-brain/ language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 31 understanding and knowledge of two languages” baker (2011), and perhaps simultaneously increasing the organism’s capacity to learn (p. 299). thus, the “bilingual brain” literature clearly has shown that bilingualism does in fact offer advantages of complexity while having some disadvantages in comparison to monolinguals in relation to smaller vocabulary ranges if the “home” language is other than that of the major institutions using the non-home language. it is imperative to note that despite the commanding conclusion that bilingualism is a highly selective advantage biologically and cognitively, the question remains: why has it not been adopted as a matter of course, especially in the northern portion of the southwest north american region? as buchweitza and prat (2013) ask: given the preponderance of evidence to support these benefits of bilingualism, one might ask why all children aren’t being raised bilingually? the answer to this is might be rooted in an outdated and largely scientifically unsubstantiated notion that bilingual language development results in language delays. (p. 439) bilingual education and its discontents in discussing bilingual education, we need to foreground the cautionary suggestions made by valdés (2003), who provided a convincing and insightful critique of the strengths and weaknesses of many methodological, technical, theoretical, and interpretive models utilized by a variety of researchers conducting bilingual research (pp. 50-61). among these are class-specific biases of the samples, the yardsticks used as the basis of comparison as to what may constitute “balanced bilinguals,” the tests used to determine level of bilingualism, the “fractional” view of bilingualism rendered from a monolingual premise, the inadequacy of measurement instruments, and the complexity of the relation between bilinguality and cognition (pp. 59-60). there are also other considerations, not least of which are the theoretical assumptions and premises behind the construct of bilingualism itself. conceptually, for example, bialystok (2010) thinks about bilingualism as a process and a phenomenon and not as a category; to not do so deprives the concept of its multilayered nuances and of its delicacy and complexity (p. 14). she states unequivocally: “bilingualism is not like age, or gender, or grade, or any of the usual variables we use to classify children in developmental research. at best bilingualism is a scale, moving from vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 32 virtually no awareness that other languages exist to complete fluency in two languages” (bialystok, 2010, p. 14). makoni and pennycook (2006) go much further in questioning the theoretical efficacy of accepting the existence of “languages” per se, since, in one way or the other, “bilingualism” is another version of the privileging of “dual monoligualism,” since all named languages are inventions or abstractions and most emerge from colonialism at a particular time (p. 1). therefore, bialystok (2010) also notes that research on the concept is at best problematic and at worst filled with categorical and empirical pitfalls. for example, she states that controlled research on the impact of bilingualism on children’s development “requires that bilingual children are compared with equivalent monolinguals on specific aspects of performance” (bialystok, 2010, p. 14). this assumes comparable testing devices that are not merely translations—a caution also voiced by valdés. the following section provides a partial remedy to the very complex and often contradictory assumptions and approaches regarding bilingual programs, their efficacy, and utility. trends, and practices of the northern region of southwest north america the search for suitable language programs is an entangled one given that first, there is no official language policy established in the united states but instead each state has developed its own. what must be considered is a regional approach rather than a national one in which contending state policies obfuscate and politicize rational decision-making in regard to the most efficacious approach to the human development of children. economically, ecologically, historically, demographically, and historically the regions north and south are first of all characterized by intensive and dynamic relations between cultural populations regardless and in spite of the politics of the region. the demographics and population concentration of mexicanorigin and other spanish-speaking populations in the northern region began to be present since 1540 and demand a fresh approach to what we know to be fruitful learning directions established by both research and practice.10 the eastern american prism for assimilation and language replacement must be reconsidered in light of research that supports an intensive dual language approach in unsegregated classrooms in which children’s home language is fully developed alongside the dominant language and funneled through intensive content material. “immersion” 10 see especially the cross-cultural literature examined in vélez-ibáñez (2017, pp. 223-231). language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 33 in programs that segregate “minority” children for four or more hours in segregated instructional contexts has not proven to be educationally, linguistically, or culturally efficacious. and in fact, the state of arizona has nearly eliminated spanish for native speakers because of its vaunted proposition 203 “english only” legislation, but has been taken to task for its erroneous assumptions concerning “immersion” programs by rolstad, macswan, and mahoney (2012). using the state’s own achievement data, they conclude that: “the arizona english-only instruction policy has been advanced in a research context in which it can find no reasonable support…and suggest that the state has embarked on the wrong path . . . arizona’s sei program breaks down at its core” (p. 203). such programs reproduce an unequal and subordinated linguistic position. these programs reproduce language “whiteness” and accentuate the predominance and hegemony of english. according to this way of thinking, there were never native peoples creating grand cultural complexes, never any spaniards inundating the land and genetically and culturally changing the human ecology of the region, and fewer mexicans that were invaded all the way to mexico city or grand-uncles who saw the last mexican flag come down in 1853 in tucson, arizona. this ahistoricism simply reduces language to a thing and not a process that expands human viability and human possibilities. the optimal conditions for success in part, demographics determine the efficacy of the model to be used optimally. the best model for the northern end of the southwest north american region would involve substantial numbers of “home” language elementary school students whether these be spanish, hopi, navaho, or tohono o’odham speaking students and a concomitant representation of english speaking partners beginning from preschool through high school. it is not suggested that the partner population necessarily be from another ethnic group, but only that the partners be speakers of english as the “home” language, although optimally for social and cultural reasons it would be desirable for multiple cultural groups to be represented. but the crucial evidence is found in collier and thomas’s (2004) report on 56 one-way and two-way dual language programs in the houston area for grades k-8. in the one-way programs, because some schools were not staffed to implement the dual-language programs, a 90-10 percent ratio of “home’ to “host” language was established for “transitional” classes as well vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 34 as dual language classes and then adjusted to 50-50 as students moved through their schooling (p. 14). the outcomes on national norm-referenced tests for reading outcomes in the first through fifth grades showed that the spanish-speaking students in the two-way dual language schools were at or above grade level in both languages in the first through the fifth grades. in english achievement, spanish-speaking students in the two-way classes outscored the english language speakers in other types of bilingual programs: “this high achievement in spanish significantly influenced their high achievement in english, in comparison to what we have seen in other school districts implementing little or no primary language support” (collier & thomas, 2004, p. 9). these findings have been further supported by the work of garcía-vázquez et al. (2010) on midwestern mexican-origin children, who assert that spanish reading and written proficiency was strongly related to tests of academic achievement in english. their general conclusions were that “these results … show that continued development of first language skills enhances scores in high school. in addition, these findings indirectly demonstrate that late-exit programs can lead to increased performance on standardized tests in english” (p. 404). these findings are not specific to mexican-origin students: collier and thomas (2004) also report similar results from english-french heritage dual-language programs in maine, near the u.s.-canada border. at present, according to the center for applied linguistics, there are 248 two-way immersion programs in 23 states and the district of columbia, and this includes all of the major states of the region. however, many programs, like those in arizona and california, are restricted to children who pass an english test prior to their admittance or many are ensconced primarily in middle class areas so that this most advantageous approach is not distributed equally by class.11 in spite of this, dual-language programs in minority schools have far-reaching implications: students from minority schools with modest ses characteristics by high school develop high levels of academic “competence and motivation, ambition to go to college, knowledge about how to apply to and get into college, and pride in bilingualism” (lindholm-leary & borsato, 2002, p. 2). rather than to regard their home language as something to be discarded and useless together with the cultural underpinnings of such removal, such students have developed cultural and linguistic integrity in both languages and in multiple cultural domains. 11 two-way bilingual immersion programs in the u.s., n.d. language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 35 an ethnographic assembly of funds of knowledge as balance to dual language social inequity with a bit of translanguaging: antidotes to ahistoricism and cultural erasure but dual language programs are not without their pitfalls and these must be avoided. clearly the literature shows that in dual language programs and especially those populated by middle class anglo students, i.e. english-dominant students, not only supersede spanish-speaking students but teachers have a tendency to focus on the language needs of the former to the detriment of the latter (delgado-larocco, 1998; moses, 2000; valdés 1997). valdés’s (1997) early work clearly was concerned with exactly this process of class and cultural differentiation and in fact she was quite clear in suggesting that spanish-dominant students’ real linguistic advantage would be traded off to those already in a linguistically privileged position. but this can be balanced by attention to spaces or zones that are open to student-directed, student-defined, and student-conducted exchanges with each other and with teachers as assistants in “translanguaging” experiments, where the students are free to engage in “creative languaging, drawing from their entire linguistic repertoire” (garcía & wei, 2014, p. 61). this must be practiced, encouraged, and developed and made integral to the language instruction of the classroom and with students encouraged and permitted to violate curricular conventions and practices. in fact, such experimentation can also be applied to providing “literacy spaces” where students are not restricted to either language but rather may write in either, both, or by mixing or transliterating from one to the other. martínez (2010) specifically looks at the use of “spanglish” as a literacy medium by sixth grade students in los angeles. students were able to take advantage of their own full range of language resources without restriction in order to communicate levels of meaning not apparent in either language—spanish or english. as well, escamilla et al. (2013) shows that, in homes or environments in which both languages have been practiced, children will carry symbiotic systems and can in fact utilize them as resources to become literate.12 in this manner, spanglish may be spoken within and between different generations without stigmatization as simply another cultural and linguistic resource “to be.” 12 as a high school english teacher at pueblo high school in tucson, arizona during the sixties, i would “reverse engineer” passages from the shakespeare’s othello and achebe’s things fall apart by asking students from different linguistic groups to transliterate these to “spanglish,” black english, and o’odham with some measure of success and a great deal of fun and respect. vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 36 this unbalancing process can be further challenged by teachers in the classroom and administrators in the office who are fully instructed, as will be discussed, in the “funds of knowledge” carried into the classroom by spanish-dominant students and their parents. what is crucial to understand is that although dual language programs may be efficacious in helping students learn the necessary skills and techniques to achieve standardized notions of excellence, they do not necessarily counter the process of cultural erasure, regardless of their technical efficacy. they do not counter the ahistoricism inherent in most instructional programs unless they are situated within a funds of knowledge paradigm that closes the institutional cultural gap between school and home, and, just as importantly, the gap in meaningful social relations between school and home. spanish-dominant parents must be involved in substantive ways such as in the very construction of the cultural underpinnings of the classroom and become integrated through the mechanisms of training and development characterizing funds of knowledge processes. then teachers and administrators will be better able to counter the continued subordination of spanish-dominant students without denigrating the resources the children bring to the classroom and further alienating spanish-dominant students from what could be an advantageous educational experience. without getting involved at the level of the household, and without knowledge of the wealth of cultural resources their spanish-dominant children and their parents bring to the school, teachers and administrators will continue to shift even more of the advantage of a precious linguistic and cultural resource from those who live it—spanish-dominant students—to english speakers whose advantages are already naturalized. but crucial as well are the opportunity to engage in and learn of the dense social networks that are the platforms upon which mexicanorigin households are constructed and from which the complex personalities of children emerge. as will be discussed there are remedies suggested by attention to the ethnographic “funds of knowledge” approaches that have been developed over a number of years.13 from an anthropological point of view there is a bias to focus on qualitative data and information in order to flesh out processes and to engage such programs as dual language programs at the quotidian 13 see vélez-ibáñez and greenberg (1992). this was the initial work that posited the construct of “funds of knowledge” developed during a discussion between the authors of the data that was being analyzed within the “tucson project,” which was an nsf research investigation of mexican origin household in which greenberg noted circa 1988 that these data were like “funds of rent” and followed by a suggestion by vélez-ibáñez that these were more like “funds of knowledge.” language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 37 level. ethnography is at its best when it uncovers layers that others have missed or perhaps because instructional approaches often are based primarily on quantitative data. within such contexts, translanguaging and other expressive cultural behaviors may occur, unbeknownst to monocultural and monolingual teachers and administrators. crucially, the discovery of and engagement in mexican-origin children’s dense social networks will be of great benefit to teachers and administrators in bringing the school closer to the cultural underpinnings of students’ daily life. therefore, linguistic programs must recognize the importance of home cultural resources and their complex social relations, and integrate or make use of them for whatever program of instruction is developed, to ensure that school is not alienated from home. vélez-ibáñez and greenberg (1992) referred to these home cultural resources as “funds of knowledge,” which they define as “bodies of knowledge of strategic importance to households”—and i would expand our original conception to include languages, lineage and historical oral knowledge, patterns and recognitions of social relationships, use of and continuance of reciprocity and exchange, gender divisions and attitudes, and values towards selves and others. i would also include all implied and recognized computational, compositional, and literacy knowledge, patterns of organizing elements and data, ideological and religious principles including ritual processes and practices, internalized methods and practices of arrangement and organization, and the underlying orientation for the basis of physical and geographical spatial induction and deduction. knowledge concerning the expression of physics and chemistry and biologics and botanies in congealed formats like mechanics, construction, homoeopathic medicine, grooming, plant use, herbal medicine, receipts, cooking, and repairing are also salient to local funds of knowledge. integral knowledge is that of the care-taking of children and expected social relations and their expressions and highly regarded emotive responses such as affection, love, tenderness and all of their opposites (for a comprehensive list, see moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992, p. 133). but these are ensconced within “thick” social relations to different degrees, many times unlike the mainstream nuclear american household, so that the person one is related to by kinship is also the person who is called upon for assistance, is also the person with whom one celebrates, is also the person that serves as “comadre” in ritual celebrations, and so on. these are in fact “social exchange” networks glued by the concept of “confianza” or mutual trust and serve as the social platform whence children emerge. children internalize the calculus of these vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 38 behaviors and relationships. even if simply present and playing on the floor, children listen to the conversation of adults and learn much about people and events within and outside the family, learning that the social actions of reciprocity and exchange and their constituent cultural understandings of confianza require a great deal of patience, practice, information, responsibility, and engagement. dual language programs, if stripped of the potential utility of these “funds of knowledge” as well as their social contexts, treat language instruction as a mere medium rather than the message, which, in the case proposed here, is one of “culture” broadly conceived as processes of learning and discarding over time, place, and the circumstances of such funds of knowledge and their attending social relationships. for our purposes here, i emphasize the broader regional reality of the southwest north american region as crucial to the formation of these funds over time. how these are in actuality characterized is a matter of ethnographic knowledge, not assumptions to be categorized and mined a priori. thus, for example in the original research, we had no data in regard to digital technology, computers, video games, or use of cell phones since these were either not noted or simply did not exist among the initial 75 households studied in tucson, arizona. approaching equivalent households in the present would demand attention to these “funds of knowledge” since almost every child in most neighborhoods has access to digital technology as a matter of course, regardless of context, class, and setting. on the other hand, in the region there will be commonalities and similarities no matter what new technical introductions have ensued; what will be of interest is how these accentuate or attenuate, for example, the density of relationships between households. schools typecast students as (e.g.) “low income, 100% lunch program eligible, english learners, and native speakers,” often in abbreviated forms like leps and ells—all used as both premises and predictors of children’s learning capacities. but these latter labels will not include their actual experiences, density of relations, potentials, achievements, skills, practices, and talents, and even less of their home life and community but only that their “home” language is spanish and a detriment. they can hardly account for the fourth grade boy who hums and sings when no one is looking and seems distracted, but also knows how to play the guitar, violin, and accordion, can read sheet music like a professional, assists his father and uncles on the weekends by playing at weddings and local quinceañeras, and knows more than 100 songs by heart in spanish language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 39 and english.14 nor could they predict that the observer-teacher noting this phenomenon would not only be invited to stay for dinner, but eventually became a comadre to a new sibling at a later date. thus, a trained and knowledgeable teacher who really knew the student and home and could negotiate their complex social relationships, as well as the literature on the benefits of bilingualism, would have not categorized the student as merely noisy (because of his humming in class) but would also know that these abilities contribute to the development of greater “executive function,” as both bilingualism and musical practice and learning are strongly correlated with “cortical thickening and maturation” among other benefits.15 also part of these funds are the linguistic, cultural, and social brokering roles many children will fill as translators and interpreters of their parents’ realities as they serve as intermediaries for parents in difficult as well as daily events and necessities. such functions may increase the bilinguality of the child, and the attending neural implications can only be surmised. it is not proposed that funds of knowledge and their attending social relationships are the same in all households, or that all such knowledge is immediately useful for school instruction. but what is imperative to know, especially for teachers and administrators of schools with large numbers of mexican origin students whose first language is spanish, is that the ethnography of home is one way in which the relations of “confianza,” mutual trust between home and school, can become cemented. once these are established, the discovery of the knowledge base of the child may be much richer than that assumed by the usual labels and categories used to understand the children of the region, regardless of immigration generation or status as a recent arrival. from such advantageous positions, programs like dual language initiatives may be made more congruent and relational to the home and made closely associated to the goals of excellence and unfettered achievement. the unbalancing processes that emerge from hegemonic whiteness can only be offset by teachers and administrators who are fully informed as to the funds of knowledge and rich social relationships of spanish-dominant students and find ways to bring them into the classroom. otherwise, teachers and administrators will more than likely contribute to the continued 14 this case description is of an elementary school boy of mexican parents who during ethnographic research was discovered to be a child prodigy by learning to play and sing by the time he was three and unbeknownst to his teacher who found him “noisy” with his humming and almost silent signing was considered a disruptive person since his attention to the tasks at hand seemed to bore him. the field research was carried out by a team of researchers in 1990 made up of luis moll, james b. greenberg, kathy amanti, norma gonzález and myself of 75 households. 15 a crucial study is hudzia et al. (2014). vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 40 stratification of spanish dominant students, ignore or denigrate the resources the children bring to the classroom, and further alienate spanish-dominant students from what could be an advantageous educational experience. even in efforts made to offset such “unbalancing processes,” such as those described by freeman and freeman (1996), where spanish-dominant parents were engaged in the design of programs for english dominant students, their multiple cultural and social “selves” are not necessarily made a core element of the curriculum nor are those “selves” recognized as pertinent to or useful for instruction, unlike the presumptions and premises that attach to english-dominant middle class parents. coupled with rigorous programs of training and learning for teachers and administrators of “home funds of knowledge,” as well as functionally equal models of dual language instruction with spaces and places for translanguaging, such a program of instruction and development would be a win-win for children, parents, community, and the region, as manifested in the measured outcomes in biliteracy and language and content learning. simply, given the demographic realities of the region, along with the existence of huge performance gaps between children of different ethnicities and languages, we must continue to advocate for instruction based on sound research and program effectiveness, regardless of politics, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of tired narratives, and regardless of ideological convictions tied to ahistorical premises. it is imperative that mexican-origin and other latino/a populations and indigenous peoples are able to emerge fully as complex cultural beings with choices between their multiple “i’s and “us’s”, worthy of respect and support, even though this multiplicity has sometimes been enhanced and sometimes repressed by long historical processes that continue to unfold in the present. crucial for the long term is the creation of the linguistic and cultural supports that legitimate these populations as “people with histories,” with the right to an uninterrupted and undamaging opportunity for selfemergence and the accompanying processes of organic development common to all of us. without them we are doomed to continue to perpetuate a situation of linguistic and cultural hegemony for populations who will be restricted from their full human potential. language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 41 references anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands, la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. baker, c. (2011). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (3rd ed.). clevedon, uk: multilingual matters. bialystok, e. (2009). bilingualism: the good, the bad, and the indifferent in bilingualism.language and cognition, 12(1), 3–11. bialystok, e., luk, g., peets, k. f., & yang, s. (2010). receptive vocabulary differences in monolingual and bilingual children. bilingualism, language and cognition, 13(4), 525–531. bialystok, e., craki, f. i., grady, c., chau, w., ishii, r., guriji, r., & pantev, c. (2005). effect of bilingualism on cognitive control in the simon task: evidence from meg. neuroimage, 24, 40–49. retrieved from www.elsevier.com/locate/ynimg. bialystok, e., & martin, m. m. (2004). attention and inhibition in bilingual children: evidence from the dimensional change card sort task. developmental science, 7(3), 325-339. buchweitza, a., & prat, c. (2013). the bilingual brain: flexibility and control in the human cortex. physics of life reviews, 10(4), 428–443. retrieved from www.elsevier.com/locate/ plre burciaga, j. a. (1992). drink cultura: chicanismo. santa barbara, ca: capra press. dawson, a. s. (2012). histories and memories of the indian boarding schools in mexico, canada, and the united states. latin american perspectives, 39(5), 80-99. deacon, t. w. (2012). incomplete nature: how mind emerged from matter. new york, ny: w.w. norton & company. diamond, j. (2010). the benefits of multilingualism. science, 330, 332-333. retrieved from http://science.sciencemag.org/content/330/6002. fratiglioni, l., paillard-borg, s., & winblad, b. (2004). an active and socially-integrated lifestyle in late life might protect against dementia. lancet neurology, 3, 343–353. freeman, y., & freeman, d. s. (1996). teaching reading and writing in spanish in the bilingual classroom. portsmouth, nh: heinemann. garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism, and education. new york, ny: palgrave. gonzález, n. (2001). i am my language: discourses of women and children in the borderlands. tucson, az: the university of arizona press. hill, j. (1998). language, race, and white public space. american anthropologist, 100(3), 680-689. kramer, a. f., bherer, l., colcomebe, s. u., dong, w., & greenough, w. t. (2004). environmental influences on cognitive and brain plasticity during aging. journals of gerontology, 59(9), 940–957. krizman, j., koe, e., marian, v., & kraus, n. (2014). bilingualism increases neural response consistency and attentional control: evidence for sensory and cognitive couplin. brain & language, 128(1), 34–40. retrieved from www.elsevier.com/locate/b&l. vélez-ibáñez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 42 lindholm-leary, k. j., & borsato, b. (2002). impact of two-way immersion on students’attitudes toward school and college. washington, dc: center for applied linguistics. retrieved from http://www.cal.org/content/search?searchtext=+“impact+of+twoway+immersion+on+students’attitudes+toward+school+and+college%2c”+ makoni, s., & pennyook, a. (eds). (2006). disinventing and reconstituting languages. bristol, uk: multilingual matters. maturana, h. r., & varela, f. j. (1987). the tree of knowledge: the biological roots of human understanding. boston, ma: new science library. mechelli, a., crinion, j. t., noppeney, u., o’doherty, j., ashburner, j., frackowiak, r. s., & price, c. j. (2004). neurolinguistics: structural plasticity in the bilingual brain. nature, 432, 757. retrieved from http://faculty.washington.edu/losterho/mechelli_l2_vmb.pdf mccaa, r. (2000). the peopling of mexico from origins to revolution. in m. r. haines & r. h. steckel (eds.), a population history of north america (pp. 241-304). cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. mingers, j. (1991). the cognitive theories of maturana and varela. systems practice, 4(4). moll, l. c., amant, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31, 132141. rolstad, k., macswan, j., & mahoney, k. s. (2012). the ineffectiveness of english immersion in arizona. international journal of language studies, 6(2), 137-150. retrieved from http://www.terpconnect.umd.edu/~rolstad/ijls%202012.pdf. sabes, j. (2010). empire, indians, and the negotiation for the status of city in tlaxcala, 15211550. in e. ruiz medrano & s. kellogg (ed.), negotation within domination: new spain’s indian pueblos confront the spanish state (pp.19-41). boulder, co: university of colorado press. shohamy, e. (2006). language policy: hidden agendas and new approaches. london: routledge. staff, r. t., murray, a. d., deary, i. j. & whalley, l. j. (2004). what provides cerebral reserve? brain, 127(pt. 5), 1191–1199. valdés, g. (1997). dual language immersion programs: a cautionary note concerning the education of language-minority students. harvard educational review, 67, 391-429. valdés, g. (2003). expanding definitions of giftedness: the case of young interpreters from immigrant communities. mahwah, nj: lawrene erlbaum associates. valenzuela, m. j., & sachdev, p. (2006). brain reserve and dementia: a systematic review. psychological medicine, 36(4),441–454. varela, f., h., & uribe, m. r. (1974). autopoiesis: the organization of living systems, its characterization and a model. biosystems, 5(4), 1 87-196. varela, f. h. (1989). reflections on the circulation of concepts between a biology of cognition and systemic family therapy. family processes, 28(1), 5-24. valera, f. h. (1984). two principles for self-organization. h. ulrich & g. probst (eds.), selforganization and the management of social systems (pp. 25-32). frankfurt: springer. language hegemonies and their discontents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, issue 12, volume 2 43 valera, f. h. (1981). autonomy and autopoiesis. in g. roth & h. schwegler (eds.), selforganising system: an interdisciplinary approach. frankfurt: campus verlag valera, f. h. (1980). describing the logic of the living. the adequacy and limitations of the idea of autopoieis. in m. zeleny (ed.), autopoiesis, dissipative structures and spontaneous social orders, aaas (pp. 36-48). boulder, co: westview press. valera, f. h. (1979). principles of biological autonomy. new york, ny: elsevier-north holland. vélez-ibáñez, c. g. (2017). hegemonies of language and their discontents: the southwest north american region since 1540. tucson, az: university of arizona press. vélez-ibáñez, c. g. (2010). an impossible living in a transborder world: culture, confianza, and economy of mexican-origin populations. tucson, az: the university of arizona press. vélez-ibáñez, c. g., & heyman, j. (2017). the u.s. mexico transborder region: cultural dynamics and historical interactions. tucson, az: university of arizona press. vélez-ibáñez, c. g., & greenberg, j. b. (1992). formation and transformation of funds of knowledge among u.s. mexican households. anthropology and education quarterly, 23(4), 313-335. wolf, eric r. 1983. “the people without history.” lecture to the university faculty senate 125th plenary session, city universiy of new york, 13 december. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 128 a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body as a trauma-informed teaching strategy for indigenous mexican-american students santiago andrés garcia rio hondo college maritza arciga rio hondo college eva sanchez rio hondo college robert arredondo rio hondo college abstract in this article, three co-authors share their narratives and clay figurines sculpted during the mesoamerican figurine project of rio hondo college (garcia, in press-a). through reflective writing exercises and the sculpting of small-scale clay figurines, los angeles-based mexicanamerican students unearthed parts of their mesoamerican ancestry and materialized their stories of displacement and violence to assist in meeting student learning outcomes (slos). after interpreting these data alongside the medical tools observed on the four tezcatlipocas of mesoamerica (acosta, 2007), the supposition is that indigenous mesoamerican students benefit when engaged through the following topics: 1) land and cosmology, 2) trauma and medicine, 3) resiliency and self-determination, and 4) community and family. to support all students’ educational and mental health goals, and to prevent further trauma accumulation, the mesoamerican figurine is modeled as a pedagogical tool with a wide range of therapeutic values. by employing a critical autoethnographic approach (ohito, 2017), instructor garcia’s ancestral knowledge—combined with his students’ insights—enabled his conceptualization of a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body as a trauma-informed teaching strategy (cole, eisner, gregory, & ristuccia, 2013) to begin to address the mental health challenges prevalent in the mexicanamerican community related to the cultural genocide of native americans. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.1.388 garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 129 introduction to the mesoamerican figurine project of rio hondo college during the summers of 2014 and 2015, i, the primary author, asked students of the humanities 125: introduction to mexican culture class to materialize their views of the body and self through clay-work (sholt & gavron, 2006) and reflective writing assignments (jehangir, 2010). these interactive and therapeutic processes comprised the core work unique to the mesoamerican figurine project of rio hondo college (http://www.mesofigurineproject.org), to be published in ucla’s raza studies journal regeneración tlacuilolli. in one section of garcia (in press-a), i write about the coatlicue state writing exercise developed around the virtues of our ancestral mother coatlicue in an effort to build the classroom into a place of inquiry, where critical teaching and mental health are seen as one. through reflective writing and the sculpting of smallscale clay figurines, los angeles-area mexican-american students revitalized aspects of their mesoamerican ancestry that they believed to be non-existent. during the course, numerous students cultivated their native american identities1 further as one form of contesting trauma and violence. of added importance in the regeneración paper, i speak of my own positionality as an indigenous xicano educator and of the importance of engaging the 83% “hispanic” population at rio hondo as indigenous to the land. in this article, maritza, eva, and robert, share their clay figurines and their accompanying narratives. the work written about herein represents both a working and conceptual effort to intersect native earth medicine (clay), slos, and mental health to serve indigenous mexican-american communities while being mindful of all native american groups. observing the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders among students to begin with, i acknowledge the mental health definition in the “mental health action plan 2013–2020” of the world health organization (2013): “good mental health enables people to realize their potential, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively, and contribute 1 i use “native american” to identify all northern, middle, and southern indigenous peoples of the americas. native groups include disenfranchised mexican-americans, us-identifying native americans, the first nations of canada/alaska, genetically identified tribal communities, federally recognized tribes, and non-federally recognized tribes. due to cultural genocide (land theft, sexual violence, and forced assimilation), this indigenous diaspora of mixed blood lost great portions of their native ways of knowing and being—though many are now in the process of revitalizing and sustaining their traditional life ways. a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 130 to their communities” (p. 5). this understanding of a healthy body is considered alongside the concept of medicine and wellness (avila & parker, 1999) that situates human beings, animals, plants, minerals, water, earth, air, and fire as one living ecosystem, so that when a person finds herself or himself disconnected from parts of nature, illness occurs. in this article, trauma and violence are considered as any form of physical or psychological experience that affects the mental health of students, leading to a disorder, as described in the fifth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (dsm-5) (american psychiatric association [apa], 2013). in garcia (in press-a), i list racism, sexism, patriarchy, homophobia, displacement, and deportation as examples of trauma and violence that students experience while attending community colleges. as a teacher who attempts to meet student learning outcomes (slos) on a daily basis, i feel concerned about the persistent mental health challenges affecting the learning behavior of my students. i often observe habitual absences, disorganization, disengagement, fatigue, disillusionment, and intoxication. through conversations with students and through my research, i am aware that such signs and symptoms are related to a matrix of stress, anxiety, and depression. i have been informed that such problems stem from a lack of household support, experiences with domestic and street violence, a low social economic status (ses), intergenerational trauma, a genetic disease, or a more severe condition such as homelessness, substance addiction, diabetes, post-traumatic stress disorder, bi-polar disorder, and various cases of cancer. a framework that incorporates teaching strategies, mental health knowledge, and native medicine at community colleges is essential. the text summarized by katz and davison (2014) reveals that community colleges, unlike four-year colleges, mostly serve the working class, single parents, undocumented students, ethnic minorities, middle-aged students, individuals with physical disabilities, and veterans. mental health disorders dominate low-ses individuals because they are exposed to greater stress and environmental adversity (dohrenwend et al., 1998). for example, single parents, representing 1-in-6 community college students, suffer higher rates of poor mental health when compared to dual parents because of the unique challenges that they face (shenoy, lee, & trieu, 2016). native americans are at greater risk of developing, inheriting, and/or accumulating trauma, since many native individuals still endure modern forms of racism and violence (bassett, tsosie, & nannauck, 2012). the dsm-5 (apa, 2013) acknowledges these findings, noting that latinos and native americans have a higher prevalence of developing stress-, garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 131 anxiety-, trauma-, and substance abuse-related disorders. moreover, jorm (2012) reports that non-white culturally diverse groups are less likely to seek help due to a lack of mental health knowledge. as community college instructors interact with a wide range of behaviors daily and on a more personal level than university professors do, they are often the first to observe poor physical and mental health, and, in turn, are the first to offer support. by cultivating teaching strategies that take into account the well-being of students, a vital component of a more holistic mental health model (garcia, in press-b) begins to emerge. to believe and/or accept that historically marginalized native american students live carefree lives in the classroom free of any heartache, pain, or emotion from their past is to fall short of a critical understanding of the human experience. the many methods of an indigenous xicano educator as the primary author, i write from the perspective of a critical autoethnographer, in particular, by considering esther o. ohito (2017), who, as a teacher educator, challenges herself and her students to commit to teaching strategies that mediate and untangle relations between the flesh, racial identities, place, and history. the western classrooms she writes about represent “scenes of dismemberment” (ohito, 2017, p. 15), where bodies are cut off from the mind. acting as a critical autoethnographer in the classrooms that i teach in, i observe this carnage of the body, mind, and spirit (bms) in the form of fatigued bodies, battled bodies, and yes, disabled bodies recovering from severe combat injuries. these experiences at the community college are what led to the development of an archaeology of the human body (garcia, in press-a), conceived of when students took on the challenge of writing about traumatic histories in an effort to construct new meanings of the self. an archaeology of the body aims to create podiums on which indigenous mesoamerican learners systematically excavate their most profound bms experiences toward a restorative journey of their body; similar to how an archaeologist, the sibling of the ethnographer, carefully surveys and excavates the earth’s layers to understand and reconstruct human experience. seeking to advance this archaeology of the human body, herein, i explore how a revitalization of ancestral knowledge may assist in informing teachers and students of the signs and symptoms of trauma and the effectiveness of ancient medicine—in this case, earth clay. i ground the new model—a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body—on the experiences of a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 132 former and current students, and draw further from the medicinal tools observed on the bodies of the four tezcatlipocas of mesoamerica. i borrow from the bodywork of the ancestor elena avila (avila & parker, 1999) and patrisia gonzales (2012), which reminds us that, “native knowledge is experienced directly through the body, whether it is in direct relationship to land and place or felt in ritual and ceremony” (p. xxiv). i describe the making of clay figurines as a culturally relevant therapeutic practice (figure 4) for its capacity to unearth, mediate, and materialize the signs and symptoms of both poor and good health. borrowing from the fields of critical education, mental health, art therapy, archaeology, and mesoamerica, i align the strategies of a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body (i.e., reflective writing and the sculpting of clayfigurine assignments) as a trauma-informed teaching strategy (cole et al., 2013) to sort through the matrix of mental health problems experienced by indigenous students. as outlined by cole et al. (2013), a trauma-informed school: 1) realizes the regularity of trauma in students; 2) recognizes the psychological and relational impact on teachers; 3) converts this knowledge into practices that offer wide forms of support; and 4) prevents the accumulation of trauma by adopting practices that foster recovery and growth, as opposed to punishment and exclusion. in brief, a medical archaeopedagogy of the body engages students of mesoamerican ancestry, all students, as: 1) tied to land and cosmology, 2) affiliated with trauma and medicine, 3) resilient and self-determined, and 4) habitually communal in ways of living. in the following section, i share the figurines sculpted by the three co-authors, maritza, eva, and robert during the 2015 mesoamerican figurine project, along with the accompanying written narratives that were transcribed from the reflective writing assignments that accompanied the clay-work, as evidence of the adverse experiences and environments navigated by college students of mesoamerican ancestry. 2 in the process of describing the ritual of sculpting clay and self-reflections (garcia, in press-a), i highlight the various forms of cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) that student figurine-makers possess, and how information informs lesson planning, i.e., the meeting of slos, curriculum development, as well as their own identity formation. the section where i model the mesoamerican clay figurine as a classroom instrument of therapeutic value 2 when the assignment was handed out, students were asked to voluntarily sign a consent form, granting permission for the publication of their stories and figurines on social media, in educational blogs, and in educational journals. a final draft of this article was shared with all co-authors for their final consent, and they all agreed to have the work published. rio hondo college did not require irb approval for the assignments or activities of humanities 125 during the 2014 and 2015 semesters. the primary author’s irb experience is published in garcia (in press-a). garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 133 follows this discussion. woven into this argument, i cite works that speak of the mexicanamerican/latino/a student population that regularly display signs and symptoms of trauma. to conclude this section, i write of the figurine as it may have been used in ancient familial mesoamerican rituals and ceremony, and how figurine making may promote positive health and well-being in the individual learner, in his or her family, and then out into the community at large. in the section that follows, i write of the four tezcatlipocas of mesoamerica (tezcatlipoca, quetzalcoatl, huitzilopochtli, and xipe totec) as a major source of knowledge. vital to the argument of this article, i describe the four personalities and their association with medicine. i write of these as a rigor of natural science, technology, and medicine—a model for teachers and students interested in ancestral science and medicine (asm). to end the article, i conceptualize a medical archaeopedagogy of the body as a trauma-informed teaching strategy to sustain the educational goals and aspirations of indigenous mesoamerican communities as they shed the traumatized flesh of unresolved intergenerational trauma. personal storytelling through reflective writing and clay-figurine making with her permission, i begin with a narrative titled mi virgen de guadalupe written by one of our three co-authors maritza, during the 2015 mesoamerican figurine project portion of humanities 125. unedited, maritza’s narrative reads as such: mi virgen de guadalupe queen of my indigenous ancestors. faceless woman to me but my spiritual mother. why is it that i find myself always drawn to you? is your promise of peace carved in my heart? is your manifestation of unity bringing me victory in my journey. your significance to my people brought in times of death. as i mold you to be beautiful i find myself looking through my memory vault trying to pinpoint what you mean to me i’m just brought to my troubled teenage years where rejection was common, where ending pain was ceasing life where my amateur art was only interested in every part of juan diego’s tilma. a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 134 at times, i found myself reflected in you drawing my insecurities and sorrow on you the connection started making sense nonetheless i sketched my mother offering her my pain, loss and all. my parents told me stories about your son; your importance in our people. they introduced you to me as my angel as my spiritual mother who i confide in looking at your manto reminded me to look at the night sky remembering that even in the galaxies suction my worries. that when i looked at the crescent moon it would remind me about its cold beauty but still carrier of my tears. the light around you was love radiating warmth to my humanly form. most importantly your hue spoke to me in levels that bring every kind of emotions: love, tears, revolution, warrior women you appeared before us, bring peace, unity and universal sense. i thank you for connecting with me through my ancestors, dreams, and purpose. dios te salve maria, llena eres de gratzia, dominus tecum bendicta tu in mulierigus, benedicta fructus ventris tu jesu, sancta maria mater dei ora por nobis pecaturibus en la ora y en laora de nuestra mortis, amen. michael connelly and jean clandinin (1990) presume that the study of narrative remains central to understanding the ways in which people see and experience the world. narrative analysis excavates indigenous history, allowing us to honor the oratorical traditions of people of color (boutte & jackson, 2014) that, according to delgado (1989), represent the counter-story that is often never told. for indigenous people, narrative and experience form the basis of teaching and learning (aldern & goode, 2014). getting to know student’s through such inquires has made me a more informed, critical, and concerned educator. after reading maritza’s story, i understand she: 1) recalls a troubled past; 2) abides by her spiritual and religious catholic views; 3) remains connected to her native american ancestry that is tarascan/pure ́pecha; 4) possess trilingual skills; garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 135 5) acknowledges her parents’ contributions; and 6) maintains strong aspirations through resistance, storytelling, and critical consciousness. as an instructor who serves a large mexican-american population at rio hondo college, when students self-reflect, and share their life stories (such as maritza), i am quickly prepared to validate and integrate their own histories into future lesson activities as valid and important knowledge. maritza’s hopes and dreams, which are shared through reflective writing, are in line with the six forms of community cultural wealth (i.e., aspirational, social, navigational, linguistic, resistant, and familial capital) identified by tara j. yosso (2005) as necessary to reforming u.s. schooling around the strengths of students of color. for our native youth, such as maritza, writing about life often leads to the furthering of a critical consciousness as they unearth both the trauma and the beauty of their ancestry. this is evident when maritza writes, “i thank you [the virgin mary] for connecting with me through my ancestors, dreams, and purpose.” in reading this, i acknowledge maritza’s state of mind and aspirations, partaking in her story as a cojourneyer (cervantes, 2010), or as one that enables an ethics of caring (ladson-billings, 1995). such safe “interventions” in the community college setting may help to reconcile feelings, when taking into account how storytelling often leads to self-determination, as stories expose a consciousness shared among colonized people (gonzales, 2015). during the project, dialogue, writing, and using the earth to unearth, provided a place where students opened up for the first time in a compassionate manner. the practice proved itself helpful in meeting educational outcomes and in the creation of new knowledge. the stories and working with clay… for maritza and members of the figurine project, the authoring of their own stories took place alongside the sculpting of clay. in clinical settings, art therapists use clay-work (sholt & gavron, 2006) to treat individuals with a host of mental health disorders. for example: the egoresilience of low-ses teenagers (jang & choi, 2012); pre-school children with anxiety (rahmani & moheb, 2010); adults with negative feelings (kimport & robbins, 2012); adults with depression and anxiety (de morais et al., 2014); emotional distress in patients with parkinson’s disease (elkisabuhoff, goldblatt, gaydos, & corrato, 2008); and anxiety, fear, and aggression among the visually impaired (herrmann, 1995). according to patricia sherwood (2004), clay-work draws on four cognitive processes: sensing, gesturing, visualization, and sounding. therapists usually cite a a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 136 therapeutic process in clay-work that involves the mining or unearthing of deep thoughts and feelings, the showing of emotion, non-verbal communication, and the safe destruction of the negative self through the building and beating of the clay body. clay shapes emerge as diverse natural forms seen in nature and they vividly portray the culture of the human psyche (sherwood, 2004). in turn, clay-work has the ability to spark inner growth and healing, sherwood continues. the goal of art therapy is a new level of speculation on what is occurring in life (mckenna & woods, 2012). although it has never been my intention to practice art therapy in the classroom with clay, clay-work as pedagogy has benefits, i have noticed, in that students harmlessly materialize, and unearth their emotions, phenotypes, and a spectrum of sexual and gendered characteristics. for some, this serves as a revelation and provides relief (herrmann, 1995). i observed this often when students sculpted anthropomorphic bodies. later, through the reading of clay-figurine narratives, i learned that some students saw themselves as possessing animistic healing abilities. ritual clay-work, at its best, represents a materialization of the human body that, as a result, births a small-scale record of varying human identities. in this case, clay serves as a visual reflecting object (or, 2010). or (2010) demonstrates that sizing small-scale sculptures elicits mentalization: “in the intrapersonal realm, mentalization provides the means to discover and express subjective experience, and allows deepening and broadening of self-knowledge; it leads to the development of capacities essential to self and affect regulation” (p. 319). i knowingly selected clay, made of the earth’s sediments, for the task of revitalizing and reacquainting students of mesoamerican ancestry with traditional views of pottery making. in line with the notion that elements, plants, and animals serve as native sources of knowledge (aldern & goode, 2014; simpson, 2014; wildcat, mcdonald, irlbacher-fox, & coulthard, 2014), these tenets are central to ancient medicine and wellness (avila & parker, 1999). as students pounded and sculpted earth clay into small-scale human body parts, food shapes, and animal bodies, i paced the room breaking down and describing mesoamerican subsistence strategies, the adaptation of natural resources, and interregional interaction among the many native american groups. discussions centered on articulations and interpretations concerning insightful relationships, animal and plant medicine, and knowledge of cosmology as a metaphor for new ways of being and becoming. as a collective, we discussed the details of giving and receiving, getting well, and sustainable practices among living people. at the same time, students spoke of past traumatic garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 137 experiences and ongoing forms of violence. together, they regained their voices by comprehending the origins of their intergenerational trauma, as opposed to strictly burying it without contesting it. the teaching lessons are designed to spread outward into families and the wider community, therefore allowing a collective of consciousness for the now and for the future, based on a reserve of living indigenous wealth. through clay-work, maritza’s place on earth found its way into a curriculum that before her arrival had no relevance to her learning needs or understanding of her indigenous wealth. her figurine mi virgen de guadalupe (figure 1), though micro in scale, materializes and reaffirms a strong sense of overcoming and recovery, despite a troubled past. both the narrative and figurine inform us vividly of an appreciation for the cosmos when references are made to the night sky and the moon. sculpted with earth, figurines bring to life memory of the self, hope, and ancestral knowledge. the clay-work is telling and outstanding, and a testament to her innate abilities, which i would have never been made aware of without reflective writing and “hands-on” work. working with clay, she also meets one of the slos by understanding how potters in ancient mesoamerica strengthened household economies and reciprocal exchanges. figure 1. mi virgen de guadalupe queen of my indigenous ancestors. photo by primary author. a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 138 in a second example of clay-work (figure 2), eva shares with us a figurine of her own self. in micro-scale, she materialized her full body with visible facial features, a stethoscope around her neck, and what she calls a “winged snake” draped atop her head and adorning her long hair. unedited, eva’s narrative reads as such: my figurine symbolizes the healing winged snake above the nurturing woman who cares for the sick and infirm. she is skilled in promoting healing and good health. she cares for her family and those whose family cannot care for them. the mexica [aztec] within her makes her realize that she curandera [feminine with knowledge of healing and medicine] inside her allows her to treat the body and soul of all her patients. the curandera allows the quetzalcoatl to take over her and assist with the physical and spiritual healing of her patients. achieving my goal of getting my bsn [bachelor of science in nursing] means a great deal to me because i will be the first of my sisters to achieve not only a college degree but a career. when my parents brought us to the u.s., we never thought any of us would be getting a college education since we were illegal at the time. i am eternally grateful to my family for supporting me, although they don’t always agree with my decision or choices. figure 2. healing winged snake above the nurturing woman (quetzal nurse). photo by primary author. garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 139 after reading eva’s narrative and sizing her figurine, i am made aware of the persistence she carries to earn an advanced degree in nursing. she will become the first among her migrant family to complete an education, despite her early undocumented-citizenship status. her story and verbalization of nahua culture is consistent with her ability to use ancestral knowledge in a contemporary context, aspiring to help cure the sick and unwell. her sense of ancestry and keen awareness of her place in life represent positive aspects that eva had established long before the clay-work. i regularly witness similar responses to challenges and the ability to self-determine in times of need in other students. heejeong jang and sunnam choi (2012) inform us that although different, people have the capacity to cope with threatening situations through the sustainment of resistance and optimism. this human response to adversity is explained in the concept of ego-resiliency (block & block, 1980) and was developed to help adolescents respond safely to trauma and violence. this view, however, that children are resilient should be interrogated, as more recent work has demonstrated the harmful effects on the brain related to adverse child hood experiences (anda et al., 2006). as a psychological approach to treating the psyche, ego-resilient measures advocate adolescents focus on the positive parts of their life as opposed to only focusing on the dysfunctional (jang & choi, 2012). in the work of jang and choi (2012), making pottery in groups produced positive effects on the ego-resiliency of low-ses adolescents. they highlight, specifically, that during clay-work, peer communication about similar problems leads to an exchange of emotional support. pottery making through sessions brings about positive regulation and expression of emotions (jang & choi 2012), and in this way, the unearthing in the group setting rebuilds bms, as the deep-rooted and traumatized self of the native american becomes conscious and more likely to challenge ongoing violence in the household and wider local community. in the final figurine (figure 3), robert presents to us the morbid head of a person resting at the base of a stone water well. the head and profile appears distraught in appearance, having no body, large hollow eyes, and a wide-open mouth. at first glance, i was clueless as to its meaning. only after reading the narrative did i become aware of its reference to the ensuing violence in mexico surrounding the sale of narcotics, the use of weapons, and human trafficking. the figurine was given the name all’s well that ends well and the narrative states: a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 140 all’s well that ends well. this figurine originates from sinaloa mexico. it symbolizes the struggle with violence in the area because of conflict with drug, arms, and possibly human trafficking. perhaps a man driving along the side of a mexican road and the mexican cartel looking to make a statement or perhaps it has a deeper and darker secret involving the headless man and the cartel. perhaps the cartel and this man were somehow affiliated and it takes a simple miscommunication or this man was biting off more than he could: all it takes is the idea of betrayal for it to be true. perhaps this feud lasted a long time and this man was found in the pueblo from where he originates and was tortured and beheaded then tossed in the pueblo’s well in order to make a statement for the people who were harboring the fugitive. i plan to contribute to my people through dentistry. i want to give back to my community and other countries through dental medical attention. i see a lot of immigrants like myself in need of dental attention. i’ve seen girls that are beautiful, but very insecure because of their heavily damaged/corroded teeth. children who were born in other countries and have to deal with toothaches because their immigrant parents are afraid or do not have the means to seek medical attention. i believe this to be a simple/basic human right that is not given enough attention. figure 3. morbid head of a person resting at the base of the stone water well. photo by primary author. garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 141 robert’s figurine and narrative convey one grim and hurting reality, taking place not only in sinaloa mexico, but also across many regions of mesoamerica. i am made aware of his wide grasp of narco culture and violence. his understanding is morbid, yes, but the details of the story made relevant many talking points concerning land rights, the sale of weapons, and the procurement of natural resources. land rights, and access, and the natural products that come from the land have been key to the development of mexican culture since people tamed maize 9,000 years ago. from a morbid perspective, i take in a host of community cultural wealth, allowing for the development of culturally relevant exercises. though each co-author is unique, robert, eva, and maritza share a common mexicanamerican experience told from a place of interregional interaction, reciprocity, and the human flesh in motion. robert writes of a missing dental care program for migrant families. his plan is to become a dentist one day and offer dental health services to local communities. eva shares her passion for wanting to help heal the sick and aspirations of earning a nursing degree, despite her once undocumented status. maritza writes a piece where she acknowledges the cosmos and her place in society as an indigenous pure ́pecha woman. i pose the question, “how do we develop teaching strategies that deter the accumulation of trauma, contest violence, and ultimately, help alleviate the signs and symptoms of certain mental health disorders?” the mesoamerican clay figurine as a classroom instrument of therapeutic value according to phillippe, laventure, beaulieu-pelletier, lecours, and lekes (2011; see also anda et al., 2006, table 6), individuals who experience psychological trauma at an early age are more likely to develop mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and ideas of self-harm as adults, than those with a healthy upbringing. these problems produce signs and symptoms, i.e., sleep deprivation, sadness, low self-esteem, apprehension, confusion, and aggression that surface in the classroom on a regular basis. the symptoms are strongly correlated with low test scores, missing assignments, and habitual absences. in garcia (in press-a), i noted that trauma stemming from ice deportation, gang violence, domestic violence, low ses, and a lack of household support impede learning, and elicit long episodes of disengagement. it is now common practice for community college instructors to make mandated accommodations for the growing number of a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 142 registered disabled student programs and services (dsps) students. for teachers who serve students of undocumented status at the community college, the presence of trauma is high. for example, perez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, and cortes (2009; see also valenzuela, perez, perez, montiel, & chaparro, 2015) cite a large population of latina/o students that live in fear of deportation, are lonely, and depressed, in addition to being barred from scholarships, financial aid, and legal employment. throughout the mesoamerican landscape, psychological disorders such as fear, rage, loneliness, anxiety, envy, bad luck, and susto (soul loss) have existed for over five hundred years (avila & parker, 1999). the conflicts continue to be proliferated across the united states through outdated curriculums, racist laws, and anti-immigrant policies (catalano, 2013). these do little to address the learning needs of mesoamerican students, thus maintaining the intergenerational trauma of people that share a colonial history. as this has been the normative for many native american students, schools must better prepare faculty and staff in providing appropriate health and psychological services (valenzuela et al., 2015). as this article has so far described, my own response to contesting threats and violence led to the figurine project and to what i tested out as a non-invasive therapeutic experience through working with clay and reflective writing. as students manipulated clay with their digits and palms, i was aware that deep cognitive unearthing processes were taking place. when describing their figurines, students shared both jubilant and hurtful stories, often shedding layers of trauma openly and voluntarily. taking deep breaths was essential during the project. these types of engagements are a common discourse among native people and in line with the slos of a humanities course on mexican culture that surveys the conquest and colonization of onceliving people and their descendants. i refer to the pedagogy as excavating the body because students are asked to describe positive and negative aspects of their journey. figurines are not new; the ancient olmec, maya, pure ́pecha, and zapoteca all made their own types. mesoamerican archaeologists use them to discern status and identity, and evidence suggests that people used figurines in curing ceremonies. lisa overholtzer (2012) has noted that female figurines of central mexico largely portray stages of birth, child rearing, wearing earspools, and sometimes carrying copal bags. overholtzer (2012) notes that “rattle figurines” with hollow bodies and small ceramic balls in their interior are the most common, having been used as musical instruments. in citing the work of evans (2001), and mccafferty and mccafferty (1999), overholtzer (2012) reports that female rattle figurines have been found in temazcales at garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 143 cihuatecpan, a site in the teotihuacan valley of mexico. she notes that these figurines are unique in that they sport the twisted two-prong trenza embedded with a black cord, significant of xochiquetzal, the patrona of sexuality and fertility. overholtzer (2012) tells us that people used figurines as cleansing tools in maternity rituals and during childbirth. the evidence she describes informs us that female rattle figurines served as neckpieces and were designed as hand-held instruments. the display further informs us that in aztec times, the female figurine “communicated an image of powerful, knowledgeable women who played important roles in the maintenance and reproduction of society as midwives and mothers” (overholtzer, 2012, p. 80). the use of the mesoamerican figurine aligns well with the art therapy skill of mentalization, which michal bat or (2010) writes promotes the self and its ideas. the late psychiatric nurse elena avila devoted her adult life to treating the ill-health of native american people. in avila and parker (1999), she tells us that it is not enough to mend the body, as one must also tend to the wounded soul. trauma, she explains, causes part of the soul to become afraid and run away into hiding: “when this happens, a part of our energy is no longer accessible to us” (avila & parker, 1999, p. 19). to retrieve the soul from soul loss, elena relied on deep talks, earth, water, fire, and dolls during bodywork. she describes a ritual in which clients search for hidden dolls where, after having been found, they would hold them as if they were a part of the self, cradling the doll, and making amends. exchanges develop between the dolls and clients in which the “soul” fragments of the doll are told about the terrible things that have taken place. with no blame placed on either party, the clients and dolls reach a safe understanding of what has occurred to them without feeling guilty. according to avila and parker (1999), relating with dolls brings about tremendous restorative effects involving the deep physical, emotional, and psychological realms. could the same be said of figurine making? i have observed this to be a possibility. the mesoamerican figurine project produced sexualized naked bodies, morbid bodies, praying bodies, happy bodies, queer bodies in god-like states, and maternal bodies. sculpting the body became ritual, as we all partook in forming new understandings of what it meant to be native in light of trauma to the flesh, self-determination, and good health. student figurines surfaced from a place of ancestry, memory, and native land. with mindful participation and facilitation, a therapeutic experience (figure 4) surfaces when students make their own figurines that promote positive health and well-being: 1) bodies reconnect with forgotten ways of being with the land, thus reconciling negative feelings toward a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 144 the land; 2) the small-scale body is repeatedly shaped, destroyed, and built up in line with perceived ideas of wealth and happiness; 3) the body is symbolized alongside the departed and disenfranchised, assisting with feelings of guilt, bereavement, and reconciliation; 4) the body making the figurine shares the work with other figurine-makers, thus sharing stories and providing one another with emotional support; 5) heat-fired figurines serve as intimate gifts for the self, family, and community, thereby becoming an example of validation and hopeful resistance; and 6) clay figurines embody the ill-health and well-being of the body, and because of their materiality, sustain medical information for future inquiry. when mesoamerican clay figurines materialize alongside a decolonizing pedagogy (garcia, in press-a), preventative healthcare practices such as healthy dieting, native ceremony, and school advising and mentoring, students have the capacity to repair and to live healthy and prosperous lives, thus positively impacting their own family group and their local community. garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 145 figure 4. the mesoamerican clay figurine as a classroom instrument of therapeutic value. the four tezcatlipocas of mesoamerica as ancestral science and medicine (asm) in 2007, curtis acosta published “developing critical consciousness: resistance literature in a chicano literature class.” he wrote about efforts at tucson high magnet school (thms) in arizona to close the achievement gap between white students and students of color. acosta (2007) pointed to the fact that across the street from thms, the university of arizona had a 15% population of xicana/o students, compared to the 60% majority of xicana/o students 1. bodies reconnect with forgotten ways of being with the land, thus reconciling negative feelings toward the land. 2. the small-scale body is repeatedly shaped, destroyed, and built up in line with perceived ideas of wealth and happiness. 3. the body is symbolized alongside the departed and disenfranchised, assisting with feelings of guilt, bereavement, and ultimately, recovery. 4. the body making the figurine shares the work with other figurine makers, thus sharing stories and providing one another with emotional support. 5. oven-fired figurines serve as intimate gifts for the self, family, and community, thereby becoming an example of validation and hopeful resistance. 6. clay figurines embody the illhealth and wellbeing of the body, and because of their materiality, sustain medical knowledge for the future. a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 146 at thms. despite their numbers, students of mesoamerican ancestry were not majority learners at major arizona universities. driven by this statistic, acosta and other raza educators (arce, 2016; cammarota, 2016; romero, arce, & cammarota, 2009) began to teach the ancestry of tucson students as a way of reclaiming their native american identities, in an effort to improve academic achievement. despite a racist ban by the state iii, the curriculum improved test scores and graduation rates (cabrera, milem, jaquette, & marx, 2014). the core of the curriculum, the xikano paradigm, pulled from the four tezcatlipocas of mesoamerica (figure 5): 1) tezcatlipoca – self-reflection; 2) quetzalcoatl – precious knowledge; 3) huitzilopochtli – the will to act; and 4) xipe totec – transformation. mesoamerican scholars refer to these as deities with supernatural capabilities and devote much attention to their ancient symbolism. urban xicana/o educators (acosta, 2007; arce, 2016; garcia, in press-a; luna & galeana, 2016; romero et al., 2009; toscano-villanueva, 2013), on the other hand, interpret mesoamerican personas not as deities but as the identities of ancestor relatives, each with a set of virtues useful in encouraging positive ways of living. acosta (2007) explains that, “the paradigm represents a cyclical process that is fluid and malleable like life and not a hierarchical or linear process. different aspects can be embraced at different times of one’s life, allowing us to refer to it throughout the education process” (p. 38). iii on august 23, 2017 judge atsushi wallace tashima, a us circuit court judge presiding in the state of arizona, ruled that the banning of mexican-american studies in tucson was a violation of students’ first amendment rights, and that the banning was based on racial animus. garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 147 figure 5. the four tezcatlipocas of mesoamerica. top: tezcatlipoca (l), quetzalcoatl (r). bottom: huitzilopochtli (l), xipe totec (r). from the world digital library version of the historia general de las cosas de nueva españa by bernardino de sahagún (https://www.wdl.org/en/item/10612/). a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 148 as the next four parts describe, the four tezcatlipocas juxtapose ancient personas alongside nature, natural resources, and inferences of how sacred tools and medicine may have been used by our mesoamerican ancestors. these represent a source of ancestral science, and a pathway toward individual and community medicine in response to poor health. tezcatlipoca appears on stone and codices juxtaposed with flint rocks, jaguar pelts, and iron-ore mirrors. in the codex borgia (see www.famsi.org), tezcatlipoca appears wearing eight mirrors. archaeological evidence suggests that mirrors in mesoamerica were worn as pendants (carlson, 1981; heizer & gullberg, 1981). in his work on mesoamerican mirror use, john b. carlson (1981) informs us that mirror reflections were equated with one’s soul and sense of the self; that such reflections were tied to curing practices. heizer and gullberg (1981) also take note that certain mirrors have been proven to produce fire—an important element in healing ceremonies. while many interpretations arise from tezcatlipoca, one cannot ignore the metaphor of self-reflection seen through mirrors or fire. as a pedagogy, this literally translates as taking a step back, reflecting, and looking into the mirror for both students and teachers: “as when looking in the bathroom mirror covered in condensation, we must vigorously search for ourselves through the distractions and obstacles in our lives” (acosta, 2007, p. 37). quetzalcoatl, the avatar of the feathered serpent, is a symbol of earth and sky (coe, 1968). quetzalcoatl partook in the making of complex society, i.e., art, agriculture, medicine, and the priesthood (florescano, 1999). quetzalcoatl represents a wealth of knowledge. the earliest forms of quetzalcoatl and the feathered serpent date to olmec times (1500 b.c.e to 400 b.c.e) (garcia, 2011), where the two appear on la venta monument 19 (lvm-19) and san lorenzo monument 47 (slm-47). these two monuments are particularly unique for materializing aspects of medicine and ritual among the olmec. lvm-19 shows quetzalcoatl in flight and harbored by a serpent. the figure is wearing multiple loincloths, a scarf, and a cape. on the left hand, one observes an incense pouch (coe, 1968). slm-47, on the other hand, embodies quetzalcoatl in human form. in this case, the persona holds the head of the fer-de-lance snake and bird feathers with both hands. a cape and loincloth are also evident. in garcia (2011), i argue that slm-47 depicts a person that had knowledge of native medicine. huitzilopochtli, the humming bird, was born from a falling feather. the florentine codex (sahagún, 1950) shows him born fully-grown from his mother coatlicue. the tale of how huitzilopochtli violently defeated the centzonhuitznahua en route to tenochtitlan (gillespie, garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 149 1989), and the killing of his sister coyolxauhqui, is perhaps the most widely shared story among xicana/os today. according to most accounts, huitzilopochtli wore a hummingbird headpiece, a golden tiara, white heron feathers, and the “smoking mirror” (miller & taube, 1993, p. 93). in the codex borbonicos (see www.famsi.org), huitzilopochtli is seen carrying a shield with arrows, and is wielding the xiuhcoatl, a staff armored by the fire serpent. miller and taube (1993) write, “the newly born huitzilopochtli represents the fiery rays of the sun dispelling the forces of darkness” (p. 189). sean arce (2016) tells us that in the classroom, huitzilopochtli is the will and courage to create positive change, after acquiring knowledge for themselves and for their community, in spite of the negative reality students often encounter. xipe totec appears in sculpture and pottery as a simplified persona who wears the flayed skin of a once-living person. at the time of the conquest, the xipe festival fell during the month of march when seeds would germinate (miller & taube, 1993). other elements that make up xipe totec include a skirt made of zapote leaves, the carrying of a drum, and a chicahuaztli (rattle-stick) (neumann, 1976). in particular, franke j. neumann (1976) describes that the word chicahuaztli was associated with effort and force, and that the instrument played a role in cults devoted to rain, water, and mountains: “both the drum and rattle are instruments by means of which one is enabled to make contact with the spiritual world” (p. 261). in essence, ritual and ceremony is almost non-existent without forceful sounds that mediate feelings and emotions. because of its associations with agriculture, xicanas/os embrace xipe totec as a model of rejuvenation and transformation. we all have the ability of rebirth, but only after trusting ourselves through self-reflection, knowledge, and courage (acosta, 2007). after surveying the four tezcatlipocas, one can surmise that ancient mesoamericans concerned themselves with nature, cosmology, and a discourse of medicine. as a result, bodies arise with sacred tools: rebosos, fajas, pierdas reflectivas, and medicinas. in her study of the ancient body, rosemary a. joyce (2005) informs readers that ornamented bodies mark the social status of the individual wearing them. the body is public, she says, and a media for the communication of one’s identity. medicine people still use the instruments observed on the four tezcatlipocas today in ritual and ceremony. patrisia gonzales (2012) speaks of this as blood memory, “to serve as a metaphor for an embodied memory that is passed from life to life” (p. xxv). for gonzales (2012), ancestral knowledge materializes through medicine ways. water, earth, incense, fire, and feathers are the tools of the traditional healer (avila & parker, 1999). the four tezcatlipocas a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 150 (acosta, 2007; toscano-villanueva, 2013), coatlicue (anzaldúa, 2012; garcia, in press-a), and coyolxauhqui (luna & galeana, 2016) have implications for indigenous mexican-americans. despite the cultural genocide, a material record exists for the reclaiming and sustainment of native peoples’ healthcare and medicine. the four tezcatlipocas as a source of ancestral knowledge benefit teachers in that: 1) they represent culturally relevant material that students identify with; 2) they represent critical thinking and achievement important to native american culture; and 3) contrary to popular skepticism, the indigenous mexican-american body encapsulates science, medicine, and technology. by harnessing such ingenious frameworks, teachers create classrooms steeped in rigor and high standards. these medicines once dominating the well-being of native youth must find their way into the classroom. as with many culturally relevant approaches, teaching with the four tezcatlipocas in mind is based on an ethics of caring (ladson-billings, 1995) and is fueled by love (acosta, 2007). love, fittingly, acosta (2007) tells us, is a respect for all things moving in and outside of the classroom; listening to the daily struggles of students and still having the energy and intellectual capacity to build around the needs of students. a trauma-informed teaching strategy grounded in the four tezcatlipocas should have teachers concerned with not only educational outcomes, but also with the mental health status of students. a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body while teaching humanities 125: introduction to mexican culture at rio hondo college, i have relied on reflective writing, storytelling, and the sculpting of clay to better understand and mediate the hurtful experiences of students. in addition to meeting learning goals, students reacquaint themselves with old medicine ways—working with clay—to construct and reconstruct their identities in light of some of the trauma and violence that many experience as members of the mexican-american community. i consider this part of my pedagogy, since, rio hondo, as of 2015, is 83% “hispanic,” of which a large portion have ancestry in mexico. in garcia (in press-a), i describe the pedagogy as an archaeology of the human body for its emphasis on excavating the many layers of the self––bms—to better bridge teaching, learning, and mental health. i noted then that the pedagogy was non-invasive and in line with slos, despite the use of clay in art therapy to treat mental health disorders. here, i expand the model by situating the mesoamerican garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 151 body as one not easily divorced from land ways of being, and noticeably absorbed with health, trauma, and medicine. in this article, maritza, eva, and robert shared their narratives and small-scale clay-figurine bodies as evidence of their multiple identities, aspirations, and associations with mesoamerican culture. all three wrote of the hardships associated with displacement, low ses, undocumented status, and perceptions of poor and good health. to identify linkages between ancestors and descendants, i surveyed the four tezcatlipocas for material indicators of status and identity, identifying a suite of tools associated with healthcare and medicine. after observing the bodily rituals and medicinal culture of these four ancestors, and after honing in on the lived experiences of three descendant students, i was able to conceptualize four themes underscoring the indigenous mexican-american body: 1) the body often remembers its ancestral place among the land and cosmology; 2) the body is familiar with health and medicine, either as a host of illnesses and disease, or as a caretaker of the sick; 3) in light of trauma to the flesh, the body grows resilient and self-determined; and 4) in a quest to not be defeated, students actively seek out family and build community. the four themes represent being and becoming among our mexican-american students, who are best engaged as native to the land, as opposed to hispanic, a term lacking a meaningful discourse. as a teacher entrenched with a large indigenous population, i critically reflect, and grapple daily with how to best educate students. my most current approach—a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body (figure 6)—borrows concepts from the fields of critical education, mental health, art therapy, archaeology, and mesoamerica. the model involves four classroom practices: 1) a decolonizing pedagogy (garcia, in press-a); 2) methods of inquiry to safely survey and excavate the learning and mental health needs of students; 3) the use of non-invasive therapeutic tools to prevent and alleviate the signs and symptoms related to mental health challenges; and 4) a material record of the body for gifting, ceremony, getting well, and medical inquiry. these tenets elicit training cues for teachers who engage indigenous mexican-american students, in that curriculums must not separate the values of land and cosmology, mental health, medicine, and material culture when teaching and learning. a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 152 figure 6. the four classroom practices of a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body. as an indigenous xicano educator, i have used clay-work and critical self-reflection to help indigenous mexican-american students build meaning of who they are, as they write and sculpt earth into small-scale anthropomorphic forms of the body. i found that making clay figurines could be used to safely unearth, materialize, and mediate trauma signs and symptoms on a micro-scale, aligning these with positive feelings, meaningful relationships, and learning. i am hopeful that through dialogue, reciprocity, and advocacy, students extend this therapeutic experience into the household and the wider community, thus sustaining good health for all members of society. it is important to note that a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body must not necessarily be grounded in the epistemologies of mesoamerica, but could work in all native american intelligences where land and cosmology support the bms in overcoming the hurtful experiences associated with cultural genocide. art therapy note: practices such as claywork are in line with figurine making in mesoamerica where clay objects were used in ritual and ceremony. a large suite of ancient multicraft techniques also fall under this category and would assist classrooms with non-clinical therapeutic experiences. archaeology note: the use of therapeutic and or multicraft techniques lead to the material record of the physical and mental processes at work. teachers and students benefit when these are curated for future inquiry. mental health note: both critical education and mental health practices rely heavily on strategies that center trust, dialogue, and reflection to arrive at critical/concrete ideas of the self and society. critical education note: the use of culturally relevant teaching practices as the base of support for historically marginalized students of the us. 1) a decolonizing pedagogy (garcia, in press-a) in line with slos. 2) methods of inquiry to safely survey and excavate the learning and mental health needs of students. 3) the use of noninvasive therapeutic tools to prevent and alleviate the signs and symptoms related to mental health disorders. 4) a material record of the body for gifting, ceremony, healing, and medical inquiry. garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 153 references acosta, c. (2007). developing critical consciousness: resistance literature in a chicano literature class. english journal, 97(2), 36–42. aldern, j. d., & goode, r. w. (2014). the stories hold water: learning and burning in north fork mono homelands. decolonization: indigeneity, education, & society, 3(3), 26–51. american psychiatric association. (2013). diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). washington, dc: author. anda, r. f., felitti, v. j., bremner, j. d., walker, j. d., whitfield, c., perry, b. d., dube, s. r., & giles, w. h. (2006). the enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood: a convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. european archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 256(3), 174–186. anzaldúa, g. e. (2012). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza (25th anniversary, 4th ed.). san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. arce, m. s. (2016). xicano/indigenous epistemologies: toward a decolonizing and liberatory education for xicana/o youth. in d. m. sandoval, a. j. ratcliff, t. l. buenavista, & j. r. marin (eds.), "white" washing american education: the new culture wars in ethnic studies (vol. 1, pp. 11–41). santa barbara, ca: praeger. avila, e., & parker, j. (1999). woman who glows in the dark: a curandera reveals traditional aztec secrets of physical and spiritual health. new york, ny: tarcher/putnam. bassett, d., tsosie, u., & nannauck, s. (2012). “our culture is medicine”: perspectives of native healers on posttrauma recovery among american indian and alaska native patients. the permanente journal, 16(1), 19–27. block, j. h., & block, j. (1980). the role of ego-control and ego-resiliency in the organization of behavior. in w. a. collins (ed.), development of cognition, affect, and social relations: the minnesota symposia on child psychology (vol. 13, pp. 39–101). hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. boutte, g. s., & jackson, t. o. (2014). advice to white allies: insights from faculty of color. race ethnicity and education, 17(5), 623–642. cabrera, n. l., milem j. f., jaquette, o., & marx r. w. (2014). missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (political) trees: empiricism and the mexican american studies controversy in tucson. american educational research journal, 51(6), 1084–1118. cammarota, j. (2016). the praxis of ethnic studies: transforming second sight into critical consciousness. race ethnicity and education, 19(2), 233–251. carlson, j. b. (1981). olmec concave iron-ore mirrors: the aesthetics of a lithic technology and the lord of the mirror (with an illustrated catalogue of mirrors). in e. p. benson (ed.), the olmec & their neighbors: essays in memory of matthew w. sterling (pp. 117–147). washington, dc: dumbarton oaks research library and collections, trustees for harvard university. catalano, t. (2013). anti-immigrant ideology in us crime reports: effects on the education of latino children. journal of latinos and education, 12(4), 254–270. cervantes, j. m. (2010). mestizo spirituality: toward an integrated approach to psychotherapy a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 154 for latina/os. psychotherapy, theory, research, practice, training, 47(4), 527–539. coe, m. d. (1968). america’s first civilization: discovering the olmec. new york, ny: american heritage publishing in association with the smithsonian institution. cole, s. f., eisner, a., gregory, m., & ristuccia, j. (2013). creating and advocating for traumasensitive schools. trauma and learning policy initiative, partnership between the massachusetts advocates for children and harvard law school. connelly, f. m., & clandinin, d. j. (1990). stories of experience and narrative inquiry. educational researcher, 19(5), 2–14. delgado, r. (1989). storytelling for oppositionists and others: a plea for narrative. michigan law review, 87(8), 2411–2441. de morais, a. h., dalécio, m. a. n., vizmann, s., de carvalho bueno, v. l. r., roecker, s., salvagioni, d. a. j., & eler, g. j. (2014). effect on scores of depression and anxiety in psychiatric patients after clay work in a day hospital. the arts in psychotherapy, 41(2), 205–210. dohrenwend, b. p., levav, i., shrout, p. e., schwartz, s., neveh, g., link, b. g., & stueve, a. (1998). ethnicity, ses status, and psychiatric disorders: a test of the social causation– social selection issue. in b. p. dohrenwend (ed.), adversity, stress, and psychopathology (pp. 235–284). new york, ny: oxford university press. florescano, e. (1999). the myth of quetzalcoatl (lysa hochroth, trans.). baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. elkis-abuhoff, d. l., goldblatt, r. b., gaydos, m., & corrato, s. (2008). effects of clay manipulation on somatic dysfunction and emotional distress in patients with parkinson’s disease. art therapy: journal of the american art therapy association, 25(3), 122–128. evans, s. t. (2001). aztec noble courts: men, women, and children of the palace. in t. inomata & s. d. houston (eds.), royal courts of the ancient maya (vol. 1, pp. 237–273). boulder, co: westview press. garcia, s. a. (2011). early representations of mesoamerica’s feathered serpent: power, identity, and the spread of a cult (master’s thesis). ann arbor: proquest. garcia, s. a. (in press-a). contesting trauma and violence through indigeneity and a decolonizing pedagogy at rio hondo community college. regeneración tlacuilolli: ucla raza studies journal. garcia, s. a. (in press-b). a xochipilli pedagogy as a medical tradition for indigenous mesoamerican students: unearthing a more holistic mental health model. submitted for publication. gillespie, s. d. (1989). the aztec kings: the construction of rulership in mexica history. tuscon, az: university of arizona press. gonzales, p. (2012). red medicine: traditional indigenous rites of birthing and healing (1st ed.). arizona, az: university of arizona press. gonzales, s. m. (2015). abuelita epistemologies: counteracting subtractive schools in american education. journal of latinos and education, 14(1), 40–54. garcia, arciga, sanchez, & arredondo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 155 heizer, r. f., & gullberg, j. e. (1981). concave mirrors from the site of la venta, tabasco: their occurrence, mineralogy, optical description, and function. in e. p. benson (ed.), the olmec & their neighbors: essays in memory of matthew w. sterling (pp. 109–116). washington, dc: dumbarton oaks research library and collections, trustees for harvard university. herrmann, u. (1995). a trojan horse of clay: art therapy in a residential school for the blind. the arts in psychotherapy, 22(3), 229–234. jang, h., & choi, s. (2012). increasing ego-resilience using clay with low ses (social economic status) adolescents in group art therapy. the arts in psychotherapy, 39(4), 245–250. jehangir, r. (2010). stories as knowledge: bringing the lived experience of first-generation college students into the academy. urban education, 45(4), 533–553. jorm, a. f. (2012). mental health literacy: empowering the community to take action for better mental health. american psychologist, 67, 231–243. joyce, r. a. (2005). archaeology of the body. annual review of anthropology, 34, 139–158. katz, d. s., & davison, k. (2014). community college student mental health: a comparative analysis. community college review, 42(4), 307–326. kimport, e. r., & robbins, s. j. (2012). efficacy of creative clay work for reducing negative mood: a randomized controlled trial. art therapy: journal of the american art therapy association, 29(2), 74–79. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465–491. luna, j., & galeana, m. (2016). remembering coyolxauhqui as a birthing text. regeneración tlacuilolli: ucla raza studies journal, 2(1), 7–32. mccafferty, g. g., & mccafferty, s. d. (1999). the metamorphosis of xochiquetzal: a window on womanhood in preand post-conquest mexico. in t. l. sweely (ed.), manifesting power: gender and the interpretation of power in archaeology (pp. 103–125). new york, ny: routledge. mckenna, t., & woods, d. b. (2012). using psychotherapeutic arts to decolonize counseling for indigenous peoples. asia pacific journal of counseling and psychotherapy, 3(1), 29–40. miller, m., & taube, k. (1993). the gods and symbols of ancient mexico and the maya: an illustrated dictionary of mesoamerican religion. london: thames and hudson. neumann, f. j. (1976). the flayed god and his rattle-stick: a shamanic element in pre-hispanic mesoamerican religion. history of religions, 15(3), 251–263. ohito, e. o. (2017). thinking through the flesh: a critical autoethnography of racial body politics in urban teacher education. race ethnicity and education, 14(2), 1–19. or, m. b. (2010). clay sculpting of mother and child figures encourages mentalization. the arts in psychotherapy, 37(4), 319–327. overholtzer, l. (2012). so that the baby not be formed like a pottery rattle: aztec rattle figurines and household social reproductive practices. ancient mesoamerica, 23(1), 69–83. a medical archaeopedagogy of the human body association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 156 perez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h. m., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(2), 149– 181. phillippe, f. l., laventure, s., beaulieu-pelletier, g., lecours, s., & lekes, n. (2011). egoresiliency as a mediator between childhood trauma and psychological symptoms. journal of social and clinical psychology, 30(6), 583–598. rahmani, p., & moheb, n. (2010). the effect of clay therapy and narrative therapy on anxiety of pre-school children: a comparative study. procedia: social and behavioral sciences, 5, 23– 27. romero, a., arce, s. m., & cammarota, j. (2009). a barrio pedagogy: identity, intellectualism, activism, and academic achievement through the evolution of critically compassionate intellectualism. race ethnicity and education, 12(2), 217–233. sahagún, f. b. (1950). florentine codex: general history of the things of new spain (a. j. o. anderson & c. e. dibble, trans.). santa fe, nm: school of american research and the university of utah. shenoy, d. p., lee, c., & trieu, s. l. (2016). the mental health status of single-parent community college students in california. journal of american college health, 64(2), 152– 156. sherwood, p. (2004). the healing art of clay therapy. camberwell, london: acer press. simpson, l. b. (2014). land as pedagogy: nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 3(3), 1–25. sholt, m., & gavron, t. (2006). therapeutic qualities of clay-work in art therapy and psychotherapy: a review. art therapy: journal of the american art therapy association, 23(2), 66–72. toscano-villanueva, s. (2013). teaching as a healing craft: decolonizing the classroom and creating spaces of hopeful resistance through chicano-indigenous pedagogical praxis. the urban review, 45(1), 23–40. valenzuela, j. i., perez, w., perez, i., montiel, g. i., & chaparro, g. (2015). undocumented students at the community college: creating institutional capacity. new directions for community colleges, 172(1), 87–96. wildcat, m., mcdonald, m., irlbacher-fox, s., & coulthard, g. (2014). learning from the land: indigenous land based pedagogy and decolonization. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 3(3), i–xv. world health organization. (2013). mental health action plan 2013–2012. geneva: author. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. microsoft word contreras_page proof_final.docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 97 examining college readiness among latinx and native american students: education as a civil right in the case of martínez v. state of new mexico frances contreras, ph.d. university of california, san diego abstract this article examines college readiness indicators among latina/o/x student and native american students in new mexico public schools. this analysis, used in the successful martínez v. new mexico (2018) case, highlights the disparate levels of access to curricular resources across 15 school districts in new mexico. utilizing secondary data from several sources, a story of uneven access and inequity in new mexico’s in public schools is conveyed. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.3.454 examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 98 introduction education is critical for economic and social mobility in the united states and is seen as an equalizing tool for successful integration into the social fabric of this country for groups that have limited generational mobility or migrate to the united states with limited resources. it is even more pressing for students from first-generation, low-income, english learner status, and diverse backgrounds to have access to educational resources, in an effort to offset the generational poverty that persists among the working poor across the united states and specifically within mexican american/latino/x,1 american indian, and african american communities (contreras, 2011; gandara & contreras, 2009). in the case of martínez v. state of new mexico (2018), i served as an expert witness in the area of college readiness. this article highlights the key arguments used in the case to establish the overarching claim that new mexico’s public education system was failing to provide sufficient educational resources to prepare its latino/a/x and native american students for postsecondary opportunities. according to complete college america (2012), a national campaign to raise college transition and completion, students in new mexico are below the national average in college readiness and transition rates. for example, 59.4% of american indian students and 68.4% of latino students in new mexico in 2012 that transitioned to a two-year college needed remediation, compared to 48.5% of white students. latinos also have the highest rates of remediation among students transitioning to a four-year institution in the state. over 16% of latino students that enrolled in a four-year university in 2012 required remediation compared to 7.6% of caucasians (complete college america, 2012). it is no wonder then, why new mexico experiences low college completion rates among college goers. the largest degree production that occurs among the latino students in higher education is among students earning either a certificate (n=2,879) or an associate’s degree (n=4,285). these degrees accounted for over 60% of all degrees earned by latinos in new mexico in 2015. background the status of public education in new mexico is among the lowest across fifty states, with the overall state of well-being for new mexico’s children ranked number 49 out of the 50 states on key indicators such as economic well-being, education, health, and family and 1 the terms latinx and latina/o/x are used interchangeably throughout the article. latinx is an inclusive umbrella term that applies to the broader latino community in the united states. contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 99 community (kids count, 2015). children in new mexico live in households that have economic challenges, low parent education levels, systemic barriers to resources, and generational poverty. as a result, less than one third of all adults in new mexico (29%) have earned an associate degree or higher (complete college america, 2011). families in new mexico, however, are employed, but they represent the working poor, with over 42.8% of the working families in new mexico living below the 200% federal poverty line in 2012 (casau, 2014). an additional 16% of working families were 100% below the federal poverty line in 2012, the highest across all fifty states in the country (casau, 2014). the level of economic depression that exists in a household ultimately impacts the resources families can dedicate to school enhancing activities such as purchasing books, going to libraries and museums, enrolling children in extracurricular activities such as music lessons, or enrolling in high quality pre-k services (gandara & contreras, 2009). because socioeconomic status is highly correlated with academic performance and outcomes, school systems in states like new mexico play an even greater role in the lives of lowincome children, as they work to close opportunity gaps that exist among low-income students and students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds (gandara & contreras, 2009). raising student achievement levels early in the k-12 schooling experience is therefore critical to mitigating long-term discrepancies in achievement between students from underrepresented backgrounds and their peers. methods a total of 15 school districts in the state of new mexico were examined utilizing statewide and national secondary data. to better understand the state of college readiness, select variables were examined from these specific school districts. the variables selected for this analysis are based on k-12 and higher education literature that has helped to frame and define college readiness in the field of education and among practitioners at both levels (act, 2014). data sources therefore span a number of government, public and non-profit sectors, including: the office of civil rights, the institute for education sciences-the national center for education statistics, the new mexico state department of education, annie casey foundation kids count data system, new mexico higher education department, select institutional reports from universities in new mexico, and select reports utilizing secondary data related to the state of new mexico and the identified school districts from national examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 100 sources such as the college board, the act and complete college america. in the absence of reliable state data, public data sources played a key role in this analysis and in the expert witness report. limitation of the data perhaps the most difficult aspect of serving as an expert witness in this case was the limitations to the statewide data made available for analysis. the status of the data was extremely poor, with a lack of a clear codebook. the team of experts deemed the data largely unreliable and were forced to seek out national data sets from publicly available sources. this speaks to the critical importance of the office of civil rights data collection (ocr data) and the need for federal accountability to states to maintain transparent and accurate public data systems on the students they serve and public that funds the statewide education systems. college readiness historically, there was no uniform definition of college readiness, many states as well as scholars have attempted to define parameters for college readiness, and the factors that promote the successful transition to college or professional/technical education. according to david conley (2007): college readiness can be defined operationally as the level of preparation a student needs to enroll and succeed—without remediation in a credit-bearing general education course at a postsecondary institution that offers a baccalaureate degree or transfer to a baccalaureate program. typically, students that are most prepared for college level coursework are the high achievers in high schools that take a series of rigorous courses, honors classes, advanced placement (ap) classes, participate in an intervention program such as gear up, trio or upward bound, and have been engaged in the school and community in extracurricular activities, such as leadership in clubs, sports, playing an instrument, etc. (gandara & contreras, 2009; marsh & kleitmann, 2002). for youth who attend impoverished schools, where access to resources, a rigorous curriculum, or mentors and counselors may be limited, academic preparation plays an even greater role to ensure college readiness and transition (valenzuela, 1999). college completion is widely considered the pathway to better jobs, healthier communities, home ownership, civic engagement and the middle class. because new mexico does not have a stated policy on college readiness, the state’s priorities for expanding educational opportunity and preparedness contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 101 through its public education system were unclear and undefined at the time the expert report was submitted for the case. however, given the new essa college readiness guidelines, the state has a clearer approach to college readiness, articulated through the college and career readiness bureau (new mexico state department of education, 2019). for the purpose of this analysis, excerpts from the expert witness report are used to highlight select variables that were examined to understand the level of access that existed for students attending schools in the 15 school districts. in addition, contextual variables, such as pre-k enrollment, access to gate (gifted and talented education), enrollment in free/reduced lunch, discipline rates by type were also be examined to understand the district context, learning environments that existed, and potential limitations that begin early in the education system for latino, american indian, ell and low-income students. the following variables were examined across 15 school districts. school context variables 1. state grades assigned to districts 2. percent free/reduced lunch 3. select discipline rates 4. gate enrollment 5. teachers in select school district college readiness indicators 6. algebra i enrollment 7. algebra ii enrollment 8. calculus enrollment 9. physics enrollment 10. parcc assessment results 11. graduation rates 12. ap exam enrollment 13. dual enrollment & graduation rates 14. sat/act enrollment (record of test-taking) figure 1. college readiness variables several indicators for school context help to provide an overview of the overall climate for learning that exists in schools. the school context for learning represents the infrastructure that exists in schools and districts that either supports or inhibits student examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 102 engagement, learning, and achievement. select variables were used to assess the socioeconomic status, language learning needs, disciplinary climate, resources and access to gifted programs for high achievers, and the overall graduation rates across the fifteen school districts were examined. school context variables examined 1. overall district grades 2. percent free and reduced lunch 3. the plight of ells 4. teachers & principals by race/ethnicity 5. discipline rates—out of school suspensions 6. gate enrollment figure 2. school context variables. the school context for learning is critical to understand, because it sets the pathway for student readiness, academic performance and socialization within k-12 school context, and ultimately college transition, preparation and readiness. overall, the data examined shows very high percentages of the number of students eligible for both free and reduced lunch, which has implications for the dedicated resources for youth, such as school supplies, access to online resources and tools, access to external learning opportunities and extracurricular activities such as organized sports, music or art classes. albuquerque, the largest school district examined for this report, has 62.6% of its students that are enrolled in the free/reduced lunch program, while other school districts, zuni public schools, magdalena municipal schools, have over 80% of their students enrolled in the free/reduced lunch program. gadsden independent schools, that has a student population of 13,791 youth, has 92.5% of its students enrolled in this program. conversely, rio rancho public schools was the only school district with less than half of its students enrolled in the free/reduced lunch program (42.7%). these rates of free and reduced lunch show the financial need that is prevalent in the school districts examined. contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 103 table 1. free/reduced lunch in select school districts, 2013-2014 (percent) total district name enrolled free eligible reduced eligible free reduced free & reduced albuquerque public schools 87,296 47,885 6,744 54.9 7.7 62.6 espanola public schools 4,093 2,408 481 58.8 11.8 70.6 gadsden independent schools 13,791 12,010 748 87.1 5.4 92.5 las cruces public schools 24,670 13,348 1,503 54.1 6.1 60.2 magdalena municipal schools 376 292 16 77.7 4.3 81.9 santa fe public schools 13,729 8,436 1,021 61.4 7.4 68.9 zuni public schools 1,292 976 141 75.5 10.9 86.5 cuba independent schools 574 376 68 65.5 11.8 77.4 gallup mcliney county schools 11,811 8,752 1,109 74.1 9.4 83.5 grants-cibola county schools 3,622 2,365 349 65.3 9.6 74.9 hatch valley public schools 1,414 1,292 57 91.4 4.0 95.4 jemez valley public schools 342 259 35 75.7 10.2 86.0 lake arthur municipal schools 143 93 33 65.0 23.1 88.1 moriarty-edgewood schools 2,738 1,441 206 52.6 7.5 60.2 santa fe public schools 13,729 8,436 1,021 61.4 7.4 68.9 rio rancho public schools 17,305 5,980 1,411 34.6 8.2 42.7 source. new mexico state department of education. participation in gate programs gaps in gate (gifted and talented education) identification, enrollment and participation are well documented between african american, mexican american, and american indian students compared to their white and asian american peers in the education system (bernal, 2002; darling-hammond, 2010; ford & harris, 1999; ford, harris, tyson, & trotman, 2002; grantham, 2003; lee, matthews, & olszewski-kubilius, 2008; worrell, 2007). students from historically underrepresented communities (mexican/latino, american indian, african american) are less likely to be selected by their teachers or school staff to participate in gate programs due to teacher biases toward race/ethnicity and gender, low school performance, or perception of ability. in addition, researchers have found that teacher’s attitudes and understanding of culturally diverse learners plays an important role in the selection of these students for special programs (ford & harmon, 2001). as a result, teachers play a gatekeeping function, with the ability to provide or deny access to programming for gifted examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 104 learners in school contexts (bernal, 2002). the data for new mexico was lower than the national average, which consists of all states with less mexican american/latino and american indian students enrolled in its k-12 schools. in 2011-12 latinos represented 5% while american indian students constituted 6% of students in the nation enrolled in gate programs. in a state with a high concentration of mexican american and american indian k-12 students the fact that the representation in gate is below the national average suggests that teachers may be less likely to refer and identify their american indian and mexican american/hispanic students for gifted programming within their schools. to provide an example of the disparity in gate enrollment, all 15 focus districts were examined using the office of civil rights data set for 2009-2010 and 2011-2013 and found to have smaller proportions of latino students enrolled in gate compared to their district composition. tables 2 and 3 provide an overview of gate enrollment in select districts table 2. gate participation rates by race/ethnicity, martínez focus districts, 2009-2010 & 2011-2012 (percent) district total n african american american indian asian american mexican/ latino white 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 albuquerque 5405 5571 2.6 2.1 2.8 2.6 5.1 4.8 35.1 44 54.5 41.2 district 90375 88518 4.1 2.3 5.2 3.9 2.4 2.2 58.7 66.4 29.6 22.1 espanola 25 82 0 2.4 0 4.9 0 4.9 80 78 20 9.8 district 4210 4111 .4 .9 7.2 6.8 .6 .8 89.4 87.3 2.4 4.1 gasden 270 254 0 0 0 0 0 1.6 92.6 89.8 7.4 8.7 district 13955 14152 .1 .3 .1 .1 .1 .2 96.3 96.3 3.3 3.1 las cruces 1545 1919 1.9 2.3 1.0 1.7 3.9 4.4 46.9 49.2 46.3 42.2 district 24970 24667 2.6 2.6 .9 1.0 1.3 1.1 71.9 74.2 23.2 20.7 magdalena na na na na na na na na na na na na district na 385 na 2.6 na 46.8 na 0 na 28.8 na 21.8 santa fe 310 425 1.6 1.4 3.2 3.8 3.2 4.2 33.9 23.8 58.1 66.4 district 12550 12471 1.0 1.1 2.5 2.8 1.5 1.5 76.8 70.3 18.2 23.7 zuni na 4 na 0 na 100 na 0 na 0 na 0 district na 1283 na .2 na 98.8 na .7 na 0 na 0 note. this table represents select race/ethnic categories; not all classifications. source. office of civil rights data collection, 2009, 2011. na—not available in office of civil rights data system for this year. for magdalena school district, only select variables were submitted for the district. gate enrollment was not included. the albuquerque data shows the disconnect between the composition in the district and enrollment in gate. this pattern is evident across all of the districts examined. these contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 105 findings are consistent with national research on the underrepresentation of latino students in gate programs in part due to teacher nomination, parent understanding and advocacy for gate testing or failure to test mexican americans and latinos for gate altogether (bernal, 2002). for american indian students in albuquerque school district, the data also shows disproportionality with the district composition. these data suggest that teachers are not likely to recommend the mexican american/latino students for gifted programs in comparison to other groups. in 2009-10 and 2011-12 school years, white students were enrolled in gate approximately three times their proportion in the district. the gate data conveys the uneven reporting that exists across the districts examined. for the districts that did possess data on gate enrollment, such as grants-cibola, a clear divide exists between the american indian and table 3. gate participation rates by race/ethnicity, yazzie plaintiff focus districts, 2009-2010 & 2011-2012 (percent) district total n african american american indian asian american mexican/ latino white 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 cuba na na na na na na na na na na na na district na 543 na 0 na 62.4 na 1.1 na 32 na 4.4 gallup mckinley 400 na 1.3 na 52.5 na 5 na 17.5 na 23.8 na district 12510 na .3 na 80.6 na .9 na 12 na 6.2 na grants cibola na 79 na 2.5 na 27.8 na 2.5 na 26.6 na 40.5 district na 3667 na 1.1 na 41 na .5 na 40.1 na 17.2 hatch valley na 10 na 0 na 0 na 0 na 80 na 20 district na 1431 na 0 na .1 na 0 na 93.5 na 6.4 jemez valley na 10 na 0 na 0 na 0 na 40 na 60 district na 551 na 0 na 71.1 na .7 na 18.7 na 8.2 lake arthur na 2 na 0 na 0 na 0 na 0 na 100 district na 140 na 1.4 na 0 na 0 na 75 na 23.6 moriarty 220 164 4.5 4.9 0 1.2 2.3 2.4 22.7 31.7 70.5 59.8 district 3335 3202 1.6 1.9 2.1 2.3 .9 1.0 38.1 41.6 57.3 53.2 rio rancho 695 753 2.9 3.3 2.2 2.9 4.3 4 23.7 27.5 66.9 59.4 district 16750 16795 4.8 3.5 4.2 3.7 2.9 2.1 42 46.6 46.1 42 source. office for civil rights data collection, district profiles, 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 school years. na—means that data was not reported or available for this data point for that year. divide exists between the american indian and latino students that are identified and enrolled in gate despite the fact that these two groups represent the largest concentration of students examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 106 in the district. preparation: access to college readiness curriculum access to a rigorous curriculum in middle school and high school are critical components of college readiness (contreras, flores, lee, mcguire, 2011). this section highlights access to specific stem related courses as collected by the office of civil rights for the department of education. the courses reviewed for access during the 2009-10 and 201112 school years include algebra i, calculus, and physics. stem courses were selected because gaps in performance are greatest in math achievement between underrepresented students and their asian american and white peers. in addition, students who took algebra i, algebra ii, geometry, trigonometry, or calculus in high school scored significantly higher than those who did not take these stem courses in high school (act, 2016). access to algebra i and calculus is discussed here. table 4. algebra i enrollment by 7th or 8th grade by race/ethnicity in maldef focus districts, 2009-2010 & 2011-2012 district total n african american american indian asian american mexican/ latino white 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 albuquerque 1415 1757 2.8 1.8 3.2 2.3 6.4 5 44.2 53.2 43.5 33 district 90375 88518 4.1 2.3 5.2 3.9 2.4 2.2 58.7 66.4 29.6 22.1 espanola na 53 na 0 na 0 na 0 na 92.5 na 3.8 district 4210 4111 .4 .9 7.2 6.8 .6 .8 89.4 87.3 2.4 4.1 gadsden independent 195 199 0 0 0 0 0 0 94.9 88.4 5.1 11.6 district 13955 14152 .1 .3 .1 .1 .1 .2 96.3 96.3 3.3 3.1 las cruces 310 390 3.2 4.9 0 1.5 4.8 2.1 46.8 53.3 45.2 38.2 district 24970 24667 2.6 2.6 .9 1.0 1.3 1.1 71.9 74.2 23.2 20.7 magdalena municipal na 13 na 0 na 30.8 na 0 na 30.8 na 38.5 district na 385 na 2.6 na 46.8 na 0 na 28.8 na 21.8 santa fe 205 385 0 2.1 2.4 3.1 0 2.1 73.2 63.4 24.4 28.8 district 12550 12471 1.0 1.1 2.5 2.8 1.5 1.5 76.8 70.3 18.2 23.7 zuni na na na na na na na na na na na na district na 1283 na .2 na 98.8 na .7 na 0 na 0 source: office for civil rights data collection, district profiles, 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 school years. na—means that data was not reported or available for this data point for that year. few students appear to be enrolled in algebra i by 7th or 8th grade based on the data from the office of civil rights. what is also important to note in the data is the number of contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 107 “not available” data points, meaning the data provided to the office of civil rights was not complete for both years across the districts examined. algebra i access in middle school is considered an important predictor of high school and college readiness (balfanz, 2009; wiley, wyatt, & camara, 2010). the fact that the few students are taking this course level work and that these data have not been routinely reported to the office of civil rights data collection, shows the limitations of college preparation in middle school. the data for calculus enrollment also shows very a smaller proportion of latino students enrolled in calculus (table 5). advanced math courses in high school are strongly considered for entrance into stem majors in four-year colleges and universities and are routinely part of the rigorous curriculum students take to be competitive for highly selective colleges in the united states (contreras, 2005, 2011; gandara & contreras, 2011). previous research has found latino students with limited access to advanced level math curriculum, which is a reflection of school resources and access to highly qualified teachers to offer advanced math courses in high schools. table 5. enrollment in calculus, select martínez plaintiff school districts, 2009-10 & 2011-12 district total n african american american indian asian american mexican/ latino white 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 albuquerque 70 661 7.1 2.6 0 2.4 0 7.4 35.7 35.7 57.1 47.7 district 90375 88518 4.1 2.3 5.2 3.9 2.4 2.2 58.7 66.4 29.6 22.1 espanola 10 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 50 0 50 district 4210 4111 .4 .9 7.2 6.8 .6 .8 89.4 87.3 2.4 4.1 gadsden independent 55 32 0 0 0 0 0 6.3 100 87.5 0 6.3 district 13955 14152 .1 .3 .1 .1 .1 .2 96.3 96.3 3.3 3.1 las cruces na 23 na 0 na 0 na 26.1 na 26.1 na 47.8 district 24970 24667 2.6 2.6 .9 1.0 1.3 1.1 71.9 74.2 23.2 20.7 magdalena municipal na na na na na na na na na na na na district na 385 na 2.6 na 46.8 na 0 na 28.8 na 21.8 santa fe 35 22 0 0 0 0 0 18.2 42.9 27.3 57.1 54.5 district 12550 12471 1.0 1.1 2.5 2.8 1.5 1.5 76.8 70.3 18.2 23.7 zuni na 5 na 0 na 100 na 0 na 0 na 0 district na 1283 na .2 na 98.8 na .7 na 0 na 0 source: office for civil rights data collection, district profiles, 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 school years. na—means that data was not reported or available for this data point for that year. examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 108 the data for select districts initially examined for the new mexico center on law & poverty,2 limited with many of these school districts having incomplete or no data to report. much of the data was not reported for these districts, adding to the difficulty of assessing whether new mexico is providing access to rigorous high school curricula in its public schools. in this case, the missing data also tells an important story, one of inaccurate reporting mechanisms to the federal government. table 6. enrollment in calculus in select yazzie plaintiff schools, 2009-10 & 2011-12, (percent) district total n african american american indian asian american mexican/ latino white 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 2009 2011 cuba na na na na na na na na na na na na district na 543 na 0 na 62.4 na 1.1 na 32 na 4.4 gallup mckinley 20 na 0 na 50 na 0 na 25 na 25 na district 12510 na .3 na 80.6 na .9 na 12 na 6.2 na grants na 17 na 0 na 23.5 na 11.8 na 52.9 na 11.8 cibola district na 3667 na 1.1 na 41 na .5 na 40.1 na 17.2 hatch valley na 4 na 0 na 0 na 0 na 100 na 0 district na 1431 na 0 na .1 na 0 na 93.5 na 6.4 jemez valley na 7 na 0 na 0 na 0 na 0 na 0 district na 551 na 0 na 71.1 na .7 na 18.7 na 8.2 lake arthur na na na na na na na na na na na na district na 140 na 1.4 na 0 na 0 na 75 na 23.6 moriarty 10 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35 100 65 district 3335 3202 1.6 1.9 2.1 2.3 .9 1.0 38.1 41.6 57.3 53.2 rio rancho 80 na 0 na 0 na 12.5 na 18.8 na 68.8 na district 16750 16795 4.8 3.5 4.2 3.7 2.9 2.1 42 46.6 46.1 42 source: office for civil rights data collection, district profiles, 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 school years. na—means that data was not reported or available for this data point for that year. performance on college ready indicators: parcc student assessment outcomes across the k-12 continuum serve as indicators of academic preparation and ultimately college readiness. this section highlights student performance across select school districts and grades using the new parcc (partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers) data system, first implemented in 20142016. meeting the assessed through parcc is a requirement for high school graduation in 2 initially two cases were filed in new mexico, yazzie v. state of new mexico and martínez v. state of new mexico. judge singleton moved to consolidate the plaintiffs into one. contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 109 new mexico. in states with exit exams, significant increases in student achievement have not occurred. the high stakes nature of exams has not raised student college readiness levels either, as seen by high remediation rates among latino, american indian, african american, low-income and first-generation students. in new mexico in 2013, 64.2% of students entering a two-year college required remediation and 46% of those entering a non-flagship 4-year university required remediation (complete college america, 2015). states have historically invested considerable resources into assessment systems and have adopted policies that are punitive in nature, rather than serve as a catalyst for increased intervention and investment in students (contreras, 2010). data used for this analysis is directly from the new mexico state department of education for the 2016 assessment period. one of the features that stands out as problematic in how the data is organized is the fact that “proficient and above” are aggregated categories for this data file. these two areas should be disaggregated in order to get a better sense of the proportion of students that are “proficient” and the proportion that are scoring “above” in a content area. the statewide data for parcc in 2016 shows latino students, american indian students, economically disadvantaged students, and english language learners scoring less than proficient in reading, math and science. table 7. student parcc data outcomes, all assessments, select grades, 2016 reading math science grade group count proficient & above % count proficient & above % count proficient & above % 3 all students 25,779 25.4 25,803 30.2 3 female 12,542 28.5 12,555 30.1 3 male 13,237 22.5 13,248 30.3 3 caucasian 6,083 37.9 6,084 44.8 3 african american 540 21.7 541 26.2 3 hispanic 16,129 22.3 16,141 26.3 3 asian 338 45.9 343 63.6 3 american indian 2,689 13.9 2,694 17.1 3 economically disadvantaged 20,088 20.3 20,112 24.3 3 students w disabilities 3,655 8.2 3,666 11.3 3 english language learners 5,940 16.1 5,976 15.6 examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 110 3 migrant 27 7.4 27 7.4 7 all students 24,091 23.2 24,133 17.7 24,338 44.9 7 female 11,958 29.7 11,963 18.3 12,093 44.9 7 male 12,133 16.8 12,170 17.1 12,245 44.8 7 caucasian 5,721 38.0 5,747 30.2 5,793 66.3 7 african american 518 24.3 520 13.3 514 43.8 7 hispanic 14,980 18.5 14,989 14.0 15,139 39.7 7 asian 368 49.7 377 44.8 374 69.3 7 american indian 2,504 13.4 2,500 8.2 2,516 23.4 7 economically disadvantaged 17,469 16.5 17,472 12.0 17,646 36.5 7 students w disabilities 3,639 6.0 3,637 6.6 3,713 15.2 7 english language learners 2,912 5.0 2,929 3.5 2,938 10.0 7 migrant 23 8.7 23 4.3 21 14.3 9 all students 24,166 27.4 24,990 18.2 9 female 11,785 34.7 12,214 19.0 9 male 12,381 20.5 12,776 17.4 9 caucasian 6,020 44.3 6,144 32.3 9 african american 526 22.2 529 11.3 9 hispanic 14,619 21.7 15,277 13.5 9 asian 374 54.8 379 47.2 9 american indian 2,627 17.7 2,661 9.7 9 economically disadvantaged 16,017 19.3 16,675 11.7 9 students w disabilities 3,052 3.4 2,945 2.9 9 english language learners 2,997 2.8 3,088 2.6 9 migrant 20 <2.0 30 <2.0 11 all students 21,381 44.6 17,520 10.1 22,124 39.4 11 female 10,627 52.7 8,695 9.5 10,970 34.8 11 male 10,754 36.5 8,825 10.6 11,154 43.8 11 caucasian 5,395 61.4 4,120 19.3 5,598 63.0 11 african american 459 38.8 407 7.1 503 30.4 11 hispanic 12,845 39.8 10,725 7.1 13,275 32.5 11 asian 385 66.5 262 29.4 399 58.6 11 american indian 2,297 29.5 2,006 4.9 2,348 20.4 11 economically disadvantaged 13,189 35.4 11,276 6.8 13,586 29.5 11 students w disabilities 2,339 12.1 2,122 7.7 2,505 14.7 11 english language learners 1,711 7.1 1,474 4.2 1,695 6.4 11 migrant 13 15.4 13 <2.0 15 6.7 source: new mexico state department of education. parcc data file 2016. retrieved from http://ped.state.nm.us/assessmentaccountability/academicgrowth/nmsba.html the 7th, 9th and 11th statewide data shows similar gaps, with even lower proficiency rates among latino, american indian, economically disadvantaged and english language learners. in a state where latinos constitute 60% of its student population, these performance data offer a glimpse of what the state might expect in terms of college readiness as new mexico latino contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 111 children progress through the school system and conveys the need for targeted investment and academic supports throughout. college transition it was critical to discuss measures that influence college transition, in helping to frame college readiness for the courts. the pathway to higher education for students from underrepresented backgrounds is largely uneven nationally, and in states like new mexico with high concentrations of latino and historically underrepresented students, college transition typically starts at the community college level rather than four-year universities (contreras, 2011; mckillip & li, 2013). select variables such as sat or act enrollment, graduation rates, dual credit enrollment, ap enrollment and passing rates were used to frame the process of college transition in the expert witness brief. this section highlights sat and act and ap enrollment to offer context for the arguments made surrounding student preparation and access to services that likely facilitate college transition. sat and act enrollment taking the sat exam in high school is a marker of the intent to transition to college. students who are taking the sat in high school are likely planning to apply to a four-year university because community colleges do not require an sat or act score for college admission (contreras, 2005). most districts had less than 1% of ell/lep students enrolled in one of these college entrance exams in both 2009-10 and 2011-12. this is particularly concerning for districts that have sizable ell student populations. the data suggests that by the time an ell student reaches high school graduation, they are not prepared for college and less likely to engage in college going practices like taking the sat or act entrance exams (callahan, 2005; dabach & callahan, 2011). this population, the ltels (long term english language learner) population is among the most underserved students in the k-12 system (dabach & callahan, 2011). ap enrollment ap enrollment was used in this analysis because it is largely considered to represent rigor in the high school context and also provides students with a pathway for earning college credit while in high school. however, equitable access to ap remains uneven, particularly for lowincome first generation latinx and native american youth (contreras, 2005; gau, 2016). the data on ap exam participation shows a gap that exists between taking an ap exam and examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 112 actually scoring with a 3 or better, which translates into college credit at many four-year institutions. while ap enrollment and test taking is not a panacea for college readiness, student success in ap has larger implications for college transition and preparedness, and perhaps is an even stronger predictor of college completion compared to dual credit enrollment (wyatt, patterson, & giacomo, 2015). the data for new mexico shows growing levels of participation over the past decade but earning a score of 3 or higher among ap test takers is the challenge. these data further show the importance of not only providing access to ap exams but also the tools necessary to be successful on the ap assessment measures. table 8. trends in ap enrollment and success in new mexico by race/ethnicity, select years (percent) student group total 2003 n 2008 2012 2013 grads taken ap grads scoring 3 or > grads taken ap grads scoring 3 or > grads taken ap grads scoring 3 or > grads taken ap grads scoring 3 or > low income 4974 34.2 29.1 44.1 37.4 46 37.8 45.9 39.3 (n=947) (n=370) (n=1,661) (n=651) (n=2213) (n=797) (n=2336) (n=853) black 102 1.4 .9 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.4 2.0 1.3 (n=38) (n=12) (n=72) (n=33) (n=96) (n=30) (n=102) (n=29) latino 2378 33 27 38.8 32.6 45.5 39.7 46.7 43 (n=912) (n=344) (n=1462) (n=567) (n=2190) (n=837) (n=2378) (n=934) american indian 298 5.6 1.5 5.9 2.7 5.6 2.4 5.9 1.8 (n=156) (n=19) (n=222) (n=47) (n=269) (n=51) (n=298) (n=40) white 1819 48.2 41.3 43 36 36.6 31 35.7 30.9 (n=1335) (n=729) (n=1622) (n=898) (n=1763) (n=939) (n=1819) (n=950) source: ap report to the nation, state supplement, 2014. conclusion despite the fact that latinos represent a critical mass of students in the k-12 system in new mexico, and the fact that new mexico has a critical mass of native american students and tribal communities, the state falls short of being responsive to two of the largest ethnic groups, and preparing them for postsecondary options. the state of new mexico is also inhibited in its ability to serve its students without accurate, timely, and accessible data to better identify students in need of intervention and monitor student progress longitudinally. the new mexico public education department data system is limited in scope, capacity, consistency, and user capability. as a result, several more reliable data sources were used for this report and analysis. as a public education department that serves a diverse base of students in the state, contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 113 all stakeholders should be able to access relevant educational data and produce basic statistical profiles on ell students, racial/ethnic subgroups, and districts. many states have invested in user friendly online data platforms, that helps to inform all key stakeholders on the status of student progress and helps to ensure transparency. for every measure used in the analysis of achievement indicators and access to curricular resources of select school districts throughout the state of new mexico, the state of new mexico has not effectively addressed the needs of its latinx and native american students in the k-12 sector. the expert report and analysis concluded the need for targeted mechanisms for investing in greater academic supports for its latinx and native american students to ensure higher levels of college readiness, transition and completion. the report argued for a clear policy and detailed framework on college readiness and specified pathway for districts to follow that would enable districts to create a stronger infrastructure for raising student achievement among all students. the state has the opportunity to alter the pathway of underachievement among its diverse base of students by creating an infrastructure for college readiness and success for all of its students. finally, as the plaintiffs in the case argued, and this article conveys, the state of new mexico under the martínez case victory is compelled to alter the direction of insufficient investment in its latinx and native american students and honor its greatest resource—the state’s youth. this case highlights the power of students, parents, community organizations, scholars and the legal arena to invoke tangible and systemic changes that will impact generations. examining college readiness among latinx and native american students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 114 references act. (2014). graduating class of 2014. retrieved from https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/ unsecured/documents/natl-scores-2014-newmexico.pdf act. (2016). the condition of college and career readiness. retrieved form www.act.org/research. balfanz, r. (2009). putting middle grades students on the graduation path. baltimore: everyone graduates center. bernal, e. m. (2002). three ways to achieve a more equitable representation of culturally and linguistically different students in gt programs. roeper review, 24(2), 82-88. doi:10.1080/02783190209554134 callahan, r. m. (2005). tracking and high school english learners: limiting opportunity to learn. american educational research journal, 42(2), 305-328. casau, a., (2014). strengthening new mexico’s workforce and economy by developing career pathways. a publication of new mexico’s voices for children, september 2014. complete college america. (2011). new mexico state profile brief. retrieved from www.completecollege.org/docs/new_mexico.pdf complete college america. (2012). remediation: higher education’s bridge to nowhere. washington, dc: publication of complete college america complete college america. (2015). new mexico state profile. retrieved from http://completecollege.org/state-data-loader/?state=new%20mexico&code=nm conley, d. (2007). redefining college readiness. eugene, or: educational policy improvement center. contreras, f. (2005). access, achievement and social capital: standardized exams and the latino college-bound population. journal of hispanic higher education. 4(3),197-214. contreras, f. (2010). accountability and high stakes testing. in murillo, s. villenas, r. trinidad galvan, j. munoz, c. martinex, & m. machado-casas, handbook of latinos and education: research, theory & practice (pp. 194-209). new york, ny: routledge: taylor & francis group. contreras, f. (2011). achieving equity for latino students. new york, ny: teachers college press. contreras, f., flores, a., lee, j., & mcguire, k. (2011). national latino college completion agenda. research brief prepared for the college board. dabach, d. b., & callahan, r. (2011). right versus reality: high school english language learners, teachers college record. retrieved from https://www.tcrecord.org darling-hammond, l. (2010). flat world and education. new york, ny: teachers college press. ford, d., & harmon, d. (2001). equity and excellence: providing access to gifted education for culturally diverse students. journal of secondary gifted education, 12(3), 141. ford, d. y., & harris, j. j., iii. (1999). multicultural gifted education. new york, ny: teachers college press. ford, d. y., harris, j. j., iii, tyson, c. a., & frazier trotman, m. (2002). beyond deficit thinking: contreras association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 115 providing access for gifted african american students. roeper review, 24, 52–58. gandara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. gau, n. (2016). college readiness in california: a look at rigorous high school coursetaking. a publication of the public policy institute of california. kids count. (2015). kids count data book 2015. retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/resources /resources/the-2015-kids-count-databook/ marsh, h. w., & kleitman, s. (2002). extracurricular school activities: the good, the bad, and the nonlinear. harvard educational review, 72, 464–511. mckillip, m. e. m., & li, j. (2013, april). is the whole equal to the sum of its parts? race variations in a student’s path from high school to college. paper presentation at the american educational research association annual conference, san francisco, ca. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling. new york, ny: suny press. wiley, a., wyatt, j. n., & camara, w. j. (2010). the development of an index of college readiness (college board research report no. 2010–3). new york, ny: the college board. wyatt, j., patterson, b., & giacomo, t. (2015). a comparison of the college outcomes of ap and dual enrollment students. retrieved from https://files.eric.gov/fulltext/ed5262578.pdf http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 2 2018 amae invited special issue linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands guest editor brendan h. o’connor arizona state university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 153 “too much cream on the tacos”: narrative and moral personhood in transfronterizo experience brendan h. o’connor arizona state university abstract building on prior analyses of storytelling in migrant and transnational contexts (e.g. baynham, 2014; de fina, 2003; haviland, 2005; warriner, 2013), this article draws on research with transfronterizo (border-crossing) university students in south texas to explore how transnational speakers use narrative to craft moral arguments in trying times. the article focuses on a single, lengthy narrative from a transfronteriza undergraduate named araís in order to demonstrate how her narrative practice contributes to her “ideological becoming” (bakhtin, 1981). that is, the analysis shows that the structural, textual, and dialogic features of araís’s narrative are connected both to her emergent, dialogic understanding of her self and to value projects, or efforts to (re)shape the social world, implied in her narrative (agha, 2015). the analysis illuminates the ethical affordances of transfronterizo narrative—i.e., the opportunities that storytelling offered transfronterizo students to evaluate their own and others’ actions in moral terms. based on this analysis, i suggest implications for our understanding of narrative and moral personhood among transfronterizo students and other migrant and transnational subjects. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.2.398 o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 154 introduction: “we’ve all heard a lot of stories” “he escuchado, como todos hemos escuchado bastantes historias”—“i’ve heard, like we’ve all heard a lot of stories,” remarked araís, an undergraduate bilingual education major at the university of texas at brownsville and a participant in my study of transfronterizo (back-and-forth transnational) students in south texas (cf. de la piedra & araujo, 2012). araís was referring specifically to stories she had heard about mexico from people with very different relationships to, and degrees of knowledge about, the u.s.-mexico borderlands. in this article, i analyze one such story in depth—a story that araís told me herself, but one in which she retold others’ stories and revoiced other narrators, real and imagined. elsewhere (o’connor, 2018), i have discussed this particular story in general terms, as emblematic of transfronterizo students’ attempts to grapple with hegemonic representations of the borderlands and as indicative of the janus-faced (konrad & nicol, 2011, p. 86), or two-sided, nature of the border in their everyday lives. on one hand, many of the research participants told stories that countered stereotypes of the borderlands as a poor, out-of-the-way, and violent place, instead emphasizing its potential as a site of cosmopolitan knowing (o’connor, 2018). in their stories, araís and other transfronterizo students contrasted their multi-angled vision—the ability to view people, places, and events from both sides of the border simultaneously—with the “wrong perceptions” (as another student put it) of people who could only see things from one side or the other. the students’ stories took issue with the “single story” of the border (adichie, 2009) from the u.s. side, which is to say, its almost exclusive association with drug-related violence, unauthorized migration, and a host of other social ills. on the other hand, despite students’ desire to show the borderlands (and border dwellers) in a positive light, students asserted the value of “life on both sides” with a good deal of ambivalence. students discredited others’ stories of social upheaval in mexico and the borderlands; at the same time, they acknowledged that they had to confront the effects of this upheaval on a daily basis. thus, while they were skeptical of accounts that, in their view, unfairly depicted the texas-tamaulipas borderlands as a war zone, they also acknowledged the real impact of rising narco-violence and intensified border security on their lives. in the process of enacting and representing selves through storytelling (wortham, 2000), they channeled the voices of other people, such as family members, friends, boyfriends or girlfriends, and journalists, in order to comment on these voices and contrast their own points of view with others’. araís, for “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 155 instance, once parodied the circulation of sensationalized border stories as a game of “telephone,” where a whole chain of tellings and retellings resulted in a grossly distorted view of events: “ ‘oh, i heard that my grandma’s sister’s brother’s little friend, this happened,’ and—,” she added dismissively, “i’m like, ‘oh, okay.’ ” however, revoicing others also tended to unsettle the students’ own positioning within their narratives, causing them to question their own, inevitably partial perspectives. in effect, criticizing others’ stories as inaccurate or incomplete reminded the participants that their own stories could be criticized on the same grounds. with these complexities and quandries as background, i explore the following questions in this article: how does araís bring about as well as bring along her identity as a transfronteriza subject as she confronts “shifts, breaks, and ruptures in continuity” (baynham, 2014, p. 78) in her narrative practice? to speak of bringing about identity as well as bringing it along is a reminder that narrators do not merely represent selves in a narrated event, or a storyworld. rather, as wortham (2000) argues, they also enact selves while narrating the events of a story during a conversation (that is, in the “interactional event”). crucially, araís’s acts of positioning in both the narrated and narrating events have a moral dimension. araís presents herself as a certain kind of person, “situated relative to past, present, and imagined others” (anderson, 2009, p. 293) in ways that presuppose “rights, duties, and responsibilities” (p. 292) associated with her own and others’ positions. furthermore, as i argue elsewhere (o’connor, forthcoming), araís’s and other students’ acts of self-positioning in narrative could be construed as ethical arguments for social action— for acting and behaving in certain ways—in their lifeworlds outside the narrative frame. storytelling, then, was connected to students’ understandings and embodiment of moral personhood, meaning the ways that “they [drew] ideas about personhood … from surrounding social relations” (heyman, 2000, p. 638) in light of their ongoing evaluative activity and “in the context of their everyday struggles to cope with … hopes, joys, regrets, losses, suffering, and pain” (zigon & throop, 2014, p. 4). this article, then, takes up the question of what one transfronteriza’s discourse strategies contribute to her “ideological becoming” (bakhtin, 1981), her emergent, dialogic understanding of her self, and the value projects, or efforts to (re)shape the social world, implied in her narrative (agha, 2015). in other words, the article illuminates the ethical affordances of transfronterizo narrative, or the opportunities that storytelling offered students like araís to “scrutinize and o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 156 elaborate [upon]” their interactions with other border-dwellers and outsiders (keane, 2014, p. 11). based on this analysis, i suggest implications for our understanding of narrative and moral personhood among transfronterizo students and other migrant and transnational subjects. before moving to the analysis of araís’s narrative, i review literature on narrative analysis in migrant and transnational contexts. narrative analysis in migrant and transnational contexts narrative is a discourse genre in which people transform personal experience in and through storytelling (labov & waletzky, 1997/1967) as they organize events according to temporal or logical order (ochs & capps, 2001, p. 2). the temporal dimension has often been seen as central to narrative (e.g., labov, 1972), in that canonical narratives involve a recounting of temporally ordered events from the past. recently, however, it has been argued that space may play just as important a role as time, if not a more important one, in organizing accounts of migration and displacement, in which movement between spaces is a primary concern (de fina, 2003, pp. 370-371). early treatments of conversational narrative focused on structural similarities across narrative accounts. labov and waletzky (1997/1967) famously observed that stories often begin with background information (orientation), followed by complicating action (the temporally and/or logically ordered sequence of events) and some sort of resolution. such “classical” narratives can be bookended by a short abstract at the beginning and coda at the end; importantly, narrators also provide evaluation throughout (i.e., perspective or commentary on the narrated event and characters). structural analysis remains a useful starting point for scholars of narrative. however, researchers have recently pointed out that the canonical structure identified by labov and waletzky is not ubiquitous cross-culturally and that not all narratives fit this mold—for example, people often tell “small stories,” or very brief narratives that lack most of the elements listed above (georgakopoulou, 2007). other scholars (linde, 1993) differentiate between stories, narratives that are organized to make a single point, and chronicles, or retellings that may not have an overall message. narrative researchers have established that telling stories is a deeply moral activity, whether or not narrators conceive of their narratives in these terms. although stories typically report events in a descriptive way, it is generally understood that they also have to be told for a “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 157 reason. in that sense, they impose a moral obligation on the teller. the audience expects that, in reporting events, the narrator is also making a point, and the audience is entitled to hold the narrator accountable for the “tellability” of the story—i.e., why it is worth telling at all (ochs & capps, 2001, p. 33). narrative also reveals the extent to which human beings are “inevitably evaluative creatures” (keane, 2015, p. 4). evaluation pervades narrative accounts and, in addition to communicating the point of the story (labov, 1972), works to position the narrator vis-à-vis interlocutors as well as characters in the narrated event. for example, narrators may attempt to “solicit [listeners’] sympathies for the teller’s moral stance” (ochs & shohet, 2006, p. 44). just how they do this, however, is another matter. as wortham (2000) observes, “participants and analysts cannot read the meaning of a cue right off the linguistic or paralinguistic form itself” (p. 168). rather, they must infer which aspects of the context are being made relevant—i.e., evaluated—through specific cues in the story. people in migrant and transnational contexts often deal with a loss of stability and predictability, which might contribute to a desire to impose order through narrative. as baynham and de fina (2016) point out, when the old stories no longer apply, people need new kinds of stories to make sense of what is becoming of them—and who they are becoming—as they refashion their lives. as people cross national, cultural, and linguistic borders, they also tend to find themselves interacting with unfamiliar people in unfamiliar situations. these intercultural encounters provide migrant and transnational storytellers with rich material for reflecting on and reshaping elements of their own identities (baynham, 2014). narratives of mobility and displacement can be analyzed as situated practices, in which narrators’ presentation of self is tied up in their representation of time and space in the storyworld (de fina, 2003; see also schiffrin, 2009). in such narratives, shifting frames of spatial and temporal reference come to index and even presuppose aspects of migrant personhood—see, for example, haviland’s (2005) analysis of how shifting referents for the spatial deictics here and there index a zinacantec man’s ambivalence about belonging in both the united states and his mexican community of origin. warriner (2013) documents the interconnectedness of space and time in the narratives of a bosnian refugee woman in the united states, in which temporal elasticity becomes a resource for making sense of spatial displacement. in other cases, displaced narrators draw on spatial and geographical resources in their narrative self-presentation, anchoring storytelling in features of the local migratory landscape (i dalmau, 2018). recent work on transnational narratives of mexican o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 158 migration to the u.s. (e.g., chávez, 2015; dick, 2010; relaño pastor, 2014) has continued to explore the moral stances narrators enact as they navigate shifting frames of reference. research site, participants, data collection, and researcher positionality the data i analyze in this article are drawn from a participatory qualitative study of crossborder mobility among transfronterizo university students, both graduate and undergraduate, at the university of texas at brownsville on the texas-tamaulipas border, where i was a new assistant professor in the department of language, literacy, and intercultural studies at the time of data collection. 1 the study was designed and implemented in collaboration with two undergraduate transfronteriza co-researchers, valeria de león and grecia garcía, who assisted in writing a small internal grant, developing survey questions and the interview protocol, drafting consent documents and translating them into spanish, and helping to recruit participants. many of the participants were my former students, with whom i had spoken on various occasions, inside and outside the classroom, about their experiences pursuing postsecondary education while navigating regular border crossings; others were trusted members of my students’ peer networks or friends of the undergraduate researchers. ultimately, we collected background data on 38 students’ cross-border mobility through an online survey and conducted in-depth face-toface interviews with a smaller group of 16 focal participants, representing twelve different areas of study (majors). however, i approached formal data collection in the context of informal conversations and longer-term relationship building with students, which often started in the classroom but moved beyond it (cf. ingold, 2014, p. 385).2 at the time of the study, araís was a twenty-two year old bilingual education major at the university of texas at brownsville (now the university of texas rio grande valley). we met when she was a student in one of my teacher preparation courses, “the intercultural context of schooling,” and i quickly came to value her lively, inquisitive, and lighthearted presence in the 1 the undergraduate researchers and i decided that it was important to use the real names of the university (which is now part of the university of texas rio grande valley) and the cities in question, owing to the social, cultural, economic, and political diversity in different areas of the u.s.-mexico borderlands and the distinctive characteristics of the brownsville/matamoros area. we received permission from utb’s institutional review board to identify the university in published research from the study. the consent documents stated that the university’s real name would be used and that participants might be more identifiable as a result. all names of participants are pseudonyms, selected by the participants. the undergraduate researchers’ real names appear in the article. 2 for purposes of space, i refer interested readers to the lengthier discussion of data collection and analysis procedures in o’connor (2018). “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 159 classroom. unlike many of my students in south texas, who had internalized the welldocumented local stigma toward language mixing (see, e.g., anzaldúa, 1987) or vocally disapproved of such practices, araís was a proud, unabashed user of texmex, the regional hybrid variety, for academic as well as nonacademic purposes. she was born in the united states “by accident,” as she put it, while her family was returning from a trip, and spent the first year of her life in matamoros before her family moved to ciudad juárez for her father’s work as a supervisor in the maquiladora (manufacturing) industry. when araís was in fourth grade, the family returned to matamoros, and an aunt who was living in brownsville convinced araís’s parents to allow her to live with her aunt and “continue studying over here [in the u.s.] because of the opportunities,” in araís’s words. while attending school in brownsville, she would spend weekends in matamoros with her parents. eventually, her parents also moved to the u.s., where her mother obtained permanent resident status while her father returned to matamoros, following her parents’ separation. like many students in the study, araís commented extensively on how the borderlands had changed during her lifetime, and, like many students, she identified two major contributing factors. for one, she remarked, “se pusieron más estrictos, y poniéndose más estrictos, pues afectó”/‘[authorities in the u.s.] got stricter, and since they got stricter, it affected [us].’ in other words, the increasing militarization of the border on the u.s. side—which began in the late 1970s, intensified in the mid-1990s with the “prevention through deterrence” strategy, and gained momentum after the attacks of september 11, 2001 (andreas, 2009; nevins, 2010, inter alia)— had a profound effect on araís and her family’s movement across the border. as she said, “la migración está más difícil, las cosas que han pasado, entonces cualquier cosita castigan” [‘migration is harder, (because of) all the things that have happened, so they punish every little thing’], adding that one of her uncles had recently been banned from traveling to the u.s. for ten years because of an unauthorized crossing. in addition to border militarization on the u.s. side, araís and other students pointed to the unprecedented surge in narco-violence in northern mexico from around 2007-2013 as the other major contributor to changes in family and academic life in the borderlands. very briefly, an exceedingly violent territorial conflict between two paramilitarized international criminal organizations, the zetas and the gulf cartel, coupled with the mexican government’s military response, disrupted everyday life profoundly for many border dwellers (correa-cabrera, 2013, o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 160 2014; treviño & genna, 2017). when i moved to brownsville in 2012, i was warned in no uncertain terms (by friends, colleagues, and students) not to travel to matamoros, regaled with stories of balaceras (shootouts) and blockades, and shown, as evidence of the hopelessness of the situation, examples of businesses that had relocated across the border to texas. i was struck by people’s discourse about mexico and the border in light of my own prior experience: about ten years before, i had lived in another part of the rio grande valley, two hours upriver, at a time when it was entirely unremarkable to divide one’s life between both countries. at that time, mexico was not seen as a dangerous place, generally speaking, and it was an accepted part of life to drive or walk across the river to go shopping, attend quinceañeras [girls’ 15th birthday parties] or wedding receptions, go out to eat, visit the doctor’s office or pharmacy, or, for native valleydwellers, spend time with family. the contrast between my brownsville students’ border stories and the stories i was accustomed to was part of the impetus for the wider study of cross-border mobility at utb. the situation affected different transfronterizo students at utb differently. some students who had previously gone to school in mexico decided to move to the u.s. to attend college, sometimes bringing family members along; others continued living in matamoros, but changed their plans in order to attend utb (i.e., instead of a university in mexico), crossing the border almost daily. other students, like araís, who had already been living and attending school in the u.s., started crossing to mexico less frequently because of the violence, at the same time that their family members were less able to cross to the u.s. because of changes in border security. in general, the situation resulted in transfronterizo students’ spending more time in the u.s. and reorganizing their social networks accordingly, whether they were crossing more frequently, in the case of students living in mexico, or less frequently, in the case of students living in the u.s. (o’connor, 2018). time, space, and emergent moral personhood in transfronterizo narrative in keeping with previous research on migrant and transnational narrative, the following analysis explores how “personal identity sits at the crux of time and space” (schiffrin, 2009, p. 423; see also warriner, 2013), such that enactments of personhood are intertwined with spatial and temporal constructions in narrative discourse (cf. de fina, 2003). thus, notable textual features of araís’s narrative (e.g., patterns of english/spanish code-switching) are analyzed in the “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 161 context of the “time/space coordinates” that anchor her descriptions within the narrated event and form the basis for her creative referential practice (schiffrin, 2009, p. 423). examining how araís takes up different footings, in navigating shifting spatial and temporal frames of reference (rumsey, 2000), reveals her struggle to find her own voice amidst conflicting and contradictory cultural expectations. i use a wide variety of tools to examine how stories are told—including what events are recounted, how narrative affords particular identity performances, and the consequences of such “tellings” for the narrators’ sense of belonging. following labov and waletzky’s (1967) seminal example, i attend to narrative structure, identifying the various sections of the story and organizing my discussion accordingly. i also consider the function of textual features, such as general extenders and vague utterances, within specific sections of the narrative. per wortham and reyes (2015), i focus on three categories of indexicals: spatial and person deictics (words like ‘there’ and ‘i’, whose referents shift according to the context), reported speech (quoting other speakers or oneself), and evaluative indexicals (speech that directly evaluates or comments upon the people and events in the narrative). as a preliminary step in the analysis, i constructed a deictic map of the entire narrative (wortham, 1996), which revealed patterns of deictic use deserving of closer attention (see “the ‘i’ of borderlands discourse,” below). among other things, focusing on indexicals helped to clarify how the representational text of the narrative (i.e., the speaker’s description of the storyworld) was related to the interactional text of the narrative, or the identities and positionings that she enacted in the storytelling event (wortham, 2000). framing the story: illustration and argumentation jefferson (1978) observed that, very often, stories in conversation are not produced as “sudden remembering[s]” but as “continuous with prior talk” (p. 223)—that is, narratives are prompted by elements of ongoing talk, and in introducing them, narrators often “index the element of the prior conversation that triggered the story” (wortham, 2000, p. 170). stories are frequently “sequentially implicative”: the story’s telling presupposes its appropriateness in the context of ongoing talk. as hymes (1975) noted, the meaning of stories as emergent, dialogic phenomena also hinges on their performativity, in the sense of their addressivity—their “quality of being directed to someone” (bakhtin, 1986, p. 95)—and the ways that narrators’ stances visà-vis the audience may shift during the telling. o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 162 this is the case with araís’s story, which came up during a longer discussion about people’s perceptions of matamoros. araís complicated the commonplace observation (among transfronterizo students) that people who regularly crossed the border perceived life in matamoros differently than those who only spent time in the u.s., commenting that there were varying perspectives within those two groups (i.e., transfronterizos and “one-sided” border dwellers). she contrasted people living full-time in matamoros who, in her view, were “already used to it” (i.e., the risk of danger and violence) with “people who [went] every weekend” but only spent time with family members, people who visited weekly and went elsewhere in the city, and people who crossed less frequently (like araís) or not at all. each of these groups, said araís, had a different experience of life in matamoros and a different degree of knowledge: “¡ay! pues they have the whole picture, but they only saw a little picture, they have never been there, you know”—where each ‘they’ referred to a different group. shortly afterwards, she prefaced the story as follows: 1 likefor example, my cousins were 2 ’cause my cousins were laughing forbecause um. “for example” (1), which precedes the abstract (“my cousins were laughing”), introduces and frames araís’s story as an illustrative narrative, one that “describe[s] a particular instance of a more general experience” (schiffrin, 2009, p. 425). the story about her cousins laughing, in other words, is meant to illustrate the general phenomenon that she and i had been discussing: the gap in perceptions and experience among people who spend different amounts of time in mexico. araís explicitly indexes the illustrative nature of the narrative twice more—once, slightly over a minute later, in the coda to her first telling of the story about her cousins: 35 a: you know, like that’s what i mean. 36 bo’c: that’s interesting. and again, another minute later, in the coda to her second, highly performative, partial retelling of the cousin story: “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 163 56 a: and that’s what i mean. it’s just different. 57 bo’c: that’s so funny. these utterances index the story’s embeddedness in my ongoing conversation with araís and its proposed usefulness to illustrate a point. as such, they also constitute an invitation to respond, as is evident in lines 36 and 57, where i comply by ratifying the tellability of araís’s narrative— i.e., affirming that it is interesting, funny, and, by implication, relevant to surrounding talk. however, araís’s story is also a case of argumentation intersecting with narrative (schiffrin, 2009, p. 422): she is not merely offering up an example, but using this example as evidence to support her position, not just within the storytelling event but in the larger context of our conversation about cross-border mobility. from the very beginning of the narrative, then, its illustrative and argumentative aspects demand close attention to the interactional text, or the ways in which araís’s telling is responsive to me, her interlocutor. furthermore, as we will see, araís’s use of constructed dialogue to voice characters in the storyworld plays a crucial role in connecting the narrated and narrating events and making her moral stance-taking possible (hill & zepeda, 1993). vagueness in orientation devices: connecting the storyworld to the interactional world in telling the story, araís presents herself as a certain kind of person as she seeks to bring me around to the point she is making, using her story for support. this becomes clearer in the orientation section of the narrative, following the abstract, where araís provides some of the context needed to make sense of the (not-yet-told) story about her cousins’ laughter: 3 you know thatthat little girl that whenthat got like 4 the highest um test score on 5 i don’t know on what test. i can’t remember. 6 it was an elementary girl. 7 she got like a really high grade and o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 164 8 bo’c: ¿aquí en brownsville? [here in brownsville?] 9 a: no no no. en matamoros. [no no no. in matamoros.] 10 bo’c: en matamoros. [in matamoros.] the orientation devices araís uses are connected to our relative positioning in the narrating event and to relevant aspects of my identity—an outsider to the borderlands, but one who has been living there for awhile and might be expected to have some knowledge about the context. she begins this section of the narrative by asking, “you know that … little girl” (3), appealing to my knowledge (or ignorance) of the topic. there are superficial similarities to features of orientation that, de fina (2003) argues, are typical of unauthorized border-crossers’ narratives: vagueness (5) and collaborative negotiation of orientation details (8-10). her story is riddled with general extenders (i.e., expressions “appended to … grammatically complete utterances,” such as blah blah blah, this and that, and i don’t know what, etc.; levey, 2012, p. 258) and disavowals of epistemic access (i.e., professions of ignorance about details of the story, such as i don’t know, i can’t remember, etc.; stivers, mondada, & steensig, 2011). these features serve to anchor araís’s story (and the various stories within it) in the ongoing context of our conversation. as an involvement strategy (tannen, 1989) targeted at me, her interlocutor, they imply that it is not necessarily the details of the story that are important, but the story’s overall relevance to the point araís is making. her vagueness (“i don’t know on what test. i can’t remember”; 5) does not point to the speaker’s disorientation because of geographical displacement, as in de fina (2003), but fits a broader pattern in which araís uses vagueness as a discourse strategy to index the story’s illustrative nature. the exchange in lines 8-10 suggests that further orientation is required, since i do not even know if the little girl in question was from brownsville or matamoros. araís then continues with the orientation, in the form of another small story, introducing the event that prompted her “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 165 cousins’ laughter: a news story about the little math genius, which araís and her cousins had read and considered to be hysterically overblown in its depiction of matamoros.3 11 and then, she she was like recognized 12 and blah blah blah and this and that. 13 and then, when the report came out from the 14 somebody, i don’t know if it was yahoo news or 15 an actual um newspaper or a magazine. 16 they did a report on her. 17 and then one of the things that they said is like 18 “oh, maría blah blah blah blah” 19 i don’t know her name but it was um, 20 “exsucceeded in frontin the middle of of um 21 cartel wars” and i don’t know what. bold = general extenders; dotted underline = disavowals of knowledge again, araís uses strategies to downplay the importance of details, claiming her own ignorance as to the source of the backstory and the girl’s name. in the process, she casts a bakhtinian sideward glance (1984, pp. 196-7) at untrustworthy internet discourse, commenting 3 the article that araís and her cousins read appeared on a website called latin times, which is owned by the newsweek media group and describes itself as “an online publication that strives to serve the needs of the ever growing and changing latin audience.” the article, by oscar lópez (2013), was entitled “wired magazine names 12year-old mexican paloma noyola bueno the next steve jobs” and, to add yet another layer of mediation, summarized the original wired story about paloma noyola, published just three days before and written by joshua davis (2013). the article that directly inspired the incredulous reaction from araís and her cousins, then, was in fact a latino-oriented repackaging of content from wired that was deemed relevant to an online latino audience. to give a flavor of lópez’s article, here is the description of paloma and her milieu from the first paragraph: the 12-year-old lives in matamoros, tamaulipas in mexico’s far north. her tiny school sits next to a trash dump across from the u.s. border: the bureau of diplomatic security reports that drug related violence is of high concern in the area with people being “victims of armed robberies, sexual assaults, auto thefts, murder, and kidnappings.” despite all this, the josé urbina lópez school has captured the attention of the nation thanks to the remarkable, ground-breaking teaching methodology of paloma’s teacher sergio juarez correa. davis described the school this way in the first paragraph of the wired article: the school serves residents of matamoros, a dusty, sunbaked city of 489,000 that is a flash point in the war on drugs. there are regular shoot-outs, and it’s not uncommon for locals to find bodies scattered in the street in the morning. to get to the school, students walk along a white dirt road that parallels a fetid canal. o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 166 “i don’t know if it was yahoo news or/an actual … newspaper” (lines 14-15). araís’s lack of concern for the specifics of the backstory helps to establish her own authority as a narrator, placing her firsthand knowledge and experience in stark contrast with what other people have said from afar (whether or not their utterances were classified as “actual news”). the phrase “cartel wars” serves as the pivot for araís’s argumentative work in this section and beyond, in that it describes an undeniable aspect of transfronterizo experience while also standing in for the “single story” araís has to confront in telling her own. throughout this section, araís continues to append general extenders to her utterances, commenting that the girl was “recognized and blah blah blah and this and that” and that the story had described her as succeeding “ ‘in the middle of cartel wars’ and i don’t know what” (21). general extenders are often multifunctional, simultaneously serving “referential, textual, and interpersonal functions” (levey, 2012, p. 258). here, the discourse function of “blah blah blah” and similar constructions seems to be set-marking (dines, 1980), in the sense that “recognition” was part of a set of laudatory things that had happened to the girl, and that the story’s mention of “cartel wars” was part of a set of troublesome references to matamoros. the interpersonal function of these discourse strategies, however, is arguably more crucial to the functioning of the narrative. the information in the orientation section prepares me, the interviewer, to understand what comes next in the story about araís and her cousins. at the same time, araís’s purposefully vague presentation of this information implies that it is not this particular story that is of interest; rather, the point is that the backstory illustrates a more general case of the kinds of things that people say about matamoros and mexico, as well as the struggles and failure they expect of students in the borderlands—like the little math genius and araís herself—who have to pursue schooling in such circumstances. it is worth pausing to consider the spatiotemporal dimensions of the occasioned telling of this story. at an earlier point in time, araís had crossed the border to see her cousins in matamoros, where they laughed at a story about a girl in matamoros, written by someone at a u.s.-based publication. at the time of the storytelling event, by contrast, araís and i were in brownsville, where we both lived. crossing a border is an opportunity for people to reassess their relationships with other people and places (rumford, 2014) and intercultural encounters provide especially rich opportunities for such reassessment (baynham, 2014). in representing an intercultural encounter with her cousins—whose feelings about life in matamoros, it turns out, “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 167 differed from araís’s own—in the context of other intercultural encounters (with the imagined author and readers of the news story), araís was also enacting an intercultural encounter with me. the argumentative nature of her narrative, as indexed by her orientation devices, was directed toward a trusted teacher with limited local knowledge, but one who was still inarguably an outsider in ethnoracial, linguistic, and geographical terms. likewise, her moral positioning within the narrative—accomplished, in part, by revoicing others (hill & zepeda, 1993)—was connected to a struggle to think well of herself (zigon & throop, 2014, p. 4) in a difficult scenario where there was much at stake and few, if any, morally defensible courses of action. araís’s selfpositioning could also be seen as a form of face-work, as she sought to present herself and her actions in a positive light for me, her interlocutor. habitus and ambivalence in intercultural encounters: the first telling of the cousin story narratives of intercultural encounters in texas-tamaulipas sometimes owed their tellability to the time and space of their telling. they also exposed profound differences in habitus that could be taken up and dealt with in narrative. habitus refers to people’s embodied dispositions to relate to the world in particular ways, built up through long-term processes of socialization (bourdieu, 1991, p. 51). that is, students often commented on encounters with other people whose habitus differed noticeably from their own—not so much because of what people said about the border or mexico, but because of how they felt about it (or how the students perceived them to feel about it). students sometimes addressed differences in habitus in the midst of storytelling events: “maybe it’s bad that we’ve gotten used to seeing things,” mused a student named alex (july 8, 2014)—we meaning “people in matamoros,” who were habituated to the situation there (like alex and his family) as opposed to those who, being removed from mexico, feared it to an irrational degree, according to alex. similarly, a student named cristina, who spent most of her time in the u.s. and crossed only occasionally, recalled telling her mexican boyfriend and his friends how someone else might respond very differently to spending time in matamoros: o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 168 like you may have gotten used to it, but especially for someone who doesn’t live over there, and goes, it’s really scary. and you need to understand that. (july 9, 2014) cristina, who did not feel particularly safe in mexico, and alex, who mocked others’ fears, were two sides of the same coin, to some degree. neither student could stand completely outside his or her relationship to mexico; because they had differently embodied histories of life in the borderlands, each was disposed to feel differently about transfronterizo student life. araís also used narrative as an opportunity to reflect on differences in perception in light of differences in habitus, or the ways people were disposed to feel about life on both sides. in the section of the narrative that follows, which constitutes the complicating action and resolution (of the first telling), araís uses reported speech to evaluate other people’s words and actions, implicitly and explicitly. that is, her voicing of characters in the story amounts to a form of moral stancetaking, as it allows her to reframe other people’s speech and behavior in light of her own moral commitments—specifically, an aversion to sensationalistic discourse about mexico, but one that was coupled with a reluctance to minimize or diminish the effects of violence on everyday life there. this creates a back-and-forth effect in the narrative structure, akin to araís’s own transfronteriza back-and-forthness, which has afforded her the opportunity to develop an ambivalent stance. throughout this section, she brings herself in and out of alignment with her cousins and the imagined author/audience of the news article, as these voices vie for dominance in the narrative. 22 and then me and my cousins were reading, like, 23 “oh my god this is not even true” this and that. 24 but as i thought about it, i’m like, 25 “pues it’s kind of true but you just don’t see it 26 ’cause you’re used to it.” 27 i mean, it’s not as bad but it’sbut they’re 28 and then, i see it when i “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 169 29 ay, but it’s not that dramatic. initially, araís quoted herself and her cousins as negatively evaluating the truth value of the news story with comments such as: “ ‘oh my god this is not even true’ this and that.” (also note the continuing reliance on general extenders throughout this section). just afterwards, however, she quoted her own internal dialogue (24-26) during the narrated event—i.e., what was running through her head during the interaction with her cousins—to suggest that she did not join uncritically in their laughter: “but as i thought about it, i’m like, ‘pues it’s kind of true but you [her cousins] just don’t see it ’cause you’re used to it’ ”. in line 27, araís pivots again, using “i mean” to reposition herself and distance herself from the content of her previous (internal, reported) utterance: “i mean, it’s not as bad.” in line 28, she appears once more to reconsider (“and then, i see it,” possibly referring to the effects of violence); then, in line 29, she brings herself back into closer alignment with her cousins, dismissing the news story but in slightly different terms: “ay, but it’s not that dramatic.” that is, rather than taking a stance on the truth value of the story by calling it “not even true,” as they did initially, araís and her cousins criticized the “dramatic” or sensational tone of the story. the ‘i’ of borderlands discourse in araís’s narrative araís’s narrative is an argumentative one, in that it provides support and evidence for her position, but it is also an argument with herself, inasmuch as it gives rise to different voices vying to constitute an internally persuasive discourse for araís (bakhtin, 1984). thus far, the voices involved have been araís and her cousins (in the past), araís’s interior voice (in the past), and araís in the present—the narrator of the story, evaluating what happened in the narrated event. in lines 30-33, however, araís introduces a new voice in the context of a new small story, nested within the story about her cousins. unlike the preceding narrated event, the new narrative does not report and evaluate past experience, but describes a hypothetical event: araís imagines how a distant, unspecified audience would receive and respond to the news article. this is keyed to the interactional text of the larger narrative: in line 30, she prefaces the small story with “but, i mean, when you read it,” meaning either me (her interlocutor) or a generic ‘you’; either way, i am included among the non-transfronterizos whose reaction to the news story is of particular concern to araís. this framing also points to the illustrative nature of her story: the problem is o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 170 not necessarily with what a certain media outlet says about matamoros/mexico, but with how it will be (mis)understood elsewhere, among people without firsthand knowledge of the borderlands. in what follows, the back-and-forthness of the narrative structure—the characters’ alternating perspectives on the news story, reflected in the stanza breaks—has a parallel in araís’s referential practice, or the interplay of different ‘i’s and ‘we’s in the voices of the characters. 30 but, i mean, when you read it and when someone 31 like, for example, when somebody reads it over there 32 and like, “oh my gosh, i’m never gonna go over there. 33 look at this little girl blah blah blah.” 34 and we’re like, “ay, whatever. it’s not even that bad.” 35 you know, like that’s what i mean. it’s like underline = person deictics; double underline = spatial deictics; bold = general extenders in her revoicing of others throughout her narrative, and especially in this section, araís exploits the creative possibilities of person deixis (i.e., pronominal reference) to do the moral work of evaluating others’ speech and behavior and positioning herself in contrast. some background on the nature of pronouns is in order: benveniste (1971) famously observed that most nouns refer to relatively fixed objects or notions, but pronouns like “i” and “you” do not have any fixed meaning outside of a particular interaction or text, depending entirely on the reality created in discourse (or interaction) for whatever meaning they obtain. the general phenomenon is known as deixis, and such expressions are called deictics, or sometimes shifters (silverstein, 1976), since their meaning shifts with the context, and contextual information is needed to decode them. (the same is true of spatial deictics like here and there and temporal deictics like now, later, and years ago). in an influential follow-up to benveniste’s work, urban (1989) observed that, much of the time, when speakers say “i,” they are not, in fact, referring to themselves as the person who is currently speaking. for example, when araís declaims, “oh my gosh, i’m never gonna go over “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 171 there” (32), ‘i’ does not index araís herself; rather, it indexes the self of the (imagined) person she is quoting. in order for this to work, argued urban (1989), the listener has to be able to regard the ‘i’ in question as basically metaphorical. as the interlocutor, i have to imagine that i am looking at the hypothetical person in the narrated event—the one who says, “oh my gosh, i’m never gonna go over there”—from that person’s own point of view. in this case, the hypothetical reader of the news story serves as a foil for araís’s own construction of moral personhood, allowing her to contrast her own clear-eyed view of matamoros, based on direct experience, with a pearl-clutching horror inspired by clickbait headlines.4 in considering how this functions in the context of araís’s narrative, and why it matters, there are two main points to take into account. the first is that inhabiting other ‘i’s—voicing other speakers—opens up a dialogue “within the individual over everyday ‘i’ and the ‘i’ of discourse” (urban, 1989, p. 50). in effect, bringing these other voices into her narrative forces araís to contend with them. the second point is that narrators “move in and out of footings strategically” as they introduce and shuffle these different frames of reference, taking advantage of the tension between “normal,” direct-indexical uses of ‘i’ and ‘you’ and creative, anaphoric uses of these pronouns and other shifters (rumsey, 2000, p. 107; my italics). the outcome is nothing less than “a kind of socialization of the self, as it is brought into a culture-specific structure” (urban, 1989, p. 29). in araís’s deft toggling between the different ‘i’s, ‘you’s, and ‘we’s that populate her story, we get a sense of how her selfhood emerges from her grappling with cultural dilemmas and expectations. she presents herself as a savvy, clear-eyed transfronteriza, unfazed by mass-mediated hyperbole about the borderlands, equally disinclined to resign herself to the status quo in mexico, and fully aware of the effects of violence and stories about violence (from both sides) on border-dwellers. to return to the line-by-line analysis: the discursive contrast in person deixis (between different kinds of ‘i’ and ‘we’) is matched with an analogous contrast in spatial deixis, as araís places her everyday self and assumed selves in different imagined spaces (urban, 1989, p. 49). this underscores others’ findings that constructions of personhood are intimately tied to representations of time and space in narrative (de fina, 2003; schiffrin, 2009; warriner, 2013). in lines 31 and 32, for example, araís embeds spatial information in the quoting clause: “when 4 thanks to maisa taha for suggesting the memorable pearl-clutching image and also for alerting me to chimamanda adichie’s discussion of “the danger of a single story.” o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 172 somebody reads it over there”—meaning, wherever the article is being read, presumably somewhere far from brownsville/matamoros. she then juxtaposes this “over there” with the “over there” in the imagined reader’s response to the article: “oh my gosh, i’m never gonna go over there,” referring to matamoros, the setting for both the article and araís’s own story, but from the distal perspective of the imagined reader. the poetic pairing of these spatial deictics underscores the incommensurability of the speakers’ viewpoints, but it also dramatizes araís’s own struggle to position herself discursively and morally as a transfronteriza between her cousins’ desensitized habitus and the hypothetical reader’s overreaction (cf. irvine, 2004 on paired “possible worlds”). as we will see, this spatial contrast is echoed and elaborated upon in araís’s highly performative retelling of the cousin story, following the pre-coda in line 35 (“you know, like that’s what i mean”). “too much cream on the tacos”: breakthrough into performance in the final section of the narrative, araís retells the last part of the story that she has just finished telling—namely, her and her cousins’ disbelieving reaction to the news article. 36 bo’c: that’s interesting 37 a: and then my cousins and me, we’re like, →38 “¡ay no!” like “no manches” y que no sé qué. [“give me a break”and i don’t know what.] →39 “nomás le quieren hacerno está tan feo” y que no sé qué. [“they just want to make itit’s not that bad” and i don’t know what.] →40 “por eso nadie viene y blah blah blah.” [“that’s why nobody comes [to matamoros] and blah blah blah.”] 41 but i’m like, “¡ay!” 42 but you see, like, we read it 43 and then somebody else is gonna read it 44 from like minnesota from canada whatever 45 or not even that far fromroma? or from mcallen 46 and they’re gonna be like, “oh my god, look, it’s really bad.” “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 173 47 like, “look she did it and there 48 there are wars there and the cartel. 49 oh my gosh, i can only imagine.” 50 and thethe article kept going and kept going, and we’re like, →51 “ay no. ya. ya. ya le exageraron bastante” [“ay no. enough. enough. they’ve already exaggerated plenty.”] →52 y que mucha crema en los tacos y que no sé qué. [and that (they’re putting) a lot of cream on the tacos and i don’t know what.] 53 and then, over there, todos “oh my gosh, look at this.” [everybody] 54 like i can just see their faces and like ay no. 55 and we were just laughing because of that. 56 and that’s what i mean. it’s just different. italics = spanish elements; [ ] = english translation; bold = general extenders; underline = person deictics; double underline = spatial deictics what distinguishes the retelling (lines 37-56) most obviously from the first telling (lines 22-35) is araís’s code-switching in reported speech, specifically in the lines identified with arrows above, where she uses spanish to quote her and her cousins’ collaborative response to the article. in the first telling, she glossed their response simply as, “oh my god that’s not even true.” in the second telling, araís expands upon this evaluation in several ways: she and her cousins appear to speculate about the intentions of the article’s author (39), disagree with the severity of his assessment of matamoros (39), and, significantly, reflect on the possible social and economic implications of this circulating discourse (40). as i mentioned earlier, araís often preferred to communicate in texmex; it is perhaps surprising, then, that her long, nested narrative contains few spanish elements until the retelling, where the young women’s scorn boils over into an emotional dismissal of the news article, culminating in the memorable accusation that the journalist was “putting too much cream on the tacos,” or overdoing it. as was discussed previously, araís nimbly and strategically moves between different footings, linked to various o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 174 spatiotemporal frames, as she dramatizes her own effort to locate her voice and moral positioning among the dissenting voices she reanimates in her story (rumsey, 2000). in this section, though, the presence of spanish for emphatic and comic effect (e.g., non-serious “no manches”—‘give me a break!’— in line 38), alongside other semiotic elements, indexes a different moral stance than in the first telling. araís’s code choice is connected to a different sense of self (koven, 1998), imbued with solidarity and conviviality with her cousins in mexico, and lacking the back-and-forth ambivalence that characterized her voice in the first telling. araís’s discursive practice in this section recalls hymes’s (1975) discussion of the “breakthrough into performance” among the american indian storytellers with whom he worked. in research encounters, hymes (1975) contended, speakers may shift their stance continuously, taking up different positionings—with respect to the audience and the topic of discourse— according to “what the speaker thinks the hearer is capable of understanding” (p. 19) the outcome of such encounters, per hymes (1975), is not just the reproduction of “traditional” texts in expected ways, but a dynamic, emergent breakthrough into performance “in our own time” that makes the past newly relevant to the present and positions the speaker as someone “who would help to shape history” (p. 134; cf. nevins, 2013, p. 93). in the context of araís’s argumentative narrative, the retelling is her closing argument, as it were, and it is likely influenced by my laughter and encouraging response in line 36 (“that’s interesting”). notwithstanding her earlier ambivalence, araís erupts into a flamboyant, humorous retelling of the cousin story to drive her point home: whether or not her cousins have come to accept an intolerable state of affairs as the norm, she, as a transfronteriza, cannot countenance the circulation of damage-centered discourses (cf. tuck, 2009) about the borderlands without regard for their consequences. but, as hymes (1975) would remind us, her repositioning comes in response to her shifting interpersonal stance vis-à-vis her interlocutor (me); she takes my ratification that her story is tellable and worthwhile (in line 36) as an invitation to expand, but also as an opportunity to take a different moral and discursive stance. the subsequent breakthrough into performance is discernible on multiple levels of discursive practice: for example, in addition to the use of spanish in revoicing, araís employs breathy voice quality to embody the faraway, english-speaking narrator in lines 46-49, making it sound as though this person is nearly hyperventilating in their shocked reaction to the article. (one might even say that araís is also putting a lot of cream on the tacos). meanwhile, she “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 175 continues the contrastive use of spatial deixis, paired with salient contrasts in person deixis, that was observed in the previous section: again, “there” meaning matamoros (spoken by the distant, quoted “i” in line 48) is bookended with “over there,” meaning wherever araís imagines the article’s reception. note, however, the movement from relatively more distant to more proximal spaces in the following strip of narration: 42 but you see, like, we read it 43 and then somebody else is gonna read it 44 from like minnesota from canada whatever 45 or not even that far fromroma? or from mcallen 46 and they’re gonna be like, “oh my god, look, it’s really bad.” someone from minnesota or canada might read the story—someone with no prior knowledge of the border, perhaps, or one of the many “snowbirds” from the midwest and canada who winter in the rio grande valley, often with minimal involvement with the local mexicanamerican population (foiles sifuentes, 2015). but someone from “not even that far” (45) might also read the story and come away with a distorted view of matamoros, as araís sees it, from the town of roma, about two hours west of brownsville/matamoros, or even from mcallen, a major city about one hour to the west. thus, in locating her imagined speaker, araís begins far away and moves closer and closer, considering the implications of mass-mediated depictions of the borderlands not only for the perpetuation of stereotypes among distant readers, but for valley-dwellers’ present-day relationships with mexico. it bears mentioning that roma, a relative backwater in starr county, texas, seldom visited by brownsville residents (in my experience), is a strikingly odd choice for this list of places—or it would be, if araís were not aware that i had once lived and taught elementary school there. her repositioning in this section, then, as accomplished through her creative referential practice, is finely tuned to the interactional text of her narrative—in particular, to her concern with what i will think her story has amounted to (jefferson, 1978) and what i, as a teacher, might make of other stories about the borderlands and the students therein. o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 176 conclusions: moral personhood in transfronterizo narrative this narrative, i have argued, gives a glimpse of one transfronteriza’s ideological becoming: for araís to bring about and bring along her identity in the story (baynham, 2014), she must contend with a rabble of other voices, which open up a dialogue within her (urban, 1989), manifested in the textual features of her narrative. these other voices are persistently linked to other times and places: mexico, in the recent past, when she laughed with her cousins; elsewhere in north america, in the future, when an imagined (white, english monolingual) reader will affirm pathologizing representations of the borderlands; somewhere closer, elsewhere in the rio grande valley, also in the future, when someone—someone like me, maybe—may rely on eyecatching headlines to frame their understanding of transfronterizo students like araís. but if araís’s narrative is a struggle over representation, it is also a struggle over self-representation. its argumentative nature is, in part, a way for araís to dramatize an argument with herself about how to mediate between conflicting representations of matamoros and mexico. crucially, she is not doing this merely in order to transform and make sense of personal experience for her own benefit, but is doing it with me, her interlocutor, in mind (wortham, 2000), and the shifts in stance (e.g., her re-alignment with her cousins in the last section) that accompany her shifts in footing can be understood in this light (hymes, 1975). however, as i argued at the beginning of the article, this is not just a matter of selfpositioning in discourse; rather, araís’s discursive practice is a deeply moral activity, both in the sense that it allows her to enact a particular moral stance, in contrast to others, and that it makes implicit moral claims on her interlocutor (anderson, 2009). intercultural encounters, real or imagined, among people whose types of habitus disposed them to relate to the border differently, when transformed in narrative, gave transfronterizo students rich opportunities to work out their own identities and relationships to other people and places. but, as in araís’s case, they also constituted ethical affordances, or “aspects of people’s experiences of themselves, of other people, or of their surround, that they may draw on as they make ethical evaluations and decisions” (keane, 2014, p. 7). on the one hand, her cousins’ dismissiveness invited araís to disalign morally from them, since they had come to accept a situation that was “not normal” (as another student commented) as the status quo. on the other hand, hegemonic damage-centered discourses about the borderlands afforded araís the space to take a clear moral stance against “putting too much cream on the tacos,” a discursive move that had, she suggested, negative “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 177 repercussions for people in her corner of the world. araís and other transfronterizo students in this study and beyond, whatever their relationships to the border, are engaged in a long-term, multifaceted value project (agha, 2015) of figuring out how to live ethically—in their own eyes, and the eyes of family, friends, and others—in a borderlands that has been irrevocably transformed by physical and political violence. here, through fine-grained analysis of one transfronteriza’s narrative practice, i have shown that close attention to such stories can illuminate how the self gets into language (benveniste, 1971), how culture gets into the self (urban, 1989), and how transnational speakers make use of the ethical affordances of narrative to craft moral arguments in trying times. acknowledgements mil gracias to araís and the other student participants, as well as my student co-researchers, valeria de león and grecia garcía. erin debenport, maisa taha, and doris warriner provided extensive feedback and the paper benefited tremendously from their efforts—thank you. thanks also to two anonymous reviewers who commented critically on an earlier draft. i’m grateful to carlos vélez-ibáñez for inviting me to present a version of this paper at the 77th annual meeting of the society for applied anthropology in march 2017, to the other panelists, and to patricia sánchez for her generous commentary and editorial guidance. as always, jennifer and ellenor o’connor made this work possible. o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 178 references adichie, c. (2009). the danger of a single story. retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/ chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript agha, a. (2015). chronotopic formulations and kinship behaviors in social history. anthropological quarterly, 88(2), 401-415. anderson, k. t. (2009). applying positioning theory to the analysis of classroom interactions: mediating micro-identities, macro-kinds, and ideologies of knowing. linguistics and education, 20(4), 291-310. andreas, p. (2009). border games: policing the u.s.–mexico divide. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. bakhtin, m. (1981). discourse in the novel. in m. holquist (ed.), the dialogic imagination (pp. 259422), c. emerson & m. holquist, trans. austin, tx: university of texas press. bakhtin, m. (1984). discourse in dostoevsky. in problems of dostoevsky’s poetics (c. emerson, trans.), (pp. 181-269). minneapolis: mn: university of minnesota press. bakhtin, m. (1986). the problem of speech genres. in m. holquist & c. emerson (eds.), speech genres and other late essays (pp. 60-102), v. mcgee, trans. austin, tx: university of texas press. baynham, m. (2014). identity: brought about or brought along? narrative as a privileged site for researching intercultural identities. in k. risager & f. dervin (eds.), researching identity and interculturality (pp. 73-92). london, uk: routledge. baynham, m., & de fina, a. (2016). narrative analysis in migrant and transnational contexts. in m. martin-jones & d. martin (eds.), researching multilingualism: critical and ethnographic perspectives (pp. 31-45). london, uk: routledge. benveniste, e. (1971). the nature of pronouns. in problems in general linguistics (pp. 217-222), m. e. meek, trans. coral gables, fl: university of miami press. chávez, a. e. (2015). so ¿te fuiste a dallas?(so you went to dallas?/so you got screwed?): language, migration, and the poetics of transgression. journal of linguistic anthropology, 25(2), 150-172. correa‐cabrera, g. (2013). security, migration, and the economy in the texas–tamaulipas border region: the “real” effects of mexico's drug war. politics & policy, 41(1), 65-82. correa-cabrera, g. (2014). violence on the “forgotten” border: mexico's drug war, the state, and the paramilitarization of organized crime in tamaulipas in a “new democratic era”. journal of borderlands studies, 29(4), 419-433. i dalmau, m. s. (2018). exploring the interplay of narrative and ethnography: a critical sociolinguistic approach to migrant stories of dis/emplacement. international journal of the sociology of language, 2018(250), 35-58. davis, j. (2013, october 15). a radical way of unleashing a generation of geniuses. retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2013/10/free-thinkers/. “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 179 de fina, a. (2003). crossing borders: time, space, and disorientation in narrative. narrative inquiry, 13(2), 367-391. de la piedra, m. t., & araujo, b. e. (2012). literacies crossing borders: transfronterizo literacy practices of students in a dual language program on the usa–mexico border. language and intercultural communication, 12(3), 214-229. dick, h. p. (2010). imagined lives and modernist chronotopes in mexican nonmigrant discourse. american ethnologist, 37(2), 275-290. dines, e. r. (1980). variation in discourse—“and stuff like that”. language in society 9(1), 13-31. foiles sifuentes, a. m. (2015). compound communities: fortifying socioeconomic and racial barriers in south texas border towns. north american dialogue, 18(1), 15-25. georgakopoulou, a. (2007). small stories, interaction and identities. philadelphia: john benjamins publishing. haviland, j. b. (2005). dreams of blood: zinacantecs in oregon. in m. baynham & a. de fina (eds.), dislocations/relocations: narratives of displacement (pp. 87-126). manchester: st. jerome publishing. heyman, j. m. (2000). respect for outsiders? respect for the law? the moral evaluation of high scale issues by us immigration officers. journal of the royal anthropological institute, 6(4), 635-652. hill, j., & zepeda, o. (1993). mrs. patricio’s trouble: the distribution of responsibility in an account of personal experience. in j. h. hill & j. t. irvine (eds.), responsibility and evidence in oral discourse (pp. 197-225). cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. hymes, d. (1975). breakthrough into performance. in d. ben-amos & k. goldstein (eds.), folklore: performance and communication (pp. 11-74). the hague: mouton. ingold, t. (2014). that’s enough about ethnography!. hau: journal of ethnographic theory, 4(1), 383-395. irvine, j. t. (2004). say when: temporalities in language ideology. journal of linguistic anthropology, 14(1), 99-109. jefferson, g. (1978). sequential aspects of storytelling in conversation. in j. schenkein (ed.), studies in the organization of conversational interaction (pp. 219-248). new york, ny: academic press. keane, w. (2014). affordances and reflexivity in ethical life: an ethnographic stance. antropological theory, 14(1), 3-26. keane, w. (2015). ethical life: its natural and social histories. princeton, nj: princeton university press. konrad, v., & nicol, h. n. (2011). border culture, the boundary between canada and the united states of america, and the advancement of borderlands theory. geopolitics, 16(1), 70-90. koven, m. e. (1998). two languages in the self/the self in two languages: french‐portuguese bilinguals’ verbal enactments and experiences of self in narrative discourse. ethos, 26(4), 410-455. o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 180 labov, w. (1972). language in the inner city: studies in the black english vernacular. philadelphia: university of pennsylvania press. labov, w., & waletzky, j. (1997/1967). narrative analysis: oral versions of personal experience. journal of narrative and life history, 7(1), 3-38. levey, s. (2012). general extenders and grammaticalization: insights from london preadolescents. applied linguistics, 33(3), 257-281. linde, c. (1993). life stories: the creation of coherence. oxford: oxford university press. lópez, o. (2013, october 18). wired magazine names 12-year-old mexican paloma noyola bueno the next steve jobs. latintimes. retrieved from https://www.latintimes.com/wiredmagazine-names-12-year-old-mexican-paloma-noyola-bueno-next-steve-jobs-coverstory-132087. nevins, j. (2010). operation gatekeeper and beyond: the war on “illegals” and the remaking of the u.s.–mexico boundary. new york, ny: routledge. nevins, m. e. (2013). “grow with that, walk with that”: hymes, dialogicality, and text collections. journal of folklore research 50(1), 79-116. ochs, e., & capps, l. (2001). living narrative: creating lives in everyday storytelling. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. ochs, e., & shohet, m. (2006). the cultural structuring of mealtime socialization. new directions for child and adolescent development, 111, 35-49. o’connor, b. h. (2018). cross-border mobility and critical cosmopolitanism among south texas university students. teachers college record 120(5), 1-54. o’connor, b. h. (forthcoming, 2019). “everything went boom”: kinship narratives of transfronterizo university students. the journal of latin american & caribbean anthropology. doi:10.1111/jlca.12346 relaño pastor, a. m. (2014). shame and pride in narrative: mexican women’s language experiences at the u.s.-mexico border. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. rumsey, a. (2000). agency, personhood and the ‘i’ of discourse in the pacific and beyond. journal of the royal anthropological institute, 6(1), 101-115. schiffrin, d. (2009). crossing boundaries: the nexus of time, space, person, and place in narrative. language in society, 38(4), 421-445. stivers, t., mondada, l., & steensig, j. (2011). knowledge, morality and affiliation in social interaction. in t. stivers, l. mondada, & j. steensig (eds.), the morality of knowledge in conversation (pp. 3-24). cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. tannen, d. (1989). talking voices: repetition, dialogue and imagery in conversational discourse. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. trevino, k. e., & genna, g. m. (2017). the unexpected effects of criminal violence along the mexico-texas border. geopolitics, 22(4), 934-957. tuck, e. (2009). suspending damage: a letter to communities. harvard educational review, 79(3), 409-428. “too much cream on the tacos” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 181 urban, g. (1989). the “i” of discourse. in b. lee & g. urban (eds.), semiotics, self, and society (pp. 27-51). new york, ny: mouton de gruyter. warriner, d. s. (2013). “it’s better life here than there”: elasticity and ambivalence in narratives of personal experience. international multilingual research journal, 7(1), 15-32. wortham, s. e. (1996). mapping participant deictics: a technique for discovering speakers' footing. journal of pragmatics, 25(3), 331-348. wortham, s. e. (2000). interactional positioning and narrative self-construction. narrative inquiry 10(1), 157-184. wortham, s., & reyes, a. (2015). discourse analysis beyond the speech event. new york, ny: routledge. zigon, j., & throop, c. j. (2014). moral experience: introduction. ethos, 42(1), 1-15. volume 14 issue 2 2020 amae invited issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies guest editors josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 cyborg jotería pedagogies: latinx drag queens leveraging communication ecologies in the age of the digital and social displacement josé ramón lizárraga university of colorado, boulder arturo cortez university of colorado, boulder abstract researchers and practitioners have much to learn from drag queens, specifically latinx queens, as they leverage everyday queerness and brownness in ways that contribute to pedagogy locally and globally, individually and collectively. drawing on previous work examining the digital queer gestures of drag queen educators (lizárraga & cortez, 2019), this article explores how nondominant people that exist and fluctuate in the in-between of boundaries of gender, race, sexuality, the physical, and the virtual provide pedagogical overtures for imagining and organizing for new possible futures that are equitable and just. further animated by donna haraway’s (2006) influential feminist post-humanist work, we interrogate how latinx drag queens as cyborgs use digital technologies to enhance their craft and engage in powerful pedagogical moves. this essay draws from robust analyses of the digital presence of and interviews with two latinx drag queens in the san francisco bay area, as well as the online presence of a xicanx doggie drag queen named rupawl. our participants actively drew on their liminality to provoke and mobilize communities around socio-political issues. in this regard, we see them engaging in transformative public cyborg jotería pedagogies that are made visible and historicized in the digital and physical world. keywords: queer pedagogy, digital pedagogy, social justice doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.358 44 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.358 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 introduction as we write this introduction, covid-191 has ravaged the social, cultural, spatial, and economic landscape, particularly impacting the gathering places of non-dominant people around the world disproportionately. san francisco’s stud bar, a queer2 space that has had its own history of closure threats, shuttered its doors after fifty-four years. during a twitch-streamed digital drag funeral held for the stud bar on may 31, 2020, the self-identified trans latina performer rexy regaled the digital stage with a rendition of juan gabriel’s3 “noa noa”: a jubilant anthem to another defunct queer space in ciudad juarez, mexico. this layered performance, characterized by rexy serving as both lead singer and two back-up singers through video editing (see figure 1), punctuated both the grief for the death of yet another queer space and the celebration of the joy these spaces brought our queer communities. figure 1 screenshot from a digital drag funeral for stud bar featuring performer rexy 1 in late 2019, covid-19 emerged as a severe respiratory infectious disease. it resulted in a global pandemic in 2020 that has endured until the writing of this piece, in june of 2020. 2 we use queer to denote a space that is inclusive and central to anti-normative genders and sexualities (warner, 1993). 3 juan gabriel was the stage name of the late alberto aguilera valadez, a famed mexican composer, singer, and queer icon. 45 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 through her playful, gritty performance, rexy leads with hope and possibility as she harkens a not-yet-here (muñoz, 2009): a future that is perhaps beyond the horizon, so as to say that the closure of the stud is not the end. in this small vignette, mediated through digital technologies, we see rexy enacting a playfulness, grittiness (lo sucio), and engagement with posthuman imaginings of a new possible future. in the digital age, and more so during the current pandemic, drag queens have taken to performing on the digital stages of streaming and social media platforms as they are no longer confined to the physical stages of nightclubs. this shift to the digital stage has happened gradually for drag performers but has been accelerated given the covid-19 crisis and the ensuing stay-at-home orders. this has led to publics engaging, learning from, and being mobilized by drag queens on their own time, in their own spaces, and without having to, or being able to, go to the club. this is particularly salient as the stages that once existed for nondominant drag performers have disappeared, given the role of gentrification and the resulting displacement of queer people of color (hutson, 2015; lizárraga & cortez, 2019) and pinkwashing (duggan, 2002) that major cities have undergone over the past 15 years. in this context, latinx drag queens have amplified, troubled, and connected performance and pedagogy. there are new modalities with which the public can engage in drag performance, such as viral music videos, videogame play on twitch channels, and digital drag shows, to name a few. as learning scientists who examine the political and ethical possibilities of relational work, we are interested in the historical formation of authentic and dignity-conferring (espinoza & vossoughi, 2014) relationships that are fostered in digital networks of queer people as they engage publics in practices and activities of social dreaming (espinoza, 2008). in particular, we are interested in how people build with one another to engage in distributed expertise (siemens, 2005), and how these practices mediate how people think and act (pea, 1993). in this respect, given the role that digital technologies play in facilitating new types of collaboration, negotiation, and provocation in everyday practices, we argue that our very bodies are augmented by the everyday tools we use in these new communication ecologies, making us cyborgs (haraway, 2006). lupton (2012) further posits that as cyborgs, we engage in “regular use of computerised devices [that] shape physical aspects of human embodiment, including changing brain structure and functioning, or consciousness, modes of seeing and operating 46 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 within the world” (p. 233). our leveraging of the cyborg helps us argue against the notions that technologies completely determine the function of our daily lives (an overly structural account) or that we have full reign over what we do with technologies (an overly agentic account). instead, we propose that cyborgs navigate structure and agency in sophisticated ways that both leverage and subvert the original designs of creators of the technology (noble, 2018). it is here that we find concrete resonance with the practices of drag queens who, like cyborgs, leverage and subvert the aesthetics of gender performativity (hewitt, 1993). in the following we further claim that the cyborg drag queen is especially equipped to enact the liminality of performativity across the physical and digital realm in powerful pedagogical moves. we heed the call of this special issue on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies to point to the transformational potential of the queer drag cyborg that engages in relational work on digital and social media platforms. in our view, the liminal disposition and pedagogical performativity of the cyborg drag queen is amplified by latinx drag queens who, as nepantleras, navigate the borders of multiple cultural, linguistic, and spatial realities (anzaldúa, 1987). moreover, in an age of the digital and technological cyborg, we are compelled by the potential distributed and multi-sited amplification of these jotería pedagogies by these queens. we draw on previous work examining the digital queer gestures of drag queen educators (lizárraga & cortez, 2019) and the nepantla literacies (lizárraga & gutiérrez, 2018) developed by line-stepping (gutierrez et al., 2017) border-crossing individuals, to explore how non-dominant people that exist and fluctuate in the in-between of boundaries—of gender, race, sexuality, the physical, and the virtual—enact cyborg jotería pedagogies that are playful, gritty (sucio), and decenter the anthropocene through posthumanism. jotería pedagogies and drag queen cyborgs we build upon the work of previous scholars who have outlined a jotería pedagogy. alvarez (2014) offers a working definition: jotería pedagogy focuses on the heterogeneous lives and lived experiences of jotería but also on the erasures and omissions of queer bodies of color. attentive to homophobia, transphobia, anti-immigrant sentiment, ableism, and other forms of institutional and discursive violence, jotería pedagogy is theory and praxis that connects the global, the local, and the individual. it is not shallow multiculturalism, but poses overt critiques of capitalist formations and neoliberal 47 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 agendas. (p. 218) we are inspired by the heterogeneous, and often intersectional, communities that jotería pedagogy centers. further, we are motivated by the activist and counterhegemonic stance such a pedagogy takes against systems that seek to erase and eradicate our queer-of-color communities. finally, as learning scientists, we are compelled by the transformational praxis that can be animated by this pedagogy. we aim to complicate notions of transformation that can emerge simply from connection and access via technologies. specifically, the cyborg helps us see how transmedia mobilization (jenkins, 2016) and transliteracies (stornaiuolo, smith, & phillips, 2017) can offer collective transformation across digital and physical terrains of practice. these considerations resonate profoundly with the types of transformative and expansive learning potential that have been advanced by learning scientists who have examined learning in today’s digital and interconnected world (cf. garcia, 2017; kirshner & middaugh, 2014). by leveraging cyborg theory, as an active interplay between the human and technological, the structural and agentic, we aim to animate jotería pedagogy in ways that do not stop at critiquing formations but rather engage in a reimagining of and organizing toward a new possible world. it is our claim that in order to work towards a queer utopia that josé esteban muñoz (2009) described as an extension of the not-yet-here, a cyborg jotería pedagogy must necessarily engage in both critique and organizing for new possible futures. in an attempt to define a cyborg jotería pedagogy, we bring in the analytic of the digital queer gesture (lizárraga & cortez, 2019) that we have defined as one that “blends the semiotic affordances of video, audio, and text in the digital realm and is animated, hybridized, and revived across time and space to inspire queer latinxs to disrupt taken-for-granted normative practices and discourses” (p. 154). we propose that what makes queer gestures part of a cyborg jotería pedagogy is that they are practices that are oriented toward the future. furthermore, we see queer gestures as, with other enactments of cyborg jotería pedagogy, engaging in forms of mediated praxis (gutiérrez & vossoughi, 2010) that animate personal and collective histories and critique of social formations in order to organize for new learning and transformation. through our analyses of the virtual practices of two latinx drag queens and one xicanx doggie drag queen, we have identified three cyborg jotería pedagogical practices, or digital queer gestures: playful queerness, lo sucio, and the posthuman. playful queerness refers to pedagogical 48 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 practices that center humor and play as avenues for the necessary relational work of teaching and learning. practices of lo sucio (or that which is profane) refers to the enactment of an aesthetic that purposely counters politics of respectability and opens opportunities for imagining decolonial queer futures. finally, posthuman practices move toward challenging human-centeredness in imagined social futures. while we do not claim that cyborg jotería pedagogies are limited to these three practices, we aim to illustrate how these three drag queens skillfully engaged in these salient pedagogical moves. methods for examining jotería in a cyborg world in our work we are especially attuned to the ways that digital technologies mediate learning across the virtual and face-to-face. in doing so, we draw from tools in the digital humanities (jockers, 2013) to capture how ideas travel and are appropriated (rogoff, 1993) by individuals and communities. the examples presented in this article come from network and textual analyses of facebook posts and tweets by our participants and those of our canine avatar rupawl whose content was generated by the first author of this piece. the initial analyses were triangulated by semi-structured interviews that were conducted and transcribed with two of the participants, persia and reina de aztlán. as will become clear in the sections that follow, we have some familiarity with all the participants involved in this work, as we are active members of the queer community in the san francisco bay area. this is to say that our participants were recruited by virtue of our participation in a shared community. in the case of data collected on the activity of rupawl on their social network, which was voiced by the first author, we were keenly aware of our roles as participant-observers (bogdan & biklen, 2007). in this regard we considered our own positionalities as queer scholars of education, how we contributed to the activity of our avatar’s online community, and how members of this community responded to our comments and queries. the multiple data sources that were gathered were triangulated and analyzed using three main processes. first, from a review of our participants’ activity on their social network sites of facebook and twitter, we tabulated the frequency and types of participants’ postings to their digital networks—including their digital artifacts, comments on contributions, and their public communications with others. a second type of analysis was open-ended and focused on thematic codings (bogdan & biklen, 2007; dyson & genishi, 2005) of interviews. through these 49 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 analyses we aimed to elucidate the nature of our participants’ engagement online: their semiotic, linguistic, and social choices, intentions, needs, and aspirations. a third cycle of analysis aimed to identify patterns in clusters of data (huberman, et al., 2014). these clusters and patterns are what inform the findings of this article. digital artifacts were analyzed using previously developed multimodal analysis techniques (hull & nelson, 2005), focusing on how those products conveyed meaning through different semiotic systems (such as image, sound, and language) and through combinations of multiple modes of meaning-making. data was further reduced through analytic memos to help identify salient themes shared across all data. cyborg jotería pedagogies: learning and transformation in the following we present examples of cyborg jotería pedagogical practices that we saw enacted by drag queens connected in a cyborg ecology. first, we revisit persia, a san francisco drag queen who was the subject of our previous writing (lizárraga & cortez, 2019). by continuing an exploration of her4 online and face-to-face practices, we aim to highlight how persia enacts playful queerness as a central tenet to her cyborg jotería pedagogy. we then present reina de aztlán, also a san francisco fixture, to show how centering lo sucio, or that which is unclean, is a potent pedagogical move towards critically examining the humanization of queer people of color, and what it means to be a desirable queer latinx in a rapidly changing city. finally, we present an example of a virtual canine drag queen named rupawl to illustrate how a cyborg jotería pedagogy that engages in the posthuman begins to imagine a queer future that is attuned to the world beyond the human experience. persia and pedagogies of playful queerness as members of the san francisco queer community, we have known persia for close to a decade. we are intimately familiar with her drag performances at the, now shuttered, esta noche night club: a haven for latinx queers. we also have come to know her as a gifted elementary school teacher, where he goes by socrates. in our previous writing of persia (lizárraga & cortez, 2019) we exalted the potent pedagogical contributions of her digital queer gestures, both in her online community and in her experiences as a teacher of fourth graders in a san francisco bay area school. in this aforementioned essay we highlighted the travel of her 4 gender pronouns are self-reported and will fluctuate as we speak about our participants in varying contexts. 50 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 famous “google, google, apps, apps” (persia, 2013) viral video which offered a satirical yet sharp critique of the technology industry-driven displacement of queer people of color in the bay area. in our conversations with persia, she attributes the success of this video to its humor and playfulness. persia’s reputation as an educator who leverages her playfulness has garnered wide attention and resulted in a short feature, produced by san francisco’s kqed public media in the summer of 2017, that highlighted her teaching philosophy (see figure 2). in the following we focus on the signature playful queerness of persia’s cyborg jotería pedagogy, a playfulness that was evident in the “google, google, apps, apps” video and also permeates her practices in other contexts. figure 2 screengrab of video feature on persia (escobar, 2017) in our recent interview with persia, she commented that her playfulness and humor have and continue to be necessary for her survival as a marked queer person. in the context of her upbringing in southeast los angeles, she expressed that play mediated her relationship to hypermasculine cholos in her community. she explains: i was able to make friends with everyone because of my humor and my, i don’t know, my silliness i guess, and the ambiguousness of like “is he really saying sexual queer shit or is he just fucking around?” so i played that very fine line and that was my saving grace. (interview, february, 2020) 51 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 persia links her queerness to playfulness and humor in explicit ways, explaining that because she has and continues to be markedly queer, she needs to be funny. persia explained that even as an out queer teacher (where he goes by his given name socrates) humor and playfulness continues to be a tool for navigating heteronormative spaces where he’s been able to “get away with a lot of things because of [his] humor and [has] been safe because of [his] humor” (interview, february, 2020). persia’s playful queerness manifests in her virtual presence. in addition to her viral “google, google, apps, apps” video, persia has collaborated and starred in other music videos that lampoon elite culture: “santa claus is coming” (2011) and “stop being poor” (2014). in these videos, persia presents a caricature of the hopes and desires of (presumably white) women. both videos make use of sexual innuendo as well as other playful narrative devices to critique the impending sanitation of the san francisco bay, particularly in a time of systemic displacement of the more undesirable “poor” queer people of color. throughout the years, persia has been cognizant of how her online activity permeates to other parts of her life, specifically in her work with youth as a teacher. persia, as socrates, has reported instances where his students will quote from videos that she has published online, often replacing curse words with more child-friendly ones. for instance, in 2017, persia posted excerpt 1 on her social media accounts: excerpt 1: facebook, 2017 when you’re on a field trip with the kids and suddenly they start singing, “google google apps apps, i just wanna be white. for xmas gurl. where the fudge are you moving to?” i cannot! beyond references to these online artifacts, socrates also enacts the playful queer pedagogical practices with his youth in the classroom. currently, persia works as a first-grade teacher at a school in san francisco, california. in her interview she expressed that she often finds herself enacting playful queer banter with her youth, namely the “throwing of shade” or “reading” each other. in a social media post from january 2020, persia recounts an interaction with one of her students in figure 3. here, persia is referring to her absence from teaching due to her performing drag in a local theatre production called “translating selena.” in her facebook post, persia illustrates a 52 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 moment where she brings her identity as a drag performer into the context of the classroom that then offers an opening for her student to engage in a read of her clothing choice. figure 3 facebook post by persia she confesses that this type of shade-throwing is a common practice in her classroom, and is meant to flatten the teacher/student hierarchies. however, she is clear that she draws a distinction between a good-spirited read and mean-spirited attack. moreover, she underscores that this queer pedagogical practice is not enacted simply on a relational level but is part of the intentional design of the social organization of learning (gutiérrez, 2008; gutiérrez & vossoughi, 2010) of her classrooms. persia explains how playfulness is imbedded in the design of learning environments where she can have “order in chaos”: something that i’ve learned over the years is that when i have classes that like say “this is the goal, these are the supplies, now go.” and so when you give kids agency then, it’s, they’re all engaged and that’s been most of my classes, even with the, quote, uhm, the most troubling, you know, groups of students. (interview, february, 2020) this statement illuminates a pedagogical stance that recognizes the heterogeneity of the students in her classroom and a desire to re-mediate (gutiérrez, hunter, & arzubiaga, 2009)— or fully transform at the system level—the deficit lenses that are often used to assess young people at her school. it is our claim that a playful jotería pedagogical stance is what undergirds her practice. we further contend that the permeability of her online queerness (as seen in 53 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 excerpt 1) allows for this jotería to be instrumentalized in the classroom in powerful ways that impact learning for youth. alvarez (2014) reminds us that a jotería pedagogue “[r]equires the teacher to share some of his or her own story, to become vulnerable, to be a translator and an architect of bridges between different worlds” (p. 218). indeed, persia does this as part of her normative practice as a cyborg who blends her online, in-person, drag queen, and teacher identities across her everyday contexts. through her unabashed queer performance across the digital and faceto-face stage, she ushers her young learners to imagine a queered social organization of learning in her classrooms where the encapsulation of formal and informal learning spaces (engeström, 1991) and teacher/student hierarchies are ruptured, mediated by playful queer practices such as “throwing shade.” pedagogies of lo sucio our second example of cyborg jotería pedagogies revolves around the practices of san francisco drag queen reina de aztlán. a self-professed activist drag performer, reina is a mainstay of the alternative drag scene. reina also works as a prep and hiv benefits and navigation manager at a local non-profit organization. we first met reina through mutual friends who are active in the queer health community of the san francisco bay area. we soon became familiar with her edgy, avant-garde drag performances as well as her prolific online presence. in our conversation with her, reina de aztlán admits that her everyday activist work and paid job are inextricably entwined and that her online presence is an important part of her practices across the multiple terrains that she navigates. reina further underscores that her engagement in all she does is marked by an unapologetic grittiness, which we have come to describe as pedagogical practices of lo sucio. reina de aztlán boasts an online following of close to five thousand on facebook. she reports that her following consists of members of the diverse communities that she is part of, including the drag community, the queer of color community, the immigrant community, and the aids health communities. in this respect, her online presence has a broad reach and therefore has far-reaching pedagogical potential. reina states that she curates her content in ways that are intentionally provocative and unsanitized in order to have impact in these varied social networks. 54 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 reina is no stranger to controversy and public displays of resistance. in 2015, she was prominently featured in news coverage of a protest calling for an end to the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants, specifically those who are lgbtq and have been reported to be abused in detention facilities (schiavenza, 2015). she, along with four other protestors, were arrested for failure to disperse after an unlawful assembly. the news report (abc7 eyewitness news, 2015) and images of her arrest were distributed across her social network, sparking conversation and admiration from members of her intersecting communities, namely the queer and immigrant ones (see figure 4). in her work, reina explains her position: the things that i still have tension within this thing around not wanting to conform, not wanting to be, you know, respectable; in the way that i speak, in the way that i dress, in the way that i engage with folks, like at work, or just everywhere. blurring that line between like professionalism and protocols and like actually connecting with folks. because from my experience in the healthcare system, these notions of professionalism, these strict boundaries, these protocols, are not just symbolically or figuratively, but they [are] quite literally killing people. (interview, february, 2020) reina de aztlán’s aversion to institutional protocols and respectability stem from personal experiences through the juvenile detention system and being hyper-surveilled and criminalized as a young queer person of color. she also is open about her substance use at a young age. in this sense, she states that for many the interrogation of systemic oppression of people of color is theoretical but for her it is embodied. in our view, reina animates her jotería pedagogy by historicizing these embodied experiences, in ways that are intentionally counterhegemonic and lack respectability. reina de aztlán’s lack of reverence for respectability manifests as a sucio aesthetic and pedagogical practice. while she appreciates and is involved in many genres of drag in the san francisco bay area, she is especially drawn to the grotesque, punk, and anti-establishment aesthetic which can carry a strong political message. further, she states that “the gross is fun and so natural,” underscoring that often latinx drag has to be sanitized and refined to be accepted and legitimized: a cultural practice in the latinx drag scene that she aims to disrupt. in our interview with her, reina states that she draws a lot of inspiration from other latinx activist drag performers who also engage in lo sucio and the political. one significant inspiration 55 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 is the late hija de perra5 who was active in chile and engaged in political drag performances. hija de perra’s work inspired reina to produce and perform a faux scatological piece at a san francisco bar. the performance garnered much attention on social media, at times lauded for its avant-gardeness and others derided for its shock value. figure 4 screenshot of video showing reina de aztlán being arrested however, reina’s performances on the digital and face-to-face stage exalt the profane and unclean as part of the human condition. more importantly, she foregrounds human desire and pleasure that can often involve sex and consuming substances. reina aims to push the limits of representation on both the digital and in-person stage in an attempt to reach those members of her community who can often feel ostracized for their drug use or other social practices that are seen as profane. relatedly, reina explained her desire to trouble the false dichotomy of addiction and sobriety: a dichotomy that she feels leads to the social disposal of individuals who do not conform to these politics of respectability. social media posts that arguably glorify drug use, like the one shown in figure 5, offer openings for reina’s followers to have conversations about substance use that are not framed in the deficit. this is important for reina’s work in public health with vulnerable communities, 5 hija de perra was a famous drag performer in chile. her performances were characterized by a strange, humorous, and hypersexual aesthetic. she was known for her constant critique of chilean conservative society. 56 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 specifically queer people of color. reina confesses that she does not have sufficient data to determine the broader impact of her pedagogy of lo sucio but that she has had individuals tell her that her posts that are accompanied with commentary have helped shift their perceptions on addiction which often hinge on socially discarding those who use substances or forced into coercive rehabilitation. figure 5 facebook post caricaturing reina’s use of substances instead, these individuals have communicated to reina their shifted intentions: this person is like literally saying, like “here on out i’m able to, whoever i 57 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 encounter, approach with compassion, approach with love, with understanding.” and that’s just less people being ostracized, it’s less people, you know, being socially excluded or killed. (interview, february, 2020) reina told us that several people have communicated these types of sentiments and shifts in their thinking about substance use, specifically from a perspective that offers connections on a compassionate level and aims to parse out the individual from broader structural narratives around the addiction. however, sometimes these sucio pedagogical moves are not well received by her communities, but she argues for maintaining a more critical view: like i said, i’d rather put myself out there and do the best that i can, and feel good and sometimes not, because it sucks you know, i lose friends. people will be like “oh i have addiction stuff and you trigger me so i can’t talk to you anymore.” uhm, and those kinds of things hurt, but it’s also like, at the end of the day for me it’s like greater than that relationship, it’s like countless people, literally being harmed because of the way that we see things and i respect people’s boundaries and triggers. but i often think triggers are confused with uncomfortability, as you may know, uhm and they’re just used to justify, you know on the very micro level, ending relationships and on the macro level incarcerating and killing people, and denying them health services, and denying them housing. reina de aztlán is astutely aware of the broader impact of her sucio cyborg jotería pedagogy in facing structures of oppression head-on and the potential for changing those structures. indeed, in her interview, she reveals that she often positions herself, both online and in-person, as a person who has used and continues to use substances, and whose life has been “fucked” up but, oftentimes, not because of drugs. rather, she explains that her life has been difficult because of a racist juvenile justice system, the policing of her communities, and a faulty education system. in her work, we believe that reina enacts vargas’s (2014), lo sucio aesthetic of “lewd, obscene, offensive hypersexual undisciplined bodies” (p. 716) that aids in “cultivat[ing] a presence and lingering perseverance of queer sex and joy within neoliberal heteroand homonormative violences” (p. 715). she does so in ways that center the human condition as innately imperfect and that critically interrogate the structures that oppress peoples. in the context of a highly regulated society that often seeks to sanitize queer bodies of color, her sucio 58 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 cyborg pedagogical practices on the digital and face-to-face stage can be met and received varyingly. however, this does not make her pedagogy any less revolutionary. rupawl and jotería pedagogies of the posthuman we end with an example from a personal project involving our chihuahua named xóchitl, also known as rupawl, the world’s first doggie drag queen. rupawl emerged as an online creative project after multiple face-to-face interactions with strangers where they aggressively inquired about our dog’s gender and were not satisfied with our usual response of “they haven’t chosen one yet.” in response, the first author, dr. lizárraga, created an online identity where they dressed the dog as cast members (figure 6) from the popular reality television show rupaul’s drag race. from the onset, the content posted on rupawl’s instagram and twitter accounts were meant to underscore the performativity of gender (butler, 2006) and how people’s obsession with classifying the binary of gender extended to relationships with animals. in this regard, we became interested in examining how the online practices of an anthropomorphized chihuahua would engage with posthuman cyborg jotería pedagogies that imagine a queer world that considers a broader non-human ecology. figure 6 rupawl dressed as rupaul’s drag race alum ongina. 59 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 in many respects, rupawl is a manifestation of both the aforementioned playful and lo sucio cyborg jotería pedagogical practice, by both engaging in meme culture and countering notions of respectability. our pivot toward examining rupawl’s online presence and influence as a posthuman jotería is meant to underscore the ways in which digitized social media can mediate engagement around key socio-political issues even when the boundaries between the human and machine are blurred, and, indeed, the human face is not visible. we are especially compelled by gough’s (2004) guidance in seeing the “ways that the ‘machineries’ of texts constitute sociotechnical relations, and the textual and intertextual effects of cyborg relations in transgressing and transforming the discursive fields in which they move” (p. 255). that is to say, that if indeed a cyborg analytic can help us disrupt notions that there is an essential human, then how can a perceived non-human actant (rupawl) help animate new ways of seeing and engaging in the world? we take heed from this examination of the cyborg and the posthuman to take a close look at how an anthropomorphized chihuahua, who dresses like popular drag queens, can mediate conversations around serious issues by leading with playfulness and their distinct posthumanism. rupawl has a considerable following on both instagram and twitter. given the liminality of their identity (as a chihuahua who dresses in drag), rupawl has a following that consists of drag queens (those formerly and currently on rupaul’s drag race and queens from local scenes), dog lovers, a-list celebrities, queer communities, and even gay pornography actors. however, they also have a solid following of prominent learning scientists and scholars of queer studies. in this regard, our canine avatar crosses the boundaries of the everyday and the academic, and of the respectable and lo sucio. our claim is that this is facilitated by the posthuman cyborg pedagogical practice that obfuscates the human user (the first author of this piece). in one such instance, rupawl engages in a serious conversation around the merits of a college education with a famous drag queen, winner of the eighth season of the reality television show rupaul’s drag race. in the exchange captured in figure 7, rupawl responds to bob the drag queen’s initial claim that “college is the biggest and most successful scam” by offering a more nuanced perspective. namely, our perceived non-human actant challenges the generalizing statement by offering a historical context, specifically in regards to how higher education (while faulty) can and has benefited non-dominant populations in important ways, economically and socially. our 60 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 claim here is that this exchange was made possible by rupawl’s intersectional celebrity status across multiple terrains: that of the drag community and that of the academic community. figure 7 rupawl twitter discussion with bob the drag queen we propose that someone of bob the drag queen’s celebrity, and status as a public figure, was comfortable engaging in an online conversation that was academic in nature, to the extent that it was being had with an anthropomorphized doggie drag queen. further, the posthuman 61 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 jotería pedagogical practice was directed both at the celebrity drag queen and the broader audience that both bob the drag queen and rupawl reach in their social networks. rupawl’s playful posthuman pedagogy is akin to gough’s (2004) exploration of the enigmatic cyberneticist mayakovsky’s children’s book called cyberantics. as explained by gough (2004), this oeuvre reported mayakovsky’s purported research findings of a cybernetic ant that he had created and introduced into an ant colony. the book was widely derided by the research community because of its fantastical claims and genre. however, gough (2004) notes a key feature of the book that is instrumental to our argument here: as i argue at much greater length elsewhere, much fiction (including children’s fiction but especially science fiction) is ‘more faithful to the aims’ of education than the ‘dogma and conceit’ of many contemporary education texts . . . also, by being cast within the conventions of a children’s talking animal story, cyberantics invites the reader to bring the wide range of cultural meanings associated with this literary mode to bear on the text, such as mocking and subverting the modern scientific practice of maintaining clear distinctions between humans and other beings. (p. 258) rupawl, much like cyberantics, subverts the conventions of human to human interactions and pedagogy. as a cyborg jotería pedagogy, rupawl’s practices further queer the boundaries of being and knowing by proposing that a queer identity and engagement with deep social issues can extend beyond the human. this was in no small part due to the fact that rupawl is voiced by the first author who embodies a queer identity and is active in social issues through his scholarship. discussion and concluding thoughts in our view, the vignettes presented in this article illustrate the powerful learning and transformation facilitated by cyborg jotería pedagogies—manifesting as practices of playfulness, lo sucio, and the posthuman. from our previously developed analytic, we see these practices as nuanced instantiations of a digital queer gesture that “blends the semiotic affordances of video, audio, and text in the digital realm, [and] is animated, hybridized, and revived across time and space to inspire queer latinxs to disrupt taken-for-granted normative practices and discourses” (lizárraga & cortez, 2019, p. 154). as exemplified by persia, reina de aztlán, and rupawl, everyday queerness, while seemingly innocuous, has the power to catalyze learning across digital and physical ecologies. 62 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 it is important to note that there are likely other cyborg jotería pedagogical practices that are not accounted for in this article. further, we hope that we have made clear that all of our participants enacted the three described practices to varying degrees. in this regard, while we have outlined three discrete cyborg jotería pedagogical practices through our examples, it is helpful to see them as part of a repertoire of practices that can often be enacted in combination depending on an individual’s intent (gutiérrez & rogoff, 2003). our work aims to contribute to understandings of how to leverage everyday practices of non-dominant individuals. moreover, we offer considerations for how to design learning opportunities for non-dominant communities in a digitally-mediated ecology that is unprecedented in its connectivity, with access to flows of information and texts on a global and local scale, as castells (1996, 2011, 2015) reminds us. in this regard, researchers and practitioners must take heed of broad shifts in how access to knowledge is becoming increasingly democratized and how it has charted new possibilities for social transformation (couldry, 2012; de kosnik, 2016). an equity focus on teaching and learning in a cyborg world is particularly pressing in these uncertain times. through the examples described, we offer openings for exploring the critical pedagogical moves that everyday digital technologies can mediate, specifically in advancing cyborg jotería pedagogies. we have much to learn specifically from cyborg drag queens, whose use of media across physical and digital terrains contribute to the learning of broader communities in ways that shift perceptions around the displacement and visibility of queer latinx communities. our analysis reveals that participants actively drew on their liminality to provoke and mobilize communities in local contexts, and beyond, around socio-political issues. in this regard, we see persia, reina de aztlán, and rupawl engaging in transformative pedagogies that are made visible and historicized in the digital and physical world. by amplifying the powerful transformative work of these nepantlera (pacheco, 2014) cyborg drag queens, we highlighted how nondominant populations leverage and repurpose digital instruments to organize for new social futures. 63 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 references abc7 eyewitness news. (2015, may 28). dozens protest incarceration of lgbtq immigrants in santa ana; 5 activists arrested. https://abc7.com/746801/ alvarez, e. f. (2014). jotería pedagogy, swapa, and sandovalian approaches to liberation. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 215–228. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera. aunt lute. bogdan, r. c., & biklen, s. k. (2007). research for education: an introduction to theories and methods. allyn & bacon. butler, j. (2006). performative acts and gender constitution: an essay in phenomenology and feminist theory. in m. arnot & m. mac an ghaill, the routledgefalmer reader in gender & education (pp. 73–83). routledge. castells, m. (1996). the information age (vol. 98). blackwell publishers. castells, m. (2011). the rise of the network society (vol. 12). john wiley & sons. castells, m. (2015). networks of outrage and hope: social movements in the internet age (2nd ed.). polity press. couldry, n. (2012). media, society, world: social theory and digital media practice. polity. de kosnik, a. (2016). rogue archives: digital cultural memory and media fandom. mit press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10248.001.0001 duggan, l. (2002). the new homonormativity: the sexual politics of neoliberalism. in r. castronovo & d.d. nelson (eds.), materializing democracy: toward a revitalized cultural politics (pp. 175–194). duke university press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822383901007 dyson, a. h., & genishi, c. (2005). on the case: approaches to language and literacy research. teachers college press. engeström, y. (1991). non scolae sed vitae discimus: toward overcoming the encapsulation of school learning. learning and instruction, 1(3), 243–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/09594752(91)90006-t espinoza, m. l. (2008). humanization and social dreaming: a case study of changing social relations in a summer migrant educational program. [doctoral dissertation, university of california]. proquest dissertations and theses global. espinoza, m. l., & vossoughi, s. (2014). perceiving learning anew: social interaction, dignity, and educational rights. harvard educational review, 84(3), 285–313. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.3.y4011442g71250q2 garcia, a. (2017). good reception: teens, teachers, and mobile media in a los angeles high school. mit press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10215.001.0001 gough, n. (2004). rhizomantically becoming‐cyborg: performing posthuman pedagogies. educational philosophy and theory, 36(3), 253–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.14695812.2004.00066.x gutiérrez, k. d. (2008). developing a sociocritical literacy in the third space. reading research quarterly, 43(2), 148–164. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.43.2.3 gutiérrez, k. d., cortes, k., cortez, a., digiacomo, d., higgs, j., johnson, p., lizárraga, j.r., mendoza, e., tien, j., & vakil, s. (2017). replacing representation with imagination: finding ingenuity in everyday practices. review of research in education, 41(1), 30–60. https://www.doi.org/10.3102/0091732x16687523 64 https://abc7.com/746801/ https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10248.001.0001 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822383901-007 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822383901-007 https://doi.org/10.1016/0959-4752(91)90006-t https://doi.org/10.1016/0959-4752(91)90006-t https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.3.y4011442g71250q2 https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10215.001.0001 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00066.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00066.x https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.43.2.3 https://www.doi.org/10.3102/0091732x16687523 cyborg jotería pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 gutiérrez, k. d., hunter, j. d., & arzubiaga, a. (2009). re-mediating the university: learning through sociocritical literacies. pedagogies: an international journal, 4(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/15544800802557037 gutiérrez, k. d., & rogoff, b. (2003). cultural ways of learning: individual traits or repertoires of practice. educational researcher, 32(5), 19–25. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x032005019 gutiérrez, k. d., & vossoughi, s. (2010). lifting off the ground to return anew: mediated praxis, transformative learning, and social design experiments. journal of teacher education, 61(12), 100–117. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109347877 haraway, d. (2006). a cyborg manifesto: science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late 20th century. in j. weiss, j. nolan, j. hunsinger & p. trifonas (eds.), the international handbook of virtual learning environments (vol. 1, pp. 117–158). springer. hewitt, m. a. (1993). cyborgs, drag queens, and goddesses: emancipatory regressive paths in feminist theory. method & theory in the study of religion, 5(2), 135–154. https://doi.org/10.1163/157006893x00100 huberman, a. m., miles, m., & saldaña, j. (2014). qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook (4th ed.). sage. hull, g. a., & nelson, m. e. (2005). locating the semiotic power of multimodality. written communication, 22(2), 224–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088304274170 hutson, m.a. (2015). the urban struggle for economic, environmental and social justice: deepening their roots. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315745527 jenkins, h. (2016). youth voice, media, and political engagement. in h. jenkins, s. shresthova, l. gamber-thompson, n. kligler-vilenchik & a.m. zimmerman, by any media necessary: the new youth activism (pp. 1–60). new york university press. jockers, m. l. (2013). macroanalysis: digital methods and literary history. university of illinois press. https://doi.org/10.5406/illinois/9780252037528.001.0001 kirshner, b., & middaugh, e. (eds.). (2014). #youthaction: becoming political in the digital age. information age publishing. escobar, c. (2017, june 20). storytime in stilettos. kqed arts. https://www.kqed.org/arts/13472763/storytime-and-stilettos-with-persia lizárraga, j.r. & cortez, a. (2019). #gentrification, cultural erasure, and the (im)possibilities of digital queer gestures. in a. de kosnik, & k. feldman (eds.), #identity: hashtagging race, gender, sex, and nation (pp. 152–164). university of michigan press. lizárraga, j. r., & gutiérrez, k. d. (2018). centering nepantla literacies from the borderlands: leveraging “in-betweenness” toward learning in the everyday. theory into practice, 57(1), 38–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2017.1392164 lupton, d. (2012). m-health and health promotion: the digital cyborg and surveillance society. social theory & health, 10(3), 229–244. https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2012.6 muñoz, j.e. (2009). cruising utopia: the then and there of queer futurity. new york university press. noble, s. u. (2018). algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism. nyu press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1pwt9w5 pacheco, m. (2014). nepantleras in the new latino diaspora: the intersectional experiences of bi/multilingual youth. in c.a. grant & e. zwier (eds.), intersectionality and urban education: identities, policies, spaces & power (pp. 97–123). information age publishing, inc. 65 https://doi.org/10.1080/15544800802557037 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x032005019 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109347877 https://doi.org/10.1163/157006893x00100 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0741088304274170 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315745527 https://doi.org/10.5406/illinois/9780252037528.001.0001 https://www.kqed.org/arts/13472763/storytime-and-stilettos-with-persia https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2017.1392164 https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2012.6 https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1pwt9w5 lizárraga & cortez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 pea, r. d. (1993). practices of distributed intelligence and designs for education. in g. salomon (ed.), distributed cognitions: psychological and educational considerations (pp. 47–87). cambridge university press. persia. (2011, december 15). santa clause is coming [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbs0gzv5zkk persia. (2013, july 1). google google apps apps [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyqbc7sq4w persia. (2014, june 30). stop being poor [video]. youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieslnx0b4l8 persia. (2017, june 23). when you're on a field trip with the kids and suddenly they start singing, "google google apps apps, i just wanna be white. for xmas gurl. where the fudge are you moving to?" [status update]. facebook. https://www.facebook.com/lovepersia/posts/10210819973909248 rogoff, b. (1993). children’s guided participation and participatory appropriation in sociocultural activity. in r. h. wozniak & k. w. fischer (eds.), development in context: acting and thinking in specific environments (pp. 121–153). lawrence erlbaum associates, inc. schiavenza, m. (2015, june 28). lgbt activists are still fighting. the atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/06/ice-transgender-lgbtimmigrants/397046/ siemens, g. (2005). connectivism: learning as network-creation. astd learning news, 10(1), 1–28. stornaiuolo, a., smith, a., & phillips, n. c. (2017). developing a transliteracies framework for a connected world. journal of literacy research, 49(1), 68–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x16683419 vargas, d. r. (2014). ruminations on "lo sucio" as a latino queer analytic. american quarterly, 66(3), 715–726. https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2014.0046 warner, m. (ed.). (1993). fear of a queer planet: queer politics and social theory (vol. 6). university of minnesota press. 66 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbs0gzv5zkk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyqbc7sq4w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieslnx0b4l8 https://www.facebook.com/lovepersia/posts/10210819973909248 https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/06/ice-transgender-lgbt-immigrants/397046/ https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/06/ice-transgender-lgbt-immigrants/397046/ https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x16683419 https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2014.0046 lizarraga & cortez_final page proof amae 2020 invited issue cover page http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ zerquera, acevedo-gil, flores, & marantal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 86 repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollments in community colleges desiree d. zerquera university of san francisco nancy acevedo-gil california state university, san bernardino elizabeth flores university of california, davis patrick marantal university of san francisco abstract this study used descriptive statistics to complicate the national narrative of latina/o/x student college-going trends and aims to provide directions for future research on latina/o/x students in the community college. taking a state-by-state perspective, this study examined whether latina/o/x college students enrolled in community colleges at higher rates than four-year colleges. the data for this study derived primarily from the integrated postsecondary education data system (ipeds) enrollment survey for all states and sectors of higher education for the 20122013 academic year. we used geographic information systems (gis) to spatially analyze and compare proportions of latina/o/x undergraduate enrollments between sectors within states, then across states. our analysis disaggregated enrollment data by state to reveal important variations among latina/o/x student enrollments at community colleges across the u.s. in so doing, we aim to inform the work of researchers, policy makers, administrators and educators in efforts to support the educational pathways of latina/o/x students in the u.s. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.1.379 repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 87 introduction the community college system has been described as the “dominant educational vehicle” for latina/o/x1 students pursuing higher education in the united states (martinez & fernandez, 2004, p. 59). recent data supports this characterization of national latina/o/x college enrollment trends (fry, 2002; kurlaender, 2006; national center for educational statistics, 2014; rendon & nora, 1989) as 56% of all latina/o/x undergraduates across the united states were enrolled in community colleges in 2014, compared to a 42% concentration of enrollment by non-latina/o/x counterparts (ma & baum, 2016). these data and the narrative they support are used to inform and rationalize research, policy, and practice surrounding latina/o/x students and higher education. however, the use of national data to describe enrollment rates fails to account for how college going might vary drastically across different contexts. some research points to differing trends across state contexts. for instance, while national enrollment trends demonstrate high proportions of latina/o/x students in community colleges, gross and colleagues’ (2014) and zerquera and gross’ (2017) research in indiana—a state where latina/o/xs comprise just six percent of the overall state’s population and less than one percent of the entire us latina/o/x population (pew research center, 2016)—found higher concentrations of latina/o/x students in regional universities. simultaneously, high enrollments of latina/o/x in community colleges remain true for california, where over 60% of latina/o/x undergraduates are enrolled in the state’s 114 community colleges (malcom-piqueux, 2013; moore & schulock, 2010; the campaign for college opportunity, 2015). however, california’s latina/o/x population makes up more than one-fourth of all latina/o/xs in the u.s. (krogstad & lopez, 2015). from a data analyst perspective, we can see how national data trends would be influenced by trends in california in ways that would mask the distinct trends in states like indiana that boast just 0.8 percent of the national population of latina/o/x individuals. the latina/o/x educational experiences vary widely across the u.s., pending policies related to immigration status, institutional climate, and history, which influence outcomes within different student populations (nuñez & crisp, 2012; nuñez, hoover, pickett, stuart-carruthers, & vazquez, 2013; nguyen et al., 2017). additionally, policies and structures within higher 1 throughout this article, the authors intentionally employ the term latina/o/x in effort to support inclusivity of all latina/o/x-identified peoples regardless of gender identity or expression. for a detailed discussion regarding the use of the “x” signifer, see m. de onis (2017). repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 88 education systems vary widely by state (martinez & fernandez, 2004) and influence latina/o/x postsecondary enrollments (romano, 2012). for instance, tuition costs for public higher education systems and the financial support available to students range by state (baum, ma, pender, & welch, 2016; baum & payea, 2013) and influence the accessibility of certain college pathways, for latina/o/x students in particular (cunningham & santiago, 2008; kim, 2004; nuñez & kim, 2012). moreover, state planning and mission differentiation efforts to contribute to stratification by race across state systems (bastedo & gumport, 2003); and states have responded to serving shifting demographics through higher education in varying ways (hatch, uman, & garcia, 2016). thus, as research demonstrates, distinct state contexts shape access to educational opportunity for latina/o/x communities; however, research predominantly maintains a decontextualized understanding of enrollment patterns across different states. these differing contexts of latina/o/x student experiences suggest that more nuance is needed in understanding latina/o/x college-going trends. the masking of this diversity in the latina/o/x experience has implications for the ways latina/o/x students are supported and their pathways structured. a monolithic perspective of the latina/o/x community poses challenges to determining adequate state-based and regional policies and practices that reflect the specific needs of the latina/o/x community being served. as such, this work responds to a need for research to contextualize data in an examination of the extent to which community colleges are the dominant vehicle to higher education for latina/o/x students across the nation. this study uses descriptive statistics to complicate the national narrative of latina/o/x student college going and aims to provide directions for future research on latina/o/x students in the community college. first, we provide an overview of the latina/o/x population in the u.s., highlighting demographic representation across states and contextualizing the growth and changes in the population in recent decades. second, we discuss the shaping of higher education opportunity for latina/o/x students in the u.s., highlighting key gaps in the capturing of more robust understandings of latina/o/x college going across the u.s. we continue with an explanation of methods, presentation of findings, and discussion of findings in light of the literature that follows. latina/o/x population in the u.s. nguyen and colleagues (2017) call for clarification of the heterogeneity among latina/o/xs to inform research and policy, which includes diversity that reflects the geography of where they repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 89 are located in the u.s. as such, we situate our analysis of data within consideration of the varying state contexts that might shape latina/o/x college-going trends. the majority of latina/o/xs in the u.s. have historically resided in a handful of states and more than half of the 55 million latina/o/x individuals reside in california, texas, and florida (u.s. census bureau, 2012). over a quarter of all latina/o/xs in the u.s. live in california alone and the los angeles region is home to six million latina/o/xs (pew hispanic research center, 2016). additional states such as new york, illinois, and states in the southwest also boast significant latina/o/x populations (u.s. census bureau, 2012). though sometimes in much smaller numbers, latina/o/x students reside in all states across the nation. the population growth over the past decade has drawn particular attention to some of the regions with lower latina/o/x populations where growth has been particularly significant. while latina/o/x population growth across the u.s. was about 10% between 2000 and 2010, specific states noted a surge in the latina/o/x population (u.s. census, 2012). for instance, some states in areas of the midwest and south, such as alabama and indiana, saw increases by as much as 150% (u.s. census, 2012). latest census figures support this trend of fast growth in these nontraditional regions, and highlight the dakotas as another region of substantial growth (stepler & lopez, 2016). although mathematically, smaller population numbers are more sensitive to change, 1,000 new latina/o/x residents in south dakota will have a larger proportional impact than 1,000 in california. these population changes indicate a rapid influx of latina/o/x students in certain states and regions, potentially faster than some states may be able to manage. at the same time that the overall latina/o/x population is increasing, as is their growth in our nation’s educational systems. nationwide, latina/o/x students represent one in four k-12 students (excelencia in education, 2015). the percent of latina/o/x students who complete high school and enroll in college has also increased from 22% in 1993 to 35% in 2014 (krogstad, 2016). thus, amidst this growth many leaders and practitioners within schools and colleges across the country may be challenged with how to best support their emerging populations and turn to current research to inform their practice, which may be misaligned with the needs of the populations within their states (nuñez et al., 2013). despite the differences between states, research on latina/o/x students remains focused on the experiences of students primarily in california and texas. this occurs in two ways: repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 90 intentionally as a site of study, which reflects the focus of policy makers and researchers residing within or who come from these regions (e.g., hagedorn, chi, cepeda, & mclain, 2007; solórzano, datnow, park & watford, 2013); or as a function of national analyses in which numbers mask distinction among students in states with smaller numbers (e.g., crisp & nora, 2010; kurlaender, 2006). this provides the crux of a need for our current study and is worth belaboring. for instance, if a researcher conducts a national study of 1,000 latina/o/x college students, reflective of the entire population in the u.s. within this group, 271 would be from california and 181 from texas, while three would be from kentucky, two from delaware, one each from the states of montana, new hampshire, and mississippi. there would be no one from vermont, maine, or west virginia; thus, the findings would not reflect the experiences of latina/o/x students in those states. in essence, this approach sends a message to the 68,000 latina/o/xs students living in vermont, maine, north dakota, and west virginia (analysis of ipeds data by authors) that their postsecondary experiences are not significant enough to study. such a study provides researchers and policy makers with the permission to advance policy decisions and practices that may be grossly misaligned with the needs of latina/o/x students in their states. in examining state-level enrollment patterns, the following section highlights the limited research on latina/o/x student college enrollments and provides additional contexts to consider. latina/o/x college enrollments research within the traditional approaches described has found that latina/o/x students are more likely than white students to enroll in less-selective and open-access institutions, despite variances in gender, costs, and financial resources (fry, 2004; kurlaender, 2006; o’connor, 2009; perna, 2000; schudde & goldrick-rab, 2015; tovar, 2015). these trends may be explained, at least in part, by latina/o/x students’ emphasis on attending institutions that are in close proximity to home. colleges within proximity become convenient choices for enrollment, allowing students to stay or be near home for financial or personal reasons (lópez turley, 2009). more than a cost-based decision, choosing colleges close to home reflects latina/o/x cultural values to remain near family (cejda, casparis, rhodes, & kelly, 2008; santiago, 2007), as parents play an important role in motivating and supporting latina/o/x students in their educational pursuits (ceja, 2004; gándara, 1996; sánchez, reyes, & singh, 2005). with community colleges situated in more accessible locations and offering a more inclusive campus environment (hagedorn et al., 2007; repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 91 jones, 2013; levin, haberler, walker, & jackson-boothby, 2014), it makes sense that latina/o/x students enroll in these institutions at higher rates. high concentrations of latina/o/x students in community colleges go beyond access and initial choice for institution of attendance. notably, much research has found that latina/o/x students enroll in community colleges with the intention of transferring to a four-year institution to earn a baccalaureate degree (bailey, jenkins, & leinbach, 2007; wang, 2012). however, studies find that 10% transfer to a four-year college (solórzano, villalpando, & oseguera, 2005), while 14% complete a four-year degree (radford, berkner, wheeless, & shepherd, 2010). nevertheless, a number of latina/o/x students remain within community colleges for extended periods because of high and prolonged enrollment in developmental education courses, poor or inaccessible advising, and part-time attendance (acevedo-gil, santos, & solórzano, 2014; grubb et al., 2011; ornelas & solórzano, 2004). thus, given the institutional forces shaping latina/o/x student experiences and the specific preferences and needs of latina/o/x students, it is not surprising that research has consistently found the majority of latina/o/x enrollments concentrated in community colleges (fry, 2002; kurlaender, 2006; rendon & nora, 1989). while previous studies examine the large concentration of latina/o/x students enrolled in community colleges (e.g., heller, 1999; kurlaender, 2006; nuñez, sparks, & hernández, 2011; o’connor, 2009), it is not without complication. specifically, the majority of these studies focus on aggregated national data (e.g., kurlaender, 2006), california-centric data (e.g., hagedorn et al., 2007), and data that may no longer be timely enough to capture our current context of latina/o/x educational experiences (e.g., heller, 1999). these approaches raise questions as to what is actually reflected in national rates and how this national focus may mislead and misinform even the best of intentioned efforts. some exceptions that help address a need for more nuance in understanding latina/o/x educational experiences include gross and colleagues’ (2013, 2014, 2017) work in indiana which notably highlights the distinct college-going patterns of latina/o/x students who enroll in regionalserving universities in greater numbers than they do in the state’s community colleges. in a national study, hatch, uman, and garcia (2016) examined state-by-state differences in the achievement of equity across the nation, noting that this achievement varied across states in keeping up with population growth. in a different approach, torres and zerquera (2012) examined institutional readiness to serve latina/o/x students in rapid population growth regions, http://journals.sagepub.com/author/hern%c3%a1ndez%2c+eliza+a repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 92 centering the challenge on colleges and universities to be aware of the distinct needs of their diversifying populations and advancing a need for research to do the same. each of these studies highlight the importance of pushing latina/o/x student research to account for variation across the u.s. the state context of latina/o/xs’ educational experiences must be considered to better serve this population largely marginalized by the educational system. through an aggregated, national perspective, the majority of latina/o/x college students are enrolled in the community college, disaggregating their enrollment patterns may help anticipate needs in future research, policy, and practice. the current study aims to provide a nuanced discussion surrounding where latina/o/x students enroll across different state contexts to address missed opportunities for policy, practice, and research on latina/o/x pathways into and across community colleges. methods this study sought to offer a contextualized understanding of postsecondary pathways by examining the concentrations of latina/o/x students in higher education sectors on a state-bystate basis. in this effort, the following research question structured our examination: taking a state-by-state perspective, are latina/o/x college students enrolled in community colleges at higher rates than they are at four-year colleges? data the data for this study derived primarily from the integrated postsecondary education data system (ipeds) enrollment survey for all states and sectors of higher education for the 2012-2013 academic year. all accredited, degree-granting institutions in the u.s. (excluding u.s. territories) were included in this analysis. degree-seeking undergraduates enrolled during the 2012-2013 academic year at these institutions were included in the analysis. despite using enrollment data, we acknowledge that that student enrollment was not a one-time occurrence, but a decision that students made every day and every semester. thus, we did not limit our consideration of enrollment to first-time decisions, but tried to capture the continuous decisions of students to enter and stay in higher education and the sectors of higher education that were answering this call. as such, enrollment data for all 2012-2013 undergraduates were collected repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 93 by racial categories at the institutional level, then aggregated to the state level by sector for analysis. analysis we used geographic information systems (gis) to spatially analyze and compare proportions of latina/o/x undergraduate enrollments between sectors within states, then across states. gis helped strengthen existing data into tools that illuminate structures and systems shaping the distribution of college opportunity contextualizing statistical data (pacheco & velez, 2009). further, this approach could better facilitate a deeper understanding of data often presented as tables and numbers to assess how space mediated educational outcomes (gulson & symes, 2007). therefore, we integrated gis spatial analysis as a means to apply our descriptive analysis of enrollments and illuminate patterns across state contexts. as researchers, we made intentional decisions about the ways to determine proportions of enrollment and draw comparisons between these enrollment figures. in the literature, many different ways of computing proportions are determined and comparisons drawn in effort to reflect the dominance of community college enrollments among latina/o/x students. we center latina/o/x students as the key group of analysis and focused on their enrollments without comparing them to a separate group. as such, we determined the enrollment data for latina/o/x undergraduate students within the following sectors: (1) public, four-year institutions, (2) private not-for-profit four-year institutions, (3) for-profit institutions (including twoand four-year institutions), and (4) community colleges (all institutions classified as public, two-year institutions). after determining these calculations, we examined enrollments of latina/o/x students by comparing across the four higher education sectors to determine what sector(s) enrolled the greatest proportions of latina/o/x students to address our research question—are latina/o/x college students enrolled in community colleges at higher rates in comparison to four-year colleges? we present the findings in the following section. findings to situate the data in the national perspective, we first considered the overall enrollment rates for latina/o/x undergraduates nationwide. based on the analysis of ipeds data, dominant repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 94 understandings are maintained because, nationally, greater proportions of latina/o/x students in higher education were enrolled in community colleges than in other sectors. in the 2012-2013 academic year, over 42% of degree-seeking latina/o/x undergraduates enrolled in higher education were at community colleges, 36% at public four-year colleges, 16% at private colleges, and nine percent at for-profits. figure 1 considers this question dichotomously examining whether or not latina/o/x students were enrolled in community colleges at higher rates than four-year colleges and universities (i.e., public and private, not-for-profit sector enrollments) within their state. shades of yellow and blue reflect dominant enrollment patterns. when the majority of latina/o/x students were enrolled in community colleges across all institutions, the state is shaded in yellow and shaded in blue when the majority of latina/o/x students in the state were enrolled in fouryear public or private colleges. as demonstrated in figure 1, higher concentrations of enrollments in community colleges by latina/o/x students were demonstrated in 22 states, primarily in regions of the west, southwest, and some of the midwest. as expected, california was within this grouping of states, as were other latina/o/x-populated states including texas, illinois, washington, and other states in the southwest (e.g., arizona and new mexico). among this group were other states with growing but smaller latina/o/x populations, such as nebraska, kansas, the carolinas, and minnesota. notably, across a number of these states, the differences in enrollment between sectors was comparable: proportional differences in enrollment across sectors were within a five-percentage point margin across six states—maine, michigan, wisconsin, oklahoma, kentucky, and colorado. so while latina/o/x undergraduates were primarily enrolled in community colleges in these states, similar proportions of students were enrolled in four-year institutions. repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 95 figure 1. latina/o/x 2012-2013 postsecondary enrollments, disaggregated by state. challenging the dominant narrative of the role of the community college sector nationwide in the enrollment of latina/o/xs, in more than half of the states (n=28) latina/o/x students were enrolled in four-year colleges at higher rates than they were enrolled in community colleges. the higher rates in the four-year sector were distributed primarily in the southeast and northeast regions of the u.s., with similar trends across some of the great plains states. states like florida and new york, where large proportions of the u.s. latina/o/x population lived, had more latina/o/x college students pursuing degrees within public and private colleges than were enrolled across the states’ community college systems. the same is true for latina/o/ x students in alabama and mississippi, states that had considerable growth in its latina/o/x populations across the past decade. in sum, figure 1 depicts that while the majority of latina/o/x students were largely enrolled in community colleges within many states, the narrative fails to account for enrollment trends across more than half of the nation. these findings point to ways that data disaggregation repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 96 illuminate distinct trends in the context of latina/o/x enrollments nationwide that necessitate further consideration. to further examine the four-year sector and capture differences in pathways for latina/o/x enrollment, figure 2 illustrates disaggregated data by institution type and compares whether latina/o/x enrollment was defined by enrollment in public two-year (yellow), public fouryear (blue), private four-year, non-profit (green) or for-profit (not pictured) colleges. considering not just sector but also type helps in examining and illuminating where key differences in enrollments lie and may point to distinct state-level experiences within higher education. as demonstrated by figure 2, after disaggregating by institutional type, the majority of states had higher concentrations of latina/o/x students in community colleges over the disaggregated view of other institution types across the four-year sector, reflecting national trends of enrollment. these comparisons holding, it was notable that latina/o/x students were concentrated in the public four-year sector at higher rates in 16 states, or about one-third of the nation. this included states with large latina/o/x populations, such as florida and nevada, and states with reported high levels of growth in their latina/o/x populations, like alabama, indiana and tennessee. further, in three states (maine, missouri, and new hampshire) latina/o/x students were concentrated in private four-year colleges at higher rates than other sectors, highlighting distinct and somewhat surprising trends for students in these states. no state had highest concentrations of latina/o/x students in for-profit institutions across their enrollments. the analysis in figure 2 essentially divides the four-year sector’s numbers by private and public. thus, states like louisiana, for instance, where 51% of latina/o/x students were enrolled in the four-year non-profit sector and 43% in the two-year sector, had greater proportions of latina/o/x students in the two-year sector overall. however, when considering institution type, 39% of all latina/o/x students were in public four-years and 12% in private four-years, relative to that same 43% in the community college. the data reflected similar trends in a number of states such as maryland, new york, pennsylvania, and ohio. this finding illuminated the relatively and much larger proportional enrollments of latina/o/x students in the four-year sector across the nation in states like florida, the dakotas, vermont, utah, indiana, and georgia. the findings and possible explanations are discussed in the following section. repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 97 figure 2. latina/o/x 2012-2013 postsecondary enrollments, disaggregated by state and sector. discussion and implications for future research this study aims to complicate dominant understandings of the postsecondary enrollments of latina/o/x students by centering the variation across state enrollments. these findings reposition commonly reported statistics about latina/o/x postsecondary enrollments, pointing to where trends of community college enrollment may be misleading and influence researchers and policy makers to overlook distinct patterns in enrollment. our findings show that despite national reports (e.g., fry, 2002, 2011) latina/o/x college-going is not necessarily characterized by community college enrollment. in more than half of the nation, latina/o/x students enroll in the four-year sector at much higher rates than they enroll in the community college. by focusing on national trends alone, research glazes over these key differences in college enrollments and leaves the narrative of latina/o/x college students as incomplete. repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 98 the state-by-state disaggregation and gis approach to the data allows this story to emerge in ways that national calculations and data tables might otherwise mask. the findings represent an emergence of trends within certain regions of the u.s. for instance, despite the presence of strongly-developed community college systems, latina/o/x students in many states in the south enroll in four-year institutions at higher rates than they are in two-year colleges. on the other hand, many of the plains states maintain higher community college enrollments. what explains these trends? in what ways might institutional type, state policies, demographic variations, and the latina/o/x populations within these states shape latina/o/x postsecondary pathways? current research points to a few potential explanations. for instance, research has found that as a result of intersectional issues related to privilege and oppression around immigration, race, and class, certain ethnic groups generally have higher educational attainment rates than others (covarrubias, 2011; covarrubias & lara, 2015; nuñez et al., 2013; pérez huber, malagón, ramirez, camargo gonzalez, jimenez, & velez, 2015). for example, cubans over the age of 25 hold bachelor’s degrees at rates double that of mexicans. while cubans make up significantly less of the overall population of the u.s. than those of mexican ethnicity—3.7 percent of all latina/o/xs in the u.s. as compared to the 65% of latina/o/xs from mexican backgrounds (motel & patten, 2012)—their population is the most concentrated of all latina/o/x ethnic groups, largely residing in florida (motel & patten, 2012). that florida reflects larger concentrations of latina/o/xs in the four-year sector is not a causal inference, but echoes calls for greater nuance needed in examining the latina/o/x population and what explains differences in pathways across the nation. nationality and ethnic background of latina/o/x students has to a very limited extent been accounted for in research studies in the community college (e.g., hagedorn & maxwell, 1999). given the way ethnic groups are dispersed across the u.s. (motel & patten, 2012), more research should incorporate this lens that accounts for ethnic differences within latina/o/x students. another area of research that may potentially help explain these trends is related to the educational policies present within certain states. many of the latina/o/x students captured in the data here did not only begin their educational careers at the community college, but have also remained in the community college despite baccalaureate aspirations (bailey, jenkins, & leinbach, 2007; wang, 2012). further, many may have ended up in the community college along their pathway in higher education as latina/o/x students have the highest rates of reverse-transfer repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 99 relative to non-latina/o/xs (i.e., transferring from a four-year college to a two-year college) (ruiz alvarado, 2014). statewide transfer and articulation policies have been found to be effective in supporting community college student transfer to baccalaureate-granting institutions (anderson, sun, & alfonso, 2006). of note, many states that do not have state-level community college transfer policies (education commission of the states, 2016) were found in our study to have high concentrations of latina/o/x students in the community college (e.g., california, texas, nebraska, and south carolina). the strength of this relationship, particularly as it relates to latina/o/x student pathways, warrants deeper, causal analysis to inform best practices for states to support their latina/o/x and other populations. other state differences that impact latina/o/x students disproportionately and may be of interest to pursue are related to mission differentiation efforts (bastedo & gumport, 2003; longanecker, 2008), undocumented student policies (covarrubias, 2011; pérez huber et al., 2015), state funding and tuition costs (baum et al., 2016; baum & payea, 2013), and shifting state demographics (hatch, uman, & garcia, 2016). future research should draw from this exploration using causal inference and longitudinal data techniques, particularly during these times of rapid growth in the latina/o/x population in the u.s., to capture the impact of shifts in policy and practice on enrollments to offer a more complete and informed story of what influences latina/o/x pathways in higher education. qualitative research should center on the latina/o/x experiences within state contexts that are understudied to highlight the distinct experiences of latina/o/x students in these regions. both approaches to future research need to be better used by policy makers and practitioners as they are making decisions about how to best support latina/o/x students in their own states. finally, previous research in california finds that higher concentrations of latina/o/x student enrollments in a community college influence and encourage latina/o/x students to perform academically (hagedorn et al., 2007). the present study highlights the need for more research to examine the community college contexts and experiences of latina/o/x students in states that maintain low concentrations of latina/o/x community college students. if previous research finds that latina/o/x students in california community colleges (solórzano et al., 2013)—where they represent 43% of students—experience various obstacles to completing a degree, there is also a need for research to examine the particular experiences of latina/o/x repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 100 students in the 16 states where latina/o/x community college students represent less than five percent of the student population and do not have the same sources of support. while we begin to contextualize the answer to these questions earlier in this manuscript, it is beyond the scope of this study to examine these potential influences directly. in many ways, these findings raise more questions than are answered. however, this work establishes a first step in effort to bring research on latina/o/x students in the community college to contextualize these students’ college-going trends through a more nuanced lens that reflects their context. recommendations for policy and practice while in many ways the findings of our work raise more questions that they answer, they do point to meaningful takeaways for policymakers and practitioners. previous studies find that high school counselors are more likely to steer latina/o/x students into the community college due to misinformed perceptions about preferred college costs and pathways (mcdonough & calderone, 2006; mitkos & bragg, 2008). there is a danger in misperception of preference, particularly in states with newly established latina/o/x populations, where higher education administrators and practitioners may be struggling to establish a culture that supports these students. promoting options and opportunity for latina/o/x students across the many types of higher education institutions available is important. additionally, practitioners in both community colleges and four-year institutions have an important role to play in terms of transfer support. particularly in states with high community college concentrations, statewide conversations between practitioners in both sectors should center on how to promote effective transfer pathways for students. conclusion latinas/os/xs make up a large proportion of our nation’s population and of the students in our educational systems. while much attention is given to students within community colleges, this work offers a more nuanced perspective to examine the extent to which community colleges are the primary higher education pathway for latina/o/x students across the nation. by disaggregating enrollment data by state, our analysis reveals important variations among the postsecondary enrollments of latina/o/x students across the u.s. repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 101 by providing a more accurate understanding of latina/o/x enrollment concentrations in each state, we establish the need to continue examining previous findings as they relate to latina/o/x college pathways and provide a baseline to inform institutional leaders so they may be better prepared to adequately serve the latina/o/x students within their own states. this work calls for an increase in research that contextualizes the latina/o/x student experience within each state to avoid over-simplistic narratives about enrollment pathways that could lead to misinformed public policy or practice. moreover, the findings highlight considerations for enrollment management professionals to complicate their understandings about latina/o/x community college enrollment. this study points to dominant understandings that generally may not hold for latina/o/x students. the belief that the community college is the dominant vehicle for latina/o/x students may have an oppressive utility towards latina/o/x opportunity through education. if used to inform decision-making at the state level, these decisions may ill-serve latina/o/x students in the state and perpetuate notions of students’ needs that do not fit their realities. this can no longer be the norm in efforts to examine and eradicate inequity in educational opportunity. this analysis hopes to advance an alternative narrative moving forward and push for greater nuance in our study of latina/o/xs. further, this work demonstrates that how researchers ask and answer questions matters. generalized responses to simplified questions will not sufficiently inform policy and practice to better serve our students. more complex perspectives are needed to challenge commonly-held beliefs and shift our focus to the experiences and realities of latina/o/x students. acknowledgements: the authors wish to thank mr. rafael alejandro gil for his support in developing the images to accompany our analysis in this article. your creativity, diligence, and efforts made the analysis and this manuscript possible. repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 102 references acevedo-gil, n., santos, r., & solórzano, d. (2014). examining a rupture in the latina/o college pipeline: developmental education in the california community college system. perspectivas: issues in higher education policy and practice. american association of hispanics in higher education, educational testing services, and university of texas san antonio. anderson, g. m., sun, j. c., & alfonso, m. (2006). effectiveness of statewide articulation agreements on the probability of transfer: a preliminary policy analysis. review of higher education, 29, 261–291. bailey, t., jenkins, d., & leinbach, d. t. (2007). the effect of student goals on community college performance measures. (ccrc brief no. 33). new york, ny: columbia university, community college research center. bastedo, m. n., & gumport, p. j. (2003). access to what? mission differentiation and academic stratification in u.s. public higher education. higher education, 46, 341-359. baum, s., ma, j., pender, m., & welch, m. (2016). trends in student aid 2016. new york, ny: the college board. retrieved from https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/2016trends-student-aid_0.pdf. baum, s., & payea, k. (2013). trends in student aid. new york, ny: the college board. ceja, m. (2004). chicana college aspirations and the role of parents: developing educational resiliency. the journal of hispanic higher education, 3(4), 1-25. cejda, b. d., casparis, c. a., rhodes, j. h., & kelly, s. n. (2008). the role of social capital in the educational decisions of latina/o/x students attending latina/o/x-serving community colleges. enrollment management journal, 2(1), 32-59. covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos and education, 10(2), 86-105. covarrubias, a., & lara, a. (2014). the undocumented (im) migrant educational pipeline: the influence of citizenship status on educational attainment for people of mexican origin. urban education, 49(1), 75-110. crisp, g., & nora, a. (2010). hispanic student success: factors influencing the persistence and transfer decisions of latino community college students enrolled in developmental education. research in higher education, 51(2), 175-194. cunningham, a. f., & santiago, d. a. (2008). student aversion to borrowing: who borrows and who doesn't. washington, dc: institute for higher education policy education commission of the states (2016, april). transfer and articulation: statewide guaranteed transfer of an associate degree. author. retrieved from http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/mbquest3rta?rep=tr1603 excelencia in education. (2015). the condition of latinos in education: 2015 factbook. washington, d.c.: excelencia in education. retrieved from https://www.edexcelencia.org/research. fry, r. (2011). hispanic college enrollment spikes, narrowing gaps with other groups. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 103 fry, r. (2002). latina/o/x students in higher education: many enroll, too few graduate. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. fry, r. (2004). latino youth finishing college: the role of selective pathways. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. gándara, p. (1996). chicanas in higher education: implications for policy. in a. hurtado, r. figueroa, & e. e. garcia (eds.), strategic interventions in education: expanding the latina/ latino pipeline (pp. 167–197). santa cruz, ca: university of california. gerald, d., & haycock, k. (2006). engines of inequality: diminishing equity in the nation’s premier public universities. washington, dc: the education trust. gross, j., torres, v., & zerquera, d. (2013). financial aid and attainment among students in a state with changing demographics. research in higher education, 54(4), 383-406. gross, j., zerquera, d., berry, m. s., & inge, b. (2014). latino associate degree completion: effects of financial aid over time. journal of hispanic higher education, 13(3), 177-190. grubb, n., boner, e., frankel, k., parker, l., patterson, d., gabriner, r., & wilson, s. (2011). understanding the “crisis” in basic skills: framing the issues in community colleges (basic skills instruction in california community colleges, working paper no. 1). stanford, ca: policy analysis for california education. gulson, k., & symes, c. (2007). knowing one's place: educational theory, policy, and the spatial turn. new york, ny: routledge. hagedorn, l. s., chi, w. y., cepeda, r. m., & mclain, m. (2007). an investigation of critical mass: the role of latino representation in the success of urban community college students. research in higher education, 48(1), 73-91. hagedorn, l. s., & maxwell, w. (1999). research on urban community college transfer and retention: the los angeles truccs project. hatch, d. k., uman, n. m., & garcia, c. e. (2016). variation within the “new latino diaspora”: a decade of changes across the united states in the equitable participation of latina/os in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(4), 358-385. heller, d. e. (1999). the effects of tuition and state financial aid on public college enrollment. the review of higher education, 23(1), 65-89. jones, w. a. (2013). the relationship between student body racial composition and the normative environment toward diversity at community colleges. community college review, 41(3), 249-265. karabel, j. (2005). the chosen: the hidden history of admission and exclusion at harvard, yale, and princeton. boston, ma: houghton mifflin. kim, d. (2004). the effect of financial aid on students’ college choice: differences by racial groups. research in higher education, 45, 43-70. kincheloe, j. l., & mclaren, p. l. (1994). rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (pp. 138–157). thousand oaks, ca: sage. repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 104 krogstad, j. m. (2016, july). five facts about latinos and education. washington, dc: pew research center. retreived from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/28/5-facts-aboutlatinos-and-education/ krogstad, j. m., & lopez, m. h. (2015, june). hispanic population reaches record 55 million, but growth has cooled. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/25/u-s-hispanic-population-growth-surgecools/ kurlaender, m. (2006). choosing community college: factors affecting latino college choice. new directions for community colleges, 133, 7-16. levin, j. s., haberler, z., walker, l., & jackson-boothby, a. (2014). community college culture and faculty of color. community college review, 42(1), 55-74. lópez turley, r. n. (2009). college proximity: mapping access to opportunity. sociology of education, 82, 126-146. m. de onis, c. (2017). what’s in an ‘x’? an exchange about the politics of ‘latina/o/x.’ chiricu journal, 1(2), 78-91. ma, j., & baum, s. (2016, april). trends in community colleges: enrollment, prices, student debt, and completion (college board research brief). new york, ny: the college board. retrieved from http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/trends-in-community-collegesresearch-brief.pdf martinez, m., & fernandez, e. (2004). latinos at community colleges. new directions for student services, 105, 51–62. mcdonough, p.m., & calderone, s. (2006). the meaning of money: perceptual differences between college counselors and low-income families about college costs and financial aid. american behaviorial scientist, 1703-1718. doi: 10.1177/0002764206289140 mitkos, y.m., & bragg, d.d. (2008). perceptions of the community college of high school counselors and advisors. community college journal of research and practice, 32(4), 375-390. moore, c., & schulock, n. (2010). divided we fail: improving completion and closing racial gaps in california community colleges. sacramento, ca: california state university, sacramento, institute for higher education leadership and policy. motel, s., & patten, e. (2012, june). the 10 largest hispanic origin groups: characteristics, rankings, top counties. pew hispanic center. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/06/27/the-10-largest-hispanic-origin-groupscharacteristics-rankings-top-counties/. nguyen, b. m. d., alcantar, c. m., curammeng, e. r., hernandez, e., kim, v., paredes, a. d., freeman, r., nguyen, m. h., & teranishi, r. (2017). the racial heterogeneity project: implications for educational research, practice, and policy. iowa city, ia: act, inc. retrieved from http://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/r1641-racialheterogeneity-project-2017-06.pdf repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 105 núñez, a., & crisp, g. (2012). ethnic diversity and latino/a college access: a comparison of mexican american and puerto rican beginning college students. journal of diversity in higher education, 5(2), 78-95. doi:10.1037/a0026810. nuñez, a. m., hoover, r. e., pickett, k., stuart-carruthers, a. c., & vazquez, m. (2013). latinos in higher education: creating conditions for student success: ashe higher education report (vol.38, issue 1). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. nuñez, a. m., & kim, d. (2012). building a multicontextual model of latino college enrollment: student, school, and state-level effects. the review of higher education, 35, 237-263. nuñez, a. m., sparks, p. j., & hernandez, e. a. (2011). latino access to community colleges and hispanic-serving institutions: a national study. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(1), 18-40. o’connor, n. (2009). hispanic origin, socio-economic status, and community college enrollment. journal of higher education, 80, 121–145. ornelas, a., & solórzano, d. g. (2004). transfer conditions of latina/o/x community college students: a single institution case study. community college journal of research and practice, 28, 233-248. pacheco, d., & velez, v. (2009). maps, map-making, and critical pedagogy: exploring gis and maps as a teaching tool for social change. seattle university law review, 8(1), 273-302. pérez huber, l., malagón, m. ramirez, b., r., camargo gonzalez, l. jimenez, a., & velez, v., n. (2015). still falling through the cracks: revisiting the latina/o education pipeline. los angeles, ca: university of california, los angeles, chicano studies research center. perna, l. w. (2000). differences in the decision to attend college among african americans, hispanics, and whites. the journal of higher education, 71(2), 117-141. pew hispanic research center. (2016, september). hispanic population and origin in select u.s. metropolitan areas, 2014. washington, dc: author. radford, a. w., berkner, l., wheeless, b., & shepherd, b. (2010). persistence and attainment of 2003-4 beginning postsecondary students: after 6 years (nces 2011-151). u.s. department of education. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. rendon, l., & nora, a. (1989). a synthesis and application of research on hispanic students in community colleges. community college review, 17(1), 7985. romano, r. m. (2012). looking behind community college budgets for future policy considerations. community college review, 40(2), 165-189. ruiz alvarado, a. (2014). latina/o pathways through college: characteristics of mobile students and the instituitonal networks they create. doctoral dissertation, unviersity of california, los angeles. sánchez, b., reyes, o. & singh, j. (2005). makin' it in college: the value of significant individuals in the lives of mexican-american adolescents. journal of hispanic higher education, 5(1), 4867. repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 106 santiago, d. a. (2007). choosing latina/o/x-serving institutions: a closer look at latino students’ college choices. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/idueshsi/title5legislation.pdf schudde, l., & goldrick-rab, s. (2015). on second chances and stratification: how sociologists think about community colleges. community college review, 43(1), 27-45. solórzano, d., datnow, a., park, v., & watford, t. (2013). pathways to postsecondary success: maximizing opportunities for youth in poverty. final report of the pathways to postsecondary success project at uc/accord (all campus consortium on research for diversity), university of california, los angeles. retrieved from http://pathways.gseis.ucla.edu/ publications/pathwaysreport.pdf solórzano, d. g., villalpando, o., & oseguera, l. (2005). educational inequities and latina/o/x undergraduate students in the united states: a critical race analysis of their educational progress. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 272-294. stepler, r., & lopez, m. h. (2016). u.s. latino population growth and dispersion has slowed since the onset of the great recession. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/09/08/latino-population-growth-and-dispersion-hasslowed-since-the-onset-of-the-great-recession/. the campaign for college opportunity. (2015, april). the state of higher education in california. los angeles and sacramento: authors. tovar, e. (2015). the role of faculty counselors, and support programs on latino/a community college students’ success and intent to persist. community college review, 43(1), 46-71. torres, v., & zerquera, d. (2012). hispanic-serving institutions: patterns, predictions, and implications for informing policy discussions. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(3), 259-278. u.s. census bureau. (2012, march). overview of race and hispanic origin: 2010 census brief. washington, dc: u.s. census bureau. u.s. census bureau. (2012). the hispanic population in the united states. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/population/hispanic/data/2012.html. wang, x. (2012). factors contributing to the upward transfer of baccalaureate aspirants beginning at community colleges. the journal of higher education, 83, 851-875. zerquera, d., & gross, j. p. k. (2017). context matters: a critical consideration of latino student success outcomes within different institutional contexts. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(3), 209-231. http://www2.ed.gov/programs/idueshsi/title5legislation.pdf http://www.census.gov/population/hispanic/data/2012.html repositioning trends of latina/o/x student enrollments in community colleges desiree d. zerquera university of san francisco nancy acevedo-gil california state university, san bernardino elizabeth flores university of california, davis patrick marantal university of san francisco abstract doi: introduction the community college system has been described as the “dominant educational vehicle” for latina/o/x students pursuing higher education in the united states (martinez & fernandez, 2004, p. 59). recent data supports this characterization of national ... latina/o/x population in the u.s. latina/o/x college enrollments methods data conclusion references association of mexican american educators journal volume 14 issue 1 2020 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 96 latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to attend public hbcus yoruba t. mutakabbir texas southern university abstract this qualitative study explored latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to attend historically black colleges and universities (hbcus). current research on latinx students at hbcus primarily explores the experiences of current students. the study sought to understand what might interest latinx students in hbcus. the author conducted three focus group interviews of latinx high school and community college students. findings indicate that latinx students are not as knowledgeable about hbcus as they are about predominately white institutions in the same city. academic programs and proximity to home can attract latinx students to hbcus. admissions and diversity staff will benefit from the implications of this study. keywords: hbcu, latinx college students, college choice doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.373 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.373 latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 97 introduction desegregation significantly shifted racial demographics in higher education enrollments. as more predominately white institutions admitted black students, hbcus no longer enrolled the lion’s share of black college students. according to the national center for education statistics (nces), the percentage of black (african-american) students attending hbcus has declined. in 1976, 18% of all black college students attended an hbcu (nces, 2004). in 2011, 9% of all black college students attended an hbcu. conversely, more non-black students are attending hbcus. however, the percentage increase in non-black students has not matched the decline in the percentage of black students. enrollment of non-black students at hbcus has increased from 15% in 1976 to 19% in 2011 (nces, 2004; 2013). while the share of all black college students enrolled at hbcus declined 50% between 1976 and 2011, the percentage of non-black students only increased approximately 3%. enrollment increases at hbcus lag behind other post-secondary institutions. hbcu enrollment increased 45% between 1976 and 2011 while the total postsecondary enrollment in the united states increased 91% (nces, 2012). the aforementioned statistics demonstrate the changes in hbcu enrollment prompted by desegregation: as a result of desegregation, hbcus did not have as high a percentage of enrollment growth as the total higher education sector. hbcus transition through desegregation hbcus are post-secondary institutions founded prior to 1964 with the principal mission of educating black americans (higher education act,1965). the reader should note that the hbcu definition does not include a percentage of black enrollment. therefore, an institution can be predominately white and still be an hbcu. though four hbcus existed prior to the civil war (wilberforce university, cheyney university, lincoln university, and the defunct avery institute), the majority of hbcus were established after the civil war to educate newly freed slaves. currently, there are 101 accredited hbcus. this figure includes two-year institutions. of the 101, forty-one are public, 4-year institutions. segregation banned black enrollment at colleges in the south while northern colleges considered black applications on a token basis. hbcus have transformed from the main postsecondary option for black students to one of several options for students of any background; hence, the decline in the percentage of black student enrollment at hbcus (richardson & harris, 2004). after the reconstruction era (1865-1877), southern states implemented jim crow laws that mandated separate mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 98 accommodations for blacks, and whites. in plessy v. ferguson (1896), the u.s. supreme court ruled that facilities separated by race were constitutional. prior to the 1960’s, hbcus were the primary option for black college-bound students. today’s black, college-bound students have options beyond hbcus. legal and societal changes such as brown vs. board of education (1954), the civil rights act (1964), and united states vs. fordice (1992) have forced hbcus to broaden their institutional missions. while brown vs. board of education did not directly address higher education, legal precedents from integrating graduate and undergraduate education were used to argue for the desegregation of public schools (elwood, 1990; martin, 2004). murray v. pearson (1936), sipuel v. board of regents of oklahoma (1948), and sweatt v. painter (1950) desegregated graduate education in maryland, oklahoma, and texas, respectively. the civil rights act of 1964 banned federal funding to entities that discriminated by race. this law forced colleges to open their doors to all races. the 2002 ayers settlement rewards hbcus for increasing their enrollments of non-black students (minor, 2008; sum, light, & king, 2004). while hbcus never discriminated by race, the freedom of college choice allowed in today’s desegregated society means that hbcus are a realistic option for persons of all races. today, trans demographic changes have shifted enrollment at two hbcus, bluefield state university and west virginia state university to predominately white (brown, 2002). seven other hbcus have white enrollments of over 10 percent (education trust, 2020). however, the importance of hbcus continues to be debated (minor, 2008). policy analysts argue that public funding of hbcus competes with support of diversity initiatives at predominately white colleges (seymore, 2006). the hbcu mission of educating black americans conflicts with the brown v. board (1954) argument that separate is inherently unequal (samuels, 2005). this conflict forces hbcus to defend their relevance in today’s integrated society. this is the political climate in which hbcus exist. the underlying perception is that hbcus still exist only for black students (sum, light, & king, 2004; willie, 1994). therefore, they are irrelevant in an integrated society. though hbcus remain critical safe spaces and cultivate healthy black identity development for black students, hbcus would expand their relevancy by enrolling more of the largest racial minority in the united states: latinx students. though founded to educate former slaves and their descendants, hbcus cannot continue to rely on a predominately black recruitment pool to fill enrollment slots. latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 99 tuition dependency and financial stability while enrollment decreases are problematic for any institution, they can be devastating for hbcus since hbcus tend to be weakly endowed, and tuition-dependent (hernandez, 2010; rivard, 2014). an enrollment drop of 100 students can be financially tragic to an hbcu, as demonstrated by the 2013 pell grant crisis (carey, 2013). hbcus depend on tuition as their main revenue source (hernandez, 2010). a decrease in enrollment could have severe financial consequences since a smaller enrollment means less tuition revenue. of the 300 largest college and university endowments, only 3 are hbcus: hampton university, howard university, and spelman college (gasman, 2009). hbcus continue to recruit non-black students in order to demonstrate their relevance and expand their recruitment pool (moore, 2000; seymore, 2006). by expanding their recruitment pool and recruiting more non-black students, hbcus will strengthen their financial standing. mangan (2015) explains further, “diversity has always been celebrated at the 105 public and private historically black campuses across the country but it’s become an economic imperative today. sagging enrollments and financial troubles have prompted the colleges to court students who might never have been on their radar” (p. 2). three of the top 10 states with the largest hispanic populations are texas, florida, and georgia, which are home to 19 hbcus (see figure 1.). seven of the 10 states with the fastest growing latinx populations are home to 37 hbcus (see figure 2.). therefore, the latinx population is growing the fastest in states where hbcus exist. considering the aforementioned statistics, hbcus may find a burgeoning recruitment pool in the latinx population. hbcus are tailoring recruitment efforts to attract latino students (stewart, 2014; o’connor, 2018; oguntoynbo, 2015). texas, with its nine hbcus and large latins population is an ideal setting for hbcus and hispanic students to connect. paul quinn college, huston-tillotson college, and prairie view a&m are just some of the hbcus in texas that employ latinx staff charged with recruiting students (mangan, 2015; oguntoyinbo, 2015). texas southern university in houston hosts a día del tigre recruitment day for hispanic students. outside of texas, hampton university in hampton, virginia has implemented a latino recruitment initiative to increase cultural awareness as well as recruit students (williams, 2015). in an effort to attract more latinx students, johnson c. smith university in charlotte, north carolina began admitting undocumented students in 2011 (stewart, 2014). mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 100 figure 1 the number of hbcus in hbcu states with the largest latinx population note. the 10 states with the largest latinx populations are california, texas, florida, new york, illinois, new jersey, colorado, new mexico, georgia, and nevada (coyle, 2017). of those states, there are only hbcus in texas, florida, and georgia (education trust, 2020). figure 2 number of hbcus in the states with the fastest growing hispanic/latinx populations note. alabama, south carolina, kentucky, south dakota, arkansas, north carolina, mississippi, maryland, tennessee, and georgia have the fastest growing hispanic/latinx populations in the united states (stepler & lopez, 2016). this figure displays the number of 4-year hbcus in these states. latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 101 literature review hbcus are enrolling more non-black students (mangan, 2015; williams, 2015; oguntoyinbo, 2015; sum, light, & king, 2004). while some hbcus such as kentucky state university and west virginia state university have grown their white enrollments to over 20 percent, others such as paul quinn college (pqc) and huston-tillotson university (htu) have made similar increases in latinx enrollment. both located in texas, pqc and htu each have latinx enrollments over 20%. the largest growth in college enrollment is expected to occur among the latinx population. according to the nces (2011), the enrollment of latinx students in higher education is expected to grow by 46% between 2009 and 2020, only 25% for black students, and 1% for white students. hbcus have a reputation for educating who are either the first in their families to attend college or from low-income families (abdul-alim, 2016). approximately two-thirds of hbcu enrollments are eligible to receive the pell grant (education trust, 2020). while hbcus comprise only 3% of all colleges and universities in the united states, 13% of black college graduates earned their undergraduate degree from an hbcu (nces, 2020; gasman, 2013). there are other characteristics of hbcus that appeal to any student, regardless of race. for example, student affairs practitioners at hbcus tend to be very nurturing towards students and provide students more individual attention (hirt et al., 2008). hbcus are noted for increasing upward income mobility among their graduates: “nearly 70% of students at hbcus attain at least middle-class incomes and there is less downward mobility at hbcus than at pwis” (nathenson, samayoa, & gasman, 2019, p. 19). particularly in stem fields, hbcus maintain a strong pipeline that sends black students into stem careers (jett, 2013; gasman & nguyen, 2016). students of any background who are disadvantaged because of race or class may be attracted to the nurturing environment exemplified at an hbcu. with a legacy of support systems helping black students overcome the aforementioned challenges, hbcus are particularly equipped to help latinx students meet their educational goals: “the support systems, which are an integral part of an hbcu, benefit all minority students, as well as the traditional african american student body and are evident throughout the students’ experience at an hbcu, from recruitment through graduation and beyond” (mcqueen & zimmerman, 2004, p. 52). mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 102 college choice latinx students are more likely to apply to only one college than other ethnic groups (excelencia in education, 2018). this narrows the opportunity for colleges to receive applications from latinx students. there is minimal research on the recruitment of latinx students to hbcus. existing studies focus on college choices and experiences of latinx students already enrolled at hbcus. studies examining college choice and hbcus focus on black students (tobolowsky, outcalt, & mcdonald, 2005). reputable academic programs as well as affordability and proximity to social networks are major themes in research on the college choices of latinx students at public hbcus (maramba et al., 2015; palmer et al., 2015). diversity scholarships increased affordability for latinx students at hbcus. while participants were encouraged to attend a public hbcu because of the school’s low tuition and proximity to their homes, they all discussed how the school’s diversity scholarship motivated them to attend. (palmer et al., 2015). the findings of research about why latinx students choose hbcus mirrors that on why latinx students choose hispanic-serving institutions (hsis). cost, proximity to home, and campus environment prompted latinx students to attend an hsi (santiago, 2007). cost and location are linked within the college choice process: “most students in the focus groups said it was more economical to live at home with their parents because they did not have to add housing to their college education expenses and could continue the jobs they currently held” (santiago, 2007, p. 8). while hsis do not promote their federal designation, as noted by santiago (2007), hbcus do promote their hbcus status in promotional materials. while history created hbcus, student choice created hsis. half of all latinx students attend an hsi, which only represent six percent of post-secondary institutions. the influence of support networks manifests in the educational paths of older relatives and friends attending college. proximity to social networks also provides the opportunity for students to place the needs of their family above their own, or familismo, a term coined by marin and marin (1991). martinez (2013) explored the role of familismo in latinx students’ college choices by conducting interviews of mexican college-bound high school students and high school guidance counselors. the needs and desires of participants’ families were a strong factor in their college choice process. familismo and proximity themes are also present in hernandez’s (2015) study on the college choice process for latinas. attending college close to home, yet far away allowed high latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 103 achieving young women to maintain family ties while living as independent students. since hispanic students are overrepresented among community college enrollment, a review of literature should address hispanic two year to four-year transfer to hbcus. pérez and mcdonough (2008) also used interviews to discover that latinx students used family and high school contacts, not college admissions officers, to determine where to apply to college: “similar to the college planning stage, latino/a students went to similar sources four guidance when considering which institutions to consider, apply, and select. in this regard, student cited peers, acquaintances, and siblings, and relatives most often” (pérez & mcdonough, 2008, p. 256) focusing on a mexican community in south texas, martinez (2012) also discovered community members such as church acquaintances and physicians provided social capital for navigating the college choice process. latinx students are also more likely to begin post-secondary study at a community college (gonzalez, 2012). even when controlling for socioeconomic status, latinx are more likely to attend community colleges than white or black students (kurlaender, 2006, p. 11). taggart and crisp (2011) suggest that discriminatory experiences may contribute to latinx students being tracked into community colleges. however, the literature mainly addresses factors impacting two-year to four-year transfer instead of the college transfer choice of hispanic community college students. as hbcus enroll more latinx students, more research will be needed on the confluence of this student demographic and this institutional type. purpose of study the purpose of this qualitative study is to understand how familiar houston-area latinx students are with texas’ public hbcus, what characteristics latinx students find attractive in colleges, and to identify strategies hbcus can implement to recruit more latinx students. the following questions guide this study: 1. what do latinx students know about public hbcus in texas? 2. what characteristics do latinx students find attractive in colleges? 3. what recruitment strategies can public hbcus in texas implement to recruit more latinx students? mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 104 methodology this phenomenology uses participants’ experiences to extract meaning about public hbcus in texas and college choice. for this group, the issue is broadly centered around navigating the college choice process and potentially choosing an hbcu as a hispanic student. therefore, a constructivist perspective supports this data collection method (merriam, 2009 p. 93). focus group interviews were employed because they allow participants to hear the responses of others to determine if others agree or disagree with their views. furthermore, it allows participants to get the perspectives of others and see how their own views fit in the context of others. since the researcher is black and the participants are latinx, the focus group setting decreased resistance to discussing race that might be present in a one-on-one interview. moreover, the conversations between focus group participants provided richer data than data obtained from a one-on-one interview. the three focus groups consisted of 13, 12, and 8 participants. although it is recommended that focus groups have between 6 and 10 participants, the researcher overly anticipated little interest in participating in this study. therefore, she was not prepared to randomly select participants to turn away. a constructivist perspective undergirds this data collection method since data is constructed during the group discussion (merriam, 2009). theoretical framework chain migration theory is an appropriate theoretical framework for this study. the term chain migration was originally coined by macdonald and macdonald (1964) to describe how migrants develop and access social networks. previous studies on latinx college choice have used chain migration theory (pérez & mcdonough, 2008; person & rosenbaum, 2006). this theory is applied to this study as the connections through which prospective students learn of college opportunities and are connected through the college choice process via applications, test taking, campus visits, and other steps. the college decision is the end of a chain with connections made at each link or contact. when college-eligible latinx students are introduced to hbcus at a link through a teacher, counselor, or admissions representative, hbcus can be considered as a potential college choice. latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 105 site selection texas is home to eight, four-year, historically black colleges (education trust, 2020). two of the eight, texas southern university and prairie view a&m university, are publicly funded and located in the houston metropolitan area. houston’s sizable latinx population makes the city an ideal setting for a study on latinx student recruitment to hbcus. three community colleges, bayou city community college (bccc), five corners community college (fccc), and nearward community college (pseudonyms) are also located in the houston area. since latinx students are overrepresented (ma & baum, 2016; baylor, 2016) among community college students, this study is including community college students, in addition to high school students, as participants. participant recruitment and selection once institutional review board (irb) approval was secured from texas southern university, bayou city community college, nearward community college, and five corners community college, participants were purposefully selected and recruited with the help of faculty and administrators at one charter high school and two of the three community colleges. at five corners community college, the instructor of educ 1300, a course required of all students, invited students who self-identified as latinx to participate in the focus group. interested students were invited to participate in the focus group taking place in a different room from where the class was held. at bayou city community college, a student life coordinator and an associate dean of student engagement recruited latinx students by email and word of mouth to participate in a focus group held at two of bccc’s campuses. the third community college failed to respond to requests to recruit participants and for classroom space. at the high school, a 12th grade instructor of a mandatory college preparatory seminar invited his latinx students to participate in a focus group if they were willing to return a signed permission slip. all participants received a $30 gift card to barnes and noble as an incentive for participation. purposive sampling was used to select participants. prospective participants were invited to meet at a designated time and place for the focus group. the first focus group, held at fccc, consisted of 13 students (9 men, 4 women). the second focus group, held at bccc, consisted of 8 students (4 men, 4 women). the third focus group was held at a public charter high school and consisted of 12 students (6 boys, 6 girls). see appendix b for table of participants. before each focus group began at the mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 106 community colleges, the informed consent letter was read aloud to participants and signed copies were collected. signed parental consent letters were collected from high school participants under age 18. participants were then verbally reminded that their participation was voluntary and that they could exit the room at any time. data collection three focus groups were completed. the bccc focus group lasted 40 minutes. the fccc focus group lasted 30 minutes. the high school focus group lasted 45 minutes. during the focus groups, participants were asked about what colleges they were interested in, what attracted them to those colleges, how familiar they were with local hbcus, and where they received information about colleges. a protocol was used as a guide for the researcher/moderator. however, the protocol was deviated from as the discussion became more conversational. examples of focus group questions include: what colleges are you interested in attending (transferring to)? where do you get information about colleges? what do you know about texas southern university? additional questions are included in appendix a. notes were taken on participants’ disposition and willingness to respond to questions. researcher positionality merriam (2009) implores researchers to explain their biases and dispositions. i am a black, non-latinx woman who is affiliated with an hbcu. i am also a third-generation graduate of a private hbcu. moreover, the hbcu i attended enrolled students from all over the united states. my scholarly interests include diversity at hbcus. as some hbcus flounder and struggle post-desegregation, i am passionate about strengthening and advocating for these institutions. in many ways, higher education is a business. i am motivated to explore the recruitment of latinx students to hbcus because latinx students represent an opportunity for hbcus to expand beyond a niche market of black students and increase enrollment. i understand that my experience with and affinity for hbcus may bias my interpretation of the data. member checking and external audits will help ensure that participants’ ideas are authentically reflected. as a researcher, i am also passionate about access to higher education. i see the overrepresentation of latinx students at community colleges as an opportunity for hbcus to recruit more latinx students directly from high school, therefore, increasing the baccalaureate latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 107 completion rate for this demographic. though community college to baccalaureate transfer rates are low for all races, latinx students lag behind black and white students (gonzalez, 2012). by starting post-secondary education at a 4-year institution, like the majority of hbcus are, latinx students could have better chances of completing a baccalaureate degree. data analysis according to creswell (2007), phenomenological data analysis involves collecting significant statements, quotes, or sentences that provide an understanding of participants’ experiences (p. 61). for the qualitative researcher, analysis begins as data is collected. lichtman’s three cs process (coding, categorizing, and concepts) is used to analyze the focus group data (lichtman, 2006) (see figure 3). in step one, coding, i wrote memoranda on my thoughts and assumptions that occurred during the focus group interviews and while reading the focus group transcripts. in step two, i categorized my thoughts and assumptions, comparing them to each other while sorting themes, attaching relevant quotes from the transcript to each theme. finally, in the third step, the themes were further combined into three overriding concepts (see figure 4). figure 3. lichtman’s three c’s figure 4. themes with corresponding memoranda mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 108 trustworthiness each participant was emailed a copy of the transcript file and audio recording with instructions to respond back with anything they wished to clarify, expand upon, or change. requests were made in an effort to receive participant validation of my interpretation of the raw data. though participants did not respond to the requests, the importance of allowing participants to review raw data cannot be understated. lincoln and guba (1985) consider member checks the most valuable method for establishing credibility. external audits were also conducted. the external auditor was a white male affiliated with a predominately white institution (pwi) who also conducted all of his post-secondary study at pwis. a latinx male who attended an hbcu and pwi served as a second external auditor. external auditors were unaffiliated with the study and possessed different subjectivities from the researcher. the external audit helped diminish researcher bias and provided a general assessment of the study. limitations conducted in houston, texas, this study does not reflect the diversity within the latinx demographic in the united states. specifically, differences in background and experiences exist between latinx students from different regions within and beyond the united states. findings concurring with previous research, participants received much of their college information from family members who had attended college. the internet also served as a source of college information. participants also mentioned prestige and reputation as a factor in choosing a four-year school, conflicting with santiago’s (2007) research on latinx at hsis. like the participants in palmer et al. (2015), scholarships make hbcus attractive to latinx students. the focus group conversations leaned toward education requirements for professional occupations such as a physician and psychologist. this section summarizes the findings from data analysis, which are highlighted in three themes: knowledge of hbcus, attraction to academic programs, and proximity to home. knowledge of hbcus analysis of the data indicated that participants were relatively unknowledgeable about hbcus, which is consistent with findings from maramba et al. (2015). when prompted, participants named several, local pwis they were interested in attending but no hbcus. latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 109 though some participants were familiar with the two hbcus in the houston area, they were not familiar at all with the acronym “hbcu”. they may have heard of texas southern and prairie view and knew that many of the students that attended those institutions were black, but they did not have a general understanding of what an hbcu is. by using the apply texas application, participants can apply to the public hbcus in texas as well as all public universities. participants mentioned friends who attended hbcus and latinx greek organizations available at hbcus. the fccc participants were generally unfamiliar with the two hbcus in the houston area. when prompted, they named two predominately white colleges they were interested in transferring to: sam houston state university and texas state university. of the bccc participants, 4 of the 8 were familiar with texas southern or prairie view. other participants learned about hbcus like texas southern and tuskegee university from their high school teachers who attended these institutions. applying the chain migration theory, these teachers represent a link in the chain connecting expanded college opportunities. jose commented that he did not know what texas southern had to offer. therefore, he could not say definitively whether or not he was interested in texas southern. meeting students and faculty was mentioned as an ideal to learn more about hbcus. participants attended high school graduation ceremonies and summer enrichment programs at hbcus. miguel visited the texas southern campus and participated in a summer program at prairie view. he also attended high school near texas southern. he describes his experiences thusly: i know just a little, not a lot. i used to go visit [hbcus] because our high school was an e-stem academy. our principal miss jameson-she usually had some connections with tsu [texas southern] and since we were nearby sometimes, we would go on fridays to have some labs with-i forgot the name-of one of the professors. also, one of the summers in high school, we actually went to prairie view and stayed for two months over there in the dorms and took a few classes, but [i] don’t know if they were actually like any credit for them or if they were for high school [enrichment]. miguel does not share why he decided to attend a community college after participating in academic enrichment at two baccalaureate institutions that happen to be hbcus. perhaps he applied to four-year institutions and was not accepted. however, it is doubtful that texas southern would have rejected him since the institution is transitioning from open admissions to mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 110 selective admissions. i should have determined if he applied to texas southern or prairie view since he spent so much time on those campuses and if he did not, why not. marco was familiar with texas southern and prairie view but did not realize that both campuses were in the houston area. he describes how his college visits in the houston area omitted tsu and prairie view: marco: our high school only toured local colleges and i think that was more so because of location. we went to the main campus u of h here in houston. i don’t think tsu and prairie view are here. facilitator: tsu is actually…do you know where scott street is? where they’ve built the light rail? marco: no facilitator: you can take the light rail and walk to tsu or u of h from the same exit. marco: oh ok. facilitator: yeah, they [tsu and u of h] are really close. marco: oh, i don’t know why they didn’t take us there, but i never heard of them. hbcus have a tradition of producing show stopping bands. for many hbcus, the marching band is a major part of their brand. participants knew of some hbcus through the school’s marching band. when asked had he heard of pvamu, eduardo replied: “i’ve heard of them. i don’t know much about them though. i know they’re a big band school. that’s about it.” estella was familiar with student organizations and the nursing programs at hbcus. she explains: estella: i know they have latinx sororities or fraternities at texas southern and prairie view and prairie view also has a nursing program in the medical center. i toured it but they have large classrooms just for projection screens. there was no instructor in the class. facilitator: you want face to face? estella: yeah, i want someone there. bccc participants indicated that hbcus should direct more marketing and outreach to latinx communities. in particular, they would like to talk to current hbcu students and faculty to learn more about hbcus. when asked about recruitment materials in spanish, participants latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 111 pointed out that college applicants should be fluent in english, but acknowledged that family and friends might prefer to read college recruitment material in spanish. however, participants cautioned that spanish materials should be available upon request instead of offered. eunice explains: i think they should probably [be] available upon request because i’ve met people that get offended when you give them spanish literature. they’re like i don’t speak spanish or i don’t know spanish. i think it’s kind of like stereotyping just because of the color of the skin or the way they look people automatically assume that they are mexican or they don’t know english. you know what i mean? attraction to academic programs offered participants are primarily attracted to colleges because of the academic programs offered. business, education, engineering, and nursing were the main programs in which participants desired to earn a 4-year degree. the local hbcus offer all of those programs and are particularly strong in engineering and education. with the exception of nursing and engineering, participants are unfamiliar with academic offerings of local hbcus. by contrast, participants could name program offerings from local predominately white schools such as the university of houston and sam houston state university. martin discusses his interest in engineering: “well, mainly, i was looking for a university that had something to do with environmental engineering or an engineering program and i looked up both u of h downtown [university of houston-downtown] and uh main [university of houston]. they said that they’ll have an environmental engineering program which is more specific not just engineering and that would help me also because i don’t want to go out of state and have to pay extra fees for studying out of state.” mike mentions strong graduate outcomes as a trait that would attract him to an hbcu. he explains: “another thing i’m worried about –that i would like to learn more about is like the statistics, like how many students that graduate over there actually get jobs afterwards like right after they graduate.” regarding residence halls, bccc participants indicated that they would be interested in living in residence halls. however, those participants with children and families acknowledged that residence halls may not be ideal for them. also, the majority of participants indicated that they did not wish or intend to leave the houston area to attend a 4-year institution, which mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 112 concurs with research. latinx students travel a median of 39 miles from home to attend college, less than african-american students (98 miles) and white students (102 miles) (mattern & wyatt, 2009). since latinx students tend to stay close to home, hbcus may be more successful recruiting local latinx students rather than recruiting long distance students. living in a residence hall in their hometown would give latinx students the best of both worlds: the benefits of a living/learning environment and the social connections of family. when asked which schools they were interested in transferring to for a four-year degree, none of the bccc students listed tsu or pvamu, two local and public universities. participants mentioned wanting to attend four-year schools that friends or family attended. this is a disadvantage to hbcus because they are less likely latinx students. they won’t know “a lot of people” that attended texas southern the way they might know many people who attended the university of houston. staying close to home both community college and high school participants preferred to stay in houston or in texas to complete their baccalaureate education. juan elaborates: “not houston specifically, but i definitely want to stay in texas because i mean it’s texas. why would you want to leave texas? people come to texas. i like texas. it’s a good state to live in. i couldn’t imagine moving somewhere for an extended period of time away from here.” while texas’s public hbcus are both in the houston area, there are private hbcus in other parts of texas. when asked about campus housing, participants viewed it as an unnecessary expense. kenneth explains why he does not want to stay on campus: “it’s about affordability. i’m going to u of h [university of houston]. it’s pointless to stay on campus because i can take the metro there. it takes 10 minutes to go there. so, i’ll save my money for later on.” facilitator: what if you get a scholarship that pays for you to stay in a dorm? kenneth: yes, i’ll take it. but then again, i can stay home and keep the extra. facilitator: no, you don’t get to keep the money. kenneth: it’s like coupon that you can’t cash in. campus housing is only desirable if it’s paid for with scholarships. latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 113 the community college participants were not interested in campus housing unless family housing was available. most of the schools participants visited, such as texas a&m kingsville, texas a&m corpus christi, were in a few hours radius of houston. however, some participants lamented on the perceived benefits of college residence life. alicia elaborates: “i think it will give you more of an opportunity to actually be out of your comfort zone because i mean, you grew up with your parents and although you may or may not agree with their decisions, you are still influenced by them. if you live on your own, you will have more of an independent kind of feel for it and you will have to be determined by yourself to go to glass and wake up and do what you need to do.” when students do not have the resources to explore out of town campuses, they tend to pick local institutions by default. felicity explains how provided resources helped her visit campuses away from houston: facilitator: what’s stopping you from visiting other colleges? felicity: transportation. for example, texas a&m international, they do a bus trip and it’s like all for free… i never even heard about the school until miss kristal brought up the free trip facilitator: where is that? felicity: it’s in laredo [5 hours from houston]. so, they provided us like transportation and food so it was easier to visit the campus when a college actually provides the resources. discussion although the data collected in this study is limited to three focus groups, the findings contribute to the literature on latinx students and hbcus. while previous qualitative studies have focused on the experiences of latino students already enrolled at hbcus (maramba et al., 2015, palmer et al., 2015), this study focuses on latinx, high school students and community college students interested in enrolling at a baccalaureate institution. the college choice process begins as early as the 7th grade (cabrera & la nasa, 2000). therefore, research on latino student recruitment to hbcus should include research on prospective students. why latinx students choose not to attend hbcus is as important as why they do choose to attend. future research should explore why a latinx student who is knowledgeable about hbcus ultimately decides not to attend such an institution. mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 114 information is an important part of college access. regarding hbcus, prospective latino students are largely ignorant about hbcus. when underserved, prospective college students lack information about college offerings, their access to higher education is limited. the findings suggest that the participants in this study do not have enough information about hbcus to consider them as options for beginning post-secondary study or for baccalaureate transfer destinations. the burden is on the hbcus staff and administrators to effectively inform and recruit latino students. participants generally expressed a desire to stay in or near the houston metropolitan area to complete their baccalaureate studies. therefore, hbcu practitioners may find it easier to recruit local latinx students, as opposed to students from out of town or state who would require on campus housing. latinx college students travel an average of 39 miles from home to attend college (mattern & wyatt, 2009). however, participants did not mention a specific desire to remain close to familial contacts or familismo, as research by hernandez (2015) and martinez (2013) suggests. participants associated campus housing with unnecessary cost. therefore, living at home with family has financial and social benefits. however, students living at home may not benefit from the thriving and supportive living/learning environment that campus housing can offer. when latinx students decide to enroll at an hbcu and live at home with family, the institutions should maintain strong student engagement of off-campus students. while black students understand what hbcus are and may be attracted to an institution because it is an hbcu, the acronym “hbcu” has very little meaning to prospective latinx students. being an hbcu will not likely attract latinx students to texas southern university or prairie view a&m university. despite recruitment and marketing efforts already geared toward latinx students, hbcus must find creative ways to attract more latinx students. one effective recruitment method could be to utilize hbcu alumni who are high school teachers and administrators in predominately latinx high schools since two participants mentioned they learned about hbcus from their high school teachers. latinx alumni from hbcus can also be used to recruit more latinx students to hbcus. in addition to inviting latinx students to their campuses, hbcus can provide bus transportation and meals to groups of latinx students. participants mentioned sponsored transportation as a way to bring more latinx students on hbcu visits. latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 115 the differences in familiarity with hbcus between fccc and bccc are likely due to geographical differences in the houston area. one campus is located in an urban area with close proximity to an african-american community while the other campus is more suburban and less racially diverse. however, texas southern university recently ended a partnership with fccc where texas southern offered courses on fccc’s suburban campus. therefore, the researcher expected fccc participants to at least be familiar with texas southern university’s name. bccc participants indicated a familiarity with local hbcus, having spent time at these institutions. additional questioning should explore what prompted these students to attend a community college after touring and taking enrichment courses at a 4-year hbcu. specifically, the researcher should explore if the participants who visited hbcus ultimately applied and were not accepted or decided not to attend, considered applying, or did not even consider applying. community college to baccalaureate transfer rates are about 20% (soliz, 2015). therefore, students have a better chance of completing a baccalaureate degree when they begin their postsecondary education at a baccalaureate institution. conclusion the hbcu mission has relevance for prospective latinx students. hbcus were founded to provide opportunities to a population with limited access and resources. their current missions address the needs of a diverse population. this excerpt from prairie view’s mission is an example: “it [prairie view a&m university] seeks to invest in programs and services that address issues and challenges affecting the diverse ethnic and socioeconomic population of texas and the larger society including the global arena” (prairie view a&m university, 2020a, para. 2). latinos represent 39% of texas’ population in which prairie view seeks to invest (u.s. census, 2019b). texas southern’s mission uses similar language: texas southern university is a student-centered comprehensive doctoral university committed to ensuring equality, offering innovative programs that are responsive to its urban setting, and transforming diverse students into lifelong learners, engaged citizens, and creative leaders in their local, national, and global communities. (texas southern university, 2020a, para 1). while prairie view is in a rural county outside of houston, texas southern is located in the city of houston, which is 44% latinx (u.s. census, 2019a). mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 116 acknowledging the importance of representation and seeing role models that look like oneself, hiring more latinx faculty and administrators would support efforts to recruit latinx students to hbcus. applying chain migration theory, the presence of latinx faculty and administrators may attract latinx students to hbcus. prospective latinx students would be able to say: there are leaders and role models in this hbcu campus that are familiar with my background and experiences. moreover, latinx faculty and administrators can help latinx students build a connection with the institution (ortiz, 2004). latinx faculty represent 3% and 4% of faculty at prairie view and texas southern, respectively (prairie view a&m university, 2020b; texas southern university, 2020b). hbcus need larger recruitment pools while the underrepresentation of latinx students represents an untapped market in college recruitment. students applying to college should consider all options available to them. latinx students are not even considering hbcus as an option, despite their affordability, desirable academic programs offered, and their proximity to the social connections of home. aligning with the literature, participants expressed a desire to attend college close to home. the researcher aims to have this research influence hbcu administrators to market the campus and programs more effectively to latinx students. future research should replicate this study with hbcus in florida, georgia, and other hbcu states with since with large or growing latinx populations. future research should also explore the experiences of recruitment personnel from hbcus while recruiting latinx students. latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 117 references abdul-alim, j. (2016). how hbcus stack up. journal of college admission, 233, 32–35. baylor, e. (2016). closed doors: black and latino students are excluded from elite top university. center for american progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/reports/2016/10/13/145098/closeddoors-black-and-latino-students-are-excluded-from-top-public-universities/ brown v. board of education, 347 u.s. 483 (1954). brown, m.c. (2002). good intentions: collegiate desegregation and transdemographic enrollments. the review of higher education 25(3), 263-280. doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2002.0009 cabrera, a. f., & la nasa, s. m. (2000). understanding the college-choice process. new directions for institutional research, 2000(107), 5-22. doi.org/10.1002/ir.10701 carey, k. (2013, june 7). the federal parent rip-off loan. chronicle of higher education, 59(38), a60. civil rights act of 1964 § 7, 42 u.s.c. § 2000e et seq (1964). coyle. e. (2017). hispanics by the numbers. u.s. census bureau. https://www.census.gov/mso/www/training/pdf/hispanics-by-numbers_4.19.17.pdf creswell, j. (2007). qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.) sage publications. education trust. (2020). college results online. www.collegeresults.org elwood, w. (1990). the road to brown. [film]. california newsreel. excelencia in education. (2018). latinos: aspiring, applying, and choosing college. https://www.edexcelencia.org/media/722 gasman, m. (2009). historically black colleges and universities in a time of economic crisis. academe, 95(6), 26-28. gasman, m. (2013). the changing face of historically black colleges and universities. center for minority serving institutions at the university of pennsylvania. https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/changing_face_hbcus.pdf gasman, m. & nguyen, t. h. (2016). engaging voices: methods for studying stem education at historically black colleges and universities (hbcus). journal for multicultural education, vol. 10 no. 2, pp. 194-205. doi.org/10.1108/jme-01-2016-0011 gonzalez, l. m. (2012). college-level choice of latino high school students: a social-cognitive approach. journal of multicultural counseling & development, 40(3), 144-155. doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2012.00014.x hernandez, a. (2010, april 15). hbcus explore ways to move beyond tuition dependence. diverse issues in higher education. https://diverseeducation.com/article/13705/ hernandez, e. (2015). balancing dreams and realities: the college choice process for high achieving latinas. journal of latinos & education 14(3): 202-219. doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2014.973564 higher education act of 1965. 20 u.s.c. 1001 (1965) et seq. hirt, j. b., amelink, c. t., mcfeeters, b. b., & strayhorn, t. l. (2008). a system of othermothering: student affairs administrators’ perceptions of relationships with students at historically black colleges. naspa journal, 45(2), 210-236. doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.1948 jett, c. (2013). hbcus propel african american male mathematics majors. journal of african american studies, 17(2), 189–205. doi.org/10.1007/s12111-011-9194-x https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/reports/2016/10/13/145098/closedhttps://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/reports/2016/10/13/145098/closedhttps://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2002.0009 https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.10701 https://www.census.gov/mso/www/training/pdf/hispanics-by-numbers_4.19.17.pdf http://www.collegeresults.org/ https://www.edexcelencia.org/media/722 https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/changing_face_hbcus.pdf https://www.emerald.com/insight/search?q=marybeth%20gasman https://www.emerald.com/insight/search?q=thai-huy%20nguyen https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/2053-535x https://doi.org/10.1108/jme-01-2016-0011 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2012.00014.x https://diverseeducation.com/article/13705/ https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2014.973564 https://doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.1948 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-011-9194-x mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 118 kurlaender, m. (2006). choosing community college: factors affecting latino college choice. new directions for community colleges 2006(133), 7-16. doi.org/10.1002/cc.223 lichtman, m. (2006). qualitative research in education: a user’s guide. sage publications. lincoln, y.s. and guba, e.g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. sage publications. doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8 ma, j. & baum, s. (2016). trends in community colleges: enrollment, prices, student debt, and completion. the college board. https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/trendsin-community-colleges-research-brief.pdf macdonald, j., & macdonald, l. (1964). chain migration ethnic neighborhood formation and social networks. the milbank memorial fund quarterly, 42(1), 82-97. doi.org/10.2307/3348581 mangan, k. (2015, may 14). a wave of hispanic students reshapes a historically black college. chronicle of higher education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-wave-of-hispanic students-reshapes-a-historically-black-college/ maramba, d., palmer, r., yull, d, & ozuna, t. (2015). a qualitative investigation of college choice process for asian americans and latina/os at a public hbcu. journal of diversity in higher education, 8(4), 258–271. doi.org/10.1037/a0039009 marin, g., & marin, b. v. (1991). research with hispanic populations. sage publications. martin, j. w. e. (2004). the black freedom struggle and the enduring dilemma of brown. black scholar, 34(2), 14–20. doi.org/10.4135/9781412985734 martinez, m. a. (2012). wealth, stereotypes, and issues of prestige: the college choice experience of mexican american students within their community context. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(1), 67–81. doi.org/10.1177/1538192711428992 martinez, m. a. (2013). (re)considering the role familismo plays in latina/o high school students' college choices. high school journal, 97(1), 21-40. mattern, k., & wyatt, j. n. (2009). student choice of college: how far do students go for an education? journal of college admission, 203(203),18-29. mcqueen, l. & zimmerman, l. (2004). the role of historically black colleges and universities in the inclusion and education of hispanic nursing students. the association of black nursing faculty journal, 15(3), 51-54. merriam, s. (2009) qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. jossey-bass. minor, j. t. (2008). segregation residual in higher education: a tale of two states. american educational research journal, 45(4), 861-885. doi.org/10.3102/0002831208318258 doi.org/10.1177/1538192712470692 moore, j., a. (2000). note: are state-supported historically black colleges and universities justifiable after fordice?-a higher education dilemma. florida state university law review, 27, 547-567 murray v. pearson, 169 md. 478, 182 a. 590 (1936). nathenson, r., samayoa, a., & gasman, m. (2019). onward and upward: income mobility at historically black colleges and universities. rutgers center for minority serving institutions. national center for education statistics. (2004). historically black colleges and universities: 1976 2001. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/2004062.pdf national center for education statistics. (2011). projections of education statistics to 2020. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011026.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.223 https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8 https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/trends-in-community-colleges-research-brief.pdf https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/trends-in-community-colleges-research-brief.pdf https://doi.org/10.2307/3348581 https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-wave-of-hispanichttp://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039009 https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412985734 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192711428992 https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831208318258 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192712470692 http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/2004062.pdf latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 119 national center for education statistics. (2012). total fall enrollment in degree-granting institutions, by attendance status, sex of student, and control of institution: selected years, 1947 through 2011. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_221.asp national center for education statistics. (2013). selected statistics on degree-granting historically black colleges and universities, by control and level of institution: selected years, 1990 through 2011. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_282.asp national center for education statistics. (2020). fast facts: historically black colleges and universities. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=667 o’connor, j. (2018). jcsu ramps up pitch to latino students. https://www.wfae.org/education/2018-12-06/jcsu-ramps-up-pitch-to-latino-students ortiz, a. m. (2004). promoting the success of latino students: a call to action. new directions for student services, 2004(105), 89–97. doi.org/10.1002/ss.119 oguntoyinbo, l. (2015, september 30). the influx of latino students at historically black colleges. the atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/hbcus-more-latino students/407953/ palmer, r. t., maramba, d. c., ozuna allen, t., & goings, r. b. (2015). from matriculation to engagement on campus: delineating the experiences of latino/a students at a public historically black university. new directions for higher education, 2015(170), 67-78. doi.org/10.1002/he.20132 pérez, p. & mcdonough, p. (2008). understanding latina and latino college choice: a social capital and chain migration analysis. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(3), 249-265. doi.org/10.1177/1538192708317620 person, a.e. and rosenbaum, j.e. (2006), chain enrollment and college enclaves: benefits and drawbacks of latino college students' enrollment decisions. new directions for community colleges, 133(2006), 51-60. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.227 plessy v. ferguson, 163 u.s. 537 (1896). prairie view a&m university. (2020a). mission. https://www.pvamu.edu/about_pvamu/college history/mission/ prairie view a&m university. (2020b). pvamu teaching faculty data. retrieved from https://www.pvamu.edu/ir/wp-content/uploads/sites/98/20-1012-teaching-faculty data_sp20.pdf richardson, j. w., & harris, j. j. (2004). brown and historically black colleges and universities (hbcus): a paradox of desegregation policy. journal of negro education, 73(3), 365-378. doi.org/10.2307/4129618 rivard, r. (2014, june 24). fighting for survival. inside higher ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/24/public-hbcus-facing-tests-many-frontsfight-survival samuels, a. (2005). on the limits of litigation: a case study of ayers v barbour. in g. persons, contemporary patterns of politics, praxis, and culture (10th ed., pp. 100–119). taylor & francis. doi.org/10.4324/9781315080451-8 santiago, d. (2007). choosing hispanic-serving institutions: a closer look at latino students’ college choices. excelencia in education. https://www.edexcelencia.org/media/507 seymore, s., b. (2006). i'm confused: how can the federal government promote diversity in higher education yet continue to strengthen historically black colleges? washington and lee journal of civil rights and social justice, 12(2), 287-318. sipuel v. board of regents, 332 u.s. 631 (1948). http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_221.asp http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_282.asp https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=667 https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.119 http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/hbcus-more-latinohttp://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/hbcus-more-latinohttps://doi.org/10.1002/he.20132 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192708317620 https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.227 https://www.pvamu.edu/about_pvamu/collegehttps://www.pvamu.edu/about_pvamu/collegehttps://www.pvamu.edu/ir/wp-content/uploads/sites/98/20-1012-teaching-facultyhttps://www.pvamu.edu/ir/wp-content/uploads/sites/98/20-1012-teaching-facultyhttps://doi.org/10.2307/4129618 https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/24/public-hbcus-facing-tests-many-fronts-fight-survival https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/24/public-hbcus-facing-tests-many-fronts-fight-survival https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315080451-8 https://www.edexcelencia.org/media/507 mutakabbir association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 120 soliz, a. (2015, july 16). increasing community college transfer rates. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2015/07/16/increasing community-college-student-transfer-rates/ stewart, p. (2014). johnson c. smith university first hbcu to admit a latino fraternity may 6. diverse issues in higher education. http://diverseeducation.com/article/63919/. stepler, r. & lopez, m. (2016). ranking the latino population in the states. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2016/09/08/4-ranking-the-latino population-in-the-states/ sum, p. e., light, s. a., & king, r. f. (2004). race, reform, and desegregation in mississippi higher education: historically black institutions after united states v. fordice. law & social inquiry, 29(2), 403-435. doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2004.tb00341.x sweatt v. painter. 339. u.s. 629 (1950). taggart, a., & crisp, g. (2011). the role of discriminatory experiences on hispanic students’ college choice decisions. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 33(1), 22–38. doi.org/10.1177/0739986310386750 texas southern university. (2020a). mission & vision. http://www.tsu.edu/about/mission vision.html#:~:text=texas%20southern%20university%20is%20a,their%20local%2c% 20national%2c%20and%20global texas southern university. (2020b). tsu data. http://www.tsu.edu/about/administration/institutional-effectiveness/tsu-data/index.html tobolowsky, b. f., outcalt, c. l., & mcdonald, p. m. (2005). the role of hbcus in the college choice process of african americans in california. journal of negro education, 74(1), 6375. united states v. fordice, 505 u.s. 717 (1992). u.s. census. (2019a). quick facts-houston. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/houstoncitytexas,tx/pst045219 u.s. census. (2019b). quick facts-texas. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/tx williams, j. (2015, may 7) hampton university launches program to reach hispanic, latino communities. daily press. http://www.dailypress.com/news/education/dp-nws-hu-hispanicoutreach-20150507-story.html willie, c. v. (1994). black colleges are not just for blacks anymore. journal of negro education, 63(2), 153-163. doi.org/10.2307/2967380 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2015/07/16/increasinghttps://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2015/07/16/increasinghttp://diverseeducation.com/article/63919/ https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2016/09/08/4-ranking-the-latino-%09population-in-the-states/ https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2016/09/08/4-ranking-the-latino-%09population-in-the-states/ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2004.tb00341.x https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986310386750 http://www.tsu.edu/about/missionhttp://www.tsu.edu/about/missionhttp://www.tsu.edu/about/administration/institutional-effectiveness/tsu-data/index.html https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/houstoncitytexas,tx/pst045219 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/tx http://www.dailypress.com/news/education/dp-nws-hu-hispanic-outreach-20150507http://www.dailypress.com/news/education/dp-nws-hu-hispanic-outreach-20150507https://doi.org/10.2307/2967380 latinx students’ knowledge of and inclination to association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 121 appendix a. focus group protocol • what colleges are you interested in applying or transferring to? • what are you interested in studying in college? • what colleges are you interested in applying to outside of texas? • what draws you to a particular college? • how far away from home are you willing to move for college? • how familiar are you with texas southern university or prairie view a&m university? • where do you get information about colleges? • what was the racial makeup of the high school you attended? • how much do you think about race when considering what college to attend? • what do you know about hbcus? • what do you think about attending a college where most of the students are black? • when you transfer, do you think you will live at home or find a spot in student housing? • when you were in high school and thinking about college, did you imagine yourself living at home or in a residence hall? appendix b. table of participants fccc bccc high school dina, f sandy, f cassie, f joyce, f arianna, f gracie, f inez, f estella, f mari, f melissa, f miguel, m alicia, f elliot, m william, m yvellise, f richard, m catherine, f mary ann, f ethan, m john, m paul, m zalik, m maxwell, m alex, m oliver, m jesus, m johnathan, m juan, m edward, m herman, m milton, m marc, m aria, m http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 53 “a promise to support us:” undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus elaine c. allard1 jonathan hamel sellman brandon torres sydnie schwarz freddy bernardino rebecca castillo swarthmore college abstract this exploratory study examines the experiences of undocumented students at hawthorne college, an elite, liberal arts institution with sanctuary status. drawing primarily on a questionnaire and qualitative interviews, it considers 1) whether undocumented and deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) students on a sanctuary campus experience the characteristic psychosocial difficulties that mark the lives of undocumented students elsewhere and 2) the extent to which institutional policies mitigate these challenges. the research reveals that sanctuary is neither a panacea for undocumented students’ concerns nor is it a meaningless symbol. students are protected from some typical barriers to college success, experience other barriers in classic ways, and face still other constraints quite differently in a privileged, highpressure educational environment. the study adds to emerging research on the undocumented experience in higher education and offers preliminary insights into the promises and limits of the sanctuary campus movement. key words: undocumented, latinx/chicanx, identity, sanctuary campus doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.406 1 corresponding author can be reached at: eallard1@swarthmore.edu http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.406 undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 54 introduction for most undocumented youth in america, the path to a college degree is fraught with difficulty. while 94% of undocumented teenagers attend high school (migration policy institute, 2014), only 5-10% enroll in college, and even fewer graduate (gonzáles, 2015). financial, bureaucratic, legal, and psychosocial challenges, state-level barriers to admission, poor-quality secondary education, and lack of access to information all pose steep barriers to college access and completion (abrego & gonzáles, 2010; contreras, 2009; gonzáles, suárez-orozco, & dedios-sanguineti, 2013; pérez, cortes, ramos, & coronado, 2010; suárez-orozco et al. 2015; villarraga-orjuela & kerr, 2017). however, these difficulties are not evenly distributed. while many undocumented youth experience subtractive schooling (valenzuela, 1999), some have access to college-access programs and advanced tracking that prepare them for post-secondary success (pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, & cortes, 2009). similarly, whereas several states ban undocumented students from enrolling in state universities (ruiz, 2014), others guarantee in-state tuition (lópez, 2018; pérez, 2010). undocumented youth’s experiences vary widely because of an “uneven geography of local enforcement and educational access” (gonzáles & ruiz, 2014, p. 195). this landscape has become even more variable in the trump era, as locallevel policies proliferate, either rebuffing or bolstering the administration’s hardline stance toward undocumented immigrants. it is therefore increasingly important to examine the local and institutional conditions impacting undocumented students’ educational trajectories. sanctuary campuses represent a promising new development in the landscape of higher education access. by promising to limit their scope of cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, sanctuary campus leaders have signaled support for undocumented students. yet the full effects of the movement are still unknown (kelderman, 2017). how, if at all, do sanctuary policies benefit undocumented students? can they mitigate the challenges of living undocumented? the research we report here offers preliminary answers. drawing on qualitative data collected at hawthorne college (a pseudonym), our study examined whether and how institutional policies assuaged the psychosocial difficulties facing undocumented students. we found that sanctuary provided meaningful but limited benefits: institutional policies protected undocumented students from some barriers, such as financial stress, but they had no impact on others, like post-graduate uncertainty. our analysis highlights the allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 55 effectiveness of both rhetorical and material supports for undocumented students and calls for continued and expanded attention to this student population in institutions of higher education. barriers to college completion for most undocumented students, material and psychological obstacles jeopardize college completion. in this section, we review scholarship on financial and bureaucratic hurdles that take valuable time away from collegiate life, anxieties related to undocumented status, and feelings of exclusion. as we discuss below, elite institutions have been successful at mitigating some of these challenges but are uniquely positioned to do more. time. undocumented undergraduates face persistent and time-intensive financial and bureaucratic challenges. ineligible for many forms of federal and state financial aid and lacking legal employment authorization, most work in the informal economy and commute to save money, thus spending valuable time working and commuting instead of studying or connecting with peers and professors (abrego & gonzáles, 2010; contreras, 2009; pérez et al., 2010; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). navigating institutional bureaucracy demands more time and brings undocumented students into contact with staff unfamiliar with status-related issues, thereby requiring repeated explanations and referrals to other offices. these experiences provoke anxiety since students must constantly evaluate whether it is safe to disclose their status (muñoz & maldonado, 2012; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). in these ways, time takes on socio-political dimensions, as their citizenship status “disciplines” (auyero, 2011) undocumented students into spending time in ways that take a toll on their psychological well-being and threaten their academic progress. in his ethnography of an argentine welfare office, auyero (2011) described how welfare recipients waited hours to receive checks that sometimes never materialized. they had no other choice but to submit to extended waiting and the unpredictable whims of state agents because they needed benefits. time itself was a means by which the state produced “subordinate subjects” (auyero, 2011, pp. 25). as we discuss above, undocumented students’ temporal experiences are similarly constrained. citizenship status can even impact the very ways in which undocumented people experience time. because of the persistent threat of deportation, many suffer an “enforced orientation to the present” which prevents them from making many long-term plans, though it does “inspire various shortand medium-term precautions” (degenova, 2002, p. 427). by thus undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 56 impacting their time, the state and its institutions shape the everyday experiences of undocumented students. uncertainty and limits on belonging. undocumented youth also report high levels of anxiety due to various status-related uncertainties and feelings of exclusion (suárez-orozco et al., 2015). many undocumented youth fear deportation and worry about post-graduate futures, given the legal obstacles to professional careers (abrego & gonzáles, 2010; contreras, 2009; garcía & tierney, 2011; pérez et al., 2009; suárez orozco et al., 2011; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). these anxieties impede academic performance (gonzáles et al., 2013; muñoz & maldonado, 2012; suárez-orozco et al., 2015) and prevent undocumented students from feeling fully integrated into college life. lack of belonging stems from additional sources, including liminal citizenship (torres & wicks-asbun, 2014), racialization in predominantly white institutions (muñoz & maldonado, 2012), nativist hostility (gonzáles, 2011; gonzáles, et al., 2013; suárez-orozco et al., 2015), and limited access to peer support networks (garcia & tierney, 2011). students experience liminal legality (menjivar, 2006) when their status offers certain rights but not others. for example, generation 1.5 students, both undocumented and with temporary protected status, feel “caught between two worlds,” neither fully american nor of their birthcountries (flores, 2016; torres & wicks-asbun, 2014). their entitlement to k-12 public education, american upbringing, and simultaneous ineligibility for certain higher education and employment opportunities create discouraging “in-between spaces” of belonging and exclusion (abrego & gonzáles, 2010; flores, 2016; gonzáles, 2011; torres & wicks-asbun, 2014). furthermore, “racist nativist” policies and discourses in the united states have long framed undocumented immigrants, and especially those from latin america, as criminal outsiders, fundamentally less deserving of privileges than “native” white americans. institutional manifestations of racist nativism, such as exclusionary school language policies and immigration laws that frame and treat migrants as criminals, subordinate immigrants of color, threaten their access to national membership, and exact steep emotional costs (pérez-huber, 2009; pérez-huber, benavideslópez, malagon, velez, & solórzano, 2008). together, these financial, temporal, socio-political, and psychological pressures shape undocumented young people’s collegiate experiences, making it difficult for them to keep up with coursework and persist through graduation. of course, undocumented people also have allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 57 agency in pushing back against subordination and exclusion. many have taken risks to advocate for immigration reform (gonzáles, 2008), and undocumented college students exhibit remarkable academic resilience (pérez, 2010; pérez-huber, 2009; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). nevertheless, to increase the ranks of those who achieve educational success, understanding how individual institutions can provide supportive contexts remains crucial. institutional inclusion & elite colleges educational institutions have an important role to play in shaping students’ experiences of belonging and inclusion, both at the institutional and national levels (abu el haj, 2010; flores, 2016). while they cannot change a student’s immigration status, they can create institutional conditions for universal belonging and “citizenship rights”—the ability to express oneself freely, participate fully, and “maintain linguistic, cultural, and group affiliation” (abu el haj, 2010, p. 244). by implementing institutional policies and practices that support these rights, they also impact students’ broader sense of national belonging, with significant emotional implications (flores, 2016). since students who live on-campus have ample opportunities to engage in experiences and form attachments that shape their sense of belonging and civic inclusion, residential colleges are especially well-positioned to help undocumented students “‘feel at home’ in the nation and its institutions” (flores, 2016, p. 540). elite institutions have the resources to create environments offering full citizenship rights and to mitigate many student vulnerabilities. for example, well-endowed private universities dedicate funds to meet every family’s financial need, thus greatly diminishing financial barriers to participation (montiel, 2016). many of these institutions also provide access to extensive institutional resources and networks and are geographically located where virulent anti-immigrant sentiment is uncommon (anguiano & nájera, 2015). undocumented students in elite institutions nevertheless face status-related struggles, including social isolation, insufficient institutional emotional support systems (montiel, 2016), and uncertain futures (anguiano & nájera, 2015). knowing that continued enrollment and financial aid is contingent on academic excellence produces further anxiety among high-achieving students (flores, 2016). though some elite institutions do much to support undocumented students, introducing a more expansive set of protections is particularly important during the current period of heightened anti-immigrant sentiment, shifting immigration policies, and intensification of racist nativist policies and discourses. undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 58 to understand institutions’ potential to provide inclusive and welcoming environments, the present study explored 1) the impacts of immigration status on undocumented and daca students’ wellbeing and 2) how institutional policies mediated their experiences during a period of rapidly shifting immigration policy. our study adds to emerging research on the experiences of undocumented students in higher education and in elite educational contexts (anguiano and nájera, 2015; montiel, 2016; pérez-huber, 2009) and sheds light on the potential for sanctuary colleges and other institutions to mitigate status-related challenges. methods research setting hawthorne college. a residential, liberal arts college, hawthorne is located in a picturesque, east coast hamlet. its 1600 undergraduates are 42% white, 16% asian, 13% hispanic, 7% black, and 8% multiracial. 12% are “international,” including an undisclosed number of undocumented and daca students. the full cost of attending hawthorne in 2017-18 was over $65,000, but hawthorne has abundant resources and offers need-blind, loan-free admission. most hawthorne students receive financial aid, averaging over $45,000 per student. hawthorne is wellknown for its prestige and heavy academic workload. professors expect students to spend ten hours or more per week preparing for each of their four or five courses. most students also pursue multiple extra-curricular activities and work-study jobs. marketing materials describe hawthorne as a place where “intellectuals come to think and create together for the betterment of the world” and likewise promise bright futures. one pamphlet reads, “as hawthorne students, the power to make meaningful choices is yours…hawthorne prepares you for anything and everything” from careers as “biomedical researchers to software company presidents and founders of non-profits.” furthermore, students have “all they need for a rich social and intellectual experience.” the institution attempts to make this all-inclusive experience possible by creating a “cash-free” campus (i.e. the cost of all events is included in annual fees). admissions materials extend welcome specifically to undocumented applicants, who are eligible for the same financial aid as other domestic students. hawthorne in the trump era. just over a week after the 2016 presidential election, 300 hawthorne students, faculty, and staff staged a walkout and rally to protest the presidentelect’s political agenda. campus community members were alarmed at the possible realization allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 59 of trump’s campaign promises (e.g. a muslim ban, a border wall, a repeal of daca) and the impact of his speech about immigrants (e.g. mexicans as “bad hombres” and “rapists”), and two thousand had signed a petition to make hawthorne a sanctuary campus. at the rally, a sea of protesters crowded the central campus thoroughfare to join in protest chants and listen to first-person accounts from undocumented students. a few students held handwritten signs: no human being is illegal. no borders. stop the deportations. less than a month later, hawthorne’s president and board declared the college a sanctuary campus. they pledged that the college would do everything possible to ensure the security of any campus community member facing increased threat. this declaration included a series of promises to only minimally comply with immigration enforcement, pledging not to voluntarily share student information with immigration and customs enforcement (ice) or grant them access to college property. it also affirmed existing policies: campus police would not inquire about citizenship; hawthorne would not enroll in e-verify, and it would not consider immigration status in housing decisions. shortly thereafter, hawthorne’s faculty unanimously approved a resolution to support undocumented students and the administration convened a sanctuary campus committee (scc). in a written report, the scc proposed expanding the notion of sanctuary beyond its limited legal parameters to signify a broader commitment to full inclusion in academic and social life for all students, regardless of status. it also recommended establishing a student emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses and providing pro-bono legal services for undocumented and daca students as they navigated what everyone anticipated to be a challenging and uncertain era. the expectation that these would be trying times for immigrants proved well-founded. in its first two years, the trump administration pursued an aggressively anti-immigrant policy agenda including efforts to build a border wall, a travel ban on people from certain muslimmajority countries, gradual chipping away at the temporary protected status program, and a “zero tolerance” border policy that led to the separation of thousands of migrant parents and children. most germane for hawthorne’s undocumented students was trump’s september 2017 order to end the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) program. established by president obama in 2012, daca temporarily protects approximately 800,000 undocumented young adults from deportation and provides renewable work permits. daca undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 60 allowed undocumented students to work legally, study abroad, and pursue careers after graduation. following the september announcement, hawthorne’s president sent an all-campus email promising to stand by undocumented students and affirming their well-deserved place on campus. staff in student support services organized free sessions with immigration lawyers, support group meetings, and financed daca renewals. since then, the status of daca has been in near constant flux, with hopes alternately raised and dashed by presidential tweets, unfulfilled promises of bipartisan compromise, and court decisions (wise, 2018). in 2018, u.s. citizenship and immigration services began accepting daca renewals but no new applications. daca students can no longer study abroad. data collection & analysis our qualitative case study, conducted in spring 2018, comprised the research component of an honors-level course in educational studies. the course professor and five undergraduate students sought to understand the extent to which a well-resourced college could make undocumented students feel protected. our irb-approved project included two major strands. first, we investigated how hawthorne faculty and staff worked toward providing sanctuary as defined by the scc: full community inclusion. this article focuses on the second strand-undocumented/daca student experiences and institutional support. our study employed principles and practices of qualitative research (merriam, 2009) and case study design (dyson & genishi, 2005) and included document analysis, interviews, and an open-ended, anonymous, 12-item questionnaire, distributed to undocumented students via qualtrics (see table 1). table 1. data sources data source number purpose documents (web-pages, internal reports, and print materials) 18 1) identify programming addressing barriers for undocumented students and gaps in support. allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 61 the questionnaire included open-ended questions about experiences of inclusion and exclusion (e.g. “describe a time when you felt excluded academically because of your status”). ten undocumented participants completed the questionnaire, including six with daca and four without. qualitative responses totaled 10.5 single-spaced pages. to maintain confidentiality, researchers had no access to student names or other identifying information. however, from details in their responses, we know participants included members of different class years, of latin american and asian origin. we invited questionnaire respondents to contact us if interested in follow-up interviews, and three respondents contacted researchers they knew personally. volunteers included one latina and two latino daca recipients. these semi-structured interviews provided opportunities for researchers to hear in-depth, personal accounts and pose questions that had emerged during analysis. below, we refer to the three students we interviewed by pseudonyms and the questionnaire respondents as daca or undocumented students. 2) examine how hawthorne describes its commitment to equality. questionnaire 10 1) understand undocumented student experiences on a sanctuary campus. 2) collect names of supportive departments/ offices, faculty, and staff. interviews 10 faculty & staff 7 understand pedagogical practices, institutional procedures, and material resources used to support undocumented students undocumented students 3 understand undocumented students’ experiences in more detail. undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 62 in our analysis, we used open and focused coding to delineate data that helped answer overarching research questions and to capture other recurring patterns. we grouped these into analytic themes, many of which led back to the research literature, thereby presenting revised questions and considerations (emerson fretz & shaw, 2011; merriam, 2009). the team used google docs to read and annotate the data set, and two or more researchers independently coded each transcript, questionnaire response, and document. we discussed emergent findings and extant literature during class meetings, refined our code list, and developed analytic memos. findings undocumented and daca students at hawthorne experienced undocumented status in ways that reflected the unique affordances and constraints of their temporal-spatial location. at a moment in which political divisions ran high, anti-immigrant rhetoric was mainstream, and u.s. immigration policy was increasingly restrictive, students found a lot to worry about. however, the well-resourced and highly supportive context of an elite, residential, sanctuary college provided a buffer from many status-related concerns. undocumented students at hawthorne did not worry much about financial burdens, transportation, or overtly hostile peers and institutional agents—concerns that undocumented students face in less privileged contexts. nonetheless, they did describe status-related stressors regarding future prospects, incomplete sense of belonging, and time pressures. what sanctuary offered participants perceived hawthorne’s commitment to sanctuary as largely symbolic. this was because, first, sanctuary status had minimal legal implications. although the college pledged to refrain from voluntary information-sharing with ice, technically, “colleges and universities have no authority to exempt any part of their campuses from the nation’s immigration laws” (kelderman, 2017). unlike k-12 schools and churches, colleges have neither been categorized as “sensitive locations” where ice enforcement has been prohibited (morton, 2011) nor have sanctuary colleges promised protections parallel to those which religious communities provided during the 1980’s sanctuary movement (mcdaniel, 2017). second, fear of deportation or raids at hawthorne had never been a major anxiety for most students we surveyed. though many mentioned concerns about their family’s safety, only two mentioned fear of deportation at hawthorne. marisol said, “i think i've always had a sense allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 63 of safety at hawthorne because, realistically, why would immigration come on campus and target students?” various features that predated the sanctuary designation created this sense: a majority left-leaning campus, a small and unidentifiable undocumented population,2 and a location non-adjacent to concentrated immigrant communities. nevertheless, undocumented and daca students found meaning in the sanctuary declaration, even as they recognized its limited scope. felipe explained, technically [sanctuary] doesn't mean literally anything. there’s no special sanctions that come from being a sanctuary. . . it has very little legal basis, but i felt like it was a promise for hawthorne to support us—undocumented and daca students. by making a public commitment to protect and support its undocumented students during a period of heightened uncertainty, the college contributed to students’ wellbeing. marisol offered a similar perspective. as a symbolic thing, sanctuary does mean something. the fact that the school is committing itself, the fact that [hawthorne’s president] said, ‘we have a commitment to these students and we will do whatever we can to protect them and to be on their side.’ i think that that was a powerful message to give some sense of safety during such a difficult time of not knowing what was going to happen to us right after trump got elected. in addition to fostering feelings of protection, the announcement also led to increased awareness and concrete action. felipe said, “right after we got support from [hawthorne’s president] and their approval of being a sanctuary campus, hawthorne became way more receptive. . .we actually got support from a college committee. . . our voices started being heard.” the sanctuary announcement set in motion institutional action that resulted in concrete supports, such as the emergency fund and free consultations with immigration lawyers. in addition, the declaration inspired increased awareness and demonstrations of support for undocumented students among faculty and staff. felipe continued, [before this] a lot of my educators and coaches, they didn't even know i was daca and i remember when i shared my story with [my coach] . . . she cried. she was like, ‘i had no idea. . . i heard about those people on the news, i've seen them, their stories on the 2 felipe noted in his interview that he and his peers were all raised and schooled in the u.s. and therefore read as americans in appearance, attitudes, and personalities. undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 64 news stations and newspaper, but i never thought that there was one of you so close to me’…[that] goes to show that people at hawthorne, they want to [help] daca students, and they want to…figure out [how] to make us feel comfortable. in our interviews with professors, they described providing undocumented and daca students assignment extensions, advice, and encouragement. following the revocation of daca, one professor projected a powerpoint slide quoting hawthorne’s president’s statement of support for daca and undocumented students. he explained his rationale: my hope was that, by presenting this message in written form at the start of class, but without saying anything verbally myself, students would see this as a sign that they were welcome to speak to me if they chose to. at the same time, i did not see the message as overtly political. several students thanked me later…and said it meant a lot to them. most questionnaire respondents reported supportive gestures like these from institutional agents in various offices and academic disciplines across the college. the institutional declaration of sanctuary and the president’s public affirmation of support for daca thus not only led to official support policies but also to increased responsiveness from individual faculty and staff. the limits of sanctuary while most of our participants expressed gratitude for hawthorne’s support, they all recognized that it would end once they graduated. felipe explained that it was the prospect of life after hawthorne that scared him most. another student concurred, “i think the school has gone above and beyond my expectations in terms of support. however,. . . as protected as we are here, eventually we do have to leave, and life after leaving this sanctuary is absolutely terrifying.” as this student suggests, sanctuary policies and practices were limited in how much they could ease the psychological toll that immigration law exerted on students’ lives. uncertainty. though students felt supported at hawthorne, they still experienced high levels of uncertainty about the future. as in other settings, this anxiety manifested as fear of deportation and worry about post-graduate possibilities (abrego & gonzales, 2010; contreras, 2009; garcia & tierney, 2011; pérez et al., 2009; suárez orozco et al., 2011; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). because only two of our participants discussed fears of deportation at hawthorne, we focus principally on students’ concerns about post-graduate futures. allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 65 college attendance is widely understood as career preparation, and hawthorne promised fulfilling, well-paid careers upon graduation. for undocumented students, however, such futures were tenuous, at best. one daca student described the emotional toll of this dissonance: i feel limited in my future prospects. i can graduate from hawthorne but if daca is removed or anything else happens then i would not be able to legally work within the united states. this would significantly limit my future prospects. i also feel limited in the degrees i can pursue. i cannot get teacher certification, it is harder for me to pay for graduate school, it is a little harder to find scholarships and access to funding. i used to manage this stress through drinking and overworking, but since i got to hawthorne i have sought mental health professionals and tried to stay entirely sober. without major immigration reform, undocumented students without daca will be unable to work in the professional careers for which they prepared during college. until recently, students with daca had a better chance of fulfilling professional aspirations, but since september 2017, these hopes have been subject to a dizzying swing of the political pendulum. as evident here, the resulting insecurity could lead to unmanageable levels of stress and unhealthy coping behaviors. the futures of both daca and undocumented students are inextricably linked to immigration policies. as marisol explained, this reality made planning ahead impossible: [s]omething that we always talk about is how we’re never able to plan for our futures…it’s better that you don’t even try it. because… something will suddenly change and then you have to change your plans. so, you have to learn to live like this in this moment and plan only so many months ahead…i can’t think, oh, two years from now, i’m gonna try to work here because…i don’t know where i’ll be. marisol’s statement reflects a habitual way of living in response to immigration policies and their restrictions on migrants’ lives, consonant with degenova’s (2002) reflection on undocumented migrants’ “enforced orientation to the present” (pp. 427). in his interview, marcelo, who had canceled his study abroad plans after daca was revoked, discussed how he coped with statusrelated uncertainties: for every possible scenario, i was trying to make a plan for it. it was incredibly exhausting because it was so much anxiety and so much fear, and it got to the point undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 66 where all of those things were just making me feel really hopeless and depressed because here i am working as hard as i can to achieve my dreams and work for a future and here [are] trump and his administration… completely undermining all of my efforts and i have no control over any of that. the instability of immigration policy forced marcelo to map out different plans of action “for every possible scenario,” requiring tremendous time and energy. additionally, it put him in direct confrontation with the possibility that all of his work thus far would fail to result in the prosperous future offered by hawthorne. unfortunately, marcelo’s predictions were not exaggerated. even high-achieving, undocumented college graduates are likely to end up in the same low-wage jobs held by their counterparts without high school diplomas (gonzáles, 2015). marcelo was aware that no matter how hard he studied, he had no control over federal policy. the future was out of his hands. incomplete belonging. the inability to confidently plan for future careers was just one reason undocumented and daca students at hawthorne felt disconnected from their peers. marisol lamented, “knowing that my peers don't necessarily know how this is impacting me makes me feel like i can't share this part of myself. that often leads to me feeling disconnected from others.” though active members of the college community, feeling that they had to hide their immigration status eroded students’ sense of community membership. many undocumented students avoided disclosing their status because they were worried about it defining them. one student explained, “being undocumented. . . i just don't bring it up. i wouldn't say this is because i fear judgment, i just want to be just another person and not have people's idea of me constricted by the undocumented label.” another student worried that undocumented status could bring on an onslaught of stereotypes and “someone will judge me or think that i use my status as an excuse or complaint.” a third student wrote: it's not like i fear demonization or exclusion but there's a lot of other things that come with discussing my status. i don't really want to deal with the pity or well-meaning but cliché words of consolement. there's also the fact that most people don't really know what being undocumented entails so i don't want to end up answering countless questions of what i can and cannot do. these students wanted to avoid their immigration status becoming a “master status”—the most salient aspect of their identity, shaping decision-making and opportunities (gonzáles, 2015) as allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 67 well as others’ perceptions of them. wary of how these perceptions could manifest in a highpressure academic environment, our participants avoided disclosure. more acute disruptions to their sense of belonging occurred in both interpersonal and institutional encounters, as the legal limitations they faced imbued conversations about study abroad, internships, or careers with anxiety. one daca recipient explained, “i can't really give my opinions or experiences because of my status. . . i usually just try to change the conversation so that i don't have to explain why i'm not doing one thing or another.” another admitted, “since i have to hide my status, i have to avoid so many conversations about campus jobs and opportunities. i often find myself lying about my ability to do certain activities on campus.” this problem also extended to public and institutional encounters. one student described a recurring affront during election season: whenever people from the political clubs on campus are making efforts to get more students to vote, they can be a little persistent. i don’t feel comfortable having to explain to people i’m undocumented every time i walk into [the dining hall]. lately, what i do is either ignore them completely or just say ‘i can’t vote’ without giving explanation. i’m sure those two responses seem unduly rude, and the thought that i’m being rude to people on a weekly basis also makes me uncomfortable, but it is the way i dealt with my discomfort. similarly, another student described her attempt to volunteer with a popular community service program, “i wanted to participate [but] i found out that they have an extensive background and fingerprinting process that needs to be completed before starting. i had to, unfortunately, lie my way out of the program, using random excuses.” hawthorne’s public commitment to undocumented students, then, did not always translate into everyday policy and practice. these encounters demonstrate that undocumented students still lacked the full “citizenship rights” (abu el haj, 2010) that hawthorne’s leaders aspired to create. importantly, most of these disruptions to belonging were unrelated to hostility or antiimmigrant sentiment (c.f. gonzáles, 2015; muñoz & maldonado, 2012; pérez huber, 2009). even within a national context of growing xenophobia, on this sanctuary campus, only one of our participants described unsympathetic peers. despite the challenges they faced, like anguiano and nájera’s ivy league participants (2015), hawthorne’s undocumented and daca students occupied a considerably protected position. undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 68 time. a final limit of the sanctuary designation was its inability to protect students from the disciplining function of time (auyero, 2011) that their immigration status imposed. students cited status-related time constraints as among their greatest challenges. navigating bureaucratic processes, educating others in the basics of immigration policy, and worrying about the future all took up valuable time needed for their studies. daca students complete a multi-step process to apply for and renew their status, which entails completing various forms, paying an application fee, and attending a “biometrics” appointment to submit fingerprints, photos, and a signature to be checked against fbi records. after the september 2017 daca announcement, hawthorne’s undocumented student coordinator encouraged students to renew their daca status immediately, regardless of its expiration date. though hawthorne covered the application fees and arranged legal counsel, the process took time away from students’ academic responsibilities. one respondent reported, there have been times when i have had to skip class to get my biometrics done. while professors were understanding, i did feel like i was missing class material. i have had to spend time filling out my immigration forms when i could have been making progress on an assignment. within hawthorne’ s high-pressure academic environment, missing even a single class session could impact any student’s ability to keep up. undocumented students are more likely to come from under-resourced secondary schools and many are first in their families to attend college (gándara & contreras, 2009). already at an academic disadvantage, small setbacks like these were especially significant. the internship application process provides another example of the temporal toll paid by undocumented and daca students. in the spring semester, hawthorne students take considerable time from their academic work to apply for multiple internships, hoping to secure at least one coveted position. since few postings list residency or citizenship requirements, undocumented and daca students had to call multiple employers to find out if they were eligible for these positions. students described this process as “exhausting” and “draining.” felipe explained why, “it's people asking, ‘what is daca?’ and it's people asking. . . textbook questions.” like the student above who did not share his status because he loathed answering, “countless questions,” felipe found educating others about his status not only time-consuming allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 69 but demoralizing. repeatedly answering basic queries about daca also meant having to articulate personal limitations and vulnerabilities again and again. coping with fear, liminality, and uncertainty was also emotionally draining and timeconsuming. in a context where thinking was students’ central occupation, status-related worries occupied valuable head-space. one student wrote, “it's hard to focus on assignments when i'm worried about immigration politics and the negative implications it has on my life.” those students who pushed through their worries to keep up with schoolwork likewise suffered. explaining how her status had affected her emotionally, marisol explained: it brings a mix of different feelings: being sad, and also really angry at the fact that other students at hawthorne get to just go through their time here and do their work. and it's already stressful enough. people know that it's stressful to be here. but to also be thinking about your parents back home, thinking about your status…you don't have time to think about those emotions, but they're still really heavy. but you don't have time to really sit with them…i guess it's hard to not be jealous… it's like, oh, they just get to go through their school thing. marisol and her peers did not have the time to process and cope with the emotional strain of status-related concerns within hawthorne’s pressure-cooker environment, a drawback that not only took up valuable thinking time but also inspired resentment and feelings of difference. discussion & conclusion in this study, we explored the experiences of undocumented students attending an elite, sanctuary college at a paradoxical historical moment in which undocumented students faced both overt anti-immigrant policies nationally and pockets of unprecedented institutional support. by examining status-related challenges and institutional policies in one unexplored nook in “the uneven geography” of undocumented experiences (gonzáles and ruiz, 2014), our findings highlight ways in which institutions can serve as welcoming spaces for undocumented students, at a time when national policy is especially inimical to their inclusion. in this final section, we overview and compare our findings to previous research and offer suggestions for increasing undocumented student inclusion at hawthorne and beyond. our findings suggest that sanctuary at hawthorne was neither a meaningless symbol nor a panacea for undocumented students’ concerns. students found reassurance in the sanctuary declaration, which galvanized institutional and individual supports such as financial, legal, and undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 70 socioemotional assistance. hawthorne’s resourceintensive commitment to inclusion also protected undocumented and daca students from many challenges their counterparts face elsewhere. need-based, loan-free financial aid meant that they did not need to work long hours to finance their studies (c.f. contreras, 2009; pérez et al., 2010; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). likewise, on a politically left-leaning, residential campus, they neither lost time commuting nor had to tolerate anti-immigrant peers (c.f. gonzáles, 2011; gonzáles, et al., 2013; muñoz & maldonado, 2012; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). our data accordingly suggest that they did not experience the same fear of deportation as their counterparts in more exposed and hostile settings (abrego & gonzáles, 2010; contreras, 2009; garcía & tierney, 2011; pérez et al., 2009; suárez orozco et al., 2011; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). we therefore recommend that hawthorne continue to provide both rhetorical and material assistance to undocumented students, and where possible, other institutions follow suit. in spite of hawthorne’s many benefits, undocumented and daca students still coped with status-related distress that mirrored those reported in other contexts. some barriers presented themselves in classic ways. for instance, like other holders of provisional legal status, daca students had their time held hostage by paperwork and appointments (menjivar, 2006; muñoz & maldonado, 2012). also, like most undocumented college-goers, our participants felt profound and at times debilitating uncertainty about post-college prospects (gonzáles et al., 2013; muñoz & maldonado, 2012; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). they inhabited a liminal space simultaneously defined by privilege and disadvantage, inclusion and exclusion (menjivar, 2006; torres & wicks-asbun, 2014), as they wrestled with the juxtaposition of hawthorne’s promises of “meaningful choices” and preparation “for anything and everything” with the tangible constraints immigration law exerted on their futures. other barriers manifested themselves in ways particular to hawthorne’s privileged context. like other undocumented college goers, our participants felt that they did not entirely belong (garcía & tierney, 2011; gonzáles, 2011; gonzáles et al., 2013; muñoz & maldonado, 2012; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). however, these feelings of otherness were not instigated by interactions with nativist peers but when talking with friends planning trips or looking for summer jobs. similarly, they experienced the disciplining function of time (auyero, 2011), not through long hours working or commuting (c.f. muñoz & maldonado, 2012; suárez-orozco et al., 2015), but while navigating high-status opportunities, such as prestigious internship allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 71 applications. such disappointments and inconveniences may seem insignificant when compared to experiences of more severe marginalization, but they are nevertheless important since by eroding students’ sense of institutional citizenship, they also threatened their sense of national belonging and civic participation (abu el haj, 2010; flores, 2016). the limits of hawthorne’s institutional policies and rhetoric call for continued institutional action and alternate strategies. to bolster undocumented students’ sense of community membership, student organizations need guidance to craft and adopt inclusive policies and practices that do not marginalize undocumented or daca students. community members unfamiliar with the limitations of undocumented status would also benefit from educational opportunities. institutional programming for staff and students could increase sensitivity while saving undocumented students from having to repeatedly educate others about their vulnerabilities. similarly, hawthorne could save undocumented and daca students time and frustration by developing or updating existing guides to internships, graduate programs, and scholarships with status-related eligibility criteria. to mitigate students’ anxiety over uncertain futures, hawthorne needs to build increased capacity. establishing mechanisms for faculty to share socio-emotional and other support practices with one another; providing students access to group and individual therapy with psychologists trained in immigration-related issues and establishing an alumni network to support students in navigating precarious post-graduate futures are all attainable additions to hawthorne’s collection of sanctuary-related policies and practices. however, it is also crucial that institutional leaders recognize that without major shifts in immigration policy, undocumented and daca students face bleak prospects after graduation, regardless of how well they are cared for at hawthorne. accordingly, in addition to their commitment to individual institutional improvement, colleges truly committed to supporting undocumented students must also engage in ongoing, collaborative, and outward-facing advocacy to leverage their institutional influence and significant resources toward meaningful immigration reform. acknowledgments we are deeply grateful to the hawthorne students and staff who shared their perspectives with us for this project and to all who provided valuable feedback on our article: the amae special issue editors and anonymous reviewers and prof. roseann liu at swarthmore college. undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 72 this research was supported by a community based learning grant from the lang center for civic and social responsibility at swarthmore college. allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 73 references abrego, l. j., & gonzales, r. g. (2010). blocked paths, uncertain futures: the postsecondary education and labor market prospects of undocumented latino youth. journal of education for students placed at risk (jespar), 15(1–2), 144–157. abu el-haj, t. (2010). “the beauty of america:” nationalism, education, and the war on terror. harvard educational review, 80(2), 242-274. anguiano, c. a., & nájera, l. g. (2015). paradox of performing exceptionalism: complicating the deserving/ undeserving binary of undocumented youth attending elite institutions. association of mexican american educators journal, 9(2), 45-56. auyero, j. (2011). patients of the state: an ethnographic account of poor people’s waiting. latin american research review, 46(1), 5–29. contreras, f. (2009). sin papeles y rompiendo barreras: latino students and the challenges of persisting in college. harvard educational review, 79(4), 610–632. de genova, n. p. (2002). migrant “illegality” and deportability in everyday life. annual review of anthropology, 31(1), 419–447. dyson, a.h. & genishi, c. (2005). on the case: approaches to language and literacy research. new york, ny: teachers college press. emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i., & shaw, l. l. (2011). writing ethnographic fieldnotes. chicago, il: university of chicago press. flores, a. (2016). forms of exclusion: undocumented students navigating financial aid and inclusion in the united states. american ethnologist, 43(3), 540-554. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. garcia, l. d., & tierney, w. g. (2011). undocumented immigrants in higher education: a preliminary analysis. teachers college record, 113(12), 2739–2776. gonzales, r. g. (2008). left out but not shut down: political activism and the undocumented student movement. northwestern journal of law and social policy, 3, 219– 239. gonzales, r. g. (2011). learning to be illegal: undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. american sociological review, 76 (4), 602-610. gonzales, r. g. (2015). lives in limbo: undocumented and coming of age in america. oakland, ca: university of california press. gonzales, r. g., & ruiz, a. g. (2014). dreaming beyond the fields: undocumented youth, rural realities and a constellation of disadvantage. latino studies, 12(2), 194–216. gonzales, r. g., suárez-orozco, c., & dedios-sanguineti, m. c. (2013). no place to belong: contextualizing concepts of mental health among undocumented immigrant youth in the united states. american behavioral scientist, 57(8), 1174–1199. kelderman, e. (2017, february 26). sanctuary campus, the chronicle of higher education. retrieved may 31, 2018, from https://www.chronicle.com/article/sanctuarycampus/239289 lopez, p. (2018, april). legislating safe “sanctuary” spaces: the politics of prioritizing immigrant communities in higher education policy. paper presented at the meeting of the american educational research association, new york, ny. mcdaniel, j. (2017, february 21). the sanctuary movement, then and now. religion & undocumented experiences on a sanctuary campus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 74 politics. retrieved may 31, 2018, from http://religionandpolitics.org/2017/02/21/thesanctuary-movement-then-and-now/ menjívar, c. (2006). liminal legality: salvadoran and guatemalan immigrants’ lives in the united states. american journal of sociology, 111(4), 999–1037. merriam, s. b. (2009). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. san francisco, ca: john wiley. migration policy institute (2014). profile of the unauthorized population: united states. retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrantpopulation/state/us montiel, g. i. (2016). navigating the ivy league: funds of knowledge and social capital of undocumented ivy league students. harvard journal of hispanic policy, 28, 64–79. morton, j., immigration and customs enforcement. (2011). enforcement actions at or focused on sensitive locations. (policy number: 10029.2). washington, d.c.: department of homeland security. muñoz, s. m., & maldonado, m. m. (2012). counterstories of college persistence by undocumented mexicana students: navigating race, class, gender, and legal status. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 25(3), 293–315. pérez, w. (2010). higher education access for undocumented students: recommendations for counseling professionals. journal of college admission, 206, 32-35. pérez, w., cortés, r. d., ramos, k., & coronado, h. (2010). “cursed and blessed”: examining the socioemotional and academic experiences of undocumented latina and latino college students. new directions for student services, 131, 35–51. pérez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h. m., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(2), 149– 181. pérez-huber, l., benavides-lopez, c., malagon, m., velez, v., solorzano, d. (2008). getting beyond the ‘symptom,’ acknowledging the ‘disease’: theorizing racist nativism, contemporary justice review, 11(1), 39-51. pérez-huber, l. (2009). challenging racist nativist framing: acknowledging the community cultural wealth of undocumented chicana college students to reframe the immigration debate. harvard educational review, 79(4), 704–730. ruiz, b. (director). the graduates/los graduados (boys). (2014) united states: pbs. suárez-orozco, c., yoshikawa, h., teranishi, r., & suárez-orozco, m. (2011). growing up in the shadows: the developmental implications of unauthorized status. harvard educational review, 81(3), 438–473. suárez-orozco, c., katsiaficas, d., birchall, o., alcantar, c. m., hernandez, e., garcia, y., teranishi, r.t. (2015). undocumented undergraduates on college campuses: understanding their challenges and assets and what it takes to make an undocufriendly campus. harvard educational review, 85(3), 427–463. torres, r. m., & wicks-asbun, m. (2014). undocumented students’ narratives of liminal citizenship: high aspirations, exclusion, and “in-between” identities. the professional geographer, 66(2), 195–204. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. villarraga-orjuela, a., & kerr, b. (2017). educational effects of banning access to in-state allard et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 75 resident tuition for unauthorized immigrant students. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 39(4), 620–643. wise, s. (2018, january 30). trump’s daca flip-flops: a timeline. retrieved may 31, 2018, from https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/tracking-trumps-daca-flip-flops http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 1 2019 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 80 burial practices expose identity formation: muerte y figura hasta la sepultura tess pantoja perez the university of texas at san antonio josie méndez-negrete the university of texas at san antonio abstract an examination of identity formation and its performative qualities or ways in which one enacts identity emerged as a result of a study of racially segregated cemeteries in a rural south texas town, a practice that continues to dictate how burials are carried out, according to race. fieldwork, archives, and pláticas, made visible the historical origins of funerary practices for the primary author—whose family lives in nixon, texas. along with documenting funerary practices, this study explores the ways in which pantoja perez’s ancestors creatively camouflaged ethnicity to disidentify with their mexican identity, in the context of an ideology of americanization. it was found that cultural, as well as funerary practice veiled and protected mexicans by class, thus not having to enact a racialized ethnicity while rejecting culture and language practices associated with being mexican in public spaces. keywords: racialization, americanization, ethnic identity formation, funerary practices, intergenerational trauma healing doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.447 burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 81 in the legacy of jim crow burial segregation practices are examined in nixon, texas, which is about 60 miles southeast of san antonio; a town founded by john t. nixon in 1906 and located in southwest gonzales county (gonzales county historical commission, 1986). with the exception of pantoja perez’s grandmother, this town served as the final resting place of matrilineal remains, which lay in the latin american cemetery—a sacred site for her since childhood. despite such a legacy, nixon is a hazy memory for her. however, her recollections are of the cemetery, and traveling there in her aunt’s wood-paneled mini-van as she eyed a thin fence, exposed orange soil on the ground, and headstones. for her, it was a mysterious place, framed by the broad blue sky, and an iron arch towering its entrance—a view associated with the sounds of footsteps crunching the gravel stones beneath their feet. the cemetery would not be the only site where mysteries would be unraveled. through this process, the production of knowledge would yield new ways of thinking. as co-authors, we begin with a premise that knowledge is a collaborative project. as such, this article is the product of a praxis that emerged from an original ma thesis research project for pantoja perez. while the intellectual point of departure is based on pantoja perez’s family history and personal knowledge, the end product incorporates méndez-negrete’s knowledge, as a mentor up to the submission and revisions of the final manuscript. moreover, our premise is that knowledge does not take place inside an individual’s mind, but that what we know, what we can know, and what we publish derives in the discourse of those projects, from conceptualization to final product. thus, in this article we trace the life experiences of pantoja perez’s maternal female ancestors to explore the origins of white passing practices and its influences on the family’s identity formation. through this project, pantoja perez documented and carried out multiple trips to the family ancestral burial site. these visits brought forth childhood memories about the family tending to ancestors’ graves, pulling weeds that had overtaken the headstones, using towels or discarded clean rags to wipe the dirt off of the façade, and replacing old, weathered flower arrangements in the process. sometimes, they adorned the headstones with artificial flowers. other times, they would fasten white plastic crosses to metal stakes. these traditions, which included adults and children, had come upon the death of pantoja perez’s maternal grandmother—celia pantoja—buried in san antonio, texas, at san pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 82 fernando cemetery #2. it was this final resting place that gave celia pantoja ownership of her mexicaness, despite having lived a life replete with contradictions between racism and classism as a sort of dance of not ever having identified as mexican. given biases and anti-mexican racism, pantoja perez’s grandmother was consumed with white passing or as someone who emulates dominant cultural practices or beauty standards to deny ethnicity. a woman of great contradictions, she always found time to socialize and dance at tejano nightclubs. relationally, she married men of mexican heritage. and, she exclusively watched univision and telenovelas, and relied on curanderas and folk healers. by all social and cultural standards, celia pantoja would have been perceived as a typical mexican american woman. however, she consciously set herself apart from poor and working-class mexicans. her own socialization shaped the ways in which her descendants learned to disassociate mexican ethnicity and culture from their lives. ironically, cemetery research unearthed and fleshed pantoja perez’s ancestral knowledge of ethnic and cultural roots long buried. equipped with this truth, pantoja perez progressively learned to embrace her chicana ethnicity, an identity with which méndez-negrete identifies. at the latin american cemetery, face-to-face with erasure of history that was not transmitted in her home or instructed in the texas public schools she attended, pantoja perez began a process of self-reclamation. however, it would not be until graduate school that she would retrieve her people’s collective history, following a path of archival knowledge to make visible her maternal ancestral lineages. americanized inside an assimilationist educational system (see takaki, 1993), pantoja perez’s upbringing did not include ethnic ancestral knowledge, culture, history, and language. consequently, her cemetery research awakened a historical amnesia of someone who had learned to reject her indigeneity, even when her grandmother imparted unspoken messages of being a mexicana de la casa, without ever exposing herself as a mexican in the public sphere. this project facilitated reconfiguration and reclamation of an identity denied to pantoja perez at home and in public spaces such as educational institutions that continue to exclude the culture and history of mexicans in the united states (delgado bernal, elenes, godinez, & villenas, 2006). pantoja perez created the space to critically examine the whitening process that had shielded her relatives, and through this process she cast away la concha de nácar—the beauty product and an ideology that whitewashed her ancestral ethnic identity. burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 83 this research idea began with the untimely passing of pantoja perez’s uncle in 2009, whereby obscured burial ancestral memories carved out deeper significance for her, as she was not informed of the site in which he had been buried. thus, she found herself in a town that was no longer familiar, canvassing one cemetery at a time, until she located his grave in the latin american cemetery. there, searching through numerous rows of antiquated and modern headstones, she happened upon a cluster of maternal surnames—cisneros and pantoja. pantoja perez recalled: i was stunned—my elders never described the grounds where our ancestors remained—they failed to mention its conditions. my eyes were not prepared for the stark contrasts that are found between rural and city cemeteries. however, what surprised and disturbed my mind the most was the name of the cemetery—latin american cemetery—an identity that intruded on everything that i had been raised to believe about the family’s ethnic origins. never once in either my childhood or adolescence, did i witness a family member refer to themselves as latin american, latino, mexican or mexican american. the only ethnicity they ever subscribed to was hispanic or “white hispanic,” and yet our kin were buried in a segregated cemetery that ultimately marked them as mexican. it would be the name of the cemetery that compelled pantoja perez to seek the counsel of nixon’s city manager whom informed her that her ancestors were buried in a cemetery that “was and continues to be a segregated one” (m. zepeda, personal communication, november 15, 2014). perplexed, with the realization that the rural town of nixon maintained segregated burials practices, pantoja perez continued to research its history and amenities. what follows is a brief description of three cemeteries, not including st. joseph’s catholic and rancho. latin american and other cemeteries—unveiling truths located off of an unpaved, red-orange dirt road leading up to a sloped driveway, the latin american cemetery is a roadside burial site on the margins of the city limits. it is enclosed by chicken wire and supported by wooden posts. the main entrance is framed with aluminum tubing that frames an iron arch with capital letters, “latin american cemetery nixon texas.” a silver chain-link gate swings open to reveal an antiquated ribbon-driveway used to transport caskets to a tiny pavilion that sits at the rear. its grounds evidence cultural maintenance and ethnic pride, based on the number of decorative statues and flowers that pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 84 adorn the graves. the lawn is mostly bare, with inconsequential patches of grass. mesquite trees line the perimeter of the fence and serve as backdrops, rather than shade, and there are no benches or elegant statues to invoke a burial space. many headstones bear images of jesus, the virgen de guadalupe, cherubs, rosaries, and crucifixes. african american burial site—rising sun after visiting nixon numerous times, pantoja perez accidentally happened upon this cemetery’s location. it is adjacent to the rear of the latin american cemetery, and situated off of an unpaved dirt road. known to some locals as “the negro cemetery,” it cannot be seen from the highway. black aluminum poles that frame and support the rising sun cemetery’s main entrance display “hc-rs cemetery i.m of sam moore jr.” beneath the arch is a ranch-style gate that swings open for access—to the left and the right of the main entrance are large, white plastic barrels overfilled with discarded boxes, trash, and dried flowers. the terrain is flat and sunbaked, which has rendered the soil rock solid and impervious to the weight of visitors. organizationally, this particular cemetery is divided into two sections. the majority of the antiquated graves have been placed along the fence line nearest to the front, while more recent graves have been placed at the center. the majority of the concrete headstones are handmade and contain handwritten engravings. other graves are marked with hollow steel pipes that were welded together to form the shape of a cross. for whites only—no mexicans allowed this cemetery is in the suburbs and is well maintained. embellished with a u.s. flag, black steel letters read “nixon cemetery.” visible and accessible through a single paved road, the cemetery is designed in the shape of a horseshoe, with main thoroughfare connected to paved sections. it is fenced on all sides, and the front displays donor names affixed to brick columns, denoting financial investment and support of its exclusionary practices. with the exception of family plots, burial sections are in alphabetical order, according to surnames. it contains several dozen large-scale obelisk gravestones, indicating the wealth and status of the deceased. these gravestones are enclosed within large family plots surrounded by grave curbs that range from simple to unique in design. a final resting place for whites, burial in the nixon cemetery symbolizes acceptance and membership into the dominant culture. on the burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 85 contrary, for mexicans racialized as non-white, burial in the latin american cemetery is symbolic of past and ongoing exclusionary practices. literature review exclusion of mexicans an exploration of existing literature on the topic of mexican american identity and assimilation in texas evidences cultural cleansing as even in death, racialized ethnicity impacts belonging. in texas, forever a group assigned to a second-class citizenship, mexican americans have experienced fragmented histories. anglo derision dictates who they are and where they fit, which pushes many to assimilate, so as to avoid persecution. samora and simon (1977), in a history of the mexican-american people, conclude that mexican history in the united states is incomplete, in their survey dating to the initial spanish conquest (1500-1800s). montejano (1987) and ramos (2010), researching texas mexicans revealed a history of exploitation, mistreatment, corruption, separation, and marginalization, which began with segregations of elites through the creation of a dual wage system that relegated and trapped mexicans in the agricultural labor sector. racial segregation in burial sites mirrors the history of racism in texas. anglo and mexican race relations date back to the texas revolution of 1837 to 1842. in anglos and mexicans in the making of texas, montejano (1987) chronicles the aftermath of the war and the sentiments that created hatreds and prejudices, explaining: the occupying power may simply overwhelm the defeated people through immigration and settlement, so that within the space of a few years everything becomes completely transformed. laws, public customs, authority, even the physical appearance of old settlements become foreign and alien to the native people. (p. 25) as part of the incorporation of the southwest, the period immediately after the war became a time of suspicion and retaliation, as recorded by the texas historical commission webpage by barker and pohl (2010), observing that “though the alamo story initially struck fear in the hearts of the texans, it subsequently led to a relentless thirst for vengeance” (n.p.). appetite for vengeance continued beyond the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo into the reconstruction period, creating jim crow practices that were brought in by anglos slave owners enforcing segregation until it was ruled unconstitutional through the civil rights act of 1965. segregation pervaded in the social institutions of texas, among which are religion, education, and civic life. pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 86 texas and race relations according to deleon (2011), jim crow, although often conceived as a practice that marginalized african americans, became the foundation for segregation practices against mexicans that permeated every facet of life in texas. montejano (1987), in anglos and mexicans in the making of texas, 1836-1986, provides a compelling backstory whereby he examines the incorporation of the southwest of racist and classist practices that created a class apart. likewise, ramos (2010) unpacks mexican status and class society in bexar county and san antonio, texas, prior to the mexican american war and the declaration of independence of the republic. many of the social and cultural issues covering the period between 1836 and the early twentieth century continue to plague what plays out in u.s. politics today. in ramos’ (2010) account, the various ethnic and racial backgrounds of the early anglo settlers in texas were chronicled. he claims that “hispanics/latinos” are a minority group that is gaining in size and with that comes the loss of their language and customs, which was and continues to be perceived as a threat to the fabric of “american” society. he also provides a history of wellknown wealthy landowners—such as richard king the founder of kingsville, texas—who developed and named towns after their families and married landed mexican elite. aside from the common practice of intermarrying to acquire land, racial tension continued to divide anglos and mexicans. de león (1983) analyzing race relations in texas between 1821 and 1900, addresses anglo attitudes toward mexicans, concluding that, “whites dehumanized mexicans to such an extent that some considered them no better than animals” (p. 73). to illustrate his point, de leon (1983) elaborates on texas rangers and the lynching of mexicans: the rangers thrived because of the terrifying images whites conjured up of cruel mexicans. fears were evidenced in hysteria, over reaction, and retributive violence. with all of white society ready to strike against any indian or black threat with a harsh, brutal, often extralegal form of violence, it is small wonder that the everyday citizen, the vigilante, and the texas ranger joined in retaliation against mexicans as well. (p. 88) racial atrocities have not abated. more recently, in their analysis of hispanic racial and ethnic stratification, nelson and tienda (1997) posit that: racism was used by employers to pursue economic interests which resulted in a set of conditions that both structured the lives of chicanos and gave racial and ethnic burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 87 prejudice in the southwest a life of its own. the continued entry of new immigrants maintains and renews this process. (p. 12) also, feagin and cobas (2014), looking at everyday racism from a middle-class latino perspective, point out that white vigilante groups continue to patrol the u.s. border with mexico, stating that many whites support forceful if not, brutal border patrolling methods in controlling the border including an electric fence along the mexican/us border. one can assume notions of cultural cleansing in the ways in which immigrants are expected to conform to mainstream society. samora and simon (1977), who critically examine the u.s. concept of the “melting pot,” question whether mexicans can really be absorbed into the mix and whether or not the concept of the melting pot is entirely desirable. also, despite anglo racist practices against mexicans during the great depression, which resulted in the repatriation of mexican citizens and americans of mexican descent, he problematizes the role the u.s. played in attracting mexican laborers through the bracero program. racism whether as a systemic oppression or one linked to socioeconomic class demonstrates separation, not only in the agricultural fields and in sociocultural environment, but also in aftermath of life—their final resting place. cultural practices and traditions the burial of mexicans and mexican americans in texas continues to be a practice of segregation. according to stacy (2002) this separation “extended beyond the day-to-day experiences of the living” noting that communities of color had “separate funeral homes and cemeteries for anglos and mexicans” (p. 741). she highlights the 1940s three rivers incident with félix longoria, in mexico and the united states, volume i, in a section called “segregation and integration.” she writes that longoria “a mexican american soldier who died fighting in the pacific during world war ii” was denied service, and “a national outcry ensued, especially because he had died fighting for the united states” (stacy, 2002, p. 741). also, the issue of mexicans facing segregation after returning home from war is addressed by gonzález (2006) whose original work was completed in 1929 and published as life along the border. she argues: both classes, the middle and the landowners, are thoroughly disgusted with the situation; the former aspires to the social equity it feels it must have, the second simply demands what it always had. they oppose the discrimination that is shown concerning their attending certain public places. they resent the fact that in some of the valley pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 88 towns, mexicans are not admitted at cafes, picture shows, hotels, and bathing beaches. (p. 114-115) while her discussion does not center on the interment of mexican, through her careful documentation we learn about the conditions that created such an environment. salazar (2009) speaks directly to the point in her master’s thesis observing, “san marcos has two separate mexican cemeteries in addition to the city cemetery. the city cemetery segregated mexican american dead until the mid-twentieth century. this segregationist policy in the city cemetery is visually noticeable today… in [its] layout” (salazar, 2009, p. 20). in maría, daughter of immigrants, maría antonietta berriozábal (2012) recalls the segregation pertaining to final rites for her ancestors: “[apolonia] died shortly after félix and sebastiana arrived in reedville. at the time, there was no cemetery where mexicans could be buried, so her burial site was a plot of ranchland granted by the owners” (berriozábal, 2012, p. 5). while not clearly articulating that there were only anglo cemeteries, with her story we find that burials were segregated. if it were not that her family legacy was intertwined with deep connections to the catholic church, they would have had to ask their employers to provide them a parcel. she explains: both [maternal and paternal] families worshipped at st. michael’s church in uhland, about ten miles from lockhart […] my father’s uncle, pablo … was instrumental in raising money among the mexican community to buy a little piece of land … [that was ultimately] consecrated as a catholic cemetery where the mexican parishioners could bury their dead. before this, there was only a german cemetery … [mexicans] were buried wherever they could get a land owner’s approval. (berriozábal, 2012, pp. 13-14) in berriozábal’s case, the elders in the community organized themselves to create spaces for their final burial sites. they relied on their catholic church and those humane employers who would donate land to deal with such unequal practices. according to jimenez (2016) mutual societies such as la sociedad de la union in san antonio facilitated the burial of their ancestors. he recalls, “my family—grand-uncles, aunts, and my parents—belonged to la union for decades. when my mother died, la union paid off the burial benefit she had been paying for years” (“normanna incident,” 2016). burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 89 with a discussion of mutualistas, jennifer nájera (2015), in the borderlands of race, speaks to the prevalence of mexican mutual-aid societies in texas, as she writes about a small town in south texas: though some mexican people in la feria achieved a level of economic stability (e.g., enough to become small-business owners), the majority … lived in poverty … [however,] the structure of segregation precluded opportunities for social and economic advancement. indeed, many mexican people depended on their fellow community members for their economic survival. … mexican-origin people in la feria, and in mexican communities throughout texas, created and participated in mutual-aid societies. (p. 73-74) as nájera clearly articulates, these mutual-aid practices were often organized to meet interment needs of mexican americans. for example, in community of nixon, texas it was the woodmen of the world who tended to such needs for the latin american cemetery. unfortunately, despite the historical evidence of these practices, segregated burial customs continue to be accepted as tradition in the state of texas. for example, in west texas, in a public radio story, “a legacy of division in marfa’s cemeteries,” mia warren (2014) speaks to these contemporary practices: “just off route 90 in marfa, texas are three cemeteries, divided by fencing—and race … the separations between whites and hispanics [nee mexicans] are still visible among the departed—people remain segregated.” she continued, “there are the anglo cemetery. the other two—cementerio de la merced and the marfa catholic cemetery—are mexican” (warren, 2014). in warren’s radio report, alberto garcia, assistant librarian at the marfa public library, identified a mexican place for burials “one hundred feet from the railroad tracks,” stating that, “on the other side of the fence is the anglo cemetery, full of well-groomed, grassy plots” (warren, 2014). similar to what i observed in the anglo cemetery of nixon, texas, garcia argues that “the divisions here aren’t just aesthetic. it wasn’t too long ago that racial segregation was once a way of life in marfa, texas” (warren, 2014). in corpus christi, jimenez, a columnist of the corpus christi caller times, unearths the “ugly roots of segregation,” documents the case of a “hispanic man [that] was denied burial in a small cemetery in the bee county community” (jimenez, 2016). as was the case with marfa and nixon, in jimenez’s report hispanic becomes a catch-all alibi for anti-mexican segregation pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 90 practices. pedro barrera’s ashes “could not be buried because of his ethnicity.” jimenez (2016) asserts, “segregation of the dead was once a widespread and accepted practice all over texas,” reminding us that “bigotry extends even to the grave.” through his narrative, he warns that “segregated cemeteries still exist in texas,” adding that, “some are legacies of history, no longer used, but still bearing witness to a time when segregation was so common place as to not even be questioned” (jimenez, 2016). and, the controversy continues—maccormack (2016) of the san antonio express-news reported that “two months after a south texas woman was refused permission to bury the ashes of her hispanic husband in a “white only” cemetery in rural bee county, a civil rights group is suing to end the discriminatory practice” (para. 1). funerary customs inside and outside race death is an unavoidable fact of life, but it is often taboo to discuss. blanco (2014) examines the evolution of western grieving and funerary customs to understand how death has the power to cripple, fascinate, or inspire us. also, in a discussion of funerary customs, sweeny (2014) examines the process of death and grieving in the united states, to include the fads and fashions that have come and gone throughout the decades. however, nowhere in this text are there mexicans and other people of color included in the analysis. in their groundbreaking article, juárez and salazar (2010) explore the commercialization of death and the gender roles that bereaved families take on upon their families’ demise. in their ethnography, they document mexican american women’s influence in the flower and grave decorating industry, as they speak to the gendered roles men and women take on for these practices. in death as in life, mexican and mexican americans are devalued citizens of the nation. irene blea (1992), speaking to the conundrum posed by the notion that americanization disempowers mexicans from claiming their rightful place as citizens of the nation states offers: “the sociocultural forces behind this americanization effort were so intense and so successful that to question the premise, even today, is to be un-american” (p. 52). while segregated burial practices are not overt points of contention in these times, even when some isolated cases have surfaced in the social and traditional media, there have been cases that have received national attention, much research has to be done to assess segregated burial practices. as these customs were uncovered, the disidentification of mexican identity among pantoja perez’s burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 91 maternal ancestral line, and their acceptance of racialized funerary practices emerged— mexicans in death and americans in life—the only exception being celia pantoja who chose san fernando cemetery in san antonio, texas, as her final resting place. celia pantoja’s narrative becomes a point of examination in this article. methodology the methodology consisted of examining the life experiences of maternal female ancestors, which contributed to the conocimiento, and gave insight into the long-term effects of intergenerational trauma. this approach further informed how racial injustices experienced by preceding ancestors impacted the identity and socialization of subsequent generations. from a chicana feminist epistemological lens, which deconstructs the lived experiences of women of color and how those experiences are perceived, and documented (delgado bernal, 1998), pantoja perez traced the life experiences of her maternal female ancestors to understand the origins of white passing practices and its influences on the familiy’s identity based on the intersections of race, class, and gender. the methods utilized in this study are as follows: narrative interviews, self-reflection, and field research. additional theories and methods that influenced this study involve gloria anzaldúa’s (1987) methods of autohistoria and conocimiento, chela sandoval’s (2000) theory of oppositional consciousness, and cherríe moraga’s (2015) “theory in the flesh.” these scholarly ways of creating knowledge facilitated the examination of the constructed identities and lived experiences of pantoja perez’s maternal female ancestors. fleshing the bone: a legacy of secretos roy cisneros, a maternal cousin twice removed from pantoja perez, completed a partial genealogy on the cisneros family and facilitated the process of linking the family’s ancestral line to eighteenth century mexico. cisneros documented the significant life events of the line (births, deaths, and marriages) exclusively through the male descendants. thus, while making hidden knowledge visible for pantoja perez, these androcentric documents complicated the task of tracing female ancestors. the names of prominent maternal female ancestors appeared only under two conditions: they were married to or were the offspring of a cisneros male. throughout the process of retrieving information on the names, births, and deaths of these women, their history was only traceable through male relations. from stories based on family memories, and retracing the histories of her earliest maternal female ancestors, perez-pantoja pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 92 examines patterns and practices of daily life, as these related to their ethnic background and the places they occupied in their respective communities. what follows are the findings. findings: who were these ancestors? isabel dehoyos, maternal great-great grandmother is the first female ancestor whose life can be traced in its entirety. records show that dehoyos was born in 1882 in reynosa, mexico and died in 1961 in san antonio, texas, living most of her natural life in nixon. old documents show that dehoyos moved with her husband to cuero, texas along with sister-inlaw, “angelita.” the entire cisneros family gathered in cuero and from there, each family went their separate ways—some went to el campo, others to kingsville, and some to nixon. the initial coming together took place somewhere between 1890 and 1900. isabel remained in cuero, texas long enough to give birth to a daughter, evangelina before permanently settling in nixon a few years later. a young dehoyos dressed in a victorian era high-collared blouse and a long skirt; perched on her head is a wide, flat brimmed summer hat, which is evidence of the time. it is possible that this photo (figure 1) was taken on her wedding day considering that many victorian era wedding photos depict a bride standing next to a seated groom. if this is the case, because of their style of clothing and the presence of jewelry, her attire indicates a certain level of wealth. figure 1. wedding photo of isabel dehoyos and juan cisneros (cisneros-pantoja family collection). burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 93 on the other hand, an elderly isabel cisneros reveals a much darker skin tone that can be attributed to time spent as a migrant worker in the borderlands of texas. this photo (figure 2) was taken in the 1950s in san antonio in front of the cisneros family home; her loose-fitting clothing reflects a simple and modest style of dress that coincides with rural life. figure 2. isabel cisneros in san antonio, texas circa 1950s (cisneros-pantoja family collection). great-grandmother evangelina cisneros, a pantoja through marriage, was born april 1901, in cuero, texas. raised in an agricultural family, she worked alongside them (figure 3). she was the first of nine children born to her parents, juan and isabel cisneros. at seventeen, with the untimely death of her father, she became a surrogate mother to her eight younger siblings—two of whom were toddlers. figure 3. evangelina cisneros poses for a photo alongside her brothers and fellow south texas migrants (cisneros-pantoja family collection). pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 94 in her early twenties, evangelina cisneros would create her own family when she married esteban pantoja, later experiencing the loss of three children who died in infancy and whose remains are buried in nixon’s segregated cemetery. her only child to survive past infancy was celia pantoja, her first-born child who arrived in the neighboring town of pandora, in 1927. an old photo in the family depicts a young child standing next to a tiny coffin—it is a grim picture of celia pantoja staring back at the camera, head slightly canted to one side, eyes squinting from the sun. the face of her dead, infant brother is exposed through the small window in the coffin, he is wearing what appears to be a white christening outfit complete with a bonnet, head slightly tilted back, eyes half open, and tiny lips parted. wealth had not spared her family from burying three children in the latin american cemetery. the practice of passing availed entry into places that most mexican residents could not enter. class mobility for evangelina and esteban pantoja later in life, the couple would leave agriculture, to become wealthy owners of the first pool hall/dance hall in nixon. in pláticas with granddaughter darlene diane, her grandmother’s origins in the scorching hot fields of south texas, to later live a sheltered life of luxury and convenience, illustrating it with a trip they took in the late 1960s to the supermarket in san antonio: grandma evangelina pantoja—solely addressed by her married name—had no sense of cost… grandpa took care of everything. [her] only job was to stay home, take care of the house, and the children. money was hardly an object. whenever grandma needed anything in nixon, she went out and got it on account—she never handled any cash money. grandpa pantoja had personal accounts everywhere in nixon, she never looked at the price tag or the bottom line—grandpa settled all accounts. so, there i was, shopping with my widowed grandmother who had brought a cart full of groceries, she pulls out a few dollars, and says, “this should cover it, right mija?” what do you say to that—that naiveté? all i could do was smile, nod in agreement, and send her off with the cart while i settled the remainder of the bill with the cashier. i didn’t have the heart to tell her it wasn’t enough. when evangelina [pantoja] cisneros passed in 1985, she left behind a legacy of kindness, love, and care for others, but also nuances of inequality. her caregiving abilities earned her the burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 95 endearment of “a’ma chiquita,” because she was a woman who took care of many and was also tended to in return. class mobility did not shelter mexicans from segregation. sheltered from racialized treatment, pantoja reproduced discrimination with those that did not meet her aesthetic, shaping the family’s internalized racism and classism, which eventually led to their separation from “common” mexicans. pantoja grew up as a guarded only-child born into a wealthy mexican american family. yet, despite the family’s wealth, protection against jim crow segregation was not afforded to every family member. esteban, celia’s father, was not as fair skinned as his wife and daughter, which proved to be problematic. for example, in the 1940s, the family sought to eat at a diner in nixon. because of his color, esteban was refused entry and was told that he could only receive service at the back door. in contrast, celia and her mother accessed the diner through the front door. this and other humiliating encounters with racism and discrimination led the family to internalize their race and class privilege, to separate themselves from mexicans of lesser status. by the time she became an adolescent, celia pantoja did not associate with mexican migrant children. moreover, the experience at the diner taught pantoja a lesson in access—fair skin grants entry to those who are suitable to anglo racial aesthetics. in her analysis of segregation in a south texas town, nájera (2015) examines the case study of francisco “frank” rodriguez of la feria, texas; a mexican businessman who lived in the anglo side of town in the late 1940s and “walked on both sides of the street” (p. 94). despite crossing racial boundaries in other circumstances, rodriguez was denied access to a notoriously segregated barbershop that was co-owned by his “good friend and business mentor—an anglo man named mr. smith” (p. 95). najera elaborates, “the shop did not cut mexican hair. smith returned to rodriguez apologetically and noted regretfully that there was nothing he could do” (p. 95). this situation is reminiscent of the time when esteban pantoja was denied entrance into the town diner in nixon. rodriguez also confronted racial lines that could not be crossed “despite his entrée into other anglo realms” (p. 95). myths surround grandma pantoja’s true-life experiences. tío fonzo often recalled the majorette photograph: mom was never a majorette, no. that uniform belonged to someone marching in a parade in nixon… she liked it and wanted to try it on so she convinced the girl to trade pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 96 clothes with her so she could pose in it. i noted the pantyhose and asked, [i retorted, “even the pantyhose, tío”? to which he replied] “yes, even the pantyhose.” (family recollection, 2015) (figure 4). figure 4. a photo of celia pantoja wearing a majorette costume in nixon, texas (cisneros-pantoja family collection). many stories were bandied about when recalling the life of celia pantoja, including a myth that revolved around her claims of picking cotton as a teenager, as a justification to scars on her arms that may have been the result of skin bleaching. eldest tía, darlene, debunked the story, explaining that “if mom ever picked cotton—it was because it was her cotton.” learning to be white, not mexican american celia pantoja’s socialization created a new legacy that marked a shift in ideology. language, alabaster complexion, and physical aesthetics thus became a standard of beauty and wealth (see ruiz (1998) for a discussion of this practice). as a consequence, skin and hair bleaching was adopted to reinforce the use of beauty products that allowed white passing among her progeny. later generations adopted the use of colored lenses to lighten their eye burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 97 color. relatives with darker complexions appropriated an americana “prep-school” style of dressing, influenced by stereotypical representations in television, as private education and wealth had not been part of their experience. thus, the family’s motto was simple: appearances are everything, and, if you cannot be white, you can at least pass or dress like them. segregated burials and unburied identities: a reflection the latin american cemetery, named after an ethnicity that veiled mexican identity, displays linguistic and symbolic aesthetics of mexican culture adorning headstones. situated in front of a massive electric substation, this cemetery is in the outskirts of town. its funerary practices expose the underlying purpose of segregation, which is to serve anglo’s past and the fear of being buried in close proximity to “unclean and potentially contaminating” people (nájera, 2015, p. 95). as nájera (2015) declares, “even in death mexican bodies had the potential to ‘contaminate’ white bodies” (p. 95). she illustrates her conclusion, with a quote by lulac founder george i. sánchez: the bodies of mexicans’ are denied the right of burial…. they are assigned a separate plot of land, far enough from the plot destined for the so-called ‘whites’ so as to be sure that the bodies of the ‘whites’ will not be contaminated by the presence of the bodies of the mexicans. (nájera, 2015, p. 95) in everyday life, in the home as well as in public spaces, skin color and class marked residents for inferior treatment. it was these circumstances under which the pantojas experienced their daily lives. the latin american cemetery is evidence of the segregationist customs, equal in inferiority in terms of construction and lack of upkeep. in nixon, texas, community members identified or labeled as latino/hispanic or mexican are buried in the latin american cemetery. the exception to this rule are those parishioners of st. joseph’s catholic church who are granted burial—a resting place reserved for residents who are mexican, poor, and disempowered. understanding the borderlands of race: anglos and mexican americans mexican americans in nixon inhabit borderlands of race, which are demarcated by racialized ethnicity, class, language, and color. to survive in the borderlands mexican americans must abide de facto segregation and exist within the confines of racialized spaces even in their final resting place. pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 98 at first glance, residents of nixon conduct daily activities in what appears to be relative peace and harmony. however, relational interactions are often superficial, as is the case with las enchiladas—a popular mexican restaurant where all convene, and english, spanish, and spanglish are spoken without restrictions. there, all funeral arrangements are announced and posted at the cashier’s stand, without interpreting it as an open invitation. a site of cultural contact and further evidence of the continuum of relational interactions in a town where race, color, gender, ethnicity, and language divide—good food unites the residents, if only for a meal. rather than be marked by race and class with a burial in the latin american cemetery of nixon, in death, celia pantoja opted for a place to be herself. end of life and cultural retrieval this study explored the life experiences of pantoja perez’s maternal female ancestors as a means of understanding the origins of white passing practices and its influences on the family’s identity formation. findings revealed a history of segregated burial practices in rural south texas towns. the origins of these practices can be traced to anglo and mexican race relations dating back to the texas revolution (montejano, 1987). these sustained practices facilitated the rejection of mexican american culture and spanish heritage language amongst members of pantoja perez’s family. outside of rural towns like nixon, major cities like san antonio afforded mexican americans with more than one cemetery to bury their loved ones. by all appearances, funerary arrangements for celia pantoja in san antonio followed traditionally accepted practices of catholic mexicans. interestingly, no one in the family including pantoja perez’s grandmother ever identified as mexican and yet, her lifestyle and funeral had all the markings of the culture. pantoja perez’s unveiling and retrieval of family history affirmed and validated the desire to reclaim her ethnic/cultural and linguistic legacies as a means of empowering herself and her progeny. in summary, pantoja perez’s study on the racialization of funerary practices, as a field researcher interested in qualitative studies, creates a decolonial shift inspired by the struggle for inclusion in education. with newfound knowledge, she began to reject the internalized americanization or the legacy of celia pantoja. more recently, participation in higher education has allowed pantoja perez to amass the sociohistorical and cultural knowledge to make visible people of mexican ancestry, thus unearthing and documenting a family legacy that has been burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 99 hidden (perez, 1999). pantoja perez’s aim is to impart this knowledge to those that have been denied their histories, by contesting assimilationist and exclusionary theories that erase others from the national imaginary. pantoja perez & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 100 references barker, e. c., & pohl, j. w. (2010). texas revolution. the handbook of texas online. texas state historical association. retrieved from http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qdt01 blanco, m. j. (2014). the power of death: contemporary reflections on death in western society. retrieved from http://utsa.eblib.com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/patron/fullrecord.aspx? p=1644353&echo=1&userid=dwevuqbv0v0%3d&tstamp=1426775153&id=ab26dc5f2 0c664c053730ce9541621bc5be2b7bd berriozábal, m. a. (2012). maría, daughter of immigrants. san antonio, tx: wings press. blea, i. i. (1992). la chicana and the intersection of race, class, and gender. westport, ct: praeger. de león, a. (1983). they called them greasers: anglo attitudes toward mexicans in texas, 18211900. austin, tx: university of texas press. deleon, a. (2011). war along the border: the mexican revolution and tejano communities (ed.). college station, tx: texas a&m university press. dolores delgado bernal. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555–582. retrieved from https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 delgado bernal, d., elenes, c.a., godinez, f.e., & villenas, s. (eds.). (2006). chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (eds.). albany, ny: state university of new york press. feagin, j. r., & cobas, j. a. (eds.). (2014). latinos facing racism: discrimination, resistance, & endurance. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. gonzález, j. (2006). life along the border: a landmark tejana thesis. college station, tx: texas a&m university press. jimenez, n. (2016, march 9). normanna incident highlights ongoing segregation issues. corpus christi caller times. retrieved from http://www.caller.com/columnists/nickjimenez/normanna-incident-highlights-ongoing-segregation-issues-27aa034b-fab9-51dfe053-0100007f44e8-371425701.html juárez, a. m. & salazar, m. l. (2010). commercializing death and desegregating gender: twentieth century funerary practices in central tejas and the border. chicana/latina studies: the journal of mujeres activas en letras y cambio social, 9(2), 98-139. maccormack, j. (2016, april 29). suit filed in “whites-only cemetery.” san antonio express-news. retrieved from http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/suit-filed-in-whites-onlycemetery-case-7384219.php montejano, d. (1987). anglos and mexicans in the making of texas, 1836-1986. austin, tx: university of texas press. nájera, j. r. (2015). the borderlands of race: mexican segregation in a south texas town. austin, tx: university of texas press. nelson, c., & tienda, m. (1997). the structuring of hispanic ethnicity: historical and contemporary perspectives. in romero, m., hondagneu-sotelo, & ortiz, v. (eds.), burial practices expose identity formation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 101 challenging fronteras: structuring latina and latino lives in the u.s. (pp. 7-29). new york, ny: routledge. pérez, e. (1999). the decolonial imaginary: writing chicanas into history. bloomington, in: indiana university press. ramos, r.a. (2010). beyond the alamo: forging mexican ethnicity in san antonio, 1821-1861. chapel hill, nc: the university of north carolina press. ruiz, v. l. (1998). from out of the shadows: mexican women in twentieth-century america. new york, ny: oxford university press. salazar, m. l. (2009). life in death: mexican american grave decorating and funerary rituals (master’s thesis). retrieved from https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/4058 samora, j. & simon, p. v. (1977). a history of the mexican-american people. notre dame, in: university of notre dame press. stacy, l. (2002). mexico and united states. cavendish square. sweeny, k. (2014). american afterlife: encounters in the customs of mourning. athens, ga: the university of georgia press. takaki, r. (1993). a different mirror: a history of multicultural america. boston, new york, & london, uk: little brown & company. warren, m. (2014). “a legacy of division in marfa cemeteries,” marfa public radio. (october 17, 2014). retrieved from http://marfapublicradio.org/blog/a-legacy-of-division-in-marfascemeteries. latin american and other cemeteries—unveiling truths http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 33 unpacking resilience and trauma: examining the “trump effect” in higher education for undocumented latinx college students susana m. muñoz colorado state university darsella vigil university of denver elizabeth jach marisela rodriguez-gutierrez colorado state university abstract in response to the “trump effect”, or the negative climate in education following president trump’s election, we examine the ways in which anti-immigration rhetoric from the recent election cycle and the elimination of daca has influenced college experiences and trajectories of undocumented latinx students. using critical race theory, along with literature on trauma and resilience, we based our findings on three focus groups with 16 undocumented student participants, and highlight four emergent themes: (1) citizen fragility seemed pervasive and finding hope was deemed as challenging; (2) students experienced an increase of emboldened racist nativism on their college campuses; (3) the exploitation of undocumented student labor; and (4) shared solidarity was beneficial for student resilience. findings illuminate how colleges and universities need to reconceptualize the notion of resilience by addressing systemic racist nativism in higher education. keywords: dreamers, undocumented students, racist nativism, daca, higher education doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.405 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.405 the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 34 introduction immediately after the 2016 presidential election, the southern poverty law center (2016) surveyed 10,000 k-12 educators; 90% of the respondents reported the presidential election had a negative impact on school climate. moreover, four in five reported an increase in anxiety among immigrant, muslim, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt), and african american students. the southern poverty law center dubbed the resulting climate the “trump effect.” our research study parallels these issues in an examination of the effect of the election results on college campuses in the state of colorado for undocumented and dacamented students (deferred action for childhood arrivals). given the agenda of trump and his administration, we believe it is imperative to understand if and how the campus climates of higher education institutions and undocumented students’ educational trajectories have been influenced by the trump effect in colorado, a state which provides in-state tuition for undocumented students attending higher education institutions. colorado passed the advancing students for a stronger economy tomorrow (asset) bill in 2013. in 2017, an estimated 33,448 immigrants stood to benefit from daca, or deferred action for childhood arrivals, in colorado (dineen, 2017). in exchange for protection from deportation, people with daca status have submitted proof that they had lived in the united states, undocumented, for at least five years. not only does the daca order safeguard students from deportation, but it also grants them work authorization, and enables them to obtain driver licenses. daca has also opened doors for employment, increasing greater participation in the u.s. democracy, and a unique sense of belonging. previous research has documented the benefits of daca (gonzales, roth, brant, lee, & valdivia, 2016; pérez huber, pulido villanueva, guarneros, vélez, & solórzano, 2014; wong et al., 2017). daca was originally announced on june 15, 2012, under the obama administration. in november 2014, the department of homeland security sought to expand daca through the creation of deferred action for parents of americans and lawful permanent residents, or dapa. a group of 26 states challenged dapa and the u.s. court of appeals for the fifth circuit affirmed satisfying a preliminary injunction for dapa, and the supreme court affirmed (4-4). in june 2017, secretary john f. kelly announced rescinding dapa. later that month, attorney general jeff sessions received a letter from texas and other states announcing plans muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 35 to include daca in the dapa lawsuit if daca was not rescinded by september 5, 2017. the department of homeland security (2017) rescinded daca on september 5, 2017, giving a sixmonth notice of the full rescission to allow congress to respond with appropriate legislation. daca recipients had 30 days to file their renewal requests and associated applications for employment authorization. data collection for this article occurred after the daca rescission. in january 2018, uscis resumed the acceptance of daca renewal applications after federal courts in california and new york issued injunctions asserting that the trump administration had failed to justify the termination of the daca program. on august 31, 2018, judge andrew s. hanen denied texas’s injunction to halt the original 2012 daca program, protecting the resumption of daca renewal applications. our research examines how the trump effect is influencing undocumented students’ experiences on college campuses and potential impacts on these students’ educational trajectories in colorado. the purpose of this research is to conduct a case study examination in the state of colorado to illuminate the localized impact of the trump effect, contextualized by state (such as colorado’s asset) and institutional policies (such as eligibility for in-state tuition). this article examines institutional responses to white supremacist ideologies and how it has influenced undocumented latinx students’ racialized experiences with campus climate. the research question guiding this study is: in what ways has racism and anti-immigration rhetoric from the recent election influence how undocumented latinx students experience campus climate? we use critical race theory as analytic lens and draw on literature about campus climate, microaggressions, trauma, and resilience to frame our article. barriers for undocumented students suarez-orozco et al.’s (2015) model of “undocufriendly” campus climates provides an ecological approach (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006) to frame the challenges undocumented students encounter. the “undocufriendly” model considers challenges and assets for undocumented students at the student, campus, and as well as state and national levels. given our focus on policy at the state level in colorado and the trump effect at the national level, suárez-orozco et al.’s (2015) model provides concrete examples of the assets and challenges students experience within the microsystems of their daily experience. challenges for undocumented students at the student level, for instance, include time constraints as a student, separation from family, and often first-generation status. campus-level challenges can include the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 36 financing education, microaggressions, and a lack of resources. in their survey of over 900 selfidentified undocumented students, suárez-orozco et al. found that more than two thirds of students had experienced discrimination based on their legal status within the previous month. students at private colleges were more likely to desire their institutional to publicly endorse undocumented students (33%) compared to students at community colleges (24%) and public colleges (22%). students at private colleges also reported the highest levels of peer support. in the present political climate, dacamented (undocumented students with deferred action for childhood arrivals status) students’ mental health and safety may be particularly at risk. trump’s presidential campaign involved substantial anti-immigrant rhetoric; coupled with trump’s subsequent election, the climate for undocumented students has deteriorated in significant ways (southern poverty law center, 2016). undocumented students on college campuses encounter both microaggressions, defined as “subtle insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual) directed toward people of color” (solórzano, ceja, & yosso, 2000, p. 60) and racist nativism, defined as “the assigning of values to real or imagined differences, in order to justify the superiority of the native, who is to be perceived white” (perez huber, benavides lopez, malagón, vélez, & solórzano, 2008, p. 43). previous research on undocumented students suggests that these students encounter substantial barriers in their pursuit of higher education due to systems of oppression and microaggressions (díaz-strong et al., 2016; muñoz, 2015; muñoz & vigil, 2018; nienhusser, vega, & saavedra carquin, 2016; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). while this research has provided stories of resistance through individual interviews and survey data, there is a gap in the knowledge on how undocumented students are making sense and navigating their campus climate during such politically turbulent times through focus groups. we aim to address this gap in knowledge. notions of fragility undocumented students on college campuses interact with peers and faculty who are not impacted by the implications of lack of citizenship status and who may be uninformed of the scope of the issues these students may face in higher education. diangelo (2011) defined white fragility as “a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. these moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation” (p.1). matias (2016a) used diangelo’s definition of white fragility to muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 37 write about experiences she has had in her own classroom, specifically focusing on white students asserting their white privilege and, thus, decentralizing a conversation on whiteness. she made it a point to state that as a socially-just educator, she does not allow the conversation to end without challenging her students’ preconceived ideologies (matias, 2016a). in both k-12 and higher education, educators cannot encourage students to begin a racial healing process if educators do not unpack their own whiteness, and understand white privilege and white fragility (matias, 2016b). it is essential to apply this lens in order to understand the struggle of undocumented students dealing with the fragility of peers and faculty during this political climate, particularly as it pertains to citizenship status. racial microaggressions and racist nativism microaggressions solórzano, ceja, and yosso’s (2000) study on campus racial climate examined how racial microaggressions, impact the college environment. their findings suggest that many of the students experience covert and overt racial microaggressions in both social and educational contexts. at the structural level, racial microaggressions are transmitted through symbols social practices, social codes for behavior, physical symbols and images. collectively, they are racially prejudiced actions, words, symbols, and behaviors work to normalize the everyday, ordinariness of racism (delgado & stefanic, 2017). racist nativism is situated within sociopolitical and sociohistorical contexts in the united states which may infiltrate different communities of color depending on whom is being perceived as foreign through national political discourse (pérez huber et al, 2008). racist nativism connects race and immigration within our current sociohistorical and sociopolitical climate (pérez huber et al., 2008). taken together, the concept of racist nativist microaggressions illustrates the reoccurring and systemic “forms of racist nativism that are subtle, layered, and cumulative verbal and non-verbal assaults directed toward people of color that are committed automatically and unconsciously” (pérez huber, 2011, p. 380). these concepts also connect to the racial battle fatigue and mundane, extreme, environmental stress (mees) encountered by racial minorities on college campuses (smith, hung, & franklin, 2011). experiences of trauma previous research on undocumented students and immigrants illuminates experiences of trauma. trauma is an event that can cause physical, emotional, or psychological harm. the individual who experiences trauma may subsequently experience stress, anxiety, fear, and/or the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 38 denial about the effects of the event. eyerman (2001) defined cultural trauma as “a dramatic loss of identity and meaning, a tear in the social fabric, affecting a group of people that have achieved some degree of cohesion” (p. 2). undocumented immigrants have reported feelings of withdrawal, depression, and ambivalence about identity as americans (aranda, vaquera, & sousa-rodríguez, 2015). goodman, vesely, letiecq, and cleveland (2017) found that immigrant latina women were more likely to experience depression, trauma, and were ten times more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd). in an assessment of the medical record of 212 undocumented immigrants who experienced objective and/or subjective factors of trauma as defined by the dsm-iv, rasmussen, rosenfeld, reeves, and keller (2007) found that an accumulation of stressors among undocumented immigrants increased the likelihood individuals developing ptsd. together, this research demonstrates that trauma is part of the lived experience of undocumented immigrants. resilience during crisis research on undocumented immigrants has also illuminated resilience despite tremendous barriers. suárez-orozco et al. (2015) posited that assets at the student level include academic resilience and civic engagement. applying the undocufriendly model to the campus level in colorado for our case study illuminates that eligible undocumented students benefit from in-state tuition and an institutional agent support system on certain campuses. aranda, et al. (2015) found that for some undocumented individuals, depression was partially mitigated by involving themselves in advocacy in the dreamer movement. in the goodman, et al., (2017) study, the authors identified resiliency as a theme, describing how women persisted in difficult environments and situations. specific research on undocumented students and resilience has illuminated protective factors. pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, and cortes (2009) found that undocumented students with higher levels of personal and environmental resources such as supportive parents, friends, and engagement in campus activities had higher levels of success in academics than their peers who exhibited lower levels of personal and environmental resources. chuan-ru chen and rhoads (2016) demonstrated that student activism served as a catalyst for engaging staff and faculty. the authors found faculty and staff actions to be consistent with transformative resistance which has grassroots potential for a form of social change, which connects to work on grassroots organized by kezar (2010) and kezar, bertram gallant, and lester (2011). muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 39 research has also suggested that undocumented students’ activism may bolster resilience along with coping through relational resilience. in a separate study by perez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, and cortes (2010), the authors reveal that undocumented students with higher academic achievement and extracurricular engagement demonstrated higher levels of civic engagement and older students were more likely to have participated in activism. in addition, research by velásquez and larose (2015) found that perceptions of collective efficacy corresponded to individual participation in online collective action but was moderated by an individual’s perception of the interdependence of those actions. this research suggests that undocumented students’ involvement in activism can serve to bolster resilience despite significant barriers in pursuit of higher education. walsh’s (2003) research defined relational resilience as approaching a crisis or trauma as a shared challenge whereby, “resilience is fostered by pulling together in recovery efforts and by trying to understand the root cause in order to learn from the experience and prevent similar crisis” (p. 62). collaborative bonds help to foster courageous engagement among those who have suffered a traumatic crisis, such as the plight of undocumented students in the current political climate. this strength-based approach highlights the ways in which relational support assists with providing solutions to the problem by having others shoulder some of the burden in order to regain a sense of purpose and the ability to thrive (walsh, 2003). theoretical framework we employ critical race theory (crt) (crenshaw, gotanda, peller, & thomas, 1995) in order to unpack how oppressive conditions may interact with the educational trajectories of undocumented college students. born out of legal studies, the following central tenets make up crt: (1) race and racism as endemic in society, (2) challenges dominant ideologies, (3) centrality of experiential knowledge, (4) uses interdisciplinary approaches, and (5) commitment to social justice (crenshaw, 1995; delgado & stefanic, 2017). over the years, notable scholars (ladson-billings & tate, 1995; ladson-billings, 1998; lynn & parker, 2006; solórzano, 1998; solórzano, ceja, & yosso, 2000) have expanded applications of crt to the field of education. crt in education is a theoretical tool that examines and exposes “racism as a system of oppression and exploitation that explores the historic and contemporary constructions and a manifestation of race in our society with particular attention to how these issues are manifested in schools” (lynn & parker, 2006, p. 282). through a crt lens, we examine how institutional the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 40 policies, structures, and practices are influenced by white supremacist ideologies such as colorblindness, neutrality, and meritocracy. specifically, we seek to understand how the national and political climate influence undocumented students’ racialized experiences with campus climate. methods we utilized a case study approach in order to examine practices and behaviors from the participants’ points of view (patton, 1990). there are several characteristics that are featured in case study practices. a case study can be an individual or group of students, schools, or program under investigation; is bounded by systems, time, and place; and involves multiple data collection sources that can provide a detailed description of the context of study (creswell, 1998; merriam, 1998; stake, 2005). for this study, we examine undocumented twoand fouryear colleges students in the state of colorado. all participants self-identified as latino/a, latinx, and/or chicana/chicano and range in ages from 18 to 25. institutions represented in this article include two public research universities, one private research university, two regional comprehensive universities, and three community colleges. the institutions range in size from 1,200 to 33,000 students with a racial/ethnic minority make-up ranging from 19% to 66%. we recruited college participants using a snowball sampling strategy. the principal investigators (pis) identified specific faculty and staff on campus who have day-to-day contact or knowledge of issues pertaining to undocumented college students. a recruitment email asking potential participants to contact pis was sent out by selected campus faculty and staff. in order to garner more participants, pis also posted recruitment invitations to their respective facebook pages. selection criteria for participants required them to have been enrolled in college for at least one year and to self-identify as undocumented. we conducted three 90 to 120-minute focus groups with a total of 16 latinx undocumented students. locations for focus groups were selected based on participants’ proximity and accessibility by public transportation. four of these participants attended twoyear colleges while 12 attended four-year universities. nine women and seven men participated. all focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed. participants received a $25 gift card and snacks for their participation in the focus groups. we generated semi-structured interview questions for the focus groups based on themes generated from previously conducted individual interviews with undocumented students (muñoz & vigil, 2018), including: muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 41 encountering campus administrators lacking competency for working with undocumented students, feeling invisible on campus, stress from hiding citizenships status, and separation from campus community due to citizenship status. recognizing the heightened risk of identifying and tracking students without documented status during this political climate, we took careful steps to maximize confidentiality. steps included: (1) we informed participants prior to attending a focus group that they will be in a room with other undocumented students, thereby revealing their status to fellow peers; (2) participants created name plates with a self-selected pseudonym prior to being recorded and were asked to refer to one another by those names from that point on during the focus group; (3) we informed participants that they could request to turn off the audio recorder at any time during the focus group interview, and (4) we provided participants with the opportunity to review and edit transcriptions for two months after the event. further, only members of the research team had access to student information, which was kept in a secure electronic folder. finally, we identified pseudonyms to use in place of real names (for students and institutions) on all field notes, interview notes, transcripts, and other documents and materials. while participation in focus groups can pose the risk of loss of confidentiality or psychological stress from discussing stressful experiences, we believe that the possible benefit of feeling empowered by the experience is a possibility that can be weighed with these risks. students who participated in the focus groups may have benefitted by experiencing empowerment and/or enacting social change (kamberelis & dimitriadis, 2014). through these focus groups, students connected with fellow peers who they otherwise would not have known shared their experience. we reviewed transcripts and field notes of the focus groups using charmaz’s (2011) and saldaña’s (2009) approaches to qualitative coding for social justice research. social justice research seeks to code for inequities, privilege, and power as it pertains individual and collective rights. we compared data and codes to establish consistent and focused codes. we then re-reviewed data to begin to file instances of codes. as this is an ongoing research study, this article considers the findings from three student focus groups. findings based on the focus group data we nuance notions of resilience and trauma as an analytical lens we will highlight four emergent themes: (1) citizen fragility seemed pervasive and the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 42 finding hope was deemed as challenging; (2) students experienced an increase of emboldened racist nativism on their college campuses; (3) the exploitation of undocumented student labor; and (4) shared solidarity as beneficial for student resilience. citizen fragility with the exception of one student from a private college, the majority of the students in these focus groups felt a healthy amount of support from their institutions and peers, and many stated that their institutions amplified their support and resources to meet the needs of undocumented students after the elections and the rescindment of daca. carlos, a student from a 4-year public institution, stated, “we’re on two different boats and mine is sinking” to critique the emotional responses received from classmates with status who were also devastated by the elections and responded by crying and hugging him regarding the dire situation for undocumented immigrants. though their fragility around his legal status was intended to comfort and console him, these reactions caused him more anger and hurt. the fragility displayed by documented peers also illuminated their citizenship privilege when they declared that they were unable to go to class in order to deal with their emotional distress. carlos stated, “i'm going to class. i'm going to work. i'm doing everything normally like nothing happened. it hit me the most and i don't get why you're not ...” the concept of citizen fragility with white peers is also exemplified when friends are persistent with their inquiries about their well-being. eunice and others concurred that while questions from peers are rooted in kindness and goodness, their inquiries cause more emotional exhaustion. eunice explained: and i know they do it out of the kindness of their heart but sometimes i'm just like, ‘i'm fine. i'm fine. stop asking me. i'm okay.’ they're just like, ‘how are you?’ ‘i'm good.’ ‘how are you really?’ ’i'm good. i'm fine. i don't want to talk about it right now.’ so, just letting them know like i'm dealing with it my own way and if that means maybe they just have to be patient or just let them know if i need something from them, i'll go to them and ask them i need something from them. i'm okay and i can do it and if i really need help, i'll seek the help. the differential experiences on how undocumented students are navigating the current political climate in comparison to their peers is also apparent in how they navigate everyday life. in particular, the notion of the “sinking boat” is entrenched with how the political climate has muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 43 influenced their emotions around their hopes and fears. for the majority of the students, the fears stemmed from the uncertainty about their futures and how they have complicated hope. for some students, they have made plans and arrangements due to fear of deportation. as carlos discussed: after the election, i think the biggest thing on my mind was daca. when daca got taken away my biggest worry is now deportation and so i already made my plan. like i have legal paperwork in a hiding place and i’ve told like three people where it is. i signed off my car to my closest friend just in case because that scares me the most. ice [immigration customs and enforcement] making an example of me to everyone else is my biggest fear. while many students mentioned feeling like political pawns within the national immigration discourse, they also stated that daca provided a sense of normalcy and some stability for future planning. however, the prospect of not having daca has led some students to question “what now?” as brad illustrated: what's going to happen to me if i do get this education, but i can't work here, worst case scenario, say i go to a different country, work there. well, what's that going to look like? i'm going to ground zero again. i don't know anyone there. that's a big fear. the notion of hope was minimal but still present, as reynaldo echoed fear and hope: for me, i'm afraid every day because i lost my authorization card and my driver’s license, so every day i'm pushing myself to go back to school, driving with my little brother to school in the morning, and from there go to work or school. and for me i see a little hope because i see the big community that will help me, and they're the ones that help me get up when i'm down, that text me if i need anything. and then my family's there. but i still see hope in the future. i see the chicano movement. i listen to mlk i have a dream, and for me that's what inspires me every day, because i have a dream too, to walk on that stage. the prospect of maintaining normalcy and a positive outlook hinges on how the national immigration policy discourse will influence undocumented students’ livelihood. emboldened racist nativism all the students from the focus groups expressed that they experienced some form of racist nativism microaggression on their college campus. the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 44 visual racist nativism. many participants equated trump paraphernalia as a blatant disregard of their existence or voice. brandon mentioned that before the election, he was talkative and engaging in class, yet after the elections he stated, “so in my classes i would see a lot of people wearing the make america great again hats, so it just created that ... it wasn't said, but it just created a conflict throughout my classes.” the notion of freedom of speech surfaced in one focus group. the majority of the students seemed to be impacted by the antiimmigration rhetoric but not surprised as it has been part of their prior schooling and college experiences for a number of years. however, many students have noticed more blatancy and emboldened comments from individuals within close proximity. verbal racist nativism. on one community college campus, someone called the campus police on a group of undocumented students who were gathering for a meeting. in another instance, a trump supporter interrupted a dreamers united meeting and was escorted out of the building. as reported by many of the students, social media forums like facebook and snapchat become a popular venue for posting anti-immigration rhetoric. “go back to where you are from” or “education is not your right because you came here illegally” are examples posted as responses to undocumented students’ social media posts. students also witnessed their anti-immigration peers’ celebratory postings after daca was rescinded. brandon contended, “they have the right to think all they want, but to celebrate it ... i don't know the words for this.” on many occasions when students have disclosed that they were undocumented, many of their peers were surprised. students with citizenship often responded with, “i thought you were american” when in fact all the student participants in our focus groups did consider themselves american. ana, who works in a panadería (bakery) in denver, discussed how she was often racialized and stereotyped by her customers. she recalled a time when two customers with trump paraphernalia walked into the panadería while she was working. she was silent and felt great remorse afterwards, as she recalled: and i was so mad, but all i did was walk to the back, and i regret that. i think about that day a lot. i wish i had said something, because my customers, the bakers i have, they're like uncles to me ... they're undocumented, and i felt like i failed them because i didn't stand up for them. even though they weren't there anymore, i felt like a sham. and i don't know, some of our new neighbors are pretty cool, but i can't tell you how many muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 45 times i've been told how impressed these customers are with my english. and i understand that i'm brown and i'm working in a panaderia, but you have no idea. i've been here my entire life. i'm just as american as you, maybe even more. it's frustrating to see that there's still people that think that way, that still think of hispanics as a sublevel, like we're not equals. exploitation of dreamers on many occasions, students discussed how in their plight to create more inclusive communities on their college campus for undocumented students, they have become exhausted and feel like they are being exploited to a certain degree. carlos touched on this subject when he was called to tell his story to a group of donors with only hours of advance notice. he described, “i've felt that i've been, to be 100% honest, taken advantage of sometimes because i do this with freewill and sometimes i don't get the option. that donor meeting, i didn't really get an option”. many students have to navigate the tension between feelings of obligation with feelings of exhaustion. as carlos stated, “once you put yourself out there then you've set the trap for people who ... with good intentions who want you to talk about it and things like that.” other students discussed how they feel exploited by having the burden of additional labor to make positive changes on campus. rosa stated: i would like my campus to stop waving the dreamer flag. just because they use our stories and we let them, because we don't know any better, and because we're taught to do that at some point in our lives. we're pushed to believe, maybe if you share your story, this will change, this will move forward, this will make an impact. and it does, but when they use you as their poster child and you're just honestly trying to go to class, be with your community, and yeah, make a change. but all this.... they put you up here, and they're like, ‘oh, this superhuman being.’ rosa also discussed that emotional and physical toll of being tokenized as the ‘superhuman’ student while also recognizing that the institution is gaining all the benefits from their stories. she explained, “that there are politics behind it, i get it, but announcing that this is a dreamers safe zone is not enough”. some students also refuted their campus administration’s need to “protect” undocumented students. alex mentioned, the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 46 i agree with that. it's patronizing, and it gives us a position like, ‘oh, they're weak. they're vulnerable. they need to be protected.’ it's like, we've been here the whole time, and we've gone through worse and we're still here. students would much rather have their administrators focus their attention on minimizing racist nativism on their college campuses. alex stated, i think it's really important for the colleges to address that. because they address, ‘we're here to help daca and we're going to fund you’, but when it comes to when organizations say things like that, those things aren't addressed. they're just swept under the rug and they hope that no one makes a big deal about it, and i feel like it should be made a big deal as soon as it happens. that's a big thing for me. benefits of shared solidarity for the majority of the students who participated, the solidarity with other undocumented students provided healing and camaraderie that has aided in their resilience. immediately after the daca rescission was announced, students gathered to create a community with each other to discuss their emotions. mia, zlatan, and others explained that they enjoyed coming to the student organization meeting because it allowed them an opportunity to process their feelings openly to a community that understood their fatigue and stress. carlos needed to also feel like his emotions were valid ones as he stated, “what was really good is knowing that i wasn't crazy and that i wasn't the only one feeling these things and we had a venting session.” other students discussed how the elections have developed a sense of unity among other minoritized student organizations. emmy mentioned that trump visited her campus during his campaign and she stated, during that time there was a lot of organizations that got together to have a peaceful protest that we didn't want him on our campus, and it was really diverse. i liked it. we had asian americans, we had asian pacific islanders, and we also had black student union there, and we were all doing a peaceful protest, and even after that we had a lot of people saying, ‘yes, he got elected, but that's not my president.’ and so, i think things like that kind of led to a better campus climate. for many of the participants, they witnessed some improvements with supporting undocumented students on campus, and the majority of those efforts were student-led. muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 47 many students used words like “pull through,” or “pushing forward” as signifiers to how they may be coping with the stressors, fears, and anxiety of living in uncertain political times. however, despite the heightened fear they may be experiencing, they have funneled these feelings into empowerment and determinations. as alex elucidated, “there's emboldened racists out there, but we are also being emboldened so that's really important.” many students considered the generation behind them as their motivation to continue their education. rosa explained her rationale for completing her degree: i'm going to get it done because it's now when juniors and seniors in high school are looking into colleges, and i don't want them to think because of what just happened on september 5th is going to keep them from getting an education. brandon also felt a sense of empowerment: just because something goes bad doesn't mean that you have to completely give up. you have to kind of lead by example, and no matter what happens, because i have students in the clubs that i'm involved in as well come talk to me and say, ‘hey, what are you doing, or what are you going to do now? how are you taking this?’ i'm like, ‘you just have to keep pushing forward because at the end of the day, you're gonna lead by example. people are going to look at you. they're going to look at what you've done, how involved you are, look at your grades, what you've done, what you're going to do,’ and it's just kind of the thing of leading by example. you can't stop, or you can't give up, because you're just going to paralyze yourself. conclusions and implications we sought to understand how the heightened racism and anti-immigration rhetoric (“the trump effect”) from the recent elections influence the ways undocumented latinx students’ experience college? participants in this study use their critical race testimonies to illuminate the perpetual trauma undocumented students were forced to endure during and after the presidential election. additionally, legal volleying of the daca policy by legislators potentially creates additional emotional stress for undocumented students. anti-immigrant rhetoric and the rescission of daca have created a hostile climate that further normalizes hate speech and behavior targeted toward immigrants, and particularly undocumented students on campuses. participants recounted numerous occasions when they were subject to racist nativist microaggressions (pérez huber et al., 2008) from their colleagues, classmates, co-workers, and the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 48 peers. in many examples, the presence of visual racist nativism (trump paraphernalia) and verbal racist nativism on campus inhibited undocumented students’ ability to participate in classroom discussions and other campus activities. participants expressed great emotional stress, anxiety, and exhaustion from such encounters putting undocumented students at risk for the cultural trauma (eyerman, 2001) identified in previous research (aranda, vaquera, & sousarodríguez, 2015; goodman, vesely, letiecq, & cleveland, 2017). participants gave examples of racist nativist attacks extending well beyond the classroom and into participants personal lives and social media accounts. this creates a climate that makes everyday attacks and dehumanization of immigrant and undocumented students acceptable. in examining these experiences, we argue that there is a fine line between personal opinion and hate speech (flores & rosa, 2017). while anti-immigrant rhetoric certainly did not begin with the 2016 presidential election, it has emboldened and bolstered racism and acts of hate to surface and exist on college campuses (southern poverty law center, 2016). our findings highlight the need for institutions to reexamine how inaction reinforces racist structures that are rooted in white supremacy, white fragility (diangelo, 2011), neutrality and colorblindness. higher education institutions must acknowledge the impact of the elections on students. we urge institutions to have intentional conversations about what is acceptable speech on campus and at which point the line has been crossed to hate speech. we must recognize how allowing such hate speech and behavior on campus fosters a space that normalizes attacks against students of color and based on their citizenship status. notions of citizenship fragility emerged in this study which students deemed as well intended microaggressions. just as matias (2016b) encouraged individuals to unpack their white privilege and white fragility, individuals with citizenship privilege need to grapple with their own positionality if they want to be an ally to undocumented immigrants. white fragility centralizes the emotionality of those with citizenship privilege, during a time when deportation and family separation are common realities. our findings align with previous research demonstrating undocumented students’ great courage and resilience under severe stress and trauma (aranda, vaquera, & sousa-rodríguez, 2015; chuan-ru chen & rhoads, 2016; pérez et al., 2009; pérez et al., 2010; suárez-orozco et al., 2015). participants expressed time and time again the need for them to simply “push muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 49 forward” and “pull through” these trying times. while we acknowledge the incredible amount of strength our participants exemplify in their efforts to survive their campuses and succeed academically, we argue against pushing the resilience narrative onto undocumented students as their only coping mechanism and option. we caution that it can be dangerous and harmful to their mental well-being. previous research on racial battle fatigue and mundane, extreme, environmental stress (mees) encountered by racial minorities on college campuses suggests that it is unrealistic to expect students to constantly be resilient in the face of such challenges (smith, hung, & franklin, 2011). when undocumented students are tokenized for their resilience and success in education, we absolve institutions of the responsibility to address the trauma and stress students experience during tumultuous political times. institutions of higher education send the message to students that they are required to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make it through on their own. unfortunately, this ideology can present harmful psychological effects (aranda, vaquera, & sousa-rodríguez, 2015; goodman, vesely, letiecq, & cleveland, 2017; rasmussen, rosenfeld, reeves, & keller, 2007). requiring resilience as a prerequisite to a college degree for students of color does not change the racist structures that our participants are forced to navigate and survive. instead, institutions need to go beyond welcoming dreamers and prioritize addressing racism, white supremacy, and historical trauma in order to create systemic change. the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 50 references aranda, e., vaquera, e., & sousa-rodriguez, i. (2015). personal and cultural trauma and the ambivalent national identities of undocumented young adults in the usa. journal of intercultural studies, 36(5), 600–619. bronfenbrenner, u., & morris, p. a. (2006). the bioecological model of human development. in r. m. lerner (ed.), handbook of child development: vol. 1. theoretical models of human development (6th ed.), (pp. 793–828). hoboken, nj: wiley. charmaz, k. (2011). grounded theory methods in social justice research. in n. denzin & y, lincoln (eds.), the sage handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.), (pp. 359-380). thousand oaks, ca: sage. chuan-ru chen, a., & rhoads, r. a. (2016). undocumented student allies and transformative resistance: an ethnographic case study. the review of higher education, 39(4), 515–542. crenshaw, k. (ed.). (1995). critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement. the new press. crenshaw, k., gotanda, n., peller, g., & thomas, k. (1995). critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement. new york: the new press publishing. creswell, j. w. (1998). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions. thousand oaks, calif: sage publications. delgado, r., & stefanic, j. (2017). critical race theory: an introduction (3rd ed). new york: new york university press. department of homeland security. (2017, september 5). memorandum on rescission of deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca). retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/09/05/memorandum-rescission-daca diangelo, r. (2011). white fragility. the international journal of critical pedagogy, 3, 54–70. dineen, j. (2017, february 8). if trump ends daca, here’s how many students could be affected. usa today. retrieved from http://college.usatoday.com/2017/02/08/if-trumpends-daca-heres-how-many-students-could-be-affected/ eyerman, r. (2001). cultural trauma: slavery and the formation of african american identity. cambridge: cambridge university press. flores, n,,rosa, j. (2017). political correctness is not the problem, systemic racism is. anthropology news website. retrieved from http://www.anthropology.news/politicalcorrectness-is-not-the-problem-systemic-racism-is/ gonzales, r. g., roth, b., brant, k., lee, j., and valdivia, c. (2016). daca at year three: challenges and opportunities in assessing education and employment: new evidence from the undacamented research project. retrieved from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/daca_at_year_thre e.pdf goodman, r. d., vesely, c. k., letiecq, b., & cleaveland, c. l. (2017). trauma and resilience among refugee and undocumented immigrant women. journal of counseling and development, 95(3), 309–321. http://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12145 kamberelis, g., & dimitriadis, g. (2014). focus group research: retrospect and prospect. in p. levy’s (ed.) the oxford handbook of qualitative research (pp. 315-340). new york: oxford university press. kezar, a. (2010). faculty and staff partnering with student activists: unexplored terrains of interaction and development. journal of college student development, 51(5), 451–480. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2010.0001 muñoz, vigil, jach, & rodriguez-gutierrez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 51 kezar, a., bertram gallant, t., & lester, j. (2011). everyday people making a difference on college campuses: the tempered grassroots leadership tactics of faculty and staff. studies in higher education, 36(2), 129–151. ladson-billings, g. (1998). just what is critical race theory and what's it doing in a nice field like education? international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 7-24. ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. f. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47. lynn, m., & parker. l. (2006). critical race studies in education: examining a decade of research on u. s. schools. the urban review, 38(4), 257-290. matias, c. e. (2016a). feeling white: whiteness, emotionality, and education. rotterdam: sense publishers. matias, c. e. (2016b). “why do you make me hate myself?”: re-teaching whiteness, abuse, and love in urban teacher education. teaching education, 27(2), 194-211. doi:10.1080/10476210.2015.1068749 merriam, s. (1998). qualitative research and case study applications in education. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. muñoz, s. m. (2015). identity, social activism, and the pursuit of higher education: the journey stories of undocumented and unafraid community activists. new york, ny: peter lang publishing. muñoz, s., & vigil, d. (2018). interrogating racist nativist microaggressions and campus climate: how undocumented and daca college students experience institutional legal violence in colorado. journal of diversity in higher education. retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000078 nienhusser, k. h., vega, b. e., & saavedra carquin, m. (2016). undocumented student experiences with microaggressions during their college choice process. teachers college record, 118, 1–33. patton, m.q. (1990). qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). newbury park, ca: sage. perez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h. m., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(2), 149181. doi:10.1177/0739986309333020 perez w., espinoza r., ramos k., coronado h., cortez r. (2010). civic engagement patterns of undocumented mexican students. journal of hispanic higher education, 9, 245–265. perez huber, l. (2011). discourses of racist nativism in california public education: english dominance as racist nativist microaggressions. journal of educational studies, 47(4), 79401. perez huber, l., benavides lopez, c., malagon, m., velez, v, & solorzano, d. (2008). getting beyond the "symptom," acknowledging the "disease": theorizing racist nativism. contemporary justice review, 11(1), 39-51. pérez huber, l, pulido villanueva, b., guarneros, n., vélez, v.n., & solórzano, d. (2014). dacamented in california: the impact of the deferred action for childhood arrivals programs on latina/os. retrieved from http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/files/rr18.pdf rasmussen, a., rosenfeld, b., reeves, k., & keller, a. s. (2007). the subjective experience of trauma and subsequent ptsd in a sample of undocumented immigrants. journal of nervous & mental disease, 195(2), 137–143. http://doi.org/10.1097/01.nmd.0000254748.38784.2f saldana, j. (2009). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. thousand oaks, ca: sage. the trump effect association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 52 smith, w. a., hung, m., & franklin, j. d. (2011). racial battle fatigue and the ‘mis’education of black men: racial microaggressions, societal problems, and environmental stress. journal of negro education, 80(1), 63-82. solorzano, d. g. (1998). critical race theory, race and gender microaggressions, and the experience of chicana and chicano scholars. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 121-136. solorzano, d., ceja, m., & yosso, t. (2000). critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: the experiences of african american college students. journal of negro education, 69, 60-73. southern poverty law center. (2016, november 28). the trump effect: the impact of the 2016 presidential election on our nation’s schools. retrieved from https://www.splcenter.org/20161128/trump-effect-impact-2016-presidential-electionour-nations-schools stake, r. e. (2005). qualitative case studies. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), the sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 443-466). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. suárez-orozco, c., katsiaficas, d, birchall, o., alcantar, c. m., hernandez, e., garcia, y., … teranishi, r. t. (2015). undocumented undergraduates on college campuses: understanding their challenges and assets and what it takes to make an undocufriendly campus. harvard educational review, 85(3), 427-463. velasquez, a., & larose, r. (2015). youth collective activism through social media: the role of collective efficacy. new media & society, 17(6), 899-918. walsh, f. (2003). normal family processes: growing diversity and complexity. new york: guilford press. wong, t.k., martinez rosas, g., luna, a., manning, h., reyna, a., o’shea, p., jawets, t., & wolgin, p.e. (2017). daca recipients’ economic and educational gains continue to grow. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2017/ 08/28/437956/daca-recipients-economic-educational-gains-continue-grow/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 1 2019 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ toledo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 142 where i’m from ernesto wilehaldo toledo 7th grade kipp poder academy i am from family photos from fabuloso and clorox. i am from the gardens that weren’t that good. (maybe because too much sun, or because of the devil cats.) i am from the big old oak tree, the spikey bush that would always spike you if you went through there. i am from pan dulce and christmas reunions, from josé and belén and from the toledo’s and the orozco’s. i am from the hard-working people and the si dios quiere. from ¡no seas huevón! and primero dios. i am from church each week no matter how you felt or if you were sleepy. i am from the hills of jalisco and the san antonio heat, from frijoles and tacos. from the parent that crossed the border for a better life, and the mom that worked for an education. i am from the walls that have every picture that reveal all the memories that you can see at any time, of the past to the present of lots of familia. microsoft word felix_page proof.docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 14 issue 1 2020 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 21 using state-equity reform to improve latinx student transfer eric r. felix san diego state university abstract this article focuses on latinx transfer inequity and the role of state policy in addressing barriers faced trying to move from community college to four-year institutions. a recently passed initiative in california, known as the student equity policy, offers community colleges the opportunity to address transfer barriers for racial/ethnic students through institutional planning. one of the largest challenges facing california community colleges are the persistent inequitable rates of transfer for latinx students, the largest ethnic group in the system. using critical policy analysis, i examined a subset of 33 hispanic-serving community colleges to understand how they leveraged the policy to address the transfer barriers facing latinx students. by examining equity plans, this study finds that although latinx students are identified as facing disproportionate levels of inequity; the policy, planning process, and funding resources were left as unexploited opportunities to address latinx students’ specific equity gaps. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.332 using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 22 today, latinx1 students find themselves at the center of the u.s. higher education system. as the fastest growing ethnic group, latinx students seek opportunities of access and attainment espoused by previous generations of state public policy touting higher education as the engine of social transformation (i.e., wisconsin idea in the 1900s, california master plan in the 1960s). although latinx students have increased their college enrollment, the growth is primarily concentrated in community college (u.s. department of education, 2019). once enrolled in community college, one of the areas of greatest inequity for latinx students is transfer success (acevedo-gil et al., 2015). while studies have found that latinx community college students aspire to transfer to four-year colleges at higher rates than their peers (gándara et al., 2012), there are numerous challenges that make this goal unattainable (castro & cortez, 2017). though much of the education policy rhetoric of the last decade has focused on completion, such that there is an increase in baccalaureate degree holders by 2025, there has not been a focus on addressing educational inequity or transfer complexities in community college to reach these goals (castro, 2013). in community colleges, completion has been defined as earning a certificate or associate’s degree rather than transfer success (lumina foundation, 2014). lester (2014) points out that an unintended consequence of the “completion agenda” in community college is deeming successful attainment as “just filling jobs” or providing “some level of education,” which leads to diminishing the importance of transfer (p. 423). if increases in baccalaureate recipients motivate state completion goals, then the improvement of latinx student transfer from community college to bachelor’s degreegranting institutions is critical. the need to directly confront inequity in transfer is necessary across the nation, but even more so in a state like california with the largest community college system serving a significant percentage of latinx students. over 710,000 latinx students enrolled in the california community colleges in fall 2016, accounting for over 44% in the state. across the country that is nearly 22% of the 3.2 million latinx students enrolled across u.s. higher education (california community college chancellor’s office [cccco], 2019; u.s. national center for education statistics, 2019). 1 i use latinx as the umbrella terms for latinas, latinos, and “hispanic” students. “hispanic” is only used to describe the formal designation of hispanic-serving institution which includes campuses with over 25% full-time equivalent enrollment of latinx students. felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 23 this article focuses on latinx transfer inequity and the role of state policy in addressing barriers faced trying to move from community college to four-year institutions. a recently passed initiative in california, known as the student equity policy, offers community colleges the opportunity to address transfer barriers for racial/ethnic students through institutional planning. using critical policy analysis, i examined a subset of 33 hispanic-serving community colleges to understand how they leveraged the policy to address the conditions and outcomes for latinx students. by examining equity plans, this study finds that although latinx students are identified as facing disproportionate levels of inequity; the policy, planning process, and funding resources were left as unexploited opportunities to address latinx students’ specific equity gaps. the subsequent section describes the conditions of latinx transfer, outlining the state-level policy of interest and detailing the approaches taken to understanding how reform can better serve latinx students in transfer. next, i share the theoretical framework guiding this work followed by a discussion of methods employed. then, i describe the results of this study and the potential implications to improve latinx transfer within the context of policy and practice. latinx students, the transfer process, and educational inequities transfer is one of the primary purposes of community colleges, serving as a pathway to the baccalaureate. known as the “transfer function,” it provides students the opportunity to accumulate college credits at a low-cost community college in route to the baccalaureate (martinez et al., 2017). though california’s master plan articulates an ostensibly seamless transfer pathway for students not eligible for the university of california (uc) and the california state university (csu) systems, transfer trends illustrate the process is incredibly complex and difficult to achieve. researchers and practitioners describe the transfer pathway in california as “log-jams,” “puzzles,” and “labyrinths” (dowd, 2007; jain et al., 2020; martinezwenzl & marquez, 2012). unclear transfer pathways from community college to 4-year institutions jeopardize the ability of california’s students, notably latinx students, from achieving a bachelor’s degree (contreras & contreras, 2015; gonzalez, 2015). low transfer rates for california’s community college students (abrica & rivas, 2017; bensimon & dowd, 2009; campaign for college opportunity [cco], 2017), and latinx students specifically (acevedo-gil et al., 2015; gándara et al., 2012; villalpando, 2004), are welldocumented in the literature and bring to light the brown paradox (contreras, 2011). analyses by yosso and solórzano (2006) found that over 60% of latinx students aspired to transfer, but using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 24 less than 14% of them were successful. in the same study, the authors reported that students who started in developmental education had a transfer rate of less than 1%. hagedorn and lester (2006) found that although the california invested significant resources between 1985 and 2005 to improve the transfer function, the number of latinx students who transferred stayed relatively the same despite an increased percentage in student aspirations. in documenting the inequitable rates of transfer experienced by latinx students, the brown paradox draws attention to disparities between espoused aspiration to transfer and their actualized transfer outcome (castro & cortez, 2017; contreras, 2011). as demonstrated, the inequitable rates of transfer for latinx students is both a historical and current issue that needs continued investigation. examining recent transfer cohort data, latinx students comprised over 31% of all transfer aspiring students in california’s community colleges in 2009, but only 23% of those who successfully transferred to a four-year college or university after six years (cccco, 2019). in comparison, the average transfer rate across the state is 37.9%, while asian students, the highest performing group have a transfer rate of 53%. the 2008-2009 transfer cohort of firsttime college students with a “behavioral intent to transfer”2 consisted of 138,000 students, of which 43,000 (31%) were latinx students. after six years of community college, only 12,600 (29%) were successful in transferring. although community colleges were built on the promise of educational access and social mobility, the data shows a clear disconnect between the transfer aspirations and outcomes of latinx students (bensimon & dowd, 2009; jain et al., 2020). a state response to inequity in community college california has a long history of developing policy reforms to address the barriers in transfer with mixed success. since the 1980s, the state has passed several bills (see appendix a) that attempt to restructure pathways across systems, create new guaranteed transfer degrees, and expand the information and materials available for students on campus. in 1988, the declining rate of transfer prompted legislators to pass the community college reform act (ab-1725). the policy focused on aligning lower-division curriculum among the three systems and called on the board of governors (ccc), the board of regents (uc) and the board of 2 for more information on california’s transfer cohort methodology, see this report: http://www.ccctransfer.org/transferreport.pdf felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 25 trustees (csu) to jointly develop “a common core curriculum in general education courses and lower division major preparation curricula for purposes of transfer.” part of the directive was designating the “articulation system stimulating interinstitutional student transfer” (assist), which had been created by the uc, as the official “repository of the articulation for california’s college and universities.” assist allows students to map out their transfer pathway from their respective community colleges to any of the state’s public four-year institutions by noting the coursework required by each institution for particular majors. while the creation and eventual adoption of assist statewide improved the ability of students to “navigate” transfer, the barriers to transfer success remained nonetheless. two decades later, california passed the student transfer achievement reform act in 2010 (sb-1440). the policy addressed the lack of coherence in transfer pathways by creating a streamlined process between california community colleges and the california state university system to ensure greater efficiency of transfer. heralded as historic legislation (cco, 2015), sb-1440 changed the structural aspects of transfer by taking a more comprehensive approach to curriculum requirements, unclear transfer pathways, credit acceptance/redundancy, and time to degree completion (felix, 2018; public policy institute of california [ppic], 2014). central to this policy was the mandate to create entirely new degrees known as associate degrees for transfers (adt) that provide certain guarantees for community college students. these guarantees include admissions to the system, junior status, and pre-scribed major curricula to expedite degree attainment. recent data points to the modest success of sb-1440 as the number of students transfer with adts and graduating appears to be greater than traditional transfer students (ppic, 2014; legislative analysts office, 2015). despite these improvements, the data do not indicate that students who have faced greater disparities in transfer have benefited from the enacted reform. indeed, recent research finds that those student groups (i.e., white, asian, middle-income students) who already had successful transfer trends are the ones who benefited most from the policy change (baker, 2016). missing from both these policies were the explicit mention of specific racial groups that have faced longstanding inequities in community college that could benefit from a more streamlined transfer pathway. ab-1725 focused on creating new common courses and shared curricula to enhance transfer in california. sb-1440 addressed transfer for all students by using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 26 creating new transfer degrees that streamlined the process but failed to incorporate language or instruments that helped to ameliorate inequities for groups that needed additional support in the transfer process. most policies drafted in the state have failed to include language that seeks not only to improve transfer, but also make it equitable for specific student racial groups (ching et al., 2018). these types of policies can be described as race-neutral or color-evasive, where history, context, institutional racism, and structural determinants of educational success based on race and ethnicity are ignored by policymakers or restricted by law (gill et al., 2017; winkle-wagner et al., 2014). as harper et al. (2009) suggest, color-evasive policies seeking to improve outcomes for racial groups create an illusion of progress where students “essentially take three steps forward and two steps back” (p. 410). the two previous policies discussed, were in effect race-neutral, seeking to improve transfer for all students, regardless of racial background which can lead to overall improvement of transfer rates but maintain the disparities across groups. examining california’s student equity policy in california, policymakers have used legislation as a primary vehicle to address transfer inefficiencies in the state’s higher education system. these policies have not been comprehensive or race-conscious, usually addressing a specific aspect of the transfer process such as realigning curriculum (ab-1725) or developing new transfer degrees (sb-1440) that target “all students” in california. the student equity policy, which is central to this study, offered an opportunity for community colleges to explicitly address latinx students transfer inequity if disparities in outcomes were identified. the state’s adoption of student equity policy (sep) in 2014 prompted community colleges to document the extent of inequity in five areas— access, basic skills, course completion, degree completion, and transfer—for over 14 different target groups, of which racial/ethnic groups were one. through these equity plans, institutions a) identify equity gaps in student success, such as transfer inequity; b) target specific student groups to address inequities, including racial ones such as latinx students; and c) utilizes special funds to mitigate equity gaps as an institution deems appropriate, including race-conscious strategies. the sep policy’s inclusion of transfer as an indicator coupled with the requirement to calculate disproportionate impact by race and ethnicity gives colleges the atypical opportunity to address the latinx transfer crisis through intentional and transparent race-conscious felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 27 strategies. this article’s focal point then is on understanding how community colleges used this state policy to address latinx transfer inequity. the motivation to study how the sep compels institutions to address latinx transfer inequities is undergirded by two claims. first, the sep offers community colleges the opportunity to plan, target, and address equity gaps in raceconscious ways, only if the college possesses the institutional conditions and individual actors to recognize and act upon the opportunity. second, given the size of latinx students and the inequities they face in the community college system, institutions should be compelled to take advantage of the opportunity to address latinx student-specific needs. given these two claims, it is critical to study the way the student equity policy in california is used by community colleges to address longstanding student inequities. the following questions guide the research conducted in this study: 1. in what ways are state-required equity plans used as an opportunity to address latinx student inequities in educational conditions, experiences, and outcomes? 2. what are the areas of inequity identified and focal efforts described in institutions’ equity plans that address latinx equity issues? 3. what types of interventions/solutions are proposed to address latinx transfer inequity? theoretical framework critical policy analysis (cpa) was employed to examine the student equity plans submitted across the state to understand how latinx students are identified as facing disproportionate levels of inequity, the activities and strategies proposed to address equity gaps, and the ways new funding were allocated to implement the institutional equity plans. unlike traditional forms of policy analysis, which assume a rational-scientific framework, cpa begins with the idea that policies are inherently biased and value-laden (felix & trinidad, 2019; young & diem, 2017). cpa foregrounds dimensions such as race or gender in the analysis of policy and attempts to uncover issues of power, social reproduction, racism or sexism. taking a cpa approach allows me to foreground race to study the student equity plans and to consider how the policy may differentially impact latinx students. to complement cpa, i use the concept of equity-mindedness (bensimon, 2007; bensimon & malcom, 2012) which foregrounds the need for institutional interventions, like the student equity plan, to be a) race-conscious, b) see inequity as a problem of practice not student characteristics, and c) work towards institutionalized strategies that improve and advance equity on campus. using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 28 in recent work, i have been able to weave theoretical elements from cpa and equitymindedness to develop an analytic approach that allows for a critical interrogation of policy and planning documents such as master plans, accreditation self-studies, and student equity plans that purport to identify and address disparities in student success (ching et al., 2018; felix & fernandez, 2018). this approach highlights the discourse within the text, how race and racial disparities are discussed, and the ways practitioners frame the causes for inequity for latinx students as well as the potential solutions. building on this research, i examined 33 student equity plans from hispanic-serving community colleges to learn if latinx students were identified in equity plans, how their inequities were framed, and the ways institutions crafted more equitable strategies and solutions to mitigate identified gaps (garcia et al., 2019). methods and sources data were drawn from publicly available documents including formal policy documents, implementation memos and training guidelines, and particularly, the individual student equity plans. to make sure all equity plans were the “final version,” a formal request was made to the california community college chancellor’s office for all 2015-2016 student equity plans. the state provided all equity plans submitted as well as other documents such as internal memos and guidelines used to evaluate plans. possessing formally-submitted equity plans increased the validity of the data collected as they are stable, precise, and obtained in an unobtrusive manner (winkle-wagner et al., 2014). as data sources, student equity plans are artifacts of implementation that allow me to look into each campuses’ development of the policy. of the 113 community colleges, i developed a sample of institutions based on the enrollment of latinx students and their transfer rates. setting the criteria at over 50% enrollment of latinx students and transfer rates below the state average (37%), 33 institutions were identified. this purposeful sampling was driven by the assumption that institutions with a higher concentration of latinx and below average transfer rates would potentially focus more on this issue in their equity plan. it is important to note that the subsequent analysis and findings are bound by the data used in this study. the data focuses on the california community colleges system and a subset of latinx-enrolling campuses. although results can be considered across the community college sector, it is important to highlight that this study is bound by a specific state-policy context. felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 29 data analysis analysis proceeded in three stages. the first stage refined an analytic protocol to evaluate the student equity plans based on previous related work (felix & fernandez castro, 2018; fernandez, 2011; strunk et al., 2016). the protocol has been used successfully to conduct analyses of student equity plans by recent scholars (ching et al., 2018; harris et al., 2017). second, i reviewed the thirty-three plans from the sample using the assessment framework. as the analytic process unfolded, memos were written to capture emerging insights as well as to synthesize the findings reported. based on this analysis, several themes were identified to help illuminate how plans were developed and conceptualized to address student inequities. the final stage of analysis examined the aggregated data from all plans and conducted a focused coding for latinx-specific discourse. to answer research questions two and three, a secondary coding process occurred to understand where latinx students were identified, mentioned, and targeted. during this process, i used guiding questions to focus the analysis, asking are latinx student equity issues addressed in specific areas of the plan (i.e., transfer)? what do interventions and activities targeting latinx students look like? what do these efforts attempt to accomplish? findings the purpose of this research was to learn how hispanic-serving community colleges used a newly passed state-wide equity planning effort to identify, address, and mitigate inequities for latinx students. within the california community college system, latinx students are the largest racial group and while they report above-average aspirations for transferring their rates of success are amongst the lowest of any group (campaign for community opportunity, 2017). attention was placed on understanding how equity plans from 33 colleges with high-latinx enrollment—between 28% and 80% of all students on campus— addressed the inequities in transfer faced by this student population. based on my analysis, i detail three critical areas. the first theme provides an overview of the planning process, including the total number of activities planned across the sample and the percentage focused on addressing latinx transfer inequity. the second theme explores how many of the equity activities developed were supporting latinx students, only in name since the strategies proposed were not latinx-specific or culturally relevant to the group. the final theme then using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 30 highlights strategies and activities that centered on the experiences of latinx students and were more equity-minded and cultural-relevant in trying to mitigate equity gaps in transfer. addressing latinx transfer equity through the planning process as described earlier, student equity plans required community colleges to a) identify inequity for student groups (i.e., latinx students, former foster youth, low-income) in six academic areas (i.e., basic skills, degree completion, transfer) and b) develop activities (i.e., interventions) to improve outcomes on campus. the 33 equity plans reviewed in this study proposed 759 activities across all indicators to address student inequity. through my analysis, i was able to learn how campuses prioritized the improvement of transfer through activities proposed and resources allocated. the transfer indicator had the least amount of funds allocated among the six indicators, receiving $5.7 million in equity funds (10%). in comparison, basic skills received $10.5 million (18.6%), and course completion received the most at $14.2 million (25.2%). appendix b shows the full sample of institutions, how much they funded toward transfer, and which activities identified and explicitly addressed latinx students. as for funding, colleges within the sample allocated between .7% and 26% of their total student equity funds towards transfer. the average amount spent on transfer activities across the 33 institutions was $175,122. the average funds allocated by campus was 9.2%. within the sample. seven colleges spent over 20% of their allocation toward transfer; for these institutions, they spent on average $459,332, nearly three times more than the full sample average. in terms of absolute funding, only six community colleges allocated more than $400,000 towards transfer activities. during the analysis process equity activities were categorized into three types—all, identified, and explicit—to better understand how latinx students were served. the first type includes all 759 activities proposed in the sample. the second type includes 91 activities (12%) that identified disproportionate impact for latinx students but did not necessarily propose a targeted intervention to support the group. the third category includes 28 activities (3.7%) that explicitly targeted latinx students in the details of their proposed strategy to improve student success (see table 2 below). this breakdown highlights the low number of activities proposed within equity plans to explicitly address and attempt to improve latinx transfer on campus. felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 31 table 1 breakdown of student equity funding by indicator area indicator area amount allocated % of total access $ 6,668,638 12% course completion $ 14,279,036 25% basic skills $ 10,532,990 19% degree completion $ 5,944,334 11% transfer $ 5,779,013 10% campus-wide support $ 13,373,216 24% total equity funds allocated $ 56,577,227 100% table 2 breakdown of student equity plan activities activity category # % of plans all activities proposed across equity plans 759 100% all transfer activities 108 14.2% activities indicating transfer inequity for latinx students 91 12% activities explicitly addressing latinx transfer inequity 28 3.7% of the 759 total activities in the sample, the transfer indicator was the least emphasized academic area with only 108 activities (14% of all activities) proposed. of those 108 activities, even less of them had identified (91) latinx students as a beneficiary of the activity. although low rates of success were identified across all 33 hispanic-serving community colleges in the sample, campuses varied in the amount of strategies developed to mitigate transfer inequity. campuses ranged between 1 and 7 activities proposed to address transfer. as figure 1 shows, the majority of campuses proposed 3 or fewer activities to mitigate the inequities they identified in transfer. only 8 campuses in the sample developed five or more strategies to support latinx students along the path to the bachelor’s degree. using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 32 figure 1 transfer activities proposed the lack of attention in developing transfer activities was exacerbated by the disparity in funding (see table 3). as shared above, there were 759 total activities and across those activities transfer had the least attention placed in terms of proposing and developing strategies to address inequity. the state policy provided over 61 million dollars for the campuses in the sample to develop, implement, and carry out their activities. when examining the number of activities proposed and the funding allocated, we see an even smaller fiscal emphasis on transfer in general, and addressing latinx transfer equity specifically. table 3 comparison of equity activities and fund allocation activities proposed funds allocated total activities proposed and funds allocated 759 100% $61,075,049 100% all transfer activities 108 14.2% $5,779,013 9.5% only identified latinx students 91 12% $4,984,767 8.2% explicitly address latinx students 28 3.7% $1,361,956 2.2% after describing the activities proposed and funding breakdown across the six indicators, the next theme dives into the equity activities that identified (91) and explicitly addressed (28) latinx transfer disparities on campus. 5 6 9 5 5 3 0 2 4 6 8 10 1 activity 2 activities 3 activities 4 activitities 5 activities 6 or more activities felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 33 proposing latinx specific transfer activities examining these activities, two things became clear. first, there was a misalignment between identifying latinx students and proposing a race-specific, culturally relevant strategy. second, there was a distinction between activities where latinx students were the only group or one of two targeted groups (focused) compared to activities targeting latinx students as well as three or more other groups (aggregated). of the 108 transfer activities in the sample, 84% (91) included latinx students as an identified target group, but being identified as a target group could mean that latinx students were the only target or one of six groups targeted within a single activity. since colleges could identify latinx students as a target, but fail to address them in their proposed activity, i conducted a second coding within the activity implementation plan section to learn if and how latinx students were explicitly described/identified. after reviewing all 108 transfer activities through the second coding process, only 28 explicitly described and addressed latinx students. figure 2 below displays the number of latinx-explicit strategies developed to address transfer inequity. seventeen of the 33 equity plans evaluated did not explicitly address latinx students at all. of the 15 equity plans that included a latinx-explicit activity, nine proposed only one strategy while six equity plans proposed two or more strategies. figure 2 number of explicit activities proposed across sample two examples help make this distinction between “identified, but not addressed” and “identified and explicitly addressed.” in one case of identified, but not addressed, campus 10 17 9 4 2 1 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 0 explicit latinx activities 1 explicit latinx activity 2 explicit latinx activities 3 explicit latinx activities 4 explicit latinx activities using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 34 had identified latinx students as facing the greatest gaps in transfer success and proposed that “the college will increase access to four-year transfer institutions through increased, coordinated, on-campus visits to ucs, csus, and independent colleges and universities.” within this activity, five other student groups were identified and the actual details to achieve the proposed goals failed to mention, acknowledge, or include any information related to latinx students, the barriers they face, or ways to explicitly support them. the majority (75%) of activities were categorized as identified, but not addressed since they identified latinx students as a target group but did not describe how they would be supported through the proposed solution. on the other hand, 28 examples emerged from my analysis where a campus identified and explicitly addressed latinx transfer inequity. for example, campus 1 identified latinas as the student group facing the largest gaps in transfer within their equity plan. in the description of the activity intended to mitigate this equity gap, the college proposed to develop a “latina transfer program” built on “chicana epistemology” that provided culturally relevant support. explicit activities have a clear connection between the identified group and the approach taken to address the equity gaps. similarly, campus 14 identified latinx students as facing disproportionate impact in transfer and proposed comprehensive services “to latino and african american students, particularly males. 1) develop a learning community or cohort model that would pair a chicano or african american studies or sociology, english and counseling class.” these two activities exemplify an explicit transfer program addressing latinx students. lastly, of the 91 latinx identified activities only 18 were categorized as focused on latinx students compared to 73 aggregated. focused activities had some similar characteristics including lengthier intervention descriptions, naming target groups in activity details, and creating new strategies or tailoring existing strategies to support specific groups. these activities that focused on an individual group or pair of groups were labeled “culturally relevant strategies” as they were more race-specific, detailed, and included relevant strategies related to the identified student group(s). in contrast, aggregated activities with three or more identified targets had short and vague descriptions. also, these activities used umbrella terms such as “diverse groups,” “historically marginalized,” and “identified targets” to describe the students facing inequities. felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 35 lastly, these activities proposed to scale-up existing strategies or proposed an intervention that could support all students. this type of activity was coded as “equity for all” since the proposed strategy focused on interventions that did not intentionally target students identified with equity gaps but could benefit all students. this finding was salient as 80% of all activities developed in the sampled student equity plans were aggregated, targeting three or more groups. in the final theme, i share excerpts from different plans that highlight the strengths of focused activities (i.e., one or two student group targeted) that explicitly targeted the barriers faced by latinx students in transfer through race-specific, culturally-relevant approaches. using policy to address latinx transfer inequity: in search of promising practices one of the objectives of this study was to uncover if and how hispanic-serving community colleges used the equity planning process to meet the needs of latinx students seeking to transfer to four-year institutions. this last section provides examples from these equity plans as potential opportunities to improve the conditions and outcomes for latinx students, and potentially other racially minoritized groups, through equity planning process and the opportunities to develop new activities with equity funds provided to institutions. although, there were limited examples of equity activities that explicitly targeted latinx students, the 28 identified in this study provide distinct approaches to improve transfer success for latinx. for community colleges that did include these types of activities in their equity plan they focused on increasing exposure to transfer opportunities or creating new culturally-relevant programs. increasing exposure to transfer opportunities the first set of equity activities sought to improve latinx transfer success through improved marketing, awareness campaigns, and campus visits. one campus proposed to “develop marketing and awareness campaigns that help hispanic students learn early on” what type of support was available including resources in the transfer center as well as transfer partnerships with nearby four-year institutions. a second campus took a similar approach as they planned to modify their “matriculation and orientation programs” to include more information about transfer early on. in the activity, the campus focused on developing bilingual materials in spanish and english that “advertise[d] degree programs and courses that lead to transfer” as well as “identify[ing] latino students during the orientation process that express interest in four-year degrees and assist them in selection majors that align with transfers.” using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 36 these proposed activities focused on making transfer more visible on campus, making small tweaks to existing orientation, matriculation, and counseling processes. increasing exposure also included equity activities that proposed the expansion of campus transfer fairs as well as day-long and week-long university field trips. another equity activity shared, “hispanic students will be exposed to universities and gain knowledge on transfer and admission requirements through the following activities: university field trips, expanded campus fairs, and a transfer conference to be held [on campus] for students and their parents.” these activities were specific in stating that the campuses invited to fairs as well as those visited would be minority-serving institutions such as hispanic-serving institutions and historically black colleges and universities. similarly, equity activities sought to expose latinx students to campuses and areas beyond the local community. one community college proposed: the goal of the equity-funded trips will be to expose potential opportunities beyond the los angeles region to latino students who come from traditionally underserved areas. although [our community college] conducts several activities that engage students with universities, many students never leave the los angeles area, tend to delay transfer or apply to more competitive options closer to home. therefore, this program visits lesser known, out of area universities to share new options for latino students to transfer to. community colleges described how these equity activities would work towards “foster[ing] a transfer-friendly environment” or “expanding a culture of transfer across the campus.” one campus stated that their equity activity would “create an environment that provide hispanic students with the tools, knowledge and awareness for transfer.” these first set of activities sought to expand awareness of transfer on campus as well as offering more latinx students the opportunity to see themselves at a four-year institution through transfer fairs and campus tours. culturally-relevant transfer programs the second type of activities focused on developing new programs tailored specifically to support latinx students through the transfer process. these programs described working with the chicano studies department, latinx faculty, and embedding elements of community cultural wealth (yosso, 2009) into their program models. one such program targeted the inequities faced by latinas, the equity activity proposed a new transfer academy for latinas that felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 37 “provide[d] wraparound services for latina women that include[d] math and/or english bridge programming, student support, and learning services (tutoring, supplemental instruction, advisement), and leadership training/self-agency support.” within the activity details, the campus shared that the program coordinator, participating faculty, and tutors hired would all be latinas who successfully transferred from community college. a second campus drew on latinx scholars and their research implications (gándara et al., 2012; perez & ceja, 2010) to build new transfer pathways based on evidence of what works to improve outcomes for latinx students in community college. the campus plan included: in order to build a transfer-sending culture, especially for latino students, institutions must implement outreach strategies, adequately address students’ developmental needs and financial needs to eliminate barriers to enrollment. most importantly, institutions must adequately train counselors in evidence-based practices which facilitate transfer and properly inform them of articulation agreements between various universities. this campus used their equity plan to develop a counseling program that provided advising, resources, and support in more culturally-relevant ways. a third campuses proposed a “latino leadership academy” to provide targeted and comprehensive services to latino students. the purpose of this academy was to first “develop [a] learning community or cohort model that would pair a chicano studies course with transfer programming” then “hire a program coordinator to plan and administer program activities,” and lastly “secure a permanent location with adequate facilities to house the latinx scholars program.” within the description of this program, it was mentioned “our program, we provided intrusive counseling, developed some awesome resources, and cultivated leadership skills that benefit black and brown students… we are creating something differently, staying away from the student deficit model.” these three examples showcase the ways that community colleges can use the equity planning process to develop and offer transfer-related programs tailored specifically for latinx students. especially ones that espoused to center latinx culture and community to support students to move from community college to four-year institutions. in addition, these identified promising programs proposed collaboration across student services and academic instruction, especially drawing from ethnic studies department curriculum and faculty (rivas et al., 2005). using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 38 implications: the unexploited opportunity to address latinx transfer equity using critical policy analysis as a guiding theoretical framework allowed me to examine the ways these institutions which had above-average latinx enrollment and below-average transfer rates used state reform efforts to target one of the largest educational issues facing the state of california (alemán, 2007; gaxiola serrano et al., 2019). given that these 33 equity plans came from hispanic-serving institutions (hsi), there was an expectation that more activities within the transfer indicator would be latinx-related; however, that was not the case. the 33 equity plans produced a total of 108 activities focused on improving transfer, but of those, only 28 strategies addressed latinx students explicitly. for those plans that did address latinx students in transfer, there were slight variations in approach. of the 33 equity plans analyzed, five community colleges stood out for explicitly addressing latinx transfer through their allocation of significant funds (20% or greater) for tailored activities. for example, one institution paired targeted services with their chicano studies to improve latinx transfer. another college dedicated $25,000 to expand a transfer program that provided college field trips and leadership development opportunities to help students identify colleges for transfer. an outlier campus allocated over $500,000 to address latinx transfer inequity, which included the development of a latina transfer academy that aimed to increase transfer preparation as well as decrease the time-to-transfer for latinas. these equity activities can serve as models for future strategies, especially as research finds a strong connection between ethnic studies curriculum and increased retention and completion rates (campbell et al., 2019; dee & penner, 2017; gaxiola serrano et al., 2019; sacramento, 2019). beyond the five, the majority of the plans did not include latinx-specific goals and activities. there were few examples of plans that offered goals that were developed with latinx students in mind. several included latinx students in their goals, but they were mentioned alongside the other student groups experiencing disproportionate impact. again, only a handful of plans presented latinx-specific and more generally race-conscious strategies to addressing transfer inequities. most, in contrast, shared one-size-fits-all activities, which may maintain outcome gaps even while raising success rates for all students. this study also reflects recent work by garcia (2017, 2019) and vargas and villapalomino (2019) examining the ways institution with high latinx student enrollment fail to use felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 39 grant dollars such as title v to explicitly address the needs of latinx students. analyzing recently awarded title v grants, vargas and villa-palomino (2019) found that “hsis often fail to center the latinx students who permit their very eligibility” (p. 1). similarly, this work finds that the largest ethnic group in the state which faces the largest inequities in several academic areas was not explicitly served through the equity planning process. neither the types of equity activities developed nor the ways equity funds were allocated benefit latinx students in community college, especially the ones seeking to transfer to four-year institutions. given the findings of this work, i provide recommendations for policymakers to improve the equity policy as well as ways institutions and practitioners can better utilize the planning process to address the inequities latinx students face in community college. recommendations moving forward: seizing the opportunity of equity planning over the last five fiscal years, the state of california has provided over $680 million dollars for the implementation of equity plans in its community colleges. the student equity policy mandated formal planning as a process to identify and address inequities, providing colleges with new data and funding to propose new interventions, scale-up current ones, or bring in external organizations for professional development and support. by requiring community colleges to develop equity plans, the sep creates a space for close examination of the transfer rates for latinx students, meaningful conversations on why these students face disparate outcomes, and strategic development of interventions that promise to eliminate the inequities they experience. moving from research to practice, i provide some recommendations to seize student equity as an opportunity to address latinx transfer inequity. the first recommendation asks state-level actors overseeing the reform effort to invest more professional development to help campus planners use the opportunity to address racial inequity. the second suggests that practitioners develop equity strategies that are directly aligned with groups facing disproportionate impact since generalized solutions will not remedy race-specific inequities. expanding race-conscious planning state-level actors need to increase the capacity for race-conscious planning by committing more resources and professional development to the campus leaders overseeing student equity. student equity planning provided implementing committees with guidelines, methods, and training to collect and analyze campus data and identify equity gaps. however, using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 40 there was much less support for committees to propose and develop data-driven, evidencebased, culturally relevant, and equity-minded solutions to mitigate the disparities facing racially minoritized students. practitioners must be trained, if not empowered, to develop and create appropriate solutions for equity gaps identified. as patton et al. (2015) suggest, there is a need for capacity-building tools such as professional development workshops and trainings that focus on the realities of race, systemic causes of inequities, and ways well-intended policies at times are detrimental to students of color in higher education. i recommend that state agencies overseeing implementation consider the level and depth of change required to implement the sep, particularly understanding ambiguous concepts such as equity, disropritionate impact, and racial disparities. aligned with the call for race-conscious planning is the need to operationalizing equity. a shortcoming of the student equity policy was the assumption that individuals and institutions across the community college system had a working understanding of equity. recent research (ching et al., 2018) found that the policy leaves equity as an ambiguous concept by providing more than three differing descriptions of what equity means. if the policy does not provide clarity in what equity is, campuses must invest time to discuss their own meaning of equity, how it is to be understood on campus, and the ways proposed equity activities can achieve it. crafting equity-driven activities to support latinx students is an initial step, but what is required is knowing the structural causes of inequity and the role interlocking systems of oppression like racism, sexism, and capitalism play in maintaining and perpetuating inequity (solórzano & ornelas, 2002). once root-causes are understood by practitioners, equity activities seeking to dismantle barriers to transfer for latinx students may begin to achieve their intent. tapping into a community colleges’ cultural wealth as noted in the findings, the equity planning process allowed for some campuses to envision a more comprehensive approach to address latinx transfer inequity. the promising practices outlined focused on creating pathways supported by both student services and academic affairs. specifically, there was a clear connection to chicana/o studies and developing more culturally-relevant transfer programs, curriculum, and resources. recent research illuminates both individual and collective benefits for ethnic studies in community college: individuals gain critical consciousness and institutions see dramatic increases in success rates. dee and penner (2017) explored the causal effects of enrolling in ethnic studies courses and felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 41 found students increased both their average gpa and credits earned. additionally, they found that enrolling in multiple ethnic studies courses “reduced dropout rates” and provided effective support for underrepresented students (dee & penner, 2017, p. 131). what is made clear is the ways ethnic studies can serve as a tool for increased completion. community colleges should expand efforts that connect instructional and student services through ethnic studies, which center latinx students’ experiences, identities, and community. within these programs, ethnic studies can “disrupt dominant ideologies” as well as illuminate “systems of oppression” that may help latinx students understand the structural conditions they face as transfer-aspirants (gaxiola serrano et al., 2019, p. 246). developing latinx-specific equity activities within the guidelines to develop an equity plan, the state chancellor’s office reminded campus practitioners that “title 5 regulations specify that colleges must review and address the following populations when looking at disproportionate impact: american indians or alaskan natives, asians or pacific islanders, blacks, hispanics, whites, men, women, and persons with disabilities (§54220(d)).” although the mandates of the policy allow for a more race-conscious approach to student success, very few equity plans included goals, activities, and strategies that could target and improve racial/ethnic equity gaps. without a race-conscious and equity-minded approach, even well-intended activities can be framed through a deficit-minded framework and fail to address institutional causes of equity gaps (bensimon & malcom, 2012). practitioners and institutions may be hesitant to be race-conscious during their equity planning and funding processes given the “anti-affirmative action” legal and public discourse, especially in post-prop 209 california (gandara et al., 2012). although affirmative action in education mainly applies to admissions and not to services for enrolled students, public discourse tends to frame raceconscious decisions as reverse discrimination (garces & jayakumar, 2014). however, colorevasive policies and practices tend to negatively affect students of color and thus hinder efforts to mitigate equity gaps (bensimon, 2007; bonilla-silva, 2009). in order for activities included in student equity plans to address equity gaps among racially-minoritized student groups, equity committee members must be able to talk about race, racism, and the causes of persistent racial inequity (carter et al., 2017). this final recommendation is rooted in the original intent of student equity policy (guichard, 1992) and the emphasis on addressing the disparities facing racially minoritized using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 42 students. without a focus on specific student groups, equity gaps experienced by racially minoritized students will likely persist even if overall performance outcomes improve (dowd & bensimon, 2015). thus, practitioners should be encouraged to create new structures, programs, and practices that center the experiences of specific student groups, as was the case with 28 explicit activities and the promising practices shared in the findings. conclusion latinx transfer equity is a critical issue in california, yet only a handful of community colleges used the reform effort to improve transfer outcomes. although it may be clear that latinx transfer outcomes are inequitable, community colleges in the sample did not take advantage of the new opportunities provided by the sep to address these known areas of student inequity. as designed, this state reform effort provided practitioners with the flexibility to envision new possibilities to address inequity but were mostly unable to take advantage of the opportunity to create latinx-focused, race-conscious, or equity-minded strategies. without envisioning new policies, practices, and strategies, transfer for latinx students continues to be a dream deferred where the aspirations of students are never actualized. felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 43 references abrica, e. j., & rivas, m. (2017). chicanas in ir: data-driven advocacy for latinx students from institutional research contexts in the community college. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(2), 43-64. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.2.349 acevedo-gil, n., santos, r. e., alonso, l. i.., & solórzano, d. g. (2015). latinas/os in community college developmental education: increasing moments of academic and interpersonal validation. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 101–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715572893 alemán, e. (2007). situating texas school finance policy in a crt framework: how “substantially equal” yields racial inequity. educational administration quarterly, 43(5), 525– 558. http://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x07303276 baker, r. (2016). the effects of structured transfer pathways in community colleges. educational evaluation and policy analysis. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373716651491 bensimon, e. m. (2007). the underestimated significance of practitioner knowledge in the scholarship on student success. review of higher education, 30(4), 441-469. bensimon, e. m., & dowd, a. c. (2009). dimensions of the transfer choice gap: experiences of latina and latino students who navigated transfer pathways. harvard education review 79(4), 632-659. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4.05w66u23662k1444 bensimon, e. m., & malcom, l. (2012) confronting equity issues on campus: implementing the equity scorecard in theory and practice. stylus publishing. bonilla-silva, e. (2009). racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the united states. rowman & littlefield publishers. california community colleges chancellor’s office (2019). datamart information systems. retrieved from http://datamart.cccco.edu/datamart.aspx campaign for college opportunity. (2015). the state of latinos in california higher education. author. campaign for college opportunity. (2017). the transfer maze: the high cost to students and the state of california. author. campbell, m., de leon, k., escobar, m. d., gonzález, d., granados, g., martínez, c., paniagua, d., rivera-murillo, r., & sadek, t. m. (2019). ethnic studies as praxis. ethnic studies review, 42(2), 131–150. https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2019.42.2.131 carter, p. l., skiba, r., arredondo, m. i., & pollock, m. (2017). you can’t fix what you don’t look at. urban education, 52(2), 207–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916660350 castro, e. l. (2013). racialized readiness for college and career toward an equity-grounded social science of intervention programming. community college review, 41(4), 292–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552113504291 castro, e. l., & cortez, e. (2017). exploring the lived experiences and intersectionalities of mexican community college transfer students: qualitative insights toward expanding a transfer receptive culture. community college journal of research and practice, 41(2), 77– 92. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2016.1158672 using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 44 ching, c. d., felix, e. r., trinidad, a., & fernandez, m. c. (2018). achieving racial equity from the bottom up?: the student equity policy in the california community colleges. education policy. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0895904818802092 contreras, f. (2011). achieving equity for latino students. teachers college press. contreras, f., & contreras, g. j. (2015). raising the bar for hispanic-serving institutions: an analysis of college completion and success rates. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 151–170. dee, t. s., & penner, e. k. (2017). the causal effects of cultural relevance: evidence from an ethnic studies curriculum. american educational research journal, 54(1), 127–166. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216677002 dowd, a. c. (2007). community colleges as gateways and gatekeepers: moving beyond the access “saga” toward outcome equity. harvard educational review, 77(4), 407-419. dowd, a. c., & bensimon, e. m. (2015). engaging the race question: accountability and equity in u.s. higher education. teachers college press. felix, e. r. (2018) using ethnography to understanding the transfer process and the impact of policy reform in community college. berkeley review of education, 7(2), 77-114. felix, e. r., & fernandez castro, m. (2018). planning as strategy for improving black and latinx student equity: lessons from nine community colleges. education policy analysis archives, 26(56), 1-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.26.3223 felix, e. r., & trinidad, a. (2019). the decentralization of race: tracing the dilution of racial equity in educational policy. international journal of qualitative studies in education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1681538 fernandez, k. e. (2011). evaluating school improvement plans and their effect on academic performance. education policy, 25, 338-367. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904809351693 gándara, p., alvarado, e., driscoll, a. & orfield, g. (2012). building pathways to transfer: community colleges that break the chain of failure for students of color. civil rights project/proyecto derechos civiles. garces, l. m., & jayakumar, u. m. (2014). dynamic diversity toward a contextual understanding of critical mass. educational researcher, 43(3), 115–124. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x14529814 garcia, g. a. (2017). defined by outcomes or culture? constructing an organizational identity for hispanic-serving institutions. american educational research journal, 54(1), 111s–134s. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216669779 garcia, g. a. (2019). becoming hispanic-serving institutions: opportunities for colleges and universities. johns hopkins press. garcia, g. a., núñez, a.-m., & sansone, v. a. (2019). toward a multidimensional conceptual framework for understanding “servingness” in hispanic-serving institutions: a synthesis of the research. review of educational research, 9(5) 745-784. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 45 gaxiola serrano, t. j., gonzález ybarra, m. & delgado bernal, d. (2019). “defend yourself with words, with the knowledge that you’ve gained”: an exploration of conocimiento among latina undergraduates in ethnic studies. journal of latinos and education, 18(3), 243-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2017.1388238 gill, c., cain nesbitt, l. l., & parker, l. (2017). silent covenants in the neoliberal era: critical race counternarratives on african american advocacy leadership in schools. in m. d. young & s. diem (eds.), critical approaches to education policy analysis (pp. 155–174). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39643-9_8 gonzalez, k. p. (2015). increasing college completion for latina/as in community colleges: leadership and strategy. new directions for higher education, 172, 71-80. guichard, g. (1992). student equity policy: a status report. http://eric.ed.gov hagedorn, l. s., & lester, j. (2006). hispanic community college students and the transfer game: strikes, misses, and grand slam experiences. community college journal of research and practice, 30(10), 827–853. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668920600901822 harris iii, f., felix, e. r., bensimon, e. m., wood, j. l., mercado, a., monge, o. & falcon, v. (2017). supporting men of color in community colleges: an examination of promising practices and california student equity plans. college futures foundation. jain, d., bernal melendez, s. n., & herrera, a. r. (2020). power to the transfer: critical race theory and a transfer receptive culture. michigan state university press. legislative analyst’s office. (2015). implementation update: reforming transfer from ccc to csu. retrieved from http://www.lao.ca.gov/policy-areas?areaid=4&category=4 lester, j. (2014). the completion agenda: the unintended consequences for equity in community colleges. in m. b. paulsen (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 29, pp. 423–466). springer netherlands. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-8005-6_10 lumina foundation. (2014). closing the gaps in college attainment: a strong california through higher education. lumina foundation policy brief. martinez, e., acevedo-gil, n., & murrillo, e. (2017). latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(2), 6-13. martinez­wenzl, m., & marquez, r. (2012). unrealized promises: unequal access, affordability, and excellence at community colleges in southern california. the ucla civil rights project. retrieved from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/23c5m52j pérez, p. a., & ceja, m. (2010). building a latina/o student transfer culture: best practices and outcomes in transfer to universities. journal of hispanic higher education, 9(1), 6–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192709350073 public policy institute of california. (2014). from community college to university: expectations for california’s new transfer degrees. author. using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 46 rivas, m. a., velez, v., & solórzano, d. g. (2005). community college as a pathway to chicana/o doctorate production. latino policy and issues brief no. 11. ucla chicano research studies center press. sacramento, j. (2019). critical collective consciousness: ethnic studies teachers and professional development. equity and excellence in education, 52(2–3), 167–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2019.1647806 solórzano, d. g., & ornelas, a. (2002). a critical race analysis of advanced placement classes: a case of educational inequality. journal of latinos and education, 1(4), 215–229. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532771xjle0104_2 strunk, k. o., marsh, j. a., bush-mecenas, s. c., & duque, m. r. (2016). the best laid plans an examination of school plan quality and implementation in a school improvement initiative. educational administration quarterly, 52(2), 259–309. http://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x15616864 u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics (2019). characteristics of postsecondary students: fall enrollment 2018, table 306.50. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_csb.asp vargas, n., & villa-palomino, j. (2019). racing to serve or race-ing for money? hispanic-serving institutions and the colorblind allocation of racialized federal funding. sociology of race and ethnicity, 5(3), 401-415. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649218769409 villalpando, o. (2004). practical considerations of critical race theory and latino critical theory for latino college students. in a. m. ortiz. (ed.), addressing the unique needs of latino american students: new directions for student services, 105 (pp. 41-50). jossey-bass. winkle-wagner, r., sule, v. t., & maramba, d. c. (2014). when race disappears: college admissions policy discourse in the state of texas. educational policy, 28(4), 516-546. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904812465114 yosso, t. j., & solórzano, d. g. (2006). leaks in the chicana and chicano educational pipeline. latino policy & issues, brief 13. ucla chicano studies research center. felix association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 47 appendix a: state policy initiatives to improve transfer, select years from 19602014 policy/statue year description ab23 – donahoe act 1960 established a central mission and governance structure for the state’s higher education system ab1725 – community college reform act 1988 called for a common curriculum of lower division requirements to be accepted at uc and csu and established the igetc transfer pathway. sb121 – hart amendment 1991 provisions focused on improving transfer by formalizing agreement programs across the state segments of higher education known as “community college transfer plans.” ab617 – hayden amendment 1991 proposed recommendations that would revise the master plan and emphasize transfer as the “central institutional priority” among the systems sb724 – scott amendment 2005 made exceptions to the structure of the master plan, allowing csus to award educational doctorates and established committee to explore the ability of community colleges to grant four-year degrees. sb1440 student transfer achievement reform act 2010 the new law enabled the creation of new transfer degrees in collaboration with the ccc and csu system. the associate degree for transfer as it is known provide guaranteed transfer to the csu system with priority admissions and junior status. sb1456 – the seymour-campbell student success act 2012 established new matriculation processes in community college to improve the degree completion and transfer success of students by providing “effective orientation, assessment and placement, counseling, and educational planning services.” california code – section 54220 amendment – student equity plans 2014 state education code was amended to require every community college in the state to “maintain a student equity plan” that document the extent of equity on campus and promoted student success for all. in conjunction with sb-860, new funds were attached to the statue to incentive the development of these plans. using state-equity reform association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 48 appendix b: institutional funding allocation and activities proposed institution total allocation allocated to transfer % of allocation to transfer activites total transfer activities explicit latinx activities % latinx transfer activites campus 1 3,241,105$ 668,521$ 20.6% 3 2 67% campus 2 2,121,860$ 495,116$ 23.3% 3 1 33% campus 3 1,951,457$ 447,000$ 22.9% 5 0 0% campus 4 1,957,324$ 428,635$ 21.9% 1 0 0% campus 5 1,610,914$ 407,873$ 25.3% 2 0 0% campus 6 1,956,682$ 407,840$ 20.8% 3 0 0% campus 7 2,410,224$ 398,062$ 16.5% 6 0 0% campus 8 1,385,652$ 360,341$ 26.0% 2 0 0% campus 9 3,387,056$ 216,000$ 6.4% 6 1 17% campus 10 1,848,676$ 187,000$ 10.1% 4 0 0% campus 11 2,180,810$ 178,680$ 8.2% 1 0 0% campus 12 2,543,627$ 169,600$ 6.7% 4 0 0% campus 13 2,112,177$ 169,000$ 8.0% 4 1 25% campus 14 1,603,301$ 168,500$ 10.5% 5 5 100% campus 15 1,475,652$ 145,568$ 9.9% 5 1 20% campus 16 2,144,665$ 125,000$ 5.8% 2 1 50% campus 17 1,835,099$ 110,719$ 6.0% 3 1 33% campus 18 1,394,815$ 87,000$ 6.2% 4 2 50% campus 19 1,359,752$ 77,000$ 5.7% 2 0 0% campus 20 2,232,711$ 71,942$ 3.2% 3 0 0% campus 21 1,346,524$ 70,000$ 5.2% 5 2 40% campus 22 1,013,726$ 67,484$ 6.7% 1 0 0% campus 23 1,607,947$ 67,134$ 4.2% 1 1 100% campus 24 2,379,281$ 65,000$ 2.7% 2 0 0% campus 25 1,153,750$ 53,694$ 4.7% 7 0 0% campus 26 1,903,831$ 44,580$ 2.3% 3 3 100% campus 27 2,088,925$ 42,724$ 2.0% 3 0 0% campus 28 1,477,111$ 41,500$ 2.8% 5 1 20% campus 29 1,070,740$ 7,500$ 0.7% 1 1 100% campus 30 1,359,414$ -$ 3 0 0% campus 31 1,345,114$ -$ 0.0% 3 0 0% campus 32 2,116,653$ -$ 0.0% 4 3 75% campus 33 1,458,474$ -$ 0.0% 2 0 0% total 61,075,049$ 5,779,013$ 108 26 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ education, law and the courts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 6 education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education e. diane torres-velásquez, ph.d. the university of new mexico cristóbal rodríguez, ph.d. howard university david g. hinojosa, j.d. lawyer’s committee for civil rights under law marisa m. bono via metropolitan transit on april 1, 2014, the mexican american legal defense and educational fund (maldef) filed suit on behalf of fifty-one latina, latino, and native american parents and children against the new mexico public education department (nmped) complaining of the state’s failure to fulfill their obligation of providing a quality education to their children. the lawsuit, louise martínez et al., v. the state of new mexico (2014), came at a time when the nmped, under the leadership of hanna skandera and governor susana martínez, was implementing a series of punitive educational reforms and depriving schools of critical resources for students in the classroom. the lawsuit was the culmination of a series of collaborations spearheaded by the latino education task force (letf) and maldef over the previous three years with stakeholders, including families, community leaders, nonprofits, teachers, school, and district administrators, among others. meetings were held across the state, from libraries in las cruces to churches and nonprofit immigrant centers in albuquerque to district administrative offices in zuni, magdalena, albuquerque and santa fe to public school and college campuses in española. dozens of new mexicans worked with maldef lawyers and staff and the letf and came torres-velásquez, rodríguez, hinojosa, & bono association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 7 forward to voice their dissatisfaction with their children’s education and the challenges mounting from the state’s leadership. at the time, school finance lawsuits had been filed in over forty states across the country. but the resounding message from the letf and other new mexicans was that money was not the sole root problem in the state’s public education system. consequently, martínez v. the state of new mexico (2014) became one of the most, if not the most, comprehensive educational opportunity cases ever filed in the country. the lawsuit argued that the state’s school finance system arbitrarily and grossly underfunded education for students from low income families, english learners and students with disabilities and violated children’s right to a fundamental and sufficient education. the martínez plaintiffs also argued that the state failed to monitor and enforce many important laws in the state, including the indian education act, the hispanic education act, and the bilingual multicultural education act. they further argued that the state’s punitive teacher evaluation and accountability measures, which relied heavily on state standardized test scores, drove high quality teachers away from high need schools, depriving the plaintiff children of a quality education. finally, the plaintiffs and advocates supporting the lawsuit were concerned that writing a blank check to school districts was not a proper remedy. consequently, they argued that part and parcel to a constitutionally sufficient education in new mexico, the state had a duty to monitor school district expenditures and ensure that at-risk children received the resources and support they needed to achieve their full potential to succeed in school and life. although the lawsuit received widespread support from parents, advocates, teachers, school leaders, and even some state legislators, many were skeptical of the lawsuit and fearful of reprisal from the state. some felt this issue should be left to the state legislature and not the courts. others, including some school district superintendents, felt that governor martínez’s administration would punish them for supporting the lawsuit by withholding state discretionary funds. in a presentation by maldef held at a state administrator’s conference, administrators responded with a lukewarm reception to the claims—despite the obvious benefits the districts would reap if the lawsuit was successful. one superintendent remarked privately to the maldef regional counsel that there was excitement from her and a few others, but that most were fearful that their public support would come back to haunt them. education, law and the courts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 8 the new mexico center on law and poverty later filed a similar, but narrower, lawsuit on behalf of school districts and new mexican families, wilhelmina yazzie et al., v. the state of new mexico (2014). the state district court hearing the cases consolidated the lawsuits for trial. in the summer of 2017, the court held an eight-week trial where expert and lay witnesses for the plaintiffs presented a powerful case on the shortcomings of the new mexico public education system. in 2018, the court issued its opinion finding in favor of the plaintiffs and issued its final judgment on february 14, 2019, threatening to enjoin the state’s school finance system if the state did not remedy the deficiencies. at the time, the new mexico legislature was in session and the new governor, michelle lujan-grisham, promised not to appeal the ruling. she strongly encouraged the legislature to make the needed reforms both on the financial side and the qualitative side. the nmped also went to work to reform the state’s accountability and teacher evaluation systems. the legislature enacted measures that included additional revenue for increasing teacher and staff pay and increased funding for students in at-risk circumstances. however, it provided no significant additional funding or reforms for english learners and students with disabilities. in his article in this special issue, david hinojosa, former maldef regional counsel and the lead attorney for the martínez plaintiffs up to 2016, examines the state measures signed into law in light of an equity guide created for legislators and advocates, the essential building blocks for state school finance systems and promising state practices. mr. hinojosa also interviewed the gallup mckinley consolidated schools superintendent michael hyatt to gain insight into what the proposed changes by the new mexico legislature may mean to school districts on the ground. mr. hinojosa concludes that while the state made some improvements, it has much more work to do if it wants to provide a high quality, equitable education for every child in every school and offers suggestions on how to achieve that goal. plaintiffs in both lawsuits are expected to challenge the state’s alleged failure to remedy the constitutional violations noted in the district court’s opinion and final judgment. mexican american students and legal advocacy across the southwestern united states research on public school finance continues to confirm the need for increased school funding, and yet the reality is that there is insufficient funding for public schools (houston, 2019). “as federal education expenditures rose, some states spent proportionally less from torres-velásquez, rodríguez, hinojosa, & bono association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 9 state and local sources, resulting in smaller overall spending increases in those states” (houston, 2019, p. 438). at the same time, disparities in funding, lack of quality teachers, and culturally narrow curricula are contributing to further segregate racial groups in our public schools (fuller et al.,2019). historically, researchers and policymakers have assumed that mexican americans, chicanos and latinos do not value education, and have blamed our families and communities for a long history of continued systemic failure and lack of adequate educational opportunities (valencia, 2008; valencia, 2010). however, when we examine the demands these same families and students have taken to the courts it is clear that, “the mexican american community’s historical and contemporary struggle for educational equality has been long-standing and extensive” (valencia, 2008, p. xv). mexican americans resisted widespread segregation in the courts. in fact, it was chicanos who brought forth méndez v. westminster school district of orange county, a school desegregation case that challenged the california code listing ethnic groups that could be segregated in 1946. gonzalo and felicitas méndez in the state of california filed in federal court against the discrimination and segregation of mexican american children where it was first found by a federal court that state segregation policies and practices violated the 14th amendment equal protection clause of children, which predated and played a role in the decision of brown v. board of education in 1954 (aguirre, 2005). however, and highlighted in the article herein by moreno, robledo montecel, and montemayor, in the landmark school finance u.s. supreme court case san antonio i.s.d. v. rodríguez (1973) it was decided that a right to an education was not within the definitions of the u.s. constitution, and therefore the 14th amendment clause was not applicable, and therefore it relegated the case back to the supreme court of texas, even though the court agreed that school funding was a serious concern. fortunately, this failure by the federal courts did have an influence on visionary scholar and leader dr. josé a. cárdenas to leave his job as the superintendent of edgewood in san antonio and develop the research advocacy organization that would eventually become the intercultural development research association (idra) in order to fight for greater equality in funding. as illustrated by moreno, robledo montecel, and montemayor from the numerous school finance cases in texas, to equity efforts as a federally recognized equity assistance center covering the u.s. south, educational research and advocacy are essential in the continuing efforts by idra to move towards social justice and towards an equitable education for all children. the long history of school finance cases in education, law and the courts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 10 texas, and the continued legal advocacy to critically inform education policy legislatively, continuously demonstrate the need for independent education research and advocacy that influence the landscape of education regionally and nationally. additionally, the need to access reliable data for critically informing analyses and examinations of systemic considerations cannot be understated. the articles in this special issue by cabrera and chang; contreras; and rodríguez are examples of data collections used by the respective court cases as evidence in the final court opinions. such critically informed quantitative analysis, as highlighted by cabrera and chang, herein for arizona, demonstrate the important point of using educational research in the arguments against a state system that blames students for the failures of the education system—or at least a system that believes it is not their responsibility for the success of all students. not only are cabrera and chang able to fend off deficit-thinking-based arguments against mexican american studies in arizona, they also demonstrate that access to such culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies is a direct academic benefit to the success of mexican american students. as cabrera and chang explain, the state of arizona attempted to convince the court that the decision to end mexican american studies was based on the argument that such courses had no influence on the success of mexican american students. in fact, the cabrera report, used as an expert report in the case, statistically and significantly demonstrated how mexican american students indeed graduated high school at higher rates and scored higher in state standardized tests, and that this increased academic achievement correlated with their enrollment in mexican american studies. this analysis was essentially used by the judge to decide that implementing a policy banning mexican american studies was a direct act of discrimination against mexican american students, despite the numerous attempts by the state to question and throw out the validity and the quality of the analysis in the cabrera report, as explained herein by cabrera and chang. data politics appears to be a greater issue in legal cases, especially in such educational opportunity cases similar to that of martínez v. new mexico (2018) and yazzie v. new mexico (2014). in working to find public information that should have been provided by the state (the defendants in martínez v. state of new mexico), data politics and political considerations were roadblocks for a number of experts in the case, including both contreras and rodríguez, who served as expert witnesses in the trial and used k-12 data for their reports for the case. both experienced challenges accessing the state’s data for analyses in preparation for the trial. the torres-velásquez, rodríguez, hinojosa, & bono association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 11 nmped eventually provided data that was incomplete, inconsistent, and/or lacked explanation, bolstering the plaintiffs’ claims that the state was not properly monitoring educational opportunities for at risk students. in order to obtain reliable data and provide a reliable analysis, both researchers were forced to find other publicly accessible data sources. in the end, their research and testimony demonstrated continuing disparaging academic outcomes for underserved students in urban, rural and indigenous communities, for english language learners, and for students receiving special education services, along with anticipated disparities across race and ethnicity. contreras, moreover, highlights the disparities facing indigenous and latinx students across 15 school districts specific to issues of access to curricular resources aligned to college readiness, transition, and completion. rodríguez, provided with other publicly accessible accountability data, reports proficiency in new mexico’s standards-based assessment, and in the adoption of the common core state standards and its aligned exam, the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers (parcc). he found similar additional extreme disparities in achievement across both achievement tests. most concerning in rodríguez’ report covering the seven focus districts and across new mexico in martínez was that english language learners reported proficiency levels similar to that of students receiving special education services, and indigenous students across the state performed at the lowest levels compared to other race and ethnic groups. further, trends in data disparities increased between groups and reported achievement levels dropped after the implementation of common core state standards and the parcc exam. contreras and rodríguez ultimately both draw conclusions that are very concerning in the curricular resources and academic support that students across the state receive that are highly inequitable. the role of community in martínez v. state of new mexico as the latino education task force (letf) engaged with new mexican populations during the development of this suit, it was clear that there was a long history, from before statehood, of creating policy that reflected the values of nuevo mexicanos, which included provisions in the state constitution for equality and use of the spanish language in public education. new mexico had resisted joining the united states, if it meant giving up the spanish language (móntez, 1973). in new mexico’s first district court, chief judge sarah singleton presided over the consolidated trial. she did not hesitate to ask questions of witnesses. in his education, law and the courts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 12 response to the questions of the court, it was clear during the testimony of martínez expert witness and sociologist phillip gonzales that some of the policies in the state constitution were ones that nuevo mexicanos held out for before agreeing to join the union. once statehood was granted, these policies were met with long periods of neglect due to language and socioeconomic prejudice against latinos and native americans (martínez v. state of new mexico, gonzales testimony, july 10-11, 2017, pp. 314-322). there are many mexican american, chicana and chicano, and latino intellectuals and community leaders who dedicated their careers to advancing progressive ideas in education for children. one of the first such activists, george i. sánchez was born in new mexico in 1906. in the late 1930’s, as a scholar and advocate for educational equity, sánchez received a carnegie grant while assuming a new role as the director for the division of information and statistics for the new mexico department of education. he conducted a study on school finance and equity in public education. his report, published as the forgotten people, exposed dismal financial and achievement data across areas of well-being for northern new mexico residents, including public education, and detailed how new mexico’s hispanic and native american populations, especially in rural areas, were largely neglected and ignored (g. i. sánchez, 1940). he employed data analysis to argue for systemic change by coordinating a policy shift for the state to pass the new mexico public school equalization fund (blanton, 2014; rodríguez, 2014; torres-velásquez, 2017). sánchez had been working to develop the new mexico education association (nmea) since 1933 and mixed his roles as educational researcher and education advocate (blanton, 2014). he coordinated his research efforts with his community role as president of the new mexico education association to strategically further advocate for this new policy. given that it had failed to pass the year before, this marriage of the roles of educational researcher and strategic activist was key in developing systemic transformational change to improve educational policy and practices. among sánchez’ students was josé cárdenas, who similarly mentored leaders in texas and across the country. the articles of this special issue highlight the need and demand for educational researchers, legal advocates and community activists to blend these roles as part of their strategic advocacy efforts for systemic transformations. torres-velásquez, rodríguez, hinojosa, & bono association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 13 poverty new mexico had entered the union as one of the last territories to obtain statehood. at the time, and for generations after, the state was described as a region of “diverse interests, cultures and great language difficulties with generations of illiteracy that had to be combated” (wiley, 1965, p. 19). most of the wealth was in the hands of a limited number of wealthy individuals and corporations who had no intention of paying taxes to educate the poor. wiley (1965) indicated the common perception of poverty during this time period and even into the early 1960s was that, “the poor, in turn, had no great vision, knowing very little about education” (p. 19). only once during the eight-week martínez trial did the court disrupt the testimony of a witness. this stern disruption came when the issue of poverty was being questioned by the state (defendants) who claimed there were no educational strategies supported by research that could help children in poverty do better in school. judge singleton demanded to know if there was nothing the state could do for children in poverty. perhaps this was one reason judge singleton stated she would not accept any excuses for not funding public education adequately. in her decision, the court required that legislators create the remedies and find the money to provide all of new mexico’s students with a sufficient education. while all witnesses testified that they believed all students could learn, that it was the state’s responsibility to provide a sufficient education and that schools needed more funding, the legislature’s apparent lack of interest and lack of action has caused martínez plaintiffs to file a motion asking the court for a hearing and for an investigation. the well-being of our students trujillo-ellis, trujillo, and davis, three new mexican critical-practitioners, explore the question, “what is it about the space our youth inhabit that causes them to be unwell?” as a means of resisting retrenchment, or loss of opportunity for positive change in response to the july 2018 first district court’s decision and order on martínez v. state of new mexico (2018). new mexican youth space is contextualized in terms of demographics, outcomes related to well-being, the fiscal landscape of the state, and the policies that govern public education. analysis framed by critical race theory (delgado & stefancic, 2012) supports a clearer understanding of relationships framed by power and their effect on youth opportunity and outcomes in the state. due to hegemonic action and inaction related to maintenance of status quo, remedies may not reach the students for whom they are designed. as such, understanding education, law and the courts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 14 the space minoritized youth occupy in the new mexican political consciousness requires a healthy skepticism that values and practices ongoing reflectivity (rendón, 2014), as well as leveraging frameworks and models that explicitly support the development and efficacy of critical strategies (freire, 1970/1993). multicultural education the letf worked with families and community organizations to identify the needs of students in our public schools. full implementation of the bilingual multicultural education act, the indian education act, and the hispanic education acts were high priorities in this suit for martínez plaintiffs. torres-velásquez, sleeter, and romero discuss a tactic often used to deter progress in these fields: divide and conquer. this tactic stalls the full implementation of the very thing that has been accomplished. as part of the trial in 2017, sleeter served as the expert witness on multicultural education. she wrote a 95-page report on her findings encompassing the current status of multicultural education in new mexico. torres-velásquez, sleeter and romero describe findings that make it difficult, if not impossible, to follow the bilingual multicultural act as it currently exists. having served as the director of mexican american studies in tucson, romero details benefits for use of a critically compassionate intellectual curriculum, such as the one developed over many years of teacher research and collaboration in tucson unified school district. new mexico’s indigenous and nuevo mexicano populations have a strong tradition of honoring land and water as sacred. in discussions around the state with specialists in ethnic studies and multicultural education, we have all agreed that an authentic curriculum representing the values of the people of the state would need to include the love we hold for land and water. necochea outlines three models of culturally-rich curriculum based on these sustaining traditions and beliefs. she provides the background for the development of her award-winning community organization, center for social sustainable systems (cesoss), whose mission is “to protect and preserve precious water resources in our community” (cesoss, 2019). she and her team have developed a mission that focuses on the intersections of land, water, and policy. each year the organization selects interns who research these issues, learn policy at the city, county and state levels, including the legislature, and advocate in their community. the organization has as a strong goal to build capacity with youth leaders, helping them shape the policies affecting their communities and protecting the community’s beautiful torres-velásquez, rodríguez, hinojosa, & bono association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 15 traditions and natural resources. dr. necochea and cesoss have received numerous awards for their community engagement. education, law and the courts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 16 references aguirre, f. p. (2005). méndez v. westminster school district: how it affected brown v. board of education. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(4) 321-332. blanton, c. k. (2014). george i. sánchez: the long fight for mexican american integration. new haven, ct: yale university press. brown v. board of education, 347 u.s. 483 (1954). cesoss (2019). cesoss: center for social sustainable systems website. retrieved from https://www.cesoss.org/ delgado, r. & stefancic, j. (2012). critical race theory: an introduction. new york, ny: new york university press. freire, p. (1970/1993). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: bloomsbury academic. fuller, b., kim, y., galindo, c., bathia, s., bridges, m., duncan, g. j., & garcía valdivia, i. (2019). worsening school segregation for latino children? educational researcher, 48(7), 407-420. doi:10.3102/0013189x19860814 houston, d. m. (2019). schoolhouse democracy: public opinion and education spending in the states. educational researcher, 48(7) 438-451. doi: https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x 19867948 martínez v. state of new mexico (2014). complaint. 1st district court of new mexico, no. d-101cv-2014-00793. martínez v. state of new mexico (2017). d-101-cv-2014-00793, gonzales, phillip b. testimony, july 10-11, 314-322. martínez v. state of new mexico (2018). decision and order, 1st dist. court of new mexico, no. d-101-cv-2014-00793. móntez, r. r. (1973). an attorney general’s opinion on article xii, section 8 of the new mexico constitution. new mexico law review, 3, 364-380. retrieved from http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmlr/vol3/iss2/8 rendón, l. i. (2014). sentipensante pedagogy (sensing/thinking): educating for wholeness, social justice, and liberation. sterling, va: stylus publishing, llc. rodríguez, c. (2014). recovering and framing the george i. sanchez legacy of chicana/o student and policy advocacy: utilizing data for social change. journal of hispanic higher education, 13(2), 81-91.doi: 10.1177/1538192713515910. san antonio i.s.d. v. rodríguez, 411 u.s. 1 (1973). sánchez, g. i. (1940/1967). forgotten people: a study of new mexicans. albuquerque, nm: calvin horn. torres-velásquez, d. (2017). martínez v. state of new mexico: the right to a sufficient education. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(1), 106-124. valencia, r. r. (2008). chicano students and the courts: mexican american legal struggle for educational equality. new york, ny: new york university press. valencia, r. r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. new york, ny: routledge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_united_states_supreme_court_cases,_volume_411 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/united_states_reports https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/411/1/ torres-velásquez, rodríguez, hinojosa, & bono association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 17 wiley, t. (1965). public school education in new mexico. albuquerque, nm: division of government research; the university of new mexico. yazzie v. state of new mexico (2014). 1st dist. court of new mexico, no. d-101-cv-2014-02224. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 17 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards, and critical pedagogy: oportunidades, estrategias y retos cristina alfaro san diego state university richard durán university of california at santa barbara alexandra hunt san diego state university maría josé aragón university of california at santa barbara abstract recent education reforms have begun to reframe academic discussion and teacher practice surrounding bilingual educational approaches for preparing “21st century, college and career ready” citizens. given this broader context, in this article we examine ways that we might join implementation of dual language programs, common core state standards, and critical pedagogy at the school and classroom levels via a teacher, school administrator, and teacher professional development program. we focus on a concrete example of a partnership between a progressive dual language school along the u.s.-mexico border, known as chula vista learning community charter school, and a bilingual teacher education program in the college of education at san diego state university, which prepares teachers and administrators to implement and develop dual language instruction aligned (but not beholden) to common core state standards. we include discussion of a freirian-based instructional program that helps unite the opportunities presented by dual language programs and standardsbased reform initiatives in a deeper equity and social justice framework for educating students. we discuss opportunities (oportunidades), strategies (estrategias), and challenges (retos) encountered during this collaborative work between the bilingual teacher preparation program, a dual language school, and one exemplary fourth grade teacher team and their enactment of a critical pedagogy-based curriculum. we conclude with a discussion of implications of our work for education of multilingual learners and the educators that work with them. introduction and significance the educational inequities faced by latino students and other students from low income, and multilingual immigrant backgrounds in the u.s. are well documented (gándara and contreras, 2010; valencia, 2008). ameliorating these inequities is a complex matter given the wide range of historical, economic, and systemic societal and educational structural issues, and racial/ethnic and linguistic discrimination dynamics at work (oakes, 2013; orfield, 2014). progressive educators, researchers, and policy analysts have long argued that approaches to education reform that do not honor the cultural and linguistic resources of latinos are likely to fail, now and in the future, as such positive concerns for social justice and equity have primarily done so in the past (portes, 2013, valencia, 2010). despite these reservations, we are aware of ongoing efforts and opportunities for transforming education in a positive manner that addresses these concerns directly and can help ameliorate inequities. these efforts bring together the best of what we know about how to implement effective teaching and learning, culturally responsive pedagogies, and teacher preparation. at the same time, there is also awareness that any significant transformation of educational practice in everyday school settings must be configured so as to take into account the realities of educational policies and school governance, and funding regulations mandated at state and local school levels, and by the federal government. given this broader context, in this article we examine ways that we might join implementation of association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 18 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy dual language programs, common core state standards (ccss), and critical pedagogy at the school level and classroom level via partnerships with progressive teacher preparation, school administrators, and staff development programs. we focus on a concrete example of a partnership between a progressive dual language school along the u.s.-mexico border, known as chula vista learning community charter school (cvlcc), and a bilingual teacher education program in the college of education at san diego state university (sdsu), which prepares bilingual teachers and administrators to implement and develop dual language instruction aligned (but not beholden) to ccss. cvlcc is unique in that its vision for learning is informed by critical pedagogy and guided by both a global and local community perspective. this schooling context is also unique because of the ways in which the sdsu bilingual teacher education program in the dual language and english learner education department (dle) implements its partnership with school administrators and teachers. the partnership is dynamic and involves the active day-to-day sharing of knowledge and analysis of praxis across institutional and unit boundaries—from the bilingual teacher education program and its participants, to the school organization and leadership, to teacher and teacher aid collaboration in designing and implementing classroom instruction, and to non-teaching staff involvement in building a school-wide learning community joined with the community at large. we focus on opportunities, challenges, and given existing constraints. our article proceeds as follows. we start by first briefly mentioning general ways in which dual language programs and their focus on multilingualism provide opportunities for learning that serve but extend the goal of standards based learning. we also mention important ways that instruction drawing on critical pedagogy is an essential framing resource for ongoing meaning making in classrooms that likewise serves but goes beyond the goals of standards based learning. the discussion reviews challenges that emerge in the process of realizing opportunities. we next turn to a more detailed description of cvlcc and the bilingual teacher education program of sdsu and how the partnership between these institutions takes advantage of opportunities and resolves challenges encountered along the way. we call attention in particular to strategies the partners invoke to attain common goals, as well as their respective interdependent program objectives pertaining to high quality dual language education for san diego’s large latino spanish speaking bilingual population. in the next section of the article, we then drill down to the classroom level and discuss instructional decision making of a fourth grade teacher team at cvlcc. the selected classrooms demonstrate strategies in action at the ground level to highlight how the school vision comes to manifest in the classroom with teachers and students as intellectual partners in learning that is both consistent with tenets of critical pedagogy and standards based education. we close with comments on implications of the work for thinking about externally imposed demands on teachers, especially teachers of multilingual learners, as a result of social change in the form of increasingly multilingual classroom realities and education reform. selected general opportunities and challenges presented by common core state standards states’ and schools’ adoption of common core state standards in english language arts, and in mathematics create both opportunities and challenges that can be addressed by innovative partnerships between bilingual teacher preparation programs and progressive schools implementing dual language programs and critical pedagogy based learning philosophies. the ccss stress students’ acquisition of high level thinking and communicative practices in subject matter areas that build on close-in comprehension of written texts and their ideas, and the ability to author texts with complex and dense communication of ideas. the ccss also call attention to the important role played by related face-to-face speaking and listening skills supporting higher level thinking, reading and writing skills—intersecting areas that are extremely important for english learners (valdés, kibler, and walqui, 2014). it is important to note that while the ccss were written so as to be pertinent to high level academic functioning in english, they address skills that can be realized in any language and not just english. accordingly, bilingual programs, and in particular dual language programs, must create opportunities for students to transfer association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 19 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy skills across languages—from a more familiar language such as spanish to english and vice versa. this opportunity for rigorous academic functioning in multiple languages faces a sociopolitical challenge in that many educational policy makers and many in the public at large assume that an end goal of schooling is monolingualism in english rather than elective multilingualism. a strategy ameliorating this concern is to provide evidence that students participating in dual language programs acquire english proficiency and learn as effectively or even more effectively in english and their non-english language as other students from similar backgrounds (callahan & gándara, 2014). research exists showing such evidence, especially when consideration is given to students’ need to develop english proficiency over an extended period of schooling—see umansky and reardon (2014). the ccss were designed to be standards specifying goals for instructional outcomes known collectively as “21st century, college and career readiness skills” and were not intended to specify a curriculum to reach these goals. as we discuss in more detail later in this paper, this brings validation to programs such as cvlcc that envisioned similar goals for instructional outcomes even before the ccss mandated them. the ccss also presents further opportunities for implementers of dual language programs with value orientations and strategies for social justice and equity to reframe their curriculum based on a reading of “21st century, college and career readiness” that is consistent with their existing curriculum ideology, such as the case with cvlcc and its critical pedagogy approach. in particular it presents opportunities for teacher education programs, schools, teachers, students, and community members to frame education as fundamentally about teaching and learning activities constructed locally to reflect the linguistic, cultural, and social values of participants. a challenge is that some policy makers and members of the public at large may be fearful that students may be socialized to question existing patterns of distribution of power and privilege despite the democratic rights of u.s. citizens and residents. a strategy to address this challenge and support opportunities for an equity context in u.s. education is to show evidence that the beneficiaries of dual language and critical pedagogy based programs attuned to the ccss produce active students, teachers, educators and community members concerned with the well being of not just their own immediate community, but of others, including a global community. we show how this goal of producing transformative global citizens is taken up in the partnership we will describe. we now turn to a brief description of the cvlcc school site and the sdsu bilingual teacher education program in the dual language and english learner education department before describing how the partnership between these institutions takes advantage of opportunities and resolves challenges encountered along the way. chula vista learning community charter school: promoting oportunidades for student learning chula vista learning community charter school (cvlcc) was established in 1998 as a small elementary school serving primarily latino students and has since increased its enrollment to over 800 students in grades k-10, with plans for further expansion. currently, 95% of students are latino, over 50% are enrolled in the free or reduced-price lunch program, and 53% are classified english language learners (ells) (california department of education, 2012). over 65% of the school’s teachers were credentialed at san diego state university (sdsu) through the dual language and english learner education department (dle), formerly department of policy studies in language and cross cultural education. the school has been widely recognized at the local and state levels for its innovative spanish-english dual language program, which combines a biliteracy approach with a focus on critical pedagogy and global citizenship so that the goal of the teaching and learning process is to develop and strengthen a respect for human dignity, individual worth, and civic action in every student. within the school district, cvlcc is one of the highest performing schools and has drastically improved its academic performance index scores from 680 in 2005 to 880 in 2012, exceeding the state goal of 800. in acknowledgement of this accomplishment the school was awarded the title i closing the achievement gap award for the 2010-2011 academic year and was named a 2012 california distinguished school (http://www. cvesd.org/pages/home.aspx). in 2012, cvlcc adopted the national common core state standards at all grade levels, one year before the standards were mandated (http://www.cvesd.org/pages/home.aspx). association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 20 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy san diego state university dual language teacher preparation program: promoting oportunidades for school leadership and collaborative teacher development the dual language and english learner education department (dle) prepares bilingual educators in policy and practice to meet the needs of english learners in diverse settings from structured english immersion to dual language programs promoting biliteracy and global competence (http://go.sdsu.edu/education/dle/). the credential, certificate and master of arts programs prepares all students from undergraduate to graduate programs to be reflective and transformational practitioners for the purpose of elevating the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners through collaboration with schools, families and community. as of this writing, dle has credentialed over 2,500 bilingual teachers. over a decade ago the dle department at sdsu, seized an opportunity to promote transformative educational reform when it created a collaborative partnership with cvlcc’s innovative school director and a group of highly qualified, progressive, and passionate dual language educators. the structure of this partnership is reciprocal in that teacher-leaders and administrators from cvlcc are also instructors in the credential, certificate, and master of arts programs. dle faculty also provide professional development for the school teaching staff and engage in classroom observations as part of the practice that informs the pedagogy used in their methods courses. furthermore, this partnership is reciprocal in that the school helps prepare pre-service, credential candidates with real time issues and strategies, and then, once candidates have received their credential they hire them to teach at the school, eventually helping to mentor the next generation of teachers. the school director explains, “our purpose is to hire and retain teacher leaders that embrace a commitment to teaching and learning in a multilingual, global, and critically conscious environment. we actively seek graduates from the dle program because teachers enter the classroom with a solid foundational knowledge about biliteracy/bicognition, biculturalism, and critical pedagogy” (dr. ramirez, personal communication, october 20, 2013). the overarching mission of dle is to prepare teachers to effectively serve students who come to school with a primary language other than english and to facilitate the learning process for students to become bilingual, biliterate/bicognitive, and multicultural. dle’s primary focus is to support educators at all levels in creating multicultural democratic practices and bring bicultural voices to the center of classroom discourse. in order to do so, the dle faculty, program graduates, and administrators that hire these graduates have identified the “five things” graduates of the program know and are able to do in their classrooms. 1) ideological and pedagogical clarity: dle graduates develop a roadmap toward their ideological clarity as it relates to and informs their classroom practice. they know who they are as teachers, their personal beliefs about teaching and learning, and how this affects the students that they teach. this is a complex area of understanding that involves self-knowledge and dispositions that ensure that educators have a strong belief in the worth of all students and their ability to achieve. 2) biliteracy development and success across the content areas: dle graduates possess the theoretical knowledge on important socio-political issues and tensions surrounding language policy. accordingly, graduates of dle recognize their role as advocates for english and dual language learners in their classrooms and school communities. dle graduates promote dual language learner student success through standards based instruction in spanish and english. they create rich, authentic opportunities for students to read, write, speak, listen and think critically using the appropriate, grade-level academic language in order to develop biliteracy/bicognition in english and two or more additional languages. 3) collaborate with peers, students, parents, administrators, and community: dle graduates recognize that complex social relationships dictate equitable access to knowledge and power inside and outside of the classroom. the focus is to work side by side with key stakeholders in receiving and providing feedback at all levels. critical to this process is the ability association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 21 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy to build authentic relationships by engaging in community scans and asset mapping to gain first hand information of community and students’ funds of knowledge. 4) create inclusive learning environments: dle graduates are committed to creating inclusive learning communities, where teacher, school leadership, student, and parent each play an integral role in supporting student success. it includes considering students’ cultural and linguistic background as assets, as well as using data on learning outcomes and performance, to inform differentiation and personalization of each student’s instruction and services, and create partnerships between home and school. 5) global (linguistic and cultural) competence: dle graduates model and acquire teaching principles of global competence through respect of linguistic and cultural diversity in the classroom, school, and community. this perspective of critical-global literacy combined with their unique worldviews of respect for linguistic, cultural, and social perspectives empowers graduates of dle to develop and enact 21st century pedagogies. dle prepares teachers to facilitate the development of students’ bicultural/bicognitive identity and sense of belongingness as they negotiate at least two languages and two worlds. as darder (2012) asserts, critical bicultural/bicognitive pedagogy holds the possibility for a discourse of hope in light of the social tensions, conflicts, and policy contradictions that students must face in the process of their bicultural development (p. 101). we now turn to a discussion of particular on the ground strategies that have taken root in the collaboration between cvlcc and the dle department that have enabled fulfillment of the opportunities we have described. a collaborative model for preparing critically conscious dual language educators: estrategias for realizing oportunidades rather than following the status quo in teacher preparation and professional development, the dle bilingual teacher preparation program and cvlcc entered into a partnership where the expectation and goal is for teachers to know and be able to engage all students in high quality instruction and full rigorous access to the curriculum regardless of students’ language or socio-economic status. in order to do this well, teachers are guided to engage in the critical process of continuous learning and unlearning, conscious thinking and rethinking, and the commitment to change practice based on new understandings, with the desired outcome of improving student learning. this collaborative model was developed with the understanding that a student’s school community, in this case the u.s.-mexican border, provides the educator with the needed knowledge on how to contextualize and deliver the curriculum regardless of the restrictive language policies and standards waves. the infrastructure for this collaborative model sustains the bilingual community at the center. it is the heart—el corazón—of the program with the fundamental capacity to establish, cultivate, and support humanizing relationships that support the collective work of the community, pre-service teachers, practicing teachers, and the school leadership team. estrategia: leadership context given cvlcc’s location, only eight miles from the california-mexico border, the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the surrounding community are central to understanding school-level decision making and classroom practices. romo and chavez (2006) characterize the borderland as a hybrid space in which individuals are constantly negotiating multiple languages and identities: “the geopolitical border between mexico and united states represents the beginnings, endings, and blending of languages, cultures, communities, and countries” (p. 142). teaching and designing instruction for students in borderland contexts, consequently, raises a number of issues and challenges that are specific to the complex relationships between socio-economic status, race, culture, and language. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 22 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy one of the ways in which the school’s administration seeks to be responsive to the blending of cultures and hybrid language practices in their community is in the design of the dual language curriculum. unlike other dual language programs in which students are primarily taught in their native language the first years—with incremental increases of english language instruction—students at clvcc begin instruction in kindergarten with 50% of instruction in english and 50% in spanish. this decision, which has been contested by some proponents of the traditional dual language model, reflects the administration’s knowledge of the community and understanding that most of their students are bicultural and biliterate upon entering school and benefit most from receiving equal instruction in both languages. the ultimate goal of the curriculum is for students to achieve and maintain fluency in both languages, not only in order to ensure high academic achievement, but to promote students’ active membership and connection to the multiple languages and identities they navigate in their daily lives. in their work on border pedagogy, cline and necochea (2006) have argued that teachers working in borderland communities require certain dispositions in order to appropriately serve their students. the characteristics identified in their research as contributing to effective teaching practices and supporting students in navigating two worlds are, “open-mindedness and flexibility”, “passion for borderland education,” “ongoing professional development”, “cultural sensitivity”, and a “pluralistic language orientation” (p. 271). at cvlcc, the close coordination and joint planning between teachers across language areas reflects a strong “pluralistic language orientation” and plays a critical role in reinforcing the status of spanish within the curriculum. students are held to the same rigorous standards and expectations in spanish as in english and are taught to engage in critical thinking and reflection in both languages. as we describe in the next section, opportunities for ongoing professional development are designed to challenge and further develop teachers’ thinking on key issues associated with teaching students in borderland contexts. teachers are also prepared, supported, and expected to tailor instruction based on the specific characteristics and needs of their students and are encouraged to think of the classroom as a dynamic and ever-changing environment. in addition to the role of teachers’ practices and dispositions, rodríguez and alanís (2011) have identified three critical components of effective leadership in a dual language setting that draw heavily on the concept of “border epistemology of school leadership.” these include advocacy, socially cognizant behavior, and curriculum expertise. cvlcc’s school director, dr. ramirez, is a strong advocate for the benefits of the dual language approach and has been instrumental in creating a shared vision for the program, based on the critical pedagogy philosophy and its focus on social justice. he has worked to provide teachers with professional development and support that allow them to put key components of the curriculum, such as critical thinking, global citizenship, and community participation into practice. the fluid and open communication between the teachers and the school’s administration, as well as the planning of instruction across subject areas and grade levels also helps to ensure that curriculum expertise, as well as knowledge of the community is shared and utilized to inform decisionmaking at all levels. beyond the cvlcc context, dr. ramirez is involved in advocating for the dual language approach as a member of the dle bilingual teacher preparation program faculty. in this capacity, he applies his experience and expertise, in the form of concrete leadership and classroom examples, as well as school data, in support of implementing a critical pedagogy curriculum. cvlcc’s strategies of leadership are mindful of the integration of the learner’s language(s) and culture(s), promote the development of biliteracy/bicognition skills, and recognize the voices of students, community members, and teachers as crucial to the teaching and learning process. estrategia: school-wide, ongoing professional development because of the reciprocal nature of this collaboration, the dle department chair, dr. alfaro, facilitated a one week paulo freire institute for the cvlcc teaching and administrative staff focused on the capacity to “begin anew,” which constitutes one of the most critical qualities for fostering the transformation for teaching and learning: “the capacity to always begin anew, to make, to reconstruct, and to not spoil, to refuse to bureaucratize the mind, to understand and to live [life] as a process—live to become—is something that always accompanied me throughout my life. this is an indispensible quality of a teacher” (freire, 1993, p. 98). from a freirean perspective, this professional development and many more that followed created a space association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 23 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy where everyone was challenged to rethink and renew their individual and collective vision beyond the standards and test results. knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other (darder, 2002). this institute was grounded on the essentiality of inquiry through the process of critical dialogue among teachers with teachers, teachers with students, and students with students. freire (1970) emphasized that dialogue is essential to the development of critical consciousness. the road to critical consciousness necessitates moving beyond the narrow focus on standards, methods, and test scores and toward a more humane and critical pedagogy that validates multiple perspectives and promotes students’ engagement with their local and global world. in introducing the institute, dr. alfaro echoed this sentiment: “i am humbled and honored to have the privilege of facilitating a team of highly talented, committed, passionate, intelligent and skilled educators from whom i learn so much. in our collective work this week we are aiming to interrogate through critical dialogue our ideology and our pedagogy to solidify our praxis and to begin anew. in closing the achievement gap, yes, we have shed the stereotypes and the deficit thinking attached to being a program improvement school and a school that teaches english learners. but, we know there is more work to be done. we must be clear within ourselves and have this reflected in our own pedagogy and practice what it means to be transformational teacher-scholars.” it is important to note that this institute took place right at the height of the state and district acknowledgement of their success in closing the achievement gap from 680 to 880. when the cvlcc school director invited dr. alfaro to the school to facilitate this institute he mindfully stated, “at a time when we are celebrating and acknowledging our collective effort, passion, and hard work in leading our students’ academic success, i don’t want us to become complacent; i want us to be challenged to go deeper into our ideological and pedagogical clarity.” bartolome (2008) has argued that pre-service and practicing teachers often emerge from teacher education programs having unconsciously absorbed assimilationist white supremacist, and deficit views of nonwhite, lowincome, non-english speaking students. despite there not being definitive research that links teachers’ ideological stances with instructional practices, many scholars suggest that a teacher’s ideological orientation is often reflected in his or her beliefs and attitudes and consequently reflected in the manner he or she teaches students (alfaro, 2008; bartolome, 2008; cochran-smith, 2004; macedo, 2010; nieto, 2010; sleeter, 2001). facilitators and participants at the paulo freire institute shared a belief that equally as important to preparing teachers with the skills, strategies, cultural, and linguistic competence necessary to teach english and dual language learners well, is the necessity for a teacher’s mindfully-articulated ideological stance. in order for teachers to make an ideological shift that will positively impact the lives of students they must first confront the invisible yet pervasive nature of oppressive dominant ideologies and the harmful impact they have on the education of latino immigrant children. it takes a teacher’s conscious decision to juxtapose and better understand if, when, and how their belief systems uncritically reflect those of the dominant society and perpetuate unfair and inequitable conditions (bartolome, 2008). ultimately we see that the collaborative model for preparing critically conscious dual language educators is sustained by a fundamental belief informed by critical pedagogy that teachers and their students must enter actively into posing problems within their curriculum context to consider possible strategies for intervening within their reality and thereby transforming their world. through ongoing professional development, teachers and administrators at cvlcc alongside dle faculty engage in a process of reflection and analysis to continuously evolve and re-conceptualize their pedagogy in order to best serve their students. teachers and students as intellectuals: estrategias for action and interaction in the classroom the stance that cvlcc takes—that teachers and students are intellectuals—calls on teachers to develop a culturally relevant pedagogy that will not only authentically engage students, but also reinforces the inherent value and legitimacy of their knowledge and experiences and those of their community. the school’s association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 24 core beliefs set expectations for students to “involve themselves in the community and establish awareness of global perspectives” (http://www.cvlcc.org/). the school’s vision statement describes the school’s “philosophy of critical pedagogy and international perspectives”, and a desire to foster “critical and self-reflection” among students (http://www.cvlcc.org/). together the school’s core beliefs and vision statement announce a schoolwide goal to promote academic achievement and a standards based education in english and spanish that is concerned with worldwide equity through praxis. we highlight how the school vision comes to manifest in fourth grade classrooms by looking at fourth grade collaborative teacher planning, classroom interaction, and design and use of classroom environments. at cvlcc, the fourth grade consists of a team of three teachers, a spanish language arts/social science teacher, an english language arts teacher, and a math/science teacher. each teacher has a class of approximately 30 students, who rotate to different classrooms to receive instruction in the three core content areas every day of the week. teachers see approximately 90 students over three class periods each day. the math/science teacher delivers four days of math instruction and one day of science instruction per week. instruction in the core content areas is reduced some days for instruction in mandarin, physical education and a school-wide service learning component. estrategia: collaborative teacher planning in accordance with the ccss, cvlcc teachers design curriculum and instruction with the aim of supporting students in both their acquisition of high level thinking skills and their ability to demonstrate understanding and create new knowledge through communicative practices that are academic and evidencebased. significantly, these practices and goals were something cvlcc had done from the outset: “since we first started the school, the vision has always been to make sure that we are producing transformative, critical thinking students. basically, this means that they are able to adapt to any kind of situation, and we are providing them with tools to empower themselves and to become leaders. in order to do that, students need to be able to negotiate with each other. they need to be agreeing and disagreeing in a respectful manner so that they can be leaders. they need to be able to substantiate their opinions and what they stand for with facts and evidence” (mrs. maldonado, curriculum specialist interview). cvlcc shares ccss’s emphasis on the production of high-level academic language for the specific reason that the school views language as the essential means through which students empower themselves. mrs. maldonado continues: “and we have always been about dialogue…we wanted to allow them to make mistakes; we had to make sure that we had a low affective filter, whether it was in an english classroom or in a spanish classroom…we always wanted to make sure that our kids were able to use that craft of the language to become authors. even before ccss, we were having author fairs, where students were writing books and then presenting them to the community and putting them in the library, and having our kids being researchers, going out into the communities and doing service learning projects” (curriculum specialist interview). the school’s focus on developing literacy in english and spanish, combined with expectations for students’ highlevel academic functioning positioned the school to use the ccss as an opportunity to elevate teacher and student practices that were authentically generated from and, therefore relevant to, the socio-cultural context of the school community. during collaborative teacher planning, the school administration and support staff, such as content specialists and literacy coaches, work with teachers to support their instructional decision making processes and to ensure that adequate progress is being made in terms of their team-and school-established, end-of-unit, and end-of-school year expectations. the fourth grade team has combined four hours of horizontal planning among themselves, as well as vertical planning with the fifth grade team each week, for curriculum design and to coordinate lessons. the addition of vertical planning with strategic grade clusters since ccss implementation demonstrates how the school interpreted the ccss—in this case, vertical alignment of anchor standards—in steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 25 order to elevate, with purpose and intentionality, what they had already been practicing around collaborative teacher planning (mr. lyons, teacher interview). estrategia: classroom interaction teachers’ dialogic learning in their professional development and collaborative teacher planning, coupled with their commitment to a critical pedagogy philosophy impacts teachers’ ideas about the important role of dialogue in students’ learning process: “to think and dialogue about text and come out with a total changed thought is a mind-set that says, ‘there is no wrong answer,’ and ‘i am going to enter into this process with my own thinking and i am going to leave with changed thinking due to what happened throughout this process.’ this mind-set allows one to feel vulnerable to say, ‘oh, i don’t get this,’ or ‘what do you mean by that?’ these are things i like to celebrate with my students” (mr. lyons, teacher interview). during one lesson, the fourth grade english language arts teacher, mr. lyons, directly addressed the fact that many students would encounter barriers along their close reading process, which is an area of emphasis in the ccss. he explained as he drew a staircase with landings and roadblocks on the white board, “each time someone in our community of learners encounters a barrier, dialogue breaks down those barriers and leads to better comprehension of the text.” mr. lyons anticipates shanahan (2013), who warned, “under the ccss, students will be more frustrated by challenging texts, and this means other instructional supports will be needed to help and encourage them along this path. teachers must learn to anticipate text challenges and how to support students to allow them to negotiate texts successfully, but without doing the work for them” (p. 6). on view of a critical pedagogy philosophy where the teacher is not the sole producer of legitimate knowledge, mr. lyons depends on student-to-student dialogue as instructional support. the school’s emphasis on dialogical classrooms, or as one administrator described, “productive noise in classrooms,” makes the ccss for speaking and listening of central importance because they provide the foundation for classroom interaction and student voice. teacher designed work documents help students record and structure their thinking for subsequent communication; ccss speaking and listening standards set expectations for their oral language production and reception. for example, after a pair of students completed a work document related to an informational text they had read, they formed a group of four students, exchanged documents, and engaged in dialogue to share feedback verbally. during this group dialogue one fourth grader said: “….it is important to understand what the author states in the text because they have their opinion, then we have the teacher’s opinion, then i have my own opinion which i formed by looking at evidence in the text and, finally, my own experience—where i live in relation to the world. the dialogue with my classmates helps me to view things through different perspectives…” the teacher’s emphasis on critical thinking and the co-construction of knowledge through interaction are key elements of the teacher’s critical pedagogy perspective. throughout the peer editing activity students are continuously provided with opportunities to challenge and revise their own thinking, as well as that of their peers. significantly dialogue was the centerpiece of this learning process: whenever students would hit a barrier or reach a plateau the teacher facilitated their collaboration and reliance on each other to push each other’s thinking. students possessed the language (using sentence frames earlier in the year) to say, for example, “can you please rephrase your question, could you please clarify, i don’t understand?” collaborative, dialogical work built and sustained the learning community because students had the respectful language to be critical and the confidence to ask for clarification. the dialogical process of student empowerment is not just a student phenomenon, but takes place within the solidarity of relationships with others (darder, 2002). teachers create dialogical conditions within their classroom to support their student’s process of developing a language of critique for both individual and collaborative empowerment. previous research has established the importance of a “facilitative social environment” (flores, 2007, p. 34), where the teacher is “key not only in organizing the social uses and practices of language(s), both oral and written across social contexts, but also in the type of social interactions, socio-cultural rituals, expectations, and steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 26 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy respeto/respect that become the ways of knowing, the ways of being, the ways of acting, the ways of doing, and the ways of socially interacting in the classroom” (p. 34, original emphasis). at the beginning of a curricular unit, mr. lyons discussed with his students how he viewed their role in their own learning and that of their peers: “this year you are the teacher, you are responsible for your learning and that of your classroom community.” it was common for mr. lyons to refer to students as teachers. for example, during the same activity discussed above, mr. lyons facilitated a discussion, “ok, now, so your job as teachers: how can you help him?” in keeping with a freireian conception of critical pedagogy, mr. lyons works to create a classroom environment where every teacher is a learner, every learner is a teacher (freire, 1970). estrategia: classroom environment and artifacts the teachers’ efforts to integrate the critical pedagogy approach with the common core state standards in both languages are also reflected in the classroom environment and the various artifacts students interact with, which include, but are not limited to classroom displays and bulletin boards, worksheets and handouts, and student “cuadernos” (journals). the room environment reflects thinking process. rather than room environments only posting student work, which can have limited and disconnected relevancy to ongoing learning, teacher and administrators ask, “can my students use the room to help them think about the lesson that is being taught?” for example, in one fourth grade spanish language arts classroom, the teacher designed a large bulletin board, which provided an elaborate visual representation of the process of analyzing and working with different types of texts. the board depicted the silhouette of a person holding up a sign (in a protest-like posture) displaying a phrase that was referenced and recited by the teacher and students regularly and included in other teaching materials: “los seres humanos piensan libremente y pueden crear su propio entendimiento del mundo.” (“human beings think freely and can create their own understanding of the world.”) the phrase, which is heavily influenced by the critical pedagogy perspective, highlights the importance of critical thinking as a universal value, applicable to all people and realms of life, rather than a skill necessary for academic achievement. on the same bulletin board, underneath the person holding up the sign, there was a statement that read, “somos críticos, distinguimos entre información” (“we are critical, we distinguish between information [that is]”) followed by the words “objectiva” (objective) and “subjectiva” (subjective) and a list of features associated with each type of information. the board also illustrated the steps students are expected to follow when analyzing texts, which involve: “escribiendo notas en el margen” (“writing notes in the margin”), “analizando palabras desconocidas” (“analyzing unfamiliar words”), and using their notes to identify the author’s main argument and supporting details. alongside these steps, the teacher attached samples of students’ work to the board, showcasing their note-taking practices, as well as the worksheets students were using to help them decipher unfamiliar terms found in the text. the bulletin board described is an example of how the teachers at the school work to bridge some of the principles of a critical pedagogy-inspired curriculum with the common core state standards, which represent a more teacher-directed and outcomes-based approach. the focus on text analysis, particularly of ‘informational texts’, as well as students’ ability to extract an author’s key arguments and supporting evidence from a text are all key components of the fourth grade ccss reading standards. while the goal of developing these specific skills is visible in the bulletin board’s content, there also appears to be a strong focus on the process of learning and on how to support students in engaging with and finding meaning in texts. the blending of both approaches through classroom artifacts can also be seen in the english language arts classrooms. in mr. lyons’ fourth grade class, the following phrase was displayed on one of the classroom walls: “a community conscious of others.” there was also a poster that specified the “expectations of dialogue” for the class, which included: “listen to others’ ideas with care,” “ask questions to check understanding of information,” and “respect your classmates’ ideas.” these statements and guidelines are oriented towards building community in the classroom and establishing values for learning with others and appear to draw from the emphasis in critical pedagogy on dialogue and reflection. similarly to the spanish language arts class billboard, these english classroom displays co-exist with others that provide definitions for terms, such as ‘metaphors’ and ‘similes’, as well as ‘figurative language’, which reflect a concern for acquiring specific grade-level skills and association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 27 concepts. another large bulletin board titled, “we are critical readers and precise writers,” provided students with a diagram outlining the features and structure of a narrative text, as well as the process involved in the close reading of text, which was broken down into steps very similar to those in the spanish class. the examples discussed illustrate some of the ways in which the teachers at the school negotiate and generate connections between the critical pedagogy perspective and the demands of a standards-based teaching approach. some of the practices that are represented visually in the classrooms, such as close reading and analysis of texts, seem to be closely tied to the ccss and the academic skills prioritized by the standards. the more philosophical and process-oriented elements, however, indicate 1) the teachers’ self-perception not as technicians but as intellectuals who facilitate learning, and 2) the teachers’ efforts to broaden students’ understanding of learning beyond immediate education outcomes through the creation of classroom environments that are grounded in reflection and critical thinking. conclusion: facing up to retos while the experience of one particular dual language program cannot provide answers to the many retos that arise in dynamic and linguistically and culturally complex education settings, the work of teachers and administrators at cvlcc sheds light on the type of problem-solving and strategies that come into play in trying to meet the many challenges presented by a growing bicultural and biliterate latino population in the current education scenario. at the heart of cvlcc’s approach lies a spirit of collaboration and partnership, which facilitates the flow of ideas between the sdsu bilingual teacher education program, the school’s administration, and the teachers implementing the curriculum. in addition to reinforcing a common ideology and vision for the school, these partnerships help ensure consistency and quality at all levels of the program. the ongoing professional development opportunities and leadership of the administration also support teachers in articulating and unifying the goals of the ccss with those of a critical pedagogy-based curriculum. one of the challenges, which the case of cvlcc highlights, is the tensions teachers encounter when attempting to meet external education standards that demand immediate outcomes and often conflict with the goals of culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum. as some of the examples discussed illustrate, developing and exploring different strategies that can help align a dual language, critical pedagogy-based curriculum requires that, when analyzing and implementing the ccss, teachers have knowledge of their students and the broader school community, and flexibility in classroom level decision-making. meeting this challenge allows teachers to tailor content to best suit the interests and needs of their students and is essential to implementing a truly student-centered curriculum that positions students as intellectuals and agents of change in their own right. implementing a dual language curriculum that is both culturally responsive and attends to the academic language development of students is highly challenging. the ccss place an emphasis, across grades, on students’ developing the ability to comprehend and generate complex texts involving communication of information—and to do it in ways that involve high level reasoning skills and linguistic skills that increasingly support academic content learning. the primary focus espoused by many proponents of the ccss is the preeminent need for students to process texts as isolated, decontextualized sources of information based on their linguistic features including vocabulary, sentence syntax, and intersentential discourse cohesion markers—the ways syntax structurally glues together the meaning of different statements and the ideas they convey (durán, 2014). accordingly, the ccss does present a challenge for teachers to develop a teaching repertoire inclusive of english language development and, more specifically, of how english learners acquire sophisticated comprehension and productive fluency in a wide range of language registers, and language structures performing illocutionary functions common to academic work. we find it problematic that these ccss standards do not include attention to ways that the design of pedagogy itself must connect issues of developing students’ ability to deal with text complexity given the linguistic, sociocultural, and contextual demands of reading tasks and given student characteristics and social identities in school and classroom settings. this proves even more challenging in the context of dual language education where the status of two (or more) languages connects the life and languages of a community with learning at school. that stated, we welcome this challenge given the opportunities and strategies presented by joining dual language programs with efforts to implement schooling informed by a critical pedagogy through a steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 28 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy teacher preparation program. we have discussed one university and school partnership that refuses to implement the ccss in a way that reduces language to a technical skill devoid of complex sociocultural meaning and power; and we argue that this partnership is sustained by a fundamental belief that teachers must be prepared to make the “ideological shift” necessary for providing all students with access to the state-adopted academic standards without standardizing their language, knowledge or creativity (quezada & alfaro, 2012). ultimately, teachers and administrators at cvlcc and dle faculty view the new standards reform, not as an astronomical shift, but rather as another instance when externally imposed demands of the state, county, and/or district must be used as an opportunity to reaffirm and elevate what the school has been doing for the last decade to successfully close the achievement gap. association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 29 references alfaro, c. (2008). teacher education examining beliefs, orientations, ideologies & practices. in bartolome, l. (ed), ideologies in education: unmasking the trap of teacher neutrality. vol. 319, peter lang publishing group. bartolome, l. (2008). (ed). ideologies in education: unmasking the trap of teacher neutrality. vol. 319, peter lang publishing group. california department of education. (2012). school accountability report card: chula vista learning community charter school. retrieved january 22, 2014 from http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/ callahan, r. & gándara. p. (eds.) (2014). the bilingual advantage language, literacy and the us labor market. buffalo new york: multilingual matters. cline, z. & necochea, j. (2006). teacher dispositions for effective education in the borderlands. the educational forum, 70, 268-282. cochran-smith, m. (2004). walking the road: race, diversity and social justice in teacher education. new york: teachers college press. darder, a. (2012). culture and power in the classroom: educational foundations for the schooling of bicultural students. new york: paradigm publishers. darder, a. (2002). reinventing paulo freire: a pedagogy of love. westview press. durán, r. p. (2014). beyond educational standards: latino student learning agency and identity in context. in p. portes, s. salsa, p. baquedano-lopez, and p. mellom (eds.) u.s. latinos and education policy: research-based directions for change (pp. 204-215). new york: routledge. flores, b. (2007). biliteracy as social practice in schooling: bilingual first grader’s journey in learning to read and write in l1 and l2. in y. goodman and p. martens (eds). critical issues in early literacy: research and pedagogy (pp. 31-45). new york: routledge. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york: continuum international publishing group. freire, p. (1993). pedagogy of the city. new york: continuum. gándara, p. c., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, mass: harvard university press. macedo, d. (2010, february 12). personal communication. nieto, s. (2010). language, culture, and teaching: critical perspectives, v. 2. new york: routledge. oakes, j. (2013). evidence and activism: research to challenge structures of inequality. social justice in education award. orfield, g. (2014). tenth annual brown lecture in education research: a new civil rights agenda for american education. educational researcher, 43(6), 273–292. quezada, r. & alfaro, c. (2012). moving pedagogical mountains: cutting to the core. language magazine, 11(12), 19-22. portes, p., salas, s., baquedano-lopez, p., & mellom, p. (eds.) (2013). u.s. latinos and education policy: research-based directions for change. new york: routledge. rodríguez, m.a. & alanís, i. (2011). negotiating linguistic and cultural identify: one borderlander’s leaderhip initiative. international journal of leadership in education: theory and practice, 14(1), 103-117. doe: 10. 1080/13603120903386951. romo, j. j., & chavez, c. (2006, june). border pedagogy: a study of preservice teacher transformation. in the educational forum, 70(2), 142-153. taylor & francis group. sleeter, c. (2001). culture, difference, and power. new york: teachers college press. shanahan, t. (2013, fall). letting the text take center stage: how the common core state standards will transform english language arts instruction. american educator. 4-11. umansky, i. m., & reardon, s. f. (2014). reclassification patterns among latino english learner students in bilingual, steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy association of mexican-american educators (amae) open issue ©2014 volume 8, issue 2 30 steps toward unifying dual language programs, common core state standards and critical pedagogy dual immersion, and english immersion classrooms. american educational research journal, 51(5), 879–912. valdés, g., kibler, a., & walqui, a. (2014, march). changes in the expertise of esl professionals: knowledge and action in an era of new standards. alexandria, va: tesol international association valencia, r. (2008). chicano students and the courts: the mexican american legal struggle for educational equality. new york: new york university press. valencia, r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. new york: routledge. amae-open-issue-final 17 amae-open-issue-final 18 amae-open-issue-final 19 amae-open-issue-final 20 amae-open-issue-final 21 amae-open-issue-final 22 amae-open-issue-final 23 amae-open-issue-final 24 amae-open-issue-final 25 amae-open-issue-final 26 amae-open-issue-final 27 amae-open-issue-final 28 amae-open-issue-final 29 amae-open-issue-final 30 volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.406 issn: 2377-9187 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.406 enriquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 134 latinx/a/os in higher education: exploring identity, pathways, and success. angele e. batista, shirley m. collado, and david perez ii (editors). washington, dc: naspastudent affairs administrators in higher education inc, 2018, 358 pp. $44.95. paperback: isbn: 978-0-931654-74-9 jesse enriquez university of california, san diego latinx/a/os in higher education: exploring identity, pathways, and success explores topics that are central to the experiences of latinx/a/o students and professionals in higher education. interwoven throughout the scholarly papers are insightful narratives from latinx/a/o undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and student affairs professionals. the publication is organized into five sections that explore several critical topics for diversifying leadership within the academy, and improving outcomes for latinx/a/o college students' success. part i of this volume is an introduction to the current landscape of latinx/a/os in higher education. in the opening chapter, sylvia hurtado, joseph ramirez, and katherine cho shine a light on latinx/a/o college enrollment data trends and disparities in higher education. hurtado and associates point out that latinx/a/os are the largest minority group earning bachelor’s degrees at four-year colleges, but remain concentrated in public minority serving institutions (msis) and specifically in hispanic serving institutions (hsis). community colleges alone account for half of latinx/a/o undergraduates (nces, 2015). the authors note significant differences in college participation by gender, and among latinx/a/o subpopulations. this opening chapter offers compelling data points that signal important changes in the landscape of higher education. in chapter 2, magdalena martinez and melissa l. freeman provide a historical overview of federal policy advocacy efforts on behalf of latinx/a/o students in higher education. they highlight prominent higher education policy advocacy actors such as the hispanic association of colleges and universities (hacu), a national organization dedicated to the advancement of hispanic serving institutions. according to martinez and freeman, literature on latinx/a/o-focused policy in higher education is limited to descriptive case study and state policy analysis and warrants further investigation. for researchers interested in exploring latinx/a/ofocused higher education policy, they recommend discursive policy models and advocacy enriquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 135 coalition frameworks, two policy models that center their analysis on the roles of actors and coalitions. joel perez and gerardo ochoa address the policy and practice implications for undocumented latinx/a/o students in chapter 3. the authors provide historical context on immigration issues, and an overview of legislative policies that impact undocumented students on college campus. they discuss the major barriers that undocumented students must overcome in their pursuit of higher education. according to perez and ochoa, lack of comprehensive immigration reform continues to create high levels of uncertainty and stress among undocumented students. this chapter recommends professionals in the field of higher education to find creative ways to support, mentor, and assists undocumented students. creating a rapid response to support undocumented students in crisis is one example of what institutions can do to be responsive to the needs of this vulnerable student population. part ii explores the complexity of the latinx/a/o identity in the united states. in chapter 4, sofia b. pertuz provides a brief historical overview of terms and labels associated with the latinx/a/o community. pertuz posits that intersectionality, as a theoretical framework, is best-suited to examine the complexity of the latinx/a/o identity within the institutional structure of higher education. specifically, the concept intersectionality is useful because it acknowledges an individual’s multiple identities (wijeyesinghe & jones, 2014). pertuz highlights common shared values in latinx/a/o culture such as familismo and respecto, and discusses how these values can provide opportunities for students and higher education professionals. briana carmen serrano discusses the issues facing lgbtqia latinx/a/os in higher education, and offers recommendations on how to support this student population. according to serrano, many latinx/a/os students “face challenges coming out to their families because of religious and family issues that can lead to conflict” (p. 104). serrano recognizes the acute challenges that transgender students face in higher education settings. to create an inclusive environment for all students, the author recommends gender inclusive facilities, preferred name policies, and inclusive health care to better serve students who may not have support from their family members. best practices and models for developing pathways for latinx/a/o student success are examined in part iii of this publication. in chapter 6, david perez ii, claudia garcia-louis, arambula ballysign, and eligio martinez extend shaun harper’s (2010) anti-deficit achievement enriquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 136 framework (adaf) by focusing on the cultural strengths that latinx/a/o students possess. the authors build on harper’s framework by addressing the important role that familial, community, institutional, and social contexts play in latinx/a/o students’ educational pathways. chapter 7 of the book is exclusively dedicated to the role that community colleges play in developing pathways for latinx/a/o students. edward f. martinez and ignacio hernandez introduce data from the national center for education statistics that reveals that community colleges continue to be the main entry point to higher education for latinx/a/os students. according to the authors, latinx students enroll in the community colleges in record numbers in part because they are an affordable option and are located in close proximity to their families. to continue to strengthen this vital pathway to higher education for latinx/a/os, martinez and hernandez recommend hiring and retaining latinx/a/o faculty, administrators, and staff that can serve as role models. other recommendations include, disaggregating data on latinx/a/o students to fully understand their distinct experiences and developing mentorship programs that foster latinx/a/o students’ sense of belonging. aside from this sole chapter, the publication missed an opportunity to examine the impact that community college transfer pathways have on latinx/a/os in pursuit of postsecondary education. the honors living-learning community (hllc) at rutgers university-newark is the center of focus in chapter 8. marta elena esquilin meticulously describes hllc’s multifaceted approach that distinguishes it from traditional honors programs. hllc’s unique admissions criteria moves beyond traditional metrics (e.g., gpa, sat scores) by taking into consideration students’ characteristics such as leadership skills, resiliency, academic potential, and passion for social change. by employing a holistic admissions process, administrators are able to identify diverse talented students with endless potential for success. the program’s success is attributed to its culturally relevant pedagogy that builds on students’ knowledge and lived experiences and “empowers students with a social justice framework to explore social inequities” (p.168). intergenerational learning communities and cohort-based peer mentoring are critical features of the hllc model that create a sense of belonging among students of color in the program. esquilin offers a blueprint to design an equitable honors program based on national best practices that support historically underrepresented students from admission through graduation. enriquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 137 in part iv of the book, latinx/a/o student affairs practitioners and faculty reflect on their personal and professional journeys to the field of higher education. in chapter 9, tonantzin oseguera reminds readers that “the workforce within higher education has been slow to mirror the diversity of its student population” (p. 190). to close the gap between students enrolled in postsecondary education and the ethnic diversity of the student affairs profession, oseguera recommends increasing the number of leadership pipeline programs for undergraduate latinx/a/os. specifically, she highlights naspa’s (national association of student personnel administrators) undergraduate fellows program, a high-touch mentoring initiative that serves as an entry point to the field of higher education for historically underrepresented students. oseguera contends that student affairs professionals have significant contact with students, and thus, are well-positioned to serve as mentors and conduits to the profession of student affairs. chapter 11 and 13 respectively, focus on latinx/a/o faculty pathways. william luis candidly discusses his road to the professoriate. his narrative provides a glimpse into the inequities and racial hostility that many faculty of color experience in the academy. despite successfully publishing in top-tier journals and serving as an advisor to the hispanic division of the library of congress, luis was unjustly denied tenure. lucy arrellano provides data that illuminates the gross underrepresentation of tenured-track latinx/a/o faculty nationwide. arellano contends that a number of hurdles stand between graduate school and the professoriate that keep latinx/a/os from entering the academic ranks. she notes that few latinx/a/os are groomed to become professors and “even when some do reach the door, they are filtered out during the search process due to lack of fit because they do not share the background of those in decision-making power” (p. 254). this chapter provides insights about key faculty responsibilities, namely, research, teaching, and service. arrellano provides important advice for prospective and early career faculty latinx/a/os. she advocates early career faculty to take on critical issues that pertain to their latinx/a/o community, well before earning tenure. both faculty-centered chapters document the injustices weathered by latinx/a/o faculty in higher education. chapters 10 and 12 provide perspectives from accomplished senior-level latinx/a/o leaders in higher education. anthony cruz recounts his journey to the vice presidency in chapter 10. with over 20 years of experience in higher education, cruz details his most valued enriquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 138 pieces of advice for latinx/a/o student affairs professionals pursuing senior leadership positions. most notably, he advises student affairs professionals to “confront challenges and fears head on regardless of how uncomfortable it may feel” (p. 210). his journey to senior leadership was unplanned and presented challenges that required him to be flexible and open to new opportunities. mildred garcia, the first latina president of the california state university system, reflects on her journey to the presidency in chapter 12. garcia offers lessons learned in her journey to leadership. she speaks to the power of mentoring and surrounding yourself with individuals with diverse skill sets. according to garcia, when pursuing the presidency, “not only must it be the right institution with the right students that align with your passion and skill set, it must also be the right time” (p. 245). in the concluding chapter of the book, angela e. batista and shirley m. collado discuss the important role that mentors, networks, and professional development have on broadening pathways for latinx/a/os in higher education. they stress the importance of participating in professional development opportunities that inform best practices such as the national association of diversity officers in higher education. batista and collado’s narratives speak to the importance of leveraging the capacity of latinx/a/os’ social capital in spaces that were not historically created for them. they challenge latinx/a/os to be courageous in their pursuit of new leadership participation opportunities that can ultimately “reveal clarity of purpose and a commitment to work toward changing the landscape of higher education” (p. 314). latinx/a/os in higher education: exploring identity, pathways, and success is a compelling culmination of personal narratives and scholarly papers that are supported by research and data. this publication moves beyond deficit-oriented narratives about the plight of latinx/a/os in higher education. the contributors make visible the triumphs of latinx/a/o students, faculty, and administrators as they navigate the pathways to higher education success. it is an essential resource and guide for students interested in exploring student affairs as a feasible profession, as well as for seasoned professionals who want to gain a deeper understanding of how to best serve latinx/a/o students in a postsecondary context. missing from this publication is an indepth analysis of the impact that community college transfer pathways have on latinx/a/o students. enriquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 139 references national center for education statistics. (2015). digest of education statistics: 2015. retrieved from https://nces.gov/programs/digest harper, s. r. (2010). an anti-deficit achievement framework for research on students of color in stem. new directions for institutional research, 148, 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.362 wijeyesinghe, c. l., & jones, s r. (2014). intersectionality, identity, and systems of power and inquietly. in d. mitchell, jr, (ed.), intersectionality and higher education: theory, research, and praxis (pp. 9-19). peter lang. https://nces.gov/programs/digest https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.362 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 139 reconstituting youth space in new mexico: the space youth occupy. education policy. clarity. 1 bernadette trujillo ellis, m.a. education consultant and community advocate patricia trujillo, ph.d. northern new mexico college patricia anne davis, m.a. education consultant and community advocate abstract because of the funding decisions being made in new mexico related to public education, working as an educator has become physically, psychically, and spiritually demanding for the lead author, trujillo ellis. the lead author seeks clarity in understanding new mexico youth space, or the conditions of new mexico youths’ lives, that better equips her, as a reflective practitioner, to “make decisions about teaching and learning based upon moral and political implications” (olan, 2019, p. 173). new mexican youth space is contextualized in terms of demographics, outcomes related to well-being, the fiscal landscape of the state, and the policies that govern public education. the lead author utilizes the first four tenets of critical race theory (crt): 1) racism is normal, 2) interest convergence or material determinism, 3) social construction of race, and 4) intersectionality and anti-essentialism to support reflection and analysis of her experiences as an educator and instructional coach within the educational system in new mexico. co-authors, trujillo and davis, provide counter-narratives through the final tenet, 5) unique voice of color, related to their work with vulnerable youth in new mexico. conclusions drawn provide clarity and insight that support the lead author in making decisions related to teaching and learning, as well as indicating efforts that broaden critical consciousness and praxis to support positive change. keywords: youth space, minoritized, political consciousness, remedies, retrenchment, critical consciousness and praxis doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.3.456 1 the title of this paper, reconstituting youth space in new mexico: the space youth occupy. education policy. clarity. was constructed using the concept of difrasismo, which is a stylistic concept in the aztec culture where a pair of words is employed to refer to a third term or phrase. the third term reveals the hidden wisdom behind the paired dualities. in modern times we might consider a difrasismo as a dialectical space where two interacting themes exist in tension with one another (rendón, 2014, pp. 133-134). reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 140 “a clearer understanding of the space we occupy in the american political consciousness is a necessary prerequisite to the development of pragmatic strategies for political and economic survival” (crenshaw, 1988, p. 1387). as lead author, trujillo ellis, my belonging is new mexico. it is where i am from; where i was born, grew up, studied, and have worked as an educator for over two decades. i love and care deeply about the people and land. conversations about education are personal and particular. they are contextual: embodied in my narrative as a chicana woman from northern new mexico, that of my siblings, of my parents and their siblings, of my ancestors, of my children, of my students, and community. the stories of education and how it relates to who gets to have a life of stability, health, wellness, and joy have specific names and faces; they are felt viscerally. the people and land of new mexico represent a powerful simultaneity of communities; our cultural landscapes include the ancestral homelands of pueblo tribes, apache and diné reservations, and the descendants of spanish settlers, in centuries-old villages, who identify ethnically as nuevomexicano (p. trujillo, personal communication, september 6, 2019). growing up and living in new mexico, i have always been conscious of both the wealth of strengths and assets in our history, culture, and traditional knowledge, as well as the contrasting poverty and privilege in our landscape. the inheritance of my life’s work as an educator is a generosity that took generations to uplift. while new mexico became a state in 1912, my grandmother, dolores valdez, born in 1915, attained her bachelor’s in education and taught for 48 years at hernández elementary in northern new mexico. she was committed to bilingual education and social justice throughout her career. known for providing food and clothing for her students, she understood that students’ basic needs must be met for them to be able to focus on learning. my parents were also both life-long educators in new mexico, in special education and bilingual education. resilience is a strength i draw from generationally, as my grandmother and parents worked with the understanding that education is political (freire, 1970/1993) and that it was important to gain security, not only for themselves, but for their families and community, in the context of dominant society. my understanding of and dedication to the education of youth in new mexico is situated and subjective (gutiérrez, 2008). i derive meaning and purpose from my work with youth and trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 141 feel a responsibility to speak to my expertise and the community i represent (packnett-pod, 2019). over the last decade, i faced a dilemma (mezirow et al., 2000) as it became increasingly demanding physically, psychically, and spiritually, for me to work as an educator in new mexico due to funding cuts related to public education. during this time, i worked with students and the school community at a high poverty and majority student-of-color middle school, through the lens of critical multicultural education and social justice (banks, 1995; grant & sleeter, 2011) in various roles: dual language teacher, english language development teacher, gifted education teacher, instructional coach, and student assistance team chair. having witnessed the effects of the lack of resources on students, teachers, administrators, and families, i am prompted to question funding decisions being made in the new mexico political consciousness related to public education. i wonder if, and to what extent, these decisions are in alignment with an understanding of the conditions of youths’ lives in new mexico. therefore, as a starting point, i seek clarity in understanding the social space that youth in new mexico occupy that better equips me, as a reflective practitioner, to “make decisions about teaching and learning based upon moral and political implications” (olan, 2019, p. 173). context in pursuing an understanding of the social space that youth in new mexico occupy, it is necessary to understand their contextual landscape. who is youth in new mexico, in terms of demographics? what are their outcomes related to health, education, economics, and family and community wellness? what is the fiscal landscape of the state? what policies govern their education? new mexico’s youth demographics and outcomes in new mexico, in terms of population, diversity is the norm, as most youth, ages 0-17, are non-white (new mexico voices for children, kids count data book, 2018, p. 58): • 76% are students of color, • 60% are hispanic, • 24% are non-hispanic white, • 10% are native american, • 3% are other races, • 2% are black or african american, and reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 142 • 1% are asian. the new mexico kids count profile (2019) of youth well-being is stark, with an overall national ranking of 50th, for the second consecutive year, on indicators of child wellbeing, as based on four domains (see table 1). all is not well with our youth. the narrative that the juxtaposition of the youth demographics and indicators of well-being in new mexico tells bears attention. the composition of the nation’s population is changing, and the current estimate, based on 2018 data, is that the youth population under age 15 in the united states is mostly non-white (frey, 2019). new mexico is estimated to have the second highest percentage of youth of color under age 15, at 76%, along with the district of colombia. hawaii is estimated to have the highest, at 85%. table 1 new mexico kids count profile domain indicators of child well-being economic wellbeing, ranked 49th children living in poverty: 27% u.s. avg: 18% children whose parents lack secure employment: 36% u.s. avg: 27% children living in households with a high housing cost burden: 28% u.s. avg: 31% teens not in school and not working: 10% u.s. avg: 7% education, ranked 50th young children not in school: 56% u.s. avg: 52% fourth graders not proficient in reading: 75% u.s. avg: 65% eighth graders not proficient in math: 80% u.s. avg: 67% high school students not graduating on time: 29% u.s. avg: 15% health, ranked 48th low birth-weight babies: 9.5% u.s. avg: 8.3% children without health insurance: 5% u.s. avg: 5% child and teen death rate per 100,000: 32 u.s. avg: 26 teens who abuse alcohol or drugs: 6% u.s. avg: 4% family and community, ranked 50th children in singleparent families: 45% u.s. avg: 34% children in families where household head lacks high school diploma: 16% u.s. avg: 13% children living in high-poverty areas: 24% u.s. avg: 12% teen birth rate per 1,000: 28 u.s. avg: 19 note. percentages reflect data from 2017. source: “new mexico voices for children new mexico kids count profile,” kids count data book, 2018 and 2019. trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 143 a review of the rankings of youth well-being (annie e. casey foundation, 2019) for states estimated to have the highest percentage of youth of color under age 15 (frey, 2019): hawaii (24th), texas (41st), california (35th), nevada (47th), and arizona (46th) reveals an inverse correlation in their rankings between the youth population trend and well-being. although the well-being of youth in the district of colombia is not included in the national ranking, the indicators of child well-being within the four domains are specified and strongly resemble new mexico’s. fiscal landscape in new mexico fiscally, the enactment of significant personal income tax cuts in new mexico in the early 2000s (center on budget and policy priorities, 2015), accompanied by the sharp decline in economic activity of the great recession in the late 2000s led to poor fiscal policy, which: cut spending on the systems that support our communities, families, and children—like education, health care, and public safety—rather than raise new revenue so we could keep these systems whole and ensure opportunity for all new mexicans. (new mexico voices for children, 2018, p. 7) in the ten-year span of time after 2008: • funding to colleges and universities was cut by 35% on a per-student, inflation adjusted basis; • the money in the college affordability fund, targeted to support students in need of financial aid, was exhausted; and • k-12 education was cut by 14% on a per student, inflation adjusted basis. (new mexico voices for children, 2018, p. 8) the pronounced austerity practiced in new mexico during this time period resulted in slowed economic recovery relative to the nation (center on budget and policy priorities, 2015). the youth demographics, indicators of well-being, and fiscal landscape in new mexico beget the overarching purpose in asking, “what is it about the space our youth inhabit that causes them to be unwell?” the exploration of the question holds meaning and relevancy, not only for new mexico, but for the nation, as well. education policy in new mexico governance of public education in new mexico, in terms of constitutional law, educational acts, and court judgments, overwhelmingly directs provision of equity and access reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 144 to students. espoused values view diversity as a strength and could serve as models for the nation. de jure, the youth of new mexico have a wealth of rights. constitutional laws. the new mexico constitution, approved by voters in 1911 (new mexico compilation commission, 2019a), declares that: • a uniform system of free public schools sufficient for the education of, and open to, all the children of school age in the state shall be established and maintained; (n.m. const., art. xii, § 1) and • spanish-speaking children shall never be denied the right and privilege of admission and attendance in the public schools or other public educational institutions of the state, and they shall never be classed in separate schools, but shall forever enjoy perfect equality. (n.m. const., art. xii, § 10) acts. furthermore, advocates have worked over the years to establish policies and mechanisms to ensure equity and access through such measures as: • the bilingual multicultural education act (1973, 1988, 2004, 2006, 2015) which “stands as an exceptional model for state legislation” (new mexico public education department, 2019) and formalizes the state’s commitment to (new mexico compilation commission, 2019b) “become bilingual and biliterate in english and a second language, including spanish, a native american language, where a written form exists and there is tribal approval, or another language” (section 22-231.1.b.(1), nmsa1978). new mexico is an english plus state, having adopted the new mexico english plus resolution in 1989 (new mexico public education department, 2019); • the indian education act (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2019) which (new mexico compilation commission, 2019c) “ensure[s] equitable and culturally relevant learning environments, educational opportunities and culturally relevant instructional materials for american indian students enrolled in public schools” (section 22-23a2, nmsa 1978); and • the hispanic education act (2010, 2015) which provides for improved (new mexico compilation commission, 2019d) “educational opportunities for hispanic students for the purpose of closing the achievement gap, increasing graduation rates trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 145 and increasing post-secondary enrollment, retention and completion” (section 2223b-2(c), nmsa 1978). proclamation and decision and order. in an appeal to the court for relief, martínez v. state of new mexico (no. d-101-cv-2014-00793), a school finance and equity lawsuit, was filed in 2014, leading to the largest, most comprehensive education lawsuit in the history of new mexico. even though new mexico has an equal funding formula, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit charged that educational resources are not equitably distributed in the state and, therefore, student performance is negatively impacted. in other words, the ways in which power has been produced in the political consciousness of new mexico was being implicated as responsible for the differential achievement and wellness of vulnerable youth in new mexico (martínez v. state of new mexico, no. d-101-cv-2014-00793). in an announcement from the presiding judge early in the case, the judge declared public education to be a fundamental right of children in new mexico, stating: it is difficult to conceive of a service that the state provides… that is more fundamental than the right to education. nothing really promotes the ability to be a good citizen or be a productive member of society more than having an education. an educated populace is not only something that is fundamental to our current well-being, it is fundamental to our future well-being. (martínez v. state of new mexico, 2014) subsequently, in july of 2018, the first district court’s decision and order, on the consolidated martínez & yazzie v. state of new mexico lawsuits, was in favor of the plaintiffs. the judge declared education in new mexico to be unconstitutional and provided two kinds of relief: • declaratory relief by ruling that the state violated the rights of at-risk students in terms of programs, services, supervision, and monitoring; as well failing to provide sufficient funding to ensure all students equitable access and opportunity. • injunctive relief by setting the expectation that immediate steps be taken to remedy the situation and retaining jurisdiction in the case until the educational system is constitutional. (martínez v. state of new mexico, 2018, no. d-101-cv-2014-00793) although constitutional law, in new mexico, has historically asserted that students should have equal opportunity, heretofore, based on indicators of youth well-being, the law has not been successful. reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 146 current educational policy in new mexico is not working. based on the indicators of youth well-being, it appears that there is a profound disconnect between students’ constitutional rights, the stated values in our governing document, and the de facto practices, the way we are in effect interacting with and treating our children because “power… is culturally produced in the wider society” (merry, 1997, p. 268). the judicial branch’s landmark ruling on the school finance and equity case provides an opportunity for the governor, secretary of education, and public education department to address the disequilibrium inherent in youth space. it is a hopeful event and, yet, necessitates skepticism because even those herculean efforts we hail as successful will produce no more than temporary “peaks of progress,” short-lived victories that slide into irrelevance as racial patterns adapt in ways that maintain white dominance. (bell, 1992, p. 12) understanding the reality that remedies may not reach the students for whom they are designed, how might we approach the work such that it has the best chance of doing so? in the development of remedies, the prologue must be a clear understanding of gillborn’s question: for whom is education policy constructed (2016, p. 44)? methodology: critical race theory (crt) based on youth demographics, indicators of well-being, the fiscal landscape, and a review of education policy in new mexico, there exists an inferred out-of-balance relationship between the youth of the state and the “larger, systemic, structural conventions and customs that uphold and sustain oppressive group relationships, status, income, and educational attainment” (taylor, 2016, p. 3). as such, contemplation of the task at hand, which is to elicit a greater clarity in understanding the space new mexico youth occupy in the state’s political consciousness, indicates critical thought and inquiry (freire, 1970/1993). the tenets of critical race theory (delgado & stefancic, 2012) provide an appropriate framework for addressing the question: 1. racism the normal, the common, everyday experience of most people of color in this country and the system of ascendancy serve important purposes, both psychic and material for the dominant group; trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 147 2. interest convergence or material determinism advances the interests of white elites (materially) and white working-class people (psychically), so that large segments of society have little incentive to address the effects of racism; 3. social construction of race derives from social thought and relations, and is not related to biology or genetics, but rather to categories that society invents, manipulates, and retires in response to shifting needs in the economy/labor market; 4. intersectionality and anti-essentialism relate to the idea that no person has a single identity and, as such, everyone has potentially conflicting, overlapping identities, loyalties, and allegiances; and that people who are perceived to be part of a single group do not all think, act, and believe the same things in the same ways; and 5. unique voice of color/counter-narrative, which holds that because of their different histories and experiences with oppression, people of color may be able to communicate matters the dominant group is unlikely to know. (pp. 7-10) as a subjective individual taking a measure of responsibility in a situated and intersubjective (gutiérrez, 2008) space, analysis framed by crt to promote a clearer understanding of new mexican youths space is essential because it is the relationships between power and economic oppression that effect students’ opportunity and outcomes. this work seeks specifically to illuminate a better understanding of the positionality of new mexico’s youth as a means of resisting the effects of legitimation and retrenchment on remedies and strategies developed on their behalf. it has direct implications related to the development of effective remedies and strategies, but their express development is not the focus of this endeavor. i present this work acknowledging that my viewpoint reveals some things, while leaving others in darkness, or perhaps even distorting them. discourse about equity work and social justice is challenging to discuss because it is a matter of approximating understandings that often cannot be fully grasped by words. the facility to discern one’s reality more fully, to position one’s control internally, and to animate one’s creative, and therefore, re-creative power is a life-long journey. it is with humility and hope that the worth in this testimonio is the continued augmentation of awareness of matters that the dominant group is unlikely to know (delgado & stefancic, 2012). conscious creation of the “conditions of the maintenance of a distinct political thought that is informed by the actual condition [of our youth and] focuses on their needs” (crenshaw, 1988, p. 1387) is reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 148 critical, so that the strategies for relief that are developed reach them and have a positive and significant effect on their lives. discourse what follows, therefore, is an organization of my trujillo ellis reflections and experience, based on my expertise as a participant and actor within the community and educational system, that utilizes crt to seek a more rigorous and insightful comprehension of new mexico youth space. the intent, of which, is to contribute to the evolving critical discourse and enrich the potential for “the development of pragmatic strategies for political and economic survival” (crenshaw, 1988, p. 1387) for new mexico youth that are efficacious in closing the opportunity gap. insights on racism in new mexican youth space eliciting greater clarity necessitates seeing and naming racism because “by every social indicator, racism continues to blight the lives of people of color” (delgado & stefancic, 2012, p. 11) in that: poverty… has a black or brown face… people of color lead shorter lives, receive worse medical care, complete fewer years of school, and occupy more menial jobs than do whites… african americans in the united states would make up the twenty-seventhranked nation in the world on a combined index of social well-being; latinos would rank thirty-third… [and] a large percentage of american citizens harbor negative attitudes toward members of groups other than their own. (p. 12) furthermore, as lópez (2018) explains, “without naming oppressive structures, such as racism, changes in education will not last, but merely become band-aid efforts” (p. 161). in terms of measuring disparity in opportunity in new mexican youth space and keeping in mind that new mexico kids count data ranks new mexico 50th, last in child well-being in the nation, disaggregation of the data reveals that most of the disparity is located with youth of color. on indicators of the economic well-being of children in the state, the site of poverty is disproportionately youth of color. one-third of hispanic children and almost one-half of native american children live in poverty, consecutively 12% and 24% higher than the national average (see table 2). with an overall ranking of 49th in the nation and 27% of new mexico youth living in poverty, the percentage of non-hispanic white youth living in poverty is 13%, which is 5% below the national average. therefore, it’s important to understand that: trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 149 because children of color generally—and hispanic children specifically—tend to fare worse in measures of child well-being, it is critical that policies are implemented that focus on racial and ethnic equity and that promote opportunities for children of color. (new mexico voices for children, kids count data book, 2018, p. 58) new mexico youth, of all demographics cited in the data, fared worse than the united states average with respect to children, ages 0-17, living in families where no parent had secure employment. yet the trend in the disparity holds within this indicator, in that non-hispanic white youth still fare better than hispanic youth by 13% and native american youth by 26%. children, ages 0-17, living in households with a high housing cost burden is the one indicator in which all new mexican youth cited fared better than the united states average. table 2 indicators of economic well-being of children in new mexico by race and ethnicity race & ethnicity children, ages 017, living in poverty (2017) children, ages 017, living in families where no parent had secure employment (2016) children, ages 34, not in school (2012-2016) children, ages 017, living in households with a high housing cost burden (2016) hispanic 30% 38% 63% 35% non-hispanic white 13% 25% 55% 26% native american 42% 48% 49% 25% united states 18% 9% 53% 47% note. source: “new mexico kids count data book,” by new mexico voices for children, 2018, pp. 10-18. estimates for other races and ethnicities suppressed because the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to ten percentage points. on the indicator of the educational well-being of children related to teens not attending school and not working in the state, youth, of all demographics cited in the data, fared worse than the united states average (see table 3). on other indicators of the educational well-being of children in the state, disparity in educational opportunity is also situated with youth of color (see table 4). the percentage of youth of color scoring below proficient in reading and mathematics, at grade four, is much reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 150 higher than the national average, whereas that of non-hispanic white youth is lower than the national average. the percentage of high school students not graduating in four years, in which they hold the 2nd highest rank, is the only indicator in which non-hispanic white youth do not hold the highest wellness ranking in new mexico. table 3 indicators of educational well-being of children in new mexico by race and ethnicity ½ race & ethnicity teens, ages 16-19, not attending school and not working (2016) hispanic 9% non-hispanic white 9% native american 13% united states 7% note. source: “new mexico kids count data book,” by new mexico voices for children, 2018, pp. 17. estimates for other races and ethnicities suppressed because the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to ten percentage points. table 4 indicators of educational well-being of children in new mexico by race, ethnicity, and other factors – 2/2 race & ethnicity fourth graders scoring below proficient in reading (2017) fourth graders scoring below proficient in mathematics (2017) high school students not graduating in four years (2017) hispanic 80% 85% 29% non-hispanic white 59% 64% 24% native american 88% 91% 39% black or african american * * 32% asian or pacific islander * * 15% male 77% 78% 33% female 73% 81% 25% trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 151 low income 82% 86% 34% students with disabilities ** ** 38% english language learners ** ** 32% united states 65% 67% 15% note. source: “new mexico kids count data book,” by new mexico voices for children, 2018, pp. 21-23. low income refers to students eligible for free and reduced lunches. * estimates for other races and ethnicities suppressed because the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to ten percentage points. ** data not available. on indicators of health well-being of children in the state, new mexico youth, of all demographics cited in the data, fared worse than the united states average on three of four indicators: children born at a low birthweight, i.e. born weighing 5.5 pounds, or less; children and teens, ages 1-19, death rates per 100,00; and teens, ages 12-17, binge drinking (see table 5). on the indicator of children without health insurance, the percentage of native american youth exceeds the national average by 7%, whereas that of hispanic, non-hispanic white, and black or african american youth is lower. table 5 indicators of health well-being of children in new mexico by race and ethnicity race & ethnicity low birthweight, i.e. born weighing 5.5 pounds or less (2017) children, ages 018, without health insurance (2017) children and teens, ages 1-19, death rates per 100,000 (2016) teens, ages 1217, binge drinking (2017) hispanic 9.3% 4% 31 12% non-hispanic white 9.2% 4% 28 12% native american 8.8% 12% 44 7% black or african american 16.7% <1% * 10% asian or pacific islander 12.7% * * 8% united states 8.2% 5% 26 4% note. source: “new mexico kids count data book,” by new mexico voices for children, 2018, pp. 25-31. *estimates for other races and ethnicities suppressed because the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to ten percentage points. reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 152 table 6 indicators of family and community well-being of children in new mexico by race and ethnicity race & ethnicity children in single-parent families (2016) children, ages 017, in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma (2016) children living in high poverty areas (2012-2016) teen, ages 1519, birth rate per 1,000 (2017) hispanic 46% 24% 23% 32 non-hispanic white 25% 4% 9% 16 native american n/a 17% 51% 34 black or african american * * 20% 25 asian or pacific islander * * * * two or more races * 17% 17% * united states 34% 13% 12% 19 note. source: “new mexico kids count data book,” by new mexico voices for children, 2018, pp. 32-39. *estimates for other races and ethnicities suppressed because the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to ten percentage points. on all indicators of family and community well-being of children in the state, disparity is located with youth of color, while conversely the outcomes of non-hispanic white youth are markedly better than the national average (see table 6). new mexican youth space clearly reflects the understanding that, (delgado & stefancic, 2012) “by every social indicator, racism continues to blight the lives of people of color” (p. 11). on 15 of 16 indicators, the average well-being of youth of color in new mexico is much worse than the national average, while on 13 of 16 indicators, the average well-being of non-hispanic white children in new mexico is either better than (10 indicators) or just beyond, but close (3 indicators) to the national average. in new mexico, not only is there more of a lack of childhood well-being, those who are unwell are overwhelmingly youth of color. the gap between the wellness of non-hispanic white youth and youth of color is pronounced. trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 153 analysis of delgado and stefancic’s (2012) first tenet of crt, labeling racism/white supremacy as normal for youth space in new mexico should not be inferred to mean that the poverty of non-hispanic white youth does not matter. the effect of material subordination of youth of color, which is “rationalized by a series of stereotypes and beliefs that [make] their conditions appear logical and natural” (crenshaw, 1988, p. 1370) and “are linked to the serious economic disadvantages suffered by many whites who lack money and power” (bell, 1992, p. 7) has the consequence of likewise subordinating poor non-hispanic white youth, as well. insights on interest convergence in new mexican youth space the subordination of youth of color in new mexico is normalized and legitimized daily in the socio-political consciousness because “racism advances the interests of both white elites (materially) and working-class caucasians (psychically)” (delgado & stefancic, 2012, p. 8). dominant society’s appropriation of resources based on a history of exclusions and ideological practices (gillborn, 2016) have created a reified space to the detriment of the state’s most vulnerable children. in researching the indicators of youth wellness, i found that cuts in the state had been made to “systems that support our communities, families, and children—like education, health care, and public safety” (new mexico voices for children, 2018, p. 7). the finding caused me to wonder why the cuts had been made and conduct further research along this line of inquiry. the austerity which led to spending cuts in systems that support children since 2008 came about because the state enacted significant personal income tax cuts. new mexico was one of several states, such as arizona, louisiana, ohio, oklahoma, and rhode island, that did so, with proponents of this approach in the early 2000s “claim[ing] the tax cuts would improve the state’s economic standing” (center on budget and policy priorities, 2015). in actuality: since enacting the tax cuts, four of the six states―arizona, louisiana, ohio, and rhode island―have seen their share of national employment decline, and new mexico’s share of national employment has risen only slightly. further, the jobs performance of new mexico and oklahoma likely has little to do with the tax cuts. both states are major oil and natural gas producers whose economies benefited from the tripling of oil prices in the mid-2000s and the rapidly growing use of a new technique for extracting oil and gas that combines horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” indeed, these two states have seen their share of national employment drop in the last couple of years reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 154 as oil prices stagnated and then declined sharply, reversing some―but not all―of the price growth from earlier years. more specifically, both new mexico and oklahoma have seen their share of national employment fall by 3 percent since october 2012. (center on budget and policy priorities, 2015) the cutting of state taxes as a strategy for improving a state’s economy is ill-advised, with “most major studies published in academic journals since 2000 find[ing] that state personal income tax levels do not affect economic growth” (center on budget and policy priorities, 2015) and furthermore, impede their functioning in a number of ways: • states have to balance their budgets, so tax cuts have to be paid for by cutting state services, raising other taxes, or both. this slows the economy and offsets the benefits of tax cuts; • state and local taxes help pay for important services. when higher taxes pay for better services, they may have no adverse impacts on business decisions on where to locate and may even have positive impacts (reduction in other business costs exceeds the tax cuts); and • other factors are much more important to a state’s economic growth; such as trends in the national and international economy, a state’s natural resources, the education of its workforce, proximity to major markets, and the mix of industries in the state. (center on budget and policy priorities, 2015) the functioning of the dominant political consciousness, a “regeneration of the problem” (bell, 1992, p. 3) of racist policy, has clearly not been acting in the interests of the youth in the state, who would benefit from robust services and sufficient funding of education. the slowing of the economy has also impeded parents’ ability to provide for their children, with 38% of hispanic children, 25% of non-hispanic white children, and 48% of native american children living in families where no parent had secure employment, the extremity of which lies in stark contrast to the nation’s average of 9% (see table 2). insights on the social construction of race in new mexican youth space delgado and stefancic (2012) explain that social construction “holds that race and races are products of social thought and relations” (p. 8). the social construction of students’ race is exemplified by references to new mexico as a majority-minority state. with 76% of the children in new mexico, ages 0-17, being youth of color (new mexico voices for children, trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 155 kids count data book, 2018, p. 58), the phrase majority-minority is used to convey the understanding that although youth of color constitute most children, they are: a social group that is devalued in society and given less access to resources. this devaluing encompasses how the group is represented, what degree of access to resources it is granted, and how the unequal access is rationalized. traditionally, a group in this position has been referred to as the minority group. however, this language has been replaced with the term minoritized in order to capture the active dynamics that create the lower status in society, and also to signal that a group’s status is not necessarily related to how many or few of them there are in the population at large. (sensoy & diangelo, 2012, p. 5) the minoritization of youth in new mexico is highly related to adults’ socialization, stereotypes, and confusion of students’ culture with their own biases and inequities. adult participants, of all backgrounds in the education community, are challenged to perceive youth space clearly due to the hegemonic effects of dominant social pressure. the construction of minoritized youth takes place through the deficit mindset, which gorski (2013) claims that “poverty is attributable, not to inequities or to an unequal distribution of opportunity or even to educational access disparities, but to the problematic ‘culture’ of poor families” (p. 54). gorski (2013) provides a list of commonly held stereotypes, by educators, about people in poverty, which he dispels, including: 1) poor people do not value education, 2) poor people are lazy, 3) poor people are substance abusers, 4) poor people are linguistically deficient and poor communicators, and 5) poor people are ineffective and inattentive parents (pp. 59-67). as an educator and instructional coach in new mexico, for more than twenty years, the lead author has often witnessed the inscribing of minoritized youth as culturally deficient, engaging in misperceptions, such as: • poor people as not valuing education: a thoughtful, reflective hispanic young man in high school who is committed to his education approached me to talk about an incident about which he was trying to make sense, as it did not align with his conception of self. he overheard a teacher, a white male teacher, at his school talking to a newly arrived teacher from the philippines say, “you are working with the worst students, in the worst school, in the worst state.” reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 156 • poor people as lazy and apathetic: in a presentation to a group of educators, i shared the thinking behind my development of a school-level framework. this framework was designed to provide equity and access to all middle school students in a title i high-poverty school. during my presentation, a hispanic male assistant principal at another title i middle school, questioned the efficacy of such models by asserting that teaching the youth at his school was like teaching his dog to whistle. he created a storyline in which he told his co-workers that he taught his dog to whistle. later, he expanded, they gathered for a meal at his home and requested to hear his dog whistle. he responded, “are you kidding me? you fell for that? a dog can’t whistle.” he likened the ability of the students at his school to learn to a dog learning to whistle. • poor people as substance abusers: in working with teachers, at a title i school with a 97% student of color demographic, to develop culturally relevant and sustaining (ladson-billings, 2014; paris, 2012) writing tasks aligned to the common core state standards, a white female teacher had a profoundly negative reaction to the use of two articles proposed for a summarization task for 8th graders. the articles reflected positive images of youth of color in national trends related to smoking, drinking, and other such factors. her response, during a planning meeting, was to say, “i hate this. i hate what these articles say. i cannot stand it. this cannot be true.” she subsequently refused to use the articles for her 8th grade students. • poor people as linguistically deficient and poor communicators: as an hispana-india woman and heritage language speaker from northern new mexico, a white male bilingual educator, speaking with me about topics related to dual language education, characterized hispanic heritage language students in new mexico as not speaking spanish adequately and, also, not speaking english adequately, and, as such, not really having language. • poor people as ineffective and inattentive parents: over twenty-two years of teaching, i have often witnessed educators engaging in dialogue during planning sessions, lunch time, or hallway conversations related to these parents and these kids not being supportive or involved in their children’s education. (gorski, 2013) trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 157 the vignettes cited align to the social construction of race as it rationalizes the devaluation youth, but i feel it important to also clarify that while the experiences that i have documented reflect too many educators, they do not reflect all educators. the effects of poor fiscal policy related to the funding of education created a situation of a lack of teachers, lack of professional development for teachers, cuts in electives and fine arts courses, and large class sizes. such conditions exacerbate the challenges teachers face in responding to the needs of vulnerable students; such as those from economically disadvantaged homes, english language learners, and students with disabilities; especially in high poverty schools (gorski, 2013, pp. 99-101). the resultant lack of sufficient support for teachers and their consequential overwhelm too often leading to the misperception of students and their families as the problem. the social construction of minoritized youth in new mexico is profoundly important because the understanding of poverty and attitudes toward families in poverty impacts how youth are perceived and treated (gorski, 2013). in these circumstances, “it can be easy for even the most well intentioned of us to inadvertently perpetuate stereotypes about poor people by implementing educational policies and school reforms that suggest we must ‘fix’ them instead of eliminating the inequities they endure” (grineski & lee, 2014, p. 157). the social construction of youth, through a deficit mindset, leads to a misapprehension of students’ challenges as attributable to students’ culture, rather than inequitable access to resources and opportunity. insights on intersectionality and anti-essentialism in new mexican youth space delgado and stefancic’s (2012) concepts of intersectionality and anti-essentialism provide a nuanced and wholistic approach for understanding new mexico youth space, as youth are multi-dimensional and have complex identities that overlap in myriad ways. understanding how to respond to the intersecting identity needs of vulnerable students, requires a framework that articulates multiple levels of conceptualization (see figure 1). students’ constitutional rights are subjected to the effects of “patterns of communication that have fractured into the power interplay of dominance and oppression” (trujillo ellis, 2019, p. 11) at the structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal levels of society (hill collins & bilge, 2016). strategies that place a disproportionate responsibility on teachers to remediate a “historical arrangement of power” (wing sue, 2010) will only serve to regenerate dominant patterns as individuals do not have the influence necessary to contend with such forces. proactively reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 158 responding to minoritized students’ needs requires openly and consciously asking: what are the power relationships that impact students’ opportunities? how are they organized? how do we address them? vulnerable students, termed “at-risk” within the decision and order of the first district court on martínez & yazzie v. state of new mexico include students from economically disadvantaged homes, those who are english language learners, students with disabilities, and native american students (martínez, 2018). in my work as instructional coach, in researching frameworks to support the development of an academic masterplan that would support equitable access and opportunity, i found tomlinson’s (2014) framework of the key elements of effective differentiated instruction, developed to respond to the needs of students with disabilities, and hill collins and bilge’s (2016) framework of the domains of power, a framework that reveals how inequality works at the different levels of society for minoritized groups. the placement of tomlinson’s (2014) and hill collins and bilge’s (2016) frameworks side-by-side creates an intersectional organizer that further clarifies youth space in the educational setting. it provides a critical and insightful reference in having conversations for school improvement and how the elements in youth’s educational space flow from, feed, support, enhance, and rely upon each other. ongoing challenges in understanding and responding to the needs of diverse youth in new mexico include further developing consciousness of the complexities of youth’s identities in new mexico. the plaintiffs found to have standing in the lawsuit are largely, but not fully representative of vulnerable youth in the state. a nuanced understanding of vulnerable youth requires the inclusion of youth who are black or african american, twice exceptional, and have complex ethnic identities. likewise, it’s necessary to understand the distinctions between youth who emerge from a history of genocide, colonization, and immigration (beegle, 2007; gorski, 2013; ogbu, 1998). furthermore, the journey toward stability is multi-generational and the struggles of working-class families, who have gained some educational and economic leverage in society to provide their children resources and experiences, also require consideration. trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 159 figure 1. simplified overview/understandings of the intersectional framework for equity and access. source: ellis, b. (2016). framing intersubjectivity to provide equity and access. department of teacher education, education leadership and policy. university of new mexico, albuquerque, new mexico. it is pointedly important to understand the complexities of hispanic youth space, a group that comprises 60% of youth in the state. while children in the state have a right to bilingual/multicultural education, only about 20% of hispanic youth take part in bilingual programs. this group is comprised of students who come from both spanish language dominant homes, as well as those who are heritage language speakers. a key finance question remains whether the state of new mexico is providing sufficient funding, in keeping with the constitutional right of students, for the development of bilingual programs and teachers, so all students have access to them. the multicultural education component of the bilingual multicultural education act is poorly understood and often mistakenly thought, even by educators, to apply only to students in bilingual programs. the effect of this line of thought is that about 80% of hispanic children, as well as all other students in the state who are not in bilingual programs, do not have access to multicultural education and most teachers in the state do not benefit from related professional development (sleeter, 2017, p. 35). the misapprehension of the value and relevance of multicultural education for all students in new mexico given that a “large reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 160 percentage of american citizens harbor negative attitudes toward members of groups other than their own” (delgado & stefancic, 2012, p. 12) is a profound failure to leverage a strength uniquely suited to remedy the express conditions harming students in new mexico and to which students have a constitutional right (new mexico compilation commission, 2019a, n.m. const. art. 12, § 10). insights on voice in new mexican youth space the concept of voice addresses the idea that minoritized people have valuable insight and “because of their different histories and experiences with oppression… [they] may be able to communicate to their white counterparts matters that [they] are unlikely to know” (delgado & stefancic, 2012, p. 10). too often, minoritized youth in new mexico are rendered as deficient. an adverse childhood experiences (aces) program that has gained traction in the state and is geared toward preventing and eliminating childhood trauma takes as it’s starting point, “far away from you, on the other side of town, or the other side of the tracks, children live out perfectly miserable lives” (ortega courtney & cappello, 2018, p. 2). minoritized children are viewed, through a deficit lens, with trauma due to aces that needs to be treated prior to their being able to achieve, with an express goal of the program being the eradication of all childhood trauma. this line of thinking reinforces a limited and binary understanding of the problem. there is value in understanding aces (aspen institute education & society program, 2018, p. 4; centers for disease control and prevention, 2019), especially in developing adults’ empathetic responses to youth, but doing so must be balanced with understanding the histories, experiences, assets, (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; yosso, 2005) hopes, and dreams of youth, as well. the perception of minoritized youth as lacking results from a two-dimensional construct that falls short of discerning contextual inequities (gutiérrez, 2008). insight on what causes youth to be unwell is augmented by providing the contrasting approaches of critical practitioners at work in new mexico who engage with children in ways that uplift, dignify, and value youth voice. right relationship—patricia trujillo, ph. d. what do we mean when we say right relationship? it is a concept that critically and creatively expands practices in education that call on systems and the people within them to have relationships with students, their families, and trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 161 the communities they serve. school systems often make claims to have relationships, but what is the quality of them? often schools have unidirectional, linear relationships with their constituents, but rarely have adaptive relationships that are open to change. adrienne maree brown envisions a more robust call for community organizing through her concept of emergent strategy; a concept that has evolved into: strategies for organizers building movements for justice and liberation that leverage relatively simple interactions to create complex patterns, systems, and transformations… ways for humans to practice being in right relationship to our home and each other, to practice complexity, and grow a compelling future together through relatively simple interactions. (brown, 2017, p. 23) right relationship in brown’s (2017) conceptualization is multidirectional, non-linear and iterative and it invites us to see how the quality of our relationships, with careful attention to inclusion, “create complex patterns, systems, and transformations” (p. 24). in education, this means considering and approaching youth as equal partners in their education: to view them as having expertise, value their voice, and be open and responsive to the possibilities that result from the dialogue. to be in right relationship means that the folks in traditional seats of power in educational systems need to be self-reflective, examine their use of power, and understand their positionality in the relationships they seek to build. right relationship also requires critical, creative, cultural and empathic listening skills. it requires high quality presence. right relationship with students and parents also requires a textual (issue at hand), contextual (historical, social, root causes of issue), and subtextual (knowledge of how systems work) analysis. right relationship is “learning from the ways change and resilience happen throughout [the] entire interconnected complex system” and engaging from that connected complexity (brown, 2017, p. 24). if right relationship sounds difficult, it is because it is, but part of the reframing of community and family-based education work is rigorous self-reflection on the part of practitioners in all fields who work with youth. that way, rather than focusing on fixing youth and regenerating patterns of subordination, the relationship we engage in with youth is healing and affirming. indigenous cognitive change process—patricia anne davis, m.a. context is the container for the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs as in an reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 162 environment or setting. indigenous education is in the context of an indigenous thinking system that can be defined as “pure non-dualistic” (renard, 2003) which is a language worldview that uses our built-in capacity of whole-brain thinking, a capacity that is not either/or dualistic thinking. whole-brain thinking is affirmative in terms of cross-cultural personhood identity as part of the elements of nature, earth, water, fire and air; and, governed by natural order laws as the fundamental basis of equality. thus, an appropriate tool for inter-domain collaboration is an indigenous cognitive change process (davis, 2005) that is: • cross-cultural, • inclusive for collaboration, • universal in practical application, • intergenerational, and • translatable into other languages. an indigenous cognitive change process (davis, 2005) is a sequencing of phases for change that reframes thinking out of win-lose, no-one wins, destructive and death-producing decisions and outcomes; and into win-win constructive and life-affirming decisions and outcomes. the purpose is to link groups, who would otherwise be engaged in dualistic adversarial dialogue and competitive decisions and outcomes, not beneficial to the chicano/chicana indigenous people. the indigenous cognitive change process (davis, 2005) i designed follows this sequencing: 1) name the out-of-balance-condition & identify the root cause that perpetuates the out-of-balance condition; 2) empty by undoing and dismantling the root cause; 3) reframe to organize information out of adversarial dualistic thinking and into win-win constructive and life-affirming decisions and outcomes. reframing is using whole-brain thinking power-within to have power-with others for the explicit purpose of eliminating the need for power-over; and 4) apply wellness restoration leadership for designing co-creative solutions with unifying principles beneficial to all domains and clients equally. this eliminates the need for exploiting and victimizing participants and ensures decision making for community building and collective survival. trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 163 the approaches employed by trujillo and davis invert the perception of youth from being deficient to that of resilient; viewing youth from a strengths-based stance. their use of an expanded three-dimensional critical lens (gutiérrez, 2008) makes explicit the landscape features that highlight the voice of new mexican youth. trujillo and davis describe a renewal of youth space that leads to a reframing of youth as knowledgeable participants engaged in resistance and leveraging strengths to negotiate a landscape in which “weariness and despair are predictable and inevitable” (taylor, 2016, p. 9). honoring youths’ lived experience, trujillo and davis orient themselves to the youth they work with as thoughtful, caring, and generative; validating their worth in the work of their community. such practice, though, is not the norm and key to understanding youth voice is that “when equity and social justice are not in place, peace and conflict resolution merely reify the existing social order” (gorski, 2008, p. 522). authentic inclusion and consideration of youth voice is a powerful medium for enacting positive change. conclusions taking time to slow down and reflect is as important as spending time and energy in action to transform the institution. the work of transformation is not only about changing what’s “out there”; it is about transforming what is “in here,” our own internal views and assumptions. (rendón, 2014, p. 48) as lead author, trujillo ellis, i confront a dilemma of being committed to working with youth in my community, while feeling overwhelmed and discouraged by the hierarchies of power and privilege that dominate public education in new mexico. the centering of testimonio provides a means of privileging truth-telling that is based in a praxis of love and seeks a more humanizing future for our vulnerable youth. it is the values of gratitude for and responsibility to my ancestors and the community that have uplifted me coupled with the experience of witnessing the youth of my community struggle that compel me to resist defeat, interrogate the efficacy of education policy, and engage in an analysis of the socio-political space that youth inhabit in new mexico. as a chicana woman from northern new mexico, i measure the validity of education policy on its significance, relevance, and accessibility for students. is the support that is provided, the support that is needed? how do we know? most importantly, does it reach students? does it have a positive, tangible, remediating impact on their lives? reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 164 in confronting the ways education needs to be critiqued and problematized (ladsonbillings, 1998), i analyze the socio-political space that youth inhabit in new mexico due to questioning funding decisions being made in the new mexico political consciousness related to public education. delgado and stefancic’s (2012) tenets of critical race theory support my understanding of how power operates in new mexico youth space in the following ways: 1. racism is normal – not only is there an extreme lack of childhood well-being in the state, as evidenced by the indicators of wellbeing, the youth who are unwell are overwhelmingly youth of color; 2. interest convergence or material determinism – cuts to personal income taxes at the state level do not serve the interests of vulnerable youth in the state who benefit from robust services and sufficient funding of public education; 3. social construction of race – the construction of youth, through a deficit mindset, leads to a misapprehension of students’ challenges as attributable to culture, rather than inequitable access to resources and opportunity; 4. intersectionality and anti-essentialism – understanding how to respond to the intersecting needs of vulnerable students requires a framework that articulates multiple levels of conceptualization, so that the power relationships that impact students’ opportunities can be seen and addressed; and 5. unique voice of color/counter-narrative – critical practitioners challenge epistemological conceptions; view youth as resilient and from a strengths-based perspective; honor youths’ lived experience and orient themselves to the youth they work with as thoughtful, caring, and generative. the tenets of critical race theory (delgado & stefancic, 2012) are conceptually useful in terms of eliciting a deeper understanding of the out-of-balance relationship between the youth of new mexico and the dominant, conventional structure. they also provide tools with which to address the imbalance (stovall, 2005) by indicating efforts that broaden critical consciousness of 1) new mexico history; 2) new mexico education law and policy; 3) the distinction between equality and equity in educational justice; 4) anti-racism and developing intergroup empathy; 5) intersectionality; 6) strengths-based thinking; and 7) youth participation. in working through the process of delving into research and organizing my experiences, i find myself engaging in a ceremony of re-member-ing and healing. as i expand my thinking trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 165 (solórzano, 1998), i am brought back to gratitude for the community and tools that provide frames of reference and the hope they engender. i am brought back to love and responsibility by the indicators of youth health and wellness in new mexico that beseech ongoing struggle for educational opportunity. i am brought back to the value of testimonio as a medium for making meaning with our youth in reconstituting their space in new mexico. reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 166 references annie e. casey foundation. (2019). 2019 kids count data book interactive: overall child wellbeing. retrieved from https://datacenter.kidscount.org/kids-count-data-bookinteractive aspen institute education & society program. (2018). pursuing social and emotional development through a racial equity lens: a call to action. retrieved from https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/pursuing-social-and-emotional-developmentthrough-a-racial-equity-lens-a-call-to-action/ banks, j. a. (1995). multicultural education: historical development, dimensions, and practice. in j. a. banks & c. a. banks (eds.), handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed.) (pp. 3-29). san francisco, ca: john wiley & sons. beegle, d. (2007). see poverty… be the difference: discover the missing pieces for helping people move out of poverty. tigard, or: communication across barriers, inc. bell, d. (1992). faces at the bottom of the well: the permanence of racism. new york, ny: basic books. brown, a. m. (2017). emergent strategy: shaping change, changing worlds. chico, ca: ak press. center on budget and policy priorities. (2015). state personal income tax cuts: still a poor strategy for economic growth. retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/research/statebudget-and-tax/state-personal-income-tax-cuts-still-a-poor-strategy-for-economic centers for disease control and prevention. (2019). adverse childhood experiences. retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/index.html crenshaw, k. w. (1988). race, reform, and retrenchment: transformation and legitimation in antidiscrimination law. harvard law review, 101(7), 1331-1387. davis, p.a. (2005). whole system design portfolio: living the loving way, a reverent revolution. unpublished manuscript. delgado, r. & stefancic, j. (2012). critical race theory: an introduction. new york, ny: new york university press. freire, p. (1970/1993). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: bloomsbury academic. frey, w. h. (2019). analysis of us census populations estimates released june 20, 2019: states – race/ethnic compositions, 2018 – populations under age 15 [table b]. less than half of us children under 15 are white, census shows. washington, dc: brookings institute. retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/less-than-half-of-uschildren-under-15-are-white-census-shows/ gillborn, d. (2016). education policy as an act of white supremacy: whiteness, critical race theory, and education reform. in e. taylor, d. gillborn, g. ladson-billings (eds.), foundations of critical race theory in education (2nd ed.) (pp. 43-59). new york, ny: routledge. gorski, p. c. (2008). good intentions are not enough: a decolonizing intercultural education. intercultural education, 19(6), 515-525. trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 167 gorski, p. c. (2013). reaching and teaching students in poverty: strategies for erasing the opportunity gap. new york, ny: teachers college press. gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. grant, c. a. & sleeter, c. e. (2011). doing multicultural education for achievement and equity (2nd ed.) new york, ny: routledge. grineski, s. & lee, o. (2014). looking past the school door: children and economic injustice. in p.c. gorski & j. landsman (eds.), the poverty and education reader: a call for equity in many voices (pp. 156-166). sterling, va: stylus publishing, llc. gutiérrez, k. d. (2008). developing a sociocritical literacy in the third space. reading research quarterly, 43(2), 148-163. hill collins, p., & bilge, s. (2016). intersectionality. malden, ma: polity press. ladson-billings, g. (1998). just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education? international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 7-24. ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the remix. harvard educational review, 84(1), 74-84. lópez, a. e. (2018). disruptive pedagogy: a critical approach to diversity in teacher education. in a. e. lopez & e. l. olan (eds.), transformative pedagogies for teacher education: moving towards critical praxis in an era of change (pp. 157-174). charlotte, nc: information age publishing, inc. martínez v. state of new mexico. (2014). complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief (1st dist. new mexico). retrieved from http://www.maldef.org/assets/pdf/martinezvnewmexico_complaint_041114.pdf martínez v. state of new mexico. (2018). decision and order (1st dist. court of new mexico, no. d-101-cv-2014-00793). merry, s. e. (1997). global human rights and local social movements in a legally plural world. canadian journal of law & society, 12(2), 247-271. mezirow, j., taylor, e., & associates. (2000). transformative learning in practice: insights from community, workplace, and higher education. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. new mexico compilation commission. (2019a). constitution of new mexico. retrieved from https://laws.nmonesource.com/w/nmos/const-nm#!b/axlls1 new mexico compilation commission. (2019b). bilingual multicultural education. retrieved from https://laws.nmonesource.com/chapter-22-nmsa-1978#!b/a23 new mexico compilation commission. (2019c). indian education. retrieved from https://laws.nmonesource.com/w/nmos/chapter-22-nmsa-1978#!b/a23a new mexico compilation commission. (2019d). hispanic education. retrieved from https://laws.nmonesource.com/w/nmos/chapter-22-nmsa-1978#!b/a23b new mexico voices for children. (2019). new mexico’s 2019 kids count profile. retrieved from https://www.nmvoices.org/archives/13018 new mexico voices for children. (2018). kids count data book. retrieved from reconstituting youth space in new mexico association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 168 https://www.nmvoices.org/archives/12369 new mexico public education department. (2019). bilingual multicultural education programs. retrieved from https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/bureaus/languageandculture/bilingualmulticultural-education-programs-bmeps/ ogbu, j. u. (1998). voluntary and involuntary minorities: a cultural-ecological theory of school performance with some implications for education. anthropology & education quarterly, 29(2), 155-188. olan, e. l. (2019). self-study as a transformative methodology and pedagogical practice in a writing workshop. in a. e. lopez & e. l. olan (eds.), transformaative pedagogies for teacher education: critical action, agency, and dialogue in teaching and learning contexts (pp. 169-182). charlotte, nc: information age publishing, inc. ortega courtney, k. & cappello, d. (2018). anna, age eight: the data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment. retrieved from https://www.annaageeight.org/theinstitutes-team-is-eager-to-hear-peoples-stories-learning-from-their-challenges-andsuccesses/ packnett-pod, b. (2019). we are like those who dream. in raz, g. (ed.), npr ted radio hour: how to be better (00:22:34-00:32:20). retrieved from https://www.npr.org/programs/tedradio-hour/archive paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93-97. renard, g. r. (2003). the disappearance of the universe: straight talk about illusions, past lives, religion, sex, politics, and the miracles of forgiveness. berkeley, ca: fearless books. rendón, l. i. (2014). sentipensante pedagogy (sensing/thinking): educating for wholeness, social justice, and liberation. sterling, va: stylus publishing, llc. sleeter, c. (2017). multicultural programming in new mexico. unpublished manuscript. [prepared for martínez v. state of new mexico, d-101-cv-2014-00793]. sensoy, o., & diangelo, r. (2012). is everyone really equal? an introduction to key concepts in social justice education. new york, ny: teachers college press. solórzano, d. g. (1998). critical race theory, racial and gender microaggressions, and the experiences of chicana and chicano scholars. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 121-136. stovall, d. (2005). chapter nine: critical race theory as educational protest: power and praxis. counterpoints, 237, 197-211. taylor, e. (2016). the foundations of critical race theory in education: an introduction. in e. taylor, d. gillborn, g. ladson-billings (eds.), foundations of critical race theory in education (2nd ed.) (pp. 1-11). new york, ny: routledge. tomlinson, c. a. (2014). the differentiated classroom: responding to the needs of all learners (2nd ed.). alexandria, va: ascd. trujillo ellis, b. (2019, april). an intersectional framework for equity and access: what if trujillo ellis, trujillo, & davis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 169 students’ learning was constructed around their needs? in s. rothman (ed.), green fire times: news & views from a sustainable southwest, [a call to right relationship for new mexico’s children april 2019] (pp. 10-11). retrieved from https://greenfiretimes.com/pdfeditions/ wing sue, d. (2010). microaggressions in everyday life: race, gender, and sexual orientation. hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. yazzie v. state of new mexico. (2014). 1st dist. court of new mexico, no. d-101-cv-2014 02224, complaint. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital?: a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 89 latino men and their fathers: exploring how community cultural wealth influences their community college success victor b. sáenz university of texas at austin carmen de las mercédez alamo colleges district sarah l. rodriguez iowa state university claudia garcía-louis university of texas at san antonio abstract academic scholarship has demonstrated the importance of father engagement in fostering early educational success of their children, but little exploration in this area has focused on the role that fathers play in the college success of their latino male sons. the purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the role of fathers in the educational success of latino men attending community colleges. using community cultural wealth as a lens for this study, the experiences of 130 latino men at community colleges in texas were highlighted. results demonstrated how fathers provided support, consejos (advice), and encouragement to their sons. nonetheless, fathers also expected their sons to work and contribute to the family finances. these complications influenced the way in which latino men viewed the college-going process and interacted with their fathers. keywords: latino men, fathers, educational success, community cultural wealth, persistence, community college doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.2.351 sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 90 introduction the role of family has been positively linked to increased levels of academic achievement, school attendance, positive perceptions of school, college aspirations, and overall sense of well-being (holcomb-mccoy, 2010). studies on college persistence indicate positive family involvement can increase the likelihood of enrollment and persistence for latina/o students (auerbach, 2004; bourdieu, 1986; gándara, 1995; tierney, 2002; yosso, 2005). research on latina/o parental involvement shows “parental support and encouragement is one of the most important—if not the most important—indicator of students’ educational aspirations” (fann, olivares-ureuta, de la pena, & pulido, 2011, p. 75). for latina/os, family is instrumental in instilling values such as resilience, persistence, and hard work—values that are deeply rooted in cultural identity and passed on from generation to generation (kiyama, 2010). in fact, for many latina/o students, familismo, or a sense of family unity and connectedness, is a central component of their lives, deeply influencing their decision-making process (ovink, 2017; ovink, rios-aguilar, & deil-amen, 2012). much of the extant research devoted to latina/o families centers on the role of mothers as chief arbiter of all educational endeavors within the family while the role of fathers, particularly at the higher education level, is rarely addressed (moreno & lopez, 1999; sáenz, garcía-louis, mercédez, & rodriguez, forthcoming; terriquez, 2013). understanding how latino fathers engage in their children’s education is important given their unique influence in the home. studies indicate fathers—of any race—who are actively involved in their children’s education tend to positively influence their academic achievement, school attendance, grades, and foster a college-going habitus (greenwood & hickman, 1991; jeynes, 2007; terriquez, 2013). although scholarship focused on the specific role latino fathers play in the educational pathways of their children is scant, quiñones and marquez kiyama (2014) underscore how at the k-12 level, latino fathers cultivate educational success as a family endeavor, critique the dominant parent-school-district dynamics, and acknowledge their critical role as fathers resisting racism and invisibility in schools. research is still needed to understand how these elements might continue on to influence a latino man’s college-going process. community colleges continue to serve as the most important entry point for latina/o students pursuing higher education (fry, 2011). latina/os have made significant strides in enrollment and graduation rates, yet latino men continue to be underrepresented within higher latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 91 education, making up just 6% of the total undergraduate population (excelencia in education, 2015). although scholarship concerning latino men in community colleges is growing in terms of addressing masculinities, peers, faculty, and other issues (see rodriguez, massey, & sáenz, 2016; sáenz, bukoski, lu, & rodriguez, 2013; sáenz, mayo, miller, & rodriguez, 2015), fewer studies have focused on the role fathers play in the community college educational experiences of their sons. given the transformative nature of the community college experience and meaning making that takes place during this transition, it is imperative that practitioners and scholars understand how latino men use cultural community wealth from their fathers to navigate their community college experiences. using yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework, this study explored the influence that fathers have on the educational experiences of latino men attending community college. two research questions framing this study were: 1) how do community college latino men perceive the influence of their fathers in their educational pursuits? 2) what forms of community cultural wealth passed down from their fathers do latino males use to navigate their community college experience? background early research on latina/o families was largely characterized by a deficit perspective, accusing latina/o parents of being uninvolved and unengaged (ada, 1997; valdes, 1996; valencia & black, 2002). recent studies have refuted these claims, showing latina/o families are involved in both academic (e.g. preparation, accountability) and nonacademic ways (e.g. consejos/advice, educación/manners/values) (quiñones & marquez kiyama, 2014; yosso, 2005; zarate, 2007). teaching children to have respeto, (respect for their parents and for others regardless of age or gender), is one of the most salient cultural values (calzada, fernandez, & cortes, 2010). demonstrating respeto in this case, may show the role of the father as someone who makes sacrifices, works hard, and provides an example for his son (valdes, 1996). latino fathers value their role as teachers or mentors and thus teach their children respeto; most feel they are egalitarian with high aspirations for their children (cabrera & bradley, 2012). through consejos, or advice, from their fathers, young men are often taught about the role of men and the importance of hard work (valdes, 1996). sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 92 latina/o family members believe parental involvement and moral guidance shape educational experiences and behavioral expectations of their children (zarate, 2007). parents, in particular, play a critical role in creating a college-going culture by shaping attitudes towards school and decisions about college attendance early on in the lives of latino males (sánchez et al, 2010; gonzalez, stoner, & jovel, 2003; grolnick & slowiaczek, 1994; hoover-dempsey & sander, 1995). delgado-gaitan (1994) claims “involving latino parents is an ongoing process by continuously assessing and revising the parent involvement program” (p. xii). ultimately, this leads to engaging the entire family in the educational endeavors of the children. latina/o parents are no longer asking themselves “whether [their children] should go to college…[but rather] which college they will attend” (tierney, 1999, p. 83). families may socialize their children in gendered ways connecting familismo and traditional, patriarchal values (ovink, 2017). an understanding of what it means to be a man, including proper behavior for men, may be reinforced by their families (ovink, 2017). historically, latino fathers have been viewed as exhibiting machismo and inciting fear into their children (mirandé, 1997). recent studies demonstrate how latino fathers rely greatly on familismo which is characterized by family unity and reciprocity manifesting itself in purposefully spending quality time with their children (terriquez, 2013; cabrera, cook, mcfadden, & bradley, 2012). most of the aforementioned studies center around the k-12 educational experiences of latino fathers but few highlight how they remain engaged in their children’s post-secondary educational endeavors. within the community college context, the relationships between latino men and their parents is emerging (see sáenz, bukoski, lu, & rodriguez, 2013; sáenz, garcía-louis, mercédez, & rodriguez, in press; vasquez urias, 2014), but none provide an indepth examination of how latino men see the role of their fathers in their higher education pathway. furthermore, numerous past studies have employed deficit framing, rather than antideficit or value-added framing to address the educational experiences of latino males. this study seeks to address the gap in the literature by utilizing an anti-deficit approach in order to understand the influence of fathers on their community college latino male sons’ educational experiences through the voice of latino males enrolled in texan community colleges. latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 93 theoretical framework this study utilized yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework to explore how latino men in community colleges see the role of their fathers in their higher education journey. contrasting bourdieu’s’ (1986) traditional theory of social capital, which has often been cited for its deficit thinking (valdez & lugg, 2010), yosso’s (2005) theoretical framework applies latina/o critical race (latcrit) theory to establish the concept of community cultural wealth where students of color have various funds of knowledge and are creators of knowledge (valdez & lugg, 2010). community cultural wealth consists of six distinct forms of capital: familial, linguistic, aspirational, social, navigational, and resistant capital. these varied forms of capital build upon each other and are interconnected. for the purposes of this study, familial, aspirational, and resistant forms of capital were explored in depth given their noted importance. familial capital is strongly linked to familismo, which is characterized by family unity and sense of connectedness to the family unit (ovink, 2017; yosso, 2005). latino parents have a strong sense of responsibility to give advice or consejos to their children along with the need to be actively “involved in their children’s lives and provid[e] moral guidance” to their children (zarate, 2007, p. 9). aspirational capital is the ability to hold onto hope in the face of adversity (yosso, 2005). these aspirations are often “developed within the social or familial context” (yosso, 2005, p. 77). as a result of their experiences, latina/o parents play a significant role in passing on aspirational capital to their children. resistant capital relates to the way in which latino men may leverage their higher education experiences to produce more equitable outcomes for their communities. this form of capital, which often derives from parents and other community members, inspires students to engage in social justice. the dynamic interplay and reliance on the noted forms of capital lead to an increased sense of autonomy on campus. methods this qualitative study conducted 23 focus groups with 130 latino men at seven texas community colleges to understand how fathers influenced the educational experiences of latino men as expressed by community college latino male students. utilizing phenomenology, this study centered on the personal and subjective experiences of the students in the study and how community college latino male students personally understood and made sense of their experiences with their fathers. a phenomenological approach was selected in order to address sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 94 the nature of father-son relationships for latino men in community colleges and distill individual student experiences to essential concepts or ideas. this approach allowed the researchers to understand the essence of these experiences and consider how participants made sense of these experiences (creswell, 2013). although traditionally associated with interviewing, scholars have recently argued for the use of the focus group method within interpretive phenomenological analysis (palmer, larkin, de visser, & fadden, 2010; rodriguez et al., 2017; sáenz et al., 2013; sáenz et al., 2015). all participants met the following criteria: (a) identified as latino men and (b) were enrolled either partor full-time at one of the community college research sites. in terms of demographics, students mostly came from homes where fathers had educational backgrounds of grammar school or less (34%) or had completed some or all of high school (36%) and mothers who had educational backgrounds of grammar school or less (39%) or had completed some or all of high school (39%). for the majority of participants, english was their first language and more than half of participants came from homes with total incomes less than $40,000 per year (65%). the majority of participants had grade point averages above 3.0 (72%). more than half of participants were working partor full-time while going to school (59%) (see table 1 for more information). table 1 participant background information background participant information father education level graduate degree – 5% some graduate school – 1% college degree – 9% some college – 15% high school diploma – 19% some high school – 17% grammar school or less – 34% latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 95 mother education level graduate degree – 6% some graduate school – 0% college degree – 16% some college – 17% high school diploma – 31% some high school – 8% grammar school or less – 39% english as first language yes – 61% no – 39% family income level up to $40,000k – 65% $40,001-$99,999 – 30% $100,000 and above – 3% grade point average below 2.5 – 14% 2.51-2.99 – 13% 3.00-3.5 – 34% 3.51-4.0 – 38% work status full-time – 13% part-time – 46% unemployed – 40% the study utilized existing professional relationships with research site administrators to recruit participants via institutional listservs. led by research team members, focus groups utilized a protocol to center the conversation around how latino males perceived the role of their fathers in their higher education pathway. each group included 4-8 participants, lasted around one hour, and was digitally recorded and later transcribed by the research team. the researchers then identified significant statements which highlighted individual experiences of the phenomenon. once the significant statements were identified, the researchers created a list of these experiences, taking care to assign equal worth to all statements. from there, significant statements were then grouped into larger “meaning units” or themes (creswell, 2013, p. 193). the meaning units centered around latino male’s perceptions of their father’s involvement in sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 96 their higher education pathway. this process allowed the researchers to identify the meaningful experiences of the research participants and discover emerging themes within the data set. trustworthiness and researcher positionalities to ensure trustworthiness of the study, team members reviewed transcripts, exchanged ideas on coding and analysis, and engaged in memoing activities. reading through the collected information allowed the researchers not only to review the collected data but also allowed the researchers to begin understanding participant experiences in more detail and begin drawing connections between the data. each researcher wrote analytical memos throughout their research and analysis activities. memoing allowed the researchers to capture initial perspectives on the data as well as pose possible patterns or additional questions (saldaña, 2009). furthermore, each of the four research team members utilized memos to explore their positionalities as related to the study. the research team consisted of the principal investigator (pi) who identifies as a latino man and three research team members who each identify as latina women. team members come from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, including experiences in k-12, community college, and university settings. each of the research team members also explored their varying experiences with their own fathers; these experiences varied from experiences with double-parent households and single-mother households to experiences with absent fathers. although each member of the research team brings a slightly different perspective to the study, the team worked together to engage in multiple conversations around analyses and possible interpretations to ensure that findings were trustworthy. limitations and delimitations similar to all research studies, this study has limitations. despite their role in the educational process, other family members were not included in this study. focusing on how latino males view the role of their fathers in no way suggests that other family members do not play a significant role in the decision-making process or persistence towards a college degree. the scant literature on the involvement of latino father’s in their children’s higher education journey is still a growing area in postsecondary educational research. delimitations were latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 97 chosen to facilitate an in-depth understanding of how latino males at community colleges speak about their fathers and the influence they have on their postsecondary educational goals. this study was both delimited and limited by its focus primarily on fathers within the traditional heterosexual family structure. when asked about their fathers, the men within this study did not indicate that they had experiences beyond this traditional structure. and, while the research team encouraged an open discussion, some students may not have felt comfortable sharing these experiences. future research should address these limitations in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between latino men and their fathers. findings the role of familial, aspirational, and resistant capital was evident as latino men shared stories of how their fathers influenced their college choices, provided support and motivation as they navigated the community college environment. strong familial ties and consejos led the latino males in this study to enroll in college and ignited their passion to persist. fathers were identified as role models and enthusiastic motivators who encouraged latino males to consider future career possibilities. fathers encouraged students’ college-going aspirations and inspired them to persist towards degree completion mostly through conversations at home with their sons. in some cases, the role of fathers was complex, causing some students to reconsider their educational goals in light of economic and family pressures to work and be a provider. these complexities were often the result of differing perspectives from fathers and sons about the role of men, working, and the educational process. fathers’ struggles as familial and aspirational capital latino males expressed benefiting from their fathers’ encouragement and learned from their use of familial and aspirational capital to remain focused towards degree completion. latino fathers were also identified as being instrumental in teaching their sons drive and motivation, ultimately increasing their intrinsic drive towards academic success. although some participants expressed encountering significant economic barriers, they described the desire to achieve because of (and in spite of) socio-economic barriers, a value learned through observing their fathers. sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 98 as a student shared, the desire to live a better life without being forced to endure the same hardships as their father, serves as an illustration of how aspirational capital was passed on from father to son. so i went to work with him and i realized i don’t know how my dad does it. 8-9 hours a day, it’s hot inside; i was getting a little depressed thinking, ‘wow this is what my dad goes through and he wants me to do something better.’ so that’s one factor; they want me to have a better life than they did because they struggle a lot. i saw what education could do. this quote demonstrated how the father’s love for his family—also a form of machismo— pushed him to withstand difficult working conditions for the benefit of his entire family. this father was serendipitously motivating his son to seek a better future through a college education. latino males understand the importance of a college education. they draw motivation from struggles, difficult working conditions, and economic barriers they witnessed their fathers undergo. students also recalled conversations where their fathers promoted higher education as a way to secure a better future and livelihood. my father, he didn't graduate high school and he's working construction. and, we're… struggling financially. and he's always told me to graduate, and go to college and be somebody so you can have better than what he did. encouraging words such as these prompted students to pursue a college education to avoid similar hardships. this quote also highlighted the importance of consejos in a father-son relationship. although the father may not understand how to navigate the college system, he recognized the pathway to a better life was through formal education. another student witnessed the conditions under which his father worked and he gained a critical understanding of the value of an education. …i slowly started realizing he didn't go to go college…i saw that he was still suffering, and i know me, seeing that he suffered, and i know i didn't want to be like that. i didn't want to be in the same position that he is, earning only a few latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 99 bucks to get him by every month, and then some…i honestly did not want to see myself suffering… aspirational capital is evident though maybe not easily implied. fathers intentionally exposed their sons to their complicated working conditions as a way to teach them that life could be easier through an education. often, latino fathers in the study lacked formal education but recognized the value of a college degree. as witnesses to their fathers’ financial struggles, these students reported aspiring to achieve more. students grew up seeing the physical labor and financial strain that their fathers experienced while trying to make ends meet and working in labor-intensive jobs. students attributed noted hardships to a lack of formal education. by witnessing their fathers’ struggles, these students formed their familial and aspirational capital and found the motivation to continue their education. fathers use consejos to inspire resistant capital in their sons latino males expressed feeling motivated by the stories of their fathers. their stories were filled with barriers but they always managed to persist. encapsulated in these stories were forms of resistant capital passed on from father to son. not only were students motivated by the financial struggles they witnessed their fathers endure, fathers also overtly encouraged their sons to gain an education as a form of resistance. latino males noted their fathers did not want them to endure what they had, so they provided their sons with consejos to ignite their desire for a better future. my dad does construction, too. he does sheet rock and has to go to work in the cold weather or hot weather…he always had a saying, “you see that i’m struggling and i don’t have a degree or anything; well you have to do better than me. be more… upper… like, higher than the american people. have the money to spend and buy your stuff, not like me that i have to go to work and i barely do it with the bills. be higher than what i did, do something for your life and do more than what i did.” he always told me that and i always had it in mind, that’s why i came to college. sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 100 through sharing his life experiences and consejos with his son, this father provided a unique form of resistant capital when he states, “do more than i did.” though not specifically stating how to do it, the father motivated his son to do better economically rather than “have to go to work and…barely do it with the bills.” this student’s father encouraged his son to resist being forced into a lower waged job, like other latino men might, in favor of becoming equal with “american people.” the sentiment of equality carries much significance given most participants were u.s. born but still felt like outsiders. similarly, another student related the consejos his father gave him regarding the relationship between education, work, and future careers. even when i was younger and used to go to work with my dad, when i could, i remember him telling me, “well, what do you want? this is what you’re going to face every day. do you want to be like me working for the man, or do you want to be in the office? by asking thought-provoking questions, this father motivated his son by showing him the type of life he could lead after earning a college degree. the father uses himself as an example in his advice displaying resistant capital, telling his son that he could lead a life “working for the man” or a better life “in the office.” the quote demonstrates this father’s perspective that most outdoor work is labor intensive and indoor jobs are less physically demanding. the father illustrates the job options he perceives as available, and asks the critical question, “what do you want?” the son takes these lessons from his father and is motivated to do better for himself. in both of these instances latino males utilized the consejos and life stories of their father’s as resistant capital to propel them towards degree completion. through candid conversations of their own personal struggles (and their own resistant capital), fathers transmit both aspirational and resistant capital to their sons. most importantly, it highlights the selfless investment of their father’s to a successful future for their children—yet another form of machismo not regularly recognized. latino men also discussed how their fathers encouraged them to delay full-time employment and to focus on their education. my dad always said, it doesn’t matter if, as much as a job sounds tempting right out of high school, he said, of course it’s good to have a part-time if you want to latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 101 have money to buy stuff that you want, but school is more important in the long run. fathers encouraged their sons to postpone immediate gratification and to focus on the longterm rewards by earning a college degree. fathers contributed to the college-going process because they emphasized the importance of a college degree in their sons’ future career plans. regardless of their personal educational experiences, fathers promoted college enrollment and encouraged latino men to earn their college degrees. once again fathers are passing on aspirational and navigational capital to their sons. understanding the importance of patience, planning, and the value of education allows latino fathers to gain an appropriate understanding of how important a college degree is for a successful future. complications with familial capital of fathers although fathers expressed a need for their sons to attend college and built aspirational and resistant capital within their sons, fathers sometimes set up conflicting expectations concerning educational decisions, professional work, and financial responsibility. while latino men felt that their fathers valued education, they also expressed that their fathers held a more traditional perspective of latino male work responsibilities (sáenz & ponjuan, 2009). latino men described conflicting messages from their fathers regarding educational decisions and the expectation to work. one student noted: my father he works every day and everyday he sees me going to college he wants me to finish college but at the same time he wants me to work. he wants me to do both. and sometimes i have discussions with him because of that. fathers wanted their sons to enroll and graduate from college, but they also wanted them to contribute financially. this shows a unique interdependence between latino fathers and their sons; the fathers need the sons to help contribute to the family finances and the sons need their fathers to serve as strong role models and counselors. because fathers often lacked an understanding of the time and effort needed to be successful in college, many fathers expected their sons to balance their academic responsibilities and their familial obligations to work and contribute to the household. sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 102 latino men felt as though their fathers shamed them for enrolling in community college while not having a full-time job. rather than think about the future gains that his son would experience by obtaining an education, fathers were concerned with present costs and their sons’ lack of work experience. one student related: my father on the other hand, when i first started, as soon as i started college, he automatically thought about, “that’s going to cost money and you’re not going to work full-time anymore…” he was pretty negative about it; he always kept telling me, “by the time i was six, i was already working 10 hours a day and you just finished high school and you still haven’t gotten a full-time job. this man’s relationship with his father was strained as a result of his enrollment in community college. his father’s extensive experience in the workforce contrasted to his decision to forgo his previous full-time employment in order to focus on his educational journey. fathers encouraged their sons to begin work, using their own experiences as the benchmark for their sons’ lives. latino men described how their fathers insisted that they work, not only to earn money or gain experience, but also because, as a man, working was expected. one student remarked, “my father, ‘oh, i don't know m’ijo. i work, and that's what i do, and that's what you need to do, too. you need money. you have to work.’” another student remarked that his father has “always been a worker and that’s why he wanted me to just go work, work, and work; just make money.” for these latino men, their fathers drew a clear connection between established norms and the need of men to work in order to gain financial security. because these fathers had worked immediately, without a college experience, they believed their sons should, too. for these reasons, the familial, aspirational, and resistant capital that fathers nurture through their presence in their sons’ lives becomes complicated when confronted with the actual process of earning a degree. summary of findings as findings demonstrated, latino men were influenced by their fathers’ struggles and utilized those challenges as familial and aspirational capital for success. furthermore, fathers instilled a sense of resistance within their sons through the use of consejos, sharing their desire to see their sons succeed despite their economical or educational backgrounds. in contrast, latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 103 latino men also experienced complications with the familial capital of their fathers as a result of encouragement to attend college but to also work. the tension of the conflicting expectations of attending college and also contributing to the family finances often impacts latino males’ persistence in school (sáenz & ponjuan, 2009). familial, aspirational, and resistant capital was evident through varied forms of motivation for achievement. fathers also showed support for their sons through their providing them with advice and encouraging resistance. as fathers showed high educational expectations for their sons, latino men then aspired to achieve. despite the conflicts between financial and work expectations that some students experienced, latino men still felt their fathers supported their educational endeavors and motivated them towards success. discussion & implications study findings bring to light the role community cultural wealth has as latino men shared how their father’s role of providing familial, aspirational and navigational capital along the educational pipeline helped them succeed (yosso, 2005). this study demonstrated how fathers served as strong sources of support throughout the college or university experiences of their sons. these experiences connect familismo to familial capital by reinforcing how fathers serve as sources of strength and support for their sons throughout their lives. in fact, the consejos (advice) from fathers play a key role in setting expectations and establishing aspirational capital for latino males. thus, the significance of applying certain aspects from the framework of community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) in a plan of action for latino student success is shown. this study also affirms that latino male students in postsecondary education are more likely to persist in their postsecondary pursuits “because” of their family and neighborhood support than “despite” them (tierney, 1999, p. 86). this study also revealed the more complicated nature of father-son relationships and the building of community cultural wealth. the demographics of the participants within this study may inform the way in which fathers and sons view educational opportunities and transmit forms of capital. for instance, many of the participants had fathers (and mothers) who possessed lower educational levels, came from low income households, and worked either partor full-time while completing classes. because most of their fathers did not attend college and held blue collar jobs, they may not understand how to best support their sons educational endeavors. nonetheless, participants acknowledged the various forms of support given to them sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 104 by their fathers. the various forms of cultural capital these fathers utilized may require their sons to translate it as relevant to the college context as aspirational capital (maintaining dreams of success) or resistant capital (opposing inequities seen). working partor full-time while attending college may be an attempt by these men not only to balance finances or seek opportunities but as a way to draw on forms of capital from their fathers regarding finances. this challenges the assumptions that some might have about the social inequities faced by latinos in community colleges and demonstrate that latino men and their fathers are uniquely positioned for success. it is through this motivation and their success that students validate the sacrifices that their fathers made. although participants felt as though their fathers provided aspirational and resistant capital for them during their college journeys, these latino men also articulated how their fathers pressured them to remain tied to traditional views of latino men as hard-working providers. these pressures may be more pronounced within the community college setting as latino men are often in close proximity to their families while attending college and may often work in order to make college attendance affordable. in addition, community college students are often more likely to come from lower socio-economic, immigrant, or first-generation backgrounds. in these instances, concepts of hard work and providing may need to be reframed in order to show how latino men might take their fathers’ concepts and translate them to their new educational contexts. through the incorporation of findings from this study and extant literature highlighting the value latina/os place on family, culture, and community, this study advances an asset based understanding of how latino father’s support their son’s educational journeys through forms not traditionally acknowledged. the majority of latino men in this study were high-achieving and early in their community college and higher education journeys. this may indicate that although the role of fathers and various forms of capital may be complicated, latino men are finding a way to balance and channel that cultural community college wealth early in their academic careers. although this study does not directly address how this might change over time, or during the transfer process, one might see that latino men continue to refine the way in which they enact these various forms of capital. in addition, one might also see that latino fathers, who, over time may be engaged with the college-going processes of their sons or other children, may find new and creative ways of conveying cultural community wealth to their children. latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 105 implications for policy and practice in terms of policy and practice, our findings suggest several implications for the nature of latino and latino male-specific programming and student development at community colleges. community colleges should recognize the importance of recognizing the role of family as an asset for latino male enrollment and persistence in college. in particular, the integral role of latino fathers in the overall academic success of latino males cannot be denied. our findings revealed that fathers play an important and perhaps decisive role in their latino male student’s college going decisions and expectations for success. fathers, in particular, provide a network of support and encouragement that provides a strong foundation for latino males in their pursuit of postsecondary degrees. community colleges should also explore how they approach latino male student development, especially in the early years of college, and implement various forms activities to build different types of capital and promote cultural community wealth. for all students, but especially latino males, having students identify and acknowledge various sources of capital could allow students to understand the sources of capital that they possess and how to maximize those sources. institutions might integrate these exercises in first-year experience or introductory courses in order to maximize the understanding first-time in college students have about their cultural community wealth. these exercises could be introduced in the form of writing assignments, group activities, or discussion points, depending on class size, type, and instructor expertise. onus is on the community college to ensure that latino men are successful. our study demonstrates that fathers are active in their sons’ education and provide cultural community wealth in their own ways. while parental engagement is often seen in at the university level, community colleges often fail to fully engage parents in the college-going process. as such, institutions can engage fathers in dialogue and also provide family members with information on how to continue to talk to their student as challenging situations arise during their college years, such as academic progress, social and economic dilemmas, and health and wellness issues. keeping the role of the latino family, particularly the role of latino father, in mind can positively impact success. community cultural wealth offers a way to explain key cultural values that can help institutions understand what the latino community values, and thus provide sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 106 programming that is properly suited. encouraging a college-going culture and involving latino families in the education of their children may eliminate some of the barriers latino males face while in the college pipeline. community colleges should consider implementing meaningful experiences for latino men and their fathers like those done for young college bound latinas and their mothers. programs like con mi madre in central texas, which serves college-bound latinas and their mothers in multiple activities around becoming college-ready, could serve as a model for community colleges interested in serving latino men. before latino males even get to college, institutions should seek to engage latino fathers in the college-going culture through collegereadiness discussions, college visits, etc. programs such as fathers active in communities and education (f.a.c.e) in south texas seek to build communities of fathers and create systemic change at the campus, district, and interdistrict levels. as a result of its gear up star partnership, this program has offered college tours aimed at fathers and their sons and a model for father and son leadership teams at the secondary level. programs such as this one, could allow fathers of latino males to actively participate in the college-going culture and educational decision-making process, rather than passively participating in activities in which they have little to no input. implementing programs which actively involve fathers could also mitigate the level of fear latino male fathers may have about the unfamiliar spaces and new experiences that their sons will encounter while in college. group activities and/or discussions related to what college is like and what they need to do to prepare not only allow students to create that shared safe space for discussion, but also have the benefit of connecting latino men to other students and fathers who may have similar experiences and backgrounds. these activities might enhance cultural community wealth and enable latino male students and their peers to better understand how their experiences can benefit their future. institutions may operationalize these ideas during outreach activities with the latina/o community as well as during pre-college activities with parents and prospective students. outreach events that particularly focus on the latina/o community can provide opportunities for targeted events or messaging to fathers and their sons, while pre-college activities may be an opportunity for colleges and universities to address underlying fears and misconceptions that fathers have about their sons and the college experience. our study reveals an opportunity for colleges to enhance the messaging geared toward latina/o families, and, more specifically to latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 107 fathers, who need to understand the type of work that their sons are doing in college and what returns these young men can expect for their efforts. fathers, especially those of firstgeneration college students, may be unfamiliar with college workload expectations, so providing context about their son’s experience or future experiences may prove helpful. making the connection to a return on their investment of a college degree may also be helpful to firstgeneration latino men engaging with their fathers about college enrollment or financial responsibility. administrators should seek to generate greater levels of participation for fathers of latino men by making these spaces of interaction more inviting to men and at flexible times to accommodate working schedules. by having fathers present on the outset, latino males can share learning about the educational experience with their fathers and build an understanding of the expectations of college. implications for future research future research should seek to include the perspectives of the fathers of college-going latino males in order to gain a much richer understanding of the capital these fathers bring to their sons. understanding the educational experiences of latino males from multiple perspectives would add a unique perspective to the work that has been completed thus forth. in addition, future research studies should investigate how the institutional context affects the environment in which these father-son interactions take place. for example, researchers may want to explore how father-son interactions differ for hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), minority-serving institutions (msis), and predominantly white institutions (pwis) or how rural, urban, and suburban contexts may influence these experiences. finally, future studies may also want to address these father-son relationships under a variety of different lenses, especially those around critical race theory (crt) and latino critical studies (latcrit). understanding these relationships in multiple ways may further enhance the way that we encourage latino male student development and involve fathers in the process of higher education. sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 108 references ada, a.f. (1997). fostering the home-school connection. in j. frederickson (ed.). reclaiming our voices: bilingual education, critical pedagogy & praxis (pp. 163-178). (originally published in 1995). los angeles, ca: california association for bilingual education (cabe). auerbach, s. (2004). engaging latino parents in supporting college pathways: lessons from a college access program. journal of hispanic higher education, 3(125), 125-145. doi 10.1177/1538192703262514 bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of cultural capital (r. nice, trans.). in j. e. richardson (ed.). handbook of theory of research for the sociology of education (pp. 241-258). westport, ct: greenwood press. cabrera, n. j., & bradley, r. h. (2012). latino fathers and their children. child development perspective, 6, 232-238 doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00249.x cabrera, n., cook, g., mcfadden, k., & bradley, b. (2012). father residence and father-child relationshi0p quality: peer relationships and externalizing behavioral problems. family science. calzada, e. j., fernandez, y., & cortes, d. e. (2010). incorporating the cultural value of respeto into a framework of latino parenting. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, 16(1), 77-86. creswell, j. w. (2013). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. thousand oaks, ca: sage. excelencia in education. (2015). the condition of latinos in education: 2015 factbook. washington, dc: excelencia in education. fann, a., olivares-urenta, m., de la pena, r., & pulido, a. m., & del rio, r. (2011). using a cultural wealth framework to develop culturally-relevant post-secondary outreach for latino families. national forum of multicultural issues, 8(1), 75-88. fry, r. (2011). hispanic college enrollment spikes narrowing gaps with other groups. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. gándara, p. (1995). over the ivy wall: the educational mobility of low-income chicanos. albany, ny: state university of new york press. gonzalez, k. p., stoner, c. & jovel, j. e. (2003). examining the role of social capital in access to college for latinas: toward a college opportunity framework. journal of hispanic higher education, 2(1), 146170. doi: 10.1177/1538192702250620. greenwood, g. e., & hickman, c. w. (1991). research and practice in parent involvement: implications for teacher education. elementary school education, 91, 279-288. grolnick, w. s., & slowiaczek, m. l. (1994). parent’s involvement in children’s schooling: a multidimensional conceptualization and motivational model. child development, 65, 237252. holcomb-mccoy, c. (2010). involving low-income parents and parents of color in college readiness activities: an exploratory study. professional school counseling, 14(1), 115-124. latino men and their fathers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 109 hoover-dempsey, k. v., & sander, h. m. (1995). parental involvement in children’s education: why does it make a difference? teachers college record, 97, 310-331. jeynes, w. (2007). the relationship between parental involvement and urban secondary school student academic achievement: a meta-analysis. urban education, 42(1), 82-110. kiyama, j. m. (2010). college aspirations and limitations: the role of educational ideology and funds of knowledge in mexican american families. american educational research journal, 47(2), 330-356. retrieved from: http://aer.sagepub.com/content/47/2/330 doi: 10.3102/002831209357468. moreno, r. p., & lopez, j. a. (1999). children’s schooling: the role of maternal education and acculturation. jsri working paper #44. michigan state univesity. fast lansing, mi: the julian samora research institute. ovink, s. m. (2017). race, class, and choice in latino/a higher education. new york, ny: palgrave. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-51886-6_6 ovnik, s. m, rios-aguilar, c., & deil-amen. (2012). beyond getting in and fitting in: an examination of social networks and professionally relevant social capital among latina/o university students. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(2), 179-196. doi: 10.1177/1538192711435555 palmer, m., fadden, g., larkin, m., & de visser, r. (2010). developing an interpretative phenomenological approach to focus group data. qualitative research in psychology, 7 (2), 99-121. doi: 10.1080/14780880802513194 quiñones, s., & kiyama, j. m. (2014). contra la corriente (against the current): the role of latino fathers in family-school engagement. school community journal, 24 (1), 149-176. rodriguez, s. l., massey, k., & sáenz, v. b. (2016). engaging latino men in community colleges: the role of student-faculty interactions. journal of applied research in the community college, 23 (2), 21-40. sáenz, v.b., bukoski, b. e., lu, c., & rodriguez, s. (2013). latino males in texas community colleges: a phenomenology study of masculinity constructs and their effect on college experiences. journal of african american males in education, 4(1), 82100. sáenz, v. b., garcia louis, c., mercédez, c., & rodriguez, s. l. (in press). a study on latino males in texas: how female family members shape the educational success of latino males in postsecondary education. journal of hispanic higher education. sáenz, v. b., mayo, j., miller, r. & rodriguez, s. l. (2015). (re)defining masculinity through peer interactions: latino men in texas community colleges. journal of student affairs research and practice, 52(2), 164-175. doi: 10.1080/19496591.2015.1018269 sáenz, v. b., & ponjuan, l. (2009). the vanishing latino male in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 8(54), 54-89. doi 10.1177/15381927083326995 saldaña, j. (2009). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. london: sage publications. terriquez, v. (2013). latino fathers’ involvement in their children’s schools. family relations, 62, 662-675. doi: 10.1111/fare.120126 sáenz, de las mercédez, rodriguez, & garcía-louis association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 110 tierney, w. g. (1999). models of minority college-going and retention: cultural integrity versus cultural suicide. the journal of negro education, 68 (1), 80-91. valdes, g. (1996). con respeto: bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools: an ethnographic portrait. new york, ny: teachers college press. valdez, t. m., & lugg, c. (2010). community cultural wealth and chicano/latino students. journal of school public relations, 31(3), 224-237. valencia, r. r., & black, m. s. (2002). mexican americans don’t value education! – on the basis of the myth, mythmaking, and debunking. journal of latinos and education, 1(2), 81-103. vasquez urias, m. (2014). predictors of sense of belonging among latino men in community college (unpublished dissertation). san diego state university, san diego, ca. yosso, t. y. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. doi:10.1080/1361332052000341006. zarate, m. e. (2007). understanding latino parental involvement in education: perceptions, expectations, and recommendations. the tomás rivera policy institute, 5-19. volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 campus artifacts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 104 in a state of becoming: how institutions communicate asian american and pacific islanderand latinx-servingness through campus artifacts cynthia maribel alcantar university of nevada, reno blanca e. rincón university of nevada, las vegas kristine jan espinoza university of nevada, las vegas abstract this study examines the ways campus artifacts communicate asian american and pacific islander (aapi)and latinx-servingness at dually designated asian american and native american pacific islander-serving institutions (aanapisis) and hispanic-serving institutions (hsis). using critical ethnographic methods, the researchers collected data at three aanapisihsis regionally concentrated in a western state. findings from this study reveal that the campus environments of the three institutions were in a state of flux and are captured through two interconnected themes that emerged from the data: striving to become and undermining progress towards becoming. this study has implications for understanding how aanapisi-hsis communicate aapiand latinx-servingness through campus artifacts. keywords: minority serving institutions, campus artifacts, ethnographic methods doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.405 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.405 alcantar, rincón & espinoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 105 physical artwork, signage, graffiti, architecture, and digital platforms are examples of artifacts on college campuses; each communicates implicit and explicit messages about the mission, roles, safety, and belonging related to race/ethnicity (banning et al., 2008). campus artifacts also communicate messages about racism and whiteness of an institution. for instance, at historically white institutions (hwis), whiteness is communicated and normalized through naming buildings after white men. by examining campus artifacts, we can better understand how higher education institutions institutionalize their support for racially/ethnically minoritized students. this paper examines campus artifacts at dually designated asian american and native american pacific islander-serving institutions (aanapisis) and hispanic-serving institutions (hsis)—two types of federally designated minority-serving institutions (msis). aanapisis and hsis are institutions that enroll at least 10% and 25% asian american and pacific islander (aapi) and latinx students, respectively, of which at least 50% demonstrate financial need, and that take the added step of applying for federal designation through the u.s. department of education. institutions meeting both the aanapisi and hsi designation requirements can apply for both, hence the name dually designated aanapisi-hsis.1 the federal designation makes them eligible to apply for public and private monies set aside for msis.2 examining campus artifacts at these institutions is important because most aanapisis and hsis become eligible for these designations after long histories of being predominantly white institutions (pwis). certainly, aanapisis and hsis serve aapis and latinxs by providing greater access to college opportunities; aanapisis enroll 20% aapi and 28.7% latinx undergraduate students, and hsis enroll 49% latinxs and 8.3% aapis (espinosa et al., 2019). however, enrolling large proportions of aapis and latinxs and becoming designated as aanapisis and hsis does not mean they change their institutional policies and practices to serve these students, which means that some aanapisis and hsis carry a legacy of whiteness as hwis. additionally, considering the relatively low threshold of aapi and latinx enrollment required for federal designation, it could very well be that these institutions are still predominantly white. this means that an institution can simultaneously be an aanapisi, hsi, pwi, and hwi. moreover, some institutions also meet the eligibility to become dually 1 designations are listed in alphabetical order so as to not privilege one over the other. 2 institutions are eligible for funding through title iii and title v of the higher education act, but with some restrictions (u.s. department of education, 2020). campus artifacts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 106 designated and may choose to pursue one of the designations and/or grant programs, and not the other, or none at all. to internal and external members of the institution, these choices imply, whether intentionally or not, that an institution is choosing which racial/ethnic group to serve (yang & masulit, 2018). “servingness,” as defined by garcia and koren (2020), is an institution’s ability to “enroll and educate latinx students through a culturally enhancing approach that centers latinx ways of knowing and being, with the goal of providing transformative experiences that lead to both academic and nonacademic outcomes” (p. 2). one indicator of servingness is an institution’s structures for serving (garcia et al., 2019). these organizational-level structures for serving include mission statements, diversity plans, hsi grants, compositional diversity, culturally responsive curriculum, programs and services for minoritized students, etc. garcia et al. (2019) contend that structures for serving are impacted by external forces, such as federal msi legislation, and impact latinx student’s validating and racialized experiences, and academic and non-academic outcomes. additionally, garcia (2019) also recognizes that “becoming” hispanicserving is a process that happens over time. this body of work demonstrates the importance of organizational structures and the process of transformation an institution must go through to go beyond latinx-enrolling and hsi designated to being latinx-serving. while garcia’s work is focused on hsis, other scholars have documented the complexities behind an institution’s pursuit and promotion of the aanapisi designation and its influence on the institution’s organizational culture, structures, and practices (alcantar et al., 2019; yang & masulit, 2018). this study extends garcia et al.’s (2019) conceptualization of “servingness” by examining the physical and digital campus structures of serving and applying this framework to dually designated aanapisi-hsis. more specifically, this study examines aapiand latinx-servingness through the following research questions: what do campus artifacts at aanapisi-hsis communicate about serving aapi and latinx students? in what ways is aapiand latinx-servingness communicated differently through campus artifacts? conceptual framework to extend garcia et al.’s (2019) framework for serving, particularly the structures of serving, to include campus artifacts, this study utilizes banning et al.’s (2008) equity climate framework. banning et al.’s (2008) framework is part of a line of inquiry that examines the alcantar, rincón & espinoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 107 impact of physical campus settings on student development. the equity climate framework examines how campus artifacts communicate implicit and explicit messages about equity and diversity. it “is composed of four dimensions: (a) the type of artifact, (b) the equity parameters relevant to groups within the organization, (c) the content of the message [particularly belonging, safety, equality, and roles], and (d) the equity approach level of the message” (p. 42). these dimensions are used to evaluate campus artifacts. campus artifacts include artwork (e.g., murals, statuary), signage (i.e., building names), graffiti, and architecture (e.g., buildings; banning et al., 2008). the authors expand the conception of campus artifacts by including digital platforms (torres & zerquera, 2012) and a campus’ geography (alcantar et al., 2020). the level of equity that a campus artifact communicates is assessed at four levels: negative, null, contributions/additive, and transformational/social action. negative implies the presence of a discriminatory artifact, while null means no campus artifact communicates equity; the artifact, therefore, normalizes the dominant environment (e.g., centers whiteness). the contribution/additive level denotes the presence of positive artifacts, but without an intentional equity approach. the transformational/social action level combines equity-focused artifacts and a demonstrated commitment to equity. taken together, campus artifacts and their locations communicate organizational culture, values, and priorities about equity. campus artifacts influence institutional members’ meaning-making, perceptions, and actions towards others, impacting decision-making, policies, and practices that affect racially/ethnically minoritized students, staff, and faculty. the literature on campus artifacts has documented their positive and negative impacts on student learning, academic and social engagement, and success (banning et al., 2008). research has found that for racially/ethnically minoritized students, campus artifacts are particularly important for social integration, racial/ethnic identity development, and a sense of belonging (andrade, 2018; lozano, 2010; patton, 2006). most research on campus artifacts has focused on racially/ethnically minoritized students’ perspectives at pwis. the limited literature on campus artifacts at msis has highlighted their importance for racially/ethnically minoritized students. a case study focused on the reduced sense of belonging felt by joy, a diné (navajo) woman enrolled at an hsi, in response to her university’s seal depicting a frontiersman and spanish conquistador, and artwork negatively portraying indigenous people (desai & abeita, 2017). the authors highlight that these campus artifacts are “a daily reminder of historical campus artifacts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 108 trauma and erasure” (p. 285) that contribute to native students’ marginalization. another study highlighted institutional agents’ critical role in developing campus artifacts for aapis at aanapisis (alcantar et al., 2020). our study extends this literature by locating this phenomenon within dually designated aanapisi-hsis. as conceptual frameworks, banning et al. (2008) provide a mechanism for identifying and categorizing campus artifacts with an eye towards equity, while garcia et al. (2019) surface how these artifacts demonstrate an institution’s commitment to serving aapi and latinx students. notably, while banning et al.’s (2008) framework is equity-centered, it lacks a focus on race/ethnicity, which garcia et al. (2019) provide. for example, at one level, the researchers identified the type of artifact and its equity messaging. at another level, the researchers inferred whether the artifact highlighted a particular race/ethnicity through its messaging. methodology in line with our conceptual frameworks, this study draws on data collected from a larger critical ethnographic research study of dually designated aanapisi-hsis and their campus environments. critical ethnographies seek to uncover power inequities embedded within social institutions (carspecken, 1996), in this case, institutions of higher education. further, ethnographic designs are ideal for studying institutional cultures and environments (spradley, 1980). as such, the researchers relied on critical ethnographic methods to understand how campus artifacts located at aanapisi-hsis reflect an institution’s commitment to, and institutionalization of, diversity and equity. this study was conducted at three aanapisi-hsis, regionally concentrated3 in the west: desert community college (dcc), desert state college (dsc), and desert university (du) (pseudonyms). focusing on aapiand latinx-servingness through campus artifacts at regionallyconcentrated aanapisi-hsis is important because it helps us understand how public colleges serve two of the fastest-growing and largest populations in this geographical region. latinxs are the second-largest racial/ethnic group in this region at 29% (u.s. census, 2020). although aapis are only 10% of the region’s population, they are the fastest growing and one of the largest in the u.s. mainland (u.s. census, 2020). additionally, over a third of the county speaks a language other than english, with spanish and tagalog being the top languages. these 3 the region is masked to maintain the anonymity of the institutions. alcantar, rincón & espinoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 109 institutions were selected because they strategically pursued and received aanapisi-hsi federal designations and grants within the last five years. we provide a brief profile of each institution below. dcc, a large, public, multi-campus community college, serves a large, urban, metropolitan area. it enrolls approximately 30,000 undergraduates, about one-tenth and onethird of whom identify as aapi and latinx, respectively. dcc primarily awards associate degrees but offers several four-year degree options. dsc is a small, public institution located in the county’s outskirts, serving rural-suburban and large-urban metropolitan areas. as a fouryear institution, it enrolls approximately 4,000, mostly part-time undergraduate students. about one-tenth of dsc’s students identify as aapi and one-third as latinx. du is a large, public, research-intensive, doctorate-granting university serving a large, urban, metropolitan area. du enrolls approximately 25,000 undergraduates, the majority attending full-time. about one-tenth of its students identify as aapi and one-third as latinx. data sources and procedures in line with ethnographic approaches, and to better understand each institution’s campus environment, observation methods were employed to gather various data sources: observation notes, photographs, and documents (e.g., campus maps) available online through the institution’s websites. these multiple data sources allowed for triangulation during data analysis. formal observations were conducted in-person and online via institutional websites for each campus, during the spring and summer of 2020. to ensure trustworthiness, multiple researchers visited each campus. upon the closing of campuses in late spring due to the global pandemic, only online observations were collected. researchers utilized an observation protocol to aid in the systematic observation of campus artifacts. the protocol prompted observers to describe the architecture, location of buildings, signage, and artwork, among other things. the protocol also prompted observers to infer the messaging of the campus artifacts, such as how the artifact is reflective of aapi and latinx students. during observations, the researchers also collected photographs of campus artifacts that communicated “servingness.” collectively, researchers conducted approximately 17 hours of observations and obtained over 270 photographs. campus artifacts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 110 data analysis to begin our analysis, we reviewed the observation notes, photographs, and documents. then, we developed a codebook to aid in analyzing the data. utilizing banning et al.’s (2008) equity taxonomy for visual data, we developed initial codes related to each dimension: type of artifact, equity group parameters, message type, and equity approach. in the first coding cycle, two research team members independently hand-coded the various data sources using the codebook. then, we met to discuss discrepancies and revisit the codebook before returning to the data. during the second coding cycle, we engaged in axial coding to uncover patterns and relationships across codes. throughout this process, we wrote analytic memos to aid in developing new codes, documenting patterns, and uncovering themes (saldaña, 2016). researchers’ positionalities this 12-member research team held a variety of roles within and outside of the three institutions. some researchers involved in data collection were members of the community the institution served but had no direct ties to the institutions (“outsiders”), while others held a variety of roles (students, staff, faculty) within the institution (“insiders”). three-fourths of the research team identified as a member of a racially minoritized group. the three members involved in this sub-study identify as latinx and asian american and have scholarly interests in equity and justice in higher education. as such, we drew on our collective knowledge and expertise to gain a unique insight into how institutional environments communicate aapi and latinx “servingness” through campus artifacts. findings findings from this study revealed that these three institutions’ campus environments were in a state of flux, or what garcia (2019) describes as “becoming,” and are captured through two interconnected themes: striving to become and undermining progress towards becoming. while some institutions in our study made strides towards distancing themselves from their eurocentric and racist beginnings, the vestiges of racism at these institutions highlight the tension between simultaneously being minority-serving and historically white. alcantar, rincón & espinoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 111 striving to become we observed similar campus artifacts across all three institutions. however, how institutions mobilized these artifacts for serving aapi and latinx students varied in important ways: transformative rebranding, additive targeting, and liminal inclusion. to demonstrate these differences, we present our first theme by institution. desert university transforms by rebranding our observations of campus artifacts at du suggest that they are in a state of transformational transition, through rebranding and by leaning into its compositional student diversity. du made efforts to visibly celebrate the institution’s diversity-related efforts, creating and relocating student support services, and increasing aapi and latinx imagery. signage displaying institutional slogans and catchphrases were one way institutions signaled that all students belonged. these words were often prominently displayed across campus buildings and banners hanging from light posts. a wall in du’s student union proudly displayed the words, “we are [du].” in du’s digital space, the “diversity” webpage was one click away from its homepage. this webpage contained hyperlinks showcasing how the institution incorporated diversity in the curriculum, supported diversity through campus services and programming (e.g., themed housing), and made meaning of their aanapisi-hsi designations. in addition to visual artifacts, researchers documented how du increasingly designated central space for diversity efforts. researchers (via insider knowledge) described how within the last five years, du shifted from housing diversity programs and services in a campus “building” on the periphery to centrally locating them in the student union. further, these efforts were now housed under a new department for social justice and diversity, which hired two coordinators for aapi and latinx student programming, and support. in-person and online observations (e.g., exhibition archives) of du’s art museum suggested a shift towards more culturally relevant art exhibits. one researcher described how the past few years witnessed “an increase in latinx and aapi artists, including locals” being featured in museum exhibits. a review of the museum’s website also supported this commitment to “diversity” through a permanent art collection that reflects the surrounding community, as well as “pre-columbian mesoamerica” and “indigenous traditions” collections. this “shift” seemed to coincide with the institution’s aanapisi-hsi designations. on the other campus artifacts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 112 side of campus, in a university courtyard, a statue of du’s mascot, a frontiersman symbolizing the rebels who “ventured into uncharted” paths, has prominently stood for over a decade. institutional documents reflected several efforts to remove the controversial mascot, including a commissioned study that reported that the majority of du constituents did not see a need to take “action” after learning that others might find the mascot offensive. during our writing of this manuscript, and amidst the black lives matter protests, du has removed the statue. the inclusion, visibility, and removal of these campus artifacts seem to align with banning et al.’s (2008) transformational level of equity, combining artifacts with a commitment to equity or social action. desert community college additive by targeting our observations of dcc suggest that there were additive artifacts in the campus spaces. while positive, these artifacts were sparse, targeted, and somewhat inconspicuous. for example, dcc used the phrase “i am [dcc]” on small plaques recognizing staff members, mostly of color, working on campus. in their digital space, dcc had a single webpage for “diversity and multicultural affairs,” which could be located after navigating several pages past the homepage. the webpage described the purpose of the multicultural centers, its resources, and contact information for listed committees, including the aapi and latinx faculty and staff committees. a reference to dcc’s aanapisi-hsi designations was hidden in a dropdown menu at the bottom of this webpage. like du, dcc also reallocated campus space to support diversity initiatives. at one dcc campus located in a predominantly black and latinx community, buildings and spaces were increasingly named after prominent black community leaders, including the newly constructed student union named after a black assemblyman. however, no buildings or spaces at any of the campuses were named for aapi or latinx individuals. within newly constructed and centrally located student unions, two dcc campuses dedicated space for multicultural centers to support diversity services and programming. notably, the dcc campus, situated in a predominantly white community, decided to forego space for a multicultural center in their student union. while, at first glance, these moves seem to be in line with transformative efforts towards institutional equity, the fragmentation and targeting of diversity efforts across the three dcc campuses demonstrate how these efforts are additive. alcantar, rincón & espinoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 113 campus artwork, including paintings, posters, and statuary, also reflected institutional commitments to aapiand latinx-servingness, and diversity-at-large. in particular, observations detailed the installation of a series of wood pallet-framed, street-style canvas artwork in each of dcc’s student unions. photographed images of the artwork included skull paintings reminiscent of día de los muertos, their mascot wearing a charro outfit, and an indigenous mesoamerican man adorned in feathered headgear. observers noted that culturally relevant art pieces appeared to be confined to student unions. although the existence of these campus artifacts positively reflects aapi, latinx, or other communities of color, their confinement in specific buildings or obscure locations in the digital space speaks to their additive nature. desert state college liminal inclusion the campus artifacts of dsc communicate an attempt to create an environment that reflects its diverse students. at dsc, the phrase “be state” displayed a unifying message of belonging. dsc’s website also promoted diversity efforts through its community engagement and diversity initiatives office and “diversity and inclusion task forces.” however, details about each task force were not available. in fact, nowhere on dsc’s website do they acknowledge their dual designations. the inclusion of information related to the task forces with no information about what they do represent additive equity efforts. simultaneously, dsc’s artwork reflects intentional support for local artists. this includes a permanent collection of “94 works by 54 local artists,” with select latinx, native american, and filipino artists. this artwork was showcased campus-wide and not confined to a single location. one such piece is captured in a photograph depicting a large steel sculpture of dsc’s mascot by a prominent local latinx artist, adorning an outdoor courtyard. as part of dsc’s permanent collection, the inclusion of these artifacts suggests a level of equity that is transformational in representing its diverse community. undermining progress towards becoming institutional efforts to showcase aapiand latinx-servingness through campus artifacts often stood in stark contrast with artifacts reflecting the beginnings of these institutions, including statues, murals, and building names. these artifacts communicated standards of inclusion and exclusion through the persisting whiteness in english-only communication, campus artifacts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 114 manifestations of racism, and campus policing. as these three themes emerged and converged across the campuses, we organize these findings thematically. english-only communication in all three campuses, the efforts to communicate their commitment to diversity through campus artifacts were undermined through the predominance of english-only communication. all slogans, building names, and the majority of flyers were displayed in english. researchers noted the few instances in which campus artifacts included other languages. at dsc, this included the title of two art pieces by a latinx photographer. at du, another researcher observed a small lcd screen in the corner of the student union that displayed the words “we are” in several languages, including spanish and mandarin. at one dcc campus, an observer indicated several instances of bilingual flyers and signs; however, the photographs that accompanied these observations overwhelmingly depicted flyers with program information, scholarships, and student services solely in english. only two flyers depicted english-spanish communication, both outlining nondiscrimination policies. dcc was the only campus to have a webpage dedicated to prospective spanish-speaking students. manifestations of racism although all three institutions displayed artwork representing aapi and latinx students, only du had overtly racist artwork on campus. du even had a webpage on the evolution of the campus mascot, which described how du had long embraced the “rebel” spirit of the confederacy against its northern rival—a comparison that reinforces the negative messaging of the physical artifact. this webpage also located where images of the retired mascot can be found on campus today, including the du art museum. while the museum’s website denounced the racist imagery that decorates the hardwood floor of the main exhibit hall, it also conceded that the mural served as a “reminder” of du’s racial progress. this active display of a negative campus artifact communicates a recognition and rejection of racism while also paying homage to a racist history. in a subtler display of institutional racism, at dcc, individually framed photographs of members of the board of regents (bor) were prominently placed on the walls of each student union and other campus buildings. the bor photographs, a predominantly white and male governing body, were often juxtaposed with nearby “i am [dcc]” plaques featuring dcc staff, alcantar, rincón & espinoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 115 primarily women of color. while the photographs provided a sharp contrast between campus demographics and white power structures, other normalized displays of white dominance were communicated through building names. the majority of buildings across all three institutions were named after white philanthropists who donated to support campus infrastructure, student scholarships, and other initiatives. campus policing although institutions are (re)dedicating physical space, observations of campus artifacts suggest that these spaces are highly policed. dsc’s website proudly touted the presence of security “24 hours a day and 7 days a week.” however, nowhere was policing more prevalent than at dcc, where researchers observed a regular police presence and informal and formal signage limiting students’ use of space. multiple police cars were seen parked in college parking lots or on-campus walkways and often in front of the main building entrances, including the student services building. one observer described how campus security often wandered about campus buildings. policing was also prominent through signage limiting the use of campus space at dcc. for example, a researcher observed a large black piano in the student union covered by a brown cloth, fenced-off on all sides, and containing multiple signs in black and red lettering that read, “do not play/touch.” another researcher observed a white dry-erase board in the student union with a hand-drawn image of the campus mascot and the words “please do not write or erase anything on this board.” discussion this study revealed that aanapisi-hsis enact and communicate “servingness” through campus artifacts at different levels of equity (banning et al., 2008). the varying levels of equity aligned with garcia et al.’s (2019) conceptualization of “servingness” and represent a spectrum of “becoming” minority-serving (garcia, 2019), particularly through transformative rebranding, additive targeting, and liminal inclusion. “becoming” rather than “being” aapiand latinxserving is reflected in the institutions’ focus on diversity and multiculturalism, rather than unapologetically serving aapi and latinx students. specifically, while artifacts such as art collections, lists of diversity committees, and multicultural centers support or contribute to equity efforts, they lack equity-centric positions (banning et al., 2008). this is demonstrated through posted slogans and multicultural offices, and undermined by english-only campus artifacts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 116 communication, manifestations of racism, and campus policing. only du’s social justice and diversity unit move beyond celebrating multiculturalism to a purposeful action that speaks to institutional transformation. further, efforts towards aapiand latinx-servingness were primarily displayed through additive commitments to diversity and inclusion. for instance, many of the campus artifacts that would be considered permanent physical artifacts, such as campus buildings, did not communicate aapiand latinx-serving; instead, they mostly displayed names of white donors. additionally, one campus made no reference to their aanapisi-hsi designation. even the two campuses that did articulate their dual designation on their digital platforms often couched their designation under diversity initiatives or folded under different hyperlinks, instead of prominently displaying it as part of their main webpages. these findings are consistent with literature that focuses on public communication, or more importantly, lack thereof, of hsi designations (contreras et al., 2008; torres & zerquera, 2012). additionally, the varying levels of equity being communicated through campus artifacts differed by racial and ethnic groups. more campus artifacts communicated latinxthan aapi-servingness, demonstrating an imbalance of the dual aanapisi-hsi designation. the present results are also consistent with previous literature that emphasizes the multifaceted and complicated nature of higher education organizational identities, especially at hsis (garcia, 2019; torres & zerquera, 2012) and aanapisis (alcantar et al., 2019; yang & masulit, 2018). as demonstrated by our findings, aanapisi-hsis must contend with simultaneously being minority-serving and historically white. the juxtaposition between campus artifacts that communicate aapiand latinx-servingness and dominance of whiteness thwart the institution’s efforts towards being transformative and truly fulfilling an aanapisi-hsi mission. recommendations for research and practice the present study presents the first attempt to examine servingness through campus artifacts at dually designated aanapisi-hsis. more research is needed on campus artifacts at msis and dually designated institutions. this could include the examination of campus artifacts that privilege specific aapi and latinx subgroups. future research could also examine campus artifacts from institutional agents’ perspectives and how they grapple with these dual alcantar, rincón & espinoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 117 designations. additionally, future research should examine how campus artifacts at msis change over time. furthermore, researchers could examine the impetus and decision-making about applying for federal msi grants to support physical and virtual infrastructures. in terms of practice, we urge institutional agents to think creatively and strategically about how they communicate their commitment to equity and servingness to aapi and latinx students, through campus artifacts built into shortand long-term institutional strategic plans. for example, as an immediate action, institutions can commit to displaying aapi and latinx student artwork. they can also incorporate signage that welcomes and shares information in various languages. in the long term, institutions can commission campus murals that depict influential figures in aapi and latinx communities. they should also aim to have a multilingual web presence. at a minimum, institutions could engage in self-study to evaluate their campus artifacts using banning et al.’s (2008) equity climate framework, and remove negative artifacts. conclusion this study explored campus artifacts at dually designated aanapisi-hsis. it demonstrates the complexities of communicating aapiand latinx-servingness through campus artifacts, particularly for hwis with multiple, competing missions, and limited capacities to shift from becoming to being msis. it is important to note that aanapisis and hsis continue to be an underfunded and underresourced sector of higher education. thus, these institutions may not have the financial means to invest in permanent campus artifacts to communicate aapiand latinx-servingness and may depend on gifts from primarily white donors to support infrastructure. examining aanapisi-hsi campus artifacts is important to demonstrate if and how they communicate servingness and highlight the need for increased funding to help them progress toward being rather than becoming msis. equity-focused artifacts are an important indicator of aapiand latinx-servingness; aanapisi-hsis have a responsibility to implement culturally responsive campus artifacts to serve aapi and latinx students. acknowledgments the authors would like to thank and acknowledge the contributions of our research team who spent countless hours collecting the rich data that informed this research study: christina molina, kassie moore, m.ed., salvador mora, m.a., christian joy lewis, m.a., kristine jan espinoza, m.ed., chelsea munro, niroshini moodley, keoni kins, dpt. campus artifacts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 118 references andrade, l. m. (2018). latina/o transfer students’ selective integration and spatial awareness of university spaces. journal of hispanic higher education, 17(4), 347-374. doi:10.1177/1538192717701252 alcantar, c. m., bordoloi-pazich, l., & teranishi, r. t. (2019). meaning-making about becoming a minority serving institution: a case study of asian-serving community colleges. the review of higher education, 45(5), 309-335. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0054 alcantar, c. m., kim, v., hafoka, i., & teranishi, r. t. (2020). space and place at asian american and pacific islander–serving community colleges: the geography of campus student support for asian american and pacific islander students. journal of diversity in higher education. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000281 banning, j. h., middleton, v., & deniston, t. l. (2008). using photographs to assess equity climate: a taxonomy. multicultural perspectives, 10(1), 41-46. doi:10.1080/15210960701869611 carspecken, p. f. (1996). critical ethnography in educational research: a theoretical and practical guide. routledge. contreras, f. e., malcom, l. e., & bensimon, e. m. (2008). hispanic-serving institutions: closeted identity and the production of equitable outcomes for latino/a students. in m. gasman, b. baez, & c.s.v. turner (eds.), understanding minority-serving institutions (pp. 71110). state university of new york press. desai, s. r., & abeita, a. (2017). institutional microaggressions at a hispanic serving institution: a diné (navajo) woman utilizing tribal critical race theory through student activism. equity & excellence in education, 50(3), 275-289. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2017.1336498 espinosa, l. l., turk, j. m., taylor, m., & chessman, h. m. (2019). race and ethnicity in higher education: a status report. american council on education. garcia, g. a. (2019). becoming hispanic-serving institutions: opportunities for colleges and universities. john hopkins university press. garcia, g. a., & koren, e. r. (2020). connecting research, practice, and policy to define “servingness” at hispanic serving institutions. in g. a. garcia (ed.), hispanic serving institutions (hsis) in practice: defining “servingness” at hsis (pp. 1-20). iap. garcia, g. a., núñez, a.-m., & sansone, v. a. (2019). toward a multidimensional conceptual framework for understanding “servingness” in hispanic-serving institutions: a synthesis of the research. review of educational research, 89(5), 745-784. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 lozano, a. (2010). latina/o culture centers: providing a sense of belonging and promoting student success. in l. d. patton (ed.), cultural centers in higher education: perspectives on identity, theory, and practice (pp. 3-22). stylus. patton, l. d. (2006). the voice of reason: a qualitative examination of black student perceptions of black culture centers. journal of college student development, 47(6), 628646. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2006.0068 saldaña, j. (2016). the coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). sage. spradley, j. p. (1980). participant observation. holt, rinehart and winston. torres, v., & zerquera, s. (2012). hispanic-serving institutions: patterns, predictions, and https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0054 https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000281 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2017.1336498 https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2006.0068 alcantar, rincón & espinoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 119 implications for informing policy discussion. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(3), 259-278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192712441371 u.s. census (2020). quickfacts. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ u.s. department of education (2020). programs: asian american and native american pacific islander-serving institutions program. retrieved on october 20, 2020 from https://www2.ed.gov/programs/aanapi/faq.html#q10 yang, j. & masulit, m. (2018). the problematic challenges faced by dual designation at california state universities. in m. gasman, a. castro samayoa, w.c. boland, & p. esmieu (eds.), educational challenges at minority serving institutions (pp. 52-63). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203701980-4 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192712441371 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/nv/rhi725218#rhi725218 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203701980-4 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 1 2019 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 61 la lucha sigue: making the case for institutional support of undocumented and dacamented students in higher education vanessa núñez esmeralda c. cruz lopez mariana sarmiento hernández anna c. smedley university of nevada, las vegas abstract this project used a community-based participatory research (cbpr) approach to explore the experiences of undocumented and dacamented college students in southern nevada. cbpr is a collaborative approach to research that involves members of the community being studied to be a part of the entire research process and builds on the strengths of the community. relying heavily on the knowledge and voices of our community partners, the undocunetwork, we conducted interviews with undocumented and dacamented student activists about their experiences in higher education. we discuss the findings from in-depth interviews with twelve undocumented and dacamented student activists who are leading the movement at the university of nevada, las vegas to make higher education more accessible and supportive of undocumented and dacamented students. the questions were written broadly to foster discussion on three main topics: institutional activism, access and barriers to student resources, and campus climate. participants shared a sense of responsibility to engage in institutional change work, and embraced their agency and exhibited resiliency for navigating higher education through their peer support network. we argue that undocumented and dacamented students in the undocunetwork fill a gap within the institution in sharing resources and helping each other navigate higher education. keywords: daca, undocumented students, higher education, immigration, cbpr doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.445 la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 62 introduction it is estimated that 98,000 undocumented students are expected to graduate from high school each year nationally. in nevada alone, about 1,000 undocumented students graduate high school annually (zong & batalova, 2019). of these 98,000, five to ten percent enroll in a college or university, and a mere one percent graduate (contreras, 2009; passel & cohn, 2009; russell, 2011). nevada has one of the fastest growing immigrant populations, however, research regarding this population is almost non-existent. as a result, in nevada, we have a limited empirical understanding of the experiences of college-bound and college attending undocumented and dacamented students, and we lack comprehensive institutionalized resources across the state. deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca), the 2012 executive order, offered protections from deportation and a work permit to qualifying undocumented youth. daca was issued by president barack obama on the 30th anniversary of plyler v. doe—this court case stipulated that a state cannot constitutionally deny a child their right to attend a tuition-free, u.s. public school for grades k-12 based on their immigration status (batalova & mittelstadt, 2012). among potential beneficiaries of daca are 1.76 million students often referred to as “dreamers.” however, in september of 2017, daca was rescinded and currently, only renewals are accepted, dropping the number of actual beneficiaries to 660,880 (uscis, 2019). although these students are foreign-born, they have been raised in the united states. yet, they do not have access to the same postsecondary educational benefits, such as federal grants and loans that u.s. born students and legal permanent residents have access to through the free application for federal student aid (fafsa). although daca is far from being the solution to equitable access to financial resources for higher education, it has proven beneficial for undocumented students who qualified by providing them a quasi-legal status. daca has also positively impacted its beneficiaries by increasing feelings of belonging, access to formal employment, and higher college-going rates (abrego, 2018; gonzales, 2016). however, the rescission of daca on september 5, 2017 terminated the program as it was originally conceived. the program has continued under tenuous direction after many lawsuits were filed to question the legality of the trump administration’s decision and is now scheduled to go to the supreme court on november 12, 2019. our undocumented and dacamented students are not only facing uncertainty while trying to navigate higher núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 63 education, but they are also being attacked by anti-immigrant sentiment at the national level. upon the announcement of the rescission of daca, attorney general sessions claimed that daca as an executive order was unconstitutional and further claimed that daca was an amnesty policy which had negatively impacted the employment opportunities of “hundreds of thousands of americans” (romo, stewart, & naylor, 2017) adding to the narrative of immigrants as a threat to american prosperity. in the local context, undocumented and dacamented students experience periods of simultaneous inclusion and exclusion through policies and practices within the institution and through the local government. in 2007, nevada senate bill 415 was proposed in an effort to ban in-state tuition or state-based aid to undocumented students (senate bill 415, 2007). while this bill did not pass, there is still no state legislation in place that protects undocumented students officially. currently, the nevada system of higher education (nshe) board of regents (bor) has adopted the practice of granting in-state tuition to students who graduate from a nevada high school. in addition to these specific policies and practices within the institution, locally the las vegas metropolitan police department has signed on to participate in the secure communities 287g agreement which allows certain law enforcement officers to perform tasks that are reserved for u.s. immigration and customs enforcement (ice) agents (ice, 1996). but there has been a shift in policies in support of undocumented immigrants in nevada. in 2013, the state department of motor vehicles (dmv) began issuing “driver’s authorization cards” to residents who could not meet proof of identity requirements to obtain a standard driver’s license, thereby, providing an opportunity for undocumented residents to drive legally and making nevada one of 14 states issuing similar authorization cards (mcdonald, 2017). alexis silver (2018) discusses the ways in which undocumented immigrants experience inclusion and exclusion, the aforementioned policies and practices being one example. while there are moments where there is explicit language to exclude undocumented immigrants there are also unofficial practices like tuition equity for undocumented immigrants that contribute to the multilayered and varied experiences of undocumented immigrants. it is because of the current climate that we continue this work in an effort to create communitybased recommendations for nevada’s institutions of higher education to standardize support for their undocumented and dacamented students. la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 64 literature review there is a growing body of literature that examines the experiences of undocumented students in higher education. much of it finds that, while navigating college, undocumented and dacamented students report exclusionary experiences and institutional neglect (abrego, 2006; gonzales, 2011, 2016). these isolating experiences can begin early, as undocumented students are deciding whether or not to attend college. educational professionals, such as high school and college counselors, are not proficient in federal, state, and local policies that may affect undocumented student access and admission to postsecondary institutions (nienhusser, vega, & carquin, 2016). this lack of knowledge and misinformation continues once undocumented students attend college (abrego, 2006; barnhardt, reyes, rodriguez, & ramos, 2016; contreras, 2009; gámez, lopez, & overton, 2017; gildersleeve & vigil, 2015; murillo, 2017). in addition to finding limited information about how to navigate the admissions process, equally concerning is the lack of access to financial resources for undocumented students. undocumented and dacamented students are not eligible for federally funded programs, such as the pell grant or federal student loans. this ineligibility creates uncertainty about paying for tuition which can affect a student’s persistence and decision to attend college (abrego, 2006; adams & boyne, 2015; contreras, 2009; nienhusser et al., 2016). state and local policies also vary by state, making access to financial assistance inconsistent and unreliable (silver, 2018). in states like nevada, there is no legislation that determines whether undocumented and dacamented students are eligible for in-state tuition and state funding, as opposed to it’s geographical neighbor, california, which has the california dream act, providing access to state financial aid and opening up grants for undocumented students. as a result, access to monetary aid also varies based on where the student attends college. in spite of the barriers to admissions and financial aid that undocumented and dacamented students encounter while pursuing higher education, some remain a resilient group of students (gonzales, 2008). in addition to navigating a system that was not built to facilitate their success, undocumented and dacamented students exhibit resiliency through taking on roles of activists and advocates for others (gonzales, 2008). they empathize and want to pay it forward to ensure the success of students, like themselves, who are forced to face obstacles while pursuing a postsecondary degree (abrego, 2008; aguilar, marquez, & núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 65 romo, 2017; borjian, 2018; craven, montero, ramirez, m. robles, & r. robles, 2017; deangelo, schuster, & stebleton, 2016; enriquez, 2011; gonzales, 2008). our study contributes to the growing body of literature on the experiences of undocumented students in higher education by using a community based participatory research (cbpr) approach to examine college access for undocumented and dacamented students in a much understudied state like nevada. to date, we have found that much of the research on undocumented and dacamented students’ access to higher education occurs in california, texas, and new york. these states have legislation in support of college-bound undocumented and dacamented students and have enacted state dream acts like the california dream act, which we previously noted, and have resource centers for these students. unlike california, new york, and texas, nevada is both unstipulated in legislation for postsecondary benefits for undocumented students and at the time of the study, there were no institutionalized efforts to support undocumented students; yet, it is home to the largest proportion of undocumented and dacamented immigrants in the country. in nevada, 7.2% of our population is undocumented, compared to the 3.5% national average (brown & stepler, 2016). methodology a community based participatory approach southern nevada is home to three higher education institutions, each has recently earned their hispanic-serving institution (hsi) designation. while collectively they have various resources available for undocumented students—an alternative need determination form that replaces the fafsa for establishing financial need, a scholarship specifically for undocumented students, a legal clinic that provides support to undocumented students, multiple registered student organizations (rso), a website with resources for undocumented students, and language designating that some resources are also available for undocumented students—at the time of this study between 2016 and 2018 not one institution had a resource center with staff specifically assigned to serve undocumented students. this study is part of the nevada undocu, education, visibility, and opportunity (nuevo) project, a larger initiative that was designed to help increase access to resources for undocumented students in higher education in southern nevada. we use a larger communitybased participatory research (cbpr) project approach to this work that is also inspired by la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 66 freirian approaches in which we engaged community members who already possess the knowledge on how to transform the structures that perpetuate further marginalization through action (freire, 1970). our cbpr team is a partnership between researchers from servicelearning initiative for community engagement in sociology (slices) and leadership from the undocunetwork, a registered student organization at the university of nevada, las vegas (unlv) which was founded to support undocumented students’ success in college. the w.k. kellogg foundation defines cbpr as, “a collaborative approach to research that equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings” (w.k. kellogg foundation, 2009). though there is a spectrum of cbpr practices and a variety of community partner participation across individual projects, the nuevo project emerged out of a long-term collaboration between the undocunetwork and slices. we began our work together in 2015 as part of a service-learning course taught in the department of sociology called ethnic groups in contemporary societies. the projects with undocunetwork have examined resources for undocumented students in higher education and have documented the best practices from other colleges and universities that have institutionalized resources for undocumented students. the projects were first framed as small cbpr projects. each semester the student research team would complete a literature review, collect data, participate in the rsos community and campus initiatives, and disseminate their findings in a report to the undocunetwork and at unlv’s undergraduate research fair. through our continued collaboration as the nuevo project, we were able to bring this project to life and include community member researchers in every step of the process, from the early stages in 2016 of the study design to the dissemination of findings in public presentations and this article in 2018. the nuevo project was comprised of four team members—our principal investigator who is a white woman engaged in racial justice work through her research, two dacamented community research partners who are also undocuactivist students, and myself, a second-generation immigrant latina graduate student. the cbpr approach was important to this project because community members’ voices helped us more accurately define our focus, including the operationalization of our key concepts. it allowed us to access an increasingly hard-to-reach population given the assault on undocumented immigrants during the trump presidential campaign and presidency. it also helped ensure the protection and the comfort of our study participants, and made the núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 67 production and ownership of knowledge a shared experience across institutional researchers and communities. we began by attending undocunetwork meetings before having our own informal small-group meetings. we then met with our community research partners to define the scope of the project, the goals of the project, the research question, and the key concepts that guided the project. when meeting with community members to define our key terms, we expanded our study’s definition of resources for undocumented students in higher education from largely academic based, such as scholarships, to include more community-based resources, such as mental health and legal resources for both students and their families. research design our research question was: how do undocumented and dacamented students navigate access to resources for higher education? the sample for this study was very specific. at the time of data collection, all 12 participants (see table 1) who were interviewed were actively engaging in institutional activism at the university of nevada, las vegas (unlv), a large state university in the southwestern us with hsi and minority serving institution (msi) designation. through their activism for undocumented and dacamented students, they advocate and petition for resources as well as a more inclusive and welcoming college campus environment. they are not only active on campus, but also engage in various forms of activism within the larger las vegas community and at the national level. we originally planned to conduct focus groups in which undocumented and dacamented students would discuss their experiences navigating access to resources. using wilkinson’s (1999) methodology, we had intended to use focus groups to create an environment where the students would have a space to begin a collective sense-making of undocumented student needs and have control over the narrative and definition of their issues. however, when we began the recruitment process just after trump’s election in 2016, we found it difficult to schedule the focus groups due to varying levels of comfort from participants about disclosing their status among peers and the availability of students as well. after several unsuccessful attempts to schedule focus groups, we began interviewing participants individually or in small-groups, depending on the needs and requests of each individual participant. our semi-strucutred interviews followed a set of questions developed as part of an interview protocol that was written broadly to foster discussion on three main topics: institutional activism, access and barriers to student resources, and campus climate. we audio recorded la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 68 table 1. participant demographics name sex age country of origin education immigration status marcela f 21 mexico enrolled in b.a. daca araceli f 21 mexico enrolled in b.a. daca mario m 21 colombia enrolled in b.a. daca luchita f 22 mexico enrolled in b.a. daca ximena f 22 mexico enrolled in b.a. daca giovana f 22 mexico enrolled in b.a. daca adelita f 23 mexico enrolled in m.a. daca ulises m 24 mexico enrolled in b.a. undocumented modesto m 26 mexico enrolled in m.a. undocumented luz f 27 mexico earned b.a. daca carmen f 28 mexico enrolled in b.a. undocumented iliana f 28 mexico enrolled in b.a. daca key: b.a. = bachelor of arts, m.a = master of arts, daca = deferred action for childhood arrivals note. partipants were assigned a pseudonym (n= 12) each interview session that lasted between 60 to 120 minutes. in this article, we discuss the findings from eight interviews with all twelve participants living in southern nevada—five individual interviews and three small-group interviews. of the three small-group interviews, one had 3 participants and the other two had two participants each. our study participants all identify as undocu activists and are engaging in institutional activism with the intent of making college in southern nevada more accessible for undocumented students. community driven data collection and analysis one of our community partner research team members scheduled all of the interviews for the study. as part of our irb protocol, at no point was the name of any participant núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 69 documented. our unlv research team members were notified of the time and location and arrived without knowing who they were interviewing. this strategy ensured that we did not document the names of our participants either in written or electronic spaces (i.e. google calendar). having the community partner actively engaged in the project in this way helped us connect with undocumented students that we did not know personally and also facilitated the preservation of the privacy of the participants. our community partner was both present for and actively involved in the interview process for each of our interviews as well as the transcription of the interviews. the pi and graduate student worked closely with the community research partners to do a brief training on interviewing and building good interview questions. the training was not extensive because the community partner researchers were also undergraduate students who had training through their methods course and participation in the slices course where they led and conducted small cbpr projects. once all of the interviews were transcribed, the research team met to hand code the transcripts and identify emerging themes individually. after we got through the first round of coding, the pi gave a brief overview on condensing the themes into larger codes, which we then worked on individually. we then came back as a team and utilized a white board to write out all of the themes and codes we had developed. from there we found four main themes, two of which are discussed in this paper. it is important to note that we invited all participants to the analysis retreat but most had other obligations that prevented them in participating in this part of the project. collaboration with the community member researchers were important because it helped us more rigorously interpret the findings based on the experiences of undocumented students in higher education. after coding and identifying the major themes, a draft of the manuscript was sent to each of our participants for a member check with a request that they review it for: accuracy interpreting their interviews, thorough protection of their individual identities, and the inclusion of all relevant information in the manuscript. the member check process took about six weeks. once we received the feedback, we began incorporating their comments into the manuscript and began the revision process alongside our community partners. findings and discussion from the larger study we agreed on four overarching themes: 1) participants feel a sense of responsibility to engage in institutional change work, 2) a shared experience of la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 70 institutional neglect, 3) the need for resources and support varied based on undocumented or dacamented status, and 4) the participants embraced their agency and exhibited resiliency in navigating unlv. others have also found institutions of higher education are not adequately supporting undocumented students, and therefore, these students are forced to navigate and advocate for themselves (gonzales, 2008; pérez, cortes, ramos, & coronado, 2010). our participants all expressed a shared experience of institutional neglect (gonzales, 2016; pérez et al., 2010) and a sense of responsibility to engage in work for institutional change dedicated to the development of resources and guidance for undocumented and dacamented students (gonzales, 2008) in southern nevada. while navigating a less than transparent institution, all of our participants embraced their agency and used their collective identity to be social change makers (gonzales, 2008; seif, 2004) and exhibiting resiliency (pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, & cortes, 2009; gámez et al., 2017) while in college in southern nevada. this article focuses on two themes: the sense of responsibility to engage in institutional change work and the ways the participants embraced their agency and exhibited resiliency through their work as part of the undocunetwork. sense of responsibility, isolation, and collective support throughout our interviews, many participants posited that their own experience in navigating higher education is what influenced them to become involved in activism on campus regarding undocumented student access to higher education (seif, 2004). they expressed that they were responsible for finding out whether they were eligible to attend college, whether it be a community college or a four-year institution, because the experts in high school and college, their counselors, were not sure if undocumented students could pursue higher education (abrego, 2008; gonzales, 2010; negrón-gonzales, 2017). while others have found the support of teachers and counselors, or others who have gone through the process invaluable (enriquez, 2011; gámez et al., 2017), our participants shared that was not their experience in transitioning from high school to college. ulises, a then senior at unlv reflected on his experience with a high school counselor in seeking information regarding eligibility to attend college as an undocumented person. he shared: now that i'm thinking about it, my high school counselor was very ignorant about it. there was a counselor for esl students. you know, he never really talked to us about núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 71 that. i think i remember he didn't even ... he wasn't even sure, you know, what he was talking about. he wasn't even really sure about it. ximena, a junior at unlv, shared that she did receive support, but her counselor was still unsure. she mentions: i’ve been in that place, right, i’ve been that student that’s just thinking “oh i can’t go to college” and i had to have one person just one person tell me “yes you can!” i didn’t realize about my situation much less at my high school but my counselor told me “yeah you can go to college, i think” you know she wasn’t very sure at the time. in each of the participants’ experience, even when they were given information, it was unreliable and unconfirmed at best. the majority mentioned that when they inquired about their eligibility to attend college, they were given incorrect information since most were told that they could not attend. while nevada has no clear policy on postsecondary benefits for undocumented students, it does not ban their admission to any college or university. our participants express that they engage in activism in support of undocumented student access to higher education because they felt alone in their own struggle. they emphasized that they wanted to meet others who were like them so that, together, they could create change (abrego, 2008) and show others they were not alone and wanted to give back in this way (borjian, 2018). they wanted to show there were other undocumented folks who were students at unlv and needed access to resources so that they could also advocate for change, making visibility of others who are undocumented an empowering experience that has the potential to connect them to a network of other undocumented students and assert their agency (corrunker, 2012; gonzales, 2008). adelita, a unlv graduate, while reflecting on why she participated in activism through the undocunetwork shared: i think that also in trying to create institutional change, i had this need to connect with other people that were going through the same things and to not feel alone… i wanted to meet people, you know, and feel not alone in this struggle. because, when you're alone and you're trying to create this change it feels like nothing is happening. but when you have other people with you, you can complain, you can vent, you can be happy together, you know? this renewed sense of solidarity has inspired and pushed many of our participants to continue fighting for educational equity. it also allows for a shared space to create joy, keep hope alive, la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 72 and share in the victories when change begins along with increasing feelings of belonging and membership (aguilar et al., 2017). adelita reflects on her experiences and realizes that she has a responsibility to other undocumented students and states: what drives me is hope, right, like hope that we are creating some kind of dent on this issue and we are calling attention at least to something. i think what pushed me was community members and the administration and other staff members... so, it was like all the questions i was continuously being asked, like you can’t... how am i gonna not find the answer to your question? how do i do that? how do i completely ignore you and be like well i guess it’s whatever? nooo! and i just can't do that! because of that i start getting more knowledge and then it’s like if i am already doing this then i might as well start doing this. but then, like i mentioned, the community starts looking up to you. furthermore, our respondents constantly emphasize having an added responsibility to themselves and others (oliver, 1984) who are dacamented and undocumented. while most would say that they enjoy what they do, they also share that being a resource also comes with its own set of challenges and pressure. ximena shares: just also creating knowledge can be very heavy. like people will ask us do you need a social security to have this, to go to school, and if you say yes then that is dangerous. because, you know, it’s a student’s life... whatever comes out of your mouth can completely change a person’s life or it can completely destroy it especially if they are daca or undocumented…that’s the biggest fear that i have and then what if i forget, i mean, i forget a lot. people ask me a question and if i never reply and their life depended on it, i fucked up. like, i did that. i caused their issues and it sucks. it’s like the worst thing. nonetheless, this sense of community has empowered them and has created an opportunity to provide others like them with more guidance. but this is further complicated for these knowledge holders because misinformation in any case for other undocumented or dacamented students can be incredibly life altering. navigating higher education is not an easy feat for anyone, and based on our findings, we would argue that campus personnel have done little to help undocumented students find information that is reliable and trustworthy. the activism as a result of their sense of responsibility to others leads to a model of empowerment (enriquez, 2011) where undocumented students engage in this type of work for núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 73 the betterment of others in their position instead of expectations of mutuality. in addition, this type of institutional change work bolsters their social capital and networks (aguilar et al., 2017). the role of undocunetwork: academic resiliency and agency through peer networks a major role in facilitating the process of gathering resources on campus is played by the undocunetwork on campus, a student organization whose mission is to empower and find resources for undocumented students. many of the participants reported a primary source of information about resources that are available to them comes either from direct conversations with undocunetwork members or by browsing the group's facebook page. having a connection to the undocunetwork also helped alleviate the sense of alienation that many once felt. the undocunetwork was formally established after campus protests in solidarity with the university of missouri in 2015. up until then, unlv had no space for undocumented folks on campus and had not even acknowledged their existence. as a result, a few students came together and created a manifesto that allowed them to start important conversations while being the knowers, the change makers, and a source of support for undocumented students. the group of students we interviewed are very resilient; they have persevered and have found ways to make it through many challenges. they are often their own knowledge makers and have created a network within the community to find resources for others and themselves that extend beyond education (suárez-orozco, hernández, & casanova, 2015; montiel, 2016). pérez, espinoza, ramos, coronado, and cortez (2009) further argue that academic resilience relies on protective and environmental resources—that is what many of our participants consider the undocunetwork, a protective resource. many of the participants expressed their gratitude for having an organization like undocunetwork around to help them navigate their undergraduate career. maricarmen a senior, shared with us that even though she only found the undocunetwork in her last two semesters they were life changing. she goes on to say: i mean really, undocunetwork has taught me more about my situation than, i don’t know, than literally anything. undocunetwork has taught me more about my situation as a college undocumented student than the actual school has. to many of the members of undocunetwork, it sometimes seems like they are not doing enough. however, we argue that they are filling a gap within the institution. they have produced workshops and seminars for students to learn about advanced parole for study la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 74 abroad before the rescission of daca. they have organized and come together as a group to help fundraise for daca renewals. they have hosted dreamzone trainings, providing knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to effectively respond to the academic needs of undocumented students for both staff and faculty members even when there was pushback. furthermore, they are continuously meeting with university administrators to advocate for resources and more welcoming campus environments. adelita and ximena both told us in their interviews what they were able to accomplish through the undocunetwork. they shared: and sometimes we have to remind ourselves that some of the changes we made are real, like we made that website happen, we made the committee happen [name redacted for privacy], we made dreamzone happen, we’re making undocuweek happen, and these are real things! community based recommendations the findings in this cbpr study support what other researchers have found: undocumented students have needs that can be better met if faculty and other university staff are educated on undocumented student issues and policies (abrego, 2006; barnhardt et al., 2016; contreras, 2009; gámez et al., 2017; gildersleeve & vigil, 2015; gonzalez, 2016; pérez et al., 2010; murillo, 2017). part of our interview was dedicated to engaging students in conversation about what successful change would look like and what they see as the most immediate and important needs. all agreed that education by way of training, whether through dreamzone or another form of training, is vital to help staff and faculty become more knowledgeable on policies and issues affecting our undocumented and dacamented students in southern nevada. our participants suggested that training is especially important for frontline staff in offices such as recruitment and admissions, cashiering and financial aid, registrar, and academic advising. our participants also all advocated for a dedicated undocumented and dacamented student resources center at each institution of higher education in southern nevada. as part of the center, a full-time coordinator could maintain and find resources, such as funding for college, jobs, and internships, and connect our students and their families to local resources like healthcare. the resource coordinator would not have to be omniscient on all undocumented student issues, but they could serve as a liaison to other offices so that students would feel comfortable asking for help in those areas. as of january 2019, unlv hired the first núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 75 undocumented student resource coordinator as a direct result of student activism and demands. our participants also made very practical and easy-to-institute recommendations, such as creating a textbook loan program within university libraries that undocumented students could utilize for classes. based on their experiences, our participants also suggested that we need more culturally competent mental health services for college students in southern nevada and have requested increased legal aid support for undocumented and dacamented students. lastly, while many of our participants recognize that universities have shown support for their community, especially since the election of donald trump to office, they also maintain there is a need for tangible changes to institutional practices to occur in order to make college more accessible. conclusion and future directions our project explicitly included the voices of undocumented and dacamented students in the study of their access to higher education in southern nevada, home to three recently designated hsis, by using a community based participatory approach to research. we found that the institutions of higher education in southern nevada excluded our undocumented and dacamented students. our participants have had difficulties navigating a less than clear admissions process and accessing financial resources. they have received inconsistent information from higher education professionals, yet they have remained resilient and successful while being advocates for other students and institutional change. through our partnership with the undocunetwork our community-based recommendations advocate for institutionalizing resources for undocumented students across southern nevada. our findings build upon previous research which suggest that higher education fails to consistently provide the support that contributes to the success of our undocumented and dacamented students. future research should identify best-practice strategies for serving undocumented students that explicitly incorporate the voices of the community members. with this project we make a call-to-action for higher education to transparently, systematically, and effectively support our undocumented students by actively recruiting undocumented students, funding and disseminating financial resources, and educating higher education professionals. la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 76 acknowledgements we would like to thank dr. anita revilla and dr. robert futrell for their feedback, comments, and encouragement throughout this process. we would also like to acknowledge and thank the undocunetwork for their endless support of students and for welcoming us in to do this work collaboratively. lastly, we recognize that this work would not exist without the 12 fierce and courageous students who shared their stories and experiences with us. your joy, resilience, persistence and lucha are what drove this work. mil gracias! núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 77 references abrego, l. j. (2006). “i can’t go to college because i don’t have papers”: incorporation patterns of latino undocumented youth. latino studies, 4(3), 212-231. abrego, l. j. (2008). legitimacy, social identity, and the mobilization of law: the effects of assembly bill 540 on undocumented students in california. law & social inquiry, 33, 709734. abrego, l. j. (2018). renewed optimism and spatial mobility: legal consciousness of latino deferred action for childhood arrivals recipients and their families in los angeles. ethnicities, 18(2), 192-207 adams, a., & boyne, k. s. (2015). access to higher education for undocumented and dacamented students: the current state of affairs. indiana international & comparative law review, 25(1), 47-62. aguilar, c., marquez, r., & romo, h. (2017). from dreamers to dacademics: a la escuela sin pasaporte. in m.g. antony & r.j. thomas (eds.), interdisciplinary perspectives on child migrants: seen but not heard (pp. 155-178). lanham, md: lexington books. barnhardt, c. l., reyes, k., rodriguez, a. v., & ramos, m. (2016). a transformative mixed methods assessment of educational access and opportunity for undocumented college students in the southeastern united states. journal of mixed methods research. doi: 1558689816652764. batalova, j., & mittelstadt, m. (2012). relief from deportation: demographic profile of the dreamers potentially eligible under the deferred action policy. migration policy institute. washington, dc: migration policy institute. retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/fs24_deferredaction.pdf borjian, a. (2018). academically successful latino undocumented students in college: resilience and civic engagement. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 40(1), 22–36. brown, a., & stepler, r. (2016). statistical portrait of the foreign-born population in the united states, 2014. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/04/19/statistical-portrait-of-the-foreign-bornpopulation-in-the-united-states-2014-key-charts/#2013-fb-authorized-pie contreras, f. (2009). sin papeles y rompiendo barreras: latino students and the challenges of persisting in college. harvard educational review, 79(4), 610-632. corrunker, l. (2012). “coming out of the shadows”: dream act activism in the context of global anti-deportation activism. indiana journal of global legal studies, 19(1), 143-168 craven, k., montero, d., ramirez, j., robles, m., & robles, r. (2017). "don't let our dreams die": undocumented students' fight for educational equity in tennessee. critical questions in education, 8(4), 438-456. deangelo, l., schuster, m. t., & stebleton, m. j. (2016). california dreamers: activism, identity, and empowerment among undocumented college students. journal of diversity in higher education, 9(3), 216-230. la lucha sigue association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 78 enriquez, l. (2011). “because we feel the pressure and we also feel the support”: examining the educational success of undocumented immigrant latina/o students. harvard educational review, 81(3), 476-499. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: the continuum publishing co. gámez, r., lopez, w., & overton, b. (2017). mentors, resiliency, and ganas: factors influencing the success of dacamented, undocumented, and immigrant students in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(2), 144-161. gildersleeve, r. e., & vigil, d. (2015). institutionalizing support for undocumented latino/a students in american higher education. new directions for higher education, 2015(172), 39-48. gonzales, r. g. (2008). left out but not shut down: political activism and the undocumented student movement. northwestern journal of law & society, 3(2), 219-239 gonzales, r. g. (2010). on the wrong side of the tracks: understanding the effects of school structure and social capital in the educational pursuits of undocumented immigrant students. peabody journal of education, 85(4), 469-485. gonzales, r. g. (2011). learning to be illegal: undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. american sociological review, 76(4), 602-619. gonzales, r. g. (2016). lives in limbo: undocumented and coming of age in america. oakland, ca: university of california press. immigration and customs enforcement (ice). (1996). delegation of immigration authority section 287 (g) immigration and nationality act. retrieved from: https://www.ice.gov/287g mcdonald, j. m. (2017). research brief on driver authorization cards. retrieved from https://www.leg.state.nv.us/division/research/publications/researchbriefs/driverauthca rd.pdf montiel, g. i. (2016). navigating the ivy league: funds of knowledge and social capital of undocumented ivy league students. harvard journal of hispanic policy, 28, 64-79. murillo, m. a. (2017). undocumented and college-bound: a case study of the supports and barriers high school students encounter in accessing higher education. urban education, 1, 1-29. doi: 10.1177/0042085917702200 negrón-gonzales, g. (2017). constrained inclusion: access and persistence among undocumented community college students in california’s central valley. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(2), 105-122. nienhusser, k. h., vega, b. e., & carquin, m. s. (2016). undocumented students’ experiences with microaggressions during their college choice process. teachers college record, 118(2), 1-33. oliver, p. (1984). “if you don’t do it, nobody else will”: active and token contributors to local collective action. american sociological review, 49, 601-610. passel, j. s., & cohn, d. (2009). a portrait of unauthorized immigrants in the united states. washington, dc: pew research center. retrieved from núñez, cruz lopez, sarmiento hernández, & smedley association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 79 https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2009/04/14/a-portrait-of-unauthorizedimmigrants-in-the-united-states/ pérez, w., espinoza, r., ramos, k., coronado, h. m., & cortes, r. (2009). academic resilience among undocumented latino students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(2), 149181. pérez, w., cortes, r. d., ramos, k., & coronado, h. (2010). “cursed and blessed”: examining the socioemotional and academic experiences of undocumented latino and latino college students. new directions for student services, 2010(131), 35-51. romos, v., stewart, m., & naylor, b. (2017, september 5). trump ends daca, calls on congress to act. npr. retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/09/05/546423550/trump-signalsend-to-daca-calls-on-congress-to-act russell, a. (2011). state policies regarding undocumented college students: a narrative of unresolved issues, ongoing debate and missed opportunities. american association of state colleges and university: a higher education policy brief. seif, h. (2004). “wise up!” undocumented latino youth, mexican-american legislators, and the struggle for higher education access. latino studies, 2(2), 210-230. senate bill 415. (2007). 74th legislative session, nevada. retrieved from https://www.leg.state. nv.us/session/74th2007/bills/sb/sb415.pdf silver, a. (2018). shifting boundaries: immigrant youth negotiating national, state, and small-town politics. stanford, ca: stanford university press. suárez-orozco, c., hernández, m. g., casanova, s. (2015). “it’s sort of my calling”: the civic engagement and social responsibility of latino immigrant-origin young adults. research in human development, 12, 84-99. uscis. (2019). approximate daca receipts as of june 30, 2019. retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/uscis/resources/reports%20and%20studies/im migration%20forms%20data/static_files/daca_population_receipts_since_injunction_ jun_30_2019.pdf wilkinson, s. (1999). focus groups: a feminist method. psychology of women quarterly, 23(1), 221-244. w. k. kellogg foundation. (2009). kellogg health scholars program. retrieved from https://www.wkkf.org/news-and-media/article/2009/01/an-effective-approach-tounderstanding-communities zong, j., & batalova, j. (2019). how many unauthorized immigrants graduate from u.s. high schools annually?. washington, dc: migration policy institute. retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/unauthorized-immigrants-graduate-us-highschools http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 41 a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement to impact public education for all students celina moreno, j.d. maría “cuca” robledo montecel, ph.d. & aurelio montemayor, m.ed. intercultural development research association abstract the intercultural development research association, founded in 1973, is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to achieve equal educational opportunity for every child through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college. idra strengthens and transforms public education along six paths: fair funding, sound educational practices, valuing students, valuing educators, valuing families and systems change. the organization has done so by uniquely crossing borders of policy, research, practice and community engagement to transform education by putting children first. the following article reviews how idra drives critical paths to transform education. the authors tell the story of how these paths have developed over time to push for fair funding, which was idra’s founding issue and continues to be a central focus; promote sound educational practices through professional and curriculum development; model valuing of students particularly as demonstrated through the idra valued youth partnership program; support educators in excelling as asset-based teachers and catalysts for student success; and focus family engagement on leadership in education for transforming policy and practice for their neighborhood public schools. these interrelated paths are woven into idra’s change model: the quality schools action framework. this framework is a tool for strengthening the capacity of public schools to affect systems change to graduate and prepare all students for college. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.3.452 a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 42 in december 1968, five years before the founding of the intercultural development research association (idra), over 60 witnesses lined up in san antonio to present testimony before the u.s. commission on civil rights about the status of mexican americans in the u.s. southwest. the commission dedicated two of the five days to education and, in particular, to inequities in school funding. dr. josé a. cárdenas, who would later launch idra, and mr. aurelio montemayor, who joined idra in 1975, testified. the hearings marked a pivotal moment that raised public consciousness about the many challenges students faced in schools. the commission concluded that school systems had neglected to recognize the rich culture and traditions of students and had failed to establish policies, programs and practices that would enable students to participate fully in the benefits of the educational process. while much has changed over the years, students of color and poor children today are far more likely than their white and more affluent peers to be assigned to classrooms with less qualified teachers and fewer opportunities to prepare for and take college preparatory courses. educational segregation is on the rise (meatto, 2019; orfield, frankenberg, ee, & ayscue, 2019). it does not have to be this way. research and experience show that by providing a high-quality education for all students, we can leverage opportunity if we know where and how to invest. the good news: we do know. when it comes to transforming education, we do not need to take wild guesses; many educators have already shown what works. idra’s work over almost five decades is a testament to what is possible. the mission of this independent, non-profit organization is to achieve equal educational opportunity for every child through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college. idra strengthens and transforms public education along six paths: fair funding, sound educational practices, valuing students, valuing educators, valuing families and systems change. the organization has done so by uniquely crossing borders of policy, research, practice and community engagement to transform education by putting children first (robledo montecel & montemayor, 2018a; 2018b, 2018c). following are brief reviews of how idra drives critical paths to transform education. the path for fair funding it is not possible to have an excellent education for all students if education does not have funding equity. to be effective, schools must have quality teaching, curriculum quality and access, student engagement, and parent and community engagement (robledo montecel & moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 43 goodman, 2010). in this country, each state determines its own funding system for education. when states fail to provide sufficient funds, they leave many schools without the tools they need to be successful. dr. cárdenas stated in his book, texas school finance reform – an idra perspective: “a more equitable funding system provides a stronger fiscal foundation for equality of educational opportunity” (1997a). in public education, money makes a difference. equity in school finance means “equal treatment of equals” or ensuring that schools have equitable amounts of money to educate students, including taking into account that students with different needs require different levels of funding to address those needs. without equity in education, there can be no excellence. back when the world trade center in new york city became the tallest building in the world, and the nation watched the watergate hearings, the edgewood school district in san antonio was in dire economic circumstances as were many of its sister texas school districts. parents wanted to know why their children’s school district could not do more to fix old, partially condemned school buildings, buy enough books or hire high-quality teachers like nearby school districts could. they came together to demand fair funding. a federal court agreed with their complaints and, in 1971, found the texas school funding system unconstitutional under the 14th amendment. but in march 1973, the u.s. supreme court disagreed. it ruled that, while the texas’ system of funding schools was indeed “chaotic and unjust,” education is not a fundamental right under the u.s. constitution (san antonio isd v. rodríguez, 1973). since the rodríguez case, advocates across the country seeking school funding equity have asked state courts to declare education a fundamental right under their respective state constitutions. one month after the rodríguez ruling, dr. cárdenas left the edgewood superintendency to create a san antoniobased organization that would inform texans about the serious school finance inequities. the new non-profit, texans for educational excellence, took on its new name a year and a half later, becoming idra. from the beginning, idra participated in each texas reform study group, attended each session of the texas legislature, provided testimony during litigation in the state courts, and provided research and strategic technical assistance to policymakers and advocacy groups (brischetto, 1973; romero, 2001). in 1975, the texas legislature reformed the school funding system, creating equalization aid and additional funding for bilingual/english as second language (esl) and compensatory a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 44 education programs (hb 1126). idra provided research and technical assistance to policymakers and advocated more equity in funding. idra also launched a statewide information campaign on the issue (cortez, 2004). two years later, faced with the need to make school funding more equitable, the legislature adjusted the equalized funding mechanism and tripled equalization aid (sb 1). idra provided research and technical assistance to policymakers and advocated for specific measures for equitable funding (cortez, 1977; foxworth, 2000; lester, 1977; montemayor, 1996; villarreal & cárdenas, 1981). in 1981, the legislature increased equalization aid by 25% (hb 1). as the legislature considered making major reforms in education including more funding in exchange for more accountability, in 1984, idra provided expert testimony on the need for greater equity, more targeted funding for english learner, and low-income students, and more school-focused accountability. idra analyzed the impact of proposed reforms on funding equity and support for special population students (bernal, 1984; idra, 1984). the legislature adopted changes that year in hb 72, including standardized curricula; introduction of state testing and assessment-based accountability; pupil-based funding; and targeted funding for educating english learners and low-income students using weighted funding formulae. the legislature increased equalization funding. but the reforms were not sufficient reflecting a lack of legislative action to seriously address inequities. this led advocates to launch a legal challenge that would become known as edgewood i. idra convened legal and research experts to identify the right time for state litigation. idra also conducted extensive research on the extent of funding inequity and reforms needed and provided expert testimony at the state court trial (cortez, 1984). on october 2, 1989, the texas supreme court declared the state’s school funding system inequitable and unconstitutional (cárdenas, 1997a). idra conducted equity analyses of the latest reforms, provided technical assistance to attorneys involved in the court case and provided expert testimony. idra supported legal efforts in presentations before the texas supreme court (cárdenas, 1991). after policymakers attempted to respond to the edgewood i decision, the texas supreme court ruled in edgewood ii (1991) that the revised funding system was unconstitutional because the state did not go far enough in changes to the system to achieve equity. wealthy school districts opposed consolidating tax bases that policymakers established for funding. wealthy school districts lost advantages. they challenged the texas school funding moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 45 system. idra provided testimony in the case verifying the greater equity that would have been achieved had the new county-based funding system stayed in place (cortez, 1991). in edgewood iii, the texas supreme court overturned the system stating that wealthy school districts needed to vote to agree to share property bases. in 1993, the legislature designed the new school funding system to reduce per-student disparities from several thousand dollars to less than $700 (sb 7). idra provided technical assistance to policymakers and advocates on the impact of funding reforms and provided advice and analyses related to proposed litigation (cortez, 1993; cárdenas, 1997b). but disparities remained. in 1994, in edgewood iv, equity advocates argued in court that the system did not go far enough to reduce gaps. idra provided technical assistance to assess school funding inequities left in the revised system and offered expert testimony in the case (cortez, 1995). in 1995, the texas supreme court ruled the texas system of funding schools constitutional (cárdenas, 1997a). during the decade that followed, many schools began to reap the benefits from the state’s work to equalize education funding for all of its children. student achievement improved, taxpayers more equally shared the cost of paying for public schools, and businesses benefitted from better-prepared graduates. but in 2004 in the west orange-cove case, wealthy school districts challenged the “adequacy” of the existing funding system, leading legislators to backtrack on their 1995 commitment to make the system equitable. idra provided technical assistance in assessing funding school inequities left in the revised system and provided expert testimony in the case (cortez, 2006). the texas supreme court ruled in 2005 that the state of texas did indeed provide funding for an adequate education since almost all systems managed to satisfy the state’s accreditation requirements (overlooking the fact that, in texas, if 50% of students in a grade level failed one or more of the state’s assessments, a district could still be considered accredited). the court also ruled that once the state had met its minimum obligations to provide for a suitable education, local school systems could enrich their programs to a level approved by the state even if that meant a few school districts could obtain dramatically more money than most others. the west orange-cove (2005) ruling required the state to modify the funding system to correct constitutional violations. the legislature held a special session and passed hb 1. most a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 46 of the new funding was used for tax reductions and very little for actual increased spending. idra launched its texans for fair funding initiative that showed how schools are funded, what was at stake, and what communities could do about it. the texas latino education coalition (tlec) co-led the website and initiative (cortez, 2006). in the early days of idra, advocates expected that once there was public knowledge about the alarming economic circumstances of hundreds of public school districts and hundreds of thousands of children, the texas legislature would do the right thing and close its funding gaps. decades later, gaps between property-rich and -poor school districts have narrowed. but on the whole, inequities continue, augmented now by the state’s reduced commitment to fund public education, its overreliance on local property tax revenue to fund schools, and its shift in funds to charter schools. to make matters worse, in the spring of 2011, texas lawmakers cut a whopping $5.4 billion from public education. as a result, 12,000 teachers lost their jobs, class sizes swelled, and funding disparities ballooned. idra launched fair funding now! with community roundtables in cities across the state. the initiative helped communities across the state get information and speak out against the state’s funding cuts and stress their desire to guarantee that all children graduate ready for college and career (robledo montecel, 2011). idra also conducted analyses and provided expert testimony in the largest school finance case in the state’s history, texas taxpayer and student fairness coalition vs. williams (2014) consisting of over 600 public school districts and representing almost 4 million school children. idra provided research and expert testimony for the maldef lawsuit on the status of funding inequity and inadequate funding for poor and english learner students affecting all school districts (idra, 2015a; cortez, 2012). idra also coordinated important amicus briefs on equity and why money matters. while the district court ruled twice that texas’ inequitable school funding system was unconstitutional, the texas supreme court in 2016 disagreed and said that, while the system was deeply flawed, it nevertheless passed constitutional muster. the court lowered legal standards of equity and adequacy. idra consulted with statewide groups and legislators, conducting analyses of the decision and its impact on the education of under-served children (idra, 2016b). by 2018, texas had a funding gap of $1,100 per student between the richest and poorest 5% of districts in texas. that resource advantage translated to over $1.1 million moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 47 for a school district serving 1,000 students. dr. marialena rivera, the idra 2016 josé a. cárdenas school finance fellow, reported that texas local school districts were responsible for funding over 90% of facilities with little or no state assistance (rivera, 2017a; 2017b). in 2018, the state’s school finance commission held interim session hearings on school funding to inform the 2019 session. idra presented testimony on its research and analysis (hinojosa, 2018). in 2019, the texas legislature provided significant increases in school funding but left in place several features that perpetuate inequity (hb 3). idra collaborated with legislators and advocates, produced actionable data analyses and research briefs, and provided testimony related to the impact of hb 3 on english learners and students in school districts with low property wealth. policymakers adopted a new funding weight to increase funding for students in dual language programs, which serve english learners and non-english learners alike. however, only 20% of texas’ english learners are enrolled in dual language programs. the legislature did not increase the funding weight designated for educating the majority of english learners in other types of bilingual education or esl programs. the state has not changed that weight since it was established in 1984 when, even then, research by idra and others showed the funding level was, at best, one-fourth of the level needed to ensure that english learners’ educational civil rights were guaranteed. in over four decades of litigation and legislation, the pendulum reached the height of school finance equity and balance in the early 1990s and then returned to a less equitable state of school finance in texas (idra, 2019a; cárdenas, 1994). this reflects a national swing in less political support for equitable public-school finance and a draining of the limited public monies to non-public schools. the path for fair funding has been a winding road with hills and valleys in texas as it has in states across the country. the 2018 edition of is school funding fair? a national report card, released by the education law center, again showed that public school funding in most states is unfair and inequitable, depriving millions of u.s. students the opportunity to succeed in school (baker, farrie, & sciarra, 2018). a growing body of research shows that increased funding leads to better outcomes for students. increases in spending in low-income districts in particular result in improved student achievement and narrow achievement gaps. studies show that these benefits last into adulthood in the form of greater educational attainment, higher earnings, and lower rates of adult poverty. a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 48 the path to sound educational practices undereducation and inequities are clearly deeper than insufficient funds. while focusing on fair funding, idra also established multiple approaches to increase school compatibility with economic needs, culture, language, mobility, and societal perceptions of children and families. rather than blaming students and families and expecting them to adapt to the school system, idra recognizes their assets. adults, in schools and in public decision-making positions, are responsible for transforming school practices and policies so that all students have the opportunity to learn. poor children and families do not cause schools to be poor. rather, poor schools are caused by poor policies, poor educational practices, and inadequate investments (bojorquez, 2019; cárdenas & cárdenas, 1977; robledo montecel & goodman, 2010; robledo montecel, 2007). quality teaching must include “the logical acts of teaching (defining, demonstrating, modeling, explaining, correcting, etc.); the psychological acts of teaching (caring, motivating, encouraging, rewarding, punishing, planning, evaluating, etc.); and the moral acts of teaching (showing honesty, courage, tolerance, compassion, respect, fairness, etc.)” (berliner, 2005; cárdenas, 1995). quality teaching uses sound educational practices with the support of transformational leaders at their schools and school districts. idra defines transformational leaders as those who support, articulate and advocate student rights and respect for cultural and linguistic differences. leaders must first establish operational norms that are asset based and grounded in a philosophy like idra’s that “all students are valuable; none is expendable” (avilés, 2018). the relationship between high expectations and non-cognitive factors lies in (1) the assertion that all students are college material, and that (2) institutions must have the grit themselves to provide supports for all students instead of sending some down remediation pathways or non-college tracks (bojorquez, 2014). when institutions rise up with high expectations to serve students, students rise to the challenge (bojorquez, 2018). across all idra work and services, the asset or valuing lens permeates and provides singular focus (avilés & bojorquez, 2018). for example, in a major study about latino students in a large urban area in the 1980s, idra discovered that if at least one adult in the school has the big picture of the student in mind and acts as mentor and counselor, that student will complete high school (robledo montecel, cortez & penny-velasquez, 1989). and in 1986 when moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 49 texas commissioned idra to conduct the state’s first dropout study, idra provided more than numbers, although the numbers themselves were staggering. up until 1986, texas schools had not collected or reported any data related to high school dropouts. no one knew the reasons they left school, what it cost the state or what schools could do about it. idra was the first to answer those questions. idra found that in that year, 86,000 students had dropped out, costing $17 billion in foregone income, lost tax revenues and increased job training, unemployment, welfare, and criminal justice costs (cárdenas, del refugio robledo, & supik, 1986). by 2018, time-series data indicated that texas public schools had lost a cumulative total of more than 3.8 million students before high school graduation. racial and ethnic gaps continue unabated. in 2017, texas schools were still twice as likely to lose latino students and black students before they graduated compared to white students (johnson, 2018). idra’s first report identified existing dropout prevention programs, reviewed their effectiveness, and outlined policy reform recommendations. idra worked with policymakers and advocates in drafting policy reforms needed to address the study’s findings. as a consequence, the state adopted hb 1010, which mandated counting and reporting of dropouts and implementation of dropout prevention efforts. as a national resource, idra has set standards in the design, analysis, and application of timely and useful research involving diverse populations. idra’s research and evaluation has been funded by the u.s. department of education, state education agencies, the andrew w. mellon foundation, the carnegie corporation, the coca-cola foundation, the ford foundation, the houston endowment, the lilly endowment, the national science foundation, the rockefeller foundation, the u.s. department of justice, the william randolph hearst foundation, the edna mcconnell clark foundation, and the w.k. kellogg foundation. this research informs idra’s work with educators through training, technical assistance and evaluation in ways that further thinking and practice in the areas of bilingual teacher preparation, immigrant education, early childhood learning, educational policy, family and community engagement, and equity in education for all students. for example, in 1999, idra led an office of bilingual education and minority languages affairs (obemla) national study of effective programs serving english learner students around the united states (robledo montecel & cortez, 2002). with the analysis and school a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 50 observations, idra identified 25 common characteristics and criteria that contribute to the success of students served by bilingual education programs, namely school indicators, student outcomes, leadership, support, and programmatic and instructional practices. that research led to idra’s good schools and classrooms for children learning english rubric that is still used by schools around the country to help guide development or refinement of instructional programs for english learners in a variety of settings (robledo montecel, j. d. cortez, a. cortez, & villarreal, 2002). as the only organization in the country to operate an equity assistance center (eac) for more than 40 years, idra has developed an in-depth understanding of the needs of special populations from preschool through college. for much of its history, idra served a five-state region in the areas of race, gender, and national origin equity through its progression of federally funded desegregation and equity assistance centers rooted in the federal civil rights act of 1964. today, the idra eac-south helps school districts in 11 states build capacity to confront educational problems occasioned by race, national origin, sex and gender, and religion. through this center idra provides free or low-cost technical assistance to schools in federal region ii: washington, d.c., alabama, arkansas, florida, georgia, louisiana, mississippi, north carolina, south carolina, tennessee, texas, and virginia. the region includes 2,329 school districts, 28,628 schools, 2.2 million educators and 17.3 million students. idra developed a school-based change approach on three planes—comprehensive, focused and general assistance—that have stood the test of time and remain in place today. • the management of innovation requires an approach for training and technical assistance (comprehensive) that is labor intensive and designed to facilitate a multi-year process for school districts desiring broad transformation. • another assistance approach (focused) involves a campus-level, professional, or curriculum development process that is site-based and sustained over several school years. • the third approach (general assistance), while consisting of one or a few days, is direct and on-site, giving information and also a taste for the highly participatory and adultlearning-based workshops that became the standard for the most effective idra professional development events. moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 51 in this work, idra developed the six goals of educational equity (scott, 2002) to provide school personnel and communities a yardstick to measure their progress and galvanize meaningful change: • goal 1: comparably high academic achievement and other student outcomes; • goal 2: equitable access and inclusion; • goal 3: equitable treatment; • goal 4: equitable opportunity to learn; • goal 5: equitable resources; and • goal 6: accountability. drawing from its work in research and education policy reform, idra guided thousands of school districts to focus on educational opportunity as a fundamental responsibility and civil right for which all schools and districts are accountable. idra’s professional development for teachers and principals builds leadership capacity that is sustainable. idra tailors its assistance to address each school’s unique needs, including assessment, coaching and mentoring, classroom observations and demonstrations, online communities of practitioners, and collaborations with universities across the nation to improve teacher preparation. idra has worked with thousands of classroom teachers to improve teaching quality in content areas, strengthen early childhood education, implement best practices for english learner instruction at all grades, reduce disproportionate school discipline, and integrate ethnic studies curriculum into content courses to name a few. idra also provides coaching and mentoring support for district and campus leadership teams to help them polish their own skillsets that lead to effective delivery of high-quality deeper learning and evidence-based instruction. principals examine their leadership skills, develop competencies, and take practical steps to raise student academic achievement through reflective practices. the driving factor in all of idra’s work with educators, researches and policymakers is the students and what is best for them and their opportunities to have an excellent and equitable education. the path of valuing students student engagement—a student’s intellectual, social, and emotional connection to school—is a prerequisite to learning. the valued student experiences full participation in the school community. teacher’s high expectations of students to be intelligent and with potential a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 52 to go to college are self-fulfilling prophecies. conversely, when students lack a sense of connection to teachers, school, and what they learn, students may feel there is little reason to remain (jensen, 2003). that is especially true at key transition points or when students are struggling to stay on track. all too often, when students are struggling, schools give up on them. valuing youth, without exception, turns this tendency on its head. such a precept is critical in every classroom, every principal’s office, and every statehouse. fundamentally, public policy must be structured in ways that ensure equal access to education for all students. idra advocates that schools and communities examine policies and practices to identify when they are beneficial and supportive for all children’s learning and participation and when they are not. as policies change, idra works with schools and communities to examine the implications and impact. often, they identify elements that need further attention by a legislature, governmental agencies or the courts. a new era began in 1965, when congress passed the most encompassing national education policy ever adopted: the elementary and secondary education act (esea). congress has reauthorized that law several times since then. the 2007 reauthorization, known as the no child left behind act (nclb), was particularly significant. idra presented testimony to the u.s. house of representatives committee on education and labor about dropout prevention and student engagement strategies under consideration (scott, 2002). nclb installed accountability measures that went far beyond previous acts with a focus on testing. the policy increased requirements for schools to engage with families with greater accountability for schools to inform families of their children’s academic progress in schools receiving federal funds. since that policy made data available on the progress of students in disaggregated categories (by race/ethnicity, gender, language status, etc.), communities had a new a means to hold their schools accountable for the success of every student. the every student succeeds act in 2015 succeeded nclb and advanced additional civil rights protections. idra identified key issues in the esea reauthorization that are vital to ensuring high quality education for all students (idra, 2015b) and worked with family and community organizations to provide input into their state’s newly required equity plans. the education of some student groups required court action. for example, the u.s. supreme court ruled in lau v. nichols (1974) that a school district violated the civil rights act of 1964 by denying non-english speaking students a meaningful opportunity to participate in the public moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 53 school system. schools must take measures to ensure that teachers adapt instruction to address children’s linguistic characteristics. in the u.s. v. texas (1980) motion to enforce regarding evident inadequate education of english learners in texas led the federal court to rule that texas needed to adopt bilingual education and esl programs for public school students. idra provided expert testimony in the case on the poor quality of programs for texas’ english learners (idra, 1981). in the 1982, doe v. plyler decision, the u.s. supreme court ruled that denial of a free public education to undocumented children or children of undocumented parents violates the u.s. constitution. idra provided expert testimony in the case and every year since then publicizes the ruling to schools, immigrant communities and education and immigrants’ rights advocacy organizations. idra also works with policymakers and advocates to fend off efforts to adopt policies designed to discourage immigrant student enrollment (cortez & sepúlvedahassell, 1982; idra, 1981). idra’s concern with the treatment of immigrant children continued in a study at the t. don hutto family detention center in 2009. the american civil liberties union contracted with idra to conduct a thorough review of the education records for all plaintiffs, analyze teaching credentials of the detention center’s instructional staff, review additional documents, and observe the classrooms of the detention center (idra, 2007). findings showed that learning conditions were inappropriate to the minors’ level of development, basic academic competencies were not adequately taught, and english learner curriculum was not in compliance with texas state requirements. the conditions at hutto were found to be in violation of flores vs. meese (1997), and the federal government ended family detention at hutto in 2009. understanding the need for a strong network of advocacy, idra convened a group of organizations and individuals to establish the texas latino education coalition (tlec) in 2001. representing thousands of texans, founding member organizations included: idra, the mexican american legal defense and educational fund, texas naacp, mexican american school board members association, and the league of united latin american citizens, among many others. in 2019, the coalition changed its name to texas legislative education equity coalition to reflect the goals of its diverse member organizations and the shared belief that factors like race, ethnicity, language, religion, ability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 54 immigration status should not determine the quality of students’ education opportunities. the coalition continues as a strong, collaborative network for advocacy. policy changes both increased and decreased the possibility of college preparation, access and success for the most vulnerable and underserved students. on the positive side, texas hb 588 established the top 10 percent plan in 1997. the texas legislature adopted the top 10 percent plan initially as a means to avoid the stipulations from the hopwood v. texas (1996) appeals court case banning the use of affirmative action. idra conducted research on implications of the proposals and provided technical assistance to policymakers and advocates. in 2009, texas policymakers made changes to the texas top ten percent plan that slightly limited automatic admissions beginning in the fall of 2011 to the university of texas at austin only. idra provided analysis on the impact of proposals and engaged in a community education effort to clarify the changes (idra, 2019b; idra, 2019c). on the negative side, provisions in texas’ hb 5 weakened the default high school graduation requirements in 2013. the state ended its standard 4x4 requirement (that is, four math, four science, four english, and four social studies courses) that it previously established to prepare all students for college. instead, hb 5 set up a form of tracking that threaten to relegate poor and rural students and students of color into non-college paths. idra and community organizations informed families, convened meetings and studied the policy’s impact. idra also provided testimony before the legislature and state board of education, convened community groups to clarify the new policy, and conducted training on the key issues for families (cortez, 2013). the hb 5 policy essentially lowered expectations of texas students. rather than valuing them and their future, state law said it was ok for some students to give up on the promise of college and some families to expect less of their schools. but idra and communities, families and educators say otherwise. family and community groups conducted one-to-one outreach to make sure others knew how to make sure their children were on college-preparatory paths. some school districts, in response to the advocacy by idra and others, re-established the 4x4 and broader access to higher level courses in their district default graduation plans. idra’s extensive research clearly shows that for an education program to be successful, the following components must be in place (robledo montecel, 2004): • all students must be valued. moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 55 • there must be at least one educator in a student’s life who is totally committed to the success of that student. • students, parents and teachers must be provided extensive, consistent support in ways that allow students to learn, teachers to teach and parents to be involved. • equity and excellence in schools contribute to individual and collective economic growth, stability and advancement. • the solutions sought must be institution-based with family and community participation and must embrace the strengths and contributions that students and their families bring. with this grounding, idra designed and developed the idra valued youth partnership (vyp) program (formerly called the coca-cola valued youth program) nationally and beyond. the program personifies idra’s view and expectations of students. the same student a school may consider “in danger of dropping out” or “at risk,” idra sees as a potential tutor of little ones. (cantú, 2009) to date, vyp has positively impacted three quarters of a million students, families and educators, and it has become an internationally recognized cross-age dropout prevention and leadership development program with a unique twist. the program works by identifying middle and high school students who are thought to be in “at risk” situations and enlisting them as tutors. it has kept 98% of valued youth tutors in school, young people who were previously considered at risk of dropping out (robledo montecel, 2009). through the vyp program, idra demonstrated: when students are placed in responsible roles and are supported in their efforts, powerful changes occur. valued youth tutors stay in school, improve their literacy and thinking skills, develop self-esteem, feel they belong in school, and attend class more regularly. and schools shift to a practice of valuing youth considered at risk. (robledo montecel, 2009) vyp, idra’s flagship program that illustrates the dramatic shift for students when schools value them and treat then as competent tutors of little ones, is only one way of using an asset-based approach. idra, for instance, nurtured a group of youth, self-labeled as “youth tekies” and associated with community centers in south texas and in san antonio, who become the technology facilitators and teachers of adults. a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 56 idra’s typical work with teachers is to create student-centered approaches, such as project-based learning. student assets and the riches of family traditions and culture undergird idra’s teacher development and coaching. the path of valuing educators for students, the face of education is the face of their teacher. and to do a good job educating children, teachers need preparation to build their skills and knowledge. like those in other professions, they need opportunities for continued professional growth. idra’s valuing philosophy encompasses respect for the knowledge and skills of the teachers, principals and others to model continually how educators can identify assets and build on the strengths of the students and parents in their schools. professional development for teachers and administrators is a key element in idra’s work with schools. early on, staff studied the nature of the adult learner. in contrast to the “expert” trainer who merely lectures and brings an ideal one-size-fits-all program, idra did it differently, applying effective principles of andragogy. idra tailored workshops and presentations to the situation and made them participatory, drawing on the experiences of the participants and encouraging critical dialogue (johnson, 2015). idra’s training-of-trainers model reflected in the wow workshop on workshops includes a set of assumptions about the adult learner (montemayor, 1994). these assumptions are: (1) participants learn most when they have responsibility for what they learn and are uniquely qualified to take that responsibility; (2) they bring a rich background of, and want to be valued for, personal experiences and resources that pertain to the subject at hand; (3) they want to be treated as autonomous individual beings; and (4) adult learners, such as the educators with whom idra works, want experiences that build on positive issues and success and minimize limitations. idra developed integrated, research-based professional development experiences to assure that educators have access to innovative strategies in order to solve problems, create solutions, and use best practices to educate all students to high standards. one of the goals was to capture in new ways idra’s valuing approach to integrated professional development for a 21st century generation of principal and teacher leadership. idra’s valuing professional development model focuses on personalized learning experiences that develop teachers’ knowledge and instructional practice in order to positively moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 57 impact student learning and the long-term academic success of all students (hill, 2009). a national concern for research during the last decade focused on the complexities and technical issues that go into teaching and what teaching quality looks like. idra’s work in defining teaching quality exceeds simply determining quality by what credentials a teacher has. rather, teaching quality involves teacher perspectives and use of effective instructional practices. idra also places it in the context of a supportive organizational school and community structure. idra’s assistance takes many forms, including technical assistance, teacher professional development in all content areas, principal coaching, school strategic planning, curriculum development, classroom demonstrations, innovative mentorship for new teachers, professional learning communities, and collaborations with universities across the country to improve teacher preparation. from amanecer (“the beginning of a new day”) developed in the 1970s to the current semillitas de aprendizaje (a bilingual set of early childhood curriculum), idra filled a gap of bilingual early childhood materials and teaching strategies (idra, 2016a). idra’s transition to teaching programs prepared over 800 teachers through college or university coursework and idra’s professional development. they gained skills and insight to serve in high-need schools in bilingual education and stem areas, with esl or special education supplemental certification. partner colleges refined their accelerated teacher preparation programs to better serve a rapidly changing student population (idra, 2017). working with educators already working in schools, idra developed a unique model for school improvement that focuses on cohesive, meaningful change for struggling schools through mentoring and supporting campus leadership. the model’s elements include building a strong teaching team with a student advocacy commitment, preparation to teach diverse student groups, student asset-based thinking, collaborative spirit, and a consciousness of accountability. this work in one school district also involved securing organizational efficacy and effectiveness in delivering personalized services (culturally responsive and differentiated curriculum, instructional practices, and other student support services) to diverse student groups that strengthens the administrative support that teachers need to deliver quality instruction to all students. as a result, all of the participating schools moved up from receiving the state’s “improvement required” rating to becoming fully accredited. this success would not be possible if idra approached the educators as needing to be “fixed” or “shaken up.” idra bases its valuing philosophy in the truth that, in this case, a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 58 teachers, principals and other administrators are professionals with important skills and knowledge. the same is true for the families idra works with. the path of valuing families from the families who have supported students to protest the inequities and biases in schools in the 1960s and 1970s to the families who examine data and meet with school leaders today to insist on college-ready curricula, idra celebrates how critical families are in creating neighborhood public schools that provide the excellent education they desire. many came from neighborhoods where idra heard, oft repeated, “edúcate para que no sufras lo que sufrí yo” [get an education so you don’t suffer what i have suffered]. their hopes and plans are the fuel for the engagement and leadership idra embraces and catalyzes. throughout the years, idra convened people across race and gender, sector, geography and educational role to build coalitions for ensuring educational opportunity. community-based organizations with authentic family engagement and respect for the culture, language, and traditions of the families became the best soil for planting the seeds of powerful family leadership in education. even with the ever-present call for parent involvement, idra assessed the traditional paths of parent involvement and found them wanting. most programs did not lead to family influence on school policies and practices—not those of traditional parent organizations that stressed volunteerism and fundraising, nor those that pushed ged certificates, esl for adults, parenting skills, or self-development classes. instead, idra instituted an approach that supports family voice and influence, nurtured by actionable data, and that grants full and equal partnership to families in relationship to the schools their children attend. the current embodiment of the approach, education cafe (community action forums for excellence), grew from many years of effective school-familycommunity partnerships into a statewide network in texas. the idra family leadership in education model began to take shape in the early 1980s. with support from the then office of bilingual education and minority languages affairs, idra held training institutes in texas for parents of children in bilingual education (montemayor, 2011). for 12 years, idra managed a parent information resource center (pirc) that serviced the state of texas with training, technical assistance, development, and dissemination of bilingual materials and direct services to administrators, educators, family liaison staff and moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 59 families through community organizations. in 2007, the u.s. department of education published, engaging parents in education: lessons from five parental information and resource centers (u.s. department of education, 2007), which featured the idra texas pirc work based on idra’s family leadership in education model, giving it national recognition. idra and arise (a resource in serving equality) in the texas rio grande valley forged a strong relationship because of their interest in developing family leadership in education, especially among families that are poor, recent immigrant, and whose home language is spanish. arise had embraced the promotora (outreach worker) practice (named ‘animadora’ by arise) by conducting weekly home visits with direct communication and in a meaningful relationship with each family. arise founder, sr. gerrie naughton, invited idra to become partners in leadership development as idra’s family engagement model drew in part from this promotora method (chavkin, 2017). under the leadership of lourdes flores, arise became idra’s first family-schoolcommunity partnership called a pta comunitario in the nation. a group formally part of pta that was based in a community organization rather than a school, conducted its meetings in spanish, and focused on influencing education policy and practice. the u.s. department of education investment in innovation (i3) funded idra to establish more pta comunitarios across the lower rio grande valley of south texas (montemayor, 2013) that would connect with the equal voice education working group, a network of organizations centered on the marguerite casey foundation-funded projects but a larger collaboration through allied groups with similar goals. as the family engagement model evolved and spread, idra renamed the pta comunitario initiative to education cafe. funding from the w.k. kellogg foundation supported idra as it established a network of education cafes across texas, and through the idra eac-south, education cafes are now forming across the u.s. south. the education cafe approach emphasizes the diversity of communities engaged in impacting their public schools. by establishing education cafes in community-based organizations, communities leverage existing local assets and networks to foster a sustainable base of family engagement from kindergarten through high school. three components are central to the education cafe approach as follows (montemayor, 2017a): a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 60 • community-based, distributive leadership – education cafes are based in their communities. they are connected to a local organization that commits to focus on education (among its other mission areas). • school partnerships – education cafe members come together and partner with schools in their neighborhood to ensure student success. collaboration includes coplanning and sharing responsibility for outreach and ongoing activities that improve education policy and practice in their neighborhood public schools. • education projects – education cafes carry out education projects using actionable data. for example, they bring families together to examine education policies and their implications for children’s access to advanced placement, dual credit and pre-algebra courses; the state’s education budget; and college readiness strategies. they also meet with school administrators to dialogue about shared concerns. hundreds of education cafe families in multiple areas now work with school leaders to monitor the academic success of their children and other neighborhood children. each education cafe has its own unique characteristics and family leadership in education projects, but they all are connected and collaborate in area-wide projects. some group projects included campus visitations to introduce the new organization, holding open hearings with school board candidates, convening large public events to protest cuts to the state education budget, and conducting surveys about how schools are implementing the state’s revised graduation plans and their impact on economically disadvantaged students and students of color (cortez, 2015; montemayor, 2019; montemayor, 2017b; montemayor, 2012). the dreams and aspirations for the education of all children are the driving force for these groups. having access to actionable school data deepens their understanding and informs their actions. through their collective leadership and initiatives like the education cafe network, families are changing and transforming schools for the better. that is precisely the type of family and community engagement that leads to systems change. the path of systems change based on this empirical evidence and idra’s 46 years of experience in the field, idra developed a change model, the quality schools action framework (robledo montecel & goodman, 2010), that helps school, community, family, and business leaders assure that critical features are in place. the framework draws from existing theories that suggest that, because moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 61 schools operate as complex, dynamic ecosystems, lasting systems change depends on sustained action within and outside of those systems. research on best practices of high-performing schools, for example, has examined the links among a constellation of indicators (e.g.: teaching quality and effective school governance; parent engagement and student success). less examined, however, are the contextual and moderating factors that may impede or accelerate school system change. the quality schools action framework bridges that gap. the framework offers a way to assess school conditions and outcomes, identifying leverage points for improvement and informing action. in essence, the framework poses five key questions: • what do we need? • how do we make change happen? • which fundamentals must be secured? • where do we focus systems change? and • what outcomes will result? the quality schools action framework draws on current research and knowledge of the field. it also reflects common sense. for example, research and experience recognize that students are far more likely to succeed when: they have the chance to work with highly qualified, committed teachers who use effective, accessible curricula; their parents and communities engage in their education; and students, themselves, engage in their learning. we also know that effective schools depend on good governance to guide their success and on fair funding to effectively serve all of their students each school day. the framework focuses actionable knowledge on transforming educational systems. like ecosystems in the natural world and many successful business ecosystems, educational ecosystems have inputs, throughputs and outputs (morgan, 2015). layers and levels are integrated to form a complete ecosystem. with this framework, idra makes the case for metrics that measure not only outputs, but also inputs and throughputs. simply focusing on the educational outputs of student scores, for example, without giving focused attention to the inputs, such as fair funding and efficacious governance, and the throughputs of teaching quality and curriculum rigor, will not lead to transformation or the successful education of all children. neither will excusing school failure based on characteristics of the students in the school. a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 62 if your flower garden stops blooming, you check the soil to see if it needs more or less water. similarly, for classrooms, measuring outputs alone denies school leaders and communities the opportunity to know the reasons behind their results and hinders their ability to effectively focus efforts on substantial improvement. as in networked knowledge systems utilized in business, “organizational knowledge resides in a complex network of individuals, systems and procedures, both inside and outside the organization” (homa & evans, 2010). states must not only issue grades for school districts and campuses but must link those grades to fair funding and availability of resources, student engagement, and curriculum offerings and rigor, among other factors. adaptable ecosystems also require core technologies that provide substance knowledge about the system. in this regard, idra’s experiences with technology and data have included evaluating the pedagogical and administrative value of large comprehensive programs. critical thinking requires critical dialogue that does not replace the teacher with a piece of software. yet, educators must adapt and extend their practice to include the media and instruments accessible to all children and to use technology to provide knowledge about educational inputs, throughputs, and outputs in schools, districts, and states. idra brings together communities of educators through online forums, such as idra’s equity connection, where participants learn new strategies and share feedback and advice with each other (www.idra.org/equity-connection). a complex network is part of the education ecosystems in different contexts. actionable knowledge has been a focus of idra-sponsored and -designed conferences and strategic convenings over the years. idra’s work has seen the interplay and inter-relationship of policy, research, practice, and engagement. idra experienced each informing and impacting the others. all too often, officials enact public education policy and practice without the benefit of research; education systems isolate breakthrough practices to individual classrooms; and reforms either mute or marginalize the power of intergenerational family leadership in school transformation. idra conducts research, keeps up with relevant strategic findings in the field, and questions research that is flawed due to deficit questions and approaches. idra adopts bordercrossing strategies that bridge the divides from research to practice and school to community. through this cross-cutting approach, idra works to secure sustainable solutions for schools and districts across states and nationally. moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 63 for each and every student fifty years after the 1968 u.s. commission on civil rights hearings on the status of mexican americans in the southwest, san antonio hosted an anniversary event to reflect on all that has occurred since then. the educational equity and social justice issues highlighted then still apply today. a number of still-powerful civil rights-focused organizations originated in that era 45 to 50 years ago. idra was among them. thousands of classroom teachers, principals, other educators, families, policymakers, community leaders, researchers and, of course, students themselves, have played important roles in the idra story. as a result, together we have impacted millions of students’ lives by dramatically improving educational opportunities for all children. idra experiences and research show that the blueprint for quality education requires engaging students in learning, with a relevant and rigorous curriculum, a cadre of caring and qualified teachers and support staff, an inclusive program of curricular and extracurricular activities that provide students the opportunity to develop their talents, and strong partnerships with families and communities. we have seen the excitement and pride of educators, parents, communities and students when they work together successfully. cory, one of idra’s valued youth partnership program tutors, wrote: “i want to feel that i’m somebody. somebody that my mother can be proud of. and i want the teacher and children to see that i can help them.” effective schools are those where all students are valued and where all students count. the task is to transform systems, so schools embrace the characteristics of all students and celebrate the strengths they bring. over four decades ago, idra thought that, in a few years, idra would do what was needed to meet the challenges for children to have access to excellent public schools. today, we celebrate the progress we have achieved by working together and taking a stand when others would not. much work remains. the following is idra’s promise to children (robledo montecel, 2017): dear children, we see you. we value you. we cherish you. we promise to provide you an opportunity to learn in your own neighborhood with caring and qualified teachers. we promise you a curriculum that truly prepares you for college, in an environment that respects you and values you and your background. we promise to engage a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 64 you—not only academically—but as an active part of the community and life of school. and we promise to support the commitment of your parents to high quality education. we promise to your families and communities… unwaveringly, we stand with you. together, idra will work fiercely to assure that youth, families and communities are heard—not as problems—but as partners in creating strong and vibrant schools. we promise to work with teachers and principals and superintendents and school boards to prepare all students so that we can all live in an america that keeps its promises to justice and opportunity. and we promise to tell the truth. we will share what we see honestly—to promote good and just public policy. we are still here because we haven’t achieved those goals. we won’t stop until we have. moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 65 references avilés, n. (2018, september). school leaders improve english learner literacy with focus on inferencing. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/schoolleaders-im idra newsletter. prove-english-learner-literacy-with-focus-on-inferencing/ avilés, n., & bojorquez, h. (2018, january). integrating the assets of social justice principles to transform schools. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resourcecenter/integrating-assets-social-justice-principles-transform-schools/ baker, b. d., farrie, d., & sciarra, d. (2018). is school funding fair? a national report card. newark, nj: education law center. retrieved from https://drive.google.com/open?id=1btajzuqos8pegww6oubotb6omvw1huji berliner, d. c. (2005). “the near impossibility of testing for teacher quality.” journal of teacher education, 56(3), 205-213. retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/7821166/the_near_ impossibility_of_testing_for_teacher_quality bernal, j. (1984, august). highlights of the education reform bill passed by the 68th texas legislature, second called session june 4-july 2, 1984. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/highlights-of-the-education-reformbill-passed-by-the-68th-texas-legislature-aug-1984.pdf bojorquez, h. (2014). college bound and determined. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/10/idra-college-bound-and-determined-sm.pdf bojorquez, h. (2018, april). the link between institutional grit and non-cognitive skills. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/the-link-betweeninstitutional-grit-and-non-cognitive-skills/ bojorquez, h. (2019, april). fixing asset-based early childhood education. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/fixing-asset-based-early-childhoodeducation/ brischetto, r. (1973). fiscal inequalities in texas school finance: an empirical analysis of who is injured. idra: tee file supplement no. 3. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/07/fiscal-inequities-in-texas-school-finance-an-empirical-analysis-ofwho-is-injured-by-robert-brischetto.pdf cantú, l. (2009, may 14). student voices on being valued, classnotes podcast, episode 54. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/student-voices-on-being-valued/ cárdenas, j. a., & cárdenas, b. (1977). the theory of incompatibilities: a conceptual framework for responding to the educational needs of mexican american children. san antonio, tx, intercultural development research association. cárdenas, j. a., del refugio robledo, m., & supik, j. d. (1986). texas school dropout survey project: a summary of findings. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 66 cárdenas, j. a. (1991, february). supreme court narrows finance reform parameter. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/supremecourt-narrows-finance-reform-parameter-feb-1991.pdf cárdenas, j. a. (1994, may). the fifty most memorable quotes in school finance. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/the-fifty-most-memorablequotes-in-school-finance/ cárdenas, j. a. (1995). multicultural education – a generation of advocacy. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. cárdenas, j. a. (1997a). texas school finance reform – an idra perspective. san antonio, texas: intercultural development research association. cárdenas, j. a. (1997b, march). school finance reform and intra-district equity: an excerpt. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/school-financereform-and-intra-district-equity-an-excerpt/ chavkin, n. f. (2017). family engagement with schools: strategies for school social workers and educators. new york, ny: oxford university press. cortez, a. (1977, august). senate bill 1 revises distribution of state aid. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/senate-bill-1-revisesdistribution-of-state-aid-aug-1977.pdf cortez, a. (1984, june). constitutionality of texas school finance system challenged. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ constitutionality-of-texas-school-finance-system-challenged-june-1984.pdf cortez, a. (1991, june). wealthy districts file suit challenging constitutionality of senate bill 351. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/wealthydistricts-file-suit-challenging-constitutionality-of-senate-bill-351-jan-1991.pdf cortez, a. (1993, july). school finance update: senate bill 7 is legislators’ latest attempt at equity. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/ 2018/07/school-finance-update-june-july-1993.pdf cortez, a. (1995, march). the texas supreme court’s decision in edgewood iv: findings, implications, and next steps. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/07/the-texas-supreme-courts-decision-in-edgewood-iv-findingsimplications-and-next-steps-march-1995.pdf cortez, a. (2004, february). insufficient funding for bilingual education in texas. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/insufficient-funding-forbilingual-education-in-texas/ cortez, a. (2006, december). upcoming 2007 texas legislative session – key issues and expectations. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resourcecenter/upcoming-2007-texas-legislative-session/ cortez, a. (2012, december 5). analysis shows wide funding disparities – educational opportunity in texas depends on where you live, testimony. san antonio, tx: intercultural development moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 67 research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/dr-albertcortez-testifies-in-school-finance-case/ cortez, a. (2013, august). a post session assessment of texas education policy changes considered, adopted and rejected in 2013. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/a-post-session-assessment/ cortez, j. d. (2015, june-july). ¿y ahora qué? and now what? – community groups in south texas work together to improve education. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/y-ahora-que/ cortez, a., & sepúlveda-hassell, s. (1982, august). supreme court rules in favor of undocumented children. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/07/supreme-court-rules-in-favor-of-undocumented-children-aug1982.pdf doe v. plyler, 458 f. supp. 569 (e.d. tex. 1978). https://tarltonapps.law.utexas.edu/exhibits/ww_justice/documents_2/plyler_opinion_2_1980 .pdf flores v. meese, 681 f. supp. 665 (c.d. cal. 1988). https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/districtcourts/fsupp/681/665/1800754/ foxworth, a. m. (2000, july). bridging the gap between schools and families: a family friendly approach. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/bridgingthe-gap-between-schools-and-families/ hill, h. c. (2009, march). fixing teacher professional development. phi delta kappan. 90(7), 470476. hinojosa, d. (2018, april 4). what the research says on expanding high quality educational opportunities for all students, testimony presented for the senate education committee. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/what-the-research-says-on-expanding-high-qualityeducational-opportunities-for-all-students/ homa, b. j., & evans, s. (2010). super-flexibility for knowledge enterprises: a toolkit for dynamic adaptation. new york, ny: springer-verlag berlin heidelberg. hopwood v. texas, 78 f.3d 932 (5th cir. 1996). https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellatecourts/f3/78/932/504514/ idra. (1981, january). court rules in u.s. vs. texas. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/court-rules-in-us-v-texas-jan-1981.pdf idra. (1984, august). a decade of school finance reform. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/a-decade-of-school-finance-reformaug-1984.pdf idra. (2007). tools for action – enlightened public policy. idra newsletter. https://www.idra.org/resource-center/tools-for-action-englightened-public-policy/ a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 68 idra. (2015a, september). court can end neglect of millions of school children – texas supreme court school finance hearing held. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/court-can-end-neglect-of-millions-of-school-children/ idra. (2015b, december 15). the new every student succeeds act – progress and promise of retreat and surrender. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from http://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/idra-policy-note-everystudent-succeeds-act-2015.pdf idra. (2016a). semillitas de aprendizaje supplemental early childhood curriculum, website. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.semillitasdeaprendizaje.com idra. (2016b, may 13). fair funding is nonnegotiable – texans must have excellent schools for all – the texas supreme court ruling does not excuse state policymakers from putting texas children first, statement. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://idra.createsend1.com/t/viewemail/r/d42441abd4fbd091 2540ef23f30feded idra. (2017). idra transition to teaching program: 15-year synthesis. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/09/transition-to-teaching-report-idra-sept-2018.pdf idra. (2019a). timeline – a history of idra policy work to secure excellent and equitable schooling for all children. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from http://b.link/idrapolicytimeline idra. (2019b, march 20). the texas top ten percent plan’s legacy in supporting equal access to college – policy brief. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/the-texas-top-ten-percent-planslegacy-in-supporting-equal-access-to-college-policy-brief/ idra. (2019c, may). 7 things to ensure school finance equity in texas – infographic. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/7-things-to-ensure-school-finance-equity-in-texasinfographic/ jensen, e. (2003). tools for engagement: managing emotional states for learner success. san diego, ca: the brain store, inc. johnson, p. (2015, march). valuing teachers – idra’s approach to professional development. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/valuing-teachersidras-approach-to-professional-development/ johnson, r. l. (2018, october). texas public school attrition study, 2018-19 – high school attrition improves by two points. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/texas-public-school-attrition-study-2016-17-highschool-attrition-returns-24-percent-one-year-bump/ lau v. nichols, 414 u.s. 563. (1974). u.s. supreme court. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/414/563/#tab-opinion-1950565 moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 69 lester, s. (1977, august). sb1 rewards superintendents; steps 11, 12 & 13 aid teachers. idra newsletter. retrieved from http://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/sb1-rewardssuperintendents-steps-11-12-13-aid-teachers-aug-1977.pdf meatto, k. (2019, may 2). still separate, still unequal: teaching about school segregation and educational inequality. new york times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/learning/lesson-plans/still-separate-still-unequalteaching-about-school-segregation-and-educational-inequality.html michael williams, commissioner of education et al. v. the texas taxpayer and student fairness coalition et al. texas supreme court, no. 14-0776 (2016). http://search.txcourts.gov/case.aspx?cn=14-0776&coa=cossup montemayor, a. m. (1994). wow! workshops on workshops. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. montemayor, a. m. (1996, september). families united for education conversations with parents and friends, editorial. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/families-united-for-education-conversations-withparents-and-friends/ montemayor, a. m. (2011, june-july). family leadership in the fieldlasting community leadership in education. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resourcecenter/family-leadership-in-the-field/ montemayor, a. m. (2012, february). hosting superintendents, quizzing candidates and marking maps – a fully engaged pta comunitario. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/hosting-superintendents-quizzing-candidates-andmarking-maps/ montemayor, a. m. (2013, march). pta comunitario as a family leadership model – an “investing in innovation i3 project.” idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/pta-comunitario-as-a-family-leadership-model/ montemayor, a. m. (2017a, may). idra education cafe – a structure for families transforming schools in their communities. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/idra-education-cafe-structure-families-transformingschools-communities/ montemayor, a. m. (2017b, january). families transforming public schools – gathering data, informing policy and practice. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/families-transforming-public-schools-gathering-datainforming-policy-practice/ montemayor, a. m. (2019, january). family leadership in education projects… and the data that drives them. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/familyleadership-in-education-projects-and-the-data-that-drives-them/ morgan. j. (2015, august 12). the innovation ecosystem for the future of work. forbes. retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/08/12/innovationecosystem-future-of-work/#75d791592eec a unique blend of research, policy, practice and engagement association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 70 orfield, g., frankenberg, e., ee, j., & ayscue, j. b. (2019). harming our common future: america's segregated schools 65 years after brown. the civil rights project. retrieved from https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-anddiversity/harming-our-common-future-americas-segregated-schools-65-years-after-brown rivera, m. (2017a). what about the schools? factors contributing to expanded state investment in school facilities – full report. san antonio, texas: intercultural development research association. retrieved from http://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/executivesummary-idra-school-facilities-report-2017.pdf rivera, m. (2017b). what about the schools? factors contributing to expanded state investment in school facilities – case study state highlights #1: texas. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from http://www.idra.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/04/texas-idra-school-facilities-report-2017.pdf robledo montecel, m. (2004, april). from dropping out to holding on – seven lessons from texas. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/fromdropping-out-to-holding-on-2004/ robledo montecel, m. (2007, january). framing systems change for student success. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/framing-systems-changefor-student-success-2/ robledo montecel, m. (2009). continuities – lessons for the future of education from the idra coca-cola valued youth program. san antonio, texas: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/valued-youth/continuities/ robledo montecel, m. (2011, december). fair funding is essential to having excellent schools for all texas students. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resourcecenter/fair-funding-is-essential-to-having-excellent-schools-for-all-texas-students/ robledo montecel, m. (2017). idra 2016 annual report – keeping the promise; putting children first. san antonio, texas: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/idra-annual-report-2016.pdf robledo montecel, m., & cortez, j. d. (2002). “successful bilingual education programs: development and the dissemination of criteria to identify promising and exemplary practices in bilingual education at the national level.” bilingual research journal, 26(1). robledo montecel, m., cortez, j. d., cortez, a., & villarreal, a. (2002). good schools and classrooms for children learning english: a guide. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. robledo montecel, m., cortez, a., & penny-velasquez, m. (1989). the answer: valuing youth in schools and families: a report on hispanic dropouts in the dallas independent school district. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. robledo montecel, m., & goodman, c. l. (eds). (2010). courage to connect – a quality schools action framework. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/change-model/courage-to-connect/ moreno, robledo montecel, & montemayor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 71 robledo montecel, m., & montemayor, a. m. (2018, june-july). beginning with the end in mind to establish equitable, excellent education. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/beginning-with-the-end-in-mind-to-establish-equitableexcellent-education/ robledo montecel, m., & montemayor, a. m. (2018, june-july). valuing youth and assuring that all youth count. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resourcecenter/valuing-youth-and-assuring-that-all-youth-count/ robledo montecel, m., & montemayor, a. m. (2018, june-july). interaction with the ecosystem – the idra quality schools action framework. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/interaction-with-the-ecosystem-the-idra-qualityschools-action-framework/ romero, a. a. (2001, september). destined to get an equitable system of school funding. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/destined-to-get-anequitable-system-of-school-funding/ san antonio independent school district v. rodríguez, 411 u.s. 1. no. 71-1332 (1973). scott, b. (2002, may). who’s responsible, who’s to blame? idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/whos-responsible-whos-to-blame/ shirley neeley, texas commissioner of education, et al. v. west orange-cove consolidated indep. sch. dist, et al. no. 04-1144 (2005). texas taxpayer and student fairness coalition et al. vs. michael williams, commissioner of education et al. (august 28, 2014). final judgment and findings of fact, conclusions of law (no. d-1gn-11-003130). http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/archive/2014/24917.pdf u.s. department of education. (2007). engaging parents in education: lessons from five parental information and resource centers. washington, dc: office of innovation and improvement. retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/admins/comm/parents/parentinvolve/engagingparents.pdf united states v. texas, 680 f.2d 356. (1982). u.s. court of appeals, fifth circuit. https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-states-of-tex villarreal, a., & cárdenas, d. (1981, july). third major piece of legislation affecting bilingual education. idra newsletter. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/wp-content/uploads/ 2018/07/third-major-piece-of-legislation-affecting-bilingual-education-july-1981.pdf fronteras de nuestra educación indocumentada : pedagogies of migration volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 80 lessons from the educational borderlands: documenting the pedagogies of migration of chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant students and households corina benavides lópez california state university, dominguez hills abstract this theory-building research, based on analysis of oral history interviews and written family ethnographic papers, attempts to develop the theoretical framework, pedagogies of migration, centering the learning that takes place in chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant households, i.e. educación. through the layering and intersecting of the frameworks, latina/o critical theory (latcrit), pedagogies of the home, community cultural wealth and educación, pedagogies of migration may serve as a lens to illuminate and validate the lessons chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrants learn from crossing physical borders to the united states, and the way these experiences support their children as they encounter the borderlands of u.s. educational institutions. the theory pedagogies of migration centralizes the daily-lived experiences faced by chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant students and their households. centralizing the educación embedded in undocumented immigrant households promotes an assets-based analysis of their experiences and moves us away from deficit-based views of these communities. moving away from deficit constructs that blame the community’s culture, race, status, and class for school failure encourages one to rethink accepted processes of incorporation of chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant students in educational institutions. pedagogies of migration may help illustrate how the lessons learned from the home directly support the educational attainment of children of undocumented immigrant households. benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 81 introduction to pedagogies of migration an emerging model chicana/o and latina/o1 undocumented immigrants experience a systemic exclusion in u.s. education due to deficit frameworks that blame the individual’s culture, race, immigration status, and class for school failure (valencia & solórzano, 1997). educators must make an attempt to incorporate the experiential knowledge and be more inclusive of this population in their everyday practices. this discussion focuses on the emerging theoretical framework pedagogies of migration. the concept is presented as a tool to support educators who work and interact with chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant students, their families and communities. the objective is to provide a theoretical and analytical discussion that explores and illuminates answers to the research questions: 1. why and how do chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant families share or not share their immigration history with their children? 2. how does immigration status impact the educational trajectories of chicana/o, latina/o students? 3. how does learning or knowing about their family’s undocumented immigration history impact the educational aspirations and outcomes of chicana/o, latina/o students? the emerging framework, pedagogies of migration, emerges through the analysis of interviews conducted with ucla students. the data is triangulated with analysis of oral history family ethnographic papers written by the same students. the goal is to 1) document the educational and immigration experiences of the research participants, and 2) to capture the strengths and areas of challenge the emerging framework pedagogies of migration provides. conceptualizing a pedagogies of migration model in this section i begin to develop the theoretical framework, pedagogies of migration, which centers the teaching and learning that takes place in chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant households and communities. in conceptualizing the framework, i lay out a latina/o 1 i acknowledge that many new migrants, especially indigenous migrants, may not self-identify as chicana/o, especially in the first generation. all study participants in this research are self-identified mexican, mexican american, and/or chicana/o. as a result, chicana/o is used as an identity term. in addition, latina/o critical theory, a pan-ethnic theoretical framework that provides a lens for understanding pan-latina/o experiences is central in the theory-building aspect of the paper. as a result, both chicana/o and latina/o are used together and interchangeably depending on the discussion throughout the paper. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 82 critical theory (latcrit) in education framework (solórzano, 1998; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; solórzano & yosso, 2001a, b). in doing so, i illustrate the role latcrit plays in pedagogies of migration, and how it helps link the concepts of pedagogies of the home (delgado bernal, 2001), educación (reese 1995, 2002; reese, kroesen, & gallimore, 2000; valenzuela, 1999), and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2006, 2005). i posit linking these concepts allows us to theorize about a chicana/o, latina/o immigrant epistemology, or way of teaching and learning, in response to u.s.-mexico border relations and immigration policy.2 my purpose is to shift the lens away from deficit theories that focus on negative educational outcomes that fail to account for structural forces of discrimination faced by members of this population. latina/o critical theory: a framework for developing pedagogies of migration critical race theory (crt) roots itself in civil rights and legal scholarship that dates back to the early 1970s (delgado, 1995). crt is a theoretical tool applied in research to account for the systematic racism faced by people of color (i.e. african americans, asian americans, latina/o, native americans) in u.s. society (ibid). crt provides a critical lens to identify and challenge multiple forms of subordination based on race, class, gender and sexual orientation in order to reach equality (ibid). important to the discussion about equality is providing a definition of race and racism. for the purposes of this research, race is defined as social construction and is assigned specific meanings for people of color influenced by social perceptions held regarding phenotype as well as historical, geographical, and social contexts (haney lópez, 1996; omi & winant, 1994; solórzano & yosso, 2001a, b). racism, on the other hand, is defined by scholars as an inherent belief of superiority of one race over all others and thereby allowing for social dominance, exploitation, and discrimination of people of color while privileging whites (lorde, 1984; marable, 1992; memmi, 1968; solórzano, 1998). by centering the theoretical framework of crt in understanding race and racism, as it exists in educational structures, the many historically silenced voices from the margins come to 2 the goal here is not to essentialize and collapse all immigrant experiences (indigenous, central american, mexican, rural, urban, etc.) together. it is an opportunity to explore how u.s. immigration policies and relations to the u.s.-mexico border may inform immigrant and, more specifically, latina/o undocumented immigrant experiences in how they may navigate u.s. educational systems. thus, it is an opportunity to inform a lens that may be diversified depending on historical context, nation-sending relations, and one’s closeness or removal from the border. benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 83 life. in the field of education, solórzano and yosso (2001a) provide a comprehensive outline of the basis of crt with the description of the five tenets of the framework: 1) the intercentricity3 of race and racism with other forms of marginalization; 2) the challenge to dominant ideology; 3) the commitment to social justice; 4) the importance of experiential knowledge; and 5) the use of interdisciplinary perspectives. latina/o critical theory (latcrit) serves as an extension of and roots itself within the framework of crt and expands the discourse of to address issues specific to latina/o communities such as language, immigration, ethnicity, culture, phenotype, and sexuality and history of colonization (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). latcrit in education creates an avenue to help shed light on how pan-latino communities face multiple forms of subordination. for the purpose of this study, latcrit serves as a tool to illuminate the multiple forms of oppression faced by chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrants and their families in education. specifically, it may help develop an understanding on the oppression faced by immigrant and u.s.-born chicanas/os and latinas/os in the intersection of nativism and racism (i.e. racist nativism).4 figure 1 begins to illustrate the emerging model pedagogies of migration. the intention is to begin construction of a model that shows latcrit as the overarching framework. my attempt is to apply a latcrit theoretical lens and highlight the links between the concepts of educación, community cultural wealth, and pedagogies of the home to explore the possibility of an immigrant way of learning and teaching constructed in chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant households. recognizing that within chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant households, one may find a diversity, the point here is to utilize the theoretical framework, pedagogies of migration, to build possible explanation of these diverse experiences faced by members of one family. the following section continues to build the concept pedagogies of migration through educación. 3 “intercentricity of race and racism with…” is defined as the centrality and intersectionality of race and racism with other forms of subordination such as class, gender, sexuality, immigration status. 4 racist nativism is the belief that people of color (immigrants or not) are seen as non-native to the u.s. while whites (immigrants or not) are seen as native to the u.s. therefore allowing them to practice dominance over people and immigrants of color (perez huber, benavides lópez, malagon, velez, & solórzano, 2008). this system of domination is evidenced through the creation and implementation of anti-immigration reform legislation and policy aimed toward specific racial groups. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 84 figure 1. a latcrit framework: toward a pedagogies of migration model educación educación is defined as, not only one’s formal education but is inclusive of the moral, cultural, and community upbringing and caring of a child (adapted from reese 1995, 2002; reese, kroesen, & gallimore, 2000; valenzuela, 1999). educación includes but is not limited to lessons of right and wrong, good behavior, manners, and respect for family and community, including lessons of resistance and survival as people of color in the u.s. (ibid). the concept of educación is helpful in understanding the educational achievement and/or experiences of chicana/o, latina/o students because it shifts the lens away from traditional schooling practices that may deem their cultural and educational traditions within deficit ideas. important to note here, is the conceptualization of family and family unity and how learning occurs in these systems. as a traditional social construct, family and family unity privileges the family structure that follows heteronormative ideas centered on the formation of a father figure, mother figure, children, and a nuclear home system based on biological connections. when centering the experiences of undocumented chicana/o, latina/o immigrants, one must acknowledge that for many, family separation for short or long periods of time or permanently is a reality resulting in diverse family and home structures. thus, extended family members in addition to community members that may make up the household/home are acknowledged as part of the family system. adapting reese (1995, 2002), reese, kroesen, & gallimore, (2000) and valenzuela’s (1999) framework on latina/o education and their homes, educación is more specifically defined for this study as: latcrit benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 85 (1) the values and morals of teaching one’s children of the “good path” or buen camino directly connected to cultural, social, religious, spiritual expectations, and systems of caring. (2) the value of family unity, including parents, community folk and elders which all directly impact and influence educational aspirations, expectations, and outcomes. (3) the rules of the home, which directly connects to value of family unity but includes understanding of right and wrong resulting in some or greater “control” of a child’s academic trajectory. (4) the rules of the community, which directly connects to the learning that takes place outside the home influencing the child’s academic trajectory. the idea of educación is that family can always turn to these values. furthermore, the concept validates that learning takes place not only in traditional schooling spaces, but also within one’s home and community.5 in figure 2, educación intersects with the latcrit framework. through intersecting the two concepts, educación provides an opportunity to extend our theoretical model to encompass the learning that occurs when elders and other family members teach valuable lessons that may result in awareness and survival skills in society and in educational settings. furthermore, by adding educación to the model it pushes the framework to begin discussing the educational experiences of chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant households leading us to the following concept, pedagogies of the home. 5 this is not an attempt to romanticize latina/o homes or community or to take away from the reality that social and cultural forces such as racism, poverty and family separation amongst other issues may impact some latina/o, chicana/o immigrant households resulting in negative home and community experiences. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 86 figure 2. latcrit & educación: toward a pedagogies of migration model pedagogies of the home delgado bernal’s (2001) concept of pedagogies of the home analyzes the borderlands and the space of nepantla (anzaldua, 2002) or in-between and transitional space that many chicana/o, latina/o students raised in undocumented homes may experience. delgado bernal (2001) defines pedagogies of the home as learning that comes from the communication, practices and daily-lived experiences that occur in the home and community.6 the concept pedagogies of the home sheds light on the assets chicana/o, latina/o students may own based on lessons they take from their homes and community via their consciousness, awareness, and social connections. this awareness and consciousness roots itself in a mixture of traditions that straddle cultures, races, languages, nations, sexualities, and spiritualities (delgado bernal, 2001). pedagogies of the home serves as a cultural knowledge base supporting chicana college students as they negotiate and resist sexism, racism and class discrimination (delgado bernal, 2001). the resistance is evidenced on how chicana students negotiate and embrace their bilingualism, biculturalism, commitment to communities and spiritualties all learned through lessons in their homes (delgado bernal, 2001). 6 important to note here, is that the “home” is not only the home one lives and grows up in, but it is inclusive of the community and community members that influences one. educación latcrit benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 87 pedagogies of the home is a lens that provides strategies to understanding forms of resistance that challenge mainstream educational norms faced by students of color. delgado bernal’s study on pedagogies of the home provides an opportunity to extend figure 1 and figure 2 toward a pedagogies of migration framework. by adding pedagogies of the home to the pedagogies of migration model, in figure 3, the framework continues to support an understanding of chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant education as experienced in the home via lessons gained through intentional teachings. these lessons may result in resistance skills against unequal schooling practices. in addition to the lessons gained at home, learning also takes place via interaction with the community illustrated by the concept of community cultural wealth. figure 3: latcrit, educación & pedagogies of the home: toward a pedagogies of migration model community cultural wealth yosso’s (2005, 2006) concept of community cultural wealth centralizes the assets or positive attributes found in chicana/o, latina/o communities and families traditionally constructed as “failing” in education. community cultural wealth pushes researchers to move away from educational deficit constructs of working class and poor communities of color. through the construction of a community cultural wealth model, yosso (2005, 2006) highlights the assets or forms of capital these communities hold that allow students to succeed in u.s. latcrit educación pedagogies of the home association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 88 lessons from the educational borderlands education. community cultural wealth consists of six tenets that help to identify the assets, usually not seen through deficit frameworks, of marginalized communities: 1) aspirational capital, inclusive of hopes and dreams that support educational success; 2) linguistic capital, such as abilities to speak more than one language; 3) navigational capital, exemplified by the abilities to navigate and understand social institutions in order to access educational resources; 4) social capital or the community networks one uses in order to accomplish educational goals; 5) familial capital, inclusive of the support provided by family as well as lessons of family and community history provided to help build self-awareness and identity; and 6) resistance capital, which consists of the skills and knowledge, taught in order to fight against social inequality. in further developing the pedagogies of migration model, community cultural wealth serves to illuminate the unacknowledged wealth and/or assets found within the home and community that support educational success. this wealth supports students in their navigation of and survival in the u.s. educational pipeline. by intersecting the concepts of community cultural wealth, educación, and pedagogies of the home within a latcrit framework, in figure 4, the finalized pedagogies of migration model emerges. figure 4. an emerging pedagogies of migration model pedagogies of migration educación pedagogies of the home community cultural wealth latcrit benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 89 figure 4 illustrates the model pedagogies of migration. the following section provides a further developed definition of pedagogies of migration. in working from the definition, i continue theorizing on the application of pedagogies of migration as a framework to building an understanding of chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant education. defining pedagogies of migration defined, pedagogies of migration consist of individual, family, and community lessons used by immigrant and immigrant-identified individuals to survive and resist multiple forms of subordination. pedagogies of migration are an (undocumented) immigrant way of teaching and learning, an immigrant epistemology that is inclusive of, but is not limited to pedagogies of: historical context, sacrifice and bravery, work ethic, immigrant surveillance, and social justice. more specifically the five elements that construct pedagogies of migration are defined as: pedagogies of historical context consists of the historically informed social, cultural and racial awareness an immigrant or immigrant-identified individual develops as a result of familial (undocumented) immigration history intentionally and unintentionally taught by family and community. pedagogies of sacrifice and bravery focuses on the lessons and awareness of survival gained through the struggles immigrant, immigrant families, and children of immigrants face as a result of undocumented border crossing(s), historical and personal socioeconomic status and immigration status. pedagogies of work ethic is the knowledge gained through witnessing working class (undocumented) immigrant family and community role models as they physically labor, work toward, and aspire for academic success, self-sufficiency, and self determination. pedagogies of immigrant surveillance speaks to the strategic and unconscious learned behavior of undocumented immigrant physical and psychological self-monitoring experienced at familial, community and personal levels in response to institutionalized systems of policing. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 90 pedagogies of social justice derive from the lessons gained through activism toward social equity and acts of resistance an individual and/or family participates in, informed by the knowledge gained from one’s (undocumented) immigration history. the goal of pedagogies of migration is to provide a lens that allows for research to move away from deficit-based frameworks that focus on negative mexican and chicana/o undocumented immigrant educational outcomes (valencia & solórzano, 1997). specific to this research, pedagogies of migration may help illuminate how the educación, gained through knowing and understanding one’s undocumented immigration history impacts the educational attainment and aspirations held by chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant students and their families. developing a pedagogies of migration model in this section the goal is to provide examples through data to illustrate the application of pedagogies of migration. the focus of the study builds on the immigration and educational experience of twelve ucla students. the research participants include: a) three undocumented women: amadis, dolores, and josefina; b) three undocumented men: ricardo, alex, and raul; c) three u.s.-born citizen women: paulina, maria, and nayeli and; d) three u.s.-born citizen men: jose, enrique, and pancho. the ucla student research participants were selected for the study based on the following specific categories: 1) male or female adult of mexican descent; 2) a) immigrants who are currently is or previously were undocumented; or b) u.s.-born citizen who’s family member/s (parent/s and/or sibling/s) who currently are or previously have been undocumented immigrant/s; 3) community college student who transferred to ucla via the academic advancement program, transfer summer program (tsp); 4) as a tsp student enrolled in the chicana and chicano studies course, history of latino immigration and identity; and benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 91 5) conducted research and wrote an oral history paper on their family’s immigration experience as part of the tsp chicana/o studies course. by the finalization of the study, all the students had completed their bachelor of arts degree, but this was not a requirement to participate in the study. research method the data collection and analysis of this research followed adapted grounded theory methods (gtm) (glasser & strauss, 1967). i utilized grounded theory methods as a guide, i did not follow the traditional principles of gtm which calls for entering the field without preexisting theoretical frameworks or a literature base (ibid). for this study, the emerging theoretical framework, pedagogies of migration, played a significant role in how i explored and analyzed data for this study. the data included one, thirty minute to one hour semi-structured, in-depth oral history interview with each of the twelve ucla student research collaborators focusing on their undocumented immigration history, identity, and educational experiences. all interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. yow (2005) states oral history, as a method, is important: 1) because it follows the basic principle of grounded theory methods allowing for in-depth data collection and for themes and categories to emerge; 2) because oral history as a method allows for the revealing of the daily life at home and at work that rarely gets recorded; and 3) because it lends itself feasibly to recording family history through, stories, feelings, and motivations. as a research method, oral history allowed for the application of the emerging theoretical framework pedagogies of migration. oral history interview methods promote the use of creative tools such as art, images, old family pictures, music, historical images, and other tools to conjure memory and feeling (yow, 2005). for this study i made use of the famous corrido, or traditional country mexican music with a story, la jaula de oro (the golden cage) (los tigres del norte, 1984). the song la jaula de oro speaks to the daily and life-long struggle mexican undocumented immigrants face in the u.s. as members of society, trapped in a cage of gold without real freedom as the “american dream” promises. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 92 in addition to the use of the song la jaula de oro, i also shared a small 1x2 inch image of a painting by los angeles-based chicana artist, lilia ramirez, 7 “paletas si, migra no,” (“popsicles yes, border patrol/homeland security no”). the image is of a latino paletero (popsicle/ice cream man) running in terror away from his ice cream cart as migra officers approach him. it is an image that depicts and captures the terror experienced by many undocumented latino people in their communities when they come face to face with migra agents who raid worksites, streets, homes, and their safety. i began each interview playing the song la jaula de oro and showing the image, “paletas si, migra no,” to each participant before i began recording our interaction. none had personally seen the image before. the purpose of showing them the image and playing the song as part of the protocol was to help the process of recalling personal and family stories, memories, feelings and insight about their own undocumented immigrant experience, and/or that of their family members as “triggered” by the art and music. in addition to the oral history interviews, the research participants were asked to submit their research papers based on their family’s immigration history they produced in the summer transfer program course history of latina/o immigration and identity. the project is a 1520 page written paper based on library literature review and research interviews they each conducted with family members. the object of the assignment is for students to place their family’s immigration story in a u.s. historical context. once the twelve students participating in the study were identified i requested permission to collect their written oral history papers produced for the course. ten students agreed to submit their oral history research papers. the oral history papers were analyzed and coded for emerging themes as related to the research questions and triangulated with the oral history interview data. findings the analysis of the twelve oral history interviews and ten family history papers resulted in the following sections that continue to illustrate the conceptual building of the model pedagogies of migration: 1) pedagogies of historical context; 2) pedagogies of sacrifice and 7 lilia ramirez is a los angeles-based chicana artist producing art since 1995. she holds a b.a. from ucla in world arts and cultures. her art is an expression of what she experiences as a first generation, los angeles, ca chicana. benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 93 bravery; 3) pedagogies of work ethic; 4) pedagogies of immigrant surveillance; and 5) pedagogies of social justice. pedagogies of historical context the first building block, historical context as a component of pedagogies of migration, supports the recognition of how history informs personal, familial, and community identity development. pedagogies of historical context require the understanding of oral histories as a process of teaching and learning. this process of teaching and learning is a form of rediscovery and unearthing of history and one’s past in order to understand the present and prepare for the future (brandon, 2004). in linking to the tradition of critical race theory and latcrit (solórzano, 1998; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; solórzano & yosso 2001a, b) pedagogies of historical context allows for the illumination of the many counterstories chicana/o undocumented immigrant households share as a means to surviving social subordination. these counterstories challenge the stories of those in power as a “natural” part of the dominant discourse or the “majoritarian story” (solórzano & yosso, 2001b). within the element of pedagogies of historical context, the data informed the themes: 1) self-awareness through history; 2) healing through oral history; 3) humanizing family history; and 4) history: an avenue toward educational empowerment. furthermore, the oral history papers written by the students for their chicana/o studies course exemplified the value and importance of oral history as a teaching tool for chicana/o undocumented immigrant families and an avenue for promoting self-awareness and documenting family history. in the following excerpt amadis, a currently undocumented immigrant woman, speaks to the impact interviewing her family members and writing about her family’s immigration history had on her as an incoming transfer student at the university. … so it was really hard cause like just the process of connecting the… social context, political and everything with my family it was a little hard. but it was also very exciting…because a lot of research i’ve done, it doesn’t even have to do with me at all… i think through...writing the paper i was able to learn a lot from …my family just about …who am i and i think i was able to understand my parents… that they did have a role. like even just the fact that they decided to come here to this country it was first because they wanted a better life and education was always part of the plan, even lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 94 pedagogies of historical context pedagogies of migration though they didn’t know how to help us. …i think this paper was very empowering… cause i feel like if we don’t know who we are sometimes we really don’t know…what we want for the future…it’s like how can you really want if you don’t know who you are? evident in the example is the self-awareness and sense of empowerment amadis gained as a result of documenting and historicizing her family’s immigration history. as expressed by amadis, the majority of the students participating in the study also shared the value of incorporating oral histories in their research process to building relevancy in the curriculum. figure 5 illustrates the tenet of the model pedagogies of migration. figure 5. pedagogies of historical context: step one toward a pedagogies of migration model pedagogies of sacrifice and bravery the analysis and discussion of historical context directly links to sacrifice and bravery as a component of pedagogies of migration. sacrifice and bravery promotes the recognition of struggle undocumented immigrant families face as they endure multiple forms of subordination in societal settings, educational institutions, work settings, and in the community. the following themes emerged in the data that speak to the component pedagogies of sacrifice and bravery: benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 95 1) sacrifice and bravery at the border; 2) sacrifice and bravery: fuel for academic aspirations; and 3) bravery and sacrifices within academic borders. crucial to the component of sacrifice and bravery is the necessity to take note of autobiographical accounts based on personal stories written and shared by people of color. while elusive at times, sacrifice and bravery replicates itself in autobiographical accounts written by prominent scholars of color such as w.e.b. du bois (1984/1940, 1999/1903, 1999/1920), patricia hill collins (1991), patricia williams (1991), kenji yoshino (2006) and gloria anzaldua (1987). the work of such scholars challenges mainstream ideas of acceptable scholarship while opening up doors for those at the margins. within this tradition, the students were required to document their family’s story. consequently, they captured examples of sacrifice and bravery endured by their family through their oral history papers. in the following excerpt nayeli expresses, through emotions and crying, the theme of sacrifice and bravery in sharing her need to honor her mother’s sacrifices through her academic success. every time i think of all the stuff she’s gone through… that’s the reason i’m here [ucla] [voice cracks with emotion]. if it wouldn’t have been for her i don’t know what would have happened and then after my dad died, it was like, she did everything by herself. she raised us by herself and i owe everything to her [crying]… i know my mom will always be there… it’s not just school to me, to me it’s more, it’s like validating her struggles in a way. as we see in the passage above, for nayeli the lesson she took from witnessing her mother’s struggle was, “if my mom sacrificed and made it, then i can sacrifice and make it in school.” thus, for nayeli, to not succeed academically would be a sign of failing her mother. witnessing their parents’ sacrifice and learning or knowing about their acts of bravery also influenced students to parallel such actions in their own lives. for some of the students these acts of sacrifice and bravery were economical, some were about the choices they made in everyday life, and others academic. with that said, the data informs the following discussion of work ethic as connected to immigrant experiences. figure 6 illustrates the development of the model pedagogies of migration. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 96 pedagogies of sacrifice and bravery pedagogies of historical context pedagogies of migration figure 6. pedagogies of sacrifice and bravery: step two toward a pedagogies of migration model pedagogies of work ethic pedagogies of work ethic, the third building block of pedagogies of migration, helps illuminate and explore the themes: 1) working to belong; 2) children at work; and 3) laboring toward academic success. the element of pedagogies of work ethic is informed by, and acknowledges, the long historical tradition of labor relations between the u.s. and mexico. history illustrates there exists a tenuous and many times unacknowledged push and pull relation that exploits the labor of mexican immigrant men and women in the u.s. (foley, 1997; massey, durand, & malone, 2002; ngai, 2004; sánchez, 1993; stephen, 2004). more current u.s. foreign policy exemplifies the implications of the 1994 north atlantic free trade agreement (nafta).8 as a result of nafta historical massive displacement of poverty8 according to a report by the labor council for latin american advancement and public citizen’s global trade watch (2004), mexican nationals, specifically farmers, faced economic hardship as a result of nafta. the trade agreement resulted in massive cuts in government-sponsored farm-subsidy programs forcing many farm owners off their land and forcing them to migrate into urban sectors. furthermore, the price of corn-processing increased elevating the cost of basic food stuffs such as tortillas. the study also argues that mexican women experienced a hike in poverty post nafta. benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 97 stricken villages and towns in mexico and latin america continues today (massey, durand, & malone, 2002). nafta also resulted in a rise in unauthorized mexican migration to the u.s. (labor council for latin american advancement and public citizen’s global trade watch, 2004). in addition, the policy inadvertently continues to promotes the “unofficial” recruitment and sponsored deportation of mexican migrants for labor purposes, a phenomenon which dates back to the early 1900s to 1920s with the era of el enganche (the hook) (massey, durand, & malone, 2002). pedagogies of work ethic emerges as the research participants express what it means and how it impacts them to witness their father, mother, and other family members physically labor and work as they struggle to provide for their family. there also emerged the theme of constant struggle for their family’s work to survive and to “sacar la familia adelante” (loosely/literally translated—bring the family forward toward success). in the following passage from her oral history paper, amadis shares the difficulty of witnessing her father work in the streets struggling to make ends meet. he would work about fifteen hours a day, seven days a week. behind the clean streets, beautiful lawns, and gardens lies the hard work of people like my father whose job is often seen as low skilled. in addition, my father had continued selling shrimp cocktails to make ends meet. he works under the rain and those hot days in which it feels [like] the sun would toast your skin. he not only suffered the harshness of climate but also the hostility of people. he is a street vendor… people just don’t understand that he is [a] father who works, pays taxes, and lives for his children. illustrated in the excerpt, amadis captures the struggle undocumented immigrant men endure as they work to provide for their family by laboring in the margins of society. she humanizes the experience and provides a critique of how society devalues the work of working class laborers such as gardeners, constructions workers, day laborers, and street vendors by considering this work “unskilled” (i.e. unimportant). furthermore, even in the face of massive deportations and in the constant reality of fear and terror, due to possible family separation, the parents and families of these students struggle and labor physically and emotionally toward self-sufficiency, self-determination, and socioacademic success. this day-to-day survival and evading possible deportation brings us to the lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 98 following discussion of pedagogies of immigrant surveillance. figure 7 illustrates the next step in the development of the model pedagogies of migration. figure 7. pedagogies of work ethic: step three toward final pedagogies of migration model pedagogies of immigrant surveillance pedagogies of immigrant surveillance promote the recognition of how racist nativism (perez huber, benavides lópez, malagon, velez, & solórzano, 2008) is experienced in a unique manner by those who are currently or who may have been undocumented. while diverse facets of society can experience surveillance or policing, because undocumented immigrants lack actual authorization paperwork to live and work in the u.s., the possibility of deportation has real consequences that can result in family separation and long-term detention (de genova, 2002, 2006). thus, surviving immigrant surveillance may have a direct impact in educational outcomes for students and families who are undocumented. several themes emerged from the data within the pedagogies of immigrant surveillance lens: 1) lessons of fear and terror; 2) strategies to surviving immigrant surveillance; 3) history as protection; and 4) freedom of surveillance. pedagogies of work ethic pedagogies of sacrifice and bravery pedagogies of historical context pedagogies of migration benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 99 the marginalization process that undocumented immigrants face on a daily basis, may result in many times internalizing a sense of self-surveillance, covering and self-monitoring in order to survive the anti-immigrant backlash (katanski, 2005; yoshino, 2006). on the flipside, juxtaposed to this silencing may be the nuanced lessons of survival gained from living in constant internal and physical surveillance. one example is the identification, creation and navigation of networks. these networks of resistance are counter-hegemonic in nature (covarrubias, 2005). the networks may be familial ties, connections to past activism, organizational connections, networks of encouragement, networks of favors (covarrubias, 2005). in addition, the outcome of learning how to navigate and survive immigrant surveillance and massive anti-immigrant policy may be the possible development of life skills. in the following excerpt, pancho shares the painful reality of his mother “covering” and “self-monitoring” in order to prevent detection as an undocumented immigrant and finally having the freedom to reclaim it once the family gained legal status. there was a lot of things that my parents were facing and a lot of that they withheld from expressing their cultural roots, like even talking zapoteco or … any of that stuff that was the essence of mexico, they didn’t even want to talk about it. they didn’t even want to wear their folklore colors, like the traditional stuff or even huaraches (sandals)… because they were like, “we don’t want to be marginalized anymore.” i think the biggest difference is in eighty-six, eighty-seven… when they got their residency card and they were able to apply for citizenship, i think that was the biggest turning point in my family because like i said before there’s always been this, “we need to be a part of this community. we need to establish ourselves.” when they got those documents, my dad till this day doesn’t want to apply for citizenship, he still wants to stay strongly connected to mexico. but my mom on the other hand, she applied right away because she knew that at the end of the day she was going to be able to do a lot more with that citizenship. and it changed her mentality because once she attained [citizenship]… when she got it is when she started talking more zapoteco and she started talking more about the tradition of oaxaca. i think that was the first time we all took a trip to oaxaca… so she became more like, “now i don’t have to hide anymore.” lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 100 pedagogies of immigrant surveillance pedagogies of work ethic pedagogies of sacrifice and bravery pedagogies of historical context pedagogies of migration the theme of living life without hiding, as illustrated by pancho, emerged continuously with the students whose parents had gained legal status through various means. by understanding how families like pancho’s survived or continue to survive immigrant surveillance, may help facilitate positive methods of incorporating these experiences in education and society. as a result of living and/or growing up in the u.s. applying survival tactics such as covering and self-monitoring, awareness around social justice may develop. this awareness and consciousness regarding oppressive social forces may lead to pedagogies of social justice discussed in the following section. figure 8 continues to illustrate the continual development of the model pedagogies of migration. figure 8. pedagogies of immigrant surveillance: step four toward a final pedagogies of migration model pedagogies of social justice pedagogies of social justice, the final component of pedagogies of migration, honors the unacknowledged internal and external forms of transformational resistance that individuals, families, and communities engage in as response to systems of subordination as they work toward social equity (covarrubias, 2005; covarrubias & tijerina revilla, 2003; solórzano & benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 101 delgado bernal, 2001; tijerina revilla, 2004). pedagogies of social justice allows for the illumination of the themes in the data: 1) belonging to community, and 2) honoring family through academic activism. furthermore, pedagogies of social justice helps capture the various levels of direct or indirect activism individuals participate and the impact it on their social consciousness (covarrubias & tijerina revilla, 2003; velez, perez huber, benavides lópez, de la luz, & solórzano, 2008). for the student research participants, pedagogies of social justice, provided by their family’s undocumented immigration history, helped the students identify a sense of urgency toward social equality and academic success. activism emerged in different forms, from taking on a chicana/o studies major, to becoming involved in student organizations or agencies of transformational resistance that promoted social equality and access to education and finally to choosing a career path that could support community empowerment (covarrubias & tijerina revilla, 2003; tijerina revilla, 2004). most importantly, connecting to their immigration history supported them in finding a calling to create change toward social justice and equality. for example, when i inquired how interviewing her mother for her oral history paper impacted her, dolores shared her newfound desire to “get involved.” dolores states, “…like getting involved. like trying to change a policy…some way… i’m not going to go change the whole world but… (pause).” in the interview dolores goes on to share how before learning about her mother’s immigration story and struggles, she never thought about others other than, “about me.” the newfound knowledge resulted in a passion, love and motivation for her community and her education. like dolores, getting involved and understanding a larger community context as a result of learning about her family’s undocumented immigration history and struggle was also expressed by josefina. josefina states, “…before i remember…my whole idea of going to college was like get the heck out of this latino community go to… a white affluent neighborhood and just…be at peace.” josefina in her interview continued by sharing the consciousness she gained after reconnecting to her own and her parent’s immigration history. by realizing the struggles her parents faced in order to survive as undocumented immigrants, josefina gained a consciousness of how she was part of the latina/o community that she attempted to escape. she realized the level of exploitation the chicana/o community experienced historically, and as a result, developed a desire and need to change this situation. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 102 pedagogies of immigrant surveillance pedagogies of work ethic pedagogies of sacrifice and bravery pedagogies of historical context pedagogies of social justice pedagogies of migration she and the other students experienced a process of “conscientization” or process of critical consciousness a la freire (1994/1970). this consciousness as a result of knowing their family’s undocumented immigration history and the many struggles faced is what many of the students shared was the fuel that pushed them toward academic success. figure 9 illustrates the final step in the development of the model pedagogies of migration. figure 9. pedagogies of social justice: the final step toward a pedagogies of migration model a final discussion on pedagogies of migration moving away from deficit theories that focus on negative educational outcomes for undocumented immigrant students and families, the concept pedagogies of migration may serve as a lens to illuminate the teaching and learning that takes place in chicana/o undocumented immigrant households. furthermore, pedagogies of migration as a theoretical tool may support illustrate the ventajas y conocimientos (rendon, 2014) that support lessons of survival against oppressive forces learned in these physical, social, and epistemological counterspaces (yosso & benavides lópez, 2010). benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 103 i do not argue the findings of this study are all telling of chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant students, families, and communities nor that they should be generalized to the population. the point of this analysis is to open up dialogue while acknowledging the diversity within these communities. do we as educators include discourse and analysis of undocumented students, families, and communities in our scholarship, teaching, and practice, if so, how? furthermore, a pedagogies of migration lens may also serve to shed light as to how educational policies marginalize undocumented latina/o immigrant populations. in the end, to apply the conceptual framework pedagogies of migration in future research, teaching, and policy formation may further open doors to additional questions about the educational aspirations, experiences, and outcomes for chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant students, families and communities and how we, as educators and scholars serve this population. notes a special gracias to the students whom openly and willingly shared their educational and immigration struggles with me for this research. each of you and your familias have such an inspirational story of success and endurance. gracias to dr. daniel g. solórzano for your support and guidance during the various stages of this research, your mentoring is priceless and forever appreciated. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 104 references anzaldua, g. (1987). borderlands la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute. anzaldua, g. (2002). “now let us shift…the path of conocimiento… inner work, public acts.” in g. anzaldua & a. keating (eds.), this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation (pp. 540-578). new york, ny: routledge. brandon, l. t. (2004). w/righting history: a pedagogical approach with urban african american learners. urban education, 39(6), 638-657. collins, p. h. (1991). black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. new york, ny: routledge. covarrubias, a. (2005). agencies of transformational resistance: transforming the intersection of race, class, gender, and sexuality oppression through latino critical race theory (latcrit) and praxis. unpublished doctoral dissertation, university of california, los angeles. covarrubias, a., & tijerina revilla, a. (2003). agencies of transformational resistance. florida law review, 55 (sixth annual latcrit conference), 457-477. de genova, n. (2002). migrant ‘illegality' and deportability in everyday life. annual review in anthropology, 31, 419-47. de genova, n. (2006). the legal production of mexican/migrant “illegality.” in s. obler (ed.), latinos and citizenship: the dilemma of belonging (pp. 61-90). new york, ny: palgrave. delgado, r. (ed.). (1995). critical race theory: the cutting edge. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623-639. du bois, w.e.b. (1984). dusk of dawn: an essay toward an autobiography of a race concept (with new introduction by irene diggs). london: transaction publishers. (original work published in 1940) du bois, w.e.b. (1999) the souls of black folk. in h. l. gates, jr. & t. h. oliver (eds.), the souls of black folk: authoritative text, contexts, criticism. new york, ny: w.w. norton & company. (original work published in 1903) du bois, w.e.b. (1999) darkwater: voices from within the veil (with introduction by manning marable). new york, ny: dover publications, inc. (original work published in 1920) foley, n. (1997). the white scourge: mexicans, blacks, and poor whites in texas cotton culture. berkeley, ca: university of california press. glasser, b. g., & strauss, a. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. new brunswick: aldine transaction. haney lópez, i. f. (1996). white by law: the legal construction of race. new york, ny: new york university press. katanski, a. (2005). learning to write “indian”: the boarding –school experience and american indian literature. norman, ok: university of oklahoma press. benavides lópez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 105 labor council for latin american advancement and public citizen’s global trade watch (2004). another americas is possible: the impact of nafta on the u.s. latino communiy and lessons for future trade agreements. washington, dc: public citizen’s global trade watch. lorde, a. (1984). sister outsider. freedom, ca: the crossing press. los tigres del norte (1984). la jaula de oro (the golden cage). on los tigres del norte: jaula de oro [cd]. fonovisa, inc. marable, m. (1992). black america. westfield, nj: open media. massey, d., durand, j., & malone, n. (2002). beyond smoke and mirrors: mexican immigration in an era of economic integration. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. memmi, a. (1968). dominated man: notes toward a portrait. new york, ny: orion press. ngai, m. (2004). impossible subjects: illegal aliens and the making of modern america. princeton, nj: princeton university press. omi m. & winant, h. (1994). racial formation in the united states: from the 1960s to the 1990s (2nd ed.). new york, ny: routledge. perez huber, l., benavides lópez, c., malagon, m, velez, v., solórzano, d. g. (2008). getting beyond the “symptom,” acknowledging the “disease”: theorizing racist nativism. contemporary justice review: issues in criminal, social and restorative justice, 11(1), 39-52. reese, l. (1995). the concept of educación: latino family values and american schooling. international journal of educational research, 23(1), 57-81. reese, l., kroesen, k., & gallimore, r. (2000). agency and school performance among urban latino youth. in r. taylor & m. wang (eds.), resilience across contexts: family, work, culture, and community. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, publishers. reese, l. (2002). parental strategies in contrasting cultural settings: families in mexico and “el norte.” anthropology & education quarterly, 33(1), 30-59. rendon, l. (2014). ventajas/assets y conocimientos/knowledge: leveraging latina/o strengths to foster student success. san antonio, tx: center for research and policy in education, the university of texas at san antonio. sánchez, g. (1993). becoming mexican american: ethnicity, culture and identity in chicano los angeles, 1900-1945. new york, ny: oxford university press. solórzano, d. g. (1998). critical race theory, race and gender microaggressions, and the experience of chicana and chicano scholars. qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 121136. solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. solórzano, d. g. & yosso, t. (2001a). maintaining social justice hopes within the academic realities: a freirean approach to critical race/latcrit pedagogy. denver university law review, 78(4), 593-621. lessons from the educational borderlands association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10. issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 106 solórzano, d. g. & yosso, t. (2001b). critical race and latcrit theory and method: counterstorytelling chicana and chicano graduate school experiences. qualitative studies in education, 14(4), 471-495. stephen, l. (2004). the gaze of surveillance in the lives of mexican immigrant workers. development, 47(1), 97-102. tijerina revilla, a. (2004). muxerista pedagogy: raza womyn teaching social justice through student activism. the high school journal, 87(4), 80-94. valencia, r. r., & solórzano, d. g. (1997). contemporary deficit thinking. in r. valencia (ed.), the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice (pp.160-210). washington, dc: routledge falmer. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. velez, v., perez huber, l., benavides lópez, c., de la luz, a., & solórzano, d. (2008). battling for human rights and social justice: a media analysis of latina/o student youth activism in the wake of 2006 anti-immigrant sentiment. social justice, 35(1), 7-27. williams, p. j. (1991). the alchemy of race and rights: diary of a law professor. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. yosso, t. (2005). who’s culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8(1), 71-93. yosso, t. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. new york, ny: routledge. yosso, t. & benavides lópez, c. (2010). counterspaces in a hostile place: applying critical race theory to frame a critical race analysis of campus culture centers. in patton, l. (ed.), culture centers in higher education. sterling, va: stylus. yoshino, k. (2006). covering: the hidden assault on our civil rights. new york, ny: random house yow, v. r. (2005). recording oral history. walnut creek, ca: altamira press http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 168 hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice. annemarie núñez, sylvia hurtado, & emily calderón galdeano (eds.). new york, ny: routledge, 2015. pp. 228. isbn-10: 1138814318. paper: $47.95. stephanie aguilar-smith michigan state university cynthia d. villarreal university of southern california the number of hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) has grown exponentially since 1992 when congress first recognized these colleges and universities. this federal designation applies to nonprofit twoand four-year postsecondary institutions enrolling at least 25% full-time equivalent latinx1 undergraduate students and 50% or more students receiving need-based financial aid (laden, 2004). as of 2015–2016, 472 institutions met the eligibility requirements for hsi status and matriculated about 2 million latinx students (excelencia in education, 2017). in spite of this growth, there is a lack of consensus about what it means to truly serve latinx students at hsis (garcia, ramirez, patron, & medina, 2016). furthermore, while scholars suggest that several factors complicate the understanding of hsis, they often do not provide ways to transform hsis to better serve latinx students. however, hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice, a three-part volume edited by núñez, hurtado, and calderón galdeano, bridges this gap between scholarship and transformation. championing asset-based, transformative research and practice, the volume’s three parts include: 1) contextualizing the culture, structure, and identity of hsis; 2) framing institutional actors and experiences within hsis; and 3) building capacity and accountability in hsis. across the chapters, the authors use a range of methodological approaches, theories, and units of analyses. thus, this collection may serve as a comprehensive reference text for higher education administrators and student affairs practitioners at hsis and emerging hsis. providing individual and organizational-level data as well as researchand practice-based recommendations, this book 1 although the book interchangeably uses the terms hispanic and latina/o, we use the identifier latinx to describe the pan-ethnic group of persons from spanish-speaking countries and/or descent. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 169 may also benefit faculty, researchers, and policymakers focused on hsis and other minorityserving institutions (msis). faculty may integrate several of the text’s chapters into the curriculum of graduate higher education programs. for instance, garcia’s use of organizational theories as an asset-based approach to study hsis (chapter 5) and hurtado, gonzalez, and calderón galdeano’s application of organizational learning (chapter 10) would be insightful additions to higher education courses. foregrounding asset-based and transformative research, the book includes empirical chapters on individual student outcomes and organizational analyses. this combination of multiple units of analysis is one of the text’s many strengths. the organizationally-based chapters (chapters 2, 5, 9, and 10) add to the understanding of hsis as distinctive units meriting investigation. to further illuminate the institutionalized norms and structures operating among hsi administrators, faculty, and staff, future scholars may consider incorporating organizational theories combined with critical frames, as this approach would offer a more nuanced perspective on the experience of latinxs at hsis. for example, an organizational lens with a postcolonial application would highlight hsis’ historical backdrop and yield more critical interpretations of power dynamics. meanwhile, the volume’s attention to individual actors such as cuellar’s analysis of latinx students’ characteristics and outcomes (chapter 6) and rodriguez and calderón galdeano’s examination of graduation rates across four-year hsis, emerging hsis, and predominantly white institutions (pwis) (chapter 11) further contextualizes the unique space hsis occupy in higher education. moving forward, scholars may examine faculty at hsis in more depth, considering, in particular, the different experiences between faculty of color and their white counterparts. this volume also contributes to the growing research on hsis by advancing innovative theoretical frameworks for praxis. for example, gonzales (chapter 7) and cortez (chapter 8) employed funds of knowledge to examine faculty and leadership at hsis (moll, almanti, neff, & gonzález, 1992; ríos-aguilar, kiyama, gravitt, & moll, 2011), and cuellar (chapter 6) integrated yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model to evaluate student outcomes from an assetbased perspective. in addition to using theories that challenge traditional notions of success, future work may incorporate methodologies that center and legitimize racial and ethnic differences. for example, using methods from chicanx and latinx studies and latcrit—such as counterstories, testimonios, cuentos, and dichos—may generate a more critical consideration of association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 170 how racial and ethnic differences among students at hsis impact their educational experiences and outcomes. lastly, this collection also provides a solid foundation for future research on hsis by inspiring scholars to abandon or to reimagine normalized approaches to research such as comparison studies between hsis and pwis or between latinx students and their white peers. indeed, the text invites future scholars to resist hegemonic whiteness deeply embedded in institutionalized norms, including an overreliance on such comparison studies that inadvertently may re-center long-powerful institutions and people. for instance, the volume’s push for transformation encourages reframed comparison studies such as research comparing hsis to other msis, which share similar pressures and roles in supporting racially and ethnically minoritized students compared to pwis. attending to such cross-institutional comparisons, future work should also emphasize community colleges’ significant role in educating latinx students. with the exception of núñez, crisp, and elizondo’s analysis of community colleges’ transfer-function related to latinx students (chapter 3), the text underexamined community colleges, many of which are hsis and which collectively educate about 47% of all latinx students in higher education (smith morest, 2015). fundamentally, this volume beckons scholars to historicize and center hsis’ realities—to privilege their sociohistorical evolution and distinctive resource conditions, particularly when analyzing their organizational effectiveness and their students’ outcomes (núñez, 2017). as a whole, this volume prompts readers to reflect upon the ways research on hsis may transform policy and practice and to reimagine how they may integrate asset-based perspectives in their work. this book also inspires many lines of future inquiry related to hsis. ultimately, this volume resists frank’s (2013) notion of epistemic injustice—the exclusion of marginalized and minoritized people as knowledge producers—by urging methodological, ontological, epistemological, and axiological innovation among those studying hsis (núñez, 2017). association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 171 references excelencia in education. (2017). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): 2015–16. washington, dc: excelencia in education. retrieved from http://www.edexcelencia.org/gateway/dowload/306 17/1509499397 frank, j. (2013). mitigating against epistemic injustice in educational research. educational researcher, 42(7), 363–370. doi:10.3102/0013189x12457812 garcia, g. a., ramirez, j. j., patron, o. e, & medina, o. (2016). reframing hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): a counterstory of a “latinized” institution in the midwest. center for msi research brief, 1–13. retrieved from https://cmsi.gse.upenn.edu/content/reframinghispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-counterstory-%e2%80%9clatinized%e2%80%9dinstitution-midwest laden, b. v. (2004). hispanic-serving institutions: what are they? where are they? community college journal of research and practice, 28(3), 181–198. doi:10.1080/10668920490256381 moll, l., almanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: a qualitative approach to developing strategic connections between homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132–141. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1476399 núñez, a. m. (2017) flipping the hsi narrative: an hsi positionality. association of mexican american educators journal. 11(3), 276–29. retrieved from http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/viewfile/385/295 ríos-aguilar, c., kiyama, j. m., gravitt, m., & moll, l. c. (2011). funds of knowledge for the poor and forms of capital for the rich? a capital approach to examining funds of knowledge. theory and research in education, 9(2), 163–184. doi.org/10.1177/1477878511409776 smith morest, v. (2015). faculty scholarship at community colleges: culture, institutional structures, and socialization. new directions for community colleges, 171, 21–36. doi.org/10.1002/cc yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. doi:10.1080/1361332052000341006 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ sigala association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 165 growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice curriculum for educators of latino/a youth. valenzuela, angela. (2016). new york, ny: teachers college press. 186 pp. isbn: 978-0-8077-5683-6 (paper). $26.83 (paperback). maxine christina sigala university of colorado at denver i highly recommend this book for use in teacher education development programs, as it will be an instrument to help both faculty and administrators in k-12 environments and postsecondary institutions navigate the dismal and disheartening educational paths of latina/o, mexican, and native american youth in the united states. grow your own (gwo) initiative is the foundation for this book with an emphasis on the recruitment of latina/o and mexicano teachers who live in poor communities. educational scholar, sonia nieto, wrote the forward and was inspired by the various strategies, methodologies, and proven resources to help teachers, educators, and policymakers co-create equitable learning spaces and practices to increase high-school and university degrees for these demographics. this program, gwo, weaves in tightly the teachings, the cultural practices, and historical underpinnings of latinas/os, mexicana/os and native americans in the united states. teacher development is at the core of this work, especially the recruitment of latinas/os and mexicans in marginalized communities, serving as an act of resistance. resistance here refers to, not accepting the traditional ways in which brown children have been neglected in their educational attainment. valenzuela (2016) discusses discriminatory and racist policies of the american education system that has created and sustained generations of inequitable learning opportunities for children in poor communities. grow your own’s philosophy of recruiting latina/o and mexican teachers, provides a sense of pride for children who may identify with role models that may look like them, may be bilingual in english and spanish, and more importantly, understand their culture and ways of life. however, it is not a requirement to be latina/o or mexican from the same community, because teachers and faculty from all backgrounds can benefit from this program, as long as they are committed to having a positive attitude, and passion to teach in poor communities amidst all the social and emotional challenges that may occur. sigala association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 166 furthermore, gwo supports creating strong and productive relationships for teacher preparation with university instructors and the curriculum development of teacher education. this is necessary for equitable learning and teaching environments for marginalized children and youth. university leaders of color must leverage shared power of policy and practices of teacher preparation with leaders in latina/o communities. a weakness of this program is the number of students currently participating, which is forty, but the potential to grow from the community into the university environments is strong, as the latina/o demographic continues to rise. finally, grow your own embodies a cultural metaphor of, the tree, called el arbol, a spanish term, with various meanings in indigenous cosmology; the mayans’ say yaxche-baalche, which means “trees and humans,” a powerful symbol of life (valenzuela, 2016). the lakota nation people have an ancient practice, called wiwanyag wachapi, the sundance ceremony. this most wakan (sacred) rite of sundance connects “trees and humans” for the annual renewal of life force for their children and family through the suffering of the sundancers, as they dance around the tree, looking up at the sun, in the heat of a summer ceremony (brown, 1989, p. 67-68). the roots of trees are connected to strength, which is present in the philosophy of the social-justice education strategies of gwo. the social-justice work of transforming the demographics of the teaching profession, by increasing latino/o teacher’s presence in school and university classrooms fits this approach. gándara and contreras (2009) noted that, “the single most critical resource in any school is the teacher. we all know that well-prepared and experienced teachers for latino students are in short supply in the schools that they attend” (p. 319). gwo calls for compassionate, non-biased teachers, with good attitudes, to teach in poor communities to support this new bicultural, bilingual landscape that promotes literacies that empower latinas/os and promotes critical thinking. in the journal of hispanic education, zerquera and gross (2017), advance the importance for faculty of color at post-secondary environments, “greater proportions of faculty of color on campus were positively related to greater levels of baccalaureate degree attainment for all students. for latina/o students, this effect was greatest. this supports efforts for strategic hiring and fostering opportunities within the higher education structure for faculty of color” (p. 224). sigala association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 167 references brown, j. e. (1953, 1989). the sacred pipe black elks account of the seven rites of the oglala sioux. 18. university of oklahoma press. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequence of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. valenzuela, a. (2016). growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice curriculum, for educators of latino/a youth. new york, ny: teachers college press. zerquea, d., gross, j.p. (2017). context matters: a critical consideration of latina/o student success outcomes within different institutional contexts. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(3) 209–231 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 170 martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education: divide and conquer? we don’t think so! e. diane torres-velásquez, ph.d. the university of new mexico christine e. sleeter, ph.d. california state university, monterey bay augustine f. romero, ph.d. we schools abstract martínez v. state of new mexico (2014) is a school finance and equity lawsuit built on the promises of the state constitution. the plaintiffs are 51 parents and their children across seven regions of the state (torres-velásquez, 2017). in its decision (martínez, 2018), the court determined that the state’s public education system was unconstitutional for not providing a sufficient education to the state’s “at-risk” students: students from economically disadvantaged homes, native american students, english language learners, and students with disabilities. the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on all 174 martínez allegations and determined that legislators would create remedies and locate funding. from the earliest draft, the martínez complaint maintained that the state was not following new mexico’s bilingual multicultural education act (1973), indian education act (2006) or hispanic education act (2010). the plaintiffs wanted full implementation of these laws. a legislator asked, “if you had to pick one, bilingual education or multicultural education, which would you say is most important?” both are central to student well-being and success. in order to address the question of priority—both being central to student success— we highlight core components of multicultural education for prek-12 public education. we tie policy and practice recommendations back to the trial and to the court decision and we suggest that a multicultural education curriculum is an integral part of a promising education for new mexico’s students. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.3.457 torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 171 introduction article xii of new mexico’s constitution specifically ensures the educational rights of spanish-speaking students in new mexico public schools, grades prek-12 (móntez, 1973). martínez v. state of new mexico (2014) is a school finance and equity lawsuit built on the promises of the state constitution. the plaintiffs are 51 parents and their children across seven regions of the state (torres-velásquez, 2017). soon after martínez was filed, a similar, but narrower complaint was filed on behalf of families and several districts in the state (yazzie v. state of new mexico, 2014). the court consolidated the two lawsuits under martínez because they were so similar. first district court chief judge sarah singleton determined public education was a fundamental right and defined a sufficient education as graduating college and career-ready. in its decision (martínez, 2018), the court determined that the state’s public education system was unconstitutional for not providing a sufficient education to the state’s “atrisk” students: students from economically disadvantaged homes, native american students, english language learners, and students with disabilities. the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on all 174 martínez allegations and determined that legislators would create remedies and locate funding. from the earliest draft, the martínez complaint maintained that the state was not following new mexico’s bilingual multicultural education act (1973), indian education act (2006) or hispanic education act (2010). the plaintiffs wanted full implementation of these laws. for the purposes of this article, we will focus solely on the bilingual multicultural education act, in particular, multicultural education. while we will not discuss specific funding needs, we recognize that the legislative committee responsible for the state budget is the new mexico legislative finance committee (lfc). in order to make decisions on school finance for bilingual and multicultural education, the lfc asked for a better understanding of bilingual and multicultural education. one latino legislator, who strongly supports bilingual education, publicly stated that he didn’t see the need to fund multicultural education at this time and publicly threw his support behind significantly more funding for bilingual education. another legislator (white male) told a story of his two grandchildren. one received bilingual education and the other multicultural education. he provided examples of what they had learned about other cultures, other parts of the world and most importantly about themselves in these classes. he asked presenters, “if you had to pick one, bilingual education or multicultural martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 172 education, which would you say is most important?” the answer to his question is somewhat complicated. it is not an “either/or,” but rather “and.” both are central to student well-being and success. in order to address the question of priority, bilingual or multicultural education, we highlight core components of multicultural education for prek-12 public education. before the trial, expert witness dr. christine sleeter provided a 95-page report and analysis on the status of multicultural education in the state, and during the trial she provided expert testimony. some of her findings will be shared here. we address some of the confusion that divides policy-makers and advocacy groups into the either/or quandary. we view the benefits of multicultural education just as powerful and important as bilingual education. in this article, we tie policy and practice recommendations back to the trial and to the court decision and we suggest that a multicultural education curriculum is an integral part of a promising education for new mexico’s students. prior litigation for mexican american and latino students has centered on discrimination, segregation, and bilingual education (valencia, 2008). we are now seeing lawsuits around students’ rights to receive and teachers’ rights to teach a multicultural curriculum. we suggest that all our students deserve a rich multicultural education that affirms their true histories and identities and that such a curriculum will help them succeed in school. background new mexico has always been a bilingual state (móntez, 1973) and has long had the bilingual multicultural education act. new mexico’s public education department (nmped, 2019a) is proud of this act and publicly states so on its website. however, one significant limitation with multicultural education discovered in preparation for trial was that in new mexico, multicultural education is folded into and lies under bilingual education, rather than the two areas working in tandem to serve all of new mexico’s children. as a part of bilingual education, it was also discovered that the bilingual director at a school (who works with bilingual programs for ell students—17% of a language/ethnic group population) also oversees and directs the multicultural education programs, including ethnic studies, intended for all children of all ethnic and language groups. this means that if students aren’t in bilingual education, they usually don’t receive multicultural education resources or services, unless it is infused into the student’s bilingual or english as a second language program. torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 173 our courts are starting to see litigation focused on the right to teach a culturally correct curriculum affirming of student culture. twenty years ago, in a village southeast of albuquerque, two new mexico teachers, the córdova sisters, designed and implemented a curriculum that taught chicano history. their district administrators threatened to fire them if they did not stop. the teachers filed a federal lawsuit against the district with support from the new mexico civil liberties union, claiming that their first amendment rights had been violated. the school district settled out of court (hill, 1999). the teachers have now retired, but one wonders how many more teachers in similar situations have been pressured out of using an authentic and historically correct curriculum that empowers students to embrace and be proud of their identity. over the last ten years, our neighbors in arizona have been involved in a lengthy attempt to prevent teachers from using a mexican american studies curriculum. it’s important to note differences between arizona and new mexico. the two were originally one territory, but the plan for the territory to enter the nation was thwarted when nuevo mexicanos, determined to keep their language and culture in their daily lives and in the constitution, refused to join with a state that wanted english-only and saw the insistence to honor spanish as a character flaw (móntez, 1973). that fear of mexican americans was evident when in 2010 arizona legislators filed and passed house bill 2281 (state of arizona, 2010), which effectively banned the mexican american/raza studies program (ma/rs) in tucson unified school district in 2011. administrators, faculty and staff of the ma/rs program were accused of being a threat to national security. the state alleged that programs, curriculum, and their theoretical framework were being used to promote the "overthrowing of the u.s. government.” students named the theoretical framework and its curriculum “critically compassionate intellectualism” (romero, 2008). the state's attack on the program and its theoretical framework reveals arizona’s insidiousness and racism, given the dramatically positive impact of the program and its framework on student achievement in standardized tests, graduation rates, and college matriculation rates (romero, 2008; romero, 2014a; romero, 2014b). students and parents responded by filing a lawsuit against the state of arizona. the plaintiffs alleged that the state superintendent of public instruction violated student rights and that the state's push to remove mexican american studies from the curriculum were violations under the 14th amendment (strauss, 2017). in 2017, u.s. circuit court judge wallace tashima agreed. moreover, the martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 174 court found that the state's and its officials’ enactment and enforcement were motivated by “racial animus” (gonzales v. douglas, 2017). backlash is not confined to arizona. currently, new mexico bilingual and multicultural educators continue to receive backlash in some parts of the state for teaching a language that is not english (roybal, 2019). yet, the selection of this year’s teacher of the year, mandi tórrez, brings hope. she was recognized by the nmped for her culturally responsive teaching, inclusivity and equity (clark, 2019). programs that prepare teachers are guided by state regulations at the state level and professional standards at the national level. from 2017 to 2019, the new mexico public education department (nmped) made changes to state education policy, education rules, regulations and code to incorporate diversity into educator preparation for all ages and grade levels. for example, new mexico state standards and regulations for preparing early childhood educators (birth to third grade) now all include diversity, cultural and linguistic diversity, and culturally relevant pedagogy requirements (6.61.2 nmac 2018; 6.61.11.3 nmac 2018; 6.61.12.1 nmac 2018). while the requirements appear in black and white, there are no clear definitions of terms, which could hamper implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs. some new mexico educator preparation programs have selected to be reviewed for accreditation by the council for the accreditation of teacher preparation (caep). standards for culturally and linguistically diverse populations are interspersed throughout the expectations embedded in the process. for teacher specialists, the specialized professional associations (spas) and the professional organizations of the particular field develop their professional standards. for example, tesol international association (formerly teachers of english to speakers of other languages) developed the tesol spa standards for caep (tesol, 2019). educator preparation programs are expected to prepare teachers to teach culturally and linguistically diverse populations, and in the nmped, this expectation has support. kara bobroff, deputy secretary of identity, equity and transformation, is founder and former director of the native american community academy (naca) charter school, and founder of the naca inspired schools network (nisn); she is navajo/lakota and has thirty years of experience in special education and education for native american students. bobroff recently sent a letter to districts and stakeholders announcing that all districts and charters are now torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 175 required to implement a culturally and linguistically responsive framework (nmped, 2019b). districts and charters are required to appoint an equity council, submit a 90-day implementation plan, and include a specific focus on economically disadvantaged students, native american students, english language learners, and students with disabilities. all of these changes are in response to the martínez and yazzie lawsuits. while this is great news, these changes appear to be unfunded mandates for districts that continue to express funding needs and for teachers who have not studied bilingual or multicultural education. districts do receive funding for every student, but those funds are already designated. if districts are expected to comply with requirements for which the state was found to be negligent, then additional funding from the state will be needed. without a clear concrete definition of multicultural education or culturally responsive education in the law, a lack of understanding could contribute to a lack of implementation and possibly also affect funding. the law purports to define a “bilingual multicultural education program” as “a program using two languages, including english and the home or heritage language, as a medium of instruction in the teaching and learning process” (22-23-2. (a) nmsa 1978). the law’s section on legislative findings states: l. the bilingual multicultural education act [22-23-1 nmsa 1978] will ensure equal education opportunities for students in new mexico. cognitive and affective development of the students is encouraged by: (1) using the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in a bilingual multicultural education program; (2) providing students with opportunities to expand their conceptual and linguistic abilities and potentials in a successful and positive manner; and (3) teaching students to appreciate the value and beauty of different languages and cultures. (section 22-23-1.1(l) nmsa 1978) while justification for bilingual and multicultural education is critical, justification doesn’t provide a definition. section b of the bmea is quoted on page 2 of deputy bobroff’s letter, describing the success of a multicultural education system: the new mexico legislature (section 22-1-1.2(b) nmsa 1978) found that the key to success is having a multicultural education system that: martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 176 1. attracts and retains quality and diverse teachers to teach new mexico’s multicultural student population; 2. holds teachers, students, schools, districts, and the state accountable; 3. integrates the cultural strengths of its diverse student population into the curriculum with high expectations for all students; 4. recognizes that cultural diversity in the state presents special challenges for policymakers, administrators, teachers, and students; 5. provides students with a rigorous and relevant high school curriculum that prepares them to succeed in college and the workplace; and 6. elevates the importance of public education in the state by clarifying the governance structure at different levels. these benefits of multicultural education are crucial, but the law still does not define it and leaves teachers, families, administrators, and policy-makers at a loss for implementation. without a definition, and without recognition of the existing critical research in the field, it’s easy to think that the field is void of definition and is archaic, insinuating an indictment (gay, 2019). the purpose and clarity of the field are then viewed as little more than “broad affirmations of diversity” (bennett, 2001). multicultural education one tremendous resource for teachers, administrators, families, and scholars has been the national association for multicultural education (name), an organization committed to advancing and advocating for equity and social justice through multicultural education. name (2019) provides a robust definition of the term. parts have been excerpted below. multicultural education is a philosophical concept built on the ideals of freedom, justice, equality, and human dignity as acknowledged in various documents, such as the u.s. declaration of independence, constitutions of south africa and the united states, and the universal declaration of human rights adopted by the united nations. it affirms our need to prepare students for their responsibilities in an interdependent world. it recognizes the role schools can play in developing the attitudes and values necessary for a democratic society. it values cultural differences and affirms the pluralism that students, their communities, and teachers reflect. it challenges all forms of torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 177 discrimination in schools and society through the promotion of democratic principles and social justice… (name, 2019). banks (2013) provides a comprehensive research-based framework for multicultural education that includes the following five dimensions: • content integration, which refers to “the infusion of ethnic and cultural content into the subject area” or discipline (banks, 2013, p. 10). banks points out that ethnic and cultural content of historically marginalized groups can be infused meaningfully into all subject areas, although some lend themselves better than others. sleeter’s (2005) framework shows how teachers can infuse ethnic and cultural content in relationship to curriculum content standards. • knowledge construction process, which refers to “the extent to which teachers help students to understand, investigate, and determine how the implicit cultural assumptions, frames of reference, perspectives, and biases within a discipline influence the ways in which knowledge is constructed within it” (banks, 2013, p. 17). in other words, teachers help students examine how knowledge is constructed, and biases or points of view that are inherent in that process. • equity pedagogy, which refers to how “teachers modify their teaching in ways that will facilitate the academic achievement of students from diverse racial, cultural, gender, and social-class groups” (banks, 2013, p. 18). use of teaching styles that build on how students learn at home and in their communities is an example. • prejudice reduction, which refers to “lessons and activities teachers use to help students develop positive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups” (banks, 2013, p. 17). • empowering school culture and social structure refers to fair and equitable practices of grouping students (including for special education), as well as school climate that impacts on student learning. one can assess the impact of multicultural education on students in relationship to a variety of outcomes, including achievement on standardized tests, academic self-concept, academic engagement, retention in and graduation from school, cross-cultural relationships and attitudes, knowledge of one’s own and other cultural group histories, cross-cultural knowledge in other areas such as literature, cultural identity, and so forth. because of policy-makers’ martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 178 interest in linking multicultural education with students’ retention and achievement, the review that follows emphasizes empirical research in these areas. there are tensions, however, between multicultural education, standards, and standardized testing. sleeter’s (2005) analysis of california’s history-social science framework and standards illustrates tensions that may stem from the structure of curriculum content standards. drawing on both a content analysis of the standards as well as an explanation of the standards by their authors, she explains: the writers of california’s standards decided to construct the story [of the united states] mainly as an immigrant story, with a story line that runs geographically from east to west. this structure fits a story of european immigration; it does not fit history as indigenous people tell it or as mexicans or asians tell it. (sleeter, 2005, p. 56) while one can develop a standards-based curriculum that is culturally relevant to native american and latino students, the “backbone” of the curriculum may be a textbook, materials, or state curriculum containing concepts and activities that actually push students away from learning authentic history and strengthening their identity. similarly, although academic rigor is an integral part of multicultural education, standardized tests arise from a paradigm that rank-orders students for their mastery of a traditional curriculum, then turns around and blames students of color for their lower than average performance. further, these tests ignore the student outcomes their communities may value, such as cultural identity and respectful engagement with their community (holm & holm, 1990; mccarty & lee, 2014; reyner, 1990). as cabrera and colleagues (2014) argue, standardized tests are part of the reality students must confront and can be useful, but they act as gatekeepers. they are not (nor should they be) the only way of assessing impact on students. empirical research and culturally relevant curriculum empirical research consistently finds that a rigorous and well-designed curriculum that is culturally relevant and culturally responsive to students has a positive impact on them. while “multicultural curriculum” is broader than curriculum that would be culturally relevant to one’s own students (i.e., it would also include content about groups who are not in one’s classroom or school), the extant research examines the impact of culturally relevant ethnic studies curriculum on students from the same focal socio-cultural group. ethnic studies curricula include units of study, courses, or programs that are centered around the knowledge and torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 179 perspectives of an ethnic or racial group, reflecting narratives and points of view rooted in the racial, historical, cultural and social reality, lived experiences, and intellectual scholarship of the students (romero & arce, 2009; romero & cammarota, 2019). culturally responsive/ethnic studies curriculum in a review of research of the impact of ethnic studies on students of color, sleeter (2011) found that studies of 15 out of 16 programs (which ranged from single lessons to full semesters) had a positive impact on students in three areas: academic engagement, personal empowerment, and academic achievement (most projects were evaluated in only one of these areas). in the only program that did not show a positive impact, middle class conception of african american culture in the curriculum clashed with the urban students’ conceptions of what it means to be african american. three projects have been validated using rigorous statistical research: mexican american raza studies program/social justice education project in tucson, ninth grade ethnic studies in san francisco unified school district, and math in a cultural context in alaska. mexican american/raza studies and its social justice education project in tucson unified school district (tusd) grew from collaborations between chicano studies teachers and the university of arizona (cammarota & romero, 2009; romero, 2008; romero, arce, & cammarota, 2007). the four-semester standards-aligned high school curriculum was based on a model of “critically compassionate intellectualism” for strengthening teaching and learning of mexican americans. the model had three components: 1) curriculum that is socially, culturally and historically responsive to students, focuses on social justice issues, is aligned with state standards but designed through chicano intellectual knowledge, and is academically rigorous; 2) critical pedagogy in which students develop critical thinking and critical consciousness, creating rather than consuming knowledge, and 3) authentic caring in which teachers demonstrate deep respect for students as intellectuals and full human beings. the curriculum centered on the racial, social, educational, and economic issues within the lives of the students, and immersion into university-level theoretical readings as a method of helping students name, contextualize and engage their realities. it included a community-based research project in which students gathered data about manifestations of racism and other forms of oppression in their school and community, used social science theory to analyze patterns in their data and identified ways these patterns could be challenged, and created paths through which students were able to martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 180 voice their issues and remedies in multiple community spaces to multiple community entities from grass-roots organizations to politically elected bodies. there have been several evaluations of the impact of the program on student achievement; the most rigorous of these evaluations is the cabrera, milam, jaquette, and marx (2014) audit. the researchers developed a student-level data set that enabled them to compare achievement (using aims – the state’s achievement tests) and graduation rates of eleventh and twelfth grade students who did, and did not, enroll in mexican american/raza studies and social justice education project courses, constructing a matched comparison group. they found that, although the students in mexican american/raza studies and social justice education project classrooms courses had, on the average, lower ninth and tenth grade gpa and achievement test scores than control students, by twelfth grade they attained “significantly higher aims passing and graduation rates than their non-mexican american/raza studies and social justice education project classrooms peers” (cabrera et al., 2014, p. 1106). the researchers, using a variety of statistical modeling and sampling strategies, found that the more courses students took, the stronger the impact on their achievement (see also romero, 2008 and cammarota & romero, 2014). at the origin of the program’s development, an intent was set to help students develop a stronger and deeper sense of identity, purpose, and hope (romero, 2008). we (third author augustine romero and all involved in implementation) believed that if we were able to help our students develop a strong social and cultural identity based on the deep and profound sense of self-love, that if we could help our students empower themselves and help them name, define and operationalize their purpose; and if we could help them recognize and understand that in the intersection of their identity and purpose was hope; if our students could develop and place into praxis these understandings, then the traditional academic benchmarks would hold a lower-level space on the paths set by our students (romero, 2008; romero & cammarota, 2019). therefore, the structural space of multicultural education within a culturally responsive environment was constructed upon the needs, desires and interests of the student. within tusd mexican american/raza studies and social justice education project classrooms, students were encouraged to understand, cherish and center their socio-cultural reality, but they were simultaneously encouraged to better understand the socio-cultural reality of those with whom they share or even battle for space or voice (romero, 2008; romero & cammarota 2019). this mindset and vision are especially critical in student transition into the transformative and torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 181 social action phases of critical multicultural education. developing a deeper understanding of our world and those within our world gives our students a deeper state of strategic conjecture which makes our students better prepared to question, engage and transform their realities which are the first steps towards transforming their world. with a different level of support, in 2007, san francisco unified school district was urged by their board of education to create a high school ethnic studies program. in 2010, the board unanimously approved that it be piloted in five high schools. using regression discontinuity design, dee and penner (2017) evaluated the impact of the program on 5 cohorts of ninth grade students in 3 of the 5 pilot high schools, using data on student gpa, attendance, and credits earned toward graduation. after controlling for several variables (such as students’ entering gpa and measures of teacher effectiveness), results confirmed that participation in the course helped ninth-grade students increase “attendance by 21 percentage points, gpa by 1.4 grade points, and credits earned by 23” (p. 217). in alaska, math in a cultural context (mcc) grew from collaboration between yup’ik native elders, teachers, and math educators to develop an elementary level curriculum supplement that connects yup’ik culture and knowledge with mathematics as outlined in the national council of teachers of mathematics standards. lipka and his colleagues (2005) describe it as offering a “third space” that weaves together math content and local cultural knowledge; for example, “parkas and patterns” focuses on geometry. the curriculum also supports traditional ways of communicating and learning, such as collaborative learning and cognitive apprenticeship. quasi-experimental research using a pretest-posttest control group design, assessing students’ learning based on the state’s benchmarks or achievement tests found that students in classrooms using the mcc curriculum made more progress toward the state mathematics standards than students in classrooms not using it (lipka et al., 2005). kisker and colleagues (2012) reported an experimental study using randomized assignment of 50 schools that enrolled a large proportion of native students and placed them in one of two conditions (experimental or control) to test the impact of two modules on second graders’ mathematics achievement. they found the impact of the mcc curriculum “positive, statistically significant, and moderate to large in terms of effect sizes” (kisker et al., p. 100), with a positive impact on both alaska native and mixed-ethnic student groups. they also found students retained what they learned the following semester. martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 182 evaluations of these and other projects demonstrate that when curriculum content is culturally relevant and/or culturally responsive and is linked directly to academic goals, students of color see an increase in their achievement, sometimes markedly so. please note that these curriculum projects were well-designed, and taught by teachers who were well-prepared to create, nurture and deliver content that is meaningful, relevant and interesting to students. teachers engaged students through a culturally responsive pedagogy, encouraging students to voice their issues and find remedies to disturbing societal patterns. students were viewed as fully capable community members involved in collaborations with their own local communities and community leaders. clearly, a culturally responsive curriculum has the capacity to strengthen students’ sense of cultural and ethnic self, which in turn impacts their achievement. social psychology research studies using different research methodologies investigating students at middle school through university levels in different regions of the u.s. consistently find a relationship between academic achievement, high level of awareness of race and racism, and positive identification with one’s own racial or ethnic group (altschul, oyserman, & bybee, 2008; chavous et al., 2003; walker & syed, 2013). there has been less similar research into the relationship between native identity and academic achievement, although the small amount of research that exists suggests a similar pattern (hill, 2004; middlebrook, 2011). culturally responsive pedagogy/equity pedagogy culturally responsive curriculum intersects with equity pedagogy, or culturally responsive pedagogy, the term used most in the research literature. banks (2013) describes equity pedagogy as instructional modifications that enable students from marginalized backgrounds to achieve at high levels. gay (2010) defines culturally responsive pedagogy as teaching “to and through [students’] personal and cultural strengths, their intellectual capabilities, and their prior accomplishments” (p. 26); it is premised on “close interactions among ethnic identity, cultural background, and student achievement” (p. 27). she notes further that, “students of color come to school having already mastered many cultural skills and ways of knowing. to the extent that teaching builds on these capabilities, academic success will result” (gay, 2010, p. 213). in other words, culturally responsive pedagogy, which is based in high academic expectations for students and caring, is a process of capitalizing on the knowledge, ways of learning, and experiences that students bring that may not be recognized torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 183 when teachers use teaching processes based in the dominant euro-american culture (gay, 2018). most empirical research linking culturally responsive pedagogy with student achievement has taken the form of case studies. one set of case studies uncovers practices of teachers nominated as exemplary by school administrators and/or parents as being particularly successful with minority students. in a well-known example, ladson-billings (1995) studied eight teachers nominated as highly successful teaching african american students, then collaborated with them to extract core features of their pedagogy. importantly, regardless of whether the teachers were african american or not, they saw themselves as members of students’ communities, and linked their teaching with students’ community-based knowledge. ladson-billings identified three dimensions of culturally relevant pedagogy: holding high academic expectations and persistently supporting students to reach those expectations; acting on cultural competence by reshaping curriculum, building on students’ funds of knowledge, and establishing relationships with students and their families; and cultivating students’ critical consciousness regarding power relations, acknowledging racism in students’ lives and helping them learn to think critically about and navigate its manifestations. another set of case studies linked culturally responsive pedagogy with student achievement using interviews with minority students to identify pedagogy they see as most helpful. fránquiz and salazár (2004) conducted a five-year case study of a high school examining factors that support chicano/a students’ academic success. according to students, critical elements included: respeto (respect), confianza (mutual trust), consejos (verbal teachings) and buen ejemplos (exemplary models). foundational to culturally responsive pedagogy appears to be the teacher’s ability to build relationships with students, their families, and their communities, then learn through those relationships how to support student learning (bishop, ladwig, & berryman, 2014; lópez, 2016; rodríguez, 2014). the centrality of relationships was demonstrated in a large-scale study of te kotahitanga in new zealand, where bishop, ladwig, and berryman (2014) gathered data in 31 secondary schools serving significant proportions of indigenous maori students. they found that the level of interactive teaching and the level of student engagement varied directly with the quality of teacher-student relationships. through interactive and caring relationships, martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 184 learning to learn from students and their communities, through relationships in situ, is foundational to culturally responsive pedagogy. specific to the teaching of reading, lópez (2016) asked, “to what extent is there a relationship between teachers’ beliefs and actions regarding culturally responsive teaching, and gains in latino students’ reading achievement?” she studied 244 latino students (grades 3-5) and their 16 teachers in three schools in arizona. to measure teachers’ beliefs and actions, she used a modified version of the culturally responsive teaching beliefs survey (pohan & aguilar, 2001) and the culturally responsive teaching behaviors survey (developed for the national indian education study). students of teachers who believed and acted on principles of culturally responsive teaching made greater gains in reading than students of teachers whose beliefs and teaching were not consistent with culturally responsive teaching. prejudice reduction case studies of interracial interactions find that how students relate to each other across cultural, ethnic, and racial differences affects students’ academic experience (allen, 2010; borrero, yeh, cruz, & suda, 2012). there is evidence that well-designed multicultural education can have a positive impact on students’ cross-racial attitudes and understanding. okoye-johnson (2011) found that exposure to a multicultural curriculum “brought about more positive changes in students’ racial attitudes than did exposure to traditional instruction” (p. 1263). okoye-johnson also found the impact on older students (ages 9-16) was much greater than on younger students (ages 3-8), perhaps because older students are more cognitively developed and have more experience with cross-racial contact. if we take seriously the potential power of curriculum and pedagogy to prepare young people for a respectful school experience and multicultural democracy, attention must be given to the curriculum as a whole. empowering school culture an empowering school culture supports all students academically, culturally, and personally, reversing low academic expectations, poor student-teacher relationships, and marginalizing programming (such as remedial classwork) that commonly lead students to drop out (avilés, guerrero, barajas, & thomas,1999; hernández & nesman, 2004). castagno and brayboy (2008) emphasize that for indigenous students, empowering schooling takes into account the central place of sovereignty and self-determination, engaging youth and tribal communities as partners. these models are not mutually exclusive, but can be used together. torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 185 equity audits can be an excellent tool for empowering school culture, when the school and community have learned to use the process to identify and address inequities for communication and problem-solving (skrla, mckenzie, & scheurich, 2009). research clearly demonstrates marked improvements that sustain over time with the use of equity audits (skrla, scheurich, garcia, & nolly, 2004). although initially it involves costs to teach a team and participants to use the process, equity audits help school leaders identify changes consistent with ensuring equitable representation of all students, and find that disciplinary referrals are no longer a result of cultural stereotypes, or unfair treatment of students of color or students with disabilities. the long-term financial benefits far outweigh the startup costs. other models, such as youth participatory action research (ypar), place youth at the center of identifying key problems and solutions. ypar was a key component of the arizona social justice education project. rodríguez (2014) describes results of another ypar project, praxis, that he led in a school with a dropout rate of about 50%. based on their research, the students were able to identify strengths in their school as well as propose policy changes that would further help students. following two years of the project, the school graduation rate substantially increased. teacher recruitment and professional development we know that teachers matter to students, and that students of color frequently end up being taught by teachers who expect too little of them and do not form good relationships with them. several studies have found that poor or disinterested teaching, low expectations, and poor teacher-student relationships discourage and eventually push out latino students (avilés et al., 1999; kohli & solorzano, 2012; luna & revilla, 2013) and native american students (coladarci, 1983; deyhle, 1992). there are benefits when schools serving latino, native american, and african american students recruit teachers who are from students’ cultural communities, as well as teachers who demonstrate an ability to form relationships with students and learn from them and their communities (valenzuela, 2016). with respect to teachers who are from the same racial or ethnic background as students, a growing body of research finds that students of color benefit as the proportion of teachers from their racial/ethnic backgrounds increases (eddy & eastonbrooks, 2011; egalite, kisida, & winters, 2015; villegas & irvine, 2010). reasons for these findings include teachers reading students’ classroom behavior culturally and accurately, martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 186 teachers of color tending to have higher expectations for students of color than white teachers, psychological benefits to students of having role models with whom they can identify, and teachers of color being more likely to work with culturally relevant pedagogy than white teachers (villegas & irvine, 2010). in a review of research on workforce diversity and outcomes for disadvantaged students, grissom, kern, and rodríguez (2015) found that higher proportions of teachers of color in schools are associated with lower proportions of students of color being suspended, expelled, or referred to special education, and higher proportions of students of color identified as gifted. in addition, some research has found students to trust teachers of their own background more than those of a different background (irizarry & williams, 2013). school districts having most success recruiting such teachers (particularly teachers of color) form partnerships with local communities (including communities of color) and universities to identify young people who may wish to teach, adults who wish to change careers, community college students who might be interested in teaching, or paraprofessionals who are already in the schools. examples of such partnerships can be found in diversifying the teacher workforce (sleeter, neal, & kumashiro, 2014), as well as in successful culturally responsive school models such as rock point (holm & holm, 1990) and the grow your own model (valenzuela, 2016). most research on teacher professional development for culturally responsive pedagogy consists of small-scale case studies that explore the impact on teacher pedagogy of specific kinds of professional development, such as a workshop series (dejaeghere & zhang, 2008; thigpin, 2011; zozakiewicz & rodríguez, 2007), on-going teacher inquiry in networks or coursework (abu el-haj, 2003; jacobs, assaf, & lee, 2011; jennings & smith, 2002; s. nieto, 2003; nieto & bode, 2018; sleeter, 2009), and community-based learning (fickel, 2005; moll & gonzález, 1994). sustained, ongoing workshops combined with classroom-based coaching is the model of professional development for culturally responsive pedagogy that has the most research support. teemant and colleagues (2011) and teemant (2014) evaluated a coaching model for the standards for effective pedagogy (tharp, estrada, dalton, & yamauchi, 2000). the professional development program included a 30-hour workshop and seven individual coaching sessions across an academic year, designed to improve teacher pedagogy and classroom organization in elementary classrooms serving culturally diverse students. in both studies (one torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 187 involving 21 teachers, the other involving 36 experimental and about 10 control group teachers) researchers found coaching associated with statistically significant improvements in teacher pedagogy, teacher growth, and classroom organization. instructional coaching helped teachers transfer new teaching skills from the workshop to the classroom, and maintain changes a year later. can professional development for culturally responsive pedagogy improve student achievement? data from research studies on three programs indicates that it can. vogt and au (1995) found that a professional development program for the kamehameha early education project, that combined readings, workshops, collaboration with reflection partners, modeling, and classroom observations with feedback, led to measurable changes in teacher pedagogy, and increases in students’ literacy achievement. data from three large-scale mixed-methods studies of a new zealand program for culturally responsive pedagogy (te kotahitanga), using a model of professional development that included workshops, structured observations and classroom coaching, and teacher meetings for reflection on student outcome data, found a positive impact not only on classroom teaching but also on indigenous maori student learning (bishop, berryman, cavanagh, & teddy, 2009; bishop, berryman, wearmouth, peter, & clapham, 2012; hynds et al., 2016). powell, cantrell, malo-juvera, and correll (2016) studied the impact of teacher professional development organized around the culturally responsive instruction observation protocol on 26 teachers and 456 students in four elementary schools, finding that the teachers demonstrated significantly higher levels of culturally responsive instruction by the end of the school year than at the beginning. students of high implementers scored significantly higher in reading and math than did students of low implementers. this time and place in new mexico: our children can’t wait in new mexico, many individuals who were raised to honor their spanish heritage without question, have begun to examine their genetic identity along the indigenous and colonized bloodlines of their families. in so doing they are learning about their mixed lineage and about the historical traumas that their native american ancestors endured (j. m. nieto, 2004). for immigrant students, the current political context is one in which our current president paints immigrants and latinos as evil criminals. this, along with brutal border policies separating children from their parents, creates an atmosphere in which children are living in great fear and sorrow. as if this demeaning characterization is not enough, this vilifying martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 188 typology puts children at great life risk in their everyday activities and gives extremists an excuse to shoot at will. this distorted intent to protect our country from a whole group of people wrongly perceived to be evil and dangerous, was the excuse given for the recent el paso mass shooting. in the united states, litigation filed on behalf of latino students in the last century for the most part centered on desegregation, discrimination, and language acquisition rights (valencia, 2008; perea, delgado, harris, stefancic & wildman, 2015). as we look to future litigation, there seems to be evidence to support the possibility that multicultural education is already playing a larger role in the courts, since we continue to see increasing and substantial empirical evidence in favor of its use. there could not be a better time in our history to embrace multicultural education. students have been vocal about their educational needs. teenagers today are gravely concerned about the future of our planet and multicultural education provides an avenue for them to learn sustainable practices that honor our earth while honoring groups that have been traditionally oppressed for not giving up those same practices and values. greta thunberg has made international news for launching a school strike for climate justice (goodman, 2019). she points out that she is one of the “lucky” ones, noting that oppressed ethnic groups are the victims hit the hardest. this movement and call to action for sustaining life on our planet has drawn from indigenous groups, latinos and youth of all languages and backgrounds worldwide who have long held mother earth as sacred. multicultural education could provide significant tools in terms of curriculum and pedagogy to sustain the cultures that have long held deep values honoring our land, water and environment. at a time when students feel helpless about their safety and great pressure about their lack of agency in determining the future of the environment, there is great potential for multicultural education to provide a curriculum that gives students hope and voice around things that matter intensely to them, their future, and their lives. in the path to being college or career-ready, the vocational understanding students develop during this transformation and vivification could help them to realize the reality—that they are the hope of the world. to force schools, legislators, and policy-makers to choose between bilingual or multicultural education is to divide resources and students unfairly. to say that only some students are to receive multicultural education limits the future of students of color, and limits the future of all students. divide and conquer? we don’t think so! torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 189 references 6.61.11.3 nmac (2018). new mexico statutory authority (nmsa). (1978). [6.61.11.3 nmac – rp, 6.61.11.3 nmac, 8/1/2018]). retrieved from http://164.64.110.134/nmac/nmregis ter/xxviii/6.61.11.pdf 6.61.12.1 nmac (2018)rp, 6.61.12.1 nmac, 8/1/2018. retrieved from http://164.64.110.134/ nmac/nmregister/xxviii/6.61.12.html 6.61.2 nmac (2018), title 6 primary and secondary education. chapter 61 school personnel – specific licensure requirements for instructors licensure in early childhood education, pre k-grade 3. abu el-haj, t. r. (2003). practicing for equity from the standpoint of the particular: exploring the work of one urban teacher network. teachers college record, 105(5), 817-845. allen, q. (2010). racial microaggressions: the schooling experiences of black middle-class males in arizona’s secondary schools. jaame, 1(2), 125-143. altschul, i., oyserman, d., & bybee, d. (2008). racial-ethnic self-schemas and segmented assimilation: identity and the academic achievement of hispanic youth. social psychology quarterly, 71(3), 302–320. avilés, r. m. d., guerrero, m. p., barajas, h. h., & thomas, g. (1999). perceptions of chicano/latino students who have dropped out of school. journal of counseling and development, 77(4), 465-473. banks, j. a. (2013). the nature of multicultural education. in j. a. banks & c. a. m. banks (eds.), multicultural education: issues and perspectives, 8th ed. (pp. 3-24). new york, ny: wiley. bennett, c. (2001). genres of research in multicultural education. review of educational research, 71(2), 171-217. bilingual multicultural education act (1973). chapter 22, article 23 nmsa 1978. retrieved from https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/article23bilingualeducationlaw.pdf bishop, r., berryman, m., cavanagh, t., & teddy, l. (2009). te kotahitanga: addressing educational disparities facing māori students in new zealand. teaching and teacher education, 25(5), 734-742. bishop, r., berryman, m., wearmouth, j., peter, m., & clapham, s. (2012). professional development, changes in teacher practice and improvements in indigenous students’ educational performance: a case study from new zealand. teaching and teacher education, 28(5), 694-705. bishop, r., ladwig, j., & berryman, m. (2014). the centrality of relationships for pedagogy: the whanaugatanga thesis. american educational research journal, 51(1), 184-214. borrero, n. e., yeh, c. j., cruz, c. i., & suda, j. f. (2012). school as a context for “othering” youth and promoting cultural assets. teachers college record, 114(2), 1-37. castagno, a. e., & brayboy, b. m. j. (2008). culturally responsive schooling for indigenous youth: a review of the literature. review of educational research, 78(4), 941-993. martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 190 cabrera, n. l., milam, j. f., jaquette, o., & marx, r. w. (2014). missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (political) trees: empiricism and the mexican american student controversy in tucson. american educational research journal, 51(6), 1084 1118. cammarota, j., & romero, a. (2009). the social justice education project: a critically compassionate intellectualism for chicana/o students. in w. ayers, t. quinn & d. stovall (eds.), handbook for social justice education (pp. 465-476). new york, ny: routledge. cammarota, j., & romero, a. (2014). raza studies: the public option for educational revolution. tucson, az: the university of arizona press. chavous, t., hilkene, d., schmeelk-cone, k., caldwell, c. h., kohn-wood, l., & zimmerman, m. a. (2003). racial identity and academic attainment among african american adolescents. child development, 74(4), 1076-1090. clark, c. a. (2019, october 18). mandi tórrez of bernalillo public schools named 2020 new mexico teacher of the year. los alamos daily post. retrieved from https://www.ladailypost.com/content/mandi-torrez-bernalillo-public-schools-named2020-new-mexico-teacher-of-year coladarci, t. (1983). high school dropout among native americans. journal of american indian education, 23(1), 15–22. dee, t., & penner, e. (2017). the causal effects of cultural relevance: evidence from an ethnic studies curriculum. american educational research journal, 54(1), 127-166. dejaeghere, j. g., & zhang, y. (2008). development of intercultural competence among u.s. american teachers: professional development factors that enhance competence. intercultural education, 19(3), 255-268. deyhle, d. (1992). constructing failure and maintaining cultural identity: navajo and ute school leavers. journal of american indian education, 31(2), 24–47. eddy, c. m., & easton-brooks, d. (2011). ethnic matching, school placement, and mathematics achievement of african american students from kindergarten through fifth grade. urban education, 46(6), 1280-1299. egalite, a. j., kisida, b., & winters, m. a. (2015). representation in the classroom: the effect of own-race teachers on student achievement. economics of education review, 45, 44-52. fickel, e. h. (2005). teachers, tundra, and talking circles: learning history and culture in an alaskan native village. theory and research in social education, 33(4), 476-507. fránquiz, m. e., & salazár, m. del c. (2004). the transformative potential of humanizing pedagogy: addressing the diverse needs of chicano/mexicano students. high school journal, 87(4), 36–54. gay, g. (2010). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research and practice, 2nd ed. new york, ny: teachers college press. gay, g. (2018). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research and practice, 3rd ed. new york, ny: teachers college press. torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 191 gay, g. (2019). name 29th annual international conference, decolonizing minds: forging a new future through multicultural education. founders forum, november 8th, 2019. grissom, j. a., kern, e. c., & rodríguez, l. a. (2015). the “representative bureaucracy” in education: educator workforce diversity, policy outputs, and outcomes for disadvantaged students. educational researcher, 44(3), 185-192. gonzales v. douglas (2017). case 4:10-cv-00623-awt document 468 filed 08/22/17. goodman, a. (2019). “we are striking to disrupt the system”: an hour with 16-year-old climate activist greta thunberg. democracy now, september 11, 2019. available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgi30wy_v74 hernández, m., & nesman, t. m. (2004). issues and strategies for studying latino student dropout at the local level. journal of child and family studies, 13(4), 453-468. hill, d. (1999). sister act. education week teacher. november 1, 1999. retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/1999/11/01/03as97.h11.html hill, c. l. (2004). academic achievement and cultural identity in rural navajo high school students. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). brigham young university. hispanic education act (2010). nmsa § 22-23b-1 et seq. (1978). holm, a., & holm, w. (1990). rock point, a navajo way to go to school: a valediction. annals of the american academic of political and social science, 508(1), 170-184. hynds, a. s., hindle, t., savage, c., meyer, l.h., penetito, w. & sleeter. c. (2016). the impact of teacher professional development to reposition pedagogy for indigenous students in mainstream schools. the teacher educator, 51(3), 230-249. indian education act (2006). nmsa § 22-23a-1 et seq. (1978). irizarry, s. & williams, s. (2013). lending student voice to latino ell migrant children’s perspectives on learning. journal of latinos & education, 12(3), 171-185. jacobs, j., assaf, l. c., & lee, k. s. (2011). professional development for teacher educators: conflicts between critical reflection and instructional-based strategies. professional development in education, 37(4), 499-512. jennings, l. b., & smith, c.p. (2002). examining the role of critical inquiry for transformative practices. teachers college press, 104(3), 456-481. kisker, e. e., lipka, j., adams, b. l., rickard, a., andrew-ihrke, d., yanez, e. e., & millard, a. (2012). the potential of a culturally based supplemental mathematics curriculum to improve the mathematics performance of alaska native and other students. journal for research in mathematics education, 43(1), 75-113. kohli, r., & solorzano, d. g. (2012). teachers, please learn our names! racial microagressions and the k-12 classroom. race ethnicity and education, 15(4), 441-462. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. lipka, j., hogan, m. p., webster, j. p., yanez, e., adams, b., clark, s., & lacy, d. (2005). math in a cultural context: two case studies of a successful culturally-based math project. anthropology & education quarterly, 36(4), 367-385. martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 192 lópez, f. a. (2016). culturally responsive pedagogies in arizona and latino students’ achievement. teachers college record, 118(5), 1-42. luna, n., & revilla, a. t. (2013). understanding latina/o school pushout: experiences of students who left school before graduating. journal of latinos and education, 12(1), 22-37. martínez v. state of new mexico (2014). 1st dist. court of new mexico, d-101-cv-2014-00793 complaint. martínez v. state of new mexico (2018). 1st dist. court of new mexico, d-101-cv-2014-00793 decision and order. mccarty, t. l. & lee, t. s. (2014). critically culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy and indigenous education sovereignty. harvard educational review, 84(1), 101-124. middlebrook, k. (2011). american indian adolescents' ethnic identity and school identification: relationships with academic achievement, perceived discrimination, and educational utility. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of california berkeley. moll, l. c., & gonzález, n. (1994). lessons from research with language-minority children. journal of reading behavior, 26(4), 439-456. móntez, r. r. (1973). an attorney general’s opinion on article xii, section 8 of the new mexico constitution. new mexico law review, 3(2), 364-380. retrieved from http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmlr/vol3/iss2/8 name (2019). the national association for multicultural education (name): about name. retrieved from https://www.nameorg.org/ nieto, j. m. (2004). the language of blood: the making of spanish american identity in new mexico 1880s-1930s. albuquerque, nm: university of new mexico press. nieto, s. (2003). challenging current notions of “highly qualified” teachers through work in a teachers’ inquiry group. journal of teacher education, 54(5), 386-398. nieto, s. & bode, p. (2018). affirming diversity: the socio-political context of multicultural education. hoboken, nj: pearson. nmped (2019a). bilingual multicultural education programs (bmep). [ 22-23-1 nmsa 1978]. retrieved from https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/bureaus/languageandculture/bilingualmulticultural-education-programs-bmeps/ nmped. (2019b). letter from deputy secretary kara bobroff to superintendents, school boards, education preparation programs and public education policy makers. october 22, 2019. okoye-johnson, o. (2011). does multicultural education improve students’ racial attitudes? implications for closing the achievement gap. journal of black studies, 42(8), 1252-1274. perea, j. f., delgado, r., harris, a. p., stefancic, j., & wildman, s. m. (2015). race and races: cases and resources for a diverse america (3rd ed.). st. paul, mn: west academic publishing. pohan, c. a., & aguilar, t. e. (2001). measuring educators’ beliefs about diversity in personal and professional contexts. american educational research journal, 38(1), 159-182. powell, r., cantrell, s. c., malo-juvera, v., & correll, p. (2016). operationalizing culturally https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/2006/nmrc/jd_22-23-1-a295.html torres-velásquez, sleeter, & romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 193 responsive instruction: preliminary findings of criop research. teachers college record, 118(1), 1-46. reyner, j. (1990). a description of the rock point community school bilingual education program. in j. reyner (ed.). effective language education practices and native language survival (pp. 95-106). choctaw, ok: native american language issues. rodríguez, l. e. (2014). the time is now: understanding and responding to the black and latina/o dropout crisis in the u.s. new york, ny: peter lang. romero, a. (2008). towards a critically compassionate intellectualism model of transformative education: love, hope, identity, and organic intellectualism through the convergence of critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and authentic caring. unpublished doctoral dissertation, university of arizona. romero, a. (2014a). the battle for education sovereignty and the right to save the lives of our children. in j. cammarota & a. romero (eds.), raza studies: the public option for educational revolution (pp. 52-62). tucson, az: the university of arizona press. romero, a. (2014b). critically passionate intellectualism: the pedagogy of barriorganic intellectualism. in j. cammarota & a. romero (eds.), raza studies: the public option for educational revolution (pp. 14–39). tucson, az: university of arizona press. romero, a. f., & arce, m. s. (2009). culture as a resource: critically compassionate intellectualism and its struggle against racism, fascism, and intellectual apartheid in arizona. hamline journal of public law & policy, 31(1), 179-217. romero, a., arce, s. & cammarota, j. (2007). a barrio pedagogy: identity, intellectualism, activism, and academic achievement through the evolution of critically compassionate intellectualism. race ethnicity and education, 12(2), 217-233. romero, a & cammarota, j. (2019). creating we schools: lessons learned from critically compassionate intellectualism and the social justice education project. in r t. cuauhtin, m. zavala, c. sleeter, & w. au (eds.), rethinking ethnic studies (pp. 48-53). milwaukee, wi: rethinking schools. roybal, g. (2019). personal interview, october 6, 2019. bilingual and multicultural education curriculum: aspectos culturales. albuquerque, nm. skrla, l., scheurich, j. j., garcia, j. & nolly, g. (2004). equity audits: a practical leadership tool for developing equitable and excellent schools. educational administration quarterly, 40(1), 133-161. skrla, l., mckenzie, k. b., & scheurich, j. j. (2009). using equity audits to create equitable and excellent schools. thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. sleeter, c. e. (2005). un-standardizing curriculum: multicultural teaching in the standards-based classroom. new york, ny: teachers college press. sleeter, c. e. (2009). developing teacher epistemological sophistication about multicultural curriculum: a case study. action in teacher education, 31(1), 3-13. sleeter, c. e. (2011). the academic and social value of ethnic studies. washington, dc: national education association. https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3acuauhtin%2c+r.+tolteka%2c&qt=hot_author https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3azavala%2c+miguel%2c&qt=hot_author https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3asleeter%2c+christine+e.%2c&qt=hot_author https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3aau%2c+wayne%2c&qt=hot_author martínez v. state of new mexico and multicultural education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 194 sleeter, c. e, neal, l. i. & kumashiro, k., eds. (2014). diversifying the teacher workforce. new york, ny: routledge. state of arizona (2010). house bill 2281. house of representatives. forty-ninth legislature, second regular session. retrieved from https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/hb2281s.pdf strauss, v. (2017, august 23). arizona’s ban on mexican-american studies was racist, u. s. court rules. the washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/08/23/arizonas-ban-onmexican-american-studies-was-racist-u-s-court-rules/ teemant, a., wink, j., & tyra, s. (2011). effects of coaching on teacher use of sociocultural instructional practices. teaching and teacher education, 27(4), 683-693. teemant, a. (2014). a mixed-methods investigation of instructional coaching for teachers of diverse learners. urban education, 49(5), 574-604. tesol international association (2019). standards for tesol prek-12 teacher preparation programs. retrieved from https://www.tesol.org/docs/default-source/books/2018-tesolteacher-prep-standards-final.pdf?sfvrsn=6. tharp, r., g., estrada, p., dalton, s. s. & yamauchi, l. (2000). teaching transformed. boulder, co: westview press. thigpin, r. e. (2011). teacher responses to participation in hawaii’s kahua induction program. (unpublished phd dissertation). university of new mexico. torres-velásquez, d. (2017). martínez v. state of new mexico: the right to a sufficient education. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(1), 106-124. valencia, r. r. (2008). chicano students and the courts. new york: ny. university press. valenzuela, a. (2016). growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice curriculum for teachers of latino/a youth. new york, ny: teachers college press and dallas, tx: nlerap. villegas, a. m., & irvine, j. j. (2010). diversifying the teaching force: an examination of major arguments. the urban review, 42(3), 175-192. vogt, l. a., & au, k. h. p. (1995). the role of teachers’ guided reflection in effecting positive program change. the bilingual research journal, 9(1), 101-120. walker, l. h. m., & syed, m. (2013). integrating identities: ethnic and academic identities among diverse college students. teachers college record, 115(8), 1-24. yazzie v. state of new mexico. (2014). 1st dist. court of new mexico, no. d-101-cv-2014 02224 complaint. zozakiewicz, c., & rodríguez, a. j. (2007). using sociotransformative constructivism to create multicultural and gender-inclusive classrooms: an intervention project for teacher professional development. educational policy, 21(2), 397-425. nmped (2019a). bilingual multicultural education programs (bmep). [ 22-23-1 nmsa 1978]. retrieved from https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/bureaus/languageandculture/bilingual-multicultural-education-programs-bmeps/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 148 latinx education under attack: the implications of immigration policy for education ruth m. lópez university of houston yalidy matos1 rutgers university abstract this conceptual article examines the intersection between immigration law enforcement and education. we explore the following questions: how have immigration and education policy intersected in the last decade, and particularly after the 2016 presidential election? to examine this question, we make use of the interdisciplinary nature of our own academic backgrounds as a political scientist and an education policy scholar to ground our article using sociologist herbert blumer’s sense of group position theory, critical race theory (crt), and latina/o critical race theory (latcrit). guided by this theoretical frame, we discuss the notion of education being used as a bargaining tool and a weapon with implications for latino communities given the current political and anti-immigrant context. we highlight examples that represent various levels of government and that on the surface have a target population of immigrant adults or young adults—however, we argue that regardless of the target population, if a policy has direct implications for adult immigrants and immigration, it will have direct implications for educational institutions and the children of immigrants. keywords: latino, education, immigration, blumer, latcrit, crt doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.410 1 all authors contributed equally to this article. http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.410 lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 149 introduction the deprivation of public education is not like the deprivation of some other governmental benefit. public education has a pivotal role in maintaining the fabric of our society and in sustaining our political and cultural heritage; the deprivation of education takes an inestimable toll on the social, economic, intellectual, and psychological well-being of the individual, and poses an obstacle to individual achievement (plyler v. doe, 457 u.s. 202 (1982). immigration and education are inextricably entwined, both historically and contemporarily. in the last decade, anti-immigrant policies have brought schools face to face with immigration policies in the classroom. in the united states (u.s.), approximately 3.9 million children with at least one undocumented parent are enrolled in k-12 schools. the majority (3.2 million) of these students are u.s. born, while an estimated 725,000 children are undocumented. these estimates account for 7.3 percent of all k-12 students (passell & cohn, 2016). in 1982, in plyler v. doe, the u.s. supreme court made it unconstitutional to deprive children, regardless of legal status, of a k-12 education. in theory, public education is unlike any other governmental benefit in that education is key to both the national fabric of the united states and individual achievement. education is key to upward mobility, however, more than ever education is at the forefront of immigration policy. in fact, as we argue below, given the direct impact of immigration policies and enforcement on the lives of school-age children and young adults, education policy has become immigration policy. the intersection between immigration policy and education is not a new phenomenon. in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the arrival of “new” immigrants from southern and eastern europe led some politicians and organizations to use literacy tests as a device to restrict not only the total number of immigrants, but also the ethnic makeup of the immigrant population. in 1986, only four years after plyler v. doe, the passage of the immigration reform and control act (irca) included educational provisions—knowledge of u.s. history, government, and the english language—for those who were eligible to change their status to permanent residents. consequently, schools became an important institution for those seeking permanent residency due to requests for documentation of school attendance and records as a way for immigrants to prove u.s. residency (olivas, 1994). education, whether explicitly or implicitly, has always been a part of immigration policy. how have immigration and education policy intersected in latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 150 the last decade, and particularly after the 2016 presidential election? in order to examine this question in this conceptual article, we make use of the interdisciplinary nature of our own academic backgrounds as a political scientist and an education policy scholar to critically examine immigration-related policies and practices that have had a direct impact on the lives of schooland college-aged young people. for this study, we examine state and local level immigration policies enacted since 2010 that have directly or indirectly conflated immigration policy with education policy. we also searched online news stories that demonstrated the impact immigration enforcement practices have on young people as well as their family. we highlight four themes that on the surface have a target population of immigrantand/or young adults; however, we argue that no matter the target population, if a policy has direct implications for adult immigrants and immigration, it will have direct implications for educational institutions and the children of immigrants as well, regardless of the child’s legal status. this inclusion of what may not appear to be education issues within a discussion of immigration policy is an affordance of our interdisciplinary approach. through this discussion, we hope that policymakers and education leaders can more clearly connect the relationship between immigration and education, and in turn better address the needs of students and families impacted by anti-immigrant policies. we ground our article using sociologist herbert blumer’s sense of group position theory, critical race theory (crt), and related framework, latina/o2 critical race theory (latcrit). these frameworks are useful in understanding how immigration and education policies are intricately linked and the implications of this connection. we argue that education is used as a bargaining chip and a weapon with implications for various stakeholders given the current political and anti-immigrant context. theoretical framework the sense of group position the sense of group position theory claims that race prejudice comes from a sense of group position, viewing prejudice as “beliefs about the proper relation between groups” (blumer, 1958, p. 38; bobo, kluegel, & smith, 1997). the basic tenets of this model, as laid out 2 we use latinx in the title to indicate gender inclusivity, and use latino and latina/o in some instances throughout the body. lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 151 by blumer (1958) suggest that racial attitudes consist of a feeling: 1) of superiority by the dominant group; 2) that the subordinate race is inherently different and alien; 3) of proprietary rights that accords the dominant group superior status, power, and other resources; and 4) that lower-status groups want a bigger share of “their” resources (p. 4). blumer’s theory helps us understand the critical role education has the capacity to play in u.s. society. through the use of blumer's theory, we are better able to understand how education gets weaponized, used as a bargaining chip due to its critical role in its ability to even the playing field. blumer’s sense of group position provides the dominant group a way to keep the playing field uneven, a way to keep the current hierarchical status quo. education is a resource, as per blumer’s theory, to which the dominant group lays claim. historically, the dominant group has either withheld education or used it to their own advantage. by marking others as different and “alien,” laying rightful claims to resources, and then acting on the perception that “lower-status” groups want more of those resources, blumer’s theory connects the use of resources to a larger debate about immigration enforcement. historically, education has been used as ways to keep groups from upward mobility (in the case of african americans) or forcibly assimilate groups into american culture and norms (in the case of indigenous peoples) precisely because education is, as justice brennan opined in plyler v. doe, key to achievement in america. thus, making education an important resource for either the equalizing of groups or maintaining a sense of group position for those in the dominant group, who themselves make the normative rules. immigration is one policy issue where education has become a bargaining chip. blumer’s theory allows us to connect the importance of education in either breaking down or maintaining racialized hierarchies, and the use of immigration policy and enforcement as a vessel through which political actors and everyday people justify more or less educational opportunities. one way discourses around immigration does this is through the racialization of immigrants. undocumented immigrants are often exclusively seen as latinos (chavez, 2001, 2013; santa ana, 2002) and conflated with negative images, often signaling alien-ness and otherness. scholars such as menchaca (1993) and donato and hanson (2012) document that mexican americans have historically been racialized through social and legal practices, such as the de jure, as well as de facto, segregation of mexican american students based on their race latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 152 across the west and southwest. pérez huber and colleagues (2008) in their discussion of racist nativism, demonstrate how undocumented immigrants are framed as a racial group in discussions about immigration. while ngai’s (2004) work is indicative of the racialization of illegality as attached to mexican bodies. through racialization, it is easier to deny latinos resources that are then deemed only for those who are a “part of” the rightful polity. blumer’s theory allows us to understand why schooling is a critical location of struggle and how those who fear the loss of power use education to minimize equitable education, and thus achievement, for all. separately, education and immigration policy are vessels through which the dominant group maintains a sense of group position. however, as immigration policy increasingly impacts education, education gets weaponized by political actors in such a way that the status quo is maintained. blumer’s theory explains why a person might have a high racial prejudice towards out-groups, which can lead to restrictive policy preferences. for example, a sense of group position might explain why someone might prefer more stringent and restrictive immigration policy, including policy that cuts back on the benefits immigrants have by merely inhabiting u.s. territory. blumer’s theory, thus, can be interpreted as the psychological mechanism underlying our argument about the intersection of education and immigration policy. critical race theory crt examines the relationship between race, law, and power. the movement towards a critical race theory began in the 1970s within american law schools. crt has now been used by scholars in numerous fields, including the social sciences and education (ladson-billings, 1998) to examine and challenge racism and white supremacy. in particular, crt scholars argue that white supremacy and the maintenance of racial power by the dominant group is maintained over time and that the law plays a major role in its maintenance (crenshaw, gotanda, peller, & thomas, 1996; delgado & stefancic, 2013). in our findings, we use elements of crt to examine the immigration policies and practices that have negative implications for immigrant communities. our examination of crt adds to blumer’s theory by explaining the inner workings of the use of law to continue the dominant group’s grip on power. by providing a structural explanation of how american law maintains white supremacy, crt lends to an analysis of how institutions embody “white norms,” while blumer’s theory sheds light on the cognitive lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 153 dimension of why education, in particular, is a crucial resource being used by political actors. as blumer himself posed, political actors and elites within the dominant group have prominent roles in meaning-making, producing meaning and managing it through policy and law. these meanings then get transferred over to the masses. education is crucial precisely because it is perceived as a resource that is given, deserved, earned, rather than a basic right that should be extended to all. the intersection of education and immigration policy, then, becomes a site for the maintenance of power for the dominant group. latina/o critical race theory connected to crt, is latcrit, an extension of crt as it relates toand impacts latinos (perea, 1998). latcrit moves beyond the black/white racial paradigm in order to include and critically examine latinos’ historical invisibility in the united states when it comes to racial inequities. pérez huber (2009) shares that latcrit “acknowledges issues of immigration status, language, ethnicity, and culture that may be overlooked by the black-white paradigm…” as well as it critically examines the intersection of race and immigration (p. 708). crt allows us to center the multiple ways in which oppression can intersect with the daily lives of people of color. latcrit furthers this examination by examining how the intersection of education policy and immigration policy and enforcement manifest for immigrant and latino communities—who often bear the brunt of immigration enforcement—in such a way that takes into consideration race, ethnicity, language, and immigration status to name a few (solórzano & bernal, 2001). latcrit also adds to our understanding of blumer’s sense of group position vis-à-vis immigration through a latcrit “racist nativism” frame (pérez huber, 2010). pérez huber defines three key components of nativism as (1) an intense opposition to the “foreigner,” which (2) creates the defense and protection of a nationalistic identity, where (3) the “foreigner” becomes a perceived threat to this national identity (pérez huber, 2010, p. 80). this latcrit framework of racist nativism is connected to blumer’s sense of group position in that it further divides the dominant group, who are the “rightful” members of the nationalistic identity, and the subordinate groups, who are considered foreign (i.e. different and alien) and thus, a perpetual threat. crt and latcrit provide a framework to examine and explore the contemporary immigration-related raids, deportations, changes in policy, and targeting of undocumented latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 154 immigrants, including children of undocumented parents and immigrant youth brought to the u.s. as children. the examples we provide in the next section are all ways in which law, whether federal, state, or local, constructs and maintains “domination and subordination” (crenshaw et al., 1996). seemingly race-neutral immigration policies lead to racial profiling by explicitly targeting brown bodies, which further perpetuates and conflates illegality and latino identity. illegality is then used as a way to prohibit the use of resources, including the right to an education. in fact, citizen status is often used as a way to maintain the racial status quo and make some immigrant groups inherently alien, dehumanized, and undeserving of rights. immigration law perpetuates inequality and racism (hing, 2009; k. r. johnson, 1996), and education serves as one realm in which this is evident.3 education as bargaining chip and weapon it is no surprise, given our discussion about the sense of group position, crt, and latcrit, that education is used as a tool to both include and exclude. historically, literacy tests have been used to exclude, and in some instances, school attendance records and english-as-asecond language (esl) education has been used to include. after the passage of irca, for example, attendance records and documentation of esl education led to a pathway to citizenship for those eligible. currently, education is being used as a tool to exclude and as a bargaining chip. the following examples illustrate the ways in which education is currently being weaponized, particularly against immigrant youth, children of immigrants, and latino immigrant families. furthermore, they illustrate how contemporary immigration rhetoric, federal-local programs, and executive orders continue to subordinate latinos as racialized others as a way to maintain the racial status quo. state-level omnibus immigration legislation on june 9, 2011, governor robert j. bentley signed into law alabama house bill 56 (hb 56), entitled the beason-hammon alabama taxpayer and citizen protection act. hb 56 was modeled after arizona’s senate bill 1070 (sb 1070), the support our law enforcement and safe neighborhoods act, which was signed into law by governor janice brewer on april 30, 2010. after arizona’s far-reaching immigration law made it constitutional for police to stop anyone they deem “reasonably suspicious” of being in the country illegally, five other states 3 for more on crt as it relates to immigration see a review done by g. sanchez & romero, 2010. lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 155 (including alabama) passed copycat laws. alabama, however, went above and beyond arizona by passing even harsher restrictions, making hb 56 the harshest immigration law to date. state-level immigration policies, in this case, alabama’s hb 56, tried to hinder immigrant children from attaining an education through the use of immigration enforcement. political actors tried to garner support from the masses by suggesting that educating undocumented children is a drain to alabama’s economy and taxpayers. as blumer’s theory would have it those who are positioned as “taxpayers”—which often does not include immigrants, even though immigrants, undocumented or not, pay taxes—can lay claim to their taxpaying dollars and define who deserves an education. the consequences of hb 56’s provision can be understood through the lens of crt and latcrit’s racist nativism theory. the policy, seemingly race-neutral, predominately affected immigrants of color because they were often racially profiled and stereotyped as “foreign.” because the policy did not consider the multiple sites of otherness, citizen children also suffered. hb 56 further perpetuated the stereotypes of immigrant communities as continually un-american, as well as it did not consider how race/ethnicity and skin color is conflated with immigration status, thus leading to increased profiling of latina/o children and communities. as part of hb 56, school officials were required to determine whether students are undocumented and to submit annual tallies of “suspected” undocumented immigrants. this provision was eventually permanently blocked on october 29, 2013, two years and four months after the signing of the original bill. legally, this provision was unconstitutional given the plyler v. doe decision by the u.s. supreme court in 1982. the provision, however, made it so that latino families, regardless of status, were afraid to send their children to school (bright, 2011; human rights watch, 2011; southern poverty law center, 2012). additionally, educators in this case were expected to act as the enforcers of immigration policy. latino children, those born in and outside the u.s., were equally discriminated against due to increased racial profiling because of hb 56 (beadle, 2011). immigration status is not a visible marker and immigrants are racially and culturally diverse, hence, when a teacher in a birmingham school gave a young american citizen student a spanish hb 56 pamphlet, it was based on her presumed foreign-ness and not her actual status (beadle, 2011). this young girl “looked foreign” and that was reason enough to assume her un-americanness. education latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 156 became yet another weapon, another way through which to instill fear in latino families and children. moreover, under this provision, educational institutions were used as a means to surveil latino bodies. the consequences of this particular education provision, although ultimately struck down, was still felt. on september 30, 2011, for example, 1,988 latino students were absent from school state-wide, about five percent of the entire latino population in the alabama school system (robertson, 2011). human rights watch reported that between the time the law went into effect on september 28, 2011, and the time the 11th circuit court of appeals preliminarily enjoined section 28 on october 12, 2011, over 5,000 latino children were absent (human rights watch, 2011). there are a number of student accounts of being picked on or bullied in the wake of hb 56 (millhiser, 2011; reeves, 2011). the law targeted latino communities in alabama and this kind of outcome has a deep impact on the children of immigrant families. the national education association (nea) general counsel, alice o’brien stated that “the inevitable effect and clear purpose of this law is to drive immigrant students out of alabama schools. and it is clear that this harmful venture is shortsighted and misguided” (bright, 2011). policies like hb 56 and the current anti-immigrant proliferation of state and local level policies in the u.s. also affect the educators and the students who stay in school regardless of immigration status (human rights watch, 2011). there is extant research that has shown the negative effects of immigration enforcement and anti-immigrant/anti-latino policies on children’s education (gutiérrez, asato, santos, & gotanda, 2002). some of the consequences include student absences, decline in academic performance, and less involvement from parents (gándara & ee, 2018; t. johnson, 2018). in addition, the psychological toll it takes on students include fear of separation and behavioral and emotional problems due to stress and uncertainty (anderson, 2016; menjívar & abrego, 2012). furthermore, these kids still worry about what may happen to their parents, especially under the current administration. the effects of this policy remain, given that local enforcement in alabama can behave as ice agents as per an hb 56 provision that requires trained police officers to ask about the documentation status of anyone they deem suspicious of being undocumented. alabama was unsuccessful in passing a provision that superseded plyler v. doe, but the u.s. immigration and customs enforcement (ice) has found a way to continue to use schools to enforce immigration policies. ice using school drop-offs as a way to detain students and parents lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 157 although ice has a longstanding policy directing agents to avoid enforcement in “sensitive locations,” such as churches, hospitals, and schools (morton, 2011), there have been numerous reports of parents and even teenage students being stopped and detained by ice while on their way toor from school drop-offs (gonzales, heredia, & negrón-gonzales, 2015). in los angeles, california in march 2017, a father had just finished dropping off his 12year old daughter and was on his way to drop-off his 13-year old daughter when ice stopped and detained him about half a mile from the school. his 13-year old daughter stated, “i never thought i would have to experience something like this in my life... on my way to school” (castillo, 2017; r. sanchez, 2017). on january 25, 2018, in middlesex county, new jersey, two fathers were arrested by ice after dropping off their kids, while a third took sanctuary in a local church. reverend seth kaper-dale was not new to providing a sanctuary and was quoted saying that, “one night when 35 dads were taken…from avenel, new jersey, from the same apartment complex. i had 60 kids become orphans that night or become fatherless” (duffy, 2018). hence, even though k-12 schools cannot collect social security numbers or any other information regarding citizenship, ice has found a way to terrorize students and their parents in the proximity of schools. in these scenarios, the intersection of education policy and immigration enforcement is contradictory. crt and latcrit can better help us understand how these policies are not designed to protect children and why it is problematic to have such policies in place. the consequences of immigration enforcement are not just on the adults being detained and arrested, but on their kids, who are left with the long-term consequences of having their families separated. these kinds of policies have a direct impact on mixed-status families, who are thus torn apart. the overarching messaging around the arrests of parents nearby schools while picking-up or dropping-off their children is that their assumed unauthorized presence supersedes any laws protecting sensitive locations. it is a clear messaging aimed at immigrants of color, and latina/o immigrants especially, that says the laws will not protect you given your assumed “foreignness.” under the current administration, schools have become battlegrounds for immigration enforcement. according to a survey from the civil rights project at the university of california, los angeles, teachers and administrators from 700 schools in twelve states reported feeling the effects of the trump administration’s immigration policies in their latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 158 classrooms (gándara & ee, 2018). k-12 education, however, is not the only battleground for immigration enforcement, as higher education is once again not guaranteed for those deemed dreamers after trump rescinded the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) enacted by president obama in 2012. “no wall, no daca.” this section provides examples of how higher education is being used as both a weapon and a bargaining chip. in 1996, the illegal immigration reform and immigrant responsibility act (iirira) basically had the opposite effect of plyler v. doe in relation to higher education when it created a debate about the “benefits” to which undocumented people are entitled. iirira’s section on the role of states to allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition is vague and this led to multiple and often contradictory interpretations. olivas (2004) states, “iirira, however badly written, allows states to confer (or not to confer) a residency benefit upon the undocumented in their public postsecondary institutions” (pp. 452-453). he notes that some believed this federal act prohibited states from allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition, but that in actuality it only prohibited nonresidents from receiving benefits to which a citizen or national would not be entitled. over 18 states passed their own laws basing undocumented student’s eligibility for in-state tuition rates on attendance and graduation rather than residency.4 other states, however, went in the opposite direction. states such as arizona, georgia, and alabama prohibit undocumented students from paying in-state tuition rates. in 2012, after losing a fight to pass the dream act in 2010 and after pressure from immigrant rights activists, former president obama enacted daca, an executive order that allowed some undocumented youth who met rigorous requirements to receive deferred action from deportation and be eligible for a work permit. importantly, some would-be recipients of the dream act were not eligible for daca given the age cut-off of 31 at the time of passage. “dacamented” recipients were then required to pay a fee, go through a background check, prove continuous u.s. residency, and renew their status every two years. while on his campaign trail, president trump promised to repeal daca, and in september 2017, attorney general jeff sessions announced that the program was being repealed. since then, the 4 for one example see california’s assembly bill 540 in 2001 and california’s dream act bills ab 130 and ab 131 in 2011. although, some state laws do consider state residency for in-state tuition. lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 159 approximately 800,000 previously dacamented—and those who are eligible but never applied for daca—risk detention and deportation. although trump called congress to act on this matter, he has also actively urged daca recipients to prepare for and arrange their departure, in essence, to “self-deport” (kopan & acosta, 2017; shabad, 2017; shear & davis, 2017). this was precisely the strategy used by the architect of hb 56 and sb 1070, kris kobach, currently the kansas secretary of state.5 alabama’s hb 56 and arizona’s sb 1070 were designed to make life difficult enough that immigrants would flee voluntarily (waslin, 2012). president trump and sessions have used daca as a bargaining chip toward attaining his infamous border wall, for example. trump stated in a press conference, an official white house statement, and through his twitter account that there will be no daca if there is no wall (bowden, 2017; colvin, 2017; trump, 2017) and on easter sunday in 2018 announced there will be, “no daca deal” (cullen & fisher, 2018). in his official letter to congress, trump listed his demands in exchange for daca, stating that the committee he put together to review immigration policies have outlined their reforms and that these reforms “must be included as part of any legislation addressing the status of deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) recipients” (trump, 2017). the current administration is capitalizing on the current antiimmigrant moment that it helped to exacerbate. it is important to note that daca is further being used as reasoning to build a wall along the u.s.-mexico border to deter and stop immigration from mexico, centraland south america. the border wall is also serving as a symbol of exclusion and a way to maintain and remind the dominant group that those below the u.s.-mexico line are others and should not be included. the political work of the wall is not only about the actual physical wall, but the ideological work of the wall discourse on the maintenance of the racial status quo. targeting daca and dreamers as bargaining chips is an intentional strategy that results in the marginalization of latina/o undocumented college or would-be students and imposes a restriction to higher education to this subset of students. crt researchers, in particular, remind us that educational institutions can operate both ways in their potential to oppress and empower (solórzano & bernal, 2001). daca—prior to the current trump 5 kobach is known to have counseled the trump campaign and administration on immigration (berman, 2017). latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 160 administration—empowered many of its participants who reported daca had a positive impact on their education. they also reported higher rates of employment, better forms of financial aid, access to transportation, and more stable housing (pullias center for higher education, 2017; suarez-orozco, suarez-orozco, & teranishi, 2016). daca helped even the playing field. targeting this group is an intentional strategy given that most americans are actually in favor of a dream act (fitz, 2010; samuels, 2018). the dominant rhetoric about dreamers enables most americans to view these immigrant youth as agent-less in their immigration to the u.s. (at the same time that it implies the agency and criminalization of the parents). however, by rescinding daca, the current administration has weaponized education in order to impose their draconian immigration policy agenda. in the next section, we discuss one way that the weaponizing towards daca has played out for young people through policing. school-to-deportation pipeline the use of schools to over-police students of color is not a new phenomenon. crt and latcrit frameworks suggest that analyzing race and racism in education is not ahistorical, that educational challenges for students of color have existed in the past. the school-to-prison pipeline is well documented for students of color (aclu, 2018; crenshaw, 2015; skiba, michael, nardo, & peterson, 2002; wald & losen, 2003). in line with this phenomenon, the current targeting of dacamented, and immigrant children and youth has increased the schoolto-deportation pipeline (annamma, 2013; pantoja, 2014; timmons flores, 2013). recently, arrests of undocumented young people in their communities at the hands of ice and sometimes even in or near schools have gained national spotlight, whereas before these individuals benefitted from the relative assurance that this would not happen. in this section, we include examples both in and out of schools given that many of the young people we discuss were at the time students. in february 2017, in san antonio, tx, josué romero, a 19-year-old daca recipient, was arrested by local police for a class b misdemeanor and was held in custody and released the following day (rivas, 2017). more recently, in houston, texas, 19-year-old high school senior dennis rivera was arrested after getting into a fight with a student who antagonized him by calling him racial slurs. school district police arrested rivera and transferred him to the local jail where given the locality’s federal agreement with ice, through a 287(g) memorandum, his records were run through a federal database (for more on 287(g) see matos, lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 161 2018). he was held for months in spite of the paid bond (kriel & webb, 2018). these young people have all been affected by the intersection of policing, immigration enforcement, and education, demonstrating how the three institutions are intricately linked. they became the casualties of trump’s administration’s usage of education policy, i.e. daca, as a way to make a statement about his forceful immigration enforcement. arrests of immigrant teens are not new under the current administration. under president obama, teens were arrested, detained, and deported, and at that time the administration focused especially on central americans. eighteen-year-old yefri sortohernandez from el salvador was arrested by ice while he was at his school bus stop (lee, 2016). yefri, a high school student in charlotte, north carolina was picked up by ice as part of operation border guardian/border resolve, which began in january of 2016 (j. c. johnson, 2016; preston, 2016). after spending six months in a georgia detention facility, he was released on a $30,000 bond while he appealed deportation back to el salvador (price, 2016). in the same month, 19-year-old wildin david guillen acosta from honduras and living in north carolina was also arrested by ice. according to reports, after wildin was detained, one-third of the students in his esl class were absent (lee, 2016). this is reminiscent of student’s behaviors when anti-immigrant policies such as hb 56 have been passed and they’re afraid to return to school. both yefri and wildin are part of the “nc6,” a group of six students arrested and detained by ice around the same time and as part of the operation to focus on unaccompanied central american children and new arrivals. in the trump era, education policies such as daca are being weaponized, used as a way to expand restrictive immigration policies by framing immigrant teens as threats to american society, often without proof, only relying on their “foreignness” as evidence. a latcrit analysis helps us understand that these students sit at the intersection of immigration status, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, and overall perceptions of otherness. this otherness places these immigrant teens as subordinate to the dominant group, which define the norm by their whiteness and u.s. citizenship status (huynh, devos, & smalarz, 2011). race plays a role here given that even american citizens, who are seemingly other, seemingly latino or a person of color, are assumed “foreign.” and using pérez huber’s racist nativism latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 162 framework and blumer’s sense of group position, this otherness allows for a depiction of immigrant teens and those who fall under the assumed foreign category as a threat. conclusion in this conceptual article, we have discussed the current intersection of immigration and education policies. restrictive immigration policies affect immigrant parents and the children of immigrants in close proximity to schooling environments and through the targeting of daca and undocumented young people as bargaining chips for border security. through the use of the sense of group, crt, and latcrit theories, we argue that education policy is increasingly becoming immigration policy. in may 2018, jeff sessions announced that the government would separate children from their parents coming across the u.s.-mexico border; he called the act of parents migrating with their children “smuggling” (williams, 2018). these children are being held in prison-like detention centers and camps where they risk abuse (biesecker, pearson, & burke, 2018). if this new policy stands, the implications of immigration policies for school-aged children of immigrants will continue and, in this case, even look differently as questions regarding their access to education while in detention (and separated from their parents) arise. most recently in august 2018, the trump administration was preparing to release a new immigration rule that could jeopardize the well-being of u.s. citizen children of legal immigrants by making it difficult for them to access infant formula, health services, and preschool (rampell, 2018). this can have long-term implications for their lives and educational outcomes. so, as we examine the various ways that immigration policies intersect with education, we argue that it is important to define education and education policies as more expansive than the traditional definitions. instead, we can more critically examine the impact of immigration policies on education through the use of critical frameworks such as the sense of group, crt, and latcrit and thus examine the lives of children of immigrants, both inside and outside of schools, and across all levels from daycare to post-college. although the issue of immigration is not solely a latino issue and other racialized groups have been targeted by anti-immigrant policies, through a latcrit lens, the specific impact of immigration enforcement on latino communities becomes evident. relatedly, as we have shown, even when a policy is designed to specifically target adult populations, it can still have an impact on young people. we are not arguing for the targeting of adult immigrants, but instead, for a more just immigration system that acknowledges the lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 163 contributions immigrants make to this country and that ceases to use human beings as bargaining chips. through their survey of over 5,000 educators, gándara and ee (2018) found that even non-immigrant students are affected by anti-immigrant policies when they worry that their community members are in danger of being deported. we are arguing for an expansive view of the policy implications of immigration policies on education. political actors should consider both the indirect and direct impact on communities. this is important for researchers examining the impact of immigration policies on children, for policymakers who are assessing the consequences of how immigration policies are designed, but also for educators who lead districts and schools, and who teach immigrant children. within policymaking, educators could consider ways in which they too can use their agency to mitigate the consequences of immigration policy on children’s lives. rather than only attend to the policies that name children as target populations, educators should consider any immigration policy as having an impact on their institutions and members. for example, currently k-12 schools may only be required to attend to the requirements of plyler v doe. however, knowing that their families are impacted by threats of raids, deportations, and antiimmigrant policies, schools and districts can enact strategies to support the students and families that might be impacted by such traumatic life events. acknowledging the lived realities of students has been shown to be critical for the impacted children’s sense of self (osorio, 2018). educators can strategically create and enact education policies that address the lived reality of children of immigrants. we conclude this article with a call to resistance. in every instance of injustice that we have detailed individuals, community groups, civil rights advocates, and litigators have engaged in their own acts of resistance that have led to more favorable outcomes and conditions. educators have also been part of this resistance and have responded in support of their immigrant families. across the country, statements of solidarity from school and district leaders re-affirm that their schools are safe sites. as we have shown above, the safety, in reality, is precarious, but educators must continue to talk openly with their immigrant families and to provide support and build strong partnerships with community groups in order to challenge the current political climate. latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 164 references aclu. (2018). school-to-prison pipeline. retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenilejustice/school-prison-pipeline. anderson, m. d. (2016, jan 26). how fears of deportation harm kids’ education. retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/the-educational-and-emotionaltoll-of-deportation/426987/. annamma, s. (2013). undocumented and under surveillance: a case study of an undocumented latina with a disability in juvenile justice. association of mexican american educators journal, 7(3). beadle, a. p. (2011, nov 8). american citizen racially profiled at school in alabama because she looked foreign. retrieved from https://thinkprogress.org/american-citizen-raciallyprofiled-at-school-in-alabama-because-she-looked-foreign-771be2e55a6d/. berman, a. (2017, jun 13). the man behind trump’s voter-fraud obsession. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/magazine/the-man-behind-trumps-voter-fraudobsession.html. biesecker, m., pearson, j., & burke, g. (2018, jun 21). governor orders probe of abuse claims by immigrant children. retrieved from https://www.apnews.com/afc80e51b562462c89907b49ae624e79. blumer, h. m. (1958). race prejudice as a sense of group position. pacific sociological review, 1(1), 3-7. bobo, l., kluegel, j. r., & smith, r. a. (1997). laissez-faire racism: the crystallization of a kinder, gentler, antiblack ideology. in s. a. tuch & j. k. martin (eds.), racial attitudes in the 1990s: continuity and change. westport, conn.: praeger. bowden, j. (2017, dec 29). trump says dems know there is no daca fix without border wall. retrieved from http://thehill.com/latino/366757-trump-tweets-at-dems-no-daca-fixwithout-funding-for-border-wall. bright, r. (2011, aug 31). alabama schools worry about effects of immigration law. retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2011/08/31/alabama-schools-worry-about-effects-ofimmigration-law/. castillo, a. (2017, mar 3). immigrant arrested by ice after dropping daughter off at school, sending shockwaves through neighborhood. retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-immigration-school-20170303-story.html. chavez, l. r. (2001). covering immigration: popular images and the politics of the nation. california: university of california press. chavez, l. r. (2013). the latino threat: constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation. stanford: stanford university press. colvin, j. (2017, oct 9). trump lists demands on immigration in exchange for daca. retrieved from https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2017/10/09/trump-lists-demands-onimmigration-in-exchange-for-daca. crenshaw, k. (2015). black girls matter: pushed out, overpoliced and underprotected. retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53f20d90e4b0b80451158d8c/t/54d2d22ae4b00c50 6cffe978/1423102506084/blackgirlsmatter_report.pdf. lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 165 crenshaw, k., gotanda, n., peller, g., & thomas, k. (eds.). (1996). critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement. new york: the new press. cullen, t., & fisher, j. (2018). trump announces ‘no more daca deal’ in easter twitter rant attacking immigration laws. retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-announces-no-daca-deal-article1.3908516. delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (eds.). (2013). critical race theory: the cutting edge. philadelphia: temple university press. donato, r., & hanson, j. s. (2012). legally white, socially “mexican”: the politics of de jure and de facto school segregation in the american southwest. harvard educational review, 82(2), 202-225. duffy, c. (2018, jan 25). 2 dads nabbed by ice as they drop off kids at nj school; 3rd takes shelter in church. retrieved from http://pix11.com/2018/01/25/2-dads-nabbed-by-ice-asthey-drop-off-kids-at-nj-school-3rd-takes-shelter-in-church/. fitz, m. (2010). the dream act by the numbers. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2010/12/17/8845/thedream-act-by-the-numbers/. gándara, p., & ee, j. (2018). u.s. immigration enforcement policy and its impact on teaching and learning in the nation’s schools. retrieved from https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-anddiversity/u.s.-immigration-enforcement-policy-and-its-impact-on-teaching-and-learningin-the-nations-schools/embargoed-immigration-enforcement-on-schools.pdf. gonzales, r. g., heredia, l. l., & negrón-gonzales, g. (2015). untangling plyler's legacy: undocumented students, schools, and citizenship. harvard educational review, 85(3), 318-341. doi:10.17763/0017-8055.85.3.318 gutiérrez, k. d., asato, j., santos, m., & gotanda, n. (2002). backlash pedagogy: language and culture and the politics of reform. the review of education, pedagogy & cultural studies, 24(4), 335-351. hing, b. o. (2009). institutional racism, ice raids, and immigration reform. university of san francisco law review,, 44(2). human rights watch. (2011, dec 14). no way to live: alabama’s immigrant law. retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/report/2011/12/14/no-way-live/alabamas-immigrant-law. huynh, q.-l., devos, t., & smalarz, l. (2011). perpetual foreigner in one's own land: potential implications for identity and psychological adjustment. journal of social and clinical psychology, 30(2), 133. doi:10.1521/jscp.2011.30.2.133 johnson, j. c. (2016, mar 9). statement by secretary jeh c. johnson on southwest border security. retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/03/09/statement-secretary-jehc-johnson-southwest-border-security. johnson, k. r. (1996). fear of an "alien nation": race, immigration, and immigrants. stanford law & policy review, 7(2), 111-126. johnson, t. (2018, mar 14). how aggressive immigration enforcement hurts america’s schools. retrieved from http://immigrationimpact.com/2018/03/14/immigration-enforcementhurts-schools/. kopan, t., & acosta, j. (2017, sep 6). admin memo: daca recipients should prepare for 'departure from the united states'. retrieved from latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 166 https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/05/politics/white-house-memo-daca-recipientsleave/index.html. kriel, l., & webb, s. (2018, feb 15). austin high school students protest arrest of immigrant student booked into jail for assault. retrieved from https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/austin-high-school-studentsprotest-arrest-of-12613906.php. ladson-billings, g. (1998). just what is critical race theory and what's it doing in a nice field like education? international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 7-24. doi:10.1080/095183998236863 lee, e. y. h. (2016, apr 14). ice agents are arresting teens on their way to school. retrieved from https://thinkprogress.org/ice-agents-are-arresting-teens-on-their-way-to-school4853613160/. matos, y. (2018, jan 9). how america's 1996 immigration act set the stage for increasingly localized and tough enforcement. retrieved from https://scholars.org/brief/howamericas-1996-immigration-act-set-stage-increasingly-localized-and-tough-enforcement. menchaca, m. (1993). chicano indianism: a historical account of racial repression in the united states. american ethnologist, 20(3), 583-603. menjívar, c., & abrego, l. (2012). legal violence in the lives of immigrants: how immigration enforcement affects families, schools, and workplaces. retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2012/12/11/47533/legalviolence-in-the-lives-of-immigrants/. millhiser, i. (2011, oct 23). hispanic alabama schoolchildren face bullying in the wake of antiimmigrant law. retrieved from https://thinkprogress.org/hispanic-alabamaschoolchildren-face-bullying-in-the-wake-of-anti-immigrant-law-1114d4ff4176/. morton, j. (2011, oct 24). enforcement actions at or focused on sensitive locations. retrieved from https://www.ice.gov/doclib/ero-outreach/pdf/10029.2-policy.pdf. ngai, m. m. (2004). impossible subjects: illegal aliens and the making of modern america. princeton: princeton university press. olivas, m. a. (1994). storytelling out of school: undocumented college residency, race, and reaction. hastings const lq. olivas, m. a. (2004). iirira, the dream act, and undocumented college student residency. journal of college and university law, 30(2), 323-464. osorio, s. l. (2018). border stories: using critical race and latino critical theories to understand the experiences of latino/a children. race ethnicity and education, 21(1), 92104. pantoja, a. (2014). reframing the school-to-prison pipeline: the experiences of latin@ youth and families. association of mexican american educators journal, 7(3). perea, j. (1998). black/white binary paradigm of race: the normal science of american racial thought, the. la raza lj. pérez huber, l. (2009). challenging racist nativist framing: acknowledging the community cultural wealth of undocumented chicana college students to reframe the immigration debate. harvard educational review, 79(4), 704-729. pérez huber, l. (2010). using latina/o critical race theory (latcrit) and racist nativism to explore intersectionality in the educational experiences of undocumented chicana college students. educational foundations, 24(1-2), 77-96. lópez & matos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 167 pérez huber, l., lopez, c. b., malagon, m. c., velez, v., & solórzano, d. g. (2008). getting beyond the ‘symptom,’ acknowledging the ‘disease’: theorizing racist nativism. contemporary justice review, 11(1), 39-51. doi:10.1080/10282580701850397 plyler v. doe, 457 u.s. 202 (1982). preston, j. (2016, mar 9). u.s. continues to deport central american migrants. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/us/us-continues-to-deport-central-americanmigrants.html. price, m. (2016, jun 28). after six months in custody, bond set for immigrant cms student. retrieved from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article86450677.html. pullias center for higher education. (2017). understanding daca and the implications for higher education. february. retrieved from https://pullias.usc.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2017/02/understanding_daca_final.pdf. rampell, c. (2018, aug 9). three reasons trump’s new immigration rule should make your blood boil. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/three-reasonstrumps-new-immigration-rule-should-make-your-blood-boil/2018/08/09/1f59a7fe-9b4c11e8-8d5e-c6c594024954_story.html?utm_term=.e6c6d6aac427. reeves, j. (2011, oct 22). parents: hispanic kids being bullied in law's wake. retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44999117/ns/us_news-life/t/parents-hispanic-kids-beingbullied-laws-wake/#.wrud3wbmwwp. rivas, j. (2017, feb 16). a second daca recipient has been detained by ice. retrieved from https://splinternews.com/a-second-daca-recipient-has-been-detained-by-ice-1793858701. robertson, c. (2011). after ruling, hispanics flee an alabama town. the new york times. retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/us/after-ruling-hispanics-flee-analabama-town.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&sq=alabama&st=cse&scp=3& samuels, b. (2018). poll: most americans support daca. retrieved from http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/368959-poll-most-americans-support-daca. sanchez, g., & romero, m. (2010). critical race theory in the us sociology of immigration. sociology compass, 4(9), 779-788. sanchez, r. (2017, mar 3). ice arrests undocumented father taking daughter to california school. retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/03/us/california-father-ice-arresttrnd/index.html. santa ana, o. (2002). brown tide rising: metaphors of latinos in contemporary american public discourse. austin: university of texas press. shabad, r. (2017, sep 6). white house talking points on daca advises recipients to self-deport. retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-talking-points-on-dacaadvises-recipients-to-self-deport/. shear, m. d., & davis, j. h. (2017, sep 5). trump moves to end daca and calls on congress to act. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/us/politics/trump-dacadreamers-immigration.html. skiba, r. j., michael, r. s., nardo, a. c., & peterson, r. l. (2002). the color of discipline: sources of racial and gender disproportionality in school punishment. the urban review, 34(4), 317-342. doi:10.1023/a:1021320817372 solórzano, d. g., & bernal, d. d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. doi:10.1177/0042085901363002 latinx education under attack association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 168 southern poverty law center. (2012). alabama's shame: hb 56 and the war on immigrants. retrieved from http://www.splcenter.org/alabamas-shame-hb56-and-the-war-onimmigrants. suarez-orozco, c., suarez-orozco, m., & teranishi, r. (2016). pathways to opportunities: promising practices for immigrant children, youth & their families. retrieved from http://ige.gseis.ucla.edu/promisingpracticeswhitepaper4.25.16/#h.t08b1pmrg7ve. timmons flores, m. (2013). a dream deported: what undocumented american youth need their schools to understand. journal of educational controversy, 7(1), 10. trump, d. (2017, oct 8). president donald j. trump’s letter to house and senate leaders & immigration principles and policies. retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trumps-letterhouse-senate-leaders-immigration-principles-policies/. wald, j., & losen, d. (2003). defining and redirecting a school-to-prison pipeline. retrieved from http://youthjusticenc.org/download/education-justice/suspension-andexpulsion/defining%20and%20re-directing%20the%20school-to-prison%20pipeline.pdf. waslin, m. (2012). discrediting "self deportation" as immigration policy: why an attrition through enforcement strategy makes life difficult for everyone. retrieved from williams, p. (2018, may 7, 2018). sessions: parents, children entering u.s. illegally will be separated. nbc news. retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justicedepartment/sessions-parents-children-entering-us-illegally-will-be-separated-n872081 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ a real tragedy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 183 a real tragedy martha rivas university of california, riverside we often assume– (we know what that means, no?) when we continue to name oppressive experiences faced by latinx community college students, we are shut down as these “are things of the past.” after all, latinx are the largest growing “minority,” we have studies dating back 10-20-30-40 years. we assume we “know” the challenges. we “know” the barriers. yet, as an activist-scholar-administrator in this field, shit is still real. too damn real not to name it. asi que… when we shame our students for not knowing, not naming, nor having the terminology to name what they aspire to do at the community college– it assumes it assumes it assumes we do a really good job or that we do our job of explaining the purpose of a three-tier college system– that’s a real tragedy. because some folks working in the “system” are so removed disconnected they’ve forgotten or pretend they don’t know or they don’t know, nor care, don’t care to know, rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 184 don’t know to care realities experienced in our communities, nor about the historical underpinnings; white supremacist underpinnings that built educational institutions in this country– that’s a real tragedy. instead, they lash to say how dare we speak? don’t speak—not us— how dare we speak? how dare we speak about graduate school or medical school or law school or anything to challenge and change the status quo. how dare we speak to community college students about these things; these students aren’t going … aren’t going… to make it that far, right?– that’s a real tragedy. yet we know, we see we hear we feel– we know the truth. we know our strength. we know their strength. we know their resilience. when 1 of 4 chicanas/os ph.d. scholars produced in 1990-2000 for the entire country, started at the community colleges!1 we know our strength, we know the power they be! 1 rivas, martha a., jeanette pérez, crystal a. alvarez, and daniel g. solórzano. (2007). an examination of latina/o transfer students in california’s postsecondary institutions. csrc latino policy and issues brief no. 16. los angeles: ucla chicano studies research center press. rivas, m.a. (2012). soulfully resistant transferistas: understanding the chicana transfer experience from community college and into the doctorate. doctoral dissertation. university of california, los angeles. a real tragedy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 185 when you have to convince folks our students are resilient, determined, beautiful, and committed to their education, their families, themselves. we have to convince folks -hard because their lenses are fogged tapados with deficit ideologies continuing to brainwash folks to believe and exacerbate the opposite– that’s a real tragedy. when we refuse to call it white supremacy or racism, or classism, or misogyny, or ageism, because well, we may not have the language to name it -or because we are too.damn.comfortable too.damn.comfortable with our six-figure paychecks– that’s a real tragedy. when our students’ parents may not know what college is about; instead of stepping in to engage them, we stand quick to point fingers and blame them– that’s a real tragedy. because 60-years in the process we finally realize we’ve been marginalizing, shackling, rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 186 oppressing and neglecting too many, too many, too many; an overwhelming many of our students in not transferring, in not accessing the right courses, in complicating the process, or misplacing them is mismatch courses, relegating and corralling them in remedial courses– that’s a real tragedy. the new response (or magic wand) is a “holistic approach” to place students through mmap2, yet, it doesn’t take into account real accounts– real things, warranted things, systemic things, like the fact mmap will not replicate the few nor hire critical pedagogues, mmap will not replicate the few nor hire conscious counselors, mmap will not replicate the few nor hire radically capable administrators, because mmap does not eradicate deficit ideologies, racism, classism, homophobia, xenophobia, or all the ignorance that continue 2 multiple measures of assessment and placement (mmap). http://rpgroup.org/all-projects/ctl/articleview/mid/1686/articleid/118/multiple-measures-assessment-projectmmap a real tragedy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 187 continue continue to “cool out” marginalize dehumanize silence oppress our students and their aspirations– that’s a real tragedy. see now, now! now it’s time for student equity. we talk about it. we plan for it. we meet to talk and plan. we plan to talk and meet. but folks bluff to understand equity. why would we need a special special initiative? (everyone listen up) …because there’s tons of funding there so listen up! plan to meet. meet to plan. but nowhere is there assurance folks know what equity means– that’s a real tragedy. when we speak of equity we conjure we evoke we recall we remember the legacies of struggle, legacies of exclusion, legacies of sacrifices, generations-after-generations-after-generations before have endured. rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 188 that is pedagogy of memory. that is pedagogy of hope. you see– equity does not equate diversity. we do not pause to plan to celebrate who is in the room. we have to pause to see to fight to voice to name to acknowledge who is fighting to be in the room. legacies of exclusion. legacies of a three-tiered system. legacies of continued marginalization. legacies of corralling students of color in the perceived bottom sector of higher education. that’s a real tragedy. but the real tragedy is in knowing folks will read this in disagreement. because then, they too are part of this tragedy y si les queda el saco, ya saben! the beauty in this is knowing our students resist! they have, they will. we must, together. there are critical folks that have been there this entire time... voicing, pushing, encouraging, challenging– not often heard often silenced ignored, oppressed, released, killed in their attempt to defend our students. that’s a real tragedy. but just as they’ve collared a real tragedy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 189 and relegated to oppress– we will fight back. we will challenge– we will create systemic changes! rooted in community, nurtured within our own legacies, centered on advocacy y resiliency along with our students, because of our students because of our communities because of the generations-after-generations of teaching and inculcating resilience we are ready. we’ve been ready! to name-confront-challenge all the f’ing–isms ahorita porque no hay de otra! simply because we cannot afford to accept another tragedy. this is our strategy. volume 14 issue 2 2020 amae invited issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies guest editors josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona this invited special issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans*1 chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies reflects new thinking that is grounded in queer and trans* of color and u.s. feminist of color theoretical and conceptual frameworks. this collection illustrates how queer and trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies are drawing from u.s. feminist of color writing and queer of color critique, highlighting important engagements not only in reclaiming and tracing our pedagogical practices in education but also new theoretical insights into queer and trans* scholarship that has taken creative interdisciplinary approaches to education research. the possibilities of the scholarship featured in the journal allows for fresh perspectives in youth studies and provocative embodied projects with chicana/o/x and latina/o/x college students and their queer and trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x instructors. we would like to thank the editors of the association of mexican american educators journal—patricia sánchez and lucila ek—for asking us to create this invited special issue. it was a joy for us to work with each of the contributors, and we are so appreciative of the chance to do this work that is so important to us as first-generation queer scholars of color. we dedicate this invited special issue to the memory of dr. maría lugones, a fierce theorist of resistance and popular educator, a beloved mentor and friend. 1 informed by francisco j. galarte’s (2014) work, we use trans* “as an umbrella term that encompasses (but does not conflate) various gender-nonconforming categories such as transgender, transbutch, andro, genderqueer, female to male (ftm), male to female (mtf), genderfucking, etc. it is being used increasingly as a term of selfidentification to draw attention to the diverse gender identities that are traditionally conflated under the term transgender” (p. 234). when sources are quoted in this article, we use the author’s chosen spelling, including trans, transgender, and/or trans*. 5 doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.355 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.355 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 a writing praxis we begin our introduction to this invited issue with a discussion of writing practices. to thrive in the academy, many of us have had to make a shift in the ways we understand ourselves: we must see ourselves first as writers. everything else is secondary. this is essential. u.s. woman of color writers understand this well—it is one of their most important practices in a pedagogy of coalition. why am i compelled to write?...because i have no choice. because i must keep the spirit of my revolt and myself alive. because the world i create in the writing compensates for what the real world does not give me...i write because life does not appease my appetites and hunger. i write to record what others erase when i speak, to rewrite the stories others have miswritten about me, about you. to become more intimate with myself and you. to discover myself, to preserve myself, to make myself, to achieve selfautonomy. to dispel the myths that i am a mad prophet or a poor suffering soul. to convince myself that i am worthy and that what i have to say is not a pile of shit. to show that i can and that i will write, never mind their admonitions to the contrary. and i will write about the unmentionables, never mind the outraged gasp of the censor and the audience. finally i write because i’m scared of writing but i’m more scared of not writing. (gloria anzaldúa, 1981, pp. 168-169) in this passage, anzaldúa describes the urgency to write as a praxis for liberation. because dominant narratives have left out u.s. woman of color writings, anzaldúa’s essay “speaking in tongues: a letter to third world women writers” untangles her political and pedagogical motivation for writing. writing for her is terrifying and yet necessary. writing is the compensation for what the world does not give her. it records the “unmentionables”—the racism of our families, the violence of home, silence and its death wish, the passing down of traumas and behaviors that cannot be life affirming. the foundational this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (moraga & anzaldúa, 1981) is a call for discussion and action about racism and oppression in the u.s. women’s movement. to this date, there has been little or no collective response from hegemonic feminists. there is also the assumption that woman of color writings either have no audience or that bridge is simply confessional or worse, perceived as an index of grievances in both racialized communities and in the feminist movement. central to bridge is a praxis of a “theory in the flesh,” where an integrated analysis 6 aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 of the multiple, often simultaneous experience of oppression makes visible the conditions of woman of color lives. exemplifying an intersectional analysis, bridge’s notion of a “theory in the flesh” must be seen as a praxis of thinking and writing that potentially reconfigures (or reenvisions) the relations of bodies—human bodies, bodies of knowledge, bodies of land, our relationships to our own bodies, and the social dreaming necessary to move the political project of coalitional change forward. this practice of writing by women of color is neither confessional nor unmediated. for this issue, we invite you to rethink bridge as a primer for writing against the grain of power, as a text that is inherently pedagogical, where we learn to write, re-envision, and revise our experiences as stories of resistance (cruz, 2019). aurora levins morales (2019), one of the original contributors, reflects on the significance of bridge on social media: thirty-eight years ago, this month. we had spent the day draping stone walls and statues of dead white men in fabrics from africa, asia, latin america and indigenous cultures. we had a crowd that was overflowing, sitting in the aisles, on each other’s laps, standing in the back. this bridge called my back had only been out for a few weeks and the first edition had sold out. when we came out onto the dais, we got a standing ovation before we'd said a word. that was a revelatory moment for me. i understood two things: that we were being applauded, not for our individual talents as writers, but because we had, for that moment, and through accidents of timing, connection, [and] serendipity, become the tongue for a vast, angry body of our kin, and that this—being a voice at the service of my people—was what i wanted to do for the rest of my life. bridge writing practices are collaborative sense-making activities, where the writing process is an acknowledgment of other people in our emotional, material, and cognitive worlds. it is writing and thinking in relation with others that not only help us understand u.s. woman of color experiences, but offer a blueprint for coalitional relations. levins morales illustrates this wonderfully: we write with others for connection, for truth telling, for remaking and revising our understandings of our worlds. the field of education is late in centering queer and trans* black, indigenous, chicana/o, and asian american theoretical offerings. this invited issue is a call for education scholars to engage with the writings of lesbian and queer feminists of color whose foundations make possible emerging trans* and queer of color research projects in education and beyond. we ask how and why are certain fields of scholarship erased? it is not 7 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 enough to acknowledge the research gap on queer and trans* people of color inside our field; we also need to unveil how and why the field of education is systematically maintaining the historical contributions of queer and trans* people of color outside. is the so-called “research gap” really the active refusal of transforming pedagogy, the maintenance or containment of knowledge construction that by design keeps queer and trans* people of color out of the classroom, curriculum, and texts? this special issue engages with anzaldúa’s (1981) call to write and to do the work to acknowledge and identify the contributions of black, chicana, indigenous, asian american, lesbian, and feminists of color in our theories and pedagogies in education. one way to engage these foundational scholars is to employ interdisciplinary approaches to research methods and theories. this requires us to read outside of the field of education. specifically, we need to engage rigorously with the scholarship and writings by black, indigenous, and woman of color thinkers. further, we need to develop methods and pedagogies of tracing the genealogies that inform our writing as a way to establish strong and legible roots of the scholarship that came before us. ungrounded writing assumes that we are only filling in a research gap. grounded writing contributes to the historical praxis of writing as liberation. latinx scholars in education need to do their homework if you read and trace the field of u.s. feminism of color, exemplified by texts such as moraga & anzaldúa’s (1981) this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color, “the combahee river collective statement” (1977/1995), black feminist criticism: perspectives on black women writers by barbara christian (1985), borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza by gloria anzaldúa (1987), women, race, and class by angela davis (1983), alice walker’s (1983) in search of our mother’s gardens: womanist prose, cherríe moraga’s loving in the war years (1983) and the last generation (1993), asian women united of california’s (1989) making waves: an anthology by and about asian american women, paula gunn allen’s (1992) the sacred hoop: recovering the feminine in american indian traditions (1992), and pilgrimages/peregrinajes: theorizing oppression against multiple oppressions by maría lugones (2003), among so many other writers, then you will find an antiracist, anti-imperialist, anticolonial, and very critical lesbian of color mode of inquiry that has often been overlooked, both as a field (lee, 2000) and as life-affirming theoretical praxis (alexander, 2006) in education scholarship. the practice of coalition and the relations necessary to achieve it is key in many of 8 aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 these texts, and it is important for education scholars to recognize u.s. woman of color feminism emergence from the theoretical work of black feminist scholar–activists. for example, the 1977 combahee river collective (crc) writes: “we find our origins in the historical reality of afro-american women’s continuous life-and-death struggle for survival and liberation,” an acknowledgment of the climate of impunity in boston during the late 1970s, where it was necessary to develop an analysis of the experience of terrorization of black women’s lives. in this analysis, the crc created a theory of the simultaneity of oppression that women of color were experiencing in boston. the statement was grounded by an anticolonizing and anticapitalist critique that was required to fully understand the racial and sexual violence of black women. the authors write: the most general statement of our politics at the present time would be that we are actively committed to struggles against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression and see as our particular task the development of integrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking. the synthesis of these oppressions creates the conditions of our lives.” (p. 210) crc’s statement is an expansive vision of liberation with black women at the center of a radical politic. it is a call to value black women’s lives in an era of police impunity and terrorization. and in their radical politics of the antiracist, anticolonial, and anti-imperialism stance that they take, one that includes an understanding of the heterogeneity and plurality of black women’s experiences, it becomes so urgent for latinx scholars to also include an understanding of the heterogeneity and plurality of latinidad always already as afro-latina/o/x and indigenous. black feminist and u.s. woman of color theorizing make this possible not only in expanding the terms but also as a model of a practice of coalition. in this era of #blacklivesmatter, we need to recognize and acknowledge our theoretical mothers and grandmothers and the history of the terms we use so that we refuse to erase black feminist and woman of color contributions in our own scholarship. chicana/latina pedagogies and experiential knowledge the 2006 anthology chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemologies, edited by dolores delgado bernal, c. alejandra elenes, francisca e. godinez, and sofia villenas (2006), draws from u.s. woman of color scholarship, where moraga and anzaldúa’s (1981) bridge, anzaldúa’s (1987) borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza and 9 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 chela sandoval’s early work on u.s. third world feminism and methodology of the oppressed (2000) form the major theoretical backbone of the text. centering chicana/latina ways of knowing and a critical set of interpretive practices, chicana/latina education in everyday life (2006) emphasizes the use of testimonio methods and standpoint epistemologies. the contributions of coalitional thinking, reflexive pedagogies, and the critique of categorical logic are central themes in u.s. woman of color theorizing and are important issues in studies of educational problems. engaging with u.s. feminist of color thought directs the authors to think through multi-layered, intersectional problems that current frameworks fail or are unable to nuance. yet there is a legibility problem when education scholars omit u.s. woman of color theory in their work or misrecognize the theoretical offerings of this field of studies. it is in this space of the chapters of chicana/latina education in everyday life (delgado bernal et al., 2006) where education researchers are offering pedagogies of survivance, consejos, respeto and the brown body. it is illuminating a writing practice drawn from u.s. feminists of color who, writing against erasure and into subjectivity, take knowledge produced from lived experience and infuse them with a critique of the racialized, gendered, and political worlds in which they move and exist. the pedagogies of experiential knowledge and the politics that come from this interrogation are unsettled in order to make more visible the contributions of u.s. feminists of color, defending experiential knowledge in every chapter of the book. what is important is addressing the problem of u.s. woman of color writing being dismissed as “messy text” and as raw, unmediated experience. these responses often dismiss woman of color writings as “old school.” their writings are too often evaluated under different standards than mainstream theorists and often end up listed toward the end of course syllabi, if at all. the pedagogies of relation that undergird much of the texts of women of color illuminate the cumulative impact of their thinking coalitionally, where the artifacts of a collection of essays such as bridge (moraga & anzaldúa, 1981) and haciendo caras (anzaldúa, 1990) become the material representations of coalition and the starting point for new thinking in educational studies. limitations and expansions of queer and critical pedagogies deriving from paulo freire’s (1970) pedagogy of the oppressed, critical pedagogy questions inequitable power manifestations in educational settings. freire (1970) delineates that oppression is mutually constitutive to dehumanization, and he identifies the ways that schools 10 aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 (pedagogy) reproduce a knowledge hierarchy between teacher and student. the banking method—the one-way transaction of teachers depositing knowledge in a student’s presumed knowledgeless brain—is the strategy that creates a “culture of silence” in classrooms. freire (1970) asserts that a pedagogy of the oppressed, in turn, (re)humanizes and engages the oppressed in social transformation. queer pedagogy is one of the offshoots of critical pedagogy, and it unveils how heterosexuality is normalized in curriculum and classrooms (drazenovich, 2015). further, queer pedagogy values queer students’ experiences and knowledges as contestation to heteronormativity. however, as aguilar-hernández (2020) finds, the challenge of queer pedagogy is its “limitation of…its primary focus on sexuality, leaving queer of color perspectives and knowledges on the margins” (p. 5). in other words, queer pedagogy expanded the scope of critical pedagogy while maintaining queer knowledge as white. building on the contributions of queercrit scholarship in the law (valdes, 2000; velez martinez, 2015) and in education (kumashiro, 2001; misawa, 2010), aguilar-hernández (2020) proposes a “queer critical race pedagogy” that is explicitly and simultaneously anti-racist, anti-heterosexist, and anti-oppressive. kevin k. kumashiro’s (2001) edited anthology, troubling intersections of race and sexuality: queer students of color and anti-oppressive education, is the earliest collection we identified that contains theoretical and pedagogical writings about queer students of color, including chicana/o, latina/o, asian pacific american, black, native american, and mixed-race peoples. as the title suggests, kumashiro (2001) engages the “troubling intersections” of race and sexuality “that educators must acknowledge and work through…if they are to address queer students of color and challenge both racism and heterosexism in schools (that is, engage in antiracist, antiheterosexist education)” (p. 2). responding to the need for additional collections of writing on queer students of color, ed brockenbrough (2013) and lance t. mccready (2013) co-edited a special issue, “queers of color and anti-oppressive knowledge production” for curriculum inquiry where they activate a “queer of color” analytical framework to “interrupt hegemonic processes of knowledge production” and to “inform transformative pedagogical work that benefits queers of color specifically and anti-oppressive educational scholarship more broadly” (brockenbrough, 2013, p. 427). the two collections expand critical pedagogy to interrogate the intersections of race and sexuality. 11 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 trans* pedagogy also expands critical pedagogy and is a “concentrated effort to explore trans* subjectivities, identities, and experiences in educational contexts” (nicolazzo, marine, and galarte, 2015, p. 367). the issue “trans*formational pedagogies” in the transgender studies quarterly sought “to reinvigorate ongoing conversations about education as a practice of freedom by exploring ways in which educational processes can specifically challenge the oppressive aspects of the binary gender system” (nicolazzo, marine, and galarte, 2015, p. 368). responding to the paucity of trans* pedagogical frameworks and informed by his teaching experience with elementary school students, keenan (2017) proposed a “critical trans pedagogy framework” that unscripts gender and resists definition, as “there is no universal definition or experience of transness” (p. 551). lemaster and johnson (2019) argue that while school leaders are called to be inclusive of trans* students on campus, “pedagogues are confronted with the limits of their/our embodied knowing about gender” (p. 191). lemaster and johnson (2019) propose a “critical trans-affirming pedagogy [that] is a labor that seeks to shift the hegemonic ways in which we communicate, or are expected to communicate [about] gender identities…” (p. 192). specific to the theme of this special issue, we highlight three manuscripts that contribute to earlier articulations of queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies. anita tijerina revilla’s (2004) essay “muxerista pedagogy: raza womyn teaching social justice through student activism” positions raza womyn, a chicana/latina feminist student activist organization, as a site where pedagogy is developed outside of the traditional classroom. rooted in chicana feminist and critical race theory in education, muxerista pedagogy “involves dialogue, praxis (theory and action), and dialectical exchange” to discuss multiple forms of oppression and garners “commitment to creating social change” (tijerina revilla, 2004, pp. 8384). informed by his experiences as an educator in higher education, eddy f. alvarez jr.’s (2014) essay “jotería pedagogy, swapa, and sandovalian approaches to liberation” defines jotería pedagogy as feminist, intentional, critical, intersectional, and that centers the lived heterogeneous experiences (and erasures, omissions) of jotería bodies. finally, francisco j. galarte’s (2014) essay, “on trans* chican@s: amor, justicia, y dignidad” reflects on the status of jotería studies by asserting, “jotería, listen to what your trans* brothers and sisters are saying, and remember those long forgotten” (p. 229). a reconfiguration of anzaldúa’s (1987) call to “listen to what your jotería is saying” (p. 107), galarte (2014) urges jotería scholars to 12 aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 engage trans* chican@ pedagogies, beyond inclusion and recognition, to “assert the indispensability of trans-analytics to the aim and scope of jotería studies as a critical project” (p. 233). we situate galarte’s (2014) argument as a directive to interrupt trans* omissions in current and future research projects that aim to build anti-oppressive pedagogies. notably, the three manuscripts weave the contributions of women of color, chicana/latina, and critical pedagogy that enlighten their conceptualizations of queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies. this special issue in the first article, “terca, pero no pendeja: terquedad as theory and praxis of transformative gestures in higher education,” omi s. salas-santacruz offers a theory of terquedad to analyze the complex relationships that queer and trans* people of color traverse and negotiate at r1 universities. grounded in anzaldúan theory, salas-santacruz charts how quiahuitl, a xicana queer woman doctoral student, performs terquedad, or stubborn gestures, that refuse gendered expectations and academic violence in the subject’s daily encounters. terquedad, salas-santacruz profoundly argues, is re-made into a praxis of refusal, where quiahuitl transforms the spaces around her within higher education. the second article, “cyborg jotería pedagogies: latinx drag queens leveraging communication ecologies in the age of the digital and social displacement” by josé ramón lizárraga and arturo cortez documents how latinx drag queens have bridged digital performances with pedagogy. the authors discuss persia, reina de aztlan, and rupawl, whose digital performances serve as queer gestures that inform cyborg jotería pedagogy. their amplification signals the necessity of engaging digital platforms within critical pedagogical practices that border-cross and fluctuate gender, race, and sexuality. the third article, “imagining the future of jotería studies as a framework in the field of higher education,” by antonio duran, roberto orozco, and sergio gonzalez, argues that jotería studies can serve as a framework to inform pedagogy, research, and student affairs practices in higher education. the authors provide recommendations for educators, researchers, and student affairs practitioners, arguing for the need for specificity of frameworks that center queer latinx/a/o students as one way to combat intersecting systems of oppression that higher education replicates. 13 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 drawing from theories of decolonial feminisms, the fourth article by andrea del carmen vázquez, “joaquin’s refusal: an embodied and geographic active subjectivity,” is an ethnographic snapshot of the experiences of queer latinx students at villa high, a rural school in california, where students literally find themselves in the margins of their school space. vázquez provocatively suggests that the latinx students’ refusal to acknowledge the genderneutral bathroom—at the edge of the school in a room used as storage—is an example of a queer and resistant sociality. in this space, students have learned to recognize each other’s “reclamations to dispossession” by learning to travel to each other’s worlds to understand how the “no” is a radical gesture. in the fifth article, “centering the “t”: envisioning a trans jotería pedagogy,” jack caraves begins with a letter-poem to his family, tracing the relationships between his mother, his transition, and his emerging critical consciousness. it is a powerful narrative that centers the vulnerability of the scholar’s position as a trans* chicanx educator and the productive engagement of the disruption that his change elicits in the students that move him toward a trans* jotería pedagogy. thinking with moraga’s theory in the flesh and anzaldúa’s conocimiento, caraves argues that these practices of vulnerability and disruption must be central in a pedagogy of trans* jotería. in the sixth article, “the power of testimonio pedagogy: teaching chicana lesbian fiction in a chicana feminisms course at a predominantly white institution in the midwest,” tanya diaz-kozlowski offers a testimonial pedagogy that bridges the epistemic disobedience the author witnesses her students cultivate in a chicana feminisms course. what is illuminating is the careful tracing of diaz-kozlowski’s pedagogy to black women writers such as toni morrison, and the linking of chicana feminist thought to black women’s literature. notions of silence, sexual assault, and dysfunctional and often violent households were discussed and interrogated, where students understood intimately that an interrogation of their own experiences was necessary not only for their own emerging political consciousnesses but also for their own healing. our final offering is wanda alarcón’s “reading and remembering butch-femme worlds,” a meditation on loss, recuperation, and lesbian histories and cultures. in this article, alarcón leads us through a collective effort of creating and teaching a course that centers butch-femme working class lives, where the limitations of “queer” as a category become illuminated. she argues that “butchfemme is not the same as queer or lgbtq,” and in the building of a course in lgbtq studies, 14 aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 suggests the problem of the term “queer” needing negotiations and interventions by people of color. the stakes are high for naming butch-femme worlds in terms of race and class and erasure. alarcón’s contribution of the butch-femme worlds syllabus at the end of her article reflects a similar practice of black feminist scholarship, where sample syllabi of black women’s literature, whose work is rarely taught in the university, is often found in u.s. woman of color anthologies as a gesture of accessibility and inclusion. cindy’s reflection photographer laura aguilar was a friend and teaching colleague whom i recruited to work with college bound high school youth in our summer enrichment programs. we stayed friends and even helped in a joshua tree photography session. she shared with us her life story, and we visited her at home, bringing gifts. one of those gifts was a blue wool poncho with the image of the virgin de guadalupe emblazoned in the front. it would be easy for laura to slip on for those afternoons in joshua tree when hikers wandered unexpectedly into her photography shoots. i valued our friendship greatly during our time in los angeles. we left los angeles in 2006 for new york and then back to santa cruz, california. rarely were my partner and i able to visit los angeles as much as we would have liked. but we would not miss the 2017 pacific standard time: la/la art showings, as the vincent price art gallery at east los angeles college featured a solo show of laura aguilar’s photography titled “show and tell.” i’d been to the plush pony to do hiv education work in the late 80s and early 90s—to hand out safe sex kits and information about testing to the mainly mexicana working class clientele. this was a butch-femme bar. you could only get beer or wine. there was a small dance floor and a jukebox filled with mexican ballads of lost loves, cumbias and foot-tapping rancheras. but we only knew laura’s plush pony series photographs from essays and online galleries, these portraits of butches and their rucas and after-work beers with friends, marimachas looking straight into the camera eye, thumbs tucked into their belts. the images are fierce. the vincent price art gallery is a beautiful space (see figure 1). i remember it when it once was held in two portable classrooms and how this opening was also a celebration of the gallery space itself. but for my partner and i, it became a joyful reunion of friends whom we hadn’t seen since we left l.a.: becky villaseñor, sandy guevara, judy ornelas sisneros, renee 15 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 figure 1 image of entrance to laura aguilar’s solo exhibition, “show and tell,” at the vincent price gallery note. photo by judy ornelas sisneros, fierce documentarian of queer l.a. martinez, lynn ballen, verónica reyes, gino conti, robin poldosky, my ex-high school students, dozens of friends from the women of act-up/los angeles, la red, queer nation, lesbianas unidas, women’s international day events, and of course laura aguilar, reminding us of the lesbiana/marimacha/woman of color dyke scenes that were so vibrant in the dance clubs, bars, poetry events, performance art, zine collectives, fashion shows, the butch-femme softball games, coffeehouses (remember little frida’s?), the national queer arts festival. this remembering is not supposed to be nostalgic for lesbian los angeles of the 80s and 90s. but for the few hours that we were at the vincent price surrounded by laura’s huge photographs of marimachas, lesbianas, malfloras, the relationships we had thought lost in time were made 16 aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 anew, connecting with old friends, making new friends, planning new futures, strategizing over cold beers and good food. in los angeles, i did not think of our collection of lesbianas as jotería. i thought of us as a dyke nation or sometimes we used the term “jotas” when we were joking, especially after wanda alarcón’s jota zines were published and making the rounds at queer and lesbian events in the early 2000s. if i had to think about a coalition of working-class hard-scrabble lesbians who were activists/artists/teachers/troublemakers, i do not think that i would use the term jotería to describe the plural worlds of lesbian los angeles. to be lesbian in los angeles is to be coalitional. many of us were and still are woven into the fabric of activism in los angeles on many fronts—working at planned parenthood or as teachers with queer youth, public artists and muralists, with radio programming and poetry readings and the imru show or even as archivists at the june mazer lesbian collections. what laura aguilar’s work did at the vincent price was to make much needed space for these communities of queer, trans*, and lesbian women to connect once again with each other. the space was complex, temporal, and multiplicitous. little did we know how these connections were going to be necessary for survival just 2 years later in our struggle for coalition on multiple fronts. josé’s reflection as a scholar–activist and educator, i appreciate the ways in which “jotería” has been reclaimed in scholarly projects, the arts, and community-based organizing. i grew up hearing that word as an insult and threat. cherríe moraga’s (in moraga, 1993) essay, “queer aztlan: the re-formation of chicano tribe,” redefined the term as an empowering communal identifier that refused to separate queer from chicana/o identities. aside from moraga’s work, gloria anzaldúa’s (1987) borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza and richard t. rodríguez’s (2002) article, “serial kinship: representing la familia in early chicano publications,” disrupted my preconceived assumption that queer chicanas/os were absent in the historical past. further, my membership and leadership roles in la jotería de ucla, the national association for chicana and chicano studies (naccs) joto caucus, and the early years of the association for jotería arts, activism, and scholarship (ajaas) placed me at the center of intellectual and grassroots conversations that were mapping “jotería studies” while debating its limitations and possibilities, specifically in relationship to its genealogical relationship to the u.s. southwest chicana/o communities. 17 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 during my master’s program in latin american studies, i focused on locating additional scholarship on queer latinas/os, especially of central american and caribbean nationalities. in march of 2006, i attended a talk at ucla where horacio roque ramírez, queer salvadoran scholar, spoke about his oral history and archival research that charted the histories of queer latinas/os in the san francisco bay area. one of the reminders that horacio offered me that day is that queer latina/o history needed to be recovered. in various academic and informal conversations, horacio shared with me that he identified as a centromaricón, an identity that merged his central american, salvadoran, immigrant, and gay identities. today, i understand his assertion of centromaricón as exemplary of the need to document the myriad of identities claimed by queer and trans* latinas/os/xs. although not the sole focus of his body of scholarship, several queer and trans* latina/o identities (including mexican, central american, caribbean, and south american) are captured in his publications. that is, queer and trans* latinas/os/xs are heterogeneous, of multiple nationalities, geographies, genders, sexualities, ethnicities, and experiences. in fall of 2017, i visited “axis mundo: queer networks in chicano l.a.”, one of 70+ exhibitions that formed part of pacific standard time: la/la, a “collaborative effort from arts institutions across southern california” that explored “latin american and latino art in dialogue with los angeles” (pacific standard time, 2017). axis mundo “…mark[ed] the first historical presentation of groundbreaking art, music, and performance from a network of queer chicana/o artists in southern california” (museum of contemporary art, 2017). i was moved, and at moments overwhelmed, as i walked through the exhibition at the museum of contemporary art (moca) pacific design center. i was particularly struck when i saw a photo of seven chicanas/os, wearing light yellow t-shirts with the word “maricón” or “malflora” across their chests (see figure 2). “malflora” is a variation of spanish-language latina/o/x terms used to identify lesbians. the t-shirts were designed by queer chicano joey terrill, and the photo, by teddy sandoval, was taken during the 1976 los angeles christopher street west pride parade: the malflora and maricón t-shirts take terrill’s assertion of pride and visibility one step further, affirming chicanidad within a queer culture that was at times resistant to racial difference…[they] place chicana/os as active participants in the emerging generation of gay and lesbian activists of the 1970s. (frantz, 2017, p. 67) 18 aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 i smiled, felt empowered, and was reminded of horacio roque ramírez’s assertion. finding “maricón” and “malflora” was evidence of the multiplicity of identities of queer and trans* chicanas/os and latinas/os. as a scholar interested in anti-oppressive pedagogy, the exhibition displayed the urgency of scholarship and curriculum to illustrate the plurality of language that is reflective of historical and geographic locations. figure 2 image of axis mundo: queer networks in chicano l.a. catalog cover conclusion the authors in this issue use multiple terms, concepts, and theories to discuss queer and trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies. we celebrate the range of terms as a necessary and ongoing exploration of the heterogeneity of the queer and trans* communities of chicana/o/x and latina/o/x descent. simultaneously, we acknowledge the need for future special issues, anthologies, and manuscripts that expand on additional representations, specifically of central american, caribbean, south american, black, afro-latina/o/x, indigenous, undocumented, and emerging positionalities. future manuscripts need to build pedagogies that reflect omitted and emerging gender and sexual identities, as the writings before us have. 19 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 the project of synthesizing queer and trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies is multi-dimensional. it includes personal reflection, historical recovery, scholarly intervention, praxis (theory and action), and a commitment to ending all forms of oppression. this being the first special issue on this topic leads us to ask: considering the heterogeneity within latina/o/x communities, what are the concepts, terms, and keywords that aren’t yet named in scholarly works? where are the indigenous and black queer and trans* knowledges and contributions to chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies? how does pedagogy change when centering queer and trans* central american, caribbean, and south american contexts? beyond different languages and terms, how are the pedagogies different? what does it mean to teach and learn about social locations/subjectivities not yet covered? what does it mean to be, for example, a firstgeneration queer central american learning from horacio roque ramírez’s scholarship? what kind of work is necessary to think about a plural chicanidad and latinidad that centers afrolatinx and indigenous knowledges? and what kinds of practices do u.s. feminists of color offer for queer and trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x education research? we only imagine that those projects are underway, being theorized and developed in classrooms, digital platforms, and communities across the americas. we anticipate that future projects will answer these questions and pose new ones. 20 aguilar-hernández & cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 references aguilar-hernández, j. m. (2020). queering critical race pedagogy: reflections of disrupting erasure while centering intersectionality. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 33(6), 679–694. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1747660 alexander, m. j. (2006). pedagogies of crossing: meditations on feminism, sexual politics, memory, and the sacred. duke university press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822386988 allen, p. g. (1992). the sacred hoop: recovering the feminine in american indian traditions. beacon press. alvarez, e. (2014). jotería pedagogy, swapa, and sandovalian approaches to liberation. aztlan: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 215–227. anzaldúa, g. (1981). speaking in tongues: a letter to third world women writers. in c. moraga & g. anzaldúa (eds.), this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (pp. 165–174). persephone press. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. aunt lute books. anzaldúa, g. (1990). making face, making soul/haciendo caras: creative perspectives by feministas of color. aunt lute books. asian women united of california. (1989). making waves: an anthology of writing by and about asian american women. beacon press. brockenbrough, e. (2013). introduction to the special issue: queers of color and antioppressive knowledge production. curriculum inquiry, (43)4, 426–440. https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12023 christian, b. (1985). black feminist criticism: perspectives on black women writers. pergamon press. combahee river collective. (1995). the combahee river collective statement. in b. guysheftall (ed.), words of fire: an anthology of african american feminist thought (pp. 232– 240). new press. (original work published 1977) cruz, c. (2019). reading this bridge called my back for pedagogies of coalition, remediation, and a razor’s edge. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 32(2), 136–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2018.1533150 davis, a. (1983). women, race, and class. vintage. delgado bernal, d., elenes, c. a., godinez, f. e., & villenas, s. (eds.). (2006). chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology. state university of new york press. drazenovich, g. (2015). queer pedagogy in sex education. canadian journal of education / revue canadienne de l’education, 38(2), 1–22. https://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cjerce/article/view/1647 frantz, d. e. (2017). chicano chic: fashion/costume/play. in c. o. chavoya & d. e. frantz (eds.), axis mundo: queer networks in chicano l.a. (pp. 57–75). delmonico books. freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. continuum. galarte, f. j. (2014). on trans* chican@s: amor, justicia, y dignidad. aztlan: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 229–236. keenan, h. b. (2017). unscripting curriculum: toward a critical trans pedagogy. harvard educational review, 87(4), 538–556. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-87.4.538 kumashiro, k. k. (ed.) (2001). troubling intersections of race and sexuality: queer students of color and anti-oppressive education. rowman and littlefield publishers. lee, r. (2000). notes from the (non) field: teaching and theorizing women of color. meridians, 1(1), 85–109. https://doi.org/10.1215/15366936-1.1.85 21 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1747660 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822386988 https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12023 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2018.1533150 https://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/1647 https://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/1647 https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-87.4.538 https://doi.org/10.1215/15366936-1.1.85 queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 lemaster, b., & johnson, a. l. (2019). unlearning gender: toward a critical communication trans pedagogy. communication teacher, 33(3), 189–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2018.1467566 lugones, m. (2003). pilgrimages/peregrinajes: theorizing oppression against multiple oppressions. rowman and littlefield publishers. mccready, l. t. (2013). conclusion to the special issue: queer of color analysis: interruptions and pedagogical possibilities. curriculum inquiry, (43)4, 512–522. https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12024 misawa, m. (2010). queer race pedagogy for educators in higher education: dealing with power dynamics and positionality of lgbtq students of color. international journal of critical pedagogy, 3(1), 26–35. moraga, c. (1983). loving in the war years: lo que nunca paso por sus labios. south end press. moraga, c. (1993). the last generation: prose and poetry. south end press. moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (1981). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color. persephone press. morales, a. l. (2019, june 13). thirty-eight years ago, this month. we had spent the day draping stone walls and statues of dead white men in…[image attached] [personal post]. facebook. https://www.facebook.com/auroralevinsmorales/posts/10156939866695342 museum of contemporary art. (2017). axis mundo: queer networks in chicano l.a. https://www.moca.org/exhibition/axis-mundo-queer-networks-in-chicano-la nicolazzo, z., marine, s. b., & galarte, f. j. (2015). introduction. transgender studies quarterly, 2(3), 367–375. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-2926360 pacific standard time: la/la. (2017). latin american and latino art in l.a. http://www.pacificstandardtime.org/lala/index.html rodríguez, r. t. (2002). serial kinship: representing la familia in early chicano publications. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 27(1), 123–138. sandoval, c. (2000). methodology of the oppressed. university of minnesota press. tijerina revilla, a. (2004). muxerista pedagogy: raza womyn teaching social justice through student activism. the high school journal, 87(4), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2004.0013 valdes, f. (2000). outsider scholars, legal theory, and outcrit perspectivity: postsubordination vision as jurisprudential method. depaul law review, 49(3), 831–846. velez martinez, s. i. (2015). toward an outcrit pedagogy of anti-subordination in the classroom. chicago-kent law review, 90(2), 585–613. walker, a. (1983). in search of our mother’s gardens: womanist prose. harcourt publishing. 22 https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2018.1467566 https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12024 https://www.facebook.com/auroralevinsmorales/posts/10156939866695342 https://www.moca.org/exhibition/axis-mundo-queer-networks-in-chicano-la https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-2926360 http://www.pacificstandardtime.org/lala/index.html https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2004.0013 intro_page proof amae invited issue cover page volume 10 issue 1 2016 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal journal website: http://amaejournal.utsa.edu http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 107 latin@ students in a changing chicago: current disparities and opportunities within public schools p. zitlali morales, ph.d., university of illinois at chicago ramona meza, university of illinois at chicago joanna v. maravilla-cano, med, university of illinois at chicago abstract in chicago, the growing community of latin@s mirrors national demographic trends and is a third of the city’s population and nearly half of the public school population. we use critical race theory (crt) and latino critical race theory (latcrit) to critique the discourse of progress from chicago public schools (cps) press releases and online information while examining the types of schools attended by most latin@ students. our findings include continued severe school segregation, lack of proportional matriculation to selective enrollment and advanced placement programs, and other disparities that counter a discourse of greater choice and opportunity available for latin@s. we highlight some initiatives from cps related to latin@s, point out their shortcomings, as well as discuss the research base for policies that do support positive educational outcomes for latin@s, such as increasing the number of teachers from latin@ communities, implementing ethnic studies programs, and providing multilingual education. examining the schooling options in cps for a growing latin@ student body is important as the city plays a central role in educational policy formation and implementation nationwide. key words: latin@ students, critical race theory, latcrit, chicago, school choice, segregation morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 108 introduction during the fall of 2014, the u.s. public school system became majority minority. for the first time, nationwide, more than half of the students in public schools were students of color (http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/08/20/01demographics.h34. html). as the latin@ population grows in the u.s., so does the share of the number of latin@ children who attend public schools (immigrant and u.s. born). in southwest states, like california and texas, latin@s are more than half of public school students. in states like new york and illinois, they make up more than a quarter of the total public school student enrollment (gándara & contreras, 2009). in the largest urban public school districts (i.e., new york city department of education, los angeles unified, houston independent school district), latin@s make up more than half of the total enrollment. as of 2014, chicago public schools (cps) served 400,000 students in 658 schools and was the nation's third-largest school district. as of the 2015-16 school year, cps is over 90% students of color, with 86% of students economically disadvantaged. chicago is a particularly important city to study, as it highlights the growing community of latin@s outside of the southwest, and contributes to scholarship that continues to “complicate the usual binary of black/white understanding of race in the united states” (fernandez, 2012). with 45.6% of students being latin@ in chicago public schools, it is pertinent to examine how schooling provides opportunities or creates barriers for these students. moreover, chicago has also taken a central role in educational policy formation nationwide. we begin with a historical overview of how schools have socialized, and contributed to the marginalization of latin@s in this country. we then describe critical race theory (crt) and latino critical race theory (latcrit), in order to highlight the history of advocacy for education in chicago latin@ communities and frame our critique of cps’ discourse of choice. next, we present chicago public schools (cps) student demographic data to demonstrate deepening school segregation, underenrollment of latin@s in magnet and selective enrollment schools, and increase in military schools. we discuss initiatives coming from the district that focus on latin@s, but also point out shortcomings. we conclude by citing research about how to create latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 109 more equitable opportunities for latin@ students, including increasing the number of teachers from latin@ communities, implementing ethnic studies programs, and providing multilingual education. scholars have long documented the socializing role that schools play in the lives of students. specifically, schools have been institutions in which students of color are policed, segregated, and subjected to higher standards of accountability (anyon, 1997; apple, 1982; oakes, 2005). school socialization is often structured along racial lines, and in the u.s., “schools are key players where we sort, order, and differentially equip our children along racial lines” (pollock, 2009, p. 4). educational opportunities for students of color in inner cities often prepare them for low-skill, low-wage work. vocational programs, for example, are often offered to students from working-class backgrounds, while children of professionals are tracked to more advanced courses (gonzález, 2013; lipman, 2011). it is through this lens of socialization that we strive to understand the ways public schools participate in shaping the experiences of latin@s in the city of chicago. historical segregation of latin@s in u.s. schools the history of segregation in this country is often recounted as revolving almost entirely around white and african american students, yet latin@ communities have an equally elaborate history of segregationist educational policies (morales, trujillo & kissell, in press). san miguel and valencia (1998) detail the forced school segregation and curricular tracking of mexicans in the southwest since that geographic region was annexed by the united states in 1848, making the mexicans living there legally u.s. citizens. one of the ways southwestern school districts rationalized this segregation was on mexican american children’s linguistic and cultural differences, arguing that they had different educational needs and were “slower” than anglo american children (gonzález, 2013). this historical and consistent segregation in one of the nation’s most important institutions (schools) sent the message that latin@s were second-class citizens (delgado bernal, 2002). schools as socializing and subjugating spaces morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 110 presently, schools in urban districts are more segregated than before the case of brown v. board of education (orfield, frankenberg, & lee, 2003). despite the implementation of educational reforms aimed at increasing student achievement, students of color have experienced limited gains in educational resources and outcomes. thus, various forms of unequal access correspond with discriminatory school-based structures and practices that continue to shape the experiences of latin@s in public schools (solórzano & yosso, 2006). critical race theory & latin@ critical race theory in education critical race theory (crt) derives from a long tradition of resistance to unequal distribution of power. it is used to theorize, examine, and challenge the ways race and racism implicitly and explicitly impact social structures, practices, and discourses (yosso, 2005). in education, scholars have turned to crt to examine how educational theory, policy, and practice are used to subordinate certain racial and ethnic groups. latin@ critical race theory (latcrit) was developed in response to issues related to the latin@ experience in the united states, such as immigration, language rights, and feelings of citizenship or belonging (valdes, 1997). davila and aviles de bradley (2010) explored the sociopolitical context of education policy by examining the status of latin@s within cps through the use of a crt and latcrit framework. they drew attention to the injustices latin@s suffered in cps in the areas of early childhood education, standardized assessment, bilingual education, and push-out rates. similarly, we use a crt and latcrit lens to examine the location of latin@ students in different types of chicago public schools. we use the tenets of challenging dominant ideologies (such as colorblind policies), the importance of experiential knowledge, and a commitment to social justice to frame our analysis (solórzano & yosso, 2002). context and data sources city of chicago context within the last few decades the population growth of working-class latin@s, the excessive segregation and displacement of working-class african americans, and the latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 111 growing concentration of white middle-class residents within gentrifying areas of major cities, are just a few of the demographic and social changes that characterize what is happening in many major u.s. cities; chicago exemplifies these growing trends (koval, 2006). as figure 1 shows, the population of latin@s in chicago has risen since 1990 and is now about 25% of the total city population, while the african american community has decreased and currently make up about 30% of the total population. while it has fluctuated, the percentage of whites in the city has increasingly risen over the last 15 years. figure 1. city of chicago racial/ethnic demographic change since 1990 (u.s. census bureau, 2015) a substantive amount of scholarship has documented the ways in which neoliberal urban restructuring has been the primary catalyst for demographic change in cities since the 1970s (brenner & theodore, 2002; hackworth, 2007), but there is a dearth of studies that address the experiences of latin@s in the city of chicago, and in the larger midwest. while latin@s have been a significant part of the city since the 1920s, their presence in the social, economic, and political life of chicago is just becoming a growing topic of scholarly interest (alicea, 2001; betancur, 1996; de genova, 2005; fernandez 2012). the following sections will summarize some school morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 112 data, in order to better understand the current experiences of latin@ students in chicago. figure 2. chicago public school demographics 2000-2015 comparison (http://cps.edu/schooldata/pages/schooldata.aspx) latin@s in chicago public schools as demonstrated in figures 1 and 2, although latin@s make up less than 30% percent of the population in chicago, they are currently 45.6% of the total public school student enrollment, and one of the racial/ethnic groups that has increased enrollment during the last few decades. additionally, african americans are about 30% of the city’s population and 39.3% of the public student enrollment, but have experienced continuous decline in enrollment since 2000.1 meanwhile, whites are about 35% of the city’s population but only 9.4% of the public student enrollment and have remained near this percentage for the past decades. 1 scholars have examined the relationship between the demolition of public housing and the displacement of african americans from major cities in the u.s. in chicago, the destruction of public housing is also considered a major reason for the decline of african american student enrollment in cps during the last couple of decades (lipman, 2008). latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 113 though historically a smaller demographic in public schools, latin@s have a long history of activism related to educational advocacy in the city that is just beginning to be more thoroughly examined (ramírez, 2011). from 1968 through the mid-70’s students, parents, and other community leaders from the puerto rican neighborhood of humboldt park organized to address the overcrowding and high dropout rates (70%) in their neighborhood (pacione-zayas, 2009). they demanded a new school be built and collaborated with mexican students, parents, and activists from the pilsen neighborhood, who at the time were also advocating for a new high school in their barrio (pacionezayas, 2009; padilla, 1985). as a result of community organizing, roberto clemente high school opened in 1974 in humboldt park, and benito juárez high school2 opened in pilsen in 1977. at the dedication ceremony for benito juárez, a banner read, “la escuela fue construída por el pueblo, no por los políticos que vayan mucho al diablo (this school was created by the community, not by the politicians who can go to hell)” (ramírez, 2011, p. xxvii). decades later in 2001, in the predominantly latin@ little village neighborhood, fourteen parents, grandparents, and community residents staged a nineteen-day hunger strike, demanding the construction of a high school that had long been promised to the community, but remained unfunded. after years of demands that school district leaders create a new school to alleviate overcrowding at the existing neighborhood high school, “the hunger strike was chosen due to its ability to demonstrate the seriousness of the community. it was not a decision couched in desperation. instead, it was an intensely planned strategy to alert cps of the community’s staying power” (stovall, 2006, p. 102). parents and community residents were repeatedly told that the school district did not have the money to fund a new school at the time but were prompted to increase their activism as millions of dollars had been allocated to the creation of two new selective enrollment high schools in the city.3 after lengthy negotiations, funds were finally allocated to begin construction. the little village lawndale high school opened in 2005. 2 the name benito juarez has significance for people of mexican descent because it is the name of the first mexican president of indigenous descent, serving in office from 1858 to 1872. 3 one of the new selective enrollment high schools, walter payton college preparatory high school, was placed in a highly gentrifying neighborhood; the other, northside college preparatory high school, was created in a predominately white and middle-class neighborhood. morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 114 chicago public schools’ desegregation efforts in 1980, the u.s. department of justice determined that cps was highly segregated and mandated the district to agree to a desegregation consent decree that required, “cps to implement a voluntary desegregation plan designed to create and maintain as many racially integrated schools as possible” (http://cps.edu/pages/magenetsc hoolsconsentdecree.aspx). in order to meet desegregation mandates, cps established magnet schools. magnet schools did not have local attendance boundaries, and students were bused from various areas across the city to meet the required threshold of racially integrated schools. because cps had such low white student enrollment, this meant that african american and latin@ students were bused to predominately white schools (danns, 2014; hess, 1984). by 2009, the federal courts agreed that cps no longer had to continue with the desegregation consent decree, however, the number of magnet schools and selective enrollment programs continued to grow. currently, race/ethnicity is no longer used as a metric for admission into selective programs; instead, cps has created new metrics that take into consideration the socioeconomic status of students’ neighborhoods in order to evaluate “equitable” admissions4. this will be discussed further below. renaissance 2010 and the rhetoric of school choice an influential educational reform that drastically shaped the current landscape of public schooling in chicago was renaissance 2010 (ren10). this district initiative began in 2004 and closed public schools that were determined under-enrolled and/or underperforming and replaced them with 100 new schools, most of which were charter or otherwise privately operated (lipman & haines, 2007). mayor richard m. daley assured cps stakeholders that ren10 would, “turn around chicago’s most troubled schools by creating 100 new schools in neighborhoods across the city… providing new educational options to underserved communities and relieving school overcrowding in communities experiencing growth” (as quoted in ayers & klonsky, 2006). moreover, 4 metrics used by cps to evaluate students’ neighborhood socio-economic status: 1) median family income, 2) single parent households 3) percentage of households where english is not the first language, 4) percentage of homeownership, 5) level of adult educational attainment. latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 115 former ceo of cps and u.s. secretary of education, arne duncan, claimed that with the ren10 initiative, teachers and administrators would be accountable for chronically low-performing schools, and that ultimately students would be given better educational options (giroux & saltman, 2009). this discourse ignores much of the research about how school choice often advantages families with more social capital and exacerbates inequalities between more and less resourced communities (wells, lopez, scott, & holme, 1999). although twelve years have passed since its enactment, the district continues to push the idea of educational choice and other neoliberal education reforms (lipman, 2011), particularly through the expansion of charter schools and more specialized school options (i.e., performing art schools, stem-themed schools, gifted centers, etc.). educational options are offered by cps through the office of access and enrollment (oae), the central office that manages the application, testing, selection and enrollment process (http://www.cpsoae.org). table 1 highlights the most solicited programs. http://h morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 116 table 1 admissions requirements for specialized schools admission requirements application lottery standardized test scores (nwea) oae administered exam elementary schools magnet schools √ √ regional gifted/ classical programs √ √ high schools military academies √ √ (minimum of 48th percentile in math and reading) √ college and career academies √ √ selective enrollment schools √ √ (minimum of 24th percentile in math and reading) √ both elementary and high schools charter schools √ √ through the oae, district leaders continue to promote the idea that a larger set of educational options to choose from benefits all cps students, and guarantees that the district is committed to every family having access to such programs and schools. oae’s mission states: latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 117 all of chicago’s children and their families deserve access to quality educational options that meet their diverse educational needs and interests… the office of access and enrollment is dedicated to: choice: increasing educational options for parents and students equity: ensuring that all students have equal access to the programs and services available service: meeting needs and exceeding expectations of all stakeholders through efficiency, expertise, courtesy, and accountability (http://www.cpsoae.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?urec_id=72702&type=d&termre c_id=&prec_id=121715&hidemenu=0) each fall, cps hosts the chicago school fair, which is intended to “give parents and guardians the opportunity to explore all the options for their students” (www.chooseyourfuture.cps.edu). yet, the chicago school fair is usually located in the city’s downtown area, not easily accessible to many latin@ families who reside in the south and southwest sides of the city. district level educational leaders claim that all students have benefitted from the expansion of educational choices, but our review of student and school demographic data show that there is disproportionate enrollment into the different programs and schools by racial/ethnic group. the question guiding this analysis was the following: how can we use a crt/latcrit lens to identify current educational opportunity gaps for a large and growing latin@ student body in chicago public schools? data sources primary data for this analysis includes publicly available cps student and school demographic information (yearly school racial/ethnic reports available through cps website), cps press releases that are found on the district’s website, and other cps public information related to latin@ education in chicago (i.e., local news articles and reports). http://www.chooseyourfuture.cps.edu/ morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 118 who we are/authors’ positionality all three of the authors are latinas who were born and raised in illinois, two of whom grew up in chicago. we understand firsthand what it is like to be racial and linguistic minorities in the united states. zitlali is the eldest of four daughters to immigrant parents from jalisco, méxico. ramona is a lifelong resident of chicago whose parents immigrated from the mexican states of guanajuato and zacatecas in the early 1960s to the humboldt park community. she attended cps from the prek-12th grades, and is the mother of a current cps student who attends the city’s oldest spanish/english dual language school. joanna’s parents migrated to chicago from the states of chihuahua and jalisco. her maternal grandmother participated in the movimiento during the 1970s and early 80s demanding the opening of a new high school in the pilsen community, benito juarez high school. both joanna’s parents attended and graduated from benito juarez. joanna attended cps schools herself and currently has an 11-yearold daughter who attends a gifted program in cps. as a faculty member and doctoral students at a public research university in chicago, we have a personal interest in the schooling of latin@s in chicago and have a deep sense that public schools might be our last hope in holding on to the ‘right to this city’ (harvey, 2003; lipman, 2011). analysis: segregation, stratification, and school “choice” cps student and school demographic data we began with descriptive statistics of students enrolled in cps schools by race/ethnicity in 2000 and 2015 to demonstrate the change over time. we focus on the change within those years because it is a period of significant latin@ student growth, as well as drastic educational reform in the city. we utilize a crt and latcrit lens to compare the discourse of improved academic opportunities for latin@ students that the district claims against the reality of school and program placement for latin@s. as the data shows, programs that were created to address racially segregated schooling appear now to be part of the structures that continue to increase racial segregation and limit the educational opportunities of latin@s. specifically, what is most problematic about the new socioeconomic admissions metrics is that they are used to latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 119 keep and attract white middle-class families in the city’s public school system (lipman, 2011). the top slots for the most academically rigorous and well-resourced selective programs are reserved for the students with the highest standardized test scores, and subsequent slots are divided using the socioeconomic metrics created by cps. as table 2 demonstrates, the few white students that are in the public school system are admitted and enrolled at high rates into the most well-resourced schools. morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 120 table 2 student enrollment by ethnic/racial categories and school types, 2014-15 student enrollment by race white african american asian latin@ elementary schools magnet schools 15.4% 40.3% 4.9% 36.1% gifted/classical programs 5 30.1% 39.1% 9.5% 16% high schools military academies 3.4% 32.2% 0% 61.8% college and career academies 1.1% 76.8% 0.2% 21.1% selective enrollment schools 22.9% 34.3% 9.2% 29.5% both elementary and high schools charter schools 1.6% 56.4% 0.9% 38.7% increased segregation of latin@ students in predominately latin@ schools as table 3 demonstrates, since the year 2000, the percentage of latin@s attending highly segregated public schools has increased. in 2000, 43% of all latin@s in cps attended schools that were highly segregated latin@ schools (85% or more 5 gifted/classical programs are located within neighborhood schools, and percentages reflect whole school enrollment. exact numbers for students enrolled in these programs are not public information, however, there is clear disproportionate enrollment of students by race/ethnicity. furthermore, gifted/classical programs are not offered in neighborhoods that are predominantly latin@. latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 121 latin@), and by 2015 that number increased to 50% of all latin@s in cps. current school data shows a continued growth in this trend, particularly among elementary school students where more than 60% of latin@s attend highly segregated schools. within the last fifteen years, the number of highly segregated latin@ schools has grown from 79 to 129. currently, 95% of latin@s attending charter schools are enrolled in schools that are 85% or more latin@. blanchett, mumford, and beachum (2005) document that racially segregated schools often provide less equitable educational opportunities and outcomes for students of color. thus, the growing trend of hypersegregation is particularly alarming. table 3 latin@ students in cps schools in 2000 and 2015 2000 2015 total # of latin@ students/total # of students 152,031/435,470 180,790/396,683 percentage of cps students who are latin@ 34.9% 45.5% elementary and high schools with 85%+ latin@ enrollment/total # elementary and high schools 79/648 129/678 percentage of elementary and high schools with 85%+ latin@ 12.2% 19.0% total # of latin@ students enrolled in schools with 85%+ latin@ enrollment 65,590 91,021 percentage of latin@ students enrolled in schools with 85%+ latin@ enrollment 43.14% 50.35% morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 122 inequitable educational stratification through the expansion of school choice crt and latcrit provide a critique to school choice policies that purport to be race neutral and colorblind ideologies that further contribute to the marginalization of people of color. in cps, the race neutral language of school choice masks the deep inequities in access and enrollment to selective and advanced placement programs and schools experienced by latin@s. two of the most prestigious, better-resourced, and academically rigorous educational options in cps are selective enrollment high schools and elementary gifted programs. but as table 2 shows, latin@s have gained little access to these more advanced options, despite the fact that selective enrollment schools and gifted programs expanded in the last fifteen years. from 2000 to 2015, latin@s remained at 29% of all students enrolled in selective enrollment high schools, and have remained a very small percentage of all students enrolled in gifted elementary programs. another educational option expanded as a result of ren10 were military high schools. in 2000, chicago had two public military high schools. by 2015, the number grew to six, with one additional school that now admits 7th and 8th grade students. although latin@s are underrepresented in many of the advanced educational programs and schools, they are overrepresented in the percentage of students attending military academies, where they make up 61% of all students enrolled. currently, chicago has the highest number of public military academies, and the largest number of junior reserve officer training corps (jrotc) programs in the u.s. (pérez, 2015). scholars argue that military academies, particularly in poor urban communities, were created to discipline and manage the behavior of youth of color. public support for military schools is based on the notion that ‘at-risk’ youth, such as poor african americans and latin@s, benefit from strict discipline policies that enforce obedience and compliance (horsley, 2013). lipman (2003) asserts that what is problematic about military academies is that “there is no place for learning self-determination, collectivity, critical analysis of the world and one’s place in it, or self-control for ethical ends” (p. 348). cps describes the advantages of military high schools: latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 123 military academies offer a unique high school option for highly motivated students, providing an academically rigorous curriculum with a focus on leadership and citizenship. the academies' primary goal is to prepare students to attend the four-year college or university of their choice. by allowing them to develop as leaders, military academies prepare students for successful careers and a life of active citizenship.” [italicized by authors] (http://www.cpsoae.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?urec_id=159675&type=d) for latin@ youth who may be seen as unamerican, their willingness to participate in military programs is often prompted by “their desire to be regarded as full citizens” (pérez, 2015, p. 9). while enrollment into military academies may come with certain advantages, students are nonetheless placed into the military pipeline. more importantly, as table 2 shows, there is a disparity of enrollment by latin@s into the more academically advanced or rigorous programs and school options, compared to the military academies. families may have more types of schools to choose from in chicago, but they must navigate a labyrinthine process where parents with more resources, time, and social capital can better participate in this type of application system. additionally, access to specialized advanced programs is based on scores on standardized tests, which have been proven to be culturally biased (valencia & suzuki, 2001), and the socioeconomic standing of their neighborhood. the school choice options are part of a larger colorblind educational policy discourse that acts as a cover-up for the self-interest, control, and privilege of dominant groups in u.s. society (solórzano & yosso, 2002). rather than focusing on providing more choices, we ask what cps could do to provide more equitable educational resources for latin@ students. educational initiatives in cps related to latin@s similar to davila and aviles de bradley (2010), we believe “crt help[s] us create a space that highlights the resistance and hope of latin@s in cps while uncovering the struggle and injustice” (p. 40). while there has been recognition of the need to address this growing population of students, few efforts from the district have targeted this group. the rhetoric of choice has been central to education policy in chicago, but there http://www.cpsoae.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?urec_id=159675&type=d morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 124 is actually a vast literature base in the field of education about what supports positive educational outcomes for latin@s. according to u.s. census data, approximately 80% of all els in the u.s. are latin@ (http://www.nea.org/home/hispanicseducation%20issues.htm). understanding language issues and providing language supports then continues to be an important issue for latin@s. gándara and contreras (2009) propose that a solution to the challenges of effectively educating english learners (els) is hiring qualified teachers from students’ own communities. they explain that such teachers may better understand the situations that students face, recognize the resources that exist in those communities, and importantly, are more likely to stay in the job over time (hanushek & rivkin, 2006). currently, the teaching force is largely white and middle-class. thus, we should increase the diversity of the teaching force in general and specifically support efforts to increase teachers coming from the communities serving latin@s. in chicago, the employment of latin@ teachers (19.7% of chicago teachers) and latin@ principals (15.6%) has not kept pace with the increase of latin@ student enrollment (45.6%). however, a significant group has emerged within the chicago teachers union (ctu). in october 2013, the chicago’s teacher union latino caucus was established by “self-identified latino educational workers across the district that were seeking to put their collective power and voice to work for a just and equitable public education system for all, regardless of legal or socioeconomic status” (sepulveda, 2015, p. 22). this group has advocated for educators to get involved with transforming the educational attainment of all students. teachers in this group have collaborated to look at issues such as teacher professional development, standardized testing, and policy and practices within cps. in february 2014, cps announced the formation of the latino advisory committee (lac), “the district’s first-ever, latino-focused task force designed to increase engagement with the latino community and to enhance the educational success of latino students,” (http://cps.edu/news/press_releases/pages/pr2_01_04_2014.aspx). according to the press release, lac was to unite chicago latino leaders to provide support for latin@ students, teachers, administrators, and families by making “recommendations to the ceo on policies, programs and curriculum that would affect latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 125 the latino community, including students and parents who are english learners (els)”. however, cps administration appointed executive directors of community non-profits, city investors, and local university faculty to the lac and no cps teachers or parents. in recent years, more research has shown that students whose experiences are not valued by their teachers, peers, and educational institutions are less likely to become connected to school. ethnic studies classes have been shown to increase graduation rates and matriculation to higher education (cabrera, milem, jaquette & marx, 2014). they have been adopted, and in some cases required, in los angeles, oakland, sacramento, and san francisco. in march 2015, cps administration introduced the interdisciplinary latino and latin american studies curriculum. this curriculum emphasizes the arts, culture, and history of latin@s and latin americans (http://catalystchicago.org/2015/03/latino-studies-curriculum-will-make-cps-a-pioneer/). however, after this high-profile rollout, cps administration did not provide trainings for teachers or otherwise encourage implementation in schools. while intended to be accessible to cps teachers, it is unclear what may become of this curriculum. in addition to ethnic studies, cps should provide more opportunities for multilingualism for all (morales & razfar, 2016), especially when such a large proportion of the student body is already bilingual or emergent bilingual. offering more dual immersion programs would support bilingual students’ retention of their first language, as well as potentially be another way to encourage the integration of linguistically, racially, and socioeconomically diverse students. discussion and conclusion we have discussed the importance of examining the educational options available in a large public school system such as chicago, where almost a third of the city’s population is latin@. the student population served by the school district is over 90% students of color, but it has been largely absent in the latin@ education literature. despite the discourse of progress and greater opportunity coming from the central office of cps, latin@ students are largely not receiving the type of education that research suggests would be most beneficial. upon our review of the student population in cps, we find that latin@s are still http://catalyst-chicago.org/2015/03/latino-studies-curriculum-will-make-cps-a-pioneer/ http://catalyst-chicago.org/2015/03/latino-studies-curriculum-will-make-cps-a-pioneer/ morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 126 quite segregated and concentrated in particular schools, despite past efforts at desegregation. furthermore, while cps has increased the types of schools available to students, we find that latin@s are clustering into military academies and are underrepresented in the most prestigious programs and schools. we argue that increasing educational options for latin@s does not equate to improving the educational resources and outcomes for these students. latin@ students need more from their public institutions than empty rhetoric, and they need it now. a latcrit social justice perspective highlights the importance of considering race, culture, and language as part of the process that will more positively address educational equity for latin@ youth in chicago public schools. latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 127 references alicea, m. (2001). cuando nosotros viviamos...: stories of displacement and settlement in puerto rican chicago. centro journal, 13(2), 167-195. anyon, j. (1997). ghetto schooling: a political economy of urban educational reform. new york, ny: teachers college press. ayers, w., & klonsky, m. (2006). chicago's renaissance 2010: the small schools movement meets the ownership society. the phi delta kappan, 87(6), 453-457. betancur, j. j. (1996). the settlement experience of latinos in chicago: segregation, speculation, and the ecology model. social forces, 74(4), 1299-1324. blanchett, w. j., mumford, v., & beachum, f. (2005). urban school failure and disproportionality in a post-brown era benign neglect of the constitutional rights of students of color. remedial and special education, 26(2), 70-81. brenner, n., & theodore, n. (eds.). (2002). spaces of neoliberalism: urban restructuring in western europe and north america. maiden, ma: blackwell publishing. cabrera, n. l., milem, j. f., jaquette, o., & marx, r. w. (2014). missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (political) trees: empiricism and the mexican american studies controversy in tucson. american education research journal, 51(6), 1084-1118. danns, d. (2014). desegregating chicago’s public schools: policy implementation, politics, and protest, 1965-1985. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. davila, e. r., & aviles de bradley, a. (2010). examining education for latinas/os in chicago: a crt/latcrit approach. educational foundations, 39-58. de genova, n. (2005). working the boundaries: race, space, and “illegality” in mexican chicago. durham, nc: duke university press. delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latcrit theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. fernandez, l. (2012). brown in the windy city: mexicans and puerto ricans in postwar chicago. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. giroux, h. a., & saltman, k. (2009). obama’s betrayal of public education? arne duncan and the corporate model of schooling. cultural studies-critical methodologies, 9(6), 772-779 gonzález, g. g. (2013). chicano education in the era of segregation. philadelphia, pa: balch institute press. hackworth, j. (2007). the neoliberal city: governance, ideology, and development in american urbanism. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. hanushek, e., & rivkin, s. (2006). teacher quality. in e. hanushek & f. welch (eds.), handbook of the economics of education (vol. 2). (pp. 1051-1078). amsterdam: elsevier. harvey, d. (2003). the right to the city. international journal of urban and regional research, 27(4), 939-941. apple, m. w. (ed.). (1982). cultural and economic reproduction in education: essays on class, ideo logy, and the state. london, routledge. morales, meza, & maravilla-cano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 128 hess, g. a. (1984). renegotiating a multicultural society: participation in desegregation planning in chicago. journal of negro education, 132-146. horsley, h. l. (2013). a case of youth navigating structures of opportunity in a chicago public military academy. unpublished doctoral dissertation. university of illinois at chicago, illinois. koval, j. p. (ed.). (2006). the new chicago: a social and cultural analysis. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. lipman, p. (2003). chicago school policy: regulating black and latino youth in the global city. race ethnicity and education, 6(4), 331-355. lipman, p. (2008). mixed-income schools and housing: advancing the neoliberal urban agenda. journal of education policy, 23(2), 119-134. lipman, p. (2011). the new political economy of urban education: neoliberalism, race, and the right to the city. new york, ny: routledge. lipman, p., & haines, n. (2007). from accountability to privatization and african american exclusion chicago's “renaissance 2010”. educational policy, 21(3), 471-502. morales, p. z., & razfar, a. (2016). advancing integration through bilingualism for all. in e. frankenberg, l. garces, & m. b. hopkins (eds.), school integration matters: researchbased strategies to advance equity (pp. 135-144). new york, ny: teachers college press. morales, p. z., trujillo, t., & kissell, r. (in press). educational policy and latin@ youth. in s. l. nichols (ed.), educational policies and youth in the 21st century: problems, potential, and progress. charlotte, nc: information age publishers. oakes, j. (2005). keeping track: how schools structure inequality (2nd ed.). new haven, ct: yale university press. orfield, g., frankenberg, e. d., & lee, c. (2003). the resurgence of school segregation. educational leadership, 60(4), 16-20. pacione-zayas, c. (2009). roberto clemente community academy: a counter-narrative on chicago school reform, 1988--1998. (unpublished doctoral dissertation) university of illinois at urbana-champaign. padilla, f. m. (1985). latino ethnic consciousness: the case of mexican americans and puerto ricans in chicago. notre dame, in: university of notre dame press. pérez, g. m. (2015). citizen, student, soldier: latina/o youth, jrotc, and the american dream. new york, ny: new york university press. pollock, m. (2009). colormute: race talk dilemmas in an american school. princeton, nj: princeton university press. ramírez, l. g. (2011). chicanas of 18th street: narratives of a movement from latino chicago. urbana, il: university of illinois press. san miguel, g., & valencia, r. r. (1998). from the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo to hopwood: the educational plight and struggle of mexican americans in the southwest. harvard educational review, 68, 353-412. sepulveda, o. (2015). the rise of the ctu latino caucus. chicago union teacher, 78(8), 22-23 solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. solórzano, d. g. & yosso, t. j., (2006). leaks in the chicana and chicano educational latin@ students in a changing chicago association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2016, volume 10, issue 1, issn 2377-9187 | 129 pipeline. latino policy & issues brief. number 13. ucla chicano studies research center (nj1). stovall, d. o. (2006). from hunger strike to high school: youth development, social justice and school formation. in s. ginwright, p. noguera, & j. cammarota (eds.), beyond resistance!: youth activism and community change: new democratic possibilities for practice and policy for america's youth (pp. 97-110). new york, ny: routledge. u.s. census bureau (2015). american factfinder. retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/ faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml# valencia, r. r., & suzuki, l. a. (2001). intelligence testing and minority students: foundations, performance factors and assessment issues. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, incorporated. valdes, f. (1997). foreword: under construction. latcrit consciousness, community, and theory california law review, 85(5), 1087-1142. wells, a. s., lopez, a., scott, j., & holme, j. j. (1999). charter schools as postmodern pardox: rethinking social stratification in an age of deregulated school choice. harvard educational review, 69(2), 172-204. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 84 a culturally validated model of student success services and academic and curriculum enhancements at a hispanic-serving institution devan r. romero department of kinesiology, california state university san marcos minerva gonzalez office of pathways to academic success and opportunities, california state university san marcos marisol clark-ibanez department of sociology, california state university san marcos kimberly d’anna-hernandez department of psychology, california state university san marcos abstract though college enrollment rates for mexican-american students have increased over the past years, mexican-americans still have one of the lowest rates for degree completion. however, more work is recognizing the strengths of students of mexican descent, particularly those related to culture such as familism, and calling for asset-based programs that validate the student to increase student retention and persistence. programs infused with such an approach likely address aspects that improve performance amongst mexican-american students; however, evidence-based assessment is limited. this paper will detail an asset-based program that uses a culturally validated model of student success services and academic and curriculum enhancements at a hispanic-serving institution to increase overall latinx student retention and persistence. the program infuses validation theory (rendon, 1994) to address cultural strengths of students and validate their life experiences as first-time freshmen, by creating a culturally relevant curriculum, enhancing culturally relevant student support services, and promoting education equity. students involved in this program report a high level of belongingness at the university as well as have higher pass rates in their culturally validated courses. recommendations are discussed for implementation of such a comprehensive program at other institutions as well as implications for higher education. keywords: latinx, first-year programs, retention, higher education, validation theory doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.401 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.401 romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 85 background rates of college enrollment have increased over the last 20 years for all groups, with latinx students showing one of the largest increases (22% to 36%); however, they are still one the minority groups with lowest enrollment overall (i.e. 59% asian, 42% white, 37% black and 36% latinx, 24% native american) (national center for education statistics, 2019). of the us latinx population, mexican-americans make up the largest subgroup and mexican-american youth are one of the fastest growing populations in the us (flores, 2017). once enrolled in college, the disparities in higher education persist as 30.3% whites receive a college degree, compared to only 9.1% of mexican american students (u.s. census, 2010). many challenges that mexican-american students face in higher education include traditional stressors such as academic, financial, and time management (quintana et al., 1991; llamas et al., 2020), but also those related to cultural adjustment such as acculturative stress (crockett et al., 2007), discrimination (finch et al., 2001), and intragroup marginalization (llamas et al., 2018), particularly at predominantly white institutions (von robertson et al., 2016). even given these barriers, recent work has begun to identify signatures of resilience in mexican-american students that can inform asset-based strategies needed to validate students and foster college success (rendón et al., 2015). latinx students often experience a discord between their cultural values, and those of higher education (torres, 2006; llamas et al., 2020). in particular, higher education hails from an individualistic culture where competition, independence, and the self are highly valued. however, many latinx cultures, including mexican, which are more collectivistic, value collaboration, and group processes (shkodriani & gibbons, 1995; hofstede, 2001). these values can feel at odds with university culture (gloria & kurpius, 1996; gloria & pope-davis, 1997; torres, 2006; morgan consoli et al., 2016). students of mexican descent often have to switch between or differentially balance their professional and personal values and identities depending on their social environment (sanchez, 2006). this can have adverse effects on mental health (smith & silva, 2011; arbona & jimenez, 2014) and lead to the decision to leave the university (hurtado & ponjuan, 2005). since students’ ethnic awareness increases across the college years (syed, 2010), the university as an institution bears the responsibility to create and commit to an inclusive environment that supports overall latinx retention (estrada et al., 2016). in fact, for mexican-american college students traditional cultural values, such as familism, respect and a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 86 religiosity have predicted resilience (morgan consoli & llamas, 2013). in particular for first year students, the cultural factors such as belonging and cultural identity, as well as more classic factors such as motivation, perseverance, study skills, and social support were beneficial for college adjustment (llamas et al., 2020). taken together, these studies increasingly point to the role of peers and feelings of belongingness and a familia atmosphere as important factors for mexican-american students and calls for interventions that not only include academic and financial assistance but address cultural factors as well. while programs have been begun to infuse aspects of culturally-based assets into their curriculum and services, few studies have evaluated if such interventions improve student performance. this manuscript details a first-year program for latinx students named pathways to academic success and opportunities (paso) that was developed based on past scholarly work to increase retention and graduation rates amongst latinx students, mainly of mexican descent. the paso program as a model of latino student empowerment via infusion of cultural validation theory and markers of student success are discussed. overall, paso aims to create a culturally relevant curriculum, enhance culturally relevant student support services, and promote education equity. theoretical framework: cultural validation theory validation theory, a theoretical and pedagogical framework developed by dr. laura rendon, is based on the experiences of nontraditional college students in invalidating environments and how transformation can occur through validation, thus resulting in enhanced capacity of learning and student success (rendon, 1994). as a theory, validation serves to challenge antiquated models of teaching and learning to actively engage institutional agents in academic and interpersonal validation so that students can harness and develop their “innate capacity to learn” and be successful. academic validation can occur in the classroom through culturally enhanced curriculum and interpersonal validation via identities and building upon cultural assets (rendon, 1994; linares & muñoz, 2011). faculty initiation of contact and interactions with students have been found to play a significant role in student integration into the college experience, and supports academic persistence (barnett, 2011). retention of latinx students and persistence in degree completion remains an ongoing concern for latinx students in higher education, in addition to understanding mediators of cultural validation in student romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 87 success (maramba & palmer, 2014). students of color rely heavily on informal peer networks for informational, and social support; therefore, these same types of networks should be facilitated in college (hallett, 2013), thus providing validation of their established networking capacities. the paso program is based on the essential elements of validation theory: 1) institutional (validating) agents such as professors and advisors have the responsibility to initiate connections with students that are enabling and confirming, 2) strive to foster self-worth and confidence in learning capability, 3) validation can and should occur within and beyond the classroom, 4) validation is an ongoing supportive and developmental process that continues throughout the students educational journey, and 5) crucial when administered early in the college experience (rendon, 1994). the cultural component is key in validation, and we operationalize the theoretical constructs of validation theory as “cultural validation” (cv) for the paso program to reflect the culturally diverse approach that is infused with validation theory. this further builds upon the yosso (2005) “community cultural wealth model” by focusing on cultural assets that latinx students experience, specifically, aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital (yosso, 2005). since rendon’s theory was established in 1994, recent expansions have included assetbased theoretical framework constructs to include leveraging strengths and latinx specific assets. these assets further extend yosso’s cultural wealth constructs to include perseverance, ethnic consciousness, spirituality/faith, and pluriversality, thus creating a “student success framework” that can harness innate determination, sense of purpose, giving back, and the ability to exist in different cultural environments (rendon et al., 2015). maximizing students’ strengths and assets that can support and foster student success, can be achieved through implementation of these asset-based theoretical frameworks founded on validation theory, specifically using a culturally diverse approach (rendon et al., 2015). ultimately, cultural validation helps students to become active agents and productive consumers of knowledge in their educational journey. the approaches of the paso program are based on researched and innovative responses to improving the cultural responsiveness and curriculum, academics, and student success, and support services as detailed below. a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 88 an overview of the paso program: model of empowering latinx students the pathways to academic success and opportunities (paso) program is implemented at a hispanic serving institution in southern california with a 48% latinx student population. the goal of paso is not only to increase enrollment of first time latinx freshmen students but to serve the latinx student population upon their arrival to campus. eligibility for the paso program includes self-identification as latinx and a first-generation, low income, fulltime student. additionally, students cannot be a part of another specialized program (i.e., trio sss, college assistance migrant program, educational opportunity program). upon enrollment, students that fit eligibility are automatically enrolled in the paso program and sent invitations, announcements, and emails about paso services. paso seeks to support latinx students and address the achievement gap among latinx students through innovative student services, culturally-relevant first-year curriculum, and meaningful co-curricular offerings aimed at increasing retention, and graduation rates. paso is based on two main objectives: 1) culturally-validated (cv) student success services and 2) culturally-validated academic and curriculum enhancements (see table 1 at end of document). objective 1. culturally validated student success services improve retention and intervention strategies for academic probation and disqualification. the creative paso approach targets students on academic probation (ap) or dangerously close (dc) students. interventions were implemented by paso staff to identify ‘high need” students who need academic support, based on university established measures for placement in math and writing for incoming high school students. paso students that meet these metrics are identified, contacted and directly referred to tutoring centers (math and writing), “pop up” tutoring at the latin@ center, faculty advising, peer mentoring, and academic advising. notably, pro-active or “intrusive advising” is essential to keep students on track academically and monitor their progress. additional retention strategies included university-wide mid-semester evaluations to identify high risk paso students and early alert progress reports generated from the university’s record platform that are relayed to the paso office. the paso program advising is centered on a holistic approach to assess the needs of each student and utilize early intervention methods throughout the first semester and year. romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 89 cultural validated counseling and advising services. the paso program team consists of an advisor and an outreach and retention specialist that together are trained in cultural validation that target increased engagement and outreach to latinx families. this outreach is geared to identify local school districts targeting latinx high school seniors during the fall semester. once students are admitted, the paso team continuously contacts admitted students to ensure that their admission, financial aid, and registration is complete. each spring incoming freshmen are invited to paso specific program overview workshops that assist students with the college transition in three simultaneous workshops for spanish speaking parents, english speaking parents, and students. the following topics are covered: high-school-to-university transitional issues; non-traditional support strategies; student services/governing communication systems; getting involved; and acknowledging parental involvement through incentives. lastly, the paso peer mentoring program is thematically centered on “sense of belonging” using evidence-based peer mentoring strategies for latinx students (zhao & kuh, 2004; moschetti et al., 2018). upper division students are selected and trained in paso goals and objectives with priority consideration given to previous paso scholars. peer mentors provide information and guidance in the transition from high school to college for first-time incoming freshmen mentees that includes peer assistance with financial aid, admission, advising, enrollment, housing, health, and community resources. improving cultural responsiveness in financial aid. improving timely financial aid awards to students is a key practice implemented in the paso program. although student financial aid alone does not guarantee retention or graduation, financial aid is a prerequisite for student success. in order to achieve a culturally responsive approach that meets the needs of latinx students, the program utilizes a dedicated bilingual/ bicultural financial aid specialist. this specialist fully implements improved practices for family and student advocacy and improved efficiency of communications of validation requests of applications in a culturally respectful manner. in addition, financial aid bilingual workshops are held (financial literacy, loan debt, and scholarship opportunities) for students entering the paso program. most notably, bilingual assistance to latinx families is provided, thus increasing the efficacy of communications and the timeliness of awards. a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 90 foundational support with other latinx campus resources. the latin@ student center established a strong partnership with the paso program. the latin@ center has been a welcoming place for all students to celebrate and enhance understanding of the latinx culture, as well as offer services such as printing and access to items like calculators, headphones, laptops, etc. in addition, the center continually offers support services aimed at helping latinx students develop the leadership and academic skills they need for success. the paso peer mentors support the programmatic needs of the latin@ center director. a calendar of events is shared so that paso scholars are encouraged to visit the center to create a sense of community, support, and cultural connection. partnerships are also formed with student organizations like the student chapter of society for the advancement of chicano/latino and native american scientists (sacnas) to promote events and provide networking for paso students. objective 1 of the paso program directly addresses elements of validation theory. the paso program addresses that first element of the theory by having advisors and other higher education professionals be validating institutional agents and initiate contact and connections with the students. this model does not rely on students asking for help or services, but rather faculty and staff as institutional agents of change. paso also addresses the third element as it validates students beyond the classroom to encompass campus resources and student services, treating the student’s experience at the university holistically. lastly, to address the fourth and fifth elements of validation theory, the paso program begins to validate students even before they arrive on campus as first-time freshmen with family orientations in spanish and outreach to high schools. in addition, paso closely follows and intervenes with students during their first year. lastly, once a part of the program, students have access to paso resources throughout their time at the university. objective 2. validating academic and curriculum enhancements faculty are trained in either a year-long faculty learning community or intensive summer institute on infusion of cultural validation into their courses. the training is centered around validation theory (rendon, 1994) to create culturally relevant curriculum focused on key elements presented in table 2 (see at end of document) and each will be addressed from an academic and interpersonal perspective. the academic perspective includes learning romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 91 experiences that affirm the student’s potential for success, such as guest speakers, inclusion of latinx and/or the student’s history/background in curriculum, as well activities where students witness themselves as powerful learners and opportunities for validation from peers. the interpersonal perspective includes in and out of class agents that foster personal development and social adjustment, affirmation of students as people, ability to build social network or groups, and lastly validation of student’s personal identities, and occupational roles. therefore, faculty create a classroom climate and include activities and/or assignments that: • demonstrate latinxs are valuable contributors to the body of knowledge taught in the classroom; • affirm the value of student voice and experience; • actively reach out to students for help (not waiting for student to come to instructor); • create opportunities for students to validate each other (e.g., peer review, work in teams); • build on and focus on academic strengths; • provide positive feedback; • creating a familia atmosphere. the following are four culturally relevant content examples from courses infused with validation theory. first, in a history course, the zoot suit riot was used to educate the uses and identification of primary sources of information. second, in an education course to teach about school desegregation, the lemon grove incident was used. in this historical event, mexican immigrants and their communities were the targeted groups of segregation by school officials during the 1930s, in the then rural community of lemon grove, california. this case was the first successful school desegregation court decision in the history of the united states. third, in an environmental biology course, environmental issues were discussed, including the testing of water for toxins along the u.s.-mexico border. fourth, in a neuroscience course, students attend a talk, listen to a podcast or watch a documentary on an issue important to them (i.e. family separation at the border, depression, or stress) and propose a behavioral neuroscience experiment to address the issue. for example, one study addressing family separation at the border proposed separating mothers and pups at birth and looking at a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 92 neurogenesis in the brains of offspring. by validating the students in these ways in an educational setting, students will feel “i matter,” “somebody at this institution cares about me,” and “i am capable of success.” objective 2 of the paso program addresses four of the elements of validation theory. first, professors directly reach out to students to initiate contact as agents of validation and do not rely on students seeking assistance. second, the validated curriculum and course content fosters self-worth and confidence to amplify the learning abilities of the students. the course content validates students not only as scholars, but as members of both the academic community and the community in which they live. third, with the inclusion of course content relevant for the surrounding community and the student’s own community, validation of the student occurs holistically beyond the confines of the classroom. lastly, paso students take a series of general education courses their freshmen year that begins their exposure to validated academic and curriculum enhancements early. in addition, by training faculty in upper division courses (via faculty learning communities), as well infusing their courses with cultural validation, the program can continue to support students throughout their educational journey. paso first-year general education (ge) courses validating latinx identities & perspectives the university first-year courses include a set of two standard ge courses intended to establish college-ready proficiency in writing ability (gew) and oral communication (geo). these courses are taught in multiple sections and count toward the “life-long learning and information literacy” requirements for freshman students. roughly, 80% of the university’s first-year students take these courses and prior to the inception of paso, none of these courses were intentionally taught during the regular academic year with the theme of latinx identities and perspectives. with the full support of the office of undergraduate studies, both departments offering the first-year ge courses agreed to launch gew and geo with a focus on the latino students’ identity. this included hiring trained faculty in cv, designing courses based on successful methods in other specialized programs (e.g., education opportunity program), developing culturally sensitive curriculum based on the latinx experience and offering paso program designated courses in the course catalog. the first theme, latinx identities, emphasized a focus on the latinx perspective with discussion built around latinx romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 93 persons, culturally relevant content analyzed through critical theory, and exploration of the latinx experience and cultural texts. the second theme, latinx perspectives, centered on student development to examine and present oral presentations with a focus on the historical, political, educational, economic, and cultural developments that affect the diversity of latinx communities in the united states. the courses also added a cultural validation evaluation to the standard university evaluations for each semester. there are non-validated sections of these courses offered to all other students at the university. however, the paso students are enrolled into designated sessions for paso students only. evidence of student success retention and belonging. in the third cohort, 107 latinx mentees were enrolled into the peer mentoring program and reported high feelings and a sense of university belonging. almost all (98% of) mentees responded either “agree” (4) or “strongly agree” (5) on a fivepoint likert scale that they feel a greater sense of belonging. also, one-year continuation rates for these first-time freshmen indicated that mentees in the program (85.5%) was higher than that of student’s university-wide (80.8%). general education (ge) course pass rates. course pass rates were calculated for all the paso geo and gew courses, by cohorts and an independent samples t-test was used for analysis. data collection began with cohorts 2 through 5 and was aggregated by paso designated courses and the non-validated course sections. for the purpose of this analysis only the pass rates for the latinx students in the non-validated course sections were compared. latinx paso students completing the culturally validated gew courses, had significantly higher course pass rates (m=86.6, sd=2.82, n=7) compared to latinx students (m=79.9, sd=1.78, n=7) in non-validated gew courses, t(12) = 5.33, p < .001. there were no differences found between the paso geo courses (m=90.4, sd=7.14, n=6) compared to latinx students (m=86.5, sd=3.87, n=6, t(10) = 2.14, p=.174). although non-significant, it is interesting to highlight that overall combined pass rates were higher in paso geo (90.4%) than the non-validated latinx geo (86.5%) sections. it should be noted that at the inception of the program, geo did not have a paso section for the first semester of cohort 2. in addition, pass rates for cohort 5 spring semester were unavailable at this time, therefore this incomplete/missing data affects direct cohort a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 94 comparisons by semester and year. lastly, spring 2020 data might not provide a valid indicator of pass rates due to covid-19 and credit/no credit university policy implementations. student course evaluations. student evaluations were collected at the end of the courses that included novel culturally validation responsive evaluation items in table 3 (see at end of document). evaluations were only included for 3 cohorts (cohort 3, 4, and 5) as evaluations were not implemented yet in cohort 2. though a comparison with non-validated courses would be ideal, this preliminary data provides insight into aspects of cultural validation that the students found most helpful. overall, in both geo and gew, students rated the following aspects as the top highly rated evaluations: 1) representations of my cultural identity were included in course material and/or class topics, 2) issues that are related to latinx and the latinx community were discussed in a positive way (e.g., immigration, jobs, education, bilingual), and 3) my instructor was culturally aware and culturally open (see table 3 at end of document). in addition, qualitative data supported these ideas. students talked about comfort level in the classroom and with the professor, as one student stated, “overall i am more comfortable being in a class full of paso students because i feel like i can connect with them and the professor on a different level than i would in another class.” another student stated, “this class made me feel very comfortable and welcomed, knowing that there are other firstgeneration latinos like me.” another student talked about the professor making them feel capable. they stated, “i like the class the professor was welcoming and spoke to all of us directly which although is scary for me, being the shy kid, it made me feel like i'm an equal. i really liked how the professor was always making sure we all knew we were equal and capable of so many things. he was a very encouraging person.” others addressed course content: “our instructor created a lesson plan that was designed not only to share material from latinx authors, but also perfected designed to help students connect with the issues discussed in class. the material was relatable which helped facilitate student communication about the issues.” one student commented on a reading by gloria anzaldua that was particularly defining for them stating: “it helped me open my eyes and realize that latinos cannot be identified as a single group. we may speak the same language and celebrate the same traditions. however, i believe every single one of us is a special and unique variation of a latino. we have all gone through different experiences in life and we are not the same. we all come from different families, socioeconomic status, and some even face the romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 95 challenges of being undocumented which by itself is stressful and terrifying. we may be latinos at heart, but we are all different. this difference is what is helping our community expand and better every day.” implications for research, policy and practice this work aimed to detail the paso program, a comprehensive program focused on first year, low-income, first generation latinx students (table 1 at end of document), as well to provide evidence of markers of student success amongst latinx students in paso. paso aims to increase retention and graduation rates amongst latinx students by targeting the specific aims by culturally validating two key facets of the college experience for students, both in student services and in the academic curriculum. the student services side has focused on intervention strategies (intrusive advising and mid-semester evaluations) for academic probation and disqualification, cultural responsiveness in peer mentoring, advising and financial aid, as well as foundational support with other latinx campus resources. for the academic curriculum, the paso office has a faculty lead who directly meets with and trains faculty in cultural validation and culturally relevant curriculum with a focus on mandatory first-year general education courses. both of these aims meet one of the key validating principles of validation theory by beginning validation early in a student’s educational career (rendon, 1994). in the current pilot study, early data suggests that pass rates for core first-year courses are higher for latinx students in culturally validated versus non-culturally validated courses. this is very important because one of the key concepts of validation theory is that students are validated early in their career, and this may lead to a “sense of belonging” and thus persistence in higher education, and an increase in graduation success. there was a statistically significant difference in pass rates in the gew course while data suggest a trend towards higher rates in gew compared to geo. gew is a challenging course because of the focus on the writing process and rhetorical and critical thinking skills that are influenced by language proficiency, thus cultural validation (cv) may have the most benefits in such rigorous courses. students also reported more feelings of belonging at the university, though this was only measured amongst those who had peer mentors. however, this is similar to other first-year courses that have used cultural validation and found that a familia atmosphere was created (quiñonez & olivas, 2020). also, as more faculty are trained in cultural validation and methods to infuse a culturally a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 96 relevant curriculum, more skills can be honed and students reached, thus a more in-depth assessment in future years is warranted. in fact, currently faculty teaching upper and lower division major courses with high drop, fail and/or withdrawal rates are being targeted for cv training to enhance student learning and persistence, particularly in stem. our suggestion is to begin with pedagogical changes to the syllabus and course structure. this includes inclusive language in the syllabus, explicitly including immigration issues as an excusable class absence and an extensive rethinking of office hours, which in their classic form can be intimidating to students. faculty may think about relabeling these hours as “student hours,” and include a list of topics that can be discussed during this time other than class material, including their own educational journey, and assets each student brings to the classroom. students could also be encouraged to come in pairs or groups to ensure comfort and ease of these meetings, which serves as a way to build and support peer networks. once these changes are made, faculty can begin to address the content of their courses as identified by student assessments of 1) representations of cultural identity in course material and/or class topics and 2) discussion of issues related to the latinx community in a positive way (e.g., immigration, jobs, education, and bilingualism). overall from this work, we have the following recommendations: • validate student services such as admissions, financial aid and student tutoring services, such as supplemental instruction or any on campus center (academic success, tutoring, and/or stem centers); • have a designated faculty ambassador in each major/program that can be an easily accessible contact for the paso office and/or latin@ center to direct students to; • evaluate both culturally validated and non-validated sections of the same course, both quantitatively and qualitatively; • focus on validating core courses with high drop, fail, and/or withdrawal rates; • enhance collaborations with on campus latin@ center including enhancement of peer mentoring services and events such internships and/or research fairs. romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 97 conclusion the latinx population is growing, however, this growth is not matched by college enrollment, retention, and graduate rates, thus an educational inequity exists. latinx students are more likely to be first generation students that experience not only traditional student stressors but also significant cultural adjustments. student success can be fostered through a sense of belonging, cultural identity and perspectives and asset-based strategies that focus on community cultural capitals students bring to the university and in the classroom (rendón, 2015; yosso, 2005). engaging validation theory, specifically “cultural validation”, that focuses on both student services and in the academic curriculum for latinx students can increase college retention and graduation rates. the paso model holds promise to enhance the empowerment of latinx students through a cultural approach that includes the tenets of validation in student services, academic and curriculum enhancement, and general education courses. however, it is important to continually evaluate and operationalize what constitutes “cultural validation”, as well as identify any mediating factors, and measure impact and outcomes in both academic and interpersonal contexts (maramba & palmer, 2014). it should be noted that cv may be more successful in rigorous courses (writing vs. communication); therefore, type of course and pass rates should be examined in evaluation of targeted curriculum for cv courses. future research and programmatic efforts should expand upon the asset-based theories to include perseverance, ethnic consciousness, spiritually/faith, and pluriversality, to further develop a framework for retention and persistence success among latinx students. expanding latinx resources (e.g. in community) and increasing institutional support is necessary as a foundation of growth and commitment to latinx student success. harnessing current assets and strengths of latinx students is vital to increase college success outcomes, and these existing and innate capacities should be valued and supported throughout their educational journey. a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 98 references arbona c., & jimenez, c. (2014). minority stress, ethnic identity, and depression among latino/a college students. journal of counseling psychology, 61(1), 162–168. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034914 barnett, e. a. (2011). validation experiences and persistence among community college students. the review of higher education, 34(2), 193-230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2150 1092.1999.tb00233.x crockett, l.j., iturbide, m.i., torres stone, r.a., mcginley, m., raffaelli, m., & carlo, g. (2007). acculturative stress, social support, and coping: relations to psychological adjustment among mexican american college students. cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology, 13(4), 347–355. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.13.4.347 estrada m, burnett m, et al. (2016) improving underrepresented minority student persistence in stem. cbe life sciences education, 15(3), es5–. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-01-0038 finch b.k., hummer, r.a., et al. (2001). the role of discrimination and acculturative stress in the physical health of mexican-origin adults. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 23(4), 399–429. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986301234004 flores a (2017) how the u.s. hispanic population is changing. washington, dc, pew research center. gloria a.m, & kurpius, s.e.r. (1996) the validation of the cultural congruity scale and the university environment scale with chicano/a students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 18(4), 533–549. https://doi.org/10.1177/07399863960184007 gloria, a. m., & pope-davis, d. b. (1997). cultural ambience: the importance of a culturally aware learning environment in the training and education of counselors. in d. b. pope davis & h. l. k. coleman (eds.), multicultural counseling competencies: assessment, education and training, and supervision (p. 242–259). sage publications. hofstede, g. (2001). culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. sage publications. hurtado, s., & ponjuan, l. (2005) latino educational outcomes and the campus climate. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 235-251. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192705276548 linares, l.i.r., & muñoz, s.m. (2011). revisiting validation theory: theoretical foundations, applications, and extensions. enrollment management journal, 2(1), 12-33. llamas, j., malik, v., mckenzie, m. r., blackburn, c., hendricks, k., marinsek, d., sia, m., marquez, r. (2020). what helps and what hinders? exploring lantix students' adjustment to college. journal of the first-year experience & students in transition, 32(1), 9-27. llamas j.d., morgan consoli, m.l., et al. (2018) latino/a freshman struggles: effects of locus of control and social support on intragroup marginalization and distress. journal of latina/o psychology, 6(2), 131–148. maramba, d.c., & palmer, r.t. (2014) the impact of cultural validation on the college experiences of southeast asian american students. journal of college student development, 55(6), 515-530. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2014.0054 morgan consoli, m.l., llamas j, et al. (2016) what's values got to do with it? thriving among mexican/mexican american college students. journal of multicultural counseling and development, 44(1), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12036 morgan consoli, m.l., & llamas, j.d. (2013) the relationship between mexican american cultural values and resilience among mexican american college students: a mixed https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.13.4.347 https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-01-0038 https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986301234004 https://doi.org/10.1177/07399863960184007 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192705276548 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2014.0054 https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12036 romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 99 methods study. journal of counseling psychology, 60(4), 617–624. moschetti, r.v., plunkett, s.w., et al. (2018). peer mentoring as social capital for latina/o college students at a hispanic-serving institution. journal of hispanic higher education, 17(4), 375-392. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717702949 national center for education statistics (2019) digest of edcuation statistics, us department of education. quiñonez, t.l., & olivas, a.p. (2020). validation theory and culturally relevant curriculum in the information literacy classroom. urban library journal, 26(1), 2. quintana, s.m., vogel, m.c., et al. (1991). meta-analysis of latino students' adjustment in higher education. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 13(2), 155-168. https://doi.org/10.1177/07399863910132003 rendón, l., nora, a., et al. (2015). ventajas/assets y conocimientos/knowledge: leveraging latin@ assets to foster student success. in j.p., mendez, f.a., bonner ii, j. mendeznegrete, r.t, palmer, f., hernandez, & l. rendón (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions in american higher education: their origin, and present and future challenges (pp. 92-118). stylus. rendon, l. (1994). validating culturally diverse students: toward a new model of learning and student development. innovative higher education, 19(1), 33–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01191156 sanchez, c.g.v. (2006) juggling intellectuality and latino masculinity. in in j., castellanos, a., gloria, & m., kamimura (eds.). the latina/o pathway to the ph. d.: abriendo caminos (pp. 271-281). stylus. shkodriani, g.m. & gibbons, j.l. (1995). individualism and collectivism among university students in mexico and the united states. the journal of social psychology, 135(6), 765772. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1995.9713979 smith, t.b., & silva, l. (2011). ethnic identity and personal well-being of people of color: a meta-analysis. journal of counseling psychology, 58(1), 42–60. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021528 syed, m. (2010). developing an integrated self: academic and ethnic identities among ethnically diverse college students. developmental psychology, 46(6), 1590–1604. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020738 torres, v. (2006). bridging two worlds. in j., castellanos, a., gloria, & m., kamimura (eds.). the latina/o pathway to the ph. d.: abriendo caminos (pp. 174-187). stylus. u.s., census (2010). us census demographics profile. washington, dc. von robertson, r., bravo a., & chaney, c. (2016). racism and the experiences of latina/o college students at a pwi (predominantly white institution). critical sociology, 42(4-5), 715–735. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920514532664 yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 zhao, c-m., & kuh, g.d. (2004). adding value: learning communities and student engagement. research in higher education, 45(2), 115–138. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:rihe.0000015692.88534.de https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717702949 https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1995.9713979 https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920514532664 a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 100 table 1 an overview of the paso program objectives activities overall expected outcomes culturally validating academic pedagogical practices faculty cultural validation training culturally validated curriculum high impact practices dedicated firstyear paso courses required general education (ge) college ready courses focused on latinx identity geooral gewwriting increase college access, graduation and retention rates institutionalize evidencebased cv pedagogy across campus curriculum implement validated strategies for financial aid and advising latinx student identity development culturally responsive student success services intrusive advising retention strategiesmid semester evals, advising appointments, early alert progress support early intervention for academic probation dedicated bilingual financial aid specialist peer mentoring cultural-responsive advising outreach to families and parents romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 101 table 2 key validating principles of cultural validation operationalized (rendon, 1994) 1. validating agents (faculty, program staff, speakers, scientists) initiate and maintain student contact • refocus office hours to be “student hours” centered on initiating and fostering connections • be authentic and learn student names • offer encouragement and assistance through assets-based approaches 2. make students feel capable of learning • affirm assets/capital students bring to the classroom (e.g., linguistic, familial). • show students they have the ability to learn and succeed • identify strengths each student has in learning course material via reflection/discussion 3. validate the students to build their confidence • assign low risk/stakes assignments where students can have small successes • include guest speakers and course content that feature latinx individuals • praise students’ achievements and milestones during the course 4. expand validation practices beyond the classroom • connect students with on campus or community organizations • offer service-learning opportunities with class curriculum • promote engagement in campus activities with specialized offices/centers 5. carry out throughout a student’s trajectory • structure experiences to build throughout educational career • be a mentor or link with potential mentors and specialized programs • connect with peer and social networks to support identity development and growth, such as latinx organizations 6. begin early in a student’s college career • start as early as possible and be consistent in all areas • initiate cultural validation models in first year and transfer orientation and courses • engage both student and academic affairs in the validation planning and processes a culturally validated model of student success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 102 table 3 first year general education course evaluation scores general education oral communication (geo) general education written communication (gew) course evaluation item (items were rated on a scale of 1-5) cohort 3 average (fall 2017 spring 2018) cohort 4 average (fall 2018 spring 2019) cohort 5 average (fall 2019 spring 2020) average rating cohort 3 average (fall 2017 spring 2018) cohort 4 average (fall 2018 spring 2019) cohort 5 average (fall 2019 spring 2020) average rating i frequently participated in class. 3.85 3.90 4.19 3.98 4.05 3.86 3.78 3.9 i felt comfortable asking my instructor questions on concepts i do not understand. 4.03 4.35 4.33 4.23 4.60 4.53 4.42 4.52 my instructor understood my strengths. 3.78 4.08 4.31 4.05 4.53 4.35 4.40 4.43 my instructor urged me to express my opinion in class or in my writing. 4.10 4.15 4.08 4.11 4.53 4.50 4.33 4.45 there are meaningful ways for me to share my life experiences in class. 3.90 4.25 4.50 4.22 4.40 4.29 3.98 4.23 overall, i feel that i matter to my instructors. 3.80 4.28 4.56 4.21 4.58 4.38 4.37 4.44 the instructor helped me improve my performance in the class based on my strengths. 3.93 4.35 4.63 4.30 4.50 4.43 4.48 4.47 romero, gonzalez, clark-ibanez & d’anna-hernandez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 103 representations of my cultural identity were included in course material and/or class topics. 4.35 4.63 4.67 4.55 4.75 4.52 4.58 4.62 i read books and articles by latinos. 3.75 4.20 4.04 4 4.88 4.12 4.47 4.49 i participated in exciting projects and assignments related to latino issues. 4.00 4.50 4.50 4.33 4.63 3.84 4.22 4.23 issues that are related to latinos and the latino community were discussed in a positive way (e.g., immigration, jobs, education, bilingual). 4.35 4.65 4.82 4.61 4.75 4.36 4.43 4.51 i was introduced to latino role models in class through guest lecturers, readings, service learning, campus events, and/ or the instructor sharing examples during the semester. 3.93 4.18 4.33 4.14 4.15 3.78 4.02 3.98 my instructor was culturally aware and culturally open. 4.35 4.55 4.79 4.56 4.70 4.55 4.42 4.56 column averages 4.01 4.31 4.44 4.25 4.54 4.27 4.30 4.37 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 2 2018 amae invited special issue linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands guest editor brendan h. o’connor arizona state university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 44 hegemonic language practices in engineering design and dual language education alberto esquinca university of texas at el paso maría teresa de la piedra university of texas at el paso lidia herrera-rocha university of texas at el paso abstract with the goal of achieving bilingualism and biculturalism, dual language education (dl) has a social justice orientation. as the program option with the best track record of closing the achievement gap between latinx and white students, dl programs can potentially create environments in which learners can develop knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) in two languages. in this article, we present findings from a two-year ethnographic study of engineering design curriculum in a k-5 dl program on the u.s.-mexico border. our team researched the implementation of a hands-on, highly interactive, inquiry-based stem curriculum because immigrant emergent bilinguals from border communities are sometimes excluded from these learning opportunities. during the first year of implementation, the stem curriculum was not taught following dl goals. essential principles of dl education, including the use of two languages for instruction and equal status for both languages, were not followed. lack of familiarity with the stem curriculum and emerging expertise of engineering design explained this decision partially. due to a dearth of resources, training, and expertise in engineering and in inquiry-based learning, the implementation failed to meet its counterhegemonic potential. in fact, it may have reproduced hegemonic practices that marginalized emergent bilingual latinx students. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.2.394 hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 45 introduction this article discusses findings from a two-year ethnographic study of engineering design curriculum in a k-5 dual language program on the u.s.-mexico border. efforts to address the issue of latinx1 underrepresentation in engineering have focused on the development of enriching, inquiry-based curricula starting as early as the elementary grades. unfortunately, latinxs who are english learners (hereafter referred to as emergent bilingual latinx) are, at times, excluded from participating in these experiences. concurrently, a growing program option for emergent bilinguals is dual language (dl) education, the program option with the best track record of closing the achievement gap between latinx and white students. however, seldom do we find latinx students who are enrolled in dl and, at the same time, are pursuing enriching stem experiences both in the current research literature and program implementation. during two years of fieldwork at ramos elementary school, the research team documented linguistic practices that reproduce and counter the hegemony of english. for this article we focus on the first year of the implementation in order to illustrate the multiple contextual factors that construct hegemonic ideologies and practices—and that could potentially counter these ideologies and practices. the first year, the engineering design curriculum was taught in english only, despite the fact that latinx students participants of the study were all enrolled in a dl program. namely, essential principles of dl education were not followed: only one language was used for instruction or assessment. the languages were not granted equal status during engineering design enrichment experiences created for the majority of latinx students. we argue that factors such as lack of familiarity with the curriculum and emerging expertise of engineering design explained this decision partially. we further argue that “commonsense” understandings that normalize english in some contexts (science and engineering) also account for the practices described here. documenting the implementation of an enrichment stem program for a majority of latinx and ells in the context of the dl program would appear to be in itself counterhegemonic. however, we observed the first year that because of the dearth of resources, training, and expertise in a new content area (engineering), the experience failed its potential as counterhegemonic. in fact, in many ways, it reproduced the hegemonic practices of excluding 1 we use the term “latinx” as a gender-neutral inclusive term alternative to latino, latina or latin@ for people who self-identify as having roots in latin america, south america, mexico, and the caribbean. esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 46 latinxs and ells from enrichment programs. through this study, we seek to illustrate the dynamic realities of hegemonic and counterhegemonic practices and discourses, and the important roles of teachers and students in these social practices. theoretical framework we draw from work in bilingual and dual language classrooms that explores the hegemonic and counterhegemonic discourses and practices around languages, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between english and spanish. we draw on the literature on the hegemony of english (shannon, 1995; macedo, dendrino,s & gounari, 2003), as well as linguistic racism (hill, 2008) or “linguicism” (skutnabb-kangas, 1988; phillipson, 1988). language ideologies in the u.s.: linguistic hegemony and its material consequences hegemony as conceptualized by gramsci (1971), refers to intellectual and moral leadership (or dominance) of one group over others; moreover, it entails also the consent of those oppressed mainly through persuasion practices by the dominant group, including the dissemination of ideologies and discourses through media and institutions (i.e., schools) that legitimate the leadership of the dominant group. for our research project, schools, their policies and practices become part of the apparatus of persuasion, as well as tools for the manufacturing of consent to domination. this construct offers a way to understand the power relations between dominant or leading groups and subordinated groups. linguistic hegemony is achieved when dominant groups create a consensus by convincing others to accept their language norms and usage as standard or paradigmatic. hegemony is ensured when they can convince those who fail to meet those standards to view their failure as being the result of the inadequacy of their own language. (wiley, 2000, p. 113) as stated by suarez (2002), the paradox “of linguistic hegemony is that one must ‘buy into it’ or acquiesce on some level in order to resist it” (p. 515). hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 47 the concept of linguistic hegemony refers to the relationships of power between majority and minority languages and the social groups that use these languages. it also refers to the consent of linguistic minorities who accept the dominance of the majority language and the subjugation of their own language. wherever more than one language or language variety exists together, their status in relation to one another is often asymmetric. in those cases one will be perceived as superior, desirable, and necessary, whereas the other will be seen as inferior, undesirable, and extraneous. (shannon, 1995, p. 176) even if this is not the case in every situation where languages coexist, we find this assertion true in most cases. linguistic hegemony is non-coercive because linguistic ideologies, policies and practices legitimate the hegemony of the dominant language, in this case english. the media, government agencies, and educational institutions “launch periodic assaults on languages other than english” (macedo et al., 2003, p. 23). since language ideologies supporting the sole use of the dominant language are internalized by speakers of other languages, the hegemony of english legitimates its power and schools play a major role in this process (bourdieu, 1991). language ideologies are the ways in which a community understands, both the value and role of particular languages or language varieties for their everyday practices (kroskrity, 2000; woolard, 1998). these positions about language “represent themselves as forms of common sense, that rationalize and justify the forms and functions of text and talk” (hill, 2008, p. 34). in addition, language ideologies include the beliefs about speakers of particular languages, the ideas about who speaks “correctly” and who does not, and the beliefs about how language works (lippi green, 1997). these ideas and beliefs infiltrate educational policies and everyday practices in schools. in the u.s., the english language symbolizes national identity and schools are a way to target speakers of other languages and force english instruction on them. in the u.s., “the dominant ideology perpetuates and sustains linguistic, cultural, and racial discrimination by ignoring the linguistic and cultural diversity of the students in schools today” (borden, 2014, p. 229). the valorization of english over other languages enhances the opportunities for some students restricting access and opportunities to speakers of languages other than english. institutions such as school tend to reproduce the dominant language ideologies found in society, esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 48 which are in turn intimately related to everyday practices in this institution. thus, language education policies are authoritative ways of producing de facto language practices in educational institutions (shohamy, 2006). bourdieu's ideas about habitus and linguistic market are useful to explain this process. for bourdieu (1990), utterances are a product of the relationship between a linguistic habitus, “the system of structured, structuring dispositions which is constituted in practice” (p. 52), and a linguistic market. the habitus refers to “a system of dispositions with a historical dimension, through which novices acquire competence by entering activities through which they develop a series of expectations about the world and about ways of being in it” (duranti, 1997, p. 44). a monolingual habitus (gogolin, 2002) or monolingual mindset (piller, 2015) perpetuated by school systems would seem to explain how multilingual societies would privilege monolingualism through everyday classroom practices. the linguistic habitus shared in a community is reproduced through everyday speech acts that are organized by educational institutions, designed to maintain the system. for example, in the linguistic market of the u.s., speakers are expected to use particular forms of english that are valued and accepted as the “standard.” thus, the english variety used in the school is viewed as the linguistic norm, the “standard,” and the “correct language” (achugar, 2008; hill, 2008), while spanish and border spanish-english varieties are viewed as illegitimate and subject to criticism, invisibility, erasure and racist taunts, as in the case of deficit views of “semi-lingualism” (zentella, 1997) and the use of “mock spanish” (hill, 2008) as a white practice of privilege. not only do bilinguals in the borderlands “hear the anglos’ incessant clamoring so that we forget our language” (anzaldúa, 1987/2007, p. 84), but we also hear the clamoring of speakers of spanish “standard” varieties who stigmatize the everyday language mixing practices and other border english and spanish language features. “the message is clear: latinas/os, especially poor youth or black immigrants, enjoy little linguistic capital whether they speak spanish or english, and mixing languages is particularly devalued” (zentella, 2007, p. 26). in bilingual programs, particularly tbe programs, researchers find that spanish is defined as a language to overcome (palmer, 2011). linguistic insecurity2 (zentella, 2007), is the legacy of these subtractive policies. 2 according to zentella (2007), linguistic inferiority is considering one’s own language variety inferior to others (p. 28) hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 49 language ideologies are closely related to identities and, in the linguistic market of the u.s., latinx many times are defined as outsiders (santa ana, 2002; urciuoli, 1996). and the term bilingual is “used by the dominant hegemonic forces not to mean the ability to speak two languages, but rather to typecast ethnicity as a form of devaluation” (macedo et al., 2003, p. 9). vélez-ibañez (2017) similarly discusses the english only movement as one of various forms of “anti-mexican behavior” throughout history in the southwest, along with anti-immigration, and racialism (p. 193). discourses about latinx are intimately related to their use of language. like racism, linguicism produces and reproduces a hierarchy of dominance. skutnabb-kangas (1988) defined linguicism as “the ideologies, structures, and practices which are used to legitimate, effectuate, regulate, and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources (both material and immaterial) between groups which are defined on the basis of language (p. 13). thus, many schools are contexts in which language “whiteness” and the hegemony of english are reproduced. ideologies have clear material consequences in everyday practices. as anzaldúa (1987/2007) states, “if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity—i am my language” (p. 81). clear examples of the material consequences of the hegemony of english can be seen in english only and anti-bilingual education legislation in arizona, massachusetts, and (formerly) california. however, the hegemony of english is also present in bilingual programs, and even in dl programs, as will be developed in the following sections. furthermore, hegemonic views of language also tend to define languages as bounded systems, such as the “monolingual view of bilingualism” (garcía, 2009; grosjean, 2012). in bilingual and dl programs, these hegemonies of language are still organizing instructional practices. finally, the u.s.-mexico borderlands, the setting for this study, has been called a place in which sometimes conflicting ideologies meet. for instance, achugar (2008) argues that, the multiplicity of language ideologies that coexist in this particular community reveal the tension between the homogenizing forces of the paradigm of linguistic nationalism and the heterogenizing forces of the heteroglossic/border paradigm…spanish in this context does not mean one language, but rather, it implies bilingualism or the expansion of the linguistics repertoire. (p. 15) esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 50 similarly, suarez, (2002) asserts that “resistance is not through monolingualism in the minority language, but rather through bilingualism” (p. 515). contesting hegemonic views of language speakers in the u.s. have the choice of selecting english in an effort to portray a linguistic habitus that is valued in their particular linguistic market, or they may resist this linguistic habitus in their everyday speech acts, by selecting another language (i.e. spanish) or a local variety (border english/spanish). researchers have documented numerous ways in which speakers’ counterhegemonic ideologies and practices in and out of schools. zentella’s (1997) ethnography of the multiple and diverse ways of puerto rican children using languages in new york, including “spanglish,” gutiérrez, baquedano-lopez, and gonzález (1999) work on hybrid language practices in the third space, the multiple projects on funds of knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzález, 1992), and mendoza-denton’s (1999) ethnography of subversive speech and semiotic representations of chicanas, are foundational examples of ethnographic work that documents counterhegemonic practices. more recent research is presented in the following section. linguistic hegemony in dl settings linguistic diversity is an established feature of the makeup of lives in borderland institutional contexts. in legal, medical, mass media and retail, residents of the border participate in bilingual exchanges, which mean they negotiate how, when and with whom to use their multilingual repertoires. in schools, multiple languages are fluidly used in offices and playgrounds. in contrast, norms of how to use linguistic repertoires seem to be much more rigid in classrooms. even in the midst of great linguistic diversity a monolingual habitus or mindset has traditionally promoted the eradication of diversity through hegemonic language practices. even in bilingual programs, monoglossic perspectives seek to promote monolingualism (garcía, 2009). monoglossic or monolingual mindsets correspond to a perspective toward linguistic diversity that aims “to instill linguistic insecurity, to discriminate linguistically, to channel children in ways that have an integral linguistic component, while appearing open and fair to all” (hymes, 1996, p. 84). thus, instead of promoting dialectal and linguistic diversity, a monolingual mindset aims to squash it. in contrast, a heteroglossic view of language diversity aims to respect diversity, and, in some instances, use cultural and linguistic resources as a tool to learn. dual language programs are hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 51 defined as one which provides “literacy and content instruction to all students through two languages and that promotes bilingualism and biliteracy, grade-level academic achievement, and sociocultural competence—a term encompassing identity development, cross-cultural competence, and multicultural appreciation—for all students” (howard et al., 2018, p. 3). these programs have the potential to use linguistic diversity as a tool for learning. dual language programs emerged through relationship-building and activism with and among families and communities in multilingual communities in cities like miami, laredo and new york city (menken, 2017). created with the goal of serving multilingual families, these programs aimed to serve immigrant and refugee families in such a way that both languages were used for instruction (fishman & lovas, 1970). thus, when the needs of local communities are prioritized, dual language programs have the potential to disrupt the traditional role of educational systems in eradicating linguistic diversity by embracing a heteroglossic view. unfortunately, as recent literature suggests, dual language programs are not, in and of themselves, a guarantee that the needs of local immigrant populations will be met. they may adopt policies that effectively exclude these students from the programs that were created to meet their needs. when strict language separation guidelines position heteroglossic language practices as deficient or not “true” bilingualism, the result may be what martinez (2017) refers to as the erasure of latinx and chicanx students, in particular when those students do not fit into separate “native” language groups. martinez writes that, for chicanx students to participate in dl programs, they must make themselves fit into one or the other native group. “what this dichotomous categorization does not allow for—what it essentially denies or erases—is the very existence of bilingual children who speak both spanish and english and who have grown up speaking both simultaneously” (martinez, 2017, p. 84). another mechanism that results in the exclusion of latinx or chicanx emergent bilinguals is that dl, for it to function, relies on enrolling “native english speakers,” often white, middleclass students. studies show that in many cases where white, middle-class, native english speakers are recruited, these students’ needs are privileged over the needs of working-class chicanx and latinx students. bringing together groups holds promise for fostering cross-cultural understandings, but “programs actually fall short of achieving these aims” (menken, 2017, p. 11). for instance, palmer (2009) demonstrated that middle-class children were allowed more floor time in ways that allowed them to assert their status with the cooperation of the teacher. in light esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 52 of these findings, the research literature on dl programs have begun to refer to the gentrification of dl (valdez, delavan, & freire, 2016). this process of gentrification promotes the view of dl as another option for privileged families to maintain their status. at the same time, working-class chicanx or latinx children can even be excluded from dl for not fitting neatly into the “native speaker” box, as described above. thus, opportunities for chicanx students to participate in enriching opportunities are closed. enriching opportunities for chicanx students to use their bilingualism to develop stem literacies are rare. sometimes they are excluded from participating in enriching educational experiences. either because they are seen as lacking vocabulary or english skills needed to do inquiry-based science and engineering. for instance, the vocabulary gap argument has been used to exclude immigrant families from “agentive learning experiences because they lacked vocabulary” (adair, sánchez-suzuki colegrove, & mcmanus, 2017, p. 309). opportunities to develop stem practices are sometimes reserved for gifted and talented (gt) students. this is another problem because gt is often a way to keep schools segregated. “low-income schools offer fewer high-level math and science courses, as well as fewer ap and gifted/ talented education programs” (government accountability office (gao), 2016). gt is a mechanism for white students to get resources that other students do not get. there is an underrepresentation of minority students. part of the problem is that emergent bilinguals do not get to demonstrate what they know in their own language. research setting and methods ramos elementary is located in a title i school district, maizales, on the outskirts of el paso, texas, a metropolitan area on the u.s.-mexico border. it serves mostly latinx (94%) economically disadvantaged (76%) students. during the 2016-2017 school year, ramos elementary school was comprised of 570 students. a significant segment (30%) of the overall population of the school consisted of students labeled as limited english proficient (lep). we selected ramos as the research site because of the stem program offered for a majority of latinx students, including those enrolled in dl. starting in 2011-12 texas began to implement the creation of stem high schools, or tstem academies. these would receive grant funds if they implemented a t-stem design blueprint that included partnering with an institution of higher education. the designation at the hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 53 high school level included resources and funding. at the elementary level, with no additional or guidance from the state, ramos elementary opened in 2015 and was announced as a stemfocused school. ramos created a pathway for students who enroll in the maizales isd’s t-stem academy in the only high school in the district. ramos leaders partnered with faculty from the local university; university faculty wrote a small grant that allowed the purchase of problem-based learning (pbl) kits. when the grant was awarded, leaders expressed great enthusiasm. the superintendent at the time was quoted in the local press saying that the pbl kits would be a link to the stem program in the maizales high school and would prepare students for those challenges. while the problem of the underrepresentation of historically underserved students is, without a doubt, a significant issue in stem, what remains to be seen is whether such efforts will benefit underrepresented students such as first-generation students or latinx and african american students or if they are doomed to reproduce existing mechanisms that benefit only some students. in this ethnographic study, the research team observed the implementation of problembased learning (pbl) modules for two consecutive school years, both in the classrooms and in the stem lab. for the analysis presented in this article, authors 1 and 3 observed every time the pbl kits were implemented (author 1 in the dl classroom and author 3 in the monolingual classroom, both in the stem lab). we observed several groups; however, for the purpose of this article, we draw from data gathered in the 4th grade dual language classrooms. we focused on linguistic practices that may produce, reproduce, and/or disrupt the hegemony of english in the context of pbl. the overarching question for this research was the following. what are the language and literacy practices in a 4th grade engineering design curriculum? we sought to examine ways engineering design could contribute to specialized engineering discourses in els. in order to capture the dynamics and practices of the classrooms, extensive field notes were taken by researchers during pbl activities as well as other learning activities. researchers also took pictures and audio recorded during observations in order to vividly capture conversations and collaboration among students and/or teachers and students. the research team analyzed interview transcripts from 4th grade teachers, field notes, audiotaped transcripts of classroom observations, and artifacts. data was collected and analyzed simultaneously and collectively. through initial coding, raw data was coded through line-by-line coding to gain accurate knowledge of the actions and esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 54 processes being observed (charmaz, 2014). the emerging analysis of field notes, interviews, and artifacts was condensed through focused coding, as recurring themes surfaced. theoretical categories emerged during the analysis period. for instance, in observing classroom practices, student interactions and collaborative efforts, categories included literacy practices, translanguaging, classroom practices and language ideologies. in this article, we have organized our findings related to the first year of the study, and the implementation of pbl in the dl classroom we observed. the dual language program and problem based learning at ramos elementary the dual language (dl) program at ramos serves the majority of the 28% of ells in the school. as is true in the entire school district, the dl program consists of students who are learning english and others who are learning spanish. the model proposes a separation of language based on day of instruction. the dl program has been implemented in every elementary school and the middle school in maizales isd for over fifteen years. thus, the district has extensive experience in implementing the dl program, and support for the program comes from district authorities. ramos implemented a pbl, engineering design curriculum school-wide, including in dl classes. pbl is associated with beneficial outcomes for all students. these include the following benefits: more meaningful learning experiences, engagement in real-world problems for increased relevance and skill transfer as well as the promotion of lifelong learning (stearns, morgan, caprano, & caprano, 2012). pbl involves a significant amount of active, self-directed learning, guided by a central question (prince, 2004). it is through this self-directed learning that pbl provides an opportunity to help students develop lifelong learning skills and the ability to solve ill-structured problems. during the first year, we observed one 4th grade dl classroom that consisted of 18 students and one teacher, ms. guevara.3 ms. guevara taught all subjects and used two languages for instruction. following the district guidelines, she separated languages by day. science, for instance, was to be taught in spanish if and when it fell on spanish day and it was to be taught in english if and when it fell on an english day. using these district guidelines, dl students were to 3 all names of participants and places are pseudonyms. hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 55 be exposed to the content of the pbl modules in two languages. however, as we show in this article, the division of languages was not followed as expected. problem-based learning at a stem-focused school… in two languages? as noted previously, the small grant written by university faculty served to purchase the pbl kits, which were designed to use engineering design to integrate mathematics, science and literacy. the grant also paid for training and a lab assistant to provide ongoing support during one year as well as yearly trainings from the publisher of the kits. even with this support, however, ramos teachers faced a number of challenges to implementing pbl, especially at the beginning of the implementation. one of the first things we noticed was that teachers were not using the kits and the stem lab even though we had paid for an assistant with an engineering degree to offer guidance. after meeting with the teachers in a large group setting, we organized grade-level meetings to show them how the kits could potentially be integrated with the state standards. we observed that a few teachers were interested in implementing the modules. two fourth-grade teachers, who were starting to collaborate on the implementation by going to the stem lab occasionally, participated in the study. ms. guevara, a fourth-grade dual language teacher, and ms. aguilar a monolingual (in english) fourth-grade teacher, were invited to participate in the study. they agreed to participate by allowing us access to their classrooms for observations and doing the activities they had already initiated as well as facilitating the collection of student consent. when they accepted, the stem lab assistant, a member of the team, began to work closely with them so that they would be supported in the new endeavor. “okay, so now, what would be the problem?”: framing the problem doing pbl was full of challenges for ms. guevara (ms. g) and ms. aguilar (ms. a) in the first full year the kits were implemented. a number of factors made the implementation challenging, especially for ms. guevara, the dual language teacher. indeed, the multiple challenges might have been insurmountable the first-year of implementation of the pbl curriculum: the dl program principles were soon discarded in favor of english instruction. esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 56 in order to meet the multiple challenges they faced in the initial implementation, ms. guevara and ms. aguilar teamed up and drew on their professional learning community (gradelevel planning unit) as well as the assistance provided by the stem lab assistant to plan their lessons. this partnership meant that they planned together, and that their classes went to the lab together. because they were learning the content one step ahead of the students, this arrangement was very beneficial to them. this allowed them to meet one of the first challenges, which was how to meet state standards and also to use the kits. as ms. aguilar stated in an interview: the first year that we opened up and we had the training on the modules, it was a little overwhelming seeing the material and saying, "ok, well it's project-based learning. it's, it's, it's stem, it's math, it's science, it's engineering, but it's like, when we look at our curriculum, it's like ok, so this is my curriculum that i follow from beginning to end and then, this is the module, how do i take that and put it into my curriculum?" as she notes, once the training workshop was over, they faced the true challenge, which was to implement a pbl curriculum and meet the state standards. the main focus in fourth grade classrooms seemed to be the tested subjects: writing, reading, and math; therefore, time and depth allotted to science instruction were minimal. we observed both teachers in their individual classrooms as well as in the stem lab expecting that we would see differences between the two—namely we expected that only one teacher would deliver instruction in two languages. however, we soon realized that the differences were not significant. while english and spanish were used in the dl classroom, concepts, and ideas were not explored in depth when it came to pbl module classroom lessons. moreover, while the teachers had worked together to plan, when the classes came together it seemed evident that the monolingual teacher took the leadership role in the team, with vastly more turns of talk and leeway to direct both classes. through our observation, we saw that pbl modules were taught in two settings: the classroom (for planning and discussion) and the stem lab (for building solar house models). the two participating teachers, ms. guevara and ms. aguilar, and their students were at the lab once hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 57 a week. during the first year of implementation, we found that the stem lab was a shared space for the dl and the monolingual classes. we observed that whole group instruction was mostly given by ms. aguilar, the monolingual english teacher. all instruction during these days was in english, with students responding to questions out loud in english, and turning in their work in english. we quickly realized that the stem lab became a space in which english was preferred and expected. when pbl modules were implemented at the stem lab, the only language of instruction and the only language encouraged from students was english, indeed english became the language of instruction in the stem lab. for instance, the first observation we conducted took place in the stem lab. the session initiated with a quick introduction to the goal of the day’s activities. students were to test three types of materials in order to determine which of the three (brick, slate, or light tile) retains heat the best. the excerpt from that day’s field notes is provided below. ms. a drew ss attention by clapping rhythmically, to which ss signaled their attention by clapping at the same rhythm. ms. a then reminded students of the purpose of the day’s activities. ms. a then asked students to think of the guiding question for the engineering activity. “what flooring material can capture more solar energy?” one s said “solar panels.” another student called out the materials to be tested “brick, slate and tile.” ms. a then asked ss “what was your prediction?” to which a s responded, in one word, “brick” and other students responded with agreement “yes, brick.” when ms. g inquired about why brick would be the best material, a s said “brick captures light from the sun” and another s echoed, seemingly in agreement “maybe when the sun hits …” and trailed off without finishing. another student, joined, saying “light reflects sun and bounces off.” ms. a, seeming to want to summarize before moving on, said “anyone else say brick?” and she received more agreeing voices regarding dark materials “dark captures energy” and “light has a lot of brightness. ms. a then summarized “slate tile is dark” another person echoed “dark captures energy.” (fieldnotes, 11/08/16) the excerpt shows that, in addition to instruction being provided in english, ms. aguilar took the leadership role, with ms. guevera speaking only once. the excerpt also shows that, to make esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 58 sense of the activity, students drew on their prior knowledge, i.e., energy absorption and reflection. what the excerpt does not show is that the whole segment moved very quickly, in approximately two minutes. adults spoke quickly and sternly, perhaps conscious of being observed for the first time by a number of outsiders. as noted previously, during the first year we expected that we would see significant differences between the two classes. however, both classes were remarkably similar. the excerpt below shows a representative example of how ms. guevara conducted instruction around the pbl kits in the first year. the student who responds to most of her question, silvia k, was a student who we sometimes observed being pulled out of the classroom for gifted and talented instruction. during observations, silvia k answered most of the questions and seemed to enjoy the respect and attention of her classmates and of ms. guevara. she would also sometimes correct ms. guevara’s english pronunciation. ms. g: ok, so now (.) ah (.) what would be the problem? we write the problem in our own words. what would be the problem? (2s) the problem is just one small part of it. we’re not just looking for the type of problem, right? that’s not the only thing that would make the house warm. what else do we need to make the house warmer? (calls on student) silvia k silvia k: the type of flooring? ms.g: the type of flooring is one thing. (calls on student) silvia e silvia e: um, the problem is that, uh, we need to find the right, the right materials for the … so, for the first step, um, the problem, is uh, they need to find the right material to use for the floor. ms.g: so, in other words, we need to plan it, right? (silvia e: yes). we need to plan it out. so we define the problem/ so what is exactly what they’re finding? what, what they want? they want? (silviak: the flooring) what. paula: the best flooring material to heat their (.) houses? (silviak: to heat their houses) ms.g: but that’s just not the only thing, right? (5s) look at this. they need to become an engineer and figure out how to best use the sun to heat (.) homes (.) not just your flooring materials! but the whole house! the flooring materials is a very important one! it’s one of the ma/ it’s one of the things they need to consider to have ah ah ah ah home that is going to be heated. so (.) so the problem is find a solution to what? (5s) the problem is find a solution to (speaks and writes on document reader) find a solution to best? how to best? use the sun? to do what guys? hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 59 silviak: to heat homes! ms.g: to heat (.) homes (.) and yes we tested the flooring materials? that’s going to be one of them right? so we defined the problem (11s) now what would be the criteria to meet? i’m going to talk about criteria ok? students: cri-te-ri-a ms.g: what does criteria mean? does anybody know? silviak: i was just going to ask you what it meant. ms.g: ok that’s a good question. criteria is when you need to follow certain rules. you need to have you have something set up to work the excerpt suggests that the exchange appears to be a conversation between ms. guevara and silvia k, with paula chiming in occasionally. as the teacher got most of her cues from silvia, ms. guevara moved on before checking to see if other students were understanding the material as well. entonces vamos a hacerlo en inglés: justifying monolingual choices in dl as noted previously, the decision to deliver instruction in english in the dual language classroom was purposeful. unfortunately, this arrangement was incompatible with the goals of the dual language program because they relegated spanish and spanish speakers to a secondary position in the classroom and in relation to english, particularly in relation to the kind of language and literacy practices associated with stem. in an interview conducted during the second year of implementation, which meant that ms. guevara had some time to reflect about it and to improve on the first-year experiences, she explained the choice very succinctly when she was asked why they decided to do engineering design in english. the transcript is presented here in english translation due to space constraints. it was because we did not have the material in spanish. that’s why and, besides that, the time to do science was limited because, again, in fourth grade we focus on reading, writing and math. when we decided to do science (and it was the first time we tried it out), i felt insecure. she (ms. a) felt insecure, so then we said, esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 60 why not try it together? and since we didn’t have the material in spanish, we said “well, let’s do it in english.” and that was the reason. ms. guevara’s response regarding how the choice was due to time, experience, and materials suggests the complex ways language choices become constrained in light of the monolingual habitus of many schools, including those that implement dual language programs. perhaps even more revealingly, during the interview ms. guevara was reminded that spanish materials were available in the first year. the spanish material was used by the group of four students identified by the state as limited english proficient who tended to always sit together. this group was the only one who had access to the spanish materials and, perhaps significantly, that material was forgotten in the second year of the implementation. at the reminder, ms. guevara said, “i think there was one in spanish and we did use it a few times. i do remember that we used the spanish material a few times. but [science] always fell on english day or we made it fall on that day precisely because we didn’t have the material, or we could not find it and so that’s why it stayed in english.” thus, as ms. guevara revealed, the engineering material was covered only on english days. it should be reiterated that ms. guevara was the only dual language teacher in her grade level that year. compared to the monolingual teacher, she played a supporting role. however, she was very sensitive and caring about students as will be discussed next. “who can tell me in their own words?” with instruction delivered in english, spanish was relegated to a secondary status in the first-year implementation of the pbl curriculum. as noted earlier, the dl teacher decided to implement it in english due to constraints of time, materials and experience. in this section, we will discuss the few instances of spanish use in the module. we will also mention how the choice impacted students. while english was the language of instruction, spanish was used only for support in the dl classroom. instances of spanish use were observed very rarely and mainly for support, rather than instruction. with students who had been identified by the state as lep or spanish dominant, ms. guevara offered them to participate in whole group discussions in spanish when they were not able to participate in english. spanish use was not observed to be used with english dominant hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 61 students, nor was speaking in spanish offered as an alternative for students to complement their english classroom participation. on one occasion, students and ms. g were working on the solar house project. on this date, they worked to understand what the problem to solve would be. in order to do that, they relied almost exclusively on the materials to understand the problem. next, ms. g asked students to consider what the problem was. she used the document reader to project a description about what engineers do. she asked students to read the english description chorally. once students finished the choral reading, ms g asked ss if anyone could paraphrase it. “who can tell me in their own words?” ss were quiet and she added “you just read it.” she called, again, on carla, who hemmed and hawed. ms g told her that she could say it in spanish. carla opted to say her understanding in spanish. “necesitamos ingenieros para que se puedan construir una casa y que el piso no es um todo lo que van a hacer. y tienen que encontrar cual una casa que con el sol se pueda?” (we need engineers so that they can build a house and that the floor is not, um, everything they will do. and they have to find a house that the sun can…”). ms. g interrupted carla and finished the sentence. “… absorber la energía del sol, verdad? para mantenerla… calientita o fresca?” (absorb the sun’s energy, right? to keep it warm or cool?). ss answered “calientita” (warm). (fieldnotes 11/15/16) the excerpt shows that carla had the option of saying her understanding in spanish. however, it suggests that her understanding of the purpose of the project is still developing or that she might not have understood the purpose of the activity. earlier in the day, another student, leonardo was offered the opportunity to say his understanding in spanish, and he was not able to complete a sentence about his understanding. with few connections between languages, rare connections to prior knowledge and funds of knowledge, and with ms. guevara teaching the content for the first time, perhaps it is not surprising that students were unsure about what the purpose of the module was. perhaps most alarmingly, the choice to implement the pbl modules in english might have had a negative effect on students. at least two instances of negative effects on emerging bilingual students were gathered. on one occasion, in the stem lab (an english monolingual space), carla, esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 62 the dl student mentioned above, was working with a team consisting of students from the dual language classroom, who she knew, and students from the monolingual classroom. on that day, students were testing their model in order to see if the flooring materials kept heat energy, and they had to measure temperatures of the models at set times. carla’s team had a disagreement that day because the team misunderstood directions. upon discovering that the team had not followed instructions, ms. aguilar reprimanded them: “you guys didn’t know what you were doing. i asked if you had any questions. what are you going to put at the 20 minutes? you should have kept going.” after the reprimand, students were upset at each other. they regrouped and the two students who were leading the measurement of the temperature, including carla, were replaced with two girls from the monolingual class. carla told the two new team leaders that she was upset. “you guys decide and i can never decide nothing. you left me out. don’t tell me it’s not true cause it’s always true. yeah, you always decide before i even agree.” at that she left the station and went to sit at the table. with carla crying, ms. guevara went to see what was going on. on another day, i asked ms. guevara about the incident. she said that she thought that the dl students feel inferior and that she thought that this is why the incident had happened. in an interview, ms. guevara told me that another emergent bilingual student, leonardo, had had a conflict when working with the monolingual class. one of the students came to me and he said, ah, he said that because i told him, well you’re not participating, you need to participate more. you know that you’re gonna receive a grade for participation and i don’t see you doing anything. and when he told me that’s when i started observing them because they told me, well this other kid told me that i couldn’t participate because he couldn’t understand what i was saying. so, they left me out. a third incident suggests that hegemonic practices defeated the equity goals of the dl program model. as noted previously, students classified as lep sat together in a segregated hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 63 group in the dl class. during a discussion on the budget for the solar house design, leonardo and carla were sitting together. ms. g asked groups to discuss how much money their design elements would cost. as the allotted time was winding down, and with 30 seconds to go for their discussion, leonardo and carla discussed the cost and number the windows for the design. leonardo translanguaged and said that “los sides no cambian,” meaning that the cost of the windows would not change. the response he received from carla was “you need to learn how to speak.” the time ended and the discussion moved to another topic, and leonardo was effectively silenced by his dl class peer. taken together, these incidents suggest that, even in the dl classroom, students labeled as “lep,” had a secondary status. they were separated into a special group, which was formed based on their language proficiency (spanish dominance). members of this group were observed participating less than those who were not labeled lep in the fast-moving discussion around the passive solar house project. in the stem lab, english discussion sometimes resulted in a feeling of exclusion, as illustrated by the incident in which carla was moved to tears (“you left me out”). only this group had access to spanish pbl curricular materials, whereas the other groups had english materials and their teacher modeled science notebook writing only in english. ms. guevera’s interpretation of these incidents—that the dl children felt excluded— suggests that she was sensitive to her students’ feelings and empathetic to their feelings of exclusion. unfortunately, we did not witness her adjusting her teaching so that students in the “lep” group feel less excluded. however, she did decide to change course for the following year. at the end of the first year she confided in us that she would not continue her partnership with the monolingual class. by the time she announced this to us, she also knew that she would no longer be the only dl teacher in fourth grade and that, due to high enrollment, she would be joined by another dl teacher with whom she would be partnering. discussion and conclusion as we have shown in this article, decisions about how and whether to deliver instruction in two languages in pbl modules were not easy. teachers grappled with a few factors, including the lack of experience in doing pbl and a testing and accountability system in which subjects that are not tested are considered low priority. given these tensions, teachers turned to each other for support and the resulting partnership between a monolingual and a dl teacher led to some esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 64 difficult choices for the dl teacher, ms. guevara. delivering instruction in only one language might have seemed to be the best (or as she put it, the easiest) choice. this main finding illustrates the idea that linguistic hegemony is non-coercive—policies and practices legitimate the dominant language (macedo et al., 2003). thus, testing and accountability policies and practices both relative to the education of emergent bilinguals and to testing in general were understood to have priority over other concerns, including student learning and well-being. because state policies track students labeled as lep, students were categorized as either spanish-dominant or english-dominant, with the state tracking and labeling students based on their english proficiency. with the covert goal being fluency in english (not spanish), it was readily apparent that the status and dominance of english and english speakers was unquestioned, even by the dl teacher and program structure. when spanish was observed, it was only as a resource or accommodation for students who had not yet attained fluency in english, as noted above. spanish is thus the marked language choice; biliteracy development did not seem to be a goal of the program during the first year. the status of spanish was also low given that it was a resource during pbl only for the small group of students labeled as spanish dominant. the members of this team were usually the only ones for whom spanish materials were provided. they were observed reading the materials in spanish and they wrote in their notebooks and worksheets in spanish. however, the second year of the project, ms. guevera noted that there were no materials in spanish provided, which is why doing pbl in spanish was impossible. english hegemonic practices prevailed, and the perceived lack of spanish materials might have been a reflection of the symbolic erasure of spanish (zentella, 1997; martínez, 2017). all of this was understood to make sense within the urgent situation ms. guevera was in (little ongoing professional development, lack of experience in doing pbl). however, it should also be noted that the program also divided students into groups of spanish-dominant and englishdominant students, which did not match the linguistic repertoire of the bilingual community. we observed students using spanish to socialize, to joke and to share experiences with each other, which means that even if a student was identified as english-dominant, it did not mean that they were not, in fact, bilingual. thus, as martínez (2017) notes translanguaging practices became erased by ideologies of linguistic purism of the dl program. hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 65 the practices documented here are illustrative of language hegemony and counterhegemony. rather than what discourses say, we have focused on what and how discourses do in practice. the dual language program is a site that counters the hegemony of english, when spanish is used as a legitimate language of instruction. unfortunately, in the first year of implementation, we observed practices that reproduced the hegemony of english. practices such as language separation and the observed censure of translanguaging in the classroom suggest that hegemonic practices prevailed in the first year of implementation of the pbl kits. finally, to return to the goal of a stem-focused school—to create pathways of participation for underrepresented groups in stem fields—this study suggests that the pathway is rocky and fraught. it raises questions whether emergent bilingual latinx children’s perceptions of science and engineering might be tainted by experiences in which they feel excluded or marginalized. the potential to construct the dl program as a space that is inclusive of latinx and chicanx children was latent in the first year. the pbl engineering modules cross the borders of the elementary school and allow latinx elementary children to learn the contents of engineering, a subject that traditionally was not taught at this educational level. postscript in this article we have attempted to show the ideologies that construct the hegemony of english in engineering in a dl classroom. we focused on the first year of the implementation in which ms. g and ms. a worked together. as the implementation of the pbl curriculum continued in subsequent years, ms. g partnered with another dl teacher. with the work of two collaborating dl teachers, the engineering design curriculum was consciously and carefully implemented following both the pbl curriculum guidelines and dl principles. during the second year, we documented the ways in which fourth grade teachers collaborating in the 4th grade dl program were able to design meaningful instruction in engineering design following an equal distribution of spanish and english. equally important, the students used their multiple linguistic and cultural resources in order to participate in engineering design. the potential of the dl program for equity started to become a reality. esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 66 references anzaldúa, g. (1987/2007). borderlands/ la frontera: the new mestiza (third edition). san francisco, ca: aunt lute press. achugar, m. (2008). counter-hegemonic language practices and ideologies: creating a new space and value for spanish in southwest texas. spanish in context, 5(1), 1-19. adair, j. k., sánchez-suzuki colegrove, k., & mcmanus, m. e. (2017). how the word gap argument negatively impacts young children of latinx immigrants' conceptualizations of learning. harvard educational review, 87(3), 309-334. borden, r. s. (2014). the english only movement: revisiting cultural hegemony. multicultural perspectives, 16(4), 229-233. bourdieu, p. (1991). language and symbolic power. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. bourdieu, p. (1990). the logic of practice. translated by richard nice. stratford university press. retrieved from https://monoskop.org/images/8/88/bourdieu_pierre_the_logic _of_practice_1990.pdf charmaz, k. (2014). constructing grounded theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis. new york, ny: thousand oaks: sage. duranti, a. (1997). linguistic anthropology. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. fishman, j. a., & lovas, j. (1970). bilingual education in sociolinguistic perspective. tesol quarterly, 4(3), 215-222. garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. malden, ma: wileyblackwell. gay, l.r., mills, g.e., & airasian, p. (2011). educational research: competencies for analysis and applications. upper saddle river, nj: pearson. government accountability office (gao). (2016). k-12 education: better use of information could help agencies identify disparities and address racial discrimination. (gao publication no. 16-345). washington, dc: u.s. government printing office; national center for education statistics. gramsci, a. (1971). selections from the prison notebooks. q. hoare & g. nowell-smith (eds.). london: lawrence and wishart. grosjean, f. (2012). bilingual: life and reality. cambridge ma: harvard university press. gogolin, i. (2002). linguistic and cultural diversity in europe: a challenge for educational research and practice. european educational research journal, 1(1), 123-138. gutiérrez, k., baquedano-lopez, p., alvarez, h., & chiu, m. (1999). building a culture of collaboration through hybrid language practices. theory into practice, 38(2), 87-93. hill, j. h. (2008). the everyday language of white racism. hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. howard, e. r., lindholm-leary, k. j., rogers, d., olague, n., medina, j., kennedy, d., sugarman, j., & christian, d. (2018). guiding principles for dual language education (3rd ed.). washington, dc: center for applied linguistics. hymes, d. (1996). ethnography, linguistics, narrative inequality: toward an understanding of voice. london, uk: taylor & francis. hegemonic language practices in engineering design association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 67 kroskrity, p. v. (2000). regimes of language: ideologies, polities, and identities. santa fe, nm: school of american research press. lippi-green, r. (1997). english with an accent: language, ideology and discrimination in the united states. new york, ny: routiledge. macedo, d., dendrinos, b., & gounari, p. (2003). hegemony of english. boulder, co: paradigm publishers. martínez, r. a. (2017). dual language education and the erasure of chicanx, latinx, and indigenous mexican children: a call to re-imagine (and imagine beyond) bilingualism. texas education review, 5(1), 81-92. mendoza-denton, n. (1999). fighting words: latina girls, gangs, and language attitudes. speaking chicana: voice, power, and identity, 39-56. menken, k. (2017). leadership in dual language bilingual education: a national dual language forum white paper. washington, dc: center for applied linguistics. retrieved november 24, 2017 from http://www.cal.org/ndlf/pdfs/publications/ndlf-white-paper-october2017.pdf moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132141. palmer, d. k. (2009). middle-class english speakers in a two-way immersion bilingual classroom: “everybody should be listening to jonathan right now…”. tesol quarterly, 43(2), 177202. palmer, d. (2011). the discourse of transition: teachers’ language ideologies within transitional bilingual education programs. international multilingual research journal, 5, 103-122. piller, i. (2015). linguistic diversity and social justice: an introduction to applied sociolinguistics. cary, us: oxford university press. phillipson, r. (1988). linguicism: structures and ideologies in linguistic imperialism. in t. skutnabb-kangas & j. cummins (eds.), minority education: from shame to struggle (pp. 339358). clevedon, uk: multilingual matters. prince, m., 2004. does active learning work? a review of the research. journal of engineering education, 93(3), 223-231. shannon, s. (1995). the hegemony of english: a case study of one bilingual classroom as a site of resistance. linguistics and education, 7, 175-200. shohamy, e. (2006). language policy: hidden agendas and new approaches. new york, ny: routledge. skutnabb-kangas, t. (1988) multilingualism and the education of minority children. in t. skutnabb-kangas & j. cummins (eds.). minority education: from shame to struggle (pp. 944). clevedon, uk: multilingual matters. stearns, l. m., morgan, j., capraro, m. m., & capraro, r. m. (2012). a teacher observation instrument for pbl classroom instruction. journal of stem education: innovations and research, 13(3), 7-16. esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera-rocha association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 68 suarez, d. (2002). the paradox of linguistic hegemony and the maintenance of spanish as a heritage language in the united states. journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 23(6), 512-530. valdez, v. e., delavan, g., & freire, j. a. (2016). the marketing of dual language education policy in utah print media. educational policy, 30(6), 849-883. vélez-ibañez, c. g. (2017). hegemonies of language and their discontents: the southwest north american region since 1540. tucson, az: the university of arizona press. wiley, t.g. (2000). language planning and policy. in s. l. mckay & n. h. hornberger (eds.), sociolinguistics and language teaching (pp. 103–147). cambridge,ma: cambridge university press. woolard, k.a. (1998). language ideology as a field of inquiry. in b. schieffelin, k. a. woolard, & p. v. kroskrity (eds.), language ideologies: practice and theory (pp. 3-47). new york, ny: oxford university press. zentella, a. c. (1997). growing up bilingual: puerto rican children in new york. malden, ma: blackwell publishers. zentella, a. c. (2007). "dime con quien hablas, y te diré quién eres": linguistic (in)security and latino/o unity. in j. flores & r. rosaldo (eds.), a companion to latina/a studies (pp. 25-38). malden, ma: blackwell publishing. volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 ibarra association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 140 on diversity, equity and inclusion anahi ibarra university of california, san diego put me on the front cover of a school pamphlet, just so you can claim diversity and brag about how you have it. use me as proof that you’re doing way more than you have been. but if that’s true then tell me why, the work you’re doing feels stagnant. you can’t imagine, how difficult it has been to navigate institutions that were not created for your skin. to navigate the culture of classrooms with rhetoric that is violent and oppressive, yet we’re expected just to sit. & listen. don’t want to dive too much into descriptions, but on the note of equity, let’s talk tuition. you want diversity so bad but won’t support our transition. and with no help financially, we struggle with basic needs & it’s got you questioning how we ever got in these conditions. ibarra association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 141 i bet it’s the reason why most student workers look like me, i nod my head and greet them every time they pass by me, faculty, students and custodians who remind me of the resilience we carry and why we must keep trying. so, this is why we say that representation matters, not only in the posters and pictures you love to plaster. it matters in the books and research we’re told to master, it matters in the questions you ask, and how you answer. this is also why we say diversity ain’t enough, what good is a seat at the table, if i can’t speak up? what good is speaking up, if people hear but won’t listen? tell me how it is you plan on making a difference. volume 15 issue 1 2021 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ christian fallas escobar https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.1.416 cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 29 “want to hear my story?” developing latino children’s written narratives through culturally relevant family photographs raquel cataldo iliana alanís university of texas at san antonio abstract research supports the importance of developing early literacy skills through culturally relevant activities and school/home partnerships as essential ingredients in high quality early learning environments (bentley & souto-manning, 2019; gay, 2000). educators, however, frequently dismiss the significance of honoring a child’s first language, family, and culture when developing early literacy skills (purcell-gates, melzi, najafi, & orellana, 2011). integrating children’s linguistic and cultural understandings, however, is valuable and meaningful for their academic success and overall development (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005). the purpose of this study was to explore children’s narratives as a culturally relevant practice that promotes early writing. using student data from a prekindergarten dual language classroom, we found that using family pictures from home provided multiple iterations of children’s stories and demonstrated how latino families’ cultural experiences are significant for the development of children’s emergent writing development. implications for practice are discussed. keywords: emergent writing, dual language learners, narratives, culturally relevant practice “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 30 latino children are the fastest growing group of the u.s. population and account for approximately 25% of all children in the u.s (u.s. census, 2019). in this article, we use the broad term latino for people (male and female) who self-identify with terms such as, but not limited to, hispanic, mexican, cuban, or puerto rican. more than two-thirds of latino children between the ages of 3-5 participate in early childhood education and show greater gains than other groups when enrolled in high quality early childhood contexts (phillips et al., 2017; national institute for early education research, [nieer] 2019). research by the national early literacy panel [nelp] (2008) and the national association for the education of young children [naeyc] (2009, 2019) indicates high-quality early learning experiences for children are factors that lead to future academic success. research also supports the importance of developing early literacy skills through culturally relevant activities and school/home partnerships as essential ingredients in high quality early learning environments (bentley & souto-manning, 2019; gay, 2000; lonigan, & shanahan, 2009). educators, however, frequently dismiss the significance of honoring a child’s first language, family, and culture when developing early literacy skills (purcell-gates, melzi, najafi, & orellana, 2011). additionally, early childhood teachers often focus on discrete literacy skills and do not recognize children’s unique cultural and linguistic practices (bauer, presiado, & colomer, 2017; soltero-gonzález & reyes, 2012). integrating children’s linguistic and cultural understandings, however, is valuable and meaningful for their academic success and overall development (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; ladson-billings, 2014). when children bring their cultural practices to school, they are reflecting on their personal experiences and sharing their funds of knowledge (d’warte, 2014; garcía & garcía, 2012; gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005). through their writing, for example, children share their cultural, linguistic, and literacy strengths (bauer et al., 2017; whitehurst & lonigan, 2001). thus, examining culturally relevant practices related to children’s acquisition of early writing skills is important if educators are to meet the needs of this burgeoning population. the purpose of this study was to explore children’s narratives as a culturally relevant practice that promotes early writing. we provide a succinct review of the literature on emergent writing development, the use of children’s stories for early literacy, and the inclusion of families in children’s early writing development. we follow with our analysis of classroom observations and children’s written artifacts that developed into three identified themes. finally, we offer a discussion on the implications for practice. cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 31 theoretical perspectives two frameworks guided our understanding of how teachers can use children’s narratives to develop early writing skills in a dual language classroom. we used a sociocultural framework that considers the social nature of literacy. derived from vygotsky’s (1978) view of learning, sociocultural theory views meaning making as a social and cultural phenomenon. according to vygotsky, children’s development is supported by more competent others within a social context known as the zone of proximal development [zpd] (1978). the zone refers to support provided within the space between independent work and that which is too challenging. when children engage with others, whether it is with their families, teachers, or their peers, they are using language as a tool to make meaning (rowe, 2010; vygotsky, 1978). supportive interactions among adults and peers can lead to development of early writing skills (bauer et al., 2017; mirzaei, & eslami, 2015; nolen, 2007). culturally relevant pedagogy was our second framework. based on the work of ladsonbillings (1995) and gay (2000), the use of culturally relevant pedagogy provides teachers with a process of including instructional practices that are connected to a child’s experience and background knowledge (howard, 2003). teaching and learning are viewed from a cultural context that includes a home-school-community and cultural collaboration for deepening and extending knowledge. culturally relevant teachers recognize how children express their cultural knowledge in the language they use, the manner in which they play, and the stories they tell (brown-jeffy & cooper, 2011; salinas-gonzález, arreguín-anderson, & alanís, 2018). effective teachers use children’s cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and frames of reference to make learning more meaningful (gay, 2002). literature review children’s early writing development emergent literacy consists of the skills of reading, writing, and oracy (listening and speaking) (teale & sulzby, 1986). most emergent literacy models include oral language skills, phonological awareness, and knowledge of the reading and writing systems (roskos, christie, & richgels, 2003). we focus on the term “emergent” because young preschool children have not yet developed conventional writing and reading skills. research indicates emergent biliteracy development also refers to the ongoing development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing but in two languages “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 32 (reyes, 2006). emergent bilinguals have the potential to develop biliteracy in supportive contexts including the classroom and home (bauer, 2003; gort, 2006). clay’s seminal research highlighted the connection between learning to read and write and described how children learn both skills simultaneously (1991). ultimately, children’s confidence in their reading and writing ability helps them develop a solid foundation in early literacy (love, burns, & buell, 2007). a significant amount of early literacy instruction, however, focuses on the reading process and often neglects emergent writing skills and the environments needed for effective writing instruction (bingham, quinn, & gerde, 2017). research highlights the significance of pedagogy, a print-rich environment, and consistent writing routines to promote children’s early writing attempts (puranik & lonigan, 2011), as well as multiple opportunities for children to engage in meaningful writing that is connected to their diverse backgrounds (bauer, et al., 2017; bentley & souto-manning, 2019; copple & bredekamp, 2009). research by gerde, bingham, and pendergast (2015) found teacher modeling promoted children’s desire to write. building on this work, bingham et al. (2017) examined preschool teachers’ practices in supporting early writing development. they found that many teachers focused on handwriting and spelling skills and provided few opportunities for children to engage in authentic writing. from an early age, however, learning to write should include an understanding that text has meaning and that marks communicate a message (dyson, 2009; myhill, 2011). young children are eager to discover what they can do with print and arrive at school wanting to mark the page as writers (graves, 2013; tolchinsky, 2003). as preschoolers develop a concept of how to write, they acquire the understanding that (1) writing is a form of communication, (2) writing involves letters and words, and (3) writing has many purposes (otto, 2008). children learn this through observation, exploration, and interaction with other writers (genishi & dyson, 2009). the value of story telling for early literacy seminal work by dyson and genishi (1994) revealed that children arrive at our classrooms with the ability to tell stories. because language learning is a socially embedded process, when children tell a story they use skills they have learned through personal experience (flynn, 2016). most likely, adults have exposed young children to a range of storytelling episodes at home and their communities (billings, 2009; delgado-bernal, 2001; rogoff, 2003). these experiences provide children with information about story structure, style, and purpose (dyson & genishi,1994; flynn, 2018). additionally, when children tell their stories, they meet their “basic need to organize their cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 33 knowledge and experiences” (gupta, 2009, p. 1049; zentella, 2005). telling stories provides the opportunity to appreciate the world from their cultural perspective and their funds of knowledge, rather than solely from traditional forms, or from one single view (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; ladson-billings, 1995). these personal narratives offer a bridge between the child’s family life and school—providing voice to the children and their families (bentley & souto-manning, 2019; lópez-robertson, 2012). moreover, culture provides children both with material for the content of their stories and with the tools to shape the format of their narratives (cheatham & jimenezsilva, 2011; khimji & maunder, 2012). thus, children’s narrative capabilities are entwined with their personal experiences that are culturally and socially situated. sharing stories (memories and life experiences) promotes children’s learning and development in a variety of academic, social, and linguistic domains (barone, 2013; farver, xu, lonigan, & eppe, 2013; mccallister, 2008; miller & pennycuff, 2008) and is common in many minority communities (gardner-neblett, pungello, & iruka, 2012). storytelling in latino families has been identified as a form of cultural wealth where families engage in pedagogies of the home (delgado-bernal, 2006; lópez-robertson, 2017; yosso, 2005). it is through storytelling that families share generational and cultural knowledge as they use stories to strengthen interpersonal connections, teach family values, and cultural lessons (valdez, 2015; zentella, 2005). as a result, children become holders and creators of knowledge (delgado-bernal, 2001). additionally, oral storytelling is a culturally valuable pedagogical strategy that supports children’s story narrative, language, and socio-cultural development (curenton & craig, 2011; isbell, sobol, lindauer, & lowrance, 2004; miller & pennycuff, 2008). teacher and peer interactions also support students’ writing as a social process (bauer, et al, 2017; kissel, hansen, tower, & lawrence, 2011). through the zpd, teachers scaffold students’ background knowledge and support their writing development (donovan, sekeres, & kerch, 2020; flynn, hoy, lea, & garcía, 2021). social construction of literacy helps children understand about writing for an audience and the value of becoming an author (bentley & souto-manning, 2019; graves & hansen, 1983). for example, a child’s curiosity about their peers’ stories helps them delve deeper into their own writing by adding details and answering questions the listener wants to know more about (mayer, 2007). to be a good storyteller, children draw on many skills including the use of diverse vocabulary, complex grammatical structures, and overall narrative organization (bitetti & hammer, 2016). consequently, a child’s ability to tell stories is associated “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 34 with their level of oral language complexity (fiorentino & howe, 2004) and builds a solid foundation for emergent writing skills (gardner-neblett & iruka, 2015). children and families engaged in the literacy process families, communities, and culture shape children’s learning. research with latino bilingual children demonstrates the ways specific learning experiences in their community, home, and school influences their literacy and biliteracy development (moll, saez, & dworin, 2001; reyes 2006; reyes & azuara, 2008). scholars have also documented the formal and informal ways children's interactions with parents at home and in their communities, scaffold children’s language and literacy learning in two languages (garcía-alvarado, arreguín, & ruiz-escalante, 2020; reyes & azuara, 2008). these include writing cards and letters, reading religious texts, and conversations about book reading in general (smith & riojas-cortez, 2010; volk & de acosta, 2001). one of the most common practices educators use to encourage preschool parent involvement with early literacy has been through book reading, where interactive culturally relevant read alouds were used to promote children’s ethnic identity and pride of family and culture. additionally, co-created zpds promoted children’s literacy development and engaged learners on a more meaningful level. as an example, saracho and spodek (2007) described the literacy practices fathers engaged in with their children and the positive effects on children’s early literacy skills through shared book reading. garcía-alvarado et al. (2020) explored the development of preschoolers’ retelling and oral language skills as they engaged in culturally sensitive read alouds with their parents. similarly, through personal story telling, latino children made connections to the language of stories they heard in school (lópez-robertson, 2012). roessingh (2011) created a family book project that promoted children’s identity formation, pride of family and culture, and rudimentary technology skills. similarly, rowe and fain (2013) conducted a backpack project with parents designed to tap into families’ existing literacy practices as resources for bridging the gap between home and school. these studies reinforce the need to integrate students’ previous experiences, language, and culture within the classroom as part of children’s biliteracy development. related to children’s early writing skills, buell, burns, casbergue, and love (2011) reveal the support parents spontaneously offer their children when writing personal letters. they assert that teachers must support families’ interactions with their children in the language in which they are most comfortable and encourage parents to write with their children to develop a host of cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 35 cognitive skills, including associating sounds with letters, creating narratives, and developing a concept of how to write. pole (2015) found kindergarten children who engaged with their family in letter writing had higher levels of engagement with the writing process and used various resources to improve their letters. this led to improved handwriting and spelling, as well as deeper thoughts and themes about their letters. smith and riojas-cortez (2010) involved latino parents in a weeklong session about connecting with their preschool children via cartitas de cariño, writing notes to children to express care. they found that parents’ writing scaffolded children in creating their own meaningful forms of literacy. thus, effective teachers promote culturally relevant early writing opportunities for young latino children by engaging children and families in narratives about cultural and familial experiences. given that both oral and written language skills are fundamental for literacy development and develop within socially and culturally embedded contexts, the following study contributes to our understanding of how the use of personal narratives facilitate the development of latino children’s emergent writing skills. methodology purpose of the study the premise for this qualitative study evolved from our understanding that learning is a sociocultural process (vygotsky, 1978) and that early literacy development, within a culturally relevant framework, enhances future academic success for children (gay, 2000; naeyc, 2019). as such, we focused on the following two research questions: (1) how does the use of family pictures promote the development of personal narratives by bilingual four-year olds within a writing center? (2) what emergent writing skills are evident through students’ personal narratives? background to the study this work is part of a larger year-long study focused on the use of purposeful social interactions within one two-way dual language (dl) school. st. pious catholic school (spcs) [a pseudonym] is a pre-k-8th grade catholic school located in a large urban city in south texas. spcs is located in a densely populated urban neighborhood with the median income and median house value significantly lower than the national average and the average for texas (city-data.com, 2019). the neighborhood is well established with mexican bakeries, restaurants, pre-owned auto dealerships, and mechanic shops, juxtaposed with a starbucks coffee house and a ross clothing store. “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 36 spcs is a federal title i campus that receives federal dollars to serve the 213 students from predominantly latino, working-class families of mexican descent. spcs receives tuition assistance that enables many low-income families to meet the monthly tuition requirements. according to the campus principal, families are predominately third or fourth generation who want their children to regain their spanish language. as young spanish heritage language learners, children arrive at spcs with a strong command of english in the process of regaining their native spanish through the dl program. participants our study focused on one pre-k, spanish/english dl classroom of 24 children and the classroom teacher (from which we selected a fragment of the data including three focal students to report in this article). mrs. benavides, the classroom teacher, was in her second year of teaching (all names are pseudonyms). she identified as a mexican-american bilingual with english as her dominant language. as the english-speaking model in the two-way program, she taught english language arts to the english dominant children while the spanish dominant children went to a partner teacher for spanish language arts instruction. all children had varying levels of spanish and english bilingualism. based on a home language survey and the woodcock-muñoz language assessment survey, the class consisted of 16 english-dominant students and eight spanish-dominant students. parents of all children provided consent to participate in this study as outlined in our irb protocol, which included details about audio and video recording. for this article, we draw from the larger study to examine the writing practices of three focal students, gina, josé, and marco, who visited the writing center weekly. researcher’s roles the first author of this study has been an elementary teacher for over 20 years and served as an academic coach (at another district) for the last 10 years. at the time of the study, she was in her third year of an early childhood doctoral program where her dissertation research focused on family involvement for children’s early writing development. for the purpose of this study, she visited the prekindergarten classroom one to two times a week to audio/video record children and their interactions, document her observations through observational field notes, and interview the teacher. she is a bilingual spanish/english speaker. the second author of this study has been a university faculty member for over 20 years and an academic mentor for the dl program at spcs for the last two years. she visits the school regularly, models lessons for teachers, and provides professional development for the teachers and cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 37 teaching assistants. professional development sessions focused on peer-based learning, developmentally appropriate practice, oral language development, and play-based learning centers. throughout the professional development sessions, teachers were frequently asked to reflect on children’s oral language as a precursor for literacy development. for this study, she visited the prekindergarten classroom monthly and took observational field notes. she is a bilingual english/spanish speaker. procedures as part of their dl program, children participate in bilingual learning centers for a minimum of 30 minutes daily (gómez, freeman, & freeman, 2005). during center time, mrs. benavidez followed the language of the day with monday/wednesday/friday in spanish and tuesday/thursday in english. the language of the day indicated the language the teacher would use while at the centers. however, all students had a choice of language and more often than not, chose to use their dominant language—english when interacting with each other and with the teacher. prior to the study, mrs. benavides had intentionally partnered children with a student whose spanish language skills were slightly above their level to create opportunities for children to learn language and concepts from each other through a zpd (alanís, 2011; vygotsky, 1978). mrs. benavides designated the writing center as a space to focus on writing by placing various writing tools (crayons, markers, pencils) in small containers and children’s books in baskets (roskos et al, 2003). the first author of this study created booklets with the front representing a book cover with a space for children to write their names as authors. these were placed in the writing center for children to use as often as they wanted. to facilitate children’s writing, the teacher developed a spanish/english word wall at the center where she created computergenerated pictures of family members, friends, and pets for children’s reference (see alanís, salinas-gonzález, & arreguín-anderson, 2015 for development of word wall). these teachercreated pictures were color-coded and labeled in english (blue) and spanish (red) as outlined in the dl program requirements. children chose the center(s) they would attend and traveled with their designated partners. some pairs of children came to the writing center during the middle of their 30-minute center period while others, stayed in the center the entire time. the first author of this study developed an invitational letter, written in both english and spanish, for families explaining the study. in that letter, parents were asked to send personal family pictures that would prompt individual narrative topics for each child and explained that the children would be taking their booklets home every friday to read their stories with their family. “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 38 families were also invited to add written responses to the booklets. mrs. benavides received an overwhelming response from parents, as all submitted baggies with various personal photos for their child to use at the writing center. photos represented children at different ages, celebrating holidays and special occasions. the first author of this study used the process of writer’s workshop (graves, 1983) to model writing a personal narrative. as demonstrated in kissel and miller (2015), writer’s workshop involves only three components: a focus lesson, writing time, and sharing. our focus lesson demonstrated the telling of a personal story about the principle researcher’s pet doghercules. modeling the storytelling procedure allowed the children to emulate the process in describing the activities in their pictures. all children were encouraged to talk about and then write about their family photographs while at the writing center. to facilitate the sharing of stories and as part of the writer’s workshop, we introduced an author’s chair and modeled its use and purpose. this was a child-sized chair covered with fabric and labeled, author’s chair/silla del autor. introduced by graves and hansen (1983), the author’s chair celebrates children’s accomplishments as authors, as they receive feedback from their audience (mccallister, 2008). during their designated language arts block of time, the teacher encouraged children to sit in the author’s chair to read their stories to their classmates and invited comments and questions (see graves & hansen, 1983 for further description). any child who wanted to share their story could sit in the author’s chair. this, however, was a voluntary process and children could decline to read their story to the class. field notes indicate it was rare for children to decline. children predominately read their stories in english, although they always had a choice of language. audience members (peers), who were seated on the carpet in front of the author, predominately used english but occasionally used spanish as well, as they asked questions, made comments, and praised the author’s work. data collection we engaged in classroom observations with detailed field notes and audio/video recordings of children’s conversations and interactions with peers and adults at the writing center, readings at the author’s chair, and student drawing/writing samples. artifacts of children’s drawing and writing were documented through photographs. audio/video recordings of children at the writing center, readings from the author’s chair, and interactions with peers and adults were transcribed. researchers collected data in the classroom for twelve weeks, one to two times per week, from 1.5 to 2 hours per day during the spring semester. observations focused on children’s cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 39 interactions with peers, language and gestures, word choices, and children’s connections made to events portrayed in their personal pictures. we created observational field notes during and after visits that focused on the children’s telling of stories and creation of written texts. for our field notes, we included the feelings and expressions of the children as they shared their stories (stake, 2006). to gain insight into children’s thinking, the researchers asked children questions such as, “what are you writing about?” or “what is happening in that picture?” children’s drawings and writings served as key artifacts. we made photocopies of all of the key artifacts and organized them into individual digital folders that helped us keep track of the children’s progress. data analysis the data analysis process involved transcribing audio and video recordings, documenting students’ writing skills from their drawings and writings, and reviewing researcher observational field notes. we organized weekly collections of students’ written texts and drawings by date to document which children had attended the writing center during that week and determine developmental writing progression. each researcher reviewed the children’s work using a constant comparative method to capture broad patterns that emerged from student’s writing including the topic and emergent writing skills (e.g., using letter-like forms, letter-sound relationships, concepts of print, use of left-to-right, and photo-to-text correlation). we coded children’s writing based on these emergent skills. we noted changes in students’ writing beginning with simple drawings, onetwo word sentences, and then complete sentences. coding included story conventions and alternation of english and spanish language use. transcriptions of children’s oral responses, during their oral narrations and creation of written texts, were grouped together so that each child’s oral response coincided with their drawings and writings. independently, each researcher examined and reexamined the data for emerging themes (miles & huberman, 1994). we used open coding for the researcher field notes and transcriptions of the audio/videos, followed by axial coding (corbin & strauss, 2007). these codes developed into categories related to children’s engagement with the writing process and with their peers, excitement about sharing drawings, words children used, recurring episodes such as use of the author’s chair, and connections between home and school within the narratives. although the data for the current study was collected over a three-month period, considerable amount of time was spent in the classroom before and after the data collection in an effort to build relationships with the children. we used this extended time to develop participants’ trust in the researchers and contribute to the authenticity of the data (lincoln & guba, 1985). “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 40 limitations as with all research, this study had some limitations. the short duration and amount of classroom opportunities to write does not allow us to measure the growth in writing attributed to the study or to what occurred outside the study boundaries. the children’s writing may be attributed to the natural growth and development of emergent writing over the period of the study. although the study involved a small sample and cannot lead to causation, our findings can be generalized regarding emergent literacy with latino preschoolers when their personal experiences are part of the writing process and provides insight into how educators can create supportive, culturally relevant environments that foster early writing development. findings to explore the use of students’ narratives as a tool to develop early writing skills, we focused on two research questions: how does the use of family pictures promote the development of personal narratives by bilingual four-year olds within a writing center? and what emergent writing skills are evident through students’ personal narratives? throughout this project, children’s positive engagement with writing was evident. field notes document how at every visit, children would greet us and guide us to the writing center to show us their work. enthusiastically they would say, “look at my book!”, “read my story.”, and “look what i wrote.” based on collection of students’ booklets, the majority of the children visited the writing center several times during the week. initially, children filled their booklets with emergent writing represented through drawings, letter strings, and words they had copied from the word wall. eventually, children used their own invented spellings to share their written narratives. data analysis revealed three findings categorized as follows: (1) children’s understanding of the written narrative, (2) oral stories as a bridge to school-based writing skills, and (3) writing as a socially constructed process. each section reveals the power of engaging children and families in narratives about cultural and familial experiences to develop latino children’s emergent writing skills. i want to write my story! understanding the written narrative young children are motivated to communicate with others. this communicative aspect motivates children to write. as children develop their concept of writing, they are acquiring the understanding that (1) writing is a form of communication, (2) writing involves letters and words, cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 41 and (3) writing has multiple purposes (otto, 2008). in this study, children were encouraged to communicate the events in their family picture by first talking about it, writing it in their booklets, and then reading it to their peers. figure 1. sharing her story. children in this study composed oral and written narratives about familial experiences that portrayed key story elements (characters, setting) and revealed central facts about their cultural background and experiences. examination of children’s written artifacts and the video data showed that family pictures prompted children to develop their oral narratives as they described what was taking place in the pictures and then served as the basis for their written narratives using their emergent writing skills (figure 1). in the following excerpt, gina orally discusses her family photo. me and my mom we were going to the ice cream shop. we were going to the ice cream shop because we wanted ice cream. i wanted chocolate. as gina excitedly tells us her story, she shows a strong understanding of the story narrative such as characters and cause and effect (gardner-neblett & iruka, 2015). on another occasion, she shared about a visit to a relative’s house. this time, gina told us her story using her written text and photo from her booklet. below is the oral interpretation of her own writing (figure 2): my mom went to her tía’s house and there were cats and my mom gave me breakfast. gina’s writing reveals conventional spelling for the words me, mom, and cats. mom and cat were words the teacher had added to the word wall. her written narrative also reveals her understanding that writing involves a string of letters ordered in a linear fashion from left to right and is a form of communication. her use of the spanish word, tía (aunt) reflects the bilingual nature of her home language practices. “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 42 figure 2. gina’s story. jose’s artifacts also reveal a new understanding of the written narrative. field notes indicate that at the initial phase of this study, josé, stated he did not “actually know how to write the words.” he was, however, an avid storyteller creating elaborate stories using rich oral vocabulary. josé’s skills in oral narration evolved into sharing stories through written language. field notes document how josé, like gina, regularly made use of the word wall or requested help from adults with the spelling of specific words. eventually josé filled the pages of his booklets with pictures from home and corresponding stories. by the end of the three months, we noted how josé’s writing ability had expanded to include an author’s focused choice of language. for example, on one occasion josé insisted that his story needed the “other word.” unsure of what word he was looking for, the researcher suggested papa and grandfather. josé, however, used the teachercreated word wall to find the spanish word for grandpa and then wrote, “abuelo and i picking oranges”(figure 3). figure 3. josé and abuelo. cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 43 josé’s writing reveals his understanding of writing as a form of communication that involves letters and words with letter-sound correspondence for several of his words (pikg, orgs). as an emergent bilingual child, josé’s language skills are developing across spanish and english. he lives with his english-speaking mother and regularly has contact with his bilingual grandparents. similar to gina’s use of tía (aunt), his desire to use the spanish word for grandfather, abuelo, reveals the sociocultural aspect of language and personal significance language use has for individuals who grow up in bilingual contexts. in josé’s case, it also reveals the complex nature of an author’s ability to complete an idea with the appropriate choice of vocabulary (or in this case language) for a story. by doing so, children learn about written narratives from their individual, specific, and diverse cultural and linguistic practices (bentley & souto-manning, 2019; purcell-gates, melzi, najafi, & orellana, 2011; reyes & azuara, 2008). later that day, we engaged in a conversation with children about writing stories. allowing children to share their thoughts about the written narrative provides an opportunity to give children a voice in their participation in the writing activity, thus giving them agency (rowe & neitzel, 2010). video data captured dialogue with the researcher, alex, and cindy as they share their sentiments and understandings of the written narrative. researcher: do you like to write stories? alex: (nods head yes) researcher: tell me why you like to write stories? alex: i like to write stories too much! researcher: why do you like writing stories? cindy: because they’re… they’re really, they’re really like reading and words and everything. they’re like just, they have people and in them and i like the decorations they just do something good. cindy’s comment reveals her understanding that stories have purpose, use words to convey a message, affect the reader in different ways, and can be shared with others to ‘do something good.’ “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 44 once upon a time me and my dad: oral stories as a bridge to school-based writing skills the second theme demonstrated the meaningful writing connections children made between home and school, as well as how their familial stories facilitated the acquisition of oral and written skills. mrs. benavides frequently read stories to children to provide access to new vocabulary, the structure of books, and more complex language. we use an example from marco to reveal how children originally began their stories with the book language of traditional fairy tales. initially, marco’s oral stories included phrases such as, “once upon a time a princess and three nights.” his stories evolved into “once upon a time me and my dad.” on one occasion, marco narrated his written story: once upon a time, me and my dad were getting a costume from wal-mart to pick when halloween comes. we tried it on and it fit perfect. then halloween came and then when it got nighttime, we put on our costumes to go and get some treats. then other kids went to the house. the end. in his story, marco and his dad participate in social interactions and cultural practices of celebrations and traditions. although short, marco situates his story in time, introduces the characters (me and my dad), and uses sequence to document the order of activities. through personal story telling, latino children made connections to the language of stories they heard in school (lópez-robertson, 2012). in this case, the children’s written narratives used known language patterns of specific genres of story (once upon a time, the end). marco used his book knowledge of fairy tales to organize his personal stories of home activities using his knowledge of story conventions. eventually the fantasy stories of knights and princesses focused on moms, dads, and other family members as children had the opportunity to write about their home life and cultural experiences at school. when children have experiences with different types of narratives at home, church, or their community, their own narrative skills increase (bauer & mkhize, 2012; gillanders & jiménez, 2004; lópez-robertson, 2012). part of the procedure for this study entailed sending booklets home for families to talk about and write about family experiences with their children. oral literacy activities such as storytelling play a prominent role in parent–child literacy-centered interactions (bentley & souto-manning, 2019; billings, 2009). indeed, children’s booklets showed writings and drawings from adult family members. in one example, gina’s mom wrote about gina’s cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 45 special blanket. video data captured gina’s excitement to tell us a story her mother had shared with her and written in her booklet (figure 4). my mommy told me this story. i was a baby and my tío humberto gave me a pink blankee. i love my pink blankee. that is me and my pink blankee. i was a baby. figure 4. gina and her blankee. from a young age, children are exposed to stories being told about them, with them, or for them (delgado-bernal, 2001; dyson & genishi, 1994). these home experiences provide children with skills related to story structure, style, and purpose (flynn, 2018) as evident in gina’s narration. her story also illustrates her conceptual development about time (“i was a baby”), emotions (love), family structure, and language practices (tío/uncle humberto)—all significant concepts in early childhood development. additionally, gina’s narration reveals her literacy engagement and excitement to read and share the stories written by her family. want to hear my story? writing as a socially constructed process learning to write is a social process and ways of making meaning with print are learned through social collaboration at home and at school (reyes, 2006). social construction of literacy also helps children understand about writing for an audience and the value of becoming an author (bentley & souto-manning, 2019; graves & hansen, 1983). as part of this social process, we observed children write their story and story title and then rush to read it to their peers. as authors read, their peers engaged with the story by asking questions and making connections to their own experiences (mccallister, 2012). these questions prompted the children to add details to their stories. “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 46 perhaps the most exciting revelation of this socially constructed process was the writing confidence that developed within the children as they developed their writing skills through interactions with peers. josé, if you recall, had expressed his inability to write at the beginning of the study specifically stating, “i don’t actually know how to write the words.” all children were encouraged to talk about and then write about their family photographs while at the writing center. children shared their written stories with peers during their writing center time. video data, however, captured this particular occasion when josé emphatically requested time to read to the entire class at the author’s chair. jose: i want to sit in the chair and read my story. researcher: great! sit here and read it. [i pointed to the author’s chair and sat to listen.] jose: i want my friends to hear me too. researcher: sure, read it to diego. [boy standing nearby] jose: no, i want all my friends. researcher: this friend here will be great! your friends are busy with a lesson. josé was not satisfied with this response and persisted in his request. mrs. benavides asked josé to sit in the author’s chair and read his story to the entire class (figure 5). the children eagerly gathered on the carpet close to the chair to listen. beaming with pride, josé began by showing the book cover to his classmates and reading the title, a strategy his teacher had modeled many times. figure 5. josé reads to the class. cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 47 he then turned to the first picture and read: josé: i was jumping on the trampoline. i fell down. and i got out ‘cause someone was waiting for me to get out. i was with my friend and my brother. i was a little bit scared. i couldn’t get off. classmate: where are you josé? josé: i have four brothers. one, two, three, four. [points to the picture and counts his brothers.] classmate: you have four brothers? second classmate: he’s right there with the hat. don’t you see him? you silly pumpkin! josé’s insistence in sharing his writing with his classmates demonstrates the importance of socially constructed learning and writing for an audience, as he became more proficient and more confident with his writing ability. the social process of sharing his story with his peers contributed to josé’s belief that he was a reader and a writer. reading his story as an author provided an audience that respected, but more importantly, valued what he had to say. these opportunities to interact with their peers provide children with a socio-cultural constructive experience that contributes to their foundational literacy development as children engage in talk surrounding the story (volk & de acosta, 2001). social construction of learning also helps children understand writing for an audience and the value of becoming an author (bentley & souto-manning, 2019). discussion this research resulted in three key findings. first, the family pictures facilitated the progression of children’s development and understanding of the written narrative as their oral stories evolved into written narratives. second, children used these oral stories as a bridge to school-based writing skills as children made meaningful connections between home and school. lastly, children’s understanding that writing is a socially constructed process created a context for children to see themselves as writers who engage others in the process. all three findings reveal young children’s strong dispositions for writing within authentic spaces and the ability for children’s stories to bridge their cultural knowledge and writing development (gort & sembiante, 2015; gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005). as children used cultural and familial stories for their written narratives, they provided a window into their lives, as they shared their after-school experiences within a cultural context (e.g., birthday parties and family gatherings) (allen, fabregas, hankins & hull, 2002). as indicated “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 48 earlier, families were invited to send personal photos for children to talk and write about. using these photos, the children discussed family relationships, processed their experiences, and narrated stories of those events as they saw themselves and other family members. the connection to familial relationships is characteristic of many latino children’s story production (jimenez-silva & mccabe, 1996). comparable to roessingh’s (2011) family book project, this study revealed how children reflected their pride of family and culture within their oral and written narratives. essentially, they radiated as they shared the stories their parents had written. as holders of cultural knowledge, children were motivated to tell their stories to others and then to write them down on paper. when children participate in oral narratives, they practice the skills necessary for storytelling, such as planning and organizing—significant while developing literacy skills (tabors, snow, & dickinson, 2001). cultural wealth provided children material for the content of their oral stories and with the tools to shape the format of their written narratives (bentley & soutomanning, 2019; khimji & maunder, 2012). in other words, choosing halloween costumes, jumping on the trampoline, or picking oranges with ‘abuelo’ provided the richness for their stories and the organization for their written story structure. learning to write is a social process. children developed their understanding of the written narrative through social collaboration. as part of this process, children talked about their pictures, wrote their story, and eagerly read it to their peers. as authors read, their peers engaged with the story by making connections to their own experiences. students made comments such as, “i’ve been to the park!”, “yo voy a karate!” [i go to karate!], or “me and my primo [cousin] do that too!” in some cases, they wanted more clarification and asked, “why did you get scared?” or “where are you?” children discovered the things they had in common—emotions, pets, and family and saw events from multiple perspectives as they discovered what makes them similar or different. this leads to respect for each other’s practices, cultural heritage, and diversity (gay, 2002). cheatham and jimenez-silva (2011) assert that opportunities such as these provide children with a socio-cultural constructive experience that contributes to foundational literacy development as children engage in talk about the story. when children express themselves through writing they begin to see meaningful connections to speaking, listening, and reading and the social aspect of the writing process. mccallister’s work (2008) reveals how sharing stories with peers through the use of an author’s chair can create strong confidence in writing for even the most reluctant writers. supportive cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 49 interactions among peers helps children engage in writing tasks and can lead to development of early writing skills (bauer et al., 2017; mirzaei & eslami, 2015). in this study, reading from the author’s chair gave children an opportunity to practice their newly acquired skills and helped them build confidence and pride in themselves as readers and writers. as their author identity is developed, children see writing as an effective tool for expression. they receive the message that they have something important to say. additionally, allowing children to select their family pictures as topics for their writing, gave them agency where they shared some of the power with the adults in their setting (rowe & neitzel, 2010). using pictures from home provided multiple iterations of their stories and demonstrated how latino families’ cultural experiences are significant for the development of children’s emergent writing development. implications although this study took place in a private school setting, all educators who work with latino children can benefit from the findings in this study. the expectation of any early childhood educator, regardless of setting, should be to create meaningful learning experiences that are relevant and respectful to each child (naeyc, 2019). these include experiences where children can draw on their cultural and linguistic repertoires (alanís, arreguín & salinas-gonzález, 2021). effective early childhood teachers recognize that children need to engage in authentic writing that is connected to their various backgrounds and experiences (bauer et al., 2017). young children’s understanding of oral and written narrative is mediated through sociocultural interactions at home with their families (bauer & mkhize, 2012; rogoff, 2003; rowe, 2010; volk & de acosta, 2001). children’s early writing development occurs when they engage in interactive writing activities that incorporate their cultural and linguistic knowledge. when teachers encourage children to write through culturally relevant literacy activities in collaboration with adults and peers both at home and at school, children learn that their cultural, familial, and linguistic knowledge are valued aspects of the learning process. consequently, teachers should use these storytelling practices as an instructional strategy. second, learning to write is a socially constructed process where children learn from and with others. parents and peers scaffold children’s language and literacy learning through social interaction (garcía-alvarado et al, 2020; pole, 2015; reyes & azuara, 2008, roessingh, 2011; rowe & fain, 2013; saracho & spodek, 2007). additionally, children want an audience to hear their story. an author’s chair provides a designated space where children are free to engage in their craft as storytellers among supportive peers. teachers can also have students share their stories with a “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 50 partner (alanís, 2011). when children express themselves through writing they see meaningful connections to speaking, listening, and reading. children who are free to share stories with others will engage in increasingly sophisticated language use as they gradually progress from oral to written narratives. children will extend their understanding of the written narrative if they are provided space and time for this interactive process (cahill & gregory, 2016; genishi & dyson, 2009). the increasing number of bilingual families in our schools generates the need to investigate the meaningful culturally relevant practices teachers provide children to support their emergent writing development. educators have an obligation and responsibility to provide foundational literary development for all children (naeyc, 2019). they must allow opportunities for the voices of children and their families to be heard via personal narratives and authentic writing that captures children’s funds of knowledge and language practices. the use of family pictures, in the case of this study, created a culturally relevant activity that children connected with at a meaningful level. these types of activities send a powerful message to children: your voice is important, your culture is important, and your experiences are significant to your learning. similarly, teachers learn that children’s cultural, familial, and linguistic knowledge enhances children’s construction of emergent literacy development. cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 51 references alanís, i., arreguín, m. g., & salinas-gonzález, i. (2021). the essentials: supporting dual language learners in diverse environments in preschool & kindergarten. washington, d.c.: naeyc. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/books/essentials-supporting-dlls alanís, i., salinas-gonzález, i., & arreguín-anderson, m. g. (2015). developing biliteracy with intentional support. using interactive word walls and paired learning. young children, 70(4), 46-51. alanís, i. (2011). learning from each other: examining the use of bilingual pairs in dual language classrooms. dimensions of early childhood, 39(1), 21-28. allen, j., fabregas, v., hankins, k. h., & hull, g. (2002). pholks lore: learning from photographs, families, and children. language arts, 79(4), 312. barone, d. (2013). making meaning: individual and group response within book club structure. journal of early childhood literacy, 13(1), 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798411430092 bauer, e. b. (2003). finding esmerelda’s shoes: a case study of a young bilingual child’s response to literature. in a. willis, g. e. garcia, v. harris, & r. barrera (eds.), multicultural issues in literacy and practice (pp. 11–28). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum bauer, e. b., & mkhize, d. (2012). supporting the early development of biliteracy: the role of parents and caregivers. in e. b. bauer & m. gort (eds.), early biliteracy development: exploring young learners’ use of their linguistic resources. (pp. 14-33). new york, ny: routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203850404 bauer, e. b., presiado, v., & colomer, s. (2017). writing through partnership: fostering translanguaging in children who are emergent bilinguals. journal of literacy research (49)1, 10-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x16683417 bentley, d. f., & souto-manning, m. (2019). pre-k stories: playing with authorship and integrating curriculum in early childhood. early childhood education series. new york, ny: teachers college press. billings, e. s. (2009). el alfabetismo y las familias latinas: a critical perspective on the literacy values and practices of latino families with young children. journal of latinos and education, 8(4), 252-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348430902973385 bingham, g. e., quinn, m. f., & gerde, h. k. (2017). examining early childhood teachers writing practices: associations between pedagogical supports and children’s writing skills. early childhood research quarterly 39, 35-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.01.002 bitetti, d., & hammer, c. s. (2016). the home literacy environment and the english narrative development of spanish-english bilingual children. journal of speech, language and hearing research, 59(5), 1159-1171. https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_jslhr-l-15-0064 brown-jeffy, s. & cooper, j. e. (winter, 2011). toward a conceptual framework of culturally relevant pedagogy: an overview of the conceptual and theoretical literature. teacher education quarterly, 65-84 buell, m. j., burns, m. s., casbergue, r., & love, a. (2011). ¿qué más le va a decir?: preschoolers who are dual language learners write a letter with a parent. ejournal of literacy and social responsibility, 4, 8–3. cahill, m. a, & gregory, a. e. (2016). please let us write: sharing writing in the early childhood classroom. young children 64-69. cheatham, g. a., & jimenez-silva, m. (2011). what makes a good story?: supporting oral narratives of young children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. childhood education, 87(4), 261-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2011.10523188 https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/books/essentials-supporting-dlls https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798411430092 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203850404 https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x16683417 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348430902973385 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.01.002 https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_jslhr-l-15-0064 https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2011.10523188 “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 52 citi-data.com. (2019). retrieved from: http://www.city-data.com/zips/78201.html clay, m. m. (1991). becoming literate: the construction of inner control. new york, ny: heinemann educational books. copple, c., & bredekamp, s. (2009). developmentally appropriate practice. washington, dc: national association for the education of young children. corbin, j., & strauss, a. (2007). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153 curenton, s. m., & craig, m. j. (2011). shared-reading versus oral storytelling: associations with preschoolers’ prosocial skills and problem behaviours. early child development and care, 181(1), 123–146. delgado-bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623629. delgado-bernal, d. (2006). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. in d. d. bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 113– 132). albany, ny: state university of new york press. donovan, c. a., sekeres, d. c., & kerch, j. c. (2020). scaffolding background knowledge and emergent writing through conversations. young children 75(5), 57-63. d'warte, j. (2014). linguistic repertoires: teachers and students explore their everyday language worlds. language arts, 91(5), 352. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192702250621 dyson, a. h., & genishi, c. (eds) (1994) the need for story: cultural diversity in classroom and community. urbana, il: national council for teachers of english. dyson, a. h. (2009). writing in childhood worlds. in r. beard, d. myhill, j. riley, & m. nystrand (eds.), the sage handbook of writing development (pp. 232-245). london, uk: sage publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857021069.n16 farver, j. a. m., xu, y., lonigan, c. j., & eppe, s. (2013). the home literacy environment and latino head start children’s emergent literacy skills. developmental psychology, 49(4), 775– 791. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028766 fiorentino, l., & howe, n. (2004). language competence, narrative ability, and school readiness in low-income preschool children. canadian journal of behavioural science/revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 36(4), 280. flynn, e. e. (2016). language-rich early childhood classroom: simple but powerful beginnings. the reading teacher 70(2): 159–166. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1487 flynn, e. e. (2018) storying experience: young children's early use of story genres. text and talk 38(4): 457–480. flynn, e. e., hoy, s. l., lea, j. l., & garcía, m. a. (2021). translanguaging through story: empowering children to use their full language repertoire. journal of early childhood literacy, 21(2), 283–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798419838569 garcía-alvarado, s., arreguín, m. g., & ruiz-escalante, e. (2020). mexican-american preschoolers as co-creators of zones of proximal development during retellings of culturally relevant stories: a participatory study. journal of early childhood literacy 0(0), 1-22. garcía, e., & garcía, e. (2012). understanding the language development and early education of hispanic children. columbia university, new york, n.y.: teachers college press. gardner-neblett, n., & iruka, i. u. (2015). oral narrative skills: explaining the language https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192702250621 https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857021069.n16 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028766 https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1487 https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798419838569 cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 53 emergent literacy link by race/ethnicity and ses. developmental psychology, 51(7), 889. gardner-neblett, n., pungello, e. p., & iruka, i. u. (2012). oral narrative skills: implications for the reading development of african american children. child development perspectives, 6(3), 218–224. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00225.x gerde, h., bingham, g. e., & pendergast, m. l. (2015). environmental and teacher supports to writing in classrooms. early childhood research quarterly, 31, 34–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.12.008 gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching: theory, practice and research. new york, ny: teachers college press. gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003 genishi, c. & dyson a. h. (2009). children language and literacy. new york, ny: teachers college press and washington, d.c.: naeyc. gillanders, c., & jiménez, r. (2004). reaching for success: a close up of mexican immigrant parents in the usa who foster literacy success for their kindergarten children. journal of early childhood literacy, 4(3), 243–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798404044513 gómez, l. freeman, d., & freeman, y. (2005). dual language education: a promising 50-50 model. bilingual research journal 29(1), 145-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2005.10162828 gonzález, n., moll, l. & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities and classrooms. mahwah, nj: erlbaum. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410613462 gort, m. (2006). strategic codeswitching, interliteracy, and other phenomena of bilingual writing: lessons from first grade dual language classrooms. journal of early childhood literacy, 6(3), 323–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798406069796 gort, m., & sembiante, s. (2015). navigating hybridized language learning spaces through translanguaging pedagogy: dual language preschool teachers' languaging practices in support of emergent bilingual children's performance of academic discourse. international multilingual research journal, 9(1), 7–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2014.981775 graves, d. h. (1983). writing: teachers and children at work. exeter, nh: heinemann educational books. graves, d. h. (2013). children want to write. (eds.) newkirk, t & kittle, p. new york, ny: heinemann press. graves, d., & hansen, j. (1983). the author's chair. language arts, 60(2), 176-183. gupta, a. (2009). vygotskian perspectives on using dramatic play to enhance children’s development and balance creativity with structure in the early childhood classroom. early child development and care, 179(8), 1041-1054. howard, t. (2003). culturally relevant pedagogy: ingredients for critical teacher reflection. theory into practice 42(3), 195-202. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_5 isbell, r., sobol, j., lindauer, l., & lowrance, a. (2004). the effects of storytelling and story reading on the oral language complexity and story comprehension of young children. early childhood education journal, 32(3), 157163. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:ecej.0000048967.94189.a3 jimenez-silva, m., & mccabe, a. (1996). vignettes of the continuous and family ties: some latino american traditions. in a. mccabe (ed.), chameleon readers: teaching children to appreciate all kinds of good stories (pp. 116-136). new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00225.x https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.12.008 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003 https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798404044513 https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2005.10162828 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410613462 https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798406069796 https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2014.981775 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_5 https://doi.org/10.1023/b:ecej.0000048967.94189.a3 “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 54 kissel, b. t., & miller, e. t. (2015). reclaiming power in the writers' workshop: defending curricula, countering narratives, and changing identities in prekindergarten classrooms. reading teacher, 69(1), 77-86. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1379 kissel, b., hansen, j., tower, h., & lawrence, j. (2011). the influential interactions of pre kindergarten writers. journal of early childhood literacy, 11(4), 425–452. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798411416580 khimji, f., & maunder, r. e. (2012). mediational tools in story construction: an investigation of cultural influences on children’s narratives. journal of early childhood research 10(3), 294 308. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718x12443022 ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: aka the remix. harvard educational review 84(1), 74-84. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751 lincoln, s. y., & guba, e. g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. thousand oaks, ca: sage. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8 lonigan, c. j., & shanahan, t. (2009). developing early literacy: report of the national early literacy panel. executive summary. a scientific synthesis of early literacy development and implications for intervention. national institute for literacy. lópez-robertson, j. (2017). diciendo cuentos/telling stories: learning from and about the community cultural wealth of latina mamás through latino children’s literature. language arts 95(1), 7-16. lópez-robertson, j. (2012). "esta pagina me recordo": young latinas using personal life stories as tools for meaning-making. bilingual research journal, 35(2), 217-2 love, a., burns, m., & buell, m. (2007). writing: empowering literacy. young children, 62(1), 12-19. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/stable/42729518 mayer, k. (2007). emerging knowledge about emergent writing. young children, 62(1) 34-40. mccallister, c. a. (2008). “the author's chair” revisited. curriculum inquiry, 38(4), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873x.2008.00424.x miles, m. b., & huberman, m. (1994) qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook, 2nd edition. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. miller, s., & pennycuff, l. (2008) the power of story: using storytelling to improve literacy learning. journal of cross-disciplinary perspectives in education 1(1): 36–43. mirzaei, a., & eslami, z. (2015). zpd-activated languaging and collaborative l2 writing. educational psychology: an international journal of experimental educational psychology, 35(1), 5-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.814198 moll, l. c., saez, r., & dworin, j. (2001). exploring biliteracy: two student case examples of writing as a social practice. the elementary school journal, 435-449. myhill, d. (2011). learning to write. in r. fisher, d. myhill, s. jones, s. larkin (eds.), using talk to support writing (pp. 1-19). london, uk: sage publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446251829.n1 national association for the education of young children. (2009). learning to read and write: developmentally appropriate practices for young children. national association for the education of young children, 53(4), 30-46. washington, d.c. national association for the education of young children. (2019). advancing equity in early childhood. national association for the education of young children, washington, d.c. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1379 https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798411416580 https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718x12443022 https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751 https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873x.2008.00424.x https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.814198 https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446251829.n1 cataldo & alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 55 national institute for early education research. (2020). state of preschool: 2019. rutgers, nj: national institute for early education research. retrieved from: https://nieer.org/state-preschool-yearbooks/yearbook2020 national early literacy panel. (2008). developing early literacy. washington, dc: national institute for literacy. nolen, s. b. (2007). young children’s motivation to read and write: development in social contexts. cognition and instruction, 25(2-3), 219–270. otto, b. (2008). literacy development in early childhood: reflective teaching for birth through age 8. new york, ny: pearson education. phillips, d. a., lipsey, m. w., dodge, k. a., haskins, r., bassok, d., burchinal, m. r., & weiland, c. (2017). puzzling it out: the current state of scientific knowledge on pre-kindergarten effects, a consensus statement. washington, dc: brookings institution. pole, k. (2015). “why downt you riyt back to me?”: family letter writing in kindergarten. the reading teacher, 69(1), 119-128. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1364 puranik, c. s., & lonigan, c. j. (2011). from scribbles to scrabble: preschool children’s developing knowledge of written language. reading and writing, 24(5), 567–589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9220-8 purcell-gates, v., melzi, g., najafi., & orellana, m. f. (2011). building literacy instruction from children’s sociocultural worlds. child development perspectives 5(1), 22-27. reyes, i. (2006). exploring connections between emergent biliteracy and bilingualism. journal of early childhood literacy, 6(3), 267-292. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798406069801 reyes, i., & azuara, p. (2008). emergent biliteracy in young mexican immigrant children. reading research quarterly, 43(4), 374-398. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.43.4.4 roessingh, h. (2011). family treasures: a dual-language book project for negotiating language, literacy, culture, and identity. canadian modern language review 67(1), 123148. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.67.1.123 rogoff, b. (2003). the cultural nature of human development. oxford: oxford university press. roskos, k. a., christie, j. f., & richgels, d. j. (2003). the essentials of early literacy instruction. young children, 58(2), 52–60. rowe, d. w. (2010). directions for studying early literacy as social practice. language arts, 88(2) 134-143. rowe, d., & fain, j. g. (2013). the family backpack project: responding to dual-language texts through family journals. language arts, 90(6), 402-416. rowe, d. w., & neitzel, c. (2010). interest and agency in 2‐and 3‐year‐olds' participation in emergent writing. reading research quarterly, 45(2), 169-195. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.45.2.2 salinas-gonzález, i., arreguín-anderson, m., & alanís, i. (2018). supporting language: culturally rich dramatic play. teaching young children 11(2), 4-6. saracho, o. n., & spodek, b. (2007). challenging the stereotypes of mexican american fathers. early childhood education journal 35, 223-231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-007-0199-y stake, r. e. (2006). multiple case study analysis. new york, ny: the guilford press. smith, h., & riojas-cortez, m. (2010). cartitas de cariño: little notes to say you care. language arts, 88(2), 125-133. tabors, p. o., snow, c. e., & dickinson, d. k. (2001). homes and schools together: supporting language and early literacy development. in d. k. dickinson & p. o. tabors (eds.), beginning literacy with language (pp. 313-334). baltimore: paul h. brookes. teale, w. h., & sulzby, e. (1986). emergent literacy: writing and reading. writing research: https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1364 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9220-8 https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798406069801 https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.43.4.4 https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.67.1.123 https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.45.2.2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-007-0199-y “want to hear my story?” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 56 multidisciplinary inquiries into the nature of writing series. ablex publishing corporation. tolchinsky, l. (2003). the cradle of culture and what children know of writing and numbers before being taught. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410607195 u. s. census (2019). the hispanic population in the united states. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2019/demo/hispanic-origin/2019-cps.html valdez, v. (2015). bilingual educación in the home: everyday mexican immigrant family educational practices. journal for the association of mexican american educators. 9(2), 57-68. volk, d., & de acosta, m. (2001). many differing ladders, many ways to climb: literacy events in the bilingual classroom, homes, and community of three puerto rican kindergartners. journal of early childhood literacy, 1(2),193–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984010012004 vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. whitehurst, g., & lonigan, c. (2001). emergent literacy: development from prereaders to readers. in s. b. neuman & d. k. dickinson (eds.), handbook of early literacy research (11-29). new york, ny: guilford press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 zentella, a. (2005). building on strength: language and literacy in latino families and communities. new york, ny: teachers college press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410607195 https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2019/demo/hispanic-origin/2019-cps.html https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984010012004 https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 4c200661-9663-4439-875b-efd331f49b44.pdf cindy’s comment reveals her understanding that stories have purpose, use words to convey a message, affect the reader in different ways, and can be shared with others to ‘do something good.’ once upon a time me and my dad: oral stories as a bridge to school-based writing skills the second theme demonstrated the meaningful writing connections children made between home and school, as well as how their familial stories facilitated the acquisition of oral and written skills. mrs. benavides frequently read stories to children to... volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antoni association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal martinez 178 a subtractive intellectualism ricardo martinez iowa state university ames, iowa learning to socialize—as kids playing tag, the game evolves to cops and robbers, like sides of a coin, it changes to superheroes versus super villains batman superman wonder woman she-ra and captain america; this is who we want to be, who we watch on weekends — white heroes saving the day. weekdays activate “education” a word that means so much more in spanish. a word we only know in english. in the early grades of school— white students are given pens and paper to write their dreams, like a mother’s warmth, filled with hope. letters to the future self latinx students are taught to use erasers – the erasing of a home language, to erase their culture. martinez 179 never told of our own blood. unable to realize it has the power to write and transform the world. we are running a race and never told the start or finish line. this is what we learn in school: a subtracted identity. trying to make a plus out of a minus rarely realizing that school divides us. in middle grades, the silence takes hold. so like cattle we are tracked— all to make assimilation easier. told the myth of meritocracy and taught cultural hegemony every day— in history class, in every moment of forced english and every time teachers don’t try to say our names. maybe, no superhero looks like us because we already have a “super power”: we are invisible, a power we never wanted. still we must always remember, we are intellectuals though we are discarded as objects by society. after years of schooling we must unite— we must learn to understand privilege and whiteness as a form of fear and guilt lived by white people and martinez 180 as a small part of us. whiteness as a reminder of the colonizer a reminder of our resilient indigenous blood and our connection to the land. as adults, we must fight injustice and resist through education— changing it as we experience it embracing the latinization of this country, in supporting our seeds. we are the future because we are the past. volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 barrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 47 “i love how we developed a community already”: a graduate student orientation model for minority-serving programs and institutions magdalena l. barrera san josé state university abstract in recent years, an increasing number of universities have qualified as minority serving institutions (msis), thanks in part to significant growth in the numbers of latinx students who are enrolling in bachelor’s degree programs. a greater proportion of this student population is completing bachelor’s degrees and continuing into master’s and doctoral programs. nevertheless, graduate orientation remains overlooked despite being a rich opportunity to support the identity development of latinx students. this pedagogical reflection contributes to the discussion of latinx student experiences by exploring an innovative approach to new graduate student orientation for a master’s program in a chicana/o studies department at an msi. the orientation provides holistic support for latinx students by building an academic community founded on mutual support and bringing greater transparency to the hidden curriculum of graduate education that often elides latinx students. the essay explores insights from student feedback on the orientation and provides reflection questions to help departments and msis bring a more equity-minded, supportive approach to welcoming and retaining new latinx graduate students. keywords: latinx students, graduate education, student retention, identity development doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.399 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.399 graduate student orientation model association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 48 the purpose of this pedagogical reflection is to share an orientation model that eases new latinx graduate students’ anxieties, through concerted community-building and discussion of the hidden curriculum (i.e. unspoken rules and norms) of higher education, both of which are critical to establishing a strong foundation for graduate school. this pedagogical reflection is offered as one way to develop a comprehensive orientation program that supports the identity development of latinx graduate students. such interventions are critical in light of the increasing numbers of latinx students pursuing advanced degrees, and the corresponding rise in the number of universities qualifying as minority serving institutions (msis). recent years have seen considerable growth in the number of msis across the united states. in 2014-2015, for example, approximately 700 institutions were recognized as msis and enrolled nearly five million students of color (taylor, 2017). hispanic serving institutions (hsis) now comprise nearly 15% of non-profit institutions, and enroll 63% of latinx students (hacu, 2018). the growth in the number of msis and hsis is driven in large part by the dramatic increase of latinx students receiving bachelor’s degrees (snyder, de brey & dillow, 2019). in fact, latinx students now represent nearly 20% of overall college enrollment (bauman, 2017). as more latinxs are completing undergraduate degrees, it is no surprise that between 2002 and 2012 there was a 103% increase in the number of students who earned master’s degrees and a 67% increase in those earning doctorates (excelencia in education, 2015). in 2017, more than half of latinx first-time graduate students were pursuing degrees in the arts and humanities, education, public administration, and social/behavioral sciences (okahana & zhou, 2018). nevertheless, they represent only a small percentage of the overall graduate student population. significant barriers to post-baccalaureate education remain in place for latinxs, much of them rooted in the disjuncture between student’s ethnic identities and values, and those of mainstream academic culture (torres, 2006). latinx graduate students grapple with feelings of alienation from both academic culture and their peers, and often struggle to adapt to the first year of graduate school, leading many to wonder, “what am i doing here?” (ramirez, 2014). moreover, one study found that more than 40% of latinxs with doctorates in social science fields attended universities with lower research profiles (fernandez, 2020), institutions that often have fewer resources to provide the range of supports that graduate students need to meet their educational goals. barrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 49 graduate orientation: a critical form of support for latinx students orientation programs are an important way of easing the transition process for all students. numerous studies have explored the impact of orientation programs on students’ ability to navigate and integrate themselves into institutions of higher education. however, graduate orientation remains overlooked at many institutions (mears et al., 2015; lang, 2004; stiles, 2012) and, when it is offered, features widely varying content (poock, 2004). such findings are dismaying, as students need specific guidance for understanding how graduate school differs from the undergraduate experience (brown, 2012). the days before classes commence are an especially critical window for developing graduate students’ sense of identity and community. taub and komives (1998) found that this anticipatory stage is the best time for interventions that help students gain realistic expectations of graduate study. drawing from framing theory, socialization theory, and the scholarship of social support, mears et al (2015) argue for the importance of graduate student orientations. their results demonstrate that students who feel supported during their initial contacts with the institution develop a positive frame by which to view their place within it and absorb more information from orientation as their new-student anxiety subsides. exemplary departments enculturate graduate students by fostering collegiality within the cohort, encouraging professional relationships between new students and faculty, and clarifying program structure and faculty expectations for incoming students (boyle & boice, 1998, p. 87). studies of orientations in specific academic fields underscore such findings. benavides and keyes’ (2016) study of public administration and public policy master’s programs found that a comprehensive orientation that reflected the mission and purpose of the program enhanced graduate students’ retention, learning, and socialization; the greater the socialization component, the less likely students were to drop out of their programs. davis, bissler and leiter (2001) demonstrate that sociology graduate orientations that included hands-on demonstrations and practice of required skills ultimately create cohesion, equalize basic skills, clarify expectations, and familiarize students with their new environment, resulting in a greater sense of security and a smoother transition for new students. given their connections to student retention, orientation programs play an especially critical role for graduate students of color. taylor and miller (2002), for example, identify six factors that support the integration and persistence of minoritized students. these components graduate student orientation model association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 50 include ethnic and peer attachment; social integration; feeling worthy and competent; reliable alliances through a community of support; guidance in the form of faculty and administrator mentorship; and leadership opportunities. establishing mentoring relationships is another key aspect of the preparation of graduate students of color because it provides psychological, social, and career-focused supports (davidson & foster-johnson, 2001). unfortunately, many universities focus more on recruiting historically underrepresented graduate students rather than on ways of retaining them (poock, 2007-2008), despite the fact that students of color, more often than white students, view orientations as playing a critical role in the social transition into higher education (mayhew et al, 2007). students of color often leave their graduate programs because institutions do not comprehensively support their social integration into graduate school—not because they cannot handle the work (lovitts & nelson, 2000). researchers have argued that a critical aspect of supporting graduate students of color is to establish department cultures where “[i]nstead of insisting that students discard the distinctive competencies that may result from cultural heritage in favor of conforming to the school’s cultural standards, students are encouraged to take advantage of such competencies” (davidson & foster-johnson, 2001, p. 554). as brayboy, solyom, and castagno (2014) explain in their work exploring the links between graduate programs, self-education, and tribal nation-building for native peoples: “faculty, students, and programs that embody respect, engage relationally, and practice reciprocity would necessarily produce a very different kind of knowledge, research, and project” (p. 578). thus, programs and msis that are able to offer orientations that provide a cultural-wealth-based framing early on can radically shift the educational landscape to more comprehensively support historically underserved students. transforming our orientation model situated within an msi, my home department was established in the late 1960s as a master’s (m.a.) program, though undergraduate degree programs are now offered, as well. the m.a. program historically has attracted a wide range of students, from those who are interested in pursuing a doctorate but want to acclimate to graduate training by first earning a master’s degree, to those who plan to work with community organization centered on latinx communities and seek to develop a solid intellectual base for undertaking that work. cohorts barrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 51 generally have ranged in size from eight to fourteen students; nearly all are latinx-identified, come from working-class, immigrant households, and represent the first in their families to enter higher education. our graduate courses are offered during evenings and weekends, as nearly all students in the program work full-time and have considerable commutes within the region. as a result, community-building primarily takes place in class because students are often unable to attend campus events, visit regular office hours, or easily meet up with each other to study outside of class. these factors highlight the need for a robust orientation program in order to help them establish a strong foundation and community for their studies. through the fall of 2013, our new graduate student orientation took the form of a twohour social on the evening before the first day of instruction. after a round of introductions, incoming students received a brief overview of the program and general advice about graduate study before transitioning to informal question and answer (q&a). while students were excited to meet the department community, they described leaving with more questions than answers about how to start the program on strong footing. this approach to orientation also did not provide faculty with the opportunity to share substantive advice about the issues many first-semester latinx students struggle with, such as confronting writing anxieties and effective time management. in the meantime, a colleague then teaching in our graduate program organized a series of summer writing workshops to help students develop a current writing project. her approach was a critical intervention founded on helping students recognize their writing anxieties and learn how to manage them (negron-gonzales, 2014). inspired by her leadership, we began to reflect on how we could incorporate core principles of her workshop into other aspects of our graduate program. in the summer of 2014 we transformed our department orientation from the brief evening social into a daylong series of workshops to supplement the general university-wide graduate orientation, which included campus tours, introduced students to resources such as the career and writing centers, and provided an overview of requirements, and candidacy. affirming the culturally-rooted epistemological and ontological knowledge that students bring with them, the department orientation addresses key aspects of the graduate experience for first-generation latinx students: identity development, core skills for graduate-level education, and the importance of developing a community of support. graduate student orientation model association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 52 though the sessions have changed slightly year to year, the following represents the core elements of the orientation: • welcome (15 minutes). the day begins with a round of introductions, and a brief history of how and why we developed this orientation. we emphasize the intended takeaways are to reflect on the knowledge, skills, and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) that students bring to the program; discuss concrete approaches to graduate-level work; and build community. • session 1: developing a graduate student identity (50 minutes). this session has been revised many times. initial iterations included a mind-mapping exercise that enabled students to connect their intellectual interests to those of their cohort; later, we created an activity to identify the skills they bring to the program, and those they sought to develop. currently, this session begins with an activity where students anonymously share what they look forward to in the program and what concerns they have. the purpose of the exercise is to underscore that none of them is alone in wondering, “do i belong here? am i ready to start a master’s program?” we also outline the differences between graduate and undergraduate education, and share consejos (i.e. moral support passed from one generation to the next) compiled by students who recently completed their first year. • session 2: time management during a busy semester (50 minutes). this session explores the challenges of juggling the accelerated pace of graduate work, complexity of ideas, and volume of assigned readings. in a powerful group activity, students analyze the syllabus from each of the three core courses first-semester students anticipate taking; each group notes the amount of reading from week to week, and the due dates of assignments. they then transfer this summary onto large monthly calendars posted on the wall, enabling the cohort to gain a big-picture view of the total amount of work across the courses. we then dive into time management techniques, drawing from rockquemore’s (2010) approach of careful weekly planning and identifying priority tasks. • session 3: reading and preparing for class (50 minutes). here students learn techniques for managing the reading load while simultaneously critically engaging with texts. we discuss how to prepare questions and organize their ideas for graduate seminars, and then we facilitate discussion of a sample reading. the facilitated discussion barrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 53 guides the group through a sample “first class,” so they can walk into their actual first class meetings with an idea of what to expect. • session 4: writing at the graduate level (30 minutes). drawing from the work of negron-gonzales (2014), the emphasis of this session is to remind students that writing is not an innate ability but instead a learned skill that improves with practice. students reflect on the anxieties they bring to writing assignments and learn ways to create positive writing experiences, from committing to a daily writing practice and making writing a social activity to breaking a writing project into more manageable pieces and identifying specific writing goals. • session 5: overview of the m.a. program (20 minutes). we offer an overview of courses, emphases within our program, and options for the culminating experience (write a thesis, undertake an applied project, or take additional elective courses). this session is short so as to not overwhelm students with this information before they have begun their first semester of coursework. • session 6: student success q&a (75 minutes). the final session features three alumni of the master’s program who discuss why they entered the program, their experiences in it, and how they are applying their degree. new students have the opportunity to ask further questions. • closing (15 minutes). after all participants—including faculty and alumni—share final reflections, we collect anonymous qualitative feedback on the orientation, and end the day with an opportunity for new students to socialize with current students via a potluck sponsored by the department’s graduate student organization. to prepare for the event, incoming students are asked to save the date in august for a mandatory orientation (though technically there is no penalty for non-attendance). two weeks before orientation, they receive instructions to read the sample article for session three and a set of reflection questions about the skills they bring to the program. findings related to student perspectives on the new orientation model students completed a brief, anonymous questionnaire that included three open-ended questions: (1) what aspects of today’s orientation did you find most helpful? (2) what changes, if any, would you suggest for next year’s orientation? is there a topic you would like to see graduate student orientation model association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 54 addressed that was overlooked or did not get much time today? (3) please share a few insights from today that you hope to put into use as classes begin. thirty-three total responses were collected from the years 2015 – 2016 and 2018 – 2019. reviewing this feedback reveals a number of important themes. in response to the first question, most students report “everything” was helpful, singling out two sessions as especially impactful. the first is the time management workshop. orientation participants explain that the exercise of mapping out a semester of reading and writing assignments across three different classes puts the graduate student workload into clear perspective, underscoring the importance of time management. one respondent explains, “i visually understood how careful i need to be [with] my time.” others share that the session informed them of specific techniques for staying organized once classes begin. for example, a student writes, “i thought it was very interesting learning the different ways to plan out the semester. it added to my planning that i’ve been using.” this response echoes the orientation’s overall message to students that they already have many skills for academic success and that the purpose of the orientation is to add to their toolkit. students also highlight the “alumni success” panel. within this subset of responses, students reflect on the power of hearing about alumni experiences in the program, especially the strategies that enabled them to complete the degree. alumni experiences are “inspiring and made the program realistic and [put it] into perspective.” while the alumni speakers may be offering advice similar to that shared in other orientation workshops, it may very well be more impactful coming from near-peers rather than from faculty (mears et al, 2015). the second theme is that the panel helps orientation participants see the many ways graduates have used their degrees. one participant was moved by hearing how the graduates connected learning to their professional careers. another explains, “the [alumni] panel was extremely helpful because it allowed me to hear from students who went through the program and how it has helped them.” what these comments reveal is that hearing from alumni enables them to envision pathways beyond the master’s program. such a vision is critical because it reminds students that the two to three years spent in the program is only a brief chapter of their lives that should connect to a personal vision beyond graduate school. barrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 55 orientation feedback overall points to the role of building community as a way to ease students’ anxieties about entering a graduate program. “[t]he opportunity to meet others who are entering the program before classes begin was a great way to take the edge off,” explains one participant; meanwhile, another emphasizes, “i loved how we developed a community already. this orientation helped ‘break the ice.’” yet it is not simply coming together that proves critical; rather, it is creating a space that acknowledges both the strengths and concerns of latinx students pursuing a new level of higher education. “i am very relieved this program takes the time to give us some foundations to start with,” observes a respondent. “i also really like the discussion on how we feel and our thoughts on the program. it is very reassuring to hear that i am not alone in my fears and excitements.” building on that note, another student reflects, “i learned everyone’s fear is the same as mine and that this isn’t a competition.” coupled with the encouragement of faculty and alumni, students gain reassurance they will be part of a community of support. for instance, one student writes, “i found it helpful to be reminded that it is okay to not know everything—it will be a journey. i will get through things.” finally, a participant acknowledges, “[i]t was interesting to learn how [staying] connected with others is a part of student success.” in response to the second feedback question (suggested changes), many explain that the orientation addressed most of the questions they had. when they do provide specific ideas, the responses fall into two categories. the first is a request for more information on resources for students, including financial aid, scholarships and grants, and housing. to acknowledge those requests, we have expanded our orientation to provide information and specific contacts for students seeking further resources. the second category is a request to hear more about the various options for completing the program (as mentioned above, choosing an emphasis and culminating experience). we now offer a brief follow-up orientation in january, entitled, “semester two: now what do i do?” which goes into more depth in these areas. in response to the final question about strategies students plan to adopt, two-thirds of participants indicate they intend to engage in careful time management. responses also illuminate a narrative of discovering—in the words of one participant—that their “graduate student identity is a process.” another observes, “i think we are all nervous and excited, and i think the challenge is going to be to juggle all those emotions and help keep each other going.” such a response reveals the orientation’s ability to provide tools and strategies that address the graduate student orientation model association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 56 rollercoaster of emotions students experience in graduate school. moreover, the response points to the community of support each student can draw strength from and contribute to in pursuit of their goals. other takeaways highlight the importance of holding onto the aspirations that led students to the program. “i would like to keep the drive and passion i have now,” a participant explains, adding, “i hope to keep in the back of my head the reasons and motivations that i had at the beginning and why i applied in the first place.” the root of such statements is selfempowerment, as seen in the following example: “owning my experience and setting my own pace so as to ensure i obtain what it is i need out of this experience in my own path. thank you for encouraging us to take ownership over this experience!” the feeling of ownership is reflected in the comments of a student who writes (in all caps), “i can do this!!” thus, the orientation takes latinx students on a daylong journey from feeling nervous to expressing greater confidence, understanding graduate school is not an end in itself but rather a process of self-discovery enhanced by engaging in a community of support that acknowledges the epistemological salience of their ethnic identity. implications for adapting the model for other programs and msis msis and graduate programs can use these strategies to create a new graduate student orientation, or revamp an existing orientation program to support latinx students. • survey current and/or recently-graduated students about their needs. it is critical to ask graduate students directly about their needs. the benefit of checking in with current students is that they have some experience in the program to generate suggestions for future student orientations. research demonstrates that engaging students is a necessary first step towards creating tailored programming (nesheim et al, 2006; haworth, 1996; nerad & miller, 1996). • consider recent cohorts of graduate students in your department’s program. who are your students? what strengths do they bring to your program? are there areas where they seem to struggle, and why? make note of the trends over time. some aspects of entering a graduate program have remained present across generations: anxieties about fitting in with one’s cohort, fighting feelings of the imposter syndrome, etc. yet other aspects may have changed with new generations of students who have barrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 57 access to different tools (time management apps) or perhaps even less experience with going to the library, due to the rise of electronic versions of books, and journal articles. • reflect on faculty within your graduate program. where do they struggle the most in supporting students? for example, graduate faculty within my department were alarmed by a rise in “incomplete” grades assigned to graduate students at the end of each semester. our time management workshop is not only a support for students, but also for faculty to deliver the tools upfront, at the start of the term, to help students stay on track for timely course completion. • choose formats that reflect students’ needs and availabilities. when we began to redesign our orientation, we initially considered a two-day series that would enable us to engage intensively on the critical topics. however, we kept it to a single day given that our students’ work schedules and commutes make a multi-day orientation impractical for them. what topics are most important for your students? how much time is needed to provide them with both the knowledge and hands-on practice for each topic? ongoing adaptations in response to changing circumstances it is critical to constantly assess graduate orientation in order to respond to the changing needs of diversifying student populations. case in point: as this essay was in development, the worldwide outbreak of covid-19 radically altered the landscape of higher education. our campus is one that will continue using remote modalities until the health and safety of our campus community can be ensured. in response to the current inability to bring students into physical proximity, our department is reimagining orientation in a way that maintains coverage and substance with a minimum of synchronous delivery, which can be mentally and physically taxing (sandler & bauman, 2020). we are creating a series of brief screencasts to deliver key points of each orientation session. incoming students will view this content asynchronously, then join a ninetyminute synchronous orientation where they can meet each other and the faculty; engage in small-group discussion about the videos; share their academic success tips; and hear from two alumni. while this format is far from ideal, even an online orientation significantly reduces the anxieties of incoming students (hullinger & hogan, 2014). moreover, the content will remain graduate student orientation model association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 58 available after the orientation through a learning management system module, enabling students to reference the strategies throughout the semester. an important question emerging from this experience is how faculty and administrators can employ online technologies in ways that build upon the cultural capital of latinx students— especially during a global public health crisis that disproportionally impacts the home communities of this student population. such issues will surely stretch our training, skills, and imagination as leaders within higher education. however, we cannot afford to do otherwise if we want to not only recruit but also retain and graduate diverse student populations. barrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 59 references bauman, k. (2017, august 28). school enrollment of the hispanic population: two decades of growth. united state census bureau. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/randomsamplings/2017/08/school_enrollmentof.html. benavides, d., & keyes, l. (2016). new-student orientations: supporting success and socialization in graduate programs. journal of public affairs education, 22(1), 107-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2016.12002231 boyle, p., & boice, b. (1998). best practices for enculturation: collegiality, mentoring, and structure. new directions for higher education, 101, 87-94. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.10108 brayboy, b. m. j., solyom, j. a., & castagno, a. e. (2014). looking into the hearts of native peoples: nation building as an institutional orientation for graduate education. american journal of education, 120(4), 575-596. https://doi.org/10.1086/676908 brown, c.s. (2012). maximizing success in your graduate training. in p. giordano, s. davis, & c. licht (eds.), your graduate training in psychology: effective strategies for success (pp. 13-22). sage publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452240527.n3 davidson, m.n. and foster-johnson, l. (2001). mentoring in the preparation of graduate researchers of color. review of educational research, 71(4), 549-574. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543071004549 davis, s. n., bissler, d.l., and leiter, j. (2001). leveling the playing field: an orientation to graduate study in sociology. teaching sociology, 29(4), 454-462. https://doi.org/10.2307/1318946 excelencia in education. (2015). the condition of latinos in education: 2015 factbook. excelencia in education. fernandez, f. (2020). where do latinas and latinos earn social science doctorates? education policy analysis archives, 28(97), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.28.4889 hacu. (2018). 2018 fact sheet: hispanic higher education and hsis [fact sheet]. hispanic association of colleges and universities. https://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/opai/2018 _hsi_factsheet.pdf haworth, j. g. (ed.). (1996). assessing graduate and professional education: current realities, future prospects. jossey-bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.37019969209 hullinger, m. and hogan, r. l. (2014). student anxiety: effects of a new graduate student orientation program. administrative issues journal: connecting education, practice, and research, 4(2), 27-34. https://doi.org/10.5929/2014.4.2.3 lang, m.e. (2004). the need for graduate orientation. journal of college orientation and transition, 11(2), 49-51. https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v11i2.2597 lovitts, b. e., and nelson, c. (2000). the hidden crisis in graduate education: attrition from ph.d. programs. academe, 86, 44–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/40251951 mayhew, m. j., stipeck, c., and dorow, a. (2007). the effects of orientation programming on academic and social learning with implications for transfers and students of color. paper presented at the association for the study of higher education, kansas city, mo. mears, d. p., scaggs, s. j. a., ladney, r. t., lindsey, a. m., and randon j. w. a. (2015). successful transitions to graduate school: using orientations to improve student experiences in criminology and criminal justice programs. journal of criminal justice education, 26(3), 283-306. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2015.1018914 negrón-gonzales, g. m. (2014). the power of the pen: writing mentorship and chicana/o https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2016.12002231 https://doi.org/10.1002/he.10108 https://doi.org/10.1086/676908 https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452240527.n3 https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543071004549 https://doi.org/10.2307/1318946 https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.28.4889 https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.37019969209 https://doi.org/10.5929/2014.4.2.3 https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v11i2.2597 https://doi.org/10.2307/40251951 https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2015.1018914 graduate student orientation model association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 60 m.a. students. journal of latinos and education, 13(1), 62-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2013.800819 nerad, m., and miller, d. s. (1996). increasing student retention in graduate and professional programs. in j. grant haworth (ed.), assessing graduate and professional education: current realities, future prospects. jossey-bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.37019969207 nesheim, b. e., guentzel, m. j., gansemer-topf, a. m., ross, l. e., and turrentine, c. g. (2006). if you want to know, ask: assessing the needs and experiences of graduate students. new directions for student services, 115, 5-17. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.212 okahana, h., and zhou, e. (2018). graduate enrollment and degrees: 2007 to 2017. council of graduate schools. poock, m. c. (2004). graduate student orientation practices: results from a national survey. naspa journal, 41(3), 470-486. poock, m. c. (2007-2008). a shifting paradigm in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented graduate students. journal of college student retention, 9(2), 169-181. ramirez, e. (2014). “¿qué estoy haciendo aquí? (what am i doing here?)”: chicanos/ latinos(as) navigating challenges and inequalities during their first year of graduate school. equity and excellence in education, 47(2), 167-186. rockquemore, k. a. (2010). the sunday meeting. inside higher ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2010/09/20/sunday-meeting sandler, l. and bauman, o. (2020, may 19). zoom fatigue is real — here’s why video calls are so draining. ted. https://ideas.ted.com/zoom-fatigue-is-real-heres-why-video-calls-areso-draining. snyder, t.d., de brey, c., and dillow, s.a. (2019). digest of education statistics 2017 (nces 2018-070). national center for education statistics, institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education. washington, dc. stiles, c. g. (2012). the relationship between graduate orientation programs and satisfaction with institutional choice. [doctoral dissertation, johnson and wales university]. proquest dissertations publishing. taub, d. j. and komives, s. k. (1998). a comprehensive graduate orientation program: practicing what we preach. journal of college student development, 39, 394-398. taylor, m. (2017, july 26). minority serving institutions perform better than federal graduation rates suggest. higher education today. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2017/07/26/ minority-serving-institutions-perform-better-federal-graduation-rates-suggest. taylor, j. d. and miller, t. k. (2002). necessary components for evaluating minority retention programs. naspa journal, 39(3), 266-283. https://doi.org/10.2202/0027-6014.1173 torres, v. (2006). bridging two worlds: academic and latina/o identity. in castellanos, j., gloria, a. m. and kanimura, m. (eds.), the latina/o pathway to the ph.d.: abriendo caminos (pp. 135-147). stylus. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2013.800819 https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.37019969207 https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.212 https://doi.org/10.2202/0027-6014.1173 https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 10 students’ perceptions of diversity at two hispanic-serving institutions through pictures: a focus on structures for serving gina ann garcía marialexia zaragoza university of pittsburgh abstract beyond the basic criteria to become a hispanic-serving institution (hsi), which includes enrolling 25% latinx students, the federal government has not established guidelines for better serving these students. instead, educators at hsis must submit applications for competitive federal grants that allow them to define and enact “servingness” in practice, which is a multidimensional way to think about how to educate and liberate minoritized students and with a need to transform the “structures for serving” them. in both research and practice, however, students at hsis have not been given the opportunity to define servingness, or to even talk about what it means to be educated at a campus that is compositionally diverse. the purpose of this study was to explore how students at two hsis in the midwest perceive diversity through pictures, with a focus on the organizational structures that represent diversity. using a photo elicitation methodology, which prompted students to take pictures of the structural elements on campus that represent diversity, and one-on-one interviews that allowed them to describe their pictures, students talked about diversity as reflected in art on campus, people on campus, and spaces on campus. implications are offered for understanding servingess, and specifically the structures for serving, as perceived by students. keywords: hispanic-serving institutions, servingness, structures, dynamic diversity, latinx students doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.388 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.388 garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 11 hispanic serving institutions (hsis) are non-profit colleges and universities that enroll 25% latinx students (valdez, 2015). the federal government first recognized hsis in 1992 and began allocating funds to these colleges and universities in 1995 under title v of the higher education act (valdez, 2015). but beyond the enrollment criteria, the federal government has not established guidelines for better serving latinx students. instead, the designation is based on the compositional diversity of students, leaving educators at hsis to define and enact “servingness” in practice, which is a multidimensional way to educate and liberate minoritized students and with a need to transform the “structures for serving” (garcia & koren, 2020; garcia et al., 2019). since 1992, few researchers have engaged students in the process of defining servingness. in one study, garcia and dwyer (2018) found that students’ identification with the hsi status varied significantly, with some believing that the hsi designation is a good thing, and others feeling like it is exclusionary. still some thought the hsi designation was ambiguous, with little to no meaning at all (garcia & dwyer, 2018). similarly, gonzalez et al. (2020) found that students at one hsi had little knowledge of the hsi designation and doubted that it had any meaning, as the institution did not seem to embrace or promote it. these studies suggest that students at hsis are rarely aware of the hsi designation, and they are not included in the process of defining what it means to be an hsi. the purpose of this study was to explore how students at two hsis in the midwest perceive diversity through pictures, with diversity serving as a starting point for understanding how they define servingess, with a focus on the structures for serving. conceptual framework diversity, as defined by squire (2017), is a “lexical tool characterizing the structural representation of multiple marginalized societal groups (not: white, male, european in ancestry, able bodied, native born, english language speaking, binary gender identifying, christian, and heterosexual) in a given institution based on geographical context” (p. 731). hsis are unique as they are compositionally diverse, with white students, on average, representing only 25% of the students enrolled at these colleges and universities (espinosa et al., 2019) and low-income students being the majority of the student population (cuellar, 2019; núñez & bowers, 2011). there is also diversity within the latinx population at hsis, with latinxs identifying with students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 12 different ethnic groups such as mexican american, chicanx, puerto rican, cuban, dominican, central and south american, and mixed race latinxs (cuellar, 2019; espinosa et al., 2019). there is also diversity by language and immigration status of students who attend hsis (cuellar, 2019; núñez & bowers, 2011). the compositional diversity in hsis makes them ideal sites for exploring how students at these institutions perceive diversity. in this study, we drew on garces and jayakumar’s (2014) concept of “dynamic diversity,” which they argue starts with a critical mass of diverse students on campus, but also requires contexts that disrupt historical patterns of exclusion and elevate a positive climate that allows for positive cross-racial interactions and the elimination of racial isolation, discrimination, and microaggressions. we used this definition to map on the existing hsi research about crossracial interactions and racial isolation, discrimination, and microaggressions, as a way to understand how students at hsis may perceive “dynamic diversity.” cross-racial interactions & racial tensions at hsis cross-racial interactions in social, curricular, and co-curricular environments have proven to be essential, as they enhance educational outcomes such as cognitive and moral reasoning skills, civic engagement, and academic self-confidence (garces & jayakumar, 2014). yet less has been written about same-race interactions, which is what the hsi research highlights. for example, arbelo-marrero and milacci (2016) found that 10 latinx students attending two hsis in the southeast reported positive same-race interactions with peers and mentors, which enhanced their overall sense of belonging. similarly, students at one hsi in the southwest reported that shared cultural experiences with same-race faculty, staff, and students enhanced their engagement and contributed to their overall success (arana et al., 2011). guardia and evans (2008) highlighted how latino men at one hsi in the southeast found great value in same-race interactions with their peers, faculty, and staff, which ultimately enhanced their own racial identity development. similar to the research on cross-racial interactions, these studies highlight how the environment at hsis facilitates same-race interactions that can lead to positive outcomes. a critical mass of students of color should also create the ideal conditions for decreasing racial isolation, discrimination, and aggressions (garces & jayakumar, 2014). but research has shown that despite the fact that some students have positive same-race garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 13 interactions at hsis, others continue to have negative racialized experiences (garcia et al., 2019). for example, latinx students at one hispanic-serving community college reported experiences with discrimination and bias in some student services offices (cuellar & johnsonahorlu, 2016). similarly, sanchez (2017) found that latinx students at hsis and emerging hsis (institutions that enroll between 15-24% latinxs) in texas and california experienced microaggressions in the form of racial stereotypes and physical and social segregation, both inside and outside the classroom. sanchez (2017), however, reported that students attending hsis with higher concentrations of latinxs experienced fewer instances of microaggressions. non-latinx students of color also have racialized experiences at hsis, suggesting that their cross-racial interactions are negative. for example, desai and abeita (2017) provided a detailed description of the institutional microaggressions, exploitation, and commodification of native culture experienced by one dine (navajo) woman attending an hsi in the southwest. serrano (2020) found that while latinx men in his study, as members of the largest racial group on campus, reported a positive sense of belonging at one hsi in california, black men at the same institution felt isolated as members of the smallest racial group on campus. this was complicated, however, when the same black and latinx men talked about specific spaces on campus, such as the classroom, where both groups felt that they were often perceived to be intellectually inferior (serrano, 2020). abrica et al. (2019), similarly found that black men at one hispanic-serving community college were not only perceived to be intellectually inferior, some were accused of cheating, and others had their intellectual property stolen by other (white) students. these experiences are inhibitors to the enactment of dynamic diversity at hsis. contexts that facilitate dynamic diversity at hsis with research suggesting that the racial climate continues to be negative at hsis, despite the compositional diversity present within these institutions, there must be an effort to disrupt historical contexts of exclusion and isolation in order to achieve the benefits of dynamic diversity (garces & jayakumar, 2014). this is what garcia et al. (2019) call the “structures for serving,” at hsis. structures for serving include organizational elements such as mission and vision statements, compositional diversity of faculty, staff, administrators, and graduate students, curricular and co-curricular structures, institutional advancement activities, and engagement with the local community (e.g., andrade & lundberg, 2018; garcia, 2018; vargas et al., 2019). in students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 14 order to realize the benefits of dynamic diversity at hsis, and even further, to reach true levels of equity, justice, and liberation, these structures, or contexts, must reflect the compositional diversity of the student body (garcia, 2018). in this study, we sought to understand how students perceive dynamic diversity within the structures of the institution, rather than in their peer and staff interactions or in their experiences within racism, discrimination, and microaggressions. this contributes to the growing body of research about the structures for serving latinx students within hsis. methods the data for this study came from a larger, multi-site case study examining how organizational members at three, four-year hsis in chicago make sense of their hsi identity. the strength of case study methodology is in the variety of data sources that can be used to understand the phenomenon under study (yin, 2009). for the larger project, multiple forms of data were collected from various sources including one-on-one interviews with faculty and staff, focus groups with students, observations on campus, document reviews, and photo elicitation. for this article, we only used data from students at two of the three sites that participated in one focus group, as well as an optional photo elicitation, and second interview following the collection of their photos. we excluded the third site because we did not collect student-level data at that site. the first site, azul city university (acu; a pseudonym) is a four-year, midsize, public, master’s granting university. acu is a federally recognized hsi with 33% of all undergraduates identifying (at the time of data collection) as latinx, 10% as black, 9% as asian american, and 2% as mixed race. acu has programs and services for latinxs and other minoritized students, including a cultural center (garcia, 2019). it also has curricular offerings that allow students to explore their social identities, and to develop a social justice orientation (garcia, 2019). the second site, rosado private university (rpu; a pseudonym) is a small, private, master’s granting university. it’s an urban, comprehensive university that provides a professional, career-focused undergraduate education. it is also a federally recognized hsi, enrolling 27% latinx students, and with nearly 60% of all students identifying as students of color. yet rpu does not offer curricular and co-curricular offerings centered on latinx ways of knowing or that allow students of color to see themselves in the curriculum or develop a social justice orientation (garcia, 2019). garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 15 sample sixty-three students participated in the larger project (n = 63). a total of 20 students opted into the optional photo elicitation, with 16 participating in a second interview. for this study, we only used data from seven of the 16, who were chosen based on their focus on structures for serving in their perceptions of diversity. students identified their race/ethnicity and sex/gender through an open-ended question, so responses varied. they also chose their own pseudonyms. carmen is a mexican american woman/female who was in a graduate program in education at acu. paige is an arab american female who was in her junior year in education at acu. lili identified as a hispanic female in her senior year at acu majoring in social work. june racially identifies as white but ethnically identifies as a spaniard. she was a graduate student in counseling at acu. stephanie is a hispanic female in her junior year studying biology at acu. amy identifies as a mixed race male, including black, native, columbian, and irish. he was a sophomore majoring in business administration at rpu. angelica is a caucasian female who was a senior majoring in graphic design at rpu. data sources following participation in a focus group, students were given the option to participate in a photo elicitation project. photo elicitation is a method used to capture responses, reactions, emotions, and insights of participants through photographs and images (copes et al., 2018). photo elicitation is an effective method for flipping the researcher-participant power dynamic, as it allows participants to determine the data to be collected, and the insights to address (copes et al., 2018). moreover, it empowers participants to examine power structures that influence their own views and perceptions of the world (boucher, jr., 2017), which was essential in this study as we asked students to describe how dynamic diversity is at play within institutions that are historically committed to whiteness as power (garcia, 2019). banning et al. (2008) similarly used photos as a way to understand how diversity is portrayed through campus structures. students were given the following prompt: “take pictures of artifacts (places, buildings, structures, murals, art, and other ‘things’ on campus) that represent diversity, latina/o/x culture, and/or your racial identity.” students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 16 as recommended by the institutional review board, students were discouraged from taking pictures of people. after taking pictures and uploading them to a phone app, students participated in a second interview, one-on-one via skype, which focused on their pictures and further probed their understanding of how the institution enacts diversity. for the interview, we used an in-depth, semi-structured protocol, which allowed for direct questioning and emerging ideas, as guided by the participants’ worldview (merriam, 2009). sample questions included, “describe the pictures you took.” “in what ways do your pictures describe what it means for an institution of higher education to serve latina/o/x students and other minoritized students?” data analysis audio files were professionally transcribed and then verified by at least one member of the research team. for analysis, we created a dataset that only included student-level data. the unit of analysis for this study was students, not institutions, as we sought to understand students’ perceptions of diversity through pictures. we did not conduct a cross-case analysis, although we noted differences in the structures for serving at each site. we used thematic analysis, which is a qualitative process that can be used to make sense of multiple forms of data (boyatzis, 1998). codes were identified at the manifest level, meaning they were based on directly observable information (boyatzis, 1998). in vivo codes, in particular, were useful, which are codes based on what participants say (saldana, 2013), and in this case based on what the students said about how they perceived diversity on their campus. after the first layer of analysis, codes were grouped together based on similarities and contrasts, and then pieced together to inform the three emerging themes, and with comparison to the pictures (saldana, 2013; de los rios, 2017). findings we chose six photos to demonstrate the three prominent themes that emerged: (a) art as diversity, (b) people as diversity, and (c) space as diversity. in this section we provide an overview of these themes, providing context that students shared through interviews. art as diversity art is one way that participants suggested diversity is represented on campus. art as diversity is a critical way to promote how campuses are embracing and supporting diversity garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 17 (banning & bartels, 1997). yet, an obstacle in trying to create artistic spaces on campus is how to capture art that reflects the complexities of diversity among students (pedrabissi, 2015). lili, for example, took a picture of a sculpture on campus that to her was inspired by and represents the asian community and culture (see figure 1); however, she said that she did not identify with the sculpture and stressed that the art was not an accurate reflection of what diversity on her campus looks like. in discussing the picture lili said, “i feel excluded in a sense, because those art pieces don’t really have anything to do with me or hispanics or latinos’ culture.” figure 1 “ten thousand ripples” sculpture lili said that there are several sculptures like this on campus, yet she does not believe that they represent the latinx community. for her, being at an hsi means that there should be representation of latinx culture through art, in addition to art that represents the culture of others. she stated that if hsis use art as representation of diversity on campus, there should be pieces that reflect all cultures. students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 18 paige also took a picture of a statue that is located in the cultural center on campus (see figure 2). paige elaborated on how a statue could represent diversity, specifically when people are not the focus of diversity. in talking about the statue, paige said: i thought it was really a cool way to show diversity in people without having to take pictures of people. because i always thought of diversity as different individuals valuing each other, no matter where they come from or who they are. that’s what i see in the statue, how they’re all coming together even though they’re all different people. figure 2 sculpture that represents diversity paige used the photo of the statue to elaborate on how diversity does not have to be represented by physical people on campus, as art and sculptures can provide a feeling that diversity is valued on campus. this is an important concept, as diversity is often attributed to the number of students of color on campus (garces & jayakumar, 2014), not the physical structures and artistic expressions. garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 19 people as diversity although this project did not allow students to take pictures of people, people as diversity was a salient theme. in their interviews, students frequently said that they struggled with the project because people are the most important ways that they see diversity on campus. yet the participants were creative and found other ways to show diversity through their pictures. june took a picture of her professors’ decorated door and said that she feels inspired when she sees it and other doors like it (see figure 3). june stated: i feel like it kind of––because every time i go past that door, i stop and read something and there’s always something new or something interesting. it’s [the door] always encouraging students to go on, to pursue their goals, to not give up; it encourages a lot of minorities who work with kids and stuff, like, if you’re either having a bad day and something on that door relates to you, it’s gonna help you, definitely. figure 3 professor’s door for june, the messages on the door are relatable and motivating. moreover, there is a sense of care that comes through the door decorations that can be important to diverse students as they search for supportive people on campus. she said that the door shows that the professor supports diverse students, and the range of issues that may affect them. this door, for example, has a sticker that says, “i’m an unafraid educator with and for undocumented students,” students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 20 showing the professor’s support for undocumented students, which can be an important group of students for faculty at hsis to support. june, however, claimed that she does not get this same feeling when she is in departments outside of her own, as it is common for the professors in her department to decorate their doors, but it is less common in other spaces on campus. angelica also said that diversity is represented through people, not just in the physical sense, but symbolically, as they create a sense of belonging, and a safe environment on campus. she also said that a lack of diversity, both physically and symbolically, is an important way to think about diversity. angelica captured this with a photo of an empty hallway (see figure 4). in describing the picture, she talked about the people whom she would have otherwise captured in the picture if she could have: i think a lot of it would be—i have professors that i really enjoy so some of ‘em would be professors. some would be fellow art students. some would be just friends i’ve made along the way in different places. maybe even our newspaper. family is what we call it. those people as well. just kind of the people that have more of an impact on your life— on my life, personally, in school. figure 4 empty hallway garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 21 angelica said it was difficult to try to capture diversity without being able to take pictures of people because they had the biggest impact on how she viewed diversity on campus. the empty spaces can be a reminder of the importance of people as diversity on campus. space as diversity participants also talked about spaces as representations of diversity. spaces on campus contribute to diversity, but they are more than physical, as they have the ability to create feelings within students about diversity, and inclusion. for example, amy captured a photo of himself in the school library, where he claims to see the most diversity on campus (picture not included to protect anonymity). amy elaborated on what space means in terms of diversity, and specifically what it means to lack spaces that represent diversity, as he felt was the case on his campus: you’re claiming diversity, and you’re saying, “hey, this is the school for it. we do this. we do that,” but there is not actually a place for it. it’s like you’re only good for what you say on paper. where is your action behind your words? you need a place for the stuff that you’re saying that you’re offering to people. amy stressed the need for physical spaces on campus that represent diversity. amy suggested that the university is doing a disservice to students by failing to provide physical spaces where diversity is seen and felt, and therefore fails to support them. while amy felt like there was a lack of spaces that represent diversity on his campus, carmen said that there were multiple spaces on her campus where diversity was represented. she talked about the cultural center as an important space, as it provided a physical representation of diversity, but expanded this idea by talking about the health center. carmen captured a photo of baskets full of free hygienic items such as tampons and hand sanitizer that the health center provides to students. in her interview, she explained how the health center provided these products for students stating, “for me this is helpful because sometimes i don’t have enough money to buy pads, buy large amounts of pads, like a big packet. it’s just very convenient. i can run to the health office, get my pad, get my necessities.” students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 22 figure 5 free samples in the health center for carmen, having spaces on campus that provide basic essentials for students is one way to serve diverse students on campus, and particularly low-income students, which is important for hsis that enroll students who come from various circumstances. having a health center where basic needs are addressed can be an important space for diversity, and for effectively serving diverse students. many of the participants at acu talked about the cultural center as an important space for diversity, which in several ways incorporated the three themes into one. stephanie took a picture of a mural in the cultural center and said: the cultural center is always open and one of the best places to go and study. i don’t enjoy studying in public places with other people or with anything, but that’s the one place that i’ve actually found myself wanting to go and eat my lunch, to go hang out and study or something. actually spend time there. garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 23 figure 6 mural in cultural center the mural, which includes important historical civil rights activists from various racial-ethnic backgrounds, is an important expression of art as diversity (banning & bartels, 1997). yet, the students did not talk about the mural as only art, and instead expanded on the importance of the location of the mural as a representation of diversity. the cultural center, as noted by stephanie, provides students with a space to study, eat, and socialize. the cultural center also provides students with relevant trainings and workshops about social justice and leadership, along with acknowledgement and celebrations of cultural heritage months. this space also provides students with a kitchen, all gender restrooms, a lactation room, and additional study spaces, which carmen said, are important resources for diverse students. moreover, the center houses the offices of full-time professionals on campus dedicated to serving diverse populations, which ties in the people as diversity theme. overall, space as diversity is a powerful concept for students, which may include art, resources, and people as representations of diversity. discussion participants in this study perceived diversity through pictures in three ways: through art, people, and space. art on college campuses can be used to represent diversity and empower students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 24 diverse students, as seen with the mural that several students captured in their photos. art as diversity, however, is multifaceted and has the ability to push for deeper dialogue about diversity (grenier, 2009). lili, for example, stated that the “asian” inspired sculpture on her campus made her feel as though her own latinx culture was not represented, when in reality, the “ten thousand ripples” sculpture is actually a buddha head turned into an exhibit that was specifically created to foster dialogue about peace within various communities in the city. this form of art on campus may not be intended to serve as a cultural representation per say, yet aimed to create dialogue. art can be used as both representation of diverse people and to provoke dialogue about larger issues within society while prompting critical thinking, creativity, and a search for truth (pedrabissi, 2015). people also contribute to diversity on campus, physically and symbolically. diverse people on campus may suggest that the institution is committed to supporting students through their own racial-ethnic lenses, and in the case of hsis, through language (garcia, 2019). although participants struggled to take pictures that did not include people, they found ways to represent the importance of people as diversity. this was creatively done by june, who took pictures of her professor’s door, which could be a form of art as diversity, yet she described how the meaning and symbolism of the decorations on the door were important to her as a reminder of how her professors support diverse students. even though they did not take pictures of people, participants stressed that people on campus are an essential aspect of diversity. moreover, students talked about people in their interviews, stressing how various symbols such as art and signs are powerful expressions of how the people on campus create and contribute to an environment that promotes sense of belonging, a commitment to equity and justice, and physical and emotional safety (banning & bartels, 1997). diversity, however, can no longer only be compositional, as a true understanding of diversity must be enacted through contexts on campus (garces & jayakumar, 2014). mcgregor (2004) states that space can make a difference to students and can be vital to supporting them. spaces on campus that represent diversity are essential, yet participants suggested that hsis should also think about the intentional expressions conveyed by these spaces. the most significant physical space mentioned by participants was the cultural center at one of the two sites, with students like stephanie saying that the cultural center is a space where she feels excited to go because it gives her what she needs and wants as a student. yet space as a form garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 25 of diversity is more than physical and includes the people who fill the space, and the artistic expressions within the space. samura (2015) suggests that space is socially constructed in the way that people interact with one another, and that space is produced by what people do, which the participants stressed. spaces that feel like racial diversity is excluded, however, are also important, as is the absence of space, as suggested by amy (samura, 2015). the way students’ perceived diversity suggests that all three themes are interconnected. multiple students talked about the cultural center and its importance as physical representation of diversity. yet students also talked about the art and the people inside the center. this suggests that the ideal contexts for dynamic diversity at hsis are layered. creating a physical space is important; however, the feelings created within the space are essential, ranging from feelings of belongingness to feelings of empowerment that can be enhanced through art, murals, and sculptures, as well as people and resources provided. diversity and servingness at hsis must be represented in multiple contexts, across multiple structures for serving, and interconnected in meaningful ways. implications & conclusion this study makes an important contribution to hsi research by focusing specifically on the educational contexts, or structures for serving, that facilitate students’ perceptions of diversity. here we offer practical implications for hsis to consider. first, hsis must design and support physical spaces that have an expressed commitment to serving diverse students. this includes cultural centers, which have historically fostered safety and security for students of color on college campuses while enhancing and preserving their cultural knowledge (patton, 2010). all spaces on campus, however, must support the basic needs of students at hsis, especially the needs of low-income and potentially housing and food insecure students, which are a growing population (baker-smith et al., 2020). our findings show that this support can and should be offered by health centers, counseling centers, student success centers, and more. davila and montelongo (2020), for example, argue that innovative learning spaces, such as computer labs and math tutoring centers, must also become spaces that effectively serve lowincome and students of color at hsis. second, hsis must design artistic spaces and expressions that can serve as essential contextual cues for supporting diverse students. art, including murals and sculptures, that are students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 26 centered on students’ racial, cultural, and linguistic ways of knowing and being can be powerful. garcia (2013) found that students and faculty at one hsi regularly referred to the ethnic studies murals found in one building on campus when talking about the institution’s identity as an hsi. hsis should utilize federal funding received through grants to develop spaces that validate students’ races and cultures. for example, utsa used title v funds to design a center for firstgeneration and transfer students, and they were intentional about using warm and bright colors reminiscent of the southwest, and hung pictures of cultural icons such as frida khalo (rodriguez & gonzales, 2020). finally, hsis must recruit, hire, and retain faculty and staff on campus who have an expressed commitment to diversity, and to serving diverse students. the research is clear that faculty at hsis continue to be predominantly white (vargas et al., 2019), with calls to increase the diversity of faculty and staff on campus in order to facilitate servingness (garcia et al., 2019). while some institutions now require a diversity, inclusion, and equity statement in their application processes, they should start to think more critically about how faculty show this commitment beyond a potentially performative statement that never results in action. in this study, we found a unique way that faculty expressed their views on diversity, through door decorations, which could easily be a part of the interview process for new faculty and staff at an hsi, with a prompt that would allow candidates to show their mock door decorations. learning from this research, candidates could also be asked about the art in their offices, or to write up a mock proposal for a new mural on campus. future research should continue to explore art, people, and space as diversity at hsis, rather than focusing so intently on crossand same-race interactions, and students’ racialized experiences. moreover, photo elicitation should be used in the research process, as students perceive diversity differently than researchers, with students in this study showing us specific contexts that provide meaning as they think about how hsis express commitment to diversity and servingness. garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 27 references abrica, e. j., garcía-louis, c., & gallaway, c. d. j. (2019). antiblackness in the hispanic-serving community college (hscc) context: black male collegiate experiences through the lens of settler colonial logics. race ethnicity and education, 23(1), 55–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1631781 andrade, l. m. & lundberg, c. a. (2018). the function to serve: a social-justice-oriented investigation of community college mission statement. journal of hispanic higher education, 17(1), 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192716653503 arbelo-marrero, f., & milacci, f. (2016). a phenomenological investigation of the academic persistence of undergraduate hispanic nontraditional students at hispanic serving institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 15(1), 2240. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715584192 arana, r., castañeda-sound, c., blanchard, s., & aguilar, t. e. (2011). indicators of persistence for hispanic undergraduate achievement: toward an ecological model. journal of hispanic higher education, 10(3), 237-251. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192711405058 baker-smith, c., coca, v., goldrick-rab, s., looker, e., richardson, b., williams, t. (2020). #realcollege2020: five years of evidence on campus basic needs insecurity. the hope center for college, community, and justice. https://hope4college.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/02/2019_realcollege_survey_report.pdf banning, j. h. & bartels, s. (1997). a taxonomy: campus physical artifacts as communicators of campus multiculturalism. naspa journal, 35(1), 29-37. https://doi.org/10.2202/00276014.1032 banning, j. h., middleton, v., & deniston, t. l. (2008). using photographs to assess equity climate: a taxonomy. multicultural perspectives, 10(1), 41-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/1521096070186961 boucher, jr., m. l. (2017). introduction: photo methods, the image, and validity. in m. l. b. (ed.), participant empowerment through photo-elicitation in ethnographic education research: new perspectives and approaches (pp. 3-24). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-31964413-4_1 boyatzis, r. e. (1998). transforming qualitative information: thematic analysis and code development. sage. copes, h., tchoula, w., brookman, f., & ragland, j. (2018). photo-elicitation interviews with vulnerable populations: practical and ethical considerations. deviant behavior, 39(4), 475-494. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2017.1407109 cuellar, m. (2019). creating hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) and emerging hsis: latina/o college choice at 4-year institutions. american journal of education, 125(2), 231 258. https://doi.org/10.1086/701250 cuellar, m., & johnson-ahorlu, r. n. (2016). examining the complexity of the campus racial climate at a hispanic serving community college. community college review, 44(2), 135-152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552116632584 davila, v. m. & montelongo, r. (2020). considering digital technology and innovative learning spaces as “structures for serving” at hispanic serving institutions. in g. a. garcia (ed.), hispanic serving institutions (hsis) in practice: defining “servingness” at hsis (pp. 117 134). information age publishing. de los ríos, c.v. ( 2017). picturing ethnic studies: photovoice and youth literacies of social https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1631781 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192716653503 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715584192 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192711405058 https://hope4college.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2019_realcollege_survey_report.pdf https://hope4college.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2019_realcollege_survey_report.pdf https://doi.org/10.2202/0027-6014.1032 https://doi.org/10.2202/0027-6014.1032 https://doi.org/10.1080/1521096070186961 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64413-4_1 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64413-4_1 https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2017.1407109 https://doi.org/10.1086/701250 https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552116632584 students’ perceptions of diversity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 28 action. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 61(1), 15– 24. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.631 desai, s. r., & abeita, a. (2017). institutional microaggressions at a hispanic serving institution: a diné (navajo) woman utilizing tribal critical race theory through student activism. equity & excellence in education, 50(3), 275289. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2017.1336498 espinosa, l. l., turk, j. m., taylor, m., & chessman, h. m. (2019). race and ethnicity in higher education: a status report. american council on education. garces, l. m. & jayakumar, u. m. (2014). dynamic diversity: towards a contextual understanding of critical mass. educational researcher, 43(3), 115 124. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x14529814 garcia, g. a. (2013). challenging the manufactured identity of hispanic serving institutions: co-constructing an organizational identity. unpublished dissertation. university of california, los angeles. garcia, g. a. (2018). decolonizing hispanic-serving institutions: a framework for organizing. journal of hispanic higher education, 17(2), 132-147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717734289 garcia, g. a. (2019). becoming hispanic-serving institutions: opportunities at colleges and universities. johns hopkins university. garcia, g. a. & dwyer, b. (2018). exploring college students’ identification with an organizational identity for serving latina/o students at a hispanic serving institution (hsi) and emerging hsi. american journal of education, 124(2) 191 215. https://doi.org/10.1086/695609 garcia, g. a., & koren, e. r. (2020). connecting research, practice, and policy to define “servingness” at hispanic serving institutions. in g. a. garcia (ed.), hispanic serving institutions (hsis) in practice: defining “servingness” at hsis (pp. 1 20). information age publishing. garcia, g. a., núñez, a.-m., sansone, v. a. (2019). toward a multidimensional conceptual framework for understanding “servingness” in hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): a synthesis of the research. review of educational research, 89(5), 745-784. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 gonzalez, e., ortega, g., molina, m., & lizalde, g. (2020). what does it mean to be a hispanic serving institution? listening to the latina/o/x voices of students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 33(8), 796–809. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1751896 grenier, m. (2009). an analysis of public art on university campuses: policies, procedures, and best practices. unpublished dissertation. university of minnesota. guardia, j. r., & evans, n. j. (2008). factors influencing the ethnic identity development of latino fraternity members at a hispanic serving institution. journal of college student development, 49, 163-181. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0011 mcgregor, j. (2004). space, power and the classroom. in forum: for promoting 3-19 comprehensive education (vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 13-18). symposium journals. https://doi.org/10.2304/forum.2004.46.1.2 merriam, s. b. (2009). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. jossey-bass. núñez, a.-m., & bowers, a. j. (2011). exploring what leads high school students to enroll in hispanic-serving institutions: a multilevel analysis. american educational https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.631 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2017.1336498 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x14529814 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717734289 https://doi.org/10.1086/695609 https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1751896 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0011 https://doi.org/10.2304/forum.2004.46.1.2 garcía & zaragoza association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 29 research journal, 48(6), 1286-1313. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831211408061 pedrabissi, d. (2015). public art on university campuses: how art engages with the public space. in proceedings ksds 2015 (pp. 1-4). international council of design. patton, l. d. (2010). a call to action: historical and contemporary reflections on the relevance of campus culture centers in higher education. in l. patton (ed.), culture centers in higher education: perspectives on identity, theory, and practice (pp. xiii-xvii): stylus. rodriguez, p. j. & gonzales, r. m. (2020). mentorship and cultural belonging for first generation and transfer students at an hsi in south texas. in g. a. garcia (ed.), hispanic serving institutions (hsis) in practice: defining “servingness” at hsis (pp. 295-312). information age publishing. saldaña, j. (2013). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. sage. samura, m. (2015). architecture of diversity: using the lens and language of space to examine racialized experiences of students of color on college campuses. in p. a. pasque, n. ortega, j. c. burkhardt, & m. p. ting (eds.), transforming understandings of diversity in higher education: demography, democracy, and discourse. stylus. sanchez, m. e. (2017). perceptions of campus climate and experiences of racial microaggressions for latinos at hispanic-serving institutions. journal of hispanic higher education, 18(3), 240–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717739351 serrano, u. (2020). ‘finding home’: campus racial microclimates and academic homeplaces at a hispanic-serving institution. race ethnicity and education, 120. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2020.1718086 squire, d. (2017). the vacuous rhetoric of diversity: exploring how institutional responses to national racial incidences effect faculty of color perceptions of university commitment to diversity. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 30(8), 728-745. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2017.1350294 valdez, p. l. (2015). an overview of hispanic-serving institutions' legislation: legislation policy formation between 1979 and 1992. in j. p. mendez, i. f. a. bonner, j. méndez-negrete, & r. t. palmer (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions in american higher education: their origin, and present and future challenges (pp. 5-29). stylus. vargas, n., villa-palomino, j., & davis, e. (2019). latinx faculty representation and resource allocation at hispanic serving institutions. race ethnicity and education, 23(1), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1679749 yin, r. k. (2009). case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). sage. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831211408061 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717739351 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2020.1718086 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2017.1350294 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1679749 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ sanchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 191 canyon city by irene sanchez for the students of azusa, ca driving through the canyon city find botanicas and barber shops mercados and mother’s pushing strollers mothers pushing strollers down streets named for a citrus past schools in a city named for a rancho a rancho owned by dalton a man who sided with the mexicans during the mexican american war mexican american war what remains today is a romanticized history but what was erased is the fact that the san gabriel valley is indigenous land indigenous land there are spirits that still echo through these canyons these canyons these mountains i breath the crisp morning air a tardy bell rings as i watch students make their way finding a way wondering why they are here after traveling canyon city association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 192 many roads many roads lead to a classroom they enter holding back a rumble in their bellies too many painful nights painful nights they don’t want to remember nights full of stars they can’t even see the magic they are made of because in the morning they sit where it has been erased, degraded, left out of the curriculum the curriculum the other teachers say it’s too advanced too much too real too challenging because it sounds too much like the truth they call it un-american but this was mexico once this was mexico once i tell them and they don’t believe me you only believe what you see and so they tell me how the cops stopped them the other night, how another has slept in a car how another has been locked up beat up told they are good for nothing no good mexicans latinos chicanos brown brown they tell me sanchez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 193 you get stopped around here for looking suspicious for looking like you don’t belong belong where? read for yourself in these books these books were banned in arizona books are still banned in this country because they don’t want you to know the truth about yourself and where you come from if you tell a people they are inferior long enough they begin to believe it listen close as darkness falls the spirits begin to rattle their bones hear them echo through the canyon as helicopters loom overhead shining light you run to darkness as the palm trees sway listen to the song they are teaching you a song that says no more running away from the truth no more lies no more foreign miners tax no more celebrating lynchings of mexicans or hangman trees no more mexican schools no more bracero program no more mexicans can only swim on mondays because they empty the dirty water so the white people can swim on tuesday no more unequal schools no more draft to vietnam no more racial profiling, school to prison pipeline, or police brutality no more deportations no more ice no more calling us names no more calling us animals no more putting our children in cages but mostly no more racist counselors or teachers telling you no no you can’t go to college or take this class about yourself no more go back to mexico canyon city association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 194 no more go back to where you came from no more go back to where you came from no more stay where you are supposed to be here right here where we tell you you’re supposed to be tell them where you’re from tell them you are brown tell them you are beautiful tell them you are a smoking mirror revealing truth tell them you are flint and that means your words will cut anyone who tries to tell you are anything but brilliant tell them you are the dreams of your ancestors and how their spirits became butterflies who flew to the night sky and became the stars they watch over you tell them who you are and let the canyons echo your name volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 factors influencing optimism for degree attainment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 120 factors influencing optimism for degree attainment in latino first-generation college students laura f. romo diana magana gabriela gutierrez-serrano university of california, santa barbara abstract latino first-generation college students face a unique set of challenges that are not part of the college experience of their non-first-generation counterparts. nonetheless, many latinos remain optimistic about overcoming barriers that might impede their educational pursuits. the present study was aimed at exploring factors that contribute to latino students’ positive expectations for degree attainment. utilizing data from a large online survey administered at a four-year hispanic serving institution (hsi), we found that competency beliefs and persistent determination to overcome challenges significantly influences students’ optimism. in addition, strong connections with institutional agents (largely, faculty and student affairs staff) emerged as significant contributing factors. students who reported having close relationships with their parents also reported a greater degree of optimism about postsecondary success. implications for programs and services to improve the college experiences of latino first-generation student, enhance optimism, and increase retention are discussed. keywords: latino undergraduates, first-generation, persistence, optimism, hispanic serving institution, hsis doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.408 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.408 romo, magana & gutierrez-serrano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 121 despite increases in diversity, colleges and universities across the nation continue to struggle to retain and graduate students of color to the same degree as their white and asian counterparts (shapiro et al., 2017). latino students (both men and women) who are firstgeneration college students, defined as being the first family member to attend college, are especially at risk for negative outcomes (crisp & nora, 2010; fisher, 2007). although today more latino students are enrolling in higher education than ever before (snyder, de brey, & dillow, 2019), retention rates remain unacceptably low (stephens, hamedani, & destin, 2014). the discrepancy between the enrollment and graduation rates for latino students has implications for their social, political, and community advancement. examining the nuanced experiences of latino undergraduates during their pursuit of a higher education degree is therefore warranted. models of student departure and retention have typically focused on the institutional and environmental factors that impact decisions to withdraw from colleges. for example, many latino students who enter higher education are academically unprepared to engage in college level coursework. pre-college factors, such as low high school grade averages have been linked to college grade point averages (gpa) (e.g., friedman & mandel, 2009). financial limitations are another factor. latino students are more likely than members of other racial/ethnic groups to work while in college and to fret about finances interfering with their ability to complete college (longerbeam, sedlacek, & alatorre, 2004). in addition, many students experience culture shock once inside the academic environment. for example, latino students often face discrimination and prejudicial behavior (yosso, 2005), making it difficult for them to develop a sense of belonging (hurtado & carter, 1997). such factors decrease the likelihood of students persisting to degree (crisp & nora, 2010). the primary focus on identifying academic and social factors that ‘‘pull’’ latino students away from completing a college degree limits our understanding of the strengths latino students possess that enable them to succeed. the role of motivation is understudied in this regard. according to tinto (2017), “persistence or its active form – persisting – is another way of speaking of motivation. it is the quality that allows someone to continue in pursuit of a goal even when challenges arise. a student has to want to persist to degree completion in order to expend considerable effort to do so” (p. 2). identifying which factors fuel or diminish latino factors influencing optimism for degree attainment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 122 students’ motivation can improve our understanding of why many students fail to attain a college degree, despite having strong values and aspirations. one potential factor contributing to motivation is optimism – that is, one’s tendency to hold positive expectations even when confronted with adversity or difficulty (scheier, carver, & bridges, 2001). an optimistic outlook can have a profound impact on academic performance and persistence to degree, as it helps students cope with the academic pressures and demands of university life (chemers, hu, & garcia, 2001). if students are not optimistic about succeeding, they may withdraw because there is little reason to continue to invest their efforts (vuong, brown-welty, & tracz, 2010). thus, a greater degree of optimism provides a source of resiliency to students when dealing with academic challenges. the current study contributes to our understanding of the determinants of optimism, or positive expectations for degree attainment, among a sample of latino first-generation college students (both men and women) enrolled in a hispanic serving institution (hsi). competency beliefs, determination, and optimism to achieve goals, a person must believe that they have the requisite skills. competency beliefs or self-efficacy (i.e., the belief that one is capable of success at a particular task [bandura, 1977]) in achieving academic goals can contribute to optimism for degree attainment. in a longitudinal study of first-year university student performance and adjustment, chemers et al. (2001) found that students who were more efficacious and held stronger competency beliefs tended on average to be highly optimistic about their college performance. without a belief in their ability to succeed, even those students with the ability to do so may struggle to remain optimistic regarding academic success. in the current study, we explored the influence of competency beliefs on optimism for degree attainment in latino first-generation college students. optimism can play a significant role in the retention of college students by fostering determination (e.g., solberg nes, evans, & segerstrom, 2009), also referred to as perseverance or grit. many latino students perceive that hard work, dedication, and effort contribute to their academic success (cavazos, johnson, fielding et al., 2010; o’neal, espino, goldthrite et al., 2016). as found by chemers et al. (2001), optimistic students perceive their university experiences not as threats but as challenges, which they believe they can successfully handle. romo, magana & gutierrez-serrano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 123 hence, perceiving that they are in control of their academic outcomes, optimistic students pursue their educational goals with greater determination. the association between the determination and an optimistic mindset was a research question of interest that was further examined in this study. connections with others and optimism another goal of the current study was to explore how interactions and connections with important others contribute to optimism toward degree attainment. for many latino students, navigating campus culture and finding student resources are challenging aspects of adjusting to college life (maietta, 2016; torres, reiser, lepeau et al., 2006). positive interactions with individuals in academic, personal, and support service centers can influence a students’ sense of connection to the university as well as enhance their ability to navigate campus culture, meet academic expectations, and graduate (habley & mcclanahan, 2004; tinto, 2017). in addition to relationships with student support service staff, positive faculty-student interactions have a beneficial impact on students’ academic well-being. for example, research has found that the degree to which latino students perceive their intellectual capabilities is positively correlated with the frequency and quality of their interactions with faculty (espinoza-parra & collins, 2018). although support from institution agents seems to enhance student functioning, a recognition of its benefits specific to maintaining an optimistic mindset has not fully emerged in the literature. support from peers can also enhance student functioning by cultivating a sense of belonging to the university (tinto, 2017). latino students who engage in purposeful activities, such as developing connections to peers through clubs and organizations, are more likely to be satisfied with their college or university experience and hence are more likely to stay committed to their educational goals (e.g., otero, rivas, & rivera, 2007). relationships with peers from similar backgrounds are also beneficial because latino students become aware that students "like them" do belong in the academic environment (stephens, brannon, markus, & nelson, 2015). as students learn that students with backgrounds like theirs experience similar academic challenges yet are able to succeed (gutierrez-serrano, romo, & chagolla, 2020), they may develop positive expectations for their own academic success. little is known about the extent of influence that peer connections have on latino students’ optimism for degree attainment. https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy.library.ucsb.edu:9443/doi/full/10.3102/0034654314551064 factors influencing optimism for degree attainment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 124 positive relationships and interactions with parents may also be a factor contributing to optimism in latino college students. in various studies, parental support and encouragement have been found to be essential components of latina’s decisions to attend college and make the necessary college adjustments (cavazos et. al, 2010; melendez & melendez, 2010). however, a few studies have suggested that family connections create more challenges for latino students because their strong desire to continue fulfilling family obligations despite greater academic demands can present obstacles (e.g., covarrubias, valle, laiduc et al., 2019; espinoza, 2010). the extent to which closeness with parents contributes to latino students’ optimism for degree attainment is in need of further study. the current study while college enrollment among latino students is increasing, graduation rates for this group remain low, indicating a need to better understand student resiliency in pursuing academic goals. one factor that may differentiate students who succeed from those who do not is having an optimistic mindset. the purpose of this study was to explore determinants of positive expectations for degree attainment among latino first-generation college students. this study addressed the following research questions from data gathered through a large online survey administered at a four-year hsi: 1. how do latino students’ competency beliefs and determination to overcome challenges contribute to their optimism for degree attainment above and beyond academic performance (i.e., gpa)? 2. how do latino students’ connections with significant others—institutional agents (faculty, student services support staff), peers, and parents—contribute to their optimism for degree attainment? method participants participants were 198 first-generation latino undergraduates (154 female, 44 male) enrolled at a four-year hsi in central california, in which students of hispanic heritage make up at least 25% of the student population. the students identified as mexican american, latina/x, chicana/x, or hispanic. the students’ undergraduate standings were sophomore = 37.4%; romo, magana & gutierrez-serrano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 125 junior = 28.3%; and senior = 34.3%. about 94% of the students (n = 187) reported that they received need-based financial aid. the mean gpa was 3.09. procedures survey measures were collected as part of a larger institutionally sponsored study. the study was designed to examine the factors that contributed to the persistence of underrepresented first-generation college students, in order to better serve their needs and improve their educational outcomes. flyers describing the study were distributed across campus offices and sent out through email listservs. announcements about the survey were made in courses in which first-generation students were enrolled. interested students were provided with an individualized link to access the survey questions, which were answered on students’ electronic devices. the survey took approximately 15–20 minutes to complete. the students who participated received a five-dollar starbucks gift card. measures optimism for degree attainment. optimism for degree attainment was assessed by summed ratings associated with two statements: “i have confidence that i will achieve my academic goals”; “i feel confident that i will finish my degree and graduate.” on a scale from 1 (completely inaccurate) to 5 (completely accurate), students rated the extent to which they believed the statements to be accurate (m = 8.3, sd =1.8). higher scores denoted greater levels of optimism. competency beliefs. competency beliefs were assessed by summed ratings associated with three statements. on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very often), students rated how frequently they attributed their struggles to intellectual abilities (m = 9.8, sd = 2.9). a sample item was: “do you ever attribute your struggles in courses to ‘students being more talented or smarter than you?’” (reverse-scored). higher scores denoted greater levels of competency beliefs. determination to succeed. determination to succeed was assessed by summed ratings associated with six statements. on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree), students rated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each item (m = 14.7, sd = 2.7). two sample items were: when i experience academic challenges: “i feel driven to put factors influencing optimism for degree attainment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 126 in more effort to succeed”; “i lose motivation to work hard” (reverse-scored). higher scores denoted greater levels of determination. faculty/staff connectedness. the extent to which the students felt connected to faculty and student affairs staff was assessed using a composite variable of summed ratings to two statements. on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree), students rated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each item (m = 4.9, sd = 1.5). the items were: “there are faculty on campus who i feel comfortable talking to about myself”; “there are staff who i feel comfortable talking to about myself.” higher scores denoted a greater degree of connectedness. peer connectedness. peer connectedness was measured using a composite variable of summed rating to five statements. on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree), students rated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each item (m = 14.4, sd = 2.4). two sample items included: “i feel well-connected to students on my campus”; “i have friends on campus that i could go to for emotional support.” higher scores denoted a greater degree of peer connectedness. parental connectedness. the extent to which the students had a close relationship with their parents was assessed using a composite variable of summed ratings to 11 statements. on a scale 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree), students rated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each item (m = 33.7, sd =11.5). two sample items were: “i can discuss my beliefs with my parent without feeling uncomfortable or embarrassed”; “i am very satisfied with the way my parent and i speak to each other.” higher scores denoted a greater degree of parental closeness. plan of analyses correlations were computed to assess the relationships among the variables. a regression analysis assessed the influence of competency beliefs and determination (independent variables) on optimism for degree attainment (dependent variable). grade point average (gpa) was included as a control variable, given its positive relationship with persistence. a second regression analysis examined the effect of close relationships with faculty/staff, peers, and parents on optimism for degree attainment, also controlling for gpa. results romo, magana & gutierrez-serrano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 127 correlations among the variables as indicated by our pearson correlation analyses (see table 1), all but three of the variables positively correlated with one another (ps < .05). peer connectedness was not significantly associated with optimism for success, competency beliefs, and parental closeness. table 1 correlations among the variables optimism for degree attainment competenc y beliefs determinatio n staff/faculty connections peer connection s competency beliefs .34*** determination .48*** .39*** staff/faculty connections .29*** .22** .37*** peer connections .12 .13 .24** .48*** parental connectedness .26*** .15* .24** .17* .08 *p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .001 regression analyses a hierarchical regression analysis was performed to explore the relationships between competency beliefs and determination to succeed and optimism for degree attainment, controlling for gpa. the analysis was found to be statistically significant, f(188) = 23.39, p < .001, r2 = .28. students with higher competency beliefs ( =.17, p = .015) and higher levels of determination ( = .39, p <. 001), as well as higher gpas ( = .14, p = .032), had a greater sense of optimism. the larger predictor was students’ reports of determination. a hierarchical regression analysis was performed to explore the relationships between the three connectedness variables (i.e., (1) faculty/staff; (2) peers; and (3) parents) and optimism for degree attainment, controlling for gpa. the analysis was found to be statistically significant f(197) = 7.94, p < .001, r2 = .14. students with stronger connections to faculty and staff ( = .20, p = .006) and closer relationships with parents ( = .19, p = .008), as well as higher gpas ( = .17, p =.016), had a greater sense of optimism. peer connectedness was not significantly associated with optimism. factors influencing optimism for degree attainment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 128 discussion the present study explored factors that contribute to optimism for degree attainment among latino college students who are the first in their families to attend college. our findings show that, while high academic performance contributes to optimism, confidence and determination to persist through hurdles also play a major role. more specifically, we found that students who are determined to overcome academic challenges, and who perceive they have the ability to do so, tend to be more optimistic about reaching their academic goals than students who are less determined and less self-efficacious. these attitudes and beliefs are fostered through meaningful relationships with faculty and student affairs staff, as evidenced by the positive associations among these variables. positive interactions (e.g., understanding, helpfulness) with student support service staff help demystify the college process, as well as make students aware that they are members of a community that cares about them. in addition, a sense of belonging, increased confidence, and resulting optimism can be fostered through positive interactions with faculty, as seen with mentored undergraduate research opportunities (lopatto, 2010). faculty involvement can play an influential role on students’ educational trajectories, even if the interaction is informal. for example, shepherd and sheu (2014) found that students who reported having more informal contact with faculty also reported higher academic achievement and stronger intentions to persist to degree attainment. our findings also point to positive relationships with parents as an important contributing factor to latino students’ optimism for degree attainment. although parents of first-generation college students are often unable to provide their children with the information necessary to successfully navigate complex higher education systems, they provide strong moral and emotional support that sustains their children’s drive to do what is necessary to achieve their goals. parental closeness may foster optimism and strengthen persistence by instilling confidence in their children, which may buffer them when they encounter feelings of isolation and self-doubt. relationships with parents also contribute to passion and perseverance towards long-term goals through the internalization of family values. many latino students report that they are driven to succeed in order to make their parents proud, and to repay them for their sacrifices that enabled them to attend college (ballysingh, 2019; gutierrez, romo, & chagolla, 2020). a close interdependent relationship with their families may also enhance student resilience by increasing their commitment to pursue a meaningful major or degree. for romo, magana & gutierrez-serrano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 129 example, motivation to attend college to give back to one’s home community in the future may be a more powerful academic motivator for latino than for white students because of latino students’ collectivist cultural orientations (guiffrida, lynch, wall, & abel, 2013). in addition, many latino students report that they are determined to persevere not only for their own gain, but also to pave the way for others in their families and community to move forward in their education and careers (menchaca, mills, & leo, 2016). given the influential role of parents on the development of determination and optimism in their children, it is surprising that there are few institutional programs (beyond freshman year) that inform parents on how to support their children as they deal with the pressures related to the many demands of college life. current support programs tend to focus on helping to ease the transition process, addressing the common first-year challenges encountered by parents and their children. however, students pass through different stages during their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years, with different concerns, problems, and needs at each stage. ideally parents would be given an understanding of the university experience beyond freshman year, so that they can continue to be supportive as their children become upper classmen, and proceed toward graduation. limitations and future research there are a few limitations to consider in this study. because data was collected at a single institution, the findings may not reflect the experiences of latino first-generation students at all hsis. in addition, data was collected through a structured survey with closed-ended questions. open-ended questions could have yielded more information on how the various variables of interest influence optimism, and produce a richer definition of the concept of optimism itself. the study could also be improved through longitudinal methods to assess whether the degree of optimism changes at different time points along the college trajectory, and whether optimistic students are indeed more likely to persist to degree attainment. conclusion the task for hsis is to implement policies and practices that nurture a healthy sense of confidence, and foster first-generation students’ perceptions that success is within their control. when students are confident, they act decisively to achieve the outcomes they envision for themselves and find ways to overcome the inevitable obstacles that arise. these attitudes in factors influencing optimism for degree attainment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 130 turn sustain students’ motivation to strive to complete their educational goals, and to foster positive expectations that their efforts to attain a degree will pay off. initiatives and programs that have the potential to amplify the positive influence of faculty, campus support services staff, and parents merit exploration as hsis pursue their best practices. notes this study was funded by the healthy culture research and education foundation. https://healthyculture.com/ correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to laura f. romo, gevirtz graduate school of education, university of california, santa barbara, santa barbara, california, 93106-9490. email: lromo@ucsb.edu romo, magana & gutierrez-serrano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 131 references ballysingh, t. a. (2019). aspirational and high-achieving latino college men who strive “por mi madre”: toward a proposed model of maternal cultural wealth. journal of hispanic higher education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192719870925 bandura, a. (1977). self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. psychological review, 84(2), 191-215. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.84.2.191 cavazos jr, j., johnson, m. b., fielding, c., cavazos, a. g., castro, v., & vela, l. (2010). a qualitative study of resilient latina/o college students. journal of latinos and education, 9(3), 172-188. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431003761166 chemers, m. m., hu, l. t., & garcia, b. f. (2001). academic self-efficacy and first year college student performance and adjustment. journal of educational psychology, 93(1), 5564. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.55 covarrubias, r., valle, i., laiduc, g., & azmitia, m. (2019). “you never become fully independent”: family roles and independence in first-generation college students. journal of adolescent research, 34(4), 381–410. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558418788402 crisp, g., & nora, a. (2010). hispanic student success: factors influencing the persistence and transfer decisions of latino community college students enrolled in developmental education. research in higher education, 51, 175–194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162009-9151-x espinoza, r. (2010). the good daughter dilemma: latinas managing family and school demands. journal of hispanic higher education, 9(4), 317-330. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192710380919 espinoza-parra, o., & collins, c. s. (2018). individual and institutional factors that contribute to student learning among latina and latino undergraduate students. journal of latinos and education, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2018.1518140 fisher, m. j. (2007). settling into campus life: differences by race/ethnicity in college involvement and outcomes. journal of higher education, 78, 125–161. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2007.0009 friedman, b. a., & mandel, r. g. (2009). the prediction of college student academic performance and retention: application of expectancy and goal setting theories. journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice, 11(2), 227-246. https://doi.org/10.2190/cs.11.2.d guiffrida, d. a., lynch, m. f., wall, a. f., & abel, d. s. (2013). do reasons for attending college affect academic outcomes?: a test of a motivational model from a self-determination theory perspective. journal of college student development, 54(2), 121-139. gutierrez-serrano, g., romo, l. f., & chagolla, d. (2020). first-generation latina college students’ motivation to persist: an attribution theory and self-determination theory perspective. manuscript under review. habley, w. r., & mcclanahan, r. (2004). what works in student retention? four-year public colleges. act, inc. retrieved at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed515398.pdf https://doi.org/10.1037/e420552008-001 hurtado, s., & carter, d. f. (1997). effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on latino college students' sense of belonging. sociology of education, 324345. https://doi.org/10.2307/2673270 longerbeam, s. d., sedlacek, w. e., & alatorre, h. m. (2004). in their own voices: latino student retention. naspa journal, 41(3), 538-550. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192719870925 https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.84.2.191 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431003761166 https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.55 https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558418788402 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-009-9151-x https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-009-9151-x https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192710380919 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2018.1518140 https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2007.0009 https://doi.org/10.2190/cs.11.2.d https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed515398.pdf https://doi.org/10.1037/e420552008-001 https://doi.org/10.2307/2673270 factors influencing optimism for degree attainment association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 132 lopatto, d. (2010). undergraduate research as a high-impact student experience. peer review, 12(2), 27-30. maietta, h. (2016). unfamiliar territory: meeting the career development needs of firstgeneration college student. nace journal, 77(2), 19-25. melendez, m. c., & melendez, n. b. (2010). the influence of parental attachment on the college adjustment of white, black, and latina/hispanic women: a cross-cultural investigation. journal of college student development, 51(4), 419-435. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0144 menchaca, v. d., mills, s. j., & leo, f. (2016). latina titans: a journey of inspiration. administrative issues journal: connecting education, practice, and research, 6(2), 96-115. o’neal, c. r., espino, m. m., goldthrite, a., morin, m. f., weston, l., hernandez, p., & fuhrmann, a. (2016). grit under duress: stress, strengths, and academic success among non-citizen and citizen latina/o first-generation college students. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 38(4), 446-466. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986316660775 otero, r., rivas, o., rivera, r. (2007). predicting persistence of hispanic students in their first year of college. journal of hispanic higher education, 6, 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192706298993 scheier, m. f., carver, c. s., & bridges, m. w. (2001). optimism, pessimism, and psychological well-being. in e. c. chang (ed.), optimism & pessimism: implications for theory, research, and practice (pp. 189–216). american psychological association. shapiro, d., dundar, a., huie, f., wakhungu, p.k., yuan, x., nathan, a. & bhimdiwali, a. (2017, december). completing college: a national view of student completion rates – fall 2011 cohort (signature report no. 14). herndon, va: national student clearinghouse research center. shepherd, m. m., & sheu, t. s. (2014). the effects of informal faculty-student interaction and use of information technology on non-traditional students' persistence intentions and educational outcomes. journal of higher education theory & practice, 14(2). snyder, t.d., de brey, c., and dillow, s.a. (2019). digest of education statistics 2017 (nces 2018-070). national center for education statistics, institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education. washington, dc. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018070.pdf solberg nes, l., evans, d. r., & segerstrom, s. c. (2009). optimism and college retention: mediation by motivation, performance, and adjustment. journal of applied social psychology, 39(8), 1887-1912. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00508.x stephens, n. m., hamedani, m. g., & destin, m. (2014). closing the social-class achievement gap: a difference-education intervention improves first-generation students’ academic performance and all students’ college transition. psychological science, 25(4), 943-953. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613518349 stephens, n. m., brannon, t. n., markus, h. r., & nelson, j. e. (2015). feeling at home in college: fortifying school‐relevant selves to reduce social class disparities in higher education. social issues and policy review, 9(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12008 tinto, v. (2017). through the eyes of students. journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice, 19(3), 254-269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115621917 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0144 https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986316660775 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192706298993 https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018070.pdf https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00508.x https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613518349 https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12008 https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115621917 romo, magana & gutierrez-serrano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 133 torres, v., reiser, a., lepeau, l., davis, l., & ruder, j. (2006). a model of first-generation latino/a college students' approach to seeking academic information. nacada journal, 26(2), 65-70. https://doi.org/10.12930/0271-9517-26.2.65 vuong, m., brown-welty, s., & tracz, s. (2010). the effects of self-efficacy on academic success of first-generation college sophomore students. journal of college student development, 51(1), 50-64. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0109 yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://doi.org/10.12930/0271-9517-26.2.65 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0109 https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 volume 14 issue 2 2020 amae invited issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies guest editors josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ vázquez joaquin’s refusal: an embodied and geographic active subjectivity andrea del carmen vázquez1 university of california, santa cruz abstract this essay explores a latinx, queer and trans, student’s resistance to a gender-neutral restroom at a high school in an agricultural community of the central coast of california. through a close reading of a field note, i analyze joaquin’s narrative of refusal to demonstrate how queer and trans youth engage in an active subjectivity (lugones, 2003). for decolonial philosopher maría lugones (2003), an active subjectivity is the process through which oppressed communities become conscious and critical by engaging in a meaning-making process centered on their socialites. i argue that queer and trans high school students’ active subjectivity is in relation to their embodied knowledges and geographies. the body and space are both critical in learning to think in community and reflexively. joaquin’s refusal of the restroom becomes useful in understanding how queer and trans youth tell narratives of their self, grounded in a social history capable of alternating the story told about space and place. keywords: queer and trans youth, active subjectivity, latinx geographies, queer geographies, resistance doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.362 1 author’s note i have no conflicts of interest to disclose. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to andrea del carmen vázquez at andvazqu@ucsc.edu. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 87 mailto:andvazqu@ucsc.edu https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.362 joaquin’s refusal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 you are concrete. your spatiality, constructed as an intersection following the designs of power, isn’t. (lugones, 2003, p. 10) the high school’s “gay club” sits together during their lunch inside a bungalow classroom off to the backside of the school, across from the school’s barn. i can smell the combination of wet dirt and the manure from the cattle. inside the room, the broken airconditioning exuberates the heat, but the students continue their conversation as they fan their faces with their nail-polished hands, share a family size bag of doritos chips and eat dried mango dipped in a contortion of lime and tajín.2 i watch and listen from a side desk whose cracked tabletop is engraved with a series of f-bombs and whose bottom corners are plastered with old gum. from their discussion, i gather that the only gender-neutral restroom in the school is in the back of the campus near the football field. the toilet flushes occasionally and the restroom doubles as a storage room. the debate at hand is around the type of energy that is worth putting into the restroom. they ask each other how much responsibility they owe the restroom. should they fix it? what is the role of the administration? what school do they want for future queer and trans students? i listen patiently until joaquin, a trans student, says that the restroom marks his body. what does the marked body uncover? the queer and trans youth in this ethnography contend with narratives of race, sexuality, gender, and class that serve to surveil, restrain, and contain their bodies. indeed, a growing body of critical scholarship and education researchers have uncovered how systems of oppression and domination work congruently to marginalize and undermine the livelihood of queer and trans youth (brockenbrough, 2013; cruz, 2011; marquez & brockenbrough, 2013; shange, 2019). joaquin’s statement, however, is a bodily and spatial consideration of resistance. his affirmation amounts to a historical knowledge of the high school’s geography that interacts with the multiplicity of experiences of queer and trans youth as they navigate different topographies in search of life-affirming spaces. for queer and trans latinx youth whose lives are dominated in a multiplicity of ways, engaging in the reflexive work of traveling to each other’s worlds allows them to develop a critical consciousness from their socialites, a type of collective meaning-making maría lugones calls an “active subjectivity” (lugones, 2003). the body and space are both critical in learning to think in community and 2 tajín is a popular mexican chili seasoning that is primarily used to season snacks like chips and fruit. 88 vázquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 reflexively. it is through an embodied knowledge that queer and trans youth tell narratives of their self, grounded in a social history capable of alternating the story told about space and place. this essay describes the practice of an active subjectivity in relationship to geographies of oppression and liberation (anzaldúa, 1999; mckittrick, 2006) for queer and trans youth at villa high, a high school in an agricultural community where space and the body are central to a sense of self. a resistance sociality in my ethnography of queer and trans youth, i read resistance through their socialites— a tug and pull of experiences and opinions that brew into a process of meaning-making—away from the common infrastructure of their school where their being is marked by difference. lugones (2003; 2010; 2016) suggests that resistance is not the end goal of a political struggle or a complete action but rather a beginning of a possibility. as such, she defines resistance as: the tension between subjectification (the forming/informing of the subject) and active subjectivity, that minimal sense of agency required for the oppressing ⇔ resisting relation being an active one, without appeal to the maximal sense of agency of the modern subject. (lugones, 2010, p. 746) for lugones (2003), resistance is the strain within the messy moment one understands the condition of their oppression while simultaneously understanding that that very condition is antithetical to their well-being—“the forming/informing of the subject.” the tension that arises and that is felt from that knowing is the foundation of a possibility for an alternative way of being, distant and different from what oppression makes possible. liberation, in this sense, is the ability of the individual to construct their material being from their own perspective but in relation to others. active subjectivity is a derivation from agency. for many resistance scholars of education, particularly those of marxist and kantian thought (see, for example, aronowitz and giroux, 1985), agency is the ability to break from one’s predetermined condition in order to establish autonomy. however, lugones (2003) understands this framing of agency as too individualistic and an illusion of liberation formulated by dominant groups that lack an understanding of the social dynamics and structures that allow certain individuals to accomplish their emancipatory aims. the subject who can in fact bring its intentions to fruition under this frame of western liberal agency is who lugones (2003) names the “modern subject.” to 89 joaquin’s refusal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 destabilize the individuality of the modern subject, lugones (2003) thinks through an active subjectivity, where one becomes conscious by moving with people, and “by the difficulties as well as the concrete possibilities of such movings” (p. 6). because the “i” is thought through the “we,” lugones (2003) represents an active subjectivity as i ➞ we, wherein the “we” is not necessarily a homogeneous collective. lugones (1987) instead reminds us of the multiplicity of the self and the interdependence on the multiplicities of individuals that help us to make meaning of oppression and domination. through this lens, lugones (1987) also reminds us of the existence of multiple “worlds of sense” and the multiple selves that attend to those worlds. “world” for lugones (2003) is a spatial temporality through which the social is made—a “world” where one is subjected to inescapable oppression, where refusal that is read as defiance may exist alongside another “world” where refusal is an act of liberation (p. 55). the trick is in learning how to read the distinction. throughout my time with the queer and trans youth in this ethnographic work, i witnessed various moments in which their resistant practices were opaque by logics of delinquency in their school. criminalized was the errantry of a queer youth with alcoholic parents who would skip school after lunch to go feed their younger sibling. to understand this youth’s negotiation, not as disobedience but rather as an enactment of love, dignity, and selfsovereignty, one must have the ability to travel to their world and learn “what it is to be them, and what it is to be ourselves in their eyes” (lugones, 1987, p. 17). the exercise of world traveling, of leaving our world of sense to willfully move into one another’s world of sense as they see it, is the technique through which one comes to understand a communal but often opposing syntax of resistance and afford an understanding of oppression as a process that is never truly complete. lugones (2003) teaches us that the relation between oppressing ⇔ being oppressed is always ongoing. as she eloquently writes, “resisting meets oppressing enduringly. it is the active subject resisting ⇔ oppressing that is the protagonist of our own creation” (lugones, 2003, p. 31). in other words, our learning to recognize others’ reclamations to dispossession—a gesture of refusal, a rainbow bracelet—by traveling to their world of sense steals oppression's success. when we fail to recognize each other’s worlds, when we cease to travel within another’s geography, we also fail to render oppression futile. 90 vázquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 a geography of the body the u.s.–mexican border es una herida abierta where the third world grates against the first and bleeds. and before a scab forms it hemorrhages again, the lifeblood of two worlds merging to form a third country. (anzaldúa, 1999, p. 25) in the borderlands/you are the battleground (anzaldúa, 1999, p. 216) when gloria anzaldúa (1999) writes of the u.s.–mexican border as an open wound— una herida abierta—she writes the land onto her body. through her poetry and essays, anzaldúa (1999) gifts her readers a map with a different set of topographies, where borders expose flesh, healing is contested by an arrangement of rugged edges, and blood gives birth to a different set of landscapes. anzaldúa (1999) also writes the body into the land. she tells us of bones, legs, and lips as the locations of a war for her own being. her sense of body and land, as synonymous and tethered together, is a declaration that the body is inscribed as territory, rendered conquerable, and made property (anzaldúa, 1999; cruz, 2001; mckittrick, 2006). indeed, as anzaldúa (1999) endures the hauntings from the colonial past and imperial present at the borderlands, her writings illuminate how through the body the border extends past the u.s.–mexico nexus and continues to define a broader latinx community as foreign and out of place (cahuas, 2019, para. 12). no wonder claiming ownership to one’s body and stitching our made faces (anzaldúa, 1990) are acts of insurgency. geography, subjectivity, and the body are intimately connected (cruz, 2001; mckittrick, 2006). in the broad sense, geography refers to the social arrangement of space and the systems of meanings produced through such arrangements (lefebvre and nicholson-smith, 1991; mckittrick, 2006; massey, 2005). as such, geographies are often determined by physical and material objects like highways and roads but also by non-physical items imbued with human meaning and signification like borders and territories. the meaning-making that happens through space, therefore, has the power to organize and naturalize human hierarchies and to displace differences in order to make particular bodies seem misplaced (mckittrick, 2006). in “toward an epistemology of a brown body,” cindy cruz (2001) asks, “how does the brown body know?” (p. 658). to interrogate her question, cruz (2001) utilizes anzaldúa’s (1999) mestiza consciousness as a methodology to outline how, when traversing different world 91 joaquin’s refusal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 landscapes, the brown body negotiates transcultural spaces equipped with the “tactics and worldviews” that help us change and develop (cruz, 2001, p. 661). the brown body, cruz (2001) asserts, is capable of rearranging subjectivities and of “comprising the impetus for the mitigation of racialized, classed, and queered intersections” (p. 660) in the production of new forms of being. anzaldúa (1999) exemplifies the ways in which the body is always/already supplied with the necessary momentum to shift and adjust. indeed, in borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza (1999) she writes of the body at u.s.–mexican border as a: 1,950 mile–long open wound / dividing a pueblo, a culture, / running down the length of my body, / staking fence rods in my flesh, / splits me splits me / me raja me raja / this is my home / this thin edge of / barbwire. / but the skin of the earth is seamless. / the sea cannot be fenced, / el mar does not stop at borders / to show the white man what she thought of his arrogance. / yemayá blew that wire fence down. (p. 25) anzaldúa’s (1999) proclamation is that her body is inescapable from the violent tear in the land that splits her and the u.s. and mexico nation-states. through this perspective, one can understand the brown body as entrenched in “divergent thinking” (cruz, 2001, p. 661), allowing anzaldúa (1999) to negotiate her relationship to herself according to the transformation that she undergoes as she moves through different geographies and worlds of sense. but she is seamless like the ocean. without fences to contain her. incapable of being “disciplined to obey the dominant social and cartographic order of borders” (cahuas, 2019, para. 15). in this sense, anzaldúa’s (1999) open wounds are not symptomatic of a fragmented body. rather, anzaldúa’s (1999) open wounds are the spillage of her “resistance to the mutilation [emphasis added]” of the brown body (cruz, 2001, p. 661). before a scab forms, it hemorrhages again, overflowing with her sense of self and a sense of place. it is not surprising then, that anzaldúa (1999) finds a home at the thin edge of barbed wire, where the lifeblood of two worlds merge together to form a third country, a limen from her plurality. the narratives, memories, and histories that are prompted from within the brown body remind us that space is socially constructed and therefore alterable (mckittrick, 2006). because the brown body is a location of multiple ways of knowing, it is capable of charting new geographies that insist “on the possibilities for latinx life in the most inhospitable of places” (cahuas, 2019, para. 15) 92 vázquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 a method of faithful witnessing how does one recognize resistance? a rich genealogy of women of color have asserted that traditional understandings of knowledge production have forced them to create and develop alternative methodologies for the study of their communities (collins, 1989; combahee river collective, 1983; lorde, 1984; moraga & anzaldúa, 1981). in following the teachings of women of color researchers, scholars, and cultural practitioners, this ethnography is grounded on a lugonian framework of faithful witnessing (lugones, 2003) or what yomaira c. figueroa (2015) describes as a “method of collaborating with those who are silenced” (p. 642). in the introduction to pilgrimages/peregrinajes: theorizing coalition against multiple oppressions, lugones (2003) writes that faithful witnessing is an epistemic praxis of “conveying meaning” to oppositional thoughts and movements fashioned by “subjects negotiating life in the tension of various oppressing ⇔ resisting relations” (p. 21). as such, she states that: to witness faithfully is difficult, given the manyness of worlds of sense related through power so that oppressive and fragmenting meanings saturate many worlds of sense in hard to detect ways. a collaborator witnesses on the side of power, while a faithful witness witnesses against the grain of power. to witness faithfully one must be able to sense resistance, to interpret behavior as resistant even when it is dangerous, when that interpretation places one psychologically against common sense, or when one is moved to act in collision with common sense, with oppression. (lugones, 2003, p. 21) indeed, a method of faithful witnessing “requires researchers to develop literacies that are differential” (cruz, 2011, p. 550); in other words, it requires a grammar that enables a reading that produces meaning across multiple “worlds of sense.” a commitment to witness faithfully defuses the dominant narrative of a singular interpretation of truth and knowledge (figueroa, 2015). as such, ethnographers who witness faithfully must be responsible for two things: first, they must recognize oppression, in all of its subtleties, and second, they must recognize the myriad of ways in which subjects assert their dignity and humanity in spaces where these practices would otherwise be illegible. witnessing faithfully, however, can be dangerous. in underscoring a thread to domination—in telling the story of how the oppressed challenge national investments of dispossession—faithful witnessing ruptures the knowability of domination, often naturalized by liberal and progressive notions of equity. telling a different 93 joaquin’s refusal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 story than school principals, district officials, and education non-profit organizations is a treacherous act. however, it is in the faithful witnessing of the moments of deceptions, stubbornness, and gestures that refuse violence that ethnographers can actively participate in the declaration of other voices and the affirmation of other truths. certainly, as figueroa (2015) writes, “without this kind of recognition, histories are erased, silenced, and ultimately invalidated as human experience” (p. 644). an ethnography of queer resistance in la villa la villa is a pseudonym for a town widely known as mexican and field working. villa high, where this ethnography takes place, is the oldest educational institution in the town. central to the story of la villa is a strong and deep history of immigration and agricultural labor that pays homage to the legacy of the bracero program on the west coast of the united states. as such, villa high’s yearbooks tell the story of immigration and racial segregation, with each turn of the page literally illustrating the transition from a homogeneously white to a homogeneously latinx, but primarily mexican, school. villa high is a title i school, and the year i first started visiting, the school increased its student population to a total of 2,170 students. the stories at the center of this ethnographic work are the product of two years of active participation at the high school. all names of the protagonists are pseudonyms. during class periods, i assisted in a u.s. history class where i met some of the students whose voices are central to this story. other students, like joaquin, i met after being invited to the “gay club” which met once a week during lunchtime and with eight to twelve high school students from all grades. conversations during this time allowed me to create bonds with these youth and gave me insight into their social world. lunchtime, i quickly learned, is an opportunity for students to share stories of migration and homelessness, heartbreaks and crushes, and other secretive adventures away from the gaze of power that often interrupts and restructures their narratives. throughout the two years at villa high, i utilized field notes to capture the negotiation and resistance processes that took place as participants reflected on their experiences as queer and trans youth in their school. as students interacted with their peers and staff, i wrote descriptive notes that resembled scenes of plays often with dialogue (emerson et al., 2011). at times when i was alone walking the neighborhood and the corridors of the school, i engaged in ethnographic sketches—descriptive writing of stills much like photographs (emerson et al., 2011). characterizations of the students helped me effectively capture how they talked, moved, 94 vázquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 and the nuance ways students relate to each other without the need of spoken words (emerson et al., 2011). it is important to note that my role as a researcher and as a queer latina is implicated in the collecting of the youths’ stories. it is often common for queer latinx folk to ask “si es familia”3 as a means of investigating someone else's sexuality. these students quickly evaluated my ties to that kinship. therefore, my own lived experience as an out queer black latina, combined with a youthful aesthetic, facilitated a transition from peripheral researcher to trustworthy queer kin with an ambiguous role as an adult in the school. this, no doubt, facilitated trustworthy relationships. refusal as a historical and spatial resistance at the time this field note was written, i had known joaquin for a whole academic year. at seventeen years, he possessed wisdom far beyond his age and took leadership positions in many of the school’s clubs. prior to this conversation, i had participated in one of joaquin’s “safe binding” workshops that he made for his queer and trans peers at school. here, he shared his experience with different binding methods, offering product suggestions, warning others of what would happen if this was not done right and sharing his experience navigating school absence when he needed to rest from the physical fatigue binding caused his body. at that workshop, joaquin offered to share his address to his peers if they felt unsafe having binders shipped to their homes. in another occasion, i witnessed joaquin explaining to his peers the need to make their club a commitment to a safer school and community. this time, he told the story of the time a few students from villa high harassed him and his best friend a few blocks from the school, but the dean of students took no action because the event happened off campus. he proceeded to tell his peers that other students who had graduated from villa high had experienced similar situations. he finished the story by making fun of himself and saying, “i wear these ripped vans, ‘cause they’re lighter to run with.” joaquin’s knowledge of a history of homophobia in and out of his school sets the basis for his refusal of the restroom. audra simpson (2016) defines refusal as a commitment to a historical truth. refusal, in this sense, is the embodied knowledge and understanding that domination and oppression are not one single event but instead are constituted by a history of dispossession. by situating a historical knowing at its core, refusal “maintains and produces [a] sociality through time” 3 familia is the spanish word for family. 95 joaquin’s refusal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 (simpson, 2016, p. 330) that exposes a social-historical vision irreconcilable with liberal progressive projects that propose that dignity has been restored. joaquin’s deep awareness of the past is what allows him to point to the specific way that queer and trans youth continue to experience violence. therefore, joaquin’s refusal to have an x on his back is an attempt at avenging a set of prior injustices and a denial that a gender-neutral restroom is a step toward inclusivity. joaquin’s refusal also proposes that homophobia, transphobia, and sexism are not only bodily or identity based but are spatial acts that illustrate geographic experiences as they are made possible through domination. the home, the restroom, and the liminal borders of villa high and la villa are sites of struggle where queer and trans youth cannot do the emancipatory work their livelihood demands. certainly, part of the work joaquin’s refusal does is link the historical past and present with a recognition of the locations of an urgent struggle for a socially just world. joaquin provides an astute examination and practices of resistance to gendered and sexual domination across different borders that bring into focus queer and trans youths’ complex relationship with geography. active subjectivity as a pedagogy of resistance and geography though joaquin is the president of the student organization, he did not start the conversation. instead, the impetus came from a student who wanted to know if it was okay with the group to beautify the gender-neutral restroom as her community capstone project. when this student asked the question, a freshman learned of the restroom but quickly became disappointed when he also learned that the restroom was by the bleachers, that the toilet did not work properly, and that the custodial staff stored their work items there. he made everyone laugh when he said, “uhh pues, ¿pa’ que? i’d pee my pants before i make it to the toilet.” joaquin was silent for most of the conversation. testosterone had made his face much rounder since the last time i saw him and had broadened his shoulders, but his giving nature ceased to change. the first thing he said came from a space of care—“but is that your job?” he assured the student that if beautifying the bathroom was something she wanted to do, he would be supportive, but reiterated that perhaps this was not a job that she needed to take on. though the conversation was respectful and entangled with jokes and laughter, coming to a conclusion on the matter required narrating different experiences and perspectives that were 96 vázquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 highly contested. for example, joaquin’s partner, an undocumented cisgender gay male felt that beautifying the restroom would help facilitate a safer campus for queer and trans students who were yet to attend the school. after all, he asked, was a safer and more inclusive campus not part of the commitment they had made as a group? another student felt that beautifying the restroom was not going to change things because the toilet itself was not functional. as such, joaquin listened, nodded his head, agreed with some points, and, before he asked the question, he let everyone know that he also thought that his opinion would not be as popular as others. after some hesitation from his part and encouragement from his peers, he finally said: i don’t think this gender-neutral restroom would be safer,” joaquin speaks up. he pauses for a bit and then continues “dre, do you have any thoughts or advice about changing the sign? i really think a sign that says, ‘gender neutral’ makes the bathroom ‘the trans bathroom’ and i don’t want us to have another x on our backs. maybe a sign that says ‘single stalled restroom’ would be better. what do you all think?” (field note, october 17, 2019) when lugones (2003) writes of an active subjectivity, she recognizes that an active subjectivity comes into contact with systems of oppression, and therefore, understanding the achievements of an active subjectivity will often be impaired by logics of domination. in fact, she writes that “from the standpoint of liberalism, [active subjectivity] would look like an almost inconsequential or attenuated sense of agency” (p. 5). however, lugones’s (2003) understanding of active subjectivity as a process of “resistant meaning-making'' (p. 5) provides a comprehensive appreciation of resistance that encompasses the dispositions, thoughts, and opinions that make critiques of oppression thinkable. as such, what started as an ask for collective permission developed into a meaning-making process where students engaged the “contradictions of the world” (cruz, 2013)—is inclusivity indeed a measure of safety?—and engaged in a practice where they are “actively constructing meaning together as a political activity” (cruz, 2013, p. 449). central to this discussion is the construction of knowledge, where students in intimate proximities like joaquin and his peers of four years (and even his partner) share risks as they share different, and sometimes opposing, narratives of erasure, violence, desire, and hope attached to the gender-neutral restroom. yet when joaquin states that his opinion may not be a popular one, he opens the door of vulnerability for his peers and simultaneously conveys to them that he understands their world while allowing them to travel 97 joaquin’s refusal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 to his world. thus, what is at stake is the collective narrative that the gender-neutral restroom represents. in this sense, the multiple readings of what the restroom can mean for queer youth is important in seeing the world and learning to think differently and reflexively. the spatial and embodied nature of the student’s meaning making is also significant. a visible challenge for each student is the negotiation of how the restroom can make visible and invisibilize their bodies within the structure of villa high. indeed, a single-stalled restroom sign with no bodies that space can mark is a viable option. this is not the first time that joaquin critiqued space through embodied knowledge. during another lunch hangout, joaquin flashed an honor roll certificate with a girl’s name. as he showed it to me, he said “look, how cute, this girl is a star!” he then proceeded to tell me that earlier that day a teacher asked him if he wanted his name changed in the school’s roster. my field note reads: “she asked me in front of everyone,” his eyes locked with mine, fire within them. “i know she meant well, but the new students in that classroom wanted to know what she was talking about.” joaquin left his certificate on top of a desk, exposing a previous embodied life. as students entered the classroom joaquin greeted them, at times waving the certificate, laughing when students asked, “who’s that?” this time he started the meeting by saying, “y’all, before you hear it from someone else, i want to tell you what happened in ms. smith’s class today.” whispers of “she thinks she’s sooo woke,” “i’m never taking a class with her,” and “you won’t see me in her classroom,” escaped from the group. (field note, february 29, 2019, emphasis mine) the x joaquin spoke of is an understanding of how, as a trans person, he is both a target and disembodied even in the hospitable spaces of villa high. geographies of domination or what mckittrick (2006) defines as the “displacement of difference,” wherein particular kinds of bodies are materially and visibly structured by a hierarchy that underscores a right to humanity (p. xiv), are present in the youths’ active subjectivity. the purpose of joaquin’s story was not only to put out gossip fires but to also acknowledge the way in which space intersects with oppression to highlight the knowings that arise from the many terrains queer and trans youth travel. in this meeting, while students traveled to joaquin’s world, they learned how domination is a visible spatial project that organizes and literally names difference. it certainly is infuriating to joaquin that he cannot be treated with dignity as he is outed and named by those who hold authority. the students' consideration of a restroom sign without a representation of 98 vázquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 a body is a way of resisting the dismembering of their x’ed bodies. in this sense, the knowledge that stems from the body’s journey to different terrains makes its way to their active subjectivity, refusing the story villa high wants to tell about queer youth. the margins aren’t marginal during my time with joaquin and his peers, i also witnessed how queer and trans youth made a home in a bungalow next to the school’s barn. here the youth were free to laugh, break bread, develop as teachers and activists, and engage in life affirming politics in an intimate space away from the core infrastructure of their school. these life affirming practices were simple: sharing chips when a student did not have money for lunch, making fun of a homophobic teacher, and enjoying the pleasures of sharing a kiss. these practices were activities that could not be situated within the gaze of the broader villa high community without the fear of repercussions. they had to take place away from the surveillance of heteronormativity, homophobia, and transphobia. mckittrick (2006) writes of the metaphoric use of “the margins” in social theory. starting from the vantage point of black feminists, mckittrick outlines how the idea of the margin is indeed interrelated with the displacement of the marked body but cautions social scientists of the reductionist potential of the margin, particularly as it relates to geography. for example, in writing of the way that bell hooks (1984) utilized the margin, mckittrick (2006) states that: while black feminist theory and black women’s struggles in general, are underwritten by a radical disruption of white patriarchal space, it should be emphasized that we think of this disruption not simply through the language of space… indeed, metaphors like the margin are repeatedly and sporadically called on to name difference: the margin is emptied out, placeless, just theory, just language, and seemingly the only black feminist geography available in wider social theories. (p. 57) as a descriptive and analytical tool, “the margin” and other places “outside” the dominant discourse allow black feminist and other disposed communities to locate the complexities of their unique relationships to domination and a struggle for liberation. as such, taking stake to the margin speaks back to processes of bodily territorialization. however, mckittrick (2006) argues that implicit in the language of the margin is the notion that “politics are where one speaks from” (p. 56), rhetorically and metaphorically placing certain 99 joaquin’s refusal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 communities always/already in geographical margins. a margin is an edge, a border, the ignored space, the crust no one wants to eat. as mckittrick writes, “this language, the where of the margin shapes it [the spatiality of the margin] as an exclusively oppositional, unalterable site that cannot be easily woven into the ongoing production of space because the bifurcating geographies—margins are not centers—prohibit integrative processes” (p. 57). as such, the language of space inherently orients the understanding of the materiality and physicality of space. in doing so, the language of space also orients the value of the bodies and knowing of those who occupy that space. following mckittrick (2006), i want to suggest that joaquin’s and his peers’ spatial and resistant politics are not at the margins. their narratives, their teachings, their historical social memory, and their active subjectivity refashions spaces like the classroom by the school barn as central to their geographies. like anzaldúa (1999) who makes a home from barbwire because she knows the condition of her oppression, the queer and trans youth in this ethnography retell the story of space through their socialites. for example, when joaquin tells the story of the teacher who outed him, his peers help rewrite the topographies of the school by shifting class schedules that rewire their movements throughout villa high and thus push against the hegemonic routes the school wants them to use. in this sense, the youth not only reimagine their geographies but actively reconstruct them. for these youths, taking claim to space is not determined by ownership. their geographies are underscored by a movement toward liberation (mckittrick, 2006). conclusion contrary to contemporary movements where young queer and trans people of color demand social change (e.g., terríquez, 2015), the queer and trans youth i work with practice a resistance from within their social relationships. resistance that stems from the intimacies of the quotidian is difficult work because it requires an acknowledgment of the way domination attempts to control the deepest sea beds of our being while also having to understand what that sea bed looks like for others. when joaquin states that the x marks their bodies, he bridges his peers' understanding of the world and searches for a place where they can move toward liberation. indeed, he provides a new set of literacy practices where he reads the body and transforms space. 100 vázquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 what would it mean for educators to take joaquin’s pedagogy seriously—to start from the embodied socialites of queer and trans youth? to teach from a perspective where space is not the backdrop but rather a vital and dynamic ever-present actor in schools? at its bare minimum, it would require teachers to become attuned to the ways students located their stories and how they reinvent themselves. joaquin’s refusal demands the same engagement and labor from educators. his pedagogy of refusal is teaching the way youth work within a social history to interpret relationships and geographies of resistance. in a world where violence is inflicted by those who are supposed to love and protect us—cops, principals, teachers, friends, lovers—we cannot afford to ignore joaquin’s argument. we must listen to joaquin. 101 joaquin’s refusal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 references anzaldúa, g. (1990). haciendo caras/making face, making soul: creative and critical perspectives by women of color. aunt lute books. anzaldúa, g. (1999). borderlands/la frontera. aunt lute books. aronowitz, s., & giroux, h. a. (1985). reproduction and resistance in radical theories of schooling. in s. aronowitz and h. a. giroux (eds.), education under siege: the conservative, liberal and radical debate over schooling. routledge. brockenbrough, e. (2013). introduction to the special issue: queers of color and antioppressive knowledge production. curriculum inquiry, (43)4, 426–440. https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12023 cahuas, m. (2019). interrogating absences in latinx theory and placing blackness in latinx geographical thought: a critical reflection. society and space. collins, p. h. (1989). the social construction of black feminist thought. signs: journal of women in culture and society, 14(4), 745–773. https://doi.org/10.1086/494543 combahee river collective statement. 1983. in all the women are white, all the blacks are men, but some of us are brave. kitchen table press. cruz, c. (2001). toward an epistemology of a brown body. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 657–669. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059874 cruz, c. (2011). lgbtq street youth talk back: a meditation on resistance and witnessing. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 24(5), 547–558. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2011.600270 cruz, c. (2013). lgbtq youth of color video making as radical curriculum: a brother mourning his brother and a theory in the flesh. curriculum inquiry, 43(4), 441–460. emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i., & shaw, l. l. (2011). writing ethnographic fieldnotes. university of chicago press. figueroa, y. c. (2015). faithful witnessing as practice: decolonial readings of shadows of your black memory and the brief wondrous life of oscar wao. hypatia, 30(4), 641–656. https://doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12183 hooks, b. (1984). feminist theory: from margins to center. south end press. lefebvre, h., & nicholson-smith, d. (1991). the production of space. wiley-blackwell. lorde, a. (1984). the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. in sister outsider: essays and speeches (pp. 110–113). crossing press. lugones, m. (1987). playfulness, “world”‐travelling, and loving perception. hypatia, 2(2), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.1987.tb01062.x lugones, m. (2003). pilgrimages/peregrinajes: theorizing coalition against multiple oppressions. rowman & littlefield publishers. lugones, m. (2010). toward a decolonial feminism. hypatia, 25(4), 742–759. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2010.01137.x lugones, m. (2016). the coloniality of gender. in the palgrave handbook of gender and development (pp. 13–33). palgrave macmillan. mckittrick, k. (2006). demonic grounds: black women and the cartographies of struggle. university of minnesota press. marquez, r., & brockenbrough, e. (2013). queer youth v. the state of california: interrogating legal discourses on the rights of queer students of color. curriculum inquiry, 43(4), 461– 482. https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12021 massey, d. (2005). for space. sage books. 102 https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12023 https://doi.org/10.1086/494543 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059874 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2011.600270 https://doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12183 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.1987.tb01062.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2010.01137.x https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12021 vázquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (eds.). (1981). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color. persephone press. shange, s. (2019). play aunties and dyke bitches: gender, generation, and the ethics of black queer kinship. the black scholar, 49(1), 40–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.2019.1548058 simpson, a. (2016). consent’s revenge. cultural anthropology, 31(3), 326–333. https://doi.org/10.14506/ca31.3.02 terríquez, v. (2015). intersectional mobilization, social movement spillover, and queer youth leadership in the immigrant rights movement. social problems, 62(3), 343–362. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spv010 103 https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.2019.1548058 https://doi.org/10.14506/ca31.3.02 https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spv010 vazquez_page proof_final proof amae invited issue cover page volume 15 issue 1 2021 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 57 latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces: wikipedia as a tool to decolonize the hsi classroom michael ramirez amanda marquez texas a&m university—corpus christi abstract wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is accessed by over 1.5 billion users each month, yet remains stigmatized in the academic world. many faculty demonstrate reluctance in allowing students to use wikipedia as part of their research and writing projects due to the open access nature of the site and have all but banned its use in their courses. in this article, we evaluate implications of our pedagogical decision to embed a wikipedia editing assignment into our respective undergraduate courses at a hispanic-serving institution (hsi) in south texas. first, we describe students’ initial reactions to wikipedia as disrupting the classroom. second, we examine the outcomes of the assignment in our latinx students’ recognizing their work on wikipedia as an act of decolonizing the classroom. in particular, we show the extent to which students a) claim authority, b) develop an ownership of knowledge, c) forge identities as public scholars, and d) develop a civic responsibility through their work on wikipedia. we conclude with a discussion of recommendations for implementing assignments on digital citizenship in college classrooms, particularly in hsis. keywords: wikipedia, digital spaces, decolonization, pedagogy, hispanic-serving institutions christian fallas escobar https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.1.418 latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 58 introduction as college educators, we are tasked with training the next generation of writers, researchers, and scholars. within our classrooms, students develop necessary scholarly research methods and critical thinking skills that they will carry with them into the professional world. encouraging students to research and write about subjects about which they are passionate emboldens them to build their scholarly authority and contribute to the academic conversation. these premises have long influenced our respective strategies on how best to teach research and writing to our students at our hispanic-serving institution (hsi). in the fall 2018 and fall 2019 semesters, we took a pedagogical risk by assigning wikipedia editing into our courses in mexican american history, sociology, and a first-year learning community at the hsi at which we teach. we embedded this new course-long assignment in our respective courses with the overarching goal of teaching students to learn how to research and write for diverse audiences through the medium of wikipedia.1 the assignment, an experiment in its own right, came with its own set of unintended consequences, namely, our latinx students’ self-described opportunities to contribute work centered on their culture and themselves. in this article, we assess our pedagogical decision to embed a wikipedia editing assignment into our respective undergraduate courses and trace the outcomes in student learning, course goals, and the unanticipated ways it can decolonize the college classroom. this study explores student experiences in writing for the often-controversial public forum of wikipedia. we contribute to the literature on liberatory pedagogies on opportunities for latinx students to insert themselves into academic work. in particular, this study asks: 1) what are the unanticipated outcomes of adopting a wikipedia editing assignment for our latinx students in the hsi classroom? and 2) to what extent does a wikipedia editing assignment influence how latinx students think about the college classroom and their roles as students? 1 content on wikipedia is crowdsourced: anyone with access to the internet can collaborate on creating pages and/or editing existing pages with additional and/or updated content. all content – the pages, citations, and foremost, the content of the articles themselves – is created by the public. as such, it is under constant construction, with additional information being added and edited constantly, at an average of one edit every 1.9 seconds (wikipedia statistics, 2021). editors range from those with specialized and technical expertise on topics to those with general interest in the topic. all content must be “verifiable,” i.e., cited using a valid source. while some people do “vandalize” content from time to time, editors “follow” pages and are notified in real time of changes made to the pages. typically, inaccurate information is removed within minutes, if not seconds, of it being posted. ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 59 like most academics, we were initially skeptical of the reliability of the content on wikipedia and have generally directed students to avoid the site when conducting historiographical and sociological research. however, wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, has evolved from an untrustworthy site of information to an effective and valuable teaching and learning tool that can be used to help students produce work for a diverse readership beyond the confines of academia (di lauro & johinke, 2017; evenstein sigalov & nachmias, 2017; jemielniak & aibar, 2016; johinke & di lauro, 2020; o’sullivan, 2012; zou et al., 2020). wiki education, a nonprofit organization that bridges academia and wikipedia, challenges scholars to “actively engag[e] in sharing their knowledge with the general public through wikipedia” and has noticeably increased the numbers of educators who have adopted wikipedia in their classrooms (wiki education, 2020). as the movement toward open access educational resources continues to expand (colvard et al., 2018; morris, 2019; murphy, 2013), wikipedia is uniquely situated to provide crucial content for readers via student writing. at the same time, however, wikipedia does have its shortcomings. bias has long plagued wikipedia, yet not in the context in which many people think. information on wikipedia is, contrary to popular opinion, generally valid, verifiable, and true. some inaccurate information has, of course, been added to wikipedia, but most of these falsehoods are removed shortly after being published on the site (halavais, 2004). the more legitimate, consequential biases on wikipedia instead are those that reflect the limited and/or missing content and the narrow range of editors of the pages (called wikipedians; adams et al., 2019). the major culprit stems from systemic bias in wikipedia. wikipedia’s content is reflective of a racial and gender bias in the significantly lower rates of participation on the site as editors by women and people of color (adams et al., 2019; lim & kwon, 2004; racial bias, 2020). the typical wikipedian is a white, educated male from a middle class background (systemic bias, 2020). low participation rates by women and racial and ethnic minorities influence not only demographic rates of editorship, but also the content itself, as topics of interest to these populations are underdeveloped, if not absent entirely (ford & wajcman, 2017; hill & shaw, 2013). the result is racial and gender bias within wikipedia’s content. wikipedia, therefore, can be an ideal space for students to challenge bias by integrating information about marginalized voices and perspectives that may reflect their own marginalization as contributors to the site’s content. latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 60 our embedding wikipedia editing in our undergraduate courses is particularly important given our institution’s status as an hsi in south texas. like most undergraduate students, and particularly those at our institution who arrive with less cultural capital (bourdieu, 1984), students enter college as novice researchers and writers and need support in strengthening their digital literacy skills. digital citizenship can best be developed within a learning context that engages digital literacy skills and academic research skills via wikipedia. combined together, students learn the value of research skills that enable them to evaluate, prepare, and present information to a public audience. throughout the process, students will learn the skills necessary to embrace their digital citizenship as creators of knowledge. enhancing these literacy skills and developing notions of digital citizenship are crucial for students as they begin to navigate an increasingly multifaceted online terrain. the demographics of our students, and their having access to research databases and credible source material that the general public does not, make them ideal authors for the online platform. accordingly, we contend that wikipedia can serve as a powerful teaching and learning experience for latinx students in the hsi classroom. wikipedia has the potential to serve as a decolonizing tool in that it challenges students to reconsider the following: whose knowledge counts? why does it matter who writes and creates knowledge, and what is left out? who can access knowledge? and finally, who has power and representation in digital spaces? in this article, we begin by examining scholars’ pedagogical techniques that shift the culture and practice of higher learning, particularly as they relate to students of color. we then analyze our students’ preand post-survey responses from the respective start and conclusion of our courses, as well as their reflections on the assignment, in an effort to make sense of how wikipedia not only disrupts the standard format of the college classroom, but more importantly, the extent to which it acts to decolonize educational practices. decolonizing the learning process is central to “both examine and radically transform unequal relations of power” (reyes, 2019, p. 2). adopting such praxis enables educators to employ a “pedagogy of and towards decoloniality [that] works to get at the roots of why things are the way they are, as well as works toward transformative possibilities that center the experiences, voices, and authority of historically minoritized peoples” (reyes, 2019, p. 3). wikipedia is one digital space where the experiences, histories, and knowledge of minoritized people can be made visible. we argue that wikipedia is a means for latinx instructors and students alike to decolonize the ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 61 college classroom, particularly at hsis. we conclude with a discussion of the significance and implications of bringing wikipedia into more college classrooms. review of the literature higher education policy scholar gina ann garcia (2018) contends that college organizational structures have historically shaped the curricula and pedagogy to become legitimized as tools of colonization. rather than perpetuating coloniality, garcia (2018) argues that: hsis must aim for technological practices that are grounded in principles of liberation. this means that the curriculum, or what is taught, should center the experiences of racially minoritized people, including their history and current state of oppression, while privileging their ways of knowing. (p. 135) hsis should be grounded in liberatory pedagogical practices: those that center principles of social change and transformation through education based on consciousness raising and community engagement in order to reconceptualize what counts as accepted knowledge. what counts as knowledge is largely influenced by the educational elite—a space that has historically devalued and minimized other non-institutional modes of knowledge, including cultural and community knowledge (baytiyeh & pfaffman, 2010; hegarty, 2015). likewise, teaching is a service, one that should aim to decolonize pedagogical practices (garcia, 2019; garcia et al., 2019; garcia & okhidoi, 2015; garcía-louis, 2019; nuñez et al., 2010). traditional teaching practices do not serve all students, and certainly not latinx students in college contexts. according to decolonial studies scholar g.t. reyes (2019): coloniality is reified in cultural and structural ways within education. policies, institutions, groups of people, and individuals are key agents implicated in the (re)production of coloniality in ways that are normalized, naturalized, and rationalized. this in turn renders coloniality to become invisible in everyday practices and behaviors. that is, the “way things are,” even if undesirable, becomes accepted. (p. 3) adopting a decolonial approach in classroom practice can enable latinx students to center their experiences and validate their cultures, which has been long ignored in scholarship and the college classroom in general (cuadraz, 2005; r. garcia, 2018; garcía-louis, 2019). latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 62 employing liberatory pedagogies centering students of color has a long reach in outcomes for students of color outside of the classroom. students in classes that employ liberatory pedagogies report a boost in their sense of belonging—something particularly important in college contexts in which they continue to be underrepresented and “othered” (cook-sather & felten, 2017; johnson et al., 2007). previous work has found that these students’ educational trajectories include increased academic achievement after these courses conclude, suggesting they take these lessons with them and apply them in future educational endeavors (villalpando, 2004). liberatory pedagogies are increasingly embedded in contexts beyond the traditional face-to-face classroom, particularly virtual spaces. in everyone’s an author, lunsford et al. (2012) contend that college students are writing in digital spaces and in forms that remain on the fringes of what is acknowledged as formal academic writing. for younger cohorts of college students, these spaces are where students are most comfortable. the familiarity of virtual platforms facilitates students’ desires to join ongoing conversations. lunsford (as quoted in vidergar, 2014) insists that students are “writing more today than they ever have in the history of the world, and it’s because of social media. [students themselves] may think it’s not writing, but it is writing, and it’s important writing” (paragraph 5). educators should likewise envision a goal to “teach students about writing that makes things happen and is ‘growing and living’” (vidergar, 2014, paragraph 6). the collaborative nature of a digital writing environment reinforces the notion that in order for students to thrive in a world beyond the confines of the classroom, they must be granted control over how to communicate their ideas to embrace their authorship. digital spaces, including wikipedia, are venues that educators can adopt as learning tools to meet traditional course goals, but also as unique spaces to empower students in ways they tend not to experience in traditional classrooms. first, writing in digital spaces is a learning tool, expanding the knowledge and skills students generate in classroom contexts. the communal and shared space of the digital world is a means for students to engage in cooperative learning and sharpen writing, research, and collaborative skills (di lauro & johinke, 2017; evenstein sigalov & nachmias, 2017; johinke & di lauro, 2020; mcdowell, 2017; o’sullivan, 2016; zou et al., 2020). at the undergraduate level, digital spaces may be among the few spaces in which students can undergo peer review (cummings, 2020; johinke, 2020; johinke ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 63 & di lauro 2020). students suggest digital writing work to be more satisfying and engaging than traditional writing assignments (tay, 2015). additionally, johinke (2020) indicates that digital writing can be framed as marketable skills students can use in their employment search postgraduation. it is writing with attention to building a skill set in the digital marketplace. second, wikipedia is one digital space in particular with the potential to accomplish a liberatory approach to teaching. the site itself, one that educational institutions and professors often regard as haphazard and/or illegitimate, is accessed by 1.5 billion internet users each month on the global scale (chen, 2010; jemielniak & aibar, 2016). students’ contributions to the site directly improve wikipedia and can educate readers from a variety of backgrounds. its open-access organization embraces the notion that knowledge is communal, especially since those with fewer formal credentials and less access to paywall academic publishing resources can contribute (baytiyeh & pfaffman, 2010; dimaggio et al., 2004; dowell & bridges, 2019; hegarty, 2015). our students’ training in research and writing, coupled with their accessibility to credible sources and research databases—resources inaccessible to much of the general public—makes them the ideal authors for the online platform. therefore, we contend that wikipedia can serve as a powerful teaching and learning tool in the hsi college classroom. scholars in a range of disciplines have integrated wikipedia in the classroom to support students to use their writing to create wikipedia pages for underrepresented subjects, topics, and biographies in the digital encyclopedia. for one, anthropologists have used wikipedia in the classroom to have students fill content gaps of native americans and indigenous peoples (bjork-james, 2021; pharao hansen, 2016). likewise, wikipedia has proven useful to africana studies in reorganizing online space to be more illustrative of the diversity of race, class, and gender in the social world (ezell, 2021). what is more, professors teaching in social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences report being similarly motivated to use wikipedia editing inform their critical pedagogy and help teach issues of social equity (xing & vetter, 2020). historians, in particular, have set about constructing assignments that blend research, technology, and digital literacy skills. the use of wikipedia to meld learning processes is central to building critical thinking skills and taking ownership of their authority as creators of knowledge (chandler & gregory, 2010). while many disciplines have worked to fill content gaps and improve representation on wikipedia, there is still a greater need for the particular inclusion of latinx centered subjects, topics, and biographies on the platform. students tasked latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 64 with creating pages can serve the latinx community by augmenting their visibility on wikipedia, as well as “diversify wikipedia by creating a platform for students of color to engage in acts of authorship on a site that lacks racial and gender diversity” (montez, 2017, p. 1). creating wikipedia pages can be a way for latinx and all students of color to contribute knowledge about their communities, histories, and provide a public service, thereby enacting their authority in a digital space with a broad readership. theoretical framework in this study, we use critical race theory (crt), supplemented by latcrit theory, to examine our students’ experiences in our classrooms. crt is a framework to understand the many arms, intersections, experiences, and implications of oppression (tierney, 1993). while other theoretical perspectives have long studied the foundations and consequences of inequalities, crt is distinct in its intentional goal of freeing the oppressed (matsuda, 1991). it is not just knowledge for knowledge’s sake, but attuned to applying solutions to the problems uncovered in research. this philosophy grounds our vision as we critically examine our students’ experiences with wikipedia to “identify, analyze, and transform those structural and cultural aspects of education that maintain subordinate and dominant racial positions in and out of the classroom” (solorzano & yosso, 2002, p. 25). we adopt elements of the long line of work in crt in education, particularly solorzano et al.’s (2005), solorzano and yosso’s (2001), and solorzano and bernal’s (2001) treatments in which they devise the five central foundations that inform a crt pedagogy in education. the five key themes in crt are distinct, yet interactive. first, inequality stems from the intersection of subordination (crenshaw, 1989, 1993). inequality is not additive; nor does one dimension of inequality mirror another, per se. racial inequality is not interchangeable with gender inequality or vice versa. though often built on similar foundations, each inequality is constructed and reified on particular rationales in our cultural history. thus, inequalities comprise a “matrix of domination” that are difficult to untangle from one another (collins, 2000, p. 225). second, crt begins with an attempt to challenge dominant ideology. the rhetoric of “equal opportunity” is a claim to mitigate or subdue attention, much less social change. third, crt embeds a clear social justice component in its foundation and goals. it is a theory that attempts to not just understand inequality, but liberate those studied (matsuda, 1991). fourth, crt ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 65 attends to the lived experience of students as valid and valued contributions to knowledge. as solorzano and yosso (2001) suggest, “the experiential knowledge of students of color is legitimate, appropriate, and critical to understanding, analyzing, and teaching about racial subordination” (p. 473). scholarship can and should draw on the broad wealth of experience students’ bring to the classroom. and fifth, crt recommends an interdisciplinary contribution from an array of fields, each of which starts with their own perspective of social reality, methods, and writing norms. a singular focus in one field is challenged, citing the limitations any single field has on understanding the complexities of the social world. finally, latcrit theory is an extension of crt (bernal, 2002; solorzano & bernal 2001; solorzano & yosso, 2001). its unique contributions to crt include its attentiveness to the positionality of latinx populations, identities, and situational statuses in the social world. students of a color are “holders and creators of knowledge” and often experience further marginalization, when “their histories, experiences, cultures and languages are devalued, misinterpreted, or omitted in formal educational settings” (bernal, 2002, p. 106). latcrit, as a gendered and raced epistemological framework, can therefore help student researchers and writers transform their own epistemological practices by inserting their own experiences to engage with research and writing opportunities. in doing so, students are empowered to center their experiences and embrace their authority as co-creators of knowledge in the evolving terrain of both educational and digital landscapes alike. crt and latcrit theory provide a scaffolding for us to make sense of how students at our hsi engage with digital citizenship. furthermore, as many students in our classes opt to engage with latinx content in their coursework, these dual frames are naturally aligned with what our students do in class and how their experiences can be employed in extending the reach of crt’s goals and outcomes. the present study in this study, we analyze the perspectives of latinx students in our courses, in an attempt to assess their evaluations of and experiences in learning to edit content for wikipedia. to honor our students’ narratives, we designed our methodology with an intention to center their experiences and provide an opportunity for the findings to reflect the significance of their work. the design of this study situates findings through an interpretive analysis of student latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 66 experiences as demonstrated through a combination of survey responses, reflections, and the material they wrote and added to wikipedia. this study is motivated by two primary research questions: 1) what are the unanticipated outcomes of adopting a wikipedia editing assignment for our latinx students in the hsi classroom? and 2) to what extent does a wikipedia editing assignment influence how latinx students think about the college classroom and their roles as students? we focus on the experiences of our students as they edited content on wikipedia for our classes in which they were enrolled. in the fall 2018 and fall 2019 semesters, we embedded a wikipedia assignment into our respective courses in mexican american history, sociology of gender (twice), and a first-year learning community which centered on the theme, “writing goes out into the world and makes things happen” (roozen, 2016, p. 17). the decision to include wikipedia as a course-long assignment was collectively made among the two of us. no other professors at our institution have assigned any such work using wikipedia. background to the study our decision to adopt a wikipedia editing assignment into our classes was not one we took lightly. author1 had experience editing wikipedia articles through his participation in the wikipedia fellows program. author 2 developed a burgeoning interest in wikipedia through her invitation to participate in a wikipedia edit-a-thon during hispanic heritage month on our campus. we both were toying with the idea to use the assignment in our courses in the fall of 2018, something we knew would be an experiment of sorts. ultimately deciding to take the plunge together, we drafted our assignment ideas and structured the training content in our respective courses in tandem with one another. we also held bi-monthly meetings to discuss how our classes were going—what was working, what was dissolving into chaos, and devising mutually constructive suggestions as we progressed through the semester. our goal in implementing this assignment was to provide a new context for students to practice research and writing, albeit in a public domain. before the semester started, we submitted the required proposal for our respective courses to be considered for inclusion by wiki education. once accepted, we were admitted to the (cost-free) program and assigned an invaluable wiki education advisor who acted as our contact person throughout the semester. the advisor also provided additional oversight on students’ work, ensuring they were not plagiarizing or using inappropriate sources. wiki ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 67 education created and tailored a “wikipedia dashboard” for each of our classes to use for the semester. after creating a wikipedia account, students enrolled in their class’s respective dashboard, which included a range of resources, trainings, and access to the assigned advisor. this space is useful to professors, as it allows them to select the training students are required to complete as the semester progressed. students used the dashboard to “sign up” for the particular article on which their work for the semester would focus, where they could see the listing of their classmates’ selected articles. students were also granted a “sandbox” which acted as a personal drafting space in which they could design ideas, outlines, a working copy of their additions, and build citations. both authors 1 and 2 required students to use the sandbox as the drafting page on which we respectively traced and commented on students’ work in progress. we reviewed drafts multiple times and approved the final copy before granting students permission to add those additions to wikipedia. we began the introduction to the assignment by spending class time discussing the intention of wikipedia, the “five pillars” of wikipedia, and basics of how editing works. we spent significant time discussing the hidden editorship of wikipedia. though wikipedia is open to all, people of color and women (and especially latinx populations) are obscenely underrepresented in wikipedia editing. with the wikipedia assignment, in particular, we were attentive to students’ backgrounds, home majors, and personal interests in allowing them space to carve the direction of their work. most notably, we allowed all of our students to select the topic and specific article they would devote their work for the semester. for author 1’s gender course, he required a gendered component to their selection. students did not necessarily have to select a gendered concept per se, but could consider adding content relevant to gender to a page missing that information. to take one of many examples, one student contributed work on gender differences to the page on criminal sentencing. other students made similar decisions. for author 2’s mexican american women’s history course, students were required to choose some aspect of mexican american women’s contributions to u.s. history. students could either create a new wikipedia article or add to an existing article that did not contain that critical information. for example, one student created a page for the farah strike, a strike led by mexican american women workers in el paso, texas, whereas another chose to add pachucas to the pachuco page, highlighting the visibility of pachucas to their male counterparts in u.s. latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 68 history and popular culture. students in author 2’s first-year learning communities program added biographical content to existing pages of prominent historical figures of color, most notably, women of color. setting our institutional home influenced both our pedagogical focus for our classes, as well as the methodological decisions we made for this study. texas a&m university-corpus christi (tamu-cc) is a four-year public institution located on the gulf of mexico that enrolls more than 12,000 students and is part of the larger texas a&m university system. tamu-cc’s proximity to the cultural border with latin america informs its institutional focus. the student population is representative of the region of south texas with nearly 50% hispanic enrollment and, as a result, claims the designation as an hsi. equally important, more than 40% of our students are first-generation college students. our student population, largely latinx and firstgeneration college students, furthered our pedagogical drive to use the wikipedia assignment to improve our students’ educational experience and perhaps see their identities and community histories reflected in academic content. participants in total, we had 105 students complete our courses with the wikipedia assignment. with the exception of the first-year learning community (in which all students were first-year students on our campus), all of the students in the upper-level courses were classified as juniors and seniors. the students were overwhelmingly (approximately 91%) students in the college of liberal arts. many of the mexican american history students were history majors and/or mexican american studies minors. over half of the sociology of gender students were sociology majors or minors, with the remaining a range of liberal arts majors (generally history, psychology, and criminal justice, among others). reflective of our institution at large, approximately 60% of our students identified as women. about 70% of the 105 students (a total of 73) identified as latinx, with a far greater percentage (approximately 90%) of mexican american history students identifying as such. it is these 73 latinx students’ responses and experiences on which we focus in this study.2 2 our analysis suggests black and white students’ experiences in wikipedia decolonizing their classroom experiences are similar to latinx students. this dimension, however, is beyond the scope of the present study. ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 69 data sources and procedures data for this study come from four sources: a pre-survey, a post-survey, end-ofsemester student reflections, and the content students added to the wikipedia pages themselves. we encouraged students to complete the surveys, consisting of a combination of closedand open-ended questions, to gauge their initial thoughts on wikipedia and document their experiences as they worked through the semester. the pre-survey asked students about their familiarity with wikipedia, their assessment on the accuracy of its content, and their regularity of accessing content on it for personal or classroom use. the post-survey, completed at the conclusion of the semester, gauged the extent to which students’ perceptions of wikipedia changed over the course of the semester. we also asked a series of questions in which students reflected on their experience becoming wikipedians and their assessment of the work they added and/or edited to their respective wikipedia pages. finally, we analyzed the work students did for the assignment itself. in particular, we took note of what wikipedia pages students selected to edit or create, as well as the content they added to the pages. in their drafts, surveys, and reflections, students often emphasized the rationale for selecting the pages they decided to edit for the semester, suggesting a blending of educational, pedagogical, and personal reasons for selecting them in particular. we received irb approval for our data collection. students decided whether to allow us to use their survey data for this project with no impact on their course grade. of the 111 students enrolled in these classes, 89 of them completed the pre-survey, 105 of them completed the post-survey, and 105 of them agreed to participate in the study by agreeing to include their survey results. data analysis well after the conclusion of the fall 2019 semester, we downloaded and reviewed survey data for analysis. we used a grounded theory method (charmaz, 1983; strauss & corbin, 1990) for analyzing our data. while we were attentive in our analysis to pedagogical concerns and student outcomes of the wikipedia assignment, we did not anticipate many themes contingent on decolonization in the classroom. these unanticipated findings truly were the result of our open and axial coding in which we recognized the recurring themes in students’ independent reflections of their work on wikipedia. latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 70 positionality just as the identities of those we study are important, so too are our identities and backgrounds as it may influence our positionality in the research process, as others have suggested (couture et al., 2012; day, 2012; landen, 2011; mccorkel & myers, 2003; ramirez, 2014; razon & ross, 2012). author 2 identifies as a working-class academic female who holds a master’s degree in history. having primarily taught in university settings for a decade, her training has centered on mexican american history, u.s. women’s history and the history of gender and sexuality. much of her course content centers on the marginalized status of mexican americans in american history and a reconceptualization of mexican americans visibility within u.s. historical narratives. she incorporates a decolonial lens in the material she embeds in her courses’ topics, readings, and perspectives. she adopts this pedagogy in all of her courses, from first-year learning communities to upper-level courses in history. author 1 identifies as a middle class, latinx man who holds a phd in sociology. having taught in university settings for well over a decade, his training has focused on race, class, and gender inequality. most of his work has embedded a strong gender component, as has his course load in sociology and women’s studies. his work has recently taken a sharpened focus on race and ethnicity, particularly latinx populations. finally, our roles as instructors for our respective classes in which we adopted the wikipedia assignment bears some discussion. we are attentive to our holding powerful positions in our classrooms. as instructors, we create the syllabi, course goals, and assignments. students are required to complete the work we assign if they wish to do well in the class. to be sure, neither one of us adopts an authoritarian style in our classes. we are flexible when our students’ lives and research interests may prompt a modification of our classes. findings in the findings that follow, we trace the outcomes our latinx students suggested as most notable as they worked on their wikipedia editing projects in our courses. they were consistent in their evaluations on the impact the assignment had to their learning outcomes, identities, and assessments of the hsi classroom. our first research question was: what are the unanticipated outcomes of adopting a wikipedia editing assignment for our latinx students in the hsi classroom? outside of being a vehicle for research and writing, students recognized the unintended consequences of bringing ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 71 wikipedia into the classroom. as will be demonstrated below, wikipedia disrupts the norms of the college classroom, as it brings a collaborative medium into their coursework and challenges the myths of wikipedia as dangerous. students also identify the broader impacts wikipedia has on their developing identities as student-scholars, tied more explicitly to the second question we pose. our second research question was: to what extent does a wikipedia editing assignment influence how latinx students think about the college classroom and their roles as students? our findings suggest students understand their work on wikipedia as an act of decolonizing the classroom at our hsi. in particular, our analysis shows the extent to which students a) claim authority, b) develop an ownership of knowledge, c) forge identities as public scholars, and d) develop a civic responsibility through their work on wikipedia. disrupting the classroom within the first several class sessions with our students, we recognized the very act of acknowledging the utility of wikipedia in our courses troubles the traditional college classroom. our assigning a course project in which students are tasked to create content for wikipedia was particularly jarring for students. during the first weeks of classes when the project was introduced, students were asked to complete a pre-survey to allow us to gauge their initial impressions and experiences with wikipedia. students’ pre-survey responses indicated they were initially dismayed by their college professors’ invitation to focus their work on wikipedia, a website they stated in the pre-survey that was typically admonished, if not banned altogether, by other professors. our students’ thoughts at the start of the semester on wikipedia almost uniformly expressed hesitation, distrust, and even disdain of wikipedia. the pre-survey data indicated a static view of wikipedia, regardless of major or classification. a vast majority of students (71%) shared sentiments that wikipedia was unreliable, inaccurate, and a site to be avoided. some students shared the sentiment that wikipedia was even “outlawed” for academic research in other courses on campus. for instance, soledad,3 a senior latina in sociology of gender, stated, “i’ve always been told, ‘do not use wikipedia!’ when doing research projects, professors have always told me they would not accept wikipedia as a scholarly source.” likewise, carlos, a latinx junior criminal justice major, similarly situated his experience as such in the pre-survey: 3 all names are pseudonyms. latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 72 when i think of wikipedia, the first thing that comes to mind is false information. throughout my years of education, i have always been told not to trust wikipedia because it is not a reliable source. anyone can edit the articles, change the information, and make it false. many students, of whom soledad and carlos are two, suggested that part of their educational socialization took the form of adopting the norms of their professors in what constitutes valid information, data, and sources. their evaluations of wikipedia (and other forms of data and/or writing) do not emerge entirely on students’ own, but are effectively informed by their professors’ thoughts, beliefs, and uninformed and faulty assumptions. students’ collective perspective of viewing wikipedia as a dangerous and untrustworthy site partly reflects the internalization of the educational elites’ view on who generates and has ownership of academic knowledge. as we reflected on students’ early perspectives, we recognized the shock they expressed was indicative of institutional forces at play in their college experience. as the semester progressed, students began to reevaluate their critical lens of wikipedia and other digital content. students shifted to viewing their contributions to wikipedia as a tool for learning, writing, and sharing knowledge. making knowledge accessible to the public as student scholars empowered students to reconsider what counts as a legitimate and credible source. this shift signaled the beginnings of their challenging dominant pedagogical ideology, consistent with themes of crt. decolonizing the classroom as we reached the end of the semester, students shared their thoughts on the assignment in a post-survey constructed in tandem by authors 1 and 2. in assessing their thoughts on the wikipedia project, we—as instructors—began to recognize the extent to which students were not simply adding missing literature to a public domain. more importantly, the students’ work was a tool they themselves controlled and empowered them as public scholars and digital citizens. the following theme is presented in sub-themes indicating the extent to which students a) claim authority as scholars, b) develop an ownership of knowledge, c) forge identities as public scholars, and d) develop a civic responsibility through their work on wikipedia. ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 73 becoming an authority we encouraged our students to select possible topics relevant to larger course themes and suggested they spend time reviewing the respective wikipedia articles to assess missing content. in survey results, class discussions, and written reflections throughout the semester, students suggested that developing the authority to recognize missing content was something with which they were uncomfortable and a task typically not part of their learning objectives in previous courses. as we neared the conclusion of our courses, well over 90% of our students were able to reflect on and assess the development of their critical lens, voices in their work, and their claims to authority in their writing. to take one of many examples, heather, a latina junior sociology major, relayed the shift in authority she developed throughout the semester: it feels great to have contributed to something other people will read. it was empowering to do the research and make valuable contributions. i feel more confident in my research capabilities now, in terms of reviewing literature and synthesizing it in a way that demonstrates its relevance and importance. similarly, arianna, a latina junior history major, shared: when comparing this assignment to traditional research papers, i felt that i actually ended up learning more about my chosen topic than i would have otherwise. i feel like this assignment was way more insightful and valuable than a research paper would’ve been, as it’s much more personal. ultimately, i think that having to make my research public versus keeping my research private in a paper actually made me work harder and encouraged me to learn more, as i wasn’t just writing this information out for a grade, or for one other person. not only was i educating myself, i was educating others, and that’s a big responsibility! everything i was writing was going to end up reaching thousands of people, so everything i wrote had to be sourced responsibly. completing my research for wikipedia actually made me search for more thorough and welldeveloped sources and made me think critically about the information that needed to be presented to the world… i honestly think i ended up exercising a new way of learning. our students found a deep significance in the work they completed for wikipedia. they suggested they achieved deep learning in this format, as well as felt the bar for producing “good” work was higher in that their writing would be accessible to the larger public. over latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 74 time, students began to embrace the democratizing space that wikipedia proposes. they were now writing for a real, public, global audience, not their conventional audience of one (i.e., the professor who would read the paper once, assign it a grade, only for it never to be revisited again). these elements culminated in their feeling a sense of responsibility and subsequently claiming more authority in their work than that had in other assignments, demonstrating the impact of liberatory pedagogical practices. ownership of knowledge though we guided them throughout the semester, students were largely responsible for self-directing their work and learned to hold themselves accountable for their progress. in the process, they developed a sense of ownership of their work and learning. their scholarship was enhanced as they became familiar with their topic and, hence, more knowledgeable in their content area. monica, a junior latina liberal arts student pursuing pre-law, felt a strong satisfaction in her work, something notably absent from work she and other students completed in other courses with a research component: overall, i felt the most satisfying part of the assignment was on our final wikipedia day when our classmates could come together with our final work and officially publish it on a public platform used by thousands of people every day. it was very rewarding knowing that our hard work and education could reach far beyond our classroom and be publicized on a free educational website with information on almost every subject. likewise, evelina, a junior-level latina in sociology of gender, stated: ultimately, i feel very self-satisfied to have been a part of the wikipedia editor community because my education and research can contribute to something bigger for those without the same privilege of attending a university or any type of higher education. now that i am familiar with the process, i would love to edit other articles on wikipedia in the future as i continue my education. i definitely enjoyed using wikipedia for a classroom assignment. i felt this assignment was very unique and granted college students, like myself, the opportunity to contribute to something greater than just submitting a general research project to a college professor for a final grade, not to mention that people all over the world with internet access can acquire accurate and ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 75 informative information for free on wikipedia regardless of their background. overall, i can leave this class knowing that i was able to be a part of something beyond the classroom and contribute to the public’s knowledge of sociology of the family. as these students suggest, the publicly-accessible component of this assignment—with the potential to reach an audience “far beyond our classroom”—aided in many students’ recognizing the contributions they as college students could make in creating and sharing knowledge for the world. the students felt that the work they added to wikipedia, though a communal document, was theirs. it certainly was not a sense of ownership in a “grab bag” selfish sense, but instead a claim of ownership mirroring a crt orientation in that they had the power to create knowledge to benefit the world outside of our classroom, university, and regional locale. developing identities as public scholars not only did students internalize a sense of expertise in their topic, they also felt their work contributed to others’ learning. they stepped into the role of the instructor with their audience being the larger digital world of those who would potentially access their work. they approached this task with caution, as it is a responsibility to which they were not accustomed. as the semester concluded, however, students felt it was their responsibility as citizens of higher learning to create and make publicly available the knowledge to which they had access as college students, demonstrating an internalization of crt. for example, ashley, a latina senior history major, is one such student of many who was riveted with the growing sense of responsibility from her work: when we first started the wikipedia project, i was very nervous and scared. the thought of the world seeing my writing really frightened me and i didn’t think i would be able to publish my work. after i published my [writing] on wikipedia, i felt a feeling of relief and was proud of myself that i pushed past my fear and edited wikipedia. working with wikipedia empowered me as an individual and scholar by challenging my fears of public writing and made me push towards becoming more confident as a student. in the beginning of the year, i never imagined that i would come this far as a student and edit wikipedia, but now, nothing feels impossible. i feel like i don’t need to set limits latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 76 whether it comes to public writing or speaking. the most important thing i’ve learned in this course is that it’s okay to showcase your knowledge, your voice. the anxiety and fear many students expressed early in the semester was something they were ultimately able to overcome. while we, of course, did not expect or want our students’ feelings of anxiety to be a part of this course assignment, they worked through these anxieties to develop their identities as true public scholars. by the end of the semester, their fears shifted to feelings of pride and self-awareness of their responsibility as “mere” college students. we both noted the extent to which this unanticipated outcome was relayed by a majority of students in our courses, as illustrated by miguel, a senior latinx criminal justice major: [publishing my work on wikipedia] feels great actually. although some may brush it off, i actually value my experience and training. knowledge is power, and wikipedia is ripe with knowledge. it is a great responsibility to be able to edit, add, or remove information from wikipedia. danielle, a latina junior sociology major, voiced similar sentiments: the most rewarding element of this project was understanding that as “just” college students we are able to provide information to hundreds if not thousands of people. we are able to use the privilege of our education to benefit others by providing scholarly information to the public. i think it’s also a great way for students who might find interest in research to be able to practice synthesizing and exploring resources where articles can be found. the wikipedia assignment, though quite different from traditional papers, still contributed to students’ meeting global course goals and learning outcomes. nearly all students felt that their work on wikipedia helped them become better researchers, writers, and aided in their learning of course content aligned within our respective courses. our students also acknowledged a shift in their identities as college students. they navigated a new, somewhat uncomfortable space: they occupied their familiar position as students in a college classroom, but also maneuvered into a newfound role as a public educator through creating work for the world via wikipedia. they essentially began developing identities as public scholars who contributed important, and once missing, knowledge to the public realm. students felt empowered to coramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 77 create knowledge and were cognizant of it as such, consistent with goals of latcrit theory. the recognition of the sheer numbers of readers of their work aided in our students’ feeling like true scholars with an undeniable potential to make knowledge more accessible in the world. civic responsibility of wikipedians as the semester progressed, students felt a growing trepidation in knowing their work would be accessible to the world. assignments in other courses are “private” in that typically, only the instructors read their work, perhaps just once, before they “lock it up in a cabinet” after grading it. the wikipedia assignment is both public and long-term, as it remains in view long after the semester ends. these dimensions of the assignment prompted students to recognize the responsibility of their additions to the articles they edited. many students, including cecilia, a senior latina in sociology of gender, made this self-realization as the semester concluded: this assignment exceeds traditional research papers in that it feels a bit more purposeful. we were able to share research with the public, who might not have access to academic journals, papers, or studies. rather than the information just being for our own and our professor’s eyes, the research we did was able to have a larger impact, which was gratifying. diana, a junior latina criminal justice major, shared her satisfaction with sharing her work on the public forum of wikipedia: with traditional research assignments, i feel that the hard work that is done is often unacknowledged as a professor quickly reads your research along with numerous other papers, inputs a grade, and the research is never shared elsewhere. i am most satisfied with the idea that anyone who visits the page will be able to see the work that i put into editing the article and could potentially receive information that they otherwise would have never known. the public nature of their work lent itself to students feeling a sense of duty to ensure their contributions were valid, noteworthy, and accurate. with these expectations in mind, students likened their contributions to wikipedia as a civic responsibility—work to be completed for the latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 78 greater good. it was not unlike voting, improving their local community, or contributing to the common good. as students became more invested in the project, they felt a growing responsibility to close gaps in work absent from wikipedia. students’ drive to do so echoes crt and latcrit theory’s attention to inserting the underrepresented into the canon of knowledge. due to their work, individual figures, if not entire populations, long neglected from scholarship (and the world at large) now have representation on wikipedia. students who developed this awareness, such as lauren, a latina senior history major, understood the impact of their work: it makes me happy and hopeful that chicana/o studies, especially a class revolving around mexican american women’s history, is an option at a hispanic-serving institution. the most interesting discoveries i made during mexican american women’s history course is the underrepresentation of mexican [and] mexican american topics within wikipedia’s database. it is astonishing (kinda!) that there is so little written about important events in chicana/o history, such as the farah strike, the pecan shellers’ strike, and mexican american history in texas!! my goal for the winter break is to add to the ‘mexican american history in texas’ wikipedia page, because the lack of representation on an already marginalized community is crippling to the future of chicana/o history and studies. a latina senior sociology major, liliana focused her work on adding material to highlight lgbtq+ populations of color: when i first browsed the lesbian page, i couldn’t believe that a section on lesbians of color was missing! to me, lesbians of color seem like such an integral part of the community that it was shocking to not find any information on it. lesbians of color are ignored, rejected, and left out of lesbian spaces all too often, and i didn’t want wikipedia to contribute to that. i also wanted lesbians of color themselves to be able to go onto wikipedia and read about themselves and what factors they have to deal with as opposed to white lesbians, such as the issue of intersectionality or specific therapeutic challenges. the lesbian page is really popular, and thousands of people visit on a monthly basis, so i also wanted to contribute to this topic because it would help educate and enlighten a lot of people. ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 79 involving students in the process of sharing knowledge and content is what ultimately makes wikipedia a decolonial tool. the work they added to wikipedia was purposeful. it was not “just for a grade,” but developed into a personal mission for students to improve representation of those without power or access to submit the material themselves. though our students’ work was not voluntary per se (it was, after all, assigned as a required project for class), they treated it as an ethical responsibility they had to make knowledge “right” in the world, as anyone with an internet connection could theoretically access their writing on the web. students clearly adopted crt and latcrit orientations demonstrated by first centering their attention on the position of latinx populations and then challenging dominant ideology by legitimizing the insertion of latinx culture on wikipedia. finally, wikipedia informed students’ perspectives on knowledge they gained in college, as well as highlighted its limitations. they often used their newfound perspectives to evaluate course goals, materials, and pedagogies from other classes in which they were enrolled. as mateo, a latinx history major, noted: growing up in south texas and not knowing the history of your culture or the land around you is something that needs to be changed. we as historians need to be more accountable and document the voices that are not being heard and go back through history and find where the marginalized groups have been left out of history. writing for wikipedia was an opportunity for students to give back to their community, in this case to give knowledge to the public to expand the view of their culture’s contributions to society. the civic lesson they take away from the assignment is their learning to give back to those who came before them. wikipedia provides a rare opportunity to allow students to literally and symbolically insert their culture into its realm of knowledge, consistent with crt and latcrit orientations and goals. discussion: wikipedia as a site of disruption and resistance in this article, we explored our hsi’s latinx student reflections on our pedagogical approach to adopting wikipedia in the classroom. our findings were twofold: 1) our assigning wikipedia disrupted students’ expectations and practices of writing and research in the college classroom and 2) our students found wikipedia to be a useful tool for decolonizing the college classroom in their learning how to share knowledge on underrepresented populations and latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 80 topics, often centered on their latinx identities and cultures. our findings contribute to embedding wikipedia in the classroom, hsi student outcomes, and decolonizing exclusionary pedagogies, as discussed below. first, our seemingly simple decision to assign wikipedia as a course-long project is a legitimate act of disruption and, likewise, a serendipitous attempt to decenter traditional pedagogical approaches to teaching research and writing. we did not fully recognize these consequences until students reflected on the process at the conclusion of the semester. assigning a wikipedia project is one of the more significant pedagogical decisions we have undertaken in our courses. it compelled us as educators to reconsider how we define legitimate knowledge, learning, and assessment of learning to engage our students in writing and research (garcia & okhidoi, 2015). it is our task as educators to embrace the notion that the classroom can be the site to transform subjectivities and knowledge (r. garcia, 2018). we argue that instructors in the hsi college classroom have a responsibility to empower students of color, first-generation students, and underserved students. writing, our students learn, can be an act of resistance. beyond gaining increasingly important digital literacy skills, writing for wikipedia helps students appreciate the process and value of thorough research. students of color, especially those of latinx descent who remain largely underrepresented on the platform, are called to serve as authorities on the histories that belongs to their culture, themselves, and their communities (garcía-louis, 2019; hein & miller, 2004). as they drafted their work for wikipedia, their emerging identities as scholars profoundly impacted the ways in which they enact the notion that writing is a “knowledgemaking activity” (dowell & bridges, 2019; estrem, 2016, p.19; roozen, 2016; selwyn & gorard, 2016). the very act of learning the workings of wikipedia, therefore, decenters the writing process for traditional academic research and writing pedagogies. more specifically, it troubles the conventions of traditional curricular frameworks as the sole, primary, and best context in which to learn. students subsequently developed pride, self-actualization, and confidence that may not be typical of traditional assignments. their personal, academic growth led to an overall improvement in achieving student learning outcomes and the enhancement of writing, reading, research, and digital literacy skills. ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 81 second, wikipedia is a tool students discover to decolonize the classroom. for some students, particularly those from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds, their work was something they framed as a means of decolonizing their views about knowledge (g.a. garcia, 2018; r. garcia, 2018; stein & de andreotti, 2016). our intention in embedding wikipedia into our courses was not to decolonize the classroom per se—this unanticipated outcome was entirely something the students did and recognized in their work. the work our students completed on wikipedia is the real work of decolonization. as they gained experience with/in wikipedia, students developed an ownership of their authority in this public, digital space, a lesson that students tend not to gain from traditional research projects in our and others’ experience (fredericksen, 2002; mcdowell, 2017; nuñez et al., 2010). their writing grew towards a higher purpose and would make “something good happen in the world” (lunsford, 2016, p. 44). the larger project of colonization in the institution of education not only narrows the parameters of what counts as knowledge but also which populations and histories warrant being centered in the college classroom (alberto, 2017; garcía-louis, 2019; urrieta, 2017; urrieta et al., 2019). our students’ work is a stark reminder that “power is exerted, resisted, and yielded to in every classroom; every classroom is situated within an institution, state, and nation—all locations in which resources, knowledge, and access must be negotiated” (seward, 2019, p. 2). institutions of public higher education are prime spaces for negotiations of power and authority to be not just disrupted, but fundamentally reconfigured. the real intellectual work of decolonization is in the hands of students as they make the composing decisions and publish their writing on wikipedia. students’ contributions are nested in latcrit theory in their embedding their experiences into research and writing. their work, completed by latinx students and often focused on latinx populations, cultures and histories, addresses dual issues of representation in both expanding editorship on wikipedia and filling gaps on missing content on the site. decolonization is long-term work and demands sustained engagement to be successful (stein & de andreotti, 2016). we are under no impression that writing for wikipedia is the sole resolution to decolonizing the classroom. it can be, however, one component that works toward the larger project of decolonization, particularly for latinx students at hsis. latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 82 not only is crt a frame to make sense of students’ contributions to wikipedia, our students recounting the significance of their work also aligns with crt’s five central themes in education (solorzano & bernal, 2001; solorzano et al., 2005; solorzano & yosso, 2001). in particular, our students’ work challenges the dominant ideology in higher education, as illustrated in their discovery of their using wikipedia as a tool to decolonize the classroom. additionally, wikipedia is a means to bring their experiential knowledge, something long detached from institutions of higher learning, into the classroom and the digital world far beyond. furthermore, this study expands liberatory pedagogies in illustrating the power of writing in facilitating latinx students to decolonize the classroom while inserting their culture and selves into the field of knowledge. implications adopting wikipedia in the classroom has implications to college pedagogies in a range of disciplines and presumably beyond the confines of the short time during which students are enrolled in our classes and our universities. tasking latinx students with writing for wikipedia naturally aligns with tenets of crt and latcrit theory in their centering their experiences in their contributions to knowledge. our students’ work was emancipatory in several respects. without our prompting, students challenged dominant ideology through their inserting missing content not central to existing knowledge on those subjects. students at hsis become cocreators of knowledge as they literally create information available for the public viewing on wikipedia. students in the liberal arts, such as ours in social science and the humanities, furthered their critical thinking skills as they read wikipedia with the higher purpose of deciphering whose narratives are included and whose are missing. they enhance their skills as producers of knowledge in their incorporating academic knowledge into a publicly-accessible platform. students in our courses developed a sense of community through the wikipedia assignment that other projects tend not to. we suggest that adopting a wikipedia assignment, particularly in first-year experience courses, could similarly build community among students new to campus life. just as our students felt a sense of accomplishment in their work, this outcome could be particularly critical among first-year students in bolstering their academic self-efficacy and correspondingly building a sense of belonging and their burgeoning identities as student scholars. ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 83 much content of wikipedia bears a striking resemblance to the history of stem: the exclusion and/or minimization of the contributions of women and people of color. using a wikipedia assignment in the sciences could decolonize stem, foremost by adding missing content on (and even creating pages for) scientists of color and women absent from wikipedia. likewise, tasking students with the overt intention of adding and expanding material on more diverse populations to existing wikipedia pages would do the sciences well, similar to our students who added latinx research to general pages that included material on white and/or cisgendered populations. our assignment bears implications at the graduate level as well. wikipedia editing is a genre of writing that graduate students could use to craft their academic writing and professional and/or technical writing. writing for wikipedia could help graduate students synthesize diverse material for public consumption and help as they begin learning the hard work of constructing suitable literature reviews for seminar papers, theses, and dissertations. finally, writing for wikipedia bears implications to larger goals of higher education and a liberal arts education, notably in training students to become lifelong learners, writers, and active citizens. for instance, once trained for wikipedia in our classrooms, students can use these skills at their will in future editing on the site. in this sense, wikipedia can be lifelong. students can take the training and use it on their own outside of class, as well over half of our students suggested they intended to do at the conclusion of our courses. furthermore, the work they do on wikipedia is potentially permanent. the articles students edit can likely remain in place on the web, and their contributions will last long after the conclusion of the semester. finally, students’ work on wikipedia is a form of engagement with communities outside the university—and in the case of the virtual space of wikipedia, a global reach. we suspect many students who become wikipedians will feel similar to ours: as active and engaged public citizens. our findings suggest wikipedia is a site to explore students’ representation and its impact on their identities as college students and creators of knowledge. research should expand on our preliminary findings in which wikipedia changes students’ identities and opens their perspectives on knowledge-making and accessibility. do other students feel a similar shift in their personal identities upon adding material to wikipedia? an approach in which researchers more explicitly trace student’s longitudinal progress over the course (and in the latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 84 semesters after the course concludes) would provide a more nuanced picture on this aspect of identity development among latinx students in hsis as well. future studies should examine the outcomes that wikipedia writing in the classroom has in a broader range of courses, not only in other disciplines in the liberal arts, but in stem, nursing, and business courses, among others. do students in other disciplines view wikipedia as a tool for decolonization? do their perspectives on knowledge in their home disciplines shift as they recognize what material is missing from wikipedia? conclusion becoming a wikipedian functions to trouble and decenter the classroom and students’ larger educational experience and what they carry with them as legitimate knowledge. students see it as a tool for learning, writing, and social change via making knowledge accessible. the act of editing or creating a wikipedia strengthens students’ perspectives on the legitimacy of their scholarship and shifts understandings of how and where learning can occur. as critical writers, readers, and wikipedians, our latinx students will know what it means to engage with others in ever-evolving 21st century digital contexts. ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 85 references adams, j., brückner, h., & naslund, c. (2019). who counts as a notable sociologist on wikipedia? gender, race, and the “professor test.” socius: sociological research for a dynamic world, 5, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023118823946 alberto, l. (2017). coming out as indian: on being an indigenous latina in the u.s. latino studies, 15(2), 247-253. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-017-0058-y baytiyeh, h., & pfaffman, j. (2010). volunteers in wikipedia: why the community matters. journal of educational technology & society, 13(2), 128-140. bernal, d. d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemology: recognizing the students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 bjork-james, c. (2021). new maps for an inclusive wikipedia: decolonial scholarship and strategies to counter systemic bias. new review of hypermedia and multimedia. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614568.2020.1865463 bourdieu, p. (1984). distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste. harvard university press. chandler c., & gregory, a. (2010). sleeping with the enemy: wikipedia in the college classroom. the history teacher, 43(2), 247-257. charmaz, k. (1983). the grounded theory method. in r.m. emerson (ed.), contemporary field research : a collection of readings (pp. 109–26). waveland. chen, h. (2010). the perspectives of higher education faculty on wikipedia. electronic library, 28(3), 361-373. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471011051954 collins, p. h. (2000). black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. routledge. colvard, n. b., watson, c. e., & park, h. (2018). the impact of open educational resources on various student success metrics. international journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 30(2), 262-276. cook-sather, a., & felten, p. (2017). where student engagement meets faculty development: how student-faculty pedagogical partnership fosters a sense of belonging. student engagement in higher education journal, 1(2), 3. couture, a. l., zaidi, a.u., & maticka-tyndale, e. (2012). reflexive accounts: an intersectional approach to exploring the fluidity of insider/outsider status and the researcher’s impact on culturally sensitive post-positivist qualitative research. qualitative sociology review, 8(1), 86-105. crenshaw, k. (1989). demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. university of chicago legal forum, 1989, 139-167. crenshaw, k. (1993). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and the violence against women of color. stanford law review, 43, 1241-1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039 cuadraz, g. h. (2005). chicanas and higher education: three decades of literature and thought. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 215-234. cummings, r. e. (2020). writing knowledge: wikipedia, public review, and peer review. studies in higher education, 45(5), 950-962. day, s. (2012). a reflexive lens: exploring dilemmas of qualitative methodology through the concept of reflexivity. qualitative sociology review, 8(1), 60-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023118823946 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-017-0058-y https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 https://doi.org/10.1080/13614568.2020.1865463 https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471011051954 https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039 latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 86 di lauro, f., & johinke, r. (2017). employing wikipedia for good not evil: innovative approaches to collaborative writing assessment. assessment & evaluation in higher education, 42(3), 478-491. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1127322 dimaggio, p., hargittai, e., celeste, c., & schafer, s. (2004). from unequal access to differentiated use: a literature review and agenda for research on digital inequality. in k. neckerman (ed.), social inequality (pp. 355-400). russell sage foundation. dowell, m. l., & bridges, l. m. (2019). a perspective on wikipedia: your students are here, why aren’t you? the journal of academic librarianship, 45(2), 81-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2019.01.003 estrem, h. (2016). writing is a knowledge making activity. in l. adler-kassner (ed.), naming what we know: threshold concepts of writing studies (pp. 19-20). utah state university press. evenstein sigalov, s., & nachmias, r. (2017). wikipedia as a platform for impactful learning: a new course model in higher education. education and information technologies, 22, 2959– 2979. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9564-z ezell, j. m. (2021). empathy plasticity: decolonizing and reorganizing wikipedia and other online spaces to address racial equity. ethnic and racial studies, 44(8), 1324-1336. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1851383 ford, h., & wajcman, j. (2017). ‘anyone can edit’, not everyone does: wikipedia’s infrastructure and the gender gap. social studies of science, 47(4), 511–527. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312717692172 fredericksen, e. (2002). language as power for hispanic students in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 1(3), 211-224. garcia, g. a. (2018). decolonizing hispanic serving institutions: a framework for organizing. journal of hispanic higher education,17(2), 133-142. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717734289 garcia, g. a. (2019). defining “servingness” at hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): practical implications for hsi leaders. american council on education. retrieved from https://www.equityinhighered.org/resources/ideas-and-insights/defining-servingness-athispanic-servinginstitutions-hsis-practical-implications-for-hsi-leaders/ garcia, g. a., núñez, a. m., & sansone, v. a. (2019). toward a multidimensional conceptual framework for understanding “servingness” in hispanic-serving institutions: a synthesis of the research. review of educational research, 89(5), 745–784. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 garcia, r. (2018). decoloniality and the humanities: possibilities and predicaments. journal of hispanic higher education, 18(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192718790045 garcia, g. a., & okhidoi, o. (2015). culturally relevant practices that “serve” students at a hispanic serving institution. innovative higher education, 40(4), 345–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-015-9318-7 garcía-louis, c. (2019). transforming the culture of academia one classroom at a time: testimonio of a latina junior faculty member engaging in latina critical pedagogical activism. association of mexican american educators journal, 13(1), 102-123. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.448 halavais, a. (2004). the isuzu experiment. retrieved april 19, 2021 from http://alex.halavais.net/the-isuzu-experiment/ https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1127322 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2019.01.003 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9564-z https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1851383 https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312717692172 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717734289 https://www.equityinhighered.org/resources/ideas-and-insights/defining-servingness-at-hispanic-servinginstitutions-hsis-practical-implications-for-hsi-leaders/ https://www.equityinhighered.org/resources/ideas-and-insights/defining-servingness-at-hispanic-servinginstitutions-hsis-practical-implications-for-hsi-leaders/ https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192718790045 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-015-9318-7 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.448 http://alex.halavais.net/the-isuzu-experiment/ ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 87 hegarty, b. (2015). attributes of open pedagogy: a model for using open educational resources. educational technology, 55(4), 3-13. hein, n. p., & miller, b. a. (2004). ¿quién soy? finding my place in history: personalizing learning through faculty/librarian collaboration. journal of hispanic higher education, 3(4), 307-321. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192704268121 hill, b. m., & shaw, a. (2013). the wikipedia gender gap revisited: characterizing survey response bias with propensity score estimation. plos one, 8(6), e65782. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065782 jemielniak, d., & aibar, e. (2016). bridging the gap between wikipedia and academia. journal of the association for information science and technology, 67(7), 1773-1776. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23691 johinke, r. (2020). social production as authentic assessment: wikipedia, digital writing, and hope labour. studies in higher education, 45(5), 1015-1025. johinke, r., & di lauro, f. (2020). wikipedia in higher education: practice what you teach. studies in higher education, 45(5), 947-949. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1763014 johnson, d. r., soldner, m., leonard, j.b., alvarez, p., inkelas, k.k., rowan-kenyon h., & longerbeam, s. (2007). examining sense of belonging among first-year undergraduates from different racial/ethnic groups. journal of college student development, 48, 525-542. landen, a. s. (2011). from ethnographic ‘self’-discovery to processes of identification. qualitative research, 11, 536-551. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794111413238 lunsford, a. (2016). writing is performative. in l. adler-kassner (ed.), naming what we know: threshold concepts of writing studies (pp. 43-44). utah state university press. lunsford, a., ede, l., moss, b. j., papper, c. c., & walters, k. (2012). everyone’s an author. norton. lunsford, a., fishman j., & liew, w.m. (2013). college writing, identification, and the production of intellectual property: voices from the stanford study of study of writing. college english, 75, 470-492. matsuda, m. (1991). voices of america: accent, antidiscrimination law, and a jurisprudence for the last reconstruction. yale law journal, 100, 1329-1407. https://doi.org/10.2307/796694 mccorkel, j. a., & myers, k. (2003). what difference does difference make?: position and privilege in the field. qualitative sociology, 26, 199-231. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022967012774 mcdowell, z. (2017). english: research report for fall 2016 student learning outcomes using wikipedia-based assignments; full data is available on github. retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:student_learning_outcomes_using_wikipediabased_assignments_fall_2016_research_report.pdf montez, n. (2017). decolonizing wikipedia through advocacy and activism: the latina/o theatre wikiturgy project. theatre topics, 27(1), e-1-e-9. https://doi.org/10.1353/tt.2017.0012 morris, l. v. (2019). contemplating open educational resources. innovative higher education, 44, 329–331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-019-09477-7 murphy, a. (2013). open educational practices in higher education: institutional adoption and challenges, distance education, 39(2), 201-217. nuñez, a.-m., murakami-ramalho, e., & cuero, k. k. (2010). pedagogy for equity: teaching in a https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192704268121 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065782 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23691 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1763014 https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794111413238 https://doi.org/10.2307/796694 https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022967012774 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:student_learning_outcomes_using_wikipedia-based_assignments_fall_2016_research_report.pdf https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:student_learning_outcomes_using_wikipedia-based_assignments_fall_2016_research_report.pdf https://doi.org/10.1353/tt.2017.0012 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-019-09477-7 latinx authorship and representation in digital spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 88 hispanic-serving institution. innovative higher education, 35, 177-190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-010-9139-7 o’sullivan, d. (2016) wikipedia: a new community of practice?. routledge. pharao hansen, m. (2016). writing irataba: on representing native americans on wikipedia. american anthropologist, 118, 541-553. https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.12598 racial bias. (2020). in wikipedia. retrieved april 19, 2021 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/racial_bias_on_wikipedia ramirez, m. (2014). “i’m not a musician, but…”: negotiating the research process in examining the lives of musicians. qualitative sociology review, 10(3), 80-93. razon, n., & ross, k. (2012). negotiating fluid identities: alliance-building in qualitative interviews. qualitative inquiry, 18, 494-503. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800412442816 reyes, g. t. (2019). pedagogy of and towards decoloniality. in m. peters (ed.), encyclopedia of teacher education (pp. 1-7). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_220-1 roozen, k. (2016). writing is a social and rhetorical activity. in l. adler-kassner (ed.), naming what we know: threshold concepts of writing studies (pp. 17-19). utah state university press. selwyn, n., & gorard, s. (2016). students’ use of wikipedia as an academic resource—patterns of use and perceptions of usefulness. the internet and higher education, 28, 28-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.08.004 seward, m. (2019, april 9). decolonizing the classroom: step 1.[web blog post]. national council for teachers of english standing committee on global citizenship. retrieved december 13, 2020 from https://ncte.org/blog/2019/04/decolonizing-the-classroom/ solorzano, d. g., & bernal, d.d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 solorzano, d. g., villalpando, o., & oseguera, l. (2005). educational inequities and latina/o undergraduate students in the united states: a critical race analysis of their educational progress. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 272-94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192705276550 solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t.j. (2001). critical race and latcrit theory and method: counter storytelling. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(4), 471-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365 solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 2344. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 stein, s., & de andreotti, v.o. (2016) decolonization and higher education. in m. peters (ed.), encyclopedia of educational philosophy and theory (pp. 1-6). springer. strauss, a. l., & corbin, j. (1990). basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. sage. systemic bias. (2020). in wikipedia. retrieved april 19, 2021 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:systemic_bias tay, h. y. (2015). setting formative assessments in real-world contexts to facilitate self regulated learning. educational research for policy and practice, 14(2), 169-187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-015-9172-5 tierney, w. (1993). building communities of difference: higher education in the twenty-first century. bergin & garvey. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-010-9139-7 https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.12598 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/racial_bias_on_wikipedia https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800412442816 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_220-1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.08.004 https://ncte.org/blog/2019/04/decolonizing-the-classroom/ https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192705276550 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365 https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:systemic_bias https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-015-9172-5 ramirez & marquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 89 urrieta, l. jr. (2017). identity, violence, and authenticity: challenging static conceptions of indigeneity. latino studies, 15(2), 254-261. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-017-0063-1 urrieta, l. jr., mesinas, m., & martínez, r. a. (2019). critical latinx indigeneities and education: an introduction. association of mexican american educators journal, 13(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.425 villalpando, o. (2004). practical considerations of critical race theory and latino critical theory for latino college students. new directions for student services, 2004, 41-50. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.115 vidergar, a. b. (2014, august 14). from twitter to kickstarter, stanford english professor says the digital revolution is changing what it means to be an author. stanford report. https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/august/author-everyone-lunsford-081414.html wiki education. (2020). in wiki education homepage. retrieved april 19, 2021 from https://wikiedu.org/ wikipedia statistics. (2021). in wikipedia. retrieved april 19, 2021 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:statistics xing, j., & vetter, m. a. (2020). editing for equity: understanding instructor motivations for integrating cross-disciplinary wikipedia assignments. first monday, 25(6). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v25i6.10575 zou, d., xie, h., wang, f. l., & kwan, r. (2020). flipped learning with wikipedia in higher education. studies in higher education, 45(5), 1026-1045. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1750195 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-017-0063-1 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.425 https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.115 https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/august/author-everyone-lunsford-081414.html https://wikiedu.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wikipedia:statistics https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v25i6.10575 https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1750195 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 145 critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity from within and outside of latinized entanglements luis urrieta, jr. university of texas, austin dolores calderón western washington university abstract this article engages an important, but difficult conversation about the erasure of indigeneity in narratives, curriculum, identities, and racial projects that uphold settler colonial logics that fall under the rubric of hispanic, latina/o/x, and chicana/o/x. these settler colonial logics include violence by these groupings against indigenous people, or indios, that has been part of mexican and u.s. history in the southwest. we examine hispanic, latina/o/x, and chicana/o/x settlers’ complicity with myths that support white settler futurity, including through social studies curricula and contemporary discourses of the u.s. as a nation of immigrants. the problematics of hispanidad and latinidad are also engaged as part of officialized u.s. state regulation and as an expression of mestizaje based on indigenism (indigenismo). indigenismo worked hand-in-hand with mestizaje and functioned not so much as a celebration of racial mixture, but as state eugenicist programs of indigenous erasure throughout latin america, and by extension in latino communities in the u.s. finally, we provide diverse examples of how this process works to advance a theory and praxis of critical latinx indigeneities to decolonize latinidad and mestizaje in order to envision indigenous futurities within and outside of the latinized entanglements of the present. keywords: indigenous, mestizaje, latinidad, indigeneity, critical latinx indigeneities doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.432 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.432 critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 146 introduction research studies and media coverage have for years heightened attention to the growing latinx population in the u.s., including of children in schools. but, by simply noting the increase in population size, they rarely recognize the growth in latinx diversity. indigenous latinxs make up some of that increasing diversity and for better or worse they often become engulfed in the larger regulatory narratives of experience in the u.s., such as hispanic or latinx, that tend to disappear and assimilate indigenous peoples. however, even within these larger categorical entrapments, intra-latinx racism continues to position indigenous latinx families and children, as the invisible or inferior other (machado-casas, 2009). in this article we argue that mestizo violence against indigenous people, or indios, is not new and has always been part of mexican and u.s. history in the southwest and also as part of larger white settler colonial processes (olguín, 2013). the term indio (indian), for instance, is usually loaded with collectivized negative associations and often also used as an insult. to highlight this anti-indio violence, we engage an important, but difficult conversation about the erasure of indigeneity in narratives, curriculum, identities, and racial projects that uphold settler colonial logics that fall under the rubric of hispanic, latina/o/x, and chicana/o/x. specifically, we will explore how spanish, mexicans, mexican americans, hispanos, tejanos, californios, and others have been settlers on native lands and can become complicit with myths that ensure settler futurity (tuck & gaztimbide-fernández, 2013) through the social studies curriculum and through contemporary hispanic and latinx discourses about the u.s. as a nation of immigrants. relatedly, we also explore the problematics of hispanidad and latinidad as a part of officialized u.s. state regulation, but also as an expression of mestizaje based on indigenism (indigenismo), the main ideology, state tenet, and intellectual project for regulating indigenous communities throughout latin america (and by extension the u.s.), that worked hand-in-hand with mestizaje and functioned not so much as a celebration of racial mixture, but as a state eugenicist program of indigenous erasure (alberto, 2016).1 finally, we will advance a theory and praxis of critical latinx indigeneities—cli (blackwell, boj lópez, urrieta, 2017) to decolonize latinidad and mestizaje in 1 we are not arguing that latinx people are not subject to racism and white supremacy. instead, in this paper we highlight latinx intragroup racism/discrimination. we believe this is necessary for nuanced educational policy, curriculum, pedagogy, and practice. urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 147 order to envision indigenous futurities within and outside of the latinized entanglements of the present. cli as an analytic frame critical latinx indigeneities (cli) can be useful to explore and forefront the experiences of indigenous latinx families and education. according to blackwell et al. (2017), cli is a lens for understanding the ways gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, class and other oppressions intersect with indigeneity and are produced over multiple colonial contexts, including within schools. cli recognizes that indigenous communities and families organize around language, epistemology, transnationalism and youth cultural practice to survive and to confront displacement and migration with creative forms of cultural cohesion (urrieta, 2016). cli centers the experiences and epistemes of indigenous latinx communities to push the boundaries of regulatory categories. cli thus creates room for the multilayered discourses and ideologies of local, national, and transnational social and cultural flows both in latin america and in diaspora. until cli, a collective effort to name and theorize the varied expressions of indigenous latinx experiences, which tend to be simultaneously outside of and within dominant narratives of latinidad, was largely absent (blackwell at al., 2017). cli fills this need by critically engaging and critiquing enduring colonial logics and practices that operate from different localities of power and the violence targeted at indigenous latinx families and communities, including state and police violence, cultural appropriation, economic exploitation, gender violence, social exclusion, and psychological abuse—including forms of violence inflicted in schools. cli also centers the various forms of resistance, including activism, rage, healing, love, and communality that inform latinx indigenous experiences, including in and through education. multiple scales of analysis in cli allow us to consider overlaps and differences of multiple indigenous migrant groups and u.s. native nations, including from policies of genocide in countries like mexico, guatemala, or honduras, to hybridization with u.s. racial hierarchies and u.s. native dispossession and sovereignty. for example, consider the complexity of the garífuna peoples of honduras, who identify largely as indigenous but are of african, carib, and arawak ancestry, and who also share an affinity with a broader sense of blackness. since the 2009 military coup, the garífuna are being dispossessed of their coastal lands through extractivist development (colonial) policies that are promoting tourist corporate interests with critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 148 the aid of multinational banks, the military, and the honduran mestizo elite (loperena, 2017). the garífuna along with other indigenous groups and poor mestizos form part of the refugee and asylum seeking exodus caravans currently fleeing honduras. the garífuna travel with thousands of other refugees and asylees through guatemala’s and then mexico’s normative nationalisms, and the racial structures regulating indigeneity and blackness, which for the garifuna mean a complicated and complex experience of their indigeneity. ultimately, they reach the u.s. with its own settler colonial racial formations and logics that regulate indigeneity and race relations, where the garífuna are not likely read as indigenous, but as black bodies. the garífuna would likely be criminalized due to their crimmigration, but also be subject to anti-blackness in three different national contexts. cli allows us to look at both the local and larger scales across their trans-migration, as well as the asymmetrical relations of power and hybrid hegemonies that form through multiple colonial experiences converging in new places, as we think about the changing meanings of race, place, indigeneity, and blackness in their experiences. cli is thus an “interdisciplinary analytic that reflects how indigeneity is defined and constructed across multiple countries and at times, across overlapping colonialities” (blackwell et al., 2017, p. 126). cli’s examination of multiple racial structures and the hybrid hegemonies that are formed in transmigration allow us to understand how indigeneity is re/shaped in local as well as hemispheric scales (blackwell, 2017). according to blackwell (2017, p. 159) cli: …addresses how indigeneity is produced differentially by multiple colonialities present on indigenous land where different indigenous diasporas exist in a shared space. it refuses the way migration scholars fail to see the ‘‘receiving countries’’ as indigenous territories and nations, reenacting the terra nullius of settler colonialism. thus, critical latinx indigeneities works against the erasure of the indigenous peoples and homelands that are transited and settled on. further, it examines mobility as a global indigenous process of displacement...it considers the shifts in racial formations and the ways indigenous people are racialized differently across and between different settler states. cli therefore addresses how indigenous peoples are created as colonial subjects and re/positioned in their countries of origin and in receiving countries, including through re/defined gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, class, and other categorical understandings. barillas-chón (this urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 149 issue) highlights attention to language and labor incorporation in relation to cli as issues tied to racial hierarchies that often function as proxies for indigeneity in different contexts. cli further calls attention to ways communities negotiate ongoing movement to maintain identity, and ways of knowing, being, and doing while at the crossroads of complex intersectional nuances, intergroup oppression, and enduring multiple colonialities of power. cli is critical of mestizaje and whitening discourses across disciplines, including in chicanx studies, and argues for the inclusion of multilayered discourses and ideologies, while thinking of how power is distributed along ethnicity and race across contexts. finally, cli also challenges u.s. settler colonial logics of erasure by adjuring indigenous migrants to consider the tensions, responsibilities, and opportunities of relations with u.s. native nations, including solidarity ties and the restructuring of transnationalism while catering to indigenous-to-indigenous relationships and alliances within the respected boundaries of u.s. native nations’ sovereignty (blackwell et al., 2017; ramírez, 2006). cli ultimately serves as a bridge that draws from coloniality (quijano, 2000), settler colonial studies (wolfe, 2006) and critical indigenous studies (moreton robinson, 2016; tuck and yang, 2012) that highlights how multiple colonialisms (caste, rogue, settler, etc.) overlap, interact, and reproduce power. cli very purposefully focuses on latinx indigenous populations in order to draw attention to both the unique educational challenges faced alongside the well-documented issues of inequity, generally. old and new encounters heeding cli’s call for complexity, here we explore indigenous and mestizo historical proximity as well as indigenous migration from the south to the north to show that this “new” phenomenon of what we call “indigenous latinxs” is and is not new. people referring to themselves as spanish, mexicans, mexican americans, hispanos, tejanos, californios, etc., have been in relation with native peoples for hundreds of years, and those relations have generally not always been harmonious. spanish and mestizo violence against indigenous people, or indios, was/is part of these old and new settler colonial contexts of encounter (olguín, 2013). native peoples have been dehumanized under spanish, mexican, and u.s.-anglo-white settler colonialism. verástique (2000) contends that the historiography of the hispanic invasion of mesoamerica and later its northern territories (u.s, southwest) “has come to be known as ‘the problem of the indian’” (xv). early colonial debates argued either for or against indigenous peoples’ humanity, often identifying natives mostly as a “problem” as hispanics positioned critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 150 themselves as superior. according to saldaña-portillo (2016), the most notable debate was between juan ginés de sepúlveda and bartolomé de las casas at the convened junta de valladolid in 15502. sepúlveda argued that natives were not rational beings (gente de razón) and were naturally suited for enslavement, servitude, or extermination. de las casas argued for natives’ undisputable rationality and their natural right to possessions, self-government, and christian evangelization. without an official judgment over the debate, according to saldañaportillo, indigenous peoples became positioned at an infantile stage of humanity either as nomads and barbaric (indios bárbaros) or as pagan indians (indios gentiles), usually settled, with the potential to be assimilated through catholic indoctrination (adoctrinados). as minors, indios gentiles were placed under the tutelage of spanish administrators, military, catholic priests, or encomenderos, or spanish people who had the right to request labor or tribute from indigenous peoples, who treated natives according to their racialist and spiritual views of them (verástique, 2000; saldaña-portillo, 2016). violence was justified against indios bárbaros who warred or resisted hispanics, enforcing submission or extermination (saldaña-portillo 2016). indios bárbaros in the southwest included those cotera & sandaña-portillo (2014, p. 559) refer to as “equestrian” tribes like the comanche, seri, navajo, apache, yaqui, utes, and other nations that did not completely succumb to hispanic dominion and raided spanish, mexican, and later white settlements for livestock for their profitable and interrelated trade economies. indios gentiles eventually settled in catholic missions, in segregated barrios (neighborhood) within spanish and later mexican pueblos, or in their own pueblos de indios (indian republics) as independent nations, such as the pueblo indian nations of new mexico, and throughout mesoamerica, such as the city of tlaxcala. detribalized indians, often indians captured and sold into slavery in hispanic and mestizo households also formed part of the indigenous populations in the southwest. referred to as neofíos (neophytes), or genízaros, these natives became spanishspeaking and largely lived according to hispanic customs, but with distinct collective memories of their indigenous origins (gonzales, 2017). meticulous spanish records, including maps, surveys, and censuses consistently identified people according to their caste, which included 2 saldaña-portillo (2016) engages this debate extensively in chapter one (savages welcomed) of her book indian given: racial geographies across mexico and the united states (duke university press). urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 151 categories such as spanish, mestizo, indio, negro, mulato, etc., indicating that despite the social distance, different racialized groups were in proximity of each other. demise in the indigenous population occurred in the first century of spanish dominion and up to 90% of native depopulation occurred through displacement, disease, and harsh working conditions in some regions (einfield, 2001; stannard, 1992). displacement occurred through forced labor in distant mining regions or for harvesting crops, and also by incorporating natives into the spanish invading frontier armies. for example, contingents of tlaxcalans and tarascans (p’urhépechas) travelled north with the spanish armies to advance their frontier expeditions and eventually settled into towns as far north as new mexico (delay, 2008). barrio de analco in santa fe, new mexico is an example of tlaxcalan migration and resettlement from south to north. the mining areas in zacatecas and chihuahua also drew migration, including of indigenous people into the edges of colonial expansion (thornton, 2012). northern natives like the yaqui were also later forced to settle into villages after violent military clashes against mexican armies, while others were dispersed, or relocated to aid in warring, labor, and resettlement efforts against other indigenous peoples (evans, 2007). spanish authorities consolidated indigenous pueblos through reducciones or congregaciones due to depopulation, unless they were already in pueblos large enough to remain their own entities. repúblicas de indios (indian republics), were guaranteed legal rights, privileges, and protections (ramírez zavala, 2011), including a cabildo indio (self-elected municipal council) and religious council, which held collective landholdings (ejidos) through the leyes de mercedes (spanish land grants) (einfield, 2001), and the right to petition and file grievances. smaller pueblos under barrio status also enjoyed protections, but, were under the “care” of local parishes or a nearby spanish (cabecera) town. spain justified congregaciones on the basis of indigenous numerical decline, but these mostly served the purpose of indigenous land dispossession and consolidation for control and indoctrination. in genealogical fictions, martínez (2008) highlighted that the term mestizo surfaced in mexico in the 1530s and was initially synonymous with illegitimacy, meant “mixed” and was associated in spain with zoological vocabulary, the mixing of animals. however, racialized caste hierarchies eventually became complicated and while indigenous people were considered “pure,” they were legally minors and subject to tribute and labor regimes, while mestizos were not and some mestizos eventually acquired access to restricted elite spaces. mestizaje as an critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 152 intermediary buffer zone between indio and white (criollos and peninsulares) became inherently implicated in the continued economic marginalization, racism, and social/cultural erasure of indigenous peoples. mestizos came to occupy a middle, often both hostile and romanticized, space between mexicans of european descent and indigenous peoples. ceceña and barreda (1998) stated: actually, the mestizo culture has grown at the expense of the indigenous one and has no interest in recuperating it. to do so would deny their own superior authority over natural and human resources and would limit their possibilities for exploitation, thus affecting their profit margins. thus, their predatory spirit reaches into the cultural realm. (p. 51) mestizaje is at the crux of economic exploitation and the accumulation of wealth on the part of latin american elite, usually at the expense of indigenous dispossession and labor exploitation. according to hernández castillo (2001), indigenous women’s wombs are the epicenter of mestizaje as an absorbing process into whiteness. she explained that mestizaje is about racism and historical erasure under the guise of inclusivity in latin america: whereas in other contexts racism has been characterized by its segregationist impulse, in some latin american nations where mestizo identity has been the crux of nationalist identities, the discourse on the need for ’racial interbreeding’ has deeply racist connotations.(29) indigenous women’s bodies were/are exploited and literally raped in nation-building projects. while mestizaje absorbs indigeneity into the nation, according to castellanos (2017), it is also “contingent on remembering, at times memorializing, the indian” (p. 778), to assert national belonging. to be clear mestizos were/are not inherently evil (as “predatory spirit” suggests), but had and have an investment in a normative mestizaje that privileges them and positions them as superior to their romanticized and disavowed indigenous cousins, much like whites are not inherently racist (by nature), but have an inherent and protective investment in the normativity and property of whiteness in u.s. society (harris, 1993). enfield and o’hara (2010) stated that between 1620 and 1670 economic hardship, agricultural crisis, and out migration from indian pueblos was due to the great difficulty of meeting expected tributary demands. land dispossession was also fueled by the growth of opportunistic haciendas, latifundios, fincas, and ranchos—single large agribusiness landholdings or urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 153 livestock enterprises—dependent on indigenous, afro-descendent, and increasingly mestizo landless labor. indigenous peoples, however, resisted spanish and mestizo encroachment through pleitos, juridical grievances and demands for disputed lands restitutions by the spanish crown (einfield, 2001). from 1670 to 1821 debt peonage and sharecropping increased between pueblos and local haciendas and indigenous landholdings were even more heavily reduced. enfield and o’hara (2010) identified the eighteenth century as the most acute in terms of encroachment, squatting and landgrabs on indigenous lands by landless mestizos and rancheros. in the eighteenth century, spanish land grants were also authorized in the northern territories (today the us-mexico borderlands) and without native people’s consent. nuevo santander (south texas and tamaulipas), the province of tejas (1758), and alta california were “granted” during that time period. in addition to the fortunes that might be made in these new territories by warring against indios bárbaros and the appropriation of their economies, there was also the rationale of fighting for the “secular humanity” and conversion of gentile indians by spanish friars (saldaña-portillo, 2016, p. 64). mission enterprises in california, arizona, and texas were subsidized and undertaken. whether through physical violent encounters or a type of benevolent christian racism, native peoples were largely dispossessed of their original homelands and settled into spanish pueblos, presidios (forts) and missions, or massacred. in 1821, criollos, or individuals of “pure” spanish descent born in the spanish colonies, secured political power with mexican independence from spain, and indigenous people did not fare well under the new republic. under agustin de iturbide, all terms associated with colonial castas (castes) were eliminated and the term indio was slowly replaced with indígena as a generic and homogenizing reference to indians (ramírez zavala, 2011). the 1824 mexican constitution upheld the equality of all vecinos (citizens) and the protection of individual private property rights. constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples’ citizenship, however, revoked the protective status of repúblicas indias, setting off a push by liberal elites (criollos and mestizos) for the dispossession of indigenous pueblo lands (vandervort, 2006). one way indigenous people resisted the onslaughts on their communal lands was by overlooking their unsympathetic local or state governments and travelling directly to mexico city, often by foot, to petition the central government and courts on their pueblo’s behalf. a laguna pueblo indian delegation, for example, traveled to mexico city in 1830 to present their case to federal authorities when hispanic local political leaders overlooked settler trespassing into their critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 154 communal lands (vlasich, 2005). by the 1840s, however, indio became symbolic of backwardness in mexico, viewed as an obstacle to economic progress, representing primitiveness, and targeted to be abolished. the u.s. anglo invasion of the southwest brought on a new colonial regime onto the previous mexican and spanish ones (gómez, 2018). anglo settler colonialism imposed itself on top of the caste system in the southwest. the myth of terra nullius, or the idea that the land was empty, open, and free for territorial occupation and colonization was and continues to be fundamental to us-anglo legal mechanisms, such as the doctrine of discovery, used to dispossess indigenous peoples (calderón, 2014). settler colonialism, according to tuck and gaztambide-fernández (2013), is a form of colonialism where the invaders, through violent processes, come to stay and to replace the natives by instituting structures of indigenous erasure and matrices of social relations and conditions that define life in enduring ways that are “reasserted each day of occupation” (p. 73). for wolfe (2006), the structure of settler colonialism destroys to replace, including the original peoples, through the logic of elimination. native people in this logic become a dying race, people of the past, and erased from the public conscious. for calderón (2014), settler ideologies of indian absence and presence effectively erase the complexity of indianness through settler grammars that ensure settler futurity. for settlers, the west was savage, wild, and available to anglo-white civilizing projects, such as manifest destiny (horseman, 1981; calderón, 2014b) and mexicans (and by extension today’s latinxs) like native americans, were dehumanized through anglo-saxon race ideologies (gómez, 2018; menchaca & valencia, 1990). however, it is crucial to acknowledge that mexicans in these regions are also settlers even when mexican people were collectively racialized as inferior by whites (gómez, 2018). in a pseudo-religious, racist mindset, mexicans were viewed as un-industrious, un-christian, amoral, and genetically inferior, half-breed “indian/savage” people unworthy of occupying vast amounts of land (horseman, 1981). men were especially dehumanized “...as a breed of cruel and cowardly mongrels who were indolent, ignorant, and superstitious, given to cheating, thieving, gambling, drinking, cursing, and dancing” (gutiérrez, 2001, p. 204). such dehumanizing discourses justified texas independence (1836) and later the us-mexican war (1846-1848). james k. polk justified the war by declaring that mexicans were “feeble and lacking in self-respect” and not worthy of occupying the land (horsman, 1981). these racial ideologies later impacted the mexican community in the u.s. urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 155 through segregation policies, exclusion from the full political process, land dispossession, and denial of access to resources. amongst the mexican vecinos (citizens) in the invaded southwest were indians, and although they initially were granted citizenship as were other “mexicans,” it was later revoked as they were incorporated into u.s. racial schemas of indigeneity. wild west, frontiersmen, pioneers, and anglo colonist and settler images abound in the officialized curricula of settler states (tuck & gaztambide-fernández, 2013). the u.s. was established with a white supremacist structure from its foundation based on settler nationalism (calderón, 2014). the u.s. depends on settler nationalist narratives, myths, discourses, and ideologies that support its national identity as good, fair, and exceptionalist. saldaña-portillo (2016) stated that through the 1790 indian intercourse act, congress appropriated for the u.s. government the right to indian lands and transitioned the transfer of these from contract to treaty. saldaña-portillo (2016) concludes that “these treaties were no less fraudulent in their coercive inducements to pressure indians to surrender their lands” (p. 63), and the process of indian land dispossession, in the settler mindset, was conducted legally and fairly. in johnson v. mcintosh (1830), the u.s. supreme court granted the government “ultimate dominion” over land, and indians the “right to occupancy”, but not to ownership of the land. in settler logic, natives, through treaties, “voluntarily” agreed to cede lands. settler colonialism is thus normalized as fair, just, and part of a civilizing mission. white settlers eventually appropriated "nativeness" for themselves and now claim to have the “indigenous ancestry” that forms the basis of american exceptionalism (calderón, 2014) and that undergirds nativist discourses. “american” is thus normalized to white americans, as is citizenship. faced with a minority majority future population, today, "make america great again,” really means make america white again. taxation became an institutional practice for land dispossession in the southwest. au, brown and calderón (2016, p. 88-89) wrote: one of the main mechanisms put in place to speed up the disenfranchisement of mexican landholdings [in the us southwest] specifically was taxation. estrada et al. (1981) tell us that “the spanish-mexican traditional practice had been to tax the products of the land. under the new anglo regime, land itself was taxed.” (106). because taxes no longer depended on what the land produced, farmers with less access to capital were unable to meet the new increased taxes, causing many to lose their land critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 156 (estrada et al., 1981). this taxation scheme was in some ways similar to the allotment act (also known as the dawes act) of 1887, which shifted communal tribal land holdings into private individual parcels, the result of which was the inability of individual tribal members to pay taxes on lands, thus paving the way for the purchase of these lands by whites. au et al. (2016) thus claimed that taxation schemes are “a part of a sustained ideological and policy practice put in place by whites to gain territory” (p. 89). these schemes continue to impact native americans and also impact other communities through gentrification and other more deliberate ways of dispossessing to this day. taxes and hiking taxes are thus used to take over property, and over land. urban renewal, imminent domain, land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, and expropriation of private property have become part of “settling in.” this context of multiple and intersecting forms of colonialisms (spanish, mexican, anglowhite) in mexico and the southwest we explored is fundamentally important to understand how latinxs have and continue to become complicit with the futurity of settler colonialism and against their u.s. native and latinx indigenous kin, despite the fact that they have been similarly impacted and affected by u.s. anglo settler colonial structures and processes. indeed, it impacted how latinxs came to receive land, the type of schooling they received, as well as their access to political representation. we are not arguing that latinxs did not and do not continue to experience racism. at least in this historical context, latinx experiences were mediated by what legal scholar laura gómez (2018) referred to as their off-white status, shaped by the racial caste ordering of the region and their position as not black and not indian in the u.s. anglo settler colonial context. replacement curriculum, settler grammars, and white futurity critical latinx indigeneities encourages an engagement with settler colonialism. using the concepts of settler colonial curricular project of replacement and settler grammars, we will next examine california and texas curricula that 1) include latino history but maintain indigenous absence and inferiority and 2) invoke and often celebrate spanish settler colonialism to highlight the silent tension between mestizo/hispanic/latino and indigenous relations. tuck and gaztambide-fernández (2013, 75) referred to schools as instruments of settlement that explicitly and implicitly justify the theft and occupation of indigenous land through their concept of replacement curricula. replacement, according to tuck and gaztambide-fernández (2013), urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 157 “aims to vanish indigenous peoples and replace them with settlers, who see themselves as the rightful claimants to land, and indeed, as indigenous” (p.73). for tuck and gaztambidefernández (2013), the settler colonial curricular project of replacement soothes settler anxieties over indigenous land displacement and genocide and invests in white futurity. advancing anticolonial and decolonial analyses of settler colonial curricular replacement, calderón (2014) identifies the settler grammars in social studies curricula that depict native peoples as absent, relics of the past and the u.s. as a “new” state, a “nation of (european) immigrants.” calderón explained that the nation of immigrants ideology asserts that indigenous peoples are also immigrants (i.e. bering strait migration) and their migration is simply part of a national immigration narrative, and not one of origins in what we call the americas, effectively destabilizing indigenous land claims. in settler grammars, beliefs of (white) settler superiority over natives justify the “inevitable” replacement of indigenous peoples, especially over the “emptiness” of their purposefully created “absence,” allowing settlers access to territory and to “nativeness” itself; thus, whites become the “natives” of a “new” and superior nation while natives are occasionally conjured up to make specter-like and problematic curricular apparitions. curricular depictions of latinxs or hispanics are minimal and are usually limited to either settler or immigrant origins. conquistadors and explorers like juan ponce de león, cabeza de vaca, and juan de oñate, as well as catholic missionaries such as junípero serra are depicted as the precursors to modern-day latinxs. juan de oñate is notorious for his brutality against the acoma pueblo, especially for overseeing the killing of 800 people in the pueblo, for imprisoning dozens of acoma girls in mexico city convents, and for having men’s foots cut off. at a time when confederate statues generate controversy and many such monuments have been removed, effigies that celebrate spanish conquest (atrocity) largely remain. indeed, to some hispanics, latinxs, even when they consider themselves mestizos, spanish is the side of their heritage that they most identify with, glorify, and that they defend, often displaying anti-indian hatred against native people and against latinxs that demand that symbols of conquest be banished (see the controversy around the santa fe fiestas in new mexico that celebrate the spanish entrada into the region). spanish priests, such as junípero serra in california, eusebio kino in arizona, and their mission enterprises in the southwest, including the famous alamo in san antonio, texas, are also largely celebrated in social studies critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 158 texts. serra was even heralded as a hero of sorts for the hispanic community in spanish media when he was canonized by pope francis during his papal visit to the u.s. in september of 2015. while california curriculum maintains dominant anglo settler grammars, the grammars of previous colonialisms bleed through. for example, the california missions (4th grade) curriculum encourages students to build model missions and promotes a celebration of spanish california, offering insight into why junípero serra remains a prominent historical figure despite the controversies that surround his legacy. curricular inclusion of the missions and men like serra upholds multiple settler projects (spanish & mexican), yet these projects remain subservient to anglo settler colonial nationalism. the california history/social science framework (ca-hss) was revised in 2016 due to an increased outcry against the uncritical perspective of the 4th grade mission curriculum (gutfreund, 2010). the revision includes a less celebratory view of the missions yet it nevertheless maintains language that frames the spanish legacy as a benefit, sustaining a teleological view of history that assumes societies inevitably improve from primitive to civilized by necessarily removing indigenous peoples who cannot overcome their primitiveness (brayboy, 2005; smith, 2008). for example, the section, “missions, ranchos, and the mexican war for independence,” (chapter 7, grade 4) of the california history-social science framework arguably promotes spanish cultural transmission as not, in and of itself, violent: spanish culture, religion, and economic endeavors—combined with indigenous peoples and practices—all converged to shape the developing society and environment during spanish-era california. with so few colonists, spanish authorities believed they could transform indian peoples into loyal spanish subjects by converting them to christianity, introducing them to spanish culture and language, and intermarriage. the introduction of christianity affected native peoples, many of whom combined catholicism with their own belief systems. vastly outnumbered by native peoples, missionaries relied on some indian leaders to help manage the economic, religious, and social activities of the missions. colonists introduced european plants, agriculture, and a pastoral economy based mainly on cattle… under the guidance of fray junipero serra, 54,000 indians became baptized at the missions where they spent anywhere from two to fifty weeks each year, laboring to sustain the missions.” (pp. 74-75). urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 159 the discursive choices in the passage above carefully delink spanish cultural imposition from violence. in spite of the changes, the ca-hss does not go far enough to name the california indian genocide (fenelon & trafzer, 2014). for tinker (1993), cultural genocide is “the effective destruction of a people by systematically or systemically…destroying, eroding, or undermining the integrity of the culture and system of values that defines a people and gives them life” (p. 6). the ca-hss thus do little to interrupt the discourse that cultural exchange was beneficial. missing from the ca-hhs is indigenous peoples’ own perspective. the ca-hss framework (2016) notes, “the historical record of this era remains incomplete due to the limited documentation of native testimony” (p. 75). strangely, the ca-hss crafters cannot imagine that the many california indians not only have oral histories, but their own archives on this period (such as the amah mutson tribal band). instead, this serves as an example of the way indigenous absence as a settler colonial logic works. before moving to condemn the impact of the mission system on indigenous peoples, the ca-hss works to sustain the spanish civilizing mission brought to indigenous peoples: “however, it is clear that even though missionaries brought agriculture, the spanish language and culture, and christianity to the native population, american indians suffered in many california missions” (p. 75). differently stated, the ca-hss tells teachers that while this mission system caused indigenous peoples’ suffering, the spanish brought many good things (i.e. agriculture, language, culture, and christianity). conquistadors and priests along with the forts and missions are thus heralded as early attempts at european “civilization.” however, before the onslaught of white settlers their attempts at “civilizing” fall short, but still create a buffer zone between the “primitive” indians and the ultimate superior white settlers. it is also in this in between state, as mestizo, as off-white (gómez, 2018), that the project of mestizaje was cultivated. the ca-hss preserve this, affirming the foundation for rejecting indigenous peoples and indigeneity, thus not giving diverse latinx students the opportunity to examine intra-difference and complexity in historical contexts. the ca-hss framework does offer some context about the violence suffered by indigenous peoples in california: the death rate was extremely high; during the mission period, the indian population plummeted from 72,000 to 18,000. this high death rate was due primarily to the introduction of diseases for which the native population did not have immunity, as well as the hardships of forced labor and separation from traditional ways of life. (p. 75). critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 160 even so, the ca-hss offer scant context to the even more brutal genocide inflicted on california indians by the u.s. benjamin madley (2016), historian of indigenous genocide shares that in 1890, historian huber howe bancroft wrote of the genocide of california natives: “the savages were in the way: the miners and settlers were arrogant and impatient; there were no missionaries or others present with even the poor pretense of soul-saving or civilizing. it was one of the last human hunts of civilization, and the basest and most brutal of them all” (howe bancroft in mandel, 2016, p. 3). bancroft’s statement reminds us of varying forms of colonial violence and genocide that oscillated between cultural genocide (spanish civilizing mission) and the physical genocide of anglo settler colonialism. the ca-hss thus allows us to consider how the multiple layers of colonialism are embedded within curriculum in a way that affirms the latest and most dominant mode of settler colonialism. while it allows for some critique of previous colonial forms and less of anglo-us settler colonialism, the ca-hss’s “inclusion” of spanish and mexican history depicts indians as past primitive remnants that gave way to californians today. considering complex historical entanglements, mexican american students’ experiences with texas independence, goes a step further than the california mission curriculum by explicitly promoting identification with anglo settler colonialism. “remember the alamo!,” is part of a larger anglo-settler invasion narrative that is framed as an independence struggle against an oppressive mexican government and “pseudo-savage,” mixed indigenous and spanish heritage people (horseman, 1991). piety around the battle of the alamo, the physical and symbolic site of the alamo and anglo “martyrdom” has become representative of “texian” and by default u.s. (i.e. anglo) freedom (flores, 2010). this historical perspective is standardized in the state curriculum (and broader national social studies curricula because texas and california textbook adoption has a major influence in text adoption nationwide) that is taught in lessons to mexican american and other students of color in ways that position them in a contentious space where they are bringing their own personal histories, including counter narratives of anglo settler logics of invasion against the normative curriculum of texas’ independence. in these contentious positionings, mexican american students along with all students are sometimes asked by teachers whose side, texians (i.e. anglos) or mexican (i.e. bad guys), they would be on. this positioning is often explained as an attempt to be “critical” and inclusive of urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 161 diverse perspectives; thus, placing students before a binary choice in their identification and allegiance processes. positioning mexican american students against themselves, their parents, or ancestors (so to speak) is a dichotomous colonialist framing of the texas anglo invasion of texas that further obscures the multiple and hybrid forms of colonialities that critical latinx indigeneities seeks to make lucid (blackwell, 2017). such colonial logics include additional settler colonial structures beyond those that impacted and impact mexicans and mexican americans; the anglo struggle to maintain the black enslavement that provided the labor force for the settler state, the forced acculturation and genocide the alamo represents as a spanish mission itself, and the murder, expulsion, and erasure of native peoples from texas especially by the texas rangers under anglo domination. in these interlocking instantiations of colonial logics, their overlaps, entanglements, and hybrids, the myth of terra nullius, spanish conquistadors and priests, anglo settlement, westward expansion, and manifest destiny, native peoples are dispossessed to the degree that texans today (regardless of race) generally believe that there never were many natives to begin with; the land was indeed “empty.” this is not true, native peoples in texas include alabama coushatta, lipan apache, comanche, coahuilteca, kikapoo, comecrudo, caddo, carrizo, and the ysleta del sur pueblo amongst others. the “remember the alamo!” curriculum therefore limits students to a binary positioning of white texan “good guys” and mexican “bad guys.” students of color are asked explicitly or implicitly to situate themselves either in support of anglo domination (whether they are anglo themselves or not) through the white settler colonial curricular project in texas, which included african enslavement and native american dispossession; or, risk being part of the few, usually mexican students who in an effort to maintain some public form of dignity express support for mexico and mexicans at the expense of suffering the indignities of being ridiculed and dismissed, even by their teachers. within these whitestream contentious classroom spaces and school contexts, students’ identities are shaped within limited possibilities geared to structuring support for white supremacy and white settler nationalism. mexican and mexican american students often learn to internalize the villainization (oppression) of mexicans through the alamo curriculum, usually by rejecting their own culture, identity, and language (urrieta, 2004); by ignoring black enslavement, while learning that native americans (by omission) are missing from the curriculum and the history of texas altogether, or by justifying that indians seemed better off in the spanish missions than later under anglo critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 162 white supremacy. white settler colonialism is thus normalized as fair, just, and part of a civilizing mission (again!). settlers, white settlers in particular appropriate "nativeness" for themselves in texas, as they do at the larger national scale, and claim to be the "true texians”. similarly, tejanos also stake claim to land ownership and origins (over native americans) in tejas and in contention with white settlers. tejanos invest in their real or imagined genealogical connection to spain (or other european origins) and their settler legitimacy by affirming land ownership through the land grants endowed by the spanish crown, and without native consent. the curricular examples we just reviewed use particular settler colonial historical perspectives to (consciously or unconsciously) reposition hispanics, latinxs as settlers (again!), either as conquistadors and missionaries or as newly arrived immigrants, in ways that support white futurity. critical latinx indigeneities’ challenge to incorporate a settler colonial analysis (amongst others) indicates for us that any social justice latinx equity agenda and critical ethnic studies curriculum must start by recognizing settler status (i.e. as spanish, mexicans, mexican americans, hispanos, tejanos, californios, etc.), and that generations of latinxs and latinx im/migrants live and arrive on the homelands of sovereign indigenous nations. being guests on native lands brings with it responsibilities that begin with a land acknowledgement, and the possibility of new relationships of tension and solidarity with native americans in the pursuit of social justice (boj lópez, 2015). a latinx equity agenda in education must start by acknowledging and challenging the settler colonial curricular project of replacement and the settler grammars, such as those we reviewed and others, that continue to erase and displace native/indigenous peoples, and that incorporate latinxs as early, yet primitive settlers in the development of the “superior” white settler state. finally, cli challenges collectivist latinx agendas for equity and citizen-incorporation to upfront the recognition that we as latinxs and im/migration scholars often collude with the myth that the u.s. is a nation of immigrants, which by default delegitimizes indigenous origins, land claims, and sovereignty. nation of immigrants myth critical latinx indigeneities would suggest that any meaningful discussion about immigration and citizenship in the u.s. cannot be divorced from a broader context of colonialism because the “nation of immigrants” myth replicates the settler colonial logic of erasure and the elimination of indigenous peoples. nation of immigrants ideology, according to urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 163 calderón (2014a), by default asserts that indigenous peoples are also immigrants who migrated to the “americas” via the bering strait and their migration is simply part of a larger national immigration narrative. this contention destabilizes indigenous land claims because it puts native peoples’ “nativeness” into scientific dispute and denial. nation of immigrants discourse relies on terra nullius, the idea that the land was/is vacant and available to (some) immigrants who are seeking better lives and fortunes (i.e. american dreams). therefore, the enduring myths of a “land of opportunity” and of “living american dreams,” as often taught in schools reproduce doctrine of discovery discourses whereby occupation and settlement are justified through the idea that the u.s. remains a land, space, place to be explored or to find fortunes (i.e. discovered), a blank slate on which immigrants (including latinxs) make and remake lives and transnational communities. the narrative of living out dreams in the u.s. often become “un orgullo hispano” immigrant, rags to riches stories of “making it in america” on spanish media, especially by middle class latinx immigrants and early cuban exiles, that intentionally and unintentionally uphold the “pull yourself by your bootstraps” myth of meritocracy and u.s. exceptionalism. while the "melting pot" myth has also been used to invoke that the u.s. is a country of immigrants where all (i.e. cultures, races, ethnicities) "mix" into the pot and harmoniously become "americans," that is not a universal experience or expectation for all. in fact, it is a very violent idea first and foremost because it erases the genocide of native americans from the national consciousness and second because it requires assimilation premised on processes of exclusion (i.e. exclusion from citizenship, exclusion from whiteness). the melting pot myth is therefore violent to people of color because not everyone is meant to be included in the pot. and even though the discourse is meant to encourage assimilation, people of color, no matter how hard they try to assimilate, will never be considered "true americans."3 finally, the focus on u.s. immigration policy shines light on our continuing ignorance of coloniality (quijano, 2000), and its current impact on the indigenous and afro-descendent 3 african americans, for example, have been excluded historically as sub-human through the dehumanization of the 3/5 compromise and as property, and they continue to be excluded today through the legal system, economically, through police and other forms of violence. this is true for other communities as well. the melting pot myth is also violent toward whites, because they had to give up their european heritage cultures and languages in exchange for the full citizenship, for inclusion into whiteness. whiteness is powerful and it is protected by structures and institutional power in the u.s. even poor whites are overwhelmingly more invested in whiteness than in their own potential economic and political alliances with people of color for social justice.3 critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 164 peoples that are displaced into migration in latin america. often referred to as a migrant, refugee, asylee “crisis,” the mass dislocation of peoples coming to the u.s. is the result of decades of u.s. foreign policy, of global climate change precipitated by western capitalism, and a form of ongoing global neoliberal (colonial) dispossession. hernández castillo (2016) contended that in the neoliberal era, “indigenous” has become a new identity, “which came into being through the construction of an imaginary community with other oppressed peoples around the world” (p. 4). the emergence of indigeneity as an expression of neoliberal modernity, she attributes as a response to neoliberal capitalism’s extractivist policies of accumulation by dispossession (harvey, 2004) and the subsequent militarization of nation-states, that make indigenous women, especially activists, the targets of violence and murder. such is the case of berta cáceres, lenca environmental activist, murdered in honduras on march 3, 2016 (loperena, 2017). while neoliberal states have recognized indigenous culture and identity rights through neoliberal multiculturalism policies in latin america (hale, 2004), the governmentality that accompanies the identities that are formed in this process of recognition politics further engulf indigenous peoples in the participatory citizenship of the neoliberal state (hernández castillo, 2016) that ultimately seeks to exploit their labor and/or dispossess them of their homelands. cli encourages a more nuanced focus on the recent waves of asylum seekers and refugees in the central american caravans, especially how the indigenous and afro-descended within them are dehumanized (racialized) across multiple national contexts in a long history of enduring colonialisms. like, others in the past, they are considered ineligible for citizenship in the u.s. settler state, even before their arrival, challenging further the myth that the u.s. is indeed a nation of immigrants. the problematics of latinidad as mestizaje critical latinx indigeneities encourages an interrogation of latinidad, in order to begin to deconstruct what we mean by latinxs and latinidad, because for better or for worse indigenous peoples from latin america are lumped within this category and experience life under this label in the u.s. the need to create a cli analytic itself and its attention to the experiences of indigenous migrants and youth is a challenge from the start, first and foremost against the essentialist, stereotypical portrayals of latinxs in simplistic, festive, uncritical, “fiesta menu” approaches to multicultural curricula in our schools. even as the collectivized “brown” people in chicanx studies, which emerges from the empowering constructs of “brown power!” urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 165 and “brown pride”, there is a homogenizing aspect that does not do justice to the diversity of indigenous and afro-latinx experiences within the larger collective brownness (laó-montes, 2005). brownness, for some of us, alludes too much to mestizo-ness and the normative nationalisms that have historically regulated, erased and controlled indigeneity and blackness. like mestizaje and indigenismo that have tended to be locked at arms’ length in the history of most latin american countries’ nationalist discourses, latinidad and hispanidad are also colonizing projects of erasure for indigenous peoples, both migrants and northern tribal peoples, in the u.s. when indigenous migrants arrive from their/our countries of origin, whether they/we like it or not, they/we are associated with latinidad and usually also with their/our country of origin; some, for the very first time. for instance, some indigenous communities might not have thought of themselves as mexican first when they lived in mexico. as muehlmann (2013) identified with the cucapá people in baja california (cousins of the cocopah in arizona), who often referred to mestizos as “mexicans” and vice versa in her study. or luis’ friend juan, p’urhépecha from capacuaro who after luis asked him in 2009 what he would be doing for mexican independence day retorted, “whose independence?” even though many indigenous migrants recreate in the u.s. communities that maintain their identities around their respective pueblos (alberto, 2017), like a web, latinized entanglements engulf, are persistent, and the imposed and resisted engulfment within the larger construction of latinidad is continuous and sometimes difficult to avoid. for example, when indigenous migrant children are enrolled at u.s. schools, there is usually a home language survey taken. if a language other than english is spoken at home as their first language, the child is automatically placed either in a bilingual spanish/english program or in esl, when these programs are available. for many indigenous latinx children, who are speakers of indigenous languages that means that they will likely be learning in their second language (spanish), while they learn their third language (english); both languages spanish and english being colonial languages. their new u.s.-based racialized association by proxy to latinidad will then have these children navigate the u.s. school system through a double colonization, first to the most immediate peer group of spanish-speaking latinxs who often tease and bully their indigenous peers (barillas-chón, 2010), and also to the grammars of whitestream, subtractive, white settler schooling (valenzuela, 1999; urrieta, 2010; calderón, 2014). critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 166 we do not disavow decades of scholarship that shows that the educational field is generally unequal for latinxs. latinxs have less access to resources and information such as quality schools, education programs, and access to higher education usually because of segregation, exclusionary practices, and insufficient economic access. however, cli challenges that not all latinxs share the same experience in regard to access to resources and information, primarily due to inter-group inequities and oppression that are reinscribed forms of colonialism that create hybrid hegemonies (blackwell, 2010). in regard to indigenous latinxs and afrolatinx youth this includes the anti-indian and anti-black hatred that often prevails within schools and in the larger mestizo latinx communities. although all latinxs face the potential threat and real life effects of racialization as “latinxs” if not always, at least at some point in their lives, some latinxs enjoy more privileged lives than others outside and within the latinx community. cli highlights the intergroup diversity that indigenous and afro-latinxs bring and the intergroup inequities that manifested in unequal relations of power, including internalized oppression as well as inter-group oppression that distinguish between the indio, the rascuache and high-spanic, los de aquí y los de allá, the queer, los atravesados, the julian castro and alexandria ocasio-cortez’s, as well as the susana martiínez and ted cruz’s of the latinx world. an example of this intergroup oppression of racism and prejudice against afro-latinxs and indigenous peoples (or anti-indio hatred) by their mestizo, or in the u.s.—latinx peers is exemplified in barillas-chón’s (2010) study of the anti–hate speech campaigns aimed at latinx youth for bullying their oaxacan peers in the city of oxnard as well as in other parts of california by referring to them as “oaxaquitas.” other studies corroborate similar findings in which diminutives meant to ridicule indigenous latinx youth exemplify the intersection of structural factors that create hybrid hegemonies of racism from latin america and racism in the u.s. (blackwell, 2017). these hybrid hegemonies do not only impact indigenous oaxacan youth in oxnard’s schools, but are also illustrated by the fact that the latinx labor market is also highly stratified—as pointed out by barillas-chón; these youths’ parents mostly migrant farm workers, usually earn less than their mestizo “latinx” counterparts for the same work (holmes, 2011). this of course leads to intergroup economic disparities, even at the lowest levels of socioeconomic power. cli encourages the examination, for example, of the transnational movement of anti-indian hatred that allows us to delve into a deeper exploration of multiple colonialities, including of how the latinx category erases indigenous difference even as it enacts urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 167 violence against indigenous migrants, refugees, and youth. these fissures and contradictions show that latinx populations are multiracial. cli demands that this multiracial and multilingual diversity be fully engaged in any agenda for latinx equity in education as well as in any curricular representations, including in ethnic studies. therefore, while the identifier “latinx” serves many good purposes such as that of enabling organizational, advocacy, policy, and political mobilization within limitations— latinx/hispanic also serve as racial formations of state regulatory categories (omi & winant, 2015). latinx, as a regulatory category and signifier, positions and labels a collective into the landscape of the whitestream settler imaginary. in this imaginary latinxs are homogenized into categorical difference despite our diversity, and it becomes a norming difference, a racial project in order to fit into the white supremacist vertical, racial, settler colonial structure on which this country is founded. cli demands that we understand that latinx—although it was created as a more inclusive term than hispanic by invoking latin american origin or ancestry— brings with it a broader historical context and sociopolitical landscape of identity that includes these multiple mappings and graphings of coloniality and hybrid hegemonies of power around ethnoracial, class, gender, and sexuality difference. cli would signal that pan-latinidad as a collective identity is therefore indeed based on an assumed mestizaje linked with indigenism that obscures and invisiblizes the racial, ethnic, cultural, class, sexuality and religious diversity and structures of power and dispossession in latin america and of those within this latinidad in the u.s. to seriously engage the challenges that cli represents for ethnic studies curricula, especially in chicanx studies, these disciplines must move toward employing critical interdisciplinary analytic frames. interdisciplinarity allows for local, hemispheric, as well as global scales of analysis like those proposed by cli, especially as they pertain to the ways that race and its various intersections gets constructed and deployed across multiple countries (or regions) and overlapping colonialities, including through displacement by state structures and the flows of neoliberal global capitalism. cli encourages the examination of more than one racial structure and an intersectional multi-axis approach that recognizes the multiracial and multilingual diversity of ethnoracial groupings, as well as the multiple genealogies involved in migration. the recognition of multiple genealogies of indigeneity, especially for chicanx studies, encourages the disruption of the dated mexican (aztec)-centric approach to indigeneity that critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 168 often, even today, appropriates and essentializes what it means to be indigenous with a longing for loss in ways that resemble indigenismo (spears-rico, 2015). indigenismo has worked together with mestizaje as a state eugenicist program of racial whitening (alberto, 2016). thus, although the mestizaje discourse is empowering for chicanx, latinx scholars in the u.s., mestizaje also embodies a historical location of racism and indigenous erasure and in the u.s. a complicity with white settler futurity that is rarely engaged in more profound ways. indigenous futurity within latinized entanglements pulido (2017) stated that chicanx studies is ambivalent about engaging settler colonialism “… due to settler colonialism’s potential to disrupt core elements of chicana/o political subjectivity” (p. 2) such as mestizaje. pulido continues, “specifically, it unsettles chicanas/os’ conception of themselves as colonized people by highlighting their role as colonizers. acknowledging such a role is difficult not only because it challenges key dimensions of chicana/o identity… but also because of the precarious nature of chicana/o indigeneity” (p. 2). conceptual mestizaje thus emerges as what stoler (2016) would refer to as a seductive and powerful agent of imperial power. hence, this is a conceptual question that necessitates engagement with settler colonial studies generally, critical indigenous studies specifically, and more robustly, critical latinx indigeneities. in a similar manner, the claim to aztlan as an indigenous homeland in chicanx studies naturalizes the displacement of u.s. tribal peoples because it centers the mexica migration from aztlan myth as its sole genealogy of indigeneity. the claim to aztlan also erases the multiple and varied past and present indigenous origin stories of various indigenous communities and fails to recognize and honor the contemporary diversity of displaced indigenous migrants and refugees from latin america and their future descendants. to heed cli’s move in the direction of recognizing varied indigenous genealogies, we tried early in this article to engage history and complexity by highlighting the complicated contexts of indigenous/native and mestizo/hispanic/latinx encounters. we explored indigenous and mestizo/hispanic/latino historical proximity not as “new” phenomenon by implicitly alluding only to who we refer to as “indigenous latinxs” today, but to the possible varied existences of this “experience” that have existed over centuries through, for example, the indigenous south to north migration and settlement of p’urhépechas and tlaxcalans we highlighted in the early spanish colonial period or through the detribalized neofio and genízaro urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 169 spanish-speaking indian communities throughout the southwest to name only a few cases that might illustrate the complexities of the entanglements. we also highlighted that people referring to themselves as spanish, mexicans, mexican americans, hispanos, tejanos, californios, etc., forbearers of what today we might call mestizo/hispanics/latinxs have been in relation with native peoples for hundreds of years, and those relations have generally not always been harmonious. therefore, in the critical latinx indigeneities frame, it is imperative to recognize this complicated and painful history, to recognize the violence targeted at indigenous peoples by these forbearers as well as their settler status, to take up the challenging of taking on the settler colonial curricular project of replacement and the settler grammars in order to re-right and rewrite the school curricula, and to decolonize latinidad and mestizaje in order to envision indigenous futurities within and outside of the latinized entanglements of our present. moving forward, cli encourages a focus on indigenous youth as of utmost importance for our imagined futurities, especially because of the potential for organizing and activism that indigenous latinx youth possess due to their exposure to their or their parents’ community (pueblo) ties and relational ways of being through comunalidad, which is a process of active opposition to colonial dispossession and neoliberalism (aquino moreschi, 2013). for example, indigenous latinx youth have organized and mobilized in support of various native causes, including marches in defense of yanawana, the coahuiltecan name for water, and traveling to and supporting the native peoples of standing rock in 2016. diasporic community knowledges provide indigenous latinx youth epistemologies from which to critically engage the world that can potentially benefit not just their peers but the larger community in general (urrieta, 2016), especially in the ways that learning is organized in education and in the potential relational relationships to foment solidarities with both the larger “latino” community and u.s. tribal nations. to conclude, cli recognizes that indigenous migrants are not victims, but have always been agentic in directing their own lives and the survival of their communities in diaspora. this has been documented through the organizing of hometown associations and binational organizations that go to great lengths to maintain political and economic ties with their home communities and that instill the identity, cultural practices, often language, and activism on the migrant and u.s.-born youth in their communities (stephen, 2007; sánchez, 2018). u.s.-born zapotec anthropologist, daina sánchez (2018) documents this well in her recent and critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 170 representative study of solaga children and youth’s involvement in a musical band in southern california. her study shows how through the banda (or musical band) community, the children and youth expressed ethnic pride, as well as an appreciation for the music, the identity, the traditional and newly emerging cultural practices of the solaga zapotec community in los angeles. sánchez (2018) argued that the space to recognize themselves as different in the banda, also allowed the u.s. solaga youth healthier ways to face anti-indigenous discrimination from the broader latinx community as well as the anti-immigrant trump-era hostility of the whitestream settler society. sánchez’s study of indigenous migrant communities’ future generations, indicates the need to situate the migrants’ experiences at the unique crossroads of critical latinx indigeneities, precisely where latinx studies, latin american studies, and native american and indigenous studies cross paths in intersectional ways. we agree, and look forward to indigenous latinx youth’s futurity, within and outside of the latinized entanglements. urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 171 references alberto, l. (2016). nations, nationalisms, and indígenas: the “indian” in the chicano revolutionary imaginary. critical ethnic studies, 2(1), 107-127. alberto, l. (2017). coming out as indian: on being an indigenous latina in the us. latino studies, 15(2), 247-253. aquino moreschi, a. (2013). la comunalidad como epistemología del sur, aportes y retos. cuadernos del sur, 18(34), 7-20. au, w., brown, a. l., and calderón, d. (2016). reclaiming the multicultural roots of u.s. curriculum: communities of color and official knowledge in education. new york, ny: teachers college press. barillas-chón, d. w. (2010). oaxaqueño/a students’ (un)welcoming high school experiences, journal of latinos and education, 9(4), 303-320. blackwell, m. (2010). líderes campesinas: nepantla strategies and grassroots organizing at the intersection of gender and globalization. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 35(1), 13-47. blackwell, m. (2017). geographies of indigeneity: indigenous migrant women’s organizing and translocal politics of place. latino studies, 15(2), 156-181 blackwell, m., boj lópez, f. & urrieta, l. jr. 2017. special issue: critical latinx indigeneities. latino studies, 15(2), 126-137. boj lópez, f. (2015). mobilizing transgression: red pedagogy and maya migrant positionalities. in s. m. grande (ed.) red pedagogy: native american social and political thought (10th anniversary, deluxe edition) (pp. 283-287). lanham, md: rowman and littlefield. boyer, c. r. (2003). becoming campesinos: politics, identity, and agrarian struggle in postrevolutionary michoacan, 1920-1935. palo alto, ca: stanford university press. brayboy, b. m. j. (2005). toward a tribal critical race theory in education. the urban review, 37(5), 425-446. calderón, d. (2014a). anticolonial methodologies in education: embodying land and indigeneity in chicana feminisms. journal of latino/latin american studies, 6(2), 81-96. calderón, d. (2014). uncovering settler grammars in curriculum. educational studies, 50(4), 313338. california department of education, 2016 history—social science framework for california public schools, kindergarten through grade twelve, 2016 castellanos, b. m. (2017). introduction: settler colonialism in latin america. american quarterly, 69(4), 777-781. ceceña, a. e. and barreda, a. (1998). chiapas and the global restructuring of capital. in j. holloway & e. peláez (eds.), zapatista! reinventing revolution in mexico (pp. 19-39). london/sterling: pluto press. cotera, m. e., & saldaña-portillo, m. j. (2014). indigenous but not indian?: chicanos and the politics of indigeneity. in r. warrior (ed.) the world of indigenous north america (pp. 549-568). new york, ny: routledge. delay, b. (2008). war of a thousand deserts: indian raids and the us-mexico war. new haven, ct: yale university press einfield, g.h. (2001). “pinturas,” land and lawsuits: maps in colonial mexican legal documents. imago mundi, 53, 7-27 einfield, g.h. and o’hara s. l. (2010). degradation, drought, and dissent: an environmental critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 172 history of colonial michoacán, west central mexico. annals of the association of american geographers, 89(3), 402-419. evans, s. (2007). bound in twine: the history and ecology of the henequen-wheat complex for mexico and the american and canadian plains, 1880-1950. college station, tx: texas a&m university press. fenelon, j. v., & trafzer, c. e. (2014). from colonialism to denial of california genocide to misrepresentations: special issue on indigenous struggles in the americas. american behavioral scientist, 58(1), 3-29. flores, r.r. (2010). remembering the alamo: memory, modernity, and the master symbol. austin, tx: university of texas press gallegos, b. (2017). postcolonial indigenous performances: coyote musings on genízaros, hybridity, education, and slavery. rotterdam, netherlands: sense publishers gómez, l. e. (2018). manifest destinies: the making of the mexican american race. new york, ny: new york university press. gonzales, g. (2017). otro cuento del genizaro pedro de urdemalas. american indian culture and research journal, 41(2), 139-143. gutfreund, z. (2010). standing up to sugar cubes: the contest over ethnic identity in california’s fourth-grade mission curriculum. southern california quarterly, 92(2), 161-197. gutiérrez, r. (2001). historical and social science research on mexican americans. in j. banks and c. banks (eds.) handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 261-287). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. hale, c. (2004). “rethinking indigenous politics in the era of the ‘indio permitido.’” nacla report on the americas, report on race, part 1, 16-21 harris, c. (1993). whiteness as property. harvard law review. 106 (8), 1709-1791 harvey, d. (2004). the “new” imperialism: accumulation by dispossession. socialist register, 40(40), 63-87. hernández castillo, r. a. (2001). histories and stories from chiapas, border identities in southern mexico. austin, tx: university of texas press. hernández castillo, r. a. (2016). multiple injustices: indigenous women, law, and political struggle in latin america. tucson, az: university of arizona press. holmes, s. m. (2011). structural vulnerability and hierarchies of ethnicity and citizenship on the farm. medical anthropology, 30(4), 425-449. horseman, r. (1981). race and manifest destiny: the origins of american racial anglo saxonism. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. laó-montes, a. (2005). afro-latinidades and the diasporic imaginary. iberoamericana, 5(17), 117-130 loperena, c. (2017). settler violence? race and emergent frontiers of progress in honduras. american quarterly, 69(4), 801-807 machado-casas, m. (2009). the politics of organic phylogeny: the art of parenting and surviving as transnational multilingual latino indigenous migrants in the us. high school journal, 92(4), 82-99. madley, b. (2016). an american genocide: the united states and the california indian catastrophe, 1846-1873. new haven, ct: yale university press. martínez, m. e. (2008). genealogical fictions: limpieza de sangre, religion, and gender in colonial mexico. palo alto, ca: stanford university press. urrieta & calderón association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 173 menchaca, m, and valencia, r. (1990). anglo-saxon ideologies in the 1920s—1930s: their impact on the segregation of mexican students in california. anthropology and education quarterly, 21, 3, 222-249. moreton-robinson, a. (2016). critical indigenous studies: engagements in first world locations. tucson, az: university of arizona press. muehlmann, s. (2013). where the river ends: contested indigeneity in the mexican colorado delta. durham, nc: duke university press. olguín, b.v. (2013). “caballeros” and indians: mexican american whiteness, hegemonic mestizaje, and ambivalent indigeneity in proto-chicana/o autobiographical discourse, 1858-2008. melus, 38(1), 30-49 omi, m. & winant, h. (2015). racial formations in the united states (3rd edition). new york: routledge. pulido, l. (2017). geographies of race and ethnicity ii: environmental racism, racial capitalism and state-sanctioned violence. progress in human geography, 41(4), 524-533 quijano, a. (2000). “coloniality of power, eurocentrism, and latin america.” nepantla: views from the south 1(3), 533-580 ramírez, r. (2006) native hubs: culture, community, and belonging in silicon valley and beyond. durham, nc: duke university press. ramírez zavala, a. l. (2011). indio/indígena, 1750-1850. historia mexicana, 60(3), (239), 1643-1681. saldaña-portillo, m. j. (2016). indian given: racial geographies across mexico and the united states. durham, nc: duke university press sánchez, d. (2018). racial and structural discrimination toward the children of indigenous mexican immigrants. race and social problems, 10(4), 306-319. smith, m. (2008). colonialism and nature. capitalism, nature, socialism, 19(2), 123-126, 134. spears-rico, g. (2015). consuming the native other: mestiza/o melancholia and the performance of indigeneity in michoacán. unpublished dissertation, university of california, berkeley. stannard, d. e. (1992). american holocaust, the conquest of the new world. oxford, u.k.: oxford university press. stephen, lynn. (2007). transborder lives: indigenous oaxacans in mexico, california, and oregon. durham, nc: duke university press. stoler, a. l. (2016). duress: imperial durabilities in our times. durham, nc: duke university press. thornton, j. k. (2012). a cultural history of the atlantic world, 1250-1820. cambridge, u.k.: cambridge university press. tinker, g. (1993). missionary conquest: the gospel and the native american cultural genocide. minneapolis, mn: fortress press tuck, e. & gaztambide-fernández, r. (2013). curriculum, replacement, and settler futurity. journal of curriculum theorizing, 29(1), 72-89. tuck, e. & yang, e.w. (2012). “decolonization is not a metaphor.” decolonization: indigeneity, education, and society, 1(1), 1-40. urrieta, l. (2004). dis-connections in “american” citizenship and the post/neo-colonial: people of mexican descent and whitestream2 pedagogy and curriculum. theory & research in social education, 32(4), 433-458. critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 174 urrieta, l. (2010). working from within: chicana and chicano activist educators in whitestream schools. tucson, az: university of arizona press. urrieta, l. (2016). diasporic community smartness: saberes (knowings) beyond schooling and borders. race ethnicity and education, 19(6), 1186-1199. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s. mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. vandervort, b. (2006) indian wars of canada, mexico and the united states, 1812-1900. new york, ny: routledge. verástique, b. (2000). michoacán and eden: vasco de quiroga and the evangelization of western mexico. austin, tx: university of texas press vizenor, g. (1999). manifest manners: narratives on postindian survivance. lincoln, ne: university of nebraska press vlasich, j. a. (2005). pueblo indian agriculture. albuquerque, nm: university of new mexico press wolfe, p. 2006. settler colonialism and the elimination of the native, journal of genocide research, 8:4, 387-409 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 2 2019 amae special issue critical latinx indigeneities and education guest editors luis urrieta, jr. university of texas at austin melissa mesinas stanford university ramón antonio martínez stanford university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ critical latinx indigeneities and education: intro association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 1 critical latinx indigeneities and education: an introduction1 luis urrieta, jr. university of texas at austin melissa mesinas stanford university ramón antonio martínez stanford university indigenous latinx children and youth are a growing population that has been largely invisible in u.s. society and in the scholarly literature (barillas-chón, 2010; machado-casas, 2009). indigenous latinx youth are often assumed to be part of a larger homogenous grouping, usually hispanic or latinx, and yet their cultural and linguistic backgrounds do not always converge with dominant racial narratives about what it means to be “mexican” or “latinx.” bonfil batalla (1987) argued that indigenous mexicans are a población negada—or negated population—whose existence has been systematically denied as part of a centuries-long colonial project of indigenismo (indigenism) in mexico and other latin american countries. this systematic denial in countries of origin often continues once indigenous people migrate to the u.s., as they are actively rendered invisible in u.s. schools through the semiotic process of erasure (alberto, 2017; urrieta, 2017). indigenous latinx families are often also overlooked as they are grouped into general categories such as mexican, guatemalan, latinx, and/or immigrants. in this issue, we seek to examine the intersections of latinx indigeneities and education to better understand how indigenous latinx communities define and constitute indigeneity across multiple and overlapping colonialities and racial geographies, and, especially, how these experiences overlap with, and shape their educational experiences. this special collection brings together empirical and conceptual papers that explore the experiences of indigenous latinx students and their families in u.s. public schools. drawing on a range of methods and theoretical perspectives, the authors examine indigenous oaxacan mothers’ viewpoints on multilingualism and indigenous language maintenance; the language socialization practices of indigenous mexican parents; the ways that indigeneity and family 1 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.425 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.425 urrieta, mesinas, & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 2 socialization relate to the academic resilience of yucatec-maya students; racialized labor and language experiences and their association to indigeneity in the lives of guatemalan and mexican indigenous youth; and the possibilities for engaging critical latinx indigeneities (blackwell, boj lópez & urrieta, 2017) as an interdisciplinary theory and practice to center indigenous latinxs experiences in education. overall, these papers challenge dominant narratives about latinidad that erase both indigeneity and multilingualism. collectively, these papers extend discussions of both indigenous latinx families, multilingualism, and u.s. schools. to explore the nuances of indigenous latinx youths’ experiences, we broadly ground this special issue in the critical latinx indigeneities (cli) analytic (blackwell, boj lópez & urrieta, 2017). we engage the cli framework with the field of education because im/migrant youth, including indigenous latinxs, are usually the first to be fully thrust into u.s. institutional contexts, such as schools, shortly upon their arrival. when indigenous latinx youth attend u.s. schools, they may share their indigenous heritage, allowing for peers and teachers to learn about them. however, as lourdes alberto (2017) highlighted from her own experience in “coming out as indian” as a girl in school, this is usually done with caution. although alberto’s experience in “coming out as indian” (zapotec from yalalag) was generally positive, indigenous youth can become the subject of discrimination from other students and teachers due to their ethnoracial, linguistic, and cultural differences (casanova, 2011; ruiz & barajas, 2012). cli and indigenous latinxs when indigenous migrants from latin america enter the u.s., they challenge essentialist and monolithic understandings of both latinidad and indigeneity (blackwell et al., 2017). unfortunately, the historical discrimination indigenous people endure in their latin american countries of origin also often transfers/continues once they arrive in the united states (fox & rivera-salgado, 2004; stephen, 2007; kovats sánchez, 2018). for instance, indigenous mexicans and central americans face intra-group racial stereotyping from non-indigenous latinxs (barillas-chón, 2010; blackwell, et al., 2017; boj lópez, 2017; holmes, 2013; pérez, vásquez & buriel, 2016; poole, 2004). these forms of discrimination impact how indigenous migrants and their children embrace (or not) their ethnoracial identity in the u.s. and also how they manage their visibility and invisibility (batz, 2014; machado-casas, 2012). critical latinx indigeneities and education: intro association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 3 we use the term ethnoracial2 in relation to indígena (indigenous) to disrupt the grey ambiguity between ethnic and racialized understandings of indigeneity in mexico and other latin american countries, especially because these have wavered in the ways that indigenous peoples have been referred to and have experienced life in latin american societies. these ethnic and racial understandings then shift in the u.s. due to the collectivized racialization of minoritized groups, including latinxs, within the racial hierarchies of the white settler state. this creates a context of multiple mappings of multiple colonialities and hybrid hegemonies for indigenous latinxs in the u.s. (blackwell, 2010, 2017), both in relation to other latinxs and in relation to the whiteness of the broader society. critical latinx indigeneities highlights these multiple colonialities and hybrid hegemonies that are formed in the united states as indigenous people from latin america encounter translocal spaces, overlapping colonialities, and imposed logics of erasure that marginalize indigenous people (blackwell et al., 2017; alberto, 2017). critical latinx indigeneities rejects the idea that indigenous people cease to be indigenous when they migrate (leave the pueblo) or when they cross the political borders of modern nation states. instead cli examines and interrogates the perception and constitution of indigeneity across nations, including how particular racial logics and hierarchies shift and change across political borders. most important, cli recognizes complex, multivocal, and multilayered ways of being indigenous from local self-understandings to larger scales of imposed state regulation, surveillance, criminalization, and erasures of indigeneity (blackwell et al. 2017). cli allows us to understand indigeneity in education in a more dynamic way, and in more durable ways across migration, generational, and linguistic experiences. these complex understandings of indigeneity serve this special issue well as the contributing authors center the varied cultural, linguistic, and identity experiences of indigenous latinx youth that might otherwise be overlooked, dismissed, or invisiblized within hispanidad or latinidad in u.s. educational contexts. using a settler colonial frame, tuck and gaztambide-fernández (2013) referred to schools as instruments of settlement that explicitly and implicitly justify the theft and occupation of indigenous land in the u.s. and other settler states. critical latinx indigenities encourages 2 goldberg (1997) uses the term ethnoracial to identify social groups that have been interchangeably defined, viewed, or classified as both ethnic and racial over time. alcoff (2009) further argues that ethnorace encompasses a group with both ethnic and racialized characteristics that allow them collective affinities but are also a source for others’ exclusion and denigration. urrieta, mesinas, & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 4 the complex understanding of the historical and contemporary matrices of relations inherited and in place as a result of multiple and hybrid colonial formations (blackwell, 2017; quijano, 2000), including the settler grammars of u.s. schools (calderón, 2014; urrieta & calderón, this issue). latinx im/migrant schooling experiences are thus enmeshed within multiple colonial formations, especially since schools as state institutions have been used to assimilate, americanize, and implement cultural genocide (lomawaima & mccarty, 2006). within these colonial entanglements, cli encourages us to recognize that latinx im/migrants are also intersectional, multiracial, multivocal, and multilingual, and that this diversity of experience cannot be collapsed into a generalized approach or pedagogy for working with latinx im/migrant children and youth in schools. cli emphasizes the lived experiences, struggles, and survivance (vizenor, 1999) of indigenous latinxs, and this emphasis is an entry point for engaging with the growing body of work in education that focuses on indigenous latinx families’ experiences in u.s. schools, and especially indigenous latinx youth’s assertion that “somos [latinos] pero no somos iguales” experiences within u.s. schools (lópez & irizarry, 2019). finally, cli recognizes that latin american indigenous people arrive on the lands of other indigenous peoples, and this recognition challenges the colonial narrative of terra nullius, as well as the u.s. master myth that this is a nation of immigrants. recognition of settler colonial logics, cli argues, necessitates responsibilities and alliances with u.s. northern tribal peoples. indeed, renya ramírez’s study (2006, p. 22) with unrecognized tribes, enrolled tribal members, and indigenous mixtec migrants in california, shows that “native hubs” can be important gathering sites for northern and southern indigenous peoples’ collective empowerment, regeneration, and identity resurgence. for ramírez, these sites can be the coming together of peoples from various indigenous groups where “community, identity and belonging are created in an unbounded network of culture and relationships.” indigenous migrants in the u.s. while there has been an increase in the number of indigenous migrants to the u.s. in recent years, indigenous migration from latin america to the u.s. is not new. dating back to the bracero program (1942-1964) and beyond there are testimonios of indigenous men who were part of the mexican labor force that was brought to the u.s. most recently, mireya loza’s (2016) book defiant braceros, details the accounts of several indigenous men, including pedro domínguez and félix flores, both p’urhépechas from janitzio, contracted in texas in the 1940s; critical latinx indigeneities and education: intro association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 5 isaías sánchez a zapotec from san pedro apóstol, oaxaca, who in 1955 was contracted in southern california, and julio valentín may-may who left his mayan community of cansahcab, yucatán, in 1962 and worked in caléxico, california. this record of indigenous migration al norte is not new. maría herrera-sobek also identified “tarascan” (p’urhépecha) speakers in her studies of braceros published in 1987. subsequent studies of south to north indigenous migration have included rich ethnographic accounts of mixtec, zapotec, triqui, p’urhépecha, and maya migration 3. some of these works have been praised and others critiqued, but they did produce research that brought attention to the diversity of indigenous migration experiences. there are increasingly more studies of indigenous migrants in the u.s. and their future generations by members of these communities themselves4. these emerging bodies of scholarship engage colonialism, genocide, u.s. imperialism, migration, and sobrevivencia5 of the latin american indigenous diaspora primarily through interdisciplinary comparative ethnic studies approaches that center the migrants’ lives, communities, and their generations in the u.s. (blackwell et al., 2017). these studies generally tell us that the diversity of indigenous and afro-latinxs challenges collectivized notions of latinidad that usually homogenize and revolve around an imagined latinx community that is most often thought of as mexican and mestizx (laó-montes, 2005). in recent years, we have seen increased numbers of indigenous central american migrants coming to the united states. unaccompanied minors, refugees, and asylees are among the most vulnerable of the dislocated, including maya youth arriving primarily from guatemala, and garífuna from honduras and other nations in central america (hernández, 2015; saldañaportillo, 2017). indigenous and afro-latinx migrants then experience mexicanization, latinoization, and americanization as overlapping colonialities (castañeda, manz, davenport, 2002). despite the growing presence of indigenous migrants, research on latinxs in the united 3 this includes works by michael kearney (1995, 2000), inés hernández ávila & stefano varese (1999), néstor rodríguez & jacqueline hagan (2000), jonathan fox and gaspar rivera salgado (2004), lynn stephen (2007), and allan burns (1993) to name a few. 4 this includes the growing body of work by scholars such as floridalma boj lopez (k’iché), giovanni batz (k’iché), elizabeth gonzalez (zapotec), lourdes alberto (zapotec), noé lopez (mixtec), griselda guevara cruz (mixtec), luis sanchez lopez (zapotec), brenda nicolás (zapotec), daina sanchez (zapotec), patricia baquedano lopez (yucatec maya), isabel altamirano (zapotec), melissa mesinas (zapotec), david barillas-chón (maya), rafael vasquez (zapotec), margarita machado-casas (creole/miskito), and gabriela spears rico (matlaltzinca/p’urhépecha), to name a few, that are part of diaspora communities. 5 trinidad galván (2005:11) drawing from vizenor defines sobrevivencia as survivance beyond responding to the global political economy to include everyday cherished interactions and measures. urrieta, mesinas, & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 6 states continues to assume a homogenous experience and neglects to discuss racial, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic variability within latinx immigrant families (boj lópez, 2018; fox & riverasalgado, 2004; oboler, 1995, 2006; stephen, 2007). while indigenous families share some similarities with their latinx immigrant counterparts, they also participate in distinct cultural practices such as indigenous language use, organized hometown associations, and different traditions and customs (mesinas & pérez, 2016). these distinctive forms of social organization and cultural expression warrant further attention and awareness, especially by educators. indigenous communities organize around language, transnationalism, and youth cultural practice to resist their displacement and migration with creative forms of cultural unity, including through do-it-yourself (dif) theories and aesthetics such as book publishing and zines (boj lópez, 2017, 2018). these practices and forms of organization are a part of indigenous communities’ resourceful and creative adaptation processes as they settle into the united states. it is also important to note that we cannot assume indigenous communities practice their cultural traditions in the same ways across communities. cli recognizes that indigenous migrants bring with them language, epistemologies, translocal practices, identity, youth practices, and cultural cohesion that challenge the homogenizing and normative discourses that collectivize latinx experiences, including their school experiences. cli, indigenous saberes, and education in addition to naming the erasure of indigenous latinx communities from educational discourse and policy, cli highlights the intersectional dimensions of their/our experiences in relation to multiple and intersecting colonialities, as well as everyday forms of active survivance—or what casanova (this issue) calls resilient indigeneity. the cli framework also helps disrupt simplistic and essentialist notions of indigeneity by reframing practices and phenomena that are not typically understood as “indigenous” in order to understand the role that they play in processes of transmigration. for example, a cli lens allows us to see how spanish—a colonial/colonizing language—can come to signal different meanings and serve different purposes for indigenous migrants in the u.s. context than it might in latin america, even serving as a vehicle or tool for indigenous survivance/sobrevivencia (martínez & mesinas, this issue; morales, saravia, and pérez-iribe, this issue). despite the invisibilization of indigenous communities in the u.s., some indigenous migrant communities have been able to maintain re/create their cultural practices. according to critical latinx indigeneities and education: intro association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 7 urrieta (2013), indigenous heritage familia and comunidad-based saberes (knowings) are “complex ‘knowings’ or understandings’ of the world, tied to familia and comunidad knowledge(s), but also encompassing larger social, natural, and spiritual well-being” (p. 321). urrieta explains that indigenous heritage saberes are learned through community participation. although such saberes originate in indigenous pueblos of origin (in latin america), they transcend borders and are brought to the united states (urrieta, 2016). indigenous latinxs have adapted to their new home by re/creating spaces such as sports clubs, hometown associations, and binational organizations, that serve as social capital (malpica, 2008). scholars of human development argue that educators and researchers can only fully understand learning when they include culturally heterogeneous processes of engagement in repertoires of practice (gutiérrez & rogoff, 2003; rogoff, 2003; nasir, rosebery, warren, & lee, 2006). educators cannot continue to exclude the learning experiences in which indigenous latinx youth engage in with their family and cultural communities because these encompass critical forms of indigenous knowledges and cultural assets that contribute to the development, education, and well-being of indigenous youth, their families and communities (urrieta, 2015). participation in bailables, or traditional dance performances, intergenerational philharmonic bands, basketball tournaments, and trips back to the pueblo are a few examples of how indigenous youth engage in their cultural traditions (urrieta & martínez, 2011). some of these activities result from the organization of hometown associations, hosting and attending pueblo/regional specific events that indigenous latinx migrants prioritize maintaining in the u.s. the availability of these cultural practices provides parents with an opportunity to engage in the cultural socialization of their children through language use, social and cultural values, and religious and spiritual traditions (buriel, 1993). recent work by boj lópez (2017, 2018) highlights the work that indigenous latinx youth are doing themselves to understand and represent their own experiences through technology and youth cultural practices. distinguishing these varieties of social and cultural practices existent among indigenous latinxs, especially by youth themselves, is important because children and youth are exposed to and have various levels of engagement with the indigenous languages their parents teach them at home and in their extensive communities (casanova, 2011; menjívar, 2002; mesinas & perez, 2016, morales, 2016, martínez, 2018). for example, morales (2016) found that transnational zapotec youth developed multiple identities that were influenced by zapotec and parents had urrieta, mesinas, & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 8 an additive framework of language use for their children to learn multiple languages. ruiz and barajas (2012) advocate for researchers to learn more about the strengths of indigenous latinx students and families and how they contribute to their learning in schools. the presence and accessibility of cultural practices that entail community engagement vary based on the levels of resources and organization available to indigenous latinxs. los angeles, for example, has become a huge receptive location for indigenous communities. given their larger population, indigenous latinxs have been able to organize various communal traditions. the arts, such as danzas and bandas filarmónicas, have become prominent activities. the example of the philharmonic band presents a salient form of intergenerational knowledge that uses various languages—indigenous languages, spanish, english, and music—to teach youth about the inner workings and purpose of this tradition (sánchez, 2018). these communal spaces offer youth opportunities to develop their sense of belonging and indigenous identity formation (nicolás, 2012; sánchez, 2018). most important, youth have created their own spaces for cultural and political identity development as indigenous latinx youth. la comunidad ixim, for example, is a 1.5 and second generation maya youth grassroots collective in los angeles that uses self-published literature, such as las aventuras de gaby, that create narratives that embrace not only their family and school experiences, but also their own political investments in how their maya community is represented and written into existence (boj lópez, 2018). the u.s. education system should recognize these forms of knowledge and educational experiences that go beyond the limited dimensions of how they currently define education, and how they define latinxs. according to nasir et al. (2006), learning environments need to be restructured by “changing our collective understanding of the routine language use and social practices of daily life and their relation to the practices of academic disciplines, and on the other hand, designing classrooms that support the myriad pathways along which learning can proceed” (p. 700). indigenous latinxs can lead the path of this restructuring if u.s. educators allow the children and youth to use all of their forms of knowledge, learning, languages, and understandings, including do-it-yourself (dif) publishing and zines (boj lópez, 2018), to guide these processes. the special issue using the cli framework, the contributors to this special issue emphasize issues of language, identity, and survivance, highlighting the varied and dynamic ways in which indigenous critical latinx indigeneities and education: intro association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 9 latinx youth and families preserve, construct, and interpret notions of indigeneity in ways that promote self-understandings, intergenerational socialization and learning, and educational success. in his article “indigenous immigrant youth’s understandings of power: race, labor, and language,” david barillas-chón, highlights how segmented labor incorporation is closely tied to racialization processes across regions for indigenous guatemalan and mexican youth in the u.s. his study highlights youth’s understanding of asymmetries of power based on divisions of labor, and language hierarchies, arguing that there is a racialization of labor and language produced by overlapping colonialities that contribute to asymmetries of power. barillas-chón proposes that, within the context of overlapping colonialities, the subaltern positioning of indigenous youth reproduces divisions of labor. saskias casanova, in her article entitled “aprendiendo y sobresaliendo: resilient indigeneity and yucatec-maya youth,” invites us to consider indigeneity as a dimension of intersectional inequality for u.s. latinx youth. she examines how indigeneity and family socialization relate to the resilience of california-based yucatec maya youth. her study highlights the psychological construct of resilience as an asset that also serves as protective factor facilitating the agency of maya youth despite living in overlapping colonialities. in zapotec identity as a matter of schooling, rafael vásquez explores how zapotec-origin youth’s identities can positively impact their education. through in-depth interviews, vásquez reveals how the zapotec high school students in his study assert their indigenous, oaxacan, and mexican identities as a basis for developing viable educational approaches that promote their overall educational success. in multilingual mexican-origin students’ perspectives on their indigenous heritage language, p. zitlali morales, lydia saravia, and maría pérez-iribe trace the trajectories of three oaxacan-origin students from elementary to middle school. examining these students’ perspectives on their indigenous heritage language—zapoteco—and their related experiences in a spanish-english dual language program, their study has important implications for how outof-school spaces can support authentic language use, as well as for how school-sanctioned language programs might promote multilingualism. in linguistic motherwork in the zapotec diaspora, ramón antonio martínez and melissa mesinas explore indigenous mexican mothers’ perspectives on multilingualism and indigenous language maintenance. drawing on interview data from a larger qualitative study of language and ideology in california, they examine the perspectives of four zapotec mothers who have urrieta, mesinas, & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 10 children in a local public school with a spanish-english dual language program. the interview data highlight what these women think and do with respect to their children’s maintenance of the zapotec language. the authors draw on critical latinx indigeneities and the feminist notion of linguistic motherwork to highlight the intersectional nature of these mothers’ efforts to construct and sustain indigeneity in diaspora. finally, in critical latinx indigeneities: unpacking indigeneity from within and outside of latinized entanglements, luis urrieta and dolores calderón highlight an important, but difficult conversation about the erasure of indigeneity in narratives, curriculum, identities, and racial projects that uphold settler colonial logics that fall under the rubric of hispanic, latinx, and chicanx. urrieta and calderón provide diverse examples of how this process works to advance a theory and praxis of critical latinx indigeneities to decolonize latinidad and mestizaje in order to envision indigenous futurities within and outside of the latinized entanglements of the present. taken together, these articles contribute to a more robust and critical understanding of how indigenous latinx youth and families experience education in the united states. this understanding can help prepare teachers to work with an increasingly diverse latinx population, and it can enrich and add important nuance to current scholarly discussions of immigrant education, bilingual instruction, and culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies. as these articles illustrate, a cli frame can help begin to challenge the erasure and misrepresentation of indigenous latinx students and families in u.s. schools. critical latinx indigeneities and education: intro association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 11 references alberto, l. (2017). coming out as indian: on being an indigenous latina in the u.s. latino studies, 15(2), 247-253. alcoff, l. m. (2009). latinos beyond the binary. the southern journal of philosophy, 47 (supplement), 112-128. arias, a. (2003). central american-americans: invisibility, power, and representation in the u.s. latino world. latino studies, 1(1), 168-187. barillas-chón, d. w. (2010). oaxaqueño/a students'(un) welcoming high school experiences. journal of latinos and education, 9(4), 303-320. batz, g. (2014). maya cultural resistance in los angeles: the recovery of identity and culture among maya youth. latin american perspectives, 41(3), 194–207. blackwell, m. (2010). líderes campesinas: nepantla strategies and grassroots organizing at the intersection of gender and globalization. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 35 (1): 13– 48. blackwell, m. (2017). geographies of indigeneity: indigenous migrant women’s organizing and translocal politics of place. latino studies, 15(2), 156-181. blackwell, m., lopez, f. b., & urrieta, l. (2017). critical latinx indigeneities. latino studies, 15(2), 126-137. boj lópez, f. (2017). mobile archives of indigeneity: building la comunidad ixim through youth organizing in the maya diaspora. latino studies, 15(2), 201– 218. boj lópez, f. (2018). maya youth literatures in diaspora. oxford research encyclopedia— literature. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.436 bonfil batalla, g. (1987) méxico profundo: una civilización negada, mexico: editorial grijalba buriel, r. (1993). childrearing orientations in mexican american families: the influence of generation and sociocultural factors. journal of marriage and family, 55, 987-1000. burns, a. (1993). maya in exile: guatemalans in florida. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. calderón, d. (2014). uncovering settler grammars in curriculum. educational studies, 50(4), 313-338. casanova, s. (2011). ethnic identity, acculturation, and perceived discrimination for indigenous mexican youth: a cross-cultural comparative study of yucatec maya adolescents in the us and mexico. (doctoral dissertation).stanford university, california, united states.. casanova, s., o’connor, b. h., & anthony-stevens, v. (2016). ecologies of adaptation for mexican indigenous im/migrant children and families in the united states: implications for latino studies. latino studies, 14(2), 192-213. castañeda, x. l., manz, b., davenport, a. (2002). mexicanization: a survival strategy for guatemalan mayans in the san francisco bay area. migraciones internacionales, 1(3), 102– 123. cornelius, w. a. (1992). from sojourners to settlers: the changing profile of mexican immigration to the united states. in j. a. bustamante, c. w. reynolds & r. hinojosaojeda (eds.), u.s.-mexico relations: labor market interdependence (pp. 155-195.). stanford, ca: stanford university press. fox, j., & rivera-salgado, g. (eds.). (2004). indigenous mexican migrants in the united states. urrieta, mesinas, & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 12 la jolla, ca: center for us-mexico studies and center for comparative immigration studies, university of california, san diego. gonzalez, e. (2016). ethnic-racial attitudes and indigenous identity among oaxaqueño/a adolescents and young adults (doctoral dissertation). uc santa cruz, california, united states. goldberg, d. t. (1997). racial subjects: writing on race in america. new york, ny: routledge gutiérrez, k. d., & rogoff, b. (2003). cultural ways of learning: individual traits or repertoires of practice. educational researcher, 32(5), 19-25. hernández, d.m. (2015). unaccompanied child migrants in ‘‘crisis’’: new surge or case of arrested development? harvard journal of hispanic policy, 27(11). hernández-ávila, i., & varese, s. (1999). indigenous intellectual sovereignties: a hemispheric convocation. an overview and reflections on a united states/mexico binational twopart conference. wicazo sa review, 14(2), 77-91. holmes, s. (2013). fresh fruit, broken bodies: migrant farmworkers in the united states. berkeley, ca: university of california press. kearney, m. (1995). the local and the global: the anthropology of globalization and transnationalism. annual review of anthropology, 24(1), 547-565. kearney, m. (2000). transnational oaxacan indigenous identity: the case of mixtecs and zapotecs. identities global studies in culture and power, 7(2), 173-195. kovats sánchez, a. g. (2018). reaffirming indigenous identity: understanding experiences of stigmatization and marginalization among mexican indigenous college students. journal of latinos and education, 1-14, doi: 10.1080/15348431.2018.1447484 laó-montes, a. (2005). afro-latinidades and the diasporic imaginary. iberoamericana, 5(17), 117130. lomawaima, k.t. and mccarty, t.l. (2006) ‘to remain an indian’: lessons in democracy from a century of native american education. new york, ny: teachers college press. lópez, j., & irizarry, j. g. (2019). somos pero no somos iguales/we are but we are not the same: unpacking latinx indigeneity and the implications for urban schools. urban education, doi: 0042085919835292. loza, m. (2016). defiant braceros: how migrant workers fought for racial, sexual, and political freedom. chapel hill, nc: university of north carolina press. machado-casas, m. (2009). the politics of organic phylogeny: the art of parenting and surviving as transnational multilingual latino indigenous immigrants in the u.s. high school journal, 92(4), 82-99. machado-casas, m. (2012). pedagogías del camaleón/pedagogies of the chameleon: identity an strategies of survival for transnational indigenous latino immigrants in the us south. the urban review, 44(5), 534-550. malpica, d. m. (2008). indigenous mexican migrants in the city of los angeles: social networks and social capital among zapotec workers (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations and theses database. (umi no. 3302581). martínez, r. a. (2017). dual language education and the erasure of chicanx, latinx, and indigenous mexican children: a call to re-imagine (and imagine beyond) bilingualism. texas education review, 5(1), 81-92. martínez, r. a. (2018). intersectionality and possibility in the lives of latina/o/x children of immigrants: imagining pedagogies beyond the politics of hate. occasional paper series, 2018, (39), 3. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2018.1447484 critical latinx indigeneities and education: intro association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 13 menjívar, c. (2002). living in two worlds? guatemalan-origin children in the united states and emerging transnationalism. journal of ethnic and migration studies, 28(3), 531-552. mesinas, m., & perez, w. (2016). cultural involvement, indigenous identity, and language: an exploratory study of zapotec adolescents and their parents. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 38(4), 482-506. morales, p. z. (2016). transnational practices and language maintenance: spanish and zapoteco in california. children's geographies, 14(4), 375-389. nasir, n. i. s., rosebery, a. s., warren, b., & lee, c. d. (2006). learning as a cultural process: achieving equity through diversity. in r. k. sawyer (ed.) the cambridge handbook of the learning sciences, second edition (pp. 686-706). cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. nicolás, b. (2012). reclamando lo que es nuestro: identity formation among zapoteco youth in oaxaca and los angeles (master’s thesis). university of california san diego, california, united states. oboler, s. (1995). ethnic labels, latino lives: identity and the politics of (re) presentation in the united states. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. oboler, s. (2006). latinos and citizenship: the dilemma of belonging. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. perez, w., vásquez, r., & buriel, r. (2016). zapotec, mixtec, and purepecha youth. in j. paris & h.s. alim (eds.) raciolinguistics: how language shapes our ideas about race (pp. 255-272). new york, ny: teachers college press. poole, s. (2004). the changing face of mexican migrants in california: oaxacan mixtecs and zapotecs in perspective. trans-border institute brief. san diego, c.a., united states: university of san diego, trans-border institute. quijano, a. (2000). coloniality of power and eurocentrism in latin america. international sociology, 15(2), 215-232. ramirez, r. (2006) native hubs: culture, community, and belonging in silicon valley and beyond. durham, nc: duke university press. rodríguez, n., & hagan, j. (2000). maya urban villagers in houston: the formation of a migrant community from san cristóbal totonicapán. in j. loucky & m. m. moors (eds.) the maya diaspora: guatemalan roots, new american lives (pp. 197-209). philadelphia, pa: temple university press. rivera-salgado, g. (2014). transnational indigenous communities: the intellectual legacy of michael kearney. latin american perspectives, 41(3), 26-46. rivera-salgado, g. (2015). from hometown clubs to transnational social movement: the evolution of oaxacan migrant associations in california. social justice, 42(3/4 (142), 118136. rogoff, b. (2003). the cultural nature of human development. new york, ny: oxford university press. ruiz, n. t., & barajas, m. (2012). multiple perspectives on the schooling of mexican indigenous students in the us: issues for future research. bilingual research journal, 35(2), 125-144. saldaña-portillo, m. j. (2017). critical latinx indigeneities: a paradigm drift. latino studies, 15(2), 138-155. sánchez, d. (2018). racial and structural discrimination toward the children of indigenous mexican immigrants. race and social problems, 10(4), 306-319. urrieta, mesinas, & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 14 stephen, l. (2007). transborder lives: indigenous oaxacans in mexico, california, and oregon. durham, nc: duke university press. trinidad galván, r. (2005). transnational communities in la lucha : campesinas and grassroots organizations ‘globalizing from below’. journal of latinos and education, 4(1), 320. tuck, e., & gaztambide-fernández, r. a. (2013). curriculum, replacement, and settler futurity. journal of curriculum theorizing, 29(1), 72-89. urrieta, l. (2013). familia and comunidad‐based saberes: learning in an indigenous heritage community. anthropology & education quarterly, 44(3), 320-335. urrieta, l. (2015). learning by observing and pitching in and the connections to native and indigenous knowledge systems. advances in child development and behavior, 49, 357-379. urrieta jr, l. (2016). diasporic community smartness: saberes (knowings) beyond schooling and borders. race ethnicity and education, 19(6), 1186-1199. urrieta, l. jr. (2017). identity, violence, and authenticity: challenging static conceptions of indigeneity. latino studies, 15(2), 254-261 vásquez, r. (2012). ethnic identity and academic achievement of zapotec and mestizo high school youth in greater los angeles (doctoral dissertation, the claremont graduate university) vizenor, g. r. (1999). manifest manners: narratives on postindian survivance. lincoln, ne: university of nebraska press. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 42 aprendiendo y sobresaliendo: resilient indigeneity & yucatec-maya youth saskias casanova1 university of california, santa cruz abstract relatively little research has focused on the experiences of students and families of yucatecmaya origin in the u.s., and even less has focused on yucatec-maya youth and resilience, a normative process of positive adaptation despite exposure to adversity. using critical latinx indigeneities, which centers on indigeneity across multi-national spaces, sociohistorical colonialities, and migrations, this study examines how indigenous identity, familial linguistic and cultural practices, and resilience processes relate to one another for 10 (three girls) californiabased yucatec-maya students. through interview data, the themes that emerge expose discrimination as one form of adversity yucatec-maya students experience. there are three overarching themes related to the students’ collective resilience process and the emergence of resilient indigenous identities: 1) their lived, linguistic, familial, and community-based experiences; 2) familial support and academic resilience; and 3) transformational welcoming spaces. these protective processes contribute to the students’ agency in [re]defining their resilient indigenous identities in the u.s. keywords: indigenous identity, resilience, families doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.428 1 author note correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed to saskias casanova, psychology department, psychology faculty services, university of california, santa cruz, 1156 high street santa cruz, ca 95064 phone: (831) 459-2532, fax: (831) 459-3519, e-mail: scasanov@ucsc.edu http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.428 resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 43 introduction latinxs comprise 18% of the u.s. population, making them the largest ethnic minority group in u.s. society (u.s. census, 2018). as this population continues to grow, it is important to understand the ethno-racial diversity and within-group differences of latinxs. for example, compared to their non-indigenous counterparts, indigenous latinx youth are more likely to exit high school and to not pursue higher education (ruiz & barajas, 2012). however, there are only a limited number of research studies that focus on the school experiences of indigenous latinx youth (casanova, o’connor, & anthony-stevens, 2016; gonzález, 2018; kovats-sanchez, 2018). in particular, studies that focus on yucatec-maya students, their families, and communities (baquedano-lopez & janetti, 2017; cornejo-portugal, 2015) and resilience (casanova, 2012) are scarce. this study explores how resilience and indigenous identity relate to one another for yucatec-maya youth. the study considers resilience from an interdisciplinary critical latinx indigeneities (cli) lens, which centers on indigeneity across multi-national spaces, sociohistorical colonialities, and migrations (blackwell, boj lopez, & urrieta, 2017). specifically, how do familial, schooling, and community linguistic and cultural practices inform the indigenous identities and collective resilience processes of yucatec-maya students? critical latinx indigeneities and resilience resilience is a dynamic and normative process in which a person can positively adapt to difficult experiences, such as exposure to adversity, trauma, and other life stressors (kuperminc wilkins, roche, & alvarez-jimenez, 2009; luthar & zelazo, 2003; masten & powell, 2003). suárez-orozco, motti-stefanidi, marks, and katsiaficas’ (2018) integrative model of risk and resilience for immigrant-origin youth grounds itself in the challenges faced by the youth and their families at the micro-, exo-, meso-, macro-, and chronosystems. bronfenbrenner’s (1979) socio-ecological systems theory situates the child within multiple contexts, in which interactions occur which relate to the child’s development. the microsystem, for example, includes the relations between the child and persons in her immediate environment such as parents. a resilience framework traditionally consists of identifying risks, or conditions associated with a higher likelihood of negative or socially undesirable outcomes, which lead to developmental challenges. there is abundant research on risks specific to immigrant-origin youth (suárezorozco, motti-stefanidi, marks, & katsiaficas, 2018). some of the risks for immigrant-origin casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 44 latinxs are acculturative stress, or the stress associated with adapting to a new culture, and perceived discrimination, which is an individual’s interpretation of discriminatory encounters. resilience also consists of protective processes that lessen the likelihood of negative consequences from exposure to risks (kuperminc, wilkins, roche, & alvarez-jimenez, 2009; suarez-orozco, stefanidi, marks, & katsiaficas, 2018). some protective processes include positive experiences and relationships with parents, peers, and community members (benson, leffert, scales, & blyth, 1998). for example, teacher mentorship (casanova, 2012) and community involvement (kovats sánchez, 2018) for indigenous students contribute to their academic resilience. other protective processes for latinxs, in particular, include familial socialization into the cultural value of hard work, as well as the development of positive ethnic identities and biculturalism (kuperminc, wilkins, roche, & alvarez-jimenez, 2009). indigenous scholars have problematized resilience due to its individualistic nature. resilience theory tends to place fault on indigenous youth that are not successful in school instead of on the systemic inequalities and barriers they face (fleming & ledogar, 2008; lafromboise, hoyt, oliver, & whitbeck, 2006). latinx, immigration, and indigenous scholars have begun to unravel the shortcomings of resilience theory and recommend ways to incorporate more culture-specific contexts in understanding resilience for each of these communities. the integrative model of risk and resilience acknowledges the reciprocal interactions and relations with family and community that serve as protective factors for immigrant-origin youth (suarez-orozco, stefanidi, marks, & katsiaficas, 2018). casanova, o’connor, and anthony-stevens (2016) have considered the collective transformations of indigenous mexican families in diasporic contexts and called attention to transborder networks they traverse as they face exclusion in multiple nation-states. however, these scholars have not critically examined resilience for latinx indigenous communities. critical latinx indigeneities (cli) is a fitting lens to complicate theoretical frameworks such as resilience. cli considers the multi-dimensional, intersectional identities of latinx indigenous communities, integrating the interlocked oppressions that they face across transnational spaces, while centering on indigeneity (blackwell, boj lopez, & urrieta, 2017). critical latinx indigeneities emphasizes the indigenous voice by drawing from narratives and indigenous knowledge systems to inform research (blackwell, boj lopez, & urrieta, 2017). cli refocuses on the complex, lived experiences of indigenous peoples while also critiquing resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 45 colonial-based practices, systems, and power structures that often invalidate, exclude, and erase their experiences from our academic fields and from theories such as resilience. in this article, critical latinx indigeneities is used to present the collective resistance of indigenous youth that challenges established individualistic norms of psychological processes like resilience, which at times render invisible indigenous latinx identities and cultural ways of being. the present study focuses on protective processes that are specific to indigenous, latinx, immigrant-origin students’ indigenous identity development across multiple contexts (e.g., school, home, etc.) the transborder & schooling experiences of yucatec-maya youth the unique experiences of yucatec-maya communities begin prior to living in the u.s. context. due to a violent and oppressive history of colonization which has shaped cultural systems of inequality in mexico, yucatec-maya youth migrate within the country into urban centers for service jobs (castellanos, 2008). the lack of jobs available for indigenous mexicans in urban areas forces them to migrate to the u.s. (casanova, o’connor, & anthony-stevens, 2016). much of the literature on indigenous mexican migration has focused on the transnationalism of purépecha, zapotec, mixtec, and guatemalan maya communities (fox & rivera-salgado, 2004; popkin, 1999; stephen, 2007). notably, cornelius, fitzgerald, and fischer (2007) examined the migration flows and adaptation of adult yucatec-maya men, while whiteside (2006) explored the linguistic choices made by maya adults with maya colleagues at work. however, these studies do not focus on youth. once in the united states, yucatec-maya youth are faced with different structures of oppression and macro-systemic ideologies that continue to invalidate their indigeneity. immigrant-origin latinxs are often profiled as a homogeneous group, and stereotyped as reluctant to learn english, and a threat to american values (suárez-orozco, motti-stefanidi, marks, & katsiaficas, 2018). among these broader stereotypes of mexican-origin latinxs is the intra-group stereotype of being indio. indigenous latinx students in the u.s. experience intersectional discrimination for being mexican, immigrants, and indigenous, including from their non-indigenous or mestizo latinx peers, and feel less welcomed in schools (cooper, gonzalez, & wilson, 2014; ruiz & barajas, 2012). there are a number of research studies that focus on the experiences of indigenous mexican students in the u.s. most of these studies have examined the experiences of purépecha, zapotec and mixtec youth (barillas chón, 2010; ruiz & barajas, 2012; mesinas & casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 46 perez, 2016; kovats sánchez, 2018; velasco, 2010). scholars have investigated the challenges oaxaqueño students, or students who come from the mexican state of oaxaca, encounter in high school and college due to their indigenous cultural, linguistic, and racial backgrounds such as stereotyping, discrimination, marginality, and lack of sense of belonging (barillas chón, 2010; gonzález, 2018; kovats sánchez, 2018; ruiz & barajas, 2012). scholars have also explored the consequences of colonial, internalized beliefs about the “inferiority” of indigenous languages which lead parents to not teach their children their indigenous languages (velasco, 2010). however, research has shown that more inclusive teaching pedagogies (ruiz & barajas, 2012); after-school newcomer clubs (barillas chón, 2010), college experiences and community activism (kovats sánchez, 2018; mesinas & perez, 2016); and transnational networks (machadocasas, 2012) can create supportive spaces. in these counter-spaces of collective resistance, students can adapt to the u.s. and also maintain and reaffirm their indigenous identities. researchers have documented the pre-migration and migration experiences of yucatecmaya youth and families which include the economic and educational reasons that they migrate, as well as the use of familial and community networks during the journey north; and adult responsibilities youth take on as they adapt to the u.s. (casanova, 2012; cornejo-portugal, 2015). scholars have focused on the stress of family separation and reunification, poverty, documentation status, and intersectional discrimination (e.g., being an immigrant, mexican, and indigenous) that impact yucatec-maya children’s mental and physical health (casanova, 2012; perez-rendon, 2011). a handful of studies have focused on the migration experiences of yucatec-maya youth to places such as california (cornejo-portugal, 2015; perez-rendon, 2011). few researchers have examined yucatec-maya youth experiences in schools (casanova, 2016), familial linguistic practices (baquedano-lopez & janetti, 2017), or yucatec-maya youth resiliency (casanova, 2012), especially from a critical lens such as cli. yucatec-maya students experience higher levels of stress due to discrimination than their non-indigenous or mestizo peers (casanova, 2016). baquedano-lopez and janetti (2017) reveal the pedagogical strategies teachers in a northern california school used to support and affirm the yucatec-maya students’ identities. the authors urge educators to understand the indigenous diasporic consciousness, or “awareness of multiple and often contradictory epistemological hemispheric locations” (p.178), that the students navigate alongside notions of being latinx. resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 47 similar to the purepecha, mixtec, and zapotec youth, yucatec-maya youth and their families experience many obstacles in migrating and in the u.s. school systems yet have various sources of support that enable them to academically succeed and adapt to their transnational, intersectional, diasporic identities (casanova, 2012). using the integrative model of resilience for immigrant-origin youth and critical latinx indigeneities, this study examines the relation between familial, schooling, and community linguistic and cultural practices, indigenous identity, and collective resilience processes for yucatec-maya youth. method participants semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 (mage = 16.39, rangeage= 5, sdage=2.07, 3 female) yucatec-maya students in the u.s. the participants were from the southern state of yucatan, mexico or had parents that originated from yucatan, mexico. four of the participants were second generation immigrant origin. these students were born in the u.s., but their parents were born in mexico (portes & rumbaut, 2006). five participants were born in mexico and came to the u.s. after the age of 12, making them first generation immigrants (portes & rumbaut, 2006). one participant was 1.5 generation. he was born in mexico and came to the u.s. before he was 12 years old. the participants all ethnically identified as maya and/or yucateca/o alongside other ethnic labels (see table 1). the students went to two different public high schools. some went to a school located in a suburban middle-class area of southern california. these students lived in the lowerincome neighborhood of this suburban city. the southern california high school had a 95% graduation rate. students’ ethno-racial demographics breakdown consisted of 69% white, 21% latino, 5% asian, 2% black, 1% american indian/alaska native, and 2% other. fifty-two percent of the students at this high school were male and 48% were female, 20% were low-income, and three percent were english learners. the other students went to a high school located in a large urban city in northern california. the northern california high school had a 71% graduation rate. students’ ethno-racial demographics breakdown consisted of 50% latinx, 18% asian, 15% black, 11% white, 1% american indian/alaska native, and 5% other. fifty-nine percent of the students in the northern california high school were male and 41% were female, 68% were low-income, and 40% were english learners. casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 48 table 1 yucatec-maya participant background demographics student pseudonym birthplace age immigrant generation ethnicity race number of discriminatory experiences reported c gpad antonia californiaa 14 2 yucatecan american maya 9 3.00 jenny u.s.a 14 2 yucatecmaya, mexican mexican/ mexicanamerican 7 n/a jose californiaa 18 2 mayan mexican/ mexicanamerican 7 3.78 luis californiaa 15 2 yucateco, mexican latino/hispanic, mexican 9 3.50 mateo yucatan, mx 19 1.5b mexican, yucateco mexican/ mexicanamerican 9 2.50 ricardo yucatan, mx 18 1 mayayucateco maya 10 3.00 gaby quintana roo, mxa 14 1 mexicana, yucateca maya, mexican/ mexican american 9 4.00 juan yucatan, mx 17 1 yucatecomaya latino/hispanic 9 2.50 alberto mexico 17 1 latino, yucateco latino/hispanic 7 2.50 miguel yucatan, mx 19 1 yucatecomaya latino/hispanic 11 3.00 a parents were born in yucatan, mx b 1.5 generation refers to students who migrated to the u.s. before the age of twelve c range of incidents 1-17; some examples: due to your race/ethnicity you…got a lower grade; were unfairly disciplined; kids thought you did not know english well; kids did not include you in activities; kids called you racially insulting names; teachers expect less from you d based on a 4-point scale resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 49 procedure non-probability, purposive sampling was used to recruit the participants. students were recruited through networks formed with northern and southern california schools and cultural organizations that offer services to the yucatec-maya communities of muna and oxcutzcab (indigenous, rural towns in yucatan). parents or guardians gave permission for the students to take part in the study and then students assented to participating in the study. the participants took a survey which included perceived discrimination, ethnic identity, and acculturation scales. ten participants who took this survey were randomly selected for an interview. the findings for this article are based on the interviews, which were conducted after school or at times convenient for the students. the interviews explored school experiences; educational attitudes; familial, cultural, and linguistic practices; and discrimination. initial interview prompts and questions included: tell me about your family. how do your parents feel about school? what do your parents tell you about the maya culture? analysis grounded theory open-coding was conducted with the semi-structured interviews (miles & huberman, 1994). relevant raw text was coded, then repeating ideas were organized into significant themes in which theoretical constructs regarding the topics emerged (miles and huberman, 1994). throughout this process, the codes and themes were refined. once the codes were established, content analysis was conducted. nvivo 12 (qsr international, 2018) was used to organize the major themes and memos that emerged from the analysis. as an indigenous, yucatec-maya woman born in yucatan, mexico and immigrant in the u.s., the author is a partial insider of the yucatec-maya community. yet, being labeled a researcher with all the privilege it carries due to the education and training received, the author of this study is also an outsider immersing into these young persons’ lives. the author had to continuously evaluate her own multiple academic and indigenous identities within the context of the analysis of the participant narratives. through constant self-awareness, and in line with critical latinx indigeneities as a methodological tool, the author aimed to avoid any simplification of the complexities and heterogeneity of the yucatec-maya experience. furthermore, research with indigenous peoples who have been geographically, psychologically and socially colonized throughout history, and continuously lack visibility in academic and casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 50 sociopolitical discourse, must be conducted with complete respect for the agency the indigenous persons have toward their own lives and social processes (smith, 2013). findings the interviews reveal various themes aligned within critical latinx indigeneities and the integrative model of resilience. the participants discussed discrimination experiences, which reflected the interlocked marginality and at times invisibility that they face across geographical and sociocultural borders (blackwell, boj lopez, & urrieta, 2017). however, the main focus of the findings are the protective processes of resilience which fall into three overarching themes: 1) resilient indigeneity across their linguistic, familial, and community contexts; 2) familial support and academic resilience; and 3) transformational welcoming spaces. in line with critical latinx indigeneities, these themes emphasize indigenous voices by drawing from narratives and indigenous knowledge systems. discrimination the yucatec-maya students experienced discrimination in their daily interactions with peers and adults. seven participants reported witnessing discrimination from latinxs and nonlatinxs. the ten participants experienced an average of seven out of a possible 17 instances of perceived discrimination due to their ethno-racial background. some of these instances in which students perceived that they were discriminated against included: being called racially insulting names and teachers expecting less from them (see table 1). jose described how having an accent in their spanish led to being discriminated, “i’ve seen yucatecos discriminated a lot, either because of the way they speak, or cuz of their um, their, their accent, or just because the way they’re dressed or who they are, you know?” jose became visibly distressed when he spoke about this type of discrimination, and stated in a louder tone, “it makes me feel really upset, like dude cannot talk to this person this way.” furthermore, experiences with discrimination were associated with being embarrassed to be part of maya cultural organizations. alberto expressed that young people “may want to join a maya yucateco group, but they don’t because they are scared to be embarrassed, that they will be criticized and judged, discriminated.” the fear of being discriminated against if you form part of indigenous cultural organizations is problematic. indigenous community cultural organizations are important in creating spaces for youth to positively explore their indigenous identity and serve as a resource for indigenous mexican families (casanova, o’connor, & resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 51 anthony-stevens, 2016). these community organizations support youth and their families with the stress of adaptation; serve as a transnational link to the families’ hometowns in mexico; and increase civic participation for adults and youth in the united states (popkin, 1999; portes & rumbaut, 2006). the discrimination findings are examples of the complex, and sometimes contradictory nature of the lived experiences of these indigenous youth. six participants, while facing the fear of being shamed by others for being maya due to the sociohistorical colonial remnants of racialized hierarchies of being “indio”, still wanted to learn about their maya culture. some of the participants were part of maya community organizations and challenged the adversity of discrimination. the following themes will focus on the protective processes that support these students’ complex and paradoxical desire to explore and [re]claim their maya identities, despite or in some cases due to the discriminatory experiences they faced. resilient indigenous identities: protective processes enacted across contexts although discriminated against, the youth reflect a collective resilient indigenous identity. eight of the ten participants believed that their culture is defined by the familial and linguistic practices and traditions they follow. they defined being maya through language, family, and community. maya identity as language. nine of the participants understood a little maya and had heard it spoken at home, however, less than half of the them spoke maya. all the students stated that they wanted to learn the maya language. if they already knew some maya, they expressed wanting to learn more of the language. the participants who valued maya stated it was necessary to learn the language to preserve the culture after yucatec-mayas migrate to the u.s. they believed it was harder for people to learn maya in the u.s. jose felt sad to “see my people just forgetting where they come from, or their language, maya.” ricardo stated: some people who are yucatecos do not really know maya. and i say, for me, that our culture should not get lost, right? because it is important. and i say, it is not fair that nowadays other people from different countries and states are interested in our culture and we are not, and i say, that we as youth now have the opportunity to learn it [maya] because we have time to learn it. several participants described the maya language as an important part of identifying with their indigenous identity. the students spoke about the maya language as a marker of maya casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 52 culture that differentiates it from mexican culture. for example, mateo said, “the way we speak, like certain [spanish] words have different meanings and like the accent is different too.” although eight out of the ten students interviewed discussed the importance of learning english to succeed academically, six of the participants equally spoke about [re]claiming their indigenous identity through the learning of maya. as jose stated: because, though, then i’ll have a little piece of where i’m from, and, and, and the way i am, and i could just probably go back to my roots and just talk to people, you know? and so they could remember um, ‘cuz a lot of people here in u.s. they come and they forget their, their native language, maya. the participants stated that they would like to learn maya through classes and from their families. miguel said, “i would like to speak it [maya] because it is the dialect of my hometown. i would like to learn it form my parents and from the people that are native from there.” the students wanted to learn maya to be able to communicate with their family, and with other members of their yucatec-maya community. gaby commented that learning more maya would allow her to communicate with her uncles who only speak maya. gaby defined her cultural identity as maya partly because of the language and the connection to her family. she stated, “maya, because it is the culture of my parents, the language of my mother, and i really like learning more about it.” mateo discussed his want to learn maya so he could communicate better and connect to his roots. he stated, “i would like to learn it because it’s a language they speak en de donde soy (where i am from). and it’s just, i don’t know, like i would like to communicate with people through not just english and spanish.” like mateo, six out of 10 of the participants wanted to be more connected to their culture and identity through the language. alberto, for example, felt “that not speaking it, i am not following what my culture is, like following the traditions of my ancestors.” maya identity as familial practices. parents socialize youth into their cultural repertoires and play a key role in the preservation of indigenous culture (casanova, o’connor, & anthony-stevens, 2016). eight of the participants spoke about their family as a source of knowledge of their maya culture. parents actively engaged in passing down knowledge and stories regarding the maya culture. the yucatec-maya parents’ effort and labor in socializing their children in daily lived indigenous practices (e.g., language) and activities (e.g., traditional resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 53 dance groups) was recognized by the students. for example, alberto described what his parents and family have taught him: um, my parents have always talked to me about what the maya culture is and how it is. inclusively, thanks to my grandmother, she has always told me stories of what, when she was, of her infancy and childhood, and i have learned various things, and like when one starts to like learn something and do not feel like you learn, like you start learning something and you don’t feel like you have really learned it, you get a desire or want to find more information about what they have told you or what you have heard, and so thanks to my grandma that always, all the time, has talked to me about it , i have tried to find information in the internet, in books, i have even tried that when i meet [maya] people tried to ask them questions in maya so they can speak to me in maya. eight other participants had similar responses regarding their family actively teaching them about their maya culture. miguel discussed his grandparents’ stories of hardship. his grandparents would tell him how hard it was for them to maintain their maya culture, yet miguel, discussed their resilience and how “they were able to get ahead, and well little by little our culture is being exposed.” interdependent, familial ties seemed extremely important for the yucatec-maya families. the yucatec-maya students were motivated to preserve their indigenous culture through the support of family and transnational community networks. all the participants could list and describe traditional maya dishes. antonia stated, “…sometimes i help out my mom to make them,” while ricardo talked about when these dishes are made: “well, in yucatan when we wanted to eat something for example the cochinita, or the escabeche my family would make it…for example the custom is when it is for special events like a birthday or a wedding.” whether it is learning how to make the dishes or understanding what food is served for celebrations, both participants described the consumption and preparation of traditional foods as rituals linked to being yucatec-maya. maya identity as affect and community. the participants defined their indigenous identity as a strong connection to home and community. the participants discussed their diasporic indigenous identities within the context of what blackwell and colleagues (2017) term transregions of indigenous migrations (p. 132). they described being maya beyond the borders of nation states, which includes understanding their positions within their indigenous immigrant families in the context of the u.s., but also having an awareness of their own indigenous casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 54 worldviews that transcend regional and hemispheric post-colonial borders. one way the participants expanded their notion of being maya was by describing this indigeneity as an emotion or feeling. ricardo describe his maya culture as historical traditions from home: in reality the maya culture is something very beautiful, very gorgeous because of its history,…the great accomplishments that were left permanently,…one of those that we can observe is like the ruins of chichen [itza], as the representation of the calendar,…for example the traditions of the home towns… the dance of the head of the pig, … the dance of the turkey, the traditions that they do in honor of the saints or their gods,…even nowadays, the culture continues, the traditions. jose discussed a lived and enacted indigeneity: being mayan, i don’t know how to explain it…if you’re mayan, you’re mayan from blood. you know we’re family, and i always feel comfortable with other mayans. the way we grow up, it’s just in the head, it’s like bixa wani, saying how you doing, and it’s just like joy to hear the language again…like a feeling. he mentioned a maya phrase and stated it is that happiness when you hear maya. he could not fully articulate the feeling, but defined being maya as “in the head,” transcending an actual physical place. from a critical latinx indigeneities perspective, jose not only embraced his indigeneity, but resisted limiting the identity to a single location, and instead identified being maya as having a translocal community, which is connected by maya language and ways of thought. miguel also stated that his culture is defined by the “way of thinking that is being passed down by the older generations, like his parents.” the participants spoke about their community and the collective experiences that influenced their indigenous identities. they mentioned jarana, which is a dance that blends precolombian maya and spanish dances, that is performed during traditional gatherings. one of these gatherings is the vaquería. the vaquería events organized by hometown organizations and the yucatec-maya social networks in los angeles and san francisco provide a space for yucatec-maya families to dress in traditional huipiles and perform jarana dances. the vaquería also brings bands from yucatan and provide the attendees with traditional maya cuisine. miguel described his experience at a vaquería: and yeah, i like it, i like seeing how they dance jarana and sometimes it gives me this emotion, to listen to the music of the jarana. and, well, i think that, that it is something resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 55 good for the people of different states and even the people of this country to know that culture, what is the dance, and the dress of our culture. miguel expressed an emotional reaction, almost a sense of nostalgia, to being part of this event and desired to share his culture with others. eight of the students expressed their interest in the jaranas as an activity in which they would like to participate. six participants stated that they participated in cultural programs such as jarana dance classes to learn more about the maya culture. luis, stated: i am in the group chan kaajal, and we dance folkloric dances of yucatan. one time we participated with [the] government of yucatan to promote the maya culture for the people to be proud of it. and we have also gone to dance at the chabot [science center]…because they were promoting a movie about the pyramids of chichen itza. and after the movie, it was not like other documentaries, it was interesting, and it didn’t only have the history, but also had the rituals and legends, and like the bible of the ancient maya [popol vuh]. it is evident from the excerpt above that luis learned a lot about his maya culture through his involvement with the dance group. by participating in the dances, he was able to attend informative events on the history of the maya, where he learned a part of maya history. the experience allowed the students to [re]claim their history and feel proud and empowered by this cultural knowledge. the dance represents the existence of maya culture in the present in these students’ lives. jenny, one of the participants taking jarana dance classes, stated that she always attended the dances with her family. in addition, six participants discussed their exposure to maya culture through storytelling. storytelling has always been part of the traditional practices of indigenous communities (casanova, 2012). mateo recalled, “i get to interact with like yucatecan people,…so i get to like, listen to what they say, and how they tell it. and sometimes it’s sort of... it’s interesting. like the stories they get to tell, they have a lot of stories.” family, and parents in particular, actively engage in passing down the maya culture to the yucatec-maya youth through participation in community events like the vaqueria, jaranas, and storytelling. the yucatec-maya students’ resilient indigenous ways of being were supported and enriched by both local community practices as well as enacted through ideologies and transformations of indigeneity that crossed hemispheric borders and regions. blackwell, boj casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 56 lopez, and urrieta (2017) ask for researchers to “acknowledge the multilayered ways of being indigenous across national borders and within migrant transregions crossing multiple ethnoracial structures” (p. 129-130). in line with this component of cli, the findings from this study reflect how yucatec-maya participants develop and expand their ideas of what it means to be maya from local, individual ways of being and feeling to translocal, collective ideologies cultivated by familial practices, histories, and experiences of migration. the transformative preservation of maya identity. the students did not only acknowledge the need to preserve their indigenous culture, but also understood the importance of transforming the cultural practices in the context of their diasporic positions in between and within multiple ethnoracial and nation-state structures (blackwell et al., 2017). four participants believed that their culture was consistently being transformed in the diasporic contexts of the u.s. alberto talked about the saliency of the mexican identity in the u.s. context: i identify with the maya culture, most of my life i have lived in yucatan,..we have traditions and customs, we try and conserve our culture,…to be here [u.s], it’s like you shed a little more of your [maya] culture, and like you kind of take other cultures,… and a part of the mexican in you comes out. seven participants identified strongly with the maya culture. antonia described her indigeneity as equally important to her american identity. she stated, “i practice jarana and i also…sometimes wear the huipiles and ternos that my grandma makes, and [i’m] american, ‘cuz i speak english and i also have part of the american culture.” she has integrated both cultures without losing her maya culture. of note, she equated her american identity to speaking english which, according to current literature (i.e., suárez-orozco, abo-zena, & marks, 2015) has continued to be a marker for becoming american in the u.s. nonetheless, antonia had also taken maya classes. this tricultural adaptation (american, maya, and mexican) is important in developing resilience. biculturalism is associated with better educational and mental health outcomes for immigrantorigin and indigenous youth (lafromboise, coleman, & gerton, 1993; padilla, 2008). five participants spoke about the importance of maya culture preservation. alberto discussed that “to not lose the mayan culture in whatever state you might be...try to form groups, do meetings to be able to interact with more yucatec people and do the resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 57 celebrations…people will start coming together.” he described a process of empowering youth and maya people in general through meetings, groups, and organizing celebrations in the u.s., in order to reclaim and conserve their culture. similarly, gaby stated that “there are not a lot of people who preserve their writings [language] and we have managed to and safeguard our culture.” jose believed people were starting to know more about maya culture, but he also wanted maya classes and outreach programs available for the youth community. four of the participants emphasized the need to target maya children at a younger age. luis also noted that there was a need for programs here in the u.s. like the ones in yucatan: we need to teach our sons and daughters what the maya culture is at a younger age, to be proud of their culture and all the beautiful things…i am proud of it too, i like the language, and all and that is why i learned about it. other places do not have pyramids like the ones we have; a history like ours. the maya were very intelligent with astronomy and a lot of other cultures do not have something like this. they [the maya] sometimes overcame, like the way they could predict things without the technology we have today. i believe that it is being conserved more with what the government is doing [in yucatán], but here i do not see much, only in a couple places where there are more yucatecos... all 10 participants had a wide range of ideas as to how to reclaim their culture in order to sustain it, and at the same time transform it in the context of being in multiple transregional spaces. they believed that creating spaces to share the cultural knowledge and teach young people the language, dances, stories, etc. was crucial in preserving the maya culture, but they also rejected the idea that there is a particularly “correct” or more “authentic” way to be maya. the students’ conceptualization of their indigeneity acknowledged the cli diasporic complexities of bridging their indigenous, migrant, mexican, and american intersecting social identities (blackwell, boj lopez, & urrieta, 2017). apoyo familiar: indigenous families and academic resilience four participants defined american culture as opportunities and advancement, and as different from their own culture. miguel spoke about this sense of advancement, “the u.s.…here it is easy to obtain what you want sometimes, what one wants, right, and if one is motivated to do it, one can achieve many things.” to the students, being american represented educational opportunities and success. the indigenous students saw school as a chance to casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 58 “make something” of themselves and most of them are looking forward to going to college. seven students felt school was a place to be able to succeed and secure a good future. nine students had positive feelings toward school, while three admitted to encountering challenges. gaby stated, “yeah, because i want to have a good future, and i want to prepare myself to do something with my life.” six of the participants had a positive view of american culture and the “american dream” ideology. the students were motivated by their parents to believe school was an opportunity to better themselves and to “sobresalir” or excel. the students spoke of the hard work ethic their parents instilled in them in order to persevere in their educational trajectories. all the students acknowledged that their parents had supported them in going through school. six students discussed their parents’ emphasis on the importance of school in order to obtain a career and grow as a person. antonia stated, “they [parents] encourage me more to go to school and to like be successful.” mateo discussed how his parents always continuously motivated him to finish school: well, my parents like always wanted me to do good in school and i did. and they would always push me to do better and better, to get my grades up when i had to and yeah they really supported me in school. jose stated that his parents told him school is “my number one priority, and they um, they say school is my job.” another participant stated that his parents are usually happy with him, but consistently push him and sometimes tell him “he can do better” and to put in the effort at school so he can “become someone.” parents encouraged students to develop an academic identity, which is important in developing academic resilience (suárez-orozco, mottistefanidi, marks, & katsiaficas, 2018). parents were proud of the participants for pursuing an education, jose stated: they feel proud of me because they say that even though i come from another country, which is mexico, and my culture is different i have managed to be successful here, and well they are proud of me. but, well for example, youth like us we base the knowledge we learn and success on them [parents]. educational success for the students was not only an individual goal, but a familial aspiration that validated their contribution to a larger collective purpose within their community. seven participants stated that their parents constantly motivated them to attend college. their educational ideologies were aligned with their familial practices and cultural ways resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 59 of being indigenous, while at the same time embracing the american dream ideologies of success. these students’ sense of agency to academically excel formed part of the multilayered and complex ways in which they navigated their diasporic and transregional resilient indigeneities within the educational structures of the u.s. (blackwell, boj lopez, & urrieta, 2017). transformational spaces: critical latinx indigeneities in schools and communities two of the participants were involved in clubs at school. alberto, who went to the southern california school, described the club as being a family for him at school, stating, “latin network, in which the members are latinos or mexican, and well there we coexist, uh, well there i feel like i am part of a family at school because we all interchange ideas, and we are a group and we are good.” jose, who went to the northern california school, discussed the club as a welcoming space for him in school, especially to speak about “cultural things.” the other eight participants did not belong to cultural school clubs. yet, the two participants that stated they were part of a latinx club had a clear sense of belonging at school and felt empowered, two important protective processes. the two students that were part of the latinx school club did not state that the latinx students in the club discriminated them due to their indigenous identity. on the contrary, the club served as a positive, transformational space for dialogue and sharing of their diverse experiences as yucatec-mayas, while also commiserating over similar experiences as latinxs. club spaces can assist with increasing sense of belonging and participation in schools (gibson, bejinez, hidalgo, & rolon, 2004). antonia and alberto were part of youth church groups. ricardo also recalled being involved with a youth group prior to immigrating to the u.s. this group focused on issues such as drug and alcohol addiction. school and church organizations provided a place for the yucatec-maya students to engage in the intersection of their identities, whether it is their panlatinx or their religious identities. to understand the complex, multi-layered experiences of indigenous youth, scholars must also understand how other identities intersect with their indigeneity (blackwell, boj lopez, & urrieta, 2017). seven participants found school was a positive space where they could speak about their indigenous culture. alberto did a project in which he could talk about where he was from and he stated, “i noticed that all my peers liked knowing about the maya culture, because of everything that exists in yucatan.” antonia spoke with her teachers and friends about her casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 60 culture. mateo spoke about “try[ing] to explain, to let [people] know how the culture as much as i know at least. and i like, i just try to get my culture out so people know about it.” these school spaces where students felt comfortable speaking about their indigeneity are key in creating a strong sense of school belonging which is linked to motivation, increased self-efficacy, greater success in english learning, and academic performance (huo, molina, binning, & funge, 2010). the incorporation of classroom activities in which students can share their cultural knowledge are crucial to developing resilient indigenous identities and academic resilience (yosso, 2005). discussion for yucatec-maya youth, the maya identity is strongly rooted in a common history and collective memory passed down through generations and the way everyday life is lived and acted. maya language is constantly mentioned in the participant interviews, but not exclusively what defines their indigenous identity. the participant interviews expose familial and community practices representative of the diasporic indigenous consciousness described by baquedano-lopez and janetti (2017). the students [re]created their maya identities in the u.s. context. the youth cultivated and constructed a resilient indigenous identity, pushing back against the discrimination they experienced. the vaquerías are examples of critical latinx indigeneities, as they expose the multifaceted aspects of being maya and reflect a hybridity of cultures and identities. in other words, the vaquerías support the notions of intersecting and crossing the borders of maya, mexican, and american spaces proposed by blackwell, boj lopez and urrieta (2017). the collective history and cultural ways of being in these community gatherings reflect the transregional dimensions of their indigeneity (blackwell, boj lopez, & urrieta, 2017). centered on their families’ and some of their own experiences of transmigration, these multifaceted ways of being maya and enacting maya ideologies are part of the daily lived experiences of the youth. the students’ negotiation of their indigenous, mexican, immigrant, and american identities shows the cultural transformation and [re]production of being maya within u.s. school structures, their collective communities, or through their familial practices. these experiences illustrate the yucatec-maya students’ bicultural efficacy which lafromboise, coleman, and gerton (1993), describe as a protective process associated with positive social and developmental outcomes. resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 61 parents encouraged the participants to go to school and obtain a higher education for a better future. this form of support is important for these students’ school and academic resilience processes (suárez-orozco, abo-zena, & marks, 2015). parents and family also served to catalyze cultural discussions and pass down cultural knowledge to the students. many of the participants felt their families were the strongest connection to their cultures and motivation for doing well in school, which aligns with findings from previous literature on the importance of family and parental support for immigrant-origin students (suárez-orozco, abo-zena, & marks, 2015; suárez-orozco, motti-stefanidi, marks, & katsiaficas, 2018). the participants were most involved with cultural community groups. these cultural networks became crucial in the development and cultivation of their resilient indigenous identities. school was also a place where many of the participants discussed their culture informally with peers and teachers. the persistence, inclusivity of other cultures, and transformation of these students’ indigeneities reflect an identity that is dynamic, intersectional, malleable, and constantly adapting in order to be resilient across diasporic settings. implications & conclusion immigration scholars have called upon researchers to focus on “intersecting inequalities,” or multiple dimensions of identity that shape unequal outcomes for immigrantorigin children and youth (suárez-orozco, yoshikawa & tseng, 2015). it is critical to consider indigeneity as a dimension of intersectionality for u.s. latinx youth. by incorporating critical latinx indigeneities, this article begins to do so and, more importantly, exposes how resilient indigenous identities serve as protective factors that contribute to larger collective resilience processes. future studies should use a larger sample size and expand participant recruitment to other indigenous latinx communities beyond the yucatec-mayas. a longitudinal study of indigenous latinx students would serve to better understand other ways resilient indigenous identities foster positive development. future research should include teachers’ and parents’ perspectives. this study expands the understanding of indigenous youth in the u.s. who make up our growing culturally and linguistically diverse latinx student populations. the prevailing themes described in this study emphasized yucatec-maya students’ agency in [re]defining their resilient indigeneities. the research has implications in starting to develop resources and culturally competent classrooms in which these students can be academically successful. educators would casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 62 be wise to expand their culturally responsive curricula through the lens of cultural community wealth (yosso, 2005) to counter the discriminatory experiences these students face and encourage academic resilience. resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 63 references american psychological association (2012). ethnic and racial disparities in education: psychology’s contributions to understanding and reducing disparities. retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ed/resources/racial-disparities.aspx baquedano-lópez, p., & janetti, g. b. (2017). the maya diaspora yucatan-san francisco: new latino educational practices and possibilities. in s. salas & p.r. portes (eds.), u.s. latinization: education and the new latino south, (pp.161-185). albany, ny: state university of new york press. barillas chón, d. w. (2010). oaxaqueño/a students'(un) welcoming high school experiences. journal of latinos and education, 9(4), 303-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2010.491043 blackwell, m., boj lopez, f., & urrieta, l. (2017). special issue: critical latinx indigeneities. latino studies, 15, 126–137. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-017-0064-0 benson, p. l., leffert, n., scales, p.c., & blyth, d. a. (1998). beyond the “village” rhetoric: creating healthy communities for children and adolescents. applied developmental science, 2(3), 138–159. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532480xads0203_3 bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. casanova, s. (2012). the stigmatization and resilience of a female indigenous mexican immigrant. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 34(3), 375-403. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986312449584 casanova, s. (2016). conversaciones indígenas desde el otro lado: adolescentes de origen maya en estados unidos. in i. cornejoportugal (ed.), juventudes rurales y mayahablantes migrantes: acechar, observar e indagar sobre una temática emergente (pp. 165-201). mexico city: universidad autónoma metropolitana. casanova, s., o’connor, b. h., & anthony-stevens, v. (2016). ecologies of adaptation for mexican indigenous im/migrant children and families in the united states: implications for latino studies. latino studies, 14(2), 192-213. https://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2016.4 castellanos, m. b. (2007). adolescent migration to cancún: reconfiguring maya households and gender relations in mexico’s yucatán peninsula. frontiers: journal of women studies 28(3), 1–27. castillo-cocom, j.a. (2005). it was simply their word: yucatec maya princes in yucapan and the politics of respect. critique of anthropology, 25(2), 131-155. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275x05052016 cooper, c. r., gonzalez, e., & wilson, a. r. (2014). identities, cultures, and schooling: how students navigate racial-ethnic, indigenous, immigrant, social class, and gender identities on their pathways through school. in k. c. mclean & m. syed (eds.), the oxford handbook of identity development (pp. 299–318). ny: oxford. cornejo-portugal, i. (2015). joven maya migrante: “estar de paso.” yuyaykusun, 8, 15-30. cornelius, w. a., fitzgerald, d., & fischer, p. l. (eds.). (2007). mayan journeys: u.s.-bound migration from a new sending community. la jolla, ca: center for comparative immigration studies, university of california, san diego. fleming, j., & ledogar, r. j. (2008). resilience, an evolving concept: a review of literature relevant to aboriginal research. pimatisiwin, 6(2), 7–23. fox, j., & rivera-salgado, g. (eds.). (2004). indigenous mexican migrants in the u.s. la jolla, ca: center for us-mexico studies and center for comparative immigration studies, casanova association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 64 university of california, san diego. gibson, m. a., bejinez, l. f., hidalgo, n., & rolon, c. (2004). belonging and school participation: lessons from a migrant student club. in m. gibson, p. gándara, & j. p. koyama (eds.), school connections: u.s. mexican youth, peers, and school achievement (pp. 129 – 149). new york: teachers college press. gonzález, e. (2018). ethnoracial attitudes and identity-salient experiences among indigenous mexican adolescents and emerging adults. emerging adulthood, 7, 128–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696818805336 huo, y.j., molina, l.e., binning, k.r., & funge, s. (2010). subgroup respect, social engagement, and well-being: a field study of an ethnically diverse high school. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, 16 (3), 427-436. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019886 jiménez, t.r. (2008). mexican-immigrant replenishment and the continuing significance of ethnicity and race. american journal of sociology, 113(6), 1527-1567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/587151 kovats sánchez, g. (2018). reaffirming indigenous identity: understanding experiences of stigmatization and marginalization among mexican indigenous college students. journal of latinos and education, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2018.1447484 kuperminc, g. p., wilkins, n. j., roche, c., & alvarez-jimenez, a. (2009). risk, resilience, and positive development among latino youth. in f. a. villarruel, g. carlo, j. m. grau, m. azmitia, n. j. cabrera, & t. j. chahin (eds.), handbook of u.s. latino psychology: developmental and community-based perspectives (pp. 213-233). thousand oaks, ca, us: sage publication. lafromboise, t., coleman, h. l. k., & gerton, j. (1993). psychological impact of biculturalism: evidence and theory. psychological bulletin, 114, 395-412. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/00332909.114.3.395 lafromboise t., hoyt, d.r., oliver l., whitbeck l.b. (2006) family, community, and school influences on resilience among american indian adolescents in the upper midwest. journal of community psychology, 34(2):193–209. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20090 luthar, s. s. & zelazo, l. b. (2003). research on resilience: an integrative review. in s. s. luthar (ed.), resilience and vulnerability. adaptation in the context of childhood adversities (pp. 510549). new york: cambridge university press. machado-casas, m. (2012). pedagogía del camaleón / pedagogies of the chameleon: strategies of survival and identity for transnational indigenous latino immigrants in the us south. the urban review, 44(5), 534-550. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11256-012-02065 masten, a. s., & powell, j. l. (2003). a resilience framework for research, policy, and practice. in s. s. luthar (ed.), resilience and vulnerability: adaptation in the context of childhood adversities (pp. 1-26). new york: cambridge university press. mesinas, m., & perez, w. (2016). cultural involvement, indigenous identity, and language: an exploratory study of zapotec adolescents and their parents. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 38(4), 482-506.https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986316670390 miles, m. b., & huberman, m. a. (1994). qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. padilla, a. m. (2008). social cognition, ethnic identity, and ethnic specific strategies for coping resilient indigenous identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 65 with threat due to prejudice and discrimination. in c. willis-esqueda (ed.), motivational aspects of prejudice and racism (pp. 742). ny: springer. pérez-rendón, a. (2011). la salud y la salud mental de niños y jóvenes mayas en san francisco. yucatán: identidad, y cultura maya. retrieved from http://www.mayas.uady.mx/articulos/salud-mental.html popkin, e. (1999). guatemalan mayan migration to los angeles: constructing transnational linkages in the context of the settlement process. ethnic and racial studies, 22(2), 267-289. https://doi.org/10.1080/014198799329486 portes, a. & rumbaut, r. (2006). immigrant america. berkeley, ca: university of california. qsr international. (2018). nvivo 12 [computer software]. available from http://www.qsrinternational.com ruiz, n., & barajas, m. (2012). multiple perspectives on the schooling of mexican indigenous students in the u.s.: issues for future research. bilingual research journal 35, 125– 144. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2012.703639 smith, l. t. (2013). decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples. n.y.: zed books ltd. stephen, l. (2007). transborder lives: indigenous oaxacans in mexico, california, and oregon. durham, nc: duke university press. suárez-orozco, c., abo-zena, m., & marks, a. (eds.). (2015). transitions: the development of children of immigrants. nyu press. suárez-orozco, c., motti-stefanidi, f., marks, a., & katsiaficas, d. (2018). an integrative risk and resilience model for understanding the adaptation of immigrant-origin children and youth. american psychologist, 73(6), 781. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000265 suárez-orozco, c., yoshikawa, h., & tseng, v. (2015). intersecting inequalities: research to reduce inequality for immigrant-origin children and youth. new york, ny: w.t. grant foundation. retrieved from http://www.wtgrantfoundation.org/post/111903703827/intersecting-inequalitiesresearch-to-reduce u.s. census bureau (2018). annual estimates of the resident population by sex, age, race, and hispanic origin for the u.s. and states: april 1, 2010 to july 1, 2017. velasco, p. (2010). indigenous students in bilingual spanish-english classrooms in new york: a teacher’s mediation strategies. international journal of the sociology of language, 206, 255271. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2010.057 whiteside, a. (2006). research on transnational yucatec maya-speakers negotiating multilingual california. journal of applied linguistics & professional practice 3(1), 103-112. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v3i1.103 yosso, t.j. (2005). whose culture has capital? race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 2 2018 amae invited special issue linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands guest editor brendan h. o’connor arizona state university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 6 linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands brendan h. o’connor arizona state university “where there is power,” wrote foucault (1978), “there is resistance, and yet … this resistance is never in a position of exteriority in relation to power” (pp. 94-95). foucault’s (1978) well-known formulation is as good a place as any to begin, since it speaks to the central concern of this collection of articles: the multiplex ways that the imposition of discursive power, and efforts to get speakers to consent to the marginalization of their linguistic practice, also “[depend] on a multiplicity of points of resistance” (p. 95). famously, foucault warned that power should not be mistaken with simple acts of domination or coercion but argued that it must be seen as “an intricate web of constraining interrelationships” (prado, 2000, p. 73). within this web, power relations are defined as much by individuals’ and communities’ acts of resistance as by others’ efforts to intimidate, constrain, or coerce them (prado, 2000, p. 73). the articles in this invited special issue of the association of mexican-american educators journal on “linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands” confront this duality head-on, testifying to the destructive effects of discursive power while simultaneously documenting the bravery and ingenuity of people’s counterhegemonic practice, or the myriad ways that speakers use language to push back against hegemonic forces. in each contribution, members of a borderlands community of practice—indigenous mexican teachers undergoing professional development in the u.s., ysleta de sur pueblo tribal members on the texaschihuahua border, bilingual teachers and students in south texas and paraguay, dual-language students in an inquiry-based science and engineering program, transfronterizo (border-crossing) university students, and mexican-americans throughout the history of the u.s. southwest— encounter historicized, situated forms of linguistic hegemony y al mismo tiempo se enfrentan a esta hegemonía lingüística al desarrollar sus propias formas de responder, resistir, y persistir. importantly, the contributors’ aim is not just to explore the interplay of power and resistance in people’s language experiences, but to call our attention—as teachers, scholars, administrators, and parents—to the possibilities that exist for unmaking linguistic hegemony through individual moments and enduring traditions of counterhegemonic practice. linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 7 the invited special issue came about as the result of a panel that carlos vélez-ibáñez organized for the 77thannual meeting of the society for applied anthropology (sfaa) in march 2017, inspired by his recent book hegemonies of language and their discontents: the southwest north american region since 1540 (2017), and for which patricia sánchez, who contributes a commentary to the special issue, was the discussant. four of the articles in the special issue (debenport; mortimer; o’connor; and vélez-ibáñez) were originally presented at the sfaa panel; the other two articles (anthony-stevens & griñó; esquinca, de la piedra, & herrera) were subsequently invited in order to flesh out the special issue and diversify the range of research contexts, participants, and issues represented. the contributors include anthropologists of education (anthony-stevens & griñó; sánchez), linguistic anthropologists of education (mortimer; o’connor), educational linguists and literacy researchers (esquinca, de la piedra, & herrerarocha), a linguistic anthropologist (debenport), and a cultural anthropologist (vélez-ibáñez). while there is clearly a family resemblance among the authors, who belong to closely related fields, there is also a variety of disciplinary perspectives, meaning that some articles pay relatively more attention to educational and pedagogical issues, while others engage more closely with the details of language and discourse in the borderlands. the contributors include people who are lifelong (trans)fronterizo/as from arizona-sonora (vélez-ibáñez) and texas-chihuahua (esquinca, herrera-rocha, sánchez). these researchers have dedicated their scholarship and teaching to persistent questions of linguistic and educational equity in the borderlands, many of which they first encountered as emergent bilingual/intercultural students in border schools. several of the other authors position themselves as what mortimer (this issue) refers to as “invested newcomers” in the communities where they conduct research. mortimer defines an invested newcomer as “someone lacking historical knowledge and experience compared to others while also engaging with long-term purpose and multiplex, intertwined personal and professional ties in the communities.” this definition is useful for resisting the hegemonic expectation to frame oneself either as an “insider” or “outsider” in the context of anthropological and educational research, in that it acknowledges that many researchers find themselves in a gray area between those two extremes. several of the contributors (anthony-stevens, debenport, mortimer) are white, non-indigenous scholars with long-term relationships with indigenous communities, varying degrees of proficiency in indigenous languages (tiwa and guaraní), and, in anthony-stevens’s case, indigenous children and o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 8 family members. some of the authors (anthony-stevens, mortimer, o’connor) have spent their professional lives as proficient l2 spanish speakers in different parts of the u.s.-mexico borderlands and elsewhere in latin america, despite having grown up as monolingual english speakers in the u.s. still others (de la piedra, griñó) are native spanish speakers from south america who have focused their research and teaching on issues of linguistic and cultural hegemony in the u.s. and mexico. the following sections provide background on the concepts of linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse, sketch their genealogy with reference to related keywords in linguistics and anthropology, and clarify how they are used in the articles that make up this special issue. linguistic hegemony and regimes of language vélez-ibáñez (2017) glosses “language hegemony” as “all of the diverse processes seeking to end, bend, and twist a conquered population’s means of communication,” and goes on to specify that his usage of the phrase refers to “language suppression and replacement of a people’s language” (p. 17). like foucault, he insists that understanding impositions requires simultaneous attention to the “contradictions and oppositions” that result from the colonial encounter, because of which attempts to sever people from their history by “render[ing] [them] mute” are inevitably “messy” and incomplete (vélez-ibáñez, 2017, pp. 16-17). vélez-ibáñez, like other scholars of language and social relations, reaches back to the italian linguist and political thinker antonio gramsci’s (1971) foundational work on hegemony. while imprisoned by the italian fascists, gramsci argued that domination may be pursued either through coercion (i.e., brute force) or consent. hegemony refers to the latter method of subordinating a group of people by getting them to consent to their own domination, most often by naturalizing power relations and masking them as “common sense.” the cultural and linguistic means used to achieve this have been of intense interest to scholars of language and education, including the contributors to this special issue. in their recent, magisterial overview of the intertwined histories of language studies, capitalism, and colonialism, heller and mcelhinny (2017) explain: linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 9 consent involves convincing all participants in relations of domination that things are the way they should be; achieving such consent requires shared frames of interpretation, and thus is a profoundly cultural and communicative process. gramsci’s notion of cultural hegemony suggests how ruling interests elaborate as “common sense” ideas that support their own position. (p. 8) in the realm of political science, sonntag and cardinal (2015) have recently considered how distinctive language regimes, or “shared frames of interpretation” masquerading as linguistic common sense, take shape within specific state traditions, institutionalized structures tied to modern nation-states (p. 9). like vélez-ibáñez (2017) and heller and mcelhinny (2017), however, they also argue that “the robustness of the concept of language regimes advances the analysis of counter-hegemony” (p. 8): in effect, hegemonic discourse practices work to conceal relations of domination, while counterhegemonic responses seek to reveal them in order to challenge the “common sense” assumptions undergirding the language regime. a simple, effective illustration of this can be found in esquinca, de la piedra, and herrerarocha’s study (this issue) of the implementation of a problem-based engineering design curriculum at ramos elementary, a school in el paso, texas with a vibrant spanish-english duallanguage program. the authors’ major finding is that, during implementation, “the [dual-language] program principles were soon discarded in favor of english instruction” for engineering design, in what they term a “purposeful” decision. when the authors asked the dual-language teacher about this decision, however, she suggested that it was merely common sense to rely on english for the engineering curriculum—the only rational and, indeed, feasible course of action—since the teachers lacked written engineering materials in spanish. the authors reminded the teacher that such materials did, in fact, exist, and had been used by a small group of spanish speakers in the first year of the program. the teacher then commented that she and the other teachers involved had “made [engineering] fall on [english] day” (in this dual-language model, english and spanish were used as languages of instruction on alternating days) in order to avoid having to locate materials in spanish. while the authors are careful not to criticize the teacher, who was constrained in her supporting role, they nonetheless argue that her comments reveal a “monolingual habitus,” and that the outcome of many individual decisions, guided by such a habitus, is a hegemonic o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 10 arrangement that allows english to stand unchallenged as the language of science and engineering and underscores the uselessness of spanish by comparison. the researchers’ counterhegemonic contribution is to unmask these relations of domination, to point out how they have infiltrated contexts that would seem to treat bilingualism as a resource, and to suggest how similar curricula might be implemented in ways that defy linguistic common sense. this discussion of language regimes is indebted to kroskrity’s (2000) pathbreaking edited collection regimes of language: ideologies, polities, and identities, which draws on the tradition of research on language ideologies (schieffelin, woolard, & kroskrity, 1998) to examine relations of domination and subordination in various discursive fields. kroskrity (2000) observed that language ideologies always “represent the perception of language and discourse that is constructed in the interest of a specific social or cultural group,” such that even widely shared “traditional” practices, while naturalized as cultural knowledge, may serve the interests of “particular elites who obtain the required complicity” (p. 8). thus, scholars are at risk of misrecognizing linguistic and cultural practices “controlled or regimented by [an] … elite,” such as language purism (an aversion to linguistic innovation and language mixing) as cultural features of the community as a whole. debenport (this issue), who, like kroskrity, works with tewa/tiwaspeaking pueblo communities, provides a fascinating example of such a situation and its practical effects on her research collaborators. following the 1680 pueblo revolt against spanish rule and the eventual spanish reconquest of pueblo lands in northern new mexico, the people of ysleta del sur pueblo ended up in el paso, texas. just how they ended up in el paso, however, is the subject of considerable debate between ysleta del sur community members and members of other pueblos: the former insist that they were taken to el paso as spanish captives, while the latter accuse them of cooperating with the spanish to betray other pueblos during the revolt. debenport’s paper focuses on ysleta del sur members’ contemporary attempts to “set the record straight,” as she puts it, or to engage in counterstorytelling in order to speak back to discourses that undermine their authenticity and sovereignty. these discourses include criticism from other pueblos as well as state and federal governmental attempts to define which groups can assert legitimate indigeneity, not to mention who is allowed to assert membership legally within indigenous groups. this analysis is significant for a couple of reasons: first, and most basically, it foregrounds and re-centers indigenous presence in the u.s.-mexico borderlands, where the logic of linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 11 elimination (wolfe, 2006) targeted at indigenous peoples in the u.s. and mexico is often joined with a simplistic, binary view of borderlands culture to overwhelm counternarratives of indigenous persistence. second, it is a compelling example of border thinking (mignolo, 2000) in action: in contesting linguistic and cultural purism as the basis for indigenous authenticity and arguing for fluid english-spanish bilingualism as a legitimate form of discursive practice (in addition to heritage learning of southern tiwa), ysleta del sur members unmask the mapping of european “one nation, one language” ideologies onto indigenous communities. in so doing, “they work within a multilingual, ‘post’ colonial context to assert sovereignty and belonging” (debenport, this issue), transforming the language regime even as they attempt to set the historical record straight. trans-indigenous learning and translingual practice as counterhegemonic responses two of the other papers in the invited special issue also bring indigenous presence and survivance (vizenor, 2008) into the conversation about discourse, culture, and pedagogy within and across the borderlands: anthony-stevens and griñó’s research with indigenous mexican educators involved in transformación docente, a u.s.-based and u.s.-funded professional development program, and mortimer’s comparative study of ideologies of language separation in bilingual classrooms in paraguay (spanish-guaraní) and el paso (english-spanish). in different ways, both articles grapple with longstanding tensions around the “modernization” of indigenous languages—and, by extension, indigenous peoples—that are endemic to the colonial encounter. bringing the “pre-modern” indigenous peoples of the americas into modernity (wolf, 2010 as cited in vélez-ibáñez, 2017, p. 17)—i.e., re-making them into suitably “modern” subjects of colonial states by dehistoricizing them, or erasing their prior history—involved making indigenous languages suitable for modernity (alongside the imposition of european languages). in mignolo’s (1992) discussion of european scholars’ grammatical approaches to indigenous languages, he observed: one of the logical consequences of the complicity between language, letters, and territoriality is the fact that the consolidation of states and nation will depend on the homogenization of language and that the homogenization of language will depend a great deal on the control that the letter can exert upon the sounds of a language. (p. 187) o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 12 thus, dehistoricizing social processes depended on linguistic processes of commensuration and reducción, colonial interventions that were seen as necessary to tame the disorganized multiplicity of indigenous literacies and ways of speaking (hanks, 2010 as cited in heller & mcelhinny, 2017, p. 40). vélez-ibáñez’s (2017) analysis of filiaciones, brief genealogical sketches of indigenous conscripts into the imperial spanish military, provides a concrete example of how the making of colonial subjects relied on specific technologies of inscription, or what mignolo (1992) called “the complicity between language, letters, and territoriality” (p. 187). but vélez-ibáñez also shows that these forms of inscription—the crown’s means of recording who, exactly, was being brought into the spanish imperial cosmos—were tied to incipient processes of racialization, of boundary work based on distinctions among different kinds of bodies. and yet, as gonzález (2005) reminds us, looking “more closely into how language completes us as unfinished subjects” entails attention not only to the role of education in “reproducing dominant discourses of power and control” (p. 173), but to its potential as a site for advancing diverse repertoires of identity and discursive practice (p. 174). in this vein, anthonystevens and griñó consider the many contradictions of transformación docente (td), the professional development program they studied (and for which they worked as program coordinator/co-pi and graduate assistant, respectively). not least among these contradictions is the fact that td brought indigenous teachers from mexico, where educational discourse has recently shifted to support indigenous languages and ways of knowing (in principle, anyway), to the united states, “where indigenous students are the least served by systems of education, and the most at risk of academic failure” following centuries of outright efforts to exterminate indigenous peoples and suppress indigenous knowledge systems. anthony-stevens and griñó acknowledge that td might have developed as merely another teacher education reform effort focused on standardizing teacher knowledge and pedagogy, paying lip service to linguistic and cultural diversity but failing to challenge the hegemony of spanish and westernized knowledge in mexican schools. however, their analysis shows powerfully how td became a space where maestros indígenas were supported in their efforts to “destabilize dominant policy discourses” (mccarty & lee, 2014, p. 103) about intercultural education and, especially, to advocate for mexican indigenous languages in schools. in spite of the contradiction of participants’ coming to the u.s. to learn how to teach indigenous students better, the authors document how the “unofficial goals” of program staff, coupled with linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 13 the maestros’ own readiness to engage in decolonial praxis, led to a form of border thinking manifested as “trans-indigenous learning.” by comparing experiences across contexts of mexican indigenous schooling and interacting with indigenous communities and educators north of the border, the maestros could experiment with new possibilities for putting indigenous languages and funds of knowledge at the center of intercultural education. in this way, anthony-stevens and griñó argue, the td staff and participants “complicate[d] [the] neoliberal agendas” of program funders as they challenged each other “to examine and deconstruct colonial relations in education.” mortimer also centers indigenous presence in her comparative analysis of ideologies of language separation and language mixing in spanish-guaraní bilingual programs in paraguay and english-spanish dual language programs in el paso, texas. she takes a somewhat different and original approach to the question of hegemony, however, in focusing on how speakers may denigrate their own hybrid language practices even as their behavior affirms the utility and value of those practices. in paraguay, the recent introduction of guaraní—an indigenous language that has been associated with paraguayo nationhood throughout the country’s history—into schools yields seemingly endless opportunities to distinguish academic or “real” guaraní (guaraníguaraní) from jopará, or guaraní “mixed” with spanish elements. the use of jopará is said to index an uneducated, backwards persona, but, mortimer observes, it is also the variety of guaraní that many students, parents, and, indeed, teachers spoke in their everyday lives. the teachers’ studied avoidance and policing of jopará features in classroom discourse, then, had the ironic effect of devaluing the linguistic resources of the community that the national language policy was intended to support. mortimer unravels the contradictions of hegemony as common sense: in both contexts, while teachers’ lived experience provided ample evidence that translanguaging could serve important functions in the classroom and community, the unquestioned desirability of language separation meant that teachers did not have the resources to defend what they and their students were already doing as legitimate and academic. teachers, in other words, often walked the translanguaging walk without being able to talk the talk, in the sense that they did not have the support or training to articulate a counterhegemonic, non-purist stance (as debenport’s participants were able to do). as mortimer comments, “despite teachers’ enacted discontentment with the hegemony of language separation, ways of overtly recognizing, talking o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 14 about, naming their discontentment were harder to find” (my italics). nevertheless, texmex and jopará speakers’ enacted discontentment with language purism sometimes spilled over in “exuberant eruptions” (combs, gonzález, & moll, 2011, p. 194) of translanguaging at public events, where teachers, parents, and students drew flexibly on their linguistic repertoires in “the formal public display of knowledge and success” (mortimer, this issue). mortimer argues that this is a hopeful development: such verbal performances lend themselves less easily to the tired binaries (educated/uneducated, authentic/inauthentic, formal/informal) that undergird hegemonic ideologies of language in education, and, thus, hold potential for disrupting hegemony. more broadly, mortimer’s analysis recalls ruiz’s (1991) observation that introducing students’ mother tongue into schools in no way guarantees that students will be able to find their voice. rather, as here, the presence of a prestigious, nationally sanctioned variety of the indigenous language can, in fact, be used to frame mixed or “impure” discourse practices as deficient and inferior. according to ruiz (1991), it is necessary to distinguish language—as a general, abstract phenomenon—from the “particular and concrete” uses of language that we refer to as voice: “to deny people their language … is, to be sure, to deny them voice; but, to allow them ‘their’ language … is not necessarily to allow them voice” (p. 220). this means that analyses of linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse cannot take an autonomous view of language and literacy practices; instead, they must always examine such practices through an ideological lens (to borrow a distinction from the new literacy studies; street, 1984). translanguaging is neither hegemonic nor counterhegemonic by nature, and neither are practices that reflect an ideology of language purism. on one hand, as was mentioned above, “translanguages” can refer to “languages joined through the process of conquest,” as european scribes sought to make maya “commensurate” with spanish—and, by extension, linguistically appropriate for the process of christian conversion (hanks, 2010 as cited in heller & mcelhinny, 2017, p. 40). here is a case of translanguaging harnessed to a project of reducción, of taming indigenous languages for colonial purposes, and certainly not with the goal of allowing subjugated people their voice. likewise, while debenport and mortimer both discuss the hegemony of purist attitudes in their respective sites, such attitudes probably emerged as an earlier counterhegemonic response (e.g., among tewa/tiwa speakers) to similar attempts to make indigenous languages and peoples “commensurate” with modernity and colonial rule. (recently, a number of scholars (e.g., hamman, 2018; jaspers, 2018) have cautioned against the uncritical linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 15 celebration of contemporary translanguaging and urged greater attention to its complex role within language-minority education; see also vélez-ibáñez, this issue). on the other hand, in mortimer’s study, moments of public, academic translanguaging clearly emerge as powerful, potentially transformative exceptions to the dilemma ruiz (1991) described, a dilemma that is still evident in el paso and paraguay: that “the language of the child is rarely spoken in the classroom, much less taught in formal lessons” (p. 219), whatever the stated goals of bilingual programs. narrative inequality and pretextual gaps dell hymes (1996), like the contributors to this special issue, held that questions of language are inseparable from questions of educational equity and social justice, exhorting his readers not to mistake the potential equality of languages and language varieties for an actual equality that does not yet exist. in other words, in our eagerness to affirm the dignity and value of different languages (or nonstandard or hybrid varieties), we run the risk of overlooking the actual relations of inequality that shape who can do what, with which language, in which context, with what degree of success. hymes (1996) admonished scholars of language not to “take for granted that what we take for granted” about language “is known to others” and mused that we may never finish “the task of confronting misconceptions about the status of languages” (p. 208). hymes (1996) singled out oral narrative as a primary indication of “the relation between potential and actual in language, the dialectic between potential equality and actual inequality” (pp. 218219)—or, put differently, he suggested that storytelling events can expose the gap between people’s inherent potential to shape their experience in narrative and the conditions of reception for such stories, or the place that each community or context affords their storytelling (p. 219). the long story told by araís, a transfronteriza undergraduate from brownsville, texas, which is analyzed in my (o’connor’s) article, can be understood as a counterhegemonic response to the phenomenon that hymes (1996) called “narrative inequality.” inequality in language does not necessarily refer to inequality between languages (as in anthony-stevens and griñó’s, esquinca et al.’s, and vélez-ibáñez’s articles), or even to inequality between varieties of language (as in mortimer’s article), but instead, recalling ruiz (1991), can refer to the conditions under which people attempt to claim voice, or use their repertoires to assert their identities and experiences in ways that are seen as legitimate (as in debenport’s and o’connor’s articles). o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 16 araís’s virtuosic, heteroglossic performance raises fascinating questions about selfhood, language use, and cultural practice in the borderlands, as she mobilizes a kaleidoscopic array of voices to tell a story (and several smaller stories within the story) that criticizes mass-mediated representations of life in mexico. in her chosen mode of telling, however, araís anticipates the conditions of the story’s reception and displays her recognition of narrative inequality, the discursive hegemony that promotes a “megascript” (vélez-ibáñez, 2017) of the borderlands as dangerous, poor, and out-of-the-way and disregards firsthand accounts, like araís’s, that do not square with the dominant narrative. the potential of her narrative unfurls in explicit contrast to the actual inequality that threatens to overwhelm it. her narrative, then, can be seen as a form of critical pedagogy, a “teachable moment” oriented to the author (o’connor, her teacher) but also aiming beyond the immediate circumstances of its telling to insist that there be a place (hymes, 1996, p. 219) for stories that upend common sense understandings of the borderlands. in closing, i would like to propose that maryns and blommaert’s (2002) notion of the “pretextual gap” is a useful analytic strategy for making sense of the various forms of narrative inequality, linguistic hegemony, and counterhegemonic practice discussed in the articles in this special issue. hegemony rears its head in many guises in these studies; as we might expect, the corresponding points of resistance are equally diverse across the articles. in each case, however, it holds true that linguistic hegemony attempts to mask relations of domination—to coax people into accepting a fundamentally unequal situation as common sense, as “just the way things are”— while counterhegemonic discourse seeks to expose these power relations (sonntag & cardinal, 2015, p. 8). maryns and blommaert (2002) argue that the site of this encounter—between hegemonic common sense and counterhegemonic resistance—is often a “pretextual gap,” which is to say, a gap in understanding and expectations that indicates “a tension between what is recognized and what can be produced in communication” (p. 14). that is, as people try to figure out what is going on in particular speech events—a joparáspeaking mother’s speech at a school event, an ysleta del sur pueblo narrative that attempts to correct the historical record, spanish-english bilingual students’ participation in an engineering lab activity, etc.—they cannot help but bring along “a package of socially preconditioned knowledge articulated in speakers’ personal ‘baggage’ and assessments of what is meaningful” (maryns & blommaert, 2002, p. 13). thus, even before an interaction begins, there may exist a pretextual gap, a predisposition to respond in a certain way, based on what speakers already believe is linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 17 appropriate, legitimate, and meaningful. in developing this concept, maryns and blommaert (2002) build on briggs and bauman’s (1992) discussion of intertextual gaps, or gaps between people’s expectations of particular speech genres and individuals’ relatively idiosyncratic performances within those genres, which rarely map neatly onto “the tradition,” but tend to diverge from it in highly suggestive ways. in much the same way, maryns and blommaert (2002) argue, thinking of interaction as pretextual means staying attentive to “conditions on sayability, differential distribution of access to these conditions, and social evaluations attached to such differences” (p. 11) in any given communicative situation. in other words, as ruiz (1991) insisted, in order to understand how people claim voice—which we should not confuse with the use of particular codes, named or otherwise—in situations of hegemony, it is necessary to inquire into who can say what, using which resources, in which situations. it also entails looking at how language users expect their contributions to be heard, recognized, and understood, or, as often happens, misheard, misrecognized, and misunderstood (remembering araís’s story, from o’connor’s article). close attention to such pretextual gaps allows us to get an analytical grip on the forms of narrative inequality (hymes, 1996) that permeate social life in different language regimes. maryns and blommaert (2002) suggest that one way of exposing and challenging linguistic hegemony is to focus our analyses on discursive phenomena that “fall in the gap between what is recognized and what can be produced” (p. 14). each of the articles in this invited special issue does just that, in diverse and thought-provoking ways, using a wide range of theoretical and analytical tools to chip away at the edifice of language regimes, in and out of school. in shining a light on the pretextual gaps that exist in each situation, the contributors also celebrate speakers’ counterhegemonic efforts “to emerge fully as complex cultural beings” (vélez-ibáñez, this issue) who refuse to consent to the marginalization of their voices. o’connor association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 18 references briggs, c. l., & bauman, r. (1992). genre, intertextuality, and social power. journal of linguistic anthropology, 2(2), 131-172. combs, m. c., gonzález, n., & moll, l. c. (2011). the metonymy of language policy: u.s. latinos and the learning of english. in t. l. mccarty (ed.), ethnography and language policy (pp. 184-203). new york, ny: routledge. foucault, m. (1978). the history of sexuality: volume 1: an introduction. r. hurley (trans.). new york, ny: pantheon. gonzález, n. (2005). children in the eye of the storm: language socialization and language ideologies in a dual-language school. in a. c. zentella (ed.), building on strength: language and literacy in latino families and communities (pp. 162-174). new york, ny: teachers college press. gramsci, a. in hoare, q., & nowell-smith, g. (1971). selections from the prison notebooks of antonio gramsci. new york, ny: international publishers. hamman, l. (2018). translanguaging and positioning in two-way dual language classrooms: a case for criticality. language and education, 32(1), 21-42. heller, m., & mcelhinny, b. (2017). language, capitalism, colonialism: toward a critical history. toronto: university of toronto press. hymes, d. (1996). ethnography, linguistics, narrative inequality: toward an understanding of voice. bristol, pa: taylor and francis. jaspers, j. (2018). the transformative limits of translanguaging. language & communication, 58, 110. maryns, k., & blommaert, j. (2002). pretextuality and pretextual gaps: on de/refining linguistic inequality. pragmatics, 12(1), 11-30. mccarty, t., & lee, t. (2014). critical culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy and indigenous education sovereignty. harvard educational review, 84(1), 101-124. mignolo, w. d. (1992). nebrija in the new world: the question of the letter, the colonization of amerindian languages, and the discontinuity of the classical tradition. l’homme, 32(122/124), 185-207. mignolo, w. d. (2000). the many faces of cosmo-polis: border thinking and critical cosmopolitanism. public culture, 12(3), 721–748. prado, c.g. (2000). starting with foucault: an introduction to genealogy. boulder, co: westview. ruiz, r. (1991). the empowerment of language-minority students. in c. e. sleeter (ed.), empowerment through multicultural education (pp. 217–27). albany, ny: state university of new york press. schieffelin, b. b., woolard, k. w., & kroskrity, p. v. (1998). language ideologies: practice and theory. new york, ny: oxford university press. sonntag, s.k., & cardinal, l. (2015). introduction: state traditions and language regimes: conceptualizing language policy choices. in l. cardinal & s. k. sonntag (eds.), state linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 19 traditions and language regimes (pp. 3-28). montreal and kingston: mcgill university press. vélez-ibáñez, c.g. (2017). hegemonies of language and their discontents: the southwest north american region since 1540. tucson, az: university of arizona press. vizenor, g. (ed.) (2008). survivance: narratives of native presence. lincoln, ne: university of nebraska press. wolfe, p. (2006). settler colonialism and the elimination of the native. journal of genocide research, 8(4), 387-409. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 2 2018 amae invited special issue linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands guest editor brendan h. o’connor arizona state university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 121 the hegemony of language separation: discontents en programas de lenguaje dual en paraguay and el paso katherine s. mortimer university of texas at el paso abstract while language hegemonies often take the form of one language imposed upon speakers of another, this article focuses on the hegemony of language boundaries themselves imposed upon everyday language practices, and in particular, upon those of teachers and students in bilingual classrooms. this examination of two different borderland contexts—el paso, texas on the u.s.mexico border and a central paraguayan community on an urban-rural spanish-guarani speaking border—illustrates how similar dominant ideologies and discourses worked in both places to make it seem as if what participants saw as “language separation” was pedagogically and socially superior to what they saw as people’s everyday “mixed” language use. while teachers’ languaging in practice refused these boundaries, it remained unaffirmed by any explicitly positive discourse. with others, i argue that discourses that explicitly affirm and valorize translanguaging practices must become more available to teachers as ways to name, understand, and evaluate their own (and students’) language use. and specifically, here i highlight the embracing of translanguaging in formal, public events beyond the classroom as key to this process, illustrating this proposal with two such moments in the el paso and paraguayan borderland contexts. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.2.397 the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 122 introduction históricamente el paraguay ha sido un país guaranihablante-guaranihablante. de hecho, la proclama de la independencia nacional en 1811 se hizo en guaraní como para identificar de que era una nación con una lengua distinta de las demás, entonces la proclama de la independencia nacional se hizo en guaraní ((dando golpecitos en la mesa con su dedo, con el ritmo de las últimas palabras)). [y después en el 1812] las cartillas de enseñanza que se emitió desde asunción allí decía que la lengua que va a ser utilizada en las escuelas iba a ser el? castellano. el castellano. y decía eso que la enseñanza se dará en lengua castellana. historically paraguay has been a guarani-speaking ((with emphasis)) country. in fact, the proclamation of national independence in 1811 was made in guarani so as to identify that [paraguay] was a nation with a language distinct from the others, and so the proclamation of national independence was made in guarani ((hitting the table with her finger with the rhythm of the final words)). [and afterward in 1812] the instructional primers that were produced from asunción there it said that the language that was going to be used in the schools was going to be? spanish. spanish. and it said that instruction would be given in the spanish language. (official with the paraguayan ministerio de educación y cultura, interview, 7/23/2008) as i interviewed her about spanish-guarani bilingual education, an official with the paraguayan ministry of education and culture tried to help me understand the hegemony of spanish in this latin american nation. she wanted me to understand how spanish had been imposed on the country, which, in her telling, was so identified with the indigenous language, guarani,1 that the declaration of independence from spain had been issued in guarani. she also wanted me to understand how the imposition of spanish had happened, in part, through schools. this kind of language hegemony (vélez-ibáñez, 2017) is an imposition of one language over 1 pronounced with stress on the final syllable, often written in spanish as guaraní. following guarani orthography, i do not use the accent mark on this and other guarani words in this article (e.g., jopara) when i am writing in my voice. in direct quotes, originally in spanish (as in the opening) i do follow spanish orthography, as was common in the research context in paraguay. mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 123 another, and it is recognizable across the world. in paraguay, the colonial language, spanish, was officially imposed in classrooms on a guarani-dominant population. in what is today the region along the u.s.-mexico border, spanish was imposed upon communities of tigua/tiwa and rarámuri speakers, and later, english was imposed upon communities of spanish speakers. yet, as vélez-ibáñez (2017) highlights, these hegemonies have always met resistance. sometimes resistance has taken the form of counternarratives like paraguay not being a spanish-speaking country, but a guarani-speaking one. but resistance also takes the form of everyday language use that refuses language distinctions themselves. in paraguay, this is often identified as a mix of spanish and guarani—or jopara—and in the el paso, texas region along the mexico-u.s. border, it is often identified as a mix of spanish and english. in many academic conversations, language use that refuses language distinctions is identified as part of translanguaging (canagarajah, 2011; garcía, 2009a). in this article, i focus on the hegemony not of one language imposed upon another, but of language boundaries themselves imposed upon everyday languaging practices, and in particular upon the language practices of teachers and students in bilingual classrooms. i describe how this happened in these two different borderland contexts—el paso, texas, and central paraguay—to illustrate how similarly dominant ideologies and discourses worked in both places to make it seem as if what participants saw as “language separation”2 was pedagogically and socially superior to what they saw as people’s everyday “mixed” language use. i contrast these ways of seeing and talking about language use in both places with examples of teachers’ everyday languaging practices that nevertheless refused namedlanguage boundaries but often remained unaffirmed by any explicitly positive discourse. this is to say, that even though teachers, who all identified as speakers of the minoritized language, translanguaged in instructional practice, and even though they articulated pedagogical reasons for drawing fluidly on their whole linguistic repertoires, teachers in neither place had readily available ways to talk about their language use in a positive light. their practices inherently pushed back at 2 throughout the article i use double quotation marks for two purposes, both of them to distinguish my voice from others’ voices: (1) when attributed to a particular speaker they indicate a direct quote, or someone else’s exact words; and (2) when, as here, used around a single word or short phrase without attribution to a particular speaker they convey that, in general, participants usually meant something by that term that i, as researcher/analyst do not. in this case here, i use quotation marks to indicate that the terms “language separation” and “mixed” were ways that participants and the general public often describe language use but that i, as an analyst striving to take a translanguaging perspective, am trying to avoid. at other times, i mark this difference in voice with a description like “what participants called/recognized as/identified as language separation.” the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 124 dominant discourses, but their talk about or evaluations of their own language use pushed back much less. i agree with others (flores & rosa, 2015) that targeting dominant ideologies and discourses for change more than teachers’ and students’ translanguaging practices is the most promising way forward. specifically, i argue here that discourses that explicitly affirm and valorize translanguaging practices must become more available to teachers as ways to name, understand, and evaluate their own language use. i highlight the embracing of translanguaging in formal, public events beyond the classroom as key to this process, illustrating my proposal with two such moments in the el paso and central paraguay borderland contexts. language separation as the imposition of named language boundaries scholars in several fields of language-related research describe language boundaries as socially constructed—that is, not naturally or inherently existing, but existing only socially. that is, as otheguy, garcía and reid (2015) say it, “named languages” do not exist in any linguistic sense, as linguistic things, because their boundaries—where they begin and end—cannot be drawn by any linguistic criteria. named languages do exist socially, however, as things we refer to, things we recognize as different from or similar to other things, labels we use to identify ourselves, and they do have real consequences (e.g., on an elementary school registration form or home language survey: “is there a language other than english spoken at home?” where testing and labeling follow). and still, we make these boundaries socially, in talk and social practice. the idea that named languages do not inherently exist can understandably be a tough sell in school, where many of our daily operations as teachers require it (e.g., decisions about whether a child should take the state standardized test in english or spanish); where, as students, we learn a sense of doing our work in something called english or something called spanish; and where we learn that our passing grades, our diplomas, our certifications, our job security depend in part on our knowing what is “proper” or “correct” english or spanish and what is not. but it is precisely because this idea so deeply challenges the status quo or what is taken for common sense, the idea that named languages do not exist is potentially a very powerful one for thinking about how we serve bilingual children. the idea of language boundaries being socially constructed has been developed in a number of academic fields: among them, linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, language education, and bilingual education. seminal linguistic anthropological and mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 125 sociolinguistic work described the ways that language ideologies (kroskrity, 2000; schieffelin, woolard, & kroskrity, 1998)—or beliefs about the connection between language and the social world—have functioned historically to distinguish some language forms from others and, in the process, have functioned to distinguish some people from others and rationalize differences in the allocation of rights and resources (gal & irvine, 1995; gal & woolard, 1995; irvine & gal, 2000). makoni and pennycook (2005) locate the invention of languages as part of colonialism, as a tool used by colonizers to distinguish between themselves and the colonized and among various colonized groups, and they outline the material effects or inequalities those inventions have produced. silverstein (1996) describes this phenomenon in the u.s. as a “culture of monoglot standard [english],” an “aggressively hegemonic” (p. 286) ideology that u.s. society uses to create a sense of homogenous culture through a homogenous language. what we think of as u.s. standard english is not just a construction in opposition to other “non-standard” varieties of u.s. english, but also in opposition to bilingualism (milroy & milroy, 1999). studying the conflicts between majority languages and minoritized, often indigenous, languages, scholars of language contact and language revitalization recognize an imposition of language boundaries in the form of purism, or efforts to rid a minoritized language of “contamination” by a more dominant language (joseph, 1987). purism is a sociopolitical movement and language ideology aiming to restrict the sources of new features in a language to what are considered “native” elements, and it often arises in response to cultural pressures for modernization (see for example, hill & hill, 1980). purism can be part of a response to periods of rapid change in social and political structures (annamalai, 1989; jernudd, 1989), and it can be a discourse that, like other language ideologies, circumscribes not just a language but an identity, authorizing and authenticating one and delegitimating others (see also bucholtz & hall, 2005). that is, as shapiro (1989) writes, “…purification movements imply at some level that impure language elements belong to impure persons. this impurity ascription makes it then possible to put people who cannot claim affiliation with the privileged language in a lesser moral space” (p. 23). often purism surfaces in the context of the introduction of an indigenous language into schools, where it will be used for functions and topics for which it has not traditionally been used. such was the case in the introduction of guarani into paraguayan schools where it had been proscribed before 1994 and where questions of which variety of guarani to use in teaching generated intense debate (mortimer, 2006). among the controversial questions, for example, the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 126 was whether a word like democracia,3 commonly used in everyday guarani but often identified as spanish, could be used in guarani in school or whether a word would need to be found that used only morphemes identified as guarani. more recently scholars of language education, applied linguistics, and bilingual education have brought attention to the imposition of language boundaries within schooling with critical examinations of how bilingualism and bilingual students’ language resources are (inadequately) conceptualized and addressed in education (e.g., canagarajah, 2013; creese & blackledge, 2010; cummins, 2008; flores, 2013; garcía, 2009b; hornberger & link, 2012; jaspers & madsen, 2016; lewis, jones, & baker, 2012; palmer, martínez, mateus, & henderson, 2014; sayer, 2013; p. h. smith & murillo, 2015; zentella, 1997). initially, a primary focus of language educational work was on how students’ bilingualism is ignored or denigrated and on the importance of opening space for and valorization of minoritized languages in school—for example, for spanish in englishdominated u.s. schools and for indigenous languages in spanish-dominated latin american schools—through bilingual, as opposed to monolingual, education programs (e.g., baker, 2001; cummins, 1986; freeman, 1998; hornberger, 1988). in the process, the idea of “language separation” was produced (dolsa, villarreal, & mortimer, 2017) and promoted as an important way to protect space for a minoritized language. the idea that using a minoritized language in separation from a dominant language is still compelling as a means to build additive bilingualism, as in long-term enrichment dual language programs (howard, 2007 citing dulay & burt, 1978; legarreta, 1977; swain, 1983), and as a means to prevent language loss among younger generations (for example, wyman, 2009). yet while the need for bilingual education remains acute, as does the need to protect space for minoritized languages, critical work reveals the inadequacy of fit between language separation and what bilingual people really do with languages. garcía (2009b; otheguy et al., 2015) and colleagues, creese and blackledge (2010), hornberger and link (2012), and others advocate for a translanguaging or translingual (canagarajah, 2013) perspective that takes bilingual people’s (students’, teachers’, families’) fluid and dynamic language practices as the starting point for instruction—that is, actively using teachers’ and students’ whole linguistic repertoires in 3 in striving to take a translanguaging perspective as much in the writing of this article as in the analysis, i choose to use features of all languages in the same typeface (i.e., not marking some with italics), as in a single linguistic repertoire. mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 127 instruction—rather than those of an imaginary, idealized monolingual. while translanguaging-inteaching includes practices seen as language mixing or codeswitching, it is not only these practices, and should be understood as the languaging that happens when bilingual people feel free to use their whole linguistic repertoires in making sense in interaction (otheguy et al., 2015). with translanguaging as an alternative frame through which to see bilingual language use, the hegemony of language separation in schools, and its associated costs and inequities, becomes clearer (flores, 2013; martínez, 2013; martínez, hikida, & durán, 2015; palmer et al., 2014). a growing body of work articulates specifically how teachers can actively, reflectively, and strategically employ translanguaging in instruction for pedagogical purposes. garcía, johnson, and seltzer (2016, p. xi), for example, describe some of the many ways that teachers and students can do this to, for example, support comprehension and to make space for students’ ways of knowing. o’connor and crawford (2015) show how teachers and students can use translanguaging—specifically hybrid language use—for language play that contributes to stronger teacher-student relationships and for generating opportunities to talk about bilingual identities. this important work (see also celic & seltzer, 2011) makes explicit how teachers can change their language practices or how they can change what they permit or encourage students to do, in order to better support students’ learning of both language and content. a complementary approach proposes a shift—or addition—to where we seek change. rather than primarily targeting minoritized speakers’ language practices for change, we should target for change the ideologies of people that hear them (flores & rosa, 2015). flores and rosa propose this shift as a way of more effectively challenging inequalities among language speakers—that by focusing entirely on changing how latinx children (and teachers) speak, for example, we may do little to challenge their marginalization, whereas focusing on changing how people hear and evaluate them will do more to produce change. drawing on inoue’s (2006) work, they talk about hearers as the white listening subject as a way of focusing on the perspective and ideologies of a generic hearer more than a specific person. this white listening subject perspective emerges from the dominant position of white people in general and entails dominant ideologies that make it seem as if whiteness, and in particular white people’s language practices and ways of life, are the norm, and somehow more valid that those of people of color. the white listening subject as a concept is a way of talking about this hegemonic perspective while not assuming that it is taken up only by people who identify as white. that is, the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 128 people who identify as white may hear, understand, and evaluate others through this perspective, but people who identify as people of color might also do so, as well as people in their roles as teachers, curriculum writers, test-question writers, and institutions like schools and boards of education. the white listening subject is one way of thinking about the set of ideologies that help to construct language boundaries: as people and institutions hear, understand, and evaluate minoritized language speakers from this dominant subject position, those speakers’ practices are judged as other, perhaps as not english or not proper spanish. flores and rosa’s (2015) development of the white listening subject as a target for change is contextualized within u.s. schools, where whiteness and race are primary ways of understanding social difference (ladsonbillings & tate, 1995), while in paraguay, mexico, and elsewhere in latin america class and urbanrural distinctions, as well as race, play a similar role. in this article, i refer to the white/dominant listening subject in order to accommodate this variation while taking up flores and rosa’s call for making dominant hearers—more than minoritized speakers—responsible for change. study methods and contexts data for this analysis come from two ethnographic studies. the first study was conducted in paraguay with 11 months of fieldwork in two spanish-guarani bilingual schools (mortimer, 2012), where participants included sixth-grade students, their parents, teachers, administrators, ministry of education personnel, and language activists. the second study was conducted in the texas-mexico border area with 28 months of fieldwork over three academic years in four spanish-english dual language programs: 2 elementary level and 2 high-school level.4 participants in the u.s. study included elementary and high school teachers and administrators, high school students, and district personnel. in both studies, data were collected through participant observation, interviews, the collection of policy and curricular artifacts, and video recorded classroom interaction. this article draws primarily on interview, observational, and video recorded data from teachers regarding their languaging practices and ideologies about those practices. analysis in both studies is ethnographic (emerson, fretz, & shaw, 2011; kaplanweinger & ullman, 2015; lecompte & schensul, 1999; maxwell, 1996) and discourse analytic (wortham & reyes, 2015; gee, 1999; gee, 2011). 4 i am grateful to gabriela dolsa and emiliano villarreal for their invaluable contributions to data collection and analysis in the el paso project (see mortimer, dolsa, & villarreal, under review). mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 129 as an ethnographer, my primary research instrument is myself. in both contexts, i identify and am identified in multiple ways, and i am not always sure how much overlap there is between how i saw myself and how participants saw me. in general, in both places i identify as an invested newcomer: a newcomer as someone lacking historical knowledge and experience compared to others in this context, while i also invested in relationships and interaction with the aim that they be long-term, of some mutual benefit, and multiplex, intertwining my personal (mother, neighbor, friend) and professional (researcher, language student, teacher educator, workshop leader) roles. in both places, i identify and was identified as a woman and a mother of bilingual children, like many of the adult participants (teachers, administrators, parents). in paraguay, i was “americana” (usually read as inherently white and financially privileged), a profesora, an english speaker, a nonnative speaker of castellano paraguayo, and a learner of guarani. in el paso schools, i am anglo and white, a u.s. citizen, a university professor, a speaker of what i identify as white, middle-class, midwestern u.s. english and u.s. classroom spanishes. many of these are positions of power and outsiderness. i strive in my research to help dismantle the ideological regimes that privilege my own language forms and stigmatize others, to help make more powerful the forms of languaging that are not my own, while also implicating myself and my own power in the processes and hegemonies i am trying to undermine. in this analysis where i report, in part, on things that guarani speakers say about other guarani speakers and things that latinx (as well as white/anglo) teachers say about other latinxs, i do not see myself as an innocent observer. rather, i see myself as someone whose very languaging—when i speak a dominant form of u.s. english or separate my languages in teaching or interaction— contributes to and benefits from the hegemonies i critique. because of this, i strive to tread carefully in my discussions of othering within communities where i am an outsider: while othering of some guarani speakers by other guarani speakers may look disconnected from my own hegemonic english, my position is that it is not. on the contrary, it is very much tied to the colonial and racial hegemonies that privilege me, and i strive to keep those connections present in my analysis. for example, my use of the white/dominant listening subject (flores & rosa, 2015) is an effort to keep visible that problematic ideologies are located in systems of whiteness and colonialism, in the institutions that enforce and propagate those ideologies rather than in individual people as if they existed outside these social contexts. this is not to say that individual participants, who in the case of these studies identified as speakers of minoritized languages, do the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 130 not have choices to take up particular ideologies or not, but that i, as a white researcher, want to and must foreground for critique the role of whiteness and systemic racism in the circulation of these ideologies. in paraguay, the borderland is linguistic rather than geopolitical. despite widespread and well-documented guarani-spanish bilingualism (fishman, 1967; rubin, 1968) and ongoing evidence that guarani speaking (77% of the population) has been more common than spanish speaking (paraguay dgeec, 2012), guarani was officially prohibited in schools until 1992. in that year and with a major educational reform in 1994, official policy called for universal bilingual education in which spanish and guarani would be both instructed languages and languages of instruction using a model similar to 90/10 dual language programs in the u.s.5 in both school sites in the study, the focal sixth grade classrooms were to include, according to teachers’ understandings of official policy, half the instructional time in spanish and half in guarani, using separately what were seen as academic varieties of both languages. however, participants generally identified the variety of guarani they spoke most often as jopara (a guarani word for mixed), which is perceived as mixed spanish/guarani and has been well-documented as a feature of the paraguayan sociolinguistic context (boidin, 2000; domínguez, 1982; krivoshein de canese & corvalán, 1987; lustig, 1996; meliá, 1974). because guarani dominance was far more common in rural areas and guarani-spanish bilingualism more common in urban areas (gynan, 2001), one school site in the study was urban and the other was rural. this article uses primarily data from the rural school where teachers all came from the school community or nearby and identified as bilingual or guarani-dominant. students were nearly all guarani dominant. the data were collected in 2008, 14 years into the educational reform. in the el paso, texas region, the borderland is both linguistic and geopolitical. spanishenglish bilingualism is widespread (72% of households speaking a language other than english, the vast majority of those speaking spanish; u.s. census 2015). and similarly, most schooling historically occurred in english only. however, dual language (dl) programs have been available in elementary schools since the mid-1990s and in high schools since the early 2000s. students in the elementary classrooms in this study were part of two-way 50/50 dl programs, and they comprised both spanish-dominant english learners (els) and english-dominant spanish learners. 5 a student’s dominant language is used 90% of instructional time in the earliest years, decreasing by about 10% each year until an even 50/50 split between the two languages in about fifth grade and maintained thereafter. mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 131 students in the high school classrooms were part of what was simply called a dual language program, comprising most courses in english with 1-2 courses offered in spanish each year. most having been long-time participants in dual language, nearly all were now proficient in both english and spanish: some had always been classified as english proficient, some were formerly classified as el and now exited, and only 2-3 students in the classes observed were still officially classified as el. at both levels, most students and teachers were latinx. following commonly accepted guidelines for dual language education in the u.s. (howard, sugarman, christian, lindholm-leary, & rogers, 2007), it is generally understood in these programs that spanish and english are to be used separately in instruction. while the paraguayan and u.s.-mexico borderland contexts are geographically distant, and in many ways culturally distant, comparison of what teachers do with language and how they evaluate their languaging in school reveals powerful similarities in how the hegemony of language separation takes shape. ideologies of language separation in both contexts two related sets of ideologies value what people see as language separation over translanguaging. one set links what people see as language mixing to uneducatedness, to images of uneducated people. the other set links language separation, use of “pure”, “unmixed” varieties, to authenticity. here i will describe the forms these sets of ideologies take in each context and then how the sets are interrelated. in the first set, what people see as “mixed language” gets connected with models of uneducated identity that in both contexts have names. in el paso (and elsewhere on the mexico-u.s. border) language use perceived as mixed spanish-english (including anglicized spanish, spanglish, chicano english) sometimes gets linked with a kind of person labeled (a) “pocha/o” (hidalgo, 1986; richardson, 1999). a pejorative term, it is part of broader powerful ideologies of standard spanish that are well-documented (e.g., galindo, 1996; hidalgo, 1986; richardson, 1999; r. c. smith, 2003; stolk, 2004; valenzuela arce, 2004; wilson, 1946) and help to make various spanishes (and their speakers) seem like different separate entities and stigmatizing those that are seen as mixed or americanized: for example, to separate central mexican spanishes from stigmatized u.s.-mexico border spanishes, to separate mexican border residents from stigmatized mexican american border residents, and to separate people seen as educated, middle class from the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 132 stigmatized others seen as uneducated, lower class. with one exception,6 i did not witness anyone use the derogatory term itself in school; rather, the linkage between mixing and uneducatedness was made implicitly as in the following quote: yo soy la maestra de español y estamos permitiendo que los niños continúen con ese vocabulario [anglicanizado]. no voy a decirles que los han estado educando mal los papás, pero yo soy el ejemplo que ellas me están viendo y que quieren ser el modelo a seguir. yo creo que yo tengo la responsabilidad moral para decirles a los niños “no se dice carpeta, se dice alfombra, no se dice mapeador, se dice trapeador.” “no, pero es que eso es de la región, es como habla el paso, o este lugar, o lo que viene siendo la frontera” [hablando como alguien del distrito] pero es que en realidad “estás guachando” no es, no, no es, no está en diccionario de la real academia española y yo creo que si vamos a hablar bien, pues hay que enseñar bien. i am the spanish teacher and we’re allowing the children to continue with that [anglicized, or mixed with english] vocabulary. i’m not going to tell them their parents have been educating them poorly, but i’m the example they are seeing and the model they want to follow. i believe i have the moral responsibility to tell the children, “you don’t say carpeta [to mean carpet], you say alfombra, you don’t say mapeador [to mean mop], you say trapeador.” “no, but that comes from the region, it is the way people speak in el paso, or this place, or the border,” [speaking like someone from the district] but in reality, “are you guachando?” … it’s not in the dictionary of the royal spanish academy, and i think that if we are going to speak well, well then, we have to teach well. (ms. karen, interview, 5/13/2014)7 6 a discussion in a high school chicano studies class about discrimination between mexicans and chicanos and in which identity terms themselves were discussed (field notes, 6/23/2015). 7 a note on translation: i translate into english longer quotes from participants’ interviews while i choose to leave untranslated some shorter phrases in spanish. these choices are an effort to draw broadly on my linguistic repertoire, and perhaps those of readers, while also striving to make participants’ words comprehensible to the maximum number of readers. mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 133 ms. karen identified a number of what she and the interviewer, who both grew up in the juárezel paso area, called “anglicismos” and she links them to the possibility of being badly educated. she frames her role in correcting them as la maestra de español as a responsabilidad moral, not simply a technical responsibility but one of moral value, of hablando y enseñando bien, which she describes as speaking without anglicismos. while critiquing anglicized forms that her students use, and thus valorizing hegemonic forms over what students do, ms. karen also identified with her students and saw herself as an english learner like them. she may have seen her moral responsibility, in part, as preparing her students to evade the criticism of those who would judge them negatively for “mixing.” deeply committed to protecting space for spanish and spanishspeaking children in school, ms. karen and many other dual language teachers resist the hegemony of english, while also supporting the hegemony of language separation. as detailed more below, hegemony and counterhegemony can happen at the same time, sometimes in the same actions. in paraguay, what is perceived as mixed guarani-spanish language use gets linked to a kind of person called (a) “guaranga/o,” a pejorative term to describe someone as guarani speaking as well as ignorant and rude (pane, 2005) and often from a rural area. in general, people linked the term with guarani speaking and not explicitly with mixed language use, but since the introduction of guarani into schools debate in mass media and public discourse had produced a widely recognized distinction between “guaraní-guaraní/guaraní académico” and “jopará” (mortimer, 2006) and, although not universally appreciated, academic guarani was distinctly linked with educatedness and cultural forms like poetry and traditional song. many felt that jopara was not appropriate for school: para mí que no. en un principio [el ministerio] pedían que se acepte como el niño habla pero para mí que deberíamos tratar de sacar ese jopará. e inculcándoles hablar correctamente el idioma guaraní y correctamente el idioma castellano…que distinguen bien lo que es castellano y lo que es guaraní. for me, no. in the beginning [the ministry] asked that how the child speaks be accepted but for me, we should try to get rid of that jopara. and instill in them how to speak the guarani language correctly and the spanish language correctly… the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 134 that they distinguish well what is spanish and what is guarani. (profesora carla, interview, 5/7/2008) profesora carla’s description of her position on jopara is uncannily resonant with ms. karen’s description of her position on fronterizo spanish. both responded to attempts from above (the district in ms. karen’s case and the ministry of education in profesora carla’s case) to encourage a more dynamic perspective on students’ bilingualism with a recommitment to language separation as good education. both are teachers who displayed deep caring for their students and devotion to the minoritized language. the “unmixed” spanish ms. karen taught and the “unmixed” guarani profesora carla taught are both valued assets in their contexts; their practices guarded space and power for spanish and guarani against what might be seen as inevitable encroachment from english and spanish, respectively. this is to say that their language separation was bivalent—implicating both counterhegemony and hegemony at the same time. at the same time that dual language educators actively fight against monolingual education, advance a bilingual, biliterate model of educated personhood in the students they are teaching, and demand more space in the world for their students and themselves—all important counterhegemonic activities—they may reproduce another hegemony: that of language separation. in addition to ideologies that link language mixing with uneducatedness, a second and related set of ideologies links language separation with authenticity. in the case of paraguay this is evident in a comment from an academic, writer, and member of the national commission on bilingualism (the body originally responsible for forming national language policy) in which he juxtaposed jopara and “authentic guarani”: el paraguayo cree que sabe guaraní y no sabe. si no estudió, no sabe guaraní… ¿qué clase de palabras en guaraní traen los niños de la calle o de la casa? traen el jopará, no trae un guaraní auténtico. the paraguayan thinks that he knows guarani, and he doesn’t. if he hasn’t studied [it in school], he doesn’t know… what kind of words in guarani do the children bring from the street or from home? they bring jopara, they don’t bring an authentic guarani. (interview, 7/28/2004) mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 135 language use recognized as authentic, unmixed guarani (often called guarani-guarani) was important for displays of paraguayan national identity: for example, at school assemblies for national holidays. equating guarani-guarani with being paraguayan, one student’s mother commented, “yo opino que está bien [que los funcionarios públicos puedan hablar] en guaraní porque acá todos somos paraguayos y está bien que hable en guaraní-guaraní [i think that it’s good (that public employees can speak) in guarani because here we are all paraguayans and it’s right that one speaks in guarani-guarani]” (interview, 9/3/2008). in el paso, a sense that mixed language undermines the strength of one’s spanish, which teachers understood as important for good academic achievement, is evident in a comment like the following: she says that some children “don’t have a language.” parents speak spanish at home but they’ve gone to all english daycare and so they’re losing their spanish already. that’s hard. they need a foundation in their first language. you’re not going to have a strong house if you don’t pour the cement first, she says. (field notes, 2/24/2014) this teacher’s argument was not that spanish is problematic—as is sometimes part of public discourse—but that “strong” spanish was critical, and mixing was a threat to that goal. in el paso a teacher’s argument for dual language education, linked perhaps to notions in teacher education like “semilingualism” (macswan, 2000), is also linkable to the circulating idea of a person whose spanish is not only seen as inauthentic but also their mexicanness (e.g., stolk, 2004). in both places, language separation is implicated within the valorization of the minoritized identities: to widen space for guarani-speaking in paraguay and for spanish-speaking in the u.s. the other language must be kept out. translanguaging practices and evaluations despite the strength of ideologies privileging language separation, teachers translanguaged anyway. in el paso, elementary dl teachers frequently encouraged students to translate for each other, issued swift management instructions in the “non-target” language, called children by terms of endearment in the other language, and in other ways drew on their full linguistic repertoires the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 136 over long stretches of discourse but also across words and within sentences. for example, one teacher responded to a student’s question asking if they could go to sleep in the literacy corner during reading time with, “¡qué go to sleep, ni qué go to sleep! get busy!” (field notes, 4/16/2014) (also see mortimer et al., under review). when asked, she said she often found language use like this more effective than if she were to say it all in what she saw as spanish or english. we observed in interactions like this that she created humor and authority while effectively re-directing students’ behavior. some high school dl teachers translanguaged throughout instruction of their contentarea subjects. the following excerpt from a ninth-grade biology class shows some of the ways that the teacher, ms. robles (mr) and a student (s), translanguaged: excerpt 1: el páncreas 1 mr ok (.) vamos a continuar (.) ok (.) we’re going to continue (.) 2 ok cuando, pongan atención, ok when, pay attention, 3 ok, cuando el intestino delgado ok, when the small intestine 4 está absorbiendo los nutrientes is absorbing the nutrients 5 as the villi are absorbing the nutrients 6 aquí es cuando viene el páncreas here is when the pancreas comes 7 this is the pancreas (2.0) ok 8 y el páncreas (6.0) qué va a hacer and the pancreas (6.0) what will it do? 9 s ah, producir insulina ah, produce insulin 10 mr producir insulina para qué produce insulin for what 11 s para reducir los niveles de azúcar to reduce the levels of sugar 12 mr para para reducir los niveles de azúcar to to reduce the levels of sugar 13 remember it is the hormone that 14 tells. the red blood cells. pick up the 15 glucose. take it to the body cells. so 16 they can use it for energy. 17 ok, hablamos de la diabetes cuando ok, we talk about diabetes when 18 una persona tiene diabetes es porque someone has diabetes it’s because 19 el páncreas no está produciendo the pancreas isn’t producing mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 137 20 insulina o no está produciendo insulin or isn’t producing 21 lo suficiente enough 22 so instead of their body cells using 23 up the glucose 24 en vez de que está usando esa glucosa instead of using that glucose 25 they're just keeping it and storing it 26 and storing it and storing it, k, and so 27 the pancreas releases the insulin to 28 tell your body cells use the glucose 29 for energy. 30 entonces, and so, 31 it releases (5.0) ((writing)) hormone 32 you have to know that it’s a hormone 33 (2.0) insulin (.) 34 insulina (4.0) insulin 35 it tells the body (7.0) to use (2.0) 36 glucose (4.0) to make atp (12.0) 37 ok, and because it’s a gland 38 es una glándula it is a gland 39 the pancreas is also a gland we’re 40 going to color it yellow. (videorecorded classroom interaction, 12/7/2016) as ms. robles was talking, she used an overhead projector to project on the classroom screen a diagram of the digestive system, which students also had in their notebooks. she pointed to, wrote on, and colored in the diagram as she spoke. in lines 3-4, she began describing the digestive process using spanish features, and in line 5, she specified that it was, in particular, the villi within the small intestine that did the absorption work. when asked about this move, ms. robles indicated that she may not have known the term for villi in spanish, but she wanted to ensure that students understood the process in general and knew the specific term villi in english. biology is a “tested subject” in texas with students required to pass the end of course (eoc) the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 138 exam in order to graduate, and ms. robles indicated that many of her languaging decisions, including this one, related to her goal of preparing students to pass the eoc. as in line 32 and again in lines 37-38, she often wanted to call students’ attention to english terms they would need to recognize on the exam, as well as related meanings in spanish. in terms of garcía, johnson, and seltzer’s (2016) purposes, ms. robles was both providing support for her students to engage with and comprehend the target biology content and providing space for her students to further develop their bilingualism. similarly, in lines 17-21, she gave a real-life context with which students could understand the function of the pancreas using features that were most likely the most familiar to students for that topic. we noted that students would be likely to have experience with diabetes in their families, and that through this example, their experience would connect with the target content. when asked she indicated that she had also been trying to help them notice the phonology of the word diabetes in “standard” spanish, where the last vowel sound is an /e/ and not an /i/ as it is pronounced in english and often pronounced by her students and the local community. in paraguay, some teachers (like profesora carla quoted above) kept languages separate in instruction, but many teachers, especially those who taught guarani-dominant children, used jopara frequently for instruction. the following excerpt shows profesora elena’s translanguaging during a trabajo y tecnología lesson focusing on the major agricultural products of paraguay. students in her class were largely dominant in jopara. she read aloud from a textbook in spanish while students followed along in shared copies on their desks, and as profesora elena read she added commentary of her own to the textbook material. she read a sentence stating that mandioca (cassava), beans, sugar cane, and corn are products grown throughout the country. she then paused and added that these are all products that can be grown in the backyard and thus do not need to be purchased from a store. excerpt 2: ñande hardínpeko [in our garden] 1 eso quiere decir que nuestro that means that our 2 pueblo no tiene la necesidad community has no need 3 de comprar ya que pueden ser of buying since they can be 4 cultivados en cualquier parte grown in any place mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 139 5 no necesitan de lugar exclusivo no need for a dedicated place 6 …para plantar, solamente que …for planting, just that 7 nosotros los paraguayos we paraguayans we are 8 estamos acostumbrados a accustomed to 9 comprar ndajerekói varâko buying sometimes we don’t have 10 pe hepyrâ ha jaja the money to buy it and 11 jadeve pe almacénpe we go and owe money to the 12 mandi’óre. siendo que store for mandioca [root]. when 13 podemos cultivar [estas cosas] we can cultivate [these things] 14 nosotros en cualquier parte de ourselves in any part of 15 nuestra casa. aunque sea our house. even though it’s in 16 ñande hardínpeko ñañotyva’erâ our garden that we have to plant 17 peteî kumandá, pero no, one bean, but no, 18 nosotros no queremos hacer we don’t want to do 19 eso. that. (video recorded classroom interaction, 7/25/2008) profesora elena used longer stretches of what was recognized as spanish (e.g., lines 1-8) and of guarani (e.g., lines 9-12) as well as words composed of morphemes from both languages (e.g., e.g., line 11: almacénpe [to the store] derived from the spanish almacén [neighborhood store] and the guarani postposition –pe [to]) that might be recognized as spanish or guarani or jopara differently by different people. like the elementary teachers in el paso, profesora elena evaluated her translanguaging as important for pedagogical goals—primarily for students’ content learning and comprehension—although they saw it as undesirable and often a personal fault. profesora elena said, “i use both, always both…because if i teach them all in spanish few are those who understand…very few, including me, i get tripped up with spanish because i use more guarani, or that is, guarani jopara, it’s not the pure guarani either…i see that they understand better…but it comes to hinder them at some point, jopara” (interview, 10/22/2008). an elementary administrator and former classroom teacher in el paso said, “i really think that we have to be, try to stick to the language of instruction…but i’m so bad, i’m the worst…i do codeswitching constantly…but then, codeswitching is like an art” (interview, 6/11/2014). this is the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 140 to say that their pedagogical experience told them translanguaging was good practice, and thus, they resisted the hegemony of language separation by using both languages together. yet they often evaluated their own language use negatively, seeing their own language practices through the eyes of the white/dominant listening subject and reinscribing the hegemony they undermined in practice. teachers in both el paso and central paraguay knew implicitly that students’ and their own translanguaging practices were important resources for classroom communication and learning overall, even though discourses that explicitly valorized them were not readily available in either place. and they must be. the fast growth of translanguaging scholarship increasingly makes some of these discourses available in the u.s.: for example, practical texts that specifically outline translanguaging pedagogies for teachers (celic & seltzer, 2011; garcia et al., 2016; o'connor & crawford, 2015), discussions of translanguaging in language education materials (baker, 2011; garcía, 2009a; wright, 2015), and alternative possibilities for talking about language knowledge/use like the term lingual rather than bilingual (flores, 2013). in paraguay, in 2008 at the time of the study, some discourse affirming the importance of jopara for instruction had been available to a limited extent through policy documents (paraguay mec, 2000, 2004, 2006) and previous public debate (mortimer, 2006) about what i would now call translanguaging vs. language separation, but in 2008 these affirmative discourses were seldom heard and teacher participants did not use them to talk about their translanguaging practices. if we are to support minoritized speakers’ resistance to the hegemony of language separation, and i take the position that we should, teachers and students must have available to them ways of talking about what they are doing that specifically affirm their use of their broad linguistic repertoires. translanguaging in public, formal school space: toward broader ideological change how then do we make more available to teachers, as well as others, ideologies and discourses that can be used to explicitly valorize what they and students are doing? a reasonable locus for change is the broadly available set of ideologies that we use to hear, understand, and evaluate teachers’ and students’ practices and the discourses through which those ideologies are made perceivable—that is, change to the ideologies and discourses of the white/dominant listening subject. i argue that moments in both contexts when translanguaging erupted beyond mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 141 the classroom boundaries and claimed space at formal, public events suggest a pathway toward this broader ideological and discursive change. one of these events was at a high school ceremony in el paso where all graduating seniors in the district who had completed all the requirements of the dual language program were honored and were awarded a special dl program cord to wear with their graduation regalia. while it was not their actual graduation ceremony, all the usual signs of a formal graduation ceremony were present: an auditorium stage with floral decorations and a podium; an audience full of family members; students in graduation regalia; a formal presentation of honor cords where graduates were called one by one to cross the stage, shake their teachers’ and administrators’ hands, receive their cord, and pose for a photo. a number of student honorees had been chosen by their class peers to represent their respective high school dl programs by giving a short valedictorian-style speech. in the speeches students reflected on their experiences in the dl program and the value of their biliteracy and their latinx identities and thanked teachers, parents, and friends. across two of these ceremonies that we observed over the course of the study, many of these student speakers translanguaged in their speeches in ways that could have seemed transgressive in the formal context of the event, but we observed no evidence that it was perceived as such. some moments like introductions were translated, delivered sequentially and somewhat separately, repeating similar content across the two versions, as if to address distinct spanish-speaking and english-speaking audiences. but students’ translanguaging was more diverse, drawing more broadly on their linguistic repertoires to compose a message complete only in its translanguaging. despite the dominant discourse that forms of translanguaging like “spanglish” or popular spanish of the u.s. are almost invariably perceived as informal (otheguy & stern, 2010), students’ translanguaging co-existed with the distinct formality of these events. very much because it was a formal event, their languaging was a powerful assertion of their control over their linguistic repertoires and over the way the event would get produced. in another culminating event, this time in paraguay, teachers, students, and mothers produced a formal, public event in which translanguaging was central. at this rural school, most informal, everyday conversation was in what people identified as jopara, though all the formal, public, whole-school events i had witnessed (preschool graduation, schoolwide mass, most morning assemblies) were almost exclusively in spanish. indeed, spanish was one of the sociolinguistic elements that helped to make these events seem formal. by public i mean school the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 142 events to which parents, families, the community were invited. this exceptional event, however, la mini-expo de remedios yuyos (pohâ ñanâ) [the mini-expo of medicinal herbs] did not follow these patterns. one of a handful of formal, public, school-wide special events that i attended at escuela san blás, it occurred on an october afternoon at the end of the school year. in the largest classroom at the school, students assembled on the floor and window sills, teachers and students stood at the front, and several mothers sat in chairs along the back wall. all parents had been invited and the seven who came were honorary guests. at the front of the room three tables were arranged, decorated in white lace tablecloths and covered with carefully-arranged arrays of medicinal plants gathered in bunches and labeled with the plants’ names: ñuatî pytâ, amba’y, cedrón kapi’i, yerba de lucero. the spatial organization of the room into a stage-like space and an audience space, the arrays of labeled plants, the tablecloths, and a colorful announcement of the event drawn on the blackboard all resembled other formal events and helped to create the formality of this one. the expo was the culmination of a whole-school project in which students had researched different pohâ ñanâ, or medicinal plants, where they grow, and what medicinal uses they serve. these wild-growing herbs were a significant source of income for many community members, who picked them, washed them, bunched them, and took them in baskets to the city center, where people bought them as additives for terere (cold mate tea) or mate (hot mate tea), for poultices, or for many other therapeutic uses. a whole-school project on some topic was required by the ministry of education and the teachers at the school had chosen pohâ ñanâ. profesora romilda, the pre-k/first grade teacher, opened the expo presentation and acted as the master of ceremonies throughout. she began the ceremony in jopara.8 each grade stood in succession before the audience and pairs or individual students presented particular herbs, giving the plants’ names, describing where they grow, and explaining their uses—many of the students’ languaging was more jopara and some was more spanish. profesora romilda and the two teachers took turns asking students questions about their plants and providing additional information on them—all three did this in jopara and spanish. the school director stood at the rear of the room and interjected occasionally in jopara or spanish. i also stood at the back with a video camera. 8 throughout this description i use the terms jopara and spanish in the ways participants in this community typically used them, while analytically i am aware that the forms of languaging the terms refer to are all included in translanguaging. mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 143 the director had asked me to video record the event and to give them a copy that they might use when presenting their work to the ministry of education, making the ministry a potential audience as well as parents and community members who were physically present. at the end of the event, profesora romilda asked the mothers to come forward and provide an oral evaluation of the students’ performance—all did so at least in part in jopara. in the following excerpt, ña9 maría, (ñm, also señora maría), the mother of two sixthgraders, spoke about feeling pleased that her children learned about pohâ ñanâ because the plants were inexpensive alternatives to going to the doctor. profesora romilda (pr) then added that it was important for the students to learn about pohâ ñanâ not just because the plants are cheap, but also because they are a source of economic power and independence. both spoke in jopara. excerpt 3: no solamente ivaráto haguére [it’s not just because they’re cheap] 1 ñm soy la mamá de soledad y i am the mother of soledad and 2 alberto ha aime contentaiterei alberto and i am very pleased 3 peina oikuaa la ñande pohâ they know our remedies 4 porque la ñande pohâkuéra because our remedies 5 oconveni ñandéve porque suit us because 6 ivaráto doctor umia ome’ëva they are cheap those doctors 7 hepy ha’â are expensive and they 8 oîva ñande alcansepe [pohâ ñana] are within our reach 9 ñame’êvo chupekuéra la pohâ ( ) to give them, pohâ ñana ( ) 10 ha entero ñandéve avei ( ) and to all of us too ( ) 11 pr la señora maria dijo señora maria said 12 avy’aiterei porque la ñande i am very pleased because our 13 pohâ barato he’i remedies are cheap she says 14 otro avei la another [reason] also is that 15 ndaha’eí la ivaratónte they’re not only cheap 16 sino ñande jareko ko but we have them in this 9 a common respectful title for older women, likely a shortened version of doña. the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 144 17 comunidad ko’ape ity community here and that’s to 18 ja’eporâsero guarâ y say they are abundant and 19 en esta comunidad inclusive se in this community too they 20 puede explotar todavía tanto can be exploited still as much 21 que también sirve de as they can also be a source of 22 sustento familiar la (.) family sustenance the (.) 23 sustento para algunas familias sustenance for some families 24 que es, que no solamente that is that it’s not just 25 ivarato haguére ña because they are cheap mrs. 26 maria hina es más para los maria but more because the 27 y si nosotros sabemos and if we know how to 28 utilizarlos como debe ser use them how they should be 29 vamos a salir mucho más allá [used] we will really get ahead 30 arriba con todo esto way up there with all this 31 que es pohâ ñanâ y eso para that is pohâ ñanâ and that for 32 la comunidad y los niños the community and the children (video recorded interaction, 10/16/2008) what was notable about their language use, and the languaging of others throughout the expo, was that their use of jopara occurred together with (a) a formal event, and (b) explicit valorization of community knowledge and livelihoods. the topic of pohâ ñanâ, itself, centered a major community resource and required students to draw not primarily on sources of information—books or materials—produced elsewhere, but rather to draw primarily on their adult relatives’ knowledge. they studied both an object in close proximity to them: the plants that grew around the school, around their homes, physically within their daily experience; and they studied the knowledge in close proximity to them: the information and practices in their relatives’ experience. they studied what already belonged to them and to the teachers, who also identified as members of the community. though not explicitly framed as such, the pohâ ñanâ expo was most definitely a funds of knowledge (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005) project, one designed to draw upon community knowledge and expertise in connection with “academic” mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 145 activities like researching, writing, and public speaking. ña maría makes this clear in lines 2-5 where she expresses her pleasure that the students have learned about “our remedies” (line 3). profesora romilda affirms that the remedies/knowledge belong to the community when she repeats “our remedies” in lines 12-13 and when she locates them “in this community” (lines 1617). she expands on the idea that they are valuable, not just because they are a cheap alternative to doctors (outside the community), but also because they are a source of income (lines 21-22) and a way to “get ahead” (line 29). while ña maría identifies the value of pohâ ñanâ in local terms, as having value because people may not be able to afford a doctor, profesora romilda identifies the value of pohâ ñanâ more broadly, as having value not just to their rural community but also to the urban customers who buy them and to the rural families who sell them and whose economic situation could improve as a result. the significance of the event lay not just in ña maría, profesora romilda, and the others present speaking in jopara (which most did frequently) or speaking about pohâ ñanâ being valuable (which may also have happened other times), but in their doing so at the same time that they created a formal, public event—formal with fine tablecloths, elegant displays of the plants, a clear stage and audience, single speakers rather than multiple conversations, writing displayed on the walls; and public with parents and community members invited and the ministry of education possibly seeing it later via video recording. other formal, public events i observed, both at this rural school, at an urban school, and more broadly in daily life, were almost exclusively in spanish, or in spanish with what would have been identified as guarani-guarani portions, but not in jopara. in these other events, spanish was one tool among many that helped to make the events formal, but in the expo, formality was produced along with jopara. like the perceived informality of popular spanish of the u.s. (otheguy & stern, 2010), jopara is predominantly read as informal, and yet such a reading was complicated by the formality of the expo. similarly, in the el paso high school celebration of dual language graduates, formality was produced by all the usual graduation ceremony features at the same time that the student speakers translanguaged. in both events, in el paso and in central paraguay, people’s languaging—because it could potentially be read as transgressive—was a powerful assertion of their full linguistic repertoires in contexts where usually they would be partially suppressed. moreover, the formality of these events complicated the social meaning of participants’ translanguaging. as a result of linguistic anthropological research, we know that the social meaning of languaging—whether, for example, the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 146 it is read as authentic or inauthentic, educated or uneducated—depends in part upon the context in which it occurs, upon the other signs that accompany it. in the case of the events described here, translanguaging was accompanied by multiple signs of formality, and in particular, formal academic “success”: graduation regalia, procession across a stage, elegant visual displays and oral performances of student work, etc. these other signs make it more difficult to read translanguaging as informal, uneducated, or inauthentic because of the otherwise formal, academic context in which they occur. this is not to say that a formal context magically changes the way people read these languaging practice, but rather, that as disruptions like these accumulate there is the potential also for disrupting the longstanding and dominant ideologies that valorize language separation. because these events were public and accessible to audiences beyond a single teacher and their students, alternative social meanings of translanguaging as formal and academic were performed before a broader group of people: before parents, administrators, community members, district/ministry officials. both aspects of context—formality and public setting—are important to this potential for change. these disruptions must also be accompanied by discourse that explicitly valorizes translanguaging, as in the discourses of translanguaging pedagogy. yet if these affirmative discourses are used only to describe and evaluate classroom interaction and instruction, we miss opportunities for broader ideological change. confining the valorization of translanguaging to instruction and to the relative informality of the classroom upholds appropriateness based on the white/dominant listening subject’s determination of that as the guide for how bilingual people use their linguistic repertoires. while just one among many possible disruptions, embracing translanguaging in additional formal, public spaces in school interrupts patterns that can be easily interpreted as appropriate or inappropriate and ensures teachers and students are more able to use their full linguistic repertoires for whatever communicative purposes they desire. by embracing i mean that any of us in positions to choose, use, hear, understand, or evaluate language practices in formal, public schooling spaces beyond the classroom should do so affirmatively, and we must also talk about it. the active and intentional circulation of affirmative discourses about translanguaging makes available alternative ways of interpreting language practices, alternative social meanings, and could chip away at the power of ideologies of language separation. if we are to work toward changing the ideologies of the dominant listening subject it will be important to do so in public, in formality, in the formal public display of knowledge and success, at the same mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 147 time that we also make far more readily available ways of naming and talking about translanguaging in school that affirm teachers’ practices of resistance both within classrooms and beyond classroom walls. the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 148 references annamalai, e. (1989). the linguistic and social dimensions of purism. in b. h. jernudd & m. j. shapiro (eds.), the politics of language purism (pp. 225-232). new york, ny: mouton de gruyter. baker, c. (2001). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. clevedon: multilingual matters. baker, c. (2011). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (5th ed). buffalo, ny: multilingual matters. boidin, c. (2000). ¿jopara? ¿jehe'a? el mestizaje de las palabras, de las plantas, y de los cuerpos en paraguay. acción: revista paraguaya de reflexión y diálogo, 206, 28-31. bucholtz, m., & hall, k. (2005). identity and interaction: a sociocultural linguistic approach. discourse studies, 7(4-5), 585-614. canagarajah, s. (2011). translanguaging in the classroom: emerging issues for research and pedagogy. applied linguistics review, 2, 1-27. canagarajah, s. (2013). translingual practices: global englishes and cosmopolitan relations. new york, ny: routledge. celic, c., & seltzer, k. (2011). translanguaging: a cuny-nysieb guide for educators. new york, ny: cuny-nysieb. creese, a., & blackledge, a. (2010). translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: a pedagogy for learning and teaching? modern language journal, 94(1), 103-115. cummins, j. (1986). empowering minority students: a framework for intervention. harvard educational review, 56(1), 18-34. cummins, j. (2008). teaching for transfer: challenging the two-solitudes assumption in bilingual education. in j. cummins & n. h. hornberger (eds.), encyclopedia of language and education (2e ed., vol. 5: bilingual education, pp. 65-75). new york, ny: springer science + business media. dolsa, g., villarreal, e., & mortimer, k. s. (2017). a critical genealogy of language separation in dual language education: has the nuance been left out?. paper presented at the american association for applied linguistics, portland, or. domínguez, r. (1982). glosario del jopara. in g. corvalán & g. de granda (eds.), sociedad y lengua: bilingüísmo en el paraguay (pp. 613-635). asunción: centro paraguayo de estudios sociológicos. dulay, h., & burt, m. (1978). from research to method in bilingual education. in j. e. alatis (ed.), international dimensions in bilingual education (pp. 551-575). washington, dc: georgetown university press. emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i., & shaw, l. l. (2011). writing ethnographic field notes (2 ed.). chicago, il: university of chicago press. fishman, j. a. (1967). bilingualism with and without diglossia: diglossia with and without bilingualism. journal of social issues, 23(2), 29-38. mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 149 flores, n. (2013). silencing the subaltern: nation-state/colonial governmentality and bilingual education in the united states. critical inquiry in language studies, 10(4), 263-287. flores, n., & rosa, j. (2015). undoing appropriateness: raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. harvard educational review, 85(2), 149-171. freeman, r. (1998). bilingual education and social change. clevedon: multilingual matters. gal, s., & irvine, j. t. (1995). the boundaries of languages and disciplines: how ideologies construct difference. social research, 62(4), 967-1001. gal, s., & woolard, k. a. (1995). constructing languages and publics: authority and representation. pragmatics, 5(2), 129-138. galindo, d. l. (1996). language use and language attitudes: a study of border women. bilingual review/la revista bilingüe, 21(1), 5-17. garcía, o. (2009a). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. malden, ma: wileyblackwell. garcía, o. (2009b). education, multilingualism, and translanguaging in the 21st century. in t. skutnabb-kangas, r. phillipson, a. k. mohanty, & m. panda (eds.), social justice through multilingual education (pp. 140-158). buffalo, ny: multilingual matters. garcia, o., johnson, s. i., & seltzer, k. (2016). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student bilingualism for learning. philadelphia, pa: caslon. gee, j. p. (1999). an introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method. new york: routledge. gee, j. p. (2011). how to do discourse analysis: a toolkit. new york: routledge. gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. gynan, s. n. (2001). language planning and policy in paraguay. current issues in language planning, 2(1), 53-118. hidalgo, m. (1986). language contact, language loyalty, and language prejudice on the mexican border. language in society, 15, 193-220. hill, j. h., & hill, k. c. (1980). mixed grammar, purist grammar, and language attitudes in modern nahuatl. language in society, 9, 321-348. hornberger, n. h. (1988). bilingual education and language maintenance: a southern peruvian quechua case. providence, ri: foris publications. hornberger, n. h., & link, h. (2012). translanguaging and transnational literacies in multilingual classrooms: a biliteracy lens. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 15(3), 261-278. howard, e. r., sugarman, j., christian, d., lindholm-leary, k. j., & rogers, d. (2007). guiding principals for dual language education. in e. r. howard, j. sugarman, d. christian, k. j. lindholm-leary, & d. rogers (eds.), guiding principals for dual language education (2nd ed) (pp. 51-116). washington, dc: center for applied linguistics. inoue, m. (2006). vicarious language: gender and linguistic modernity in japan. berkeley, ca: university of california press. the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 150 irvine, j. t., & gal, s. (2000). language ideology and linguistic differentiation. in p. v. kroskrity (ed.), regimes of language: ideologies, polities, and identities (pp. 35-83). santa fe, mn: school of american research press. jaspers, j., & madsen, l. m. (2016). sociolinguistics in a languagised world: introduction. applied linguistics review, 7(3), 235-258. doi:10.1515/applirev-2016-0010 jernudd, b. h. (1989). the texture of language purism: an introduction. in b. h. jernudd & m. j. shapiro (eds.), the politics of language purism (pp. 1-19). new york, ny: mouton de gruyter. joseph, j. e. (1987). eloquence and power: the rise of language standards and standard languages. new york, ny: basil blackwell. kaplan-weinger, j., & ullman, c. (2015). methods for the ethnography of communication. new york, ny: routledge. krivoshein de canese, n., & corvalán, g. (1987). el español del paraguay en contacto con el guaraní. asunción: centro de estudios paraguayos. kroskrity, p. v. (ed.) (2000). regimes of language: ideologies, polities, and identities. santa fe, nm: school of american research press. ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. f. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47-68. lecompte, m. d., & schensul, j. j. (1999). analyzing and interpreting ethnographic data. walnut creek, ca: altamira press. legarreta, d. (1977). language choice in bilingual classrooms. tesol quarterly, 11(1), 9-16. lewis, g., jones, b., & baker, c. (2012). translanguaging: developing its conceptualisation and contextualisation. educational research and evaluation, 18(7), 655-670. doi:10.1080/13803611.2012.718490 lustig, w. (1996). mba'éichapa oiko la guarani? guaraní y jopara en el paraguay. papia, 4(2), 1943. macswan, j. (2000). the threshold hypothesis, semilingualism, and other contributions to a deficit view of linguistic minorities. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 22(1), 3-45. makoni, s., & pennycook, a. (2005). disinventing and (re)constituting languages. critical inquiry in language studies, 2(3), 137-156. doi:10.1207/s15427595cils0203_1 martínez, r. a. (2013). reading the world in spanglish: hybrid language practices and ideological contestation in a sixth-grade english language arts classroom. linguistics and education, 24, 276-288. martínez, r. a., hikida, m., & durán, l. (2015). unpacking ideologies of linguistic purism: how dual language teachers make sense of everyday translanguaging. international multilingual research journal, 9, 26-42. maxwell, j. a. (1996). qualitative research design: an interactive approach. thousand oaks, ca: sage. meliá, b. (1974). hacia una "tercera lengua" en el paraguay. estudios paraguayos, 2, 31-71. mortimer association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 151 milroy, j., & milroy, l. (1999). authority in language: investigating standard english (3rd ed.). new york, ny: routledge. mortimer, k. s. (2006). guaraní académico or jopará? educator perspectives and ideological debate in paraguayan bilingual education. working papers in educational linguistics, 21(2), 45-71. mortimer, k. s. (2012). the guarani speaker in paraguayan bilingual education policy: language policy as metapragmatic discourse. unpublished dissertation. university of pennsylvania. philadelphia, pa. mortimer, k. s., dolsa, g., & villarreal, e. (under review). "back and forth": the bordering and debordering of languaging and identity boundaries in dual language programs on the usmexico border. o'connor, b. h., & crawford, l. j. (2015). an art of being in between: the promise of hybrid language practices. advances in research on teaching, 24, 149-173. otheguy, r., garcía, o., & reid, w. (2015). clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: a perspective from linguistics. applied linguistics review, 6(3), 281-307. doi:10.1515/applirev-2015-0014 otheguy, r., & stern, n. (2010). on so-called spanglish. international journal of bilingualism, 15(1), 85-100. palmer, d. k., martínez, r. a., mateus, s. g., & henderson, k. (2014). reframing the debate on language separation: toward a vision for translanguaging pedagogies in the dual language classroom. the modern language journal, 98(3), 757-772. pane, l. (2005). los paraguayismos: el español en el habla cotidiana de los paraguayos. asunción: arandura editorial. paraguay dgeec. (2012). censo 2012. asunción, paraguay: dirección general de estadística, encuestas y censos. paraguay mec. (2000). la educación bilingüe en la reforma educativa paraguaya. retrieved from asuncion, paraguay: paraguay mec. (2004). la educación bilingüe en la reforma educativa. retrieved from asunción, paraguay: paraguay mec. (2006). la educación bilingüe en la reforma educativa. retrieved from asunción, paraguay: richardson, c. (1999). batos, bolillos, pochos, and pelados: class and culture on the south texas border. austin, tx: university of texas press. rubin, j. (1968). national bilingualism in paraguay. the hague: mouton. sayer, p. (2013). translanguaging, texmex, and bilingual pedagogy: emergent bilinguals learning through the vernacular. tesol quarterly, 47(1), 63-88. schieffelin, b., woolard, k. a., & kroskrity, p. v. (eds.). (1998). language ideologies: practice and theory. new york: oxford university press. shapiro, m. j. (1989). a political approach to language purism. in b. h. jernudd & m. j. shapiro (eds.), the politics of language purism (pp. 21-29). new york: mouton de gruyter. the hegemony of language separation association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 152 silverstein, m. (1996). monoglot "standard" in america: standardization and metaphors of linguistic hegemony. in d. brenneis & r. k. s. macaulay (eds.), the matrix of language: contemporary linguistic anthropology (pp. 284-306). boulder, co: westview press. smith, p. h., & murillo, l. a. (2015). theorizing translanguaging and multilingual literacies through human capital theory. international multilingual research journal, 9, 59-73. smith, r. c. (2003). diasporic memberships in historical perspective: comparative insights from the mexican, italian, and polish cases. international migration review, 37(3), 724-759. stolk, h. (2004). "this is not mexico, this is the border": discourses on authentic mexican culture in tijuana. etnofoor, 17(1/2), 227-242. swain, m. (1983). bilingualism without tears. in m. a. clarke & j. handscombe (eds.), on tesol '82: pacific perspectives on language learning and teaching (pp. 35-46). washington, dc: tesol. valenzuela arce, j. m. (2004). fronteras y representaciones sociales: la figura del pocho como estereotipo del chicano. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 29(1), 125-133. vélez-ibáñez, c. (2017). language hegemonies and their discontents: the southwest north american region since 1540. tucson, az: university of arizona press. wilson, w. e. (1946). a note on "pochismo". the modern language journal, 30(6), 345-346. wortham, s., & reyes, a. (2015). discourse analysis beyond the speech event. new york, ny: routledge. wright, w. e. (2015). foundations for teaching english language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. philadelphia: caslon. wyman, l. t. (2009). youth, linguistic ecology, and language endangerment: a yup'ik example. journal of language, identity & education, 8(5), 335-349. doi:10.1080/15348450903305122 zentella, a. c. (1997). growing up bilingual: puerto rican children in new york. malden, ma: blackwell. the hegemony of language separation: discontents en programas de lenguaje dual en paraguay and el paso language separation as the imposition of named language boundaries study methods and contexts ideologies of language separation translanguaging practices and evaluations excerpt 1: el páncreas references volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 30 “without them i couldn't pay for my education, so here i am": latinx college graduates’ experiences with and perceptions of their student loan debt vincent d. carales mauricio molina darrell l. hooker, jr. university of houston abstract the purpose of the current study was to examine the experiences of latinx students with their student loan debt. guided by mckinney et al.’s (2015) student borrower behavior and attitudes model, we framed our study around the following themes: sources of information, rationale for borrowing, and the burden of debt. findings underscore the importance of financial literacy and provide insight as to how institutions can better support latinx students in making informed decisions about borrowing loans to pay for and finish college. keywords: latinx students, hsi, student loan debt, borrowing perceptions, financial literacy doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.407 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.407 carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 31 introduction student debt has been reported as a major economic crisis, mainly driven by negative media reports (baum, 2016). in 2018-2019, $151 billion dollars in federal financial aid was disbursed to students, of which $93 million (62%) was in the form of federal student loans to 6.2 million undergraduates (college board, 2019). the combination of rising tuition and decreasing government support contributed to borrowers relying more on loans to attend college (furquim et al., 2017). due to this increased reliance on loans, understanding how students decide about acquiring student loan debt to pay for college is critical (boatman et al., 2017; zerquera et al., 2017). the purpose of this study was to explore students’ knowledge of and experiences with student loans. the following research question guided the study: how do latinx college graduates describe their experiences with borrowing student loans to pay for college? we focus exclusively on latinx students because of their known aversion to borrowing, which we discuss in the next section. we then provide background information regarding hispanic-serving institutions (hsis), review research on student loan debt, and present our guiding theoretical framework. in subsequent sections, we discuss our research methods, findings, study implications, and conclusions. literature review latinx student loan aversion research on latinx experiences with student loans emphasizes their aversion to borrowing (boatman et al., 2017). this is problematic given that non-borrowing latinx students have been less likely to attain their degrees (cunningham & santiago, 2008). boatman et al. (2017) also suggested that avoiding borrowing is more dependent on context. they noted that family influence plays a major role in latinx decisions to borrow, and speculated that latinx students were more averse to borrowing because of having less familial capital than their white peers (boatman et al., 2017). yet, debt aversion only paints a partial picture of borrowing behaviors for latinx students, especially when considering other facets of this student subgroup. aside from being deemed debt-averse, latinx students have typically come from low-income communities who struggle with paying for college (rendón et al., 2012). such high college costs may also deter financial support from parents (salinas & hidrowoh, 2018), leaving latinx “without them” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 32 students without the option to avoid borrowing. this situational context can explain why from 2004 to 2016, latinx student borrowing increased from 42% to 46% (unidosus, 2019a). in texas, where the current study takes place, latinx students were found to have higher debt burdens than white students (baker, 2019a), further challenging the debt aversion narrative. such data suggests that avoidant behaviors towards borrowing generalized to latinx students are misconceived. in fact, educational debt has steadily increased for latinx families, from 14% in 2007 to 20% by 2016 (unidosus, 2019a), making it critical to increase our understanding of how latinx students navigate student loans. hispanic-serving institutions hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) are federally-designated postsecondary institutions that have at least 25% latinx undergraduate student population. the total number of hsis nationwide has grown consistently since the creation of the designation in 1992 (valdez, 2015). in 2017-2018, there were 539 institutions that met the 25% or above enrollment criteria (hispanic association of colleges and universities, 2020). moreover, 30% of undergraduates received federal student loans at hsis,1 underscoring the necessity of debt that many latinx students must take on (college scorecard, 2020). in their systematic review of research on hsis, garcia et al. (2019) concluded that the concept of serving students was predominantly based on student-level outcomes, institutional experiences, organizational policies, and externalities. their review emphasized the concentration of low-income students attending these institutions, but without apparent themes surrounding student debt issues. this lack of attention is surprising given the noted avoidance of borrowing by latinx students and their high enrollment numbers at hsis. latinx students have also been more likely to receive pell grants (núñez et al., 2016), and less likely to borrow federal student loans (cunningham et al., 2014). additionally, hsis typically have fewer financial resources, resulting in less capacity to offer institutional grants (santiago et al., 2016), and thus increasing their students’ reliance on loans. this situation is exacerbated when considering undocumented and/or deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) statuses of 1 authors’ calculation is based off average reported percentage of undergraduates receiving federal student loans in 2019. according to the college scorecard data, 461 institutions met the federal hsi designation definition, with 437 reporting student loan data. carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 33 some latinx students, due to their ineligibility to access federal student loans (unidosus, 2019a). these circumstances make hsis an important setting in exploring the role of student loans in latinx higher education. research on student debt research on the impact of student loan debt has focused on traditional outcomes such as persistence and degree completion (e.g., avery & turner, 2012; dowd & coury, 2006; kim, 2007; museus, 2010). the majority of this work is quantitative with mixed or inconclusive results. for example, some research has shown positive outcomes associated with loans (e.g., mckinney & burridge, 2015; museus, 2010; wiederspan, 2016) whereas other studies indicate a negative relationship (e.g., dowd & coury, 2006; kim, 2007; noopila & williams pichon, 2020). negative impacts from student debt include influence on borrower health, financial management, credit card debt, years to homeownership, and the ability to save money (cho et al., 2015; fox et al., 2017; henager & wilmarth, 2018; ratcliffe & mckernan, 2015). on the other hand, limited qualitative research exists regarding student perceptions and experiences with borrowing student loans (baker, 2019b). some of this work focused on students while they were still enrolled and prior to entering repayment (zerquera et al., 2017). other research explored how knowledgeable students were of their debt (e.g., akers & chingos, 2014; andruska et al., 2014; hira et al., 2000) and concluded that students either underestimated the cost or were not fully aware of how much they borrowed. this disconnect is further complicated by misperceptions of the price of college relative to earnings potential based on a students’ field of study (akers & chingos, 2014; mckinney et al., 2015). baker (2019b) examined black student perceptions of their debt and found that students with higher levels of debt had reconsidered their postsecondary and career plans. undergraduate debt specifically, irrespective of race/ethnicity, has been found to negatively impact students’ likelihood of pursuing graduate degrees (malcom & dowd, 2012). conversely, students were encouraged to attend graduate school as a way to delay student loan repayment (zerquera et al., 2017). findings from these studies underscore the need to further examine student experiences with loans across racial/ethnic groups (mckinney et al, 2015; perna et al., 2017). “without them” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 34 theoretical framework we applied mckinney et al.’s (2015) model of student borrower behavior and attitudes to describe how students make sense of borrowing. these experiences were shaped by student sources of information on borrowing, their reasons for borrowing, the benefits of borrowing, and their perceptions of how debt impacted their future. drawing from perna’s (2006) college choice model, mckinney et al. (2015) identified multiple contexts important to understanding students’ decisions and perceptions about borrowing. these contexts include informational (i.e., cultural capital), institutional (i.e., high school and college), and social, political and economic contexts. according to mckinney et al. (2015), each of these contexts shape the behaviors exhibited by student borrowers. the individual context refers to financial literacy students possess regarding borrowing; the institutional context discusses the setting at which student borrowers gather loan information and make decisions about borrowing; and the policy context explains the external factors involving federal policy, social expectations around borrowing, and current economic conditions that influence borrowing decisions (mckinney et al., 2015). their model serves as a lens for unpacking latinx students' borrowing experiences. research methods study location gulf university (pseudonym) is a large, diverse urban hsi located in southeast texas. in 2018-2019, of the approximately 46,000 students enrolled at gulf university, 32% were hispanic, 25% were white, 21% were asian american, and 10% were african american. the institution’s location in texas is also pivotal because of the state’s high number of hsis, the second highest of any state with 96 institutions, and latinx students comprising 40.1% of the state’s undergraduate count (hacu, 2020). participant selection upon irb approval, the financial aid office sent a recruitment email to 1,100 graduating seniors who had at least $20,0002 in federal student loan debt. in total, 34 potential participants responded. researchers scheduled interviews with 17 individuals, and of those, 10 participants 2 average amount of student loan debt at study institution was $19,750 according to college scorecard data. carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 35 self-identified as latinx. participants recieved $25 gift cards upon completion of their interview. table 1 includes demographic information of the participants including their pseudonyms. table 1 participant demographics name major gender race/ethnicity* age cece business marketing female hispanic 33 cristobal kinesiology male latino 25 christopher psychology male hispanic 22 doug philosophy male hispanic 25 giselle religious studies/psychology female hispanic 39 james computer science male latin 22 lisa technology digital media female hispanic/white 36 marissa economics female puerto rican/irish 45 patty psychology female hispanic/latino 24 roberto computer engineering male hispanic 24 *self-identified data collection and analysis data collection occurred in the spring of 2018 through individual semi-structured interviews that lasted between 45 minutes to an hour. participants were asked questions related to their borrowing experiences throughout college, as well as their general understanding of student loans and repayment. authors 1 and 3 conducted interviews in-person with participants, which were recorded and transcribed verbatim. audio transcriptions were reviewed and cleaned for initial analysis, then uploaded into dedoose qualitative analysis software for further analysis. significant statements from the transcription data were identified and open coded (strauss & corbin, 1998), then categorized and placed into themes (saldaña, 2015). the next step in the analysis involved reviewing researcher analytic memos, debriefing sessions, interview notes, and follow-up analysis of transcripts by all three authors, first “without them” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 36 separately, then collectively as a group, for triangulation purposes (creswell, 2013). throughout this meaning-making process of the data, we searched for common or shared experiences based on reflective and inductive analysis and interpretation of participants’ accounts (moustakas, 1994). after consensus among the researchers, the most representative quotes from the emergent findings were chosen to support each theme. researcher positionality and study limitations qualitative research involves a process of reflection by researchers regarding their previous experiences and current perspectives that might shape aspects of the study (milner, 2007). we were reflexive in that we recognized how our personal biases might influence the findings from the current study. in his former role as a student loan consultant, author 1 was responsible for conducting loan counseling, financial aid, and financial literacy workshops for college students, high school students, and families. this experience provided him with an insider perspective on students’ general understanding of the student loan and financial aid process. author 2 held previous roles as an academic advisor and mental health counselor at public and private postsecondary institutions, also giving him insider knowledge of the financial aid process and the effects student loans can have on students' personal lives. author 3 holds a significant amount of student debt, and therefore, is similarly situated to several of the participants in this study. a few limitations must be noted in the interpretation of the findings. first, this study describes the perspectives of student loan borrowers who attended a hispanic-serving institution. therefore, findings cannot be generalized to all latinx students, particularly for those who do not have student loan debt. also, while the majority of our participants indicated they were low income, we did not focus on unpacking this context, as it was beyond the scope of the study. future research should explore specifically how parental income, wealth, and family contributions influence perceptions of student loan debt. findings drawing on our theoretical framework, we organized our findings around three themes: lack of institutional guidance, rationale for borrowing, and the burden of debt. from these themes, we carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 37 discovered where participants obtained information about loans and borrowing, how they rationalized the choice to borrow, and how they processed what their debt meant to them. lack of institutional guidance participants obtained information about student loans from various contexts, including parents, siblings, friends, and strangers. institutionally, some expressed obtaining information from the financial aid office, while transfer students acknowledged obtaining information from a community college. in many circumstances, the information was incomplete or unavailable from the study institution. even though participants were enrolled at an institution designated as “hispanic-serving”, their informational needs were unmet. for example, when asked about what type of information she received from the institution’s financial aid office, cece states: nothing. nothing. i never got any information from anybody in the [financial aid] office… i didn't have hbsa like the houston based, hispanic business, i didn't have any of that to turn to, to say, “oh, we're all first generation, here's my people… but i didn't have that here. cece’s experience not only explains the lack of information made available, but also highlights the disconnect between the institution, an hsi, and its hispanic students seeking connection. cece’s experience was not unique. daniel’s experience with having a limited source of information from the institution went beyond financial aid offices and into faculty. he wondered what their role was regarding financial aid-related information, sharing: i don't know if there's any faculty help on these things. although i'm sure they've helped lots… but, mostly just things i've done on my own, i haven't gotten as much information from the people. these findings resonate with existing research on hsis that tries to define the concept of servingness into specific processes, like institutional programs and policies (garcia, 2019), while also hinting at the typified lack of resources at hsis (santiago et al., 2016). two other participants expressed similar feelings regarding information from the institution. for example, marissa stated, “i’m constantly coming up against information that if i had a year ago, i could’ve applied… i didn’t even know that assistance was available…” christopher, expressing his sense of being on his own, adds: “the only information i got i sought out myself. the [institution] did “without them” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 38 not support me in explaining what student loans are.” this palpable lack of information that participants reported from their institution, an hsi, confirms the work still left to do at these institutions and their capabilities to serve. rationale for borrowing similar to other research, our participants rationalized borrowing as a necessary means to an end for attaining a college degree (norvilitis & batt, 2016). cristobal summarizes this sentiment by saying: it kind of sucks that our system is set up like this, but at the same time, it's like what are you going to do?... but yeah, it has very much so broadened my horizon, so now i don't feel bad because … student loans have helped me get through college. without them i couldn't pay for my education, so here i am. for this reason, participants sought out the information they needed, regardless if it came from the institution or not, and were committed to borrowing. roberto describes how he gathered information from strangers stating: “just from my talking with random people, not necessarily to educate myself, just from my coming up. i never had a targeted discussion on that beforehand. it was just from what i heard.” other participants made financial decisions without fully understanding the details of student loan borrowing. for example, on the amount of loans to accept and take out, james stated: “i actually didn't know that until this semester that you didn't have to take out everything.” interestingly, several of our study participants acknowledged their lack of experience with managing money and the intricacies involved in borrowing loans (e.g., how credit and interest rates work). james continued by sharing his willingness to borrow despite having this lack of financial literacy: “i just kind of just took them… even then, i didn't even know about interest rates.” participants intentionally sought out information and made conscious decisions to borrow with whatever knowledge they could gather in order to attain their degrees. several participants expressed borrowing as a trade-off, such as cece when she states the following: carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 39 i didn't go into it thinking that like it was free money or anything like that. i'm very aware of interest rates, i'm very aware of what things cost, and we definitely do the trade-off, right? the opportunity costs, what's going to be worth for me now to borrow this money versus if i don't, and then i don't finish this degree, what am i not getting in return? it made sense to do it. the rationale to borrow came with an understanding of the eventual payoff from obtaining a degree. cece, who may have had an advantage in understanding the intricate details of personal borrowing as a business marketing major, articulated this awareness of her debt obligations, as did many of our other participants, which is contrary to findings that reported students having a limited understanding of their loans (akers & chingos, 2014; johnson et al., 2016). roberto demonstrates this by explaining why he borrowed in the following quote: “i had already heard they would give me about six months until after i graduate to start paying back, and i figured it's an investment… i'm investing in my career.” marissa also saw borrowing as an investment in articulating her ambitious payoff plans, stating: i feel that i will be able to recoup the investment i have made within probably a couple of years, i should be able to pay it off… but, even if i had not chosen a lucrative field, even if it were to take me 15 years to pay it back, my desire for a degree is so strong, i would've done it no matter what. similarly, giselle said, “i'm going to pay it off and i'm going to do well and this is why i'm giving it my all. it's an investment.” these quotes underscore how confident students were in their ability to repay their debt, perceiving it as an investment in their future. similar to other findings, they were enthusiastic, amid having to borrow loans, towards wanting to complete their degrees (barnard et al., 2018). the burden of debt despite the positive outlook on debt for most of our participants, some expressed feelings of vulnerability, and perceived their loan debt as a burden. study participants allude to understanding the lengthy process that repayment could be. this was evident in doug stating: “it's a lot of money so it's going to take a lot of commitment and resources to chip away at.” cece went as far as exclaiming that she won’t view money as her own “until [she] can live debt “without them” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 40 free”. other participants stated opinions on repayment duration based on various scenarios, such as which career opportunities to prioritize, or how much they can hypothetically pay each month. while roberto says that he could payoff his loans “in like a year or two”, christopher states: “i think i have a five-year plan but i think long term i’m still unsure. i’m torn between a few paths.” lisa also presented thoughts on uncertain timeline, sharing: “initially, i was hoping for a two-year loan repayment, now i'm looking at three to four… and so we have been wondering if we need to push that goal from five years to seven years.” participants described the necessity of obtaining a well-paying job, regardless if it matched their major, while others contemplated joining the peace corps as a way to reduce their debt. others shared how their debt led to contingency plans for graduate school. this aligns with research showing how students are more reluctant to pursue graduate school because of not wanting to take on more debt (zerquera et al., 2017). patty described this burden when she stated: before graduating my priority was grad school, and now my priority is looking for work. so that kind of did change. i wasn't... it didn't really hit me that i was going to be like, "i need to look for a job." but now that i did graduate, yeah, it has sunk into me that i need to put aside grad school and look for a job right now. christopher shared this same sentiment, but with a notion of acceding to a job that he may not have cared for if he did not have student debt: i don't think i want to jump into graduate school because i don't want to pay for it… so i was like, i'll apply to teach for america because i think they're a national program… they're just a name but i'm getting a job, but they're also giving me money to help pay off my loan. participants like christopher and patty describe their urgency to find jobs above any other plans. the types of job also matter, as different jobs come with different pay scales to mitigate the repayment amounts. lisa explains how she plans on dealing with making less money after graduating: “now i don't know if that's possible, considering it's way lower pay than i was expecting… i'm going to do side jobs, which i already have lined up.” carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 41 a similarity across all participants’ perceived burden of debt was their continued effort to plan for repayment. whether mentally adjusting their repayment timelines, changing their path from graduate school to immediate employment, or even accepting jobs they may not have considered before, most of the participants still viewed their degree as worth the debt. a few would have done things differently, but none of those scenarios included not going to college. discussion consistent with prior research, this study reaffirms the importance of loans in helping college students succeed (mckinney et al., 2015). more importantly, our study highlights how latinx students obtained information about loans while underscoring the importance of financial literacy. participants expressed self-directed intentions on learning about student loans while simultaneously deciding to borrow. this occurred even when participants did not fully understand loan repayment. as scholars point out, students may not be completely oblivious about their debt but are simply putting it off until graduation (zerquera et al., 2017). our study participants reaffirmed this finding when they frequently could not recount specifics on the amount they had borrowed, or how interest rates impacted repayment. however, the majority of our participants still expressed little to no regret in their borrowing decisions. interestingly, participants faced their lack of financial literacy with a sense of optimism, as the obscurities surrounding the borrowing process did not dissuade their decisions to pursue a college education. student loans, while burdensome, were essential in their pathway to degree attainment. most confirmed feeling this way because they simply lacked the financial resources to pay for their education completely out-of-pocket. previous research found that latinx student borrowers saw loan debt as a way to access college and felt the benefits outweighed the stresses of repayment (barnard et al., 2018). this trade-off presents the following dilemma of student loan debt: while taking on student debt can negatively impact the financial well-being of borrowers, it does not do so to the extent that attaining a college degree positively affects it (henager & wilmarth, 2018). participants also viewed student debt as a requisite for obtaining a well-paying job. however, our participants’ plans were altered once they realized repayment was on the horizon, especially for those who had not secured full-time employment. “without them” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 42 a few implications from this study must be noted. first, findings underscore the importance of helping latinx students make informed decisions about borrowing loans to pay for college (santiago, 2010). secondly, we provide further evidence for institutions to develop institutional policies that promote smart borrowing behavior among college students (fletcher et al., 2015). timely dissemination of information about student loan responsibilities might involve distributing annual information to students about current debt accumulation and projected monthly repayment amounts. similarly, institutions have developed innovative student loan counseling practices, such as peer-to-peer coaching using students in finance-related majors, to facilitate improvement in the dissemination of loan information (fletcher et al., 2015). relatedly, scholars have called for the promotion of adequate financial literacy training specifically targeted at hsis, in order to help latinx students responsibly manage their financial aid and student debt (salinas & hidrowoh, 2018; santiago, 2010). taking such targeted measures will help better clarify the ambiguity surrounding the serving aspect designated to hsis, and lead to the creation of tangible programming with which latinx students can identify (gonzalez et al., 2020). future research should seek to understand how well financial-focused programming can act as an institutional support structure in serving latinx college students (garcia et al., 2019). moreover, further research should also focus on describing student perceptions of the repayment process, and how repayment obligations influences their plans after graduation. in the era of covid-19 and the concomitant pauses in government collection on student debt, future research should also investigate how government forebearances have affected borrower decisions and paying down their debt. any changes in federal policy might ripple out to influence other aspects of borrowers’ future financial practices. conclusion postsecondary institutions are obligated to empower students to make educated financial decisions througought college, especially given that more students are borrowing to help finance their education. with this in mind, increasing our understanding of the choices students make in regards to borrowing is essential for keeping college accessible and affordable. despite the negative attention, our study points to the necessity of student loans in facilitating degree completion for latinx students. while most of the participants in our study were ambitious about handling repayment, an estimated 20% of latinx students who began college in carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 43 2003-2004 have defaulted on their student loans (unidosus, 2019b). projections also show that approximatey half from that cohort will default by 2024 (unidosus, 2019b). moreover, latinx graduates are faced with the lowest post-graduation earnings of all racial/ethnic groups (unidosus, 2019b), making payoff even more difficult for latinx graduates. given these statistics, it is important for institutions and policymakers to understand this complex trade-off in order to create policies that are supportive of and responsive to how students perceive, and make sense of their debt. acknowledgements this study is based upon work supported by the university of houston new faculty grant program. “without them” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 44 references avery, c., & turner, s. (2012). student loans: do college students borrow too much—or not enough? the journal of economic perspectives, 26(1): 165–192. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.1.165 akers, b., & chingos, m. m. (2014). are college students borrowing blindly? brookings institution press. andruska, e. a., hogarth, j. m., fletcher, c. n., forbes, g. r., & wohlgemuth. (2014). do you know what you owe? students’ understanding of their student loans. journal of student financial aid, 44(2), 125–148. baker, d. j. (2019a). when average is not enough: a case study examining the variation in the influences on undergraduate debt burden. aera open, 5(2). 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419860153 baker, d. j. (2019b). a case study of undergraduate debt, repayment plans, and postbaccalaureate decision-making among black students at hbcus. journal of student financial aid, 48(2), 1-27. barnard, j., dorrance, j., gorham, l., collins, a., daniels, l., & poppe, s. v. (2018). it made the sacrifices worth it: the latino experience in higher education. unidosus. baum, s. (2016). student debt: rhetoric and realities of higher education financing. palgrave macmillan. boatman, a., evans, b. j., & soliz, a. (2017). understanding loan aversion in education: evidence from high school seniors, community college students, and adults. aera open, 3(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416683649 cho, s. h., xu, y., & kiss, d. e. (2015). understanding student loan decisions: a literature review. family and consumer sciences research journal, 43(3), 229-243. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12099 college board (2019). trends in student aid. washington, dc: college board. college scorecard (2020). u.s department of education. https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ creswell, j. w. (2013). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among the five approaches. sage. cunningham, a. f., & santiago, d. a. (2008). student aversion to borrowing: who borrows and who doesn't. institute for higher education policy. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ ed503684.pdf cunningham, a., park, e., & engle, j. (2014). minority-serving institutions: doing more with less. washington, dc: institute for higher education policy. dowd, c.a., & coury, t. (2006). the effect of loans on the persistence and attainment of community college students. research in higher education, 47(1), 33-62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-005-8151-8 fletcher, c., webster, j., kepfer, k., & fernandez, c. (2015). above and beyond: what eight colleges are doing to improve student loan counseling. round rock, tx: trellis company. https://www.trelliscompany.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/above-andbeyond.pdf fox, j. j., bartholomae, s., letkiewicz, j. c., & montalto, c. p. (2017). college student debt and anticipated repayment difficulty. journal of student financial aid, 47(2), 6. furquim, f., glasener, k.m., oster, m., mccall, b.p., & desjardins, s.l. (2017). navigating the financial aid process: borrowing outcomes among first-generation and non-first https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.1.165 https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419860153 https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416683649 https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12099 https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-005-8151-8 carales, molina & hooker association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 45 generation students. annals of the american academy of political and social science, 671(1), 69–91. garcia, g. a., núñez, a. m., & sansone, v. a. (2019). toward a multidimensional conceptual framework for understanding “servingness” in hispanic-serving institutions: a synthesis of the research. review of educational research, 89(5), 745-784. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 gonzalez, e., ortega, g., molina, m., & lizalde, g. (2020). what does it mean to be a hispanic serving institution? listening to the latina/o/x voices of students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 33(8), 796–809. henager, r., & wilmarth, m. j. (2018). the relationship between student loan debt and financial wellness. family and consumer sciences research journal, 46(4), 381-395. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12263 hira, t. k., anderson, m. m., & petersen, k. (2000). students' perceptions of their education debt and its impact on life after graduation. journal of student financial aid, 30(1), 1-19. hispanic association of colleges and universities. (2020). 2020 fact sheet: hispanic higher education and hispanic-serving institutions (hsis). https://cqrcengage.com/hacu/file/xhcqpbig2rp/2020_hsi_factsheet.pdf johnson, c. l., o’neill, b., worthy, s. l., lown, j. m., & bowen, c. f. (2016). what are student loan borrowers thinking? insights from focus groups on college selection and student loan decision making. journal of financial counseling and planning, 27(2), 184-198. https://doi.org/10.1891/1052-3073.27.2.184 kim, d. (2007). multilevel analysis of the effect of loans on students’ degree attainment: differences by student and institutional characteristics. harvard educational review, 177(1), 64-100. malcom, l. e., & dowd, a. c. (2012). the impact of undergraduate debt on the graduate school enrollment of stem baccalaureates. the review of higher education, 35(2), 265-305. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2012.0007 mckinney, l. & burridge, a.b. (2015). helping or hindering? the effects of loans on community college student persistence. research in higher education, 56(4), 299-324. mckinney, l., mukherjee, m., wade, j., shefman, p., & breed, r. (2015). community college students’ assessments of the costs and benefits of borrowing to finance higher education. community college review, 43(4), 329-354. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552115594669 milner iv, h. r. (2007). race, culture, and researcher positionality: working through dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen. educational researcher, 36(7), 388-400. moustakas, c. (1994). phenomenological research methods. sage. museus, s. d. (2010). understanding racial differences in the effects of loans on degree attainment: a path analysis. journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice, 11(4), 499-527. https://doi.org/10.2190/cs.11.4.d noopila, m. y., & williams pichon, h. (2020). the influence of stafford loan debtload on persistence among historically underserved populations at a hispanic serving institution. journal of student financial aid, 49(3), 1-28. norvilitis, j. m., & batt, m. j. (2016). beyond financial need: predictors of student loans and student loan attitudes. journal of student financial aid, 46(3), 55-65. núñez, a. m., crisp, g., & elizondo, d. (2016). mapping hispanic-serving institutions: a https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591 https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12263 https://cqrcengage.com/hacu/file/xhcqpbig2rp/2020_hsi_factsheet.pdf https://doi.org/10.1891/1052-3073.27.2.184 https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2012.0007 https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552115594669 https://doi.org/10.2190/cs.11.4.d “without them” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 46 typology of institutional diversity. the journal of higher education, 87(1), 55-83. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315747552 perna, l. w. (2006). studying college access and choice: a proposed conceptual model. in j. c. smart (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. xxi, pp. 99-157). springer. perna, l. w., kvaal, j., & ruiz, r. (2017). understanding student debt: implications for federal policy and future research. the annals of the american academy of political and social science, 671(1), 270-286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716217704002 ratcliffe, c., & mckernan, s. m. (2015). who is most worried about student-loan debt. communities & banking, 26(1), 29-31. rendón, l., dowd, a., & nora, a. (2012). priced out: a closer look at postsecondary affordability for latinos. washington, dc: the higher education subcommittee on president barack obama’s advisory commission on educational excellence for hispanics. saldaña, j. (2015). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. sage. salinas, c., & hidrowoh, j. r. (2018). promoting financial literacy and latino males’ success at community colleges. community college journal of research and practice, 42(5), 330-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2017.1301276 santiago, d. (2010). reality check: hispanic-serving institutions on the texas border strategizing financial aid. washington, dc: excelencia in education. santiago, d., taylor, m., calderón galdeano, e. (2016). from capacity to success: hsis, title v, and latino students. washington, d.c.: excelencia in education. strauss, a. l., & corbin, j. (1998). basics of qualitative research (2nd ed.). sage. unidosus. (2019a). latinos in higher education: financing and student loans. http://publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1937/financingstudent_loan s_brief_32519.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y unidosus. (2019b). latinos in higher education: student loan repayment (statistical brief). http://publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1937/studentloanrepaymen t_brief_32519.pdf?sequence=2&isallowed=y valdez, p. l. (2015). an overview of hispanic-serving institutions’ legislation: legislation policy formation between 1979 and 1992. in j. p. mendez, i. f. a. bonner, j. méndez-negrete, & r. t. palmer (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions in american higher education: their origin, and present and future challenges (pp. 5–29). stylus. wiederspan, m. (2016). denying loan access: the student-level consequences when community colleges opt out of the stafford loan program. economics of education review, 51, 79-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.06.007 zerquera, d., mcgowan, b. l., ferguson, t. l., & torres, v. (2017). the burden of debt: undergraduate students' experiences with paying for their education. college student affairs journal, 35(2), 140-152. https://doi.org/10.1353/csj.2017.0019 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315747552 https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716217704002 https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2017.1301276 http://publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1937/financingstudent_loans_brief_32519.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y http://publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1937/financingstudent_loans_brief_32519.pdf?sequence=1&isallowed=y http://publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1937/studentloanrepayment_brief_32519.pdf?sequence=2&isallowed=y http://publications.unidosus.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/1937/studentloanrepayment_brief_32519.pdf?sequence=2&isallowed=y https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.06.007 https://doi.org/10.1353/csj.2017.0019 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 5 enhancing collaborative learning: activities and structures in a dual language preschool classroom iliana alanís, ph.d. the university of texas at san antonio abstract changing demographics have led to a need for dual language teachers to adjust their pedagogy to best meet the needs of second language learners in dual language programs. however, the development of linguistic and cognitive skills for dual language learners continues to challenge early childhood teachers (martinez, 2010; garcía & kleifgen, 2010). with this in mind, it is important to explore effective pedagogical practices in dual language programs that encourage meaningful interactions with young bilingual learners (garcia & garcia, 2012; gutiérrez, zepeda, & castro, 2010). this study used a qualitative methodology, including classroom observations and interviews, to investigate the teacher’s role in establishing students’ participation when partnered in pairs. findings reveal the teachers use of visual and auditory scaffolding, strategic pairing of students, and intentional paired learning activities to enhance collaborative exchanges. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.1.375 enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 6 introduction latino children are the fastest growing group of the u.s. population and account for approximately 25% of all children in the u.s. more than two-thirds of young latino children participate in early childhood education and show greater gains than other groups when enrolled in high quality early childhood contexts (gormley & gayer, 2005; national institute for early education research, [nieer] 2016). the number of young dual language learners in preschool classrooms also continues to rise (nieer, 2016). these changing demographics reflect an increase in dual language (dl) programs designed to develop young children’s native language and english (collier & thomas, 2009). dl programs provide extensive time for the development of concepts in a child’s first and second language; these programs include students from two language groups. furthermore, in these programs, languages of instruction are separated based on time spent on each language or by content-area. students learn the concepts by working together through cognitively challenging, culturally rich and interactive lessons or projects (collier & thomas, 2009). the goals are for both groups of language speakers to become linguistically and academically proficient in two languages of instruction. based on these goals, teachers adjust their pedagogy accordingly to meet the needs of their students (alanís, 2013). the development of linguistic and cognitive skills for dl learners continues to challenge early childhood teachers (garcía & kleifgen, 2010; martínez, 2010). yet, the daily experiences that children have in classrooms influences their level of bilingualism and biliteracy and affects the way they feel about themselves as learners (alanís, 2013; baquedanolópez, mangual figueroa, & hernandez, 2011). it is, therefore, critical for early childhood teachers to develop effective pedagogical practices to meet the needs of bilingual learners in dl programs (garcia & garcia, 2012; garcia & sylvan, 2011; gutiérrez, zepeda, & castro, 2010). this article provides a succinct review of the literature on partner-based learning in early childhood settings and the role of the teacher, followed with analyses of classroom observations and interviews with a pre-kindergarten dual language classroom teacher in south texas. theoretical framework using a sociocultural theoretical framework, this study examines teachers’ pedagogical approaches for academic contexts, social interaction, and cultural practices (donato, 2004; gutiérrez & rogoff, 2003). scholars have established that peer interactions significantly contribute alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 7 to a constant revision of one’s own cognitive system, resulting in the construction of new meanings (bedrova & leong, 2015; puzio & colby, 2013; de lisi & goldbeck, 1999). vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (1978) stressed the role of the more competent partner in achieving cognitive development where learning occurs when children interact with others in intentional and meaningful ways. in vygotsky’s theory of learning (1978), children’s mental, linguistic, and social development is supported by more competent others within a social context known as the zone of proximal development (zpd). in this dyad, children work on a single unified task completed through the sharing of knowledge (puzio & colby, 2013). this often pushes learners to reorganize and restructure their thinking leading to higher levels of understanding. this interaction creates a space for children to exchange ideas and learn from each other's perspectives but often involves collaborative engagement related to language development and social identity (donato, 2004). these rich sociocultural spaces are significant for children to develop bilingualism and biliteracy through their full cultural and linguistic repertoires (martinezalvarez, cuevas, & torres-guzmán, 2017). this active view of learning coincides with early childhood initiatives that suggest the development of multiple domains through active pedagogical approaches (national association for the education of young children, 2009). thus, classroom spaces should be active sites of learning where children develop concepts, sociocultural knowledge, and academic language (baquedano-lópez et al., 2011; donato, 2004). although peer collaboration research has shown an enhanced academic development, research reveals teachers often use a teacher-centered pedagogy that provides limited opportunities for student engagement (bergman & morphew, 2014; gjems, 2013). with this in mind, it is important to explore effective pedagogical practices in dl programs that encourage meaningful sociocultural interactions with young bilingual learners (garcia & garcia 2012; gutiérrez et al., 2010). literature review the significance of partner-based learning discourse and systematic interaction both play a key role in the acquisition of language and content. thus, small group interactions increase the opportunities for cognitive engagement through discussion (fawcett & garton, 2005; rohrbeck, ginsburg-block, fantuzzo, & traci, 2003). learning in partner-based interactions has been connected to greater conceptual enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 8 understanding across subject areas such as mathematics, reading, and science as well as language development (puzio & colby, 2013; ramani, 2012; rittle-johnson, fyfe, mclean & mceldoon, 2013; tarim, 2009). successful partner-based learning relies on a dynamic use of language as children engage with each other, their own thinking, and the thinking of their classmates (cole, 2013; griffin, 2002; garton & pratt, 2001; samaha & de lisi, 2000; vygotsky, 1978). the ability to generate and maintain successful and effective oral interactions in early childhood leads to “greater flexibility; higher reading and writing competencies; more extensive vocabularies… and more effective listening competencies” (otto, 2014, p. 20). all lead to the development of the social and academic language of school—particularly significant for bilingual learners who often enter a schooling system that fails to meet their linguistic needs (garcia & garcia, 2012). rittle-johnson, fyfe, mclean, and mceldoon (2013) concluded that children as young as 4 and 5 years old produced a greater number of correct responses and solutions when engaged with a partner. this research mirrors work by fawcett and garton's (2005), in which teachers assigned 6and 7-year-old children to individual and paired tasks. children who learned with a partner attained a larger number of correct responses in problem solving tasks than children who worked alone. park and lee (2015) examined the importance of interaction with a more knowledgeable peer and noted the use of perspective taking tasks as well as increased cognitive development with collaboration of tasks. in earlier work, altermatt, pomerantz, ruble, frey, and greulich (2002) looked at conversations between 106 kindergarten, firstand second-grade students. children’s conversations with peers were predictive of changes in children’s selfperceptions of competence over time. although there are few studies that focus on bilingual children’s dialogue skills, madrid, canas, and ortega-medina (2007) explored ways in which 16 spanish-english bilingual children performed on spelling assignments while working in pairs under three conditions: competitive peer tutoring, cooperative peer tutoring, and teacher-led instruction. for bilingual learners, the cooperative peer structure led to a more successful experience. similarly, gersten and baker, (2000) revealed child-child interactions effectively increased english language development, particularly decontextualized language concepts found in academic texts. alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 9 interaction in early childhood: the teacher’s role in preschool, children develop the necessary social skills that provide the foundation for skills in literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional development (ziv, solomon, & frye, 2008; dickinson & newman, 2006). effective early childhood teachers provide opportunities for children to participate in collaborative-learning activities that promote empathy and healthy social skills (vasileiadou, 2009). moreover, siraj-blatchford, and manni (2008) emphasize the importance of developing activities where young children can use language to support sustained shared learning. developing skills for collaboration, however, requires providing support and guidance in order to help students learn together. earlier research by fawcett and garton (2005) stressed the need to teach children interactive skills such as providing explanations and asking questions. siraj-blatchford and sylva (2004) suggest that for child-child interactions to be effective, the teacher must carefully organize the learning contexts and environment. thus, the effectiveness of a paired learning strategy often depends on how the teacher has structured the collaborative tasks (alanís, 2013; battistich & watson 2003; dillenbourg, 2002). effective early childhood teachers scaffold sociocultural interactions by creating shared learning tasks, teaching children essential social skills, modeling the cognitive strategies, and encouraging reflection on the process (alanís & arreguin-anderson, 2017; zimmerman & schunk, 2003). additionally, teachers mediate child-child interactions by determining children’s zpd so that children are paired with a more knowledgeable other (alanís, 2015; fawcett & garton, 2005). early childhood teachers facilitate learning outcomes when children can imitate what they see (horner, battacharyya, & o’connor 2008). research on the impact of teacher modeling reveals enhanced writing abilities (gerde, bingham, & wasik, 2012) and uses of technology (freeman & somerindyk, 2001). other work in early childhood classrooms, demonstrates how explicit teacher modeling helps children see what is expected of them and helps them work together more effectively (alanís, 2013). lee and buxton (2013) propose that effective bilingual teachers use appropriate linguistic scaffolding to build students’ conceptual understanding and academic language skills. for bilingual learners, this requires scaffolding while children are engaged in interactive and authentic tasks (swain, 2001). collaborative exchanges with young bilingual children, however, has not been widely studied. given the significance of partner-based learning for children’s academic success, more research is needed that examines dl teachers’ pedagogical practices when developing peer enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 10 learning in early childhood classrooms. the current study seeks to add knowledge to the types of activities and participation structures bilingual preschool teachers use to ensure successful partner-based interactions in early childhood dl classrooms. methods and data sources this study represents work from a year-long research project focused on the implementation of purposeful social interactions within one prekindergarten spanish/english twoway dual language classroom in a multiethnic, urban elementary school in south texas. this study used a qualitative methodology, including classroom observations, field notes, and interviews, to investigate the teacher’s activities and structures when establishing students’ participation in pairs. this article examines the following research question: how does one preschool dual language teacher enhance partner-based learning for effective participation and learning? context of the study to address the research question, the focus was on a prekindergarten classroom of four year-olds where the teacher was using a new partner-based strategy for learning as a requirement in the two-way spanish/english dual language program (gomez, freeman, & freeman, 2005). pairs are the ideal group size for language learning because they maximize practice opportunities for purposeful and extended talk (alanís, 2011). time was spent specifically observing the classroom teacher develop interactive activities for pairs working in learning centers and whole group activities. research was conducted in a federal title i campus that serves 213 students from predominantly latino, working-class families of mexican descent. the dl program is currently in the prek-2nd grades with one grade level added annually. located in a densely populated urban neighborhood, families earn a median income of $30,192—significantly lower than the national average and less than half the average for texas (city-data.com, 2013). according to the campus principal, “families are predominantly thirdor fourth-generation who want their children to regain their spanish language” (personal communication, january 22, 2016). as young spanish heritage language learners, children arrive at the school with a strong command of english while in the process of regaining their spanish language through the dl program. alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 11 teachers had begun an initial implementation of the strategy of bilingual pairs. the use of bilingual pairs for linguistic and conceptual development requires teachers to assess students’ linguistic and academic proficiency levels and heterogeneously partner children based on those levels (alanís, 2013). for example, teachers pair spanish-speaking children with english-speaking children to create a heterogeneous language pairing. children work with their partners during large and small group interactions. teachers adjust partner assignments based on teacher observation of children’s language and development. as part of the requirement, teachers ask pairs to engage with each other on one assignment where they share the materials for the completion of the task. participants purposeful sampling was used to discover, understand, and gain insight into the teacher’s use of partner-based learning (merriam, 2009). mrs. benavides (pseudonym), the focal teacher, was in her second year of teaching. she identified as a mexican-american; raised bilingually but english dominant. as the english model in the two-way program, she taught english language arts to the english dominant children while the spanish dominant children went to a partner teacher for spanish language arts instruction. the class consisted of a heterogeneous mix of students from varying language and socioeconomic backgrounds. all 24 prekindergarten children had varying levels of spanish and english bilingualism. mrs. benavides used a home language survey with information reported by parents during enrollment to determine initial language dominance. based on this information, the class consisted of 16 english-dominant students (14 of mexican descent) with various levels of receptive spanish and eight spanish-dominant students with some degree of bilingualism. parents of all children provided consent to participate in this study as outlined in our irb protocol. the data collected were part of a larger qualitative case study where observational data from mrs. benavides’ classroom was collected over one academic-year. for this analysis, observations were twice a week for two hours a day over the fall semester of 2016. observations occurred during children’s learning center time and whole group instruction and focused on the teacher’s daily pedagogical practice. the data collection included: (a) two in-person interviews with the pre k teacher; one at the beginning of the study and one at the end of the study; enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 12 interviews were 20-30 minutes; (b) transcripts of weekly audio and video recordings while children were engaged in whole group and learning centers; and (c) field notes from video recordings and classroom observations. a mixture of tools were used for recording student talk, including video recordings, audio recordings, and handwritten field notes. the use of video recordings enhanced the quality and accuracy of field notes and were instrumental in studying and analyzing interactions between children. each recording was transcribed for analysis. pseudonyms for participants were assigned to protect participants’ identity. data analysis data analysis began with an initial coding of classroom segments of the data that answered the research question: how does one preschool dual language teacher enhance partner-based learning for effective participation and learning? the analysis process involved transcribing audio and video recordings, analyzing the teacher’s instructions, documenting students’ engagement with partners, and reviewing researcher field notes. field notes and transcriptions of video recordings were analyzed in order to identify themes and patterns relevant to the research question (miles & huberman, 1994). open coding of the transcriptions were followed by axial coding (corbin & strauss, 2007) that developed into categories related to children’s engagement with their peers, recurring episodes, and the teacher’s strategy. the researcher spent considerable amount of time in the classroom before and after the data collection in an effort to build relationships with the teacher and children. designed to develop participants’ trust in the researcher, this extended time contributed to the trustworthiness of the data. in the following section, findings are organized around three salient themes related to the implementation of the collaborative learning strategy: (1) the use of teacher scaffolding, (2) strategic pairing of students and (3) intentional paired learning activities. findings the following describes the typical schedule of mrs. benavides’s dl pre-k classroom, including routines such as instructional and/or content time (e.g., large and small group) and learning center time (e.g., play-based activities). alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 13 visual and auditory scaffolds scaffolding happened regularly and across diverse tasks (text, spoken language) and situations. mrs. benavides used several visual scaffolds that provided picture cues for her young learners. these included a partner chart, anchor charts, and modeling. a partner chart, using students’ names and pictures, allowed children to see with whom they were partnered. she posted this chart near the front of the classroom and referred to it daily. to develop their collaborative relationship, mrs. benavides asked children to sit with their partners. a second visual scaffold was the creation of anchor charts that provided cues for what learning with a partner should look like and sound like. mrs. benavides created these visuals as a class activity with children providing their own ideas. she sat her 4-year olds on the carpet and asked them to tell her what they thought “working with a partner should look like?” children used the language with which they were most comfortable when they provided responses, such as: “you should stay with your partner.” “tienen que trabajar juntos.” (they need to work together). as children spoke, she wrote their responses on chart paper. mrs. benavides also suggested they should look at their partner when talking to them and share their materials—effective features of cooperative learning (johnson & johnson, 1994). mrs. benavides engaged in a think-pair-share strategy where she asked children to think about what working with a partner should sound like and then to pair and share with their partner about their response. she regrouped the students as a whole group and asked them again, “what should working with a partner sound like?” children’s overwhelming response was, “talking, you should be talking!” mrs. benavides extended that idea, “yes, you should be talking, but you should also be listening to what your partner is saying, right?” children nodded their heads in agreement. together, mrs. benavides and students established that working with a partner should sound like “saying nice things to your partner,” “saying please and thank you,” and “listening.” the creation of the anchor chart allowed mrs. benavides to discover children’s ideas as they constructed their own understandings of the paired learning strategy. one particular morning, students were sitting on the carpet as mrs. benavides was teaching her morning lesson. they had been learning about shapes and sizes; today’s shape was a rhombus. following her lesson, mrs. benavides instructed students to go with their partners and enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 14 draw three rhombuses of different sizes. she gave them one sheet of blank paper per pair, as required for this strategy, and asked them to draw the three sizes and write the word rhombus on their paper. students quickly moved to their tables and began drawing. mrs. benavides noticed that many children were completing the task but individually. she called the children back to the carpet. mrs. b: boys and girls, everyone come to the carpet. you need to be working with your partner. where is your partner? mrs. b: ms. christie, you are my partner. mrs. b: ms. c and i are partners. we got a sheet of paper just like you did, okay? ms. c, what color do you want? ms. c: red mrs. b: here ms. c ms. c: thank you mrs. b: okay we are going to do a rhombus, big, middle, and small. ms. c: let’s work togeeether. [emphasizing partner work for the children] mrs. b: yes, so do you wanna draw the rhombus? ms. c: yes, i’ll go first mrs. b: you draw it, and i’ll color it. we can take turns. students sat quietly, patiently waiting to see what they were going to draw. once done, mrs. benavides turned to her class and said: mrs. b: what do you all think? students: yes we like it! they all screamed with a few even clapping with joy and excitement. mrs. b: we worked in partners; we shared our work just like we said we would on the chart over there. do you think you can do that with your partner? young girl: yes we can! [she jumped in the air with one hand raised.] mrs. b: okay you’re gonna start again. mrs. benavides modeled what she expected students to do while also providing the language they were to be using such as, “now it’s your turn,” or “you draw it, and i’ll color it.” alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 15 after the demonstration, students returned to their tables to complete the task. once students were done, they showed mrs. benavides their work. she emphatically said, “that’s excellent partner work. you shared the materials and did it together. i knew you could do it!” she turned the researcher, and excitedly said, “it worked! i can’t believe it took me so long to try that!” this reflection was a pivotal transition for mrs. benavides, who began to scaffold children’s learning by modeling her expectations and the steps it would take to complete a task on a regular basis. indeed, she used more modeling as the semester continued but also extended the modeling to include other children in the class. continued observations revealed that mrs. benavides would routinely assemble her children on the carpet and ask them to watch as she presented a new center activity. for example, when introducing a matching picture card to words game, she slowly took cards out of a baggie and placed them in front of her. she showed children how to complete the activity as she talked them through it. mrs. b: “when you shuffle the cards don’t do it very fast. take it easy and go slowly” [after her initial demonstration, she asked marco (a spanish dominant child) and sandra (an english dominant child) to come show her how they were to ‘play’ with the materials.] mrs b: “who is going to take out the materials?” marco pointed to sandra. “good, marco, you are letting your partner go first, but take turns taking the materials out and putting them away.” next, she asked marco to shuffle the cards and for sandra to help him. as sandra was shuffling, marco said, “despacito” [go slowly] using his teacher’s language. mrs. benavides walked them through the process of taking turns while playing the game. she focused on the turn-taking and the language use. mrs. b: “when you pick up a card, read it and ask your partner to find the matching picture. try it marco, pick a card and read the word on the card.” marco picked a card and read, “elefante” (elephant) mrs. b: “now ask sandra to find the matching picture.” marco: “¿dónde está?” (where is it?) he showed her the picture card. sandra searched through the cards until she found the picture of an elephant. mrs. b: “what is it, sandra?” enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 16 sandra: “an elephant.” mrs. b: “is she right, marco?” marco nodded. “yes, she is right, so place it next to marco’s card.” these instructions prompted students to engage with their partner and encouraged the use of more language within the interaction. during our final interview, mrs. benavides expressed her delight with the strategy: well, it took me a while to figure it out, but once i did, the kids just got it! they really enjoy working with their partner. it has been wonderful to see them work together—no, learn together because they really are learning from each other. now kids are talking more, in english and spanish, and even though i have to get on them about the noise level, they really are engaged. mrs. benavides’ reflection reveals her understanding that children are learning content and language from each other when given the opportunity to engage with a partner. these opportunities create a natural zpd for children (vygotsky, 1978). strategic pairing of students initially, mrs. benavides heterogeneously paired children based on their language dominance, as determined by the home language survey. thus, to enhance language development within a zpd, students were partnered with a student whose language skills were slightly above their level to create opportunities for children to learn language and concepts from each other (alanís, 2011; bedrova & leong, 2015). by the end of september, however, mrs. benavides had administered the woodcock muñoz language survey (woodcock & muñozsandoval, 1993) to all students to determine language skills in english and spanish. she used these scores to reassess her pairings. she paired students using a high/medium or medium/low criteria. for example, children who scored as intermediate spanish speakers were partnered with children who were in the process of learning spanish or beginners. this criterion allows children to work within their zpd because one partner’s level was slightly above the other. however, mrs. benavides understood that formal language assessments do not always capture what bilingual children can do in both of their languages (gottlieb, 2006). when interviewed, she explained the following: alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 17 even though alicia scored low in both english and spanish, she knows a lot more than you think. she’s very quiet, but i have heard her speaking to diego in centers. right now, she understands more than she can say, but she is picking up spanish very quickly. if you talk to her in spanish, she understands you. i have her as the english model with diego who is very strong in his spanish. as a result, she continued to use teacher observations and student work samples to monitor children’s development and learning. she used this information to guide decision-making related to her pairings. like many early childhood teachers, mrs. benavides used learning centers throughout her day where children were free to choose activities of interest. sara and alex were at the science center one day. according to mrs. benavides, alex, a strong spanish-speaker was partnered with sara because of sara’s verbal ability in english. both students were looking at one large picture book of various animals. alex was turning the pages of the book, and sara was holding a magnifying glass so that both could see the details of the animals. both commented about the pictures. sara: look! it is the baby of the dinosaur. alex: yeah, el bebé del triceratops. (yeah, the baby of the triceratops.) they quickly got to the end of the book; both closed it up. sara promptly handed the magnifying glass to alex and said, “here, it’s your turn,” while she returned the picture book to the shelf. as they both walked over to the art center, they used the magnifying glass to look at different boxes of crayons, markers, and paint cartons that were stored on the lower shelves. each time, sara described what they were seeing or asked questions about the materials; again, alex listened and added contributions using his spanish skills. mrs. benavides used regular and ongoing assessment of children’s interactions to determine children’s progress in language and concept development but also to determine the effectiveness of the pairing. mrs. benavides stated: sara is the perfect partner for alex because she talks a lot and is very patient with him. i have noticed sometimes she even waits for him to repeat what she is saying. i didn’t teach them—she just did it on her own. but, sara is learning spanish from alex too. the dinosaurs for example, alex knows a lot about them and is teaching all of us! enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 18 sara and alex are ideal partners because they both need interactive spaces in which each can continue to grow linguistically. because mrs. benavides knows her students, she can adjust pairing and instructions that match their zone of proximal development. in another area of the classroom, madison, adrian, jacob, and sylvia were one day playing in the dramatic play area. according to mrs. benavides, adrian and sylvia were developing their english skills while jacob was strong in both english and spanish. madison was developing her spanish skills. as children engaged in the different centers, jacob took sylvia’s hand and said, “vente partner” (come on, partner). they walked together to join madison and adrian who were already at the dramatic play area. jacob: let’s play family. madison: who is going to be the dad? jacob: i’m going to be the mom! madison: no no no, you’re going to be the brother (as she points to jacob), you’re going to be the dad (pointing to adrian), i’m going to be the mom, and you’re going to be the big sister (pointing to mariam). sylvia: ok [she smiled enthusiastically] jacob: no, i want to be the mom. madison: no, you are not a girl. jacob: ok, i am the dad. [jacob was clearly disappointed with this arrangement but complied with madison.] while sylvia stood at the kitchenette pretending to make food with playdoh, adrian was tending to a stuffed animal pretending to change its diaper. jacob got out four pie pans and sat them all out on the table as if dinner was about to be served. he called out, “adrian, ven, vamos a comer.” (adrian, come on let’s eat.) adrian rushed over to the table. children collaborated and helped each other in roles that were comfortable for them. some children like madison, planned and directed, while others simply played along. mrs. benavides reflected on the heterogeneous nature of the pairs, “children like jacob, [who can speak both languages], are so helpful. i mean, they really help their friends but they help me too. i move him around based on who i need him to work with.” indeed, jacob’s ability to navigate both languages played a key role in this arrangement as he engaged all three children in the dramatic play activity. alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 19 intentional paired learning activities students spent much of their mornings working in learning centers. one particular visit, students were working on math center activities centered on pattern understanding. for many young learners, sorting is a precursor for more abstract pattern understanding (rittle-johnson et al., 2013). here, mrs. benavides offers a number of noteworthy strategies. she provided a bucket of objects so that children could practice their sorting skills as they progressed to more challenging pattern formations. she asked students to share the materials and observe their partner as they sorted the objects to see if they could determine what attribute they were using. mrs. benavides explained: josue needed experiences to build his awareness of sorting objects. his only sorting attribute was by color, but at some point, he noticed the ways in which his partner, patricia, was categorizing the objects by size and shape. he began to imitate what she was doing. although mrs. benavides did not explicitly tell josue how he could sort, his observations of patricia’s examples were enough for him to augment his sorting techniques. because patricia was stronger in her sorting ability, she was able to model the skill for josue. eventually, his sorting categories included size and shape. engaging in the task of multiple sorts with patricia helped josue think about categories and attributes of objects in multiple ways. mrs. benavides continued, “over time, josue has learned more and is creating his own categories and then asking patricia to guess the attributes he used for sorting.” this task required pairs to use math vocabulary to justify their thinking as well as engagement with each other. mrs. benavides’ observation that josue was developing his math skills through partner work led her to extend the activities at the math center to focus on more abstract pattern understanding. in another area of the classroom, two children were engaged in drawing ab patterns with shapes when diego said, “¡mira, alicia! diamante, círculo, diamante, círculo, triángulo….¡no! ¡diamante, círculo, diamante!” (look alicia, diamond, circle, diamond, circle, triangle…no, diamond, circle, diamond!). diego adjusted his work to accommodate for the error. showing alicia his work provided a visual for him to see and adjust his thinking immediately. allowing children to engage in interactive activities that required a shared level of understanding led to the ability for children to catch errors as they explained their thinking to their partner, which led to enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 20 an effective cycle of trial and error in their internalization of the learning (vygotsky, 1978). discussion given the influx of dual language programs in the u.s., it is important for early childhood teachers to develop strong pedagogical practices that will accommodate bilingual children’s needs as they develop bilingualism and biliteracy. vygotsky’s work reveals how successful learning relies on the active exchange of ideas through language as children engage with each other through observation and imitation (garton, harvey, & pratt, 2003). these interactions can be adapted to meet the needs of children in a variety of classrooms and in a variety of languages. the purpose of this research study was to examine how one preschool dual language teacher’s daily pedagogical practice enhances partner-based learning for effective participation and learning. this study reveals the need for careful attention and planning by the teacher. this planning requires the teacher to focus on the children’s level of language, engage in continuous assessment, and develop paired learning activities that promote language and interaction (sirajblatchford & manni, 2008). pairing children heterogeneously based on language and cognitive ability creates a natural zpd for children. this zpd, however, is not static but dynamically adjusted during interactions with more knowledgeable peers while engaged in a learning task (bedrova & leong, 2015). paired learning is effective if students understand what to do and how to manage themselves within their pairings (alanís, 2013). effective teachers create the routines and expectations for interactive learning (battistich & watson, 2003; dillenbourg, 2002). mrs. benavides adjusted her scaffolding through modeling and opportunities for practice. in this way, children had a clear understanding of what she expected of them. the significance of teacher modeling cannot be overstated. as teachers model, they demonstrate how to engage with a partner and encourage the use of language within the interaction. mrs. benavides established a consistent routine of modeling her expectations, children were able to follow her demonstrations and apply them to their own partner-based learning. it is imperative for teachers to model how children will take turns and the language they should be using with one another such as, “what do you think?” or “now it’s your turn.” as children develop these skills, their learning takes on a deeper level of understanding and increases their cognition and language development. this coalanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 21 construction of knowledge sends powerful messages to children—they have the power to help themselves and others. the concept of partner-based learning relies on the shared construction of knowledge through listening and thinking (bedrova & leong, 2015). like teacher modeling, the sharing of materials is an essential component in collaborative learning. in an early childhood classroom, this can be as simple as reading a big book together at a literacy center or creating ab patterns in a math center. the act of taking turns, listening to each other, and thinking about the other’s words during their big book reading on dinosaurs, for example, helped alex and sara develop their linguistic and academic skills in a space that was comfortable and meaningful for them. these intentional configurations allow children to display their knowledge in ways that reveal their competence as learners and language users. when teachers design instruction that includes opportunities to talk, they place children in positions where they are both recipients and producers of knowledge (vygotsky, 1978). mrs. benavides enhanced the academic interactions when children worked on a unified task that required sharing of materials. one set of manipulatives encouraged each child to contribute to the process as they completed the task together. requiring children to share materials with their partners created opportunities for children to learn from each other and gain an awareness of what they know and what they do not know (rittle-johnson, saylor, & swygert, 2007). in this classroom, children were developing their biliteracy skills within what krashen (1987) termed the silent period, where bilingual children silently listen as they process the target language before they begin to use it with confidence. when mrs. benavides created a dramatic play area, she facilitated interaction with peers. creating an environment where children can share similar interests or experiences leads to learning. even though adrian and sylvia did not engage in the discussions, they were listening and engaging with their classmates in roles that were easy for them to follow. finally, authentic assessment, such as observation, yields information that is useful in planning instruction. when teachers use this data to improve planning and systematic support, it leads to meaningful learning experiences for young children. for mrs. benavides, assessment on children's performance and progress was an ongoing cycle that included the collection of multiple forms of data, interpretation, reflection, and decision-making. effective early childhood teachers develop these skills of observation across contexts and over time and use continual reflection on enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 22 their use of the data cycle and authentic assessment to improve teaching and learning (mcafee, leong, & bodrova, 2016). mrs. benavides used this data to determine children’s zpd and develop paired learning activities that extended bilingual children’s thinking and language production. conclusion early childhood teachers can provide assistance, guidance, and direction through scaffolding children’s social construction of knowledge. in this case, paired learning provided opportunities for sharing ideas and practicing oral language skills in nonthreatening environments. this pedagogical practice recognizes that learning is enhanced when it happens in contexts that are socio-culturally and linguistically meaningful for the learner (garcia & garcia, 2012; gutiérrez & rogoff, 2003). this work supports the need for dual language teachers to develop activities and structures that lead to successful interactions in the early childhood classroom. effective early childhood teachers enrich emergent bilingual children’s experiences by scaffolding paired learning opportunities within learning centers, dramatic play areas, and intentional partner-based activities. the rich sociocultural spaces where children use their full cultural and linguistic repertoires are significant for biliteracy development (martinez-alvarez et al., 2017). when teachers intentionally create these collaborative spaces, they acknowledge the active role that students play in the learning process and that all children have significant contributions to make in their learning process. alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 23 references altermatt, e. r., pomerantz, e. m., ruble, d. n., frey, k. s., & greulich, f. k. (2002). predicting changes in children’s self-perceptions of academic competence: a naturalistic examination of evaluative discourse among classmates. developmental psychology, 38(6), 903-17. alanís, i. (2013). where’s my partner? developing effective bilingual pairs for dual language classrooms. young children 68(1), 42-47. alanís, i. (2011). learning from each other: examining the use of bilingual pairs in dual language classrooms. dimensions of early childhood, 39(1), 21-28. alanís, i. (2015). developing paired learning in dual language classrooms. early years, 24-26. alanís, i., & arreguin-anderson, m. g. (2017). supporting young children in partner-based interactions. early years journal, 23-25. baquedano-lópez, p., mangual figueroa, a., & hernández, s. j. (2011). an integrated approach to the study of transitions as learning activity: two cases from spanish immersion classrooms. in p. r. portes & s. salas (eds.), vygotsky al sabor latino: cultural historical theory, research, and praxis for and with us latinos and other non-dominant communities (pp. 180-198). new york, ny: peter lang. battistich, v., & watson, m. (2003). fostering social development in preschool and the early elementary grades through co-operative classroom activities. in r. m. gillies & a. f. ashman (eds.), co-operative learning: the social and intellectual outcomes of learning in groups. new york, ny: routledge falmer bergman, d., & morphew, j. (2014). comparing classroom interactive behaviors of science and nonscience preservice teachers. journal of classroom interaction, 49(2), 4-10. bedrova, e., & leong, d. j. (2015). vygotskian and post-vygotskian views on children’s play. american journal of play, 7(3), 371-387. citi-data.com. (2013). retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/zips/78201.html cole, m. (2013). rompiendo el silencio: meta-analysis of effectiveness of peer-mediated learning at improving language outcomes for ells. bilingual research journal, 36, 146– 166. doi:10.1080/15235882.2013.814609 collier, v., & thomas, w. (2009). educating english language learners for a transformed world. dual language education of new mexico. albuquerque, nm: fuente press. corbin, j., & strauss, a. (2007). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. de lisi, r., & goldbeck, s. l. (1999). implication of piagetian theory for peer learning. in a. m. o'donnell & a. king (eds.), cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp. 3-37). new york, ny: routledge. dickinson, d. k., & neuman, s. b. (2006). cognitive and linguistic building blocks of early literacy. in s. b. neuman & d. k. dickinson (eds.), handbook of early literacy research (vol. 2). new york, ny: guilford press. enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 24 dillenbourg, p. (2002). over-scripting cscl: the risks of blending collaborative learning with instructional design. in p. a. kirschner (ed.), three worlds of cscl. can we support cscl? (pp. 61–91). heerlen: open universiteit nederland. donato, r. (2004). aspects of collaboration in pedagogical discourse. annual review of applied linguistics, 24, 284-302. fawcett, l. m., & garton, a. f. (2005). the effect of collaboration on children’s problem-solving ability. british journal of educational psychology, 75, 157-169. freeman, n. k., & somerindyke, j. (2001). social play at the computer: preschoolers scaffold and support peers’ computer competence. information technology in childhood education annual, 1, 203–13. garcia, e. e., & garcia, e. h. (2012). understanding the language development and early education of hispanic children. new york, ny: teachers college press. garcía, o., & kleifgen, j. a. (2010). educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english language learners (language and literacy series). new york, ny: teachers college press. garcía, o., & sylvan, c. e. (2011). pedagogies and practices in multilingual classrooms: singularities in pluralities. the modern language journal, 95, 385-400. garton, a. f. & pratt, c. (2001). peer assistance in children’s problem solving. british journal of developmental psychology, 19, 307-318. gerde, h. k., bingham, g. e., & wasik, b. a. (2012). writing in early childhood classrooms: guidance for best practices. early childhood education journal 40(6), 351-359. gersten r., & baker, s. (2000). what we know about effective instructional practices for english language learners. exceptional children, 66, 454–470. doi:10.1177/001440290006600402 gjems, l. (2013). teaching in ece: promoting children’s language learning and cooperation on knowledge construction in everyday conversations in kindergarten. teaching and teacher education, 29, 39-45. gomez, l., freeman, d., & freeman, y. (2005). dual language education: a promising 50–50 model. bilingual research journal, 29(1), 145–163. gormley, w., & gayer, t. (2005). promoting school readiness in oklahoma: an evaluation of tulsa's pre-k program. journal of human resources, 533–558. gottlieb, m. (2006). assessing english language learners: bridges from language proficiency to academic achievement. thousand oaks, ca jossey-bass. griffin, m. l. (2002). why don’t you use your finger? paired reading in first grade. the reading teacher, 55(8), 766–774. gutiérrez, k. d., & rogoff, b. (2003). cultural ways of learning: individual traits or repertoires of practice. educational researcher, 32(5), 19-25. gutiérrez, k., zepeda, m., & castro, d. c. (2010). advancing early literacy learning for all children: implications of the nelp report for dual language learners. educational researcher, 39(4), 334-339. alanís association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 25 horner, s. l., battacharayya, s. & o’connor, e. a. (2008). modeling: it’s more than just imitation. childhood education, 84(4), 219-222. johnson, d. w., & johnson, r. t. (1994). learning together and alone: cooperative, competitive and individualistic learning (4th ed.). boston, ma: allen & bacon. krashen, s. d. (1987). principles and practice in second language acquisition. upper saddle river, nj: prentice-hall international. lee, o., & buxton, c. a. (2013). teacher professional development to improve science and literacy achievement of english language lbuxearners. theory into practice, 52(2), 110-117. madrid, l., canas, m., & ortega-medina, m. (2007). effects of team competition versus team cooperation in classwide peer tutoring. the journal of educational research, 100(3), 155160. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/stable/27548174 martínez, r. a. (2010). spanglish as literacy tool: toward an understanding of the potential role of spanish english code-switching in the development of academic literacy. research in the teaching of english, 45, 124-149. martinez-alvarez, p., cuevas, i., & torres-guzmán, m. (2017). preparing bilingual teachers: mediating belonging with multimodal explorations of language, identity, and culture. journal of teacher education, 68(2), 155-178. merriam, s. b. (2009). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass miles, m. b. & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. thousand oaks, ca: sage national association for the education of young children. (2009). learning to read and write: developmentally appropriate practices for young children. national association for the education of young children, 53(4), 30-46. national institute for early education research. (2016). state of preschool: 2015. rutgers, nj: national institute for early education research. retrieved from: http://nieer.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/05/2015_dll_and_workforce_rev1.pdf otto, b. (2014). language development in early childhood. upper saddle river, nj: pearson. park, j., & lee, j. (2015). dyadic collaboration among preschool-age children and the benefits of working with a more socially advanced peer. early education and development, 26(4), 574-593. puzio, k., & colby, g. t. (2013). cooperative learning and literacy: a meta-analytic review. journal of research on educational effectiveness, 6, 339–360. doi:10.1080/19345747.2013.775683 ramani, g. (2012). influence of a playful, child-directed context on preschool children’s peer cooperation. merrill-palmer quarterly, 58(2), 159-190. rittle-johnson, b., fyfe, e., mclean, l., & mceldoon, k. (2013). emerging understanding of patterning in 4-year-olds. journal of cognition and development, 14(3), 376-396. rohrbeck, c. a., ginsburg-block, m., fantuzzo, j. w., & miller, t. r. (2003). peer-assisted learning interventions with elementary school students: a meta-analytic review. journal enhancing collaborative learning association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 26 of educational psychology, 95(2), 240-257. retrieved from https://login.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest com.libweb.lib.utsa. edu/docview/210962747?accountid=7122 samaha, n. v., & de lisi, r. (2000). peer collaboration on a nonverbal reasoning task by urban minority students. journal of experimental education, 69(1), 5-14. siraj-blatchford, i., & manni, l. (2008). would you like to tidy up now? an analysis of adult questioning in the english foundation stage. early years, 28(1), 5e22. siraj-blatchford, i., & sylva, k. (2004). researching pedagogy in english pre-schools. british educational research journal, 30(5), 713-730. swain, m. (2001). integrating language and content: teaching through collaborative tasks. canadian modern language review, 58(1), 44-63. tarim, k. (2009). the effects of cooperative learning on preschoolers’ mathematics problem solving ability. educational studies in mathematics, 72(3), 325-340. vasileiadou, m. (2009). cooperative learning and its effects on pre-primary, marginalized children. emotional & behavioural difficulties, 14(4), 337–347. doi:10.1080/13632750903303179. vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind and society: the development of higher mental processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. woodcock, r. w., & muñoz-sandoval, a. f. (1993). woodcock-muñoz language survey comprehensive manual. chicago, il: riverside. zimmerman, b. j. & schunck, d. h. (2003). albert bandura: the scholar and his contributions to educational psychology. in b. j. zimmerman & d. h. schunck (eds.), educational psychology: a century of contributions (pp. 431-458). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. ziv, m., solomon, a., & frye, d. (2008). young children’s recognition of the intentionality of teaching. child development, 79(5), 1237–1256. volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 61 entrando en el juego: the role of hispanic-serving institutions in fostering educational and athletic outcomes for latinx athletes nikola grafnetterova jocelyn a. gutierrez rosa m. banda texas a&m university-corpus christi abstract hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) enroll the majority of latinx undergraduate students and constitute the second-largest institutional type in the national collegiate athletic association (ncaa) division i (d1). yet, little is known about the role intercollegiate athletics play in fostering educational outcomes for latinx students at hsis. under the guise of latinx critical race theory, this qualitative study examined how hsis operate both the federal designation and ncaa d1 membership in relation to athletic participation and completion outcomes for latinx student-athletes. document analysis was utilized to disaggregate data from various reports to identify the hsi-d1 institutions and their latinx athletes’ participation, and graduation rates. these findings were then compared to the overall ncaa d1 averages. among the findings, latinx student-athletes graduated at higher rates than non-athletes from the hsi-d1s. however, as an aggregate, these institutions had below average graduation rates of latinx students and student-athletes in comparison to the national rates across ncaa d1 membership. furthermore, hsi-d1s provided limited athletic participation opportunities for latinx athletes. the study concluded with the implications of findings and recommendations for future studies. keywords: latinx athletes, college athletics, hispanic-serving institutions doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.400 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.400 entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 62 a hispanic-serving institution (hsi) is a federal designation for higher education institutions (heis) that enroll a minimum of 25% of full-time equivalent (fte) undergraduate students who identify as latinx (mendez et al., 2015) and have at least 50% fte undergraduate students considered as needs-based (corral et al., 2015). hsis comprise over 15% of non-profit heis but enroll 66% of all undergraduate latinx students (hispanic association of colleges & universities, 2019). as such, hsis play a critical role in providing access to educational opportunities for latinxs. given the rising demography of latinxs, hsi continue to increase numerically; as of 2017-2018, 523 hsis were established (excelencia in education, 2019). additionally, there are 328 emerging hsis (ehsis), which have latinx undergraduate fte of at least 15% but less than 25% (excelencia in education, 2019). hsis constitute the second-largest institutional type in the national collegiate athletic association (ncaa), which is the largest and most well-known association governing college sports at 4-year heis. ncaa divides its members into three divisions (d1, d2, and d3); d1 members comprise the most well-funded and competitive level (sweitzer, 2009). in 2018, 8% of all ncaa d1, 13% of d2, and 5% of d3 members were hsis (ncaa, 2018a). limited research has examined the role of athletics at hsis in providing educational and athletic outcomes for latinxs who constitute a small proportion of the ncaa’s participants. specifically, in 2018-2019, only 6.1% of all male and 5.8% of all female ncaa student-athletes were latinxs (lapchick, 2020). slight differences exist across divisions: 5.1% male and 5.4% female (d1), 7.3% both male and female (d2), and 6.2% male and 5.5% female (d3). minimal research exists that explores the reasons for the low representation of latinxs in the ncaa. accordingly, some scholars use the term “los olvidados,” the forgotten ones, when describing latinx athletes (osanloo et al., 2018), and their disparity in college athletic participation rates. as hsis continue to rise in the proportion of heis, osanloo et al. (2018) posit that the existing ncaa demographic student-athlete data is disaggregated by institutional type to evaluate what role hsis play in providing opportunities for latinxs to participate in athletics and experience successful outcomes. as such, the purpose of this study was to examine how hsis operate both the federal designation and ncaa d1 membership in relation to athletic participation and completion outcomes for latinx student-athletes. the primary research question asked was: what role, if any, do hsi-d1s have in fostering educational and athletic outcomes for latinx athletes? grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 63 literature review the demographics of the u.s. population has shifted, and latinxs have become the second-largest racial/ethnic group living in the u.s. (national center for education statistics [nces], 2017). today, they comprise 17% of the overall undergraduate student body (nces, 2016). as a result of these demographic shifts, hsi have emerged on the landscape of higher education. hispanic-serving institutions as part of the reauthorization of the higher education act, title iii, hsis were established to improve post-secondary education for latinxs (garcia; 2019; hirt; 2006; mendez et al., 2015). hsis were also created (1) through legislative efforts on behalf of educational leaders who recognized that the growing numbers of latinxs in higher education need equitable federal funding; (2) educational support programs for significant growth of latinx enrollment; and most significantly, (3) that institutional cultures intentionally organized to serve latinx students (mendez et al., 2015; santiago & andrade, 2010). consequently, even at hsis, the deficit framing of latinx students has created many obstacles for them in higher education. research (mendez et al., 2015) posits that latinxs enrolled at hsis are often viewed as deficit because they are often first-generation college students that are perceived as maladjusted due to living in poverty and attending poorly resourced schools. still, the broad access to postsecondary education that hsis provide are essential for latinxs to succeed in higher education (hurtado & ruiz, 2012; nuñez et al., 2013), but even more so when hsis operationalize an ncaa membership. the role of hsis the role of hsis was constructed with the intent of improving post-secondary education for latinxs (nuñez et al., 2013; santiago & andrade, 2010); as a result, the hsi designation does not correlate to a particular institutional structure (garcia, 2019; hirt, 2006) but rather is identifiable by the students they serve (hirt, 2006). therefore, hsis enact institutional structures within the environments of the institutional host (gutierrez, 2020). additionally, hsis are primarily in select states and cluster regions across the u.s. (hirt, 2006), which has resulted in a conglomeration of institutional types and identities for hsis (hirt, 2006; renn & patton, 2017). the structural uncertainty for heis in operationalizing the hsi entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 64 designation continues to remain contentious (greene & oesterreich, 2012), as institutions are not distinguishable between heis who seek to serve latinxs from those who receive the designation based on demographic growth (contreras & contreras, 2015; garcia, 2019). latinx student experience between 2000 and 2015, the latinx undergraduate enrollment “more than doubled” to 37% from 1.4 million to 3.0 million (nces, 2017, p. 116). latinx students continue to increase in enrollment in higher education by 15% above all other ethnic categories and in 2017-2018, 523 hsis enrolled 66% of all latinx undergraduates (excelencia in education, 2019). by enrolling more than half of all latinxs, hsis play a critical role in their development (laden, 2001). latinxs have made substantial progress in closing the gaps of their white counterparts. however, enrollment is not the same as completion, as persistence is a significant factor to completion for latinx which includes familiarity of culture, social context, and faculty make-up (ponjuan, 2013; suro & fry, 2005). researchers have posited (rendón et al., 2015) that underserved student populations’ experiences differ in higher education from “conferred dominate” groupings (johnson, 2018) in relation to sense of belonging, when students are left to themselves to selfauthor and self-navigate higher learning experiences. latinx student-athletes latinxs have risen in proportion of undergraduate students but are underrepresented within ncaa d1 (lapchick, 2020). studies on latinx athletes remain minimal and primarily focus on their college choice (martinez, 2018), athletic recruitment (darvin et al., 2017), and undergraduate athletic and academic experiences (grafnetterova, 2019; ortega 2019, ramos, 2018). additionally, information continues to be limited in ncaa reports, with lack of detailed information about latinxs, and hsi-d i members. for example, the ncaa (2018a) database divides members into historically black colleges and universities (hbcus), and non-hbcus. therefore, as latinxs and hsis continue to increase in higher education and athletics, it is imperative that they become part of the larger narrative, as it pertains to equitable participation opportunities within the ncaa. grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 65 theoretical framework this study employed latinx critical race theory (latcrit) (solórzano, & delgado bernal, 2001), which acknowledges the intersectionality of racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of systemic oppression relating to latinx populations. latcrit consists of five primary themes: (1) race, racism and the intersectionality within other forms of subordination, (2) the role and domination of white ideology, (3) the commitment to social justice, (4) experiential knowledge, and (5) an interdisciplinary perspective central to latinx populations (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). guided by latcrit (solórzano, & delgado bernal, 2001), this study examined how heis operationalize the hsi designation and ncaa membership, as it related to latinx athletic participation and completion rates for latinx student-athletes. throughout this study, latcrit emphasized that latinxs’ athletic participation and college degree attainment is not just a matter of individual motivation and effort (núñez, 2014); instead, these outcomes are largely influenced by systemic barriers, and institutional racism. methods this study utilized document analysis; a systematic procedure in which qualitative researchers review or evaluate both printed, and electronic documents (bowen, 2009). the method of document analysis incorporates content and thematic analysis, and consists of organizing information into categories and themes (bowen, 2009). this procedure is beyond quantification of data; rather, it involves uncovering themes pertinent to the studied phenomenon. overall, document analysis involves finding, selecting, making sense of, and synthesizing information from various documents pertaining to the study’s research questions (bowen, 2009). the primary research question this study asked was: what role, if any, do hsid1s have in fostering educational and athletic outcomes for latinx athletes? procedures data collection and analysis constituted an iterative process consisting of multiple layers. to guide in answering the primary research question, each layer of the analysis sought answers to specific ancillary research questions: (aq1) what hsis and ehsis are ncaa d1 members?; (aq2) what are the participation rates of latinx athletes at hsi-d1s?; (aq3) what are the degree completion rates of latinx athletes at hsi-d1s? every layer focused on collecting data from various databases, and reports (see table 1 below for an overview). entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 66 table 1 overview of the study’s procedures and data sources layer 1 (aq1) layer 2 (aq2) layer 3 (aq3) procedures 1. gather list of ncaa d-1s 2. gather list of hsis and ehsis 3. cross-check the lists to identify hsiand ehsid1s 1. gather student enrollment and athletic participation rates by race/ethnicity for every hsiand ehsid1 2. find participation rates by race/ethnicity for the entire d1 membership 3. disaggregate this data by institutional type to compare latinx athletic participation rates 1. gather all fte undergraduate student graduation rates by race/ethnicity at all hsi-d1s 2. gather athlete graduation rates by race/ethnicity at all hsi-d1s 3. compare tabulated data between latinx and nonlatinx students 4. compare tabulated data between latinx and nonlatinx athletes data sources (collected variables) excelencia in education reports: list of hsis and ehsis ncaa website: ncaa d1 members ncaa’s gsr database: institutional reports for every hsiand ehsi-d1 (enrollment/studentathletes # for hispanic & total) ncaa website: demographics database search by student-athletes by race/ethnicity (all d1, all d1 -hbcus included, all d1 hbcus excluded) ncaa’s gsr database: institutional reports for every hsi-d1 (enrollment/all students # for hispanic & total; freshman-cohort graduation rates/4class average, all students, studentathletes #, hispanic; graduation rates/studentathletes/gsr for hispanic & total) note. all collected data were for the academic year of 2017-2018, which was the most available at the time of data analysis. grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 67 to address aq1, layer 1 focused on cross-checking the directories of hsis, ehsis, and ncaa d1 institutions. layer 2, which corresponded to aq2, consisted of an examination of the latinx and non-latinx student-athletes' enrollment rates at ncaa d1s across different institutional types, inclusive of hsi-d1s. to address aq3, layer 3 analysis focused on studentathletes' graduation rates at hsi-d1s, which were compared with those for all undergraduate fte students attending the same institutions. the collected information was recorded in a microsoft excel document under different spreadsheet tabs. two members of the research team reviewed the data and generated additional statistics, such as by combining institutional rates to record the overall rates for hsid1, and ncaa d1 membership. having multiple researchers (peer debrief) collect and analyze data increased trustworthiness of the study. additional techniques, such as audit trail, and prolonged engagement, were followed to increase the trustworthiness of the findings (lincoln & guba, 1985). data sources data from various databases and reports were gathered, disaggregated, and analyzed. at layer 1, a report (excelencia in education, 2019) provided a list of all hsis and ehsis. the directory of ncaa institutions by division was retrieved from the ncaa’s website. both lists consisted of members from 2017-2018, which was the most recently published year of data at the time of the analysis. the student-athlete participation data for layer 2 primarily came from the graduation success rate (gsr) database housed at the ncaa website. this database provides access to individual reports for all d1 members. users can look up institutional statistics by cohort years, with the earliest dating 2004-2005. two types of reports made available are report 1, which provides graduation rates for each athletic team sponsored by the institution; the second (report 2) provides information about (1) graduation rates for all undergraduate fte students, student-athletes, student-athletes by sport category, and (2) undergraduate enrollment data for all students, student-athletes, student-athletes by sports category. as part of this study, each hsi-d1 and ehsi-d1's (report 2) was downloaded and analyzed. additionally, to gather the overall latinxs’ athletic participation rates for ncaa d1, a search in the ncaa demographics database was conducted. all collected data for this layer pertained to the 2017-2018 academic year. entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 68 the data for layer 3 of the document analysis was also retrieved from the gsr database. graduation rates for all students and student-athletes by race/ethnicity were collected. importantly, the ncaa reports included two types of graduation rates: the federal graduation rate (fgr) and graduation success rate (gsr), which is a metric invented by the ncaa. the gsr rate does not penalize institutions for students who transfer to another hei, unlike the fgr formula where students are considered non-graduates (ncaa, 2018b). in the analyzed ncaa reports, the gsr was only available for data on student-athletes on athletics aid whereas fgr was published for all students and student-athletes. the collected graduation rates included three types. the first was fgr for 2012-2013, which is a 6-year graduation rate for first-time undergraduate fte students whose studies begin 2012-2013 and graduated within six years (comparison of all students vs. athletes only). the second was fgr four-class average, which is 6-year graduation rate average for the last four class cohorts – 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2012-2013 (comparison for all students, latinx students, all athletes, and latinx athletes only). the last collected rate was gsr, which is comprised of fgr plus students who entered mid-year and athletes who transferred into an institution and received athletics aid (comparison of all athletes with latinx athletes). positionality the first author works as a full-time athletic academic coordinator at an hsi-d1 institution and is a former ncaa d3 college athlete of european descent. the first author’s primary research interests include latinx college athletes, leadership, and administration within college athletics, and athletic academic services. the second author is a director of educational programs at an hsi and is of latinx descent. the second author’s research interest includes examining the organizational structure of hsis, and issues relating to diversity in higher education. the third author is an assistant professor in educational leadership and is of latinx descent. the third author’s research focuses on issues central to faculty and latinx students, particular to latinas in engineering. grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 69 findings the findings were organized according to the layers from the document analysis: (1) ncaa hsi-d1s and ehsi-d1s, (2) latinx enrollment and student-athlete participation rates, and (3) graduation rates. ncaa hsi-d1s and ehsi-d1 institutions among the 351 ncaa d1 institutions, 32 were hsis, 40 ehsis, and 24 hbcus in the 2017-2018 academic year. accordingly, nearly 10% of ncaa d1 members were hsis, while more than 11% were ehsis (see appendix a and appendix b). the majority of ncaa hsid1s were in california and texas (see table 2 below). ten of the states with ehsi-d1s and hsi-d1s were in regions with the largest proportion of latinxs, which are new mexico, texas, california, arizona, nevada, florida, colorado, new jersey, new york, and illinois (u.s. census, 2018). overall, hsis and ehsis consisted of the majority of ncaa d1 members in seven of the states: arizona, california, florida, new jersey, new mexico, nevada, and texas. table 2 states with ncaa hsiand ehsi-d1 institutions, 2017-2018 state total # of d1 members hsis ehsis az 4 1 2 ca 24 12 10 co 5 1 fl 13 3 6 il 13 1 3 nj 8 2 3 nm 2 2 nv 2 1 1 ny 22 4 pa 14 1 tx 23 10 8 wa 5 1 total: 351 32 40 entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 70 latinx enrollment and student-athlete participation rates in 2017-2018, all hsi-d1s enrolled 656,895 undergraduate fte students of which approximately 40.5%, or 265,954, were latinxs. overall, the hsi-d1s varied in the proportion of latinx enrollees among the student body. the percentages ranged from 25.8% to 91.4% among the hsi-d1s (see appendix a). moreover, a total of 9,258 latinxs competed in ncaa d1 and approximately 15% of latinx athletes enrolled at hsis, 11% at ehsis, and 4% hbcus. the remaining student-athletes (70%) attended d1 institutions that were neither hsis nor ehsis. latinx participation varied among the hsi-d1s, with some consisting more than 25% of the student-athlete body. however, a few of the institutions had an abysmal representation of latinx athletes (see appendix a for this rate by hsi-d1s). the disaggregated data revealed that d1 athletes comprised 4.3% of all undergraduate fte students, where latinx athletes constituted 1.6% of all latinx and 0.2% of the overall fte undergraduate populations. in comparison, at hsi-d1s, student-athletes comprised a smaller proportion of the fte undergraduate student body (1.4%) where the percentage of latinx athletes in the overall latinx fte population was lower (0.5%), the percentage of latinx athletes in the overall student fte population was equal to that of all ncaa d1s (0.2%) (see table 3 below). overall, the data suggests that latinx athletes have a far less chance of athletic participation at hsi-d1s, just the same latinx comprised the same proportion of student bodies at d1s with similar minimal opportunity in participating in college athletics. table 3 comparison of athletic participation rates, hsi-dis vs. all ncaa d1s % of athletes in overall student population % of latinx athletes in overall latinx student population % of latinx athletes in overall student population hsi-d1s 1.4% 0.5% 0.2% all ncaa d1s* 4.3% 1.6% 0.2% *includes all ncaa d1 institutions including hsi-d1s grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 71 graduation rates the first data analysis compared fgr between hsi-d1s and the rest of the d1 membership using the six-year fgr for the 2012-2013 class (see table 4 below). the fgr averaged 57% for all undergraduate students at hsi-d1s, a rate subpar to the overall d1 rate of 68%. in comparison, the fgr for the same class of student-athletes only averaged 60% at hsid1s, a below overall average d1 rate for student-athletes at 68%. for hsi-d1 differences within revealed that the fgr for student-athletes (60%) surpassed that of all undergraduate students (57%); the rate was the same between athletes and non-athletes throughout all ncaa d1s. in other words, based on the fgr both students and student-athletes from the 2012-2013 cohort graduated at lower rates at hsi-d1s in comparison to the overall d1. still, as an aggregate within hsi-d1s, athletes graduated at slightly higher rates than non-athletes. table 4 comparison of six-year fgr (class 2012-2013), hsi-dis vs. all ncaa d1s fgr (class 2012-2013) all students athletes only hsi-d1s 57% 60% all ncaa d1s* 68% 68% *includes all ncaa d1 institutions including hsi-d1s in the second data analysis, the ncaa also reported the fgr four-class average (see table 5 below), which provided similar findings as the single cohort fgr. specifically, while the fgr for all undergraduate students attending hsi-d1s stood at 56%, the rate averaged 61% for student-athletes. the fgr rate was 53% for all latinx students and 60% for latinx studentathletes at the hsi-d1s. still, the national graduation averages surpassed those of hsi-d1s. specifically, the fgr for student-athletes was 64%, 64% for latinx student-athletes, and 62% for latinx students. in other words, all athletes (including latinx) graduated at higher rates than non-athletes at hsi-d1s, on average, the graduation rates were still lower than those for all of the ncaa d1. entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 72 table 5 comparison of six-year fgr (four class average), hsi-dis vs. all ncaa d1s fgr (four class average) all students latinx students athletes only latinx athletes hsi-d1s 56% 53% 61% 60% all ncaa d1s* na 62% 64% 64% *includes all ncaa d1 institutions including hsi-d1s based on the gsr, an ncaa’s metric, latinx athletes on average graduated at slightly lower rates (81%) than all student-athletes (84%) at hsi-d1s. notably, the gsr was lower among the hsi-d1s in comparison to the entire ncaa d1 for all athletes (84% vs. 88%) and latinx athletes (81% vs. 85%) (see table 6). table 6 comparison of six-year gsr (class 2012-2013), hsi-dis vs. all ncaa d1s gsr (class 2012-2013) all athletes latinx athletes hsi-d1s 84% 81% all ncaa dis* 88% 85% *includes all ncaa d1 institutions including hsi-d1s overall, a detailed look at fgr and gsr among the ncaa-hsis revealed a large difference among the individual hsi-d1s. as an observable trend, when an hsi-d1 reported low graduation rates, typically, the graduation rates were also lower for athletes and latinxs; similarly, hsi-d1s graduated students at higher than average national rates. in those instances, latinx students and student-athletes also benefited as they graduated at comparable rates. grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 73 discussion this study explored the role of hsi-d1s in fostering educational and athletic outcomes for latinx athletes. college athletics are credited with extending educational opportunities for many traditionally marginalized populations (denhart et al., 2009); for example, over $2.9 billion is awarded in athletic scholarships (ncaa, n.d.-b). therefore, it is essential that hsi-d1s recruit latinx athletes and allow them the opportunity to benefit from both the hsi designation and ncaa d1 affiliation. however, systemic barriers prevent access to underrepresented groups to the ncaa (hextrum, 2018; martinez, 2018; mcgovern, 2018). as hextrum (2018) noted, the ncaa’s focus on amateurism caters to student-athletes from middleand upperclass families who have access to economic and social capital, which then converts to cultural capital. this cultural capital is needed at hsis in furthering support for latinx students at their respective institutions (hurtado & ruiz, 2012). as latcrit (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001) suggests, the findings of this study exposed the existing embedded systems of power and privilege within intercollegiate athletics, which limit access to students from traditionally underrepresented groups such as latinxs. while latinxs dominate the student enrollments at hsi-d1s, the opposite is true about their representation as athletes. the disaggregation of data from various reports and databases uncovered that there were 32 hsi-d1s with an additional 40 ehsi-d1s soon projected to be hsis. combined, these institutions comprise over 20% of the ncaa d1 membership; hsis and ehsis constitute the majority of the ncaa d1 members throughout seven states. as the united states continues to experience rise in population growth, so have shifts and increase in demographic growth for latinxs populations (nces, 2017); as such, it is likely that ncaa hsi-d1s will also increase in representation across other states. hsis are the primary institutional type in educating latinx students (hirt, 2006; nuñez, et al., 2013). however, as this study found, the majority of latinx athletes participate in d1 sports at non-hsis. in 2017-2018 academic year, only 15% of all latinx athletes enrolled at hsis and 11% at ehsis. this is problematic given that athletics exist to operate and support the institutional mission of educating students (ncaa, n.d.-a). hsis were an afterthought on the landscape of higher education and were not federally mandated to serve latinxs (mendez et al., 2015). however, shifts in the demographic growth of latinxs and changes in latinx student enrollment at heis influenced legislation and can be accredited for the construction of the entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 74 federal hsi designation (contreras & contreras, 2015; mendez et al., 2015). this study focused on furthering scholarship (e.g., calderon, 2015; contreras & contreras, 2015) which questions the institutional structure of hsis in carrying out the mission to properly serve latinx students. access is just a first step in accomplishing educational equity, as enrollment is not the same as completion (suro & fry, 2005). heis must also support latinxs for retention and subsequent graduation. unfortunately, as the national statistics reveal, latinxs have been rising in proportion of college enrollees but the rates have not been converting to actual student retention and graduation (nces, 2017). scholarship on hsis reports mixed findings about the effectiveness of this institutional type in graduating latinx students (e.g., american council on education, 2017; contreras & contreras, 2015; laden, 2001). as this study suggests, hsi-d1s graduated athletes at higher rates than non-athletes. similarly, latinx athletes graduated at higher rates than latinx non-athletes. these findings are consistent with ncaa’s yearly reports dating back to 1993 indicating that d1 athletes surpass non-athletes in graduation rates in all subgroups based on gender and ethnicity (ncaa, 2018b). importantly, when compared to the overall ncaa d1, this study found that hsi-d1s graduated students at lower rates across all examined groups (athletes vs. non-athletes, latinxs, etc.). in other words, students attending hsi-d1s were less likely to graduate than those of their peers at other ncaa d1 institutions. latcrit (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001) posits that systems of oppression are often structurally diverse but are intended to maintain the status quo. for these hsi-d1s, they continue to perpetuate the cycles of systemic oppression for latinxs when the institutions are not reflective of producing equitable outcomes (garcia, 2019). latcrit (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001) also suggests that college degree attainment is not central to individual motivation and effort (núñez, 2014) but rather the educational outcomes of latinx largely depend on an institution’s ability to address issues of racism and negative stereotypes. lastly, all ncaa d1s graduated latinx athletes at lower than the average rate for all athletes. hsi-d1s followed this similar trend, suggesting that latinx athletes participate in athletics but that educational opportunities are limited at ncaa d1 institutions regardless of the institutional type. this finding is problematic given that the role of hsis in regard to student life, which includes college athletics, is to serve latinx students (contreras & contreras, 2015; grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 75 mendez et al., 2015; santiago & andrade, 2010). thus, while hsis are “entrando en el juego” [getting in the game] of the ncaa d1, they still have ways to go to actually foster athletic and educational outcomes for latinx athletes. limitations this study focused on hsi-di institutions, due to the ncaa only providing detailed reports about graduation and participation rates for individual institutions. although ehsis were noted in this study, only the hsi-dis examined in this study acquired the federal designation. lastly, the reports from the ncaa gsr database (e.g., fgr and gsr data) contain information on athletes on athletic scholarship only; as such, the disaggregated data within this study pertained only to latinx athletes who receive an athletic aid. implications for research and practice this study is among the first to disaggregate ncaa data by institutional type in regard to the hsi designation, and the role hsis play in fostering athletic and educational outcomes for latinx student-athletes. this study solely analyzed data via document analysis for hsi-d1s; as such, future studies could disaggregate data for ncaa d2 and d3, as to improve academic offerings, and athletic participation for latinx students. further, scholars could replicate this study and focus on ehsi-d1s given that many of these institutions will likely earn the federal designation in the future. the findings of this study suggest that hsis are members of the ncaa d1 and that latinx student-athletes from these institutions graduate at higher rates than nonathletes. however, the findings also evidence that latinxs have minimal opportunities to participate in athletics at hsi-d1s. based on these findings, the following implications for practice are offered: 1. institutions must provide equitable participation opportunities for latinxs at hsis. latinxs have minimal opportunities to participate in athletics at hsid1s. institutions operationalizing an hsi designation must reexamine their institutional policies to include the participation of student-athletes reflecting the hsis’ intended designation population. for example, d1 institutions could be entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 76 pro-active in educating athletic departments on recruitment practices relating to the population the hsi designation is intended to serve. 2. transparency in latinx student success is needed. as this study suggests, latinx student-athletes have higher completion rates than non-student-athletes, as well as all other ethnic and racial groups. however, there is minimal data published on ncaa repositories reflecting the academic success rate of latinx studentathletes. as an example, when considering the institutional choice, latinxs could benefit from additional data relating to enrollment and successful graduation rates of latinx student-athletes at hsi-d1s. conclusion given that hsis constitute the second-largest institutional type in the ncaa and continue to expand rapidly, it is important to examine the role of intercollegiate athletics at these heis in terms of their contributions in fostering educational outcomes for latinx studentathletes. the findings of this study fill a void in scholarly literature and provide foundational knowledge useful for other researchers who study latinxs in college athletics, which is the most understudied subpopulation of ncaa student-athletes today. grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 77 references american council on education. (2017). pulling back the curtain: enrollment and outcomes at minority serving institutions. https://www.acenet.edu/documents/pulling-back-the-curtainenrollment-and-outcomes-at-msis.pdf bowen, g. (2009). document analysis as a qualitative research method. qualitative research journal, 9(2), 27-40. https://doi.org/10.3316/qrj0902027 calderon, b. (2015). achieving “first in the world”: hispanic serving institutions and closing the attainment gap. harvard journal of hispanic policy, 27, 60-64. contreras, f., & contreras, g. (2015). raising the bar for hispanic-serving institutions: an analysis of college completion and success rates. journal of hispanic higher education, 14(2), 151-170. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715572892 corral, d., gasman, m., nguyen, t., & samayoa, a. (2015). an examination of existing and emerging hispanic serving institutions latino initiatives and culture. center for minority serving institutions. http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/344 darvin, l., cintron, a., & hancock, m. (2017). ¿ por qué jugar? sport socialization among hispanic/latina female ncaa division i student-athletes. journal of amateur sport, 3(2), 27-54. https://doi.org/10.17161/jas.v3i2.6460 denhart, v. (2009). the academics–athletics trade-off: universities and intercollegiate athletics. in j. hall (ed.), doing more with less (pp. 95–136). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5960-7_5 excelencia in education. (2019). hispanic-serving institutions (hsis): 2017-18. https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/fact-sheets/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-factsheet-2017-2018   garcia, g. (2019). becoming hispanic-serving institutions: opportunities for colleges and universities. johns hopkins university press. grafnetterova, n. (2019) ¡échale ganas!: student engagement experiences of first-generation latinx collegiate student-athletes [unpublished doctoral dissertation]. texas a&m universitycorpus christi. greene, d., & oesterreich, h. (2012). white profs at hispanic-serving institutions: radical revolutionaries or complicit colonists? journal of latinos and education, 11(3), 168 174. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2012.686351 gutierrez, j. (2020). beyond the moniker: an in-depth analysis of faculty roles in shared governance when research 1 institutions receive a hispanic serving-institution designation [unpublished doctoral dissertation]. texas a&m university-corpus christi. hextrum, k. (2018). amateurism revisited: how u.s. college athletic recruitment favors middle-class athletes. sport, education, and society, november 2018, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2018.1547962 hirt, b. (2006). where you work matters: student affairs administration at different types of institutions. university press of america. hispanic association of colleges & universities. (2019). 2019 fact sheet: hispanic higher education and hsis. https://www.hacu.net/hacu/hsi_fact_sheet.asp hurtado, s., & ruiz, a. (2012). realizing the potential of hispanic-serving institutions: multiple dimensions of institutional diversity for advancing hispanic higher education. in a., nuñez, s. hurtado, & e. galdeano, hispanic-serving institutions: advancing research and transformative practice (pp. 39–60). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315747552-8 johnson, a. g. (2018). privilege, power and difference (3rd ed.). mcgraw-hill education. https://www.acenet.edu/documents/pulling-back-the-curtain-enrollment-and-outcomes-at-msis.pdf https://www.acenet.edu/documents/pulling-back-the-curtain-enrollment-and-outcomes-at-msis.pdf https://doi.org/10.3316/qrj0902027 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715572892 http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/344 https://doi.org/10.17161/jas.v3i2.6460 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5960-7_5 https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/fact-sheets/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-fact-sheet-2017-2018 https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/fact-sheets/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-fact-sheet-2017-2018 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2012.686351 https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2018.1547962 https://www.hacu.net/hacu/hsi_fact_sheet.asp https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315747552-8 entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 78 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429494802-12 laden, b. (2001). hispanic-serving institutions: myths and realities. peabody journal of education, 76(1), 73-92. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327930pje7601_05 lapchick, r. (2020). the 2019 racial and gender report card: college sport. the institute for diversity and ethics in sport. https://43530132-36e9-4f52-811a182c7a91933b.filesusr.com/ugd/7d86e5_d69e3801bb8146f2b08f6e619bcddf22.pdf lincoln, y., & guba, e. (1985). naturalistic inquiry. sage. martinez, e. (2018). college choice processes and experiences of latino/a/x student-athletes in the community college context. journal for the study of sports and athletes in education, 12(1), 14-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/19357397.2018.1444700 mcgovern, j. (2018). “you have to have money to be good”: how capital accumulation shapes latinas’ pathways to college sports. journal of intercollegiate sport, 11, 149-171. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2018-0038 mendez, j., bonner f., ii, méndez-negrete, j., & palmer, r. (2015). hispanic-serving institutions in american higher education: their origin, and present and future challenges. stylus. national center for education statistics. (2016). enrollment. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98 national center for education statistics. (2017). the condition of education 2017. https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2017144 national collegiate athletic association. (n.d.-a). office of the president: on the mark. http://www.ncaa.org/about/who-we-are/office-president/office-president-mark national collegiate athletic association. (n.d.-b). scholarships. http://www.ncaa.org/studentathletes/future/scholarships national collegiate athletic association. (2018a). institutional characteristics of ncaa member schools: institutional characteristics study findings. http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2017res_institutional_characteristics_edited_201 80119.pdf national collegiate athletic association. (2018b). trends in graduation success rates and federal graduation rates at ncaa division i institutions. https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/gradrates/2018dires_d1fedgsrtrends.pdf núñez, a. m. (2014). advancing an intersectionality framework in higher education: power and latinx postsecondary opportunity. handbook of theory and research in higher education, 29, 33-92. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8005-6_2 nuñez, a., hoover, r., pickett, k., stuart-carruthers, c., & vazquez, m. (2013). latinos in higher education and hispanic-serving institutions: creating conditions for student success. jossey-bass ortega, g. (2019). examining the intersection of race and athletics for latino male studentathletes. journal of hispanic higher education. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192719876091 osanloo, a., parra, j., & pedraza, c. (2018). “los olvidados:” an integrative review of the extant literature review on the forgotten ones in intercollegiate athletics. journal for the study of sports and athletes in education, 12(1), 53-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/19357397.2018.1444697 ponjuan, l. (2013). recruiting and retaining latino faculty members: the missing piece to latino student success. the education digest, 78(5), 64. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429494802-12 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327930pje7601_05 https://43530132-36e9-4f52-811a-182c7a91933b.filesusr.com/ugd/7d86e5_d69e3801bb8146f2b08f6e619bcddf22.pdf https://43530132-36e9-4f52-811a-182c7a91933b.filesusr.com/ugd/7d86e5_d69e3801bb8146f2b08f6e619bcddf22.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/19357397.2018.1444700 https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2018-0038 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98 https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2017144 http://www.ncaa.org/about/who-we-are/office-president/office-president-mark http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/scholarships http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/scholarships http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2017res_institutional_characteristics_edited_20180119.pdf http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2017res_institutional_characteristics_edited_20180119.pdf https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/gradrates/2018dires_d1fedgsrtrends.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8005-6_2 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192719876091 https://doi.org/10.1080/19357397.2018.1444697 grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 79 ramos, r. (2018). latina/o college student-athletes: influences on recruitment, enrollment and degree completion (doctoral dissertation). proquest dissertations and theses database. (umi no. 11017061) rendón, l., nora, a., kanagala, v. (2015). ventajas/assets y conocimientos/knowledge: leveraging latin@ assets to foster student success. in mendez, j. p., bonner, i. f. a., méndez-negrete, j., palmer, r. t. (eds.), hispanic-serving institutions in american higher education: their origin, and present and future challenges (pp. 92–118). stylus. renn, k., & patton, l. (2017). institutional identity and campus climate. in j. schuh, s. jones, & v. torres (6th), student services: a handbook for the profession (pp. 58-72). jossey-bass. santiago, d., & andrade, s. (2010). emerging hispanic-serving institutions: serving latino students. excelencia in education. www.edexcelencia.org/research/emerginghispanicserving-institutions-hsis-serving-latino-students solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework. chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 suro, r., & fry, r. (2005). leaving the newcomers behind. in r. hersh, & j. merrow. declining by degrees: higher education at risk (pp. 169-183). palgrave mcmillan. sweitzer, k. (2009). institutional ambitions and athletic conference affiliation. new directions for higher education, 148, 55-63. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.368 u.s. census. (2018). hispanic heritage month 2018. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-forfeatures/2018/hispanic-heritage-month.html http://www.edexcelencia.org/research/emerginghispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-serving-latino-students http://www.edexcelencia.org/research/emerginghispanic-serving-institutions-hsis-serving-latino-students https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 https://doi.org/10.1002/he.368 https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2018/hispanic-heritage-month.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2018/hispanic-heritage-month.html entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 80 appendix a hispanic-serving institutions in the ncaa d1 (n = 32) by state, conference, and enrollment institution state athletic conference ug fte latinx enrollment latinx athlete enrollment university of arizona az pac-12 conference 26.4% 6.6% california state university-bakersfield ca western athletic conference 57.3% 16.9% california state university-fresno ca mountain west conference 51.7% 10.3% california state university-fullerton ca big west conference 43.4% 33.2% california state university-long beach ca big west conference 41.7% 15.6% california state university-northridge ca big west conference 48.5% 23.3% california state university-sacramento ca big sky conference 31.5% 11.7% saint mary’s college of california ca west coast conference 27.6% 14.2% san diego state university ca mountain west conference 30.4% 8.5% san jose state university ca mountain west conference 27.9% 13.5% university of californiairvine ca big west conference 26.5% 25.0% university of californiariverside ca big west conference 40.5% 26.7% university of californiasanta barbara ca big west conference 26.7% 7.5% florida atlantic university fl conference usa 26.2% 8.4% florida international university fl conference usa 66.4% 17.2% university of central florida fl american athletic conference 25.8% 7.2% the university of illinois at chicago il horizon league 32.6% 10.2% university of nevada-las vegas nv mountain west conference 28.9% 7.4% fairleigh dickinson university-metropolitan campus nj northeast conference 34.3% 13.9% grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 81 saint peter’s university nj metro atlantic athletic conference 45.1% 22.9% new mexico state university-main campus nm western athletic conference 58.6% 17.3% university of new mexico-main campus nm mountain west conference 47.9% 8.3% houston baptist university tx southland conference 35.7% 16.8% texas a & m universitycorpus christi tx southland conference 49.6% 14.9% texas state university tx sun belt conference 37.2% 9.9% texas tech university tx big 12 conference 27.8% 12.1% the university of texas at arlington tx sun belt conference 28.2% 9.9% the university of texas at el paso tx conference usa 82.7% 17.9% the university of texas at san antonio tx conference usa 54.6% 20.8% the university of texas rio grande valley tx western athletic conference 91.4% 31.5% university of houston tx american athletic conference 33.2% 1.7% university of the incarnate word tx southland conference 56.1% 28.2% entrando en el juego association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 82 appendix b emerging hispanic-serving institutions in the ncaa d1 (n = 40) by state, conference, and enrollment institution state athletic conference ug fte latinx enrollment arizona state university-tempe az pac-12 conference 20.4% northern arizona university az big sky conference 23.7% california polytechnic state university-san luis obispo ca big west conference 16.8% loyola marymount university ca west coast conference 21.2% santa clara university ca west coast conference 17.7% stanford university ca pac-12 conference 15.6% university of california-berkeley ca pac-12 conference 15.3% university of california-davis ca big west conference 21.5% university of california-los angeles ca pac-12 conference 22.3% university of san diego ca west coast conference 19.6% university of san francisco ca west coast conference 21.6% university of the pacific ca west coast conference 19.8% university of northern colorado co big sky conference 20.5% florida gulf coast university fl asun conference 20.3% florida state university fl atlantic coast conference 20.3% stetson university fl asun conference 15.9% university of florida fl southeastern conference 21.2% university of miami fl atlantic coast conference 21.8% university of south florida-main campus fl american athletic conference 20.2% depaul university il big east conference 18.9% loyola university of chicago il missouri valley conference 15.5% northern illinois university il mid-american conference 17.9% new jersey institute of technology nj asun conference 20.0% grafnetterova, gutierrez & banda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 83 rider university nj metro atlantic athletic conference 15.0% seton hall university nj big east conference 17.7% university of nevada-reno nv mountain west conference 20.6% iona college ny metro atlantic athletic conference 23.5% manhattan college ny metro atlantic athletic conference 21.8% st francis college ny northeast conference 21.6% suny at albany ny america east conference 17.2% la salle university pa atlantic 10 conference 17.5% abilene christian university tx southland conference 17.0% baylor university tx big 12 conference 15.2% lamar university tx southland conference 16.5% sam houston state university tx southland conference 23.2% stephen f austin state university tx southland conference 18.8% texas a & m university-college station tx southeastern conference 23.4% the university of texas at austin tx big 12 conference 23.1% university of north texas tx conference usa 24.4% eastern washington university wa big sky conference 15.4% http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ fallas escobar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 200 teacher leadership for social change in bilingual and bicultural education palmer, d. (2018). bristol, uk: multilingual matters. 198 pp. isbn-13: 978-1-78892-142-8 christian fallas escobar university of texas at san antonio teacher leadership for social change in bilingual and bicultural education (2018) was born out of the need to equip bilingual teachers with the tools to bring justice and equity to their classrooms and thus provide emergent bilinguals with the quality education they deserve. based on tenets of dialogue in zones of contact (bakhtin, 1998), funds of knowledge (moll et al., 1992), and praxis, problem-posing education, and humanizing pedagogy (freire, 2000), palmer traces the trajectory of teachers who completed the proyecto maestría program at the university of texas at austin, as they developed the leadership skills, the agency and the advocacy to challenge structural inequity and fight for justice and positive change for minoritized students in their schools. throughout the book, palmer builds her argument around the need for more bilingual teachers with leadership and advocacy skills while at the same time giving prominence to the participating teachers’ voices. in chapter one, —why bilingual teacher leadership—, palmer recounts that it all started with a 1.4 million grant to run the proyecto maestría collaborative for teacher leadership in bilingual/ esl education, initially a pilot program funded by the austin independent school district (aisd), with positive transformational results that triggered a desire to ensure its continuation. as palmer explains, the proyecto maestría provided a context, a laboratory, and a platform to explore the transformation from bilingual education teachers to leaders and its connection to the teachers’ cultural and linguistic identities, their expanding professional networks and embracing of identities as advocates for students and families marginalized by the school system. this initiative was justified by the need to prepare qualified bilingual teachers to work effectively with the increasing population of emergent bilinguals: over 980,000 english language learners in public schools in texas (p. 3). after providing an account of how the state of texas has moved from english-only education, to transitional bilingual education, to dual language bilingual education, palmer describes the procedures she followed to document the participating teachers’ experiences, as they co-constructed and co-authored their leader identities using dialogue as a powerful tool. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.414 book review: palmer (2018) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 201 chapter two, literature review: defining bilingual teacher leadership, evidences that literature on teacher advocacy and teacher leadership has thus far omitted the needs of bilingual students and educators. against this backdrop, palmer contends that not until bilingual education is understood as grounded in advocacy and leadership, the school system will continue to fail to meet the needs of the increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse communities in the u.s. overall, the literature review centers on the state of bilingual education, teacher advocacy, teacher leadership, and works situated at the nexus of these fields. regarding bilingual education, palmer touches on language as a problem, as a resource and as a right (ruiz, 1984), additive or subtractive bilingualism (lambert, 1975), and culturally relevant (ladson & billings, 1995), or sustaining (paris, 2012) pedagogies. as regards teacher advocacy, she discusses critical pedagogy (freire, 2000), anti-racist pedagogy (lopez, 2008), and sociocultural consciousness (villegas & lucas, 2007). as to teacher leadership, she discusses several models, katzenmeyer and moller’s (2009) being the one that aligned with proyecto maestría. at the nexus, she situated works constructing teachers as policy makers (menken & garcía, 2010) and models of bilingual teacher liderazgo (wiemelt & welton, 2015). chapter three, developing teacher agency and identity in bilingual/bicultural educational contexts: critical pedagogies for hope and transformation, lays the theoretical foundation at the core of both the proyecto maestría and the conclusions drawn in this book. agency, framed as in tension with structure (bourdieu, 1991; foucault, 1995; holland et al., 1998), is constructed as essential given the pressures exercised by top-down reforms in education running counter to the needs of marginalized bilingual students. also endorsed in palmer’s work is bakhtin’s notion of dialogue amidst the zones of contact between authoritative discourse structures of the curriculum (monoglossia) and the internally persuasive discourses of diverse linguistic practices in communities (heteroglossia). such dialogue within this tension-filled space enables teachers to assert their agency, act upon the world, and transform their identities: ideological becoming. the author also draws on freire’s (2000) notions of critical and humanizing pedagogies and the power these have to open individuals’ eyes “to their own oppression and/or their own role in oppressing” (p. 41) and the idea that the power and responsibility of liberation lies in the hands of the oppressed; a task in which losing hope is not an option. another important anchoring concept is that of praxis, which entails a critical confrontation with reality, expressing one’s own humanity to the oppressor, and gaining ideological clarity. in chapter 4, the proyecto maestría program and the teachers, the author describes the five cohorts that participated in the study, the proyecto maestría, the data collection and analysis procedures. the proyecto maestría was an intensive 15-month program offered to in-service bilingual fallas escobar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 202 education teachers with at least five years of experience. although the program was framed as professional development, it still had the rigor characteristic of graduate level work in that it provided participants with problem-posing, inquiry-based and dialogic experiences. the core coursework was sequenced following katzenmeyer and moller’s (2009) model for the development of leadership. the majority of the participants were female teachers who identified themselves as latinas and were originally from either texas or latin american countries. given the large amount of data, the author focused on cohort 5 and members from across other cohorts. data included reflections from online discussion boards, written assignments, recordings of out-of-class conversations, and interviews of graduates. data was analyzed using a grounded approach: open thematic coding that was later illuminated by theory. data was loaded onto nvivo, which helped with themes and sub-themes. in chapter 5, bilingual teacher leaders are reflexive practitioners, the author uses excerpts from the data to illustrate the participating teachers’ insights as to the power of reflexivity. as the teachers ascertain, reflexivity enabled them to develop comprehensive connections between theory and their practice, which in turn supported their growth as leaders. even those who started the program with ‘ideological clarity’ (bartolomé & balderrama, 2001) reported to have undergone a transformation in their levels of reflexivity. here palmer differentiates reflection (improving practice based on observations) from reflexivity (critical consideration of larger structures of power). throughout the program, the teachers were exposed to assignments and learning scenarios that encouraged them to seek answers to their own questions. examining their own practice as they solved their own challenges, the author explicates, helped maximize the teachers’ agency and nurture their reflexive skills. their enhanced reflexivity, to greater or lesser extent, also enabled teachers to be more outspoken about issues of curriculum and instructing affecting their own classrooms or schools. as palmer notes, reflexivity served as an antidote to the discouragement bilingual educators experienced in face of challenges. reflexive practice, and critical sociocultural awareness, helped teachers grapple with these challenges, since they could see the underlying causes and envision ways to ameliorate them. chapter six, bilingual teacher leaders are cultural/linguistic brokers, focuses on the role of teachers’ cultural and linguistic identity and their development of leadership skills. teachers came into the program with different levels of critical awareness of the structures of society that stratify their emergent bilingual students. along the program, examining their own cultural and linguistic identity led them to question deficit assumptions, which turned out to be key to their development of leadership skills. several assignments (e.g. ahora sí column and literacy journal box) helped teachers book review: palmer (2018) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 203 debunk the myths around literacy practices in latinx homes and realize how the dominant society imposed on them one single lens to understand literacy. acquiring clarity on their cultural and linguistic identity even led them to adopt culturally sustaining practices in their classrooms, which were framed by the teachers as key to adopting a problem-posing perspective and enacting activist leadership identities. the community walk assignment was an eye-opening exercise, as they had to walk around an unknown community taking an anthropologist’s stance and notice the community’s assets and cultural wealth. overall, exploring their cultural and linguistic identities and examining their schooling experiences allowed them to identify moments of connection and disconnection, from which they drew to decide the type of educators they wanted to be. in chapter seven, bilingual teacher leaders are collaborators, examines the teachers’ reported feelings of isolation arising from their roles as teachers serving minoritized students and from being members of marginalized communities themselves. in this regard, the teachers repeatedly reference the key role played by the sense of community and collaboration they built on their cohort in their development of leadership skills. as they note, having allies is crucial in facing the hardships of advocacy and leadership work. similarly, teachers sustain that developing activist and leadership identities requires the creation of safe dialogic spaces where they can learn from each other, share resources, and engage in reflexive practice. most of these teachers built such strong collegial communities that they continued to collaborate after graduation. others even extended their collaboration circles outside of their cohorts to local, regional and national levels, which they leveraged to share their creative, critical and culturally sustaining work. mentoring and coaching colleagues, teachers account, was a challenging experience that required that they step out of their comfort zone and work in collaboration with colleagues with different philosophies of teaching; sometimes this meant working with mainstream white colleagues. as freire (2000) posits, however, it is the responsibility of the oppressed to show the oppressor their humanity in working towards liberation. finally, in bilingual teacher leaders are advocates and change agents, palmer recapitulates the teachers’ growth in different dimensions in their trajectory to embracing leadership and advocacy. first, exposure to alternative narratives about schooling led teachers to become more reflexive of their larger societal and institutional structures within which their schools were embedded and of their own teaching practices. second, teachers developed critical consciousness as a result of gaining a deeper connection to their own cultural and linguistic identities, which in turn led them to respect their students’ life experiences funds of knowledge. this heightened awareness also enabled them to fallas escobar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 204 examine their own experiences and to create spaces for their students and the community to engage in critical discussions about the self and the world. third, as teachers absorbed radical new ideas and realized that teaching is a political act (or, in bartolomé & balderrama’s words, ideological clarity), they moved from conceiving their roles in bilingual education as that of following to that of leading. fourth, realizing that they were not alone in feeling marginalized and in wanting to organize for change (collaboration) nurtured teachers’ activism, which took different forms in their schools and communities. at the end, palmer presented a model for supporting bilingual education teachers as they take on activist and leadership roles. this model is comprised of three main pillars/principles: praxis (reflexivity/ideological clarity), cultural and linguistic identities, and professional communities. undoubtedly, palmer’s book provides a comprehensive, detailed and systematic account of the experiences that teachers from proyecto maestría had and which were conducive to their development of leadership skills and advocacy stances. forming bilingual education teachers equipped with the tools to make positive social change is a timely and much needed enterprise, especially in the face of challenges posed by an educational system that continues to marginalize linguistically and culturally diverse minoritized communities. one of the most outstanding features of this book is that the author allows the participating teachers’ voices to take central stage and tell the story of how they moved from a conception of education as following to education as leading. it becomes clear throughout the book that as teachers gained ideological clarity, heightened their critical awareness of their cultural and linguistic identities, and built long-lasting collaboration networks, they became more outspoken about issues affecting their schools and the communities within which their reflexive praxis was embedded. the teachers’ voices tell us about their processes of transformation; about the increasing sense of agency, responsibility and advocacy that drove them to switch roles in their jobs and undertake the task of building bridges between their school and the communities so that they all could engage in polyphonic dialogue about the self and the world. likewise, the interwoven voices of the participating teachers also point to fertile ground for further research. after having transformed from followers to leaders, some participants moved from teaching to administrative positions. this might be so because leadership maybe constructed as inherent to administrative rather than teaching positions, which would explain the fact that literature on leadership centers on principals rather than educators. if true, this would constitute a hegemonic structure that needs to be problematized and transformed so that educators can also be agents of change. second, given that culture has historically been understood as fixed and monolithic, concepts such as culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies should be further problematized to avoid the risk of essentializing minority groups. book review: palmer (2018) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 205 pedagogy has always been responsive to mainstream cultures but failed to operate upon principles of social justice and equity in culturally and linguistically diverse settings. finally, educators teach who they are, and thus an examination of their own biases and the hegemonic discourses that feed them should extend to scrutinizing ideological stances and positionalities beyond linguistic/cultural identities; this would go lengths in helping educators gain the ideological clarity they need to act upon the world as leaders and advocates. overall, this book is a must-read for educators and researchers interested in transforming the state of affairs of bilingual-bicultural education by situating leadership and advocacy at the core of its raison d’être; a necessary next step in disrupting hegemonic narratives and discourses that homogenize education and disregard the culturally and linguistically diverse nature of classrooms of the u.s. and beyond. as a book that calls for the transformation of the laissez faire stance of policy makers that has brought bilingual education to a state of stagnation, it becomes a valuable source of practical ideas for educators and scholars to continue to instill in bilingual-bicultural educators the skills of reflexivity, sociocultural awareness and liderazgo they need to advocate for equity and justice for those families and children who have crossed geographic and symbolic borders in search for a better life. palmer’s three-part model for bilingual teacher leadership for social change becomes of utmost importance for latinx educators facing anti-immigrant and anti-diversity discourses and narratives deep-rooted in the present trump administration. against this backdrop, the u.s. educational system necessitates more and more bilingual teachers—latinx or otherwise— with the tools for leadership and a strong sense of advocacy to counter and problematize the ever-morepresent hate-laden ideological forces marginalizing and casting a deficit light on the latinx youth in u.s. classrooms. fallas escobar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 206 references bakhtin, m. m., & bakhtin, m. m. (1998). the dialogic imagination: four essays. austin: university of texas press. bartolomé, l. & balderrama, m. (2001) the need for educators with political and ideological clarity: providing our children with ‘the best’. in m. reyes, j. halcón and c. genishi (eds) the best for our children: critical perspectives on literacy for latino students (pp. 48-64). new york: teachers college press. bourdieu, p. (1991). language and symbolic power. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. foucault, m. (1995). discipline and punish : the birth of the prison (2nd vintage books ed.). new york: vintage books. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed: 30th anniversary edition. new york: continuum publishing. holland, d., lachicotte, w., skinner, d. and cain, c. (1998). identity and agency in cultural worlds. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. katzenmeyer, m. and moller, g. (2009) awakening the sleeping giant: helping teachers develop as leaders (vol. 3) thousand oaks, ca: corwin press. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32, 3, 465-491. lambert, w.e. (1975). culture and language as factors in learning and education. in a. wolfgang (ed). education of immigrant students: issues and answers (pp. 55-83). toronto: ontario institute for studies in education. lópez, n. (2008). antiracist pedagogy and empowerment in a bilingual classroom in the u.s., circa 2006. theory into practice, 47(1), 43–50. menken, k. & garcia, o. (2010). negotiating language policies in schools: educators as policymakers. taylor and francis. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31, 2, 132-41. paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41, 3, 93-97. ruiz, r. (1984). orientations in language planning. national association for bilingual education journal 8 (2), 15-34. book review: palmer (2018) association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 207 villegas, a., & lucas, t. (2002). preparing culturally responsive teachers: rethinking the curriculum. journal of teacher education, 53(1), 20–32. wiemelt, j. & welton, a. (2015). challenging the dominant narrative: critical bilingual leadership (liderazgo) for emergent bilingual latin@ students. international journal of multicultural education 17 (1), 82-101. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 19 later-generation mexican-american undergraduate stages of passage and the development of a transformational impetus elvira abrica university of nebraska–lincoln abstract race and immigrant generation are among the most important factors that shape educational opportunities and outcomes in u.s. society. while sociological researchers point to downward mobility after the second generation among mexican-americans, there is limited empirical attention to the role that generational status may play in shaping post-secondary educational experiences and outcomes. drawing on the under-utilized undergraduate states of passage model advanced by yosso (2006), this study qualitatively examines the experiences of latergeneration mexican-american students. findings indicate that later-generation mexicanamerican college students experienced unique challenges to building counter spaces with other latinas/os/xs on campus. yet, participants consistently described a desire to transform, which i call a “transformational impetus.” implications for post-secondary persistence among mexicanamerican collegians are discussed, as are implications for advancing racial justice for the latina/o/x population more broadly. keywords: mexican-americans, college experiences, generational status doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.437 https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.unl.edu%2f&data=02%7c01%7cdavid.martinezprieto%40utsa.edu%7cf7d5002e05bd4f16eb9308d6f43184bd%7c3a228dfbc64744cb88357b20617fc906%7c0%7c0%7c636964891500770694&sdata=vbkn1h7vexqizvwq%2bda5ya95bvm1p3r6boof1161mhm%3d&reserved=0 https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.unl.edu%2f&data=02%7c01%7cdavid.martinezprieto%40utsa.edu%7cf7d5002e05bd4f16eb9308d6f43184bd%7c3a228dfbc64744cb88357b20617fc906%7c0%7c0%7c636964891500770694&sdata=vbkn1h7vexqizvwq%2bda5ya95bvm1p3r6boof1161mhm%3d&reserved=0 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.437 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.437 abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 20 introduction mexican-americans have lived in the united states for generations but race and racism continue to delimit their educational opportunities. this has been the case since the signing of the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo in 1848, wherein mexicans living in the southwestern states of california, new mexico, texas, and arizona (previously mexican territories) became american citizens but were denied access to the rights and privileges of whites. to be clear, mexicanamericans represent an ethnic group, not a race. yet, mexican-americans receive differential treatment on the basis of their ethnic identity, which serves to racialize the group as a whole. in other words, mexican-americans may be understood as a racialized ethnic group in which discriminatory treatment creates and strengthens boundaries around how they are classified and positioned within a rigid racial hierarchy characterized by varying levels of prestige and privilege in society (telles & ortiz, 2008). racialization, then, is a social process by which to understand the experiences of mexicans living in the u.s. as “american society often stigmatizes those of mexican origin, regardless of whether mexicans are considered or consider themselves white, whether they are physically distinct, or whether they speak spanish or have a spanish surname or accent” (telles & ortiz, 2008, p. 15). while sociologists disagree about the nature and extent of upward mobility among mexican-americans (jiménez, 2010), telles and ortiz (2008) argued that racialization is a viable explanation for observed patterns of downward mobility among latergeneration mexican-americans. it “creates shared personal and political identities, which often become the basis for collective political action” (telles & ortiz, 2008, p. 15). the perspective of mexican-americans as racialized group positioned at the bottom of a racial hierarchy is evinced by persistent educational inequities including, but not limited to: residential segregation, low levels of academic achievement on standardized tests, limited access to quality curriculum and advanced placement courses, tracking into vocational or remedial programs, overrepresentation in special education, low teacher expectations, and lack of role models, all of which threaten college access and persistence. while mexican-americans may share some of these challenges with other ethnic groups within the latina/o/x category, mexican-americans educational levels are among the lowest in the united states. indeed, mexican-americans are experiencing a downward mobility in which thirdand fourthgeneration mexican-americans achieve less educationally than their firstand second-generation later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 21 counterparts (telles & ortiz, 2008). such patterns underscore the importance of recognizing heterogeneity within and among racialized groups as they shape educational opportunity. currently, there is much attention to broader demographic shifts and the growth of the u.s. latina/o/x, black, and asian populations. citing an urgency with which post-secondary institutions must respond to demographic changes, educational researchers tend to rely on essentialized understandings of racial and ethnic groups (warikoo, 2018), with latina/o/x students often treated as a homogeneous population. for example, higher education literature tends to focus on experiences and outcomes among second-generation children of immigrants belonging to an unspecified latina/o/x ethnic group. alternatively, latina/o/x students may be characterized in terms of challenges associated with immigrant generation, but this sometimes narrowly amounts to undocumented immigrant status. essentializing portrayals of latina/o/x students as immigrants only are problematic for several reasons. they negate the underlying drivers of contemporary u.s. population growth (i.e. birthrates vs. immigration), undermine the prolonged participation in the elusive fight for social justice and inclusion among u.s.-born latina/o/x groups, and relatedly, inscribe the latina/o/x population as perpetually foreign such that they are consistently excluded from the rhetorical landscape of race and racial justice. practically, a lack of in-depth knowledge of intra and intergroup differences among latina/o/x students will lead to further essentialized notions of their collegiate experience, needs, and persistence behaviors. to disrupt essentializing portrayals of the latina/o/x population in higher education, i explore experiences of later-generation mexican-american college students attending four-year public institutions in california. the purpose was to examine qualitatively the potential significance of generational status in how mexican-american students navigate the college environment. the goals of this study were to provide a rich description of the college experiences of a population that is, arguably, facing erasure from higher education institutions and to better understand the challenges and barriers unique to later-generation mexicanamericans. to achieve these goals, i conducted semi-structured interviews with ten recent graduates of four-year institutions. guided by one of yosso’s (2006) less studied frameworks— the undergraduate states of passage model—i pursued the following research questions: 1) what barriers do later-generation mexican-american college students face? 2) what strategies do later-generation mexican-american college students use in order to successfully complete abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 22 their college degrees? 3) how do race, class, and generational status shape the ways in which thirdand later-generation mexican-americans navigate the college environment? literature review a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives inform research on mexicanamericans yet higher education research has been somewhat limited. post-secondary research has tended to focus on mexican-americans more generally (without emphasis on generational status) or on latina/o/x students as a whole (without emphasis on ethnicity). in early higher education research on mexican-americans, authors tended to reference participants as “chicanos,” implicating a later-generational status (e.g. attinasi 1989; nora, 1987; olivas, 1978). in more recent research on latina/o/x students, one is often left to infer, based on when and where the study was conducted, the ethnic and immigrant generation of participants. for example, research samples of latina/o/x students in california may mostly include experiences of second-generation children of mexican immigrant parents (e.g. abrica & martinez, 2016). rarely is context expressly engaged as setting a foundation of students’ experiential realities via racial histories and patterns of immigrant incorporation (e.g. abrica, hatch-tocaimaza, & abrica, 2019). within the university of california system, for example, students increasingly come from households with at least one immigrant parent (douglass, roebken, & thomas, 2007). unfortunately, higher education literature has yet to afford sufficient attention to ways in which a distant or more recent immigrant experience may shape the college experience or a wide array of college outcomes explicitly for mexican-americans. an intersectional lens is increasingly used in research on latina/o/x students. this allows for recognition of students’ multiple social identity statuses that are associated with intersecting forms of oppression. these works challenge “unidimensional understandings” of how students navigate power and privilege as they move through their academic trajectories (alemán, 2018, p. 178). though intersectional approaches are useful in shedding light on the experiences of later-generation mexican-americans in particular, there are three emerging issues with its application. one is application of intersectionality as a description of where social identity categories meet (nunez, 2014). another is that there is still an essentializing of culture among ethnic and racial minorities (warikoo, 2018). finally, there is a presumption that all latina/o/x students are “equipped with the critical awareness to navigate the barriers resulting from intersectional oppression” (alemán, 2018, p. 197). this third point is particularly important as later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 23 post-secondary interventions designed to support latina/o/x students may not fully account for the ways in which students’ subjective meaning around their social identities or sense of belonging within a particular community may complicate their utilization of available resources. for example, abrica and dorsten (2019) argued that how students think about race may shape how they utilize supports and services within the community college context. thus, even when an intervention targets latina/o/x students, it may presume a level of ethnic belonging among participants or racial consciousness not shared across all students. meanwhile, psychological literature has shown that not all latina/o/x and/or mexicanamericans share the same level of ethnic sense of belonging, which is unfortunate given that ethnic identity is well-documented as a buffer against racial stress. a study by gloria, castellanos, and orozco (2005), for example, examined psychological coping strategies among primarily second-generation latina undergraduates and found that ethnic belonging was more significant than generational status in shaping coping strategies. similar studies have identified a strong ethnic identity as having a positive effect on psychological well-being among latina/o/x students (iturbide, raffaelli, & calro, 2009). these findings support extant sociological research which documents the many protective effects of a strong ethnic identity and ethnic support among children of immigrant parents. co-ethnic support is also identified as a contributing factor to the success of the second immigrant generation over their native born counterparts. co-ethnic support or ethnic enclaves are believed to foster educational attainment though supportive networks. access to an ethnic enclave connected by language and customs provides an academic benefit to those generations who can still connect to the support of their coethnics. ultimately, later-generation mexican-americans’ experineces are unique. they are simultaneously racialized according to negative racial stereotypes but may lack a sense of ethnic beloning and membership within the mexican commuity that could otherwise be beneficial. yet, higher education research tends to assume a uniform latina/o/x identitiy that is largely based on studies of the second generation children of mexican immigrants. as the second generation comes of age and new generations of mexican-americans go to college, it will be critical to understand both the racialized dimensions of these students’ experiences and the nuances of immigrant generation, ethnicity, culture, and language as they diffferently shape students’ experiences and navigation of post-secondary environments. abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 24 conceptual framework this study uses a critical race theory framework to explore the undergraduate experiences of later-generation mexican-americans. critical race theory (crt) is a framework that emphasizes race and racism as essential factors in understanding social inequality that is perpetuated and maintained by u.s. institutions. within education, crt is a framework by which to understand the phenomenon of exclusion of students of color in higher education via a lens that centralizes their racialized experiences. more specifically, crt in education challenges the dominant discourse on race and racism in educational theory, policy, and practice and examines how they are used to subordinate specific racial and ethnic groups (solórzano, 1998). solórzano and delgado bernal (2001) named five major tenets that characterize a crt framework in education: 1) centrality and intersectionality of race and racism, 2) challenge to dominant ideology, 3) commitment to social justice, 4) centrality of experiential knowledge, and 5) utility of interdisciplinary perspectives. a crt framework asserts that racism is endemic to american life and shapes the experiences of people of color in higher education. ideologically, crt challenges notions of neutrality and objectivity in higher education and contends that such ideas serve white selfinterest, power and privilege (ladson-billings & tate, 1995). methodologically, crt draws from a variety of disciplines and approaches to issues of racism. it seeks to bring attention to both historical and contemporary experiences with racism by drawing on the experiential knowledge of people of color (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). ultimately, crt is committed to dismantling institutions that perpetuate and maintain racist ideologies. situating a study of the experiences of later-generation mexican-americans within a critical race theory framework allows for an emphasis on race and racism while still acknowledging that students of color bring to bear multiple social identities that collectively shape one’s educational experiences and experiences with intersecting forms of oppression. the centrality of race and racism comes not at the expense of class analysis or attention to other differences within a particular racial or ethnic group. rather, crt allows for an understanding of later-generational status as both a privileged identity (vis a vis formal citizenship) as well as one shaped by prolonged exposure to racism endemic to u.s. institutions. in other words, crt allows me to interpret generational status not simply as a trivial aspect of later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 25 one’s identity but as one that signifies a racial history with u.s. racialization and a particular racial ontology. while yosso’s (2005) model of community cultural wealth has gained the most traction in the study of latino students, underutilized is her conceptualization of undergraduate stages of passage. drawing on a crt framework, yosso (2006) put forth what she calls a “chicana/o undergraduate stages of passage model.” the model, yosso posited, breaks away from “assimilation tendencies” of traditional models of student departure to capture a more holistic process by which chicana/o students navigate the campus environment. yosso used the method of counter storytelling, defined as a method of telling the stories of marginalized people of color, to present three stages that characterize the chicana/o undergraduate experience. the first stage is called “culture shock” and refers to the stage in which students feel isolated and alienated immediately upon entering the university. as a way of coping with culture shock and racial, class, and gender discrimination, students do not withdraw but build communities to “ease the sense of culture shock” (yosso, 2006, p. 120). such communities, or counterspaces, support chicana/o students both socially and academically. yosso’s (2006) counterstory informs us that counterspaces often occur on campus through student organizations. examples of social counterspaces are those that “allow room, outside the classroom confines, for students to vent frustrations and to get to know people who share many of their experiences” (yosso, 2006, p. 123). counterspaces are thus born when students come together to address their marginalizing experiences and work to support each other. as a result of building communities on campus, chicana/o students become integrated into multiple communities and this contributes to their academic and social success (yosso, 2006). thus, yosso (2006) revised extant higher education models emphasizing separation, transition, and incorporation to reflect the culture shock, community building, and critical navigation of chicana/os. a visual representation of the model is presented in figure 1. figure 1 figure 1. chicana/o undergraduate stages of passage culture shock community building critical navigation of multiple worlds abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 26 in exploring the undergraduate experiences of later-generation mexican-americans, this study utilizes yosso’s (2006) model as a guiding conceptual frame. it serves as both a conceptual guide as well as an organizational tool for highlighting both the barriers and strategies to success that were identified in this study. what follows is a methodological overview of my study, followed by a presentation of findings, and a discussion of the utility of this model for understanding the experiences of later-generation mexican-americans in college. methods to examine the collegiate experiences of later-generation mexican-americans, i conducted an exploratory, qualitative study. exploratory research allows the researcher to “investigate a little-understood phenomenon, to identify or discover important categories of meaning, and to generate hypotheses for future research” (marshall & rossman, 2006). in this case, college experiences (phenomenon) were explored to understand the salience of latergeneration identity status among participants. specifically, the study design allowed for the exploration of “themes and categories of meaning” around race and generational status as it shaped their navigation of the college environment (marshall & rossman, 2006, p. 34). data collection this study utilized semi-structured interview data. semi-structured interviews combine the directness of survey instruments with an open-ended interview structure to produce focused qualitative data (schensul, schensul, & lecompte, 1999). semi-structure interviews allow for the exploration of a contextualized understanding of how participants’ racialized, ethnic, and generational status identities were operationalized within the college context. a total of 10 interviews were conducted, each lasting between 40-60 minutes and audio recorded. during each interview, participants were asked to describe the neighborhood they grew up in, their experiences in high school, as well as their social networks before entering college. next, respondents were broadly asked to identify how they got to college, which allowed me to explore the pre-college ethnic, generational, and educational background of participants. next, respondents were asked, broadly, to describe any obstacles they faced within the college environment and to identify how they dealt with those challenges. the latter set of questions allowed me to explore general collegiate experiences as well as how race and/or generational status informed those experiences. site selection and study participants later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 27 several four-year, university of california (uc) campuses were targeted for recruitment. each uc campus represents a highly selective research university. with level of selectivity and demographic makeup being similar, i assumed similarities in the quality of the campus environment and focused specifically on individual-level experiences with race and generational status. california was an appropriate site for the study given that mexicans are the ethnic majority among latinas/os/xs and this allowed for greater exploration of within group difference (i.e., generational status). participants were selected for this study if they self-identified as being of mexicanamerican descent and were third, fourth, or later-generation. participation will was limited to this one ethnic group because extant literature establishes the unique racial history of mexicans in the u.s. other latina/o/x ethnic groups were excluded from the study because they potentially enter the united states under different political and economic contexts and thus have different experiences. finally, participants were included in the study if they were in their third of fourth year of college during the first few years of the obama administration (20082011). though almost a decade old, this study importantly documents the experiences of mexican-american college students during the “post-racial era” that are not otherwise welldocumented. there are important comparisons to be made now, early in the trump era, in terms of the racialization of mexican-american college students and the salience of immigrant generation. in other words, this study captures the potential salience and significance of intragroup differences that, in the more racially hostile political era, may look much different. as such, the data presented are not historical but what i call critical heritage data, information of social and political significance that cannot be replicated because of the obsolescence of the conditions in which the data were generated.1 data analysis and reflexivity 1 heritage data is a term borrowed from a geographic research article titled “when are old data new data?” in the article griffin (2018) outlined a myriad reasons why scientists should never dismiss older experimental data, defining heritage data as that which is at risk of loss due to factors like environmental catastrophe. i have adopted this for application to social science data because of a dearth of parallel discussion around qualitative, interview data. abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 28 i first engaged in a preliminary, inductive coding round in which i looked for general themes related to the stated research questions. from this open coding process, based on the recommendations of saldaña (2016), i generated a preliminary coding schema that was then used to develop more abstract ideas about the salience of immigrant generation for participants. later, as suggested by saldaña, (2016) and strauss and corbin, (1998), i engaged in a secondary coding round in which i relied on an axial coding approach (saldaña, 2016; strauss & corbin, 1998). this allowed me to examine relationships or axes among categories, which proved particularly fruitful in helping me understand what elements of the findings mapped onto the conceptual framework and which elements were missing from the stages outlined by yosso (2006). my positionality as a researcher fundamentally informed the design, data collection, and analysis of the study. my own understanding of race and racism was primarily shaped by my experiences as a later-generation chicana living in california as well as my educational background in chicana/o studies. the story of my own family’s life in the united states, and their struggles to gain equitable access to educational opportunity, provided the impetus for studying students’ subjective experiences with race and immigrant generation. findings culture shock respondents identified experiencing a culture shock upon arriving to the university. when asked to identify the biggest challenges faced during college, monica2 immediately cited a culture shock that made her physically sick. she explains: it was the culture shock that was a huge barrier for me to get over and get past, especially being in the dorms—like, my dorm being picked up and cleaned by people that i identified with. i was uncomfortable having brown folks cleaning up after me or serving me food because not long ago that would have been my job. that’s the kind of work that i was used to. while monica described coming to an environment where brown people like herself occupied the service roles on campus, elena emphasized social class. when asked to describe her biggest barriers in college, she said: “for me it was a class issue, like i clearly wasn’t a diplomat’s 2 all names are pseudonyms. later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 29 daughter, or, a king’s daughter or whatever. i mean, i thought i knew rich people, like sons and daughters of doctors and lawyers. but when i got there [the university], i was just totally blown away by the amount of wealth that a lot of the international students had.” for the later-generation mexican-american participants in this study, one of the greatest barriers in college was experiencing what they describe as a culture shock. this shock was described as a result of entering environments where they felt marginalized on the basis of their racial and class backgrounds. for the majority of participants, culture shock presented a challenge to degree completion. this finding is consistent with yosso’s (2006) conceptualization of “culture shock” as the initial stage of passage in her model of undergraduate chicana/o students. lack of co-ethnic support lack of co-ethnic support presented later-generation mexican-american respondents with additional challenges that began during high school and continued into their undergraduate experiences. a lack of co-ethnic support manifested itself in three interrelated categories: in the context of ethnic organizations on campus, through the mechanism of language, and resultant feelings of ethnic inferiority. student organizations. feeling excluded from ethnic student organizations was a recurring theme. for example, jessica described experiencing a disconnection between herself and latina/o/x student organizations on campus rooted in a lack of acknowledgement of her experience. she said, “i feel like i don’t fit into these latino associations or sorority groups. a lot of them are like firstand second-generation, and i don’t fit in there…i am so far removed from that immigrant narrative—it’s you know, it’s a disconnection, and people assume that it is part of my experience.” jessica acknowledges an “immigrant narrative” which prevails in latina/o/x student groups that does not reflect her own experiences as a later-generation mexican-american. she says that as a result of being formed around more recent immigrant experiences, she felt a disconnection between herself and latino organizations on campus. mary-ann described feeling excluded from latina/o/x student organizations because of the perception that she wasn’t latina enough. she shared a frustration with student groups which did not recognize the great diversity among latinas/os/xs in terms of their backgrounds and academic interests in college. she recounts having to repeatedly remind others in the group that although she was different, she was still a latina: abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 30 i am third-generation like a lot of people are. we have been here for a long time and because i didn’t learn spanish, because i was light skinned, because i was articulate, because i was smart, i wasn’t a latino. it was like you had to be down, you had to be the most oppressed so—about the students who were pursuing science or business, they would make comments that they shouldn’t be at the meetings. mary-ann explained that she felt that the goal of these groups should be to support all students of color and that students should be free to pursue any field of study they choose. for mary-ann and jessica, latina/o/x student organizations served not as sources of support, but as sources of exclusion. xavier echoes this sentiment and describes how he felt excluded because he did not know spanish: i did venture into a latino organization, and i quickly realized that just like in high school, there is a status: those who know how to speak spanish and those who don’t know how to speak spanish. i felt personally that i was a little brushed aside because i didn’t speak spanish, and it’s funny because i would say that those in my high school who didn’t speak spanish actually had a little higher class status than those who spoke spanish. but in this organization, speaking spanish elevated your status. i always felt a little left out. i didn’t feel that there was a space where i belonged. feeling excluded from latina/o/x student groups on the basis of language was a common theme. respondents described looking to latina/o/x student organizations as a result of feeling marginalized on campus, but finding little support or opportunities to build community with their co-ethnics. they felt excluded from latina/o/x ethnic organizations because their experiences as a later-generation mexican-american were not recognized, they did not speak spanish fluently, or they did not meet the ethnic criteria upheld within these organizations. language. upon arrival in college, not knowing spanish becomes a serious barrier to establishing connections with other latinas/os/xs and becomes an implicit social demand that respondents constantly struggle to meet. participants described experiencing the inverse of what they had experienced before college: whereas the spanish language was generally looked down upon in u.s. society, they found that speaking spanish was a prized asset that was the primary criteria for establishing a sense of belonging among co-ethnics. carla, who is a later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 31 participant in a latina/o/x community service organization at ucr said that she is the only one in the group who doesn’t speak spanish. when i asked whether or not they expect her to know spanish, she exclaimed: yeah! that’s the thing, i think there are a lot of first generations in college, and i guess they just except me to know spanish, and i’m like, “no, i don’t know [spanish]!” they’re like, “what?! you don’t know spanish?!”…or like in my spanish class, i’m like the only brown person in there. here carla is sharing how there is always an implicit assumption among co-ethnics that she knows spanish and there are seldom others who share in her lack of spanish proficiency on campus. some participants shared painful memories associated with expectations to learn spanish. as monica put it, “if we don’t speak spanish well, like, there is something wrong with us or we are too good.” selena humorously described the embarrassment associated with not knowing spanish while at ucla: we would go out to parties, and i always was feeling like i was missing part of the joke ‘cuz they would have little inside jokes in spanish. and i would just sit there like, “ha ha ha,” and laugh like i knew what was going on, but i didn’t have a clue. and then after a while, since they see you, they start to talk to you in spanish, and i mean, i can only carry a conversation so far. sometimes i would ask what things mean and they would find out i don’t speak spanish. it would come out, and that was always the thing that i didn’t want to have come out. as a result of not wanting to keep this secret, several respondents took classes in high school and in college to try to learn spanish. many respondents said they have been taking spanish classes “forever” but have not been able to master the language. thus, the pressure exerted by individual peers and latina/o/x ethnic organizations had a significant influence on the courses respondents decided to take in college as well as the areas of study they decided to pursue. ethnic inferiority. several respondents describe being labeled as “whitewashed” or being called a “coconut” for not meeting ethnic standards set by other latinas/os/xs and mexican-americans. these experiences began early on, even before students arrived at college. yet issues continued to surface as students pursued their degrees. all respondents described how their entire lives have been characterized by not fitting in with whites or latinas/os/xs, abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 32 leaving them feeling like they don’t belong anywhere. for example, jessica said she was labeled “white” early on in grade school: “i definitely didn’t fit in with the white kids, you know. i didn’t fit in with the mexican kids who were being bussed in because a lot of them were first and second-generation, and i talked like a white girl and i had a mother who was educated.” thus, jessica describes feeling disconnected from co-ethnics on the basis of language and class criteria. yet, she acknowledged how the racism she experienced didn’t change with the level of education held by her mother. she said, “everyone thought my mom was like the cleaning woman and that my dad was a groundskeeper. i was like, ‘uh no, my mom has a b.a. and my dad is a doctor, thank you very much.’” despite her parents’ high levels of education, jessica experienced racism from whites in her native san diego, exclusion from her co-ethnics, and low teacher expectations of mexican students, which she says resulted in her not applying to college and never feeling like should could ever go. respondents express never fitting the criteria of whites because of their appearance but also never fitting in among co-ethnics as a result of limited spanish proficiency, class background, higher levels of parental education, or differential levels of acculturation to u.s. society. thus, lines were clearly drawn between mexicans and whites, and respondents in this study consistently describe being somewhere in the middle. mandy shared the following: i remember being called an oreo—like i guess, darker on the outside, white on the inside. i wouldn’t feel like i was white, but that’s how people saw me. like they would speak negatively about mexicans, and i would say, “you know who i am right? you know what i am?” and they would say, “oh not you, you identify with them, but you’re not like them.” so because i didn’t have a strong connection to them [ mexican-americans], that’s what made them see a distinction between me and them [ mexican-americans]. here, mandy was the subject of a racist comment about mexicans, and when she challenges that racist behavior, she is immediately deemed the “exception.” for her, befriending whites in high school meant being bombarded with racist rhetoric directed at her ethnic group. as a result of persistent racism directed at the respondents, some described wanting to be white for a long period of time before college. jessica tried to change her appearance to reflect a white identity: later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 33 i changed my name, i died my hair blond with peroxide and lemon juice, which made my hair orange. i started to gain a lot of weight during that period because of puberty but also because i was really depressed. for jessica, not being able to live up to standards of whiteness or mexicanness was particularly damaging. her depression lasted for much of her young adulthood and resulted in a diminished sense of self. she explains that the period of depression she endured caused her to drop out her first quarter of college. for selena, her rejection by mexican peers with a more recent immigrant experience resulted in her taking up an asian identity. she said: i started hanging with the asians, and i would really like hang out with pretty much—and it was pretty much me and some southeast asian folks and like korean and chinese folks. then they were like, “great! since you hang out with us, and you’re like the only non-asian person that hangs out with us, we’re going to give you an asian name.” so my best friend at the time was vietnamese and chinese and her and this other korean girl were like, “we’re going to name you. you’re new name is ‘lin tran.’” so they totally gave me a name, and they basically tried to like assimilate me into their—you know, and it isn’t until now that i realize this is so weird, you know, how these cultural/racial dynamics play out in education, right? or my educational experience. as a response to racial exclusion, selena began to hang out with asian peers who happened to also be immigrants. she attempted to be part of this friend group and was happy to adopt a different racialized identity and abandon her name. this, arguably, signified the disconnect selena felt with her spanish-origin name, and by extension, her ethnic group. while it was talked about as a privilege to be able to transition between ethnic and racial groups, it also demonstrated a lack of connectedness to a primary mexican community. desire to transform when asked to describe how they managed to succeed in college or how they are currently managing to succeed in college, respondents cited a strong desire to utilize their education as a means of transforming society. they describe feeling as though they have been given their unique positionality as an outcast from both the dominant white u.s. society and mexican co-ethnics in order to serve as agents of change. they see their positionality as a unique opportunity to transform society in the interest of social justice. abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 34 for example, mandy said she wanted to become a teacher so that her unique background would become a standard of what her students would see as mexican-americans. she said of her experiences with racial discrimination: it’s made me much more aware of—it’s developed a desire not to allow people to see me as my friends saw me. i don’t want them to see me and say, “that’s mandy, the exception.” so it’s made me very passionate and made me want to help my people. my ethnicity. my race, mexican students, chicana students, latino students—whatever you want to call it. it’s helped me in the sense that i want to be able to teach the stuff that i got so late. i don’t want there to be those negative perceptions of mexicans. jessica reports feeling a desire to change society as a result of her marginalizing experiences as a single latina undergraduate mother: i discovered that there were no services for parenting students, there was nothing. i was like, “how do other single moms do this?” because i was so stressed by the challenges with raising my daughter. i was like, this is a research project, and i should do that kind of research and go research some of the stuff about transfer students and see if it has anything about parenting students! in this instance, jessica turned a marginalizing experience into an identifiable gap in existing literature in higher education. it was her desire to make college easier for herself and others that motivated her to pursue research. in pursuing that research, she says she was “saved” and re-enrolled after withdrawing from a quarter. michael also turned his isolating experiences into a research project. he said: i felt so alone. i felt like there was no one in the world like me. there was no one who had an uncle in jail, a crack-head aunt, teenage cousins with babies and working at target, or a dad with a needle in his arm. there was just no one like me. so, i had nothing else to do but do “me-search.” i wanted to learn about people like me from people like me. i had to go to graduate school and do this work. it was like, “get a ph.d. or die trying!” for michael, his isolating experiences in college resulted directly in the desire to understand his experiences, to engage academically with his marginalized identity. in this case, michael turned the isolation he experienced into a research agenda and career path. later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 35 discussion this study asked later-generation mexican-americans to identify the most significant barriers to and strategies for success in college. the most salient barriers to degree completion among later-generation mexican-american participants in this study were experiencing a culture shock and a lack of co-ethnic support. when asked to identify how they have managed to succeed in college, respondents most often identified a desire to transform social inequities they see operating in their daily lives. respondents identified experiencing a culture shock upon arrival to the university. participants reported feeling like they didn’t belong, that there must have been some mistake that brought them into college. this was true even of those whose parents themselves had college degrees. this shock is consistent with the first stage of yosso’s (2006) model for chicana/o undergraduates. as a result of experiencing a culture shock upon arrival to college, participants described attempts to join latina/o/x student organizations unsuccessfully. they did not find a community to which they could belong because, according to respondents in this study, they “fit the criteria but didn’t meet the standards,” as mandy put it. in other words, there were unwritten ethnic criteria that participants didn’t meet. lack of spanish fluency, “acting white,” having educated parents, or not conforming to an “immigrant narrative” made it difficult to gain access to latina/o/x ethnic student organizations on campus. however, in losing access to latina/o/x ethnic student organizations, respondents felt further marginalized and unable to build community. if participation in ethnic student organizations provides students of color with an important sense of belonging on campus, then these students definitely missed out. feeling excluded on the basis of not meeting mexican ethnic criteria was nothing new to my respondents. many described high school experiences in which they struggled with claiming a “white identity” or a “mexican identity.” although such experiences typify the lived experiences of many later-generation mexican-americans, such a lack of belonging has implications for their academic success. it is not enough to simply say this characterizes the experiences of a group when it has profound consequences, such as depression and feeling “so alone” in college. these complicated ethnic/racial circumstances make later-generation mexican-americans a particularly vulnerable population in higher education which experiences the same racially hostile campus environments as other students of color, yet does not have the co-ethnic support we may assume black and latino students provide one another. abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 36 given that participants in this study were made vulnerable both by a hostile racial environment and the exclusion of their co-ethnic peers, i see a lack of co-ethnic support as a key mediator in the undergraduate experience of later-generation mexican-americans. i define a “lack of co-ethnic support” as an exclusion from ethnic “counterspaces” on the basis of ethnic standards erected by those expressing internalized racism (yosso, 2006). as a result of not gaining access to ethnic group membership, students do not benefit from interacting or seeing people of the same racial/ethnic group, and thus, feel further marginalized than they might feel if were granted access to their ethnic peer groups. i present lack of co-ethnic support as a rejection from ethnic student organizations and rejection from mexican co-ethnics for failing to meet standards of “mexicanness.” the rejection among co-ethnic peers is, arguably, a reflection of internalized racism among the perpetrators of the exclusion. i present lack of co-ethnic support as a significant part of the undergraduate experience for later-generation mexican-americans. figure 2 provides a visual representation of the interlocking relationship between the aforementioned concepts. figure 2 figure 2. lack of co-ethnic support as manifestation of internalized racism as a result of extreme isolation, students develop what i call a “transformational impetus,” or a desire to pursue education in order to change elements of society which have exerted a negative influence in their lives over a sustained period of time. the concept is derived from college impact studies which often measure student activism in terms of the extent to which a student describes a desire to influence social values, participate in a community action program, help others in difficulty, and influence the political structure (sax, byrant, &harper, 2005). thus, although similar to the social activist factor, transformational impetus offers a different focal point, which centralizes not only an interest in social justice but also an interest in changing environments that the individual deems oppressive. a transformational impetus is also not unlike solórzano and villalpando’s (1998) concept of resistant cultural capital, which is defined as the ability to transform experiences with internalized racism "acting white" ethnic criteria lack of coethnic support later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 37 marginalization into social transformation. it is referred to as a skill, a tool, a form of capital in which students of color find ways to utilize their education and university resources to ultimately benefit the communities from which they come (solórzano & villalpando, 1998). i use the term “transformational impetus” to describe the experiences of my respondents because i believe it specifically captures: 1) a prolonged exposure and knowledge of u.s. inequality, and 2) the sole reason for pursuing education is to transform society. for my respondents, a desire to change society as a result of marginalizing experiences wasn’t a skill to survive and succeed in higher education, but the motivation for pursuing a life’s work and for finding a reason to live. transformation is something that my respondents developed in order to find purpose in life and a purpose for their education. both dimensions of participants’ experiences—lack of co-ethnic support and a transformational impetus—might be added as stages of undergraduate passage for latergeneration mexican-americans. although a transformational impetus might be reflected in the critical navigation stage of the model, i see it as a precursor to critical navigation, a prerequisite that emerges as a result of adversity in college and witnessing generation after generation the same adversity within an individual’s community. figure 3 represents a revised model of stages of passage for later-generation mexican-americans with prolonged exposure to u.s institutions. figure 3 figure 3. revised undergraduate stages of passage for later-generation mexican-americans the revised stages of passage reflected in the model for later-generation mexican-americans reflects the themes most salient for respondents in this study. implications there are a number of implications for higher education research and practice that stem from this exploratory study. namely, practitioners should consider that interventions, supports, generations of exclusion lack of coethnic support culture shock transformational impetus critical navigation abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 38 and programs geared toward latina/o/x students may inadvertently privilege a particular community. as we adopt culturally relevant interventions that draw on cultural resources of communities of color, we must critically and clearly define who those communities are and who gets to be a part of them. heterogeneity among and within ethno-racial groups complicates the design of such student support services. this may be a rather obvious implication but one worthy of emphasis amidst the growing focus on latina/o/x demographic shifts. in terms of future research, higher education scholars might draw on interdisciplinary literature to complicate seminal frameworks that may no longer “fit” increasingly diverse ethnoracial populations. intersectional perspectives that consider the simultaneity of multiple forms of oppression are particularly compelling to not only assess but redress inequitable power dynamics in education. application of an intersectional lens, coupled with disciplinary evidence of the complexities of ethnic identity, immigrant generation, and racialization may serve to move the field past description of educational inequity toward meaningful solutions. the underutilized undergraduate states of passage model advanced by yosso (2006) is an example of a framework that breaks from traditional integrationist approaches to the study of college students, though it too suffers from potentially essentializing notions regarding the formation of counterspaces among students. as this study demonstrated, within-group hetereogeneity and access to co-ethnic peers complicates the formation of counterspaces. future research must engage more critically with latina/o/x heterogeneity, racial conceptions and/or consciousness, and students’ experiences, beliefs, and subjective interpretations of social oppressions and identities. new and nuanced models that account for such subjectivities are urgently needed. finally, later-generation mexican-americans, though perhaps privileged by documented status and knowledge of u.s. institions, are not immune to the deleterious consequences of their positioning within u.s. racial hierarchies. they should not be peripheral but central to conversations of racial justice and eductional equity. moreover, it is important to recognize that lack of ethnic cohesion and internalized racism within the latina/o/x community poses a significant threat to racial unity, with implications for how this population moves forward politically and responds explicitly to racist nativism characteristic of the trump era. ultimately, intra ethnic group tensions and traumas are barriers to collective racial mobilization that delimit opportunities for political advocacy and unity within the latina/o/x population. recognizing latina/o/x divisions as a byproduct of a legacy of racial exclusion and discrimination begat by later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 39 white supremacist, heteropatriarchal social structures is a step toward understanding their contemporary effects on students’ collegiate experiences. conclusion this study explored the college experiences of later-generation mexican-americans enrolled in four-year institutions in southern california. i drew on the under-utilized undergraduate stages of passage model advanced by yosso (2006) to examine specifically how race and generational status informed students’ navigation of the college environment. participants were made vulnerable by structural inequities and negative racializing experiences as well as instances in which they felt they were not “mexican enough” to engage with coethnic peers. despite feeling betwixt and between both mexican peers and dominant white peers, participants managed to be academically successful by connecting to what i call a transformational impetus, a desire to advance social justice and transform society. as outsiders of their ethnic group, participants saw themselves as uniquely positioned to transition in and out of different group boundaries. thus, although lack of ethnic cohesion was found to prevent the formation of counterpaces with peers, later-generation mexican-americans in this study leveraged their negative experiences into a desire to transform society, resulting in a critical navigation of the college environment. abrica association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 40 references abrica, e. j. & dorsten, a. (under review). how students think about race: exploring racial conceptions and their implications for student success among latino male community college students. new directions for community colleges. abrica, e. j., hatch-tocaimaza, d. k., & abrica, b. (2019). sueños de los flyover states: narratives of latino males in the great plains. community college journal of research and practice, 1-14. doi:10.1080/10668926.2019.1567405 abrica, e. j., & martinez jr., e. (2016). strategies for navigating financial challenges among latino male community college students: centralizing race, gender, and immigrant generation. journal of applied research in the community college, 23(2), 59-72. alemán, s. m. (2018). mapping intersectionality and latina/o and chicana/o students along educational frameworks of power. review of research in education, 42(1), 177-202. doi:10.3102/0091732x18763339 attinasi jr, l. c. (1989). getting in: mexican-americans' perceptions of university attendance and the implications for freshman year persistence. the journal of higher education, 60(3), 247-277. doi:10.2307/1982250 douglass, j. a., roebken, h., & thomson, g. (2007). the immigrant university: assessing the dynamics of race, major and socioeconomic characteristics at the university of california. a student experience in the research university (seru) project research paper. research & occasional paper series: cshe. 19.07. center for studies in higher education. gloria, a. m., castellanos, j., & orozco, v. (2005). perceived educational barriers, cultural fit, coping responses, and psychological well-being of latina undergraduates. hispanic of journal of behavioral sciences, 27(2), 161-183. griffin, r. e. (2015). when are old data new data? georesj, 6, 92-97. doi: 10.1016/j.grj.2015.02.004 iturbide, m. i., raffaelli, m., & calro, g. (2009). protective effects of ethnic identity on mexicanamerican college students' pscyhological well-being. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 31(4), 536-552. jiménez, t. r. (2010). replenished ethnicity: mexican-americans, immigration, and identity. berkeley, ca: university of california press. ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. f. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47. marshall, c. & rossman, g. (2006). the how of the study: building the research design. in c. marshall & g. rossman (eds.), designing qualitative research (pp. 51–96). thousand oaks, ca: sage. olivas, m. a. (1978). chicanos in higher education: proceedings of a national institute on access to higher education for the mexican-american. the journal of higher education, 49(2), 197-199. doi:10.1080/00221546.1978.11776621 nora, a. (1987). determinants of retention among chicano college students: a structural model. research in higher education, 26(1), 31-59. núñez, a.-m. (2014). advancing an intersectionality framework in higher education: power and latino postsecondary opportunity. in m. b. paulsen (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 29, pp. 33–92). dordrecht, netherlands: springer. doi: 10.1007/978-94-017-8005-6_2 later-generation mexican-american stages of passage association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 41 sax, l. j., bryant, a. n., & harper, c. e. (2005). the differential effects of faculty-student interaction on student outcomes for men and women. journal of college student development, 46(6), 642-657. schensul, s. l., schensul, j. j., & lecompte, m. d. (1999). essential ethnographic methods: observations, interviews, and questionnaires. walnut creek, ca: altamira press. solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. solórzano, d., & villalpando, o. (1998). critical race theory: marginality and the experiences of students of color in higher education. in c.a. torres & t.r. mitchell (eds.), sociology of education: emerging perspectives (211-224). albany, ny: state university of new york press. telles, e. e., & ortiz, v. (2008). generations of exclusion: mexican-americans, assimilation, and race. new york, ny: russell sage foundation. warikoo, n. k. (2018). race, ethnicity, and cultural processes in education: new approaches for new times. in mehta, j., & davies, s. (eds), education in a new society: renewing the sociology of education. chicago, il: university of chicago press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. doi:10.1080/1361332052000341006. yosso, t. j. (2006). chicana/o undergraduate “stages of passage”: campus racial climate at midwestern university. in critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. new york, ny: routledge. volume 15 issue 2 2021 amae invited issue mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools guest editors sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.2.425 where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 104 where were the mexicans? the story is a conversation elizabeth d. rivas university of texas at san antonio abstract this essay explores the institutionalized master narrative of public institutions and how the mandated policies enacted by public institutions impact social studies teachers when they are delivering instruction to their students. a socio-transformative constructivist framework guides the essay in order to affirm that knowledge is socially constructed and mediated by cultural, historical, and institutional contexts (rodriguez, 1998; rodriguez & berryman, 2002). this essay also examines how educators can go beyond the teaching of their course curriculum to enact change at their campus and district. also, this essay examines how district leaders can support teachers who want to be social justice change agents. keywords: ethnic studies, mexican american studies, critical consciousness, integrated curriculum, socio-transformative constructivism rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 105 introduction you start with the love of the kids, not the love of your subject matter…and know that you’re going to go to the wall for them to make sure that they’re successful. then, you better reek of ethnic studies. in history, you talk about the american revolution, and you throw in mexican or spanish surnames: bernardo gálvez, the 9,000 mexican troops that came up here, the money that mexico donated to washington for the revolution, the missions that were collecting money for the revolution. the kids knew i cared. they knew that i was there for them even if they had already graduated. they saw the love. so, they had respect for me…i started as a teacher, and they may have to drag me feet first out of the classroom as a teacher. — teaching is a fight: an interview with sal castro (ochoa. 2010) i do not purport that my teaching experience is similar to that of sal castro (ochoa, 2010). after all, sal castro is one of the chicano movement’s best-known advocates. he was a champion for chicano student rights and fought against unequal conditions in the los angeles unified school district. he is mainly known for providing guidance to high school students in their fight against the discriminatory treatment they suffered in high school. as a result, these chicano high school students organized blowouts, i.e., walking out of classrooms as a show of protest. these student protests were known as chicano blowouts. however, in my classroom, my middle-school students were made aware of the contributions made by latinas/os and other people of color. i taught for twelve years, and i tried to “reek of ethnic studies” when i could. however, because i was beholden to the state-mandated curriculum, i had to find creative ways to teach ethnic studies and disrupt, when i could, that mandated curriculum. i would say that the main turning point for me took place during a discussion about the american revolution with my 8th grade us history students. it was sparked by a student question. it was after this question was raised that i began giving serious thought about my own teaching practice and, ultimately, about my dissertation research study and what i wanted to learn about social studies teachers. the impetus for my research began when a student of mine asked, “ms., where were the mexicans?” before i could begin to formulate an answer, another student chimed in and said, “we were in the back selling raspas (snow cones).” the class was predominantly latina/o, where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 106 more specifically, of mexican descent. they all had a good laugh, as did i, but later i began to internalize this. while i was fully aware of the master narrative and the idea of american exceptionalism, it had never occurred to me that my students were just as aware of it. they may not have known the term american exceptionalism, but they knew that they are not represented in the story of the united states that they are taught. this idea of american exceptionalism has been part of the story of the united states since its beginning and it is used to describe the country as a distinctively free nation based on democratic ideals and personal liberty. questions of the validity of this view aside, few of my students feel like they are a part of this democratic ideal because they are not visible in the school curriculum, and neither are their ancestors. the contributions of their latino ancestors are simply a footnote in history, or their contributions have been trivialized by way of separate periodic events like hispanic heritage month.1 so, what to do? i began to examine my own positionality as a social studies teacher and concluded that i would not be part of the indoctrination process. instead, i would do what i could to challenge and disrupt the master narrative and bring various points of view to my students. i would challenge them to ask questions and become critical thinkers. i would demand that they take a position on an issue and defend it with a sound rationale. we would not shy away from issues of race and representation in my class. the examination of my own positionality led me to also examine the role that my gender plays in the delivery of instruction. it was clear that i also had to address the patriarchal narrative and empower my students to question this as well. the more i considered my positionality, the more i began to wonder how my female social studies colleagues delivered instruction. i began to think of questions like, “are social studies teachers aware that they are perpetuating the master narrative? if they are aware, do they do something about it? how do women deal with the patriarchal narrative?” these and other questions continued. i narrowed my research focus to latina social studies teachers because i, too, was a latina social studies teacher and i wanted to know how other latina social studies teachers deal or do not deal with the master narrative. 1 national hispanic heritage month takes place from september 15 to october 15. its goal is to recognize the histories, cultures and contributions of american citizens whose ancestors came from spain, mexico, the caribbean and central and south america. however, most of the celebrations center on superficial contributions instead of political and economic contributions and furthers the marginalization of latinas/os. rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 107 the examination and researching of latina social studies teachers through the application of socio-transformative constructivist framework (stc), “provided an orientation to teaching and learning that pays close attention to how issues of power, gender, and equity influence not only what subject matter is covered but also how it is taught and to whom” (rodriguez & berryman, 2002, p.1019). in addition, the socio-transformative constructivist framework (stc) afforded me an opportunity to analyze how latina social studies teachers disrupt the set parameters that have been established by local school districts, district board members, the texas education agency, and the texas state board of education—all of which are societal public institutions and all of which are also directly influenced by political currents and the actions of political leaders. another factor that was analyzed is the use of authentic instruction, i.e., the teacher instruction is meaningful to the student, resulting in student achievement beyond the classroom. social studies teachers who practice authentic instruction use a variety of primary and secondary resources to give students opportunities to investigate history from various viewpoints, participating in critical interrogation of historical sources. by investigating how teachers connect the primary and secondary resources to real life, i was able to gain an understanding of how teachers create this space for their students. i share this to give the reader a sense of all that is involved when examining teacher pedagogy. as the secondary social studies instructional coach in harlandale independent school district (harlandale isd), charged with working with secondary social studies teachers to impact student achievement, i encounter hypothetical concepts numerous times during different intersections related to my work. i often find myself having to “blur the lines” and “move out of my lane” to enact change. by applying the socio-transformative constructivist framework (stc) to my work, i am able to examine the interconnectedness of power structures, teacher pedagogy, and society. to illustrate this, i have provided a visual representation of the interconnectedness of power structures, teacher pedagogy, and society (see figure 1). where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 108 figure 1. interconnectedness of power structures, teacher pedagogy, and society this diagram demonstrates how public institutions affect teacher pedagogy and how society, in general, is influenced by these structures. my lived experience as an educator intersects with how these interrelated factors impact the work i do as a social studies instructional coach. because teachers' delivery and interpretation are contingent on the teachers’ lived experiences, it is critical to understand the idea of change agents. to better understand change agents, a reference to the theory of constructivism is needed. cobern (1993) posits that constructivism is a “model intended to describe learning. the model implies that an individual is always an active agent in the process of meaningful learning. learning does not occur by transmission but by interpretation” (p.110). if what cobern theorizes is correct, then one can make an argument that social studies teachers act as interpreters of social studies content. if most of the coursework and teaching instruction were to be delivered using the institutionalized master narrative, then the presupposed position would be that social studies teachers will present their material via the dominant cultural lens. however, if a teacher is an active agent, then one can infer that teachers can present the curriculum using their own personal lenses. this is the overall idea of figure 1. because social studies teachers have different lived experiences and use their personal frameworks, one conclusion that can be rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 109 drawn is that the interconnectedness of power structures, teacher pedagogy, and society are critical components that need to be analyzed to disrupt public institutions. the reality is that teachers are forced to work within the mandated educational policies established by the state. regrettably, educational policy decisions are enacted by people who often have little commonality with the communities that are most impacted by those policies. most come from privileged backgrounds and adhere to the master narrative without considering how a person’s identity, ethnicity, race, and gender impact the personal and professional trajectories of the community members that are marginalized. additionally, many of those who make education policy are not professional educators and, in the case of social studies education, not historians. social studies education, in particular, is frequently politicized to reinforce the master narrative, leading to situations such as a recent one in texas where the teaching of critical race theory (crt) is legislated against and signed into state law. social studies teachers are prevented from discussing current events without giving equal time to both sides of issues, regardless of the issue. they also have limitations placed upon the discussion of the history of racism in the united states in their classrooms. these laws are made by policy makers who can’t even define crt. these educational policies impact students of color, which is one of the reasons why all teachers should act on behalf of their students. moreover, teachers of color have an additional responsibility to act on behalf of their students of color. responding to these policies is critical to disrupting the master narrative. the main question teachers, specifically teachers of social studies who are charged with teaching both the stories of history and the critical thinking skills of historical analysis, should ask themselves then becomes: how can they disrupt the master narrative? some social studies teachers may already feel overwhelmed simply keeping up with their own locally mandated rules. consider the everyday issues that teachers deal with, i.e., student discipline, administrative demands, high stakes testing, etc. now add the current layer of xenophobia in the united states and some social studies teachers may just want to bury their heads in the sand and wait for this to pass. retribution against teachers who are perceived as advocating for social justice is a real fear for teachers who may not be willing to risk their livelihoods. additionally, covid-19 has added another layer of frustration and has further exposed the inequities found among marginalized communities. because the institutionalized master narrative often nullifies the voices of people of color, it is imperative for teachers to where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 110 become active change agents. because of their intersectionality status and because of their ready-made learning forum, i.e., environments that support and promote learning, latina/o social studies teachers can facilitate these difficult discussions, as well as covertly teach the unwritten and unofficial histories concerning people of color. statement of problem the current political atmosphere in the united states is both volatile and fascinating. issues such as the black lives matter movement, immigration reform, national healthcare, and foreign policy should be topics where critical discourse should be taking place. in addition to discussions in political and communal spaces, the logical area where this discourse should occur is in schools; this is where young people can learn how to participate in critical discourse and both students and teachers can learn from participating. according to the seven themes found in the report educating for american democracy (2021), students should be taught to engage in civil disagreement regarding controversial topics. this is especially important in communities of color. according to jones (2016) “in the african american and latino communities, civic and social engagement is depended upon economics and social capital” (p.4). language barriers, economics, and other factors limit civic participation by these communities, which leads to their not having a voice in creating the educational policies that impact their children. social studies teachers are in the best position when it comes to discussing current events. they have the opportunity to discuss issues such as immigration, black lives matter, lgbtq+ rights, equal pay, gun liability, the affordable care act (obamacare), supreme court decisions, covid-19, etc. theoretically, these issues have an impact on individuals because these types of policy decisions will directly impact the personal and professional trajectories of individuals. interestingly, however, it appears that people of color and the historically marginalized are the ones that have a more tumultuous relationship with public institutions— one that either advances or inhibits their trajectory. one question to ponder is this: how do people who originate from colonized groups negotiate personal and structural conditions? because a country’s history influences structural conditions, one has to consider how the united states was formed, i.e., via conquests, invasions, and settler colonization. another question to consider is: how do descendants of colonized people, e.g., american indians, african americans, and mexican americans, overcome preconceived ideas about their rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 111 citizenry? one way of addressing these questions is to examine the role of teachers and how their pedagogy is used to either empower or hinder students who are members of historically marginalized groups. purpose of the essay schools are a public institution, but they are often overlooked as power structures that need to be disrupted. rarely are individuals cognizant enough to understand that the schools they attend are part of a system that is problematic. school is seen in its daily round of assignments, discipline, homework, extracurriculars, etc., rather than as an organized system with an agenda or set of agendas. for the purposes of this essay, schools are regarded as both public institutions and as power structures and are evaluated as such. having stated that, i argue that teachers are at the epicenter of this ethnically and racially charged storm. in some classrooms across the united states, teachers have a cross-section of the united states’ population. in other classrooms, the cross-section is far less diverse; usually, this cross-section is homogenous and based on economic status. this representative sample can be homogenous both ways: many members of the dominant group are together based on economic privilege, or many members of minority groups are together, based on economic disadvantages. both representative samples are ethnically and racially divided. as race relations continue to deteriorate in society, teachers will be at the forefront of this situation. the teachers who are most responsible for the facilitation of a dialogue on ethnic and race issues are social studies teachers. because the social studies classroom is the most appropriate stage on which to have these discussions and because these current event topics come up naturally through student questions about events that clearly tie into the historical narrative, social studies teachers will have to make a choice about whether to act and use these ethnic and race issues as teaching moments. a social studies teacher who discusses the history of slavery in the united states can expect students to ask questions about present-day race relations and even challenge the dominant narrative by asking the teacher questions like: who built the united states? which people held political, economic, and social power? why have almost all the presidents been white? teachers who are responsible for teaching texas history and the texas revolution can expect to face questions from latina/o students, and others, about who is a texan, how borders change, and how immigrants should be perceived. so, too, will u.s. history teachers where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 112 who teach about immigration, nativist movements like the know-nothing party, and migration within the u.s. be asked about current issues of immigration and xenophobic viewpoints. the teachers’ responses, their words, and actions —whether active or inactive—will have an impact on the students and communities they serve in both the immediate and foreseeable future. thus, the goal of my essay is to explain how the work i do in the harlandale isd addresses racially charged conflicts of the past and the present, and how the establishment of mexican american studies in the district will empower the students long after they graduate. also, this essay will address how to go beyond ethnic studies and create a system that can change student trajectories. road to mexican american studies before delving into the initial steps taken to establish mexican american studies at harlandale isd, it is important to share some basic information about the district. harlandale isd has a unique cultural heritage that is inherent to the south side of san antonio. san josé mission was founded in 1720 by padre antonio margil de jesus. in 1793, the secularization of the five san antonio missions was ordered. the lands that were surveyed were distributed to the local indigenous peoples, ancestors to some of the residents of the harlandale isd community today. in 1888, the granary at the san jose mission served as harlandale isd’s first attended school. eventually, the students were moved to the saucedo house on the mission’s plaza. the students were taught by individuals who descended from one of the original spanish families that came from the canary islands to settle in san antonio in 1731. while some may argue that harlandale isd’s roots are entrenched in the colonizer’s history, it is important to understand that this is the district’s history and that it informs its present. one way to ensure that the history of the indigenous peoples is told is to apply the aforementioned sociotransformative constructivist framework (stc). when applied by the district’s social studies teachers, students will learn of the jumanos, which includes peoples of the southwest and south plains. students will get an understanding of this “other” history, which is just a small portion of the state-mandated curriculum. students will learn that jumanos were known for their language skills, the establishment of trade routes, and diplomatic relations with the spanish and the french. most importantly, they will learn of the local connections to the indigenous history of the area. rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 113 the telling of the “other” history is our goal at harlandale isd. our journey to establishing mexican american studies (mas) began in 2014. in 2014, the texas state board of education (tsboe) members voted in favor of including ethnic studies in texas schools. one of the first proposed textbooks for mexican american studies in texas was, mexican american heritage (riddle & angle, 2016) which resulted in controversy in the state. reyes (2016) posits that the textbook “advances stereotypes [and] does not belong in the curriculum of any state” (p.1). for example, the textbook authors assert that some mexican americans “opposed western civilization and wanted to destroy society [and links] mexican americans to the drug trade and illegal immigration and says that mexican americans are ambivalent about assimilating into the united states” (reyes, 2016, p.2). in an article by rogelio sáenz (2016) published in june 2016 in the san antonio express-news opinion, sáenz provides background information on the textbook authors, jaime riddle and valerie angle, and on the publisher, momentum instruction. according to sáenz, the authors are not “known as experts in mexican american studies and lack the appropriate academic credentials…. [momentum instruction is] linked to cynthia dunbar, a far-right conservative who served on the texas state board of education from 2007-2011” (sáenz, 2016, p.3). in point of fact, dunbar was the ceo of momentum instruction. sáenz refers to basic factual errors found in the textbook and provides a summary of the number of images in the textbook, concluding that photos of white people disproportionately outnumber photos of mexican americans. he also notes that the book’s focus is more on other latino groups instead of on mexican americans. the misrepresentation of the mexican american experience in mexican american heritage ((riddle & angle, 2016) is a prime example of the actions taken by dominant members of society to further advance their agenda under a public institutional guise. this textbook controversy marked the beginning of the journey to a mexican american studies course at harlandale isd. because course catalog processes vary across districts, there is no established process in the state or even in the city. at harlandale isd, the initial step must come from a campus teacher who is interested in teaching a new course. because of my role as district instructional leader, i cannot initiate this step. doing so would have the appearance of it being sanctioned by the district. fortunately, there are many social studies teachers who are also social justice activists and seek out opportunities to resist and disrupt the system. such was the case for harlandale isd and the implementation of mas courses. in this case, the teacher where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 114 that initiated this step is a former graduate school peer of mine who works in the district. when we heard of the textbook controversy, we both followed the story in the media and with colleagues in academia to see what would develop. after tracking what was occurring at the state level, sarah van zant, a high social studies teacher, began this journey of a mas course for harlandale isd. sarah van zant has been teaching for twelve years at harlandale isd. she earned a bachelor’s degree and has a university-endorsed teaching certificate. ms. van zant also holds a master's degree in bicultural-bilingual studies from the university of texas at san antonio (utsa). she began teaching mas with actual students during the 2017-2018 academic school year at harlandale high school. in the ideal world, the process would have been easy. however, the start of this journey was difficult. in 2015, harlandale isd, more specifically, harlandale high school, began offering mexican americans studies as an elective. in order to get a better understanding of the district’s rollout, i have provided a visual representation of the timeline (see figure 2). figure 2. road to mexican american studies: timeline rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 115 the road initially traveled was difficult mainly due to competing classes for upper-level students. in my discussions with ms. van zant, i learned that most of the counseling staff, while supportive of mas, were still suggesting other classes to students. at this point, ms. van zant decided to advertise and recruit students herself. she informed interested students and instructed them to ask counselors to enroll them in the mas course sections, telling them that they would need to be proactive to have this option. as word spread, more students began to register for the mas course sections. eventually, other high school history teachers began to show interest and attended summer workshops in preparation for future academic calendars. ms. van zant blazed the trail. eventually, mccollum high school would follow harlandale high school’s lead and would establish their own mas course sections during the 2018-2019 academic calendar. today, both harlandale and mccollum high schools offer mas courses, as do our non-traditional high schools: stem early college high and frank tejeda academy. when i asked ms. van zant why she wanted to establish mas at her campus, she said, looking at my own background i wanted to use my masters [in biculturalbilingual studies]. [i] decided to look if [tea] had a course in mexican american studies (mas) and saw they did and started the paperwork. i just want the kids to know mexican american history because some of them think in the context of american history, but not outside of the box. why are there only certain people being mentioned in the history [text]book? i want them [students] to be more aware of their culture and history. have more information so they’re able to make decisions…be able to contribute. van zant, s. (2018, september 12). the leadership demonstrated by ms. van zant is critical in providing students with opportunities to enroll in ethnic studies courses like mas. also, teachers like her are actively providing students with opportunities to learn about the contributions of historically marginalized peoples who have been left out of the master narrative. current state of mexican american studies the establishment of mas at harlandale isd has evolved over the years. during the 2017-2018 academic calendar, ms. van zant followed the u.s. history era timeline. this essentially resulted in a u.s. history course that highlighted mexican american contributions. where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 116 during the summer of 2018 two mccollum high school teachers attended the mexican american studies (mas) teachers academy offered by the university of texas at san antonio. because of the work i do with the utsa teachers academy, i was able to meet with these harlandale isd teachers and was able to work on a new timeline for the course. this timeline would be different from the one initially followed by ms. van zant. however, because ms. van zant is always thinking about how to enhance her instruction, i was not surprised to learn that she had taken her timeline to a different level. by reflecting on what worked and did not work during the 2017-2018 academic school year, ms. van zant created themes from which her lessons would be created and used them in the 2018-2019 academic year. when the other campus teachers and i learned of this, we immediately thought it was a great idea! with the help of our district social studies coordinator, rubina pantoja, the teachers were able to meet during the summer of 2018 and were able to plan curriculum together. i supported the teachers by offering instructional strategies that could be applied to the lessons they developed. while there was still work needed on the district scope and sequence, a draft of the newly created thematic curriculum was used during the 2018-2019 academic calendar. i have provided a visual representation of the themes that guide mas instruction at the district (see figure 3). figure 3. harlandale mas themes harlandale mas themes 1st six weeks 2nd six weeks 3rd six weeks history part 1 mexican/mexican american literature mexican culture 4th six weeks 5th six weeks 6th six weeks mexican/mexican american music/art history part 2 political activism rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 117 this table lists the themes that are part of the district’s unit and lesson planning process. the other vital part of the lesson planning process is the ethnic studies: mexican american studies texas essential knowledge and skills for social studies (teks). every year the mas teachers continue to refine and adjust their instruction. to support them, i conduct an annual review of the scope and sequence used in their courses. an added element to the 2020-2021 scope and sequence was the addition of conceptual lenses. essentially, the detailed topics and teks that are used to create lessons are presented via the application of these conceptual lenses, i.e., political, economic, geographic, and social (pegs). the use and application of these lenses allow the students to be able to access and understand the unit lessons on a broader and “big idea” scale. i have provided a visual representation of a select unit from the district’s mas curriculum guide to illustrate this (see figure 4). figure 4. select unit: harlandale mas curriculum guide 1st six weeks unit unit big idea history part 1 mesoamerica 1920s this unit uses a conceptual lens of pegs (political, economic, geographic, and social) to explore and understand the origins of mexican american people which emerged as a result of the spanish conquest of the americas. in addition, this unit will also explore the foreign threats to the spanish empire, specifically the northern frontier and independence movements within the frontier. political economic geographic social 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b • colonial north america • mission system • wars and treaties and the us/mexico border 7d • relationship to early global economies, development of new spain's/mexico's 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d • wars and treaties and the us/mexico border 2a, 2b, 11a • gender and power, resistance and emergence of mexican identities where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 118 • borders and borderlands • impact of treaty of guadalupe hidalgo northern frontier this table shows one unit of study: history part 1: mesoamerica-1920s. the “big idea” centers on the origins of mexican american people and foreign threats or colonization. the numbers with letters represent the texas essential knowledge and skills for social studies (teks) that are associated with the conceptual lenses. for example, mas standard 2a asks that students be able to explain the significance of events that are considered to be turning points relevant to mexican american history, i.e., aztec arrival in mexico's central valley, the establishment of the aztec empire, hernán cortés's first encounter with the aztecs, the spanish conquest of the aztecs, creation of the new laws, and jesuit expulsion from the americas. note that in this unit there are eleven additional teks. each teks is as specific as the 2a example. while there is not a state-mandated assessment for mas, the teks serve as a guide in our unit and lesson planning process. in addition, the mas teachers are free to expand beyond the mas teks, but this must be done with a scholarly intent that is meant to add value and relevance to the curriculum. mexican american studies: collaboration my pedagogical training, practical classroom teaching, and research interests have impacted how i see society. these factors have intersected seamlessly during my time at harlandale isd. one of my personal goals is to go beyond mexican american studies in my district and empower as many teachers as i can so they can then, in turn, empower their students. the mas curriculum will always be of paramount importance to me. it is so important that when i was afforded an opportunity to work with teachers beyond harlandale isd, i jumped at the chance. i am currently collaborating with the mexican american civil rights institute (macri). this institute is a national organization that is dedicated to chronicling and advancing the contributions of mexican americans to the civil rights effort in the united states. in conjunction with region 20, the education service center (esc) serving san antonio and a large portion of south texas, macri was able to offer four virtual workshops—two in rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 119 fall 2020 and two in spring 2021. the goal was to provide strategies that could be used to integrate mas into the grade 4 and grade 7 curriculum. the work i do for macri has provided me with an opportunity to expand my reach and help teachers outside of my district find ways to resist, disrupt, and expand the mandated curriculum. the work i do with macri may also help in establishing an elementary and middle school pipeline to mas at the high school level, perhaps even eventually establishing a mas major pipeline to local universities. the opportunities seem to be very attainable and exciting. i look forward to seeing what develops from this work and future macri collaborations. critical consciousness: change agents at work to enact meaningful change, teachers and anyone in the education field should be willing to engage in meaningful learning of the communities they serve. cobern’s (1993) change agent model centers on the idea that individuals are actively engaged in meaningful learning. when meaningful learning is a two-way street, then real change can take place. a change agent refers to a teacher who changes their practices, attitudes, and beliefs (guskey, 2002). building on cobern’s (1993) and gusky’s (2002) work is the research by agarwal et al. (2010) which followed recent graduates and examined how these new inservice teachers enacted social justice curriculum into a viable pedagogy. the social justice principles outlined by agarwal, et al (2010) are provided in a visual format (see figure 5). figure 5. social justice principles. adapted from agarwal, et al (2010) where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 120 the application of these models allows teachers and those who work in the education field to contribute to the welfare of the community and the country by educating students and to engage in critical thinking at a personal and professional level. by evaluating their own personal values, teachers create a space in which they empower their students, encourage their students to be open-minded, and model and affirm ways for their students to be respectful of each other and of people from other groups. together, teachers and their students learn about repressive actions that target and marginalize specific groups of people, e.g., institutionalized racial slavery and american indian removal. by examining and learning about both the oppressors and oppressed, these educators work to foster critical thinking in their students, e.g., analyzing primary source documents for bias and point of view and supporting assertions with evidence. the end game is that the students will become active participants in their learning and their community and gain the skills needed by active and engaged citizenry navigating a world filled with contradictory and often biased messages. conclusion: beyond mexican american studies building on cobern’s (1993) change agent model and the work by agarwal, et al (2010), i would argue that change agents are also individuals who take steps to enact meaningful change that can impact their own and others’ trajectory. that said, one of my personal goals is to go beyond mexican american studies and support teachers who want to be agents of social justice for themselves and their students in their chosen areas of interest. the lessons i have learned in helping to implement a mas program within the district have strengthened programs in related areas. with the support of the assistant superintendent and the district social studies coordinator, i have been able to work with teachers who support first-generation and immigrant students. i have had the privilege to veer from “my lane” and work with educators whose focus is working with students who fall under the deferred action childhood arrivals (daca) category and are development, relief, and education alien minors or dreamers. some of these educators include the bilingual/english as a second language (esl) coordinator, esl language specialists, and campus counselors. collectively, our aim is to serve as social justice change agents. one of our long-term goals has included the establishment of a dream center in harlandale isd. as of this writing, this goal has been realized. creating a safe space for our immigrant and first-generation students was important to us. the steps taken to get here rivas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 121 were deliberate and calculated. we took nothing for granted because we understood that “buy-in” was critical to realizing this goal. this first district dream center will be housed at mccollum high school and the grand opening will take place in fall 2021. as i reflect, i cannot help but think back to my 8th-grade students and that discussion we had about mexican americans and the american revolution. the choices educators make are critical and have a long-lasting impact on students, just as the words of our students can have a lifelong impact on us. in the end, realizing that the choices educators make are critical is the first step to developing critical consciousness, which i hope leads educators to humanize their students and the communities they serve. where were the mexicans? association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 122 references agarwal, r., epstein, s., oppenheim, r., oyler, c., & sonu, d. (2010). from ideal to practice and back again: beginning teachers teaching for social justice. journal of teacher education, 61(3), 237-247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109354521 cobern, w. (1993). synthesis of research. journal of educational and psychological consultation, 4(1), 105-112. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532768xjepc0401_8 guskey, t. r. (2002). professional development and teacher change. teachers and teaching: theory and practice, 8(3/4), 381-391. https://doi.org/10.1080/135406002100000512 harlandale independent school district history. (n.d.). retrieved from https://www.harlandale.net/ jones, l. a. (2016). the importance of civic and social engagement in minority communities. journal of family strengths, (16)(1), 1-11. ochoa, g. l. (2010). teaching is a fight: an interview with sal castro, rethinking schools, 2011. retrieved february 28, 2016, from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej93279 reyes, r. a. (2016). texas' mexican heritage textbook a racist travesty [editorial]. cnn opinion. retrieved may 13, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/opinions/texas mexican-american-heritage-textbook/ riddle, j., & angle, v. (2016). mexican american heritage. momentum instruction. rodriguez, a. j. (1998). strategies for counter-resistance: toward sociotransformative constructivism and learning to teach science for diversity and for understanding. journal of research in science teaching, 36(6), 589-622. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)10982736(199808)35:6<589::aid-tea2>3.0.co;2-i rodriguez, a. j. & berryman, c. (2002). using sociotransformative constructivism to teach for understanding in diverse classrooms: a beginning teacher's journey. american educational research journal, 39(4), 10171045. https://doi.org/10.3102/000283120390041017 sáenz, r. (2016). who are these people in 'mexican american heritage'? san antonio express news, pp. f1-f6. retrieved june 12, 2016. the seven themes. (2021, march 04). retrieved april 27, 2021, from https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/the-roadmap/7themes/ https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109354521 https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532768xjepc0401_8 https://doi.org/10.1080/135406002100000512 http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ej93279 http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/opinions/texas-mexican-american-heritage-textbook/ http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/opinions/texashttps://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1098-2736(199808)35:6%3c589::aid-tea2%3e3.0.co;2-i https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1098-2736(199808)35:6%3c589::aid-tea2%3e3.0.co;2-i https://doi.org/10.3102/000283120390041017 https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/the-roadmap/7themes/ critical consciousness: change agents at work http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 2 2019 amae special issue critical latinx indigeneities and education guest editors luis urrieta, jr. university of texas at austin melissa mesinas stanford university ramón antonio martínez stanford university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 91 multilingual mexican-origin students' perspectives on their indigenous heritage language p. zitlali morales university of illinois at chicago lydia a. saravia depaul university maría fernanda pérez-iribe university of illinois at chicago abstract this article focuses on the reported experiences of three focal students who participated in a spanish/english dual language program in their southern california school district throughout their elementary and middle school years. all three students identify as mexican-origin and speak spanish, english, and the indigenous language of zapoteco and have different relationships with their languages. the framework of critical latinx indigeneities (blackwell, boj lopez & urrieta, 2017) is used to explore the practices engaged in by the students, including language use and transnationalism (sánchez, 2007), as well as the investment to learn and use a language as part of their identity (norton peirce, 1995; norton, 2000). even though dual language programs provide much needed linguistic supports for language maintenance, perhaps more importantly, they provide support for ideological shifts towards language maintenance rather than transition to english-only instruction. however, the three students experienced a segmented and limited focus on spanish language development in middle school compared to their elementary school experience. the authors discuss implications for outside school spaces that can support authentic language use, in addition to school-sanctioned language programs promoting multilingualism. key words: transnationalism, zapoteco, critical latinx indigeneity, dual language education, investment doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.430 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.430 morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 92 introduction rosa’s mamá: porque les digo a ellosun día vamos a regresar a nuestro pueblo, ¿no? y pues regresamos y pues puro inglés, ahora si que ni español. y pues, no. ahí tenemos tíos, parientes, abuelos, y pues ¿como no te van a entender? no, no ponle que aprender pues. aprender para comunicarse. es lo que, lo que yo pienso, que es lo mejor para mi. [because i tell themone day we’ll return to our town, no? and well, we’ll go back and only english, not even spanish. and well, no. there we have aunts/uncles, relatives, grandparents, and well. they won’t even understand you? no, no get to learning then. learn in order to communicate. it’s what i think, what i think is best.] the above quote is from a mother describing how important it was for her children to continue being able to speak zapoteco, in addition to spanish, while also becoming fluent english speakers. this paper looks at the educational experiences, linguistic use, and perspectives of three multilingual mexican-origin students with either one or two parents of zapotec heritage around their language use and schooling experience. the students participated in a dual language program in their southern california school district throughout their elementary and middle school years and are fluent spanish and english speakers. additionally, they all have different relationships and fluency with the indigenous mexican language of zapoteco. this study considers what each language provides the youth access to and how their heritage languages connect them to others who speak the same languages – in méxico and in the los angeles area. we use the framework of critical latinx indigeneities (blackwell, lopez, & urrieta, 2017) to explore the idea of indigeneity within the context of the lives of students who speak zapoteco as a heritage language but receive schooling in the us in english and spanish. we also explore the idea of language use, development, and maintenance from the lens of investment (norton peirce, 1995; norton, 2000), which is a poststructuralist approach to language learning. of relevance to this exploration is the context of the schooling of these students: a dual language program within a school district providing this additive language option from kindergarten through twelfth grade. while dual language programs provide much needed linguistic supports for language maintenance, perhaps more importantly, they represent an ideological shift, as compared to other bilingual programs, towards language maintenance rather than transitioning students to english-only instruction. we discuss implications for outside mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 93 school spaces for incentivizing language use for authentic purposes, in addition to schoolsanctioned language programs promoting multilingualism. critical latinx indigeneities and language use indigeneity and transnationalism in a contemporary re-thinking of the idea of indigeneity, scholars describe the concept as not static, but rather dynamic, similar to the idea of identity itself (alberto, 2017; blackwell, 2017; boj lopez, 2017; saldaña-portillo, 2017; sánchez-lópez, 2017; urrieta, 2017). blackwell, boj lopez, and urrieta (2017) identified the need to “examine how indigenous migrants from latin america are transforming notions of latinidad and indigeneity in the us” (p. 126). they named a framework of critical latinx indigeneities (cli), which addresses the questions about transnational meanings of race, place, and indigeneity raised by the presence of an indigenous diaspora from latin america across multiple countries and overlapping colonialities. the focus on transnationalism in cli overlaps with other literature around transnationalism as a lens for understanding the experiences of many children of (im)migrants1. education researchers such as sánchez (2007a&b) have discussed the phenomenon of more children raised in families maintaining their connections to their countries of origin. additionally, researchers have urged educators to consider more deeply the experiences of transnational children and youth and note the learning experiences of students outside of schools (sánchez, 2007b), such as the international perspectives they develop (sánchez, 2001). morales (2016) discussed the worldliness and breadth of experience demonstrated by the children in her study, having traversed diverse spaces in different geographic locations. sánchez and kasun (2012) pointed out the invisibility of these transnational experiences to the teachers of these (im)migrant students. similarly, ruiz and barajas (2012) noted that mexican indigenous students have been overlooked by educators until very recently. sánchez and machado-casas (2009) identified that a growing number of latinx households are composed of latinxs from an indigenous background. in mexico, “more than one in ten mexicans come from a family in which an indigenous language is spoken” (fox, 2006, p. 39). ruiz and barajas (2012) explain that in the 1 please see pacheco (2009) for a discussion of the word (im)migrant and a critique of the problematic nature of the term ‘latin american immigrants’ which refers to these populations as immigrants in their own land of origin and fails to consider long-time migration patterns before the political mexico-us border separated families. morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 94 process of incorporation into new communities in the us, racial hierarchies that were experienced in mexico are also present in the us and often affect the treatment of indigenous mexicanos, including discrimination against lo indio (indigenous forms) by other mexican (im)migrants. however, “far from being passive recipients of racist beliefs and behaviors, indigenous transnational communities bring with them cultural wealth…” (ruiz & barajas, 2012, p. 127). as part of this cultural wealth, an identified aspect of indigeneity is comunalidad, or a cultural pattern of collectivity (martinez luna, 2010; urrieta, 2017). for example, sánchezlópez (2017) discussed his own experience growing up in the los angeles area after having been born in oaxaca and identifying as zapoteco. he described the political unity and solidarity with latino-identified youth. other scholars have examined the traditional responsibilities that mexican indigenous community members have for collective participation in their home cities requiring them to return periodically to mexico to carry out those duties (stephen, 2007). ruiz and barajas (2012) identified multiple themes coming from ten interviews conducted with indigenous families and us school personnel, three of which are particularly relevant to this study: 1) the need for spanish instruction; 2) the importance of teaching indigenous languages; and 3) affirmation of mexican indigenous children’s identities. mexican indigenous languages in the us and invisibility a prominent theme when exploring mexican indigeneity in the us is that mexican indigenous students seem to blend in with the general latinx population and remain “ocultos (hidden), omitted, or ignored…” (machado-casas, 2009, p. 84). many of these students' families are spanish-speaking, in addition to speaking an indigenous language. in contrast to the high school students in barillas-chón’s (2010) study, who were recent arrivals to the us, the students in the present study have experienced their entire schooling in the us, so are more “invisible” as indigenous students. in the context of the us, the marginalized language of spanish becomes the focus of language maintenance if there is an opportunity for students to participate in bilingual programs. indigenous languages, such as zapoteco, mixteco, or purepecha, are unnoticed or devalued, particularly in the school context (barillas-chon, 2010; morales, 2016; munro, 2003; perez, vasquez, & buriel, 2016). macedo (2000) argued that in the us, the bilingualism of students of color is constantly under assault, and that racist colonial linguistic and cultural practices often found in schools contribute to the marginalization of latinx students. macedo’s colonial bilingualism framework mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 95 helps situate the larger social and political context that students must continuously navigate, as well as the various colonialities of linguistic/cultural minorities in the us. the linguistic and cultural violence that indigenous latinx students and other youth of color continuously experience often contributes to their educational alienation (barillas-chon, 2010). most emergent bilingual students (or english learners as they are still more commonly called) in this country are identified as spanish-speakers. among the english learner student population, almost 80 percent are latinx native spanish-speakers (kohler & lazarín, 2007). but even within this number, it is not clear for how many students spanish may not be the only language other than english that they speak. students identified as speakers of languages other than english are rarely provided more than three to four years of primary language instruction, if provided bilingual education at all. in fact, bilingual education still most often supports movement toward monolingualism (garcía & kleifgen, 2018). fifteen years ago, lópez and runsten (2004) noted that there were approximately 350,000 indigenous oaxacans established in california, and around 180,000 living within the southern area of the state. in los angeles, zapotecs are the most representative indigenous community that migrated from the valles centrales and sierra norte regions in oaxaca (lópez & runsten, 2004). blackwell (2017) puts the number of indigenous oaxacans in los angeles at approximately 120,000. munro (2003) suggests that many zapoteco speakers are undocumented. therefore, it is not evident how many zapoteco speakers are in the us. zapoteco is a language found largely in the state of oaxaca, mexico, but also guerrero and puebla. there are approximately 58 zapotec languages or dialects, each of which may be difficult for speakers of the others to understand. there are over 400,000 speakers of zapotec languages in mexico today (simons & fennig, 2018). for many indigenous communities, developing multilingualism is vital, especially because speaking spanish connects them to a broader mexican community, both within mexico and in the us (machado-casas, 2009). multilingualism allows one to retain the values, beliefs, and characteristics of more than one culture (sánchez, 2007a, 2008). trueba (2004) also emphasized that for (im)migrants maintaining one’s own language(s), as well as learning english, is not a luxury but a need. other researchers have agreed that language is important for providing cultural and identity validation as well as to help maintain connection with families back in mexico (besserer, 2000, 2004; machado-casas, 2006; rivera-salgado, 1999; stephen, morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 96 2007). in the us context, if there is opportunity for language maintenance and development, it is for spanish, particularly through the growing number of dual immersion programs. dual immersion schools and investment in language use dual immersion is a type of bilingual education model that promotes bilingualism and biliteracy development along with high academic achievement and multicultural understanding (howard, 2005). unlike other bilingual education models which only serve english learners, dual immersion programs bring together students of a target language, in this case spanish, and speakers of the majority language (english), so that all students are learning both languages together. typically by the final year of elementary school (often fifth grade), 50% of instructional time is devoted to each language. even in a location such as california, which essentially banned primary language instruction through the passage of proposition 227, the allowance of annual waivers signed by parents provided the possibility for students to continue receiving a bilingual education. while dual immersion programs have increased in popularity across the country, they remain less typical than the more normative transitional model of bilingual education. they also often do not extend beyond the elementary school level. dual immersion models structurally emphasize the goal of multilingualism for emergent bilingual students and the maintenance of the heritage language, rather than transition into english. many language scholars and researchers have more recently taken a poststructuralist approach to language learning, recognizing that learners must feel “invested” in becoming speakers of a target language, rather than feel motivated, which is based in a more cognitive perspective (norton peirce, 1995; norton, 2000). the idea of investment (norton, 2000) relates to a speaker’s notion of the self and the role that speaking a particular language plays in one’s self-identity. ‘investment’ takes a more sociocultural approach that language learning is context-dependent and situation-based, always taking into account power relations, learning opportunities, and ultimately, how speaking the language aligns with who the person wants to be. for those speakers of languages other than the two languages taught in the program, there must be other opportunities to increase the potential for investment in being a speaker of an additional language, such as zapoteco. method this is a longitudinal case study, similar to ek (2009), following a small number of focal students participating in a dual immersion program in a small school district in southern mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 97 california. interviews were conducted in 2010 (5th grade) and 2013 (8th grade) with the students and their mothers. through a narrative analysis of the interview transcripts, we examine the participants’ constant or changing perspectives regarding their languages and how their schooling (or other influences) has affected their relationships with spanish, english, and zapoteco. initial study – fifth graders in dual immersion school (2010) zitlali morales examined the learning ecology of a spanish-english dual immersion elementary school (carver language school, a pseudonym) in southern california focusing on the language ideologies embodied in practices within the school and by different participants including the principal, teachers, students, and parents (morales, 2010). the fifth grade was chosen as the focus in order to ask participants about their experience at the school since kindergarten. observations of both fifth-grade classrooms took place over the course of the academic year (2009-2010), and ten focal students and their parents were chosen to be interviewed. focal students were chosen who practiced a variety of linguistic practices at home but who all came from latin american heritage. (all of the students identified as mexicanheritage except one student whose parents came from el salvador). figure 1. student racial demographics of carver language school, 2009-10 72% 20.7% 3.2% 1.6% 2.4% carver language school, 2009-10 latino white african american asian other morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 98 almost half of the school’s k-5 student population were designated english learners (49%), and the majority of students were identified as latino. forty percent of the students in the school were classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged. the neighborhood in which the school site is situated had historically been a latinx immigrant population with spanish-language signage, for example. however, there was no data on the linguistic diversity of these english learner students at the school, and it was evident that this population was actually very heterogeneous – linguistically, socioeconomically, etc., with a large percentage of students whose families hailed from oaxaca and spoke zapoteco as a heritage language. table 1 presents some brief information about each of the focal students. many of them had traveled to and experienced their parents’ country of origin. table 1 focal students from 5th grade to 8th grade name parental origin travel to mexico languages rosa both parents from oaxaca born in oaxaca, visits regularly zapoteco spanish english jesús both parents from oaxaca travel to oaxaca, visits regularly zapoteco spanish english jeannie both parents from el salvador not been to el salvador spanish english lilia father’s family from jalisco, mother’s family from mexico city travel to jalisco and mexico city once spanish english enrique mother’s family from jalisco travel to jalisco once spanish english lourdes both parents from oaxaca travel to oaxaca a few times spanish english mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 99 kevin mother from oaxaca, father from puebla not been to mexico spanish english jessica both parents from puebla travel to puebla, visits regularly spanish english ricardo mother’s family from durango, father’s family from jalisco travel to durango once english spanish edwin both parents from oaxaca travel to oaxaca, visits regularly zapoteco spanish english note. student names who are underlined were interviewed as 8th graders, and those names in bold are the focus of this analysis. following focal students to 8th grade and data analysis using cli framework morales interviewed five girls and five boys from the two fifth grade classrooms in the original study, as well as one parent of each student. following-up with participants during their eighth-grade year, morales reached out to the ten original participants, but was only able to secure interviews with seven, as well as the parents originally interviewed. interviews for the first study were conducted at the school site, since the focus of the original study was the dual immersion program and the school itself. interviews as eighth graders were not conducted at the middle school, but rather at a location of their choosing. participants chose sites at various cafes in the area of the school after the conclusion of the school year. all of these students attended a k-5 dual immersion school together, and then went on to a dual language program option in their middle school (james madison middle school, or jmms). since the jmms student population was made up from different elementary feeder schools, the students who had attended carver went to middle school with students who had not experienced a dual immersion program. additionally, because the middle school schedule was made up of different periods for different subjects with different teachers, the experience of the students in the dual language option was much less cohesive than their elementary school’s program. the spanish instruction they were receiving was in the form of two courses offered in spanish: spanish language arts and social studies. morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 100 this analysis uses a critical latinx indigeneities (cli) framework focusing on the three students interviewed as eighth graders who identified zapoteco as a language they spoke. in dual immersion schools, there is a purposeful effort to recruit students who begin elementary school as predominantly speakers of the heritage language, in this case spanish, and other students who are monolingual english speakers. as fifth graders, students had been instructed in both spanish and english for five years, so they were fluent in both languages. yet, students had varied preferences for the two languages, in addition to zapoteco. because the focus of the study was on the languages of the students rather than ethnic identity or indigenous affiliation, the students were not asked if they identified as indigenous. in fact, students’ zapotecospeaking abilities had come as a surprise to the researcher focused on the experiences of the students in the spanish-english dual language program. however, this important aspect of these students’ lives and abilities became central to explore and to document its invisibility in their school curriculum, as discussed in morales (2016). certainly, from an etic perspective, speaking zapoteco and participating in cultural practices or important events in their communities – both in california and in méxico – could mark these students as indigenous. however, the students themselves did not necessarily identify this way. the follow-up interviews focused on movement: across geographic spaces, contexts and purposes for language use, and changes over time. questions included similar topics to what was asked during the first study, with some additional questions asking about students’ experience with the middle school and their plans for high school. all of the students planned to attend the district high school and continue the dual immersion option, even though this just meant taking additional classes in spanish. morales conducted the follow-up interviews, speaking primarily in spanish, in order to converse with students in the target language of the dual immersion program. but the researcher explained to the students and their parents that they could respond in either spanish or english. the second set of interviews were transcribed by a research team which includes the two co-authors. after the interviews were transcribed, the authors analyzed each transcript for emerging themes. the fifth-grade interviews were consulted first, a codebook was created, and the eighth-grade interviews were then analyzed for similar themes. through a narrative analysis of the interview transcripts, we examine the participants’ constant or changing perspectives regarding their languages and how their schooling (or other influences) has affected their relationships with spanish, english, and mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 101 zapoteco. the interview excerpts included in this manuscript are reported in the original language spoken. interviewee responses have been translated from spanish. none of the interviews were conducted in zapoteco. researcher positionality zitlali, lydia, and maría fernanda are spanish/english bilinguals. zitlali was born and raised in the midwest by immigrant parents from the state of jalisco, méxico. she is the oldest of four daughters and spoke spanish as her first language. she does not speak the zapoteco language and interviewed the students and their mothers in spanish and english. lydia was born and raised in chicago and attended one of its first dual immersion (spanish and english) elementary schools. she is the daughter of guatemalan immigrant parents and conducted her dissertation work in the western highlands of guatemala, focused on a secondary school with a bilingual and intercultural curriculum in an indigenous mayan language-speaking community. maría fernanda was born in sinaloa, mexico, but immigrated with her family to the southwest side of chicago when she was ten months old. she is the oldest of three daughters. her first language is spanish, and she often took on the role of translator for her parents. she is currently a pre-service bilingual teacher. while the lack of familiarity with the zapoteco language is a limitation of the analysis, the three authors strongly believe in bilingual education, heritage language maintenance, and the increased visibility of indigenous students among students from latin american descent in our schools. findings zitlali met rosa, edwin, and kevin as fifth graders participating in a dual immersion school; they were all focal students in the study where she observed them in their spanish and english language arts classes. however, the one-on-one interviews focused on their linguistic backgrounds and practices outside of school, and she learned that rosa and edwin’s families were from oaxaca and had various levels of fluency in the zapoteco language(s). these two students were each the youngest children, and all of their older siblings had been born in oaxaca, in zapoteco-speaking communities. both had visited their towns of origin in oaxaca with their families to participate in community events and had these comparative experiences of life in large, urban los angeles. kevin’s family background was distinct; he was the older of two boys. he did not identify zapoteco as a language he was familiar with as a fifth grader, and he had never been to mexico, having been born and raised in the los angeles area. in fact, his morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 102 mother also spoke only spanish and english. however, as an eighth grader, kevin shared that he played in a band of traditional zapotec music, which his mother encouraged. kevin’s mother divulged that this language – which she called dialecto2 (“dialect”) – is a language that her own father speaks, but that she never learned. as fifth graders, all three students spoke, read, and wrote in spanish and english as part of their school curriculum. zapoteco was not a language they used in school; opportunities for rosa and edwin to learn and speak zapoteco came in familial contexts and their trips to oaxaca, as elaborated in morales (2016). a fourth student (jesús) also had zapoteco as a heritage language but was unable to be interviewed as an eighth-grade student. rosa, edwin, and kevin all continued in the dual language program through middle school. this was a very rare schooling opportunity that this district provided, particularly in a post-227 california context. in the sections that follow, excerpts from the 5th grade interviews are presented first, followed by the 8th grade interviews. table 2 focal 8th grade students for this analysis rosa zapoteco, spanish, english born in oaxaca, youngest of 8 children, started school in mexico edwin zapoteco, spanish, english youngest of 4 children, only child born in the us (others born in oaxaca) kevin spanish, english older of 2 siblings, born in the us, never traveled to mexico rosa: language for economic utility as well as beauty rosa attended preschool in mexico and then continued in kindergarten in the us. she had moved to california with her mother and seven older siblings to join her father who had been working in the us for twenty years, mainly in the restaurant industry. rosa’s parents, grandparents, and older siblings are all speakers of zapoteco. when interviewing rosa’s mother, she explained that she had learned spanish at a later age, 19, when she went to work in the capital city of mexico. rosa’s family still had a house and land in oaxaca and regularly 2 perez et al. (2016) explained that the term dialect continues to be used to refer to indigenous languages, even by indigenous people themselves – with the implication that they are not legitimate languages. mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 103 travelled back to their hometown to visit. in fact, one of her older brothers had studied computer engineering in the us, but then decided to return to oaxaca where he opened a computer cafe. in both the fifthand eighth-grade interviews, rosa chose to respond to the interviewer in spanish. rosa’s fifth-grade teacher considered her to be one of the students most proficient in spanish, perhaps in part because she had begun her education in mexico. it initially came as a surprise to the interviewer when rosa shared that she spoke zapoteco. zitlali: ¿entonces, cuál es tu primer idioma? [so, what is your first language?] rosa: español, no, sí, español, y luego otro idioma, que casi no... primero es español, luego segundo es un idioma que es, que usamos en el pueblo, se llama zapoteco… mi tercer, um, mi tercer idioma es inglés. [spanish, no, yes, spanish, and then another language, that i don’t really... first, it’s spanish, then second is a language that is, that we use in the town, it is called zapoteco... my third, um, my third language is english.] rosa went on to identify other zapoteco-speaking students in the fifth grade, including her best friend, marisol, and edwin in the other class. since rosa was attending a dual immersion school where she was learning to read and write both spanish and english, the interviewer asked her about the place of this other language. zitlali: wow. entonces, ¿como ves, es como un idioma secreto, o? [wow. so, like, it's like a secret language, or?] rosa: un idioma, así normal, pero casi no, no no, casi muchas personas no lo hablan. y más aquí. [a language, just normal, but hardly, no, no no, hardly many people speak it. especially here.] rosa claimed zapoteco as an idioma or language, rather than a dialecto, as some other interviewees did. she recognized that not many people spoke it in the us. indeed, the researcher had not identified rosa as a zapoteco-speaker in advance of the interview. rosa was then asked if she spoke zapoteco with family or others. rosa: otras personas no. [not with other people.] zitlali: ¿no? ¿nunca? okay. [no? never? okay.] rosa: a veces saben, a veces no. y este. ah. pero con mi familia, con mis primos, con mis tios, sí saben zapoteco. [sometimes they know, sometimes they don’t. and um. oh, but with my family, with my cousins, with my uncles/aunts, they know zapoteco.] morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 104 having such a large family allowed rosa many opportunities to speak zapoteco at family gatherings in the us. however, as a fifth grader, rosa did not seem to use the language in a larger community context, with people outside of her family. when asked about whether she thought it important to continue to attend a dual language program, rosa’s answer was job-related. she stated that in the future, any job would require both english and spanish. the interviewer asked next if rosa thought it important to speak zapoteco. rosa: para mi sí. si un día vuelvo a méxico o vivo allá, trabajo cuando sea grande. puedo este, como se llama, a los turistas que vienen allá. cuando te preguntan cosas. nomás les respondes o les dices que hablamos en zapoteco y ellos te entrevistan y todo. hay veo mucho en méxico. [for me it is, if one day i return to mexico or live over there, work when i’m older. i can uh, how do you call it, to the tourists that come over there. when they ask you things. you can just respond or you say that we speak in zapoteco and they interview you and everything. i see that a lot in mexico.] similar to spanish, in this response rosa connected speaking zapoteco to financial opportunities. however, she described making money from tourists who would pay to hear zapoteco spoken, the implication being that zapoteco was anachronistic, or an oddity (urrieta, 2017). additionally, her answer to the question of why she should continue to speak this language was dependent on whether she and her family moved back mexico, even though rosa spoke zapoteco with her family in the us, too. at that time, rosa had just visited mexico the previous year. zapoteco seemed to be connected geographically to her parents’ hometown. in the interview three years later, rosa was asked whether she spoke spanish better than when she was a fifth grader and if her spanish use had increased or decreased. rosa: yo creo que sí. hay más palabras que conozco mejor, so, yeah, ha-ha. [i believe so, yes. there are more words that i know better, so, yeah, ha-ha.] zitlali: ¿y hablas más español ahora, menos español o igual? [and do you speak more spanish now, less spanish, or the same?] mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 105 rosa: uh, yo digiera3 que menos español, pero, lo conozco más, pero no lo hablo tanto. [uh, i would say less spanish, but, i know it better, but i don’t speak it as much.] this answer aligned with the idea that as rosa kept taking spanish as a subject area, she continued to develop her formal spanish language skills, including writing and expanded vocabulary, since she was reading grade-level texts. but her response demonstrated the effect of continuing to learn spanish in school in a segmented way. in elementary school, the whole school community, including teachers and staff, spoke spanish in addition to english. but in the middle school, only students that opted into the dual language program took classes that were taught in spanish. spanish usage was not the norm for most students or teachers. when probed, rosa shared that she liked spanish language arts but not the class itself because it was long, and they received too much homework. when asked why it was important for rosa to continue speaking spanish, she stated a similar reason as in fifth grade – for financial or job-related opportunities in the future. rosa: well, a veces en el futuro cuando tú apliques a un trabajo es bueno porque hay muchos trabajos en que hay muchos like güeros y no saben español entonces necesitan a gente que hable español. [sometimes in the future when you apply for a job it’s good because there are a lot of jobs where there are a lot of white people and they don’t know spanish so they need people who speak spanish.] during interviews with rosa, she was willing to speak about race and observations she made about her classmates, including how she perceived race impacting their willingness to be friends with her. in this instance, however, rosa suggests that there are jobs where spanish-speaking is needed that could not be obtained by white people (güeros). this comment is made despite the fact that rosa had been attending school with students of different racial backgrounds who have all been learning and speaking spanish for many years. yet, she still associated spanish-speakers with non-white people, or framed white people as non-spanish speakers. the researcher also asked about whether it was important to keep speaking her language, zapoteco. rosa: sí, para el futuro también, sería yo creo que es bonito. so, yo lo seguiría hablando. [yes, for the future, too. it would be, i think it’s beautiful. so, i would continue speaking.] 3 “digiera” is not a grammatically correct word in spanish; many young speakers of spanish or spanish learners do not always say the tenses in the grammatically correct way. in this case, the interviewer understood rosa to mean “diría” or “i would say,” as it has been translated. morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 106 rather than attaching financial opportunities to speaking zapoteco, rosa cited its beauty and its place in her future. however, english had become a language she also spoke in oaxaca. zitlali: ¿hablas zapoteco o español o los dos cuando vas a viajar a oaxaca? [do you speak zapoteco or spanish or both when you travel to oaxaca?] rosa: ah, los dos y también inglés. [uh, both and also english.] zitlali: ¿también inglés? [english too?] rosa: sí. ah, porque también tengo a mi hermano allá así es de que él habla ingles también, so, yo-yo enseño ingles acomo tengo amigos allá. so también les enseño inglés. [yes. uh, because i also have my brother over there, and he speaks english as well. so, ii teach english to, see i have friends over there. so i also teach them english.] while zapoteco had been most connected to her family and to her parents’ hometown, the context was changing. now that a person with whom she primarily spoke in english lived in oaxaca, she associated this location with english as well. this aspect of transnationalism underscores the portability of cultural practices (moll, 2011). even though rosa’s mother had been quite explicit about the need for her children to retain zapoteco in case they returned to live in oaxaca (opening quote), rosa had become invested in speaking english in addition to spanish even in mexico. speaking and teaching english to her friends perhaps gave her status or social capital, just as her trilingualism served her needs as well. edwin: embarrassment, comfort, and the necessity of different languages edwin was the youngest of four siblings and the only child born in the us. his sisters and brother were much older than him and were born in oaxaca, mexico. they all spoke zapoteco, spanish, and english. edwin’s family had lived only blocks away from his elementary school but then moved about fifteen miles away (to the “valley” area of los angeles) because his parents were able to afford to purchase a house out there. this had increased edwin’s travel time to school, and edwin explained that he often ate breakfast in the car and was extremely tired at the end of his long days. however, it was that important to his parents for edwin to continue attending carver. one of his older sisters—the one closest to him in age—had also gone to carver and was at the time of the fifth-grade interview, about to enter into ucla as a freshman. opting to speak in english, edwin recounted some of his experiences in oaxaca (morales, 2016). he had talked about these experiences very animatedly but spoke with more mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 107 hesitancy about his ability to speak zapoteco. he explained that he was embarrassed to speak zapoteco fearing the words would come out wrong. in fact, edwin engaged in non-reciprocal code-switching practices (as described in zentella, 1997) when visiting oaxaca – often responding to his relatives in spanish when they would speak to him in zapoteco. edwin’s mother had explained that both she and her husband came from a town where the dominant language was zapoteco, but schooling was provided solely in spanish. when zitlali spoke to edwin’s mother, she spoke in spanish. however, edwin’s mother explained that it was not until she immigrated to the us that she learned to speak spanish fluently. zitlali: ¿usted aprendió en la escuela? [you learned it in school?] edwin’s mamá: hasta cuando llegué aquí. [not until i arrived here.] zitlali: ¡de veras! güau, porque lo habla muy bien. [really! wow, because you speak it very well.] edwin’s mamá: gracias. apenas estoy aprendiendo también. [thank you. i’m barely learning it as well.] zitlali: ¿cuándo vino aquí fue a la escuela para aprender español y el inglés? [when you came here, you went to school to learn spanish and english?] edwin’s mamá: según inglés pero no aprendí nada de inglés. solo aprendí el español. [supposedly english but i didn’t learn any english. i only learned spanish.] having lived in a town where zapoteco was primarily spoken, edwin’s mother had not been invested in becoming a spanish-speaker in mexico. it was not until she took english classes in the us that edwin’s mother learned to speak spanish, for the purpose of communicating with other mexican (im)migrants (as participants in machado-casas, 2009). the us context necessitated knowledge of both of these dominant languages. rosa’s mother had been urged to learn spanish due to economic necessity. for edwin’s mother, the necessity of learning spanish came from a need for apoyo – which, as barillas-chon (2010) argues, is a communal support and information-sharing that comes from social connections with fellow (im)migrants from mexico. this reality was another advantage to both women having their children enrolled in a dual language program, focused on the development and maintenance of both english and spanish. at the time of the eighth-grade interview, the researcher made sure to inquire about recent trips to mexico. however, edwin lamented that he had not been to mexico in a long time. while his parents continued to travel to oaxaca for two weeks on an annual basis in morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 108 october, edwin could not go with them due to a strict attendance policy at jmms. while his parents were in mexico, edwin stayed home with his older siblings. he reminisced about his last trip to oaxaca for his sister’s wedding. edwin: oh we usu…when i was little, we usually go for october to celebrate over there. and there would be like festivals over there, there would be like a mini carnival over there, and we would see bullriders and like mini-rides and there would be fireworks. and like, i would go, there would be like mini carnival games. and, and it’s really fun. it’s just that i haven’t been there in a while, so i don’t know how it is right now. but before yeah, and we would go to, to like the little town over there. spend ti spend quality time with family. it’s very fun. i miss it… edwin spoke with much nostalgia and expressed feelings of missing out, due to having a traditional school schedule in the us. the researcher continued asking him about jmms. edwin: challenging because in sixth gradei learned math in spanish and throughout fifth grade, and then once i entered sixth grade it was all in english. so iit took me a while to like translate all the words into what it was. and i had more teachers, more classes, more homework and... it was kind of hard for me. and in seventh grade i got used to it but like i made some like bad decisions, i wouldn’t study for tests and it really it did affect me a lot, especially in math. but, eighth grade wasit was easy. i-i-i went through it, it was easy. i got better test scores than before... i just learned from my mistakes. although edwin explains his difficulty with school as due to his own decisions, he also described the segmentation of his schooling experience, and the lack of support moving instruction in spanish to english for particular school subjects. since remaining in the dual language program was optional, the researcher asked why he had chosen to continue in it. edwin: i want to stay in it because i heard that it help me, it’ll help me a lot later in life, and that la-later in high school because there’s a higher chance i might get into like ait can help me in my resume to like college and all that. it’s, it’s very helpful. and it’s, it’s i just like learning two languages, knowing two languages and um... it helps you a lot. it gives you more support, i feel. as edwin explained how remaining in the dual language program would help him in the future, the examples he gave were very utilitarian in nature, such as helping him get into college. mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 109 additionally, while edwin recognized his own bilingualism, he failed to acknowledge that he was actually trilingual. the researcher then probed specifically about his knowledge of the zapoteco language. edwin: yeah, i have like the accent so i don’t really talk, but i understand every single word. this response was similar to the one edwin provided in fifth grade. he alluded to the challenges in speaking the language, but expressed confidence in his receptive abilities. similar to what lee (2013) noted about students’ hesitation to use indigenous languages, edwin seemed reticent to speak zapoteco due to the embarrassment of having accented speech. the researcher continued by asking if his siblings also still understood zapoteco. edwin: yeah, yeah, they all know, but i’m the only one that doesn’t know it. i do, but like sometimes i want to say but it doesn’t come out the way i want it, and like my words just get scrambled up in my mouth and nothing comes out in the end. edwin’s description of his trilingualism was not self-assured; he seemed to experience frustration at his “scrambled” words or inability to express himself the way he desired. however, the opportunities and incentives for edwin to speak zapoteco to monolingual zapoteco speakers were limited, particularly due to the challenge that missing school in october posed for him. the researcher also asked about his spanish language development since fifth grade. edwin: no, i think it went, i think i kind of forgot to speak spanish. it’s the fact that everything i learn, there’s only twowell in yeah, there’s only one class each year that i had to speak spanish in, and that was in social studies, other than spanish class, but that was mostly reading. and like, i kind of just stopped speaking spanish. i only spoke it at home but that was just like simple. and then once i got to eighth grade, that’s when i learned more. and then i kind of caught up. but then at the same time, i didn’t. so yeah, my spanish went little, like “eee”. edwin made this last pronunciation while putting his index finger and thumb together, demonstrating this language decreasing in size. similar to rosa, the shift to learning spanish in school for only two periods out of eight created a significant structural difference in how his spanish language development was being supported. there was no incentive to speak spanish informally throughout the day with classmates who were not enrolled in the dual language morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 110 option. thus, even in the best of circumstances – enrollment in a dual language option in middle school – there was inadequate support to prevent edwin’s spanish from becoming “little”. the amount of mediation that the dual immersion elementary school (including structural context and teacher pedagogies) provided against the hegemonic language ideologies favoring english (morales, 2010) were not being recreated in the middle school. but edwin did appreciate his schooling and the rare opportunity he realized he was receiving: zitlali: ¿qué piensas de la educación bilingüe? [what do you think about bilingual education?] edwin: it’s, it’s very nice. it’s challenging but it-it helps, it helps. and it’s just fun that i get to learn different subjects in different languages. and now when i get to high school, it’ll probably be the same thing and it’s, it’s helpful. it just helped me throughout the years. i didn’t realize i was in an immersion program until fifth grade, i thought i was just going to school like, just like that. i didn’t realize that some other schools just had english and some other schools just have spanish. so, i’m very lucky to be in it. edwin articulated how fortunate he was to have this rare educational opportunity, to study in two languages but did not similarly express a desire for learning zapoteco in a school setting. kevin: authentic language learning and investment in zapoteco kevin followed a different trajectory than the first two students in terms of his language use, particularly zapoteco. he was the older of two sons, both born in the us. his mother hailed from oaxaca and his father from puebla. when asked for his preference of language to use during his fifth-grade interview, kevin answered “spanglish,” and the researcher accommodated his request, asking questions in both languages. zitlali: sí, ¿y este cuál idioma hablas con tu familia? [yes and uh, what language do you speak with your family?] kevin: yo, yo les hablo en inglés, pero ellos me contestan en, wait, me contestan en, en spanish. [i, i speak to them in english, but they respond in, wait, they respond in, in spanish.] zitlali: ¿tus papás? [your parents?] kevin: yeah. zitlali: y tu hermanito, ¿en que idioma hablas con él? [and your little brother, what language do you speak with him?] mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 111 kevin: spanglish. zitlali: ¿spanglish? ¿y que idioma hablas mejor? [and what language do you speak better?] kevin: english! zitlali: ¿cuál idioma prefieres? [what language do you prefer?] kevin: spanish. zitlali: ¿y con quien más hablas español? o sea, donde en tu vida hablas español? con el futbol? [and with who else do you speak spanish? or rather, where in your life do you speak spanish? with soccer?] kevin: en todos los lados, [everywhere.] zitlali: ¿en todos lados? y tambien en todos lados hablas inglés? [everywhere? and you also speak english everywhere?] kevin: tambien sí. [also, yes.] kevin explained that he used both languages regularly throughout different areas of his life with different people. he was the only student who claimed to purposefully mix his languages. despite having never traveled to mexico, he had authentic uses for spanish in his life, including communication with his father’s parents and other family members who lived nearby. zitlali: ¿es importante para ti hablar español e inglés? [is it important to speak both spanish and english?] kevin: sí. [yes.] zitlali: how come? kevin: ‘cuz mi mamá todavía no sabe mucho inglés y tampoco mi papá. entonces tengo que hablarles en español. like most of the time. [‘cuz my mom still doesn’t know much english. or my dad. so i have to speak to them in spanish. like most of the time.] kevin explained the importance of maintaining his spanish language skills, due to his parents’ spanish monolingualism. as the oldest child, kevin had taken on some translating responsibilities in his household (please see orellana, 2009 regarding common characteristics of child translators or paraphrasers). kevin: le ayudo con el papeleo con mi papa porque dice, “¿qué es esa palabra? ¿qué es esa palabra?” me gustaba algunas veces sometimes. yo era como su diccionario or something like that. pero ahora que ya, pero ya que ganamos la computadora, me dice, ya no me tienes que ayudar. [i help with the paperwork with my dad because he says, “what is this word? morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 112 what is this word?” i liked it sometimes sometimes. i was like his dictionary or something like that. but now that, but now that we won the computer, he tells me, you don’t have to help me anymore.] in addition to playing clarinet in the school band, kevin described playing for a band outside of school that played mexican music. however, the researcher did not delve further, to ascertain what type of mexican music the band played. instead, the conversation shifted to where kevin’s grandparents lived and whether he had ever been to his parents’ places of birth. kevin explained that his paternal grandmother lived in the los angeles area, but since he had never traveled to mexico, he had never met his maternal grandmother, who continued to live in oaxaca. when interviewing him as an eighth grader, kevin chose to respond in spanish; kevin had developed more investment in his identity as a spanish-speaker. zitlali asked kevin about his spanish use and development, including if there were people in his life with whom he only spoke in spanish, peers in particular. kevin: solamente los de la banda, y, um, solamente los de la banda. [um, just the ones in the band, and, um, just the ones in the band.] zitlali: ¿qué piensas de cómo tu español se ha desarrollado? ¿o sea, crees que hablas mejor español ahora que cuando estabas en quinto año de carver? [what do you think about how your spanish has developed? i mean, do you think you speak better spanish now than when you were in fifth grade at carver?] kevin: creo que sí porque ya se unas más palabras en español. y, eh, yo me estoy comunicando más con las personas. cuando estaba en quinto grado no estaba en la banda y no habla mucho español, solamente en la casa o con mi abuelita que vive aquí en (inaudible) island. y, um, pero ya cuando me metí en la banda, ya, ya, empecé a hacer más amigos. y ya se como hacer mas amigos donde sea porque antes estaba muy callado y no, y no me gustaba hacer amigos, y, um (laughs). [i think so, yes, because i know some more words in spanish. and uh, i’m communicating more with people. when i was in fifth grade i wasn’t in the band, and i didn’t speak much spanish. just at home or with my grandma who lives here in (inaudible) island. and um, but when i got involved with the band, i, i started making more friends. and i know now how to make friends anywhere because before i was pretty quiet and i didn’t, i didn’t like to make friends and um (laughs).] mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 113 kevin attributed his increase in spanish-speaking to his involvement with his band, despite the fact that he was attending a dual immersion school in fifth grade where fifty percent of instructional activities were conducted in spanish. he also reported speaking more spanish with peers, rather than just with family members, such as his grandma. participating in the band then provided kevin a context for him to use spanish for the authentic purpose of making friends. significantly, kevin had been the only student of the three who had not identified zapoteco as one of the languages that he spoke as a fifth grader. however, as an eighth grader, he surprised the interviewer by sharing that through his engagement in the band, he was learning a language in addition to spanish and english, although he could not name the language at first. kevin: bueno allá en la banda también tocan, este toca, este hablan, ay no se como se llama el idioma este. mmm, pero lo hablan mucho y luego a veces les entiendo cómo si dicen algo, una palabra en el idioma. [well, there in the band they also play, they play, they speakgeez, i don’t know what this language is called. um, but they speak it a lot and then sometimes i understand them. like if they say something, a word in the language.] zitlali tried to guess what language was spoken by members of kevin’s band. zitlali: ¿portugués? ¿italiano? ¿francés? [portuguese? italian? french?] kevin: no, no es. ¿zapoteco? [no, it’s not that. zapoteco?] zitlali: oh! zapoteco. [oh! zapotec.]. kevin: no sé. lo que hablaba mi abuelita. no recuerdo lo que dijo mi mamá. [i don’t know. what my grandma spoke. i don’t remember what my mom said.] even kevin was unsure of the name of the language spoken by his band members. he explained that it was the language that his own grandmother spoke, and the interviewer inquired further. zitlali: entonces estás aprendiendo un poquito. [so, you’re learning a little bit.] kevin: un poquito. muy poquito. yo no hablan mucho. hay solamente, hay una señora siempre anda hablando así. y los niños, “en español por favor, no te entendemos,” y, um, eso es todo. [a little bit. very little. i don’t spoke it much. there’s only, there’s a lady she’s always talking that way and the kids, “in spanish please, we don’t understand you,” and um, that’s it.] zitlali: ¿tu abuela habla zapoteco? [your grandmother speaks zapoteco?] morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 114 kevin: no, mi abuelita que está aquí no. [no, not the grandma that is here.] zitlali: ¿ella no? [not her?] kevin: no. solamente la otra, pero ella sigue en méxico. [no, only the other one. but she remains in mexico.] kevin explained that a particular lady in the band spoke zapoteco, and some of the young people requested that she speak in spanish because they did not understand her. zapoteco was indeed spoken in kevin’s family, but not by family members who lived in the us. kevin was one of the few focal students who had never been to mexico, and the researcher asked whether he would like to some day. kevin explained that he did not have money to get his passport, let alone the flight there. compared to the other two students, kevin’s family was not in a position (financial or otherwise) to travel to mexico. yet, kevin had become invested in a zapotecospeaking identity via his participation in the transnational practice of playing oaxacan music, similar to what sanchez and machado-casas (2009) note that “some students may live a life of transnationalism… [though] they may actually never set foot in [the] origin community” (p. 67). moreover, kevin’s participation was a clear example of comunalismo, as the band brought together individuals of diverse ages, from different mexican towns, in order to engage in this particular cultural practice. when interviewing kevin’s mother, zitlali inquired about her desire for kevin to learn a language in addition to spanish and english. kevin’s mamá: ¡claro que sí me gustaría! dicho este mis padres hablan otro dialecto. es dialecto. y esto, ahorita esta involucrándose un poquito con la gente que es de ahí de donde es mi papá y entonces le digo que trate de aprender un poquito ese dialecto y también otro idioma si se puede. entre mas idiomas hable yo creo que es mejor para él …también para el futuro, ¿verdad? [yes, of course i would like it! actually, my parents speak another dialect. it’s a dialect. and right now, he is getting a little bit involved with the people that are from where my dad is from, and so i tell him to try to learn a little bit of that dialect and also another language if possible. the more languages he speaks, i think it’s better for him… also for the future, right?] zitlali: sí. ¿y de donde es su papá? [yes. and where is your dad from?] kevin’s mamá: mi papá es del estado de oaxaca. nosotros también, pero donde nosotros crecimos no se habla ese dialecto. entonces, mi papá tuvo que salir, de ese, de su, su lugar mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 115 donde vive, de pueblo de donde él nació y se tuvo que ir para donde nosotros vivimos. y ahí no, nadie lo habla entonces se perdió…esa lengua verdad. pero es muy bonita. y aquí se reúnen muchas personas que hablan ese dialecto. y entonces estamos tratando de ir más con ellos. involúcrarlos más para esa cultura también de ellos. [my dad is from the state of oaxaca. we are too, but where we grew up, that dialect is not spoken. so, my dad had to leave from that, from his, his place where he lived, from the town where he was born. and he had to go to where we live. and there no, nobody speaks it. so it was lost… that language, right? but it is very pretty. and here many people get together who speak that dialect. and so we are trying to go more with them. involve them more for that culture that’s also theirs.] not only did kevin’s mother identify her heritage language as a dialect but narrated the language loss that had occurred in their family due to their movement from one place in mexico where zapoteco was spoken to another where spanish was dominant, as described by munro (2003) is a common occurrence. however, she articulated a strong desire to reclaim it by spending time with people in the us who spoke her father’s language. and perhaps more important than the language, kevin’s mother expressed a desire to involve kevin in a culture that is “also theirs”. her narration is an example of how speaking zapoteco can index membership in this indigenous community but is not the only cultural practice that is an expression of indigeneity, as argued by muehlmann (2008). discussion & implications using a critical latinx indigeneities framework, we examined rosa, edwin, and kevin’s narratives for expressions of investment in their various languages, aspects of transnationalism, and examples of comunalismo. we found that despite some changes in their linguistic practices or preferences over time, zapoteco and spanish were useful to the students in different contexts, in addition to english; they demonstrated investment in these identities of spanish speaker, zapoteco speaker, and english speaker to various extents. zapoteco often remained a hidden language for these students, and there was great variability in their proficiency (perez et al., 2016), with some of the students having more access to the language in their immediate families. edwin specifically expressed embarrassment or inadequacy about his mixed language practices. morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 116 even though the three students continued in the school district which supported their retention and development of spanish, their schooling did not explicitly support their indigenous identity (ruiz & barajas, 2012). additionally, the actual spanish language arts class was experienced by the students as challenging. conversely, the fact that kevin had developed some awareness (and speaking ability) in zapoteco from fifth to eighth grade via his participation in a oaxacan music community demonstrates the importance of outside-school contexts that support investment as zapoteco speakers as part of a larger set of cultural practices in this indigenous community in urban los angeles supporting indigenous identity and belonging (perez et al., 2016). latinxs in the us are primarily associated with two dominant (european) languages – english and spanish – which serves to marginalize indigenous languages, which also takes place in mexico (muehlmann, 2008). the multilingual and diverse linguistic background of some latinx students is not acknowledged and often not even known in school settings (barillas-chon, 2010; munro, 2003). sánchez-lopez (2017) suggested that oaxacan youth want their history and culture taught in school, similar to other scholars who encourage indigenous communities’ cultural and linguistic knowledge to be recognized and valued in schools, rather than silenced and stigmatized (casanova, o’connor & anthony-stevens, 2016). in the words of perez and colleagues (2016), “the school is a cultural institution that can support, ignore, or denigrate its students’ heritages and sociocultural backgrounds” (p. 268). we envision possibilities for connection via language to all the spaces that students may want to maintain and develop – in the us, in mexico, and especially in the communities where they or their parents are from. but real learning and practice of languages takes place when there is investment (norton, 2000). thus, there need to be opportunities outside of school to learn, develop, and maintain languages in community settings. similar to other scholars’ recommendations, we suggest that educators and the education system in general need better ways of recognizing the linguistic abilities of youth as assets (barillas-chon, 2010; casanova, o’connor & anthony-stevens, 2016; ruiz & barajas, 2012) and drawing on or leveraging the languages of culturally and linguistically diverse youth (martínez, morales, & aldana, 2017). instead, the us school system constrains students when it prioritizes not only the english language but the particular variety that is standard or mainstream american english. in this “best case” situation, where the students were structurally encouraged through this dual immersion setting to maintain one of their mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 117 minoritized languages, it was only the spanish language that was assumed as the sole language needed for these latinx students to retain and promote their cultural identity. while dual immersion programs have helped to shift expectations of language maintenance of emergent bilingual students by using their linguistic backgrounds as assets in the classroom, dual immersion programs largely treat latinx students as spanish language speakers. all three students revealed a desire to learn or maintain zapoteco. however, their academic environment has not nourished this desire. rather, their academic environment has helped cultivate the importance of only two languages. ruiz and barajas (2012) also noted some initial findings from a small study in california about the language education of mexican indigenous students in a similar context where students were enrolled in bilingual programs. the parents were supportive of their children learning and maintaining both spanish and english. when provided the option, parents often choose multilingualism for their children and maintenance options, despite schools not often offering opportunities for indigenous language supports. this speaks to the legitimate criticism of equating language with a culture or taking it as a marker of authenticity or proof of indigeneity (muehlmann, 2008). in the neocolonial context of california, kevin’s participation in the band playing oaxacan music led to interest in the zapoteco language and investment in a zapoteco-speaking identity, in addition to his claim of improvement in his spanish-speaking abilities. within this particular context, spanish related to a broader sense of indigeneity and indigenous community as an authentic means of communication in this group. although there has been an increase in research about indigenous populations from oaxaca moving to the us (cruz-manjarrez, 2013; escala rabadán & rivera-salgado, 2018; klaver, 1997; stephen, 2007), the literature remains slight about these youths’ educational experiences (ruiz & barajas, 2012). sánchez and machado-casas (2009) identified that “many children and families who actually lead a transnational lifestyle, engag[e] in a wide transnational social space that includes continued contact and interaction with their countries of origin, a non-linear back and forth between different worlds, sometimes across physical borders and sometimes within spaces that only include difficult social borders” (p. 10). for these students, language helped them maintain ties across time and space with family members and their ethnolinguistic communities in both mexico and los angeles. language does not equal identity, but it is a valuable marker particularly because it supports engagement with specific communities, as spanish does. language shifts and language loss happen over time, which speaks morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 118 to the need to encourage investment in identities as speakers of diverse languages, especially in politically stratified spaces. schools are vital spaces for this work, but they are not the only spaces for language investment work; transnational cultural practices in community are equally vital for the promotion of indigenous language retention. mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 119 references alberto, l. (2017). coming out as indian: on being an indigenous latina in the us. latino studies, 15, 247-253. barillas-chón, d. w. (2010). oaxaqueño/a students' (un)welcoming high school experiences. journal of latinos and education, 9(4), 303-320. besserer, j. f. (2000). política cuántica: el uso de la radio por comunidades transnacionales. nueva antropología, 25(57), 11-21. besserer, f. (2004). topografías transnacionales: hacia una geografía de la vida transnacional. mexico, df: universidad autónoma metropolitana, unidad iztapalapa. blackwell, m. (2017). geographies of indigeneity: indigenous migrant women's organizing and translocal politics of place. latino studies, 15, 156-181. blackwell, m., lopez, f. b., & urrieta jr., l. (2017). special issue: critical latinx indigeneities. latino studies, 15, 126-137. casanova, s., o'connor, b. h., & anthony-stevens, v. (2016). ecologies of adaptation for mexican indigenous im/migrant children and families in the united states: implications f or latino studies. latino studies, 14(2), 192-213. cruz-manjarrez, a. (2013). zapotecs on the move: cultural, social, and political processes in transnational perspective. new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press. escala rabadán, l., & rivera-salgado, g. (2018). festivals, oaxacan immigrant communities and cultural spaces between mexico and the united states: the guelaguetzas in california. migraciones internacionales, 9(3), 37-63. ek, l. d. (2009). allá en guatemala: transnationalism, language, and identity of a pentecostal guatemalan-american young woman. the high school journal, 92(4), 67-81. fox, j. (2006). reframing mexican migration as a multi-ethnic process. latino studies, 4, 39-61. garcía, o., & kleifgen, j. a. (2018). educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english learners (2nd ed.). new york: teachers college press. howard, e. r. (2005). two-way immersion education: an integrated approach to bilingual education in the united states. in x. p. rodríguez-yáñez, a. m. lorenzo suárez, & f. ramallo (eds.), bilingualism and education: from the family to the school (pp. 229-236). munich: lincom europa. klaver, j. (1997). from the land of the sun to the city of angels: the migration process of zapotec indians from oaxaca, mexico to los angeles, california. utrecht: dutch geographical society. kohler, a.d. & lazarín, m. (2007). hispanic education in the united states. national council of la raza. statistical brief no. 8. lee, t. s. (2013). critical language awareness among native youth in new mexico. in l. t. wyman, t. l. mccarty, & s. e. nicholas (eds.), indigenous youth and multilingualism: language identity, ideology, and practice in dynamic cultural worlds (pp. 130-148). new york: routledge. lopez, f. h., & munro, p. (1999). zapotec immigration: the san lucas quiaviní experience. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 24(1), 129-149. lópez, f., & runsten, d. (2004). mixtecs and zapotecs working in california: rural and urban experiences. in j. fox & g. rivera-salgado (eds.), indigenous migration to the united states (pp. 249=278). la jolla: center for comparative immigration studies-ucsd. macedo, d. (2000). the colonialism of the english only movement. educational researcher, 29(3), 15-24. morales, saravia, & pérez-iribe association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 120 machado-casas, m. (2009). the politics of organic phylogeny: the art of parenting and surviving as transnational multilingual latino indigenous immigrants in the u.s. the high school journal, 92(4), 82-99. martinez, d. c., morales, p. z., & aldana, u. s. (2017). leveraging students’ communicative repertoires as a tool for equitable learning. review of research in education, 41, 477 499. martínez luna, j. (2010). the fourth principle. in l. meyer & b. maldonado alvarado (eds.), new world of indigenous resistance (pp. 85–99). san francisco, ca: city lights books. moll, l. c. (2011). only life educates: immigrant families, the cultivation of biliteracy, and the mobility of knowledge. in p. r. portes & s. salas (eds.), vygotsky in 21st century society: advances in cultural historical theory and praxis with non-dominant communities (pp. 151161). new york: peter lang. morales, p. z. (2010). examining the role of a dual language immersion programs language ideologies in scaffolding positive learner identities in dual language learners. unpublished dissertation. university of california, los angeles. morales, p. z. (2016). transnational practices and language maintenance: spanish and zapoteco in california. children’s geographies, 14(4), 375–389. muehlmann, s. (2008). "spread your ass cheeks": and other things that should not be said in indigenous languages. american ethnologist, 35(1), 34-48. munro, p. (2003). preserving the language of the valley zapotecs: the orthography question. paper presented at the language and immigration in france and the united states: sociolinguistic perspectives, university of texas. norton peirce, b. (1995). social identity, investment, and language learning. tesol quarterly, 29(1), 9-31. norton, b. (2000). identity and language learning: gender, ethnicity and educational change. london: longman/pearson education. orellana, m. f. (2009). translating childhoods: immigrant youth, language, and culture. new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press. pacheco, m. (2009). expansive learning and chicana/o and latina/o students’ political–historical knowledge. language arts, 87(1), 18–29. perez, w., vasquez, r., & buriel, r. (2016). zapotec, mixtec, and purepecha youth: multilingualism and the marginalization of indigenous immigrants in the united states. in h. s. alim, j. r. rickford, & a. f. ball (eds.), raciolinguistics: how language shapes our ideas about race (pp. 255-272). new york: oxford university press. rivera-salgado, g. (1999). migration and political activism: mexican transnational indigenous communities in a comparative perspective. unpublished dissertation. university of california, santa cruz. ruiz, n. t., & barajas, m. (2012). multiple perspectives on the schooling of mexican indigenous students in the u.s.: issues for future research. bilingual research journal, 35(2), 125-144. saldaña-portillo, m. j. (2017). critical latinx indigeneities: a paradigm drift. latino studies, 15(2), 138-155. sánchez, p. (2001). adopting transnationalism theory and discourse: making space for transnational chicana. discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 22(3), 375-381. sánchez, p. (2007a). cultural authenticity and transnational latina youth: constructing a meta narrative across borders. linguistics and education, 18, 258-282. mexican-origin students indigenous heritage language association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 121 sánchez, p. (2007b). urban immigrant students: how transnationalism shapes their world learning. the urban review, 39(5), 489-517. sánchez, p. (2008). coming of age across borders: family, gender, and place in the lives of second-generation transnational mexicanas. in r. márquez & h. romo (eds.), transformations of la familia on the u.s.-méxico border (pp. 185-208). notre dame, in: notre dame press. sánchez, p., & kasun, g. s. (2012). connecting transnationalism to the classroom and to theories of immigrant student adaptation. berkeley review of education, 3(1), 71-93. sánchez, p., & machado-casas, m. (2009). at the intersection of transnationalism, latina/o immigrants, and education. the high school journal, 92(4), 3-15. sánchez-lópez, l. (2017). learning from the paisanos: coming to consciousness in zaptec la. latino studies, 15(2), 242-246. simons, g. f., & fennig, c. d. (eds.) (2018). ethnologue: languages of the world, 21st ed. dallas, tx: sil international. http://www.ethnologue.com stephen, l. (2007). transborder lives: indigenous oaxacans in mexico, california, and oregon. durham: duke university press. trueba, e. h. t. (2004). the new americans: immigrants and transnationals at work. lanham: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. urrieta jr., l. (2017). identity, violence, and authenticity: challenging static conceptions of indigeneity. latino studies, 15(2), 254-261. zentella, a. c. (1997). growing up bilingual: puerto rican children in new york. malden, ma: blackwell publishers. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 1 2018 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 27 college for all: chicana/o and latina/o empowerment agents working to increase latina/o students’ college-going opportunities leticia rojas, ed.d. brandman university abstract this one-year qualitative study examined the ways in which five chicana/o and latina/o teachers committed to social justice perceived their roles in their college-going work with latina/o students, as well as the challenges threatening their efforts with students. building on stantonsalazar’s (2011) concept of empowerment social capital, the findings showed that these teachers perceived college access as an equity issue, challenging dominant narratives of tracking and deficitthinking in their college-going practices. despite their ongoing and persistent commitments, the findings also revealed various challenges to these teachers’ work with students, such as the lack of schooling funding and college-going resources and a struggle to maintain a work-life balance. the results of this study have implications for school leadership and the reconceptualization of the teacher role in latina/o students’ college-going processes. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.1.376 college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 28 introduction for many working-class latina/o youth and their families, a college education is viewed as essential to socio-economic mobility and increased life opportunities (bowles & gintis, 2011; marina & holmes, 2009). latinas/os have also used their education to organize and generate social movements, as they did through the student walkouts of the chicana/o movement in the late 1960’s, which was largely organized by college students and centered around social and educational justice (muñoz, 1989; urrieta, 2004). this type of aspirational capital (yosso, 2005), or the belief and hope in future possibilities, however, if often challenged by the negative social and schooling realities facing latina/o students’ access to higher education. despite recent gains, latina/o students’ college attainment rates remain some of the lowest for all ethnic groups in the united states (gándara, 2010; pérez huber, huidor, malagón, sánchez, & solórzano, 2006; nuñez & kim, 2012). while raising the college attainment of latina/o students is of upmost importance, due to them becoming over half of the overall college-age population over the next decade (bowen, chingos, & mcpherson, 2009; nuñez & kim, 2012; pérez huber et al., 2006) and that a college degree has increasingly become a necessary credential in a changing workforce (pearl, 2011), many working-class latina/o youth attend schools that socially reproduce larger social and economic disparities (bowles & gintis, 2011; stanton-salazar, 2011). for example, latina/o students often attend under-resourced, overcrowded schools that limit their college-going resources and opportunities (darling-hammond, 2010; mcdonough, 2005; solórzano & ornelas, 2002). one major obstacle to working-class latina/o students’ college-going opportunities are the lowered expectations they often face from adults in schools and classrooms. indeed, latina/o students are more likely to have teachers who hold lowered academic expectations and limited perceptions of their academic potential than do white students (cooper & liou, 2007; landsman, 2004; yosso, 2005). these types of cultural deficit frameworks, that place the blame of underperformance on families and students of color, rather than on larger systemic inequities and racism, result in teachers’ deficit perceptions and lowered expectations of students of color and can have negative effects on student-teacher relationships, students’ self-perceptions regarding their own academic potential, and academic outcomes (liou & rotheram-fuller, 2016; pérez huber et al., 2006). a teacher’s expectations of students can also influence what types of college-going information or resources teachers expose their students to (monkman, ronald & rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 29 theramene, 2005; solórzano & ornelas, 2002; stanton-salazar, 2011), as well as the type of curriculum and rigor introduced in the classroom (liou & rojas, 2016). indeed, research points to the potential benefits of teachers acting as support systems for latina/o students’ college-going possibilities, particularly in students’ development of resources and networks, or social capital (bourdieu, 1986; perna & titus, 2005; stanton-salazar, 2001, 2011; woolley, 2009; zarate & burciaga, 2010). school-based resources and networks focused on college-going can be especially beneficial for working-class latina/o students who rely heavily on the adults at their school sites as major sources of college-going information (enriquez, 2011; stanton-salazar, 2011; zarate & burciaga, 2010). however, while social capital has been found to have a positive impact on latina/o students’ college-going opportunities, it has often been framed as a form of status attainment, void of a larger discussion on race and racism and critique of social and educational inequity (welton & martinez, 2014; yosso, 2005). an exploration of social capital development through a critical framework that is anti-racist and aligned to social justice ideologies is warranted. stanton-salazar (2011) argues that by extending their efforts beyond the provision of college support or resources to simultaneously support students’ challenging of racist structures impeding their success, educators can help students develop empowerment social capital, or “those resources and forms of institutional support which are embedded in ‘connections’ or relationships with high-status, resourceful, institutional agents oriented to go counter to the system” (p. 1086). in these efforts, teachers can challenge deficit-ridden dominant narratives of latina/o student underachievement (gándara, 2010; perna & titus, 2005; stantonsalazar, 2001) and support the development of their students’ agency in countering larger societal and educational inequities (duncan-andrade, 2005; monkman et al., 2005; nieto, 2005; rodriguez, 2012; stanton-salazar, 2011). despite the potential role and impact of the classroom teacher in latina/o students’ college-going opportunities, especially those committed to social justice, this remains an area that has been largely under-researched (yamamura, martinez, & saenz, 2010; zarate & burciaga, 2010). more specifically, there is also a lack of research on latina/o teachers engaged in this type of work with latina/o students, which is important as teachers of color can potentially serve as role-models and have been shown to hold high expectations of students of color (villegas & irvine, 2010). this study, then, hopes to explore the dispositions, perceived practices, and experiences of chicana/o and latina/o educators working to support latina/o students’ college college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 30 aspirations in anti-deficit ways, from their own voices. to this end, the study is guided by the following two questions: 1. how do chicana/o and latina/o teachers committed to social justice perceive their college-going roles, expectations, and commitments with their latina/o students? 2. what do chicana/o and latina/o teachers committed to social justice perceive to be the challenges to their college-going work with latina/o students? literature review and theoretical framework latina/o students and their college-going opportunities the schooling disparities of latina/o youth have been largely influenced by racist educational policies and practices, such as school segregation (both de jure and de facto), antiimmigrant policies, and anti-bilingual education initiatives (solórzano & ornelas, 2002; valencia, 2011). these and other oppressive societal and schooling inequities have limited students’ opportunities for higher education, what darling-hammond (2010) refers to as the “educational opportunity gap.” indeed, latina/o students are more likely to attend overcrowded schools with high student-to-counselor ratios (mcdonough, 2005), have less access to advanced placement (ap) courses, and be encouraged to take the sat exam at lower rates (ginorio & huston, 2001; solórzano & ornelas, 2002) than white students, all of which limit their opportunities for fouryear college access. in addition, academic tracking that often stratifies students by ability and educational goals delineates college-going opportunities and has been found to have a negative impact on latina/o students’ educational opportunities (werblow, urick, & duesbery, 2013). despite these realities, the research shows that college-going resources and knowledge remain critical for students of color, as it not only prepares them for college but can also play a factor in the development of their college-going identity (stanton-salazar, 2011; welton & martinez, 2013). the role of the classroom teacher as a support system for students’ college-going process, then, is of importance to study (zarate & burciaga, 2010). chicana/o and latina/o teachers with the majority of teachers in the country being english-monolingual white middle class females (berta-avila 2004; landsman & lewis 2006; matias & liou, 2015), latina/o students rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 31 are seldom privy to having teachers who look like them or who may have an intricate understanding of their lives and communities (irizarry, 2007). the lack of chicana/o and latina/o teachers, in contrast to the growing percentage of latina/o students in the country, can be attributed to the various systemic challenges to latina/o college access and post-bachelor’s education pipeline (ocasio, 2014). for those chicana/o and latina/o who do become teachers, poor working conditions can contribute to their struggle for sustainability. a recent report by the education trust (2018) reported that only 8% of the entire teaching workforce in the u.s. are latina/o, with latina/o educators leaving the profession at higher rates than others due to stereotyping, discrimination, and their additional labor, such as acting as translators, not being valued when considered for promotion opportunities. despite these realities, research points to the positive impact that latina/o teachers can have on their latina/o students, one of which includes the potential of acting as role-models of latina/o college attainment for their students (flores, riojas clark, claeys, & villareal, 2007). latina/o teachers have also been found to have a positive influence on latina/o students’ academic achievement by holding students to higher academic expectations (busto et al., 2007; irizarry & donaldson, 2012), and possessing anti-deficit views that value students’ communities and funds of knowledge (irizarry & donaldson, 2012). in addition, latina/o teachers have been found to perceive a shared responsibility for the social and academic success of their latina/o students and a willingness to integrate students’ histories and lived experiences in the curriculum (berta-avila, 2004). in fact, the research on teachers of color underscores that they may often list their connections to communities of color and their commitment to social justice as key motivators for becoming educators and working with students in anti-racist ways (kohli & pizzarro, 2016; olsen, 2008; rojas, 2014). social justice teaching while there are numerous benefits to increasing the number of chicana/o and latina/o teachers, as well as to working with latina/o students to increase their college-going opportunities, the various social and educational inequities that limit latina/o students’ overall academic and life outcomes warrant teachers who also hold social justice commitments and view education as an equity issue. a study by urrieta (2004) on activist chicana/o teachers found them to be committed to working alongside latina/o students and their communities in countercollege for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 32 hegemonic ways to advance social justice, largely in part due to their own histories and political identities. chicana/o and latina/o teachers committed to social justice can enact the roles of “change agents,” and work alongside latina/o students and families to challenge educational injustices and increase students’ academic outcomes (berta-avila, 2004). others have also written about the role of teachers, whether they be latina/o or not, in working with students of color to counter racism and inequity in and out of the classroom. matias and liou (2015) examined the potential role of teachers as critical race teacher activists and described a teaching pedagogy that centers countering racism in pedagogical practice, as well as students’ experiences and lived histories. other researchers have also linked effective social justice teaching practices to holding high academic expectations of students (nieto, 2005; rojas & liou, 2017), demonstrating caring for youth (antrop-gonzález & de jesus, 2006; rojas & liou, 2017; valenzuela, 1999), being unafraid to break rules and question systems at the school and policy level (nieto, 2005; rojas, 2014; stanton-salazar, 2011), and countering dominant deficit narratives of communities of color (duncan-andrade, 2005). teachers with a social justice disposition have also been found to enact high expectations of latina/o students through caring teacher-student relationships, incorporating students’ knowledge-bases, redefining rigor as including critical consciousness, and emphasizing empowering curriculum that centers the voices and experiences of latina/o youth (liou & rojas, 2016). empowerment social capital and the role of empowerment agents in latina/o students’ college-going opportunities the existence of resource-generating networks and social capital focused on college-going has been found to have a significant positive effect on students of color’ college enrollment (mcdonough, 2005; perna & titus, 2005; woolley, 2009). within the schooling context, educators can act as institutional agents and take on many roles in their work with latina/o students for college attainment, such as exposing students to important college-going information, expanding students’ access to other resource-generating adults and networks, and coordinating services to meet the needs of their students (stanton-salazar, 2001, 2011). in addition to working directly with latina/o students on college-specific items, such as personal statements or college and scholarship applications, teachers can also act as advocates for their latina/o students and work alongside students for social justice and educational equity, taking on rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 33 the role of empowerment agents (stanton-salazar, 2011). in the empowerment social capital framework, stanton-salazar (2011) highlights the importance of expanding students’ resources and networks required for institutional access and opportunity, while simultaneously working with students and communities to counter and dismantle the oppressive structures preventing latina/o students’ academic and personal success. these types of teachers move to counterstratify schooling spaces and help students ‘decode the system’ (stanton-salazar, 2011) by working to develop their students’ critical consciousness and agency within educational systems. these types of equity-focused student-teacher relationships can provide “countervailing forces and interventions” against the social reproduction that permeates the schooling system (stanton-salazar, 2011, p. 1075). students can work with empowerment agents, then, to continuously challenge educational and social injustices (stanton-salazar, 2011). according to stanton-salazar (2011), whether a teacher can be determined to act as an empowerment agent is dependent on the following descriptors: (1) the extent to which they are aware of the societal and schooling structural forces that challenge the success of working-class students; (2) the extent of their critical awareness in understanding that their students’ success is dependent on them receiving institutional support; (3) their willingness to advocate for all students and challenge the established rules of social structure; (4) their identity and their ideological commitment to advocating for their students and in providing them with institutional support; and (5) their willingness to be recognized as student advocates by the larger community. methodology context and participants the data for this study was drawn from a larger qualitative interview study examining the roles and practices of high school classroom teachers working with latina/o students for college access in a large urban school district in southern california. this article discusses the roles and practices of five of those teachers, all self-identified as either chicana/o or latina/o and exhibiting characteristics of empowerment agents, as determined by the literature (stanton-salazar, 2011). to participate in the study, the teachers had to be: (1) self-identified as either chicana/o or latina/o; (2) working primarily with latina/o students; (3) having taught for a minimum of three years; (4) holding a reputation for having positive relationships with their students and integrating college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 34 college-focused curriculum and practices, as determined by either the principal and/or counselor at their school; and (5) exhibiting characteristics of empowerment agents (stanton-salazar, 2011). at the time of the study, all five teachers (atticus, tonatiuh, maricela, indiana, and ana) taught in hyper-segregated high schools (with over 90% of the student population being workingclass latina/o youth) and were working in a similar geographical area that, despite facing serious socio-economic struggles, had a strong sense of community and a deep history of political resistance against social and educational inequities. all five of the teachers incorporated a collegegoing focus in their teaching, with their skillsets including (but not limited to): providing direct support to students in completing their college and scholarship applications, developing and implementing narrative writing assignments aligned to students’ college personal statements, and other college-focused activities. for example, the teachers in the study created opportunities for their latina/o students to conduct college-research projects, attend college field trips, and listen to panels of latina/o college students discuss their experiences in higher education. in addition to their college-focused work, all five of the teachers expressed a strong commitment to social justice in their work with students. some of their pedagogical practices included centering people’ of color experiences and voices in the curriculum through examining issues of race, class, gender, and other intersectionalities across readings, films, art and other mediums. several of the teachers also engaged in pedagogical practices such as youth participatory action research (ypar), where students worked together to find solutions to societal and schooling problems, or sponsoring student clubs that had explicit political focus. for example, one of the teachers worked with students around the issues of policing and criminalization of students at their campus. table 1 highlights some general information of the participating teachers. rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 35 table 1 participating teachers’ general information teacher pseudonym gender ethnicity (selfreported) years teaching school name content area atticus m mexicanamerican/ white 8 esperanza high school english tonatiuh m chicano 15 esperanza high school history maricela f latina 9 emiliano zapata high school history indiana m latino 15 esperanza high school english ana f chicana 13 frida kahlo high school english methods the teachers in this study were purposefully recruited (clark & creswell, 2010) and screened using a two-phase approach (yin, 2014), which consisted of: (1) having the participants be recommended by a principal or counselor at their school based on set criteria (previous outlined); and (2) screened by the researcher through phone or email to confirm that they met the set criteria. the data collection spanned one academic year and consisted of a questionnaire, one-on-one semi-structured interviews with each participant, document collection (i.e., teachers’ syllabi, photographs of classroom, samples of student work, log of activities with students, etc.), and teacher journaling (three journal prompts per teacher) where the teachers were provided additional space for self-reflection pertaining to their pedagogical practices. data analysis the data analysis process consisted of: (1) preparing the data; (2) exploring and coding the data; (3) developing description and themes; and (4) validating the findings (clark & creswell, college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 36 2010). after all the data were transcribed, the data was analyzed for emerging codes, patterns, and themes (clark & creswell, 2010). the process was both inductive and deductive, using stanton-salazar’s (2011) empowerment social capital construct as an analytical lens. several measures were taken to ensure the trustworthiness of the data, including engaging participants in member-checking of their transcripts and conducting peer-review with a doctoral inquiry group to check for the reliability of emergent patterns and themes (shenton, 2004). findings college-going expectations of latina/o students as an equity issue the findings suggest that teachers in this study had a strong commitment to working with latina/o students in anti-racist ways that challenged deficit perceptions of students’ academic potential, citing their college-going efforts as central to their perceived roles. for the teachers in this study, working to increase students’ college-going opportunities proved to be an equity issue and part of their social justice commitments. for example, tonatiuh, a chicano history teacher in his 15th year of teaching, described his desire to increase the number of latina/o students going to college as aligned to educational justice and equity. he shared, i always tell people that i got into teaching, not necessarily because i felt like, ‘wow, i'm going to love developing lessons and that i fell in love with pedagogical theories’ or anything like that. i came to it more as kind of part of that desire to...i need to go where i see that the problem is. for me, educational and social injustice was a big thing. so, i saw it as a way where i could maybe hopefully directly have some impact, like firsthand impact…i’m going to be a model of success for my students. i’m from where they’re from. i come from the same family. my parents are identical to their parents. i saw that as a solution. if we could just convince a bunch of young chicanos and chicanas to come to the barrio and teach, things would change. for tonatiuh, education was a possible medium for freedom, viewing his teacher role as one responsible for working with students for social justice. he shared that his commitment to educational equity, and to holding students to higher expectations, was a motivating factor in his decision to enter the teaching profession and to work with primarily latina/o youth. in addition, rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 37 tonatiuh believed that his experiences having grown up in the same community as his students, from the ‘same family,’ would have a positive impact on them and his willingness to act as a chicano college-going role model for his latina/o students was evident. as an empowerment agent, tonatiuh emphasized pedagogical practices that included integrating college-focused assignments into his curriculum, having community professionals and college students speak to his students, sponsoring a student activist group on campus, and centering the experiences and voices of marginalized groups in his curriculum. according to his 12th grade economics syllabus, he also required his 12th grade students to complete a college application and apply for financial aid and internships as part of their economics grade. similarly, maricela, a history teacher in her ninth year of teaching, viewed holding collegegoing expectations of latina/o students as an equity issue. in her interview, maricela shared that she would speak to her latina/o students about the structural barriers to their college-going opportunities when reviewing the latina/o educational pipeline statistics, such as oppressive educational policies and discriminatory practices, and emphasize the importance of countering deficit perspectives that held latina/o students to lowered expectations. her students then engaged in critical dialogue where they explored their own educational goals and aspirations, prior to her having the college counselor come in with additional information. it was important, as maricela stated, to “[make] kids understand that college is a possibility and that they could definitely go to college no matter their legal status, no matter their socioeconomic status, no matter their race.” like tonatiuh, maricela also believed in the importance of having a shared background to that of her latina/o students. she shared, when i was in college and i started to take classes in education, i think that definitely opened my eyes of the need of teachers of color, especially in communities of need. i grew up in [community of color] and i remember having teachers that did not look like me and definitely the few that i did have, i felt had a big impact in my life…the impact that they had…i wanted to do something to that extent. like, i wanted to make an impact to students and see the importance of finishing high school and pursuing college or anything else of their choice, but giving kids the options. college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 38 maricela reflected on the important role that teachers of color had on her own schooling experiences and cited them as influential in her own college-going aspirations. in turn, she perceived her own college-focused efforts as central to her teacher role. like tonatiuh, she held high educational expectations of her latina/o students, debunking the dominant deficit narratives that often plague latina/o students. interestingly, in their discussions regarding their college-going commitments with latina/o students, several of the teachers included language that likened their work as aligned to a larger fight for social justice, thus demonstrating their roles as empowerment agents in their efforts to both increase students’ college resources and critical consciousness and agency. for example, when describing why he integrated a college-going environment in his pedagogy, atticus, an english teacher, shared, i’m going to quote a line from battletech, ‘information is ammunition’. so you can’t be duped if you understand the way things are going on. you can’t be tricked. you can’t be lied to. you can’t be used. you can’t be exploited, and i think that’s the point of education, at least for my people, and when i say my people i mean both my class and my race and the different parts. atticus perceived the role of education as part of a larger battle for class and racial equity. in addition to preparing his students for college by having them conduct research on colleges and visit several universities, as reported in his journals, he also emphasized curriculum that focused on challenging socio-economic injustice and developing students’ critical consciousness. his curricular units focused on examining issues of privilege through literature, with one unit culminating in having students perform original poetry sharing counter-stories, as well as their aspirations for their future in a community space. other teachers also used war-like terminology in their descriptions of their teacher roles and commitments. indiana, an english teacher, shared that his decision to teach in his community was due in large part because he felt his students needed a latino male role model of college attainment, adding, “if this was a war, i want to be right there at the frontline.” tonatiuh described his motivation to work to empower youth as “fe[eling] like a soldier, with boots on the ground.” rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 39 countering narratives of deficit thinking and tracking and re[conceptualizing] college-going the teachers in this study demonstrated an awareness of the ways in which schooling structures and teachers’ expectations reproduced deficit conceptions of latina/o students based on deterministic systems such as tracking. according to the data from the interviews and journals, they perceived themselves as challenging these dominant deficit narratives that limited many of their latina/o students’ academic possibilities. ana, a chicana english teacher in the study who had attended a private catholic high school in her community emphasizing college for all students, reflected on realizing early on that many of her latina/o friends in her neighborhood who attended the public high school had not received the same college-going information, resources, and opportunities and were labeled as non-college going: i remember in the ninth and tenth grade when i was taking confirmation classes, i met a lot of kids in my neighborhood who were going to the public school in the area, and a lot of them didn’t graduate. they didn’t talk about college. i felt like it wasn’t fair. i knew that they were intelligent. i knew that would be a road that would lead them to more opportunities. being a tenth grader and seeing, oh, like your teachers suck. they are not giving you that option. i felt like if i taught in public schools i could do that for kids. i could show them that they could have more doors open to them if they chose like the path of education like my family had, like i had. rather than succumbing to deficit narratives, ana demonstrated an awareness of the stratifying systematic racism that latina/o students faced in schooling and the lowering of academic expectations that limited their educational pathways and life opportunities. for ana, witnessing these types of educational injustices was influential in her decision-making in becoming a teacher, and she worked with students to create counter-narratives of high expectations. in her practice, ana emphasized narrative writing that validated and centered on students’ lived experiences and knowledge, as well as integrated activities that had all of her students reflecting and planning for their plans after high school. other teachers in the study also emphasized the importance of a college-going environment for all students, not just those with the highest grades or tests scores, challenging college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 40 traditional and narrowed conceptions of college-readiness which is often measured by test scores like the sat or act (maruyama, 2012). in her journal, maricela reflected, “i have really high expectations for all of my students. really high, and not just for the [advanced placement] ap classes, but my regular classes too. i think that my number one job is to be a teacher and to get them ready for college or whatever they’re going to do after high school.” similarly, in his interview, tonatiuh critiqued tracking latina/o students along the lines of those who took advanced placement courses and those who did not, citing the problematic nature of teachers’ lowered expectations limiting students’ opportunities for the future. tonatiuh shared, i think it's still the case where teachers are looking at certain kids and they're saying, ‘well, let me take my class [to college field trips] that has a lot of honors kids in it’ or ‘let me take my ap students, but i'm not going to take this other class because it'll probably be a waste of money or a waste of time.’ again, we need to change the institution behind that and our thinking process behind that and re-educate ourselves about the potential positive effects on a student who maybe is not where they should be academically. because i always believe again that students, they could be late bloomers. tonatiuh spoke on the ways that teachers’ deficit notions and perspectives on college readiness harmed struggling students and manifested themselves into opportunities, or lack thereof, for college-going. he countered these types of practices by taking all of his students on college field trips, regardless of their academic standing. in addition to challenging deficit perceptions of latina/o students’ college-going potential, the teachers in the study also discussed teaching and learning in terms of working with students to develop critical consciousness and thinking, skills they believed to be essential in not only being college-ready, but necessary for latina/o students who existed in a system that reproduced inequity. as mentioned earlier, atticus emphasized the development of critical thinking in his english classroom as a means to arm students with the tools against exploitation and oppression. similarly, tonatiuh also redefined traditional narratives around college-readiness and academic rigor and highlighted the importance of working with latina/o students to develop critical thinking and sense of agency to prepare them for the future: i try as best as i can to model my lessons and have students think critically in the rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 41 way that they’re going to be asked to do in college. and to be creative in their expression and arguments. i think that a lot of times with our students we know what they’re up against. we know the obstacles and we could potentially be sheltering them a little bit too much...i also think we should be measured on the kind of work that we give and not just the amount of work. the challenges facing empowerment agents despite their commitment to their students, the chicana/o and latina/o teachers in this study discussed the various difficulties threatening their work with latina/o students to increase their college-going opportunities, one of which was the lack of college-going resources due to declining school budgets and funding. maricela shared her frustration about the lack of funding and resources afforded to her school and the overall educational system, which challenged her efforts to have all students be college-ready and eligible. when discussing her school district’s goal of having all students be college-ready, something seemingly aligned to her efforts with latina/o students, maricela shared, like i said, i really love the fact that they envision every kid [going to college]…when we’re lacking resources and we’re lacking stuff in the schools, it’s very hard to meet those expectations when we don’t have the money. we don’t have money to provide our kids with an sat prep course or to provide our kids additional ap classes or field trips…there’s no money available. maricela highlighted the problematic reality of school districts having the goal of all students being college-ready without addressing the systematic social, economic, and educational inequities and realities facing her students. she believed that the lack of money for activities like college-field trips were barriers to the district’s and her school’s efforts to support students. to counter-act some of these challenges, maricela worked alongside her school’s college counselor to bring colleges to her high school campus, co-organizing a large college fair for all of her students. other teachers also spoke of financial restraints challenging students’ academic outcomes and how teachers and schools were increasingly forced to make difficult decisions based on declining school budgets. for example, tonatiuh journaled about the lack of funding forcing the teachers at his school to choose between a librarian or college counselor position. college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 42 several teachers also shared the challenges in maintaining a work-life balance given that they were extending their roles well beyond content-area instruction. the teachers spoke of an ever-changing stressful educational climate, which they believed was impacted by the various reforms taking place, such as: growing small school movement, increasing competition between their schools and nearby charter schools, declining student attendance leading to declining funding, pressure to increase test scores, new content-area standards, and the threat of school reconstitution. one of the teachers, ana, who had come back to the classroom after a year sabbatical/hiatus, shared, something i used to do early on [at former school] was that i gave my heart and soul and i would volunteer for everything and be on every committee. around the time that grades were due, i would be at work until midnight a few nights. i felt like i burned myself out. that’s part of the reason why i think i needed that break [referring to the one year she left the profession]. i was like the classic case of the teacher who gave too much and couldn’t give anymore. although ana shared that the year off had been beneficial in her ongoing sustainability in the profession and her commitment to her students, she expressed the reality that many latina/o teachers face in terms of being overworked and leaving the profession (education trust, 2018; kohli & pizarro, 2016). while all of the five teachers discussed the hardship of feeling overworked, some also expressed sentiments of persistence despite the challenges they faced. interestingly, both tonatiuh and indiana shared similar accounts of continuing to their work despite strenuous conditions. for example, indiana shared, there was this one [poem], the thing about burning both ends of a candle. i remember hearing that expression as a kid. i heard my mom telling me about the expression when i read the poem, ‘but ah, what a wonderful light…’. so, the whole burning out thing. i think i thrive on that. i don’t know if that’s being a raised catholic thing, a latino thing, or just a blue-collar background, working yourself to the bitter end. rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 43 indiana cited his own background as playing a role in his ongoing efforts to work with students in ways that were committed to social justice. still, despite sharing that he ‘thrived’ on large amounts of work, he also feared a struggle for sustainability. tonatiuh also expressed similar notions of his work with students against educational injustice: the beauty is in the struggle.’ as a matter of fact, i don’t know if i would have made sense if there was no struggle…i feel like this. maybe again, maybe that’s something i just created in my mind to kind of also make myself feel good about it, but a lot of times that’s the way i feel. the teachers’ voices expressed a resiliency and persistence in the face of amounting schooling challenges, with less and less support every year. despite their persistence, however, it is important to highlight that they still felt exhausted in their work, with a struggle to maintain a work-life balance. conclusion this study sheds light as to how chicana/o and latina/o teachers committed to social justice perceived their roles, expectations, and commitments in their efforts to increase the college-going opportunities of latina/o students. the findings suggest that the teachers in the study challenged deficit perceptions of latina/o students’ academic potential, as well as redefined traditional narratives of academic rigor and college-readiness. in addition, the teachers cited their college-going expectations of latina/o students, as well as their college-focused commitments, as central tenets in both their decisions to become educators and the ways in which they defined their roles. for several of the teachers, their work and sense of responsibility to increase the college access of latina/o students was also largely tied to their own identities as chicana/o and latina/o teachers and their connections to latina/o communities. studies on educators of color have indeed demonstrated the importance of personal connections to students or to the community of practice in the development of teacher identity or in efforts to empower students (berta-avila, 2004; irizarry, 2007; nieto, 2005). this study also demonstrated that despite a strong commitment to social justice and student’ college attainment, the chicana/o and latina/o teachers faced various challenges that threatened their well-being and sustainability. their stories spoke of the inequitable funding of college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 44 public education and its impact on college-going resources, mirroring the literature on how working-class youth of color are often afforded less college and academic resources than middle and upper-class youth (bowles & gintis, 2011; ginorio & huston, 2001; mcdonough, 2005; perna & titus, 2005; solórzano & ornelas, 2002; stanton-salazar, 2001, 2011). the findings demonstrate the existing struggles that teachers face as they try to counter the mechanisms of social reproduction in schooling, which often works to maintain the status quo. while there is much written about the conditions of schools with large populations of students of color, there is little in the literature capturing the experiences of schooling agents, like teachers, working to provide college support to students within the confines of these funding and resource shortages (yamamura et al., 2010; zarate & burciaga, 2010). the findings point to the fact that inequitable schooling conditions not only pose a threat to working-class latina/o youth, but also pose great challenges for the educators working diligently to support students’ college aspirations. despite these challenges, the chicana/o and latina/o teachers in this study continued to work with latina/o students for college-going while simultaneously having a strong social justice commitment. the study provided empirical evidence of stanton-salazar’s (2011) empowerment agent construct, and the ways in which teachers can play a central role in the college attainment of latina/o students in anti-deficit, counter-stratifying ways. several of the implications of this study include increasing the number of programs like advanced via individual determination (avid) or the puente program, which have been shown to increase the college-going rates of latina/o youth and have classroom teachers playing a critical role (gándara & bial, 2001; stanton-salazar, 2001). the findings of this study also add to the larger argument that calls for the increased training and recruitment of latina/o, who have the potential for intimate knowledge of the communities they serve (berta-avila, 2004; irizarry, 2007; nieto, 2005). lastly, expanding our notions of the teacher role in latina/o students’ college-going, as well as truly addressing the systematic educational and racial inequities that face students of color, such as lowered teacher expectations and lack of funding in our schools, are critical if we hope to increase the college access and attainment of all latina/o students rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 45 references antrop-gonzalez, r., & de jesus, a. (2006). toward a theory of critical care in urban small school reform: examining structures and pedagogies of caring in two latino community-based schools. international journal of qualitative studies in education (qse), 19(4), 409-433. berta-avila, m. (2004). critical xicana/xicano educators: is it enough to be a person of color? high school journal, 87(4), 66-80. bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in david w o’shea (ed.). handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241-258). new york, ny: greenwood. bowen, w., chingos, m., & mcpherson, m. (2009). crossing the finish line. princeton, nj: princeton university press.
 bowles, s., & gintis, h. (2011). schooling in capitalist america: educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. chicago, il: haymarket books. clark, p., & creswell, j. (2010). understanding research: a consumer’s guide. upper saddle river, nj: pearson education. cooper, r., & liou, d. d. (2007). the structure and culture of information pathways: rethinking opportunity to learn in urban high schools during the ninth-grade transition. the high school journal, 91(1), 43–56.
 darling-hammond, l. (2010). the flat world and education. new york, ny: teachers college press. duncan-andrade, j. (2005). developing social justice educators: in a teacher inquiry group, educators collectively examine how to teach for social justice. educational leadership, 7073. education trust. (2018). our stories, our struggles, our strengths: perspectives and reflections from latino teachers. washington, dc: ashley griffin. enriquez, l. e. (2011). “because we feel the pressure and we also feel the support”: examining the educational success of undocumented immigrant latina/o students. harvard educational review, 81(3), 476-499. flores, b. b., riojas clark, e., claeys, l., & villarreal, a. (2007). academy for teacher excellence: recruiting, preparing, and retaining latino teachers through learning communities. teacher education quarterly, 34(4), 53-69. gándara, p. (2010). the latino. educational leadership, 24-30. gandara, p., bial, d., & national center for education statistics. (2001). paving the way to postsecondary education: k-12 intervention programs for underrepresented youth. washington, dc: national center for education statistics, office of educational research and improvement, u.s. dept. of education. ginorio, a., & huston, m. (2001). si se puede! yes, we can: latinas in school. washington, dc: american association university women educational foundation. retrieved from http://history.aauw.org/files/2013/01/sisepuede.pdf irizarry, j.g. (2007). “home-growing” teachers of color: lessons learned from a town-grown partnership. teacher education quarterly, fall 2007, 87-102. college for all association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 46 irizarry, j., & donaldson, m. (2012). teach for america: the latinization of u.s. schools and the critical shortage of latino/a teachers. american educational research journal, 49(1), 155– 194.
 kohli, r., & pizarro, m. (2016). fighting to educate our own: teachers of color, relational accountability, and the struggle for racial justice. equity & excellence in education, 49(1), 72-84. landsman, j. (2004). confronting the racism of low expectations. educational leadership, 62, 28-33.
 landsman, j., & lewis, c. w. (2006). white teachers, diverse classrooms: a guide to building inclusive schools, promoting high expectations, and eliminating racism. sterling, va: stylus publishing. liou, d., & rojas, d. (2016). teaching for empowerment and excellence: the transformative potential of teacher expectations in an urban latina/o classroom. the urban review, 48(3), 380-402. liou, d. d., & rotheram-fuller, e. (2016). where is the real reform? african american students and their school’s expectations for academic performance. urban education, 1-33. marina, b. l. & holmes, n. d. (2009). education is the great equalizer. or is it? wiley interscience, 29-32. maruyama, g. (2012). assessing college readiness: should we be satisfied with act or other threshold scores? educational researcher, 41(7), 252-261. matias, c. e., & liou, d. d. (2015). tending to the heart of communities of color towards critical race teacher activism. urban education, 50(5), 601–625.
 mcdonough, p. m. (2005). counseling and college counseling in america’s high schools. alexandria, va: national association for college admission counseling. retrieved from http://catholic4less.com/files/mcdonough_report.pdf monkman, k., ronald, m., & theramene, f. (2005). social and cultural capital in an urban latino school community. urban education, 40(1), 4-33. muñoz, c. (1989). youth, identity, power: the chicano movement. brooklyn, ny: verso books. nieto, s. (2005). schools for a new majority: the role of teacher education in hard times. the new educator, 1(1), 27-43. nuñez, a., & kim, d. (2012). building a multicontextual model of latino college enrollment: student, school, and state-level effects. the review of higher education, 35(2), 237-263. ocasio, k. m. (2014). "nuestro camino": a review of literature surrounding the latino teacher pipeline. journal of latinos and education, 13(4), 244-261. olsen, b. (2008). how reasons for entry into the profession illuminate teacher identity development. teacher education quarterly, 35(3), 23-40. pérez huber, l., huidor, o., malagón, m.c., sánchez, g., & solórzano, d.g. (2006). falling through the cracks: critical transitions in the latina/o educational pipeline. csrc research report, 7, 1-14. perna, l. w., & titus, m. a. (2005). the relationship between parental involvement as http://catholic4less.com/files/mcdonough_report.pdf rojas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 1 47 social capital and college enrollment: an examination of racial/ethnic group differences. journal of higher education, 76(5), 486-518. rojas, l. (2014). unstandardizing teaching: the classroom teacher as an institutional and empowerment agent for latina/o youth's college access. california state university, long beach. dissertation collection, department of educational leadership. rojas, l., & liou, d. d. (2017). social justice teaching through the sympathetic touch of caring and high expectations for students of color. journal of teacher education, 68(1), 2840. shenton, a. k. (2004). strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research. education for information, 22(2004), 63–75. solórzano, d. g., & ornelas, a. (2002). a critical race analysis of advanced placement classes: a case of educational inequality. journal of latinos and education, 1(4), 215-229. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2001). manufacturing hope and despair: the school and kin support networks of u.s.-mexican youth. new york, ny: teachers college press. stanton-salazar, r. d. (2011). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. youth and society, 43(3), 1066-1109. urrieta, l. (2004). chicana/o activism and education: an introduction to the special issue. the high school journal, 87(4), 1–9. valencia, r. (2011). chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future. new york, ny: taylor & francis. villegas, a. m., & irvine, j. j. (2010). diversifying the teaching force: an examination of major arguments. urban review: issues and ideas in public education, 42(3), 175-192. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany, ny: state university of new york press. welton, a. d., & martinez, m. a. (2014). coloring the college pathway: a more culturally responsive approach to college readiness and access for students of color in secondary schools. urban review: issues and ideas in public education, 46(2), 197-223. werblow, j., urick, a., & duesbery, l. (2013). on the wrong track: how tracking is associated with dropping out of high school. equity & excellence in education, 46(2), 270-284. woolley, m.e. (2009). supporting school completion among latino youth: the role of adult relationships. the prevention researcher, 16(3), 9-12. yamamura, e. k., martinez, m. a., & saenz, v. b. (2010). moving beyond high school expectations: examining stakeholders' responsibility for increasing latina/o students' college readiness. high school journal, 93(3), 126-148. yin, r.k. (2014). case study research: design and methods (5th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/62140898?accountid=10351 zarate, m. e., & burciaga, r. (2010). latinos and college access: trends and future directions. journal of college admission, 209, 24-29. http://search.proquest.com/docview/62140898?accountid=10351 association of mexican american educators journal volume 14 issue 1 2020 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ balderrama association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 150 cultural foundations and interventions in latino/a mental health: history, theory, and within-group differences. hector y. adames, & nayeli y. chavez-dueñas. (2016). routledge. pp. 276. isbn-13: 978-0-8153-8637-7. paperback: $49.95 sandra balderrama university of texas at san antonio the mental health of the latinx population has not been a widely discussed topic, even among latinas/os themselves. however, as the latinx population in the united stated grows, so does the need for trained professionals in the mental health field with insight on how to best attend to this population. in the book cultural foundations and interventions in latino/a mental health, history, theory, and within group differences, adames and chavez-dueñas set out to give readers a guide on how to better serve clients that come from a latinx background. the intended audience for the book is professionals in the mental health field as well as educators who wants to learn more about effective latinx mental health practices. the book is an up-to-date reference on the latinx population, which focuses on the diverse cultural and historic backgrounds members from this population share. the book is divided up into four parts, containing individual chapters. part i centers on the history, religion, societal organization, and holidays of mayans, tainos, aztecs, incas, and caribs; successful indigenous groups whose traditions are still kept alive today by many latino families in the u.s. the authors discuss how colonization changed and damaged these civilizations by decreasing their populations, and how the transatlantic slave trade brought with it an enriching dynamic, adding to the cultural practices of the region. the authors suggest it is important for clients of latinx descent to understand how their history evolved and how it plays a part in their multicultural identities today. additionally, the authors discuss within-group biases based on skin color and practices of concealment that are still used by many today, and note that it is important to make latinos aware of these biases as they are not often talked about within the population. this first part also explains the different reasons latinx groups have decided to migrate to the united states as well as the policies that have been put into place as a result of this migration. balderrama association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 151 part ii encompasses a holistic view of gender orientation, which is key to understanding the part gender roles play in creating identity. the terms machismo and marianismo are explained as central to the discussion of gender within the latinx community, as they dictate many of the behaviors men are expected to display within their community. part iii discusses important themes that health practitioners servicing this population should keep in mind such as respeto, personalismo, and confianza. the chapters in this section offer readers insight into what these words mean, how they are represented in the latinx community, and why they are central to the traditions that the latinx community practices. lastly, part iv centers on narratives and reflections of students and professionals who have read this book and how it has impacted their practices. this section is insightful in that it resonates with the theme of awareness that is felt throughout the book. this section is helpful for educators in understanding how to better connect with latinx students in their classrooms and advocate for their mental health. consisting of reflections written by mental health professionals on how this book has affected their mental health practices; this last part gives readers a glimpse of how it can help them in their practices. overall, the book provides insight into latinx history, migration, and how to best serve this population from a mental health perspective. the authors thoroughly explain concepts that are important in to the latinx population and how they apply in the mental health field. yet, the book lacks information on the current immigration policies and how this might affect the mental health of young latinos/as, as well as their parents. that aside, this book is a great asset for anyone in the mental health field to understand the latinx experience. the book can be a valuable tool in the hands of educators, who can gain insight into the history, identities, and practices of their latinx students and in this way be able to connect and understand them on a deeper level. this book can also enable educators to create better lessons for their latinx students having more knowledge of the themes of respeto, personalismo, and confianza. balderrama association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 152 references adames, h., & chavez-dueñas, n. (2017). cultural foundations and interventions in latino/a mental health: history, theory, and within-group differences. routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315724058 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315724058 cultural foundations and interventions in latino/a mental health: history, theory, and within-group differences. hector y. adames, & nayeli y. chavez-dueñas. (2016). routledge. pp. 276. isbn-13: 978-0-8153-8637-7. paperback: $49.95 sandra balderrama microsoft word romo & hurtado_page proof.docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu volume 14 issue 1 2020 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.352 romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 71 mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations: sexual delay as a path to educational achievement laura f. romo university of california, santa barbara aída hurtado university of california, santa barbara abstract in this article, we examine through quantitative and qualitative analyses mexican immigrant mothers’ conversations about dating and sex with their teenage daughters who were not sexually active at the time of the study. the results of our mixed-methods study indicate that mothers give their daughters consejos (advice) restricting sex initiation embedded within messages that stress the importance of education as a means to achieve self-sufficiency and freedom. these messages of sexual restriction for the purpose of educational achievement and liberation are important for building a bridge of collaboration with teachers and schools to ensure the educational success of mexican american female students. our study examines whether the mothers’ consejos on sexual delay to achieve educational success results in their daughters’ postponement of sexual engagement for another year. we conclude by outlining the implications of our findings for teacher training. mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 72 latino/a1 parents2 exert a positive influence on adolescents’ academic achievement and educational aspirations. latino/a adolescents who receive support and encouragement from their parents tend to be academically oriented, aspire to higher levels of education (plunkett & bamaca-gomez, 2003), and are less likely to drop out of school (degarmo & martinez, 2006). parental support enhances children’s self-competence and reinforces beliefs that they can succeed. benner and mistry (2007) found that among a sample of low-income urban youth, adolescents whose mothers expected them to go further in school had higher self-expectations related to schooling, reported higher levels of ability as part of their self-concept, and had higher levels of academic achievement. various studies indicate that parental support and encouragement has been found to be an essential component of latinos/as’ decision to go to college and to make a positive adjustment to college (cavazos et al., 2010; ceja, 2004; melendez & melendez, 2010; zalaquett, 2005). together, these findings converge to suggest that latino/a parents play a prominent role in fostering adolescents’ academic success and their decision to attend higher education. educational achievement, however, is a gendered process in which success for latinos and latinas follow different socialization patterns and consequences for adolescent behavior (hurtado & sinha, 2016). we use the chicana feminist literature to understand the complex reasoning mexican immigrant mothers communicate to their daughters in guiding their decisions about delaying sexual engagement. chicana feminists affirm women’s right to choose when and with whom to engage in sexual activity. however, they also write eloquently about the gendered consequences of unplanned and single parenthood for women. the consequences are especially dire for those who are in early adolescence and are less likely to have the resources to continue with their schooling (maldonado, 2019). we engage chicana feminist writings (caballero et al., 2019; hurtado, 2020) to frame the consejos (advice) mexican immigrant mothers give their teenage daughters about the vulnerabilities that early pregnancy might have on their life chances, success in school, and ultimately, economic independence. 1in this article, “latino/a” refers to people who have ethnic and racial roots in mexico, central and south america, and the caribbean. “latinos” in spanish refers to males, and “latinas” refers to females. most recently, “latinx” refers to someone who does not identify with the sex/gender binary. 2we are aware that in latino/a communities education is a family affair that involves not only parents but extended family and siblings as well. however, the research findings we present here are based mostly on parents with little information on the role of other family members. we refer to “parents” when the studies we cite used this unit of analysis, and we use “family” when the discussion is broader. romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 73 one important gender difference is the educational consequences of adolescent pregnancy. pregnancy happens to both boys and girls; however, it is mostly girls who suffer the consequences. they not only bear the child, but social responsibility and stigma for the pregnancy is cast mostly on girls. latina adolescents from low-income backgrounds are particularly vulnerable to pregnancy outcomes. many aspects of their environment related to socioeconomic scarcity, such as attending schools with low resources, contribute to early sex and pregnancy (penman-aguilar et al., 2013). by the end of high school, roughly 38% of latina students will have had sexual intercourse (kann et al., 2018). generally, the birth rate among adolescents in the united states has recently declined; however, births among latina adolescents remain high. birth rates among latina adolescents age 15-19 years are twice as high as that of same-age white adolescent girls (martin et al., 2018). adolescent motherhood increases the likelihood of living in poverty and relying on welfare. staying in school increases the likelihood of adolescents delaying pregnancy until older and engaging in self-protective practices when they become sexually active (hoffman, 2006). in this study, we examined the conversations of mexican immigrant3 mothers as a form of chicana underground feminisms when they discuss dating and sex with their teenage daughters. hurtado (2003b) proposes that many mexican descent women who are working class and immigrants act, live, and speak as feminists engaging in daily acts of patriarchal resistance without outright calling their actions “feminisms” (p. 260). in doing so, the many definitions of feminisms that have been put forth fail to capture the experiences “of poor women of color” (hurtado, 2003b, p. 260). we analyzed mother-daughter conversations to understand the role of communication about education embedded within messages about sexuality. the mothers were spanish dominant, had not finished high school, and came from working class backgrounds. the daughters were predominantly u.s. born, english-spanish bilinguals, first generation in high school, and educationally vulnerable to drop out of school and become pregnant during adolescence. through quantitative and qualitative analyses of their conversations, we found that, consistent with the concept of underground chicana feminisms, mothers gave their daughters consejos restricting sex initiation, which was embedded within 3 we use “mexican” when referring to mothers who for the most part were born in mexico but are longtime residents in the united states. we use “mexican americans” when referring to the daughters because they are the first generation born in the united states. if not born in this country, they have resided in the united states for most of their lives. mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 74 messages that stressed the importance of education as a means to achieve self-sufficiency and freedom. our goal was to gain a better understanding of whether these messages, as well as communication about education in general, was linked to their daughters’ intentions to delay sexual onset. these consejos of sexual restraint for the purpose of educational achievement and liberation are important for building a bridge of collaboration with teachers and schools to ensure the educational success of mexican american female students. a point of clarification is important at this juncture. as two chicana feminists, the authors do not wish to imply that becoming pregnant during adolescence should result in stigma or condemnation of young mothers. both of us have engaged in non-conventional mothering. one of us was indeed a teenage mother. the second author never had biological children but engaged in mothering her siblings at an early age, given their age differences and the economic hardships of the family. our positionalities inform our research and theorizing. we attempt to contextualize the messages of independence and self-sufficiency mexican immigrant mothers express in advocating educational attainment to their daughters. indeed, both of us mothered successfully, finding creative ways to reject messages that blocked our educational ambitions and to heed messages, sometimes from our mothers, sometimes from other influential people in our environments, to see educational attainment as the means to our economic, social, and intellectual liberation. we turn now to our research on the consequences for educational achievement when latinas become pregnant during early adolescence. we then review the importance of the mother-daughter relationship in delaying adolescent pregnancy through a chicana feminist lens of enhancing adolescents’ future through educational achievement. the results of the study are presented and discussed with a focus on the implications for teachers and their relationship to mexican american students and their immigrant parents. adolescent pregnancy prevention and educational achievement research suggests that adolescent decision-making about their sexual activity is connected to their academic achievement and educational aspirations. for example, in one study, adolescent girls who became pregnant before high school graduation had lower educational aspirations and less confidence that they could finish high school than those who had not become pregnant (young et al., 2004). additionally, beutel (2000) found that adolescent girls from diverse backgrounds who aspired to obtain an advanced degree were less romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 75 likely to have a non-marital pregnancy compared to adolescents with low expectations and aspirations. similarly, mireles-rios and romo (2014) found that latina adolescents who had a higher achievement orientation expressed a desire to have a first child at older ages and did not endorse becoming pregnant during adolescence. the importance of the mother-daughter relationship in delaying pregnancy during adolescence communication within latino/a families is often a gendered process in which mothers talk to children, especially daughters, and then relay the messages back to fathers. latino fathers rarely have direct communication with their children on personal matters like sex, educational plans, and everyday logistics (hurtado, 2003a; hurtado & sinha, 2016). among a national, nonrepresentative sample of mexican american women between the ages of 20 and 30 who were attending higher education, hurtado (2003a) found that mexican origin mothers were the main communicators in the family, particularly with daughters. mexican origin fathers, if present, did not speak directly to their daughters, especially about intimate topics such as sex initiation and contraception. many mexican origin mothers and daughters spoke on a daily basis even when their daughters were away from home attending college (hurtado, 2003a). mexican american daughters often referred to their mothers as their greatest cheerleaders in accomplishing their educational goals and the ones that knew them the best (hurtado, 2003a). chicana feminists have written eloquently on the importance of mothers in helping their daughters fulfill their educational dreams (caballero et al., 2019; hurtado, 2020; moraga, 2019). the help from mothers takes various forms: from giving consejos, to providing childcare, to providing unconditional support even when the mothers do not quite understand their daughters’ experiences in higher education. as hurtado (2003a) describes: according to my respondents, many of their mothers saw their mission as giving their daughters as much education as possible, so they would not be economically dependent on a man. at the same time, most mothers assumed that marriage was inevitable but also desirable. they simply felt that education was insurance against a bad marriage. (p. 80) in much of the chicana feminist writings, mothers are committed to providing their daughters with the opportunities they never had while growing up. they also advocate delaying mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 76 childbearing while obtaining an education. simultaneously, the expectation is that daughters will eventually become mothers. the manifestation of support is especially present in immigrant families who still have strong ties to mexican cultural norms of family commitment (guilamo-ramos et al., 2006; guilamo-ramos et al., 2009) and strong respect for la educación (education) (ma et al., 2014). respect for maternal authority and wisdom may prove to be a vital part of ensuring the educational success of mexican american teenage girls (becker et al., 2014). consejos given by mexican immigrant mothers may increase their daughters’ aspirations to succeed in school and serve to support their efforts, not only having an impact on academic outcomes but also on health decisions involving sexual engagement. that is, mexican immigrant mothers are key in influencing their adolescent daughters’ decision-making about sexual activity, reinforcing the daughters’ optimism about their future goals, and giving their daughters the confidence they need to achieve their goals. significantly, the consejos given by latina mothers appear to be more effective before daughters have engaged in sexual activity. in a study conducted with latinas enrolled in alternative high schools, romo et al. (2008) found that advice-seeking from parents about personal life decisions was associated with a stronger desire to go to college, higher levels of optimism about attendance and graduation from college, and a stronger motivation to achieve their goals. however, these associations were statistically significant only among latina girls who were not sexually active. latinas students who have already initiated sex may have a different relationship with their mothers, which may affect their communication. the interconnection among the quality of the mother-adolescent relationship, educational aspirations and expectations, and sexual activity suggests that pregnancy delay hinges on more than mothers communicating their sexual values or advising to engage in self-protective behaviors. the consejos to delay sexual initiation is tied to academic motivations and is given within the context of a supportive mother-daughter relationship. the study the central question addressed in this study is whether mexican immigrant mothers support of their daughters’ academic achievements, strengths, and maternal consejos influence sexual topics, including the delay of sexual initiation. we sampled mexican immigrant mothers with daughters in high school who had never had sex. the daughters were asked to report the romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 77 likelihood that they would engage in sexual intercourse the following year. our first aim was to explore whether the likelihood of having sex was associated with the daughters’ attitudes toward teen pregnancy, educational aspirations, confidence in achieving their educational goals, and grade point average. we hypothesized that the daughters’ less supportive attitudes toward adolescent pregnancy coupled with their higher education goals, and expectation of achieving those goals, and their higher-grade point averages would be associated with a lower likelihood of having sex in the next year. our second aim was to examine if the reported quality of the mother-daughter relationship and communication about education influenced the daughters’ attitude toward becoming sexually active in the coming year. we hypothesized that daughters and mothers reporting a good relationship coupled with good communication about education would be associated with the daughters’ intentions to delay sexual initiation. an innovative aspect of this study was that mother-daughter communication was investigated through a content analysis of videotaped conversations between mothers and daughters discussing the topics of dating and sexuality. observational analysis can provide the opportunity for a nuanced understanding of the themes that emerge from these conversations. part of our analysis explored the mothers’ strategies for communicating their expectations to their daughters as they addressed sexual activity and pregnancy delay. the observational analysis addressed the following: what do these conversations between immigrant mexican mothers and their daughters look like? how specifically do mothers communicate that early childbearing jeopardizes their daughters’ chances of achieving their future goals (e.g., guilamoramos et al., 2006; hyams, 2006; mckee & karasz, 2006; o’sullivan et al., 2001; romo et al., 2008)? a better understanding of these messages can inform teachers’ training, helping to create a stronger bridge between parents and schools for students to succeed. participants the participants were 64 mother-daughter pairs (64 mothers, 64 daughters) from mexican immigrant backgrounds who were recruited by posting flyers at a local youth-based organization, schools, and school-parent meetings. the flyers invited potential participants to attend a mother-daughter communication training program about sensitive topics including sexuality and hiv transmission. an additional 29 mother-daughter pairs were recruited initially but these participants were excluded from the current study because the daughters reported being sexually active. the daughters in the remaining 64 pairs reported never having had sexual mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 78 relations. the daughters were in early to middle adolescence ranging in age from 13 to 16 years (m = 14.8, sd = .9). the majority of the daughters were born in the united states (66%) and the remaining 34% were born in mexico. most of the daughters (74%) reported a preference for speaking both english and spanish, while 20% reported a preference for speaking mostly in english, and the remaining 6% reported a preference for speaking mostly in spanish. almost half of the daughters had just started high school (48% in 9th grade) and the rest reported the following grade levels: 10th grade, 27% and 11th grade, 25%. the mothers were relatively young (m = 39.3, sd = 5.6) for having teenage daughters and ranging in age between 30 and 55 years old. almost all were born in mexico (86%), with the remaining 14% born in the united states. foreign-born mothers lived in the united states on average for 15 years. most of the mothers (72%) reported they were married or living with a partner while 18% reported that they were single, divorced, or widowed. the majority of the mothers (61%) reported speaking mostly spanish at home, 36% reported both english and spanish, and 3% reported mostly english. most of the mothers had not finished high school and, on average, had 9.1 (sd = 3.9) years of education. only 38% had completed high school or beyond. most of the families were low income earners reporting that their family income ranged between $15,000 and $30,000 per year. most of the mothers (85%) were catholic, the remaining 15% reported a different religious affiliation. measures participant demographic characteristics, future plans, and evaluation of the motherdaughter relationship the mothers and daughters were administered a questionnaire separately, asking for their age, place of birth, and preferred spoken language. in addition, the daughters were asked their school grade level and whether or not they had ever had sex. the mothers were asked additional questions about their religious background, marital status, years of education, and income (measured on a 7-point likert scale ranging from $5,000 to over $60,000 per year). likelihood of having sex in the next year. the adolescents were asked to rate on a 4-point scale the likelihood of having sexual intercourse in the next year. response options included: 0 = i am sure that i won’t, 1 = i probably won’t, 2 = i probably will, 3 = i am sure that i will. romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 79 adolescent-reported school grades. the daughters were asked to indicate their most recent grades. response options included: 4 = mostly a’s, 3 = mostly b’s, 2 = mostly c’s, 1 = mostly d’s, and 0 = mostly f’s. the mean gpa score was 3.0 (sd = .9). educational aspirations. aspirations were measured by asking the daughters to indicate how far they wanted to get in school. response options included: 1 = graduate from high school, 2 = graduate from a 2-year college, 3 = graduate from a 4-year college, and 4 = graduate from law, medical, or graduate school. confidence in achieving goals. education expectations were measured by asking the daughters to indicate how certain they were that they would reach their future educational goals. response options included: 1 = i have doubts about whether i can reach it, 2 = i am somewhat sure i can reach it, and 3 = i am very sure i can reach it. attitudes toward pregnancy during adolescence. the adolescents were asked to rate on a 4-point likert scale how they would feel if they became pregnant as an adolescent. response options included: 0 = i would be overjoyed, 1 = i would be happy, but not overjoyed, 2 = i would be unhappy, but i would not be devastated, 3 = i would be devastated. higher scores indicated that daughters did not desire a prospective adolescent pregnancy. quality of the mother-daughter relationship. the daughters were asked to fill out the open family communication (ofc) subscale, which consists of ten items taken from the parent adolescent communication scale (barnes & olson, 1982). the ofc is a 4-point likert scale measuring the level of disagreement/agreement with ten statements that focus on the quality of daughters’ communication with mothers (barnes & olson, 1982). sample items from the ofc are: “my mother is always a good listener” and “my mother tries to understand my point of view.” the ratings were totaled to create a communication score between mothers and daughters. the mean score was 27.6 (sd = 8.8). mother-daughter communication about education. the adolescents were asked to rate on a 4-point likert scale the extent to which their mothers talked to them about five education-related topics: grades, classes they are taking, homework habits, plans for high school, and plans after high school. response options included: 0 = not at all; 1 = rarely; 2 = occasionally; 3 = regularly. each topic was rated separately, and the ratings were summed to create an education communication score. an additional point was assigned if the daughters mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 80 engaged in communication about education with their mothers during the dating and sexuality conversations. the mean score was 11.2 (sd = 3.1). observational measures in conjunction with another study, a coding scheme was developed to examine the types of topics that the mothers and daughters discussed in the videotaped conversations. through inductive coding, two bilingual, bicultural research assistants engaged in an iterative process of identifying prevalent topics to create a coding scheme, applying the coding scheme to a small subset of conversations and subsequently refining the definitions of existing categories or creating new categories. all disagreements were resolved by the researchers and research assistants. one category that emerged from this process was the value of education. in these comments, mothers cautioned daughters to focus on their studies, avoid romantic relationships that could distract them, and complete their education to ensure a career and become selfsufficient in the future. the topics were raised by both the mothers and the daughters. conversation excerpts are presented in the qualitative section of the results to illustrate the themes identified. procedure the research sessions were conducted at a university laboratory or at a local non-profit organization, depending on the participants’ availability. the study protocol consisted of asking each mother-daughter pair to sit in a private room with a video camera present. a warm-up activity directed the participants to discuss for three minutes an “ideal vacation,” and the resulting exchange was videotaped. the warm-up activity was followed by the request: “for the next seven minutes, i would like for you to talk about dating and sexuality.” the participants were left alone for the duration of seven minutes. the researcher assistant returned and requested: “for the next seven minutes, i would like for you to talk about things you disagree about.” only the conversations about dating and sexuality are included in this study. after the conversations, the mothers and daughters were administered questionnaires in separate rooms. the mother-daughter pairs were paid $40 for their participation. results preliminary analyses the majority (55%) of daughters reported that they were “sure” they would not have sex in the next year, 36% reported that they “probably would not,” and 9% reported that they romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 81 “probably will.” overall, their educational aspirations were high: 13% aspired to graduate from a 2-year college, 31% aspired to graduate from a 4-year college, and 48% aspired to attain an advanced degree (e.g., law school, medical school). almost two thirds of the daughters (66%) reported that they were “doubtful” or “somewhat unsure” they could reach their educational goals. the remaining 34% reported that they were “very sure” that they would reach their goals. on the question of pregnancy during adolescence, 45% reported that they would be “devastated” if they became pregnant, 34% reported that they would be “unhappy but not devastated,” and 21% reported that they would be “happy.” about 27% of the mother-daughter pairs also discussed education-related topics during their conversations about dating and sexuality. the relationship between sex initiation and participant characteristics we performed a series of correlations to examine the associations between the likelihood of having sex in the coming year with the daughters’ age, country of birth, maternal english language proficiency, maternal years of education and family income. daughters who reported a higher likelihood of having sex in the next year tended to be born in mexico, r(64) = .30, p < .05, have mothers with low levels of english language proficiency, r(60) = -.35, p < .01, and have mothers with low levels of education, r(61) = -.33, p < .01. the associations with the daughters’ age and family income were not significant. the relationship between sex initiation and attitudes toward adolescent pregnancy and education-related variables we performed a series of correlations to examine the associations among the daughters’ reporting the likelihood of becoming sexually active in the next year, their attitudes toward becoming pregnant within the year, educational aspirations, confidence in achieving educational goals, and reported grade point average (see table 1). daughters who reported a higher likelihood of becoming sexually active in the next year had lower educational aspirations and reported less confidence in reaching their educational goals (p < .05). higher educational aspirations were associated with daughters’ having less positive attitudes toward teen pregnancy (p < .05). daughters with higher gpas reported greater confidence in achieving their educational goals (p < .05). the remaining correlations were not significant. mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 82 table 1 correlations among likelihood of having sex in the next year, attitudes toward teen pregnancy, and education-related variables likelihood of having sex rejecting attitudes aspirations confidence rejecting attitudes toward teen pregnancy -.24 education aspirations -.32* .30* confidence in achieving education goals -.28* .20 -.01 grade point average -.17 .13 .23 .27* *p < .05; **p < .01 the relationship between sex initiation and quality of the mother-daughter relationship we performed a linear regression to explore the relationship between quality of the mother-daughter relationship and the likelihood of the daughters engaging in sex in the coming year. the results indicated that there was a marginal significant relationship, β = -.24, t(63) = 1.91, p = .06. a higher quality of the mother-daughter relationship marginally predicted a lower likelihood of daughters becoming sexually active in the coming year. the relationship between sex initiation and mother-daughter communication about education we performed a linear regression to investigate the relationship between motherdaughter communication about education and the likelihood of the daughters engaging in sex during the following year. the results indicated that there was a significant relationship, β = -.25, t(63) = 2.03, p < .05. increased mother-daughter communication about education predicted a lower likelihood of daughters engaging in sex during the following year. romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 83 mother-daughter conversations: educational messages embedded in consejos about sexual relationships we turn now to excerpts from the mother-daughter conversations exemplifying the themes identified in the mother-daughter exchanges. the excerpts below also illustrate the patterns of results based on the correlational and regression analyses presented above. the short samples of consejos provide insights into how mexican immigrant mothers urge their daughters to achieve beyond their expectations. the importance of avoiding distractions to succeed academically the mothers made a direct connection between the distraction inherent in romantic relationships and the focus required in being academically successful. they urged their daughters to put their studies “primero [first],” especially when the daughters were in their early teens. mother: 4 if you have a boyfriend right now, your [academic] subjects will come down [grades], he’ll just be bothering you, he’ll be distracting you. daughter: you pay more attention to him than you do to school [echoing her mother’s point of view]. mother: yes, you’ll get distracted. you won’t get good grades.5 mothers were also aware that educational achievement was dependent not only in avoiding distractions but also in not wasting time. daughter: so much stuff is going on at school, nobody has time for that [having a boyfriend]. nobody has time. mother: there is no time, doing that [having a boyfriend] is losing time and taking time away from studying, you have to study first, be outstanding, and then, afterwards, we’ll see [what happens].6 4 in subsequent notes, we include the spanish version of the conversations to provide the flavor of the communication, especially for those readers who are spanish-english bilinguals. 5 mother: si tu tienes novio ahorita, bajas tus materias, nomas te esta molestando, te estas distrayendo. daughter: le pones mas atención a el que a la escuela. mother: aja, te estas distrayendo. no obtienes buenos grados. 6 daughter: so much stuff is going on at school, nobody has time for that [having a boyfriend]. nadie tiene tiempo. mother: no hay tiempo, eso es perder tiempo y quitarte tiempo para tu estudiar, tu tienes que estudiar primero, sobresalir y ya después. mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 84 mothers also alerted their daughters to the possibility that boyfriends may not be supportive of their academic endeavors and may obstruct their daughters’ success. the obstruction on the part of the boyfriends could in fact sabotage the daughters’ motivation. mothers seemed to understand that being academically disciplined was not easy for adolescents and that romantic relationships could increase the obstacles impeding their daughters’ success. mother: there are times when boyfriends destroy your career in school. daughter: maybe not so much, but … mother: [clarifying] the motivation that you might have for school. daughter: yeah [in agreement with the mother].7 educational success leads to economic independence and freedom the mothers stressed that educational success could also lead to financial and social independence in the future. many of the mothers felt that women could not leave romantic relationships, especially marriages where children were involved, because they could not take care of themselves financially. they felt if the daughters could succeed educationally, they could also be free. mother: i want you to first study; to have a career; to know how to take care of yourself and not to have a husband, or a boyfriend, or whatever, that you have to put up with and say to yourself: “i have to take it because i need his money.”8 contrary to the literature that asserts that mexican culture encourages young women to prioritize marriage, many of the mothers in this study prioritized education. engaging in a romantic relationship, especially at a young age, limited the amount of time their daughters could dedicate to their studies. mother: having boyfriends at an early age doesn’t allow you to study, it doesn’t allow you to move forward. it’s more important to study than to have boyfriends, have [romantic] relationships, [it’s more valuable to study] than to waste time with boyfriends. it’s more important to study so you can come out ahead.9 7 mother: hay veces que los novios te destruyen la carrera en la escuela. daughter: o sea no tanto, pero... mother: [clarifying] tus motivaciones que tu tienes en la escuela. daughter: yeah [in agreement with the mother.] 8 mother: yo quiero que tu primero estudies; saques tu carrera; te sepas valer por ti misma y que no vayas a tener un marido, un novio, lo que sea, que lo tengas que aguantar y que digas: "me tengo que aguantar porque necesito su dinero.” 9 mother: tener novios a muy temprana edad no te deja estudiar, no te deja salir adelante. y es mas importante el estudio romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 85 as noted in the quantitative analysis above, most participants gave their motherdaughter relationship a high rating and confirmed that they had good communication. this was illustrated by many of the daughters affirming the messages their mothers proposed. the daughters also displayed trust in their mothers by answering difficult or embarrassing questions candidly. daughter: i didn’t have sex. mother: you didn’t have sex? daughter: no. mother: and we don’t want you to [have sex], first you have to study … you are very young, you don’t have to have [sexual] relationships or be forced to take care of yourself [use contraception] … nor protect yourself from anything because you are a child still.10 the flow of conversation between the mothers and daughters exhibited a collaborative dialog, with both arriving at similar conclusions. the mothers, many of whom were relatively young to have teenage daughters, appeared to have convinced the daughters of their points of view with reason rather than by imposing their parental authority: mother: you don’t want to have a boyfriend at such a young age. you want to study. daughter: (nods affirmatively).11 one strategy used by the mothers to promote collaboration with their daughters was to share with their own experiences as “lessons learned.” the message was, “don’t make the same mistakes i have.” mother: when i was in school and i had a boyfriend, i didn’t learn anything, because i would think about my boyfriend and that doesn’t allow you to study, it doesn’t allow you to concentrate.”12 que tener novios, tener relaciones, que perder el tiempo con novios. es mejor estudiar para que salgas adelante. 10 daughter: yo no tuve sexo. mother: no tuviste sexo? daughter: no mother: ni queremos que tengas, primero tienes que estudiar...eres muy chica, no tienes que tener relaciones ni andarte cuidando de nada...ni protegerte de nada porque eres niña todavía. 11 mother: tu no quieres tener novio a temprana edad. tu quieres estudiar. daughter: (nods afirmatively). 12 mother: yo cuando estaba en la escuela y tenia mi novio, yo no aprendía, porque pensaba en mi novio y eso no te deja estudiar, no te deja concentrarte. mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 86 the trust shared between mothers and daughters was an indication of the positive relationship that many of the participants reported. within a positive mother-daughter relationship based on trust and collaboration, mothers can provide guidance through consejos that daughters are likely to hear and use to map their life goals. discussion overall, the findings from our study of mexican american female adolescents provide evidence of the interrelatedness of the following variables: decision-making about sexual activity, education-related issues including aspirations, closeness in the mother-daughter relationship, and mother-daughter communication about education. in this study, aspirations about higher education and confidence about achieving goals were associated with daughters choosing to delay initiating sex, thus avoiding the potential vulnerabilities in becoming a teenage mother. this is further evidenced by the finding that daughters with higher educational aspirations also reported that they would be “unhappy” or “devastated” in the event that they became pregnant. adolescent mexican american daughters with less than excellent grades were more likely to engage in early sexual activity, given its association with less confidence about reaching educational goals. it should be noted that although a large percentage of the daughters in this study had high aspirations, only 34% were fully confident that they could reach these goals. our findings further support the claim made by several chicana feminist writers that mothers are a key source of influence on their daughters’ decision-making about educational choices (hurtado, 2003a). the daughters in our study who reported having a positive relationship with their mothers also reported a lower likelihood of becoming sexually active in the coming year. increased communication about education between mothers and daughters was associated with the likelihood of the daughters delaying sexual initiation. education topics included grades, homework habits, and the daughters’ post high school plans. mothers’ consejos counseled specifically against engaging in romantic relationship, which could interfere with the daughters’ focus on their studies and impede their academic well-being. the results of our study indicate that in an ideal school environment, mothers would work in tandem with teachers to maximize the students’ educational motivations and positive educational engagements. romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 87 it is noteworthy that mothers’ consejos also had a particular subtext that came through in the mothers’ justifications for their advice against romantic entanglements during adolescence. we turn to the concept of underground feminisms to explore the implied meanings that many of these immigrant mothers were communicating to their daughters. embodying underground feminisms hurtado (2003b) proposes that the underground feminisms immigrant mexican mothers embody in their lives and in the consejos they give their daughters have the following five characteristics: 1) assuming agency, 2) allegiance to family in the context of struggle, 3) valorization of self, 4) rebellion against physical and mental abuse, and 5) feminist lessons for daughters. for the purpose of this discussion, we focus on three of the proposed characteristics as they relate to our study’s results. assuming agency many of the mothers had a nuanced understanding of their daughters’ agency in making decisions about their futures. the mothers’ consejos communicated the principle that the decisions a young woman makes as a 13-year-old can affect the rest of their lives. they explicitly told their daughters they were not ready for sexual engagement because “you’re still a child.” the suggested restriction of sexual engagement was based on the developmental perspective that as a young person matures, they can make more informed decisions. the mothers’ message to their daughters was that “their day would come” when they were ready to assume their own freedom. in placing this restriction on sexual and romantic involvement, the mothers did not assert their parental authority without explanation; they did not state, “because i’m your mother and i say so.” nor did the mothers call forth an external authority, such as a father or religious dictum in their opposition to sexual activity. instead, the mothers contextualized the restriction as developmentally appropriate. the implication was that the daughters would grow into their own authority and agency as they matured, had a greater range of life experiences, and became educated. in sum, the mothers, who were relatively young, appeared to understand their daughters’ desire for sexual engagement. none of the mothers opposed sexual engagement on the basis of religion or abstract moral values. in its place, the conversations revolved around more pragmatic issues like educational success leading to economic independence and selfsufficiency. mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 88 valorization of self the message from mothers was, “education first” before romantic entanglements, including marriage: “he’ll be bothering you; he’ll be distracting you.” they admonished their daughters against the inherent “distraction” of romantic partners demanding attention that leaves little room for a “space of one’s own.” the younger the daughters, the greater the likelihood that the boyfriends’ needs would supersede their own. the mothers sought to protect the daughters’ developmental stage during which they will acquire their own voice and sense of agency: “you won’t get good grades.” the mothers seemed to have a profound understanding that for women, time is precious. it is not uncommon for women to have their time appropriated by the demands and care of others. mothers were teaching their daughters to use their time, a limited commodity, to enhance their own self development and education. feminist lessons mothers were also aware that an education can make young women seem threatening to young men, whether the men are conscious or not of their motivations. young men can sabotage a young woman’s academic achievement: “there are times when boyfriends destroy your career in school.” mothers saw financial independence as the key to a woman’s freedom since, as some mothers expressed, women sometimes stay in relationships because they cannot take care of themselves or their children. education is the pathway to liberation, as one mother put it: “i want you to have a career; to know how to take care of yourself … not to have a husband, or a boyfriend …that you have to put up with” because “[you] say to yourself: ‘i have to take it because i need his money.’” two of the most important feminist lessons delivered by the mothers were repeatedly expressing pride in their daughters’ intelligence and asserting their absolute belief that their daughters could accomplish anything if they put their minds to it. as impressive as these messages of empowerment were for daughters, mothers also expressed their unconditional support and love if the daughters were unable to meet their goals. as one mother explicitly told her daughter: mother: i give you my trust, i know you are not going to do anything that is going to affect you [negatively]. [but] if you go and get involved with him, have sex with him, romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 89 nothing is going to happen to me. the one that is going to be affected is you, if you don’t take care of yourself. you have to be careful all of the time; first because of the diseases [sexually transmitted], you have to use a condom. second, because if you have a baby early [in life], the responsibility is going to be yours, not mine. of course, i’m going to help you because i’m never going to leave you; you are always going to be my daughter and i’m always going to love you and i’m always going to support you, but the responsibility is going to be yours.13 this mother’s assertion of loyalty within a message of caution is a good example of the female solidarity chicana feminists write about in mother-daughter relationships. for many mexican american/chicana daughters, mothers have been a source of solace, support, and unconditional commitment to their daughter’s success in life (caballero et al., 2019; hurtado, 2003a, 2003b; moraga, 2019). implications for teacher training the findings described above are especially relevant for teacher training. many teachers understand that mexican american adolescents who are at risk for early sexual activity and pregnancy are likely to be among the students in their classrooms who are struggling academically and are from low-income backgrounds. our findings indicate that to reduce their vulnerability, teachers can employ strategies to maintain and increase mexican american adolescents’ engagement in school. research shows that increased academic motivation is associated with students’ perceptions that their teachers care about them (wentzel et al., 2010). in addition, when teachers hold high achievement expectations, students experience greater self-esteem and a greater sense of competence as learners (eccles & roeser, 2011; wentzel et al., 2010). to aid in teacher training, we have provided concrete examples of the type of consejos that immigrant mexican mothers communicate to their daughters. these verbatim mother-daughter conversations allow readers to “listen” to how the mothers do the work of parenting to help their daughters succeed in educational arenas that they could not enter. we hope the examples provided inform teachers’ communication with mexican 13 mother: yo te doy mi confianza, y yo sé que tú no vas hacer nada que te afecte a ti. porque si tú vas y te metes con él, tienes sexo con él, a mí no me va a pasar nada. a quien le va pasar es a tí, si tú no te cuidas. tú tienes que tener cuidado todo el tiempo; primero por todas las enfermedades que hay, tienes que usar condón. segundo, porque si tú tienes un bebé muy temprano, la responsabilidad va a ser tuya, no mía. claro que te voy a ayudar porque nunca te voy a dejar; siempre vas a ser mi hija y siempre te voy a querer y siempre te voy a apoyar, pero la responsabilidad va a ser tuya. mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 90 immigrant mothers. many of these consejos are provided in spanish within the context of the family’s culture, economic, and social context as immigrants. however, their commitment to the educational success of their girls is fully present as they carefully scaffolded their social and romantic relationships in the hope that their daughters will obtain an education that they themselves were unable to achieve. within this discussion, there are several takeaways that may prove useful to teachers, especially those teaching in middle and early high school. one point is that communication between teachers and students’ family members is essential for engaging mexican american adolescents with their education. second, mothers can be a great resource for teachers. in light of these findings, teachers can reinforce immigrant mothers’ consejos to delay romantic relationships and pursue an education. mexican american students who report that education is important to them and feel connected to their schools (e.g., being treated fairly in school, as well as feeling safe, happy, and close to others in their school) are less likely to engage in “risky sexual” behaviors (garcia-reid et al., 2018) and are less likely to become pregnant (oman et al., 2013). the mothers in this study were fully aware of the importance of obtaining an education and were also savvy about the downside of early romantic relationships. they doled out wise advice to their daughters, asking them to avoid rushing into sexual activity and alerting them to the implications for their futures. teachers should also be aware that the quality of the mother-daughter relationship, which among our participants was quite high, means mothers can be a source of authority and respect. the typical view that all adolescents are rebellious and that mother-daughter relationships are contentious during teen years may not account for variations we see among different populations. the mexican values of respect for elders, commitment to family, and a sense of collectivity may work in favor of teachers who use these familial resources to facilitate the success of their mexican origin students. in conclusion, achievement motivation and a positive future outlook are powerful defense mechanisms against early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. academically motivated adolescents link their decision to refrain from sexual activity to educational aspirations and expectations. mexican american adolescents may take part in early sexual activity if they perceive upward mobility to be limited and are skeptical about overcoming barriers to achieving educational goals. schools can also make an important contribution to romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 91 student success by reconsidering such practices as student tracking. research documents that tracking can result in low performing students receiving inferior educational experiences (eccles & roeser, 2011). in addition, school tracking reduces the opportunity for adolescents to have contact with peers who are academically oriented. students of color who have access to peers who value education and participate in school activities are more likely to be engaged in school than students without these relationships (ryan, 2000; shin et al., 2007). teachers can help vulnerable adolescents stay engaged in school by finding ways to strengthen students’ relationships with academically engaged peers. there were some variations in the mothers’ parenting styles that indicate the need for a variety of interventions to increase daughters’ educational attainment. the results presented above show that the daughters who reported a greater likelihood of becoming sexually active in the coming year were born in mexico and had mothers with lower levels of english language proficiency and with fewer years of education. in these instances, mothers and daughters may need additional help from school systems and teachers to provide a broader range of choices for their daughters’ futures. many of these mothers were young and had a more recent immigration history as measured by their english language proficiency and their daughters’ birth in mexico. these mother-daughter pairs may not be fully aware of the educational possibilities in the united states for their daughters. there is considerable research showing that parenting responsibilities during adolescence are not determinative of a person’s future (maldonado, 2019). the deciding factor is whether there are enough structural supports for adolescent mothers and their families to undergird their decisions about their futures (caballero et al., 2019). teachers can serve an important bridging function that can help adolescents and their mothers perceive alternatives if daughters become pregnant during their teenage years. there are many structural changes that can be implemented in high schools to ensure that all students are successful, regardless of their life circumstances. the findings in our study also have implications for interventions. it is not sufficient to merely teach mexican american adolescents about contraceptive use and/or abstinence as a means of preventing adolescent pregnancy. just as important is to enhance adolescents’ optimism about their futures and to provide a realistic understanding of how childbearing could jeopardize educational and economic opportunities. this approach is especially needed in poorly resourced communities where young motherhood may not be unusual and collegemexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 92 bound role models may not be common. strengthening connections with significant others in their lives who can support adolescents’ educational aspirations is critical. teachers, family members, structural supports, and innovative teaching pedagogies (dyrness & hurtig, 2016; jimenez, 2020) can play a major role in making educational aspirations become real. romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 93 references barnes, h., & olson, d.h. (1982). parent-adolescent communication. in d. h, olson, h. i, mccubbin, h. barnes, a. larsen, m. muxen, & m. wilson (eds.), family inventories: inventories used in a national survey of families across the family life cycle (pp. 33-48). family social science, university of minnesota. becker, d., thing, j. p., baezconde-garbanati, l., schwartz, s. j., soto, d. w., & unger, j. b. (2014). cultural measures associated with sexual risk behaviors among latino youth in southern california: a longitudinal study. perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 46(4), 193-201. https://doi.org/10.1363/46e1514 benner, a. d., & mistry, r. s. (2007). congruence of mother and teacher educational expectations and low-income youth's academic competence. journal of educational psychology, 99(1), 140-153. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.140 beutel, a. m. (2000). the relationship between adolescent nonmarital childbearing and educational expectations: a cohort and period comparison. the sociological quarterly, 41(2), 297-314. caballero, c., martínez-vu, y., pérez-torres, j., téllez, m., & vega, c. (2019). the chicana mother-work anthology. the university of arizona press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvcj2hz5 cavazos jr, j., johnson, m. b., fielding, c., cavazos, a. g., castro, v., & vela, l. (2010). a qualitative study of resilient latina/o college students. journal of latinos and education, 9(3), 172-188. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431003761166 ceja, m. (2004). chicana college aspirations and the role of parents: developing educational resiliency. journal of hispanic higher education, 3(4), 338-362. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192704268428 degarmo, d. s., & martinez jr, c. r. (2006). a culturally informed model of academic wellbeing for latino youth: the importance of discriminatory experiences and social support. family relations, 55(3), 267-278. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.17413729.2006.00401.x dyrness, a. & hurtig, j. (2016). migrant third space pedagogies: educative practices of becoming and belonging. diaspora, indigenous, and minority education, 10(4), 185-188. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2016.1216834 eccles, j. s., & roeser, r. w. (2011). schools as developmental contexts during adolescence. journal of research on adolescence, 21(1), 225-241. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15327795.2010.00725.x garcia-reid, p., lardier jr, d. t., reid, r. j., & opara, i. (2018). understanding the influence of sexual risk taking, ethnic identity, and family and peer support on school importance among hispanic adolescents. education and urban society, 0013124518787827. guilamo-ramos, v., dittus, p., jaccard, j., goldberg, v., casillas, e., & bouris, a. (2006). the content and process of mother-adolescent communication about sex in latino families. social work research, 30(3), 169-181. https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/30.3.169 mexican immigrant mother-daughter conversations association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 94 guilamo-ramos, v., bouris, a., jaccard, j., lesesne, c., & ballan, m. (2009). familial and cultural influences on sexual risk behaviors among mexican, puerto rican, and dominican youth. aids education & prevention, 21(suppl b), 61-79. https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2009.21.5_supp.61 hoffman, s. d. (2006). by the numbers. the public costs of teen childbearing. national campaign to prevent teen pregnancy, http://media.khi.org/news/documents/2011/04/25/public_costs_of_teen_childbearing.p df hurtado, a. (2003a). voicing chicana feminisms: young women speak out on sexuality and identity. new york university press. hurtado, a. (2003b). underground feminisms: inocencia’s story. in g. f. arredondo, a. hurtado, n. klahn, o. nájera-ramírez, & p. zavella (eds.), critical reader: chicana feminisms (pp. 260-290). duke university. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822384359-009 hurtado, a. (2020). intersectional chicana feminisms. the university of arizona press. hurtado, a., & sinha, m. (2016). beyond machismo: intersectional latino masculinities. university of texas press. hyams, m. (2006). la escuela: young latina women negotiating identities in school. in j. denner & b. l. guzmán (eds.), latina girls: voices of adolescent strength in the united states (pp. 93108). new york university press. jimenez, r. m. (2020). community cultural wealth pedagogies: cultivating autoethnographic counternarratives and migration capital. american educational research journal, 57(2), 775-807. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219866148 kann, l., mcmanus, t., harris, w. a., shanklin, s. l., flint, k. h., queen, b., & lim, c. (2018). youth risk behavior surveillance—united states, 2017. mmwr surveillance summaries, 67(8), 1. ma, m., malcolm, l. r., diaz-albertini, k., klinoff, v. a., leeder, e., barrientos, s., & kibler, j. l. (2014). latino cultural values as protective factors against sexual risks among adolescents. journal of adolescence, 37(8), 1215-1225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.08.012 maldonado, k. (2019). gang-affiliated chicana teen momma against systemic violence. in c. caballero, y. martínez-vu, j. pérez-torres, m. téllez, & c. vega (eds.) the chicana mother-work anthology (pp. 29-46). the university of arizona press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvcj2hz5.6 martin, j. a., hamilton, b. e., osterman, m. j., driscoll, a. k., & drake, p. (2018). births: final data for 2016. national vital statistics report, 67(1), 1-55. mckee, m. d., & karasz, a. (2006). "you have to give her that confidence": conversations about sex in hispanic mother-daughter dyads. journal of adolescent research, 21(2), 158184. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558405285493 romo & hurtado association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 95 melendez, m. c., & melendez, n. b. (2010). the influence of parental attachment on the college adjustment of white, black, and latina/hispanic women: a cross-cultural investigation. journal of college student development, 51(4), 419-435. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0144 mireles-rios, r., & romo, l. f. (2014). latina daughters’ childbearing attitudes: the role of maternal expectations and education communication. developmental psychology, 50(5), 1553-1563. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035471 moraga, c. (2019). native country of the heart: a memoir. farrar, straus, and giroux. oman, r. f., vesely, s. k., aspy, c. b., tolma, e. l., gavin, l., bensyl, d. m., & fluhr, j. d. (2013). a longitudinal study of youth assets, neighborhood conditions, and youth sexual behaviors. journal of adolescent health, 52(6), 779-785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.12.005 o'sullivan, l. f., meyer-bahlburg, h., & watkins, b. x. (2001). mother–daughter communication about sex among urban african american and latino families. journal of adolescent research, 16(3), 269-292. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558401163002 penman-aguilar, a., carter, m., snead, m. c., & kourtis, a. p. (2013). socioeconomic disadvantage as a social determinant of teen childbearing in the us. public health reports, 128(2), 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549131282s102 plunkett, s. w., & bamaca-gomez, m. y. (2003). the relationship between parenting, acculturation, and adolescent academics in mexican-origin immigrant families in los angeles. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 25(2), 222-239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986303025002005 romo, l. f., kouyoumdjian, c., & lightfoot, m. (2008). sources of influence on the college goals, sexual behavior, and childbearing attitudes of latina girls in alternative high schools. in c. hudley & a. e. gottfried (eds.), academic motivation and the culture of schooling in childhood and adolescence (pp. 99-120). oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326819.003.0005 ryan, a. m. (2000). peer groups as a context for the socialization of adolescents' motivation, engagement, and achievement in school. educational psychologist, 35(2), 101-111. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3502_4 shin, r., daly, b., & vera, e. (2007). the relationships of peer norms, ethnic identity, and peer support to school engagement in urban youth. professional school counseling, 10, 379-388. https://doi.org/10.5330/prsc.10.4.l0157553k063x29u wentzel, k. r., battle, a., russell, s. l., & looney, l. b. (2010). social supports from teachers and peers as predictors of academic and social motivation. contemporary educational psychology, 35(3), 193-202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2010.03.002 young, t., turner, j., denny, g., & young, m. (2004). examining external and internal poverty as antecedents of teen pregnancy. american journal of health behavior, 28(4), 361-373. https://doi.org/10.5993/ajhb.28.4.8 zalaquett, c. p. (2005). study of successful latina/o students. journal of hispanic higher education, 5(1), 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192705282568 volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 ramírez & garza ayala association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 4 centering translanguaging in teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de docentes bilingües pablo c. ramírez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico translanguaging recognizes that students come into school with a linguistic potential that keeps them bajando into their past and simultaneously subiendo not toward a dominant standard language or even two or three standard languages, but toward creative languaging that opens up limitless possibilities of knowledge generation (garcía, 2017, p. 258) in the past decade alone, the proportion of latina/o/x children in u.s. schools has risen from 11 to 23 percent of the entire k-12 student body (california department of education, 2018). this demographic change has had an enormous impact on schools where an increasing number of students are still developing language and literacy skills in spanish, while at the same time learning how to speak, read, and write in english. the office of english language acquisition (2015) reports that with the increase of diversity in student population, bilingualism has also burgeoned in k-12 schools. although there has been an expansion of bilingual education in varied forms (e.g., one-way or two-way dual language bilingual education) and bilingualism is seen with positive eyes, we need to remember that language and bilingual practices are always racialized (flores et al., 2021). therefore, latina/o/x and other linguistically and culturally minoritized students in k-12 educational contexts continue to be confined in doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.450 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.450 centering translanguaging in teacher education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 5 instructional language models that exclude the full use of their linguistic and cultural resources; these inequities are persistent even in bilingual classrooms (cervantes-soon et al., 2017; garza ayala, 2020). sociocultural scholars in the field of bilingual education are proposing the implementation and free enactment of translanguaging pedagogies and practices to counteract language and literacy injustice and promote academic achievement (e.g., cioè-peña & snell, 2015; garcía et al., 2017; ibarra johnson & garza ayala, 2021). currently, translanguaging as a way to understand how teachers and students can promote fluid, dynamic bilingualism while teaching and learning has received serious attention (e.g., canagarajah, 2011; duarte, 2019; garcía & otheguy, 2021; hornberger & link, 2012). according to garcía (2009), translanguaging is about a new linguistic norm, a creative way of being, acting, and languaging in different sociocultural and political contexts. thus, translanguaging use allows discourses to flow freely, and gives voice to new sociocultural realities. as it is well known, translanguaging does not refer to two separate languages nor to a synthesis of different language practices or to a hybrid mixture (garcía, 2009). rather, translanguaging refers to new language practices that make visible the complexity of language exchanges among people with different histories (garcía & wei, 2014). in multilingual/bilingual teacher education programs, in nationally and international contexts, a number of publications (e.g., garcía, 2017; rosiers et al., 2018; rowe, 2018) have documented distinct ways in which translanguaging is advancing emergent bilinguals’ (ebs) language and literacy practices in schools. nevertheless, research explorations on translanguaging as a frame and pedagogy continues and critical questions keep arising. to what extent are teacher education programs across the u.s. incorporating translanguaging pedagogies for all new teachers? we argue that new teachers need to acquire new perspectives, ideologies, and preparation in translanguaging as a teaching and learning tool for eb students, in both mainstream and bilingual education classrooms. consequently, new teachers will be equipped to better serve the growing bilingual latina/o/x and other linguistically minoritized student populations. given the importance, relevancy, and timeliness of translanguaging use across k-16 educational settings, the special issue examined the collective knowledge of translanguaging as theoretical framework and pedagogical tool and explored the manner in which translanguaging is enacted in teacher education programs (both english-only and bilingual/multilingual). further, this volume explored the intersections of translanguaging ramírez & garza ayala association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 6 and teachers’ ideologies as well as latina/o/x students’ linguistic practices in english-medium classrooms and bilingual education programs. translanguaging pedagogías y maestras/maestros/maestres according to garcía et al. (2017), translanguaging pedagogy requires three central features. first, teachers need to develop a critical stance about language, languaging, and language users. second, teachers should be intentional in their particular lesson design to ensure dynamic bilingual practices by students. lastly, it is important for teachers to consider shifts in language use in the classroom setting. garcía et al. (2017) provide examples of how exemplary teachers, in three different locations across the u.s., made use of these three features in diverse classrooms. accordingly, teachers, regardless of their languaging origins must be able to react to, interpret, and enact translanguaging in ways that advance students’ understanding of content instruction in classroom settings (henderson & ingram, 2018). studies associated with translanguaging pedagogy have shown that teachers who engage in translanguaging practices with their students improve flexible language proficiency and content learning (garcía & kano, 2014; li & luo, 2017; ramirez & faltis, 2019). within translanguaging pedagogy, two particular theoretical perspectives shape teachers’ instructional practices: language space and intentionality. in a translanguaging learning setting, teachers seek to provide ebs access to rich content and foster academic success. consequently, in this translanguaging space, teachers should be intentional in instructional goals associated with linguistic and academic growth from a bilingual perspective. this intentional translanguaging pedagogy is strategic having in mind how best to support bilingual and multilingual students (howard et al., 2018). the special issue the articles presented in this volume are guided by diverse theoretical frameworks and research lenses that examined translanguaging in linguistically diverse educational contexts. contributing authors use their entire linguistic repertoire to explore particular pedagogical features adding rich findings to the field of translanguaging in education. the special issue begins with “learning and teaching en dos idiomas: critical autoethnography, translenguaje, y rechazando english learner,” by melissa arabel navarro martell. the author highlights the important role of self-reflection in teacher education and its centering translanguaging in teacher education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 7 impact on preand in-service teachers’ translanguaging identity. navarro’s critical autoethnography examines pivotal moments in the author’s life that shaped her view of bilingualism, education, and identity. the author offers recommendations for future educators and teacher education programs. using a case study methodology, cori salmerón, nathaly batista-morales, and angela valenzuela, in “translanguaging pedagogy as an enactment of authentic cariño and an antidote to subtractive schooling,” examine translanguaging pedagogy through the lens of politics of caring, subtractive education, and authentic cariño. the authors collected data from literacy instruction in fourth grade bilingual and esl classrooms to expand and re-affirm that translanguaging can be seen as an enactment of intellectual, familial, and critical cariño. in “where the translanguaging rubber hits the road: ideological frictions, mixtificaciones y potentialities in bilingual teacher preparation programs.” eduardo muñozmuñoz examines the relationship among california public teacher preparation programs, their bilingual teacher candidates, and the districts that host their field placements that ultimately hire them. drawing from metaphorical concepts of ideological and implementational spaces, muñozmuñoz shares five retratos that highlight bilingual candidates’ ideological stances and expands a dialogue on teacher preparation ecology. next, using a self-study methodology in the u.s.-mexico borderlands, alcione n. ostorga explores the role of translingual pedagogies in “translanguaging practices for the development of latinx teacher candidates: a pedagogy for the border.” the author explores the application of translanguaging pedagogies for bilingual latinx teacher candidates in a college course that is needed for teaching certification. ostorga found that a translingual dialogical teaching approach shaped bilingual teacher candidates’ critical stance on bilingualism as a resource for teaching and learning. going to the elementary classroom, stephanie eller and david nieto examine the role of dynamic bilingualism and idiolect in “idiolect and identity: fourth grade students’ translanguaging, comprehension, and self-identity.” through their qualitative study, the authors explore ebs’ translanguaging practices, and reading comprehension strategies during read-alouds. their emergent findings suggest that when students’ idiolects are supported and encouraged, they are able to develop positive self-identities. ramírez & garza ayala association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 8 in “ruptures of possibility: mexican origin mothers as critical translanguaging pedagogues,” idalia nuñez and suzanne garcía-mateus use critical discourse analysis to explore why and how mexican mothers raise bilingual children; and consequently, they study their powerful roles as critical translanguaging pedagogues. drawing from border thinking, the authors presented two themes: the manner in which mothers recognize and draw on the ruptures of cultural and linguistic worlds and how they sustain language through family and cultural practices. the authors propose these findings to advance teacher education by including translanguaging as part of the curriculum and reframing how teachers and teacher candidates perceive the role of families as key contributors for bilingual learning. in the collection of poems “trenzando poetry,” yuliana kenfield, colleagues, and friends, invite readers to reflect on the role of trenzando identity and education. the poems presented are based on intergenerational dialogues that challenge pre-service teachers and teacher educators to learn, unlearn, relearn, and dismantle sociolinguistic ideologies and practices that promote or suppress languages. further, the poets share poems and art to reaffirm the sociolinguistic legacies of their ancestors who represent the quechua, navajo, spanish, and english languages. this special issue includes a book review that takes us to experience translanguaging in academic written texts. minea armijo romero’s book review of “bilingualism and bilingual education: conceptos fundamentales” synthesizes the book in three major sections: theory, practice, and acción. as a translanguaged book, armijo romero translanguages constantly in her review, modeling how the authors used their languaging in writing. she breaks the linguistic norms that are usually imposed in mainstream and bilingual schools when teaching the so-called academic language. lastly, as a special feature, nelson flores provides a closing commentary that examines the work of contributing authors in this special issue. his insight amplifies the need for teacher educators and other stakeholders to reconceptualize bilingual/dual-language education policies and practices—which includes the need to dismantle raciolinguistic ideologies and to build upon the linguistic dexterity of bilingual students of color. centering translanguaging in teacher education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 9 references california department of education. (2018). global california 2030: speak, learn, lead. california department of education. https://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/documents/globalca2030report.pdf canagarajah, s. (2011). translanguaging in the classroom: emerging issues for research and pedagogy. applied linguistics review, 2(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110239331.1 cervantes-soon, c. g., dorner, l., palmer, d., heiman, d., schwerdtfeger, r., & choi, j. (2017). combating inequalities in two-way language immersion programs: toward critical consciousness in bilingual education spaces. review of research in education, 41(1), 403427. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x17690120 cioè-peña, m., & snell, t. (2015). translanguaging for social justice. theory, research, and action in urban education, 4(1). duarte, j. (2019). translanguaging in mainstream education: a sociocultural approach. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 22(2), 150-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1231774 flores, n., tseng, a., & subtirelu, n. (2021). bilingualism for all or just for the rich and white? introducing a raciolinguistic perspective to dual language education. in n. flores, a. tseng, & n. subtirelu (eds.), bilingualism for all?: raciolinguistic perspectives on dual language education in the united states (pp. 1-18). multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410053 garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. wiley-blackwell pub. garcía, o. (2017). translanguaging in schools: subiendo y bajando, bajando y subiendo as afterword. journal of language, identity & education, 16(4), 256-263. https://doi:10.1080/15348458.2017.1329657 garcía, o., ibarra johnson, s., & seltzer, k. (2017). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student bilingualism for learning. caslon. garcía, o., & kano, n. (2014). translanguaging as a process and a pedagogical tool for japanese students in the us. in j. conteh and g. meier (eds.), the multilingual turn in languages education: benefits for individuals and societies (pp. 258–277). multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092246-018 garcía, o., & otheguy, r. (2021). conceptualizing translanguaging theory/practice juntos. in city university of new york-new york state initiative on emergent bilinguals (ed.), translanguaging and transformative teaching for emergent bilingual students: lessons from the cuny_nysieb project (pp. 3-24). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003003670-2 garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education. palgrave macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385765_4 garza ayala, a. (2020). at the intersection of culture, bilingualism, and mathematics: breaking language norms in a seventh-grade dual-language classroom for biliteracy development. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 1-15. https://doi:10.1080/13670050.2020.1859984 henderson, k. i., & ingram, m. (2018). “mister, you’re writing in spanglish”: fostering spaces for meaning making and metalinguistic connections through teacher translanguaging shifts in the bilingual classroom. bilingual research journal, 41(3), 253–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1481894 hornberger, n. h., & link, h. (2012). translanguaging in today's classrooms: a biliteracy lens. theory into practice, 51(4), 239-247. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2012.726051 https://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/documents/globalca2030report.pdf https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110239331.1 https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x17690120 https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1231774 https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410053 https://doi:10.1080/15348458.2017.1329657 https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092246-018 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003003670-2 https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385765_4 https://doi:10.1080/13670050.2020.1859984 https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1481894 https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2012.726051 ramírez & garza ayala association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 10 howard, e. r., lindholm-leary, k. j., rogers, d., olague, n., medina, j., kennedy, b., sugarman, j., & christian, d. (2018). guiding principles for dual language education (3rd ed.). center for applied linguistics. ibarra johnson, s., & garza ayala, a. (2021, november 10-13). linguistic and literacy justice for k12 marginalized students through biliteracies [conference session]. la cosecha dual language conference, albuquerque, nm, united states. li, s., & luo, w. (2017). creating a translanguaging space for high school emergent bilinguals. catesol journal, 2(1), 139–162. https://doi.org/10.1177%2f13621688209512 ramirez, p., & faltis, c. (2019). this issue. theory into practice, 58(2), 101-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1569401 rosiers, k., van lancker, i., & delarue, s. (2018). beyond the traditional scope of translanguaging: comparing translanguaging practices in belgian multilingual and monolingual classroom contexts. language & communication, 61, 15-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2017.11.003 rowe, l. w. (2018). say it in your language: supporting translanguaging in multilingual classes. reading teacher, 72(1), 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1673 u.s. department of education, office of english language acquisition (2015). our nation’s english learners. https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/el-characteristics/index.html https://doi.org/10.1177%2f13621688209512 https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1569401 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2017.11.003 https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1673 https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/el-characteristics/index.html translanguaging pedagogías y maestras/maestros/maestres volume 14 issue 1 2020 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ ortega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 153 educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english learners. garcia, ofelia and kleifgen, jo anne (eds.). teachers college columbia university press. 2018. pp. 256. isbn 978-0-8077-5885-4. us$31.95 (paperback). erika ortega the university of texas at san antonio in this second edition, garcia and kleifgen (2018) present 10 chapters reminding educators and policymakers about effective schooling practices for teaching emergent bilinguals. these chapters carry out powerful messages that challenge educators to push back against injustices and irregular policies that ignore current research concerning bilingual students’ home languages and cultures. the book focuses on policies, programs, and practices for english learners, and raises important issues and controversies adjoining the education of language minority students in the united states. this book’s targeted audience is educators, policymakers, parents, and anyone in language education. the main idea presented in this book is that there are disconnections between research on the education of emergent bilinguals, the policies used to educate them, and the practices observed in schools. the book focuses on emergent bilingual students who face poverty, grapple with immigration issues, are framed as having limited english language proficiency, and therefore receive deplete education that contradicts research on language acquisition and biculturalism of emergent bilinguals. these injustices should urge educators who work with language-minority populations to advocate for them. garcia and kleifgen (2018) state that the term english learner suggests that students are seen in terms of limited english proficiency, instead of their potential of becoming bilingual and/or even multilingual. with that in mind, the authors use the term emergent bilingual, which does not only focus on their limitations but rather their cognitive, social, and educational abilities as resources (p. 5). garcia and kleifgen (2018) argue that by framing these students as emergent bilinguals, educators continue to build on their strengths and their cultural-linguistic practices. chapter 9 reports on theoretical constructs, empirical evidence, and practices that are related to the education of emergent bilinguals, including: language, literacy, multimodalities, ortega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 154 digital technologies, learning, curriculum, and pedagogy. to emphasize equitable education for emergent bilinguals, the authors present useful theoretical frameworks and associated empirical studies from the fields of anthropology, education, linguistics, and psychology that support the use of students' home language practices in the classroom. it should be noted, these theoretical frameworks give opportunities for all students to participate in challenging academic work that promotes insight and encourages higher-order thinking skills. one of the major issues addressed in this work is the different types of educational programs for emergent bilinguals. the authors note that language in education policies have shifted program options away from the focus of the home language towards english-only instruction, creating a gap between policy and practices in research. some of these inequitable language and literacy practices (addressed in chapter 5) include the compartmentalization of english and languages other than english in instruction. four language allocation strategies traditionally used in bilingual education include separating language by day, by teacher, by room and/or building, or by subject matter. if students are only being assessed in english, not given their first language, students will not be able to demonstrate what they really know (p. 146). the compartmentalization of language is contradicted by the concepts of linguistic interdependence and common underlying proficiency explained by cummins (2000), who argues that knowledge abilities acquired in one language are potentially available for the development of another (p. 53). this cross-linguistic relationship suggests that the students’ home language may positively shape academic achievement in an additional language. in this regard, garcia and kleifgen (2018) argue that “rigid adherence to one language or another without regard to students’ practices and how they make meaning contradicts research findings” (p. 75), and emergent bilinguals continue to be assessed with instruments that disconnect academic language and content that do not align with language practices (chapter 9). furthermore, chapter 3 emphasizes that programs and policies should focus to ensure that students receive educational services from teachers. at the same time, garcia and kleifgen (2018) argue that the seal of biliteracy has extended ways in which policymakers and educators view languages as a resource, and not just for emergent bilinguals to acquire english. as an approach, biliteracy empowers minoritized speakers and their communities to connect with ortega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 155 social justice, required to fight against fear, shame, and stigma for equal educational opportunity, while using their full linguistic repertoire. as supported by previous research, practices —such as heteroglossic bilingual instruction, translanguaging pedagogy, critical multilingual awareness, and complex language/literacy use— result in strengthening the home language practices. the authors suggest alternative language-focused theoretical constructs and literacy practices that support emergent bilinguals. for example, to support modifications needed to advance literacy instruction, garcia and kleifgen (2018) suggest teaching or presenting words in languages other than english before teaching them in english. when teaching vocabulary, they recommend the usage of cognates, translations, texts and topics that are culturally appropriate for guiding students to develop comprehension. they also explain that complex language, literacy use, gestures, manipulatives, realia, technology, and graphic organizers, serve as scaffold for emergent bilinguals. finally, they assert that through modeling, think-alouds, higher-order thinking questioning, and schema building, new information guides students to develop meaningmaking strategies that support language (p. 86). to conclude, students, policymakers, and educators will begin to understand how language use in society has been naturalized focusing on the historical oppression of certain linguistic groups. the increasing numbers of emergent bilinguals has made clear the need for comprehensive educational policy reform that attends to the disconnection between research, policy, and practices identified by garcia and kleifgen (2018). the strength of this book is that the authors offer a pedagogical approach focused on translanguaging theory that supports and extends on heteroglossic bilingual instruction that leverages all language practices. the authors argue that educators must support students to comprehend complex content and texts, provide opportunities to develop linguistic practices in regard to academic contexts, provide space for students’ bilingualism and bilingual ways of knowing, and support the social-emotional well-being of their students while forming their identities (p. 81). by approaching those challenges from a critical multilingual awareness perspective, educators can build on the students’ understanding of social, political, and economic struggles. ortega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 156 references cummins, j. (2000). language, power and pedagogy: bilingual children in the crossfire (vol. 23). multilingual matters. doi:10.21832/9781853596773 garcía, o., & kleifgen, j. a. (2018). educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english learners. teachers college press. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596773 microsoft word just cover invited issue 2021.docx volume 15 issue 2 2021 amae invited issue mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools guest editors sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.2.421 saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 9 the struggle for mexican american studies in texas k-12 public schools: a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance lilliana patricia saldaña university of texas at san antonio abstract this article traces how mexican american studies (mas) scholar activists led and supported a statewide movement for mas in texas. as a xicana feminist scholar activist, saldaña draws from her retrospective memory and personal archive of organizational notes, movement documents, personal testimonies before the state board of education, and photos, to document her journey within this epistemic justice movement. in doing so, she narrates the processes of creation/resistance that led to change in a state that has historically excluded black, brown, and indigenous histories from school curricula. as a scholar activist involved in various parts of this movement, saldaña also examines the various interconnected layers of this movement—from local efforts in san antonio, where she teaches, to statewide organizing—to chronicle the institutional and grassroots processes that led to this historic victory in texas. keywords: mexican american studies, epistemic justice, creation/resistance, texas k-12 education, scholar activism a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 10 during the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of mexican american students throughout the u.s. southwest walked out of their schools in protest of the educational oppression they experienced at the hands of racist and classist schools that had, for generations, perpetuated the marginality and exclusion of mexican americans in society. in 1968 in east los angeles, 15,000 students walked out of their schools to protest the high push out/drop out and tracking rate of brown students into vocational programs—a pattern that was pervasive across mexican american schools in the united states (berta-avila, tijerina, & figueroa, 2011). they also protested the “no spanish” school policies that punished students for speaking spanish on campus and demanded better facilities and academic programs that would prepare them to go to college rather than funneling them into the military or low-wage and low-status employment. in san antonio, 3,000 students from edgewood independent school district (isd) also walked out to protest the systemic inequities they experienced, including the dilapidated buildings that were symptomatic of the inequitable school finance system in texas that impacted poor and working-class mexican students and communities in one of the most segregated cities in the united states (poggio, 2015). students at lanier high school (san antonio isd) also organized school walkouts. while the lanier high school walkout never materialized, students demanded the right to speak spanish at school and called for the implementation of courses on mexican american history and culture to counter the assimilationist and whitewashed curricula forced on mexican american youth. their calls for what we now call chicana/x/o studies or in texas, mexican american studies, as it is now widely recognized, reflects the community’s resistance to colonial schooling and their calls for epistemic justice in schools. in texas, it would take 50 years after the chicano civil rights movement before mexican american children and youth would have access to mas in k-12 schools. as a mas scholar, i recognize that this struggle for epistemic justice—the right to our knowledge in the face of white supremacy and u.s. settler schooling—is not a new movement. it’s a movement that is at least 500 years old and is rooted in indigenous resistance to the coloniality of knowledge and the coloniality of being. within the context of u.s. public schooling, it’s a movement that has roots in the escuelitas or little schools of the early 1900s saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 11 which were a community response to segregated schooling, racial discrimination, language oppression and the imposition of a white supremacist curriculum (barragán goetz, 2020). the contemporary struggle for mas in public schools also builds on the political activism of chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s that called for the creation of what we now call mas or chicana/x/o studies (berta-avila, revilla, & figueroa, 2011). it is important to note that the contemporary struggle for mas in texas k-12 public schools (a movement which is still very much on-going seven years after the initial organizing) did not happen overnight. students, parents, teachers, scholars, and civil rights organizations mobilized within and across generational, language, ideological, and class differences in support of mas in public schools. this movement also has relied on the intellectual, institutional, and organizing wisdom of senior scholars in our community—many who advocated for educational rights during the chicano movement and who have made significant contributions to the field of mas in academia. when i became involved in this movement, i was relatively new to the professoriate; i had only been a mas professor for four years and was not tenured. as a xicana feminist activist/pedagogue, i wanted to make sure i was not inserting myself in this space, but supporting the movement by learning from those who had been fighting for chicana/x/o studies since its inception. as such, i spent a lot of my initial time in this movement listening, observing, and advocating from my positionality as a “new” activist in the movement. as a xicana feminist activist rooted in my community’s historical legacy of activism and social change, and as one of the mas scholar-activist-educators on the frontlines of this movement, i document and examine the various parts of this epistemic justice movement. i specifically examine the ways in which the community of mas scholars, with support of parents, students, state board of education allies, and mexican american civil rights organizations (like lulac, g.i. forum, maldef) came together to mobilize for mas–from our collective call before the texas state board of education (sboe), to organizing political and movement spaces like the statewide summit on mas organized by naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee. i also document and reflect on the ways in which mas scholars responded to the community’s fight for epistemic justice building spaces like the mas teachers’ academy in san a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 12 antonio which offers k-12 teachers with the curricular, epistemological, methodological and pedagogical support to teach mas within a community of praxis. as one of the mas scholars in this movement, i draw from my retrospective memory, organizational notes, copies of my expert testimonies before the state board of education, and photos at rallies and press conferences, which all form part of a personal and collective archive of this movement. within the tradition of xicana feminist methodologies (delgado bernal, 1999), i weave my retrospective memory and embodied knowledge to narrate the movement’s collective struggles and victories, and the lessons i’ve learned from being a part of various interconnected spaces within this movement. first, i begin with a theoretical discussion on what i mean by epistemic justice and why the mas k-12 movement in texas is an epistemic justice movement that relied on a creation/resistance approach, to borrow from roberto rodriguez’ (2016) concept. this is significant given that texas has and continues to be an anti-mexican (and anti-black, antiindigenous, and anti-queer) state despite the glaring demographics and political shifts in the state. the mas k-12 as a movement for epistemic justice: fighting against epistemic racism in texas, the struggle for mexican american studies as a decolonial epistemic movement is rooted in a century-long fight for educational rights in a state that has perpetuated patterns of cultural violence and epistemic erasure in mexican american schools (san miguel, 1999; valencia, 2010; valenzuela, 1999). i draw from miranda fricker’s (2009) concept of epistemic justice, a concept that originated in the field of social epistemology. epistemic justice has to do with the arrangement of knowledge in society. epistemic justice is also concerned with the distribution of knowledge—who knows what and who is allowed to know what—which has implications for what is taught and learned in schools. from a decolonial perspective, epistemic justice cannot be separated from centuries old processes of coloniality in the form of epistemic racism and white supremacy inside and outside institutions of teaching/learning. as such, i situate the contemporary movement for mas in k-12 schools as an epistemic justice movement in which the community of mas scholars and allies mobilized for the creation of a curriculum that would provide students with access to mexican american history and culture. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 13 epistemic justice also implores the “right for one’s view to be taken seriously if, for instance, one is an expert on the matter in question, or is testifying from direct experience, or if one makes a valid argument” (kotzee, 2014, p. 344). epistemic justice is also evidenced when members of oppressed communities fight against methodologies of denial, silencing, and in case of the mas movement, re-naming by members of the dominant group. in sum, epistemic justice questions the coloniality of knowledge and the coloniality of being as well as the mode of producing knowledge that perpetuates these asymmetrical relations of power. the banning of mexican american studies in arizona the banning of mas in arizona in 2010 spurred a nationwide movement for mas, particularly in the southwest. proponents of arizona’s sb 2281 claimed that mas promoted the overthrow of the u.s. government and promoted solidarity among students, rather than individualism. right-wing conservatives also claimed that mas promoted resentment towards white people (a very similar argument was made in texas with the passage of hb 3979, the “anti-critical race theory” law which was signed by gov. abbot in june 2021). the ban on ethnic studies in arizona was clearly anti-mexican since only mas was banned (this was the same year that sb 1070, the “show me your papers” bill that legalized racial profiling, went into effect, as well). mounting evidence showed that mas courses contributed to students’ academic achievement, even in non-mas courses (cabrera et al, 2014). in other words, there was no pedagogical basis for the ban. it was a racially motivated law to keep brown youth from questioning eurocentric narratives and the systems of privilege and oppression that have historically benefited whites. given the demographic changes in the southwest where k-12 schools are now majority brown, these laws were intended to subvert the community’s power to dismantle white supremacy by policing and banning knowledge. mas/chicano studies in higher education: from grassroots mobilizing to institutionalization chicano studies programs were born out of students who claimed a chicana and chicano political identity and consciousness in their activism. during the 1960s, chicano youth a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 14 in california drafted el plan de santa barbara—both a political manifesto and blueprint –that demanded a paradigm shift in higher education—from the hiring of chicano faculty, administrative leadership, and counselors to the creation of dedicated research centers and chicano studies programs. in california, the university of california los angeles and california state university were the first universities to offer chicano studies in 1969. in texas, community activists and students mobilized at the local level and across the state to create grassroots educational spaces that would be accessible to youth. activist-educators like aurelio montemayor—who is a part of the mas teachers’ academy today—for example, co-founded colegio jacinto treviño—a chicano college created out of the mobilizing efforts of the mexican american youth organization—and co-founded lincoln-juarez university (cantú, 2016). while these grassroots universities did not survive after the movement, a few institutions of higher education began to create chicano studies programs and offer undergraduate degrees, often with little institutional support. in san antonio, my home institution implemented its mas program in 1993, almost 20 years after chicano studies had been institutionalized in colleges and universities in california and other southwest states. community colleges in san antonio began to offer mas related courses as early as the 1980s. however, it was not until 2004, through the approval of the texas higher education coordinating board, that community colleges in the state were allowed to offer associate of arts degrees in mas (alamo colleges, 2013). it would take almost 50 years since the chicano movement for mas to reach k-12 schools through movement building and organizing, largely through naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee and within our local mas professional/academic organizations, with the support of students, educators, civil rights organizations, and allies. we mobilized even when our own programs in higher education had little institutional support to survive (much less thrive) and when faculty had scarce resources to build visionary and decolonial spaces like the mas teachers’ academy. mas in k-12 schools in texas the contemporary struggle for mas in texas k-12 schools reflects the community’s historic struggles for a humanizing education that dignifies mexican american people past and saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 15 present. debates relating to epistemology—whose histories should be taught—are significant in texas as it is the united states’s second most populous state with a majority student of color population. at least 52% of school age children are classified as hispanic; this is much higher in cities like san antonio where close to 70% of the city is of mexican descent (every texan, 2016). the idea of proposing a mas high school elective course emerged out of national association for chicana and chicano studies (naccs) tejas foco (regional chapter) meetings in 2013. while i was not a part of these initial conversations, it was evident that this would be an epistemic battle in a state board with an overwhelming conservative majority that did not reflect the demographic and political reality of the state. in 2014, a group of naccs tejas foco scholars, including trinidad gonzalez, christopher carmona, emilio zamora, angela valenzuela, juan tejeda, and marie “keta” miranda began to organize a campaign for mas at the sboe. the battle for a mas elective course would take four years to materialize. conservative members (10 out of 15 sboe members were republican) did not think mexicans needed a stand-alone course. mexicans were still seen as an interest group as opposed to a colonized group with ancestral connections to this continent. the creation of a special topics course in mas given the conservative politics of the board, in 2014, sboe member ruben cortez (d) introduced a strategy to get mas into texas k-12 public schools. while the naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee had advocated for a stand-alone course, a mostly conservative board supported a special topics course that would be open to other area studies—a move that we saw as a victory for ethnic studies and black, brown, and indigenous people in the state. in april 2014, the sboe took a vote for this special-topics course and drafted “proclamation 2016,” which would request that publishers submit textbooks for mas and other ethnic studies like african american, native american, and asian american studies. the sboe also voted to allow individual districts to offer these special topics courses, making the special topics course optional rather than mandatory as part of a high school degree requirement. while this was not the course, nor the direction that mas scholars had been advocating for, a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 16 we saw this compromise as a huge victory since this was the first time that any kind of ethnic studies course had been approved by the texas sboe (and any state board of education in the united states for that matter). it was the first step in advancing mas in k-12 schools and it opened the doors for other ethnic studies fields. as such, it was a collective victory for communities of color in a state that continues to uphold white supremacist policies and antibrown nativist rhetoric. the battles for epistemic justice did not end with this victory in 2014; our resistance continued well into 2018 and continues today with the passing of house bill 3979 and senate bill 3 (an extension of hb 3979), which limits the teaching of racism, settler colonialism and slavery in social studies curricula, and house bills like 2497, also called the 1836 project, which propose that educators teach a whitewashed texas history. building a mas community at the local level: somos mas i first became involved with somos mas—a local network of mexican american studies professors at community colleges and four-year universities—in san antonio about eight years ago (somos mas has since then expanded to include k-12 mas educators). the founding members of this organization—juan tejeda, teresita aguilar, and marie “keta” miranda—all served as program directors of mas programs at palo alto college, our lady of the lake university, and the university of texas at san antonio, respectively, where i currently serve as mas faculty and director/coordinator of the mas program. they were also active members of naccs tejas foco—the regional chapter of the national association for chicana and chicano studies (see figure 1). as a collective of mas scholars in san antonio, we would meet once a month to discuss curricula, course transfer plans, and educational policies from the texas higher education coordinating board that directly impacted mas. we also raised scholarship monies to send students to naccs tejas foco every year, supported the creation of dual-credit mas courses for high school and community college credit, and worked across our institutions to strengthen the visibility of mas programs. in essence, we cultivated institutional solidarities that we were able to activate and sustain in our statewide campaign for mas in k-12 schools. moreover, as scholars in the field of chicana/x/o studies, we continued to build transformative intellectual spaces and bridged academia with social justice movements in the community. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 17 figure i. somos mas from left to right: jose castillo (university of texas at san antonio mas student), soledad nuñez (utsa mas student), rita urquijo ruiz (trinity university professor), lilliana p. saldaña (utsa professor), maria “keta” miranda (utsa professor), deborah vasquez (ollu professor), and juan tejeda (palo alto college professor) at the mlk jr. march, january 27, 2014. bridging local with statewide advocacy a few months after the sboe approved of the special topics in mas, i joined my colleagues from somos mas to advocate for mas at the local level. it was time to get mas into our schools. in october 2014, san antonio sboe representative, marisa perez diaz, hosted a meeting at texas educational region 20 and invited district representatives and regional school board members to discuss the possibility of integrating mexican american studies in k-12 classrooms. all the mas advocates from san antonio—juan tejeda, marie “keta” mirada, june pedraza, cynthia cortez, and pedro rodriguez—were in attendance. emilio zamora, mas advocate and history professor from the university of texas at austin, drove to san antonio to support our efforts. before our meeting, i had reached out to nolan cabrera at the university of arizona at the recommendation of roberto rodriguez, who had been writing extensively on the banning of mas in arizona. he knew that cabrera and his colleagues had just published a study on the effects of mas on student achievement in the american educational a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 18 research journal. cabrera graciously shared a copy of their manuscript, which i then shared with school leaders at this gathering (cabrera et. al., 2014). our goal was to encourage instructional coordinators, principals, and superintendents to support the mas special topics course at their campuses (see figure 2). figure 2. somos mas region 20 meeting from left to right: two unidentified school leaders, emilio zamora (ut-austin) and members of somos mas—june pedraza (northwest vista college), pedro rodriguez (community advocate), cynthia cortez (st. phillip’s college), lilliana p. saldaña (university of texas at san antonio), juan tejeda (palo alto college), marie “keta” miranda (university of texas at san antonio)--and rubina pantoja (harlandale isd) and two other unidentified school leaders from local school districts, october 31, 2014. this ground-breaking research was important to growing the mas movement in texas as it demonstrated that mas classes improved student achievement as measured by standardized test scores and graduation rates. it also demonstrated that the more mas classes students took, the greater the likelihood of success. while only a handful of school leaders attended this city-wide meeting, we remained committed to this epistemic justice movement saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 19 and continued to mobilize at the local and statewide level through somos mas, naccs tejas foco, and other professional and academic spaces. it was during these months that my colleague marie “keta” miranda founded the mas teacher’s academy—a scholar-teacher led summer institute for social studies teachers interested in teaching the newly approved mas special topics course. as a new member of somos mas, i spent a lot of time listening in at the meetings and learning from my colleagues, most of whom were activists during the chicano movement and who continue to advocate for brown communities through their research and advocacy today. as scholars, they bridged their institutional knowledge, leadership, and grassroots activism to sustain mas programs in higher education, oftentimes with little to no resources despite our programs’ transformative impact. it was at these meetings that i learned to draw from our communities’ rich legacy of mutuality, solidarity, and political praxis to advocate for the existence of our programs in hispanic serving institutions and cities like san antonio, an overwhelming majority mexican american city. these solidarities would prove critical in the movement for mas in k-12 schools, particularly as we made a case for why a state like texas needed mas and ethnic studies. these solidarities continue to be critical today as we fight against epistemically repressive and white supremacist educational policies like hb 3979 and sb 3. “reject the text” campaign: mobilizing against epistemic racism when the sboe voted to approve of the special topics in mexican american studies in 2014, it voted for an elective class without adopting any curricular standards. this became a problem once textbook writers submitted books for adoption through proclamation 2016. in spring 2016, cynthia dunbar, former member of the sboe and an outspoken ultraconservative, submitted the first textbook for adoption. as soon as the book was made available for public view, members of naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee immediately expressed their concerns regarding the racist arguments presented in the book and began to mobilize with other groups to oppose the adoption of this book. a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 20 my full integration in the statewide movement took place during the summer months of 2016. celina moreno, who served as attorney for maldef at the time, invited me to join the responsible ethnic studies textbooks (rest) coalition. she knew i had been active with the local somos mas group and wanted to see more women of color scholars in this organizing space. over the next few months, members of naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee, lulac, the g.i. forum, and the mexican american school board association—civil rights organizations that have historically fought against school segregation, anti-mexican racial discrimination, and inequitable school funding in texas—and the texas freedom network— strategized against the adoption of this racist book and mobilized our communities to join the “reject the text” campaign. members of the coalition wrote op-eds, organized press rallies, studied political profiles, and drafted arguments in preparation for the november sboe hearing. this would be the first of many consecutive mobilizations we would organize until 2018. during these months, sboe ruben cortez formed an ad hoc committee of mas scholars (historians, anthropologists, public policy, education scholars, and teachers) to produce an expert review of the book: “ad hoc committee report on proposed social studies topic textbook mexican american heritage” (2016). the committee found that the textbook was riddled with more than 140 factual, interpretive, and omission errors. some of the excerpts that the coalition protested included: ● in a discussion on the chicano movement: “chicanos, on the other hand, adopted a revolutionary narrative that opposed western civilization and wanted to destroy this society.” (p. 415-416) ● “stereotypically, mexicans were viewed as lazy compared to european or american workers.” (p. 248) ● in a discussion on mexican workers: “[m]exican laborers were not reared to put in a full day’s work so vigorously. there was a cultural attitude of ‘mañana,’ or ‘tomorrow,’ when it came to high-gear production. it was also traditional to skip work on mondays, and drinking on the job could be a problem. the result was that mexican laborers were seen as inferior and kept in low-paying, unskilled jobs that saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 21 did not provide a pathway upward.” (p. 248) ● on immigration: “illegal immigration has since caused a number of economic and security problems in the united states over which people are divided on how to solve. poverty, non-assimilation, drugs, crime, and exploitation are among some of these problems.” (p. 428) ● in a section on “the cold war”: “college youth attempted to force their campuses to provide indigenismo-oriented curriculum, spanish-speaking faculty, and scholarships for poor and illegal students…during the cold war, as the united states fought communism worldwide, these kinds of separatist and supremacy doctrines were concerning. while solidarity with one’s heritage was understood, mexican pride at the expense of american culture did not seem productive” (p. 470). ● in a section titled “the latino and american identity”: “pressure exists that those of mexican origin are not ‘mexican enough’ or do not have enough sympathy and respect for their roots if they venture beyond the spanish-speaking world. this belief, along with the idea that latin culture must be held up as superior and separate from american culture, holds many back today (p. 473). as a coalition, we argued that this book did not meet the basic standards for use in any mexican american studies classroom. on the contrary, it reproduced racial stereotypes and perpetuated false narratives about mexican immigrant and mexican american communities and used dehumanizing language to describe our communities (for example, the use of the term “illegal” which is not a term mas scholars use to describe any human being). moreover, very little in the book actually related to mexican american people. in a 500-page book, only a few pages focused on civil and labor rights issues. a large chunk focused on mexican history (e.g. wars of independence, the mexican revolution, the declaration of independence, and the cold war). the book also referenced latin american writers like gabriel garcia marquez and isabel allende as mexican american writers, and claimed tango and salsa were popular genres in mexican american communities. in sum, the book was not only inaccurate, poorly written and conceptualized, it was blatantly racist. a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 22 before the hearing, the “reject the text” coalition organized a press rally at the texas education agency headquarters before offering public testimony at the state board of education. public testimonies lasted more than three hours with more than three dozen scholars and activists speaking against the book. i remember being incredibly nervous as i had never participated as a speaker at a press rally or testified before a sboe. the coalition had also circulated a petition against the adoption of the book. close to 15,000 people across the state signed the petition to support the coalition. after much mobilizing and national attention on this book, the sboe took a unanimous vote to reject the book which was a great victory. but it took months of mobilizing and organizing to get the sboe to reject a racist textbook for a mas class the mas community fought so hard to get. in the meantime, the board submitted another call for textbooks. we would continue to fight against the spiritual violence and epistemic racism before the sboe (this was the first of many public rallies at the sboe), while creating political and pedagogical spaces to build mas in k-12 texas schools (see figure 3). figure 3. “reject the text” rally sboe member marisa perez diaz at the “reject the text” press rally organized by the responsible ethnic studies textbook (rest) coalition, september 16, 2016. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 23 building mas through creation/resistance while we were mobilizing against this racist textbook, we also organized the first annual statewide summit on mas in k-12 schools through naccs tejas foco—the largest statewide meeting on mas in public schools. our goal was to connect parents, teachers, policymakers, students, scholars, and advocates throughout the state to develop a strategic plan for implementing mas in texas schools. the simultaneous processes of resisting (mobilizing against) epistemic racism and creating (mobilizing for) mas reflects what mas scholar roberto rodriguez calls “creation/resistance” (2012, 2014). rodriguez’s concept is significant in this discussion as resisting (reacting against) and creating are both equally important strategies for humanization and social justice. rodriguez’s concept is also significant as it reminds me that we cannot expend all of our energies resisting, even though we do not have the privilege of ignoring these reprehensible policies and practices. we must continue to create, dream, celebrate, connect, and build the pedagogical and political spaces that will contribute to our communities’ wellbeing. this part of creation/resistance is, needless to say, more challenging to do under repressive regimes that inflict spiritual violence through epistemically racist policies in our public schools. the naccs tejas foco statewide summit on mas played an important role in building the statewide movement mas in k-12 schools. for the first four years, somos mas in san antonio served as the site coordinating committee for the annual summit (we did hold the summit virtually during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021). our collective goal as an organization was to support teachers and schools in implementing mas across all grade levels, content areas, and program models like dual-language education. below are key developments that took place at every summit: 2016 ● close to 300 teachers, parents, and advocates drove from across the state to attend this inaugural summit at san antonio college. a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 24 ● we addressed plans to fight against the adoption of the mexican american heritage textbook and held various sessions on political and legislative strategies, curriculum development for k-12, and growing support for mas. ● we also collected data on what individual teachers were doing to teach mas and developed a plan to increase the number of classes across the state. teachers also shared resources they were using to create their individual mas curricula since there were not state standards. 2017 ● dr. marie “keta” miranda, mas program coordinator at utsa, organized the summit with somos mas and the mas k-12 committee. more than 200 educators and advocates from across the state gathered at the utsa downtown campus in june. ● we continued to meet in various groups to identify teachers’ and parents’ concerns around teaching mas and establish goals to move mas forward. 2018 ● close to 300 educators, administrators, parents, and students gathered at northwest vista college to identify institutional barriers, establish priorities, and develop a plan of action to establish mas in k-12 schools and in the broader community. dr. sandra garza, mas coordinator at northwest vista college, coordinated the summit with support of somos mas and the mas k-12 committee. ● the summit partnered with an annual symposium i organized every summer: “decolonial epistemologies symposium: pedagogies of liberation in chicana and chicano communities,” held at the utsa downtown campus. it is also important to note that during this time, i also served as an invited mas faculty at the mas teacher’s academy which took place the week leading to the statewide summit. 2019 ● the summit was organized by mas professor aimee villarreal, member of somos mas and naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee. close to 200 advocates gathered at our lady of the lake university. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 25 ● sessions focused on best practices for adoption and curriculum development. ● the naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee drafted a resolution to encourage school districts to commit resources necessary to implement mas courses. ● we added a new bilingual education session centered on integrating mas content into the curriculum at the elementary and middle school level. ● we also added a higher education committee. 2020 ● we held our annual statewide summit virtually in fall 2020, rather than the summer. ● we launched our “now is the time for mas!” campaign and invited congressman joaquin castro and congresswoman sylvia garcia, as well as representatives rafael anchia, mary gonzalez, and christina morales. rep. morales would file hb 1504, an ethnic studies bill at the state legislation. the “protest the name change” campaign as we built this mobilizing, organizing, and political space, naccs tejas foco mas prek-12 committee continued to fight for a mas social studies elective course, with curricular standards that came from the community of scholars. a few months after the sboe voted against the adoption of the mexican american heritage textbook, naccs tejas foco wrote a public statement to sboe member ruben cortez outlining all the schools that offered mas— more than 300 in the state, and more than 100 mas dual credit courses. given the increase of students taking mas (as special topics courses or under the innovative course under the texas education agency (tea), and the geographic diversity where courses were being offered, we pressed for a mas course and offered our expertise to create mas teks standards. in our letter, we stated: “the current lack of an official teks [curricular state standards] for the state is preventing the course from being offered as an elective option across the state as most schools do not have the resources to develop their curriculum. also, the lack of a recognized course does not provide an incentive for publishers to create a textbook. despite the lack of a sboe approved course and textbook the desire to offer a mas course is only growing.” a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 26 as early as november 2017, we began to press for curricular standards in the absence of a worthy textbook (publishers were not likely going to write a book unless there were standards). in colloquial terms, the sboe had put the “cart before the horse” when it called for a textbook without curricular standards to guide the writing of the textbook. to make matters worse, the first book submitted had been written by non-experts in the field with no knowledge of mas. so, members of naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee began to build on the standards created by the houston isd mas innovative course. in february 2018, the mas k-12 committee held a meeting at the naccs tejas foco conference held at texas lutheran university and strategized for the sboe’s historic vote, which took place on april 10. we specifically discussed our online petition, the media campaign, legislative strategy, state board of education strategy, and formed a planning committee for the mas demonstration in austin on april 10th. we also crafted a resolution that organizations could support that called on the sboe to adopt teks standards. we argued that teks standards would provide curricular coherence to mas teachers across the state and would encourage districts to adopt mas at their campuses. finally, on april 13, 2018, the texas sboe approved teks standards for mas. this was the first time in texas and u.s. history that a state board had approved a mas course (it also opened the pathway for the approval of other ethnic studies courses like african american studies and native american studies). however, the sboe dimmed this victory when the majority republican board voted to change the name of the course from “mexican american studies” to “ethnic studies: an overview of americans of mexican descent.” as an organization, we protested this racist proposal and demanded that the sboe change the name of the course to reflect the name of the field which was recognized by the texas higher education coordinating board, the counterpart to the texas sboe. this unexpected name change was a racist attack on the field and on our community (in the four years we had been organizing for mas, no one had ever expressed concern with the name of the course)—one that called for the committee to launch yet another statewide campaign for epistemic justice. one of the main arguments we presented before the sboe was that using the mas designation would allow us to align mas curriculum across the educational pipeline; it would saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 27 also grant the courses the necessary transferability from the high schools to the community colleges and universities. we also made the argument that changing the name of the course was ahistorical and misleading. the term mexican american was not divisive or biased, nor did it suggest a hyphenated (or unassimilable) condition. in our collective statement, we noted: “mexican american has been the most popular english-language self-referent since at least the middle 1800s and the typical way to refer to mexican-origin persons. it affirms an american identity and national allegiance at the same time that it claims a mexican ancestry. in that sense, the term is no different from other groups, such as african americans, italian americans, and native americans. lastly, the use of mexican is meant to expand on, and not detract from, the meaning of american. the remark by board member bradley, that to adopt mexican american studies is to accept the idea that ‘hyphenated americans’ do not accept and embrace an american identity, is preposterous, misleading and divisive” (naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee, 2018). we also argued that names are important, and that mexican americans have the inalienable right to name themselves, the field of study our community created out of student activism, and courses that reflected the methodological, epistemological and theoretical frameworks in the field. in defense of our field, we argued that mas reflects the communities we serve given that mexican american students comprise 52% of the almost 5.4 million students in texas schools pre-k-12 schools. in cities like san antonio, close to 70% of school age children are of mexican descent. we also expressed that the name change singled out mexican american studies, and in doing so, the sboe had created a “glaring inconsistency with the other courses included in the vote: native american studies, african american studies, latino studies and asian/pacific islander studies.” furthermore, we argued that the word “overview” in the proposed title of this course called “for a cursory treatment and not an indepth examination of the subject, in contradiction with the broad purpose and content of this course” (mas k-12 committee, 2018). as experts in the field, we also protested the use of “americans of mexican descent” as this was “not a term that most mexican americans or chicanxs identify with and is a throwback to the 1950s jim crow era of segregation when black and brown children and youth a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 28 were denigrated for their race and ethnicity in texas schools” (mas k-12 sboe public testimony). we also made the case that mexican americans, as indigenous people to this continent and ethnic/racial minorities in what is today the united states, have the right to selfidentification. this right to name oneself at the individual and collective level is protected by the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, specifically the declaration on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, inspired by provision of article 27 of the international covenant on civil and political rights. the right to name ourselves and to name courses in an academic field of study created by brown scholars in our own community is an epistemic justice issue—one that we collectively fought for in the creation of this historic movement. the sboe’s decision to misname this mas course represented another obstacle in our movement for mas—a reflection of the epistemic racism and spiritual violence we continuously had to fight against over the course of this movement. in preparation for the sboe’s public hearing on the name change in june 2018, naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee members juan tejeda, christopher carmona (committee chair), angela valenzuela, emilio zamora, and other members of the group drafted a press release in may. we agreed to change our tactic from an “academic approach” of trying to convince the board to change the name of the course based on a number of arguments to a more direct political plan that named the epistemic racism we were confronting. the naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee’s press release questioned the sboe’s decision: in light of the naming actions of the txsboe: what motivated you to change the name of an entire people? is it true, as board member bradley stated to the press, that the txsboe would never have approved the mas course if they had not changed the name? or is it the case that you wish to discipline mexican americans into denying their self-referent and accepting your understanding of who they are? given your decision on african american studies, native american studies and asian and pacific islanders studies courses, why did you single out mexican american studies with a different course title? does this constitute outright discrimination or unconscious bias? do not all students in texas public schools deserve to know and understand the saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 29 contributions of mexican americans to american history without needless political obstructions? (naccs tejas mas k-12 committee, 2018) we had a couple weeks to organize our protests and rallies, draft letters to sboe members, and write op-eds, and educate the community on the importance of electing sboe leaders who would advocate for mexican americans in a state where more than half of school age children are of mexican heritage. through community mobilization, we were able to pressure the sboe to restore the name of the course to align with the field of study. immediately following this victory, we mobilized another campaign to press the sboe to approve state curricular standards— standards reviewed and written by scholars in the field (at no charge to the state). we continued to re-iterate the academic outcomes of students in mas and ethnic studies courses, as demonstrated by the body of research, including higher graduation rates, higher rates of retention, higher grades and overall academic engagement. we also made the case that mas was already being offered at many high schools across the state and that standards would provide curricular coherence and give publishers standards to develop quality textbooks and instructional materials which would then encourage more districts to implement mas at their campuses. we also counted on the support of statewide organizations like the mexican american school board association (masba), which adopted a resolution in support of teks standards for the mas course. we made our recommendations on june 15th on the day the sboe voted on the name change and made additional curricular standards, including: (1) more representation of texas indigenous people’s history to allow students to analyze processes of colonization and its continued impact upon people and the environment; (2) an equitable representation of women throughout the course and their roles in the political, social, cultural, and economic development of texas and the united states; and (3) room for local histories to reflect community struggles, experiences, and contributions. the committee made additional recommendations in september 2018 (see figure 4). a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 30 figure 4. “protest the name change” poster image created by ernesto cuevas, jr. this poster was created to promote our statewide press conference in preparation for the june 12, 2019 sboe hearing on the name of the course. the sboe voted to approve the name of the course to ethnic studies: mexican american studies on june 15th. the mas teachers’ academy: building mas in the classroom in 2015, following the sboe’s approval of the special topics in mas course, my colleague dr. marie “keta” miranda created the mas teachers’ academy to support social studies teachers who would be teaching this course for the first time. the mas academy was and continues to part of the creation/resistance in this decolonial epistemic justice movement. i joined the mas teachers’ academy in 2018, in the midst of fighting against the epistemic racism and obstacles presented by the majority conservative sboe. as one of the members of the planning team, i worked with dr. marie “keta” miranda, graduate students, and school leaders like dr. elizabeth rivas who served as a social studies instructional coach at harlandale isd (she had worked with dr. miranda since the founding of the academy in 2015). rivas’ invaluable experience as a curriculum coach and her expertise as a scholar helped create a space that bridged mas methodological, analytic, and epistemological frameworks in the field, with a decolonial application of content through social studies pedagogies. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 31 it became clear that the academy had little institutional support from the university— just enough funding to cover food (for one of the five days), a graduate assistant, and some supplies for teachers to use during the week. the university’s institute of texan cultures (itc) also hosted us during the week and provided participants with a tour of los tejanos exhibit and the archives. as an underfunded academy, we provided the intellectual, pedagogical, curricular, and organizational labor pro bono, for months leading up to the academy, and continued afterwards once the one-week institute ended to plan ahead for the next year. even though we did not have much institutional funding, we continued to grow the academy once curricular standards were adopted. this support was significant since a majority of the teachers then and now do not have a mas or ethnic studies background in their undergraduate education or teacher preparation. we also extended the academy in summer 2018 to offer additional professional development workshops for mas teachers in fall and spring semesters. with the collaboration of andres lopez, who had joined the academy as a participant and then joined the academy as part of the planning committee, we began to offer teacher-led workshops for k-12 teachers. he also connected us with aurelio montemayor and other members of the intercultural development research association (idra) who became invaluable partners in growing the academy and the movement for mas in k-12 schools. montemayor, who was a mas advocate during the chicano movement (and one of the co-founders of the “curso de la raza” movement and one of the co-founders of jacinto treviño college), brought a liberatory vision and freirian approach to the epistemic work we were doing. the mas teachers’ academy fall and spring professional development workshops would provide teachers with a space to lead pedagogical and curriculum sessions and where they would share resources through the creation of a “community of practice.” our first fall workshop in october 2018 was a complete success; close to 100 teachers, parents, and students attended. this would be the first time we would also invite mas high school students to share their testimonios of what they were learning and how mas created intergenerational spaces of teaching/learning that stretched beyond the classroom. a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 32 in 2019, dr. miranda retired and asked that dr. gloria gonzalez, a former doctoral student who knew the logistics and history of the academy, and i co-direct the academy. even though miranda had retired from utsa, she worked with gonzalez and me to submit a grant to humanities texas (we had worked on other grants but had not been funded despite positive reviews). this would be our first grant funded academy and would help fund at least half of the expenses. because of the covid-19 pandemic, we held the 2020 academy virtually over zoom. close to 60 teachers participated, many who were going to teach mas for the first time in san antonio, including six teachers from north east isd who were going to teach mas at every high school campus in the district. many other teachers joined from dallas/fort worth, austin, the rio grande valley, and el paso. as a co-director of the academy, i worked with gloria gonzalez, aurelio montemayor, elizabeth rivas, and mas teachers—anita cisneros, araceli manriquez, and lucero saldaña (mas activists and products of our undergraduate mas program)—and mas advocates like josie garcia, as well as olga estrada, who had been serving as the academy’s graduate assistant—to continue building the academy into a community-powered space lead by mas scholars, teachers, and community advocates. many in the academy have been products of mas in higher education (taught by professors who were activists in the chicano movement) and had been a part of the mas movement in san antonio and at the statewide level, working closely with naccs tejas foco mas pre-k-12 committee and somos mas. it was an intergenerational space that nurtured a mas teacher identity and consciousness. one of the ideas that i have continuously stressed is that mas is not only about introducing teachers to foundational content in the field. while mas content is important given that a majority of mas teachers have never had access to mas in their undergraduate education, teacher education, or professional development, the academy is also committed to cultivating teachers’ pedagogies of resistance—pedagogies rooted in the discipline’s political, epistemological, ontological, and decolonial methodologies. in other words, the academy has cultivated a paradigm shift in what and how teachers teach/learn and engage with their communities of praxis. teachers also come to understand that the academy is not a typical professional development space; it’s a culturally rooted space of critical self-reflection, teacher identity development, and movement building saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 33 where solidarities are nurtured and decolonial epistemic work is sustained with and across our communities of praxis (see figure 5). figure 5. 2021 mas teachers’ academy digital flyer digital flyer for the 2021 one-week mas teachers’ academy. image created by linda monsivais. conclusion as a mexican american studies scholar-activist rooted in my community’s legacy of educational activism, i examine the various parts of the contemporary mas k-12 movement in texas, with attention to the interconnected parts of this epistemic justice movement. drawing from rodriguez’s concept of creation/resistance, i examine the ways in which the mas scholar community--with support of students, civil rights organizations, and community allies--came together to mobilize for mas in k-12 public education and create new epistemic spaces in the process. within the tradition of xicana feminist methodologies, i weave my retrospective memory and embodied knowledge to narrate our challenges, victories, and lessons learned in a state that continues to inflict epistemic violence through racist policies like house bill 3979 and senate bill 3. a movement for epistemic justice through creation/resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 34 with the exception of angela valenzuela’s (2019) analysis of mas and the historic struggles to decolonize official knowledge in texas and arizona, much of the history on the contemporary movement for mas in texas k-12 schools has yet to be documented. while schools now offer mas and other ethnic studies courses, the texas public education system faces new challenges like senate bill 3 (formerly house bill 3979) which aims to silence any discussions about racial oppression, and the 1836 project which aims to enforce a whitewashed curricula rooted in texas exceptionalism, myth making and white supremacy. i’m reminded that we must continue to fight against these reprehensible policies, but most importantly, we must continue to build new solidarities within and across our communities of praxis and create new spaces that will nurture our community’s struggles for humanization and epistemic justice. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 35 references ad hoc committee report on proposed social studies special topic textbook: mexican american heritage (september 16, 2016). alamo colleges (2016, december 13). report from the alamo colleges mexican american studies committee to chancellor dr. bruce leslie and the presidents/vice-chancellors of the alamo colleges. barragán goetz, p. (2020). reading, writing and revolution: escuelitas and the emergence of a mexican american identity in texas. university of texas press. berta-avila, m., revilla, a.t., & figueroa, j.l. (2011). marching students: chicana and chicano activism in education, 1968 to the present. university of nevada press. cabrera, n., milem, j.f., jaquette, o. & marx, r.w. (2014). missing the (student achievement)forest for all the (political) trees: empiricism and the mexican american studies controversy in tucson. american educational research journal, 51(6), 1084–1118. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831214553705 cantú, c. (2016). self-determined education and community activism: a comparative history of navajo, chicana/o, and puerto rican institutions of higher education in the era of protest (publication number 1014724). [doctoral dissertation, university of houston]. https://www-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/1812580635?pq-origsite=primo delgado bernal, b. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-583. every texan (2016). state of texas children 2016: race and equity in san antonio. https://everytexan.org/images/2016_kc_sanantonio_wendnotes_v01.pdf fricker, m. (2009). epistemic injustice: power and the ethics of knowing. oxford university press. kotzee, b. (2014). education and epistemic injustice. in i.j. kidd, j. medina, & g. pohlhaus (eds.), the routledge handbook of epistemic injustice (pp. 324-335). routledge. naccs tejas mas k-12 committee (2018). sboe public testimony and press release. poggio, m. (2015, august 15). recalling the walkouts of 1968: a curriculum of low expectations was challenged. san antonio express news. https://www.expressnews.com/150years/education-health/article/in-1968-students-heredefied-prejudice-and-6446428.php rodríguez, r.c. (2012). corriendo educando or teaching/learning while running. international journal of critical indigenous studies, 5(1):79-92. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcis.v5i1.96 rodríguez, r.c. (2014). our sacred maíz is our mother: nin tonantzin non centeotl. university of arizona press. san miguel, g. (1999). let all of them take heed!: mexican americans and the campaign for educational equality in texas, 1910-1981. texas a&m university press. valencia, r.r. (2010). chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (3rd ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203835982 valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. state university of new york press. valenzuela, a. (2020). the struggle to decolonize official knowledge in texas’ state curriculum: side-stepping the colonial matrix of power. equity & excellence in education, 52(2-3), 119. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831214553705 https://www-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/1812580635?pq-origsite=primo https://everytexan.org/images/2016_kc_sanantonio_wendnotes_v01.pdf https://www.expressnews.com/150years/education-health/article/in-1968-students-here-defied-prejudice-and-6446428.php https://www.expressnews.com/150years/education-health/article/in-1968-students-here-defied-prejudice-and-6446428.php https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcis.v5i1.96 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203835982 9d3b542f-21ca-419c-b9be-7c3292d69355.pdf in 2015, following the sboe’s approval of the special topics in mas course, my colleague dr. marie “keta” miranda created the mas teachers’ academy to support social studies teachers who would be teaching this course for the first time. the mas acade... i joined the mas teachers’ academy in 2018, in the midst of fighting against the epistemic racism and obstacles presented by the majority conservative sboe. as one of the members of the planning team, i worked with dr. marie “keta” miranda, graduate ... it became clear that the academy had little institutional support from the university—just enough funding to cover food (for one of the five days), a graduate assistant, and some supplies for teachers to use during the week. the university’s institute... we also extended the academy in summer 2018 to offer additional professional development workshops for mas teachers in fall and spring semesters. with the collaboration of andres lopez, who had joined the academy as a participant and then jo... in 2019, dr. miranda retired and asked that dr. gloria gonzalez, a former doctoral student who knew the logistics and history of the academy, and i co-direct the academy. even though miranda had retired from utsa, she worked with gonzalez and me to su... poggio, m. (2015, august 15). recalling the walkouts of 1968: a curriculum of low expectations was challenged. san antonio express news. https://www.expressnews.com/150years/education-health/article/in-1968-students-here-defied-prejudice-and-6446428.php volume 14 issue 2 2020 amae invited issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies guest editors josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ salas-santacruz terca, pero no pendeja: terquedad as theory and praxis of transformative gestures in higher education omi s. salas-santacruz school of education university of california, berkeley abstract in this article, the author explores the concept of terquedad or waywardness as a blueprint towards gender/queer justice in education. using maría lugones’s (2003) theorizing resistance against multiple oppressions, the author presents gloria anzaldúa’s' writings in borderlands/la frontera (1987) and this bridge called my back (1981/2015) as a project of storying the plurality of terquedad. in doing so, the author calls for a theory and praxis of terquedad as a framework to understand the embodied resistances queer and trans-latinx/e students deploy as textual inconveniences to push back and resist the “institutional grammars” of u.s. universities (bonillasilva, 2012; crawford & ostrom, 1995). through a plática methodology (fierros & delgado bernal, 2016), the author introduces quiahuitl, a doctoral student engaging with a praxis of terquedad when confronted with institutional and sexual violence as she moves within and against the geographies and power structures of the university. keywords: queer gesture, embodied refusals, gender/queer educational justice, decolonial agency and resistance, resistance research in higher education doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.357 association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 23 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.357 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 i look through my photos.  i am three, five, seven years old.  la terquedad is with me.  “cierra las piernas, asi como las otras niñas” “una sonrisita” “ahora aca, solo los niños del salon” “sientate bien. sonrie”  “1-2-3 cheese” que terca eres. figure 1 “las niñas cierran las piernas.” note. three children are sitting on the floor wearing ballet attire. the author is sitting on the left side of the frame staring at the photographer sitting with their legs open. the other two children to their right have their legs closed and are both giving a scornful side-eye to the author for not sitting properly for the photo. 24 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 figure 2 “sonrian.” note. two children are sitting outside in the patio of an apartment complex. the author is sitting on the first step of a staircase leaning on the wall and their legs extended towards the step. they have a stoic expression, making direct eye contact to the lens as they are captured grabbing a snack from a plastic bag. the second child is turned to the camera and smiling for the photo as he holds a playdoh roller. figure 3 “siéntate bien.” note. there are two children sitting on a double stroller. the author is on the left side of the stroller with their legs over the guardrail and leaning back, refusing to sit properly. they are holding a spoon to their mouth and eating ice cream. the child on the right is seated properly on the stroller with her feet under the guardrail and using a waist belt. this child is holding an ice cream, has her spoon to the side of her cup, and is smiling for the photo. 25 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 figure 4 “ahora aca, solo los niños.” note. the image is a photography cutoff. there are six visible children and three others who were cut off from the frame. the author is on the far left with an affiliative smile that triggers an upward pull of their lip and dimpling of their cheeks. they placed themselves with the boys. my childhood photos where i refuse to make my body do what is being asked or the cutoffs that reframe me as being part of “los niños” captures mi terquedad,1 a term i use in its pluralist sense as a source of survival and resistance but which has been used historically to describe willful defiance, stubbornness, misconduct, and insubordination to authority. in reflecting on the uses of photography, roland barthes (1979/2010) wrote that photos are not just images, but they can also be snippets of a just image where we can decode a new consciousness. i share with you my photos as a blueprint towards understanding gender/queer justice through the notion of stubborn gestures or the political dispositions that explicitly understand and contest oppression through embodied refusals. in this instance, i consider the photos of my childhood as capturing the ephemeral function of terquedad, a series of active subjective strategies caught in the process of what maría lugones (2003) describes as the oppressing ⇔ resisting relationship, where oppression and resistance are ongoing and incomplete (p. 17). terquedad, in this case, is a resistance subjectivity at the level of gestures 1 i use the verb terquedad to denote a praxis of stubbornness/waywardness among latinx/latine people. the goal of this essay is to uncover a pluralist understanding of stubbornness in each of its forms: as identity (terca/rebelde), as praxis of, as disciplinary gesture, as resistance sociality, as gesture of refusal, and as the embodiment of multiplicity and “mestiza consciousness” (anzaldúa, 1987). i use terquedad, rebellious gestures, and stubbornness interchangeably. 26 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 when confronted with the cultural violence of gender dualism and other forms of a dichotomous self. i begin with these images with the pedagogical intention of looking for terquedad in what cindy cruz (2013) describes as “the smallest resistances that come from the body” and are produced within infra-political hangouts that serve as spaces to conspire and breathe (p. 556). considering the ways bodily movements are always already assigned cultural meaning, i note how through the recognition of the smallest of queer gestures2 such as practicing jotería3 in the academy, and even perhaps recognizing waywardness in my childhood photos, is a means to call on the past to resist the present. a resistance sociality among latinx/latine peoples’ bodies and gestures as means to muddle with, desire, and even find pleasures when confronted with oppressive institutional and racial grammars4 (bonilla-silva, 2012; crawford & ostrom, 1995) that structure corporeal and aesthetic practices in higher education. terquedad in the academy is thus a form of resistance sociality by listening and uplifting the “i-we” of “what your jotería is saying” (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 85). in the first part of this paper, i read through gloria anzaldúa’s book borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza (1987) and her essays “la prieta” and “speaking in tongues: a letter to third world women writers” in the edited volume this bridge called my back (moraga & anzaldúa, 1981/2015) to listen to her moments of terquedad as a multivalent resistant subjectivity. i use lugones’s (2003) theorizing resistance against multiple oppressions to discuss anzaldúa's terquedad as a tactical embodied strategy when confronted with the meaning-making and disciplinary grammars of the dominant culture. in doing so, i highlight anzaldúa’s epistemic 2 i follow muñoz’s (2009) and rodriguez’s (2014) concept of queer gestures as a repertoire of cultural modes of knowing enacted through bodily movements, feelings, mannerisms, and linguistic behaviors that act/communicate through the interpretation of performance. queer gestures consist of both cultural memory and a history. 3 i use the term jotería as a queer political body consisting of non-normative genders, sexualities, gestures, and as a “decolonizing social movement that seeks to move away from normative colonizing relations of power and toward horizontal, personal/collective, transgenerational, and transdisciplinary forms of thinking, being, and acting that make dialogue, respect, love, spirituality, and healing central to both vision and praxis” (bañales, 2014, p. 8). 4 according to crawford and ostrom (1995), the central pieces of an institution are strategies, norms, and rules, which can be distinguished by their grammatical texture. according to ostrom (2005) these grammars include “the prescriptions that humans use to organize all forms of repetitive and structured interactions” (p. 3). similarly, bonilla-silva (2012) describes the racial grammars that shape and frame institutions. the notion of grammar moves beyond linguistic connotations to encompass vision, emotion, and sense of aesthetics. 27 terca, pero no pendeja shift about the notion of stubbornness: one that shifts from an imposed identity to a resistant subjectivity as the basis to navigate within, across, and in-between worlds5 of meaning, survival, and resistance (lugones, 2003; ortega, 2016). in other words, i treat anzaldúa’s embodiment of terquedad as the embodiment of her mestiza consciousness or the limen, “the place where one becomes most fully aware of one’s multiplicity” (lugones, 2003, p. 59). in the second part of this article, i unpack the political possibilities of terquedad in spaces of higher education. through a plática methodology (fierros & delgado bernal, 2016) i turn to a case study of quiahuitl,6 a doctoral student engaged in a praxis of terquedad as an embodied refusal of the grammars of the university. specifically, i offer the praxis of terquedad in the academy as a framework to unpack the multiple ways queer and trans black, indigenous, and students of color hold on to their complexity, where their body or specific aspects of one’s body becomes a textual inconvenience to push back or disrupt the grammatical textures of institutions of higher education. towards a theory of terquedad: trespassing “worlds” of stubbornness  anzaldúa (1987, 1990, 1981/2015a, 1981/2015b) has made a crucial theoretical contribution to studies on the relationship among multiple subjectivities, survival, and resistance, a relationship central to personal and institutional transformation when confronted with the ongoing material, emotional, spiritual, and cultural violence of imperialism. in borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza (1987) and her writings in the co-edited collection this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (moraga & anzaldúa, 1981/2015), anzaldúa demonstrates a unique concern with the plurality of consciousness that emerges in the borderlands as the basis to contest the meaning, location, and source of knowledge production. however, instead of expanding the theory of consciousness in cartesian terms, anzaldúa makes the body a central concern to brown epistemologies, both as the source of knowledge and a battleground over asserting decolonial agency (anzaldúa, 1987; cruz; 2001; villenas, 2010). i offer her texts as a way of listening to her body. that is, i look for anzaldúa’s moments of terquedad to uncover its pluralist use as she navigates between, across, and within 5 i follow maría lugones’s (2003) use of the word “worlds” to denote the spatio-temporal dynamics that construct social space. 6 quiahuitl is pronounced key-a-wit. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 28 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 an imposed colonial/modern identity, a resistance and survival praxis, and as the embodiment of liminality. in borderlands/la frontera, anzaldúa (1987) describes “movements of rebellion” as a resistant sociality that emerges through the constant guerra de independencia, a clash between the demands of the dominant culture, la cultura que traiciona, and the stubborn “will” of a mestiza consciousness (p. 16). she writes, “la mestiza undergoes a struggle of flesh, a struggle of borders, an inner war” (p. 78). this inner war, i argue, is a war toward asserting multiple definitions, uses, and understandings of terquedad. anzaldúa’s (1987, 1981/2015a) childhood memories are stories of her terquedad where the institution of the family, church, and school try to assert their will. anzaldúa (1987) described when terquedad became an identity, an ideological system of oppression capable of hailing her (althusser, 1970) under the signs of rebellion for demanding her name be pronounced correctly and her uses of the spanish language: “hocicona, repelona, chismosa, having a big mouth, questioning” (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 54). in other words, terquedad became “la seña” (anzaldúa, 1981/2015a, p. 199) that her growth was going sideways.7 she recalls, at a very early age, i had a strong sense of who i was and what i was about and what was fair. i had a stubborn will. it tried to constantly mobilize my soul under my own regime, to live life on my own terms no matter how unsuitable to others they were. terca. even as a child, i would not obey (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 16.).    anzaldúa as a terca is an attempt of the dominant culture to bring her under its will, “to get rid of our accents” (1987, p. 54), a disciplinary subjectivity with the goal of re-orienting her growth by recruiting others to show her las reglas and guide her towards the grammars of the dominant culture. that is, to get rid of different ways of using terquedad. it is at this moment, the interplay between being made a subject of terquedad and terquedad as resistance that allows her to see beyond the ideologies of the dominant culture. she continues, 7 stockton (2009) coins the term growing sideways to describe ways of growing that defy heteronormative and linear trajectories toward marriage and reproduction. her work demonstrates that in many literary renditions of the child, there exists an assumption that children should grow up and toward heterosexuality. in the essay “la prieta,” (1981/2015a) gloria anzaldúa links rebellion to authority and objection to submission as a reflection of “an image” of being strange, abnormal, and queer (p. 199). 29 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 there is a rebel in me—the shadow-beast. it is a part of me that refuses to take orders from outside authorities. it refuses to take orders from my conscious will, it threatens the sovereignty of my rulership. it is that part of me that hates constraints of any kind, even those self-imposed. at the least hint of limitations on my time or space by others, it kicks out with both feet. bolts. (1987, p. 16) in this statement, anzaldúa (1987) navigates the externalization and multivalence of terquedad as she moves across the logic of oppression and resistance. she distinguishes between the ideologies of “my will,” as the conscious will of the dominant culture, and the “sovereign will within” (p. 66) as a praxis of active subjectivity when she announces that “wild tongues can’t be tamed” (p. 54). here, la terquedad, the rebel that bolts, is a survival and resistance praxis against the cultural tyranny of patriarchy and the anglo culture that try to capture her under the one meaning of terquedad. unlike hegemonic notions of ideology, which establish ideology as the “like-theunconscious,” as a process of misrecognition by the subject (leonardo, 2010, p. 200), anzaldúa’s (1987, 1990, 1981/2015a, 1981/2015b) writing describes how she travels across and within the ideologies of the borderlands, in which terquedad does not fully exhaust her subjectivity if we consider her uses of stubbornness through a lens of resistance and transformation (lugones, 2003). anzaldúa’s (1987, 1990, 1981/2015a, 1981/2015b) heightened awareness of seeing herself as being thoroughly, but not exhaustively “socially constructed in terms of power” (lugones, 2003, p. 9), is reflected in her writings of la coatlicue. according to anzaldúa (1987), la coatlicue depicts the contradictory: el otro yo (p. 47), another self that exists in the shadow of the representation of her as being stubborn but that informs her experiences of stubbornness. on the one hand, her writing functions as a mirror of her identity, as the representation of the colonial imposition, terca (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 97). on the other hand, her writing ruptures "false mirrors" and announces she is not fully captive of the representation of herself. her writing becomes a "seeing through" into her inner faces, las caras por dentro (anzaldúa, 1990, p. xxvii). in other words, anzaldúa’s (1987, 1990, 1981/2015a, 1981/2015b) terquedad is not merely a reaction to oppression, but an act of resistant meaning-making on behalf of the active subject (lugones, 2003, pp. 13, 97). given the propensity of the dominant culture to externalize stubbornness onto particular body parts, such as her stubborn/wild tongue, anzaldúa (1987, 30 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 1990, 1981/2015a, 1981/2015b) shifts her terquedad to the act of writing as a performance of her will. in “speaking in tongues,” anzaldúa (1981/2015b) evokes the trespassing of the dangers in writing.  she writes, the hand is an extension of our will, it holds the pen, the brush, the lump of clay. it is both a symbol and a vehicle of communication. without the hand the voice is helpless. when hand and tongue work together, they unite art and politics and attack the dominant ideology…creative acts are forms of political activism employing definite aesthetic strategies for resisting dominant cultural norms and are not merely aesthetic exercises.” (p. xxiv) anzaldúa’s (1987, 1990, 1981/2015, 1981/2015b) aesthetic writing strategies function as a path toward transformation. her writings exist as moments of terquedad, as a border tongue in which she develops the language of survival and resistance through “the path of red and black ink” (anzaldúa, 1987, pp. 65, 69). for her, the spirit with no manners, terquedad, puts her in a state of psychic unrest, using sensory deprivation to imagine and desire otherwise. a form of writing that has an identity: stubborn, multiple, and contradictory, capable of changing her mind and body, belief system, and consciousness, the kind of performance work that manifests the same needs as a person, a la que baña y viste (p. 67). anzaldúa’s writing is a modality of deliberate stubbornness as a praxis to resist the status quo. the art of terquedad is therefore an active subjectivity that is culturally and socially mediated with the intention of “making [new] meaning out of the experience, whatever it may be” (p. 73). the act of terquedad is an embodied creative process of becoming a subject of our own discourses through a process of disidentification (alarcón, 1990), or in this case, a disidentification with one discursive theme of terquedad that serves as a “remaking” through her body and leads to “a path /state to something else” (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 73). in other words, terquedad is a praxis of embodied refusals capable of transforming herself, the symbolic, and the material world. moreover, anzaldúa (1987) conceives of her stubbornness as a political body embedded with the cultural memory of los atravesados, a political body that is malleable, preserving, and waiting. she writes, los chicanos, how patient we seem, how very patient. there is the quiet of the indian about us. we know how to survive. when other races have given up their tongue, 31 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 we’ve kept ours. we know what it is to live under the hammer blow of the dominant norteamericano culture…stubborn, persevering, impenetrable as stone, yet possessing a malleability that renders us unbreakable, we, the mestizas and mestizos, will remain (p. 64).    here, terquedad has social and cultural memory and is corporeally situated in charge of social, cultural, and spiritual survival. it is a form of survival and resistance through a series of political gestures, feelings, spirit, and images that have a history of resistance, from aztec rites of mourning as defiance, la llorona’s lament as means to protest, and anzaldúa’s (1987) choice to be queer as a conscious decision of being two in one body, a “half and half” with feet in both worlds (pp. 19-21). listening to terquedad is then an anticipatory “illumination of the not-yet-conscious” to understand and critique the present (muñoz, 2009, p. 28, 84). it is a listening of anzaldúa’s childhood memories of stubbornness/waywardness as a blueprint towards a new consciousness (1981/2015a). an attention to how anzaldúa’s terquedad is always at work, always in performance. patient, quiet, proud, and even wild. flawed but “infused with spirit” (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 67). terquedad has an aesthetic. it is messy, defiant, unbound, clumsy, porous, complex, and conflicted. it contrasts with what anzaldúa (1987) describes as the sign of western virtuosity and rationality (p. 67–68). it is what drives anzaldúa to dig deeper into her wounds, which forces her to grow up quickly, rough, unyielding (anzaldúa, 1987, 1981/2015a). it is imbued with transformative power as it drives the endless cycle of “making it worse, making it better” (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 73), a going “through the dangers” in hopes of not repeating the performance (anzaldúa, 1981/2015b, p. 163). finally, terquedad serves as a survival mechanism that allows political actions to be unnoticed, unrecognized, nonthreatening—yet it poses a constant threat as they are constantly misrecognized through the grammars of the oppressor as ignorance or self-sabotage. while la terquedad in anzaldúa takes the form of writing, terquedad takes forms in many ways as one chooses the gestures of refusal and the creative acts in accordance to the worlds we may inhabit. pláticando con quiahuitl quiahuitl is a xicana queer woman who traces her roots to indigenous pueblos of the nahuatzen mountains of michoacán. currently, she is a doctoral candidate that engages in terquedad as a resistant praxis to navigate the demands of professionalism in her doctoral 32 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 program. i employed a plática methodology (fierros & delgado bernal, 2016) to unpack her terquedad. according to fierros & delgado bernal (2016), "pláticas move from method to methodology when they are embedded within the rich, analytical theory of chicana feminism, engage contributors as knowledge creators essential to the meaning-making process, draw on life experiences, and provide a potential space for healing" (p. 115). for the last six years quiahuitl and i engaged in multiple cara a cara and synchronous conferencing pláticas about our doctoral program. these pláticas served both as a strategy to collect data and to theorize resistance practices at the level of gestures. in this context, pláticas served as a form of "organizational gossip" (hafen, 2004), a process of information and knowledge sharing that attempts to manage and engage with organizational regulation and resistance. these pláticas are thus in themselves infrapolitical resistance hangouts and rich sites of knowledge and information production (cruz, 2013). in this particular study, i used dated and time-stamped transcripts and images of thirtyfive one-on-one pláticas in the span of five years between july 1st, 2015 and april 15th, 2020. through a process of revisiting and discussing the themes and transcripts of our previous pláticas, quiahuitl was able to theorize her lived experiences to co-construct knowledge pretraining to the pedagogies of professionalism as graduate students of color in predominantly white universities, procedural and institutional knowledge regarding degree milestones, petitions, appeals, and navigating faculty hazing and violence. the theme of terquedad as stubborn gestures of refusal emerged inductively as we discussed institutional demands and regulations. the research agenda remained open and evolving as quiahuitl read, approved, and provided feedback on all the drafts to this paper. as co-participant in the production of knowledge, quiahuitl shared two personal journal entries that she produced after reading the second draft of this paper and that i cite extensively as theorizing how and why she embodies terquedad. moreover, in these journal entries, quiahuitl added photographic evidence that we decided not to include to protect her anonymity. instead, i describe quiahuitl’s aesthetic choices to unpack how gestures are a resistance practice that offer concrete avenues of producing meaning in the academy. finally, following plática methodology as a potential space for healing, our pláticas turned to ceremony, both spiritual and material, where quiahuitl and i 33 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 supported, uplifted, recognized, and remembered each other's complexity as the basis for coalition building. terca, pero no pendeja: embodying the limen as a praxis of institutional transformation when i asked quiahuitl about her journey, "how did you get here?," she began to describe herself and her journey in academic terms. she is a first-generation college student and a mcnair scholar who graduated with honors distinction and cum laude from her undergraduate program. at the graduate level, she was admitted to top tier research universities and considered to be at the top of the applicant pool, which made her a recipient of some of the most prestigious multi-year and dissertation fellowships. when quiahuitl stopped sharing her academic achievements, she found it compelling to say, "that is all to say, que soy terca pero no pendeja.” while the term pendeja has many colloquial definitions in the spanish language, quiahuitl was making an epistemological distinction about her terquedad as being different from willful ignorance or being "a dumbass" who lacks an understanding of the rules of the academy. quiahuitl wanted to discuss her academic dismissal as having less to do with “academic deficiencies” and more to do with faculty incapacity to understand her terquedad. quiahuitl describes her terquedad as an embodied way to make space for her complexity and multiplicity in the academy by refusing the grammars of professionalism and the culture of silence that demand a particular kind of subject. she explains, [the ethnic studies department] had an understanding of what latinas ought to be and behave in higher education, especially in doctoral programs. i was the only xicana in my cohort. to be a doctora, in the academy, there is an expectation of being a good, quiet, firm, but soft-spoken chicana. a cookie-cutter. quiahuitl explains this cookie-cutter persona as a gendered and racialized expectation that serves to discipline how students in her former department ought to behave and act. this ideal student functions to keep quiahuitl’s multiple identities outside the institution. quiahuitl describes her aesthetic intentions as a strategic praxis to reclaim the meaning of professionalism. she describes her first day at the doctoral program: i had these fiery red beaded earrings, and i also had gauges, so i just slipped the earrings in. i had half of my hair shaved with leopard print, and the other half was cut short in a 34 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 melenita, and i think my hair was like a burgundy brown/reddish. my eyebrows carefully drawn in and threaded, makeup done up, nails, and toes done. quiahuitl’s decision to adorn her body, from earrings to her toes, is an awareness that every part of her body functions as a site of meaning-making. her aesthetic choices constitute a praxis of terquedad as an embodied refusal of eurocentric notions of professionalization by actively challenging the university's docile body: good, quiet, firm, and soft-spoken. she continues to describe her intentionality: i wanted to always be strategic with the way i dressed. depending on what mood i was in and, or where i was going, i always thought about what statement i wanted to make aesthetically because for me it was a way of reclaiming space and also (albeit nonverbally) decolonizing the academy. quiahuitl has an understanding that her body is capable of challenging the dominant notions of who is and who looks like a doctoral student, a refusal of institutional grammars made through gestures, vernacular, clothing, and aesthetic appearance in which she refuses to let go of her multiplicity through her body. she describes her embodied refusal to abide by this grammar of professionalism in the academy: i like wearing dark lipstick. i just felt like it made my face pop. i look at dark and bright lipstick like war paint. something about having a dark color gives me a little extra something, like strength or self-empowerment. as you know, i love falsies. i have big eyes, so putting on false eyelashes helped me accentuate the depth in my eyes. i had a gangsta-danzante-aliyah-tomboyish-femme kind of stilo, you know? i could give you tomboy, 'urban,' the sweats and baggy sweater, and i could give you my danzante look. i feel like my aesthetic is also a manifestation of my spirit. rebelde con causa. quiahuitl sees herself as a rebel with a cause in which her aesthetic choices not only challenge the grammars of professionalism in higher education but also engage in a politics of decolonizing the academy by reclaiming a space for her multiple selves in the institution. for quiahuitl, terquedad is a tactic to manifest her spirit when confronted with the expectations of becoming a doctora. for instance, quiahuitl discusses a time she blurted out, “that is dope” to refer to a research project she got excited about and to which a faculty member scolded her by saying, “you don’t have to use that language in the university to continue to belong to your community.” quiahuitl sees her terquedad as rooted in what she identifies as indigenous forms 35 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 of resistance and self-care by summoning her various selves that are made to stay at the gates of the academy. terquedad thus allows her gangsta-self, her spiritual danzante-self, the tomboyself, and her femme-self to show up collectively and trespass into a space that is not meant for them. quiahuitl’s terquedad is a deliberate attempt to redraw the field of power of who belongs in the academy. however, some of her peers and faculty only perceive her aesthetic choices as detrimental, as a performance of ignorance and self-sabotage since her embodied refusals are grasped through the logic of oppression. they assume quiahuitl unconsciously embodies the objective structures (bourdieu & passeron, 1990) that prevent her from enacting acceptable behaviors and comportment of professionalism for doctoral students. this reading, however, assumes what lugones (2003) describes as the univocity of meaning, where quiahuitl’s terquedad is (mis)recognized as a form of agency from the standpoint of liberalism and its unified, fixed, singular self (lugones, 2003, p. 86). a reading of terquedad as resistance subjectivity, however, allows us to understand her actions in multiple ways such as self-preservation or as both self-preservation and self-sabotage, given that an act of resistance, according to lugones (2003) can be read and intended to act in both or numerous ways (p. 13). in this double-bind of oppression and resistance, quiahuitl’s stubborn gestures become political performances embedded with endless possibilities for thinking and acting against oppression in worlds of sense that exist alongside academic worlds and can, therefore, undermine it. in pilgrimages/peregrinajes: theorizing coalition against multiple oppressions, lugones (2003) describes negotiating and resisting multiple oppressions as a process of trespassing (p. 8). that is, lugones describes a "spatiality of resistances within and against the spatiality of dominations," (p. 8) in which an action like terquedad can operate under both the logics of oppression ⇔ resistance. however, the point of an active subjectivity is to trespass the logic of oppression as a process of redrawing the field of power relations (p. 11). of importance is lugones’s (2003) notion of the “arrogant perceiver” that is unable to recognize either oppression or resistance and thus opens the possibilities for quiahuitl to enact and experiment with new joys and meaning-making that go unnoticed and are capable of facilitating infrapolitical resistance spaces (cruz, 2013) into which to practice new ways of being in the academy. 36 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 quiahuitl’s enactment of terquedad is an enactment of multiple ways of being, which ultimately pose a threat to the academy, the moment various aspects of her body "talk back" (cruz, 2011). in quiahuitl’s view, terquedad mobilizes her body to make claims of belonging in the academy in her terms, "showing up in snapbacks, grillz, and dark lipstick." in other words, the epistemological distinction of being terca pero no pendeja announces quiahuitl’s process of moving away from “practical reasoning” to terquedad as an action/intention that may not help her escape the oppressive structures of the university but allows her to critique its oppressive structure and can help her arrive to a consciousness leading to liberation in her other worlds of sense (lugones, 2003, p. 55). quiahuitl’s process of refashioning professionalism functions as a political gesture to refuse neoliberal intellectualism, coloniality, and arbitrary institutional grammars—a significant reclamation against ongoing acts of violence against non-dominant student populations. la terca con dientes: refusing academic violence quiahuitl’s family migration story, like many other families who migrate with young children, is marked by separation at the u.s./mexico border. she recalls being six years old when her mother was taken away as they tried to cross the tijuana–san diego border. she tells the story: i remember being in a blue van. at some point, some strangers opened the side of the truck we were in. i was fucking scared. i jumped onto my mom's chest and bit her blouse so we wouldn't get separated. she was taken away. quiahuitl describes this moment as a recollection of her terquedad. this memory of latching to her mother’s blouse, con los dientes, is when quiahuitl’s stubborn will confronted the will of the state, a willful moment expressed through the clenching of her teeth. she shares this memory of terquedad to describe her journey in two doctoral programs and to provide us with a view of the uses of terquedad as a resistance subjectivity in academic “worlds.”8 quiahuitl explains how this embodied memory, the inner impulse of terquedad, makes her latch onto things, leaving marks, even if what she is holding onto is taken away, a taking that is momentary 8 i move away from the concept of academic cultures to describe academic “worlds.” academic world in this sense relates to the historical, political, social, institutional, and epistemic relationships that produce the university. 37 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 as she finds her way back through her teeth marks. she recalls her experiences dealing with her academic dismissal: i refuse to let any of these people break my spirit. they can tug and pull, but they can't break me down. it's in my blood. i recognize we come from warrior people. even my homies who are locked up say it all the time. we come from a legacy of brilliance and fighters. i refused to get stomped down and kicked to the side. there is too much at stake. like many first-generation mujeres and queer-of-color scholars, quiahuitl’s academic journey is deeply personal. she describes the moment that she received her acceptance into the university as the moment that also inaugurates the criminal proceedings against her younger brother who was arrested and prosecuted for gang-related violence at the age of thirteen. quiahuitl shares this situation as one of her motivations to pursue a doctoral degree and focus her work on mexican and chicano gangs in southern california. while this drive to write an otherwise of chicano gang culture has been described as a stubborn pursuit "difficult to handle for a woman researcher," the university's creation of diversity programs and admissions expects this type of research from quiahuitl as a legitimate person to theorize on race in the academy and gang culture in general (bacchetta et al., 2018; ferguson, 2012; moallem, 2002). she is an expected multicultural subject until la terca con dientes showed up. she recalls her experiences: when i think about my graduate school experience, i, for whatever reason, have been consistently confronted with struggle. i don't even look for it—when i was at y university—i actively tried to steer away from politics and drama and focused on my work because i knew/know my work is fucking dope. i know i have a 'unique' positioning, but somehow either whom i was associated with or something about my presence posed some kind of threat to some people. unfortunately, regretfully for me, those people just so happened to be in positions of power, and i got to experience their wrath and exertion of it. i mean, i got pushed out of my doctoral program. i got forced out of an ethnic studies department for voicing a complaint despite being told to be quiet. quiahuitl understands that her aesthetic choices and her body alone pose a threat. her terquedad beyond an aesthetic refusal is an unwillingness to be silent and speak up against “her people,” what she describes as chicano/latino cisgender men who fail to recognize their power and read her terquedad as a provocation of violence. quiahuitl describes a refusal to appease 38 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 the social body of educational institutions through a culture of silence and respectability, a becoming terca for what she describes as "not selling her integrity and dignity" in exchange for belonging. quiahuitl explains she became terca, a terca understood from a logic of oppression, because, according to her peers, she didn't know when to be silent or how to speak up. quiahuitl was not silent when she experienced the most extreme cases of gender and racial violence and emotional abuse from colleagues and mentors, a speaking-up that made her into "a rebellious, angry student" because she allowed her conscious will to clench her teeth down tight and leave marks in the tenure portfolio of faculty of color. terca because she spoke against the culture of machismo among latino faculty men despite being advised the contrary, "given her record with academic issues," terca because she won't pack and leave. terca because she appealed. terca because she applied to another doctoral program and continues her academic journey. terca because she asserts her body as a confident xicana scholar despite the experiences of violence to claim her identity, her body, and her voice(s). intentionally terca, politically terca, she continues, colleagues and mentors describe me as a loudmouth, 'always fighting some kind of war, and there is something wrong with me and in me.' my colleague asked me, 'does everything have to be a war?' i felt that my colleague wasn't empathetic to my struggle(s) traversing the treachery that is inherent in my journey in grad school as a working-class woman of color, you know? i felt like a sense of judgment on his behalf because here he is reading what i recognize as acts of defiance. quiahuitl recounts being disparaged by colleagues and faculty because they perceive of her gestures as turning everything into warfare. she explained she knew she was at war but in one she did not start, albeit in one she is willingly fighting back. moreover, being hailed as the subject of terquedad also becomes the justification given to quiahuitl to make sense of her precarious conditions within the university when she describes her colleagues asserting "there is something wrong with me and in me." her experiences are her fault for being mad, always fighting. it is her terquedad that places her in a constant war. 39 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 terquedad, as described by her mentors and colleagues, is perceived as a full-frontal attack in gramscian terms.9 quiahuitl, however, conceives of this war as a travesia, a crossing the treacherous terrains that sustain the university. quiahuitl is indeed in a war, an inner war between the will of the institution and her will to remain multiple and complex. she invokes her terquedad: i don't give a fuck if you are a professor. why are we so afraid? we tell survivors of sexual assault and rape to name their rapists, why aren't we as graduate students name dropping professors who cause us psychological, spiritual, and emotional harms and distress? imagine what that would do? how it would force these motherfuckers to be accountable and to humble themselves down. in other words, quiahuitl understands her terquedad as a process that makes her peers and faculty uncomfortable. it is a becoming that makes others uncomfortable when quiahuitl remains multiple: spiritually in tune, demonstrating a strong work ethic, and being outspoken. a queer body that destabilizes the distinction between object and subject of knowledge. one that requires quiahuitl to "act professional" and not act as if she was part of a gang if she wants to be more than an object of knowledge.10 quiahuitl understands her terquedad as a performance that produces a social space of resistance and survival among those who join her in reading her terquedad through a different frame of intelligibility. it is a stubbornness that creates a geographic area to be both object and subject of knowledge production. quiahuitl states, i have reached a point where i am like fuck that. enough is enough. so what if i am always fighting? the reality is that i am! people like you and i are continually having to fight for our dignity. i know it's not good for my health, and trust me, i work very diligently to balance all the poison i confront in these white treacherous academic 9 gramsci (1971) describes a war of maneuver as a confrontational and direct attack at the state while his war of position indicates a struggle over hegemony within the institutions of civil society. in this manner, quiahuitl is more accurately engaging in a “war of position” or the hegemony over the meaning of professionalism. however, her terquedad is not understood as a counter-hegemony given her actions are read, judged, and understood from a logic of oppression. 10 quiahuitl describes how gestures, body image, comportment, speech, and accent determine how faculty treat or label students as belonging to the academy. she states this pattern is similar to how the state determines membership to gangs, where the body and its adornment indicates belonging. in this manner, quiahuitl tells me the state and its institutions of higher education reserve the right to be unmarked as “the real thugs” despite having a documented history of engaging in criminal and violent activities. 40 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 spaces consistently thrown my way through yin yoga, running, the gym, reiki, danza azteca. at this point, i do not give a fuck about how other people see me maneuver my way through grad school. i've had to create my blueprint. quiahuitl is conscious that her terquedad is creating a blueprint towards new geographies of meaning and a resistance sociality where we mutually recognize each other as tercas. "people like you and i" places me in this relationship of resistance subjectivity where i return to my photos as a blueprint into my worlds of terquedad, a traveling that allows me to understand and write quiahuitl terquedad as an act of survival and transformation. a returning to mi terquedad is to collectively conspire, thrive, survive, and resist the damages caused by the university. a shifting into our worlds of terquedad to prevent the academic venom from spreading. a return to gestures of embodied refusal to find new paths of conocimientos and imagine new political fantasies that quiahuitl describes as embodied "mermaid energies" with "gauged ears like the aztecs," in which, "the bigger the gauge, the bigger the vision." where we, terca scholars, envision, enact, and transform ourselves and institutions of education through the pedagogy of terquedad. 41 terca, pero no pendeja association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 references althusser, l. (1970). on the reproduction of capitalism: ideology and ideological state apparatuses. (g. m. goshgarian, trans.). verso. alarcón, n. (1990). the theoretical subject(s) of this bridge called my back and angloamerican feminism.” in g. anzaldúa (ed.), making face, making soul/haciendo caras: creative and critical perspectives by feminists of color (1st ed., pp. 356–369). aunt lute books. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera (1st ed.). aunt lute books. anzaldúa, g. (1990). haciendo caras, una entrada. in anzaldúa, g. (ed.) making face, making soul/haciendo caras: creative and critical perspectives by feminists of color (1st ed., pp. xv– xxviii). aunt lute books. anzaldúa, g. (2015a). la prieta. in moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (eds.) (2015). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (4th ed., pp. 198–209). suny press. (original work published 1981). anzaldúa, g. (2015b). speaking in tongues: a letter to third world women writers. in moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (eds.). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (4th ed., pp. 163–172). suny press. (original work published 1981). bacchetta, p., el-tayeb, f., haritaworn, j., hernandez, j., smythe, s., thompson, v.e., & willoughby-herard, t. (2018) queer of color space-making in and beyond the academic industrial complex. critical ethnic studies, 4(1), 44–63. https://doi.org/10.5749/jcritethnstud.4.1.0044 barthes, r. (2010). camera lucida: reflections on photography (h. richard, trans.). hill and wang. (original work published 1979) bañales, x. (2014). jotería: a decolonizing political project. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies. 39(1), 155–166. bonilla-silva, e. (2012). the invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary america, ethnic and racial studies, 35(2), 173–194 bourdieu, p., & passeron, j. c. (1990). reproduction in education, society, and culture (4th rev. ed.). sage. crawford, s., & ostrom, e. (1995). a grammar of institutions. american political science review, 89(3), 582–600. https://doi.org/10.2307/2082975 cruz, c. (2001). toward an epistemology of a brown body. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 657–669. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059874 cruz, c. (2011). lgbtq street youth talk back: a meditation on resistance and witnessing. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 24(5), 547– 558. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2011.600270 cruz, c. (2013). lgbtq street youth doing resistance in infrapolitical worlds. in e. tuck. & k. w. yang (eds.), youth resistance research and theories of change (pp. 209– 217). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203585078 ferguson, r. (2012). the reorder of things: the university and its pedagogies of minority difference. university of minnesota press. fierros, c. & delgado bernal, d. (2016) vamos a platicar: the contours of platicas as chicana latina feminist methodology. chicana/latina studies: the journal of mujeres activas en letras y cambio social. 25(2), 98–121. 42 https://doi.org/10.5749/jcritethnstud.4.1.0044 https://doi.org/10.2307/2082975 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059874 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2011.600270 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203585078 salas-santacruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 gramsci, a. (1971) selections from the prison notebooks of antonio gramsci. international publishers. hafen, s. (2004). organizational gossip: a revolving door of regulation and resistance. southern journal of communication. 69(3) pp. 223–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/10417940409373294 leonardo, z. (2010). ideology and its modes of existence toward an althusserian theory of race and racism. in z. leonardo (ed.), handbook of cultural politics and education. (pp. 193– 217). brill | sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789460911774_010 lugones, m. (2003). pilgrimages/peregrinajes: theorizing coalition against multiple oppressions. rowman & littlefield press. moallem, m. (2002). women of color in the u.s.: pedagogical reflections on the politics of ‘the name.” in r. weigman (ed.), women’s studies on its own: a next wave reader in institutional change. (pp. 368–382). duke university press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822384311021 moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (eds.). (2015). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (4th ed.). suny press. (original work published 1981). muñoz, j.e. (2009). cruising utopia: the then and there of queer futurity. nyu press. ortega, m. (2016). in-between: latina feminist phenomenology, multiplicity, and the self. suny press. ostrom, e. (2005). understanding institutional diversity. princeton university press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400831739 rodriguez, j.m. (2014). sexual futures, queer gestures, and other latina longings. nyu press. stockton, k.b. (2009). the queer child or growing sideways in the twentieth century. duke university press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822390268 villenas, s. (2010). thinking latina/o education with and from chicana/latina feminist cultural studies: emerging pathways–decolonial possibilities. in z. leonardo (ed.), handbook of cultural politics and education. (pp. 451–476). brill | sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789460911774_022 43 https://doi.org/10.1080/10417940409373294 https://doi.org/10.1163/9789460911774_010 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822384311-021 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822384311-021 https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400831739 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822390268 https://doi.org/10.1163/9789460911774_022 amae 2020 invited issue cover page salas-santacruz_page proof microsoft word amae journal cover template (general).docx volume 16 issue 1 2022 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 81 “there will only be english in kindergarten”: the language ideologies of the lead teacher and of mexican mothers in an arizona head start program serving spanish-speaking latino children delis cuéllar university of wisconsin, madison author note i thank alyssa hanson-eggebrecht for her insightful comments throughout the publication process. abstract this article examines the language ideologies of the lead teacher and of five mexican mothers of spanish-speaking, emergent bilingual children in a head start program in arizona. data from semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and participant-observation field notes were analyzed using the interrelated concepts of language ideologies and family language policy. the teacher and mothers adhered to ideologies that benefit children’s emergent bilingualism such as expressing pride for the children’s bilingual skills and the view that parents should use spanish with their children to maintain the children’s bilingualism. however, some of their notions were more in line with ideologies of language separation where linguistic labor and instruction was divided in such a manner that children developed their english skills at school and spanish abilities at home. the findings highlight the important role of the mothers’ and teacher’s positive and negative lived experiences with language and bilingualism. keywords: spanish-speaking, head start, language ideologies, mothers, teachers doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.16.1.462 “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 82 spanish-speaking children make up a rapidly growing segment of the american population (park, et al., 2018). nationally more than 20% of preschoolers are exposed to more than one language, and the majority speak spanish at home (child trends, 2018). in head start, 28% of children speak a language other than english at home (barrow & markman-pithers, 2016). of this number, 86% of them live in homes where spanish is the primary language (office of head start, 2017). these calculations indicate ample growth in the enrollment in early care and education programs of children who are exposed to multiple languages—mainly spanish and english—throughout the country (barnett et al., 2016). supporting children’s multilingualism in the public school system is difficult, even when educators are bilingual, because states such as arizona (where this study was conducted) have enacted policies that disallow the use of languages other than english for instruction (butvilofsky & gumina, 2020). english-only educational policies bolster “hegemonic discourses that the united states is an english-speaking country therefore, english should be the language of instruction” (garrity & guerra, 2015, p. 241). difficulties with supporting multilingualism exist even in states without overt english-only policies. for example, oregon allows bilingual instruction in its preschools and offers the oregon seal of biliteracy to its students, but in the 2019-2020 schoolyear it served less than 20% of its population of english learners in bilingual or dual language programs (oregon department of education, 2021). moreover, 22.7% of the state’s english learners are considered long-term english learners and receive english language instruction, supports, and services for more than seven years (oregon department of education, 2021). this is of concern because, “inequities in educational opportunities and outcomes are especially pronounced among students who remain classified as english learners for an extended period” (sahakyan & ryan, 2018, p. 1). across the nation, most emergent bilinguals receive english-only instruction. perhaps because of the general lack of bilingual educational services and the propensity of serving emergent bilingual students within englishonly programs, some language minority parents accept english-only discourses. for instance, spanish-speaking parents who otherwise actively support their young children’s emergent bilingual development have shared their belief that “children who struggle academically should be placed in english-only classes” (lee et al., 2015, p. 512). however, research shows teachers and school leaders can play a pivotal role in mediating the effect of english-only ideologies in their schools and support students’ spanish-english bilingualism (kilinc & alvarado, 2021). cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 83 in short, spanish-speaking children are exposed to language ideologies and language practices at home, school, and in society that might be contradictory to each other. it is therefore important to understand the language ideologies of those closely connected to spanish-speaking children. the research question for the study is: what are the language ideologies that latino spanish-speaking, emergent bilingual1 children encounter in their home and preschool environments? literature review research on the language practices of families and teachers of emergent bilingual children suggests both home and school contexts contribute to children’s overall language development (song et al., 2022). families that value their children’s emergent bilingualism tend to use their home language with their children, read bilingual books with them, and at times even require their children to only speak the home language with family members (lee, et al., 2015; song, et al., 2022). families of emergent bilingual preschoolers report they would like their children to learn their home language to ensure their children can have promising employment opportunities and to reinforce familial bonding and cultural attachment to remain close and connected (showstack & colcher, 2019). even so, research indicates that at home, preschool children’s english experiences with bilingual interlocutors tend to be richer and increase in complexity when compared to their home language experiences (song, et al., 2022). furthermore, parents have noted that children as young as preschool age can begin to perceive english as the more valued language in society and therefore believe children can lack motivation to speak their home language (sawyer, manz, & martin, 2017a). educators’ language beliefs and teaching practices around the languages of young emergent bilinguals vary considerably. teacher perspectives regarding student language acquisition are complex and correlate to educators’ demographic, geographic, and experiential variables (bernstein, et al., 2021; garrity, et al., 2018). for example, preschool teachers’ education level and having studied a language other than english are positive correlates of pro-multilingual beliefs. however, neither general teaching experience nor experience having a home language other than english has been found to be a significant predictor of pro-multilingual beliefs (bern 1 in this paper the term emergent bilingual is used to highlight children’s growing abilities in spanish and english. “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 84 stein, et al., 2021). kilinc & alvarado (2021) report that the social justice orientation of preschool teachers in arizona permitted them to actively attempt to dismantle larger, societal oppressive beliefs related to language and provide a more equitable bilingual education. furthermore, in a sample of preservice teachers who attended school in california’s english-only context—during the enactment of proposition 227— latino preservice teachers were found to have more positive attitudes toward multilingual children than their non-latino peers. also, multilingual participants were more likely to consider it necessary to maintain a child’s primary language. the authors noted student beliefs about multilingualism tended to align with the following finding: students’ perspectives specific to the inclusion of the home langue in the schooling context, “continues to reflect the hegemony and deficit-thinking” (garrity, et al., 2018, p. 179) of english-only policies. the literature suggests that teacher beliefs regarding multilingual learners can be in support of children’s bilingual development or serve to undermine it. results from a study of 425 educators show that although teachers report supporting students’ home language development, most of them (73%) believe that students should learn english as soon as possible, “even if they lose their ability to speak their native language” (vázquez-montilla, et al., 2014, p. 583). other studies show educators seeking out opportunities to learn their students’ home language and learn information from parents to provide a more optimal education (sawyer, et al., 2017b). still, other research has found educators who have discouraged emergent bilingual children from using their home language (song, 2016). the literature clearly demonstrates that spanish-speaking parents value and support their preschool-aged children’s emergent biliteracy. parents in spanish-dominant homes believe that children “can learn two languages simultaneously and naturally (hwang, et al., 2022, p. 1186.) however, even with this belief, which attests to strong affective alignment to the value of multilingualism, spanish-speaking and other minority families face obstacles when pursuing to raise multilingual children. the obstacles identified by these families are impediments to developing multilingualism, such as the lack of dual language bilingual programs, misinformation about bilingualism, apprehension on the part of mainstream families, and the english monolingual principles that have guided and continue to substantiate practices in early care settings (jang, 2020; oliveira, et al., 2020; showstack & colcher, 2019). even in two-way dual language bilingual programs, the lived experiences of spanish-speaking families are greatly cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 85 unknown or misunderstood, and language needs often go unmet (chaparro, 2020). this study helps to bring what is currently unknown and misunderstood about parent and educator language ideologies into greater understanding and clarity. the beliefs of teachers and parents around how young children use language and emerge and develop into bilingual and multilingual speakers vary considerably, but both parents’ and teachers’ perspectives play a role in children’s trajectory toward multilingualism or monolingualism. this study adds specific understanding and clarity to the differences mothers and educators of spanish-speaking preschoolers have regarding children’s opportunities to acquire one or more languages in school and out of school. specifically, the study sheds light on the experiences of the adults in the lives of emergent bilingual children that help explain ideological complexities, tensions, and intentions associated with the language development of young emergent bilingual children. the consequences of not knowing historical language-related events in the lives of teachers and parents can lead to misunderstandings, misinformation, and missed opportunities for teacher-parent collaboration to support children’s multilingualism. theoretical framework the theories informing this study are interrelated and include language ideologies (silverstein, 1979) and family language policy (fogle & king, 2017). language ideologies are a set of self-reinforcing beliefs and attitudes about language that justify one’s perspective on language acquisition, language socialization, and language use (silverstein, 1979). language ideologies are “constructed from the socio-cultural experience of the speakers” (kroskrity, 2004, p. 496) and can change with an individual’s lived experience. language ideologies, however, go beyond the individual and include larger discourses shaping values at a much larger scale such as national levels (blackledge & pavlenko, 2002). throughout the globe, language ideologies are intertwined with issues of power between majority language users and minority language populations (darder, 2016). language ideologies “arbitrarily privilege particular linguistic practices while stigmatizing others” (flores & rosa, 2015, p. 150), and can negatively affect users of minority languages by breeding discrimination (andrews, 2013). language ideologies impact the way people make sense of their language practices and language-based decisions, and in this study, the concept was used to understand the language beliefs and language practices of the teacher in the preschool and of the mothers in the home environment. to further explore the mothers’ language ideologies in the home, this study uses the “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 86 complimentary notion of family language policy. family language policy “offers researchers [a framework] to understand and explore the crux of the problem of language practices and ideologies in the family.” (haque, 2019, p. 226). it is utilized to understand the multilingual development of children by focusing on the family’s language ideologies, language socialization, and language management practices and how these practices are firmly situated in larger ideological and sociocultural realities (fogle & king, 2017; purkarthofer, 2017; smith-christmas, 2016). spolsky (2004) suggests three fundamental considerations per family language policy: (a) what are families’ beliefs about language? (b) what are the language practices in the family context? (c) what are some families’ efforts to modify or influence language practices? in order to move the field forward, hua & wei (2016) recommend that family language policy studies conducted with transnational families should emphasize individual strategies for dealing with the challenges of multilingualism. per their observations, challenges faced by multilingual families include how to maintain the home language, how to communicate with family members when some family members don’t share a common language, how to develop a new identity in a new host country, and how to fight against prejudices and stereotypes. furthermore, they note that when working with trans-national families regarding their use of language(s), “it is important to understand their experiences, histories, imaginations, why they feel the way they feel and why they do things the way they do.” (hua & wei, 2016; p. 665). language ideologies and family language policy are conceptually interconnected. these concepts were used to shed light on the ideological complexities and tensions associated with language development of emergent bilingual children at home and in an english-only preschool program located in a low-income, latino, immigrant community in arizona. methods this article uses data collected from a larger qualitative study focusing on the perceptions of teachers and mothers regarding emergent literacy in kidtown (pseudonym) a single head start preschool center located in arizona. kidtown was the ideal location for the study because it has served a primarily spanish-speaking, immigrant population for more than ten years and because the first 20 minutes of each day are dedicated to “family literacy”. what is also relevant about head start is that the program is a federally funded initiative envisioned as part of the effort on the “war on poverty”. head start was not only to attend to inequities stemming from socio-economic differences but also to be culturally responsive to the cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 87 communities that the program served (office of head start, 2022). therefore, the federal regulations governing head start programs can be said to conflict with the state of arizona’s english-only educational law. this conflict is a notable power differential between federalism and states’ rights that adds another layer of understanding concerning language ideologies and equity. the data in this paper relate to one research question, namely, what are the language ideologies that latino spanish-speaking, emergent bilingual children encounter in their home and preschool? methods of data collection this paper uses data from audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and field notes from classroom observations that took place twice per week at kidtown during one school year. the information for this paper comes from the lead teacher and five mexican-descended, spanish-speaking mothers of children enrolled in kidtown. the semi-structured interviews were composed of descriptive questions from the ethnographic (spradley, 1979) tradition. descriptive questions are designed so that participants can do most of the talking while describing their experiences in everyday language. given spradley’s typology of descriptive questions, i employed typical grand tour, mini tour, and experience questions. in typical grand tour questions, the participants are asked to describe how events, processes, or interactions usually proceed. mini-tour questions ask about a specific aspect of an experience that was brought up while answering a grand tour question. example questions are more specific than mini-tour questions in that they ask the participant to describe specific instances of the aspects probed by the mini-tour questions. during the first semi-structured interview, all participants were asked questions about their life histories, upbringing, daily activities, parenting, and their beliefs on emergent literacy during the preschool year. the second interview focused on obtaining more details and specific instances about their beliefs about emergent literacy and their children’s development of english and spanish. the interviews with the teacher were in english in a conversational tone and took place in the early afternoon at kidtown after the children were let out. the interviews with the mothers were in spanish and had a conversational tone. the interviews took place at the children’s homes in the evening hours and lasted between 45 minutes and 90 minutes. one of the mothers shared that she was at first nervous about the audio recorder, but she eventually for“there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 88 got it was there. the interviews generated a lot of information, perhaps because this mode of data collection requires one-to-one focused attention. the classroom observations were conducted via participant-observer (gold, 1958) point-of-view. participant observers take an active role in the setting they are studying and immerse themselves in the everyday occurrences of the people they study. i was able to take an active role because when i first introduced the project to the lead teacher, she suggested that i volunteer in her program so that i could witness it all for myself. a few weeks before the start of the year, i officially became a classroom volunteer. i volunteered two days each week. i was present at the start of the day, 8:00 am, and until the end of the day —12:00 pm. some parents would drop off their kids and leave quickly but several stayed behind for much of the 20 minutes dedicated to family literacy. it was during family literacy time that i had many informal conversations with the participating mothers. my role in the classroom could be described as a “teacher’s aide”. i was “on the floor” with the children and staff at all times. i was there when the children were dropped-off and picked-up. i played with the children indoors and outdoors. i helped with breakfast and lunch routines. i was present at teacher-parent conferences and attended the end-of-year graduation ceremony. following the recommendation of emerson, et al., (2001), i wrote the fieldnotes moreor-less contemporaneously with the events they described. a few times, i wrote some field notes in a back room where the lead teacher had a desk and kept her personal items. i did this so that participants did not feel discomfort with my notetaking. i usually wrote handwritten field notes in a small notebook on the same day the events occurred. stylistically, the field notes were written as realistic tales, (van maanen, 2011) mainly describing the concrete details of daily life and routines as well as capturing exact quotes when possible. participants the participants in the study are five mexican mothers of the children enrolled in kidtown and the program’s lead teacher. of the participating mothers, carla, priscilla, esther and antonietta (pseudonyms) all speak spanish as their first language and can read and write in spanish. marcela (pseudonym) learned nahuatl (an indigenous language in mexico) at home and learned spanish at school in mexico, but now she mainly speaks spanish. marcela reads and writes in spanish. carla finished 12 years of education in mexico. esther completed high school in the u.s. table 1, shows other demographic information. cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 89 table 1. demographic information for participating mothers pseudonym age language(s) marital status education attained marcela 25 nahuatl, spanish married 6th grade carla 28 spanish married 12th grade priscilla 33 spanish married 9th grade esther 25 spanish english single high school antonietta 34 spanish married 9th grade diana (pseudonym) is the lead teacher. she is a 43-year-old, native american woman with 16 years of teaching experience in the early care and education system. diana is married to a bilingual, latino man and they have three children. though diana has fond childhood memories of singing songs in comanche with her grandfather, diana’s children are english monolingual. diana is partially bilingual in english and spanish and notes that she has lost all ability to speak comanche. her bilingual skills are of note because she possesses the capacity to interact with children in both english and spanish. she, however, does not feel her spanish-speaking skills are adequate to have conversations with adults. researcher positioning i grew up in california in a predominately mexican immigrant community during the enactment of propositions 187 and 227 and this has influenced the conceptualization of this study. california’s anti-immigrant climate of the 1990s promoted the linguistic and cultural assimilation of minority students like me. re-experiencing the english-only political climate in arizona—but this time as a scholar of language and culture—provided me with the impetus to examine the language-based perspectives, ideologies, plans, and practices that can impact the lives of young, spanish-speaking, emergent bilinguals. research setting kidtown was chosen as the host research site because of its affiliation with head start. head start underscores the engagement of families in their children’s development. as noted previously, kidtown was also chosen because it has served almost exclusively spanish-speaking, “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 90 emergent bilingual children in immigrant families for more than a decade. kidtown is an englishonly, part-day program that serves17 children, of whom 16 were locally born in nearby towns in arizona and one child born in mexico. fourteen of the children speak spanish at home, two speak both english and spanish, and one child is english monolingual. data analysis i transcribed the audio files within 3 weeks of the actual interviews. i digitized the handwritten field notes and saved them as dated word files the same week they were created. based on the study’s theoretical framework, and the research question, i implemented huberman & miles’s (1994) form of data analysis. the data were first analyzed through multiple readings of the digitized files and by applying a set of initial codes. the initial codes were a priori categories based on the academic literature and theoretical framework. as i re-read the electronic files, i became more familiar with the data set and began to add inductive categories that came about from the data itself. both types of codes were applied to the data repeatedly so patterns amongst the codes became more evident. lastly, i used triangulation to verify that the codes did indeed present across the entire body of data by cross-referencing themes that emerged from the field notes and the interviews. findings this study examines the language ideologies of one educator and five mothers of latino, spanish-speaking, emergent bilinguals in an english-only preschool in arizona. the findings bring forth new understanding that clarifies and specifies how internal conflict in attitudes, feelings, and behaviors presents among the mothers and teacher regarding children’s bilingualism. what follows are data showing that the participants hold simultaneously, ideologies that sustain the preschooler’s bilingualism, but also share beliefs and practices that promote the separation of the young children’s languages. the findings feature participants’ language-based experiences that contribute to the understanding of complex language ideologies. ideologies promoting bilingualism the mothers in the study and diana valued the children’s emergent bilingualism. mothers in the study demonstrated pride in their children’s abilities to acquire both languages, maintained practices for developing their children’s knowledge and use of their home languages, and considered their children’s development of english as important. diana contributed to the chilcuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 91 dren’s emergent bilingualism as well. in the following field note, it is evident that esther is pleased about her children’s bilingualism: when a mom not participating in the study comments to esther, “su hija bien que habla inglés, ¿verdad?” [your daughter speaks english well, doesn’t she?] esther replied with a smile, “sí, ella habla los dos idiomas. mis dos hijos hablan los dos idiomas.” [yes, she speaks both languages. both of my children speak both languages.”] during the second interview, i asked esther about the comment she received regarding her child’s english development, and she explained, yo valoro que ella y su hermano sean bilingües, pero eso no quiere decir que no me importe el español. para mí es importante que ella hable español. pues, nosotros somos de méxico, y pues no se nos puede olvidar. [i value for her and her brother to be bilingual, but that does not mean that i do not care about spanish. for me, it is important that she speaks spanish. well, we are from mexico, and, well, we cannot forget that.] from esther’s explanation, one can surmise she finds her children’s bilingualism commendable. however, esther appears to be conflicted by the compliment that her child speaks english well and consequently highlights her fear her children could forget their mexican identity if they forget to speak spanish. marcela also indicated her support for her children’s bilingualism by talking about her own childhood speaking nahuatl at home, learning spanish at school, and by describing her attempts to teach her children nahuatl vocabulary words: yo aprendí español en la primaria en méxico. lo aprendí rápido. en mi casa mis hermanas y yo crecimos con nahuatl… cuando yo les hablo a las niñas en nahuatl, les enseño a decir "perro," "casa" o "tortilla," cositas así para que aprendan quienes son. cuando hablo con mis hermanas [por teléfono a méxico] hablo en español. cuando hablo con mi mamá [por teléfono a méxico] le hablo en nahuatl, y ellas (refiriéndose a sus hijas) me escuchan y dicen 'mi mama está hablando a méxico.' [i learned spanish in elementary school in mexico. i learned it quick. in my house my sisters and i grew up speaking nahuatl… when i talk to the girls in nahuatl, i “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 92 teach them how to say "dog," "house" or "tortilla," things of that sort so they can learn who they are. when i talk to my sisters [on the phone in mexico] i talk in spanish. when i talk to my mom [on the phone in mexico] i talk in nahuatl, and they (referring to her daughters) hear me and they say, 'mom is calling mexico.'] on a different occasion, marcela described spanish as the main language of her home and communicated sadness at the thought that her child might forget how to speak spanish: aquí en la casa nosotras hablamos en español, escuchamos la radio en español y vemos la tele en español y todo. para mí, sería muy triste si a ella (refiriéndose a su hija) se le olvidara su idioma. no me puedo imaginar eso. sería muy feo. [here at home, we talk in spanish, listen to the radio in spanish, and watch tv in spanish, and everything. for me, it would be very sad if she (meaning her daughter) forgot her language. i cannot imagine that. it would be awful.] marcela lives with the internal conflict of wishing that her children will continue to choose to speak spanish—their first language— as they get older, while at the same time, she herself, mainly speaks her second language (spanish). the mothers in the study consistently mentioned fear when explaining why they wanted to maintain their home languages. they feared that if their children didn’t speak spanish, they would miss out on knowing an important part of themselves, such as their heritage or their mexican identity. the mothers often imagined that if their children lost the ability to communicate in spanish, it would cause them to feel sadness and disappointment. the next excerpt comes from a field note regarding what priscilla shared with me about the conversation she had with diana at her 15-minute appointment during her parent-teacher conference. estoy muy contenta porque dice la maestra que en inglés va muy bien. yo me siento muy contenta porque pues yo lo que quiero es que hable los dos (refiriéndose a inglés y español).” (i’m very happy because the teacher said that his english is going well. i feel very happy because i want him to speak both (referring to spanish and english). although diana was explicitly only speaking about the english development of priscilla’s child, it is important to note that priscilla equated it to feelings of happiness about her desire for her child’s bilingualism. this also happened when esther responded with pride about her cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 93 children’s bilingualism to another mother’s comment that only concerned her child’s english development. this highlights situations where when mothers are given information about only one of their children’s languages, they think about their children’s language development in terms of bilingualism. esther, carla, and marcella shared additional personal, sociocultural experiences related to bilingualism. esther, the only parent who was english speaking and who graduated high school in the u.s. stated, en el trabajo me toca traducirles a mis compañeros. yo les digo lo que dice la supervisora. a mi hasta me pagan más porque ayudo a traducir. yo creo que es muy importante. así ellos (refiriéndose a sus hijos) también pueden tener un mejor trabajo. [at work i get to translate for my coworkers. i tell them what the supervisor says. i even get paid more because i help to translate. i think it’s very important. that way, they (referring to her children) can also have a better job.] carla shared, “yo siempre estoy agradecida cuando voy al doctor y hay quien me ayude con el idioma. ahorita estoy embarazada y voy mucho al doctor. me gustaría que mi niño ayude a la comunidad cuando sea grande. [i am always thankful when i’m at the doctor and there is someone to help me with the language. right now, i’m pregnant and i go to the doctor a lot. i would like for my boy to help the community when he is grown.] marcella recalled the bilingual support she received when enrolling her child at kidtown: yo tuve ayuda cuando inscribí a la niña en la escuela. no sabía cómo llenar la aplicación y toda la información que necesitaba. ellas me ayudaron a llenar todo en inglés y a recopilar los documentos. cuando uno no habla el idioma es difícil. uno no quiere eso para ellos. [i had help when i enrolled her in school. i didn’t know how to fill out the application, and all the information that i would need. they helped me to fill out the forms in english and to collect the necessary paperwork. when we don’t speak the language [referring to english] it’s difficult. i don’t want that for them] in multiple instances, the mothers mentioned helpful bilingual professionals that guided them and helped them navigate various social systems such as healthcare, education, and immigration. the mothers drew on their positive histories with bilingual doctors, nurses, teachers, “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 94 and lawyers, and those experiences help to explain why they hoped their children become bilingual. diana looked for ways to contribute to the children’s emergent bilingualism. during our first interview, diana said to me, “i am: a full-blooded native american, a military baby, a head start baby, a preschool teacher, a wife, and a mother of three.” she said it with a tone of voice that conveyed to me this was not the first time she described herself in that way, and with the body posture and a smile that communicated pride. later in the same conversation, diana said with a sad look in her eye, “it’s unfortunate that i was not raised to learn either of my parents’ languages.” i believe that diana searched for ways to contribute to her students’ emergent bilingualism in part because she felt conflicted that her students could potentially live through the painful experience—she, herself went through—of not having learned her ancestral languages. one way in which diana supported the children’s emergent bilingualism was by encouraging the parents in kidtown to continue to use spanish at home with their children. for instance, when describing her plans for the next time she would see the parents, diana said the following: for the next parent meeting, i’m going to bring it up. they (parents) need to count with their children in spanish at home, otherwise, they (children) are going to lose their language. i could do it here, and i do sometimes, but at school, we teach them all their academics in english, so they are ready for kindergarten… kindergarten is going to be all in english. on a different occasion, diana spoke to me about the emotional effects that englishonly laws have on parents. she reported that english-only laws frustrate parents and to that she would say, yes, we know your child should not lose their language as long as you continue it at home, your child is never going to lose it… give them some more. here in the school, we can teach them in english how to read and stuff in english and all these things like pronunciation and spelling. you can do that in spanish. teach them how to say things, how to pronounce things better, and the writing of it. diana knew that many of the parents in the program were relatively new to the u.s. and she was knowledgeable about the families’ frustration with larger, state-wide, hegemonic cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 95 english-only ideologies. diana demonstrated an orientation toward linguistic justice by supporting the parents in resisting discriminatory, monolingual perspectives and encouraging the preservation of spanish use and spanish literacy in the home. diana’s use of the word “lose” to refer to the possibility that the children might stop developing their home language is likely influenced by her own sense of loss regarding the discriminatory experiences in her own family history and having not been raised to learn her ancestral languages. diana considered both english and spanish when conceptualizing language and literacy development at kidtown. when discussing that topic with me she stated, “i try to discover how many words they know. i don't care what language (meaning english or spanish). i want to know how many words they can use in a sentence. is it a two-, three-word sentence? or can [they] tell an elaborate story that uses more and more words to describe details?” this quote, and many others, where diana comments that the actual language the children use at kidtown did not matter, suggests that like the mothers in the study, diana also demonstrates an ideology that equates the children’s language development with their emergent bilingualism. ideologies promoting language separation while the mothers in the study and diana value the children’s bilingualism, some of their beliefs and practices regarding the children’s emergent bilingualism reflected ideologies of language separation (martínez, et al., 2015). for example, carla recalled, “el otro día, él (refiriéndose a su hijo) estaba hablando en inglés enfrente de familiares que llegaron de méxico. y que lo regaño… yo me encargo del español aquí, y él que aprenda inglés en la escuela”. [the other day, he (referring to her son) was speaking in english in front of family members that traveled from mexico. and i scolded him… i take care of the spanish here and he will learn english at school.] similarly, during the first interview with antonietta, where we conversed about her life in the united states, she explained that together, with her husband, she decided that spanish would be the only language spoken in their home so that their children “no se les olvidara” [would not forget] their language. antonietta proudly mentioned that in her house they have been able to maintain their “regla del español” [spanish rule] for many years, even after the older children have learned english. antonietta has firm ideas about the mixing of english and spanish: “a mí no me gusta que los combinen (referente al español y al inglés). eso no está bien”. [i don’t like it when they combine [referring to spanish and english]. that’s not right.] “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 96 moreover, antonietta shared an anecdote she experienced with her english-dominant nephew that further suggests she believes spanish should be developed in the home: fui a la casa de mi hermana, y mi sobrino estaba en el sillón y me di cuenta de que apenas si habla español. yo trate de hacerle la plática, pero la verdad no me supo contestar. no pudimos hablar. no quiero que les pase eso a mis hijos. yo pensé que pena que no hablen español en la casa. [i visited my sister, and my nephew was sitting on the couch, and i realized he barely speaks spanish. i tried to have a conversation with him, but he didn’t how to respond. we couldn’t talk. i don’t want that to happen to my children. i thought what a shame that they don’t speak spanish at home.] priscilla’s family made decisions that would support her children’s spanish language development. they decided to send the children to mexico for a few weeks during the summer break for the children to stay with their cousins and further develop their spanish-speaking skills. the mothers concentrated their efforts on developing spanish at home without expressing that the school also help with that effort. from a family language policy perspective, antonietta’s, carla’s and priscilla’s language practices were deliberate and purposeful. by organizing their language-based routines and activities, including child vacations and at home language rules, these mothers managed the language usage in their homes and positively influenced their children’s ability to maintain their spanishspeaking abilities. research shows u.s. based latino families who want to support their children’s capacity to speak two languages often have a language separation stance where they take full responsibility for teaching their children the home language (rodriguez, 2015, p. 177). this division of linguistic labor is related to the mothers’ language resources and priorities. the mothers concentrated on developing their children’s abilities to speak spanish at home because spanish is the language that the mothers know best. it was helpful that diana also encouraged the use of spanish at home. furthermore, the mothers had a vested interest in their children’s ability to maintain relationships with family members who only speak spanish. for diana, her personal involvement in helping the children develop their english skills was a top priority. for instance, this is what she said about conducting home visits during the summer: first, i want to know how much english they have from home. i want to see how cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 97 much they are getting from home. i get a good idea at the home visits that we do in the summer. [that’s] when we meet all the children and whoever lives with them, you know mom, dad, grandma, siblings. diana focused her attention on getting to know the children’s family members and collecting information about the children’s exposure to english. her focus on the children’s english development appeared to be impacted by the enactment of english-only policies: here in arizona, i don’t know the logistics, but the children only get english schooling. you know, we have to prepare them here because there will only be english in kindergarten… in the past, i used to give them a little more time, but now by the middle of the year, i really have to push them to talk to me in english. i want to hear that english. i want them to try to talk to me in english. diana’s explanation about how she has to “push them to talk in english” indicates that she feels pressed for time, and that somehow, she was hoping to speed up the children’s english development. her sense of stress and the more focused attention to the children’s english development is related to supporting and preparing the children for the english-only environment they would face in kindergarten during the following year. discussion the findings in this study support the idea and understanding that sociocultural and experiential variables play a key role in the development of complex language ideologies people espouse and promote (kroskrity, 2004). what this study adds and extends to this understanding is how people come to adopt their language ideologies is also of great importance. specifically, this study provides more clarity on how social conditions (e.g., english-only policies) and personal experiences with language (e.g., being paid a higher hourly wage for being bilingual) can create internal conflicts (which must be resolved) that impact people’s language ideologies and practices, which ultimately affect children’s language learning. the study data show that diana works in social conditions constrained by ideological conflicts that must somehow be resolved. for instance, diana works in a spanish-dominant community, speaks some spanish, values bilingualism, and looks to support the development of the children’s home language and english. however, diana teaches under arizona’s english-only educational policy, though in a program that is federally funded that seeks to serve families in a culturally and linguistically responsive manner. furthermore, diana’s personal experiences as a “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 98 woman of native american heritage who regrets not knowing her ancestral languages also impact her language ideologies. in the end, diana complies with the english-only requirements by focusing primarily on teaching the children english in the program. however, her lived experiences with linguistic discrimination inspire her to recognize and understand the mothers’ indignation and mothers’ fear that the children might lose their home language. diana supports families in resisting the english-only educational policy in arizona by encouraging them to speak and write with their children in spanish. given their lived experiences and the racially and linguistically discriminatory social milieu of arizona, the mothers in the study also experienced internal conflict regarding their children’s bilingualism. for example, the mothers in the study hope their children would develop bilingual skills, emphasized some of the benefits of bilingualism, and highlighted their personally positive experiences with helpful bilingual professionals. however, the xenophobic, anti-latino climate of the state of arizona, and the english-only educational policy, along with the rigorous focus on teaching the children english in the program, likely undermined the mothers’ excitement about their children’s english development and bilingual development. this can be seen in the hesitation and fear the mothers expressed that their children would not be inclined to continue to learn and use their home language. given this complicated and contradicting set of circumstances, the mothers in the study mainly focused on developing their children’s spanishspeaking abilities in their home through a variety of family language policy practices and decisions. future research should include data collection in the home, as this would provide a more comprehensive perspective. an important proposition to put forth from the findings of this study is that educators and parents are highly constrained when implementing their language ideologies and plans. this requires the need for educators and parents to have open conversations about the children’s language and cultural development that explicitly cover topics such as contradictions in language beliefs, language planning, language and identity, and how to deal with language discrimination. not having these types of conversations could mean that families don’t know that their children’s teacher is a language ally and looks to support their children’s multilingualism. conclusion this article contributes to the knowledge base on language ideologies of mothers and educators of spanish-speaking, emergent bilingual preschoolers. it demonstrates that in order cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 99 to support children’s bilingualism in english-only settings, teachers and parents tend to divide the linguistic labor and therefore children learn english at school and spanish at home. this division of labor requires the efforts of educators who may have had personal experiences that give rise to a sense of linguistic social justice as well as the commitment of family members to find ways to implement daily language routines and practices to support the likelihood that their children will become bilingual. the article highlights the ideologies and practices of a teacher and mothers who actively, consistently, and courageously confront and navigate english-only, monolingual ideologies in educational settings to sustain children’s home language and their english development. “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 100 references andrews, m. (2013). mexican students’ identities in their language use at a u.s. high school. bilingual research journal, 36(1),100–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2013.778920 barnett, s. w., friedman-krauss, a. h., gomez, r., horowitz, m., weisenfeld, g. g., brown, c. k., & squires, j. h. (2016). the state of preschool 2015: state preschool yearbook. national institute for early education research. barrow, l., & markman-pithers, l. (2016). supporting young english learners in the united states. future of children, 26(2),159–183. bernstein, k. a., kilinc, s., troxel deeg, m., marley, s. c., ferrand, k. m., kelley, m. f. (2021). language ideologies of arizona preschool teachers implementing dual language teaching for the first time: pro-multilingual beliefs, practical concerns. international journal of bilingal education & bilingualism, 24(4), 457–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1476456 blackledge, a., & pavlenko, a. (2002). introduction. multilingua, 21,121-140. butvilofsky, s. a., & gumina, d. (2020). the possibilities of bilingualism: perceptions of bilingual learners in arizona. bilingual research journal, 43(2), 196–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2020.1781295 chaparro, s. (2020). school, parents, and communities: leading parallel lives in a two-way immersion program. international multilingual research journal, 14(1), 41– 57. doi:10.1080/19313152.2019.1634957 child trends. (2018). racial and ethnic composition of the child population. retrieved from https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/racial-and-ethnic-composition-of-the-childpopulation. darder, a. (2016). language, ideology, and power: interrogating restrictive language policies. the international journal of diversity in education, 16(3), 35–43. emerson, r. m., fretz, r. i., & shaw, l. l. (2001). participant observation and field notes. in p. atkinson, a. coffey, s. delamont, j. lofland, & l. lofland (eds.), handbook of ethnography. (pp. 352–368). sage. flores, n., & rosa, j. (2015). undoing appropriateness: raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. harvard education review, 85(2), 149–171. https://doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.85.2.149 fogle, l. w., & king, k. a. (2017). bi-and multilingual family language socialization. in patricia a. duff & stephen may (eds.), language socialization, 61–77. springer. garrity, s., aquino-sterling, c., van liew, c., & day, a. (2018). beliefs about bilingualism, bilingual education, and dual language development of early childhood preservice teachers raised in a prop 227 environment. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 21(2), 179–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1148113 garrity, s., & guerra, a. (2015). a cultural communities approach to understanding head start teachers’ beliefs about language use with dual language learners: implications for practice. contemporary issues in early childhood, 16(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949115600027 gold, r. (1958). roles in sociological field observations. social forces, 36, 117–223. haque, s. (2019). why family language policy is crucial? case of france with some new perspectives. family language policy, 215–231. lincom. cuéllar association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 101 hua, z., & wei, l. (2016). transnational experience, aspiration and family language policy. journal of multilingual and multicultural development,37(7), 655-666. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2015.1127928 huberman, m. a., & miles, m. b. (1994). data management and analysis methods. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds., handbook of qualitative research. (pp. 428–445). sage. hwang, j. k., mancilla-martinez, j., flores, i., & mcclain, j. b. (2022). the relationship among home language use, parental beliefs, and spanish-speaking children’s vocabulary. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism,25(4), 1175–1193. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1747389 jang, s. (2020). the pluralist language ideology of korean immigrant mothers and the englishonly principle in early childhood education programs. language and education, 34(1), 6680. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2019.1682598 kilinc, s., & alvarado, s. (2021). two dual language preschool teachers’ critical consciousness of their roles as language policy makers. bilingual research journal, 44(4), 485–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2022.2043487 kroskrity, p. v. (2004). language ideologies. in a. duranti (ed.), a companion to linguistic anthropology (pp. 496–517). blackwell. lee, m., shetgiri, r., barina, a., tillitski, j., & flores, g. (2015). raising bilingual children: a qualitative study of parental attitudes, beliefs, and intended behaviors. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 37, 503-521. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986315602669 martínez, r. a., hikida, m., & durán, l. (2015). unpacking ideologies of linguistic purism: how dual language teachers make sense of everyday translanguaging. international multilingual research journal, 9, 26–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2014.977712 office of head start. (2017). head start program facts: fiscal year 2015. washington, dc: administration for children and families. office of head start. (2022). head start history. washington, dc: administration for children and families. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs/about/history-head-start oliveira, g., chang-bacon, c. k., cho, e., & baez-cruz, m. (2020). parent and teacher perceptions of a brazilian portuguese two-way immersion program. bilingual research journal,43(2), 212-231. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2020.1773961 oregon department of education. (2021). english learners in oregon: annual report 2019-2020. https://www.oregon.gov/ode/students-and family/equity/englearners/documents/oregon%20english%20learners%20report%20201920%20final.pdf park, m., zong, j., & batalova, j. (2018). growing superdiversity among young u.s. dual language learners and its implications. migration policy institute. purkarthofer, j. (2017). building expectations: imagining family language policy and heteroglossic social spaces. international journal of bilingualism, 9, 695-712. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006916684921 rodriguez, v. (2015). families and educators supporting bilingualism in early childhood. school community journal, 25(2), 177–194. sahakyan, n., & ryan, s. (2018). long-term english learners across 15 wida states: a research brief (wida research brief no. rb-2018-1). madison, wi: wida at the wisconsin center for education research. “there will only be english in kindergarten” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 102 sawyer, b. e., manz, p. h., & martin, k. a. (2017a). supporting preschool dual language learners: parents’ and teachers’ beliefs about language development and collaboration. early child development and care, 187, 707-726. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1163548 sawyer, b. e., manz, p. h., martin, k. a., hammond, t. c., and garrigan, s. (2017b). teachers and parents as partners: developing a community of practice to support latino preschool dual language learners. advances in early education and day care, 20, 159-186. showstack, r., & colcher, d. (2019). language ideologies, family language policy, and a changing societal context in kansas. studies in hispanic and lusophone linguistics,12(2), 455-483. https://doi.org/10.1515/shll-2019-2020 silverstein, m. (1979). language structure and linguistic ideology. in r. clyne (ed.), language structure and linguistic ideology (pp. 193–247). chicago linguistic society. smith-christmas, c. (2016). family language policy. maintaining an endangered language in the home. palgrave macmillan. song, k. (2016). “no one speaks korean at school!”: ideological discourses on language in a korean family. bilingual research journal, 39(1), 4–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2016.1138903 song, l., luo, r., & liang, e. (2022). dual language development of chinese 3-and 4-year-olds: associations with the family context and teachers’ language use. early education and development, 33(2), 219-242. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1865746 spolsky, b. (2004). language policy. cambridge university press. spradley, j. (1979). the ethnographic interview. holt, rinehart & winston. vázquez-montilla, e., just, m., & triscari, r. (2014). teachers’ dispositions and beliefs about cultural and linguistic diversity. universal journal of educational research,2(8), 577-587. van maanen, j. (2011). tales of the field: on writing ethnography. university of chicago press. amae journal cover template (general).pdf cuellar final page proof 111.pdf volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 107 ruptures of possibility: mexican origin mothers as critical translanguaging pedagogues idalia nuñez university of illinois urbana champaign suzanne garcía-mateus california state university, monterey bay abstract in u.s. schools, educators are often regarded as knowledge producers and sole pedagogues, whereas parents (particularly of color) are perceived as not engaged or interested in their child(ren)'s education (colgrove, 2019; nuñez, 2019; ramirez, 2020). these negative stereotypes and white-centered discourses sustain raciolinguistic perspectives (rosa & flores, 2017) of families of color and immigrant backgrounds. for the present study, we employed critical discourse analysis to explore why and how mexican mothers raise bilingual children by examining how their experiences inform us about their powerful roles as critical translanguaging pedagogues. drawing on border thinking and pedagogy of border thinking, the findings revealed two main themes: (1) how mothers recognize and draw on the ruptures of cultural and linguistic worlds, and (2) how they sustain language through family and cultural practices. lastly, we share implications for educators, teacher educators, and policymakers. keywords: bilingualism, biliteracy, borderlands, translanguaging doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.448 ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 108 language has been a tool for exclusion, marginalization, and surveillance of communities of color, immigrants, and/or indigenous communities (nuñez, 2018; nuñez & urrieta, 2021; rosa & flores, 2017; valdés, 1997). language, used for these purposes, has reinforced dichotomous relationships between parents and educators and has defined their asymmetrical roles in education. in u.s. schools, educators are often regarded as knowledge producers and sole pedagogues, whereas parents (particularly of color) are perceived as not engaged or interested in their child(ren)'s education (colgrove, 2019; olivos, 2006; ramirez, 2020). these negative stereotypes and white-centered discourses sustain raciolinguistic perspectives (rosas & flores, 2017) of families of color and immigrant backgrounds. they are used as rationalizations for imposing interventions and/or training to "help them" develop the tools and knowledge for supporting the language and literacy practices valued in schools. recent scholarship is recognizing latinx1 parents as being language pedagogues: (1) because they make decisions about language, monolingualism vs. bilingualism, bilingual education, and biliteracy (cioè-peña, 2021; ek et al., 2013); and (2) because they enact translanguaging pedagogical practices (garcía & wei, 2014) that sustain their children's bilingualism (alvarez, 2014; nuñez, 2019). these studies, in particular, have focused on the role of mothers from latinx and immigrant backgrounds as the primary decision-makers on how language is used and experienced at home. as language pedagogues, mothers draw from their experiences as border crossers navigating multiple world(s) to nurture translanguaging practices that are used across various contexts including, but not limited to, the home, community, and with family (zentella, 1997). in this article, translanguaging is a way of being and doing language as reflected in bilingual communities of color (garcía, 2009). some studies have noted the thoughtful strategies and authentic translingual2 pedagogical practices (i.e., translating, language brokering, dynamic language use) that mothers implement to support bilingual and biliteracy development (alvarez, 2014; noguerón-liu, 2020; nuñez, 2019; showstack & garcía-mateus, in press). garcía and kleyn (2016) explain translanguaging pedagogy as having a critical stance towards supporting bilingualism, intentional implementation, and valuing flexible and dynamic language 1 we use the gender-neutral label, latinx, to promote the concept that identity construction is not static. this article capitalizes latinx to give credence to the struggles of a racialized group that shares cultural, political and historical experiences. 2 we use translingual and translanguaging interchangeably. nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 109 practices. in a recent study, nuñez (2019) focused on mexican mothers who spoke spanish only and developed creative translingual pedagogical practices. for example, they had their children watch movies with english audio and spanish captions to make sense of the content and expose them to both languages. these practices supported the development of their children's english, spanish, and overall biliteracy through the use of technology (ipads, tablets, phones) available in their homes. studies have also outlined how family language and literacy practices such as storytelling (reese, 2012), translingual digital literacies (noguerón-liu & driscoll, 2021), dichos (espinozaherold, 2007), language brokering practices (orellana & reynolds, 2008), among others have been critical to helping children and youth sustain their home language and, ultimately, their bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism. to further extend on the role of latinx parents, colegrove (2019) adds that when schools provide the space for parents' voices to be heard, it can not only be empowering for them, but it also opens up opportunities for teachers and school administrators to critically listen (heiman & yanes, 2018) and learn from parents. furthermore, parents' practices and approaches can inform the kinds of pedagogies, curriculum, and language policies that should be fundamental to implementing bilingual programs (garcía, 2009; valdés, 1997, 2021). this article contributes to changing the discourse about latinx parents and the perceived notion that they are uncritical in the (bilingual) education of their children. to do so, we ask the following research questions, (1) how do mexican origin mothers support their children's translanguaging at home? (2) how do these translanguaging practices contribute to their children's bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism? and (3) why do they choose to support their children's bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism? these questions allowed us, idalia nuñez and suzanne garcía-mateus, to critically listen to mothers guided by the premise that mexican mothers3 are pedagogues who can sustain the translanguaging practices central to their children's bilingualism and biliteracy. 3 while our data specifically included and examined mexican origin mothers, we recognize that caregivers from various backgrounds and identities could have similar approaches as cultural pedagogues. ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 110 theoretical framework theoretically, we draw from border thinking (anzaldúa, 1987; mignolo, 2000) and the critical components of pedagogy of border thinking (i.e., straddling, translanguaging, and testimonios) (cervantes-soon & carrillo, 2016) to center, amplify, and honor the voices and brilliant work of mexican-origin mothers, and to help us understand and gain insights about their decisions on their children's language trajectories. border thinking is the critical thinking and agency that stems from people on the margins used to transcend the limitations set by physical and metaphorical borders (anzaldúa, 1987; mignolo, 2000). border thinking from mignolo and anzaldúa's work helped us conceptualize the work of mexican mothers who are the focus of this study by delinking from western and european ideals, or what morrison (1994) has called the ever-present white gaze that has been imposed upon people of color. instead, we focus on the voices and actions of those who have been silenced. specifically, we focus on what it means to be bilingual in an english-dominant society and how we, as women and madres of color, decide to raise bilingual and bicultural children on our terms. anzaldúa has theorized how borders are porous, with ruptures of possibility where people of color can imagine and design what being and doing in the world means for us, and we emphasize on our terms. ruptures are the moments when individuals recognize and name structural injustices, act on disrupting systems of oppression, and imagine a new reality for themselves. ruptures occur when individuals delink their thinking and actions from the white gaze or their colonial ways of being from a particular local space (such as a u.s. public school). instead, individuals choose to ground themselves on the borderland's possibilities (both literally and figuratively), where the margins are sites of being and doing, and for sobrevivencia as racialized beings. ruptures supported these madres of mexican origin in aligning their cultural heritage and lineage to a place where they can exert their agency and resist being further marginalized through critical border pedagogy. pedagogy of border thinking is grounded in the work of cervantes-soon and carrillo (2016), where they theorize this critical pedagogy as including three important components: straddling, translanguaging, and testimonio. straddling is the naming of inequities through critical dialogue with our students/children that cultivates critical consciousness. part of translanguaging as a pedagogy of border thinking includes fostering the co-construction of positive identities and students' border thinking (mignolo, 200). translanguaging refers to the language practices nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 111 that value our students’/children's linguistic and cultural practices and aim for social transformation (garcía & wei, 2014). the act of translanguaging is a way of doing and being for bilingual families, communities, and students (garcía & kleifgen, 2019; garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017; orellana & reynolds, 2008; zentella, 1997). it is languaging that exists in contexts and competing discourses of power that shape and inform how language is perceived, expected, and performed. for example, translanguaging can be performed through flexible moving in and across named languages. in this study, translanguaging represents the linguistic agency of latinx bilingual families who make decisions on how language should be experienced and learned for and with their children (king, 2016). and third, testimonio, a tool for critical consciousness through collective dialogue that historicizes the body, mind, soul, and experiences. testimonios are the personal narratives and stories shared to reveal oppressive structures and injustices experienced by those who reside on the margins (delgado et al., 2012). saavedra (2019) adds that linguistic liberty through translanguaging in testimonios is necessary for humanizing the process of sharing stories that allow us to understand the critical perspectives and practices people used to navigate and survive everyday experiences. furthermore, as cervantes-soon and carrillo explain, these are articulations of theory in the flesh and border thinking. meaning, thinking and actions are deeply connected and informed by the racialized body's sensitivities and lived experiences. we drew on these conceptual frameworks to understand the critical work of madres mexicanas who are raising their children bilingually in an english dominant educational system that has historically tried to tame the lenguas of mexican (anzaldúa, 1987) immigrant children and families. method of inquiry for this study, we combined the data from our individual research projects. each of our projects was deeply guided by critical ethnographic approaches (villenas & foley, 2002). according to villenas and foley, critical ethnographies should "reveal oppressive relations of power" (p. 177) and can incorporate typically deemed as non-traditional qualitative methodological practices such as testimonios. in this case, testimonios were "both a product and a process" (delgado et al., 2012) that allowed us to recognize the understandings and practices of madres de origen mexicano in supporting their children's bilingualism where monolingual ideologies prevailed ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 112 positionality we identify as madres de origen mexicano raising multilingual children living in the u.s. idalia identifies as a first-generation immigrant and transfronteriza raised on the texas-mexico borderlands. suzanne identifies as a second-generation immigrant from the borderlands. we are both bilingual teacher educators as assistant professors at higher education institutions, first-generation college students, and former bilingual teachers at title 1 schools in texas, and suzanne also taught in missouri. we consider ourselves as "insiders" coming to our work as madres mexicanas who are making daily critical decisions about the bilingual education experiences of our children, like the mothers in our study. contextualizing the study as aforementioned, we combined data from our individual research projects. we drew from a total of 20 audio-recorded semi-structured interviews of both firstand secondgeneration immigrant madres mexicanas. idalia collected data from three participating transfronteriza4 mothers. the mothers participating were from mexico, and two of them still lived in mexico, and their children attended school in the u.s. that offered an early-exit transitional bilingual program. however, that bilingual program in that school was implemented as an english immersion program. through the transitional program, the children were supposed to get support in their home language in the process of learning english as a second language but instead only received english-only instruction. this school was located in a small rural city on the south texas border. idalia's data included: three audio-recorded semistructured interviews per participant, photos taken by participating mothers regarding how language was part of their everyday life. the photos, in particular, served as anchors in the sharing process of some of their testimonios about language. suzanne had ten mothers and one abuelita as participants in her study. the participating mothers lived in texas, and their families were originally from mexico. their children attended an elementary school in central texas that offered a two-way dual language bilingual education program. while dual language bilingual education (dlbe) programs are considered an additive form of schooling, there is a growing body of work problematizing dlbe programs functioning as subtractive schooling experiences for students of color (flores, 2016; flores & rosa, 2017). 4 transfronteriza/o/x refers to individuals living on the u.s. or mexican side of the border, but who frequently cross the physical, national border (de la piedra, et al. 2018; nuñez, 2018). they understand what life is on both sides of the border. nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 113 children learn english and a minoritized language, typically spanish in the state of texas, through content area instruction (e.g., math in english, languages arts in spanish), and the goal is to become bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate. this school was located in a suburban city in central texas. suzanne's data included: audio recorded semi-structured interview with each participant, and a questionnaire focused on describing their cultural backgrounds and how participants used their home language to support their child(ren)'s bilingualism. while our analysis was from all participating mothers, we only used data from four participants (see table 1) to illustrate the findings. the first two participants listed in table 1 are from idalia's work, and the last two listed are from suzanne's study. table 1 participant and interview information name (pseudonym) background information language number of interviews sra. patricia gonzalez mexican born 1st-generation5 living in texas spanish (3) interviews (45+) photos sra. maría ortega mexican born living in mexico spanish (3) interviews (15) photos frida martínez u.s. born 2nd-generation6 living in texas bilingual interview questionnaire abigail orozco u.s. born 2nd-generation living in texas bilingual interview questionnaire 5 first generation immigrants are defined as individuals who migrated to the u.s. as older youth or as adults. 6 second generation immigrants are defined as individuals who were born in the u.s. and at least one parent is considered a first-generation immigrant. ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 114 data analysis we employed critical discourse analysis (johnstone, 2008) to help us understand why and how mexican mothers raise bilingual children by examining how their experiences inform us about their powerful roles as critical language, border, and cultural pedagogues. our primary cycle coding (tracy, 2019) was informed by the theory of border thinking and the conceptualization of pedagogy of border thinking. some examples of our initial theory-driven conceptual codes (decuir-gunby et al., 2011) were: ruptures, language, cultural practices, family practices, agency, resistance, among others. from this coding process, we noticed "resistance" was present in connection to "language practices," "culture," and "family." in our second round of coding, we focused on the data that highlighted emerging patterns to employ focused coding (saldaña, 2016). we focused on the mother's articulated strategies of how they maintained, resisted, and/or sustained their child's bilingualism. then we coded for rationales of why they were raising bilingual children. this analysis led to two major findings: (1) ruptures of cultural and linguistic worlds, (2) sustaining language through family and cultural practices. in the subsequent section, we use data examples from our combined data sets to explain each of the findings. findings ruptures of cultural and linguistic worlds ruptures of cultural and linguistic worlds focuses on the concept of ruptures that we conceptualize as openings to envision an empowering future, based on madres' border crossing experiences whose daily efforts have made and continue to make bilingual transnational children stronger. as a concept, ruptures help these mothers imagine a future with possibilities for and with their children. other scholars (anzaldúa, 2015; merla-watson & olguín, 2017) have described the concept of ruptures as latinx futurism, a related concept that enables us to intentionally design and live (in) a future with and for latinx communities without the everpresent white gaze. the futures that these mexican mothers imagined were centered on their children's bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural potential. we start with sra. ortega; her role was to support her son in getting through the borders he experienced in a subtractive "english immersion" schooling space where his transfronterizo mexican-american experiences, his translanguaging, and knowledge were nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 115 ignored and silenced. sra. ortega recognized and used the ruptures created by the u.s. and mexico's economic and educational conditions on the borderlands to help her son understand her critical perspective and motivate him. in regards to these ruptures, sra. ortega said: yo, le digo a mi hijo tú allá estás en la gloria, allá tu escuela está con aire y todo, no sufres calor, ni en frío sufres frío, uno aquí sí...estabas en el salón y tenías todas las chamarras porque ‘taba bien helado...bien helado y este, y le digo yo, le digo tú allá la escuela allá son mejores que las de aquí. yo le digo tú échale ganas porque yo, a mí me hubiera gustado estudiar allí y haber aprendido inglés le digo...uno aquí hace el sacrificio. (i. nuñez, interview, may 27, 2016) sra. ortega shared her testimonio with her son where she named the different conditions she faced in her experience going to school on the mexican borderlands. she critically compared the conditions she experienced to a better reality that she envisioned and has been able to provide for her son through sacrificios. these testimonios served to motivate her son to survive and thrive in a school that did not affirm his cultural or translingual identity. the translanguaging practices of sra. ortega's son included speaking spanish at home with his family while drawing from his full linguistic repertoire to navigate the school's restrictive language practices. abigail, a second-generation mother living in the texas borderlands, also recognized the power of ruptures. in this quote, abigail said: a lot of my cousins, especially the ones in washington state, a lot of them don't [speak spanish]. we actually have a friend whose daughter doesn't speak any spanish at all. her dad is from mexico, but her mom is mainly only english, so we talk in spanish, and she doesn't really understand. so that's what i tell them, it's important. one thing because it's gonna be good to help people and it's also because of family. we still have a lot of family that don't speak english even though they've been here, in the u.s., for many years. and it's like i want you guys to have those relationships with them, [and to] speak in spanish. (s. garcía-mateus, interview, october, 9, 2018) abigail drew from her border thinking and experiences of straddling dos mundos, which included translanguaging. in other words, she drew from her linguistic repertoire according to the context and interlocutors present. in the quote above, abigail explained how being able to ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 116 speak and understand spanish and english also meant sustaining relationships with both friends and family. she described encountering the challenge, or awkwardness, of her friend's child not being able to understand their conversations in spanish and translanguaging so she could understand. she recognized this rupture and named it as a testimonio for her children when she explained that staying connected to family means understanding and speaking spanish. abigail also modeled for her children how being bilingual includes the flexible ability to translanguage when she spoke to her friend in spanish and english. speaking spanish, for abigail, meant nurturing and maintaining the relationships she had with her extended family so that her children could also have those relationships with family. abigail also touched on the ability to help people who may not speak english. being able to help people was a common theme in suzanne's interviews with second-generation madres, like abigail, who grew up translanguaging (i.e., translating/language brokering) for their parents, grandparents, and, sometimes, strangers in the community. in fact, this is one reason why abigail purposefully enrolled her children in a dual-language program. she also recognized that for her children to gain a sense of investment in becoming bilingual at school (garcía-mateus, 2020), abigail had to bring awareness to the reasons why it was important for her children to use their linguistic repertoire in purposeful and mindful ways both at home and in the community. these mexican mothers critically examined their lived experiences at the intersection of their cultural and linguistic world(s). they understood that sustaining their language and culture was not a simple task for their children in the face of english hegemony. the reflections and observations of these mothers were not representations of defeat or of surrendering to cultural and linguistic oppression; instead, their complex understandings were representations of resistance and agency. aligned with cervantes-soon and carrillo's (2016) conceptualization of pedagogy of border thinking, the mothers' testimonios shared how they drew from border thinking to model how to translanguage and straddle dos mundos lovingly for their children. they used these ruptures as opportunities to imagine and live a better life if not for them, for their children. more importantly, this vision decentered the white gaze (morrison, 1994) and claimed translanguaging, which encompasses bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism (garcía & kleyn, 2016; garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017; garcía & wei, 2014) for their children's future. nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 117 sustaining language through family and cultural practices sustaining language through family and cultural practices refers to the articulations of how madres supported and sustained spanish through specific translanguaging practices at home. we distinguish intergenerational family and cultural practices as rooted in the idea that both are socially constructed, historically informed, and contextually diverse. family practices are the practices that have been passed down by family members, and cultural practices are the practices culturally sustained through generations by a community, families, or within a particular context. the mexican madres' translanguaging at home was a result of their critical awareness regarding the cultural and linguistic hierarchies that took place in u.s.-based schooling. even when their children were enrolled in bilingual programs, these mothers knew that schools did not fully acknowledge their mexican or mexican american culture and that english and whiteness dominated these spaces. for example, frida, a second-generation mother from texas, said: also, just our cultures, so observing cultural practices and cooking. you saw all the pots that i brought. so, using that and saying, "what's the word for this? son ollas de barro." i don't think that i could say "speak spanish, speak spanish," but i'm speaking english because we're in this mexican-american world where it's different. i'm not just firstgeneration, or i'm not from mexico. but, when they see that and are able to feel pride, and this is who we are as a family, it makes sense to them to be pushed to learn spanish to keep their tongue [and] where they come from. (s. garcía-mateus, interview, november, 6, 2018) drawing on her border thinking, frida responded to this situation by creating opportunities to engage in her mexican culture and implement different cultural practices that motivated her children to embrace spanish as embedded in translingual and transcultural7 ways of doing and being. during an interview, frida had just finished gathering the ollas de barro she had used for a día de los muertos event at the school where her two younger children attended. she described how she used the act of preparing food with mexican pots to cook with her children 7 transcultural is the transcending monocultural borders associated with spaces and people (orellana, 2016); understanding culture(s) as dynamic, complex, and unconfined, and that can be experienced and embodied beyond national borders. ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 118 and saw this as an opportunity to embrace the spanish language authentically. the ollas de barro represented both a family and cultural artifact used for cooking as she experienced in her family, but that also represented the mexican cultural craftsmanship of these pots. in this case, frida used the experience with her children to talk about the artifacts in connection to learning and sustaining language in concrete ways. her example strategically moved from english to spanish, focusing on naming the artifact. similar to garcía-mateus and palmer (2017), the mothers' translanguaging pedagogies affirmed the cultural and linguistic practices and identities of the children but also complicated the meaning of language. this reflected language from a border crosser's perspective—one that is in reference to but not limited to borders—that elevates the language practices and cultural knowledge from the margins. frida described that in her home, she tried to make the use of spanish meaningfully and connected to who they are as a family, which for them meant drawing on their use of spanglish to straddle what she called a "mexican-american world." she drew from her border thinking when she explained that she also speaks english because, as she said, "we are in a mexicanamerican world where it's different." further, frida was imagining a world made for her and her children and enacted translanguaging that made that a reality for her children at home— embodying a border thinking pedagogy. in doing so, she was teaching and modeling for them how to feel proud of who they are as a family with latinx roots. she hoped this sense of orgullo would encourage them to continue learning their lengua and gain a deeper sense of connection to their latinx heritage. in order to embrace this vision of raising bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural children while resisting monolingual expectations, transfronteriza mothers also exposed their children to mexican cultural practices and their families in mexico. they demonstrated a view and practice of a translanguaging pedagogy that does not separate language and culture but rather embraces them, the practice that anzaldúa (1987) describes as intimately connected. similar to frida, sra. gonzalez shared, “nosotros vamos cada fin de semana con mis papás para que él esté en méxico y aprenda y conozca allá. lo llevamos a las fiestas cuando hay, o las ferias” (interview #2). here, sra. gonzalez consistently took her son to mexico with her family in order for him to build connections to family, culture, and language in concrete ways (see figure 1). nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 119 figure 1 sra. gonzalez's pictures of her son at the local community fair on the mexican borderlands where her family lives. sra. gonzalez's translanguaging pedagogy was grounded in local cultural and family experiences that showed her son how language was used where he, too, interacted with the vendors and artists in authentic ways and experienced through multiple modes (i.e., linguistic, auditory, gestures, spatially). for example, in the first picture, a woman was wearing a traditional mexican skirt and blouse representing cultural traditions. in the second picture, sra. gonzalez's son was ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 120 interacting with vendors such as the one illustrated here selling local artisan jewelry. both the artesanías and the folkloric outfits, music, among other performances, were authentic representations of how spanish was used in and through interactions and as part of the context. in this testimonio, translanguaging was lived and defined within the sociocultural context, among members of the community, and embodied across modes. as garcía and wei (2014) posit, translanguaging was positioned as a way of being—more than just an autonomous linguistic system—and drawn on to uphold their heritage background. translanguaging manifested in distinct yet interconnected ways for all the mothers. for example, sra. gonzalez, who resided in mexico, focused on contributing to her child's translanguaging by supporting the development of spanish through various modalities. the mothers residing in the u.s. modeled translanguaging for their children by moving flexibly between named languages such as spanish, english, and spanglish. here, their pedagogy presented language as part of a larger context they lived in and navigated, as part of the family, and as part of their culture. this pedagogy was informed and shaped by intergenerational family practices and local community sustained practices that were deemed important to the mothers' experiences with language. furthermore, these were representations of translanguaging as a way of doing and being bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural in and across world(s). conclusions and implications we argue that mothers should be considered critical border and translanguaging pedagogues (alvarez, 2014; noguerón-liu, 2020; nuñez, 2019; showstack & garcía-mateus, in press). mexican-origin mothers modeled and acted as agents of change where they envisioned a future for themselves and their children that was rooted in how they have navigated their transnational and translanguaging ways of being and doing. these mothers understood and fostered bilingualism and biliteracy in contextualized ways, as opposed to an autonomous system that is disconnected from students' everyday lives or complex language abilities. moreover, they implemented critical language pedagogy that included the elements that cervantes-soon and carrillo (2016) deem necessary for a border pedagogy (i.e., straddling, translanguaging, and testimonios) in order to envision and create a future where they could claim bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism as part of their children's worlds and realities. in other words, the mothers were preparing their children, as mothers do in a variety of ways nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 121 (e.g., establishing healthy routines, being polite, sharing), for how to embrace, embody, and sustain their cultural heritage and/or language practices in the face of reductive and unjust language ideologies and policies. similar to latinx futurism (merla-watson & olguín, 2017), these mothers saw the world beyond their lived experiences and imagined a future that centered on their mexican and mexican-american experiences, culture, and identities— decentering from the white gaze. instead, they engaged their children in authentic language learning, which was deeply rooted in who they are and where they live. that said, we cannot help but ask, what would bilingual education and bilingualism look like in our schools and in our society, outside of the white gaze, when marginalized parents, like madres mexicanas' border thinking and pedagogies are centered and regarded as part of language teaching and learning? the mexican madres supported their children's dynamic language practices as closely connected with their cultural experiences and identities as transnational bilinguals. they have demonstrated to us what it means to normalize and center on the translanguaging and transcultural practices of young bilingual children. the mother's testimonios and border thinking highlight why raising bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural children go beyond the cognitive and economic benefits. for them, as it is for us as madres mexicanas, and scholars, raising bilingual children is and will continue to be a way to honor and celebrate our cultural heritage and deconstruct oppressive schooling experiences. practitioners and scholars in bilingual education need to include and work alongside mothers and other caregivers for guidance on how to design and implement equitable bilingual education programs that center the translanguaging experiences of students who carry the "english language learner" label. the mexican mothers' knowledge in regards to translanguaging in their home can shed light on the possibilities and opportunities teachers can draw from to support the dynamic translanguaging practices of young bilingual students for the development of bilingualism, biculturalism, and biliteracy. in a similar vein, we also see these findings as advancing teacher education in two ways: (1) encouraging teacher educators to intentionally include and implement translanguaging as a critical component of bilingual teacher education programs; and (2) supporting teacher educators to reframe how pre-and in-service teachers see the role of families from being in the periphery to being key contributors to innovative and critical approaches to translanguaging and bilingual teaching. the mothers in this study taught us how to imagine and implement ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 122 translanguaging pedagogies. that is, by mindfully discussing and deconstructing inequities they experience and created learning opportunities that connected to the children's cultural and language practices to content learning. their approaches can serve as critical blueprints and guides to planning bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural education and destabilize the power given to monolingualism in academic settings. furthermore, we believe it is important to critically listen (heiman & yanes, 2018) and learn about, understand, and value the decisions, motivations and approaches that mothers or caregivers of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds embody. understanding these decisions can be both liberating, emancipatory and better inform our decisions in classroom spaces, our approaches to language, and our relationships with both students and families. acknowledgements queremos agradecerles a las madres que participaron en nuestros proyectos. it was an honor to learn from their experiences, stories, and expertise. we are also grateful to the editors of this special issue for supporting us and our work throughout this process. we also want to note to our readers that both authors had equal writing contributions in this article. nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 123 references alvarez, s. (2014). translanguaging tareas: emergent bilingual youth as language brokers for homework in immigrant families. language arts, 91(5), 326-339. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. lute books. anzaldúa, g. e. (2015). light in the dark: luz en lo oscuro: rewriting identity, spirituality, reality. duke university press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822375036 cervantes-soon, c. g., & carrillo, j. f. (2016). toward a pedagogy of border thinking: building on latin@ students' subaltern knowledge. high school journal, 99, 282–301. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2016.0016 colegrove, k. s. s., (2019). “gracias por escucharnos:” listening and learning from latinx parents through video-cued ethnography. anthropology & education quarterly, 50(3), 291– 312. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12299 cioè-peña, m. (2021). (m)othering labeled children: bilingualism and disability in the lives of latinx mothers. multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800411296 decuir-gunby, j. t., marshall, p. l., & mcculloch, a.w. (2011). developing and using a codebook for the analysis of interview data: an example from a professional development research project. field methods, 23(2), 136-155. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822x10388468 de la piedra, m. t., araujo, b., & esquinca, a. (2018). educating across borders: the case of a dual language program on the us-mexico border. university of arizona press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv5cgbj4 delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363-372. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698149 ek, l. d., sánchez, p., & quijada cerecer, p. d. (2013). linguistic violence, insecurity, and work: language ideologies of latina/o bilingual teacher candidates in texas. international multilingual research journal, 7(3), 197-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2013.768144 espinoza-herold, m. (2007). stepping beyond sí se puede: dichos as a cultural resource in mother-daughter interaction in a latino family. anthropology & education quarterly, 38, 260-227. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.2007.38.3.260 flores, n. (2016). a tale of two visions: hegemonic whiteness and bilingual education. educational policy, 30(1), 13–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904815616482 garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. wiley/blackwell. garcía, o. & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education. palgrave macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385765_4 garcía, o., & kleifgen, j. a. (2019). translanguaging and literacies. reading research quarterly, 55(4), 553–571. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.286 garcía, o., & kleyn, t. (2016). translanguaging with multilingual students: learning from classroom moments. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315695242 garcía-mateus, s. (2020). bilingual student perspectives about language expertise in a gentrifying two-way immersion program. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 116. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1797627 ruptures of possibility association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 124 garcía-mateus, s., & palmer, d. (2017). translanguaging pedagogies for positive identities in two-way dual language bilingual education. journal of language, identity & education, 16(4), 245-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1329016 heiman, d., & yanes, m. (2018). centering the fourth pillar in times of twbe gentrification: "spanish, love, content," not in that order." international multilingual research journal, 12 (3), 173–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2018.1474064 johnstone, b. (2008). discourse analysis. blackwell publishing. king, k. (2016). language policy, multilingual encounters, and transnational families. journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 37(7), 726-733. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2015.1127927 merla-watson, c. j., & olguín, b. v. (2017). introduction: ¡latin@ futurism ahora! recovering, remapping, and recentering the chican@ and latin@ speculative arts. in c. j. merlawatson & b. v. olguín, latin@ speculative literature, (pp. 135–46). university of washington press. mignolo, w. (2000). local histories/global designs: coloniality, subaltern knowledges, and border thinking. princeton university press. morrison, t. (1994). the bluest eye. plume book. noguerón-liu, s. (2020). expanding the knowledge base in literacy instruction and assessment: biliteracy and translanguaging perspectives from families, communities, and classrooms. reading research quarterly, 55, 307-s318. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.354 noguerón-liu, s., & driscoll, k. (2021). bilingual families' perspectives on literacy resources and supports at home. the reading teacher, 75(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2001 nuñez, i. (2018). literacies of surveillance: transfronterizo children translanguaging identity across borders, inspectors and surveillance (doctoral dissertation, university of texas–austin). nuñez, i. (2019). " le hacemos la lucha": learning from madres mexicanas' multimodal approaches to raising bilingual, biliterate children. language arts, 97(1), 7-16. nuñez, i., & urrieta, l. jr. (2021). transfronterizo children's literacies of surveillance and the cultural production of border crossing identities on the u.s.–mexico border. anthropology & education quarterly, 52(1), 21-41. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12360 olivos, e. m. (2006), the power of parents. a critical perspective of bicultural parents' involvement in public schools. peter lang. orellana, m. f. (2016). immigrant children in transcultural spaces: language, learning, and love. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315752617 orellana, m. e, & reynolds, j. (2008). cultural modeling: leveraging bilingual skills for school paraphrasing tasks. reading research quarterly, 43(1), 48–65. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.43.1.4 ramirez, a. (2020). the case for culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy: bilingual reading to learn for spanish-speaking immigrant mothers. elsevier. 95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102379 reese, l. (2012). storytelling in mexican homes: connections between oral and literacy practices. bilingual research journal, 35, 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2012.734006 rosa, j., & n. flores. (2017). unsettling race and language: toward a raciolinguistic perspective. language in society, 46(5), 621–647. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404517000562 saavedra, c. m. (2019). inviting and valuing children's knowledge through testimonios: nuñez & garcía-mateus association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 125 centering literacies from within in the language arts curriculum. language arts, 96(3), 179-183. saldaña, j. (2016). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. sage. showstack, r. & garcía-mateus, s. (in press). latinx parents raising bilingual children: an exploration of the monolingual norm and translanguaging in family language practices. in. a. sánchez-muñoz & j. retis (eds.), communicative spaces in bilingual contexts: discourses, synergies and counterflows in spanish and english. routledge. tracy, s. j. (2019). qualitative research methods: collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. john wiley & sons. valdés, g. (1997). dual-language immersion programs: a cautionary note concerning the education of language-minority students. harvard educational review, 67(3): 391–429. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.67.3.n5q175qp86120948 valdés, g. (2021). “verde is not the word for green in spanish": the problematic arrogance of monolingual, powerful parents. language policy, 20, 517–523. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-021-09598-w villenas, s., & foley, d. e. (2002). chicano/latino critical ethnography of education: cultural productions from la frontera. in r. r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (247-283). routledge. zentella, a. z. (1997). growing up bilingual: puerto rican children in new york. wiley-blackwell. volume 15 issue 1 2021 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.1.441 ramos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 146 border thinking: latinx youth decolonizing citizenship. andrea dyrness & enrique sepúlveda iii. (2020). university of minnesota press. pp. 280. isbn-13:9781517906306. paperback: $27.00 monica ramos the university of texas at san antonio in border thinking: latinx youth decolonizing citizenship, dyrness and sepúlveda study the effects of migration in the lives of latin american youth, focusing on cases in the united states, spain, and el salvador. the authors examine the ways young migrants process the changes brought by transnational relocation and the ways they adapt to a new school environment and social dynamics while going through the biological and psychological changes of childhood and adolescence. the featured stories tell us about happiness and longing, belonging to two places, and being an outsider in their communities, all at the same time. this book explores the concept of citizenship, questions the colonized logics embedded in the mainstream discourse, and examines the ways these individuals in the diaspora develop their own version of citizenship. the authors draw on gloria anzaldua’s border conocimiento to interpret latin american youth’ process of membership to their new environment, recognizing that migrants must reinvent themselves to negotiate culture with the oppressive receiving culture. in chapter 1, sepúlveda discusses the deep effects of border gnosis—which questions migrants’ systems of belief, of logical reasoning, and of sentimental attachment—and the new transcultural awareness that may label them as outsiders or transgressors in a colonized social hierarchy led by the whites. for instance, young latinx migrants in california must face teacher’s racism and social segregation in the classroom. the author illustrates the ways white teachers’ accounts of their perceptions of latinx students vocalize their biases against high schooler immigrants by saying that they self-segregate, ignoring their placement in esl classes outside the main campus in portable classrooms. through student organizations, testimonios, and literature, chicanos in the us learn to develop conocimiento, creating their new globalized identities while coming of age. likewise, chicano educators become supporters of chicano youth’s endeavor, providing acompañamiento in borderlands, to help these young latinos shape their new identity and find their voice. ramos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 147 in chapter 2, the authors delve into the ways the idealized perception of the usa in el salvador motivates salvadorian youth to leave their life behind to move to this nation. american military fighting communism in el salvador originated a sentiment of appreciation, and by association, everything american is good. concomitantly, teenagers adopt the notions of citizenship that the us imposed on the world via the manipulation of media and other coercion devices in their country of origin. the deportation of many salvadoran adolescents who lived in the us as small children forces transnationality and these youth must adapt to their new home while overcoming gangs and oppression by government and society. teenagers of different socioeconomic status are attracted to the us by economic opportunities and, at the same time, feel rejected by american society. they anticipate discrimination if they move to the us, and in this milieu, they develop ethnic resistance and salvadoran pride to oppose negative stereotyping by the american people. in chapter 3, the national identity and transnational belonging of latino diaspora in spain are explored through teenagers from central and south america, as they reinvent themselves and explore their sense of belonging. as the authors explain, latinx youth in spain face social discrimination and systematic negative labeling in schools and politics. against this backdrop, latinx youth recognize their biculturality, showing a deep understanding of anzaldua’s notion of pensamiento fronterizo, even if these two countries do not spatially border one another. awareness of their in-between lives provides these youngsters with the opportunity to realize their biculturality is an asset and that a hybrid identity can be created. female immigrants to spain recognize fewer constraints in expectations on womanhood, and the sense of personal safety, which translates into liberty. fighting to create a new identity that encompasses multiculturalism and feminism, they associate together to support political causes in latin america, in addition to educating newcomers about rights, money, and family. latin american women build empowerment and kinship finding common background through diversity and awareness of their rights. in chapters 4 and 5, the authors expound ways latinx youth in the diaspora accounts have remarkable similarities to those in the borderlands, where fronterizas develop a dual identity. transnational youth constantly switch and mix identities and cultures. females convey the complexities of roles and expectations preselected for women in their groups; their relocation to europe has redefined their understanding of heritage and of mestizaje. latinas in spain struggle to break out of machista roles while continuing to belong in the latino community and accepted by ramos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 148 their female peers. the authors exemplify anzaldua’s concept of new mestiza in the accounts of latinx youth in the diaspora: one who lives transnational pedagogies and cultures of resistance to construct an identity and decolonize citizenship. migrant latinx kids’ memories materialize the intersection of multiple home national attachments, and third world feminism. diasporic adolescents make a stand to resist violence and end colonial bias in political participation in both their new country and the country of origin. all in all, the authors demonstrate that scholarly, political, and social discourse in the united states and spain share many characteristics as countries receiving latinx migrant youth. authors’ employment of participatory action research, participant observation and interviews— particularly the incorporation of testimonio and mujerista perspectives—aided to elicit complex responses from their participants, conveying a deeper understanding of the perspectives of identity experienced by these individuals. dyrness and sepúlveda explore the identity development of teenagers and women living in a third space. as they demonstrate, immigrants, and first-generation nationals in particular, face discrimination by establishments and individuals, and must fight oppression and isolation. as they also illustrate, self-identification with recipient nationalities is quite low among teenagers, and some adults say they will never consider themselves nationals of their host country, even after they have acquired citizenship. this shows that efforts of organizations and local governments are not providing the results needed for social cohesion. stereotypes must be brought down if full embrace of multiculturalism will ever be accomplished. the book contributes to explore displaced latinx youth, who acknowledge awareness of exclusion in their host country. migrant minors manifest lack of access to educational resources, which contributes to parallel societies opposing social integration of immigrants. inclusion and education could provide diasporic youth with the tools necessary to break the colonized discourses that will keep them on the sidelines. forming organizations that create spaces to explore multi identities from feminist and youth perspectives will increase the possibility of political and social change to integrate latino diaspora in public spaces and politics. recognizing the necessity of change is the sine qua non of social progress for the oppressed and will decrease ethnic resistance, conferring more adequate conditions to develop sense of belonging without rejecting transnational affiliations. membership and belonging to multiple cultures can be achieved with no contempt for one or the other. educational environments serve as the platform to enter the latino diaspora and explore the habitus in which adolescents come of age and construct selframos association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 149 perceptions and consciousness; transnational students either conciliate with the status quo or advocate for changing the derogatory treatment generally received from the authorities and society in the host country, and challenging the established concept of citizenships and pedagogies. in this book, the authors present us with insights of transnationalism and true narratives of inequality and social injustice. the stories of these migrants are of particular relevance in the current global climate of growing xenophobia; they deliver accounts of resilience overcoming racist discourse and family separation. dyrness and sepúlveda (2020) explore profound thoughts and migrant interpretations of sociopolitical issues in strongly colonized spaces. this book is recommended to scholars studying borderlands and transnational identities, bicultural or multicultural belonging, and educators or social workers serving displaced or migrant youth, or to the general public interested in learning about teenagers’ struggles to create a personal and collective identity in a multicultural setting. further investigation on transnational latino migrant youth identity must be conducted to more deeply understand this issue. volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 armijo romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 151 bilingualism and bilingual education: conceptos fundamentales. david schwarzer, mary petrón, and clarena larrotta (eds.). peter lang publishing. 2021. 168 pages. isbn 9781433184505. hardcover &96.32 minea armijo romero universidad de nuevo méxico bilingualism and bilingual education: conceptos fundamentales has been an anticipated scholarly and practical support for pre-service teachers en el campo de la educación bilingüe. the editors, schwarzer, petrón, and larrotta ensure this book reflects not only the theory but also the ways languages are spoken and heard in 21st century bilingual classrooms and communities throughout the country by tejiendo el español y el inglés en contextos académicos. en este libro podemos leer y experimentar el translenguaje ya que, as the editors mention, this is the first translanguaged book that has been published, and therefore it resonates with the urgent need to be responsive in taking strong actions in favor of our multilingual communities (garcía et al., 2011). this work compiled groundbreaking research in the field of bilingual education by bringing ten chapters written by scholars communicating the complexity of bilingual contexts around the united states. the book re-centers dialogues built on rich linguistic repertoires, modeling what translanguaging practices look like in writing, and reflecting the ways cuando translenguamos de una manera natural, flexible y fluida al hablar en nuestros entornos socioculturales. el libro está dividido in three major sections that take the reader through a journey of theory, practice y acción. the first section of the book, “theory,” is comprised of four chapters that begin by addressing the historical and social contexts of linguistic suppression and separation in the united states. inicialmente, presentan nuevas valorizaciones, which include decolonial perspectives que retan la vigilancia institucional del lenguaje. en el capítulo uno, “subtractive schooling and authentic cariño: translanguaging in the bilingual and dual language classroom,” valenzuela, salmerón, y batista-morales exploran resistencias hacia herramientas colonizadoras. such tools are analyzed as they relate to the oppressive attitudes toward language and bilingual students in the classroom. this chapter is built on curry’s (2016) model doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.451 armijo romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 152 of authentic cariño, which advocates for bringing translanguaging practices al salón de clases to activate and engage in political awareness and authentic caring. de esta forma, el capítulo presenta el translenjuage como una práctica que cuestiona la drástica separación de lenguajes en la educación bilingüe. the authors advocate for shifts in instructional practices que permitan utilizar los repertorios lingüísticos de los estudiantes en aulas multilingües. in chapter two, the experiences of teacher educators, in connection to their raciolinguistic context, is highlighted by ek, fallas-escobar, and sánchez. este capítulo documenta y analiza las narrativas personales de maestras y maestros bilingües latinos/as/xs in ways that provide windows to explore the realities al vivir en dos lenguajes. this chapter, “retrospective ideological work: leveraging latina/o/x bilingual teacher educators’ personal narratives” provides an opportunity to connect con los retos reales que son parte de la vida de las/los docentes en sus aulas de clase. en el tercer capítulo, “maestras fronterizas”, de la piedra and araujo nos presentan las historias y las prácticas of two female educators that are teaching in border spaces. el capítulo entrelaza las teorías chicana/latina feministas and their role as nepantleras y expertas en cruzar fronteras lingüísticas y culturales. this chapter is rooted in the need to address how the success of emergent bilingual students largely depends on their conocimiento académico, lingüístico y emocional. al final de esta sección, en el capítulo cuatro, smith and murillo, in their piece, “funds of linguistic knowledge en prácticas transnacionales to promote biliteracy development,” address the importance of recognizing los fondos de conocimiento lingüísticos, and the way we can observe them among people who are identified as transnationals. además, this chapter provides resources to teach bilingual children through examples of work the authors have done with transnational families. this chapter clearly illustrates the authors’ scholarly practices and the experiences of transnational people. that is, while smith and murillo describe the challenges of translanguaging practices as they relate to funds of knowledge, they also address their own challenges in navigating language ideologies and language use. this chapter provides implications for the field of bilingual teaching and learning of transnational students, their families seen as assets, and the implementation of translanguaging practices in the classrooms. this section supports the understanding of translanguaging theories and the way these are shaping teaching practices in bilingual education. the second section of the book, “practice,” nos comparte la experiencia de los docentes y las maneras en que la “práctica” materializa los fundamentos teóricos presentados en la armijo romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 153 primera parte del libro. aquí se pueden observar ejemplos en espacios escolares y sus situaciones académicas. caldas chumbes, palmer, and pallais, in the fifth chapter titulado “embracing our bilingual selves in reflection & dialogue: hacia una praxis bilingüe en espacios de preparación de docentes,” immerse the reader into the ways bilingual educators construct their teacher identities navigating structures of power in teacher preparation programs. el capítulo centra la atención en la formación de preand in-service bilingual teachers. in addition, the authors point out that there is scarce knowledge que se relacione con las historias individuales of bilingual teacher educators. this chapter provides an analysis of the educators’ linguistic trajectories, su educación, sus ideologías, and their professional experiences. las implicaciones de este capítulo son significativas as teacher analysis is key in the bilingual classroom dónde se entrelazan las prácticas e ideologías lingüísticas. the book continues with chapters six and seven, los cuales nos ayudan a entender el papel del translenguaje en el aula bilingüe. the authors elaborate on how instructional and social ideologies influence pressure to adhere to language separation. furthermore, they expand on the kind of linguistic purism that gets in the way of a genuine use of the full linguistic repertoire. in addition, the chapters presentan las realidades que experimentan los docentes bilingües en el salón de clases, as they navigate the pressures and the misunderstanding surrounding language use by the school administration and the teacher community. the authors provide a working definition of translingüismo explicando sus tres componentes; linguistic phenomenon, ideología y estrategia en el salón de clase. furthermore, these chapters present estrategias y actividades that support the creation of translingual spaces. schwarzer and caswell, in particular, conceptualizan el translingüismo como global and local, or glocal; al mismo tiempo, they observe an ongoing negotiation of cultural and linguistic identities. in chapter seven, de la rosa shares her experience as a science teacher utilizando dos idiomas en su enseñanza. the author details the process of instruction and the way it intersects with translanguaging practices; the effectiveness in her methods is contrasted to the surrounding attitudes toward her use of spanish and english in texan schools. the third section “action,” presents three chapters which focus on the implementation of the theoretical and practical foundations presented in the previous sections. as a group, these three last chapters address the need to activate pedagogical translingual practices presented in three different learning contexts: latina mothers, parental engagement, and armijo romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 154 development of latina/o/x bilingual teachers in texas. the intersection of language, hybridity, and the role that families play, is the focus of chapters eight and nine. in these two chapters, cedeño, parra, and larrotta highlight the important roles schools play in the life of families and students para asegurar que el aprendizaje sea exitoso. chapter eight, “breaking walls: language inclusion y familias latinas,” se enfoca en el papel de las madres in the broader school context taking into consideration success as well as historical exclusion. in chapter nine, larrotta challenges pre-conceived assumptions related to parental involvement and parental engagement. en este capítulo, the author propone nuevas formas of parental participation. in this pedagogical perspective, se amplifican the expressions of hybridity beyond language into the family context. in chapter 10, petrón and berg look at the process of acquiring a bilingual certification in the state of texas for latina/o/x pre-service teachers. the authors explore the meaning of going through this process without enough institutional resources. they describe the way the bilingual target language proficiency test (btlpt) in texas is weaponized against aspiring bilingual teachers. the chapter provides recommendations for the development of communities of practice in the field of bilingual education. en su exploración teórica, this book nos ofrece un análisis profundo que nos permite ver la aplicación de la teoría del translenguaje en una variedad de contextos escolarizados y socioculturales. one of the key contributions this book provides, is the strong tie it presents with real life situations that are highly visible in schools across the united states. as a translanguaged text, the reader will be invited to expand their linguistic and reading repertoire to interact with the use of language as presented; in that allows the reader to experience the natural flow of languages merging into the ideas they capture while engaged with translanguaging practices. this work is breaking linguistic norms that marginalize the ways bilingual students manipulate their full range of linguistic resources; it is a must-read for (bilingual) teacher educators, preand in-service teachers, and administrators. armijo romero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 155 references curry, m. w. (2016). will you stand for me? authentic cariño and transformative rites of passage in an urban high school. american educational research journal, 53(4), 883 918. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216660380 garcía, o., flores, n., & chu, h. (2011). extending bilingualism in us secondary education: new variations. international multilingual research journal, 5(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2011.539486 gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (eds.). (2006). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410613462 volume 16 issue 1 2022 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/16.1.470 association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal https://doi.org/10.24974/16.1.470 hughes karnes association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue1 141 rosa, j. (2019). looking like a language, sounding like a race: raciolinguistic ideologies and the learning of latinidad. new york, ny: oxford university press. 312 pp. isbn-13: 978-01090634735. paperback: $39.95 elizabeth hughes karnes texas tech university in 2019, dr. jonathan rosa published looking like a language, sounding like a race as the culmination of research that began with his dissertation fieldwork in 2007. the book is organized into three parts: “introduction: making latinx identities and managing american anxieties,” “part i: looking like a language: latinx ethnoracial category-making;” and “part ii: sounding like a race: latinx raciolinguistic enregisterment.” the introduction includes a densely packed theoretical framework that explores the ways communities and individuals construct identity at the socially mediated intersection of language and race. rosa crafts the theoretical framework to address a specialized audience of linguistic anthropology and educational linguistic scholars. in parts i and ii, rosa grounds these theoretical concepts in detailed ethnographic descriptions of students and administrators, most of whom are latinx, in chicago’s new northwest high school (nnhs). the ethnographic narrative makes this book accessible across multiple fields of study. fields of study that would benefit from this work are educational leadership, esl/bilingual education, applied linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and many more. as an ethnography, the book is not organized in a linear fashion, rather it naturally evolves to represent the complexities that rosa observed in this community. the end result is an analysis of raciolinguistic ideologies that is extremely useful for pre-service and in-service teachers, and for versatile scholars who are interested in the intersection of race, language, and education. in the introduction, rosa works to dismantle racial logics that position latinidad in a spectrum of race and ethnicity that ranges from blackness to whiteness. he asserts that the problem with spectrum-based racialized assemblage is that they position the people within each racial category as homogenous. however, rosa argues that “there is infinite phenotypic heterogeneity” within all populations (p. 3). rosa challenges supremacist groups’ fear that an increase in immigration of latinxs will create a new “mixed-race american future” by explaining hughes karnes association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue1 142 that this fear erroneously relies on hard-set racial boundaries that never actually existed (p. 3). the racialized population of “latinidad, in its joint articulation alongside prevailing forms of racialized difference, including africanness, asianness, and various american indigeneities, is more than 500 years in the making, yet always just on the demographic horizon” (p. 15). rosa explains that social institutions reproduce the fear that, because these groups are the same in their otherness, they will band together and emerge in enormous numbers and overthrow a white supremacy. rosa purposefully juxtaposes this same otherness by exploring the difference between linguistic practices of puerto rican and mexican immigrants and highlighting how this artificially constructed boundary between racialized groups ignores their diverse realities. rosa includes the historical perspective to show that the supremacist fear of impending doom never arrives, yet is always present. rosa explains this fearfully imagined future creates a system that says “always not yet, or perhaps, never quite yet. if you would just learn english; no, unaccented english; no, the right variety of english…” (p. 15). in sum, rosa elegantly articulates how this never quite yet assemblage creates anxieties for people in socially identified latinx communities, where institutional practices in the public school system reinforce artificial racial boundaries through language policy. to understand the ways in which “languages are perceived as racially embodied and race is perceived as linguistically intelligible,” rosa conducted an ethnographic study from 2007-2010 at nnhs in a predominantly mexican and puerto rican community in chicago (p. 2). after meeting with the principal, dr. baez, about doing field work at nnhs, rosa was hired as a tutor in the school’s avid program (advancement via individual determination). the avid program is a global non-profit organization that trains teachers to support students who are traditionally underrepresented at universities and colleges in the united states. nnhs opened in 2004 with enrollment available to the general public in a neighborhood that was considered low performing on federal and state assessments, yet dr. baez restructured the school to have block scheduling and student professional development that mirrored procedures at the city’s magnet (prestigious selective enrollment) high schools. rosa chose this school because, through the combination of the avid program and other campus procedures that are typically used in selective enrollment schools, nnhs offered an unusual opposition to institutionally imposed marginalization that is common in low-income and minority neighborhoods. hughes karnes association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue1 143 rosa also chose nnhs for the site of his ethnographic study because of the ongoing ways dr. baez disrupts the opposing binaries of multicultural identity versus fully assimilated american. rosa notes that in baez’s interactions with the students and community, baez consistently rejects the opposing binaries by drawing on language that recognizes racialized stereotypes of these binaries while simultaneously disrupting this stereotype by mirroring the magnet school program. dr. baez states her goal for the students: “when people look at these students they see them as gangbangers and hoes [whores]…i want them to see young latino professionals” (p. 11). she defines the term professional as a high-school graduate who is “economically self-sustaining” and contributes to their communities (12). rosa is careful to note that dr. baez does not limit the financial aspect of this definition to “privileged sectors of the formal economy” (p. 12). under baez’s leadership, the graduation rate rose from 50% to 98%, at which point rosa started his ethnographic research. in the book, rosa positions dr. baez as an example of successful educational leadership, which makes this book an excellent addition to educational leadership courses, as well as an anti-racist book study for in-service public-school administration. rosa also positions the students of nnhs as experts, particularly at navigating racialized categories because of the ways in which they “contort” their embodied racial identity and language to meet the shifting demands of various cultural situations (p. 72). instead of focusing on these students’ linguistic performance in isolation, rosa described the raciolinguistic enregisterment of these students. rosa defines enregisterment as “the processes through which forms of language become endowed with cultural value” (p. 7). during his years at the school, rosa adopted this perspective and embedded himself into the students’ daily practices in order to become an active participant in their linguistic realities. he conducted interviews with many 9th-12th grade students to question why and how these authentic linguistic forms were constructed as symbols of race, and why and how the students’ perceptions of race were constructed through language. this book has an extraordinary depth of raciolinguistic theory packed into it and could easily be the central focus of a graduate level class. the introduction in particular is so densely packed with theoretical concepts, instructors would need to carefully scaffold instruction and provide more time for the introduction than the other parts of the book. for in-service teachers, administrators, and teacher educators, multiple readings of this book would hughes karnes association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue1 144 continuously reveal a wealth of implications. this book has implications across multiple disciplines, but the theoretical density could make the content inaccessible to scholars and educators who have not studied anthropology. because of the highly technical language of the book, a glossary of theoretical terms would have been beneficial. chapter 4 will be of great value as curriculum for pre-service teachers and could also be used as professional development for in-service teachers. in this chapter 4, rosa describes how social institutions position bilinguals as languageless (neither fluent in their native language nor in english). he explains that educational agencies write accountability assessments from the perspective of monolingual language ideologies, which do not accurately assess the linguistic contortions emergent bilinguals expertly wield to meet the rhetorical needs of the discourse context. therefore, chapter 4 carries serious implications for educational policy. overall, scholars and educators will find great value in this book: it positions community, administrators, and students as expert navigators in a difficult situation of imposed racial, economic, linguistic, and social boundaries. rosa represents these stakeholders as experts because they deal with the day-to-day realities of education in public schools while they simultaneously implement operational changes that transform the systemically imposed boundaries. the book provides a concrete example through the nuanced details of the school’s operations and uses raciolinguistic theory to show how these operations successfully disrupt the marginalization of nnhs students. by combining the messy realities of public education with raciolinguistic theory, rosa provides tools for all educators to likewise challenge systemic discrimination at their home campuses. ultimately, rosa spotlights the community, administrators, and students of nnhs to provide hope for the future by showing how these stakeholders are already creating more just institutional practices at the intersection of language, identity, and race. amae journal cover template (general) elizabeth.pdf hughes final publish book review.pdf association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal volume 19 issue 1 2025 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor jerry romero jr. the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu journal issn: 2377-9187 association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 62 review of good boys, bad hombres singh, m. v. (2024). good boys, bad hombres: the racial politics of mentoring latino boys in schools. university of minnesota press. pp. 268. isbn13: 9781517912987 paperback: $29.00 josé omar serna texas christian university in good boys, bad hombres: the racial politics of mentoring latino boys in schools, michael v. singh offers a provocative and timely critique of school-based mentorship programs targeted at latinx boys. drawing from two years of ethnographic research in an urban california school district, singh argues that these initiatives—often touted as progressive interventions— frequently reproduce racial, gender, and class hierarchies under the guise of empowerment. the book challenges readers to rethink what it means to “mentor” youth of color and interrogates how even well-meaning programs may entrench harmful ideologies. singh’s work contributes a critical voice to education research that interrogates neoliberalism, race, and masculinity in schools. this book speaks to a broad interdisciplinary audience. researchers in education, latinx studies, gender studies, and critical race theory will find in singh’s work a rigorous theoretical and methodological intervention. at the same time, the book is essential for educators, school counselors, youth mentors, and policymakers engaged in the design or implementation of programs for boys of color. for these practitioners, singh offers an invitation to critically reflect on the assumptions underlying their work and the institutional logics that shape mentoring programs in schools. the book is also a powerful tool for community-based organizations invested in creating more inclusive and liberatory spaces for latinx youth. at the heart of singh’s book is a compelling critique of the racialized and gendered logics embedded within school-based mentoring initiatives. singh introduces the concept of the “good association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 63 boy/bad hombre” binary to describe how latino boys are positioned either as redeemable and respectable or as deviant and dangerous. mentoring programs, he argues, are often less about liberation and more about containment. these programs seek to cultivate a form of “respectable” latino masculinity that is heteronormative, patriarchal, and aligned with middleclass behavioral norms. in doing so, they promote respectability politics and discipline behaviors and identities that fall outside dominant scripts of manhood. the book takes aim at how these initiatives align with broader neoliberal multicultural ideologies. singh shows how the programs valorize the family, hard work, and “positive” male role models while marginalizing queer, disabled, and nonconforming youth. rather than confronting structural inequalities—such as racism, anti-blackness, and economic dispossession—the programs often place the burden of success on individual boys and their ability to self-regulate, persevere, and conform. empowerment, in this context, becomes a disciplinary project. yet singh’s analysis does not stop at critique. he also brings attention to moments of youth resistance—when boys reject the narratives imposed on them, challenge the authority of mentors, or creatively reimagine their identities. these acts, however small, become sites of possibility for rethinking what mentorship might look like if it were grounded in relationality, care, and decolonial ethics. one of the book’s most compelling features is singh’s use of ethnography to interrogate the racialized and gendered logics of school-based mentoring. over the course of two years, he conducted fieldwork in a california school district, observing and participating in a district-wide initiative focused on improving the “success” of latino boys. his qualitative approach incorporates detailed observation, interviews with students, educators, and mentors, as well as close analysis of institutional discourse and affective dynamics. these methods allow singh to trace how empowerment narratives are operationalized in everyday school life. the ethnographic descriptions are richly textured and offer a nuanced account of how mentoring programs function not only as supportive interventions but also as mechanisms of social regulation. singh captures how students both take up and push back against normative association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 64 ideals of masculinity, respectability, and success. his approach is rigorous, relational, and theoretically grounded, illuminating the complex interplay between policy, pedagogy, and student experience. rather than relying on abstractions or policy analysis alone, singh’s grounded methodology makes visible the contradictions within institutional efforts to “help” latino boys. this critical attention to everyday practice provides a compelling foundation for the book’s broader argument about the racial politics of school-based mentorship. singh’s work builds on and extends a lineage of critical scholarship examining the intersections of race, schooling, and discipline. it echoes and deepens the insights of victor m. ríos’s punished, which examined the criminalization of young men of color, and carla shalaby’s troublemakers, which challenged deficit frameworks in education. like these authors, singh is attuned to the structural forces that shape youth experiences. however, good boys, bad hombres makes a distinct contribution by focusing explicitly on school-based mentorship and the politics of latinx masculinity. what sets singh’s work apart is his incorporation of queer-of-color critique and decolonial thought. while many studies call for culturally relevant pedagogy or more diverse representation in schools, singh asks more difficult questions: what forms of latinidad are being promoted? who gets to be seen as “successful”? and at what cost? his analysis pushes the field beyond inclusion and representation, toward a fundamental rethinking of the logics that undergird youth development programs. one of the book’s greatest strengths lies in its theoretical clarity and refusal to accept dominant narratives about empowerment. singh does not romanticize mentorship, nor does he offer simple solutions. instead, he asks readers to sit with discomfort, to examine their own complicities, and to imagine alternative frameworks grounded in justice and relationality. another strength is singh’s attentiveness to youth voices. rather than treating young people as passive subjects, the book centers their agency, humor, critique, and complexity. these moments are some of the most powerful in the text, illustrating how students navigate, resist, and negotiate the institutional expectations placed upon them. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 65 that said, readers interested in programmatic alternatives or concrete models of liberatory mentorship may find the book more gestural than prescriptive. while singh offers a compelling critique of dominant frameworks, his suggestions for practice remain largely theoretical. additionally, while the focus on chicanx boys in a california district provides valuable depth, a broader engagement with the diversity of latinx experiences—particularly afro-latinx and indigenous youth—would have expanded the book’s reach and resonance. for educators and mentors, singh’s work offers a necessary invitation to reflect on the underlying assumptions of their programs and practices. rather than asking how we can “fix” youth, singh prompts us to ask what kinds of futures our programs are preparing youth for— and who is excluded from these visions. he encourages us to consider mentorship not as behavior management, but as a space for affirming complex identities, building relationships, and fostering collective transformation. at the policy level, the book suggests the need for a shift away from individual-level interventions and toward structural change. singh’s critique of neoliberal multiculturalism has implications for how school districts fund, assess, and publicize mentoring initiatives. his work asks whether these programs genuinely serve youth or serve to protect institutional interests and public image. one of the most powerful contributions of this book emerges from singh’s inclusion of reflections by two mentors who took a critical stance toward the mentoring program in which they participated. drawing from these reflections, singh articulates seven justice-oriented principles for men of color working with boys of color. these principles are: (1) challenge deficit-based perspectives; (2) refuse the roles of hero and savior; (3) disrupt the heteropatriarchal imagination of male mentorship; (4) deconstruct, rather than reconstruct, manhood; (5) critically analyze how cultural relevancy is framed and valued; (6) challenge antiblack framings of multiculturalism; and (7) teach and dream toward educational justice. these principles extend the book’s theoretical critique into the realm of praxis, offering a generative framework for mentors committed to transformative and liberatory work. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 66 good boys, bad hombres is a powerful and necessary book that challenges readers to fundamentally reconsider the goals and consequences of mentorship in schools. singh’s analysis is sharp, grounded, and politically urgent. he refuses to offer easy answers, instead equipping us with better questions—questions that disrupt the binaries of “at risk” and “successful,” “good boys” and “bad hombres,” and that push us to imagine mentoring as a radical, relational, and liberatory practice. for educators, researchers, and community advocates committed to justice for latinx youth, this book is essential reading. it is not simply a critique—it is a call to build something better. josé omar serna, texas christian university, united states of america. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 42 a snapshot of the latinx teaching experience in the new latino diaspora jesús alejandro tirado auburn university abstract as the nation’s classrooms (and the nation itself) undergo a demographic change, we have to wonder what will happen to the teaching profession and attitudes as minority teachers start to fill the ranks of this profession. this study seeks to contribute to this work with the interviews of four latinx teachers who are working in the new latino diaspora. these teachers come from a variety of fields, math, english and social studies and work in different places. their words and ideas help us understand the ideas and practices that they implement and how they will change the classroom. exploring these changes provides one way that we can understand what minority teachers bring to the classroom and how they can help their students learn and grow. keywords: latinx, teachers, minority teachers doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.439 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.439 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.439 latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 43 introduction as the classroom and the nation become more black, brown, and yellow, the teachers who run and administer these classrooms remain white (bower-phipps, homa, albaladejo, johnson, & cruz, 2013; busey & waters, 2016; united states census bureau, 2010). there are hopes that the population of teachers will also reflect these changing demographics. this is because research has shown that teachers from minoritized populations connect well to their students (cherng & halpin, 2016) and help bring students, schools, and their communities together (harklau & colomer, 2015). as encouraging as these changes are, they reveal that the role of educators of color need to be further examined to discover and explore more about their work ethic and professionalism. given how much of the history of minority teachers has been lost (kafka, 2016), more inquiry into what latinx teachers bring into schools and why their presence matters so much in classrooms is needed. the research questions for this project are: how do latinx teachers see their role in their schools? how do they approach their students? and does their identity shape their career approach and outlook? to contribute to this conversation, i spoke with four latinx teachers about how they see themselves, their schools, and their systems. in alignment with national and regional demographic changes, latinx teachers are more likely to represent their students as they can share experiences of marginalization and can serve as role models for their students. this article will explore the existing research about latinx teachers before going into the methodological choices and why interviewing was used to generate the data for this inquiry. then this article will explore the words that these teachers shared with me and will discuss how they framed their work with their students, schools, and community. theoretical framework for this inquiry, latinx critical race theory (latcrit) provided a perspective to shape the stories, identities, and insights of the teachers. latcrit provides a theoretical vantage point to value the voices and knowledges of the underrepresented and marginalized (solórzano & yosso, 2002). latcrit does this while maintaining a focus on race and racism, and issues of language, immigration, and social justice (raible & irizarry, 2015; solórzano & bernal, 2001). starting with the stories of these teachers provides a useful vantage point for examining structural issues and their approach to their jobs. latcrit's emphasis on stories and structural analysis provides a wide-angle lens view for many teachers and understanding their context. tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 44 personal narratives and stories are important to latcrit, as they allow for the people themselves to tell their story and build from that to create knowledge (urrieta, kolano, & jo, 2015). most narratives about teachers stress deficits and challenges as opposed to talking about possibilities (cochran smith, villegas, abrams, chávez moreno, & mills, 2016), and in contrast latcrit positions the personal narrative as a valuable place to explore so we can question and explore how latinx teachers place themselves in this debate and their work. this work contributes by looking at how teachers see themselves in the classroom and approach it given serious political rhetoric that is not acting in their favor. exploring how latinx teachers see and frame their personal connection to the school and the people in it provides an important point to discuss and share how this group is changing schools and what they are bringing to changing classrooms. the other theoretical lens that matters for this story is intersectionality as it helps maintain a complex view of the world and the forces that shape it. collins and bilge (2016) wrote that “intersectionality is a way of understanding and analysing the complexity in the world, in people, and in human experiences. the events and conditions of social and political life and the self can seldom be understood as shaped by one factor” (p. 2). understanding how different identities come together to form and frame our experiences matters a great deal especially when thinking about and working with latinxs. as portes (2007) stated in his work, the latinx population is diverse and complex with different socioeconomic, geographic, regional, and racial factors. for this work, latinxs are also teachers, which implies they held diverse perspectives in terms of education and their role as educators. balancing these theoretical frames allows for a better contextualization of the words and experiences of these teachers. research about latinx teachers there has been research about what latinx teachers bring to the classroom; and the issue of underrepresentation constantly appears in these works (carter andrews, castro, cho, petchauer, richmond, & floden, 2019; cherng & halpin, 2016). darling-hammond, holtzman, gatlin, and vasquez heilig (2005) mentioned the disparity between representation of students and teachers in their study about teacher preparation and teacher demographics. their work exemplifies the problem that busey and waters (2016) and bower-phipps, homa, albaladejo, johnson, and cruz (2013) discussed the changing demographics of classrooms while teachers and teacher preparation programs remain mostly white. their research represented one of the latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 45 continuous issues with how teachers come into the field and how they become teachers. along with the specific struggles of latinx pre-service and in-service teachers in the classroom. while latinx teachers struggle to get into the classroom, there has been research on what latinx professionals bring to the school. sokolowski, antrop-gonzalez, and maldonado (2010) noted how schools in central florida struggled to serve an increasing puerto rican student population with “only a handful of latinx teachers” (p. 226) while most latinxs “were secretaries, guidance counselors, and esl support staff” (p. 227). their research examined a school with issues and a population that was struggling to integrate into the region. however, latinx students and staff believed that they were listened to and were hopeful about the school becoming a better place. this optimism stands out because it highlights the ability to see communities change and overcome the challenges that they face. latinx teachers bring more to the school than just representation to their faculties and schools. austin, willett, gebhard, and laó montes (2010) concluded after working with latinx preservice teachers that this population brought different ideas and practices to the classroom. furthermore, they found that these new ideas and practices persist throughout the program and as these teachers enter the classroom. salinas and castro (2010) voiced a similar theme noting that latinx preservice teachers tend to value social justice and multicultural elements of education instead of more typical ones, such as deficit thinking and didactic teaching. their research opens the idea that latinx teachers approach the profession very differently than the typical pre-service candidate. building on current literature, the present work seeks to continue building on how we understand latinx teachers and their approach towards the different kinds of practices and the profession of teaching. method to explore the thoughts and experiences of latinx teachers, this study utilized interviews with the four latinx teachers. interviewing stands as one cornerstone of data collection for researchers across disciplines and helps for the exploration and investigation into countless subjects (roulston, 2010; singh, 2015). these interviews sought to understand the many complex ways that teachers were seeing their role in schools and the classroom. i created a semi-structured interview for my participants that asked open-ended questions to get the participants to talk about and describe how they see their schools and understand the culture of their work. looking at culture and the language are two tools and techniques that tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 46 connect to this work and methods to the theoretical framework of interviewing and critical theories (madison, 2011 spradley, 1979). in the interviews, the four teachers and i began our discussions with descriptions of how they framed their identity, their school, and career and then moved on to explanations of values, actions, and practices. each teacher was interviewed for about an hour. teachers chose their own pseudonyms to protect their identity. each interview was then transcribed and coded following the interview. the scripts were read several times to create codes that tried to maintain the focus on the words and experiences of these teachers. the codes were then organized into themes that related to their experiences in the classroom. latcrit maintained the focus on community and social perspective in the analysis of the data and generation of themes. context the new latino diaspora (nld) encapsulates the regions experiencing growing latinx populations (wainer, 2004). in these regions, latinx teachers can play a part in building connections across their changing community and schools for all students (beck & allexsahtsnider, 2008; richardson bruna, 2015). this is particularly important as the nld reaches into regions not often associated with traditional immigrant gateways into the us and even seeing transformations within local communities as the latinx communities become more diverse. this work peeks into the classrooms of latinx teachers from across the nld from connecticut to alabama to florida that all experienced demographic transformations. participants the four participants of this study represent a wide range of teaching experiences and subjects. marenia taught math in the northeast and came from a central american background and was the least experienced of the four. monica, a social studies teacher from the southeast, was the most experienced and from a cuban background. ben and molley had experience in teaching in secondary and higher education classrooms for their subject matter, foreign language and english respectively. ben came from a central american background and molley was from a cuban family. latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 47 table 1 the teachers name* subject/location years of teaching latinx background marenia math/northeast 5+ central american molley english/southeast 10+ cuban ben foreign language/southeast 14+ central american monica social studies/southeast 20+ cuban * note: names are pseudonyms positionality the participants and i taught in different schools with different contents and contexts, and i see many similarities between their teaching experiences and my own. being a latinx teacher was one of the formative experiences of my career. it was as then when i first began to notice the large forces working inside my school and from society. for this reason, i aimed to find out how other latinx teachers are framing their schools, practices, and potential contributions to these spaces. for myself, i knew being latinx was a key part of this experience and i wanted to know how others felt about their experiences. being latinx has always been a part of my identity, but one that can complicate this work. as a mexican-american, i worked to be active in the latinx community through organizations and i remained connected through various organizations and my work. being latinx helped me connect with these teachers and it gave us something to talk about, providing a common ground to share. talking to cubans, central americans or even other mexicanamericans who grew up or worked in different parts of the country meant exploring the similarities and differences we had. analysis once the data was collected, the task of analysis needed to center in the voices of participants. to start, i transcribed these interviews at which point, i read through them line by line and created codes based off of those readings. codes, according to the methods described tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 48 by charmaz (2014), must be kept as descriptive as possible. once these codes were created, i organized them into similar groups and from there i generated themes. i wrote brief memos about each of the themes which was followed with an overview of the data and i found the best examples express what the codes meant to the teachers in their words. keeping the data and stories central to maintain consistency with the theoretical frameworks, so i kept their words at the heart of my findings, later writing a section about how theory informs these findings. findings my interviews with the teachers revealed many things about how they saw themselves and their schools. the themes that i pulled out of these interviews were that: 1) my participants valued what their latinx-ness brought to the classroom and their relationships with students, 2) they paid attention to the social issues and contexts that affected their school, and 3) they placed a high value on professionalism and connected it to themselves. for these teachers, they were aware of how they approached their profession, students, and community. from playing “escuelita” (ben, 2015) as a young child, meaning that he acted as a teacher for his toys, to taking part in the conversations around the teaching profession, teachers not only saw themselves as educators but as immersed in the school culture but also as contributing to the education and lives of their students. this carried through to how they saw their students and community. professionalism is personal teaching for the four participants was deeply personal and something they saw a part of themselves. they shared stories with me about wanting to be a teacher from an early age or an experience that convinced them that teaching was a profession for them. these earlier experiences came coupled with wanting to share a part of themselves and their expertise with others. whether it was a love of languages like ben, or math like mariena, or writing like molley, sharing something was so important to them grounded their drive to be a teacher. this section explores these drives and foundations. it is meaningful that all the teachers saw teaching as something they did and wanted to do from a young age. monica told me that “teaching is actually in my blood” and she comes from generations of teachers. molley told me that having great teachers inspired her to enter the classroom. marenia came to teach after tutoring. having positive experiences with teaching planted the idea in their head they could be teachers and what they could accomplish in the latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 49 classroom—ideas they followed through and later realized. while it may be hard to say this early beginning is essential to getting latinxs to become teachers, it is important to realize that it was an important impetus for these teachers and allowed them to have great perspectives about their career paths. while ben and molley expressed hesitation to enter the teaching profession, monica and marenia never wavered from this goal. ben had studied foreign languages in colleges and while searching for a job close to graduation, he found work teaching english abroad. this reconnected him to early days of teaching and set him up for a lifelong career. molley got to college and “toyed briefly with being a journalist,” which did not last long when she found her true passion in english and education classes. marenia did not finish the teaching certification program at her college and instead applied and enrolled in a master’s program at the same institution to get certified and become a teacher. monica planned and picked her college based on wanting to become a teacher. the profession roots through these teachers and stemmed from their personal connections. connections to students the teachers expressed a deep connection and concern over their students and wanted to help them regardless of race or ethnicity. this meant that they felt connected to their students and they wanted to do the best they could to help them feel safe and connected to the classroom so they could place priority on their learning. in these cases, the learning took a central role and the teachers thought of how they could help their students do and perform better in school. these teachers cared about their students as people. monica described this well, noting that her students: …have shared their joys and triumphs but they’ve also shared the things with me that, okay, i need to do what i have to do and be an advocate for this child. (monica, 2015) monica, like many of the teachers, embraces the difficult task of being there and being present for her students through many challenges and has enjoyed seeing her students grow, even describing that sometimes they trust me with their deepest darkest secrets, and as a teacher i have this responsibility that i have to report anything that needs to be report [sic] and i’ve had to tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 50 and they still have that trust in me afterward because they know that i am there to take care of them. (monica, 2015) monica focused on seeing her students and their challenges, not as problems or deficits, but as parts of who they are and part of their learning and growing. her concerns included student learning and extended into how her students saw themselves as people in the world. this comes from a deep passion for learning about a deep connection she wants to build with her students. ben, in a similar vein, cared about his students learning and placed that at the center of the relationship. ben told me that: i think the role of affect and how you feel, and you know one of the things that was clear to me was that my students are going to learn better from people who they actually care about. and if you are willing to get to know your students… they are really going to perform for you. (ben, 2015) like monica, learning was important to ben, and there is also the larger understanding that being in the classroom is more than just an exercise in teaching and instructing. ben focused a lot of energy and attention to the experience of the classroom and wanted his students to feel a connection to him in that space. he came to this position after struggling to teach when he returned to the us. his students were not learning the way he wanted them to and connecting to his classes was difficult. ben talked about being guarded as a young teacher and how that stood between him, his content, and his students. once he gave up what he thought were foundations of teaching and worked more on reaching out to his students, he found new and exciting ways to teach and reach his kids and make them excited about learning. ben learned much on the job about teaching through his struggles. in his own words he attempted to do what he had seen his professors do without much success. he told me: i had tried to emulate what my professors had done and i realized it wasn’t working so i just started trying things and experimenting and messing up and sometimes having good days and see what was really working and i realized it had a lot more to do with personal connections than actual you know being very academic which is how i started... ben offers a quick summary of the learning he’s done as a teacher stating that just replicating what he saw his professors do was not enough. it is only once he starts experimenting with his teaching and finding his own pedagogy that ben starts to have some success according to his latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 51 account. it is telling that this success comes once he begins making connections with his students and valuing those connections. just being academic was not enough for ben to have success, he needs his students to invest and be successful in order for his classroom to work. this level of personal connection does connect to his latinx-ness. ben knew that being latinx as a classroom teacher meant something beyond wanting his presence to be a positive influence, ben worked to make sure he was using the best pedagogical strategies. while he did not think he connected only to his latinx students, he felt that those students were benefiting more from him being in the classroom. ben told me: i’ve been fortunate enough to work in schools that are, that have a large latino population so i think that anytime you have a model of someone who not only you can identify with but who has also been able to do what you are trying to do … and you see someone who is latino… it makes their interest more real and the fact that they can succeed more. (ben, 2015) connecting to his students was important, as was providing a different role model and example of what a classroom, and a teacher, can look like. for ben, ensuring his students had multiple examples of success in school was important to him. this was a break from his own schooling experience; ben talked about how most of his teachers were white, distant, and focused on learning content. breaking that mold meant shifting and pushing himself out of his comfort zone. understanding their school the teachers with whom i worked knew of the power dynamics in their schools and how they fit in them. their identity as latinxs played a role in shaping some of these dynamics but often, their presence and identities as hard working and capable teachers also shaped these experiences. a few of the teachers commented about how race and ethnicity, along with gender and religion, played roles in dividing and separating the teachers from working together. monica discussed how even religion had played a role in one school where she worked, even leading to the formation of cliques in the school and groups that self-segregated around those issues. these teachers saw and accessed many tensions in schools but for the teachers in this study, their latinx identity gave them a stronger ability to access their students and other conflicts in this way and this section will explore their ideas about this. monica knew language afforded her a great power in working with students and families, even if her anglo-martial last name masked this commonality with her students and community. tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 52 monica told me that often in the first days of school, the english language learners in her school would be nervous about having her as a teacher because they knew a lack of spanish ability would make learning and discussions difficult. once monica spoke spanish to them, the students and parents opened up to her, and she knew seeing her in person and meeting her helped to make this happen. monica told me that after she spoke spanish to kids and parents then [parents and students] speak to me and i understand them, and it really helps them feel better in the class because i am able to communicate with them in their native language and it helps students open up more to me. (monica, 2015) sharing many commonalities with students and their families provided, for monica, an important bridge to the larger community of her students and also, she saw it as a way for their community to connect to her. the act of speaking spanish and being a latinx helped monica bridge gaps with kids with negative labels, and when she shared some of her skills, abilities, and self with them, they opened up to her and formed a more familiar classroom together. beyond language skills, the teachers had a heightened awareness of social dynamics in their schools. while monica expressed qualms about exclusionary cliques in her school among the teachers, this was the experience for all of the teachers in this study. almost all the teachers (including monica when she talked about her current school) described their workplaces and work environments with great attention to detail. in her workplace, marenia described groupings and cliques determined by perceived work ethic, tenure, and political power. she described an “old boys club” that wielded power by exerting pressure and making their presence and problems well known. this group, according to marenia, voiced frustration to adapting to new policy initiatives, a sentiment that many teachers felt but few expressed. in marenia’s words: i think there’s a lot of pressure to change things right away and that’s like at the school level and the district level, so i think that sometimes does not come across in [the] best way because what happens is that the teachers feel [an] unfair amount of pressure to also create that amount of change in their classroom and it trickles down, i think that’s a part of it, this whole pass down pressure, administrators feel pressure from the district to make all this change and the administrators are sorta putting the pressure on the teachers to make change.. um, what i found is that sometimes, i’ll have a one-onone conversation with an administrator and i’m able to reason with them about why i can’t latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 53 make a certain change right away or why my data might you know something that might not you know on the surface look like a big amount of change. (marenia, 2015) marenia’s vision of the structural problems of her school are clear. she sees the different conflicts that impact her ability to teach in the classroom, ranging from district policies to school-wide issues and politics. there is an awareness of how the different issues weigh on different aspects of the school and the people in the school. marenia saw the pressure that her administrators created and how it was created by the pressures of schooling. she knew the administrators only acted in response to policy pressures from positions far above the school level. along with a heightened knowledge about their schools, marenia’s statement also displays an ability to work within the system. engaging with administrators about various issues one-on-one gave marenia a better opportunity to explain herself and work with those in charge about what she was seeing and working on. the ability to change the subject from large institutional pressure to smaller scale observations has given marenia many opportunities to work within her school to provide space for her work with kids. while this is not always possible, the ability for her and the other teachers to see this potential opportunity is enough to see that latinx teachers, such as those in this study, knew of their school contexts and how they can carve spaces for themselves within them. teaching context the teachers knew of challenges facing the teaching profession. monica and ben talked about pressures due to testing, increased bureaucracy, and intrusions into the classroom and content. yet these are not the only ways that the teaching profession is being challenged. the teachers found themselves subject to tirades, run-arounds by administrators, lackluster working relationships with peers, and frustration with policies. the teachers themselves expressed frustration and found these behaviors difficult to deal with. they wanted to find better ways of being professional and working with their peers to make schools a better place despite the problems and the discourse that undermined their work. some of the behaviors that these teachers witnessed displayed the changing nature of the profession. monica told a story about being berated in the middle of a meeting and being punished for what looked like bad testing results. she told me: tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 54 not this past school year but before, the principal thought we did poorly on our state test, so on the last day he had everyone come in to see him in the cafeteria, this was after, we were supposed to leave at 12 and he called this at 1 and for about 30 minutes she really berated us and how we didn’t really do our jobs and we, we needed to do better and we need to take professional development and that’s something we’ve all done and at the end it was all for nothing because we got rated an a school. (monica, 2015) the awareness of how politics and performance affect schools reveal complex thinking, acting, and framing about the community and how it is working together. monica’s account of the tirade not only includes a demoralizing portrayal of the teachers, but also the students. monica was troubled by how the principal was speaking to them and inaccurately portraying the school. she mentioned that the principal’s action items were things that the staff already did. she felt even more upset once test scores and the school's rating were published, and she felt like the tirade was unwarranted. monica felt that the principal had disrespected the staff and her, and she worried that this resulted from the precarious state of the teaching profession and the students they worked with which included many minoritized groups including latinxs and english language learners. molley talked about the state of the teaching profession being transformed and becoming de-professionalized. after teaching in high schools for many years, molley worked in a teacher preparation program at a university and worried about the state of the profession. she told me: i’ve heard people say this, like that teaching is not a profession, you know what i mean, and it’s due to how poorly teachers are paid, the gender imbalance… i think we need massive educational reform in this country, and it begins with the teachers, and it begins with how teachers are educated, and how they are compensated, and how they’re treated. (molley, 2015) molley saw many structural problems with portrayals of teaching. her own experience, what she saw how teaching was portrayed and described was detrimental to helping classrooms become better and helping teachers improve. she saw how teaching was being deprofessionalized especially in how teaching was being attacked and maligned. molley felt strongly about the various problems of teaching, the other teachers in the study shared similar latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 55 sentiments. they worried about classroom instructional prescription, the spread of testing, and these challenges of how administrators looked at and thought about teaching. for these teachers, they knew of their profession’s precarious place. discussion latcrit helps us see these latinx teachers and their struggles by highlighting the various challenges of teaching and how policies weakened teachers through their words and valuing their knowledges. these teachers spoke about their jobs and their work with their students with great passion, and while they acknowledged the negative depictions of teachers, they did not care about it. molley’s idea about the de-professionalization of teachers connected to the language of the profession and one that she saw as dishonest and damaging for teachers and students. while they were discouraged by the language and sentiments brought against teachers, these teachers wanted to keep students at the center of the process and maintain the power of the teacher-student relationship. yet, using her identities combined, teacher and latinx, monica constructed a space where she could be help for her students and families. latcrit shows how valuable language is at negotiating these different spaces. in a latcrit framework, language provides an important vantage point for seeing inequality and inequity in schools (irizarry & raible, 2014; pérez huber, 2010; solórzano & bernal, 2001). monica and the other teachers knew that while speaking spanish gave her special access to her students and families, it also created a barrier between those same students, families, and the school. these teachers all placed helping students at the forefront of their career goals, and they used all their skills and abilities to reach that goal. language and identity made these connections easier for these teachers. for marenia and the other teachers to take advantage of power and space in their schools, it would help if they knew of the issues of intersectionality and latcrit. marenia understood the professional identities of her administrators and their pressures that they were experiencing in trying to help the school be successful. she did not wish to vilify them and instead wanted to figure out to make the best working environment for herself and her students. using the lens of latcrit, we can see a drive to disrupt harmful practices and behaviors on her part, but also to make her classroom into a space that listens to and honors the needs of her students. sentiments that can be seen in ben’s and monica’s statements about wanting students to have a connection to the classroom and feel successful. these sentiments tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 56 express a desire about the nature of their classrooms to avoid harmful practices and see students be successful. just as previous research about minoritized teachers exposed how this group can change and transform their classrooms and students’ learning (cherng & halpin, 2016; harklau & colomer, 2015), this research connects to what these teachers are bringing into the classroom. these include an empowered self-awareness about what they bring into the classroom as they seek to connect to students who like them have faced structural problems and prejudices in school. they also carry into class a keen sense of professionalism to be the best teacher they can. this drive for excellence and to connect with the students provides us with an insight into what drives these teachers to be so transformational. imbibing their classroom with this strong approach to work, we can start to see how these teachers make such a difference in the lives of their students and create better schools. limitations and future research this study sought to look into how latinx teachers understood their professionalism and their role in education and schools. milk (1994) comments that shared ethnicity is not enough to build connections in the classroom and that obstacles, like standardized tests and a lack of diverse teacher education, can prevent important connections from being made. even as i have finished up the analysis portion of my work, i am left with some questions about how latinx teachers might change and shift education across the nation and, in particular, in the states and areas that are a part of the new latino diaspora. issues of identity within the community come to the forefront of my mind. given how complex these demographic changes are, it would be an error to assume that there exists one method or approach that can help ameliorate these challenges. (portes, 2007), but it is becoming a mix of nationalities, ethnicities, races, types of employment, languages, and even shares a variety of living locations around this nation. instead of seeing it as a monolithic ethnic group. flores and huo (2012) described how mistakes about ethnic origin can negatively impact participants even if that identity fell within a pan-ethnic identity. outside of academia, this conversation also holds relevance. in an interview with npr joanna hausmann, a venezuelan-american comedian, stressed that all latinx groups and communities are different and have different takes and stances on issues and cannot hold to one voice or on a single issue (npr, 2016). not only is the latinx population of the latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 57 us growing, portes and hausmann (2016) revealed how complex this community is and how it is being discussed over academic and popular discourses. previouse research has discussed how latinxs have complicated race and ethnicity in the u.s. (odem & lacy, 2009, solórzano & bernal, 2001), and are changing the landscape of politics and communities across the nation. what these teachers revealed was that as latinx teachers, they were seeing these complex issues throughout their careers in the classroom. even if we try, like ben said, to keep the students and their learning at the center, that can become difficult unless you have a strong sense of mission and connections to the people who make up the classroom and school. this drive to help all of their students showed itself as they sought to work with their students and help them be better learners. in conclusion, the teachers in this study revealed a glimpse of the complex ways that they think and work in their schools and how they approach their students. being latinx is itself is complicated and being a teacher is also complex. these teachers grappled with both aspects of their identities (and other things as well) as they molded their classrooms into meaningful spaces and their practices into powerful ones. latcrit and the new latino diaspora have provided a new and shifting context for schools and teachers to address their practices. one benefit of using intersectionality was that it allowed me to see and embrace these complexities and the different power issues that were accompanying these teachers. these teachers provided an insightful glance at how latinx teachers see their classroom and schools and while it is not exhaustive, the insights open further questions about the role of how identity politics shapes the classroom. tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 58 references austin, t., willett, j., gebhard, m., & montes, a. l. (2010). challenges for latino educators crossing symbolic, cultural, and linguistic boundaries: coming to voice in teacher preparation with competing voices. journal of latinos and education, 9(4), 262–283. http://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2010.491040 beck, s. a. l., & allexsaht-snider, m. (2002). recent language minority education policy in georgia: appropriation, assimilation, and americanization. in s. wortham, j. murillo, enrique g., & e. t. hamann (eds.), education in the new latino diaspora: policy and the politics of identity (pp. 37-66). westport, ct: ablex publishing. bilge, s. (2013). saving intersectionality from feminist intersectionality studies. du bois review, 10(2), 405–424. http://doi.org/10.1017/s1742058x13000283 bower-phipps, l., homa, t. d., albaladejo, c., johnson, a. m., & cruz, m. c. (2013). connecting with the “other” side of us: a cooperative inquiry by selfidentified minorities in a teacher preparation program. teacher education quarterly, 40(2), 29–51. busey, c. l., &amp; waters, s. (2016). who are we? the demographic and professional identity of social studies teacher educators. journal of social studies research, 40(1), 71–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2015.07.001 carter andrews, d. j., castro, e., cho, c. l., petchauer, e., richmond, g., & floden, r. (2019). changing the narrative on diversifying the teaching workforce: a look at historical and contemporary factors that inform recruitment and retention of teachers of color. journal of teacher education, 70(1), 6–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487118812418 charmaz, k. (2014). constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). los angeles, ca: sage. cherng, h.-y. s., & halpin, p. f. (2016). the importance of minority teachers: student perceptions of minority versus white teachers. educational researcher, 45(7), 407–420. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x16671718 cochran smith, m., villegas, a. m., abrams, l. w., chávez moreno, l. c., & mills, t. (2016). research on teacher preparation: charting the landscape of a sprawling field. in d. h. gitomer & c. a. bell (eds.), handbook on research on teaching (5th ed.) (pp. 439-547). washington, dc: aera. collins, p. h. & bilge, s. (2016). intersectionality. malden, m.a.: polity press. flores, n. m., & huo, y. j. (2013). “we” are not all alike: consequences of neglecting national origin identities among asians and latinos. social psychological and personality science, 4(2), 143–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550612449025 hamann, e. t. & harklau, l. (2015). revisiting education in the new latino diaspora. in e. t. hamann, s. wortham, & e. g. murillo, jr. (eds.), revisiting education in the new latino diaspora (pp. 3-28). charlotte, nc: information age. harklau, l. & colomer, s. (2015). defined by language: the role of foreign language departments in latino education in southeaster new latino diaspora communities. in e. t. hamann, s. wortham, & e. g. murillo, jr. (eds.). revisiting education in the new latino diaspora (pp. 133-152). charlotte, nc: information age. irizarry, j. g., & raible, j. (2014). “a hidden part of me”: latino/a students, silencing, and the epidermalization of inferiority. equity & excellence in education, 47(4), 430–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2014.958970 irizarry, s., & williams, s. (2013). lending student voice to latino ell migrant children’s perspectives on learning. journal of latinos and education, 12(1991), 171–185. http://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2013.765801 latinx teaching in the new latino diaspora association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 59 kafka, j. (2016). in search of a grand narrative : the turbulent history of teaching. in d. h. gitomer & c. a. bell (eds.), handbook of research on teaching (5th ed., pp. 69–126). washington, dc: aera. klarman, m. j. (2004). from jim crow to civil rights: the supreme court and the struggle for racial equality. new york: oxford university press. lynn, c. a. (2015). a cultural political economy of public schooling in rural south georgia: the push/pull dynamics of immigrant labor. in e. t. hamann, s. wortham, & e. g. murillo, jr. (eds.). revisiting education in the new latino diaspora (pp. 115-132). charlotte, nc: information age. madison, d. s. (2011). critical ethnography: method, ethics, and performance (2nd ed.). los angeles: sage. milk, r. d. (1994). responding successfully to cultural diversity in our schools: the teacher connection. in r. a. devillar, c. j. faltis, & j. p. cummins (eds.), cultural diversity in schools; from rhetoric to practice (pp. 101-116). albany, ny: state university of new york press. national public radio staff. (2016, march 5). a comedian 'rants' on different latino cultures. retrieved march 20, 2016, from https://www.npr.org/2016/03/05/469211567/acomedian-rants-on-different-latino-cultures odem, m. e. & lacy, e. (2009). introduction. in m. e. odem and e. lacy (eds.), latino immigrants and the transformation of the south (pp. 1-17). athens, ga: university of georgia press. paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93–97. http://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12441244 pérez huber, l. (2010). using latina/o critical race theory (latcrit) and racist nativism to explore intersectionality in the educational experiences of undocumented chicana college students. educational foundations, 24(1–2), 77–96. portes, a. (2007). the new latin nation. du bois review, 4(2), 271-301. doi: 10.1017/s1742058x07070166 puar, j. k. (2011). “i would rather be a cyborg than a goddess” becoming-intersectional in assemblage theory. philosophia, 2(1), 49–66. doi:10.1353/phi.2012.0006 raible, j. & irizarry, j. (2015). racialization and the ideology of containment in the education of latinx youth. in e. t. hamann, s. wortham, & e. g. murillo, jr. (eds.). revisiting education in the new latino diaspora (pp. 71-92). charlotte, nc: information age. ravitch, d. (2013). reign of error: the hoax of the privatization movement and the danger to america's public schools. new york: knopf. richardson bruna, k. (2015). the iowa administrators’ and educators’ immersion experience: transcultural sensitivity, transhumanization, and the global soul. in e. t. hamann, s. wortham, & e. g. murillo, jr. (eds.). revisiting education in the new latino diaspora (pp. 307334). charlotte, nc: information age. national public radio staff. (2016, may 1). republican immigration rhetoric leaves latino population feeling disenfranchised [news article]. npr. retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2016/05/01/476227049/republican-immigration-rhetoric-leaves-latinopopulation-feeling-disenfranchised roulston, k. j. (2010). reflective interviewing: a guide to theory and practice. thousand oaks, ca: sage. salinas, c., & castro, a. j. (2010). disrupting the official curriculum: cultural biography and the curriculum decision making of latino preservice teachers. theory and research in social education, 38(3), 428–463. tirado association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 1 60 singh, a. a. (2015). leaning into the ambiguity of liberation: phenomenology for social justice. in c. w. johnson, & d. c. parry (eds.), fostering social justice through qualitative inquiry: a methodological guide (pp. 101-128). walnut creek, ca: left coast press. spradley, j. (1979). the ethnographic interview. new york: harcourt brace. sokolowski, j., antrop-gonzález, r. and maldonado, z. (2010). chasing the florida dream: examining the schooling experiences of puerto rican youth in a large comprehensive high school. centro journal, 22(1), 219-241. solórzano, d. g., & bernal, d. d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308–342. http://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 u.s. census bureau. (2011, march). overview of race and hispanic origin: 2010 (report c2010br02). retrieved from https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf urrieta, l., kolano, l., & jo, j.-y. o. (2015). learning from the testimonio of a "successful" undocumented latino student in north carolina. in e. hamann, s. wortham, and e. g. murillo, jr (eds.), revisiting education in the new latino diaspora (pp. 49-70). charlotte, nc: information age. wainer, a. (2004). the new latino south and the challenge to public education: strategies for educators and policymakers in emerging immigrant communities. los angeles: tomas rivera policy institute. microsoft word amae journal cover template (general).docx volume 16 issue 1 2022 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 53 mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy: the case of the may 25, 1970 memorandum guadalupe san miguel, jr. university of houston abstract during the past several decades, historians have investigated various aspects of the chicano movement. in most of these studies, the important role that moderate liberal activists have played in promoting significant social change during the same period has been slighted. by moderate liberal activists, i mean those who depended on the federal government to help solve the problems facing the mexican-american community, trusted mainstream institutions and political leaders to eliminate discrimination, and, most importantly, rejected the politics of protest. little is known about these individuals. who were these men and women, and how did they contribute to the struggle for social justice and educational equality? the following study examines the role that some moderate liberal educators played in promoting school reform during the height of the chicano movement. it focuses on the drafting of the may 25, 1970 memorandum and the role played by mexican americans in shaping its development. this memorandum was the first major policy developed by the office for civil rights to deal with the issue of discrimination against linguistically distinct children in the public schools. it clarified the department of health, education, and welfare’s (hew) position on the responsibility of local school districts to “provide equal educational opportunity to national origin minority group children deficient in english language skills.” i argue that while mexican american moderates did not play a direct role in the formulation of this policy due to their exclusion from federal agencies prior to the 1960s, they did play a crucial role in its enforcement. their involvement in the implementation of the memorandum was the origins of meaningful mexican-american participation in the shaping of educational policies at the national level. key words: federal education policy; may 25, 1970 memorandum; mexican-american educators; school equity struggles doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.16. 1.461 mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 54 recently, the university of texas published a wonderful study of church occupations and radical politics by latina/o activists during the chicano movement years from the late 1960s to the 1970s. the study, done by the historian felipe hinojosa, focuses on the actions taken by chicana/o and puerto rican activists in four different cities in the country—chicago, houston, los angeles, and new york city—to force catholic and protestant churches to address the issues of urban space, social justice, poverty, racial violence, and racism in their local communities (hinojosa, 2021). this study is representative of the literature that has been published on the chicano movement years since the 1990s. the emphasis of these studies is on the actions and beliefs of the radical leaders and their organizations.1 in most of these studies, the important role that moderate liberal activists played in promoting significant social change during the same period is neglected or slighted. by moderate liberal activists, i mean those who depended on the federal government to help solve their problems, trusted mainstream institutions and political leaders to eliminate discrimination, and, most importantly, rejected the politics of confrontation.2 who were these individuals and what actions did they take during these tumultuous years? the following study examines the role that several moderate liberal activists played during the years of radicalism and focuses on those who promoted educational equality in american life without resorting to protests, demonstrations or other forms of direct action. like moderate activists of prior decades, they utilized a variety of traditional measures to confront racism and institutional discrimination. they filed lawsuits against discrimination in education and supported the enactment of legislation that met their community’s needs.3 they also lobbied federal agencies in the executive branch of government and sought to persuade those in power that their community needed federal assistance in eliminating poverty and discrimination (san miguel, jr., 2018; san miguel, jr., 2022). by the latter part of the 1960s, mexican americans were increasingly appointed to important positions in the federal government and to a variety of committees and commissions. to some extent, they were becoming part of the establishment. as members of these governmental agencies, an increasing number of them began to play key roles in shaping federal executive policies relating to education and civil rights. two important policies they helped shape during the 1970s were the may 25 memorandum at the beginning of the decade and the lau remedies of 1975. the following discusses the former and sheds light on the increasing role moderate mexican san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 55 americans played in the shaping of this policy during the height of the chicano movement. i argue that while mexican-american moderates did not play a direct role in the formulation of this policy due to their exclusion from federal agencies prior to the 1960s, they did play a crucial role in its enforcement. their involvement in the implementation of the may 25 1970 memorandum was the origin of meaningful mexicanamerican participation in the shaping of educational policies at the national level. mexican americans, education, and activism mexican americans did not participate in the shaping of educational policy in the executive branch of government until after the formulation of the may 25, 1970 memorandum. activists in general were not involved at the federal level in any significant manner prior to the 1960s. although mexican americans had a rich historical tradition of civil rights activism since the early 1900s, it was concentrated on challenging racism and discrimination in the southwest and in the mid-west (garcia, 1989; vargas, 2011). in the 1960s, a host of individuals involved in organizations such as the league of united latin americans (lulac), the american g. i. forum (agif), and mexican american political association (mapa), expanded their activism to the national level and began to systematically pressure the president of the united states, congress, and a variety of agencies to recognize mexican americans as a minority group requiring the assistance of the federal government. the voices and complaints of mexican americans, for instance, were loudly heard at the interagency committee hearings held in el paso, in october 1967. at this national hearing, community activists, administrators, teachers, and civil rights leaders from throughout the southwest discussed the barriers facing mexican americans and implored the federal government not only to acknowledge discrimination against this group but to take steps to rectify it. the title of james de anda’s presentation at the hearings said it all. his presentation was titled, “civil rights-need for executive branch to take positive steps to rectify discrimination in jury selection, voting eligibility and school enrollment” (the mexican american, 1967, pp. 217-222). in i967, president lyndon baines johnson finally responded to the community’s pleas for representation and recognition at the federal level. he appointed a few mexican americans to important positions in the executive branch, developed offices, divisions, or units within the various departments of the federal government, and channeled financial resources to mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 56 southwestern and mid-western communities. president johnson, for instance, appointed vicente ximenes, a former president of the agif, to the equal employment opportunity commission (eeoc) and to be chair of an important intra-departmental committee on mexican-american affairs he created in june. he also established a mexican-american unit within the department of education and a mexican-american division in the office for civil rights4 and appointed influential mexican americans to be in charge of these entities (kells, 2018; san miguel, 2018) in the late 1960s, congress and the courts also began to acknowledge the minority status of mexican americans and the many ways in which they were discriminated on the basis of their language, culture, and race. congress officially recognized the presence of children who were linguistically and culturally different and enacted the bilingual education act of 1968 (bilingual education act, 1968). mexican americans—both community activists and a few legislators—played key roles in the formulation and enactment of this policy (judd, 1977; sanchez, 1973). the courts likewise began to rule on the racial and ethnic status of mexican americans and to prohibit discriminatory treatment of this group in the public schools. one of the most important cases was the cisneros v. corpus christi independent school district. the federal court in this case found that mexican americans were an identifiable minority group similar to african americans and discriminated on the basis of this status. because of this discrimination, mexican americans were entitled to the protection afforded african americans in the brown vs board of education case that prohibited racial discrimination in the schools (cisneros v. corpus christi independent school district, 1970). parents, labor leaders, and mexican american activists played leading roles in filing this and other anti-discrimination cases.5 although the president, congress, and to some extent the courts began to acknowledge the plight of mexican americans, many agencies within the executive branch of the federal government continued to ignore mexican americans and to neglect the pervasive forms of discrimination they experienced throughout the country. the december 1968 u.s. commission on civil rights hearings held in san antonio, texas, highlighted many of these discriminatory practices in mainstream institutions that continued to negatively impact the life chances of mexican americans. the hearings compelled the u.s. commission on civil rights (usccr) to call on the department of health, education, and welfare (hew) to “take ‘prompt action’ to eliminate the disparities between anglos and chicanos across the southwest” (cardenas, 1974, p. 46.)6 san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 57 in 1970, the office for civil rights (ocr), a subagency of hew, at last took action. in the spring of this year, it issued the may 25, 1970 memorandum. this document was the first major policy developed by this office to address the issue of discrimination against mexican americans and other national origin minority group children in the country. this memorandum was aimed at ensuring that title vi of the civil rights act of 1964 would be applied to mexican americans and other minority groups. title vi prohibited discrimination on the basis of national origin, color, or religion in any federally sponsored activity.7 three key factors encouraged the ocr to act in this year. among these were the increase in student walkouts, widespread community complaints that the department had failed to investigate discriminatory policies that used language and culture to deny mexican-american children equal educational opportunities in the public schools, and progress in the desegregation of the south. the latter left more resources available for ocr work in texas and the southwest (gerry, 1974, pp. 230-231). the may 25, 1970 memorandum because of their historic exclusion from federal policymaking agencies, mexican americans did not play a direct role in the formulation of the may 25, 1970 memorandum. however, their activism, particularly the campaigns against english only instruction, iq testing, and placement in special education classes in the schools during the 1960s, did indirectly influence the making of the memorandum.8 the ocr initiated the process of drafting the memorandum in 1969. in september of this year, ocr began to seriously review the question of discrimination against mexican americans in the schools of the southwest. utilizing data from a variety of sources, it found much evidence of systemic underachievement of minority group children and the existence of large numbers of these children in “segregated homogenous ability grouping and [in] special education classes.”9 after finishing its review, the ocr concluded that mexican-american children were being excluded in many school districts from the “full and effective participation in, and the full benefits offered by, the educational programs operated by such districts” (gerry, 1974, p. 231). in order to ensure that mexican americans would be treated equally in the schools, ocr drafted the may 25, 1970 memorandum.10 this memorandum, issued by j. stanley pottinger, director, office for civil rights, was sent to those school districts with more than mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 58 five percent national origin minority group children. the federal government defined national origin as individuals or their ancestors who came from a country other than the united states or those who had “the physical, cultural or linguistic characteristics of a national origin group.” these groups generally were also viewed as not being fluent in english. the groups who fell under this definition were asian americans, mexican americans, puerto ricans, and native americans.11 the purpose of this memo was to “clarify d/hew policy on issues concerning the responsibility of school districts to provide equal educational opportunity to national origin minority group children deficient in english language skills.”12 the may 25, 1970 memorandum identified four major areas of concern that local school districts had to address in order to be in compliance with title vi of the civil rights act of 1964 as interpreted by the memo. two of its provisions—provision 1 and provision 4—were related to issues raised by parents, teachers, and school staff in their decade long struggle for bilingual education in the schools. provision 1 focused on the exclusion of national origin children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district due to “inability to speak and understand the english language.” it stipulated that the district had to take “affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students” (pottinger, 1970). provision 4 dealt with the way in which local schools communicated with the parents of these children. “school districts have the responsibility to adequately notify national origin minority group parents of school activities which are called to the attention of other parents.” in order for this communication to be adequate, it further added, “such notice may have to be provided in a language other than english” (pottinger, 1970). these two provisions reflected the concerns raised by advocates of bilingual education who for years had argued that spanish-speaking, mexican-american children were being excluded from the instructional program of the school by teaching them in english only, and parents were not being informed of their rights in the education of their children (“las voces nuevas del sudoeste,” 1966; national conference on educational opportunities for mexican americans, 1968). the other two provisions focused on testing, ability grouping, and tracking. provision 2 addressed the issue of assigning national origin minority children to special education classes on the basis of english language skills or of denying them access to college level courses on the basis of their language abilities. specifically, the memo stipulated that school districts “must not san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 59 assign national origin minority group students to classes for the ‘mentally retarded’13 on the basis of criteria which essentially measure or evaluate english language skills; nor may school districts deny national origin minority group children access to college preparatory course on a basis directly related to the failure of the school system to inculcate english language skills” (pottinger, 1970). provision 3 of the memorandum focused on ability grouping or tracking in the schools aimed at dealing with the special needs of these children. it stipulated that any such system set up to deal with the special language needs of national origin minority children “must be designed to meet such language skill needs as soon as possible and must not operate as an educational dead-end or permanent track” (pottinger, 1970). these issues were a direct response to the lawsuits mexican americans filed in the southwest challenging the biased testing of spanish-speaking children and the disproportionate placement of these children in slow learning or what were called “educationally mentally retarded” (emr) classes on the basis of test results.14 the memo furthermore urged local school districts to examine their current practices “in order to assess compliance with the matters set forth in this memorandum.” if the district felt that it was not in compliance, it was to immediately contact the ocr and let it know what specific steps were being taken to remedy the problems. if the district needed help in developing a plan to remedy these problems, ocr would provide technical assistance and “any additional information that may be needed to assist districts in achieving compliance with the law and equal educational opportunity for children” (pottinger, 1970). policy enforcement and the inclusion of mexican americans the next step in operationalizing the policy was to develop procedures for determining and eliminating non-compliance. it is at this juncture that a few mexican americans played a key role in shaping the procedures to be used in enforcing this policy. three major tasks were necessary in the development of these procedures. first, the ocr had to develop techniques for investigating school district non-compliance with the provisions of the memorandum. second, the ocr had to develop an educational assistance capability in the department to assist it in negotiating compliance with the provisions of the memorandum. third, it had to develop additional policies aimed at specific discriminatory practices in each area of the memorandum that resulted in non-compliance.15 mexican americans played key roles in all of these tasks. mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 60 in may 1970, j. stanley pottinger, the director of the ocr, established a task group to assist in the implementation and to develop additional policies for each area of the memorandum.16 the group was chaired by martin h. gerry, special assistant to the director, and comprised of both staff members from the department and individuals from outside the department. significant numbers of mexican-american bureaucrats, educators, psychologists and both community and civil rights leaders were invited to participate. among these individuals were dr. alfredo castañeda (uc-riverside); dr. edward de avila (bilingual children’s television project, oakland, california); dr uvaldo palomares (institute for personal effectiveness in children, san diego, california); dr manuel ramirez (uc-riverside); mr. felipe montez (u.s. commission on civil rights, los angeles); and mr. henry casso (university of massachusetts, amherst).17 during the latter part of june, the ocr task group held a conference in denver, colorado to discuss its responsibilities and to determine policy developmental priorities.18 this conference, argues james v. gambone, represented “the first official inclusion of national origin leaders at a high level of government policy-making.” gambone also notes that some participants criticized the conference for not including more representation of local community organizations, native americans, puerto ricans, or asian americans (gambone, 1973, p. 20). the group decided to focus on the first part of the second section of the memorandum dealing with the assignment of national origin minority group children to emr classes. it reviewed and discussed the factors contributing to their assignment to these classes. the group concluded that ocr had to take actions to adequately identify the various discriminatory aspects of the assignment process and to identify a non-discriminatory system of assignment for use by school districts found to be in non-compliance.19 although it focused on discriminatory placement into special education classes, the group also made a variety of policy suggestions pertaining to the many forms of discrimination that national origin minority group children experienced in the schools. it, for instance, recommended the hiring of national origin teachers and staff, changing the attitude of school board members, school staff, and students towards national origin children, inclusion of minority history in the textbooks, and the establishment of bilingual and bicultural education “so that children will be proud of their language and their heritage” (gambone, 1973, p. 22). san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 61 many of these suggestions were based on two key ideas common among mexican american community activists, teachers, administrators, and scholars. one of these ideas was the rejection of the deficit model guiding federal policy during the 1960s. the other was the acceptance of a new interpretation that focused on the school and society as responsible for the historic pattern of mexican-american underachievement. according to the dominant ideology of the causes of underachievement pursued by the federal government in the 1960s, the primary reason for poor school performance among mexican americans was the children had internal defects or deficits that impeded the learning process. spanish-speaking mexicanamerican children, the cultural deficit view stated, were not interested in education, poorly motivated, or lacked ability to speak english; these deficits thus accounted for their lack of school success (carter, 1968; carter, 1970; vaca, 1970; vaca, 1971; see also more generally valencia, 1997). those that rejected the deficit view of school success embraced an alternative interpretation of underachievement that began to appear in the mid-60s. one of the earliest articulations of this model appeared in a 1965 national education association report. based on a survey of teaching experiments with mexican-american students in a few southwestern states, the nea report argued that poor school performance among spanish-speaking students was due to discriminatory as well as traditional and rigid school policies and practices—not the children’s linguistic or cultural backgrounds (nea, 1966). the nea report also challenged the dominant belief in assimilation and in the melting pot theory. it argued that spanish-speaking children were not melting or abandoning their linguistic and cultural heritage. it also questioned whether assimilation was an appropriate goal for the public schools and argued that bilingualism and cultural pluralism were more desirable (nea, 1966). based on their discussions, the ocr task group decided to appoint a committee to develop and present a draft policy for enforcing the section on assigning students to these types of special education classes on the basis of english language abilities. in the meantime, the task force sent its recommendations to pottinger, who in turn sent it to the secretary of hew. in august 1970, elliot richardson, secretary of hew, summarized the committee’s recommendations in a letter he wrote to senator walter mondale. richardson was a liberal republican serving in an increasingly conservative nixon administration. in a 1996 book, he referred to himself not as a liberal republican but as a “radical moderate.” by this he meant mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 62 the following: “i believe profoundly in the ultimate value of human dignity and equality. i therefore believe as well in such essential contributions to these ends as fairness, tolerance, and mutual respect” (richardson, 1996, p. xv). as a “radical moderate,” richardson supported the efforts by mexican americans to improve the schools and to support innovative programs such as bilingual education and migrant education. bambi cardenas recalled that he recognized the importance of bilingual education at one of the visits he made to the edgewood independent school district in early 1969. in a personal communication, she explained in detail: richardson sat in a student chair in the early childhood education program and asked a little boy a question in english. the child just looked at him, but instantly, a teacher aide by the name of albert flores stepped in and asked the child to do the task in spanish. when the child completed the task correctly, albert said, ‘you see, mr. secretary, he knows the concept, he just had to learn the language to be able to communicate his understanding in english.’ it was one of the most powerful minutes in the history of bilingual education. the patrician cabinet member from massachusetts in the poorest school district in the state of texas in the west side of san antonio ‘got it!’ (b. cardenas, personal communication, february 11, 2022). richardson, in other words, became acutely aware of the importance of bilingual education for spanish-speaking mexican american children and the need for significant change in the schools. “after that incident,” she recalled, “it was smooth sailing for us [mexican americans] in hew” (b. cardenas, personal communication, february 11, 2022). the impact of mexican americans on secretary richardson was apparent in the letter he sent to senator mondale because it echoed many of their perspectives on this issue.20 richardson acknowledged the severe and long-term effects of segregation on national origin minority children and noted the variety of needs identified in the conference. the most important needs of the national origin minority group child, he noted, were the following: 1. the need for ethnic or cultural diversity in the educational environment. 2. the need for total institutional re-posturing in order to incorporate, affirmatively recognize, and value the cultural environment of ethnic minority children so that the development of positive self-concept can be accelerated. san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 63 3. the need for language programs that introduce and develop english language skills without demeaning or otherwise deprecating the language of a child’s home environment and without presenting english as a more valued language.21 during the next several months, the committee set up by the task group met in different locations. in november 18, 1970, a draft of its deliberations was presented to a task group meeting held in san diego, california. three months later, on february 4, 1971, the task group met in san antonio for further deliberations. while there, the members visited edgewood isd, the fourth poorest school district in texas. edgewood was located in west san antonio. over 96% of the students in the district were minority, and most of them were mexican americans. during the past two years, the district had been undergoing significant changes due to the hiring of dr. josé a. cárdenas as superintendent. he and a management team comprised of gloria zamora, teresa dent, and blandina “bambi” cardenas (no relation to dr. josé a. cárdenas) had developed a set of school innovations aimed at improving the district’s financial status and the academic achievement of mexican-american students. under his leadership, the school district had doubled its budget and introduced a host of reforms aimed at improving school instruction. among the innovations dr. cárdenas and his team had introduced were programs in “early childhood and bilingual education, parent and community involvement, staff development, staff differentiation, teacher aide development, special education, peer-tutoring, and ethnic studies, and other areas” (cárdenas, 1974, p. 63). these reforms were based on a theoretical framework he and blandina “bambi” cardenas had developed. this framework, referred to as the “theory of incompatibilities,” provided proof that comprehensive changes could be implemented in local school districts with large numbers of mexican-american children from a poverty background if “they were tied to a comprehensive analysis of how school district processes impact children as well as the innovative programs designed to respond to them” (cardenas, 1974, p. 63). the task group team was impressed with the changes being promoted and seemed interested in utilizing some of these ideas. during their deliberations, the members discussed the actions needed to ensure that national origin minority group children would not experience discrimination in assignment to special education classes. according to pottinger, the task group dealt “with those basic components of a nondiscriminatory assignment mechanism which was mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 64 compatible with sound emr practices and complied with title vi of the civil rights act of 1964.”22 the following month, the office of education, at the request of pottinger, established an intra-departmental advisory committee on bilingual education to develop strategies for identifying and developing programmatic responses to the memorandum. this committee also was to supervise and assist local school districts found to be in noncompliance with sections one and four of the may 25, 1970 memorandum dealing with the instructional program for national origin children and with parental notifications (cardenas, 1974, p. 65). forty-one members were on this committee, 25 of which were mexican americans, and at least three were puerto ricans. martin h. gerry co-chaired this committee with gilbert j. chavez, director of the office for the spanish-speaking, in the office of education. most of these individuals were actively involved in bilingual education advocacy or administration.23 on april 28-30, 1971, this committee invited a group of seventy-five mexican american, puerto rican, and native american educators to meet in san diego to develop bilingual/bicultural program models for the office of education. the gathering was divided into five groups dealing with the program of instruction, bilingual-bicultural materials, parent policy groups, teacher training, and evaluation designs. plans were also made for the selection of professional educational teams that would be sent to school districts interested in developing compliance plans under the may 25 1970 memorandum (gambone, 1973, p. 23). in order to develop recommendations on how ocr should respond to provisions 1 and 4 of the memorandum, the committee invited several educators involved in the design and implementation of bilingual and bicultural education to present. among them were mrs. dolores earles, dr. juan aragon, dr. manuel ramirez, and dr. josé a. cárdenas. mrs. earles and dr ramirez made a presentation on the development of a bilingual education program in laredo, texas, and in cucamonga, california, respectively.24 dr. aragon presented a report on a staff development model he and others had developed for the public schools.25 unlike his colleagues, dr. cárdenas did not focus on the development of a specific bilingual education program or on the need for a staff development program. instead of isolated programs, he provided a model of comprehensive change that would meet all the provisions of the memorandum. san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 65 dr. cárdenas was the newest member of the presenters. his presentation was on the edgewood model that he and his colleague blandina “bambi” cardenas had developed as they sought to improve the education of mexican-american students in the edgewood independent school district. the edgewood model, as noted earlier, was based on the theory of incompatibilities. the theory of incompatibilities rejected the prevailing notions of school failure based on cultural deprivation or racial inferiority. instead of blaming the child, the parents, or the neighborhood, it blamed the school for the high rates of underachievement and failure in the mexican-american community.26 this theory also was comprehensive in nature. it looked at the many ways in which the schools limited educational opportunity for mexican americans and recommended comprehensive changes to alleviate these barriers. this theory held that school failure was due to basic incompatibilities between the characteristics of the traditional public school and the characteristics of non-traditional mexican-american children. according to the theory, there were five areas of incompatibility between the school and the child: poverty (socio-economic class), culture, language, mobility, and societal perceptions. this theory stipulated that schools were middle-class while mexican americans were working-class, schools were anglo-saxon while mexican americans were nonanglo-saxon, schools were english-speaking institutions while mexican americans were spanish-speaking; and schools were addressing a stable population while mexican americans were migrant and mobile (cárdenas & cardenas, 1995, p. 20-34). it also stipulated that schools were based on promoting positive concepts of self in anglos, but many mexican-american children had a low self-concept.27 “these [traditional] instructional materials and methodologies,” the theory indicated, “do not have the frequent, strong, and immediate positive feedback mechanism needed in order for a child who perceives himself as a nonlearner to change his concept and perceive himself as a successful learner” (cárdenas & cardenas, 1995, p. 20-34). teachers in the schools also had low expectations of mexican americans while mexican americans had high expectations (cárdenas & cardenas, 1995, p. 2034). in order to promote school success among this population, the school would need to be sensitive to all of these factors at once. it could not deal with one incompatibility in isolation of the others since there was “an interrelatedness and interdependence” among the five mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 66 characteristics. the schools thus would have to effectively deal with the working-class status of mexican americans, with their mexican culture, their spanish language, their migrant status, and with their negative self-concept and the low expectations of teachers, administrators, and other school personnel simultaneously. the schools likewise would have to consider the principle of adaptability to be successful. most school districts generally sought to change the child to fit the instructional program. but under the theory of incompatibilities, the instructional program had to change to fit the child. the school, in other words, needed to adapt to the child (cárdenas & cardenas, 1995, p. 27). finally, the comprehensive education plan noted in the theory had to address itself to the entire institution, not simply to one aspect like the physical assignment of students to different schools or classrooms. it had to eliminate the incompatibilities between the school and the minority children in the following aspects of education: educational philosophies, governance, scope and sequence, curriculum, staffing, co-curricular activities, student personnel services, non-instructional needs, community involvement, and evaluation (cárdenas & cardenas, 1995, pp. 29-33). according to this theory, then, the problem of underachievement was a complex one, necessitating a comprehensive solution. schools could not solve one problem at a time and develop a specific programmatic activity in isolation of the others. the entire institution, the theory noted, had to address “all aspects of the school” (cárdenas & cardenas, 1995, p. 29.) the participants at the conference agreed with the edgewood model and its underlying theory. at the end of the meeting, they recommended a comprehensive approach to school change that would be in compliance with the may 25th memorandum provisions.28 the edgewood model and its potential to meet all the provisions of the may 25, memorandum gained rapid acceptance by task force members and by those appointed to committees in the office of education. different committees quickly accepted this model as a solution to determining and rectifying non-compliance. on june 4, 1971, for instance, a subcommittee of the office of education advisory group met in long beach, california, to develop specific recommendations to ocr. by then, all the members agreed that the focus of ocr’s response should be on a comprehensive educational plan based on the cárdenas and cardenas theory of incompatibilities rather than on the development of supplementary programs. a follow-up meeting of a sub-committee was held in boston, massachusetts, the following week. it san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 67 reaffirmed the consensus of the april and june meetings that a comprehensive approach to school change was needed.29 pilot reviews during the next two years, ocr conducted pilot reviews of several school districts in texas to assess the appropriateness of their procedures for defining compliance and for determining non-compliance with the may 25th memorandum provisions. while the ocr task force developed policies for investigating non-compliance with the various sections of the memorandum, the ocr program staff developed procedures for investigating school districts and for identifying ways in which they were denying national origin minority group children equal access to the full benefits of the educational program and steps to take in order to improve it. generally, ocr decided to conduct a pre-site investigation and then an on-site review. local school districts were asked to provide data concerning each of the provisions in the memorandum. the ocr staff would then collect and analyze this data to determine if national origin children were excluded from effective participation in the educational program, if they were being disproportionately assigned to special education classes, if the school district was segregating them into ability or tracking systems, or if the school district was adequately communicating with the parents or involving them in school activities. the ocr staff would then conduct an on-site investigation. they would gather more data and conduct interviews with school officials, staff members, students, and parents. once they collected and analyzed this information, ocr would make a determination. if the district was in non-compliance with the may 25 1970 memorandum provisions, it would issue a letter and request a plan of action. if technical assistance was requested, it would send an educational assistance team to help them draft the plan. mexican americans usually comprised this team (see gerry, 1974, 235-242). ocr review of beeville isd [feb-aug 1971] ocr conducted a comprehensive review of the beeville isd where it applied the ideas developed by the program staff, the ocr and departmental task forces, and the educational assistance teams. the following case study of beeville shows how ocr utilized its review to demonstrate the extent of inequality of educational opportunity found in this school district and how the may 25, 1970 memorandum was used to promote comprehensive educational change mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 68 benefitting mexican-american children. it also illustrates the growing role that mexicanamerican professionals were having in the shaping of federal school policy. generally, ocr would initiate a review of a local school district once a complaint regarding discrimination in the schools was submitted to the office. whether by chance or encouraged by a staff member, the dallas ocr regional office received complaints of discrimination from local beeville citizens in the latter part of 1970.30 in february 1971, ocr sent an investigative team to beeville. this team reviewed the district, and on the 17th of the month, the regional ocr, headed by john a. bell, determined that it was in non-compliance of the may 25, 1970 memorandum provisions.31 “based on our review of your district and subsequent analysis of data collected during such review,” the letter of non-compliance stated, “we (ocr) have concluded that a substantial number of mexicanamerican students have been excluded from effective participation in the educational program offered by the school district because of their national origin and their resulting inability to speak and understand the english language.” it further stated that school districts were supposed to examine their own practices to see if they were in compliance with the provisions stipulated in the memorandum. “to date, the office has not received any communication from your district addressing itself to this matter,” it stated. “consequently, and in light of the matters set forth above,” it added, “we must request that you indicate to us within thirty days the steps that will be taken by the district to develop a plan which would be implemented by the beginning of the first semester of the 1971-1972 school year.” the letter also informed school officials that ocr could provide the district assistance in drafting a plan if it so desired.32 the district requested assistance, and ocr sent an educational team to evaluate the district’s program and to recommend appropriate changes (gerry, 1974, p. 244). the team, under the leadership of two staff members, dr. samuel miguel and mr. james m. littlejohn, visited the school district on april 22-23, 1971. it collected school data to evaluate the district’s compliance with the memorandum and spoke to local school officials, staff, and parents. once the site visit was completed, it issued a report to ocr. in its report, the team found the district out of compliance with the memorandum provisions and recommended a series of changes. among the changes recommended were an in-service training for staff, an increase in the hiring of bilingual teachers and teacher aides, the establishment of bilingual education “in each of the district’s elementary schools, at all grade levels,” a more heterogeneous classroom san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 69 environment, greater utilization of community resources, and a reassessment of assigning students to classes for the “educably mentally retarded” (emr). it also encouraged the district to seek assistance from outside sources.33 during the months of may and june, the district developed and approved a comprehensive educational plan aimed at complying with the memorandum’s provisions. in early july, the district submitted its plan to the region vi office for civil rights (gambone, 1973, p. 34). the beeville plan had four components: an early childhood bilingual program, a series of programs concerning perceptual development, improvement of curriculum including the use of bilingual aides in grades one through three, and an oral language development program for grades one through three (gambone, 1973, p. 53). ocr staff felt that this plan was not adequate since it only proposed changes in grades one through three. however, “evidence,” noted one staff member, “clearly demonstrated that discrimination existed at every level” (gambone, 1973, p. 54). the following month ocr sent another education assistance team to evaluate the district’s educational plan and to recommend appropriate changes. in addition to the ocr team composed of martin gerry, mrs. dorothy d. stuck, james m. littlejohn, cass welsch, and lucy thompson, ocr requested the educational assistance of ms. patricia j. nakano, from the office of education, and two mexican americans, dr. ed de avila and blandina “bambi” cardenas.34 dr. de avila, a well-known psychologist and expert in multilingual assessment, was one of the strongest advocates for a discrimination-free school environment. cardenas was one of the developers of the theory of incompatibilities used to promote significant school changes in the edgewood school district. after further investigation of the district’s policies and practices, the team declared the beeville plan and its implementation insufficient to meet the needs of mexican-american children as required by the may 25, 1970 memorandum. it met minimum federal guidelines, but it did not meet the “total” needs of these children (gambone, 1973, p. 56). in place of the beeville plan, the team recommended the implementation of “a comprehensive educational plan utilizing all available resources of the district, human and financial (including federal funds), to bring about an equally comfortable and accessible educational environment for all of the district’s children” (gambone, 1973, p. 50). more specifically, it recommended the following changes: hiring of bilingual teachers or re-training of mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 70 teachers to work in a bilingual environment, development of bilingual education in all the grades, the establishment of heterogenous classroom and instructional environment, greater involvement of parents in the schools, creation of a multilingual advisory committee to review assignment of mexican americans to special education classes, and utilization of outside educational resources such as the ocr-based educational team (gerry, 1974, p. 249-252). the educational team then worked with local school officials to negotiate a new comprehensive plan. this plan, approved by ocr on august 9, 1971, included the establishment of a bilingual early childhood educational program, a comprehensive staff development and recruitment plan, nondiscriminatory procedures for assigning students to special education classes, greater access of students to all phases of the secondary curriculum, elimination of school segregation, and making all non-academic activities available to all students.35 the case of ocr involvement in the beeville isd showed how mexican americans were now playing influential roles in the shaping of federal policy. they had helped draft the procedures for the compliance reviews, participated in the investigation of a local school district utilizing these new procedures, and negotiated a comprehensive educational plan aimed at meeting ocr’s requirements for compliance. applying ocr compliance procedures in del rio, aug-dec 6, 1971 while finishing up their involvement in the beeville case, mexican americans were handed another opportunity to increase their influence in federal policy making. on august 13, 1971, the day after ocr approved the comprehensive plan for beeville, judge william wayne justice ordered the consolidation of the del rio and the san felipe independent school districts. these two school districts—the anglo del rio and the mexican american san felipe—were located in the same city and had been segregated since the 1930s. this was not feasible in the contemporary context of desegregation, and the court ordered them to be consolidated. as part of the ruling, both school districts were ordered to work with hew to develop and submit to the court a comprehensive plan to ensure that all students would be offered equal educational opportunities in the consolidated district. the plan was to be submitted to the court by august 19, 1971 (cardenas, 1974, p. 88). hew immediately responded by sending an educational team recommended by the intra-departmental advisory committee to visit the campus and to develop the plan. the team san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 71 included a host of individuals from various agencies: dr. josé a. cárdenas, dr. tomas arciniega, and blandina “bambi” cardenas (ocr educational experts); gil chavez (office of spanishsurnamed americans); oscar cardenas and homero acevedo (office of education); gil connolly, joe prince, and frank contreras (texas education agency); and juan ybarra, jim littlejohn and cass welsch (ocr staff); martin h. gerry and dorothy d. stuck, from the ocr, directed the team.36 the hew team visited the consolidated district from august 14 to august 17. unable to meet with school officials, the team wrote the plan based on the equal educational services concepts developed under the 1970 memorandum. after collecting and analyzing the data provided by local school officials, the team found that the district excluded mexican-american students from effective participation in the educational program because of their national origin and their failure to speak english. it also found that the district assigned a disproportionate number of mexican-american students to special education and vocational tracks on the basis of their lack of english (cardenas, 1974, p. 89.) in order to fully provide equal educational services to all children, it recommended a comprehensive educational plan similar to the one that had been developed for beeville.37 the plan ensured that the school would be responsive to the cultural, social, and class characteristics of mexican-american children. it contained several elements calling for comprehensive school reform in curriculum design, content and instructional methodology, student assignment and classroom organization, staff development, parent and community development, special education safeguards, non-instructional support, and evaluation. the plan was submitted to the court by the department of justice. because of its complexity, the lawyers in the case asked dr. josé a. cárdenas to present and explain the plan to the court.38 on august 23, the judge ordered the consolidation of the two districts. he also approved the comprehensive plan developed by hew. the following month, del rio officials appealed to the fifth circuit court. while the court reviewed the case, government officials negotiated with local school leaders demanding changes to the plan. although the district court castigated government officials for making promises about funding that were inaccurate, on december 6, 1971, it ruled on the case. the court accepted the plan as a means of developing a “unitary system” in the newly integrated district and of providing equal educational opportunities for mexican-american students in it.39 mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 72 mexican americans in the community wholeheartedly supported the court ruling. most local school officials, however, opposed it. on december 13, 1971, the school board voted 6-4 to appeal the case to the 5th circuit and to ask for a change in venue. in the meantime, it reluctantly implemented the changes.40 in the fall of 1973, after making some progress in implementing the comprehensive educational plan approved by the court, the case was taken out of judge justice’s court and assigned to the federal district court for the western district of texas. the new judge was not supportive of the comprehensive plan and soon released the consolidated school district from the court order. an important chapter in comprehensive school reform through litigation in this city was closed.41 growing influence of mexican americans in federal policy and shift away from memorandum compliance, 1972-1974 ocr involvement in the beeville and the consolidated school district in del rio had provided the agency with important knowledge on how to proceed in enforcing the 1970 memorandum. it had led to the development of sound procedures for determining noncompliance with it provisions and to the identification of educational programs which could be offered to school districts seeking to comply with the provisions of the memorandum. it had also led to the growing influence of mexican americans in the shaping of federal policy. during the next two years from 1972 to 1973, the ocr conducted or began to conduct investigations of school districts in other cities. among these were new york city (new york), boston (massachusetts), fresno and bakersfield (california), tucson and winslow (arizona), hoboken and perth amboy (new jersey), east chicago (indiana), and el paso, texas.42 also investigated was denver, colorado in 1973 (cardenas, 1974, p. 163). in 1974, an additional development in the courts enhanced the importance of the may 25, 1970 memorandum and shifted the concerns away from memorandum compliance (cardenas, 1974, p. 162). in january, the u.s. supreme court in lau v nichols ordered the san francisco school district to take affirmative steps to open the instructional program to nonenglish-speaking chinese students. this decision was based not on constitutional principles but on the 1970 memorandum. this decision sanctioned the importance of this policy in fighting for a discrimination-free school environment. san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 73 this ruling created a new set of challenges for hew. how would it enforce this ruling and who would be involved? undeterred, hew turned to its experienced staff and team of minority educational experts for assistance in drafting new procedures for determining noncompliance, in conducting reviews, and in developing programmatic responses to comply with the court ruling. the ultimate result was the drafting of another policy that came to be known as the “lau remedies” and another round of investigations aimed at compelling school districts to comply with a court ruling (u.s. d/hew, 1976). mexican-american individuals would continue to play a significant role in the formulation and enforcement of this policy during the second half of the 1970s.43 conclusion the involvement of mexican americans in the enforcement of this important memorandum was important for several reasons. first, it was the beginning of meaningful mexican-american involvement in the shaping of educational policies at the national level during the radical years of the chicano movement. second, it was an indicator of greater acceptance of mexican americans as equals within the federal bureaucracy. vicente ximenes, chairperson of the interagency committee on mexican american affairs during the last year of the johnson administration, expressed this sentiment in the early 1970s when he said, “we had arrived [in 1968] as a viable mexican-american power to be dealt with in all areas of private and public life.”44 finally, it illustrated an acceptance of mexican americans as people of worth, as individuals with specific skills and abilities useful for developing approaches for solving key problems confronting american society in general and the federal government in particular. their participation in the shaping of the may 25, 1970 memorandum as well as in federal committees, commissions, departmental task forces, agencies and court cases affected the lives of hundreds of officials responsible for the instruction of mexican-american school children. similar to the radicals of the chicano movement who fought for educational equality but without utilizing protest methods, these moderate activists viewed the schools as wanting and fiercely set out to use the executive branch of government to initiate comprehensive changes in the way they instructed those who were linguistically and culturally different. although they did not accomplish as much as they wanted, due primarily to fierce opposition from many political and educational leaders, the 1970s was the decade in which they became shapers of federal policies impacting the schools and the learning opportunities of mexican-american children. mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 74 references aragón, j. (1974). the challenge to biculturalism: culturally deficient educators teaching culturally different children. in a. castaneda, m. ramírez iii, c. e. cortés, and m. barrera (eds.), mexican americans and educational change. (pp. 258-267). arno press. bilingual education act, p.l. 90-247 (1968). blackwell, m. (2011). chicana power: contested histories of feminism in the chicano movement. university of texas press. broyles-gonzalez, y. (1994). el teatro campesino: theater in the chicano movement. university of texas press. cardenas, b. (1974). defining equal access to educational opportunity for mexican-american children: a study of three civil rights actions affecting mexican-american students and the development of a conceptual framework for effecting institutional responsiveness to the educational needs of mexican-american children (publication no. 7425826) [doctoral dissertation, university of massachusetts amherst]. proquest dissertations publishing. cárdenas, j.a. (1995). multicultural education: a generation of advocacy. needham heights, ma.: simon and shuster custom publishing. cárdenas, j. a., & cardenas, b. (1995). the theory of incompatibilities. in josé a. cárdenas, multiculturale education: a generation of advocacy. (pp. 20-34). simon and shuster custom publishing. carter, t.p. (1968). the negative self-concept of mexican-american students. school and society, 96, 217-219. carter, t.p. (1970). mexican americans in schools. college entrance examination board. casso, h. j. (1973). a descriptive study of three legal challenges for placing mexican american and other linguistically and culturally different children into educably mentally retarded classes (publication no. 7331070) [doctoral dissertation, university of massachusetts amherst]. proquest dissertations publishing. cisneros v. corpus christi independent school district, volume 324 f. supp. 599 (1970). de la trinidad, m. (2015). mexican americans and the push for culturally relevant education: the bilingual education movement in tucson, 1958–1969, history of education, 44(3), 316-338. https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760x.2014.1002015 esparza, j. j., (2008). schools of their own: the san felipe independent school district and mexican american educational autonomy, del rio, texas, 1928-1972 (publication no. 3346396) [doctoral dissertation, university of houston]. proquest dissertations publishing. gambone, j.v. (1973). bilingual bicultural educational civil rights: the may 25th memorandum and oppressive school practices. publication no. 7411798) [doctoral dissertation, university of new mexico]. proquest dissertations publishing. garcia, a. m. (1997). chicana feminist thought: the basic historical writings. routledge. garcia, i.m. (1989). united we win: the rise and fall of la raza unida party. university of arizona press. garcia, i.m. (1997). chicanismo: the forging of a militant ethos among mexican americans. university of arizona press. garcia, m. t. (1989). mexican americans: leadership, ideology, and identity, 1930-1960. yale university. garcia, m.t. (ed.). (2014). the chicano movement: perspectives from the twenty-first century. routledge. san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 75 gerry, m.h. (1973). cultural myopia: the need for a corrective lens. journal of school psychology, 11(4), 307-315. gerry, m. h. (1974). cultural freedom in the schools: the right of mexican american children to succeed. in a. castaneda, m. ramirez iii, c. cortes, & m. barrera (eds.), mexican americans and educational change (pp. 226–254). arno press. gutierrez, j. a. (1998). the making of a chicano militant: lessons from cristal. university of wisconsin press. hinojosa, f. (2021). apostles of change: latino radical politics, church occupations, and the fight to save the barrio. university of texas press. judd, e. l. (1977). factors affecting the passage of the bilingual education act of 1967 (publication no. 808471) [doctoral dissertation, new york university]. proquest dissertations publishing. kells, m. h. (2018). vicente ximenes, lbj’s great society, and mexican american civil rights rhetoric. southern illinois university press. hart, e. (1966, oct. 30, 31). las voces nuevas del sudoeste (new voices of the southwest). symposium. the spanish-speaking child in the schools of the southwest"(tucson, arizona. mariscal, g. (2005). brown-eyed children of the sun: lessons from the chicano movement, 19651975. university of new mexico press. message of the president. (n.d.). us code-title 5-appedix. retrieved may 25, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20081020043107/http:/www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title5a/5 a_4_49_2_.html the mexican american: a new focus on opportunity (1967). washington, d.c.: the interagency committee on mexican american affairs. munoz, c. (1990). youth, identity, power. verso books. national conference on educational opportunities for mexican americans, april 24-26, 1968, austin, texas, sponsored by the u.s. office of education in association with the southwest educational development laboratory, austin, texas. national origin discrimination, 29 cfr § 1606.1definition of national origin discrimination. (2022, may 24) legal information institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/1606. navarro, a. (1995). mexican american youth organization: avant-garde of the chicano movement in texas. university texas press. navarro, a. (1998). the cristal experiment: a chicano struggle for community control. university of wisconsin press. nea (1966). pero no invencibles-the invisible minority. washington, dc: nea, department of rural supervision. oropeza, l. (2019) the king of adobe: reies lópez tijerina, lost prophet of the chicano movement. university of north carolina press. oropeza, l. (2005). raza si, guerra no: chicano protest and patriotism during the vietnam war era. university of california press. palo alto online. (2022, may 25). office of civil rights: why is it there and what does it do? https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2013/06/14/office-for-civil-rights-why-is-it-thereand-what-does-it do#:~:text=congress%20created%20the%20office%20for%20civil%20 rights%20in,the%20basis%20of%20race%2c%20color%20and%20national%20origin pottinger, j. s. (1970). memorandum of may 25, 1970. washington, d.c.: office for civil rights. proceedings of national conference on research and policy implications, lau task force report, june mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 76 17-18, 1976. austin, tx: southwest educational development laboratory. ramirez, h. m. (1974). research for change—for a change. in a. castaneda, m. ramírez iii, c. e. cortés, & m. barrera (eds.), mexican americans and educational change. (pp. 189204). arno press. ramirez iii, m. (1974). bilingual education as a vehicle for institutional change. in a. castaneda, m. ramírez iii, c. e. cortés, & m. barrera (eds.), mexican americans and educational change. (pp. 387-407). arno press. richardson, e. (1996). reflections of a radical moderate. pantheon. rodriguez, m.s. (2015). rethinking the chicano movement. routledge, taylor and francis group. sanchez, g. (1973). an analysis of the bilingual education act, 1967-1968 (publication no. 7332183) [doctoral dissertation, university of massachusetts]. proquest dissertations publishing. san miguel, jr, g. (2004). contested policy: the rise and fall of federal bilingual education in the united states, 1960-2001. university of north texas press. san miguel, jr., g. (2013). chicana/o struggles for education: activism in the community. texas a&m university press. san miguel, jr., g. (2018). in the midst of radicalism: mexican american liberals during the early years of the chicano movement: the case of vicente t. ximenes and the interagency committee on mexican american affairs, 1965-1968. the journal of south texas, 31(2), 827. san miguel, jr., g. (2022). in the midst of radicalism: mexican american moderates during the chicano movement, 1960-1978. university of oklahoma press. shockley, j. s. (1974). chicano revolt in a texas town. university of notre dame press. title vi, civil rights act of 1964, retrieved march 16, 2019 from https://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/titlevi.htm trujillo, a. (1998). chicano empowerment and bilingual education: movimiento politics in crystal city, texas. garland publishing. u.s. department of health, education and welfare, office of civil rights. (1976). taskfforce findings specifying remedies available for eliminating past educational practices ruled unlawful under lau v. nichols. vaca, n.c. (1970). the mexican-american in the social sciences, 1912-1970, part i: 1912-1935. el grito: 3-16, 21-24. vaca, n.c. (1971). the mexican american in the social sciences, 1912-1970, part ii: 1936-1970. el grito: 17-51. valencia, r.r. (2008). chicano students and the courts: the mexican american legal struggle for educational equality. new york university press. valencia, r.r. (1997). the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. the falmer press. vargas, z. (2011). crucible of struggle: a history of mexican americans from colonial times to the present era. oxford university press. vigil, e.b. (1999). the crusade for justice: chicano militancy and the government's war on dissent. university of wisconsin press. san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 77 1 most studies, for instance, focus on individuals such as reis lopez tijerina, corky gonzalez, and bert corona, and on college and high school student groups. they also focus on events such as the chicano anti-war movement, la raza unida party, mexican american youth organization, and the brown berets, or on feminists and their struggles against sexism and for chicana voices in american society. see garcía, 2014, pp. 10-15. for a sampling of this literature, see the following: blackwell, 2011; broylesgonzalez, 1994; garcia, a., 1997; garcia, i., l989; garcia, i., 1997; garcía, m., 2014; gutierrez, 1998; mariscal, 2005; munoz, l990; navarro, 1995; navarro, 1998; oropeza, 2005; oropeza, 2019; trujillo, 1998; shockley, 1974; vigil, 1999. marc simon rodriguez has argued that while the chicano movement leaders were militant and resorted to the politics of protest, their reforms were moderate in nature (see rodriguez, 2015). 2 this approach, as the historian ignacio garcia noted, required not only “faith in the established institutions” but also “patience in the face of slow change” (garcia, 1997, p. 28). 3 for studies focused on the school discrimination lawsuits filed by mexican americans both before and during the chicano movement, see, for instance, valencia, 2008. see also san miguel, jr., 2013. for one study on the participation of mexican americans in promoting bilingual education legislation at the federal level, see san miguel, jr., 2004. 4 congress established the office for civil rights (ocr) in 1966 in order to operationalize the passage of title vi of the civil rights act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination in public education on the basis of race, color, and national origin. see office for civil rights: why is it there and what does it do? | news | palo alto online | accessed 05/22/22. see also national origin discrimination, 2022.29 cfr § 1606.1 definition of national origin discrimination. | cfr | us law | lii / legal information institute (cornell.edu) accessed 05/24/22. 5 for an overview of a number of cases filed by mexican americans against segregation, iq testing, unequal schools, and placement in special education during the 1950s and 1960s, see san miguel, jr., 2013, pp. 42-45 and valencia, 2008. 6 hew was a cabinet level department of the federal government. it was created under the dwight d. eisenhower administration in 1953 and existed until 1979. in 1979, a separate department of education (doe) was created by this department. hew was then renamed as the department of health and human services (hhs). for a copy of the statement made by president eisenhower creating hew, see message of the president, us code--title 5--appendix (archive.org). accessed 05/25/22 7 title vi, civil rights act of 1964, https://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/titlevi.htm accessed 031619. the concept of national origin minority groups included mexican americans, native americans, puerto ricans, and asian americans. the emphasis of the ocr in 1970, however, was on mexican americans. see gerry, 1974, 226-254. in 1971, gerry was a special assistant to the director, office for civil rights, us dept of hew. 8 for the campaign against english only instruction and for the use of spanish in the schools since the late 1950s, see maritza de la trinidad, “mexican americans and the push for culturally relevant education: the bilingual education movement in tucson, 1958-1969,” history of education, vol 44, no. 3 (2015): 316-338. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0046760x.2014.1002015.see also, more generally, san miguel, jr., 2004. for the campaign against testing, placement in special education classes, and other forms of discrimination in the schools during the 1960s, see valencia, 2008, and san miguel, jr. 2013. 9much of this data came from the mexican american education study being conducted by the ocr and from the handful of lawsuits against discrimination in testing filed by mexican american parents in the southwest. gerry, 1974, p. 230. for an overview of these cases, see san miguel, jr., 2004 and valencia, 2008. see also casso, 1973. 10according to blandina “bambi” cardenas, martin h. gerry, special assistant to the director of ocr, drafted the may 25, 1970 memorandum (b. cardenas, personal communication, february 11, 2022). mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 78 11 for the legal basis for this memorandum, see edwin yourman, assistant general counsel, letter to st john barrett, deputy general counsel (legal basis for proposed memorandum to local school districts regarding national origin discrimination), april 10, 1970, stanley pottinger papers, box 18, folder 239, gerald d. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. all of the important documents pertaining to the ocr during these years can be found in the stanley pottinger papers at the ford library because he was the director of this office from 1970 to 1973. he later served as assistant attorney general for civil rights in the united states department of justice from 1973 to 1977. see j. stanley pottinger papers, 19681981, collection finding aid, gerald r. ford presidential library and museum (fordlibrarymuseum.gov). 12 j. stanley pottinger, memorandum of may 25, 1970. this memo was eventually published in the federal register, 1970, 35 (139), 11595-11596. 13 throughout this publication, the term “mentally retarded” will remain in quotes to acknowledge that this is a dated concept that was used during those years but is no longer in use. 14 see, for instance, arreola v board of education (1968), diana v state board of education (january 1970), covarrubias v. san diego unified school district (1970) and guadalupe v. tempe elementary school district (1972). three of these cases were in california and one in arizona. for an overview of these cases, see san miguel (2013, pp. 42-45) and valencia (2008). 15 memorandum from j. stanley pottinger, director, office for civil rights, to secretary of department of hew (information on civil rights for national origin minorities), [no date given], p. 6, stanley pottinger papers, box 18, f 239 (1), gerald d. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 16 memorandum from j. stanley pottinger, director, office for civil rights, to secretary of department of hew (information on civil rights for national origin minorities) [no date given], p. 12, stanley pottinger papers, box 18, f 239 (1), gerald d. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 17 the task group was comprised of 34 individuals: 16 were department staff members, and 17 were from outside the department. seven of the 16 staff members were mexican americans. thirteen of the 17 non-department members were mexican americans and one was puerto rican. thus, 20 out of 34 or over 50% of the members were mexican american. the list of members can be found as an appendix in memorandum from j. stanley pottinger, director, office for civil rights, to secretary of department of hew (information on civil rights for national origin minorities) [no date given], p. 12, stanley pottinger papers, box 18, f 239 (1), gerald d. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. it can be found in appendix a. 18 the conference was known as “the identification of discrimination and denial of services on the basis of national origin.” for a brief view of this conference, see gambone, 1973 and gerry, 1973, p. 309. 19 the group focused on several components of a nondiscriminatory assignment mechanism that would protect the rights of these children. among the components were the use of pluralistic norms, involving sociocultural background data to interpret test results, adaptive behavior data, and the necessity and nature of community involvement. see gerry, 1974, p. 245 and gerry, 1973. 20 bambi notes that senator mondale also visited edgewood, and he quickly became a “convert” to mexican american causes (b. cardenas, personal communication, february 11, 2022). 21 letter from elliott l. richardson, secretary of health, education, and welfare to senator walter f. mondale, subcommittee on education, august 3, 1970. cited in gambone, 1973, p. 24 and in gerry, 1974, pp. 246-248. 22 memorandum from j. stanley pottinger, director, office for civil rights, to secretary of department of hew (information on civil rights for national origin minorities) [no date given], p. 13, stanley pottinger papers, box 18, f 239 (1), gerald d. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 23 the list of members was found in an appendix in the following: memorandum from j. stanley pottinger, director, office for civil rights, to secretary of department of hew (information on civil rights for national origin minorities) [no date given], stanley pottinger papers, box 18, f 239 (4), gerald d. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 24 mrs. earles presented a discussion of the bilingual and bicultural educational programs at the laredo united consolidated independent school district in laredo, texas. she had been a teacher at the san miguel, jr. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 79 bilingual program developed in that city since 1964 and had helped it evolve into one of the most successful programs in the country. this approach provided ideas for ensuring equal access to the educational program by children who spoke spanish. for an overview of this program, see nea, 1966, pp. 13-17. dr. ramirez described the bilingual education program implemented in cucamonga. for a brief overview of this program, see ramirez iii, 1974. 25 dr. aragón presented the rationale for the esperanza model for staff development. this program was created by dr. tomás arciniega and implemented by dr. aragón and a team of three other educators at the university of new mexico: mr. joe ulibarrí, dr. mari-luci jaramillo, and dr. jim miller. for a brief view of this project, see aragón, 1974. 26 dr. henry m. ramirez, one of the most influential scholars during these years, best expressed this new shift in thinking about education and mexican americans: “the roots of the alienation, hostility, and low academic achievement manifested so frequently among mexican-american students,” he noted in 1971, “will be more fully understood when educators stop dissecting students and start taking a closer look at the schools as they respond, or fail to respond, to minority groups” (ramirez, 1974, p. 189). 27 the idea that mexican-american children had a lower self-concept than anglos was challenged by a variety of social scientists. for one of the earliest, see carter, 1968, pp. 217-219. in an empirical study that he conducted in a california school district, he concluded that there was nothing to support the belief that mexican american students saw themselves more negatively than anglo students. 28 at this meeting, most educators and community activists also agreed that all children, not merely national origin minority group children, needed this type of program. the participation of anglo children in these programs, in other words, was essential. gerry, 1971, p. 248. 29 cardenas, 1974, p. 66. the specific dates of these meetings come from pottinger. see memorandum from j. stanley pottinger, director, office for civil rights, to secretary of department of hew (information on civil rights for national origin minorities) [no date given], appendix o, stanley pottinger papers, box 18, f239 (1), gerald d. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 30 gambone notes that he was told by the dallas ocr not to reveal the name of the group making the original complaint. see gambone, 1973, p. 32. 31 for an overview of the investigation and its findings, see gambone, 1973, pp. 35-52. 32 letter from john a. bell, chief, dallas education branch, region six, ocr to supt. archie a. roberts, beeville independent school district, february 17, 1971. j. stanley pottinger papers, box 7, folder 115 (beeville letter), gerald r. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 33 report of the hew educational program team to the beeville independent school district submitted by dr. samuel miguel and mr. james m littlejohn, team coordinators, april 22-23, 1971. j. stanley pottinger papers, box 1, folder 2 (2), gerald r. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 34 cardenas, 1974, p. 67. bambi cardenas got a doctorate in education, an ed.d., at the university of massachusetts, amherst in 1974. 35 dorothy d. stuck, regional director, ocr letter to superintendent a.a. roberts, beeville independent school district, august 12, 1971. j. stanley pottinger papers, box 1, folder 2 (2), gerald r. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 36 cardenas, 1974, p. 89; dr. josé a. cárdenas, in his testimony in u.s. vs. texas also notes that another individual by the name of ernie robles was involved in this process. see cárdenas, 1995, p. 40. 37 for the particulars of the plan, see cardenas, 1974, pp. 89-98. 38 dr. josé a. cárdenas presented the plan to the court on august 19, 1971. for a copy of his testimony in u.s. v. texas, see cárdenas, 1995, pp. 35-57. 39 memorandum opinion regarding the san felipe-del rio consolidated independent school district by william wayne justice, united states district judge in the united states district court for the eastern district of texas, tyler division in u.s. v. texas, civil action no. 5281, december 6, 1971, https://www.leagle.com/decision/1971366342fsupp241362 accessed 022319. [342 f. supp. 24 (1971)] mexican-american moderates and the shaping of federal education policy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 16, issue i 80 40“school board votes to resume appeal,” del rio news-herald, december 14, 1971, 1. found in j. stanley pottinger papers, box 5, folder 5, gerald r. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 41 cardenas, 1974, p. 105. despite this setback, mexican americans in the newly consolidated school district engaged in efforts to retain control over the staff positions and the curriculum, especially bilingual education and over local school board positions. by the late 1980s, they became the majority of the school board and regained the autonomy lost in the consolidation of the districts. for additional information on these struggles for positions within the district and on the school board, see esparza, 2008, pp. 192-222. 42 these were reported in an el paso newspaper article. see “el paso breaks language barrier,” 9/11/72. found in j. stanley papers, box 15, folder 204, gerald d. ford library, ann arbor, michigan. 43 for the continuing participation of mexican americans in the refinement and enforcement of the lau remedies, see proceedings of national conference on research and policy implications, lau task force report, june 17-18, 1976. (austin, tx: southwest educational development laboratory, 1976). 44 speeches given by vicente ximenes, 1969-1971, n.p., papers of vicente ximenes, lbj library. amae journal cover template (general).pdf san miguel final final page proof .pdf microsoft word hinojosa_page proof_final.docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 18 new mexico’s 2019 school finance reforms and the essential building blocks for state school finance david g. hinojosa, j.d. lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law1 abstract this article discusses the state of new mexico’s school finance reforms during the 2019 legislative session and the relationship of those reforms to the essential building blocks for state school finance. the essential building blocks is a 2018 report written by the author for the learning policy institute that provides essential, research-based guidance to policymakers and advocates who write school finance laws to ensure more equitable school finance policies. the legislative reforms follow a state court victory in 2019 by plaintiff families and school districts suing the state on school finance and educational opportunity claims in martínez v. state of new mexico and yazzie v. state of new mexico. the author examines how the legislature’s efforts measure up against the guidance articulated in the essential building blocks. the author also interviews the gallupmckinley county schools superintendent to assess the reforms and how they relate to realizing educational opportunity for all students as described in the essential building blocks. the author concludes that while the state made some progress in its school finance reforms, the absence of a strategic, holistic plan grounded in equity will likely leave the state’s underserved children without the educational opportunities they need to succeed. if the state’s leadership can match its strong principles and goals of equity and multiculturalism with a formidable school finance system that appropriately invests in its students and educators as reflected in the essential building blocks, the state will be poised to realize equity and opportunity for all students. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.3.451 1 david g. hinojosa currently serves as the director of the educational opportunities project with the lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law. he previously served as an attorney with the education law firm, walsh gallegos trevino russo kyle, p.c., and national director of policy at the intercultural development research association. david is also former lead counsel for plaintiffs in the martínez v. new mexico educational equity lawsuit filed by the mexican american legal defense and educational fund (maldef). opinions expressed herein are the authors’ own. new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 19 introduction several school-based factors can impact the quality of education a student receives. school-based factors include student-teacher relationships, teacher preparation and quality, school leadership, class size, curriculum, family engagement, school governance, high-stakes standardized testing and accountability, school climate, access to prekindergarten, and condition of facilities (betts, reuben, & danenberg, 2000; boyd, grossman, lankford, loeb, & wyckoff, 2009; card & payne, 2002; carnoy, elmore, & siskin, 2003; clotfelter, ladd, & vigdor, 2007; darling-hammond, 2000, 2010). these are just some of several, seemingly endless, factors affected by state and local policy and implementation that could impact educational opportunity. state legislatures are largely tasked with creating school finance systems that provide the vital resources to help school districts address many of these factors. to assist state lawmakers and advocates in designing more equitable, research-based school finance systems centered on student need, the author drafted the essential building blocks for state school finance systems and promising state practices (“the essential building blocks”) in collaboration with the learning policy institute, which published the report and brief (hinojosa, 2018b). despite the critical role that state school finance systems play in realizing educational opportunity for public school students across the country, most states do a very poor job of funding public education (baker, farrie, & sciarra, 2018). all too frequently, school finance systems are a patchwork of arbitrary laws untethered to the actual cost of providing a highquality education to every child in every school. school finance is often complicated by the highly politicized nature of whether money matters in public education. to name a few, these debates often pit rich school districts against poor school districts; urban districts against rural districts against suburban districts; high at-risk student populated districts against low-risk; and large districts against small districts. the essential building blocks aims to help state policymakers and advocates deconstruct and de-politicize school finance policy to better meet the needs of students. this article begins with a brief overview of the essential building blocks. the author then examines a recent court challenge by parents, students, and school districts to the new mexico public education system. they alleged that the school finance system was inadequate and inequitable, resulting in a 2019 landmark ruling by state district court chief judge sarah singleton holding the system unconstitutional. hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 20 this decision propelled the state legislature to enact education reforms, including school finance reforms, in the 2019 legislative session. new mexico’s school finance reforms can be analyzed in light of the recommendations made to policymakers in the essential building blocks and can be applied to the practical consequences of implementation in real districts. thus, this article analyzes the reforms against the essential building block framework and ends with a discussion based on an interview used to discuss real-life implementation of the reforms with the superintendent of gallup-mckinley county schools in new mexico, a district in a rural area of new mexico serving predominantly navajo students. the superintendent’s viewpoint in terms of the reforms and how they relate to the provisions articulated in the essential building blocks offers readers an interesting perspective of the possibilities and continuing challenges that lie ahead for schools and schoolchildren in new mexico. the essential building blocks in 2017, the learning policy institute (lpi) secured grant funding to support state policymakers and advocates with research-based reports and tools on crucial education issues facing state houses across the country. state school finance reform was among the top issues identified by a diverse, nonpartisan national group of advocacy organizations and researchers, which included state legislative organizations (i.e., national conference of state legislatures). the group recognized the complexities of school finance for state legislatures and how policy was further at risk due to the billions in local, state, and federal tax revenue at stake. lpi contracted with the author (then-national director of policy for the intercultural development research association, idra) to draft a report on the essential elements of state school finance. this report was intended to remove the partisan bickering that often pervades school finance policy and to focus funding reforms based on student need, as identified by the research. it also attempts to simplify the topic and the processes involved to reach more legislators, staff, and advocacy organizations who may be apprehensive at approaching the topic due to its intricateness, both real and perceived. elements of the essential building blocks the essential building blocks begin with two strong foundational pillars. first, from a public policy standpoint, the report suggests that states establish strong standards and goals for public education grounded in equitable opportunities for all students (hinojosa, 2018b). it is essential that states identify the ultimate targets of the educational system, so they know what new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 21 they are shooting for. the word “equitable” or “equity” has two reference points. one, it refers to the consideration of legitimate and necessary educational opportunities tied to specific learning needs of all schoolchildren; and two, in the more traditional sense, equity concerns the fair distribution of resources among school districts, irrespective of arbitrary factors such as property wealth that frequently disrupt the equitable allocation of funds (hinojosa, 2018b). the second pillar requires states to identify steady and adequate revenue streams to support educational expenditures and costs, including instructional, operational, and capital costs (hinojosa, 2018b). typically, states utilize the same revenue streams from one year to the next, without determining the history of volatility among the sources or the inequitable impact it may have on underserved communities and taxpayers. consequently, the report recommends that states identify a combination of taxes that are more stable and help offset any inherent inequities between school communities. once these foundations are in place, a state can begin identifying the essential building blocks of state school finance that will assist diverse students and schools in meeting the educational standards and goals of the state. the regular program allotment (also referred to as the basic or foundation program allotment) typically constitutes the bulk of education funding for school districts because it, purportedly, is expected to cover many standard operating and personnel costs for districts (hinojosa, 2018b). these may include administrator, teacher, staff and employee salaries and benefits, professional development, and curriculum. to adjust for legitimate district-related factors and costs, states may adjust the regular program allotment based on the size of a district, geographic sparsity, regional cost differences, and inflationary factors (hinojosa, 2018b). costs for maintaining and repairing existing facilities and for new construction is a second major building block. states often shift these costs directly to school districts and local tax revenues, which can create great inequities between property-wealthy and property-poor districts in the ability to cover the costs of school buildings (filardo, 2016). promising state practices cited in the essential building blocks include states assuming larger shares of construction costs from state resources for low-wealth communities and allowing school districts to use the state’s credit rating (hinojosa, 2018b). one of the highlights of the report is the focus on how special student programming can impact equity and opportunity for school children. the report favorably cites policies that hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 22 target funding to help meet the needs of certain groups of students where research shows they are lacking in educational opportunities. the underserved student groups include: those deemed at-risk of being retained in grade level or not graduating (including students from lowincome families), english learners, and students with disabilities (hinojosa, 2018b). the report also recognizes the special educational needs of students identified as “gifted and talented,” though the author cautions states in tracking affluent, non-minority students into such programs. the additional revenue allocated to special student programming may help cover expenditures tied to student success, such as research-based extended-day programs for struggling learners, bilingual program materials and stipends for certified teachers, services for meeting special needs of students with disabilities, and gifted programs (hinojosa, 2018b). such allotments, however, should be paired with reasonable accountability strings to ensure districts spend those funds on those students. funding for high-quality prekindergarten programs is another important building block. research shows that high-quality pre-k can close achievement gaps and accelerate learning for students in at-risk circumstances (meloy, gardner, & darling-hammond, 2019). yet, states often provide negligible funding, at best, for pre-k programs. a growing area of need identified by several states, and recognized in the report, is in career and technical education (cte). as the technical industry has advanced and placed more demands on students pursuing technical jobs and careers that may only require certification and not a college degree, states must ensure that these growing costs for school districts are covered. providing an allotment to cover the additional cost of cte courses and programs should now be considered an essential building block of state school finance. transportation and technology are two additional expenditures that should be costed out and covered by policymakers through allotments. some states provide no additional funding for either of these costs and expect school districts to bear these expenditures through the regular program allotment. however, oftentimes, the regular program allotment does not reflect actual costs and is merely based on prior-year appropriations. consequently, transportation and technology expenditures are frequently among the most underfunded line items in a district’s budget and suffer in terms of services and resources for students. new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 23 finally, the essential building blocks strongly suggests that states consider equalized funding for enrichment and innovation programs. these expenditures, if existent at all, are frequently funded through local tax dollars, which can create further inequities between the haves and have-nots (hinojosa, 2018b). by providing access to such funding on an equalized basis, states can ensure school districts are enriching the experiences of their students and continuing to pursue innovative educational programs. importantly, the essential building blocks is not intended to be used as a simple checklist. some states, such as texas, may very well provide categorical funding and/or allotments for most of, if not all, the essential building blocks. however, the work does not end there for legislators and advocates. critical to the success of school finance systems in realizing equitable educational opportunity for every child in every school, the report recognizes that states must also be prepared to: 1) estimate costs using research-based methods; 2) fully implement the plan; 3) equitably distribute the funds; 4) monitor expenditures, opportunities and outcomes; and 5) periodically review the system with a broad group of diverse stakeholders to ensure the goals of education and equity are met (hinojosa, 2018b). new mexico’s education litigation: martínez and yazzie v. new mexico like many other states, new mexico has long struggled to create a strong public education system that serves the needs of every child in every school in every school district. from 2012 through 2016, the kids count report ranked new mexico in the bottom three states in overall child well-being and education (kids count data center, 2019). this challenge is especially pronounced as new mexico educates far more hispanic and native american students and students living in poverty by percentage than most other states—students whose schools continue to struggle in reaching their needs (national center for education statistics, 2015). over the last decade, educational opportunity may have worsened with the advent of several policy changes under former governor susana martínez and secretary of education hanna skandera. these changes included a teacher evaluation system that was largely based on a “value-added” model heavily influenced by student standardized test scores; and a school and district accountability system that assigned letter grades (a-f) based on a very complex formula and subjected low-performing schools to closure (torres-velásquez, 2017). the state further compounded the inequities with a decline in state funding that failed to keep up with inflation hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 24 and a shift in state resources from general funding for school districts to competitive grantfunded projects of the administration (martínez v. new mexico, 2018a, decision and order, p. 50). from its inception, the new mexico latino education task force (letf) was particularly interested in systemic work with local districts and the new mexico public education department (nmped), as well as the colleges of education across the state to help turn the tide on a dismal public education system. from 2009 through the present day, letf coordinated several meetings and worked alongside school districts, superintendents, school board members, community leaders and the hispano chamber of commerce, among others. in 2011, the mexican american legal defense and educational fund (maldef) began consulting on policy work with the letf, which was attempting to address and oppose many of the state’s punitive reforms. as letf and maldef started working together, maldef met and queried several nonprofit organizations, legal and non-legal entities in 2011-12 across the state under a grant and observed that no other organizations were doing systemic legal work in education. in august of 2012, the letf hosted a press conference at albuquerque high school in albuquerque, new mexico, where maldef announced that it would begin investigating the new mexico public education system to determine the causes for the underperformance of students across the state and weigh potential action against the state (torres-velásquez, 2017). from 2012-2014, maldef and the letf hosted several meetings and forums across the state with school district administrators, educators, advocates, organizations, university faculty, parents and children. new mexican communities repeatedly voiced their frustrations with what they felt were arbitrary, punitive state education policies that were driving away highquality teachers away from high-need schools and school districts and a system that denied their cultural relevance (torres-velásquez, 2017). as the legislature and the nmped failed to stem the tide of harmful policies, advocates and families turned to the courts. in april of 2014, fifty-one latina/o/x and native american parents and children from seven school districts located across the state filed a statewide school finance/educational opportunity case, martínez v. new mexico (2014) (torres-velásquez, 2017). in their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that the state had failed to provide a sufficient education for at-risk students and violated their rights to equal protection under the law and due process, and to “perfect equality” for spanish-speaking students as required under the new mexico constitution new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 25 (maldef, 2014a). lead plaintiff parent louise martínez stated, “i went to the same school my daughter attends, and nothing has changed. the school is rated f, the classrooms are overcrowded, the kids need support, and violence is high. my children and all the children in new mexico deserve better. tomorrow is too late, we need to change new mexico’s education system now before we’re stuck in the past” (maldef, 2014a). this, however, was not a traditional school finance case, which tend to focus on revenue and expenditures. though the martinez plaintiffs argued that the state grossly and arbitrarily underfunded education for at-risk students, english learners, and students with disabilities, the claims went much deeper and broader in alleging the causes for deplorable student achievement and graduation rates. (maldef, 2014b). they argued that the state failed to ensure the effective implementation of many important laws in the state, including the indian education act, the hispanic education act, and the bilingual multicultural education act. borrowing from the strong language in state statutes, the martinez plaintiffs argued that a constitutionally “sufficient” education was “at a minimum, an education that is ‘founded on the sound principle that every child can learn and succeed’ and is sufficient to ‘meet the needs of all children’ through a ‘multicultural education system’ with ‘quality and diverse teachers,’ ‘proper assess[ment], place[ment] and monitor[ing]’ and a ‘rigorous and relevant curriculum that prepares them to succeed in college and the workplace’” (martínez v. new mexico, amended complaint, 2014b, p. 17-18) (citing nmsa 1978 § 22-1-1.2(a), (b) (2007); nmsa 1978 § 22-231.1(c) (2004). consequently, multicultural education, teacher quality and evaluation, monitoring of district expenditures, and accountability were also on the table, making it perhaps the most comprehensive educational opportunity case ever filed in the united states. rather than face the merits of the lawsuit, the state moved to dismiss the case, arguing that education was not a fundamental right under the new mexico constitution and that the claims involved purely political questions that could not be resolved by the courts. in october 2014, state district court chief judge sarah singleton held a hearing on the motion with maldef arguing on behalf of the plaintiffs against attorneys from a private law firm hired by the state. the case was not dismissed. following the hearing, judge singleton held that education was a fundamental right and that the lawsuit presented justiciable claims that the courts could rule upon (torres-velásquez, 2017). hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 26 the new mexico center on law & poverty later filed suit in the same district court on behalf of six school districts and thirty-four parents and children (torres-velásquez, 2017). they made more traditional school finance claims based on adequacy and equity, but also argued about the importance of multicultural education. the cases were eventually consolidated for purposes of discovery and trial, and an eight-week trial was held in santa fe in the summer of 2017. in july of 2018, judge singleton issued her emphatic “decision and order” in favor of the martínez and yazzie plaintiffs, citing the substantial evidentiary records built by both plaintiff groups. (martínez and yazzie v. state of new mexico, 2018a). she followed this initial decision with over six-hundred pages of blistering facts and conclusions of law in december 2018, sending a resounding blow to the new mexico public education system (martínez and yazzie v. new mexico, 2018b). on february 14, 2019, judge singleton issued her final judgment in the case. in her judgment, she declared that the state had violated the rights of the children of new mexico under the state’s education clause, due process clause, and equal protection clauses of the new mexico constitution. she held that the state “violated the rights of at-risk students by failing to provide them with a uniform statewide system of free public schools sufficient for their education” (martínez and yazzie v. new mexico, final judgment, feb. 14, 2019). her judgment included the following orders and declarations: d. the defendants must comply with their duty to provide an adequate education and may not conserve financial resources at the expense of our constitutional resources. 7/20/18 decision and order p.74. (ff&cl 3209) e. reforms to the current system of financing public education and managing schools should address the shortcomings of the current system by ensuring, as a part of that process, that as soon as practicable every public school in new mexico would have the resources, including instructional materials, properly trained staff, and curricular offerings, necessary for providing the opportunity for a sufficient education for all at-risk students. 7/20/18 decision and order p. 7475. (ff&cl 3210) f. the new scheme should include a system of accountability to measure whether the programs and services actually provide the opportunity for a sound basic new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 27 education and to assure that the local districts are spending the funds provided in a way that efficiently and effectively meets the needs of at-risk students. (martínez and yazzie v. new mexico, final judgment, feb. 14, 2019, p. 4-5). this stinging indictment of new mexico’s public education system revealed the glaring inequities and inadequacies in educational opportunity for the state’s most at-risk students, including native americans, english language learners, low-income students, and students with disabilities. however, because the courts do not legislate, it was up to the state to remedy the constitutional violations in the 2019 legislative session held from january to march.2 new mexico’s 2019 school finance reforms and the essential building blocks though new mexico continues to struggle with its financial investment in public education, on paper, the state has strong standards and goals. the public school code states that “no education system can be sufficient for the education of all children unless it is founded on the sound principle that every child can learn and succeed and that the system must meet the needs of all children by recognizing that student success for every child is the fundamental goal” (nmsa 1978 § 22-1-1.2). the law further recognizes “that the key to student success in new mexico is to have a multicultural education system,” which includes among other things, “attract[ing] and retain[ing] quality and diverse teachers,” integrat[ing] the cultural strengths of its diverse student population into the curriculum with high expectations,” and “rigorous and relevant curriculum that prepares them to succeed in college and the workplace” (nmsa 1978 § 22-1-1.2). the state has further adopted the indian education act, the hispanic education act and the bilingual multicultural education act, each setting their respective goals. these equitable and inclusive laws, though imperfect, represent far greater progressive policies than most other states. in february 2019, under new leadership, the new mexico public education department announced its intention to scale back on many of the punitive regulatory reforms adopted by 2 this article is not intended to referee the dispute of whether the state satisfied its obligations under the court order in martínez and yazzie v. state of new mexico (2019). for an examination of whether the state met its obligations under the martinez/yazzie district court’s ruling, see yazzie plaintiffs notice to the court of case status. http://nmpovertylaw.org/notice-yazziemartinez-v-nm-yazzie-plaintiffs-2019-06-28/. on october 30, 2019, maldef filed a motion seeking an order from the district court that would allow them to conduct discovery on whether the state has complied with the court’s injunction. (martínez plaintiffs’ opposed motion for entry of schedule for discovery and enforcement proceedings, martínez v. state of new mexico no. d-101-cv-2014-00793, https://www.maldef.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019_10_30-martinez-motion-for-entry-of-schedule-fordiscovery-filed-copy.pdf , and on file with author.) hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 28 the prior administration in the state’s plan under the every student succeeds act (new mexico legislative finance committee, 2019). among the changes expected was the replacement of the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers (parcc) exam, the repeal of the a-f school grading system, and the retraction of school closure as an intervention model for low-performing schools. with these changes to its state accountability plan, the state looks to secure a strong footing in one of the foundational pillars recognized in the essential building blocks: strong and equitable standards and goals. however, the same cannot be said about the second pillar requiring states to identify steady and adequate revenue streams to support the implementation of the standards and goals. new mexico principally relies on oil and gas revenues to support education. because these revenues are highly influenced by production and the market, they do not provide a stable resource. this volatility has led to substantial cuts in education over the years, despite a strong market in the industry in recent years. banking on the revenue surplus, newly elected governor michelle lujan-grisham announced early on that education would be a major priority for the state legislature (the office of governor michelle lujan-grisham, 2019). although the governor did not explicitly mention the martínez and yazzie cases in her opening remarks to the 2019 session, it was clear that judge singleton’s ruling was on her mind and the decision would be a driving force behind the legislature’s actions. governor lujan-grisham pledged a half billion in new revenue for education and other reforms. according to a report by the new mexico legislative education study committee (lesc), fifty-two education bills passed both chambers during the 60-day session (state of new mexico legislative education study committee [nm lesc], 2019).3 governor lujan-grisham signed all but three of them. the report estimates the additional revenue for education at $448 million compared to the previous year. in examining the reforms under the essential building blocks, overall, the state increased funding for the regular program allotment and seemingly made some effort to link funding to research-based programs and services centered on student need. however, it failed to draw a 3 this article relies principally on two reports of the reforms enacted by the state of new mexico, the 2019 postsession review by new mexico legislative education study committee and the may 2019 legislative finance committee’s hearing brief. while such reports are typically reliable, readers are encouraged to further verify the accuracy of these reports. new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 29 connection between funding appropriations and actual costs. the state also failed to enact systemic reforms targeting the learning needs of english learners and students with disabilities, two of the most underperforming student groups in new mexico, among other essential building blocks that went unaddressed. to help school districts recruit, hire and retain teachers, the state made significant gains by providing additional funding to help cover the cost of mandated teacher and staff salaries. the state increased minimum teacher salaries for level 1 by $5,000 and for level 2 and level 3a teachers and level 3-a counselors by $6,000 (nm lesc, 2019). school leaders also received increases ranging from $11,000 to $16,000. school employees are due a 6% increase in compensation. in a state that ranked 45th nationally in average teacher salaries in 2018 (national education association, 2019), this was an important, systemic step to building a stronger teacher workforce and stemming the high cost of teacher attrition, as recognized in the essential building blocks (hinojosa, 2018). these increases, for which funding would flow through the state equalization guarantee (seg) funding program, were estimated to cost $162.1 million. the legislature allocated another $9 million to cover the employer share of increased health insurance costs at 5 percent, though this amount was less than the increased average health cost of 5.6% (nm lesc, 2019). the state is phasing out its small school funding formula over the next five years (nm lesc, 2019). intended to offset the higher administrative costs in operating small, rural and sparsely populated areas, much of the allocated funds are now supporting charter schools located in large, urban areas. the state is replacing the program with a new rural population program. school districts with at least 40% of the school district’s population located within an area defined as rural by the u.s. census bureau will generate this funding (nm lesc, 2019). while the end-result on equity cannot yet be determined, there does not appear to be any evidence in the legislative record linking the rural population program funding to the actual increased administrative costs for operating rural districts. the legislature also appropriated $120 million for k-5 plus extended-year programs, which would extend the school year by 25 days for participating schools (nm lesc, 2019). this was an expansion of the k-3 plus and k-5 plus pilot programs, which were previously funded at $30.2 million. although this program is not targeted to meet the needs of at-risk students, early results indicated increased academic performance for at-risk students hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 30 participating in the program. the revised k-5 plus program was changed to allow the funding to roll through the formulas and provide districts funding based on the number of children enrolling in the program. though appropriations would allow for up to 88,000 students, only 23,000 students are expected to participate in the 2019-20 school year due to program requirements (nm lesc, 2019). the state also adopted legislation that increases funding for educating at-risk students. in new mexico, at-risk funding is based on a formula that uses a three-year average of a school district’s percentage of membership of title i students, english learner students and student mobility. (nmsa § 22-8-23.3 ,2019). the lesc report states that the unit multiplier for at-risk students increased from “0.13” to “0.25,” which nearly doubles the additional funding for those students (nm lesc, 2019, p. 5). while this provides a sizable increase for programs for at-risk students, there was no indication of how the “0.25” unit allotment related to any actual study of student need (nm lesc, 2019, p. 83). other student groups identified in the essential building blocks did not fare as well, despite substantial evidence of dismal student performance. the state failed to pass any increase in the formulas for english learner programs and for programs and services for students with disabilities. the lesc report noted that only 21,000 of the state’s 50,000 english learners were enrolled in bilingual education programs (nm lesc, 2019, p. 10). the legislature allocated $7 million to provide new bilingual and multicultural programs or to expand existing programs. this one-time funding is expected to enroll only between 3,000 and 9,000 additional students, still leaving approximately one-half of english learners without a bilingual program. the state appropriated $30 million to provide culturally relevant instructional materials to all students, an increase of $17.5 million from the previous year (nm lesc, 2019, p. 11). these funds will flow through the state equalization guarantee funding formulas in lieu of a separate instructional material fund, which is a step in the right direction according to the essential building blocks. the state’s prekindergarten programs are primarily administered by the children, youth and families department (cyfd) and the nmped. for the 2019-20 school year, the legislature appropriated a total of $88.5 million, an increase of 38% from 2018-19 (nm lesc, 2019, p. 1314). advocates sought far greater support for full-day, universal pre-k for 4-year olds and expansion of 3-year old pre-k—which are supported in the essential building blocks—but were new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 31 unsuccessful. the state has steadily increased its participation of 4-year old’s in pre-k, but in 2017, 65% of all eligible students were still not participating. given its demographics, the state should look to increasing its investment in high quality, full-day pre-k programs, which could result in greater participation by underserved students who stand to benefit the most from such programs. although new mexico’s state equalization guarantee (seg) funding formula tends to bring greater equity in operational revenues for all school districts, revenue disparities continue to affect the state’s capital outlay programs. the state largely relies on school districts to raise funds for capital projects through local bond elections. this reliance on local revenues allows property-wealthy districts to raise substantially higher revenues at lower tax rates compared to property-poor districts. the state has a program through the public school facilities authority that allows the state to pay a certain percentage of facilities planning, development and construction with the local school district assuming its share based on its property revenue. projects are ranked according to need and funded accordingly (new mexico public school facilities authority, n.a.) but revenue disparities persist between property-poor and propertywealthy districts. in 2019, the legislature attempted to offset some of the inequities for districts qualifying for federal impact aid for its native american students. federal impact aid dollars are intended to offset the lost local revenues from federal lands that are not taxable. for several years, the state has withheld over $100 million in federal impact aid for school districts in new mexico that should otherwise receive these funds. the state claims that its use of the seg allows the state to redistribute those funds through the equalization formula to all school districts. this year, the legislature enacted a bill that redirects $34 million to the public school facilities authority to allocate to school districts qualifying for impact aid (nm lesc, 2019, p. 34). historically, the state has largely neglected school district’s career and technical education (cte) programs. in 2019, the legislature appropriated $5 million to ped to administer a 7-year pilot project on high quality cte programs (lesc, 2019, p. 24). applicants must demonstrate a series of requirements, including academic content aligned with college coursework, permeable career pathways, and dual credit classes. these requirements may hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 32 pose a barrier for underfunded school districts and the state’s adoption of a cte allotment for all school districts would likely better serve its students. transportation received a boost of 14% in funding (nm lesc, 2019, p. 12). however, approximately one-quarter of that additional funding was expected to go to the 6% pay raise and for extended learning programs. another $32.9 million was provided to the ped to replace 387 school district-owned buses that have operated for 12 or more years. the state does not allocate specific funds to all school districts for enrichment and innovation. it has created several ped-funded grants for special projects, including “growyour-own teacher” grants but participation is limited to the amount appropriated by the legislature. the ped also has funds to provide individualized and culturally responsive professional development to school staff working with the students (nm lesc, 2019, p. 13) the state did increase funding for the indian education fund to $6 million for the 201920 school year, an uptick of $3.5 million from the previous year. in addition, the legislature appropriated $1 million to ped for indigenous education initiatives (nm lesc, 2019). although the state should be commended for recognizing these enrichment opportunities, it has not done so in a systemic way, making it difficult for school districts to see the long-term investment of such expenditures. local district perspective an interview with superintendent mike hyatt of gallup-mckinley county schools (gmcs) provides insight into what the proposed changes by the new mexico legislature may mean to school districts working on the ground in light of the essential building blocks. because the expected impact of some of the changes cannot be ascertained until the nmped settles up and reimburses the district for certain expenses during and at the end of the school year, the impact can only be estimated by superintendent hyatt. superintendent hyatt is in his twenty-first year serving public schools. he has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a minor in math and a master’s in business administration. among other duties, he has served as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and interim superintendent. mr. hyatt is in his third-year as superintendent of gmcs. he has spent all of his professional education life in western new mexico, mostly in gallup-mckinley (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 33 gallup-mckinley county schools is a rural district located in western new mexico, approximately 140 miles west of albuquerque. it is an area rich in culture and history and is unique in many ways. first, although rural, the district enrolls an estimated 11,000 students, making it the seventh largest school district in the state. the district has 34 schools spread out over 4,900 square miles in seven distinct geographic areas (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). one school is located 103 miles from the next nearest school in the district. second, the district is very diverse and enrolls the largest number of native american students in new mexico, accounting for 80% of the total student population in gmcs. latina/o/x students comprise 16% of the total population and the remaining population includes anglo, asian-pacific islander, among other races and ethnicities. english learner students make up nearly one-third of the total students. students come to school speaking several languages, primarily navajo and spanish, but also filipino dialects, among others (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). third, the district is considered one of the poorest not just in the state, but in the country, and is a title i school district. because approximately 80% of the land is tribalor federal-owned, gmcs does not have a strong local property tax base to generate additional revenue (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). the district’s assessed property value per pupil is only $74,544, which places it 85th among 89 school districts in new mexico (public education department-capital outlay bureau, dec. 31, 2018, on file with author). in contrast, the district with the highest assessed property value, jal school district in southeastern new mexico, is $3,719,278 per pupil—nearly 50 times higher than gmcs. in the yazzie v. new mexico case, gmcs was one of the plaintiff school districts for the yazzie plaintiffs. the defendants deposed mr. hyatt as then-assistant superintendent of human resources and finance. he assumed the central contact for gmcs in the lawsuit after becoming superintendent. during the 2019 new mexico legislative session, mr. hyatt served as one of the leading administrators advocating for public school districts, especially for programs and services addressing the needs of native american students. the district anticipates receiving approximately $18 million more for the 2019-20 school year through the state equalization guarantee compared to the 2018-19 school year. the bulk of this increase results from the increase in the unit value (essentially, the regular program allotment) by approximately $475 per unit and the increase in the at-risk unit hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 34 multiplier from 0.13 to 0.25. however, a large percentage of these additional funds are dedicated to paying the increase in teacher and personnel salaries mandated by the state and for k-5 plus and extended learning. while the increased revenue for salaries is welcomed, gallup-mckinley expects to still be at a disadvantage in competition for scarce teachers because the raises are across the board. given the great challenges the district has in recruiting and retaining teachers to serve students in an impoverished and rural part of the state, the district expects its routine teacher shortages to continue (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). had the legislature instituted a cost of education index to assist school districts like gmcs in the recruitment and retention of teachers, the district would have been in a better position to compete with other districts. the district also expects to continue to struggle with recruiting bilingual certified teachers and teachers certified to teach special education (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). as noted further above in the state section, the state is providing some funds to assist school districts in growing their own teachers and the district has taken advantage of this funding in the past. however, there does not seem to be any systemic efforts at the state level to encourage college students to earn their teaching degree with a certification in these highneed areas. given the significant number of students identified as english learners and students with disabilities in the district, further progress is expected to be slow. the district is considered one of the more successful school districts in educating native american and low-income students (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). however, “success” is contextual as many other new mexican school districts with similar demographics struggle with student achievement. the district has been very intentional and efficient with its limited funding. it capitalized on securing “below-the-line” funds (funds made available by the state outside of the funding formulas) for special programs such as reads to lead and truancy/dropout prevention programs. however, the state has cut funding for those programs and did not replace those monies. adding to the challenge is a lack of funds for bilingual programs, language revitalization, and culturally relevant materials, which was not addressed in a system-wide manner. quality prekindergarten programs could go a long way in helping to further increase student achievement for gmcs’s underserved students of color and low-income students. the district only offers one full-day pre-k program for non-special education students in 9 of 19 new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 35 elementary schools, serving only approximately 180 students. overall, due to insufficient funding, a lack of facilities, and a lack of transportation funds, the district only serves about onethird of all 4-year old children in gallup-mckinley (martínez/yazzie, findings of fact, no. 92, 2018b). the district applied for state funding for 18 pre-k teachers but was only approved for 10. consequently, the district anticipates only marginal gains in access to pre-k for 4-year old students due to the lack of systemic reform in pre-k (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). the state of new mexico currently subtracts from the seg funds a credit for 75% of the district’s impact aid revenue. as noted further above, this revenue from the federal government is expected to assist those districts serving large numbers of native american students on tribal and federal land, which cannot be locally taxed. other property-wealthy school districts in the state can use 100% of their local property tax base to raise revenue through mill levies to help fill the gap left by the state’s inadequately funded school finance system and to create enrichment opportunities for their students, causing greater inequities between new mexican school districts (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). in the 2019 session, gmcs helped to successfully negotiate the return of $34 million of impact aid that will be redirected to school districts serving native american. most of the funds ($24 million) will be used to build and repair facilities. the other $10 million will be used to build housing to help recruit and retain school teachers serving the rural communities in the district who cannot purchase housing on tribal land (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). however, this is only a one-time appropriation and the districts benefiting from impact aid will need to request funds, yet again, in the 2020 session. in the area of transportation, the district does not project any additional funds to assist with the weekly cost of transportation. because of its sparsity, the state’s failure to update its calculation for transportation is particularly impactful for gallup-mckinley. the district is expected to continue to spend significant amounts of money from its operational revenues to support the transportation of students to and from school and the lack of transportation funds for pre-k programs will also delay the expansion of those programs (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). the district does, however, anticipate benefitting from the state’s provision of new buses to replace the buses at the end of their lifespan. funds for this hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 36 program, however, come from a one-time volkswagen settlement with the state (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). among other reforms, superintendent hyatt noted that the state could consider reinstituting a statewide property tax. the tax was previously used in the 1970s through the 1980s. however, it was eliminated because the state forecast oil and gas revenues to remain stable and make up the void. this left the state relying heavily on highly volatile oil and gas revenue. the state could also reduce state aid to school districts with high tax bases, which tend to use their local tax dollars to supplement operational expenses, as well as capital and reallocate those funds to high-need, low-wealth districts (m. hyatt, personal communication, july 30, 2019). conclusion the new mexican public education system is in a prime position to reap the benefits of its diverse student population. it has strong foundational goals and standards rooted in multiculturalism and equity. it has a new administration that seems to be committed to achieving these goals and has reversed course on several ill-fated reforms by the prior administration. it has teachers, school leaders, district administrators and families who are committed to success. and it has increased revenues. however, the state cannot afford to pass piecemeal legislation. as the findings of fact bore out in the martínez and yazzie v. new mexico cases, new mexico has failed mightily to meet the needs of its underserved population. competitive and isolated grants for essential programs and services will not help realize opportunity for all students in all schools. the state must commit to enacting a comprehensive, equitable school finance system that meets the needs of all school children and all school districts. english learners and students with disabilities were virtually ignored this past session, and it is not enough for the state to merely increase the basic allotment for these students. the essential building blocks can help provide legislators and advocates critical guidance and promising state practices for creating systemic reform grounded in equity. as chief judge sarah singleton ruled in the martínez v. new mexico (2014) case, before it even went to trial, on whether public education is a fundamental right under the new mexico constitution: new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 37 frankly, it is difficult to conceive of a service that the state provides its citizens that is more fundamental than the right to education. nothing really promotes the ability to be a good citizen or to be a productive member of society more than having an education. an educated populace is not only something that is fundamental to our current wellbeing, it is fundamental to our future well-being. (judge sarah singleton, martínez v. state of new mexico, no. d-101-cv201400793, 1st judicial district court, 2014b p. 5-6). in order to continue the momentum and satisfy the state’s obligations to the students, families and public, the author strongly recommends that the state adopt, implement and integrate the following research-based reforms to its school finance policies, with the first step having been largely accomplished already: 1. establish foundational standards and goals, rooted in principles of equity and meaningful opportunity; 2. identify diverse, fair, and stable state revenue sources; 3. identify the essential building blocks of school finance; 4. estimate costs of a high-quality education based on evidence and research; 5. equitably distribute the funds; 6. monitor distributions, educational opportunities and expenditures to ensure equity in the schools; 7. periodically review and revise the school finance system with a diverse group of stakeholders; and 8. ensure meaningful access and opportunity for all (hinojosa, 2018a). hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 38 references baker, b. d., sciarra, d. g., & farrie, d. (2014). is school funding fair? a national report card. philadelphia, pa: education law center. retrieved from https://edlawcenter.org/assets/files/pdfs/publications/national_report_card_2017.pdf betts, j. r., reuben, k. s., & danenberg, a. (2000). equal resources, equal outcomes? the distribution of school resources and student achievement in california. san francisco, ca: public policy institute of california. boyd, d. j., grossman, p. l., lankford, h., loeb, s., & wyckoff, j. (2009). teacher preparation and student achievement. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 31(4), 416-440. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373709353129 card, d., & payne, a. a. (2002). school finance reform, the distribution of school spending, and the distribution of student test scores. journal of public economics, 83(1), 49-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0047-2727(00)00177-8 carnoy, m., elmore, r., & siskin, l. (2003). the new accountability: high schools and high-stakes testing. new york, ny: routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203465639 clotfelter, c. t., ladd, h. f., & vigdor, j. l. (2007). how and why do teacher credentials matter for student achievement? (working paper no.12828). cambridge, ma: national bureau of economic research. darling-hammond, l. (2000). teacher quality and student achievement. education policy analysis archives, 8(1), 1-32. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v8n1.2000 darling-hammond, l. (2010). the flat world and education: how america's commitment to equity will determine our future. new york, ny: teachers college press. filardo, m. (2016). state of our schools: america's k–12 facilities. washington, dc: 21st century school fund. retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed581630.pdf hinojosa, d., (2018a). equity and meaningful educational opportunity for all. san antonio, tx: intercultural development research association. retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/equity-meaningful-educational-opportunity/ hinojosa, d. (2018b). essential building blocks for state school finance system and promising state practices. palo alto: ca: learning policy institute. retrieved from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/productfiles/essential_building_blocks _state_school_finance_systems_report.pdf kids counts data center. (2019). kids counts state rankings. retrieved from https://datacenter.kidscount.org/rankings the office of governor michelle lujan grisham. (2019, january 16). gov. lujan grisham outlines priorities for legislative session in first state of the state address [press release]. retrieved from https://www.governor.state.nm.us/2019/01/16/gov-lujan-grisham-outlines-prioritiesfor-legislative-session-in-first-state-of-the-state-address/ martínez v. state of new mexico. (2014). amended complaint, no. d-101-cv-2014-00793. retrieved from http://www.maldef.org/assets/pdf/2014_06_12_martínezvnew mexico.pdf new mexico’s 2019 school finance reports association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 39 martínez and yazzie v. state of new mexico. (2018a). decision and order, nos. d-101-cv-201400793 & d-101-cv-2014-02224. retrieved from https://www.maldef.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/11/2018-07-20d-101-cv-2014-00793_decision_and_order-1.pdf martínez and yazzie v. state of new mexico. (2018b). findings of fact and conclusions of law, nos. d-101-cv-2014-00793 & d-101-cv-2014-02224. retrieved from https://www.maldef.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019_10_30-martinez-motion-forentry-of-schedule-for-discovery-filed-copy.pdf martínez and yazzie v. new mexico. (2019). final judgment, nos. d-101-cv-2014 00793 & d-101-cv-2014-02224. retrieved from http://nmpovertylaw.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/02/d-101-cv-2014-00793-final-judgment-and-order-ncj-1.pdf. martínez v. state of new mexico. (2019). martínez plaintiffs’ opposed motion for entry of schedule for discovery and enforcement proceedings, no. d-101-cv-2014 00793. meloy, b., gardner, m., & darling-hammond, l. (2019). untangling the evidence on preschool effectiveness: insights for policymakers. palo alto: learning policy institute. retrieved from http://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/untangling_evidence_ preschool_effectiveness_report.pdf mexican american legal defense and educational fund (maldef). (2014a, april 1). maldef challenges new mexico’s denial of the fundamental right to education in most comprehensive educational opportunity lawsuit yet filed [news release]. retrieved from https://www.maldef.org/2014/04/maldef-challenges-new-mexicos-denial-of-thefundamental-right-to-education-in-most-comprehensive-educational-opportunity-lawsuityet-filed/ mexican american legal defense and educational fund (maldef). (2014b, june 12). maldef amends landmark suit to address educational opportunities for new mexico students with disabilities [news release]. retrieved from https://www.maldef.org/2014/ 06/maldef-amends-landmark-suit-to-address-educational-opportunities-for-new-mexicostudents-with-disabilities/ national center for education statistics. (2015). digest of education statistics [table of percentage distribution of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: fall 2000 and fall 2015]. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_203.70.asp?referer=raceindicators national education association. (2019). rankings of the states 2018 and estimates of school statistics 2019. retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/2019%20rankings %20and%20estimates%20report.pdf new mexico legislative finance committee. (2019). lfc hearing brief. department of education. retrieved from https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/alesc%2006 2619%20item%204%20-%204.2%20lfc%20brief%20 %20implementation%20plan %20for%20yazzie%20and%20martinez%20-%20may%202019.pdf new mexico public school facilities authority. (n.a.). about funding for schools. hinojosa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 40 retrieved from http://nmpsfa.org/?q=funding-faq state of new mexico legislative education study committee (nm lesc). (2019). 2019 post session review. retrieved from https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/alesc%20052919 %20item%202%202019%20post-session%20review.pdf torres-velásquez, d. (2017). martínez v. state of new mexico: the right to a sufficient education. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(1), 106-124. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.334 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 13 latinx/chicanx students on the path to conocimiento: critical reflexivity journals as tools for healing and resistance in the trump era1 jesica siham fernández alejandra magaña gamero2 santa clara university abstract anzaldúa’s concept of conocimiento guides our analysis of latinx/chicanx students’ critical reflexivity journals (crj) produced in an ethnic studies classroom at a predominantly-white institution. through a thematic analysis procedure of students’ crj entries, which we describe as written testimonios, we discerned how latinx/chicanx students’ writings engaged their identities, reflexivity, healing, and resistance on a path toward conocimiento. grounding our theoretical and empirical analysis in anzaldúan thought, conocimiento is characterized by a deep reflexive critical consciousness that unfolds across seven interconnected stages. conocimiento builds toward a liberatory transformation that anzaldúa describes as spiritual activism, the seventh and final stage of conocimiento. the sociohistorical, culturally relevant, and studentcentered curricula purported in ethnic studies is the focus of much scholarly writings. our work contributes to this growing theoretical, empirical and pedagogical scholarship by specifically focusing on conocimiento. through an anzaldúa centered analysis of latinx/chicanx students’ crj we demonstrate how reflexive writings can facilitate students’ process of identity formation, reflexivity, healing and resistance from colonial forms of knowledge and oppression. this is especially important when considering the racist and violent sociopolitical context under the trump administration. key words: latinx/chicanx, identity, critical pedagogy, reflexivity, healing, conocimiento doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.404 1 a santa clara university faculty student research grant to the first author, and an undergraduate student research travel award and lead student grant to the second author supported this research. thanks to the ethn 20 latinx/chicanx students who contributed to this research, and the ethnic studies department faculty for their support. we also wish to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on an earlier version of this article. 2 to whom correspondence should be addressed at alemagana310@g.ucla.edu. http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.404 critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 14 introduction across the united states, the latinx3 population has increased to an estimate of 56 million people (flores, 2017). the growth of latinx communities in the u.s. has tripled since the 1980s, currently accounting for 17% of the total population. these patterns are also reflected in the number of latinx students who pursue higher education. since 2000, latinx undergraduate enrollment in higher education, from community colleges to top-tier universities, has more than doubled (u.s. department of education, 2017). about one-third (28%) of latinx have at least an associate degree, and more than half (54%) completed a bachelor’s degree. yet, when compared to white and african american college students, the proportion of latinx who graduate in four years is 14% lower, and some take up to six years (u.s. department of education, 2017). although these trends indicate some improvement, latinx students’ higher education enrollment and rates of degree completion do not necessarily reflect significant progress, especially given the projected growth of latinx youth. clearly, questions remain regarding the conditions that challenge or support latinx students’ academic thriving. as the latinx population continues to grow towards a projected number of 106 million by 2050 (krosgstad, 2016), a critical analysis of the state of higher education is warranted. this is especially the case in the wake of the current sociopolitical context following the 2016 presidential election. the trump administration has further amplified the racialized neoliberalization of education, as evidenced by the discourses and policies purported by secretary of education, betsy devos. the shift in education from a public good to a private for-profit commodity has stifled progressive affirmative action initiatives aimed at reducing the higher education achievement gap (jaschick, 2018). latinx students are likely to be most impacted by these shifts, which align with a culture of meritocratic colorblindness that supersedes any efforts toward equitable race-conscious education reforms. institutions of higher education that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion, together with a sociocultural sense of comunidad, are critical to the academic thriving of all students, especially latinx. this work must combine bottom-up and top-down approaches toward reform. for the latter, the implementation of administrative initiatives, programming, and curricula are necessary structural changes. in terms of the former, 3 we use “latinx” because it is a more gender inclusive term than the concepts latino or latina/o, which refer to a pan-ethnic/racial and transnational community (de onís, 2017). fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 15 bottom-up initiatives can begin in the microcosm of the classroom through pedagogical practices that affirm students’ lived experiences. this paper focuses on the former, specifically on creating opportunities for latinx/chicanx students to develop reflexive writing as a tool for identity formation, reflexivity, healing, and resistance. we contend that reflexive writing can support students’ academic thriving and wellbeing. given the current sociopolitical context, such opportunities are imperative, as they offer students with the critical social analysis tools to confront, deconstruct and resist the internalization of racism. forging spaces for latinx students to situate themselves in relation to the knowledge produced in the classroom, as well as being positioned as experts of their own lives can have a transformative positive impact on students (bernal, 2002; sepúlveda, 2011). thus, culturally and contextually relevant curricula are crucial to the academic engagement of latinx students who might not see themselves, or their communities, represented in the course content or at the institution (cammarota & romero, 2006; yosso, smith, ceja, & solórzano, 2009). in this article, we make the case for the use of critical reflexivity journals (crj) as tools to support the identity formation, reflexivity, healing and resistance of latinx/chicanx students at a predominantly-white jesuit institution of higher education. we posit that facilitating opportunities for reflexive writing can support a process that anzaldúa described as conocimiento (anzaldúa, 1987). we therefore engage the following question: how do latinx/chicanx students’ crj reflect assemblages of their identities, reflexivity, healing, and resistance on a path toward conocimiento? literature review anzaldúan theorizing: conocimiento a robust scholarship has focused on gloria e. anzaldúa’s writings and theories, from borderlands/la frontera to mestiza consciousness to nepantla (anzaldúa, 1987, 2002; keating, 2016). one concept among these theoretical formations is conocimiento, which keating (2006, 2015) points out remains on the margins of anzaldúan contemporary thought. despite anzaldúa’s renowned contributions to chicana, feminist, ethnic, and queer studies, within the social sciences, specifically community psychology (see silva, 2017 for an exception) there is a dearth of research that has engaged anzaldúan thought. although there are some parallels to freire’s (2000) conscientização (conscientization), and martín-baró’s (1984) notion of deideologization, conocimiento remains understudied (reza-lópez, huerta charles, & reyes, 2014). critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 16 few scholarly writings have empirically employed conocimiento as a theoretical framework for describing the processes and practices associated with critical consciousness, sociopolitical development, identity formation, healing, and resistance. the limited empirical research is problematic as it leaves conocimiento contained within theoretical paradigms outside of the social sciences that could benefit from it, and that deserves to be further applied (keating, 2006; sandoval, 2000). anzaldúa’s work, as others have written, embraces a transdisciplinary orientation, and strives toward the fulfillment of ongoing spiritual activism. the concept of conocimiento is thus one tool that anzaldúa developed toward that end. conocimiento is an iterative process of conscious de-construction/re-construction of the self, others and the social world. characterized by seven interdependent interweaving stages, conocimiento exposes the individual to deeper, often new and complex, or contradictory, ways of knowing that transcend normativity, hierarchy, objectivity, and duality in thinking and being. anzaldúa (2002) posits conocimiento is a reflexive consciousness marked by a process of: breaking out of your mental and emotional prison and deepening the range of perception enables you to link inner reflection and vision – mental, emotional, instinctual, imaginal, spiritual, and subtle bodily awareness – with social, political action and lived experience to generate subversive knowledge (p. 120). in this definition, anzaldúa describes several domains of conocimiento, from the clashing of lived experiences, emotions and thoughts, to the discovery, imagination and creative re-creation of hybrid subjectivities. unfolding from the borderlands, conocimiento troubles the binaries that give way to power. in what follows we describe conocimiento, and each of its stages. the seven stages: conocimiento in praxis. anzaldúa’s conocimiento is characterized by seven stages: el arrebato, nepantla, coatlicue, the call, putting coyolxauhqui together, the blowup, and spiritual activism. each one facilitates a reflexive consciousness toward spiritual activism. conocimiento, rooted in the spanish word conocer (to know), is characterized by a profound sense of reflexive awareness. reflexivity thus allows for liberation (martín-baró, 1984) and a differential consciousness (sandoval, 2000) toward the decoloniality of mind and being (maldonado-torres, 2011). in the first stage, el arrebato, anzaldúa describes the shattering of subjectivities, experiences, and forms of knowledge taken for granted. this first stage leads the individual out of the comfort zone and into the second stage: nepantla. in nepantla, the clashing of old, new fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 17 and complex realities is confronted. each clash marks an in-between zone, a borderland to be crossed and embraced. in nepantla, the individual begins to acquire the awareness that they are capable of transforming their world and reality. transformation is not without pain or contention, however. for example, in an auto-ethnography of a school-based community partnership, silva (2017) described her process of nepantla. specifically, how she embraced this stage of “unraveling” to engage her personal and professional identities at the intersections of community research collaborations. as a nepantlera, silva (2017) identified the contradictions of her identities as a latina researcher engaged in collaborative research with latinx communities in disempowering educational settings. as a zone of transformation and hybridity, nepantla is characterized as a liminal space where often dualistic or contradictory experiences and positionalities are valued. the equal valuing of these experiences leads to an to the in-between, the borderland that allows for imagination and new possibilities to unfold. the third stage, coatlicue, involves dismantling or undoing what is no longer connected to the individual’s process for spiritual activism. coatlicue is the intentional act of confronting the evils that have colonized the mind and body (anzaldúa, 2002). in facing those internalized oppressions that disempower individuals, decolonization as a process of deconstructing and cocreating knowledge from within is realized (maldonado-torres, 2011). coatlicue as an act of decolonization cannot happen in isolation, however. individuals must be in relation with others to understand how the liberation of a person is tied to the liberation of others (martín-baró, 1984; sandoval, 2000). building on coatlicue, anzaldúa (2002) invokes the fourth stage: the call. in this stage, reflexivity and dialogue are identified as necessary for building solidarity and community. the call is an invitation to enact mutuality through the co-creation of hybrid narratives. franquiz’s (2010) case study of bilingual/bicultural education shows how two teachers incorporated anzaldúa’s children’s books4 into their student-centered culturally relevant curriculum to support students’ conocimiento. franquiz (2010) also documented how the hybrid narratives fostered opportunities for intersectional solidarity. the piecing together of narratives was an empowering experience for the fifth graders who, via reflections and dialogues of shared 4 friends from the other side / amigos del otro lado (1993), and prietita and the ghost woman / prietita y la llorona (1995). critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 18 experiences of im/migration and latinidad, reflected the fifth stage: putting coyolxauhqui together. hybrid narratives can be empowering. yet, new ways of thinking and being can create choques (torre & ayala, 2009). these choques can be understood as putting coyolxauhqui together and the sixth stage: the blow-up. hybrid narratives create shifts toward transformation and decoloniality that may manifest as blow-ups or states of contention. anzaldúa (2002) describes the blow-up as a lashing out response from a change in perspective or a paradigm shift. however, for those who remain in a state of desconocimiento (unknowing), shifting paradigms can be perceived as a threatening to the status quo. indeed, the blow-up can produce a clash of realities that one may not necessarily want to accept. this stage challenges the emotional ties that surface in relation to an individual’s arrebato. there is a constant shift in paradigms, changing perspectives, and piecing together of coyolxauhqui. an example of this is demonstrated in hurtado and gurin’s (2004) analysis of chicanx identity in a changing u.s. society, wherein they describe the social engagement model of chicanx that allows them to develop their identities as multiple social adaptations to cultural shifts and transformation in their social context. drawing from anzaldúa’s (1987) mestiza consciousness, hurtado and gurin (2004) describe how these moments of blow-up allow for multiple group identification to surface and be embraced, or rejected, thereby creating avenues for the potential dismantling of systems of oppression. tension with integrity and wholeness is the result of this blow-up stage. the culmination of conocimiento is the seventh stage: spiritual activism. anzaldúa conceptualizes this stage as the embodiment and enactment of liberation. as anzaldúa writes: spiritual activism is a critical turning point of transformation, you shift realities, develop an ethical, compassionate strategy with which to negotiate conflict and differences within self and between others ... finding common ground by forming holistic alliances … enacting spiritual activism (p. 545). the path of conocimiento ends with a praxis of spiritual activism that reflects lorde’s (1984) notion of love as a radical political act. similarly, hooks (1994) describes love as a practice of freedom, while sandoval (2000) theorizes love as a technology for social transformation. sandoval’s (2000) differential consciousness reflects anzaldúa’s conocimiento. the capacity for openness and receptivity to tension, anzaldúa (2002) posits, makes people attuned to their experiences of oppression and solidarity, which are necessary for the embodiment of spiritual fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 19 activism. we thus describe crj as a tool to aid latinx/chicanx students’ identity formation, reflexivity, healing and resistance toward conocimiento in the trump era. methods university context claradise university5 (cu) is a private jesuit institution located in northern california. as an institution committed to educating the whole person/student and creating citizen leaders of competence, conscience, and compassion, cu prides itself as being social justice-oriented. these values are at times poorly reflected in the culture of the university, however. the incidents that occurred prior to and following the 2016 presidential election underscored the colorblind culture of the institution that rendered the experiences of students of color6 as nominal. in the aftermath of the election race-related incidents heightened at cu—from the defacing of an art installation remembering the disappearance of forty-three students from ayotzinapa (trujillo, 2016) to white students drawing a swastika in blood (nguyen, 2016) to establishing of a turning point usa7 chapter on campus (hypeline news, 2018). these incidents, along with the racism experienced by students of color, reinforced an oppressive climate for students with marginalized identities. in one ethnic studies classroom, as students and faculty, we found ourselves processing campus incidents and daily reporting of racism and injustice. for some latinx/chicanx students, the crj became an outlet for them to embrace their identities, and engage in reflexivity, healing, and resistance. reflexive writing served as a tool to grapple with experiences of anger, as well as hope and solidarity. because of the value latinx/chicanx students ascribed to the crj, we analyzed their writings as these reflected their process of conocimiento. critical reflexivity journals (crj) the purpose of crj is to facilitate students’ reflexivity, critical social analysis, and engagement with course topics. crj entries are student reflexive written responses to assigned 5 all proper names have been changed to pseudonyms to maintain the confidentiality and anonymity of students. 6 in line with the work of race scholars (delgado & stefancic, 2000), we capitalize “color” because “people of color” constitute a group whose experiences and positioning is distinct from whiteness, and the structural racebased privileges associated with being racialized as white. 7 turning point usa is a conservative right-wing non-profit organization whose mission is "to educate students about free market values.” the organization also oversees the professor watchlist, which identifies and targets professors whose teaching and research is perceived as oppositional to the goals and values of turning point usa (mele, 2016). critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 20 readings8, lectures, in-class discussions, and other course material. students are also encouraged to free-write about relevant lived experiences tied to the course and current social issues. all students enrolled in an introductory ethnic studies courses (i.e., introduction to latino/chicano studies) taught by the first author were assigned to submit weekly crj entries. students submitted a notebook or electronic document (e.g., google doc) of their crj entry to the instructor, who within a few days returned them with comments, questions and/or personal reflections to help deepen student’s reflexive writings. through this process, students and instructor engaged in dialogic reflection that helped deepen students’ critical reflexivity, or process of conocimiento, as reflected in their iterative and final crj. additionally, the process also fostered positive student-instructor relationships. crj were graded as complete/incomplete and constituted 15 percent of a student’s overall grade. additionally, crj provided students with opportunities to process their thoughts, engage with the content personally (if they wish), and articulate that which they were unable to share during class. the crj we present in this article focus on the reflexive writings of six latinx/chicanx students who volunteered and consented to have their journals be a part of this research. in writing about their identities and lived experiences with racism and discrimination, students often described healing and resistance as necessary practices to work through the sociopolitical context. thus, in aligning our research with the goals of the special issue we specifically focus on crj as a tool to facilitate latinx/chicanx students’ identity formation, reflexivity, healing, and resistance on a path toward conocimiento in the midst of the trump administration. testimonio: a methodology in line with a research justice paradigm (jolivétte, 2015) we engaged testimonio, which is a methodology that prioritizes and validates socially and politically marginalized people’s stories through the gathering of narratives that seek to challenge hegemonic discourses and eurocentric frameworks (cruz, 2012). testimonio attempts to dismantle power relationships within social structures, like education institutions (chávez, 2012). through a process of reflection, and the sharing and kneading of collective stories, testimonio prioritizes the voices and lived experiences of people and communities (bernal, burciaga, & carmona, 2016). of most 8 among these readings are anzaldúa (1987) borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza, morraga (2011) a xicana codex of changing consciousness: writings, 2000–2010, galeano (1971/1997) open veins of latin america: five centuries of the pillage of a continent, gonzalez (2011) harvest of empire: a history of latinos in america, and other selected readings on latinx/chicanx communities in the u.s.. fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 21 significance, testimonio is a method for speaking against oppression because it aims to make heard the voices of those on the margins (bernal et al., 2016). by linking narratives to social action, testimonio privileges stories of personal and collective struggle as sources of knowledge, empowerment, and political strategy for social change (chávez, 2012). we describe latinx/chicanx students’ crj as testimonios and analyzed these through a thematic analysis procedure. thematic analysis thematic analysis is a frequently used data analysis procedure in qualitative research. it is both a method and a tool for analyzing qualitative data via an iterative process of identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns or themes discerned from data (braun & clarke, 2006). given its theoretical and methodological flexibility, thematic analysis is also a useful approach for organizing and presenting patterns in the data because it combines inductive and deductive coding procedures. the former involves discerning themes from the data, whilst the latter connects patterns or themes in the data to the existing literature that guide the research. we employed a thematic analysis procedure to discern themes within the crj. each crj was an average of ten pages in length, consisting of individual (one paragraph to one singlespaced page) crj entries. we analyzed crj from six latinx/chicanx students enrolled in an introduction to latino/chicano studies course taught by the first author during the 2017 winter quarter following the 2016 presidential election. most of the crj we analyzed were from ethnic studies minors or majors in their second, third or fourth year of undergraduate studies. with the exception of one student, all had taken multiple courses with the first author. our thematic analysis process began with familiarizing ourselves with the data by reading thoroughly each of the crj that were completed and submitted at the end of the quarter. we then generated labels or categories for patterns and themes we observed. through an inductive and deductive process, these categories were then discerned and clustered into themes that reflected the patterns we observed in our data. we engaged consensus coding as a process to aid us in identifying crj excerpts that reflected our themes. informed by anzaldúan thought and theorizing on conocimiento (anzaldúa, 1987, 2002; franquiz, 2010; keating, 2006; reza-lópez, huerta charles, & reyes, 2014; sandoval, 2000; silva, 2017; torre & ayala, 2009), we identified four themes. these consisted of the following: assemblages of identity, reflexivity as a tool for conocimiento, healing through conocimiento, and critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 22 conocimiento as resistance in action. in the following section, we discuss these themes in relation to latinx/chicanx students’ crj. findings assemblages of identity for some latinx/chicanx students, terms like latinx and chicanx were new found identities. the ethnic studies classroom often provided latinx/chicanx students with opportunities to learn, engage and see themselves and their communities’ stories, past and present, reflected in the curricula. these were empowering moments of discovery, connection, and grounding. learning about identity from an anzaldúa perspective allowed latinx/chicanx students to understand identities as assemblages, as additive categories that extend beyond, but also trouble, constructions of race, ethnicity, and gender. anzaldúa’s writings (anzaldúa, 1987, 2002; moraga & anzaldúa, 2015) allowed latinx/chicanx students to feel validated and grounded in themselves, as noted in sofia’s crj entry: anzaldúa’s writing style really struck a chord with me. her effortless interweaving of spanish into her writing made me think of all the times in high school that i wanted to do that but didn’t dare. i felt as if she had somehow gained access to my inner thoughts. a few years back when the census was being conducted, i remember feeling conflicted about which race box to check. i did some research and decided that none of those boxes described me. that was the first time i identified myself as mestiza. reading anzaldúa solidified my decision to identify as mestiza. the fact that anzaldúa extends identity beyond ethnicity and race most spoke to me because identity is more to me. even though i didn’t have the words for it before, i see that it’s about our common history and the different identities that intersect that make us mestiza/os. through reading anzaldúa, sofia experienced the first stage of conocimiento, el arrebato, where she was faced with socially constructed racial categories that she did not ascribe to herself nor embrace. sofia’s experiences catapulted her to reflect and deeply engage with her positionalities, and how these were made salient within a sociopolitical context of racialization, nativism, and ethnocentrism. as in the arrebato stage, sofia was exposed to information that shaped her identities and led her to disorientation, or desconocimiento. the clashing of her lived experiences, marked by the realization that no race box defined her embodiment as a woman fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 23 of color, led her to identify as a mestiza, and push back on the racist nativism. sofia opted to embrace a political, social and cultural identity as a mestiza. in embracing conocimiento through arrebatos of racism and cultural hegemony, students like sofia saw their identities as assemblages that intersected with and were re-produced by social structures. this melding of identities into one was demonstrated in ignacio’s writings: not a lot of mexican-americans quite understand themselves, let alone what it means to be “mexican-american.” these are titles that validate my very existence. for the younger generation, these terms and ideas allow them to grasp something tangible in this limbo state of being neither american or mexican. the border is in fact intertwined within our souls, yearning to be set free. perhaps this is only me, but regardless of the term, mexican-american is multidimensional with a sociopolitical cultural heritage as our foundation. these are aspects of my life that have made me who i am today: a secondgeneration mexican-american. ignacio described being caught in el compromiso, the crossing from one border to another. as a self-identified american and mexican, ignacio embraced the borderland, and a reconciliation of all of his identities. in a sociopolitical context marked by anti-immigration legislation, and the hyper-militarization of the mexico-u.s. border, for students like ignacio embodying both identities equally meant a refusal to subscribe to the us v. them, immigrant/foreign-born v. u.s.born dichotomies. ignacio realized the multidimensionality of his identities and, as he reflected, he claimed pride in these. yet, he also remained open to the fluidity of new ways of being and knowing in a time of increased hostility toward latinx communities and people of color. fluidity was marked by the embracing of change that can lead to new commitments and a deeper realization of the self in relation to others. adriana, for example, made such connections: today, i was reminded of the power the word chicana holds, and what it means to identify as chicana. this identity allows me to embrace my mexican culture and heritage, while simultaneously recognizing that i am also american. it also validates my experiences and personally encourages me to challenge the stereotypes of women across the lines of gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality. i recognize that just as i am a chicana, i am also so many other things that are beyond my control, such a woman of color from a low-income family. critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 24 in anzaldúa’s words, adriana experienced the stage of nepantla as she described her coming to terms with her identities. the clashing of different positionalities marked the feelings of contention adriana identified. yet, she embraced and found ease in these contradictory identities because she saw power in their meaning. for example, by identifying as a chicana, which she conceived to be an empowering identity, adriana was able to claim power and withstand manifestations of internalized oppression. by experiencing nepantla, adriana was also able to understand how identities are constructed, and often used to categorize groups of people apart from one another. conocimiento, through experiences with el arrebato, el compromiso and nepantla, afforded sofia, ignacio and adriana with opportunities for reflexivity. in embracing the assemblages of their identities, latinx/chicanx students described their positionalities as interconnected and reflective of their sense of self, relationships to others, and opposition to the hegemony purported by trump and his supporters. the assemblages of student’s identities, as evidenced in adriana’s claim, demonstrated a state of nepantla, of creating a hybrid identity at the borderlands, or in between contact zones that would prove to be useful in their organizing and spiritual activism. the liminal spaces latinx/chicanx students described were intersectional experiences that allowed them to experience or forge a path toward conocimiento. deep reflexivity as a tool for conocimiento facilitating latinx/chicanx students’ reflexivity allowed them to develop a sociohistorical awareness, or in anzaldúan (2002) terms, a state of coatlicue. coatlicue is a necessary stage in conocimiento because it forces the person to confront wounds produced from colonialism or intergenerational traumas. anzaldúa (2002) claims that “knowing is painful because after it happens i can’t stay in the same place and be comfortable. i am no longer the same person i was before” (anzaldúa as cited in zaytoun, 2006, p. 105). indeed new insights can lead to a heightened sense of awareness, as yadira noted in her crj: i have become increasingly aware of the way my identity is not self-determined but rather shaped by external forces. i cannot deny the influence my context has had on the person i am. i cannot talk about who i am now, without taking a look back to where i have been. while reflecting on my past, my tendency is to try to pinpoint the moment when i first felt i was “different.” the moment when i understood that the world i was living in was not meant for me – a woman of color from a working-class family. each fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 25 time i make this attempt, i fail. there is no distinct memory which clearly shows me when that line was drawn, at least not one i can recall. i wonder if this feeling of otherness, this dissonance between the world i have been given, and the self i seek to understand, was passed down through my blood, through the fear my mother must have held in her heart. yadira experienced discomfort in coming to terms with her privileged and oppressed identities. as in the coatlicue stage, yadira reflected on the times when she tried to pinpoint the sources of her pain yet realized that this world was not made for people like her: working-class women of color. anzaldúa’s stages of coatlicue, the call, and putting coyolxauhqui together, all demonstrate yadira’s embracing of her lived experiences as an outsider on the margins of the status quo. when combined, these stages allowed yadira to come to terms with her past fears and accept who she was becoming. yadira described these fears as intergenerational wounds passed down to her from her mother, who had experienced racism, sexism and violence. yadira’s discomfort in having recognized the roots of her feeling led her to the fourth stage of conocimiento, the call. in this stage, yadira reflected on intergenerational traumas, and how these surfaced in response to a sociopolitical context that mirrored past experiences of oppression that were presumed to be addressed yet were unearthed under trump. in putting coyolxauhqui together, yadira aimed to weave her past with her present. anzaldúa (2002) writes about the importance of engaging with the world through reflexivity, comunidad, and solidarity in action. this often involved making intergenerational connections, as evidenced in yadira’s remarks. yet, other students like adriana pursued the path toward conocimiento via a process of “crossing over.” in his crj, santiago wrote about his positionality as a chicano and his embracing of this and other identities: throughout the quarter, i have learned to appreciate writing as a process from which i find myself, and how i connect to others. it is through this that i gain greater perspective in the world. journaling in this class has been extremely impactful in how i gather my thoughts around ideas and people. it also gives me an outlet as a chicano to talk about my feelings in a constructive manner. similar to how yadira developed a sociohistorical awareness, santiago described how he engaged crj as a tool to aid in his reflexive process. for example, santiago reflected upon a turning point, wherein he learned to express his feelings in an affirming liberating way. thus, for critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 26 santiago crj served multiple purposes such as affording him with a space to express and release his feelings and emotions, thereby allowing him to connect with others. santiago’s practice of reflexively writing about his emotions as a chicano was imperative to his healing, to creating anti-oppressive narratives, and to embodying solidarity and spiritual activism. in a sociopolitical context marked by race and gender violence against women of color, the allyship and solidarity of men (as well as white people) is imperative toward building an intersectional movement to end racism, sexism and systemic violence in the trump era. the crj served as an outlet for latinx/chicanx students, specifically men like santiago to develop conocimiento. healing through conocimiento the ability to bring together fragments of experiences, marked by pain, hope, struggle and love for the self and the other, is at the core of what anzaldúan scholars describe as emancipatory decolonial freedom (sandoval, 2000; keating, 2006, 2015). a sense of liberation is attained through healing via a spiritual activism that resonates with what lorde (1984) describes as radical self-love. anzaldúa’s (2002) conocimiento, as seen in adriana’s writings, was characterized by healing through reflexivity and interconnectivity of the past with the present: in her writings, anzaldúa talks about the importance of writing to connect not only with you but also with others. throughout this quarter i have learned to find myself via journaling by critically thinking about the material that i am engaging with. this has also allowed me to connect with others on a different level. writers like anzaldúa continually remind me that my experiences, emotions, and struggles, as a chicana and a woman of color, are valid and should be talked about. writing has served as an outlet to talk about my feelings and emotions. the multiple course readings have allowed me to work through a sense of healing that is characterized by my ability to connect my lived experiences to historical and structural factors, instead of individual dispositions. in this excerpt, adriana described how she connected with anzaldúa’s writings (moraga & anzaldúa, 2015), how this allowed her to reflect on the power of writing and, as we purport, experience the stage of putting coyolxauhqui together. in this stage, the liminal space is embraced regardless of the perceived contradictions or tensions. tension, however, is significant insofar as it allows the individual to re-ground and shift toward a sense of wholeness. for adriana, putting coyolxauhqui together was characterized by the piecing together of narratives of affirmation that reflected her identities. furthermore, she described putting fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 27 coyolxauhqui together and nepantla as complementary experiences that allowed her to weave in narratives and reflections. consistent with santiago’s experiences, adriana also described how writing allowed her to express emotions. despite the oppression encountered, students like adriana were able to use crj as a tool to aid in discerning and resisting experiences of marginality in higher education. the crj afforded latinx/chicanx students with a space to reflect whilst developing ways to heal, as well as resist. within the context of higher education, however, rarely are students of color afforded opportunities to heal or engage socioemotionally. we claim that under the current sociopolitical context, opportunities for healing that involve reflexivity are necessary, especially as students are affected by the racism that is the hallmark of the trump era. conocimiento as a resistance in action conocimiento for latinx/chicanx students was also marked by moments of resistance anchored in a commitment to social change. in their crj latinx/chicanx students described how current social problems, those that existed before and after the election, were systemic manifestations of past injustices. this point was noted in adriana’s excerpt: throughout high school and prior to that i was completely unaware of the systemic inequalities that exist in education that impede the advancement of people of color. over the course of my academic experiences, i have come to recognize the powerful transformative role of ethnic studies in facilitating the development of my identity. i feel empowered as a chicana to create change and make a difference. i am able to feel connected to not only other latino/a’s but other people of color as well. learning history from a perspective that is different than that of the master narrative has allowed me to embrace my people’s struggles and to understand the experiences that have shaped who i am today. in learning and reflecting upon the systemic inequalities that women of color face, adriana embraced a spiritual activism characterized by a deeply seeded awareness of systemic social issues and the embodying of an intersectional solidarity with others affected by these. the feeling of connectedness to other peoples’ struggles exemplified adriana’s solidarity with those affected by forms of oppression. adriana learned about injustices and marginalization, and this led her to connect those realities to her own life and to consider ways to create change through social action. under the current sociopolitical context, the ability to connect to other critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 28 people’s experiences can enable people to create socially just change. thus, it is critical for communities to unite in a common struggle by leveraging their power and positionalities to serve, learn and engage with others affected by trump’s hegemony. indeed, by confronting those conditions of oppression that produce moments of discomfort, or desconocimento, acts of resistance aimed at social change are possible. isabel, like adriana, found her way through conocimiento via resistance to oppression the various ethnic studies courses i have taken have enabled me with the tools necessary to develop my [research] skills, my ability to affect policy and structural level changes and work with students. this experience has influenced me to pursue a career in academia where i will have the opportunity to explore the relationships between educational practices and structures, as well as analyze existing frameworks to conduct research for social change. anzaldúa’s (2002) putting coyolxauhqui together is described as a state where people create a new description of reality through narratives. isabel exemplified this stage when she embraced and saw strength in her newfound knowledge and identity as an aspiring educator. isabel was putting coyolxauhqui together by reinventing herself and developing a new lens through which to see the world. anzaldúa (2002) describes the need to create new paradigms and ways of knowing and being that align with and reflect one’s sense of true self. it is in the stages of nepantla, coatlicue, the call, and putting coyolxauhqui together that new visions for change are thus imagined. most significantly these understandings echo a commitment to engage a praxis that strives to redress social inequities. for isabel, a new sense of self, one that aligned with values of transformation and liberation, reflected anzaldúa’s final stage of conocimiento: spiritual activism. through this process, isabel expressed the desire to develop the critical intellectual tools to understand how power structures shape social conditions of injustice, including the hegemonic discourses purported by trump and his followers, and how these conditions can be changed through knowledge, action and spiritual activism in times of pain. discussion and conclusion anzaldúa’s concept of conocimiento informed our analysis of latinx/chicanx student’s crj produced within the context of the ethnic studies classroom at a predominantly-white institution. through a thematic analysis procedure, we discerned four themes: assemblages of identity, reflexivity, healing, and resistance. as demonstrated in latinx/chicanx students’ crj, fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 29 these themes interweaved anzaldúa’s (2002) seven stages of conocimiento. we posit that ethnic studies curricula that create space for and facilitate a process of conocimiento can support students’ academic thriving and wellbeing, especially in times of heightened explicit racism that saturates institutions of higher education. facilitating anzaldúa-oriented pedagogies, which allow for latinx/chicanx student reflexivity, are especially important when considering the sociopolitical context of racism and nativism unfolding under the trump administration. our work makes two significant contributions to latinx/chicanx studies, anzaldúan theorizing, and allied disciplines. moreover, our contributions shed light on how latinx/chicanx students, and ethnic studies curriculum and pedagogies forge sites of resistance in the trump era. first, as multidisciplinary educators and researchers, we must leverage our own positionality to make space for new epistemologies, methodologies, and pedagogical tools that empower and center the voices, experiences and subjectivities of our most marginalized and under-represented students. we must attend to the ways in which the sociopolitical context, beyond the walls of the neoliberal university, inevitably shapes the wellbeing, thriving and academic engagement of our students. because latinx/chicanx students often embody the borderlands and nepantla that anzaldúa characterized as contention but also liberation, as educators we must make space for those subjectivities to surface in the classroom. we must be intentional in our pedagogy for social justice and engagement in anzaldúa-oriented teaching practices that validate and empower latinx/chicanx students. doing so can provide students with the skills and tools to embody conocimiento toward a praxis of spiritual activism within and outside of the classroom. second, some institutions of higher education continue to be hostile places for latinx/chicanx students, including students with intersecting positionalities, such as dreamers. recognizing the intersectional experiences of latinx/chicanx students and the multidimensional assemblages of their identities is important for developing microand macrolevel interventions conducive to supporting their wellbeing and thriving. in times of heightened racism and violence targeting latinx/chicanx communities, critical pedagogies of praxis must be developed and engaged to resist oppression. student-centered pedagogies that incorporate reflexive critically conscious and culturally centered curricula are crucial antidotes against oppression, and necessary to transform pain and anger into liberation, decolonial knowledge, intersectional solidarity, and political action. as educators, we must be radically malleable in our pedagogies critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 30 to allow for conocimiento to surface within and through our students and ourselves. in this article we have provided one example of how we facilitated such opportunities for ourselves in mutual learning and acompañamiento toward conocimiento. fernández & magaña gamero association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 31 references anzaldúa, g. e. (1987). borderlands: la frontera. san francisco, ca: aunt lute. anzaldúa, g. e. (2002). now let us shift... the path of conocimiento... inner work, public acts. in g.e. anzaldúa & a. l. keating (ed.), this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation (pp. 540-578). new york, ny: routledge. bernal, d. d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. bernal, d. d., burciaga, r., & carmona, j. f. (eds.). (2017). chicana/latina testimonios as pedagogical, methodological, and activist approaches to social justice. new york, ny: routledge. braun, v., & clarke, v. (2006). using thematic analysis in psychology. qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101. cammarota, j., & romero, a. (2006). a critically compassionate intellectualism for latina/o students: raising voices above the silencing in our schools. multicultural education, 14(2), 16-23. chavez, m. s. (2012). autoethnography, a chicana's methodological research tool: the role of storytelling for those who have no choice but to do critical race theory. equity & excellence in education, 45(2), 334-348. cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 460-471. delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (eds.). (2000). critical race theory: the cutting edge. philadelphia, pa: temple university press. de onís, c. m. (2017). what's in an “x”?: an exchange about the politics of “latinx”. chiricù journal: latina/o literature, art, and culture, 1(2), 78-91. fránquiz, m. e. (2010). traveling on the biliteracy highway: educators paving a road toward conocimiento. in n. e. cantú & m. e. fránquiz (ed.), inside the latin@ experience (pp. 93-109). new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. new york, ny: continuum. flores, a. (2017, september 18). how the u.s. hispanic population is changing. pew research center. retrieved on may 14, 2018 from http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2017/09/18/how-the-u-s-hispanic-population-is-changing/ hooks, b. (1994). love as the practice of freedom. outlaw culture, 243-250. hurtado, a., & gurin, p. (2004). ¿quién soy? ¿quienes somos? chicana/o identity in a changing u.s. society. tucson, az: university of arizona press. hypeline news. (2018, february 8). charlie kirk on santa clara tpusa chapter [video file]. retrieved on july 31, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdd_m-unemu jaschik, s. (2018, july 5). trump administration rescinds guidance on affirmative action. retrieved on july 26, 2018 from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/07/05/trump-administration-rescindsobama-guidance-race-and-admissions jolivétte, a. j. (2015). research justice: methodologies for social change. bristol, uk: policy press. keating, a. l. (2006). from borderlands and new mestizas to nepantlas and nepantleras anzaldúan theories for social change. human architecture: journal of the sociology of self-knowledge, 4(5), 5-16. critical reflexivity journals and conocimiento association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 32 keating, a. l. (2015). light in the dark: rewriting identity, spirituality, reality. durham, nc: duke university press. krosgstad, j. m. (2016, september 8). key facts about how the u.s. hispanic population is changing. retrieved on may 11, 2018 from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/08/keyfacts-about-how-the-u-s-hispanic-population-is-changing/ lorde, a. (1984). the uses of the erotic as power. in a. lorde. sister outsider: essays and speeches. freedom, ca: crossing press. maldonado-torres, n. (2011). thinking through the decolonial turn: post-continental interventions in theory, philosophy, and critique – an introduction. transmodernities: journal of the peripheral cultural production of the luso-hispanic world, 1(2), 1-15. martín-baró, i. (1994). writings for a liberation psychology. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. mele, c. (2016, november 18). professor watchlist is seen as threat to academic freedom. retrieved on july 28, 2018 from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/us/professorwatchlist-is-seen-asthreat-toacademic-freedom.html moraga, c., & anzaldúa, g. (eds.). (2015). this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color. albany, ny: suny press. nguyen, c. (2016, october 14). swastika, homophobic slurs found scrawled in santa clara university dorm in blood. retrieved on may 12, 2018 from http://abc7news.com/education/swastika-slurs-scrawled-in-scu-dorm-in-blood/1556076/ reza-lópez, e., huerta charles, l., & reyes, l. v. (2014). nepantlera pedagogy: an axiological posture for preparing critically conscious teachers in the borderlands. journal of latinos and education, 13(2), 107-119. sandoval, c. (2000). methodology of the oppressed. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. sepúlveda, e. (2011). toward a pedagogy of acompañamiento: mexican migrant youth writing from the underside of modernity. harvard educational review, 81(3), 550-573. silva, j. m. (2017). when research “unravels”: one community psychologist's tale of becoming a nepantlera. american journal of community psychology, 59(1-2), 239-251. torre, m. e., & ayala, j. (2009). envisioning participatory action research entremundos. feminism & psychology, 19(3), 387-393. trujillo, d. (2016, october 14). santa clara university identifies students allegedly responsible for drawing swastika on lgbt poster. retrieved on may 11, 2018 from https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/santa-clara-university-identifies-studentsallegedly-responsible-for-vandalizing-building-397140891.html u.s. department of education. (2017, may). the condition of education. retrieved on may 3, 2018 from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017144.pdf yosso, t., smith, w., ceja, m., & solórzano, d. (2009). critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate for latina/o undergraduates. harvard educational review, 79(4), 659-691. zaytoun, k. (2006). theorizing at the borders: considering social location in rethinking self and psychological development. nwsa journal, 18(2), 52-72. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/us/professor-watchlist-is-seen-asthreat-toacademic-freedom.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/us/professor-watchlist-is-seen-asthreat-toacademic-freedom.html volume 16 issue 1 2022 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/16.1.467 association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal https://doi.org/10.24974/16.1.467 association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 133 fernández, j. s. (2021). growing up latinx: coming of age in a time of contested citizenship. new york university press. pp. 225. isbn-13: 978-1479801220. paperback: $30 jerry romero the university of texas at san antonio against the backdrop of increasing tensions regarding the discourse and experiences of individuals who are not granted permission to occupy space within a “perfected” hegemonic citizenship, alongside contested ideas of the historical displacement of millions of latinx individuals, jesica siham fernández advances the academic discipline of citizenship construction as a sociopolitical identity. by legitimizing their lived experiences, while simultaneously challenging the institutional hegemonic narratives that impact the lives of millions of latinx youth, growing up latinx not only provides theoretical reconstructions of the categorization of the term “citizenship”, but also provides empowering narratives from latinx youth through ethnographic analyses of what constitutes citizenship within the 21st century united states. fernández further demonstrates how contested statuses of identity, legacies of colonial disenfranchisement, and continual discourse of racist nativism necessitate a reconceptualization of sociopolitical latinx identities. the subject matter of this book should therefore be an interest to a wide range of academics, educators, social workers, and policymakers who strive to advocate for not only the legal representations of youth in the u.s., but also improve the understanding of identity politics, citizenship, and community empowerment through the authentic, inspiring stories of the lived experiences of latinx youth. growing up latinx begins with an introduction by which fernández bridges the context of her work with the state of citizenship within the united states for latinx individuals along with the multitude of lived experiences within latinx communities today. it is important to highlight that despite the vibrant expansion for many latinx communities across the united states, competing realities of cultural innovation and perpetual discrimination exist simultaneously within the construction of latinidad. fernández presents the background and context for her research study which centers around an afterschool program at a local elementary school in association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 134 california called change 4 good. fernández discusses the realities of this community, including the demographics of the students attending this program, her own positionalities, and her distinct lived experiences which ultimately become the rationale for conducting ethnographic fieldwork within this space. by engaging in critical reflexivity, fernández prefaces the deep connections of her research through her own positionality and experiences as a key component to feeling compelled to write about latinx youth citizenship. growing up latinx is organized into two sections, each comprised of three chapters. in the first section, fernández conveys the humanity of her research by allowing the reader to engage with the lives of students attending change 4 good through their storytelling, critical literacies, and meaning-making surrounding the formation of citizenship. by allowing the first section of her book to be voiced and positioned around the students’ lives, fernández challenges the traditional writing of research by not placing the author’s knowledge above the others. the students illustrate their experiences as individuals from mixed-status families and their experiences within schools and their communities, while also conceptualizing the complex nature of citizenship as a status, the practice of being a “good” citizen, which is often ratified through school culture and the hidden curriculum, and how their stories are incorporated into their development as agents of change. fernández integrates the stories from change 4 good into the exploration of major sociopolitical struggles surrounding the construction of citizenship and the development of students’ social identities as embodiments of critical consciousness and political engagement within their schools and communities. the second section of growing up latinx also engages with the construction of identity intersected with the meaning of citizenship and the conceptualization of rights as a problematized status symbol for latinx youth. fernández meaningfully constructs these two sections by interweaving the humanistic value of latinx experiences with extensive sociopolitical issues that continue to impact their everyday lives. fernández gives a voice to a community that is often marginalized by identity, citizenship status, race, class, age, and agency. growing up latinx centers latinx students’ voices and stories around debates of legality and hegemonic discourses of citizenship construction, specifically at a time of contested citizenship within the united states. fernández advocates for her student participants by demonstrating that youth-centered sociopolitical engagement is imperative in association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 135 order to amplify disenfranchised voices of youth and encourages educators to take on the task of facilitating youth-action programs that help bring about promotions of agency, emancipatory action, and identity formation. by concentrating on the intersections of latinx youth identity and the sociopolitical construction of citizenship, fernández makes the case for examining institutional structures that perpetuate hegemonic power formations that deprive latinx youth of participation that legitimizes their agency and autonomy. furthermore, according to fernández, “[l]atinx youth citizenship cannot be theorized without a youth-centered intersectional framework that challenges the racist nativism along with the ageism that shapes power structures that constrain youth agency” (fernández, 2021, p. 12). therefore, latinx youth must be provided with not only the institutional space, but agency to construct counter-hegemonic discourse around citizenship through their stories. by conducting ethnographic research in an educational space, good 4 change, that followed youth participatory action research (ypar), fernández was able to centralize latinx youth voices and experiences to demonstrate how agency through their stories could be used to subvert hegemonic dominance regarding the construction of citizenship. the theorization of ‘belonging’ and thriving within the margins is paramount to fernández’ conceptualization of the positionality of latinx youth who often lack the cultural capital necessary to navigate spaces of hegemonic cultural dominance, e.g., schools, border crossings, and political classifications. latinx youth often balance their identities between a multidimensional tension of cultural heritage, political identity, socioeconomic positionality, and physical attachment to what represents home and provides a sense of belonging. these detailed lived experiences of thriving within the margins are reminiscent of theoretical concepts proposed by gloria anzaldúa. anzaldúa refers to these notions of belonging, while simultaneously not belonging, or the living embodiment of nepantla, a state of in-betweenness that one must learn to navigate as you become confined to this state of conflicting realities and ideologies (keating & anzaldúa, 2015). in other words, both fernández and anzaldúa would frame many latinx youth as living within both a physical borderland and a metaphorical borderland, where not only one’s sense of belonging is continuously challenged, but also existing within a liminal space where cultural consciousness and emancipatory action can both association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 136 reside and be suppressed (anzaldúa, 2012). throughout the student narratives observed by fernández, latinx youth confront the constructions of the nation-state structure, along with what establishes the ability for an individual to become a ‘good’ citizen. latinx student youth within the change 4 good program were often confronted with the complexity of conceptualizing ‘citizenship’ and formed their meaning-making from both hegemonic discourses of citizenship and their own personal reflections of what granted them or their family members ‘proper’ citizenship. intersections of oppression faced by latinx youth, through both systems of ageism and racism, demonstrated that many latinx youth often replicated nativist views of citizenship, however, when they recalled stories from their own lived experiences, “[t]hese served to offer a critique of us-based constructions of citizenship determined by a nation-state that relegated them, along with their families, to a second-class citizenship that reinforced their marginalization as perpetual foreigners” (fernández, 2021, p. 31). further discussions with latinx youth in the change 4 good program granted fernández an insight into the uncompromising dichotomy constructed through school curriculum and youth socialization that presented key differences among what constitutes a “good” and “bad” citizen. latinx youth in the program relied mostly on the concept of having papers/papeles, as a means to citizenship which was seen as being achievable through following the rules and regulations of the state, while simultaneously witnessing the state-sanctioned deportations against their families. despite these tensions, fernández witnessed the latinx student youth defend the “good student/good citizen” construction and limit their own agency and power to challenge a dominant system. the goal for many marginalized communities may be to seek empowerment and a position to denounce systems of power wielded against them, however, it is critical to recognize that to encourage individuals who may not possess enough social capital to properly navigate and subvert these systems may endanger their livelihood and place consequences like state-sanctioned violence on them and their families (bourdieu, 2010). by implementing a framework of sociopolitical development theory, fernández challenges deficit perspectives of latinx youth as having the ability to engage in critical literacy development, emancipatory action, and political involvement (fernández, 2021). sociopolitical development theoretical perspectives provide the ability for members of a marginalized community to reclaim their agency and leverage power against their own oppressions, similarly association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 137 to how latinx youth within this particular program were able to reshape their embodiments and ideologies regarding citizenship (fernández, 2021). by reimagining citizenship and cultivating their stories and voices into forms of empowerment, latinx youth in the change 4 good program not only collaborated in the development of humanizing curriculum, but also as producers of critical consciousness and representatives of sociopolitical citizenship. growing up latinx is both an insight into the everyday lived experiences of latinx youth and a guide that not only informs educators about the issues facing latinx students around concerns of legality and sociopolitical citizenship, but also an empowerment narrative about how programs and curriculum like ypar, youth storytelling, and youth-centered sociopolitical engagement can provide transformative significance in the lives of their students. references anzaldúa, g. (2012). borderlands: la frontera: the new mestiza. aunt lute books. bourdieu p. (2010). distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste (rev). routledge. fernández, j. s. (2021). growing up latinx: coming of age in a time of contested citizenship. nyu press. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479801244.001.0001 keating, a., & anzaldúa, g. (2015). light in the dark/luz en lo oscuro: rewriting identity, spirituality, reality. duke university press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1220hmq https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479801244.001.0001 https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1220hmq amae journal cover template romero.pdf romero final final dec book review.pdf microsoft word cabrera & chang_page proof_final.docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 72 stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence: the story of tucson unified’s mexican american studies litigation1 nolan l. cabrera, phd center for the study of higher education university of arizona robert s. chang, jd korematsu center seattle university abstract in 2011, the state of arizona banned the highly successful tucson unified school district mexican american studies program through the law ars § 15-112. this article is a critical race theory counternarrative regarding the role of statistics in the constitutional challenge to this state law. through firsthand accounts of this process, we demonstrate how multivariate empirical analyses served as an important component for the overturning of the law ars § 15-112 in the highestprofile ethnic studies legal case in the country’s history (arce v. douglas, 2015). we also use this article to explore the limitations of interest convergence (bell, 1980) using this litigation as a case study. keywords: mexican american studies, ethnic studies, regression analysis, interest convergence, hb2281, ars § 15-112 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.3.453 1 this article derives from part of the forthcoming book, from resistance to renaissance: the struggle for mexican american studies in tucson and beyond. contact: dr. nolan l. cabrera, university of arizona. 1430 e. second street, tucson, az 85712; phone, (520) 621-3083; email, ncabrera@email.arizona.edu stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 73 introduction in 2018, there was a special issue of race ethnicity and education dedicated to the socially transformative potential of quantitative social science methodologies (garcia, lopez, & velez, 2018). this issue was critically important because for years in critical social science research, quantitative methodologies were seen as representing the “dominant paradigm” useful for only recreating racial inequality (e.g., zuberi, 2001; zuberi, & bonilla-silva, 2008). when it comes to educational research, the key word here is critical, referencing the examination of the underlying histories, causes, and consequences of social oppression (apple, 2004; giroux, 2007; mclaren, 2015). this was precisely the epistemic and ontological orientation that guided the development of the tucson mexican american studies (más) program (cammarota & romero, 2014). during the 2010 más banning in tucson unified school district, quantitative analyses and critical inquiry were frequently seen as mutually exclusive ideas. it was only recently that critical race theory (crt) and quantitative inquiry started to merge (garcia et al., 2018). crt was central in the creation of the más program (cammarota & romero, 2014), and it was also one of the most controversial (e.g., horne, 2007). crt in education was not satisfied with individualized notions of racism (e.g., “you are a racist”), instead theorizing the persistence of contemporary white supremacy and the role of educational institutions in perpetuating this system of racial oppression (cabrera, 2018). since the mid-1990s when this paradigm was adapted to education from law, there has been a primary focus on qualitative analyses as these were seen as giving a voice to marginalized communities within the exclusionary practices of academic scholarly production (lynn & dixon, 2013). this racial exclusion has been so powerfully structured that delgado bernal and villalpando (2002) referred to it as an apartheid of knowledge. quantitative empirical analyses, however, have been critically important in litigation around issues like segregation (brown v. board of education, 1954) and affirmative action (grutter v. bollinger, 2003; fisher v. texas, 2016). however, these court cases have been criticized, especially through crt, because the scholarly analyses cited in these court rulings centered the needs of white students in what is known as interest convergence (bell, 1980). for example, educational segregation was found to be unconstitutional, in part, because it did harm to white students (bell, 1980). additionally, affirmative action was found to be constitutional, in part, because white students learned better in diverse educational environments (blanchard & baez, cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 74 2016). the strange component of the más controversy was that the educational needs of mexican american students served as an end-in-and-of-itself, and this case serves as a pushback against bells’ (1980) insightful interest convergence thesis. from this perspective and sticking with crt, we offer a counternarrative regarding the más litigation (delgado, 1989; solorzano & yosso, 2002). the dominant narrative within the state of arizona was that the statistics regarding student achievement were irrelevant, and this was particularly articulated by superintendent of public instruction tom horne (palos, 2011). this piece is meant to offer an alternative to that through the “personal stories”2 type of counternarrative (solorzano & yosso, 2002). additionally, the narrative will also function as a counter-counternarrative as well because it pushes back against crt. yes, it is true that positivistic statistical analyses have been central to the oppression of minoritized communities historically (zuberi, 2001). what we reject, however, is the idea that these analytical procedures can simply be reduced to the “master’s tools” (cokley & awad, 2013). instead, we will demonstrate how they can be used for critical, progressive social purposes. what follows is a firsthand account of the role of quantitative social science inquiry in the highest profile ethnic studies case in u.s. legal history. eliminating más: the arizona racial politics of attacking ethnic studies programmatic efficacy and official dismissal u.s. supreme court justice louis brandeis famously declared the states are the “laboratories of democracy” (new state ice co v. liebmann, 1932). due to the racist and regressive pieces of legislation coming out arizona in the early 2010s (santa ana & gonzález de bustamante, 2012), this state was affectionately labeled by jon stewart on the daily show as the “meth lab of democracy” (king, 2010). one of the central pieces of legislation that helped the state gain that label was hb22813 (now a.r.s. § 15-112). spearheaded by then superintendent of public instruction, tom horne, the law allowed the state to withhold 10% of its funding to any school district having a course or class that: 2 the other types of counternarrative are other people’s stories or narratives and composite stories. both authors were deeply involved in this litigation, so the “personal narrative” version seems most appropriate for this article. as each served in a dramatically different role in the case (cabrera, statistician; chang, legal counsel), it is too confusing to bounce back and forth between first person “i” accounts. therefore, we primarily use third person when describing events, and we use “we” during the analytical components of the piece. 3 there are a lot of moving pieces in this story. to help orient the reader, we have added a timeline of events as appendix a. stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 75 1) promote the overthrow of the united states government, 2) promote resentment toward a race or class of people, 3) are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group, or 4) advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals (prohibited courses and classes, enforcement, arizona revised statute, 2010, p. 1). 
 this was mr. horne’s third attempt to pass the bill, and he was very direct that he intended this piece of legislation to eliminate the mexican american studies (más) program in tucson unified school district (tusd). horne (2007) claimed that the más program was racist against white people, representing a type of ethnic chauvinism, and that programmatic elimination was the only path forward (palos, 2011). supporters of the program argued educational efficacy, especially for mexican american students, should be at the forefront of the discussion. while there were a number of analyses of the tusd program that pointed to the program’s efficacy (e.g., cappellucci et al., 2011; department of accountability and research, 2011a, 2011b; romero, 2008; romero, arce, & cammarota, 2009; save ethnic studies, 2011), these statistics were descriptive in nature and not able to actually determine impact. for example, when it was repeatedly shown that más students passed state standardized tests and graduated at higher rates than their peers (cabrera, 2014; cappellucci et al., 2011; department of accountability and research, 2011a, 2011b), critics of the program offered questions such as: • while the students in the más program tend to be low-income mexican americans, how do we know that the teachers and administrators didn’t simply find the best performing students in this demographic and push them to take these courses? • we know that female students tend to perform better academically than male students. how do we know that the teachers and administrators didn’t simply recruit more female students into these classes and that accounts for these results? from a scholarly perspective, these questions are important and relevant. the difficulty was that they were rarely lodged from a place of concern for rigorous empirical analyses. rather, it was meant as a way to shut down the debate about programmatic efficacy, even though they are legitimate points raised. cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 76 additionally, there was a major political hurdle in this debate. tom horne was clear that he thought the possibility of más raising student achievement was irrelevant in the controversy. specifically, he said the following in the documentary precious knowledge: there are better ways to get students to perform academically and wanting them to go into college than trying to infuse them with racial ideas (palos, 2011, 24:00)…and, uh, anybody who says kids can’t learn unless they’re subject (sic) to that kind of militancy is... is... uh... the clearest example of racism that i can think of. (palos, 2011, 55:45) in both quotations, horne primarily focused on the “radical ideas” in the course that he found objectionable, and he dismissed educational achievement. he went so far as to say that if people believed más was the way to educate mexican american students, that this was a form of racism in-and-of-itself. the consummate politician, horne wanted the issue of educational achievement to leave the más debate. the optics are really bad when a state superintendent of public instruction continues to publicly state that educational achievement is irrelevant in an educational controversy. within this context, horne commissioned a fatally flawed study that showed no effect of taking más courses (franciosi, 2009), but this was almost an afterthought in the debate around más. leading up to the eventual elimination of the classes, more analyses questioning the efficacy of más began to emerge. for example, tusd released a descriptive report where the author argued that the effects of taking más classes were the same as participating in extra-curricular activities such as sports or student government (scott, 2011, as cited in huicochea, 2011). it was another fatally flawed statistical report, not in terms of the analysis itself, but in terms of stepping beyond the parameters of what the results could reasonably say. with respect to the analysis that scott produced at the request of superintendent pedicone, he argued there was a negligible impact of más classes because tusd students who participated in extracurricular activities graduated at similar rates to those who took más courses. there were no statistical controls in the analysis, and the timing of the report’s release begged the question of to what degree political pressure led to the analysis being conducted in the first place. the reports release coincided with the administrative law judge (alj) hearing and increased political pressure coming down on tusd. some context is necessary. when tusd was initially found out of compliance with a.r.s. § 15-112, the board agreed to appeal the ruling stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 77 after intense local pressure applied by activists—the most high profile of which was when student organizers chained themselves to board members’ chairs before a meeting could start (cabrera, meza, & rodriguez, 2011). the alj hearing was a sham, and we use that term intentionally. even if the judge ruled that there were no violations of a.r.s. § 15-112 within tusd, it was up to then state superintendent huppenthal whether or not he would abide by that ruling. given that huppenthal campaigned on the slogan, “if elected, i will stop la raza,”4 there did not seem to be any way that he would stop until the program was fully eliminated. when judge kowal ruled that there were violations of state law, it only strengthen huppenthal’s political resolve to terminate the program. on january 10, 2012, the tusd board voted 4-1 to eliminate the más program, but the fight was far from over. this became the larger context for the definitive analysis on the más program’s educational efficacy which became the basis for dr. cabrera’s expert testimony in the federal trial. however, to get to this point, we have to wade through the tusd 40-yearold desegregation case. yes, there are a lot of moving parts in this story and it becomes exceedingly complicated as we progress. round 1: desegregation and the special master fast-forward to 2012. the alj hearing has commenced. the findings of non-compliance stand. the district caves to the state’s political and economic pressure, and the tusd governing board eliminates the program. there was a wildcard in this situation. tusd was under a 40-year-long federal desegregation order. university of maryland professor emeritus dr. willis “bill” hawley was assigned by judge david bury as the “special master” on the desegregation case. judge bury tasked dr. hawley with creating a plan for tusd that, if properly implemented, would allow them to get out from under the federal desegregation scrutiny and move toward post-unitary status. as part of this designation, special master hawley was guaranteed “access to staff, governing board members, schools and district data” (huicochea, 2012), and he was not only interested in integrating the schools but also eliminating race-based academic achievement gaps in the district. he heard about the academic achievement of students who took the más courses, but there was a problem. the analyses to this point were descriptive and therefore not able to assess the efficacy of the program 4 yes, he really ran on that. he discussed it with amy goodman on democracy now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzyzzwqmy5u cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 78 (cappellucci et al., 2011; department of accountability and research, 2011a, 2011b; romero, 2008; romero et al., 2009; save ethnic studies, 2011; scott, 2011, as cited in huicochea, 2011). special máster hawley made his career on empirical analysis, where that which could be rigorously observed, tested, and analyzed, deserved to be elevated in the public policy discourse. within this context, he tasked a group from the university of arizona, led by dr. nolan cabrera, with conducting the most rigorous assessment of the más program to date. along with dr. cabrera on the analytical team were dr. jeffrey f. milem, associate dean of the college of education, and dr. ronald w. marx, dean of the college of education. both of these co-authors also made their careers conducting sound, rigorous, empirical analyses, and dr. milem in particular, has had his work cited by the supreme court in affirmative action cases. two of the three members of this research team (milem and marx) previously offered to conduct these analyses for superintendent pedicone pro bono, but he refused. now, with special master hawley making a request on behalf of the federal government, pedicone had no other option but to open up the data for external scrutiny. it was, however, a nerve-wracking time for the three scholars involved for a number of reasons. the timeline was tight. they had to write-up a proposal, work with the human subjects boards of both ua and tusd, obtain the data, clean the data, conduct the analyses, write up the results, realize they did the analyses incorrectly, conduct the analyses (again), write them up (again), and submit the final report to special master hawley in six weeks. the final report (cabrera, milem & marx, 2012) was dubbed by the tucson media and local activists as the cabrera report.5 returning to the analysis, it accounted for confounding issues such as race, gender, ses, and school services (e.g., being ell), and came to one consistent conclusion: “these results suggest that there is a consistent, significant, positive relationship between más participation and student academic performance” (cabrera, milem, & marx, 2012, p. 7). academic performance in this instance meant passing aims (state standardized tests) after initial failure as well as graduating from high school. 5 as a side note, cabrera has always had issue with this label because it erases the contribution of his co-authors, and it also makes the report seem more about him than the más program. as that is the colloquial name of it now, he reluctantly uses it as well. stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 79 after the release of the report, special master hawley and a number of representatives of the federal government hosted a series of sessions through the district where they heard concerns from community members, and the más courses were fresh on many people’s minds. at one of the meetings, former más teacher josé gonzalez specifically referenced the cabrera report as evidence that the classes should be reinstated. the final unitary status plan (usp) was a disappointment for supporters and opponents of más alike. special master hawley did find the results of the cabrera report compelling, but he also was not going to challenge the constitutionality of state law. based upon the strength of the analysis and the community push, the final usp6 in part read: by the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, the district shall develop and implement culturally relevant courses of instruction designed to reflect the history, experiences, and culture of african american and mexican american communities. such courses of instruction for core english and social studies credit shall be developed and offered at all feasible grade levels in all high schools across the district... (p. 37) while this opened up new possibilities for más, it was also incredibly restricted because the district was still bound by state law. that is, they had to offer classes that were similar to the banned más ones, also offer ones in african american studies, and still be in compliance with a.r.s. §15-112. the last component meant that más could not come back in the way its advocates wanted. however, the results from the cabrera report and its subsequent development became a critically important part of the legal strategy to challenge the constitutionality of the anti-más state law. round 2: 9th circuit court of appeals while all of this was happening within the tucson community, the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a.r.s. §15-112 on 1st and 14th amendment grounds was making its way through the federal courts. the plaintiffs lost the first trial as judge tashima offered a summary judgement upholding, on its face, three of the four subsections that described violations (e.g., promoting the overthrow of the us government). the one he did find unconstitutional, a.r.s. §15-112(a)(3) was the one that prohibited courses “designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.” the plaintiffs appealed to the 9th circuit court in san francisco. 6 http://deseg.tusd1.org/portals/tusd1/deseg/docs/main/usp.pdf cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 80 an important difference between 9th circuit and the district court trial was the addition of erwin chemerinski to the plaintiffs’ legal team. chemerinski is one of the premier 1st amendment legal scholars in the country and was then dean of the uc irvine law school. he agreed to join the legal team and deliver the oral arguments before the three-judge panel. while it is beyond the scope of this article to detail the legal nuances of this trial, it is worth noting that was the first time the in-depth statistical analyses played a role in the legal arguments. on january 12, 2015, the trial began. outside, a danza azteca group did the four corners ceremonia under the surveillance of u.s. marshalls and department of homeland security police. in front of an overflow audience, dean chemerinski began the plaintiffs’ oral arguments. a core component centered on demonstrating the racial animus the representatives of the state acted in creating and applying a.r.s. §15-112. this poses as difficult problem. if scholars of race/racism are correct, overt expressions of racism (e.g., “i think black people are mentally inferior”) have been largely driven underground (bonilla-silva, 2006; cabrera, 2018; omi, & winant, 2015). within this paradigm, how can one demonstrate that racial animus is at play in a specific action? this is where the statistics demonstrating the programmatic efficacy played a central role in determining motivation. chemerinsky began by offering, “the district court said that secretary horne’s not following procedures raised sparks and red flags of discriminatory animus. we suggest it is much more than that when you look at the record here.”7 the procedural irregularities were critically important because there must be a reason when someone deviates from established protocols. what might be those protocols have been? chemerinsky continued: it is also notable that when [huppenthal] took office, he commissioned his own study that found no evidence of violation of the statute, found that the courses were rigorous and very effective… he then ignored the report and found his own violations.8 if the state superintendent of public instruction was following protocol, he would follow the recommendations of his own commissioned report which found the más program to be 7 full oral arguments were broadcast and are archived on this c-span website: https://www.cspan.org/video/?323730-1/maya-arce-v-john-huppenthal-oral-argument&start=882 we will refer to the time mark for each of the subsequent quotations in this section. the current one footnoted can be found at the 13:10 mark. 8 ibid 13:40 stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 81 educationally sound, effective, and in compliance with state law (cappellucci et al., 2011). instead, he continued to find the program out of compliance with a.r.s. §15-112 despite contrary evidence. dean chemerinsky subsequently used the statistics in the report to the special master to further drive home this point: the statistics here i point you to on page 202 and 203 of the report from the cabrera report, students who participated in this program had a 108% greater chance of graduating than those who didn’t. they found that those who participated passed the standardized math test 144% more. the writing test, 162% more. the reading test, 168% more… in light of these statistics, is there anything else to explain this than discriminatory animus?9 it was an interesting argument because it centered the educational responsibilities of the state superintendent of public education. this office is concerned with promoting educational opportunities for all students. here is a demonstrably effective program that serves an overwhelmingly mexican american student population, yet both horne and huppenthal fought extremely hard to eliminate it. returning to chemerinsky’s point, “is there anything else that can explain this?” when the ruling came down, the role of statistics did not play a role because the judges were primarily focusing on whether or not the a.r.s. §15-112 was “overly broad” or “vague.” that is, on their face, were the core tenets of a.r.s. §15-112 unconstitutional? they affirmed the district court ruling that a.r.s. §15-112 (a) (3) was unconstitutional, the other three (for the time being) were, but they also overturned the summary judgement ruling. that is, the case got kicked back down to the lower court to more deeply explore whether or not the creation and execution of a.r.s. §15-112 violated the 1st and 14th amendment rights of mexican american students in tusd. this was the time when the statistics played a critically important role in the litigation. round 3: aerj, stats, and deposition as the district grappled with how to proceed with the usp and the case was remanded back to judge tashima’s court, the statistical analyses continued to be refined to include the 9 ibid 15:00 cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 82 results of 125 regression models, an additional analyst dr. ozan jaquette was added to the team, and the results were eventually published in the prestigious american educational research journal (aerj) (cabrera, milem, jaquette, & marx, 2014). this continual refinement would be increasingly important as the federal trial regarding to the constitutional challenge to a.r.s. §15112. the reworked analysis not only confirmed the original one submitted to special master hawley (cabrera, milem, & marx, 2012), but it also showed that the more students took más classes, the higher their likelihood of academic success. this article became the basis for dr. cabrera’s expert report regarding the efficacy of the más program. for this report specifically, additional analyses were run for only mexican american students and a new disparate impact analysis was also included (for the methodology, see santos, cabrera, & fosnacht, 2010). leading up to what would be the final trial in this political fiasco, the state only hired one expert witness—dr. thomas haladyna, an educational psychologist out of arizona state university. even though former state superintendent of public education tom horne frequently said that educational efficacy was irrelevant in this case (palos, 2011), the actions of the defense seemed to indicate otherwise. dr. haladyna’s primary critique was that the results were simply not believable, and he continually walked a fine line suggesting that cheating might have been at play while not making an all-out accusation: such unusual growth in student achievement warrants investigation as to what, exactly, is the cause. often, such growth is found to be the result of inappropriate test coaching or cheating. my comment is not intended to accuse the school district of cheating. while dr. haladyna says that usually these types of results come from cheating, he did not want to make that claim directly. he also postulated that grade inflation might be the cause of the remarkable results: “… and we don't know if the grades earned in the más classes are disentangled from achievement in grades in other classes. so, there may have been an inflation.” these are very serious accusations, and in both his deposition and his trial testimony, dr. haladyna called for further investigation regarding cheating and grade inflation, although he himself did not investigate despite having access to all raw data, cleaned data, syntax, and results from dr. cabrera’s previous analyses. he received these due to four subpoenas from the state of arizona’s attorney general to dr. cabrera and the university of arizona. stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 83 at deposition, the continual refinement of the statistical analyses via the publication in aerj was critically important. dr. haladyna tended to argue that manova was a better method than logistic regression, and that a continuous variable (e.g., test scores) were more appropriate dependent variables than the binary pass/fail. however, his arguments were primarily theoretical instead of empirical as he did not conduct any independent analysis of his own: a: i have evaluated the results, but i haven't analyzed the data. q: so you haven't done your own analysis of the data, right? a: that's correct. q: and you didn't do your own analysis because it would have taken weeks, even months, to do that analysis, right? a: that's correct. while methodologist may debate the relative merits of manova versus logistic regression analysis, it was extremely difficult for the results to be “fatally flawed” as dr. haladyna contended because that would also mean that an unsubstantiated argument was able to pass through the rigorous peer-review process of one of the most impactful journals in the entire field of education. that is, the academic prestige of the journal in addition to the rigor of the study helped solidify its importance in the overall case. ultimately, dr. haladyna testified that, “if dr. cabrera's claims are true, then we have an incredibly important intervention in education that will help millions of students, including mexican-american and other ethnic/racial groups.” we could not agree more. round 4: federal trial, stats, and willfully misunderstanding ‘white supremacy’ three stanford-educated chicana/os served as the expert witnesses for the plaintiffs’ case. dr. stephen pitti, a full professor at yale university, is an expert on the history of mexican americans and anti-mexican american discrimination (pitti, 2004). dr. angela valenzuela, a full professor at ut austin, is an expert on curriculum and pedagogy in particular educational approaches that honor and develop mexican american students’ sense of self through additive instead of subtractive approaches to education (valenzuela, 1999). the final expert was dr. cabrera who would testify about the más statistical evidence, and he was also the only expert witness testifying against the same state the employed him. the three-pronged strategy using these experts involved dr. cabrera testifying as to the educational efficacy of the cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 84 program. dr. pitti was to testify on the historical context leading to the passage of hb 2281, including a close examination of the role that animus played, including how it was expressed by key actors in veiled form. dr. valenzuela was to testify about the más curriculum and how its pedagogical approach was intended to overcome what she described in her work as the subtractive model of schooling (valenzuela, 1999). for the purposes of this article, we will focus on dr. cabrera’s testimony even though all played important roles in the final ruling. when a party intends to use experts in litigation, they must identify the expert and typically the expert submits a report that is given to the opposing party. this gives the opposing party the opportunity to know in advance what the expert will testify about so that they can plan how to counter the expert, which might include engaging their own expert to offer an opinion that rebuts or counters the first expert or to exclude an expert’s testimony altogether by filing what is commonly called, in federal court, a daubert motion. whether or not testimony by an expert is permitted is governed by federal rule of evidence 702, which states: a witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if: (a) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue; (b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data; (c) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and (d) the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case. this rule, and the standard developed in daubert v. merrell dow pharmaceuticals (1993), is intended to empower the trial court to act as a gatekeeper to prevent unreliable expert testimony that might mislead the factfinder. this issue would become critically important as the state continually tried to disqualify dr. cabrera from testifying, and this also spoke to how potentially impactful they saw his testimony. as might be expected, the state filed daubert motions to exclude each of plaintiffs’ experts. plaintiffs opposed the state’s daubert motions; the state opposed plaintiffs’; the state replied to the plaintiffs’ oppositions; the plaintiffs’ replied to the state’s opposition. plaintiffs stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 85 opposed the state’s motion for partial summary judgment on viewpoint discrimination. the state replied. then the judge ruled. on feb. 10, 2017, judge tashima denied the state’s motions to exclude drs. cabrera, valenzuela, and pitti. these rulings “cleared the decks” for the trial to proceed. the bench trial was set for monday, june 26, 2017, at 9:00am in courtroom 6b of the evo a. deconcini u.s. courthouse in tucson, arizona. the trial was to proceed for one week followed by a twoweek break, to recommence on monday, july 17. on day 4, dr. cabrera took the stand as an expert witness. judge tashima had ordered that the direct testimony of expert witnesses be submitted by may 12, 2017, more than a month before the trial started. while this had the benefit of streamlining the presentation of his testimony, it gave the defense attorneys over a month to prepare their cross examination. the extra preparation time appeared not to have helped as their first line of questioning attempted to again exclude dr. cabrera’s testimony despite judge tashima’s ruling to the contrary. after asking dr. cabrera about the dates when he had performed his analysis of tusd student achievement, and eliciting from him that his analysis of the efficacy of más was submitted in january 2012 and june 2012 to the special master in the long-running desegregation case involving tusd, ms. cooper stated: on this basis, plaintiffs [sic] would move to exclude dr. cabrera as an expert witness. he doesn’t have any information about student achievements that would have been available to the defendants before the program was terminated by tusd. it thus cannot go to their state of mind. though ms. cooper did not explicitly say this, she was in essence making an argument that dr. cabrera’s testimony was irrelevant. her point was that by the time dr. cabrera’s analyses and reports became publicly available in 2012, the defendants had already made their decision to find tusd in violation of the statute. this attempt to exclude dr. cabrera took plaintiffs’ counsel by surprise because they thought the issue regarding admissibility of his testimony had already been decided. as described briefly above. in september 2016, the state had filed daubert motions against each of plaintiffs’ experts, including against dr. cabrera. in their filing on september 26, 2016 to exclude dr. cabrera’s testimony, defendants stated: “notably, all of his analyses post-date cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 86 tusd’s decision to eliminate the más program,” which was similar to the argument they were making on day 4 of the trial. however, judge tashima earlier ruled on this issue. in opposition to the original daubert motion to exclude testimony by dr. cabrera, plaintiffs made three points: (1) dr. cabrera’s evidence demonstrates that the más program had positive academic effects for mexican american students; (2) dr. cabrera’s expert evidence demonstrates that the defendants’ termination of the más program disparately impacted mexican american students; and (3) dr. cabrera’s expert evidence demonstrates that defendants’ termination of the más program was not based on pedagogical reasons. these points were then related to the legal tests and factors relevant to prove plaintiffs’ 14th and 1st amendment claims. judge tashima, on feb. 10, 2017, denied defendants’ motion to exclude dr. cabrera’s expert evidence, finding: if the más program increased graduation and test passage rates, two of the principal markers for success in secondary education, then it is more likely that the program was terminated for pretextual reasons that are not “reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.” the report also speaks to whether the official action “bears more heavily on one race than another”… if mexican-american students derived greater educational benefits from the más program than did other groups, it follows that mexican-americans were disproportionately impacted when the program was terminated. finally, the report bears on whether the official action was a “[d]eparture from the normal procedur[es]” or normal “[s]ubstantive” conclusions. given that academic programs that advance academic goals are normally continued, terminating a program in spite of its educational benefits deviates from normal practice. as previously discussed, because this had already been argued and decided, plaintiffs’ attorneys were surprised by this attempt to exclude dr. cabrera during the course of the trial. as plaintiff’s attorney steve reiss pointed out, “your honor, we’ve litigated this in motions in limine. your honor had briefing, extensive briefing. your honor ruled that his expert testimony is admissible. we’ve resolved this issue, your honor.” judge tashima closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then agreed and denied ms. cooper’s motion to exclude dr. cabrera as a witness. questioning then resumed. stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 87 the questioning regarding the statistics themselves was relatively (and surprisingly) brief. instead, the state shifted to a line of questioning that centered their oversimplified understanding of the nature of racism. while they thought would be a “gotcha” moment, it instead hampered their ability to win the case. the attorneys for the state appeared to believe that for racism to occur, you needed to have individual racists, understood as people who harbor explicit views about racial superiority and inferiority, and express dislike or hatred of other races. within this narrow paradigm, ms. cooper closed her questioning with the following colloquy regarding an article that dr. cabrera published in 2012 in the journal of curriculum and pedagogy entitled, “a state-mandated epistemology of ignorance: arizona’s hb 2281 and mexican american/raza studies” (cabrera, 2012). ms. cooper questioning dr. cabrera on this article and on others he had published, intending to show that his expert opinion should be disregarded because it reflected bias, that he was a supporter of más and a critic of hb 2281. she particularly took issue with the use of the term “white supremacy”: q: your article begins with a reference to white supremacy, right? a: yes. it’s right there. q: who are the white supremacists that you’re referring to in this article? a: that’s not what charles mills is talking about. q: i want to know not what charles mills is talking about, but whether you are referring—to whom you are referring when you use the phrase “white supremacist.” mr. reiss: objection. misstates the article. she’s reading. the court: overruled. you may answer the judge here may not have understood why dr. cabrera was having difficulty understanding ms. cooper’s question and what exactly mr. reiss was objecting to. dr. cabrera’s (2012) article begins with the following sentence: “charles mills (1997) argues white supremacy relies upon a denial that racism exists, or, “an inverted epistemology, an epistemology of ignorance” (italics original, p. 18).” not understanding this issue, ms. cooper thought she had dr. cabrera. if white supremacy derives from white supremacists, then dr. cabrera would have to directly identify those he thought were white supremacists (e.g., horne and huppenthal). despite objections by the plaintiffs, the line of questioning continued: cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 88 a: in this conception, white supremacy does not derive from white supremacists, in the same way that capitalism doesn’t derive from capitalists. the ideas that racism is a systemic reality that we are all complicit in maintaining, and the name of that systemic racism, as charles mills, who i am citing, argues is named “white supremacy.” but that systemic reality does not require to be held up by people with overtly white supremacist viewpoints. q: who are the representatives of the white supremacy to which you refer in this article? a: exactly the same response that i just gave. i don’t – i am not intent on articulating that one’s [sic] individual is a white supremacist. that’s not what this does. it’s talking about a systemic reality of racial privilege and oppression that he—that— and the relationship between that and this law. q: and so you see hb2281 as a furtherance of that systemic oppression? a: it continues to enhance it. q: and you see the persons, mr. horne and mr. huppenthal, as persons who are responsible for that, correct? a: they are key actors in it, but it’s a lot bigger than two individuals. ms. cooper rested at this point, likely believing that she had made her point. this “gotcha” was intended to paint dr. cabrera as a biased witness who equated hb 2281 with white supremacy but who refused directly to describe or accuse mr. horne and mr. huppenthal of being white supremacists. mr. reiss followed with a short redirect examination, with no re-cross by ms. cooper. commenting on the fact that there would be no re-cross by ms. cooper, judge tashima said, “good. i have to say dr. cabrera, i think you’re a lucky guy because you can go home now. you won’t have to deal with this mess again. all right? except in a scholarly manner. thank you very much, sir, for appearing and you’re excused.” this article and the subsequent book became the opportunity to re-engage this trial “in a scholarly manner” as judge tashima offered. round 5: judge tashima’s ruling august 22, 2017, seemed like an average tuesday in the old pueblo. it was hot in the desert, and the cicada were humming telling of a pending monsoon. rain in the desert is stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 89 cleansing, and the citizens of arizona especially needed it because on that same day president trump held a rally in phoenix where he lent support for sheriff joe arpaio who was under fire for racially profiling latinos and violating court orders. trump at his rally said, “so was sheriff joe convicted for doing his job?” hinting at the potential of a pardon that would later come (park, 2017). with all of the attention on phoenix, the news of a trial verdict caught many off guard. on this average tucson summer day (racist rallies are normal in arizona), judge tashima issued his ruling. in a blistering 42-page opinion, he was very clear in his ruling that the state violated both 1st and 14th amendment protections of tusd mexican american students when both creating and enforcing the law. in particular, the law was developed and enacted for partisan political gain by fostering racial animus. his rationale was nuanced, but due to the subject of this article, we will focus on the role statistical analyses played in his decision. please do not misunderstand, there were many other components to this trial, and all worked together to form a multipronged strategy to challenge the constitutionality of a.r.s. § 15-112. in his ruling, judge tashima began by accepting dr. cabrera’s analysis and rejecting dr. haladyna’s. core to his decision was that dr. haladyna critiqued dr. cabrera’s work extensively, but he could not offer alternative interpretations for the trends in the data. judge tashima stated: the result, according to dr. haladyna, is that some common feature of this self-selected group, other than the fact that they all took más courses, could explain the improvements. but dr. haladyna offers no plausible hypothesis of what that common feature might be. moreover, defendants offered no evidence to contradict dr. cabrera’s findings, i.e., showing that the más program had no positive effect on student performance. dr. haladyna did not conduct his own statistical analysis of the más program data. again, it was incredibly important that during the time between the 9th circuit hearing and this one that dr. cabrera and his research team were able to continually refine the analyses, but it was equally important in this ruling that dr. haladyna did not conduct any of his own. this played an important role in establishing the racially discriminatory impact that eliminating más had on mexican american students. additionally, to the extent that it was a cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 90 highly effective program, its elimination served no broader educational purpose. again, judge tashima elaborated: at the time the program was terminated, approximately ninety percent of the students enrolled in más courses were latino. moreover, dr. cabrera’s report showed that the más program was “particular[ly]” beneficial to the latino students who were enrolled. accordingly, there can be no question that the enactment of a.r.s. § 15-112, which targeted the más program, had a disproportionate impact on latino students. this discriminatory impact began to lead judge tashima to discriminatory intent, which directly linked to dr. stephen pitti’s testimony on anti-mexican american racism in arizona and the contemporary “dog-whistle” racism in the politics surrounding the más case. ultimately, judge tashima ruled that the creation and application of a.r.s. § 15-112 was based on racial animus and partisan political gain and was therefore unconstitutional on both 1st and 14th amendment grounds. the statistical analyses played a small significant role in this overall ruling. on december 26, 2017, judge tashima order a permanent injunction against the law. the state did not appeal his decision, and after nearly a decade in litigation, the case was closed. discussion if derrick bell’s (1980) theory of interest convergence held in the más controversy, one would think that the empirical results would need to show a demonstrable, significant, positive impact for white students taking these classes. that was simply not the case in this trial, and judge tashima actually highlighted those analyses that only had latino students in the regression models. while bell’s (1980) theory has a great deal of explanatory power and has been applied to a number of legal and educational issues, we argue that the más controversy highlights the limits of interest convergence theory. simply put, we do not see the ruling advancing the interests of white people, even tangentially. this points to the power of coalition-building and developing community agency. yes, bell (1980) is correct that due to power differentials, the interests of communities of color are usually only advanced to the extent that they also benefit white people as well. however, this is not deterministic. there is power within communities of color, their allies, and strategic coalition building like that in the más controversy help harness the power of self-determination. it also requires a sympathetic ear by those in power— in this case the judge’s ruling on the case. this motley crew of teachers, students, activists, educators, professors, and lawyers, exercised their power, collectively strategized, and stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 91 effectively overthrew the racist state law a.r.s. § 15-112. the one area bell (1980) underestimated was the potential power embedded in collective community action. that is, his theorizing about interest convergence is a great descriptor of what is but it hits its limits when considering what is possible? it is important to note that the statistical analyses played a central role in the overturning of a.r.s. § 15-112, in part, because dr. cabrera temporarily took leave of his traditional roles as an educational advocate and instead played the role of objective social scientist. this was extremely difficult, but it was important to allow that statistics to be utilized by attorneys in the cases to utilize them for their legal goals. even with this framing, the state did try to frame dr. cabrera as a biased witness because of his work in critical whiteness studies, in particular his use of the term “white supremacy.” therefore, we are not arguing that being an “objective social scientist” meant dr. cabrera was immune to attacks from the state. instead, we postulate that these attacks would have likely been fiercer had he taken the more overt position of educational advocate. thus, there was a strange paradox in this litigation—the less that dr. cabrera was an overt advocate for más, the stronger his (and his co-authors’) analyses became in support of más. please keep in mind, we are not arguing this is a prescription for every educational controversy where statistical analyses can play a role in the eventual outcome. rather, we are arguing that given the particularities of this case, it was the most appropriate course of action in order to put forth the strongest case against the now demonstrably racist law a.r.s. § 15-112. conclusion this story followed an almost hollywood-esque arch. the racist state (a goliath, if you will) created a law to criminalize the teaching of mexican american studies. a dedicated collective of más teachers (our david) to which we were connected challenged the state policy as unconstitutional. despite the massive imbalance in resources and power, david took down goliath, paving the way for the continued resurgence of ethnic studies nationally. the victory in the highest profile ethnic studies case in u.s. history has only propelled this expansion, and this begs a larger question. what would have happened if the researchers hit the “return” button and the regression coefficients came back either non-significant or negative? cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 92 references apple, m. w. (2004). ideology and curriculum. new york, ny: routledge. bell jr., d. a. (1980). brown v. board of education and the interest-convergence dilemma. harvard law review, 518-533. blanchard, j., & baez, b. (2016). the legal environment: the implementation of legal change on campus. in m. n. bastedo, p. g. altbach, & p. j. gumport (eds.), american higher education in the twenty-first century (4th ed., pp. 281-309). baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. bonilla-silva, e. (2006). racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the united states (2nd ed.). lanham, md: rowman & littlefield publishers, inc. cabrera, n. l. (2012b). a state-mandated epistemology of ignorance: arizona’s hb2281 and mexican american/raza studies. journal of curriculum and pedagogy, 9(2), 132-135. cabrera, n. l. (2018). where is the racial theory in critical race theory?: a constructive criticism of the crits. the review of higher education, 42(1), 209-233. cabrera, n. l., meza, e. l., rodriguez, r. (2011). the fight for ethnic studies in tucson. north american congress on latin america’s report on the americas, 44(6), 20-24. cabrera, n. l., milem, j. f., & marx, r. w. (2012). an empirical analysis of the effects of mexican american studies participation on student achievement within tucson unified school district. tucson, az: report to special master dr. willis d. hawley on the tucson unified school district desegregation case. cabrera, n. l., milem, j. f., jaquette, o, & marx, r. w. (2014). missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (political) trees: empiricism and the mexican american studies controversy in tucson. american educational research journal, 51(6), 1084-1118 cappellucci, d. f., williams, c., hernandez, j. j., nelson, l. p., casteel, t., gilzean, g., & gershon, f. (2011). curriculum audit of the mexican american studies department, tucson unified school district. miami lakes, fl: cambium learning. cammarota, j., & romero, a. (2014). raza studies: the public option for educational revolution. tucson, az: university of arizona press. cokley, k., & awad, g. h. (2013). in defense of quantitative methods: using the ‘master’s tools’ to promote social justice. journal for social action in counseling and psychology, 5(2), 26-41. delgado, r. (1989). storytelling for oppositionists and others: a plea for narrative. michigan law review, 87(8), 2411-2441. delgado bernal, d., & villalpando, o. (2002). an apartheid of knowledge in academia: the struggle over the ‘legitimate’ knowledge of faculty of color. equity and excellence in education, 35(2), 169–180. department of accountability and research. (2011a, january 6). aims achievement comparison for students taking one or more ethnic studies classes: initial passing rate versus cumulative passing rate by aims subject and cohort year. tucson, az: tucson unified school district. stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 93 department of accountability and research. (2011b, january 6). selected statistics—2010 (four year) graduation cohort. tucson, az: tucson unified school district. garcia, n. m., lopez, n., & velez, v. n. (2018). quantcrit: rectifying quantitative methods through critical race theory. race ethnicity and education, 21(2), 149-157. doi: 10.1080/13613324.2017.1377675 giroux, h. a. (2007). border crossings: cultural workers and the politics of education. new york, ny: routledge. horne, t. (2007, june 11). open letter to the citizens of tucson. phoenix, az: state of arizona department of education. retrieved from http://www.ade.state.az.us/pio/pressreleases/2008/pr06-11-08-openltr.pdf huicochea, a. (2011, march 15). ethnic studies claims in question. arizona daily star. retrieved from http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/ethnic-studies claim-in-question/article_c316a3d0-7ff5-5f87-874e-6b7cf3b515f3.html huicochea, 2012, january 11). us court appoints ‘special master’ to oversee tusd deseg. arizona daily star. retrieved from https://tucson.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/us-court-appoints-special-masterto-oversee-tusd-deseg/article_1d1beed4-da8f-5c39-b10b-065932004d94.html king, j. (2010, april 27). jon stewart calls arizona ‘the meth lab of democracy’ in response to trifecta of wild west legislation. phoenix new times. retrieved from https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/jon-stewart-calls-arizona-the-meth-lab-ofdemocracy-in-response-to-trifecta-of-wild-west-legislation-6635528 lynn, m., & dixson, a. (eds.). (2013). handbook of critical race theory in education. new york, ny: routledge. mclaren, p. (2015). life in schools: an introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of education. new york, ny: routledge. new state ice co. v. liebmann, 285 u.s. 262 (1932). omi, m. & winant, h. (2015). racial formation in the united states (3rd ed). new york, ny: routledge. palos, a. (2011). precious knowledge [motion picture]. united states: dos vatos films. park, m. (2017, august 23). trump hints at potential pardon for ex-sheriff arpaio. cnn. retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/22/politics/joe-arpaio-sheriff/index.html pitti, s. j. (2004). the devil in silicon valley: northern california, race, and mexican americans. princeton university press. prohibited courses and classes, enforcement, arizona revised statute § 15-112. (2010). retrieved from http://www.azleg.gov/formatdocument.asp?indoc=/ars/15 /00112.htm&title=15&doctype=ars romero, a. f. (2008). towards a critically compassionate intellectualism model of transformative education: love, hope, identity, and organic intellectualism through the convergence of critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and authentic caring. [unpublished doctoral dissertation]. university of arizona. cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 94 romero, a., arce, s., & cammarota, j. (2009). a barrio pedagogy: identity, intellectualism, activism, and academic achievement through the evolution of critically compassionate intellectualism. race ethnicity and education, 12(2), 217–233. santa ana, o., & gonzález de bustamante, c. (2012). arizona firestorm: global realities, national media and provincial politics. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. santos, j. l., cabrera, n. l., & fosnacht, k. j. (2010). is “race-neutral” really race-neutral?: adverse impact towards underrepresented minorities in the uc system. journal of higher education, 81(6), 675-701. save ethnic studies. (2011). analysis and evaluation of mexican american studies. tucson, az: author. retrieved from http://saveethnicstudies.org/ solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-story telling as an analytical framework for education. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23-44. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: us-mexican youth and the politics of caring. new york, ny: suny press. zuberi, t. (2001). thicker than blood: how racial statistics lie. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. zuberi, t., & bonilla-silva, e. (eds.). (2008). white logic, white methods: racism and methodology lanham, md: rowman & littlefield publishers. stats, social justice, and the limits of interest convergence association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 95 appendix a: timeline of events 1998 “hispanic studies department” is created at tusd. 2002 deputy superintendent dr. becky montaño appoints augustine romero director (nclb mandate highlights the white/latino “achievement” or rather opportunity – gap) april 3, 2006 labor leader dolores huerta gives a speech at tucson where she says that based on their legislative agenda (especially the anti-immigrant, draconian hr4437), "republicans hate latinos" may 12, 2006 margaret garcia dugan gives a rebuttal saying that she was an example that republicans don't hate latinos. attendance was mandatory, and there was no opportunity for q&a. students staged a silent protest, and horne blamed mexican american studies for teaching students to be "disrespectful." 2008 hb 1108 is introduced as part of a homeland security bill as the first attempt to eliminate mexican american studies (failed, supported by horne, governor veto) 2009 hb 1069 is drafted by tom horne and introduced (judicial bill, failed) 2010 hb 2281: horne drafts a bill to "get rid of the mas program. governor napolitano (d) becomes part of the obama administration and jan brewer (r) is appointed. 2010 is a midterm election in the middle of a nation-wide recession, and both hb 2281 and the anti-migrant sb 1070 are part of the larger political strategy. (passed) october 18, 2010 11 mas teachers file suit alleging hb 2281 violates their 1st and 14th amendment protections december 30, 2010 horne prematurely issues tusd findings of non-compliance two days before the statute is enacted january 1, 2011 a.r.s. § 15-112 goes into effect january 4, 2011 huppenthal sworn in as superintendent. horne sworn in as attorney general. huppenthal adopts horne’s finding. february 2011 cambium selected by superintendent huppenthal's office to conduct an independent audit of the mas program may 2, 2011 cambium report finds there were no observable violations of the law, and that taking mas classes likely led to increased student academic success june 22, 2011 tusd files an appeal of superintendent huppenthal’s findings of non compliance to an administrative law judge hearing. the case is remanded to judge lewis kowal. december 27, 2011 judge kowal issues his recommended decision, upholding superintendent huppenthal’s finding of violation january 10, 2012 judge tashima dismisses the teachers and administrator from the cabrera & chang association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 96 lawsuit; leaves maya arce and korina lopez as student-plaintiffs; dismisses plaintiffs’ 1st amendment free association claim; denies plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction. january 10, 2012 tusd board votes to eliminate mas program (4-1) halts all mas activities in classrooms, begins unannounced visits to former mas teachers to ensure compliance, and bans mas teaching materials, including books, removing them from classrooms and putting them in storage winter, 2012 willis “bill” hawley is appointed the special master on the tusd desegregation case june 20, 2012 the cabrera report is submitted october, 2012 the cabrera report is released to the public february 20, 2013 special master hawley releases the unitary status plan where he cites the cabrera report to support the creation and offering of mexican american and african american studies courses throughout tusd january 12, 2015 9th circuit court of appeals hears oral argument in the appeal of judge tashima's ruling july 7, 2015 9th circuit ruling: affirmed judge tashima's original ruling, but highlighted a number of areas where the state likely violated the constitutional rights of mexican american students in tusd (2-1 ruling). kicks case back to judge tashima. summer 2017 bench trial before judge tashima, june 26-30 and july 17-21 august 22, 2017 judge tashima finds that a.r.s. § 15-112 was enacted and enforced because of racial animus and partisan political gain, violating the 1st and 14th amendment rights of mexican american students in tusd. december 27, 2017 judge tashima issues the final judgment and permanent injunction against the state regarding any enforcement for a.r.s. § 15-112 january 27, 2018 arizona fails to appeal judge tashima's ruling. case closed. volume 17 issue 2 2023 amae special issue critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional guest editors pedro e. nava ramón a. martínez santa clara university stanford university editors patricia sánchez antonio j. camacho the university of texas at san antonio amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa lucila d. ek sacramento state the university of texas at san antonio managing editor karla garza the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 ramos & nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 139 the chicana/o/x dream: hope, resistance, and educational success. gilberto q. conchas and nancy acevedo. harvard education press. 2020. 219 pages. isbn: 978-1-68253-511-0. emily ramos latino education advancement foundation, u.s.a. ramos.emily01@gmail.com pedro e. nava santa clara university pnava2@scu.edu in the chicanx dream, gilberto conchas and nancy acevedo advance a powerful narrative of the chicana/o/x higher education context. their creative use of case studies focuses on the intersectional experiences of chicanx students across two-year and four-year universities. drawing from chicana feminist theory and anzaldúan theory, more specifically, conchas and acevedo provide numerous examples of how structural forms of violence impinge on the lives of chicanx students as they seek to resist coloniality and its long history in us schooling. from the introductory chapter, and beginning with their own testimonios, the authors introduce the overarching theme of the hope and resistance that evolves from chicana/o/x students navigating oppressive structures. the testimonios provide an intimate look at their individual schooling experiences and lay the groundwork for a methodology that allows the reader to follow the participants’ internal thought process as they reflect on their own lived experiences. conchas and acevedo lay out a clear framework for understanding the myriad ways marginality has shaped chicanx educational experiences, and the unique ways they resist and doi: https://doi.org.10.24974/amae.17.2.483 ramos & nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 140 generate hope to persist. the book is divided into three sections that examine 1) context of oppression along the borderlands, 2) testimonios from the community college borderlands 3) and finally, testimonios from the 4-year university borderlands. conchas and acevedo introduce the framework of atravesada/o/xs nepantleando (fan), which provides a lens to examine students’ intersecting identities and how they are able to see structural inequities to provide a critique of institutional processes of marginalization. the authors provide a concise and clear overview of chicanx experiences and the legacy of coloniality in us schools through the concept of the education borderlands. through othering processes chicana/o/xs have been positioned as undeserving or non-intendeds, they are in effect atrevasados who are cultural deviants and transgressors in us schools and us society for seeking equitable schooling. conchas and acevedo deploy anzaldúa’s concept of la facultad, a 6th sense of sorts that provides the ability to “see beyond surface phenomena into the meaning of deeper realities,” a critical consciousness that atrevasados use to nurture hope and resistance as they become nepantleras, or “threshold people” moving across multiple conflicting and contradicting worlds. nepantleras/os/xs transform perspectives and possibilities, they are those who are best positioned to build bridges across the multiple worlds they inhabit. the authors continue to deeply explore anzaldúa’s notion of la facultad to explain processes of marginalization. through a process they refer to as the facultad de los atravesada/o/xs, they draw on student interview data to demonstrate the varied explanations students put forth for explaining their struggles when confronting oppression, helping them to assert that they belong in often hostile spaces. in other words, la facultad reveals students coming into a critical consciousness as they now see the legacy of coloniality through structural inequalities and how they privilege others at their expense. conchas and acevedo tease out the ramos & nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 141 negotiation processes students undergo seeking to make sense of the agency students enter formal schooling with, juxtaposed against the hard and cold reality of trying to make it in a white supremacist schooling system. perhaps the most significant contribution of this section is the powerful way students' emerging critical consciousness is revealed when they push back on structures of marginalization where they previously had internalized dominant notions of schooling and achievement. conchas and acevedo conceptualize community college institutions as educational borderlands that chicanx students navigate in pursuit of validation of their higher education journeys. through testimonios, they intricately describe the community college educational borderlands with an intersectional analysis of students through attention to class, gender, race and ethnicity, criminalization, and (dis)ability. in all of these cases, the impact of support programs, family members, educators, and peer mentors drastically shifts the students’ educational goals and definition of educational success to work toward the overarching need of achieving economic stability to provide for their families. the student experiences show that opportunities that support programs at community colleges, like mesa, provide exposure to careers that the first-generation student participants did not see themselves in prior to becoming nepantleras/os/xs, and materializes graduate school pathways as a real possibility. the students’ trajectories illustrate the process of la facultad directly informing acts of resistance toward the marginalization they navigate in college, and propels them to mobilize institutional resources and agents that provide them with guidance to persist in their college and career goals. the testimonios of chicana/o/x students at four-year institutions reflect similar processes of students facing institutional barriers that posit them as atravesadas/os/xs in school ramos & nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 142 as they navigate and resist sexism, racist nativism, ableism, and the heteropatriarchy. a closer look at these testimonios reveals the common trajectory in the students’ process to becoming nepantleras/os/xs in three pivotal points: 1) experiencing identity-based oppression in their prek-12 schooling, 2) engaging with a critical mentor, family member, or support program who provided opportunities and community for developing la facultad, and 3) developing hope that propels them to give back to their communities through movements for justice that directly impact them. through these powerful testimonios that reflect common lived realities of chicana/o/x students, conchas and acevedo outline concrete practices and frameworks for prek-12 and higher education practitioners to enact and provide students with institutional support. to address the lack of belonging chicana/o/x experience at a structural level, the authors provide sound recommendations to re-evaluate institutional practices such as inaccessible classrooms, hiring practices, and the lack of student career/research opportunities that pay a living wage. as shown in araceli’s testimonio of having a mentor advocate for her to receive a power scooter that was integral to her navigating the campus, the authors also urge educators to develop their own nepantlera/o/x praxis at the individual level. not only did the mentors enacting nepantlera/o/x praxis in several student narratives play a pivotal role in students persisting in college, but they also provided culturally responsive advising and aspirational hope informed by their own backgrounds and experiences working with chicana/x/o students. the authors hone in on practical recommendations for educators to disrupt the colonial space in education by resisting practices that posit institutional priorities over student needs, and rather places the onus on faculty to cultivate spaces that foster chicana/o/x success. ramos & nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 143 as scholars in the field continue to build on the framework of atravesadas/os/xs nepantleando that conchas and acevedo have powerfully captured through these case studies, we believe an important addition to this work would be the inclusion of testimonios of other racialized chicana/o/x student experiences. afro-chicana/o/x students often navigate antiblackness and indigenous chicana/o/x students experience anti-indigeneity in chicana/o/x and latina/o/x communities, further marginalizing them and impacting their ability to feel a sense of belonging in latinx communal spaces. we believe an additional sample of chicanx student participants who represent other racialized categories may reveal important insights into their process of developing la facultad and becoming nepantleras/os/xs. additionally, as the focus and pursuit of hsi status in the u.s. continue to expand, we wonder how chicana/o/x students outside of the california higher education context may experience schooling. with the state’s highly stratified public higher education system (community colleges, state university, and the university of california) that significantly represent the state’s college and university choices, it would be important to examine how the institution type may differ for chicana/o/x students in other regions. in conclusion, we believe the chicanx dream is important contribution for k-12 leaders, higher education scholars and professionals, and other educators working to support chicanx student populations across the educational pipeline. amae 1.pdf amae 10 bookreview.pdf volume 14 issue 2 2020 amae invited issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies guest editors josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ duran, orozco, & gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 imagining the future of jotería studies as a framework in the field of higher education antonio duran, ph.d. auburn university roberto c. orozco rutgers university–new brunswick sergio a. gonzalez claremont graduate university abstract although research on queer latinx/a/o college students has increased in recent years, only a few studies employ frameworks that originate from queer latinx/a/o communities. to center ways of being and knowing rooted in queer latinx/a/o experiences, this manuscript argues that educators, scholars, and practitioners interested in the study of higher education should mobilize jotería studies as a framework. in this manuscript, the authors offer an overview of jotería studies before discussing how queer of color frameworks have emerged in education. following this foundation, the authors generate recommendations for how educators, researchers, and higher education professionals can use jotería studies to guide their work. keywords: higher education, queer of color, theoretical frameworks, jotería studies doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.360 67 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.360 imagining the future of jotería studies the study of the interconnections between race, ethnicity, and sexuality continues to become richer in the field of higher education with scholars increasingly exploring the lives and experiences of queer students of color (qsoc) on college campuses (duran, 2019). in examining these studies, it is evident to see that researchers made a concerted effort to push back against the reliance on samples of white students that once defined queer and trans scholarship in postsecondary education (renn, 2010). although formerly limited, the scholarship on queer latinx/a/o college students considerably grew in the field of higher education in the 2010s (e.g., duran & pérez, 2017, 2019; duran, rodriguez, et al., 2019; eaton & rios, 2017; garcia, 2015; orozco & perez-felkner, 2018; peña-talamantes, 2013a, 2013b; rios & eaton, 2016; tijerina revilla, 2010). these studies shed a light on a number of different issues that queer latinx/a/o individuals face within collegiate settings. whether illustrating how selfauthorship may differ for those at the intersections of these two identities (orozco & perezfelkner, 2018) or examining the nature of familial relationships for these students (duran & pérez, 2017, 2019; eaton & rios, 2017; rios & eaton, 2016), the research on queer latinx/a/o collegians expanded the ways that professionals in higher education understand and work with these individuals. albeit a positive development to see more scholarship about queer latinx/a/o collegians, another pattern is clear that mirrors a consistent reality of queer and trans literature focused on postsecondary settings. despite renn’s (2010) calling for the use of queer and trans frameworks in order to shape the study of higher education (including research on queer and trans people’s experiences), the number of scholars employing these frameworks are few and far between (duran et al., 2020). namely, studies on queer latinx/a/o college students regularly failed to use theories designed with queer latinx/a/o individuals in mind with a few notable exceptions like tijerina revilla’s (2009, 2010) work mobilizing queer/chicana/latina feminist epistemologies and duran, rodriguez, et al.’s (2019) scholarship using influences from muñoz’s (1999) disidentifications. as duran, jackson, et al. (2020) argued, the epistemological and theoretical foundations researchers use in studies on lgbtq+ individuals in higher education have serious ramifications for how these populations are represented and the subsequent implications for practice. to investigate the lives of queer latinx/a/o collegians without using explicitly queer latinx/a/o theories, for instance, can lead to crises of representation and continue the whiteness, heteronormativity, and/or trans oppression that has defined queer and trans postsecondary research. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 68 duran, orozco, & gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 therefore, this paper will imagine what it means to use jotería studies in pedagogy, research, and student affairs practice in higher education. specifically, we locate jotería studies under the umbrella of queer latinx/a/o theories and frameworks that can be meaningful to center queer latinx/a/o experiences. as a growing body of research, jotería studies is uniquely situated to examine how racism, heterosexism, trans oppression, and settler colonialism manifest for queer latinx/a/o communities (hames-garcía, 2014) but can also be mobilized to challenge these systems in postsecondary settings broadly. specifically, we contend that educators, scholars, and student affairs practitioners interested in transforming higher education contexts need to embrace the use of jotería studies (e.g., alvarez jr. & estrada, 2019; hames-garcía, 2014; perez, 2014; tijerina revilla & santillana, 2014) as an analytic to inform pedagogy, research, and practice. we begin by offering a brief overview of jotería studies, discuss the emerging attention to jotería in educational literature, and then describe specific recommendations for how it can be leveraged in higher education as a discipline. although we focus on its use in pedagogy to align with this special issue, we also generate implications for higher education researchers and student affairs practitioners hoping to mobilize jotería studies. in doing so, we argue jotería studies works in expansive ways—as a research framework, a way to drive pedagogy, and a liberatory politic. though jotería studies has always been needed in the discipline of higher education, we contend that the current sociopolitical climate in which queer latinx/a/o lives and continues to come under attack by rhetoric in and outside of college campuses necessitates frameworks that interrogate these structures, while highlighting the resilience of these individuals. an overview of jotería studies we find it important to provide an overview of jotería studies and trace its emergence in higher education scholarship. to begin, we acknowledge the way queer latinx/a/o communities have historically been targeted through derogatory terms (e.g., joto, jota, maricón, and pato) that further perpetuate heteronormativity and homoantagonism. despite the negative connotation carried by these words, including joto and jota, jotería scholars, activists, and artists have reclaimed these terms to posit a form of resistance against heteronormative renderings of being latinx/a/o (alvarez jr. & estrada, 2019). additionally, a distinction exists between jotería and jotería studies. we define jotería as an embodiment of marginalized sexual 69 imagining the future of jotería studies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 or gender identifications. jotería “is a political project that seeks to reconfigure historically and socially negative understandings of an identity that has been used in colonizing ways” (bañales, 2014, p. 160), namely as it relates to racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual politics. critical to this definition, hames-garcía (2014) challenged the use of jotería as a simple ascription to latinx/a/o individuals “whose lives include dissident practices of sexuality and gender” (p. 139). for this reason, jotería is also a production of personal and cultural politics that engage practices and processes that disrupt interlocking systems of oppression. in turn, jotería studies is the study of queer latinx/a/o people’s realities that resist racist, heterosexist, patriarchal, and settler colonialist systems of power and oppression (alvarez jr. & estrada, 2019; hames-garcía, 2014). more specifically, ochoa (2015) asserted jotería studies “continue the critical project of chicana feminisms by destabilizing the hegemonic chicano subject, usually imagined as male and heterosexual” (p. 188). jotería studies is an asset-based framework rooted in intersectionality and empowerment (tijerina revilla & santillana, 2014). jotería studies propels a critical consciousness given the unique emphasis on individual and collective joy, love, and healing (tijerina revilla & santillana, 2014). the development of jotería studies is a response to the exclusionary practices toward queer latinx/a/o individuals that permeated community and academic spaces (tijerina revilla, 2014). as such, the history of jotería studies traces back to the prominent work of lesbian and queer chicanas and latinas whose scholarship and activism names and theorizes the marginality of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality (anzaldúa, 1987; moraga, 1983; pérez, 1999). both anzaldúa and moraga explicitly named jotería in their work. for example, anzaldúa (1987) made the call to the chicano/[latino] community to “listen to their jotería” (p. 85) and moraga (1993) imagined a world she named as “queer aztlan” where chicanos embrace “all its people, including its jotería” (p. 147). furthermore, the prominence of jotería studies in the last two decades was then amplified in spaces like the association for jotería arts, activism, and scholarship (ajaas), “an organization dedicated to nurturing queer latina/o, chicana/o culture through practices that recognize the intimate relations of art, activism and scholarship” (tijerina revilla, 2014, p. 253). in 2014, several members of ajaas contributed to a dossier on jotería studies in aztlan: a journal of chicano studies, which was curated and edited by michael hames-garcía. this dossier contained conceptual and empirical writings that moved jotería studies forward and offered 70 duran, orozco, & gonzalez multiple ways of conceptualizing jotería bodies and experiences. furthermore, this dossier offered social and political methods of theorizing realities of marginalization and exclusion of jotería, as well as jotería studies (hames-garcía, 2014). furthermore, the academic genealogy of jotería studies traditionally finds its home through an interdisciplinary lens in the fields of chicanx/a/o and latinx/a/o studies, ethnic studies, gender and sexuality studies, and performance studies (hames-garcía, 2014; pérez, 2014). jotería studies is an explicit analysis of structural oppression, similar to other theoretical considerations for queer people of color (qpoc) (i.e., queer of color critique; quare theory). these methodological and analytical frameworks propel the necessity to interrogate the intersectional and material oppression of queer people of color (ferguson, 2004; duran, 2019). most recently, scholars whose work focuses on queer and trans people of color, particularly queer and trans latinx/a/o people, embedded jotería studies in fields like media and cultural studies and communication studies (e.g., alvarez jr. & estrada, 2019; ochoa, 2015). thus, the field of jotería studies continues to evolve and transform as it is taken up in academic fields, such as in the study of higher education. queer of color and jotería studies in education over the last two decades, the burgeoning research on queer people of color in education, specifically in higher education, provides a foundational analysis of narratives and experiences of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality within the educational system (brockenbrough, 2015; kumashiro, 2001). furthermore, engaging issues of sexuality within research on people of color has moved beyond hegemonic notions of racialized experiences. scholars have posited frameworks to center queer students of color in education, specifically the k-12 system (brockenbrough, 2015; kumashiro, 2001; mccready, 2004). kumashiro (2001) offered multiple analyses accounting for “the intersections of racism and heterosexism” within education (p. 1). similarly, brockenbrough (2015) engaged a queer of color critique that asserts an agency for queer of color youth as a way for them “to perform identity, belonging, and resistance” through and within oppressive structures of education (p. 31). beyond k-12, several scholars have examined the experiences of queer students of color in higher education. research on queer college students of color often focuses on examining the way these individuals navigate multiple marginalized identities in higher education contexts, especially in co-curricular and curricular spaces (duran, 2019; patton & simmons, 2008; tijerina association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 71 imagining the future of jotería studies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 revilla, 2009, 2010). these studies have shown the ways that environments in postsecondary settings perpetuate racism and heterosexism, while at the same time highlighting the agency and resilience of queer students of color. although this larger body of scholarship using queer of color perspectives is invaluable, engaging jotería studies and higher education as a site of analysis requires a commitment to challenging normative understandings of latinx/a/o people specifically. as noted in the introduction, studies specific to queer latinx/a/o individuals continue to rise and set the stage for jotería studies, albeit focused largely on undergraduate students. the scholarship on queer latinx/a/o undergraduate students primarily discusses the experience of coming out (duran & pérez, 2017; peña-talamantes, 2013b), in addition to perceived support from family, peers, and faculty and staff (duran & pérez, 2019; eaton & rios, 2017; rios & eaton, 2016), sense of belonging on and off campus (tijerina revilla, 2009, 2010), navigating multiple marginalized identities (peña-talamantes, 2013a; orozco & perez-felkner, 2018), and building queer latinx/a/o kinships (duran & pérez, 2017). although this research provides insight into the experiences of queer latinx/a/o students, the theoretical frameworks used in these studies have often been through a non-queer latinx/a/o lens with a few exceptions (see duran, rodriguez, et al., 2019; orozco & pérez-felkner, 2018; tijerina revilla, 2009, 2010). using this collective body of scholarship as a foundation, an opportunity exists to apply frameworks that better honor, give agency, and validate the lived realities of these individuals. research on queer latinx/a/o college students rarely takes up the term jotería or explicitly notes their contribution to the field of jotería studies. alvarez jr. & estrada (2019) noted that some scholars may be uncomfortable naming their work as a part of jotería studies because of the contested and fraught nature of the term jotería as a marker of social identity. furthermore, research on queer latinx/a/o students primarily centers the narratives and experiences of cisgender gay latino men (duran & pérez, 2017, 2019; eaton & rios, 2017; orozco & perez-felkner, 2018; peña-talamantes, 2013b; rios & eaton, 2016). consequently, the majority of research on cisgender gay latino men focuses on their coming out process and the challenges they face (duran & pérez, 2017, 2019; eaton & rios, 2017; orozco & perezfelkner, 2018; peña-talamantes, 2013b; rios & eaton, 2016). furthermore, centering cis gay latino men in research that examines queer latinx/a/o students reinforces structures of patriarchy, as well as trans oppression, and is a perpetuation of the challenges that arise when 72 duran, orozco, & gonzalez cisgender gay men become the focus of discourse on gender and sexuality. as a response to this, jotería studies can further provide a theoretical and analytic comprehension that moves forward the scholarship and improved material realities of queer latinx/a/o people in higher education. our journey to jotería studies before proposing how higher education can benefit from jotería studies, we see it necessary to first name what jotería studies has offered us as scholars, practitioners, and people moving through postsecondary education settings. this naming of our stories and backgrounds exemplifies what is at the heart of jotería studies, the notion that the political is personal (hames-garcía, 2014). it is because of these stories that we came to be in relationship with one another and imagined a world where higher education institutional agents centered jotería studies as a priority. however, we recognize how we gained access to jotería studies represents a form of academic privilege, necessitating a more widespread conversation about this analytic. antonio duran my journey to jotería studies has been both recent and long-lasting, leading me to a framework that has always been ingrained in my being. notably, my scholarly journey began due to my interest in how queer and trans people of color navigated collegiate settings, knowing that the founders of higher education institutions never created colleges and universities with these individuals in mind. the questions that i had percolating in my mind could not be answered with theories that similarly failed to consider the ways that heterosexism, trans oppression, and racism functioned in society. this in turn led me to intersectionality (crenshaw, 1989) and queer of color critique (ferguson, 2004) that welcomed these curiosities. these frameworks both spoke to these ideas but also fell somewhat short of taking up my queer latino ways of thinking/being. these sentiments are what have brought me to jotería studies, challenging me to center queer latinx/a/o people not only in highlighting their experiences but also by shedding light on their analytics. i now attend to jotería studies in my teaching by naming how my own subjectivities are deeply attached to my teaching philosophies. specifically, i often assert how my queerness and latino identity intersect in the ways that i interpret higher education systems. moreover, i mobilize this framework in my research by showing how institutional structures minoritize queer latinx/a/o individuals. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 73 imagining the future of jotería studies roberto orozco my first interaction with jotería and jotería studies came through my involvement with ajaas in the fall of 2015. as the director of the center for social justice at the university of nevada, las vegas, i had the unique opportunity to accompany a delegation of students to the 2015 ajaas conference. additionally, the history of ajaas has a unique connection with the center i directed, given the planning meetings that took place at the center during ajaas’s inception. as i continued to work with queer latinx/a/o student activists on campus, i challenged myself to more intimately engage with research and practice that centered these students’ experiences. consequently, i attend to jotería studies in my own work through my commitment to queer latinx/a/o communities. i specifically rely on epistemologies and theories that i consider to be a part of a jotería genealogy. for example, i use anzaldúa’s (2002) concept of conocimiento as a culturally congruent framework that examines the identity and consciousness development of queer latinx/a/o people. furthermore, my work with queer latinx/a/o student activists has shifted my jotería consciousness and informs my being and doing of jotería and jotería studies. as a joto and someone who engages in jotería as an act of social, cultural, and political resistance and disruption, my own experience along with the community of jotería as a site of analysis is a move towards a praxis of liberation. sergio gonzalez my understanding of jotería has and continues to be an ever-evolving process that allows me to explore my past, to make meaning of my present, and guide my future. jotería is how i am redefining what it means to be queer and latinx/a/o. i have come to realize that my joto-historia, or queerstory, is a counternarrative not fully embraced by the traditional form of queer theory. my existence within the walls of academia in my brown queer skin has become my resistance. through tijerina revilla & santillana’s (2014) framework of jotería identity and consciousness, i am able to understand what it means to be living, loving and surviving in a space like higher education (tijerina revilla & santillana, 2014). whether i am teaching a class or working with cultural centers, jotería creates a space to innovate and build community interchangeably. additionally, i see jotería studies informing the ways that i conduct research, trying to push back on normative qualitative methods and instead embrace a praxis grounded in comunidad. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 74 duran, orozco, & gonzalez the potential of jotería studies for higher education as mentioned in the introduction, when deployed with care and respect, jotería studies can be an analytic that can move the study of higher education environments and experiences forward because of its community-centered and liberatory nature. to offer readers examples of how scholars and practitioners leveraging jotería studies can accomplish this work, we find it necessary to highlight potential contributions to both practice and research. specifically, we contend that educators and professionals can employ the framework to shape pedagogy and student affairs programming. we also argue that postsecondary education researchers can use jotería studies to interrogate how institutional structures minoritize queer latinx/a/o individuals, to challenge ahistoricism on college campuses, and to shed a light on individuals’ experiences of resistance and liberation. practice: mobilizing jotería pedagogy the lessons that one can learn from jotería studies translate into the classroom context. in fact, alvarez jr. (2014) wrote about the practice of jotería pedagogy. in this article, alvarez jr. extends the work of queer pedagogues like krywanczyk (2007) to envision what jotería means as it relates to teaching. in particular, alvarez jr. constructs jotería pedagogy to be an approach that “focuses on the heterogeneous lives and lived experiences of jotería but also on the erasures and omissions of queer bodies of color” (p. 218). this focus appears throughout the curricular experiences—in the ways that people teach about content but also the ways in which queer latinx/a/o pedagogues show up in the classroom to how they invite students to share about their stories. engaging a jotería pedagogy invites educators to consider how they are integrating conversations about the intersecting systems that shape the material and social realities of queer and trans latinx/a/o people. for example, the three authors of this manuscript are trained in the field of higher education. we understand how the organizational structures of higher education function and how they impact student development. as a part of graduate studies curriculum, a majority of higher education programs have some form of a diversity, equity, and social justice course. these classes generally challenge higher education professionals to consider the unique needs of minoritized student populations. however, the issue that some courses exhibit is that they separate weeks based on social identity groups without interrogating how a class on sexual minorities may unintentionally erase those who association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 75 imagining the future of jotería studies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 also experience racism on a daily basis. in fact, this approach which involves seeing identities and oppression as discrete categories is common across various disciplines although it renders queer of color knowledge invisible by failing to recognize how structural oppression is interconnected (aguilar-hernández, 2020). jotería studies serves as a reminder to interrupt this practice by asking educators, administrators, and staff to initiate conversations about the intersectional forms of oppression facing the lives of queer latinx/a/o individuals. in doing so, they can resist fragmenting the interconnections of identities and power that may manifest within the classroom. however, beyond content, jotería pedagogy would also serve as a pathway for conceptualizing issues of embodiment by recognizing that “our bodies and ourselves are lived legacies of colonialism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, and heterosexism” (hamesgarcía, 2014, p. 136). what this requires is an act of critical reflexivity on the part of the instructor to consider how their presence in the classroom space both functions as a perpetuation of privilege but also a marker of overcoming oppression. for those who identify as queer latinx/a/o educators, for example, how is it that our appearance in the classroom pushes back on the overwhelming whiteness and heterosexism that demarcates the academy sphere? how is it that we share these stories and these realities with our students to expand their awareness or affirm their selves? for the three authors of this article, it means being clear with students about how our identities and our teaching are in a reciprocal relationship with one another. it is our jotería that influences how we think about pedagogy, and our teaching shapes our jotería. similarly, it would also behoove instructors to engage students in the same type of exploration. in alvarez jr.’s (2014) formative article, for instance, they offer the example of how spoken wor(l)d art performance activism (swapa) functions as a way for individuals to perform the practice of witnessing that allows them to reflect on their body, mind, and spirit. thus, learning is not a disembodied experience but is intricately connected to who a person is and where they are situated within larger systems of power. such moves push the consciousness of students into one that is aware, healing, and radical—all components of jotería studies. practice: jotería studies in student affairs programming in addition to shaping pedagogy, jotería studies can inform student affairs practice. research shows that higher education scholars frequently acknowledge that student-centered 76 duran, orozco, & gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 resources (e.g., campus centers, identity-focused centers) and campus environments play an important role in student learning experiences, opportunities, and outcomes (mayhew et al., 2016). thus, lgbtq+ students need student services to support their academic careers (pitcher et al., 2018), including those who identify as queer latinx/a/o individuals. so, the question then becomes, what are student affairs practitioners doing to ensure queer latinx/a/o students feel safe and supported on campus? student affairs as a field needs to begin critical discussions that critique the invisibility of queer latinx/a/o students, as well as other queers of color within institutions, in research, and curricula. jotería studies can support programming by addressing the institutionalized racism that currently exists in affinity centers/cultural centers campus wide. this lens in turn will help create continuous accountability and assessment practices essential to reestablishing a more nuanced campus culture and climate inclusive of queer latinx/a/o students. furthermore, student affairs programming needs to challenge institutional practices that make no attempt to bring in critical discussions on multiple identities or their intersections, such as those pertaining to queer latinx/a/o students. as jotería studies is not gender-specific or limited to a single ethnic group or form of sexual identity (pérez, 2014), it can support the creation of intentional space designed from a queer latinx/a/o student’s perspective. the narratives of queer latinx/a/o students are essential when looking to decipher the interconnections between academic and social success together with persistence rates. fine (2012) described that although lgbtq+ students are present on campus across the country, very few institutions appear to be taking the appropriate measures such as developing centers, providing counseling, and refining curriculum to be more inclusive of lgbtq+ topics necessary for the academic and personal success of lgbtq+ students. the field of higher education has come to a point where it must reimagine the intent of programming and how it can bridge the gaps between academic and student affairs departments. jotería and jotería studies develops a transformative pedagogy as it can be created to be physical by way of a cultural center, emotional by holding space to affirm one’s voice and experience, and social by connecting students, faculty, and staff across departments and disciplines. because of this, we affirm pérez’s (2014) argument that “jotería voices and images materialize in multiple forms: cultural production, history, politics, and the everyday lives of individuals” (p. 145). ultimately, jotería studies inherently resists the siloing that may happen with queer latinx/a/o individuals’ 77 imagining the future of jotería studies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 experiences (i.e., separating social, academic, and cultural domains). as a result, those using jotería studies in higher education would see the benefit that is gained from collaborating with departments across campus in order to recognize how queer latinx/a/o individuals are complex and require holistic attention. research: critically examining institutional structures what latinx/a/o students often find in colleges is a culture that is finely tuned to the needs and interests of a historically white student body, faculty, and staff (naynaha, 2016). the research on sense of belonging and the experiences of queer white college students in higher education continues to be much more abundant than the research on the experiences of queer college students of color (strayhorn, 2019). when the search is limited to queer latinx students across colleges and universities specifically, the lack of research is even more evident. the dearth of research and the increasing number of queer latinx/a/o students pursuing college degrees warrants an increase in literature that can honor their voices and provide visibility. jotería studies creates a space that centers the jotería subject as an arbiter of knowledge concerning social locations and uses their perspectives to understand how systems of oppression function (pérez, 2014). jotería studies can thus contribute to research projects in higher education that seek to understand how institutional structures disproportionately marginalize those who identify as queer and latinx/a/o. this area of research is necessary because a majority of scholarship on queer and trans individuals in higher education has focused on students’ experiences without interrogating how policies, practices, and structures at institutions create oppressive environments for these populations. what does exist for example in the realm of queer and trans student success frames this from a race-neutral perspective (e.g., pitcher et al., 2018), not examining how racism might also frame the ways that institutions marginalize those who hold multiple minoritized identities. because jotería studies centers the epistemic perspective of queer latinx/a/o communities, it is a helpful framework to leverage to understand how structures at institutions can oppress these individuals, a task that we as authors are doing in our own work. additionally, jotería studies may also be particularly meaningful in sites such as hispanic-serving institutions that enroll large numbers of latinx/a/o students because it can interrogate how a racialized institution can still (re)produce systemic inequity for those at the intersections of latinx/a/o and queer identities. 78 duran, orozco, & gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 research: ahistorical nature of queer latinx/a/o experiences in higher education in addition to thinking about examining institutional structures themselves, jotería studies also challenges scholars to push back against the ahistorical nature of queer latinx/a/o experiences in higher education settings. this is because jotería studies exists to not only conceptualize how systems like colonialism, racism, heterosexism, and trans oppression manifest in contemporary settings, but also, it reveals how these structures have existed historically (gutierrez-perez, 2015; hames-garcía, 2014). therefore, to engage with jotería studies in higher education involves wrestling with the racist and heterosexist histories of postsecondary settings (graves, 2018; museus et al., 2015). in research studies on queer latinx/a/o individuals, scholars frequently ask participants to describe the ways that systems of power operate on their college campuses in present-day times. for example, peña-talamantes’s (2013b) exploration of how gay and lesbian latina/o college students negotiate their identities across contexts (i.e., hometowns and college campuses) underscored the presence of heterosexism and racism at their institutions broadly and with support services specifically (e.g., lgbtq centers). although important insights, findings such as these beg the question of how historical legacies of minoritization also play a role in how students perceive their climates and understand their identities. with models of campus climate containing historical dimensions (e.g., hurtado et al., 2012), it is imperative that researchers seek to understand how colleges and universities have not been mindful of attending to the unique realities of queer latinx/a/o people and the ramifications of this fact. thus, scholars should consider not only asking research participants about the ways that institutions marginalize queer latinx/a/o identities and knowledges currently but also how those are tied to their understandings of how colleges and universities have functioned since their inception. another way that jotería studies can challenge ahistoricism involves unearthing the stories of queer latinx/a/o collegians that have always been present on campuses. though historians of higher education have made strides in bringing to light the ways that queer students have existed and resisted in these environments throughout the decades, these histories are overwhelmingly devoid of racial analyses (e.g., graves, 2018). to this point, gutierrez-perez (2015) articulated, “as a marginalized community, jotería-historias are often hidden, made invisible, and forgotten” (p. 94, emphasis in original). though gutierrez-perez (2015) discussed their experiences in communication studies, this remains true in research 79 imagining the future of jotería studies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 about higher education institutions broadly. thus, jotería studies encourages higher education researchers to historicize in order to showcase how queer latinx/a/o people have long been enacting agentic behaviors in oppressive college contexts. such insights would be beneficial for increasing the consciousness of students, practitioners, and scholars alike about the experiences faced by those at the intersections of queerness and latinx/a/o identities. speaking to the potential of such scholarship to transform perspectives in higher education, martínez (2011) described the following: one need only to peruse the work of writers as diverse as audre lorde, and gloria anzaldúa, ricardo bracho and essex hemphill, among others, to see firsthand how resistance and enfranchisement have often been nurtured through narratives where identity and politics are written about from the perspective of queers of color. (p. 226) these narratives would also locate the issues of racism, settler colonialism, trans oppression, and heterosexism in a historical trajectory in order to create action steps to interrupt the ways they are ingrained in the u.s. higher education system. research: illuminating narratives of resistance and liberation at the center of jotería studies is the importance of narratives that center experiences of resistance and liberation for queer latinx/a/o people in higher education. in essence, jotería and jotería studies become necessary for several reasons. first, jotería researchers have found that too often, queer latinx/a/os and chicanx/a/os and other queer communities of color are pushed aside to the margins of society (tijerina revilla & santillana, 2014). furthermore, jotería studies reiterates how queer antagonism, patriarchy, and white supremacy are deeply embedded in academia and our communities; consequently, there is a lack of literature that speaks to the collective experiences of queer latinx/a/o people (tijerina revilla & santillana, 2014). within higher education, jotería studies can be particularly meaningful as a framework to showcase not only how queer latinx/a/o individuals navigate these systems but ultimately, how they thrive within these structures. scholarship on queer latinx/a/o students in higher education has begun to highlight the narratives of resistance that come from negative experiences navigating their race, ethnicity, and sexuality. for example, tijerina revilla (2009) explored sexual identity in a chicana/latina student organization, raza womyn at ucla, where a muxerista vision of social justice centered the voices of chicana latina women. tijerina revilla (2009) stated, “by challenging and creating 80 duran, orozco, & gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 spaces of resistance that create a different reality for fluid/queer resisters, raza womyn created the space for radical transformation in the identity and politics of muxeristas” (p. 59). moreover, duran, rodriguez, et al. (2019) investigated how five gay latino college men engaged in love involved a complex negotiation of their environments and desires. in embracing their desires, these participants resisted heterosexist and racist norms, creating their own queer latinx/a/o realities in the process. these examples communicate how scholars have started to slowly illustrate the resilience that comes with identifying as part of the queer latinx/a/o community. to make meaning of their intersecting identities, queer latinx/a/o students find a way to be seen, which often times is shunned from the dominant narrative that is higher education today. tijerina revilla (2010) went on to illustrate strategies used by students to create not only safe spaces but also “counterspaces” of resistance within academia—that is, spaces in which they are actively resisting mainstream perspectives, particularly those that uphold white supremacist, imperialist, patriarchal, heteronormative, and citizenist ideologies (p. 39). tijerina revilla and santillana’s (2014) jotería identity and consciousness framework further provided ways that queer latinx/a/o people engage in asset-based approaches to marginality. critical race theory in education (ladson-billings & tate, 1995; solorzano, 1997), chicana feminist epistemology (bernal, 1998), and tijerina revilla’s (2004) muxerista framework can be seen as the foundational tools used to create a jotería identity and consciousness, as they each acknowledge the ways that structural inequalities shape the lives of minoritized people while foregrounding their practices of resilience. with these foundations in mind, tijerina revilla & santillana (2014) described jotería identity and consciousness with the following terms: counterstories; heterosexism; queer; latina/o/x; jotería; brown; and queerstory (p. 178). these terms are imperative to note as they reinforce empowerment, are intentionally radical and decolonial, as well as personify an oppositional consciousness (pérez, 2014, p. 144). when queer latinx/a/o individuals’ counterstories are shared, it is necessary to show the presence of “fun, laughter, and radical queer love” (tijerina revilla & santillana, 2014, p. 174). specifically, jotería identity and consciousness pushes back against deficit narratives that queer latinx/a/o people solely experience oppression and lack agency in the face of such structures. instead, jotería studies as a praxis acknowledges how queer latinx/a/o individuals resist, grow, transform, and ultimately belong to oneself. thus, future research in higher education would 81 imagining the future of jotería studies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 benefit from employing these jotería studies terms collectively as an organizing framework to center the liberatory potential that queer latinx/a/o people actualize within postsecondary settings. conclusion to open up the possibilities for liberatory consciousness and practices in the study of higher education means to articulate and resist the structures of oppression that are interwoven into the tapestries of the academy. taking up this call, jotería studies functions as an analytic that not only centers the experiences of queer latinx/a/o people but also pushes back against the very fibers of colonialism, racism, heterosexism, trans oppression, and more. therefore, this article informs higher education educators, scholars, and student affairs practitioners to reflect on how jotería studies can serve to move their practice forward. specifically, we argued that jotería studies has the potential to help faculty and staff understand intersectional struggles of oppression, as well as the practices of resistance that queer latinx/a/o individuals exhibit. queer latinx/a/o individuals have always existed on college campuses, and we as authors assert that it is time for jotería studies to be taken up more substantially in the field of higher education. 82 duran, orozco, & gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 references aguilar-hernández, j. m. (2020). queering critical race pedagogy: reflections of disrupting erasure while centering intersectionality. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 33(6), 679–694. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1747660 alvarez, e. f., jr. (2014). jotería pedagogy, swapa, and sandovalian approaches to liberation. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 215–227. alvarez jr., e. & estrada, j. (2019). jotería studies. in h. chang (ed.), global encyclopedia of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq) history (pp. 863–867). charles scribner & sons. anzaldúa, g. e. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. aunt lute books. anzaldúa, g. e. (2002). now let us shift . . . the path of conocimiento . . . inner work, public acts. in g. e. anzaldúa & a. keating (eds.) this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation (pp. 540–578). routledge. bañales, x. (2014). jotería: a decolonizing political project. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 155–165. bernal, d. d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555–583. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 brockenbrough, e. (2015). queer of color agency in educational contexts: analytic frameworks from a queer of color critique. educational studies, 51(1), 28–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2014.979929 crenshaw, k. (1989). demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. university of chicago legal forum, 1989(1), 139–167. duran, a. (2019). queer and of color: a systematic literature review on queer students of color in higher education scholarship. journal of diversity in higher education, 12(4), 390– 400. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000084 duran, a., blockett, r. a., & nicolazzo, z. (2020). an interdisciplinary return to queer and trans* studies in higher education: implications for research and practice. in l. w. perna (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 35, pp. 1–64). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11743-6_9-1 duran, a., & pérez, d., ii. (2017). queering la familia: a phenomenological study reconceptualizing familial capital for queer latino men. journal of college student development, 58(8), 1149–1165. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0091 duran, a., & pérez, d., ii. (2019). the multiple roles of chosen familia: examining the interconnections of queer latino men’s community cultural wealth. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 32(1), 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2018.1523484 duran, a., jackson, r., & lange, a. c. (2019). the theoretical engagements of scholarship on lgbtq+ people in higher education: a look at research published between 2009 and 2018. journal of diversity in higher education. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000284 duran, a., rodriguez, f., & patrón, o. e. (2019). queer love in the lives of gay latino men in college. international journal of qualitative studies in education. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1687957 83 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1747660 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2014.979929 https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000084 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11743-6_9-1 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0091 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2018.1523484 https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000284 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1687957 imagining the future of jotería studies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 eaton, a. a., & rios, d. (2017). social challenges faced by queer latino college men: navigating negative responses to coming out in a double minority sample of emerging adults. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, 23(4), 457–467. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000134 ferguson, r. a. (2004). aberrations in black: toward a queer of color critique. university of minnesota press. fine, l. e. (2012). the context of creating space: assessing the likelihood of college lgbt center presence. journal of college student development, 53(2), 285–299. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2012.0017 garcia, l. f. (2015). documenting the experiences of gay latinos in higher education through the use of testimonio (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from university of san francisco scholarship repository (accession no. 296). graves, k. (2018). the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer issues in higher education. in m. b. paulsen (ed.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 33, pp. 127–173). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72490-4_4 gutierrez-perez, r. m. (2015). disruptive ambiguities: the potentiality of jotería critique in communication studies. kaleidoscope: a graduate journal of qualitative communication research, 14(1), 89–100. hames-garcía, m. (2014). jotería studies, or the political is personal. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 135–141. hurtado, s., alvarez, c. l., guillermo-wann, c., cuellar, m., & arellano, l. (2012). a model for diverse learning environments: the scholarship on creating and assessing conditions for student success. in j. c. smart & m. b. paulsen (eds.), higher education: handbook of theory and research (vol. 27, pp. 41–122). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-0072950-6_2 krywanczyk, l. (2007). queering public school pedagogy as a first year teacher. radical teacher, 79, 27–34. kumashiro, k. k. (ed.). (2001). troubling intersections of race and sexuality: queer students of color and anti-oppressive education. rowan and littlefield publishers. ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47–68. martínez, e. j. (2011). shifting the site of queer enunciation: manuel muñoz and the politics of form. in m. hames-garcía & e. j. martínez (eds.), gay latino studies: a critical reader (pp. 226–249). duke university press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822393856-016 mayhew, m. j., rockenbach, a. n., bowman, n. a., seifert, t. a., wolniak, g. c., pascarella, e. t., & terenzini, p. y. (2016). how college affects students: 21st century evidence that higher education works (vol. 3). jossey-bass. mccready, l. t. (2004). understanding the marginalization of gay and gender non-conforming black male students. theory into practice, 43(2), 136–143. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4302_7 moraga, c. (1983). loving in the war years: lo que nunca paso por sus labios. south end press. moraga, c. (1993). the last generation: prose and poetry. south end press. muñoz, j. e. (1999). disidentifications: queers of color and the performance of politics. university of minnesota press. 84 https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000134 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2012.0017 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72490-4_4 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2950-6_2 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2950-6_2 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822393856-016 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4302_7 duran, orozco, & gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 museus, s. d., ledesma, m. c., & parker, t. l. (2015). racism and racial equity in higher education. ashe higher education report, 42(1), 1–112. https://doi.org/10.1002/aehe.20067 naynaha, s. (2016). assessment, social justice, and latinxs in the us community college. college english, 79(2), 196–201. ochoa, j. (2015). shine bright like a migrant: julio salgado’s digital art and its use of jotería. social justice: a journal of crime, conflict, & world order, 42(3-4), 184–199. orozco, r. c. & perez-felkner, l. (2018). ni de aquí, ni de allá: conceptualizing the selfauthorship of gay latino college men using conocimiento. journal of latinos in education, 17(4), 386–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2017.1371018 patton, l. d. & simmons, s. l. (2008). exploring complexities of multiple identities of lesbians in a black college environment. the negro educational review, 59(3-4), 197–237. peña-talamantes, a. e. (2013a). “defining machismo, no es siempre lo mismo”: latino sexual minorities machoflexible identities in higher education. culture, society & masculinities, 5(2), 166–178. https://doi.org/10.3149/csm.0502.166 peña-talamantes, a. e. (2013b). empowering the self, creating worlds: lesbian and gay latina/o college students' identity negotiation in figured worlds. journal of college student development, 54(3), 267–282. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2013.0039 pérez, d. (2014). jotería epistemologies: mapping a research agenda, unearthing a lost heritage, and building. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 143–154. pérez, e. (1999). the decolonial imaginary. indiana university press. pitcher, e. n., camacho, t. p., renn, k. a., & woodford, m. r. (2018). affirming policies, programs, and supportive services: using an organizational perspective to understand lgbtq+ college student success. journal of diversity in higher education, 11(2), 117–132. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000048 renn, k. a. (2010). lgbt and queer research in higher education: the state and status of the field. educational researcher, 39(2), 132–141. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x10362579 rios, d., & eaton, a. (2016). perceived social support in the lives of gay, bisexual and queer hispanic college men. culture, health & sexuality, 18(10), 1093–1106. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2016.1150516 solorzano, d. g. (1997). images and words that wound: critical race theory, racial stereotyping, and teacher education. teacher education quarterly, 24(3), 5–19. strayhorn, t. l. (2019). sense of belonging and ethnic gay male college students. in college students’ sense of belonging: a key to educational success for all students (2nd ed., pp. 59– 72). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315297293-5 tijerina revilla, a. (2004). muxerista pedagogy: raza womyn teaching social justice through student activism. the high school journal, 87(4), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2004.0013 tijerina revilla, a. (2009). are all raza womyn queer? an exploration of sexual identities in a chicana/latina student organization. nwsa journal, 21(3), 46–62. tijerina revilla, a. (2010). raza womyn–making it safe to be queer: student organizations as retention tools in higher education. black women, gender and families, 4(1), 37–61. https://doi.org/10.5406/blacwomegendfami.4.1.0037 tijerina revilla, a. (2014). the association for jotería arts, activism, and scholarship: a movimiento for queer chicana/os and latina/os. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 253–259. 85 https://doi.org/10.1002/aehe.20067 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2017.1371018 https://doi.org/10.3149/csm.0502.166 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2013.0039 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/dhe0000048 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x10362579 https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2016.1150516 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315297293-5 https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2004.0013 https://doi.org/10.5406/blacwomegendfami.4.1.0037 imagining the future of jotería studies association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 tijerina revilla, a. & santillana, j. m. (2014). jotería identity and consciousness. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 167–179. 86 duran_orozco_gonzalez_page proof_final amae invited issue cover page microsoft word rodriguez_page proof_final .docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 3 2019 amae invited special issue education, law and the courts: communities in the struggle for equality and equity in public education guest editors e. diane torres-velásquez david g. hinojosa the university of new mexico lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law cristóbal rodríguez marissa bono howard university via metropolitan transit, formerly with mexican american legal defense and educational fund editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 116 achievement, politics, and policy shifts: expert report on achievement for martínez/yazzie v. new mexico cristóbal rodríguez howard university abstract the achievement levels from 2007 to 2016 in the state of new mexico demonstrate an educational system that is failing its hispanic, american indian, and english learner students. during this period of time, close to 30% of hispanic students were proficient or above in reading, math, and science, and close to 25% of american indian students were proficient or above. moreover, a change in politics that informed changes in curriculum and testing policies during this period of time show lowering proficiency rates and grater disparities between groups. further and more problematically for a state that is historically bilingual, and as bilingual students tend to be hispanic and american indian, english learners in most recent years tested at the lowest levels of proficiency and above. these sobering achievement levels highlighted in this article were used as evidence and as testimony in the expert report in the conjoined educational opportunity cases martínez v. new mexico (2019) and yazzie v. new mexico (2019), which was a case filed on behalf of underrepresented families and students in new mexico against the state’s public education department. the result was a landmark decision that decided children in new mexico indeed have a right to an education and mandated the state to respond immediately to these disparities. herein are the findings and conclusions from the expert report and testimony from the martínez v. new mexico (2019) and yazzie v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.3.455 achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 117 introduction there are serious concerns with the achievement of english learners and american indian students across the state of new mexico, above the already serious concerns for all other subgroups. the percent of english learners that are proficient and above in the state’s accountability test are at the lowest levels across all subgroups. across the state of new mexico, with the change to the common core state standards and the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers (parcc) as the new mexico standards based assessment (nmsba), english learners perform at similar levels as students with disabilities in reading and math, and at lower levels in science. this is problematic, especially for a state that considers itself bilingual and multicultural and requires teachers through its constitution to speak both english and spanish. almost consistently on all measures across time, white students performed at the highest levels. these achievement disparities and the fact that the two largest diverse populations of hispanic and american indian students largely intersect with populations of economically disadvantaged and english learners speak to a greater need for systemic change. this article will highlight a number of concerns with the state of education provided to all children in the k-12 education system in new mexico, moreover, it will also highlight concerns with the shifts in politics and policies that continue to contribute to a failing system. this work is essentially a slightly edited version of what was submitted as an export report and defended in expert testimony, martínez v. new mexico (2019) and yazzie v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez, which was conjoined with yazzie v. new mexico (2019). for the purposes of brevity, henceforth martínez v. new mexico (2019) and yazzie v. new mexico (2019) will be referenced as martínez v. new mexico (2019) as this was the first case to be filed. while the case was a win for families and communities four years after its filing, the only win for families and communities will be with systemic changes through the political will of those leading and managing the education system at all levels of education. otherwise, failing to improve a systemic failure, is as much responsible for causing the systemic failure to begin with. background new mexico represents a wealth of histories, diverse communities, natural resources, and a strong legacy of recognizing such diversity. in the u.s. census (2018) quick facts, new rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 118 mexico has an estimated population of 2,095,428, of which 23.0%, or about 482,000, are under the age of 18 years, 2.6% are african american,1 10.9% are american indian, 1.8% are asian, 49.1% are hispanic, 37.1% are white, 9.7% are foreign born, 35.0% speak a language other than english at home, and 19.5% live in poverty.2 in the 2015-2016 academic year, when the expert report was compiled, the pk-12 public school student enrollment in new mexico was 339,613 students. new mexico’s wealth of diversity delves even deeper when recognizing tribal communities, with 2013 population estimates of 215,885, spanning across 23 federally recognized tribal communities/nations,3 speaking diverse languages from zuni, towa, keres, tewa, and tiwa, and various dialects of apache and diné (navajo).4 new mexico’s spanish and mexican history is a critical aspect of the current narrative of the state and its bilingual spanish and english identity, as noted in the seal of new mexico that symbolizes both the american bald eagle and the brown eagle with a snake on a cactus from the symbol of the flag of mexico. however, it is in education where this spanish and english bilingual concept is truly best recognized and rooted through the new mexico constitution, which was ratified on becoming the 47th state of the united states in 1912. article xii: education, section 8 of the new mexico constitution states: the legislature shall provide for the training of teachers in the normal schools or otherwise so that they may become proficient in both the english and spanish languages, to qualify them to teach spanish-speaking pupils and students in the public schools and educational institutions of the state, and shall provide proper means and methods to facilitate the teaching of the english language and other branches of learning to such pupils and students.5 this article, while it does not focus on the spanish and english abilities of teachers, does provide a current understanding of the achievement and graduation trends of sub-populations across the state of new mexico, with an additional focus on seven school districts: 1 african american students will be used interchangeably with black students. 2 u.s. census. (2018). quick fact: new mexico. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/pst045215/35. 3 new mexico economic development department. (2016). tribal profiles. retrieved from https://gonm.biz/siteselection/tribal-profiles/. 4 new mexico secretary of state. (2016). native american language in new mexico. retrieved from http://www.sos.state.nm.us/voter_information/native_american_languages_in_new_mexico.aspx. 5 n.m. const. art. 12, §8. achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 119 albuquerque public schools (aps), española public schools (eps), gadsden independent school district (gisd), las cruces public schools (lcps), magdalena municipal schools (mms), santa fe public schools (sfps), and zuni public schools (zps). this article will first break down achievement by sub-populations across reading, math, and science at proficiency and above rates using the new mexico standards based assessment (nmsba). second, it will highlight 4year cohort graduation rates by sub-group populations across the state and the seven focus school districts. data for all achievement and graduation rates were accessed from the nmped website. moreover, this article highlights the realities that current educators and researchers must acknowledge as a systemic failure that our children experience in our schools, and not just the case of a failing type of student, or family, or school, or district. it is criminal negligence for us in the education sector to keep turning a blind eye or shift the blame to students and families when such systemic failure occurs across a state. data limitations several data limitations must be highlighted up front. the accessibility and quality of data provided by the state for this study threatened the completion of this article, and demonstrates that there might be serious negligence, intentional or not, that inform both decisions and policy by all stakeholders. the quality and accessibility of data by all stakeholders ensures essential concepts of a transparent and accountable government, especially considering that education accountability reporting is a requirement by both state and federal education policy, by both the current and previous reauthorizations of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965, the no child left behind act of 2001, and every student succeeds act passed into law in december of 2015. for example, the state only provided raw total numbers of not-proficient students by grade, then by school, then by district, which was a challenge given that no percent from total tested students could be then calculated from the same table. however, in a separate table/file, the state did provide total numbers of students tested, by grade, then school, then district, but since they are provided on separate files, there is no assurance that the years and numbers correspond to specific reading scores, math scores, or science scores, since this varies across grades and years as well. further, two other problems were created even by assuming that the total tested from another file applied to the not-proficient file in reading and math. the first problem is that student outcomes are categorized into one of four groups: (1) beginning step or (2) nearing rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 120 proficiency (which is not-proficient), or (3) proficient or (4) advanced (which is proficient and above). comparing proficient and above percentages is a better comparison of achievement across groups than comparing not-proficient percentages, especially considering concerns for deficit/equity traps. the second problem, was that the assumed calculation using the state’s two separate files to calculate a percent of non-proficient students based on total tested, did not correspond to the not-proficient rates reported on the data set retrieved from the new mexico public education department (nmped) website.6 for example, table 1 compares notproficient rates in the state provided-data versus the nmped website data for albuquerque public schools (aps) in academic year 2010-2011 for the following subgroups (see table 1). table 1 aps 2011 not-proficient state-provided data versus nmped website data subgroup state data nmped website data white7 1% 7.5% beginning step and 21.6% nearing proficiency (combined 29.1% not-proficient) hispanic 13% 19.6% beginning step and 36.0% nearing proficiency (combined 55.6% not-proficient) economically disadvantage 13% 22.0% beginning step and 38.1% nearing proficiency (combined 60.1% not-proficient) english learners 38% 34.8% beginning step and 42.3% nearing proficiency (combined 77.1% not-proficient) note. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. because the nmped website has the data in the format that reports a percentage based on total tested, or participants, much of that data used for this report/study comes from that publicly accessible data from the nmped website, especially recent enrollment data by subgroups and districts.8 achievement from 2007-2016 new mexico curriculum and assessment shifted in 2013 with the state’s adoption of the common core state standards to inform the curriculum across the state, and again shifted with the 6 (http://ped.state.nm.us/assessmentaccountability/academicgrowth/nmsba.html) 7 white students will be interchangeably used with caucasian students. 8 as a side note, the nmped website data, which is required by state and federal law to be reported, is not easily accessible from the nmped website, and must be searched for in the a-z index. achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 121 adoption of partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers (parcc) in 2014-2015 to inform the nmsba. these changes reflect across trends on all achievement data. a snapshot of statewide student demographics is reflected in the composition of students that recently took the nmsba, as presented in table 2. table 2 2015-2016 new mexico sub-group population of test takers new mexico nmsba test takers by sub-group total % of total caucasian 70,013 25% african american 6,342 2% hispanic 173,896 61% asian 4,215 1% american indian 30,524 11% economically disadvantaged 206,901 73% students w disabilities 38,228 13% english language learners 40,859 14% all students 285,161 note. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. as reflected in table 2 and figure 1, of the 285,161 students tested in 2015-16 across grades k-12, 25% of test takers were white, 2% were african american, 61% were hispanic, 1% were asian, and 11% were american indian. in total, 75% of the students tested were students of color. of all students, 73% of the students tested were economically disadvantaged, based on free or reduced lunch qualifications. while, students from an economically disadvantaged background are not necessarily students of color, students of color are more likely to be from an economically disadvantaged background. in 2015, out of 141,000 children in poverty in new mexico, 16% were american indian, 69% were hispanic, and 12% were white.9 9 kids count. (2016). kids count data center. retrieved from http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/44children-in-poverty-by-race-and-ethnicity#detailed/2/2-52/false/573,869,36,868,867/10,11,9,12,1,185,13/324,323. rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 122 figure 1. 2015-2016 new mexico ethnicity of test takers. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. in order to achieve a greater understanding to the state’s demographic context and history, it is best to understand the state’s language development, especially based on the state’s reporting of english learners. when this report was compiled, the state’s english learner student population made up 14% of the overall student population (table 2). english learners in new mexico, in the 2014-2015 academic year were 79% hispanic, and 16% american indian/alaskan native. the home languages by english learners were 71% spanish, 12% navajo/diné, 11% english, and 3% pueblo languages. the 11% of students with a home language of english may be english learners due to traditional communities speaking pigeon/creole combinations often referred to spanglish. reading proficiency is often used as a significant indicator to measure academic progress, especially for diverse populations. figure 2 demonstrates little change in reading at the proficiency and above rates, across all subgroups from 2007-2014 except for american indian students and english learners, who show a drop in proficiency levels. the major trend from 2015 for all groups is a drop-in proficiency and above rates, which reflects the change in the nmsba that began with the adoption of parcc. a major statewide trend is the overall drop in reading at proficiency and above rates by english learners across the 10 years. asian students after 2011 show the highest rates, but also reflect 1% of the student population, as achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 123 such outcomes does not control for economic status within such high achieving groups which is a demographic dynamic with such trends (table 2). the smaller the group the less dependable a trend line, which becomes evident in other group outcomes when there are erratic trend lines. the other take away from figure 2 is that of white students, continuously rate around 15% to 20% higher than all students, african american, hispanic, and american indian students. figure 2. new mexico reading achievement by sub-group from 2007-2016. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. as reflected in figure 3 (see below), english learners in math also show a more negative trend than all other groups, recently scoring at the same level as students with disabilities. last, for science achievement for the state of new mexico, although there is missing data for the 2011-2012 academic year, disparities in rates between groups show a widening science achievement gap. moreover, english learners not only show a consistent drop in science at the proficiency and above rates, but also score the lowest since 2013. this is alarming as english learners in the last four years have scored below students with disabilities. the greatest concerns in observing statewide trends in scores at the proficiency and above rates across reading, math, and science, are the lower rates of all groups besides white and asian students. particularly alarming are the low proficiency and above rates for american indian students and english learners across the state of new mexico. lastly, the takeaway from rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 124 figure 3. new mexico math achievement by sub-group from 2007-2016. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. figures 2, 3, and 4, like most such data analysis, is to begin to ask questions about such trends. why are english learners since 2007 performing at a decline and essentially at the same levels as students with disabilities, when speaking multiple languages or learning english is not like a learning disability, in fact quite the opposite? why in some instances are there greater disparities in achievement levels between groups across the state in more recent years? do all school districts involved in this case demonstrate the same outcomes, especially given the varying demographics in a borderland state with large hispanic and american indian demographics with rich linguistic diversity? this case highlights districts with borderland demographics, with suburban or more urban demographics, and with tribal communities or districts that border tribal communities, so how does achievement vary across the state? albuquerque public schools albuquerque public schools (aps) is that largest school district in new mexico. it is located in the central part of the state and has a 2015-2016 academic year student population of 92,152, spread across 168 authorized school sites, of which 20 are charter schools. out of the 76,655 test takers in the 2015-2016 academic year, 23% were white, 3% were african american, 67% were hispanic, 2% were asian, and 5% were american indian. additionally, 70% achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 125 figure 4. new mexico science achievement by sub-group from 2007-2016. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. were from an economically disadvantaged background, 14% were students with disabilities, and 17% were english learners. given the size of aps, reading at the proficiency and above rates trend similarly to statewide data between groups across 10 years, with some noticeable differences in higher rates for hispanic, african american, american indian, economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, and english learners. however, here, too, students with disabilities perform similarly to english learners, and, recently, white and asian students have performed similarly. aps students are 70% economically disadvantaged, compared to 73% statewide. both the district and the state follow an overall similar demographic breakdown. in math, unlike reading, proficiency and above rates, both independently and between groups, trend similarly across time, showing similar achievement gaps. as is statewide, aps math proficiency and above rates for english learners show a more noticeable negative delineation than those for all other groups, with english learners recently scoring at the same level as students with disabilities (figure 3). aps students test results in science show slightly different trends in rates compared to statewide results, although the results for both show non-white and non-asian students scoring at half the rate of white and asian students. however, unlike statewide results rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 126 showing english learners in science recently performing below students with disabilities, in aps, these two groups trend similarly (figure 4). also, different from statewide results, white students distinctly performed at higher levels in science, than all other student groups; statewide, white students performed at similar levels in science as asian students. española public schools española public schools (eps), located near los alamos national laboratory, had a 2015-2016 student population of 3,955, spread across 21 authorized school sites, including one charter school. out of the 3,427 test takers in the 2015-2016 academic year, 6% were white, 0.3% were african american, 88% were hispanic, 0.6% were asian, 5% were american indian. additionally, 97% were from an economically disadvantaged background, 12% were students with disabilities, and 14% were english learners. given these demographics, the all student, hispanic, and economically disadvantaged student categories follow the same levels and trends in reading, math, and science. in reading, there are greater achievement gaps from 2014 and earlier than in 2015 and 2016. in 2015 and 2016, white students, american indian students, and hispanic/all students/economically disadvantaged students scored at similar levels, with a slight edge by white and american indian students. american indian in reading, and similarly in math, performed above the average all students prior to 2015, after adoption of parcc. in fact, they also performed at distinctly higher levels than the state levels for american indian students (figure 2). the most significant concern in reading trends for eps is that of english learners, who exhibited a drop in achievement levels over ten years and scored lower in the last two years than students with disabilities. to a greater degree with math, achievement at the proficiency and above rates dropped in 2015 and 2016 with the adoption of parcc. almost all groups, except for the .6% asian students, performed similarly at around 10% proficiency. english learners recently performed the lowest in reading and math compared to other sub-populations. for science, there is a major downward trend by all groups in 2011, which may be either a reporting error at some level or a systemic issue with science. aside from the similar achievement gap in science between white students and all other groups, here too are english learners scoring at the same levels as students with disabilities after 2013. here, american indian students follow the same hispanic/all student/economically disadvantaged student trend line across time, unlike in reading and math. achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 127 gadsden independent school district gadsden independent school district (gisd), located on the rio grande river and borders the u.s.-mexico border, had a 2015-2016 student population of 13,608, spread across 24 authorized school sites. out of the 10,880 test takers in the 2015-2016 academic year, 3% were white, 0.4% were african american, 96% were hispanic, 0.1% were asian. additionally, 100% were from an economically disadvantaged background, 12% were students with disabilities, and 30% were english learners. like española public schools, gisd has a largely homogenous student population, but to a greater degree, with 96% of gisd students hispanic and 100% of students economically disadvantaged. unlike all other focus districts and across state, gisd has a 30% english learner population, compared to the state’s 14%. this means that, here too, there is an all students/hispanic/economically disadvantaged students overlapping trend line. because of the small size of asian and african american student populations, reading levels and math levels vary to a greater degree, making it more difficult to interpret any trend lines. white students, as few as they are, consistently trend above all other groups, in math and science. unlike other districts already mentioned, english learners here have performed higher than students with disabilities, but distinctly lower than all students. english learners’ achievement at proficiency and above rates has dropped over time. consistent with statewide results (figure 2), students with disabilities, largely have scored at the same levels across time, except for a slight bump in 2012. math achievement by gisd students has a more positive overall outlook. both the white and the all students/hispanic/economically disadvantaged students trend line increase, until the 2015 adoption of parcc. further, english leaners also maintained a constant level in achievement until 2015, unlike the rest of the state, which showed an overall decrease (figure 3). there are two major observations in gisd relating to the science proficiency and above rates. first, white students distinctly performed at twice the levels as the all students/ hispanic/ economically disadvantaged students trend line. second, english learners for the last four years, as in other districts mentioned here, performed at the same rate as students with disabilities, which is different than the state’s performance where english leaners are performing lower than students with disabilities. here, as it is statewide, science levels overall are similar across years, with little change after the adoption of parcc. rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 128 las cruces public schools las cruces public schools (lcps), a half-hour north of el paso, texas, had a 2015-2016 student population of 24,965, spread across 46 authorized school sites. out of the 20,365 test takers in the 2015-2016 academic year, 20% were white, 3% were african american, 75% were hispanic, 1.3% were asian, and 1% were american indian. additionally, 66% were from an economically disadvantaged background, 13% were students with disabilities, and 10% were english learners. lcps is the second largest school district after albuquerque public schools. in reading, white and asian students scored at the highest proficiency and above rates over the past ten years. the proficiency and above rate for the 1% american indian students shows a distinct bump in 2012, which may also be small group variance. nonetheless, unlike in other districts, american indian students performed at the same levels as all students. the major concern here is the consistent drop in levels overall, with english learners achieving at the same levels as students with disabilities. lcps show a similar trend in math, as in reading, but asian students performed at the highest rates consistently, followed by white students. american indians results show a similar bump in 2012, as in reading, and again in 2013. here too, english learners display an overall drop in levels across time, performing at the same levels at students with disabilities. for science, lcps also show a widening achievement gap between groups, as in other districts mentioned above. american indian students, have better sustained relatively higher scores in science, compared to reading and math after 2013. again, english learners, after 2012, performed at the lowest levels, even below students with disabilities. magdalena municipal schools magdalena municipal schools (mms), located in the central part of the state and has one of the world’s premier astronomical radio observatory called the very large array in its back yard, and had a 2015-2016 student population at 381, across one elementary, middle, and high school on one site. out of the 309 test takers in the 2015-2016 academic year, 19% were white, 30% were hispanic, and 48% were american indian. additionally, 100% were from an economically disadvantaged background, 14% were students with disabilities, and 16% were english learners. mms neighbors the alamo navajo tribal community, which, based on the researcher’s previous service in magdalena, explains the size of the alamo navajo/american indian student population, as well as the large english learner population. due to these area demographics, proficiency and above rates for american indian students closely overlap with achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 129 english learners’ rates. these rates also overlap with rates for students with disabilities. here it is disheartening to observe that these three student groups perform distinctly lower than all other groups, and that white students, as in other districts mentioned above, performed at twice the levels as all other groups and all students. hispanic students here performed above all students, whose results were depressed by the large population and poor results of alamo navajo/american indian students. interestingly, it is only with white students that results drop immediately after the adoption of parcc. english learners across reading, math, and science are performing near zero percent proficient and above. in math, mms displays similar concerning trends and levels as in reading. alamo navajo/american indian students have performed similarly to that of english learners and students with disabilities. here, white students also have performed at twice the levels as hispanic students, except for 2014; however, white students recovered to a greater degree from a drop immediately following the introduction of parcc drop, whereas all other students did not. in science, mms shows a widening gap between results for white and hispanic students starting in 2014. again, the common trend line along similar performance levels applies to alamo navajo/american indian, students with disabilities, and english learners. santa fe public schools santa fe public schools (sfps), located in northern-central new mexico, had a 20152016 student population of 13,489, spread across 38 authorized school sites, including one charter school. out of the 11,247 test takers in the 2015-2016 academic year, 18% were white, 1% were african american, 77% were hispanic, 1.7% were asian, and 2.1% were american indian. additionally, 75% were from an economically disadvantaged background, 15.6% were students with disabilities, and 20.5% were english learners. the sub-population groups show distinct trends, with all students, hispanic, american indian, and economically disadvantaged students following similar trends given the demographics above. unique to sfps, american indian students, as 2.1% of the student population, performed above hispanic students and economically disadvantaged students almost consistently across 10 years in reading proficiency, math, and science. hispanic students across all three assessments, performed similarly to economically disadvantaged students. given the similar sizes of these groups, these common results may reflect the fact that most hispanic students are economically disadvantaged. in reading, similarly to other districts, english learners’ proficiency rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 130 and above rates have consistently dropped over time, especially from 2011. english learners from 2011 to 2016 have performed at the same levels as students with disabilities. even though african american students only make up 1% of the student population, they are performing nearer to white and asian students than hispanic students. for math, asian and white students in sfps performed at the highest levels across time and twice as high as all students. similarly, as above, african american students perform above all students. proficiency and above rates for english learners have consistently dropped, reaching similar levels to students with disabilities from 2011. in science, sfps results after 2013 show widening gaps between groups. english learners performed at the lowest levels after 2014. white students have consistently performed at around 70% reaching proficiency and above across the ten years, more than twice as high as hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. zuni public school zuni public schools (zps), located in the western central region of new mexico, had a 2015-2016 student population of 1,322, spread across 8 authorized school sites. out of the 1,170 test takers in the 2015-2016 academic year, 98% were zuni/american indian. additionally, 100% were from an economically disadvantaged background, 12% were students with disabilities, and 41% were english learners. zuni public schools, like gadsden i.s.d. and somewhat like española public schools, has a very mono-cultural student demographic, which is zuni/american indian and all from an economically disadvantaged background. additionally, there is a very high level of english learners that speak zuni as their home language. because of these dimensions, zuni/american indian, all students, and economically disadvantaged students follow the same trend line in reading, math, and science. the comparisons here are largely between english learners, students with disabilities, and the zuni/american indian trend lines. english learners’ proficiency and above rates in reading have dropped overall, but, in most years, are higher than levels for students with disabilities. overall, zuni/american indian students have trended negatively across time. in math, all students and english learners have trended negatively across the ten years. here, there is only a slightly lower level of achievement for english learners. all groups have converged at proficiency and above rates 7% in 2016. for science, zps shows a similar trend line as in math, but english learners and students with disabilities converge from 2013 onward, at a rate 10 percentage points lower than all students. achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 131 new mexico cross-district comparisons on achievement given the difference between focus districts in size, urban dimensions, and population characteristics, a cross-district analysis of reading (figure 5), math (figure 6), and science (figure 7), is essential to enrich this analysis. naturally, given the size of albuquerque public schools, and las cruces public schools, these districts follow the same trend lines as the entire state does across all three assessments. the greatest concerns in achievement levels across all three measures are with zuni and magdalena, which serve large american indian populations. however, when considering districts with large hispanic and especially english language learner demographics, the concerns that are raised across districts and across the state are just as concerning. however, the case of gadsden i.s.d. in math as shown in figure 6 is noteworthy, especially given what we know about its demographics with 96% hispanic, 100% economically disadvantaged, and 30% english learners, this district for several years outperformed all districts in this case for most of 2013 thru 2016. it is the first-hand knowledge of the author that gadsden i.s.d. during this time was in a math and bilingual professional development grant collaboration with the author’s research university at the time, which reflects a level of systemic interventions of additional resources in math directed in a culturally-responsive manner. this case provides exceptional hope for other districts and the state with such strategic resources. cohort 4-year graduation rates from 2008-2015 new mexico graduation rates across groups between 2008 and 2015 reflect similar trends, which may be largely due to changes in how 4-year graduation rates were being calculated (figure 8). in fact, in 2006 the u.s. department of education intervened and forced the nmped to use 4year cohort formulas, instead of a less reliable dropout rate calculated from the end of one academic year to the beginning of the next year when discussing any matriculation perspectives. because of the change in policy and data availability, 2008 lower levels in rates may be explained from less reliable data. further, because of the slight drop in graduation rates across groups in 2011, this too might reflect a change in policy or calculation, but to a lesser degree. across time, asian students have the highest graduation rates, followed by white students. while there is an expected trend with students with disabilities having the lowest trend in graduation rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 132 figure 5. cross-district reading achievement by sub-group from 2007-2016. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. figure 6. cross-district math achievement by sub-group from 2007-2016. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 133 figure 7. cross-district science achievement by sub-group from 2007-2016. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. figure 8. new mexico 4-yr graduation rates by sub-group from 2008-2015. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 134 rates, which was not the case prior to the 2011 drop, english learners follow a similar trend in levels as economically disadvantaged students and american indian students. albuquerque public schools graduation rates for asian and white students follow state trends, but unlike the state, economically disadvantaged, american indian, english learner, african american, and hispanic students have lower graduation rates than compared to the state, especially for the 2014 and 2015 graduating years. española public schools english learners demonstrate the highest graduation trend line, achieving the statewide level, but eps shows distinctly lower rates for all other groups when compared to the state. for gadsden independent school district, one of the most mono-cultural districts among the focus districts, graduation trend lines do not distinctly vary across time, other than slightly for students with disabilities and white students, which are small sub-groups in the district. further, while white students and the hispanic/economically disadvantaged/english learner/all students trend line arrive to similar rates in the last two years, it is important to note that these rates are above that of the state, around 12% points above all students in new mexico (figure 8). unlike the state, las cruces public schools graduation line does not drop in 2011, but does so in 2013 for almost all groups, except for white students. asian students, for the most part, have the highest graduation rate, followed by white students. here, students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged, english learners, american indian, and hispanic students graduate below the average of all students. however, african american and american indian students have a distinct drop in rate in 2015, and african american students follow the state’s trend. with magdalena municipal schools, based on the availability of complete data, only three groups were able to be reported across time for graduation rates. all students’ graduation trend mirrors economically disadvantaged students because mms was 100% economically disadvantaged in the 2015-2016 academic year. the concern here is the graduation rates across time for american indian students, which has fluctuated. santa fe public schools shows a concerning trends in graduation rates for american indian students, who represent 2% of the district’s demographic. in 2015, the graduation rate for english learners was lower than student with disabilities, and slightly below american indian students. lastly, zuni public schools because of its mono-cultural demographic profile shows similar graduation rate trend lines over time. the concern here is the overall drop from 2010. english learners are consistently on par with all students. achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 135 figure 9 compares graduation rates across districts. in most recent years zuni p.s. had a distinct drop in rates and is below the state for the last two years. española p.s. and santa fe have an overall concerning graduation rate over time, with albuquerque showing similar concerns in rates in the last two years. comparing cross-district graduation rates (figure 9) to cross district proficiency and above levels, the two may not correlate, and each explains different concepts of success. nonetheless, graduation rates speak to a pivotal point in the state’s constitution to sufficiently educate all students. given the wealth of diversity of the state, the state needs to improve graduation rates beyond 70%, especially for its diverse demographics (figure 8). figure 9. nm cross-district 4-yr graduation rates by sub-group from 2008-2015. martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez. summary of expert opinions from trial declaration 1. in my expert opinion, and upon the analyses i conducted for this litigation, i have concluded that there are very serious concerns with the achievement of ell and american indian students across districts in the state of new mexico, along with the overall concerns with achievement for economically disadvantaged,10 special 10 “economically disadvantaged” as used in this report refers to students who qualified for free or reduced lunch as categorized by nmped under the national school lunch act. rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 136 education, hispanic, and black students. state-wide data shows that ells scored proficient at the lowest rates across all subgroups of students across time. 2. with the change to the common core state standards (“common core” or “ccss”) and the parcc from the nmsba, ell students across the state perform at similar levels as students with disabilities in reading and math, and at even lower levels in science. this is problematic, especially for a state that considers itself bilingual and multicultural, and requires teachers, through its constitution, to speak both english and spanish. these outcomes infer that there is a cultural and linguistic disconnect in the new curriculum and assessment. 3. similarly, my analysis revealed that achievement gaps negatively affecting ell and american indian students have persisted over time in new mexico. almost consistently on all measures across time, white11 and asian students have performed at the highest levels. these achievement gaps and the fact that hispanic and american indian student populations—the two largest minority student groups in new mexico—largely intersect with economically disadvantaged and ell student populations speak to a greater need for systemic change. 4. proficiency levels and achievement gaps in mms and zps, both which serve large american indian and ell student populations, are of particular concern in all three studied assessments. in these two districts, a dismal 10% or lower of students identified as ell or american indian scored at proficiency or above rates across time, from 2007 through 2016, in all three assessments. 5. in addition, graduation statistics show that new mexico fails to graduate a large percentage of underserved student groups, particularly american indians and students with disabilities. equally concerning, comparing graduation statistics statewide and across focus districts with low proficiency scores, particularly in 2015 and 2016 on the parcc exam, which is based on college readiness standards, further reveals that for the students who do manage to graduate from high school, the state of new mexico is failing to successfully graduate students who are college and career ready. 11 the term “white” refers to students sometimes reported as “caucasian.” achievement, politics, and policy shifts association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 137 6. in my expert opinion, these outcomes suggest that there are inequities in new mexico’s education system negatively affecting ell, american indian, hispanic, black, and special education students, as well as, students who are economically disadvantaged. such performance levels are reflective of the state not sufficiently allocating resources to underserved student groups or not improving policies that connect to providing quality teachers and culturally and linguistically centered curriculum for ell students in order to achieve higher proficiency rates. 7. further, changes on achievement levels after adoption and implementation of the parcc demonstrate that the state has contributed to lower achievement levels and to poorly preparing students to meet national standards and expectations based on common core expectations and goals. 8. lastly, i encountered data limitations in my analysis. the quality and accessibility of data by all stakeholders ensures essential concepts of a transparent and accountable government, especially considering that education accountability reporting is a requirement by both state and federal education policy, through the current and previous reauthorizations of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965, the no child left behind act of 2001, and the every student succeeds act passed into law in december of 2015. here, the accessibility and quality of data available made my analysis challenging and demonstrates that there might be serious negligence, intentional or not, that informs both decisions and policy by all stakeholders in the state. in conclusion this expert report and testimony martínez v. new mexico (2019) trial declaration of cristobal rodriguez that contributed to the court’s decision in martínez v. new mexico (2018), and the conjoined case yazzie v. new mexico (2018), demonstrates how the state, the new mexico public education department, failed to uphold fair educational opportunities and financially limit the success of all children, especially amidst policy and political shifts informing new curriculum standards and tests not culturally-responsive to a region rich in cultural and linguistic diversity. while unlike many other educational opportunity cases across the united states, this court uniquely did find that all students indeed have a right to an education, and the state was found liable in violating that right. however, the true power in arriving to this rodríguez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 3 138 powerful decision was a few parents, educational researchers, community advocates, and civil rights lawyers organizing and demonstrating the systemic failure and holding the public education system accountable. this is the true spirit of public accountability and transparency for public goods that are owed as a right through the education of our children. moreover, this report was not one that took a high knowledge of inferential statistical analysis, but basic access to publicly available data that is required by accountability law to be made available; then in which that data was aggregated across groups and districts and state to come up with averages and means of simple descriptive statistics. the hope of this author is that similar collaborations and organizing, along with similar data analyses, takes place to hold public education systems accountable for a fair and equitable education for all children. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 13 issue 2 2019 amae special issue critical latinx indigeneities and education guest editors luis urrieta, jr. university of texas at austin melissa mesinas stanford university ramón antonio martínez stanford university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 66 zapotec identity as a matter of schooling rafael vásquez independent scholar abstract little research has been dedicated to indigenous mexican students’ education and their sociocultural adaptation to u.s. schools, which includes their ethnic identity as significant to their schooling experiences. this study examines zapotec-origin youth, original to the state of oaxaca, mexico, and how their indigenous identity can positively impact their education. often, educators have limited knowledge about mexico’s ethnoracial groups, presume that their mexican students share indistinguishable characteristics, and are unaware that indigenous students are ever-present in their classrooms. through in-depth interviews, this study reveals how zapotec high school students assert their indigenous identity as a basis for developing viable approaches for their overall educational success. keywords: indigenous education, zapotec youth, secondary schooling, ethnic identity doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.429 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.2.429 zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 67 introduction the latinx population in california outpaces that of any other state; they also comprise the largest student demographic in the state’s public-school system (california department of education, 2017-2018). among them are immigrant, refugee, and bi-national students arriving with a variety of national, racial, and ethnic backgrounds, including guatemalan, honduran, salvadoran, and many others. due to globalization and immigration patterns, indigenous mexican families and their children have largely settled in california communities. until recently, however, latinx educational studies have focused on latinx pan-ethnic and mexican issues without taking into consideration the heterogeneity of these groups. one such group is the indigenous or original populations of mexico. the discrimination and marginalization that indigenous people experience within mexico is often reproduced within communities of mexican immigrants in the u.s. (fox, 2004; minkoff-zern, 2012; pick, wolfram, & lópez, 2011). due to their marginalization, little is known about the social, cultural, or political experiences of indigenous mexican groups, particularly their education. a growing body of work on indigenous mexican students draws attention to diverse student populations, their linguistic abilities, academics, and school acclimation (martínez, 2018; morales, 2016; perez, vásquez, & buriel, 2016). this article examines fifteen zapotec-origin youth’s ethnolinguistic and cultural identity in the context of two high schools in los angeles; zapotecs are people with socio-historic kinship to the original place of tlacolula, oaxaca. i use ethnic and ethnolinguistic identity theories with a critical latinx indigeneities (blackwell, bojlopez, & urrieta, 2017) representation in the backdrop to explain indigenous identity formations and the quality of relationships that they forge. ethnic identity is important to study since it can be crucial for encouraging meaningful school engagements and, by extension, important to creating successful educational pathways. to this end, teachers/educators and school agents can use information about their students’ ethnic and cultural uniqueness to create learning conditions that accomplish student contributions. further, it is my expectation that this article encourages discussion on how to inform educational practice and policy in support of indigenous students. literature review critical latinx indigeneities and sites of learning vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 68 much of the work that concerns issues of indigenous ethnic and cultural identity tends to center on native peoples from the u.s., australia, canada, and new zealand and explores how historical process are shaped by settler colonialism; a practice of occupation and claim to native lands and resources (saranillio, 2015; whyte, 2016). recently, however, scholars have put forth a hemispheric approach to indigeneity known as critical latinx indigeneities that mark and unmark mexican and central american indigenous identity formations, namely in the u.s., under parallel processes that navigate, straddle, and transcend multiple geographies and countries at diverse points-in-time. according to blackwell et al. (2017) an important tenet of critical latinx indigeneities is its proposition to endorse intricate, multilayered, and multilingual indigenous ways of being across distinct ethnoracial boundaries. this includes indigenous migrations from latin america into the territories of u.s. native tribal lands (usa). this study takes place at two public high schools in the ancestral homelands of the gabrielino-tongva. the first school is located a few miles west of los angeles on the 24-acre site built atop the springs of kuruvungna or what is known in the tongva language as “a place where we are in the sun.” the second school is located just a stone’s throw away from a green space named tongva park. these and other efforts to underscore indigenous los angeles, such as the re-naming of route 187 in santa monica to moomat ahiko way or “breath of the ocean,” raise an intimate connection to water, land, and a people that reinvigorates indigenous identity and language. according to alvitre (2015), “language is at the heart and soul of a worldview. within the tongva community, efforts to connect and renew language are active and very much alive, with at least two communities fully engaged in the language revitalization process” (p. 44). at the heart and intersection of tongva lands, arrive and settle indigenous mexican migrants. after mexico city, los angeles has become the city with the largest number of indigenous mexicans where the zapotec population is estimated to reach 200,000 (warman, 2001; takash, hinohosa-ojeda, & runsten, 2005). ethnic identity and immigration as many researchers have noted, immigration can play a role in activating ethnic identity awareness (phinney, 2003; schwartz, montgomery, & briones, 2006; verkuyten, drabbles, & van den nieuwenhuijzen, 1999). bosma and kunnen (2001) stated that the evolution of identity is likely to occur when individuals grow to recognize that the surrounding society’s beliefs, values, and norms are dissimilar to their own. ethnic identity can be contingent upon zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 69 immigration as related to how the receiving culture views the ethnic group (hecht, warren, jung, & krieger, 2005; liebkind, 2006). the literature often describes immigrants and their native-born descendants in terms of their ethnic group memberships rather than by individual attributes and unique personalities. ethnicity-based ascription and stereotyping give rise to one’s realization of the ethnic group to which he or she belongs to but, perhaps, has not been consciously aware of (hecht et al., 2005; tajfel & turner, 1986). research also suggests that immigrants’ sociolinguistics (i.e., differentiation of language use according to a given social context) signify their identity management and cultural adaptation style. berry, phinney, sam, and vedder’s (2006) research on 1.5-immigrant youth (people born in another nation who must adapt to a new country's culture) in 13 countries (australia, canada, finland, france, germany, israel, netherlands, new zealand, norway, portugal, sweden, united kingdom, and united states) suggests that language knowledge and use are closely related to one’s ethnic identity and cultural orientation. other research has demonstrated similar relationships for secondand later-generation mexican-americans (norris, ford, & bova, 1996). ethnolinguistic identity theory (elit) posits that language represents a core aspect of one’s social group identity, if not one’s worldview (giles & johnson, 1987; giles, williams, mackie, & rosselli, 1995). one study revealed that, whereas mexicanamericans generally viewed english and anglo/european american culture as more vital than spanish and mexican-american culture, those who strongly identified with mexican culture perceived the vitality of spanish as higher than did their counterparts with weaker ethnic identification (gao, schmidt, & gudykunst, 1994). evans (1996) showed that hispanic immigrant parents who believed in the vitality of the mexican ethnic culture tended to transmit their cultural beliefs and spanish to their children, which suggests a structural tie between youths’ mexican heritage ethnic identity and their language knowledge. indigenous identity in schools recent studies are documenting the ways in which indigenous students may seemingly forfeit or take on their identities due to unsettling or reassuring social and academic schooling experiences (baquedano-lópez & janetti, 2017; machado-casas, 2012; perez et al., 2016). ethnographic and mixed methods research in california have examined the educational experiences of indigenous oaxacan high school students to determine how recent indigenous immigrants are received in school, to understand the relationship of discriminatory practices vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 70 and ethnic identity, and to uncover processes that promote or discourage oaxacan social integration and academic achievement (barillas-chón, 2010; gonzalez, 2018). barillas-chón (2010), for example, revealed how school peers referred to first generation indigenous youth derogatorily as bajitos (low in stature) and morenitos (dark skinned) or characterized them as not speaking spanish or english well and being “dumb.” additional disparaging remarks such as oaxaquita (short oaxacan) can take a toll on indigenous oaxacan first and second-generation immigrant students’ ethnoracial attitudes. facing discrimination has some impact on endorsing assimilationist attitudes and accepting negative stereotypes, however, facing discrimination has also been reported to have a moderate but negative impact on students’ multicultural and inclusive attitudes—implying an unsuccessful adaptation to society (gonzalez, 2018). in a parallel manner, labeling indigenous students as “dumb” and assuming that they are not “smart,” often reduce their meaningful linguistic and kinship practices and can have implications on their educational prospects. in machado-casas’ (2009) study of indigenous mothers, inez, an undocumented otomí mother from mexico, taught her son about the importance of english, spanish, and otomí for his schooling experience. research suggests that indigenous people are in tune with “smartness” through continuing knowledge transmissions facilitated by diasporic communities that engage purposeful ongoing connectedness to their homelands’ scientific, socio-cultural, spiritual, and language knowledge (urrieta, 2016). for indigenous mexican students, traveling to and from their own and their parents’ hometowns and actively participating in local celebrations and developing peer-adult relationships often involve language brokering, supporting u.s. educational skills sets. these practices inform their formal education through learning of millennial agricultural and natural chemical process (urrieta, 2016). bartering, conducting currency exchange and other financial transactions that involve measurement and distance can creatively represent various mathematical techniques, statistical, and other analyses while language brokering allows indigenous youth to draw on multiple semiotic systems for a variety of purposes in diverse contexts (perez et al., 2016; urrieta & martínez, 2011; urrieta, 2016). moreover, zapotec and yucatec mayan youth identity have shown to be influential to students’ academic achievement (casanova, 2011; vásquez, 2012). methodology zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 71 fifteen zapotec high school students participated in an in-depth interview based on a 48-item interview protocol. all 15 interview transcripts were examined for self-reported ethnic identity, schooling experiences, and background characteristics; additionally, emotions (e.g., happiness, sadness) and cognitions (e.g., confusion, inattentiveness), as they pertained to ethnic identity and schooling, were carefully noted in the analysis. pseudonyms were used to ensure participant, school, teacher, and other party confidentiality. participants provided assent (if under age 18) or consent (if over age 18) before they completed the interview. in addition, participants under age 18 were required to present parental consent. in total, interview participants consisted of 8 males and 7 females. in-depth interviews were chosen as a qualitative research method to allow interviewees to express opinions and ideas in their own words. the development of an interview protocol helped to focus the interview without locking the interviewer into a fixed set of questions, a rigid order, or specific wording. the primary goal for using an interview protocol was to balance the systematic collection of data with the flexibility needed to tap respondents’ understanding. participants with the exception of four interviewees who were born in mexico, all were born in the united states, in various cities of what today is known as greater los angeles. two mexican nationals were born in oaxacan municipalities: san lucas quiaviní and tlacolula de matamoros, and one was born in mexico city. three students attended mexican schools, from elementary through middle school. two students were u.s.-born nationals; however, they migrated to mexico as children or early adolescents and spent significant parts of their lives there. one participant arrived in the u.s. three years before being interviewed. one participant belonged to a mixed-immigration-status family, where at least one member was a citizen living in the u.s. and another was undocumented. almost all were fluent in english and spanish. one student reported being able to write in spanish “not very well” and another “not at all.” another reported being able to speak or write in spanish “not very well.” only forty percent of students mentioned knowing zapotec, including speaking, understanding, or a combination of both. four students mentioned that they worked either part time, full time, or a combination of both. all youth reported having an average of two siblings. table 1 presents participant demographics. vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 72 table 1 participant demographics hometown from the state of oaxaca, mexico pseudonym gender age mother father irene female 15 tlacolula de matamoros tlacolula de matamoros yazmin female — la ciéniga la ciéniga rosario female 15 santa ana del valle santa ana del valle jose male 16 santa ana del valle tetela de ocampo, puebla pedro male — tlacolula de matamoros tlacolula de matamoros nayeli female 17 san lucas quiaviní san lucas quiaviní yadira female — la ciéniga la ciéniga alex male 14 tlacolula de matamoros santiago apóstol melissa female — san lucas quiaviní san lucas quiaviní fernando male 16 san lucas quiaviní san lucas quiaviní marco male 14 tlacolula de matamoros acapulco, guerrero lucas male 16 san lucas quiaviní san lucas quiaviní edgar male — tlacolula de matamoros - eddy male 15 oaxaca unión hidalgo gloria female 18 mexico city oaxaca note. dash represents missing or unreported data. findings ethnic identity mexican and mexican-americans. research has shown that many mexican youth express strong ties to their culture of origin and often have a high sense of mexican pride. studies have found that strong ethnic ties are important to adolescents’ well-being, can serve to counter stereotyping, and facilitate school success (bernal & knight, 1993; gloria, robinson kurpius, hamilton, & wilson, 1999; keefe, 1992; phinney, 1989, 1993; rotheram & phinney, 1987). in this study, all students expressed a sense of ethnic identity. students considered their mexican identity to be integral to their sense of self and provided explanations as to why they considered themselves as such. zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 73 mexican heritage students such as rosario and fernando took a “hyphenated approach” to their ethnic identity. a hyphenated approach is a reference to an ethnicity combined with the name of the country of residence. rosario stated that she is mexican-american “because of where my family is from, they’re from mexico and i was born in america, so mexicanamerican.” alex specified the need to identify mexican as something that set him apart from other latinx: sometimes, some people would be like, they would ask you are you guatemalan or salvadoran or from other part of central america, and then if you just want to keep it general, you can just say no, i’m mexican, and that’s how you would know. interestingly, mexican-born students were quick to mention their identity as such. however, as opposed to their u.s.-born peers, mexican-born students did not use hyphenated ethnic identity labels such as mexican-american. for example, edgar stated, “i like saying i’m mexican.” nayeli discussed how she indicates her ethnic identity when filling out questionnaires, exams, and other documents. because mexican was never an ethnic identity option, nayeli previously resorted to the latino/a category, stating, “on any application that they ask for ethnic background, i would always [write] latino/latina.” however, she clarified her preference for identifying as mexican when given the opportunity to do so. “just recently, last year, i circled other and i put mexican.” according to nayeli, because many forms do not categorize mexican, she now selects the “other” category and writes in mexican. jose emphasized his ethnic pride: i just feel really proud of being mexican . . . and it helps me stay on top of things . . . i want to show everybody else that we are strong people, we’re smart people. everybody has that stereotype mentality and i want to prove them all wrong. i can beat white students and then i get proud of being in my class and just saying i know i’m smarter than that [white] student and i’m mexican and i have more trouble and i have more responsibilities than they’ll have. jose not only presents his mexican heritage as integral but also associable to his school success. he feels that being mexican fueled his competitiveness. he also felt that he had more responsibilities and faced greater life obstacles than did his white counterparts. oaxacans. all students considered themselves oaxacan and being oaxacan was an important part of their ethnic identity. most students spoke at length about what it means for vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 74 them to be oaxacan and shared anecdotes about foods, culture, and patron saint festivities as related to their oaxacan identity. although nayeli clearly affirmed her mexican identity, she also distinguished herself as oaxacan, stating, “but when i’m asked what part of mexico or where i’m from, i’ve always said oaxaca. i usually don’t say mexico; i mention oaxaca first.” further, she spoke about what it means to be oaxacan: it’s cool! no i’m just kidding [laughing]. i don’t i just . . . i have a [lot] of cousins who are kinda i don’t know if it’s like . . . there’s some kind like resistance for them to say, “i’m oaxacan.” i’m proud of being oaxaca a oaxaqueña; i’m proud and i’m not . . . after hearing like how we’re like the minorities in mexico or, i don’t know, like, the system has been kinda unfair to us me das más orgullo. nayeli’s orgullo, or pride, was clearly evident. she felt proud of the traditional celebrations such as weddings, and she emphasized her rich oaxacan culture by describing the ways that oaxacans dress, speak, and live. she noted that oaxacan culture is rooted in indigenous customs and traditions, including indigenous healings such as curando de susto or curing of fright. edgar, is originally from the zapotec pueblo of tlacolula de matamoros in the central valley of oaxaca and immigrated to the u.s. at a young age. to him oaxacan means: it means to be, you know, the culture’s still there, because over here, even though we’re in los angeles, we try to do the best we can to still maintain the culture, like the guelaguetza and the foods, you know, they try to make it natural. in addition, he explained that his family, specifically, his aunts, uncles, and mother, still maintain pride in being oaxacan. although edgar’s family mostly speaks spanish, they have pride in the zapotec language from tlacolula. edgar, however, did not learn the language. oaxacan identity, as suggested by edgar, is often anchored by immigrants and their children who often distinctly maintain real and imagined connections and commitments to their homeland and recognize themselves and act as a collective community through a range of socio-religious and other public expressions. although edgar recalls little from his community of origin and has not been back since his childhood, he is surrounded by culture and tradition by way of his mother’s occupation as an employee in a well-known oaxacan restaurant which lines its walls with memoirs of his home community and the zapotec civilization. his connection to his identity is, in part, informed by a state-based yet southern-regional identity that implies a zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 75 densely indigenous and impoverished region (telles, 2014). other interviewees like marco who had not traveled to oaxaca, for example, revealed that being oaxacan involves the celebration of patron saints and virgins, “because they’re holy to us; they’re the ones that help us every single day, surviving to get a job, work, driving, getting your clothes, everything.” during the summers, alex enjoys spending time at his mother’s pueblo of tlacolula and his dad’s pueblo of santiago apóstol, where he gets to experience various festivities. oaxacan youth identity transpires through meaningful relationships to their self-worth, independent of national-origin. yazmin embraced her mexican identity and gave great significance to oaxacan identity: even if i’m not from oaxaca, i’m like, oh, yeah, i’m from oaxaca, you know. my parents are from oaxaca; why shouldn’t i be, too? i’ve always wanted to identify myself with a simp [sic] not simpler culture but a more, i don’t know, how you say it, friendly? no, no. i don’t know how to describe it, but a place where they don’t try to overcomplicate things and where family is the most important, so that’s what i liked, so that’s what i want to identify myself with. yazmin has strong feelings about national and pan-ethnic identities, such as mexican and hispanic, viewing them as too “broad.” moreover, she feels that u.s. society is wasteful and that americans are preoccupied with meaningless issues to the extent that, ideally, she would rather live in oaxaca, where she feels that life and culture are much simpler and where she can exercise her future political profession. in addition, yazmin stated that, although she does not look like the typical oaxaqueña, she grew up in a pueblo in oaxaca, living a simpler life, and that her grandparents and others in her pueblo are neither vain nor selfish. she noted that she enjoys the simple nature of her oaxacan pueblo and family. resisting oaxacan identity subscription and not looking like the “typical oaxaqueña” as indicated by nayeli and yazmin, invokes a colonial past that classified spanish, indigenous, and african racial phenotypes and that of their intermixing into a compare and contrast taxonomy of self-proclaimed spanish superiority over inferior indigenous, african, and their mestizo and mulatto offspring (banks, 2005). this persistent racialized view renders skin color-to-geographic discrimination where people classified as dark skinned are likelier than other skin tones to perceive racial discrimination, an observation most visible in mexico’s south-southwest region that include states like oaxaca where large segments of indigenous and afro descendents reside (telles, 2014). taken together, the byproduct of colonization can illustrate a vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 76 transcendence of a racio-spatiality that downpours in u.s. society through the indigenous namesake of “oaxaquita,” “oaxaco,” or “oaxac,” heightening a racio-spatial marker pursuant of colonialism, unbound by genesis or geography (perez et al., 2016; sanchez, 2018; vásquez, 2012). embedding yazmin’s statement into the colonial legacy gives significant meaning to her atypical oaxacan look and further re-emerges in the interview when she describes an incident where her father’s oaxacan identity is scrutinized by someone else for his “light skinned” complexion because he does not fit the stereotyped oaxacan. despite this conveyed mexicanorigin enthnoracial narrative, yazmin upholds her identity while disrupting the oaxacan resemblance. zapotecs. zapotecs are modern-day descendants of mesoamerican indigenous peoples who originated from the mexican state of oaxaca and who inhabit the central valley, northern and southern sierra, and isthmus regions (acosta márquez, 2007). zapotecs are overwhelmingly located in the central valley region of the state, adjacent to oaxaca city, the capital. according to the 2010 mexican census, zapotecs comprised a total of 371,740, representing the majority of the indigenous population in the central region area (inegi, 2010). zapotecs are mainly situated in the district of tlacolula, where 62.2% of the population above 5 years of age speaks zapotec (coronel ortiz, 2006). all interviewees were heritage zapotecs, specifically from the central valley region of oaxaca. with the exception of one student, all interviewees had heard of the word zapotec. the interviews revealed two main findings in which zapotec identity was expressed: through ethnic identity and language acquisition. in the former, however, most students did not explicitly identify as zapotec. some were unsure whether they were zapotec, three explicitly spoke about their zapotec identity, and others did not identify themselves as zapotec. pedro, jose, edgar, melissa, and eddy did not clearly state nor deny a zapotec identity; yet, they defined the meaning of zapotec. for instance, pedro stated, “being zapoteco is more like a group, and oaxacan is more like a state.” he added that being zapotec is unique based on the way that zapotecs live. similarly, jose explained: zapotecs have their own ways; it’s a separate thing. people from mexico act differently than you do in other places, so, like in this place, like when you hear zapoteco, it’s like you imagine people who are old ‘cause it’s more [sic], and then they’re conservative and zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 77 in their thoughts and their beliefs, and they’re really caring and you just could imagine things there [in oaxaca], it’s different than like the rest of the people. essentially, jose distinguished zapotec culture from traditional mexican culture, thinking that zapotecs dress differently and are “old school” compared to mexicans. melissa noted that zapotecs are “people that lived way back then, and it is like part of a place in oaxaca or mexico.” similarly, irene stated: it’s from this tribe from a long time ago where i was like . . . zapotecs created their own words [that] are different than spanish; the way they say it, well, they have different . . . they don’t have different cultures, but i mean they do things differently . . . they’re oaxacans, also, but they have it differently, so, yeah, i don’t really know. eddy mentioned that it is appropriate to call someone zapotec based on his or her town of origin. he said, “they call them [zapotecs] like, i don’t know ‘cause, i guess, like someone you know, you’d call them that ‘cause it’s like they’re from the same place you are.” lucas not only mentioned that he is zapotec but also that he is proud of his indigenous identity. he stated, “sí” (yes) because, “la verdad no sé; es que eso [zapoteco] viene desde nuestros antepasados, entonces nos quedamos con eso. es un orgullo” (in reality, i don’t know, that [zapotec] comes from our ancestors so that stays with us, it is prideful). rosario also considered herself zapotec, but not completely. she was not sure whether she could fully embrace her zapotec identity, stating, “i’d say half [laugh] because i understand it; i don’t know [laugh].” finally, yazmin wanted to consider herself zapotec and explained: i want to believe i am [zapotec], you know. i sometimes i don’t feel like it because i live here and i lead such a very different cultural life. but whenever i do get into contact with some part of that, like when we went to oaxaca and i saw a little bit of that or . . . for thanksgiving we went to have it [thanksgiving] with a bunch of people that, i guess, you can say who were from oaxaca and they would speak in that [zapotec] language, and i really wanted to learn how to speak it. but my mom was like, “part of our family, they forgot how to speak it,” and i was like, “so there’s nobody that can teach us anymore?” and i felt really sad when she said, “yeah, there’s nobody, really.” two students were hesitant to explicitly identify as zapotec, although their interviews revealed that they and their immediate family members were fluent in zapotec. for nayeli, the term zapotec was new, and she was not aware that zapotec was considered an ethnic identity. vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 78 a week before the interview, while attending an indigenous oaxacan graduate student panel at a local university, nayeli was introduced to the idea of zapotec: i actually don’t know ‘cause i don’t know what zapo [sic], that was something new i learned on saturday. i didn’t understand when the professor introduced the first set of panelists as mixtecos . . . and then he introduced the second set as . . . zapotecos. nayeli grew up thinking that zapoteco was a dialecto (dialect), and, although she speaks zapotec, she never considered her identity to be zapotec. similarly, although irene was a zapotec speaker, she did not seem comfortable with using zapotec as an ethnic identifier. she explained, “i don’t really know because i don’t really speak it [zapotec] as much as other people. but one thing for sure is, i’m more mexican, but i don’t really know about zapoteco.” the articulation of zapotec identity based on a shared community of origin and as being distinct from mexican culture is encompassed by formal and non-formal indigenous knowledges ranging from tending to land to healing practices which are transmitted from one generation to the next. additionally, these knowledges have localized content and meaning that are highly people-, land-, and nation-specific (unrelated to nation-states) and that embody familia, pueblo, and comunidad (urrieta & martínez, 2011). despite the literal spanish to english language translation of these words, for example, familia often invokes intense committed, dynamic, and malleable relationships. although the guelaguetza is commonly known as a dance festival, in the zapotec language, guelaguetza refers to a localized autonomous and self-governing system of structured reciprocity for the benefit of the greater community (coronel ortiz, 2006). these social structures can nurture the conditions of self-awareness and belonging to a specific group. a second notable way in which students talked about zapotec was through language. most spoke about the idea of zapotec as primarily a language. four students stated that they did not know zapotec; however, four others spoke or understood zapotec to some degree. for rosario, being zapotec was contingent upon her ability to speak the language. according to her: oaxacans speak zapoteco, which is like they pretty much in that region speak zapoteco, but they speak their own different versions of zapoteco, which is pretty cool because it’s a dialect and it’s kind of dying down, so, i mean, i’m able to understand it, which is pretty interesting; and my brothers and sisters, they can’t understand it at all. zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 79 rosario also mentioned that her parents intentionally spoke zapotec at home as a way to teach her and her siblings the language. “oh, my brother and sister, when, um, my dad tells my sister, like, ‘go get the broom,’ but he says it in zapoteco, and my sister is like, ‘what? what?’” rosario learned zapotec by listening to her parents’ conversations. similarly, although melissa’s parents did teach her zapotec, she stated, “it’s just that i don’t say it right.” she does, however, understand it. her father spoke to her in zapotec, but she found herself replying in english or spanish. for melissa, the zapotec language is “good, too, because . . . it’s a tradition . . . the people from where you’re from know it [zapotec], and it’s something very special.” for others such as irene, lucas, and nayeli, zapotec was their first language. all three were forthcoming in discussing their native language. irene stated, “my first language was zapoteco, and my second language was spanish, and my third was english. we usually just talk more in spanish or zapoteco in my house.” lucas mentioned that he learned spanish in mexico when he began formal schooling and that english came later, once he arrived in the u.s. in addition, he talked about the richness and diversity of zapotec: sí, porque, la verdad, allá en oaxaca, hay muchos pueblos que hablan zapoteco, hay muchos pueblos que están alrededor de oaxaca y hablan puro zapoteco, pero son diferentes zapotecos, tienen diferentes, cómo se llama . . . diferentes sonidos, diferentes significados [yes, because, in reality, over there in oaxaca, there are many pueblos who speak zapotec, there are many pueblos that surround oaxaca, and they only speak zapotec, but they are different zapotecs, they have different, how do you say . . . different sounds, different meanings]. nayeli, who is completely fluent in zapotec, spoke about her zapotec language use and depicted how she and her mother always spoke zapotec in public: i think that’s one thing my mom my parents have; like, “be proud of where you’re from.” i have some family who they kinda, like, not embarrassed but they try not to speak zapoteco out in public. oh, my mom, she’s like, “no, that’s what we speak, that’s what you’re going to.” like, on the bus we’re always being asked, “oh, that’s not spanish. i’m sorry, what language is that that you’re speaking?” oh, and we answer, um, ‘cause we speak zapoteco everywhere, like on the bus and anywhere in public. where my mom’s like, “don’t be ashamed of who you are, don’t be ashamed of who you are.” i just, i don’t know; it’s just like being indigenous, it’s ‘cause oaxacans, i guess, we are vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 80 indigenous and, like, just the whole idea of being indigenous . . . has that connotation where they’re less, kind of. unlike nayeli, other students neither understood nor spoke zapotec, but some of their parents or grandparents did. although zapotec fluency differed across families, and students generally acknowledged the loss of the zapotec language, many demonstrated their willingness to learn the language if given the opportunity to do so. eddy mentioned that he had heard his father speak zapotec with his friends, “yeah, like, sometimes i’ve heard him speak it”, but his mother did not speak zapotec. pedro also noted that his father speaks zapotec and that his mother does not understand the language. although the use of zapotec was limited in his home, pedro showed an interest in learning: “’cause sometimes i go there [to oaxaca] . . . i want to understand what they are saying and speak with them.” similarly, yazmin hoped to learn zapotec and expressed disappointment when she learned that none of her family members knew zapotec. she stated, “yeah, they don’t speak the language connected to that one [zapotec] anymore, so i felt really sad that none of my family anymore can speak it or speak a language similar to that.” mexican society leads a double posture that strains indigenous people to not lose their “dying” languages when in fact their language rights are socially and institutionally violated (hamel, 2008). although indigenous languages are constitutionally protected these hold unequal power relationships against spanish and english; the government mainly officiates in spanish and only selectively permits indigenous languages to preside over special events such as international mother language day. moreover, the way that mexican-born and u.s. born students refer to the zapotec language as a dialecto or dialect throughout the interviews, illustrates the deceptive way that languages are considered dialects since “different,” nondominant groups, are primarily situated in language as a vehicle for the representation of selves and others (despagne, 2010; pennycook 1998). the representation of the indian other has, since colonization, been both an emblematic and pragmatic method to subjugate indigenous languages and peoples that has arguably garnered strength since mexico’s national identity building, uplifting mestizo identity and allowing youth to emphasize zapotec identity as a people of the past and deemphasize zapotec language as proper. however, the yearning of learning zapotec among diasporic youth may support indigenous approaches that interrupt and transform the ideological legacy of indigenous languages (meek & messing, 2007). zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 81 teachers’ understanding of oaxacan students students were asked if they thought that teachers understood what it means to be oaxacan and most stated, “no.” nayeli went into some detail about how teachers were unaware of their oaxacan students: i don’t think so ‘cause they [teachers] would never . . . i am pretty sure we shared in the beginning of the year when we fill out “all about me” forms where we’re from, like, specifically what country, i mean, what state or country. i was never asked by a teacher, “oh, you’re from oaxaca, like, oh, how is? . . . tell me about your culture.” or when i would tell them that i spoke three languages, it was never like, “ohh, so oaxaca, like, tell us more about it.” like, it was never . . . i think again we did have some instances where we were like, “that teacher doesn’t like us; she’s racist,” but it was never because we’re mexican, that’s why she [the teacher] doesn’t like us. nayeli noted that teachers were oblivious to her oaxacan identity and she simply accused some teachers of being racist even though she did not show evidence of it. others did not mention that they perceived their teachers as racist, but edgar felt that teachers think of oaxacans as essentially the same as other latinx. “they [teachers] probably . . . just see them the same, you know. like, the latino type; they probably see them, like, . . . the same.” jose sensed that teachers have some understanding of what it means to be oaxacan. he felt that this was due to there being a critical mass of oaxacans at his high school: a lot of teachers are aware, too, ‘cause, i mean, we’re, like, a good group [sic], we have a good, a good number of students who are oaxacan. so, yeah, they talk to their teachers about it, and the teachers are aware of some things. jose added that it is good for teachers to know about their oaxacan students because it creates a connection. when students determine that teachers understand what it means to be oaxacan, it increases their self-worth. alex mentioned that some teachers understand what it means to be oaxacan simply because these teachers are hispanic: they [teachers] know the different states of mexico and how different cultures can be different from one another but how sometimes they can be similar. so if you’re, like, oaxacan, that would be like a certain type of culture, and that’s how they [teachers] would know. vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 82 alex explained how he knew that some teachers are aware of oaxacan culture. “well, sometimes, if we’re reading a textbook, they [teachers] would mention oaxaca and how, like, back then, they would have there the ancient mexicans and all that, how they live, and we would learn about different parts of mexico.” later, he explained how learning about oaxacan culture in class “makes you feel good that you know about your history.” he also stated, “internally, you know that they [teachers] are talking about your great ancestors, so you feel that you kind of know what the teacher is talking about ‘cause you can relate to it.” at various points during the interview with yazmin, she detailed how two of her teachers were supportive of her culture: my spanish teacher did at least [understand what it means to be oaxacan]. and there’s another girl here at school, too, [who is oaxacan], so when we had . . . there’s two spanish teachers that i’ve had, and one of them, when i told her, like, what my project was when i presented it, she was like, “oh, wow, it’s a really pretty culture,” like, not just pretty but beautiful and interesting, to say the least, and she really liked it, and she’s like, “it’s sad to see that a lot of these things aren’t out for the public to see.” and my other teacher knew about it [zapotec culture], i guess, ‘cause he’s traveled to mexico, he was born there. and he was like, “yeah, that’s a really beautiful culture.” and when he found out that, of all the students he’s had, only two of them were ever descended from people from oaxaca, he was like, “wow, that’s kind of sad.” yazmin also noted that she experienced excitement when she was able to share her zapotec heritage in class. she also spoke about the support of her spanish teacher and the interest in zapotec culture that was generated in her classmates: i actually did a project on that [zapotecs]. and i really wanted the teacher to give me that one [class project] and she did ‘cause it’s actually part of our background, our cultural background, where my family, my mom, once talked about how her family was descendent from that [zapotec culture] at some point, and my dad was, too, but on a lesser extent. i did a really big project on them [zapotecs] and about their life, and i believe, wasn’t monte albán part of their city? yeah . . . and we went there once, and i was like, wow. they were smarter than people here at the time [giggle]. zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 83 yazmin once made a dish similar to pozole, or maize stew, as a tribute to her zapotec heritage, which greatly affected her teacher and which generated peer interest and curiosity. her teacher was surprised by the diversity of cultures in mexico. irene noted how many teachers in her school understood what it means to be oaxacan: i guess one out of, like, 40 [teachers] because some have gone over there and actually visit oaxaca and they know some cultures, especially spanish teachers, they know some parts over there and what the foods are like and the, uh, visiting it, so. she also explained that teachers who visited oaxaca said great things about it, e.g., “it’s really nice; they have good cultures, good food, and it’s really nice.” although it is not clear how the teacher might have structured the classroom assignment, when yazmin presented her zapotec and pozole project, she had the liberty to do her own investigative work in preparation for her project. giving indigenous students the freedom to substantially engage their own ancestral cultures, knowledge systems, and institutional schooling contexts may play an important role in creating culturally relevant resources (urrieta, 2016). ancestral understandings of student ethnic groups increase positive feelings which appear to convert into improved educational participation. therefore, students’ perceptions of teacher responsiveness to their millennial culture present a reasonable relationship to enhancing educational opportunity (luna, evans, & davis, 2013). presenting a unit on indigenous peoples of the americas or “ancient mexicans,” as alex narrated, may be one approach to introduce material on the subject. alberto’s (2017) account reported that the presentation of a map or “an alternative imaging of the americas” (p. 247), was a significant bridge that connected her zapotec yalateca identity to her school classmates and curriculum. as such, it is important for schools to create spaces whereby indigenous migrants and nonmigrants can engage in collective action and cultural sustenance; to open up discourses and actions in which social identities are created and re-created through the institutionalization of practices where immigrants are recognized as oaxacans and as indigenous people. these diverse collective practices generate recognition of cultural, social, and political identities (rivera-salgado, 2005). discussion there are two indicators that predict indigenous ethnic identity: ethnolinguistic identity, and the absence of indigenous labels; both are related to indigenous ethnic identity formation vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 84 found in oaxaca’s central valley. overall, school children and youth in mexico do not self-identify as indigenous or with an ethnolinguistic identity and are well aware of indigenous linguistic prejudice (lópez-gopar, 2009; o’donnell, 2010). researchers who conducted studies in mexico with zapotec heritage school children also considered these students to be indigenous solely based on their zapotec linguistic capabilities or lack thereof (lópez-gopar, 2009). in zapotec communities of the central valley, it is common to find people referring to themselves as paisanos or community members, rather than members of an ethnoracial group. in addition, zapotecs may use pueblos of origin as distinguishable markers. for instance, someone might be called bartoleño to signal an individual’s membership to the san bartolomé quialana pueblo. the word zapotec is not used to reference community members by the same community or other zapotec communities. zapotecs make mention of their language in castellano or spanish by describing it as idioma and dialecto, literally meaning language and dialect. the word zapotec is absent in these communities and usage of the label has been largely adopted by anthropologists, linguists, and government officials. the youth interviewed for this study based their zapotec identity on their indigenous language speaking abilities. youth who expressed that they spoke, at one time spoke, or who understood zapotec were likely to identify as zapotec. the youth who had only limited speaking skills in zapotec felt that they were only part zapotec, based on this limitation. others did not identify with or felt that they could not be zapotec because they did not speak the language nor had family who could teach them. although zapotec ethnic identity seems to be related to zapotec speaking abilities, even high levels of speaking ability do not always activate indigenous ethnic identity. one youth struggled with considering herself zapotec, even though she was born in a zapotec-speaking community, was taught be proud of her zapotec language, and spoke zapotec in public. therefore, when inquiring with youth about zapotec identity, mixed results were reported and in some cases youth adopted dialecto to be synonymous with zapotec language. further, the limited number of studies on zapotecs in the u.s. do not suggest that zapotecs self-identify with such labels (smith, 1995). although the youth largely did not identify as zapotec, they expressed great importance to their indigenous oaxacan identity. youth associated oaxacan identity with being indigenous because it is rooted in indigenous customs and traditions. in addition to participating in various heritage festivities, youth participated in their high school’s activities and cultural groups that zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 85 promoted oaxacan customs that reinforced and strengthened their identity. cultural groups are composed of first and second generation youth, which explains why indigenous oaxacan identity is strong for youth. cultural groups can serve to ensure that oaxacan identity is passed on to future generations. finally, many youths who were interviewed revealed that oaxacan identity is more vital than mexican and mexican-american culture and in some cases oaxacan youth felt the need to prove their identity when its authenticity was challenged by a oaxacan peer. all together, findings illustrated that zapotec youth captured a wide variety of ethnic identities that interrupted bicultural models or models that confine identity by two distinct cultures that are at times infused to create a third “reality.” false identity dichotomies like biculturalism do not begin to capture the full extent of multicultural identities that have been previously absent. importantly, identities like oaxacan that are unrelated to the array of mexican or u.s. identities, are meaningful to youths’ sense of self and cultural orientation. youth may use several self-labels such as mexican-american, oaxacan, or even zapotec which are not only telling of the great racioethnic diversity of students in u.s. schools, but importantly serve as factors that play a role in the schooling experiences of youth. youth’s oaxacan identity was presumably more accessible than zapotec but, importantly, determined when youth found themselves in social contexts that tolerated and embraced oaxacan identity. according to interviewees, the degree to which oaxacan youth chose to affirm their ethnic label varied upon perceiving favorable social conditions for their identity. alternatively, unfavorable disparaging of oaxacans indicates that indigenous identity is at least partially and implicitly informed by youths’ acknowledgement of the negative enduring colonial ancestral undertone. irrespective of ethnoracial boundaries, zapotec youth articulate how “the system” is unfair to them and how indigenous people are stratified as “less,” perpetuating the longstanding anti-indigenous bias that is mediated by popular discourse. this gives rise to stereotypes based on the past that re-emerge in the presence of a stereotyped group, i.e., oaxacans are bajitos and morenitos, evoking stigma and possible identity forfeiture. it is apparent, then, that the process by which the youth indicated a zapotec and oaxacan identity is complex and multilayered. conclusion vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 86 critical latinx indigeneities (blackwell et al., 2017), as a hemispheric approach to understanding indigeneity, helps to uncover the colonial systemic experiments of “education” that have served to rid indigenous people of their “savagery” and to disposes them of their lands whether by complete eradication or assimilationist projects. paradoxically, indigenous youth continue to find ways to retain and enhance heritage connections by engaging in significant cultural activities such as powwows, guelaguetzas, sweat lodges, music groups, familial ceremonies, and other practices (cruz-manjarrez, 2013; kenyon & carter, 2011; schweigman, soto, wright, & unger, 2011). community members and parents often socialize youth into these practices as strategies to keep traditions alive; overall supporting youths’ pro-social behaviors, self-determination, and community belonging (mesinas & perez, 2016). in schools, although some teachers express empathy for indigenous students by highlighting the great indigenous civilizations in their curricula, it is imperative to make purposeful instructional and institutional opportunities that value indigenous lives, not by generalizing a narrative of european “discovery” and indigenous “fidelity” that evades the role of race and racial equity that continues to play-out; now transposed as a socio-economic hierarchy, but instead move toward teacher and school awareness of indigenous youths’ strengths to facilitate sociocultural lives responsibly. a case in point lies in a mural across from tongva park that depicts five men “gathered at a fresh water stream: a friar in franciscan cowl and two spanish conquistadors face two native american men in loincloths, one seated and the other kneeling, both sipping water from the stream” (mcgahan, 2017, para. 3). while the underlying content may be contested, it is important to address indigenous ethnoracial awareness in schools given that it provides an opportunity to redress colonialist indigenous education and gives teachers the ability to make a significant impact on students’ lives. zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 87 references acosta márquez, e. (2007). zapotecos del istmo de tehuantepec: pueblos indígenas del méxico contemporáneo [zapotecs of the tehuantepec isthmus: indigenous communities of contemporary mexico]. mexico, d. f.: comisión nacional para el desarrollo de los pueblos indígenas. alberto, l. (2017). coming out as indian: on being and indigenous latina in the u.s. latino studies, 15(2), 247-253. alvitre, c.m. (2015). coyote tours: unveiling native la. in p. wakida (ed.), latitudes: an angelino’s atlas (pp.43-52). berkeley, ca: heyday. banks, t. l. (2005). mestizaje and the mexican mestizo self: no hay sangre negra, so there is no blackness. southern california interdisciplinary law journal, 15, 199-233. baquedano-lópez, p. & janetti, g.b. (2017). the maya diaspora yucatan-san francisco: new latino educational practices and possibilities. in s. salas & p. r. portes (eds.), u.s. latinization: education and the new latino south (pp. 161-183). albany, ny: state university of new york press. barillas-chón, d. w. (2010). oaxaqueño/a students’ (un)welcoming high school experiences. journal of latinos and education, 9(4), 303-320. bernal, m. e., & knight, g. p. (1993). ethnic identity: formation and transmission among hispanics and other minorities. albany: state university of new york press. berry, j. w., phinney, j. s., sam, d. l., & vedder, p. (2006). immigrant youth: acculturation, identity, and adaptation. applied psychology: an international review, 55(3), 303-332. blackwell, m., boj-lopez, f., & urrieta, l. (2017). special issue: critical latinx indigeneities. latino studies, 15(2), 126-137. bosma, h. a., & kunnen, e. s. (2001). determinants and mechanisms in ego identity development: a review and synthesis. developmental review, 21(1), 39-66. california department of education. (2017-2018). statewide enrollment by ethnicity and grade. retrieved from https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/dqcensus/enrethgrd.aspx?cds=00&agglevel=state&year= 2017-18 casanova, s. (2011). ethnic identity, acculturation, and perceived discrimination for indigenous mexican youth: a cross-cultural comparative study of yucatec maya adolescents in the us and mexico (unpublished doctoral dissertation). stanford university, ca. coronel ortiz, d. (2006). zapotecos de los valles centrales de oaxaca: pueblos indígenas del méxico contemporáneo [zapotecs of the central valley’s of oaxaca: indigenous pueblos of contemporary mexico]. mexico, d. f.: comisión nacional para el desarrollo de los pueblos indígenas. cruz-manjarrez, a. (2013). children of oaxacan zapotec immigrants in the united states [special issue]. estudios sobre las culturas contemporáneas, 19(1), 51-73. despagne, c. (2010). the difficulties of learning english: perceptions and attitudes in mexico. comparative and international education/éducation comparée et internationale, 39(2), 55-74. evans, c. (1996). ethnolinguistic vitality, prejudice, and family language transmission. bilingual research journal, 20(2), 177-207. fox, j. (2004, october). indigenous mexican migrant civil society in the us. paper presented at the latin american studies association, las vegas, nv. vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 88 gao, g., schmidt, k. l., & gudykunst, w. b. (1994). strength of ethnic identity and perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality among mexican americans. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 16(3), 332-341. giles, h., & johnson, p. (1987). ethnolinguistic identity theory: a social psychological approach to language maintenance. international journal of the sociology of language, 68, 69-99. giles, h., williams, a., mackie, d. m., & rosselli f. (1995). reactions to anglo and hispanic american-accented speakers: affect, identity, persuasion, and the english-only movement. language & communication, 15(2), 107-120. gloria, a. m., robinson kurpius, s. e., hamilton d. k., & willson, m. s. (1999). african american student persistence at a predominately white university: influences of social support, university comfort, and self-beliefs. journal of college student development, 40(3), 267-268. gonzalez, e. (2018). ethnoracial attitudes and identity-salient experiences among indigenous mexican adolescents and emerging adults. emerging adulthood, 1-10. hamel, r. e. (2008). bilingual education for indigenous communities in mexico. encyclopedia of language and education, 5, 1747-1758. hecht, m. l., warren, j., jung, e., & krieger, j. (2005). a communication theory of identity: development, theoretical perspective, and future directions. in w. b. gudykunst (ed.), theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 257-278). thousand oaks, ca: sage. inegi. (2010). población de 3 años y más que habla lengua indígena por lengua según condición de habla española y sexo. [population 3 years of age and older that speaks an indigenous language by language according to spanish speaking condition and sex]. retrieved from https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/ccpv/2010/default.html#tabulados keefe, s. e. (1992). ethnic identity: the domain of perceptions of and attachment to ethnic groups and cultures. human organization, 51(1), 35-43. kenyon, d. b. & carter, j. s. (2011). ethnic identity, sense of community, and psychological well‐being among northern plains american indian youth. journal of community psychology, 39(1), 1-9. liebkind, k. (2006). ethnic identity and acculturation. in d. l. sam & j. w. berry (eds.), the cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology (pp. 78-96). new york, ny: cambridge university press. lópez-gopar, m. (2009). to be or not to be indigenous: oaxacan children’s self-identification as indigenous people. retrieved from http://www.irmgard-coninx stiftung.de/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/cultural_pluralism/language/essay.lopez.pdf luna, n., evans, w. p., & davis, b. (2013). indigenous mexican culture, identity and academic aspirations: results from a community-based curriculum project for latina/latino students. race ethnicity and education, 2, 1-22. machado-casas, m. (2009). the politics of organic phylogeny: the art of parenting and surviving as transnational multilingual latino indigenous immigrants in the u.s. the high school journal, 92(4), 82-99. machado-casas, m. (2012). pedagogías del camaleón/pedagogies of the chameleon: identity and strategies of survival for transnational indigenous latino immigrants in the us south. the urban review, 44(5), 534-550. martínez, r. a. (2018). intersectionality and possibility in the lives of latina/o/x children of immigrants: imagining pedagogies beyond the politics of hate. occasional paper series, 2018 (39), 3. zapotec identity as a matter of schooling association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 89 mcgahan, j. (2017, september 22). is this santa monica mural as offensive as a confederate monument? la weekly. retrieved from http://www.laweekly.com meek, b. a. & messing, j. (2007). framing indigenous languages as secondary to matrix languages. anthropology & education quarterly, 38(2), 99-118. mesinas, m. & perez, w. (2016). cultural involvement, indigenous identity, and language: an exploratory study of zapotec adolescents and their parents. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 38(4) 482-506. minkoff-zern, l.-a. (2012). pushing the boundaries of indigeneity and agricultural knowledge: oaxacan immigrant gardening in california. agriculture and human values, 29(3), 381-392. morales, p. z. (2016). transnational practices and language maintenance: spanish and zapoteco in california. children’s geographies, 14(4), 375-389. norris, a. e., ford, k., & bova, c. a. (1996). psychometrics of a brief acculturation scale for hispanics in a probability sample of urban hispanic adolescents and young adults. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 18(1), 29-38. o’donnell, j. l. (2010). the indigenous, national, and international language in higher education: students’ academic trajectories in oaxaca, mexico. international journal of applied linguistics, 20(3), 386-416. pennycook, a. (1998). the right to language: towards a situated ethics of language possibilities. language sciences, 20(1), 73-87. perez, w., vásquez, r., & buriel, r. (2016). zapotec, mixtec, and purepecha youth: multilingualism and the marginalization of indigenous immigrants in the united states. in h. s. alim, j. r. rickford, & a. f. ball (eds.), raciolinguistics: how language shapes our ideas about race (pp. 255-272). new york, ny: oxford university press. phinney, j. s. (1989). stages of ethnic identity development in minority group adolescents. journal of early adolescence, 9(1-2), 34-49. phinney, j. s. (1993). a three-stage model of ethnic identity development in adolescence. in m. e. bernal & g. p. knight (eds.), ethnic identity: formation and transmission among hispanics and other minorities (pp. 61-79). new york: state university of new york press. phinney, j. s. (2003). ethnic identity and acculturation. in k. m. chun, p. balls-organista, & g. marin (eds.), acculturation: advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp. 6381). washington, dc: american psychological association. pick, h., wolfram, w., & lópez, j. (2011). indigenous language students from spanish speaking countries: educational approaches (heritage briefs). retrieved from center of applied linguistics, heritage languages in america website: http://www.cal.org/heritage/pdfs/briefs/indigenous-language-students-fromspanishspeaking-countries-educational-approaches.pdf rivera-salgado, g. (2005). equal in dignity and rights: the struggle of indigenous peoples of the americas in an age of migration. inaugural address prince claus chair in development and equity, university of utrecht, netherlands. rotheram, m. j., & phinney, j. s. (1987). definitions and perspectives in the study of children’s ethnic socialization. in j. s. phinney & m. j. rotheram (eds.), children’s ethnic socialization: pluralism and development (pp. 10-28). newbury park, ca: sage. sanchez, d. (2018). racial and structural discrimination toward the children of indigenous mexican immigrants. race and social problems, 10(4), 306-319. saranillio, d. i. (2015). settler colonialism. in s. n. teves, a. smith, & m. h. raheja (eds.), native studies keywords (pp. 284-300). tucson, az: the university of arizona press. vásquez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2019, volume 13, issue 2 90 schwartz, s. j., montgomery, m. j., & briones, e. (2006). the role of identity in acculturation among immigrant people: theoretical propositions, empirical questions, and applied recommendations. human development, 49, 1-30. smith, n. j. (1995). linguistic genocide and the struggle for cultural and linguistic survival: a participatory research study with a zapotec community in california (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest dissertations and theses database. (umi no. 9611509). schweigman, k., soto, c., wright, s., & unger, j. (2011). the relevance of cultural activities in ethnic identity among california native american youth. journal of psychoactive drugs, 43(4), 343-348. tajfel, h., & turner, j. c. (1986). the social identity theory of intergroup behavior. in s. worchel & w. g. astin (eds.), psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7-24). chicago, il: nelson-hall. takash, p. c., hinojosa-ojeda, r., & runsten, d. (2005). investment of remittances for development in a migratory economy. los angeles, ca: ucla north american integration and development center. telles, e. (2014). pigmentocracies: ethnicity, race, and color in latin america. unc press books. urrieta, l., jr., & martínez, s. (2011). diasporic community knowledge and school absenteeism. interventions, 13(2), 256-277. urrieta, l., jr. (2016). diasporic community smartness: saberes (knowings) beyond schooling and borders. race ethnicity and education, 19(6), 1186-1199. vásquez, r. (2012). ethnic identity and academic achievement of zapotec and mestizo high school youth in greater los angeles (unpublished doctoral dissertation). claremont graduate university, ca. verkuyten, m., drabbles, m., & van den nieuwenhuijzen, k. (1999). self-categorization and emotional reactions to ethnic minorities. european journal of social psychology, 29(5-6), 605-619. warman, a. (2001, april). los indios de méxico [the indians of mexico]. nexos, 280, 39-42. whyte, k. p. (2016). indigeneity and us settler colonialism. in n. zack (ed.), oxford handbook of philosophy and race (pp. 1–20). new york, ny: oxford university press. volume 17 issue 2 2023 amae special issue critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional guest editors pedro e. nava ramón a. martínez santa clara university stanford university editors patricia sánchez antonio j. camacho the university of texas at san antonio amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa lucila d. ek sacramento state the university of texas at san antonio managing editor karla garza the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 4 critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional perspectives pedro e. nava santa clara university pnava2@scu.edu ramón a. martínez stanford university ramonmtz@stanford.edu the pipeline metaphor has long been a useful tool for elucidating the educational experiences of chicanx/latinx students in us schools (solórzano & yosso, 2000). while there is certainly no single pathway or monolithic set of educational experiences that characterizes schooling for latinx students (solorzano & yosso 2000; yosso 2006; covarrubias 2011; covarrubias & lara 2014), we maintain that the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline remains a powerful metaphor for highlighting critical concerns related to the experiences of chicanx and latinx students in kindergarten through higher education settings. the pipeline metaphor focuses our attention on metrics and outcomes related to equity, compels us to examine human experiences and institutional settings across the lifespan, and allows us to identify particular points in the trajectory where chicanx and latinx students are effectively pushed out of schools. moreover, as the empirical and theoretical literature on the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline has evolved over the past two decades, various intersectional perspectives (e.g., related to gender, sexuality, national origin, social class, citizenship status) have further enriched our understanding of the diversity and heterogeneity of experiences among chicanx and latinx students (aleman, bahena, & aleman, 2022a, 2022b; covarrubias 2011; covarrubias & lara 2014; covarrubias, lara, nava, burciaga, velez, & solorzano 2018; covarrubias, lara, nava, burciaga, & solorzano 2019; perez-huber, malagon, ramirez, gonzalez, jimenez, velez, 2015). in this spirit, we argue that re-visiting the pipeline metaphor at this particular historical moment can help us to better apprehend some of the overlapping forms of vulnerability that play out in the lives of chicanx and latinx students at various critical junctures along their educational trajectories. doi: http://doi.org/10.24974/amae.17.2.476 nava & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 5 in this special issue, we seek to highlight a few critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline that help illustrate some of the intersectional vulnerabilities that characterize the experiences of chicanx and latinx students in us schools. to begin with, we focus on high school as a particularly consequential juncture in the educational trajectories of chicanx and latinx students. especially for those chicanx and latinx students who have been marginalized in various ways throughout their elementary and/or middle school experiences, high school is often the point in the pipeline where many of these students end up getting pushed out of school. arguably, this particular point in the trajectory also represents a critical opportunity for repair and healing in the wake of previous experiences of vulnerability and marginalization. we seek to shed light on two hopeful examples—two critical interventions that emerged at the high school level. in sharing these portraits of possibility, we ponder what might happen if more chicanx and latinx youth had experiences such as these, both in and out of schools? next, we focus on higher education as a critical juncture along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline. beginning with the premise that not all chicanx and latinx students experience higher education spaces in the same ways, we focus on the understudied experiences of mexican-american military veterans (who represent a non-traditional pathway into higher education) and on the unique experiences of chicana/e and latina/e mothers who are simultaneously graduate students in the academy. finally, we zoom out to look across the lifespan of one mexican student who has resisted various intersectional forms of marginalization and successfully navigated multiple critical junctures along the educational pipeline as he has forged his own transnational educational pathway from high school to higher education. in highlighting these distinct junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline, we deliberately seek to invoke and draw on interdisciplinary methods and intersectional perspectives by showcasing how different scholars use different sets of tools for asking different sorts of questions about the pipeline and different theoretical lenses for exploring the diverse experiences of groups that are positioned differently at these key junctures across the pipeline. in the next portion of this introduction, we lay out more detailed descriptions of each piece in this special issue. in her article, “the moral ethic of cariño: a culturally competent approach to working with immigrant-origin students,” karla lomelí reports on an ethnographic case study of ms. grace, a veteran high school english teacher in silicon valley who worked effectively critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 6 with immigrant-origin latine youth. describing how this teacher’s perspectives on her latine students led her to systematically develop culturally competent teaching practices, lomelí argues that ms. grace enacted and embodied a pedagogy that reflected what she calls a “moral ethic of cariño.” by showcasing how ms. grace accounted for, sought to understand, and actively drew on her latine students’ everyday lived experiences, lomelí provides a portrait of the kinds of teaching that are arguably necessary to support immigrant-origin latine youth. this article serves as a powerful example of how a non-latine teacher was able to cultivate and embody effective and culturally competent teaching. crucially, the approach to pedagogy on display in this article is, unfortunately, not in place for many latine high school students at this critical juncture in the educational pipeline. as we seek to understand why and how latine students get pushed out of school at this critical juncture in the educational pipeline, lomelí points us towards promising possibilities for promoting latine student success. drawing from solorzano and bernal’s (2001) transformative resistance theoretical framework, johnny carlos ramirez’s article, “from safe spaces to sacred spaces: chicanx/latinx after-school youth development and transformational resistance,” is an ethnographic exploration of youth participants in the black panther mentoring program (bpmp). bpmp is an out of school youth development program, supporting “at-promise youth” participants in nurturing, mentoring relationships and raising youth’s critical consciousness, resulting in the creation of a powerful community counter space. the article explores the experiences of three active participants in bpmp, who demonstrate the diverse ways the program became a safe space, helping them to resist social and academic marginalization experienced in schools and the broader society. ramirez chronicles how bpmp became a space that helped youth affirm one another at a critical juncture in the educational pipeline. this, in turn, helped expose students to curricular content and experiences in bpmp that ran counter to the harmful traditional curricular content they learned in school. by centering their marginalized identities, bpmp youth felt cared for and supported, displaying a degree of interconnectedness. ramirez ends by calling for the importance of establishing relationships of trust with “at-promise youth” in school and out-of-school spaces where they can come to see themselves as sacred. the third article explores the unique experiences of military veterans re-entering the educational pipeline after completing their enlistment. in “mexican american student veterans: nava & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 7 from military service to higher education,” veteran alfredo gonzalez utilizes a descriptive qualitative approach to understand the extent to which military service equips mexican americans to pursue and complete their bachelor's degree. as we know, disproportionate numbers of working-class mexican american youth will take this path due to active recruitment and financial stressors, despite active organizing campaigns against militarization in schools over the last two decades (galaviz, palafox, meiners, quinn, 2011; mariscal, 2005; zavala, 2018). examining this understudied pathway of the educational pipeline, gonzalez used census data to create a first-of-its-kind mexican american veterans’ educational pipeline. his interviews with mexican american veterans revealed that they experienced racism and lacked institutional support navigating higher education, but eventually found veteran advocates who provided concrete forms of support and shared key navigational strategies. the article concludes with important recommendations for the expansion of veteran resource centers as conduits to guide and support veterans as they transition to colleges and universities. the fourth article, by christine vega, examines the graduate school experiences of chicana motherscholars in doctoral degree programs. in “motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline through moments of sacred pause,” vega introduces the concept of sacred pause as a form of resistance to academia’s hostility and hyperproductivity. these sacred pauses—moments of joy, gratitude, and love—are disruptions and opportunities for these motherscholars to acknowledge their wholeness as parents, their children, and their “mommy wins” against the backdrop of academia that fails to see them as whole beings. drawing from pláticas with three chicana/e and latina/e motherscholars, vega reveals the specific ways these mothers traversed the educational pipeline, providing for themselves and their children. one example of a sacred pause came from an academic advisor leaving a meal behind in the lunchroom for one of the mothers and her three children, as it affirmed her identity as a motherscholar and helped make the invisible visible. other examples of sacred pauses that evoked feelings of joy, gratitude, and love included motherscholars serving as joyful bridgemakers for students from marginalized communities and on the verge of dismissal from the university. vega concludes with a reflection on the motherscholars’ journey across the educational pipeline in an effort to honor the small moments of joy, gratitude, and love that can fundamentally transform educational and life trajectories. critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 8 the fifth article, “an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance: a testimonio analysis traversing the chicanx educational pipeline,” by argelia lara, explores in depth the testimonio of joaquin—a gay, unaccompanied, and undocumented mexican (im)migrant, showcasing his transnational experiences navigating the educational pipeline. using a critical race quantitative intersections + testimonio (covarrubias et al. 2018) framework, lara traces joaquin's exodus from a small town in michoacán, mexico, as he headed north to escape the physical violence directed at him because of his sexuality. arriving in us schools, lara utilizes joaquin’s testimonio as a guiding light to illuminate different structural impediments he encounters at each critical juncture of the educational pipeline. building on her prior work with alejandro covarrubias (2014) on the undocumented educational pipeline, lara experientially grounds joaquin’s testimonio to reveal the level of structural vulnerability he experienced and why educational outcomes for chicanx undocumented populations are lower than for us-born and foreign-born naturalized chicanx populations. lara proposes important considerations for educational leaders doing diversity, equity, and inclusion (dei) work at a time when communities of color, particularly immigrants, are facing a backlash in a post-obama era. next, we share an interview that pedro conducted with julie lopez figueroa, an ethnic studies and higher education scholar who has devoted her career to creating a greater understanding of access and equity issues as they pertain to marginalized populations, especially chicanx and latinx communities. the interview covers lopez figueroa’s trajectory across the educational pipeline. it explores how this trajectory informs her pedagogical and mentoring approach towards working-class and immigrant chicanx and latinx students and communities. lopez figueroa offers important insights on the intentionality required to be an excellent mentor and teacher, especially for students from backgrounds that higher education institutions were not originally designed to serve. finally, emily ramos and pedro e. nava provide a review of book, the chicana/o/x dream: hope, resistance and educational success, in which conchas and acevedo (2020) explore the testimonios of chicanx students who resist the role coloniality plays in creating a marginalizing context across the educational pipeline. the authors introduce the framework of atravesada/o/xs nepantleando (fan), which they use to examine students’ intersecting identities and uncover structural inequities, while critiquing institutional processes of marginalization. conchas and acevedo provide a set of concrete practices and frameworks for nava & martínez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 9 prek-12 and higher education practitioners to enact and provide students with institutional support. taken together, the contributions in this special issue speak directly to the kinds of support that are necessary to promote educational justice for chicanx and latinx students in us schools. whether by highlighting their presence or their absence in particular contexts, these contributions bring into focus the kinds of structural and interpersonal supports that need to be in place in order to promote more equitable educational experiences and outcomes for chicanx and latinx communities. these contributions also showcase the various ways in which chicanx and latinx students assert their agency and engage in active forms of resistance to get ahead—and stay ahead—despite the systematic lack of structural support. each of the articles in this special issue represents a unique and critical juncture—and related enactment(s) of resistance—along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline. ms. grace is actively resisting normative approaches to teaching (e.g., low expectations, deficit frames, assimilationism) by embodying an ethic of cariño. bpmp students are developing critical consciousness and a stance of resistance by asserting resistant identities. veterans are resisting and persisting as they navigate obstacles without structural supports to reintegrate themselves into the educational pipeline. motherscholars are resisting neoliberal and patriarchal cultures and systems by creating and holding space for themselves and their families. joaquin, an unaccompanied and undocumented immigrant, is resisting by asserting his testimonio of selfaffirmation as a queer mexican who has repeatedly resisted and persisted across multiple critical junctures. finally, the interview with julie lopez figueroa and the book review of conchas and acevedo’s the chicana/o/x dream offer a broader view of the pipeline that helps situate and contextualize the preceding articles by showcasing powerful and hopeful examples of counterstorytelling across the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline. it is our hope that the insights reflected throughout this special issue can contribute to broadening and deepening our understandings of the diversity and heterogeneity of chicanx and latinx educational experiences, including intersectional vulnerabilities and ongoing forms of radical and hopeful resistance. critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 10 references alemán, s. m., bahena, s., & alemán jr, e. (2022a). chicana/o/x educational pipelines as critical race heuristics: tools for pedagogy, politicization, and praxis. teachers college record, 124(2), 33-59. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221086183 alemán, s. m., bahena, s., & alemán jr, e. (2022b). remapping the latina/o and chicana/o pipeline: a critical race analysis of educational inequity in texas. journal of hispanic higher education, 21(1), 17-32. conchas, g. q., & acevedo, n. (2020). the chicana/o/x dream: hope, resistance, and educational success. harvard education press. covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos and education, 10(2), 86-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2011.556519 covarrubias, a., & lara, a. (2014). the undocumented (im) migrant educational pipeline: the influence of citizenship status on educational attainment for people of mexican origin. urban education, 49(1), 75-110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912470468 covarrubias, a., nava, p. e., lara, a., burciaga, r., vélez, v. n., & solorzano, d. g. (2018). critical race quantitative intersections: a testimonio analysis. race ethnicity and education, 21(2), 253-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1377412 covarrubias, a., nava, p. e., lara, a., burciaga, r., & solórzano, d. g. (2019). expanding educational pipelines: critical race quantitative intersectionality as a transactional methodology. in decuir-gunby, j. t., chapman, t. k., & schutz, p. a. (eds.), understanding critical race research methods and methodologies: lessons from the field (138-149). new york, ny: taylor & francis. galaviz, b., palafox, j., meiners, e. r., & quinn, t. (2011). the militarization and the privatization of public schools. berkeley review of education, 2(1). mariscal, j. (2005). homeland security, militarism, and the future of latinos and latinas in the united states. radical history review, 2005(93), 39-52. https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-2005-93-39 pérez huber, l., malagón, m. c., ramirez, b. r., gonzalez, l. c., jimenez, a., & vélez, v. n. (2015). still falling through the cracks: revisiting the latina/o education pipeline. csrc research report. number 19. ucla chicano studies research center. solorzano, d. g., & bernal, d. d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. solorzano, d., & yosso, t. (2000). toward a critical race theory of chicana and chicano education. charting new terrains of chicana (o)/latina (o) education, 35-65. yosso, t. j. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. routledge. zavala, m. (2018). raza communities organizing against a culture of war: lessons from the education not arms coalition (enac) campaign. in arshad ali & traci buenavista (eds.). at war! challenging racism, materialism, and militarism in education. new york: fordham university press. amae 1.pdf intro amae.pdf volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 30 translanguaging pedagogy as an enactment of authentic cariño and an antidote to subtractive schooling cori salmerón georgia state university nathaly batista-morales tntp, inc. angela valenzuela university of texas at austin abstract this article explores translanguaging pedagogy through the lens of the politics of caring, subtractive schooling, and authentic cariño (composed of intellectual, familial, and critical cariño). we begin with a broad overview of translanguaging and situate it in the theoretical frameworks of the politics of caring, subtractive schooling, and authentic cariño. we ground our approach in the notion that educators must hold heteroglossic language ideologies. we draw upon examples from literacy instruction in bilingual and esl fourth grade classrooms to argue that translanguaging pedagogy can be seen as an enactment of intellectual, familial, and critical cariño. we conclude with a call for teacher educators to consider enacting authentic cariño and translanguaging pedagogy in their university classrooms by making space for bi/multilingual pre-service teachers to use their full linguistic repertoires. in this way translanguaging pedagogy, politically aware authentic caring, and authentic cariño can be viewed as part of a broader program of preparing teachers to value authentic ways of bilingual languaging and biliteracy development. keywords: translanguaging, authentic cariño, subtractive schooling, elementary, literacy doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.444 translanguaging pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 31 translanguaging, defined as “the deployment of a speaker’s full linguistic repertoire without regard for watchful adherence to the socially and politically defined boundaries of named (and usually national and state) languages,” is a critical characteristic of bilingualism (otheguy et al., 2015, p. 283). in addition, as a pedagogy, it has the potential to be an important part of educating bi/multilingual learners in bilingual and english dominant classrooms. however, both settings have not traditionally embraced translanguaging pedagogy and instead have focused on the development of monolingual proficiency. this monolingual approach to bilingualism, which emphasizes the separation of languages, is evidence of the colonial structure embedded within education and is an example of subtractive schooling because it devalues the rich translanguaging practices of bilinguals (martínez & martinez, 2020). we begin with a review of the theories of translanguaging (canagarajah, 2011; garcía & wei, 2014), subtractive schooling, aesthetic and authentic care (valenzuela, 1999), the politics of caring (valenzuela, 2008), and authentic cariño (curry, 2016, 2021). we recognize that the concept of authentic caring in “subtractive schooling” (valenzuela, 1999) falls short by not considering in detail the potential of translanguaging pedagogy as part of this framework. we propose the enactment of translanguaging pedagogy as a force that counters pedagogical practices that police language and grounds translanguaging in a critical understanding of care. we give examples from a case study of ms. watson and ms. kamphaus, members of a fourthgrade team that took up translanguaging pedagogy in their literacy instruction and reflect on the impact this had on their latina/o/x students. we conclude by offering implications for educators and researchers. finally, this is a substantially revised draft of an earlier book chapter (valenzuela et al., 2021) and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue to theorize translanguaging in the context of subtractive schooling, the politics of care, and authentic cariño. theoretical discussion translanguaging the term translanguaging has two primary meanings that we are focusing on. first, it can be used to describe a type of pedagogy. in terms of pedagogy, “translanguaging” originates from the welsh term trawsieithu, which was first developed by cen williams (1994), a welsh bilingual educator and advocate. williams used it to describe pedagogical practices where teachers plan salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 32 lessons that include the intentional switching of languages for different tasks. for example, in a literacy lesson, students might read in english and write in welsh (williams, 1994, as cited in baker, 2011). since its inception, a wide range of scholars (e.g., canagarajah, 2011; creese & blackledge, 2010; garcía, 2009; garcía & wei, 2014) have used translanguaging to consider “the complex language practices of plurilingual individuals and communities” and “the pedagogical approaches that use those complex practices” (garcía & wei, 2014, p.20). translanguaging pedagogy makes space for students to draw on their full linguistic repertoires in both bilingual and english dominant classrooms. in bilingual classrooms, translanguaging pedagogy can lead to increase metalinguistic awareness and support bilingual identities (garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017). in the case of english dominant classrooms, teachers can enact translanguaging pedagogy by strengthening relationships between schools and bi/multilingual students’ families (zapata & laman, 2016). by its nature, translanguaging pedagogy is subversive to dominant monolingual linguistic ideologies and privileges the dynamic linguistic practices of students’ communities. by valuing the full linguistic repertoires of all students, translanguaging pedagogy becomes part of a linguistically sustaining curriculum that challenges linguistic inequities. second, in terms of its role as a theory of bilingualism, in garcía and wei’s (2014) foundational book on translanguaging, they define it as, “the enaction of language practices that use different features that had previously moved independently constrained by different histories, but that now are experienced against each other in speakers’ interactions as one new whole” (p.21). translanguaging is both a way to think about language that challenges static definitions of “standard” language and highlights the active nature of “languaging.” the emphasis is not on language, but rather on languaging, which is defined as “the simultaneous process of continuous becoming of ourselves and of our language practices, as we interact and make meaning in the world” (garcía & wei, 2014 p.8). subtractive schooling and the politics of caring in this article we draw on findings from an ethnographic study at seguín high school (pseudonym), which is in urban district in texas. seguín was composed of virtually all mexican students and was generationally diverse. the teachers were predominantly non-latinx. based on her observations and interactions, valenzuela (1999) contends that schools subtract value from the cultural capital that mexican american students bring to school in two significant translanguaging pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 33 ways. first, schools are actively engaged in the process of “de-mexicanization,” which deemphasizes and marginalizes students’ languages, cultures, and community-based identities. this is significant since this systematic exclusion of our students' cultures, languages, and identities impacts both student engagement and student academic achievement. second, a social effect of “de-mexicanization” is that by assimilating or “whitewashing” u.s.-born, mexican american youths’ identities (urrieta, 2016), schools impede the possibilities of connections forming between immigrant and u.s.-born, mexican youth. in this way, youths are unable to access the social capital important to academic success that can potentially be found in these relationships (coleman, 1988). in addition to the process of “de-mexicanization,” there is a mismatch in how mexican american students view education and how their teachers view it in that “teachers expect students to care about school in technical fashion before they care for them, while students expect teachers to care for them before they care about school” (valenzuela, 2005, p.83). this type of caring is labeled as aesthetic caring, “whose essence lies in an attention to things and ideas...rather than centering students’ learning around a moral ethic of caring that nurtures and values relationships” (valenzuela, 1999, p.22). these factors combine to create school environments that are not supportive of the cultural and linguistic resources that mexican and mexican american students bring to school, fostering a sense of estrangement from the dominant culture embodied in a school curriculum that is itself chauvinistic, privileging the histories, stories, and experiences of the dominant anglo group in u.s. society. this situation is exacerbated by the curricular impacts of educational policies such as the no child left behind act (nclb) and the shortage of latina/o teachers in our public schools (pulte, 2018; quiocho & rios, 2000). authentic caring offers a contrast to aesthetic caring. authentic caring, “emphasizes relations of reciprocity between teachers and students,” (valenzuela, 1999, p.61). in authentic caring, the students and teachers commit to a relationship that is built upon trust and vulnerability. valenzuela (1999) further argues that authentic caring is necessary but not sufficient, rather, “conceptualizations of educational ‘caring’ must more explicitly challenge the notion that assimilation is a neutral process so that cultural and language affirming curricula may be set into motion” (p.25). educators must leave behind color-blind curriculum and center discussions of race, difference, and power. salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 34 finally, at the heart of this conversation about caring and schooling is our vision of what we mean by the term education. at first glance, one might assume that education y educación mean the same thing, however, educación is a more expansive term than education. educación highlights: the family’s role of inculcating in children a sense of moral, social, and personal responsibility and serves as the foundation for all other learning. though inclusive of formal academic training, educación additionally refers to competence in the social world, wherein one respects the dignity and individuality of others. (valenzuela, 1999, p.23) educación is a folk model of education that is values-based, rather than human capital-based. in centering values, educación promotes the idea that if a person does not know how to be human and treat people with respect and affection, then academic knowledge and skills are immaterial. the distinction between educación and education is lost when we are forced to speak in a monolingual english repertoire. in a 2008 follow-up to subtractive schooling: u.s. mexican youth and the politics of caring, valenzuela builds on bartolomé’s (1994) understanding of political awareness to develop the idea of politically aware authentic caring. politically aware, authentic caring signifies a “commitment to social justice in ways that represent the authentic, collective interests of the mexican american community’s historic struggle for equity, fairness and due process” (valenzuela, 2008, p. 505). at seguín high school, valenzuela (1999) found that the youth born in the united states were “socially de-capitalized” by the teachers, administrators, and policies that resulted in the de-identification of their spanish language and cultural connection to mexico. in this case, the students who translanguaged were automatically seen as incompetent in the academic context and as semilingual (escamilla, 2006; rosa, 2016), alluding to the student’s putative inabilities to speak either language “correctly.” when we consider the colonial history of the southwestern united states, and how the united states seized 40 percent of the mexican lands in 1848 through the treaty of guadalupe de hidalgo (san miguel, 1998), we can begin to understand the origins and consider the potential of translanguaging pedagogies as a way to challenge dominant language ideologies in classrooms. translanguaging pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 35 re-envisioning care and translanguaging the work of educators who enact politically aware, authentic caring, is not complete if they do not honor, lift and systematically use their student’s translanguaging skills as part of their teaching and learning. when this is not the case, educators participate in the erasure of the bilingual linguistic repertoires, histories, and skills of students born in the united states. when, in contrast, they bring translanguaging into the lesson in appreciative ways, like through politically aware, authentic caring, they also recognize the political and power dimensions that are an undeniable part of our work as educators. for this to happen, teachers must view the complex linguistic resources of students who translanguage as a valuable resource and as a right, not as a problem to be solved or fixed by erasing such an important aspect of their identities (ruíz, 1984). in this article, we build upon the idea of politically aware, authentic caring and advocate for translanguaging as an additive component that must be present in our classrooms. we use curry’s (2016, 2021) model of authentic cariño, to outline the ways that we can see translanguaging pedagogy as an enactment of authentic cariño. curry (2016, 2021) builds upon valenzuela (1999) and on antrop-gonzález and de jesús (2006) conception of critical care, wherein “staff transcend the boundaries of traditional schooling and create social conditions and relationships that are more aligned with students’ cultural orientations, and which overlap with extended family life” (p.421) and “students also supported each other’s learning” (p.422). curry intentionally uses cariño instead of care “to decenter eurocentric maternal connotations of caring in favor of culturally and politically informed forms of care” (curry, 2021, p.16). for her, the tilde-carrying “ñ” communicates an appreciation and warmth that is missing from the english word “care.” within authentic cariño, curry calls out the importance of familial cariño, intellectual cariño, and critical cariño. familial cariño is built on a foundation of “reciprocity, trust, and connectedness between and among students and teachers” and ideally fosters connections with students’ families (curry, 2016, p. 892). educators who exhibit intellectual cariño “care about students’ intellectual development, aiming to foster their habits of mind and engagement with big ideas” and encourage them to “expand their perspectives in ways that enhance their capacity to make meaning and change” (curry, 2016, p.892). critical cariño, like the idea of “critical care” by antrop-gonzález and de jesús (2006), “refers to caring undertaken with historical and political salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 36 consciousness of students’ communities and a desire to interrupt inequity,” with a focus on “explicit attention to cultures of power with an aim toward helping students master dominant discourses while still valuing and sustaining their home cultures” (curry, 2016, p.892). taken together these three elements build upon and extend valenzuela’s earlier conceptions of care and directly connect with the goals of translanguaging pedagogy. in the next section, we provide concrete examples of how translanguaging pedagogy was an enactment of authentic cariño in fourth grade bilingual and english dominant classrooms and was a central part of individual and collective efforts to enact an additive schooling experience for mexican americans and other minoritized groups of students. classroom examples the first author engaged in a case study on how a fourth-grade team at molina elementary school (pseudonym) took up translanguaging pedagogy in literacy instruction and the impact this had on their students. in particular, she focused on the ways that translanguaging functioned as a linguistic practice and a pedagogy in one of the bilingual and one of the esl classrooms. she visited two fourth grade classrooms at molina for 16 weeks. she observed the literacy block for approximately three times per week and stayed for about one to two hours per visit. she also attended grade team meetings, interviewed the teachers and students, and collected pictures of student work. molina has similar student demographics to seguin high school, the site where the subtractive schooling and authentic care framework was developed. both schools are in urban school districts in texas. like seguín, molina’s student body is predominantly mexican with a mix of immigrant and u.s. born students. however, molina’s student body is more diverse in that it has central american, caribbean, black, middle eastern, and white students. in addition, in contrast to seguín, the teachers at molina are about an equal balance of latinx and white teachers. finally, at molina there are strong examples of the educators practicing authentic cariño that are often enacted through translanguaging pedagogy. we will highlight two examples of such teachers. ms. watson, one of the one-way dual language teachers, and ms. kamphaus, one of the esl teachers. ms. watson, who was in her fifth year of teaching, identifies as a white woman and is a sequential english/spanish bilingual who learned english from birth and spanish in childhood (genesee et al., 2004). the 18 translanguaging pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 37 students in ms. watson’s classroom were simultaneous bilinguals and were predominantly mexican, of varying generational statuses in the united states. we use the term mexican to broadly refer to students that had a connection to mexico. there was also a minority of students from guatemala, el salvador, and cuba. ms. kamphaus, who was in her tenth year of teaching, identifies as a white woman and is a monolingual english speaker who is learning spanish. six of the 16 students in ms. kamphaus’s class were designated as english language learners (ells) by the school district. they were predominantly mexican; the exception was a student from afghanistan. the remaining students were predominantly mexican, with the exception being one bi-racial, white and nigerian, student. it is important to note that ms. watson and ms. kamphaus were both mentor teachers for pre-service teachers from the university that this researcher was affiliated with. the pre-service teachers were in their classroom for two full days per week. each of the teachers were committed to creating classroom communities that honor students’ linguistic repertoires and support them to develop biliteracy. we use curry’s (2016, 2021) model of authentic cariño, to outline the ways that at molina we can see translanguaging as an enactment of authentic cariño in terms of familial cariño, intellectual cariño, and critical cariño. we will describe how each of the elements of authentic cariño were present across their classrooms. intellectual cariño explicitly encouraging translingual writing. at molina, translanguaging was integral to the teachers’ enactment of intellectual cariño. for example, ms. watson was committed to teaching her students literacy in english and spanish each day and made changes to her schedule to reach this goal. in their school district, a common model was to alternate the language of instruction for literacy based on the week or day. in her second year at molina ms. watson and the other dual language teacher on her team negotiated with their principal and district supervisor to pilot a new schedule where they taught an english literacy block in the morning and a spanish literacy block in the afternoon. the teachers proposed that giving students the opportunity to use both languages each day was integral to their biliteracy development. within each literacy block, the teachers modeled translanguaging and the students were able to draw on their full linguistic repertoire. for example, in the literacy mini-lessons, the teachers salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 38 implemented the preview-view-review instructional model (gómez et al., 2005) by strategically utilizing spanish and english for different parts of the lesson. at the beginning of the lesson the teacher shared the instructional goal and then continued to teach in english, and at the end reviewed the instructional goal in spanish. in a middle of the year reflection, both teachers expressed that they saw an increase in students’ developing biliteracy in comparison to the previous year when students were not given the opportunity to use both languages each day. in this way, the teachers showed a commitment to holding their students to the high standard of developing biliteracy and enacting intellectual cariño. one way that ms. kamphaus’s enacted intellectual cariño was when she engaged her students in an analysis of translingual writing. in her writing lessons, she often encouraged her students to read with an eye for the writer’s craft. in one unit they were writing poems for their families, many of whom were bilingual. ms. kamphaus chose to highlight translingual writing as a craft move. in this lesson, they read ode to la tortilla, a poem by gary soto, a mexican american poet. soto translanguages to authentically capture the bilingual experience of making tortillas with his mamá. ms. kamphaus encouraged her students to think about the audience of their poem and imagine if such purposeful bilingualism was a tool they would like to take up. in this example, ms. kamphaus encourages her students to engage in higher order thinking through a metalinguistic analysis of how authors use translanguaging. she shows that she is committed to developing her students’ biliteracy by giving them the opportunity to authentically use their full linguistic repertoires. familial cariño writing partnerships. at molina, familial cariño is at the heart of the community ethos around language practices. ms. watson’s classroom was a mix of immigrant and u.s.-born students who had a variety of home language practices. for the students to feel comfortable speaking, reading, and writing in english and spanish, they also needed to feel supported by each other. these linguistically flexible students demonstrated familial cariño when they showed grace for each other’s language practices. for example, when students were in peer writing partnerships and they found linguistic errors in each other’s writing, instead of focusing on their mistakes, they asked questions about the students’ meaning in their writing. the cooperation in the writing pairs was often seen in the partnerships that were composed of students born in translanguaging pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 39 the united states and immigrant students. this theme of intergenerational cooperation between the latina/o students is contrary to what is seen in subtractive schooling contexts where there is often a lack of cooperation between different latina/o groups that stems from school practices that serve to divide students (e.g., valenzuela, 1999). translanguaging pedagogy is crucial to developing a community that enacts familial cariño and is supportive of each other’s linguistic practices. in ms. kamphaus’s classroom formal and informal writing partnerships were also a common occurrence. in the unit described in the previous section, students supported each other in writing translingually for their bilingual families. the extent that the monolingual ms. kamphaus could help them was through providing translingual mentor texts and students with experience in bilingual education filled in the gaps in what she could do. for example, some of the students who had not learned how to write in spanish in school felt uncomfortable with representing their oral spanish in writing and more experienced students helped them write their poems into spanish for their families. in figure 1, we can see an example of a student who trusted their peer to support their insecurities in writing in spanish. they worked together to produce a writing product that honored their family’s full linguistic repertoires. familial cariño is at the core of this combination of student trust and making connections with students’ families. figure 1 natalie’s poem for her bilingual family that she wrote for in spanish with the help of a peer who had more experience writing in spanish. salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 40 critical cariño challenging conceptions of “standard” language. at molina, critical cariño was evident in how the teachers honored the students’ linguistic practices and did not require their language to fit a strict definition of standard language. for example, if ms. watson was speaking to a student in english and in their response, they translanguaged, she did not prompt the student to respond in english. by demonstrating linguistic flexibility, she challenged traditional notions of acceptable language practices. in an interview with ms. watson, she explained that she believed that each child has a unique linguistic repertoire that is shaped by their communities. her perspectives on language and latinx communities are heavily shaped by the three years she spent teaching and living in a mexican american community on the u.s.-texas border and her relationship with her bilingual mexican american partner and his family. ms. watson reflected that prior to living in the mexican american community she viewed spanish and english as discrete languages, however, now she realizes, “that’s not how it works.” she embraces translanguaging pedagogy because it allows students to be their “authentic selves.” by not forcing her students to fit into monolingual conceptions of language, she provided her students with an opportunity to be vulnerable and to develop their full linguistic repertoires. in ms. kamphaus’s classroom she enacted critical cariño through both guiding her students to examine their own linguistic repertoires and interrogate the idea of “standard english” (wiley & lukes, 1996). first, the students completed a language autobiography where they reflected on how they language in terms of understanding, speaking, reading, and writing. there was a special emphasis on who they were communicating with, the purpose of the communication, and their bi/multilingual language goals. the students shared their language autobiographies in class, learned about the language diversity within their classroom, and how they could support each other to reach their goals. next, ms. kamphaus built on this shared understanding of the language diversity in their classroom and fostered a classroom discussion that challenged the idea of “standard english” and reframed its place in the classroom. drawing from a critical translingual perspective (zapata, 2020), ms. kamphaus confronted the pervading deficit perspectives that linguistically and racially minoritized students often encounter. she encouraged her students to use their full linguistic repertoires, including multiple englishes, spanish, and pashto. through challenging conceptions of “standard” language, ms. watson and ms. kamphaus enacted critical cariño that reflected both interrupting traditional systems of translanguaging pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 41 linguistic power and preparing students for dominant discourses while honoring their communities. conclusion it is no coincidence that authentic cariño was enacted in similar ways across the dual language and esl classrooms. the teachers were a part of a close grade team that engaged in a “translanguaging community” (salmerón & kamphaus, 2021). their highly collaborative community was an essential aspect of how they enacted authentic cariño across their classrooms. they are an example of how educators who work with our bi/multilingual children can subvert subtractive schooling and enact authentic cariño through translanguaging pedagogy that honors students' full linguistic repertoires. translanguaging pedagogy is an antidote to subtractive schooling in two ways. first, by welcoming students’ full linguistic repertoires, it sustains their authentic home and community language practices. second, by encouraging students to use their full linguistic repertoires, it fosters connections between bi/multilingual students. in this way, translanguaging pedagogy is a critical way for teachers to challenge subtractive schooling. in addition, the ideological underpinnings of translanguaging are an integral part of politically aware, authentic caring. the language ideologies conveyed by teachers have a lasting impact on the ways not only that our students experience schooling, but also on their bi/multilingual identities. translanguaging pedagogy opens a space for teachers to make their heteroglossic language ideologies clear by valuing students' full linguistic repertoires. as we look back to the classroom examples above, we see how enacting this type of care might require for teachers and schools to restructure the ways in which they enact language instruction akin to the teachers at molina. this could mean advocating for translanguaging pedagogy at a school or district level and calling into question traditional notions of language separation in bilingual and esl classrooms. this advocacy work embodies the commitment to social justice that is a fundamental element of politically aware, authentic caring. as we look forward, there are many lingering questions. first, we are encouraged to think about what translanguaging pedagogy, as a part of a model of politically aware authentic caring, represents for the assessment of bilingual latina/o/x students. as the stakes of standard assessments rise and with the reality that students are often required to take standardized tests in english, what do these pressures mean for teachers that promote and utilize translanguaging salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 42 pedagogy? in addition, as more districts across the nation begin to develop two way dual language programs, bi/multilingual teachers are challenged to support the language development of more diverse groups of children who bring varying degrees and registers of both spanish and english. keeping a framework of politically aware authentic caring and authentic cariño at the forefront, how do teachers honor and continue to develop the linguistic repertoires of those students who have been historically marginalized? through direct conversations that name and challenge monoglossic language ideologies there is the potential to develop heteroglossic language ideologies that normalize bilingualism and honor students’ full linguistic repertoires. one important part of this conversation is the role of teachers of color. while ms. watson and ms. kamphaus are allies for bi/multilingual students because they do not have firsthand experience with the prejudices that many latina/o/x people face, they cannot engage in these types of discussions on a personal level in the way that a latina/o/x teacher might be able to. there is a national shortage of teachers of color (valenzuela, 2017) and a growing body of research points to the benefit of grow your own educator programs that develop and recruit teachers of color to teach in the communities that they are from (fenwick, 2001; gist, et al., 2019; skinner et al., 2011; valenzuela, 2016, 2017). we challenge researchers to take up this work of exploring and documenting the critical work that both teachers of color and white teachers do in this area. finally, similarly to how elementary students must be able to translanguage to express their full selves, we must translanguage to express ourselves. as three bilingual latinas writing this piece, we understand that meaning often cannot be directly translated and there are meanings that are missed when we are forced to express ourselves monolingually. for example, there are elements of cariño that are not expressed by care and elements of care that cariño does not speak to. the two terms are nuanced and each one has their own dimensions and derivatives. translanguaging allows us to capture nuances not otherwise possible. this manuscript sheds light onto the truly complex linguistic practices of our bi/multilingual children and the ways that they draw on translanguaging to communicate and be understood. as teacher educators, we ask how do we prepare educators to enact politically aware authentic care, authentic cariño and translanguaging pedagogy? in particular, what does this mean for teacher educators at minority serving universities preparing bi/multilingual pre-service teachers? we translanguaging pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 43 encourage teacher educators to consider enacting politically aware authentic care and authentic cariño and translanguaging pedagogy in their university classrooms by making space for bi/multilingual students to use their full linguistic repertoire. for example, teachers could give students the opportunity to produce translingual assignments, such as a multimodal presentation of their journey as meaning makers across their lifespan. the students could use the language of their memories in their presentations to authentically represent their bi/multilingual lived experiences. in this way translanguaging pedagogy, politically aware authentic caring, and authentic cariño can be viewed as part of a broader program of preparing bi/multilingual teachers to value authentic ways of bi/multilingual languaging and biliteracy development. salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 44 references antrop-gonzález, r., & de jesús, a. (2006). toward a theory of critical care in urban small school reform: examining structures and pedagogies of caring in two latino community based schools. international journal of qualitative studies in education: qse, 19(4), 409–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390600773148 bartolomé, l. (1994). beyond the methods fetish: toward a humanizing pedagogy. harvard educational review, 64(2), 173–195. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.64.2.58q5m5744t325730 baker, c. (2011). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. multilingual matters. canagarajah, s. (2011). codemeshing in academic writing: identifying teachable strategies of translanguaging. the modern language journal, 95(3), 401–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01207.x coleman, j. s. (1988). social capital in the creation of human capital. the american journal of sociology, 94, s95–s120. https://doi.org/10.1086/228943 creese, a., & blackledge, a. (2010). translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: a pedagogy for learning and teaching? the modern language journal, 94(1), 103–115. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00986.x curry, m. w. (2016). will you stand for me? authentic cariño and transformative rites of passage in an urban high school. american educational research journal, 53(4), 883–918. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216660380 curry, m. w. (2021). authentic cariño: transformative schooling for latinx youth. teachers college press. escamilla, k. (2006). semilingualism applied to the literacy behaviors of spanish-speaking emerging bilinguals: bi-illiteracy or emerging biliteracy? teachers college record, 108(11), 2329–2353. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00784.x fenwick, l. t. (2001). pattern of excellence: policy perspective on diversity in teaching and school leadership. southern education foundation. garcía, o. (2009). education, multilingualism and translanguaging in the 21st century. in t. skutnabb-kangas, r. phillipson, a. k. mohanty, & m. panda (eds.), social justice through multilingual education (pp.140–158). multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847691910-011 garcía-mateus, s., & palmer, d. (2017). translanguaging pedagogies for positive identities in two-way dual language bilingual education. journal of language, identity & education, 16(4), 245–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1329016 garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging and education. palgrave macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385765_5 genesee, f., paradis, j., & crago, m. b. (2004). dual language development & disorders: a handbook on bilingualism & second language learning, paul h brookes publishing. gist, c. d., bianco, m., & lynn, m. (2019). examining grow your own programs across the teacher development continuum: mining research on teachers of color and nontraditional educator pipelines. journal of teacher education, 70(1), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487118787504 gómez, l., freeman, d., & freeman, y. (2005). dual language education: a promising 50–50 model. bilingual research journal, 29(1), 145-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2005.10162828 martínez, r. a., & martinez, d. c. (2020). chicanx and latinx students’ linguistic repertoires: translanguaging pedagogy association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 45 moving beyond essentialist and prescriptivist perspectives. in j. macswan & c. j. faltis (eds.), codeswitching in the classroom: critical perspectives on teaching, learning, policy, and ideology (pp. 225–246). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315401102-10 otheguy, r., garcía, o., & reid, w. (2015). clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: a perspective from linguistics. applied linguistics review, 6(3), 281-307. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2015-0014 pulte, g. (2018). bilingual education in texas: a look at the numbers, journal of bilingual education research & instruction, 20(1), 2-23. quiocho, a., & rios, f. (2000). the power of their presence: minority group teachers and schooling. review of educational research, 70(4), 485-528. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070004485 rosa, j. d. (2016). standardization, racialization, languagelessness: raciolinguistic ideologies across communicative contexts. journal of linguistic anthropology, 26(2), 162–183. https://doi.org/10.1111/jola.12116 ruíz, r. (1984). orientations in language planning. nabe journal, 8(2), 15–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/08855072.1984.10668464 salmerón, c., & kamphaus, j. (2021). fostering critical translingual writing in an elementary english dominant classroom. language arts, 99(2), 87-98. san miguel, g. (1998). from the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo to hopwood: the educational plight and struggle of mexican americans in the southwest. harvard educational review, 68(3), 353–413. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.3.k01tu242340242u1 skinner, e., teresa, e. g. m., & schultz, b. (2011). grow your own teachers: grassroots change for teacher education. teachers college press. urrieta, l., jr. (2016). colonial structures, identities, and schooling: my take on multicultural education and white supremacy. in f.e. objakor & j. martinez (eds.), latin@ voices in multicultural education: from invisibility to visibility in higher education (p.95-120). nova science publishers. valenzuela, a. (1999/2010). subtractive schooling: u.s-mexican youth and the politics of caring. suny press. valenzuela, a. (2005). subtractive schooling, caring relations, and social capital in the schooling of us-mexican youth. in l. weis & m. fine (eds.). beyond silenced voices: class, race, and gender in united states schools, (83–94). suny press. valenzuela, a. (2008). ogbu’s voluntary and involuntary minority hypothesis and the politics of caring. in j. ogbu (ed.), minority status, oppositional culture, and schooling (pp. 496–530). taylor, francis, & routledge group. valenzuela, a. (2016). growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice curriculum for educators of latino/a youth. teachers college press. valenzuela, a. (2017). grow your own educator programs: a review of the literature with an emphasis on equity-based approaches. intercultural development research association south. valenzuela, a., salmerón, c., & batista-morales, n. (2021). subtractive schooling and authentic cariño: translanguaging in the bilingual and dual language classroom. in d. schwarzer, m. petrón, & c. larrotta (eds.), bilingualism and bilingual education: conceptos fundamentales (pp. 9-20). peter lang. wiley, t. g., & lukes, m. (1996). english-only and standard english ideologies in the us. tesol quarterly, 30(3), 511–535. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587696 salmerón, batista-morales, & valenzuela association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 46 williams, c. (1994). arfarniad o ddulliau dysgu ac addysgu yng nghyd-destun addysg uwchradd ddwyieithog, [an evaluation of teaching and learning methods in the context of bilingual secondary education). university of wales, bangor. retrieved from http://ethos.bl.uk/orderdetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.385775 zapata, a. (2020). cultivating a critical translingual landscape in the elementary language arts classroom. language arts, 97(6), 384–390. zapata, a., & laman, t. t. (2016). “i write to show how beautiful my languages are”: translingual writing instruction in english-dominant classrooms. language arts, 93(5), 366. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 76 cap(tioning) resistance on stage: chicana/latina graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio larissa m. mercado-lópez laura alamillo cristina herrera california state university, fresno abstract this article examines the recent tradition of decorating and re-fashioning graduation caps, also known as mortarboards, by chicanx/latinx graduates. we describe this practice as storyboarding, a form of micro-storytelling tales of chicana/latina agency and resistance that counter, expose, and challenge institutionalized forms of racism. many instances of storyboarding take place in the context of hispanic serving institutions (hsi), specifically during the chicanx/latinx graduation commencement ceremonies held at many campuses. while these events are celebratory, these past few years, alongside the celebrations, the ceremonies have also become spaces of critique and proclamation of the graduates’ views towards the current administration’s policies aimed at undocumented immigrants and people of mexican and latin american descent. keywords: college graduation, activism doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.407 http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.407 mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 77 introduction shortly after donald trump’s inauguration in january 2017, a chicanx/latinx1 graduation at a large hispanic serving institution (hsi) in california took place, hosting approximately 1,000 chicanx/latinx graduates and their 10,000 family members, friends, and former teachers and mentors. a committee consisting of faculty members, staff, and student volunteers was responsible for planning, coordinating, and fundraising for the graduation ceremony. it was a community gathering resulting in a sold-out event, leaving many families and friends waiting outside the event center. as faculty at this institution who regularly attend the event, we have observed the grad caps over the years, noticing their running themes and the trends of the time that they mirrored. even though there were decorative caps before this particular ceremony in 2017, the shift in the themes presented by the graduates at this event was evident. we argue that the political context sparked by donald trump’s anti-immigrant sentiments (immigrants as thieves, lazy, rapists, and “bad hombres”) impelled the change in narratives presented on the grad caps. the politicized nature of the caps was not new, as prior to trump’s presidency, graduates displayed messages that expressed solidarity with dreamers and the pro-immigrant hunger; but while the awareness of anti-immigrant attitudes was apparent on previous caps, it was evident that the election caused a spark in the more politicized and creative voicing of these more recent perspectives. the cap decorating phenomenon has captured the attention of local and national media outlets, many of which emphasize the caps’ inspirational messages. in a recent article in a local central valley online newspaper, vida en el valle (ortiz-briones, 2018), the caps are highlighted and celebrated for sending a variety of cultural and political messages. describing the importance of the use of both english and spanish, the article emphasizes the graduates’ displays of pride in their families and community. the caps align with the previous years’ consistent messaging around pride, connection to their families, and a sense of overcoming obstacles. even though these are the dominant messages, the celebratory event, consistent with similar celebrations across the country, also brought out critiques of current events. 1 the terms chicanx and latinx are being increasingly adopted by institutions and people who believe terms that end in “a/o” exclude those who do not identify with the gender binary. though not all commencement ceremonies for chicanx/latinx graduates utilize this ending, we choose to use it because it is part of the dominant hashtag that was used to categorize and share the caps. graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 78 in our review of 100 graduation caps worn by chicana/latina graduates, we examine what we identify as three overarching themes: the current political landscape of anti-immigrant sentiments and policies; feminist themes and “refashionings” of latina identity; and expressions of family pride and community belonging. through these themes, the caps make politically charged and subversive statements that speak to what it means to be latinx/chicanx in the current climate, and engage in “a process of becoming conscious ‘historical actors (espinoza, 2003) who invoke the past in order to re-mediate it so that it becomes a resource for current and future action” (gutiérrez, 2008, p.154). beyond celebrating their college graduation, these graduates capitalize on their momentary high-visibility to make public their political views, thereby challenging the traditional decorum of the graduation ceremony. researcher subjectivity: bearing witness to resistance this project is two years in the making. as faculty participants and name-readers for our university’s yearly chicanx/latinx graduation, the largest ethnic-themed graduation ceremony in the country, we were struck by the creativity and political messaging of many of the decorated caps. because we noticed several politically-charged and subversive messages in 2016, the year we began photographing the caps, we decided to work together at the intersections of our disciplines in education in language, literacy and culture, women’s studies, and chicano and latin american studies on this collaborative project. as chicana colleagues and good friends who have collaborated on other projects as well, we were excited about exploring our research synergies within the context of the study of graduation caps. importantly, as we have worked on this project, an interest among latinx academics in documenting and critically examining these caps as texts and forms of resistance has grown, though none have produced such scholarship to date. we anticipate that as scholars take on this work, future research will incorporate interviews with graduates, as well. storyboarding as syncretic testimonio testimonios are “narrative accounts situated in the subjectivity particularity, and sociocultural and historical reality in which people co-construct their understanding of their social world and of themselves” (jaramillo, 2007). based on this definition, syncretic testimonio, proposed by cindy cruz and conceptualized by kris gutiérrez, is “a hybrid text, a sociopolitical narrative shared orally and witnessed in and intimate respectful learning community and, at the mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 79 same time, written using the traditional conventions of academic texts and editorial assistance of peers and instructors to develop students’ new understandings about themselves and their relations to the immediate and social world” (gutiérrez, 2008, p. 149). gutiérrez (2008) argues that syncretic learning “reorganizes every day and school-based literacy practices and can help support the development of powerful literacies and challenge current models of academic literacy” (p.149) we observed the caps’ messages as a new literacy emerging, one that draws on the graduates’ social locations and histories, and that is in direct opposition to the “accepted” forms of literacy in p-12 and conceptualizations and expectations of literacy in higher education. in addition, we see these caps as examples of what scholar dolores delgado bernal (2002) defines as a form of knowledge that “elucidates latinas/latinos’ multidimensional identities and can address the intersectionality of racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of oppression” (p. 108). this work is also inspired by ghiso and low’s (2012) work on micronarratives in which they describe how students use forms of multimodal literacies, such as comics, to draw upon their own histories, knowledges, and experiences of immigration to expand traditional forms of reading and writing. we agree with ghiso and low (2012) in that because schooling for children of immigrant backgrounds promotes experiences of americanization practices, there are few spaces where children or young adults can freely express their ethnic/cultural identities. accordingly, “schooling in the united state has entailed negotiating their identities along a preconceived model of what it means to be american including the message that success requires shedding their ethnic identities and smoothing over their struggles” (ghiso and low, 2012, p. 26). through this lens, graduates’ caps present more meaningful, relevant, and critical views of their social worlds in a creative way which until recently has not been used as a form of creative and political messaging. historicizing the current political context/landscape it is critical to understand some of the more recent anti-immigrant legislation that has shaped attitudes and tone today, particularly in california. in 1994, then-california governor pete wilson put forth the “save our state” voter initiative, or proposition 187, which implemented a screening system to prohibit undocumented children and families from receiving health care, public education, and other services in california, while at the same time graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 80 criminalizing any persons aiding undocumented communities. on the heels of momentous demographic shifts and census projections, many saw this as an attack against a growing minoritized population, namely chicano/latino communities. proposition 187 would later be deemed unconstitutional but not before igniting a nativist firestorm and hostile political climate against communities of color. this climate was expressed in proposition 227, a second voter initiative restricting the use of bilingual education in public schools. in the years following, other states began following the nativist, anti-immigrant policy in california by adopting similar restrictions to the use of the languages other than english in public schools. despite early efforts in california to prevent undocumented families from access to health care and an education, today much of the state espouses a pro-immigrant stance by establishing itself as a sanctuary state—a move that the trump administration has publicly condemned. in his infamous june 2015 speech announcing his presidential bid, donald trump said the following: it's true, and these are the best and the finest. when mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. they're not sending you. they're not sending you. they're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they're rapists. and some, i assume, are good people.” (trump, 2016) these declarations sparked outrage across the nation as many viewed these comments as promoting xenophobic attitudes towards mexican immigrants. the response to this statement was overwhelmingly negative as the public questioned his descriptions and generalizations of mexican immigrants. however, though many voiced their discontent, others supported his assertion, prompting this rhetoric to take on many forms. though the administration shared these views in an open manner, many of the attitudes were already evident across the nation and manifested in policy in states such as alabama and arizona. the anti-immigrant camp was further validated and emboldened when, shortly after arpaio was convicted of police misconduct, donald trump pardoned him of all wrongdoing. the anti-immigrant discourse, existing in states such as alabama and arizona, consequently became much more evident and accepted with promoting a scapegoat mentality. in his muchanticipated immigration speech, donald trump stated, mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 81 let me tell you who it does not serve. it does not serve you the american people. doesn't serve you. when politicians talk about immigration reform, they usually mean the following: amnesty, open borders, lower wages. immigration reform should mean something else entirely. it should mean improvements to our laws and policies to make life better for american citizens.” (trump, 2016) the proposed wall between the u.s. and mexico also implies that the wall will protect americans from crime, drugs, and violence. trump’s (2016) paternalistic rhetoric turns into fear mongering through the following assertions, then there is the issue of security. countless innocent american lives have been stolen because our politicians have failed in their duty to secure our borders and enforce our laws like they have to be enforced. i have met with many of the great parents who lost their children to sanctuary cities and open borders. shortly after trump’s statements, recognizing their visibility in a large public venue, graduates seized the opportunity to decorate their caps in response and opposition to the administration and supporters of anti-immigrant and anti-latino sentiments. by narrating alternative views of their immigrant experiences, graduates presented their families with more affirming and realistic descriptions of their experiences. we draw from the concept of micronarratives to advance our own notion of storyboarding2. playing on the technical term of “mortorboards,” informally known as graduation caps, we propose reading the messages and decorations on the caps as a form of multimodal storytelling in which graduates critique their political climate and anti-immigrant policies, express pride in family histories, and declare chicana/latina feminist sensibilities. we argue that this storyboarding functions as testimonios of agency, resistance, political statements, and an honoring of family histories and community relations. borrowing from gutiérrez’s theory of sociocritical literacy (2008), which underscores students’ literacies of their social context as they are shaped by their histories and knowledges from every day, lived experience, we suggest that the act of decorating caps and donning them during a specific time of year--college graduation--functions as a new type of literacy mode and practice of 2 storyboarding is used in advertising and cartoon making and provides a graphic or text representation on how your story will unfold. unlike storyboarding, our concept of storyboarding captures a form of storytelling that encompasses the past, present, and future. graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 82 storyboarding that communicates chicana/latina college graduates’ views of identity and provides critical commentary on the current political landscape that has waged war on brown and black bodies through historical racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. methods capturing images and stories the collecting of images of chicana/latina grad caps or as some call, mortorboards, began in may 2016 during the 2016 chicanx/latinx graduation at a large california state university campus. the process included taking photographic images of the graduates as they were lining up in the event center. a student assistant collected consent forms and documented and photographed each image with a tablet. in addition to these photographs, we were able to use photographs of caps from a faculty member who was documenting the caps,3 as well. since then, we have continued to collect these images at the graduation ceremony (2017 and 2018) but have expanded our efforts by using images from other sources to trace national trends. hence, we viewed caps from various websites such as remezcla, twitter, facebook, pinterest, instagram, and other latinx themed websites. many caps were tagged with the hashtag #latinxgradcaps, which facilitated our efforts to find the caps. to this date we have reviewed hundreds of caps, but for this project we are focusing on a representative sample of 100 latinx grad caps that reflected the dominant themes that emerged in our research of caps over the past two years. though we used the hashtag #latinxgradcaps to find the images, caps by women constituted over 90% of the images. thus, we decided to limit our analysis to women to strengthen the discussion of our themes. for the purpose of this article we focused on three themes that best represented the graduates’ responses to trump’s presidential campaign and election and the general political landscape. results “undocumented and unafraid”: stories of im/migration and borderless dreams in review of the caps within the political landscape theme, six caps best represent the graduates’ response to the current rhetoric. the caps in this category reflected an overall sentiment of being “undocumented and unafraid,” a rallying cry among dreamers pushing for 3 we thank our colleague, professor adela santana, and student, polet campos-melchor, for photographing the caps and sharing images with us. mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 83 the dream act. within the context of the dominant anti-immigrant discourse, the graduates re-fashioned their caps to create a counternarrative to the views towards immigrants and their families. in a photograph documented by “popsugar latina,” (verdugo, 2018) a beautifully adorned cap reads “dreams bigger than your borders,” featuring the favianna rodríguez “migration is beautiful” butterfly. this particular cap references the experience of immigration to convey persistence and determination. by depicting rodríguez’s butterfly, the graduate presents a highly politicized symbol of the immigrant movement in california. rodríguez, a bay area artist, developed the migration butterfly in response to hateful depictions of immigrants. culturestrike, the artist’s collective’s website, reads: a perfect example of how art intervenes playfully and politically, the migration is beautiful butterfly proposes a new way to think about migration, rooted in movement, transformation, and captivating grace…the butterfly image and tagline quickly emerged as an approachable way to reimagine borders as permeable rather than militarized, reinvigorating a metaphor that many migrants have looked to for generations (culturestrike). the migration is beautiful butterfly developed under former president obama’s presidency was used to call attention to inhumane immigrant policies; it has since then become a highlyrecognized symbol for migration. the butterfly itself is available on the culturestrike website, easily downloaded for a wide audience to use to promote immigrant rights. a “dreams without borders” depicting the united states and mexican flag and a “gracias a mi mamá y papá” phrase on the cap by a twitter site @weareboldlatinas demonstrates a similar tone of perseverance and tenacity despite the steady tone of the enforcement of borders and creation of walls. the imagining of a borderless world mirrors the dreams of recent graduates. many recent graduates leave undergraduate studies with high aspirations and dreams towards upward mobility. the dreams without borders cap reflects a sense of limitless possibilities. in addition to caps of perseverance and hope, some displayed tones of re-appropriation of phrases that invoke the myth that immigrants take jobs from american workers. a cap shown on the twitter @monicapargam reads, “my parents crossed the border so i could cross the stage,” shows how the stage and the border are compared to each other as potential graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 84 obstacles. another from refinery 29 (2018) proudly reads “job stealing immigrant.” in a humorous tone, graduates claim some of those identities imposed on immigrants and subversively profess pride in phrases such as one shown on pinterest saved by i.pinmg.com: “ask me for my papers, and i’ll show you my diploma.” this cap, although humorous, references the current ice raids occurring in states across united states. in this case, the graduate responds that not only does she have her papers, but she has another form of papers— a college degree. graduates who responded specifically to anti-immigrant sentiments were also critiquing, challenging, and describing a sense of hope. by presenting an “undocumented and unafraid” message, graduates are also asserting that despite the views towards immigrants, they will not be prevented from moving forward, thereby countering the media’s prominent portrayal of immigrants as “in the shadows.” finally, speaking to the process of collective conscientization and political progression, one cap by instagram user @beatrizvf09 represented on univision’s coverage of grad caps expresses, “once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. you cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore” (liendo, 2017). this quote by united farm worker union leader cesar chavez signifies the overall sentiment of the caps. honoring family, histories of migration, and community latinx education scholars have noted the ways in which eurocentric models of literacy negatively impact latinx family structures in primary school settings (torres and hurtado-vivas, 2011; delgado gaitán, 2012). within these eurocentric models, latinx families have been unfairly stereotyped as “low-achieving,” not caring about education, and not valuing reading and writing, for example (torres and hurtado-vivas, 2011; delgado gaitán, 2012). as evidenced by the current political climate (and historically, to be sure), these stereotypes of latinx families as inherently dysfunctional, abusive, and violent reach beyond the educational settings. but chicana/latina graduation caps confront head-on these harmful stereotypes by honoring their family members, particularly mothers, as models for their academic achievement. caps point to familial sacrifice, collective success, and achievement that uphold latinx families as major sources of knowledge, rich histories, and pride. many of the messages are written in spanish or english, or a combination of the two, denoting the graduates’ multilingual heritages. the choice mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 85 of using spanish only, we claim, positions the graduates’ parents as the intended audience and recipient of these messages, which creates an insider community within the typically formal confines of the graduation ceremony. adopting the well-known mexican proverb, “nos quieren enterrar pero olvidan que somos semillas” (they wanted to bury us, but they forgot we were seeds), one photograph in a pinterest post featuring a cap by a 2016 latina graduate (s. roman, n.d.), shows this phrase in white lettering. along with the proverb, there are a number of images the graduate glued on the cap that reflect chicanx/latinx culture. the first image is that of a mexican woman, particularly the historic “adelita”, a female soldier who fought alongside men during the mexican revolution of 1910. the bullets that drape across her chest are a hallmark of the adelita rebel who protested the oppressive mexican government. although the adelita is wearing a traditional mexican dress embroidered in the mexican flag’s national colors of red, green, and white, her flexed bicep harks back to another emblematic wartime mythic figure, rosie the riveter, who was used as a patriotic image during world war ii to encourage women to enter the labor force while american men fought overseas. in the graduate’s cap, however, this woman’s brown skin and confident facial expression are used as a distinctly chicana/latina role model, honoring the brown female worker whose muscles are formed as a result of intense physical labor. alongside adelita’s raised bicep are two yellow flowers that are displayed near mexican cacti, or nopales. although not stated explicitly, the nopales hint at another well-known, often humorous mexican expression to “tener el nopal en la frente,” which literally translates to, “have a cactus on one’s forehead,” a symbol of mexican racial identity. this graduate proudly dons the symbols of her cultural heritage. the honoring of immigrant parents is a recurring message on the graduation caps. in another 2016 photo from the website, mitú, a latina’s cap says in white cursive writing, “cuando me vean volar recuerden que ustedes me pintaron las alas. lo logramos mamá y papá” (when you see me flying, remember that you painted my wings. we did it, mom and dad) (rodríguez-jiménez, 2016). two monarch butterflies sit atop pink flowers. the butterflies, long a symbol of migration, point to the latina graduate’s immigrant parents, who sacrificed so that their daughter could achieve a college education. for this graduate, her college diploma is not solely an individual achievement. she views her parents as having also earned the diploma graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 86 through their sacrifices and nurturance. significantly, this insistence on recognizing the collective efforts of family so that one daughter could graduate, is a confrontation of the mythic american dream that values individualism and one person’s hard work. invoking themes of familial immigration and labor, a 2018 photo from the same website, mitú, features a latina’s cap with the statement, “hija orgullosa de inmigrantes” (proud daughter of immigrants) (mesa, 2018). hand-painted red roses and white tulips flank the words. although the statement is relatively short in comparison to other latina caps, this seemingly simple statement is provocative in its refusal to erase her family’s history of migration in favor of assimilation. as a proud daughter of immigrants, we know this graduate is a united states citizen, but in her deliberate choice of words, she privileges her parents’ status over hers. she is their daughter, and her diploma is as much due to their migration as it is her own hard work. the tone does not denote a false idealization of her parents as migrants or a recycling of the archaic “rags to riches” mythos. her pride is not in herself for achieving a college education; rather, she is proud of them, and her diploma is a symbolic gift for them from her. at our institution’s 2016 chicanx/latinx graduation ceremony, the largest of its kind, one chicana graduate showed us her cap with the phrase, “they migrated so i graduated.” between these letters are two names, that of her parents, “paula” and “david.” above their names resides a small clipping of a mexican flag, in addition to three red roses. by identifying the country of her parents’ birth, she pays homage to her family’s homeland. like the graduate we reference in the paragraph above, this chicana similarly chooses to name mexico, rather than the united states, as a point of origin and place of cultural memory. the following year’s chicanx/latinx graduation ceremony featured similar themes. one latina graduate’s cap read, “my parents crossed the border, so i can cross this stage.” rhinestones and glitter form the only borders, a subtle critique of the actual, physical border her parents crossed. particularly compelling in this cap’s message is the suggestion of crossing literal and metaphorical borders, an allusion to the anzaldúan concept of the new mestiza’s daily border crossings (anzaldúa, 1987). this first-generation latina finds common ground with her parents’ story of migration and struggle. in walking the stage, she is enacting her own type of border-crossing. as a site of racial and economic privilege, the graduation stage and formal mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 87 graduation etiquette, such as handshakes, are critiqued in her deliberate use of the language of border-crossing. as a college graduate, she is trespassing those elite spaces that were not designed for people of color. further, her parents metaphorically join her on this elite stage, breaking down those borders that attempt to keep them out. in a 2017 photo from the website, remezcla, one graduate wrote, “the [rose] that grew from concrete is a product of immigrants” (simón, 2017). red roses cover most of the cap, including one that is a visual replacement for the word “rose” in the statement. indeed, floral images are also used in caps that reflect pride in family migration stories. but in a different manner, this graduate hints at her individual hardships alongside her parents’ migration. the reference to concrete suggests someone who has been stepped on or looked over, much as we typically pay little to no attention to the ground that holds us up as we walk. if this latina graduate has been rendered invisible due to interlocking systems of oppression, this cap heightens her visibility, forcing us to look at her, to recognize her (and her parents’) hard work and sacrifice. in yet another critique of the american dream, this graduate acknowledges that she is a “product” of immigrant parents. while she does allude to her own hard work, the recognition of her parents combats the simplistic ideal that hard work alone is enough. in a lighthearted yet critical acknowledgement of familial sacrifice, one 2017 remezcla graduation photo features the words, “i’ve been dreaming of you...para mi familia” on the graduate’s cap (simón, 2017). lest we forget that the words are taken from the late tejano music superstar selena quintanilla’s song, “dreaming of you,” her image is emblazoned on the cap. taken from a well-known photo of selena holding her grammy award, the graduate replaces the grammy; selena is instead holding a squared scrap of paper that reads “diploma.” as with the graduate who identifies the mexican adelita, here, too, selena is used as a chicana role model of resilience and history. selena’s fashion sense, her business-savviness, and unmatched talent are all invoked in the image the graduate uses. like selena, whose family remained a source of inspiration and collaboration, this graduate acknowledges her parents and entire family for their important role in her graduation achievement. feminist re/fashionings of chicana/latina identity though #latinxgradcaps was an attempt by the founders of latina rebels to create a space on social media for sharing and curating caps by latinxs across the gender spectrum, graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 88 women dominate the images tagged with the grad cap hashtag. while latino men decorate their caps, as well, the dominant representation of latinas aligns with feminized social media practices, such as that of taking “selfies,” an act of self-representation in which the person taking the photo is also the subject. though the graduation caps are the subjects of these photos, the caps function as products and representations of the women, and their photographs are captured or commissioned by the women themselves. the use of “i,” “yo,” “mi,” “us,” and other similar pronouns in the caps’ text emphasizes that the women are speaking through their caps--often in response to patriarchal and racist constructions of latina womanhood that have vilified latinas and their bodies (chávez, 2004; gutiérrez, 2009). through the caps, latinas challenge patriarchal constructions of latina womanhood and re/fashion their identities in ways that incorporate their new status as “educated” into their identities. brown immigrant women have long been vilified through anti-immigrant discourse as hypersexual, abusers of social welfare, and threats to national security as “incubators” of terrorists (chávez, 2004; gutiérrez, 2009; lugo-lugo & bloodsworth-lugo, 2014), but the 2016 trump presidential campaign emboldened anti-immigrant activists to renew and strengthen their attacks. though chicana and latina feminists have engaged in political resistance to these ideas for decades, the election of trump to the presidency reignited mainstream feminist activity around immigrant women and women of color. the phrase “nevertheless, she persisted,” in recognition of senator elizabeth warren’s insistent to be heard during a senate hearing, also became a ubiquitous slogan of the movement to highlight the efforts women have had to make to be visible, to be heard, and to create change. the influence of this feminist rallying cry can be seen in a cap shared by paola pérez moreno, a recent graduate of the university of connecticut, on which she inscribed “sin embargo, ella persistió” (@paolaprezmoreno), a direct translation of “nevertheless, she persisted.” though the women’s marches were heavily critiqued by feminists of color, many latinas have been able to strategically draw from and engage with mainstream forms of activism in ways that are meaningful to them. nonetheless, amidst the resurgence of mainstream feminist activism, latinas continue to draw from their own activist histories. harkening to the chicana feminist movement of the mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 89 1960s and 70s, one of the most dominant graduation cap messages is “chicana power,” a short but effective proclamation of power and identity that is usually accompanied by an image of a raised fist. on many caps, the variation “xicana” is used to denote indigenous identification and resistance; xicana feminist writer cherríe moraga explains that she “spells xicana and xicano (chicana and chicano) with an x (the nahuatl spelling of the ‘ch’ sound) to indicate a re emerging política, especially among young people, grounded in indigenous american belief systems and identities (moraga, 2011, p. xxi). in an instagram post, account user @annita_x shares her pink cap with the phrase “xicana power” (2017) displayed prominently on top; in fact, the pre-cut letters are so wide that the words flow over the border of the cap. the cap also features a cactus beneath the phrase with a bright yellow cactus flower as the “o” in “power.” the cactus, a plant that is known for its ability to withstand a harsh desert climate and to store water for long periods of time, can be read as a symbol of resistance and resilience under hostile conditions--much like the chicana feminists who experienced hostility within both the chicano and feminist movements. through the caps, graduates also appear to negotiate and reconcile competing identities, such as being pretty and educated. one of the more unexpected trends was the use of the words “bonita” and “chula” (both forms of “pretty”) as identifiers. these words are boldly juxtaposed with words with more negative connotations, such as “cabrona” (which can mean “hard-headed” or “stubborn”) and “chingona” (which can mean an “aggressive” woman or, in a more positive sense, a “badass”); bonita and chula are also juxtaposed with words that are not typically associated with prettiness, such as “educada” (educated). the association of being educated, or smart, with looking unattractive is not just a u.s. construct, but is evident in latin american telenovelas such as “betty la fea,” where the anti-hero, betty, is ambitious and smart but has exaggerated “ugly” looks. for instance, instagram user @chiquillachillona’s cap reads “educada te ves mas bonita” (educated, you look prettier). similarly, a cap reposted by @yarel_ramos, originally photographed by @malulani_, reads, “con diploma te ves más bonita” (with a diploma you look prettier). rather than reject their “chula” looks, which have been exploited through the hypersexualization of latina bodies by white supremacy, the latina graduates engage in a third space refashioning of the self through the reconciliation of their “chula” and “educada” identities. graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 90 as noted previously, gendered epithets such as cabrona and chingona also became opportunities for subverting their negative connotations and using them to reimagine the self. cabrona, a term like many others whose meaning depends on context, can be used to describe a girl or woman who is hard-headed or stubborn, and in a more extreme sense, a brat, a “dumbass,” or a bitch. while the term is used as an insult for women, it is often used to acknowledge an ostentatious display of masculinity and can function as a compliment for men. in her instagram post, magdalena, instagram user @iwasputthereforareason, photographs her mother holding her decorated cap which reads, “mama tu hija cabrona lo hico” (sic) (mom, your stubborn daughter did it) (2018). in her caption magdalena writes, mom we have had so many bad and so many good memories even tho you were not always there i know u always loved me i know i have given you so many problems i know i have put you through so much hell ... but i promise mom i'm trying. ima be so successful just watch i know u just think i’m the cabrona but ima take care of u too. i know i only pay one of ur bills too mom but ima take care of you i promise just wait and see, love you mom(@iwasputthereforareason) here, magdalena provides context for her cabrona identity, describing herself as a defiant and troublesome daughter. insisting that she is trying to become successful, magdalena suggests that there is more to her than her cabrona identity and that one day she will be taking care of her mother. the repeated promising further speaks to her stubbornness--her unrelenting persistence and assurance that she will become a success. while being cabrona has been the source of strife between magdalena and her mother, magdalena reimagines the quality as a motivation and formula for her success. in response to her daughter’s post, her mother, instagram user @gonzalez_n66, comments, “no baby girl i'm already and have been so proud of you. only by being who you are and what you have become is all i ask from you my little cabrona. you did it.” here, the mother affirms her daughter’s cabrona identity while citing it as the source of her success. an expression found on several hats, such as on one by @disastrous_mess (2017), reads “chingona, cabrona, y con diploma.” this expression uses not just one, but two epithets. like cabrona, chingona is sometimes used as an insult for women who are perceived to be too aggressive or masculine. however, recently latinas have reclaimed the word to describe those mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 91 who challenge norms, assert autonomy, are fearless, are powerful, or who satisfy their own definition of “badass” (rojas, 2018). in “how i define my chingona fire” (2017) chicana feminist poet angela aguirre writes, a chingona is any woman who chooses to live life on her own terms. period. she is the scholar and the hoe. at the same damn time. or she is neither. the point is: she gets to choose. and whatever choice she makes, is the right one (aguirre, 2017). the chingona identity aligns with third wave feminist conceptions of identity as contradictory and multiplicitous (heywood & drake, 1997). listing the insults along with “diploma,” the cap’s owner jyssika, instagram account user @disastrous_mess, presents herself as a triple threat— stubborn, powerful, and educated—a threat to any regime that expects brown women to be passive, disempowered, and uneducated. here jyssika invokes gutiérrez’s (2008) articulation of a sociocritical third space to name and reconstruct herself at the intersections of tensions embodied by the cabrona, chingona, and educated identifiers. conclusion we view storyboarding graduates as “agents of knowledge who participate in intellectual discourse that links experience, research, community, and social change” (delgado bernal, 2002, p. 113). the text on the caps leverages the graduates’ linguistic repertoire and challenges the monolingual views of bilingualism. such expansive views of bilingualism and emergent bilinguals as being able to balance various language practices challenge hierarchies of linguistic repertoires in the classroom (garcía and wei, 2014). the graduates’ use of spanish and english on the caps also propose a plurilingual view of language use amongst the graduates. aligned with gutiérrez’s work of observing children as they create syncretic texts, the graduates extend the use of testimonio by situating their reflections of their experiences within the context of today's anti-immigrant climate, thereby foregrounding the social context and historicized experiences of immigrants in the united states. in the analysis of the caps at the graduation, we found that the caps provided a window, often critical, to their experiences or that of their families’ as immigrants in this country. the caps reflected, as gutiérrez explains, “a coproduction” between the graduate, their families, and communities, and the current political context, in which “the text and its production are at graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 92 once personal, socially mediated, and, hence, heteroglossic—situated both locally and historically” (gutiérrez, 2008, p. 150). we argue that these caps are examples of resistance, syncretic testimonios, developed in response to the dominant discourse. as a result of this work, we have plans to extend the work to include interviews with chicana graduates in order to add more personal stories to this research and understand better their own personal stories in relation to the caps. but on the ground, we call for universities who include chicanx/latinx graduations to acknowledge and recognize the mortarboards crossing the stage. while the speeches by administrators, honored graduates, and dignitaries, establish the stage as a space for dialogue, within traditional ceremonies, the actual graduates crossing the stage are not included in the dialogue. in fact, many institutions have “rules” that discipline graduates’ bodies, clothing, and on-stage celebrations. nonetheless, whether or not they are allowed to speak, the graduates’ caps function as forms of speech that play at the ceremony, the graduates’ identities and histories, and the current political moment. the caps are ruptures in the dominant celebratory messages during graduation that celebrate american rugged individualism and success. they reveal the silences (parini, 2012) around immigrant histories, the importance of family in higher education, and chicana/latina feminist resistance, and provide critical bridges of connection between their families and the institution. while our hsi institution supports this graduation ceremony, as evidenced by the traditional attendance of the university president and other high-ranking administrators, we recognize that not all hsi’s hold these ceremonies. we call on hsi’s to consider organizing these celebrations as a welcoming ceremony for parents and community members who may otherwise not be comfortable in traditional graduation ceremonies that do not account for linguistic and cultural diversities. thus, we ask for institutions to create spaces for engaging in critical dialogue around graduation and identity, and to encourage inclusivity within a normally traditional ceremony by expanding graduation protocol and “etiquette” to allow for and encourage storyboarding and other forms of communication on sashes and graduation gowns. as many of the caps indicate, graduation is often a collective achievement involving family, community, and ancestors. when graduates tell their stories on their caps, they are not only making a fashion statement but are insisting on the visibility of their families and histories in their educational journey and in the institution--a space mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 93 that historically has not welcomed people of color. making family and history visible is critical in a political context in which the graduates may not feel that they have control over the antiimmigrant and anti-latinx discourse being used to dehumanize them and their families. decorating their caps, however, is one way of reclaiming their right to self-define. as chicanx/latinx commencement ceremonies continue to take place, we anticipate that the stories told on the mortarboards will continue to express critique, resistance, gratitude, and hope. we also anticipate that this work will lay the foundation for future examinations of other themes we observed, such as spirituality, gratitude, and humorous reflections on the economy and their personal finances. finally, as chicana researchers and faculty, we look forward to continuing to be on the privileged end of receiving these visual testimonios, created with glue guns and sequins, but born out of struggle, resilience, and collective determination. graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 94 references @disatrous_mess. (2017, june 18). clase del 2017. [photograph of cabrona, chingona, y con diploma cap]. retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/bvgunakbubi/?hl=en&taken-by=disastrous_mess @iwasputthereforareason. (2018, may 6). #mamtuhijacabronalohico. [photograph of a mother holding cap]. retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/bidtig6gnss/?hl=en&takenby=iwasputhereforareason @annita_x. (2017, may 3). [xicana power]. retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/btquc2klroc/?hl=en&taken-by=annita_x aguirre, a. (2017). how i define my chingona fire. huffington post. retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-i-define-my-chingonafire_us_5887de69e4b0a53ed60c6a35 anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. san francisco, ca: aunt lute books. ca's anti-immigrant proposition 187 is voided, ending state's five-year battle with aclu, rights groups. (n.d.). aclu. retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/news/cas-antiimmigrant-proposition-187-voided-ending-states-five-year-battle-aclu-rights-groups chavez, l. (2004). a glass half empty: latina reproduction and public discourse. human organization, 63(2), 173-188. culturestrike. (n.d.). migration is beautiful. culturestrike. retrieved from http://www.culturestrike.org/project/migration-is-beautiful delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8 (1), 105-126. delgado gaitán, c. d. (2012). culture, literacy, and power in family-community-school relationships. theory into practice, 51(4), 305-311. fahrenthold, d. (2016, october 7). trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005. the washington post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewdconversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a3d26847eeed4_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9ecd8dbad677. garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging and education. in translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education (pp. 63-77). palgrave macmillan, london. ghiso, m.p. and low, d.e. (2013). students using multimodal literacies to surface micronarrativesof united states immigration. literacy 47(1), 26-34. gutiérrez, e.r. (2009). fertile matters: the politics of mexican-origin women’s reproduction. austin, tx: university of texas press. gutiérrez, k.d. (2008). developing a sociocritical literacy in the third space. reading research quarterly, 43(2), 148-164. heywood, l, and drake, j. (1997). introduction. third wave agenda: being feminist, doing feminism. leslie heywood and jennifer drake (ed.). minneapolis: minnesota university press. 1-20. jaramillo, n. (2007). nepantla pedagogy: unpacking urban schools and social dramas from the standpoint of las madres of mirasur. unpublished doctoral dissertation. mercado-lópez, alamillo, & herrera association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 95 university of california, los angeles. liendo, o. (2017, may 25). mexico sends their best: latino graduates show pride on their graduation caps. univision. retrieved june 9, 2018, from https://www.univision.com/univision-news/united-states/mexico-sends-their-best-latinograduates-show-pride-on-their-graduation-caps donald trump's full immigration speech, annotated. (2016, august 31). los angeles times. retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-http://www.latimes.com/politics/lana-pol-donald-trump-immigration-speech-transcript-20160831-snap-htmlstory.html lugo-lugo, c.r. and bloodsworth-lugo, m.k. (2014) anchor/terror babies’ and latina bodies: immigration rhetoric in the 21st century and the feminization of terrorism. journal of interdisciplinary feminist thought, 8(1), 1-21. mesa, k. (2018). these 25 graduation caps will make you proud to be a latino. mitú. retrieved from https://wearemitu.com/identities/25-graduation-caps-will-make-proud-latino/7/ migration is beautiful. (2017, july 29). retrieved june 7, 2018, from http://www.culturestrike.org/project/migration-is-beautiful moraga, c.l. (2011). a xicana codex of changing consciousness: writings, 2000–2010. durham, north carolina: duke university press. moreno, p.p. (2017, may 1). nevertheless, she persisted. retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/btj2_grffj8/ ortiz-briones, m. g. (2018, june 2). graduates' mortarboards send a variety of messages. vida en el valle. retrieved from http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/news/state/california/fresno/article211536869.html parini, j. (2012) the american mythos. daedalus, 141(1), 52–60. r. (2017, may 21). reverseracism. retrieved from http://reverseracism.tumblr.com/post/160918630483/micdotcom-theres-nothing-quitelike-putting ramos, y. (2017, may 20). [mas bonita photographed by @malulani_]. retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/buvaiisjbst/?hl=en&taken-by=yarel_ramos rodriguez-jimenez, j. (2016). latino-themed cap designs for your graduation inspo. mitú. retrieved from https://wearemitu.com/mitu-voice/11-latino-themed-cap-designs-foryour-graduation-inspo/ roman, s. [stephanie]. (n.d.). nos quieren enterrar [pinterest post]. retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/d1/aa/46d1aa8b2d30c192f7f5c13c77137fad.jpg rojas, p. (2018). chingona definition: reclaiming what it means to be a fearless latina. medium. retrieved from https://medium.com/@coachellauninc/chingona-definitionreclaiming-what-it-means-to-be-a-fearless-latina-ce904efa4be2 simón, y. (2017). 25 inspiring grad caps that honor the sacrifices of immigrant parents. remezcla. retrieved from http://remezcla.com/lists/culture/grad-caps-2017/ torres, m.n. and hurtado-vivas, r. (2011). playing fair with latino parents as parents, not teachers: beyond family literacy as assisting homework. journal of latinos and education, 10(3), 223-244. trump, donald. (2015, june 16). presidential announcement speech. time. retrieved from http://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/ graduation caps and storyboarding as syncretic testimonio association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 96 verdugo, v. (2018, june 11). these graduating latinxs are honoring their heritage with inspiring diy caps. popsugar.latina. retrieved from https://www.popsugar.com/latina/latina-graduation-caps-41307941 weareboldlatinas. [weareboldlatina]. (2016, may 07). so special! ❤ @latinarebels insta showcasing grad caps, the cultura & pride of #latinx gra... https://t.co/1appbluaze pic.twitter.com/tyiu6mdoz1. retrieved from https://twitter.com/weareboldlatina/status/728992821122871297 microsoft word jaime-diaz_page proof.docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 14 issue 1 2020 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 49 racialized social class pedagogical praxis: critical compassion, cariño, respeto and confianza jesus jaime-diaz university of arizona josie méndez-negrete university of texas san antonio abstract this article explores the ways in which high school teachers understand their students in relation to their own racialized social class backgrounds. it problematizes ethnic outsider inabilities to engage teaching philosophies and practices, which render teachers unable to create constructive dialogues with students that have been marginalized in the culture of schooling. given classed, raced, and gendered past practices in education and their schooling trajectory, which have historically truncated their potential mobility, this study is mediated by racial social class positions, which veil issues that intersect with structural inequalities. as such, this case study explores teacher/student engagements, focusing on reproduction of consciousness as unrealized teacher/learner schooling interactions. it is framed in contradiction to normative teaching practices, problematizing the absences of critical pedagogy in instruction, as it suggests alternative venues from an empowered perspective. keywords: social class; social reproduction; high school education; critical pedagogy; sociohistorical theory; intersectionality https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.334 racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 50 at the turn of the 19th century, the structure of schooling in western nations focused on economic productivity. this was a direct result of the industrial revolution, which focused on production that mirrored factory assembly lines, thus schools took on the task of socializing youth, a role previously assumed by the nuclear family (arum et al., 2015). the structure of schooling became a fundamental tool in the reproduction of the social class structure. immigrant labor was welcomed; however, language, culture, race, and identity were viewed as barriers. americanization and a standardized english language were viewed as favorable practices of anglo-conformity (combs et al., 2014). those who failed to meet imposed expectations of production levels were viewed as unintelligent and deficient in their preparation to ascend the ranks of factory management (anyon, 1997, 2005, 2011; ball, 2013; foucault, 1977; griffin, 2013; mclaren, 2005; oakes, 2005). within such dynamics of power, teachers served as both normative agents and labor brokers and purveyors of cultural norms ensuring compliance to ideological doctrines of power (giroux, 1992; torres, 2009). it is not our intent to argue that schools lack the option for teacher resistance to schooling norms, as its practice is guided by traditional expectation embedded in symbolic ideology (willis, 1977). our aim is to advance a conversation mediated by sociohistorical and intersectionality theories and explore race and social class discourses in the structure of schooling when the teacher has the awareness and is conscious of their social location, and then they are unaware and negate the structural differences that reproduce inequality. furthermore, we problematize school culture and the normalization of social inequity within such structures, given the lack of literature about race and social class, and lack of intersectionality within education (codiroli mcmaster & cook, 2019). we offer that education has been and continues to be a mechanism of discomfort imposed by an economy that promotes inequity as a norm, whereby the majority of poor people in rural and urban communities are black or latino (anyon, 1980; kozol, 2012). to frame schooling experience and its dynamics of power within a social structure, we begin with an overview of sociohistorical and intersectionality theories. then, we outline schooling in the context of race and social class background, and teaching, as these intersect in the refinement of social reproduction. we examine contemporary literature on critical pedagogy. thereafter, we present the methodology and participants in this study, with a subsequent analysis of the themes that emerged, concluding with implications for future jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 51 research. we posit that there is a continued need to scrutinize the ways in which racialized social class influences teacher-student engagement by exploring modes of inquiry concerning teacher-to-student pedagogical engagements across circumstances, framed by the following questions: 1. in what ways did social class background influence teachers’ beliefs about their students? 2. in what manner did teachers’ family beliefs influence their early interactions with peers? 3. by what means did teachers arrive at an understanding about the race and class difference in schooling? sociohistorical theory and intersectionality from a sociohistorical paradigm, this article draws on the theoretical contributions of critical education scholars (anyon, 2011; illich, 1970; mclaren, 2005; oakes, 2005; willis, 1977). this necessarily calls to interrogate epochs in history, as we observe, critique, and problematize the repetitive sides of the discipline. important to critique how social stratification is reproduced and manifested through social class, race, gender, age, religion, disability, and how forms of oppression are interrelated and can be understood as intersectional (crenshaw, 1989; hill collins, 2000). sociohistorical paradigm is the dynamics of power in the schooling process that is actively influenced by ideas transmitted directly from the past: “consciousness is reproduced not only directly through the individual’s contact with work and membership in a particular class, but also through these institutions of reproduction” (bowles et al., 2015, p. 101). these theories compliment marxist feminism, which postulate that oppression occurs within different spheres of identity in which privilege resides (davis, 1983). ethnocentrism as social reproduction teacher educators need to interrogate selective perceptions that trigger their social distance from students, particularly when traditional education requires them to impart taken for granted beliefs from their traditional socialization which perceive difference as a threat (carignan et al., 2005). when teachers fail to become aware of their cultural knowledge, they must recognize how ethnocentrism or “the tendency to judge other groups, societies, by the standards of one’s own culture” (healey & o’brien, 2015), impedes their practice, which racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 52 implicates dehumanization and the disconnection of the body, mind, and spirit in a closed environment. the objective of a teacher in a classroom then becomes one of monitor, in which she or he must produce learning outcomes for students, with an understanding that some will fail while others will succeed (ball, 2013). in such mechanical learning environments, the underlying message is one closely aligned with labor: a reflection of an economy that is predatory in relation to the limited number of jobs to fill and embedded presumptions about whom shall occupy such spaces. within the western tradition, the reality for many students in schools is one where an authoritarian figure restrains their feelings and spirits’ in their ability to understand the world (mclaren, 1995). critical pedagogy contemporary structure of schooling in the united states was transformed from traditional pedagogies influenced by philosophies of education and essentialism, to ones that argue students become prepared for basic positions in society (oakes et al., 2018). such pedagogical approaches have been argued as outdated in contemporary u.s. schooling (bartolome, 2004). critical pedagogues have called for changes in the preparation of educators. they argue that with fluctuations in the structure of schooling, the critical importance is the preparation of teachers, along with the scrutinization of practical skills of teachers in credential program, while teacher assumptions, values, and beliefs are examined (bartolome, 2004; sleeter, 2017). these traditional ideological notions are directly transmitted from the past and have been early tools of socialization whereby teachers apprehend and relate to ‘difference’ as products of society (linley, 2017; lynch, 2018). critical pedagogues offer that teaching is a political act and not an objective one where content is solely delivered (graziano, 2008; licona, 2004). for these reasons, hierarchies must be dismantled, as teachers collaborate with their students to create a community of learners built upon a mutual respect, whereby culture, language, and customs are valued as resources in the production of knowledge through holistic dialogue (creswell, 2016; jaime-diaz, 2019; mcintyre et al., 2001; méndez-negrete, 2013b; orozco & jaime-diaz, 2016; orozco & lopez, 2015; ovando & combs, 2018). with this study, our objective is to illustrate the ways in which one teacher may reproduce relational structures of oppression and inequality, while another validates students’ experiences and locates it in the history of their people—people who are members of devalued jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 53 racialized ethnic groups. thus, we offer that relational interactions and the ways in which teachers choose to relate with students influences, not only their success in school, but also their continued schooling as they opt to consider and pursue higher education. thus, awareness and consciousness of their own social location and position inspires teachers to impart knowledge with a heart, as they refrain from further damaging or traumatizing students who come from marginalized groups. methodology this article relies on a qualitative case study approach. data is examined from work conducted with five high school teachers, from which two ideal types have been created. one supports the sharing of lived experiences as ways to engage race and class as systems of oppression, while the other diverges from that point of departure, perceiving education as an americanization process (creswell, 2007; hesse-biber & leavy, 2006, 2011). to carry that out, we relied on a conocimiento approach that retrieved family and community legacies, dating back four generations, to identify the points of connection between the researcher and student, and what is taught in the classroom (méndez-negrete, 2013b). context with the pseudonym vigilancia or surveillance high school, we discuss a high school located in a working-class community on the southside of mihoco, or the place of the cats, a city in the southwest approximately an hour from nogales, sonora, mexico. the city’s identity is referred to as the “dirty m,” while the southside is labeled as the “south,” implicating derision and devaluation because of poverty and ethnic make-up. economically, the median income per household is about $14,587, with a median income of $17,614. when using gender, the median income is $20,504 for males and $14,754 for females. forty-six percent of the population live below the poverty line, and 43.5% are families where 61.2% are under the age of eighteen, and 36% are over the age of 65 (u.s. census bureau, 2016). vigilancia began with a student population of 900 students in 1956; as of 2015 the school enrolls 1,526 students. from its foundation, vigilancia has provided education for the regional mexican community on the south side of mihoco. the school’s philosophy, however, is embedded in the commitment to foment active student participation and leadership as part of the school’s culture. racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 54 participants and data collection vigilancia school was founded on the beliefs that education must incorporate respect along with an understanding of the community composition and needs. i (first author) sought to engaged in research at the site, inspired by the school’s philosophy, and was introduced to teachers through the principal at vigilancia, after completing the institutional review board (irb) approval, which gave me access and allowed me to secure irb consent forms. when teachers agreed to participate, i explained the research project, elaborating on their rights as human subjects. five teachers participated in semi-structured interviews and pláticas or conversations which were tape recorded, and later transcribed (fierros & bernal, 2016; gonzalez, 2012; seidman, 2006). among the participants, there was one math teacher and four english teachers, which included two chicanas, two white females, and one white male—all from and living in a working-class community. throughout the academic spring semester, february-may 2017, i, the first author was a participant-observer, attending high school administrative meetings, participating with parents and community members, and attending classroom activities. so as to gauge the different views and interpretations of those who engage in a learning environment, the emphasis of this case study focused on teacher-student interactions in relation to their racialized social class background. data analysis the data was analyzed through appreciative inquiry, a feminist methodology that explores what works for people, and incorporates their experiences in the creation of knowledge (reed, 2007). it offers teachers a life-centric structured approach, which encourages them to take the direction they freely desire, in relation to their early socialization. such a critical aspect uncovers ideas rather than explore them through organic conversations. it is designed to create knowledge with participants who are viewed as co-creators of the process and honors their experience at the moment of data collection and beyond. throughout the project, teachers often commented on their teaching experience and identified what was important to them, which assisted the coding process. with intersectionality as a theoretical tool for liberation, marxist feminist have argued that oppression requires an analysis beyond social class, which necessarily implicates understanding the ways in which subject engage divergent structures (cornish, 2001). we jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 55 examined the data using a holistic coding approach, beginning with an understanding of the practices that influence the way in which teachers viewed difference in schooling, in the context of their early upbringing (marshall & rossman, 2016; saldaña, 2009). themes that emerged in relation to upbringing, neighborhood stratification, and social niches, were relied upon to complete topic coding, connecting these to the ways in which early ideologies are refined within teacher-student engagement across time (richards, 2014). positionality [wo]men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances existing all ready, given and transmitted from the past. the tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living. marx & engels (1999), the communist manifesto the experiences that we confront during our lifetime surface in our personal, community, and social histories. what we live is mediated through historically institutionalized rules, norms, and expectations. for that reason, intersectionality influences the ways in which we view ourselves and treat others within the communities in which we are raised and educated, as well as the ways we understand others in relationship to us. history is never the past, we carry it within us, to revisit and examine it, as we implement decisions that we make about research, teaching, and the activism we engage. i, the first author, was born in northeastern oregon, and my parents are mexican immigrants from nayarit and durango, mexico, who migrated to work in agriculture and later toiled in potato factories, in a predominately white rural community, where the intolerance to foreign languages and cultures was the norm. the oldest of six children, i am second generation mexican american. my home language is spanish, and i learned english in public school. it is my view, that culture and identity are strongly connected to my language, and my social class position originates in the struggle of the working poor. nonetheless, my parents provided for their children, and taught us the culture, history, and values of mexico. in our formal schooling, they entrusted us to teachers whose authority we were expected to obey. my third-grade teacher referred me to special education, when she identified me as having a speaking deficiency. in an isolated room, i was given a popsicle stick to place in my mouth, so that i could sound the letter “s” correctly. all the while, and all around me, i was racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 56 called a beaner, wetback, spic, taco bender, fence jumper, and scratch back. my siblings and friends were chased by cowboys—white kids—in their big trucks, after school and for their amusement. once a cowgirl in a truck, rolled the window down, yelling “hurry up you beaner, before i spit’cha.” in another case, an anglo woman came out of her house, yelling for us not to walk on her sidewalk; we got scared walked through a field during our elementary school years. this treatment was the norm. the underlying message was that the work our people did was not respected, and we were labeled as non-college material. there were a few anglo teachers and community members that tried to help us as at-risk youth. in an attempt to learn how to become part of the community, i joined the boy scouts and even recruited my two brothers. as minoritized children, we received a “sink or swim” education, with tokenized bilingual pull outs. as a result, our academic language skills and the acquisition of a college preparatory education necessary to understand curriculum or content, was stripped from us. as a result of our miseducation, a whole generation of youth were criminalized in the mid-1990’s, some were tracked by the juvenile justice system, while others were incarcerated. with our equal participation in society forever limited, we were restricted to second class citizenship. without an ethnic studies lens or a multicultural education in schooling that problematized the social construction of communities, or where we were valued as an asset for our language, culture, and identity, the outcome was detrimental for mexican american youth. with spirits broken, with a misplaced anger of not knowing where to direct it, few youths were able to obtain a high school diploma or a ged, limiting their college options or social mobility through education. other losses in my life would mitigate my own educational journey and shape the way in which i invested in becoming an educator with a vision for change. the second author, a professor at the university of texas at san antonio (utsa), where i was a doctoral student from 2011-2013, in culture, literacy, and language, in the department of bicultural bilingual studies, was and continues to be my mentor. in addition to supervising my teaching assignments, throughout my stay there and into the present, she advised me on the trajectory of my professional development. as such, we often spoke about the contradiction found in academia, as a result of being a first-generation scholar. also, she would advise me about various life circumstances i confronted. for example, when i lost my jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 57 brother and contemplated leaving the academy, her words still resonate with me. “tu tienes tu destino marcado,” you have your destiny marked, which was her way to convey that the past never leaves us; it stays with us at all times. however, we concluded that all was not lost, as survivors, we rely on this experience and knowledge we gained from them, to learn, teach, conduct research, and make a positive contribution for the betterment of humanity. it is difficult to separate my heart from my mind. i now have earned a phd in education with emphasis in language, reading, and culture, and a minor in mexican american studies from the university of arizona. throughout that process, i have come to understand the myriad ways that racism, prejudice, and discrimination manifest in the lives of individuals and groups. also, i have come to terms with the knowledge that everyone is a product of her or his socialization—influenced within a particular epoch in human history (brabeck, 2003). intersubjective consciousness and awareness facilitate my ability to give meaning to social situations, as i interpret lived experiences endured by those who reside in my community. these derive from what we have endured and facilitates the cultural transmission of knowledge (cortina & liotti, 2010). when we understand the historical struggles of our families and communities, along with whatever limited privilege we have amassed, the ways in which our lived realities intersect with history, we carry conocimiento or knowledge. thus, we became active agents of change in the creation of knowledge (méndez-negrete, 2013b, 2006). as an activist scholar, i have amassed the knowledge to confront social injustice and inequity, having gained an education in pursuit of the common good. with this study, we deconstruct ideologies deeply entrenched within a schooling culture that exiles students and contributes to the problematization of the genealogy of education. with this article, it is our hope that people understand our pressing need to problematize the early socialization of future teacher educators. in particular, we urge those in teacher preparation programs to prepare future educators with the insight and awareness of the ways in which their lives shape how they see learning as an extension of their own education. findings and discussion in this section, we present themes that emerged from the study: 1) the obscurity of ethnocentrism, 2) critical compassion and cariño/affection, and 3) respeto/respect and confianza/trust. we then conclude with implications for racialized social class and education racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 58 research, relying on a conocimiento approach that has retrieved the family and community legacy of the teachers who participated in this study. the obscurity of ethnocentrism maestra acero is the pseudonym used for a white teacher that traced her origins to the far eastern united states. coded as a steel personality, one related to rugged individualism, her persona and character were often difficult to engage. she claimed to not see racial difference in her everyday interactions with the local african american community. in her view, vigilancia is not giving students a ‘real’ education. she did not agree with the exaggeration of the word critical in education, and tokenized my request with her response, albeit she agreed to participate. “i’ll participate in your ‘little’ interview.” because they were not problematic, as she “knew her job.” maestra acero rejected intersectionalities under examination. in our plática, she said: where black people lived—we knew it was segregated. yeah, not on purpose; it’s just how it was … people had their neighborhoods; we had our neighborhoods. black people were poor, most of them were poor. i made friends, if people talked to me, i would talk to them. i just wasn’t ms. social butterfly. with this example, maestra acero spoke about social and racial class segregation in a notion of otherness that is normalized through early socialization and family upbringings. she failed to acknowledge the ways in which her family reinforced power differences and supported the segregation of people by race. maestra acero offered that she built friendships with black children, if and when they spoke to her. however, interaction with blacks were controlled by her parents who would warn her that the community did not approve of such friendships and cautioned her about interacting with blacks. however, these individual and family actions were not perceived racist. for her, waving at black people when she would pass by at the bottom of the hill in her neighborhood, signified a type of friendship, framing her pedagogical approaches in the classroom, and marking the social distance she practiced with her students, particularly objectifying the ways in which she related to them. in the classroom, maestra acero displayed a tight-knit inclusiveness with a few students who looked and acted like her, while demonstrating distance and distrust in those who were least like her. her teaching practices emerged to show the ways in which she internalized relationship with others, illustrating the social distance of just jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 59 how she projected difference in her teaching. although she spoke with concern about treating everyone equally, the norms of social inequity were reinforced in her classroom—there was no need to make adjustment, things were as good as they were. through observation, i learned that maestra acero favored those who were obedient and loyal to her. the day she was interviewed, she asked five students to re-state and affirm her beliefs and ideas (bowles & gintis, 2011). while maestra acero claimed she did not see or express difference, her narrative spoke otherwise, as she recalled her own schooling. you knew which kids were the favorite, they were the popular kids. we didn’t really have a social economic issue in our school; we were all lower middle to middle. in my school, the poor kids were the brown kids. but i never saw them as different, that is why i would talk to them. i knew they were black—that is obvious—we didn’t have hispanic students in our neighborhood. we didn’t have anybody else in our neighborhood. while she found points of connection with lighter complexioned blacks, in her teaching, maestra acero actively imparted a color-blind approach, in her denial she failed to recognize the structural inequality embedded in racism. she reproduced the culture of home, and adhered to traditional views of schooling, stating that race and class did not warrant scrutinization. her denial displayed a lack of awareness of the students’ experiences, resulting in the enactment of controlling measures that repressed their identity—their history and cultures became irrelevant, for example. thus, avoidance becomes a tool within which controversial topics are dismissed in a counterfeit of niceness, which is ever-present in normative teaching practices (orozco, 2019b). critical compassion and cariño/affection in the art of teaching, it is vital to activate critical thinking, which calls for reliance on critical compassion in the schooling context. thus, they must shed traditional order of operation to adopt self-reflexive ways of teaching and understanding what it means to enact a liberatory practice in teaching, and they must be mindful about their students’ lived experiences. to carry out their practice, teachers must rely on their emotions as sources of connection, to engage and examine interactions with their students (rabois, 2016). this calls for them to authentically care for their charges, by integrating a social justice framework, which values the dignity of students, by recognizing their experience (valenzuela, 1999). it is racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 60 indispensable that educators advance a critical compassionate intellectualism, which requires them to acknowledge and develop learning interactions where students are co-creators and subjects in the schooling process (romero et al., 2009). when human beings are born into a world of chaos and double messages, they receive mixed messages about the ways in which they feel about themselves and learn to devalue their lived experience. for this reason, they must be provided a space whereby they are valued, heard, and accepted, in the production of knowledge. toward this end, freire (2000) posited that problem-posing education allows for students and teachers to dismantle subordination by collaborating in the educational process, with an open up dialogue that mediates the learning process between teacher/learner. when students understand the meaning of injustice through critical pedagogy, they problematize their world, departing from a heightened social consciousness. in contrast to homogenized common sense view of teaching, we present a critical examination provided by one of the few chicana teachers in this study. maestra corazón mágico evidences and demonstrates love and value for students, and treats them with compassion and respect, allowing them to express their emotions. during lunch break, she stays in the classroom, hanging out with students, to expand their perspective about class, and often draws student from other classes. she builds on her early upbringing growing up in the barrio, as this allows her to engage the knowledge they have in common: as a child, i didn’t have anybody there for me. so, it was hard. i found solidarity with my friends but even then, struggling all through life. but i made friends. i was a social person and it wasn’t the same. my mom would come home irritable, tired. so, i don’t have memories of my mom asking me, “how was your day? let’s talk about school, let’s do this, let’s do that.” my mom was exhausted, [and as a mother] i emulate my moms’ behavior. she has a strong social life, expressing and validating a chicana identity. however, with her own children, maestra corazón mágico continues to reproduce her family upbringing experiences, but her reflections about motherhood provide her tools for critical compassion and empathy. congruent with freire and macedo (2005), she asserts that human beings can locate themselves through their histories into the present, and, with reflection, teachers must engage the struggle for human life and freedom. as such, maestra corazón mágico relays knowledge to her students, whereby she attentively monitors and continuously checks on her students’ learning. during a jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 61 class observation, in a class of about twenty-five students, she consciously used space in an effort to reach all student. constant movement, in addition to reflecting on their common experiences as working-class people, verified the ways in which she affirmed their communal knowledge as social resources in their schooling. critical pedagogy stimulates thought-provoking engagement, when students understand the wrongs of the past, they create a better future. toward that end, maestra corazón mágico problematizes the tools utilized in the social control exercised within confined spaces, in the culture of schooling (foucault, 1977). within structures of schooling there also must be ways to challenge feelings of confinement, which restrict self-determination. for students to understand detrimental boundaries that impede their self-empowerment, an alternative space must be created. in observation, i witnessed maestra corazón mágico creating spaces for disagreement among students, as she fashioned venues to challenge. at times, she did not intervene in heated arguments that mattered to students. around issues that were critical to dismantling oppression, such as gender and immigration, she interacted and created the ambiance for students to reach collaborative resolutions. she also created power space, when not in the classroom, and there were times when students showed up to create a space of unity, finding sanctuary in the creation of knowledge because it was a brave space. in pláticas with maestra corazón mágico, she spoke about the theory she puts into practice, elaborating on the ways in which historically marginalized communities disengage. maestra corazón mágico worked to actively diminish hierarchical boundaries, and students were provided a brave space to confront interaction with her, in relation to machismo, when male students made a case that machismo was the dignity of men in mexican culture, while maestra corazón mágico counterargued by challenging such views as complicit in the reproduction of women’s subservience. this rhetoric of confrontation called for female students to engage the discussion from a place of empowerment. at times, i, the first author, felt uncomfortable and did not know exactly what to do with such heated engagements. however, as her students are known to do with her, i spoke to maestra corazón mágico about the experience, and she clarified that such culturally relevant topics provoke interest and elicit student reaction in a constructive way. her approach gave students the confidence to speak in class, nurturing social consciousness. within these pedagogical approaches, ‘difference’ among students is not racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 62 tolerated as deficient, inferior, or unequal. instead, her pedagogical praxis democratizes schooling space to broaden a moral vision of education (giroux, 1992). maestra corazón mágico problematized that in the structure of schooling, the learning environment must necessarily examine the experiences of working class/poor or underprivileged communities, and how they cope with poverty, despair, and violence. this can be facilitated through an environment of self-awareness and insight into the community of which they are part. crucial in this understanding is that youth cultivate culturally informed knowledge in their educational trajectory, thus viewing culture as a critical component of the creation of knowledge, and as an alternative model of teaching. this ensures that youth do not internalize poverty or fall into a culture of shame, as such space allows students to attribute cultural capital to their family life and educational experience (yosso, 2005). these pedagogical approaches must be considered in the implementation of non-exploitive culturally relevant pedagogies rooted in languages, cultures, and epistemologies that value and honor counterlessons of survival and resilience, because it affirms cultural dignity and integrity (sánchez & ek, 2013). clearly, when working with marginalized communities and students of color, the creation of such unconventional spaces is needed within structures of schooling. respeto and confianza (respect and trust) at the forefront of a conversation, respeto and confianza mutually inform mexicanimmigrant culture (valdés, 1996). historically, schooling in the united states has focused on the deculturalization and aggressive assimilation of minoritized groups who are perceived as outside the norm (spring, 2016). they continue to invoke myths of individualism and meritocracy, as ways to achieve social mobility, while cloaking social inequality and de facto segregation in the schooling of marginalized children (elenes, 2003). within this ideology, failure and success in schooling are positioned as the sole responsibility of the individual. what is seldom interrogated is traditional educational philosophies that trump the education of minoritized students in regimented schooling spaces designed to limit freedom of movement (foucault, 1977). maestra corazón mágico includes respeto y confianza in the curriculum, she articulated: students were disrespectful, but people have different tolerances of what is respectful. teachers perceived it as you are being disrespectful, “so, get out of my room,” or you’re being disrespectful, “so, go sit outside in the hall.” it was traumatizing, teachers jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 63 were very punitive. i’ve never seen a teacher, except in high school, who dealt with measures like that discipline. everything was punitive, one female teacher who had the audacity to treat us like human beings, took us outside to say, “let’s talk about it.” “okay come back inside,” and that was it. the rest of them definitely had that power trip of humiliating people in front of the class. in her own experience and in her teaching, maestra corazón mágico spoke about the ways in which teachers disrespected students. she demonstrated the ways in which confianza was articulated outside of the classroom and never modeled as an alternative for students. these ideas were experienced in maestra corazón mágico's early schooling. she never forgot what she witnessed, and in her pedagogical practices or art of teaching, she worked with an oppositional consciousness. she developed an empowering state of mind in her teaching, by constantly reflecting on her own oppressed reality, thus undermining traditional pedagogical approaches within the culture of schooling that socially reproduce a culture of hurt. for her, social classification replicates the other. such dogmatic practices thus become tools of social control in colonial practices (mclaren, 1995). her aim was to treat her students differently from what she had experienced as a youth. for her, early socialization and educational experiences were traumatic. maestra corazón mágico regarded the students with respect and they responded, this was evidence of the foundation of the mutual trust displayed in the openness of her class environment. in carrying out the responsibility to influence future lives of their students, it was her aim to equip students with the necessary tools to address social justice in the classrooms and in their communities, so that they may become informed about society in order to create their own ideas. neighborhoods with concentrated poverty and relative deprivation historically have been associated with violence and delinquency and identified with the pathological behavior attributed to cultural disorganization (ginwright & cammarota, 2007). critical scholars in education studies have countered deficit stigmas and have argued that poor marginalized communities can rely on social networks to make healthy choices in the development of their communities. they argue that a shift of consciousness can take place when youth engage racism and understand privilege, power, and difference, thus not repeating cycles of harm (méndezracialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 64 negrete, 2015). consequently, to engage their students, teacher’s constantly manifest or navigate racial/class privilege to disrupt structures of control (orozco, 2019a). conclusion: implications for social class and education research we have argued that critical praxis and pedagogical engagements are central in teaching, about racialized social class within the structure of schooling. through pláticas, semi-structured interviews, and participant observations, we have illustrated the ways in which social reproduction takes place in schooling practices, when teachers’ lived experiences are not interrogated and shared, to model self-knowledge and reflexivity among students as critical thinkers. by giving students the tools to be critical thinkers, they will become better prepared to instruct others to become invested citizens of their communities. education must provide students opportunities to understand the world in which they participate, to transform it (méndez-negrete, 2013a). future teachers must recognize that social transformation will not come by changing the schools, but by cultivating an education that is politicized and simultaneously unlinked to the status quo (méndez-negrete & rodriguez y gibson, 2014). change will only come when society transforms the systemic apparatus of schooling into an organic social movement that shares its struggle with the working-class experience (torres, 2009). by examining teachers’ beliefs, an ideological tracking exists that influences the engagement that teachers provide students, informed by race and social class ethos. sociohistorical and intersectionality theories argue that social and historical factors must be problematized in relation to privilege, power, and difference, and in the ways in which they are enacted. critical theory offers that all human beings are born with their own unique gifts. within such heightened consciousness, a learner challenges ideology, unmasks power, overcomes alienation, and learns about liberation as facets of democracy (brookfield, 2004). there is a danger in pedagogical practices that restrict the organic human experience to one of privilege, power, and difference. west (2003) warns, “nihilism is…the lived experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaningless, hopelessness, and (most important) lovelessness. this usually results in a numbing detachment from others and a self-destructive disposition towards the world” (p. 596). this is what happens to a person when their schooling experience devalues their self-worth in a world where a person is labeled a failure (ter borg, 1988). jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 65 we advance the conversation and call for action on the preparation of teacher credential programs to incorporate self-reflexive methodologies that assist future educators in uncovering their prejudices, traumas, and stereotypes (bartolome, 2004; graziano, 2008; licona, 2004). to counter social reproduction within the art of teaching, those who teach must revisit their early socialization, while simultaneously taking account of what is the most sacred for those who aim to become agents of change. this calls for an interrogation of traditional socialization, which is not limited to legacies of religion, family, immigration/migration histories, and education. it also implicates unpacking the trauma associated with the realities of our human experience. through what méndez-negrete (2013b) calls pedagogical conocimientos, teachers engage self and other in interaction, as they participate in a collaborative and collective process of knowledge creation. with this approach, future teacher preparation must incorporate a self-reflexive methodology whereby a teacher/learner approach foments understanding about ourselves and others, in which teachers are immersed. the art of teaching must engage critical compassion, empathy, respeto, confianza, as paths to bridge difference toward critical consciousness. race, racialized class, gender, and sexuality, among other interstitial spaces, must become central in the preparation of those who desire to create a human connection in the schooling of others. racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 66 references anyon, j. (1997). ghetto schooling: a political economy of urban educational reform. teachers college press. anyon, j. (1980). social class and the hidden curriculum of work. journal of education, 162(1), 67-92. https://doi.org/10.1177/002205748016200106 anyon, j. (2005). radical possibilities: public policy, urban education, and a new social movement. routledge. anyon, j. (2011). marx and education. routledge. arum, r., beattie, i., & ford, k. (2015). the structure of schooling: readings in the sociology of education (3rd ed.). sage publications. ball, s. (2013). foucault, power and education. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203078662 bartolome, l. i. (2004). critical pedagogy and teacher education: radicalizing prospective teachers. teacher education quarterly, 31(1), 97-122. bowles, s., gintis, h., & meyer, p. (2015). the long shadow of work. in b. arum & i. r. beattie (3rd ed.), the structure of schooling: readings in the sociology of education (pp. 101-115). sage publications. bowles, s., & gintis, h. (2011). schooling in capitalist america: educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. haymarket books. brabeck, k. (2003). testimonio: a strategy for collective resistance, cultural survival and building solidarity. feminism and psychology, 13(2), 252-258. brookfield, s. d. (2004). the power of critical theory: liberating adult learning and teaching. josseybass. carignan, n., sanders, m., & pourdavood, r. g. (2005). racism and ethnocentrism: social representations of preservice teachers in the context of multi-and intercultural education. international journal of qualitative methods, 4(3), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690500400301 codiroli mcmaster, n., & cook, r. (2019). the contribution of intersectionality to quantitative research into educational inequalities. review of education, 7(2), 271-292. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3116 combs, m. c., dasilva iddings, a. c., & moll, l. c. (2014). 21st century linguistic apartheid: english language learners in arizona public schools. in p. w. orelus (ed.), affirming language diversity in schools and society: beyond linguistic apartheid (pp. 23-34). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203370308 cornish, m. (2001). introduction. in radical women (ed.), the radical women manifesto: socialist feminist theory, program and organizational structure (pp. 5-16). red letter press. cortina, m. & liotti, g. (2010). the intersubjective and cooperative origins of consciousness: an evolutionary-developmental approach. psychodynamic psychiatry, 38(2), 291. https://doi.org/10.1521/jaap.2010.38.2.291 crenshaw, k. (1989). demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 67 of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. feminist legal theory, 57-80. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429500480-5 cresswell, j. (2016). disengagement, pedagogical eros and (the undoing of?) dialogic pedagogy. dialogic pedagogy: an international online journal, 4. https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2016.182 creswell, j., w. (2007). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. sage publications inc. davis, a. y. (1983). women, race, & class. vintage. elenes, c. a. (2003). reclaiming the borderlands: chicana/o identity, difference, and critical pedagogy. in a. darder, m. baltodano, & r. d. torres (eds.), the critical pedagogy reader (pp.191-210). routledge. fierros, c. o., & bernal, d. d. (2016). vamos a platicar: the contours of pláticas as chicana/latina feminist methodology. chicana/latina studies, 15(2), 98-121. foucault, m. (1977). discipline & punish: the birth of the prison. random house publishing. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. bloomsbury publishing. freire, p., & macedo, d. (2005). literacy: reading the word and the world. taylor & francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203986103 ginwright, s., & cammarota, j. (2007). youth activism in the urban community: learning critical civic praxis within community organizations. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 20(6), 693-710. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390701630833 giroux, h. (1992). literacy, pedagogy, and the politics of difference. college literature, 19(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1353/lit.2005.0006 gonzalez, j. c. (2012). teaching from a critical perspective/enseñando de una perspectiva critica: conceptualization, reflection, and application of chicana/o pedagogy. the international journal of critical pedagogy, 4(1), 18-34. graziano, k. j. (2008). walk the talk: connecting critical pedagogy and practice in teacher education. teaching education, 19(2), 153-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210802040740 griffin, e. (2013). liberty's dawn: a people's history of the industrial revolution. yale university press. https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300151800.001.0001 healey, j. f. & o’brien, e. (2015). race, ethnicity, gender & class: the sociology of group conflict and change. sage publications. hesse-biber, s. n. & leavy, p. (2011). the practice of qualitative research. sage publications. hesse-beiber. s., n. & leavy, p. (eds.). (2006). emergent methods in social research. sage publications inc. hill collins, p. (2000). black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. routledge. illich, i. (1970). deschooling society. marion boyars ltd. jaime-diaz, j. (2019). take a little trip on the az side: examining a pedagogy of surveillance racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 68 within the structure of schooling. ethnic studies review, 42(1), 83-94. https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2019.421007 kozol, j. (2012). savage inequalities: children in america's schools. broadway books. licona, m. m. (2004). deconstructing oppressor ideology in teacher preparation. international journal of learning, 11. linley, j. l. (2017). teaching to deconstruct whiteness in higher education. whiteness and education, 2(1), 48-59. https://doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2017.1362943 lynch, m. e. (2018). the hidden nature of whiteness in education: creating active allies in white teachers. journal of educational supervision, 1(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.31045/jes.1.1.2 marshall, c., & rossman, g. b. (2016). designing qualitative research. sage publications. marx, k., & engels, f. (1999). the communist manifesto. bedford/st. martin’s. mcintyre, e., rosebery, a. s., & gonzález, n. (eds.). (2001). classroom diversity: connecting curriculum to students' lives (vol. 88). heinemann. mclaren, p. (2005). capitalists and conquerors: a critical pedagogy against empire. rowman & littlefield. mclaren, p. (1995). critical pedagogy and predatory culture: oppositional politics in a postmodern era. psychology press. méndez-negrete, j. (2015). a life on hold: living with schizophrenia. university of new mexico press. méndez-negrete, j. & rodriguez y gibson, e. (2014). word that matters: tending to chicana/latina studies as home. chicana/latina studies, 13(2), 20. méndez-negrete, j. (2013a). expressive creativity: narrative text and creative cultural expressions as a healing praxis. journal of creativity in mental health, 8(3), 314-325. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2013.821934 méndez-negrete, j. (2013b). pedagogical conocimientos: self and other in interaction. rio bravo: a journal of the borderlands, 226-250. méndez-negrete, j. (2006). las hijas de juan: daughters betrayed. duke university press. oakes, j., lipton, m., anderson, l., & stillman, j. (2018). teaching to change the world. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351263443 oakes, j. (2005). keeping track: how schools structure inequality. yale university press. orozco, r. a. (2019a). white innocence as an investigative frame in a schooling context. critical studies in education, 60(4), 426-442. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2017.1285335 orozco, r. (2019b). the method of avoidance: niceness as whiteness in segregated chicanx schools. whiteness and education, 4(2), 128-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2019.1642795 orozco, r. & jaime diaz, j. (2016). “suited to their needs”: white innocence as a vestige of segregation. multicultural perspectives, 18(3), 127-133. orozco, r. a., & lópez, f. (2015). impacts of arizona’s sb 1070 on mexican american jaime-diaz & méndez-negrete association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 69 students’ stress, school attachment, and grades. education policy analysis archives, 23(42), 1-26 https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v23.1808 ovando, c. j. & combs, m. c. (2018). bilingual and esl classrooms: teaching in multicultural contexts. rowman & littlefield. rabois, i. (2016). compassionate critical thinking: how mindfulness, creativity, empathy, and socratic questioning can transform teaching. rowman & littlefield. reed, j. (2007). appreciative inquiry: research for change. sage publications inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412983464 richards, l. (2014). handling qualitative data: a practical guide. sage publications. romero, a., arce, s., & cammarota, j. (2009). a barrio pedagogy: identity, intellectualism, activism, and academic achievement through the evolution of critically compassionate intellectualism. race, ethnicity and education, 12(2), 217-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320902995483 saldaña, j. (2009). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. sage publications. sánchez, p. & ek, l. (2013). cultivando la siguiente generación: future directions in chicana/latina feminist pedagogies. journal of latino/latin american studies, 5(3), 181-187. https://doi.org/10.18085/llas.5.3.y91482374206753l seidman, i. (2006). interviewing as qualitative research: a guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. teachers college press. sleeter, c. e. (2017). critical race theory and the whiteness of teacher education. urban education, 52(2), 155-169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916668957 spring, j. (2016). deculturalization and the struggle for equality: a brief history of the education of dominated cultures in the united states. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315652368 ter borg, m. b. (1988). the problem of nihilism: a sociological approach. sociological analysis, 49(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.2307/3711099 torres, c. a. (2009). globalizations and education: collected essays on class, race, gender, and the state. teachers college press. u.s. census bureau. (2016). race and hispanic or latino origin, 2016: zip code 8000. u.s. census bureau. valdés, g. (1996). con respeto. bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools: an ethnographic portrait. teachers college press. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. state university of new york press. west, c. (2003). race matters. in m. marable & l. mullings (eds), let nobody turn us around: voices of resistance, reform and renewal: an african american anthology (pp. 594601). rowman & littlefield. willis, p. e. (1977). learning to labor: how working-class kids get working class jobs. columbia university press. racialized social class pedagogical praxis association of mexican american educators (amae) © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 70 yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 11 issue 2 2017 amae special issue latinx and the community college: promoting pathways to postsecondary degrees guest editors edna martinez, nancy acevedo-gil, and enrique g. murillo, jr. california state university, san bernardino editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ hanging out and hanging on association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 190 hanging out and hanging on: from the projects to the campus. núñez, elsa. (2014). landham, ma: roman & littlefield. 160 pp. issbn: 978-1475802436. $36.00 (paperback) madeline pérez de jesús the university of saint joseph in 2012, i attended a fundraising gala for a community organization that serves families in hartford. the gala’s speaker was dr. elsa núñez, the president of eastern connecticut state university. her talk was an early draft of what later became her book, hanging out and hanging on: from the projects to the campus. in this text, núñez documents the six-year history of the dual college enrollment program (dcep), which was an innovative partnership between her university, quinebaug valley community college (qvcc), and hartford high school. it served as a college recruitment and retention program for first-generation, immigrant, and low-income youth. núñez argues, in hanging out, that through the use of institutional partnerships, college access and affordability can improve for underrepresented students. the central idea of dcep was to identify high school youth who have what núñez and her colleagues refer to as a “spark” (2014, p. viii). that is, not-yet-achieving youth who express a drive to obtain a college degree and contribute to their communities. those students would then start taking college classes at qvcc but be housed on the campus at eastern (which is a short walk away). núñez explains that the housing arrangement fulfilled two purposes: it minimized the stigma associated with attending community college and it supported students by providing a temporary respite from their (often dangerous) neighborhoods. dcep’s goal was to address the achievement gap. its establishment here in connecticut met a dire need. the state of connecticut has the widest achievement gap in the country. using national center for education statistics, núñez (2014) highlights that “as latinos and african american students in connecticut move through the school system, the gap between their test scores and those of connecticut’s white students actually worsens” (p. 43). núñez organized the book into four parts. first, she grounds the reader in sharing her personal and professional background. the second section defines the need for and history of pérez de jesús association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 191 the dcep program. the third section includes stories from six alumni of dcep. the book’s last segment shares some lessons learned. the integration of a multi-faceted understanding of the program—from núñez to her colleagues to the students themselves—is a major contribution of this volume. for example, one of núñez’s colleagues from eastern contributed a chapter. some authors might shy away from such a structure, as it takes more time and patience to write with co-authors, especially first-time authors, such as the dcep alums. núnez’s decision to do this speaks to her firm commitment in the leadership of her students and her stance on viewing her colleagues as true partners in this endeavor. the fundamental argument of hanging out is that societal inequities—such as the education achievement gap—do not operate in isolation. they are the result of economic, social, political and cultural forces that impact the lives of students. núñez provides a macro perspective in using archival data to showcase how puerto rican migrants were treated in the 1950s and how this history leaves a residue in the current decline of inner city communities. (“if you couldn’t speak english, they would just put you in special ed” (núñez, 2014, p. 29)— recounted a connecticut latino.) núñez effectively immerses us in the present-day situation in connecticut and illustrates the sociohistorical perspective from connecticut and puerto rico. this stylistic approach in writing reminds me of jean anyon’s (1997) ghetto schooling where she argues in a similar vein, that “schools—like people—are products of their past, as well as of the present” (p. xv). a micro perspective is showcased through the voices of the students and núnez’s own life story. her memoir chapters are reminiscent of two other latina educational leaders, antonia pantoja’s (2002) memoir of a visionary and the more recent brooklyn dreams by multicultural educator, sonia nieto (2015), where they all marry the personal, the professional, and the political. the author’s writing style is engaging and vivid. for instance, in painting a picture of her childhood in a poor town in puerto rico, she describes her terror in seeing her grandmother killing a chicken to make soup. (this made me smile, as it is a popular shared memory of many of us who traveled to puerto rico as children to spend time with our relatives on the farm.) hanging out would benefit from more details about what occurred when the dcep program ended. knowing that such programs are meant to function as pilots of innovation, in what ways did the program influence any of the policies and procedures at the three partner institutions? moreover, a methodological appendix that speaks to how field notes, interviews, hanging out and hanging on association of mexican american educators (amea) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 192 and student outcome data were used would encourage readers who are engaged in similar initiatives, and are so involved in the never-ending work of battling oppression, to carve out time to document and analyze the work. i see two audiences for hanging out. one audience is folks like me—faculty members and others who work in the higher education system and seek to explore ways that they can establish pipelines of progress for inner-city students who arrive to college already impacted by the achievement gap in their k-12 education. the other audience is college students themselves who seek affirmation about their attempts to go into the unknown land of college. after reviewing the book, i adopted it as the main text for the latino diversity class that i teach. in addition to my faculty role, i also direct an institute for latino community practice (ilcp) at my home institution, which is committed to supporting college completion of latino/as and others who are committed to serving latino communities. there are two important takeaway from this text that influence my work with i-lcp: (1) no matter how passionate one is about influencing social justice, it simply is not enough to be a lone institutional change agent. initiatives such as dcep need to be a team effort and commitment has to come from the highest-ranking decision-makers at a multitude of institutions; (2) those of us involved in social change work must document these initiatives and contribute this to our collective knowledgebase from which to inform and re-inspire ourselves to combat oppression. both educators and students in the classroom will appreciate how this text not only aids them in understanding the larger structures that impact inequity, but also provides a model for how to interrupt that inequity. i did. and my students did. pérez de jesús association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2017, volume 11, issue 2 193 references anyon, j. (1997). ghetto schooling: a political economy of urban educational reform. new york, ny: teachers college press. nieto, s. (2015). brooklyn dreams: my life in public education. cambridge, ma: harvard education press. pantoja, a. (2002). memoir of a visionary: antonia pantoja. houston, tx: arte público press. volume 15 issue 1 2021 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.1.435 przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 113 from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities: measuring the impact of a latina stem fellowship on the educational trajectories of latina high school students steve daniel przymus texas christian university david sparks university of texas, permian basin sophia garcia texas christian university allison silveus university of north texas health science center cassandra cartmill texas christian university abstract science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) educational camps and fellowships that specifically target underrepresented populations in stem fields, such as latinas, have become more common place across the united states. in this article, we analyze multimodal ways of representing, opportunities, and role-models present at these camps, which together assemble an environment that uplifts participants with greater knowledge about possible stem educational/career pathways and develops within participants an identity as future stem professionals. we place identity and the power of imagination front and center in our study and through a multimodal systemic functional linguistics approach (przymus et al., 2020), we analyze the experience of six latina high school students and document all meaning-making textual interactions that moved these latina stem fellowship (lsf) participants from imagined to inpractice and performed stem identities. results indicate that participants are deeply aware of the stereotype threat and identity contingencies that face latinas in stem careers, but that interacting with other high school latina peers and with accomplished latina scientists at the lsf worked to counteract these challenges and discourses of deficit. keywords: imagined identities; in-practice identities; latina stem fellowship; multimodal systemic functional linguistics; performed identities from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 114 “as long as i’m doing the right thing that will help me get to my career goal, then like nothing would be able to bring me down” (latina stem fellowship participant, summer, 2018). “what do you want to be when you grow up?” this question is posed to children in households around the world, and certainly was part of our lived experiences, growing up in the united states. answers are influenced by role-models, both personally present in children’s lives and those from many diverse affinity outlets, such as musicians, athletes, and actors. caraballo (2019) points to another important and influential indicator of identity development being socialization. many youth “rely on discourses of race, class, and gender in which they have been socialized to construct narratives of identit(ies) in the cultural worlds experienced with/in academic contexts and beyond” (caraballo, 2019, p. 1282). some populations of students, such as latinas, are the recipients of discourses of deficit with/in academic contexts when it comes to certain content, such as higher level math and science courses (jackson & seiler, 2018). as children grow and move through schooling, however, membership and participation in social groups begins to have an increasing influence on individuals’ future goals and vision of self and can act to either reify or counteract such deficit discourses. as we will take up, below, imagining and experimenting with in-practice science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) identities can work to counteract stereotypes and deficit discourses about young latinas and stem. youth fluidly move in and out of many diverse communities of practice (wenger, 1998), both concrete and imagined (kanno & norton, 2003), and experiment with multiple imagined identities (early & norton, 2012), throughout their schooling years. przymus’ (2016) work with culturally and linguistically diverse youth in educational communities of practice highlights that interactions and students’ identities, imagined and created, have tremendous influence on the educational possibilities and future career decisions of youth. in this article, we utilize a multimodal systemic functional linguistics approach (przymus et al., 2020) to analyze and raise the voices of six latina high school students who participated in a latina stem fellowship (lsf). through relaying their voices, we learn that their experience with education is that their schools have not extended them agency over educational decisions and that they have not experienced relatedness with stem content. they have also not had przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 115 teachers or many professional role-models that look like them and have had similar life experiences. all these factors have reified identity contingencies and stereotype threat around their (latinas’) place in stem careers, knowledge about how to achieve stem careers, and selfmotivation to embark on stem educational trajectories. they found all of this, however, through participating in the latina stem fellowship (lsf), documented in this article. by documenting these latina high school participants’ completed and stated desired actions for the future after participating in the latina stem fellowship, we can begin to assess the effectiveness of such camps and fellowships that target underrepresented populations in stem careers, on these students’ imagined, in-practice, performed, and actualized stem identities. with this study we specifically set out to uncover in what ways these kinds of fellowships have the potential to provide the learning experiences, community, and role-models needed to make an impact on latinas’ self-assessment, self-determination, and identity. might opportunities like the lsf provide space for these youth to experiment, take risks, and create imagined identities as stem professionals that might lead to actualized identities in the future? highlighting concrete examples from the below documented lsf, might aluminate pathways for how latinas who participate in these kinds of stem fellowships and camps actually make different decisions that have the potential to lead them to choosing stem educational degrees and careers. documenting these participants’ perspectives and actions can also inform successful implementation of similar camps and fellowships across the u.s. literature review: underrepresented stem identities difference in appearance, language, historic expectations, and ideologies about who is successful in stem related subjects can lead to deficit thinking (among teachers and students) and difference in instruction/learning. licona (2013) describes how “immigrant children are relegated to the non-gifted and lower track classes where science is taught from an abstract and non-contextual and therefore less engaged basis” (p. 859). manzo et al. (2011) also document the need for teacher professional development to address the lack of preparation needed to adequately teach science to immigrant and english learners (els), which they from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 116 contend, “contributes greatly to the continued failure of teachers to engage els in ways that make learning science relevant, meaningful, and challenging” (p. 42).1 although all latina and some second generation,2 none of the participants in our study were immigrant newcomers to their u.s. schools, nor were ever labeled as english learners. yet, the persistent ideology of latinx3 students’ place in stem, either top-down from teachers or bottom-up from their own positionalities, exists. although work calling for the need for teacher professional development to address teaching immigrant and english learners exists (manzo et al., 2011), this professional development needs to be expanded to raising the awareness that latinx students are not homogenous, have varied identities (both imagined and in-practice), have diverse sociocultural backgrounds and experiences, and clearly are not all immigrants and english learners. without this targeted professional development and purposeful educational interventions for students, latinx students may continue to be subjected to inequitable stem education expectations and opportunities. in measuring the effectiveness of educational interventions on students’ school and career trajectories, we must consider the impact of these students’ diverse and intersectional cultural identity. “cultural identity is intricately related to…social domains such as education, employment and how people want to live out their lives” (obsiye & cook, 2016, p. 1062). even though cultural identity as a determined fact has been problematized (hall, 1990), recent studies documenting the impact of stem-based educational interventions have highlighted how participants both lean into and leverage their cultural identity for resilience, but also feel the weight of stereotypic and negative contingencies linked to their identities as latinas in stem fields of study (gonzalez et al., 2020; sparks et al., 2021). evidence of resilience, cultural-based-spaces of support, and the presence of latina professor/scientist role models/mentors are common aspects in the literature that highlights latinas who have found success in stem education. gonzalez et al. (2020) document the 1 the u.s. department of education’s current bureaucratic label “english learner” (el) or “english language learner” (ell) is given to: a [limited english proficient] student […] who was not born in the united states or whose native language is a language other than english; or … who comes from an environment where a language other than english has had a significant impact on his or her level of english language proficiency (migration policy institute 2017). 2 individuals who are just one generation removed from immigration to the u.s. 3 gender inclusive term for latinos przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 117 persistence of latinas in stem and the development of resilience that can come from latina professor role models, who share cultural values and ethnicity and “family and strong support systems that reflected their hispanic culture” (pp. 9-10; see also ruiz, 2013; sparks et al., 2021). similarly, sparks et al. (2021) describe the importance of spaces and programs that provide access to latina stem professional role models and mentors, where students are encouraged to draw on “their race/ethnicity and culture for resiliency” (p. 11). a final related example of identity work around successful latinas in stem comes from martínez et al. (2019), who utilize the theoretical construct of contextual mitigating factors (cmfs) to understand how latinas develop “critical consciousness in the form of resiliency” in stem related contextualized spaces and social interactions in order to “develop the ability to succeed in stem pipelines” (p. 1098). learning from these and our current study is needed to address the continued underrepresentation of latinas in stem fields of study and careers. according to the pew research center (2017), the growth of employment in stem has outpaced growth of overall employment, 79% and 34%, respectively, with some areas of stem such as computer science increasing as much as 338%. additionally, the post-graduate educational attainment of employed adults in stem is significantly higher than non-stem employees, 29% and 12%, respectively (pew research center, 2017). women, however, continue to represent a disproportionally lower percentage of employed scientists and engineers. in 2015, hispanic (2%) and black (2%) women constituted only 4% of all employed scientists and engineers (national science foundation, 2017). marsh et al. (2019) point to a decade long “strong push from governments in postindustrial nations to increase the retention of students in science education and the representation of women in stem education and careers” (p. 1631). the impact of these efforts, however, seems to be both slow and unproven. we recognize the potential negative effect of writing about the underrepresentation of women of color in stem. although true, this narrative alone can act to strengthen the stereotype that latinas are not good at stem and in turn intensify the identity contingency that these students feel in the classroom. steele (2011) reports that simply by bringing attention to women’s gender identity, prior to taking a math test, that the students underperformed when compared to no gender related priming (p. 93). he states that “social identities shape who we are, what we do, and how well we do it,” but that there are remedies to address the effects of stereotype threat and identity contingencies (2011, p. 62). many of the solutions that steele from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 118 puts forth for mitigating the ill effects of identity contingencies can be found in the structural components of the latina stem fellowship (lsf) examined in our study. steele posits that by improving a group’s critical mass in a setting, you can improve its members’ trust, comfort, and performance in the setting…by allowing students, especially minority students, to affirm their most valued sense of self, you can improve their grades, even for a long time. by helping students develop a narrative about the setting that explains their frustrations while projecting positive engagement and success in the setting, you can greatly improve their sense of belonging and achievement (p. 216). researchers in stem have begun to document the impact of raising young women’s critical mass in stem, via camps, such as bindis’ (2020) study on the women in science experience (wise) novel summer camp. less common is research that addresses multiple intersections of marginalization, such as being young, female, and latina and the effectiveness of such camps on disrupting these stem positioned identities (sparks et al., 2021). the underrepresentation of latinas in stem cannot be disentangled with these students’ identities and opportunities to develop the positive identities that they wish/dream for themselves. in the discussion that follows, we focus on the fluidity of identity (imagined and inpractice), and understand that “students construct multiple and overlapping identities as situated in and fostered by their school context” (caraballo, 2019, p. 1284). as caraballo focused on specific discourses associated with achievement, instead of generalizing the results of a minority population “to apply to most students from a particular ethnic or racial background” (2019, p. 1284), we, too, focus on the individual behaviors and perspectives of six latina stem fellowship students. we believe that we can learn from these participants to inform better instruction and stem community development, but also recognize that these findings are specific to these students and their unique contexts and identities. theoretical framework: imagined and in-practice identities imagined identities imagination and its impact on identity development, is a powerful educational resource to harness (przymus, 2016). wenger’s (1998) parable of the two stonecutters wonderfully captures the essence of imagined identities. when asked about their work, one stonecutter replied, “i am cutting this stone in a perfectly square shape” and the other answered, “i am przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 119 building a cathedral” (p. 176). applying this story to latina high school students in a chemistry class, we might imagine one student answering, “i’m just completing a required lab assignment,” whereas the other responds, “i’m taking the first step in creating an antigen that will become a vaccine for coronavirus variants.” clearly, just as the two stonecutters’ visions of their work differ, so does the imagination of the two latina chemistry students. przymus (2016), in researching how high school immigrant students are positioned negatively with discourses of deficit at schools, largely based on language proficiency, created a program for students to leverage their lived experiences and imagined identities to find acceptance and reposition themselves in a positive light at school. przymus (2016) found that english language learners (ells) imagine themselves with diverse identities (soccer players, actors, dancers, artists, poets, etc.) and those who can experiment with these identities, within an existing community of practice with peers at school, are more engaged at school, have more diverse friend groups, and experience greater academic achievement: a drive for affiliation in imagined communities can also provide students with a sense of direction, a raised level of commitment, and greater investment in their learning trajectories. as such educators have the opportunity to tap into students’ imagined identities and encourage ells to dream beyond their current status and imagine participation in school communities that align with their background knowledge and interests (przymus, 2016, p. 267). latinas can experience much of the same identity positioning, both ascribed and avowed, when it comes to stem related content classes where they do not see teachers who look like them, lack stem role-models in their lives, or have never heard of nor studied famous latinx scientists and mathematicians (sparks et al., 2021). furthermore, if their schools do not provide opportunities for stem related communities of practice, tapping into stem interests and nurturing latina students’ imagined stem identities may require in-practice, out-of-school stem fellowship, that purposefully invites and supports young latinas. identities-in-practice caraballo (2019) puts forth an identities-in-practice framework that highlights individuals’ agency as they negotiate identity construction within and across ascribed racial, ethnic, gender, etc. categories and group membership. according to caraballo, “identities are forged from overlapping and intersecting subjectivities connected to social constructs such as from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 120 race and gender…and are shaped by the context in which they are constructed and negotiated” (2019, p. 1284). ventura (2017) describes how “latino youth and adult community allies constructed a space of belonging where youth shared their experiences and knowledge” and how this “constructed space differed greatly from the schools youth attended” (p. 23). similar to the space constructed in ventura’s study, the latina stem fellowship (lsf) described within, brought youth together to interact with community allies, who were also latinx stem professionals, in a constructed space that differed from the participants’ schools. herein, lies the potential for a lsf to counteract the negative discourses normalized within schools that do not purposefully address the needs of aspiring latina stem professionals. in supportive, created figured worlds (holland et al., 1998), dedicated to providing these youth with latina stem rolemodels, concrete pathways to stem careers, and imagined identities as stem professionals, “discourses of achievement, defined as the normalized expectations of academic achievement, become more overt” (caraballo, 2019, p. 1284). within these kinds of spaces, camps, and communities, there is potential for latinas to push back on discourses of deficit and to become stem experts, co-creators of knowledge, and achievers. we have taken the time and space to situate this study squarely within identification, as we believe the work of education is largely the work of identity (wenger, 1998). in describing stem identities, mark (2018) states that stem identities “intersect with and develop alongside existing gender, ethnic, racial, linguistic, socioeconomic, and other identities” (pp. 984-985). rosa (2018) claims that “science was built with an image that reflects many of the traits linked with masculinities…as a result, it makes it easier for young men to identify with stem than young women when we consider favorite subjects at school or career choices” (p. 1008). this means that to combat the persistent underrepresentation of women of color in stem fields, purposeful educational interventions, such as the latina stem fellowship (lsf), must be present. in this article we consider the intersectionality of these students’ fluid identities (sparks et al., 2019) and the power of imagination, yet couple this with the reality that these students battle persistent identity contingencies related to stem content. we want to further the work on what schools and communities can do to leverage students’ imagined and fluid in-practice identities in order to address these stem related contingencies. we look specifically at what impact stem camps and fellowships, that specifically cater to students of color, can actually przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 121 have on these students’ identity development and educational/life decisions. to focus our analysis on the effectiveness of the latina stem fellowship, we utilized the following two research questions: 1. in what ways might participation in a latina stem fellowship move youth from imagined to performed identities related to stem careers? 2. in what ways have high school latina stem fellowship participants taken steps toward these realized/actualized identities? the study setting within, we study a latina stem fellowship, just for high school girls, that provides opportunities for engagement with both culturally and linguistically similar peers and accomplished latina stem researchers, and addresses raising this group’s critical mass, which has the potential to affirm participants’ valued sense of self. the latina stem fellowship (lsf) took place in the north texas region of the american southwest and was founded with the following mission statement: “to support young women interested in stem through skill building, career exploration, education planning, and mentorship.” fellowship participation, across a two-week summer camp and continued monthly events/activities throughout the year, also provided ample opportunities for participants to develop a narrative about who they imagine themselves being and a concrete road map for the educational steps they need to take to achieve those identities. the lsf was conceptualized, implemented, taught, and directed by two latina biology professors with doctoral degrees. the idea of the fellowship was two-fold: 1) create a pipeline for secondary school latinas through a college stem program and to a stem career and 2) create a support system for a group underrepresented in stem fields. the lsf was housed at a 2-year community college in the american southwest beginning the summer of 2016. it began as a two-week summer camp for women ages 14-21 as required by the funding agency. funding was provided through a public grant for the first two years. after its second year, the program supported 20 young women in grades eight through twelve. funding after the second summer camp was provided through private grants. these grants allowed for year-round programming, which was a request by the young women in the program. during the fall and spring semesters, programs were held twice per month, from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 122 throughout the year. during both the summer camp and year-round program, learning opportunities allowed the students to: broaden their knowledge of stem-related careers; gain real world perspective from accomplished female researchers (e.g. university biology professors, pediatricians, science education doctoral students, etc.); visit state-of-the-art research facilities; interact with stem professionals; cultivate professional, peer, and near-peer mentor relationships; network with peers who are also interested in stem fields; perform scientific techniques being utilized in stem fields; navigate through the various stages of the college application process; improve writing skills for college applications and scholarships; explore undergraduate and graduate school opportunities; and visit universities with stem programs. several students had the opportunity to attend national conferences, including the national diversity in stem conference. although not an intended outcome, several students had the opportunity to improve their presentation skills by participating as emcees for larger programs, which included community members outside of the lsf program. two students had the opportunity to present at a national conference in california. parents were included in several programming activities including a bilingual leadership conference, hosted by a local organization, which provided information on: college preparation for both students and parents, financial aid, scholarships, leadership, culture-embracing, professional development, life skills, money management, and career guidance. parents were also invited to community events hosted by the lsf such as, but not limited to, the women in stem symposium and epigenetics movie and discussion. the lsf programs specifically for parents included a financial aid 101 session and a what to expect when you are expecting...your daughter to go to college session which addressed the social and emotional aspects of the transition to college for parents. participants the research team, consisting of one college of science and engineering professor, two college of education professors, and two doctoral students from three u.s. private and public universities, received irb approval from przymus’ (author 1) university. from a pool of 20 high school latina participants of the 2018 lsf, the research team used convenience sampling to select the final set of students (n = 6) for voluntary participation in the study, based on daily interaction and involvement at the two-week lsf summer camp and on camp counselor/facilitator recommendations. table 1 details participants’ names (all personal names przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 123 are pseudonyms), grade at time of the study, self-declared race, generation of college/university attendance within their families, ethnicity, bilingual ability, and career aspirations. all six participants were enrolled in different north texas, public high schools, which ranged from one latinx majority and economically disadvantaged school (amada), to two middle-class, more racially-balanced schools (natalia, blanca), and three mostly white, upper-class high schools (patricia, etta, estrella). table 1 study participants and personal characteristics students and grade race and college generation ethnicity (self-described)/ bilingual status career aspiration amada/10th other/2nd gen. mexican-american, latina, and/or hispanic/bilingual nurse practitioner patricia/10th white-having origin of europe, middle east, or north america/2nd gen. hispanic/not bilingual pediatrician blanca/10th mixed-race/1st gen. hispanic/latina/bilingual biologist estrella/11th mixed race/2nd gen. hispanic/not bilingual aerospace engineer/astronomer natalia/10th white-having origin of europe, middle east, or north america/2nd gen. hispanic/bilingual forensic scientist etta/12th american indian or alaska native/2nd gen. latina/bilingual physical therapist note. in table 1, participants provided their grade level, self-declared race, generation of higher ed attendance, ethnicity, bilingual ability, and career aspirations that they identified during the semi-structured interviews. from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 124 data collection three of the research team members (sparks, silveus, and cartmill) conducted semistructured interviews with the participants to measure the impact of the lsf on students’ identity development and educational/career decisions. in order to create a naturalistic setting, the interviews were conducted at the two-week lsf summer camp site (patton, 2014). sample semi-structured interview questions included asking the participants to describe the extent of stem-related opportunities/evolvement at their current high schools, their prior experience with latina stem teachers/role-models, their current and future educational/career aspirations, the people/activities/experiences that they most identified with and were influenced by during the two-week summer camp, and the importance of their gender/ethnicity/language. participants were also given time to reflect upon their experiences with the lsf and what advice they would have for future campers/lsf participants. due to the semi-structured nature of the interviews, all questions were asked across all participants, but at times the researchers allowed leeway for participants to go off script and share in greater depth about their families, past schooling experiences, and desires for the future. data analysis during the year following the interviews, each research team member analyzed and first-level coded (strauss & corbin, 1998) interview transcripts individually and then met multiple times as a research team to compare, contrast, identify common themes among participants (stake, 2006), and merge all members’ data analysis into our reported results below. coding was informed by the research questions regarding 1) in what ways might participation in a latina stem fellowship move youth from imagined to performed identities related to stem careers and 2) in what ways have high school latina stem fellowship participants taken steps toward these realized/actualized identities? during cross-case analysis and multiple levels of coding, the following four common themes emerged across the participants’ lsf experience: 1. learning from women (mostly latina) scientists provided participants with a concrete vision of an educational trajectory, coupled with a realistic and at times sobering understanding of challenges, consequences, hardships, etc. involved. przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 125 2. the lsf filled the gaps of knowledge/experiences left from the participants’ high school opportunities (e.g. high schools lacked latina teachers/stem role-models, lacked stem communities of practice, lacked accessible and relatable information about college and career preparation, such as cost, what courses to enroll in, where are good programs, and how to navigate the climate and culture of stem programs where these latinas will be a minority). 3. the lsf experience inspired and prompted participants to take concrete steps to start an educational/career path in stem (e.g. registering for advanced placement (ap) physics in the fall, joining the university interscholastic league (uil) team for science and biology). 4. participating with other latina peers, professors, and scientists during the camp, who have similar cultural and linguistic experiences, raised participants’ awareness to how they leverage their bilingualism as a resource. in order to attempt to capture the imagined, in-practice, and performed identities of fellowship participants, we utilized a multimodal systemic functional linguistics (msfl) approach (przymus et al., 2020) that allowed us to document participants’ choice of words, physical actions, stories of past interactions, desires for future action, perceptions of positionality, etc. and demonstrate how these semiotic resources align to create knowledge and develop identities. where schools currently fail to recognize latina students’ imagined and possible stem identities, msfl has been specifically used in educational studies (see examples in following section) to teach educators to look beyond just the typical, in-practice, to the imagined and multimodal meaning-making moments of students’ lives and experiences (which we link to the four themes above). in order to paint a picture of the lsf’s influence on these students, in the results below we provide a combined (all six participants) msfl image that illustrates a sample of the multimodal alignment of these participants’ collective semiotic resources. in the findings section, we link examples from this large combined msfl image to the four themes and then narrow in on the experiences of one individual participant and provide a msfl illustration of how she imagined, practiced, and performed her stem identity. from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 126 demonstrating the alignment of semiotic resources there is a tradition in science of representing knowledge construction and learning through alignment of semiotic resources (lemke, 2004) and some have utilized triadic models, similar to the multimodal systemic functional linguistics (msfl) approach that we use here (waldrip et al., 2010). with our analysis of the effectiveness of a latina stem fellowship (lsf), we consider all semiotic elements (e.g., labs, field trips, guest speakers, etc.) to be meaningmaking texts in social interactions. other educational researchers have shared this recognition of multimodal texts as meaning-making elements (kress, 2011: speech, writing, film; martin, 2000: music, gestures, gaze, facial expressions; fairclough, 2011: social events; przymus et al., 2020: videogame play; wilson, 2011: space, seating arrangements at school). image 1 below shows our msfl triad, demonstrating the alignment of semiotic resources. although there is no real starting and ending point in using this model, for the purpose of explanation we start with the lower right-hand corner and the textual metafunction or the mode of interaction. we conducted a sentence level analysis of every sentence spoken by the participants during their individual interviews. across these hundreds of sentences, we considered all that the participants said, experienced, performed (in relation to the lsf) as their mode of interaction in this stem educational intervention. linking this msfl analysis to our theoretical framework, these modes of interaction are moments of in-practice-identity przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 127 development that both creates knowledge and possible imagined identities. moving counterclockwise, these modes of interaction (textual metafunction) cause knowledge cocreation among participants/lsf facilitators, which we consider as part of the ideational metafunction or the field of knowledge. finally, these modes of interaction, plus the co-created fields of knowledge, all influence participants’ interpersonal metafunction/tenor or identity development. again, making a connection to our theoretical framework, it is here in the interpersonal metafunction/tenor or identity development where we most concretely get insight into possibilities for self or imagined identities. these strengthened or newly formed imagined identities then influence, inform, and make possible, risk-taking and more moments/interactions/modes of in-practice-identity formation, starting the cycle all over again. this msfl approach provides a holistic understanding for meaning-making through multimodal textual interactions. using the example above in image 1, we can see how interacting with accomplished latina scientists (e.g., university biology professor, pediatrician, engineer at lockheed martin, etc.) at the lsf, during a guest lecture, field trip, or lab experiment (textual), can lead to new knowledge regarding how one actually starts, perseveres through, and finishes a degree in stem (ideational). these interactions (textual) and new knowledge (ideational) both influence new imagined identities (interpersonal) as future stem professionals, which encourage new interactions (textual), such as joining a stem uil team or taking an ap science course—starting the cycle of aligning semiotic resources, all over again. the usefulness of this kind of analysis is that it highlights the potential impact of the textual metafunction or mode of interaction. if educators (both school and program based) want to co-create new knowledge with their students and want to nurture positive stem identities within their students, these educators can focus on the kinds or modes of interaction (textual metafunction) present and adapt these or introduce new ones that may produce the desired knowledge and identity development. using systemic functional linguistics in this way differs from traditional work with systemic functional linguistics (eggins, 2004), but we believe that this “multimodal representation of how diverse semiotic elements are aligned” (przymus et al., 2020, p. 2) is effective for measuring the impact of the lsf; as it is a way to, as pennycook (2017) writes, “analyse all that is happening in any one moment or place: moment analysis” (p. 270). from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 128 findings below, we share a large msfl image that combines the alignment of example semiotic resources from all six participants. this 10,000-foot view of the participants’ experiences related to the lsf gives an overview of the fellowship’s impact on moving these participants from imagined stem experts to in-practice, performing, and future stem professionals. each entry on the image begins with the first two letters of the participant’s name, followed by the page number where the data point is found on their transcribed interview, and corresponding line on that page. in order to visually link specific data in the image to corresponding themes of analysis, we have bolded entries/examples of theme 1: impact of learning from and interacting with latina scientists on vision of educational trajectory; we have italicized entries/examples of theme 2: lsf filling gaps of knowledge/experience left from lack of these provided by high schools; we have capitalized entries/examples of theme 3: concrete steps/actions taken by lsf participants toward educational/career paths in stem; and finally we have underlined entries/examples of theme 4: participation in the lsf has risen participants’ awareness of how they can leverage their bilingualism as a resource. direct participant quotes are treated as “modes of interacting” and thus are relayed in the mode (textual metafunction) corner of the image. many of the multimodal interactions (textual) and their resulting knowledge (ideational) and identity (interpersonal) creation fall across multiple themes and are thus represented accordingly. looking at this extensive, but by no means exhaustive, list of social interactions and their meaning-making impact associated with the lsf, we can draw attention to some overlap across participants and contextualize these across the four themes. przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 129 image 2 participants’ alignment of semiotic resources from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 130 theme 1. learning from women (mostly latina) scientists provided participants with a concrete vision of an educational trajectory, coupled with a realistic and at times sobering understanding of challenges, consequences, hardships, etc. involved. examples from this theme (all bolded above) can be found from most participants in the image. even if not represented in the limited space of the large image above, all participants claimed to have gained inspiration, motivation, and a concrete vision of how to achieve an education and degree in stem, as latinas. this influence was at times both complex and nuanced, such as when patricia acknowledged that learning about and learning from accomplished latina scientists was encouraging, but also scary, as she and others learned about having to sometimes move away from family to attend school, and about the anxiety related to the cost of education. patricia also learned from a latina guest speaker about being in male dominated fields, “she said she had to grow a tough skin to deal with like everybody coming at her…which makes me nervous. i’m scared like what if i’m not gonna handle it enough.” the major takeaway, from this theme, however, seemed to be one of solidarity. interacting with other latina peers and with latinas with ph.ds., gave these participants a sense of pride and strength as latinas—something they did not get from their high school experience. theme 2. the lsf filled the gaps of knowledge/experiences left from the participants’ high school opportunities/experiences/teachers/role-models, etc. all six participants relayed examples from this theme and image 2 provides specific examples from several participants (italicized in the image 2 above). most of these examples addressed learning about new stem related content or career opportunities that they were not exposed to at their high schools. etta reflected, “sadly, our school doesn’t have any stem clubs.” for etta, the lsf was her first experience in such a community of practice, and where she learned practical things that she did not learn from her school, such as how to transfer college credits to another university. a lot of examples from this theme overlapped with the first theme of interacting with other latinas, such as learning about how to navigate the climate and culture of future higher education stem programs, where they are likely to be a minority. these lessons led some of the participants to take concrete steps toward starting an educational and career pathway in stem. theme 3. the lsf experience inspired and prompted participants to take concrete steps to start an educational/career path in stem. examples from this theme (all caps in image 2) give us the most direct insight into how przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 131 this lsf moved participants from imagined to performed identities in stem. estrella took it upon her own initiative to research women in astronomy and then registered in advanced placement (ap) physics for the following semester. blanca joined the university interscholastic league (uil) biology team and projected an identity as a future lsf mentor, giving advice to future participants. another participant, patricia, took a tour of rice university, has started helping out the sports trainers at her school, and has actually started preparing for the medical college admission test (mcat). through these examples we get a better understanding of how interacting with other latinas, in a fellowship that specifically lifts this population of students up, strengthens their imagined identities as future stem professionals—a powerful experience that has begun to lead to concrete educational and life decisions toward these students’ goals. theme 4. participating with other latina peers, professors, and scientists during the camp, who have similar cultural and linguistic experiences, raised participants’ awareness to how they leverage their bilingualism as a resource. theme 4 examples, although fewer in number in relation to the other themes, were strongly consistent across participants’ perspectives. the consistent message that these students took away from their lsf experience is that their bilingualism is a resource. keeping in line with current bilingual education research definitions of bilingualism as, “developing language proficiency in two (or more) languages” (przymus et al., 2021, p. 40), we documented moments when participants shared meaningful, quotidian bilingualism. they shared experiences of stepping in, interpreting, and helping others with their spanish/english bilingualism. etta specifically shared that she believes it was her bilingual ability that helped her get her health fitness center job. finally, participants included their bilingualism as a characteristic/skill that sets them apart, gives them a super(she)ro power, and a strength/resiliency that they will leverage upon entering stem higher education programs and careers. bringing it all together: a msfl case study of patricia out of all of the lsf participants, patricia really seemed to understand this opportunity and leveraged it as a spring board to an education and career in stem. below we share one more msfl image to illustrate the specific impact of the lsf on the alignment of patricia’s semiotic resources and how this moved patricia’s imagined stem identity to a performing stem identity. as an example, we see that patricia interacted at the lsf with guest speaker dr. from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 132 soria-olmos (interaction), which gave her knowledge for how to achieve career-specific goals (knowledge), and resulted in her imagined career as a pediatrician (identity). this imagined identity will start the cycle again by prompting a new interaction. przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 133 we can clearly see that through patricia’s statements about and the interactions/experiences that she had within the lsf, she was able to co-construct new knowledge that led to a new, confident, stem identity. the impact of the lsf on patricia’s imagined to performed identity can best be summed up with her own advice to future lsf participants (relayed in all caps here, as it is a concrete action as her performed identity): don’t let it scare you…it’s hard…and it’s gonna feel like you’re lonely sometimes, but you gotta realize that there’s other women out there, that you are doing this for them…i could like make a path for you and blaze that trail. voices of moving from imagined to performed stem identities the above examination of identity work is temporally located at the time of these students’ participation in the lsf. however, each participant provided insight into future actions, prompted by participation in the lsf, that they plan to take to continue to perform their stem identities. their voices (examples shared below) echo the themes of learning from latina scientists to gain a realistic understanding of educational and career trajectories (theme 1), seeking new experiences to fill the gaps of knowledge, left by their high school stem experience (theme 2), leveraging the lsf experiences for knowing about and finding new stem-related experiences (theme 3), and relying on their intersectional and overlapping identities, derived from their race, class, gender, ethnicity, and language (theme 4). etta shared her appreciation for a guest latina scientist from colombia and how much she related to and learned from her. “i think i just related to her in a sense too. like she came over here and she want to go big…she’s already something, you know, up here and big and huge and she want to go beyond that…that’s part of our culture.” combining the first, second, and third themes, etta shared how the lsf director (a latina biology professor) encouraged her to apply to university, try for internships, and gave her information that her high school had not. “here you will learn, you know, many things that your counselors won’t tell you in high school…it’s time for us to stand out and go to school... dr. garcia (author 3) gave me advice about admissions and it’s just the small things you didn’t know about that help you.” etta ended her interview stating that this coming year, she was going to act on internship opportunities, “oh, this seems so cool, like…they were talking about um, internships with them and i was like, wow. i didn’t even know i had that opportunity.” from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 134 estrella offered that the lsf “was the first time i’ve actually started looking at colleges…i’m trying to figure out for myself how to get through this path because i personally don’t have someone to like look off of in my personal life.” estrella, who shared that “my mom is full latina, and my dad is just white,” really leaned on her gender identity in this latinacentered stem figured world, claiming, “if i get somewhere in life and i do accomplishments, i think i would be more recognized as um being like the first female to do something rather than the first latina.” finally, demonstrating a vision for moving from an imagined to a concrete/performed identity in a stem field, estrella stated “being a latina in a stem field, i know there aren’t a lot of people doing it, but in my head i know i have this strength and the knowledge to get me there. so, with education i can find opportunities for myself. i’m gonna keep pushing myself to find something.” discussion & implications in educational contexts where inclusive stem schools (saw, 2019), meant to address the needs of traditionally underrepresented students, do not exist, educators must be innovative and purposeful in creating identity-based opportunities for these students. in multimodally documenting and analyzing the lsf participants’ semiotic resources, the findings in our study build upon existing research on the impact of extra-curricular stem programs on young girls’ achievement in school and decisions to choose stem careers. the existence of other latina peers interested in stem at the fellowship provided participants with influential socializers and a new community of practice. importantly, the stem fellowship placed these participants in front of latina stem professionals, providing the teacher/role-model support that these youth lacked at their high schools. marsh et al. (2019) claim that “teacher support may not only be an important factor for students but also be a buffer against negative stereotypes” (p. 1635). they also report that “women who enrolled in stem university courses reflected that previous learning experiences were critical to their decision to enter into stem, alongside with role-models in the field and parental support” (2019, pp. 1635-1636). caldwell et al. (2018) refer to these as pathway programs that seek to seal the leaks in the stem educational pipeline. although our analysis of the lsf does not address the lack of early – learner stem pipeline programs for elementary school children identified by these researchers, przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 135 our findings do contribute to caldwell et al.’s call for more research for understanding the needs of underrepresented groups’ achieving success in stem. fancsali (2002) summarizes the related literature on the needs of women in the stem pipeline, demonstrating “that mentors, role models, and networks are important from the early grades and throughout a woman’s career in the sciences” (p. 2). in highlighting the work of campbell and steinbrueck (1996) and ferreira (2001), fancsali outlines that “programs for girls combining hands-on activities, role models, mentoring, internships, and career exploration have improved girls’ self-confidence and interest in stem courses and careers and helped reduce sexist attitudes about stem” (p. 2). other researchers have similarly, highlighted the need for facilitating opportunities for academic engagement with dedicated adults and other students, concerned about issues of class, race, and gender, through exploration of leadership and creativity (sparks et al., 2021). hansen et al. (1995) also point to the support that can arise from contexts of single-sex grouping. the lsf, a single-sex, latina-focused out-of-school program, provided for a rich research context to put the above attributes of supportive/successful stem projects to the test. the lsf became the figured world, where these students’ intersectional identities (at times gender, other times ethnicity, and/or language) could act as contextual mitigating factors to being positioned as others in stem courses or the imagining of having stem careers. the hands-on activities, latina ph.d. mentors, career and college exploration sessions, phenotypic and gender similar participants, etc. present in the lsf all confirm that these aspects of genderequity focused stem projects are important and needed. as evidence of the positive influence of the lsf, some of the former participants still keep in contact with lsf directors and instructors. patricia, who’s msfl image is highlighted above is a current university student and as of the writing of this manuscript was helping at the 2021 lsf summer camp, as a near peer. the most concrete way to measure the impact of the lsf is to look at what participants imagined for themselves during the camp and to cross-reference this with what they are actually doing now. patricia is well on her way to achieving her goals and imagined identity in stem. in fact, patricia is currently involved with a covid 19 study at her university and her mom, influenced by the what to expect when you are expecting… your daughter to go to college session at the lsf, has started a facebook group in spanish for other moms of latinas at patricia’s university. from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 136 conclusion research conducted on what marginalized and underrepresented students in science need to be successful, consistently points to the nurturing of students’ positive identity with science (jackson & seiler, 2018). jackson and seiler point to the research claiming that “this identity work can be supported by the creation of spaces where students can draw on resources from a variety of aspects of their life rather than just the standard resources readily available in a traditional science classroom” (2017, p. 763). in this kind of supportive contextualized space, the intersectionality of identities of the latina students were reclaimed to address multiple intersections of marginalization, outside of the lsf. this created a supportive figured world within the lsf that created the possibility to imagine and to start to take steps toward performed stem identities, beyond the lsf. in revisiting the research questions regarding how a lsf might move young latinas from an imagined identity to a performed stem identity and in what ways have the lsf participants taken concrete steps along this trajectory, we observed that within the lsf space, participants studied about and interacted with accomplished latina scientists. we see how this both inspired the participants and provided them with exemplars that shared realistic educational trajectories to stem careers. the participants noted that the lsf filled the gaps of stem knowledge and experiences, not provided by their high schools and that many took advantage of these new found opportunities to take concrete steps to achieving their goals. finally, these latina high school students became aware of how they leverage their bilingualism as a resource; a super(she)ro power that allowed them to help others. clearly these young latinas had imagined identities of being a stem professional when answering the question of what they wanted to be when they grow up. their voices above point to their gratefulness to have had the opportunity to develop those identities in-practice and to begin to perform them through the lsf. we wish for this same identity trajectory for other young latinas, who are answering this ubiquitous childhood question with a stem dream. przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 137 references bindis, m. (2020). “i love science”: opinions of secondary school females toward science and science careers. international journal of science and mathematics education, 18(8), 16551671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-019-10036-x caldwell, l., garcia, r., & cagle, n. (2018). k-12 diversity pathway programs in the e-stem fields: a review of existing programs and summary of unmet needs. journal of stem education: innovations and research, 19(4). campbell, p. & steinbrueck, k. (1996). striving for gender equity: national programs to increase student engagement with math and science. washington, d.c.: american association for the advancement of science caraballo, l. (2019). being “loud”: identities-in-practice in a figured world of achievement. american educational research journal, 56(4), 1281-1317. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218816059 early, m., & norton, b. (2012). language learner stories and imagined identities. narrative inquiry, 22(1), 194-201. https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.22.1.15ear eggins, s. (2004). introduction to systemic functional linguistics. a&c black. fairclough, n. (2011). semiotic aspects of social transformation and learning. in r. rogers (ed.), an introduction to critical discourse analysis in education (2nd ed., pp. 119-127). lawrence erlbaum associates, inc. fancsali, c. (2002). what we know about girls, stem, and afterschool programs: a summary. academy for educational development, educational equity center. gonzalez, e., aguirre, c. c., & myers, j. (2020). persistence of latinas in stem at an r1 higher education institution in texas. journal of hispanic higher education, https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192720918369 hall, s. (1990). cultural identity and diaspora. in j. rutherford (ed.), identity: community, culture, difference (pp. 222-237). lawrence & wishart. hansen, l. s., walker, j., & flom, b. (1995). growing smart: what's working for girls in school. amer assn of univ women. holland d., lachicotte w. jr., skinner d., & cain c. (1998). identity and agency in cultural worlds. cambridge: harvard university press. jackson, p. a., & seiler, g. (2018). i am smart enough to study postsecondary science: a critical discourse analysis of latecomers’ identity construction in an online forum. cultural studies of science education, 13(3), 761-784. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9818-0 kanno, y., & norton, b. (2003). imagined communities and educational possibilities: introduction. journal of language, identity, and education, 2(4), 241-249. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0204_1 kress, g. (2011). discourse analysis and education: a multimodal social semiotic approach. in r. rogers (ed. ), an introduction to critical discourse analysis in education (2nd ed., pp. 205-226). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203836149 lemke, j. (2004). the literacies of science. in e. w. saul (ed.), crossing borders in literacy and science instruction: perspectives on theory and practice (pp. 33–47). international reading association/national science teachers association. https://doi.org/10.1598/0872075192.2 licona, m. m. (2013). mexican and mexican-american children’s funds of knowledge as interventions into deficit thinking: opportunities for praxis in science education. cultural studies of science education, 8(4), 859-872. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-013-9515-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-019-10036-x https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218816059 https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.22.1.15ear https://doi.org/10.1177%2f1538192720918369 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9818-0 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0204_1 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203836149 https://doi.org/10.1598/0872075192.2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-013-9515-6 from imagined to in-practice and performed stem identities association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 138 manzo, r. d., cruz, l., faltis, c., & de la torre, a. (2011). professional development of secondary science teachers of english learners in immigrant communities. association of mexican american educators journal, 5(1), 41-48. mark, s. l. (2018). a bit of both science and economics: a non-traditional stem identity narrative. cultural studies of science education, 13(4), 983-1003. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9832-2 marsh, h. w., van zanden, b., parker, p. d., guo, j., conigrave, j., & seaton, m. (2019). young women face disadvantage to enrollment in university stem coursework regardless of prior achievement and attitudes. american educational research journal, 56(5), 16291680. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218824111 martin, j. r. (2000). close reading: functional linguistics as a tool for critical discourse analysis. in l. unsworth (ed.), researching language in schools and communities: functional linguistic perspectives (pp. 275-302). cassell. martínez, a. j. g., pitts, w., de robles, s. l. r., brkich, k. l. m., bustos, b. f., & claeys, l. (2019). discerning contextual complexities in stem career pathways: insights from successful latinas. cultural studies of science education, 14(4), 1079-1103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-018-9900-2 migration policy institute (2017). tabulation of data from the u.s. census bureau’s american community survey (for data on children in immigrant families) and the u.s. department of education (for ell data), ed data express, sy 2015-16. available online at https:// www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/ charts/english-learners-k-12education-state (last accessed: november 29, 2021). national science foundation, national center for science and engineering statistics (2017). women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering: 2017. special report nsf 17-310. arlington, va. obsiye, m., & cook, r. (2016). cultural identity and (dis) continuities of children of immigrant communities. cultural studies of science education, 11(4), 1061-1070. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-015-9706-4 patton, m. q. (2014). qualitative research & evaluation methods integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). sage publications. pennycook, a. (2017). translanguaging and semiotic assemblages. international journal of multilingualism, 14(3), 269-282. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2017.1315810 pew research center (2017). 2017 pew research center stem survey [data file]. retrieved from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/?post_type=dataset przymus, s. d. (2016). imagining and moving beyond the esl bubble: facilitating communities of practice through the ell ambassadors program. journal of language, identity & education, 15(5), 265-279. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2016.1213133 przymus, s. d., faggella-luby, m., & silva, c. (2021) it’s only a matter of meaning! from english language learners (ells) and emergent bilinguals (ebs) to active bilingual learners/users of english (able). identity, language, and diversity (i-land) international journal, 2/2020, 30-50. https://doi.org/10.26379/il2020002_003 przymus, s. d., lengeling, m. m., mora-pablo, i., & serna-gutiérrez, o. (2020). from daca to dark souls: mmorpgs as sanctuary, sites of language/identity development, and thirdspace translanguaging pedagogy for los otros dreamers. journal of language, identity & education, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2020.1791711 rosa, k. (2018). science identity possibilities: a look into blackness, masculinities, and https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9832-2 https://doi.org/10.3102%2f0002831218824111 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-018-9900-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-015-9706-4 https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2017.1315810 https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/?post_type=dataset https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2016.1213133 https://doi.org/10.26379/il2020002_003 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2020.1791711 przymus, sparks, garcia, silveus, & cartmill association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 139 economic power relations. cultural studies of science education, 13(4), 1005-1013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-018-9859-z ruiz, e. c. (2013). motivating latina doctoral students in stem disciplines. new directions for higher education, 2013(163), 35–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/he.20063 saw, g. (2019). the impact of inclusive stem high schools on student outcomes: a statewide longitudinal evaluation of texas stem academies. international journal of science and mathematics education, 17(8), 1445-1457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-018-09942-3 sparks, d. m., libii, j. n., & nandakumar, v. (2019). “we are shaped by our experiences”: intersectionality and the african international stem student. research in the schools, 26(2), 17-31. sparks, d. m., przymus, s. d., silveus, a., de la fuente, y., & cartmill, c. (2021). navigating the intersectionality of race/ethnicity, culture, and gender identity as an aspiring latina stem student. journal of latinos and education, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2021.1958332 stake, r. (2006). multiple case study analysis. guilford press. steele, c. m. (2011). whistling vivaldi: and other clues to how stereotypes affect us (issues of our time). ww norton & company. strauss, a., & corbin, j. (1998). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. sage. ventura, j. (2017). " we created that space with everybody:" constructing a community based space of belonging and familia in a latina/o youth group. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(1), 23-37. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.326 waldrip, b., prain, v., & carolan, j. (2010). using multi-modal representations to improve learning in junior secondary science. research in science education, 40(1), 65-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-009-9157-6 wilson, a. a. (2011). a social semiotics framework for conceptualizing content area literacies. journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 54(6), 435-444. https://doi.org/10.1598/jaal.54.6.5 wenger, e. (1998). communities of practice. cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511803932 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-018-9859-z http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/he.20063 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-018-09942-3 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2021.1958332 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.11.326 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-009-9157-6 https://doi.org/10.1598/jaal.54.6.5 https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511803932 volume 14 issue 3 2020 amae special issue latinx students at minority-serving institutions guest editors taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.387 issn: 2377-9187 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.3.387 allen, lu & calderón galdeano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 6 introduction taryn ozuna allen texas christian university charles lu university of california, san diego emily calderón galdeano elevate consulting group ample scholarship has demonstrated that the latinx population continues to be the fastest growing ethnic-minority group in the u.s. (calderón galdeano, flores, & moder, 2012; núñez, sparks, & hernández, 2011).  between 2000 and 2010, the latino population grew by 44% (arbona & jimenez, 2014), and is estimated to double in size by 2050 (krogstad, 2014).  as of 2019, there were an estimated 61 million latinos residing within the united states (u.s. census, 2020).  as such, the number of latinx students participating in american colleges and universities has also increased (medina & posadas, 2012). between 2000 and 2018, college enrollment rates for latinx students increased 14 percentage points, the most of all groups, from 22 percent to 36 percent (u.s. department of education, 2020). at the same time, there has been a significant growth in the number of minority serving institutions (msis) from 414 in the 1980s (li, 2007) to approximately 1,000 msis (asian american and native pacific islander-serving institutions, 2016; hispanic association of colleges and universities [hacu], 2019; national center for education statistics, 2020). msis are increasingly relevant in higher education for a few distinct reasons (teranishi, 2014). first, msis enroll a high number and proportional representation of low-income minority students.  second, msis are pursuing innovative and evidence-based practices, which are effective in promoting persistence, degree attainment, and student satisfaction.  finally, the federal government provides grants to msis through a number of federal agencies, with a significant amount of funding authorized through the higher education act of 1965 (hea p.l. 89-329). through hea alone, annual appropriations total more than $800 million, funding more than allen, lu & calderón galdeano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 7 950 institutions.  the funding is crucial for msis as they typically have fewer resources from tuition revenues or endowments to serve a higher proportion high-need students. federal allocations will be heavily influenced by our new president elect, joe biden, and vice-president elect, kamala harris. for the first time in its history, american citizens elected kamala harris, a black woman of jamaican and indian descent, to become the country’s vice president. furthermore, kamala harris is a graduate of a historically black college. as such, biden’s administration is projected to bring more aid to msis, including investing $10 billion to improve enrollment, retention, degree completion, and employment rates. biden’s proposed plan would spend billions more to improve research at msis and require federal agencies to explain and fix any disparities in federal dollars going to msis versus other kinds of colleges. msis are of critical importance to the field of higher education, and this special issue builds upon our collective knowledge of latinx students’ being, perceptions, and experiences at them.  as our country continues to simultaneously break barriers and struggle with racial equity, our hope is that this scholarship will contribute to highlighting and advancing the efforts of important work being done across msis in this country. this special issue consists of seven articles, one book review, and one poem. as previously mentioned, this issue is being published at the crossroads of social unrest, protests, and leadership changes that reflect a diversifying america. the first article of this series, “students’ perceptions of diversity at two hispanic-serving institutions through pictures: a focus on structures for serving,” by gina garcia and marialexia zaragoza explores how students at hispanic-serving institutions (hsis) perceive diversity at their institutions through art, people, and space. the authors argue that students at hsis have not been given the opportunity to define “servingness” or to talk about what it means to be at a campus that is compositionally diverse. one area where much discussion regarding access and equity to higher education has taken place includes the financial costs associated with attending college. as such, the second article by vincent carales, mauricio molina, and darrell l. hooker, “without them i couldn't pay for my education, so here i am”: latinx college graduates’ experiences with and perceptions of their student loan debt,” discusses how sources of information, rationale for borrowing, and the burden of debt influence students’ thought processes and decisions when it comes to their loan debt and overall finances. allen, lu & calderón galdeano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 8 in the third article, “i love how we developed a community already”: a graduate student orientation model for minority-serving programs and institutions, magdalena barrera’s pedagogical reflection contributes to the discussion of latinx student experiences by exploring an innovative approach to a new graduate student orientation for a master’s program in a chicana/o studies department at a msi. this article explores student feedback on the orientation and also provides reflection questions for departments and msis to bring a more supportive and holistic approach to welcoming and retaining latinx graduate students. in “entrando en el juego: the role of hispanic-serving institutions in fostering educational and athletic outcomes for latinx athletes,” nikki grafnetterova, jocelyn a. gutierrez, and rosa m. banda explore how intercollegiate athletics play a role in fostering educational outcomes for latinx students at hsis. using a critical approach, this qualitative study examined how hsis operate both the federal designation and the national collegiate athletic association (ncaa) division i (d1) membership in relation to athletic participation and completion outcomes for latinx student-athletes. this study is among the first to disaggregate ncaa data by institutional type in regard to the hsi designation and the role hsis play in fostering athletic and educational outcomes for latinx student-athletes. devan r. romero, minerva gonzalez, marisol clark-ibanez, and kimberly d’annahernandez’s article entitled “a culturally validated model of student success services and academic and curriculum enhancements at a hispanic-serving institution” uses validation theory to illustrate an asset-based program that uses a culturally validated model of both student success services and academic and curriculum enhancements at an hsi to increase latinx student retention and persistence. this model provides a unique approach to how other msis can provide culturally validating services in their work. in the sixth article, “in a state of becoming: how institutions communicate latinxand asian american and pacific islander-servingness through campus artifacts,” cynthia m. alcantar, blanca rincón, and kristine jan espinoza utilized a critical ethnographic methodology and found two interconnected themes that emerged from the data: striving to become and undermining progress towards becoming. the study demonstrated the complexities of communicating latinxand aapi-servingness through campus artifacts, allen, lu & calderón galdeano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 9 particularly for historically white institutions (hwis) with multiple, competing missions and limited capacities to shift from becoming to being msis. the final article, “factors influencing latino first-generation college students’ optimism for degree attainment,” by laura f. romo, diana magana, and gabriela gutierrez-serrano, explored factors that contribute to latino students’ positive expectancies for degree attainment. they found that students’ beliefs about their competency and determination to overcome challenges significantly influenced students’ optimism. strong connections with institutional agents, such as faculty and student affairs staff, also emerged as significant contributing factors. for this special issue, jesse enriquez reviewed angele e. batista, shirley m. collado, and david perez ii’s book entitled latinx/a/os in higher education: exploring identity, pathways, and success. enriquez concludes that the book is a compelling culmination of personal narratives and scholarly papers that are supported by research and data. this publication moves beyond deficit-oriented narratives about the plight of latinx/a/os in higher education. our final offering to the issue is anahi ibarra’s poem entitled on diversity, equity, and inclusion. in her piece, she offers an in-depth and critical reflection on navigating college as a first-generation latina student. through powerful and piercing words, anahi’s poem challenges faculty, staff, and students alike at msis to strive for more equitable outcomes for students. allen, lu & calderón galdeano association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 10 references arbona, c., & jimenez, c. (2014). minority stress, ethnic identity, and depression among latino/a college students. journal of counseling psychology, 60, 162-168. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034914 asian american and native american pacific islander-serving institutions (2016). aanapisi infographic. retrieved from https://www.aanapisi.net/aanapisi_infographic calderón galdeano, e., flores, a. r., & moder, j. (2012). the hispanic association of colleges and universities and hispanic-serving institutions: partners in the advancement of hispanic higher education. journal of latinos and education, 11, 157-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2012.686352 hispanic association of colleges and universities. (2019). hacu list of hispanic-serving institutions. retrieved from https://www.hacu.net/hacu/hsis.asp. krogstad, j.m. (2014). with fewer new arrivals, census lowers hispanic population projections. retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/16/with-fewer-newarrivals-census-lowers-hispanic-population-projections-2/ li, x. (2007). characteristics of minority-serving institutions and minority undergraduates enrolled in these institutions (nces 2008-156). washington, dc: u.s. department of education, institute of education sciences, national center for education statistics. medina, c. a., & posadas, c. e. (2012). hispanic student experiences at a hispanic-serving institution: strong voices, key message. journal of latinos and education, 11, 182 188. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2012.686358 national center for education statistics. (2019). spotlight b: characteristics of postsecondary institutions serving specific minority racial/ethnic groups. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/spotlight_b.asp#5 national center for education statistics. (2020). college enrollment rates. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cpb.asp núñez, a. m., sparks, p. j., & hernández, e. a. (2011). latino access to community colleges and hispanic-serving institutions: a national study. journal of hispanic higher education, 10, 18-40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192710391801 teranishi, r. (2014). measuring the impact of msi-funded programs on student success: findings from the evaluation of asian american and native american pacific islander serving institutions. los angeles, ca: partnership for equity in education through research. retrieved from http://www.apiasf.org/pdfs/2014_peer_report/apiasf_and_ care_peer_report_april_2014.pdf u.s. census. (2020). quick facts: united states. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/us/rhi725219 u.s. department of education. (2020). college enrollment rates. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cpb.asp https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034914 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2012.686352 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/16/with-fewer-new-arrivals-census-lowers-hispanic-population-projections-2/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/16/with-fewer-new-arrivals-census-lowers-hispanic-population-projections-2/ https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2012.686358 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192710391801 http://www.apiasf.org/pdfs/2014_peer_report/apiasf_and_ krogstad, j.m. (2014). with fewer new arrivals, census lowers hispanic population projections. retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/16/with-fewer-new-arrivals-census-lowers-hispanic-population-projections-2/ volume 14 issue 1 2020 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 122 southwest borderland voices and stories: community cultural wealth as living literacies violet henderson new mexico state university abstract this study qualitatively examines the literacy experiences of three southwest borderland latinos who left high school before graduating. addressing a gap in the literature that reveals the limited attention paid to how students who left high school before graduating generate and use community cultural wealth (burciaga & erbstein, 2012), this investigation explores the vibrant role and contribution of community cultural wealth in literacy development. through the frameworks of new literacy studies (nls) and family literacy within the context of the southwest borderlands, and employing the tool of counternarratives through a latino critical race theory (latcrit) lens, this study provides a platform for validating and affirming the voices, stories, experiences, and knowledges of the research participants. utilizing portraiture as the methodology illuminates the living literacies that transpired when the participants read their world and the word (freire, 2006). keywords: community cultural wealth, counternarratives, latino critical race theory (latcrit), living literacies, new literacy studies (nls), portraiture doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.374 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.374 southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 123 introduction andy, a young boy, age ten, walks through a newly cultivated field seeded with the seasonal crop, his grandfather by his side. andy listens attentively as his grandfather explains the tradition of working in the fields. andy, now an adult in his late 30s, also known as “chang,” reminisces on that time, continuing the tradition learned from his grandfather. he describes his process in farmland irrigation: it's not as easy as it looks. everybody thinks you just open the water. "ah, just sit there and watch it." no, no, no, no, you gotta really watch the water… watch how the water is flowing. and study it. cuz, either it’s gonna take you all day to do, or it can be very fast and you’re not gonna be able to control it. so, you have to study how the waves are moving and how fast the water is moving. jenny, a woman in her early 40s, sent a friend of hers a covered dish she prepared as a gesture of support. she reflects and relates to the challenging time her friend is experiencing. sending food alleviates her friend's added task of cooking for her family to better focus on overcoming her challenges. this act illustrates the reciprocal relationship that jenny and her friend share. "that’s, you know, she shows her love for me helping me out in all kinds of ways and i return it feeding them. that’s what i do.” jenny attributes this knowledge to what she learned from her mother: from how we grew up, our love was shown… in our education, was all manual labor. we showed love that way, by helping each other, by doing things, by always… my mom was very giving, very giving. whatever she had, especially with food. the period is the late 1940s. geraldo is a young boy hunting through the rugged, southwestern desert with his grandfather and father when they notice animal tracks in the sand. geraldo focuses on the tracks and his grandfather's and father's voices as they explain the subtleties in each animal track. geraldo, now a man in his late 70s, recollects about that time. using his hands to recreate the print, geraldo explains, "coyote has four, y luego, piquitos at the claws. the rabbit, larguitas.” (coyote has four and then, little points at the claws. the rabbit, little long ones). “you could track anything.” henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 124 the voices above capture the three participants of this study: andy, aka "chang,” jenny, and geraldo. they describe the learning and the knowledges they hold that have been passed on by family members close to them within the community cultural wealth framework (yosso, 2006). furthermore, they elucidate how they interact with different texts in their surroundings when reading their world (freire, 2006): chang, the water when irrigating; jenny the people around her; geraldo, the tracks in the sand. another commonality the participants share is that they all left high school before graduating. based on the author's research, this article examines and illuminates the rich role and contribution of community cultural wealth in literacy development in the lives of three southwest borderland latinos who left high school before graduating. the individuals’ experiences when reading their world, captures the concept of living literacies or the multiple literacies and its uses central to the livelihood and survival of individuals from marginalized and underprivileged groups—the literacies at the core of their lived experiences. a study by burciaga and erbstein (2012) maintains that understanding the forms of capital in community cultural wealth offers a vital conceptual framework in confronting deficit-based and incomplete portraits of latinx communities. however, burciaga and erbstein (2012) reveal limited attention paid to how students who left high school before graduating generate and use community cultural wealth. informed by their study, the following research question guided this investigation: how do three southwest borderland individuals who left high school before graduating generate and use community cultural wealth in literacy development? to frame this study from an assets-based perspective, i purposely refrain from referring to the participants as “dropouts.” the intention is to change the negative discourse and deficit thinking stances that proliferate the perception of “dropouts” as apathetic individuals who made poor choices and do not value education. this study also highlights the diverse and equally valid literacy practices that occur in the homes of marginalized families and the multiple ways in which families support their children, bringing value and merit to the knowledges they hold and create (delgado-bernal, 2002). not often considered in academia or public policy are the voices of the marginalized (gonzález, 2001), which perpetuate deficit thinking stances, stereotypes, myths, and assumptions (garcía & guerra, 2004; valencia, 2010). through the frameworks of southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 125 family literacy, new literacy studies (nls), and community cultural wealth within the southwest borderlands context, this investigation provides a platform for validating and affirming the voices and stories of the research participants, their families, their literacy experiences, and knowledge. the participants’ voices and stories provide counternarratives through the lens of critical race theory (crt) and latino critical race theory latcrit (solorzano & yosso, 2001; yosso, 2006) and the methodology of portraiture (lawrencelightfoot & davis, 1997) in debunking negative assumptions and stereotypes. furthermore, this study provides insight and composes portraits into the myriad of ways literacy is enacted at home and through the community while unveiling schooling conditions and educational experiences. the context of “the southwest borderland” the u.s.mexican border es una herida abierta where the third world grates against the first and bleeds. and before a scab forms it hemorrhages again, the lifeblood of two worlds merging to form a third country-a border culture (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 3). in this quote, gloria anzaldúa elucidates the complex and unique context of living in an area of the country known as “the southwest borderland,” which encompasses two countries, the united states and mexico. vélez-ibáñez (2018) refers to this area as the southwest north american region, which is “a highly diverse and complex region that encompasses six mexican and four american states sharing a common imposed boundary” (p. 22). in the southwest borderland context, identity, language, and culture emulate in a rich mosaic of creations influenced by facets of each entity on what it means to be "chicano" and "mexican" (anzaldúa, 1987; bejarano, 2005; gonzález, 2001). individuals experience the matrix of geopolitical spaces, cultures, languages, citizenships, social hierarchies, and the experiences of mexicans/os and chicanas/os, which influence the construction of identity. the borderland breeds politics behind identity that promotes tensions and discourses of monolingualism, bilingualism, nationalism, uniformity, discrimination, and racism. individual identities converge and diverge, are paradoxically meaningful and meaningless, and often meet in the middle through a passage of shared languages, cultures, and politics (bejarano, 2005). "the physical border and the metaphorical borderlands serve as geophysical and analytical apertures for scholars to view henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 126 how people of all ages negotiate ‘mexicanness’ and ‘chicanoismo’ while constructing their identities" (bejarano, 2005, p. 27). in the southwest borderland context, where two cultures dynamically and fluidly straddle, the languages spoken take many forms, which reflect the complex and heterogeneous people of the borderlands. people's complex lives become a factor in how children socialize through language with no simple patterns to how this transpires. individuals in the borderlands become artful craftspeople in blending an appropriation of words and make sense of the collection of language forms that come their way (anzaldúa, 1987; gonzález, 2001). the concept of translanguaging (garcía, 2011) illustrates the amalgamation of english and spanish, exemplifying a dynamic and fluid language form experienced by speakers in the southwest borderlands. translanguaging represents how bilingual individuals shift from one language to another. not to be considered the same as code-switching, translanguaging maintains that bilingual individuals use one linguistic repertoire, from which they strategically select features to communicate with each other effectively. the speakers shift the pronunciation of sounds and intonation patterns from one language to another in natural phrase boundaries, which is not haphazard or careless but rather a complex and intricate process governed by precise language rules (garcía, 2009). this use in language illuminates the "flexible use of their linguistic resources to make meaning of their lives and their complex worlds" (garcía, 2011, p .1). sánchez, garcía, & solorza (2018) maintain that viewing language use from a translanguage perspective, centers on what bilingual speakers do with language and how they do language with their own distinct and dynamic repertoire of linguistic features. johnson, garcía, and seltzer (2019) use the metaphor of two riverbanks to illustrate the power of translanguaging. one language stands on each side, english and spanish, with the current or corriente representing the dynamic and fluid use of the individual’s bilingualism and lived realities. integrated are the individual’s true and fluid language uses with their semiotic resources to make meaning, to be creative and critical, and to imagine. these dynamic and fluid facets reshape and dissolve each of the riverbanks and illustrate a more flexible way of doing language. these complexities concerning culture, language, and identity found in the southwest borderland capture an in-between state defined as nepantla where individuals live among and between multiple worlds (anzaldúa, 1987). experiencing and being immersed in these complexities as a lived experience served as a criterion for the research participants. southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 127 on schooling conditions: the “dropout” and deficit thinking lukes (2015) contends that the term "dropout" is a quasi-epithet whose goal is to insult the target when used in the vernacular. freire (2005) describes the term "school dropout" as a linguistic manipulation intended to hide a particular ideology in which particular discourses disguise "concrete situations that in reality ‘push out’ students from school or prevent them from going to school" (p. 10). a study by fine (1991) uncovered systems of "silencing" and "exporting dissent" occurring within schools, which disproportionately affect students of color. examples of silencing include stifling dialogue that centers on social inequality, unjust school disciplinary practices, and complaints about discrimination, racism, sexism, and inadequate curriculum. "exporting dissent" represents a means to deal with those who would not or could not be silenced, resulting in the banishment of student bodies where dissenters were "pushed out" of school through disciplinary actions and conditions. other push out practices included actively dismissing students into ged or other alternative programs or encouraging students to abandon school altogether due to lack of credits, behavioral issues, or pregnancy (lukes, 2015). the "push out/dropout" problem for minority students in the u.s. school system became more severe due to the overemphasis on test-based accountability. the practices that ensued included identifying "low-achieving" students and administratively withdrawing them for reasons varying from lack of interest, academic failure, and poor attendance (orfield et al., 2004). however, of the many theories used to explicate school failure among economically disadvantaged minority students, the deficit thinking model has been prevalent for over 100 years (garcía & guerra, 2004; valencia, 2010). when enacted towards mexican-american families, a common myth based on deficit thinking is that these families do not value education or care about their child (burciaga & erbstein, 2012; garcía & guerra, 2004; valencia, 2010; valdés, 1996). in examining the history of schooling for mexican-americans in the southwest, the purpose for educating mexican children in the southwest "functioned as a means of social control, an attempt to socialize them into loyal and disciplined workers, and the instrument by which social relations between mexican and white communities were reproduced" (donato, 1997, p. 12). such practices simplify and remediate curriculum and uphold low teacher and administrator expectations (donato, 1997; noguera et al., 2015; valencia, 2010). these phenomena describe the impact that stems from the negative image inflicted by society and the school system, and proliferates the ideology of “blaming the victim” instead of critically henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 128 examining educational institutions (freire, 2005; valencia, 2010). “victim blaming” and deficit thinking are forms of oppression, grounded in racism, classism, and sexism, which represent cruel and unjust uses of power, and exercises authority to keep a group of people in their place (garcía & guerra, 2004; valencia, 2010, 1997). theoretical framework living literacies, family literacy, and new literacy studies (nls) in this study, i employ the term living literacies to capture the many ways the participants transacted with literacy. acknowledging maldonado’s (2001) case for “living literacy,” this study also demonstrates how bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural individuals have, at least, twice as much knowledge and, in this case, community cultural wealth, to bring to bear on their literacy experiences. this study's living literacies capture a treasury of multiple and multimodal literacies and their uses central to the livelihood and survival of individuals from marginalized and underprivileged groups. these literacies are dynamic and organic in which meaning-making remains at the center of their lived experiences. a significant and growing body of literature has concluded that literacy is a highly culture-specific type of activity that forms through interactions with families, communities, and histories (auerbach, 1989; compton-lily, 2009; del la piedra & araujo, 2012; delgado-gaitan, 1996; heath, 1983; nieto, 2018; reyes & torres, 2007; street, 1995, 2013; valdés, 1996). this research challenges deficit-thinking views that exist about families from underprivileged and diverse backgrounds. such beliefs include deficiencies due to cultural and linguistic differences, blaming these differences for “inadequate” literacy development, and aiming to “fix” families in becoming literate around the dominant definition of literacy. concerning this study, the definition of literacy development in the freireian sense implies "reading the word and the world" (freire, 2006) and works towards affirming the diverse family literacy practices that exist among non-mainstream families. “reading the word and the world,” is a short phrase coined by paulo freire that contains an entire philosophy and practical theory of what it means to be a literate person. this phrase explains that decoding words on a page and making meaning from those words, or any text, is a small component of the entire reading process (torres & ruiz, 2013). the world in which we live, our environment, or natural settings greatly influence the sense we make and the meaning we place on the southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 129 context of that text. moreover, this philosophy acknowledges the various and equally essential literacy practices that occur in the homes of marginalized families and the multiple ways in which families support their children (reyes & torres, 2007). recognizing jiménez’s (2004) concept of cultural borderlands, literacy learning is more appealing to individuals when it is connected and supportive of their bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural identities, and fosters their spanish-language literacy development. many researchers in family literacy (auerbach, 1989; compton-lily, 2009; delgadogaitan, 1996; gonzález, 2001; reyes & torres, 2007; valdés, 1996) assert that children bring a multiplicity of language and literacy practices from home that are valid and as equally important as those from the dominant mainstream culture. these researchers explain that family literacy practices reflect the complexity of each family's lives and shape the realizations that not all marginalized families are the same. conclusions from such studies, particularly seminal studies found in heath (1983) and street (1995), evoked a new term in the realm of literacy coined as the new literacy studies or nls. the new literacy studies (nls) paradigm recognizes the multiple literacies people employ, varying according to space and time. nls proposes that texts and their functions connect to power structures and social factors dependent on cultural meanings and the social contexts that users assign to them (barton & hamilton, 2000). the nls represents a new tradition of literacy that concentrates on and unequivocally links to literacy as a social practice and the ideologies associated with print rather than on the acquisition of skills, as found in dominant approaches (street, 2003). when considering multimodal literacies, kress (2000) provides the term multimodality, which implies that meaning-making occurs through various forms of communicative channels other than print. such channels include, but are not limited to, multiple modes of visual, audio, gestural, and spatial patterns of meaning or representations, and various forms and semiotic systems. such studies identify the multiple forms of capital latinx individuals and families employ, emphasizing the strengths that communities contribute to the process of education and schooling (delgado-bernal, 2001; gonzalez et al., 2005; vélez-ibañez & greenberg, 2005; yosso, 2006). critical race theory and latino critical race theory related to this study, the primary goal of crt is to apply narratives and storytelling to examine race and racism through counternarratives, placing value on the participants’ henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 130 experiences. counternarratives serve as a tool for analyzing, exposing, and challenging the status quo and majoritarian stories of racial privilege, calling attention to voice. counternarratives focuses on the experiences and stories of people of color and people traditionally silenced, providing the opportunity for individuals to tell their stories to counteract the grand narratives of the dominant group. these stories and narratives defy conventional stereotypes and ways of depicting people of color and expose the systemic inequalities (solorzano & yosso, 2001; yosso & garcía, 2007; yosso, 2006). as the three participants of this study are latinx, latcrit, a branch of crt, offers a broader conversation of latino epistemologies (yosso, 2006). latcrit serves to analyze their lives and stories through counternarratives by revealing practices, discourses, and social structures that impacted their experiences as a whole. latcrit in education serves as a framework to theorize and examine the implicit and explicit ways race and racism impact processes. this framework focuses on the intersectionalities of oppression (crenshaw, 1989) that emerge from the various aspects of latinx identities, such as culture, nationality, ethnicity, immigration status, phenotype, accent, surname, and language (anguiano et al., 2012; delgado bernal, 2002; yosso, 2006). community cultural wealth to visualize community cultural wealth as a model, yosso and garcía (2007) apply a kaleidoscope metaphor to illustrate its complex nature. when the kaleidoscope shifts, six dynamic and overlapping forms of capital emerge that build on one another. explanations of the six forms of capital are as follows: (1) aspirational capital pertains to the ability to maintain hopes and dreams for the future despite people's present life experiences and high aspirations for their children's future; (2) linguistic capital refers to the multiple language skills enacted through intellect and/or style, including the communication skills people use through art, poetry, music, cuentos, (stories), and dichos (proverbs); (3) social capital refers to the knowledge that communities of color hold that are seen and used as resources, the knowledge that helps them network; (4) navigational capital refers to the various social and psychological critical skills that communities of color hold to maneuver through social institutions such as schools, job markets, health care, and judicial systems; (5) familial capital encompasses the cultural knowledges nurtured among familia, and the idea of kinship that carries a sense of community, southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 131 memory, history, and cultural intuition. it involves family in the broader sense, including extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) both living and long passed; (6) resistant capital encompasses conscious behaviors, knowledges, and skills that challenge inequality. it is important to note that the concept of capital through the community cultural wealth model does not relate to bourdieu’s (1986) examination of cultural capital. as bourdieu explained, cultural capital defines socially constructed symbolic wealth and the tools and assets acquired by individuals to promote social status and the type of social mobility that is highly prized. capital through community cultural wealth captures the “array of knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts possessed and used by communities of color to survive and resist racism and other forms of oppression” (yosso & garcía, 2007, p. 154). while some forms of capital are inherent within families and communities of color, others are developed as resistant and protective measures where opportunity and basic needs are lacking. these resources are overlooked when analyzed through cultural capital and social mobility frameworks (bourdieu, 1986) that view communities of color as deficient. while all six forms of capital were evident in the participants’ literacy experiences, this paper focuses on three forms of capital-familial, linguistic, and aspirational capital. while many examples of each of the three types of capital were evident, this paper centers on the most prominent. it is important to note that some forms overlapped due to the dynamics and fluidity of each type of capital. portraiture as methodology the portraiture methodology served as the qualitative means for data collection to examine the participants’ voices and stories, providing counternarratives. portraiture develops when the researcher wishes to produce a full picture of a person or event that speaks as much about the topic as it does about the researcher, creating a portrait. from my positionality as a third-generation chicana, born and raised in the southwest borderland, whose parents and grandparents had limited opportunities for formal schooling or left high school before graduating, i critically observed the complex ways my family enacted with literacy and the high value they placed on education. however, the predominant discourse found in society concerning “dropouts” and people of color from disadvantaged economic backgrounds painted a different picture; this picture also affected how my family and i viewed ourselves. i grew up henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 132 hearing phrases such as “nunca acabé la escuela, no sé nada. soy un tonto.” “i didn't finish school, i don't know anything. i'm a dummy.” i came to recognize that this expression also represents a sentiment, a stigma, and a perception of internalized failure for not completing high school. i realized that it stemmed from a negative image inflicted by society and the school system. such a notion proliferates the ideology of “blaming the victim” instead of critically examining educational institutions (freire & macedo, 1987; valencia, 2010). lawrence-lightfoot and davis (1997) define portraiture as a type of qualitative research that seeks to join science and art into an image representing a detailed, thick description where “each subject is fully attended to, recognized, appreciated, respected, and scrutinized” (p. 5). this framework serves as an essential tool for this study because it embraces the concept of the “good” whole and the expressions of “voice” (chapman, 2005, 2007; davis, 2003; dixson, chapman & hill, 2005; flores, 2017; lawrence-lightfoot & davis, 1997). as lawrence-lightfoot (1983) discusses, the researcher begins with an anti-deficit approach asking what is good, and identifies the goodness as defined by the participants. this methodology aims to create portraits that honor the life experiences of chicana/os and communities of color by telling and affirming their stories (flores, 2017). in this sense, the researcher must be prepared to listen for the story (welty, 1983; chapman, 2005). the search for goodness does not mean giving a positive spin to everything or looking only on the bright side but entails an inquiry approach that resists a preoccupation with documenting pathology or documenting remedies. instead of identifying weaknesses, the search for goodness means asking questions such as, what is happening here? what is working, and why? (lawrence-lightfoot & davis, 1997). the characteristic of voice found in portraiture emerges through an element of storytelling that holds valuable spaces related to this research through counternarratives. research procedures the data gathering process was conducted for three months. methods of data collection utilized were: 1) two individual interviews: one in-depth semi-structured interview, and one follow up semi-structured interview; 2) researcher field notes; and 3) personal artifacts the participants shared. a set of 14 questions guided the first interview, while the second interview consisted of individualized questions for each participant needed to complete their portrait. southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 133 an entire account of all data sets collected through interview transcripts, field notes, and personal artifacts was created by taking inventory and creating categories (merriam & tisdell, 2016). after transcribing the interviews and reading the data multiple times, categories were developed to identify the emerging themes according to the portraiture method (lawrencelightfoot & davis, 1997). the interview transcripts were color-coded according to the forms of capital in the community cultural wealth framework. the aim was to identify the forms of community cultural wealth that were generated and enacted in literacy development. member checks or respondent validation (maxwell, 2013; merriam & tisdell, 2016) were administered to secure validity and reliability. member checks entailed providing the participants with a draft of their portrait to verify the information. this process ruled out any possibility of misinterpreting the meaning and perspective of the participants. also, it served an essential function in recognizing and identifying my biases and misunderstandings. participants the participants for this study were three southwest borderland latinos who left high school before graduating. utilizing my own networks, contacts, and relationships through purposeful sampling, potential participants were identified meeting three criteria: they (1) were southwest borderland individuals, as per “context of the borderland” section; (2) were educated within the u.s. public school system; and (3) left high school before graduating. participants who met these criteria were sent an invitation to the study explaining the purpose and procedures with my contact information. three individuals agreed to participate, one female, jenny; and two males, andy aka “chang” and geraldo. the participants ranged in age from their late 30s to the late 70s. other commonalities that emerged throughout the study were that all three participants were raised outside of the nuclear family unit and spoke about being raised in poverty. table 1 provides an overview of the participant demographics. all names are pseudonyms to protect anonymity and confidentiality. illuminating the complexities of identity centered on the context of the southwest borderlands, each participant selfidentified. henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 134 table 1 participant demographics participant name andy aka “chang” jenny geraldo place of birth usa usa usa identity chicano hispanic mexican-indian approximate age late 30s early 40s late 70s last grade completed 9th 8th/ged 8th occupation farm worker/ off-road event organizer bus driver/ retail department store employee farm worker/ construction findings through the community cultural wealth framework, the participants demonstrated their literacy development as they read the word and world (freire, 2006) utilizing their collection of living literacies. these literacies capture their cultural borderland in which literacy development and crucial aspects of their identity connected to their status as bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural individuals are shaped and profoundly influenced by their experiences (jiménez, 2004). the following sections outline the participants' use of familial, linguistic, and aspirational capital. familial capital literacies “being in harmony and peace with people…the land brings us back to that.” as discussed in the introduction, chang learned the tradition of working the land and the ways his grandfather was taught, “being in harmony and peace with people…the land brings us back to that.” chang demonstrated a strong sense of community and connection to the land as part of his familial capital. the farming culture played a prominent role in his life, and working the land has been his livelihood. one of his jobs involves clearing weeds at private residences. he described the ways he chops weeds: it’s knowing how to read the dirt by looking at it and where you’re gonna follow your corte, (cutting). it’s the same thing with the weeds, the way they tangle up, you just can’t go at ‘em and chop, you’ll kill yourself all day doing that. there’s a certain way to do that so you gotta southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 135 know how to read the way they turn, the way the grass is turned. you gotta know how to read the plants and the weeds which you're gonna deal with. another notable facet of chang’s livelihood is his involvement with the off-roading community: a tradition that began with his father, who passed away when he was 10. chang has worked with a local off-roading group for the past five years, organizing sand drags, mud races, and other off-roading events. one of his roles consists of preparing the track for events. he describes the process: like for instance, if we're gonna race in mud, it takes about seven days to prepare this, so you gotta know how to plow the dirt up, the depth you're gonna get to, what you're gonna run into the dirt. it’s not just clay, sometimes there’s a mixture of sand in it. so, you gotta know how to mix it and keep on watching it as you’re disking it. it’ll take you hours to do it and just keep on reading the dirt until you get that mixture of sand and mud right, and you start putting the water in. you gotta watch that and see how your water is seeping down. go back, test your mud and look at it, if it’s gonna be good enough cuz you don’t want people complaining that the mud is too soft, or it’s not fair in both lanes. from his uncles, chang learned how to perform bodywork on automobiles. he describes that process: anybody can paint a car, but it's the preparation of the metal and everything. so, everything is straight, you don't see no waves in it and you don't see no lines. like for instance when you're preparing a car after you're through with your primer, it looks like everything is straight, okay? so, from far away, you get a spray can, you shoot just the mist of paint and where ever that paint lands that’s your high spots. so little by little you start wiping all your high spots down until it’s all gone off the metal and you gotta cure a slate. chang’s relationship with this grandparents, father, and uncles and their influence on him illustrates familial capital or the cultural knowledges nurtured among familia, and the idea of kinship that carries a sense of community, memory, history, and cultural intuition. chang has learned to read and make meaning from the land, the plants and vegetation, and how to study, read, and take meaning from the flow of the water, the preparation of bodywork on a car, and the type of soil and vegetation he works with, understanding them through scientific and mathematical perspectives as well. these objects have become the multimodal texts that chang henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 136 reads, and their functions are dependent on the cultural meanings and social contexts that he has assigned to them. this early introduction to cars sparked his interest in lowrider magazine, which he started reading at a young age and still reads to this day. other books chang mentioned enjoying were the mouse and the motorcycle (cleary, 1965) and bless me, ultima (anaya,1972) because he could relate to the storyline and the characters. “my mom loved to bake! so, we were always helping her bake, we had to read the recipes.” in the introduction, jenny describes how her mother was a prominent figure in her life. she shared the struggles of being raised by a single mother but also spoke with confidence when describing the knowledges learned from her mother when caring for people and showing love through manual labor. this tradition began when jenny was a child. “since we were little, we were always helping her bake. my mom loved to bake! so, we were always helping her bake, we had to read the recipes.” jenny, continues the tradition of baking with her children who are now adults. she shared that she and her daughter plan to bake later in the day but will have to run to the store for cornstarch and peaches. another tradition was watching the soap opera days of lives with her mother, sister, and brother, a tradition started by her grandmother. “it really was a family event,” she said. “i remember my grandma coming over to the house and, ‘did you see what happened!?’” these events led to engaging discussions after each episode in which they discussed the characters and critical elements in the plot. the family baking experiences exemplify a practice that captures how jenny and her family used literacy in their everyday lives. watching and discussing the soap opera demonstrated engagement with a multimodal text. these concepts recognize the interactions and ways the family enacted with literacy at home and the reading conceptions in this social context. it also demonstrated how written text(s) and talk were central to the activity (barton & hamilton, 2000). moreover, when baking, jenny engaged in math and science concepts by measuring ingredients and mixing the proper ingredients to yield a product. "it was hard, but i learned how to do them!" geraldo was the oldest of the participants. being raised by a single father, central family figures were his father, grandfather, and uncles. he spoke with pride about all the manual tasks southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 137 he learned to perform as a child such as chopping wood for the woodstove; filling tubs of water from a water pump to use for drinking, bathing, and washing clothes; learning how to dig holes for the outhouse; and joining his dad in the cotton fields after school and on weekends. “it was hard, but i learned how to do them!” geraldo provides an example as he demonstrated how he used to chop wood: pues, it all depended, si eran logs, vez, si eran logs you had to get them a certain length for the stove. so, you had to hit it like this and hit it like that. [showing by demonstrating, his hands cutting at angles] hasta que you got out the little log. [using his hands to show an approximate length of the logs] porque we didn’t have saws, it was just hacha. we had a special log there, standing up, y con la hacha, whack! split it. translation: well, it all depended, if they were logs, see, if they were logs you had to get them a certain length for the stove. so, you had to hit it like this and hit it like that. [showing by demonstrating his hands cutting at angles] until you got out the little log. [using his hands to show an approximate length of the logs] because we didn’t have saws, it was just an ax. we had a special log there, standing up, and with the ax, whack! split it. he stood up and placed a water bottle on the table and showed me on the water bottle where he would hit the piece of wood, “you hit it in the middle, como está este aquí (like this is here) [referring to the water bottle] salían dos pedazos que cabían en la estufa.” (two pieces would come out that would fit in the woodstove.) from his grandfather, geraldo shared, “my grandpa always told me to keep a knife in my pocket, matches, a bit of string or something. in case you need to tie something up, fíjate, todo eso me enseñó, (can you believe, he taught me all that) and he was right!” he explained how these items always came in handy: well, i learned to cut things, to make bows and arrows and all of that stuff with a knife. and the string, sometimes we used it for the bows or to tie things up that we found or whatever. matches sometimes when we were out in the desert, we made fires. we hunted rabbits and we cooked them out there. it tasted good!” henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 138 he also recalled how he would make a bow and arrow: there were a lot of cidras (saltceders) around and we would look for a good rama (branch). we would make a bow out of that, then we would go over to the canal over there. there were those cattails… we would look for the straighter one, we would cut four, four or five, and we get… we got the spoons, flatten them out con un martillo (hammer) y con una (and with a) cutter, un cortafrío, we would cut them into arrowheads, and they were good, they were good! also, as children, geraldo’s older brother introduced him to books such as white fang (london, 1906) and others about cochise and geronimo. he remembers, “those were good books, all those books, i read them.” like chang, geraldo read multimodal elements of nature to distinguish where to aim at a piece of wood to split the wood efficiently. he read the land to identify different animal tracks when hunting and utilized everyday materials when reading his world for survival. he was utilizing mathematical and scientific concepts when explaining the ways he transacted with these multimodal texts. linguistic capital literacies through linguistic capital, the participants utilized multiple language skills through intellect and style, including translanguaging (garcía, 2011, sánchez et al., 2018; johnson et al., 2019), as illustrated thus far in their voices. we’re from both sides but at the same time we gotta make this caldo in the middle.” chang demonstrates linguistic capital when engaging through the use of translanguaging to express sentiment and/or make a statement. this concept is seen when chang described his identity “we’re mexicans and we’re apaches. we’re from both sides but at the same time we gotta make this caldo (soup) in the middle.” as a young teen, chang entered customized model cars in school art shows and was featured in lowrider magazine, “it was for my carritos (little cars) that i was making cuz people were impressed of the details that i was putting into the little cars.” the words he chose to express this sentiment and statement with the term “caldo” as it is not a direct translation for soup, though he chose that word to express a sentiment, the same when he chose the words “carritos” and “corte.” with his customized, lowrider model cars, chang used art to communicate his culture and identity. his use of linguistic capital captures his bilingual and bicultural identity. southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 139 chang also shared times that were difficult for him, such as running away from home, “it’s not easier than the picture they paint you. ‘yeah, yeah, it’s gonna be easy we can do this.’ and then, no, no! ¡los hambres están carajos!” (the hunger you feel is rough). these are words that express a concept not found in the english language or dominant culture. when explaining the hardships of running away, he chose to make a statement when talking about the hunger he felt in spanish rather than english. furthermore, the years he spent hitchhiking when he ran away and the time spent in jail captures the multiple language skills he employed to read his surroundings and specific contexts to survive, to live on the road, and network through various social situations and discourses. “me llegó una carta, ándale, léemela.” while jenny spoke english throughout most of the interview, she explained that she used spanish as a child when speaking to her grandfather. she also uses spanish to communicate with her ex-mother-in-law, with whom she fosters a relationship. jenny explains, “her biggest barrier is that she doesn’t know english.” then, jenny portrays her ex-mother-in-law's voice, “me llegó una carta ándale léemela.” (i received a letter, come on, read it to me) and things like that so… “let me call and find out where you can do this or let me see what we can do.’” as a young mother, jenny admits to intimidation when interacting with more formal means of interaction, such as when her youngest child was diagnosed with adhd. “school was a nightmare, and it was a struggle, and it was constant parent meetings. he was constantly in trouble, constantly being on medication.” she sought the help of her sister-in-law to help her through the paperwork and individualized educational program (iep). when her children both graduated high school and applied for college, jenny explains, “oh, mom can you fill out this application for financial aid?’ oh, mom can you do….?’ i was so involved.” she claims, “the only time i stepped foot on a university was with them.” jenny describes how she was always on the go with her children attending orientations, meetings, and helping them fill out forms. when jenny’s mother fell ill, she took hold of “calling places, doing things, taking her, finding where to go, finding what to do, all revolving around doctors.” as a bus driver for the past 20 years, jenny shared the many book titles she read while waiting for the children to fill the bus and on field trips. the authors she reads include nora henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 140 roberts, stephanie meyer, and diana palmer. she shares, “instead of turning on the tv, i'm reading my book until like, i fall asleep.” in the examples above, jenny utilized linguistic capital when reading her world and the word. in using spanish, she communicated and formed a relationship with her grandfather. she used spanish to communicate with and assist her ex-mother-in-law when navigating through various social systems, both in english and spanish. when supporting her ill mother, jenny negotiated her way through medical, academic, and legal discourses. when her son was young, jenny sought the support of her sister-in-law when transacting with letters sent home and with meetings she had to attend in an academic setting. through more academic discourses, jenny navigated her way when assisting her children fill out various forms to attend college. consistent throughout jenny’s interactions are the literacies and linguistic forms that are learned informally and rooted in her everyday experiences that serve many purposes. “los parábamos en el corner del trailer.” geraldo was the participant who used translanguaging most in his interviews, as exemplified thus far. his translanguaging is further seen when he explains his near-fatal fall when picking cotton. “los parábamos en el corner del (we would stand at the corner of the) trailer and we dived into the cotton, and i went back, pow!” also, when he describes the traumatic event of abandonment: i remember that little room, it was adobe and it was full of cobwebs and it was full of old furniture adentro y había (inside and there were) spider webs all around… estaba chiquito yo, (i was little) i had a bottle. and they locked the door with a candao (padlock). it was evident that geraldo had experienced much trauma in his life, though he spoke of it with such resilience. he shared other memories such as his love of music and the conjunto—a threeor fourpiece band made up of folk musicians—he joined. geraldo learned to play the guitar by watching his older brother and mimicked his finger placement. he and his brother plus another friend would perform at small gatherings and would also serenade mothers of their small town in the early hours of mother's day. he shares that his favorite singer at the time was hank williams, stressing “old hank.” southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 141 geraldo’s use of translanguaging captures the sophisticated way he used both english and spanish as one linguistic repertoire. it was not haphazard but followed a complex and intricate process governed by precise language rules. moreover, he uses a style of spanish identified as chicano spanish (anzaldúa, 1987) where certain consonants are left out when appearing between vowels such as candao for candado (padlock). geraldo was engaged in making music, which captures another linguistic style. moreover, all three participants recall learning life lessons communicated through the use of cuentos (stories), dichos (proverbs), and consejos (advice) passed on by previous generations, which they have passed on to the younger generations. a consejo all participants have in common is learning the value of hard work. a dicho chang recalled passed by his grandparents “¿que le dijo una víbora a la otra víbora? que arrastrada es la vida.” (what did one snake say to the other snake? life’s a drag). this dicho proved influential in his life because he claims it reminds him that there will be hard days in life but the next will be better. jenny recalls her mother’s consejos of not wasting food. geraldo recalls his grandfather's cuentos and the moral of the stories used to teach life lessons. this form of linguistic capital represents everyday learning through participation in the broader environment of families, homes, and communities. aspirational capital literacies through aspirational capital, the participants utilized resiliency and the ability to maintain hopes and dreams for the future despite their present and past life experiences. “yeah, life’s a struggle. just gotta always be positive.” growing up, chang shared that living in poverty was a struggle for his family and himself. he describes, “a lot of people take life for granted. nah, ‘this is easy, and this is easy,’ no, no, life is very hard! you know, i grew up real, real poor. we never had nothing.” in school, chang recalls that he had difficulty reading because “the letters would move off the page.” he received assistance though it was short-lived. he would take a lowrider magazine with him to school that he would read when instruction became disengaging. he shares: everybody grew up in that time, when you know, either you needed to speak english. if you did then it was mocho, (cut up) it was always cut up so you were trying to get that part of it being spanish and english together and it just didn’t match together, you know…. it was real hard henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 142 like that… everything was written towards like an anglo aspect, and they wanted us to learn that way and throw our way, you know, to the side and not use that, but actually, we need that nowadays. his struggles throughout school led to him being served with papers after turning 18 and in the tenth grade. the alternative program he was sent to proved worse schooling conditions than those at his regular high school, and he eventually left school altogether. considering the times he ran away from home and hitchhiked across the country to escape the tensions with his parents and at school, he revealed that he got into trouble and spent some time in jail. despite the challenges he has faced, “i’ve been through hell and back and i don’t see it in a bad way, i see it as a life experience you know just, just to be alive still and doing this and telling my stories about it.” though he remains optimistic and considers what he has, “money comes and goes. it’s about living life and enjoying it, that’s the main key to it. yeah, life’s a struggle. just gotta always be positive.” with assurance in his voice, he shares, “but i tell everybody, stay in school cuz it’s, it’s hard, man! it’s hard after you get out. i tried to go back, but, no, no, no it’s way too advanced now.” chang aspires to write a book about his life and tell his story. “we’re blessed.” being the youngest of three children and raised by a single mother, jenny recounts the hard times they faced growing up. “the main reason… everything that held us back was financial...” she recalled excitement and anticipation when the family received their food stamps because they got to travel to a neighboring city about 20 miles away to shop for groceries. jenny describes the summers when her oldest brother, a young teen at the time, would help contribute to the family income by traveling to a city in the midwest. he would send the money he earned back home to take care of his mother and younger sisters. while at school, jenny revealed the struggles she faced related to reading. she described that the act of learning was not as enjoyable as the experiences at home when baking with her mother and discussing the latest episode of their favorite soap opera. “nothing was for leisure; nothing was for pleasure.” lack of excitement for learning was a contributing factor that extinguished jenny’s interest in school. she makes a striking comparison to baking with her mother. “and baking at home and doing things and actually getting a physical product of what you did is very rewarding, and it's fun.” when referring to school, she shares, “it wasn’t fun, it wasn’t southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 143 interesting. it was boring. that’s how i saw it...and that’s why i just let it go.” also, jenny’s priorities changed when she became a wife and mother at the age of 16. with frustration and pain in her voice, she adds, “and still i regret that... back then it was just… people disappeared and nobody asked. that’s just the way it was.” though she carries around internalized failure due to leaving school and the experiences she missed out on, her advice to her children has been, “that’s the one thing that i always told my kids, go to school, go to school. don’t end up like me.” despite her life struggles, jenny considers her many blessings, such as her brother and children. she beams about her brother’s success and shares, “so because he furthered his education because he did more… we’re blessed. he’s allowed that to fall on us. he’s brought that home to us.” although she may not acknowledge this, jenny has enriched her children's lives by the many forms of community cultural wealth she has passed on to them. when asked what her most significant accomplishments are, she readily answered, "my kids and what they have done for themselves. what they have gone out and done… you know and where would i be without them?” “les enseñe todo lo que pude a mis hijas y mis hijos.” geraldo's life was filled with challenges from the time he was a child. he shared a time when he and his older brother were abandoned by their mother and left to starve in a small room. at almost 80 years old, geraldo still wonders, “and i don’t know why i haven’t forgotten that. never. pero yo perdoné a mi mama (but i forgave my mother). i don’t know why she did it. i don’t know.” after being rescued and raised by a single father and his father's family, geraldo recalls, “así era en ese tiempo. no había nada.” (that’s the way it was in those times. there wasn’t anything.) everybody, we were poor… everything was very hard, everything. when we were young, there was not enough food sometimes.” he shared about an accident when he was a child while picking cotton that almost took his life and left him with chronic back pain, which he has continued to endure; pain that he worked through and against, as hard, manual labor became his livelihood after he stopped attending school as a teen. geraldo’s last grade completed was eighth grade, “no acabé el ninth grade me salí del ninth grade… porque no estaba aprendiendo por eso. estaba batallando mucho y sufriendo mucho porque no podía aprender.” (i didn’t finish ninth grade and i left in ninth grade…because i was wasn’t learning, that’s why. i was struggling a lot and suffering a lot because i couldn’t learn.). “aprendí acá ‘fuera, lo que aprendí, no en la escuela” henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 144 (what i learned, i learned out here, not in school). when speaking more about this topic, he referred to himself as a “burro.” a literal translation of burro means “donkey” but is used as a derogatory term to describe someone who is stubborn and not very bright. despite these struggles, geraldo considers his children as his greatest accomplishment, as he shares, “les enseñé todo lo que pude a mis hijas y mis hijos” (i taught my daughters and sons all i could). his advice for future generations is, “…to love your children very much, with all your heart! go to school and learn a lot because i didn’t learn nothing.” a powerful theme that emerged throughout these voices was that chang, jenny, and geraldo did not “drop out” of high school. instead, they were “pushed out” due to silencing practices and exporting dissent centered on the lack of adequate support and equitable opportunities. each still faces damaging consequences, emotionally and psychologically, and a lifetime of regret. each participant makes crucial and critical analyses of the ways schools were structured —chang, how schools were aimed towards an anglo aspect and did not value his culture or language; jenny, how people disappeared from the school landscape and nobody asked any questions; and geraldo’s statement about learning outside of school but not while in school. furthermore, his use of the word “suffering” when related to school learning makes a powerful impact. despite the challenges and obstacles the participants faced, chang, jenny, and geraldo's future aspirations are unwavering and awe-inspiring. they utilize this aspirational capital to read the context and situations in their world to remain resilient and navigate the challenges and barriers of life. they continue to pass this capital onto younger generations. discussion through the voices and stories of chang, jenny, and geraldo, this study provided insight into the myriad of ways community cultural wealth was generated and used in their literacy development through familial, linguistic, and aspirational capital as they read their world and the word. moreover, they each demonstrate how bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural individuals bring in, at least, twice as much knowledge to bear on their literacy experiences and how these experiences shape and influence their literacy development and crucial aspects of their identity. the living literacies in this study capture a treasury of multiple and multimodal literacies and their uses that are central to the livelihood and survival of individuals from marginalized and southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 145 underprivileged groups. these dynamic, organic, and meaning-making literacies remain at the center of their lived experiences. aligning with rodriguez's (2016) work, which explicates how latinx students continue to be underserved across the educational pipeline, further research within southwest borderland schools with elementary and middle school latinx populations will illuminate the utilization of community cultural wealth in literacy development with younger, school-aged students. more information on this topic informs rodriquez's pedagogical approaches using the community cultural wealth lens. as burciaga and erbstein (2012) contend, understanding the forms of capital in community cultural wealth offers a vital conceptual framework in confronting deficit-based and incomplete portraits of latinx communities. educational leaders who work with students at all educational levels must recognize, value, and affirm the multiple literacies these children bring into the classroom informed through the community cultural wealth framework and validate and foster the collection of living literacies they employ. doing so will allow educators to reach students through “teacher-student relationships and community and cultural relevance” (rodriguez, 2016, p. 69). although this study sought to reveal how community cultural wealth contributed to literacy development, the participants’ experiences within the educational system also emerged. their voices and stories substantiate the literature that maintains how the educational system underserves and undersupports students of color. all three participants describe rich, engaging learning experiences at home and through their community tied to their bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate lives yet were disengaged with school instruction. this disengagement leads to a series of factors, which results in the “push out,” not the “dropout.” their voices and stories debunk stereotypes and assumptions that perpetuate the belief that students who fail to complete high school do so due to their internal deficiencies or deficits. it is time to change this discourse and change the practices that cause such injustice in our schooling system. chang, jenny, and geraldo are not “dropouts.” they are holders and creators of knowledge. the aim of this study is steadfast in creating portraits that honor the life experiences of southwest borderland latinos by telling and affirming their stories. this article is dedicated to the memory of geraldo who passed away shortly before the final revisions of the manuscript were completed. “diosito te bendiga y la virgen de guadalupe.” henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 146 references anaya, r. (1972) bless me, ultima. tqs publications. anguiano, c., milstein, t., de larkin, i., chen, y.w., & sandoval, j. (2012). connecting community voices: using a latino/a critical race theory lens on environmental justice advocacy. journal of international and intercultural communication, 5(2), 124-143. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2012.661445 anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands: la frontera-a new mestiza. aunt lute book co. auerbach, e. (1989). toward a social-contextual approach to family literacy. harvard educational review, 59(2),165-181. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.59.2.h23731364l283156 barton, d., & hamilton, m. (2000). literacy practices. in d. barton, m. hamilton, & i. r., situated literacies: reading and writing in context (pp. 7-15). routledge. bejarano, c. (2005). ¿qué onda? urban youth culture and border identity. the university of arizona press. bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in j. richardson, handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241-258). routledge. burciaga, r., & erbstein, n. (2012). latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth. association of mexican-american educators (amae) journal, 6(1), 24-33. chapman, t. k. (2005). expressions of "voice" in portraiture. qualitative inquiry, 11(1), 27-51. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040427084 chapman, t. k. (2007). interrogating classroom relationships and events: using portraiture and critical race theory in education. educational researcher, 36(3), 156-162. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x07301437 cleary, b. (1965). the mouse and the motorcycle. harper collins publishers. compton-lily, c. (2009). listening to families over time: seven lessons learned about literacy in families. language arts, 86(6), 449-457. crenshaw, k. (1989). demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. university of chicago legal forum, 1(8), 139-167. davis, j. h. (2003). balancing the whole: portraiture as methodology. in p. camic, j. e. rhodes, & l. yardley, qualitative research in psychology (pp. 199-217). american psychological association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10595-011 de la piedra, m. t., & araujo, b. (2012). literacies crossing borders: transfronterizo literacy practices of students in a dual language program on the usa-mexico border. language and intercultural communication, 12(3), 214-229. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2012.667416 delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical race theory, and critical raced gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-121. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 delgado bernal, d. (2001). living and learning pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059838 delgado-gaitan, c. (1996). protean literacy: extending the discourse on empowerment. falmer press. dixson, a. d., chapman, t. k., & hill, d. a. (2005). research as an aesthetic process: extending southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 147 the portraiture methodology. qualitative inquiry, 11(1), 16-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800404270836 donato, r. (1997). the other struggle for equal schools: mexican americans during the civil rights era. state university of new york press. fine, m. (1991). framing dropouts: notes on the politics of an urban public high school. state university of new york press. flores, a. i. (2017). the muxerista portraitist: engaging portraiture and chicana feminist theories in qualitative research. chicana/latina studies, 17(1), 60-93. freire, p. (2006). pedagogy of the oppressed, 30th anniversary edition. continuum publishing, co. freire, p. (2005). teachers as cultural workers: letters to those who dare teach. westview press. freire, p., & macedo, d. (1987). literacy: reading the word and the world. routledge. garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. malden, ma: wileyblackwell. garcía, o. (2011). theorizing translanguaging for educators. in c. celic, & k. seltzer, translanguaging: a cuny-nysieb guide for educators (pp. 1-6). cuny-nysieb, the graduate center. garcía, s. b., & guerra, p. l. (2004). deconstructing deficit thinking: working with educators to create more equitable learning environments. education and urban society, 36(2), 150156. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124503261322 gonzález, n. (2001). i am my language; discourses of women and children in the borderlands. the university of arizona press. gonzalez, n., moll, l., & amanti, c. (2005). introduction: theorizing practices. in n. gonzalez, l. moll, & c. amanti, funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms (pp. 1-28). lawrence earlbaum associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410613462 heath, s. b. (1983). ways with words: language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511841057 jiménez, r. (2004). literacy and the identity development of latino/a students. in r. rudell, & n. unrau, theoretical models and process of reading (5th ed.) (pp. 210-239). international reading association, inc. johnson, s.i., garcía, o., & seltzer, k. (2019). biliteracy and translanguaging in dual-language bilingual education. in d.e. matthew, e. izquierdo (eds.) dual language education: teaching and leading in two languages. language policy, 18. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10831-1_8 kress, g. (2000). multimodality. in b. cope, & m. kalantzis, multiliteracies: literacy learning and the design of social futures (pp. 182-202). routledge. lawrence-lightfoot, s. (1983). the good high school. portraits in character and culture. basic. lawrence-lightfoot, s., & davis, j. h. (1997). the art and science of portraiture. jossey-bass. london, j. (1906). white fang. macmillan publishers. lukes, m. (2015) latino immigrant youth and interrupted schooling: dropouts, dreamers and alternative pathways to college. multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783093441 maldonado, r. (2001). reading adolescents/adolescents reading: toward critically literate latino youth. in m. reyes & j. halcón (editors), the best for our children: critical perspectives on literacy for latino students (pp. 184-197). teachers college press. maxwell, j. (2013). qualitative research design: an interactive approach (3rd ed.). sage. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511841057 henderson association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 148 merriam, s. b., & tisdell, e. j. (2016). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). jossey-bass. nieto, s. (2018). language, culture, and teaching: critical perspectives (3rd edition). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315465692 noguera, p., darling-hammond, l., & friedlaender, d. (2015). equal opportunity for deeper learning. deeper learning research series. orfield, g., losen, d., wald, j., & swanson, c. (2004). losing our future: how minority youth are being left behind by the graduation rate crisis.the civil rights project at harvard university. contributors: urban institute, advocates for the children of new york and the civil society institute. reyes, r., & torres, m. (2007). decolonizing family literacy in a culture circle: reinventing the family literacy educator’s role. journal of early childhood literacy, 79(1), 73–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798407074837 rodriquez, l. (2016). institutionally responsive pedagogies: a community-cultural wealth approach to latino/a student engagement across the educational pipeline. association of mexican-american educators journal, 10(3), 68-89. sánchez, m., garcía, o. & solorza, c. (2018). reframing language allocation policy in dual language bilingual education, bilingual research journal, 41(1), 37-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2017.1405098 solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. (2001). critical race and latcrit theory and method: counterstorytelling. qualitative studies in education, 12(4), 471-495. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365 street, b. (2013). applying earlier literacy research in iran to current literacy theory and policy. iranian journal of society, culture, and langauge, 1(1), 1-9. street, b. (1995 ). social literacies: critical approaches to literacy development, ethnography and education. longman. street, b. (2003). what's "new" in new literacy studies? critical approaches to literacy in theory and practice. current issues in comparative education, 5(2), 77-91. torres, m., & ruiz, m. (2013). succeeding with latino students through an empowerment pedagogy of living language. new mexico journal of reading, 13(2), 14-20. valdés, g. (1996). con respeto: bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools. an ethnographic portrait. teacher's college press. valencia, r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203853214 valencia, r. (1997). the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. routledge falmer. vélez-ibáñez, c. (2018). linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands. association of mexican-american educators journal, 12(2), 20-43. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.2.393 vélez-ibáñez, c., & greenberg, j. (2005). formation and transformation of funds of knowledge. in n. gonzález, l. moll, & c. amanti, theorizing practice in households, communities and classrooms. (pp. 47-69). lawrence earlbaum associates, publishers. welty, e. (1983). one writer's beginnings. harvard university press. yosso, t. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. taylor & francis group. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203853214 southwest borderland voices and stories association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue i 149 yosso, t., & garcía, d. (2007). "this is no slum!" a critical race theory analysis on community cultural wealth in culture clash's chavez ravine. azlán: a journal of chicano studies, 32(1), 145-179. southwest borderland voices and stories: community cultural wealth as living literacies the context of “the southwest borderland” on schooling conditions: the “dropout” and deficit thinking theoretical framework living literacies, family literacy, and new literacy studies (nls) critical race theory and latino critical race theory community cultural wealth portraiture as methodology research procedures participants findings familial capital literacies “being in harmony and peace with people…the land brings us back to that.” “my mom loved to bake! so, we were always helping her bake, we had to read the recipes.” "it was hard, but i learned how to do them!" linguistic capital literacies we’re from both sides but at the same time we gotta make this caldo in the middle.” “me llegó una carta, ándale, léemela.” “los parábamos en el corner del trailer.” aspirational capital literacies “yeah, life’s a struggle. just gotta always be positive.” “we’re blessed.” discussion microsoft word just cover invited issue 2021.docx volume 15 issue 2 2021 amae invited issue mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools guest editors sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.2.419 mendoza & saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 4 introduction sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio this special issue centers the historic and continued grassroots organizing by chicana/o/x communities in texas, specifically related to education. while there is growing scholarship on the movements for mexican american studies (mas) in schools focusing on california and arizona, less attention has been paid to the organizing done in texas. because of its history as a white supremacist and conservative state, activists in the mas movement in texas, many of whom are centered in this special issue, have created innovative strategies to build the kind of liberatory education our community has been envisioning and demanding for centuries. this special issue showcases a network of scholar activists across texas, many of whom have organized and testified in front of the state board of education, alongside each other, at the texas capitol, or who have strategized together at the national association of chicana and chicano studies tejas foco conferences. through their scholarship, they offer what approaches they have used to sustain and build mexican american studies at their respective institutions and in educational spaces. this special issue centers these strategies and approaches, documents these histories of activism, leaving a blueprint for future generations of mas students, scholars, educators, researchers, and supporters. the special issue begins with utsa mas program director and scholar activist dr. lilliana p. saldaña. the mas program at utsa was originally collaboratively built by multiple faculty and was eventually sustained and co-lead by now retired dras. josie méndez-negrete and marie “keta” miranda. before retiring, miranda had the foresight to envision and build a mas teachers’ academy as a way to prepare future educators to teach mas in schools, and thus, develop a pipeline of students from secondary schools into higher education. dr. saldaña currently co-directors the utsa mas program and mas teachers’ academy with dr. gloria vásquez gonzáles. through retrospective memory, organizational notes, expert testimonies, mendoza & saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 5 and photos, saldaña’s powerful essay documents the development of the mas pre-k-12 movement in san antonio and across texas, showcasing the collective organizing efforts of parents, students, teachers, scholars, and community workers invested in creating liberatory education for chicana/o/x communities. further, she identifies this movement as one of epistemic justice, particularly in the face of a history of coloniality within this region. focusing on the rio grande valley of texas, dras. maritza de la trinidad, stephanie alvarez, joy esquierdo, and dr. francisco guajardo outline the development of their professional development program titled, historias americanas: engaging history and citizenship in the rio grande valley, which prepares k-12 social studies teachers in south texas to teach mas. the authors share their process of applying for federal funding to support this innovative program, as well as the objectives and structure of the program that utilizes culturally relevant pedagogies, contextual interaction theory, and a place-based framework to center students and develop critical literacies. historias americanas speaks to the importance of integrating mas in the professional development of social studies teachers across pre-k-12 grades, particularly in the south texas region where the majority of school-age children and youth are of mexican descent. similarly, josue puente and dr. stephanie alvarez document contemporary efforts in the rio grande valley to grow mas in public schools. their article, “texas resistance: mexican american studies and the fight against whiteness and white supremacy in k-12 at the turn of the 21st century,” chronicles various mobilizing efforts across the state to support public school teachers, from grant funded university projects like historias americanas (of which the second author is a part of), to university-teacher-community collaborations like the mas teachers’ academy, and student-led community efforts such as the grand narrative. their article focuses on one particular grant funded project—the social studies through authentic relevant content (sstarc) project, which provides k-5th grade teachers with opportunities to engage in self-reflexive, anti-racist perspectives as teachers learn local and regional mexican american history. their work points to the importance of cultivating these professional development spaces that actively resist white supremacy. while there is some overlap in the work of each of these spaces, puente and alvarez’s article reminds us that working across our respective spaces is critical in a state that continues to reinforce white supremacy in education. mendoza & saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 6 dr. nicolas garcía’s and anthony gonzales’ article, “cinco dedos: a mexican american studies framework,” describes a conceptual framework developed by the second author and keli rosa cabunoc to assist educators in creating a multidisciplinary curriculum that addresses the needs of students enrolled in the state board of education approved mas high school elective course. their five-pronged approach is rooted in a community cultural wealth framework (yosso, 2005) that 1) centers the knowledge and cultural production of chicanas/x/os in curriculum development; 2) promotes an interdisciplinary approach to teaching mas; 3) engages students through art and expressive culture; 4) takes a studentcentered philosophy that honors the knowledge students bring to the classroom; 5) and cultivates community involvement as part of students’ personal and social development. dr. elizabeth d. rivas, who is also affiliated with the mas teachers’ academy, shares her research on social studies teachers in texas who are up against an institutionalized master narrative embedded within public institutions. inspired by her experiences as a social studies teacher for twelve years, curriculum coach, and scholar in a district that is majority mexican american, rivas reflects on a memory of one of her students asking her, “where were the mexicans?”—a question that points to students’ awareness of the pervasive invisibility of mexican americans in the curriculum. through a socio-transformative constructivist framework, rivas investigates how latina social studies teachers in her district disrupt parameters set forth by local school districts, board members, and the texas education agency. rivas’ essay is instructive as she emphasizes the need for educators to disrupt master narratives in the social studies curriculum, either by covertly teaching unwritten and unofficial histories of communities of color in social studies or teaching ethnic studies courses like mas, which center the perspectives of mexican americans. as she notes, teachers’ pedagogies and how they respond to restrictive policies will impact students and their communities. in “the future of middle school education-chicana maestras and vignettes,” dr. alexa m. proffitt, antonia alderete, megan villa, and violetta villarreal offer an interdisciplinary research framework that weaves anticolonial theory and chicana feminist epistemology in middle level teacher education. as the authors note, the experiences of chicana teachers are often silenced in educational research. this is more so the case of chicana middle level schoolteachers. the authors—alexa proffitt, who served as instructor with pre-service teachers—and clinical teachers—alderete, villa, and villarreal—worked together, first in a mendoza & saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 7 service learning in social studies course with a strong emphasis in anticolonial theory, and then in a clinical teaching course. having created a community of trust, the maestras wrote and shared vignettes that highlight a number of themes that were critical to their growth as chicana maestras. through this anticolonial methodology, chicana maestras interrogated what they were learning in colonized spaces and unearthed new knowledge critical to dismantling coloniality in middle level classrooms. their collective knowledge is relevant to this special issue on mas in k-12 texas schools as the authors shed new conocimientos on the importance of anti-colonial research approaches and chicana feminist epistemologies in teacher education, and the possibilities of subverting colonial ways of thinking and being through collective learning in clinical teaching. these epistemic spaces are critical more than ever in teacher education programs that are preparing future educators to challenge settler colonial and white supremacist laws like hb 3979 and sb 3, the latter which will have greater repercussions for students in public schools. this special issue also includes two book reviews. kristel a. orta-puente offers an excellent review of philis m. barragán-goetz’s most recently published book, reading, writing, and revolution: escuelitas and the emergence of a mexican american identity in texas (2020). puenteorta outlines the book’s historiographical narrative of escuelitas—community-organized and funded schools that emerged at the turn of the century as a response against the cultural and linguistic assimilationist practices of u.s. public schooling. escuelitas served as a form of cultural resistance against the segregated mexican school system and cultivated children’s ethnic identity through culturally responsive curriculum that parallels what mexican american studies teachers do in their classrooms today. alpha martínez-suárez reviews the undocumented americans, a national book award finalist written by karla cornejo villavicencio, one of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from harvard. martínez-suarez’s review reminds us of the divergent yet connected plight of undocumented communities and the importance of learning about and understanding their experiences from these communities directly. in her review, martínez-suarez asks us to sit with the intimate realities undocumented communities encounter in k-12 schools, higher education, and within elderly populations, however in a way that does not diminish these communities to sound bites or tragic stories. cornejo villavicencio makes clear the necessity of undocumented communities sharing their own stories, as opposed to being written about in mendoza & saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 8 ways that deny them nuance and a full sense of humanity. these are themes that are central to the mexican american studies movement, and martínez-suarez’s review is a reminder of the importance of communities representing themselves and the existence of intersecting oppressions within our communities. we want to express our gratitude to the contributors of this special issue for their activism, labor, and commitment to the movement, and for documenting and sharing their expertise here, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. we also want to acknowledge the fact that so many other voices and actors are a part of this movement, too many to possibly include here. we look forward to the movement for mexican american studies continuing to grow and creating more opportunities to share and document our histories and knowledges from multiple perspectives. we are grateful to the lead editors of the association for mexican american educators journal, drs. patricia sánchez and lucila ek, and managing editor, christian fallas escobar, for his superb editorial guidance. thank you for creating this opportunity to document the movement for mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools. references yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion on community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 1361332052000341006 microsoft word amae journal cover template (general).docx volume 16 issue 1 2022 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 103 "la excelencia son los valores": using the lotería game to understand the foundations of latina/o/x excellence cultivated at home lorena gutiérrez university of california, riverside yajaira calderon university of california, riverside louie f. rodriguez university of california, riverside enrique espinoza california state university, long beach cindy macias hip hop association of advancement and education elisa chang abstract this article examines the foundations of latina/o/x excellence as a culturally-embedded practice born, taught, and cultivated in the home by the family members of latina/o/x high school students. the research team conducted a phenomenological study on excellence in the home, school and community of latina/o/x youth in southern california. in this study, we examined the definition and source of excellence in the homes of latina/o/x high school students through a lotería card project inspired by artist, teacher, and professor, dr. luis-genaro garcia. findings demonstrate that excellence involves meeting and excelling expectations in the home, is learned through intergenerational knowledge and lived experience, and is grounded in reciprocity. we offer suggestions to educators on how to learn about excellence in the lives of latina/o/x students and their families. keywords: excellence, k-12, latina/o/x, funds of knowledge, lotería, familismo doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/16.1.456 "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 104 since at least the year 2000, there has been significant attention on the demographic revolution among latina/o/xs in the united states (krogstad, 2020; trueba, 1999; garcia, 2001). emphasis has been placed on their rising (potential) political power, the social and economic needs and contributions of the population, and the rising presence of latina/o/xs within educational institutions across the pipeline (the campaign for college opportunity, 2021). for example, according to the national center for education statistics (2020), latinas/os/xs comprised of 6 million k-12 students in 1995 but grew to 13.6 million by 2017. in other words, latinas/os/xs went from 13.5% of the total public school population to 26.8% by 2017, and are expected to reach nearly 30% of the total public school enrollment by 2030 (nces, 2020). however, a rise in numbers has not necessarily brought comparable evidence of educational success (the campaign for college opportunity, 2021). in fact, research suggests that there are growing gaps by race/ethnicity and gender in academic achievement and attainment within the latina/o/x population (the campaign for college opportunity, 2021). according to the campaign for college opportunity (2021), latinos are attending and completing college at lower rates than latinas. racism, mismatched policy, deficit thinking, and other structural inequalities have resulted in low academic achievement and attainment, the school-to-prison pipeline, high dropout/pushout rates, and disparities in high school and college completion, to name a few (rios & galicia, 2013; rodriguez, 2015; valenzuela, 1999; yosso, 2005). this context requires scholars, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners concerned with the latina/o/x1 population to not only recognize the inequalities and injustices facing this population, but intentionally respond with additive research, policy, and practice. in an attempt to draw attention to the needs, challenges, and possibilities of latina/o/xs in education, it is vital that we not only recognize the injustices facing the various groups of latina/o/xs but also highlight the strengths, possibilities, and examples of excellence. that is, in spite of historical and pervasive social injustices and inequalities in education, latina/o/xs have demonstrated a level of resistance, persistence, and existence (conchas & acevedo, 2020; gutiérrez, 2022; san miguel jr., 2003). the east los angeles walkouts of 1968 are examples of resistance by chicana/o/x students who organized and walked-out in protest of an inferior 1 we are conscious of the evolving debate and definitions of “latino”, “latina”, “latin@” and “latinx”. these terms are often used in ways that treat latinxs as a monolithic group, ignoring the rich, intersectional diversity of national origin, race, ethnicity, language, and culture of people. we use the term “latina/o/x” in this study to be inclusive of the diverse intersectional identities of our student participants and their families. gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 105 quality of education and educational inequalities faced in their east los angeles high schools. students demanded a change in the curriculum, to hire mexican-american educators, and access to bilingual education (library of congress, 2022). solorzano and delgado bernal (2001) identify the resistance and action of chicana/o/x students in the east la walkouts as transformational resistance, student behavior that reflects a critical awareness of oppressive conditions and a motivation or desire for social justice. the transformational resistance that took place at the east la walkouts is latina/o/x excellence. latina/o/x migrant and seasonal farmworker youth pursuing a general education development degree (ged) in a high school equivalency program as a means of survivance from the inequitable conditions of high schools is another example of youth resistance and existence (gutiérrez, 2022). the fight for deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca)2 and the california dream act3 are contemporary examples of the constant resistance and persistence of undocumented latina/o/xs. although undocumented students who have daca have access to employment authorization and greater protections against deportation and students who qualify for the california dream act can apply for financial aid, the fight to sustain such policies especially daca is ongoing. one way to counter injustice is to intentionally focus on examples of excellence, particularly in education (rodriguez, 2015). for approximately 30 years, scholars in education have conceptualized more additive frameworks that help reframe understandings of the latina/o/x condition in education. funds of knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), pedagogies of the home (delgado bernal, 2001), community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005), the third space (gutierrez, 2008) and sentipensante pedagogy (rendon, 2011) have been among the most influential perspectives to move from a deficit framing of latinas/os/xs in education to more additive perspectives. one aspect of this framing has been latina/o/x excellence in education (rodriguez, 2015). that is, rather than focusing on the gaps plaguing latina/o/x education, an excellence lens repositions 2 deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca) is a policy that was signed into effect june 15, 2012. daca is a federal policy that provides undocumented youth who immigrated as children who meet eligibility requirements the opportunity to apply for deferred action, to defer removal against an individual, and for employment authorization (u.s. citizenship and immigration services, 2022). 3 the california dream act allows students who live in california and who cannot receive financial aid from the federal government along with other requirements (related to ab 540 eligibility) to apply for state financial aid in order to attend colleges and universities in california. the california dream act was signed into law in 2011 and makes it possible for undocumented students who meet eligibility requirements, especially youth who immigrated to the u.s. as children, to receive state financial aid to attend college (california student aid commission, 2022). "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 106 the conceptual, pedagogical, and methodological framing to more additive framing by asking: in what ways are latinas/os/xs thriving in education? how? why? what are the policy, practice, and pedagogical conditions that produce latina/o/x excellence in education? what is latina/o/x excellence in comparison to standard ways of framing excellence as academic achievement and high test scores? and what is the source of latina/o/x excellence? in other words, from whom are latinas/os/xs learning about excellence? excellence, therefore, becomes a tool that reimagines, reframes, and redefines what excellence is and can be, particularly for the purposes of improving the schooling, community, and societal conditions latinas/os/xs in us schools. to help answer these questions, family strengths are centered in this research. this paper situates latina/o/x excellence as identified by high school youth, as a culturally-embedded practice born, taught, and cultivated through the eyes of family members in students’ homes. first, we provide an overview of latinas/os/xs in education and review the literature on funds of knowledge (moll et al., 1992). this literature highlights the assets of latina/o/x families and communities. then we describe a project aimed at understanding the power of excellence in the lives of latina/o/x students using the loteria card game. key findings are discussed followed by an exploration of implications for policy and practice. literature review latinas/os/xs in the u.s. are one of the fastest growing populations, growing by 23% and encompassing 51% of total u.s. population growth between 2010 and 2020 (u.s. census bureau, 2021). latinas/os/xs account for 27% of the student population in k-12 public schools in the u.s. (u.s. department of education, 2021a). while status dropout rates, the percentage of students 16 to 24 years old who are not enrolled in high school and who do not have a high school credential, for latina/o/x students have decreased in recent years, they still continue to lag behind white students (u.s. department of education, 2021b). in 2020, the status dropout rate for hispanic students was 7.4% while the rate for white students was significantly lower at 4.8% (u.s. department of education, 2021b). given the rapid growth and presence of latina/o/x students in k-12 schools and the need to support them along the k-12 education pipeline, it is necessary that educators find ways to best support students. focusing on student assets, what students bring with them to classrooms, has been shown to be effective in k-12 schools (irizarry & raible, 2019; ladson-billings, 1995) and higher education (araujo, 2012; rendon, 2011). assets may include but are not limited to linguistic, literate, and cultural gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 107 practices (paris & alim, 2014). values that are assets in education include the importance of respeto and educación (valenzuela, 1999). asset based research on latina/o/x students and families highlight the cultural assets, practices, values, and beliefs cultivated in the homes of latina/o/x families (kiyama & riosaguilar, 2017; moll et al., 1992; rodriguez, 2015; yosso, 2005). moll et al. (1992) identified funds of knowledge, the “historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household activities or individual functioning and well-being” in the households of working-class, mexican families in tucson, arizona (p. 133). funds of knowledge include the productive activities of the household, including its involvement in the formal and informal economies, as well as its domestic labor, and the maintenance of social networks that tie the household to other households (and other settings) in the community and facilitate the exchange of resources (especially labor and knowledge) (moll et al., 1992). examples of funds of knowledge in the home include learning about household management by observing parents cook or take care of children, while knowledge about science could be learned via construction, carpentry, and painting of the home. this knowledge may be derived from parents and elders, and the values and beliefs learned through one’s role and responsibilities in the home and everyday life. understanding students’ funds of knowledge helps educators capitalize on the wealth of knowledge and resources students bring from home to organize classroom instruction, curriculum, and enhance learning (moll et al., 1992). hogg (2011) suggests that a key component of funds of knowledge that makes it unique in comparison to other asset-based theories is its emphasis on involving teachers “…in conducting and applying research, to link theory and practice” (p. 667). moll et al. (1992) trained teachers in qualitative research methods and had them conduct observations and interviews with parents in the homes of the students they serve. this resulted in teachers assuming the role of the learner, learning to see beyond stereotypes, and establishing symmetrical relationships with the family of the student. upon identifying the funds of knowledge of students and their families, teachers can incorporate and build on student funds of knowledge to engage students in learning (moll et al., 1992). although funds of knowledge make it possible to name the household activities communities of color engage in, researchers have sought to bridge a connection between funds of knowledge and theories of capital because funds of knowledge and cultural capital are often fused together or assumed to be synonymous "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 108 of each other, and a discussion about social class is needed to understand the school and home dynamics that impact their relationship to each other and the production of knowledge (riosaguilar et al., 2011). researchers have built upon funds of knowledge to focus on specific types of funds of knowledge such as dark funds of knowledge (zipin, 2009) and funds of gang knowledge (huerta & rios aguilar, 2021). zipin (2009) extended upon funds of knowledge to include the “dark” funds of knowledge that people experience such as racism, poverty, abuse and other negative experiences. while dark funds of knowledge may be negative in nature, such experiences can still be assets (zipin, 2009). huerta & rios-aguilar (2021) account for the specific knowledge and information gang members have relied on to survive as funds of gang knowledge. funds of knowledge has also inspired what esteban-guitart & moll (2014) identify as funds of identity, artifacts (i.e. visuals, music, etc.) that people use to define themselves from their household funds of knowledge. funds of identity are funds of knowledge with a focus on one’s identity, voice and individuality (franquiz et al., 2021). although asset-based research and pedagogies have been on the rise in efforts to support latina/o/x students, few studies have focused on latina/o/x excellence from the eye of the beholder, students, and their families. our study is an exploration of excellence through the perspective of latina/o/x youth and their families. the purpose of this study is to highlight who latina/o/x students consider to be examples of excellence and how excellence is defined in the home. theoretical framework this article highlights excellence as a culturally-embedded practice in the lives and homes of latinas/os/xs by drawing from funds of knowledge (moll, et al., 1992) and familismo (calzada et al., 2012; valenzuela, 1999). funds of knowledge acknowledges the wealth of knowledge and experiences in the homes of students of color, specifically in latina/o/x families. the forms of/types of knowledge learned in the home are often associated with particular roles in the family (i.e. parental, siblings) and types of labor (i.e. gardening, cooking, care taking). in this study, funds of knowledge not only makes it possible to explore the richness of excellence that is learned in the home, but it also allows us to delve into the ways excellence is connected to household activities and roles in the home. in conjunction with funds of knowledge, we gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 109 needed a way to identify the characteristics, values, and beliefs that are the fabric of the funds of knowledge. familismo is that fabric. familismo is a multi-faceted cultural value and collectivist expression of family (calzada et al., 2012; lópez et al., 2019; valenzuela, 1999). familismo emerged from the concept of familism a reciprocal in-group connectedness that emphasizes the goals of the family (calzada et al., 2012; lópez et al., 2019; valenzuela, 1999). loyalty, reciprocity, responsibility, and solidarity to the family are key characteristics of familismo (marin & marin, 1991; saenz & ponjuan, 2008). familismo has been found to be one of the most salient cultural values in latina/o/x communities (sanchez et al., 2019; villareal et al., 2005) that is fluid and in constant negotiation (lópez et al., 2019). it is a collectivist expression among latina/o/x communities that prioritizes family, including one’s immediate family as well as chosen family, close confidants, networks, and kin (ayón, marsiglia, & bermudez-parsai, 2010; lópez et al., 2019). friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, mentors, and community members are a few examples of people who could be a part of one’s family. one’s beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, outlook on life, and academic success can be influenced and impacted by familismo (posada rodriguez, 2019; valdivieso-mora, 2016). familismo is multifaceted and can manifest itself as attitudinal and behavioral (keefe, 1984; calzada et al., 2012). attitudinal familismo refers to the feelings that individuals feel relating to loyalty and reciprocity between family members (i.e. the belief that family comes before the individual, familial interconnectedness, etc.) (calzada et al., 2012; lugo steidel & contreras, 2003). behavioral familismo includes the behaviors, or actions taken, that reflect the beliefs of attitudinal familismo (i.e. financially contributing to support the family, living near or with kin, childrearing, etc.) (calzada et al., 2012). understanding attitudinal and behavioral familismo as educators is important because it differentiates between the feelings and priorities our students have to their families and the behaviors and actions that students engage in both in and out of school contextsall of which impact their relationship to schools and their academic achievement. in schools, the shared aspirations and understandings of success between students and their families are reflective of attitudinal familismo. the ways that families encourage students in the home and the importance of education passed down from generation to generation is also familismo (garriott et al., 2016). in education, familismo has been found to promote the persistence, resilience, and overall academic success and well-being of latina/o/x college students (lopez et al., 2019; "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 110 witkowsky et al., 2020). familismo has been incorporated as a guiding value of higher education programming, such as spanish language parent and family member orientation programs (pfmo) to promote parent involvement (witkowsky et al., 2020). witkowsky et al. (2020) researched the impact of a pfmo program that is offered in spanish as a bridge between students’ families and the institution and found that the use of spanish generated trust in the institution among families. additionally, families developed an understanding of their students’ strengths and motivations to pursue higher education for the improvement of the family (witkowsky et al., 2020). familismo has also been the foundation of what yemin sanchez designed and conceptualized as familismo teaching, “an asset based pedagogy that fully embraces the attitudinal and behavioral attributes of familismo” (sanchez et al., 2019, p. 111). while strides have been made to foster familismo in higher education, latinx undergraduates experience a lack of familismo in science and engineering due to the culture of hypercompetition and individualism in large courses and professor interactions with students (lopez et al., 2019). when researching latinx students’ sense of familismo in undergraduate science and engineering, lopez et al. (2019) found that latinx students found familismo in spaces outside of their respective departments. such spaces affirmed students’ life experiences and cultural practices, fostered reciprocity, care, community, and a sense of value. latinx undergraduates in science and engineering felt a sense of belonging and ease at being themselves in those spaces. however, researchers have also identified ways that familismo can produce tensions and negative outcomes for latinas/os/xs (hernández, 2015; patron, 2021). familismo may cause challenges such as also placing a financial burden on family members when children may be expected to contribute their own income, even in adulthood, causing a strain on their finances and elevating levels of stress and depression (calzada et al., 2012), or influencing college choice among high school students trying to navigate their family obligations and personal pursuits (hernández, 2015). interestingly, the way in which familismo affects individuals differs by gender (piñawatson et al., 2013; posada rodriguez; 2019; valenzuela jr., 1999), immigrant generation (azpeitia & bacio, 2022), and by sexual identities that do not align with family values or cultural expectations in latina/o/x families (patron, 2021). valenzuela jr. (1999) found that latinas were disproportionately asked to partake in familial tasks such as translating during medical visits and gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 111 school conferences, and even more so around home-related activities such as caring for siblings. piña-watson et al. (2013) studied how familismo and ethnic identity worked as a protective factor against bicultural stress and found that females who reported having a deeper connection with these two concepts were better equipped to process bicultural stress. females in that study were likely to have stronger ties to familismo and ethnic identity because of the latina/o/x gender role of marianismo, the latina gender role that “traditionally assumes women the responsibility of cultural bearers” (piña-watson et al., 2013, p. 212). not only can familismo be experienced differently across gender, but also by sexual orientation. patron (2021) studied precarious familismo, “the instances of uncertainty queer latinos do not know if values of familismo will persist”, among queer latino men in college and found they encountered adverse, disparate, and supportive experiences with their families when identifying as gay and queer. in this study, we specifically draw upon attitudinal familismo to understand the reciprocity, family interconnectedness, and beliefs about putting the family first in the homes and lives of students and the family members they chose to interview. understanding interview responses through an attitudinal familismo perspective allows us to ground the definitions of excellence in the home in the values and beliefs of the participants who were interviewed. also, familismo helps us frame the environment and relationship(s) between the interviewee (family member) and interviewer (student). methodology background of study this study uses data from the collaborative research for equity and excellence in our schools (creer) research project. the creer research project was a participatory action research project where students, their teacher, and researchers worked collaboratively and in tandem to collect and analyze data. this research project was launched in fall 2017. at the time of data collection, the research team was composed of a faculty member who was the primary investigator, a postdoctoral scholar, three graduate students, and three undergraduate students. three major student projects compose the creer data set, including educational journeys, photovoice projects, and the loteria card project. the student projects of approximately 30 students were discussed and shared with the larger class. in this paper, we use the loteria project as our primary data. inspiration for the loteria card project "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 112 the loteria card game is often known as “mexican bingo.” it was first introduced by don clemente gallo in the early 19th century (villegas, 2018). the objective of the game is to complete a game board using markers (i.e., beans, coins) when that specific card is called out, much like the traditional bingo played in the united states. the cards that are used in the game depict people, places or things that are prominent in latina/o/x culture. for example, there is a card that depicts la dama (a woman of high esteem), el catrín (the gentleman), and el músico (the musician). loteria is often played as a pastime among family and friends at gatherings and celebrations. families typically play for fun or for prizes including money. an underlying outcome of playing loteria is the strengthening of familismo as it brings family together and can be played intergenerationally. additionally, loteria can be passed down from generation to generation even as new generations create new versions of loteria that best reflect their reality. the concept of using loteria as a project was inspired by the work that dr. luis-genaro garcia engaged in with his own students in south central los angeles. dr. garcia is an artist, teacher, and professor that has used loteria to depict his high school students' lived experiences (garcia, 2017). he encourages them to tell their family’s story through a loteria card that they themselves create. some of his students have used the loteria card project as a way to pay homage to the type of work that their parents do or have done, while others use iconic symbols of latina/o/x culture as a way to stay connected to their culture and traditions. either way, using something as simple as loteria has increased the engagement levels of his students. we wanted to try something similar with our students, being that they would be able to relate to the game of loteria. thus, the creer research team used the loteria card game as a strategy to identify the source of excellence in the lives of latina/o/x youth. school site data was collected at a southern california public high school we call el bosque high school (ebhs).4 ebhs is located in one of the most populated counties in california and is part of a school district that encompasses 23 schools, five of which are high schools or institutions that provide a high school equivalency program. out of the 2.4 million residents in this county, about 49% of those residents are latina/o/x. though the numbers are lower for the district, in 4 all names in this study are pseudonyms. pseudonyms are used to protect the identity of our participants and the school site. gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 113 comparison to numbers in other districts, ebhs mirrors its district’s demographics. the school district served 79% hispanic/latino during the 2017-2018 school year when the data was collected. ebhs served 2,189 students of which 94% were students of color and 90% of those students identified as “hispanic/latino”. ebhs has various academies, specialized groups where students receive specific instruction in a field or topic in a more personalized setting (leithwood, 2003), within the school including the international baccalaureate (ib) program, green construction academy, and agriculture academy to name a few. programs such as advancement via academic determination (avid) and upward bound are offered at ebhs. avid prepares students for college eligibility and success while upward bound seeks to increase the rate at which high school students from low-income families and whose parents do not have a bachelor’s degree complete secondary education to pursue higher education. participants upon meeting with the principal at ebhs and explaining to her that our study intended to explore excellence in the latina/o/x community, she introduced us to four teachers who she believed would be interested in working with our team. although all four teachers were interested in working with us, we chose to partner with ms. lopez because she expressed a desire to receive feedback on her teaching and to continue to develop her pedagogical skills as an educator. ms. lopez self-identifies as a latina who had been teaching for eight years and taught english and avid. although ms. lopez is not originally from the city where the school is located, she considers it home and contributes greatly to the community in and out of her role as a teacher. ms. lopez’s classroom was colorful and had student work displayed around the room including instagram profiles that each student created and an affirmation of the week on the whiteboard. flags of different colleges and universities that her students had been accepted to were displayed on the walls of the classroom. throughout her room she had various pieces of chicana/o/x art and colorful papel picado hung across the classroom walls. she had a bulletin board titled “the chisme corner” where she posted all community happenings for students to stay informed and involved. participants in our study included ms. lopez’s thirty 9th grade avid students, who were predominantly latina/o/x and children of immigrants from mexico and central america. of the thirty students, one student is white, one is asian american, and the rest are latina/o/x. all student participants were fluent in english while most latina/o/x "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 114 students were bilingual in spanish and english. ms. lopez was instrumental in bringing us into the classroom and making the research team feel welcomed among the students. data and data collection data collection in ms. lopez’s classroom took place over a 6-month period during the 2017-2018 school year. ms. lopez gave us full permission to lead brief class lectures and assign specific assignments to students designed by our research team. student assignments became our data, including the loteria project that was collected towards the latter half of the school year in 2017. loteria projects are composed of four parts: 1) latina/o/x students identifying a person who reflects excellence in the home, 2) students interviewed the person who they identified as reflecting excellence, 3) students created a loteria card of the person who was interviewed, and 4) students presented their loteria card to fellow classmates and researchers. first, we gave students a post-it note and had them write down the name of someone who they believed reflected excellence in their home. students were then instructed to interview the person they believed reflected excellence in their home using an interview worksheet. the interview worksheet included four pre-selected questions developed by our research team including: 1) how do you define excellence? where did you learn it? 2) how do you define excellence in the home? 3) how do you define excellence in education? 4) how do you define excellence in the community? students also had the opportunity to develop two additional questions of their own for a total of six interview questions. students then conducted semi-structured interviews with the person they identified as an example of excellence in the home and captured their responses in writing in the interview worksheet. the majority of people who were interviewed for the loteria project were family members. student-conducted interviews included 17 parents (9 fathers and 8 mothers) while the rest were extended family members such as siblings, uncles or cousins. some students took the initiative to translate the interview questions into the interviewee’s preferred language while others translated the interviewees responses to english onto the worksheet. all data is presented in the form in which students provided it. after interviewing the people who they believed reflected excellence in the home, students were introduced to the loteria card game and asked to create a loteria card representing the person they interviewed. students were encouraged to get creative and have fun with the loteria card. the majority of students were familiar with the loteria card game, especially gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 115 latina/o/x students. some students drew their person whereas others drew symbols to reflect that person’s excellence. lastly, students presented their loteria cards to their teacher, classmates, and our research team during class. each student introduced the person who they chose to interview and shared the significance of the colors, images, and text in the loteria card they created. although we had 30 student participants, only 26 students interviewed someone who they believe reflects excellence in the home and submitted the interview worksheet (with responses from the interviewee). of the 26 students who submitted their interview worksheet, only 17 of those students completed all four components of the loteria projects. the data for this paper includes 26 student-conducted interview worksheets and 17 complete loteria projects which include the interview worksheet, loteria card, and the student presentation of their loteria card. students submitted their interview worksheet and loteria card to their teacher for course credit and she passed them on to our research team for data analysis. our research team wrote notes about individual student presentations. these notes and observations of student participation in class were used to add context to our understanding of the loteria projects. in this paper we examine the definition and source of excellence in the homes of latina/o/x high school youth via the loteria projects. data analysis our research team engaged in collaborative data analysis to analyze the data in this study. collaborative data analysis is the process by which multiple researchers analyze data through dialogue and joint efforts to produce a consensus of interpretation (cornish et al., 2013). through the collaborative data analysis each member of the research team was given the opportunity to review the data, contribute to data analysis, and collectively discuss the findings during weekly team meetings. as a group, each member of the research team received copies of loteria project components including the completed interview protocol, loteria card, and notes taken during student presentations. collaborative data analysis made it possible to include the diverse perspectives and interpretations of all researchers, improved inter-coder reliability, and allowed us to engage in critical reflexivity (cornish et al., 2013). ms. lopez, the teacher, and student participants were not a part of the collaborative data analysis because the end of their academic year conflicted with the time when we analyze data. however, the feedback, "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 116 questions, and analysis of data provided throughout the overall creer project was taken into account in tandem with data collection and written into fieldnotes and analyzed by our team. to triangulate the data each loteria project was analyzed as a standalone data source, followed by a within and cross-case data analysis method to explorer thematic patterns across participants (yin, 2014). each member of our research team individually reviewed the loteria projects and identified codes and themes through line-by-line coding. next, the research team collectively discussed their findings and jointly identified themes that were organized in bloomberg and volpe’s (2018) thematic chart. organizing the themes in bloomberg and volpe’s (2018) thematic chart allowed us to enumerate and identify the most salient themes across all participants. the main themes were supported by participant data (the semi-structured interviews students conducted and images of each loteria card they created) and analyzed in reference to the research question. once the themes were compiled, they were compared and contrasted to build a larger narrative of excellence from the perspective of someone at the students’ home. fieldnotes taken during student presentations of their loteria project were used to corroborate the codes and themes that the team developed. additionally, we took into consideration the student participant, their experience and participation in the classroom and other data sources from previous class projects that were collected prior to the loteria project for our larger research project5 to contextualize the findings in this study. findings to understand the source of excellence in the homes of latina/o/x youth we must first understand how they defined excellence leading up to the loteria project. as a part of the larger research project that we engaged with participants, our team had latina/o/x youth define excellence through a photovoice project prior to the loteria project. in the photovoice project, participants defined excellence across three different spaces: home, school, and community6. in the home, latina/o/x youth defined excellence as a family affirmation, unity and 5 data sources include educational journeys and photovoice projects. details about the photovoice project we conducted can be found in [insert citation]. 6 our research team has published an article, "…you'll still make it to the top": using photovoice to explore latina/o/x excellence from the perspectives of latina/o/x youth, regarding the ways latina/o/x youth in this study define excellence in their homes, school, and community. see the following reference for this article: rodriguez, l.f., espinoza, e., gutierrez, l., calderon, y., chang, e., & macias, cindy (2021). "…you'll still make it to the top": using photovoice to explore latina/o/x excellence from the perspectives of latina/o/x youth. the high school journal 104(2), 104-124. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/803608. gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 117 support. while excellence in the community was defined as being of service to the community and excellence in school was defined as academic performance and earning good grades. to identify the source of excellence in the homes of latina/o/x youth, we developed the loteria projects where upon in-depth data analysis we found that: 1) excellence is learned and passed down intergenerationally, 2) excellence in the home is exhibited by meeting or exceeding expectations associated with one’s role in the family, and 3) excellence in the home is grounded in reciprocity. these findings emerged from the loteria cards and the semi-structured interviews participants carried out with a person whom they identified as a reflection of excellence in the home, of which the majority of participants chose to interview a parent. in the sections that follow, we describe the three aforementioned findings and provide examples from the data to support each theme. meeting and exceeding expectations during semi-structured interviews participants asked the people they believe reflect excellence in their home about their definition of excellence. interviewees defined excellence as meeting or exceeding expectations, specifically in their roles as family members (i.e. mother, father, son, daughter, etc.). keywords that interviewees used to define excellence include: overachieving, exceeding expectations, setting and accomplishing goals, doing your best, and working hard and/or engaging in hard work. a common theme across these keywords is that excellence is grounded in effort, action, and hard work. excellence is not something that just is, it is enacted. interviewees mentioned having expectations of themselves or their family members in the home such as: contributing to the home by way of completing chores, pursuing an education, and being a good role model for others. though we did not set out to explore gendered definitions of excellence or gendered expectations in the home, the way interviewees describe excellence and what it looks like in the home as it relates to ones role in the home is gendered in nature. this is not surprising given that research on familismo, the interconnectedness and importance of the family in latina/o/x culture, has been found to impact one’s values and beliefs and affects individuals differently by gender (piña-watson et al., 2013; posada rodriguez, 2019). "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 118 when asked to identify a family member who demonstrated excellence in her home, lupita, a 9th grade daughter of guatemalan parents, did not think twice about her choice to interview her mother, sandra. lupita always remarked about how much her mother had sacrificed and worked hard for her and her family to have a better future. figure 1 is the loteria card, el ojo (the eye), that lupita drew of her mother’s eye. during the presentation of her loteria card, lupita spoke about how much she liked her mother’s eye because the color was unique to the rest of the family. lupita chose to draw her mother’s eye and specifically chose the colors green and brown to reflect her hazel eyes. for the interview assignment we had the opportunity to hear directly from her mother about her definition of excellence. when asked about her definition of excellence, sandra explained that “excellence in the family is exceeding your goal” (sandra, lupita’s mother, interview). for sandra, excellence at home, in the family, is not simply meeting your goal. she expects family to exceed their goals. this sentiment was felt across most responses, particularly when parents were the ones being interviewed. many parents attributed excellence to fulfilling their role as provider. one father stated that to him, excellence in the home meant “giving [their] kid [their] all”. another parent stated: “yo defino excelencia como nos esforzamos y trabajamos duro con sacrificios para alcanzar nuestras metas”. both examples reflect the funds of knowledge in the home that are associated with specific roles in the family and the labor and economy of the home. the parents in the aforementioned examples describe what excellence looks like as a fund of knowledge where they engage in a productive activity of the household. similarly, students interpreted their parents' definitions of excellence in the home as excelling or exceeding expectations by “helping around even though nobody tells you to” (lola, student). rather than wait for someone to instruct a person to do something, lola, a 9th grade avid student interpreted her father’s definition of excellence in the home as helping or being of service in the home. her definition of excellence is in line with a value often found in latina/o/x homes, to acomedirse, to be of help or service. part of being helpful around the home figure 1 “el ojo” gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 119 without anybody instructing you to do so involves knowing your role in the home and valuing being of service to others. this type of excellence often goes unnoticed by teachers and administrators because it is part of the educación that occurs in the home (moreno & valencia, 2011). educación “refers to the family’s role of inculcating in children a sense of moral, social, and personal responsibility and serves as the foundation of all other learning” (valenzuela, 1999, p. 23). moreover, educación is about developing competence in the world as well as respect and dignity (valenzuela, 1999). values such as acomedir, respeto, and dignidad are a part of the educación that occurs in the home that educators are often unaware of. to acomedirse encourages a culture of reciprocity in the homes of these families. because all family members see the mutual benefit of these actions, they are more inclined to act. this fully encapsulates the principles of familismo where all members of the family are striving towards a common goal, that being the best for the family unit. when it came to the roles that each family member played in the home, we began to understand how these families were seeing excellence in their own homes through the things they do for each other. those interviewed understood excellence to be everyone working together for the good of the collective. essentially, what this meant was that each person had to do their part in order for the home to function as the “safe” and “peaceful” place that parents aimed for it to be. in doing so, they created and maintained the funds of knowledge that are necessary for the functioning and well-being of the home. there was special emphasis on the role of parents as the “providers” of the home. rosita, a 9th grade avid student, interviewed her father, juan. in figure 2, rosita drew a loteria card of her father as el conductor (the driver/conductor). rosita drew the truck juan drives on a daily basis because he gets to travel and see new places as a driver. when asked to describe what excellence in the home meant to him, juan stated the following: “un hogar tranquilo y especial por mi familia y por mis niños que son todo en la vida” (juan, rosita’s father, interview). here, juan, speaks from his role as a father and as a provider. he believes excellence in the home happens when his home is peaceful for his family, especially his children, who mean everything to him. intergenerational knowledge of excellence when asked who and where they learned excellence from, family members who were interviewed identified having learned it through knowledge and lessons collected intergenerationally and through personal experience. the collection of influences from their "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 120 family members, relationships, past and present experiences helped them learn important themes/lessons such as excellence through lived experience, hard work, having a positive outlook on life, and believing in and/or knowing oneself. the majority of interviewees learned about excellence through their parents and family members. this finding is in line with harro’s (2000) argument that parents, relatives, teachers and other people we trust are our first sources of socialization that shape our norms, values, beliefs, expectations, and dreams. similarly, excellence was taught by parents to their children through the sharing of past lived experiences. the legacy of intergenerational knowledge being passed down from parents to their children is visible in rosita’s father, juan. when asked where he learned about excellence, juan stated the following: “la excelencia son los valores que aprendí de mis papas de luchar y obtener lo que uno quiere.” “excellence are the values that i learned from my parents, to fight for and obtain what one wants.” juan explicitly identifies his parents as the source of his own ideas about excellence. he learned about excellence from his parents and passed it on to rosita. other students explicitly mentioned that their interviewee had learned about excellence through experiences involving their parents both directly and indirectly. excellence was something they learned from the people and environment they grew up in. cynthia, a 9th grade avid student who interviewed her mother, recapped how her mother, maria, learned about excellence by stating that she “learned from people in her life and put their stories together to make one positive definition”. this quote exemplifies the ways the people who surrounded maria influenced the way she thinks about and embodies excellence. the people who she surrounded herself with shared stories and experiences with her to piece note. this figure is rosita’s loteria card of her father who is a conductor, driver, for a living. figure 2 ”el conductor” gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 121 together her own “positive” definition of excellence. in this instance, we learn about excellence as a trait or practice that has been passed down through people in their livesincluding people of diverse backgrounds, generations, values, and beliefs. cynthia’s mother learned about excellence through people in her life. while participants in this study define excellence as meeting or exceeding expectations, excellence is learned from the people they surround themselves with. furthermore, lived experience is also a source of excellence. lived experience according to family members who were interviewed, they also learned about excellence through lived experience. lived experience includes first-hand, day-to-day, past and current trials and triumphs in life in general, specifically in spaces such as home, place of employment, and country of origin. after his interview with his father arturo, andrew, a 9th grade soccer player, states “excellence is . . . learning through experience, doing what needs to be done everyone’s life is one’s teacher” (andrew, interview). here, andrew notes how excellence is learned through experience and “doing what needs to be done.” andrew’s father, arturo, reminds us that “life is one’s teacher.” similarly, as the protagonist and leading force in one’s life, oneself in conjunction with life can be a source of excellence. jane, a 9th grade avid student, interviewed her older sister, stephanie. stephanie defines herself as excellent. when asked about where her sister learned about excellence, jane states: “excellence was learned from herself, her success and failure, doing it to help the family.” stephanie centers herself as not only being excellent, but also being the source of excellence in her life. ultimately, the self and lived experience are inextricable from one another. perceptions about excellence varied among parents and family members who were interviewed because of different life experiences, values, beliefs, and intergenerational knowledge. the benefit of having students present their loteria card, was that after hearing from each student individually, we compared how their definition of excellence matched up to that of the person they interviewed. this provided insight as to where they were learning these definitions of excellence. we were able to see how these definitions were being passed down through generations as valuable knowledge. for example, after observing and working with lupita we noticed that for her, generational and familial knowledge played an important role. through work she presented in class we saw how sports, like soccer, was an intergenerational "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 122 tradition in her family. the discipline she learned while playing soccer could be translated to her academics. reciprocity and collective good latina/o/x families function on a system of interdependence as opposed to the independent and individualistic nature that is most common in american society (leyendecker et al., 1998). because of this, it is important to acknowledge the close relationships that these families showed through the interviews. we were able to see how their relationships with family cultivate this practice of reciprocity. after close analysis we conclude that excellence in the home is founded on the principles of reciprocity and the collective good. reciprocity is a mutual respect and exchange within families, collectives, or groups. this is most apparent in the daily interactions between family and extended family members. the collective good refers to the status of the family as a whole, including ensuring the well-being of family members and creating harmony in the home. for most of these families, the reasons they work so hard and go above and beyond for each other is because they understand the importance of giving back to their families as a way to keep them united and functioning. reciprocity looked different among the student-conducted interviews, but ultimately the overarching theme was the importance of the dependence on each other through the things they do for each other on a daily basis. for mary, a consistent participant in the classroom discussion, reciprocity is represented through mutual care for family members. she stated: “in our home, excellence is to make sure each family member is well taken care of” (mary, interview). mary interviewed her mother where we learned about the importance of looking after one another in the home. throughout her interview, mary’s mother mentioned the value of reciprocity multiple times. both mary and her mother convey the importance of family and after losing one of their family members to an illness, they hold each other closer than ever. they know that excellence to them is maintaining a strong family that is always there for one another. for some of the family members interviewed, reciprocity also presents itself in the form of giving back to the community. interviewees spoke on the importance of giving back to those that surround you and being grateful for all the work being done. for example, martha, recounts her mother maria, telling her that being excellent in the home meant to “have a good profession to help people (community)”. similarly, martha shared the same definition of excellence gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 123 as her mother in a previous course assignment that asked students where they saw excellence in their home, school, and community. in the latina/o/x community, family often extends beyond those that are living in the home to include community members. familism, as a value in latina/o/x families, “addresses multigenerational households or extended family systems” (cauce & domenech-rodriguez, 2002, p. 13). even though the community is not part of their immediate family, to interviewees, reciprocating love, and hard work is also visible in the community as it is in their home. using data from the other questions asked in this study, we see that involvement and close ties to the community is vital for these families. we see more of this in laura’s interview. being considerate neighbors in her community is a way in which her family sees excellence reciprocated. laura’s mother, grecia, described excellence as “son buenos vecinos, ayudan cuando los necesitan, somos muy respetuosos hacia lo ajeno” (laura’s interview). according to grecia, excellence involves being good neighbors, helping others when needed, and being respectful towards other people and material items that are not your own. here we see a similar collective effort extend into the community that the student has experienced in their home environment. being kind to one another and the willingness to lend a helping hand was laura’s mother’s example of excellence in the community. the idea of reciprocity being the driving force behind the practice of excellence in a latina/o/x home makes sense. when we fully understand the dynamic of a home that depends on the collective to thrive, we understand how reciprocity becomes their form of daily interaction. this daily interaction was visible in ms. lopez’s classroom. ms. lopez understood the importance of reciprocity and familia in the lives of her students and intentionally created a learning environment grounded in these essential elements. during an activity about community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005), students were asked to identify examples of familial capital and they quickly identified ms. lopez’s classroom as familywith all confidence and certainty. furthermore, students treat each other with respect and support one another in daily interactions, including during presentationswhich can be intimidating and difficult for some students. ultimately, reciprocity and familia is cultivated in the home and harvested in the classroom. discussion "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 124 findings from this study provide insight to the definitions, sources, and foundations of excellence in the home from the voices of family members who exemplify excellence in the home of latina/o/x youth in southern california. the parents, siblings and relatives that latina/o/x youth identified as excellent not only talk about excellence, they live it in their everyday lives according to the youth. this is key in the social and political context we live in today where racist and deficit messages about latina/o/x youth and their families are repeatedly conveyed in educational policies, practice, and the media. to a large extent, the students’ interviewees attributed the lessons learned about excellence to experiences acquired through life and/or acquired by observing people, such as family members and loved ones. this adds another dimension to the definition of “excellence” because their parents and family members place significant value on their experiences, family, and past challenges to inform their conceptualizations of excellence, which in turn influences the students. while this paper explored general understandings of excellence, it gleaned important insight about the source of excellence and how excellence is largely observed from and through the lives, actions, and perhaps missteps of others, especially family members. the majority of students interviewed their parents as a form of excellence and described them as being “hard working” and “dedicated” to their work and families. while students quickly identified their parents with these characteristics, students saw their parents as being excellent only within the realm of the home prior to engaging in the interview assignment. by asking parents and relatives about their definition of excellence and where they learned it from, students create new definitions of excellence, hard work, and success that are fundamentally different from what schools define, promote, and expect excellence in education to be which helps realize and affirm their funds of knowledge. parents who were interviewed defined excellence as “excelling in your goal.” this definition of excellence is not limited to education. rather, their definition is applicable across all walks of life. moreover, as excellence is defined by parents and relatives, students can consider their parents, relatives, and themselves as excellent beyond the home and in the community and school. not only do the findings inform our understanding of what is excellence, they also challenge us to consider who can be a source of excellence. the findings of this study position families as excellence in the lives of latina/o/x high school youth. this decenters traditional forms of excellence in schools that are measured individually with letter grades, high grade point averages, passing test scores, gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 125 high school graduation, and college degrees. these forms of school approved and expected forms of excellence reflect bourdieu’s (1986) perspective of cultural capital that inherently values the capital of the dominant culture which in turn marginalizes the excellence, funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth of historically marginalized communities of color. contrary to school expectations, latina/o/x youth and their families are excellence. not only are parents and family members sources of excellence in students’ homes, they are also sources of intergenerational knowledge. findings reveal that excellence was often passed down and learned from parents and family members in the home, specifically through lived experience. learning through lived experience is important to highlight when considering the ways k-12 schools do or do not provide students with opportunities to learn through real life experiences and welcome the real-life experiences of youth and their families as vital sources of education. while students identified family members as examples of excellence and through interviews we learned that excellence is passed down from generation to generation, they too reflect excellence as recipients and benefactors of the intergenerational knowledge in their families. nava (2017) encourages educators to use interviews as a means for students to explore the intergenerational knowledge, histories, struggles, and successes in their families and communities. furthermore, he affirms that an understanding of one’s familial histories and intergenerational knowledge can impact aspirations for higher education and life trajectories (nava, 2017). as we consider the positive impact that intergenerational knowledge can have on the aspirations and life trajectories of students, we must consider how we can transform attitudinal familismo, the values, beliefs and perceptions related to the collective good of the family, that is reflected in this study into behavioral familismo, the behavior and actions taken for the collective good of the family. while most scholarship on familismo in education tends to focus on the student perspective and takes place in institutions of higher education, our study contributes to literature on familismo and excellence from the perspective of students and family members within k-12 schools. implications for practice findings from this study challenge educators to consider the ways we can engage the rich sources of excellence students bring from their homes for learning in the classroom. upon conducting the loteria project, specifically asking students to identify and interview someone in their home that reflected excellence, it became clear that youth are rarely asked about "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 126 excellence in the home, let alone to engage in inquiry and art-based work, and they have few opportunities to ask their parents deeply important questions about the cultural and historical legacy of their family and life experiences. thus, we suggest ways that educators can use to draw upon our students’ intergenerational legacy of excellence in the classroom. first and foremost, educators must be intentional about engaging students with their home and community in ways that decenter normalized examples and definitions of excellence. normalized forms of excellence include a focus on academics, specifically grades, grade point averages, as well as material and socio-economic wealth. rather, educators can design and implement age-appropriate curriculum and activities that provide students with opportunities to understand how their experiences and background contribute to the conversation of excellence. the loteria card project is a practical way for students to portray some of those forms of excellence that have been instilled in them through their home life. conducting interviews with family members and drawing their findings as a loteria card allows students to develop ownership of their learning, affirms their funds of knowledge, and provides students an opportunity to engage in qualitative research inquiry. furthermore, conducting a loteria card project provides students the opportunity to identify and learn about the organic intellectuals in their homes and in turn, inform teachers about the role models their students have at home. however, it is important to note that interviewees did not perceive their role in the lives of latina/o/x students as excellence. it was not until latina/o/x youth engaged in the interview component of the loteria project that someone identified them as excellent. to start, teachers can ask students and their families to talk about what makes them excellent. students can be asked to reflect on what makes them excellent individually or in pairs and to consider how they practice excellence in their daily lives. parents could be asked to identify what makes their child excellent during parent-teacher conferences as a way for teachers to learn about the funds of knowledge of their students. consequently, this allows for parent-teacher conferences to focus on student assets rather than deficits and failures. in this study, many students pointed out that the work and responsibilities assumed by their parents are examples of excellence. however, excellence has become so normalized that when these parents were told that they exemplified excellence, they denied it and claimed they were simply meeting and doing their “duty”. this project encourages families to see simple gestures like having dinner as a family, providing for the family, or excelling the expectations in the home as gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 127 forms of excellence. this will affirm a culture of excellence among communities that are often excluded from these definitions (rodriguez, 2015). bringing conversations about excellence into the classroom can help teachers at any grade level begin to cultivate a sense of excellence in their classrooms by encouraging a familycentered relationship dynamic among their students. in other words, teachers can begin to foster excellence in their classroom by developing a sense of familismo in the classroom. in ms. lopez’s classroom, students often expressed that they felt like they were a part of a family. they showed support for each other when it came to classroom assignments, they looked out for each other when necessary, and trusted each other enough to share their dreams for the future and their present struggles. for example, during our time working with ebhs students, we witnessed numerous student presentations in the classroom. at these times, we saw how respectful and conscious students were of one another. this was something we later learned had been fostered and expected of them by their teacher. ms. lopez helped her students understand the importance of a supportive classroom environment and ensured that her classroom was a safe and welcoming space for all. she also encouraged students to share their lived experiences and to apply academic content to the real world. as the findings of this study have shown, lived experiences are sources of excellence that can be passed on intergenerationally and that all can learn from. teachers can help build a classroom environment where students feel en familia and where excellence is an expectation by creating community guidelines and expectations as a class. this is a simple yet uniform way of establishing guidelines and expectations that all students help create and hold each other accountable. when we first met ms. lopez she was excited to work with us because she expressed the need for feedback on her teaching. even though we were not there to evaluate her teaching we gave her feedback in the spirit of reciprocity. the feedback consisted of praise for the family-oriented environment she created in the classroom and ideas for assignments focused on excellence that she could adapt for her avid students. her use of the loteria card project generated excitement on behalf of students that spread across campus. one of her colleagues asked if he could do the loteria card project with his students too without the interview component and organized a gallery walk of his students’ loteria cards at an end of the year family night. the loteria card project also culminated in five of ms. lopez’s students planning "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 128 and leading a loteria card workshop to youth and families at the university of california riverside’s chicano youth conference. final thoughts it is important to note that the definition and practices of excellence will vary by individuals, families, communities, and overall context. understanding how youth, their families and communities define excellence and how it is learned and cultivated within and beyond the home takes time, confianza, and an open mind. if we are genuinely interested in understanding the excellence that fuels them to thrive, as educators we must be willing to invest the time and be open to learning with students, their families, and communities. gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 129 references ayón, c., marsiglia, f. f., & bermudez-parsai, m. (2010). latino family mental health: exploring the role of discrimination and familismo. journal of community psychology, 38(6), 742– 756. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20392 araujo, b. e. (2012). knowledge from the fields: a migrant farmworker student’s community cultural wealth. diaspora, indigenous, and minority education, 6(2), 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2012.662549 azpeitia, & bacio, g. a. (2022). “dedicado a mi familia”: the role of familismo on academic outcomes among latinx college students. emerging adulthood, 10(4), 923–937. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968221099259 bloomberg, l. d. & volpe, m. (2018). completing your qualitative dissertation: a road map from beginning to end (4th edition). los angeles, ca: sage. bourdieu, p. (1986). the forms of capital. in: richardson, j., handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. westport, ct: greenwood: 241–58. california student aid commission. (2022). undocu/dreamer students. retrieved from: https://www.csac.ca.gov/undocumented-dreamer-students calzada, e. j., tamis-lemonda, c. s., & yoshikawa, h. (2012). familismo in mexican and dominican families from low-income, urban communities. journal of family issues, 34(12), 1696-1724. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x12460218 cauce, a. m., & domenech-rodriguez, m. (2002). latino families: myths and realities. in j. j. contreras, a. neal-barnett, & k. kerns (eds), latino children and families in the united states: current research and future directions (3-25). westport, ct: praeger publishers. conchas, g. & acevedo, n. (2020). the chicana/o/x dream: hope, resistance and educational success. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. cornish, f., gillespie, a., zittoun, t. (2013). collaborative analysis of qualitative data analysis. in u. flick (ed.), the sage handbook of qualitative data analysis (pp.79-93). sage. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446282243 delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14 (5), 623-639. esteban-guitart, m., & moll, l. c. (2014). funds of identity: a new concept based on the funds of knowledge approach. culture & psychology, 20(1), 31–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067x13515934 franquiz, m. e., ortiz, a.a., & lara, g.p. (2021). enlaces prometedores: funds of knowledge and funds of identity. bilingual research journal, 44(4), 405-408. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2022.2057767 garcia, e. e. (2001). hispanic education in the united states: raices y alas. rowan and littlefield. garcia, l.-g. (2017). la lotería as creative resistance: the funds of knowledge, critical pedagogy, and critical race theory in art education. in j. m. kiyama & c. rios-aguilar (eds.), funds of knowledge in higher education: honoring students’ cultural experiences and resources as strengths (pp. 66–84). routledge. garriott, p. o., raque-bogdan, t. l., zoma, l., mackie-hernandez, d., & lavin, k. (2016). social cognitive predictors of mexican american high school students’ math/science career goals. journal of career development, 44(1), 77-90. gutierrez, k. d. (2008). developing a sociocritical literacy in the third space. reading research quarterly, 43(2), 148-164. "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 130 gutiérrez, l. (2022). educación in our own terms: survivance among latina/o/x migrant and seasonal farmworkers in k-12 schools and beyond. journal of latinos and education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2022.2080679 harro, b. (2000). the cycle of socialization. in m. adams, w. j. blumenfeld, r. castañeda, h. w. hackman, m. l. peters, and x. zuñiga (eds.). readings for diversity and social justice (pp. 15-21). new york: routledge. hernández, e. (2015). balancing dreams and realities: the college choice process for highachieving latinas. journal of latinos and education, 14(3), 202–219. hogg, linda. (2011). funds of knowledge: an investigation of coherence within the literature. teaching and teacher education, 22(3), 666-677. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2010.11.005 huerta, a. & rios-aguilar, c. (2021). treat a cop like they are god: exploring the relevance and utility of funds of gang knowledge among latino male students. urban education, 56(8), 1239-1268. irizarry, j. & raible, j. (2019). beginning with el barrio: learning from exemplary teachers of latino students. in e.g. murrillo (ed.), critical readings on latinos and education: tasks, themes, and solutions (pp. 271-287). jimenez, a., piña-watson, b., & manzo, g. (2021). resilience through family: family support as an academic and psychological protective resource for mexican descent first-generation college students. journal of hispanic higher education, 1-12. keefe, s.e. (1984). real and ideal extended familism among mexican americans and anglo americans: on the meaning of “close” family ties. human organization, 43(1), 65-70. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44125649 kiyama, j.m. & rios-aguilar, c. (eds.). (2017). funds of knowledge in higher education: honoring students’ cultural experiences and resources as strengths. routledge: taylor and francis group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315447322 krogstad, j.m. (2020). hispanics have accounted for more than half of the total us population growth since 2010. pew research center. retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2020/07/10/hispanics-have-accounted-for-more-than-half-of-total-u-s-populationgrowth-since-2010/ ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. leithwood, k.a., & riehl, c. (2003). what we know about successful school leadership. philadelphia, pa: laboratory for student success. temple university. leyendecker, b., cabrera, n., lembcke, h.,willard, j., kohl, k., & spiegler, o. (1998). parenting in a new land: immigrant parents and the positive development of their children and youth. european psychologist, 23(1), 57-71. library of congress. (2022). 1968: east los angeles walkouts. retrieved from https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/east-la-walkouts lópez, basile, v., landa-posas, m., ortega, k., & ramirez, a. (2019). latinx students’ sense of familismo in undergraduate science and engineering. review of higher education, 43(1), 85–111. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0091 lugo, steidel, a.g., & contreras, j.m. (2003). a new familism scale for use with latino populations. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 25, 312-330. marín, g., & marín, b. v. (1991). research with hispanic populations. sage publications, inc., https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412985734 gutiérrez, et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 131 moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132–141. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1476399 moreno, r. p., & valencia, r. r. (2011). chicano families and schools: challenges for strengthening family-school relationships. in r. r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (pp. 197-210). new york, ny: routledge. national center for education statistics (2020). bar chart race: changing demographics in k-12 in public school enrollment. https://nces.ed.gov/blogs/nces/post/bar-chartraces-changing-demographics-in-k-12-public-school-enrollment nava, p. e. (2017). abuelita storytelling: from pain to possibility and implications in higher education. storytelling self society, 13(2), 151-169. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/storytelling/vol13/iss2/2 patron, o. e. (2021). complicating traditional understandings of familismo: precariousness in the lives of queer latino men in college. journal of glbt family studies, 17(1), 30–48. paris, d. & alim, h.s. (2014). what are we seeking to sustain through culturally relevant pedagogy? a loving critique forward. harvard educational review, 84(1), 85-100. piña-watson, b., ojeda, l., castellon, n. e., & dornheker, m. (2013). familismo, ethnic identity, and bicultural stress as predictors of mexican american adolescents' positive psychological functioning. journal of latina/o psychology, 1(4), 204-217. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000006 posada rodriguez, c. (2019). coming out experiences of lgb latinos/as. scholarly undergraduate research journal at clark, 5(1), 1. rendon, l. i. (2011). cultivating una persona educada: a sentipensante (sensing/thinking) vision of education. journal of college and character, 12(2). rodriguez, l. f. (2015). intentional excellence: the pedagogy, power, and politics of excellence in latina/o schools and communities. peter lang publishing. rios, v. m. & galicia, m. (2013). smoking guns or smoke and mirrors? schools and the policing of latino boys. the association of mexican american educators journal, 7(3), 54-66. rios-aguilar, c., kiyama, j.m., gravitt, m., & moll, l.c. (2011). funds of knowledge for the poor and forms of capital for the rich? a capital approach to examining funds of knowledge. theory and research in education, 9(2), 163-184. saenz, v.b. & ponjuan, l. (2008). the vanishing latino male in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 8(1), 54-89. https://doi.org/10.1177/153819270832 san miguel jr., g. (2003). contested learning: latino education in the united states from the 1500s to the present. in k.i. kloosterman (ed.), latino students in american schools: historical and contemporary views (pp. 1-18). praeger. sanchez, y., nicholson, n., & hebbard, m. (2019). familismo teaching: a pedagogy for promoting student motivation and college success. in i. baca (ed.), bordered writers: latinx identities and literacy practices at hispanic-serving institutions (105-124). albany, ny: state university of new york press. solorzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308–342. the campaign for college opportunity. (2021). the state of higher education for latinx californians. https://collegecampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/final-shelatinx-web.pdf "la excelencia son los valores" association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 132 trueba, e.t. (1999). latinos unidos: from cultural diversity to the politics of solidarity. rowman & littlefield. u.s. citizenship and immigration services. (2022). consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca). https://www.uscis.gov/daca u.s. department of education. (2021a). racial/ethnic enrollment in public schools. washington dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cge u.s. department of education. (2021b). status dropout rates. washington dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/coj valdivieso-mora, e., peet, c. l., garnier-villarreal, m., salazar-villanea, m., & johnson, d. k. (2016). a systematic review of the relationship between familism and mental health outcomes in latino population. frontiers in psychology, 7, 1632. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s. mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany: state university of new york press. valenzuela jr., a. (1999). gender roles and settlement activities among children and their immigrant families. american behavioral scientist, 42(4), 720-742. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764299042004009 villareal, r., blozis, s.a., & widaman, k.f. (2005). factional invariance of a pan-hispanic familism scale. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 27(4), 409-425. villegas, t. (2018). history of la loteria. retrieved from: http://www.teresavillegas.com/history-of-la-loteria/ witkowsky, p., obregon, v., bruner, b., & alanis, j. (2020). connecting familismo and higher education: influence of spanish language pfmo programs on latinx family involvement and sense of belonging. journal of hispanic higher education, 19(4), 354-368. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192718810429 yin r.k. (2014). case study research design and methods (5th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. yosso, t. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8(1), 69-91. zipin, l. (2009). dark funds of knowledge, deep funds of pedagogy: exploring boundaries between lifeworlds and schools. discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 30(3), 317-331. amae journal cover template (general).pdf gutierrez el at finalfinal nov5.pdf volume 16 issue 1 2022 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/16.1.469 association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal https://doi.org/10.24974/16.1.469 heinsfeld association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue 1 138 jimenez-silva, m., & bempechat, j. (eds.) (2021). latinx experiences in u.s. schools: voices of students, teachers, teacher educators, and education allies in challenging sociopolitical times. lexington books. pp. 284. isbn-13: 978-1793611871. hardcover: $105 bruna damiana heinsfeld university of texas at san antonio aiming to remind us that equity is a collective and moral imperative, the book latinx experiences in u.s. schools: voices of students, teachers, teacher educators, and education allies in challenging sociopolitical times brings together the voices of students, teachers, teacher educators, and allies in the pursuit of building equitable learning environments for latinx communities in the u.s. the common thread in the book is the election of ex-president donald trump, along with the sociopolitical context that fostered and disseminated a politically sanctioned hate rhetoric that still affects numerous lives today. the texts in the book permeate the impacts of this derogatory and hateful rhetoric in the lives of children, teens, and young adults in school. the latinx community is the largest and second fastest growing minoritized group in the united states, adding up to 18% of the nation’s population (pew research center, 2020). however, as the book’s editors state, most educational debates on latinx students focus on underachievement and deficits that befall this community. thus, latinx experiences in u.s. schools serves as a non-traditional counternarrative, presenting the strengths and resilience of the latinx community. divided into four sections—voices of students, voices of teachers, voices of teacher educators, and voices of education allies—, each composed of an introduction and three chapters, the book details lived experiences of latinx communities in education, striving for a more equitable system. the work illuminates and collects authentic narratives of people participating in a transformation movement while incorporating critical theory lenses. each section disrupts hegemonic accounts on learning, offering its readers not only means for critical inquiry but encouragement and inspiration to pursue a just-just education (ladson-billings, 2006). the overall narrative of the scholarly piece reminds us that education and knowledge are political matters (freire, 1987). the political nature of education serves an agenda. teaching heinsfeld association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue 1 139 aids, technologies, and methodologies are politically oriented. likewise, knowledge is not neutral. the definitions of knowledge and scientific knowledge are political. additionally, the works in the book also dialogue with the importance of culturally relevant and responsive pedagogies (ladson-billings, 1995; lópez, 2016) and latcrit theory within the field of critical race theory (delgado bernal, 2002). the book relates to other strong works on the subject, such as encyclopedia of critical understandings of latinx and global education, edited by yolanda medina and margarita machado-casas (2022), which presents critical scholarship fundamental to understanding the latinx diaspora in the u.s. and its echoes in education through a multidisciplinary global approach. by centering the voices of students in the first section, the authors of latinx experiences in u.s. schools promote a critical pedagogy approach and legitimize students’ narratives and experiences. the scholarly works in this section highlight the role of cultural pluralism, language, and identity in education, while also addressing coloniality and imperialism. the following section of the book touches, through the voices of teachers, on the leadership role of activist teachers, the relationship between justice and the teaching labor, and the implications of promoting anti-racist pedagogies and culturally relevant pedagogical practices. the third section, defined by teacher educators, addresses critical perspectives in teacher education, considering the sociopolitical struggles of our times. the chapters challenge what is regarded as official and scientific knowledge and investigate how teacher education programs can educate teachers to work with latinx children, considering the preparation of teachers as the cornerstone to harvest an open-minded and respectful educational system. finally, the fourth section underlines the role and importance of the allies, the voces unidas, who advocate in favor of latinx communities, combating the epistemic violence and assimilationist ideologies that stigmatize and discriminate against students of color. one of the major strengths of the book, along with opening space to voices that are frequently unheard, such as the voices of the latinx students and the education allies, is the use of storytelling as a strategy to challenge and displace preconceptions and myths about the latinx community. however, the book could have included one more section: the voices of the familias. recent works, like richins et al. (2021), reinforce the importance of latinx families in the engagement of latinx students. the relationship between latinx families and school benefits not only the students, but also the community, and their voices would have been a valuable addition to the book. heinsfeld association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue 1 140 the richness of voices contemplated in this work is fundamental to the understanding of how critical pedagogical practices can be built upon lived and shared experiences, honoring the humane aspect of education—especially in times when we witness the global growth of hate groups, racism, and anti-immigrant rhetoric. although focusing on the latinx community, each story resonates with other minoritized groups in the u.s and beyond borders, being relevant to black, indigenous, and people of color (bipoc) communities around the world. the scholarship and the voices presented in this book are a constant reminder for all teachers, students, and communities, especially those who have been marginalized, to demand transformative education for their liberation. it is a must-read for educators (and education allies) who seek to dismantle systems of oppression and advocate for dignity, equity, and liberation. all in all, paraphrasing freire (1987), any attempt to liberate the oppressed without their participation adds up to the oppressive objectification process already suffered by them. references delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical racegendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 freire, p. (1987). pedagogia do oprimido. rio de janeiro: paz e terra. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 ladson-billings, g. (2006). “from the achievement gap to the education debt”: understanding achievement in u.s. schools. educational researcher, 35(7), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x035007003 lópez, f. a. (2016). culturally responsive pedagogies in arizona and latino students’ achievement. teachers college record, 118(5), 1–42. medina, y., & machado-casas, m. (eds.). (2022). encyclopedia of critical understandings of latinx and global education. critical understanding in education, volume: 5. brill. pew research center. (2020). hispanic population surpassed 60 million in 2019, but growth has slowed. fact tank: news in the numbers, july 7. washington, dc. richins, g. l.; hansen-thomas, h.; lozada, v.; south, s.; & stewart, m. a. (2021). understanding the power of latinx families to support the academic and personal development of their children. bilingual research journal, 44(3), 381-400. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2021.1998806 https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x035007003 https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2021.1998806 amae journal cover template (general) bruna.pdf heinsfeld final final book review dec.pdf microsoft word just cover invited issue 2021.docx volume 15 issue 2 2021 amae invited issue mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools guest editors sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.2.422 historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 36 historias americanas: implementing mexican american studies in k-12 social studies curriculum in the rio grande valley maritza de la trinidad university of texas rio grande valley stephanie alvarez university of texas rio grande valley joy esquierdo university of texas rio grande valley francisco guajardo museum of south texas history abstract this essay contributes to the growing literature on mexican american studies in k-12 within the broader field of ethnic studies. while most of the literature on the movement for ethnic studies within texas and across the nation mainly focuses on the impact of ethnic studies courses on students’ academic success, this essay highlights a professional development program for k-12 social studies teachers in the rio grande valley of south texas entitled historias americanas: engaging history and citizenship in the rio grande valley, funded by a federal grant. this essay provides an overview of historias americanas, the objectives and structure of the program, and the ways in which the program contributes to the discourse on mexican american studies in k-12. it also describes the frameworks that form the crux of the professional development process: place-based education and culturally relevant pedagogical frameworks. keywords: mexican american studies in k-12 social studies, mexican american history in k-12, culturally relevant education, place-based education, ethnic studies in k-12, teacher professional development, rio grande valley de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 37 introduction this essay introduces readers to an initiative entitled historias americanas: engaging history and citizenship in the rio grande valley (historias americanas), a professional development program for k-12 social studies teachers from the two largest school districts in the rio grande valley (rgv) of south texas. the program provides teachers with opportunities to acquire a level of expertise in the history, culture, and geography of the region using place-based education and culturally relevant pedagogical frameworks. the objective is to provide teachers with content on mexican american history to enhance the social studies curriculum and with pedagogical tools to provide students with culturally relevant experiences. this essay provides an overview of historias americanas, how it was conceptualized, and how it facilitates the integration of mexican american studies (mas) content in k-12 classrooms. background of the historias americanas professional development program in the summer of 2017, 12 faculty members from the university of texas rio grande valley (utrgv) engaged in a 10-day personal and professional development venture in mexico city. working under the banner of utrgv’s b3 institute (bilingual, bicultural, biliterate)—an initiative that counted among its core components (1) the center for mexican american studies, (2) the center for bilingual studies, and (3) the translation and interpreting office— faculty members represented multiple disciplines. one faculty member was from the department of organization and school leadership, four represented mexican american studies (mas), one was from creative writing, two were from the university college, one was from bilingual and literacy studies, one was from psychology, one was from biology, and one was from spanish. all the faculty had a background in mas, were mas faculty affiliates, and are well-published in mas-related fields. other participants included two recent graduates of the graduate program in mas, the program coordinator for the center for mexican american studies and center for bilingual studies and some family members.1 the curriculum for the experience included selected readings, reflective writing workshops, day-long excursions that included visiting museums and historical sites, climbing pyramids of ancient mexican ruins, and taking long walks in historic places around mexico city. 1 all of the faculty selected for this trip are latinx with eight being mexican american, one being mexican, one being cuban american, one being nicaraguan, and another being guatemalan. historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 38 participants shared cultural and socio-historical experiences in a part of the world where each faculty member could be inspired by the historical and cultural weight of the place. faculty members took extensive notes on each site visit and read selected texts that guided daily dialogues. each dialogue brought together content shaped by the experience of the day and by the readings. during the daily dialogue sessions, participants used the plática modality as a source of inquiry, critical self-reflection, and community building (de la torre, 2008; guajardo & guajardo, 2013; saavedra & esquierdo, 2019; fierros & bernal, 2016; durán, carruba-rogel & solis, 2020). the plática modality was used because it is a culturally specific expressive form akin to a family dialogue around the kitchen table and was guided by inquiry and aligned to both the selected reading and the tactile/cultural experience of the day. as a form of inquiry and dialogue, plática prompted conversations and grounded discussions in culturally relevant ways. this methodological approach culturalizes the dialogical form by framing the discourse and centering it on mexican and mexican american socio-historical and cultural forms (guajardo & guajardo, 2013). being in mexico city allowed the group to reflect on the history, heritage, culture, and languages of mexico that transformed participants. it also allowed the faculty to discuss, reflect, and write about the ways in which they wanted to expand their work in mexican american studies and move it forward in higher education and in communities. the impact was palpable: personally, professionally, and as a collective. the faculty members made several commitments to each other: (1) faculty would work together to fortify utrgv’s b3 mission to promote bilingualism, biculturalism and biliteracy through curricular, research, and programmatic functions aligned with the history and experiences of mexican american students that comprise 90% of the student body; (2) the team would continue to build the community of faculty and staff by generating personal and professional development opportunities; and (3) faculty would engage in resource development functions to secure grants and other resources to deepen the collective work. upon returning to south texas, four of the faculty participants in the mexico city venture wrote a grant proposal for an american history and civics education national activities grant. the purpose of this grant program is to improve the teaching and learning of american history in k-12. the proposal called for a program to engage selected local publicschool districts in a professional development process for social studies and history teachers to de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 39 enhance their curriculum. the grant writing team, led by two of the authors of this essay, wrote the proposal amid a movement in texas to integrate a high school mexican american studies course as a humanities elective. the texas education agency (tea) was in the process of approving the course as well as the texas essential knowledge and skills (teks) for the course. in discussions to frame the proposal, the authors saw the opportunity to create a program that reflected the history, culture, and language of the students, teachers, families, and communities in the rio grande valley—the vast majority of whom are mexican american—and to integrate mexican american studies in k-12 social studies and history curricula. the authors thus named the program historias americanas: engaging history and citizenship in the rio grande valley and submitted it to the u.s. department of education award competition. the program promised to provide teacher professional development experiences to 70 k-12 social studies and history teachers from the edinburg consolidated independent school district (ecisd) and brownsville independent school district (bisd) on the history, culture, and geography of the rio grande valley through a mexican american studies lens and by using principles from place-based education (smith, 2002; smith & sobel, 2010; sobel, 2004) and culturally relevant pedagogical frameworks (gay, 2002, 2010; ladson-billings, 1994, 1995, 2014). place-based teaching and learning provides a framework from which to create innovative pedagogical and curricular workshops based on up-to-date research and practices for teacher development that places students lived experiences, sociohistorical context, and community realities at the center of the instructional process (haas & nachtigal, 1998; smith & sobel, 2010). historias americanas employs place-based education to deepen the connections between location and learning by encouraging teachers to create a classroom that integrates place, culture, and language and encourages students to draw on their existing funds of knowledge (moll et al., 1992; gonzález et al., 2005) and their families’ and communities’ cultural wealth (yosso, 2005). culturally relevant pedagogies such as plática, oral histories, communitybased research, and digital storytelling are applied in ways that are specific to the students and communities. the university won a 3-year grant in september 2018 in the amount of $2,014,557.00 to implement historias americanas: engaging history and citizenship in the rio grande valley. this essay is authored by four of the faculty participants in the professional development venture in mexico city, including two who authored the grant proposal. maritza de la trinidad historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 40 is a historian of the mexican american educational experience and faculty in the mexican american studies program; francisco guajardo is a historian whose tenure resided in the department of school and community leadership; joy esquierdo is a bilingual education teacher/scholar and faculty in the bilingual and literacy studies and director of the center for bilingual studies; and stephanie alvarez is an ethnic studies scholar and faculty in the mexican american studies program and director of the center for mexican american studies. the four have been in close professional and personal partnerships for the better part of the past decade, and each plays a key role in the implementation of historias americanas. context of the grant located in deep south texas along the texas-mexico border, the rio grande valley (rgv) encompasses four counties (cameron, hidalgo, starr, and willacy) surrounded by smaller towns, cities and colonias with a total population of 1.36 million residents.1 according to index mundi, cameron county is 89.8% hispanic/latinx, hidalgo is 92.4%, starr county 96.4% and willacy, 88.4%.2 the rgv is considered a borderland (anzaldúa, 1987, 2012) rather than a metroplex, with mcallen, brownsville and harlingen as its principal communities on the northern side of the rio grande and the sister cities of matamoros, rio bravo, nuevo progreso, and reynosa in the state of tamaulipas on the southern side.2 indigenous people interacted with the land and its ecology for 12,000 years, before new settlers came—a reality that engendered the idea of a borderland. this borderland is defined by a history of struggle, political contention, and an elongated search for identity by mexican-origin people who live on 2 this article uses several terms depending on the context. the u.s. census bureau uses the pan-ethnic terms hispanic and latino/a interchangeably to classify a diverse population who have origins in mexico, puerto rico, cuba, the dominican republic, other parts of the caribbean, central america, south america, and spain (https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/texas/hispanic-or-latino-population-percentage#map). see also: ennis, rios-vargas, & albert (2011). in this essay we mostly use mexican, mexican american, or mexicanorigin to accurately portray the demographic reality of the rio grande valley. chicana/o is used in historical context for mexican americans who call themselves chicanas/os. the pew research center shows that the 2019 national census figures indicate that the overall hispanic/latino population stands at 60.6 million, comprising 18 percent of the nation’s total population. 63 percent of the overall hispanic/latino population is mexican origin. the mexican origin population includes mexican nationals, u.s.-born citizens, naturalized citizens, undocumented immigrants, and the children of recent immigrants. texas is home to 11.5 million hispanics/latinos, comprising 45 percent of the state’s total (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/10/hispanics-have-accounted-formore-than-half-of-total-u-s-population-growth-since-2010/). we also use the term ell (english language learners) and lep (limited english proficient) interchangeably to refer to the subpopulation of students that this program targets. these terms encompass students who speak english as a second language and/or are bilingual. https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/texas/hispanic-or-latino-population-percentage#map https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/10/hispanics-have-accounted-for-more-than-half-of-total-u-s-population-growth-since-2010/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/10/hispanics-have-accounted-for-more-than-half-of-total-u-s-population-growth-since-2010/ de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 41 both sides of the border. to be from the border is to be both mexican and american, but it is also to be ensconced in a place of cultural and linguistic fluidity that has changed over time. to be from this borderland is to live in two worlds, but many may also feel that they are neither from here, nor from there (ni de aquí, ni de allá). this borderland exists as an herida abierta (open wound) and a place of survival (anzaldúa, 1987, 2012). settlement, migration, international trade, economic development, and cross-border social relations and commerce created binational communities with families residing on both sides of the texas-mexico border dating back to the spanish colonial and mexican periods (alonzo, 1998; valerio-jiménez, 2013). social and economic interdependence between families and communities on both sides of the border were established by the early 1900s and continued into the mid-20th century (hernández, 2014; montejano, 1987). social and economic ties between families, communities, and businesses were significantly strengthened in the 1990s and early 21st century due to the north american free trade agreement (nafta) and increased immigration (de la trinidad et al., 2018; gutiérrez, 1996; pagán, 2004). given the historical demographic, cultural, and geographic realities of this region, the authors saw an opportunity to create a program that would enhance the k-12 social studies and history curriculum with content on mexican american experiences and the contributions mexican americans have made to the social, economic, cultural, and political development of the northeastern mexican borderlands and rio grande valley. since an important function of public schooling in the u.s. is to instill a sense of belonging, inclusion, and citizenship, the curriculum should reflect the diversity of the people who contributed to the making of the nation, so that all students see themselves in the content they learn. in the rgv, the school curriculum should also reflect the history, culture, and heritage of the majority mexican descent student population served by local districts. in his book, a different mirror: a multicultural history of america, historian ronald takaki used the metaphor of a “mirror” to describe the effect an incomplete historical narrative has on the student: but what happens when historians do not “record” their stories, leaving out many of america’s peoples? what happens, to borrow the words of adrienne rich, “when someone with the authority of a teacher” describes our society, and “you are not in it”? such an experience can be disorienting—“a moment of historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 42 psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing.” what should we do about our invisibility? … this truth is reflected in “a different mirror.” (takaki, 2008, pp. 29-30) takaki’s “mirror” metaphor infers that learning history is akin to looking in the mirror; if students do not see themselves in the mirror, it is as if they do not exist. thus, students should see themselves in the larger narrative to feel a sense of belonging, self-worth, and positive self-image. this is applicable in teaching social studies and history in k-12 since these are important years when students learn who they are as individuals and develop their sense of belonging and acceptance as valued members of society. takaki’s message is also useful to describe what mexican american/chicana/o high school students in los angeles demanded after thousands walked out of their high schools in 1968 to protest discriminatory policies such as the “no-spanish” rule, the lack of college preparatory courses, lack of bilingual education, and lack of courses in mexican american history. the massive los angeles walkouts reverberated in other parts of the southwest and midwest (delgado bernal, 1998; muñoz, 2007; navarro, 1995), including south texas in san antonio, edcouch-elsa, kingsville, and crystal city (barrera, 2004; echeverría, 2014; guajardo & guajardo, 2004; muñoz, 2007; navarro, 1995). the activism sparked by the walkouts led to the creation of el plan de santa barbara; the founding document for chicana/o studies, at the santa barbara conference in 1969. student activists designed a college program to meet the needs of mexican american/chicana/o students and communities with courses in history, anthropology, sociology, and literature on the mexican american experience to celebrate their mexican heritage and spanish language (muñoz, 2007). in writing el plan de santa barbara, chicana/o/x activists envisioned an education that “mirrored” and valued their experience as mexican americans/chicanas/os/x—one that affirmed their identity and empowered them. this is reflected in the quotes below on the early development of chicano and mexican american studies college programs that coincided with the creation of el plan de santa barbara: the present needs of the chicano must be met in such a way as to provide relevant programs which will sustain self-confidence and provide a feeling of acceptance on the student’s terms … to develop … abilities to serve their communities, [and] to develop a potential for self-fulfillment in at least two cultures (quoted in muñoz, 2007, p. 158). de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 43 this program … is designed for students who elect to study this important minority group through the interdisciplinary approach or plan to engage in such professions as government service, education, social work, or others where knowledge of this subject would enhance professional opportunities (quoted in muñoz, 2007, p. 159) to study the contribution of the mexican-american to american culture and society … promote better understanding among all americans…encourage mexican-americans to seek higher education by creating a greater feeling of pride for their heritage and acquainting them with the culture that helped form their community … (quoted in muñoz, 2007, p. 160). these statements give us insight into the type of education chicana/o/x activists believed would improve chicana/o/x students sense of self, academic engagement, and communities. at the time, high school and college student activists called for a curriculum that reflected their history, culture, identity, and community realities—one in which they saw themselves and their communities. in some ways, students were calling for what educational scholars refer to as culturally relevant education and place-based education, as students wanted to see their mexican/mexican american/chicano culture and local communities reflected in their textbooks and the content they learned (acuña, 2011; barrera, 2004; muñoz, 1989, 2007; soldatenko, 2011). the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw the growth of mexican american/chicana/o and latinx studies and other ethnic studies programs and centers in colleges and universities across the nation to facilitate the teaching and research on the mexican american/chicana/o/latina/o experiences in the u.s., including the university of texas pan american, utrgv’s legacy institution. by the early 2000s, teachers, scholars, and educational leaders believed these programs should begin at the high school level. an example of this is the mexican american/raza studies program developed by teachers at tucson unified school district in 2002 with the support of administrators and educational scholars, which included courses in history, government, and literature from a mexican american/chicana/o/x, social justice perspective (cabrera, et al., 2014; camarota, 2007, 2009-2010; camarota & romero, 2014). in developing historias americanas, the authors of the proposal drew from established scholarship on effective practices in bilingual, bicultural education, culturally relevant pedagogy, historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 44 and placed-based education to make education for students in the rgv more relevant and congruent to their culture, language, history, and location (guajardo et al., 2016; smith & sobel, 2010; sobel, 2004). they listened to the research on bicultural education by cárdenas and cárdenas (1977) who argued that the values and life experiences of hispanic/latinx children was incompatible with the values and teaching and learning approaches of u.s. public schools. cárdenas and cárdenas’s “theory of incompatibilities” (1977) provided a relevant analytical framework to create a program that would promote an instructional process that was more congruent with the lives of students, families, and communities, including their home culture and language. valenzuela (1999) updated this theory in her argument that historically mexican american children have been subjected to “subtractive schooling” because schools used instructional practices negated the historical, cultural, and linguistic heritage of mexican american children including those of recent immigrants, bilingual learners, and other latinx student populations. valenzuela argued that recognizing and affirming the knowledge and culture that students, families and communities bring to the educational process is effective in transforming the education of mexican american and latinx students from a subtractive education to an additive education to promote academic success (valenzuela, 1999). ladsonbillings’s (1995, 2014) theory of culturally relevant pedagogy, which links principles of learning to the cultural background and experiences of children, families, and communities. moll, amanti, neff & gonzález (1992) funds of knowledge framework holds that students bring to school knowledge from their families and communities that can be and should be tapped to help them connect to school. yosso’s (2005) concept of community cultural wealth strengthens the arguments for culturally relevant and culturally congruent teaching and learning to counter the negation of culture, language, and incongruence of values in k-12 education for mexican origin/latinx students (smith, 2002; smith & sobel 2010; sobel, 2004;) and culturally relevant pedagogical frameworks (ladson-billings, 1994, 1995, 2014). historias americanas also draws from more recent research on the impact of mexican american and ethnic studies curricula on students’ academic performance such as cabrera et al., (2014) who analyzed data from the mexican american/raza studies program in tucson (2008-2014) that emphasized culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy, curricula, materials, and instructional practices at the high school level. cabrera et al.’s (2014) study, which involved 8,400 mostly latino/a/x students over 4 cohorts between 2008 and 2011, found that students de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 45 who took more than one high school course taught from a culturally relevant framework achieved higher grade point averages (gpas), raised scores on the arizona’s instrument to measure standards (aims), the state’s mandated assessment test, and experienced a higher probability of graduating high school. the study concluded that student academic performance was increased through culturally relevant teaching and learning practices that positively affected learning and intellectual development. a similar study by dee and penner (2017) using data from 1,405 students from five school year cohorts in the san francisco school district found that implementing culturally relevant curricula inspired students to “explore their individual identity, their family history, and their community history” (dee & penner, 2017, p. 10). these researchers argue that culturally relevant pedagogy and “instructional practices are substantially more effective when differentiated to align with the distinctive cultural experiences that individual students bring with them and affirm students’ cultural identity” (dee & penner, 2017, p. 1). these studies demonstrate the merits of teaching culturally relevant content through culturally responsive pedagogical strategies to improve student learning, engagement in the content they learn, and academic success by connecting students’ lived experiences and community realities. for example, teachers learned about indigenous peoples of the rio grande delta, how they lived their daily lives such as the mining of salt from an ancient salt lake, la sal del rey, north of edinburg, to cure meat and foodstuffs, trade and commerce with mesoamerican indigenous peoples from central mexico, through visits to la sal del rey and santa ana national wildlife refuge and from scholarly presentations by anthropologists such as dr. servando hinojosa and archivist martín salinas, museum and national park staff, discussions and readings. from class observations, surveys, and digital stories we learned how many teachers are teaching the content they learn using pedagogies such as oral history, family history, and funds of knowledge to help students feel connected to the lesson. an objective of historias americanas is to help teachers make connections between themselves and the history, culture, and geography of the rgv to make social studies curricula more relevant to their students’ mexican american cultural identities, heritage, and “cultural wealth” (yosso, 2005). at the same time, another goal is to help teachers see themselves and their familias in the content they teach, so that they can help their students see themselves and their communities as significant agents in the larger historical narrative. most of the teachers who participate in our program are mexican american. however, helping all of the teachers historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 46 know themselves and make connections to the rio grande valley through place-based education helps them connect to students and see themselves and their students in the placebased content. the historias americanas professional development components the program helps teachers develop an awareness of the regions’ rich mexican american history and the role mexican-origin people have had in shaping its history, since most people in most communities do not know their own history unless the place is gettysburg, williamsburg, or jamestown (haas & nachtigal, 1998). for this reason, historias americanas uses culturally relevant and place-based educational frameworks in providing teachers with content. teachers learn to draw from their own lived experiences, stories, and “cultural wealth” and about the power and value of place to make the content more meaningful and culturally and geographically relevant. participants do this through reflective writing, group discussion, culturally responsive activities, and lesson-planning sessions in the workshops. reflection prompts such as “today we are visiting the hidalgo pumphouse historical museum. as we walk through this site, think about your family history (your story). what is the historical relevance of this location and how do you connect to it?” ask teachers to see themselves and their families in the place we visit and learn about. writing and creating their own story using digital storytelling is another way we asked teachers to engage in to understand where they fit in the history, culture, and heritage of the rio grande valley. for each institute and workshop, we collected data using reflective journal writing, pre and posttests, pre and post workshop surveys and lesson plans. after the first summer institute in june 2019, one teacher wrote, “after the presentations, i feel connected to my past through the plight of my ancestors,” (maria, post survey) and another wrote, “i feel like i have more tools in my arsenal (teaching) to better educate my students about culturally relevant ideas” (anthony, post survey). if teachers are excited about learning their own history and seeing themselves in the larger narrative of the american u.s. history, they will stimulate students’ interest to learn about their own history and local communities by encouraging students to draw from their cultural knowledge to connect to the larger narrative. this was noted by another teacher who wrote, “this has spiked interest in my own history and learning more about my ancestors, so i can in turn be a better teacher for my students” (jennifer, post de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 47 survey). teachers readily embraced the program and expressed the ways in which they changed personally as teachers and how they will teach their social studies content after their participation in the first institute. some teachers noted the following in their reflections: it made me reflect and re-examine the delivery of my instruction and embrace my students’ cultural background to enhance instruction. (gloria, post survey, summer 2019 institute) i learned so much and really re-evaluated my way of teaching. (robert, post survey, summer 2019 institute) this program has created an invigorating transformation in my role as a teacher, it also built a deeper awareness of the value of the place we live in. (sandra, post survey, summer 2019 institute) to integrate the place-based educational framework the initiative was designed for three-day institutes and one-day workshops to be held at different historical sites that correspond to the content theme of a given institute or workshop. workshops have been held at the museum of south texas history, la sal del rey, palo alto battlefield, the brownsville historic museum, and utrgv’s and santa ana wildlife refuge. located in different parts of the rio grande valley, these sites are relevant to the region’s historical, cultural, and economic development and mexican american history in the region. the program held virtual workshops via zoom due to the shelter-in mandates by the state of texas and utrgv guidelines to maintain the program’s momentum and continuity and have provided teachers with additional relevant content and pedagogies through workshops offered by the museum of south texas history and led by dr. francisco guajardo. since june 2019, the project has provided six historias americanas institutes and workshops. the inaugural three-day summer 2019 institute was held at the museum of south texas history, la sal del rey (a salt lake), palo alto battlefield, the brownsville historical museum, and the utrgv center for innovation and commercialization (cic). scholar presenters such as dr. manuel medrano and dr. omar valerio-jiménez focused on the historical and cultural relevance of the salt lake, spanish colonization and vaquero culture in the rio grande valley, the u.s.-mexico war and cross-border relations in their presentations. other scholar presenters such as dr. gregory a. smith and dr. francisco guajardo introduced historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 48 teachers to place-based education and culturally relevant frameworks. the fall 2019 one-day workshop was held at the santa ana national wildlife refuge with topics focusing precolumbian history: people of antiquity, olmecs to maya and visión arqueológica, lingüística, etnohistórica y de la inmigración indígena al delta del rio grande o bravo.3 due to the onset of the pandemic in march 2020, the spring 2020 workshop was held virtually via zoom. our scholar presenter for this workshop, dr. sonia hernández, focused her content presentation on industrialization and the rise of commercial agriculture in the united states, 1880-1930. the summer 2020 institute was an intense four-day virtual workshop on digital storytelling, provided by storycenter, an organization co-founded by joe lambert in san francisco, california, and his team of faculty. the fall 2020 virtual workshop was on (1) early civil rights in the lower rio grande valley and the founding of the league of united latin american citizens (lulac) (2) adela sloss-vento’s civil rights activist, public intellectual, feminist, and aurora e. orozco’s community leader and educator in cuero, texas, presented by dr. cynthia orozco. in the spring 2021 workshop the content presented by the historian armando alonzo focused on making a living in nuevo santander, the ranch economy and culture and land grants in the northeastern mexico. topics for the institutes and workshops content and the scholar presenters were chosen to reflect the historical development, economy, culture, and geography of the region from a mexican american perspective. relevant locations and sites in the rgv for the workshops corresponded to the topics and the relevant scholarship on the region that aligned with the goals of the program. place-based education historias americanas employs principles of place-based education to ground the teaching and learning process in the local heritage, culture, environment, and community in which students live (anderson, 2017; elder, 1998; smith, 2002; smith & sobel, 2010; sobel, 2004). several realities guide the idea to include place-based education as part of this professional development initiative. the first is that the south texas, rio grande valley, region possesses a rich history and culture that has not quite made it into the social studies curriculum and history books in k-12. building on moll, amanti & gonzález’s (1992) funds of knowledge 3 translated as vision of archeological, linguistic, ethnohistory and the migration of indigenous peoples to the rio grande or bravo. de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 49 framework and yosso’s (2005) concept of community cultural wealth, teachers engage in opportunities to think about local history, culture, and traditions in new ways. yosso’s concept of community cultural wealth affirms that students of color have linguistic capital, familial capital, aspirational capital, social capital, navigational capital, and resistance capital. at the same time, the theory of funds of knowledge allows teachers begin to view knowledge beyond that acquired beyond the classroom, but rather found in students’ lived experiences, world views, and cultural ways among other funds. these frameworks are rarely tapped into to reshape schooling, yet with historias americanas we strive to connect them so that they become “a starting point” as sobel (2004) posits, “to teach concepts in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum” (p. 6). teacher preparation programs in texas and across the country generally omit the historical and cultural experiences of mexican americans and other historically excluded groups from the professional development experience of preservice teachers. historias americanas makes an intentional attempt to rehabilitate that reality by situating place-based education at the center of the professional development process. one teacher noted, “we didn’t get this kind of content in our teacher preparation program, so i’m really glad we’re getting this through this program. it helps me teach better” (norma, post survey, spring 2020 workshop). place-based education situates the lives of students and the stories of their communities at the core of curricular offerings. for example, one of the locations we chose to take teachers for the first teacher institute is la sal del rey, an ancient salt lake that provided an important resource integral to the daily lives of indigenous peoples, spanish explorers, mexican pioneers, later the u.s. army, and white settlers. thus, la sal del rey, as a place for teaching and learning, is one example of how a historical place in the community becomes an integral part of learning the history, economy, biology, colonization, and geography of the region as part of the social studies curriculum. as one teacher noted, “most of us had never been to sal del rey,” “and that’s a shame, because it’s only 10 miles from my campus. my students and i should know of its importance” (edward, post survey, summer 2019 institute). place-based education is also an easy fit for dynamic pedagogical opportunities. “it’s easy to emphasize hands-on and real-world learning when you can observe and interact with the land, and with local flora and fauna,” said jorge (post survey, fall 2019 workshop). by its very nature as content situated physically and geographically in community, placed-based learning historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 50 offers relevant content, but it also offers opportunities to engage content through engaging pedagogical approaches. sobel (2004) describes place-based learning to help students “develop stronger ties to their community and creates a heightened commitment to serving as active, contributing citizens” (p. 6). in short, place-based education positions the lives of students, their families, and their community at the center of the teaching and learning process. culturally relevant pedagogy critical to the work of historias americanas is not just providing content, but it is also important to provide an understanding of mas pedagogy. embedded in the workshops is a deliberate training in culturally relevant pedagogy—a theory developed by gloria ladsonbillings, which sets high expectations for students, helps students grow in the knowledge and understanding of their own culture in another culture, often mainstream culture (1994, 1995, 2014). closely related to culturally relevant pedagogy and often used interchangeably, is culturally responsive pedagogy, which builds on ladson-billings’s framework to also include the need for teachers to assist students in developing positive ethnic and cultural identity as a means of achieving academic success (gay, 2010). as mas educators, the faculty purposefully incorporate models of culturally relevant pedagogy because it is critical to developing critical consciousness for students to assess social inequalities (ladson-billings, 1994, 1995, 2014). similarly, a key component of culturally responsive pedagogy is not only understanding how history, politics, and economics shape society, but also helping to students to develop a commitment to social justice (gay, 2010; gist et al., 2019; valenzuela, 2016). where culturally responsive pedagogy differs is in not only helping students learn to critique social inequalities, but to also deliberately cultivating a commitment to promoting social justice. gist et al. assert that “culturally responsive pedagogy reflects “a combination of knowledge, practices, and dispositions that center racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students’ cultural traditions, experiences, and perspectives to facilitate meaningful and transformative learning opportunities” (p. 3). therefore, historias americanas focuses specifically on: (1) bringing scholars to our workshops who actively research histories of the rgv and engage in deliberate conversations with teachers on the content they have researched and have an expertise in, (2) engage teachers in reflective activities on topics of culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy and de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 51 lesson-planning, and (3) deliver workshops on culturally relevant pedagogies such as oral history and digital storytelling. central to culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy as an anti-deficit approach is building upon the students’ own linguistic and cultural wealth (gonzález et al., 2006; yosso, 2005). while many researchers have called upon teachers to tap into the students’ linguistic and cultural wealth, historias americanas asks the teachers themselves to tap into their own linguistic and cultural wealth as well. fundamental to the pedagogical theory and practice of historias americanas is that workshop leaders model the same pedagogies the teachers are engaging in the workshops as “students.” therefore, they experience the culturally responsive pedagogies first-hand through the lens of both teacher and student. while most of the teachers share common ethnic, racial, and linguistic backgrounds as their students, they did not go through pre-service teacher programs that prepared them for culturally relevant/responsive teaching. it is important to engage in mexican american history content and pedagogical development in teaching training. as gay tells us, culturally responsive pedagogy “filters curriculum content and teaching strategies through their cultural frames of reference to make the content more personally meaningful” (2000, p. 20). this is evident in one teacher’s reflection, “being aware of my cultural background will eventually help me understand my students’ backgrounds and will lead to culturally responsive teaching” (josie, post survey, fall 2019 workshop). thus, historias americanas has successfully implemented oral history and digital storytelling, two pedagogies that lend themselves well to culturally relevant and responsive teaching of mexican american studies. oral history and digital storytelling the first of these pedagogical strategies is oral history. oral history has long been used as a tool to democratize and decolonize the historical archive and the same can be said of the classroom (benmayor, 1998; flores carmona & delgado bernal, 2012). the use of oral history in the classroom as a tool of culturally responsive pedagogy allows for the recovery of the voices of those left out of the official textbooks. given the demographics of the rio grande valley and the students served by the teachers of historias americanas, this is critical. when teachers incorporate an oral history assignment into their coursework, it is often the first time that students are asked to link their family or community’s lived experiences to historical historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 52 events studied in class. this is critical not only because as gay (2000) tells us, it is “culturally validating and affirming” (gay, 2000, p. 29), but also, they are contributing to the critical need to produce knowledge about their communities—knowledge that contradicts the deficit narrative about their community. in essence, students feel cared for because their communities and their families are cared for and validated both intellectually and by the educational system itself. historias americanas is aligned with guajardo, guajardo et al., (2016) theory of change that views the self as the most critical ecology of knowing; this is a process of self-discovery. in this professional development context, teachers undertake exercises in critical self-reflection for the purpose of personal and professional growth. the historias americanas process for growth employs several strategies that include reflective writing, dialogue, walk and talk, and a variety of storytelling activities. while the oral history is extremely powerful in the storytelling and story-collecting process, we wanted teachers to gain a better understanding of themselves; we wanted them to go deeper and take an introspective look into themselves. the digital story workshop was probably the most impactful on teachers because they gained an awareness and appreciation of their culture and heritage and the cultural wealth. they in turn will use this pedagogy and technology to teach their students to write their own story and know the cultural wealth and ancestral knowledge they bring to the classroom. the impact of this workshop on teachers are reflected in the quotes below from their post surveys: it was helpful in allowing me to find my voice and understand how historical forces have shaped my life and who i am. this will help me to invite my students to also investigate who they are and start a process of discovery of self-identity. (patricia, post survey, summer 2020 institute) i think this form of teaching presents students with a substantial opportunity to connect with the course and their peers. it also allows for a different form of selfexpression. (andres, post survey, summer 2020 institute) it will create a heightened level of awareness and build on the emotional learning of the classroom. by making education personal it elevates student learning to a level of deep understanding, far more than a text or curriculum framework. students create their own text through their experience. (dahlia, post survey, summer 2020 institute) de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 53 it was a tremendous opportunity to reconceptualize teaching as a process by adding a tool that will help students make stronger connections to who they are and how they can learn beyond a rigid, traditional classroom. (sylvia, post survey, summer 2020 institute) as a pedagogy we often use in teaching mexican american studies, storytelling allows students to explore their family histories, their place in community life, and as a search for personal identity. stephanie alvarez and francisco guajardo have many years of experience using digital storytelling in their classrooms and have found that digital storytelling is particularly powerful in ways that traditional storytelling and oral history are not (alvarez & martínez, 2014; benmayor, 2012; militello & guajardo, 2013; guajardo, guajardo, & casaperalta, 2008). rina bemayor (2008) describes digital storytelling as: an assets-based pedagogy where students can bring their own cultural knowledge and experience to the fore, including their skills and comfort with technology, to transform their thinking and empower themselves. the multiple creative languages of digital storytelling – writing, voice, image, and sound – encourage historically marginalized subjects, especially younger generations, to inscribe emerging social and cultural identities and challenge unified cultural discourses in a new and exciting way. (p. 200) as a hybrid form, digital story-telling mirrors and enables the conceptual work of constructing new understandings of identity and places of belonging. because we wanted to provide teachers with a culturally relevant pedagogical tool that would help them be self-reflective and use in the classroom with their students, we collaborated with storycenter, an organization based out the california bay area directed by joe lambert, for instructional guidance and facilitation to assist us with the coordination, due to having shifted to an online platform during the covid19 pandemic. learning digital storytelling has equipped historias americanas teachers with a professional development process that, in the words of one teacher, “has transformed the way i see my personal story and the way i approach my teaching” (lucy, post survey, summer 2020 institute). another teacher remarked, “i did not know how emotional, evocative, or transformative storytelling could be, not until i went through this digital storytelling process” (juan, post survey, summer 2020 institute). the process challenges teachers to explore their personal story and identity as part of their growth process. it includes crafting a narrative, historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 54 identifying family artifacts to enhance the narrative, and using digital video editing technology to bring their story together. the power of digital storytelling is encapsulated by one high school teacher’s observation, “digital storytelling is the best professional development experience i’ve ever had” (marisol, post survey, summer 2020 institute). applying the mas content and pedagogies through the historias americanas (ha) lesson planning framework once educators internalize the information from the scholars’ mas content presentations through an introspective process, they begin the lesson planning development led by joy esquierdo. the grant team studied literature on how students, especially bilingual students, best process new information. we adopted a lesson plan framework that includes learning theories, language development approaches, and productive learning environments (california state department of education, 1982; cummins, 1981; krashen, 1982; krashen & terrell, 1983; national research council, 2000). a variety of lesson plan formats can be found to assist teachers in delivering the learning objective in the most effective way. for historias americanas (ha), we chose to base the lesson planning practice on the framework for teaching bilingual/dual language learners new content literacy (esquierdo, 2010). the modified framework begins with the teacher internalizing the mexican american studies content to strengthen the delivery of mas lessons. the next sections of the framework integrate the three learning principles, language development theories, culturally relevant pedagogies, place-based practices within a learner-centered environment (see figure 1). all these components, interacting and intertwined, lead to the development of mexican american studies content literacy. content literacy is the acquisition and learning of mas content at a metacognitive level of processing. this is to say that as teachers plan mas content lessons to guide students through content literacy, they facilitate the students’ metacognitive processing by asking them to reflect and connect with the content at various levels. the following sections will describe the essential components of the ha lesson plan framework to support mas content literacy. learning theories for the lesson plan framework the national research council (2000) presented three learning principles that are fundamental for teachers to consider when delivering new content instruction: (1) all students de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 55 attend school with experiences of how the world functions; (2) students must acquire basic knowledge and skills and the ability to manipulate that new knowledge to make deeper inquiries; and (3) students become lifelong learners when they have an opportunity to practice their metacognitive skills. these three learning principles provide all students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of how the worlds works. in other words, teachers need to help students connect home knowledge to school knowledge. additionally, students can extend those connections to the world once they have a strong understanding of the new content. finally, students need to have time to reflect on their new understandings and connections of new content knowledge to existing knowledge. this reflection will help deepen their understanding and increase the chances of longer retention of the information. one main objective of the grant was to include effective teaching methodologies into a framework specific for bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural students. language development theories for the lesson plan framework since the historias americanas teachers work in schools that serve a largely bilingual community, we wanted to include first (l1) and second (l2) language development approaches. teachers are asked to consider the language standards—english language proficiency skills (elps)—as they plan the delivery of the lesson. hence, the team was sure to bring the dynamics of l1 and l2 proficiency into the framework through the contextual interactive theory (gonzález, moll & amanti, 2005). the recognition of the benefits of the students’ bilingualism in the ha classroom is critical to help access all the assets of the students to enhance the learning. considering the bilingual community that surrounds the ha classroom, acknowledging that the l1 and l2 development within mas content is a central factor in the lesson planning. the contextual interactive theory is anchored on five empirically supported principles: linguistic threshold, dimensions of language proficiency, common underlying proficiency, second-language acquisition, and student status (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; krashen, 1982). the interaction of these five principles demonstrates how student experiences with language interact with instructional practice. the interaction between the context of the home and that of the school support the students’ language development and mas content understanding. when crafting lesson plans, we guided teachers’ focus on l1 and l2 development by carefully selecting the english language proficiency standards (elps) for each lesson. one of the historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 56 main goals of the elps is to provide bilingual learners (especially those learning english in school) opportunities to listen, speak, read, and write at their current stages of english development as they progress in their linguistic complexity development in english. therefore, students are learning mas content as they gradually increase in their english development. when mas lessons incorporate learning theories and the contextual interaction theory in the designing phase and infuse culturally relevant pedagogies in the delivery stage, it is critical to also establish a learner-centered environment. learner-centered environment for the lesson plan framework a learner-centered environment is one that focuses the lesson on the students’ contribution to the learning process and learning opportunities provided by the teacher. learner-centered environments involves students in making decisions and solving problems throughout the lesson and during the reflection process. in this framework, the lessons are designed to keep students at the center of the lesson, incorporating their funds of knowledge (gonzález, moll & amanti, 2005) and linguistic repertoire (garcia & kleifgen, 2018), to optimize students’ learning. when a teacher is not cognizant of keeping the learning environment student-centered, the lesson can evolve into a more teacher-centered one, in which the teacher may lecture more and move away from the students’ funds of knowledge and cultural wealth at the center (gonzález, moll & amanti, 2005; yosso, 2005). as teachers used this framework to format their lesson plans, they included the elements essential to building mas content literacy. additionally, this approach to teaching helped build capacity for the school district using teachers as curriculum leaders. as curriculum writers, many of the grant participants also contribute to their school district’s curriculum writing sessions during the summer. during these curriculum writing sessions, teachers revamp, update, and (re)structure the social studies-related content for all teachers in that district. the role of the grant participants is to incorporate the mas material in the district’s scope and sequence provided to all teachers that deliver that content. teachers also integrate a placedbased and culturally relevant practice into the district’s curricula. the impact of teachers’ understanding and utilizing the elements of this framework to design mas lessons can have a significant impact on how teachers outside the grant deliver social studies-related instruction de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 57 throughout the district, since it allows for the proliferation of mas content well beyond the initial participants of the historias americanas program. figure 1. framework for teaching mas content literacy historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 58 conclusion historias americanas provides a unique example of how the expansion of mexican american studies in k-12 is being achieved in the rio grande valley. while historias americanas does not create a mas course or courses, one of its central missions is the proliferation of mas by embedding mas content in the social studies and history curricula in the two largest school districts in the region. additionally, it is not just mas content, but mas content specific to the rio grande valley, its bilingual population, and specific to the lived experiences of the students and families of the region using a place-based framework delivered in culturally relevant, responsive, and affirming ways. to date, over 110 teachers have participated in this three-year program of professional development institutes and workshops. to say that teachers and administrators have been transformed by this experience is an understatement. as authors, we have seen what such transformation looks like and have experienced it ourselves. we have also seen the transformation in teachers through their reflections, surveys, and lesson-plans that we have collected. these have helped us make modifications to adjust and improve the program to enhance teachers’ experiences and achieve the goals of the grant. we have also drawn from our own cultural intuition and experience (calderón et al., 2012; calderón, 2014; delgado-bernal, 1998) to ensure that our objectives and outcomes are met. based on our data, teachers’ growth and development as teachers, family and community members attest to the value and success of the program in meeting its goals of providing teachers with content, pedagogical strategies, and new educational frameworks that would change teaching and learning in k-12 in the rgv and beyond. this expansion is facilitated through historias americanas digital platform (hadp); a repository/archive that holds the resources, materials, lesson-plans, content, videos, scholarship and translated materials produced from the historias americanas institutes and workshops, workshops provided by the museum of south texas history and information about the school district partners. an accompanying website is also linked to the archive that provides information about the grant team, purpose of historias americanas, and a guide for archival materials. the hadp is housed within utrgv’s scholarworks; a repository accessible to the public through the university’s library website (https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/historiasamericanas/). https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/historiasamericanas/ de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 59 by using culturally relevant and place-based education frameworks in historias americanas, teachers have deepened their connections to their own funds of knowledge, cultural and linguistic heritage, and lived experiences and have changed the way they view teaching social studies, their students, and the region they live in. we have provided teachers content with innovative tools and skills such as oral history, digital storytelling, gracious space, walk-and-talk, discussion circles, and reflective writing to help them take full advantage of their lived experiences, culture, language, place, and community realities, and place them at the center of the learning and instructional process (haas & nachtigal, 1998; smith & sobel, 2010). in this way, historias americanas is integrating and expanding mexican american studies in k12 social studies in the rio grande valley and across the larger discipline. upcoming grant work and publications the main purpose of this article was to provide an overview of the work and frameworks developed through the historias americans grant and the structure of the professional development program. the authors are writing a more in-depth article on the process of developing historias americanas, implementation of the institutes and workshops and grant work over the first three years, and author’s autoethnography. given the amount of data collected during the first three years of the grant, grant faculty are planning to write a manuscript on the k-12 historias americanas lesson plan framework that further explores the essential components of the framework. the examination of the framework will describe the interactions and intersections between the various theories used to construct the framework and how those apply to integrating mas in the historias americanas classroom. an additional manuscript will provide an analysis of the lessons that are based on the framework and descriptions of how the lessons were implemented in the historias americanas classroom at different levels. other articles will focus on the development of a unique historias americanas framework that combines place-based and culturally relevant educational frameworks, placebased education for the mas classroom and culturally relevant pedagogy in mexican american studies. the grant team recently applied for an extension to extend the grant work for two additional years. if awarded, the grant team will expand this work to include two new smaller, rural school districts to expand the program’s reach in the rgv to larger number of teachers and students. historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 60 references alonzo, a. (1998). tejano legacy: rancheros and settlers in south texas, 1734-1900. university of new mexico press. acuña, r. (2011). the making of chicana/o studies: in the trenches of academe. rutgers university press. alvarez, s., & martínez, j. l. (2014). la palabra, conciencia y voz: tato laviera and the cosecha voices project at the university of texas—pan american. in s. alvarez & w. luis (eds.), the amerícan poet: essays on the work of tato laviera (pp. 204-236). center for puerto rican studies press. anderson, s. (2017). bringing school to life: place-based education across the curriculum. rowman & littlefield publishers. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands—la frontera: the new mestiza. aunt lute press. anzaldúa, g. (2012). borderlands—la frontera: the new mestiza (4th edition). aunt lute press. barrera, j. (2004). the 1968 edcouch-elsa high school walkout: chicano student activism in a south texas community. aztlan: a journal of chicano studies, 29(2). benmayor, r. (2012). digital testimonio as a signature pedagogy for latin@ studies. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 507-524. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698180 benmayor, r. (1998). technology and pedagogy in the oral history classroom. works and days, 16.1&2. 177-192. benmayor, r. (2008). digital storytelling as a signature pedagogy for the new humanities. arts and humanities in higher education, 7.2. 188-204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022208088648 cabrera, n., milem, j. f., jaquette, o., & marx, r.w. (2014). missing the (student achievement) forest for all the (political) trees: empiricism and the mexican american studies controversy in tucson. american educational research journal, 51(6),1084–1118. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831214553705 calderón, d. (2014). anticolonial methodologies in education: embodying land and indigeneity in chicana feminisims. journal of latino/latin american studies, 6(2),1-96. https://doi.org/10.18085/llas.6.2.96wkl5357125j70x cammarota, j. (2007). a social justice approach to achievement: guiding latina/o students toward educational attainment with a challenging, socially relevant curriculum. equity & excellence in education, 40, 87–96. cammarota, j. (2009-2010). the cultural organizing of formal praxis-based pedagogies: a socio-historical approach to participatory action research. social justice, 36(4), 6-13. cammarota, j., & romero, a.f. (2014). the social justice education project: a critically compassionate intellectualism for chicana/o students. in w. ayers, t. quinn., & d. stovall (eds.), handbook of social justice education ((pp. 483–494). routledge press. cardenas, j. a., & cardenas, b. (1977). the theory of incompatibilities: a conceptual framework for responding to the educational needs of mexican american children. intercultural development research association. calderón, d., delgado bernal, d., veléz, v. n., pérez huber, l., & malagón, m.c. (2012). a chicana feminist epistemology revisited: cultivating ideas a generation later. harvard educational review, 82(4), 513-539. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.4.l518621577461p68 california state department of education. (1982). basic principles for the education of language minority students: an overview. office of bilingual bicultural education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698180 https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022208088648 https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831214553705 https://doi.org/10.18085/llas.6.2.96wkl5357125j70x https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.4.l518621577461p68 de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 61 cummins, j. (1981). the role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. in california state department of education (ed.) schooling and language minority students: a theoretical framework. los angeles: california state department of education. dee, t., & penner, e. (2017). the causal effects of cultural relevance: evidence from an ethnic studies curriculum. american educational research journal, 54(1),127-166. https://doi.org/10.3386/w21865 de la trinidad, m, guajardo, f., kranz, p, guajardo, m. (2018). the university of texas rio grande valley: reframing hsis through a multi-sited ethnography. association of mexican american educators journal, 11(3), 50-83. de la torre, a. (2008). countering the pain that never heals: pláticas that mend the soul. in a. de la torre & a. chabram-dernerscsian (eds.), speaking from the body latinas on health and culture (pp.44-56). university of arizona press. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-582. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 durán, r. p., carruba-rogel, z. & solis, b. (2020). latinx immigrant parents’ cultural communicative resources: bridging the worlds of home, community, and school policy. equity & excellence in education, 53:1-2, 89-104. elder, j. (1998). teaching at the edge. in s. weisberg (ed.), stories in the land: a place-based environmental education anthology. the orion society. ennis, s., rios-vargas, m., & albert, n. (2011). the hispanic population: 2010: 2010 census briefs. u.s. department of commerce, economic and statistics administration, u.s. census bureau. esquierdo, j. j. (2010). how bilingual/dual language students acquire new knowledge. in z. diaz, j. j. esquierdo, l. de leon, i. almaguer, & j. curts (eds.), teaching content to latino bilingual-dual language learners: maximizing their learning (pp. 48-72). kendall/hunt publishing company. flores carmona, j., & delgado bernal, d. (2012). oral histories in the classroom: home and community pedagogies. in c.e. sleeter & e. soriano ayala (eds.) building solidarity between schools and marginalized communities: international perspectives (pp. 114-130). teachers college press. garcía, o., & kleifgen, j. (2018) educating emergent bilinguals: policies, programs, and practices for english learners (2nd ed.). teachers college press. gay, g. (2010). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice. teachers college press. gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003 gist, c., jackson, i., nightengale-lee, b., & allen, k. (2019). culturally responsive pedagogy in teacher education. in oxford research encyclopedia of education (pp. 1-26). oxford university press. gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410613462 guajardo, f., & guajardo, m. (2004). the impact of brown on the brown of south texas: a micropolitical perspective on the education of mexican americans in a south texas https://doi.org/10.3386/w21865 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410613462 historias americanas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 62 community. american educational research journal, 41(3), 501-526. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737026003501 guajardo, f., & guajardo, m. (2013). the power of plática. reflections, 13(1), 159-164. guajardo, m., guajardo, f., & casaperalta, e. del c. (2008). transformative education: chronicling a pedagogy for social change. anthropology and educational quarterly, 39(1), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1492.2008.00002.x guajardo, m., guajardo, f., janson, c., & militello, m. (2016). reframing community partnerships in education: uniting the power of place and wisdom of people. routledge press. gutiérrez, d. g. (ed.). (1996). between two worlds: mexican immigrants in the united states. scholarly resources, inc. haas, t, and nachtigal, p. (1998). place value: an educator’s guide to good literature on rural lifeways, environments, and purposes of education. clearinghouse on rural education and small schools. hernández, s. (2014). working women into the borderlands. texas a&m press. krashen, s. (1982). principles and practice in second-language acquisition. pergamon press, inc. krashen, s., & terrell, t. (1983). the natural approach: language acquisition in the classroom. alemany press. ladson-billings, g. (1994). the dreamkeepers: successful teachers of black children. jossey-bass. ladson-billings, g. (1995). but that’s just good teaching! the case for culturally relevant pedagogy. theory into practice, 34(3),159–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543675 ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: aka the remix. harvard educational review, 84(1), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751 militello, m., & guajardo, f. (2013) virtually speaking: how digital storytelling can facilitate organizational learning. journal of community positive practices, 13(2), 80-91. moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzález, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching. theory in practice, spring, 31(2),132-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849209543534 montejano, d. (1987). anglos and mexicans in the making of texas, 1836-1986. university of texas press. muñoz, c. (1989). youth, identity, power: the chicano movement. verso press. muñoz, c. (2007). youth, identity, power: the chicano movement (revised and expanded edition). verso press. national research council. (2000). how people learn: brain, mind, experience, and school. washington, dc: national academy press. navarro, a. (1995). mexican american youth organization: avant-garde of the chicano movement in texas. university of texas press. pagán, j. a. (ed.). (2004). worker displacement in the us/mexico border region: issues and challenges. edward elgar publishing, inc. saavedra, c., & esquierdo, j. j. (2019). pláticas on contesting language ideologies in the borderlands. in c.p. brown, & f. nxumalo (eds.), disrupting and countering deficits in early childhood education (pp. 1-24). routledge, taylor & francis group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315102696-3 soldatenko, m. (2011). chicano studies: the genesis of a discipline. university of arizona. smith, g. a. (2002). place-based education, learning to be where we are. phi beta kapplan, 83(8), 584-594. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170208300806 https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737026003501 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1492.2008.00002.x https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543675 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751 https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849209543534 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315102696-3 https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170208300806 de la trinidad, alvarez, esquierdo & guajardo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 63 smith, g. a., & sobel, d. (2010). placeand community-based education in schools (1st ed.). routledge. sobel, d. (2004). place-based education: connecting classrooms and communities (2nd ed.). the orion society. takaki, r. (2008). a different mirror: a history of multicultural america (revised edition). back bay books. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. state university of new york press. valenzuela, a. (ed.). (2016). growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice cur­riculum for educators of latino/a youth. teachers college press. valerio-jiménez, o. (2013). river of hope: forging identity and nation in the rio grande borderlands. duke university press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race, ethnicity, and education, 8 (1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 cbc1b842-0d88-494f-9bcb-b7acff283fc5.pdf acuña, r. (2011). the making of chicana/o studies: in the trenches of academe. rutgers university press. cardenas, j. a., & cardenas, b. (1977). the theory of incompatibilities: a conceptual framework for responding to the educational needs of mexican american children. intercultural development research association. volume 18 issue 1 2024 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor lorenza lancaster the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 2 first-generation latina college students’ reflections of mexican immigrant parent engagement in their college-going experiences janeth martinez-cortes the university of texas at san antonio harriett romo the university of texas at san antonio abstract this qualitative study examines how first-generation latina undergraduate students perceive their mexican immigrant parents’ engagement in their college experiences. employing a community cultural wealth framework (yosso, 2005), this study challenges deficit views on mexican immigrant parent engagement in higher education. through semi-structured interviews with first-generation latina undergraduate college students at two hispanic-serving institutions in south central texas, we analyze the consejos (advice) conveyed by mexican immigrant parents to support their children’s college persistence and success. findings revealed that these consejos were integral to the students’ persistence and resilience, as participants recognized their parents’ active role in fostering educational aspirations. our analysis underscores the aspirational, familial, and resistant capital embedded in these messages, affirming the value of parental engagement in latina students’ college journeys. we conclude with recommendations first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 3 to enhance university programs to foster an inclusive and affirming campus climate for latina/o/x students and their families. keywords: latinas; first-generation college students; mexican immigrant parents, higher education doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.18.1.508 https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/view/508 martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 4 the children of immigrants are the fastest growing segment of the population in the united states (the national academies of science, engineering, and medicine, 2017). nearly two-thirds (64%) of latina/o/x children have at least one parent who is foreign-born (gandara & mordechay, 2017). the majority of latina/o/x1 students enrolled in college are u.s.-born, with about 47% identifying as second-generation immigrants with at least one parent born in another country and 17% as first-generation immigrants (born in another country) (feldblum et al., 2024). latina/o/x students are also more likely to be firstgeneration college students (51%) (santiago et al., 2024), meaning they are the first in their families to complete a four-year college degree. consequently, many latino immigrant parents may not be familiar with how to guide their children in navigating the u.s. higher education system despite reporting high educational aspirations for their children (feliciano & lazuna, 2017). given the increasing latina/o/x enrollment in colleges and universities in the united states, concerns over latina/o/x college completion remain critical for students’ long-term educational and occupational success and that of their communities. parental engagement in latina/o/x students’ higher education pathways has been documented as an important source of support in college student experiences (arzuaga, 2016; goldsmith & robinsonkurpius, 2018; marum, 2020). as latina/o/x students of immigrant origin and firstgeneration college status continue to increasingly enroll in colleges and universities, a better understanding of the role immigrant parents play in their successful transition and completion of higher education is necessary. scholars have long argued that latina/o/x immigrant parent engagement cannot be viewed through traditional white middle-class 1 the term “latina/o/x” is a gender-inclusive term for how we usually refer to latina/o, lati@, or hispanic students from mexican, central, and latin american origin or ancestry who live in the united states. in this paper, all our participants were women and identified as latina. we use the term latina to refer to them. we use the terms used by the studies cited in this paper (e.g., hispanic, latina/o, latino, latinx) when necessary. first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 5 norms of parental involvement but rather must be examined through culturally appropriate perspectives that focus on familial practices (marquez kiyama & rios-aguilar, 2018). in this study, we emphasize the everyday aspects of latina/o/x family cultural practices of sharing experiences and lessons manifested as consejos to support first-generation college students navigating higher education. in this article, we examine how first-generation college latina students perceive their immigrant parents’ engagement in their higher education experience through the sharing of messages in the form of consejos (advice-given narratives). we utilize yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework to examine the messages that students received from immigrant parents about education, resiliency, and perseverance. data from semi-structured interviews with twelve latina first-generation students show how mexican2 immigrant parents conveyed consejos about education, resiliency, and persistence that supported students’ educational journeys and college persistence. conceptual framework of community cultural wealth in line with asset-based research perspectives on latina/o/x immigrant students, families, and communities, we draw on the conceptual framework of community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005). community cultural wealth challenges deficit-perspectives that place value on white, middle-class practices and school-based forms of involvement that often exclude the invisible yet valuable cultural practices, experiences, and knowledge of immigrant families. the origins of the community cultural wealth framework stem from the theoretical framework of critical race theory (crt). crt addresses issues of race and racism in larger structures of society, practices, and discourses. in education, scholars have expanded our understanding and application of crt in education as a way of validating and 2 we use the term mexican immigrant parents when referring to the participants’ parents in this study. all of the participants’ parents in this study originated from mexico. martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 6 centering the experiences of people of color (yosso, 2005). traditional views and discourses of schools and teachers often frame latina/o/x immigrant parents as less involved or disinterested in their children’s education when “parent involvement has often been defined in terms of activities visible to school personnel and other parents” (ryan et al. 2010, p. 393). much of the emphasis on parental involvement also stems from traditional notions of cultural and social capital as necessary aspects of helping students access and advance to college. narrow definitions and perspectives of parent involvement are problematic if they do not account for the diverse forms of parental engagement that immigrant parents enact to support their children’s educational pathways. community cultural wealth recognizes the resources, skills, abilities, and accumulated wealth of communities of color (yosso, 2005). yosso (2005) theorized how communities of color utilized the assets and resources found in their home communities. these assets and resources include the knowledge, experience, and histories of communities of color (yosso,2005). the community cultural wealth model consists of six forms of capital: aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant. aspirational capital is “parental transmission and maintenance of dreams and goals” (espino, 2016a, p. 77) despite “real and perceived barriers” to children’s educational journeys (yosso, 2005, p.78). linguistic capital acknowledges the various linguistic repertoires and skills students use to communicate with friends, family, and institutions to support their immigrant families, such as language brokering for parents or relatives. familial capital refers to “those cultural knowledges nurtured among familia (kin) that carry a sense of community, memory, and cultural intuition” (p. 79). this form of capital places a value on the commitment to community well-being and is not limited to immediate family members but also relates to extended kinship across borders. social capital entails a network of social support made up of kinship networks or others providing information to navigate social structures. first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 7 navigational capital gives families and children the necessary skills to navigate social institutions. finally, resistant capital refers to the ability to persist and resist oppression and opposition, enacted from the knowledge and skills passed down from generation to generation. latina/o/x students may develop resistant capital from their immigrant parents’ history of migration, their own experiences with discrimination, and/or from their desire to challenge deficit perceptions and discourses of immigrants and latina/o/x children of immigrants. literature review existing research on parent engagement latina/o/x make up 19.1% of the population in the united states (moslimani & noe bustamante, 2023). despite continued growth, they remain disproportionately represented in higher education (santiago et al., 2024). latina/o/x students often face unique challenges in higher education. for example, latina/o/x students are more likely to identify as firstgeneration college students, come from low-income households, and be first or secondgeneration immigrants (santiago et al., 2024). research on latina/o/x first-generation students has found that families may lack information regarding the us postsecondary system (nguyen & nguyen, 2018). immigrant parents, in particular, may be unfamiliar with the us education system, e.g., how to access higher education, enrollment processes, testing requirements, financial aid process, etc.). for latina/o/x immigrant parents, the college-going process may be further complicated by anti-immigrant policies, fears of deportation, and financial strains (cuevas, 2020). while parents of latina/o/x firstgeneration college students may lack formal experience with the u.s. postsecondary system, studies have underscored latina/o/x parents’ efforts to support and participate in their children’s postsecondary experiences (carmona et al., 2024; rivera et al., 2024). martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 8 research by espino (2016a), luedke (2020), and marrun (2020) on latina/o/x students in higher education has addressed the importance of familial support and engagement in the educational pathways of first-generation college students. for example, cuevas (2020) documented how undocumented parents of latina/o/x first-generation students experienced and engaged in their children’s transition to college. cuevas (2020) examined how parents perceived their children’s transition into college and how parents interacted with colleges and universities by dropping children off on campus, helping children move in, feeling a sense of pride, and learning about their children’s college experience with courses through phone conversations. in another study, rivera et al. (2024) examined how families of latina/o/x computer science students contributed forms of support and direction by sharing encouragement, offering motivation to combat isolation in the discipline, and providing guidance as students navigated higher education and their career pathways. while much of this work focuses on the role families play in latina/o/x students’ higher education experiences and persistence in the form of familial support, limited scholarship focuses on parental engagement that aligns with the cultural knowledge, household practices, and lived experiences of latino immigrant households. understanding parental engagement while parent involvement has received attention in the k-12 setting, an understanding of parent involvement in higher education literature is limited (posey-maddox & haleylock, 2020). much of the work on parent involvement often draws on narrowly defined conceptualizations of school-based involvement in the k-12 setting (e.g., regular and visible presence at school) while often dismissing parents’ engagement in their children’s education at home or in their communities. in this study, we use the term parent first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 9 engagement3 to refer to subtle forms of involvement in the home and outside of the institutional context. by focusing on familial practices from a cultural perspective, we use engagement versus involvement because involvement may imply a greater physical presence within education. we acknowledge how the term “parent involvement” has been used in the literature and continues to be used as a measure of student academic success. for example, previous literature has used parent involvement as a measure connected to “improved academic achievement and motivation” (goldsmith & robinson-kurpius, 2018, p. 564) regarding improved grades, test scores, and high school graduation. studies have found that latina/o/x students showed improved academic outcomes (ceballo et al., 2014; lopez et al., 2023) and reported increased academic goals resulting from higher parental involvement (martinez & chavira, 2019). existing literature on parental engagement emphasizes the significance of latina/o/x parents and families in students’ education. marrun (2020) notes that “parental engagement needs to be understood through family dynamics within latino cultures, household practices, and values (p.169). for example, marrun (2020) examined how first-generation latina/o/x students reflected on their families’ engagement in shaping students’ educational aspirations and college persistence. family engagement was highlighted in the study through the cultural practices of storytelling, advice-giving (consejos), and proverbs (dichos) that helped support students (marrun, 2020). other work addressing latina/o/x parental engagement has focused on the use of cultural capital found within families and communities that support student academic engagement and persistence (matos, 2015). for instance, matos’s (2015) study documented the forms of capital most prevalent in latina/o/x college 3 we use the term parent engagement to refer to the dynamic and cultural forms of participation and support in their children’s education. however, we acknowledge the use of the term “parent involvement” and how it is often used interchangeably in the literature. in this paper, we use the term parent involvement when it is used in the literature. martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 10 engagement transmitted from their families, namely their parents and family members such as grandparents and siblings. the work of matos (2015) highlights how latina/o/x parental engagement “takes shape through cultural assets within latina/o families” (p. 449). other studies have documented how mothers and grandmothers engaged with and supported students’ education by participating in familial ways of knowing manifested as dichos, consejos, and family stories (quezada barrera et al., 2024). these studies help understand the role of families, including parents and extended family members, in students’ educational pathways through specific cultural practices. however, the extent to which household cultural practices support students in their transition to college and throughout students’ higher education trajectories remains limited for first-generation college students with immigrant parents. the experiences of these students are often challenged within broader socio-political contexts surrounding immigration policies and status. taking the cultural assets and practices that students bring to higher education contexts helps us better understand parental engagement and shift away from deficit-oriented views toward immigrant families (quiñones & kiyama, 2014). parent engagement in higher education: a cultural practice assumptions rooted in deficit thinking have historically perpetuated and marginalized latina/o/x parents’ role in their children’s schooling, especially the roles played by immigrant families from mexico and central america (valencia, 2011). however, over the years, researchers have documented how latina/o/x parents show interest and support in their children’s education through the transmission of values for education. emerging research has also documented how latino parents actively engage in their children’s educational pursuits and support their children’s higher education aspirations and pursuits (kiyama & rios-aguilar, 2018). previous researchers have found that latina/o/x families place great emphasis on providing a good educación (education) that includes the teaching of morals, first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 11 values, respect, and educational aspirations (auerback, 2007; delgado bernal, 2006; espino, 2016b; godinez, 2006). asset-based approaches emphasize the transmission of cultural values and practices as a form of parental involvement that exists beyond the confines of the school setting and takes shape within the home and the community (delgado-gaitan, 1994). one cultural practice highlighted in previous studies of parental engagement is that of consejos (advice-giving narratives), which are rooted in knowledge and lived experiences. consejos delgado gaitan (1994) defined consejos as “a cultural dimension of communication sparked with emotional empathy and compassion” (p. 300). godinez (2006) noted that the participants in her study “defined consejos as the telling about values, symbols, and ways of thinking and knowing” (p. 31). consejos are embedded in casual remarks or direct comments or suggestions versus engaging with educational institutions. consejos have been well documented as a critical cultural practice and source of support for latina/o/x students. consejos motivate, guide, and instill educational and moral values in students from an early age (auerbach, 2007; delgado bernal, 2006; delgado-gaitan, 1994; godinez, 2006). for example, goldsmith and robinson-kurpius (2018) found that for mexican immigrant parents of college-going students, providing support by sharing cultural narratives and consejos (advice) is perceived as part of their roles and responsibilities in their children’s education. goldsmith and robinson-kurpius’s (2018) study provide examples of cultural narratives, including stories of hardship, overcoming barriers, confronting negative experiences, and other experiences drawing on cultural strengths transmitted through consejos (goldsmith & robinson-kurpius, 2018). aragon (2017) found latina students enrolling in college perceived familial support and their parents’ involvement through the sharing of consejos or messages “about their [the parents’ own] conditions, occupations, and experiences providing resiliency and powerful sources of educational motivation” (p. 1). similarly, scholars have martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 12 examined how parents and grandparents shared consejos to motivate students to pursue higher education (marrun, 2020) and to support students in their persistence in higher education (matos, 2015; quezada barrera et al., 2024). studies on latina/o/x immigrant parents suggest that parents often use their stories of migration to shape their children’s educational aspirations and motivate children to pursue higher education, often grounded on notions of economic and social mobility (baum & flores, 2012; telles & ortiz, 2008). although scholars have noted the power of consejos in motivating students, it is also important to note the challenges of some messages imbued with sexism, patriarchy, and gendered expectations (espino, 2016 a/b; villenas, 2006). for example, espino’s (2016a) study on first-generation mexican american phds explored the consejos shared by parents that shaped students’ educational aspirations while navigating tensions between getting an education and having educación. in another study, espino (2016b) found that latinas encountered messages of support that “were framed within a belief that education was liberation” (p. 191). however, findings from espino’s (2016b) study also highlighted how latinas encountered and negotiated messages about raced-gendered and familial expectations. it is important to complicate the consejos shared by parents and families and acknowledge the historical oppression of women of color and the challenges they experience accessing and moving through higher education. although parents’ consejos may transmit support for education, these consejos may also include embedded messages related to womanhood, sexuality, and caretaking that can create tensions for latina students pursuing higher education. nonetheless, studies of parental consejos offer a framework to counter deficit-oriented views imposed on latina/o/x students and their families that often frame parents as uninterested or unsupportive in their children’s educational trajectories. first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 13 methods this qualitative study examines latina first-generation students' perceptions of their mexican immigrant parents’ support, guidance, and engagement in their higher education experience. the following research questions guided the analysis: 1. how do latina students perceive their mexican immigrant parents’ engagement in their higher education experience? 2. what role do mexican immigrant parents’ messages and consejos about education play in latina students’ persistence in higher education? setting and participants this article is part of a larger study on the role immigrant parents play in firstgeneration college students' experiences in higher education. semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve undergraduate first-generation college students whose parents immigrated to the united states from mexico. participants were recruited and selected through a purposeful and snowball sampling technique (hesse-biber, 2017), including classroom visits, emails to student organizations, flyer postings, and attendance at campus events at two hispanic-serving institutions (hsi) in south central texas—one large public research institution and one private catholic institution. the south-central texas area has a high concentration of hispanic/latino population, with almost 84% of the population identifying as hispanic. the larger public hsi enrolls over 36,000 undergraduates, with about 58.6% identifying as hispanic/latino and 45% identifying as first-generation college students. the private hsi in this study enrolls about 3,000 undergraduate students, with about 54% identifying as hispanic/latino. about 90% of first-year students at the private institution receive some form of financial aid. twelve latina students were recruited from these institutions to participate in this study. all participants were the first in their families to attend a four-year college and were martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 14 on track to complete a bachelor’s degree. six out of the twelve participants identified as second-generation immigrants – u.s.-born children of immigrants, and the remaining six identified as 1.5 immigrant generation – those born in a different country but brought to the united states at a young age (see table 1). parents’ level of education, for both mothers and fathers, was reported as ranging from less than high school to some college. most participants came from working-class households. all the participants were given pseudonyms to maintain confidentiality. pseudonym age classification generation of immigration institution patricia 19 freshman 1.5 generation private hsi gaby 19 freshman 1.5 generation private hsi carolina 19 junior 2nd generation public hsi itzel 20 sophomore 2nd generation public hsi christina 20 sophomore 1.5 generation public hsi julieta 20 junior 1.5 generation public hsi sofia 20 senior 2nd generation public hsi andrea 22 junior 2nd generation public hsi maritza 22 senior 2nd generation public hsi penelope 23 senior 2nd generation public hsi alicia 24 senior 1.5 generation public hsi victoria 26 junior 1.5 generation public hsi data collection and analysis the first author of this article conducted in-person, semi-structured interviews with participants. participants were provided an institutional review board (irb) consent form and agreed to participate in one audio-recorded semi-structured interview. participants were interviewed individually using an interview protocol. each interview lasted 30 to 90 minutes (merriam & tisdell, 2016). the interview protocol encompassed questions regarding their family immigrant history, parental involvement in students’ education, the students’ and parents’ educational expectations, and the students’ experiences in higher education. participants were also asked directly about any messages regarding education. each semi-structured interview was transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 15 analysis to identify themes to address the research questions. transcribed interviews were uploaded to nvivo software for coding and analysis. thematic analysis involves an iterative and reflective process of identifying, analyzing, organizing, describing, and reporting themes (braun & clarke, 2006). our coding process involved reading the transcripts carefully and conducting initial (open) coding (charmaz, 2014). open coding consisted of a line-by-line coding scheme to identify descriptive and initial codes in the data to pinpoint specific examples provided by the participants about their immigrant parents’ engagement in their education and persistence. this was followed by focused coding to categorize the most frequent codes related to parental involvement, messages, and educational aspirations in the interviews (saldaña, 2015). these codes were then organized into three categories that focused on the types of support and consejos received: 1) emotional and financial support, 2) aspirations for education, and 3) perseverance and resiliency. after reviewing these categories, overarching themes were identified. we identified themes that exemplify the consejos received and the cultural assets (yosso, 2005) that helped students persist. researcher positionality the first author is a latina second-generation immigrant and a first-generation college student. as a latina graduate student, the first author shared experiences similar to those of the study’s participants. drawing on her cultural intuition (delgado bernal, 1998; sanchez & ek, 2013), the first author drew on her epistemological positionality to build rapport with the participants and analyze the interview data. the second author is also a first-generation college student but has worked as a sociology professor for over 30 years. her previous research projects focused on educational mobility of latino and latina immigrant children and high school students. martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 16 findings this study aimed to answer the following questions: how do latina first-generation college students perceive their mexican immigrant parents’ engagement in their higher education experience? 2) what roles do mexican immigrant parents’ messages and consejos about education play in latina first-generation college students’ persistence in higher education? three themes emerged from the data analysis: 1) forms of parental engagement in navigating college; (2) consejos from parents regarding educational and occupational success in the united states; and (3) consejos of perseverance and persistence. we present the themes from an asset-based approach that counters deficit-based perspectives of mexican immigrant parent engagement and latina first-generation college student persistence. forms of parental engagement in navigating college latina students in this study described familial capital as a source of motivation, support, and guidance as they navigated higher education coming from their immigrant parents’ engagement in their college experience. participants discussed in-depth the role their immigrant parents’ experiences and consejos played in their schooling experiences and their decisions from an early age to attend college. several students noted that their families and parents were their primary source of motivation to continue their education after high school, as all were the first in their families to attend college. as first-generation college students, many participants noted having to figure things out independently or with the support of older siblings who had previously attended college. many latina students recalled walking their parents through the college application process and sharing information with parents as the students learned it themselves. students described how their parents displayed engagement in their college experience by asking questions about the college application process, providing required documentation (e.g., tax forms) to apply for financial first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 17 aid, offering encouraging words, and communicating with students regularly over the phone to encourage and stay informed. the following quote exemplifies parents' role in their daughter’s pursuit of higher education despite a limited understanding of the higher education process and, at times, linguistic barriers. for example, sofia, a senior (20 years old) shared, “my parents they didn’t know, sadly, they didn’t have the experience so they really couldn’t say, ‘look i’ll help you with your scholarship applications.’ or ‘i’ll help you with this or that.’ it was more of a, ‘tell me what i have to do to help you.’” immigrant parents provided their support by being available to students to provide information and allowing students to take the lead. mexican immigrant parents played an active role in helping their daughters through the transition to college by communicating and sharing in the experience despite latinas often feeling like they were on their own as first-generation college students. financial and emotional support in many cases, parent engagement included providing emotional and financial support for students once attending the university. for example, andrea (22, junior) noted, “i talk to my mom every other day. i tell her what’s going on, and she’s always saying that’s she proud of me and all the uplifting stuff, that i’m almost done.” another student, julieta (20, junior), noted how her parents provided her financial support despite hating to ask her parents for money: …i don’t like to ask my parents for money. i really don’t. i hate it with a passion, […] but my mom, she calls me and asks, “how much money do you have?” and i’m like, “i have money.” she’s like, “how much?” and i tell her, and she’s like, “why didn’t you call me earlier!” i had ten dollars in my account. “how are you eating? how are you traveling? how are you getting by?” and i’m like, “i’m getting by, don’t worry about it.” and she’s like, “no, you are going to get money.” i just don’t like to ask my parents. though julieta expressed discomfort with asking her parents for money, she shared how supportive they were and how much they cared for her success and well-being in college, martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 18 even if that meant asking for help financially at times to help her get through. asking parents for money can be challenging for first-generation students of working-class backgrounds as they know their parents’ limited financial situation at home and do not want to burden their parents. penelope (23 years old), a junior in college, shared how her parents were involved when she attended her college orientation and how she felt supported through daily reminders over phone conversations. penelope explained: my parents came with me to orientation because they wanted to see where i would be staying, and now they continue to be involved in my education by calling me every day to remind me that i got this. and i will get through it. also, that i’m not alone, and they are there for me whenever i need them. also, they ask me questions about how college is going and how my classes are. in this example, casual remarks and comments that remind students, such as, “i got this,” “i will get through this,” and “i’m not alone” illustrate the power of messages. in the above examples, messages of encouragement, support, and pride illustrate the familial capital that exists within immigrant families. students relied heavily on familial capital in the form of emotional and financial support to pursue and persist in higher education. segments of the data coded as “offering encouragement” and “providing parent support” highlight the key attributes of familial capital. parents were involved in their students’ lives through the sharing of motivational and encouraging words, staying informed, and offering both emotional and financial support. students perceived their parents form of engagement in their college experience through the messages and support received in helping them transition to college and in helping them persist. students noted the challenges of being a first-generation college student and their immigrant parents’ limited understanding of higher education and the demands of college-level work. however, like other studies (e.g., matos, 2015; rivera et al., 2024), we found that latina students perceived parents’ support as shared through messages and words of encouragement that helped them navigate and persist on their educational journey. first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 19 consejos about educational and occupational success in the united states students’ aspirations for higher education were deeply shaped by their immigrant parents’ lived experiences. aspirational capital refers to “the ability to maintain hopes and dreams for the future, even in the face of real and perceived barriers” (yosso, 2005, p. 77). for many students in this study, the consejos received from their mexican immigrant parents on education and occupational opportunities were based on their parents’ aspirations and their parents’ desire for their families’ financial and social stability in the united states. students recalled messages about the importance of getting an education as a means of achieving financial stability and obtaining success in the united states. when asked about their educational aspirations, students connected their aspirations to their immigrant parents' sacrifice and their parents’ decisions to immigrate to the united states. stories of economic struggles, poverty, and lack of opportunity for education in their home country of mexico were common across participants’ reflections. one message shared explicitly by parents was their aspirations for their children to have better futures without the economic and social hardships the parents had endured. for example, andrea (22, junior) recalled the following: since they are both from mexico and they came here at a young age, they were young adults when they came. they have always expressed to me and my brothers that having a higher education is very important because of what they’ve experienced and their past as far as, you know, hard labor and working in the fields, and not having enough money at times to support your family, and so it’s always been in me that you have to, you have to have a higher education if you want a better life. students drew upon this aspirational capital imparted by their parents through the sharing of consejos about the importance of education and having access to education. penelope (23, senior) recalled how she was motivated to continue her education after learning about her mother’s aspirations to become a teacher and why her mother was unable to fulfil that aspiration. martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 20 i guess their stories and the way they grew up, you know. my mom always told me that she wanted to be a teacher…i asked her, this was before i knew she had only gotten to second grade. i asked her what she wanted to be when she was younger, if she had a dream or anything. and she always told me she wanted to be a teacher and i asked her why she wasn’t a teacher. that’s when she told me that they didn’t have a school. penelope continued by explaining her understanding of her parents’ struggles and how their experiences inspired her, because if they had not come to the united states, she would not have had access to the same opportunities she was experiencing. she noted, “i guess if you know how much your parents struggled just for you to get a better life, that’s one of the things my parents tell me if we would have never come here, life would have been different.” in the interviews, students described those aspirations for their futures as including completing college and securing employment after graduation. in line with their aspirations, they often shared their parents’ aspirations focused on educational success and achieving occupational stability. students shared how their parents helped shape their aspirations by sharing their experiences as mexican immigrants. as highlighted below, the students built on their parents’ aspirations for their families’ future in the united states. financial and social stability participants in this study recalled the various consejos (advice) and stories of sacrifice that their parents offered them to instill the value of education for achieving financial and social stability. similar to other studies of parent engagement, immigrant parents used consejos to encourage their children to succeed academically (aragon, 2017; espino, 2016; goldsmith & kurpius, 2018). parents used examples of their current occupations that demanded hard physical labor to motivate students to do well in school and finish college so that they would not endure such hard and strenuous working conditions. for example, gaby (19, freshman) described the following messages shared by her mother, who was a custodian: first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 21 my mom always said that here in the u.s., it’s all about your position and your economic status. and, so, she was always, always, pushed me into earning a lot of money and being this more elegant kind of person because that’s the people who don’t get judged. so, my mom has temporary work where she cleans offices, so she is always talking about how sometimes the people that are living or in the office they give her dirty looks. so she always says i want to see you in these fancy clothing and in your office with a nice desk. so she has always talked about that. and i feel like i have embodied that a lot now. i kind of only want that lifestyle of being in a nice office and wearing these nice clothes and not having to worry about money financially, and so i feel like that idea really, really has translated to me, and i have adopted it so much that that’s why i feel i want to be successful too. in this example, notions of success are intertwined with notions about social class and socioeconomic status in the united states and perceptions of one’s position in society the united states as a means of financial and social stability. participants perceived their parents’ hopes and dreams for their future through these messages that motivated them to continue their education. these messages, in turn, inspired the students to aspire to better occupational opportunities than their immigrant parents had access to. consejos promoting perseverance and persistence participants described being aware of the hardships, discrimination, and systemic cycle of oppression that their immigrant parents endured, both as documented and undocumented immigrant workers in the united states. students demonstrated resistant capital as they navigated, survived, and persisted in higher education. according to yosso (2005), this form of capital is defined as the “knowledge and skills fostered through oppositional behavior that challenges inequality” (p. 80). in this study, latina students described how their immigrant parents’ perseverance as immigrants and their consejos on having the ability to overcome and challenge inequalities shaped their resistant capital. they used their parents as examples of what it means to persevere and persist in a new country as an immigrant (both undocumented and documented). martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 22 “echale ganas” (give it all you got) students recalled the struggles and obstacles their parents encountered crossing the u.s.-mexico border and navigating linguistic, cultural, and economic borders while living in the united states. they described how their parents used these stories to encourage their children and demonstrate what it means to be persistent and resilient as a lived example. participants recalled hearing the notion of “echale ganas,” (give it all you got) common phrase used to motivate students to keep going and assert themselves in the face of obstacles. julieta (20, junior) shared learning a valuable lesson about perseverance and resiliency when faced with difficult moments. …they [parents] tried their hardest, they worked, i never saw my parents work so much for something that they wanted for me and my sister…and so, …how that influenced me with college, it’s like never give up because you will always get somewhere if you never give up. and, it can be hard at times, because i remember the hardships through those times, but something good will come out of it. participants perceived how their parents’ demonstrated strength and devotion to their families through their hard work and efforts to provide for their children. students were aware of the sacrifices parents made to help support them, including working extra shifts to help cover graduation costs. maritza (22, senior) shared how her father worked extra shifts so that he could pay for her class ring and her cap and gown. her father’s action motivated her to do her best as she neared completing her degree. “keep your head up” parents of the latinas in this study were aware of the racial discrimination that their children may experience as the children of mexican immigrants. patricia, a freshman, recalled the following consejo from her father the day before the family dropped her off at college: my parents gave me advice the day before coming to the university…and they just told me that, never, this is my dad’s exact words, “never look down, always keep your head…keep your head up because you are equal as anyone else and you’re going to encounter mean people. you’re going to encounter a lot of people that just first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 23 because of their social status or social economic status or their race, they think they are better than you. but just remember that you are human too, and you can do anything you want just by being you.” this message resonated with patricia throughout her college experience as she navigated being a first-generation college student at a private institution. her father’s message, “keep your head up,” contributed to her resilient capital to overcome challenges and face difficult encounters with others based on social class status. another student, gaby (19, freshman) recalled the racial struggles and discrimination her parents experienced living in arizona as immigrants: …not only are they mexican but they’re immigrants also. they did have a lot of struggles trying to find a job and such. and so just going through those struggles i think really changes you…in arizona there’s a lot of racism against mexicans and so that racism and that struggle economically, and, you know, sometimes not having the things that your other friends did—all of that kind of makes you realize there’s a better life out there for me and i’m able to do it if i work hard for it. if my parents worked hard enough to cross the border and get a job here. i can go to college and get a good job…i feel there’s a lot of things immigrants go through just because of the obstacles they have to go through and it really, i feel it really does push some people… as noted by gaby, her parents’ experiences with discrimination as undocumented immigrants living in arizona fuelled her desire to excel in school. participants noted wanting to prove people wrong and to show that latina students can excel in college. for example, itzel, a sophomore, stated, “…it influences me to prove people wrong that not all mexican daughters get pregnant and not finish school. i’m one of the few that want to continue pursuing their education from my family and my friends.” these examples illustrate the resistant capital that enabled students to counter negative societal messages devaluing mexican students and women, in particular. students in this study felt empowered by their parents’ engagement in their academic success. parents’ consejos inspired these students to continue with higher education, to complete the bachelor’s degree, and for some, to continue beyond the 4-year degree. martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 24 discussion the student interviews in this study revealed how latina students perceive their mexican immigrant parents’ engagement in their higher education experience and how the sharing of consejos played a supportive role in helping latina students navigate and persist in higher education. the findings illustrate the importance of familial, aspirational, and resistant capital in helping students navigate and persist in higher education. latinas’ descriptions of their parents’ engagement in their college experience included regular phone conversations, parents’ questions about college, and offerings of emotional and financial support. these examples illustrate how parents provided familial capital through active engagement in their children’s college experience by providing encouraging messages and offering financial support when needed. these examples of engagement challenge and disrupt notions of parent involvement and expand our understanding of the role of parent engagement at the college-level within latina/o/x immigrant families. we also found that the consejos shared by parents offered aspirational and resistant capital that contributed to students’ persistence in higher education. the types of consejos offered by parents included motivational and uplifting messages, sharing of lived experiences as immigrants in the united states, desire for financial and social stability, and messages about perseverance and resiliency (e.g., “echale ganas” and “keep your head up”). our findings reveal that the messages of these parents are influenced by the parents’ own experiences with racism, classism, and linguistic discrimination as immigrants living in the united states. parents’ experiences as immigrants with these systems of oppression as immigrants in the united states are transmitted across generations through the messages they share about education, occupation, and success. in line with previous research, these types of consejos challenge deficit assumptions that latina/o/x immigrant parents are not involved in their children’s education (espino, 2016a; marrun, 2020; peralta, 2013). this first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 25 study illustrates the importance of parent engagement by sharing consejos of encouragement, perseverance, and resiliency with latina first-generation college students, shaping students’ experiences and decisions to attend college and persist in college. the consejos conveyed by mexican immigrant parents illustrate the presence of community cultural wealth in the college experiences of latina first-generation college students. implications for future research the findings from this study are consistent with and extend previous research on parent engagement (aragon, 2017; espino, 2016). these interviews show that the explicit and implicit messages about education that parents share with daughters are important components of parents’ involvement in their children’s collegiate experience. the findings highlight the positive impact of parent engagement in helping students navigate and persist in higher education. this study offers insights into how first-generation latina college students rely on their immigrant parents for emotional support and guidance in navigating college despite their parents’ limited knowledge of the u.s. postsecondary experience. efforts to understand how immigrant parents engage with their children and how they prepare them for discrimination and racism in higher education should be supported. although most parents of the students in this study could not offer unique guidance on the college process and college life, parents could offer their own lived experiences and consejos as sources of support and examples of persistence and empowerment in the face of obstacles. this study was based on a sample of latina undergraduate students who identified as mexican origin and part of the mexican american ethnic groups within the latina/o/x category. the experiences of these latina college students offer insights into indirect ways parents can influence college success. it is important to recognize the racialized experiences and historical marginalization that mexican americans have faced in the southern region of martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 26 texas as this context has had an impact on educational outcomes and how members of this ethnic group are classified and positioned in society (abrica, 2019; telles & ortiz, 2008). in this study, we examined the reflections of a group of latina first-generation college students on their mexican immigrant parents’ engagement in their education. future research that includes the voices of immigrant parents would help us understand parents’ perceptions of their role in their children’s educational pathways to college completion. latina students also received messages from the broader society that included patriarchy and gendered expectations (e.g., expectations for daughters to return home after graduation and expectations for young women to go into a particular field). further analysis of this type of message and how gender influences latina and latino students’ decisions to enroll in and complete college would add to our understanding of factors influencing student college success. findings from this study provide valuable implications about the community cultural wealth found within latinas’ interpretation of their parents’ influence regarding their college experience. like other studies, the latina students in this study valued the messages their parents shared and the wealth of experience, knowledge, and wisdom their parents imparted through everyday advice-giving practices (espino, 2016a; marrun, 2020; matos, 2015). this work provides a lens into immigrant parents’ role in supporting and guiding their children’s higher education experiences through their active engagement via the sharing of consejos that instilled aspirations, encouraged students to persist in the face of obstacles, and built their confidence to overcome and challenge inequalities. this work adds to the literature on parent engagement as it builds on asset-based approaches that validate and lift up the work and practices immigrant families engage in to support their first-generation college students’ success. the cultivation and passing down of consejos in this study first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 27 exemplify the cultural practices that immigrant families draw upon to build their cultural wealth and positively shape latina student experiences. finally, it is important to refute the deficit perspectives of mexican immigrant parents as not valuing education or not participating in their children’s education. we must train and prepare educators to recognize the values and cultural wealth of students and their parents in order to transform educational spaces into settings in which latina/o/x parents are valued and engaged in the educational pathways of their children. this is particularly important within spaces of higher education. too often, immigrant parents are made to feel as if they do not belong in educational settings because of limited education, their english-proficiency, or their legal status. too often deficit thinking regarding latina/o/x students’ ability to attend college or to achieve at high levels pervades school settings and influences the expectations of educators (delgado bernal & aleman, 2017). learning from the voices of latina/o/x students who participate in college can help educators support the next generation of latina/o/x in higher education. martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 28 references abrica, e. (2019). later-generation mexican american undergraduate stages of passage and the development of a transformational impetus. association of mexican american educators journal, 13(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.437 aragon, a. (2017). achieving latina students: aspirational counterstories and critical reflections on parental community cultural wealth. journal of latinos and education, 113. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2017.1355804 arzuaga, a. (2016). family engagement for first-generation families and families of color. in v. pendkur (ed.), closing the opportunity gap: identity-conscious strategies for retention and student success. stylus publishing. auerbach, s. (2007). from moral supporters to struggling advocates: reconceptualizing parent roles in education through the experience of working-class families of color. urban education, 42(3), 250–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085907300433 baum, s., & flores, s. m. (2011). higher education and children in immigrant families. the future of children, 21(1), 171-193. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2011.0000 braun, v., & clarke, v. (2006). using thematic analysis in psychology. qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa carmona, g., rivera, j. & montero-moguel, l. (2024). the role of family and friends to broaden and diversify participation in educational research. education science, 14(9), 931. https://10.3390/educsci14090931 ceballo, r., maurizi, l. k., suarez, g. a., & aretakis, m. t. (2014). gift and sacrifice: parental involvement in latino adolescents’ education. cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology, 20(1), 116-127. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033472 charmaz, k. (2014). grounded theory in global perspective: reviews by international researchers. qualitative inquiry, 20(9), 1074-1084. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414545235 cuevas, s. (2020). la ley de la vida: latina/o immigrant parents experience of their children’s transition to higher education. the journal of higher education, 91(4), 565-587. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1647585 delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-582. delgado bernal, d. (2006). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 113-132). state university of new york press. delgado bernal, d., & aleman, e. (2017). transforming educational pathways for chicana/o students: a critical race feminist praxis. teachers college press. delgado-gaitan, c. (1994). “consejos”: the power of cultural narratives. anthropology & education quarterly, 25(3), 298–316. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3195848. espino, m. m. (2016a). “get an education in case he leaves you”: consejos for mexican american women phds. harvard education review, 86(2), 183-205. https://doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.86.2.183 espino, m. m. (2016b). the value of education and educación: nurturing mexican american children’s educational aspirations to the doctorate. journal of latinos and education, 15(2), 73–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2015.1066250 feldblum, m., russel, f., ramos, m., & kentor, c. (2024). immigrant-origin students in higher education: powering the future workforce and helping to drive excellence and innovation on our campuses, in our communities, and for our country. higher ed immigration portal. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.13.1.437 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2017.1355804 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/educsci14090931 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033472 https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414545235 https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1647585 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.17763/0017-8055.86.2.183 first-generation latina college students association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, volume 18, issue 1 29 feliciano, c., & lanuza, y. r. (2017). an immigrant paradox? contextual attainment and intergenerational educational mobility. american sociological review, 82(1), 211–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416684777 gandara, p., & mordechay, k. (2017). demographic change and the new (and not so new) challenges for latino education. the educational forum, 81(2), 148-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2017.1280755 godinez, f. e. (2006). haciendo que hacer: braiding cultural knowledge into educational practices and policies. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 25-38). state university of new york press. goldsmith, j. s., & robinson kurpius, s. e. (2018). fostering the academic success of their children: voices of mexican immigrant parents. the journal of educational research, 111(5): 563-573. 10.1080/00220671.2017.1323717 hesse-biber, s. n. (2017). the practice of qualitative research: engaging students in the research process (3rd ed). sage. lopez, m. j., santelices, m., v., & taveras, c. m. (2023). academic performance and adjustment of first-generation students to higher education: a systematic review. cogent education, 10(1), 1-26. 10.1080/2331186x.2023.2209484 luedke, c. l. (2020). developing a college-going habitus: how first-generation latina/o/x students bi-directionally exchange familial funds of knowledge and capital within their familias. the journal of higher education, 91(7), 1028-1052. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2020.1726702 martinez, g., & chavira, g. (2019). a college knowledge program for latino immigrant families: examining parental academic involvement and adolescents’ academic goals. social sciences, 8(10), 275-296. https:// 10.3390/socsci8100275 matos, j. m. d. (2015). la familia: the important ingredient for latina/o college student engagement and persistence. equity & excellence in education, 48(3), 436–453. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1056761 marquez kiyama, j., & rios-aguilar, c. (2018). funds of knowledge in higher education: honoring students cultural experiences and resources as strengths. routledge. marrun, n. a. (2020). “my mom seems to have a dicho for everything!”: family engagement in the college success of latina/o students. journal of latinos and education, 19(2), 164-180. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2018.1489811 merriam, s., & tisdell, e. (2016). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation (4th ed). jossey-bass. moslimani, m., & noe-bustamante, l. (2023). facts on latinos in the u.s. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/fact sheet/latinos-in-the-us-fact-sheet/ nguyen, t., & nguyen, b. m. d. (2018). is the “first-generation student” term useful for understanding inequality? the role of intersectionality in illuminating the implications of an accepted—yet unchallenged—term. review of research in education, 42, 146176. https://doi.org/ 10.3102/0091732x18759280 peralta, c. (2013). fractured memories, mended lives: the schooling experiences of latinas/os in rural areas. bilingual research journal, 36(2), 228–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2013.818594 posey-maddox, l., & haley-lock, a. (2020). one size does not fit all: understanding parent engagement in the contexts of work, family, and public schooling. urban education, 55(5), 671-698. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916660348 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2017.1323717 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2023.2209484 https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2020.1726702 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/15348431.2018.1489811 https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/fact-%09sheet/latinos-in-the-us-fact-sheet/ https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/fact-%09sheet/latinos-in-the-us-fact-sheet/ http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0091732x18759280 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/0042085916660348 martinez-cortes & romo association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024 volume 18, issue 1 30 quezada barrera, m., reyes, h. i., duran, a., castellanos, j., & o’brien, j. o. (2024). the role of grand/mothers’ ways of knowing in west coast latina students’ collegiate experiences. education sciences, 14, 259. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14030259 quiñones, s., & kiyama, j. m. (2014). contra la corriente (against the current): the role of latino fathers in family-school engagement. school community journal, 24(1), 149. rivera, j., núñez, a, & covarrubias, i. (2024). without my family, i don’t know if i would be here: the role of families in supporting latinx computer science students at hsis. education sciences, 14, 815. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080815 ryan, c. s., casas, j. f., kelley-vance, l., & ryalls, b. o. (2010). parent involvement and views of school success: the role of parents’ latino and white american cultural orientations. psychology in schools, 47(4), 391-405. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20477 saldaña, j. (2015). the coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed). sage publications. sánchez, p., & ek, l. d. (2013). before the tenure track: graduate testimonios and their importance in our profesora-ship today. educational foundations, 15-30. https://doi.org/ 10.5901/jesr.2017.v7n1p13 santiago, d., arroyo, c., & cuellarsola, l. (2024). latinos in higher education: 2024 compilation of fast facts. excelencia in education. telles, e. e., & ortiz, v. (2008). generations of exclusion: mexican americans, assimilation, and race. russell sage foundation. the national academies of sciences, engineering, & medicine. (2017). promoting the educational success of children and youth learning english. the national academies press. valencia, r. r. (ed.). (2011). chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (3rd ed.). routledge. villenas, s. (2006). pedagogical moments in the borderlands: latina mothers teaching and learning. in d. delgado bernal, c. a. elenes, f. e. godinez, & s. villenas (eds.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 147-160). state university of new york press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14030259 https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20477 http://dx.doi.org/10.5901/jesr.2017.v7n1p13 https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 2 2018 amae invited special issue linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands guest editor brendan h. o’connor arizona state university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 92 transborder indigenous education: survivance and border thinking in the professional development and practice of maestros indigenas vanessa anthony-stevens university of idaho paulina griño university of arizona abstract this study examines the experiences of indigenous mexican educators following their participation in a transborder professional development initiative aimed at strengthening indigenous mexican education. using qualitative and ethnographic methodologies, this article is guided by the following research questions: how do former participants in transformación docente, a u.s.-based and funded professional development program, conceptualize and enact culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogy in their practice? and how have their perceptions of pedagogy been impacted by their participation in transformatión docente? the findings challenge the hegemony of development agendas through multi-sited critique of top-down interculturalbilingual education policy and analyze on-the-ground enactments of indigenous education. findings reveal transborder professional development supported opportunities for indigenous educators to: 1) legitimize indigenous identities, 2) further indigenous language agendas, and 3) rethink inclusion and relationality in teaching. this article highlights indigenous teachers as strategic border negotiators, and narrators of counterhegemonic practices within institutional spaces. the study’s implications further discussions of indigenous survivance, and demonstrate the significance of transborder indigenous dialogues to advance indigenous struggles for selfdetermination. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.2.396 transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 93 introduction in 2003, the mexican congress approved a new general law outlining the rights of indigenous1 peoples to linguistic and cultural preservation and enrichment, including obligations and competencies placed on public institutions to respect these rights (hamel, 2008). within broader latin american inclusion policies known as bilingual intercultural education/intercultural bilingual education (bie/ibe) (lópez, 2013), the 2003 policy shift from discrimination and subjugation of indigenous peoples toward inclusion and diversity in indigenous education (tinajero & englander, 2011), commits the government “to guarantee and increase bilingualintercultural education” (constitución politica de los estados unidos mexicanos, 2009, art. 2, para. 17), offering new potential for intercultural bilingual education in mexico. yet, many question the viability of countering longstanding institutional inequities and historic discrimination toward indigenous communities through top-down policy (lópez, 2008). the process of transforming schools from instruments of state control over indigenous populations, toward spaces of self-determination and indigenous co-construction of educational goals is complex and at times ill attended (bertely busquets, 2006; garcía & velasco, 2012). mexico’s indigenous population is estimated at 12 million, constituting of 11% to 13% of the country (garcía & velasco, 2012, citing the comisión nacional para el desarrollo de los pueblos indígenas [i.e., national commission for the development of indigenous peoples]. since the late 1990s, mexico has expanded intercultural-bilingual education (ibe) to an estimated 1.3 million mexican students across mexico’s diverse terrains, rural and urban, providing essential services in early childhood education through the end of primary school (6th grade/typically age 12) (morales garza, 2011; tinajero & englander, 2011). under ibe, policy priorities target improvements in school access and attendance rates among indigenous students, as well as the preparation and hiring of indigenous teachers (morales garza, 2011). political authorities claim great strides toward improving indigenous education (secretaria de educación pública, 2014); however, research indicates the application of ibe remains contradictory and inconsistent across the country (treviño, 2013), and indigenous student achievement remains disproportionately low in comparison to non-indigenous counterparts (santibañez, 2016). even with increased focus on 1 we capitalize the term indigenous to recognize the unique political and cultural relationships between indigenous peoples and their homelands and as a marker of legitimate political status. anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 94 ieb, the preparation of indigenous teachers struggles to break the colonial mold of monolingual/monocultural pedagogical ideologies (garcía & velasco, 2012; podestá siri, 2009). schools in indigenous communities are contentious sites of cultural and political negotiation (briseño, 2017; rockwell & gomes, 2009), where indigenous teachers are frontline brokers between local identities, indigenous community agendas, and wide reaching educational policies (bertely busquets & robles, 1997; mccarty & lee, 2014; menken & garcia, 2010). as such, there is a need to understand how indigenous teachers mediate the fixed and shifting lines of colonial hegemony through ideological and pedagogical negotiations in classrooms and schools. further, there is need to understand how professional development opportunities contribute to global/local spaces for teachers to push back against hegemonic education policies they enact indigenous visions of ieb (hornberger & swinehart, 2012). this study emerged from collaborative work in an intensive transborder professional development program, transformación docente (td),2 a u.s. foreign aid-funded program targeting indigenous mexican primary educators. between the years 2010-2014, td sponsored 7 cohorts of 20 professional indigenous educators to study at a u.s. institution through a crossgovernmental initiative to strengthen the education of indigenous mexican youth. in the first world/third world context of development, political and economic divides between northsouth perpetuate the global coloniality of power, especially in programs targeting indigenous peoples (quijano, 2014), a hegemony that frequently maintains indigenous knowledge as other. despite this colonial backdrop, post-td participant evaluations suggested that indigenous teachers experienced the program as a transformative professional and personal process. a desire to understand the complex experiences of td participants launched a multi-year process documenting participants’ post-program reflections and experiences as they returned to their communities. this participatory and ethnographic research draws on open-ended postparticipation surveys, ethnographic site visits, and in-depth interviews to better understand how transborder indigenous professional development complicates development agendas and makes space for complex scripts of local educational sovereignty in contentious sites like schools. in this article we address the following research questions: how do former participants in transformación docente conceptualize and enact culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogy 2 transformación docente is a pseudonym to respect the identity of the program. transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 95 in their practice? and how have their perceptions of pedagogy been impacted by their participation in transformación docente? we draw upon frameworks from latin america, such as intercultural bilingual education, frameworks from indigenous education in the u.s., and transborder theorizing to situate this cross-border professional development. literature review intercultural-bilingual education and indigenous teacher preparation in mexico the context of indigenous education in mexico is at best ambiguous (despagne, 2013), and at worst a continued process of institutional racism (lopez, 2008). the origins of intercultural education in latin america can be found in rural education in the early 20th century. in mexico, intercultural education emerged in rural contexts as an institutional response to post-revolution nationalist policies to assimilate those who did not self-identify as part of the mexican nation, nationalizing indigenous people in the space of compulsorily schooling (dietz & mateos cortes, 2011). curricula in most rural schools were decontextualized (heath, 1986), and few, if any, links were sought between indigenous students’ daily lives and linguistic abilities, and the content/language of classroom instruction (despagne, 2013). the language of instruction in indigenous schools occurred almost exclusively in spanish and/or presented indigenous languages as inferior to spanish, denying students access to effective bilingual instruction even as policies have progressed (patrinos, sakellariou, & shapiro, 2006; santibañez, 2016). decades of linguistic hegemony have produced widespread deficit ideologies relating to the validity of indigenous knowledge and linguistic practices in schooling and wider social application (dietz, 2012; lopez & küper, 2000). teacher quality has been a political priority in mexican education for nearly three decades (morales garza, 2011; tatto, 1999), gaining momentum with the rise of neoliberal policy and the fox administration in the 2000s (ornelas, 2004). the “professionalization” of over 58,000 teachers in the indigenous system offer opportunities for teachers in the indigenous system hold degrees in ibe from federal and state-run teachers’ colleges (universidad pedagogico nacional and/or universidades interculturales). this represents a significant shift from previous eras where indigenous teachers predominantly entered the field with only certificates in secondary education (morales garza, 2011; santibañez, 2016). yet, the primary mission of indigenous teachers, anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 96 remains to adapt the national curriculum to local context using indigenous language and spanish, and to integrate indigenous students into mainstream culture (dietz & mateos cortes, 2011). the focus of recent teacher education reform centers on standardization while discursively supporting diversification. these contradictory trends share similarities with broad policy moments in the u.s., where discourse on diversity and inclusion dot the lines of standardized state and national accreditation rubrics, yet the preparation and evaluation of teachers remains heavily task-based with emphasis on decontextualized content (sleeter, 2012). as an example, teachers in the indigenous system are required to pass proficiency exams in an indigenous language, yet language competency is not linked to teaching placements (e.g. a teacher proficient in ayuk [mixe] can be assigned to teach in a diidxazá [zapotec] variant speaking community) (despagne, 2013; garcía & velasco, 2012). in many cases, the implementation of ibe is often reduced to the “folklorization” of cultural motifs, add-ons to classroom teaching, and relegatations of indigenous languages to decontextualized practices or one-way bridges for learning standardized content (naranjo, 2012; podestá siri, 2009). we are not interested in maintaining a universal narrative of schooling and recognize the duality of entrenched settler-colonialism and innovation in schools serving mexican indigenous youth. the efforts of teachers in the state of oaxaca (maldonado alvarado, 2016), the grassroots resistance in the zapatista regions of chiapas (hirmas, hevia, treviño, & marambio, 2005), as well as clusters of collaborations with regional and international specialists (bertely busquets, gasche, & podesta, 2008) are points of opportunity and persistent struggle within the complex landscape of indigenous schooling in mexico. in states with high populations of indigenous communities, indigenous teacher organizations and communities alike have been known to push for autonomy in education and for education that reflects local values and ways of knowing (baronett, 2013; hirmas, hevia, treviño, & marambio, 2005; maldonado alvarado, 2016). these efforts often opérate locally, and reflect diversity of methods and perspectives. transborder professional development and settler-colonialism innovations in inter-institutional and trans-indigenous exchanges can have explicit goals to engage indigenous participants in deconstructing settler-colonial relations in education and landmanagement (aikau, goodyear-ka’opua, & silva, 2016; galla, kawai‘ae‘a, & nicholas, 2014), however, decolonial thinking was not an articulated focus of td from the perspective of project transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 97 funders. latin american nation-states with large indigenous populations are often recipients of international development funding whereby eurocentric, standardized education and evaluation are prioritized as remidies to high rates of poverty and minority language use (johnson, 2010; walsh, 2013). the contradiction of sending indigenous educators to learn from the sociopolitical context of u.s. education, where indigenous students are the least served by educational institutions, and the most at risk of academic failure (brayboy & maaka, 2011; mccarty, 2009), and mexican-american/latinx students experience high rates of school marginalization (pearl, 2011), was rarely, if ever, acknowledged by foreign aid funding personnel or funding discourse. likewise, the bisection of indigenous lands by the u.s.-mexico border, and the erasure of indigenous experiences from border politics was absent from development discourses of policy initiatives such as td. yet, drawing upon chadwich allen’s (2012) term “trans-indigenous”, from comparative literary studies, the process of borderand context-crossing held forth the possibility of comparative learning and the emergence of a space for border thinking, even in contradictory settings like the u.s.-mexico borderlands. conceptual framework we draw from u.s.-based conversations in indigenous education regarding the importance of teachers in the reclamation of community-centered learning, and the development of culturally sustaining and revitalizing practices (mccarty & lee, 2014; lee, 2015). according to mccarty and lee (2014) culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogies are 1) expressions of indigenous sovereignty; 2) work to reclaim and revitalize that which has been disrupted and displaced by colonization; and 3) engage educational practices that serve the needs of communities as defined by communities. from the point of view of program coordinators (led by vanessa), the “unofficial” work of td was to support indigenous mexican teachers to “destabilize dominant policy discourses” (mccarty & lee, 2014, p. 103) as they negotiated the complexities and contradictions of intercultural-bilingual education. to understand the impact of transborder study on how teachers conceptualized indigenous ways of knowing/doing in schools, we braid the concepts of educational survivance (vizenor, 2008) and border thinking (mignolo, 2012). anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 98 educational survivance gerald vizenor’s (2008) term survivance highlights indigenous peoples’ continued “active sense of presence” in hostile landscapes through a complex combination of survival and resistance. the experiences and voices of indigenous teachers in this study (re)situate ongoing pedagogical choices within constrained educational terrains. we use educational survivance to highlight the negotiated struggle between indigenous ways of knowing and doing, and colonialism. centering indigenous presence draws attention to the ways teachers’ persistently negotiate educational sovereignty through the development of strategic processes for personal, familial and community continuity within hostile educational landscapes (brayboy, 2005; wyman, 2012). use of vizenor’s (2008) concept of survivance privileges indigenous stories and indigenous selfrepresentation as forms of immediate and longlasting action and agency, not merely as reactions to state and top-down policies. border thinking and trans-indigenous learning border thinking (mignolo & tlostanova, 2006) and borderland theorizing (saavedra & nymark, 2008) provide frameworks to understand counternarratives as rejections of the imposition of colonization and domination. decolonial thinking, rooted in latin american intellectual responses to the expansion of western capitalism (quijano, 2000), challenges the binary of borders, while dwelling in the double consciousness of borders which both recognizes and disregards colonial boundaries (mignolo, 2007). border thinking “has the possibility of overcoming the limitation of territorial thinking” (mignolo, 2012, p. 67) when the power of marginalized peoples is not subsumed by the colonial. we use border thinking to explore the collective sense-making of indigenous teachers engaged in transborder, trans-indigenous learning, and to gain insight into how teachers conceptualize indigenous education within contexts of asymmetrical power relationships. by trans-indigenous learning, we mean the process and space of comparative learning that emerges in transborder and context crossing (allen, 2012), such as the u.s.-mexico border. trans-indigenous learning is built upon a belief that settler-colonial relations are to be critiqued not just in classrooms, but through indigenous relationship building, across contexts and borders (aikau et al., 2016). we link border thinking to acts of educational survivance, which are not subsumed by the colonizer, even as they exist within and alongside colonial structures such as political, institutional, and linguistic boundaries. transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 99 the program: transformación docente the tranformación docente (td) program was a foreign aid-funded program hosted by a college of education at a major public university in the u.s. southwest from 2010-2014. located less than 100 miles from the u.s.-mexico border, td served 40 teachers and teacher-coaches each year for intensive professional development cycles of 5 (teacher coaches/asesores técnicos pedagógicos) and 11 (teachers/maestros/as) months. the program was funded as part of a usaid global development initiative, and included a network of sub-contracted colleges and universities, all managed by a large intercultural education institute at a prestigious university in washington d.c.3 many of the sub-contracted institutions, often community colleges and/or smaller public and private institutions, participated in various iterations of usaid funding marked for youth and adult education programming in latin america and the caribbean during the bush and obama administrations. td was distinct from other funded programs because it was hosted at a major research university, and had a single focus to strengthen the quality of rural primary education for indigenous children in mexico. from 2010-2014, td worked only with educators from mexico, an initiative with co-investment from the mexican government (sep/dgei). from 2010 to 2014, nearly 200 teachers participated in td. all participants brought with them between 2 and 20 years of service in the indigenous mexican teaching system and ranged between early 20s to mid 50s in age. nearly all td participants identified as indigenous people4 and located themselves on a spectrum of indigenous language competency (ranging from emergent to fluent language skills). td participants came from all regions of mexico. in any given cohort, td participants represented between 10-15 different states of mexico, speaking between 10-15 different indigenous mexican languages, in addition to spanish. all received the fully funded professional scholarship award through a multi-month national selection process that included in-country pre-program orientations and culminated in a ceremony with high-level u.s. diplomats and mexican politicians. td participants did not have to apply to or be accepted into the host university’s accredited graduate programs. programming was designed around an intensive cohort framework 3 similar iterations of such funding are detailed in johnson (2010), mapping part of an emergent field: cross-border professional development for teachers. unpublished dissertation, tucson, az: university of arizona. 4 between 2010-2014, only 3 td participants did not identify as indigenous. anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 100 that integrated academic study, personal reflection, and service learning in time intensive segments. being housed within an internationally renowned academic unit, the program was able to draw up experts in language policy, funds of knowledge, indigenous language education, and a large work force of qualified graduate students and practitioners to design and implement a program of study tailored specifically to mexican indigenous elementary education. all course work was offered in spanish and was organized to address needs identified by both funders and experts in indigenous-bilingual education in the u.s. and latin america. due to the borderland location of td, the program coordination integrated insights from a rich variety of available educational experiences and perspectives to its participants: mexicanamerican education, indigenous education, bilingual education, outdoor education, etc. td contracted instructors with bilingual education teaching experience, many of whom where mexican-american and had long family histories in the borderlands. td scholars had rotating internships in a diversity of k-12 schools experimenting with bilingual and bicultural education (examples included two-way immersion programs, dual language curriculum, and reggio emilia approaches to early childhood education, among others). as most bilingual schools in the region dealt with spanish-english bilingualism, td coordinators facilitated opportunities to compare, critique, and relate indigenous bilingual education to colonial language education (such as spanish/english). td was intentional in facilitating collaborations with a variety of regional indigenous communities, tribal leaders, and indigenous scholars through workshops, field trips to indigenous language immersion schools, and special sessions to engage issues of indigenous education in the u.s., and the americas. the 11-month cohort participated in a month-long indigenous language revitalization institute with other indigenous language speakers, educators, and activists from around the nation, and occasionally latin america. a common observation shared throughout the program was the invisibility of indigenous peoples from the perspective of one-border looking across the next (north-to-south, or southto-north) (outside of stereotypical media representations, such as the many geronimo action movies, or la india maría comedy program). the intentional work of creating space for indigenous peoples to narrate their own experiences, facilitated continual discussion about sovereign tribal initiatives in education, and countered the invisibility of indigenous mexicans within the u.s. context (casanova, o’connor, & anthony-stevens, 2016). cross-cultural learning exchagnes required translators and considerable linguistic and cultural brokering. transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 101 upon completing the rigorous program, td participants received a certificate of participation for their 600-1200 hours of course work, internships, and workshops. the certificate was valued as a diplomado, similar to accredited professional development hours required for teacher recertification in the u.s. years of program evaluation data, both administered by program funders and the td program coordination, recorded high levels of program satisfaction, particularly in years 2-4 of the program. however, during the program itself, many participants endured extreme challenges, such as home-sickness, separation from family, cultural isolation, interpersonal conflict from dorm-like living, cultural and linguistic shock, and frustration being in the vulnerable role of student. td was, without doubt, an immersive experience. methods and methodologies indigenous methodologies recognize that relationships form a vital part of how and why research is conducted. while neither of us identifies as indigenous, we draw upon indigenous research methodologies (brayboy, gough, leonard, roehl, & solyom, 2012; kovach, 2009; smith, 1999) to inform our relationship with the research participants before, during, and in the outcomes of this research as an on-going process reciprocity and accountability (anthonystevens, 2017). we recognize that td took shape within a complex web of neoliberal globalization efforts. as participants in td, we do not excuse ourselves from critique; rather, we humbly analyze ways transformación docente created cracks in the cross-border flows of cultural and linguistic hegemony. as researchers, we were participants and observers in the life of td over the course of four and three years respectively. vanessa joined td in 2010, as an advanced doctoral student and she served as co-coordinator, then coordinator and co-principal investigator on the grant over its four-year period. paulina joined td as an early graduate student in science education. we are both bilingual (spanish-english) but had limited experience in mexico prior to our work with td. as we developed programming and courses for td, we leveraged our distinct experiences to create links between the u.s. and latin american contexts of education. vanessa drew upon her experiences as a former teacher in american indian communities, a consultant/instructor for a variety of tribal institutions, and the mother of apache children. anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 102 paulina drew upon her background as a chilean, and her professional experience working with science teachers in underserved schools in santiago, chile. our positionalities have been significant in shaping the research process. our choices regarding the methods and purpose of this research have been defined through dialogue with our teacher colleagues. given that teachers left their homes to engage in months of intensive study at td, we understood that no sacrifice of such magnitude should end without reciprocity. following the td experience, many teachers asked us to visit their schools, and provide support through workshops with colleagues, supervisors, and community members. we both engaged in grant seeking during and after the td program to fund continued collaboration and research with td teachers upon their return to mexico. each trip had negotiated goals and outcomes in which td teachers served as leaders and protagonists. in nearly all cases, teachers and their families hosted us for the duration of our visits. we offered professional workshops, met with school and community leaders, participated in radio and youth group interviews, spoke at parent meetings, and advocated for a variety of the indigenous-centered initiatives our teacher colleagues spearheaded. this is to say that we took a freirean (2005) orientation to research, whereby we continually attended to reflection and action, in the context of indigenous-led efforts to create better possible futures for mexican indigenous youth, according to mexican indigenous peoples. data collection and analysis our research employed ethnographic and mixed qualitative methods. between 2014 and 2016, six trips were made to the following states: puebla, oaxaca, and estado de méxico. reflections and images provided by former td participants through surveys and distance interviews were also gathered. the data used in this article is drawn from the following sources: (1) twenty-two responses from open-ended surveys sent electronically to 120 former td participants in fall 2014. questions were structured around how former participants use culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy post-td, and their perceptions of its impacts on their pedagogy and student-community relationship; (2) eight ethnographic site visits to different schools: three schools in the state of puebla (central and southwest region), and five schools in the state of oaxaca (central, northwest and eastern region), including semi-structured interviews with teachers in each site. transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 103 the survey data, in-depth interview transcriptions, and ethnographic field notes were coded using a multi-step grounded theory analysis whereby key themes were identified in emergent and holistic ways (charmaz & liska belgrave, 2012). shadowing and collaborating with teachers in their work sites for one to five days at a time allowed us to gain a glimpse of how teachers negotiated culturally and linguistically responsive teaching in their classrooms and the broader community context in real-time. we used interviews during and at the end of site visits to expand the dimensions of our understanding with participants. interview transcripts were shared with each participant, and participants reviewed drafts of this manuscript. while the survey data was gathered from participants in seven different mexican states, spanning from northern chihuahua to southern chiapas, the bulk of the ethnographic participant-observation, and in-depth interviews were gathered from the southern region of mexico, with participants in the states of oaxaca and puebla. these states are unique within the larger context of mexico. the state of oaxaca has a 35% indigenous population, a strong teacher movement (bautista martinez & briseño maas, 2010), and an organized educational orientation called comunalidad (community education) (maldonado alvarado, 2010; martínez, 2002). comunalidad, as a worldview and theoretical framework, conceptualizes schooling as communitybased and builds upon millennia of indigenous knowledge. comunalidad is well known among indigenous educators in neighboring states, such as in puebla, chiapas and guerrero. findings theme 1: legitimizing indigenous persistence participants reflected on their border-crossing experiences in td as significant for legitimizing indigeneity and (re)centering indigenous persistence. learning was expressed as related to one’s own identity, as a teacher, and as an indigenous person. these intersections coalesced into narratives linked through local and global indigenous struggles. the reflection of felipe, a male teacher from central oaxaca, captures a sentiment of (re)encountering local and global purpose through transborder learning: de una manera el diplomado [td] me dio ese poder ahora de no tener miedo, […] hacer lo que me toca hacer como, como parte de esta sociedad, ¿no? […] a trabajar a anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 104 favor de, en caso de la lengua, de las costumbres, darle ese valor que muchos no nos atrevemos a dar […] cuento con mucha fortaleza, con mucho coraje, con mucha sed de, de hacer cosas nuevas que no se han hecho. / in one way or another, the program [td] gave me the power to no longer be afraid […] to do my part, as a member of society, right? […], to start to, to work in favor of, in this case the language, traditions, and to give them the value many of us fail to give […] i have a lot of strength, lots of passion, and a great deal of thirst for, to do new things that have not yet been done] (maestro felipe,5 oaxaca, td 2013-2014, interview may 2015) other teachers echoed sentiments of (re)invigorated indigenous persistence, and situated border thinking as a source of new power: …me di cuenta que no estoy sola, y que la lucha no sólo es de un pueblo, sino de todos los pueblos que son originarios que también están haciendo lo suyo para hacerse oír en el mundo y con el gobierno. eso me dio más fuerza […] y debemos continuar hasta el último momento para hacernos oír, con la lengua, con la cultura…/ i realized that i am not alone, that the struggle is not just in one community, but in all first peoples communities, and that they are also doing their part to make themselves heard in the world, and in government. that gave me a lot of strength […] and we need to continue until the very end to make ourselves heard, with our language and our culture. (maestra martha, puebla, td 2012-2013, interview december 2014) interruption to the narrowness of colonial border imaginaries which positioned indigenous identities outside of schools or in conflict with “modern” institutions was a reoccurring theme when td participants discussed their conceptualizations of education following the program. participants articulated drawing strength from contradiction, such as study in an institution of privilege which typicaly marginalizes indigenous knowledge, yet facilitated as space of collaboration among fellow mexican and indigenous teachers. many teachers wove connections between experiences they gained in the u.s., such as internships in k-6 dual language programs 5 participants selected to have pseudonyms or their real names featured in this publication. the names used throughout the data reflect the names selected by the participants themselves. transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 105 (spanish-english), and exposure to tribal language revitalization efforts (most of which occurred outside of schools) to (re)conceptualize the intersectional opportunity space of being both a certified teacher and an indigenous person. martha, an experienced teacher in the nahuatl region outside of puebla, mexico, described transborder learning as a way explode identity binaries, and to understand indigenous diversity as deep, distinct and interconnected: …el conocer al otro que es de tu país y que tiene la misma tradición, pero con diferente significado, eso fortalece [lo] que hace lo diverso./ to know another who is from your country, who had the same tradition, but with different significance, that strengthens what makes us diverse. she went on to extend her thinking about legitimate indigenous ways of being through reflection on a summer workshop she attended during td with indigenous haiki/yaqui language teachers. the significance of learning with and from haiki/yaqui elders, individuals whose history and physical mobility has been bisected by the u.s.-mexico border enlived new layers of understanding indigenous presence in the border region: …señores grandes con mucha experiencia mucho conocimiento de su cultura, pero faltando la fortaleza académica, entonces uno se pone a pensar; bueno si ellos como personas de la comunidad pueden estar aquí en la academia y no se ve un gran papel académico, si no por su experiencia, creo que la comunidad de uno mismo puede lograrlo. /…grown men with so much experience and knowledge of their culture, but they didn’t have the academic backing, so it makes one think; ok, if they, as people from the community can be here in the academy, without academic credentials, but with the credentials of their experience, i believe that one’s own community could do that. as described by the reflective vignettes, shifts in individual imaginaries were embedded within larger struggles of indigenous communities, and grounded in (re)affirmed commitment to one’s community and role(s). significantly, border-crossing surfaced new interrogations of power and positioning, as seen in martha’s reflection of who gets credited as knowledgeable about anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 106 indigenous cultural practices, and who typically does not. multiple visits to the home communities and school sites of maestra martha and maestro felipe demonstrated them both to be leaders of innovative community pedagogies and indigenous language maintenance/reclamation.6 in different sites, martha and felipe worked extensively to involve families, community members, and their colleagues in their work. the transborder experience, similar to other research on indigenous intercultural experiences (johnson, 2010; lópez, 2008) was cited as providing opportunity to (re)invigorate ones resolve to negotiate struggles, locally and across settler-colonial divides. theme 2: “i came to do something for my culture, my language”: indigenous language education for many td participants, language was seen as a critical element of indigenous education. td was often described by many as a space for teachers to further develop an understanding of indigenous education as bilingual education. according to post-td survey responses, “strengthened understanding and commitment to indigenous language education” and “strategies for teaching literacy in the indigenous language” were key learning outcomes stated by participants when asked to identify specific concept or tools gained through td to improve their teaching. detailed statements regarding how indigenous language and literacy strengthened their teaching practices ranged from individual consciousness building to specific pedagogical application: mayor sensibilidad y valoración de los aspectos culturales y lingüísticos como medios y recursos para los aprendizajes dentro y fuera del aula. / increased sensibility and valuing of the cultural and linguistic as modes and resources for learning inside and outside of the classroom. (anonymous survey, maestro, puebla, td 2013-2014) 6 maestra martha sanchez is from a community where significant language shift has occurred between the older generation and the younger. as náhuatl speaker, she has spent the last three years working on developing pedagogies for language immersion and has pursued a master’s degree to investigate language ideologies within the community. maestro felipe is from and works in a community where the zapotec language is spoken widely. most children come to school as proficient zapotec speakers, however the school has not had a history of sustaining zapotec throughout the primary years. as a zapotec speaker, he has initiated workshops, expositions and classroom activities to highlight and encourage 5th and 6th graders to use zapotec as a language of school and community. transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 107 ahora, convencido estoy que definitivamente es prioritario la lengua materna del alumno. antes enseñaba a leer en español y luego en lengua materna, ahora después de mi regreso de [td], eso cambió. / now, i am convinced that the first language of the student is a definitive priority. before, i would teach students to read in spanish, then their mother tongue. now, after i returned from td, that has changed. (anonymous survey, maestro, chiapas, td 2011-2012) while teachers’ conceptions of indigenous language and schooling were embedded within complex language ideologies and practices (gárcia & velasco, 2012), expressions of greater attention to the role of indigenous language in schools was re-occurring. conceptual shifts and their links to pedagogical application revealed a diversity of language education experiences among teacher, all of which were multifaceted and dependent on context and collaboration. notwithstanding, connections between teachers’ prior perceptions, and the connections activated while in td, factored into post-td orientations to language education. as an example, tania, an experienced teacher who worked in her home community, before and after td, underscored her pre-program goal to leverage td as a space to organize her own approach to language and culture centered teaching: …por lo que yo venía, era a hacer algo para el para...para mi cultura, para mi lengua […]...[yo] tenía muchas, así como, que sueltas en la cabeza /…for what i came, was to do something for, for my culture, for my language […] i had so many [ideas], like, just floating in my head. (maestra tania, puebla, td 2013-2014, interview may 2015) when she returned from td in 2014, tania began implementing her ideas for language (re)clamation in her 1st grade classroom and founded a community youth language group. in her classroom, tania experimented with dual language pedagogy, alternating periods of instruction in spanish and ngigua.7 this practice included many levels of complexity, among them the need to 7 ngigua, is the community term used by tania and her community to self-identify. ngigua is also referred to as ngiwá and popoluca of the sierra negra in academic literature (see gámez espinoza, ramírez rodríguez, correa de la garza, 2009). anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 108 leverage support of her supervisor, both to ensure she was evaluated equitably on standardized teacher performance rubrics, and to buffer the criticism she faced from her colleagues as the only teacher to use ngigua as a language of instruction (most teachers taught ngigua as isolated grammar content, if they taught it at all). ethnographic fieldnotes from october 2015, describe tania’s bilingual approach in her classroom. october 21st: tania (maestra) opens day in ngigua, greeting each student personally. she presents canasta from dia de muertos book she has created. in front of the class she asks questions about the various items that are required for dia de muertos baskets. she invites students to share “what you do at home” in ngigua, and students mostly respond in spanish, but do so with enthusiasm. tania spends first hour of class speaking and writing primarily in ngigua. students repeat what tania tells them in ngigua very fluidly, but few produce ngigua as fluidly when they are prompted to put together their own words, in response to one of tania’s questions […] students are tasked to create picture dictionaries with the ngigua term and a hand drawn image of items for their día de muertos baskets (fieldnotes, october 24, 2014). tania’s use of ngigua as the language of instruction, coupled with contextually relevant practices (day of the dead observance in end of october) for content instruction, ruptured the relegation of living ngigua language and identity as outside of the school, or academically illegitimate. in addition to shifting her classroom practice, tania also began an outside-of-school club— ni kjen tha ngigua / young writers of ngigua club—with youth as documenters and promoters of ngigua knowledge through written and oral stories. mothers of students who participated in ni kien tha ngigua said tania sought them out upon her return from the u.s. the mothers, women of humble means, expressed their surprise at being complimented by a teacher for their children’s ngigua fluency. in an interview, two mothers described their reasons for allowing their children’s involvement in maestra tania’s club, ni kien tha ngigua. their explanations underscore indigenous presence and offer visions of indigenous language dissemination and literacy as significant counter-hegemonic acts which legitimize indigenous peoples in the face of colonial transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 109 power, and allow indigenous people to share their knowledge across borders. the mothers’ statements of commitment to the ni kien tha ngigua project a possible world in which their children, with access to ngigua literacy, can make different kinds of claims in public about their identity and knowledge because they will have a literate ‘voice’ that these mothers did not have access to in their youth. mamá 1: “…no sabemos escribir y es pues ahí es donde se nos complica porque sabemos hablarlo, pero escríbirlo, y lo negamos. y que bonito ahora que mis hijos, pues, aprendan a escribirlo, que lo entiendan, que lo hablen; […] para mi, escribirlo son muy difíciles./ …we don’t know how to write [ngigua] and, so, there is where it gets difficult for us, because we speak it, but don’t write it, so we are denied that. how nice that now my children will learn to write it, and they will understand, and speak it […] for me, to write it is really hard.” mamá 2: “…que se dé a conocer [la lengua nuestra], en diferentes partes, aquí en puebla, en méxico, o en los estados unidos. porque también hay muchos paisanos allá. muchos paisanos se fueron hacia allá…. /…that people would come to know our language, in different parts of the country, here in puebla, and mexico, or even the u.s. over there too we have lots of community members. many from our country have gone to over there.” both of their responses extend imaginaries of indigenous presence. the mothers, striving to make their point despite difficulties doing so in spanish, recognize language hegemony, yet situate indigenous language literacy as a source of capital and connection to the outer world. shifting classroom language practices required tania to engage the complexities of language ideologies and uneven language repertoires with little institutional infrastructure. it also required building coalitions with strategic partners, such as parents and administrators to support and expand her efforts enacting indigenous education as language education. reflections across the post-td data underscore ways indigenous teachers conceptualized language education through frameworks of indigenous persistence and continuity, such as indigenous language reclamation. teachers leveraged their transborder experience to expand anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 110 concepts and action toward indigenous agendas of linguistic survivance, creating alternative narratives for teachers, families, and youth to speak their languages in ways that both recognize and disregard colonial boundaries (mignolo, 2007). theme 3: rethinking inclusion and relationality in teaching our last finding highlights ways indigenous teachers engaged in pedagogical thinking which both questioned and subverted the western logic of colonial forms of schooling. these shifting hierarchies ranged from emergent—legitimizing indigenous linguistic and cultural practice within the curriculum—to pedagogical orientations which challenged the exclusive logic of western modernity and uncouple them from school as western and colonial (walsh, 2013). for some teachers, integrating the community and parents in schooling beyond the traditional “school as authority” relationship, was conceived as a significant new opportunity for (re)framing teacherparent dialog. movement from formally engaging parents only in issues of school maintenance and repair toward teacher-community relationships where parents are seen as knowledge keepers was cross-cutting. many teachers described new forms intergrating parents, “en algunas actividades [como] contando cuentos, narraciones o leyendas de la propia cultura / in some activities, like storytelling, personal histories, and creation stories” (anonymous survey, teacher coach, nayarit, td 2012), post td. emergent reflections such as the one above, articulate initial points of interruption in colonial schooling by (re)positioning indigenous ways of knowing as useful inside of school, not just as technical support for maintaining colonial schooling. many teachers also discussed new understandings of themselves within the ethnohistoric context of school-community relationships, reflections which pushed teachers to confront knowledge/power divides that maintain indigenous marginality. here, a male teacher from puebla discusses his (re)constitution of school-community relationships as he describes what indigenous pedagogies means to him through his thinking prior to and after td: considero que implica un mayor acercamiento a la comunidad y relación con los padres de familia y sus actividades diarias […]. anteriormente mi practica se concretaba a los materiales oficiales que nos marca la sep, por ahora estoy tratando de involucrar la cultura, la lengua y el trabajo con las prácticas culturales y sociales del lenguaje en el que transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 111 los alumnos participan fuera del aula escolar. / i think [indigenous pedagogies] implies a greater approach to the community and relations with parents and their daily activities […] before, my practice was based upon sep’s materials, but now i am trying to involve culture, language, work around cultural and social language practices in which students participate outside the classroom. (anonymous survey, maestro, puebla, td 2013-2014) recognition of experiential and situated learning was often described as a counter movement to decontextualized standards-based content and pedagogy, as stated in the quote above. conceptualizing indigenous ways of knowing and learning as processes which require different types of relationships, not simply a change of content, was an emerging articulation in post-td interviews. a visit to the rural multi-grade school of maestro israel ramos in the state of puebla, showed another layer of shifting school community relationships to include student funds of knowledge (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005), and to build learning through applied and experiential learning. in his classroom of 4th through 6th graders, israel structured his class around student-generated questions. pedagogical turns such as allowing students to select the focus and outcome of a multi-week research project, or study of community dances to teach cycles, arts, language, and civics, were all ways he (re)shaped indigenous knowledge inclusion in the curriculum. fieldnotes taken by vanessa after a walking field trip to an agave plot to study milenia old agave juice harvesting practices (agua miel, used to create fermented drink called pulque) for science content, described the interaction between indigenous knowledge inclusion and the curriculum of school. salida a sacar la agua miel—walking with students (4th, 5th, 6th graders)—roughly one hour walk from school through campo/monte to the fields of don aurelio (father of student alondra, 6th grader, and her sister, 4th grader). students were very lively, excited to be walking. they showed me their farm plots, offered me flowers, and collected fresh rain water from the crevices of the rocks we pass by. students busily described to me where they live in relationship to the pathway we are following, mapping the area through landmarks, and family names. students anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 112 taught me ngigua, and offered me wild foods. two children picked wild fruits as we made our way to the fields of don aurelio, and consumed them and shared them with enthusiasm. (fieldnotes, october 28, 2014) during the half-day walking trip, students’ demonstrated knowledge of their surroundings in complex and nuanced ways. with school issued tablets, pen and paper, students filmed and documented the process of taking agua miel (sweet water) from agave plants under the guidance of a parent, and participated in guided graphing of the process, including the life cycle of the agave. maestro israel’s use of the environment as a legitimate source of academic learning allowed school learning to be (re)contexutalized within sophisticated daily practices where students and their families are experts. israel reflected on his approach to school-community relationships as “experimental,” and at times unclear to him and the parents. in spite of the need to negotiate new forms of school-community participation, israel’s pedagogical approach anchored learning to community strength, and its deep knowledge systems maintained by relationships between people and place since time immemorial. relational boundary-pushing across examples, was negotiated in context. when teachers spoke about transforming school-community relations, their negotiations reflected strategic knowledge of the specific community where one worked, and an understanding of one’s leverage and leeway within local systems of institutional power. maestro israel, was nahuatl, not ngigua, but he demonstrated ngigua language competencies in ways which garnered community respect and invited use of community language repertoires in the classroom. his school was also isolated from the regional district headquarters. as echoed by a teacher from nayarit, pushing the boundaries of indigenous knowledge inclusion involved daily border navigations, a kind of recognition, yet dismissal of colonial constraints: …el estar en una escuela alejada, no te visitan y tienes la oportunidad de trabajar con actividades que mejores la escritura y lectura en lengua materna, y no tener la presión de cumplir con estándares a cada momento. /…being in an isolated school, they don’t visit you and you have the opportunity to work with activities that strengthen reading and writing in the mother tongue. you don’t have the pressure to be transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 113 following the standards at every moment. (anonymous survey, teacher coach, nayarit, td 2012) teachers post-td reflections and actions brokered top-down policy in ways that bent and manipulated the space for community knowledge to be a co-constructor of school processes, even as de jure policy was written to support such practices. teachers readily understood that supervisors, indigenous or not, may interpret their work as functionaries of the state, hence enforcing state policy to use language and culture as tools of indigenous assimilation to western content. yet, in spite of overt hegemony, many destabilized dominant policy discourses (mccarty & lee, 2014) by virtue of “reading” opportunities to subvert hegemony, in collaboration with youth and families. given professional spaces to question the coloniality of school-community interactions, td participants articulated and enacted shifts in their epistemological stances toward pedagogy, curriculum, and community, as well as developmented of new professional repertoires of inclusion and relationality. discussion and conclusion the findings reveal the complex ways that committed indigenous teachers’ negotiated educational opportunity in indigenous mexican contexts following their involvement in td. operating within hegemonic structures, we saw again and again how indigenous teachers navigated complex terrains to destabilize dominant discourses around language, identity, and legitimacy in schooling. the findings bring into relief ways that leveraging social status and transborder exchanges can help teachers (re)center indigenous ways of knowing in their ideological understanding and practical application of teaching. the nature of hosting td at a prestigious university in the united states, yet also within the historic homelands of indigenous peoples pre-dating the u.s.-mexico border, offered a significant space for resignifying aspects of indigeneity within local educational struggles. in line with academic and activist conversations in the americas on counter-hegemonic education (grande, san pedro, & windchief, 2015), indigenous educational autonomy (lomawaima & mccarty, 2002; rendón monzón, 2011) and epistemological variation in schooling (castagno & brayboy, 2008; kincheloe & steinberg, 2008), we argue that the work of intercultural bilingual educators ought to be considered in both a global and local sense, so as to not sever anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 114 local action from broader movements of power and agency extending beyond colonial borders which divide indigenous peoples. in the americas, indigenous self-determination predates colonial occupation, and should be considered as an ongoing struggle, both in and outside of schools. the indigenous teachers in this study (re)emplaced their work within a continuum of selfdetermination through relational practice, chipping away at colonial thinking and opening up space for indigenous reclamation. as teachers and researchers, we elected to emphasize ways indigenous teachers leveraged their transborder experience as a tool for operationalizing culturally sustaining and revitalizing education (mccarty & lee, 2014). our focus on survivance is not meant to disregard the violent colonialist legacy of schooling in mexico, and its reverberating impacts. however, to honor the complexity of the space occupied by td teachers, we believe it is important to privilege “desirecentered” teacher narratives (tuck, 2009), efforts which (re)frame school learning from a place of indigenous strength and community accountability. teachers who agreed to participate in this research overwhelmingly found value in cross-border relationships, though they interpreted and embodied culturally sustaining and revitalizing education in diverse ways and on different scales. collectively, this research shows that indigenous-centered transborder professional development can complicate neoliberal agendas and cultivate ideological and implementational spaces (hornberger, 2005) where indigenous educators experiment with culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogies (mccarty & lee, 2014). as participants evidenced, the td program challenged participants to examine and deconstruct colonial relations in education. through the design of the program, courses, and discussions, and the diverse experiences educators brought with them to td, struggles faced by indigenous people and minoritized populations in general in the u.s. became visible, facilitating space for border thinking to become a dominant construct, rather than a marginal construct. in this, participants reflected upon their experiences in such contradictory places of learning. findings showed how teachers used transborder learning to further their own agendas [e.g. language], their sense of agency, and the inclusion of de-colonial orientations and applications to constitute new spaces for culturally sustaining and revitalizing teaching upon return to mexico. lastly, this research complicates the hegemony of development agendas by showing that transborder professional development can expose the contradictory nature of interculturalbilingual education and invite ideological and implementational shifts with the potential to support transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 115 indigenous self-determination. such shifts can transform interactions within indigenous schooling to produce “sites of hope and possibility” (brayboy & maughan, 2009). we underline the significance of local policy negotiations, and suggest continued research on border thinking (mignolo, 2007) transborder indigenous learning center upon survivance and indigenous border thinking to better understand and support indigenous self-determination in schooling, and the everyday policy-making of indigenous presence over absence. anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 116 references aikau, h. k., goodyear-ka’opua, n., & silva, n. k. (2016). the practice of critical indigenous students through trans-indigenous exchange. in a. moreton-robinson (ed.), critical indigenous students: engagements in first world location (pp. 157-175). tucson, az: the university of arizona press. anthony-stevens, v. (2017). cultivating alliances: reflections on the role of non-indigenous collaborators in indigenous educational sovereignty. journal of american indian education, 56(1), 81-104. allen, c. (2012). trans-indigenous methodologies for global native literary studies. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. baronett, b. (2013). autonomias y educacion en chiapas: prácticas políticas y pedagógicas en los pueblos zapatistas. in c. e. walsh (ed.), pedagogias decoloniales. practicas insurgentes de resistir, (re)existir y (re)vivir. quito-ecuador: abyayala. bautista martinez, e., & briseno maas, l. (2010). la educación indígena en oaxaca: entre la pedagogía y la política. matices del posgrado aragon, 5(11). bertely busquets, m. (2006). la construccion desde abajo de una nueva educacion intercultural bilingue para mexico. la educacion que mexico necesita. bertely busquets, m., & robles, a. (1997). indigenas en la escuela. mexico, df: consejo mexicano de investigacion educativa. brayboy, b. m. j., & maughan, e. (2009). indigenous knowledges and the story of the bean. harvard educational review, 79(1), 1–21. brayboy, b. m. j., gough, h. r., leonard, b., roehl, r. f., & solyom, j. a. (2012). reclaiming scholarship: critical indigenous research methodologies. in s. d. lapan, m. t. quartaroli, & f. j. riemer (eds.), qualitative research: an introduction to methods and designs (pp. 423–450). san francisco, ca, us: jossey-bass. brayboy, b. m. j., & maaka, m. j. (2011). k-12 achievement for indigenous students. journal of american, 54(1), 63–98. briseño, j. (2017). resignifying indigenous language uses at school settings through translanguaging practices in a mixe village (oaxaca, mexico). paper presented at the annual meeting of the american anthropological association. washington, d.c. casanova, s., o’connor, b. h., & anthony-stevens, v. (2016). ecologies of adaptation for mexican indigenous im/migrant children and families in the united states: implications for latino studies. latino studies, 14(2), 192–213. http://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2016.4 castagno, a., & brayboy, b. (2008). culturally responsive schooling for indigenous youth: a review of the literature. review of educational research, 78(4), 941–993. http://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308323036 charmaz, k., & liska belgrave, l. (2012). qualitative interviewing and grounded theory analysis. in j. gubrium, j. holstein, a. marvasti, & k. mckinney (eds.), handbook of interview research: the complexity of the craft. (2nd ed., p. 347). thousand oaks, ca: sage transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 117 publications. dietz, g. (2012). multiculturalismo, interculturalidad y diversidad en educacion. una aproximacion antropologica. (primera ed). mexico, d.f.: fondo de cultura economica. dietz, g., & mateos cortes, l. (2011). interculturalidad y educación intercultural en mexico (primera ed). mexico, d.f.: secretaría de educación pública. galla, c. k., kawaiʻaeʻa, k., & nicholas, s. e. (2014). carrying the torch forward: indigenous academics building capacity through an international collaborative model. canadian journal of native education, 37(1), 193–217. gámez espinoza, a., ramírez rodríguez, r., & correa de la garza, a. (2009). san marcos tlacoyalco, un pueblo ngiwá. puebla, méxico: gobierno del estado de puebla/secretaría de cultura. garcía, o., & velasco, p. (2012). insufficient language education policy: intercultural bilingual education in chiapas. diaspora, indigenous, and minority education, 6(1), 1–18. http://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2011.633129 grande, s., san pedro, t., & windchief, s. (2015). indigenous peoples and identity in the 21st century : remembering , reclaiming , and regenerating. 21st century indigenous identity location: remembrance, reclamation, and regeneration, (october), 105–122. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/sweeny_windchief/publication/28311600_ indigenous_peoples_and_identity_in_the_21st_century_remembering_reclaiming_and _regenerating/links/5632469c08ae584878091bad.pdf hamel, r. e. (2008). indigenous language policy and education in mexico. in s. may (ed.), encyclopedia of language and education (pp. 301–313). new york, ny: springer. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3 heath brice, s. (1986). la política del lenguaje en méxico: de la colonia a la nación [linguistic policies in mexico: from colony to nation]. mexico city, mexico: instituto nacional indigenista. hirmas, c., hevia, r., treviño, e., & marambio, p. (2005). politicas educativas de atención a la diversidad cultural: brasil, chile, colombia, méxico y perú. santiago, chile: oficina regional de educacion de la unesco para america latina y el caribe orealc/unesco. retrieved from http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&btng=search&q=intitle:pol? ticas+educativas+de+atenci?n+a+la+diversidad+cultural.+brasil,+chile,+colombia,+m?xi co+y+per?#0 hornberger, n. h. (2005). voz y biliteracidad en la revitalización de lenguas indígenas: prácticas contenciosas en contextos quechua, guaraní y maorí. revista de educacion intercultural bilingua qinasay, 10(53), 53–73. hornberger, n. h., & swinehart, k. f. (2012). bilingual intercultural education and andean hip hop: transnational sites for indigenous language and identity. language in society, 41(4), 499–525. http://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404512000486 johnson, j. (2010). cross-cultural professional development for teachers within global imbalances of power. journal of international and global studies, 118–133. anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 118 kincheloe, j., & steinberg, s. (2008). indigenous knowledge in education: complexities, dangers, and profound benefits. in n. k. denzin, y. s. lincoln, & l. t. smith (eds.), handbook of critical and indigenous methodologies (p. 135). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. kovach, m. (2009). indigenous methodologies: characteristics, conversations, and contexts. toronto, ontario: university of toronto press incorporated. lee, t. s. (2015). the significance of self-determination in socially, culturally, and linguistically responsive (sclr) education in indigenous contexts. journal of american indian education, 54(1), 10-32. lomawaima, k. t., & mccarty, t. l. (2002). when tribal sovereignty challenges democracy: american indian education and the democratic ideal. american educational research journal, 39(2), 279–305. http://doi.org/10.3102/00028312039002279 lópez. (2008). top-down and bottom-up: counterpoised visions of bilingual intercultural education in latin america. in n. hornberger (ed.), can schools save indigenous languages? policy and practice on four continents (pp. 42-65). london: palgrave macmilla. lópez, l. e. (2013). indigenous intercultural bilingual education in latin america: widening gaps between policy and practice. in r. cortina (ed.), the education of indigenous citizens in latin america (pp. 19-49). bristol, uk: multilingual matters. lópez, l. e., & küper, w. (2000). intercultural bilingual education in latin america: balance and perspectives. eschborn, germany: gtz. maldonado alvarado, b. (2010). comunidad , comunalidad y colonialismo en oaxaca , méxico la nueva educación comunitaria y su contexto. universiteit leiden, netherlands. maldonado alvarado, b. (2016). hacia un pais plural: educacion comunitaria en oaxaca frente a la politica de interculturalidad cero. revista liminar estudios sociales y humanisticos, xiv(1), 47–59. martínez, j. (2002). comunalidad y autonomia. mexico, d.f. mccarty, t. l. (2009). the impact of high-stakes accountability policies on native american learners: evidence from research. teaching education, 20(1), 7–29. http://doi.org/10.1080/10476210802681600 mccarty, t. l., & lee, t. s. (2014). revitalizing pedagogy and indigenous education sovereignty. harvard educational review, 84(1), 101–125. http://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.q83746nl5pj34216 menken, k., & garcia, o. (2010). negotiating language education policies. new york, ny: routledge. mignolo, w. d. (2007). introduction: coloniality of power and de-colonial thinking. cultural studies, 21(2–3), 155–167. http://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162498 mignolo, w. d. (2012). local histories/global designs. coloniality, subaltern knowledge, and border thinking. princeton, nj: princeton university press. mignolo, w. d., & tlostanova, m. v. (2006). theorizing from the borders: shifting to geoand body-politics of knowledge. journal of asian and african studies, 41(3), 205–221. http://doi.org/10.1177/1368431006063333 transborder indigenous education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 119 morales garza, r. (2011). politica educativa para la educacion de poblaciones indigenas. in p. gomez riveres (ed.), transformación posible de la educacion para la niñez indígena (pp. 41110). mexico, df: direccion general de educacion indigena. naranjo, y. j. (2012). desafíos conceptuales del currículum intercultural con perspectiva comunitaria. revista mexicana de investigacion educativa, 17(52), 167–189. ornelas, c. (2004). the politics of privatisation, decentralisation and education reform in mexico. international review of education, 50(3), 397–418. patrinos, h. a., sakellariou, c., & shapiro, j. (2006). quality of schooling and quality of schools for indigenous students in guatemala, mexico and peru. washington, dc: world bank policy research. pearl, a. (2011). the big picture: institutional and systemic factors. in r. valencia, chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (pp. 257-272). new york, ny: routledge. podestá siri, r. (2009). explorando el interaprendizaje en realidades escolares de países interculturales [exploring the interlearning in school realities of intercultural countries]. revista latinoamericana de educacion invlusiva, 2(3), 201–217. quijano. (2014). bien vivir? entre el “desarrollo” y la descolonialidad del poder. contrapunto, 2. http://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781107415324.004 quijano, a. (2000). colonialidad del poder, eurocentrismo y américa latina. la colonialidad del saber: eurocentrismo y ciencias sociales. perspectivas latinoamericanas, 13(29), 246. http://doi.org/10.1067/mhj.2002.130299 rockwell, e., & gomes, a. m. r. (2009). introduction to the special issue: rethinking indigenous education from a latin america perspective. anthropology and education quarterly, 40(2), 97–109. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1492.2009.01030.x.97 rendón monzón, j. j. (2011). la flor comunal. explicaciones para interpretar su contenido y comprender la importancia de la vida comunal de los pueblos indios. oaxaca: cneii. santibañez, l. (2016). the indigenous achievement gap in mexico: the role of teacher policy under intercultural bilingual education. international journal of educational development, 47, 63–75. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2015.11.015 sleeter, c. (2008). equity, democracy, and neoliberal assaults on teacher education. teaching and teacher education, 24(8), 1947–1957. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.04.003 smith, l. t. (1999). decolonizing methodologies, research and indigenous peoples (1st ed.). new york, ny: zed books. tatto, m. t. (1999). para una mejor formacion de maestros en el mexico rural: retos y tensiones de la reforma constructivista. revista mexicana de investigacion educativa, 4(7), 101–103. tinajero, g., & englander, k. (2011). bilingual-intercultural education for indigenous children: the case of mexico in an era of globalization and uprisings. intercultural education, 22(3), 163178. http://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2011.592019 treviño, e. (2013). learning inequalities among indigenous students in mexico. in b. jensen & anthony-stevens & griño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 120 a. sawyer (eds.), regarding educación: mexican-american schooling, immigration, and binational improvement. new york, ny: teachers college press. tuck, e. (2009). suspending damage: a letter to communities. harvard educational review, 79(3), 409-428. walsh, c. (ed). (2013). pedagogías decoloniales. prácticas insurgentes de resistir, (re)existir y (re)vivir. quito-ecuador: abyayala. http://doi.org/10.5212/praxeduc.v.10i2.0015 wyman, l. t. (2012). youth culture, language endangerment and linguistic survivance. london, uk: multlingual matters. volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 47 where the translanguaging rubber hits the road: ideological frictions, mixtificaciones y potentialities in bilingual teacher preparation programs eduardo muñoz-muñoz san josé state university abstract translanguaging has become a particularly relevant (and controversial) concept for the field of bilingual education, with concrete implications for teacher preparation programs serving teacher candidates (tcs) who may identify as heritage speakers of spanish. however, the regard and understanding of translanguaging, its pedagogical potential, and the positionality to implement it are not evenly distributed among stakeholders involved in the teacher preparation process. this article explores the relationship among california public teacher preparation programs, their bilingual teacher candidates, and the districts that host their field placements that ultimately hire them. building on the metaphorical concepts of ideological and implementational spaces (flores & schissel, 2014), the space between and encompassing the overlap between credentialing programs and school districts is characterized as a friction space beset by tensions between monoglossic and heteroglossic stances and the pragmatism of “entering the workforce.” the dynamics of this space are illustrated in five retratos constructed on qualitative data obtained through semistructured interviews. based on the author's localized experiences, the article concludes by proposing approaches to navigate the friction space, reinforce the bilingual candidates' counterideological stances, and advance a much-needed productive dialogue in the teacher preparation ecology. keywords: translanguaging, heteroglossia, language ideologies, teacher preparation, linguistic ecology doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.445 where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 48 introduction: contextual and ideological stage a day in february of 2020, the design team of dual language immersion (dli) program in santa marta,1 california, met to discuss, among other agenda items, what the program's vision and stance were going to be with regards to "translanguaging." many of them veterans of other dli schools, the teachers had attended workshops by the california association of bilingual education (cabe) on the launching of successful programs. they were eager to discuss this much talked about concept. this was undoubtedly el tema del día. unable to attend, one teacher felt compelled to state her position in an email, which was read aloud to all: let me share with you my reflection about language separation versus translanguaging. when you have language separation, you have higher scores across the board. i have worked in schools where there was much more flexibility, so i speak from experience. often the language was determined by the comfort of the teacher, and students prefer english when they were given a choice. the decision should be made by those who are going to be doing the work and not by beautiful ideas on paper from "others." we need to focus on what really works. with this ideological stage set, the program designers embarked on a spirited discussion to find common ground. to be sure, this debate at the heart of a new dli program belongs to california's present sociopolitical context, partly due to pivotal changes in educational legislation in the last five years (e.g., proposition 58, the english learner roadmap). under the banner of globalization and instrumental multilingualism and this policy landscape, the doors are now open for the development of programs like santa marta's. the california 2030 policy (cde, 2018) described an upward trend in dli programs from 229 in 2011 to 407 in 2017, projecting 800 by 2020 and 1600 by 2030. the data available at the california department of education website confirms that the state is well underway to attain the first of the benchmarks set by this policy, in light of the most current census of dli schools in california.2 this multilingual growth in california is both exciting and challenging. on the upward side, after years of accumulated evidence, the build-up of multilingual momentum fosters that school districts move away from restrictive monoglossic approaches prescribing english for all. 1 pseudonym 2. for a list of schools offering multilingual programs as of june 2019 https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/multilingualedu.asp muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 49 for some, the practical challenge is finding bi-multiliterate and ideological conscientious teachers to serve in the new programs (e.g., alfaro, 2019). other scholars (e.g., flores, 2019; hamman, 2017) are concerned with a different paradigmatic issue where fault lines run deep: the nature of multilingualism, translanguaging, and heteroglossic stances. these scholars challenge ontologies and pose transformative questions: why do democratic schools embody and sanction language practices that do not represent the people they serve, to the exclusion of vernacular practices? is it possible not only to advance the vessel of multilingual education but to reframe its content and the way language itself is conceived? pushing for this epistemological questions, wei (2018) states that “the-more-the-better approaches to multilingualism seem increasingly over-simplistic and inadequate for the complex realities of the 21st century” (p.14). in other words, one may go additive bilingual, pero igual uno se queda monoglósico. as evidenced by the debate and email in santa marta’s school, the echo of these questions above is reaching the field of practitioners. translanguaging se está poniendo de moda: the programs for the annual california association of bilingual education (cabe) conference, attended by hundreds of educators across the state, register the term “translanguaging” twice in 2016, once in 2017, four times in 2018, and twenty-seven times in 2019.3 necessarily, the translanguaging debate has repercussions for teacher preparation. examining the demographics of california k-12 students, one may hypothesize that there is a big pool of [bi]multilingual students who could become much-needed, outstanding dual language teachers (briceño et al., 2018). however, their educational experience has been often characterized by the post-proposition 2274 institutional deprivation of opportunities to widen their communicative repertoire, resulting in the shunning of their full communicative repertoires. often, bilingual teachers embody a contemporary embodiment of anzaldúa’s (1987) translingual in-betweenness: deslenguadas. somos las del español deficiente. we are your linguistic nightmare, your linguistic aberration, your linguistic mestizaje, the subject of your burla. because we speak with tongues of fire, we are culturally crucified. racially, culturally and linguistically somos huérfanos —we speak an orphan tongue. (p. 80) 3 these figures reflect the programs available before the limitations imposed on the cabe annual conference by covid19. 4 for more information on proposition 227 see: https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/prop227intro.asp where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 50 bilingual teacher preparation programs face the challenge of traversing and “resolving” the paradigmatic frictions between hegemonic monoglossic stances and translingual/heteroglossic “transgression.” the time is now for bilingual teacher preparation programs to learn from and to empower the next generation of translingual “deslenguados” to construct liberatory spaces and dialogues about what it means to be “asset-oriented” (see ruiz, 1984) and embrace their students' rich linguistic repertoires. in this article, i first review the conceptualizations of heteroglossia, translanguaging, and their applications, which paves the way for the presentation, analysis, and discussion of five educator testimonial retratos. from their district positionalities and leverage, these five educators occupy a professional “friction space,” a metaphor suggested to describe an arena of conflicting ideologies and praxis with regards to the nature of language and its use. at the center of this space, we find emerging bilingual teachers who, as translanguagers themselves, need to reconcile their agency with prescriptive and proscriptive messages about translanguaging coming from different professional and pedagogical sources, from university instructors to mentors to school leaders. this article concludes with pedagogical, programmatic, and institutional recommendations to promote critical dialogue and translingual visibility in the field and among partners in teacher preparation. conceptual framework: translanguaging, ideologies, and spaces before conceptualizing translanguaging, the dichotomy of heteroglossia and dialogism vs. monoglossia and monologism needs to be examined (karatzogianni & robinson, 2010); which provides a broader conceptual background to comprehend the ideological tensions entailed by translanguaging. in heteroglossic spaces, registers, idiolects, and languages coexist and feed each other with the understanding that the main features of languaging are functionality and communication (bakhtin, 1981; kiramba, 2019). these spaces promote dialogues that create communicative actions among participants (teachers and students in our educational contexts) based on the principle of compromise and the willingness to solve any linguistic conflict. in doing so, linguistic repertoires are used to their full extent, with no constraints on how and what ideas are being expressed to convey and build knowledge. monoglossic spaces perpetuate the power of dominant languages silencing the hybrid voices that other participants may bring to the conversation (garcía & torres-guevara, 2009; liberali & megale, 2016; reath warren, 2018). monologues and standardized registers control muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 51 discourse through strategic communications claiming utilitarianism as the pinnacle for and of languaging (choi, 2003; garcía, 2014; muda, et al., 2018). moreover, in such discursive contexts, languages are ordered to create a hierarchy that limits participation in the co-construction of situational, negotiated knowledge. accordingly, when the argument of language separation in dli program arises, on one level the focus is on the ideological pragmatism of school organization, and on another, it concerns deeper (mis) appropriations of language ontologies (palmer, et al., 2014; sánchez, et al., 2017). in this controversy, two conceptions of language ecology clash: a superficial (mis)understanding of language ecology and its array of “biological” metaphors (pennycook, 2004) leading to language segregationism, and mühlhäusler’s (2000) holistic conception of languages as “an integral part of larger communication process [where] uniformity has numerous hidden long-term costs” (p. 358). translanguaging as a heteroglossic concept is posited as a transformative and emancipatory practice that empowers the user to draw upon every corner of their linguistic repertoire (blackledge & creese, 2014; garcía & leiva, 2014). garcía (2014) underlines the liberatory nature of translanguaging and how this develops “new language practices and sustain old ones, communicate and appropriate knowledge, and give voice to new sociopolitical realities by interrogating linguistic inequality” (p. 3). this questioning of linguistic inequality is the engine that dismantles the oppression suffered by educators and students whose linguistic repertoires have been questioned for their lack of standardized language characteristics (larsenfreeman, 2019). over the years, monoglossic practices have pushed linguistic purity agendas arguing that languages have a univocal way to be used (la scotte & tarone, 2019). furthermore, linguists like busch (2012) question this unitarian view of languaging citing bakhtin when she states that “language is not something given (dan) but it is an element posited (zadan) and every moment of its life” (p. 270). understanding this duality between a language that is given and, in many cases, imposed on someone versus languaging as a tool grown by each person as a multifaceted instrument for argumentation and development is crucial for translanguaging educators who facilitate learning about and through language (solsona-puig et al., 2018). in their learning and life experiences in general translanguagers create a multilingual and multidimensional linguistic identity. translanguaging practices validate and affirm the translanguagers’ linguistic capitals, thus fostering the healing from assimilation processes and where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 52 equipping them to counterbalance monolingual and monoglossic ideology (ortega, 2019). with these tools in hand, translanguaging educators position themselves to create a stance from where they see all the linguistic features students bring to the classroom as assets (garcía & kleyn, 2018). the design of heteroglossic practices calls for a shift in how teaching and learning are constructed. responding to the bilingual education field’s call, practitioner-oriented publications such as the translanguaging classroom (garcía, et al., 2107) or biliteracy from the start: biliteracy squared in action (escamilla et al., 2014) are drawing bridges in the theory-to-practice chasm and contributing in different degrees to generate heteroglossic discussions and “sensemaking” (weick et al., 2016). behind their multilingual advocacy, the reader finds a marked emphasis on the agency of the educators de primera línea en las trincheras (menken & garcía, 2010), who are well-positioned to explore the flexibility and heteroglossic affordances in their curricular mandates and contextual demands (e.g., martínez & mejía, 2020). akin to notions of thirdspace (gutiérrez, et al., 2009) and anchored in poststructural language planning and policy approaches, ricento and hornberger (1996) presented the concept of implementational and ideological spaces to describe the transformative potential of language policy vacuums when seized by critical agentic educators. these concepts are acquiring relevance and traction in recent scholarship that focuses on ethnographic accounts of bilingual educators transformative classroom practices (babino & stewart, 2018; good et al., 2017) and, similarly, in articles that reflect an interest in teacher preparation transformation by laying out programmatic changes to embrace heteroglossic stances (collins, et al., 2019; musanti & rodríguez, 2017). methodological approach: capturing the tension the findings and arguments presented in this article are anchored in fifteen qualitative semi-structured interviews (rubin & rubin, 2011) of teacher candidates and other stakeholders involved with translingual and teacher preparation across california.5 the purposive sample of participants were selected through initial personal contacts and a snowballing technique (merriam & tisdell, 2015) to represent multiple professional categories in the teacher preparation ecology. the recordings were thematically analyzed using qualitative software with known deductive translanguaging concepts and with an eye to emerging/inductive categories 5 the interview protocol is shown in appendix a. muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 53 (saldaña, 2012). as an empirical result, i present five microethnographic retratos; a narrative intended to construct a snapshot of biographical, ideological, and pedagogical intersections (fitch & sanders, 2004). these five multilayered, situated perspectives sketch with sufficient detail the complexity of the ideological frictions occurring across the context addressed by this article and, at times, within participants themselves. positionality and pedagogical stance have a bearing on the analysis and transferability of these results. the author is a speaker of the andalusian spanish variety and english, as named languages. formerly a bilingual teacher and administrator, he currently coordinates the critical bilingual authorization program bilingüismo y justicia at san josé state university, a hispanicserving institution. approximately 90 per cent of its credentialed bilingual teachers identify as latinx. this program endorses translingual practices as part of its culturally sustaining theory of action (paris & alim, 2017). as such, the author navigates the ideological and implementational space of the often monoglossic state-sanctioned credential requirements and proficiency assessments and strives to create sustaining experiences that empower linguistic dynamism and counterhegemonic stances. friction space: laying out the ideological field for the retratos this article builds on the concepts of ideological and implementational spaces (flores & schissel, 2014; johnson, 2010) and capitalizes on the explanatory potential of these spatial metaphors to suggest the notion of "friction space" in bilingual teacher preparation. such space can be understood as a co-constructed point of transition between ideological arenas where actors (e.g., teacher candidates, hiring managers) and institutions (e.g., institutions of higher education, school districts) work to make sense of competing paradigms (e.g., monoglossic and heteroglossic epistemologies), deploy their ideologies, and exert the leverage afforded by their positionality. such friction space's boundaries are necessarily diffused, stretching from the increasing involvement of candidates in field placements to their securing of teaching positions. during this time of theory-to-practice transitions, bilingual teacher candidates may be subject to conflicting messages about a myriad of concepts (e.g., the nature of language, social justice orientations, the (un)orthodoxy of practices, etc.) which are to be made sense of in conjunction with their lived experiences. far from claiming full representativeness, the five retratos that follow do illustrate some pivotal issues and inner tensions occurring in this space “where the where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 54 translanguaging rubber hits the road,” that is, when their individual linguistic ideologies, biographies, knowledge acquired in the credential program, and practices are confronted vis-ávis with established models of organization (i.e., ideological embodiments) in teacher preparation programs and school districts. primer retrato: julia riego,6 “pero como que mi mente los quiere separar” julia, a determined and award-winning bilingual candidate about to receive her credential and graduate from a california state university (csu), came to the united states when she was in fourth grade. she feels a strong connection with latino culture and her family, which fuels her strong specific communicative performance in spanish and also propels her bilingual teaching vocation. she first heard about translanguaging in her teacher preparation program but she is long-acquainted with spanglish, as she put it, “yo lo usaba cuando estaba aprendiendo ambos idiomas… no ambos, el inglés.” julia separates languages in a diglossic internal tensión when she says, “el spanglish se me hace más informal, es tener una conversación con una amistad y translenguaje, a mí se me hace como algo que se puede usar en un entorno educativo, el salón de clase, en un lugar profesional […] el spanglish trato de no usarlo porque quiero usar el español más limpio que pueda.” however, she quickly qualifies this preference for the sociolinguistic context of her translanguaging and adds, “pero también yo puedo decir que uso translenguaje si yo estoy estudiando en casa o estoy teniendo discusiones con alguna de mis compañeras [in the credential program]… pero como que mi mente los quiere separar.” when asked about this boundary tension she affirms that "intento separarlas porque mis papás siempre me han dicho “no mezcles los idiomas, mantén tu español, español y tu inglés, inglés” y es algo que me encuentro diciéndole a mi hermano menor, porque él tiene más dificultad con el español.” as teacher candidate doing her student teaching, julia recalls being told to keep a familiar “white lie” when she says "yo ahorita en el primer grado que estoy, es imposible hablar inglés… tenemos que hacerle creer que no hablamos inglés.” however, she believes that translanguaging has a pedagogical purpose and that “los estudiantes lo deben de usar para llenar los espacios y que los dos idiomas suban.” translanguaging practices are a way of being and flowing. for her students, translanguaging “es algo natural, crecen y escuchan los dos idiomas y así se les va creando esa identidad de translenguaje y ser bilingües.” however, she resents that 6 the participants’ names in the retratos are pseudonyms. muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 55 in her current student teaching placement “el programa es muy estricto, como que se le penaliza al estudiante si está hablando inglés en un momento que se habla español, hasta que le quitan puntos.” she tried to balance the punitive consequences of this practices, and resolve this pedagogical tension by stating that “puede ser algo extremo, pero al mismo tiempo entiendo su propósito.” at the end of the interview, this personal, pedagogical and conceptual uneasiness reaches a climax, and asks me “¿usted cree que puede llegar un programa en el que se pueda usar el translenguaje?” segundo retrato: dra. luisa fernández, spanning boundaries “es cuando los estudiantes usan su primer idioma ya sea español, tagalo, o cualquier idioma que tienen en el hogar para aprender la materia lo que se está enseñando en el salón, comunicar con sus compañeros… y después se les pide que presenten el contenido en el idioma que se está hablando en el salón,” states dr. fernández when asked about translanguaging. a veteran educator, founder of a dli school, and dearly appreciated field supervisor in a credentialing program, dr. fernández believes that translanguaging pedagogies should apply to all teachers, not only bilingual. at her school as in others that she has visited, the rule of language separation is observed. in her practice, she “opens up” during english language development (eld) and "en ese momento cuando los chicos no están entendiendo algo yo les hablo en español y buscamos junto lo que queremos decir en inglés.” if in breach of the separation rule, she adopts an assets-based stance and asserts that “no hay consecuencias, para nada. su poder es ser bilingüe, que es un superpoder y no hay ninguna penalidad por usar el otro idioma.” with the demographic change in her student population, from mostly immigrant origin to us-born emergent bilinguals, she has seen how “para ellos no es inglés o español si no es lenguaje y no se distingue entre uno, no se separa del otro, o que es como un círculo y los dos funcionan y con los dos me comunico […] sí entienden que están hablando en un idioma diferente pero yo veo que su forma de pensar y de comunicarse es como que aprendieron una sola lengua que tiene dos, por explicarlo así.” this description coheres and illustrates a practitioner’s view of the construct of a unified repertorio lingüístico. however, from an organizational and culture of schooling perspective, she is concerned that “a los distritos les va a tomar mucho más tiempo empezar a adaptarse.” in hiring practices, for example, districts where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 56 keep asking for “native speakers of the target language” to become teachers. hinting at a generational clash in the understanding of translanguaging, she believes that “los maestros más jóvenes, las generaciones sí que lo captan porque vienen un poco de esa vivencia.” as a caring bilingual field supervisor, she regrets that these same teachers face challenges in the questioning of their “language proficiency,” to the detriment of their gift to connect and sustain the language practices of emergent bilinguals. tercer retrato: dra. felicia martín, a driven and critical dli administrator dra. martín is a committed dli instructional leader, engaging with dli organizations, and seeking advice from renowned expert-consultants. active in the hiring of newlycredentialed bilingual teachers and the design of professional development for them, she states that “los maestros nuevos necesitan algo diferente, ellos van a necesitar saber desde el principio cuál es la teoría de inmersión doble. aprendieron la teoría en la escuela, y ahora les falta la práctica.” she is concerned that new teachers would just be too liberal or go unplanned about translanguaging (“uno no nace maestro, pues lo mismo con esto”). in her opinion, translanguaging “es una estrategia instruccional que no se debe usar por debajo de cuarto grado y tiene que ser muy intencional.” her main worry is the english “invasión” that would follow if the lines are crossed. allowing fluidity between languages would erode “un tiempo sagrado” and send the students a “subtle status message” that would result in spanish attrition. dra. martín elaborates her concern of unproductive languaging by adding, "si ellos [the teachers] tienen que usar ambos idiomas lo entendemos, los apoyamos, los escuchamos y les decimos cómo se puede decir de una forma académica, pero si lo están haciendo sin un propósito no vamos a tener ni bilingües, no vamos a tener a uno ni de allá ni de para acá.” thus, she prescribes and restricts the use of languaging since in her view proper translanguaging happens “mejor con niños mayores o adultos que ya están desarrollados bilingües, en ambos idiomas.” in her school, educators are deeply involved in the development of bilingual curriculum, which she decries is scarce or unsatisfactory in the publishing market. in this context, they are starting to implement a restricted translanguaging block for 10 minutes in math, which they have defined as a bridge between the two languages for the transfer of language and concepts. this conception of translanguaging emphasizes the structural contrastive analysis of languages, rendering it closer to the concept of side-by-side “transferability” of language formal characteristics. muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 57 in dra. martín’s eyes, the disparate understanding of the concept of translanguaging is problematic and causing divisiveness in the field. she has vivid memories of a recent “la cosecha” conference and a heated panel between supporters and detractors of translingual flexibility. she recounts, “fui a oír a ofelia garcía hablar, muy teorético, es mucho de lo que hace el cerebro… muy interesante, pero siempre hubo esa cuestión de cómo se vería en la clase. si de veras estamos hablando de la división de los idiomas de cuál de los idiomas vas a tomar [ìnstructional time] para hacer el translanguaging ¿a cuál de los dos idiomas vas a quitarle, a cuál?” she made sense of this clash through a certain “generational lens,” and says that “lo vi como la generación de antes con la generación más joven, unos ‘pero ustedes no le dan chanza, que no saben que hay estudios,’ y los otros ‘¿cuáles estudios? no hemos visto estudios con niños que ha mostrado que esto es efectivo.’” dra martín’s vignette and her interpretation of an academic paradigmatic clash in understanding the ontology of languaging exemplifies how this ideological friction occurs at multiple scales. ultimately, these conceptual tensions trickle down to classroom practice dilemmas. cuarto retrato: marta angelelli, solo translanguaging practice as a 16-year veteran and founding teacher in her dli program, marta has supported the professional development of many novice and veteran teachers in her local district. in an ironic twist, she complains that she has never “gotten any professional development for dual language education. never.” she is currently a doctoral student, which she credits for her awareness and interest in translanguaging. she is passionate about translanguaging in her practice but hesitates about implementation as she says that "i really know translanguaging in theory, but i haven't really seen it done in dual language classrooms… nobody in my school does it." however, she was profoundly inspired by the concept “it is like a third space in the classroom where the language is a crossover.” her reference to third space echoes the gutiérrez and colleagues’ (2009) concept of a symbolic negotiated spatial and pedagogical dimension where learning, identity, and emancipation come together. dr.-to-be angelelli once wrote an article about translanguaging which was trying to “simply echo ofelia garcia's ideas” and approach them to practitioners. she recounts that it “received a great deal of backlash." further, the rawness and emotion in the feedback was still present in her memory when she said, “i was one of those who used to have this antiquated where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 58 way of thinking that you can never mix both languages, and when i wrote this article, i had people saying that i didn't know what i was talking about, that you should never mix the languages." this conflicting mixing of languages echoes the long-standing language separation controversy (palmer et al., 2014; poza, 2017) and the role that languaging fluidity may play in schools. in her opinion, this reaction reflects how theoretical concepts at the university level are not trickling down to classroom teachers or administrators, as she put it, “i hardly ever hear people talking about it. people just have a vague idea, they have a lot of misconceptions about what it even means." quinto retrato: luis alberto márquez, en carne propia as he works to add his bilingual authorization,7 luis alberto is already in his first year as a secondary bilingual teacher of record in a dual immersion program. the first time he heard about translanguaging was in his credentialing program, and “inmediatamente pensé mi propia experiencia como estudiante. durante la preparatoria yo estaba tomando clases de ap inglés y de ap español, y lo que conocía de español e inglés lo usaba en las dos clases.” in our conversation luis alberto equates spanglish and translanguaging, and feels he only got a “full grasp” of it when working in a summer language academy for newcomers. thus, in his experience translanguaging implies that “un estudiante o una persona puede usar todas las herramientas que tiene en término de sus lenguas, de sus idiomas y utilizar todo ese conocimiento, todas esas habilidades para poder entender un concepto que se presente en el salón, o en sus vidas.” he illustrates this with his own life experiences, as he says, “me pasa mucho cuando estoy intentando buscar una palabra en inglés y en español y no la encuentro y entonces intento buscar algo en medio para poder explicarlo.” that space in between is also for him a bridge between communities and he explains that “si a veces quiero comunicar algo a una persona que vive tanto en la comunidad latinoamericana como la comunidad americana, puedo usar el spanglish para identificarme con esas dos comunidades y en esas dos experiencias.” for luis alberto identification with collectives and experiences is also performed through translanguaging practices. 7 teacher candidates in california obtain a teaching credential and, upon completion of additional state requirements, they may add a supplemental language-specific bilingual authorization which allows them to teach subject matter in the authorization language. muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 59 in his classroom, luis alberto uses translanguaging frequently with multiple benefits and explains that “me ayuda bastante para poder transmitir el entendimiento del contenido, también me ayuda un poco más a construir comunidad dentro del salón, entre los que acaban de llegar y los que nacieron aquí.” he feels that this flexibility supports his own developing language specific performance in spanish. anticipating potential critics and hinting at the need to address a knowledge chasm, he thinks that "mucha oposición vendrá de la falta del conocimiento del translanguaging.” opposition may happen in the classroom and he adds that “a veces los estudiantes quieren separar las lenguas ellos mismos, y no sé si viene del estudiante o de reflejar su experiencia en el salón con otros maestros.” luis alberto occassionally worries about his profesional identity as perceived by parents, who might think “que estoy usando spanglish porque mi conocimiento del español es mucho menor de lo que esperaban.” however, by virtue of the networking that supports marginalized professional identities and practices, he counts on a mentor teacher who is familiar with the concept and, while together they humbly feel that they “do not know everything about it”, he feels that they are both advancing in their understanding of this transformative pedagogy. discussion: sensemaking in the translingual friction space the participants’ experiences and testimonies in this article provided evidence that ideological stances are far from homogeneous and conditioned by a recursive process of sensemaking between accumulated experiences and professional scenarios new to the participants’ trajectories. in the friction space between monoglossic and heteroglossic ideas and practices, some bilingual candidates find a dissonance between their linguistic heritage, beliefs, and practices and the normative structure of the schools. conversely, school leaders gatekeep the pedagogical trends implemented in their schools, wary of buzzwords and "flavor of the year" approaches to school transformation. other educators construct their professional identity across different institutions, often espousing conflicting educational paradigms. the friction space is therefore co-constructed and navigated by actors who in different capacities and with varying degrees of centrality search, among other things, for a sense of ideological coherence (i.e., sensemaking and harmonizing their beliefs and their practice with their contextual settings). concerning translanguaging, the ideological friction is multilayered and where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 60 encompasses challenges (conceptual, identity, curricular, implementational, and ecological) that overlap and interact. first, there is a foundational conceptual challenge with translanguaging and its perception. as an attractive, fast-evolving field of inquiry, the literature has already interrogated the effects of "discourse drift" (see wei, 2018), or a potential “watering down” of its ontological force (see poza, 2017). in the retratos, the participants articulate their definitions and also express a substantial degree of uncertainty (occasionally angst) about “what translanguaging really is.” on occasion, their sensemaking leads them to mapping translanguaging over existing practices such as “transferability time,” commonly understood as an instructional segment focusing on contrastive analysis where differences/commonalities between l1 and l2 are explicitly instructed. thus, while on the surface, transferability may seem harmonized into the existing instructional structure of a dli class schedule with bound language allocations, the critical paradigmatic tension between monoglossic versus heteroglossic, circumscribed language versus language repertoire flow remains unaddressed and unchanged (i.e., the “two monolinguals in one” (grosjean, 1982) archetype is untouched). second, this friction space is also a trying time for the teacher candidates' sense of self. such identity challenge is exemplified in julia’s tension for and against the hybridization of named languages. on the one hand, her respect for spanish is instilled by her family and a concern for language attrition. on the other, she commonly flows between languages and sees the potential of translanguaging as a pedagogy. in luis alberto’s case, translanguaging may trigger concerns about the "appropriateness" of his linguistic "proficiency." such everyday experiences among bilingual candidates, fearing the loss of heritage and identity, or the questioning of one’s abilities, are forces working to maintain the monoglossic status quo. translanguaging also presents a curricular challenge. destabilizing (or attempting to) monoglossic pillars such as academic language, standard language, or language separation-purism is an affront that triggers heated ideological reactions among stakeholders in the friction space. heteroglossic stances pose a threat to deeply institutionalized and history-laden educational practices. valdés (2018, 2020) concept of “curricularization” is particularly useful to understand the complexity of this attachment to monoglossic epistemologies. this apt concept describes how theoretical and ideological mechanisms (e.g., language acquisition theories, raciolinguistic ideologies), policies and sociopolitical forces (e.g., societal preferences, macropolitical muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 61 processes), and programmatic arrangements (e.g., program structures, the testing regime) cowork to institutionalize language conceptualizations and their curricular enactments. when new bilingual teachers enter this friction space embracing what garcía and colleagues (2107) have described as translanguaging corriente, they are swimming against the curricularizing flow of an inherited monoglossic current. as principal, dra. martín argues, translanguaging is perceived as trying to undo the legacy of thirty years of bilingual education “results,” with its acumen of sedimented pedagogical and organizational practices. in fact, the entrenched struggle over translanguaging she depicts is also about legitimacy and authoritative voices prescribing and proscribing what should happen in multilingual classrooms. this legitimacy tug of war pits theory (i.e., university scholarship) against practice (i.e., the realities of the field), experienced versus novice teachers, old generation versus young generation, english time versus spanish time, order versus chaos “para no acabar ni siendo de aquí ni de allá.” thus, promoting the legitimacy of translanguaging requires adopting a multiprong counterstrategy addressing all these same curricularizing and dichotomizing forces in order to overcome the current state of monoglossic oppression. curriculum is tied intimately to the implementational challenge in translanguaging. as i learned from veteran teachers such as dra. fernández and marta, the historical lack of multilingual resources and the apparent absence of articulated models of implementation undermine the transmission of translingual pedagogies. the empirical and action-oriented scholarship about translingual practice seems not to be reaching the field in ways that “the dots can be connected.” while teachers like luis alberto count on mentors who share similar ideological stances, the efforts of translingual mentors may fall into deaf ears if they are not scaled up and institutionalized into communities of practice. overarching all these issues, there is an ecological challenge in which the ideologies, interests, and practices of bilingual teacher preparation stakeholders are often at odds with one another. against the backdrop of a severe bilingual teacher shortage, heritage bilingual teachers are often in a prime position to sustain linguistically minoritized populations. still, they are likely to be the target of censorship or scrutiny with regards to their abilities if they translanguage in their own linguistic performances. further complicating this friction space, teaching preparation programs are expected to engage with the school districts’ needs, often presented in monoglossic terms as in “we want bilingual teachers with native levels of academic language.” where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 62 such demand presents a dissonant ideological scenario to navigate for teacher educators with heteroglossic stances. having likely endured sociolinguistic pressures themselves (e.g., escamilla, 2018; rodríguez-mojica et al., 2019), bilingual teacher educators may feel the need to give in to linguistic caveats and diglossic warnings about the differences between the sociolinguistic context “in here” and “out there,” discriminating between translanguaging in the potentially safe(r) heteroglossic space of the university-driven teacher preparation program, and the performances in high stakes settings (e.g., language proficiency tests, job interviews, etc.). to confront this navigational dilemma, the next section will discuss some strategies to expand the horizon for translanguaging in this friction space and beyond. conclusion and implications: towards translingual legitimacy in and through teacher education it is appropriate to conclude that, in advancing translanguaging, the preparation of new bilingual teachers with a sophisticated critical metalinguistic awareness (fairclough, 2014) is of paramount importance. for many of them, it is not solely a professional issue, but a matter of personal, cultural, and linguistic sustenance. accordingly, it is incumbent on teacher preparation programs committed to empower their candidates’ linguistic repertoires to curate the candidate’s sustaining experiences, to scrutinize their explicit and implicit language policies, and to open a critical dialogue with the institutions partnering with them in their teacher preparation. at the bilingual candidate experience level, interview participants stressed the importance of connecting with their linguistic biography to ground the concept of linguistic dynamism and hybridity thoroughly. thus, program content acquires special significance when imbued with the linguistic trajectories of individuals and local communities. further, the raciolinguistic framework provides a useful analytical lens to deconstruct instances in which their linguistic performances may be devalued, and construct a stance of hope and courage. translanguaging gains more legitimacy, visibility, and grounding when bilingual candidates work on assignments and projects that exhibit their multilingual potential, and showcase them publicly. when starting their student teaching experience and entering the friction space, bilingual teacher candidates benefit from engaging in the shared critical analysis of these grounded experiences (e.g., analyzing local language policies and hierarchies in their schools), muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 63 since their temporary positionality as student teachers may allow them to remain more detached from the organizational regime of the placement schools. besides clinical experience, candidates are also empowered when they participate in preservice experiential activities that allow them to engage in translingual pedagogy firsthand with less institutionalized monoglossic constraints (e.g., luis alberto's summer academy for newcomers). at a programmatic level, bilingual authorization programs (and the teacher preparation programs where they may be nested) may benefit from analyzing critically the ontological and epistemological assumptions embedded in explicit or implicit language policies (e.g., syllabi, classroom protocols). further, they may interrogate how safe (i.e., language policing-free) the program spaces are for diverse linguistic repertoires. importantly, besides these formal structures, teacher preparation programs should ask themselves how they are being perceived by the community of multilingual speakers and adopt a listener's perspective (flores & rosa, 2015; inoue, 2004). finally, at the institutional level, it behooves the committed scholars and translanguaging activists to open up spaces for productive and forward-looking discussions in the friction space. in addition to the hopes that the lived experiences of new bilingual teachers may slowly but steadily decenter the monoglossic inclinations of the educational institutions, it is crucial to look for points of contact between teacher preparation programs and the school districts where student teaching happens, such as partnerships, shared personnel, or professional development, which may serve as boundary spanning and potential conduits for ideological transformation. assuming an ethical commitment, translanguaging scholars in direct contact with districts may utilize their positionality to pave the way for new heteroglossic teachers and contribute wedge open the spaces of possibility for a new multilingual education inside out. aprecio y reconocimiento el autor quiere reconocer la energía vital y feedback recibidos del dr. ferran/fernando rodríguez-valls, compañero translenguador. graciès. where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 64 references alfaro, c. (2019). preparing critically conscious dual-language teachers: recognizing and interrupting dominant ideologies. theory into practice, 58(2), 194–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1569400 anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera. aunt lute press. babino, a., & stewart, m. a. (2018). remodeling dual language programs: teachers enact agency as critically conscious language policy makers. bilingual research journal, 41(3), 272–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1489313 bakhtin, m. m. (1981). the dialogic imagination: four essays (vol. 55). university of texas press. https://doi.org/10.2307/40136453 blackledge, a., & creese, a. (2014). heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy (1st ed.). springer netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7856-6 briceño, a., rodríguez-mojica, c., & muñoz-muñoz, e. (2018). from english learner to spanish learner: raciolinguistic beliefs that influence heritage spanish speaking teacher candidates. language and education, 32(3), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2018.1429464 busch, b. (2012). the linguistic repertoire revisited. applied linguistics, 33(5), 503–523. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams056 cde. (2018). global california 2030: speak, learn, lead. sacramento. choi, p. k. (2003). “the best students will learn english”: ultra-utilitarianism and linguistic imperialism in education in post-1997 hong kong. journal of education policy, 18(6), 673694. https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093032000145917 collins, b. a., sánchez, m., & españa, c. (2019). sustaining and developing teachers’ dynamic bilingualism in a re-designed bilingual teacher preparation program. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1610354 escamilla, k. (2018). growing up with the bilingual education act: one educator’s journey. bilingual research journal, 41(4), 369–387. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1529641 escamilla, k., hopewell, s., butvilofsky, s., sparrow, w., soltero-gonzález, l., ruiz-figueroa, o. a., & escamilla, m. (2014). biliteracy from the start: literacy squared in action. caslon publishing. fairclough, n. (2014). critical language awareness. sociolinguistics and language education. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315845661 fitch, k. l., & sanders, r. e. (eds.). (2004). handbook of language and social interaction. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410611574 flores, n. (2019). producing national and neoliberal subjects. in l. martin riojo & a. del percio (eds.), language and neoliberal governmentality (pp. 49–68). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429286711-3 flores, n., & rosa, j. (2015). undoing appropriateness: raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. harvard educational review, 85(2), 149–171. https://doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.85.2.149 flores, n., & schissel, j. l. (2014). dynamic bilingualism as the norm: envisioning heteroglossic approach to standards-based reform. tesol quarterly, 48(3), 454–479. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.182 garcia, n. (2015). tensions between cultural and utilitarian dimensions of language: a muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 65 comparative analysis of ‘multilingual’ education policies in france and germany. current issues in language planning, 16, 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2014.947015 garcía, o. (2014). tesol translanguaged in nys : alternative perspectives. journal.nystesol.org, 1(1), 2–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.2014.5.issue-4 garcía, o., & kleyn, t. (2018). translanguaging with multilingual students: learning from classroom moments. routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2017.1306673 garcía, o., & leiva, c. (2014). theorizing and enacting translanguaging for social justice. in a. blackledge & a. creese (eds.), heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy (pp. 199–216). springer netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7856-6_11 garcía, o., & torres-guevara, r. (2009). monoglossic ideologies and language policies in the education of u.s. latinas/os. in r. t. galvan, s. villenas, c. martinez, m. machado-casas, jr. e. murillo, & j. s. muñoz (eds.) handbook of latinos and education: theory, research, and practice (pp. 182–193). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429292026-11 good, a. g., fox barocas, s., chávez-moreno, l. c., feldman, r., & canela, c. (2017). a seat at the table: how the work of teaching impacts teachers as policy agents. peabody journal of education, 92(4), 505–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2017.1349490 grosjean. (1982). life with two languages: an introduction to bilingualism. harvard university press. gutiérrez, k. d., baquedano-lópez, p., & tejeda, c. (2009). rethinking diversity: hybridity and hybrid language practices in the third space. mind, culture, and activity, 6(4), 286–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039909524733 hamman, l. (2017). translanguaging and positioning in two-way dual language classrooms: a case for criticality. language and education, 32(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2017.1384006 inoue, m. (2004). what does language remember?: indexical inversion and the naturalized history of japanese women. journal of linguistic anthropology, 14(1), 39–56. https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.2004.14.1.39 johnson, d. c. (2010). implementational and ideological spaces in bilingual education language policy. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 13(1), 61–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050902780706 karatzogianni, a., & robinson, a. (2010). power, conflict and resistance : social movements, networks and hierarchies. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203869383 kiramba, l. k. (2019). heteroglossic practices in a multilingual science classroom. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 22(4), 445–458. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1267695 larsen-freeman, d. (2019). on language learner agency: a complex dynamic systems theory perspective. the modern language journal, 103, 61–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12536 la scotte, d., & tarone, e. (2019). heteroglossia and constructed dialogue in sla. modern language journal, 103, 95–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12533 liberali, f. c., & megale, a. (2016). elite bilingual education in brazil: an applied linguist’s perspective. colombian applied linguistics journal, 18(2), 95. https://doi.org/10.14483/calj.v18n2.10022 martínez, r. a., & mejía, a. f. (2020). looking closely and listening carefully: a sociocultural approach to understanding the complexity of latina/o/x students’ everyday language. where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 66 theory into practice, 59(1), 53–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1665414 menken, k., & garcía, o. (2010). negotiating language education policies: educator as policymakers. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203855874 merriam, s., & tisdell, e. (2015). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation (3rd ed.). john wiley & sons. muda, r., niszczota, p., bialek, m., & conway, p. (2018). reading dilemmas in a foreign language reduces both deontological and utilitarian response tendencies. journal of experimental psychology: learning memory and cognition, 44(2), 321–326. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000447 mühlhäusler, p. (2000). language planning and language ecology. current issues in language planning, 1(3), 306–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664200008668011 musanti, s. i., & rodríguez, a. d. (2017). translanguaging in bilingual teacher preparation: exploring pre-service bilingual teachers’ academic writing. bilingual research journal, 40(1), 38–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2016.1276028 ortega, l. (2019). sla and the study of equitable multilingualism. modern language journal, 103, 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12525 palmer, d. k., martínez, r. a., mateus, s. g., & henderson, k. (2014). reframing the debate on language separation: toward a vision for translanguaging pedagogies in the dual language classroom. modern language journal, 98(3), 757–772. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12121 paris, d., & alim, h. s. (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for social justice in a changing world. teachers college press. pennycook, a. (2004). language policy and the ecological turn. language policy, 3, 213–239. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-004-3533-x poza, l. (2017). translanguaging: definitions, implications, and further needs in burgeoning inquiry. berkeley review of education, 6(2), 101-128. https://doi.org/10.5070/b86110060 reath warren, a. (2018). monoglossic echoes in multilingual spaces: language narratives from a vietnamese community language school in australia. current issues in language planning, 19(1), 42–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2017.1337831 ricento, t. k., & hornberger, n. h. (1996). unpeeling the onion: language planning and policy and the elt professional. tesol quarterly, 30(3), 401. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587691 rodríguez-mojica, c., briceño, a., & muñoz-muñoz, e. (2019). combating linguistic hegemony: preparing and sustaining bilingual teacher educators in the united states. teacher education quarterly, 46(3), 57–78. rubin, h. j., & rubin, i. s. (2011). qualitative interviewing: the art of hearing data. sage. saldaña, j. (2012). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. sage. solsona-puig, j., capdevila-gutiérrez, m., & rodríguez-valls, f. (2018). la inclusividad lingüística en la educación multilingüe de california: coexistencia de las variedades y registros de lengua para enriquecer el aula de inmersión dual. educación y educadores, 21(2), 219– 236. https://doi.org/10.5294/edu.2018.21.2.3 valdés, g. (2018). analyzing the curricularization of language in two-way immersion education: restating two cautionary notes. bilingual research journal, 41(4), 388–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1539886 valdés, g. (2020). the future of the seal of biliteracy. in a. j. heineke & k. j. davin (eds.), the seal ofbbiliteracy: case studies and considerations for policy implementation (pp. 177-204). information age publishing inc. wei, l. (2018). translanguaging as a practical theory of language. applied linguistics, 39(1), 9– muñoz-muñoz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 67 30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039 weick, k. e., sutcliffe, k. m., obstfeld, d. (2016). organizing and the process of sensemaking. organization science, 16(4), 409–421. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1050.0133 where the translanguaging rubber hits the road association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 68 appendix a teacher preparation and translanguaging – semi-structured interview protocol 1 introduction to the project 2 what is your name and position/academic status? if not a teacher candidate: how many years do you have in the profession? 3 for non-teacher candidates: what is your relationship to teacher preparation? what is your relationship to bilingual teacher candidates? what is your relationship to preparing professional development for (new) teachers? 4 what is translanguaging for you? when did you first hear it? 5 what is spanglish for you? why does it happen? 6 have you participated in any professional development/learning experiences about this topic of translanguaging? 7 do you translanguage in your personal life? do you translanguage in your professional/academic life? how does it influence your professional/academic practice/experience? 8 are there any policies about language separation in your school (s)? focus on dli-bilingual schools. 9 what have you seen in professionals/teacher candidates/mentors/faculty around you? 10 in your school, what reactions have you seen in the community (students, parents) to translanguaging? 11 have you engaged with teacher candidates/classmates in a conversation about translanguaging? 12 (if applicable) what strategy or pedagogy or advice would you follow to introduce the concept in your professional community? 13 is there any other aspect you would like to add? do you have any questions for me? volume 17 issue 2 2023 amae special issue critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional guest editors pedro e. nava ramón a. martínez santa clara university stanford university editors patricia sánchez antonio j. camacho the university of texas at san antonio amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa lucila d. ek sacramento state the university of texas at san antonio managing editor karla garza the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 55 mexican american student veterans: from military service to higher education alfredo gonzalez california state university, dominguez hills algonzalez@csudh.edu abstract this study employs descriptive qualitative analysis to explore the experiences of eight mexican american veterans utilizing veterans affairs education benefits to pursue baccalaureate degrees. participants were recruited in southern california at two california community colleges and three california state universities. the findings suggest that mexican american student veterans navigate college and their education benefits based on their experiences in the military. the study identifies five factors mexican american student veterans negotiate when transitioning to college: (a) minimization of racism; (b) lack of support; (c) being experiential learners; (d) substitute leadership; and (e) being financially motivated. keywords: student veterans; post-9/i1; gi bill; mexican american; military doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.17.2.479 gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 56 in the wake of heinous tragedies that took the life of army specialist vanessa guillen, serving in the military is losing its appeal for many latinx1 community members (diaz et al., 2022). the rise in military sexual traumas, coupled with spiking latinx casualties overseas, suggests that military service is becoming an increasingly hostile path to achieve economic and social mobility. more than two straight decades of u.s. wars in iraq and afghanistan have caused labor shortages in military institutions (scott-killern & singer, 2023). in a desperate move during its lowest point in the 2022 recruiting crisis, the army relaxed the high school diploma enlistment requirement for new recruits 18 and older (beynon, 2022). at the same time, high schools nationwide have noticed a consistent presence of recruiters on campus, specifically in the most economically vulnerable districts (monforti & mcglynn, 2021). countering recruiters in schools are organizations like truth in recruitment and the project on youth and nonmilitary opportunities, which educate students on what some recruiters intentionally omit and offer alternatives to military service. today, the education benefits available to service members increased significantly with the passage of the veterans educational assistance act in 2008, commonly known as the post9/11 gi bill. eligibility is based on three years of honorable service after september 10, 2001, which includes a monthly living stipend based on the military’s basic allowance for housing (bah) determined by the institution’s location (picker, 2011). despite the financial resources attached to pursuing a college degree, veterans are less likely to utilize their education benefits compared to other veterans affairs (va) programs like disability compensation and health care (va, 2020). given that hispanic service members constitute 18% of active-duty personnel (dod, 2021), and they are expected to make up about 16% of all veterans by 2046 (schaeffer, 2021), the literature on the military-to-education pipeline remains silent on the effect military service has on latinx veterans who exercise their benefits to seek a college education, let alone mexican americans—the largest latinx subgroup in the military. keeping in mind that veterans have historically faced personal and institutional difficulties integrating back into civilian life and college campuses, it is urgent that we explore how mexican american veterans use and navigate their education benefits. to what extent, if at all, does military service equip mexican americans with the competencies to pursue and complete baccalaureate programs? mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 57 the mexican american veteran education pipeline research on the education pipeline makes clear that mexican american students suffer disproportionately at every “leakage” point in the continuum (alemán et al., 2022; covarrubias, 2011; solórzano et al., 2005). of particular significance is the transition from secondary to postsecondary education (solórzano et al., 2005). this is also a critical juncture when students transition to young adulthood. though students are pushed out or drop out of the education pipeline (yosso & solórzano, 2006), some mexican american students may instead choose other forms of professional development, like joining the military to receive job training, travel, or simply leaving their homes (martinez & huerta, 2020; monforti & mcglynn, 2021). given the importance of a college education—along with the training and necessary certifications—to enter some of the most in-demand occupational sectors, military service similarly offers prospective enlistees a path to social and economic mobility with precise figures on education, housing, and retirement benefits (martinez & huerta, 2020). for example, huerta (2015) identified that one of the factors prompting latino men to enlist—while in secondary education—was regular contact with military recruiters who reinforced occupational and economic incentives associated with serving. compared to sparse and inconsistent contact with school counselors that offered narrow guidance on ambiguous career paths with little to no assurances, the presence of military recruiters played a significant role in latino enlistment. whether or not serving in the military delivers on promises of upward mobility remains debatable. a closer look at the chicana/o education pipeline sheds some light on the outcomes of mexican american veterans. using covarrubias’s (2011) qualitative intersectionality as a template, i employed the august 2021 supplement of the community population survey to plot the mexican and mexican american veteran education pipelines illustrated in figures 1 and 2, respectively.2 immediately noticeable is that mexican educational outcomes have improved since 2009. figure 1 illustrates that of the 100 mexican students that begin school in the united states, 30% will be pushed out of high school in 2021 compared to 44% in 2009; 70% will complete high school in 2021 in contrast to 56% in 2009; and 37% will enroll in college in 2021 as opposed to 27% in 2009. based on that same pool of 100 students, the number of mexicans that earned an associate’s degree climbed from 5 in 2009 to 8 in 2021—a 60% increase—and those that earned a professional degree or doctorate doubled from 2.2 to 4.45 in 2021. gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 58 mexicans that earned a b.a. increased by 10%. only .03% out of 70 who complete high school join the military. figure 1. mexican american education pipeline. the mexican american veteran education pipeline, illustrated in figure 2, outlines a significantly different narrative. out of 100 mexican students that served in the military, 95% completed high school, a difference of 25% from those without service. in 2021, there were 75% more mexican americans with military service enrolled in college; more than double earned an associate’s degree; over one-third more received a four-year degree; and more than double completed professional and doctorate degrees compared to mexicans without service. though this is simply one observation measuring educational attainment, for mexicans, serving in the military does indeed offer a clearer path to educational benefits and attainment compared to not serving. mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 59 figure 2. mexican american veteran education pipeline. induction in the military based on educational attainment is at the discretion of each service branch, “possession of a high school diploma is desirable, although not mandatory, for enlistment” (enlistment, appointment, and induction criteria, 2016). apart from the recent recruiting crisis, for several decades, service branches required a high school diploma or its equivalent for induction, which explains the higher number of service member high school graduates. still, what is striking from the mexican american veteran education pipeline is that the number of students pushed out of college is almost double the number of non-service mexicans. one explanation for higher numbers of mexican american veterans being pushed out of college could be that many more are enrolled and face similar obstacles as mexicans without service. alternatively, the higher number of mexican american veterans pushed out of college could stem from pursuing college while in the armed forces, which can be difficult to manage along with individual unit demands (buddin & kapur, 2002). gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 60 nevertheless, the critical juncture creating leaks in the mexican american veterans education pipeline is relocated from secondary education to post-college enrollment. despite securing access to education benefits, higher education institutions are not structurally positioned to offer the proper mentorship and socio-emotional support mexican american student veterans may need to begin and complete a four-year degree (hung et al., 2022), which is the basis of this study. latinx student veterans transitioning from the military to higher education interest in the experiences of military veterans transitioning to college has grown significantly after the united states has spent over two decades continuously at war in iraq and afghanistan. a small group of scholars has focused on service-connected undergraduates and their experiences after leaving the armed forces and entering higher education (ackerman et al., 2009; diramio et al., 2008; norman et al., 2015). they found that veterans’ experiences transitioning to college are made difficult in the absence of individual oversight by senior leaders to help guide their everyday tasks (ackerman et al., 2009). other studies highlight previous characteristics prior to entering the military as determinants of college choice (molina, 2015). the research conducted so far assumes that because veterans have financial education benefits at their disposal, they are likely to begin and complete a baccalaureate program. a growing body of research has begun to investigate latinx military recruitment and service to better understand the relationship between patriotism and decisions to enlist, or commission, and considers their positions doubly colonized (bradford, 2021; monforti & mcglynn, 2021). scholars found that about one-fifth of “hispanics” face discrimination in branches like the army (dempsey & shapiro, 2009), yet few studies have directly investigated how experiencing racial discrimination in service influences student veteran experiences transitioning to college (hunt et al., 2022; santos et al., 2015). recently, hunt et al. (2022) found that racially minoritized student veteran men in the southeast, including four latinx student veterans, face alienation and racism on campus. however, their findings suggest that latinx student veterans minimize the presence of racism on campus, invoke their veteran identity as a mechanism of resiliency, and continue to subscribe to meritocracy. the current study seeks to expand this literature by descriptively summarizing mexican american student veteran experiences navigating higher education institutions in and outside the armed forces. mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 61 methodology considering the purpose of this investigation is to understand the impact of military service on mexican american student veterans pursuing a four-year degree, basic qualitative description was employed (merriam & tisdell, 2015; sandelowski, 2000; schroeder & perez, 2022). a basic qualitative descriptive design is ideal for studies that are under-theorized, and when researchers are interested in how people understand and interpret their experiences (merriam & tisdell, 2015). additionally, basic qualitative designs are less restricted from being committed to theoretical antecedents or frameworks (sandelowski, 2000). the main goal of a qualitative descriptive study is to produce an accurate, descriptive summary that captures the phenomenon under investigation “in a way that best contains the data collected” (p. 339; see also schroeder & perez, 2022, p. 57). the descriptive summary may catalyze future phenomenological or grounded theory approaches on this topic (sandelowski, 2000). positionality as a post-9/11 mexican american marine corps and operation iraqi freedom veteran, i navigated community college and transferred to a four-year university in 2009, when the post9/11 gi bill was implemented. my first-hand experience in the infantry provides a unique platform to pose questions mindful of different experiences in military occupational specialties (mos), military culture and values, overseas deployments, and availability of resources in and outside of service. data collection and participants the following analysis is derived from eight in-depth semi-structured interviews with mexican american student veterans in july 2022. these interviews were conducted and recorded via zoom, ranging from 40 to 60 minutes. participants were recruited through purposive sampling. a call for participation was distributed from the veterans resource centers (vrc) at three california state universities (csu) and two california community colleges (ccc). i initially contacted the directors at each vrc to solicit participation through their email lists, which included a screening survey in determining eligibility based on two criteria: self-identifying as any latinx subgroup and being able to present their department of defense form 214 “certificate of release or discharge from active duty” (dd-214). verifying participants possessed a dd-214 affirms that they served and separated from the military (schwille et al., 2019). moreover, student veterans cannot access benefits associated with gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 62 programs like the post-9/11 gi bill without presenting their dd-214 to a certifying official. table 1 illustrates the participants using pseudonyms to uphold confidentiality, along with selected demographics and characteristics. table 1 mexican american student veteran demographics pseudonym gender age military branch (years of service) institution type education benefits major abigail woman 35 marine corps (4) ccc voc. rehab sociology gil man 26 marine corps (6) ccc voc. rehab business leticia woman 28 navy (4) ccc voc. rehab administrative justice andres man 36 navy (4) csu voc. rehab accounting juan man 33 army (8) csu post-9/11 jazz studies benito man 25 army (3) csu post-9/11 sociology alfonso man 56 navy (12) csu n/a management jackie woman 30 marine corps (12) ccc post-911 biology during the interview, i asked participants to describe their racial and ethnic background. all eight participants identified as mexican; two participants stated they were mexican american, and one identified as mexican and peruvian. seven were born in the united states; one reported being born in mexico and naturalizing while in service. two served in the army, three in the marine corps, and three in the navy. their active-duty service ranged from three to 12 years; the average time in service was 6.5 years. one participant was junior enlisted, six were non-commissioned officers (nco), and one was a senior enlisted staff non-commissioned mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 63 officer (snco). three participants were in a combat related mos and five were in combat support moss. three participants were women and five identified as men. six participants reported honorable discharges and two received general discharges. four participants were enrolled at a ccc and the other four were enrolled at a csu. all participants served in the post-9/11 era. data analysis data analysis began with a review of interview transcripts and participant summaries, which included the initial participation survey. subsequent content analysis proceeded in two stages. first, using maxqda qualitative analysis software, i conducted open coding inductively to identify patterns and cooccurrences and generated initial codes. the second phase of analysis consisted of collapsing initial codes into subcategories to reduce the data (schreier, 2014). the following is a descriptive summary of eight mexican american student veteran experiences navigating cccs and csus. findings minimizing racism one of the first ideas that emerged when mexican american student veterans reflected on their individual military service was that they, initially, were inattentive to racial discrimination. though each veteran had varying degrees of awareness to implicitly or explicitly racially motivated events, most deferred or minimized racist experiences as being part of the military’s culture of meritocracy. stated differently, if service members were being singled out, hazed, or ridiculed based on their racialized identities, participants suggested that service members were expected to preserve and adopt the dominant group’s high standards by meeting its thresholds or succumb to discrimination as an “other.” participants were asked about experiencing racism while serving. during his interview, juan stated that he did not experience racism. however, he mentioned, “but my nickname was jose suave adios mios cadillac rios the third,” which was reduced as a joke among his unit. although juan was reluctant to classify his nickname as racism, he was aware of the racial tropes associated with being a mexican man. gil also indicated that he did not experience racism, but instead encountered “tough love.” gil shared his perspectives on racism in the military: gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 64 every race is going to get treated the same way, even if it’s good or bad. so yeah, i don’t, i wouldn’t say it was racist because it wasn’t just a specific race, it was just more a rite of passage kind of thing. i know like a lot of times the like african american guys or girls would get in trouble, or not get in trouble, they get ridiculed for failing swim [qualification] or something. everyone be like, oh okay, that’s like that’s expected. i mean and nine times out of ten, they wouldn’t get butthurt they’re just like, yeah, whatever they’ll laugh about it. you know they really know what’s coming. just little things like that. i don’t think anything was like legit like hardcore racism like out of hate is what i’m trying to get at. similar as juan, gil minimizes explicit racism as a joke, yet at the same time, he is aware that institutions and society perceive certain racialized groups as inferior when he identifies races as “good or bad.” gil notes that black service members are stereotyped as unable to successfully complete swimming qualifications. the fact that black service members refrain from publicly challenging racist comments signaled to gil that they supported and even endorsed these perceived stereotypes that black people are unable to swim. gil supports the meritocratic ideology that black service members’ abilities will either demonstrate whether they get accepted or are ridiculed. for gil, racist microaggressions do not meet the threshold of racism because they are not “hardcore” or driven by hate, as seemingly evidenced by people deferring to laugh about such situations. other participants initially rejected the idea that they experienced racism while serving but quickly changed their minds. for example, jackie, who served twelve years in the marines, reflected and soon realized, “now that i’m on this topic, there is a lot of racism.” she would eventually be promoted as a staff sergeant and trained to become a military recruiter, where she observed explicit moments of racism and discrimination. during her recruiter training program, jackie’s command mobilized spanish-speaking recruiters to address a shortage on the east coast: so, when you’re telling me i’m going to connecticut because i speak spanish, all of a sudden, i don’t speak spanish. it’s not fluent. so, at that point, i got to stay in california. i didn’t stay with riverside because they already had too many female hispanic speakers, but they needed one in orange county, specifically in placentia, because they don’t have any other mexicans to send there. so that’s when i got pulled out of riverside the mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 65 morning of and placed in orange county. but i think when the marine corps chooses recruiters, all they look at is demographics. and statistically, if we put this race in this kind of area, they’re going to look at that race and be like, i want to be that. jackie had initially been unaware of institutional or systemic racism in the marine corps until she reflected on experiences that stood out to her. without reflecting, jackie would argue that racism was less prevalent than sexism. her identity as a woman was more detrimental to her career than being racialized as “hispanic.” at the same time, jackie realized that senior leaders in her recruiting command employed race strategically to assign specific duty stations for new recruiters, “they put all the black [recruiters] in long beach. it all makes sense to me then, that it does exist at a higher level, but i think when it’s, like, trickling down at the lower levels, we don’t even see it.” jackie noticed that her recruiting orders were not based on her abilities; instead, the marine corps intentionally placed her where potential recruits that looked like her would see themselves in uniform. unsupported all the participants expressed feeling unsupported on the topic of seeking an education while serving in the military. the lack of support manifested in three ways: (a) being unaware of education resources; (b) lacking proper mentorship to use resources; and (c) being discouraged by unit leaders. information about education resources differed by branch, with the army and marine corps being the least accommodating for service members seeking to take advantage of their benefits. most participants only learned about resources like tuition assistance (ta) while attending transition classes when they separated from the military. additionally, since military culture generally rejected the idea of taking college courses while actively serving, there were very few, if any, senior leaders to look toward as mentors. the military is responsible for sharing information about educational resources, it is also the same institution that blocks its members from effectively utilizing those resources. one way the military prevents service members from using their education benefits is by not making them aware of available resources. for instance, jackie was not informed about available resources until she completed her first enlistment, “i didn’t even know it [ta] existed until my second enlistment. and at that time, i was already pregnant.” jackie believes that if resources like ta had been explained early on in her career, she would have taken advantage of those opportunities before starting a family. gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 66 another way the military made it clear that utilizing educational benefits while serving was undesired was through a lack of mentorship. abigail, a marine veteran, was aware of ta but less acquainted with navigating both college and military service: it was different, i think. i was kind of not confused about the actual process of it, i think i was more confused on like time management like how to be a student in the military. yeah, yeah, that was kind of hard and i didn’t really have like a mentor that you know was trying to pave the way or anything. i’m kind of conflicted because i feel like i should have had more of the initiative. you know to figure it out if i didn’t have that [a mentor], but i think in hindsight, you know, just being a young marine like that’s the whole point of a mentor, you know, because young marines don’t think like that. though abigail recognized that she lacked mentorship when she contemplated pursuing college courses in the military, she ultimately resorted to meritocratic ideals to insist that despite not having a mentor, she herself should have had more initiative in learning about education benefits. as abigail continued, it became more apparent that her commitment to meritocracy conflicted with her desire for mentorship navigating higher education when she mentioned, “. . . not to just say i have my degree right, you should strive for that. but sometimes you have to break it down, like i say, barney style, you know, like to get somebody on a path.” for abigail, “barney style” meant taking things by the numbers, step-by-step, which is the type of guidance she had wanted, but ultimately did not receive. a third way that mexican american student veterans evoked feeling unsupported was through being explicitly discouraged from seeking educational resources by institutional policies and senior unit leaders. for example, during leticia’s interview, she mentioned that prior to enlisting, her recruiters helped provide information about the various educational resources available while serving. yet, when asked about her experience using resources like ta, leticia stated, “i actually never got to use it [ta]. i never took advantage of it, and i wish i did.” leticia further shared: i didn’t get to use it because i think at the time, i had to have two years in the military. i think they changed it or something while i was in, i don’t recall. but i remember i had my daughter, and i didn’t pass the first bca [body composition assessment] after having my daughter, so i was automatically at the time, like, disqualified from it. mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 67 though leticia was interested in pursuing college coursework while serving in the military, two separate institutional policies restricted her ability to use those benefits; a time-in-service requirement that was not met and a physical fitness exam that, for the most part, penalized her pregnancy. leticia stopped short of identifying the military as the institution that limited her from pursuing college; rather, she summed up her disappointment as being unable to use the opportunity when she “wanted to.” comparably, andres was equally discouraged by the military’s bureaucratic labyrinth to use ta, “it was too burdensome, i guess, because i had to go up my chain of command.” access to educational resources excited andres that he took advantage of his opportunities but was quickly deterred by the lack of information and guidance: when i got to my final duty station, they said, oh, you know, use tuition assistance, which i did, and i had to submit a chit and write it up through the chain of command. and then i had to go to the command education officer. and then when i went to the college, they told me, why don’t you just fill out the fafsa [free application for federal student aid]? it’s a lot quicker. you don’t need to be dealing with all this. and i thought, oh, really? and so, i used the financial assistance once from the command, and then after that, i just used the fafsa. andres realized that the messages he received prior to enlisting omitted details about navigating chains of command and completing critical paperwork. in fact, his college provided more financial guidance than his command, which ironically suggests that if college had been one of the factors for his enlistment, he could have started—and maybe even finished—his studies without enlisting. moreover, andres’s training command summarily declined applying for educational opportunities, “they wouldn’t allow me to seek [an] education while under a training status, even though i had like months because i had like a month gap between corpsman school and field medic school.” despite his motivation and eagerness to concurrently enroll in college courses while training to become a field medic, the navy confined andres’s opportunities and attention to completing its own training courses—information that had been left out before he enlisted. experiential learners surprisingly, while mexican american student veteran accounts of using educational resources while in the military largely depict being unsupported, most participants lauded their gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 68 military service for thriving in college. they attributed their current motivation and educational journey to learning productive habits, implementing routines, paying attention to details, and being mission oriented in uniform. in addition, military service provided participants with tools that easily segued from one institution to the other. gil disclosed that without his experience in the military, he “would have been more relaxed, not really focusing, just kind of here [in college] just to be here.” as an infantry rifleman in the marines, gil indicated that if he had gone to college immediately after high school, he would not be as successful: just because, you know, you take it more seriously, and you know how to navigate through everything as far as the basics of time management and scheduling. being prepared for something, like you learned all that, and then you’re kind of just putting it through to just like another kind of thing, like studying versus getting ready for a field [operation] or rehearsals. due to his military experience, gil was not only trained in infantry tactics but also fundamental organizational skills, such as meeting deadlines and recognizing the importance of planning—he had not acquired these “basic” skills in his secondary education. gil also identified executing tasks as a learned skill that he then applied, almost innately, toward studying for his courses cultivated during training exercises. additionally, gil demonstrated that being mission-oriented promoted a sense of urgency, further increasing the importance of executing tasks that are quickly measured and evaluated, such as making it to a platoon formation on time or completing a ten-kilometer hike with full combat loads. at first, benito was reluctant to attribute his time in the military as an incubator for college, “i mean, for my job, being an 11 bravo [army infantry], the only thing they care about was how fast can you run, how many push-ups can you do, and what’s your rifle qualification.” as he reflected, however, benito shared that the army had, indeed, equipped him to pursue a college degree: but then also mentally? yeah, i think the military prepared me quite well because my entire train of thought, going to school was just like, this isn’t even that bad. i’m in a room that has air conditioning. i just have to listen to a professor, write some notes down and just do the homework and study for a test. and so far, it’s gotten me a pretty high gpa. i’m at 3.8 gpa right now. that’s my mentality going through it all. i’m chilling. mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 69 there’s no sense of danger whatsoever in here. for some people that have no military experience, it’s just like, they’re just freaking out about getting a homework assignment done that probably takes, like, 20 or 30 minutes to do. though challenging, going to college for benito seemed more hospitable than deploying overseas to a combat zone where service members face constant imminent threats. enduring traumatic events in war gave benito an alternative perspective to articulate obstacles in college, such as assignments and exams, that were unevenly matched. furthermore, benito was unable to relate to his peers who could not complete and execute assignments. benito expressed confidence in implementing the same types of habits and routines in a challenging environment absent of danger. similarly, leticia indicated that she “needed” the military to disrupt what had become a complacent life: before the military, i wasn’t really going anywhere in life. i didn’t have motivation. i think i was just letting the days go by, and it was just years wasted, like, four years wasted. and the military itself, i didn’t see it at the time, but once i was transitioning out, like, i saw that i was more determined, and i had more motivation than i ever had. and i knew what i was passionate for. and i knew my strengths and my weaknesses. and i work well under pressure. so, i was like, i want to take that to my advantage and see what i can do with that. currently in the process of transferring to a research university, leticia seeks to become a lawyer and veterans’ advocate. part of her motivation for pursuing a career in law stems from testifying as a witness for a friend’s legal dispute in military courts. leticia realized that she enjoyed those experiences and the legal process, “i’ve always been the one to just, like, put the pieces together and like, argue, and i like it. and, i was just like, well, what can i do with that?” although leticia was discouraged from acquiring a college education while in the navy, her experiences in the military exposed her to other career possibilities that would otherwise go unrecognized. substitute leadership though no longer in uniform, each participant searched for guidance from people they could trust to provide accurate and relevant information. more often than not, key personnel like certifying officials and student veteran counselors were associated with veterans resource centers (vrc). together with vrc program directors and coordinators, mexican american gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 70 student veterans were able to meet with staff members that understood how to effectively exercise va education benefits by introducing strategies unbeknownst to them. through these interactions, student veterans developed confidence in their relationships with vrc staff that mirrored their experiences with senior leaders in the military as being cared for. after meeting with a certifying official, andres gained confidence in realistically going to school, “speaking with the counselor helped me plan everything because i didn’t know that if you go half time, it only eats up half of the eligible time remaining [on post-9/11 benefits].” andres was reluctant to pursue college because he assumed that va education benefits would only be granted when enrolled full-time. prior to transferring to a csu, andres used most of his va education benefits at a community college that lacked an adequate vrc. despite depleting his va education benefits, the certifying official at the csu vrc offered andres critical mentorship to continue his studies using a less familiar va program: chapter 31, veteran readiness and employment, formerly known as vocational rehabilitation (voc rehab). this program provides veterans with service-connected disabilities job training and pays for college tuition to acquire a specific occupation (va, 2022). andres recollected, “i used the gi bill at [ccc]. took a break, then i decided to go back to school. i used my gi bill and had about a month and eleven days left, and that’s when i applied to voc rehab.” similarly, leticia was directly mentored by a chapter 31 counselor, “the vr and e counselor told me, like, you know what? use this program first [chapter 31], and then for law school, use your gi bill for whatever education that you want to pursue after the vr and e program is done.” though still in the process of transferring to a four-year institution, leticia built rapport and is close with the veterans’ counselors and veterans department at her ccc. the benefits of pursuing chapter 31 were also brought up to gil at his ccc: i used my post-9/11 for more trades and things. i didn’t use it all, i used a fraction of it until i learned about chapter 31, the vocational rehab, and that i learned about when i applied to [ccc]. they were like, oh, you should apply, and they told me how and they helped me through the process and that one [chapter 31] i feel like they’re [ccc] super helpful, and it’s not just applying, and you know everyone’s going to accept the gi bill, but that one [chapter 31] is more in depth and personal. gil highlighted the extra steps involved in securing chapter 31 benefits compared to the post9/11 gi bill. since chapter 31 is meant to support job training in a specific occupation, not the mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 71 pursuit of a college education, service-connected disabled veterans must qualify for the program by completing interviews with the va, which may take longer to become eligible. the vrc staff continued to be gil’s guide throughout the process and plans to save his post-9/11 gi bill to pursue a master’s program. financially motivated the most salient characteristic shared by mexican american student veterans about transitioning to college is their financial motivation. although achieving a college degree for most participants also signified higher earnings potential, mexican american student veterans approach va education entitlements as another mission to complete to earn a wage. in other words, one of the main factors impacting their decision to pursue college has more to do with their pocketbook rather than a chosen area of study. while the va grants enrolled student veterans monthly living stipends, it does so based on the schools’ location, meaning certain schools might be less attractive not because they are inadequate. instead, enrolling in other schools may provide student veterans higher bah payments (dod, 2021). going to college was not the goal for benito after getting out of the military. he believed that his time away from school while in the military had already put him at a disadvantage, “everyone’s going to look at me like i’m some idiot,” he expressed. originally, benito intended to become a police officer; however, due to sustaining a knee injury in the police academy, he resigned. pursuing a college education was his last resort to provide for himself, and the fact that taking courses came with financial support helped finalize his decision, “they gave me a monthly check, and that’s why i decided to go to school.” with that same incentive in mind, juan enrolled in college after completing his enlistment in the army. not only was his ccc nearby and easily accessible, to juan, “it was free money, so i might as well collect on that gi bill and get something out of it.” when andres responded to how the post-9/11 gi bill affected his decision to pursue college, he was motivated by the amount of money he could receive compared to his previous factory job: “i wasn’t even working 40 hours a week. it was actually less than what the gi bill was paying me.” other participants were strategic about enrolling in specific schools to maximize the amount of housing allowance they received since the post-9/11 gi bill awards funds based on where the school is located. as a result, jackie preferred a different college but enrolled at her local ccc since the award amount was higher, “i probably would have went to mount sac if gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 72 they gave me more bah, but because [ccc] does give more [money], i attend here.” considering that she is a single parent caring for young children, jackie believed she lacked the luxury of gaining an education compared to finding a stable job. the post-9/11 gi bill, however, extended a path where she could pursue a program of study and support her family: i think it enabled me to get the education. i don’t think if i wouldn’t have had those benefits i’d be in college right now because you get promised those grants, but that’s not putting money in my pocket. i need to work, so i don’t think school would have been a focus for me if it weren’t for those benefits. jackie is aware of general opportunities to receive financial college support, however, without guaranteed funding to cover the cost of attending—on top of the cost of living—seeking a college education would be the least of her concerns. at the same time, she also realizes that receiving scholarships only pay for tuition, her most important obligation demands a stable income to support her family. discussion mexican american student veterans are determined to pursue a college degree, due in large part to their experiences and commitments to military culture and values, including selfless service, meritocracy, and loyalty. studies on latinx student veterans attempt to demonstrate how prior conditions and characteristics before military service may be important indicators of college enrollment and success (molina, 2015). one critical aspect these studies neglect to consider is how the military prepares veterans to pursue higher education. consistent with hunt and colleagues (2022), mexican american student veterans downplayed the existence of racism in the military, which also affirmed their adoption of meritocratic values they carried into civilian life. at the same time, however, some mexican american student veterans recognized how the military fundamentally maintains racism through everyday operations, disrupting the idea that “only black veterans acknowledge it [racism]” (p. 786). still, the military’s emphasis on meritocracy inculcated mexican american student veterans to believe that individual ability is the most significant factor impacting upward mobility. despite being systematically discouraged from using education benefits while in service, mexican american student veterans continue to attribute their persistence and confidence in college to their military service. this finding suggests that the military passively prepares mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 73 mexican american service members by adapting and gradually shifting their perceptions from fixating on outcomes to valuing the process that leads to completing missions. another important finding in this study departs from previous research indicating that prior characteristics before enlisting are determinants of college enrollment and school choice (molina, 2015; santos et al., 2015). these studies failed to consider how new education policy initiatives and their implementation would impact veterans’ decisions to pursue a college education, leading some to speculate about the actual impact service-connected education benefits have on latinx student veterans (santos et al., 2015). for financially motivated mexican american student veterans, school location—particularly at the community college level—is a critical factor influencing enrollment since the level of bah is contingent upon the school’s address. implications based on these findings, most mexican american student veterans are unclear about their educational or professional goals, and they are likely to enroll in college for financial security. moving forward, colleges and universities can better support mexican american and latinx student veteran transitions to college by informing their career goals. in other words, since higher education institutions are enrolling student veterans, more efforts must be made to expand vrc budgets to include not only program administrators but also staff directing veteran research and professional development opportunities. given the amount of financial resources and diversity that student veterans contribute to higher education institutions, it makes sense to broaden the capacity of vrcs with faculty and career advisors, otherwise, colleges and universities run the risk of maintaining student veteran mentoring deficits. though lacking direct mentorship in exercising education benefits, research shows that three out of four latinx service members report having an occupational mentor throughout their enlistments (dempsey & shapiro, 2009). in the same way, vrcs can train a cadre of staff to mentor incoming student veterans that share academic and professional interests. additionally, considering that mexican american student veterans may shop for institutions with the highest financial return, it may be appropriate for colleges and universities to develop regional vrc consortiums to better exchange information between institutions and students. situations may arise where some institutions may be better equipped to accommodate student veterans than others. within this same recommendation, vrc gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 74 consortiums may have the ability to host veteran summer transition programs focused on student-veteran intersectionality (smith, 2014), where incoming racially minoritized student veterans can be invited to learn more about their intersecting identities, activities that were institutionally suppressed while serving. holding such transition programs will recreate cohorts familiar to most veterans, further creating opportunities to build and develop their new community. notes 1 the use of latinx signals an acknowledgment of nonbinary gender identifications within the various groups with backgrounds in mexico, central america, and latin america. mexican and mexican american is used to refer to people who have family origins in mexico. legal permanent residents are included in the term mexican american student veterans. chicana and chicano are used to identify people normally associated with people of mexican origin in the us seeking racial identification and distance from labels like “hispanic.” 2 i only utilized data for observations that were 25 and older, following similar guidelines found in covarrubias (2011). association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 75 references 2021 bah rates with dependents. (2021). department of defense. https://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/docs/perdiem/browse/allowances/bah/pdf/2021/20 21-with-dependents-bah-rates.pdf ackerman, r., diramio, d., & mitchell, r.l.g. (2009). transitions: combat veterans as college students. new directions for student services, 2009(126), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.311 alemán, s. m., bahena, s., & alemán, e. (2022). remapping the latina/o and chicana/o pipeline: a critical race analysis of educational inequity in texas. journal of hispanic higher education, 21(1), 17–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192719892878 beynon, s. (2022, june 24). army drops requirement for high school diploma amid recruiting crisis. military.com. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/06/24/army-dropsrequirement-high-school-diploma-amid-recruiting-crisis.html bradford, a. c. (2021). latinx veterans, outsider patriotism and the motives behind minoritized military service. journal of veterans studies, 7(3), article 3. https://doi.org/10.21061/jvs.v7i3.272 buddin, r., & kapur, k. (2002). tuition assistance usage and first-term military retention (no. ada408281). rand corporation. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ada408281 covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos & education, 10(2), 86–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2011.556519 dempsey, j. k., & shapiro, r. y. (2009). the army’s hispanic future. armed forces & society, 35(3), 526–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327x08327821 department of defense. (2021). 2021 demographics: profile of the military community. department of defense. https://download.militaryonesource.mil/12038/mos/reports/2021-demographicsreport.pdf diaz, j., cramer, m., & morales, c. (2022, november 30). what to know about the death of vanessa guillen. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/vanessa-guillenfort-hood.html diramio, d., ackerman, r., & mitchell, r. l. (2008). from combat to campus: voices of student-veterans. journal of student affairs research and practice, 45(1), 73–102. https://doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.1908 enlistment, appointment, and induction criteria, 32 cfr § 66.6(b)(3)(i) (2016). flood, s., king, m., rodgers, r., ruggles, s., warren, j. r., & westberry, m. (n.d.). integrated public use microdata series, current population survey (10.0) [data set]. ipums, 2022. https://doi.org/10.18128/d030.v10.0 huerta, a. h. (2015). “i didn’t want my life to be like that”: gangs, college, or the military for latino male high school students. journal of latino/latin american studies, 7(2), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.18085/1549-9502-7.2.119 hunt, b., lim, j. h., & williams, j. a. (2022). unsung heroes on campus: minority veterans’ transition experiences by race. the journal of higher education, 93(5), 769–791. martinez, e., & huerta, a. h. (2020). deferred enrollment: chicano/latino males, social mobility and military enlistment. education and urban society, 52(1), 117–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124518785021 gonzalez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 76 merriam, s. b., & tisdell, e. j. (2015). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. john wiley & sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csudh/detail.action?docid=2089475 molina, d. (2015). post-9/11 military veterans and higher education: factors associated with college enrollment and choice [unpublished doctoral dissertation]. university of california, los angeles. https://www.proquest.com/openview/4485f8aa99058db063a081baa83c37f0/1?pqorigsite=gscholar&cbl=18750 monforti, j. l., & mcglynn, a. (2021). proving patriotismo: latino military recruitment, service, and belonging in the us. lexington books. norman, s., rosen, j., himmerich, s., myers, u., davis, b., browne, k., & piland, n. (2015). student veteran perceptions of facilitators and barriers to achieving academic goals. journal of rehabilitation research and development, 52, 701–712. https://doi.org/10.1682/jrrd.2015.01.0013 picker, j. d. (2011). the post-9/11 g.i. bill: a catalyst to change service voluntary education programs [unpublished master’s thesis]. national defense univ norfolk va joint advanced warfighting school. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ada545637 sandelowski, m. (2000). whatever happened to qualitative description? research in nursing & health, 23(4), 334–340. https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-240x(200008)23:4<334::aid-nur9>3.0.co;2-g santos, j. l., esqueda, m. c., & molina, d. (2015). military service and college: an exploratory examination of military-connected latina/o undergraduates and access to higher education. journal of latino/latin american studies, 7(2), 102–118. https://doi.org/10.18085/1549-9502-7.2.102 schaeffer, k. (2021, april 5). the changing face of america’s veteran population. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/05/the-changing-face-ofamericas-veteran-population/ schreier, m. (2014). qualitative content analysis. in u. flick (ed.), the sage handbook of qualitative data analysis. sage publications ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446282243 schroeder, m., & perez, r. j. (2022). exploring the salience of veteran identity for us college students. journal of veterans studies, 8(1), article 1. https://doi.org/10.21061/jvs.v8i1.289 scott-skillern, c., & singer, p. w. (2023, march 7). the u.s. army has a recruitment problem. here’s how to solve it. time. https://time.com/6260526/army-recruitment-problem-us/ solórzano, d. g., villalpando, o., & oseguera, l. (2005). educational inequities and latina/o undergraduate students in the united states: a critical race analysis of their educational progress. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 272–294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192705276550 u.s. department of veterans affairs veteran readiness and employment (vr&e). (2020). veterans administration. https://www.benefits.va.gov/vocrehab/docs/fy2020longstudy.pdf va utilization profile 2017. (2020). [government]. u.s. department of veterans affairs. https://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/quickfacts/va_utilization_profile_2017.pdf veterans affairs (va). (2022). veteran readiness and employment: chapter 31 [government]. veterans benefits administration: chapter 31 factsheet. https://benefits.va.gov/benefits/factsheets/vocrehab/updated_chapter_31_factsheet. pdf https://www.benefits.va.gov/vocrehab/docs/fy2020longstudy.pdf mexican american student veterans association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 77 yosso, t. j., & solórzano, d. g. (2006). leaks in the chicana and chicano educational pipeline. latino policy & issues brief. number 13. in ucla chicano studies research center (nj1). ucla chicano studies research center. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed493404 amae 1.pdf amae 6 gonzalez.pdf volume 15 issue 1 2021 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.1.442 de la cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 150 macswan, j., & faltis, c (2020). codeswitching in the classroom: critical perspectives on teaching, learning, policy, and ideology. routledge. 290 pp. isbn-13: 9781138225060. paperback: $20.87 terri de la cruz university of texas at san antonio the book codeswitching in the classroom: critical perspectives on teaching, learning, policy, and ideology showcases a collection of essays by academic scholars who examine the history of the sociolinguistic foundations of codeswitching research and discuss how bilingual programs shifted over the years from english-only policies to support bilingual education policies, and back to english-driven policies. using data from their qualitative research, the contributors examine how the inconsistencies in bilingual education policies affect how teachers define and implement bilingual programs into their classrooms, explicitly addressing codeswitching. the authors argue that teachers’ attitudes regarding bilingualism vary due to the contradicting language policies. they expound that some teachers view codeswitching as an essential part of student identity and a way to resist the hegemony of english. in contrast, other teachers believe that codeswitching hinders the process of english language proficiency. the contributors also highlight the lack of classroom resources for bilingual teachers that are necessary for teaching, nurturing, and understanding the cultural aspects of bilingual students. finally, through their discussion on the vital role codeswitching plays within language policies and the classroom, the authors also hope to educate current and future bilingual teachers on the importance of codeswitching within their pedagogical approaches. the book is divided into three parts. part one, theory and context, comprises two chapters, through which macswan and faltis provide the theoretical foundations of codeswitching by examining its history. macswan focuses on codeswitching as language use, language structure, and codeswitching in education. he shows its beginnings as a systemized and rule-governed research approach that compared bilinguals to monolinguals. he also discusses current research that dispels past beliefs that disparaged and stigmatized language mixing. faltis focuses on bilingual education and codeswitching as an instructional tool in public classrooms within the united states. faltis frames codeswitching as a social construct where “its speakers de la cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 151 need to recognize and use the two language[s] for distinct social situations, and not allow the dominant language to enter domains in which the minoritized language prevails” (p.41). he presents approaches on pedagogical codeswitching and explains the need for bilingual teachers to remain flexible in terms of pedagogy to expand the spoken and written skills of bilingual students. although the authors primarily focus on codeswitching, they also discuss translanguaging as a separate languaging tool in bilingual education. lead scholars within the field of bilingual education and bilingualism cover the remaining chapters of the book. part two, teaching and learning, covers five chapters that discuss bilingual language practices within monolingual classrooms. explored within part two is a successful reading program that designated reading buddies (peer tutoring) by pairing fourth graders with kindergarteners to discuss math, science, and technology. tigert and colleagues look at how students incorporated codeswitching to discuss, explain, and give instructions which produced favorable outcomes for both the mentor and mentee. they found that the language switching tool helps promote dialogue among students and their teachers. the contributors within part two show the positive effects of codeswitching within the classroom and its great value when incorporated into curricula. finally, they examine how educators use a funds of knowledge approach to help make lessons more effective and create a welcoming environment for multilingual children. according to the contributors, codeswitching helps conceptualize language use in the context of culture and community. part two also examines the challenges that teachers experience when utilizing hybrid language practices in a monolingual setting. this section underscores the importance and usefulness of codeswitching research to expand bilingual student education and encourage them to use their home language to elevate their learning experiences. the contributors provide insight into the study of language within u.s. schools that assists with educational instruction. they also focus on dispelling misconceptions of semilingualism and deficit views that promote monolingualism and on challenging claims that academic english is the “correct” or acceptable form of language within the classroom. part two shows how restrictive “correct” english ideologies promote racism and how language proficiency assessments result in racial segregation. the book also examines the debates of new and competing language ideologies. lastly, it investigates different terms used in linguistic, sociolinguistics, and educational fields to refer to language mixing, such as codemixing and heteroglossia. de la cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 152 finally, part three, policy and ideology, contains four chapters on codeswitching policies and educators’ beliefs and professional development. using field notes from classroom observations, contributors provide a critical perspective dialogue through an ethnographic approach that addresses classroom learning, classroom discourses, and professional development. they also highlight ongoing debates regarding new bilingual methodology and terminology such as translanguaging. first, hopewell and colleagues examine teachers’ opinions on codeswitching to find that most think positively about it within their teaching approaches. however, many educators hesitate when integrating the languaging tool because of the lack of support by their school districts. according to henderson and sayer, classrooms can consist of varying bi/multilingual and bi/multidialectal students who create a mixture of their languages within daily discourse and interactions. the contributors also look at how educators respond to student language practices to find that educators’ principles, how a teacher believes a student should speak, sometimes contrasts with the way students speak. although these educators are committed to students and their learning, classroom policies can contradict students’ use of language resulting in marginalization. lastly, through an ethnographic discourse analysis in two kindergarten bilingual classrooms, palmer looks at how the bilingual students were treated as monolinguals and categorized as english or spanish speakers. palmer shows how this practice can erase a child’s bilingual identity. this section highlights how vital it is for schools and bilingual programs to create policies that promote codeswitching, an essential language tool for understanding and shaping bilingual students’ identities. the book calls attention to inequities within bilingual education programs and the lack of pedagogical resources for educators. a recurring theme within the book is the topic of academic english, also referred to as the dominant language, a construct that promotes institutionally racist practices, such as english-only classrooms that favor white students’ learning. these concepts reflect the work of renowned scholar jane h. hill, the author of the everyday language of white racism. supported by hill’s scholarship on white discourse, the findings in this book prove that “correct” english favors the dominant white language. furthermore, academic english-only classroom practices systematically silence racially minoritized students by purposefully or inadvertently neglecting or disallowing culturally-based language tools for learning, such as codeswitching. de la cruz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 153 also discussed in the book is the importance of community-based language tools which are essential for exploring the agency that underpins the deciding factors of language, identity, and resistance. the book provides rich data from qualitative research and copies of fieldnote transcripts showing how the authors conducted their investigation. however, caution is advised against over-critiquing since its outcome could cause a rift throughout scholarly communities and result in “communities comprised of those only in agreement with one another” (p. 278). caution aside, the authors contribute to the ongoing research and discussions of codeswitching and provide valuable insight for teaching, learning, policy, and ideology. this book is valuable for anyone interested in ethnographic studies on culture, literacy, and language through the lens of codeswitching. it is also an essential resource for in-service and pre-service educators and those interested in educational policy. the book offers a perspective that helps build empathy for students who, as history has proven, were silenced and marginalized through “correct” language pedagogy. in addition, it provides an understanding of how languaging tools, such as codeswitching, promote equity within the classroom and help build a stronger sense of purpose for bilingual students. references hill, j. h. (2008). the everyday language of white racism. john wiley & sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304732 macswan, j., & faltis, c. j. (2020). codeswitching in the classroom: critical perspectives on teaching, learning, policy, and ideology. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315401102 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304732 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315401102 volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.457 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.457 flores association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 156 (re)orienting translanguaging in bilingual education nelson flores university of pennsylvania as a us born latino who grew up in a bilingual household in philadelphia, i learned from an early age about the subjective nature of language borders. for example, when i was in first grade, my teacher asked us about our favorite tv show. my answer to her was “la novela,” in reference to my mother’s soap opera that i enjoyed watching with her on my days off from school. fitting the typical demographic of the us teaching force, she was a monolingual white woman who didn’t understand me. i remember being surprised by this. while i was old enough to understand that my parents sometimes used spanish—a language that my teachers and many of my peers did not understand—i hadn’t realized that “la novela” was, in fact, not considered english to many people since i used it all the time with my siblings and cousins who all identified as english speakers. until that moment, “la novela” had always functioned as an unmarked english word to me with the term “soap opera” not entering my linguistic repertoire until later as the preferred term when engaged with monolingual english speakers. many years later when i was a graduate student in new york city, i had the opportunity to meet a former member of the young lords, a 1970s radical puerto rican organization with bases throughout the puerto rican diaspora that had inspired my own political commitments. we were waiting for the elevator together and i said something about “el elevador” taking a long time. she quickly corrected me insisting that “el elevador” was spanglish and that the correct term was “el ascensor,” a term i had never heard used by any spanish speakers in my life up to that point. this was one of many of my experiences of language policing in progressive circles that led me to the realization that the language policing of us latinxs spans the political spectrum from the far-right, who often want to impose draconian english-only policies to the far-left who often subscribe to purist language ideologies in the name of language maintenance. it was also one of the experiences that reminded me that it was not only monolingual white people who engaged in this language policing but also bilingual latinxs. (re)orienting translanguaging in bilingual education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 157 these experiences are part of what inspired me to develop a research agenda that brings attention to the arbitrary nature of linguistic borders and the harm that these linguistic borders perpetuate against us latinx students, teachers and communities. my point of entry into this work has been through the concept of translanguaging. i had the great fortune of reading the page proofs of what would eventually become bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective as a graduate student working under ofelía garcía’s supervision. i remember how validated i felt as a us latinx who was constantly made to feel as if neither my english or spanish were good enough as i read through the book. i feel even more validated when i come across other latinxs like navarro martell who share similar experiences in her critical autoethnographic work as part of this special issue. many of us have been able to build community around this concept in ways that were not just individually transformative but also provided us with tools to promote institutional transformation. at the same time, i worry that as the term has been taken up it has often been in ways that are divorced from the important political and epistemological components of ofelia’s original conceptualization of the term. salmerón, batista-morales and valenzuela remind us of these political dimensions of translanguaging, by pointing to the ways this connects to the longstanding politics of caring and authentic cariño latinx communities have used to combat subtractive schooling that has sought to violently strip us of our cultural and linguistic practices. nuñez & garcía-mateus further examine this resistance to subtractive policies that have shaped the experiences of us latinxs by examining the ways latina mothers work to sustain translanguaging family and cultural practices in defiance of monoglossic language ideologies that frame these language practices as deficient and in need of remediation. these articles are an important reminder that the inspiration for translanguaging as originally conceptualized in bilingual education in the 2st century was political struggles of latinx and other minoritized bilingual communities in the us and in the world. indeed, the origin story that ofelia has told about what originally inspired her to conceptualize translanguaging in the ways that she did in her book was the disconnect that she observed between the strict separation of languages that was, and often continues to be, considered “best practice” in bilingual education and the strategic use of both english and spanish that many bilingual teachers engaged in to enhance student learning and affirm their bilingualism. the legacy of resistance that inspired her conceptualization can be seen in the retratos described by muñoz-muñoz where latinx bilingual flores association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 158 teachers use their knowledge of translanguaging theory and pedagogy to continue to create counterideological stances in their schools. in the spirit of continuing to push the conversation further, i want to revisit one of the key conceptual moves that ofelia has made in her insistence that any theory of language committed to social justice must take bilingualism as the norm and use this as a point of entry for reconceptualizing the nature of all language practices. her argument, which she has continued to develop in collaboration with many others including me since 2009, is not simply that bilingualism is good but rather that bilingualism should be positioned as the norm of human communication. doing so reorients language away from the assumption that homogenous codes are the normative form of human communication toward the recognition that language is inherently heterogenous—that is, the recognition that all of us are constantly crossing sociohistorically produced linguistic borders. from this perspective, the relevant question to ask is not what linguistic practices count as translanguaging and what linguistic practices do not count as translanguaging. instead, the relevant question to ask is what forms of linguistic heterogeneity become marked as translanguaging and what forms of linguistic heterogeneity remain unmarked. the first step in reorienting language toward the embrace of its inherent heterogeneity is unapologetically engaging in marked forms of translanguaging in spaces where these language practices have typically been marginalized such as in academia. by engaging in the strategic use of language practices that have historically been associated with both english and spanish, the articles in this special issue are doing the important foundational work of normalizing these language practices by taking the stance that they are not just legitimate in homes and communities but also in schools and academia. this is most powerfully articulated through the trenzando poetry where the authors are strategically using their entire linguistic repertoire to speak back to their racial and linguistic oppression. ostorga illustrates the power of bringing these marked forms of translanguaging into bilingual teacher education, where latinx teachers whose spanish language practices are typically perceived as deficient because of the legacy of oppression that has shaped their development can begin to heal from this trauma by having their entire linguistic repertoire positioned as integral to their development as bilingual teachers. this, in turn, allows them to tap into the broader history of resistance that has characterized the experiences of us latinxs that they can bring into their classrooms in their work with their students in order to continue to resist in the present. (re)orienting translanguaging in bilingual education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 159 the second step in reorienting language is to use the normalizing of marked forms of translanguaging as a point of entry for reconceptualizing language outside of a monoglossic lens. eller and nieto in their discussion of idiolect offer one point of entry into doing this. by refusing to take named languages as the point of entry for conceptualizing language, these authors align themselves within broader efforts to shift the epistemology of language away from the universalizing of idealized monolingual whiteness toward the recognition of the abtritrary nature of linguistic border construction that both affirm marked forms of translanguaging while deconstructing the very idea of monolingualism as part of broader efforts to dismantle white supremacy. this epistemological move helps us to imagine a new more inclusive vision of humanity that frames all of us as having idiosyncratic idiolects that are inherently heterogeneous as opposed to presupposing that some people engage in objectively more homogenous and pure codes than others. from this perspective, this commentary, which many readers may perceive as engaged in standard academic english, can also understood to be engaged in translanguaging through my strategic use of my idiolect in ways that accommodate my audience, task, and goals. indeed, all language practices can be understood as translanguaging with marked forms of translanguaging recognized as such because of the social status of the speakers and the political status of the named languages that are present within the language practices of their communities. to give you a sense of how adopting such an orientation might play out within the context of bilingual education, let me describe a recent interaction that i had with bilingual teachers in philadelphia. we had spent several sessions together learning about translanguaging and working to normalize the simultaneous use of linguistic features that have historically been associated with english and spanish. the teachers felt affirmed by the concept of translanguaging and were grateful to have a word to describe and affirm the types of language practices that they have regularly engaged in both in their classrooms and the broader community. despite this, one of the teachers lamented the fact that her students did not speak spanish in a way that she perceived was proper. one example that she focused on was the use of the term “rufo” to refer to “roof,” which she condemned as spanglish. i explained to her that “rufo” was a natural consequence of language contact and was no different than the fact that english speakers now use terms like “taco” and “hacienda.” we critically interrogated why it was that certain products of language contact (such as “rufo”) were perceived to be deficient whereas other flores association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 160 products of language contact (such as “taco” and “hacienda”) were not. was i able to convince this teacher that “rufo” was legitimate? probably not. was i able to model for her how she might engage in discussions of language variation in ways that do not reify a monolingual white perspective? yes. and my hope is that continuing to push these conversations will continue to chip away at the colonial logics that shape contemporary approaches to bilingual education continuing in the legacy of our ancestors who have always resisted these ideologies. i see this special issue as part of this continuing legacy and am grateful to all of the work that these scholars and educators for their tireless efforts. http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 2 2018 amae invited special issue linguistic hegemony and counterhegemonic discourse in the borderlands guest editor brendan h. o’connor arizona state university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 69 spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity: (counter)hegemonies in the pueblo borderlands erin debenport university of california, los angeles abstract discussions about migration, geography, and indigenous language use are key ways that community members perform, negotiate, and contest identities and politics in multilingual ysleta del sur pueblo, a federally-recognized native nation located within the city of el paso, texas. this linguistic anthropological piece illustrates how tribal members creatively use local ways of speaking and the indexing of language ideologies to critique hegemonic discourses that constrain tribal members’ native identities and call into question the tribe’s status as an indigenous community. through “indexing”—or pointing to—dominant and emergent narratives about place and language, ysletans are able to enhance their visibility as a nation and their political and social influence in the region and beyond. speech genres focusing on the 17th century pueblo revolt, the seizure of lands near the u.s.-mexico border, and the loss of the tribe’s indigenous language allow community members to assert sovereignty, belonging, and indigeneity in the face of these criticisms by indian and non-indian audiences. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.2.395 debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 70 introduction discussions about migration, geography, and indigenous language use are key ways that community members perform, negotiate, and contest identities and politics in multilingual ysleta del sur pueblo, a federally-recognized native nation located within the city of el paso, texas. the pueblo was established following the 1680 pueblo revolt and eventual reconquest by spain when many pueblo people and spanish settlers fled the northern rio grande valley. unlike the almost unquestioned sovereignty of the other pueblo nations, ysleta del sur’s status is frequently challenged by both indian and non-indian peoples and polities, with the tribe’s history of migration, challenges to maintaining a large land base, multilingualism, and urban location on the u.s.-mexico border used against them to deride and characterize their experiences as being incompatible with being “real indians.” in this article, i show how tribal members creatively use local ways of speaking and the indexing of language ideologies to “call out” such slights and “set the record straight” as ways to critique these hegemonic discourses. through “indexing”—or pointing to—dominant and emergent narratives about place and language, ysletans are able to enhance their visibility as a nation and their political and social influence in the region and beyond. the use of very local—and very political—ways of speaking not only challenges the prevalent view that there are no longer any indians in texas, but also calls attention to the relative invisibility of the indigenous people who live in the borderlands region, a familiar type of absence-making that stems from the “logic of elimination” that constitutes the ongoing process that is settler colonialism (wolfe, 2006). for ysleta del sur, indigenous invisibility can be partially attributed to the power of dominant binaries to erase the cultural and linguistic complexity of the region. the importance of distinctions such as spanish/english, u.s./mexico, and the global north/south help focus the majority of scholarly and popular attention to the border on issues such as cartel violence, political resistance, and immigration policies. however, ysleta del sur’s invisibility is not an anomaly. indigenous invisibility pervades other u.s. contexts as well, where indians are depicted as out of place in modernity, as philip deloria describes in indians in unexpected places (2004), or constrained by non-native temporal frames (rifkin, 2018). ethnolinguistic examples from ysleta del sur highlight the pueblo’s presence in the region while also contesting the hegemonic language ideology that situates nations as ideally speaking a single, standard language (lippi-green 1997; spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 71 silverstein, 2000).1 instead, community members work within a multilingual, multiply-colonized context to assert sovereignty2 and belonging. everyday interactions at the pueblo show how new forms of language use, land management, social action, and associated language ideologies—most of which are performed or imagined by younger members of the tribe and represent new ways of inhabiting what are considered to be “authentic” pueblo identities and stances—are not inherently counterhegemonic, but also index nostalgic discourses and established pueblo linguistic ideologies. in this article, i begin with ysletans’ critiques of and discourses about migration, land loss, urbanism, multilingualism, and linguistic purism designed to “denaturalize” people in their community (bucholtz & hall, 2004), and how historical, geographic, and linguistic discourses have been mobilized to spatially, politically, and ideologically differentiate them from other pueblo people. three examples of everyday talk exemplify how community members from ysleta del sur directly challenge the dominant model of nationhood, place, and language that these divides represent. first, one example challenges the idea that in order to truly be native, your tribe’s population must be stable across time and space, with no history of political rupture, outmigration, or resettlement. second, a spoken text centers on issues of land accumulation and property redress, as speakers critique the received expectation that a native nation must possess an ample, rural, contiguous land base. third, talk about the importance of the tribe’s southern tiwa language program allows community members to critique language ideologies that promote monolingualism and elevate language purity, privileging tribes and individuals that use a single heritage language that is devoid of borrowed words or neologisms. these three examples convey 1the study of language (or linguistic) ideologies is one of the most significant literatures in recent linguistic anthropological scholarship. language ideologies are defined as: “[s]ets of beliefs about language articulated by users as a rationalization or justification of perceived language structure and use” (silverstein, 1979, p. 193), and, “[c]onceptualizations about languages, speakers, and discursive practices. like other kinds of ideologies, language ideologies are pervaded with political and moral interests and are shaped in a cultural setting. to study language ideologies, then, is to explore the nexus of language, culture, and politics” (irvine, 2012, p. 1). two edited volumes collect works about this topic and method: linguistic ideologies: practice and theory (schieffelin, woolard, & kroskrity, 1998); and, regimes of language: ideologies, polities, and identities (kroskrity, 2000). 2 it is outside the scope of this article to engage with the literature on indigenous sovereignty, and federal and state indian law, but the two senses of sovereignty presented here should be parsed. first, deciding one’s membership is a right of inherent sovereignty. numerous other tenets of inherent indigenous sovereignty have been constrained in many ways, including the supposed “right” to pursue gaming compacts with states, which limits inherent sovereignty as the u.s. constitution places “indian affairs” as a federal responsibility. as a very astute reviewer cleverly said when presenting this oversight to me, “in strict principle of federal indian law, states have no business in indian gaming but congress cut them in (sorry, pun intended) in response to heavy state lobbying.” i am grateful to them for noticing this conflation. debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 72 powerful lessons about the social flexibility of genre conventions and the indexing of multiple language ideologies, the co-existence of hegemonic and counterhegemonic stances, and the politics of indigeneity along the u.s.-mexico border. community and project background the pueblo of ysleta del sur had its start in a mass-migration following the pueblo revolt of 1680, an indigenous uprising among tiwa, towa, tewa, piro, and keres-speaking peoples living around the colonial capitol of santa fe.3 after the fall of santa fe to the combined pueblo forces, people from present-day isleta pueblo (located 20 miles south of albuquerque, new mexico) fled to the south. those living at isleta had not received word of the revolt in time and had therefore had not participated, and, along with spanish survivors of the attacks, retreated to the missions at el paso del norte. why did this indigenous migration occur? the question is controversial today for ysleta del sur community members, pueblo people generally, and scholars. some argue that the isletans were slaves of the spanish, or they were used as human shields during the trip to el paso; while others argue they were willing accomplices to spanish aggression and colonization. like many other colonial examples, there are indications that the spanish had partnered with local elites at the pueblos, who benefitted from the preferential treatment they received during the occupation and were allied with the colonizers (beltzer, 2009). one hypothesis holds that disenfranchised isletans and refugees from other pueblos were led to spanish missions in el paso del norte by a group of indigenous and spanish elites to seek protection in the wake of the violence of the revolt. this history of pueblo migration is not limited to ysleta del sur, as people from many of the pueblos fled to hopi lands and other parts of the region following the 1692 spanish reconquest of new spain. aside from a tewa-speaking pueblo at hopi in eastern arizona (kroskrity, 1993, 1998, 2000), most of those who fled repopulated their previously-inhabited lands. while such details and controversies might seem to be of interest only for historians of spanish colonialism, this event continues to exert influence over the relationships between people 3 the pueblo revolt refers to a complex period of uprising and re-conquest that has been covered generously (if not uncontroversially) in the historical literature (brooks, 2002; espinosa, 1998; knaut, 1985; preucel, 2002; roberts, 2005; weber, 1999; wilcox 2009). indeed, many of my colleagues at ysleta del sur are avid readers of this literature, thus the focus of this article is not to lay out the details of these events but to describe how contemporary accounts of the revolt and its aftermath contribute to understandings of sovereignty and indigeneity in the pueblo borderlands. spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 73 at ysleta del sur, their relatives at isleta pueblo, the other pueblo nations, the state of texas, and the city of el paso, keeping the practical, political, and emotional stakes of this 350-year old event high for tribal members and people from other pueblos. this migratory history, the very different sociopolitical climate for indians in texas as compared to new mexico, and their status as an urban tribe, have set ysleta del sur apart from the other pueblos, slowing their ability to obtain the same rights and recognitions. the tribe was federally-recognized relatively recently in 1968 (the new mexico pueblos were recognized as part of the 1924 pueblo lands act) and was only inducted in 2013 to the all-indian pueblo council, which serves as a governing body for all nineteen tribes in new mexico. in addition to the loss in cultural capital this timeline entails, the perception of impermanence and precarity continues to have material consequences. for example, in 2016, after presenting a successful land claim, the pueblo of isleta was able to successfully take into federal trust over 90,000 acres, doubling their land base. by contrast, ysleta del sur’s only option has been to buy up small parcels of land in east el paso, slowly assembling a larger reservation. at the “lowest point” in the tribal history, as one of my colleagues there put it, they were down to approximately 35 acres of reservation land. elders at the pueblo often tell stories about how “indians were the lowest of the low” in el paso, facing intense discrimination and pressure to assimilate. while my colleagues at the new mexico pueblos also recount stories of extreme poverty and marginalization, especially through forced assimilation at federal indian schools, their comparatively larger numbers and the many socioeconomic challenges they shared with rural hispanos in the area, prevented these groups from being completely cut out of state politics and associated fights for land, water, and political resources. currently, many new mexico pueblo tribes run successful gaming operations, raising their political and social profiles within state and regional politics. political differences and tensions also exist between ysleta del sur and the state of texas. while space does not permit detailing texas’s indian policies, their histories, and impacts, the situation can be characterized as particularly unfavorable to indigenous people. texas has a clause in their constitution stipulating that there will only ever be three indian tribes in the state (kickapoo, alabama coushatta, and ysleta del sur pueblo), and the descendants of comanche, apache, piro, and cherokee peoples not killed or expelled from the region have had a difficult time trying to gain federal recognition. the state opposed ysleta del sur’s efforts to obtain recognition for years, and agreed to “allow” them to have this economically, and symbolically, debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 74 critical status if they promised not to pursue tribal gaming and agreed to impose externallydefined “blood quantum” limits determining who could be included on tribal rolls. both of these acts fly in the face of two important ways that tribes exert their sovereign status in u.s. contexts—through their ability to enter into gaming compacts and their ability to regulate their own tribal membership—tribal leaders at ysleta del sur pushed back, opening speaking rock casino in 1993 and successfully petitioning president obama to issue a presidential order allowing the tribe to determine their own membership requirements, which essentially doubled their enrollment. in 1999, the state shut down class iii (high stakes) gaming, markedly limiting casino revenues, and the tribe is in litigation to try to reverse this decision. fortunately, community members regularly point out the good relationship they have with other el paso residents, evident in the outpouring of positive media coverage and support the tribe received after a sacred statue was desecrated in fall of 2017 on indigenous peoples’ day (formerly columbus day). in addition to fielding critiques about their history, land, and rights, community members at ysleta del sur point to linguistic differences that exist between their community and other pueblos as a reason for their marked status, despite possessing many of the same experiences with language loss. like the new mexico pueblos and many other indigenous communities in the u.s. and beyond, ysleta del sur has experienced pronounced language shift since the arrival of european colonists. english is the default code used at the pueblo, followed closely by spanish, both of which have replaced southern tiwa outside of ceremonial contexts. the reasons for this include a spanishand then english-speaking educational system, language-based discrimination, and the dominance of english language mass media. compared to other pueblos, tribal members at ysleta del sur were not forced to attend federal indian schools in large numbers—institutions that aggressively promoted language assimilation—but their distance from other southern tiwaspeaking pueblos resulted in fewer opportunities to learn and use the language. while community members grieve the loss of southern tiwa and work assiduously to reverse these trends, ysletas are comfortably multilingual, expressing positive views about using english and spanish and raising bilingual children. this contrasts with prevailing language ideologies in other pueblo communities that elevate the use of a single indigenous language, impose the tight control of access to indigenous language materials, and reject bilingualism and code mixing as appropriate expressions of indigenous language use (debenport, 2015; kroskrity, 1998). spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 75 the history of this research intersects with applied linguistic projects. i began my work at ysleta del sur in late 2011, when i was contacted by the tribe’s language coordinator to collaborate on a southern tiwa alphabet and other language documentation and revitalization efforts. i had spent seven years working as part of the san ramón pueblo4 language program and have advised projects at pojoaque and nambe pueblos, which provided me with knowledge of the grammar and phonology of kiowa-tanoan languages, the family to which southern tiwa belongs. like my previous work (debenport, 2010a, 2010b, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017), i simultaneously conduct ethnographic fieldwork and contribute to community language projects at ysleta del sur, focusing on the social conditions surrounding language revitalization movements rather than analyzing and circulating features of the southern tiwa language itself. a major focus of this work has been looking at how local ways of viewing language use (language ideologies) and structuring language (speech genres) provide resources for the indexing of indigenous identities and enacting sovereignty. challenging spatiotemporal continuity during the last twenty years, the study of language (or linguistic) ideologies has emerged as an integral part of linguistic anthropological theory (irvine, 2012; kroskrity, 2000; schieffelin, woolard, & kroskrity, 1998; silverstein, 1979). language ideologies are beliefs that individuals and groups have about the value of particular languages, their speakers, certain language varieties, and the appropriateness of language to context, such as ideologies that elevate the importance of using “standard” english in school or those that cast french as particularly well-suited for love poems. multiple, and often seemingly contradictory ideologies co-exist within contexts (gal, 1998), as i have discussed with respect to competing pueblo ideologies about indigenous language literacy (debenport, 2015). simultaneous with the development of this theoretical tradition, linguistic anthropologists building on the work of mikhail bakhtin (1986a, 1986b) have productively used the concept of “speech genres” to describe how everyday forms of talk are shaped and understood. speech 4 i use a pseudonym for the name of this pueblo and for the indigenous language spoken there in all published work to reflect local language ideologies that privilege tight control over linguistic and cultural materials. in addition, i obscure all indigenous language data and only present my examples and analyses in english and in some cases, spanish to adhere to these same preferences. while i use the real name of the tribe for ysleta del sur and the name of the language, i obscure indigenous language examples. debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 76 genres, which richard bauman (2004) defines as “one order of speech style, a constellation of systemically-related, co-occurring features and structures that serve as an orienting framework for the production and reception of discourse” (p. 84), allow for ethnographically-informed descriptions of how social actors tailor talk to imagined or actual audiences in order to accomplish various social ends. at ysleta del sur pueblo, community members use both established and emergent speech genres that focus on the pueblo revolt and geographic expansion to indirectly challenge hegemonic language and geographic ideologies that privilege the link between permanence and indigenous identity. one morning last summer, i arrived early at the ysleta del sur pueblo cultural center, an adobe building perched on the edge of the “mission road,” a state highway that contains three colonial-era churches (all still in use), and serves as a thoroughfare between the two main parts of the reservation, both of which consist of non-contiguous lands amidst a working class mexicanamerican neighborhood. in addition to housing the tribal museum and gift shop, the center houses an adult language classroom, tribal offices, and the space where my colleagues and i work as part of the language program. that morning, several people from the community were adding mesquite wood to the horno in preparation for a morning of baking indian bread to sell to visitors and employees. as i visited with the group gathered in the bright el paso sunshine, i struck up a conversation with david, a tribal member who also serves as the center director. we caught up briefly about our families, talked about how long i would be in town, and traded gossip from other pueblos. before too long, the conversation turned to politics, specifically to ysleta del sur’s precarious position relative to other regional indigenous nations, and david launched into what i immediately recognized as an example of a prominent local speech genre that focuses on the pueblo revolt. the genre is characterized by a presentation of a historical account of migration that rejects the idea that pueblo people were willing spanish pawns and emphasizes the community’s ability to maintain cultural and linguistic practices in the face of discrimination, violence, and the pressure to assimilate. often, people talk about surviving away from large numbers of other native people and within a climate of intense racism in order to protect their right to practice their religion, inhabit their ancestral lands, and speak their language, echoing many of the properties of testimonios that have been described by scholars working in latin america (c.f. beverley, 2004). the genre is used by men and women of all ages at the pueblo, but especially by spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 77 those who are active in tribal government or cultural and linguistic preservation efforts. it can be performed in english or spanish, and can include tiwa words for emphasis or explanation depending on the language abilities of the speaker. as david said that morning: (1) in the community (2) we know we were brought here by the spanish (3) when we leave the community (4) especially when we go to other pueblos (5) they perceive us as traitors (6) allies with the spanish as guides who helped them escape the revolt (7) this is totally not the case (8) from our history (9) we here at the pueblo (10) have been told by our elders (11) that we were captured by spanish forces who entered the pueblo of isleta (12) our people wanted to attack (13) but the other isletas were scared (14) what ended up happening was they fled to the mountains (15) but they were no match for the spanish (16) they were pissed because they had gotten their butts kicked (17) the spanish used us as hostages when they saw their opportunity (18) eventually it went our way (19) they saw the light, i guess? (20) well, 300 years of history had already passed (21) the spanish are gone (22) and we kept our traditions (23) one of the things we have (24) we have an original spanish cane given to isleta for their chief (25) we have the governor’s cane and those for other capitanes (26) the only thing we don’t have is the lincoln cane because of texas! debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 78 this slim passage is densely packed, which, while appearing as part of the speech genre of what we might call “catching up,” simultaneously stands apart as a bakhtinian “secondary” genre (bakhtin, 1986a, p. 62). the first notable feature is how david adopts a common popular and academic register/genre to structure his text—that of the person correcting the historical record—a stance characterized by contrasting a previously-held “fact” with one that is presented as being more complete and therefore accurate. in addition to setting up this overall juxtaposition between truth and falsity, david also skillfully employs other contrastive elements within his story, creating a multi-faceted us/them dichotomy. as part of this, he deftly differentiates the ancestors of current tribal members at ysleta del sur (“our people,” line 12) from those whose ancestors now live at isleta pueblo (“the other isletas,” line 13), augmenting this contrast with using the first-person plural to refer to the former (lines 17-18), and the third person plural to refer to the latter (lines 14-16; 19). at the same time, david is drawing a discursive line between pueblo people and spanish colonists, apparent in line 15 where he differentiates between people from isleta pueblo and the colonizers, and when he identifies the spanish in opposition to the ancestors of community members currently living at ysleta del sur (lines 2; 17). these shifting divides point to a feature of the linguistic ideological landscape at play in the pueblo borderlands: social actors’ simultaneous indexing of proximal and distal relationships with their ancestors in new mexico as part of claims to sovereignty and indigenous identity. by shifting the alignments between himself and his community and other polities both contemporary and historical, david draws upon shifting relationships of closeness and distance with spain and isleta pueblo when asserting his own indigenous identities and rights. several other features of this speech event stand out. in their article, “mrs. patricio’s trouble,” hill and zepeda (1992) analyze a conversation between zepeda and the titular speaker, who successfully mitigates the stigma of having a child who has not yet finished high school by artfully distributing responsibility throughout her narrative. using techniques that include burying anaphora and denying having adequate access to knowledge to prevent the outcome, the authors show how mrs. patricio is able to downplay her agency to maintain a positive face and indirectly deny her own culpability. david accomplishes a similar aim in his text, apparent in line 2, where he emphasizes the verb “brought,” stressing the word and pausing for emphasis afterward, forgoing the possibility that ysletas chose to migrate. he also effectively uses this construction spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 79 (stress + pause) to index pueblo ideals of knowledge production and transmission in his use of the possessive pronoun in line 10. in addition, in pueblo contexts, knowledge—especially ceremonial or linguistic—is appropriately held by elders and transmitted orally to younger tribal members. by asserting that ysleta has its own group of elders, david is challenging the idea that pueblo cultural knowledge and sanctioned forms of its diffusion are the sole property of the new mexico tribes. finally, we locate another assertion of ysleta strength and independence when he discusses the tribe’s possession of ceremonial canes (lines 23-26). in the spanish colonial period, canes were given to tribal leaders by the crown at many of the pueblos and in other indigenous communities, and carry enormous ceremonial importance. much like the genre of filiaciones, records of service which chronicled “the basic categories of identity for presidial solders” in the spanish colonial borderlands (vélez-ibáñez, 2017, p. 57), these canes serve as citations that help to cement definitions of indigeneity for individuals and groups through bureaucratic practices of categorization and differentiation. interestingly, within david’s narrative, spain is presented as both the enemy that was expelled and as a legitimate polity whose gift helps to legitimize the sovereignty of ysleta del sur pueblo to this day. david manages to accomplish another discursive move, a critique aimed at the state of texas, which is a popular target for political ire because of their restrictive indian policies. mirroring the gifts from the spanish crown, during the civil war, president lincoln bestowed ceremonial canes to tribal leaders throughout indian country, skipping ysleta del sur because texas was part of the confederacy at the time. this dig at texas, whose leaders are often characterized by ysletas as being racist (hence the indirect reference to the confederacy), combined with the other discursive strategies david uses, answers back to popular conceptions of the tribe as inauthentic and its members by virtue of their migratory history and distance from other pueblos, and positions ysleta del sur as a culturally-robust, sovereign nation. challenging geographic paradigms in addition to their diasporic history, when community members at ysleta del sur talk about the reasons people take issue with their perceived authenticity or their sovereign status, they often bring up what some see as their geographic shortcomings: the size of their land base, their non-contiguous reservation, and the pueblo’s urban setting. while their migratory history debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 80 and location along the u.s.-mexico border certainly enable and constrain particular forms of socioeconomic, linguistic, and political action, ideologies that link indigenous identities and sovereignties with geographic spaces figure prominently in the way indigeneity is understood, practiced, and experienced in contemporary u.s. contexts more broadly. thomas biolsi (2005) critiques the prevailing idea of the nation-state as the sole “political geograph[y] imagined, lived, and even institutionalized under modernity by american indians” (p. 240), presenting additional but not incompatible ways of imagining spaces that are implicated in political and cultural struggle within indian country. the four central “imagined geographies” that he identifies within indigenous north america are: (1) ‘‘tribal’’ or indigenous-nation sovereignty on reservation homelands; (2) comanagement of off-reservation resources and sites shared between tribal, federal, and state governments; (3) national indigenous space in which indian people exercise portable rights beyond reservations; and (4) hybrid political space in which indian people exercise dual citizenship and assert rights as tribal citizens under treaty and other federal indian law, as u.s. citizens under the constitution, and as social or cultural citizens within a multicultural u.s. society. biolsi’s (2005) framework helps to situate the ways that ysleta del sur pueblo is criticized for its geographic qualities and the ways that tribal members draw on different imagined geographies as part of challenging hegemonic ideologies connected to sovereignty, indigeneity, and authenticity. two features of ysleta history and geography are most-often cited as deficits by non-tribal members: the tribe’s relatively small, non-contiguous reservation and its urban setting in the middle of the el paso/ciudad juárez metropolitan area. this indexes the ideologically-preferred status of biolsi’s (2005) first type of imagined geography across contexts, a “homeland” that has been federally-recognized and has remained visible as a sovereign nation over time, illustrated by describing movement between and through various pueblo lands. any visitor to the new mexico pueblos is struck by their shared aesthetic qualities: low-slung adobe buildings circling a central plaza, usually anchored by a mission-era church and dotted with round hornos used to bake bread and pies. these icons of pueblo aesthetics and identity are echoed in artistic and technical spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 81 depictions of the american southwest. georgia o’keefe’s intense blues capturing the immense new mexico skies and long brown walls topped with stark white crosses; cartographic representations of the state neatly outlining each discrete, native nation; the vast, sparsely populated stretch of interstate 25 between albuquerque and santa fe, whose immeasurable, enveloping dark skies are only briefly marked by small, “you are now entering san felipe pueblo” or “you are now entering cochiti pueblo,” signs. despite the ever-encroaching spread of suburban developments and the city of albuquerque and the social and material realities of inhabiting this colonized space, as a traveler you are always aware when you are on indian land, and your ability to imagine pre-colonial geographies is often supported by the land’s immense scale and the way the land is presented to you. these enduring depictions and experiences of vast pueblo geographies is incompatible with how people experience being on the ysleta del sur reservation. although the tribe has been able to increase the size of the land base in the last 25 years, it is, what many people call, a “checkerboard” reservation, a pattern of land distribution where “indian land under federal trust status and non-indian deeded land are interspersed (biolsi, 2005, p. 244). consider how a traveler moves through this reservation space: after taking the easternmost el paso exit off of i-25, you can either move with the flow of traffic through the americas port of entry (poe) to mexico and join the semis on their way to juárez, or take the mission road (texas state highway 20) either east or west which loosely follows the border. if you turn right on this road you will pass the “old rez,” a neighborhood that is sovereign, indian land on a block-by-block basis, with tribal buildings co-existing with gas stations, day care centers, and taquerias. if you head left, you pass an old kmart building and a walgreen’s as you move into “area 2,” or, as community members call it, “the new rez” which contains the education building, a tribally-owned concert venue, and new single-family homes the tribe works with local families to finance and build. these geographically-constrained, enclosed indigenous geographies are also inarguably urban ones. although the traveler may encounter empty fields and glimpses of big skies, this is not the stuff of santa fe chamber of commerce brochures, and, as is regularly pointed out to tribal members at ysleta del sur, indexes a marked form of indigeneity compared to the social landscapes of the northern pueblos. as renya ramirez (2007) outlines in her book native hubs, the majority of indigenous people in the u.s. live in urban areas. however, images of native debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 82 peoples inhabiting contiguous, rural spaces continue to circulate as symbols of authentic indigenous settings and the homelands of authentically indigenous people. concomitantly, both the small, non-contiguous nature of the ysleta del sur landbase and its urban setting render it invisible compared to the difficult to ignore presence of the nation states of mexico and the u.s., whose prominence is (re)created in material realities and everyday interactional practices. when i am working at ysleta del sur, i often have coffee at a café off the i-25 feeder road between my hotel and the reservation. one morning, i struck up a conversation with an employee who was bussing tables. “hey! weren’t you here, yesterday? are you from el paso?” i filled her in on why i was in town. after expressing an interest in linguistics and anthropology, and talking about the classes she was taking at utep (university of texas, el paso), she said, “i had no idea there were native americans in el paso! that’s so cool!” interestingly, she had grown up less than a mile from the ysleta del sur tribal offices. much like challenging dominant narratives that position native nations as prototypically unchanging through time, everyday forms of talk at ysleta del sur push back against these essentializing imaginaries about the relationship between indigeneity and land. like the previous speech genre i presented, this type of speech event is animated by men and women of all ages, but most frequently by those involved in some way with planning tribal economic ventures. it can occur in any of the three languages at the pueblo, although english is by far the most commonly used code, perhaps because of the association with the register of “business speak” present in other english-speaking contexts. speakers engaging in this type of speech event focus on their opinions of current and proposed tribal economic ventures, but spend most of their time discussing what should be done with the profits in terms of what would strengthen tribal sovereignty and increase its visibility (and therefore influence) in the region. these features were evident in another conversation i had with david later last summer. he said, i would really like to see the tribe gain control of properties by the americas poe. all that area used to belong to my family. when we had the illegal incursion of 1871, we lost land where the railroad was gonna be run. talking to one of my uncles, he was telling me that when his mother, my grandfather’s sister, she lost his land which was around 20 acres for not paying taxes. for 20 acres, she lost it for 2 dollars! he used that property to provide for his family, growing corn, beans, spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 83 squash. i would like to see the tribe purchase property to be used by our people to sustain ourselves. this narrative illustrates a common theme among examples of this speech genre: how a larger reservation would enable a return to, as community members describe it, “traditional” practices. interestingly, he specifically targets the americas port of entry rather than describing the section of land in relation to other features on the reservation. this accomplishes several things simultaneously: mounting an argument for a return of traditional lands, critiquing the presence of a militarized no-man’s land along the rio grande, and creating an intertextual link between this text and another popular way of joking about tribal sovereignty at ysleta del sur: suggesting that the tribe open a port of entry of their own as part of its right to enjoy a nation-to-nation relationship with mexico based on their status as a sovereign entity. like all forms of expansion, this depiction depends on increased mobility, describing a vision of future tribal members farming or living in what is now a depopulated, militarized zone, a situation that threatens to become even more fraught under the current u.s. presidential administration. returning to biolsi (2005), another way that this type of interaction serves as a challenge to critiques that depict ysleta del sur as disparate and non-sovereign is through david’s successful indexing of the remaining three ways that native people are able to engage in political struggle. here, ysleta people are portrayed as the appropriate stewards of the land along the border, people who could successfully manage a nation-to-nation relationship with the u.s., mexico, and the city of el paso, uniquely capable of returning what some people call a “no-man’s-land” to productive, sustaining, farmland. challenging monolingualism and language purity like land and resource rights, sovereignty, and the ability to determine one’s tribal membership, the preservation, maintenance, and use of indigenous languages can serve as tools to construct difference, belonging, and sociopolitical influence. while community members at ysleta del sur pueblo have been working to promote the use of the southern tiwa language for years, in 2011, the tribe moved to create a separate language program with its own director and support staff. stemming from language ideologies that emphasize tightly controlling access to indigenous pueblo languages, southern tiwa is one of the least-documented north american indigenous languages, but using scant archival materials along with help from fluent speakers from debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 84 the other two southern tiwa-speaking pueblos in new mexico, the language program has been very successful. there are now two advanced adult speakers of the language, classes are being held on both the reservation and at area high schools, and a pre-kindergarten curriculum with southern tiwa words and phrases has been developed—considerable feats considering the grammatical and phonological gulf between the language and english or spanish and the drastic level of language shift that has occurred. also, the first edition of the tribal dictionary came out in 2016, and the committee is now working on short stories, songs, and prayers for limited circulation. when talking to tribal members at ysleta del sur about these developments, there is a feeling of pride and optimism mixed with concern about how other pueblos will react to their language policies. some of this unease is a result of long-standing critical stances towards the value of multilingualism in both pueblo and non-pueblo contexts. in his chapter chronicling the basis of arizona tewa language ideologies, paul kroskrity (1998) presents four “cultural preferences” (p. 105), that have their roots in what he calls “kiva talk,” ways of using language in ceremonial spaces that become blueprints for everyday uses of language in this community. these four proclivities help to contextualize the broader social meanings of ysleta del sur language revitalization and how these efforts connect to issues of visibility, sovereignty, identity, and rights. one of these preferences, what kroskrity (1998) calls “strict compartmentalization” (p. 109), is the inclination to keep different languages and registers separate, favoring indigenous pueblo languages among other possible codes such as english or spanish. this language ideology is still very prevalent in the new mexico pueblos, often reflected in derogatory comments about tribal members at ysleta del sur as “really just mexicans,” or people who “can only speak spanish,” or even more pointedly, are “not even indian [tiwa].” interestingly, this feeling that it is better to speak one language exclusively rather than attain fluency in several languages aligns with a wider generational language ideology in the u.s. and beyond that positions standard english as “correct” compared to nonstandard dialects and registers such as african american vernacular english (aave) and other “foreign” languages, forms that were thought to confuse children and limit their economic and educational attainment. however, dominant language ideologies in the pueblo borderlands diverge from these views, presenting spanish-english bilingualism—and by extension, fluency in other languages in addition to english and spanish—as both authentic linguistic traditions of the region and as useful social tools. a colleague from the pueblo whose wife’s family is from spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 85 durango, mexico, and whose children are growing up speaking english, spanish, and tiwa, said to me recently, “i mean, how could it be any other way around here? we have relatives all over and we need to talk to each other!” two of the other cultural preferences kroskrity (1998) details also help to explain the ways that language ideologies at ysleta del sur differ from those at other pueblos and how these differences are often used to level critiques against tribal members. “linguistic purism” (kroskrity, 1998, p. 107), or the preference for not switching between codes within interactions, and “regulation by convention” ( p. 111), or the avoidance of linguistic innovation or change, are not as central to the linguistic ideological landscape or to language practices at ysleta del sur. since i started working in 2003 as part of language documentation and revitalization efforts at various pueblos in new mexico, i have noticed that my colleagues put a lot of effort into purging language materials of any english, spanish, keres, or navajo words (debenport, 2015). in addition, they also continue to place an emphasis on recording and teaching, as one of my friends and teachers recently said, “the real, old words,” and to avoid “making stuff up,” or, coming up with new words in tiwa for terms that are not directly expressed in the existing vocabulary. unsurprisingly, these preferences are not emphasized to as great a degree at ysleta del sur. last august, i sat in on an adult language class being taught at the cultural center. as the tribal member who was teaching the class led the students through various exercises, he switched effortlessly between english, spanish, and tiwa, encouraging his students by saying, “muy bien, great job, and good job! (‘good’).” or pointing to an object and asking, “saben que cosa es un bracelet (‘bracelet’) in tiwa?”5 those working as part of the ysleta del sur language program are also more likely to create neologisms, especially for contemporary words and expressions and those that younger tribal members would like to be able to say. one afternoon last summer, alex, a colleague working as part of the language program, showed me a short video he had made with one of the summer language interns, high school and college-age students who work for the tribe over the summer. the video showed the intern—a basketball enthusiast—carefully explaining the tiwa names for “court,” “ball,” and “backboard.” alex explained, “man, we were able to use the words for ‘field’ and ‘ball’ for the first two, but don’t know what to do with the ‘backboard’.” he then got to 5 this sentence adheres to syntactic rules in spanish, substituting the tiwa word for “bracelet,” and then including a clause in english (“in tiwa”). debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 86 work, and successfully came up with several creative options for a tiwa word that they could use. these sometimes subtle differences not only index linguistic ideological variations, but, like the previous examples of speakers contesting prevailing ideas about migration and land, can be read as tools for community members at ysleta del sur to contest regional, pueblo, and national hegemonic discourses. at other times, speakers are much more direct in forging the connections between language rights, indigenous identity, sovereignty, and regional visibility. when i asked david why he thought participation in the language program was important, he answered: i guess for my part, the use of southern tiwa in the region. we were basically almost considered a dead language, and now, we’ve recovered a lot of our language. i want to see us regain the level of fluency in southern tiwa that was spoken within the original lands we had in 1751 before they were illegally taken from us. at that time, it [southern tiwa] was just spoken and a little spanish. i guess from a cultural perspective—our language—we are going in the right direction. in this short passage, david manages to pull together each of the three themes i have outlined in this article—migration, land, and language—into one, powerful narrative. in his depiction, it is the robustness of the language combined with the history of migration, land dispossession, and struggle that will act as a path forward to an idealized future for the tribe. (counter)hegemonies in the pueblo borderlands ethnolinguistic vignettes from ysleta del sur pueblo exemplify how language impositions are not linear, nor are they necessarily easily or readily accepted by those subject to those processes. turning this around, we might say that these social actors’ responses to impositions are not linear, and flexibly adapt to the specific historic, ideological, discursive, geographic, and sociopolitical contexts that constitute the pueblo borderlands. in these examples, tribal members depend on local speech genres to critique hegemonic ways of thinking about the relationships between mobility, land, and language, on one hand, and identity, sovereignty, and indigeneity on spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 87 the other. stories about the pueblo revolt challenge enduring ideas about the meaning of this event as a lesson about stability, loyalty, and permanence and reframe it as a narrative about endurance, ingenuity, and strength. similarly, talk about tribal economic and land policies becomes an opportunity to imagine a future community that has ameliorated past wrongs, and a language class can be an exercise in modeling the utility of multilingualism. this varied use of speech genres is mirrored by another type of semiotic agility: the flexibility that allows community members at ysleta del sur to counter dominant language ideologies in order to enact sovereignty, authenticity, and personhood. this is accomplished during interactions where social actors are able to highlight the previously unmarked status of received language ideologies. these dominant ways of viewing the relationships between languages, speakers, and contexts include the assumption of an unchanging view of language use among an easily-designated group of people, an ideal that runs counter to alex’s facility with coming up for basketball vocabulary, for example. relatedly, tribal members are constantly calling into question the importance of using one language to the exclusion of all others, apparent at even the sentence level, as seen in the classroom example. finally, the necessity of solidifying and teaching only linguistic forms that are felt to be unchanged from forms used before european arrival is both impossible and undesirable in the borderlands region, where speakers must be able to use english, spanish, and now, southern tiwa. in this context, tribal members are presenting the migratory, multilingual history of the pueblo as contributing to, rather than subtracting from, their strength as a nation. challenging dominant language ideologies, however, also involves indexing their dominant status. for instance, ysletas still revere the pan-pueblo emphasis on controlling access to indigenous linguistic materials, and utilize nostalgic discourses commonly used to talk about preeuropean language use. as such, these examples of the flexible, creative use of both local speech genres and language ideologies necessarily invoke the power that inheres in pueblo and nonpueblo discourses that criticize migration, diaspora, small or non-contiguous reservations, multilingualism, and linguistic innovation. this relationship between marked and unmarked genres and ideologies is not only theoretically interesting, but also has real and anticipated consequences for people at ysleta del sur pueblo. even as new forms of enacting tribal sovereignty emerge, the unspoken respect for the federal recognition process and the reservation system is also performed and strengthened. in each moment that multilingualism and mobility are celebrated, debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 88 such acts are also wrapped in a faint apology and set of expectations for not adhering to the standard, a pattern evident in other ethnic, racial, linguistic, national, and sexual minority communities in the u.s., where individuals and groups are compared to supposedly neutral criteria. recalling daniel suslak’s (2009) study of generational language ideologies among mixe, mexican youths, hybrid uses of language and other semiotic resources, in whatever forms, do not always count as counter-hegemonic acts, insofar as they may not fundamentally challenge (or have the potential to change) prevalent sociopolitical structures and practices. despite the myriad ways that tribal members at ysleta del sur have creatively responded to over three hundred years of staggering social change, the enduring power of ideological, material, and national borders continues to enable and constrain particular subjectivities and actions. reflecting on this article’s central argument—that interactional practices at ysleta del sur pueblo both challenge and reaffirm extant ways of thinking about movement, geography, and language—i will conclude by considering conditions of indigeneity in the borderlands region and in u.s. and global contexts. ysleta’s history and location does position its citizens as members of a polity more likely to be overlooked amidst the complicated geopolitics along the u.s.-mexico border than the other new mexico pueblos as a result of the presence of dominant binaries and the ways that sovereignty and visibility are produced and understood. at the same time, ysleta del sur’s potential for unexpected or innovative nation-to-nation relationships that foster economic and material changes is also notable because of the reservation’s location by a busy, international border. furthermore, the tribe is successfully reversing patterns of language shift without the aid of many fluent speakers and sufficient descriptive materials. however, these distinctive features more closely align with many contemporary lived experiences of indigenous people than the ossified models against which native people are frequently measured. for example, prior to the onset of large-scale tribal gaming, many urban indigenous peoples and their histories were effectively erased, with this new form of visibility creating new socioeconomic and political opportunities. in addition, american indians are no strangers to border politics, having to negotiate and maintain relationships with mexico and canada, but also with other native nations, municipalities, and the federal government. as linguists and historians have long-shown, multilingualism and dynamic language contact and change were essential components of precolonial periods, and, that like all contemporary populations, indigenous people are creatively engaged with new ways of using and circulating languages and ways of speaking, including spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 89 reintroducing spoken indigenous languages using scant descriptive material. as such, these ethnolinguistic examples from ysleta del sur pueblo, while unique, do not differ markedly from countless other contexts where the dominant ways of defining and enforcing the borders of indigeneity are not equal to the descriptive, linguistic, social, or political tasks experienced and imagined by indigenous people themselves. debenport association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 90 references bakhtin, m. (1986a). speech genres and other late essays. austin, tx: university of texas press. bahktin, m. (1986b). the dialogic imagination. austin, tx: university of texas press. bauman, r. (2004). a world of others’ words: cross-cultural perspectives of intertextuality. new york, ny: wiley-blackwell. beverley, j. (2004). testimonio: on the politics of truth. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. biolsi, t. (2005). imagined geographies: sovereignty, indigenous space, and american indian struggle. american ethnologist, 32(2), 239-259. beltzer, m. (2009). ‘pueblos without names’: a case study of piro settlement in early colonial new mexico. ph.d. thesis, deptartment of anthropology, southern methodist university. brooks, j. f. (2002). captives and cousins: slavery, kinship, and community in the southwest borderlands. chapel hill, nc: university of north carolina press. bucholtz, m., & hall, k. (2004). theorizing identity in language and sexuality research. language in society, 33, 469-513. debenport, e. (2010a). the potential complexity of ‘universal ownership’: cultural property, textual circulation, and linguistic fieldwork. language & communication, 30(3), 204 210. debenport, e. (2010b). comparative accounts of linguistic fieldwork as ethical exercises. international journal of the sociology of language, 2010(206), 227–244. debenport, e. (2011). as the rez turns: anomalies within and beyond the boundaries of a pueblo community. american indian culture and research journal, 35(2), 87109. debenport, e. (2012). continuous perfectibility: pueblo propriety and the consequences of literacy. journal of linguistic anthropology, 22(3): 201-219. debenport, e. (2015). fixing the books: secrecy, literacy, and perfectibility in indigenous new mexico. santa fe, nm: school for advanced research press. debenport, e. (2017). perfecting publics: future audiences and the aesthetics of refinement. in p. kroskrity, b. meek, & m. nevins (eds.), future indigenous publics, current linguistic anthropological engagements. london: routledge. deloria, p. (2004). indians in unexpected places. lawrence, ks: university of kansas press. espinosa, j. m. (1988). the pueblo indian revolt of 1696 and the franciscan missions in new mexico: letters of the missionaries and related documents. norman, ok: university of oklahoma press. gal, s. (1998). multiplicity and contention among language ideologies: a commentary.in b. b. schieffelin, k. a. woolard, & p. v. kroskrity (eds.), linguistic ideologies: practice and theory (pp. 317-323). oxford: oxford university press. hill, j., & zepeda, o. (1992). mrs. patricio’s trouble: the distribution of responsibility in an account of personal experience. in j. irvine & j. hill (eds.), responsibility and evidence in oral discourse (pp. 197-225). cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. irvine, j. (2012). language ideologies. oxford bibliographies. retrieved from spatiotemporal, geographic, and linguistic fixity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 2 91 http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com knaut, a. l. 1985. the pueblo revolt of 1680. norman, ok: university of oklahoma press. kroskrity, p. (1993). language, history, and identity: ethnolinguistic studies of the arizona tewa. tucson, az: university of arizona press. kroskrity, p. (1998). arizona kiva speech as a manifestation of a dominant language ideology. in b. schiefflin, k. woolard, & p. kroskrity (eds.), language ideologies: practice and theory. oxford: oxford university press. kroskrity, p. (ed). (2000). regimes of language: ideologies, polities, and identities, santa fe, nm: school for advanced research press. lippi-green, r. (1997). english with an accent: language, ideology, and discrimination in the united states. london: routledge. preucel, r. w. (2002). archaeologies of the pueblo revolt: identity, meaning, and renewal in the pueblo world. albuquerque, nm: university of new mexico press. ramirez, r. (2007). native hubs: culture, community, and belonging in silicon valley and beyond. durham, nc: duke university press. rifkin, m. (2018). beyond settler time. durham, nc: duke university press. roberts, d. (2005). the pueblo revolt. new york, ny: simon & schuster. schieffelin, b., woolard, k. & kroskrity, p. (eds). (1998). linguistic ideologies: practice and theory. oxford: oxford university press. silverstein, m. (1979). language structure and linguistic ideology. in p. r. cline, w. f. hanks, & c. l. hofbaer (eds.), the elements: a parasession on linguistic units and levels (pp. 193-247). chicago, il: chicago linguistic society. silverstein, m. (2000). whorfianism and the linguistic imagination of nationality. in p. v. kroskrity (ed.), regimes of language: ideologies, polities, and identities (pp. 85-138). santa fe, nm: school for advanced research press. suslak, d. (2009). the sociolinguistic problem of generations. language & communication, 29, 199-209. vélez-ibáñez, c. g. (2017). hegemonies of language and their discontents: the southwest north american region since 1540. tucson, az: the university of arizona press. wilcox, m. v. (2009). the pueblo revolt and the mythology of conquest: an indigenous archaeology of contact. berkeley, ca: the university of california press. wolfe, p. (2006). settler colonialism and the elimination of the native. journal of genocide research, 8(4), 387-409. community and project background challenging spatiotemporal continuity challenging geographic paradigms challenging monolingualism and language purity volume 14 issue 2 2020 amae invited issue grounding emerging scholarship on queer/trans* chicana/o/x and latina/o/x pedagogies guest editors josé m. aguilar-hernández, ph.d. cal poly pomona cindy cruz, ph.d. university of arizona editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 centering the “t”: envisioning a trans jotería pedagogy jack caraves san josé state university abstract in this piece, the author reflects on his trans chicanx identity and how his embodiment shapes his teaching and pedagogy. the author begins with a spoken word piece that captures his journey to his own trans-conocimiento. then the author looks to the foundational work of chicana/latina feminist pedagogies and transpedagogies to envision a trans jotería pedagogy that centers trans migrants—and trans women and people of color—that is grounded in disruption and vulnerability through the unsettling of borders and binaries tied to systems of power. in doing so, the author reflects on his trans jotería praxis in the classroom and through his podcast anzaldúing it. the author concludes with looking to the tensions that arise when disruptions of systems of power are central to teaching and pedagogy and highlights the vulnerability necessary of both teacher and student to embark on consciousness raising and healing exchange. keywords: jotería, pedagogy, trans-conocimiento doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.364 104 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.2.364 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 dear mamá,1 when i was 8, as we laid in bed i said “mom, no me siento como yo.” you laughed at me and said, “qué quieres decir con eso?” i didn’t know then what i meant, but maybe i can better articulate now what i mean. no me siento como… no me siento como la hija que querías tener. i’m not the daughter you expected the one you dreamt of after bearing two sons and taking one more shot at a girl. i came i came in the body you and dad wanted. but that didn't keep him here. he left when i was one, so you did what you could to raise us three. you struggled with depression and taking meds, because at 6 you had to be a mother to your brothers, and at 16 you had to leave your home in yucatan to come to la because of the violence you experienced from grandpa and dad. and though you couldn’t be all there emotionally, you’ve always been my mayan queen. you were always committed, a poor migrant single mother on welfare and ssi, tell me how ya’ did it. i finally understand for you ma’ it ain’t easy trying to raise me. we were so close until i was about 11, 1 this spoken word piece was inspired by tupac’s song “dear momma.” 105 caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 i found safety and comfort in you. we shared a bed until 12 because we couldn't afford more than one bedroom. i could never be with my brothers because i was too young a girl. when i was old enough you tried to teach me to cook because you said “necesitas aprender para tu esposo.” i protested, because i never wanted un esposo! the first time my heart broke at 16, i couldn’t tell you because a woman did it to me, so i turned to drugs to mother me. i didn't know how you’d take it, you did everything to comfort me. but i learned early on that as the youngest female, “me veia mas bonita calladita.” at 17, drugs gave me the courage and the voice to not give a fuck! i told you that i was bisexual, and you told me, “que hice mal, did i not love you enough?” you loved me in the way that you could but not in the way that this baby queer needed you to. all i could do is snap at you and say, “i’m normal i don’t have a disease!” for so long, dressed in drag, performing femininity so that you, my brothers, and everyone else could accept me. the dresses, the make-up, the long hair 106 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 going on as many diets as i could to be a size two… my body was never mine. it was for you, for him, for them. at 18, went away ‘cause i couldn't stand it anymore, so college became my only escape. at 19, i stopped looking to drugs and started my spiritual journey practicing and chanting nammyoho-renge-kyo. it grounded me, it held me, and it embraced every part of me. soon after, the four of us started practicing together and through it we’ve been able to heal the pain. but it doesn’t stop there. the pain is so deep! it’s taken years for it to come up to the surface. for so long anyone who got close i would push away, because i still wasn't me. i hated my body i was too afraid for someone to see, to really see me i couldn’t see myself. i got into relationships that would end that would be filled with the emotional abuse and neglect i was used to. i learned to push intimacy away just like you did after dad. i always knew you were strong but i’ve come to learn of how afraid you are of sharing yourself too and i don't want that for myself. it wasn't until i was 26 and going through yet another emotionally abusive breakup that i said, “i can't keep living this way!” 107 caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 hurting myself looking to others to validate me to validate my body and love me. nobody can do that for me! and i can't do that for you. i met bamby and the translatin@ coalition. through them, i started to find myself, through my work i’ve started to find myself. through the beautiful trans and genderqueer people of color i’ve been surrounded by, the universe was telling me to open my eyes to see the mirror of myself: it gave me permission. so at 27, i cut off my long hair. i never imagined i would. it was never a thought but i knew that i needed to do it for me. you liked it, you didn't go away. even as i started dressing more masculine i still feel your love. even though you may not understand, you don't let me see. you’ve seen me go through so many changes, and you’ve come to understand my queerness and you even love my partner and accept us as we are. my favorite times are when we come and chant and pray together. you support my work, and even when i think you won’t understand, what the hell i’m doing in a phd, you let me teach you about transphobia and queerphobia. you tell other señoras there's nothing wrong with being a queer, because your daughter is a lesbiana and she's at ucla getting her phd. but here we are again, this time i don't have the drugs to tell you, i only have my mind, body, spirit and my prayer to guide me. but i need to tell you again, i’m not the daughter you once thought you had. 108 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 i'm not the lesbiana you’ve come to know. the reality is i’m so confused with who i am, y lo que soy. last year you told me you were shopping at tj maxx next to a transwoman, and you asked me, “te sientes como niño?” again, i snapped, because i was too scared. i didn't know. i still don't. so i said “no!” ashamed. so i shoved it back down. but here i am i haven’t told you yet, but part of the reason i sound ronca all the time is because in december i started taking testosterone. so it’s been over two months, and i’m re-learning how to use my voice, re-learning my power, learning to live in my body. my doctor at ucla asked me if i wanted to freeze my eggs, ‘cause insurance can cover part of it. i didn't know what to say. always thought i’d carry, but that was before when my body was yours -his, theirs. taking t or having a baby? shit, i don’t know. but now my body is becoming mine. i’m also thinking of having top surgery. i haven’t decided but i know these breasts were never mine. they never felt like my own. maybe if i do decide i can still carry in my queer ass body. but who’s to know. now at 29, i’m finding it a lot harder to become the woman you expected of me. i’m at a crossroad, and i’m learning that to take autonomy of my body i have to cast off the expectations you had, he had, and they’ve had of me. the expectations i internalized as my own. 109 caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 i get to take my body back and make it my own. i know and trust that no matter what, you and my brothers will always love me. i love you, jack i have never shared this spoken word letter with my mother or brothers. i shared this poem with close friends and many strangers at an event hosted by california latinas for reproductive justice (clrj) called, “healing our hearts: a night of latina/x storytelling” in early 2018. the act of writing the pain i was experiencing during my transition was healing for me. while most storytellers were cisgender, i was one of few gender queer individuals who had the mic that night. while i had been very “out” about being a lesbian for over 15 years, this night of storytelling was also one of the first times i “came out” publicly about my trans identity. for months, i had experienced fear, paralysis, numbness, and denial at the thought of my own trans identity. but the act of being vulnerable, through writing and performing my spoken word piece, created a bridge toward my own healing. this spoken word piece also encapsulates my path of conocimiento (anzaldúa, 2002), or awakening, and the beginning of my path to greater self-actualization and acceptance. i choose to open this reflection with being vulnerable and conveying my trans narrative and jotería-historia2 (tijerina revilla & santillana, 2014) to position myself and demonstrate that there is a direct connection between who i am as an individual, what i have been through, and how that shapes who i am as an educator and scholar. as i reflect on why i teach the way that i do as a transgender chicanx educator, i want to highlight how both vulnerability and disruption are key aspects of my pedagogical practice. as i think through the role the body and embodiment play in both teaching and pedagogy, i draw on the foundational work of chicana/latina feminist pedagogies and the 2 tijerina revilla and santillana’s (2014) jota-historia, joto-historia, jotería-historias in the tradition of critical race theory to serve as “counterstories,” which are told from the perspective of marginalized people. in sharing one’s queerstories or jotería-historia, it demonstrates how an individual's story informs their activist and academic community of queer latina/os and chicana/os. 110 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 growing field of jotería pedagogy and transpedagogies. in doing so, i also imagine a trans jotería pedagogy that centers vulnerability and disruption grounded in a trans of color analytic. defining chicana/latina feminist and jotería pedagogies delgado bernal (2020) asserts that traditional understandings of pedagogy are limited and do not account or include “embodied ways of teaching and learning, political and ideological aspects of teaching and learning, and pedagogical practices that take place in intimate, multiple, and intersecting informal spaces” (p. 161). chicana/latina feminist pedagogies, or what delgado bernal calls “feminista pedagogies,” have drawn heavily on the writings of gloria anzaldúa, audre lorde, chela sandoval, and cherríe moraga, among other u.s. women of color, to highlight coalitional relations and to think through the intersectional and multidimensional problems of teaching, learning, and schooling (cruz, 2019; delgado bernal, 2020). building on feminista pedagogies, alvarez (2014) theorizes a jotería pedagogy by stating that it: looks at the role of sexuality and desire . . . sexuality is central and not additive to the study of migration, immigration, and the borderlands. jotería pedagogy focuses on the heterogeneous lives and lived experiences of jotería but also on the erasures and omissions of queer bodies of color. attentive to homophobia, transphobia, antiimmigrant sentiment, ableism, and other forms of institutional and discursive violence, jotería pedagogy is theory and praxis that connects the global, the local, and the individual. (pp. 217–218) this pedagogy is both challenging and transformative, and alvarez asserts that educators must be willing to be vulnerable and share their own story/themselves with students. in practicing this type of pedagogy, educators address intersectionality, make room for diverse ideas and perspectives, and validate the emotional lives of students. furthermore, educators create nonhierarchical, critical spaces for both students and teachers to learn, and educators become healers and bridge builders between different worlds. two concepts from chicana feminism in particular have contributed to the development of feminista pedagogies: cherríe moraga’s (2002) “theory in the flesh,” and gloria anzaldúa’s (2002) “conocimiento.” “theory in the flesh” refers to how “the physical realities of our lives—our skin color, the land or concrete we grew up on, our sexual longing—all fuse to create a politic born out of necessity” (moraga, 2002, p. 21). in this way, theory in the flesh 111 caraves functions as an examination of the body in pain that allows us to theorize from that pain. cruz (2001) elaborates on racialized, gendered, and sexed embodiment in her conceptualization of the “brown body,” which she describes as “a pedagogical devise, a location of recentering and recontextualizing the self and the stories that emanate from that self” (p. 668). thus, while chicanas/latinas are a heterogenous group, the body serves as a place from which knowledge is created and learning and teaching take place. while embodiment is essential, consciousness and healing are also essential to feminista pedagogies. anzaldúa’s (2002) concept of conocimiento is also tied to theory in the flesh and knowledge production from the mind, body, spirit. in terms of conocimiento, anzaldúa (2002) offers seven stages of conocimiento which include: (a) el arrebato, (b) nepantla, (c) coatlicue state, (d) the call, (e) putting coyolxauhqui back together, (f) the blow up, and (g) spiritual activism (cueva, 2013). while the stages do not happen in a linear or chronological order, they are part of the process of consciousness awakening and consciousness raising. anzaldúa teaches us that going through this process is necessary for inner transformation and is necessary to contribute to social change and collective consciousness raising. through doing the “inner work” of healing, we engage in “public acts” which take the form of “writing, art-making, dancing, healing, teaching, meditation, and spiritual activism . . . the body, too, is a form as well as a site of creativity” (anzaldúa, 2002, p. 542). conocimiento becomes a motivating force that pushes one to use newly gained knowledge to push one’s culture and communities forward to “create new paradigms, new narratives” (p. 558). informed by feminista pedagogies, story-telling becomes central to my pedagogy. the spoken word poem that opened this article serves as an example of my own path through my trans-conocimiento. in coming to awaken to my own queer and then trans identity, the poem became a way for me to process my trauma around my racialized trans gender identity and my own internalization of cis-heteronormativity. thus, in writing and performing the poem, it becomes a public act of sharing a new narrative of my trans chicanx subjectivity of dealing with familia, cultura, patriarchy, reproductive justice, and my autonomy. sharing this in such a public way, i write and perform my body and self into existence as a body that defies many boundaries. further, my awakening creates a ripple of awakening for those who are exposed to it. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 112 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 transpedagogies and transformational pedagogies3 with the growth and institutionalization of trans studies in higher education, the experiences of trans identities and experiences in education has been minimal (nicolazzo, marine, & galarte, 2015). in 2015, tsq: transgender studies quarterly published a special issue titled “trans*formational pedagogies,” to explore and understand issues of schooling, learning, and pedagogy to address the significant gap in the field. in the introduction, nicolazzo et al. (2015) argue that spaces of formal education foster conformity and serve to regulate students rather than radicalize them. the authors state that regulation and conformity that takes place in formal education does so through the concept of genderism. genderism, as defined by hill (2003), is “the notion that gender is an important basis by which to judge people and that nonbinary genders are anomalies” (p. 119). in this way, genderism, or this assumption that the gender binary of male and female is inherent, regulates the lives and experiences of trans people within educational contexts and mediates how they move through such institutional spaces (nicolazzo et al., 2015). they add that the way in which bodies are regulated and surveilled in educational contexts varies and is subject to one’s gender, race, class, sexuality, dis/ability, religion, and that further dictates who can enter, navigate, and succeed in education. furthermore, grant et al. (2011) found that trans people, especially trans people of color, experience discrimination at every level in employment, housing, healthcare, and financial security and further face decreased life chances. thus, entrance and retention in educational structures can be inaccessible altogether and once inside educational contexts can be increasingly dangerous, risky, and alienating to trans people (nicolazzo et al., 2014; rankin et al., 2010). nicolazzo et. al (2015), note that the special issue explores how education can be a “practice of freedom” (freire, 2000; hooks, 2014) through the ways that educational processes challenge oppressive aspects of the binary gender system (nicolazzo et al., 2015). while they do not define what a transpedagogy is outright, galarte (2014a) has defined what a pedagogical perspective in trans studies should look like: 3 transpedagogies was first termed by muñoz and kaeh (2008). galarte (2014a, 2014b) makes use of the terms transpedagogies. then on the special issue on trans*formational pedagogies, there is a shift to using either transpedagogies or transformational pedagogies. 113 caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 a pedagogical perspective on transgender phenomena can also help unsettle historically and contextually specific knowledge(s) that shape understandings of normative gender. transpedagogies should offer students the tools they need to participate in the political and economic power structures that shape the boundaries of gender categories, with the goal of changing those structures in ways that create greater freedom. in a transpedagogical approach, processes of learning become political mechanisms through which identities can be shaped and desires mobilized and through which the experience of bodily materiality and everyday life can take form and acquire meaning. (p. 146) additionally, galarte (2014a) notes that transpedagogies should challenge the production of social hierarchies, identities, and ideologies across local and national boundaries. in this way, transpedagogies should critique the ways in which gender embodiment is produced as a form of cultural production and knowledge. similar to cruz’s (2001) assertion of centering the brown body as a pedagogical source, galarte (2014a) emphasizes that a crucial transpedagogy centers the transgender body as a site of knowledge production. doing so “creates new opportunities for teaching and learning by working to understand how transfolk critically understand their places in the world and tactically maneuver through it (i.e., how they negotiate relations of power, privileged subordination) as well as how they actively participate in the transformation of their world(s)” (galarte, 2014a, p. 147). he maintains that engaging in this type of transpedagogy is radical as it has the potential to critique and transform how power and authority construct and organize knowledge. transmasculine teachers in the classroom last, i draw on prosser (1998) and platero and harsin drager (2015) who discuss the experience of being transmasculine teachers in the classroom. in second skins: the body narratives of transsexuality, prosser focuses on the autobiographical accounts written by transsexual people4 to show that they have a different experience of embodiment than nontranssexuals. one of his arguments is that trans individuals use narrative to literally “compose” a self—through a “body narrative” prosser says is “the story the transsexual weaves around the body in order that his body may be ‘read’” (p. 101). his introduction chapter illustrates his 4 he uses the term transsexual to refer to transgender individuals who have gone through medical transition. 114 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 own personal narrative of his medical transition from female to male during the first month of transition while he was teaching an undergraduate class. prosser (1998) reflects on the confusion this caused his students and himself, especially as he did not address any part of his transition to the class: for the entire month my poor students remarkably, collectively, assiduously, and awkwardly avoided referring to me with a pronoun or a gendered title . . . the group’s uncertainty on how to read me earned my immediate sympathy. yet in no way did i seek to resolve its predicament. i felt unable, too caught up in my own predicament, the circumstances of teaching at this most transitional point in my transition . . . to name oneself transsexual is to own precisely to being gender displaced, to being a subject in transition, moving beyond or in between sexual difference. so, i left them uncomfortably (all of us horribly uncomfortable) leaving me to my ambivalence; and as the class progressed, this not attributing me with a gender, in my experience, became more and more glaring—a kind of deafening unspoken. in this gendered nonzone, i felt too embodied (only body) yet also disembodied: for what on earth did i embody? not surprisingly, i was massively relieved once the course was over, and i sensed students felt similarly. (pp. 1–2) prosser’s choice not to disclose the physical changes that were happening were part of his own process in navigating his own transition. while prosser was not writing his narrative to bring insight to his pedagogy, the unspoken changes caused a clear disruption in his class and left him vulnerable as a gendered other in his class. however, it seems contradictory to his argument that he would not share his body narrative with students in order for the class to “read” him as he would like to be read. like prosser (1998), i also went through the initial stages of my medical and social transition to look more masculine while teaching both as a teaching assistant and as i began my tenure-track position in fall 2019. yet, transitioning some two decades after prosser, my teaching and how i share with students has been shaped by my training in chicanx studies and my understanding of u.s. women of color, feminista, and jotería pedagogues, who theorize from their trauma and pain. in this way, naming the parts of myself that make me vulnerable and exposing and shedding light on my transition as well as other parts of my intersectional identity creates disruptions within an academic system that is solely invested in intellectual extraction 115 caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 and production. vulnerability is essential in building rapport and trust with students in the classroom, bridging, healing, and it becomes a reciprocal process that i model for students when i share parts of my autobiography and through what i teach. furthermore, platero and harsin drager (2015), who are both trans teachers in spain, agree that just being trans and being a teacher/professor is not enough to engage in a transformative pedagogy. they do agree that just announcing themselves as trans can create ruptures in the room and may help with student prejudice by challenging their transphobia and stereotypes. platero and harsin drager state that ultimately a transformational pedagogy that is grounded in freedom is about “disrupting notions of how the teaching–learning relationship takes place through fostering curiosity, providing students with skills for critical thought and inquiry,” and “showing the intersectional connections between ableism, sexism, classism, and other inequalities that are present in our society. it involves addressing different ways to express gender identity, as well as presenting heterogeneous representations of trans lives that are raced, classed, and embodied differently” (pp. 447–449). building on the work of platero and harsin drager, i continue the discussion of what i see as trans pedagogy grounded in a feminista and jotería approach. envisioning a trans jotería pedagogy trans jotería pedagogy is an intersectional and coalitional approach that critically challenges the gender binary and genderism. it is grounded in an understanding that gender is a colonial construct that is defined by patriarchy and [cis] heteronormativity (lugones, 2007, p. 186). that being said, it acknowledges that gender is a system of power that shapes one’s socialization and life chances within a white supremacist, heteropatriarchal, sexist, and transphobic society. furthermore, it understands that gender identity, gender performance, and gender presentation are also shaped by one’s culture, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, dis/ability, nationality, and legal status among other things. a trans jotería pedagogy simultaneously centers trans women of color, trans migrants, and trans people of color’s trans embodiment, experience, existence, and resistance. trans jotería pedagogy draws on trans of color feminisms, which “is a feminism that responds to the violence done to trans women of color, the historical absence of trans women in both white and women of color feminism” (cárdenas, 2016, p. 55). trans jotería pedagogy is uniquely situated to disrupt a cis-heteronormative, white supremacist, patriarchal system. drawing on 116 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 feminista pedagogies, jotería pedagogies, and transpedagogies, in order for trans jotería pedagogy to move toward liberation of those systems, disruption and vulnerability are essential to the facilitation of this pedagogy. the unsettling of borders and binaries tied to such systems of power is necessary in a trans jotería approach. that disruption begins in the class with the student–teacher relationship and the emphasis on vulnerability for the pursuit of learning as well as healing. trans jotería praxis a few weeks after sharing the spoken word piece at clrj’s event that i opened this reflection with, i also shared it with students in a class i developed titled, “queer deviant bodies: migration, the border, and making home.” the course took a structural approach to examine the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and trans chicanxs and latinxs in the us.5 as part of the course, students were asked to produce a creative project to submit as their final that incorporated what we learned about lgbt/queer chicanx/latinx socialization, identity formation, policing, migration, resistance, and resilience throughout the quarter, but pushed them to bring visibility or awareness to a topic of their choice. students worked individually and in groups to identify an issue they wanted to address and created websites, tumblr, and instagram pages, podcast episodes, and even art that was dedicated to bringing awareness to their issue. inspired by the assignment and the students’ interest in it, i asked if it was okay with my students to share my own creative project that was unexpectedly produced alongside them (the spoken word piece). i read through the piece struggling to hold back the tears, feeling so raw in my own emotions. i kept my eyes glued to my paper, but as i continued, i could hear students’ reactions through their “oohs” and sniffles. all quarter i was too afraid to name what i was going through, as my voice continued to drop and i felt so exposed by my changes. yet in that unplanned moment of vulnerability, there was trust and community that was built. as they saw their teacher being vulnerable, being human, our shared stories created a new dynamic in the classroom. my ability to be vulnerable with my students led them to be empathetic: it made students feel seen in their struggle to be themselves, led them to bond with 5 some of the texts we read/saw included juana maria rodriguez’s queer latinidad: queer identity practices, discursive spaces, lionel cantu’s the sexuality of migration: border crossing and mexican immigrant men, katie acosta’s amigas y amantes: sexually non-conforming latinas negotiate family, as well as shorter pieces or articles from eithne luidheid, gloria anzaldúa, anthony ocampo, carlos decena, among many others. films included: tranvisible: the bamby sacedo story, el canto del colibrí, and paris is burning. 117 caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 me as their instructor, and broke down hierarchical structures within the classroom that can limit what students take away from the learning experience. it also showed the students that they can theorize from their own pain and lived experiences. ultimately, students produced beautiful creative projects that not only showed their deep understanding and application of what we learned in class, but their work was grounded in their personal journey as lgbtq latinx individuals themselves or co-conspirators of the community. this teaching experience, which was shaped by the first months of my medical transition, showed me the importance of vulnerability in disrupting assumptions, boundaries, and binaries, not only in relation to gender but also hierarchies between teacher and students and other systems of power that function to erase the life chances of racialized gender variants. in being vulnerable, i also emphasize the importance that students interrogate their own socialization around gender and sexuality and how they understand their own lives and what shapes how they come into the classroom. this also requires vulnerability on their end. i do this in various ways. i always begin each of my classes with an activity that requires students to reflect on their childhood and to recall any time they remember their families making comments about what they could or could not do because of their gender. i ask them to think about their siblings or cousins of the opposite gender and ask if their parents had different or similar expectations of what was allowed or what had to be learned. i also ask them to think about any commentary from their family that may have put them in a gendered box. this makes students’ life experiences central in the course. their own reflections then serve as the lens through which they see the theory. i immediately personalized the class so that they can use their own lives to learn and apply to the readings. for many of my students—a majority of whom are first-generation students of color—thinking of their gendered self is not something they had much experience with inside or outside of a class setting. i often begin with sharing a brief personal example of how my mom gendered me as a child. i share, “since i was about 12 years old my mom would tell me ‘necesitas aprender a cocinar para cuando tengas esposo’ (you need to learn how to cook for your future husband).” then i share with students how i always hated when my mom told me this, mostly because while i didn’t know it when i was younger, i didn’t want a husband, but her messages conveyed two very clear things. first, that i was expected to be a woman and a good mexican woman at that and, two, that i was heterosexual. when i am able to share from my own experience and in a sense refer back to pre-transition 118 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 when i did identify as a woman, i am able to disrupt assumptions of gender and gender roles through being vulnerable. in this way, students are able to begin their own disentanglement with their own racialized gendered identities and begin storying their gendered selves. concluding reflections another improvement would be that she specify her readings/films we analyze implicitly just to women studies. what i mean by this is that she mixed women studies with gender/ lqbt+ sometimes. this made me feel like i was taking a lqbt+ studies class rather than women’s 101. although these two tend to intersect/overlap, it would be better if it was more directed to general women studies. (from a student course evaluation, fall 2019) in my first semester as a professor, i taught a course titled women’s 101: sex, power, politics. the course takes a body politics approach to understanding of power and discipline and how women’s bodies are shaped by hierarchies of gender. grounded in an intersectional approach throughout the course, the reading, assignments, lectures, and activities interrogate the social construction of gender via history, medicine, and media. throughout the semester, it was very powerful for students to go through their own path of conocimiento by interrogating the disciplinary racialized gendered functions they have internalized via how they accessorize, why they accessorize, and how they groom themselves. while most of my evaluations from students were very positive and met me with their own vulnerability, disruption, and curiosity, i initially met the evaluation above with anger and frustration. there are many reasons for this, including how the student misgendered me throughout the evaluation responses after i shared my pronouns throughout the semester which at that point were “they/them” pronouns. i also had my pronouns on the syllabus, on the course website, in every email signature, and even incorporating the importance of pronouns into a lecture in class. as a trans chicanx educator, i am often the only trans person in the room. as a trans educator, moreover, i am already rupturing the assumptions of which bodies can teach women’s studies, not only in academia but also in that specific discipline. while the student was not directly speaking about my presence, their critique of making a women’s 101 course have a trans and queer perspective underscores those assumptions of women, gender, and sexuality studies being a place where only cisgender women can be. ultimately, they resisted the notion that gender is a social construct for all bodies. the majority of the readings 119 caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 in the class were authored by cis-women, but because of the body that was standing before them each day teaching them these concepts, their intake of the material was different. merely by having a professor who did not fit neatly into their idea of gender normativity, their idea of what a women’s studies class should be was challenged. for this student, and possibly many other students who may have felt similarly, being taught by a visibly queer and trans person was a point of tension as they learned the material. in and of itself, that tension is knowledge, information, and data for the student—as well as for me as the teacher—about how to teach these concepts in a way that leaves the students with the idea that all genders are socially constructed and all systems such as racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and transphobia work in concert with one another to uphold each other in our society. furthermore, another space i am able to share my trans jotería pedagogy in praxis is through the use of the podcast, anzaldúing it. i co-created the podcast with my friend and colleague, angelica becerra, and we originally started it to talk about the experiences of being queer latinxs in graduate school as we navigated the many material and metaphysical borders of academia. while the podcast has moved to discuss all things pop culture, astrology, academia, politics, and whatever we may be navigating at the time, the podcast became a space where i brought visibility not only to my own transition but to unpacking internalized homophobia, transphobia, and sexism within myself. since these systems function together, the classroom is a space where naturally these conversations come up, but the podcast allowed for a larger platform and reach of those who listened. the podcast was an opportunity for me to talk through every step of the process of my transition: every episode, i was able to talk about milestones, and the podcast itself is an archive of my voice and the documentation of the audible transition of my gendered self. in the digital, you get instant feedback; i was able to get support and affirmation, people that were not necessarily expecting this conversation but that were willing to listen and were empathetic to my process. in that same vein, listeners were also learning about the process, from what it meant to take a testosterone shot, hearing the effects through the changing of my voice, talking about the growing pelitos on my chin, sharing about the struggles of coming out to my family, and going through top surgery together with me. once you go listen to someone’s process of pain and vulnerability, there’s no way to mess up someone’s pronouns or not be understanding of the effort it takes to be seen as a full person— they have been on that journey of conocimiento with you. 120 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 in this way, as a trans chicanx educator and scholar, i see my responsibility as offering students the tools to be critical of gender binaries and sexual dichotomies, as well as to be critical of the structures that shape racism, sexism, classism, ableism, and migration. my presence in the classroom, my body, my voice, and my identity, are the additional tools in my pedagogical toolbelt as i teach and learn alongside my students. as i bring my whole personhood to the classroom, my hope is that my students feel brave enough to bring their full selves to the classroom as well. 121 caraves association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 references alvarez, e. (2014). jotería pedagogy, swapa, and sandovalian approaches to liberation. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 215–228. anzaldúa, g. e. (2002). now let us shift . . . the path of conocimiento . . . inner work, public acts. in g. anzaldúa & a. keating (eds.), this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation (pp. 540–578). routledge. cárdenas, m. (2016). pregnancy: reproductive futures in trans of color feminism. transgender studies quarterly, 3(1-2), 48–57. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-3334187 cruz, c. (2001). toward an epistemology of a brown body. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 657–669. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059874 cruz, c. (2019). reading this bridge called my back for pedagogies of coalition, remediation, and a razor’s edge. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 32(2), 136–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2018.1533150 cueva, b. m. (2013). theorizing the racial and gendered educational experiences of chicanas and native american women at the ph. d. level in higher education: testimonios of resistance, defiance, survival, and hope [doctoral dissertation, ucla]. proquest. delgado bernal, d. (2020). disrupting epistemological boundaries: reflections on feminista methodological and pedagogical interventions. aztlan: a journal of chicano studies, 45(1), 155–170. freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed (revised). continuum. galarte, f. j. (2014a). pedagogy. transgender studies quarterly, 1(1-2), 145–148. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-2399857 galarte, f. j. (2014b). on trans* chican@s: amor, justicia, y dignidad. aztlan: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 229–236. grant, j. m., mottet, l. a., tanis, j., harrison, j., herman, j. l., & keisling, m. (2011). injustice at every turn: a report of the national transgender discrimination survey. national center for transgender equality and national gay and lesbian task force. https://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/ntds_report.pdf hill, d. b. (2003). genderism, transphobia, and gender bashing: a framework for interpreting anti-transgender violence. in b. c. wallace & r. t. carter (eds.), understanding and dealing with violence: a multicultural approach (pp. 113–137). sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452231723.n4 hooks, b. (2014). teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203700280 lugones, m. (2007). heterosexualism and the colonial/modern gender system. hypatia, 22(1), 186–209. moraga, c. (2002). entering the lives of others: theory in the flesh. in c. moraga & g. anzaldúa (eds.), this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color (3rd ed., pp. 19–24). third women press. muñoz, v. & kaeh garrison, e. (2008). transpedagogies: a roundtable dialogue. women’s studies quarterly, 36(3-4), 288–308. https://doi.org/10.1353/wsq.0.0093 nicolazzo, z., marine, s.b., & galarte, f. j. (2015). introduction. tsq: transgender studies quarterly, 2(3), 367–375. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-2926360 122 https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-3334187 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059874 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2018.1533150 https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-2399857 https://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/ntds_report.pdf https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452231723.n4 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203700280 https://doi.org/10.1353/wsq.0.0093 https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-2926360 centering the “t” association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 2 platero, r. l., & harsin drager, e. (2015). two trans* teachers in madrid: interrogating trans*formative pedagogies. transgender studies quarterly, 2(3), 447–463. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-2926419 prosser, j. (1998). second skins: the body narratives of transsexuality. columbia university press. rankin, s., weber, g., blumenfeld, w., & frazer, s. (2010) state of higher education for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. campus pride. tijerina revilla, a., & santillana, j. (2014). jotería identity and consciousness. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 39(1), 167–180. 123 https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-2926419 amae 2020 invited issue cover page caraves_final page proof_wcover untitled volume 15 issue 1 2021 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 90 developing a critical consciousness with elementary students as a catalyst for academic success marisol diaz stephen f. austin state university abstract students of mexican backgrounds have experienced oppressive schooling practices and classroom pedagogies that create academic achievement gaps. this article presents the work of the author, who taught for six years in a title i elementary school near the united states and mexico border. based on an autoethnographic study that investigated the impact of critical pedagogy in the classroom, the author explores the extent to which the pedagogical approach mediated students’ critical consciousness development, resulting in a trajectory of academic success. the study analyzes six years of student work, self-reflection, and the daily routines of the classroom. the findings suggest that the students’ development of critical consciousness catalyzed their critical thinking skills, which they in turn applied to a wide array of academic content, including mathematics, science, and english language arts. keywords: critical consciousness, critical pedagogy, elementary, academic success, hispanic students, students of mexican background christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.1.432 developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 91 introduction in the united states, academic achievement continues to play a significant role in a students’ life. for the most part, academic achievement can be a vehicle for success in other areas of life, such as career and economic stability. however, not all students receive the same education (kao & thompson, 2003). historical differences in schooling practices have created academic achievement gaps between students of color and their white peers; this includes students of mexican backgrounds (reardon & portilla, 2016; valencia et al., 2002a; yosso, 2013). the united states’ national center of education statistics reported that, while the overall academic growth in reading and writing has increased, the achievement gap between hispanic and white students persists.1 compared to white students (under the age of 18), hispanic students are more likely to be retained, to experience school violence, to experience higher push-out rates, and to be living in poverty (musu-gillette et al., 2017). inequities in education show students of mexican backgrounds are more likely to be viewed through a deficit lens (valencia et al., 2002b; valenzuela, 1999), be labeled as having behavioral problems, and be perceived as threatening or as perpetrators, feeding the school-toprison pipeline (orozco, 2013). additionally, school’s tracking systems of black and hispanic students affect the kind of jobs they will attain when entering the labor market (moller & stearns, 2012). while high school dropout rates among hispanic students have significantly decreased, hispanic students still have the highest dropout rates among all other racial groups (national center for education statistics [nces], 2020). without high school degrees or a ged (tests of general educational development), college education is not possible. college attainment remains a critical factor for socioeconomic mobility and life chances; research supports that those who have college degrees earn more money (torpey, 2018), tend to have better decision-making skills about life and social interactions (oreopoulos & salvanes, 2011), and even live longer lives (case & deaton, 2015). in fact, only 16% of all hispanics have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the overwhelming majority of the population (59%) only have a high school degree or lower (noe-bustamante & flores, 2017). 1 adopting language from the united states census data, school districts use the term hispanic when referring to multiple populations of latin backgrounds. this includes mexican students and students of mexican backgrounds. therefore, in order to discuss this group statistically, the term hispanic is used in the article. when not referring to data sets, the term mexican is used to best describe the students’ cultural identity. diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 92 awareness of these problems and their power to persist through time are not new. some explanations for these differences use deficit ideologies and debunked myths about biologically-determined or inherently-natural abilities to explain variance in academic achievement (herrnstein & murray, 1994). however, scholars in education, psychology, and law have long disproven such ideas (aldefer, 2003; bell, 1995; ladson-billings & tate, 1995) and found that such disparities are better understood through social and schooling factors related to racism and social class (boykin & noguera, 2011; gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005; knapp & woolverton, 2004). while there is extensive research that supports the vast benefits of classroom pedagogy and curriculum that centers a student’s culture and ways of knowing (delpit, 2012; nieto, 2010; sleeter, 2011), there are less studies from teachers as researchers (kincheloe, 2012). this is especially true for studies at the elementary level that work with students of mexican backgrounds. in this article, i describe the experiences i engaged in as an elementary teacher and the elementary students from whom i learned, teaching grades second through fourth, at a title 1 school (nces, 2019) for six years. the majority of the students in my classroom were of mexican background, as was the larger demographic of the school district and city. i noticed students’ academic achievement improved and more importantly, they became critical thinkers and demonstrated their critical consciousness about their lives and sociopolitical context through their work, relationships with their peers, and with their home caretakers. the byproduct of the critical pedagogy used in the classroom was increased academic achievement. this article examines the role of classroom pedagogy in students' development of critical consciousness and its effect on academic achievement. specifically, this study considers one key research question: to what extent did critical pedagogy mediate students’ academic success? literature review paulo freire’s theory of critical pedagogy (1970)—grounded in the importance of dialogue, praxis, and critical reflection—guided my teaching in the classroom. critical pedagogy draws from critical theory: a framework which studies the dynamics of power as it relates to knowledge construction and oppression (giroux, 2001). critical theory positions knowledge as socially produced and demands an understanding of various forms of oppression. critical pedagogy draws from critical theory and applies it to educational practices. according to paulo freire (1970), when an individual becomes critically conscious, they can perceive the social developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 93 conditions of their political and economic context that oppress them. critical pedagogy focuses on the process in which both teacher and student become increasingly conscious of their sociopolitical context. this process, conceptualized by paulo freire's (1970) as conscientização, or critical consciousness, emphasizes developing this awareness as a cornerstone of critical pedagogy. moreover, critical pedagogy retains an inseparable relationship between teaching and learning. in this context, teaching and learning should not be separate if they are to be truly effective and revolutionary (freire, 1978; 1998). critical literacy is associated with critical pedagogy as it moves beyond the technical aspects of literacy and instead focuses on the connections of power and literacy (macedo, 2006). used as a tool for critical consciousness, critical literacy engages students in critical reflection through problem-posing and empowers individuals to engage in questioning the social reality in which they live. using a critical lens, i taught about oppression and forms of resistance through stories, books, and real-life examples from mexican and other diverse marginalized communities. historical context from its earliest origins in the british colonies, schools primarily functioned to maintain the economic and political power of the white elite class (knapp & woolverton, 2004). historically, school segregation primarily focused on the forcible assimilation of indigenous communities, including but not limited to native mexican communities in the southwest united states (churchill, 2004). in the nineteenth century, mexico lost nearly half of its land to the united states, leaving many mexicans living in poverty and without a homeland. white settlers amassed their economic and political power throughout the region, and, by restricting the use of spanish, they were able to extend their cultural dominance (vélez, 2008). school sites were the primary socializing institutions for this type of cultural colonization. with a large mexican population, texas was one of the states at the forefront of americanization movements. by 1870, texas laws mandated english-only instruction in all schools. this, along with widespread poverty, left most mexican children unable to attend school (vélez, 2008). mexican students continued to be segregated in schools throughout the early 1900s with policies and curriculum focusing on english-only pedagogy and widespread assimilation through cultural eradication and violence (mirandé, 1994). “mexican american education was all americanization all the time” (blanton, 2007, p.70). during this time, some scholars suggested diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 94 the clinical labeling of mexican students as "social, cultural, and educational retardation" in order to justify, demand, and support an americanization of the curriculum (blanton, 2007, p. 67). by the 1920s, teaching english was the main objective of schools, while all other academic areas did not receive the same importance. the attainment of english seemed like the only path to learning. segregated schools for mexican students were overcrowded, lacked adequately trained staff, and had under-resourced facilities. in these schools, it was prevalent for students to be retained up to three times in first grade because they had not acquired english proficiency (powers, 2008). up until the late 1970s, punishments for violating english-only policies included corporal punishment, fining students, and spanish detention classes (valencia, 2002). one of the consequences of such policies was an overrepresentation of mexican and mexican american students in special education classes (valencia et al., 2002a). these practices, rooted in deficit ideologies, had lasting legacies that influence current schooling practices that enforce a connection between english and patriotism that are still seen across the country today (zamuido et al., 2011). the historical accumulation of these oppressive experiences have long lasting traumatic effects. deficit models that attribute disparities in academic achievement to students and their communities are still present. as mentioned previously, students of mexican backgrounds are more likely to be labeled negatively and their cultural identity blamed for their lack of success in school. while there is no empirical evidence to support these deficit views, documented research demonstrates that teachers maintain deficit thinking of mexican students, such as perceiving them as lazy and careless (valencia, 2002). valenzuela’s (1999) study of mexicanamerican youth in a u.s. high school noted mexican students were vastly underrepresented in the college-bound tracks with their teachers often disrespecting them. valenzuela also noted that mexican american youth 'learn' perhaps no other more influential lesson in school than to devalue the spanish language, mexico, mexican culture, and “things mexican” (valenzuela, 1999, p. 19). valencia (2002) notes that these schooling practices have a substantial impact on academic achievement. these factors include school funding inequalities and overrepresentation of students labeled as hispanic in special education programs and vocational tracks. these historical patterns also affect economic attainment and impact income inequality (duncan & murnane, 2014; reardon & portilla, 2016). in the united states, students of mexican backgrounds are primarily labeled hispanic and categorized as latino. only 15% of latino developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 95 students, ages 25-29, have completed a bachelor's degree. latinos hold the lowest household income with a nearly $20,000 average difference from whites and more than $10,000 difference from all other races (heinrich, 2016). schools and the schooling process have historically contributed to the mexican community's income inequality and college attainment by stripping the cultural identity of mexican students, replacing their native languages, and emphasizing assimilation and compliance (herrera-rocha & de la piedra, 2019). nevertheless, schools can also be places of empowerment through which cultural identity and language can be preserved and used to promote academic achievement. robust research connects successful academic achievement to using a curriculum that supports and maintains students' cultural identity and heritage (gay, 2018; ladson-billings; 1992; sleeter, 2011; sleeter & delgado bernal, 2004). research methods this ethnographic study covers seven years of my teaching. like many teachers, i electronically archived many classroom-related artifacts, such as high quality and engaging lesson plans, student work samples, photos of student activities, articles for reading, parent communication letters, written feedback from students and various assessments. i also archived electronic notes on my positive and negative teaching experiences, e.g., failed lessons or my biases about students’ abilities. i considered this to simply be good teaching practice and other teachers did the same thing. in a sense, this was where my research began. the data is a sevenyear collection (grades 2nd-4th) of these artifacts; meaning data from about 165 students. categorization was used to analyze the data and locate emerging themes (maxwell, 2005), following marshall and rossman’s (2016) seven phases for analyzing data. i also borrowed methods from grounded theory, which use the constant comparative method to help build conceptual categories (glaser & strauss, 1967). further, while conducting the categorization process, i peer-debriefed with scholars in the field and examined the literature to construct the findings and derive the themes. it is important to note that ethnographic work seeks to provide a complete picture of a specific context using a collection of data over substantial periods of time. further, “because [ethnographic] work is too focused on complex local situations, it does not permit easy isolation of one variable for testing. in fact, some ethnographers question whether we can think of human behavior in terms of variables at all” diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 96 (anderson-levitt, 2006, p. 282). the themes drawn from the collection of data are presented in the findings section. setting and participants the school community is largely of mexican descendancy, situated near a national border from which it draws its traditions and diversity. the families and students are welcoming and community oriented. they value family life, socializing, and education. parents and caregivers supported me and mentored me in community activism. the school is adjacent to a large metropolitan area with characteristics of an urban area (milner, 2012), such as a high level of english learners. the school enrolls nearly 1,300 students in pre-kindergarten through the fifth grade, of whom more than 90% are hispanic, about 80% are economically disadvantaged, more than 70% labeled as high-needs students (u.s. department of education, 2019) and nearly 60% are english language learners. as a title i school, the majority of students are from lowsocioeconomic status and categorized as hispanic. the majority of the students are coded with various labels such as "at-risk," "low ses (socioeconomic)," "sped" (special education), or "lep" (limited english proficiency). from second to fourth grade, my classroom was an inclusion classroom at times, i.e., students labeled as special needs are in mainstream classrooms. as a theoretical framework, i used critical theory, which is an approach to education that acknowledges the unequal realities of education and calls for an interrogation of external forces that have historically oppressed individuals and groups—so that such critiques might allow them to change this reality (hart, 1990). critical theory is an important ideological influence in qualitative methods and provided the lens to examine the relationship with systemic and pervasive inequalities in my students' schooling experiences (bredo, 2006; bredo & feinberg, 1982). further, critical theory and a critical pedagogical teaching philosophy maintain a transformative agenda (freeman & vasconcelos, 2010; greene, 2010), which were a central part of the ideology informing the day-to-day classroom interactions. a key feature of critical theory is dialectical thought. this means being able to think about the process of one’s thinking while at the same time thinking about the material it is working on (giroux, 2001). as a teacher and researcher, i engaged in this kind of thought process. i critically examined my own teaching while at the same time using critical theory to frame my analysis of the data. critical theory was used as part of the theoretical framework to critique the students’ schooling experience and the pedagogical approaches in the classroom. i developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 97 used critical theory to focus on the broader social structure in which the school was located and how the students’ social class and racial and ethnic identities affected their education. positionality from the beginning of my teaching career, i decided not to split my work from my life in an effort to think critically about my work. when i began teaching at this school, i decided to live in the same community as my students and rented an apartment close to where most of them lived. in this study, one of the most important things i was aware of during the analysis of this study was my researcher positionality (peshkin, 1988) and how my positionality, world view, and theoretical framework influenced my interpretation of data. as such, i understand that my work and interpretations are subjective. i am a mexican cis woman who came from a very low-social class and was raised in the same kind of environment and cultural background as my students. i view schools and the educational system as inherently oppressive and even dangerous for students of color, especially for students of mexican background. i acknowledge that no matter how objective i may have tried to be, my observations were influenced by my beliefs. however, peshkin (1988) noted that this is not necessarily a negative issue; on the contrary, it can make research more insightful and perhaps more honest because such positionality is brought forward instead of being denied. findings the extent to which critical pedagogy mediated the students’ academic success is evident through the themes drawn from the data. developing a critical consciousness with students was a catalyst for their academic success. the strongest themes among the data were co-creation of knowledge, conceptual and inquiry-based teaching, and critical literacy. in the following sections, i describe each of the themes in detail and share ways students engaged with academic content using a critical pedagogical framework to develop student’s critical consciousness. finding 1: co-creation of knowledge co-creation of knowledge emerged in the data from students’ social interactions as they played and engaged in daily classwork. students had authentic opportunities to choose how they wanted to demonstrate their knowledge. as the teacher, i engaged in self-reflexive practices to encourage my students to assess their own learning (méndez-negrete, 2013). for example, i structured science lessons through long inquiry-based investigation units in which diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 98 students made independent observations in groups and individually and kept science journals on each unit that varied from investigating mealworms to the life cycle of plants. students shared their observations and created a class informational chart that demonstrated what they found. i placed their information on the classroom science wall for students to modify or refer to. the brassica plant investigation unit is an example of co-creation of knowledge in science. my second-grade students worked closely together while observing their brassica plants and comparing their plant growth. students were encouraged to observe other students’ plants and discuss possible reasons for the differences in growth. this knowledge-sharing was a common pedagogical approach across all academic subjects. later in the unit, the brassica plants produced yellow flowers, and the class explored ways to pollinate them. some students suggested bringing in bees, while other students responded that it would be difficult to do so. one student suggested rubbing plants together individually, and the class did so. this caused the brassica plants to produce seedpods, which stimulated further discussion and discovery. another example of co-creation of knowledge was the classroom's math wall (see figure 1). figure 1. the co-constructed classroom math wall that students used to explain math concepts another form of co-creation of knowledge was the creation of informational displays, such as a math wall. after covering a mathematical unit, i took the central concept or vocabulary terms and asked the students to create examples and definitions of the terms. students worked in groups and placed their definitions and drawings on the math wall. i used various grouping developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 99 methods; most were randomized to ensure all students had a chance to work with each other. students used this math wall as a reference point and a resource tool. remarkably, if students found information related to the term or concept, they modified it and added information. i spent a lot of time with my students. this came in the form of saturday field trips (not sponsored by the school district) and my time playing with them at recess. i observed student’s co-construction of knowledge outside of the classroom. for example, i observed students play outside during lunchtime and saw them display similar cooperation approaches as used in the classroom. figure 2 is a photograph i took while i witnessed students designing and planning a sandcastle. students delegated tasks and worked cooperatively, much like they did on classroom projects. figure 2. the decimal wallets students created, the items students sold as well as the hundreds, tens, and ones used as currency in this lesson co-creating knowledge helped build strong relationships among the students, forging what scholars have described as student-centered learning communities grounded in socially and culturally relevant teaching (mcintyre et al., 2001). for one journal entry assignment, students wrote a letter to the class demonstrating the development of a strong positive identity with their classmates’ shared abilities and consistently used the plural “we” to describe their relationship to the class: dear class i love how funny, smart, strong, cool, and how quiet you can be. but the 1st thing i know from this year is that with all of us combined makes a person who’s smart, has brains, knows what’s right and does what’s right. but that person can be either a girl or a boy because we are all equal. and what we need to do is be that shinning student. i diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 100 wish you luck. sincerely, [student’s name]. p.s. whoever is reading this i hope you are part of the brain in the class. i also hope that you are the most important part. sincerely [student’s name]. similar sentiments are overwhelming among the data. students describe their classmates as unique, special, and intelligent. there is an acknowledgement of all the knowledge they cocreated and the treasured memories they shared. in one student’s letter, they expressed that their classmates are a “great team” and that the friendship the class has “will never be broken”. empathy developed in the students as they became more aware of themselves, their classmates, and the collective learning process. additionally, social-emotional skills emerged when students worked in groups. they were motivated to learn, took turns, and explained their perspectives clearly and respectfully to each other. as one student wrote in their journal, “you guys teached [sic] me more than farther than the moon.”. as students learned to collaborate, they had to learn to listen to one another and value their peer’s input. in particular, this created a sense of community and facilitated learning. as one student wrote to the class, “you took me in like family […] you took me in and changed me.” co-creating knowledge became the mode of meaning-making, created spaces of collaboration, and simultaneously built relationships. the pedagogical benefits of collaborative learning extended beyond the social benefits of learning how to work with others. research on peer collaboration has shown that peer interaction increases the motivation to learn (järvelä et al., 2010) and enhances cognitive development, logical reasoning, and higher-order thinking skills, such as creative problem solving and critical thinking (akkerman et al., 2007; perretclermont, 1980; vygotsky, 1978). as part of the class pedagogy, collaboration was a factor that increased critical thinking skills. when students worked together, they built communication and learned new skills from one another. finding 2: conceptual and inquiry-based teaching similar to critical thinking skills used in critical theory, inquiry-based teaching is a pedagogical approach that uses questioning to guide students into understanding and critical reasoning (kuhn, 2005). although the classroom’s general learning environment was one of inquiry, i used this teaching approach when carefully planning science and math lessons. inquirybased science lessons usually began with a general question or problem that the students could developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 101 investigate in more profound ways. working and playing in groups was a common practice in the classroom and was extended to all subjects. however, working in groups to solve problems and analyze concepts came easier in the subject areas of math and science. i noted that at every grade level (second through fourth), students' mathematical skills grew after being exposed to conceptual teaching and working in groups. one example of this type of investigation was a four-week mealworm unit. students were each given a mealworm to observe each day. students handled their mealworms and used a magnifying glass to study them carefully. students made and wrote their observations in their science journals and added a drawing of their observations. once the students made their observations, the class gathered together and shared their notes. for example, after the students made their initial observations, i encouraged them to think about how they could keep track of their mealworms' growth. i asked students what tools we had available in the classroom that might facilitate this process. a student suggested using rulers, and the rest of the students listened and began measuring their mealworms with rulers. math lessons were also taught conceptually. for example, in fourth grade, i taught decimals as it relates to fractions using a project i created called tiendita and decimal wallet. living in the same community as my students, and also sharing a similar cultural background as them, gave me insight in ways to make connections with academic content. this culturally relevant teaching approach (ladson-billings, 1992) mediated students understanding of the math concept. the students cut out paper diagrams of ones, tens, and hundreds diagrams out of paper and placed them in their paper wallets. students folded a paper in half and stapled the sides to create a pocket for the wallet into which they placed their diagrams of ones, tens, and hundreds. we established that the hundreds would be equivalent to a whole, the tens represented as 1/10, and finally, the ones units represented as 1/100. each student had to create a tiendita (a store) and sell items, which were objects from the classroom. each student made tags to show how much each of their items cost and placed them on the top of their desk. the class was divided into two groups, based on where they were sitting to facilitate moving around the room. the first group were the buyers, and the second group were the sellers. students bought items from one another using the ones, tens, and hundreds as currency. students had to make change and the sellers had to write a receipt showing the transaction amounts. this gave the students opportunities to add and subtract diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 102 decimals, which is another content skill. for example, if an item sold was $3.40, the students could pay with three hundreds and four tens. this activity was used for about two weeks. each time we began the activity, the students would set up their tiendita (it was different each time) along with the prices for the item they selected (see figures 3 and 4). figure 3. the decimal wallets students created, the items students sold as well as the hundreds, tens, and ones used as currency in this lesson figure 4. students moving around the classroom buying and selling various items math lessons were structured so that students could connect the concept and their lives. i always framed these lessons from a social justice and critical perspective. one example of this was when i taught the equal sign and the concept of equivalence. i learned that many perceived the concept of the equal sign much like a period at the end of a sentence, rather than a symbol expressing a relationship between two expressions. when i approached teaching this concept, i connected this mathematical concept with the idea of equality. i introduced the lesson by drawing five pennies on the board, the equal sign, and then one nickel. i asked the students to make observations. students noted the obvious; one side has developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 103 five pennies, the other one single nickel. then i asked the students to tell me about the five pennies' value and how it related to the nickel. the students then said that the values were equal. i stated that, even though one side has five coins and the other only one, both sides' value was the same. i continued to write more examples: one half in fraction form and one half in decimal form. again, the students said that the values were the same though their representations looked different. i then drew a stick figure of a short figure, the equal sign, and a tall stick figure on the other. i asked the students what they thought i meant by using the equal sign in the metaphor i had just drawn. many hands went up in the air. “the stick figure on the right side is equivalent to the stick figure on the left side,” one student said. i asked the students to explain further what they meant. another hand would shoot up: “they both have the same value.” i followed by affirming and saying that they had the same value even though the two pictures looked different. discussions evolved as i asked the students to provide more examples. the students shared more: kids in wheelchairs and kids who are not in wheelchairs, african americans and mexicans, the president and lunch ladies, and girls and boys. i wrapped up the lesson by affirming the students' observations: although we all may look different from one another, speak differently, or have different jobs, we all as humans have equal value. students do not forget the connection between this ideology and the mathematical concept. i have heard students say things like, "mrs., some students were laughing at linda just because she uses a walker. they do not believe in equivalence." this demonstrated the degree to which students’ internalized the concept of equality in math to the concept of equality in the context of human worth. further, when students solved math problems or recreated equations to show equivalence, they did so very successfully. informed by critical pedagogy that rejects a banking-system of education (freire, 1970), my teaching approach necessitated teaching conceptually. the use of students’ funds of knowledge (moll et al., 1992) and conceptual teaching, enhanced the students' critical thinking and analytic skills. this environment allowed students to thrive and develop their cognitive abilities to think complexly and relationally about what they were learning. furthermore, students were encouraged to think of culture as a set of lived practices and meanings (gonzález, 1995). our class won the school's math bowl competitions and even the districtdiaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 104 level math bowl competition. the students also continually surpassed their peers in state standardized tests. finding 3: critical literacy the final theme emerging from the data was critical literacy (freire, 1973) and language skills within the classroom. students engaged in reading and writing as part of the daily routine in all content areas. teachers read to students daily from various books and texts drawn from different reading levels. we focused on emancipatory literacy that carried social justice themes to promote discussions and ask questions. in our reading discussions, students effectively distinguished the various dynamics of the community and school; their experiential knowledge tuned them into what we read and developed their literacy of the world around them. notably, emancipatory literacy—a social justice tool in political, religious, or cultural resistance to domination (freire, 1970, 1978, 2005; gee, 2012)—constituted a central component in students’ development of a critical consciousness. paulo freire believed literacy was a powerful tool that could empower people when the literature caused the reader to question the social reality in which they lived (freire, 1970, 1978; freire & macedo, 1987). to develop this kind of literacy among students, i selected books with social injustice issues by various authors that talked about rich histories and folktales of mexican and african american heritage. one of the stories i read was dr. seuss’ yertle the turtle (2008). this is the story of a greedy turtle that piles other turtles on top of each other to sit at the top of a turtle stack; a brave turtle at the bottom of the stack speaks to power and demonstrates resistance. after reading this story, i asked students questions to encourage them to draw connections to their social worlds: “who in our community or school are like the turtles at the bottom of the stack? at the top? what are ways the turtles resisted and question those in power?” in social studies, i selected texts from various sources that told different perspectives of history, such as the chicano movement, women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement, and maps showing native american land and how native americans were colonized through violence and unfair treaties. one of these books was rebecca stefoff’s (2009) adaptation of howard zinn’s (1990) a young people’s history of the united states. it was part of the classroom library and i read sections of it during read-aloud time. these books and this pedagogical approach were central to the curriculum. developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 105 these stories, coupled with critical pedagogy, profoundly changed the class dynamics and encouraged students to find ways to act on what they learned. as a consequence of reading an article about frederick douglass, students created a club called spanish club. i accidentally found out about the students’ spanish club when i heard them talking about it after recess. a few weeks earlier, we had discussed the frederick douglass article in class extensively. specifically, we had discussed how douglass taught other slaves under a tree to read and write—and how slave owners kept more control over slaves if they did not know how to read or write. the power of literacy resonated with students. to highlight why spanish club and its creation is so meaningful, it is necessary to talk about language programs used in the school district. like most schools in the region where i taught, transitional bilingual education models are used in schools to ultimately replace students' native languages with english (herrera-rocha & de la piedra, 2019). most of my students came from transitional language models and spoke very little spanish. the students often asked why i did not teach more spanish and frequently asked other students and i to translate letters into spanish. these letters were often for grandparents. once i learned more about spanish club, i learned that they met under a tree. the students stated they were inspired by frederick douglass and wanted to emulate him teaching under a tree to provide each other knowledge. the next day, i took pictures (see figure 5) of the students during spanish club and watched as they organized and delegated tasks that they would learn or teach. in this way, the students created spaces of resistance by teaching themselves a language they were not taught in school, and they provided knowledge for each other that could liberate them from oppressive school policies of language (mcintyre et al., 2001). they created these spaces together, in a collective, as a “club.” figure 5. third-grade students during recess engaging in spanish club. students self-organized, brought a blanket from home to sit on, and created curriculum diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 106 at other times, students created their own books. during various discussions in class, students asked questions about the role of women in a particular field. this occurred at various times throughout the school year, especially during science, when students would ask who the first woman scientist was or who was the first woman to go to the moon. during reading time, a student suggested that the class write a book about the contributions of women. students used the internet to obtain a list of women they wanted to learn more about. i placed students randomly in groups of two and assigned one woman to each group. i also gave the students guidelines as to what specific information they should look for. then they researched that person's contributions and background information. at the end, everyone collected their work, and we made a class book. the students asked me to save it for next year's class or anyone else who wanted to borrow it (see figure 6). figure 6. the women’s book that students created on large paper and measured about two feet by two feet. the book consisted of ten women. from left to right, the first image is the cover of the book, the second is sacagawea, the last one is harriet tubman. developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 107 discussion a critical pedagogy framework informed all teaching decisions through which i examined my pedagogical approaches and its impact on my students’ broader socio-political context. focusing on developing a student’s critical consciousness was a catalyst to their academic success. promoting the development of the student's critical consciousness occurred in tandem with the teaching of academic lessons, and every opportunity was used to affirm students in their role of constructors of knowledge. the influence of developing a critical consciousness had an impact on students’ sense of self, the classroom environment, and overall academic achievement. paulo freire’s (1970) concept of conscientização, or critical consciousness, emphasizes developing this awareness as a cornerstone of critical pedagogy. when individuals become critically conscious, they can perceive the social conditions of their political and economic context that oppress them (freire, 1970). one of the challenges of critical pedagogy has been the difficulty for classroom teachers to translate critical pedagogy theories into concrete classroom practices (sleeter & delgado bernal, 2004). this leaves this powerful pedagogical tool in a realm of philosophy that may be intangible to some classroom teachers. while a critical pedagogy cannot and should not be prescriptive (freire, 2005; kincheloe, 2012; mclaren, 1994), in this study, there were specific characteristics of critical pedagogy that emerged when such teaching philosophies were enacted, and a critical consciousness was developed. these included teaching through a constructivist approach in which students co-created knowledge. rejecting a banking-system of education (freire, 1970) and teaching conceptually and inquiry-based. further, using critical literacy practices in reading and writing throughout all content areas. developing a critical consciousness with students through these processes developed students' socio-political awareness and self-agency. this facilitated students' habit of mind to question existing knowledge and see themselves as knowledge-creators and not just passive consumers. conclusion like other marginalized communities of color, students of mexican backgrounds face oppressive schooling practices influenced by generational suppression of culture and language (herrera-rocha & de la piedra, 2019). this study investigated the extent to which critical pedagogy mediated students’ academic success. the data revealed that developing a critical consciousness through a critical pedagogy demanded a constructivist teaching approach. this diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 108 encouraged the teacher and the students to co-create knowledge. a critical pedagogy demanded emancipatory literacies. in other words, students needed to learn to ask relevant questions grounded in the material conditions of the world around them in order to begin to improve those conditions. through these literacies, students imagined different possibilities about their future while further questioning their present schooling experiences and social-political context. a critical pedagogy demanded i teach students conceptually, especially in the areas of math and science. a critical pedagogy demanded a teaching approach centered on developing a student's critical consciousness in every opportunity and throughout all classroom lessons. through this process, students learned the foundations of critical thinking (kincheloe, 2008, 2010) and was a catalyst for developing similar critical thinking skills they applied to academic areas of math, science, and language arts; these elements set students on a trajectory for academic success. in this case, the classroom curriculum demonstrated that the classroom environment could greatly influence academic achievement for students all students but especially for students of mexican background. while educational research has consistently confirmed similar findings (banks, 1993; erickson, 1987; gay, 2018; sleeter, 2011), this study is a contribution affirming that students' academic success is not biologically-determined or blamable of a student's cultural background. on the contrary, using critical and culturally relevant pedagogy, students can lead a trajectory for academic success by developing a critical consciousness. developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 109 references akkerman, s., van den bossche, p., admiraal, w., gijselaers, w., segers, m., & simons, r.-j. (2007). reconsidering group cognition: from conceptual confusion to a boundary area between cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives? educational research review, 2, 39–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2007.02.001 aldefer, c. p. (2003). the science and nonscience of psychologists’ responses to the bell curve. professional psychology: research and practice, 34(3), 287–293. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.34.3.287 anderson-levitt, k. m. (2006). ethnography. in j.l green, g. camilli, & p.b. elmore (eds.), handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 279–295). american educational research association. banks, j. a. (1993). the canon debate, knowledge construction, and multicultural education. educational researcher, 22(5), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x022005004 bell, d. a. (1995) who’s afraid of critical race theory. university of illinois law review, 1995 (4), 893-910. blanton, c. (2007). the strange career of bilingual education in texas, 1835-1981. texas a & m university press. boykin, w., & noguera, p. (2011). creating the opportunity to learn: moving from research to practice to close the achievement gap. ascd. bredo, e. (2006). philosophies of educational research. in j.l green, g. camilli, & p.b. elmore (eds.), handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 3–31). american educational research association. bredo, e., & feinberg, w. (1982). knowldege and values in social and educational research. temple university press. case, a., & deaton, a. (2015). rising morbitity and mortality in midlife among white non-hispnaic americans in the 21st century. proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 112(49), 15078–15083. churchill, w. (2004). kill the indian, save the man: the genocidal impact of american indian residential schools. city lights. delpit, l. d. (2012). multiplication is for white people: raising expectations for other people’s children. new press. duncan, j. d., & murnane, r. j. (2014). growing income inequality threatens american education. phi delta kappan, 95, 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171409500603 erickson, f. (1987). transformation and school success: the politics and culture of educational achievement. anthropology & education quarterly, 18(4), 335–356. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.1987.18.4.04x0023w freeman, m., & vasconcelos, e. f. s. (2010). critical social theory: core tenets, inherent issues. new directions for evaluation, 2010(127), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/ev.335 freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. herder & herder. freire, p. (1978). education for critical consciousness. seabury. freire, p. (2005). teachers as cultural workers: letters to those who dare teach. westview press. freire, p., & macedo, d. p. (1987). literacy: reading the word & the world. bergin & garvey publishers. gay, g. (2018). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice (3rd ed). teachers college press. gee, j. p. (2012). social linguistics and literacies: ideology in discourses (4th ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2007.02.001 https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.34.3.287 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x022005004 https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171409500603 https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.1987.18.4.04x0023w https://doi.org/10.1002/ev.335 diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 110 giroux, h. a. (2001). theory and resistance in education: towards a pedagogy for the opposition. bergin & garvey. glaser, b., & strauss, a. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. aldine pub. co. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-196807000-00014 gonzález, n. (1995). processual approaches to multicultural education. the journal of applied behavioral science, 31(2), 234–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886395312008 gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practice in households, communities, and classrooms. l. erlbaum associates. greene, j. c. (2010). foundations of qualitative research in education. in w. luttrell (ed.), knowledge accumulation three views on the nature and role of knowledge in social science (pp. 63–77). taylor & francis. hart, m. (1990). critical theory and beyond: further perspectives on emancipatory education. adult education quarterly, 40(3), 125-138. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001848190040003001 heinrich, m. (2016). the economic state of the latino community in america. united states congress joint economic committee democrats. herrnstein, r. j., & murray, c. a. (1994). the bell curve: intelligence and class structure in american life. free press herrera-rocha, l., & de la piedra, m. t. (2019). ideologies of language among ells on the us mexico border: the case of a transitional bilingual programme. journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 40(8), 665–678. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1544638 järvelä, s., volet, s., & järvenoja, h. (2010). research on motivation in collaborative learning: moving beyond the cognitive–situative divide and combining individual and social processes. educational psychologist, 45(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520903433539 kao, g., & thompson, j. s. (2003). racial and ethnic stratification in educational achievement and attainment. annual review of sociology, 29(1), 417–442. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100019 kincheloe, j. l. (2008). critical pedagogy (2nd ed). peter lang primer. kincheloe, j. l. (2010). knowledge and critical pedagogy: an introduction. springer. kincheloe, j. l. (2012). teachers as researchers: qualitative inquiry as a path to empowerment. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203801550 kleibard, h. m. (2004). the struggle for the american curriculum, 1893–1958 (3rd ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203339985 knapp, m., & woolverton, s. (2004). social class and schooling. in j. banks (ed.), handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 656–681). jossey-bass. kuhn, d. (2005). what needs to be mastered in mastery of scientific method? psychological science, 16(11), 873–874. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01630.x ladson-billings, g. (1992). culturally relevant teaching: the key to making multicultural education work. in c. a. grant (ed.), research and multicultural education: from the margins to the mainstream (pp. 102–116). falmer press. ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record. 97. 47-68. macedo, d. (2006). literacies of power: what americans are not allowed to know. westview press. maxwell, j. a. (2005). qualitative research design: an interactive approach. thousand oaks, calif: https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-196807000-00014 https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886395312008 https://doi.org/10.1177/0001848190040003001 https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1544638 https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520903433539 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100019 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203801550 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203339985 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01630.x developing critical consciousness and academic success association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 111 sage publications. marshall, c. and rossman, g. (eds.) (2016) designing qualitative research (6th edition). sage. mcintyre, e., rosebery, a. s., & gonzález, n. (eds.). (2001). classroom diversity: connecting curriculum to students’ lives (vol. 88). heinemann. mclaren, p. (1994). critical pedagogy: an overview. in literate schools (pp. 168–173). longman. méndez-negrete, j. (2013). pedagogical conocimientos: self and other in interaction. national association for chicana and chicano studies annual conference. paper 14. http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/naccs/tejas_foco/tejas/14 milner, h. r. (2012). but what is urban education? urban education, 47(3), 556–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912447516 mirandé, a. (1994). the chicano experience: an alternative perspective. university of notre dame press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvpj78xq moller, s., & stearns, e. (2012). tracking success: high school curricula and labor market outcomes by race and gender. urban education, 47(6), 1025–1054. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912454440 musu-gillette, l., de brey, c., mcfarland, j., hussar, w., sonnenberg, w., & wilkinson-flicker, s. (2017). status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups 2017 (nces 2017-051). u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch. national center for education statistics. (2019). fast facts: what is title i? https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=158. national center for education statistics. (2020). the condition of education: status dropout rates. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_coj.asp#:~:text=the%20overall%20status%2 0dropout%20rate,from%206.4%20to%204.2%20percent. oreopoulos, p., & salvanes, k. g. (2011). priceless: the nonpecuniary benefits of schooling. journal of economic perspectives, 25(1), 159–184. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.25.1.159 orozco, r. (2013). white innocence and mexican americans as perpetrators in the school-to prison pipeline. association of mexican american educators journal, 7(3), 75-84. perret-clermont, a. (1980). social interaction and cognitive development in children. academic press. peshkin, a. (1988). in search of subjectivity—one’s own. educational researcher, 17(7), 17– 21. https://doi.org/10.2307/1174381 powers, j. m. (2008). forgotten history: mexican american school segregation in arizona from 1900–1951. equity & excellence in education, 41(4), 467–481. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680802400253 nieto, s. (2010). the light in their eyes: creating multicultural learning communities (10th anniversary ed.). teachers college press. noe-bustamante, l., & flores, a. (2017). facts on latinos in the u.s. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/latinos-in-the-u-s-fact-sheet/#englishproficiency-of-hispanic-population-in-the-u-s-2017 reardon, s. f., & portilla, x. a. (2016). recent trends in socioeconomic and racial school readiness gaps at kindergarten entry. aera open, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416657343 http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/naccs/tejas_foco/tejas/14 https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912447516 https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvpj78xq https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912454440 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=158 https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_coj.asp#:~:text=the%20overall%20status%20dropout%20rate,from%206.4%20to%204.2%20percent https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_coj.asp#:~:text=the%20overall%20status%20dropout%20rate,from%206.4%20to%204.2%20percent https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.25.1.159 https://doi.org/10.2307/1174381 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680802400253 https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/latinos-in-the-u-s-fact-sheet/#english-proficiency-of-hispanic-population-in-the-u-s-2017 https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/latinos-in-the-u-s-fact-sheet/#english-proficiency-of-hispanic-population-in-the-u-s-2017 https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416657343 diaz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 112 sleeter, c. e. (2011). the academic and social value of ethnic studies: a research review. national education association. sleeter, c., & delgado bernal, d. (2004). critical pedagogy, critical race theory, and antiracist education: implications for multicultural education. in j. a. banks & c. m. banks (eds.), the handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 240–258). mcmillan. seuss, d., & cohen, c. d. (2008). yertle the turtle and other stories. random house. stefoff, r. & zinn, h. (2009). a young people’s history of the united states: columbus to the war on terror. seven stories press. torpey, e. (2018). measuring the value of education, career outlook. u.s. bureau of labor & statistics. https://www.bls.gov u.s. department of education. (2019). definitions. retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/racetop/district-competition/definitions valencia, r. r. (2002). the plight of chicano students: an overview of schooling contions and outcomes. in r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future, 2nd ed. (pp. 52–69). routledge. valencia, r. r., menchaca, m., & donato, r. (2002a). segregation, desegregation, and integration of chicano students: old and new realities. in r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future (2nd ed.) (pp. 70–113). routledge. valencia, r. r., villareal, b., & salinas, m. (2002b). educational testing and chicano students: issues, consequences, and prospects for reform. in r. valencia (ed.), chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future. routledge. valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. state university of new york press. vélez, w. (2008) the educational experiences of latinos in the united states. in h. rodríguez, r. sáenz, & c. menjívar (eds.), latinas/os in the united states: changing the face of américa (pp. 129–148). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71943-6_9 vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. harvard university press. yosso, t. j. (2013). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203624821 zamuido, m. m., russell, c., rios, f. a., & bridgeman, j. l. (2011). critical race theory matters education and ideology. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203842713 zinn, h. (1990). a people’s history of the united states. harper & row. https://www.bls.gov/ https://www.ed.gov/race-top/district-competition/definitions https://www.ed.gov/race-top/district-competition/definitions https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71943-6_9 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203624821 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203842713 aaf623dc-9cd5-43c6-929a-9ae45e6b2313.pdf introduction literature review research methods setting and participants findings finding 1: co-creation of knowledge finding 2: conceptual and inquiry-based teaching finding 3: critical literacy discussion conclusion references freire, p. (1970). pedagogy of the oppressed. herder & herder. freire, p. (1978). education for critical consciousness. seabury. kincheloe, j. l. (2010). knowledge and critical pedagogy: an introduction. springer. volume 16 issue 1 2022 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 1 testimonios of latino male preservice teachers as models for caring and bilingualism gilberto lara university of texas at san antonio abstract this qualitative study of three latino male preservice teachers in a bilingual education preparation program centers on the use of testimonio as a methodology to give voice to the complex experiences of young latinos as they navigate their way through career choices and college. while work on male teachers has historically focused on white men and more recently black men, latinos represent a very large ethnic population in the united states with varied histories, cultural practices, and linguistic practices. while caring has been conflated as a practice of female teachers, the young men in this study illustrate an ethic of care that is more complex than that of affect. their care is directly tied to their willingness to pay forward their learning and experiences to other latino children by way of teaching in bilingual programs. the findings of this research illustrate the complex terrain that these young men navigate as they decide on a career in a historically white and female profession. this study offers implications for in-service teachers and their role in cultivating the next generation of male teachers. for universities and colleges of education, this study offers insight into the institutional challenges and support systems these latino men must circumnavigate. key words: latino teachers, male teachers, preservice teacher preparation doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.16.1.455 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.16.1.455 testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 2 with the release of the 2020 census, we learned that the u.s. population of latinos grew from 50.5 million to 62 million during the last decade (jones et al., 2021). up from 22% in the previous decade, this remarkably diverse and heterogenous population composes 27% of our school age population (nces, 2021). while racial and ethnic demographics have been changing both in the makeup and the populace of the classroom, unfortunately, the latter presents a challenge in terms of teacher representation. the approach of u.s. schooling toward latino’s culture and spanish language has been to replace it with a mainstream american culture and english by way of assimilative classroom practices that have often positioned latino ways of knowing as deviant or something to be overcome in order to be successful (nieto, 1999). a rapid transition to english with immersion or early exit bilingual programs (wright, 2019) had often been the norm in schools, while bilingual education programs that provide long-term language and culture sustaining approaches are seen as costly, cumbersome, and needless pampering (crawford, 2004). this educational process has been facilitated by a “largely homogenous teaching force” (aud et al., 2011). the latest national teacher and principal survey (taie & goldring, 2020) indicated that for the 2017-2018 school year, white teachers accounted for about 79% of the population, with 75.5% of that being women. the lack of race and culture conscious educators often leads to uneven academic and disciplinary outcomes that increase gaps in opportunities to learn for students of color. furthermore, research has indicated that boys of color have several negative experiences in k-12 educational settings where they are often punished disproportionately, having a higher percentage of suspensions than other boys and their female counterparts (de brey et al., 2019). theoretical frameworks this study is mediated by a “critical caring” framework (antrop‐gonzález & de jesús, 2006; de jesús, 2012; irizarry & antrop-gonzález, 2007). departing from valenzuela’s notion of caring, which is an extension of noddings’s (1984, 1992, 2001) ethic of care, i examine preservice teachers’ caring dispositions towards teaching as a career and the impact of caring on their formation as teachers. research has indicated that latino students who lack teachers who look like them (haddix, 2016) to model multilingual and cultural border crossing, the pressure to abandon home culture and language has led to them expressing feelings of lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 3 alienation (valencia, 2011; wayman, 2002) and marginalization to curriculum. latino students view some teachers unwilling or unable to give value to their linguistic and cultural wealth as uncaring (valenzuela, 1999). the second framework entails that of challenging normative masculinity narratives. one that comes to mind is “role modeling” (martino, 2008; martino & kehler, 2006; martino & rezai-rashti, 2012; rezai-rashti & martino, 2010; skelton, 2009, 2011), which is often positioned as a plus. while students definitely benefit from having a good role model, it is key so that we do not engage in normative heterosexual discourse that pits women and men against each other. there is mention of a current crisis where remasculinization of the profession could solve many of the problems boys are having at the hands of women teachers. using the frameworks of critical caring and paying attention not to engage in the rhetoric of normative masculinities, the overarching question for this study is: how do three young men in a bilingual preservice teacher preparation program in the southwest united states draw from their experiences to become elementary teachers? review of the literature race and culture conscious educators with regard to diversity, data from the 2017-2018 national center for education statistics, schools and staffing survey (sass) reports a poignant news, a small change, a 5% increase in teachers of color for the last two decades where latino teachers jumped from 6% to 9% but black teachers decreased by a percentage point. studies have shown that students of color have higher engagement and achievement if they have a teacher of color because they provide a model of education and professional success (ahmad & boser, 2014). in addition, teachers who share a common culture and language (dee, 2004) with the minority students they teach has proven to have positive benefits such as increased academic achievement (quiocho & rios, 2000) and development of healthy identities that increase the likelihood of graduating. su (1997) highlighted how preservice teachers of color were aware of issues of inequality in educational opportunities, language difficulties, irrelevance of curriculum, and the need to restructure schools and society. additionally, su (1997) found that preservice teachers of color show more knowledge and dispositions toward social justice and are willing to teach in inner city schools. these testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 4 positive outcomes stem from teachers of color possessing a sense of cultural intuitiveness (delgado bernal, 1998), where they have insider knowledge of cultural, verbal, and nonverbal nuances of student practices (nieto, 1999, 2000). delgado bernal (1998) cites cultural intuition as a researcher framework: latino teachers use their cultural intuition composed of knowledge, life experiences and unique viewpoints; they create a pedagogical space that in turn values the knowledge, experiences, and viewpoints of their students. furthermore, these educators draw on their experiential knowledge and act as change agents (badley, 1986) in their particular contexts. as the leader of the classroom, they possess the ability to innovate in these spaces. drawing on gramsci’s notion of radical organic intellectuals, giroux proposed that we recognize the potential of positioning teachers as intellectuals, who provide the moral and intellectual leadership as well as “pedagogical and political skills that are necessary to raise political awareness in the classroom” (1988, p. 151). culturally sustaining pedagogies in hopes of addressing the issues of culture and language, teachers of color have been positioned as possessing caring dispositions and understanding the nuances of culturally sustaining pedagogy (paris & alim, 2017, leija et al., 2020). not only do many co-ethnic teachers share a similar cultural background with their students, but they are also often more invested in the academic outcomes of students of color as well as being more adept at questioning the racist structures in schools (quiocho & rios, 2000). jaime-diaz and méndeznegrete (2020) illustrated the potential of teachers who share a common experience and communal knowledge with their students for critical compassion and to create alternative spaces for self-empowerment. because minority languages and culture may be viewed by schools as either a problem or a resource (ruiz, 1984), latino children would benefit from approaches where the language and culture they bring to school is positioned as a resource for learning. studies focusing particularly on latino male teachers are almost non-existent. apart from lara and leija (2014) and lara and fránquiz, (2015) there are still very few. one is gomez et al. (2008) who describe how during preparation courses and their field experiences the three latinos in the study often felt misinterpreted. however, the main driving force for gomez’ participants in becoming teachers stemmed from their strong desire to make personal lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 5 connections with youth and families. given the dearth of literature on latino male preservice teachers, this study seeks to shed light on the experiences of young latino men in a bilingual teacher certification program in the southwest united states and the ways their experiences have shaped their identities as role models and bilingual educators. methods scholars have used testimonios to reflect on their schooling in a raced and classed society (pérez huber & cueva, 2012) and how it shaped their teaching philosophy (saavedra, 2011). to describe the effects of their schooling, i use testimonios (beverley, 2003; delgado bernal et al., 2006; delgado bernal et al., 2012; fránquiz, 2003; haig-brown, 2003; latina feminist group, 2001) as a methodology that validates “experiential knowledge and theorize problematic structures in education” (pérez huber, 2012). when employing testimonios in research, they act as counternarratives that provide an alternative to contest majoritarian tales, like western knowledge (elenes, 2000), that have positioned latino homes as deficient places with little to offer students and schools. participants this study utilized snowball sampling (merriam, 2009) in working with three research participants who were born in diverse parts of the southwest united states to mexican immigrant parents. two participants were sons of 1st generation and immigrants and grew up speaking spanish at home. a third participant’s mother was a 2nd generation immigrant and his father a 1st generation immigrant, so he grew up speaking both english and spanish. an important commonality among all three participants is that they all came from working class backgrounds and were the first in their family, immediate and extended, to attend college. at the time of the study, the participants were finishing up their last year of bilingual education methods and student teaching. the literature review generated questions for the interview. to ensure triangulation (yin, 2011) of the interviews, i conducted 8 observations of the students, as they taught in their field placements, lasting about one hour each with each of the participants and wrote field notes. the observations aided in providing a “thick description” (geertz, 1973). artifacts such as journals, writing, and pictures were collected to aid in triangulation purposes. initial semitestimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 6 structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed for the purpose of tracing recurring themes as well as to member check. i used open coding procedures (strauss & corbin, 1998) for the transcripts and the participant observations. the data was organized into chunks and then grouped into emerging themes. through repeated readings of the interviews of field notes, the researcher became familiar with the data and then used a systematic approach to address the research questions, including identifying emerging themes (berg, 2004). positionality as a former schoolteacher, who happens to be a heterosexual bilingual latino male, i recognize that my experiences may affect the way i interpret data. i always enjoyed teaching others, seeing my latino peers struggle, i often helped them with their homework during class or even tutored at home. in high school, a special elective was created for me so that i could act as a teacher aide and support content teachers by helping the english as a second language students. after graduating from high school, i was accepted into a prestigious private college in my hometown. i always wanted to teach but was always dissuaded by my peers as part of costbenefit analysis of what i would pay for a degree versus what i would make and the prestige they felt the profession had. i continued working as a tutor in various capacities and eventually changed to a university that housed a bilingual education major. being first generation student, i myself did not possess much navigational capital (yosso, 2005), but i had a wealth of support that would check all the community cultural wealth from my family, a teacher, and a tracker in my school. without access to mentorship and support systems most of the burden of navigating college fell on me. being born in the us but growing up in méxico for a large portion of my childhood helped to color my experiences and experienced first-hand the process of acculturation as an immigrant in my own country of birth. additionally, learning english as my second language gave me opportunity to develop another layer of multidimensionality to my self-identification. while i identify with the label of latino, i self-identify as chicano, being that the chicano movement has employed a process of reclamation and appreciation for the culture of mexican-americans in the southwest. i myself use the term chicano to denote a more politicized latino identity encompassing people of south american, central american, the caribbean, mexico, and the southwest u.s. states of the mexican cession. lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 7 as the primary instrument of analysis in this qualitative work, my experiences, background and influences shape my epistemology and paradigms that may influence the interpretation of the data. as a transnational, bilingual, bicultural male (sometimes the only one in my teacher preparation courses or one of a couple of male teachers in the building) these experiences shape my relationship with the participants and the data. the data analysis deriving from the interviews, classroom observations, and artifacts culminated in three themes across the student participants: (1) sowing the seeds of hope: teachers and their positive role in the teacher recruitment pipeline, (2) finding common ground, and (3) recognizing the limits of familial support systems: challenges of latino preservice teachers. the three themes revealed there was overlap in the teaching experiences. findings sowing the seeds of hope: teachers and their positive role in the teacher recruitment pipeline in reflecting on an interview question that centered on who was important in their decision to become teachers, all three participants expressed that their former teachers played an important role in shaping their desire to become teachers. the teaching styles and dispositions of their former teachers had an impact on them. antonio was lucky enough to have been taught by latino men. for antonio, his 3rd grade teacher had a lasting impact and led him to want to teach 3rd grade as well: in 3rd grade and 5th grade i had a pair of teachers. we would switch between the two classes and both of them were male teachers. they were really great role models. they were really professional. they really, uhm got our attention, a lot of the students. they could relate to us. they liked comic books. they would bring comic books and action figures and they would use that to get us motivated. it was really fun. i always thought it was like really, so fun, so i kind stuck with that idea. in addition to making learning fun, it was these teachers who planted the seeds of hope within antonio: testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 8 one that i really liked was my 3rd grade teacher. he always believed in me. he was like: ‘you’re going to go to college. you’re going to do great.’ i looked up to him because he was one of the best teachers, and he was a male teacher, who i had never really had before. the ability of teachers to gain the attention of students like antonio might center on the fact that they employed non-traditional teaching approaches, like bringing in action figures to get the students’ attention. this is an example of taking other approaches and making teaching relevant to the students’ interests, but not the best example of a culturally or linguistically relevant or sustaining approach but equally powerful: setting up the expectation of success. antonio repeats the narrative of the teacher as a role model but it is important to note that it does not entail being a gendered role model in particular. the type of modeling on display is pedagogical in nature and not charged with notions of hegemonic masculinity. the unique pedagogical approaches of latino males are also evident in raúl’s narrative. in high school, he took spanish ii through v with the same latino spanish teacher and reports that they created a “real close bond.” raúl attributes his love for learning to the philosophy and approach of this teacher. for example, this latino male teacher was open to student input. the teacher expected his students to tell him when they did not agree with or understand something. “he made learning interesting and would not move on until we all got it.” raúl recalls taking his spanish ap test and to his surprise scoring a 5. showing competency in his native language is a special accomplishment for students like raúl. he stated: walking out of that test, i was like, ‘i bombed it.’ but when i got the results back, i went to him and said this is all you. . . he was just a good influential figure in my life. he was also a support system outside of being a teacher. i know i could always go to him for anything else as well. the critical caring approach taken by this latino teacher had a lasting effect on raúl. however, his sense of caring extended beyond the classroom. during an interview, raúl recalled events of his junior year in high school. raúl: he called my parents to push me to go to college. that was a big moment in my life. it was the first time any one of my teachers had done such a thing. lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 9 gilberto: why do you think he called? raúl: he helped more than my academic advisor. she was white and she would help the white kids. from our conversations he could tell that i was scared of college, and i didn’t believe in myself. i thought i wasn’t capable. i mean, how was i going to pay for tuition, books, and still help out at the house? the caring disposition exhibited by raúl’s and antonio’s teachers shows how co-ethnic teachers may be that only person in the school that will provide, what yosso (2005) calls aspirational capital – “the ability to hold onto hope in the face of structured inequality and often without the means to make such dreams a reality” (p. 77). in a critical caring approach, teachers use their historical knowledge of institutional inequity and failure to try and counteract by giving students that push they need to succeed. just like antonio’s teacher, raúl’s teacher makes college a conversation of possibility and an expectation. a kind word not just to students but to their parents might make the difference for latino students who may be full of doubt. having navigated college, as degree holders, teachers and counselors possess navigational capital (yosso, 2005) and knowledge that parents and students might never have access to unless explicitly stated. while raúl felt that it was his academic advisor’s responsibility to guide him through the transition to college, he noticed a difference in who did get guidance and it fell along lines of race. the counselor should have recognized that a first-generation student would benefit from guidance and that parents do not know what they do not know. while there may be a strong possibility that raúl’s counselor was paying attention to co-ethnic students, they may have also been listening to the loudest voices, or simply just acting on old deficit rationales about latinos and their parents not caring about education (valencia, 2010, 2011). on the other hand, rubén’s experience serves to illustrate that co-ethnic teachers are not the only ones that can have an impact on the successes of latino children. rubén shared an example of how caring was exemplified: looking back, there were a lot of teachers that i thought: ‘wow, i want to be just like that person.’ there were a lot of teachers that were very influential to me. it made me feel that i needed to give back. i need to pay it forward and just be that person for some people, because that is what they need. one of the testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 10 teachers that i had my junior and senior year in high school, she was very, uhm, she was caucasian, caucasian middle-class woman, but she was very compassionate towards the students. she was very direct that we needed to go to college, that we needed to apply. ‘there’s plenty of free money and don’t let legal status worry you. . .’ there was a lot of students at my high school that were undocumented, and she was like, ‘well that’s not an excuse.’ heeding the warning to not essentialize any one ethnicity or gender, rubén’s case illustrates what ladson-billings (2009) found when it comes to culturally relevant teachers. accordingly, they do not have to be of the same ethnicity but possess an understanding of the culture and the child. critical caring scholars point to the importance of bringing together the community knowledge and the students’ needs into the curriculum by having high expectations with a sense of caring about them. in the case of all the three teachers identified by my participants, each understood that they needed to communicate high expectations and begin the conversation about going to college even at an early age. ruben and raúl’s examples show that teachers need to understand the reasons why students may feel college is out of reach and not just perceive them to be uninterested or incapable (valencia, 2010). finding common ground the preservice teachers in this study were sensitive to issues of latino achievement and access to higher education. similar to the participants in lewis (2006), they expressed a sense of responsibility to work with latino children in order to provide them with aspirational and navigational capital. having had to navigate the process of mastering the english language, graduating from high school, and going off to college allowed these students to build vast amounts of navigational capital that they could now pay forward. one unique resource among the participants is their bilingualism. maintaining this resource as inspirational and navigational capital was explained by antonio as he reflected on his interaction in his teaching program: antonio: i think we have an advantage. you can connect with students and their families. one of the moms was really interested in me, she wanted to ask a lot of lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 11 questions about me, and how it was that i got into school and this and that. and so, i think it’s a great way of connecting with the families. gilberto: was she asking about how you got to college? antonio: yeah, she’s like, how did you go about it and whatever, ‘cause she was wondering about her children as well, and she saw me, you know, i had a similar background as her. i come from the same type of family. they got married in méxico, moved here and so forth. so, i think it’s a way to connect with families. in antonio’s case, having commonalities in culture and language with the children’s families allowed this parent to develop confianza (fránquiz & salazar, 2004; monzó & rueda, 2001; vélez-ibáñez, 1996) in asking him about his experience, thus extending the navigational capital to the family. this cultivation of confianza between the school and home embraces the success of the child as a mutual endeavor. the success of latino students was a common theme across the interviews. for example, raúl spoke of his preference for teaching fifth grade precisely because it is the last elementary grade in the district with bilingual support and propels children forward on the trajectory toward college: that transition period into middle school is a big part of these kids’ lives. . . i became a teacher, just because, i guess growing up college was not an option and i want to try to impact the students that i have and let them know that it is possible. anybody can go to college. here the influence of raúl’s high school spanish teachers is visible. where at one time raúl needed someone to dispel the myths of access to higher education, he now wishes to do the same for his students. rubén expressed another example of showing sensitivity to the issues faced by latinos, in terms of language and achievement. he expressed how his experiences informed his decision of wanting to contribute to society as a bilingual teacher: my best friend, that i’ve had since middle school, when i first met him, he really did not know very much english. he used to struggle at lot in school and i used to think, i used to help him out a lot just because he was my best friend. ‘i don’t testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 12 want him to get behind in school.’ so, helping him learn english and just, i think that has always been a factor in me deciding like, well if have this extra ability why not use it? why not help people, my people, overcome this obstacle? rubén’s use of “my people” indicate that his pedagogy is aimed at helping and caring for latino children. this ethos of caring started at a young age as he helped a friend to not fall behind in school. teachers can facilitate the development of students’ sense of caring beginning very early on. this ethic of care can develop across the years into a strong sense of cultural responsibility. antonio alludes to “wanting to help out.” when i asked him about what he enjoys about teaching he responded: it’s a great way to help the community, and just helping the students, helping their families, ‘cause these families, you see a lot of situations you definitely want to improve ‘cause, you see a lot of the kids’ situations where they are really bad. and you want to be there for them. you want to try to do that. . . it seems that the parents sometimes don’t know how to work with the teachers, so i kinda want to be that mediator between school and families. for antonio, cultural responsibility means to help out and become a mediator between families and school. he understands that there is a need for teachers to be that link. he possesses cultural competence about the issues families are faced with and speaks their language. with this array of knowledge, skills, and abilities, he is confident about creating the bridge between students’ home practices and school practices. raúl described this phenomenon as, “hearing them out and understanding where they are coming from.” when asked to clarify why he feels that his ethnicity and language play an important role in teaching latino children, he added: i feel like we are able to connect easily. i know there are students in other classes that automatically talk to me in spanish, like first instinct. i know even in my classroom that i had, there was several times, it was probably everyday where the students felt comfortable code-switching. or even the first couple of days, i don’t even think my students knew that i spoke spanish and when i started speaking to them in spanish, they were like ‘oh, él habla español como lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 13 nosotros.’ they were just automatic—once they knew that i was able to talk spanish they lowered their guard down. even though raúl was in a bilingual classroom, by 5th grade in this particular bilingual program most students make a full transition to english. during classroom observations, i noticed that raúl’s cooperating teacher preferred to use english with the students. however, raúl’s ability and inclination to speak spanish and to code-switch was taken up by the students and himself. raúl, employed his two languages to check for comprehension, as opportunities to clarify concepts, and to establish common culture and language practices with his students. through their lived experiences, these three latino preservice teachers have developed a cultural intuition about what it took for them to succeed. in turn, this cultural intuition coupled with a critical caring approach helps them to be aware their students’ needs. of particular importance is their navigational capital gained as they have traversed the educational system. recognizing the limits of familial support systems: challenges of latino preservice teachers when asked about their support system or how they went about dealing with challenges that arose during their undergraduate career, raúl, antonio, and rubén reported that they drew on their family and closest friends. rubén describes why he goes to his mother for advice: i go to my mom a lot, ‘cause she is one of my best friends, she had me really young. so, she has been one of my best friends. so even though she didn’t have that college experience, i still go to her for a lot of my problems. having raised him primarily as a single mom, rubén’s mother is his closest mentor and confidant. being his only parent, rubén depends on her for advice on most matters. as a firstgeneration college student much of the practical advice may prove helpful. however, raúl also draws on older brothers: i mean i tell my brothers about it but to be honest, they don’t understand what i am going through. so, they just hear me out. but i mean, just having that support testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 14 where they are just there to listen, i feel is important enough. my parents, they are probably my number one motivator. even though raúl’s family can lend support, he understands that being the first in his family to make headway into college increases his family’s ability to navigate the path of schooling. raúl describes how his father would come home from work “tired and dirty” from working in construction. his father told him that he did not want him having to work so hard for the rest of his life. these talks influenced him to try harder in school. raúl adds, “my most influential figures are my parents, but as far as when i need advice, it’s pretty much, you’re on your own.” raúl recognized that there are limits to familial and aspirational capital and advice that offers specific navigational goals to challenge oppressive conditions (yosso, 2005). while his family is fully supportive, there are situations and aspects of college life for which they have little experience. raúl described other supports such as the u.s. department of education trio program, which he is a part of at his university. this program assists first generation students by offering support, workshops, and academic advisors. yet, raúl confided that he was not always able to connect as a constraint of the program. “my first year i connected really well with my counselor, then she got a promotion, so i never saw her again and i had a new counselor. this semester we are barely getting to know each other.” raúl also mentioned that he felt that his counselors could not relate to him. like the other three participants, when pushed further about his extended support system, raúl mentioned that he could go to the elementary certification cohort coordinator for help with paperwork or guidelines. apart from these institutional supports, raúl mentioned that he does not remember going to professor’s office hours when he had a question or concern. “i just always felt intimidated or full of fear walking in there one-on-one with them.” as a first-generation student and not understanding that professors hold office hours to answer questions and give advice about how best to approach classwork, raúl and many of his peers relied on their family and closest friends for advice. lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 15 discussion teacher preparation programs can draw on pre-service teachers’ experiences and testimonios to look closely at how they prepare their teachers to address the needs of latino students. as previously discussed, latino students are a large portion of the enrollment in elementary school. the history of disenfranchisement of latinos in many states such as texas is troubling. colleges of education have a responsibility to evaluate their approaches for recruitment and preparation of the teachers that will teach this increasingly growing school population. from the three testimonios provided in this paper, we can see how important one teacher’s caring demeanor and actions might be in encouraging young children to successfully navigate educational institutions and engage in an ethic of care. further, teachers’ actions model good pedagogical practices needed for linguistic and cultural minority students as opposed to role models in terms of masculinity or gendered norms. if school personnel plant the seed of going to college in the minds and hearts of latino children, especially young boys, then the importance of high expectations cannot be understated. as the children of immigrants who historically have suffered from low graduation rates (portés & rumbaut, 2001), these latino children need a critical amount of care to ensure they can access higher education. at least one teacher of each of these participants understood that they needed to have conversations about college with them. having navigated the postsecondary system those teachers passed on navigational capital onto the participants. subsequently, the participants understood their role in helping their future students to imagine themselves as going to college. this ever-increasing movement of paying it forward can address the achievement gap that is currently lamented. the latino preservice teachers in this study show that they understand how having firsthand knowledge of the latino culture and spanish language helps them make inroads with latino families and students. they understand that they possess the power in a classroom to dictate strict rules of language separation or to allow the children to use their spanish language as a resource during all parts of the school day (fránquiz & reyes, 1998). using what may be the only language the parents know proves very beneficial in developing caring relationships as well as building inspirational and navigational capital. it is noteworthy that the preservice teachers did not have the confidence to approach their university faculty when they had questions or challenges in college classes. instead, they testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 16 turned to their peers or immediate family even if they had never attended college, they spoke to the limits of such support. luckily these latino male pre-service teachers did not internalize their problems and engage in self-defeating behavior. they used support programs like trio aimed at helping first generation students yet acknowledged that consistency in personnel matters for establishing trust. coming from a personal history where non-latino teachers demonstrating an ethic of not caring, raúl found it difficult to bond with his counselors. conclusion while there is strong evidence indicating that students of color benefit from the approaches of co-ethnic teachers, or male teachers, it is important not to essentialize co-ethnic male teachers as uniformly effective. given the fact that the teaching force has shown a propensity for being homogenous in terms of class (middle), language (monolingual english), and gender (female), it behooves us to encourage not only students of color but also men of color to take up careers in teaching. brown (2011) warns teacher education programs to not envision male teachers of color in a one-dimensional fashion because any warm bodied male of color will not do. men account for 16% of the elementary teaching population, (aud et al., 2011), latinos and african-americans combined comprise only 2% of the teaching population (smigiel, 2011). finding teachers that fit the pedagogical needs of latinos by incorporating culture and language and contributing to the closing of the gender gap may prove challenging but not impossible. our teacher preparation programs benefit from the testimonios of current teachers and student teachers to learn about their experiences, reasons for, and challenges of becoming elementary teachers. it is important to note how these pre-service teachers are guided by a commitment to teach and improve the academic and social outcomes of latino children. teachers who engage in critical caring are needed to hold children to high expectations but foster a caring community that takes their experience and knowledge into account. however, the success of latino students does not only rests on the shoulders of k-12 teachers but also the school staff. valenzuela (1999) illustrated the power of student’s success when feeling cared about. these testimonios illustrate the effects of the lack of communicating caring but also the far-reaching effects of critical caring. this study shows that it is the entire institutional endeavor from lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 17 elementary school to the preparation of pre-service teachers that is in need of attention. latino students need funds of inspirational and navigational capital to succeed beyond high school in their university courses. for latino students to succeed, university faculty and staff must also assume responsibility. there is work to be done everywhere. i have shown how teachers can be effective in influencing the academic outlook of other young latino men and their willingness to pursue the teaching career. when a course of study in college is not what was expected, they can reinvent themselves and draw on their greatest gift of all, their bilingualism, as a pathway to a university degree and career. ironically, as shown by saenz and ponjuan (2009), latino males are becoming scarce in the universities. without a healthy pool of university enrollees, colleges of education may continue to have very small numbers of latino male teachers and, once more, defer the dream of creating a cycle of success for future generations of latino children. several colleges and universities have expanded the call me mister program hosted by clemson university and the state of new jersey had a bill in review to establish a pilot program with the intent to recruit “disadvantaged or minority” young males into alternative teacher preparation programs to place them in failing schools (calefati, 2013). a lot can be said for the importance of having a diverse teaching force and encouraging young men to become teachers, just as long as we do not hold them to normative ideals of gender and expect that they are a one-size-fits-all answer to all of our problems but instead seek them for their cultural intuitiveness along with cultural and linguistic wealth. testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 18 references antrop‐gonzález, r., & de jesús, a. (2006). toward a theory of critical care in urban small school reform: examining structures and pedagogies of caring in two latino community‐ based schools 1. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 19(4), 409-433. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390600773148 ahmad, f. z., & boser, u. (2014). america's leaky pipeline for teachers of color: getting more teachers of color into the classroom. center for american progress. aud, s., hussar, w., kena, g., bianco, k., frohlich, l., kemp, j., & tahan, k. (2011). the condition of education 2011 (nces 2011-033). us department of education. national center for education statistics. washington, dc: us government printing office. badley, g. (1986). the teacher as change agent. journal of in-service education, 12(3), 151-158. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305763860120305 berg, b. l. (2004). qualitative research for the social sciences (5th ed.). pearson education. beverley, j. (2003). testimonio, subalternity and narrative authority. in n.k. denzin & y.s. lincoln (eds.), strategies of qualitative inquiry, 2nd ed., 319–335. thousand oaks, ca: sage. brown, a. l. (2011). pedagogies of experience: a case of the african american male teacher. teaching education, 22(4), 363-376. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2011.570748 calefati, j. (2013, september 15). minority male teacher shortage prompts legislation that aims to boost their numbers. the star-ledger. retrieved from http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/shortage_of_minority_male_teachers_prompts _legislation_that_aims_to_boost_their_numbers.html crawford, j. (2004). educating english learners: language diversity in the classroom. bilingual educational services. delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555–582. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (eds.) (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: methodologies, pedagogies, and political urgency. equity and excellence in education, 45(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698149 delgado bernal, d., elenes, c. a., godinez, f. e., & villenas, s. (eds.). (2006). chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology. state university of new york press. de brey, c., musu, l., mcfarland, j., wilkinson-flicker, s., diliberti, m., zhang, a., branstetter, c., & wang, x. (2019). status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups 2018 (nces 2019-038). u.s. department of education. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/. de jesús, a. (2012). authentic caring and community driven school reform: the case of el puente academy for peace and justice. in m. hantzopoulos & a. tyner. (eds.), critical small schools in new york city: beyond privatization in public urban educational reform (pp. 63-78). information age publishing. dee, t. s. (2004). teachers, race, and student achievement in a randomized experiment. review of economics and statistics, 86(1), 195–210. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465304323023750 elenes, c. a. (2000). chicana feminist narratives and the politics of the self. frontiers, 21(3), 105–123. https://doi.org/10.2307/3347113 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390600773148 https://doi.org/10.1080/0305763860120305 https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2011.570748 http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/shortage_of_minority_male_teachers_prompts_legislation_that_aims_to_boost_their_numbers.html http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/shortage_of_minority_male_teachers_prompts_legislation_that_aims_to_boost_their_numbers.html https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698149 https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/ https://doi.org/10.1162/003465304323023750 https://doi.org/10.2307/3347113 lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 19 fránquiz, m. e. (2003). essay book review: literacy reform for latina/o students. reading research quarterly, 38 (3), 418-430. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.38.3.6 fránquiz, m. e., & salazar, m. d. c. (2004). the transformative potential of humanizing pedagogy: addressing the diverse needs of chicano/mexicano students. the high school journal, 87(4), 36-53. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2004.0010 fránquiz, m. e. & reyes, m. de la luz (1998). creating inclusive learning communities through english language arts: from chanclas to canicas. language arts, 75, 3, 211-220. geertz, c. (1973). the interpretation of cultures: selected essays. basic books. giroux, h. a. (1988). teachers as intellectuals: toward a critical pedagogy of learning. greenwood publishing group. gomez, m. l., rodriguez, t. l., & agosto, v. (2008). who are latino prospective teachers and what do they bring to us schools? race ethnicity and education, 11(3), 267-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320802291165 haddix, m. (2016). cultivating racial and linguistic diversity in literacy teacher education: teachers like me. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315850665 haig-brown, c. (2003). creating spaces: testimonio, impossible knowledge, and academe. qualitative studies in education, 16(3), 415-433. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839032000086763 irizarry, j. g., & antrop-gonzález, r. (2007). ricanstructing the discourse and promoting school success: extending a theory of culturally responsive pedagogy for diasporicans. centro journal, 19(2), 37-59. jaime-diaz, j., & méndez-negrete, j. (2020). racialized social class pedagogical praxis: critical compassion," cariño,"" respeto" and" confianza". association of mexican american educators journal, 14(1), 49-70. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.334 ladson-billings, g. (2009). the dreamkeepers: successful teachers of african american children. john wiley & sons. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822383284 latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist ‘testimonios’. duke university press. lara, g. p. & fránquiz m. e. (2015) latino bilingual teachers: negotiating the figured world of masculinity. bilingual research journal, (38)2, 207-227. lara, g. p. & leija, m. g. (2014) discussing gender equality through critical encounters in children’s literature. social studies and the young learner, (27)2, 22-25. leija, m. g., lara, g. p., aponte-safe, g., & kambara, h. (2020). reflections on teacher education practices of first-year tenure track professors at an hsi. in j. m. schall, p. a. mchatton, & e. l. sáenz (eds.), teacher education at hispanic-serving institutions: exploring identity, practice, and culture (pp. 21-36). routledge. lewis, c. (2006). african american male teachers in public schools: an examination of three urban school districts. the teachers college record, 108(2), 224-245. jones, n., marks, r., ramirez, r., & ríos-vargas, m. (2021, august 12). 2020 census illuminates racial and ethnic composition of the country. the united states census bureau. retrieved from https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measuresreveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html. martino, w. j. (2008). male teachers as role models: addressing issues of masculinity, pedagogy, and the re-masculinization of schooling. curriculum inquiry, 38(2), 189-223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873x.2007.00405.x martino, w., & kehler, m. (2006). male teachers and the" boy problem": an issue of https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.38.3.6 https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2004.0010 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320802291165 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315850665 https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839032000086763 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.334 https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822383284 https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873x.2007.00405.x testimonios of latino male preservice teachers association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 20 recuperative masculinity politics. mcgill journal of education/revue des sciences de l'éducation, 41(2). martino, w., & rezai-rashti, g. (2012). gender, race, and the politics of role modeling: the influence of male teachers. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203138731 merriam, s. b. (2009). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. jossey-bass. monzó, l. d., & rueda, r. s. (2001). professional roles, caring, and scaffolds: latino teachers' and paraeducators' interactions with latino students. american journal of education, 438 471. https://doi.org/10.1086/444335 nces: national center for education statistics. (2021). racial/ethnic enrollment in public schools. retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cge nieto, s. (1999). the light in their eyes: creating multicultural learning communities. teachers college press. nieto, s. (2000). affirming diversity: a sociopolitical context of multicultural education (3rd ed.). longman. noddings, n. (1984). caring: a feminine approach to ethics and moral education. university of california press. noddings, n. (1992). the challenge to care in schools: an alternative approach to education. teachers college press. noddings, n. (2001). the caring teacher. in v. richardson (ed.), handbook of research on teaching (pp. 99-105). american educational research association. paris, d., & alim, h. s. (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teachers college press. pérez huber, l. (2012). testimonio as latcrit methodology in education. in delamont, s. (ed.), handbook of qualitative research in education (pp. 377-390). edward elgar publishing. pérez huber, l., & cueva, b. m. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios on effects and responses to microaggressions. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 392-410. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698193 portés, a., & rumbaut, r. g. (2001). legacies. univ of california press. quiocho, a., & rios, f. (2000). the power of their presence: minority group teachers and schooling. review of educational research, 70(4), 485. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070004485 rezai-rashti, g. m., & martino, w. j. (2010). black male teachers as role models: resisting the homogenizing impulse of gender and racial affiliation. american educational research journal, 47(1), 37-64. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209351563 ruiz, r. (1984). orientations in language planning. nabe journal, 8(2), 15-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/08855072.1984.10668464 saavedra, c. m. (2011). language and literacy in the borderlands: acting upon the world through “testimonios". language arts, 88(4), 261-269. saenz, v. b., & ponjuan, l. (2009). the vanishing latino male in higher education. journal of hispanic higher education, 8(1), 54-89. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192708326995 skelton, c. (2009). failing to get men into primary teaching: a feminist critique. journal of education policy, 24(1), 39-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930802412677 skelton, c. (2011). men teachers and the “feminised” primary school: a review of the literature. educational review, 64(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2011.616634 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203138731 https://doi.org/10.1086/444335 https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cge https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698193 https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070004485 https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209351563 https://doi.org/10.1080/08855072.1984.10668464 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192708326995 https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930802412677 https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2011.616634 lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2022, volume 16, issue i 21 smigiel, a. (2011, february 1). secretary calls black men to the blackboard. in homeroom. retrieved march 1, 2011, from http://www.ed.gov/blog/2011/02/secretary-callsblackmen-to-the-blackboard/ strauss, a., & corbin, j. (1998). basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. sage. su, z. (1997). teaching as a profession and as a career: minority candidates' perspectives. teaching and teacher education, 13(3), 325-340. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0742051x(96)00021-2 taie, s., & goldring, r. (2020). characteristics of public and private elementary and secondary school teachers in the united states: results from the 2017–18 national teacher and principal survey first look (nces 2020-142). u.s. department of education. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. valencia, r. r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203853214 valencia, r. r. (2011). chicano school failure and success: past, present, and future. (3rd ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203835982 valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: us-mexican youth and the politics of caring. state university of new york press. vélez-ibáñez, c. g. (1996). border visions: mexican cultures of the southwest united states. university of arizona press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1qwwj58 wayman, j. c. (2002). student perceptions of teacher ethnic bias: a comparison of mexican american and non-latino white dropouts and students. the high school journal, 85(1), 27-37. https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2002.0006 wright, w. e. (2019). foundations for teaching english language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice. caslon. yin, r. k. (2011). applications of case study research. sage. yosso, t. j. (2005). “whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth.” race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 http://www.ed.gov/blog/2011/02/secretary-calls-blackmen-to-the-blackboard/ http://www.ed.gov/blog/2011/02/secretary-calls-blackmen-to-the-blackboard/ https://doi.org/10.1016/s0742-051x(96)00021-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0742-051x(96)00021-2 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203853214 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203835982 https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1qwwj58 https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2002.0006 https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 volume 15 issue 2 2021 amae invited issue mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools guest editors sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.2.429 martínez-suárez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 148 the undocumented americans. cornejo villavicencio, karla. penguin random house llc. 2021. pp. 185 pages. isbn 9780399592683. $12.35 (hard cover) alpha martínez-suárez university of texas at san antonio the undocumented americans written by karla cornejo villavicencio, a dacamented writer and one of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from harvard, explores the narratives of the hidden lives and deeply personal stories of a variety of people living and subsisting in the united states under an undocumented status that significantly affects and permeates all aspects of their everyday lives. the book is dedicated to a specific person or group of people and their interwoven stories of life, work, health, their challenges, and struggles living in a country that rejects their existence while benefiting and profiteering from their work. cornejo villavicencio’s writing serves as a counternarrative against the usual trope of immigrants living off social security programs and welfare queens. through her narrative, she tells the intimate stories of hardworking women going about their lives in the liminal spaces afforded by their citizenship statuses and the realities of everyday hyphenated identities of mothers, wives, workers, sisters, and daughters. this book is not a traditional nonfiction work; this is the result of her lived experiences and reflections as an undocumented latina student, birthed from an essay for the daily beast. for this book, cornejo villavicencio wrote anonymously in her senior year as an undergraduate student at harvard, before daca ,crafting a story and her pull to incorporate the voices and stories of people from different circumstances that had a shared commonality living and working in the united states as undocumented human beings. the author reflects on her earlier conflicting emotions and dislike about her identity as a professional writer and not wanting to be solely associated with a part of her identity as an undocumented student. cornejo villavicencio’s raw honesty shows when she is declaring her writing manifesto of sorts: “i didn’t want my first book to be a rueful tale about being a sickly victorian orphan with tuberculosis who didn’t have a social security number, which is what the agents wanted” (p. xiv). martínez-suárez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 149 cornejo villavicencio delves into her family story about coming to the u.s. from guatemala and el salvador. while enrolled in a catholic school in new york, she benefited from the patronage of wealthy billionairess from upstate new york that had heard of her from the school’s bursar and paid her tuition, as long as she maintained good grades. she proceeds to reflect how during her studies at harvard, she perceived herself as an artist being on the receiving end of funding for her studies from older wealthy people. “it was patronage. they were gertrude stein, and i was a young hemingway. i was van gogh, crazy and broken. i truly did not have any racial anxieties about this, thank god. that kind of thing could really fuck a kid up” (p.6). cornejo villavicencio then submerges into her work providing a harrowing narrative of the undocumented workers called to action by the terrorist attack of september 11, 2001, and the extreme conditions of the rescue workers subcontracted to work on the recovery operations on the aftermath of the attack. paloma’s narrative offers the reader a poignant view of the of 9/11 worker experience, and the continued onslaught on their health both mentally and physically, while enduring the ongoing injustices and barriers brought from the victim compensation fund and its shortcomings. in continuing the stories, cornejo villavicencio engages in another exercise of awareness about her personal views, coming to terms with her constructed identity dealing with the model student-child undocumented persona and the realities of her encounters with families that are victims of parental deportation. by centering the stories of people deported or facing deportation, the author brings a detailed account of the different deportation processes the undocumented population encounters and how the ever-present realities and terrors of being deported shape and shift their entire lives. moreover, the reader encounters a reflective narrative around age and the undocumented workforce. by exploring her own family realities with an undocumented aging father, the author is able to deepen the audience’s understanding of the many challenges undocumented elders face, including lack of access to pensions, dignified retirement, and proper healthcare resources to care for them. cornejo villavicencio brings awareness to the fragile conditions while bringing to light the abuses and dangers faced by the aging undocumented population. ultimately, this particular situation brings another unique set of challenges undocumented families and individuals must face given the precarious working martínez-suárez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 150 conditions and the fragility of their economic power since they largely are dependent of the products of their manual labor. undocumented americans by karla cornejo villavicencio is a compelling book of honest, painful, narrated histories and engaging personal reflections by an author who looks to shed a light on the everyday lives of the undocumented people living in the united states. without romanticizing the stories or looking to softening those portraits, cornejo villavicencio serves a powerful and compelling narrative that strives to bring the reader into the unflinching shortcomings of a deficient—to say the least—immigration system while counteracting the otherizing nativist and xenophobic discourses of undocumented immigrants that are so pervasive and still so currently damaging to the lives of many, given the longstanding racist and anti-immigrant political and cultural climate in the united states. this book contributes to the scholarship on immigration, and particularly the undocumented immigration, from a brown body and brown voice perspective in all its profound intimacy and unflinching frankness. as the author writes so eloquently at the end of the introduction, “this book is for everybody who wants to step away from the buzzwords in immigration, the talking heads, the kids in graduation caps and gowns, and read about the people underground. not heroes. randoms. people. characters” (p. xvii), and i could not agree more. volume 15 issue 1 2021 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.1.440 saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 140 no tengo ni una sola memoria rené saldaña texas tech university (canoga park, ca) i don’t remember learning english. nor spanish, for that matter. i had to’a picked them up at the same time, though— at the same time both of them living in my mouth. i don’t have a single memory of ever thinking one language was different from the other. not one memory of me thinking now i’m speaking spanish (or english). to me, they got the job done as needed. ‘amá laughs telling me about when i first started talking: i was late doing it, three years old maybe? up to that time it was me just grunting. i’d point a finger at a thing i wanted and grunt. she was starting to worry i’d never talk, ever. mudo, she says. for life i’d just point and grunt. it was my sister who interpreted what i meant: food or a toy or to be taken up onto a sister’s warm lap and held. but driving down a street one day, i pointed out the window and said, ollo, ollo, meaning kfc chicken. but it wasn’t spanish or english i was talking. a kid’s got to eat and say so, right? or he’ll starve from hunger ‘cuz he never said. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 141 el espejo rené saldaña texas tech university “nos miramos en el espejo, y nos vemos uno al otro.” --a new chicano proverb esos mochos, we whisper-shouted. chicanos pochos, they screamed back. one ridiculing the other—you don’t speak right. brothers and sisters ripped apart by something so simple as a river. my own father among them, who crossed back and forth time and again, and today recites the pledge in broken english like a shattered window. but he isn’t them, i told myself. and neither am i. so what am i if not my father’s son? and what my story and my tongue? i listen to the river rushing past, and i hear it clearly, fluidly telling me that we are all the same: brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, tíos and tías, and the primos. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 142 lost rené saldaña texas tech university i head to tío polo’s shop. he’s a carpenter. there are mounds of sawdust on the floor, sawdust in  every nook and cranny. i find my corner,  pull out the latest  kaliman, el hombre increible,  & read. i’m lost  in the sawdust,  lost in the adventure.  lost in the language. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 143 a word so much more beautiful rené saldaña texas tech university (1985) on the day ‘apá got his citizenship, he was asked to answer a bunch of questions. to prove he was deserving of this prize, i guess. he’d learned just enough english to get by at work with his boss, mike. enough to move up in the concrete-laying ranks anyhow. but today, in front of some official sitting squat behind his desk, a pen in his hand, who held tightly onto the thing my father wanted so badly and who seemed to be shielding it from folks looking for their slice of the sueño americano pie, even if it was just a sliver of that dreamy wedge (‘apá’s portion of pie looking like working his fingers to the marrow, mochilas full of books for his kids, a pillow for his tired head, food in our bellies), that man asked one final question of ‘apá: what’s the color of the jacket you’re wearing? a softball lobbed down the middle of the plate, right there hanging, the size of the whole earth, he couldn’t’ miss, right? ‘apá, in his mocho’s english, his accent sopping thick, said, purpo, but sorry i can’t say it right in english. in spanish, though, he said, the word is morado. no, the official said, it’s not purple or morado. saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 144 your jacket’s maroon, it’s guindo. but close enough. the jacket was ‘apá’s pride and joy, a gift from ‘amá who’d been with levi’s for a decade now. her prize now his, he wore it another ten years when he had to dress up. but that day ‘apá had no word in english for guindo. his reservoir mostly empty yet. he knew close enough, though. and besides, isn’t guindo so much more beautiful to say than maroon? saldaña association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 145 el sueño americano— rené saldaña texas tech university don’t it sound so much more beautiful than its english counterpart— the american dream: predetermined: baseball, apple pie, chevrolet? el sueño though’s something to make your own and trudge towards, a thing to fight for if you’ve got to, to strive after day after day. to fall asleep conjuring up. a brand new day every day. volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 126 trenzando poetry yuliana kenfield oregon department of education maricela xuncax lazo western oregon university maría josé solis western oregon university yecid ortega university of toronto samibah straits tlc transformations, llc kee straits tlc transformations, llc joseph garcía western oregon university ramiro moreyra portilla academia mayor de la lengua quechua this trenzando poetry seeks to build collective knowledge around translanguaging practices of peoples from north and south america as well as contribute to the healing of the mind/body/soul among teacher candidates and community multilingual members. the poets; a multilingual young student, sami; four bilingual educators currently teaching, maricela, joseph, maria josé and yecid; and three parents of multilingual children, kee, ramiro and yuliana; we all draw on our ancestors’ sociolinguistic repertoire as an identity multilingual affirmation practice. se puede ver la diversidad de experiencias transnacionales y multiculturales de los poetas translingüistas en las breves notas bibliográficas included at the end of this trenzado. en esta colección de poemas, alugnos de los autores incluyen también fotografías; además, maricela incluye su trabajo en óleo. la presencia del componente visual fue propuesto por yuliana, quien inició este trabajo literario colectivo. pero hagamos un paréntesis en lo que significa para nosotras/os estar “trenzando poetry.” empecemos con la palabra trenzando, which translates into braiding. this word is mainly used to describe the act of braiding hair más que todo asociado con mujeres rurales. en latinoamérica es una práctica común asociada con la gente del campo. y son gente del campo, la mestiza o indígena, las abuelas/os o biseabuelas/os quienes entregaron esta herencia multicultural y multilingüe a los poetas autores de este proyecto. aunque esta palabra en español, trenzar, usualmente se asocia a la práctica de enlazar cabellos, for the purpose of this poetry publication, trenzar se presenta como metáfora para el translenguaje que ocurre en este trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 127 reportorio poético, el cual se puede apreciar al ver cómo los poetas entrelazaron sus idiomas al expresar sus mensajes. the poets moved away from the conceptualization of bilingual or biliterate interpreted as someone who has equal, high degrees of bilingualism and biliteracy across languages or being two monolinguals in one (grosjean, 1989). rather, we support the idea that bilinguals and bi-literates transit in a dynamic continuum, and their proficiencies shift accordingly (anzaldua, 1987; garcia, 2009; hornberger, 2003; valdés, 2001). otra razón para el uso de la palabra trenzando es debido a que the academic word translanguaging is actually not so well known nor used by multilingual family members. that is, translanguaging is popular for researchers and teacher educators in multilingual classrooms, but not necessarily among the multilingual speaking communities. estas reflexiones sucedieron de repente entre los poetas; por ejemplo, en el caso de ramiro y yuliana, se había escuchado en el pasado la palabra quechuañol para identificar lo que sucede cuando un hablante está usando el quechua trenzado con el español o viceversa. y esto sucede no solo porque el contacto lingüístico entre el español y el quechua ha existido por más de 500 años; sino también, sucede cuando el hablante tiene diversas experiencias bilingües con el quechua. in the case of joseph, maría josé and maricela, they share the experience with the legacy of the spanish language in coexistence with their english since early childhood. furthermore, kee, maría josé, ramiro, yecid, yuliana, and sami brought to light their indigenous chibcha, diné, quechua, and maya legacies into their poetry. this act of braiding, or trenzando, in this poetic collection does not only occur within the individual poems themselves in which you can see languages intertwined with each other; sino también, ocurre entre las temáticas de los poemas, y de esta forma, los poetas enlazan e interceptan sus experiencias, mensajes y bailes. this is the reason why the poems are not organized in alphabetical order, rather poems are trenzados to hold each other. los tres ejes temáticos fueron identificados posteriori por yuliana; sin embargo, los poetas en todo momento tuvieron acceso a los poemas como iban llegando en un documento compartido interactivo. yuliana, como lectora, pudo leer los textos en inglés, español, y quechua. para los textos en lenguaje diné, yuliana sought out for colaboración de familiares de kee y sami, ya que ellos hablan diné. kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 128 now i will switch to first person as yuliana. los poetas me confiaron el realizar el nombramiento de los ejes temáticos de nuestro trenzado. el primer eje, exponiendo las identidades multiculturales y multilingües, reveals moments of internal force of linguistic reclamation. en algunos casos, los poetas, primero nombran y revelan sus dolores que pasaron mayormente en su proceso de escolarización, para luego mirar las fortalezas de navegar entre paisajes sociolingüísticos diversos. este tema nos llama to reflect on our diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. el segundo eje tiene que ver with the macro-social context of the national systems that reproduce the marginalization of multilingualism within school curricular programs that do not respond to the needs of bilingual or multilingual populations. estos discursos de educación intercultural bilingüe se revelan en los poemas y en particular la foto de la figure 2, que documenta una protesta en cusco, perú. y otro momento de cuestionar el aspecto macro social of systemic barriers to multilingualism se pude contemplar en la figura 4, y en el poema número mágico by maria josé solis, cuando ambos poetas entregan al lector la palabra raciolinguitics que viene del mundo académico. aunque en los poemas simplemente se nombra este concepto de raciolinguistics mas no se ahonda en ello, los poetas dejan pistas importantes al lector interesado en translanguaging para que revise ese concepto académico de raciolinguistics y así navegue la relación de lingüicismo con racismo. y finalmente, el tercer eje temático es la experiencia transnacional o migrante que algunos poetas desean resaltar; instancias en que poetas revelan tensiones al navegar nuevos espacios y gargantas culturales. it is a recount of instancias de empatía con las historias de inmigrantes, migrantes o sujetos transnacionales. the purpose of organizing the poems using those three themes above mentioned is to help the reader navigate the poems in an academic journal. sin embargo, los temas son opcionales, y les invitamos a leer los poemas en el orden que deseen y tomando en cuenta que los poetas comparten algunas experiencias similares y otras no. these poems are voices of educators, students, and parents who are bilingual and/or multicultural themselves; they have different and similar lived experiences of immigration, migration, intergenerational mestizo, and indigenous practices. algunos son migrantes, mientras otros no. algunos tuvieron solo su primera infancia en latinoamérica antes de migrar a los estados unidos en su niñez. algunos poetas son bilingües trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 129 de nacimiento (spanish-english y quechua-castellano), mientras otros se convirtieron en bilingües a través de la escolarización (english-spanish). algunos aprendieron el inglés fuera de su sistema de escolarización y les permitió migrar a norteamérica (los autores migraron a canadá y los estados unidos de américa). otros aprendieron el inglés dentro de su sistema escolar como segunda lengua, mientras veían alejarse de sus lenguas maternas en las aulas. mientras unos escriben fácilmente en dos idiomas europeos como es el inglés y el español, en otros casos los idiomas indígenas en estos poemas tomaron más tiempo para estar presentes en forma escrita, ya que los poetas para pasar de la oralidad a lo escrito tuvieron que consultar algunas recientes reglas en la escritura de idiomas indígenas al buscar plasmar fonologías diversas. en fin, el lector encontrará en este trenzando poetry herramientas histriónicas para sacar no sólo dolores; sino también, exponer las fuerzas que ayudaron a los individuos a reafirmar sus identidades lingüísticas entendiendo que a veces, aunque los sistemas de escolarización no estén a favor, estarán a favor muchos legados intergeneracionales que va más allá de algunos sistemas reproducidos recientemente. esta poesía colectiva busca ser un llamado a los educadores (maestros, madres, padres, y todo quien aporte a la educación) a reafirmar legados lingüísticos qué tal vez la escolaridad haya borrado por seguir agendas nacionalistas monolinguisticashe collective production of aims to reaffirm the sociolinguistic legacies of our ancestors cohabitating the diné, quechua, spanish, and english languages. in sum, trenzando poetry are poems based on intergenerational dialogues which we hope they engage readers such pre-service teachers and teacher educators to learn, unlearn, relearn, and dismantle sociolinguistic ideologies and practices that promote or suppress dinéenglish, spanish-english and/or quechua-spanish multimodal literacies. tema a: exponiendo las identidades multiculturales y multilingües creciendo con mis dos idiomas maricela xuncax lazo growing up i was so shy. it was hard making new friends and me daban nervios when i had to speak aloud. kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 130 until teachers & mentors began to encourage me to usar mi voz. y tomó tiempo. little by little, palabra por palabra. the moment i embraced my two languages was, the moment i began to break through my shell, & open my eyes to a whole new world. fue el momento en que realmente, empecé a ver crecimiento, en mi ser y en mis pensamientos. but sometimes there were people that, por el color de mi piel y mis idiomas, thought less of me. cast doubt upon me & led me to doubt myself as well. pero, estoy creciendo con mis dos idiomas. y cuando una administración, threatened mi comunidad i became unapologetic. el saber es poder. i am no longer that niña timida. i am here to stay. my culture is here to stay. my community is here to stay. my language is here to stay. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 131 y espero seguir creciendo con mis dos idiomas. figure 1 watercolor/ ink artwork of what translanguaging has done to help my personal growth. m. pascual lazo, 2021. la niña en la pintura de acuarela es una reflexión de mí misma, maricela xuncax lazo. una hija de inmigrantes cuyas raíces culturales, valores, e historia familiar están estrechas hasta los pueblos natales de sus padres. estas raíces contribuyen a los idiomas y la coexistencia de todos los idiomas, conocido como el “translenguar.” las ramas representan el crecimiento y en ellos están escritos varios aspectos de mi vida donde he experimentado el aceptar el “translanguaging”. kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 132 latidos de t’ika y chaski yuliana kenfield voces de lluvia nutren la tarde, penetran el dragón del asfalto, explotan aroma sobre los caminos. t’ika y chaski entregando latidos: otroone siep allallawfrio palabras translenguadas, mixtura de lenguajes a manera de latidos che’qche. maicitos che'qche reventándose en el alma dominical/ creando palabras, wawaykunawan una contradanza/ juego trenzado de voces que caen y suben como tibia garúa en mi pecho. maicitos che'qche revoloteando: yes o no? porfis, please dame now chaski y t’ika vierten sus voces hacia el rainbow, atienden el viejo paisaje de acertijos maicitos che’qche musicalizando la tarde. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 133 figure 2 in coya town: t’ika and chaski with grandma and great grandma. y. kenfield, 2015. esta fotografía se enlaza con el poema latidos de t’ika y chaski pues retrata el paisaje lingüístico intergeneracional. la bisabuela raquel es bilingüe quechua-castellano, mientras los bisnietos son de nacimiento english-spanish bilinguals who spend a year in a quechua town of coya. mientras aprendían la labor de desgranar sara (maíz) they were listening to great grandma quechuata rimasharan. grandma maria, raquel’s oldest daughter, was in the back also desgranando junto a sus nietos en el 2015. sunshine of my childhood maria josé solis i was in a place where it was sunshine yearlong played until the sun came down everything and everyone seemed happy and warm i came to a place where it almost rained yearlong could not go out and play until the sun came down kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 134 everything and everyone seemed sad and cold wishing it was sunny summer came slowly reminded me of the 6 years i lived in the beautiful sunshine as the summer warmth came it went away living memories i found myself in the rain again sad and cold slowly becoming used to the rain little by little the fog of the winter mornings made me forget the warmth of the yearlong sunshine of my childhood now when summer comes a part of me remembers a place where it was sunshine yearlong and played until the sun came down i am – yo soy yecid ortega i am from the spoon i love to eat from, from tofu and broccoli and country harvest $3.50 bread. i am from the cold, mountainous and busy city. i am from the grass, the dandelion and the leaves. i am from no tradition and humble, from the paez and chibcha indigenous people and sometimes ortega’s from spain. i am from the hardworking side and the sensitive. from being nice and you will succeed. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 135 i am from no religion at all. we do not need god to love each other, respect each other and understand that we are all the same humans. i'm from hortua hospital in bogotá, colombia, potatoes and rice. from the land of the homeless guy quien te lleva si no te portas bien or the stray dog who takes you in the mouth if you are a bad guy. i am from santa librada, monte blanco, bellavista neighborhood, chicago and toronto, walking by the lake and under the bridge, by the park, riding my bicycle and running 10km an hour, recording the street vendors eating arepa con huevo. i am from this world, i am from this universe. but after all, i am who i am-a human being and i am from here trabajando por la justicia social con-razón. tema b: around the macro-social aspect número mágico maria josé solis six is the magic number where my english language journey begins you see at six i was told that children learn english faster and that my mother shouldn’t worry yet i spent time in the lrc room because “i just needed extra help” yes, i needed extra help i needed someone to tell me that it was okay to write the word “because” by pronouncing it “be-ca-u-se” and please “ple-a-se" that my tongue needed to re-navigate and learn its new way home to pronounce your thanks, thinks and thoughts but what about my thoughts? that the word knife has a silent k and that silent k slowly stabs my accent away el acento de mis ancestros mayas y que ese acento se iba a desaparecer because my tongue found a new home y cuando me preguntan where you from? do i say oregon? merida? kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 136 si digo que de mérida, me responden “mare, hija pero tú no hablas como yucateca” pero si uso palabras mayas en lugar del español me dicen eso no es español. oh, wow que bien hablas el inglés pensaría que eres nacida aquí ni acento tienes now you got me reading articles from academic language to language architecture: challenging raciolinguistics ideologies in research and practice like my life research navigating through these grammatical rules between academic english and my spanish somehow, does not qualify me as an academic source when talking about language acquisition. that before translanguaging was a “thing” i used it in the classroom and teachers would say “how does your mind work that way, you should stick to just writing in english you’ll learn faster”. that interpreting at my school conferences, mi abuela’s doctor’s appointments i still lacked the “academic english vocabulary to comprehend content area texts” you mean to tell me that i have to learn from krashen, flores, lightbow, spada, and norton about language acquisition on what it’s like for an emergent bilingual in a classroom so i can become a better teacher to them? you see at six, my language journey began. my english and spanish do a beautiful dance where they become one my tongue may forget at times which direction home is by mispronouncing words but children will see that their teacher speaks like them. while we have been taught to subscribe to this linguistic colonization we need to remember to make the student’s native languages as valuable as their academic english. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 137 ventanas, significados y abrazos yuliana kenfield las escuelas sienten débiles sus ventanas, vibran sus marcos/ entran a las aulas las lecciones de las madres, de las fruteras, de los ambulantes, someone shouts out occupy your public schools, decolonize your mind entran las lecciones desde las calles. ¿q’alapata para dónde vas? entran las voces y los vientres que traen de vuelta las gargantas de las y los bisabuelos. aterrizan en la mente la memoria social de los pueblos translenguando, desgranando generaciones y conciencias ama sua, ama qella, ama llulla translenguando, quechuañol hablando translenguar, una manera de respirar, palpitando spanglish. minoritized doesn’t mean insignificant que calle no significa que acepte las palabras construyen abrazos, entregan significados urgentes para las y los bisnietas. figure 3 the cusco’s community supporting teachers’ strike for quality intercultural bilingual education. y. kenfield, 2017. kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 138 this photo relates to the poem ventanas significados y abrazos as it exposes la exigencia de las madres, padres, y educadores que tienen que ir a la ciudad para reclamar una educación de calidad que a veces no llega a su comunidad rural. los discursos políticos se llenan de promesas de una educación que se vigorice de los conocimientos quechuas while in practice often colonizing frameworks are reproduced in schooling, ashka suwakuna gobiernonisqapi. indigenous girl samibah straits being native is not easy, especially when i am with english-speaking kids who do not speak spanish ... ¡como yo! soy casi la única chica que habla español. there are no diné-speaking kids like me. most of the diné cannot speak as fluently because they do not ask to learn or practice. it is hard to be brown when there are people who do not appreciate us being who we are as brown people. i am the only person in this school who speaks quechua. my people’s lands have been taken by others, their traditions are stolen their history, treasure and songs are gone. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 139 many tongues’ truths kee straits a veces siento que tengo half a tongue fumbling and tripping from the words i was raised in (now representing forced assimilation) a otro lenguaje de natalidad y reclamación (también con historia de colonización) then toddling into tongues of indigeneity runasimiy, noqa qosqomanta kani a high school year living abroad... my brown skin, long thick braids and convexly curving nose told the man on a german street corner that i should speak spanish… and be poor aber ich habe so gut deutsch gelernt dass ich meine erste sprache (englisch) vergessen habt and my english-only mother, so glad to have me back home, soon found my tongue’s memory unconsciously roamed with each language, a different set of realities distinctly expressing cultural experiences that i pass on to my daughter who has a navajo father and she’s learned to speak diné “ya'at'eeh shik'ei doo shidine'e” says she then transitions to quechua smoothly “allillanchu, imanallan kashanki?” kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 140 often when my grammar fails y me faltan las palabras i become unanchored, set adrift ni en un lenguaje nor in the (m)other tongue no culture or community do i belong among but then i realize the power of periphery, cruzando fronteras with translanguaging my family forges unity as our future’s foundation our many tongues’ truths express the heart of one human nation. where do i belong? joseph garcia my first words as a boy were bidi bidi bom bom, an onomatopoeia turned mantra. yet, i didn’t speak until five years-old, cultivating the code-switching culture of the cloth i was cut from. the only brown bean in a pot of peeled cashews, i struggled finding kids like me in school. a dónde pertenezco? literature i read showed me villains i was expected to become with white saviors being my idol of worship. a dónde pertenezco? my private school deemed upper echelon and standard spanish was an accessory. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 141 “we speak english, here,” i was once told. i saw my skin fade in the mirror, my eyes turned blue with contacts and bank account empty supporting light brown hair combatting my black strands. i did not need representation when i saw the best version of myself, already. a dónde pertenezco? i turned away from my heritage, culture, and self-worth for the sake of satisfying those who would never know my pain of alienation...alien. my olive skin glistens in sunlight, i acknowledge the shimmer of the black arm hairs. my brown eyes melt like velvet chocolate in rays of yellow beams. i have learned to love myself at 22, for a tejano inside...loves me. tema c: tensiones al navegar nuevos espacios y gargantas culturales brown means café yecid ortega brown means café and café means coffee. i love coffee…black coffee from the land que me vio nacer. yes, you all know the little brown looking dude. yes, i am latino, latinx or what whatever es. but what you don’t know is that i was born … i was burnt out of the ashes of violence struggle / death kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 142 y la miseria de lo indígena and social justice warriors in colombia in my veins corre el dolor de la maldad…la ignorancia and the exploitation of all the corrupted countries from the global north and south south…is where i am heading when i ride my bicycle and i see all the homeless people in the streets to to…. yes, because i am a latino…latinx or whatever es…. i have an accent…but i do not care…cause i care about others… where are you really from? the white dude asks every time i go to the coffee shop or the hipster dive bar i answer…of course i have an accent. i lived in colombia with an o not columbia…for almost 20 years…there is where i picked up the accent… but i don’t care because if i fake my accent, i would sound fake…not like you who have a fake life, full of fake dreams stolen from the land you live today…. my fellow latinx have travelled thousands of miles or should i say kilometres …to suffer the snow, the poutine, the curling, the hockey, the bluejays and the raptors…to get a job as cleaners…with high degrees…they are engineers, doctors…nurses…. accountants…and you… yes, you only see an accent in a brown body… i rather recommend you go ahead and get your brownie… take your coffee to-go and pretend you care… because that is how white privilege looks, sounds, and behaves… i don’t care…i don’t see race…i don’t see color…that is what you say but here i am ...i am brown…. i am a latino…latinx or whatever es…. sin justicia no hay paz y sin paz no hay vida eres mi vida. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 143 figure 4 scholarship roots of my brown body. ortega (2021) the photo represents my scholarship and commitment to social justice as infused by the colombian coffee i drink every morning as a symbol of strength and connection with campesinos and coffee growers from my native land. allin samari…tano ramiro moreyra portilla dejando su huch’uy llaqta, un buen hombre vino aqosqo, hatun llaqta; kaqmanta en nombre de su comunidad… kaqmantapor unos papeleos. llakiyllaña camina él; recordando lo que su abogado le repite sapa kuti: ‘alégrate, jefe, todo va a salir bien… allillanmiestán los billetes; gracias’; pero él piensa: ¡mana allinchu que esto años dure, mana allinchu, ca...! kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 144 ‘la le es la ley’ niwanku; ichaqa, ¿por qué estos asuntos muy difícil son? ¿por qué misti juez como nosotros, llaqtarunas, problemas no resolver? runakunaqa rimaspalla imatapas allchayku, nuestra palabra no más es. manan mikhuyta munanichu, sumaqchicharronchata muskishas…papas. un ratito me descansaré… kaypi tiyaspaqa, en total paz me lo siento yo. ¿será que kay uhupiqa algo poderoso hay… como wiraqocha cura dice? así, a pie hasta la carretera y en carro hasta el pie del sacro qorikancha, velando por los suyos… llegó al grandioso corazón de los cuatro suyos… figure 5 allin smari… tano. en el templo de qorikancha / santo domingo, cusco. r. moreyra portilla, 2013. en la fotografía se halla un hombre que sentado y apoyado a la base de una columna descansa en el frontis del templo católico de santo domingo, el cual fue construido sobre el templo inka llamado hoy qorikancha, que fuera tomada el 14 de enero de 2013 y publicada el 24 de octubre del mismo año con el título “allin samari…tano” translenguando quechua y trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 145 español; “allin samari” quiere decir “buen descanso” en quechua; “allinsamaritano” quiere decir “el buen samaritano”. poets bios and final words yuliana kenfield: me llamo yuliana y ante todo me identifico como surandina, nací en cusco, perú, donde se hablan varios idiomas y hay un alto grado de bilingüismo entre el quechua y castellano. recientemente mi cargo laboral es de funcionaria pública como directora estatal de educación migrante de oregón. i am a former licensed bilingual teacher in the southwest as well as an immigration paralegal and translator. más que todo la diversidad de estudiantes bilingües en las aulas de primaria me inspiró a luego comprometerme a capacitar future bilingual teachers. i became involved in this poetry project cuando trabajaba on collective sociolinguistic self-explorations with pre-service bilingual teachers around culturally responsive praxis at the western oregon university. como qosqoruna y trabajadora con comunidades multilingües, en particular con maestros de educación multicultural, tengo una pasión por involucrarme en proyectos sociales o educacionales que persigan la democratización del conocimiento y liberen de ideologías opresoras. desde que era wawa he hallado en la poesía una excusa sanadora ya que me empuja a un paréntesis autoreflexivo beyond los discursos que consumo. once i learned that poetry was welcomed in this journal i promptly saw the opportunity to collectively reflect and heal through poetry around. collaborating with others en este específico proyecto alrededor del translenguar he sentido una danza sanadora con los demás autores. más que catarsis, al escribir y trenzar colectivamente poesía, i wanted to uplift each other, voces translenguadas. yecid ortega: yecid ortega es mi nombre y tengo más de 20 años en el campo de la educación de lenguas en colombia, usa y canada. as an educator and researcher, i have worked with teachers advocating for bilingual education and valuing the diversity of languages in the classroom by adopting a plurilingual approach and using translanguaging as a pedagogical tool to use languages with meaningful purposes. in my spare time, escribo poesía experimental y espoken guord donde utilizo varias formas de usar el lenguaje in english and español as they are my main languages. kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 146 the poems in this collection reflect my personal experiences and my identity as a latinx mestizo immigrant to north america. as i write this poetry, i experience a sense of belonging and freedom. i use it as a platform or springboard to amplify my voice, to express who i am as i am reconnecting with my heritage and my roots. maricela xuncax lazo: me llamo maricela y soy una estudiante de primera generación quien ha tenido el privilegio de haber tenido una educación bilingüe: desde el kinder hasta la universidad. me dedico a enseñar a estudiantes bilingües en la primaria y soy apasionada por la importancia de la representación en el campo de la educación y el soporte necesario de estudiantes “bilingües emergentes.” también soy artista que se especializa en pintura acrílica con un enfoque en los temas de conservación de cultura e idiomas indígenas de parte de mi familia de méxico y guatemala, mi perspectiva del “translenguar” es que es una manera de “decolonizing” nuestros idiomas y aceptar que tan diversas son nuestros idiomas, y fortalecer nuestras identidades como ciudadanos de ee.uu. mi filosofía pedagógica es ser un mentor para estos estudiantes, a quienes veo como reflexiones de mi familia y yo, para que ellos se sienten empoderados por ser bilingües. estos estudiantes son nuestros líderes futuros y son capaces de luchar por sus valores y lo que ven que es correcto. “creciendo con mis dos idiomas” es un reflejo de mis luchas internas y como el “translanguaging” me ayudó con mi crecimiento personal. de niña, yo era tímida y batallaba con tener confianza propia. en la primaria, los idiomas de español e inglés fueron claramente segregados. si “translenguamos”, fue considerado incorrecto o académico. como resultado, me fui distanciando del idioma del español. no fue hasta la secundaria cuando me fui acostumbrando a translenguar con mis compañeros y en mis tareas. la mejor parte fue que el “translenguar” no fue considerado “no académico'' por mis profesores que enseñaban en español. de hecho, nos animaban a mezclar nuestros idiomas. en el proceso, supere la confianza en mis habilidades bilingües y en mí mismo. igual me ayudó a conectarme con mi comunidad y poder participar y tener un rol de liderazgo. yo quiero que el lector se refleje con sus propias experiencias y raíces, como fueron enriquecidos con el “translenguar'' y les han empoderado a ser la persona que son hoy en día y que podrán lograr ser en el futuro. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 147 ramiro moreyra portilla: empecé a escribir poesía en el colegio, aunque solamente en idioma castellano, no obstante ser yo quechuahablantenato; pues, no usé ese idioma en mi educación ni nadie me incentivó a crear textos en quechua… eran otros tiempos. comencé a fotografiar siendo universitario en la ciudad del cusco, en película; pero, ya en la adultez publiqué mis fotos digitales en internet, en la red social flickr, poniéndole títulos en español, quechua y otros idiomas; pero, destacan varios con redacción mezclada entre quechua y español, caso que recién este 2021 me entero se le conoce como translenguar, porque nosotros a este fenómeno lingüístico llamamos cotidianamente quechuañol, espanglish, etc. maria josé solis: mi nombre es maria josé solis, y soy nacida en mérida, yucatán, méxico donde aprendí hablar español y algunas palabras mayas. i learned to speak english at the age of six when i moved to oregon. my love of teaching started eight years ago when i became employed at an elementary school as a bilingual secretary; cuatro años después empezaría my journey académico como maestra bilingüe with a minor in english to speaker of other languages en western oregon university. i am a first generation student and a daca recipient. i was given this opportunity to write a few poems by professor yuliana kenfield; i knew i had to take this opportunity and express part of my linguistic journey and memories of my motherland. as an emergent bilingual i understand some of the experiences students might be going through y translenguar es una manera que une culturas y lenguajes. in poem, “sunshine of my childhood,” is about my transition from coming from a place that was bright yearlong and simulating the gloominess of oregon weather. how the rain became everything i have known. in some ways it touches on translanguaging because one learns to adjust to a new type of style of speaking or new words yet deep down there is always use for el idioma materno de uno. “numero magico” plays an homage to the thousands of emergent bilinguals like myself who grew up in a time when interpreters were not available and as a kid, i grew up translating for mi abuela. it touches on how being in college i have learned about my own experiences in k-12 education from academic sources, studies and scholars that somehow we always forget that some of us have lived it. i was told that using both languages as a child kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 148 was not correct or proper and now it is something we nourish and cherish in classroom that are multilingual. kee straits & sami straits: i am a bilingual indigenous latina licensed clinical psychologist with a master’s degree from the university of new mexico and a doctoral degree from utah state university. i am the founder and ceo of a consulting business, tlc transformations. i also took on a position as the director of equity, community and culture at bosque school, a 6th-12th college preparatory school in albuquerque, new mexico. in order to understand my views on language and translanguaging, it would be important to know that i was born in perú, adopted into the usa as a baby and grew up in an englishspeaking environment. my only exposure to spanish as a child was through school classrooms. i excelled academically in language learning (reading and writing exercises), but i could not use spanish in authentic contexts. in addition, i recollect having primarily white spanish teachers who were not native speakers. i battled my own emotional relationship with spanish because i knew my outward appearance signaled to others that i should be fluent in spanish when i was not. i deeply desired to speak spanish as the language of my birth country, but my tongue would not remember. y por primera vez, me conecté con lenguas indígenas en mi alrededor, abrazándome. ayllu, ñañay, minka, chakra, waway, warmi, … aprendí la palabra ayni, no en libros, pero por ser testiga y participante en el proceso, reparando un techo de una familia con la ayuda de la comunidad. i lived in communities with bilingual schools (quichua-spanish, kofan-spanish) and learned from the community members themselves, as well as grassroots indigenous groups how hard they fought to shift the system to bilingual education. since then, in my work on health, mental health, and educational disparities with indigenous and latinx communities in the usa, i support community-led approaches that center community languages and modes of expression as imperative to achieving equity. trenzando poetry association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 149 además que eso, cuando adopté a mi hijita, samibah straits que también es de perú, el castellano cesó de ser un segundo lenguaje porque su reclamación adentro de nuestro hogar y su conexión a emociones profundos de amor entre mi familia lo convirtió a una lengua de corazón, igual como quechua (a language my daughter and i are reclaiming together) y navajo (the first language of my husband). translanguaging is an expression of dynamic cultural vitality, reclamation, creation and future thrivance. what i most hope the reader feels from my poem is how deeply rooted our languages are to our experiences, our families, communities, histories and to both our self-love and community-love. the story behind the poem of my daughter sami, maria-fernanda samibah straits (quechua/navajo) is an eleven-year-old 6th grade student at bosque school in albuquerque. she wrote and illustrated several unpublished stories: the pegasus and the serpent; mi viaje a cuba; my vacation to seattle; and la guerrera. her book, all about guinea pigs, won her 4-h grand champion at the new mexico state fair. twice, she placed first in her grade for reciting poetry in spanish. she represented her school at a citywide presentation, poesía eres tú. samibah says, "writing makes me imagine things as if i were taken from one place to another like magic." she is an avid reader, pianist, and animal-lover. when i was offered to write a poem, i thought to myself that maybe i should do a poem about my people and how many similarities there are in both quechua and dineh tribes. i was able to explain a little bit about quechua and dineh people. i want the readers to understand how much we suffer by how much we lost to colonization. it was helpful to me to release all the sadness, worry and pain for the brown community. i wrote it in english and spanish to explain how lucky we are to be bilingual, the few of us who are. the consequences of not asking or even trying to speak our native language, whether it is english or spanish, causes disruption between us. many people have forgotten su lengua natal. i was trying to bring back spanish to those who can understand but do not care to speak. i use english to bring both communities together. i love to mix in both to show that all beings are sacred. kenfield, xuncax lazo, solis, ortega, straits, straits, garcía, & moreyra portilla association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 150 references anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza. spinsters/aunt lute. garcía, o. 2009. bilingual education in the 21st century. a global perspective. wiley-blackwell. grosjean, f. (1989). neurolinguists, beware! the bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person. brain and language, 36(1), 3-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934x(89)90048-5 hornberger, n. h. (ed.). (2003). continua of biliteracy: an ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings (vol. 41). multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596568 national center for education statistics, 2018. the condition of education 2018 [online]. washington, dc. available from: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018144.pdf [accessed 30 october 2019] valdés, g. (2001). heritage language students: profiles and possibilities. in j. peyton, j. ranard & s. mcginnis (eds.), heritage languages in america: preserving a national resource (pp. 3780). mchenry, il: the center for applied linguistics and delta systems co. https://doi.org/10.1016/0093-934x(89)90048-5 https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596568 https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018144.pdf figure 1 i am – yo soy yecid ortega i am from the spoon i love to eat from, from tofu and broccoli and country harvest $3.50 bread. i am from the cold, mountainous and busy city. i am from the grass, the dandelion and the leaves. i am from no tradition and humble, from the paez and chibcha indigenous people and sometimes ortega’s from spain. i am from the hardworking side and the sensitive. from being nice and you will succeed. i am from no religion at all. we do not need god to love each other, respect each other and understand that we are all the same humans. i'm from hortua hospital in bogotá, colombia, potatoes and rice. from the land of the homeless guy quien te lleva si no te portas bien or the stray dog who takes you in the mouth if you are a bad guy. i am from santa librada, monte blanco, bellavista neighborhood, chicago and toronto, walking by the lake and under the bridge, by the park, riding my bicycle and running 10km an hour, recording the street vendors eating arepa con huevo. i am from this world, i am from this universe. but after all, i am who i am-a human being and i am from here trabajando por la justicia social con-razón. brown means café yecid ortega http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 12 issue 3 2018 amae special issue latinx education policy and resistance in the trump era guest editors patricia d. lópez, california state university, fresno william pérez, loyola marymount university editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 97 “do you want to tell your own narrative?”: how one teacher and her students engage in resistance by leveraging community cultural wealth melinda martin-beltrán1 angélica montoya-ávila andrés a. garcía university of maryland, college park nancy canales georgetown university law center abstract this qualitative case study offers a window into one classroom in which one latinx english language arts teacher and her newcomer high school students tapped into community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005) as they engaged in literacy practices to resist oppression, denounce discrimination, and strive for social justice. we draw upon yosso’s (2005) framework of community cultural wealth (ccw) to understand how teachers can encourage resistance among historically marginalized students within the current racist and xenophobic political climate; and we examine how students respond to the teacher’s invitation to engage and develop their resistant capital through their writing. data analyzed for this study include student letters, teacher interviews, and fieldnotes from one lesson, which was situated in a year-long ethnographic study. we found that the teacher cultivated resistant capital by tapping into students’ lived experiences to scrutinize oppressive rhetoric and persist in the face of adversity. students seized the opportunity to resist the dominant anti-immigrant narrative by leveraging their resistant capital through counter-stories, assertions of experiential knowledge, and appeals to a moral imperative. our study contributes to scholarship on ccw by exploring how ccw is utilized in a previously under-examined context and has implications for educators by offering 1 corresponding author can be reached at: memb@umd.edu leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 98 examples of classroom practices that cultivate ccw and transform deficit discourses that threaten to impede academic success, especially among latinx students. keywords: community cultural wealth, immigrant, narrative, resistance. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.408 martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 99 introduction as i arrived at the school, i was struck by the somber mood in the front office, where the staff (who wore buttons that read “i support immigrant and refugee students”) looked sleepless, like me, reeling from the unexpected results of last night’s presidential election. the assistant principal commented, “this is a sad day to be an educator. many kids came in very worried about the election news.” when i greet nancy [teacher] in the hallway, she tells me she needs to let her students talk about the election today, as a cathartic moment. when i enter her classroom, i am overwhelmed by youthful energy as students are bustling to their tables and greet me with a hug or a reassuring smile. the students seem unstoppable. nancy displays the following writing prompt on the smart board at the front of the classroom: “today, we are going to think about the election yesterday. donald trump was elected our new president last night. most of you could not vote, however, it is still important to make your voice heard. we are going to write letters to president-elect trump. his campaign slogan was “make america great again” but each of you came to this country because you or your family thought there were great things about this country already. in your letter, explain what you think about america now, and what you would like to see happen in the future. together, we can impact the direction of this country.” (fieldnotes, nov. 9, 2016) in the months leading up to the 2016 election, latinx1 communities around the u.s. were under attack as presidential candidate trump threatened to deport millions and propagated insults towards immigrants, which fueled white supremacist ideologies. during those pre-election months, nancy and her colleagues at lhs2 (a high school for recently-arrived immigrant students) worked tirelessly to refute trump’s disparaging remarks and explicit attacks on latinx communities. nancy frequently reassured her students that they were still safe, since it seemed impossible that a candidate who so openly endorsed racism could win the majority of american votes. although lhs teachers and administrators tried to comfort the students, they still feared for their students’ futures. the election results solidified resentment against immigrant communities and reified deficit discourses about latinx youth. it is within this hostile environment that educators are most needed to recognize and leverage students’ assets to resist and transform deficit discourses. in this article, we offer a window into one classroom in which we can see the powerful ways that a teacher and students tapped into community cultural wealth (ccw; yosso, 2005) leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 100 to challenge dominant narratives—i.e., to engage in counter-storytelling (solórzano & yosso, 2001)—and raise their voices to resist oppression, denounce discrimination, and strive for social justice. we focus on two research questions: 1. how does one teacher’s pedagogical approach encourage resistance and cultivate resistant capital among immigrant youth? 2. how do students respond to the teacher’s invitation to engage in resistance and draw upon their community cultural wealth through their writing? we contend that, while the theoretical scholarship on ccw is strong, educators need more empirical studies that illustrate how to utilize ccw in classroom practice. our study contributes to this empirical literature by shedding light on classroom practices that educators need now more than ever, as we seek to transform deficit discourses that threaten to impede academic success, especially among latinx students. conceptual framework our study is informed by asset-based pedagogies and perspectives, such as culturally sustaining pedagogy (paris, 2012; paris & alim, 2017), culturally relevant pedagogy (ladson-billings, 1995, 2014), funds of knowledge (gonzález, moll, & amanti 2005; moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), and community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005). asset-based approaches counter deficit-informed educational stances that frame people of color as “lacking” by instead highlighting the capacities, skills, and assets of historically marginalized communities to enhance their educational opportunities and critique dominant power structures (moll et al., 1992; smith-maddox & solórzano, 2002; valencia, 2010). we find the concept of community cultural wealth—rooted in critical race theory (crt)—particularly useful because it offers an expanded view of the resources and knowledge that students of color bring to the classroom. educational researchers have used crt to theorize how educational structures, processes, and discourses contribute to racial inequality in society (ladson-billings, 1998; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; villalpando, 2004; see jennings & lynn, 2005, for more on critical race pedagogy). crt is a powerful lens to analyze the pervasiveness of race and racism while employing praxis as a tool for transformation and martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 101 social justice, valuing experiential knowledge, and countering dominant ideologies (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). drawing on crt, yosso (2005) critiqued bourdieu’s narrow view of cultural capital, a concept that can be misconstrued to portray european-descendant elites as the norm and to render people of color as culturally deficient. yosso (2005) expanded cultural capital by introducing the construct of community cultural wealth (ccw), which she defines as an array of cultural knowledge, skills, abilities, and contacts that can foster academic and life success among students of color. according to yosso (2005), ccw comprises six interrelated forms of capital: aspirational capital is “the ability to maintain hopes and dreams for the future, even in the face of real and perceived barriers” (p. 77). linguistic capital “includes the intellectual and social skills attained through communication experiences in more than one language and/or style” (p. 78). familial capital comprises “those cultural knowledges nurtured among familia (kin) that carry a sense of community history, memory and cultural intuition” (p. 79). social capital involves “networks of people and community resources” (p. 79). navigational capital means “the ability to maneuver through institutions not created with communities of color in mind” (p. 80). finally, resistant capital refers to “knowledges and skills fostered through oppositional behavior that challenges inequality” (p. 80). resistant capital abounds among immigrant students, especially latinxs, who hold a legacy of school resistance and grassroots leadership (see delgado bernal, 1998) and who often confront the policies and practices that undermine their educational opportunities. although resistant capital is a distinct type of capital, we contend that the other forms of capital can be used in conjunction with resistant capital to strengthen people of color’s resistance to untoward circumstances. in this article, we show how a latinx teacher and her students of color drew on their diverse forms of capital for an overall purpose: to resist oppression and silencing. encouraging this type of resistance among latinx immigrants is particularly relevant in the current sociopolitical context, where anti-immigrant and anti-latinx discourses are pervasive. leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 102 empirical literature on ccw while empirical studies illustrating how k-12 teachers utilize ccw are scarce, a few studies offer examples of the benefits of incorporating ccw in teaching practices (e.g., cuevas, 2016; rodriguez, 2016). for instance, cuevas (2016) tapped into his students’ ccw by implementing a curriculum in a middle school that encouraged the students to explore personal counter-stories, or testimonios. cuevas found that latinx middle-school students recognized and drew upon their resistant, aspirational, and familial capital. cuevas (2016) argued that these multiple forms of capital emboldened latinx students to overcome obstacles in their educational pathways; however, more research is needed to shed light on the processes of incorporating ccw in classroom discourse practices. similar to cuevas (2016), denicolo, gonzález, morales, and romaní (2015) examined how school teachers draw on and expand latinx students’ ccw using testimonios. analyzing classroom interactions in a 3rd-grade, bilingual classroom, the researchers found that students employed three interrelated forms of ccw: aspirational, linguistic, and navigational capital. for example, in their written testimonios several of the participants referred to their plans, hopes, and dreams and explained how their family’s consejos (advice), knowledge, and expectations encouraged them to be resilient and overcome institutional challenges they encountered in school. therefore, denicolo and colleagues (2015) contended that educators should model and offer explicit opportunities to connect ccw to school learning. further studies are needed to explore resistant capital explicitly since this was not the focus of the previous studies. in sum, the extant literature shows that teachers can build on latinx students’ ccw to enhance their educational opportunities. when teachers provide students with explicit opportunities to draw on multiple forms of capital, latinx students increase their engagement in school activities and in transforming their social conditions (cuevas, 2016, denicolo et al., 2015; rodriguez, 2016). thus, as rodriguez (2016) argues, ccw can be a pedagogical approach that: not only gives us an opportunity, but requires a social, political, and educational commitment to be forthright and visionary so all our latina/o students across the educational pipeline are recognized as agents of their own conditions and have the martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 103 capacity to transform these conditions by growing, building, and thriving together (p. 87). our study builds upon this scholarship, informed by crt and yosso’s ccw framework, as we identify these qualities in one teacher’s pedagogical approach and shed light on the ways that students leverage ccw for resistance in an oppressive sociopolitical context. our work also contributes to the empirical literature—which has focused on either higher education (rodriguez, 2016) or the elementary (denicolo et al., 2015) and middle (cuevas, 2016) grades—by exploring how ccw is utilized in a previously under-examined context (i.e., high school). our study begins to address these gaps in the extant research to better understand instructional practices that leverage latinx students’ ccw along the k-20 educational pipeline. methods school context this qualitative case study focuses on a lesson taught by an english language arts (ela) teacher (nancy, the fourth author4) at a public high school designed for recent immigrant students. the school, lhs, is located in an urban, working-class neighborhood in a mid-atlantic state where the latinx student population has increased 185.4% since 2000 (national center for education statistics, 2017) and 33.8% of the state’s population voted for trump (the new york times, 2016). this metropolitan area is home to the third largest population of foreignborn central americans in the u.s.—after only los angeles and new york (lesser & batalova, 2017). lhs opened in the 2015-2016 academic year and is part of the international network for public schools, an educational nonprofit organization that supports schools serving newlyarrived immigrant students. while lhs students currently represent 24 countries and one u.s. territory, nearly two-thirds of the students come from el salvador or guatemala. the students speak a wide variety of home languages (e.g., spanish, farsi, chinese), but the majority (87%) of students speak spanish at home. twelve percent of students are categorized as students with limited or interrupted formal education (slife). the percentages of the school population that received free or reduced lunch or are labeled ells were both over 95.0%. leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 104 teacher and researcher positionality nancy is one of the founding teachers at lhs and describes her own pedagogical journey as deeply influenced by lhs as well as her own personal experiences. indeed, nancy’s family’s experiences as newcomers in the u.s. inform her teaching philosophy and allow her to bring her own ccw to her teaching practices. she openly shares her own family’s story with her students when she tells them about her father and mother who immigrated to the united states during the salvadoran civil war. with just an elementary school education, her parents raised four children and worked long hours as a truck driver and housekeeper. as the third of four children, nancy recounts her oldest sister’s early struggles in school. with parents still learning to navigate the u.s. education system, her older sister was labeled an english language learner (ell). nancy explained how she benefited from her sister’s experiences, entered kindergarten fully bilingual in english and spanish, and followed her sister’s college trajectory. nancy believes it takes a whole community approach to help students succeed, and she sees herself as not just a language teacher but an advocate. during her undergraduate studies as an english major and u.s. latino/a studies minor, nancy became acutely aware of educational inequities and sought to address these inequities by joining teach for america. during her first year of teaching, she realized she needed more tools for teaching ells in particular, so she enrolled in a master’s program in teaching english to speakers of other languages (tesol). upon completing her master’s in education, she was inspired to join lhs, which she found espoused her own teaching philosophy and offered her the tools, resources, and support to work effectively with ells. nancy believes that lhs has created a hub of teachers, partners, and families working toward a shared mission: wholestudent development through a project-based approach to critical thinking. she is currently pursuing a j.d, focusing on legal advocacy for immigrant communities. nancy explained that the lesson we observed was reflective of the school’s shared mission and core goals, which we observed in both teacher and student talk. the school refers to teachers, students, administrators, and staff as “community members” who share the core values of “empowerment, collaboration, and critical thinking”, which resonate with key tenets of critical pedagogy. for example, the school vision reads, “community members will facilitate martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 105 whole-student development that empowers students to navigate their communities, advocate for their personal growth, and succeed in a diverse and evolving global society.” nancy explained that the school’s focus on social justice is what attracts many teachers to the school. lhs was open to collaboration and sought out partnerships with our university and community organizations. the students and staff were accustomed to many visitors in the classrooms and developed a close working relationship with our research team. our universitybased research team (andrés, angélica, and melinda) brings distinct forms of ccw: some of these resemble those of the lhs students, but at the same time our experiences differ greatly in terms of our educational privileges, intersectional positionalities, and professional status. andrés and angélica bring their personal experiences as immigrants from peru and colombia, respectively, and their experiences as graduate students and language teachers of adults and adolescents. melinda brings her bilingual teaching and personal experiences in a transnational family across brazil, venezuela, and the u.s. melinda was the participant observer present in nancy’s first post-election class and andrés and angélica participated in several observations across the school year. together, the four authors share a common commitment to building upon culturally and linguistically diverse students’ experiential knowledge, enhancing educational opportunities of immigrant students, and pursuing social justice. data collection this study was part of a larger, year-long ethnographic study in which we examined literacy activities in ela classes and during an extracurricular program at lhs. we observed and analyzed the focal lesson as part of the larger research project, for which we conducted weekly observations and multiple interviews with the teachers and students involved in the project between september 2016 and june 2017. in selecting our case for this study, we engaged in what patton (1990) calls operational construct sampling. that is, out of the more than 30 lessons we observed throughout the year, we focused on one that we felt to be especially representative of the construct of “resistance.” specifically, in this lesson (which took place on november 9, 2016, the day after the 2016 presidential elections) the teacher modified her lesson plan to ask students to write a letter to leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 106 president-elect trump. both in the act of writing the letter and the content of the students’ responses, the notion of resistance became salient, as we discuss in our findings. following case study methodology (merriam, 1998; stake, 1995; yin, 2009), we relied on multiple sources of data to examine this lesson. we took ethnographic fieldnotes during the sixth-period ela class while students wrote letters; we removed all student identifiers and read scanned versions of the letters from all four of nancy’s combined 9th/10th grade ela classes (n = 72). we then analyzed transcribed interviews with nancy. the students in nancy’s classes were aged 14 to 18, and most had arrived in the u.s. as adolescents, immigrating from 24 countries across the world, with the majority from central america. many of the students had undergone long periods of family separation and many were unaccompanied minors. as we conceptualized this article, nancy offered insight about her students and the ripple effects of this focus lesson in an in-depth, semi-structured interview a year after the lesson. data analysis our data analysis procedure was both deductive and inductive: deductive insofar as yosso’s (2005) ccw framework informed our codes (e.g., resistant capital, aspirational capital), and inductive in that we were open to coding themes outside this framework. each member of our team read the students’ letters to president-elect trump, fieldnotes, and nancy’s end-of-year interview (2017) to identify patterns and themes in the data. we wrote analysis memos and discussed the themes until we came to a consensus about representative examples of ccw. as a team, we identified themes in the letters, which we distilled into three major categories: (1) counter-stories, (2) experiential knowledge, and (3) appealing to a moral imperative. we compiled excerpts from the 72 letters into a document that was discussed with nancy during our 2018 interview, and she offered her own insight and analysis of these themes as well as themes in her own teaching, which we identified as: (a) recognizing and invoking experiential knowledge, (b) encouraging students to challenge inequalities and resist authoritarianism, and (c) persisting and advancing in the face of adversity. we triangulated our findings by seeking convergence across multiple sources of data and researcher perspectives, which is an essential way of enhancing the reliability of case-study findings (merriam, 1998). martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 107 findings our findings show how nancy and her students leveraged ccw to respond to racialized, xenophobic threats in the current sociopolitical context and engaged in resistance through their literacy practices. although the students and their teacher simultaneously drew upon multiple, interconnected forms of ccw such as linguistic capital, familial capital, social capital, and navigational capital, we focus on resistant capital in order to operationalize forms of resistance, corresponding to the focus of this special issue. in what follows, we offer a more nuanced understanding of resistant capital by illustrating how nancy and her students employed this form of capital in their class discussion and their letters. in the first section of our findings we focus on the first research question—i.e., how does one teacher’s pedagogical approach encourage resistance and cultivate resistant capital among immigrant youth?—and in the second section we discuss examples from students’ writing to answer the second research question— i.e., how students responded to the teacher’s invitation to engage in resistance and draw upon their community cultural wealth through their writing. teacher drawing upon resistant capital we found that nancy encouraged resistance by modeling and cultivating resistant capital in her pedagogical approach (and this lesson in particular) as she (a) recognized and invoked students’ experiential knowledge and allowed students to voice their concerns of the current sociopolitical situation; (b) encouraged students to question oppressive structures, and (c) persisted in the face of adversity. recognizing and invoking experiential knowledge to resist. as the fieldnotes at the beginning of the article demonstrate, nancy understood that her students needed to talk about the election, so she completely changed her planned lesson for the day, knowing that she would count on school leaders’ support. in her retrospective reflection of the lesson, nancy emphasized that teachers need not be afraid to “pause the curriculum” in order to work through social, emotional, or political issues that are important to students. in fact, nancy expressed her belief that socio-emotional and leadership development should be embedded into the classroom daily. nancy skillfully connected this impromptu lesson to a project-based leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 108 unit on personal narrative writing, inspired by the film i learn america, to connect english curriculum requirements to students’ community cultural wealth. in her writing prompt, nancy explicitly stated that it is “still important to make your voice heard,” and began her lesson by asking the students how they felt about the election. in the prompt, nancy acknowledged students’ political marginalization when she stated, “most of you could not vote,” thus recognizing exclusion and oppressive structures. however, she also invited resistance by asking students to draw upon their own experiences to write letters to the new president. the following excerpt is from the beginning of the class observation, when nancy compelled students to problematize trump’s slogan “make america great again” (maga). students’ responses show that they were acutely aware of racial and xenophobic threats rampant in the sociopolitical context. nancy: what was donald trump saying during the campaign? alex: que va a hacer el muro [that he’s going to build a wall] beatriz: i hate mexicanos! julia: ¡que nos va a deportar! [that he going to deport us!] liliana: ¡que es racista! [that he is a racist!] manuel: miss, do you think that you will be deported? johnny: she was born here! manuel: but he said he would deport all kids of immigrants. nancy: today you are going to write letters to trump. tell him what you think we can do to move forward and make this country better. we might not agree with him, you can tell him that too! (fieldnotes 11.09.16) in affording this writing opportunity to her students, nancy encouraged them to directly address and challenge trump’s discourse about immigration. though ultimately conciliatory in that it pressed students to think about “moving forward” as a country, nancy’s prompt was also oppositional in nature, reminding kids that it was fine for them to disagree with the president in their letters. hence, the writing of these letters exemplified the “oppositional behavior” by which yosso (2005) defines resistant capital. martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 109 another form of capital manifested in this lesson is linguistic capital, which is part of students’ experiential knowledge and permeates the entire lesson. indeed, the students drew upon their linguistic capital as they voiced their resistance using both spanish and english. an example of how this was part of nancy’s pedagogical approach was illustrated when one student commented, “i don’t know what to write. can it be in spanish?” without hesitation, nancy responded, “your letter can be in english or spanish.” the students also drew upon the teacher’s experiential knowledge when they referred to her own family’s immigration status. earlier in the year, nancy had shared her own family’s experiences immigrating from el salvador and growing up bilingually and transculturally in the u.s. because nancy and her students shared similar ccw, they established a close teacherstudent relationship and could relate with many of the same challenges and opportunities of navigating multiple cultures. but nancy did not simply acknowledge those injustices; she went on to encourage the students to challenge the injustices by engaging in oppositional discourse (e.g., “we might not agree with him”), which we discuss further in the following examples. encouraging students to challenge inequalities and resist authoritarianism. nancy’s lesson that day invited students to use their own lived experiences to scrutinize oppressive rhetoric (e.g., challenging the legitimacy of trump’s campaign slogan) in order to become agents of social change. nancy modeled resistance in the writing prompt (see above), which positioned her students as agents and authors who were worthy to be heard by the new president. in the prompt, nancy drew upon the students’ various forms of ccw, referring to their aspirational capital and familial capital (“you and your family thought there were great things about this country”), which she connected to resistance and oppositional discourse. she also encouraged them to leverage their resistant capital when she marked a contrast between her students’ experiences and the false rhetoric about this country, while simultaneously empowering students by affirming that they “can impact the direction of this country.” in the following quote from her lesson, nancy discussed issues of power and articulated the limits of the president’s power when she reminded the students about the three branches of the u.s. government: leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 110 remember that a president is only one person in this whole country. the executive branch has to work together with the other two branches of the government, congress and the supreme court to enact laws like that. (fieldnotes 11.09.16) as nancy emphasized that the president was “only one person in the whole country,” she challenged his power and potential authoritarianism. she also helped her students reflect on the importance of telling their own stories when she asked them: “do you want trump telling your narrative now that he is president, or do you want to tell your own narrative?” by encouraging students to tell their own narratives, nancy connected to her curricular unit on narratives while simultaneously allowing them to develop counter-stories that challenged dominant discourses about immigrants. solórzano and yosso (2001) define the counter-story as “a tool for exposing, analyzing, and challenging the majoritarian stories of racial privilege. counter-stories can shatter complacency, challenge the dominant discourse on race, and further the struggle for racial reform” (p. 32). we observed students challenging majoritarian stories and echoing nancy’s words in their own writing and discussions during class. nancy also cultivated a space for students to raise awareness of current and historical injustices and to take a proactive stance for social transformation. one student from guatemala commented, “in this country, the african americans were discriminated against! yes, and we still see discrimination. knowing that we fought for justice in the past, and in the future means that we can keep fighting.” this student’s comment acknowledged inequalities and was also related to persistence, the final theme in our analysis of how the teacher’s pedagogical approach cultivated resistant capital. persisting and advancing in the face of adversity. at our interview in june 2017, we asked nancy how her school was responding to the anti-immigrant sociopolitical context. she responded by drawing upon her own resistant capital, explaining how she and her students were determined to tenaciously press on in the face of adversity: i think our response doesn’t stop, it’s just been to keep doing what we are doing… we still have plenty of people supporting our school. this story is not the only narrative out there. and, like, the best we can do is continue going to school, continue getting an education. and, you know, of course, your immigration status and your family's martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 111 immigration status all of that is important and relevant, but it should just serve as further motivation to continue what we are doing here. and i think that’s what we’ve tried to communicate to students who, maybe, struggled with it a little more… we are still learning. we still have our own goals… there's nothing he [trump] can do to stop you from being educated while you are here, so we are gonna give you the best education we can. (interview 06.08.17) in this quote, nancy articulated the tensions and power struggles that continue. she affirmed the importance of students’ ccw (including aspirational, familial, and resistant forms of capital) and even reframed their immigration status as motivation to continue their education. she drew upon her resistant capital to resist subordination. nancy’s use of “we” suggests her solidarity with her colleagues and students at the school, who are united in their fight against unrelenting injustices. students engaging resistant capital when nancy reflected on what stood out to her about the lesson, she remarked that “students were 100% engaged.” this was confirmed in our fieldnotes, where we noted that students were engrossed with the writing prompt and actively talking about and working on their writing together. this assignment evoked a passionate response from the students, who wrote more than we had ever observed them write during a single class period. as we read and re-read their letters to the president, we identified three main ways that the students manifested resistant capital in this context: (a) counter-storytelling to reframe immigrants as important contributors to this country; (b) utilizing experiential knowledge to position themselves as expert navigators through hardships; and (c) appealing to a larger “moral” imperative to do what is right and sympathize with immigrants, their hopes, and aspirations. counter-stories: immigrants as agents and builders of this country. across multiple letters, students depicted immigrants as the people who have actively contributed to the building of this country and who make it as great as it is—echoing nancy’s prompt while also drawing upon their own experiences. thus, they resisted and challenged trump’s discourse about immigrants as “bad” or “threatening” by providing their own counter-stories (cf. cuevas, leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 112 2016). for example, one of the students in the class commented, “you know all his fancy buildings? it’s people like me from guatemala, honduras, el salvador who build them. i know, i work in construction. ¡somos el brazo derecho de este país!” (we are the right hand of this country!). multiple students directly alluded to and argued against trump’s maga slogan in their letters. as one student wrote: you said that you were going to get out at all the immigrants, and “make america great again,” you have a big problem with that ‘cause all those immigrants are the people that make this country great. all these persons are the ones who do the hard work that maybe you cannot do*.5 this excerpt not only took up some of the wording from nancy’s prompt, but it also epitomizes the oppositional tenor of most students’ responses to the maga slogan: the country is already great as it is, and immigrants are the reason for it. moreover, the student reframed the dominant immigrant narrative into a more positive one, asserting that immigrants do the “hard work” that people like trump cannot—or will not—do. similarly, another student wrote: “i would like to remind you that this country was made up of undocumented immigrants and they are still helping* this country in the economy.” concrete examples of the contributions of immigrants (and the latinx community in particular) appeared in multiple letters, and these centered chiefly on the work of construction. one student, for instance, wrote that “hispanics made america a better place, because of all the hard work we do… hard work like making houses, doing construction, hotels where you sleep, cars that you drive are fixed by immigrants.” another student made a similar point, challenging trump’s inconsistent words and business practices regarding undocumented workers: “todos los trabajores de construcción son latinos hasta en la mansión* que usted está haciendo hay personas indocumentadas” (“all construction work[ers] are latino, even the mansion that you are building has undocumented people [working on it]”). these two examples present immigrants as the “builders” of this country, both inextricable from it and essential to its functioning. martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 113 lastly, some letters explicitly resisted the dominant narrative about the economic burden that immigrants cause to the country. such was the case of one student, who wrote about immigrants: “ellos vienen a trabajar duramente y a pagar todos sus impuestos, la gente no vive de gratis aquí” (“they come here to work hard and to pay all their taxes, people don’t live here for free”). echoing the narrative of immigrants’ hard work evidenced in prior excerpts, this student further added that immigrants do not get a “free ride,” but rather actively contribute to the u.s. economy through their taxes. in sum, various letters aimed to dispel detrimental myths about immigrants that were common in trump’s rhetoric throughout the electoral campaign, such as their lack of material and economic contributions. as nancy reminded us in her may 2018 interview, students took these examples from their own lives: they see their parents (or even themselves) working hard in industries like construction and paying taxes. thus, the basis of these counter-stories is students’ experiential knowledge, to which we turn next. experiential knowledge: navigating through hardships. the students used their personal, experiential knowledge not only to provide counter-stories but also to position themselves as “expert navigators,” possessing a kind of expertise that trump lacks: the ability to navigate and endure hardships in life. many students had previously brainstormed related themes when discussing plot structure in their ela class, which they manifested as resistance in their letters by rejecting the dominant discourse that they, as immigrants, are somehow “lessthan.” for some students, the long and often painful journeys that immigrants made to come to the united states underscored their ability to endure hardship. one student, for instance, disagreed with trump’s proposed border wall and deportations “because like me and many other latinos we have been through a lot and had to fight to get here.” likewise, another student encouraged trump to “listen to their [i.e., immigrants’] reasons of why they decided to come here and try to imagine everything they had to go through in order to be in the united states… it’s not something everyone would do.” by alluding to the very real perils that many immigrants endure in their journeys to the u.s., these letters portrayed the president-elect’s leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 114 immigration policies not only as unjust but also as oblivious of all the sacrifices immigrants make to arrive and survive in a new country. other students, meanwhile, tied their challenging migratory journeys to other difficulties in their daily lives, thus further illustrating how immigrants’ capacity to deal with these issues makes them strong members of society. one student, for example, shared his experiences with poverty and how they gave him a perspective that the president-elect lacks: i agree with most of your policies except the ones on immigration. i am an immigrant from eritrea, where me and my family escaped poverty and in god's name we made it to this beautiful nation with a lot of opportunity. respectfully i don't think you know what poverty feels like, knowing you've been a millionaire your whole life…you need to realize there are families who had to struggle tremendously and risk their lives through several countries just to make it here and it’s not respectful for you to call them rapists and murderers. as this student posits, if trump had experienced the same kinds of poverty and danger that many immigrants and refugees experience in life, his views on immigration might be different and more cognizant of what immigrants bring to the table. or, at the very least, he would have been less offensive with his choice of words. this is an example of how students were aware of trump’s racialized and xenophobic threats, which they sought to challenge. in sum, a second line of argument by which students used their letters to resist trump’s discourse on immigration was to position themselves as more experienced in dealing with hardships than others, the president-elect included. their resistant capital was linked to their navigational capital, or “the ability to maneuver through institutions not created with communities of color in mind” (yosso, 2005, p. 80). just as immigrants help build this country, then, so do they bring life experiences (i.e., painful immigration journeys, surviving with few resources) that give them a unique perspective—one that the president may not empathize with but should acknowledge. appealing to a moral imperative as resistant capital. a third salient form of resistant capital that recurred in students’ letters related to a moral imperative for the president-elect to do what is right with his newly-gained power. moreover, calls for empathy martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 115 often accompanied these statements, with students wishing that trump either put himself in immigrants’ shoes or at least take into consideration their hopes and aspirations. a common exhortation for trump was for him to “think [more carefully],” and this verb made multiple appearances both within and across students’ letters. one student, for example, gave trump the following advice: “think better about how you’re* going to use your power when you’ll be president.” another wrote: “my suggestion is that you think twice what you are going to do as president of the u.s.a. think about helping poor people. think about doing things… to help immigrants and all the people in the u.s.a.” like these two letters, other students urged the future president to think more carefully about the way he wanted to change immigration policies. some of these moral calls also encouraged trump to be more empathetic with the plight of immigrants and other minoritized communities in the united states. as one student argued, trump needs to get to know and understand people who are different from him, because “hating on people you don’t even know and treating them like nothing isn’t going to help anyone.” moreover, students argued that he needs to “have a heart” with regards to the traumatic experiences of immigrant groups: quiero saber si usted no tiene familia, no tiene sentimientos, no tiene mujer; porque si la tuviera, no insultaría a las mujeres. ¿no tiene hijo usted? ¿sabe cuántas madres tienen que pasar años sin ver a su hijo? y ahora que lo tiene al lado, usted quiere venir a quitárselo. eso se llama no tener corazón. (i’d like to know if you don’t have a family, if you don’t have feelings, if you don’t have a wife. because if you had one, you wouldn’t insult women. don’t you have a child? do you know how many mothers spend years without seeing their children, and now that they are by their side, you want to take them away? that’s called not having a heart.) in this poignant appeal, this student exemplifies the various letters appealing to trump’s empathy—or lack thereof, as his offensive words and behavior seem to imply. finally, some students appealed to the hopes and dreams they had for their future. in these cases, they leveraged their aspirational capital (yosso, 2005) for the purposes of resistance. that is, students discussed their educational and professional plans in order to leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 116 change trump’s perceptions about immigrants and, in turn, the dominant discourse about them. one student remarked: mi estudio es muy importante para mí y para mi hijo; por eso me sacrifico día a día […] quiero estar aquí y estudiar lo que más pueda por lograr mis sueños, mi gran sueño de ser enfermera. (my education is very important for me and for my son, that’s why i make sacrifices every day […] i want to be here and study all that i can to achieve my dreams, my great dream of becoming a nurse.) another student raised a similar point, writing in his letter that he “came to this country to have a better education and future.” furthermore, this same student then advocated for his schoolmates, remarking to trump that “here are many immigrant students that want a better life, that’s why they come here.” implicit in these excerpts (and many others) was the idea that the future president of the united states has a moral duty to do “the right thing” about immigration. hence, these students aimed to resist and change trump’s rhetoric by reminding him of this moral imperative and by encouraging him to have more empathy for the experiences and aspirations of immigrants. conclusion in this article, we shed light on a pedagogical approach and literacy practices that can cultivate resistant capital among students, which is needed more than ever as students of color face discrimination and racialized violence that threatens their academic success and livelihoods. our findings illustrate how a teacher can cultivate ccw by tapping into students’ lived experiences to scrutinize oppressive rhetoric and persist in the face of adversity. our analysis of student letters revealed how students seized the opportunity to resist dominant antiimmigrant narratives by leveraging their resistant capital through counter-stories, assertions of experiential knowledge, and appeals to a moral imperative. our findings align with the work of yosso (2005) and colleagues, who have argued that the experiential knowledge of people of color is legitimate, appropriate, and critical to engage historically marginalized students in formal education and transform social injustices. as a latinx teacher, nancy brought her own martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 117 unique experiential knowledge, which promoted the ccw of her students and allowed for the development of transformational resistance. we observed what rodriguez (2016) describes as ccw-focused pedagogy “centered and driven by our students” (p. 69). our findings highlight what students can do if given the opportunity to draw upon ccw, which have implications for educational practice and research. our findings also show how teachers can design literacy activities that allow students to master curriculum content aligned with rigorous standards (e.g., mastering plot structure to write a personal narrative) while simultaneously building upon ccw. as teachers foster literacy practices that invoke students’ experiential knowledge, allow students to voice their concerns and question oppressive structures, and encourage students to persist in adverse sociopolitical circumstances, they cultivate resistant capital that will promote future literacy development. our study offers these implications for teachers with the caveat that incorporating students’ ccw into classroom practices takes time as teachers develop relationships with students and thus must consider long-term goals beyond one lesson. when considering long-term goals, it is helpful when both school leaders and teachers collaborate in implementing and sustaining ccw-focused pedagogy, as cuevas (2016) intimates, not only at the classroom level but also at the school and community levels. however, it is important to recognize that not all educational contexts are supportive of teachers who modify curriculum to cultivate ccw. we understand that many teachers are situated in ultraregulated k-12 environments that allow little space for student or teacher voices, and thus need to be prepared to explain the “alignment” of practices that cultivate ccw with mandated standards. this calls for teacher education that better prepares teachers, leaders, and policy makers to understand the importance of ccw and incorporating social capital of historically marginalized populations into everyday teaching and learning. future research is needed to explore how educators can connect students’ ccw across subject areas and how school communities can work together to identify and build upon diverse students’ forms of capital. this article makes a scholarly contribution to ccw literature by delving into how resistant capital is manifested in high-school classroom practices. as evidenced in the students’ letters, resistant capital is interwoven with navigational and aspirational capital. moreover, the leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 118 act of writing and discussion showed how students’ linguistic capital (multilingual repertoire) permeated the whole lesson. thus, this case study calls for future research examining how teachers and students intertwine various forms of ccw to resist and transform oppressive sociopolitical contexts. in the present socio-political context that validates oppression and explicit antiimmigrant sentiments, it is increasingly important to understand ways that teachers and students can manifest and draw upon resistant capital. we acknowledge the limitations of this study, which focused on one supportive teacher who taught in a school that explicitly supported immigrant students and sought to empower students as advocates challenging the status quo. therefore, our intention is not to generalize our findings to other classrooms, but rather, to shed light on how resistant capital was cultivated in a specific context to open possibilities in other contexts. more research is needed to examine how teachers can leverage students’ resistant capital in less supportive schools that reproduce racialized and xenophobic threats. finally, it is worth noting that nancy had intended to send the letters to the white house per her initial explanation of the lesson to the students. however, upon further reflection and conversations with colleagues and school administrators, who were legitimately concerned for student safety, she decided not to send them. this is yet another example of the consequences of the threats our students and teachers encounter daily, which attempt to stifle free expression. although these letters were not sent, we argue that the students’ experience expressing their concerns was a transformative act on its own and that leveraging their voices and ccw supported their academic and socio-emotional development. we offer this study as a possibility for hope within an oppressive political context, while also standing in solidarity with teachers and students who continue to face systemic racism and oppression in their everyday struggles. notes 1 we use latinx as a gender inclusive term to refer to all people from latin american descent, including those who do not conform to the traditional gender binary latino/a. for a discussion on the term latinx, see de onís (2017). martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 119 2 all names (except the authors’) are pseudonyms. 3 in this article, the terms people, community, and students of color refer to those persons of african american, latinx, asian american, and native american ancestry. 4 this article was truly a collaborative effort and would not have been possible without the contributions of all the authors (thus, author order is not meant to be hierarchical). as we grappled with how to represent all the authors on this article, we chose to use first-person plural (we) to refer to our entire research team and third person (she) when describing nancy, the focus teacher of this study. 5 most examples from the student writing were transcribed exactly as they were handwritten; however, in a few instances (noted with *), we edited the student’s writing to correct typos, misspelling, or minor morpho-syntactic errors that may distract readers from the central meaning of the passage. we argue that this slight editing was helpful for this publication because we are focused on meaning-making, not grammatical form. because these were rough drafts written in one class period, they did not reflect the writing process in this class, which usually involved several stages of revisions and edits along with teacher guidance. acknowledgements mil gracias to the students, administrators, and teachers who welcomed our team to such a transformative educational space. this study would not have been possible without the support of outstanding school administrators and teachers. we are indebted to the students, who taught our team more than they can imagine. we also thank the anonymous peer reviewers for their advice and feedback on this article. leveraging community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 120 references cuevas, p. a. (2016). the journey from de-culturalization to community cultural wealth: the power of a counter story-telling curriculum and how educational leaders can transform schools. association of mexican american educators journal, 10(3), 47-67. denicolo, c. p., gonzález, m., morales, s., & romaní, l. (2015). teaching through testimonio: accessing community cultural wealth in school. journal of latinos and education, 14(4), 228-243. de onís, c. (2017). what's in an “x”? an exchange about the politics of “latinx”. chiricù journal: latina/o literature, art, and culture, 1(2), 78-91. doi:10.2979/chiricu.1.2.07 gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (eds.). (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. new york, ny: routledge. jennings, m. e., & lynn, m. (2005). the house that race built: critical pedagogy, africanamerican education, and the re-conceptualization of a critical race pedagogy. educational foundations, 19(3-4), 15-32. ladson-billings, g. (1995). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american research journal, 32(3), 465-491. doi: 10.3102/00028312032003465 ladson-billings, g. (1998). just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education? international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 7-24. ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: aka the remix. harvard educational review, 84(1), 74-84. merriam, s. b. (1998). qualitative research and case study applications in education. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. moll, l., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31, 132-141. national center for education statistics. (2017). common core of data, 1998-1999 through 201314. elementary/secondary information system (elsi) [table generator]. retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/elsi/ paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93-97. paris, d., & alim, h. s. (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. new york, ny: teachers college press. patton, m. q. (1990). qualitative evaluation methods (2nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. rodriguez, l. f. (2016). institutionally responsive pedagogies: a community-cultural wealth approach to latina/o student engagement across the educational pipeline. association of mexican american educators journal, 10(3), 68-89. the new york times. (2016). maryland election results 2016. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/maryland smith-maddox, r., & solórzano, d. g. (2002). using critical race theory, paulo freire’s problem-posing method, and case study research to confront race and racism in education. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 66-84. solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. martin-beltrán, montoya-ávila, garcía, & canales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2018, volume 12, issue 3 121 solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2001). critical race and latcrit theory and method: counterstorytelling chicana and chicano graduate school experiences. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(4), 471–495. stake, r. e. (1995). the art of case study research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. valencia, r. r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. new york, ny: routledge. villalpando, o. (2004). practical considerations of critical race theory and latino critical theory for latino college students. in a. m. ortiz (ed.), new directions for student services (no. 105, pp. 41-50). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. yin, r. k. (2009). case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. microsoft word martineznegrette_page proof.docx http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 volume 14 issue 1 2020 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 1 immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s in the midwest: educational implications and future considerations giselle martinez negrette university of illinois at urbana-champaign abstract the accelerated growth of the latin@ population in the united states in the last few decades represents one of the most significant demographic changes in the nation. alongside this population shift, some other trends have started to emerge: the latin@ population, especially mexican-origin people, has begun to move and settle outside traditional large cities (murillo & villenas, 1997; stamps & bohon, 2006). the numbers of mexican-origin latin@s concentrated in so-called “gateway” states, such as california and texas, have started to decline and populations of immigrants settling in non-traditional destinations are now growing (passel & zimmerman 2001; zuñiga & hernandez-leon, 2005). this demographic flow has been referred to in academic literature as the new latino diaspora (murillo & villenas, 1997) or new latino destinations (suro & singer, 2002). against this background, this essay explores the literature with a focus on the history of mexican-origin latin@ presence in the midwest, as well as the more recent immigration trends of this population in the region. the essay aims to extend current understandings of latin@ immigration patterns in the midwest, analyze their implications for education and policy, and offer additional questions and considerations for future research in the field. a nuanced examination of these facts will help us to better understand the significance of the mexican-origin latin@ presence in the midwest, the vulnerable status of this group over the years, and the need to recognize this population as an asset, not a liability, in the present and future considerations of the united states as a nation. keywords: demographic changes, immigration, mexican-origin latin@s, midwest https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.14.1.331 immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 2 the accelerated growth of the latin@ population in the united states in the last few decades represents one of the most significant demographic changes in the nation. traditionally, latin@ populations have settled in long-established immigrant communities such as the southwestern states, as well as florida, new york and large urban metropolises (hamann & harklau, 2010). according to zuñiga and hernandez-leon (2005), “with the exception of the greater chicago area, mexican immigration had remained near their homeland” (p. xiii). however, since 1970 a new demographic trend has emerged: the latin@ population, especially mexican-origin people—the largest latin@ group in the united states (motel & patten, 2012)—has begun to move and settle outside its traditional cities (murillo & villenas, 1997; stamps & bohon, 2006; suro & singer, 2002). the numbers of mexican-origin latin@s concentrated in so-called “gateway” states, such as california and texas, have started to decline and populations of immigrants settling in non-traditional destinations are now growing (massey et., 2002; passel & zimmerman 2001; zuñiga & hernandez-leon, 2005). this demographic flow has been referred to in academic literature as the new latino diaspora (murillo & villenas, 1997) or new latino destinations (suro & singer, 2002). when considering these relatively recent geographic and demographic changes involving the mexican-origin population, an important starting point is an examination of this group’s history and migration patterns in different areas of the united states. accordingly, this essay explores the literature with a focus on the history of mexican-origin latin@ presence in the midwest, as well as the more recent immigration trends of this population in the region. the essay aims to extend current understandings of latin@ immigration patterns in the midwest, analyze their implications for education and policy, and offer additional questions and considerations for future research in the field. a nuanced examination of these facts will help us to better understand the significance of the mexican-origin latin@ presence in the midwest, the vulnerable status of this group over the years, and the need to recognize this population as an asset, not a liability, in the present and future considerations of the united states as a nation. early history of mexican-origin latin@s in the midwest “according to the aztec narrative, aztlán was located in the north, on an island with seven caves and a twisted hill called colhuacan (leal, 1998). to this day, it is not clear where exactly aztlán is located geographically, but there are theories that place its martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 3 location everywhere from nayarit, mexico (pina, 1998), to california, new mexico, florida, and wisconsin […] it is from aztlán that the aztecs departed on a journey that would eventually lead them to found tenochtitlán, or what is now known as mexico city.” (gonzalez, 2011, p. 18) the presence of latin@s in the midwest is connected to a long history of indigenous peoples moving freely throughout the northern territories (dunbar-ortiz, 2014). dunbar-ortiz (2014) points to archeological findings of trade-related artifacts that demonstrate trade networks connecting native indigenous peoples of different regions. for example, she explains: aztec merchants acquired turquoise from pueblos who mined it in what is now the us southwest to sell in central mexico where it had become the most valued of all material possessions and was used as a means of exchange or a form of money. (dunbar-ortiz, 2014, p. 20) turquoise objects have been found in precolonial sites in kansas, nebraska, and wisconsin (dunbar-ortiz, 2014). this archeological linkage, along with the oral and written histories of indigenous peoples including aztecs, cherokees, and choctaws, provide evidence for migrations between north and south and relationships between various groups (dunbar-ortiz, 2014). chavero (1953) also documents “pre-columbian trade and migratory practices that date back to at least 2,500 b.c.e., linking indigenous communities in what is now the american midwest with mayan groups as far away as present-day central america” (as cited in gonzales, 2011, p. 20). researchers have also found built features in the landscape suggesting early mayan presence in the midwest. chavero (1953) argues that the pyramid-shaped structures found throughout the midwest, often called “mounds,” are vestiges of mayan cultural influence. before european settlers arrived, there were thousands of mounds throughout the midwest in ohio, illinois, and wisconsin. unfortunately, a large percentage of them have been destroyed by farmers or industry (gonzalez, 2011). some observers have remarked on the similarity between these mounds and the pyramids in mexico and central america. one of them was judge nathaniel hyer, who in 1836 concluded that his city in rural wisconsin was: the original homeland of the aztecs, aztlán. he thought the stepped pyramid structures discovered in the area were built by the aztecs before they began their journey south immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 4 to found what we know as tenochtitlán. hyer was so certain of this history that he renamed his town aztalan, a misspelling of aztlán (birmingham & eisenberg, 2000, as cited in gonzalez, 2011, p. 21) another possible connection between the mexican native tribes and the midwest was described by silas farmer, a historian from michigan. in 1890, farmer presented the theory of the influential geographer, alexander von humboldt, establishing michigan as the “original home of the ancient mexican indians, perhaps the mexica-azteca legendary birthplace known as aztlán” (vargas, 2011, p. 290). furthermore, scholars such as dennis n. valdés, a more recent michigan historian, have also proposed a linguistic connection between mexico and the midwest. valdés (1982) explains that the ancient word for the state of mexico, michoacán, meant “place of fish,” while the algonquian indian word from which michigan takes its name means “land of great waters.” this suggestive semantic and morphological association may ultimately support the links identified by other theorists between the peoples of the north and south. some researchers have also noted the importance of migration routes to the midwestern regions. gonzalez (2011) argues that waterways like the mississippi river and the gulf of mexico form a significant link between the pre-columbian midwestern and mesoamerican cultures. she focuses on “passageways,” or river routes along which lie strings of mound cities. these passageways, the corridors for migrant streams, are still used today by mexican and chicano farmworkers and laborers. gonzalez (2011) explains that there is an “eastern migrant stream [that] starts in florida, moving north to ohio or maine [and] the midwestern migrant stream begins in texas and leads workers in one of two directions, northwest toward washington or northeast into wisconsin, michigan, and ohio” (p. 25). the work of other scholars such as gilberto cardenas (2001), nancy saldaña (1969), and dennis valdés (1999) who have studied the early presence of latin@s in the midwest, confirms the significance of the routes of migrant streams. these researchers have found a “strong connection between mexico, texas and the midwest, indicating that a significant number of mexican americans living in the region migrated north in the midwest migrant stream” (gonzalez, 2011, p. 25). these geographic and historical connections reveal that the presence of mexican-origin latin@s in the midwest is not a new phenomenon. unfortunately, latin@s have suffered a martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 5 dehistoricization in american history (macdonald & carrillo, 2009). problematic for midwestern chican@s1 has been their characterization as new immigrants to the region. however, the analysis of their early history suggests that they are “simply following the migratory patterns established hundreds of years ago by their own indigenous ancestors at a time before geopolitical boundaries had been drawn” (gonzalez, 2011, p. 25) this particular perspective raises the question of power differentiation in the construction of knowledge: who is at the center and who is at the periphery of history and the construction of reality? (canagarajah, 2002). it also reminds us that, as mentioned by hamann and harklau (2010), there is a possibility of becoming complicit in “established communities’ erasure of latino histories” (p. 159). notwithstanding these considerations, however, mexican-origin latin@s in the midwest are not “new to the region but are instead returning home” (gonzalez, 2011, p. 25). ignoring these facts further contributes to historic (mis) understandings of the mexicanorigin latin@ presence in the midwest, and their ancient connection to the us territory. changing demographics in the midwest the origin of more recent mexican-origin latin@ migration to the midwest reaches back to the beginning of the 20th century, when a series of “push” and “pull” factors coalesced to bring persons of mexican origin to the midwest (saenz & cready, 1997). the mexican revolution, from c. 1910 to 1920, was one of the main factors that pushed many to migrate north. this was the first major wave of mexican immigrants to the united states (saenz, 1991). the great number of mexicans who moved to texas and other parts of the southwest resulted in a surplus of labor in the region. as a result, the search for better economic opportunities in areas outside the southwest became an attractive alternative for a significant number of people (saenz, 1991). mcconnell (2004) relates the initial recruitment of mexican labor in the rural upper midwest to the 1917 immigration act that downsized supplies of european-origin labor. the shortages of labor in the wake of world war i and the 1921 and 1924 immigration quota acts forced midwestern capitalists to turn to new sources of cheap labor (saenz, 2005). as a result, recruiters scoured the texas-mexico border and even toured mexico itself, seeking workers. 1 i use the term chican@ to move beyond gender binaries. immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 6 they touted the superior working conditions and higher wages in the midwest to convince persons of mexican origin to work mainly in the agricultural, railroad, and manufacturing industries (acuña, 1988; arreola, 1985; mcwilliams, 1948; saenz, 1991; valdés, 1991). it is estimated that in 1923, between the months of march and august, approximately 24,585 mexican workers were recruited by agencies to labor in midwestern states and pennsylvania (acuña, 1988). in cities like chicago, mexicans comprised approximately 20% of the chicago railroad maintenance workers in the 1920s. as a result, chicago became known as the “midwest mexican capital” (acuña, 1988). other popular midwestern destinations at the time included detroit, gary (indiana), kansas city, loraine (ohio), saginaw (michigan), st. louis, st. paul (minnesota), and toledo (ohio) (acuña, 1988; mcwilliams, 1948; valdés, 1991). the agricultural sector, particularly the sugar beet industry, also attracted a significant number of mexican workers. valdés (1991) mentions that the state of michigan became known as the “michoacán del norte” (michoacán of the north) due to the number of mexican workers there. sugar beet zones existed in michigan, ohio, indiana, wisconsin, minnesota, iowa, and north dakota where mexican-origin workers were the majority by the 1920s (valdés, 1991). a 1927 survey reported that these workers accounted for 75% to 95% of sugar beet workers in the midwest (valdés, 1991). however, hamann and harklau (2010) mention that these latin@ communities were “disrupted by the depressions of 1920-21 and 1929 when many of those of mexican origin left or were forcibly repatriated” (p. 159). latin@ workers were subject to pressure, discrimination, and hostility at that time (mohl & betten, 1987). they were blamed for the lack of jobs for americans, and their exploitation extended outside the workplace. they were harassed by police, abused by the courts, segregated into the worst available living conditions, and their rights were limited as they were considered “temporary,” second-class foreigners (año nuevo kerr, 1976; reisler, 1976). this condition was clear when they were repatriated during the depression of 1921, and again during the great depression when mexicans were asked, pressured, and even coerced to go back to mexico as a strategy to alleviate the conditions of other american workers (hoffman, 1978). in 1930, while 90% of the mexican-origin population in the united states was established mainly in five southwestern states (arizona, california, colorado, new mexico and texas), 7% (98,122) were living in the midwest (saenz, 2005). chicago became a major destination for both documented and undocumented mexican immigrants (corwin, 1973). at that time, “illinois had martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 7 the sixth largest mexican-origin population, with 28,906 making their home in this state. thus, the early roots of the mexican population in the midwest were well established by 1930” (saenz 2005, p. 33). the bracero program, “the nation’s largest experiment with guest workers,” played a significant role in the importation of mexican labor to the united states (center for history and new media, 2020). this program was created in 1942 by executive order. it was developed taking into account the concerns of many growers who argued that world war ii was going to bring shortages in labor to agricultural jobs, especially, low-paying ones. the program: “grew out of a series of bi-lateral agreements between mexico and the united states that allowed millions of mexican men to come to the united states to work on, shortterm, primarily agricultural labor contracts. from 1942 to 1964, 4.6 million contracts were signed, with many individuals returning several times on different contracts, making it the largest u.s. contract labor program. (center for history and new media, 2020) through the bracero program, mexican workers were brought into places or industries with a certified labor shortage. these braceros were offered short-term contracts and had to return to mexico once their contracts had expired. they could not “compete in the open market for jobs and were to take only the jobs and occupations for which they were contracted” (betancur et al., 1993, p. 16). it can be said that they were brought to do the jobs american citizens did not want to perform (kirstein, 1977). the bracero program reinforced the idea of applying temporary immigrant status to mexican workers during the 1917 warrelated labor shortages. mexican-origin latin@s became part of a system focused on providing american employers with their labor needs (corwin, 1978; kirsten, 1977). that notwithstanding, it is important to mention that this population’s relegation to low-sector jobs is also closely connected to factors like language and educational attainment (aponte & siles, 1994; fry & passel, 2009). scholars such as fry and passel (2009) have documented language as one of the pivotal elements impacting the integration of latin@s into the different spheres of american society. similarly, aponte and siles (1994) have pointed to the low levels of educational attainment as one significant factor affecting latin@s’ labor prospects in the united states (a subject i shall return to later in this essay). during the rest of the century, two other flows of immigration are described as prime contributors to the increasing presence of mexican-origin latin@s in the midwest. first, immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 8 following world war ii and up to the 1960s, mexican-americans started to settle outside the migrant farmworker stream corridors, establishing their homes in midwestern states such as illinois, indiana, michigan, minnesota, and ohio (fernández, 2013; lane & escobar, 1987; samora & lamanna, 1987; wells, 1978). mexican immigration to industrialized states such as michigan rose from 1940 to 1960. durand et al. (2005), explain that: over the period 1940 to 1960 indiana […] increased its salience among non-gateway states […] trends since 1970 document the emergence of states like idaho as a destination for mexican immigrants and […] point to the emergence of states like iowa and minnesota as attractive locations. (p. 11-13) santiago (1990) also documents that in the midwest, the latin@ population from 1970 to 1988 increased by 40%. the most considerable gains took place in illinois (107%). the latin@ population was of different origins, however, “approximately 63% [were] mexican” (santiago, 1990, p. 5). the number of latin@s in the midwest has increased significantly since the beginning of the 20th century, when they numbered approximately 1,200 (cardenas, 1976). martinez (2011) mentions that by the mid-twentieth century, latin@s numbered “approximately 80,000 increasing rapidly and steadily thereafter” (p. 6). according to cardenas (1978), in 1970 there were slightly over one million persons of spanish origin in the midwest. similar to current trends, at that time illinois was also the midwestern state with the most members of this group, with 393,204. three other states (michigan, ohio, and indiana) also had more than 10,000 persons of spanish origin. (p. 37) it is important to mention that this period corresponded to the early immigration change from europe to latin america and asia which started in 1965 (martinez, 2011). by 1970, chicago had the fourth-largest urban mexican population in the united states with 106,000 people (betancur et al., 1993). recent trends: new destinations & the new latino diaspora the second most recent immigrant flow of latin@s to the midwest has occurred since the 1980s. this demographic shift has been termed the “browning of the midwest” (aponte & siles, 1994), and has been connected to the industrial and agricultural prosperity of the midwest as one of the main reasons driving mexicans towards the north from states like texas martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 9 (cardenas, 2001). the migration of latin@s—primarily mexicans—to the midwest has been accelerated by the revitalization of the meatpacking industry and the consequent active recruitment of latin@s to fill jobs in this sector of the economy (baker & hotek, 2003; cantu, 1995; dalla et al., 2005; fink; 1998; gouveia & saenz, 2000; gouveia & stull, 1995; grey, 1999; guzmán & mcconnell, 2002; haverluk & trautman, 2008; lopez, 2000; millard & chapa, 2004; saenz, 2005; stull et al.,1995; zuñiga & hernandez-leon, 2005). by 1980, the number of latin@s in the midwest was approximately 1.25 million, reaching almost 1.5 million by 1990 (gibson & jung, 2002). dunard et al. (2005) point to the slow end of the recession in california and the quick sustained boom of the rest of the country, including the midwest, as the reasons for the 1990s latin@ migration to the area. these researchers connect some patterns of immigration to the effects of the new regime of the immigration irca (immigration control and reform act) of 1986. according to them, the full effects of the irca were not felt until after 1990, and some consequences of this massive legalization included a flooding of the labor markets with newly legalized immigrants, mainly mexicans, who were now free to move anywhere within the united states. this regime, coupled with other negative social and economic forces and a growing hostility against immigrants in california, produced a movement of mexican immigrants from california to other parts of the united states (dunard et al., 2005). the movement to new destinations, dunard et al. (2005) contend, was “led by young single men of labor force age who worked in agriculture. by the mid-1990s, however, they had already begun moving to cities, where they were joined by growing numbers of women” (p. 18). the latin@ population in the midwest grew from approximately 1.3 million in 1980 to around 4.2 million in the year 2008 (saenz, 2011). robert aponte and marcelo siles (1994) found that “over 56% of the region’s population increase was accounted for by latinos, of which persons of mexican origin were the largest proportion (accounted for virtually 70% of all midwestern latinos) […] illinois, particularly the chicago area, showed the most latino growth, with michigan second” (p. 2). this rapid growth was evident in 1988, when the latin@ population in the midwest numbered approximately 1.2 million persons, which equated to approximately 3% of the total population of the region (aponte & siles, 1994). with that said, one interesting fact is that while all other states in the midwest were found to include at least 30,000 hispanics among their population immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 10 during the count in 1990, a number smaller than 30,000 were found in the dakotas even when their latin@ populations were combined (aponte & siles, 1994). zuñiga and hernandez-leon (2005) explain that between 1990 and 2000 the number of mexican immigrants in non-gateway states grew exponentially. in iowa, indiana, and nebraska it had grown between 500% and 600%. in minnesota, it had grown more than 1000% and in wisconsin between 200% and 400%. in addition, saenz (2011) clarifies that despite the high concentration of latin@s in mainly four midwestern states (illinois, michigan, indiana, and ohio), the number of latin@s living in these states decreased from 79% in 1980 to 71% in 2008. he credits this change to the increasing movement of latin@s to “new destination” areas where they had not been historically present. tapia et al. (2011) point to the estimates of the u.s. census bureau from 2000 to 2007 to call attention to the growth of the national and regional latin@ population. these estimates reveal that “the size of the latino population grew by 10 million people, an increase of 27%, making them by far, the nation’s largest minority group. the latino population in the midwestern states grew by 30% over this time frame, adding about 1 million inhabitants” (tapia et al., 2011, p. 181). the body of research known as the new latino diaspora has drawn attention to the phenomenon of latin@s moving to regions in the united states that traditionally had lacked a visible latin@ presence. the scholars behind this research have focused on exploring latin@ conditions and education from the perspectives of these new destinations (hamann et al., 2015; wortham et al., 2002). a detailed analysis of these demographic trends in the so-called new latino destinations (suro & singer, 2002) is beyond the scope of this essay. however, as part of the study of the immigration patterns of mexican-origin latin@s in the midwest, this recent demographic shift cannot go without mention. education and policy implications the currently increasing numbers of latin@ immigrants, mostly of mexican origin, in the midwest, particularly in rural locations where in the recent past there has not been a large immigrant presence, has had social and economic ramifications. in some of these locales, the communities lack experience supporting the arrival of a foreign-born population (majka & majka, 2011), which has resulted in issues ranging from a lack of effective communication to martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 11 inadequate provision and access to social services, including schools and health-care facilities (majka & majka, 2011). as previously mentioned, fry and passel (2009) found that one of the major factors in the integration of latin@s into the core fabric of american society and its institutions is language. the growth of the latin@ population has occurred in locations with a shortfall of professional resources to linguistically support the influx of this growing group of people. language issues exert a strong effect on the education of latin@ children who find themselves in new contexts without adequate access to education (lee & hawkins, 2015). in this regard, aponte and siles (1994) indicate that education continues to play a major part in community integration of the new arrivals because of the youthfulness of the latin@ population. the researchers documented that the educational attainment indicators of latin@s reveal a significant disparity between this group and other sectors of the population. they also point out, however, that “the influx of immigrants with lower levels of educational attainment may well account for the relatively slower growth in educational attainment reflected in the data for the region’s latinos” (aponte & siles, 1994). the constant influx of new immigrants may also be related to the low average educational indicators marked by the researchers, since transnational immigrants (mainly mexicans) usually aim for large urban areas where there are networks of relatives and acquaintances (aponte & siles, 1994). in the midwest, the enrollment of new immigrant populations has rapidly increased in public schools (lee & hawkins, 2015). however, despite the widespread nature of this trend over the last twenty years, there is still much to be learned about how schools are responding to the influx of immigrant students. according to majka and majka (2011), “schools have a critical role to play in analyzing and deflecting stereotypes and cultivating respectful relationships. nurturing aspirations is difficult when students not yet fluent in english are not accommodated or when parental involvement and concerns are deflected” (p. 100). bohon et al. (2005) found that many times, “latino students in new diaspora communities are encountering improvisational educational responses, particularly in regard to language issues” (as cited in hamann & harklau, 2010, p. 160). teachers in these new communities are usually unprepared and untrained to teaching english language learners (ells). furthermore, communication between home and school is hindered by the lack of professionals and support staff to function as bilingual educators or translators (bohon et al., 2005; oberg de la garza et immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 12 al., 2015). this finding is corroborated by lee and hawkins (2015), who also found districts and teachers ill-prepared to support the english language learning population. in the rural districts they studied in the midwest, they found schools were understaffed and overwhelmed by the demographic changes in the population. a significant point regarding policy was also documented by lee and hawkins in their 2015 study. in the schools they examined, testing policies were influencing and “shaping how educators were talking about els and how they thought about their work as teachers” (lee & hawkins, 2015, p. 54). despite a common narrative about inclusion, the researchers found little evidence that “any of the districts had prepared the staff for the inclusion of english learners in mainstream classes. els and esl teachers were marginalized, and students were simply victims of the policies” (lee & hawkins, 2015, p. 54). these findings point to the inadequate responses of local agencies and institutions to the needs of contemporary latin@ communities. in this regard, sonia nieto (2002) reminds us that due to the number of children entering schools unable to speak english, “it is clear that attending to the unique conditions of language minority students is the responsibility of all educators. for students with limited english proficiency, suitable approaches geared to their particular situations are not frills, but basic education” (p. 96). the current quandary faced by schools in communities impacted by demographic changes connected to the migration patterns of latin@s, mostly of mexican origin, is a compelling one. the responses to addressing the needs of this population are not always discernible or commensurate with the magnitude of the situation. future demographic predictions point to the steady increase of this population in the years to come. vega et al. (2011) alert us that “as the baby boomers move out of the economy and become dependent on the productivity of others, their well-being becomes more directly tied to that of latinos” (p. 79). thus, the challenge is not how midwestern communities can handle this new population, but more importantly, how these communities can create educational policies and support their institutions in order to help latin@s succeed as part of american society. further research the accelerated changes in demographics in the midwest are creating an urgent need for further investigation of ways in which the educational needs of latin@ students, particularly martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 13 of mexican-origin, the largest group in the region, are addressed. much remains to be researched, as well as acted upon, particularly in regard to the struggle involved in the inclusion and exclusion of latin@s in us society. common narratives currently circulating highlight certain negative public perceptions of the latin@ community (mexicans in particular), deriving from its portrayal in american society (santa ana, 2002). the danger of this type of xenophobic message lies in its promotion of a divisive national climate based on prejudice connected to notions of self and other (hall, 1997). to counter this artificially inculcated reality, it is important to advance new understandings that can help to paint a more complete picture of this formerly “invisible” community. in the midwest, mexican-origin latin@ arrivals have strengthened declining and languishing existing populations while at the same time helping to revitalize their economies (gouveia, 2006). the shift in the sites of settlement of mexican-origin latin@s requires a careful examination of these contemporary contexts of reception (lee & hawkins, 2015) in order to better understand how to develop policies that may foster the socioeconomic wellbeing of this population (santiago, 1990). hamann and harklau (2010) consider it necessary to investigate “how latino students entering new diaspora communities are positioned and position themselves racially, and how such positioning might affect their socialization into particular life and career pathways in and out of school” (p. 164). furthermore, they encourage us to consider the role of schools as possible spaces for the support of the community and active advocacy for latin@ families in new locations. there is no doubt that local-level educational policy must take into account these population changes in order to better address the needs of the individuals in the region. one significant effort that is important to highlight in this regard is the strong presence of bilingual policies in states like illinois in the midwest. oberg de la garza et al. (2015) explain that in 2009: illinois became the first state to target statewide bilingual policies for pre-k instruction. the state mandated that early childhood educators with 20 or more ells of the same language background in their classroom or center obtain the esl endorsement by 2016. initially, the deadline was 2014, but the state extended it due to the lack of credentialed educators. the state mandate has had a ripple effect of alerting elementary and immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 14 secondary teachers to the importance of pursuing the endorsement in preparation for similar regulations for k-12 educators in the future. (p. 369) similar policies have also been enacted in states like wisconsin, where the bilingual-bicultural education statute (subchapter vii of chapter 115) specifies “trigger” numbers, requiring school districts to provide bilingual services in schools that serve at least twenty students who speak the same non-english language in grades 4-12. this number decreases to at least ten students in grades k-3 (115.97.2-4). another attempt to support the linguistic needs and academic development of latin@ students in the midwest has been the passing of the legislation offering a state seal of biliteracy. this designation supports the development of bilingualism and biliteracy recognizing students’ linguistic and cultural assets. currently all midwest states, except south dakota, have adopted the seal (illinois (2013), minnesota (2014), wisconsin (2015), kansas (2016), ohio (2017), missouri (2017), iowa (2018), michigan (2018), north dakota (2019), nebraska (2020), indiana (2015) (https://sealofbiliteracy.org). nevertheless, these policy efforts have been met by the difficult reality of school districts not having enough financial resources and qualified educators to meet the demands of supporting bilingual/biliterate academic development in schools (lee & hawkins, 2015; oberg de la garza et al., 2015). more research is necessary to examine the effects of state policies on local school districts and the latin@ populations they serve. finally, further research should include questions around the deconstruction of the idea of latin@ presence in new locales as a “problem” (hamann et al., 2002, p. 5). more research is needed to consider how latin@ children are understood within these new communities and how educational policies can take into full consideration the needs of this population group. it is imperative to examine the different cultural constructions associated with education within diverging communities and move towards dynamic ideas that could bring about a culturally amalgamated vision of education (villenas, 2002). conclusion the literature and history of mexican-origin latin@ presence in the midwest makes it clear that latin@s are not new to this region. their roots are to be found in a far older history that links them to the first inhabitants of the north american continent. however, this history seems to have been “erased” or simply ignored over the years. the immigration patterns of martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 15 mexican-origin latin@s in the midwest are intricately connected to the economic needs of the region and the vulnerable status of this group of people considered temporary “second-class” immigrants (año nuevo kerr, 1976; reisler, 1976). mexican-origin workers in this area have served as the backbone of the economic and social development of the region. nevertheless, the experience of this group in how it has been treated and incorporated into the labor market has differed markedly from that of immigrants from europe. the typical consideration of latin america as the backyard of the united states (livingston, 2009), seems to have permeated us attitudes towards this group of latin@s, leading to their treatment as cheap labor to satisfy american economic needs. multiple structures of inequality have marginalized mexican-origin latin@s over the years and continue to disadvantage this community. as schools and other social institutions continue to struggle to support its needs, it can easily be argued that the focus should be not only on the challenges posed by this “new” group of settlers but rather on the rich opportunities inherent in this situation. martinez (2011) urges us to consider “how do the midwest and the nation move from reactionary or indifferent attitudes toward latinos to proactive incorporation efforts intended to benefit whole communities and the nation?” (p. 313). as a nation, the united states must become aware of the implications of the demographic shifts that connect latin@s to the immediate future of the larger society. concerning this, saenz (2011) states, “the future of the midwest will increasingly be tied to the latino population, given the group’s youthfulness. today’s k-12 students in the midwest are increasingly latino, and tomorrow’s workforce in the region will be increasingly latino” (p. 52). inadequate provision of services for the latin@ population today will undoubtedly affect their ability to support america’s population tomorrow. well-intentioned attempts are still falling short, despite a favorable appearance. as the united states prepares for the future, it is necessary to look at the present and upcoming demographic changes with hopeful eyes, recognizing that the mexican-origin latin@ population represents an asset, not a liability, for the nation (martinez, 2011). clearly, the future of the united states will be built by the hard work of latin@s, among others. in view of this obvious fact, adequate provision of resources and services for latin@s should be considered a strategic investment to ensure the economic, cultural, and socio-political stability of the american society in decades to come. immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 16 references acuña, r. (1988). occupied america: a history of chicanos (3rd ed.). harper collins. año nuevo kerr, l. (1976). the chicano experience in chicago, 1920-70 [unpublished doctoral dissertation]. university of illinois at chicago. aponte, r., & siles, m. e. (1994). latinos in the heartland: the browning of the midwest (jsri research report no. 5). the julian samora research institute. arreola, d. d. (1985). mexican americans. in j. o. mckee (ed.), ethnicity in contemporary america: a geographical appraisal (pp. 77-94). kendall/hunt. baker, p. l., & hotek, d. r. (2003). perhaps a blessing: skills and contributions of recent mexican immigrants in the rural midwest. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 25(4), 448–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986303259490 betancur, j. j., cordova, t., & torres, m. (1993). economic restructuring and the new process of incorporation of latinos into the chicago economy. sage publications. bohon, s. a., macpherson, h., & atiles, j. h. (2005). educational barriers for new latinos in georgia. journal of latinos and education, 41, 43-58. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532771xjle0401_4 center for history and new media. (2020). bracero history archive: about. retrieved january 6, 2020, from http://braceroarchive.org/ canagarajah, a. (2002). critical academic writing and multilingual students. university of michigan press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.8903 cantu, l. (1995). the peripheralization of rural america: a case study of latino migrants in america’s heartland. sociological perspectives, 38(3), 399–414. https://doi.org/10.2307/1389434 cardenas, g. (1976). who are the midwestern chicanos: implications for chicano studies. aztlán, 7(7), 141-152. cardenas, g. (1978). los desarraigados: chicanos in the midwestern region of the united states. aztlán, 7, 153-86. cardenas, g. (2001). los desarraigados: chicanos in the midwestern region of the united states. in c. noriega, e. avila, k. m., davalos, c. sandoval, & r. perez-torres (eds.), the chicano studies reader: an anthology of aztlán, 1970-2000 (pp. 79-112). chicano studies research center publications. corwin, a. (1973). mexican emigration history, 1900-1970: literature and research. latin american research review, 8(2), 3-24. corwin, a. (1978). immigrants and immigrants: perspectives on mexican labor migration to the united states. greenwood. chavero, a. (1953). resumen integral de mexico: a traves de los siglos. compañía general de ediciones. dalla, r. l., ellis, a., & s. c. cramer. (2005). immigration and rural america: latinos’ perceptions of work and residence in three meatpacking communities. community, work and family, 8(2): 163–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668800500049639 martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 17 dunbar-ortiz, r. (2014). an indigenous peoples' history of the united states. bacon press. durand, j., massey, d., & capoferro, c. (2005). the new geography of mexican immigration. in v. zúñiga & r. hernández-león (eds.), new destinations: mexican immigration in the united states (pp. 1-20). russell sage foundation. fernández, d. (2013). becoming latino: mexican and puerto rican community formation in grand rapids, michigan, 1926–1964. michigan historical review, 39(1), 71-100. doi:10.5342/michhistrevi.39.1.0071 fink, d. (1998). cutting into the meatpacking line: workers and change in the rural midwest. university of north carolina press. fry, r., & passel, j. s. (2009). latino children: a majority are u.s.-born offspring of immigrants. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2009/05/28/latino-children-amajority-are-us-born-offspring-of-immigrants/ grey, m. a. (1999). immigrants, migration, and worker turnover at the hog pride pork processing plant. human organization, 58(1),16–27. gibson, c., & jung, k. (2002). historical census statistics on population totals by race, 1790 to 1990, and by hispanic origin, 1970 to 1990, for the united states, regions, divisions, and states (working paper no. 56). u.s. census bureau, population division. gonzalez, s. (2011) aztlán in the midwest and other counternarratives revealed. in r. martinez (ed.). latinos in the midwest (pp. 17-31). michigan state university press. gouveia, l. & saenz, r. (2000). global forces and latino population growth in the midwest: a regional and sub-regional analysis. great plains research, 10, 305-28. gouveia, l., & stull. d. d. (1995). dances with cows: beef-packing’s impact on garden city, kansas and lexington, nebraska. in d. d. stull, m. j. broadway, & d. griffith (eds.), meatpacking and small-town america (pp. 85-107). university of kansas press. gouviea, l. (2006). nebraska’s responses to immigration: nebraska’s context of reception, the role of policy and community responses. in g. anrig & t. a. wang (eds.), immigration’s new frontiers: experiences for the emerging gateway states (pp. 143-227). the new century press. guzmán, b., & mcconnell, e. d. (2002). the hispanic population, 1990–2000: growth and change. population research and policy review, 21, 109–28. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1016541906218 hall, s. (1997). representation: cultural representations and signifying practices. sage in association with the open university. hamann, e. t. & harklau, l. (2010). education in the new latino diaspora. in e. g. murillo, jr., s. a. villenas, r. t. galván, j. s. muñoz, c. marti ́nez & m. machado-casas (eds.), handbook of latinos and education: research, theory and practice (pp. 157-169). routledge. hamann, e., wortham, s., & murillo, e. (2002). education and policy in the new latino diaspora. in s. wortham, e. murillo, & e. hamann, (eds.). education in the new latino diaspora (pp. 1-16). ablex pub. immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 18 hamann, e. t., wortham, s. e., & murillo, e. g. (2015). revisiting education in the new latino diaspora. information age pub incorporated. haverluk, t., & trautman, l. (2008). the changing geography of u.s. hispanics from 1990 – 2006: a shift to the south and midwest. journal of geography, 197(3), 87-101. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221340802208804 hoffman, c. (1978). empowerment movements and mental health: locus of control and commitment to the united farm workers. journal of community psychology, 6, 216-221. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6629(197807)6:3%3c216::aidjcop2290060303%3e3.0.co;2-y kirstein, p. (1977). anglo over bracero: a history of the mexican worker in the u.s. from roosevelt to nixon. r&e research associates. lane, j. b., & escobar, e. j. (1987). forging a community: the latino experience in northwest indiana, 1919-1975. cattails press. lee, s. j., & hawkins, m. (2015). policy, context and schooling: the education of english learners in rural new destinations. global education review, 2(4), 40-59. livingston, g. (2009). america’s backyard: the united states and latin america from the monroe doctrine to the war on terror. zed books. lopez, d. a. (2000). latinos of omaha: a socioeconomic comparison of non-latino whites and latinos in the city of omaha. (statistical brief no. 12). julian samora research institute. michigan state university. macdonald, v. m, & carrillo, j. f. (2009). introduction: the united status of latinos. in e. g. murillo jr., s. villenas, r. t. galvan, j. s. munoz, c. martinez, m. machado-casas (eds.), handbook of latinos and education: theory, research, and practice (pp. 8-26). routledge. mcconnell, e. d. (2004). latinos in the rural midwest: the twentieth-century historical context leading to contemporary challenges. in a. v. millard & j. chapa (eds.), apple pie & enchiladas: latino newcomers in the rural midwest (pp. 26-40). university of texas press. mcwilliams, c. (1948). north from mexico. monthly review press. majka, t., & majka, l. (2011). institutional obstacles to incorporation: latino immigrant experiences in a mid-size rustbelt city. in r. martinez (ed.), latinos in the midwest (pp. 87118). michigan state press. martinez, r. o. (2011). latinos in the midwest. michigan state univ. press. massey, d., durand, j., & malone, n. (2002). beyond smoke and mirrors: mexican immigration in an age of economic integration. russell sage foundation. millard, a. v., and j. chapa, (eds.). (2004). apple pie & enchiladas: latino newcomers in the rural midwest. university of texas press. mohl, j., & betten, n. (1987). discrimination and repatriation: mexican life in gary. forging a community: latino experiences in northwestern indiana, 1919-1975. calumet regional archives and cattails press. martinez negrette association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 1 19 motel, s., & patten, e. (2012). the 10 largest hispanic origin groups: characteristics, rankins, top counties. pew research center. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2012/06/27/the10-largest-hispanic-origin-groups-characteristics-rankings-top-counties/ murillo, e., & villenas, s. (1997). east of aztla ́n: typologies of resistance in north carolina communities [paper presentation]. reclaiming voices: ethnographic inquiry and qualitative research in a postmodern age, los angeles, ca, united states. nieto, s. (2002). language, culture, and teaching: critical perspectives for a new century. l. erlbaum. oberg de la garza, t., mackinney, e., & lavigne, a. l. (2015). dual language instruction and achievement: a need and a void in the midwest. in p. konkol & s. stumme (eds.), midwestern perspectives on bilingual education: changing demographics and educational challenges and opportunities [special issue]. mid-western educational researcher, 27(4), 363–382. passel, j., & zimmerman, w. (2001). are immigrants leaving california? settlement patterns of immigrants in the late 1990s. urban institute. washington d.c. reisler, m. (1976). by the sweat of their brow: mexican immigrant labor in the united states, 19001940. greenwood. saenz, r. (1991). interregional migration patterns of chicanos: the core, periphery, and frontier. social science quarterly, 72(1), 135-148. saenz, r. (2005). latinos and the changing face of america. in r. farley, & j. haaga (eds.), the american people: census 2000 (pp. 352-379). russell sage foundation. saenz, r. (2011). the changing demography of latinos in the midwest. in r. o. martinez (ed.). latinos in the midwest (pp. 33-56). michigan state univ. press. saenz, r., & cready, c. (1997). the southwest-midwest mexican american migration flows,19851990. (research report #20). the julian samora research institute, michigan state university. saldaña, n. (1969). mexican-americans in the midwest: an annotated bibliography. mexicanamerican research project. michigan state university. samora, j., & lamanna, r. a. (1987). mexican americans in a midwest metropolis: a history of east chicago. in b. lane & e. j. escobar (eds.), forging a community: the latino experience in northwest indiana, 1919-1975 (pp. 215-225). cattails press. santa ana, o. (2002). brown tide rising: metaphors of latinos in contemporary american public discourse. university of texas press. santiago, a. m. (1990). life in the industrial heartland: a profile of latinos in the midwest. (jsri research report no. 2). the julian samora research institute. michigan state university. stamps, k., & bohon, s. a. (2006). educational attainment in new and established latino metropolitan destinations. social science quarterly, 87, 1225-1240. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00425.x immigration patterns and history of mexican-origin latin@s association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2020, volume 14, issue 3 20 stull, d., broadway, m. j., & griffith, d. (eds.). (1995). any way you cut it: meat processing and small-town america. university press of kansas. suro, r., & singer, a. (2002). latino growth in metropolitan america: changing patterns, new locations. brookings institution. tapia, m., hutcherson, d. & campos-holland, a. (2011). latino ethnicity as a risk factor for arrest: u.s. minority and regional effects. in r. martinez (ed.), latinos in the midwest (pp. 181-205). michigan state university press. valdés, d. n. (1982). el pueblo mexicano en detroit y michigan: a social history. college of education, wayne state university. valdés, d., (1991). al norte: agricultural workers in the great lakes region, 1917-1970. university of texas press. valdés, d. (1999). region, nation, and world-system: perspectives on midwestern chicana/o history (jsri occasional paper n# 20). the julian samora research institute. michigan state university. vargas, g. (2011). cityspirit: a people’s mural in detroit’s mexicantown. in r. martinez (ed.), latinos in the midwest (pp. 281-302). michigan state university press. vega, a., martinez, r., & stevens, t. (2011). cosas politicas: latino political views by region. in r. martinez (ed.), latinos in the midwest. michigan state university press. villenas, s. (2002). reinventing educación in new latino communities: pedagogies of change and continuity in north carolina. in s. wortham, e. g. murillo, & e. t. hamann (eds.), education in the new latino diaspora (pp. 17-36). ablex. wells, m. (1978). emigrants from the migrant stream: environment and incentives in relocation. aztlán, 11(2), 267-290. wortham, s., murillo, e. g., & hamann, e. t. (eds.). (2002). education in the new latino diaspora: policy and the politics of identity. ablex. zuñiga, v., & hernández-león, r. (eds.). (2005). new destinations: mexican immigration in the united states. russell sage. volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 88 idiolect and identity: fourth grade students’ translanguaging, comprehension, and self-identity stephanie eller northern illinois university david nieto northern illinois university abstract the practice of translanguaging offers emergent bilinguals the opportunity to access their full linguistic repertoire. this qualitative study uses the lenses of dynamic bilingualism and idiolect, or one’s own unique language patterns, to explore emergent bilinguals’ translanguaging and reading comprehension strategies during a reading think-aloud, as well as the ways that language factors into the construction of self-identity. data collected from a think-aloud show that the five fourth-grade students used language flexibly when reading and comprehending the texts that were presented in both spanish and english. the participants, in follow-up interviews, also explained ways that they use translanguaging strategies when communicating with different audiences and how their identity as bilinguals positions them as mediators of their own language use. these findings support the conclusion that when students’ idiolects are supported and encouraged, they are able to develop positive self-identities. keywords: bilingual education/literacy, translanguaging, code-switching, emergent bilinguals, idiolect, bilingual students’ identity doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.447 idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 89 in the context of the u.s., emergent bilingual students, those whose english language proficiency is under a threshold established and measured by each state, have been traditionally placed in english-only and/or transitional programs with the goal of a quick transition to english (nieto, 2009). these programs and policies, informed by monoglossic language ideologies, prioritize the acquisition of english and marginalize the bilingual skills of these students (creese & blackledge, 2010; cummins, 2007). these approaches disregard the needs and assets of those who speak a minoritized language (macswan, 2017). even in the best-intentioned bilingual programs, additive bilingualism continues to foster monoglossic language ideologies by aspiring to a mythical understanding of bilingualism as “native-like” competency in two separate languages (flores & schissel, 2014). these ideological stances may lead students to develop negative attitudes toward their home language (durán & palmer, 2013; urrieta & quach, 2000). dual language programs, whose goal is to develop bilingualism, biliteracy, and high academic achievement in two languages, sometimes reproduce these deficit-oriented discourses regarding bilingualism (cervantes-soon, 2014). students’ authentic languaging practices are disregarded or disparaged by curriculum and teachers (cervantes-soon, 2014), and students do not see themselves properly reflected within a dichotomous view of bilingualism (fitts, 2006). when programs strictly separate languages, students’ language and literacy development become constrained as they are required to use resources from one language at a time (cervantes-soon, 2014; durán & palmer, 2013; garcía et al., 2017; garcía & kleifgen, 2019). many educators see this language separation as necessary to ensure that students develop linguistic skills in each language with equal opportunity (cenoz & gorter, 2017; garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017). although bilingualism is valued, students are limited by using one language at a time depending on context. emergent bilinguals find themselves in the middle of a contradiction between language allocation policies and authentic ways they inherently use both languages at any given time, without specific constraints (durán & palmer, 2013). when language use is strictly separated, it hinders not only the development of sociocultural competence and equitable practices in the classroom (palmer et al., 2019), but also students’ self-identity as competent holistic bilingual individuals (fitts, 2006). because current understandings of identity posit it as fluid, context-dependent, and context-producing (norton & toohey, 2011), language use contributing to identity construction (which will be further explained in the following section) should be permitted to be fluid as well. eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 90 the present study attempts to capture authentic language practices among emergent bilinguals and how these practices relate to their own identity. three questions guided our research: how do emergent bilinguals use both languages (spanish and english) when making sense of texts? in what ways do emergent bilinguals employ translanguaging strategies when engaging in literacy comprehension activities? how do emergent bilinguals describe the ways their language choices relate to their self-identities? translanguaging and identity a traditional monolingual approach to developing bilingualism and biliteracy argues for separating languages by setting specific times, spaces, and even teachers for each language (freeman et al., 2005; gómez et al., 2005). the practice of moving between two languages was highly discouraged in educational settings. in fact, teachers and students have been shamed for mixing languages, which was considered a deficiency (creese & blackledge, 2010). this strict language separation policy has been criticized because of evidence demonstrating the significance of both the first and the second language in the development of biliteracy skills. in addition, these separation practices contradict the dynamic linguistic practices of bilingual individuals (palmer et al., 2014). in contrast to this ideological stance that drives policies of strict language separation, the possibility of translanguaging offers a promising alternative. originally coined in welsh as “trawsieithu” by cen williams (1994), translanguaging encourages strategic, deliberate use of both languages of instruction in language immersion classrooms (garcía, 2009). educators who recognize translanguaging as a pedagogical practice understand that emergent bilinguals possess a singular linguistic system continually constructed through social interactions, as opposed to separate, compartmentalized boundaries between named languages. following this idea, named languages (such as “spanish” or “english”) are social constructs, and not lexical or structural ones (garcía & otheguy, 2019; otheguy et al., 2018). translanguaging allows students to move flexibly between constructed language boundaries and fully utilize all modalities and resources they possess (creese & blackledge, 2015; garcía, 2009). bilingual individuals select different social languages depending on each situational context, with the ability to speak within a single language or make use of multiple linguistic resources simultaneously (garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017; macswan, 2017). idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 91 students draw many benefits through translanguaging, including improved reading comprehension gains and a deeper understanding of subject matter and academic language through accessing their entire linguistic repertoire (martínez, 2010; worthy et al., 2013). students who can engage in contrastive analysis between their languages are also more likely to develop a deeper language awareness (cummins, 2007). however, some researchers offer words of caution when allowing students to flexibly use all linguistic resources, as this may lead to unequal participation dynamics in which the dominant language, english, overshadows development of the non-english target language in dual language and bilingual programs (palmer et al., 2014). when done intentionally and critically, teachers who view translanguaging as rich evidence of emergent bilinguals’ linguistic ability believe these students bring beneficial resources to their education, rather than showing deficits (macswan, 2017). because language is deeply connected to social and individual identity (macedo & bartolomé, 2001), students in dual language programs who are provided spaces for their authentic linguistic repertoires and practices develop a positive bilingual identity (reyes & vallone, 2007). urrieta and noblit (2018) define identity as self-understandings, in particular those with strong emotional resonances, and often marked with socially constructed notions such as race, gender, class, and language. language is a key factor in the construction of identity—as emergent bilinguals develop and refine their language practices, they shape and construct their own identities (bucholtz & hall, 2005; garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017; reyes & vallone, 2007). this can be difficult for emergent bilinguals, as their bilingual identities may not fit neatly into a view of bilingualism that values separation of languages (fitts, 2006; worthy et al., 2013). identities emerge through interaction (norton & de costa, 2018) and social positioning (bucholtz & hall, 2005), and can be multiple and changing over time (norton & toohey, 2011; urrieta & quach, 2000). conceptual framework this study embraces the theory of dynamic bilingualism, viewing languaging as a fluid and complex process (li, 2018; norton & toohey, 2011). additionally, a translanguaging perspective (garcía et al., 2017) guides the purpose, data collection and analysis of this study with careful attention to how emergent bilinguals’ idiolects (li, 2018; otheguy et al., 2015) shape their selfidentity. eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 92 dynamic bilingualism emergent bilinguals constantly engage with both languages, selecting various features depending on the interactional context and their intended audience in varied and complex ways that ultimately enhance their language and literacy development (cummins, 2007). this view regarding the dynamic nature of languages recognizes the complexity of how language is utilized to make sense of the world, and how bilinguals can enhance their linguistic and academic development (li, 2018; worthy et al., 2013). dynamic language practices can include translating, identifying and using cognates, and employing cross-language strategies where input and output languages are different (worthy et al., 2013). dynamic bilingualism allows the fluid use of bilinguals’ full linguistic repertoire to demonstrate understanding (garcía & kleifgen, 2019: li, 2018) and allows students to develop a critical metalinguistic awareness (garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017), or more nuanced view of their own language use. to build upon the idea of language as a dynamic process, a translanguaging perspective not only acknowledges the fluid nature of one’s entire linguistic repertoire, but also provides legitimization for everyday practices of language employed by emergent bilinguals. this perspective focuses on what bilinguals do with language, sometimes acknowledging named, legitimized languages, and also the students’ own ways of using language regardless of the features they choose to employ (macswan, 2017). not only are students’ languaging practices validated and normalized, but the monoglossic and monolingual literacy understandings are essentially disrupted in an act of social justice on the part of the teacher for providing space for translanguaging within the classroom (garcía & kleifgen, 2019). this translanguaging perspective allows students’ bilingualism and bilingual identities to be valued and nurtured in the classroom (garcía et al., 2017; garcía & otheguy, 2019) and welcomes practices of code-switching, translating, and vernacular forms of language which are often seen as deficits within the school setting (garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017). emergent bilinguals’ own ways of understanding and translanguaging are seen instead as valuable sources of knowledge. idiolect and identity because language use is deeply intertwined with self-identity construction and performance (de fina, 2016), translanguaging allows students to fully embrace their complex and sometimes contradictory identities (norton, 1995) while empowering their identities as resourceful bilingual individuals who use their full linguistic repertoire for making meaning idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 93 (guzula et al., 2016). thus, as emergent bilinguals are encouraged to use all features of their linguistic repertoire at their discretion, they are employing what has been termed their idiolect, a linguistic object whose elements are lexical and structural units whose features have no inherent membership in any named language, and are deployed selectively depending on context and interaction (otheguy et al., 2015). this personal and unique language and mental grammar emerges through interaction with other speakers. as such, the definition of translanguaging can expand to include using one’s idiolect without regard for socially and politically defined language labels and names (li, 2018). students whose idiolects are supported, developed, and viewed as assets in the classroom develop positive self-esteem and self-identity perception (reyes & vallone, 2007). for example, a teacher who responds positively to a student saying, “my tío is taking me to the zoológico mañana!” rather than correcting the choice of words in the sentence may contribute to the student’s positive self-identity as a speaker successfully conveying a message. in order to explore students’ use of translanguaging and its relation to students’ selfidentities, this qualitative study describes translanguaging strategies utilized by bilingual students as they read and comprehend texts. it also explores student perception and understanding of utilizing these strategies. methodology this study utilizes a verbal protocol methodology with descriptive design to allow students to think aloud and reflect on texts they read (duke & mallette, 2011; pressley & afflerbach, 1995). the think aloud activity, in which students read a text and pause at key places to process the text aloud, provided an opportunity for these students to engage socially with a text, and allowed them to explore the meaning they constructed from the texts (brooks, 2016). because the participants verbally produce the thoughts that come to mind after reading sentences in a text (magliano & millis, 2003), and the spoken language in which the protocol is expressed is the language of the culture of the speaker (ericsson & simon, 1998), the students had the opportunity to draw on all their linguistic reserves, or their full idiolect, in their thinkaloud responses. criterion sampling (creswell & poth, 2018) identified bilingual participants, as well as convenience sampling, as all the students were enrolled in the same classroom. context eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 94 the setting for this research study was a small school district in the midwest. serving just under 2,500 students, this district has a diverse student population. latinx students are a majority of the student body at 48%, 37% of the students are white, and 9% are black. in this district, 16% of the students are emergent bilinguals. over the past 6 years, the district has been developing and supporting a (spanish and english) dual language program. at the time of the study, the program had two classrooms of two-way dual language learners (students designated as primary speakers of spanish or english) in grades k-3, and one classroom each of one-way dual language learners (all primary spanish speakers) in grades 4 and 5. the language allocation in kindergarten is 80% spanish and 20% english. each subsequent year english instructional time increases and spanish instructional time decreases by 10%, until the program evens out in grades 3-5 at 50% of instruction in each target language. the dual language program typically provides few opportunities for students to flexibly use their entire linguistic repertoire, instead emphasizing the subject allocation of each language, except at the end of units when material is “bridged” into the other language. participants the following criteria was used to select participants for this study: all participants were (a) emergent bilinguals, (b) enrolled in 4th grade, (c) who had received literacy instruction in both spanish and english through the district’s dual language program. as this study was conducted during the fall of 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic, there were a total of nine eligible participants attending school in-person who could participate in this study. of these nine students, five expressed interest and participated in the study. these five students included one girl, lizbeth (all names are pseudonyms), and four boys (tomás, mateo, gilberto, and daniel). all five students were primary spanish speakers and had been enrolled in the dual language program in the district since kindergarten. four of the students were still designated as “english language learners”—lizbeth was no longer labeled as such. their performance on class reading and language tasks was typical or above-average for learners their age with their experiences. gilberto and tomás were both studious students who enjoyed challenging themselves with difficult work. lizbeth was often quiet in class but worked hard and participated when she felt comfortable. daniel was a dependable, hard worker in class, and mateo had a mischievous sense of humor that made the classroom a fun learning environment. idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 95 text selection we selected four different texts for the think-aloud task. all four texts were from grade-level materials and part of the reading series utilized by the district. we chose two texts in spanish and two in english (one fiction and one non-fiction in each language). we selected texts in both languages to mirror the opportunities the students have had to experience literacy instruction in both languages (clark, 2020). within each text, we determined four places for students to stop and think aloud. this was done in order to make the task not cognitively overwhelming for the students, and to prevent an overload of information in their working memory (charters, 2003). finally, with each text, we created a short written-response question for the students to answer that would allow them to connect the themes of each text to their own experiences (clark, 2020), therefore allowing them to reflect on their own personal thoughts instead of merely quoting the text as part of their answer. data collection and analysis to address the research questions guiding this study, the following data were collected: (a) audio recordings of each reading think-aloud session, (b) students’ written responses to each question that followed the reading of each text, and (c) audio recordings of a 20-minute follow-up reflective interview with each student. each read-aloud session took place on a separate day, lasting 15 minutes per individual session, and all four sessions for each student were completed within one week. prior to the first reading and think aloud session, we modeled a think aloud for the students, to introduce them to the activity (lópez-velásquez & garcía, 2017). each audio-recorded think-aloud session and written response were transcribed and coded for reading strategies and translanguaging strategies used by the student. finally, each of the interviews contained 15 questions relating to the students’ languaging choices during the read-aloud sessions, as well as languaging choices in their day-to-day lives. interviews were transcribed and coded for further insight into students’ self-perceptions regarding their language use and self-identities. coding occurred on several levels across the different pieces of data. with the data from the think-alouds, student utterances were coded based on the reading comprehension strategy that was evident (i.e., summarizing, questioning, making inferences, or merely requoting the text). the language utilized by the student and whether it was the same or different from the language of the text was also coded. these codes were further combined into, for example, eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 96 “summarizing in the same language (as the text)” or “translanguaged and summarized” when the student utterances used a language different from the text. the student interviews were coded using an open-coding method and emergent themes to generate codes that aligned with the students’ answers. some of these sample codes included “showing awareness of the language of the text,” “describing own translanguaging,” and “adjusting language for audience.” these item codes were later refined and combined into the overarching themes described below. findings before delving into each specific finding, we noted that all five of the students translanguaged in at least one instance during the think-aloud reading activity. they translanguaged from spanish to english most frequently, but displayed fewer instances of moving from english to spanish (see table 1). by allowing students the flexible use of multiple languages, they were able to utilize their own idiolects as they demonstrated comprehension of the texts. the individual interviews provided insight into how students self-identified and positioned themselves as bilinguals who utilized both languages for specific purposes and with specific audiences. table 1 student instances of translanguaging during think-aloud protocol name of participant number of instances translanguaging from spanish to english number of instances translanguaging from english to spanish daniel lizbeth tomás mateo gilberto 16 10 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 students translanguaged for a variety of reasons all five participants translanguaged in some way during the think-aloud activity, most frequently moving into english from spanish. during the think-aloud activity when the students were reading and responding to texts in spanish, we observed 31 instances of translanguaging idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 97 into english (with each instance being an idea that was communicated), yet when reading and discussing the english stories, only counted 3 instances of translanguaging into spanish. the majority of the participants chose to respond aloud and write the reflective response in the same language as the text with the exception of daniel, who utilized english for every thinkaloud, regardless of the text’s language. translanguaging into spanish while using english texts lizbeth and tomás were the only ones who verbally translanguaged from english to spanish—lizbeth utilized the spanish word and pronunciation of “región” for the english word “region,” and tomás had one utterance of “que” which acted as a pause before he continued with his next response about the text. lizbeth’s use of the spanish pronunciation demonstrates that she was reaching into her linguistic reserves to make sense of the text, and recognized the word “region” for its counterpart in spanish. tomás’ pause in spanish indicates that he was mentally processing through the text in spanish. daniel was the only student who chose to respond to one of the written english prompts in spanish; since his response appropriately addressed the question it provides evidence for the concept of cross-linguistic transfer. as garcía (2020) explains, translanguaging moves beyond the text’s language to focus on the language bilinguals use as they engage with texts, and bilingual students always make use of all their available linguistic resources. translanguaging into english while using spanish texts as previously mentioned, daniel utilized english for every think-aloud, whether the text had been in english or spanish. each of his responses used only a single language, and he never translanguaged within the sentence level. on the other hand, lizbeth, mateo, and gilberto had instances of translanguaging within a single sentence for a variety of purposes. one of lizbeth’s responses to a text about sequoia trees was as follows: mmm…well it’s telling me that…los árboles más altos y hasta cuánto lo pueden crecer. (mmm…well it’s telling me that…the tallest trees and up to how many [how tall] they can grow.) lizbeth began by processing the text using english, and then shifted into spanish to summarize that particular text section. she relied on her flexible languaging to process the text eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 98 in one language while returning to the language of the text to utilize specific vocabulary and reference concepts that appeared in the text. mateo and gilberto both had instances during their think-alouds and written responses where they used individual words in english to enhance their understanding of the spanish texts. gilberto responded to a text in spanish about a bakery as follows: en este párrafo aprendí que su tía de cecilia tiene una panadería y que cecilia fue atrás de la panadería y encontró un…un metal, un, como, wall de metal? (in this paragraph i learned that cecilia’s aunt has a bakery and cecilia went to the back of the bakery and found a…a metal, a, like, metal wall?) while the story summary was not entirely correct (there was no reference to a metal wall in the story; rather, the character had found a large metal bowl), gilberto demonstrated that he could utilize his full linguistic repertoire when trying to remember what word he wanted to use. he did not use the words pared or muralla, both of which could have sufficed for the thought he was trying to express, yet he knew he could cross a linguistic boundary to continue articulating the thought he wanted to express. similarly, mateo crossed a linguistic boundary in his written response to a question regarding the sequoia story: [question prompt: ¿quieres viajar para ver las secuoyas? ¿por qué o por qué no? (would you want to travel to see the sequoias? why or why not?)] sí para yo puedo climb secuoyas. (yes, so that i can climb sequoias.) like gilberto, mateo drew on his english vocabulary when he could not recall the word trepar, which is the spanish equivalent to “climb.” in both instances, translanguaging provided each student with the means to demonstrate understanding using their entire linguistic repertoire. students’ awareness of translanguaging even if the outward evidence of translanguaging was not visible, all of the participants reflected on how they relied on translanguaging strategies within their thinking and processing of the texts. lizbeth demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of her translanguaging: when responding to a question about how she may have used english to understand the texts in spanish, she responded: idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 99 so well, when you asked me, i was like thinking of what i read and also reading the paper a little bit more just in case if i forgot something… i was thinking in english but some words i was thinking in spanish because some words i didn’t know how to pronounce them in english. lizbeth recognized that she could move flexibly within her entire linguistic repertoire to fully comprehend the ideas and vocabulary of the text. similarly, gilberto explained, “i mostly kind of thought it (the spanish-language text) in english, that way i could speak it out in spanish. because…i kind of know a little more english and it will help me translate it into spanish a little.” daniel added, “i usually think them in both because it could be different in spanish too.” both gilberto and daniel recognized that some word nuances and vocabulary differences exist between both languages, and tried to explain how both languages are important for optimal comprehension of a text. audience awareness and adjustment each of the participants indicated a strong awareness of audience when communicating with others, and described how they flexibly use their language skills to meet the needs of their audience. they were able to identify the linguistic needs of specific people they interact with, especially regarding family members, and explained how they recognize and adjust their language use within different interactions. tomás explained that even within his family, he uses different languages with different family members: “when i talk to my mom or dad i speak spanish, and when i talk to my brothers or sisters i talk english…because, my parents, they only know spanish more than english, and my sisters and brothers know more english than spanish.” his identity as a bilingual individual positions him to mediate his linguistic exchanges, translanguaging when appropriate for the audience with whom he is communicating. similarly, daniel explained the complex network of language use within his family: “my grandpa and grandma speak spanish, but kind of english too. and my mom and her sister – yeah, they both speak english. but they can speak spanish too.” daniel identifies and positions himself as one who can utilize a variety of languaging practices with different members of his family. the participants also identified ways they position themselves as language mediators with different peers during interactions. both gilberto and daniel described how they adjusted their language for specific individuals. when asked what language he typically uses to eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 100 communicate with his friends, gilberto explained, “english, because probably most of us speak it. but when it’s with adán (a student who primarily speaks spanish) i speak spanish with him.” daniel described a similar situation with a different student, yet explained that he typically chooses to speak in spanish, “because last year i used spanish because of rafael.” both students again positioned themselves as being able to use language flexibly to address linguistic needs of those with whom they are communicating. the students’ ability to mediate language shows a strong awareness of their linguistic choices and adds an important dimension to their selfidentity, which will be further described in the next section. positive self-identity related to bilingualism the five participants in this study all expressed positive feelings about being able to communicate with a greater linguistic repertoire. “i love being bilingual,” explained lizbeth, “i feel special.” she also described how proud she felt that if someone wanted to learn spanish from her, she could teach them that language. daniel made a personal connection: “it kind of feels good, because now i can speak both (languages), and i can understand my grandma and grandpa in spanish.” for daniel, being bilingual is a fundamental part of his identity as he relies on his languaging practices across two languages to communicate with his grandparents. tomás shared a similar, yet stronger sentiment. when asked what being bilingual meant to him, he responded, “it means to me everything, because if i only speak english, i can only speak english, and because if i want to talk to my mom i can’t, because i only speak english.” tomás recognized that being bilingual allows him to communicate with his parents in spanish and also still interact with the dominant language, which is english. mateo acknowledged the unique educational circumstances of the dual language class: “(i feel) a little bit more different than the other (students), well, except in our class, because i know more about two languages than most other people.” gilberto took this thought a step further, explaining: it feels really good because when i grow up, if i work and someone doesn’t know english, i could talk to them in spanish. if they don’t know spanish, i could talk to them in english. so it’s kind of helpful in the future of life. each student expressed positive feelings about being bilingual, and how being bilingual is an important component of their identities because of the communication opportunities they are afforded by virtue of having an expansive linguistic repertoire. idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 101 additionally, another thread emerged from the discussion about what it means to be bilingual. when the students were asked if they would tell other people they ought to become bilingual, one student said yes, but the other four students all explained that it would be the hypothetical person’s own choice whether or not to do so. daniel declared, “no, that’s their choice, because it’s not my choice,” while mateo was a bit more adamant: “no, because it’s their choice. i would just ask them, not tell them.” gilberto even offered his assistance, and replied, “if they want to try it, yeah, i could maybe tell them some words.” to each of these students, being bilingual is a choice that one can make by deciding to add additional languaging repertoires to one’s identity. another key piece of students’ identity that was expressed was the self-perception of their role as linguistic mediators. the students in this study recognized that because their linguistic repertoires included features of both spanish and english, they are uniquely positioned to mediate conversations in either or both languages. as lizbeth expressed, “if they speak spanish and english well, then i speak both, but if they speak english then i speak english, or if they just speak spanish then i speak spanish to them.” her identity as a linguistic mediator allows her to recognize that she can adapt her languaging to include features that would best be understood by her audience, in a variety of linguistic contexts. each of the participants explained instances in which they choose to communicate in spanish with certain individuals in their lives, and english with others. thus, this ability to mediate linguistic exchanges takes a central place in the construction of their identities as bilingual individuals. implications and conclusion this study contributes to the growing body of work regarding the ways that emergent bilinguals develop critical metalinguistic awareness of the structures and use of each language (garcía-mateus & palmer, 2017). this study also contributes to the call for bilingual students to have the opportunity to use both languages when interacting with texts (lópez-velázquez & garcía, 2017), as well as providing students a time and place to discuss how they draw on their languaging repertoires to make meaning of texts (clark, 2020). we found that these students were able to use their entire translanguaging repertoire when reading and comprehending texts in both spanish and english. for all of the participants it was a novelty to be able to respond in eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 102 either language, as they may have been used to the dual language program’s tendency to keep each language designated to certain content areas. the power that the english language continues to exert in schools, even in dual language programs, was evident in the greater use of reading comprehension strategies expressed in english by the students, considering the fact that the majority of their literacy instruction had been in spanish in their earlier years of schooling. this may show that the students felt greater confidence and understanding when creating and explaining meaning in english as compared to spanish. by encouraging students to flexibly use all of their linguistic strategies, students can focus more on the content being discussed instead of the manner of discussion, which could lead to higher levels of literacy learning (martínez, 2010), giving the students the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings and deepen their metalinguistic awareness (pacheco et al., 2019). this study also contributes to knowledge about how decisions regarding language use can be factors that contribute to the formation of emergent bilinguals’ self-identity. this selfidentity is co-constructed within students’ self-perception, as well as through the activities in which they engage (collett, 2018; nasir & hand, 2006). because of the close connection between language, culture, and identity, languaging exchanges typically experienced are a source of identity formation (reyes & vallone, 2007). for bilingual learners, using different languages involves mediating between cultures and identities. in this study, the students described ways they positioned themselves as mediators of languaging exchanges as they determined which language to use when communicating with different individuals. as they described the ways they separate and combine features of each language, utilizing their full idiolects, the students demonstrated positive views of their self-identities, expressing pride in understanding how to communicate meaningfully with others through multiple languaging practices. the students in this study demonstrated complex processing of each text they read as they utilized a variety of reading comprehension strategies between spanish and english. by opening space for these students to translanguage in their think-aloud responses, they were provided an opportunity to use any prior cultural or experiential resources that could help them comprehend and express their understanding of the texts to have a meaningful discussion and further develop their literacy in both languages (clark, 2020). this creates implications for teachers regarding their role in the formation of bilinguals’ identities. teachers must recognize that the learning experiences they develop create a range of idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 103 positions within which students can speak, listen, read, write, and participate in different exchanges. in this way, teachers offer multiple ways that students can explore their identities within the classroom environment (norton & toohey, 2011). as such, identity plays a major role in the classroom curriculum and is constantly subject to rethinking and reshaping (reyes & vallone, 2007). classroom learning opportunities play a critical role in helping emergent bilinguals shape their self-identities and develop positive perceptions of themselves as bilingual individuals. this study illustrates how supporting emergent bilinguals’ idiolects can lead to students developing positive identities. since translanguaging enables teachers to build upon their bilingual students’ languaging practices, it is a powerful pedagogical tool in the classroom. however, encouraging translanguaging to become a part of classroom interaction, especially in dual language programs, should be done critically—students should be encouraged to experiment with language and utilize their full linguistic repertoire, while teachers still provide mechanisms which prioritize the minority language (hamman, 2018). if translanguaging is not approached critically, the dominant language, english, can quickly become the preferred language for interaction due to the power it holds as being the majority language (potowski, 2004). if educators and schools keep this in mind, sustainable translanguaging, which supports a strategic balance between using an emergent bilingual’s full linguistic repertoire and promoting contexts to elevate the minority language, can help students develop language and metalinguistic awareness (cenoz & gorter, 2017) as well as learning different content through each of their languages (pacheco et al., 2019). further research is needed to investigate the role translanguaging can play within a structured program to support and sustain academic growth and foster critical examination of understandings regarding linguistic hierarchies within schools. while this study only examined the experiences of a few students within the context of one type of activity, the findings contribute to a broader understanding of the full role translanguaging plays in reading comprehension and student identity construction. future studies might consider broader investigation of the use of translanguaging included within a specific program of study and possibly investigate the experiences of older bilingual students who have had more opportunities to rely on linguistic exchanges as part of the construction of their identities. eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 104 references brooks, m. d. (2016). "tell me what you are thinking": an investigation of five latina ltels constructing meaning with academic texts. linguistics and education, 35, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2016.03.001 bucholtz, m., & hall, k. (2005). identity and interaction: a sociocultural linguistic approach. discourse studies, 7(4-5), 585-614. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445605054407 cenoz, j., & gorter, d. (2017). minority languages and sustainable translanguaging: threat or opportunity? journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 38(10), 901-912. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2017.1284855 cervantes-soon, c. g. (2014). a critical look at dual language immersion in the new latin@ diaspora, bilingual research journal, 3(1), 64–82, https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2014.893267 charters, e. (2003). the use of think-aloud methods in qualitative research: an introduction to think-aloud methods. brock education, 12(3), 68-82. https://doi.org/10.26522/brocked.v12i2.38 clark, a. (2020). cultural relevance and linguistic flexibility in literature discussion with emergent bilingual children. bilingual research journal, 43(1), 50-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2020.1722974 collett, j. (2018). constructing identities: how two emergent bilinguals create linguistic agency in elementary school. bilingual research journal, 41(2), 133-149. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2018.1451410 creese, a., & blackledge, a. (2010). translanguaging in the classroom: a pedagogy for learning and teaching? the modern language journal, 94, 103-113. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15404781.2009.00986.x creese, a., & blackledge, a. (2015). translanguaging and identity in educational settings. annual review of applied linguistics, 35, 20-35. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0267190514000233 creswell, j. w., & poth, c. n. (2018). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches (4th edition). sage. cummins, j. (2007). rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. the canadian journal of applied linguistics, 10(2), 221-240. de fina, a. (2016). linguistic practices and transnational identities. in s. preece (ed.), the routledge handbook of language and identity (pp. 163-178). routledge. duke, n. k. & mallette, m. h. (2011). literacy research methodologies (2nd ed.). the guilford press. durán, l., & palmer, d. (2013). pluralist discourses of bilingualism and translanguaging talk in classrooms. journal of early childhood literacy, 14(3), 367–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798413497386 ericsson, k. a., & simon, h. a. (1998). how to study thinking in everyday life: contrasting think-aloud protocols with descriptions and explanations of thinking. mind, culture, and activity, 5(3), 178-186. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327884mca0503_3 fitts, s. (2006). restructuring the status quo: linguistic interaction in a dual-language school. bilingual research journal, 30(2), 337-365. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2006.10162880 flores, n., & schissel, j.l. (2014). dynamic bilingualism as the norm: envisioning a heteroglossic approach to standards-based reform. tesol quarterly, 48(3), 454-479. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.182 idiolect and identity association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 105 freeman, y. s., freeman, d. e., & mercuri, s. p. (2005). dual language essentials for teachers and administrators. heinemann. garcía, o. (2009). bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. wiley– blackwell. garcía, o. (2020). translanguaging and latinx bilingual readers. the reading teacher, 73(5), 557-562. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1883 garcía, o., johnson, s., & seltzer, k. (2017). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student bilingualism for learning. caslon. garcía, o., & kleifgen, j. a. (2019). translanguaging and literacies. reading research quarterly, 55(4), 553–571. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.286 garcía, o., & otheguy, r. (2019). plurilingualism and translanguaging: commonalities and divergences. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 23(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1598932. garcía-mateus, s., & palmer, d. (2017). translanguaging pedagogies for positive identities in two-way dual language bilingual education. journal of language, identity, & education, 16(4), 245-255. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1329016 gómez, l., freeman, d., & freeman, y. (2005). dual language education: a promising 50–50 model. bilingual research journal, 29, 145–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2005.10162828 guzula, x., mckinney, c., & tyler, r. (2016). languaging-for-learning: legitimizing translanguaging and enabling multimodal practices in third spaces. southern african linguistics and applied language studies, 34(3), 211-226. https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2016.1250360 hamman, l. (2018). translanguaging and positioning in two-way dual language classrooms: a case for criticality. language and education, 32(1), 21-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2017.1384006 li, w. (2018). translanguaging as a practical theory of language. applied linguistics, 39(1), 9 30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039 lópez-velásquez, a. m., & garcía, g. e. (2017). the bilingual reading practices and performance of two hispanic first graders. bilingual research journal, 40(3), 246-261. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2017.1351008 macedo, d., & bartolomé, l. i. (2001). dancing with bigotry: beyond the politics of tolerance. palgrave macmillan. macswan, j. (2017). a multilingual perspective on translanguaging. american educational research journal, 54(1), 167-201. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216683935 magliano, j. p., & millis, k. k. (2003). assessing reading skill with a think-aloud procedure and latent semantic analysis. cognition and instruction, 21(3), 251-283. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532690xci2103_02 martínez, r. a. (2010). “spanglish” as literacy tool: toward an understanding of the potential role of spanish-english code-switching in the development of academic literacy. research in the teaching of english, 45(2), 124-149. nasir, n. s., & hand, v. m. (2006). exploring sociocultural perspectives on race, culture, and learning. review of educational research, 76(4), 449-475. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543076004449 eller & nieto association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 106 nieto, d. (2009). a brief history of bilingual education in the united states. perspectives on urban education, 6(1), 61–72. norton p. b. (1995). social identity, investment, and language learning. tesol quarterly, 29(1), 9-31. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587803 norton, b., & de costa, p. i. (2018). thinking allowed: research tasks on identity in language learning and teaching. language teaching, 51(1), 90-112. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444817000325 norton, b., & toohey, k. (2011). identity, language learning, and social change. language teaching, 44(4), 412-446. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444811000309 otheguy, r., garcía, o., & reid, w. (2015). clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: a perspective from linguistics. applied linguistics review, 6(3), 281307. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2015-0014 otheguy, r., garcía, o., & reid, w. (2018). a translanguaging view of the linguistic system of bilinguals. applied linguistics review, 10(4), 625-65. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev2018-0020 pacheco, m. b., daniel, s. m., pray, l. c., & jiménez, r. t. (2019) translingual practice, strategic participation, and meaning-making. journal of literacy research, 51(1), 75-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296x18820642 palmer, d.k., mateus, s. g., martínez, r. a., & henderson, k. (2014). reframing the debate on language separation: toward a vision for translanguaging pedagogies in the dual language classroom. the modern language journal, 98(3), 757-772. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12121 palmer, d., cervantes-soon, c., dorner l., & heiman, d. (2019). bilingualism, biliteracy, biculturalism, and critical consciousness for all: proposing a fourth fundamental goal for two-way dual language education. theory into practice, 58(2), 121-133. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1569376 potowski, k. (2004). student spanish use and investment in a dual immersion classroom: implications for second language acquisition and heritage language maintenance. the modern language journal, 88(1), 75-101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.00267902.2004.00219.x pressley, m., & afflerbach, p. (1995). verbal protocols of reading. erlbaum. reyes, s. a., & vallone, t.l. (2007). toward an expanded understanding of two-way bilingual immersion education: constructing identity through a critical, additive bilingual/bicultural pedagogy. multicultural perspectives, 9(3), 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960701443433 urrieta, l., & noblit, g.w. (2018). cultural constructions of identity: meta-ethnography and theory. oxford university press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190676087.001.0001 urrieta, l., & quach, l. h. (2000). my language speaks of me: transmutational identities in l2 acquisition. the high school journal, 84(1), 26-35. williams, c. (1994). arfarniad o ddulliau dysgu ac addysgu yng nghyd-destun addysg uwchradd ddwyieithog. doctoral dissertation, university of wales, bangor. worthy, j., durán, l., hikida, m., pruitt, a., & peterson, k. (2013). spaces for dynamic bilingualism in read-aloud discussions: developing and strengthening bilingual and academic skills. bilingual research journal, 36(3), 311-328. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2013.845622 volume 15 issue 2 2021 amae invited issue mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools guest editors sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.2.423 texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 64 texas resistance: mexican american studies and the fight against whiteness and white supremacy in k-12 at the turn of the 21st century josue puente university of texas río grande valley stephanie alvarez university of texas río grande valley abstract this essay recounts the efforts by various groups throughout texas with a special emphasis on the rio grande valley to implement mexican american studies at the turn of the twenty-first century. we offer a historical timeline of events that demonstrates how the mexican american studies course came into existence. we also detail the way in which some mexican american studies courses were implemented. in other cases, we describe the way different groups were able to offer professional development to teachers to help them incorporate more mexican american studies content in their non-mexican american studies courses or provide the community with the resources on how to include mexican american studies at their school. the common theme throughout is an undeniable resistance and mobilization on the part of many, hundreds, of educators, students, and community members to ensure that the youth do not continue to receive a whitewashed education, to ensure that students receive a more accurate representation of history, culture, language, and literature. in essence, the essay details a very hard-fought battle against white supremacy in the schools at the turn of the twenty-first century in texas in which mexican american studies emerged victorious many steps of the way. keywords: mexican american studies, ethnic studies, culturally responsive pedagogy, chicano activism, rio grande valley education puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 65 in the 1960’s, mexican american youth took to the streets demanding change to an educational system that stripped them of their culture, history, and language with a singular goal of training them as laborers rather than allowing them the opportunity to seek a higher education. calling themselves chicanos, they demanded not only a change to the education system but also that society respect their community by asking to speak their mother tongue without punishment, for their history to be taught in schools, and for more opportunities to attend college or the university rather than simply be pushed into a trade or military (muñoz, 2007, pp. 99-101). chicana/o/xs were not the first to ask for educational change for mexican americans but, unlike earlier movements, they pushed away from assimilation and instead demanded schooling that instilled cultural pride proclaiming that brown is beautiful and emphasizing the importance of learning about their own history. in california, mexican american college students organized and created el movimiento estudiantil chicano de aztlán (mecha) and made it their priority to advocate for mexican american studies at the university as part of their organization’s founding papers known as los papeles or el plan de santa barbara (http://umich.edu/~mechaum/plan.html). these multiple movements led to the creation of mexican american studies/raza studies programs at universities and colleges across the country. in k-12 public education, the brown beret’s advocated for change in public education and supported high school mexican american student walkouts in east los angeles. in the second point of the “brown beret’s 10 point program” they advocated for, “the right to bilingual education as guaranteed under the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo,” along with point 4, “we demand that the true history of the mexican american be taught in all schools in the five southwest states,” which marked the brown beret’s position on public education reform for the mexican american community (valdez and steiner, 1972 p. 304). in texas, chicanx educational reform was pushed by mayo (mexican american youth organization) by helping organize walkouts across south texas. among such walkouts was the 1968 edcouch elsa walkout where students advocated for similar educational reforms like the ones the brown beret’s demanded in california. nevertheless, few of these changes occurred in k-12 public education, even in the states where the chicano movement was at its height like california, texas, and other states. mexican american students, then, and even still today, often go through school without formally studying mexican american history or culture. instead, public schools push an assimilationist historical narrative of whiteness reinforcing white supremacy through social studies http://umich.edu/~mechaum/plan.html texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 66 state standards. in texas, those standards are known as the teks (texas essential knowledge and skills). teks are just one-way texas intuitions have white-washed the curriculum and supported white supremacy, but like much of mexican american history, oppression often finds different forms of resistance and in a state that prides itself in its popular motto “everything is bigger in texas,” that also includes resistance. this essay explores how the teks function as a means of embedding whiteness by limiting who is and is not part of the historical narrative and why we must push away from seeing the standards as one dimensional and static and instead see them as dynamic with the ability to include culturally relevant content while still meeting a mandated state standard. this essay also looks at collective resistance to white supremacy in texas education by communities, the public, and private organizations. the results range from the texas state board of education (sboe) approving a hard-fought mexican american history course to creating spaces for teacher trainings in an effort against whiteness and white supremacy. in 2013, the national association of chicana and chicano studies (naccs) tejas foco formed a k-12 mexican american studies (mas) committee chaired by juan tejeda with the intent to advocate for mas in k-12. the following year, 2014, the texas state board of education (sboe) representative rubén cortez, along with mas advocates, would propose a mexican american studies course which would not be approved that year after much advocacy. however, four years later on april 11, 2018, the texas sboe, after two failed attempts to approve a mas textbook, once again listened to testimony on the importance of creating standards for a high school social studies course in mexican american history and approving a course. what could have been addressed in one board meeting was expanded to six months and three meetings in 2018 as a republican controlled board questioned the harm this class might bring to students. board members against creating this course used language that, as bree picower (2009) states, reveal ways in which white individuals maintain dominant racial ideologies. for example, they questioned the name mexican american studies as divisive and pushed against americanism. according to board member david bradley, “[i] do not subscribe to hyphenated americanism… i find hyphenated americanism to be divisive,” (swaby, 2018). according to picower’s (2009) research, this is how a white educator supports white supremacy by using tools of whiteness. members of the board used these tools to try and mask the racist ideologies they had about this class. puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 67 according to picower (2009), “ideological tools [are] beliefs to which they subscribe to protect their hegemonic stories,” explaining why the board saw no need for the course to even be created in the first place (p. 197). in other words, board members see the failure to fully embrace whiteness as divisive, but they do not recognize the failure to recognize mexicans as part of an american identity as divisive. one of the solutions posed by bradley was a name change “americans of mexican descent.” board members were able to claim a win against the course with this changing of the name of the course by pushing ethnic identity second to americanism (picower, 2009, 197). therefore, even when the course was voted into being implemented when the community fought against the name change, david bradly, a firm believer of “we are all americans,” mocked the community by pushing for and winning the name change (swaby, 2018). this attempt included mocking rubén cortez, the board member who had been leading the cause for the class and naming it mexican american studies by stating that he “needs to learn to be thankful” (swaby, 2018). although much of the comments reinforcing these positions came from david bradly, because he was the leader of the republican control of the sboe, the others also endorsed it reflecting a systemic support of whiteness and white supremacy. this response by the board member represents a performative tool of whiteness where the board member justified his actions based on his feelings and beliefs and “engaged to protect [his] beliefs based on [his] ideological tools or hegemonic understanding” (picower, 2009, p. 199). before the final vote on june 2018, the name of the course was changed to ethnic studies: mexican american studies thanks to the advocacy of many, yet political stunts to remind mexican americans of their social position were made making this a bitter sweet victory including david bradly’s comments to the board on “needing to move on to more important things” (yaffe-bellany, 2018). moreover, the change in name did not come willingly. there was quite a bit of activism by the mexican american studies community to have this name changed; newspaper essays, press conferences, blogs, mobilization to get as many people to the capital as possible to testify against the name change and a rally before the meeting. this course provides an opportunity for mexican american students to see that they are a part of the curriculum and gain an educational space to explore their own social and historical positions in the united states; an idea five years in the making when the national association of chicana and chicano studies tejas foco established the mas k-12 committee in 2013 to push for the creation of a special topics course in the public schools. in 2014, with the assistance of rio texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 68 grande valley (rgv) sboe representative rubén cortez, the committee struggled with a reluctant texas state board of education. at first glance, it may be argued that the only limitation was a white republican-controlled board who used tools of whiteness to prevent educational changes, from supporting a racist textbook that had many historical errors to questioning the divisive idea of a mexican american studies class that according to them separated american ideologies by race, reminiscent of language used by those in arizona that banned raza studies. yet, there are several issues that limit the impact of this mexican american studies course. for example, this course is not a required class, but rather an elective, making it up to the student to take this class and an option for a district to provide. this means that mexican american students can go through the education system without taking the course because their district did not provide the class, or the student chose not to take it. in fact, this makes it so that it is highly unlikely that students will take the course. nevertheless, many in the community want that to change and community resistance has changed their strategies from demanding state support to pushing their local school boards and high schools to provide this mas class. in the rio grande valley (rgv), local organizations along with university and state non-profit organizations began to advocate for the creation of this class in districts across the valley as early as 2013. in fact, sboe representative rubén cortez ran on the promise of inserting mas in the curriculum after hearing from constituents. soon after, in 2015, the rgv mas k-12 coalition was founded, chaired by christopher carmona, which began to hold workshops for teachers interested in teaching mas or already teaching mas. in the spring of 2019, the center for mexican american studies at university of texas rio gran valley (utrgv) led and organized a mas mesa comunitaria inviting districts across the valley to get information on the need for mas in k-12 and steps to take to provide this class. at the 2019 mesa comunitaria, eleven rgv school districts were given testimonios from teachers, community members and students on the benefits mas has on students. this initiative from the center for mexican american studies (cmas) at utrgv was not possible without the support of the community and from organizations like idra (intercultural development research association), arise (a resource in serving equality), lupe (la unión de pueblo entero), and the equal voice network whose joint efforts showed strong support for these classes. at the same time, cmas leading this effort marks an important moment in the positions that texas universities have in changing the educational narrative from training future teachers to advocating for longpuente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 69 term educational changes and support. for example, this mesa comunitaria did not consist simply of academic experts in the field but rather community members and students whose first-hand experiences were valued to be of greater value higher than empirical statistics and bringing the community into the fold of education (huber, johnson, & kohli, 2006). even when it came to planning for this event dr. stephanie alvarez, director of the center for mexican american studies, invited community members from across the rgv to sit down and discuss the best way to organize this event placing the community in charge of every part of the mesa comunitaria. this connection with education outside of the classroom counters an educational model that separates the home from the classroom that benefits white students but harms mexican american students (huber, johnson, & kohli, 2006). to go even further, this mesa comunitaria also showcased the benefit this course brought to students. testimonios from donna independent school district (donna isd) mas high school students effectively demonstrated how the students who took this class had a pride in their community and felt like they belonged in the historical narrative that otherwise ignores them (huber, johnson, & kohli, 2006). even so, it is important to note that the 2019 rgv mesa comunitaria was not the first attempt of a collective push from a state university, academic organization, or community organizations to counter white supremacy and whiteness in k-12 in the 21st century education. other attempts that have been made and continue to be made by university of texas at san antonio (utsa) mexican american studies, somos mas and naccs (national association of chicana and chicano studies) tejas foco. key to much of these efforts is how whiteness and white supremacy often use gatekeepers to limit what individuals can do to change the status quo which often takes the form of an institution or requirement but most often revolve around funding. for example, the utsa and naccs tejas workshops are important resources for teachers, but both workshops require funding to continue to function. naccs tejas uses registration fees to subsidize their spending which allows them to provide resources for teachers. this limits the number of teachers who participate because of their limited access to funding for travel and registration. like many teachers in the united states, texas teachers are often overworked and underpaid which in turn means volunteering and self-funding their participation in workshops like these which is very difficult. furthermore, most of these teachers are raza and women, meaning that they face even more obstacles than other teachers. texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 70 nevertheless, programs have responded to these limitations in a variety of different ways by applying for grants and funding from inside and outside their respected institutions. these grant-funded projects often tackle three major issues that affect teacher training; 1) funding—some grants pay the teachers for participating in the project, 2) time—the grants often work with teachers' schedules and the projects coordinate with the school districts, and 3) gives teachers valuable resources that they do not have to spend their money on. moreover, in the case of the grant funded projects analyzed here, we find attempts to provide long-term impact and sustainability by sharing the resources through free access via bilingual websites that make the grant funded projects an important tool for countering whiteness and white supremacy. in spring 2019, the university of texas rio grande valley’s b3 institute was awarded a two-million-dollar grant for historias americanas that would support enriching history content with place-based teacher trainings for k-12 in two school districts: edinburg cisd and brownsville isd. at the same time, the center for mexican american studies in collaboration with the center for bilingual studies, which are also housed under the b3 institute at utrgv, was awarded a $99,000 grant from the national endowment for the humanities to fund a project that would help create bilingual, culturally relevant social studies content for k-5 social studies classrooms in the pharr san juan alamo (psja) isd and harlingen isd in the rio grande valley, which has a large mexican american population of upwards of 98%. this program is social studies through authentic relevant content (sstarc) and is directed by both dr. joy esquierdo, director of the center for bilingual studies and profesor of bilingual studies, and dr. stephanie alvarez, director of the center for mexican american studies and associate professor of mexican american studies (https://harlingenedc.com/data-resources/demographics/). dr. maritza de la trinidad, associate professor in the mexican american studies program, and dr. francisco guajardo, former director of the b3 institute at the start of the project and now chief operating officer of the museum of south texas, are the project directors of historias americanas. although both historias americanas and sstarc share some parallels such as people involved, location, and goals they have many differences in the approach taken to incorporate mexican american studies into the classroom. whereas historias americanas includes site visits and lectures to provide resources and information for teachers to teach local histories, sstarc involves collective work that is heavy on self-reflection and controlled by the teachers' deconstruction of their own internalized https://harlingenedc.com/data-resources/demographics/ puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 71 institutionalized racism. yet both grants bring important content forward to teachers intending to change the implication of social studies for mexican american students. the historias americanas grant is the collective work of four different institutions with b3 institute as the main organizational institution, edinburg cisd, and brownsville isd as supporting school districts and finally the museum of south texas history, the center for mexican american studies, and the center for bilingual studies as a resource hub. historias’ goal is to, teach place-based pedagogical approaches to approximately 75 k-12 teachers that examine and build upon student and community knowledge and cultural wealth to link micro realities to american history. historias americanas develops and implements culturally, and historically relevant lessons, activities, and programs rooted in the geography, history and languages of the region to provide a micro-macro perspective to promote engaged citizenship. (historias americanas) the interest, therefore, is in giving teachers the resources they need to teach local histories, and by doing so, they would be teaching mas content. historias is working with the assumption that a factor that is not allowing teachers to teach mas content is because they do not have access to primary and secondary sources that are used to support historical arguments made. according to emma pérez, the decolonial imaginary is a third space between colonial and decolonial where things like identity, culture, and gender all exist in a secular narrative, where the imaginary reflects an incomplete mirror image of one’s identity (pérez, 1999). when it comes to history, pérez argues that the imaginary often is reflected by a colonial histography that makes chicano/a/x historians write colonial views of a marginalized mexican american community by dividing history into thematic and periodic elements often removing gender, culture, and individuals to fit the colonial mold (pérez, 1999). it can be argued that historias americanas adopts the model of pérez's decolonial imaginary by exploring other non-colonial methods to discuss mexican american history and places it in texas social studies education, yet historias americanas falls short in successfully crossing the colonial imaginary completely. this occurs because historias americanas uses a sort of transcultural methodological approach that incorporates traditional teacher training, inserting mexican american history into the fold, but also incorporating some decolonial methods at the same time. however, they still “become historians under spatiotemporal bounds dependent upon a colonial moment” (pérez, 1999). after all, it is nearly texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 72 impossible to fully escape the “colonial moment.” for example, in the historias americanas summer 2019 institute, for three days teachers participated in lectures, site visits, and engaged in small group discussions where half the day was spent learning about local histories from visiting scholars. the time that was dedicated to pedagogy was dedicated to "place-based pedagogy,” which according to dr. maritza de la trinidad, us[es] the environment as a classroom, so place-based becomes a way to use the community or locations in a community, whether it be here in the rio grande valley, or in the midwest, or in arizona or mexico, they can use place-based to teach the history and the culture of the region, of their region. (cited in hoang, 2019) historias americans, therefore, is a perfect example of an important form of social resistance to whiteness where educators find themselves in an external struggle of interpretation of ideologies. for one, historias americanas attempts to solve the issue with representation of content in the teks by using the same set standards as the blueprint in what content to provide and at the same time subvert. as it pertains to history, teks represent the historical narrative every texan is taught and what they see as historical fact which too often places white individuals as central to history and superior to all other historical figures. historias americanas, however, uses their “decolonial imaginary“ to circumvent the “recommended“ events and people provided by the state of texas for each of the teks standards and replaces them with placed-based suggestions, given the place is he rio grande valley, this, then allows for the place and people to be mexican american. like historias americanas, project sstarc, deliberately works with selected teachers in two school districts to train them in culturally relevant curriculum. since the project is funded through the national endowment for the humanities (neh) they can pay the teachers directly for their training, provide them with books, and materials to take back and use in their classrooms. the origins of project staarc are different in many ways from historias americans and other initiatives around mas activism, in part, because of the two individual latinx women who are the co-directors of the grant, stephanie alvarez, ph.d. and joy esquiredo, ph.d., have publicly stated that sstarc is, in large part, the result of two mothers who wanted to see more culturally relevant content in their kids’ education, one that represents the community their kids belong to because they understand the benefits this can have on all children. this demonstrates that puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 73 sstarc is an attempt for educational change from two latinx mothers who are in a position to advocate for it (puente, feb. 2019). both dr. esquiredo's years of teaching in public schools and dr. alvarez's educational and social activism to bring mas to the university and highlight cultural history in the rgv play a role in how sstarc would achieve their goal. moreover, dr. esquierdo and dr. alvarez have already had experience running similar project with project cress (culturally relevant education through social studies), a humanities texas grant in partnership with psja isd and mcallen isd in 2017 that provided 2-day workshops to k-5 dual language teachers in mexican american studies. it should also be noted that project sstarc grant personnel had attended utsa k-12 mas academies workshops that certainly influenced and inspired their own work. the utsa mexican american studies program for eight years has hosted a series of mas teacher academies and for the past three years along with san antonio based non-profit educational enrichment organization idra (intercultural development research association) they have begun hosting a series of free teacher workshops throughout the year where they invite educators from across the state to gain knowledge on how to incorporate mexican american studies in their classrooms (saldaña et al., 2020). this movement came from the creation of the k12 mexican american studies naccs tejas foco committee in 2013 when utsa decided that since there would be an attempt to propose a mexican american history course then there should also be workshops available for teachers to take that would provide them with the content and pedagogy required to teach the course (saldaña et al., 2020). utsa began to organize their mas teacher academy in 2014 using whatever resources they could find and grounding their work in decolonial praxis under the guidance of professor keta miranda (utsa mas teacher academy, 2020). because teachers asked for teks support for the content, the following year, the utsa mas teaching academy content was supported with teks. utsa then, in 2018, began providing different opportunities for teachers by running one-day workshops in the fall and spring in partnership with idra in addition to their summer teaching academy that represented a shift from only social studies content into different subjects such as math, english and art (saldaña et al., 2020). unlike the utrgv mas mesa comunitaria, utsa’s workshop explores how to enrich different subjects and the workshops are run by teachers who are already writing mas-based lesson plans (saldaña et al., 2020). therefore, utsa’s mas academy and spring and fall workshops explore the need for including mas content in all subjects to better benefit a larger group of texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 74 students, which is shown by the inclusion of testimonios from both parents and students who have participated in mexican american studies classes. similar workshops have appeared in texas from other university groups and organizations. for example, naccs tejas foco in 2015 organized their own workshop during the first annual mas summit. however, the naccs tejas foco mas summit was different from utsa since it required a paid registration to be part of this one-day workshop, where the utsa/idra one-day workshop is free. it is important to note that the workshops are a resistance in and of itself. part of what makes the resistance meaningful and impactful is the repetition of them every year. the community and teachers—both new to the field and veterans of mas—come to rely on the workshops and know they are available. this then results in the amplification of mas throughout the community, san antonio, in particular, but the state as well. although the adoption of the course is particularly powerful, teachers teaching common subjects, but integrating mas content and mas pedagogies that they learn through the mas workshops and the grants is quite powerful and allows for the proliferation of mas in extraordinary ways—a hidden resistance to white supremacy. this continuation and collective support from san antonio teachers make the utsa workshops an example of how collective support from teachers can help deconstruct whiteness in the curriculum without limiting the efforts to one subject (saldaña et al., 2020). with the addition of the partnership of idra in 2018 and this organization’s new teacher-based network, utsa’s workshops have put into effect a self-sustainable educational ecosystem placing teachers at the forefront of educational social changes (saldaña et al., 2020). idra’s own mission statement reads “to achieve equal educational opportunity for every child through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college. idra strengthens and transforms public education by providing dynamic training; useful research, evaluation, and frameworks for action; timely policy analyses; and innovative materials and programs” (https://www.idra.org/services_ categories/mexican-american-studies). by partnering with utsa, idra has brought with them an array of resources that teachers can use. this has led to idra creating within their ”equity connection” a “mas community of practice where educators, researchers, parents and community members [can] discuss and take action to strengthen public schooling” (https://www.idra.org/services_categories/mexican-american-studies). it can be argued that with the partnership with idra and the foundation of idra’s mas community of practice, utsa and idra’s educational ecosystem has the potential of becoming a safe space where teachers can https://www.idra.org/services_categories/mexican-american-studies https://www.idra.org/services_categories/mexican-american-studies https://www.idra.org/services_categories/mexican-american-studies puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 75 deconstruct whiteness and fight back white supremacy by creating and sharing different methods to bring in mexican american studies into the classrooms all across the state (https://www.idra.org/services_categories/mexican-american-studies). teacher run professional development workshops in mexican american studies offered by the university represent a change in the relationship of institutions and teachers that goes further than preparing them for the classroom, but also offer support after graduation in multiple ways. they not only offer teachers continued professional development in pedagogy, but also leadership development as they have practitioners, not professors, deliver the workshops. these workshops are a great example of how non-profits and state universities are resisting whiteness and deconstructing white supremacy by supporting the teachers who are at the forefront of the struggle (tintiangco-cubales et al., 2015). the goal of project sstarc is to, “provide an opportunity for local k-5 teachers to gain a better knowledge of local and regional history, create relevant social studies content for their students in both english and spanish, and disseminate the content on a wide scale to enrich the schooling experience of students by exposing them to authentic humanities content” (https://www.utrgv.edu/sstarc). to achieve this sstarc is divided into two goals: shortterm and long-term impact. the short-term consists of three-day workshops and the long-term made up by a bilingual website with teacher resources. even so, both shortterm and long-term goals all revolve around teacher involvement and teacher-made content developed during workshops in which sstarc facilitates discussion, provides resources, and aides in building lesson plans to create a safe space for teachers to create culturally relevant mas content. in the summer of 2019, sstarc ran their first workshop. although it was a social studies workshop to the outsider it might have seemed to focus less on history and more on culture, but this is because sstarc employs pérez’s theory of decolonial imaginary as means to explore different sources of history that connect to not only teachers, but also their students. teachers began to understand history in a much different way and sources of history in ways that were more relatable to them, their students, and the community. cognizant of the fact that the teachers need to still address the issue of teks and the curriculum, sstarc took the task of exploring what content was being taught and what teks were open to interpretation. after identifying these teks, project sstarc named those teks that are culturally relevant and thereby were the justification for teachers to include in their lesson plan. moreover, sstarc provided both digital https://www.idra.org/services_categories/mexican-american-studies https://www.utrgv.edu/sstarc texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 76 and physical resources teachers could use in their classrooms (kohli, 2013). scholars presented on subject matter that aligned to these culturally relevant teks to justify the use of the content they presented to the teachers. with the culturally relevant teks and the content, teachers were then asked to engage in deep conversations with another teacher about the topics, how they related to them and how their lived experiences connected to them. they were asked to share with each other and then with the larger group. it was after this process of deep reflection, that the teachers then collaboratively engaged in creating a lesson plan based on their grade. since teachers were grouped by their respected grade level each day, project sstarc collected six teacher-based lesson plans that represented a change in mainstream ideas of social studies. in just three days teachers brought forward a collection of lesson plans that tackled issues such as migration, colonization, culture, language, and civil rights which were not explicitly included in texas standards, but still met the teks. what also came out from these lesson plans is that teachers began to realize and discuss their own lived experiences and see their internal struggle as mexican and mexican american teachers, specifically women of color and crafted lesson plans reflecting those experiences. project sstarc lesson plans are not just about the content teachers can use to teach mexican american studies but represent how these teachers accepted the need to teach this content and deconstructed their own experiences, internalized racism as well as institutionalized racism (kohli, 2013). although the written lesson plans do not explicitly show it, a crucial part of project sstarc is self-reflection where teachers are asked to reflect on the importance of teaching mexican american studies to their students. their responses often reflected on the need they personally had as students for someone to teach them this content. the teachers who participated in the workshop began to discuss issues regarding race, culture, history, and language they faced as students at all levels of education, often sharing stories of themselves and/or families. they often shared stories of racial injustices that they themselves or their families faced that mirror what rita kohli discusses in her work on internalized racism where teachers of color “revealed a deep a connection between repeated experiences with racism and feeling racially inferior” (kohli, 2013). these stories often resulted in teachers developing a great desire to implement the teaching of mexican american studies with their students, so they did not have to feel the same way they did throughout their schooling. teachers even began to feel a sense of belonging and pride in being mexican american because as some expressed it was the puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 77 first time someone told them that their lived experiences and their community were valued. this is another similarity to kohli’s own research where both project sstarc and kohli, “shed light on the process teachers of color can engage in to unpack their experiences with internalized racism so they do not replicate racial hierarchies in their own classrooms” (kohli, 2013). therefore, the lesson plans represent a commitment from the teachers to not continue the same racial hierarchies for their students and communities but were just a small part of the work that came out of project sstarc. the larger takeaway was changing the teachers' perspective on what is being taught and the value of culturally relevant content not just for the students but the community as a whole. the second aspect of project sstarc is the building of a website that houses the content created from project sstarc workshops lesson plans, articles, a list of latina/o children’s literature, and video presentations of teachers' work along with the scholar’s presentations content. by creating the website this gives the teachers who participated in the workshops easy access to their work and resources. their work will then also be accessible to other teachers and educators at the same time who are interested in teaching mas in their classes. the project sstarc website is unique since not only does it house project sstarc content but includes content from other state and national resources. true to project sstarc’s mission statement is that all the lesson plans are available in both english and spanish (https://www.utrgv.edu/sstarc). another example is the website's plethora of videos showcasing teacher lesson plans and reflections because teachers were encouraged to speak in whatever language they would like. the lesson plans are bilingual, and teachers are also very comfortable using tex-mex (https://www.utrgv.edu/sstarc). because project sstarc is entering its second year, 2021, the website is still pending much of the content. the year of 2020 proved to be a pivotal year for the entire nation, texas, and the río grande valley. on may 25, 2020 the world witnessed the murder of george floyd at the hands of minneapolis police officer derek chauvin thanks to the recording caught on cellphone by seventeen year-old darnella frazier. the murder sparked outrage across the nation and an already large #blacklivesmatter movement swelled to unprecedented numbers for months. in mcallen, texas one of the most astonishing moments of a #blm protest occurred when on june 5, 2020 daniel peña emerged from his truck ripping a #blm poster from the hands of a protester and then began to wield a powered chainsaw yelling racial slurs to the protestors to leave, that it was the https://www.utrgv.edu/sstarc https://www.utrgv.edu/sstarc texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 78 valley, insinuating that there was no need for a #blm protest, there is no racism in the valley. two of the people that were present at that event were recent graduates of mcallen isd (misd) and just beginning college. they connected with four other alumna and together the six women of would go on to found the grande narrative. the grande narrative would be a critical movement in the valley in terms of ethnic studies. by august 2020, the grande narrative launched a social media campaign to petition misd to incorporate more black history and at least one literature book by a black author in ela courses among other things and had already gained the support of some school board members and met with misd superintendent. by march 2021, the grande narrative after meeting several times with misd social studies and ela coordinators and seeking input from stephanie alvarez, phd (utrgv) and trinidad gonzalez, phd (south texas college) produced “proposal: diversify misd. a collection of resources to improve the teaching of ethnic studies courses, ela readings, and inclusivity of minority narratives” and successfully got misd to approve the teaching of both african american studies and mexican american studies at all high school campuses in 2021-2022. misd is the first school district in the rio grande valley to offer african american studies and the first to offer mexican american studies at all its campuses. the grande narrative continues to be active on social media sharing information about ethnic studies and how to take action on ethnic studies issues such as tx sb 2202; the ban on critical race theory. in conclusion, mexican american resistance against whiteness and white supremacy in the k-12 curriculum in the 21st century consists of different singular yet interconnected movements (figure 1). the most prominent emerging in 2014 with the desire to have a sboe approved mas course which would not come about until 2018. the result would lead to a local push for school districts to provide the class in schools and for universities and non-profit organization collaborations to provide resources and professional development opportunities for teachers to teach mexican american studies. in addition, professors sought ways through external funding to reach out and support and develop teachers’ ability to teach mas content that likely would not have otherwise happen. there is no one person or group leading a texas resistance since all these attempts of deconstructing racism through education are interconnected in multiple ways and the leadership of the programs not only know one another, but also seek-out one another for guidance and support. they offer a multitude of counter-narratives to white supremacy. it is puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 79 because of this collective resistance that texas teachers now have more tools to deconstruct whiteness in the k-12 curriculum in texas than ever before. the utsa mas teacher academy and their fall and spring workshops have set forward examples on how to continuously provide educators with tools to deconstruct and resist whiteness through mas. the work of naccs tejas k-12 committee, cress, project sstarc and historias americanas declare that universities owe a debt to the communities, and they intend to represent and provide both teacher training and websites to house accessible lesson plans for teachers in k-12. the grande narrative, however, demonstrates the power of activism outside of the academy and the potency of youth to make change. in the case of the initiatives at both utsa and utrgv, they demonstrate a commitment to serving and educating teachers beyond the time they are there to receive their degree. moreover, as the state changes, so does the resistance and new attempts to counter the state narrative and therefore allowing more mexican american students to learn about their community, history, and culture. this texas resistance is not the first and just represents a new chapter of educational change with the end goal to include as much mexican american representation into the texas curriculum as possible for the benefit of all students. appendix k-12 mas efforts in texas timeline • 2013: naccs tejas foco forms pre-k-12 mas committee and begins to advocate for a mas class in public schools (chaired by juan tejeda) • 2013: utsa mexican american studies program decides to create workshops for mas teachers (founded by marie “keta” miranda) • 2013 fall: the rio grande valley coalition for mexican american studies formed by faculty at south texas college, ut brownsville, and ut pan american • 2013: nuestro grupo is founded in austin in september • 2014: e-mail and call-in campaign to sboe regarding to create an elective in mexican studies, led by naccs tejas foco • 2014: sboe votes in april to allow mas into social studies special topics but does not create a new course and requests for a mas textbook, arguing there is no need to create standards for the course, just a textbook texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 80 • 2014: houston isd approves a mas class as an innovative course, approved unanimously, 9-0 • 2014 spring: mexican american history lesson plans created by naccs tejas foco pre k12 mas committee chaired by juan carmona and victoria rojas, rgv mas mas coalition houses lesson plans on utpa mas website until mas tejas foco website created in 2015 • 2014 spring: ruben cortez sets goal of 100 mas classes before fall so sboe would not take down course because of lack of interest • 2014 summer: first utsa mas teachers’ academy • 2014 july: rgv mas coalition runs a bilingual workshop on mas (chaired by christopher carmona) • 2014 fall: first mas dual credit high school course offered at mission isd in conjunction with south texas college by victoria rojas • 2014 fall: rio grande valley coalition for mexican american studies members victoria rojas and juan carmona create mexican american studies curriculum aligned with teks special topics available online • 2015 january 15: academia cuauhtli opens its doors in austin • 2015 march /april: request for financial support for mas in higher ed to get mas in k-12 by naccs tejas foco • 2015: second utsa mas teachers’ academy in june • 2015: rgv mas summit and workshop • 2016: feb 19: naccs tejas foco k-12 mas committee agrees to run a mas summit later that year in the summer • 2016: second utsa mas teachers academy • 2016 summer: responsible ethnic studies textbook (rest) coalition is formed of over 10 different organizations o response to the only textbook that was submitted to sboe for consideration for mas o textbook was riddled with offensive stereotypes and factual errors o rest undertakes a massive organizing campaign that includes, but is not limited to press conferences, protests, and petitions • 2016 november 15: sboe votes against the only mas textbook submitted. o call for a second round of mas textbooks • 2017: sboe does not approve the only textbook submitted puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 81 • 2017 summer: rgv mas coalition hosts 2nd educational workshop • 2017 summer: fourth utsa mas teachers academy • 2017 summer: utrgv cmas & cbs project cress k-5 bilingual teacher workshop for mas social studies is funded by texas humanities (stephanie alvarez & joy esquierdo) • 2018 february: sboe begins to hear support for creating an elective course in mas • 2018 april: sboe approves the elective class but changes the name to ethnic studies: americans of mexican decent o at same times the sboe passes a motion calling for tea to present innovative courses in native american studies, latino studies, african american studies, and/or asian pacific islander studies to the sboe for inclusion in the teks standards • 2018 may 30: state-wide press conferences to protest the name change/keep mexican american studies as name of tea approved elective class. press conferences held in austin, san antonio, dallas, houston, and rio grande valley • 2018 june 12: sboe changes name of course to ethnic studies: mexican american studies after protest from the community • 2018 summer: fifth utsa mas teachers’ academy • 2018 summer: third naccs tejas foco mas k-12 summit • 2018 fall: idra (aurelio montemayor) joins utsa’s mas teachers’ academy and provides one-day mas teacher workshops in spring and fall • 2018 december: working group for ethnic studies in texas is established. orlando lara, then associate director of comparative race and ethnic studies at tcu organizes a call to discuss state-wide efforts to develop a variety of ethnic studies courses. this group develops a working mission statement and begins to hold monthly calls to help support ethnic studies work across texas • 2019: utrgv cbs & cmas project sstarc is funded by national endowment for the humanities, project creates bilingual mas teacher training and lesson plans in k-5 based off former cress grant. (stephanie alvarez & joy esquierdo). first workshop held • 2019: utrgv b3 historias americanas is funded by the department of education and provides social studies k-12 teachers in brownsville isd & edinburg isd professional development in mas. (maritza de la trinidad and francisco guajardo) texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 82 • 2019 april: utrgv cmas mesa comunitaria to guide schools, teachers, parents & community organizations on how to offer mas in the public schools. partners with idra, arise, equal voice network, naccs tejas foco, idra & rubén cortez • 2019 may: tcu comparative race and ethnic studies hosts a north texas regional gathering for ethnic studies from k-16 in the north texas area (lara 2021) • 2019 summer: sixth utsa mas teachers’ academy • 2019 summer: utrgv cbs & cmas first sstarc k-5 dual language mas teacher workshop • 2019 summer: utrgv b3 historias americanas runs first institute • 2019 september: members of the ethnic studies working group name the group the ethnic studies network of texas (esnt) and create an private facebook group • 2019 fall: utrgv b3 historias americans institute • 2020 spring: utrgv b3 historias americans institute • 2020 summer: seventh utsa mas teacher’s academy (virtual) • 2020 august: the grande narrative is founded to fight for black studies in mcallen isd. • 2020 august 3-7: esnt hosts its first ethnic studies summer web series entirely online. a total of 120 people attend throughout the week. the series combines workshops for mexican american studies, african american studies, and afro-latinx studies. this is one of the first, perhaps the first, multi-ethnic studies professional development workshops held in the state (lara 2021) • 2020 fall: utrgv b3 historias americans institute • 2020 october: 5th naccs tejas foco summit on mas in texas public schoolsvirtual • 2021 february 2: representative cristina morales introduces hb 1504 which would allow students to count ethnic studies towards graduation. the bill would allow students to count ethnic studies as one of the 4 social studies required for graduation. passes in the house, fails to make it to the floor in the senate • 2021 spring: utrgv b3 historias americans institute • 2021 april 28: sb 2202 passes in the senate. bill bans the teaching of a republican interpretation of “critical race theory” in texas public schools • 2021 may 11: hb 3979, duplicate bill of sb 2202 banning “critical race theory” in texas public schools is introduced. passed in special session june 2021 puente & alvarez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 83 o naccs tejas foco pk-12 committee organizes against sb 2202 & in support of hb 1504 with weekly calls, working in collaboration with idra, telc, tony diaz, and others throughout spring o ethnic studies network of texas and the grande narrative organized in support of hb 1504 & against sb 2202 throughout spring & summer 2021 • 2021 may: pharr san juan alamo isd offers first ever mexican american studies course as a dual language course in summer term • 2021 summer: eighth utsa mas teacher’s academy (virtual) • 2021 summer: utrgv b3 historias americans last summer institute • 2021 july 26-29: the esnt hosts the “powering ethnic studies in texas summer convergence,” entirely online. it begins to take donations to support the communications infrastructure and work of the network. the event focuses more on developing a vision for ethnic studies in texas and a set of shared social movement values and strategies, while still offering pedagogical development and information about hb 3979 for participants (lara 2021) • 2021 august: second utrgv sstarc k-5 dual language mas teacher workshop • 2021-2022: mcallen isd offers mexican american studies and african american studies at all high schools texas resistance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 84 references cortez, r. (2018, may 30). protest the name change/keep mexican american studies [press conference and rally]. la unión del pueblo entero, san juan, texas. the harlingen economic development corporation. (n.d.). city of harlingen, tx demographics – population median income. https://harlingenedc.com/choose-harlingen/demographics historias americanas: engaging history and citizenship in the rio grande valley. https://oese.ed.gov/files/2018/10/historias-americanas-abstract.pdf hoang, j. (2019, april 24). utrgv partners with local districts on history education. the monitor (blog). https://www.themonitor.com/2019/04/24/utrgv-partners-local-districts-history education/. huber, l. p., johnson, r. n., & kohli, r. (2006). naming racism: a conceptual look at internalized racism in u.s. schools. chicano-latino law review, 26(1), 183-206. idra. (n.d.). mexican american studies archives. https://www.idra.org/services_categories/mexican-american-studies/ kohli, r. (2013). unpacking internalized racism: teachers of color striving for racially just classrooms. race, ethnicity and education, i7(3), 367–387. lara, o. (2021, july 27). ethnic studies network of texas timeline. (personal communication). mecha. (1968). plan de santa barbara. http://umich.edu/~mechaum/plan.html. muñoz, c. (2007). youth, identity, power. the chicano movement. verso press. pérez, e. (1999). the decolonial imaginary: writing chicanas into history. indiana university press. picower, b. (2009). the unexamined whiteness of teaching: how white teachers maintain dominant racial ideologies. race, ethnicity and education, 12(2) 197-215. puente, j. (2019, february 23). project sstarc summer workshop. personal notes. edinburg, tx, united states. puente, j. (2019, may 28). mesa comunitaria on mexican american studies in the schools. personal notes. edinburg, tx, united states. swaby, a. (2018, april 11). texas education board approves course formerly known as mexican-american studies. the texas tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2018/04/11/ texas-education-board-mexican-american-studies-course/. tintiangco-cubales, a., kohli, r., sacramento, j., henning, n., agarwal-rangnath, r., & sleeter, c. (2015). toward an ethnic studies pedagogy: implications for k-12 schools from the research. the urban review, 47(1), 104–125. sstarc: social studies through authentic and relevant curriculum. (n.d.). https://www.utrgv.edu/ sstarc/. saldaña, l., cervantes, m., vasquez gonzales, g., lopez, a. and garcía, j. (2020, march 7). engaging a decolonial framework in the continued evolution of the mexican american studies academy, naccs tejas foco, south texas college, mcallen, tx. valdez, l., and steiner, s. (1972). the brown berets. aztlan. an anthology of mexican american literature. alferd a. knopf press. yaffe-bellany, d. (2018, june 13). texas education board votes to call long-sought texas course ethnic studies: mexican american studies. the texas tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/ 2018/06/13/mexican-american-studies-vote/ https://harlingenedc.com/choose-harlingen/demographics https://oese.ed.gov/files/2018/10/historias-americanas-abstract.pdf https://www.themonitor.com/2019/04/24/utrgv-partners-local-districts-history-education/ https://www.themonitor.com/2019/04/24/utrgv-partners-local-districts-history-education/ https://www.idra.org/services_categories/mexican-american-studies/ http://umich.edu/~mechaum/plan.html https://www.texastribune.org/2018/04/11/texas-education-board-mexican-american-studieshttps://www.texastribune.org/2018/04/11/texas-education-board-mexican-american-studieshttps://www.texastribune.org/2018/06/13/mexican-american-studies-vote/ https://www.texastribune.org/2018/06/13/mexican-american-studies-vote/ volume 15 issue 2 2021 amae invited issue mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools guest editors sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.2.424 garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 85 cinco dedos: a mexican american studies framework nicolas garcía, phd john marshall high school anthony gonzales john marshall high school abstract mexican american studies (mas) courses have been criticized for many years. legislation in arizona and texas have attempted to ban the content. this article pushes back on this attempt of oppression and offers mas teachers a framework to apply when teaching the content. using a timeline to depict the years of attempts for mexican american studies to be approved, we offer practitioners and researchers an ethnic studies framework particularly with mas courses. using cultural art, poetry, and literature, mas teachers can benefit from using the cinco dedos framework especially at the secondary (6-12) grade levels. this framework prepares mas teachers to utilize various chicanx histories to tell the stories of mexican american heroes not talked about in traditional american history courses. this article also provides tools to use in secondary mas classrooms that highlight mexican american culture for students provided by a mas teacher. one of the founders of the framework uses this in his mas course at a high school located in san antonio, tx. keywords: ethnic studies, mexican american studies, mas pedagogy, cinco dedos, mas framework a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 86 sleeter et. al. (2019) argue that ethnic studies benefits students in observable ways as they become more academically engaged, perform better on achievement tests, graduate at higher rates, and develop a sense of self-efficacy and personal empowerment. in 2018, the texas state board of education (tsboe) approved the ethnic studies: mexican american studies elective course for texas high schools. the approval of mexican american studies (mas) created a new challenge in making sure that students received quality lessons while educators explored a new curriculum with few readily available resources. this article describes a new framework, los cinco dedos, created to assist educators in creating a multidisciplinary curriculum to address the needs of the students enrolled in ethnic studies classes, specifically mexican american studies. this article begins by discussing the differentiation of terms of hispanic, latino, and chicanx, and explains the geographic and political differences among those groups. ethnic studies, mexican american studies, chicanx studies, and culturally relevant pedagogy are also significant bodies of literature for this study. the study then includes examples of a framework created by the co-author who highlights the cinco dedos of mexican american studies pedagogy in his mas classroom. examples of how the dedos are used is also discussed, in order to provide educators and scholars with a better understanding of how this methodology is used to enhance the student experience in an ethnic studies classroom. the chapter concludes with a timeline beginning from the start of the 20th century as it relates to educational challenges and resistance from chicanx students and leaders along with examples of los cinco dedos in action. chicanx studies courses are relevant in this chapter as it relates to mas and other ethnic studies courses. the discourse and scrutiny regarding these courses at the state level, and the importance of student movement to approve these courses is explained throughout the chapter. the history of deculturalization regarding native americans is included to exemplify colonization of education as a practice that still exists in k-12 schools today. throughout these sections, notable experiences such as the banning of mexican american studies in tucson, arizona are mentioned. this is important as it relates to texas’ progress towards mas, african american studies, and native american studies. as these courses are expanded across the state of texas, educators are faced with the challenge of creating, and maintaining, a culturally relevant curriculum. garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 87 differentiation in terms ethnic studies counters the traditional eurocentric curriculum that leads many students of color to disengage from academic learning (sleeter, et. al., 2019). countering the traditional curriculum students receive allows communities of color to identify stories about themselves. one important issue regarding ethnic studies lies in the name of the course itself. mora (2014), argues that terms like hispanic/latino community, and latino vote are common and it is difficult to find a government report or political statement that does not describe persons of latin american descent as “hispanics'' or “latinos.” puerto ricans, cubans, and mexican americans often faced the same backlash but have also been lumped together using political terms. the term hispanic, created by the nixon administration, bunched communities of color who spoke spanish. several questions remain unanswered including why the hispanic census category was ultimately deemed an ethnic and not a racial classification and offers little insight into how census officials tried to convince individuals to identify as hispanic on government forms (mora, 2014). eventually, the nixon administration moved forward and the term hispanic is still used today. the term can be confusing since it is used as an ethnic term vs. racial classification. though they are often placed together in political terms, mexican americans, puerto ricans, and cubans have many differences with the biggest being geographical differences. the largest of the groups, mexican americans clustered in the southwest, while puerto ricans stayed near new york, and cuban communities stayed in miami (mora, 2014). the chicanx movement in california in the 1960s, sparked change in various political and social contexts, including how the education of mexican americans and other people of color created social disparities in and outside the classroom. the term chicanx has rich meaning in its name and became a term to empower and motivate mexican americans to take political and social action against racial injustice. according to the texas association of chicanos in higher education (tache), the term chicanx is defined as an individual living in the u.s. whose parents or grandparents came from mexico (www.tache.org). others argue and give more meaning behind the origin of the term chicanx. jackson (2010) argues that the term chicanx began as a derogatory word describing poor mexican immigrants living in the u.s. and has often been presented as an identity that represents the mexican american experience or community. furthermore, the term can be viewed as a symbol of pride as the chicanx movement continued throughout the 1960s. http://www.tache.org/ a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 88 similar to chicanx, the term mexican american may also take on different definitions depending on how one identifies oneself. the difficulty in categorizing all latinos in a single group has affected the discussion regarding what to label the mexican american studies course. as students progress in an ethnic studies course, they begin to formulate a better sense of their own identity. los cinco dedos framework allows students to explore the ideas of identity through a student-centered approach and decide what the name best represents for themselves. in the late 1990s, tucson unified school district (tusd) changed the name of the hispanic studies department to mexican american/raza studies in 2002. they later changed the name again to mexican american studies in 2008 (cammarota et al., 2014). throughout the discourse of names and political terms, chicanx will be used in the following sections as it relates to the timelines of the chicanx movement demanding justice and equity starting in the 1900s. the term chicanx is most significant because chicanx studies courses were formed during the civil rights and chicanx movement eras. the plan espiritual aztlan and the plan de santa barbara labeled those in the movement as chicanos and set up the basis for chicano studies classes to be created at the college level. although some events are not explained in detail in the next section, it is important to note the history of spanish colonization on modern day mexico land, and how this influenced practices and teachings today. while not explained in detail, they are highlighted throughout the timeline relating to chicanx studies in america. framework for mexican american studies pedagogy: los cinco dedos in relation to the history of mas courses and the debate in texas, several controversies co-exist. in 2018, the state of texas approved a year-long mexican american studies (mas) social studies course after a long battle led by mexican american, chicanx and latinx educators, activists, and students. now that the class is offered to students throughout the state, the challenge remains of providing quality content that satisfies the academic and cultural needs of our students. the importance of mexican american studies cannot be overstated. mexican american students have long been denied the stories and lessons regarding jovita idar, carmelita torres, rodolfo “corky” gonzales, ruben salazar and countless other mexican american heroes that committed themselves to the idea that mexican americans should be treated with dignity and respect. traditionally, some mexican american students have learned about the struggles of césar chávez, dolores huerta, and the united farm workers (ufw). although the impact and influence of the garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 89 ufw on the chicanx movement is immeasurable, this was not the beginning or the end of the chicanx movement. the purpose of this study is to identify ways in which mas teachers can provide quality content using a multidisciplinary approach created by keli rosa cabunoc romero and anthony gonzales called los cinco dedos while also providing an in-depth history of approving/rejecting mas courses. this study explains los cinco dedos and how they are used to increase social capital (yosso, 2005) and build upon the strengths mexican american students enter the classroom with. the framework attempts to create an immersive cultural experience for all students enrolled in a mas class. los cinco dedos highlights the important contributions of people of color and the cultural aspects of art, music, and literature to supplement the history curriculum. dedo uno: by us, for us the first dedo in creating an ethnic studies curriculum is to ensure that all material presented uses a by us, for us approach. instructional material and the resources provided for mexican american studies should be created by members of the mexican american, chicanx, latinx, and people of color communities. if these stories are not told and portrayed correctly, others will disregard, exclude, or manipulate the truth of these stories. teachers must be intentional and use works created by chicanx latinx, black, and other communities of color to create lessons students can identify with in the curriculum. mas teachers should refrain from simple google searches that provide artwork and resources that do not credit the creator, but instead use chicanx archives from universities and colleges with strong chicanx communities such as texas, arizona, and california. these locations are critical as the chicanx movement’s inspiration derived from these areas, however, numerous chicanx programs were created throughout the nation that provide similar archival information. these schools have long been committed to the chicanx movement and provide educated individuals who have curated primary and secondary resources that can easily be adapted for the classroom. using these primary sources from those involved in the fight for equality prior to, during, and after the 1960s allows our students to examine the rhetoric and analyze the purpose of those people who fought for equality, equity, and respect. in addition to the archives provided by institutions of higher learning, art collectives such as the royal chicanx airforce posted their entire catalog online. a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 90 the archives of the royal chicanx air force and work from other chicanx artists can be used to provide visuals for lessons ranging from topics such as the indigenous people of mesoamerica, to the mexican revolution, and present issues facing the chicanx and latinx communities. it is important that mexican american studies incorporates all aspects of mexican american society, not only history. figure 1 (favela, 1976; montoya, n.d.) are used in the class as ways to deconstruct dialogue regarding the united farmworkers’ strike led by cesar chavez. figure 1. huelga! strike! support the ufw (favela, 1976) and atencion campesinos! (montoya, n.d.) dedo dos: more than a history class the cinco dedos framework is interdisciplinary and calls for mas to be more than a history class. the second dedo calls for chicanx and mexican american artwork, literature, theatre, music, music videos, movies, poems, and spoken word to be used to provide a total cultural experience for the students in mas. the intertwining of mexican art, music, and history make it impossible to teach a mas course without including those elements. for example, following the mexican revolution (1910-1921), the mexican government financed public art projects to celebrate the accomplishments and history of the indigenous people in mexico (jackson, 2010). when discussing the impact of colonization on mexico, one must also consider the response to that after the mexican revolution. these murals told the history of mexico and muralism became an integral piece to the telling of mexican american history in the united states. other forms of art including theater have been important in telling the history of mexican americans. el teatro campesino, which was created by luis valdez in 1965, continues to produce theater for the garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 91 movement that empowers mexican americans. the works of el teatro show the mexican american and chicanx viewpoint to our students in a way that a reading or textbook cannot. figure 2 (aranda, 1984) is another use of chicanx artwork used within the cinco dedos framework. figure 2. wall of heroes and martyrs (aranda, 1984) the chicanx and latinx communities continue to paint murals across the nation that provide visual imagery that supports the civil rights struggles while reclaiming cultural heritage. figure 3 (talavera & melchor, 2020) provide opportunities for students to discuss the controversies centered around mexican american women and the viewpoints students have. a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach ensures that students receive a complete representation of mexican american and chicanx culture. topics such as the murder of vanessa guillen allow students to voice their opinions of the press’ handling of her murder. students often identify with stories when they relate to the communities that are affected. in this case, students of color can identify with vanessa guillen as a young woman and a person of color. a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 92 figure 3. entre todas las mujeres (talavera & melchor, 2020) dedo tres: cultura ensuring that mas is interdisciplinary will provide a more complete cultural experience. the third dedo in the mexican american studies classroom asks that students not only read, view, and analyze work by mexican americans, chicanx, and people of color, but engage with those artists, musicians, writers, and community members who continue to spread awareness of mexican american history and culture. many are more than willing to work with mas students. teachers should encourage those who are active in the mexican american community to speak to our students and this will help them come to the realization that the chicanx movement is not over. to our students, the chicanx movement seems like a lifetime ago, but it is important that they realize leaders of the movement are still active today, and they left a legacy of mexican american and chicanx empowerment. dedo cuatro: student centered learning the mas classroom should be student centered. our students are capable, articulate, and critical thinkers. mas is one of the few classes in which many students will enter the room as experts. some students who take mas are somewhat familiar with the mexican american culture based on their lived experiences, and many may consider themselves experts. mas empowers our students and helps them realize that their stories are valid. mas should provide a safe space and the opportunity for students to share and celebrate their cultural experiences with one another. for mas students who do not identify as mexican american, the opportunity to hear the garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 93 experiences within another culture empowers them to speak about their own experiences. the fourth dedo focuses on student centered learning. this is a vital part to success in the mas classroom. a student-centered approach allows students to discuss the content using their own knowledge and experience to formulate their own opinions on critical issues that they explore in an academic setting for the first time. figure 4. students in mas class at john marshall high school celebrating día de los muertos dedo cinco: community involvement the fifth and final dedo centers on the idea of community involvement. as discussed before, mexican american and chicanx artists, writers, and activists have been integral parts of their community and often use their voice to empower that community. the cinco dedos framework calls for mexican american studies students to be given the opportunity to do the same and to use their voice to empower the community. community involvement not only provides our students with an opportunity to become more active in their community, but also to become a part of and learn from their community. this dedo also creates a space where families of our students can enter the classroom and share important aspects of mexican american culture. as more students realize and understand the validity of their own family’s experiences, they understand all our stories and histories are important. in 1969, when chicanx scholars came together to write el plan de santa barbara to establish chicano studies throughout the southwest, community activism was highlighted as one of the important pillars of chicano studies. it is important that mas students contribute to the legacy of el plan of santa barbara by actively a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 94 participating in their community. figure 5 shows students with the co-author of this article giving back to the community of san antonio. this gives students the opportunity to demonstrate the teachings they receive within their mas class. figure 5. mas students at john marshall high school volunteering at the 2020 jaime p. martinez thanksgiving in the barrio hosted in san antonio, tx mexican american education 1900 to 1960 the state approved mexican american studies course is classified as a history elective. although the goal of los cinco dedos is a multidisciplinary curriculum, it is important to understand the history of mexican american education throughout the southwest to better understand the needs of mexican american students. though the call for better schools and a demand for change sparked headlines during the civil rights era, one of the first boycotts against segregated facilities took place in san angelo, texas in 1910 (acuña, 2011). in 1911, el primer congreso mexicanista (the first mexicanist congress) met in laredo, texas to discuss educational issues mexicans and mexican americans faced. jovita idar organized the women’s league in an effort to provide education for poor children while advocating for women’s rights including the right to vote. jovita idar’s organization of el congreso resulted in the founding of la gran liga mexicanista de beneficencia y protección (the great league for relief and protection.) their goal was to eliminate the segregation of mexican and mexican american children in the public school system (barragan goetz, 2020). idar’s leadership and fight for school reform led her to opening escuelitas (little garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 95 schools) for mexican american children. figure 6 (ortiz, n.d.) is used within the class to show the impact idar’s work had for mexican american art, culture, and literature. during the same decade, mexican organizations established other escuelitas offering reading and writing lessons for preschool aged children (acuña, 2011). as our students learn about the efforts of jovita idar and el primer congreso mexicanista, it is important that they know idar left a living legacy. the work done by idar continues to be celebrated in chicanx artwork and literature. the implementation of los cinco dedos and the examination of artwork by contemporary artists will demonstrate the impact of idar and her contemporaries. figure 6. jovita idar setting type in the sun (ortiz, n.d.) in the early 1920s, policymakers sought to eliminate the spanish language from schools, an important aspect of mexican american identity. the immigration act of 1924 attempted to colonize communities of color, by creating a quota system for immigrants with western european nations having the highest number of immigrants allowed in the united states, while mexican wage workers remained the same to maintain business interests (grandin, 2019). to offset the nativist policies of the 1920s, the mexican consulate offered support to escuelitas throughout south texas by providing money, supplies, and attending school events (goetz barragan, 2020). acuña (2011) argues an awareness for education reform increased after world war i with the formation of the league of united latin american citizens (lulac). the organization was formed in 1929 in corpus christi, texas, and remains the largest hispanic civil a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 96 rights organization in the u.s. lulac, formed the committee of playgrounds and school facilities, which was chaired by eleuterio escobar jr. escobar concluded that only education could lift mexican americans out of poverty. he later developed la liga pro-defensa escolar (school improvement league) in san antonio in 1935 (garcia, 1997). under his leadership, the inequities of funding schools and the policies regarding the mexican american community and housing developments were exposed. la liga also helped organize a student walkout at sidney lanier high school, a campus originally created as a vocational school for mexican american students in san antonio. students at lanier walked out again in the 1960s in demand for a better education. other mexican american movements occurred during the 1930s including strikes in the agriculture business such as the pecan shellers in 1938. led by emma tenayuca, the pecan sheller’s strike of 1938 recruited thousands of participants in the demand for better working conditions and better wages. vargas (1997) argues that with over 10,000 participants, it was the largest labor strike in san antonio history and largest community-based strike by the mexican population in the 1930s. although the pecan shellers’ strike in san antonio may not have yielded the economic benefits that the workers anticipated, it demonstrated the collective power of mexican americans in the community. numerous murals of emma tenayuca exist throughout the westside of san antonio. los cinco dedos can be used to introduce these pieces of art to students, while also increasing student knowledge of their own community. the participation of mexican americans and other people of color in world war ii contributed to an increased level of social awareness and legislation regarding public segregation. prior to the landmark brown vs. board of education decision, mendez vs. westminster set a precedent regarding school segregation: sylvia mendez, a nine-year old girl, was turned away from a “whites only” school in orange county, california. thurgood marshall represented the mendez family and argued that segregation of students was detrimental and unconstitutional. in 1947, judge paul mccormick agreed with marshall and stated segregation of schools is similar to the segregation of races and religious groups that occurred in nazi germany (ramos, 2004). mendez v. westminster was the first case to uphold that school segregation itself is unconstitutional and violates the 14th amendment (blanco, 2010). during the decade of the 1950s, several supreme court cases affected educational policies still in effect today. in 1954, pete hernandez, a mexican american farm worker, was accused of garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 97 killing an anglo man and faced an all-white jury. in his appeals case, his attorney gus garcia argued that mexican american citizens were discriminated against in jackson county, texas. racial segregation of children in public schools was found unconstitutional in 1954 with the outcome of brown vs. board of education of topeka. judge earl warren found segregation of schools unconstitutional in his ruling of the case. brown vs. the board of education provided the legal support to begin the process of dismantling segregated schools throughout the united states, however, local state governments intentionally prolonged integration. only three years after brown vs. the board of education, the u.s. civil rights commission examined cases involving communities of color. the data reflected was meant to highlight the wrongdoings of the mexican american community, however, the data also provided evidence that mexican american dropout rates or “push out” rates in school continued to increase. the decisions in hernandez vs. texas and brown vs. the board of education demonstrated that mexican americans and people of color now had the legal backing of the supreme court, but in schools and other aspects of american society, the fight for equality was not over. 1960s the 1960s sparked the biggest moment of mexican american activism, the chicano movement. in 1962, césar chávez and dolores huerta co-founded the national farm workers association as they demanded equal wages. the organization evolved into the united farm workers (ufw) in delano, california. it was chávez’ and huerta’s leadership that ultimately led to the movement for greater equal schooling opportunities. in 1963, a political takeover began in crystal city when a coalition called for mexican americans to be named to city council. an organization called the political association of spanish speaking organizations (paso) mounted the successful effort to elect five mexicanos to city council, replacing the previously all white council. josé angel gutierrez rose to prominence as a political leader in the effort to elect mexican americans to public office in crystal city (navarro, 2010). as the actions of the ufw gained national attention, the los angeles times sent a prominent writer ruben salazar to cover the stories in delano. salazar produced a series of articles highlighting the ufw movement and became an ally to organizers in the u.s speaking out for the equal rights of mexican americans. published by the l.a. times in 1963, salazar’s writings linked indigenous and mexican american culture. at the time, a conference sponsored by john a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 98 kennedy’s equal opportunity committee that demanded a more effective education for mexican youth took place (acuña, 2011). salazar (1963), spoke at the conference about the educational and social problems of urban and rural mexican-americans and argued that mexican american youth displayed low graduation rates because of the acculturation they faced in school. the writings of ruben salazar contributed to the motivation behind the student walkouts that became prominent throughout the southwest in the 1960s. this leadership continued throughout the 1960s when the mexican american youth organization (mayo) developed a plan to take over school boards in an effort to demand equity in schools for communities of color. mayo was composed of five college students from san antonio; willie velasquez, josé angel gutierrez, mario compean, ignacio perez, and juan patlan (acuña, 2011). mayo’s work towards education reform began with seeking culturally relevant courses, like mexican american studies. their methods included boycotting and the organization of the famous student walkouts. mayo provided innovative ideas while high school youth walked out in del rio, uvalde, abilene, and robstown to name a few (montejano, 1987). towards the end of the decade, student power continued to grow and on march 5th 1968, the walkouts in east los angeles instigated a national student movement. the walkouts brought national attention to the achievement disparities in schools, lackluster education standards for mexican american youth, and the term “chicano” was embraced by mexican american students as a term of ethnic and cultural pride (sahagun, 2018). san antonio’s first walkout occurred in 1968 when students protested teachers who did not accept a mexican american student council nominee. elida aguilar was suspended for insubordination when she demanded the right to speak spanish and advocated for mexican american history classes (acuña, 2011). the passion of these students caught the attention of state and city officials such as state senator joe bernal. on the westside of san antonio in edgewood isd, students fought for equitable funding and asked for the extermination of rats and roaches in school facilities. janie hilgen, a teacher in edgewood at the time, supported students and was one of two teachers suspended by the district (wright, 1968). in 2019, the edgewood walkouts were commemorated by northwest vista community college in san antonio with a mural that depicted the actions of the students. the students who walked out in the 1960 left a legacy of change and active resistance for students of color. garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 99 as a response to a lack of attention and care to the mexican community in education, the first chicanx studies program was founded in 1967 at california state college in los angeles (guidotti-hernandez, 2017). the struggle to develop the department was countered by a student movement along with mexican american faculty. throughout the 1960s, higher education institutions faced resistance from people of color that led to changes in course offerings. in 1968, el movimiento estudiantil de aztlan (mecha) was formed from el plan de santa barbara. the plan asked for recruitment of chicanx students, faculty, administrators and staff and included a curriculum that is relevant to chicanx culture and the historical experiences. acuña (2011) argues changing the name from english to spanish made this movement different; claiming “aztlan” recognizes the indigenous roots of mexican americans and the fact that they were here before euro americans. this movement struck change and allowed for the development of the first chicanx studies programs. the use of los cinco dedos ensures that students not only receive the historical knowledge discussed in this section, but also the art, music, and literature of the chicano movement. the framework ensures that the goals set forth by the writers of el plan de santa barbara are met. mexican american students are given the opportunity to better understand their history, culture, and immerse themselves in their community. 1970s to present day josé angel gutierrez continued his leadership through the 1970s. returning to crystal city and similarly to his effort in 1963, he sought political change by attempting to have mexican american leadership take over the school board and created the raza united party (rup). the political party challenged the notion of a traditional two political party system. a chicanx political party was a reminder that mexicanos were committed to democracy and community control in their pursuit for self-determination (navarro, 2000). the rup held its first national conference in el paso two years later. during his tenure as president, richard nixon and the transition to reagan’s presidency coined the term “hispanic”. this caused a disruption in the chicanx movement since the term attempted to lump communities of color together. in 1980, the government first used hispanic on census forms with options for mexicans, mexican-americans, chicanxs, puerto rican, cuban and “other” (cruz, 2018). although other events occurred between the 1980s through the 2000s, another movement occurred in the 2000s that impacted mas courses significantly. a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 100 when tucson and arizona policy makers dismantled mas courses, student voices demanded changes in schools. in response to eliminating mas courses, students marched to the capitol and chained themselves to school board members’ chairs. students responded to hb 2281 by using their voice and taking action in a topic passionate to them and their culture. this led to student leadership and movement to keep mas offered in tucson schools. these actions displayed resistance capital as students, teachers, and communities of color advocated for mas courses to remain as options in k-12 schools. as a form of resistance, solorzano and delgado bernal (2001a) argue that students’ response acting from a critique of oppression and motivated by social justice, engages in transformative resistance and this is when social change is likely to occur. students resisting the oppression formed a student leadership group through this process. cabrera, meza, romero, & cintli rodríguez (2013) state “amidst the walkouts, unidos created the day-long school of ethnic studies where students could learn from the forbidden curriculum of mas (pp. 8). in response to hb 2281, students from u.n.i.d.o.s. (united non-discriminatory individuals demanding our studies) used data to empower student voices and led to a cancelled board meeting by mas students protesting these decisions. ultimately, school board officials could not dismantle mas that day because the board meeting did not take place, however, when later rescheduled, multiple law enforcement officials were called due to the protest. the goal of keeping mas in schools was achieved that day using student and community voices. although the board meeting was postponed, policy change later enacted and approved hb 2281 resulting in the loss and banning mas courses. deriving from chicanx studies in california, mas highlights untold heroes, the histories of migrant workers, and the oppression communities of color faced. arellano (2018a) argues that chicanx studies forced mexicans in the u.s. to confront their own pathologies and taught solidarity with mexicans who immigrated illegally. shedding light on mexican histories not only gives students the opportunity to understand their culture but also inserts the untold stories of mexican americans. in an additional article, arellano (2018b) describes the real agenda for chicanx studies is to push students to explore, and question the empirical truth no matter how inconvenient it may be for others. garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 101 summary this chapter summarized the cinco dedos framework as it applies to the experiences of the co-author’s mexican american studies classroom in a south texas high school. the framework provides opportunities and suggestions to build a curriculum for the texas approved mas course. additionally, this chapter provided a breakdown in the differentiation of terms as well as a timeline of the chicanx movement. it is important to note the controversies of approving a mas course in texas as it relates to the dismantling of mas in arizona. in texas, students will take 28 total classes during their high school career. because mexican american studies is the only course dedicated to their history and their culture, educators must ensure that they provide an interdisciplinary experience that highlights all elements of mexican american history. a mexican american studies framework association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 102 references acuña, r. (2011). the making of chicana/o studies in the trenches of academe. rutgers university press. aranda, g. (1984). wall of heroes (mural). uc santa barbara library. https://oac.cdlib.org /ark:/13030/hb067nb202/?brand=oac4 arellano, g. (2018a, september 05). the ethnic studies kids are alright. los angeles times. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-arellano-chicano-studies-20180905 story.html arellano, g. (2018b, september 05). the agenda of chicano studies. los angeles times. https://libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa. edu/docview/2099255212?accountid=7122 barragán goetz, p. (2020). reading, writing, and revolution : escuelitas and the emergence of a mexican american identity in texas (1st edition). university of texas press. blanco m. (2010). before brown, there was mendez: the lasting impact of mendez v. westminster in the struggle for desegregation. immigration policy center. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/lasting-impact-mendez-vwestminster-struggle-desegregation cabrera, n. l., meza, e. l., romero, a. j., & cintli rodríguez, r. (2013). “if there is no struggle, there is no progress”: transformative youth activism and the school of ethnic studies. the urban review, 45(1), 7–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-012-0220-7 cammarota, j., romero, a., & stovall, d. (2014). raza studies : the public option for educational revolution . university of arizona press. cruz, a. (2018). the problematic history of the word "hispanic". teen vogue. https://www. teenvogue.com/story/problematic-history-of-hispanic-word favela, r. (1976). huelga! strike! – support the u. f. w. a. (announcement poster). https://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb7f59p338/?brand=oac4 garcia, e. (1997). eleuterio escobar and the school improvement league of san antonio. latinos and education: a critical reader, (1) 398-419. grandin, g. (2019). the border patrol has been a cult of brutality since 1924. the intercept. https://theintercept.com/2019/01/12/border-patrol-history/ guidotti-hernández, n. m. (2017). chicano studies. oxford university press. jackson, c. f. (2010). chicana and chicano art: protestarte. university of arizona press. montejano, d. (1987). anglos and mexicans in the making of texas, 1836-1986. university of texas press. montoya, j. (n.d.). atencion campesinos. (announcement poster). https://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/ 13030/hb8g5011fw/?brand=oac4 mora, g. c. (2014). making hispanics: how activists, bureaucrats, and media constructed a new american. university of chicago press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/ 9780226033976.001.0001 navarro, a. (2000). la raza unida party. temple university press. ortiz, c. (n.d). jovita idar setting type in the sun. oil painting. https://www.cruzortizart.net/buenagente/zbl7zp6juvob04f35wjlgwibpo886v ramos, l. (2004). dismantling segregation ttgether: interconnections between the méndez v. westminster (1946) and brown v. board of education (1954) school segregation cases. equity & excellence in education, 37(3), 247–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680490491560 https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-arellano-chicano-studies-20180905-%20%20%20%20story.html https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-arellano-chicano-studies-20180905-%20%20%20%20story.html https://libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/2099255212?accountid=7122 https://libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/2099255212?accountid=7122 https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/lasting-impact-mendez-v-westminster-struggle-desegregation https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/lasting-impact-mendez-v-westminster-struggle-desegregation https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-012-0220-7 https://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb7f59p338/?brand=oac4 https://theintercept.com/2019/01/12/border-patrol-history/ https://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%2013030/hb8g5011fw/?brand=oac4 https://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%2013030/hb8g5011fw/?brand=oac4 https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226033976.001.0001 https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226033976.001.0001 https://www.cruzortizart.net/buena-gente/zbl7zp6juvob04f35wjlgwibpo886v https://www.cruzortizart.net/buena-gente/zbl7zp6juvob04f35wjlgwibpo886v https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680490491560 garcía & gonzales association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 103 sahagun, l. (2018). east l.a., 1968: ‘walkout!’ the day high school students helped ignite the chicano power movement. los angeles times. https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na 1968-east-la-walkouts-20180301-htmlstory.html salazar, r. (1963, february 25). heritage of el pueblo: leader calls effort to aid mexican-americans failures approach to problems held wrong lack of progress by latins cited. los angeles times (1923-1995). https://libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https:// search-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/168193899?accountid=7122 sleeter, c., acuff, j., b., bentley, c., guzman foster, s., morrison, p., & stenhouse, v. (2019). multicultural education or ethnic studies? in r. tolteka cuauhtin, m. zavala, c. sletter, & w. au (eds.), rethinking ethnic studies. rethinking schools, ltd. solórzano, d. & delgado bernal, d. (2001a) critical race theory, transformational resistance and social justice: chicana and chicano students in an urban context, urban education, 36, 308– 342. solorzano, d., & delgado bernal, d. (2001b). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36, 308–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 tache. (n.d.). https://www.tache.org/. talavera, t., & melchor, s. (2020). entre todas las mujeres. (mural). https://quemeanswhat.com/ vanessa-guillen-mural-san-antonio-entre-todas-las-mujeres/ vargas, z. (1997). tejana radical: emma tenayuca and the san antonio labor movement during the great depression. pacific historical review, 66(4), 553-580. https://doi.org/10.2307/3642237 wright, d. (1968). threatened walkouts by teachers. san antonio express news. yosso, t. (2005) whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8:1, 69. https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-%20%20%20%201968-east-la-walkouts-20180301-htmlstory.html https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-%20%20%20%201968-east-la-walkouts-20180301-htmlstory.html https://libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https://%20%20search-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/168193899?accountid=7122 https://libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https://%20%20search-proquest-com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/168193899?accountid=7122 https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 https://quemeanswhat.com/%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20vanessa-guillen-mural-san-antonio-entre-todas-las-mujeres/ https://quemeanswhat.com/%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20vanessa-guillen-mural-san-antonio-entre-todas-las-mujeres/ https://doi.org/10.2307/3642237 volume 15 issue 1 2021 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 1 “it shaped who i am”: reframing identities for justice through student activism rebecca gutierrez keeton california state university, fullerton corina benavides lópez california state university, dominguez hills josé m. aguilar-hernández california state polytechnic university, pomona abstract on may 6, 1993, students of california state polytechnic university, pomona (cal poly pomona [cpp]) protested what they believed was a lack of diversity on campus. over 25 years later, this qualitative study explores the identity development of undergraduate students who led that movement, which resulted in the founding of five cultural centers at cpp in 1995. in doing so, this study adds to the growing literature on activism and chicana/o/x and latina/o/x identity development. today, student-led movements shine light on continued inequities in higher education. the reframing identities for justice (rij) identity development model serves as a lens to explore how six students’ historical narratives offer a unique glimpse into the impact of activism on their identity development. we found participants’ identity development was influenced by (a) experiencing meaningful interactions along their developmental journeys, (b) making sense of oppression and privilege, (c) discovering praxis between previous learning and activism at cpp, and (d) building coalitions and kinship. findings show that students act for social justice before they explore multiple identities. we conclude that activism impacts student identity development and offer recommendations for how to enhance this development to student activists, faculty, and administrators. keywords: chicanx/latinx student activism, identity development, cultural centers, higher education doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.1.414 https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/view/414 it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 2 introduction student activism, although not always acknowledged, is a pillar in higher education institutions in the united states and globally. historically, students have a central role in shaping policies, reforming curriculum, improving and increasing campus services, improving enrollment and retention practices, and strengthening community partnerships. the 1960s is considered one of the major socio-political time periods that birthed a vision and plan to hold universities accountable to racially minoritized students that continues today. chicana/o and latina/o students, specifically, have a rich history of activism that has improved university structures to better serve them. direct outcomes of 1960s student activism include the creation of cultural centers and ethnic studies departments on university campuses. a rich body of scholarship focuses on the historical significance of chicana/o and latina/o student activism, yet there is a need to also study how student activists’ identity formation is impacted in the historical past. informed by 1960s student activism, in may of 1993, chicana/o and latina/o1 students at california state polytechnic university, pomona (cpp), staged a protest to demand increased representation of chicana/o and latina/o students, faculty, and administrators. cpp was established in 1938 as an all-male institution that primarily served white students. by the 1990s, cpp had the potential to serve the area’s growing chicana/o/x and latina/o/x1 population, yet the institution’s student, administrative, and faculty bodies did not reflect local demographics. a history of racial inequity permeated the campus; this hostile climate was captured by recommendations following a visit from the western association of schools and colleges (wasc) team (1990). one recommendation highlights the team’s perspective on cpps “spirit of diversity”: beyond increasing the diversity of "bodies" in the community, is the issue of the climate in which they live. some genuine and strong concerns about the culture in regard to gender, as well as race and ethnicity, are present. there is a clear danger that tensions will escalate. cal poly is not alone, of course, in these problems. it should broaden its approach to diversity to include the life on campus (wasc, 1990, p. 48). 1 the authors acknowledge the growing use of chicanx and latinx to include gender nonconforming and trans individuals who do not identify with the feminine or masculine renditions of “chicana” and “chicano.” for historical purposes, this article uses chicana/o/x and latina/o/x to illustrate contemporary expansive gendered identities. further, this article uses chicana, chicano, chicana/o, latina, latino, and latina/o specific to the 1990s because chicanx and latinx did not exist within the historical records of that time. gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 3 the 1993 protest by chicana/o and latina/o students, known as the raza council, led to a series of meetings with cpp president bob h. suzuki that included an 18-month long negotiation process that included establishing a raza center (the césar e. chávez center for higher education [cecche] opened its doors in spring of 1995); the hiring of a chicana/o/x member in the president’s cabinet to serve as special assistant to the president and director of affirmative action responsible for growing the latina/o/x faculty and staff population; and increased outreach and recruitment to expand the latina/o/x student population on campus. during negotiations, students’ advocacy against the “death of diversity” grew to include support for the development of an african american student center, asian and pacific islander student center, native american student center, pride center, and expanded women and reentry center (aguilar-hernández et al., in press). this study explores the identity development of student leaders who were directly involved in a social movement at cpp to address the racism and lack of representation they experienced on campus. we contribute to the growing body of scholarship that links identity development and student activism. we draw on oral history interviews with chicana/o and latina/o student leaders of the raza council to consider whether and how students' activism on campus between 1990 and 1995 influenced their identity development. as students continue to fight for equity in u.s. higher education today, we believe in the importance of exploring how to enhance developmental opportunities for student activists as well as their experiences on campus. in this article, we ask 1) what influence did participation in social activism have on student leaders’ racial/ethnic identity? 2) did student leaders feel differently about their racial/ethnic identity after their involvement in social activism? and 3) what influence, if any, did participation in social activism have on other identities, such as gender identity or sexual orientation? the literature on student activism and identity development highlights the many ways students are impacted developmentally by their positive and negative socio-political and cultural experiences in higher education. it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 4 literature review racism persists in u.s. higher education (morgan & davis, 2019) and students continue to interrupt this racism with social movements (darder, 2011; linder et al., 2019; morgan & davis, 2019; stewart & quaye, 2019). identity development models reflect the impact of discrimination and are increasingly addressing multiple identities and intersectionality (crenshaw, 1991; gallegos & ferdman, 2012; hernandez, 2013; torres & hernandez, 2007). educational experiences and discrimination impact latinx students’ identities, often because of the jarring nature of the structural inequalities they experience during college (patton et al., 2016; torres, 2003; torres & baxter magolda, 2004; torres et al., 2011; torres & hernandez, 2007). historically, latinx students have responded to socio-political issues and discrimination with social activism (acuña, 2011; cronin et al., 2010; gildersleeve & sifuentez, 2017; hernandez, 2012, 2013; tropp et al., 2012), which often leads to positive institutional and individual outcomes (acuña, 2011; pulido, 2006). yet, student activists also experience backlash, exhaustion, and racial battle fatigue (gorski, 2018; hernandez, 2012, 2013; stewart & quaye, 2019). the question remains: how does engagement in social movements impact the identity development of the student activists? latina/o/x individuals and groups are impacted by racism in the u.s. and higher education (acuña, 2011; morgan and davis, 2019). researchers acknowledge the social construction of latinx race and ethnicity, increasing impact of racism, and importance of intersectionality (gallegos & ferdman, 2012). contextual factors, including experiences in higher education, influence how latinx individuals see themselves and how their identities develop over time (gallegos & ferdman, 2012). in addition to educational experiences, ferdman and gallegos' (2001) found that latinx identities developed through familial reference groups, physical appearance, and peer interactions. contextual factors, including educational experiences during the college years, also impact identity development, with cultural dissonance due to structural inequality and oppression playing an essential role for latinx students (keeton, 2002; torres, 2003; torres & baxter magolda, 2004). like ferdman and gallegos (2001), torres (2003) highlights the impact of discrimination and the variety of lenses through which latinx college students view gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 5 themselves. torres (2003) explains how students adapt and manage the cognitive dissonance and discrimination they experience in college in her bicultural orientation model, which explores acculturation and ethnic identity orientation levels. historically, some students respond to racism and other socio-political issues with resistance, including protests (acuña, 2011; darder, 2011; pulido, 2006). darder (2011) describes the complexity involved in engaging in social movements: …when students respond with resistance, they may choose to separate from the dominant culture and segregate themselves within their own primary cultural community, or they may struggle to negotiate…in an effort to actualize some degree of social change (p. 202). students who respond to discrimination with personal and collective empowerment show a greater sense of identity consciousness (darder, 2011). as a result of the consciousness-raising experienced through activism, student activists have historically initiated socio-political changes in curriculum and student programs and services on college campuses. in direct response to racial inequities in california colleges and universities, chicana/o empowerment and the resulting student demands in the 1960s led to the creation of ethnic studies departments (acuña, 2011; pulido, 2006); an increase of chicana/o/x administrators, faculty, and staff; and the creation of cultural centers to counter institutional oppression and support positive ethnic and racial identity development (patton, 2010; yosso & benavides lópez, 2010). hernandez (2012) explores how engagement in political activism positively develops the identities of latinas. researchers also found that students who engage in activism in response to institutional oppression also learn to employ healthy coping mechanisms, increase their civic engagement, interact meaningfully with faculty and staff, and learn to navigate systems of change and the change process (hope et al., 2016; kezar & maxey, 2014; kuh et al., 2005). moreover, following demonstrations, students experience lower powerlessness and isolation levels, promoting agency (stake & hoffman, 2001). student activism in higher education involves protests and also includes other forms of civic engagement and community service, all of which result in shortand long-term positive outcomes, such as deeper cognitive and political it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 6 awareness, enhanced interpersonal development, and a more developed ethnic identity (hernandez, 2012; hope et al., 2016). although researchers have documented student activism’s positive outcomes, linder et al. (2019) described student activism as unpaid labor leading to minoritized activists experiencing exhaustion, fatigue, backlash, and burnout. this burnout is also called battle fatigue and emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion (gorski, 2018; stewart & quaye, 2019). furthermore, hernandez (2013) found mexican american student activists experienced daily challenges and marginalization in college, which were often not addressed by the university. this lack of responsiveness in higher education institutions negatively shaped students' cognitive and emotional development (hernandez, 2012). research on student activism and identity development must deepen, as political unrest at colleges and universities reflects broader issues of oppression in the united states (morgan & davis, 2019). here, we focus on student activist voices to honor their contributions and to explore the multitude of developmental benefits and personal challenges they experienced in their quest for justice and equity on campus. theoretical framework in this study, we use the reframing identities for justice (rij) model of identity development to analyze the identities of students who negotiated the establishment of the césar e. chávez center for higher education (cecche) in their pursuit of equity, representation, and social justice on campus (keeton, 2002). the rij model emerged from qualitative interviews with 30 experienced intergroup relations leaders who volunteered at the national conference for community and justice (nccj), a social justice organization. the rij model includes five foundations: 1) each person has multiple identities, recognized at different points in her or his life; 2) multiple identity development is a fluid, never-ending process; 3) multiple identities intersect in a variety of ways and, in a few specific instances, some identities do not intersect with others; 4) multiple identities are affected by context and oppressive structures; and 5) people experience expanded frames of reference that involve several identity transitions, which occur at new levels of complexity, depending on the context, throughout their life span (keeton, 2002). gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 7 we argue the rij frame lends itself to this study's purpose of understanding how chicana/o/x and latina/o/x student identities developed. the model can be used as a framework to describe the development that took place during and following the students’ social justice advocacy in the 1990s. it is critical to recognize that the five stages of the rij model do not necessarily occur in a specific order, because of the complexity of identity development. the rij model also has five expanding frames and developmental processes and describes: 1) how supportive and challenging critical incidents influence when individuals first begin to recognize their identities and the differences between them; 2) how individuals come to comprehend the dominant and non-dominant status of identities; 3) how individuals intentionally begin to intersect other identities into their consciousness and the role context plays; 4) how individuals begin to honor multiple identities in themselves and others and are willing to resist negative dominant culture values to redefine their own identities; and 5) how individuals take action for social justice and fight institutional oppression (keeton, 2002). a visualization of the rij model is presented in figure 1. figure 1 reframing identities for justice multiple identities development model it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 8 the reframing identities for justice model helps us analyze our identity development findings because it offers a framework to explore the developing identities of students that fought against oppression in higher education. we explore ways in which students made meaning of their identities, how they were challenged to explore their multiple identities and those of their peers, and how they reframed their identities in the process of advocating for justice. methodology oral history has flourished in the field of chicana/o/x education, led by educational historians invested in documenting how communities experienced and resisted racial and gendered inequities in the historical past (delgado bernal, 1998; garcía, 2018). oral history is an essential method to capture the past experiences of minoritized communities, whose voices are not usually captured in traditional archives. oral history allows educational researchers to fill in archival gaps as a way of documenting how minoritized communities challenge power within institutions, including schools (trouillot, 1995). as is the case with oral history projects on issues pertinent to communities of color, we positioned the activism and memories of students involved in the formation of the cecche “as sites of knowledge production” (barnett & noriega, 2013, p. 2). using oral history as our method, we gathered participants’ memories of leadership and the impact of their involvement on their identities. the data were analyzed to capture the participants’ experiences during their time as student leaders. thus, oral history allowed us to capture the impact and significance of student activism on the identity formation of past student leaders (~25 years later). as is common with oral history, we acknowledge that time may have shifted and shaped their recollections and how they make sense of, and make meaning out of, this time in their life. we found that the student leaders articulated being aware of the impact of their activism on their identities before, during, and after the 1990-1995 efforts. further, we argue that future studies on identity formation of student activists should consider oral history as a research method. participants  to identify participants for this study, we reviewed historical documents to find the key individuals involved, recruited leaders through alumni networks and social media, and contacted gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 9 them via email to request their participation. after contacting key leaders, we utilized the snowball sampling technique (mertens, 2020) and requested additional names and contact information for students who directly participated in the efforts leading to the establishment of the cecche. all participants were undergraduate student leaders involved in the foundational work of the cecche at some point between 1990 and 1995. all six participants self-identified as chicana/o, colombian, or mexican american; four participants identified as men and two as women. all but one participant agreed to use their real names for this study. student leader profiles ernesto rodriguez, a self-identified chicano/mexicano originally from mexico, was named by all participants as one of the key leaders of the student movement at cpp. he took this role seriously and worked to teach his peers the history of chicana/o social justice during meetings and informal gatherings. he was a computer science major and was actively involved in mecha (movimiento estudiantil chicana and chicano de aztlan), masa (mexican american student association), and the raza council. manuel saucedo was identified as another key leader. a self-identified chicano originally from mexico, he majored in electrical engineering and held numerous student leadership roles including the society of hispanic professional engineers, society of hispanics in science and engineering, mecha, the raza council, and the minority engineering program. norma leon was a communications major with a minor in psychology while at cpp and self-identified as chicana and is originally from mexico. along with corina crespo, she was one of only two women involved in the early organizing of the student movement. norma’s campus leadership included masa, mecha, associated students incorporated (asi), the multicultural council (mcc), and the raza council. stevan correa identified as a chicano/latino and majored in engineering and pre-med. stevan came to the u.s. as a teenager from mexico. his involvements included mecha, the raza council, the chicano/latino pre-medical student association, and he served as a tutor for disabled student services. jean paul allain, originally from colombia, was a mechanical engineering major with a minor in physics. as a non-mexican student, he provided a voice of inclusivity to the group. his it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 10 cpp activism included leadership with the society of hispanic scientists, the raza council, and the minority engineering program. esther (pseudonym) joined the efforts later, identified as a woman, and was a psychology major while at cpp. a self-identified chicana/mexican american, she came from an immigrant, farmworker family. while at cpp she held active leadership roles with masa, mecha, and the xicano latino heritage month committee. all six student leaders were first-generation college students and either immigrants or children of immigrants. during their oral history interviews, they discussed being firstgeneration college students and connected their identities as immigrants (or children of immigrants) to their passion for social justice and activism. while five participants self-identified racially/ethnically as chicana, chicano or mexican, and one identified as colombian, as students they all shared a strong sense of commitment to the diverse chicana/o and latina/o communities which impacted their collaborative work. and, because all of them held various leadership positions within the chicana/o latina/o and campus communities, as a group, they had clarity on the strong impact their leadership and activism could have on the university. data collection, analysis, and trustworthiness for this study, we utilized oral history to collect data because it allowed us to activate and capture the memory of six former raza council student leaders who participated in the establishment of the cecche at cpp between 1990 and 1995. as part of our protocol, we first obtained informed consent and administered demographic surveys in which participants self-identified their race/ethnicity, gender, citizenship or immigration status, where they grew up or considered home, the years they were at cpp, and the student leadership positions they held. oral history interview questions asked about their pre-cpp exposure to student activism and social inequity. then, they were asked about their memories of the 1990-1995 social movement at cpp. specifically, we asked them to provide concrete details of how the protest and negotiation process developed and also to reflect on the strengths and challenges of their efforts. last, we asked participants about their identity formation: (a) what influence, if any, did your participation in the formation of the cecche have on your racial/ethnic identity? (b) did you feel similarly about your racial/ethnic identity before your involvement in the formation of gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 11 the cecche? and (c) what influence, if any, did your participation in the formation of the cecche have on your gender and/or sexuality identities? we collected first-person oral histories using one-on-one interviews with the six participants. our oral history questions used an interview protocol that allowed us to ask follow-up questions. interviews lasted 60 to 90 minutes and were conducted face to face or via telephone. for this article, we extracted for analysis the students’ responses that spoke to their identity formation. we analyzed the resulting data using creswell’s (2014) six steps of qualitative analysis: (a) organize and prepare data for transcription, (b) review and code data, (c) use codes to create categories, (d) report findings through themes, (e) develop a qualitative narrative with findings, and (f) interpret and create meaning with findings. interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. our analysis strategy included both emergent and confirmatory analysis. creswell (2014) defined emergent analysis as high-level abstract coding in which researchers create a final list of core categories. following the emergent analysis method, we began by reviewing transcripts and open coding. we simultaneously reviewed, coded, and outlined the transcripts. emergent analysis continued using a constant comparison method of focused and axial coding. we then conducted confirmatory analysis to report how our themes aligned with the rij model. we used multiple strategies to ensure trustworthiness of the data and findings, including member checking (creswell, 2014; merriam & tisdell, 2016). to ensure accuracy of interviews, participants received a copy of their transcripts and provided feedback for revisions. to further ensure credibility of findings, we shared initial results with researchers and student affairs educators at one national and one regional conference. because the project focused on the past (1990-1995), it was historical in nature and drew on the experiences of living participants at the time of data collection. as merriam and tisdell (2016) stated, “case studies can be historical, as in the history of an organization or program” (p. 40). we found six oral histories sufficient for a historical case study; however, we acknowledge the sample is small for discussing identity formation and therefore not generalizable (creswell, 2014). as merriam and tisdell (2016) discussed, “in qualitative it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 12 research, a single case, or a small, nonrandom, purposeful sample is selected precisely because the researcher wishes to understand the particular in depth, not to find out what is generally true of many” (p. 254). we found that the purposeful sample of student leaders offered specific details about the campus climate at cpp in the 1990s, their personal experiences in that environment, and the situation that led to their social movement. the student leaders also reflected on their identity formations. findings emergent analysis of students' oral histories yielded four themes describing how activism influenced participants’ identity development: 1) experiencing meaningful interactions with people they met along their developmental journey; 2) making sense of oppression and privilege they experienced prior to and while at cpp; 3) connecting the past to the present by discovering praxis between previous learning and activism at cpp; and 4) building coalitions and kinship. next, we highlight the power of student activism and its influence on participants’ identity development. influenced by experiencing meaningful interactions: “i have a home here” students said they were challenged to reflect more deeply upon their identities because they engaged in activism. they could reflect upon and describe how individuals they met along their developmental journeys influenced their identity development. some of the influence happened in home communities, campus organizations and departments, and through one-onone interactions. home communities esther was affected by her immigrant community before arriving at cpp, having grown up in a rural agricultural region of southern california. esther shared how “the majority of us are chicano and the majority of us here are bilingual…how come we’re not in government, how come we’re not in city council, how come none of the teachers are latino?” she continued, “i don’t think it’s all of our fault. i think we’re all trying it’s just that there’s blocks.” she experienced some of these barriers at cpp, too, as she was one of a “small, small group” of chicanos in her major.” she said “there was this sense like students like me or people like me were having a hard time at cal poly [pomona] and a lot of us were not gonna make it.” her gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 13 immigrant experience and interactions with immigrants in her community and the campus's mexican american student association (masa) helped her develop a sense of justice and critically understand her positionality at cpp. she recalled that masa offered tutoring and a bilingual conference for the local community. as esther stated: masa allowed me to say, "okay, i'm different; i went away [to college]. i'm more immigrant. i learned english here. i didn't grow up in [los angeles], but there are people like me here, and i have a home here." esther connected the lack of opportunities available to latinos in the border town where she grew up with institutional barriers in her community and at cpp. many students spoke to the value of co-curricular and curricular engagement on their identity development and activism. campus organizations and departments campus organizations and academic departments were also influential for students during their time at cpp. in particular, el movimiento estudiantil chicana/o de aztlán (mecha) and masa were valuable organizations for nearly all participants, who also noted the impact professors and the ethnic and women's studies (ews) department had on their development. norma recalled the importance of meeting people along their journey: "during that time, i wouldn't consider myself as liberal or radical as some of the other students. . . . i relied on others who had more passion, and i provided the work that needed to get done." norma's reflection illustrated how people enter social justice efforts with different social justice experiences and knowledge levels. jean paul also emphasized this point: my two and half, three years that i was involved at the masa house, with cecche, with ernesto and manuel and mecha were one of the . . . best moments in my life that i mostly value because it really shaped me. it shaped who i am [and] . . . how i think about myself. manuel and ernesto were two cpp undergraduates who initiated the protest planning group and held long-term leadership roles throughout the process. during the initial planning process and negotiations with administration, manuel's and ernesto's leadership was critical to the foundation of the student movement and students' identity development; for example, it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 14 ernesto pushed his peers to critically consider social, political, and historical chicana/o/x issues. similarly, participants identified another student who was part of the initial protest planning group, corina crespo, as influential in giving women a voice and challenging a history of silencing women's voices in student movements. one-on-one interactions ernesto shared how his identity developed because of collaborating with individual members of the african american student center, asian and pacific islander student center, and the pride center. his awareness and understanding of working with people who were different changed him. he stated: i interacted with them on a personal basis, and that changed my perspective of african americans and asian americans. . . . the more we got to know them we were like, "we are going through the same struggles. . . . we're just a little different because of our cultural differences." that changed my whole perspective. he went on to describe how interaction with members of the lgbt community also aided his development and challenged previous biases, “i hadn’t given myself the opportunity to really get to know them. once the pride center came about, i was given that opportunity…[to start] breaking down those biases for me. that is how my identity is changing, too.” participants' personal growth was influenced throughout their developmental journeys, before they arrived at cpp, upon their arrival on campus, and during the negotiation process with administrators. participants also learned to connect memories of discrimination with moments of personal growth. influenced by experiences of oppression and privilege: “it totally changed my world” participants shared that their activism helped them make sense of the discrimination they experienced in the past and at cpp. they connected discrimination with institutional oppression and racism, learning some aspects of their identities were privileged, and they made a commitment to engaging in activism as college students and as professionals. ernesto discussed how prior experiences with discrimination drove him to engage in social change. ernesto identified as a mexican immigrant and shared a negative experience in his gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 15 predominantly-white junior high school that fueled his activism. he recalled, “i would run from class to get food, because i was hungry. she [cafeteria worker] would make me wait to the end of the line, she would say "you dirty mexican, you need to wait until the last"… [the experience] shaped who i am.” he recalled getting involved with mecha, first at his high school when learning about oppression, and then later when entering the university and witnessing the same issues. ernesto's involvement with mecha provided him the lens to understand systemic oppression in society and at the university. esther reflected on how experiencing discrimination and engaging in activism led her to pursue a career with a social justice focus after college: i eventually recognized that my identity and background were going to color some of the privileges and challenges i had in my journey. i feel like being conscious earlier really set me up to take advantage of a lot of opportunities, and that happened to include my area of work now. ernesto's and esther's experiences of discrimination informed their commitment to social justice through organizing and choice of career. norma described how learning about discrimination led her to become part of the cecche implementation team. ews faculty and other activists enhanced her learning about past discrimination. norma said, "the participation in this particular movement . . . validated what i had been developing in the initial years [at cpp]." norma took ews classes with faculty who "challenged a lot of the gender stuff." taking these courses allowed her to process and make sense of her gender identity. she credited her student activism and involvement with mecha with influencing her perspective about racial identity and oppression: "[it] totally changed my world." peers, faculty, and campus organizations helped participants develop an understanding of institutional racism and sexism. participants also described how activism helped grow their awareness of intersections of their identities. they offered examples of how they connected their multiple identities and individual experiences of discrimination with larger societal problems of oppression and how they responded accordingly. it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 16 influenced by discovering praxis: “that’s when i became a chicano” participants offered examples of how their previous learning in community organizations and the classroom intersected with and influenced their work as activists at cpp. student activists translated ideas and concepts they learned from peers, faculty, and campus organizations into practical application in response to the institutional oppression they experienced. these experiences highlighted participants' identity statuses, and they noted discrepancies between the low levels of latina/o enrollment and representation at cpp compared to elsewhere. stevan said, "[i would] look at all my gente [people] . . . [with] so few of us here in this college environment, where there's so many of us in this community. that's when i became chicano." for stevan, becoming a chicano was directly connected with the social movement at cpp. stevan’s recognition that racism created institutional barriers that kept chicana/os and latina/os out of higher education, was key to his cognitive development and subsequent activism. he understood that cpp was located in the city of pomona, a predominately chicana/o latina/o community, yet students, faculty, staff, and administrators did not reflect that demographic. esther also recalled cpp's lack of diversity: "it really felt like we were a minority." ernesto agreed: we were not being represented. . . . [we had] second-class citizen representation of faculty and staff. . . . we just didn't see anybody who looked like us. . . . [we were] always being treated as second class. ernesto highlighted how his previous learning drove him to engage in social change, and he recalled first getting involved with mecha at his high school. he connected historical and institutional racism with painful discriminatory experiences from his youth. ernesto also joined mecha at cpp and recalled witnessing the same institutional issues. this praxis influenced his work by leading him to take a leadership role as an activist and challenge campus leaders. while ernesto's involvement with mecha provided him with the lens to understand systemic oppression in society and at the university, esther was challenged by "active and conscious" students in masa to learn more about her identities. esther's desire to explore more of her identities grew: "i just took every ews [ethnic and women's studies] class i could. . . . the contact led to my changes in perspective." esther shared how she wished "there was more evenness in genders in terms of involvement [in the raza council]." simultaneously, she gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 17 recalled corina crespo and other women leaders directly challenging men to value women's voices in group discussions and include women as part of the negotiation and implementation teams. norma shared an example of discovering the praxis between learning and action. as one of the only two women on the raza council, norma recalled, "as a woman, i needed to speak up. . . . i would say, 'okay, we need to make sure that all of us are speaking.' the men would agree with me and say, 'yeah, it's important.'" norma’s sharing this point showed that her learning in the classroom influenced her work as an activist. she learned it was essential to intentionally intersect one’s multiple identities in social justice work. the intentionality to speak up as a chicana and a woman is especially significant because she recognized her initial resistance to challenge the male-dominant dynamic of the raza council. participants developed by connecting what they learned about historical systems of oppression with personal experiences of discrimination. this learning helped them make meaning of their experiences as activists, advocating for changes on campus. another change that occurred was that the students adjusted their views regarding gender roles and sexual orientation. for example, cpp latina/o/x organizations had different political frameworks, purposes, resources, and programming foci. participants intentionally reached across the political and philosophical divides among campus organizations to build coalitions. influenced by building coalitions and kinship: “we’re obviously very diverse” participants described building coalitions and deepening feelings of trust, kinship, and relationships with people who held multiple identities during their activism, which helped them interrupt individual discrimination and resist institutional oppression. jean paul acknowledged coalition building among diverse latina/o activists as making the cpp movement unique and as contributing to his identity development: “just because we are all hispanics, latinos, chicanos, we’re obviously very diverse. i mean, we have very different points of views about how we see ourselves.” he remembered activists from other campuses noticing their coalitions and the diverse latina/o/x groups coming together to mobilize. stevan found kinship in college after returning to the united states from mexico. he knew the language and customs but felt “completely lost” and “tried to find a way to anchor” it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 18 himself to be “part of something.” he recalled, “the initial motivation wasn’t social justice. . . . the initial motivation was ‘ay, ay, ay, i’m scared. this is a foreign environment.’” he gravitated toward latina/o/x organizations in the sciences and mecha to find peers with whom he could identify. he then began to notice structural problems at the university, which led to his activism. stevan found a seamless intersection between his time living in méxico and as a student at cpp. he described resisting negative dominant cultural definitions and labels around his identity due to his activism with mecha and the affiliation developed by the chicana/o movement: through my exposure to mecha [at cpp], that’s really when i started making my identity, piecing it together from the fact that i was mexicano. yes, i’ve got these other aspects to my heritage and my history and who i am today, and i’m chicano. participants discussed the importance of building trust, relationships, and support as part of their social justice work engagement. norma had a nuanced view of kinship. there were times she left meetings feeling annoyed, but she returned because trust existed, illustrating her commitment to social justice efforts. stevan recalled hosting unofficial gatherings: “let’s have a carne asada and listen to some music!” after meetings or on weekends, the core group of diverse student-leaders-turnedfriends would socialize, solidifying their kinship and trust. stevan articulated they were all different, but social justice called them together: “i remember those carne asadas and sitting around just talking and just feeling like, yeah, i’m on the ‘super friends’ team.” (carne asada is the literal translation of “grilled steak” and when used in this context, it described a familial, friendly, and community-oriented social and cultural gathering centered around interpersonal interactions and the grilling of a shared meal. in latina/o/x communities, it is an honor to be invited to a carne asada.) this strong coalition allowed participants to demonstrate their commitment to actively resisting institutional and societal racism within cpp and beyond. in addition to the creation of the cultural centers, manuel recalled one of the raza council’s demands to president suzuki was “to create a position for vice president of diversity.” he continued, “we met with dr. juana mora at a conference and we asked her to consider the position and apply.” the creation of the position would ensure conversations around diversity were happening at the gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 19 administrative level. dr. mora accepted the position and worked in that capacity for one academic year. participants’ commitment to challenging institutional and societal racism brought them together at cpp and extended to their future efforts. as the above findings illustrate, participants’ activism had significant impacts on their identity development. although we recognize that time may have shaped their recollections and cognitive meaning making, in their oral history interviews, student activists recognized the influence activism had on them as they reflected on their developmental journeys and made meaning of the discrimination and oppression they experienced before and during their time at cpp. they also experienced identity development in the process of connecting their prior social justice knowledge and learning with their activism at cpp and by building coalitions and kinship with other individuals and across disparate campus organizations. discussion the findings of this study support that latina/o/x individuals and groups are impacted by racism in the u.s. and higher education (acuña, 2011; morgan & davis, 2019) and that student activism leads to institutional changes (acuña, 2011; gildersleeve & sifuentez, 2017; morgan & davis, 2019). issues of power, oppression, dominance, subordination, and multiple identities deeply impact latinx people's identity development (gallegos & ferdman, 2012). contextual factors also influence how latinx individuals see themselves and how their identities develop over time (ferdman & gallegos, 2001). as findings in this study illustrate, the participants’ identity formation was impacted by their engagement in student activism. our findings are consistent with the five expanding frames of the rij model, each of which articulates a different aspect of the ways in which participants’ identities developed during and following their social justice advocacy in the 1990s. the rij’s first developmental frame concerns critical incidents that influence individuals’ recognition of identities and differences between them (keeton, 2002). student activists shared how the people they met along their developmental journeys impacted their identity development long before they arrived on campus. some students arrived on campus understanding they were part of at least one non-dominant group. however, as students’ social interactions expanded through contact with mentors and engagement as activists, they recognized that some of their it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 20 identities were privileged. of particular significance is how participants describe the influence of peers and faculty members on their understanding of their identities and, subsequently, make sense of oppression's historical roots. for these activists, critical incidents included encounters with other people and ideas that reshaped their understanding of their own and others’ identities. student activists described how their previous activism, peers, and faculty helped them make sense of the discrimination they experienced before and during their cpp activism. they pushed back against institutional racism. this ability to identify racism is a critical developmental task for latina/o/x students (torres & hernandez, 2007). participants acknowledged privileged identities and negotiated with each other to determine their demands, protest plans, and the structure and function of the cecche in the context of their multiple identities. this awareness of oppression and privilege is consistent with the rij model’s second developmental frame of comprehending the dominant and non-dominant status of identities (keeton, 2002), as well as prior research findings on the influence of contextual factors and interaction with faculty on identity development (gonzález, 2002; guardia & evans, 2008; kuh et al., 2005). rij’s third developmental frame involves an awareness of how different identities intersect, as well as attention to the role context plays in this process. participants described the impact of discovering the praxis between their previous activism and their activism at cpp. study participants engaged in activism focused on one salient identity, consistent with earlier stages of identity development (keeton, 2002). because of their college activism and interactions with peers, faculty, and administrators, the student leaders became aware of their intersecting identities, such as gender, which broadened their activism scope. the activists described how they began to intentionally intersect other identities, which is consistent with rij’s third developmental frame and supported by prior research (gildersleeve & sifuentez, 2017; hernandez, 2012, 2013; keeton, 2002). student activists describe how building coalitions and kinship increased their political awareness, enhanced interpersonal development, deepened contrasts between identities, promoted agency and ethnic development, and helped participants feel less isolated, supporting previous research (hernandez, 2012, 2013; stake & hoffman, 2001). this work of coalitionbuilding aligns with rij’s fourth frame, which concerns how individuals begin to honor multiple gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 21 identities in themselves and others, as well as how they begin to resist negative dominant cultural values in order to redefine their own identities. we see participants begin to resist negative messages. participants also offered examples of how their peers challenged them during the coalition-building process; this built strong feelings of kinship and helped them learn to support students of different identities and to reject negative valuations of their own and others’ identities. this development is best illustrated in activists’ direct opposition to the university administration’s plan to create a single multicultural center. instead, student activists advocated for individual spaces dedicated to various identity groups, reflecting their developing awareness of the need to honor specific identities and their willingness to support other students with stigmatized identities. the rij model emphasizes acting for social justice in its fifth frame and conceptualizes this action as a high level integrative and developmental function (keeton, 2002). the findings of this study build out the rij model and illustrate that acting for social justice can begin early in the developmental process. participants were able to engage in social justice work while simultaneously learning more about the dominant and non-dominant status of identities they had not previously explored. as we evaluate the findings, the student’s oral histories reveal that their activism was a direct result of the oppression they experienced in higher education. the meaningful learning that student activists had with peers, faculty, administrators, and staff enhanced their development. additionally, participants’ activism eventually became more complex and nuanced over time as they learned about the multiple identities of their peers. they began to realize that some of their peers were being impacted by oppression in ways they were not, because of their privileged identities, and began to advocate for them as well. our findings support and expand the rij model, which helps make sense of student activists’ identity development. the rij model’s five foundations also hold as participants experience expanded frames of reference that involve several identity recognitions and transitions that intersect at new complexity levels and depend on the context and oppressive structures throughout their life span (keeton, 2002). several implications for practice arise from this study and our recommendations focus on activists, faculty, administrators, and staff in higher education. it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 22 recommendations this study offers insight into the continued need for equity in u.s. higher education and the developmental opportunities that engaging in activism offers chicana/o/x and latina/o/x students. we offer recommendations to enhance opportunities for future student activists, faculty, and administrators to focus on identity development. we found participants’ development was influenced by diverse experiences and individuals. based on our findings, we underscore the importance of focusing on social justice issues in higher education and supporting the multiple identities of students. recommendations for student activists we recommend that chicana/o/x and latina/o/x student activists build coalitions across multiple communities to enhance their identity development. taking the time to identify allies from various ethnic backgrounds and political affiliations contributes to students’ identity development by helping activists comprehend the dominant and nondominant status of their identities with people of diverse racial backgrounds. coalitions provide student activists with the opportunity to learn from each other and build kinship that can enhance their identity development. we also recommend that student activists identify allies that are minoritized by their gender, socioeconomic status, sexuality, and national origin to form stronger coalitions for emerging student movements. coalition building beyond immediately identifiable allies can strengthen emerging student movements and sustain those in existence. for student activists, working across multiple communities helps build social networks. we recommend collaborating with faculty that are engaged in social justice efforts. student activist and faculty relationships can increase visibility of social justice issues through campus educational lectures, research, and programs. faculty can offer their research and teaching expertise to contextualize current social movements with the past. recommendations for faculty faculty and allies are in a unique position to contribute to the identity development of student activists through supportive and challenging dialogue about students’ experiences with oppression and privilege. faculty can collaborate with students on research projects, advise and mentor students, and support campus and community-centered student activism. these high gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 23 impact practices are found to promote increased student success (kuh, 2008). because students’ identities can develop through interactions with faculty and may have extensive community networks, student activists may approach faculty members as they begin to consider engaging in social movements on campus. a way for faculty to connect with chicana/o/x and latina/o/x students may be to offer examples of their own identity development and activism. faculty may also share their personal connections and networks with students. recommendations for administrators enhancing and improving campus climate is an important goal that administrators should uphold. some administrators discourage student protests, while others were student activists themselves. building meaningful relationships with chicana/o/x and latina/o/x students is essential for strengthening students’ identity development. we recommend that administrators seek to hire and retain faculty whose research and teaching informs current issues raised by student activists on their campus. further, administrators can engage with student activists who challenge institutions and institutional agents through their lived experiences. one way to center student leadership is to schedule listening townhalls with students of color. after listening and understanding from the students’ experiences, administrators can design a process that invites students to collaborate in implementing institutional change. when students protest, taking an adversarial approach may squelch opportunities to support student activists’ identity development. conclusion student-led historical movements in higher education challenge persistent institutional oppression and serve as powerful catalysts for change. this study provided evidence that engaging in student activism also offers unique opportunities for student identity development. analysis of chicana/o/x and latina/o/x participants’ historical narratives through the rij model highlighted the impact of experiencing meaningful interactions on their developmental journeys and experiences of oppression and privilege, activism, coalition building, and kinship on cpp and the participants as individuals. chicana/o/x and latina/o/x activists at various developmental levels may take actions toward social justice as they begin to explore a it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 24 singular aspect of their identities, and this activism supports them as they move through the five frames of the rij model. this study offers evidence that taking action for social justice may occur before chicana/o/x and latina/o/x student activists begin to intentionally intersect additional identities or honor multiple identities in themselves and others (keeton, 2002). the study may also serve to highlight how student activism work during college may continue to impact an individual’s life and professional journey, as was experienced by the participants in this study. after completing their undergraduate degrees, five of the six participants completed graduate or medical school. two individuals earned their ph.d. and are tenured at their respective universities, one in the stem fields and one in the social sciences. one of the participants earned an mba and is an it professional in higher education and another completed their medical degree and practices medicine. one individual has maintained an active role in progressive electoral politics in a professional capacity. another participant is a higher education administrator who earned their master’s degree and is completing their ph.d. after their time at cpp, all the study participants continued some aspect of social justice work in their professional lives, including volunteering, leadership in progressive politics, and advocating for undocumented immigrant student services, and advising or mentoring college students or community members. another powerful continuation of participants’ commitment to social justice is how those that have become parents continue to educate their children about social justice and are actively teaching them to not discriminate against individuals with different life experiences. activism has a positive impact on higher education and on chicana/o/x and latina/o/x students’ abilities to move through developmental stages with support from peers, faculty, staff, and administrators. this study suggests a need for future research on the cumulative nature of learning and identity development. it is important to record how individuals, like the activists in this study, make meaning of their identities before, during, and after their involvement in social movements. pursuing research questions like this would allow for continued understanding of how and when the lived experience of activism become a cognitive event in an individual’s life. in addition to harnessing the energy of and embracing the opportunity to learn from student activists, campuses must create systems and avenues to benefit the growth of the university and activists’ identity development. gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 25 acknowledgments we gratefully acknowledge the activism and influence of corina crespo, who sadly passed away many years before this study began. participants identified her as a powerful chicana leader. elected to student government as the 1993-1994 vice president of associated students, incorporated, crespo had a major impact on the social justice movement at cal poly pomona (cpp). although her voice is missing from our study, the influence she had on the campus, those who worked with her, and her peers lives on. we thank the research participants for their leadership and activism. we also appreciate the student research teams from the center for research on educational access and leadership (c-real) at california state university, fullerton (csuf); csuf research assistant netasha pizano; cal poly pomona research assistant isaura peña; and california state university, dominguez hills mellon mays undergraduate fellows, lizbeth zúñiga and anthony amaral. it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 26 references acuña, r. f. (2011). the making of chicana/o studies: in the trenches of academe. rutgers university press. https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813550701 aguilar-hernández, j. m., benavides lópez, c., & gutierrez keeton, r. (in press). resisting the ‘death of diversity’: a historical analysis of the formation of the césar e. chávez center for higher education at cal poly pomona, 1990-1995. latino studies journal. barnett, t., & noriega, c. a. (eds.). (2013). oral history and communities of color. ucla chicano studies research center. crenshaw, k. (1991). mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. stanford law review, 43(6), 12411299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039 creswell, j. w. (2014). educational research: planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. pearson. cronin, t. j., levin, s., branscombe, n. r., van laar, c., & tropp, l. r. (2010). ethnic identification in response to perceived discrimination protects well-being and promotes activism: a longitudinal study of latino college students. group processes and intergroup relations, 15(3), 393-407. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430211427171 darder, a. (2011). bicultural identity and the development of voice: twin issues in the struggle for cultural and linguistic democracy. counterpoints, 418, 199-212. delgado bernal, d. (1998). grassroots leadership reconceptualized: chicana oral histories and the 1968 east los angeles school blowouts. frontiers: a journal of women studies, 19(2), 113-142. https://doi.org/10.2307/3347162 ferdman, b. m., & gallegos, p. v. (2001). racial identity development and latinos in the united states. in c. l. wijeyesinghe & b. w. jackson iii (eds.), new perspectives on racial identity development: a theoretical and practical anthology (pp. 32-66). new york university press. gallegos, p. v. & ferdman, b. m. (2012). latina and latino ethnoracial identity orientations. in c. l. wijeyesinghe & b. w. jackson iii (eds.), new perspectives on racial identity development: integrating emerging frameworks, second edition (pp. 51-80). new york university press. garcía, d. g. (2018). strategies of segregation: race, residence, and the struggle for educational equality. university of california press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520296862.001.0001 gildersleeve, r. e., & sifuentez, b. j. (2017). latino/a youth activism in higher education: a new materialist analysis of the latino graduation ceremony. critical questions in education, 8(4), 342-357. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1159310.pdf gonzález, k. (2002). campus culture and the experiences of chicano students in a predominantly white university. urban education, 37(2), 193-218. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085902372003 gorski, p. c. (2018). racial battle fatigue and activist burnout in racial justice activists of color at predominantly white colleges and universities. race ethnicity and education, 22(1), 1– 20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2018.1497966 guardia, j. r., & evans, n. j. (2008). factors influencing the ethnic identity development of latino fraternity members at a hispanic serving institute. journal of college student development, 49(3),163-181. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0011 https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813550701 https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039 https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430211427171 https://doi.org/10.2307/3347162 https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520296862.001.0001 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1159310.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085902372003 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2018.1497966 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0011 gutierrez keeton, benavides lópez & aguilar-hernández association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 27 hernandez, e. (2012). the journey toward developing political consciousness through activism for mexican american women. journal of college student development, 53(5), 680-702. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2012.0063 hernandez, e. (2013). mexican american women’s activism at indiana university in the 1990s. journal of higher education, 84(3), 397-416. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2013.0018 hope, e., keels, m., & durkee, m. (2016). participation in black lives matter and deferred action for childhood arrivals: modern activism among black and latino college students. journal of diversity in higher education, 9(3), 203215. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000032 keeton, r. g. (2002). reframing identities for justice: honoring multiple identities (publication no. 3046803) [doctoral dissertation, claremont graduate university]. proquest dissertations & theses global. kezar, a., & maxey, d. (2014). collective action on campus toward student development and democratic engagement. in c. j. broadhurst & g. l. martin (eds.), “radical academia”? understanding climates for campus activists (pp. 31–41). jossey bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20103 kuh, g. d. (2008). high-impact educational practices: what they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. association of american colleges & universities. http://www.aacu.org/leap/hip.cfm kuh, g. d., kinzie, j., schuh, j., whitt, e., & associates. (2005). student success in college: creating conditions that matter. american association for higher education, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. linder, c., quaye, s., lange, a., roberts, r., lacy, m., & okello, w. (2019). “a student should have the privilege of just being a student”: student activism as labor. review of higher education, 42(supplement), 37-62. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0044 merriam, s. b., & tisdell, e. j. (2016). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). san francisco, ca: jossey bass. mertens, d. (2020). research and evaluation in education and psychology: integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (5th ed.). sage publications. https://doi.org/10.17953/aicr.22.2.9341w76528071x3j morgan, d. l., & davis, c. h. f. (eds). (2019). student activism, politics, and campus climate in higher education. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429449178 patton, l. d. (2010). a call to action: historical and contemporary reflections on the relevance of campus culture centers in higher education. in l. d. patton (ed.), culture centers in higher education: perspectives on identity, theory, and practice (pp. xiii–xvii). stylus. patton, l. d., evans, n., forney, d., guido, f., & quaye, s. (2016). student development in college: theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). jossey-bass. pulido, l. (2006). black, brown, yellow, and left: radical activism in los angeles. university of california press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520938892 stake, j., & hoffman, f. (2001). changes in student social attitudes, activism, and personal confidence in higher education: the role of women’s studies. american educational research journal, 38(2), 411–436. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038002411 stewart, t. j., & quaye, s. j. (2019). building bridges: rethinking student activist leadership. in g. l. martin, c. linder, & b. m. williams (eds.), special issue new directions for student https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2012.0063 https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2013.0018 https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000032 https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20103 http://www.aacu.org/leap/hip.cfm https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0044 https://doi.org/10.17953/aicr.22.2.9341w76528071x3j https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429449178 https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520938892 https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038002411 it shaped who i am association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue i 28 leadership: leadership learning through activism, 161, (pp. 51-63). jossey-bass. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20320 torres, v. (2003). influences on ethnic identity development of latino college students in the first two years of college. journal of college student development, 44(4), 532-547. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2003.0044 torres, v., & baxter magolda, m. b. (2004). reconstructing latino identity: the influence of cognitive development on the ethnic identity process of latino students. journal of college student development, 45(3), 333-347. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2004.0043 torres, v., & hernandez, e. (2007). the influence of ethnic identity on self-authorship: a longitudinal study of latino/a college students. journal of college student development, 4(5), 558-573. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.0057 torres, v., howard-hamilton, m. f., & cooper, d. l. (2011). identity development of diverse populations: implications for teaching and administration in higher education. ashe-eric higher education report, 12(6). jossey-bass. tropp, l. r., hawi, d. r., van laar, c., & levin, s. (2012). cross-ethnic friendships, perceived discrimination, and their effects on ethnic activism over time: a longitudinal investigation of three ethnic minority groups. british journal of social psychology, 51(2), 257-272. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02050.x trouillot, m. r. (1995). silencing the past: power and the production of history. beacon press. western association of schools and colleges. (1990). team visit report to california state polytechnic university, pomona. yosso, t. j., & benavides lópez, c. (2010). counterspaces in a hostile place. in l. d. patton (ed.), culture centers in higher education: perspectives on identity, theory, and practice (pp. 83– 104). stylus. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2003.0044 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2004.0043 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.0057 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02050.x volume 17 issue 2 2023 amae special issue critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional guest editors pedro e. nava ramón a. martínez santa clara university stanford university editors patricia sánchez antonio j. camacho the university of texas at san antonio amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa lucila d. ek sacramento state the university of texas at san antonio managing editor karla garza the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 124 interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa: a journey of a first-generation faculty and mentoring across the educational pipeline pedro e. nava santa clara university pnava2@scu.edu in preparing this special issue on latinx experiences across the educational pipeline, we sought to include contributions from authors addressing innovative approaches. as a teaching tool, the educational pipeline highlights the importance of developing a critical understanding of entry, transition, and exit points in the aggregate. the articles featured in this special issue all point toward the significance of individual educators and mentors who played important roles in supporting students to navigate at various stages of the pipeline. in this conversational interview, we highlight the significant contributions of dr. julie lopez figueroa, a full professor at california state university sacramento and a first-generation scholar with extensive experience navigating and also mentoring students across the educational pipeline. in what follows, we provide a brief overview of dr. lopez figueroa's upbringing and then proceed with an interview on what led her to become an educator, and her approach to teaching, mentoring, and being mentored. dr. julie lopez figueroa was born and raised in san jose, california—on the east side. her parents were farmworkers who eventually transitioned to working in the canneries in the area at the time. she grew up in a context of de facto residential segregation in a predominantly latino and black neighborhood, yet most educators in her schools were white. despite being materially poor, her parents, maria and macedonio, with an elementary education, were pivotal to her success and played an essential role in nurturing her dreams and aspirations. julie recalls her parents telling her and her siblings, “we can’t afford to live anywhere else, but we don’t want you to think that your dreams are encapsulated as far as the property boundaries go.” maria and macedonio would ask colleagues at work about all the free places where they could take their children to provide enriching activities, including parks and other places. julie also doi: nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 125 credits teachers like ms. o’connor and ms. musumeci in her early years with seeing and believing in her potential as a student. these teachers, her parents, and other educators she references in the interview supported her across the educational pipeline and subsequently informed her approach to teaching and mentoring. i met dr. julie lopez figueroa through my participation as a faculty fellow for the american association of hispanics in higher education (aahhe), where she served as my faculty mentor. through our conversations, i found we shared similar upbringings as children of immigrant agricultural workers, part of the first-generation in our families to go to the university and graduate, the first to attain a doctoral degree to become faculty, and we both enjoy teaching and mentoring. in 2017, she reached another milestone when she earned the rank of professor and became one of 197 latinas out of 2,129 women full professors in the entire csu system, or about 9% (figueroa, 2019). dr. lopez figueroa has been a strong advocate and mentor for many scholars of color in helping them navigate the tenure-track process. her mentoring approach provides great clarity around the tenure and promotion process and serves as an important reminder to prioritize those aspects of teaching, research, and service that most align with the personal and professional interests of pre-tenure faculty. dr. lopez figueroa’s lived experience as a firstgeneration student and academic, scholarly focus on the experiences of minoritized students in higher education, award-winning teaching, and mentoring, along with her positionality as a woman of color raised in the east side of san jose provides her with a unique vantage point to offer key insights as an interviewee about the educational pipeline. on september 25, 2022, dr. pedro e nava conducted a conversational interview via zoom with dr. julie lopez figueroa. the edited transcript of that conversation is belowi. the interviewii dr. pedro e. nava (pen): dr. lopez figueroa, can you share about what led you to become an educator? dr. julie l. figueroa (jlf): actually, i was going to be an architect. i was accepted into architecture school at csu san luis obispo and was dead set on it because i had taken about two years of architecture [in high school]. i had done competitions and i was pretty good at it. my high school teacher, mr. leong, said, “hey, i think you’re really good at this. you should put an application together and send it to san luis obispo.” and i thought to myself, interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 126 when i think about my exposure to educators as a young child and as a middle schooler, as a high schooler, i decided, “nope, don’t want to do that.” i’ll tell you why because i was a very shy person, and i kept thinking [becoming an architect] is a lot of work with lots of moving parts. you got all these people you’re responsible for, so that [role] didn’t enter my mind. once i realized where san luis obispo was on the map, this was way back when maps were paper, i noticed how much [familial] income we had and what was available. if my parents came to see me, we would have to rent a hotel, “nunca va a pasar eso”. so i let that dream go and wound up going undeclared at uc davis. between my sophomore and junior year, my high school teacher, macario ortiz, invited me to return as a high school alum. that was the first time i was in front of people in a formal sense. the idea was that i would go and say, “here is what i did. well, that is what sent me [to college].” and by that time, i was the third person in my family to go to college. my parents never had the opportunity to receive any formal education. i think my mom went up to the second grade. my dad never had the opportunity to go to school. and so, i didn’t see the school as necessarily responsible for my success – i saw my parents. but i used the opportunity [to return to my high school] to say, “you know, here are ways you could be more inclusive. i shouldn’t be the exception. there should be more people on a panel there. it’s not just me.” they didn’t like that too much. there was only one faculty member that really taught me, a teacher named anna musumeci, who had gotten me out of special education. even though i was tested and put into special education, she found a way to get me out of special education, and that’s a story for another time, but that’s when i realized, “wait, so how do people use their teaching as an advocate?” i didn’t have any of those words at that point. i tell you this story because when i realized it’s a combination of ms. musumeci and what you can do — that part of it led me to open myself up to be an educator. the idea of being in front of people takes change and knowledge where it could shift or expand our thinking. that was really appealing to me. but it was my parents who taught me to really think about it. everybody has a purpose in life, everybody. income doesn’t define that, and, you know, we are all— in their ways of teaching me —spiritual beings that have a calling. you know, the way my dad would teach us is like, it’s not about religion, it’s really about recognizing you as being born for a reason. he always said to us, “si no vives para servir, no sirves para vivir.” nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 127 the educator part is very broad. it’s not just formal schooling but really, “how do we educate?” in general. but i think about this particular question and all the people along the way who had me reframe what it meant to be an educator. so when you think about faculty culture, it’s very individual and can be a very isolating journey. and the way i was raised is in community, in living in community, recognizing strengths versus competing with each other and offering supportive feedback versus criticism. it was just a small pivot, so i would say, my parents, ms. musumeci, and my chicano studies professors at uc davis [led me to become an educator]. i had the privilege of being educated by dr. linda facio. i had the privilege of being educated by dr. beatriz pesquera and dr. vicki ruiz. people who saw potential! like here’s what you do, and here’s what you can do. they were laying this foundation for me about how you become a professor. how can you be a professor and look like me? i could see [in them] someone that looks like me. pen: could you expand on your experiences through higher education? what led you to end up as a university professor? jlf: i was a student at the time at uc berkeley and had pedro noguera in the socialcultural studies program. he was my advisor. pedro was the person who taught high school and was a university professor. he was very much about the community. he kept expanding on what i imagined a university professor could be. i could be part of the community, i don’t have to be just [at the university]. pedro noguera realized that i was interested in higher education. he was my shared advisor and before he left to a different university, he had me transition to eugene (gene) garcia. gene at the time had the latino eligibility study, and long story short, that’s how i got entryway. but just as i had two years to go, gene said, “julie i can’t let you graduate without having teaching experience,” and i was like, “oh, i’m sunk!” because i could research, like, nobody! we could go to the library stack, leave me there all day long, i’ll get you your answer. and gene said, “you’re gonna have to be in front of the class,” and i broke out in a sweat! i remember that day so clearly, and i said, “okay okay okay okay.” so i taught an intro class to chicano studies at berkeley in ethnic studies… i mean here’s the thing, i got my degree in education in social cultural studies, and i never even knew how to write a syllabus, let alone a lesson plan. i could do conference presentations, but i didn’t know how to translate the presenting to [teaching]. interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 128 thankfully, i had a couple of friends who were teachers before and who i could reach out to and ask, what do i do? and then gene said, “here’s some syllabi, look at what they have to do. go ahead and call the folks over in ethnic studies and ask them if they can share the previous syllabus with you.” my friend anne marie said, “okay, here’s what you do. here’s some code. they call it a lesson plan.” i was like, okay, so week by week, i kept meeting with her but just being there. i didn’t know what to do with myself standing in front of all these people. and you’re responsible for not just that, but for building the energy it takes to get from 8:00 to 9:50, or 8:00 to 8:50. it was horrifying. but you know what? i thought after the first day, i could do this! i wasn’t thrilled about being in front of the class, but i was thrilled about [what i] was learning from [students] and how they thought about the reading. and more importantly, [having students] think about where critical thinking comes from, where they came from, and how that background now [interfaces with] what we’re reading about. the critical analysis begins not outside yourself but within yourself as a lens to think about and discuss what will happen with this material. so the learning part was exciting, and i’ll never forget it. gene observed my class a couple of times and gave me his own evaluation. he said “i think you can do this. i think you’re actually really good at this.” i said, “i am?” i’ll never forget his advice. he said, “you know, when i first started teaching, i got my teaching evaluation, and one of the evaluations said something like ‘if this was the last day on earth, i would love to be in this class,’ and i was like, ‘i got it. you know this is awesome. what a compliment.’” and then gene saw a little arrow, and he turned the page over, and the comment read, “‘because every day feels like forever.’” [laughter] we’re all going to have days like that, boy. but if you continue being a learner, guess what, you’ll just get better and better and better. once i could release that i realized i can keep engaging students in a way where we can start with a place of strength and build from there. i think because i was in special education early in my life, it was very confusing to me, and i also loved learning, but i hated school. and i just thought to myself, all these different experiences, if i could provide different experiences for students in that first time i taught, then maybe i think this is what i want to do. when i applied [to become a university professor], there was one job in northern california that year. i said, “ooh, this is it, i’m a gambler, in a sense like [the adage] ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained.’” i can only go from here. i was shocked when they said, “we have a job offer.” i was like, really? okay, i’m going. but i knew i wanted to have that combination, i have always nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 129 had a foot in ethnic studies and another in educational policy. that’s why being there in ethnic studies at sacramento state university was a perfect fit for me. i still get to do both. pen: can you talk about your work as a researcher and as a scholar as it pertains to the broader landscape of your scholarship? jlf: it is funny because i didn’t know i had a scholarship [laughs]. i mean, you define your areas of expertise when you’re a doctoral student. mine were first-generation students and academic success, higher education, teaching and learning was another one, teaching in a cultural context, and qualitative methods. i honestly didn’t even know what it meant to develop a scholarship. and so the american association of hispanic higher education (aahhe)— before it became aahhe, it was the american association in higher education— they had a latino caucus. and it was in that experience [within the organization] that i realized these aren’t just areas of expertise but trajectories. at the time, my dissertation was on latino men in higher education, and being on the latino eligibility study that i talked about earlier, my job was to look at data. at the time, dr. aida hurtado was the research director for that project. it brought all these folks together across the university of california to look at this data. i noticed there was a discrepancy in graduation rates and retention rates for latino men. and nobody was talking about that at the time in the literature. a lot of the literature was still looking at the underachievement of latinas. that was my starting point, too, just understanding latinos in higher education and what was going on. what i didn’t realize is that it was a theme gene believed in, aida believed in, but nobody else did. after being a graduate fellow [with aahhe], i became a faculty fellow and stayed in touch with victor saenz. i met him, leticia oseguera, and stella flores; we were all in the same faculty fellows cohort. victor was very kind and gracious because he’s the one who let me know, because again a lot of the [academic]work that we do is in isolation, and while our intent is to have a lot of people read what we write, we don’t know our reach. it wasn’t until victor [saenz] invited me to college board. the college board at the time was interested in having a boy and male of color initiative, and they invited me out to present, and victor was gracious enough to say, here is one of the founding scholars who started this body of work. i heard and turned around and was like, are they talking about me? (laughs) i had no idea! i remember being at a talk that aida hurtado gave, and she said, “i just want to let everyone know that one of the founding people who started this body of knowledge is right here, dr. julie lopez interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 130 figueroa.” and i was like, “oh my god, it’s a thing.” that’s where my research has gone, but i’ve also been very interested in academic success and also issues of retention. we talk about retention at an institutional level, but where do we talk about retention in the classroom? and what is our role as faculty? and then, most recently, as part of that excavation, i’ve been thinking about my sabbatical project on critical mentoring, a term that came out in 2015, and it’s not rocket science. it asks faculty what happens if you prioritize learning something about your students? it’s not advising but mentoring. what forms of investment can we make in our students, especially when we think about hispanic serving institutions (hsis)? when we think about hsis, we have the money, as marcela cuellar and others discuss, but the university infrastructure remains the same. so what are some practices that you yourself, myself, and other folks of color who have the privilege of teaching the students [implement]? what kind of mentoring do we do that we don’t even realize makes a huge impact? and how is the mentoring that we’ve received? i can think about amazing conversations that i’ve had with michael omi, who was part of my dissertation committee. it’s about understanding they paid it forward by making sure that i knew things, and so i’m interested in interviewing them [for my critical mentoring study]. they would then select junior faculty that they mentor and have a dialogue around what are the things that we can learn about mentoring first gen-students. that is a simple practice for anyone that is working at an hsi. pen: speaking about your award-winning teaching, what are pedagogical tools you use when you teach? what does professor julie’s classroom look like? jlf: i learned this from gloria [rodriguez] who does educational leadership— expectations are everything. i had to learn and think about how i set my students up and ourselves. i remember three things — communication is really important. i came from a generation where at some point at night, there was nothing on tv. and the cell phones did not exist. that helps me acknowledge that my students will generally be the same age, but i’m getting older. the second thing is understanding that no amount of degrees are going to get you the respect of people. you must have common decency to saludar, welcome people, and be authentic; that didn’t come from my training. that is who i am in this space because what is teaching and learning if not building relationships? the third thing is creating learning expectations or learning agreements. we co-construct those so that students have a sense of what we are doing. most importantly, i always tell my students nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 131 i want to be able to write them a letter of recommendation. you may not need one from me, but wouldn’t it be awesome if you could say, you know what, i got my third person or, i got my fourth person. so i show them a slide from co-constructing the learning agreements and the different things i have to address in a letter [of recommendation]. ironically, what is in the letter is not something you are graded on. so, i need to figure out how to position [the student] to speak, to give me evidence while performing the assignment. so before we closed down [due] to covid, i saw this for the first time when marcos pizarro had people perform a reading. i thought to myself, “that’s an interesting [performance assignment], right?” so you are creating the skit, you are looking at your lines, you are being reflective, you are thinking about the reading, and you are creating a dialogue here. what is the thing that you are gonna explain and you are going to perform, so that helps you [as a professor] write the letter [of recommendation]? or sometimes, people look at me like i’m crazy because i’ll say, “i'm ready to start when you are ready to learn.” i'm always conscious about smiling, not because i am crazy but because i want them to understand there is a sense of humanity. i say thank you so much for coming. i'm so grateful we can gather today. it is a privilege to have this time together, and i am deliberate about saying stuff like that–and i will wait for students. if we are in a physical classroom, i’ll say, “okay, you can sit wherever you want. but remember, what is our learning agreement? you want to make this a welcoming space, so if you keep gravitating towards that corner, how will people on the other side of the room get to know you?” so sometimes i’ll just wait. so there is a lot of accountability built in. when students have not done their reading and still come to class, which is a travesty when i know they have paid their fees, it’s my job to figure out what happened. could you access the reading? this is why, for instance, i have nothing but online readings for the first three weeks. so financial aid is not an issue. i do not have money to buy my books is not an issue. i got three weeks covered. so i tell them you don’t have to worry about it. it is right here, so being mindful of finances. being mindful of getting all the training that are involved. whether it is dreamers resource ally training, whether it is pride-centered training. can i be mindful of how i am talking to students? so instead of saying, “hey, you guys,” [it is,] “hey everyone, it's great that we could gather,” you know, things like that. thanking people– “thank you so much for volunteering.” or, “can i invite you to do this” or, you know, “can you come to the board and show me can you draw what you’re saying? because i think what you're saying is really interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 132 important.” and even michael omi taught me this. i mean, how many times has this man read racial formation? he wrote it right. but in his seminar, he would also tell me, “you know, julie, i was rereading this thing and thinking about some of the work you do. i'm curious like, how are you making sense of this?” and i'm like “oh my god. he's interested in what i think. what?” though sometimes it is mindfully saying, you know, “i want to come back to something jessica said last week, which i thought was really important. and that i want to acknowledge the fact that it builds with what esteban said the week before that.” and to really creating an inclusive space where i am not the only figure in the room. one thing i’ve learned, and some people might say this is handholding, but i'm in the camp with laura rendon. when she wrote her book sentipensante, you are not handholding; you are validating. you are guiding first-generation students to be able to do what they need to do, which is to learn. so i will send a reminder, “hey looking forward to next week,” “just as a reminder here’s what we're gonna do” and then when we finish the week, “thank you so much for coming.” i don't know what it takes for you to be here, but i know that i want to thank you and your family and your community for showing up. and it is those little things. those are the ligaments that become intertwined and a cable that strengthens my connection to them so that when i ask them something, they're willing to leap off or extend themselves beyond a boundary of learning that they’re unfamiliar with because they trust me. and they know i’m not setting them up to be like "wrong, nice try, good attempt but like okay. okay, okay.” instead, it is more of “that's a great starting point. so now, let's take that further. ” and still being honest and holding them accountable because that is the one thing we do not do. there is a reason they’ve developed that practice of coming [to class] and saying i am still gonna be fine if i did or did not do the homework and it is because we don't say to them, (or i’ll use my i statement). i do not remember learning until i started teaching that students need to be reminded. we are partners, and we are going to be partners for 15 weeks, and your success is my success. i will say to them, “there’s nothing much more powerful and violent than silence. and the fact that you all are compelled to be silent. sometimes i don't blame you. it came from somewhere, but i want to let you know that i don’t want you to internalize that because i know you have something important to say.” they don’t even think about it. they just think that it’s respectful, not to say anything. and in reality in college, we want dialogue, dialogue, get into groups, do this, do that, but we didn’t heal them from this habit they developed. herminda [garcia], i nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 133 remember a long time ago, would teach me, "you know, you have to have wait time." and i'm like, "wait time, what is that?" and i started instituting it in my classes, so you’ll see me doing wait time, i’ll throw a question out and students will just sit. and i’ll say, “you know, i believe in wait time. here’s what wait time is and we all process things differently and so it’s okay.” and so i will stand there or be on zoom and make sure i’m conscious of what my face looks like because sometimes as faculty we’re not conscious and we look at our students like, “i’m excited to be here” [with emotionless face]. when i am waiting for a response, i’m usually like this. you know, as calm as open as i can reflect on screen or in person, to remind and send that message. learning is about vulnerability. mastery comes through vulnerability and a grade is not just a grade, that what we’re doing is bigger than the grade. what we’re doing is securing who you are to know who you are. and so i think those are some of the practices i've learned along the way...you're a sophomore, or junior, or senior super senior, and in reality, who’s gonna tell them that? unless it's somebody who understands that journey...you don’t have to be from the same background, but you have to be mindful, right? this is the whole critical mentoring part of it. to understand that, you know, sometimes if something is wrong at home, [our students are] not gonna be in the classroom. so when they return to the classroom, the first thing they say is “well did i miss anything important?” to which i always tell them from day one “please don’t say that.” [laughter] instead, i would want you to develop a habit of saying, “i was taking care of that” and i always tell this to students or anyone who has met me: if you’re absent, i assume you’re being responsible somewhere else. what can we do to make sure that you’re where you need to be? and sometimes i’ll make up extra assignments because sometimes the most difficult thing is to go back to make up an assignment. so i created an assignment. i said, okay. in the next two weeks, here’s what you’re gonna do, right? and they'll do it. part of it is it’s just multi-layered. i’m still learning. i mean, yes, i’m honored and humbled that i got that [teaching] award, it just lets me know in a small way, that i’m going in the right direction. but here’s my bigger compass. if i can have somebody like you, rebeca (burciaga), frances [contreras], gloria [rodriguez], remain connected to other people that i have mentored, if i can have all of you in my life, i must be doing something right. pen: julie, you’ve been an incredible mentor to countless people, and so along those lines, i see you as having a wealth of knowledge and a wealth of experiences. i know that you deeply value interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 134 mentoring and working with students and faculty. can you share your approach to mentoring and mentorship? jlf: i think, generally, it’s always humbling to be considered a mentor. half the time i ask myself, “do i know what i’m doing?” not because it’s a lack of confidence, but because you want to understand it’s not a cookie-cutter approach, but a responsive one. and so you’re doing a lot of listening and also sharing some lessons learned at the same time but still balancing out for one’s respect for the other person. making sure that folks aren’t stuck in something they don’t need to be stuck in. if somebody did something to them, said something about their work, i’m like, “okay? let me decode that for you. they’re crazy.” [laughter]. i always tell students, you want to do a research talk on that? nobody’s thought of it. why? there are so few of us, so keep doing that. when i think about aahhe and what they’ve done, i really have tried to follow their model. as a graduate fellow myself, i realized that it’s important to have a structure of abundance. to have a way in which you are instrumentally and intentionally wanting to make a difference…my dad has this saying, “el sol es para todos.” so i kind of operate that way, like, “you have a dream? great. i’ll be cheering on that dream because somebody did that for me.” and i know it has made a huge difference. so when you and i had the opportunity to meet, i’m always nervous when i meet my new mentees. partly because i’m a shy person. and so of course i want us to get along and i always enter with a strong sense of optimism and positivity and i also know what not being mentored in a kind way looks like. i always told myself, if i ever had the opportunity to mentor, i’m not gonna do that. so you’ll never hear me say “well that’s short-sighted.” [laughter] or what kind of thinking did you do to get to that? never going to happen, because here is the other thing that i know is we all are gifted with different talents, and you have to respect what people bring. my goal is always to make sure you get tenure, or you go to the next thing you need to do. we can have a space where there’s vulnerability on both ends because the truth is, honestly, pedro, i need you all as much as you need me. being a full professor’s a very lonely experience, and there aren’t that many of us nationally. but even as a junior professor, i was the only chicana in my whole college as a faculty member. and so there are lots of moments of isolation for a variety of reasons. for me, mentoring is a way to revive the spirit and to understand that your success is something that gives my life meaning. some people might call that selfish. i think of it as creating community and saying i’m invested, because if you fly like you’ve been flying then you’re gonna soar, and if nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 135 you soar, then i know down the road generations, some child is going to be better off for what you’ve done. it may be a teacher, another parent, or a friend. it’s the things that we know will be coming that i may or may not ever get to see, but i know that it’s gonna make a difference. pen: along those lines julie, who are some of your mentors? and how did they influence you on how to mentor? jlf: i would say i have mentors inside and outside of the institution. i think about my parents, for sure. they have been my best mentors, especially when we think about making sure that what’s always apparent is a sense of humanity and a sense of welcome and encouragement. i think about how when it comes to pushing the boundaries of driving for excellence, keep doing what you’re doing, i think about aida hurtado, who i think now is, maybe one of the highest-ranked latina faculty in the ucs. i think she’s now a distinguished professor, step 12 or something like that. you don’t get to that level by doing nothing. and even with all that, even when i talk to her, she still wants to hear from me, i say that only because it’s a humbling thing. you and i have met people, who get to a certain stature and they’re like, i’m sorry, i got too busy, i’m not gonna... so i think about her sense of humility. i think about laura rendon, who i had the privilege to meet when i was a grad student. she taught me that it’s okay, not to diminish, but rather build this purposeful, intentional, spiritual way of being in connection with your students. don’t be apologetic for it. when you thank students, when you encourage students, when you build students, i think about laura a lot. and then with gene [garcia], he was our dean, and he also taught. i remember he had convened a meeting and there were a lot of people in the room, but some of the people were from ivy league schools on the east coast. after we were done with the meeting, we looked around the table, and those folks had left trash behind. as a grad student, i remember you’re like let me help clean the room. all of a sudden i see dr. garcia loosen up his tie, take off his coat, roll up his sleeves, and help us clean up the trash. i mean he’s the dean gene garcia and he was saying, “you can’t get so much in your mind that you forget that you’re also a human being. and you know, you’re watching me do this, but i want you to understand that i know the staff is going to be coming here to do this, to clean the room, i get that. but that’s not who i am. i pitch in.” that changed me. i remember gene had a second conversation with me, [where he said] “when you become a scholar and you are discussing your work, whether it in the classroom or a conference or interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 136 whatever, some people might feel entitled to borrow your work and call it theirs, or they might not acknowledge the fact that they got that idea from you.” i remember him telling us – his grad students – to let that go. don’t get caught up in anger, keep producing the work because they only have the shell. you have the heart of the work. because you are putting in the time to build it, and i was like okay. that was really helpful because it released me. then also being generous, i remember when i got this job, people would always tell me when i was in grad school, “oh, if you could just write the way you talk, your work would be so much clearer.” then i started understanding what did it actually mean to have a faculty position? and i realized tenure required me to write. and i remember, i was like, you know, my mom tells me to believe in la virgen. and i said "virgencita por favor cubreme con tu manto, por favor, abreme los caminos." i want to publish, but i don’t know how to do this. i want to keep my job. because as a farm-working kid, you’re like “stability? what? i don’t want to throw the job away.” within that week, guess who called me? gene [garcia]. “now listen, julie, how are you doing?” and i said “fine.” we had a little check-in, and he said to me, “i got a call, i have to write this chapter for a book. i don’t have time, but i knew you could do it, but they need me to still be listed. i’ll be listed as a second author, and you’ll be first because i don’t need this, but i still need to be present and you’re going to take the lead. here’s our timeline. i’m still traveling but i gotta do this.” so, i had to work around his schedule to check in, so i did it, and he was generous. i learned generosity and in that experience, i also learned humility because what i didn’t realize is that one of the two editors for that book was derald wing sue. he read my chapter and just the way he talked to me, he said, “tell me a little bit about yourself,” and just made the space because i thought, okay, you know, we’re going to talk about work. so i told him really quickly who i was. and he goes, “i read this particular section. can you pull it up?” and i said “okay.” “just when you talk about this, this, and this, might i suggest, perhaps if you’re open to it, i want to send you a couple of citations i’d like to share.” and i said, “oh, okay. okay” and he goes, “it’s this term called microaggression. it might be helpful for your work. so go ahead and read it.” and when i started reading, i was like, “oh my god.” but he was extending me the grace. and it was only a 10-15 minute interaction, but it was so defining for me. i didn’t know who he was. obviously, right now, microaggressions is a thing. and then there is danny solorzano; i don’t even know where to begin. had i not gone to berkeley, i was going to go to ucla and danny was going to be my mentor, my advisor. but nava association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 137 he had called me, and he told me upfront, “look julie, i'm having a dry spell. i’m not getting any grants right now, and i should probably have something, maybe next year.” fast forward. he was part of the latino eligibility advisory council. i remember i had to set it up, and i said to danny, “dr. solorzano, i don’t know if there’s a possibility of actually meeting you, but i would like to meet you to just thank you so much for just not making me feel guilty for choosing berkeley.” sure enough, he met me. i couldn’t believe it. from that day, all the way up to my becoming a full professor, he’s always been there. and he was like, “i believe in your work, i believe in what you’re doing. i believe in you.” that was his message to me all the time. "i believe it, i believe it. i believe it.” so much so that i started believing it. it is these different ways of modeling, right? even laura rendon modeled. aida hurtado continues to model. there are so many people, but i think the most consistent ones are those folks. and then, of course, i have other folks who are not academics that teach me about humility. the truth is pedro, and i mean you caught me in my writing day, so i didn’t get all gussied up for this. it’s my writing day; this is what i do. and sometimes i wear things, i’m wearing my cal shirt to get in a mindset: this is what i’m going to do. but only you know, i'm a professor. the double consciousness that everybody talks about is real. i walk every day, and i remember years back, i was walking, and they had closed the main section where people would typically drive, so now they had to come into the neighborhood where i walked. and i happened to be walking and somebody yelled out of the car. “hey, don’t forget your pine-sol when you go clean those houses.” i knew they were talking to me cause everybody else who was around was white. but what they don’t know is i’m from eastside (san jose). i could just let that thing come off me. but it reminds you that, i don’t look like what other people expect me to look like, so you have to develop your inner person to work through those moments. you have to work on your inner person to work through tenure, you have to work on your inner person to know how to show up to be a mentor, to make space, and to know that this exchange is sacred. so when you call me, when patricia calls me, or when rebeca calls me, it’s on. i’m not doing anything else. i’m not thinking about anything else; i am right here because it is that important to me because other people have done that for me, too. interview with dr. julie lopez figueroa association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 138 selected publications books baker, b, figueroa, j.l., mosupyoe, b., & mark, g. (2022). introduction to ethnic studies. (4th ed.) dubuque, iowa: kendall/hunt publishing company. saenz, v., ponjuan, l., & figueroa, j. l. (2016). ensuring the success of latino males in higher education: a new national imperative. sterling, virginia: stylus publishing. berta-avila, m., revilla, a. t., & figueroa, j. l. (2011). marching students: chicana/o identity and the politics of education 1968 and the present. reno, nv: university of nevada press. recipient of the book national book award in 2011 from the american educational studies association. other publications figueroa, j. l. (2019). becoming a full professor: a journey best walked together. in p. perez (ed.), the tenure-track process for chicana and latina faculty: experiences of resisting and persisting in the academy (pp. 56-72). new york, ny: routledge. figueroa, j. l. (2016). deciding to examine the educational experiences of latino males in higher. ensuring the success of latino males in higher education: a national imperative. figueroa, j. l. (2016). the geography of academic support: a framework to understand the latino perception and practice in higher education. in v. b. saenz, l. ponjuán, & j.l. figueroa (eds.), ensuring the success of latino males in higher education: a new national imperative (pp.4359). sterling, virginia: stylus publishing. figueroa, j.l. & rodriguez, g. m. (2015). latina faculty perspectives: critical mentoring practices to support diverse students in higher education. new directions in higher education, 171,23-32. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20139 i the full unedited interview can be found at https://youtu.be/imjl0szkpca ii the author would like to thank emily ramos and dr. alfredo huante for editorial support of the interview. amae 1.pdf amae 9 interview.pdf volume 18 issue 1 2024 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor lorenza lancaster the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 32 breaking barriers by enhancing collaboration between schools, communities, and spanish-speaking immigrant parents aidee batarse new elementary teacher’s alliance abstract there are barriers that interfere with parental involvement in their children's education in many schools in the u.s. however, additional barriers are often encountered by immigrant parents across our country. this investigation proposes practices that will better serve this population and reduce the barriers that affect their school engagement. one guiding question for this study is: what actions could be implemented to foster more effective collaboration between schools, communities, and spanish-speaking immigrant parents? the objective of this study was to create a proposal for school personnel and spanish-speaking immigrant parents to collaborate more effectively in terms of their children's education. the theoretical framework was guided by epstein’s (1987) overlapping spheres of influence theory and epstein’s and sheldon’s (2022) framework of the six types of involvement. these theories provided a solid foundation and guided this study to create a proposal on how to alleviate the barriers that immigrant parents face when trying to engage in their children's education. the methodology used a qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach that examines the experiences of eight participants using semi-structured interviews. the proposed actions are directed at educators and administrators to improve immigrant parents' collaboration and promote a more inclusive spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 33 and enriching educational environment, generating a positive impact on their children's education. keywords: parental involvement, parent engagement, spanish-speaking parents, immigrants, barriers doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.18.1.510 https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/view/510 batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 34 introduction active participation and involvement of parents are crucial in the lives of their children; this is reflected in all areas of children’s lives, including formal education (kantova, 2024; mcdowell et al., 2018; vassallo, 2018). the participation of parents, whether biological, adopted, legal guardians, or other caregivers, is of great value. the benefits of active parental participation transfer to education as well and include better academic performance, a greater commitment to learning, and the development of social skills (kantova, 2024). when parents show interest in their children's educational journey, they feel supported and motivated to achieve their academic goals (araque et al., 2017). the active involvement of parents in education is essential for the comprehensive development and success of their children. however, parents face barriers when trying to get involved. these barriers are often intensified for spanish-speaking immigrant parents in the united states, who face unique challenges related to language, limited resources, and cultural differences within the educational system (olivos, 2020; rodríguez vásquez, 2023). furthermore, spanish-speaking immigrant parents often face barriers to engagement in their children’s education, as schools frequently overlook the informal educational practices occurring within latino households that contribute to children’s social and academic growth (olivos et al., 2011; valdez, 2015). active parental involvement has been shown to have a positive impact on student academic achievement and social-emotional development (housel, 2020). despite the existence of numerous studies examining the engagement of spanish-speaking immigrant parents, significant gaps remain in understanding the specific barriers they face within the u.s. educational system (arellanes et at., 2018; baquedano-lópez et, al., 2013; cuevas, 2020). this study aimed to contribute to the broader discourse on parental engagement by providing a spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 35 comprehensive understanding of the barriers and opportunities that could enhance the involvement of immigrant parents in their children's education. by focusing on the experiences of spanish-speaking immigrant parents residing in an urban setting in texas, the present research sought to address the identified gaps in the literature on parental engagement, thereby contributing to ongoing efforts to support this vital population. consequently, this research study was established with the objective of creating a proposal for actions to foster more effective collaboration between schools, communities, and spanish-speaking immigrant parents. the following question served as a guide for this study: what actions could be implemented to foster more effective collaboration between schools, communities, and spanish-speaking immigrant parents? the next section focuses on examining epstein’s (1987) overlapping spheres of influence theory and epstein’s and sheldon’s (2022) framework of the six types of involvement to explain the importance of collaboration between families, schools, and communities in supporting student success. theoretical framework this study is framed within epstein’s (1987) overlapping spheres of influence theory, and the framework of six types of involvement, which was established in 1995, and updated by epstein and sheldon in 2022. these theories maintain that collaboration between parents, educators, and members of the community is essential to promote learning and the integral development of students (epstein & sheldon, 2022). this collaboration creates a supportive educational environment, where the student is at the center, while strong and consistent support is provided to help them reach their full potential. batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 36 epstein’s (1987) theory of the overlapping spheres of influence proposes that learning is enhanced when parents, educators, and community members work together to guide and support student growth. this perspective recognizes that the three main contexts in which children learn and develop encompass the family, the school, and the community, and must be integrated to maximize academic outcomes (epstein & sheldon, 2022). epstein's (1995) framework of six types of involvement was developed as a practical and effective approach for achieving such collaboration. its six categories of involvement— parenting, communication, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and collaborating with the community—provide clear guidance for parents, educators, and communities to work together for the benefit of students (epstein & sheldon, 2022). these forms of participation allow parents to participate in the education of their children, positively impacting their academic success and well-being. consequently, epstein’s (1987) overlapping spheres of influence theory and epstein’s and sheldon’s (2022) framework of six types of involvement provided a strong theoretical framework for this research. by framing this investigation on collaboration between the family, the school, and the community, it seeks to promote a favorable educational environment where students benefit from the support provided. theoretical evidence from eptstein’s (1987) theory of the overlapping spheres of influence and epstein and sheldon’s (2022) framework of six types of involvement was used to achieve the objectives of this investigation, serving as the basis to create the instruments used to discover the barriers that currently affect spanish-speaking immigrant parents to actively engage in the education of their children and create a proposal for actions to foster more effective collaboration between schools, communities, and spanishspeaking immigrant parents. in the next section, the literature reviewed focuses on the benefits, spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 37 barriers, and effective approaches that enhance parental engagement in education, particularly among spanish-speaking immigrant families. review of the literature benefits of parental engagement research on parental engagement agrees that family and/or parental involvement has a positive impact on student academic achievement in addition to schoolwide benefits. in a study conducted in the united states, bogenschneider and johnson (2004) emphasized the importance of parental involvement in education. the authors concluded that when parents are actively involved, their children are more likely to earn better grades and test scores, attend school regularly, develop strong social skills, exhibit better behavior, and adapt successfully to the school environment. additionally, suárez and vélez (2018) highlighted that the family nucleus plays a crucial role in the development of children's habits, values, and aspirations. in this environment, parents fulfill essential functions, such as preparing children to assume social roles, controlling impulses, sharing values, and developing sources of meaning, such as the selection of personal and academic goals. furthermore, garbacz et al. (2021) argued that families and schools are central and proximate systems that promote children's education, behavior, and social-emotional competencies. in particular, dual language and bilingual education models foster engagement by validating the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of spanish-speaking families, thus encouraging their involvement in school activities (martín corredor et al., 2023; olivos & lucero, 2018). these claims are validated by extensive research which indicates that high levels of parental involvement are associated with higher academic achievement, higher school attendance, and batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 38 positive student behavior (womack, 2020). consequently, when schools have high levels of parental engagement, the trust between schools and families increases, and the channels for collaboration strengthen (rubin et al., 2021). barriers to parental engagement as research shows, parental engagement is critical to student achievement, nonetheless, some parents are not actively involved in their children's schooling process for a variety of reasons hindering their participation (petrone, 2016). spanish-speaking immigrant parents in the united states may encounter additional reasons or barriers when it comes to trying to be involved in their children's education (perrigo et al., 2023). these barriers may include language barriers, cultural differences, time constraints, lack of knowledge, in addition to fear and mistrust (perrigo et al., 2023). parental engagement is beneficial to student academic success; the task of educators across the country has been to develop and implement initiatives to ensure high levels of collaboration between the school and parents. however, language barriers and cultural misunderstandings about bilingual education can create feelings of exclusion (kasun, 2016; perrigo et al., 2023). ortiz (2018) explains that some demographic groups, including spanishspeaking immigrant parents, in the united states continue to be underserved due to systemic barriers, which can extend disengagement. parental engagement in their children's education is critical; however, for parents who do not speak the school language, engaging in their children's education remains a challenge (dunn, 2021). furthermore, ortiz-leger (2022) explains that participation practices vary from one family to another, due to reasons such as time constraints, the parents’ academic levels, spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 39 and cultural norms. nonetheless, issues related to family engagement are broader than cultural differences or even language barriers (parsons & shim, 2019). while these obstacles, ranging from language barriers to time constraints related to employment and family responsibilities, pose significant challenges, they also underscore the importance of finding innovative ways to support diverse family engagement. as keller et al. (2021) highlighted, recognizing these limitations is essential for fostering an inclusive environment where all families feel empowered to participate in their children’s education. therefore, despite these barriers, opportunities exist to bridge these gaps and enable more meaningful, accessible forms of engagement that can enhance academic success for all students. enhancing parental engagement while non-english speaking immigrant parents, especially those from spanish-speaking backgrounds, encounter challenges when engaging with their children’s education, these challenges offer significant opportunities to foster meaningful parental engagement. to better serve this population, it is critical to move beyond deficit perspectives and recognize the unique cultural wealth these families contribute. yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework underscores the various forms of capital (linguistic, familial, social, and navigational) that families possess, including spanish-speaking immigrant families, which can be instrumental in supporting their children’ success. similarly, moll et al. (1992) funds of knowledge theory emphasizes the idea that families, particularly those from diverse cultural backgrounds, possess important knowledge shaped by their life experiences, work, and family traditions. these “funds” of knowledge include practical skills, cultural practices, and community connections that can significantly contribute to a child’s education. when educational institutions recognize and value these resources, they can build stronger partnerships with families (beckett et al., 2012). such batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 40 acknowledgement empowers parents and helps create a more inclusive educational environment, enhancing collaboration between home and school (petrone, 2016). by validating the unique experiences and insights of parents, educators can foster stronger family engagement (manzo, 2016; parson & shim, 2019). research shows that the contributions of immigrant parents are often underestimated within educational systems, which frequently overlook the strengths and cultural assets these families bring (suárez-orozco & suárez-orozco, 2003). shifting the focus from deficits to potential opportunities helps educators cultivate engagement strategies that recognize and build on the existing strengths of immigrant families, ultimately creating a positive environment for both students and families (manzo, 2016) furthermore, schools that actively acknowledge and incorporate these forms of capital can create a more inclusive atmosphere, empowering parents to participate actively in their children’s learning journey (alemán et al., 2015; parson & shim, 2019). dual-language programs present unique opportunities for enhancing parental engagement. these settings can serve as platforms for parents to share their cultural and educational values, fostering a reciprocal learning environment that bridges home and school experiences (baquedano-lópez et al., 2013). engaging latino parents in discussions about their aspirations and concerns can lead to more inclusive and supportive educational environments (olivos & lucero, 2018). schools that provide resources for bilingual families, such as bilingual materials, workshops in the parent’s native language, and bilingual parent liaisons, tend to foster greater trust and participation from parents (worthy & rodriguez-galindo, 2006). ultimately, viewing spanish-speaking immigrant families through the lens of an assetsbased analysis rather than limitations allows schools to leverage the vast resources these spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 41 families offer (benavides lópez, 2016; dyrness, 2007). by implementing this type of approach educational institutions can empower spanish-speaking immigrant parents as active participants in the school-home connection (valdez, 2015). methodology research design this study focused on understanding the specific barriers faced by spanish-speaking immigrant parents when interacting with school institutions in an urban setting in texas. factors such as language barriers, employment barriers, academic barriers, as well as difficulties establishing effective communication with teachers and other school personnel were examined. to meet the objectives of this research study, the researcher used a phenomenological approach (creswell, 2013). researcher positionality in conducting this research, i acknowledge that my positionality as a bilingual instructional coach and as a mexican immigrant shapes my perspective and approach. working directly at the school provided me with direct access to participants, which was invaluable in establishing trust and fostering open communication. my role allowed me to engage with teachers, students, and families, and better understand their experiences within the school environment. furthermore, as an immigrant, mother of school-aged children, and bilingual educator, i have firsthand experience navigating the complexities of the u.s. education system. my family’s immigration journey has shaped my cultural identity and understanding of the challenges faced by immigrant families, particularly in terms of language barriers, cultural batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 42 differences, and limited access to resources. this shared experience fostered a strong connection with participants and enhanced my ability to gather rich qualitative data. research context this research study focused on an urban setting in texas, which is home to a substantial population of spanish-speaking immigrants. this place serves as a significant destination for immigrants from diverse regions, with mexico, el salvador, honduras, venezuela, colombia, guatemala, and cuba being the most common country of origin for spanish-speaking immigrants (lacarte et al., 2023). approximately one-third of foreign-born residents in the city originate from mexico, contributing to spanish being the predominant language spoken among this immigrant population (balderrama et al., 2020). data collection the present investigation used an instrument in the form of a semi-structured interview protocol which was developed to achieve the aims and objectives of the investigation. for the design of the instruments, the theoretical framework was used to base the concepts, variables, and indicators, in addition to tending to the general and specific questions and objectives. this instrument included 20 open-ended questions written in spanish, as well as exploratory questions that were used when participants needed to clarify or expand their answers. participant selection the purposeful sample consisted of spanish-speaking immigrant parents located in an urban setting in texas. invitation letters written in spanish were sent to parents in two fourth and fifth grade classes, where students were classified as emergent bilinguals and enrolled in dual language programs. to select participants, a second invitation letter was sent to parents spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 43 who met the study criteria of being immigrants from spanish-speaking countries. follow-up telephone calls were then made to those who expressed interest in participating. ultimately, a purposeful sample of eight spanish-speaking immigrant parents was finalized for the study. all participants were assigned pseudonyms to ensure confidentiality: sra. sandra, sra. marta, sr. juan, sra. laura, sra. ana, sra. abigail, sra. teresa, and sra. diana. before conducting the interviews, participants were provided with a consent form to be completed and returned with their children to the school. each participant signed an "interview consent form" which stipulated an at-will participation. subsequently, appointments were scheduled to complete the interviews virtually through google meets. all of these steps were conducted in spanish, a language the researcher dominates as her native language. data analysis after completing and recording all the interview videos, the audio transcription was made. initially, guided by a thematic analysis (dawadi, 2020), a deductive approach was used for coding using a table on the operationalization of the variables (braun & clarke, 2022) where the indicators were pre-identified. however, the researcher identified other emerging codes due to the use of an inductive approach (braun & clarke, 2022); therefore, a hybrid approach between deductive and inductive approaches was used. the final step in the coding process involved creating a concept map, as shown in figure 1, which organized the codes into distinct categories. consequently, it was possible to extract meaning from the data and produce a narrative by using thematic analysis and consulting the theoretical framework to draw conclusions. batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 44 findings derived from the analysis of the data, a deeper understanding of the experiences of spanish-speaking immigrants and their children in the educational context was obtained. in this research study, eight participants were interviewed, consisting of seven mothers and one father. all participants identified as spanish-speaking immigrants with school-age children enrolled in an elementary school in an urban setting in texas. their children were enrolled in a dual language program where they received instruction in english and spanish. all parents interviewed believe that their involvement in school makes a positive difference when it comes to their children's education and well-being. participants stated a range of time living in the united states, between 1 to 30 years. all participants confirmed that, since they immigrated from their country of origin, they have exclusively resided in the urban area of texas where this study was conducted. the demographic data of the study participants are presented in table 1. table 1. parents who participated in the study. participants (pseudonyms) age country of origin length of time in the u.s. level of education sra. sandra 29 honduras 2 years no formal education sra. marta 35 mexico 15 years high school diploma sr. juan 48 mexico over 30 years bachelor’s degree sra. laura 26 mexico 5 years primary education sra. ana 29 cuba 2 years high school diploma sra. abigail 32 el salvador 5 years primary education sra. teresa 44 mexico 28 years high school diploma sra. diana 28 colombia 1 year middle school diploma spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 45 in this thematic data analysis, three themes and a total of 19 codes emerged, as illustrated in figure 1. the themes that emerged from the data included homework involvement, volunteer involvement, and other types of involvement. these themes revealed 11 forms of involvement and eight barriers preventing parents from having better school participation. in general, it was noticed that all participants were involved in their children's education in different ways. on the theme of homework involvement, the following codes stood out: home environment, aspirations, awareness of involvement, homework revising, and additional support. however, academic barriers, language barriers, home barriers, and communication barriers were also identified for this theme. regarding the theme of volunteer involvement, participation in school trips, support in the classroom, and awareness or desire to get involved were highlighted. additionally, this theme also revealed communication barriers, home barriers, confinement barriers (related to covid-19), employment barriers, transportation barriers, and language barriers. finally, the theme of other types of involvement was addressed, where participation in the form of fomenting values, motivation, school communication, meetings, and school events were highlighted. furthermore, this theme also presented communication, technology, employment, and language barriers. batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 46 figure 1: homework involvement this theme highlights that all of the participants interviewed are involved in different ways when it comes to their children's homework. however, it also includes several barriers that affect parental involvement. one of the ways immigrant parents get involved in homework is by creating a learning environment at home where children are reminded of their school responsibilities. sra. sandra said that when it comes to helping with homework, the way she helps is, “en estar pendiente de ellos para sus tareas que sean responsables.” [being attentive to their assignments so they can be responsible]. in addition, this participant included aspirations for her children, where the value of education is emphasized, “pues la diferencia es que vivir con spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 47 mis hijos, yo no estudié en el, pero sí quiero que mis hijos estudien y aprendan lo que yo no lo pude hacer, que ellos lo hagan.” [the difference is that living with my children, i didn’t study, but i want my children to study and learn, to do what i couldn’t]. these academic aspirations reflect the fact that sra. sandra values education, expressing, “sí, esto lo miro de mucho valor” [yes, i see this as very valuable]. when it comes to getting more involved with homework, sra. sandra shows that there is an awareness showing that more involvement would be beneficial, “pues sería más mejor, aprenderían más.” [well, it would be much better, they would learn more]. however, sra. sandra revealed that she has no formal education, and this presents a barrier when it comes to getting more involved in her children's homework, “si yo supiera lo que ellos, o sea, le entendiera las tareas de ellos, ellos aprenderían más mejor.” [if i knew what they do, or if i understood their homework, they would learn much better]. the majority of the participants expressed being involved in homework revisions, however some of the barriers that prevent them from becoming more involved include academic barriers. sra. marta expressed having a difficult time understanding the curriculum and elaborates that although she has the academic bases, the difference in learning approaches utilized in her children’s schools is noticeable: no creo que afecte mi, mi nivel académico, ya que pues sí gradué, pero sí es muy diferente a como fui enseñada yo a cómo los están enseñando ahora. sí, diferentes métodos a los que les están enseñando a los niños [i don’t think my academic levels affect my understanding since i did graduate, but the way i was taught differs from how they are teaching them now. yes, different methods are being taught to children]. furthermore, sra. ana expands on the academic barriers: batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 48 sí, el papá de la niña sí tiene más nivel académico y no sé si es por el nivel académico o de qué depende, pero él sabe más y entiende mucho y en cambio yo sé poco, a diferencia de él. entonces ella es más, acude a él por eso y como que ella sabe [yes, the girl’s father has a higher academic level, and i don’t know if it’s because of the academic level or what it depends on, but he knows more and understands a lot, and unlike me, i have a limited understanding. she knows to go to him for help]. although this statement shows that there is additional support in the home, which includes other family members when clarification is needed to understand the academic curriculum, it still presents an academic barrier. volunteer involvement regarding the theme of volunteer involvement, it was highlighted that there is very little participation on the part of the interviewed participants. the forms of volunteer involvement mentioned were school trips, support in the classroom, and awareness of involvement, or knowing that participating as a volunteer generates benefits for their children. the most frequently identified obstacle in volunteering were communication barriers, in addition to barriers at home, confinement, employment, transportation, and language. in an effort to elaborate on the involvement of volunteers, sra. laura shared, “he hecho voluntariado yo de ayudar a los maestros cuando hacen estas actividades, cómo se dice que salen de paseo, para cuidar a los niños es en paseos escolares, en paseos escolares” [i have volunteered to help the teachers when they have these activities, like field trips, to watch over the kids when they go out, during school field trips]. this suggests that some immigrant parents are willing to volunteer on field trips where they help support student safety. spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 49 in addition to the volunteer involvement already mentioned, immigrant parents emphasized 'awareness of involvement' when it comes to volunteering. participants were asked the question, “¿cree que habría alguna diferencia si estuviera más involucrado en actividades de voluntariado?” [do you think there would be a difference if you were more involved in volunteering activities?], and all the participants said that volunteering would be positive for their children. sra. marta replied, “pues sería más mejor porque yo aprendería muchas cosas que no sé si fuera voluntaria.” [well, it would be much better because i would learn many things that i wouldn't if i weren’t a volunteer]. sr. juan expressed, “conocer más el a las personas en la escuela, más tener más aprendizaje en los niveles de los niños como poder ayudarle a mis hijos, ha reforzar lo que los maestros les dan” [getting to know more people at the school, learning more about the children’s levels, and being able to help my children, reinforcing what the teachers give them]. this highlights the idea that by being more involved in volunteering activities, parents have the opportunity to have a better relationship with school personnel, and as a result, be able to better assist children at home due to those connections. however, volunteer involvement presented several barriers on the part of parents. the participants expressed that the barriers to involvement in volunteer activities include communication barriers, home barriers, confinement barriers (as related to covid-19), employment barriers, transportation barriers, and language barriers. regarding the language barrier when it comes to involvement in volunteer activities, sra. diana shared the following: porque no sé si solo sea quizás mi caso o de varios, a veces uno se limita a preguntar o estar más presente en la escuela porque quizás el temor ese de que, de ir y que alguien te entienda, batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 50 buscar a esas personas, entonces como que uno. en mi parte prefiero evitar. ah, por lo que yo entiendo es, es un poco complicado saber si va a haber alguien que la pueda asistir [because i don’t know if it’s just my case or that of others, sometimes one hesitates to ask questions or to be more present at the school, maybe due to the fear of going and not being understood or finding people who can help. for me i prefer to avoid it. from what i understand, it’s a bit complicated to know if there will be someone available to assist]. this statement indicates that some of the spanish-speaking immigrant parents experience "temor" or ‘fear’ when trying to access the school and get involved or “estar más presente” [be present] and prefer to “evitar” or ‘avoid’ being in the circumstance of not being able to make themselves understood due to not dominating the english language. a suggestion that sra. diana shared to help with the language barrier was, “sería para apoyar a los padres inmigrantes a tener una mejor participación escolar. más que nada teniendo, era como otros, que nos pueda traducir, es, yo creo que eso es, ese sería la, la, lo más importante.” [it would be to support immigrant parents in having better school participation. above all, having others who can translate for us, i think that would be the most important thing]. therefore, it is important to have translation support available so that immigrant parents have better involvement in school. another barrier mentioned when it comes to getting involved in volunteer activities was the home barrier, which included all the obligations at home. the most mentioned home barrier were young children, who demand more time and care. sra. sandra indicated, “hacer voluntaria en la escuela. ¿eh? tal vez entendería porque mi niña tierna que tengo que no tengo con quien dejarla.” [volunteering at school? hmm. maybe i would understand, but i have a young spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 51 child, and i don’t have anyone to leave her with]. therefore, the obligation of the children at home is a barrier that prevents more participation. regarding transportation barriers, some immigrant parents do not have their own transportation, and when it comes to volunteering, this creates impediments for them. on this, sra. sandra shared, “sí, porque, pues yo no puedo manejar. no puedo manejar. siempre, porque cuando me toca algo de la escuela me toca ir caminando, si no tengo que buscar quien me lleve.” [yes, because i can’t drive, and when there’s something happening at the school, i have to walk, or i have to find someone to take me]. when it comes to the covid-19 lockdown, this has affected volunteer activities in schools and therefore continues to present a barrier. participants mentioned that ever since the lockdown, or confinement, schools have put restrictions that hinder their participation in volunteer activities. as such, covid-19 confinement still causes a barrier when it comes to parents getting involved as volunteers in their children's education. however, volunteer opportunities are returning to schools as sanitary measures have been relaxed at schools in the area. but parents interviewed lacked information regarding volunteer opportunities available at their child's school; this barrier was coded as “communication barriers.” sra. ana shared, “uy no estaba, no, no sabía que había actividades de voluntariado en la escuela.” [oh, i didn’t know there were volunteer activities at the school]. sra. diana said, “nunca me hablaron de voluntariado.” [they never told me anything about volunteering]. this highlights the lack of communication about volunteer opportunities and how important it is to keep the lines of communication open between schools and home. batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 52 other types of involvement in addition to being involved in assisting with homework and volunteering, it was discovered during interviews that spanish-speaking immigrant parents participate in other activities related to their children's education. these activities include attending school meetings and events, communicating with school staff, motivating their children, and actively teaching values. regarding the issue of attending school meetings and events, sra. ana shared, “bueno lo los maestros, me ellos mandan mensajes de texto y también con las reuniones.” [well, the teachers send me text messages and also about the meetings]. however, participating in major school events such as graduations also presents challenges, with sra. ana specifically highlighting the language barrier: espera como cuando fuimos a la graduación, yo quedé así como, ¿qué dijo? porque me hubiera, me hubiera gustado sentirme más incluida en la en en esos eventos importantes. es que como el idioma me perjudica porque no, no entendí nada, ves, fue solamente en inglés. y si me frustra. y sí he tenido que estudiar inglés. [like when we went to the graduation, i was like, “what did they say?” because i would have liked to feel more included in those important events. the language barrier affects me because i didn’t understand anything, you see; it was only in english. and yes, it frustrates me. i’ve had to study english]. as for getting involved based on school communication, participants commented that they appreciated the information that the teaching staff shared with them in spanish. however, the participants also shared that communication barriers exist as current communication between the school and the home presents opportunities for improvement. spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 53 sra. teresa shared, “yo pienso que sí, pero ahí no sé ustedes si están teniendo tareas o no, pero sí, dice que no tienen tarea” [i think so, but i don’t know if you all have homework or not, but yes, my child says there’s no homework]. later expanding, “por ejemplo, si estuviera segura, si hay tarea o no, me aseguraría que ella respondiera a todas sus tareas y yo me enterara qué es lo que tiene que hacer” [for example, if i was sure if there’s homework or not, i would make sure she completed all her assignments, and i would know what she has to do]. these statements show that communication between the school and the home, although sporadic, could improve, since it causes communication barriers that affect the involvement of parents. other barriers highlighted by participants were employment barriers. sra. marta indicated, “muchas de las actividades ah, pues obviamente son en en las mañanas. el trabajo no permite o las actividades que se hacen en la noche, pues como quiera todavía es muy temprano para los qué trabajan” [many of the activities, well, obviously take place in the mornings. work interferes, or the activities held at night are still too early for those who work]. for this part, sra. laura shared, “el trabajo sí afectan el 100% porque es horario de escuela” [work definitely affects 100% because it’s during school hours]. she additionally added, “prácticamente es el trabajo que hacen en la casa y el cansancio de que ya uno ya quieres dormir y ya” [basically, it’s the work they do at home and the exhaustion, because at the end of the day, you just want to sleep]. the excerpt illustrates how employment obligations present a barrier and it's something that affects parental involvement. other ways that immigrant parents get involved is by motivating and fomenting values in their children. sra. marta said, “les ayuda cuando uno está presente para motivarlos a hacer mejor, a participar más” [it helps when one is present to motivate them to do better, to participate more]. this exemplified how motivating their children is a way to be involved. on the other batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 54 hand, sra. sandra explained that, regardless of not having the academic skills or command of the english language, the involvement comes in the form of fomenting values, “pues, en enseñarle los valores, enseñarles que tienen que ser personas, humildes obedientes, que no sean malcriados. enseñarles los valores de la vida” [well, teaching them values, teaching them to be humble, obedient people, and not to be rude. teaching them the values of life]. these statements highlight other types of involvement of spanish-speaking immigrant parents when it comes to their children’s education and overall well-being. discussion the results were collected, analyzed, and organized based on the research question established in this study. the general objective of this research was to answer the question: what actions could be implemented to foster more effective collaboration between schools, communities, and spanish-speaking immigrant parents? the objective of the study was to create a proposal that fosters more effective collaboration among schools, communities, and spanishspeaking immigrant parents. as such, the discussion of the results is organized around this central question. when analyzing the findings, three types of involvement emerged: homework involvement, volunteering involvement, and other types of involvement. the barriers hindering such involvement included the following: language barriers, communication barriers, employment barriers, academic barriers, home barriers, confinement barriers (as related to covid-19), transportation barriers, and technology barriers. it is important to decrease the barriers to have better involvement. however, the importance of promoting other types of involvement, such as motivation and fostering values, is also recognized in this research study because these elements play a fundamental role in the development of students and their spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 55 academic success. moll et al. (1992) emphasize that when families bring their cultural knowledge and values into the educational process, they not only support learning but also provide students with a motivational foundation essential for their growth and achievement. to address these needs, epstein’s (1987) theory of overlapping spheres of influence and the framework of six types of involvement (epstein & sheldon, 2022) offer targeted strategies to enhance the involvement of parents in their children’s education, ultimately supporting a collaborative educational environment. language barriers using epstein’s (1987) theory of overlapping spheres of influence and the framework of six types of involvement (epstein & sheldon, 2022) as a guide, which highlights the collaborative role of parents, educators, and the community in fostering student learning and development, i recommend that schools utilize available resources to offer interpreting services for parents and facilitate connections with community organizations that provide adult english classes, based on parent’s expressed interest. this approach will empower immigrant families to access valuable language proficiency resources within the community. in instances where english classes are not readily available, this study suggests that schools draw upon existing assets, such as educational staff and parent volunteers who are proficient in the language, to develop support programs, including english courses tailored for immigrant parents navigating language barriers. communication barriers guided by epstein’s (2022) framework of six types of involvement , which emphasizes that educators must have conferences with all parents at least once a year, as well to include follow-ups as needed and provide clear information on all school policies, programs, reforms, batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 56 and transitions, schools should offer interpreting services during meetings and events and ensure all materials, such as program information, curriculum details, and school policies, are available in spanish or other relevant home languages. this approach will foster effective communication with spanish-speaking immigrant families. in linguistically diverse areas such as the region of this study, schools can utilize bilingual personnel or collaborate with nonprofits for interpreting services if additional language support is needed. maintaining open lines of communication in different formats, including print, digital and face-to-face; inform families of programs and curriculum; provide clear expectations; contact parents when there are concerns and compliments; share strategies or guides that could help immigrant parents be more engaged in their children’s education, doing it in their preferred language. additionally, educators and school staff would benefit from training on best practices for communicating with linguistically diverse families, thus creating a more inclusive and supportive school environment. employment barriers epstein’s (2022) framework of six types of involvement states that parents should be involved in “decision making” with the primary goal of including them in school decisions and developing ‘parent leaders’ and ‘representatives.’ therefore, by involving spanish-speaking immigrant parents in decision-making, school personnel might consult this population in different ways on how to improve employment barriers. in addition, different digital tools (such as text messages, emails, virtual meetings, information recorded on video, and social networks—all provided in spanish) could be used to maintain more active involvement with spanish-speaking immigrant families despite employment barriers. spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 57 academic barriers epstein’s (2022) framework of six types of involvement sets guidelines for "learning at home,” which emphasizes the importance of educators sharing calendars of school activities with parents and students, as well as providing information on how to support students in enhancing their skills on various assignments. based on the findings of this study, i propose an extension to these guidelines: school personnel should offer academic and didactic sessions for parents, delivered in their preferred language. while staff can facilitate these sessions, i recommend involving parent volunteers to lead them, fostering what i call ‘school support communities for parents and by parents’. this initiative has the potential to alleviate academic barriers faced by parents while promoting engagement and collaboration within the school community. home barriers epstein’s (2022) framework of six types of involvement promotes "collaborating with the community." to do this, it is suggested to identify and integrate community resources and services in order to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development. the current findings support the idea of providing information on services available in the community that may be useful for immigrant parents, with the goal of reducing barriers at home that hinder greater participation in their children's education. it is important to provide this information in the parents’ language of preference and through different forms of communication ensuring that it is accessible and understandable to them. furthermore, it was identified that young children present an obstacle when trying to get involved in school. it is proposed that schools have an action plan regarding the care of younger children at important events or meetings, especially when these deal with issues that batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 58 require high attention and decision-making by parents. for the care of young children on school premises, safe, designated spaces could be used where children can play under supervision. it is also proposed to have school personnel in such cases, as well as other parent volunteers or some community service that can assist in supervising young children during school meetings or events, if necessary. confinement barriers although this barrier is related to covid-19, and the theories established to frame the current research study do not provide specific suggestions, i nonetheless suggest increasing communication with families. it is essential to inform spanish-speaking immigrant parents about the different ways they can be involved in their children's education, whether at home or on the school campus. drawing from yosso’s (2005) framework of community cultural wealth, it is vital to recognize and utilize the existing strengths within these families. schools should encourage parents to share their cultural knowledge and practices that can support their children’s learning, thereby fostering a collaborative and enriching environment. transportation barriers theoretical evidence provided by epstein’s (2022) overlapping spheres of influence theory supports the partnership between family, school, and community. based on this theory, it is recommended that available community or school resources be used to help lower the transportation barrier for parents. this may involve facilitating access to transportation services, such as school transportation or public transportation programs so that immigrant parents can actively participate in school and community activities related to their children's education. spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 59 technology barriers based on my study’s findings and epstein’s and sheldon’s (2022) theory of overlapping spheres of influence, which supports the partnership between family, school, and community, i suggest that schools take advantage of community agencies that offer computer classes and technology training for adults, such as spanish-speaking immigrant parents. in addition, this study recommends implementing training workshops at the school site, being mindful of parents’ language preferences, technology skills, availability, and access to resources, such as reliable internet connection, childcare during workshops, transportation assistance, userfriendly devices or software, and financial support or guidance to purchase necessary equipment. these computer classes and technology training could be led by the teaching staff or by other parents, thus creating an optimal environment for collaboration among the parties involved. motivation and fomenting values the interviews revealed the crucial role that immigrant parents play in instilling values and motivation in their children. rather than viewing these parents through a lens of deficiency, it is essential to acknowledge the rich cultural resources they bring, which positively impact their children’s education, as emphasized in the work of yosso (2005) and moll et al. (1992). this study advocates for enhancing and promoting the active involvement of immigrant parents in their children’s educational journeys. building on my earlier proposal, i again advocate for the establishment of collaborative groups, which i call ‘school support communities for parents and by parents.’ these communities would create safe and welcoming spaces for parents to gather informally, perhaps over café y pan dulce, to share their insights, experiences, and strategies for promoting motivation and batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 60 values within their families. while these gatherings could begin with some structure, such as suggested discussion topics or guiding questions, the emphasis would be on fostering open dialogue and peer support rather than directing conversations from the schools. drawing from epstein's (2022) overlapping spheres of influence, i recommend that schools provide essential resources, such as meeting space, materials, digital services, and optional discussion topics/guiding questions in parents’ preferred language, to facilitate this collaboration among interested parents. by offering these resources, schools can empower spanish-speaking immigrant parents alongside other parents to exchange strategies for promoting values and motivation in their children, helping them reach their full potential. this collaborative effort not only enhances parental engagement but also fosters a sense of community, enriching the educational environment for all families with diverse perspectives and experiences. limitations and validity the limitations of this qualitative study include geographic and population limitations; therefore, this study does not intend to generalize the results to different geographical areas or to populations other than those mentioned. regarding the validity of this research, a review of the literature was carried out, with the goal of having solid theoretical foundations. the semi-structured interviews were recorded and later transcribed. the transcribed data was subjected to a meticulous manual thematic analysis (dawadi, 2020). this analysis allowed the results to be presented clearly, providing solid arguments to support the conclusions and achieve the objectives of the study. in addition, an audit trail was carried out to maintain the integrity and traceability of the entire process. spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 61 conclusion the benefits that derive from parental involvement are many; however, there are barriers that stand in the way, and the barriers increase for spanish-speaking immigrant parents. informed by my experience as a bilingual educator and a mexican immigrant, i aimed to reduce the obstacles to school parental engagement for spanish-speaking families. my firsthand knowledge of the challenges these families face, including language barriers and limited access to resources, guided my research question and shaped my interpretation of the findings. the finding that spanish-speaking parents often engage in their children’s education by fostering motivation and values, despite barriers such as language and lack of formal education, resonated deeply with my own experiences as a child of immigrant parents in the united states. i witnessed firsthand how my parents, although not fluent in english, always emphasized the importance of perseverance, dedication, and hard work, which shaped my professional journey. this experience helped me understand how, even when parents face obstacles in school participation, their influence can be profound. therefore, it is crucial to implement different approaches for schools to collaborate more effectively with this population, recognizing and leveraging the strengths immigrant parents bring to the educational process. this research proposes, using as reference and building on epstein’s (1987) theory of overlapping spheres of influence and epstein’s and sheldon’s (2022) framework of six types of involvement, to address these barriers using the resources that parents, the community, and the school already have. for example, nurturing the proposed ‘school support communities for parents and by parents’ could help reduce the academic barriers for immigrant parents, in addition to facilitating their involvement in a collaborative environment with school organizations and more interconnected with communities in general. batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 62 the involvement in the form of motivation and fomenting values from spanish-speaking immigrant parents was revealed during an interview with a participant without any formal education. this finding was surprising since it was the first time that this variable was presented in the investigation. however, the involvement in the form of motivation and fomenting values can be generalized to all parents and other caregivers. therefore, incorporating strategies on how to encourage this type of involvement in parents, such as collaboration environments where participants can share knowledge and acquire more information on how to promote motivation and values with their children is important. this can contribute to strengthening the connection between home and school, thus promoting a more enriching educational environment focused on fomenting values and motivating students so that they can reach their full potential. recommendations it is recommended that the proposed actions, listed in the discussion section, be implemented in educational environments where immigrant populations and emergent bilinguals are served. ultimately, it is anticipated that the recommendations of this study contribute to reducing the barriers that limit the school engagement of spanish-speaking immigrant parents. this will facilitate greater communication and collaboration between the school, community, and the families being served, which will benefit the academic success and comprehensive wellbeing of students. spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 63 references alemán, e., jr., delgado bernal, d., & cortez, e. (2015). a chican@ pathways model of acción: affirming the racial, cultural and academic assets of students, families, and communities. association of mexican american educators journal, 9(1). https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/download/167/158 araque, j. c., wietstock, c., cova, h. m., & zepeda, s. (2017). impact of latino parent engagement on student academic achievement: a pilot study. school community journal, 27(2), 229-250. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1165638.pdf arellanes, j. a., viramontez anguaino, r. p., & lohman, b. j. (2018). bettering the educational attainment for latino families: how families view the education of their children. journal of latinos and education, 18(4), 349–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2018.1426465 balderrama, e., duran, h., guzman, r., jankowski, p., martinez, r., pherigo, j., & suljic, b. (2020). houston facts 2020. greater houston partnership. https://www.houston.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/houston%20facts%202020_final.pdf baquedano-lópez, p., alexander, r. a., hernandez, s. j. (2013). equity issues in parental and community involvement in schools: what teacher educators need to know. review of research in education, 37(1),1, 49-182. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732x12459718 beckett, l., glass, r. d., & moreno, a. p. (2012). a pedagogy of community building: reimagining parent involvement and community organizing in popular education efforts. association of mexican american educators journal, 6(1). https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/view/97/88 benavides lópez, c. (2016). lessons from the educational borderlands: documenting the pedagogies of migration of chicana/o, latina/o undocumented immigrant students and households. association of mexican american educators journal, 10(1). https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/view/192 bogenschneider, k., & johnson, c. (2004). family involvement in education: how important is it? what can legislators do? madison: university of wisconsin center for excellence in family studies. braun, v., & clarke, v. (2022). conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. qualitative psychology, 9(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000196 creswell, john w. 2013. qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches (3rd). sage. cuevas, s. (2020). from spectators to partners: the role of self-efficacy in latina/o immigrant parents’ engagement in students’ post-secondary planning. journal of latinos and education, 22(1), 271–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2020.1747024 dawadi, s. (2020). thematic analysis approach: a step by step guide for elt research practitioners. journal of nelta, 25(1-2), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v25i12.49731 dunn, claudia montoya (2021). experiences of latino immigrant parents of children with disabilities: the importance of culturally and linguistically diverse parent involvement in the iep process. doctoral dissertation, texas a&m university. http://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/193205 https://doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v25i1-2.49731 https://doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v25i1-2.49731 batarse association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol 18, issue 1 64 dyrness, a. (2007). ‘confianza is where i can be myself’: latina mothers’ constructions of community in education reform. ethnography and education, 2(2), 257–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457820701350848 epstein, j.l. (1987). toward a theory of family-school connections: teacher practices and parent involvement. social intervention: potential and constraints, 121, 136. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110850963.121 epstein, j. l. (1995). school/family/community partnerships: caring for the children we share. phi delta kappan, 76(9), 701-12. epstein, j.l., & sheldon, s.b. (2022). school, family, and community partnerships: preparing educators and improving schools (3rd ed.). routledge. garbacz, s. a., santiago, r. t., kosty, d., zahn, m., stormshak, e. a., smolkowski, k., & seeley, j. r. (2021). examining congruence in parent-teacher perceptions of middle school supports for students and families. psychology in the school, 58, 1169–1184. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22495 housel, d. a. (2020). supporting the engagement and participation of multicultural, multilingual immigrant families in public education in the united states: some practical strategies. school community journal, 30(2), 185-209. kantova, k. (2024). parental involvement and education outcomes of their children. applied economics, 56(48), 5683–5698. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2024.2314569 kasun, g. s. (2016). transnational mexican-origin families' ways of knowing: a framework toward bridging understandings in us schools. equity & excellence in education, 49(2), 129-142. keller, j. g., miller, c., lasdulce, c., & wohrle, r. g. (2021). using a community-based participatory research model to encourage parental involvement in their children’s schools. children & schools, 43(3), 149–158. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdab013 lacarte, v., fix, m., & batalova, j. (2023). immigration and integration in the ever more diverse houston area. migration policy institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/mpi_houston-report2023_final.pdf manzo, r. d. (2016). parent involvement practices of farmworking immigrant mothers in a rural community. association of mexican american educators journal, 10(1). https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/view/191/182 martín corredor, l., henderson, k. i., & álvarez, a. (2023). mexican and mexican american mothers’ visions and decisions amidst dual language bilingual education expansion. bilingual research journal, 46(1-2), 82-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2023.2235309 mcdowell, k., jack, a., & compton, m. (2018). parent involvement in pre-kindergarten and the effects on student achievement. the advocate: vol. 23: no. 6. https://doi.org/10.4148/2637-4552.1004 moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849209543534 olivos, e. m. (2020). silencing bicultural parental voices through educational satisfaction: what do we need to know? theory into practice, 60(1), 72–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2020.1829378 spanish-speaking immigrant parents association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 65 olivos, e., jiménez-castellanos, o., & ochoa, a. (2011). bicultural parent engagement: advocacy and empowerment. teachers college press. olivos, e. & lucero, a. (2018): latino parents in dual language immersion programs: why are they so satisfied? international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 23(10), 12111224. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1436520 ortiz, m. (2018). hispanic parent engagement: how urban high school principals address the national parent teacher association parent engagement standards. doctoral dissertation, university of texas at austin. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/67968 ortiz-leger, j. (2022). the barriers to family engagement in educational settings. community engagement student work, merrimack college. https://scholarworks.merrimack.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=soe_stud ent_ce parsons, m. w., & shim, j. m. (2019). increasing ell parental involvement and engagement: exploration of k-12 administrators in a rural state. english language teaching, 12(10), 2943. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1228019.pdf petrone, e. (2016). a squandered resource: the divestment of mexican parental involvement in a new gateway state. school community journal, 26(1), 67–92. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ej1104395.pdf perrigo, j. l., villamil grest, c., harris, t., & samek, a. (2023). spanish-speaking hispanic/latino families education-related parental involvement practices. journal of latinos and education, 23(4), 1489–1501. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2023.2276781 rodríguez vásquez, g. (2023). challenging deficit narratives on latino family engagement. doctoral dissertation, university of houston. https://uh-ir.tdl.org/items/8dc7d010-8774433d-9ebf-756b251b12fd rubin, r., abrego, m. h., & sutterby, j. a. (2021). engaging the families of els and immigrants: ideas, resources, and activities. routledge. suárez, p., vélez, m. (2018). el papel de la familia en el desarrollo social del niño: una mirada desde la afectividad, la comunicación familiar y estilos de educación parental. revista psicoespaocios, 12(20), 173-198. https://doi.org/10.25057/issn.2145-2776 suárez-orozco, c., & suárez-orozco, m. m. (2003). la infancia de la inmigración (vol. 26). ediciones morata. valdez, v. (2015). bilingual educación in the home: everyday mexican immigrant family educational practices. association of mexican american educators journal, 9(2). https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/issue/view/15 vassallo, b. (2018). promoting parental involvement in multicultural schools: implications for educators. the online journal of new horizons in education, 8(2), 101-107. womack, t. a. (2020). motivations for homework involvement: a preliminary investigation of parents of children with individualized education plans. uc riverside. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1gd5z4pz worthy, j., & rodríguez-galindo, a. (2006). “mi hija vale dos personas”: latino immigrant parents’ perspectives about their children’s bilingualism. bilingual research journal, 30(2), 579–601. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2006.10162891 yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320520003410 http://hdl.handle.net/2152/67968 volume 15 issue 2 2021 amae invited issue mexican american studies in pre-k-12 texas schools guest editors sylvia mendoza aviña the university of texas at san antonio lilliana patricia saldaña the university of texas at san antonio editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 christian fallas escobar doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.2.426 proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 123 the future of middle level education–chicana maestras and vignettes alexa m. proffitt university of texas at san antonio antonia alderete northside independent school district megan villa northeast independent school district violetta villarreal thurgood marshall school of law abstract this interdisciplinary case study research centers anticolonial theories and chicana feminist epistemology (bernal, 1998) to interrogate the experiences of chicana maestras during their clinical teaching semester. the experiences of chicana maestras is often silenced in educational research, especially in the research of prospective middle grades educators. this work seeks to challenge the often-colonizing practices of teaching and research and seeks to serve as a model of the possibilities for research in middle level teacher education. the findings of this research center on the collective power of chicanas experiencing teaching and learning as a collective through the creation of vignettes. these vignettes highlight the themes of maestras and comunidad, exploring and solidifying identity, thriving colonialism, clinical chingonas, and sharing of knowledge. each of these themes, and the collective work that went into this research, demonstrate the importance of chicanas in middle level education. keywords: chicana maestras, middle level education, anticolonial the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 124 introduction the middle grades are arguably the most important time in the life of a young adolescent. it is the time where they are investigating themselves, becoming more aware of the world around them, while developing who they are as whole people. john lounsbury (2010) states, “the importance of middle level education can never be overestimated. the future of individuals and, indeed, that of society is largely determined by the nature of the educational experiences of young adolescents during these formative years” (p. 43). due to the importance of the middle grades, we must engage in research that centers on the preparation of our prospective middle level educators because they have the potential to truly impact society. this research on the middle grades centers the experiences of chicana prospective middle level educators. often the experiences of chicanas in the classroom are silenced in broader educational research and discourse. also, less emphasis has been placed on the experiences that chicanas have as prospective middle level educators. therefore, it is imperative that we examine the ways that chicanas experience teacher preparation to gain insight into how we can impact the growth of chicanas who successfully enter classrooms, from the middle grades through higher education. our experiences as chicana educators teaching and learning in san antonio, texas, directly impacts how we understand ourselves, our community, and our classrooms. this research seeks to examine the ways in which chicanas embody, experience, and teach from an anticolonial lens in the preparation of chicana middle grades educators. we believe that our experiences provide insight into creating a foundation of challenging colonialism within middle grades teacher preparation, and potentially serve as a model for the preparation of other future educators. interdisciplinary theoretical framework this research demonstrates the necessity for interdisciplinary work in middle level research. through the lenses of chicana feminist epistemology (cfe) (bernal, 1998) and anticoloniality, we can conceptualize an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that challenges coloniality while filling in the missing perspectives within middle level education. this work is an example of the possibilities for the future of middle level teacher education that connects chicana feminist epistemology and anticoloniality as the foundations of teaching and learning. proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 125 chicana feminist epistemology is central to this research. it aims to echo the ways that, “other chicana scholars address the shortcomings of liberal educational scholarship by embracing a chicana feminist epistemology that examines chicanas’ experiences in relation to an entire structure of domination” (bernal, 1998, p. 558). that structure of domination has its origins in settler colonization. the impact of colonization on chicanas historically, and in present day, is unique to the chicana experience in the colonized land that is the united states. anticoloniality and the efforts towards challenging colonialism as a framework, “is a theorization of issues, concerns and social practices emerging from colonial relations and their aftermath. however, anti-colonialism uses indigenous knowledges as an important entry point” (dei, 2000, p. 117). no institution embodies and perpetuates the colonial in the same way as education, therefore, to unearth the ways in which we navigate those colonial spaces as chicana educators, we have to understand the ways in which these colonized spaces impact us as individuals. this work necessitates an interdisciplinary lens to uncover the full experience of chicana prospective middle level educators. research question this work is part of a larger research study that focuses on middle level pre-service teachers and how they engage in challenging colonialism. the research that is presented here is focused specifically on: what happens when three maestras write vignettes (teaching cases) that embody connections between anticolonial perspectives and middle level clinical teaching? this research question exemplifies merriam’s (1998) idea that "the very questions you raise derive from your view of the world" (p. 49). this question is both personal and political and could have a great impact on our community and how we navigate teaching and learning. this question was answered utilizing qualitative methods as qualitative methods align to the theoretical frameworks that have been created through the combination of chicana feminist epistemology and anticolonial theories. literature review interdisciplinarity interdisciplinarity focuses on the synthesis of ideas across two or more disciplines that creates the ability for new insights into challenges that could not be interrogated sufficiently by any single discipline (klein, 1990; moran, 2010). this article centers on what happens when the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 126 three maestras write vignettes that embody connections between anticolonial perspectives and middle level clinical teaching. this research seeks to examine the ways in which middle level teacher education, chicana feminist epistemologies, and anticoloniality can work together to realize a way of creating and engaging with anticolonial perspectives within middle level teacher education. interdisciplinarity as political there is no such thing as neutrality in teaching. this sentiment is echoed by joe moran (2010) in his discussion of interdisciplinarity that states “interdisciplinary approaches often draw attention, either implicitly or explicitly, to the fact that what is studied and taught within universities is always a political question" (moran, 2010, p. 15). anticolonial work seeks to challenge the colonial idea of neutrality within teaching and learning that only benefits those who have historically held and maintained power within society, as that neutrality is an example of settler moves to innocence (tuck & yang, 2012) that allows for responsibility for colonial systems of marginalization and oppression to be abdicated by those who have benefited from colonization. prospective middle level educators the foundations of middle level education focus on young adolescents being ‘globally competent’ and aware and respectful towards various cultures and traditions, even so far as emphasizing the need for middle level classrooms to prepare students towards engaging in this ‘competence’ (andrews & conk, 2012). however, in the focus on universal global competency in our middle level classrooms, we are negating the very local importance of our prospective middle level educators. our prospective teachers are also an increasingly diverse population, and the educational content and curriculum for preparing them has remained centered in whiteness (brown, 2014). through curriculums that maintain their hold on eurocentric and “western” ideals of teaching and learning, there is a systemic continuation of middle level teacher preparation maintaining a colonial hold on our middle level classrooms. this research combines the traits that are meant to be present for all middle level educators. however, it centers the identities of these specific educators as chicanas. we are utilizing chicana feminist epistemology as a lens through which to examine the experience of proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 127 chicana educators in their teacher preparation. this lens is in response to the colonial views of teaching a heterogenous population of future educators. chicana feminist epistemology at the center of the conversation between education and chicanas is delgado bernal’s (1998) argument that liberal educational scholarship has failed to truly conceptualize, understand, and address the experiences of chicanas in the classroom (p. 557). her arguments are not specific to teacher education, but illuminate the possibilities of utilizing a chicana feminist epistemology (cfe) in middle level teacher education. this work situates chicana feminist epistemology as a theoretical imperative because of the examination and analysis of our own experiences, the borderlands context of south texas, but also the necessity with highlighting the history of chicanas as important in order to create an anticolonial model for teacher education. chicana feminist epistemology is at the center of this research as “scholars who have challenged the historical and ideological representations of chicanas, relocated them to a central position in the research, and asked distinctly chicana feminist research questions, all important characteristics of chicana feminist epistemology” (bernal, 1998, p. 559). we are centering the experiences of three chicana prospective middle level educators and their experiences during clinical teaching. we are at the forefront of interrogating the ways that our experiences are legitimate knowledge and claiming the power that is created through analyzing our own stories. anticolonial anticolonialism centers on the idea of challenging colonialism and its historical and modern manifestations in our institutions of power. this work centers on rejecting “colonialblindness” (calderón, 2014a) and chooses to interrogate the complexities of the experiences of colonization upon chicanas during part of their middle level teacher preparation. as such, definitions for key terms utilized in this work are necessary. as a result of a metasynthesis on anticoloniality, anticolonialism is defined as “the awareness of the pervasiveness of colonization in all aspects of our institutions, while simultaneously taking action that challenges and disrupts the colonial norm, modeled after, and honoring, indigenous communities who have engaged in this work since colonization” (proffitt, 2020a, p.8). we are cognizant of the specific ancestral the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 128 land upon which we are teaching and learning, yanawana. this land that has been impacted by settler colonization where “nonindigenous people settled permanently on indigenous land. it includes the creation and continuation of a dominant structure by the silencing of indigenous peoples and cultures through all aspects of society” (proffitt, 2020a, p.7). patrick wolfe’s (1999) explanation of settler colonization as a “structure, not an event” (p. 2) reinforces the way that we must acknowledge our colonial histories in the efforts towards challenging their institutional impacts on teaching and learning. this work seeks to use anticolonialism as a collective of maestras, seeking knowledge within our own experiences while recognizing the ways in which colonization has impacted us as individuals, but also the institutions in which we teach and learn. methodology traditional research and education practices have long since conformed to colonial norms and placed the lens of research upon the “other” for the benefit of the colonizer (dei & kempf, 2006). it was important that the ways in which this research project was conducted attempted to embrace anticoloniality in the efforts to align to the research question that makes connections between anticolonial perspectives and middle level clinical teaching. therefore, this research has centered the importance of chicana women in education, working collectively, in the attempts to embody connections between anticolonial perspectives and middle level teaching. this type of research requires the embracing of a community-oriented space for research and learning, one that engages in an anticolonial praxis and recognizes that "the theories we use and the data analysis strategies we employ are not neutral means; they embody our relations to power through the arenas they center" (noffke, 2009, p. 7). in seeking to dismantle the colonial research model of researchers and those being researched upon, this project sought to engage in a methodology that honors the work that can be done together, as a collective, to unearth new knowledge about the world and ourselves. this research, and the methodologies it employs, manifested as a place for mujeres to interrogate their experiences in colonized spaces, and provided insight into how this work could be done within greater communities of middle level teacher preparation. proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 129 participants the research team was made up of three middle level prospective teachers and a course instructor, all co-researchers and co-authors of this article. antonia, megan, and violetta were all in their clinical, or student-teaching semesters. alexa had previously been their instructor during their service-learning in social studies methods 4-8 course. we are all women of mexican-american descent, in ages ranging from early twenties to thirties. when asked how we choose to identify, we provided responses that ranged from chicana, mexican-american, hispanic, and chinalatina. each woman in this work is at a different place in claiming their identity, however, we will center the identity of chicana in this work. this works centers on chicana women’s experiences in the classrooms and attempts to engage in, validating alternative sources of knowledge as appropriate for learning, chicana feminist epistemologies provide chicana educators the ability to deconstruct the teacher/student binary common in all levels of schooling and move toward decolonizing [anticolonial] pedagogical models. (calderón et al., 2012, p. 519) this desire for deconstructing the teacher/student binary in our work together in the classroom and this research, reinforced the need for this study to utilize a co-researcher model. as a doctoral fellow, alexa had the opportunity to conduct her dissertation research with former students, instead of upon former students, in the efforts to embody anticoloniality and chicana feminist epistemology within the content of this research. in doing so, students from the previous semester of the service-learning course, who had demonstrated active interest in challenging coloniality in their teaching, antonia, megan, and violetta, were asked if they would be willing to co-research a project that centered on challenging colonialism within their clinical teaching experiences, the larger research study. all participants agreed, and it was decided that a co-researcher model would be utilized to both honor the knowledge and experience of each individual woman to “develop a chicana feminist epistemology by researching the lives and experiences of chicanas, and framing their research questions in ways that give voice to these women” (bernal, 1998, p. 559) but also to reinforce the need to challenge the colonial model of research that is so often done on historically marginalized communities. the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 130 context all three co-researchers were former students in the service-learning in social studies methods for 4-8 course that centered on the possibilities of anticoloniality within middle level social studies classrooms. this course was an introduction to challenging colonialism and its possibilities within education. students read and engaged in dialectical journals with texts such as tuck and yang’s “decolonization is not a metaphor” (2012), dolores calderon’s “anticolonial methodologies in education” (2014a) and “speaking back to manifest destinies” (2014b), as well as george sefa dei and arlo kempf’s “anti-colonialism and education: the politics of resistance” (2006) that served as resources for understanding the fundamental theoretical ideas of anticolonial work (proffitt, 2020b, p. 13). we engaged in daily discussions about the ideas that arose that directly challenged colonial-blindness (calderón, 2014a) and the ways in which education, as an institution continues to support and perpetuate settler colonial perspectives. at the end of the semester, it was clear that my co-researchers had the desire to engage in this work in their future classrooms and continue learning about the ways in which they could do this work as educators. this project was in the effort to continue the investigation into the anticolonial with one another, through their personal experiences in clinical teaching. vignettes the product of this research includes the writing of vignettes, commonly referred to as teaching cases, that embody the connections between theory and the realities of practice (shulman & wilson, 2004) in connection to anticolonial perspectives within the middle level classroom space. these ‘cases’ are referred to in this research as vignettes, as a way of separating these products from the overall case study methodology, but also to honor sandra cisneros’ house on mango street that utilizes vignettes as a way of telling an entire story, that has had a great impact on us all. our stories, our vignettes, are truly our life experiences, and afford us the opportunity for us to be the ones who examine our own experiences (bernal, 1998); an act of claiming our agency and our ability to engage in educational research based upon our own experiences. our vignettes are our stories; the stories of our experiences and our transformations. the stories that we hope to pass down to future teacher educators and their students about proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 131 the importance of our work. we imagine teacher education utilizing anticolonial perspectives and honoring the stories of its maestras as legitimate and meaningful. "this analysis suggests that knowing teaching is knowing its stories. if story is the knowledgeable base for teaching, then case, as story, is the nucleus rather than simply a medium of the teacher education curriculum" (carter, 1999, p. 171). our experiences, our vignettes, are the center of who we are, how we embody anticolonial perspectives, and the ways in which we seek to challenge colonial norms within our teaching and learning spaces. group sessions this research focused on the collective experience of engaging in group sessions throughout the clinical teaching semester. these meetings, of which there were five in total throughout the semester, allowed for us to come together to discuss the experiences that were taking place during clinical placements. this was a space that was made possible because of the established relationship created during the previous semester by all the co-researchers. it was a place of safety, and vulnerability, where we could come together to discuss our failures and our successes, but also to work together to create solutions. data collection the data for this article focuses on the vignettes that were written after the conclusion of our group sessions and the clinical teaching semester. these vignettes provide insight into the connection between anticolonial perspectives and middle level prospective teacher education. these vignettes are the very personal experiences of our individual co-researchers, but also of our collective experience together, in a communal space. these vignettes serve as the most important data for the purposes of this text. data analysis because this research is only a small part of a larger research study, analysis of the entire data collected for the larger project was still necessary for the analysis of the vignettes. all data analysis was conducted by alexa. each group session was recorded and then transcribed by alexa. following the transcription process, thematic analysis was utilized to determine themes that appeared in each group session, but also across group sessions. the the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 132 themes found in the group sessions were used as a tool for then analyzing the vignettes that were written by antonia, megan, and violetta following the end of our group sessions. thematic analysis was then conducted on the written vignettes. the analysis procedures that were previously completed on the group sessions provided insight and further support for the analysis of the group vignettes. it was determined that the key themes emerging from the vignettes were focused on chicana maestras and comunidad, exploring and solidifying identity, colonialism is thriving, clinical chingonas, and the desire to share the knowledge that they have learned. findings the findings from this research provide insight into the power of writing vignettes and the way that analyzing our own experiences can impact and empower us as chicana educators. these findings illuminate the answers to our research question: what happens when three maestras write vignettes (teaching cases) that embody connections between anticolonial perspectives and middle level clinical teaching? maestras and comunidad one of the most prevalent themes found across vignettes was the impact that this group had in creating a sense of community and support throughout the clinical teaching experience. the transition from course work, which is very communal, to clinical teaching, which is often isolating, was directly impacted by our group sessions: “it was very comforting knowing i was not going through this process alone, but with my fellow students and friends, violetta and megan. it was a constant reminder that we were sharing a grand experience,” (antonia, 2020). megan echoed antonia’s sentiments, being a part of this group was the support i needed. clinical teaching could have been an easy job in which i did what i was told and moved on. there would have been no depth to what i was doing and it would have been just a task to check off on the road to graduation. because of this group, i was able to take away much more than a checkmark. (megan, 2020) these sessions created a space for maestras to convene with one another about their daily experiences as clinical teachers and their perspectives about anticoloniality. they were proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 133 able to come together to interrogate their shared experiences in colonized spaces, and through this, embody anticolonial perspectives. these sessions also created a community of support, one in which their peers did not have similar access. these group experiences, built from the relationships we had created during the previous semester, also allowed for this space to be one of vulnerability and safety, the meetings we had really impacted my clinical experience…when we had our meetings, we were able to reflect on our experiences and the ways in which we wished to change for our future classrooms…having these sessions helped me keep my sanity and made me feel hopeful that several women shared the same views as me and wanted to grow in the same ways. we all shared a similar goal which was to become great educators that challenged colonialism and make our students think critically about the world around them. it was comforting to know that we all had our own hardships and struggles and we all wanted to work through them to become better educators. (violetta, 2020) violetta’s vignette echoed the ways in which she felt as though she had to inhabit a different persona, or assimilate, in order to survive her clinical teaching experience. her personal experiences in a colonized clinical teaching setting reinforced the contrast between her daily experiences as a clinical teacher, and who she was when attending our group sessions. exploring and solidifying identity this collective work and research honored who we are as whole people, but also given the demographics of the teaching profession, created a space where chicanas can discuss the roles that their identities have in their classrooms. our first session of our group meetings included the discussion question of, “how do you choose to identify along the lines of gender and ethnicity?” this question was asked in order to gauge the current status of the identity work that had been done by these women, the ways in which colonization might have impacted those identities, and to further reinforce the ideas that our identities as individuals cannot be separated from who we are as teachers. at the beginning of our sessions, violetta identified as ‘hispanic’ and expressed trepidation in wanting to be identified as ‘mexican’ because of her status as a second and third the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 134 generation mexican-american. throughout our group sessions, she emphasized the way that her relationship with chicanx students impacted her clinical teaching, this experience impacted my identity as a latinx woman in many ways. i was able to talk about my and my family experiences in my classroom and was able to share with the classroom my poetry and poetry that not only reflected my life but the lives of my students. i never felt like my heritage and culture was celebrated in my school, but in the days were we discussed chicano poetry i felt we celebrated chicano/latino culture while also discussing this struggles and discrimination chicanos/ latinos experience. it was eye opening for my students and i were able to share personal and emotional experiences with one another. i felt truly proud in those days of my culture and truly proud of my identity which is not something i can say that i was proud of when i was my students age. this also inspired me to read more chicanx/latinx materials by women and educate myself further on chicanx/latinx issues. (violetta, 2020) violetta’s experience of further investigating her identity and implementing that investigation into her classroom instruction demonstrates the possibilities that engaging in this work provide for the future of middle level teacher education where our students are actively in the process of investigating who they are and how they see themselves in the world. megan began our session as describing herself as “i’m figuring it out,” having a mixed background and still very much investigating her identities and the ways in which she claims them. through this research she felt as though the experience, “deepened my identity as latinx,” (megan, 2020) and that, college and more specifically, this experience has deepened my identity of being latinx and chinese. i am multicultural and that can help my students who are feeling like i did when i was growing up. giving them that role model who is a person of color gives me a sense of joy that i wouldn’t of known for if it wasn’t for this experience. (megan, 2020) while both violetta and megan were still in the stages of determining how they wished to identify, antonia was very confident in claiming her identity as chicana. notably, antonia was the only participant who took mexican american studies courses during her time as a preservice educator. our sessions eventually delved into other identity markers, such as sexuality, and the colonial norms of heteronormativity that permeated the clinical teaching experience. proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 135 these conversations led antonia to more deeply investigate her identity and the ways that it connects to her experiences as an educator, i knew that in my own clinical teaching experience, i could be comfortable in my identity. i never felt like i was pretending to be someone else. in the matter of other topics, such as our personal lives and how it ties into our careers (specifically gender and sexual orientation), it was never something i considered before our talks. afterwards, though, i realized how heavily this impacts our career even though it should not. i took the time to look through this aspect of my life through the critical lens. overall, i feel like this experience has strengthened my identity as a chicanx women educator. (antonia, 2020) all these women were able to use their clinical teaching experiences, and our group sessions, to further investigate who they are as people, and the impact that has on their experiences as clinical teachers. this investigation into identity and the ways in which we can connect the initial uncertainties in our identities to colonialism, allow this work to embody an anticolonial perspective. we must name and investigate the ways in which colonization has impacted how we see ourselves in society, a unique experience for chicanas who are from an “indigenous/mestiza-based cultural group” (bernal, 1998, p. 560-561) and therefore have a very complex relationship to identity. colonialism is thriving the impetus for this research was the investigation into the connection between anticolonial perspectives and middle level clinical teaching for chicana educators. the vignettes highlighted many ways in which colonization in education or the colonial model of education (cme) (calderón, 2014a) is thriving in our middle schools. megan and violetta experiences were both in the same school, content, and grade for their clinical experiences, and both expressed frustrations with the ways in which the school adhered to a colonial model of education (calderón, 2014a), but megan’s approach to this experience was, “to survive.” during our group sessions she expressed a sense of powerlessness within this space and that she felt as though: “i feel like it’s like a, a thin wire and i don’t want to trip it when she’s there” (m. villa, personal communication, september 20, 2019). while megan did desire to utilize an anticolonial perspective and challenge colonialism in the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 136 her clinical placement, the realities of where she was and the power dynamics involved, limited her abilities with which to do so. these constraints manifested in her vignette making connections to teaching critically: “teaching them with a critical lens and to be culturally responsive could change the division in san antonio that is very prominent” (megan, 2020), but did not include references to coloniality and how it manifests, or is challenged in the classroom. this is indicative of the process of anticolonial work in education, as it is not a one size fits all approach to teaching and learning, but a process that takes time to practice and implement in our classroom spaces. violetta’s experience in clinical teaching illuminated the ways in which colonization is prevalent in our schooling, and the ways that it impacts both teachers and students: “i had already seen how some classrooms were conducted and how they did not challenge colonialism in any way, shape, or form but also by doing this, they alienated students of color” (violetta, 2020). despite her frustrations during clinical teaching, she utilized our group as a resource for navigating colonial environments, but also for possibilities of challenging those spaces: “i knew being a part of this study would help me navigate my way through this semester and help me find material to challenge colonialism in the classroom i was in,” (violetta, 2020). violetta was actively seeking to embody anticolonial perspectives in a very colonized clinical teaching environment. the challenging of the systemic ways that settler colonization has been embedded in our institutions will not happen instantly, but through consistent and active work by us as educators. our continued work towards how we can create knowledge collectively, on anticolonial perspectives, pedagogies and practices in our classrooms, can lead towards the middle level education being at the forefront of transformational education practices. clinical chingonas a large part of our work together was to serve as resources for one another as teachers who were experiencing teaching and learning in colonial environments. to do this work, to embody and utilize anticolonial perspectives, we have to be both confident in who we are, but also in our instruction. we all entered this space knowing that we wanted to teach from an anticolonial lens in our classroom, but the ways in which that would pedagogically manifest was difficult to conceptualize. we are still learning how this work can manifest in our proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 137 classroom spaces, but collectively, we have been able grow in our confidence as educators through this process, it helped me grow as an educator and prepared me on how to teach colonialism in my own classroom as well as have difficult conversations with students on race and identity. these meetings helped shape me into being a culturally responsive teacher... (violetta, 2020) we have all been able to better picture the type of teaching that we want to have in our classrooms, but also the ways that we ourselves are able to navigate systems of power, as a future teacher, i feel confident in navigating the schools i teach at. i know i am capable of taking my students that extra level by questioning systems of power, challenging these ideals, and always looking at our curriculum and other aspects of our education through the critical lens. (antonia, 2020) those feelings of being able to confidently challenge colonial systems of power, stem from a true understanding of anticoloniality and the need for having that perspective in the classroom. our sessions together, and the writing of our vignettes, illuminated the growth that we underwent through this process collectively. each of us has grown in our confidence as educators, but also in our knowledge of the current colonial status of schooling. that knowledge has driven us to critically engage with an anticolonial perspective to work towards creating the educational environments that challenge the colonial norm. sharing our knowledge for schooling to truly and systemically challenge colonialism, through utilizing an anticolonial perspective, we must be willing to collaborate with others, share what we’ve learned, and offer hope for the future. all of us plan to continue this work and our collaborative efforts, inviting others to join us, and learn together: “i knew that being able to share my experiences in challenging colonization in our schools could teach and benefit others, hopefully allowing them to learn from what i myself have learned” (antonia, 2020). the creating of vignettes, of stories of our experiences, demonstrates that our stories are the nucleus of teacher education (carter, 1999, p. 171) and allows for our curriculums to truly be reflective of us as individuals. that personal experience is then centered in our the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 138 teaching: “i believe our work was important and essential for texas education and texas teachers. i hope that the teachers who have fallen into a rut and have given up on their students read this and realize that teaching can be meaningful and personal” (violetta, 2020). violetta utilizes an anticolonial perspective by emphasizing the importance for texas teacher, engaging with the local colonial history that she has personally experienced. throughout our group sessions, there was the conversation about the ways in which teachers can get into a ‘rut,’ a place where new learning and investigation into themselves and their practices is not happening. we are all capable of this, but through this group, we hope that we now have a collective of maestras who will continuously work together to make sure that we are embodying anticolonial perspectives through questioning power, and not falling into colonial norms of teaching practices implications this study has sought to fill a gap in the research of middle level teacher preparation. never have we focused on the experiences of chicana prospective middle level educators, engaging with anticoloniality and the writing of their own vignettes. this work is powerful, and the ways that we have written and analyzed our own experiences demonstrates the impact that this work can have on the future of education. anticolonial perspectives and chicana prospective middle level educators the voices of chicanas in the classroom have historically been silenced. however, this work seeks to challenge that silence by highlighting the knowledge that these chicana prospective middle level teachers have gained from their experiences in classrooms as both teachers and students. our research gives us the opportunity to engage in chicana feminist epistemology by giving voice to the importance of our experiences, but also provides a framework for future mujeres in the classroom to continue this work in the future. our research question—what happens when three maestras write vignettes (teaching cases) that embody connections between anticolonial perspectives and middle level clinical teaching?—is answered by our vignettes and our experiences themselves. our vignettes demonstrate that we build comunidad as maestras, we explore and solidify our identities, we recognize that colonialism is thriving, we become the confident chingonas in the classroom that we were always meant to be, and we desire to share the knowledge of our experiences. proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 139 chicana maestras and comunidad through this work we created a community of maestras that supported, questioned, and learned from one another. our experiences reinforced the ways that chicana feminist epistemology engages in a collective experience towards subverting and ending the colonial hold upon us all and, “that in doing this work we are not alone” (calderón et al., 2012, p. 514). we engaged in this work to create a space together, interrogating coloniality, but also in the hopes that our experiences could lead to similar groups being made across middle level teacher preparation. this research is in the efforts towards future chicanas working as a collective towards anticolonial realities in our teaching and learning. exploring & solidifying identity exploring who we are as people is integral to being able to analyze one’s own experiences through a vignette. each of the women in this research entered our collective group with ideas about their identities, and each one further solidified their identity during this research and experiences in clinical teaching. we all, as chicanas, straddle the lines of both colonized and settler (pendleton jiménez, 2006), and must actively seek to better understand that reality. we acknowledge the impact that colonization has had on the formations of our identities, but also seek to continue doing work to uncover that history, to better help our students investigate their own histories and identities. colonialism is thriving our experiences in our service-learning course, the semester prior to this research, allowed us to work together to investigate anticoloniality and begin to understand anticolonial theory. the creation of working definitions for anticolonial and settler colonization allowed us to tangibly understand these concepts to discover the ways that they manifest in our society. we were able to use that understanding of colonialism and the role of settler colonization to be critical of the many ways that settler colonization was manifesting in our clinical teaching experiences. settler colonization’s “structure” (wolfe, 1999) in our classrooms was highlighted in the curricular and pedagogical practices of our clinical mentors. however, it also impacted the power dynamics that we felt as chicana educators in these spaces, and the ways that our chicanx students were experiencing schooling. in order to truly reject colonial-blindness the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 140 (calderón, 2014a) and work towards an anticolonial reality, we have to continue to do this work in calling out the ways that colonization is being perpetuated in these spaces. clinical chingonas through the experiences in clinical teaching and writing of our vignettes, we have grown in confidence as both women and educators. our collective experience strengthened our resolve towards wanting to engage in anticolonial work in our classrooms. our experience is an example of “the manner in which teacher/student or researcher/participant binaries have disassembledlead[ing] to insights that previous research has not” (calderón et al., 2012, p. 520). we constructed new knowledge from collective experience, highlighting the importance of our experiences as chicana maestras and opening the door towards further work that centers chicanas in educational research. sharing our knowledge we, as chicana educators, have emphasized the importance of sharing what we have learned through this experience. this desire to share knowledge reinforces anticolonial and chicana feminist epistemological perspectives on collective knowledge (calderón et al., 2012; dei, 2000). this desire for us all to learn demonstrates the ways in which these vignettes are truly the embodiment of the connection between anticolonial perspectives and middle level clinical teaching. we want other educators to learn from personal experiences of attempting to reject colonial blindness (calderón, 2014a) and embrace an anticolonial perspective as chicana middle level prospective teachers. middle level teacher educators and researchers the investigation into the anticolonial in education requires significant effort, both on the part of students, but also on teacher educators. teacher educators must have working knowledge of colonialism and the impacts that settler colonialism has had on the institutions of our spaces, most especially that of education. this would require active research into the body of knowledge surrounding colonial and anticolonial studies, as well as the ways in which other disciplines are engaging in challenging colonialism. we, as teacher educators, must actively reject colonial-blindness (calderón, 2014a) by knowing its historical and present-day implications on all our teaching and learning experiences. proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 141 this shift in education is difficult; it requires humility and vulnerability. pre-service teachers have struggled with challenging colonialism, as have i as a teacher educator, but the struggle is necessary to unpack colonization and its impact on society. we are asking students and teachers to deconstruct their experiences and the ways that they have been taught for their entire lives, and to imagine a type of teaching that almost none of us have previously experienced. this process will not happen overnight; this uncovering of the truths of colonization force us to completely reevaluate what and how we have learned. that unpacking process is difficult, and often painful. however, we all may not be guilty of actively colonizing indigenous land, but we are all responsible for the ways that we have benefited from that colonization. it is therefore our responsibility to engage in anticolonial work in education, as settlers on indigenous land, and to begin the work of challenging settler colonization in our teaching and learning. interdisciplinary theoretical framework the interdisciplinary theoretical framework of chicana feminist epistemology (cfe) and anticolonial theories has had a profound impact on conducting and analyzing research with chicana educators at the forefront. through this research, we have been able to tangibly document and understand how these maestras have experienced colonized spaces. this work has furthered the argument that cfe is important: “we argue that this is important because it demonstrates that chicana feminist frameworks in education are unique sources of knowledge as well as valuable contributions to theory, methodology, and pedagogy” (calderón et al., 2012, p. 514). this work and the creation of our vignettes impacts educational theory, methodology, and pedagogy through the investigation of ourselves and our experiences. future research must incorporate more disciplines, such as ethnic studies, that has engaged in anticolonial work, through investigating settler colonialism and its impact upon colonized bodies. this effort must be joined with middle level teacher education, chicana feminist epistemologies, and teacher education, to push all our disciplines towards actively challenging colonialism. our individual and collective disciplines can work together to challenge settler colonialism in our learning and teaching and realize the anticolonial future that all our students deserve. the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 142 conclusion john lounsbury’s (2010) quote is a guiding light for middle level educators: “the importance of middle level education can never be overestimated. the future of individuals and, indeed, that of society is largely determined by the nature of the educational experiences of young adolescents during these formative years” (p. 43). in honor of his passing, and the work that we have done together here, we imagine the next phase of middle level education: the importance of chicanas in middle level education can never be overestimated. the future of individuals and, indeed, that of society is largely determined by the anticolonial educational experiences of middle level educators during their preparation for entering classrooms and realizing an anticolonial future for us all. proffitt, alderete, villa & villareal association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 143 references andrews, p. g., & conk, j. a. (2012). the world awaits: building global competence in the middle grades. middle school journal, 44(1), 54-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2012.11461840 bernal, d. d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555-583. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 brown, k. d. (2014). teaching in color: a critical race theory in education analysis of the literature on preservice teachers of color and teacher education in the us. race ethnicity and education, 17(3), 326-345. calderón, d., bernal, d. d., huber, l. p., malagón, m., & vélez, v. n. (2012). a chicana feminist epistemology revisited: cultivating ideas a generation later. harvard educational review, 82(4), 513-539. calderón, d. (2014a). anticolonial methodologies in education: embodying land and indigeneity in chicana feminisms. journal of latino/latin american studies, 6(2), 81-96. https://doi.org/10.18085/llas.6.2.96wkl5357125j70x calderón, d. (2014b). speaking back to manifest destinies: a land education-based approach to critical curriculum inquiry. environmental education research, 20(1), 24-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.865114 carter, k. (1999). what is a case? what is not a case. in m. a. lundeberg, b.b. levin, & h. l. harrington (eds.), who learns what from cases and how?: the research base for teaching and learning with case (pp. 165-175). erlbaum. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410602381 dei, g. j. s. (2000). rethinking the role of indigenous knowledges in the academy. international journal of inclusive education, 4(2), 111-132. https://doi.org/10.1080/136031100284849 dei, g. j. s., & kempf, a. (eds.). (2006). anti-colonialism and education: the politics of resistance (vol. 7). sense publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087901110 klein, j. t. (1990). interdisciplinarity: history, theory, and practice. wayne state university press. lounsbury, j. h. (2010). this we believe: keys to educating young adolescents. middle school journal, 41(3), 52-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2010.11461722 merriam, s. b. (1998). qualitative research and case study applications in education. revised and expanded from "case study research in education." jossey-bass publishers. moran, j. (2010). interdisciplinarity. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203866184 noffke, s. (2009). revisiting the professional, personal, and political dimensions of action research. in s. e. noffke, & b. somekh (eds.), the sage handbook of educational action research (pp. 6-24). sage publications ltd. https://www-doi org.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/10.4135/9780857021021.n2 pendleton jiménez, k. (2006). start with the land’: groundwork for chicana pedagogy. in d. delgado bernal (ed.), chicana/latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology (pp. 219-230). state university of new york press. proffitt, a. (2020a). anticolonial metasynthesis [unpublished manuscript]. department of interdisciplinary learning & teaching, university of texas at san antonio. proffitt, a. (2020b). challenging colonialism in middle level teacher preparation [unpublished manuscript]. department of interdisciplinary learning & teaching, university of texas at san antonio. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2012.11461840 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 https://doi.org/10.18085/llas.6.2.96wkl5357125j70x https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.865114 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410602381 https://doi.org/10.1080/136031100284849 https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087901110 https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2010.11461722 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203866184 https://www-doi-/ https://www-doi-/ the future of middle level education association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 2 144 shulman, l. s., & wilson, s. m. (2004). the wisdom of practice: essays on teaching, learning, and learning to teach (vol. 8). jossey-bass inc pub. tuck, e., & yang, k. w. (2012). decolonization is not a metaphor. decolonization: indigeneity, education & society, 1(1). wolfe, p. (1999). settler colonialism and the transformation of anthropology. cassell. volume 17 issue 2 2023 amae special issue critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional guest editors pedro e. nava ramón a. martínez santa clara university stanford university editors patricia sánchez antonio j. camacho the university of texas at san antonio amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa lucila d. ek sacramento state the university of texas at san antonio managing editor karla garza the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 98 an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance: a testimonio analysis traversing the chicanx educational pipeline argelia lara santa clara university alara@scu.edu abstract this article examines the educational trajectory of a multiply marginalized undocumented latinx student. utilizing a critical race quantitative intersectional + testimonio, this article brings to light the experiential knowledge often not visible in quantitative data approaches, helping to contextualize educational pipeline numbers. this study draws on a testimonio methodology revealing challenges and illuminating educational pathways from high school to the doctorate. the findings show important considerations for policy and practice that account for social instability, consider the importance of mentorship, and offer implications for diversity, equity, and inclusion leaders to create greater belonging across campuses throughout the educational pipeline. keywords: undocumented, graduate students, educational pipeline, latinx, testimonio doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.17.2.481 lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 99 i had fear and was emotionally affected because i remember being depressed, anxious, and nervous about not knowing what would happen next. how am i going to live? [this question] was constantly [on] my mind. but i always [found] the right people at the right time. -joaquín in the epigraph above, joaquín alludes to the state of fear he experienced, which forced him to flee his hometown in mexico, leaving behind everything he had known in his 15 years of life. as an unaccompanied minor, his testimonio of migration to the united states is one of persistence and resistance in search of liberty/freedom and acceptance of his intersectional identities as a gay, working-class, undocumented mexicano who was the first in his family to attend a university. each step of his migratory and educational journey was taken in a perpetual state of uncertainty around employment and housing. joaquín’s story of navigating the u.s. educational pipeline is revelatory of the power of serendipitous moments and the generosity of numerous caring institutional agents (stanton-salazar, 2011) who made his journey possible. having reached near completion of a doctoral degree in 2011, joaquín’s case helps illuminate how students’ sharing their identities struggle and resist across the educational pipeline and where and to whom they turn for support. over the last decade, several research studies (covarrubias, 2011; covarrubias & lara, 2014; covarrubias et.al., 2018; huber, et al., 2015) have examined the educational attainment of chicanx/latinx students at different junctures across the educational pipeline, highlighting the dismal numbers of students that ultimately attain higher education. yet, there is limited research on undocumented students like joaquín who achieved high levels of formal education before the 2012 passage of the deferred action for childhood arrivals1 (daca) or who don’t meet the eligibility requirements (lara, 2014). building on the work of educational pipeline scholars (solórzano & yosso, 2000; solórzano & yosso, 2006; pérez huber et al., 2006), this paper applies a critical race quantitative intersections + testimonio (crqi + t) analysis, and seeks to answer the following research question: how can the educational testimonio of an undocumented, unaccompanied 1 the deferred action for childhood arrivals is an obama era policy that grants administrative relief from deportation to those that qualify and apply for it. eligible immigrants are able to receive protection from deportation and are also provided with a permit. an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 100 minor help expand analysis of the educational pipeline as a conceptual tool? this article draws on a larger ethnographic research study conducted over two years examining the life journey and educational trajectory of a chicanx undocumented graduate student enrolled in a ph.d. program at a research-intensive institution on the east coast. literature review the educational pipeline the educational pipeline has been utilized as a tool to highlight educational attainment across different racial and ethnic groups. by utilizing census data, educators and researchers have highlighted the pivotal points in education where students depart, calling attention to the importance of retention and support for latinx students at all levels of the educational pipeline. more importantly, the educational pipeline literature has prompted further exploration of different junctures and different experiences for various racial and ethnic groups. the initial pipelines (solórzano & yosso, 2000; solórzano et al., 2005; pérez huber et al., 2006; yosso & solórzano, 2006; rivas et al., 2007) utilized the 2000 decennial census data to illustrate educational inequities through completion rates for an education at the high school, community college, four-year college or university, and graduate school (master’s and doctoral) levels. in a novel approach to the educational pipeline, alejandro covarrubias and argelia lara (2014) extended prior articulations by focusing on what they term critical race quantitative intersections (covarrubias, 2011; covarrubias & velez 2013; covarrubias & lara, 2014). covarrubias and lara employed this critical race quantitative intersections (crqi) framework to examine the educational outcomes of people of mexican origin. using 2010 census data, they developed an innovative methodology to estimate the number of undocumented people of mexican origin to reveal significant differences in educational attainment outcomes associated with legal status. building on crqi, covarrubias and colleagues introduced crqi + testimonio (covarrubias, et al., 2018). here, the authors argued for the importance of incorporating the stories of those at the margins to fully understand the intersectional experiences of student access to education and related opportunities. they addressed the importance of marshaling evidence from statistical data to quantify how patterns of educational inequality are compounded for marginalized students of color. lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 101 most recently, the work of the educational pipeline has been extended to the state of texas, where aleman and colleagues (2022a) have applied its function as a critical race heuristic. they utilize the pipeline as a visual representation and instructive tool to inform their pedagogy, leading educators to attain a conscientization about the factors contributing to disparities within the educational system. additional pipelines on the state of texas have begun to emphasize the importance of middle school as a key transition point for latinas/os and chicana/os (aleman et.al., 2022b). while these are important contributions to the literature, no additional pipelines have been published examining educational outcomes for latinx undocumented populations. undocumented students in higher education, daca, and its limitations the plyer v. doe 1982 case was instrumental in providing access to a free public education for undocumented students in the k-12 school system. access to higher education, however, remained limited. it was not until 1985 that the case of leticia a. v. uc regents and csu board of trustees supported the right of undocumented college students to pay in-state tuition. this case was overturned in 1990 by bradford v. uc regents, once again blocking their eligibility for in-state tuition. in 2001, assembly bill 540 (ab540) was established, reinstating the eligibility of undocumented students in california for in-state tuition. student activism (gonzales, 2008; negrón-gonzales, 2015; escudero, 2020; terriquez et al., 2018) and resistance movements (buenavista, 2018; pérez huber, 2017; rodriguez, 2022) were instrumental in demanding equitable opportunities and resources for undocumented students, drawing significant attention and leading to policies like daca that temporarily widened access to employment and higher education. a recent report by the president’s alliance on higher education and immigration (2021) found that there were approximately 427,000 undocumented students, with about 181,000 of them who were daca-eligible. the literature on undocumented college graduates and their employment opportunities is limited and needs to examine further the experiences and perspectives of students who, for example, do not meet the age requirements of daca, come from mixed-status families, or do not meet the high school requirements for eligibility. recent studies on undocumented graduate students found that they face challenges obtaining funding and finding support networks (lara, 2014; lara & nava, 2018; escudero, 2020) in their respective graduate programs, often drawing on familial savings to fund their studies an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 102 (escudero et al., 2019; lara & nava, 2022). when navigating the graduate school process, undocumented graduate students were found to rely on their peers and mentors for guidance and were motivated by justice concerns (lara & nava, 2018). undocumented graduate students who are not eligible for daca continue to be marginalized and find it extremely difficult to take on paid opportunities, or secure financial assistance, given that most fellowships are limited to students who have access to daca (freeman & valdivia, 2021). therefore, how most undocumented students navigate exclusionary education structures remains an important research area. the practices and strategies utilized by the student population in navigating higher education can help inform the development of institutional support systems focusing on this group— ultimately creating a more inclusionary campus. theoretical framework this work is informed by critical race theory (crt) in education (solórzano & yosso, 2001) and seeks to contextualize the lived experiences of a mexican-origin, undocumented student across the educational pipeline. crt is a theoretical tool that “challenges the dominant discourse on race and racism as they relate to education by examining how educational theory, policy, and practice are used to subordinate certain racial and ethnic groups” (solórzano, 1998, p. 122). over the last three decades, crt scholars (ladson-billings & tate, 1995; solórzano 1997) in the field of education have sought to disrupt social, political, and educational inequities in part following the inadequacy of multicultural education reforms of the 1980s in addressing forms of marginalization. building upon the work of scholars in the legal arena (delgado & stefancic, 2001), critical race theorists have actively sought to create social change by improving the lived conditions of marginalized groups. solórzano and yosso (2001) have outlined five guiding tenets that form the basic perspectives of crt in education. the first tenet asserts that race and racism are a central and defining feature of u.s. society and intersect with other forms of social oppression (solórzano & yosso 2001). the second tenet challenges the dominant ideology that the “educational system and its institutions make toward objectivity, meritocracy, color-blindness, race neutrality, and equal opportunity” (p. 472). the commitment to social justice is the third tenet, which proposes a transformative response to race, class, and gender-based oppression and offers a context of empowerment for racially minoritized groups. the fourth tenet is the centrality of lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 103 experiential knowledge, framing the knowledge of students and communities of color as “legitimate, appropriate, and critical to understanding, analyzing, and teaching about racial subordination in the field of education” (p. 473). the fifth tenet is the transdisciplinary perspective, which draws from across the fields and disciplines of study and “insists on analyzing race and racism in education by placing them in both an historical and contemporary context” (solórzano & yosso, 2001, p.473). in what follows, i detail how a critical race quantitative intersectionality framework (covarrubias & velez, 2013) is grounded in crt and how it extends crt. methodology i utilized critical race quantitative intersectionality + testimonio (covarrubias, nava, lara, burciaga, & solórzano, 2018) as an analytical framework for this study. i begin by building from covarrubias and velez’s (2013) crqi framework and methodological approach that seeks to “account for the material impact of race and racism at its intersection with other forms of subordination (p. 276). i also draw here from qualitative methods to be able to ground the quantitative data from the educational pipelines. i borrow form the work of chicana feminists (delgado bernal, burciaga, & flores carmona, 2012) who define testimonio as an “approach that incorporates political, social, historical, and cultural histories that accompany one’s life experiences as a means to bring about change through consciousness-raising. in bridging individuals with collective histories of oppression, a story of marginalization is re-centered to elicit social change.” (p. 364). cruz (2012) reminds also reminds us that testimonio “is a story of a subject who has experienced or witnessed great trauma, oppression, forced migration, or violence” (p. 461) that pushes back against erasure. in what follows, i draw on my prior coauthored work (covarrubias et al., 2018) to name the four tenets guiding crqi + t. crqi + t tenet #1: disrupting dominant data mining – toward an intersectional approach while prior educational pipelines lent themselves to centering a racial analysis, crqi+ t began as a framework seeking to “do more” at the intersections (covarrubias, 2011; covarrubias & velez, 2013). a crqi + t framework acknowledges that “educational experiences [are] mediated by how racialization interact[s] with gender, social class, citizenship, and other social constructions” (covarrubias et al. 2018, p. 256). even with the limitations stemming from using us census data and the narrowness of specific categories, “the large-scale nature of the us census allowed us to create reliable portraits of educational (in)opportunity an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 104 for communities of color at varying scales of geography” (p. 257). the educational pipelines used in this article all pull from data that examines intersecting variables of race, gender, and citizenship status. crqi + t tenet #2: numbers do not speak for themselves this tenet emphasizes that a crqi+t framework calls for “quantitative analyses to be critically contextualized, and challenges claims of neutrality” (covarrubias et al., 2018, p. 257) often associated with quantitative approaches. testimonio can play an important role in critically historicizing and contextualizing quantitative findings to disrupt deficit interpretations of leakage points in the pipeline. similarly, carbado and roithmayr (2014) remind us that “language and theoretical method used to frame an inquiry shape not just the observer’s interpretation of facts, but also what the observer perceives to be a fact in the first place” (p.158). crqi + t tenet #3: experientially and materially grounding data critical race scholars employing crqi+t framework begin with the lived experiences of people and communities of color, “[as it] is not only valid and relevant for understanding inequality in american education, but necessary” (covarrubias & vélez 2013, p. 279). in this way, testimonios highlight the localized knowledge of multiply marginalized students, providing for a more grounded and contextualized analysis of statistical educational outcomes and offering what covarrubias and colleagues have termed experiential significance crqi + t tenet #4: commitment to structural transformation of intersectional subordination this fourth tenet highlights a commitment to research that is “purposeful in engaging a praxis of structural transformation that is deeply committed to social justice” (covarrubias et al. 2018, p. 258). crqi+t, in its dealing with intersectionality, goes beyond merely examining differences in identity but is most concerned with understanding and critiquing how oppression and domination are deployed through the various isms. the chicanx educational pipelines: u.s.-born and the undocumented for this study, i selected two pipelines from my previously published work with alejandro covarrubias (covarrubias & lara, 2014), which i reproduce below. data from these pipelines come from the census current population survey march 2010 supplement2. i selected these pipelines because they align with joaquin’s testimonio, which was collected during 2 for a more extensive discussion of the methodological approach used to create these pipelines please see my coauthored publication (2014) with alejandro covarrubias. lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 105 the 2010 academic year towards the end of his doctoral journey. during the telling of joaquin’s testimonio i present educational outcome data at critical junctures from each of these educational pipelines. figure 1 the u.s.-born mexican educational pipeline adapted from "the undocumented (im)migrant educational pipeline: the influence of citizenship status on educational attainment for people of mexican origin.," by a. covarrubias, & a. lara, 2014, urban education, 49, (1) 75-10 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912470468). reprinted with permission. an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 106 figure 2 noncitizen, undocumented, mexican educational pipeline adapted from "the undocumented (im)migrant educational pipeline: the influence of citizenship status on educational attainment for people of mexican origin.," by a. covarrubias, & a. lara, 2014, urban education, 49, (1) 75-10 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912470468). reprinted with permission. in the next section, i provide a crqi + t analysis to understand the above educational outcomes. i utilize joaquín’s testimonio to highlight critical junctures in his trajectory across the educational pipeline and identify key factors that made access to education possible despite his many challenges as an undocumented student. the pipeline in the context of joaquín’s testimonio joaquín’s early elementary schooling in mexico and sexual identity lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 107 joaquín grew up in michoacán, mexico as an only child in a conservative catholic family. he described living in a society, a small community, and a family where he regularly heard homophobic remarks. his mother was the main provider for the family, as joaquín’s father was often away, constantly migrating to the u.s. for work. joaquín has powerful memories of his father always going to the u.s. and returning to michoacán. joaquín grew up knowing he was different from other kids and, simultaneously, that he had to find ways to present himself as “normal.” he recalled: so i grew up knowing that i was different and that at the same time that i was different, i had to find ways to pretend that i was normal, to pretend that i was accepted there (in michoacán, mexico). you find that you have to protect yourself from them in the way you act, in the way you react to things, in the way you behave, in the way you treat them. i was pretty much growing up in this environment where i was exposed to pejorative comments, bad treatment. it wasn’t pleasing. early in his schooling, joaquín felt that people saw something different in him that they did not accept. in elementary and high school, he frequently experienced rejection by his classmates, who made fun of him and called him hurtful names. as a child, he often wondered if moving to another town or a large city where no one knew him could lead to people treating him like any other kid and bring an end to the name-calling and hostile treatment. relocating would allow for a new opportunity for him to be in a new place where people would treat him differently; they would accept him in that community and in that society. joaquín’s family eventually relocated to a large city, but he nonetheless continued to experience marginalization. his peers treated him badly, the name-calling continued, and some kids even threw rocks at him. he shared one memorable and terrifying incident in which he was threatened by a classmate's friend who put a knife to his throat. joaquín explained the incident this way: i remember one time, uno de los compañeros de los otros estudiantes me puso una navaja aquí (one of the other students placed a knife here) (grabs throat), telling me, dime que (tell me), cabrón, dime si eres joto (tell me if you are gay), joto is maricon, it is a pejorative word for homosexuals there. oh my god, it was this kind of behavior you see, and again knowing that i was homosexual and that i couldn't go back home and tell my an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 108 family. this is what i'm experiencing, they would discriminate against me more. so my experience was one of sexual discrimination there. as joaquín shared his testimonio, his reasoning behind his decision to migrate became apparent. this pivotal moment informed joaquín’s decision to leave his community to seek refuge away from home. his feelings of not belonging and needing to go somewhere else became a reality when he met a group of young people who coincidentally expressed a desire to migrate to the u.s. he clarified: i needed to go somewhere, whatever that place is, might be the moon, might be wherever, i don't want to live, i don't want to go hide, i have to go somewhere. i just want to run away, and life brought me here like that. joaquín had been working an assortment of jobs, having saved money and migrated to the u.s. with the intent to find something better– the safety and acceptance he longed for. his border crossing was a matter of survival as his life had been threatened, and he might not be alive had he not decided to leave for the u.s. table 1 high school graduation outcomes: comparison of u.s. born and undocumented pipelines escaping violence as an unaccompanied minor into the united states as an unaccompanied minor at the age of 15, joaquín attempted entry into the u.s. three times before he succeeded. he was able to settle temporarily near san diego, where he worked distributing flyers for a small tax business and ultimately obtained a job at a ross department store. after four months of working and surviving, he reached out to his aunt in central california, who convinced him to live with her and enroll in school to at least complete high school. joaquín shared: i couldn't open up. so, uno crece así con este, feeling this way inside, feeling uncomfortable, feeling that if you open up you will probably lose people that you love or u.s. born mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 noncitizen, undocumented, mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 women 85.7/ men 82.6 women 49.3/ men 40.7 lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 109 that you are going to be discriminated against once more because you don't know what to expect. joaquín described living with his aunt and family in california in similar ways to his immediate family in mexico, as not being accepting of his sexuality as a gay adolescent. due to this, he was unable to open up about his sexual identity and did not enjoy his high school experience because he did not fit in. at times, joaquín felt like he was a burden on his family and had to tolerate living there because he had nowhere to go. a key challenge for joaquín entering high school was having to learn english. he described this period in his life as a time of “adapting, readjusting to something new.” although he experienced numerous “internal emotional problems,” he did have some positive experiences in high school. i had good teachers in high school that inspired me, ms. dee, i remember she was an english teacher and was really strict. oh, but i loved her! she was one of the best teachers that i’ve had, and she inspired me to continue going to school. when joaquín finished high school, he did not feel prepared for the next steps in life and was unaware that he could continue on to higher education. he knew he was ineligible to apply for federal financial aid, but he did not know of other sources of support for which he may have been eligible. nobody ever told him that he could attend a college or a 4-year university. joaquín just went with the “flow.” he knew that if he had been documented, he would have been made aware of more opportunities, and he would not have been overlooked by his counselor and likely would have received greater guidance around the next steps of his educational journey. despite the limited information he received, he enrolled in a local community college. when the chicanx educational pipeline is disaggregated by “us-born” in comparison to “non-citizen, undocumented,” we see a 40 percent difference in those that graduate from high school. the secondary school years are foundational for identity development, as well as career and occupational explorations. having safe spaces inside and outside of schools where students can explore their identities without feeling reproach or judgment is of critical importance. while joaquín was fortunate to find family members to live with, it came at the cost of not being able to be his authentic self as a gay adolescent. an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 110 table 2 enter college: comparison of u.s. born and undocumented pipelines entrance into community college joaquín’s pathway into the community college became clearer to him when a friend gave him a ride to the local community college to ask and learn about enrollment. the friend played a vital role in joaquín’s entrance into higher education, given the limited access to public transportation in rural communities in central california. during his visit to the community college, he met with a counselor who provided course selection guidance and assisted him with registration and enrollment. i remember it was really, really cheap. so, first semester i paid tuition and later on i did some research about organizations, and i got into an organization where they paid my tuition and they gave me books [for my class]. then i found out about a pre-service teacher program and since i didn't want to work washing dishes or anything like that, i figured i better work in something else. i applied for the teaching program and they accepted me, and through my relationship with the teaching program and this organization that paid my books and tuition, i lived like a king you see, my life was a lot better. at the time, joaquín aspired to become an educator. the organizations he participated in that offered him support pointed him toward a career in teaching, which promised a good wage, mentorship, and professional development. his first year at the community college came with a degree of stability, creating an opportunity to move out of his aunt's house to live with roommates closer to campus. that would not last long, as by the end of his second year, joaquín discovered his roommates were involved in illicit activities arriving one day to a ransacked apartment where everything was thrown around and destroyed. fearing the perpetrators would return to hurt him if he remained in the apartment, he left his roommates u.s. born mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 noncitizen, undocumented, mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 women 53.2/ men 42.2 women 15.5/men 11.7 lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 111 and sought refuge elsewhere. once again, joaquín faced the uncertainty of where to turn next. he recalled one particular day feeling immense sadness and described, by happenstance, running into one of his community college professors on campus. he shared: un día (one day), i was taking a class and this professor approached me. estaba tomando una clase de francés y mi profesora marie généreuse (i was taking a french class with my professor), i don't know how she realized that i was sad or something was wrong. so she came to ask me, ‘hey what's the matter, why are you so sad?’ and i told her what happened to me. “i don't know what i'm going to do and life is miserable, i don't know what to do. i don't have a place to go.” she responded and said, ‘why don't you come to live in my house.’ y allí empezó, y era mi profesora de francés (and everything started there, she was my french professor). entonces (then), she welcomed me in her house, me dio un cuarto, y me dice (she offered me a room and said), you don't have to pay rent, your job is to go to school, finish what you have to do. joaquín’s french professor, marie généreuse, provided him with a space to live at a critical time of need. additionally, she also guided the next steps of his educational trajectory. with her support, joaquín made a realistic and informed choice to attend the local california state university (csu). given his undocumented status, professor généreuse informed joaquín that he would need a lot of money to attend boston college and that a more realistic choice would be to transfer to the csu. joaquín credited professor généreuse for sharing this sobering dose of reality while connecting him with key institutional agents at the csu who could support him as an undocumented student. joaquín described professor généreuse as a loving grandmother with whom he has remained connected over the years. joaquín’s decision to attend a community college was logical given the universal access, proximity to where he lived, and affordability as an undocumented student. like joaquín, 80% of latinx students begin their postsecondary education in community colleges. due to various factors including course placement in developmental education, finances, and immigration status, less than a third (32%) of latinx students transfer to a 4-year university (the campaign for college opportunity, 2021). joaquín’s participation in a support program coupled with living with roommates, comparatively speaking, given his precarious financial status, left him feeling “like a king,” an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 112 table 3 graduate with a b.a.: comparison of u.s. born and undocumented pipelines undergraduate desires of teaching & serendipity joaquín’s undergraduate experience was one of living in constant fear of what was to come. he was emotionally drained and in a state of depression as his mental health suffered due to anxiety at the thought of the uncertainty each subsequent semester brought. he shared the worry he experienced after paying his first semester and seeing the specific costs for it. how am i going to pay the next semester? and how am i going to buy my books? how am i going to pay rent? how am i going to live? so it was constant in my mind, it went on and on and on. but there was always something, i tell you that i always find the right people at the right time. i remember i always looked for scholarships and programs, and i got into the future teachers program in the school of education, where if you wanted to be a teacher, they used to pay your tuition. the ongoing stress joaquín experienced required him to always be on the lookout for different types of support. a navigational strategy joaquín relied on was remaining persistent even in circumstances when individuals constantly told him no job opportunities existed. he elaborated on how he managed to get hired by the future teachers program by going to the employer’s office every day. he stated: i remember que yo iba a hablar con la señora todos los días y la señora decía no, que no, que no, que no, que no (i would go speak to the lady every day and the lady would say no, no, no). “we don't need spanish or french teachers, we don't need them.” y una vez iba caminando con un señor por allá y yo fui corriendo y le dije (one time she was walking with a man over there and i went running and told her), guess what? el señor era su jefe, (the man was her boss) and i said, “oh ms., i just wanted to ask you, because i'm really interested in your program and i want to be a teacher and i'm really worried that i don't u.s. born mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 noncitizen, undocumented, mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 women 14.4 / men 12.2 women 3.2/ men 2.5 lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 113 know how i will pay my tuition, i really want to be a part of your program. i have good grades and i'm dedicated, i'm an excellent student." she replied, “i've told you so many times, ask him, he'll tell you, we don't have any position." and guess what the man said? he said "didn't you hear that at this school, they want a spanish teacher, they do need language teachers." and i said to myself "¿no qué no?" (so, no jobs, huh?) [laughs]. joaquín’s persistence paid off, as he was hired by the future teachers program. working as a teacher for the program provided joaquín with the added benefit of having tuition paid for two years. following that period, joaquín participated in an exchange program where he spent a year at a state college on the east coast. upon his return after a year away, joaquín learned the future teachers program he previously worked for could no longer support him, leaving him unsure of how he would pay for the last year of his undergraduate studies. a few weeks later, he was walking across the street, full of worry, asking god for help. as he crossed the street, he saw his friend maria, who greeted him from afar. she yelled “joaquín, ¿cómo has estado? (joaquín, how have you been?). i haven’t seen you in such a long time.” she shared with joaquín that she had applied for a scholarship, and she encouraged him to apply for it as well. based on that serendipitous conversation with his friend maria, joaquín applied for, and, shortly after, received notification that he was awarded the scholarship. this scholarship provided him with the financial support needed to complete the rest of his bachelor’s degree. prior research on undocumented students has shown that being a sin vergüenza, or without shame, is an important resistance and navigational strategy for self and community advocacy (the s.i.n. collective, 2007). joaquín exemplified this through self-advocacy by remaining persistent and refusing to take no for an answer until he was able to transform a situation of hopelessness into one of possibility, ultimately leading to his employment in the future teachers program. undocumented students in the undergraduate segment of the educational pipeline typically struggle while having to work multiple jobs, dealing with mental health issues, in part due to lack of clear policies and limited forms of structural support. negron gonzales (2017) has referred to this process as one of constrained inclusion, where recent policy changes offer a degree of inclusion while the reality of citizenship status continues to restrict the type of access these students have. joaquín became one of the 11% of chicanx an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 114 students overall and less than 3% of undocumented students who are able to obtain a bachelor's degree at this stage of the educational pipeline. table 4 earn a graduate or professional degree: comparison of u.s. born and undocumented pipelines leaving california for graduate school joaquín’s trajectory into graduate school was again supported by a french professor, this time at the csu. he was intrigued by the professor’s way of being, the way she interacted with her students, and her pedagogical approach. at the time, joaquín wanted to pursue a master's degree at boston college or a state university in michigan. the state of michigan was high on joaquín’s list of graduate school destinations partly because of his desire to obtain a driver's license. at that time, the state of michigan allowed undocumented people to obtain a driver's license with alternative forms of documentation, prompting his decision to attend graduate school there. the same week joaquín arrived in michigan, new restrictions were implemented by the state legislature that no longer allowed the undocumented to apply for a driver’s license. despite being unable to drive in michigan, joaquín’s graduate education was guided by his intuition that better things awaited. joaquín described the time in his master's degree program as one of his best experiences. fue una de mis mejores experiencias. (it was one of my best experiences.) i applied for a fellowship and they gave me a fellowship for the first year, so i didn't have to work. i didn't have to do anything, i was living like a king. woohoo! i'm so grateful about it, and then i had to teach the next year as a t.a. and how the university pays you, gives you a waiver, a tuition waiver, and they pay you like a monthly payment, and that's why i survived. for the first time in his educational trajectory, joaquín did not have to worry about the financial aspects of his education. the first year he was supported by a fellowship that provided him with u.s. born mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 noncitizen, undocumented, mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 women 5.7 / men 2.4 women 0.0/men 0.6 lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 115 a degree of financial stability that he had not experienced prior to that. while he was required to work as a teacher assistant (ta) during his second year, his taship came with a tuition waiver, which involved much less work than what he was used to. another key aspect contributing to joaquín’s positive experiences in michigan was that this was the first time felt he could come out as a gay man. yo empecé a sentirme ya más cómodo (i began to feel more comfortable), like, nobody knows me here. you see i'm a new me. entonces me sentía más cómodo (well, then i felt more comfortable), and little by little, at this point, i'm comfortable, i feel very okay with who i am. this was an important juncture for joaquín, as he was, for the first time, being offered institutional support that lessened his anxiety and improved his mental health. similarly, being in a new environment provided him with an opportunity to start over and build the confidence to be his authentic self, contributing to his overall well-being. at this juncture in the educational pipeline, only about three out of every 100 latinx students graduate with a master’s or professional degree, whereas less than 1 out of every 100 undocumented students achieve the same. after completing his master's degree, joaquín applied to several ph.d. programs and ultimately decided to attend a program on the east coast. table 5 earn a graduate or professional degree: comparison of u.s. born and undocumented pipelines in becoming a latinx doctoral student, joaquín represented less than 1% of students enrolled in doctoral programs (solórzano et al., 2005; yosso & solórzano, 2006). the ph.d. program joaquín enrolled in was in the humanities, allowing him to teach a variety of language courses. during his first year in the program, he taught spanish classes to first-year university students. joaquín planned to work as a teaching assistant during the entirety of his program of study. however, he was informed by his department of some inconsistencies existing across his documentation. however, the university was no longer able to offer him financial support, u.s. born mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 noncitizen, undocumented, mexican educational pipeline start elementary: 100 women 0.26 / men 0.63 women 0.0 / men 0.0 an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 116 as he was now expected to pay his tuition and all other expenses to continue as a doctoral student. this immediately impacted his housing situation, and he could no longer afford the room that he rented through a social network when he initially started the program. to joaquín’s surprise, the faculty at his doctoral institution rallied to support him and strategized to find a solution to his dilemma. he shared: i had to move out because it was too much money for me to pay. so i tell you again that i meet the right people at the exact right time. i was waiting for the bus across the street de donde yo vivo (from where i live) and there was this old guy, así un ancianito, bien viejito (a little old man), y me empezó hacer plática (and he started to chat with me) (laughs). y yo también le hago plática (i too responded and chatted with him). i guess he realized that i had an accent, y me empezó hablar en español cositas de que hay cómo estás? (he started speaking to me in spanish little things like how are you?) resulta que bueno pues allí lo conocí y es el señor donde yo vivo ahora (well that’s where i met him and that is the man where i live now). it works out really, really fine because he's british, so he goes away a lot during the year, and i'm able to watch the house while he's away. como, por ejemplo, la semana que viene se va a inglaterra (like for example, next week he is going to england), so i have to watch the house y cuando (and when) i have to watch the house, i don't pay rent. so that's good. this serendipitous moment that led to dialogue with a stranger at a bus stop, transformed into a mutually beneficial agreement to support one another. joaquín’s role in the agreement consisted of house-sitting initially and then extended into him supporting the british man with chores around the house. joaquín paid the old british man by working around the house, washing dishes, cleaning and vacuuming the floor, taking out the trash, and keeping the house clean. in exchange, joaquín was not expected to pay rent. this, along with employment at a neighboring university that came with a tuition waiver at his university, allowed him to help his mother rebuild their home in mexico, which had deteriorated over time. this action alone brought joaquín a great deal of joy and happiness joaquín completed his doctoral studies in 2011, a year before the then president of the united states, barack obama, issued an executive order known as the deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca). for undocumented immigrants who experienced daca, several studies indicate positive outcomes associated with the policy, including increased wages lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 117 (gonzalez, terriquez, & ruszczyk, 2014), greater employment stability (pope, 2016), improved mental health outcomes (patler & pritle, 2018), and a reduction in the number of daca-eligible household heads in poverty (amuedo-dorantes & antman, 2016). despite these positive outcomes associated with daca, the policy was challenged in the courts by republican state officials across the country, and is presently allowed only to renew the applications of immigrants currently in the program. similarly, it was still several years prior to same-sex marriage bans across several states being struck down with the supreme court ruling of 2015. these two significant policy changes would positively impact the quality of life for immigrant students with similar social locations as joaquín. according to the educational pipeline, joaquín became one out of every 670 chicanx students who obtained a doctoral degree. as for the undocumented foreign born chicanx, the number is not statistically visible for undocumented chicanx. following the completion of his ph.d., joaquín would go on to accept a postdoctoral opportunity at a university in the midwest for one year before heading to canada. he departed to canada in hopes of pursuing career opportunities and to be able to legally marry his partner. discussion i began this paper by asking the following question: how can the educational testimonio of an undocumented unaccompanied minor help expand the analysis of the educational pipeline as a conceptual tool? examining joaquín’s testimonio across the educational pipeline reveals several important insights. in this section, i discuss joaquín’s experiences navigating three critical junctures of the educational pipeline through a crqi +t framework, which illuminates challenges at the intersections. they are (1) k-12 schooling and his intersectional identities, (2) undergraduate education and finding his path forward, and (3) graduate school and pursuing new interests. entering k-12 and joaquín’s intersectional social locations first, joaquín’s arrival and entrance into us schools is important to look at from a critical perspective. as scholars conducting crqi research remind us, there is a need for “interventions into quantitative studies that wrestle with the importance of localized knowledge and experiences” (p. 258). as an undocumented gay immigrant entering a small rural high school of less than 500 mostly chicanx students, joaquín’s testimonio offers important lessons that shed light on his experiences through the educational pipeline. for example, joaquín's not an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 118 being able to feel comfortable coming out of the closet during high school in a politically conservative area in california raises important questions about the homophobic culture of the school he attended, the broader community, u.s. society in general, and his “home life” living with a relative. this is significant, as extensive research associates more positive mental health outcomes when lgbtq students feel trust and care in the community and in their schools (diaz & fleming, 2021). however, enrolling first at a school with high percentages of latinx students who are immigrants or children of immigrants and spanish speakers allowed him, in all likelihood, to have a better linguistic and cultural “fit” than he might have in a different demographic context. joaquín likewise reported that he was able to connect with a few teachers who were supportive of him while he learned english as a newcomer student. joaquín received little support from his school counselor, leaving him without guidance to figure out a postsecondary pathway forward (lara & nava, 2022). when comparing the u.s. born chicanx and non-citizen undocumented pipelines, covarrubias and lara (2014) found that: across most points in the pipeline, u.s.-born citizenship and the privilege it commands is associated with the statistically highest level of educational attainment, and being undocumented, with the least level of legal and social status, is most associated with the lowest educational attainment rates, even when holding gender and mexican origin the same. (p. 95) the “citizenship privilege” the authors above refer to results in high school graduation rates that are for us-born chicanx male students in comparison to their non-citizen undocumented counterparts double (82 out of 100 vs. 40 out of 100). joaquín’s testimonio highlights the greater degrees of social instability typically associated with undocumented students than their u.s.-born chicanx counterparts. these are significant contextual factors that reveal how “opportunity was mediated by [his] occupation of multiple and intersecting social locations” (covarrubias et al., p.257). undergraduate education and finding a path forward joaquín entered the higher education segment of the educational pipeline through the community college system without the needed guidance and support. while he was fortunate to have professor généreuse, a faculty member, offer him a place to stay during a critical time lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 119 of need, he still experienced excessive stress given his precarious status. institutional support programs at community colleges and 4-year universities can make a difference in supporting students to have a smoother transition. for multiply marginalized students, these campus resource centers can often provide a range of services such as tutoring, mentoring, counseling, affinity grouping, and, by extension, a strong sense of community and belonging. for undocumented students like joaquín, additional services and support that are responsive to their financial and mental health needs are necessary. over the last 10 years across the state of california, community colleges and 4-year public and private institutions have begun to create “dream resource centers” to support undocumented students. while the addition of these campus centers is a welcomed addition, more substantive support is necessary. a 2019 survey of the state’s community colleges showed that only 35 out of 111 colleges had dream resource centers, and 16 of those centers had no dedicated support staff (jimenez, 2019). the centers, when well-resourced and staffed can play an essential role in outreach to students in partner high schools to raise awareness of supports and services, and with appropriate support, can lead the way in marshaling key campus and community stakeholders, offering mental and emotional health services, while providing necessary training and professional development to all campus faculty and staff (jimenez, 2019). when joaquín transferred to the csu, he was connected to various foundations and organizations that offer services specifically for migrant communities. a variety of paid internships and work assignments in k-12 educational settings as an educator put joaquín on a path to becoming a teacher. ultimately, following rich exposure to curriculum and theory joaquín was exposed to a professor's humanizing and caring pedagogy in his humanities courses. joaquín decided to pursue graduate studies focusing on languages and culture. joaquín’s experience as an undergraduate student brings to light the role of caring and supportive faculty as catalysts for student success during this critical juncture of the educational pipeline. graduate school and pursuing new interests the narratives of immigrant students like joaquín reveal the path toward citizenship can be a long, winding, and elusive road. across the united states elements of immigrant-friendly federal, state, local, and university policies can bridge3 components on the road that can lead 3 similar to christine vega’s deployment of the term bridging in this special issue, i also borrow from gloria anzaldua’s (2002) notion of bridging to suggest connections and transitions of possibility. an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 120 toward greater degrees of belonging. for joaquín, his decision to pursue graduate school in the state of michigan came at the time when a promising policy–one that would have allowed him to obtain a driver's license when other states had begun to tighten requirements–was ultimately revoked. however, the move allowed him to reinvent himself to “come out” as his authentic self and immerse himself in studying and learning curricular content that spoke to elements of his lived experience as an immigrant and gay student. over the last decade, a flurry of undocumented immigrant-friendly policies have been implemented in states and university systems nationwide. presently, 23 states offer in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students, and 17 of those also provide “comprehensive access” by offering some financial and scholarships (the higher ed immigration portal, 2023). furthermore, 19 states, including california, presently offer undocumented students the option to obtain a driver's license. these policies serve as bridging components for undocumented students, allowing them a greater degree of belonging within the ecosystems of higher education institutions. during this same time-frame, there has also been an increase of diversity equity and inclusion (dei) centers throughout campuses across the country tasked with creating more inclusive campus environments for students from marginalized communities, including undocumented immigrants in some cases. anything short of legalization will remain a challenge to undocumented students seeking higher education; however, current mobilization efforts around dei present an opportunity for advocates to create structures and policies across organizations to include these students into the campus fabric meaningfully. conclusion the chicanx educational pipeline is a powerful tool to help visualize educational outcomes. the evolving nature of the educational pipeline through using quantitative data to explore inequities at the intersections has led to a more sophisticated display of educational outcomes. joaquín’s testimonio and the use of crqi +t framework allow for greater contextualization and grounding of these outcomes. future research on the educational pipeline should examine the educational outcomes of daca-eligible students and their completion rates. a crqi +t framework can illuminate the unique ways that these students resist, survive, and thrive in an anti-immigrant national context. lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 121 references alemán, s. m., bahena, s., & alemán jr, e. (2022a). chicana/o/x educational pipelines as critical race heuristics: tools for pedagogy, politicization, and praxis. teachers college record, 124(2), 33-59. alemán, s. m., bahena, s., & alemán jr, e. (2022b). remapping the latina/o and chicana/o pipeline: a critical race analysis of educational inequity in texas. journal of hispanic higher education, 21(1), 17-32. amuedo-dorantes, c., & antman, f. (2017). schooling and labor market effects of temporary authorization: evidence from daca. journal of population economics, 30, 339-373. anzaldúa, g. (2002) preface: (un)natural bridges, (un)safe spaces in anzaldúa, g. & keating, a. this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation. routledge press. taylor & francis group. pp 1–5. buenavista, t.l. (2018). model (undocumented) minorities and “illegal” immigrants: centering asian americans and us carcerality in undocumented student discourse. race ethnicity and education, 21(1), 78-91. carbado, d. w., & roithmayr, d. (2014). critical race theory meets social science. annual review of law and social science, 10, 149-167. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-110413-030928 collective, s. i. n. (2007). students informing now (sin) challenge the racial state in california without shame: sin verguenza. educational foundations, 21(1-2), 71-90. covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos and education, 10(2), 86-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2011.556519 covarrubias, a., & lara, a. (2014). the undocumented (im) migrant educational pipeline: the influence of citizenship status on educational attainment for people of mexican origin. urban education, 49(1), 75-110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912470468 covarrubias, a., & vélez, v. (2013). critical race quantitative intersectionality: an anti-racist research paradigm that refuses to “let the numbers speak for themselves”. in handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 290-306). routledge. covarrubias, a., nava, p. e., lara, a., burciaga, r., vélez, v. n., & solorzano, d. g. (2018). critical race quantitative intersections: a testimonio analysis. race ethnicity and education, 21(2), 253-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1377412 cruz, c. (2012). making curriculum from scratch: testimonio in an urban classroom. equity and excellence in education, 45(3), 460-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698185 delgado, r., & stefancic, j. (2001). an introduction to critical race theory. critical race theory: the cutting edge, 1-167. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.51089 delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363-372. diaz, y., & fenning, p. (2021). toward understanding mental health concerns for the latinx immigrant student: a review of the literature. urban education, 56(6), 959-981. an undocumented student’s quest for acceptance association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 122 escudero, k. (2020). organizing while undocumented: immigrant youth's political activism under the law (vol. 4). nyu press. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479803194.001.0001 escudero, k., freeman, r. e., park, t. m., & pereira, v. (2019). " education, not deportation": a pilot study of undocumented student experiences in law and medical degree programs. freeman, r. e., & valdivia, c. (2021). education equity for undocumented graduate students and the key role of my undocumented life. journal of college access, 6(2), 80-93. gonzales, r. g. (2008). left out but not shut down: political activism and the undocumented student movement. nw. jl & soc. pol'y, 3, 219. gonzales, r. g., terriquez, v., & ruszczyk, s. p. (2014). becoming dacamented: assessing the short-term benefits of deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca). american behavioral scientist, 58(14), 1852-1872. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764214550288 huber, l. p., huidor, o., malagon, m. c., sanchez, g., & solórzano, d. g. (2006). falling through the cracks: critical transitions in the latina/o educational pipeline. 2006 latina/o education summit report. csrc research report. number 7. ucla chicano studies research center (nj1). jimenez, c. (2019). california community colleges dreamers report reveals undocumented students need increased financial aid, legal services, mental health supports. ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. f. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47-68. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700104 lara, a. (2014). navigating critical terrain: the decision making process of undocumented latina/o graduate students. university of california, los angeles. lara, a., & nava, p. e. (2018). achieving the dream, uncertain futures: the postbaccalaureate decision-making process of latinx undocumented students. journal of hispanic higher education, 17(2), 112-131. lara, a., & nava, p. e. (2022). undocumented chicanx/latinx graduate students: illuminating home-based sources of support. journal of leadership, equity, and research, 8(2), 37-59. negrón-gonzales, g. (2015). undocumented youth activism as counter-spectacle: civil disobedience and testimonio in the battle around immigration reform. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 40(1), 87-112. negrón-gonzales, g. (2017). constrained inclusion: access and persistence among undocumented community college students in california’s central valley. journal of hispanic higher education, 16(2), 105-122. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192717697753 patler, c., & pirtle, w. l. (2018). from undocumented to lawfully present: do changes to legal status impact psychological wellbeing among latino immigrant young adults?. social science & medicine, 199, 39-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.03.009 pérez huber, l. (2017). healing images and narratives: undocumented chicana/latina pedagogies of resistance. journal of latinos and education, 16(4), 374-389. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2016.1268963 pérez huber, l., malagón, m. c., ramirez, b. r., gonzalez, l. c., jimenez, a., & vélez, v. n. (2015). still falling through the cracks: revisiting the latina/o education pipeline. csrc research report. number 19. ucla chicano studies research center. pope, n. g. (2016). the effects of dacamentation: the impact of deferred action for childhood arrivals on unauthorized immigrants. journal of public economics, 143, 98-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.08.014 rivas, m. a., pérez, j., alvarez, c. r., & solorzano, d. g. (2007). an examination of latina/o lara association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 123 transfer students in california's postsecondary institutions. latino policy & issues brief. number 16. ucla chicano studies research center (nj1). rodriguez, s. (2022). “immigration knocks on the door... we are stuck...”: a multilevel analysis of undocumented youth’s experiences of racism, system failure, and resistance in policy and school contexts. teachers college record, 124(6), 3-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221093286 solórzano, d. g. (1997). images and words that wound: critical race theory, racial stereotyping, and teacher education. teacher education quarterly, 5-19. solórzano, d. g. (1998). critical race theory, race and gender microaggressions, and the experience of chicana and chicano scholars. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 121-136. https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236926 solórzano, d. g., villalpando, o., & oseguera, l. (2005). educational inequities and latina/o undergraduate students in the united states: a critical race analysis of their educational progress. journal of hispanic higher education, 4(3), 272-294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192705276550 solórzano, d., & yosso, t. (2000). toward a critical race theory of chicana and chicano education. charting new terrains of chicana (o)/latina (o) education, 35-65. solorzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2001). critical race and latcrit theory and method: counter -storytelling. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(4), 471-495. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365 stanton-salazar, r. d. (2011). a social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth. youth & society, 43(3), 1066-1109. terriquez, v., brenes, t., & lopez, a. (2018). intersectionality as a multipurpose collective action frame: the case of the undocumented youth movement. ethnicities, 18(2), 260276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796817752558 the presidents’ alliance on higher education and immigration (2023, june 15) u.s. state policies on daca & undocumented students: higher ed immigration portal. https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/states/ the state of higher education for latinx californians (2021) the campaign for college opportunity. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed616958.pdf yosso, t., & solórzano, d. g. (2006). leaks in the chicana and chicano educational pipeline (latino policy & issues brief. number 7). https://www.chicano.ucla.edu/publications/ report-brief/leaks-chicana-and-chicano-educational-pipeline amae 1.pdf amae 8 lara.pdf volume 17 issue 2 2023 amae special issue critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional guest editors pedro e. nava ramón a. martínez santa clara university stanford university editors patricia sánchez antonio j. camacho the university of texas at san antonio amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa lucila d. ek sacramento state the university of texas at san antonio managing editor karla garza the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 78 motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline through moments of sacred pause christine vega, ph.d. san josé state university christine.vega@sjsu.edu abstract by focusing on three chicana motherscholars pláticas, traversing the educational pipeline, i conceptualize sacred pauses as moments of joy, gratitude, and love (tuck, 2009) as resistance and refusal. sacred pauses refute the neoliberal university indoctrination of hyper-productivity (hidalgo et al., 2022). this paper expands on the complex journeys of the academic bridges to what gloria anzaldúa (2002) calls 'passageways, conduits, and connectors' to illustrate the sacred journeys of overcoming barriers traversed through the educational pipeline towards doctoral degree completion for chicana/e and latina/e motherscholars with children. the motherscholar narratives characterize the potential of reciprocity and healing in bridge makers in parents of and women of color. keywords: sacred pause, pláticas, educational pipeline, motherscholars, bridges doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.17.2.480 vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 79 “[t]o mother ourselves entails doing what it takes to survive, but also to thrive by taking care of ourselves in ways that center experiences of joy and love” (lara, 2018; gumbs, martens, and williams, 2016). introduction: from the margin to the center, madres al centro! institutions of higher education maintain an analogous relationship to heteropatriarchal social structures of racism and sexism by historically marginalizing mothers and women of color in the academy. systemic sexism and racism impact motherscholars of color, who carry, like a veil, a “presumption of incompetence” (gutiérrez y muhs, flores niemann, gonzález, & harris, 2012; téllez, 2013) about perceived commitments and performance in higher education: or after graduate professional school (anaya, 2011), well beyond professional careers and tenure track pathways. black and chicana feminists, however (hill collins, 1994; hooks, 1984; latinas telling to live, 2001; delgado bernal, 2006) remind us of the agency and power of sharing our corporal realities through pláticas (fierros & bernal, 2016; morales et al., 2023) dislodging oppressive and painful experiences by elevating “voice, documenting silenced histories” (latinas telling to live, 2001, pg. 3). by sharing such moments of empowerment, resistance, and feminist research praxis, a healing process of resistance prevails. in this paper, i share snapshots of pláticas of three first-generation chicanas/es latinas/es who pursued doctoral degrees while parenting as motherscholars at universities in the southwestern united states. the journey through the educational pipeline embodies multiple pathways, including those characterized by uneven terrain and shady, dark caminos that threaten the journey towards degree completion. in this way, the educational pipeline represents what gloria anzaldúa (2002) calls “passageways, conduits, and connectors that connote transitioning, crossing borders, and changing perspectives” (p.1). the journey through the education pipeline with companions, equipment, and support is feasible. i also believe there are multiple pathways within the more extensive educational pipeline journey; when one pathway is journeyed and completed, a new one begins. anzaldúa reminds us, “[b]ridges span liminal (threshold) spaces between worlds, spaces i call nepantla, a nahuatl word meaning tierra entre medio. transformations occur in this in-between space, an unstable, unpredictable, precarious, alwaysin-transition space lacking clear boundaries” (anzaldúa, 2002, p.1). motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 80 building on mindfulness and theological definitions of sacred pause, i illustrate sacred pause as moments of joy, gratitude, and love as experienced by chicana/e latina/e1 motherscholars journeying towards a doctorate, allows and acknowledges recognition of themselves, their children, and their “mommy wins” amongst the demand, chaos, and stressors of parenting while in the academy. bridge makers nod to chicana feminist scholars, philosophers, and thinkers, such as gloria anzaldúa, cherrie moraga, and audre lorde, and its contemporaries, such as dolores delgado bernal and michelle téllez. in addition, bridge makers are braiders (caballero et al., 2016) of time and space, forging possibilities, and opportunities, such as great femtors2/mentors, allies, friends, students, and our children. impacted by the illustrative quantitative data of various iterations of the chicana/o educational pipeline as a newly transferred undergraduate at ucla, i was shaken to my core to visually witness the numerical representations of pushed-out first-generation chicanas/es, latinas/es, and other bipoc folx. after teaching the chicana/o education pipeline for over 14 years and traversing through the pipeline, i have found femtors and mentors, comadres, motherscholars, and lifelong friends support my family and i navigate the academic bridges. additionally, to acknowledge the importance of naming oppressions and systemic violence, i sought to elevate my scholarship. i applied what eve tuck (2009) reminds scholars approaching research in communities of color in “suspending damage: a letter to communities," of the power and self-determination to selectively pivot from the pervasive impacts of colonization in research and focus on desire, agency, power, and survivance. let’s face it. some folks out there are always going to think of us as damaged, and not because they are so convinced of the devastating after-effects of colonialization. but it is crucial to recognize that out communities hold the power to begin shifting the discourse away from damage and towards desire and complexity. we can insist that research in our communities, whether participatory 1 i use the term chicana/e latina/e as my personal preference to challenge gender roles of mothers. mothering is a social construction, as is gender. therefore, to honor the multiple identities at the crux of mothering, gender, and sexuality i offer such spelling. chicana and latina remains unaltered if authors and scholars applied this spelling in the literature or studies i draw from. 2 femtors is a social, political, and feminista way of honoring femme labor in mentorship relationships. the first use of the term i heard was from scholar-activist kimberly soriano. it was then used and applied by a collective of femtors at ucla throughout their praxis, in which it nods femtoring as an 'hermanitas’ framework via the work of claudia cervantes-soon. vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 81 or not, does not fetishize damage but, rather, celebrate survivance (tuck, 2009, p. 422) tuck's above statement validates the necessity to celebrate moments of joy, agency, and love in the face of challenges and adversity. chicanas/es and latinas/es motherscholars expressed parallel sentiments in their activism aimed at supporting graduate motherscholars at the university. acknowledging that universities are not equipped with the resources to receive, support, retain and graduate parenting students, the onus to demand change often lands on the backs of parenting students for academic change (caballero et al., 2016; cisneros et al., 2016; hidalgo et al., 2022). mothers of color in academia (moca) assert in “fierce mothers: the cords that bind us” (2022) that moca expresses the power of mother mobility and activisms in their organized efforts. for over seven years moca demanded institutional change at their university. this included accessible and affordable daycare for parenting students, access to clean and stocked lactational spaces, and availability of lactation supplies at strategic locations on campus. while moca focused their fierce mothering activism to transform practices and policies that excluded them on campus spiritual activism was similarly important. in part, this included the collective celebration of each other through moments of agency and love. moca activists shared: “[s]piritual activisms are the cords braided that bind us to one another through similar lived experiences, such as isolation within different departments, colleges, and disciplines. we came together and merged our academic journeys as mothers of color seeking to make changes through organizing, through our children, through our testimonios” (pg. 127). moca demanded and materialized a different university (hidalgo, vega, cisneros, & reyes, 2022) even as they navigated degree completion deadlines, coursework, teaching obligations, as well as caretaking responsibilities, and dissertation writing. moca’s activism and comadrismo, fostered moments of sacred pause —ease, joy, celebration, and validation of each other amidst a hostile neoliberal university. such refusal is a compelling strategy that refuses the onus on motherscholars in the neoliberal university by taxing women of color labor. as such, the moments of organizing and activism can serve as bridge making for future generations of women of color, mainly by motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 82 pausing for moments of rest, joy, gratitude, and love in the unforeseeable terrain of the educational pipeline. the term ‘sacred’ as defined by merriam webster dictionary (merriamwebster, 2023) adjective means to "devote exclusively to one service or use," "entitled reverence and respect," and "set apart in honor of someone." a sacred pause is a recognized moment to stop, breathe, and recollect in acknowledgement. building on irene lara’s (2001) bodymindspirit and cindy cruz’s (2006) epistemologies of the brown body, a sacred pause is awareness through an embodiment of a chicana/e latina/e experiences as multiple micro and macro situations. sacred pauses allow us to pause, stop and breathe, recognize a moment, accept the moment, breathe through the moment, and a body scan of the self, to move on to the next thing. sacred pauses are also moments of recognition of micro-affirmations (solórzano, perez-huber, banks 2020). below is a brief conceptualization of sacred pause according to mindfulness, theology, and the medical praxes. through the practice of sacred pause, we are better able to build academic bridges that allow motherscholars to create spaces of belonging in a neoliberal university hostile to caretaking at large. academic bridges, then, include the social infrastructure that gloria anzaldúa (2002) describes as the “passageways, conduits, and connectors that connote transitioning, crossing borders, and changing perspectives” (p. 1) which guide us to more just realities. simultaneously, academic bridges are also constituted by the femtors, mentors, and students who help motherscholars traverse from degree completion milestone to milestone. these bridge makers, then, become the sealant that prevent leaks in the educational pipeline for motherscholars of color. conceptualization of sacred pause i first learned of the "sacred pause" through lectures, podcasts, and meditations from teacher and therapist tara brach. in an audio-recorded meditation led by brach (2015), she asks meditators to re-imagine a world with necessary pauses. her argument reminds us that anxiety drives society, consistently ‘doing,' feeding the neoliberal capitalist machine of over-exertion. there is an anxiety or restlessness in us. so, instead of pausing when we are stressed, we do the exact opposite — the primitive brain drives us into activity to defend ourselves or to grasp onto what we think we need. as a result, we engage with doings that cause harm and lock us into a doing-self. they lock us vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 83 into a feeling of a self in trouble — deficient, separate — that needs to keep doing (pg. 4, brach, 2015). in parenting workshops of mindfulness, the sacred pause is the critical moment of instant self-reflection to recollect ourselves from challenging and emotional situations. the moment is impeccably essential, and a pause is necessary for the parent and the child. according to wiederkehr (2008), a theological approach to scared pause are the moments throughout the seven hours of the day intended to stop and pray as significant moments devoted to prayer and mindfulness. to be mindful, wiederkehr suggests, is "striving to live mindfully is the art of living awake and ready to embrace the gift of the present moment" (p.2). a medical study by kapoor et al. (2018) identifies the ritual of sacred pause intended to assist the staff in addressing unresolved and cumulative grief from deaths and burnout in the intensive care unit (i.c.u.). a "sacred pause" in several medical units’ studies, are ritual to honor a patient's passing recognizing the healthcare teams' efforts. it brings closure and improves professional satisfaction by lowering burnout syndrome. building from the concept in teachings of mindfulness, theology, and medicine, a sacred pause are moments of celebratory acts of joy, gratitude, and love. my vision is a re-workings of a definition of a sacred pause applicable through a motherscholar journeying the educational pipeline, honoring agency, self-determination, resistance, and refusal to keep hyper extensions of labor production. in my analytical coding of existing data from pláticas (fierros & delgado bernal, 2016) with three motherscholars, i sought moments illustrating love, gratitude, and joy. a sacred pause at times, was as simple as a motherscholar catching their breath, a quiet minute to have a meal while i held their baby, a meditation, or the recognition of exchanging love between parent and child. these are everyday acts of love and joy emblematic of resistance and refusal against the mechanisms of the corporatization of academic hyper productions in our society. the pivot to acknowledge the sacred in the 'every day,' surpasses challenging moments indicative of what anzaldúa (2002) affirms “[b]y redeeming your most painful experiences you transform them into something valuable, algo para compartir or share with others so they too may be empowered” (p. 540). motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 84 therefore, the following questions guide this paper: what were the sacred pause moments of joy, gratitude, and love for motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline? and what can we learn from the examples of bridge makers for chicana/e and latina/e motherscholars? traversing bridges through a motherscholar identity throughout my graduate studies and becoming a parent in the early stages of my doctoral program, i organized with motherscholars in and out of my campus. now, as a junior faculty and after the labor of love as a campus organizer with mothers of color in academia and the chicana m(other)work collective, my sense of agency was rooted by my parenting and my motherscholar activist identities. to be clear, the stigma of a chicana parent in the tenure track remains racialized and gendered, and it does not limit my experiences of discrimination in various spaces – also known as maternal microaggressions.i, a term my comadre and fellow motherscholar in the struggle dra. cecilia caballero and i identified. to be a mother of color in academia is an encumbered politics of intersectional identity, responsibility, and movidas because our bodies are markers of discrimination. to embody an epistemology in my parenting status, i hold deeply onto the words of cindy cruz (2006) while i continue to traverse the educational pipeline as a faculty of color: “[o]ur production of knowledge begins in the bodies of our mothers and grandmothers, in the acknowledgement of the critical practices of women of color before us. the most profound and liberating politics come from the interrogations of our social locations, a narrative that works outward from our specific corporealities" (cruz, p. 61, 2006) the corporal reality of motherscholar traversing the educational pipeline affirmed the need to research the everyday lives of chicanas/es and latinas/es motherscholars, beginning with the body as a location of knowledge. driven to investigate maternal studies and theorization, came during my pregnancy and the birth of my son, which coincided with the release of “presumed incompetent: the intersections of race and class for women of color in academia” (2012). additionally, michelle telléz’s (2013) “lectures, evaluations, and diapers: navigating the terrains of chicana single motherhood in the academy” formative article exposed the reality of pregnancy, motherhood, and the tenure track. reading imperative work and reflecting on my experiences and encounters heavily fixated on racial, gendered, and maternal microaggressions, provided me with scholarship and vocabulary to validate my experience and pursue my vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 85 research on parenting students. my spiritual and academic community uplifted, supported, and listened to my critiques and elevated my stance in ensuing this work. a chicana feminista methodology reinforces that naming such oppressive and painful moments is accompanied by joy, laughter, love, and uncovering los papelitos guardados (latinas telling to live, 2001), activates a healing process. women of color strolling and straddling the education pipeline at a national scale, chicana/es and latinas/es women are less likely to complete postsecondary degrees compared to other groups. the ph.d. attainment rate for chicana/e latina/e women remains the lowest among other racial and ethnic counterparts. chicana/e and latina/e women represent less than one out of every 100 ph.d. recipients (perez-huber et al., 2015). out of 100 chicanas/es who begin their schooling at the elementary level, 63 will graduate with a high school diploma. additionally, 13 out of 100 will receive a bachelor's degree, 4 out of 100 will receive a graduate degree (master's, professional), and 0.3 out of 100 will obtain a doctoral degree. for every 100 latinas/es, 60 will receive a high school diploma, 11 will receive a bachelor's degree, three will receive a graduate degree, and 0.2 will receive a doctoral degree (perez-huber et al., 2015). the numbers are staggering. in a study by the institute for women’s policy research found that in 2017, more women than men earned ph.d.’s, however, the pay was far less (2018). motherscholars with children under five pursuing faculty positions are less likely to receive tenure (hidalgo, vega, cisneros & reyes, 2022; caballero et al., 2019; téllez, 2013). while these related educational pipeline numbers are powerful on their own, without a complementary narrative, quantitative analyses risk homogenizing experience (covarrubias, et. al.,2018: pg. 256). therefore, the stories motherscholars share about their academic journeys are critical in complicating their pathways through academia. moca reminds us that "[t]he intangible traditions of individuality, meritocracy, and overworking women of color that permeate academic culture are rooted in white supremacy and heteropatriarchy.” (hidalgo, vega, cisneros & reyes, 2022, p.123). in addition, doswell (2004) states, "[t]he intensity of the ph.d. process requires a candidate to continuously selfmotivated and focus their attention on the task at hand" (pg. 4). to trek this process requires monumental motivation, particularly in isolated moments. doswell continues to state the illusive political dimensions of impacting ganas, the will to push forward: motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 86 these dynamics contribute to an elusive political landscape. a political culture exists in most professions, and higher education is no exception. being a person of color further complicates navigating these already murky waters. the status quo maintains the "perfect" edges of the landscape. thus, minority women in higher education often find themselves precarious. our presence chips away at the established order (doswell, 2004, p. 4). indeed, it is an elusive political landscape where our presence is a refusal to repute the status quo of the academy. doswell asserts the importance of bridge making and the call to action and anthologize voices of and from women of color are heard and forge a place and space of existence and success. in response, the anthologizing of books, podcasts, and discussions in and outside the classrooms is an act of collective resistance from and by parents and mothers of color in and outside the academy. in the last decade and with a raging pandemic, we have witnessed the necessary and welcomed works of collective voices, such as the two-part anthology “presumed incompetent: the intersections of race and class for women in academia” (2012) in conversation with newer edited versions of works from women of color cannon not limited to “this bridge called my back, fourth edition: writings by radical women of color” (2015) and “the chicana m(other)work collective anthology: porqué sin madres no hay revolución” (2018). a common thread between the groundbreaking work is the collective voices of critical narratives and bridging the everyday lived experiences between each other. chicana/e & latina/e pláticas methodology in motherscholar research the qualitative data used for this paper is part of a larger research project collected during my five years of scholar-activism. this included in-depth chicana/e and latina/e in-depth pláticas and ethnographic field notes. i participated as a participant observer at parenting student actions, protests, meetings with college and university students, administration organizations, and community organizations. i completed 11 in-depth interviews of chicana/e and latina/e motherscholars. for this paper, i focus on three pláticas where joy, gratitude, and love were central themes to interviewees. the pláticas, were often over two hours long, where rich and intimate moments of personal exchange reciprocating healing felt validating for me as well as for the motherscholar. chicana feminista scholars remind us, that pláticas occur in vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 87 “unconventional spaces, and for parenting students in my study, i had pláticas between small availability gaps within busy schedules. accommodating them was critically important to me, where at times, sojourner, or what scholar gaxiola serrano (2023) calls, walking pláticas was my method of catching a conversation. when walking pláticas was the best option, it allowed me to catch parenting students in moments of transit and walking between places. at times pláticas included check-ins about school, our children, and our progress with the dissertation. other interviews took place during t-ball games, in empty classrooms after class, or while holding babies while i asked my series of questions to ease the responsibility for mothers. while much academic writing has rightly focused on the various ways mothers in academia are regarded as broken, incompetent, and irresponsible, this paper seeks to turn inwards to focus on the celebratory moments of joy, gratitude, and success. within my own corporal reality as a parent myself, i employed movidas that were intentional to collect data with special care, and attention to parenting students. thus, those narratives are importantly written about. therefore, my research analysis of sacred pause and bridge makers are part of tuck’s (2009) invitation to re-imagine how and about our research. tuck states, “i invite you to join me in re-visioning research in our communities not only to recognize the need to document the effects of oppression on our communities but also to consider the long-term repercussions of thinking of ourselves as broken” (pg. 409). i coded and analyzed transcripts from interviews, for moments where motherscholars experienced joy, desire, and celebration through their educational pipeline journeys. in my research analysis, i apply a chicana/latina feminista pláticas methodology (fierros & delgado bernal, 2016; morales et al., 2023). fierros and delgado bernal’s approach as a practice honors researchers’ and research participants’ intersectional and complex epistemological positions. for motherscholars, the transformative embodiment of parenting and caretaking serves as a place of knowledge production – not solely in birthing or carrying a child, but in its multiple manifestations. there are five contours3 that compose chicana/latina feminista pláticas: (1) rooted in chicana/latina feminist and other critical theories; (2) honors participants as co-constructors of knowledge; (3) bridges between the everyday lived experiences and research inquiry; (4) foregrounds the potential space for healing and (5) relies 3 i understand contours as a blending of one another, and one may inform the other while all principles may build from each other and are significant for the functionality of each other. motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 88 on reciprocity, vulnerability, and reflexivity. most recently, morales et al. (2023) asserted that pláticas rooted in chicana/latina feminist epistemologies provide “opportunities for healing, connection, kinship, theorizing, laughter, joy, pain, and a myriad of other emotions because they center a reciprocal relationship between the researcher(s) and collaborator(s)" (morales et al., pg. 3). in the following, i offer examples of sacred pause in addition to brief profile narratives of chicana/e latina/e motherscholars to demonstrate how and where these sacred pauses were fostered moments in their lives—with special attention to moments of joy, gratitude, and love. somos las madres de esta generación: motherscholar profiles ayari identifies as a chicana and motherscholar activist and is the mother of three children. as a doctoral student, she lived in various cities until finally settling in california to complete her dissertation. she had her first child during the second year of her ph.d. program and had her second child while writing her dissertation. her third child was born as she completed and defended her doctoral degree. ayari is a senior lecturer in southern california and a founding member of a motherscholar-activist advocacy group. born and raised in south central los angeles, libertad is a single motherscholar of three boys. she is completing her ph.d. in southern california. libertad identifies as a chicana and has deep roots with her mexican and salvadorian parents. during her youth, libertad was affiliated with gang life and has since transformed her powerful epistemological truth towards critical research while being awarded numerous accolades, prestigious fellowships, grants, and international recognition. xochitl is a fierce motherscholar who identifies as mexican american. xochitl is a firstgeneration immigrant in the u.s. with bi-cultural parents who traveled and lived between their hometown of jalisco, mexico, and south central los angeles. xochitl was not the first in her family to attend college, however. within her family, a few of her siblings attended various universities graduating from ivy leagues and university of california schools. she attended r-1 universities in nuevo mexico, and became a mother to her one child during her doctoral studies. sacred pauses: love by any means necessary libertad to love as a parent, a caretaker of color, and a mother while traversing the educational pipeline, is filled with anxiety and uncertainty. nevertheless, per angela davis vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 89 (1981) and patricia hill collins (1994), birth, caretaking, adopting, fostering, and raising children of color in u.s. society is a political act of revolution led by love. during this current political climate, parenting and mothering as folx of color reinforce solidarity with grief while children and mothers (parents) are separated, and the children are caged at the u.s./mexico border. the collective response to such violence and societal injustices are rage and frustration. nevertheless, the new possibilities of hope for transformative love, organizing, and advocacy are represented in the children we care for and raise. libertad's sacred pause is located within the everyday practices of love she shows her children. as a mother, you can do everything. you can be a guide. you can be . . . a doctor; you can be a cook. you can be a teacher. you can be so many things at once, and you can raise little minds however you want. you can mold them. all of that is done with one primary purpose, which is to give love. always to give love and to guide them to become whatever it is that they want to become. that's the approach that i take in my teaching and my being a friend and being a daughter. my passion for my research. i am doing this with the idea of giving and spreading love. (libertad, plática, may 15, 2018) libertad is clear that giving love is a sacred pause for her every day as a parent, teacher, friend, or daughter. additionally, she indicates how valuable her research is as she fosters a practice of love. critical moments of sacred pause are compatible to critical teaching and conducting ethical research as they allow libertad reflexivity to do good work or, as gloria anzaldúa suggests, doing work that matters. libertad shares how everyday acts of love cumulatively become a guidepost for her life. all i know is love helped me get here. the love of my ancestors, the love of my mom, the love of my dad, my siblings. teachers, people that cross my life at certain points. although they might have not said i love you, the love that they gave me and the support they gave me at that time i got a ride, the time i got whatever. libertad shared additional examples of supportive love such as when her advisor leaves a meal in the lunchroom for her and her three boys. for libertad, such actions are affirming as they help accomplish one task from her extensive to-do list by saving her from cooking for an evening. while such actions may seem minor at first, her advisor’s actions are important because they make the invisible visible. spiritual activism's call to action, according to anzaldúa, motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 90 is accountability to support each other and make the invisible visible. similiarly, vega (2019) states, "likewise, to be seen and be visible lends itself to the important interventions of femtorship and mentorship by others who may have also experienced marginality" (pg. 76). these acts of kindness inform and feed our bodymindspirit (lara, 2003) and allow us as motherscholars to pause and recognize that we are whole beings. libertad continued by including how we, as researchers and motherscholars, can lead with love in our careers. the critical impact of completing our degrees and being true to our authentic selves can provide for our children and our communities through our career paths. she continued: i think we materialize careers, and i get it. finances help us survive and all. however, if we do not do it with love and with passion, as we do our mothering, then what is the point? what is the purpose of life? it is always about love. how can i give my kids love so that is what they know? that is what they spread. ultimately, i will end up where my love takes me. my love for the people…my home girls who passed away, [i] have a lot of love for them. and that shows through my work. my brother who was deported who is hurting and continues to hurt for many years, have a lot of love for him. (libertad, plática, may 15, 2018). libertad has been deeply motivated by her love for her students as an educator. during her pláticas, she equates her love and responsibility for her children translates in her pedagogy translates in the classroom. similarly, her love and commitment to her south central la community translate into how she conducts her research. bell hooks (1994) remind us that when passion is present in the classroom, “rooted in a love for ideas, we are able to inspire, the classroom becomes a dynamic place where transformations in social relations are concretely actualized, and the false dichotomy between the world outside and the inside world of the academy disappears" (hooks, 1994, pg. 195). libertad’s commitment to ethical and critical research rooted in love motivates her research pursuits. her love for her community and those who have been hurt and faced the implications of violence and criminalization continually motivates her. therefore, her sacred pauses are her children, her students in the classroom, her research of her community, and her daily meditation practice that keeps her grounded. libertad closes with a message for motherscholars: "mother with love and everything else follows" means that we must continue to allow the work to move the bodymindspirit, and we vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 91 will ultimately end up where we need to be. libertad highlights the power of teaching her children about love, mindfulness, and well-being while reciting daily affirmations. ayari ayari shared how her love for her children drove her work and motivated her to continue researching. however, she also described the realities of not wanting to leave her children behind to conduct research, especially when the institution does not reciprocate the same love or respect. suddenly i would not have the drive to work with [my research] … i would not care about it. it is not that i would not care, but i would not have those same passions. something about me biologically and chemically changed to where my love would be my children. that would be my whole life. and i would get swallowed up in that. then i would not care about grad school. in my mind i thought, maybe that is why so many mothers drop out. [because] they love their babies so much. they do not want to leave their kids, so their academic pursuits become less important. that is why they drop out, right? that was what i naively thought. (ayari, plática, may 15, 2017) ayari talked about love and sacred pauses differently when she explained her fears and the anxiety of loving too much and not completing her career path as a researcher in a ph.d. program. biologically, the body grapples with an influx of hormones and chemical changes after birth. for some mothers like ayari, there is a desire to be with their babies and bond.iithese sacred pauses, or "stopping out," are moments of deep reflection and reconsidering what is valuable. at times frightening to think that perhaps, motherscholars stop out of higher education because the desire is to remain at home caring for the new baby and to pause and heal. although in reality, these stories remind motherscholars that mothering our children also requires the same kind of love and patience to love and mother ourselves by any means necessary. our identities are no longer at the margin; instead, we bring all the motherscholars with us from the margin to the center along with all the children, othermothering, doulaing, nurturing, healing, and loving ourselves into existence. our children and our bodies are sacred, and to acknowledge this is the most potent form of resistance, sacred pause, and self-care activism any person can enact in the face of survivance. motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 92 in my pláticas with, ayari talks about access and equity for her students as they advance through the educational pipeline. her love and commitment to her students led her to continue her advocacy work. ayari’s sacred pause is bridging a gap as an educator who advocates and braids the leaks and cracks of the educational pipeline on behalf of students. she states, "for those of us who are getting through the pipeline, at least for me, i am very committed to making institutional change. as much as an individual can rally the resources around them, the university [must] be held accountable." the importance of her student’s success is one example of sacred pause. when they succeed through the difficulty of completing their programs, she witnesses their joy and accomplishment, illustrating the importance of her role as a bridge maker and the moment of joy as a sacred pause. likewise, ayari’s goal is to be mindful of students who may not feel a sense of belonging as “non-traditional” students, such as parenting students, women of color, veterans, and other identities at the crux of intersectional identity. she continued with a critical stance on the responsibilities of the university, as she embodies bridge-making: they [the institution must] be held accountable to the fact that there [are] students who . . . are no longer white men who have wives that stay at home. so, that is not who the university is for anymore. especially universities that are like state universities. i think more than anything i would tell them [parenting students] that as someone who is making it through the pipeline that, i am committing to advocating for those institutional changes so that they're not alone . . . that these are structural problems. (ayari, plática, may 22, 2017) xochitl during xochitl’s time as a returning and re-enrolling student at a public state university in california, xochitl was exposed to powerful mentors of color through her reentry to the educational pipeline. xochitl credits the director of a program called nuevos encuentros that supported students subject to dismissal by providing a nurturing space to receive and retain students. as a result, she faced a second opportunity to return and re-enrolled in academia. she then provided support services and nurturance for students who returned to complete their educational pipeline journey. xochitl explains that she was grateful to have been exposed to mentorship and sacred pauses in the daily while doing important work with students. vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 93 like libertad's example of feeling visible to her adviser, xochitl's experience in witnessing firsthand the care work and love were built by her mentors to ensure a successful education journey as a returning to school. simultaneously, she supported students' return to higher education as a bridge maker herself. her experience working with nuevos encuentros daily reminds me of sacred pauses that espoused joy and gratitude by providing support services for returning students; not only were these sacred moments important for her healing, but it was through her nurturance of students while also feeling nurtured (reflexive), that she understood the core of social justice as an act of retention by providing support, as a bridge maker herself. as a result, her journey through the educational pipeline encouraged her to apply and attain her ph.d. below she states how this impact was part of her coming to consciousness through femtorign, is another example of sacred pause and bridge-making. the students touched me and had the most impact on me. i mentored students on the brink of academic dismissal, creating, along with undergrads and graduate students, a peer mentoring program that allowed more students on academic probation to graduate, so retention. moreover, walking them through and pairing them up with projects that they were engaged with. (xochitl, plática, june 2, 2018) xochitl, a bridge maker, reflects how important her students became for her bridge makers as they succeeded and graduated through the leaks and cracks of the educational pipeline where they pushed out. working alongside students who mirrored her experience provided xochitl to celebrate moments of joy, gratitude, and love. sacred pauses encouraged her to reflect, recollect her thoughts, and surrender to the possibility of her success traversing the educational pipeline. the educational pipeline as reflexión “academia and motherhood are crucibles that provided us with moments of rupture, moments that called into painful clarity the impossibility of moving forward with the status quo.” mothers of color in academia (hidalgo, vega, cisneros, & reyes, 2022 pg. 129) – feminist formations since my first encounter with the educational pipeline as an undergraduate transfer student at ucla in 2004, i paused in rage and reflection, questioning my educational trajectory to address the leaks. for over two decades, the chicana/latino educational pipeline became a visual representation validating the marginal experiences of students of color in the u.s. i became invested in the pedagogical practice of teaching the curriculum surrounding the motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 94 education pipeline, theorizing the cracks and leaks, and through my advocacy and research work, to name and address the pushout culture. as a transient of the pipeline, i simultaneously journeyed with other motherscholars and learned the importance of solidarity and carework for each other. it became apparent the need feverishly as i witnessed first-hand the unjust experiences mothers of color and parenting students were experiencing. from the short but powerful examples illustrated by the three motherscholars, ayari, xochitl, and libertad, moments of pause were sacred in their classrooms, with their children, and as femtors/mentors. during the surge of covid-19, a global pause forced us to look inward and reassess the over-exertion over production of the neoliberal machine. ladsonbillings (2021) reminds us of the four pandemics, including covid-19, racism, the threat of economic collapse, and impending environmental catastrophe. the world was in pause. homeschooling became overwhelming and exhausting within the confines of covid-19. my sacred pause became the outdoors, signaling moments of pause and reset for my then sevenyear-old child and me. we ventured into local los angeles hikes and made camping a sacred ritual with other families of color. these moments bring maximum joy to our family while maintaining our refusal to overexert ourselves. in addition to taking to the outdoors, the aforementioned above were examples of motherscholar organizing for change. moca’s agentic and solidarity activism of fierce mothering solidifies transgression and survivance through their activism and pushout culture in the educational pipeline as bridge makers, stating, “mothering and activism are complementary endeavors…[o]ur work is a leap of faith, an act of hope, and an investment in a future tantalizingly different from the one we know” (moca, pg. 123). their spiritual activism unified and solidified activists’ relationships with each other and their children as they navigated the educational pipeline. in alignment with the multiple years of research, i engaged in collaborative organizing with motherscholars in and outside the university, i re-imagine what it means to practice a sacred pause to celebrate joy, gratitude, and love. i aimed to honor those small moments that can change the course of a journey and serve as a moment to recollect oneself before continuing an arduous voyage. my analysis shows how each mother had at least one person who motivated them to pursue higher education and could be considered a bridge maker. continuous academic journeys as first-generation women of color pursuing a higher education continue to enroll in ph.d. programs in the u.s. pláticas elaborated on a chicana feminista vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 95 methodology, where they “argue that chicana/latina feminista pláticas are a methodological disruption…to heal from and resist research approaches rooted in whiteness, colonial logics, and white supremacy” (pg. 3). hooks remind us how love counters capitalism while describing the dialogues in her classroom with students thinking deeply about capitalism and how it informs how we think about love and care. she asserts, “the way we try to separate mind from the body” (pg. 199), and as an example, a motherscholar identity is deeply corporal. it is impossible to separate our mind and body while navigating higher education when our experiences are rooted in the body. the sacred pause reminds us about a pedagogy of self and communal love, the call to action in recognizing bridge makers while honoring the important moments to acknowledge the silence in moments of joy, gratitude, and love. motherscholars traversing the educational pipeline association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 96 references anaya, r. (2011). graduate student mothers of color: the intersectionality between graduate student, motherhood, and women of color in higher education. intersections: women's and gender studies in review across disciplines, (9). anzaldúa, g. (2002) preface: (un)natural bridges, (un)safe spaces in anzaldúa, g. & keating, a. this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation. routledge press. taylor & francis group. pp 1–5. anzaldúa, g. (2002). now let us shift…the path of conocimiento…inner work, public acts in g. & keating, a. this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation. routledge press. pp. 540–592. battle & doswell, c. m. (2004). building bridges for women of color in higher education: a practical guide for success. university press of america. brach, t. (2015). the sacred pause. a talk given by tara brach, ph.d. on september 30, 2015. https://www.tarabrach.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/2015-09-30-the-sacred-pausetarabrach-pdf.pdf caballero, c., martinez-vú, y., perez, j., telléz, m., & vega, c. (2019). the chicana m(other)work anthology: porqué sin madres no hay revolución. tucson: university of arizona press. caballero, c., pérez-torres, j.c., martínez-vu, y., téllez, m., & vega, c. (2017). “our labor is our prayer; our mothering is our offering”: a chicana m(other) work framework for collective resistance. chicana/latina studies: the journal of mujeres activas en letras y cambio social, 16, 44–75. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvcj2hz5 collins, p. h. (1994). shifting the center: race, class, and feminists theorizing about motherhood. in e. n glenn, g. chang, & l. r. forcey (eds.), mothering: ideology, experience, and agency. new york, ny: routledge. covarrubias, a., nava, p. e., lara, a., burciaga, r., vélez, v. n., & solórzano, d. g. (2018). critical race quantitative intersections: a testimonio analysis. race ethnicity and education, 21(2), 253-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1377412 davis, a. y. (1981). women, race, and class. new york, ny: random house. espinoza, d., cotera, m. e., & blackwell, m. (2018). introduction: movimientos and movidas. in d. espinoza, m. e. cotera, & m. blackwell (eds.), chicana movidas: new narratives of activism and feminism in the movement era (pp. 1–32). austin: university of texas press. https://doi.org/10.7560/315583-002 fierros, c. o., & delgado bernal, d. (2016). vamos a platicar: the contours of pláticas as chicana/latina feminist methodology. chicana latina studies: the journal of mujeres en letras y cambio social, 15(2), 98–121. gaxiola serrano, t.j. (2023). vamos a caminar: utilizing a chicana/latina feminist walking plática methodology to honor the brown body and facultad, international journal of qualitative studies in education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2023.2181440 gutiérrez y muhs, gabriella, yolanda flores niemann, carmen g. gonzález, and angela p. harris. 2013. presumed incompetent: the intersections of race and class for women in academia. boulder, co: university press of colorado. hidalgo, l., vega, c., cisneros, n.a., reyes, j.m. (2022) fierce mothers: the cords that bind us. feminist formations, vo. 34, issue 1. published by johns hopkins university press. https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2022.0005 hooks. b., (1994). teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. routledge. https://doi.org/10.3366/para.1994.17.3.270 vega association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 97 institute for women’s policy research. (2018). chart of the day: more women than men earned phds in the u.s. last year. https://iwpr.org/chart-of-the-day-more-women-than men-earned-phds-in-the-us-last-year/ james, s. m. (1993). mothering: a possible black feminist link to social transformation? in s. m. james & a.p.a. busia (eds.), theorizing black feminisms: the visionary pragmatism of black women. new york, ny: routledge. kapoor, s., morgan, c. k., siddique, m. a., & guntupalli, k. k. (2018). “sacred pause” in the i.c.u.: evaluation of a ritual and intervention to lower distress and burnout. american journal of hospice and palliative medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909118768247 ladson-billings, g. (2021). this is us! educating post-covid/post civic unrest american tragedy or opportunity? don c. locke multiculturalism and the social justice symposium. lecture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk0wp-3l6wu lakshmi piepzna-samarasinha, l. (2018). care work: dreaming disability justice. arsenal pulp press. vancouver, canada. morales, s. flores, a. i., gaxiola serrano, j. t., & delgado berna, d. (2023) feminista pláticas as a methodological disruption: drawing upon embodied knowledge, vulnerability, healing, and resistance, international journal of qualitative studies education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2023.2181441 pérez huber, l., malagón, m, ramirez, b. r., gonzalez, c. l., jimenez, a., & vélez, n. v. (2015). still falling through the cracks: revisiting the latina/o educational pipeline. csrc research report. no. 19. smith, yosso, t. j., & solórzano, d. g. (2011). challenging racial battle fatigue on historically white campuses: a critical race examination of race-related stress. in covert racism (vol. 32, pp. 211–237). https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004203655.i461.82 solórzano, d.g., huber-pérez, l., & banks, j. a. (2020). racial microaggressions: using critical race theory to respond to everyday racism. teachers college press. téllez, m. (2013). lectures, evaluations, and diapers: navigating the terrains of chicana single motherhood in the academy. feminist formations, 25(3), 3. https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2013.0039 the latina feminist group. (2001). telling to live: latina feminist testimonios. duke university press. tuck, e. (2009). suspending damage: a letter to communities. harvard educational review, 79(3), 409–427. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.3.n0016675661t3n15 organizations 'globalizing from below. journal of latinos and education 4(1): 3-20. vega, c. (2018). othermotherwork: testimonio and the refusal of historical trauma. q.s.e. special edition, 31(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2017.1401149 vega, c. (2019). strolling and straddling academic boundaries: chicana, latina, and indigenous motherscholars in the academy. proquest dissertation publishing. wiederkehr, m. (2008). seven sacred pauses. living mindfully through the hours of the day. sorin books. notre dame, indiana. yosso. j. t., & solórzano, g.d. (2006). leaks in the chicana and chicano educational pipeline. latino policy & issues brief. no. 13. los angeles, ca: chicano studies research center. amae 1.pdf amae 7 vega.pdf volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 11 learning and teaching en dos idiomas: critical autoethnography, translenguaje, y rechazando english learner melissa arabel navarro martell san diego state university abstract language usage in us k–12 classrooms and beyond continues to be an issue of equity (navarro martell, 2021; palmer et al., 2019). teachers expect racialized students who appear to be latinx to know and perform as if their native language is spanish, mientras a otros se les celebra sus intentos de usar el español; otro idioma colonizador. some educators know language can be used as a tool to teach content y que muchos adultos translenguamos mientras navegamos espacios profesionales y personales, not because of our lack of mastery of english or spanish, pero porque tenemos la habilidad y el poder de navegar y vivir en varios idiomas. entonces, why are many educators determined to force students to use only one language at a time cuando el translanguage es tan común (martínez et al., 2015)? this essay provides reflections and lessons learned of one immigrant, formerly labeled “english learner,” who was once a fourth and eighth grade math and science dual language teacher. inspired by critical autoethnography, this manuscript is written by a current math and science bilingual methods teacher educator and supporter of translanguaging in the p–20+ classroom. keywords: translanguaging, english learner, dual language, bilingual education, bilingual teacher preparation, raciolinguistics doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.443 learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 12 in this essay, i translanguage to explain and present mis experiencias como emigrante de méxico a los estados unidos and my language-developed traumas as a child and teacher. in this critical autoethnographical-inspired essay, i argue that those of us who have the gift of bilingualism and beyond translaguage in our daily lives. nevertheless, some educators and administrators do not allow it in classrooms because those with power believe it is not “proper” (flores & rosa, 2015). so why are many educators determined to force students to use only one language at a time cuando el translenguaje es tan común? here i note that as a way to transgress the academia normativity, i chose not to italicize parts of my essay written in a language other than english. comienzo by stating my positionality as a learner and speaker of inglés y español growing up en la frontera entre tijuana y san diego, california. i follow with a short dialogue on deficit and asset-based perspectives in education (valencia, 1997; yosso, 2005) before highlighting selected relevant literature in translanguaging (garcía, 2019; garcía & leiva, 2014; garcía & otheguy, 2020; garcía & wei, 2015) and raciolinguistics (flores & rosa, 2015; rosa & flores, 2017), as they connect to mi vida. después elaboro critical ethnography como metodología, as boylorn and orbe (2016) presented. continúo by describing different phases of my life when i was forced to separate two languages and use only spanish or english in education-specific spaces. i also elaborate on how i integrated my languages in educational settings, specifically, how i translanguaged as a student immigrant, dual language teacher, and bilingual teacher educator. i conclude with reflections on teaching and preparing primarily latinx bilingual teachers at two hispanic serving institutions (hsis) in california. po(sitio)nality until i am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate . . . and as long as i have to accommodate the english speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate. i will no longer be made to feel ashamed of existing. (anzaldúa, 1987, p. 40) soy mexicana. entré al kínder en tijuana a los 3 años. i completed first, second, and third year of kindergarten before entering first grade. a los 4 años, mi mamá ya me había enseñado cómo decir los colores, my abcs, basic shapes, and animal names both in english y español. she purchased six educational placement mats to go over with me during meals and navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 13 we watched sesame street (singer, 1980-1993). by age 4, también sabía cómo sumar, restar y multiplicar; “tú absorbías todo, y pedías más, y mientras más te enseñaba, más y más aprendías” (o. martell sotelo, personal communication, may 30, 2021). this example of familial capital supported my learning mientras crecía en tijuana (yosso, 2005). así que después de ir a la escuela 8 años en tijuana, y el resto en san diego y los ángeles, i am comfortable using my languages as i please, yet with slight fear of the “language police,” and even multilingual people reading this essay. pero me vale. sin embargo, sabemos que existen personas que son rápidas de juzgar because they think if one switches or mixes languages, “seguro que no sabe bien cómo hablar,” o como dice mi colega, “o peor, piensan que no sabemos pensar” (a. esquinca, personal communication, june 11, 2021) apoyando el concepto de flores y rosa (2015) de cómo las ideologías raciolingüisticas varían y dependen del fenotipo de la persona que habla. pero en realidad, las personas multilingües comfort ourselves knowing that when we use our languages with liberty, the people we need to hear us will understand us the way we speak. and if you don’t understand me, then maybe it’s because i’m not talking to you. it is here i acknowledge mi privilegio de ir a una escuela privada en tijuana, que le costó mucho trabajo a mi mami. i attended a top school and was a top student—until i crossed the border and was seen differently by this american educational system. pero de tal manera, mis estudios en tijuana y mi spanish literature bachelor of arts degree made me realize i love my language, y me gusta expresarme como quiero. i have used my spanish to teach fourth and eighth graders in dual language schools. and since 2014, i have been preparing maestres bilingües en clases de métodos de ciencias, matemáticas, e ingeniería para maestres de nivel de primaria. también escribo este ensayo porque estoy cansada de leer acerca de estudiantes como yo, from people who did not share the struggles as i did as an immigrant child, bearing the degrading label of english learner. as kibler and valdés (2016) indicated, labels and categorizations are problematic and not neutral and curriculizing language has implications that work against language acquisition goals. lastly, my research and methodology are informed by my positionality as a critically conscious researcher committed to social, racial, and environmental justice. as a practitioner, i prepare critically conscious dual language educators to work with all students, but specifically, to serve linguistically diverse student populations who are bilingual/multilingual/english learners, as i was and continue to be. learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 14 translenguaje, community cultural wealth, y raciolinguistics in this section of the essay, i frame my experiences primarily around the work of garcía and colleagues on translanguaging, and flores and rosas (2015) on raciolinguistics. i first heard the term translanguaging as a phd student from two colleagues asking my thoughts on the term. i had an idea of what it meant, but i had not done my due diligence to truly understand it because i was coming from a space and language ideology that prioritized colonizing languages in all their purity (kroskrity, 2004). after much reading, listening, and conversing with many colleagues in the last 7 years, i present this information while acknowledging the nuance of the term to me. fuera con el déficit i take a political stance (garcía, 2019) and choose to translanguage in this essay porque quiero y porque puedo and because it is a way to use my linguistic assets. tired of experiencing the deficit perspectives (flores et al., 2015; valencia, 1997) of teachers, counselors, and administrators, i reject deficit language and ideologies and adopt asset-based perspectives such as that offered by yosso (2005) in the community cultural wealth model. however, like katznelson and bernstein’s (2017) analysis of california’s proposition 58, although i am not thrilled about appropriating “current neoliberal discourses” (p. 12) by using words such as “wealth” and “capital,” i appreciate everything about the community cultural wealth model. after all, two of the six forms of capital yosso (2005) discussed include linguistic and familial capital. colonial language, multilingüismo, y translenguaje no se puede discutir acerca de idiomas sin primero discutir el colonialismo and the implications it has on bilingual education. since their arrival, european colonizers have exploited the minds and bodies of indigenous and black people. additionally, los idiomas europeos han sido usados por personas con poder, como políticos, para oprimir a personas que no crecieron hablando estos idiomas. rosa y flores (2017) calificaron este momento como el momento en el que “indigenous populations were stripped of their humanity at least in part through representations of their languages in animalistic terms that suggested they were incapable of expressing ideas that european colonizers thought were integral to becoming a full human being” (p. 4). pero esta situación no solo paró con pueblos originarios (to learn more, please navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 15 read kovats sánchez, 2021), ya que en la historia de los estados unidos después vino la esclavitud and dehumanization of people of african ancestry, the chinese exclusion act of 1882 (chen, 2015), japanese internment camps, etc. por esta razón, es importante también mencionar la construcción y naturalización del concepto de raza e idiomas. de tal manera, recurro a rosa y flores (2017) quienes mencionan “languages as bounded and separate objects associated with particular racial groups” (p. 3) y elaboro con el trabajo de garcía (2019) quien discutió cómo las personas que tienen poder son las que terminan tomando decisiones políticas y sociales acerca de qué cuenta como idioma, dialecto, criollo, etc. la autora después conectó sus observaciones al trabajo respecto a raciolinguistic ideologies de flores y rosa (2015), mentioning how language has been used as a proxy for race and oppression to continue excluding certain people and perpetuating ideologies of superiority, which remind me of labels imposed on children in school settings today. obviamente, el colonialismo sigue impactando el bilingüismo y multilingüismo (dorner et al., 2021). garcía (2019) dijo, “minoritized black and brown speakers had to be created in order to protect the hierarchical structure of white european superiority” (p. 159) y recalcó cómo el multilingüismo solo ha sido interpretado por un lente europeo que ignora las prácticas “of the many black and brown people of the world” and “excludes the fluid multilingual practices of brown and black bodies” (p. 160). en especial, esta exclusión sucede en programas de idiomas que se supone que desarrollan el multilingüismo, y más que nada con poblaciones latinxs. en los estados unidos, dorner y colegas (2021) presentaron tres estudios en los cuales expusieron la gentrificación de tres programas en distintos estados y concluyeron con la idea que el español, siendo un idioma colonizador, también puede ser colonizado. examples they provided highlight the valued differences between black and white students and how international teachers are also seen as more (or less) elite, depending on their income level and national origin. garcía y otheguy (2020) elaboraron acerca del bilingüismo élite que ante todo, ha sido compuesto por dos idiomas en el cual como mínimo, el idioma dominante es europeo, los más comunes idiomas coloniales siendo “english, french, portuguese and spanish” (p. 18). garcía y leiva (2014) nos recordaron de cómo la mayoría del tiempo, las decisiones que toman los estudiantes “show traces of colonization, of historical oppression, and of subjugation that has been the result of collapsed latin american educational systems, the result of war, colonization, rural conditions, and neoliberal economies” (p. 214). por esta razón, expongo el learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 16 concepto del translinguaje para retar la presencia del colonialismo en el sistema educativo relacionado con el multilingüismo. garcía and wei (2015) discussed translanguaging as “the flexibility of bilingual learners to take control of their own learning, to self-regulate when and how to language, depending on the context in which they are performing language” (p. 230). son demasiados los beneficios del translingüismo. por ejemplo, palmer et al. (2014) contribuyeron con la problematización de la separación de lenguajes y hablan acerca del dynamic bilingualism y cómo dos maestres modelan este concepto para sus estudiantes, que finalmente terminan apoyando la creación de espacios bilingües donde se puede compartir momentos personales, como el tema de la inmigración. en otro ejemplo, garcía and leiva (2014) argued translanguaging allows for flexibility in using linguistic resources to make sense of the world and to liberate the voices of “language minoritized students” (p. 200), y garcía y otheguy (2020) discutieron cómo el translingüismo se presta a diferentes modalidades de aprendizaje. however, schools with language-additive programs do not always promote the type of languaging that supports students, or maestres, to use their full bilingualism. as a matter of fact, some school administrators reprimand students and teachers who use their language fluidities and entire linguistic repertoires (for specific examples, see garcía, 2019). el uso del translanguage permite el aprendizaje y conocimiento de diferentes maneras a muchos estudiantes multilingües, y en especial a inmigrantes (garcía & leiva, 2014). algo que sabemos es que translanguaging is important as we consider students’ identities and beyond (garcía & wei, 2015). tal vez una de las razones for the hesitation of using translanguaging in the classroom is the continued production of research for decades on developing “strong” academic language and standardizing languages, one at a time (i.e., separately). en su papel relacionado con language ideologies y específicamente la estandarización y monolingüismo de las políticas relacionadas con el inglés en espacios bilingües, farr y song (2011) mencionan “the abstract notion of standard english becomes objectified as something people can possess or lack” (p. 653) and then it becomes a commodity that interferes with students and their language and identities. las prácticas pedagógicas también son un acto político. estas se enfocan en expandir las habilidades de los estudiantes multilingües para que tomen decisiones acerca de su aprendizaje e interacciones con textos en vez de ejercer el poder de los lenguajes nombrados y las navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 17 jerarquías que sostienen por encima de ellos (garcía & otheguy, 2020). y como en los estados unidos existe un enfoque exagerado en los exámenes (kibler & valdés, 2016), los cuales no reconocen los repertorios lingüísticos de estudiantes multilingües y tienden a favorecer a gente monolingüe de cierta clase social (garcía & otheguy, 2020), los maestres tenemos mucho que ver in the way language restrictions are enacted in the classroom. thus, translanguaging pedagogies have the potential to transform education for many, specifically for latinx students from multilingual backgrounds, ya que les permite participar al máximo en la sociedad “and meet the global, national, and social needs of a multilingual future” (garcía & leiva, 2014). raciolinguistic perspectives e ideologías attempting to teach language-minoritized students to engage in the idealized linguistic practices of the white speaking subject does nothing to challenge the underlying racism and monoglossic language ideologies of the white listening subject. (flores & rosa, 2015, p. 167) para ilustrar otro aspecto relacionado con el antibilingüismo propongo los trabajos de flores y rosa (2015) and rosa y flores (2017), quienes presentaron perspectivas raciolingüísticas. the researchers argued that in education, the value of a students’ spoken english is determined by how they are heard by the “white listening subject,” regardless of linguistic performance and potential, because students are racialized (flores & rosa, 2015, p. 160). they later explained five main components on this perspective summarized in rosa and flores (2017); estas incluyen: (a) las conaturalizaciones históricas y contemporáneas de raza y lengua como parte de la formación colonial de la modernidad; (b) percepciones de diferencias raciales y lingüísticas; (c) reglamentaciones de categorías raciales y lingüísticas; (d) intersecciones y ensamblajes raciales y lingüísticos; y (e) la impugnación de las formaciones de poder raciales y lingüísticas. however, as previously quoted, they also pointed out how even additive approaches to bilingual education are viewed by language education researchers and practitioners through a monolingual framework that perpetuate and marginalize the linguistic practices of certain communities (flores & rosa, 2015). specifically, mencionan a los estudiantes, as racialized beings, que cargan los términos “long-term english learners, heritage language learners, and standard english learners” (flores & rosa, 2015, p. 151) y cómo son vistos desde un punto de vista déficit cuando en realidad están siendo racializados por las learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 18 jerarquías lingüísticas y forzados a usar un lenguaje racializado y asimilativo en sitios públicos mientras tienen que usar su lenguaje de casa en lugares privados. the authors argued language minoritized students “mimic the white speaking subject while ignoring the raciolinguistic ideologies that the white listening subject uses to position them as racial others” (flores & rosa, 2015, p. 155). esta cita también highlights what i experienced as a young learner in california. y en el área de ideologías raciolingüísticas, flores y rosa (2015) criticaron la idea de linguistic purity de la misma manera en que el purismo racial es criticado. los autores demonstraron cómo el inglés estándar ha sido usado para recalcar las deficiencias of people of color, aunque privileged white subjects usan estas mismas formas de hablar como maneras normativas, creativas, e innovadoras. method(ología) while i have been primarily prepared in quantitative methods, i have opted for qualitative investigations in my career para poder elevar las voces de maestres en programs bilingües. in my work, i employ la conciencia crítica (e.g., darder et al., 2017; freire, 2000; navarro martell, 2021; valenzuela, 2016). in this study, i follow aspects of critical autoethnography methodologies, como lo presentan boylorn y orbe (2016). los autores argumentaron cómo autoetnógrafos se investigan a sí mismos en relación con others mientras exploran asuntos de cultura, poder, y comunicación en sociedad y todas las complejidades e intersecciones que los acompañan. this approach is what i intend to take. y similar a los capítulos en su libro, i have elected to use first person. additionally, boylorn y orbe (2016) también mencionaron, “we envisioned a project that would ‘give voice’ to previously silenced and marginalized experiences, answer unexamined questions about the multiplicity of social identities, instigate discussions about and across difference, and explain the contradictory intersections of personal and cultural standpoints” (p. 15)—esta es mi intención con este ensayo. reflexionar acerca de mis experiencias y mis privilegios “alongside marginalization and to take responsibility for [my] subjective lenses through reflexivity” (p. 15). los autores también discutieron cómo usaron la autoetnografía crítica como un método centrado en tres características de critical theory que incluyen “to understand the lived experience of real people in context, to examine social conditions and navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 19 uncover oppressive power arrangements, and to fuse theory and action to challenge processes of domination” (boylorn & orbe, 2016, p. 20). growing up mexicana/immigrant/latina/hispanic/english learner no me llamo english learner as a fourth-grade dual language teacher, i remember reading me llamo maría isabel (ada, 1997) con los estudiantes que enseñaba. the award-winning author of this book, alma flor ada, visited the school, y específicamente a los estudiantes del salón donde yo enseñaba. recuerdo que i was feeling inspired by the story of an immigrant child at school who refused to be called “mary” and wanted to be called by her name, maría isabel. the story emphasizes the power and importance of one’s name and identity. pero, en mi opinión, también debemos considerar labels imposed on children such as english learner (kibler & valdés, 2016). consequently, i continue wondering why the united states is so aferrado to impose labels on people. it was not until i entered school in the united states that i realized i was supposed to call myself latin, latina, or hispanic. having studied the history of méxico in tijuana, “hispanic” was the last term i wanted to be categorized as. i was a newly arrived sixthgrade immigrant from tijuana to an elementary school in san diego in 1994, 2 years before language restrictions of proposition 227 (1997) went into effect. i was placed in a combination class, meaning a mixture of fifth and sixth graders, because this was the only option to have un maestre bilingüe. i remember the teacher’s spanish and mi español being different; sometimes we did not understand each other. she used words like “parqueadero” that i had never heard before, and she was unfamiliar with “estacionamiento.” we understood each other when we were able to use words we did know, whether in english or spanish, interchangeably and collectively. translanguaging con mi maestra helped us communicate with each other so i could learn, and so she could get to know me. the walk of shame i demonstrated to the maestra i was learning. i remember her “allowing” me to spell out words phonetically. what i mean is, escribía “jaus” en vez de “house.” can this be a form of transliteracy given that i was writing the way it sounded to me? (kalmar, 2015). she understood me pero de todos modos, during english language arts time, those of us with the learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 20 label had to do the walk of shame as we got pulled out by a special teacher to work on developing our english, in a bungalow, in the back of the school, in a space that was shared with kindergarteners. some kids pointed and laughed; it felt demeaning. i experienced the walk of shame with my sister in fifth grade, but this experience only lasted one semester for me because i clearly remember being told i could stay in the “regular” class during english language arts time in december of my sixth-grade year. i was no longer irregular. the following year in middle school, even though i had more teachers and a counselor to supuestamente help me, no había nadie que pudiera apoyarme in spanish. what my teachers and counselors saw as my deficits were all they focused on; how they saw me was becoming my identity. at this middle school, almost everyone in my first “team” (tracked by ability grouping) (darder, 2012) did the walk of shame every day on that campus. we were racialized beings, like the students in rosa and flores’s (2015) study. the majority of us were fluent in spanish and had parents educated outside of the united states. if only our teachers recognized us by the language and familial capital we brought to our school (yosso, 2005). el único apoyo eran mis compañeres. mr. k was the english teacher. he was white. he wanted us to read the odyssey (homer, 1919), but many of us did not understand the book. at times we tried explaining to each other in spanish, but mr. k did not like that. he thought students talked about him, and eventually they did because he kept shutting down our conversations in spanish. in one of his berrinches about us speaking spanish he cussed us out. i clearly remember the “fuck you!” and his red face. i remember him leaving us in the classroom and taking a week off before he returned to teach como si nada hubiera pasado. también recuerdo mr. l’s math class. i could not hear the difference between the words “100” and “100ths” and my request for clarification resulted in me being walked to the back of the classroom with broken crayons and ripped coloring pages. otra walk of shame so i would stop asking questions. but enough was enough. i shared my middle school experiences with my mom. i told her about mr. l and mr. k and how a counselor gave a pep talk to remind us that kids like us end up either in jail or pregnant. he claimed to be sharing research with us, our truth, so some of us could avoid falling into the trap. it was insulting. my mom requested an interpreter and to speak to a counselor and demanded that my classes (team) be changed. we had heard about something called “honors,” and i wanted to be in it. my counselor disagreed. “why do you want to take navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 21 honors classes? you’re not going to make it!” the compromise between my mom and me and the counselor was that she would place me in a different team (track) except for english class— i was stuck with a teacher that had already cussed at my class. i entered high school in the honors track and was fortunate that this time, i had a latina, spanish-speaking high school counselor who saw and acted on my potential. i did well. i took as many honors and advanced placement (ap) courses as possible and continued to have a 4.0 grade point average almost every semester. i scored a 5 as a freshman in the ap spanish test, so i was done with my language requirement in high school and was already obtaining college credit without understanding what this meant. i also took the horrifying psats, sats, and acts, which of course, were all in english. my counselor had fee waivers for me to apply to college. i wondered if that score of a 5 on my ap test was the “look at me, i can go to college” sign. i applied for college and had 7 choices. i opted for one of the three universities in san diego to stay close to my family. if there was one thing i knew, and continue knowing for sure, was that policy or not, no me llamo english learner, and off to college i went. mexican teacher ¡lo logré!—or did i? i became the teacher i wished i had when i was new to the country; i chose to work at a dual-immersion school with a 90-10 model that claimed justice and equity. i often wondered what it would have been like if i had immigrated earlier. no sé si hubiera tenido maestres bilingües. o si hubiera dejado de hablar español como varies compañeres y familiares. if my parents knew about dual immersion programs, i wonder if they would have placed me in a dual immersion school. the majority of the students and families i served as a teacher were latinxs. i taught fourth grade, which was split 50-50 between english and spanish. the school reinforced language separation: “put your english hat on,” y “ahora ponte tu gorro de español.” in the classroom, i had to model the double monolingualism enforced in institutional learning spaces even though all teachers and administrators hid their beautiful fluency between inglés y español and everything in between (martínez et al., 2015). i remember kindergarten teachers being worried, sharing anecdotes of students: “one of my students heard me speaking english to someone and they were surprised, y me reclamaron!” kindergarten grade was taught 90% in learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 22 spanish and 10% in english and kindergarten students could not know the teacher spoke english. we all beautifully translanguaged in the teacher lunchroom, before school, after school, and in our meetings. it is how we lived. garcía (2019) indicó que la expectativa “continues to be that languages could be ‘added’ as separate wholes, without taking into account the notion that true multilingual speakers never behave in this way” (p. 152). however somehow, this idea was not welcomed in the classroom, and children were reprimanded for doing what teachers were doing when children were not around. most of us did not know better. we listened to administrators who always quoted one or two research papers that supported their specific (deficit) ideologies on language, such as the strict separation of language. instead of sending more teachers to get professional development, administrators sent a select few and together, they decided what they would share with the rest of us. ¡qué conveniente! as an eight-grade dual language math and science teacher, i was asked by the administration to teach science in spanish. i taught chemistry, physics, and astronomy and was given a set of student textbooks in english and a teacher’s guide in english. pero tuve acceso a una versión del libro estudiantil en español. solo uno. despite being a math and science teacher, i did not feel prepared to teach science, yet alone to teach it in spanish with only one book in the language of instruction. en mis estudios en tijuana, no recuerdo haber hecho laboratorios o experimentos. but i did it. i followed the principal’s instructions of opening up the textbook and following chapters one at a time, trying to get as far as possible. i did not question the administrators—yet. i was a mexican teacher, teaching en inglés y en español, at a school that valued two languages, but not at the same time. i was able to connect with parents and students on a new level. i appreciated the opportunity to conduct home visits and got to know students’ familial and linguistic capitals (yosso, 2005). i had students who reminded me of me. i remember brian explaining his math work and saying “then you ‘rest’ it” to indicate subtraction because “restar” and “subtract” mean the same, illustrating another example of how the student took ownership of his language to show he understood math (garcía & wei, 2015). i had to transition out of this job because i was done learning a new life lesson. in sum, this school taught me la importancia de nunca dejar de aprender and challenging authority even when my so-called leaders shared a similar background to mine and claimed to do what was navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 23 best for me and the students, which was not always the case. i was ready to investigate how teachers could teach science to truly value students’ cultures and languages and how they could go beyond relying on a textbook. i share my experiences as a dual language teacher who was bullied but was supported by a few coworkers, students, and the community. i was ready for my next chapter and i was admitted to a phd program in 2014. i had the best mentor i could ask for, dr. cristina alfaro, who encouraged me to teach a science methods course in spanish while exposing me to the world of research and national grants. preparing latinx bilingual teachers at hsis la misión i left the k–8 school environment to begin a new career chapter as a bilingual teacher educator, $1.5-million grant coordinator, and critically conscious researcher at la misión. la misión is an hsi, even though at the time, no estaba segura what hsi meant because i attended two non-hsi institutions as a college student. while researching for a publication, i learned hsis are institutions that admit 25% or more “hispanic” students; y dale con los labels. as i developed my knowledge of statistics, i quickly realized admitting, retaining, and graduating students significaba algo completamente diferente. i understood the students i would serve would be bilingual in english and spanish. this student bilingualism brought me muchísima alegría. my course was inspired by a variety of colleagues’ syllabi, conversations with people who had experience teaching in this area, y más que nada mis experiencias as an immigrant learner and former elementary and middle school dual language teacher of math and science. california was adopting the newly released next generation science standards (ngss lead states, 2013), which were not in spanish and addressed “limited english proficient” (p. 13) students as an afterthought in appendix d. i searched and searched for journal articles in spanish that had to do with the content i was going to teach. having articles in spanish would allow the students and me to expand our academic language in spanish, but the ones i found from spanish-speaking countries were difficult to understand. although journal articles in english were more accessible, especially those coming from teacher practitioner publications, i worried that only selecting readings in english would indirectly send a message to students that english was the language of learning science. learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 24 that first year i decided to have class-assigned readings in english and discussions in spanish and english, as we saw fit. i did not know i was addressing what garcía (2019) referred to as translanguaging pedagogical practices, que tienen como meta “to liberate sign systems that have been constrained by socio-political domination, attempting to give voice to all and redress power differentials among speakers” (p. 163). i, too, wanted the classroom learning environment to be a transformative place where students and i could translanguage and use our entire linguistic repertoires to make meaning instead of just being a scaffolding practice to access language or content (garcía & wei, 2015). translanguaging about content also expanded to translanguaging about nuestras vidas personales. por ejemplo, some students lived in tijuana and it was great to be able to connect with them using tijuana-specific language: “watcha profe, look at how my experiment came out. ni pex, i’ll try it again.” we got stuck on words and concepts together, and we figured them out together. every year i learned more from students and i believe it is because we adopted translanguaging pedagogies, which i hope they can enact in their future classrooms. victoria university upon completing my phd, i was hired at victoria university in the department of liberal studies. victoria university is an hsi that enrolled 64% hispanic/latinx students. i was the first latinx person to be hired as tenure-track faculty in the department and one of four in the college of education that year. i was gifted the task of teaching the first and last courses in the major for students who wished to be teachers. la primer clase was an introduction to teaching y la segunda clase i recreated that incorporated the next generation science standards (ngss lead states, 2013), the engineering design process, and the california visual and performing arts standards. i also participated in mentoring and teaching students in the master of arts dual language program, and i taught the science methods course in spanish for the bilingual credential program. although courses i taught outside of the department were encouraged to be taught in spanish and bilingually, the ones in the liberal studies department were not. however, given that most students were of similar backgrounds to mine, some were comfortable speaking to me en español and bringing parents and siblings to office hours to meet me. fue una experiencia hermosa. i recall a student i had in my first year who made a video out of her ideological statement that opened with her mamá speaking zapoteco, which the student navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 25 captioned with, “i have always told my daughter how important our culture, traditions, and language is to us.” the student went on to show pictures of her younger self with teachers and narrating about her mom: she always told me it’s okay if our spanish didn’t sound like the others because spanish wasn’t her first language, but she always encouraged me to properly learn spanish because it would help me and it will help us. she also told me the importance of learning english in order for them, my parents, to have a voice in the united states of america. i had a great 2 years serving students at victoria university. interactions with my students and close colleagues helped mask microaggressions and tokenization i experienced outside of my department. i learned that even with a phd, i would never stop being seen as a racialized being (flores & rosa, 2015). however, a window of opportunity emerged that i could not let pass. de regreso a casa there is one thing i knew for sure by the time i accepted my second position as a tenure-track assistant professor, this time at la misión; i must encourage students to explore their relationship with their languages, science, and math. los animo intencionalmente al preguntarles que relexionen y exploren these relationships. i am also intentional in the framing of my course. on page one of the syllabus, i have listed a graphic que ilustra the lens for the methods course. figure one has an example for my science methods course. this lens continues to change and morph as i read, question, dialogue, learn, and reflect. while i deliver my classes primarily en español, en mis cursos los estudiantes choose what language or languages to submit assignments. some have chosen spanish or english only, and some have chosen to translanguage in various ways. they also have a choice as to how to submit assignments. moreover, when they submit them, they can tell me what they want me to focus on besides content. for instance, a student may submit a written reflection and ask me to check for acentos y ortografía. another may submit the exact reading reflection in video form and ask me to listen to verb tenses and pronunciation and to give that particular feedback. learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 26 figure 1 science methods class framing translanguaging in the math and science methods classroom affords teacher candidates opportunities to be their authentic selves (flores et al., 2015). we discuss math and matemáticas, science y ciencias. we make connections, and we find cognados. we make up math problems about oxxos and “cuantos tacos te comiste” just as much as we talk about how much science children do, exploring our surroundings. we value our community’s cultural wealth, and we acknowledge the deficit perspectives prior educators have had about us. every semester a new comunidad is created and together we laugh, cry, live, and learn. reflections on teaching: punto y aparte he aprendido muchas lecciones en el transcurso de mi vida como life-long learner y maestra, pero también me quedo con muchas preguntas. queda pendiente saber why it has taken years of immigrant children and their children infiltrating the educational system, after having navigated it, to publish papers on translanguaging and be able to prove language is power. y más que nada, me quedo cuestionando temas relacionados con idiomas, ya que por más que el sistema educativo en los estados unidos no valore mi español tijuanense y tijuanero, mi idioma es algo que valoro y con el cual me conectaba con mis abuelos, y continúo usando con mis padres y familiares. as a reminder, “translanguaging is important as we consider students’ identities and beyond” (garcía & wei, 2015); i believe this consideration applies to teachers and teacher educators as well. también aprendí que latinxs se aprovechan de otros latinxs y los pueden maltratar y traumar. y como dijeron rosa y flores (2017), “whiteness functions as a navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 27 structural position that can be inhabited by whites and nonwhites alike depending on the circumstances” (p. 9). debemos tener cuidado en como nos tratamos entre nosotres. i have shared varios aspectos personales de mi niñez and my adulthood as i discover what it means to be a student, educator, and bilingual teacher-educator in the united states and california specifically, not fitting into the mold of the white-listening student and teacher. as a bilingual teacher educator, i believe it is essential to reflect on my language ideologies constantly. particularly, when it comes to grading and evaluating students’ work, a nuestros docentes bilingües en práctica, to rethink what and how we are evaluating competencies and whether those reasons are centered on elitist language competencies that perpetuate the same monoglossic dual monolingualism, or if we are modeling how to problematize these norms in our classrooms, so they can, in turn, be enacted in k–12 learning spaces. en relación con los idiomas, el translanguaje es un approach to teach linguistically minoritized students no solamente al nivel de kindergarten a preparatoria, pero también al nivel universitario y hay que aprovechar el translenguaje, en especial en programas de preparación de docentes. creo que es mejor tener espacios de aprendizaje where translanguaging happens, que espacios de aprendizaje where our students feel silenced o prefieren no compartir. if you got this far into my essay and understood it, did it make a difference que a veces use inglés and sometimes spanish? my hope to my readers is that you understand that translanguaging is a beautiful complex natural process that takes place habitually in bilingual and multilingual beings. so let us use translanguaging in our multilingual learning and work spaces to connect and learn from and with each other. we are past the time to decolonize languaging. learning and teaching en dos idiomas association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 28 references ada, a. f. (1997). me llamo maría isabel. simon and schuster. anzaldúa, g. (1987). borderlands: la frontera (vol. 3). aunt lute. boylorn, r. m., & orbe, m. p. (2016). introduction critical autoethnography as method of choice. in r. m. boylorn & m. p. orbe (eds.), critical autoethnography: intersecting cultural identities in everyday life (pp. 13–26). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315431253-8 chen, j. j. (2015). the impact of skill-based immigration restrictions: the chinese exclusion act of 1882. journal of human capital, 9(3), 298-328. https://doi.org/10.1086/683186 darder, a., torres, r. d., & baltodano, m. (eds.). (2017). the critical pedagogy reader (3rd ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315092584 darder, a. (2012). culture and power in the classroom: educational foundations for the schooling of bicultural students. paradigm. dorner, l. m., cervantes-soon, c. g., heiman, d., & palmer, d. (2021). “now it’s all upper class parents who are checking out schools”: gentrification as coloniality in the enactment of two-way bilingual education policies. language policy, 20(3), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-021-09580-6 farr, m., & song, j. (2011). language ideologies and policies: multilingualism and education. language and linguistics compass, 5(9), 650–665. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749818x.2011.00298.x flores, n., kleyn, t., & menken, k. (2015). looking holistically in a climate of partiality: identities of students labeled long-term english language learners. journal of language, identity & education, 14(2), 113–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2015.1019787 flores, n., & rosa, j. (2015). undoing appropriateness: raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. harvard educational review, 85(2), 149–171. https://doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.85.2.149 freire, p. (2000). pedagogy of the oppressed. continuum. garcía, o. (2019). decolonizing foreign, second, heritage and first languages: implications for education. in d. macedo (ed.), decolonizing foreign language education (pp. 152–168). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429453113-6 garcía, o., & leiva, c. (2014). theorizing and enacting translanguaging for social justice. in a. blackledge and a. creese (eds.), heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy (pp. 199–216). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7856-6_11 garcía, o., & otheguy, r. (2020). plurilingualism and translanguaging: commonalities and divergences. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 23(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2019.1598932 garcía, o., & wei, l. (2015). translanguaging, bilingualism, and bilingual education. in w. e. wright, s. boun, and o. garcía (eds.), the handbook of bilingual and multilingual education, 223–240. wiley blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118533406.ch13 homer. (1919). the odyssey. g.p. putnam's sons. kalmar, t. m. (2015). illegal alphabets and adult biliteracy: latino migrants crossing the linguistic border. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315753126 katznelson, n., & bernstein, k. a. (2017). rebranding bilingualism: the shifting discourses of language education policy in california’s 2016 election. linguistics and education, 40, 11– 26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2017.05.002 kibler, a. k., & valdés, g. (2016). conceptualizing language learners: socioinstitutional navarro martell association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 29 mechanisms and their consequences. the modern language journal, 100(s1), 96–116. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12310 kovats sánchez, g. (2021). “if we don’t do it, nobody is going to talk about it”: indigenous students disrupting latinidad at hispanic-serving institutions. aera open. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211059194 kroskrity, p. v. (2004). language ideologies. in a. duranti (ed.), a companion to linguistic anthropology (pp. 496–517). blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470996522.ch22 martínez, r. a., hikida, m., & durán, l. (2015). unpacking ideologies of linguistic purism: how dual language teachers make sense of everyday translanguaging. international multilingual research journal, 9(1), 26–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2014.977712 ngss lead states. (2013). next generation science standards: for states, by states. ngss appendices. retrieved from https://www.nextgenscience.org/resources/ngss-appendices navarro martell, m. a. (2021). ciencias bilingües: how dual language teachers cultivate equity in dual language classrooms. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1870925 palmer, d. k., cervantes-soon, c., dorner, l., & heiman, d. (2019). bilingualism, biliteracy, biculturalism, and critical consciousness for all: proposing a fourth fundamental goal for two-way dual language education. theory into practice, 58(2), 121–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1569376 palmer, d. k., martínez, r. a., mateus, s. g., & henderson, k. (2014). reframing the debate on language separation: toward a vision for translanguaging pedagogies in the dual language classroom. the modern language journal, 98(3), 757–772. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12121 rosa, j., & flores, n. (2017). unsettling race and language: toward a raciolinguistic perspective. language in society, 46(5), 621–647. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404517000562 singer, d. (executive producer). (1980-1993). sesame street [tv series]. sesame workshop; pbs. valencia, r. r. (1997). conceptualizing the notion of deficit thinking. the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice, 19(1), 1–12. https://rb.gy/bf9gdx valenzuela, a. (ed.). (2016). growing critically conscious teachers: a social justice curriculum for educators of latino/a youth. teachers college press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8, 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 volume 15 issue 3 2021 amae special issue centering translanguaging in critical teacher education: cultivando nuevos conocimientos de translenguaje en la educación de futuros docentes guest editors pablo c. ramirez california state university, dominguez hills armando garza ayala university of new mexico editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 69 translingual practices for the development of latinx teacher candidates: a pedagogy for the border alcione n. ostorga university of texas rio grande valley abstract this article explores the application of translingual pedagogies within a course on the development of bilingualism for latinx bilingual teacher candidates (btcs) in the u.s.mexico borderlands. using a self-study methodology, it examines the application of translanguaging pedagogies for latinx btcs, and their evolving language ideologies. the participants were mostly emergent bilinguals (ebs) whose native spanish language development was negatively impacted by hegemonic educational practices in the local k-12 schools. therefore, while the first aim of my pedagogical practices was to promote learning of the content of the course, a second aim was to promote the development of academic spanish language abilities, required for bilingual teacher certification. findings include how the use of a translingual dialogic teaching approach led to the emergence of 1) a critical stance with an awareness of bilingualism as an advantageous resource in learning, and 2) the development of initial principles for their future practices that value translanguaging. keywords: translingualism, translanguaging pedagogies, bilingual teacher preparation, border pedagogies doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.15.3.446 a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 70 “mientras escribo este diario, puedo sentir a mis dos idiomas peleando en mi cerebro. el inglés quiere sobresalir, pero mis ganas de seguir practicando el español no lo deja…” [while i write this diary, i can feel my two languages fighting in my brain, the english wants to win, but my desire to keep on practicing my spanish, won’t allow it....] (journal entry by a student in this study) within a university-based teacher preparation program in the borderlands, bilingual teacher candidates’ (btc’s) linguistic development is an integral part of their professional and personal identities, requiring special pedagogies to promote a critical awareness of how their languages and identities were formed. the quote above illustrates the challenges faced by one of our btcs as she grappled with her bilingualism. while given the freedom to express herself translingually in reflective journals, this btc worked consciously at developing her academic spanish ability, a requirement for certification, by forcing herself to write only in spanish. though spanish is her native tongue, her school experiences in childhood hindered its full development to adult-like academic proficiency. the statement also illustrates how hegemonic language practices in schools that devalue a latinx’1 home language, lead to the majority language taking over the mental processes, illustrated by her statement “el ingles quiere sobresalir,” so that multilingualism becomes a challenge, rather than a path to meaning making. these kinds of issues with languaging led me towards exploring translanguaging pedagogies, not only to promote multilingualism as a resource, but also to foster a critical awareness of the sociopolitical aspects of education for bilingual learners. my interest in using translanguaging in my course is part of a broader goal of developing border pedagogies for teacher development (ostorga et al., 2020), which aims to address the contextual mitigating factors (gallard martinez, et al., 2018) that contribute to the identity formation of latinx btcs along border communities and that may in fact, impact their future practices as bilingual teachers. for these reasons, i embarked on the redesign of one of my undergraduate courses focused on the development of bilingualism, which prepares btcs to work with emergent bilingual students (ebs) in elementary schools. my question was: how can i use translanguaging to promote learning of the content of the course on the development of 1the use of the gender inclusive term latinx has been chosen to refer to latino/a/x. ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 71 bilingualism, while also supporting the development of academic spanish language? i envisioned the application of translanguaging pedagogies as an opportunity for promoting btcs’ professional development in a most culturally relevant and sustainable manner (paris, 2012). to counteract the effects of educational practices that take away an individual’s rights to express themselves and develop the freedom to embrace their multiple cultures and languages, i combined the use of translanguaging pedagogies based on six components outlined by cavazos and musanti (2021) that include: 1) openness to language differences in learning, 2) language as a right and a resource, 3) metacognitive and metalinguistic awareness, 4) a learner centered approach, 5) collaborative and community centered instruction, and 6) the use of fair and engaged assessment practices. i also sought to promote teacher agency (ostorga, 2018; palmer, 2018) in these future teachers. teacher agency refers to a teacher’s capacity to engage in appropriate professional practices and advocacy to benefit their students, rather than blindly following directions and policies that may be inappropriate or unfair. i particularly felt drawn to the idea of a multilingual pedagogy that could foster metalinguistic awareness (garcía & wei, 2014) and a sociopolitical consciousness of language ideologies in education (freire, 2020; garcía, 2017). i saw the promotion of sociopolitical awareness of multilingualism in bilingual education as a way to help my students develop fair teaching practices for the benefit of their future students. while aware of the challenges i might face in fostering this sociopolitical consciousness (freire, 2020), i sought to help latinx btcs to embrace translanguaging as a way to make use of their multilingualism as a resource for meaning making and for communication. by applying specific translanguaging pedagogies that evolved from the work of other educators in higher education settings across the world (mazak & carroll, 2017), i aspired to develop a way for my students to purposefully maneuver their communications, completely capable of expressing themselves in multiple discourses, adept in both english and spanish. the current state of bilingual education preparing teachers for bilingual education (be) is surrounded by complexities and contradictions based on the knowledge and ideologies of linguistic development. simultaneous bilingualism at an early age is recognized as advantageous, leading to divergent thinking and enhanced cognitive processing (yang et al., 2011). for ebs, development of the majority a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 72 language while continuing the development of the native language sustains their identity and culture, while promoting academic development. ideally, ebs should be enrolled in dual language programs where they become bilingual and biliterate. unfortunately, like most ebs in in the u.s, most of our btcs were enrolled in early exit transitional bilingual education programs (tbes), where they were exited out of bilingual education as quickly as possible. though studies show that it takes five to seven years for the full development of english as a second language in school (collier & thomas, 2017), tbe is most prevalent and a major contributor to the achievement gap in reading tests between hispanics and the white majority (hussar et al., 2020). therefore, within the borderlands, our educator preparation practices must go beyond the mere presentation of pedagogical knowledge, to also include practices aimed at deconstructing the effects of hegemonic educational practices. context of the study to provide culturally appropriate and sustainable pedagogies for my latinx btcs, i explore my translingual practices as a multilingual teacher educator, within one section of a course on the development of bilingualism, a program requirement. being in proximity to the us-mexico border presents some unique characteristics in our student body and the nature of their future professional practices within the local communities. unlike most teachers in the us who are white and unfamiliar with diverse communities where they will eventually work (mcfarland, et al., 2019), many of the btcs in our program come from the same communities where they will eventually teach. yet, though familiar with the context of their future students’ lives, their experiences may have impacted their readiness for the profession. for example, since the development of their native spanish language was hindered by the tbe they experienced as children (guerrero & guerrero, 2017), they have difficulties passing the required certification exam of spanish skills. furthermore, as documented in research (garrity et al., 2016), latinx btcs often devalue their native language as a result of assimilation, which has implications for their future professional practices, such as perpetuating the current hegemonic practices. in addition to btcs who experienced tbe as children, we also have btcs who are mexican nationals having either immigrated to the us as adolescents or adults. these btcs experience different challenges as bilinguals. while their native language skills are strong, they ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 73 grapple with other issues as they navigate the cultural context in the us, often experiencing ethnic prejudices and cultural dissonances. befitting our context, spanish is the language of instruction in some of our courses for be preparation. the course described in this study focused on both the development of bilingualism (content of the course), and the development of academic spanish language skills, since it is a prerequisite for certification. thus, learning activities were aimed at promoting their linguistic development while they learned about the theoretical knowledge applicable to their future practices as be teachers. i combined translanguaging pedagogies with team-based learning (michaelsen et al., 2004), creating heterogenous teams of btcs in my class based on a language survey (see appendix a). translanguaging became a part of the social interaction for learning, as every team contained experts in each of the two languages and the members supported each other in the assignments and in their linguistic development. through these learner-centered pedagogies, i created opportunities for the students to develop metacognitive and metalinguistic awareness, as they analyzed their meaning-making and linguistic processes through course assignments. most of the reading assignments for the course, were in spanish, such as the textbook for the course (montrul, 2013) and work by rodríguez-valls (2009), while others were in english (garcia & kleyn, 2016; wright, 2010). yet, i embraced translanguaging in all oral interactions. spanish was a requirement in some of the written assignments to promote spanish writing skills. however, weekly reflective journals allowed translanguaging in the written form. these focused on the btcs’ learning process of the course content and they were invited to critically examine and evaluate the often, contradictory theories they read about in the textbook in relation to their own personal knowledge as bilingual learners. as part of the course, students engaged in activities that raised their awareness of their own spanish proficiency. fair and engaged assessment practices (cavazos & musanti, 2021) were founded on the principle of a fairer assessment ecology (inoue, 2017). thus, while graded on their understanding of the concepts learned, btcs were made aware but not penalized for the quality of their writing in spanish. also, in this space, oral language practices were dictated by each individual student according to their linguistic needs. therefore, many strong spanish speakers preferred to speak in english to promote the development of their second language, while less fluent spanish speakers chose to practice their spanish skills with the support of their a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 74 more capable spanish speaking peers. i respected their choices and allowed the oral dialogue to flow freely in their preferred languages while requiring spanish in most of the written assignments. the key assignment in the course was an analysis of their personal bilingual development. this two-part assignment (see figures 1 and 2) engaged btcs in an autoethnographic study of their personal linguistic development, which promoted metalinguistic awareness. figure 1 key assignment analysis of the personal bilingual development part 1 the first part of the assignment included a narrative of the btcs’ linguistic development and asked them to apply the concepts learned in the readings to their story. for instance, they could discuss if their bilingualism was simultaneous or sequential, or how their school experiences influenced their linguistic development. this part of the assignment also included an analysis of the results obtained in a practice version of the spanish proficiency test used for certification. the test was included in the course to introduce them to the required certification exam but was not part of the course grade. later, they discussed the evaluation of their writing responses with their linguistically diverse team members. as part of their analysis of the results, they were asked to develop short-term goals for the development of their spanish proficiency along with an action plan to accomplish these goals. this component pushed them towards taking the responsibility for their linguistic development. analysis of the personal bilingual development: part 1 linguistic short term goals bilingual development outline spanish proficiency practice test content of course and activities ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 75 other course assignments included team-based coursework, where they applied concepts learned in the readings. the combination of the course activities led to weekly critical reflections which became an integral element of the second part of the key assignment. in this final portion, they presented a self-evaluation of their goals, and an analysis of their reflective journals. the assignment ended with an emergent set of principles for their future practices as bilingual educators based on their learning of the content, and the analysis of their personal bilingual development (see figure 2). figure 2 key assignment analysis of the personal bilingual development part 2 in essence, all the course activities aimed to engage students and instructor as members of a community of learners. through our dialogical discussions, we examined our experiences in relation to the theoretical principles learned, such as the value of dual language instruction in promoting bilingualism/biliteracy and the opposing views about translanguaging in different contexts. in other words, students were encouraged to incorporate their personal knowledge of bilingual development as they critically examined theories presented by experts against their lived experiences. this approach represents an example of the community centered approach in instruction explained by cavazos and musanti (2021). my instructional design contributed to the creation of a classroom space where the translingual community of engaged learners/educator worked together to develop their practices and learn. after my introduction as a final key assignment principles for future practice analysis of the personal bilingual development part 1 (corrected and revised based on feedback) self evaluation of goals analysis of reflective journals a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 76 teacher/learner, and a multilingual individual, i explained the general organization of the course with a presentation that invited them to see themselves as learners/researchers, perhaps bringing new light to the current knowledge as presented by experts. my presentation included pictures to exemplify this stance, with the course represented as a community of learners. for example, one picture showed a circle of people with the word learn in the center where the professor was not identified as a leader but was a member of the circle like all others. another picture in the presentation showed college students in their team, dialoguing about their investigations. the dialogue bubbles representing the words spoken by team members was written in both english and spanish, suggesting that translanguaging discourse was appropriate. in addition, in the prompts for their weekly reflections, i included questions that guided them into a critical and inquisitive stance. for example, i purposely chose readings where theories contradicted each other, such as the presence of one single linguistic system with two languages, or two separated language systems within our brain. then i invited them to evaluate these readings based on their experiences as bilingual learners, choosing their own specific point of view. diverse perspectives in theoretical readings such as code-switching vs translanguaging, were aimed at promoting a critical stance and the opportunity for transformation of their tacit assumptions, a key component in promoting transformative learning (taylor, 2017). i guided them in this process by asking them to examine assumptions, and if necessary to develop their own positions as they analyzed research and theory juxtaposed with their own experiences. these pedagogical moves contributed to the creation of a learner centered, collaborative community where translanguaging was a right and a resource for learning (garcia & wei, 2014). research methods i examined my translanguaging practices as a way of maximizing the btc’s learning of the content, while transforming their perspectives of linguistic development through an analysis of their own growth as bilingual beings. i saw my students/participants as co-researchers (goodson, 1995), including their voices and perspectives. for this reason, i used a self-study method called co/autoethnography (taylor & coia, 2009), which is reflective and participatory. thus, as a participant observer, i shared with my students my own emerging stance on translanguaging situated within my own knowledge and experiences as a brazilian portuguese ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 77 native speaker and invited them to engage in a critical dialogue about the contradictory theories presented in the course readings. through this process, i explored my pedagogies while evolving my understanding of my students’ personal linguistic development. this method allowed me to examine language and teacher professional development within my course, a community of learners, myself included. co/autoethnography is situated within self-study of teacher educator practices (loughran et al., 2007), but capitalizes on the participants’ roles as coinvestigators, which in this study was emphasized in the key assignment, an undergraduate research project. thus, as explained by taylor and coia (2009), we deconstructed the issues of authenticity and power as we shared our stories and reflected upon them. data sources included the key assignment, researcher notes, and my reflections posted in a translingual faculty learning community. however, the present analysis focuses on the various data sources within the key assignment. a grounded theory approach (charmaz, 2006) was used in the analysis based on a reflexive process and constant comparative analysis (glaser, 1965) of emergent themes. i specifically looked for participants’ perspectives of their experiences against the new knowledge they gained from the course and emerging ideas about practices as future educators. like the quote at the beginning of this chapter, when the original quoted text is in spanish, i provide an english translation to facilitate comprehension. participants based on a survey given on the first day of class, of the 29 latina btcs in the course, 19 spoke both languages at home, 7 spoke only spanish and 3 only english. their experiences with bilingualism varied significantly. eighteen btcs were us born, simultaneous bilinguals, others were mexican born immigrants who entered school in the us during elementary or secondary school, except for one transnational btc who learned english in a dual language school in mexico. twenty experienced early tbe programs, while two were placed in english immersion from the beginning of their education. findings based on the data analysis, i present the findings in two categories: 1) translanguaging pedagogies in practice, based on the btc’s perspectives of the course activities and 2) emergent linguistic ideologies, especially as these relate to the btcs’ future professional practices. a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 78 translanguaging pedagogies in practice the application of a community centered approach allowed for everyone to share their experiences and linguistic development leading to their conceptualization of the content of the course. students became aware of the variations in bilingual development as they shared the initial outline of their bilingual development, in preparation for part 1 of the key assignment. after sharing the outlines within each team, students were asked to choose one team member to share their outline with the entire class. the activity led to an awareness of the diverse experiences bilinguals can have and their impact on linguistic development, as explained in the following excerpt from a journal by maria (all names are pseudonyms to preserve the anonymity of the participants), who immigrated from mexico at the age of 11: una de las cosas… [que] jamás había realizado y aprendí esta semana … como cada persona adquiere su bilingüismo … de muchas diferentes maneras … me llegué a sorprender ... lo diferente que eran las historias de cada una de nosotras ... es bueno conocer las historias de otros porque hay mucha diversidad en este país. [one of the things ... that i had never realized, and i learned this week … how each person acquires their bilingualism ... in many different ways. … i was surprised about how different each of our stories were ... it is good to know the histories of others because there is much diversity in this country.] as explained, the activity led to a deeper conceptualization of the diverse ways of becoming bilingual, a crucial understanding for the development of effective be teachers. self-awareness is further illustrated by another student, johana, also a mexican immigrant at the age of 12, as she became aware of her linguistic processes as a bilingual: me hacen sentir que … soy normal … que soy bilingüe secuencial … que es la razón por la que pienso en dos idiomas …y traduzco todo lo que escucho ... que eso es normal … que muchos bilingües … lo hacen. [… they make me feel …. that i am normal …. that i am a sequential bilingual ... which is the reason why i think in two languages … and that i translate everything i hear … that is normal… many bilinguals ... do it.] ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 79 both journal segments illustrate outcomes of the class activities since they demonstrate a developing awareness of their linguistic processes and development. in response to the ecology of fair assessment (inoue, 2017) i created through course activities, btcs found the freedom to express themselves multilingually instead of fearing judgement. i was able to create this relaxed atmosphere conducive to learning as i applied the principles of fairness in assessment, while combining them with other methods of instruction. for example, i made use of team-based learning as designed by michaelsen et al. (2004) where before teamwork is submitted, students engage in a gallery walk to examine other teams’ work and are guided through an evaluative discourse where they judge the quality of the various drafts using a rubric (see appendix b). consequently, they learned how to use the rubric and to think more deeply about the concepts in the course. ultimately, it led them to achieve higher levels of learning of the objectives of the assignment though social interaction. combining this method with a multilingual dialogue offered the opportunity to use translanguaging in the discussion and to build on the community centered approach. for example, in one team-based assignment, students were asked to apply concepts learned as they assessed eb students in a video segment in an english immersion class. although the activity’s resources were in english, teams were allowed to choose the language for their written assignment. two of the five teams completed the assignment in spanish and the works from all the teams were displayed in their language of choice. this led to a translingual dialogue where they discussed each team’s work displayed in spanish or english. in the discussion, teams voted for the best assignment based on the rubric, then explained their choices. though evaluation was at the center of the dialogue, it flowed in a relaxed, and respectful manner. here is how the activity was viewed by student sonia, a us born latina who experienced tbe as a child. in her reflection, she states: … fue una buena manera de mejorar nuestro trabajo porque tuvimos la oportunidad de observar que tipo de trabajo hicieron los otros equipos. ... y hicimos comparaciones para ver cómo podríamos mejorar el nuestro. fue una manera divertida de recibir retroalimentación sobre nuestro trabajo. a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 80 [… it was a good way to improve our work because we had the opportunity to observe what kind of work the other teams did … and we made comparisons to see how we could improve ours. it was a fun way to get feedback on our work.] this btc articulated how the activity helped her reach new levels of learning. through this team-based activity, i was able to integrate translanguaging for the promotion of learning where students used their entire linguistic repertoire as resources. emergent linguistic ideologies throughout the course of the semester, i noted emergent language ideologies as students became researchers of their own bilingual development. the course activities provided experiences that led to emergent perspectives and principles for future practices. here is an example of an emergent perspective from a reflective journal by rosa, a us born spanish speaker who experienced english immersion since kindergarten and received spanish instruction at home from her grandmother: en nuestra región es “normal” hablar translenguage porque vivimos cerca de la frontera. … cuando leí los capítulos asignados de la semana pasada, … y discutí con mis compañeras … me ayudó a reconocer que translanguaging is okay … there is no problem with speaking two wonderful languages within a sentence. [in our region it is “normal” to speak translanguage because we live near the border. … when i read last week’s assigned chapters, ... and discussed it with my peers … it helped me to recognize that translanguaging is ok … there is no problem with speaking two wonderful languages within a sentence.] this journal made use of translanguaging in the written form. the development of a strong value for the home language, spanish, is evident and desirable. there are implications of ideological transformation of the tacit assumptions (taylor, 2017), that often result from school experiences teaching them to devalue their culture and language. this student learned to value her home language, spanish, a minoritized language, which is a crucial element of one’s own identity, with translanguaging emerging as an integral part of her bilingual discourse. btc’s language ideologies have significant implications for their future practices as bilingual educators, which is evident in the following journal entry by lorena, who was placed in english immersion at 2nd grade: ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 81 if a student is bilingual, i do not think that the teachers or the school should ignore the mother tongue or contribute negatively to the development of the minority language. teachers should help students to develop the oral and written mother tongue in order to use two languages [as] children and as adults. this statement illustrates a healthy language ideology that is sustainable, because it values the mother tongue while advocating for the promotion of bilingualism, possibly as part of lorena’s future professional practices. another example of a sustainable language ideology comes from julieta’s principles for future practices, included in part 2 of the key assignment: para que el español, y otras lenguas que son minoritarias, sean tratadas con valor y con importancia, nosotros [los maestros] debemos de poder ayudar a elevar el estatus de estas lenguas… [nuestras acciones deben] dar a entender que ninguna lengua del mundo es más importante que la otra. [in order for spanish and other minority languages to be treated with value and importance, we [teachers] must be able to help raise the status of these languages... our actions should imply that no language in the world is more important than the other] julieta is a simultaneous bilingual who experienced some english immersion but was later transferred to a dual language program. these quotes from teacher candidates seem to demonstrate that through the applied translanguaging pedagogies some btc’s developed language ideologies that will foster culturally appropriate and sustainable practices for their students. there was no evidence of opposition to translanguaging as part of instruction. discussion and implications for bilingual teacher education generally, translanguaging has been frowned upon and the accepted appropriate instructional practices have been to separate languages into specific spaces or times. recently educators have begun to acknowledge its value in conceptualization and learning (freeman et al., 2018; garcía, 2017), yet the debate about its value continues (guerrero, 2021). while a translanguaging stance as integrated into my course was quite liberating, now there is a need to study how this multilinguistic system within us, can be used to facilitate learning for btcs. bilingual teacher education practices should emphasize the professional development of btcs a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 82 with a focus not only on the teaching of the various disciplines while promoting linguistic development, but also on the way they capitalize on their students’ linguistic and cultural resources to learn and develop. furthermore, our pedagogies for btcs need to be based on the contextual factors that have impacted their development and those of the educational settings where they will eventually work. in this milieu, the use of translanguaging becomes complex for it must be used strategically to promote biliteracy and academic development. first and foremost, as future teachers, they should allow bilinguals to use their full linguistic repertoire while learning the different academic disciplines. yet, their responsibility will also include teaching the structures of each of the languages of instruction and all the accompanying formalities as part of language arts, as a discipline to be taught. for this reason, bilingual teachers must have a clear understanding of the different kinds of languaging for different purposes. therefore, based on their btc’s future professional responsibilities, teacher educators must also understand how to choose translanguaging for specific purposes and situations and how to help bilingual btcs grapple with these complexities. this includes using translanguaging while guiding btcs to examine the current knowledge of bilingual development that recognizes the value of multiple languages in the learning process. a key element in the use of translanguaging for teacher educators, is enacting collaborative and community centered instruction (cavazos & musanti, 2021). thus, as we, teacher educators, develop our translanguaging pedagogies, we also guide btcs in deconstructing the hegemonic language ideologies of assimilation that were in many cases, a part of their own experiences as students in u.s. k-12 schools. to be successful in this endeavor, class activities and the pedagogical stance of the teacher educator must include the creation of dialogical spaces where students and instructor explore ways to develop their practices. this was exemplified in the assignment where btcs studied their own development as bilinguals using the theories and concepts presented. it included the sharing of the different experiences allowing them to examine their personal development against those of their peers. as demonstrated in the journal excerpts from maria, johana and sonia, this dialogical context where students and professor are learners/researchers, led to a deeper understanding of the sociopolitical complexities in becoming bilingual. furthermore, this dialogic space allowed btcs to then develop their own emerging principles for future practice, as illustrated by julieta in part 2 of the key assignment. ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 83 this pedagogical approach can foster the critical stance necessary for these future bilingual teachers to advocate for their students’ linguistic rights, promote healthy cognitive and academic development, as well as a strong cultural identity. however, one course such as the one presented here is not enough; this kind of approach needs to continue throughout the program for the emergent critical stance to fully develop throughout all their educator preparation courses. the lack of connection to a field assignment as part of the course due to program logistics was a limitation of this study. another limitation was the fact that this approach was used by only one instructor for this one course in the program. this emergent study needs to expand and include collaborations with other teacher educators teaching similar courses, with an emphasis on promoting biliteracy for btcs and their students through pedagogies that respect their linguistic and cultural practices. ultimately, our teacher education pedagogies should aim to promote tcs who are accepting of their future students’ translanguaging practices as they learn new concepts in class. ultimately, our bilingual teacher education practices should aim to promote btcs who are accepting of their future students’ translanguaging practices as they learn new concepts in their classes. our practices as teacher educators then, should model how translanguaging can be used within lessons as a means for students to use all their linguistic resources to learn. amid this complexity, we need to further study how and when to translanguage in our pedagogical practices in bilingual teacher preparation in a way that can lead to a positive transformation in the education of all ebs. such studies need to examine ways to promote the development of future teachers who will maximize multilingual development as part of their total development as human beings. in other words, our educator preparation practices must not only address btc’s academic and linguistic development, but also strengthen their cultural, and ethnic identities while promoting the development of professional identities that include the capacity for agency and advocacy. a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 84 references cavazos, a. g., & musanti, s. i. (2021). insights from a faculty learning community on translingual community-engaged pedagogy at a hispanic serving institution. language and education, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2021.1936544. charmaz, k. (2006). constructing grounded theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis. sage. collier, v. p., & thomas, w. p. (2017). validating the power of bilingual schooling: thirty-two years of large-scale, longitudinal research. annual review of applied linguistics, 37, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0267190517000034 freeman, y. s., freeman, d. e., & mercury, s. (2018). dual language essentials for teachers and administrators. heinemann. freire, j. a. (2020). promoting sociopolitical consciousness and bicultural goals of dual language education: the transformational dual language educational framework. journal of language, identity & education, 19(1), 56–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2019.1672174. gallard martínez, a. j., pitts, w. b., brkich, k. m., & de robles, s. l. r. (2018). how does one recognize contextual mitigating factors (cmfs) as a basis to understand and arrive at better approaches to research designs? cultural studies of science education, 15(2), 545 567. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-018-9872-2 garcía, o. (2017). translanguaging in schools: subiendo y bajando, bajando y subiendo as afterword. journal of language, identity & education, 16(4), 256–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1329657 garcía, o., & kleyn, t. (2016). translanguaging with multilingual students: learning from classroom moments. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315695242 garcía, o., & wei, l. (2014). translanguaging: language, bilingualism and education. palgrave mcmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385765_4 garrity, s., aquino-sterling, c. r., van liew, c., & day, a. (2016). beliefs about bilingualism, bilingual education, and dual language development of early childhood preservice teachers raised in a prop 227 environment. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 21(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1148113 glaser, b. (1965). the constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. social problems, 12, 436-445. https://doi.org/10.2307/798843 goodson, i. f. (1995). dar voz ao professor: as histórias de vida dos professores e o seu desenvolvimento profissional. in a. nóvoa (ed.), vidas de professores (pp 63-78). porto. guerrero, m. d., & guerrero, m. c. (2017). competing discourses of academic spanish in the texas-mexico borderlands. bilingual research journal, 40(1), 5–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2016.1273150 guerrero, m. d. (2021). gauging the adequacy of translanguaging allocation policy in two-way immersion programs in the u.s. journal of latinos and education, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2021.1971086 hussar, b., zhang, j., hein, s., wang, k., roberts, a., cui, j., smith, m., bullock mann, f., barmer, a., & dilig, r. (2020). the condition of education 2020 (nces 2020-144). u.s. department of education. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. retrieved [1/5/2021] from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed605216.pdf inoue, a. b. (2017). writing assessment as the conditions for translingual approaches: an argument for fairer assessments. in b. horner, & l. tetreault (eds.), crossing divides: ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 85 exploring translingual writing pedagogies and programs (pp. 119-134). university press of colorado. https://doi.org/10.7330/9781607326205.c007 loughran, j. j., hamilton, m. l., laboskey, v. k., & russell, t. l. (2007). international handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices. springer. mazak, c. m., & carroll (2017). translanguaging in higher education: beyond monolingual ideologies. multilingual matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783096657 mcfarland, j., hussar, b., zhang, j., wang, x., wang, k., hein, s., diliberti, m., forrest cataldi, e., bullock mann, f., & barmer, a. (2019). the condition of education 2019 (nces 2019144). u.s. department of education. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2019144. michaelsen, l. k., knight, a. b., & fink, l. d. (2004). team-based learning: a transformative use of small groups in college teaching. stylus. montrul, s. (2013). el bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante. wiley-blackwell. ostorga, a. n. (2018). the right to teach: creating spaces for teacher agency. rowman & littlefield. ostorga, a. n., zúñiga, c. e., & hinton, k. a. (2020). bilingual teacher educators at an hsi: a border pedagogy for latinx teacher development. in j. m. schall, p. a. mchatton, &, e. l. saenz (eds.), implications of a hispanic serving designation for a college of education: identity, practice and educator preparation (pp. 137-155). taylor & francis group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429198564-10 palmer, d. k. (2018). supporting bilingual teachers to be leaders for social change: “i must create advocates for biliteracy.” international multilingual research journal, 12(3), 203–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2018.1474063 paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12441244 rodríguez-valls, f. (2009) comparando simetrías lingüísticas: estudiantes y docentes analizan el español y el inglés en el aula. education policy analysis archives/archivos analíticos de políticas educativas, 17, 1-23. taylor, e. w. (2017). transformative learning theory. in a. laros, t. fuhr, & e. w. taylor (eds.), transformative learning meets bildung: an international exchange (pp. 17–29). sense https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-797-9_2 taylor, m., & coia, l. (2009). co/autoethnography: investigating teachers in relation. in c. a. lassonde, s. galman, & c. kosnik (eds.), self-study research methodologies for teacher educators (pp.169–186). sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087906900_011 wright, w. e. (2010). foundations for teaching english language learners. caslon. yang, s., yang, h., & lust, b. (2011). early childhood bilingualism leads to advances in executive attention: dissociating culture and language. bilingualism: language and cognition 14(3), 412 – 422. doi:10.1017/s1366728910000611. a pedagogy for the border association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 86 appendix a class survey 1. at home i speak in: a. english. b. spanish. c. both. 2. spanish abilities (circle all that apply) a. i am a native spanish speaker. b. i can read and comprehend university level readings in spanish. c. i can speak in spanish but have difficulties understanding college written material in spanish. d. i can read and speak in spanish, but with some difficulties. e. i have no difficulties understanding written and oral communications in spanish. f. i have no difficulties writing in spanish at a level appropriate for college work. 3. i was born in __________________ (state and country). 4. state place of residence: a. if in the us i have lived in the united states since the age of ________________. b. if not in the us – where do you live? (country) _______________. 5. as a child in school, i experienced: (circle all that apply). a. bilingual education in elementary school. b. bilingual education at the middle and/or high school level. c. bilingual education where i was rushed out of spanish instruction as soon as possible. d. received no bilingual education instead was immersed in esl instruction only. 6. diversity of experience: a. i have lived outside the united states at least for 1 year during my lifetime. b. i have always lived within the usa but, lived outside the rio grande valley for at least 1 year in my lifetime. c. i have always lived in the rio grande valley. 7. experience with children: a. i have children. b. i don’t have children but have had some experience taking care of children. c. i never took care of children. 8. experience in schools: a. i have had experiences working in a school setting. b. i have never worked in a school. 9. experience with technology a. i am a very confident user of technology (text, emails, microsoft word). b. i feel ok with technology but don’t consider myself very proficient. c. i stay away from technology whenever i can. 10. experience with blackboard a. i am familiar with most blackboard tools such as journals, assignment submission, discussion tools, email, and wikis). b. i am familiar with some blackboard tools. c. i have never used blackboard before this course. ostorga association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2021, volume 15, issue 3 87 appendix b rúbrica para asignación en equipo #3: el trabajo será evaluado bajo los siguientes criterios: 1. el ensayo incluye: • exposición de los elementos mas importantes en el sistema de educación bilingüe en las escuelas de texas • explicación acerca del criterio para promoción afuera de educación bilingüe • retos que resultan de la manera como el sistema trabaja. 2. dos ejemplos: • incluyen explicación del contexto escolar donde cada estudiante esta asistiendo clases. • incluyen suficientes detalles de por lo menos 2 de los componentes en el solom para apoyar los puntos expuestos en el ensayo. • hacen conexiones claras con los puntos expuestos en el ensayo. 3. la conclusión del ensayo incluye sugestiones y prácticas necesarias para apoyar el aprendizaje para cada ejemplo. también incluye citas para apoyar las sugestiones hechas. volume 19 issue 1 2025 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor lorenza lancaster the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 2 the story of creando conciencia: a latinx student-focused professional learning community margarita otero-díaz escala educational services, inc. brandilynn villarreal california state polytechnic university, humboldt rafael cuevas-uribe california state polytechnic university, humboldt jose marin jarrin california state polytechnic university, humboldt maria i. iturbide california state polytechnic university, humboldt abstract universities continue to see equity gaps in retention and graduation rates for latinx students. to enhance latinx student success, a team of latinx faculty at a hsi developed innovative programming for educators centered on creating culturally sustaining educational spaces for latinx students. creando conciencia is an escala educational the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 3 services, inc. certified professional learning community (plc). using a cohort model, participants were supported by facilitators and coaches as they implemented a project within a course designed to reduce equity gaps. nine participants completed the pilot year’s programming. to assess the effectiveness of the plc, participants completed a baseline and exit survey which measured participants’ understanding of culturally responsive pedagogy (crp), hsis, cultural frameworks, and perceptions of their role as an educator of latinx students. open-ended responses revealed participants were more likely to understand the importance of students’ backgrounds and cultural assets, enact crp practices, and were more confident in teaching latinx students. creando conciencia can serve as a model for hsis looking to develop latinx student-focused programming centered on crp, students’ strengths, and becoming a hispanic thriving institution. keywords: professional development; culturally responsive pedagogy; professional learning community; university students; faculty doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.19.1.515 https://amaejournal.utsa.edu/index.php/amae/article/view/515 otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 4 universities across the u.s. have seen a profound shift in student demographics as many predominately white institutions (pwis) have become hispanic serving institutions (hsis) or emerging hsis. over the past three decades, the number of hsis has tripled to more than 600 institutions in 2023 (excelencia in education, 2024). at the same time, however, hispanic/latinx/é1 populations continue to earn college degrees at lower rates (21%) than african american (28%), european american (42%), and asian american (59%) populations (u.s. census bureau, 2023). large and consistent equity gaps (also termed achievement gaps) also exist in academic performance metrics between racially minoritized students and their more represented peers (national center for education statistics, 2018). change is slow despite educators and institutions working to address structural inequities and biases. fundamental changes are needed that value and seek out the experiences, cultural knowledge, ways of knowing, and strengths inherent in latinx students to reduce students’ feelings of being “marginalized, alienated, isolated, unsupported, and unwelcomed by their peers and faculty members” (strayhorn, 2008, p. 303). the purpose of the current study is to describe and assess a latinx studentfocused professional learning community (plc) in a university setting. creando conciencia: empowering hispanic learning is the first at its institution to specifically focus on culturally sustaining educational spaces for latinx students. this article will cover the development, implementation, assessment, and attempts to institutionalize the datadriven plc. 1 in this paper, hispanic is primarily used to refer to government designations such as hsis while latinx is used to refer to the diverse group of people originating from latin america. latiné is a similar gender inclusive term (miranda et al., 2023). the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 5 theoretical framework and literature review there is a myriad of contributors to equity gaps for latinx students, some of which educators can control and some which they cannot. as educators, we can structure the content and structure of our courses to disproportionately benefit minoritized students by embracing culturally responsive pedagogical practices. culturally responsive pedagogy views instructors as institutional change agents for social justice and equity (gay 2018). the culturally responsive-sustaining (cr-s) framework is a collection of empirical, strength-based pedagogies that view cultural differences as assets in both teaching and learning (new york state education department, 2018). this framework emphasizes the importance of educators creating a welcoming environment that affirms racial, linguistic, and cultural identities, elevates historically marginalized voices, and empowers students as agents of social change. racially minoritized students thrive when learning environments utilize inclusive curriculum and context diversity by honoring multiple cultural frameworks (e.g., individualistic and collectivistic; low and high context) (chávez & longerbeam, 2016). since many u.s. higher education learning environments are heavily biased towards low context or individualistic cultural frameworks, students from higher context or collectivistic backgrounds, such as many latinx students, experience a cultural mismatch and must adapt to survive. in courses where latinx cultural frameworks are deprivileged and underutilized, latinx students are more likely to perform poorly or drop out (ibarra, 2001). however, when educators intentionally create diverse learning activities and environments, latinx students are more likely to thrive. otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 6 faculty professional development faculty professional development fosters change in educators’ classroom practices, attitudes, and beliefs; and has been linked to increased student learning outcomes, retention, and academic success (concepcíon et al., 2009; guskey, 2002; mcshannon & hynes, 2001). in response to the demographic shifts noted above, there is an increased need for faculty development programs to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (beach et al., 2016) and move away from a colorblind ideology that ignores or downplays ethnic and cultural group differences (hachfeld et al., 2015). a “one-size-fitsall” approach to education only benefits students that universities were designed to serve. some of the most successful professional development programs for educators are faculty learning communities (flcs) and professional learning communities (plcs)2 because of their long-term nature, group format, and focus on critical reflection (beach & cox, 2009). the plc in the current study, creando conciencia, addresses each of malcom-piqueux and bensimon’s (2017) guidelines for professional development programs that enact systematic equity-minded institutional change around equity gaps: creando conciencia is data-driven (in both content and assessment) and centers on implementing high-impact practices in the classroom that positively impact latinx students. flcs that specifically address latinx students or hsis are sparse. lisagor and colleagues (2013) outlined two flcs at a comprehensive teaching university with the goal of increasing latinx student success. faculty who completed the program 2 plcs are broader than flcs because they are open to many different types of educators. the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 7 experienced improvements in mentoring, increased awareness of cultural issues specific to latinx students, increased knowledge of campus resources, and a stronger sense of faculty support. the authors conclude that flcs can raise awareness of diverse student populations, increase cultural knowledge and pedagogical practices, and strengthen faculty-student relationships, all of which may positively impact equity gaps (lisagor et al., 2013). developing creando conciencia creando conciencia was developed at a small, rural comprehensive teaching university that became an hsi in 2013. latinx students typically come to the university from more diverse areas and report a cultural mismatch when they arrive. although the university enrolls latinx students, it is not adequately serving this population, leading many students to leave (garcia, 2019). in an effort to better serve latinx students, the university began a partnership with escala educational services, inc. in 2017 to implement equity programming centered around culturally responsive pedagogy and equitable practices for latinx students. escala is a consortium of hsi practitioners based in the u.s. southwest that provides professional development and programming to college educators at hsis. over two years, more than 40 faculty were sent to escala's 27-hour certificate in college teaching and learning in hsis in an attempt to shift instructional culture campus-wide. through this process, challenges to creating a campus “culture of equity” were identified, including racism, otherization, and difficulties institutionalizing concepts from escala. in may 2020, the escala collaboration moved forward in a new direction to create internal, self-sustaining hsi professional development. creando conciencia was otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 8 developed over several years through the collaboration of multiple stakeholders: hsi grant directors, escala faculty/staff alumni, office of diversity, equity, and inclusion (odei), the hsi advisory committee, the learning center, and the center for teaching & learning (ctl). the aim of these collective efforts is to shift the campus culture from a latinx-enrolling to a latinx-thriving institution, one that graduates latinx students at equitable levels and has a strong latinx organizational cultural identity (garcia, 2019). creando conciencia empowering hispanic learning is a year-long plc developed with the oversight of escala and based on the escala model. creando conciencia is spanish for “creating consciousness or awareness”. its vision is to raise awareness of the institution’s identity as an hsi and the formidable strengths of hispanic/latinx students, staff, and faculty to create culturally sustaining learning environments. in this program, “learning environments” are educational spaces where interactions between educators and students occur to pursue a learning goal (this could range from classroom, offices, centers, etc., and can be formal, informal, or non-formal). the inaugural creando conciencia team was comprised of four latinx faculty who developed content and served as facilitators, one latinx faculty who led assessment, and three coaches. faculty facilitators were trained by escala in culturally responsive facilitation and an additional 8-10 people were included in escala-led workshops on faculty curriculum development. the final result, creando conciencia, included several curricular elements and materials of escala's certificate in college teaching & learning in hispanic serving institutions (ctl-hsi) course and culturally responsive practices for stem faculty teaching latinx students (stem-x) course, the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 9 loaned with permission to the initial pilot in order to ensure success. the development process took 18-24 months with a small pilot program being launched in fall 2022. creando conciencia: empowering hispanic learning creando conciencia has four learning outcomes for its participants: (1) to critically reflect on one’s current understanding of latinx students at the institution and their cultural-based strengths; (2) to explore, study, and reflect on specific topics and practices in the literature associated with culturally sustaining educational and community spaces with particular attention to latinx populations; (3) to revitalize one’s educational resources and practices using a culturally sustaining lens; and (4) to create and support culturally sustaining educational and community spaces for latinx students by increasing students’ connections, social integration, and sense of belonging to the campus and community. creando conciencia’s curriculum focuses on culturally responsive pedagogical frameworks, latinx students’ cultural assets, exploring data, engaging in continuous critical reflection to reduce bias, and a community of professional learners. the model for the program utilizes trained coaches and facilitators to guide participants through modules that examine their educational resources and practices using a culturally sustaining lens. each module implements a variety of learning methods which took approximately 10 hours to complete: (1) prework readings, prerecorded content videos, and reflection questions; (2) a workshop led by coaches and facilitators on select topics culminating in an in-depth reflection; (3) a faculty, staff, or student panel or presentation on a particular topic and a q&a session; (4) post module assignments in the form of actionable reflective equity exercises. examples of modules include otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 10 understanding and analyzing equity gaps for latinx students; equity in assessments; and boosting engagement with contact m.e.s.h. (multiple culturally sustaining opportunities, embedded structures for hyper-engagement) (otero-diaz & salazar, 2021). at the end of the first semester, participants formally identify a targeted inquiry project where they implement inclusive and equitable practices in a course of their choosing. in the second semester, participants have monthly one-on-one meetings with their coaches and continue to learn from faculty, staff, student panels and presentations. during the summer, participants analyze equity data from the targeted inquiry project course and reflect on the outcomes. during the third semester, participants present the results of their project to creando conciencia staff, cohort members, and the campus community. data is an important part of every step of creando conciencia. participants analyze preand post-equity data in a course of their choosing via disaggregated grades (e.g., course assignments and final grade). they also have the option to collect and analyze qualitative data from students. assessment of the program involves preand post-surveys for each module and a baseline and exit survey, the latter of which is the focus of the current study. hypotheses the purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the pilot year of the creando conciencia plc through changes in university faculty’s knowledge and views about culturally sustainable teaching practices and latinx students. we hypothesized there would be: (1) an increase in knowledge related to culturally responsive teaching the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 11 practices and hsis, (2) a positive change in mindset regarding latinx students (e.g., from deficit-based to strengths/assets-based), and (3) greater confidence in educators’ ability to use practices that particularly benefit latinx students from baseline to completion of the program. method participants although the plc is designed for all educators to participate, the pilot year cohort was comprised of college instructors based on convenience. participants were primarily recruited from faculty teaching courses affiliated with an hsi grant. in fall 2022, 12 instructors started the plc (all colleges with the university were represented). the average age of participants was 47.90 (sd = 9.95; range 36-68 years). the average number of years teaching at the university was 12.13 (sd = 12.32; range 2-41 years) with 55.6% of participants identifying as tenured/tenure-track faculty (44.4% as lecturers). one-fourth of participants identified as first-generation college students. in terms of gender, 58.3% identified as men, 33.3% as women, and 8.3% as non-binary. for ethnicity, 58.3% identified as white, 8.3% as middle eastern, 8.3% as asian, and 25% preferred to self-describe or did not state their ethnicity. last, one-fourth of participants (n = 3) previously participated in an escala summer institute. procedure participants completed programmatic assessments as part of creando conciencia. both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to answer research questions in multiple ways and to capture participants’ voices. surveys were completed online via the survey management platform qualtrics. the baseline survey was otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 12 completed before the start of the program in august of 2022 and the exit survey was completed during the week of final presentations in october of 2023. both surveys took approximately 20 minutes to complete. participants were not directly compensated for completing each survey but received a $3,000 stipend for completing the plc. all procedures were approved by the university’s institutional review board. measures for the baseline survey, participants completed a series of questions assessing demographic variables (age; gender; race/ethnicity; highest education level; firstgeneration student status; years in higher education; position on campus). the baseline and exit surveys assessed knowledge and views about culturally sustainable teaching practices and latinx students. specifically, participants were asked about current teaching practices and their role as an educator at an hsi. questions were modeled after a survey created and used by a research group on campus assessing the impact of escala on educational practices at the institution. these questions were adapted from the institution’s center for teaching and learning flc goals inventory which were adapted from sandell and colleagues (2004, p. 59-61) and the culturally engaging campus environments survey and diversity modules (national institute for transformation and equity, 2017). scales used in the current study all achieved at least acceptable reliability (𝛼 > .70). understanding of hsis. participants completed 5 items on their knowledge of various typologies of hsis measured on a likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree; 𝛼baseline = .80; 𝛼exit = .84). a sample item is: “i understand what it means to be a hispanic thriving institution.” the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 13 role as an educator at an hsi. participants were asked to reflect on their role as an educator at an hsi. this scale contained 12 items measured on a likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree; 𝛼baseline = .92; 𝛼exit = .77). a sample item is: “i am knowledgeable about the scholarship and literature on best practices for latinx students in higher education.” engaging in culturally responsive pedagogy. participants were asked to think about the past academic semester and report on the frequency of engaging in culturally sustaining teaching practices. this scale contained 12 items measured on a likert-type scale (1 = never to 5 = always; 𝛼baseline = .82 ; 𝛼exit = .89). a sample item is: “make efforts to get to know the backgrounds of students whom you work with.” responsibility for implementing culturally responsive pedagogy (institution and self). participants were asked how important it was for them to implement culturally sustainable teaching practices, and for their institution to implement them. this scale contained 9 items measured on a likert-type scale (1 = not important at all to 5 = absolutely essential; institution scale: 𝛼baseline = .97; 𝛼exit = .90; self scale: 𝛼baseline = .72; 𝛼exit = .86). a sample item is: “value the diverse forms of knowledge from students’ cultural communities.” program outcomes (exit survey only). additional quantitative and qualitative questions were asked in the exit survey to assess the overall impact of the program. participants rated on a likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) whether each of the four program learning outcomes were met. participants also had an opportunity to comment on their ratings for each learning outcome. otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 14 open-ended questions. participants were asked to reflect on the following open-ended questions at baseline and again during the exit survey (language was revised for use in the exit survey): (1) please describe your approach to being an educator at an hsi, (2) how would you define student success?, (3) describe how previous professional development experiences influenced your approach to being an educator at [the institution], (4) describe how previous professional development experience has catalyzed shifts in your thinking about how you conduct your educational activities, (5) how do cultural frameworks influence your educational work?, and (6) what are your expectations for this plc? results a total of nine instructors completed the pilot year of creando conciencia. the three participants who did not complete the program stopped soon after starting due to capacity constraints. eight participants completed both baseline and exit surveys, with some missing data. quantitative analysis we ran paired sample t-tests between participants’ mean scores in the baseline and exit surveys, although it should be noted that these analyses were underpowered. to achieve a power of .8 with a .05 alpha, assuming a medium effect size, we would need close to 30 participants, or about three times the participants in our study. because we ran multiple paired t-tests, we used a bonferroni-corrected p-value of .01 (.05/5 = .01) to reduce the likelihood of a type 1 error, or a false positive. using the bonferroni corrected value (p < .01), none of our tests reached statistical significance (see table 1). if using the uncorrected p-value, increases in participants’ understanding the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 15 of hsis, view of their role as an educator at an hsi, and engagement in culturally responsive pedagogy would have been statistically significant, which indicates that changes are in the expected direction and could become statistically significant with a larger sample size. table 1 paired sample t-test for outcome measures baseline exit t-test p-value m sd m sd understanding of hsis 3.63 0.90 4.38 0.61 -2.36 .050 role as an educator at an hsi 4.83 1.39 5.96 0.57 -3.16 .016 engaging in crp 3.30 0.58 3.85 0.86 -3.23 .018 crp: institutional responsibility 4.43 0.96 4.57 0.40 1.28 .248 crp: your responsibility 4.70 0.33 4.41 0.58 -0.54 .607 note. scales ranged from 1 to 5, except role as an educator at an hsi which ranged from 1 to 7. bonferroni-corrected p-value was p < .01. regarding whether the program outcomes of creando conciencia were met, averages for each program outcome were 4 (“agree”) or above (see table 2) . when combining the four items, the average was 4.19 (sd = 0.64). in the write-in comments, program outcome 4 (increasing students’ connections, social integration, and sense of belonging) had the lowest endorsement and the most responses. one participant suggested this outcome would only be met via additional programming outside the plc. otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 16 similarly, another participant stated this learning outcome was outside the scope of the plc but could “be indirectly achieved through the actions of some participants.” qualitative analysis to analyze the open-ended questions in the survey, we used thematic coding (braun & clark, 2006). because we asked participants the same questions at baseline and exit surveys, the main focus of the analysis was on how participants changed over time. it is important to note our small sample size limited the ability to achieve saturation in themes. table 2 were program learning outcomes met? m sd 1. to critically reflect on your current understanding of latinx students at [the institution] and their cultural-based strengths. 4.38 0.52 2. to explore, study, and reflect on specific topics and practices in the literature associated with culturally sustaining educational and community spaces with particular attention to latinx populations. 4.13 0.99 3. to revitalize your own educational resources and practices using a culturally sustaining lens. 4.25 0.89 4. to create and support culturally sustaining educational and community spaces for latinx students by increasing students’ connections, social integration, and sense of belonging to the campus and community. 4.00 1.07 approach to being an educator at an hsi faculty participants were asked at baseline and exit surveys to describe their approach to being an educator at an hsi. many participants were quite advanced in their responses at baseline, described using “culturally appropriate teaching methodologies” the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 17 that catered to different ways of learning (e.g., active learning), relationship building through sharing experiences, connecting material to students’ lives, and celebrating students’ heritage. participants with advanced responses did not change much from baseline to exit. however, among these responses, only half made specific reference to latinx students or being an hsi. for the few participants who did demonstrate change from baseline to exit, their baseline responses focused on broad equity-based practices such as “meeting students where they are” and “making adjustments” based on students’ needs. after participating in creando conciencia, participants’ responses were much more specific, centering around three themes: the inclusion of cultural frameworks, tangible equitable practices, and asset-based approaches. participants’ exit responses now included the addition of cultural frameworks with special attention to augmenting high context learning environments. an example of more equitable and specific language in an instructor’s approach was: “i try to proactively seek ways to promote belonging among my students and continually try to create a learning environment that can equitably empower all students to become successful.” lastly, participants changed from a deficit-mindset (“include themes relevant to hsi students like inequalities/disparities in access to resources”) to an asset-based approach (“tap into student's biographical agency and cultivate learning around their personal and geographic experiences”). it is important to note that some responses in the exit survey still did not mention latinx students or being an hsi. otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 18 definition of student success participants were asked at baseline and during the exit survey how they defined student success. definitions of student success varied (e.g., focused on the classroom and grades vs. exclusively social justice oriented). almost all responses (especially at baseline) included students making progress toward and attaining educational or life goals. after participating in creando conciencia, most participants had broadened definitions of student success which fell into two themes: student application of knowledge and achieving equitable student outcomes through the use of culturally responsive pedagogy. the most common expanded definition included application to students’ lives: “carrying forward knowledge,” “gaining a set of tools that they can use in their lives,” and “continual learning.” next, participants were more likely to include equity-focused goals: “all students that show up and do the work can achieve the learning outcomes of my field of study”. one participant cited specific culturally responsive pedagogical practices they used to achieve equitable outcomes: “critical reflection on the course material” and having students “culturally connect with course material.” overall, participants’ definitions of student success changed in ways consistent with culturally responsive pedagogy and the goals of creando conciencia. influences of professional development/plc in educational approach participants were asked to describe how previous professional development experiences influenced their approach of being an educator at the institution. interestingly, every participant had previous professional development experience, although the foci varied. the most common topics of previous professional development included general teaching strategies like active learning and assessment strategies. some the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 19 participants completed professional development on equity and institutional racism while others earned a certificate from escala. after participating in creando conciencia, participants were asked how the plc influenced their approach of being an educator at the institution; three themes emerged: participants were informed, attuned, and empowered. regarding gaining knowledge, one participant said, “i feel more informed about cultural differences, and more aware of how improving my cultural understanding will help me be more effective as a teacher.” another participant’s approach was now data-informed: during the plc was the first time that i examined demographic patterns in grades and success in my courses. it was eye opening! i realized that just because i did not perceive any inequity, that did not mean it was not there. other participants noted that after participating, they were more reflective and more thoughtful about their courses and how they structure course material, assignments, and assessments. armed with new information and new insights, participants felt empowered to make changes in their courses: “i feel more empowered to help hispanic students succeed in my courses and more broadly.” overall, although participants’ approaches may have already leaned toward improving equitable outcomes for students, creando conciencia further fueled this approach and shed light on the specific challenges and assets of latinx students. shifts from professional development/plc in educational approach participants were asked during baseline how previous professional development catalyzed shifts in their thinking about their educational activities. previous professional otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 20 development (excluding escala) helped participants integrate the following pedagogical practices: active learning, best practices for novice learners, decentering tests and quizzes, giving students control over their learning (e.g., topics covered), and focusing on student success beyond academic success. after completing creando conciencia, participants’ changes fell into 3 themes: shifts in themselves and their perceived responsibilities as instructors, their views of latinx students, and pedagogical practices in the classroom. first, participants described changes in how they perceive themselves as an educator. one participant said, “the plc made me a more reflective instructor” which led them to make substantial changes in their course that semester. a couple participants noted changes in their self-efficacy as an instructor, such as “i used to be not very confident. now i feel more confident as a teacher, especially teaching latinx students”. another instructor who had previously questioned their pedagogical approach at the university said, “[creando conciencia] gave me the confidence to trust the training that i received during my master’s degree.” participants also described a change in their sense of responsibility to students: “i am much more aware of my role in designing and delivering courses that will help all students succeed by paying attention to cultural differences and not accepting performance gaps as somehow inevitable.” in alignment with program learning outcomes, one participant described adopting an asset-based approach in how they view latinx students: “i have moved away from the deficiency point of view with respect to the performance gap and am learning to see the cultural differences in my students as a source of strength.” the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 21 many participants spoke of a shift that led to integrating more “culturally relevant topics into my assignments and readings”. for example, one participant noted, “now i try to co-construct some of my course content throughout the semester by asking my students what they would like to explore.” another instructor removed a significant amount of content from the syllabus to focus more on what was most relevant for students. after completing creando conciencia, participants gained confidence and felt empowered to revitalize their educational approaches to better support latinx students. the influence of cultural frameworks in educational work participants were asked at baseline and in the exit survey how cultural frameworks influence their educational work. prior to participating in creando conciencia, about half of participants knew of cultural frameworks from escala or were scholars of related literature. in the baseline survey, these participants discussed their intentionality in integrating culture as a lens of interpretation in their courses. in exit survey responses, three themes arose: greater understanding, opportunities, and challenges. after participating in creando conciencia, one participant who was previously unfamiliar with cultural frameworks noted, “i am more conscientious about applying both low and high context materials in my teaching, because now i understand how that can affect the learning of students from different cultural upbringings.” many participants were excited to be creative about cultural frameworks in their courses. one participant reflected, “i have a lot of opportunities to incorporate culturally relevant material into my classes.” however, participants also recognized challenges in incorporating cultural frameworks due to their own biases and needs, or otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 22 the type of course they teach. more than one participant discussed the importance, but difficulty, of moving beyond their own cultural framework (low context) in course design and activities. another participant stated: i have a very traditional individualistic approach. i feel a great richness fill my work here when i allow myself to get to know students in a more casual or oneon-one manner. but i struggle to make myself more available, feeling that i am stretched pretty thin as it is and need time to myself. overall, after completing creando conciencia, participants who were both familiar and unfamiliar with cultural frameworks were now inspired to integrate cultural frameworks into course creation and design. expectations for creando conciencia participants were asked at baseline what their expectations for the plc were, and during the exit survey, whether those expectations were met. four themes arose at baseline: (1) to improve knowledge, skills, and abilities; (2) to improve latinx students’ retention and success; (3) to engage in personal reflection about their backgrounds; and (4) to network, learn, and share experiences with colleagues. the most frequently endorsed expectations for the plc were to improve “knowledge, skills, and abilities with respect to my role as an educator at an hsi.” several participants mentioned their desire to learn and dive deep into the literature around latinx student success and culturally sustaining pedagogy. participants were excited to positively improve latinx students’ retention and success in their classes. in one such student-centered response, a participant expressed the desire to be “more aware and sensitive to our student's cultural needs, and to be the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 23 able to connect more with my students in the classroom.” participants also looked forward to opportunities for personal reflection as they sought to better understand how their background impacts their effectiveness as an educator. lastly, several participants were eager to network, learn from colleagues, share experiences with colleagues, and share what they learned with their departments. one participant stated, “i want to share my insights and innovations with my colleagues” while another wanted to “inspire other stem teachers to do the same.” out of the available responses (n = 6), all noted that their expectations were met. a couple participants stated their expectations were exceeded with one participant responding, “yes. i believe that creando conciencia should be mandatory for all faculty.” the same participant noted in the comments that creando conciencia improved their sense of belonging and feeling valued at the university: “through this process, i have felt like i belong at [the institution] for the first time since i started.” three participants noted personal and programmatic limitations. one participant reflected that although expectations were met, they could have gotten more out of the program if they invested more time reflecting, doing homework, and processing the content with others. another participant identified program organization as a place for improvement, but also recognized the plc was in its first year. lastly, a participant requested to learn more directly from latinx students, as well as latinx facilitators’ experiences as students. discussion the goal of creando conciencia is to empower educators to create culturally responsive, equitable educational spaces that validate, engage, and inspire latinx otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 24 students to leverage their full spectrum of assets as they pursue their educational and professional goals. overall, in this pilot study, we found evidence that creando conciencia was associated with various changes in participants that aligned with program outcomes and institutional goals. instructors were empowered with data and pedagogical tools to reduce or eliminate equity gaps in the classroom. in terms of the first hypothesis, given our underpowered statistical analyses, we did not find quantitative evidence of instructor change in the desired outcomes. participants’ scores at baseline for these scales were quite high (e.g., m = 4.4 on a 5point scale) suggesting that the majority of participants already viewed these practices as important. furthermore, similar studies at the institution found that faculty were generally very supportive of implementing highly equitable classroom practices (villarreal et al., 2023), and a peer-to-peer equity-based faculty professional development program was effective in changing faculty pedagogical perceptions (villarreal et al., 2022). not only did creando conciencia participants acknowledge that these practices were important, but qualitative evidence indicated that participants were more likely to enact culturally responsive practices after completing the plc. in open-ended responses, instructors were more likely to know about and use culturally responsive pedagogy in the classroom after participating in the plc. this was most evident in participants’ new definitions of student success, discussion of how the plc influenced their educational approach, and described shifts in their educational approach. overall, participants became much more specific in describing culturally relevant pedagogical practices used to achieve their goals. as a result, participants’ pedagogical practices the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 25 went beyond their intentions, an important goal of culturally responsive pedagogy (hailu et al., 2017). for the second hypothesis, we found evidence of changes in participants’ views of latinx students and their communities in open-ended responses (i.e., approach to being an educator at an hsi, influence of plc in educational approach, and shifts from plc in educational approach). some participants specifically used the language “strengths-based” or “asset-based” in describing pedagogy, while others highlighted shifts in course content (e.g., not only referencing disparities and inequities when it comes to latinx peoples). one participant who spoke spanish directly addressed latinx students’ linguistic wealth for them to feel empowered (yosso, 2005). these results are promising since programs attempting to change educators’ deficit mindsets frequently fall short of their intentions (sleeter, 1992). lastly, we found evidence for our third hypothesis in open-ended responses. in the question about shifts in participants’ educational approaches, educators referenced increases in their confidence levels, both in using culturally responsive pedagogies and in teaching latinx students. it should be noted that boosted confidence does not necessarily lead to change or positive outcomes; in some cases, it may lead to inflated egos without application or change. for confidence to positively impact teaching practices, professional development must go beyond general information to elicit critical reflection and increase competence (tucker-smith, 2021). completing a targeted inquiry project in a supportive and structured environment held participants accountable for implementing culturally responsive practices. otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 26 overall, participants’ responses revealed shifts in how they conceptualize their educational spaces. after completing the plc, participants were more likely to understand the importance of and consider their students’ backgrounds, enact culturally responsive pedagogical practices, and were more confident as educators to latinx students. participants who previously completed escala experienced most of these shifts prior to participating in creando conciencia, but they continued to perceive positive changes in themselves during and after the plc. this demonstrates the need for ongoing professional development and critical reflection. limitations and future directions although this is an empirically based plc that has been certified by leaders in the field, we must recognize that it is also a pilot study. our small sample size resulted in underpowered statistical analyses which limited our conclusions. ideally, we would like both qualitative and quantitative evidence of the program’s effectiveness. as the program continues, we aim to expand our program assessment to include the voices of students, data from participants’ projects, and yearly follow-up surveys to measure continual growth. the pilot year cohort of creando conciencia was unique in ways that may not generalize to future cohorts. participants in the pilot study all indicated interest in participating. some participants had already been through some type of escala programming and were familiar with concepts like cultural frameworks. many participants were already invested in and knowledgeable about topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (e.g., the “choir” as outlined by wood & harris, 2015). future cohorts will likely have less knowledge related to latinx student success and less the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 27 motivation or different motivation than the first-year cohort, which may impact overall engagement and involvement in the program. to maximize response rate, future data collection should occur in-person. attrition of participants was also a concern. ideally, these educators would participate in the following year or at a more convenient time. implications for educators at hsis ongoing goals of creando conciencia include institutionalization, sustainability, funding, staffing, and program integrity. mcnair and colleagues (2020) found that professional development for faculty is most successful when it secures an institutional commitment. ideally, the plc will be institutionalized such that it is housed in a permanent academic unit and has dedicated funding for both staff and participants. adequate compensation for plc staff can be in the form of release time or additional financial compensation. this is especially important if the staff identifies as latinx since educators of color often experience cultural taxation in the form of heavier serving workloads because of their identities (padilla, 1994). in addition to plc staff being compensated, educators going through the plc must also be adequately compensated (blanton & stylianou, 2009). this is especially true for lecturers and staff who do not get credit for service work via the tenure process. completing the program is a substantial undertaking that should be recognized. furthermore, after the completion of the program, faculty should be incentivized to continually reflect on and assess their classroom practices and equity outcomes as part of a larger departmental, college-wide, and institutional commitment to equitable learning outcomes. otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 28 creando conciencia exists because of the persistence of faculty and staff who want better experiences and outcomes for latinx students. the mere existence of latinx student-focused professional development is meaningful in and of itself at campuses that are not yet hsi thriving institutions. the more faculty and staff who complete intensive and meaningful professional development opportunities like creando conciencia, the more equity leaders and allies on campus to increase hsi servingness. over time, this can lead to positive changes in reducing equity gaps and improving campus culture. conclusion faculty professional development programs focused on equitable student outcomes must be explicit in addressing cultural strengths and be informed by data to create lasting change. this study outlines the development and implementation of a year-long latinx student-focused professional learning community centered around culturally sustaining pedagogy which can be used as a model for hsis seeking to become hispanic thriving institutions. the results of the pilot year are promising, yet continued efforts are needed to support educators in transforming their educational spaces to empower latinx students. the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 29 references beach, a. l., & cox, m. d. (2009). the impact of faculty learning communities on teaching and learning. learning communities journal, 1(1), 7-27. beach, a. l., sorcinelli, m. d., austin, a. e., & rivard, j. k. (2016). faculty development in the age of evidence: current practices, future imperatives. stylus publishing, llc. blanton, m. l., & stylianou, d. a. (2009). interpreting a community of practice perspective in discipline-specific professional development in higher education. innovative higher education, 34(2), 79-92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-0089094-8 braun, v., & clarke, v. (2006). using thematic analysis in psychology. qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa chávez, a. f., & longerbeam, s. d. (2016). teaching across cultural strengths: a guide to balancing integrated and individuated cultural frameworks in college teaching (1st ed.). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003447344 concepción, d., holtzman, m., & ranieri, p. (2009). sustaining student and faculty success: a model for student learning and faculty development. international journal for the scholarship of teaching and learning, 3(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2009.030129 excelencia in education. (2014, march). evolution of hsis: interactive storymap. retrieved from https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/publications/hsis-interactivestorymap-2022-23 garcia, g. a. (2019). becoming hispanic-serving institutions: opportunities for colleges and universities. johns hopkins university press. gay, g. (2018). culturally responsive teaching: theory, research and practice (3rd ed.). teachers college press. guskey, t. r. (2002). professional development and teacher change. teachers and teaching, 8(3), 381–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/135406002100000512 hachfeld, a., hahn, a., schroeder, s., anders, y., & kunter, m. (2015). should teachers be colorblind? how multicultural and egalitarian beliefs differentially relate to aspects of teachers' professional competence for teaching in diverse classrooms. teaching and teacher education, 48, 44-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.02.001 hailu, m., mackey, j., pan, j., & arend, b. d. (2017). turning good intentions into good teaching: five common principles for culturally responsive pedagogy. in promoting intercultural communication competencies in higher education (pp. 20-53). igi global. ibarra, r. a. (2001). beyond affirmative action: reframing the context of higher education. university of wisconsin press. lisagor, t., augustin, f., lucero-liu, a., & efrat, r. (2013). using faculty learning communities to improve latino student success. learning communities journal, 5, 73-96. malcom-piqueux, l., & bensimon, e. m. (2017). taking equity-minded action to close equity gaps. peer review, 19(2), 5-8. mcnair, t. b., bensimon, e. m., and malcom-piqueux, l. e. (2020). from equity talk to equity walk: expanding practitioner knowledge for racial justice in higher education. john wiley & sons. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-008-9094-8 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-008-9094-8 https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003447344 https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2009.030129 https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/publications/hsis-interactive-storymap-2022-23 https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/publications/hsis-interactive-storymap-2022-23 https://doi.org/10.1080/135406002100000512 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.02.001 otero-díaz et al. association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 30 mcshannon, j., & hynes, p. (2001, june). gaining retention and achievement for students program (grasp): a faculty development program and a method of data collection for abet2000. proceedings from the 2001 american society for engineering education annual conference & exposition, session 1430. miranda, a. r., perez-brumer, a., & charlton, b. m. (2023). latino? latinx? latiné? a call for inclusive categories in epidemiologic research. american journal of epidemiology, 192(12), 1929-1932. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwad149 national center for education statistics. (2018). 2017 national assessment of education progress (naep). national center for education statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/gaps/ national institute for transformation and equity [nite]. (2017). the cece model. https://nite-education.org/the-cece-model/ new york state education department. (2018). culturally responsive-sustaining education framework. retrieved from http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/crs/culturally-responsivesustaining-education-framework.pdf. otero-diaz, m., & salazar, m. (2021). impact of mesh teaching strategies on latinx and urm students’ self-reported engagement in online environmental engineering courses in a hispanic serving institution. in 2021 asee pacific southwest conference "pushing past pandemic pedagogy: learning from disruption”. padilla, a. m. (1994). research news and comment: ethnic minority scholars; research, and mentoring: current and future issues. educational researcher, 23(4), 24-27. sandell, k. l., wigley, k., & kovalchick, a. (2004). developing facilitators for faculty learning communities. new directions for teaching and learning, 2004(97), 51-62. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.132 sleeter, c. e. (1992). keepers of the american dream: a study of staff development and multicultural education. falmer press. strayhorn, t. l. (2008). sentido de pertenencia: a hierarchical analysis predicting sense of belonging among latino college students. journal of hispanic higher education, 7(4), 301-320. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192708320474 tucker-smith, t. n. (2021). the illusion of equity pd. educational leadership, 78(6), 7275. u.s. census bureau. (2023). current population survey, 2022 annual social and economic supplement (cps asec). retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/demo/educational-attainment/cpsdetailed-tables.html villarreal, b. j., vincent-layton, k., reynoso, e., begay, k., & white, k. n. (2023). do students perceive faculty as responsible for equitable learning environments? results from a mixed-methods study. higher education research & development, 42(4), 1000-1015. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2022.2120856 villarreal, b., vincent-layton, k., reynoso, e., begay, k., & white, k. n. (2022). using professional development to increase faculty perceptions of responsibility for implementing highly equitable classroom practices. journal of faculty development, 36(1), 8-14. wood, j. l., & harris iii, f. (2015). large scale faculty development: a taxonomy of faculty perspectives on teaching men of color. nisod innovation abstracts, 37(23). https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwad149 https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/gaps/ https://nite-education.org/the-cece-model/ http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/crs/culturally-responsive-sustaining-education-framework.pdf http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/crs/culturally-responsive-sustaining-education-framework.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.132 https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192708320474 https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/demo/educational-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/demo/educational-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2022.2120856 the story of creando conciencia association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 31 yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 volume 17 issue 2 2023 amae special issue critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional guest editors pedro e. nava ramón a. martínez santa clara university stanford university editors patricia sánchez antonio j. camacho the university of texas at san antonio amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa lucila d. ek sacramento state the university of texas at san antonio managing editor karla garza the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 11 the moral ethic of cariño: a culturally competent approach to working with immigrant-origin students karla lomelí, ph.d. santa clara university klomeli@scu.edu abstract this study provides a portrait of ms. grace, a veteran english teacher at a high school in silicon valley. i examine how ms. grace’s perspectives on her immigrant-origin latine students informed her teaching, highlighting the perspectives and practices that guided her pedagogy. analysis of the data demonstrates the cyclical nature of how this teacher’s perspectives on her students led her to embody a cultural competence that demonstrated a moral ethic of cariño. through ethnographic case study methodology, this study highlights the importance of cultivating cultural competencies in the teaching of immigrant-origin latine youth, and the ways in which teachers enact and embody such competencies. i highlight how a moral ethic of cariño1 emerges in both the teaching practices and in the perspectives toward her immigrant-origin students, demonstrating the critical role that teachers play in providing a more inclusive learning space for the teaching of immigrant-origin latine youth. keywords: culturally competent teaching, cariño, immigrant-origin students, inclusive literacy, critical literacy doi: http://doi.org/10/24974/amae.17.2.477 1 “cariño,” a term of endearment, can be translated as love, sensitivity, gentleness, affection. it is well recognized among latine communities, and was an intentional choice by the author, a native spanish speaker, as it transcends the notion of care in the english language. in this theoretical framing, cariño is embodied as a practice in one’s approach to teaching. http://doi.org/10/24974/amae.17.2.477 lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 12 petite and soft-spoken, ms. grace had an almost magical command of her classroom. her immigrant-origin latine students were eager to learn and attentive to her instructions. she understood their challenges and treated their lived experiences as assets in learning how to read and write in an additional language, in this case, english. from my observations, she nurtured students’ talents and, as a result, created a mutually respectful relationship where her students valued what she had to say. ms. grace, in turn, was deeply interested in her students and viewed their struggles in a particular light. she noted, “i feel like no matter what they've gone through, there's hope and that's something that you have to continue to tap into. you have to find that hope and you have to just help it grow.” in this reflection, she illustrates the importance of teacher perspectives in shaping the cultural competencies needed to effectively teach linguistically and culturally diverse students. in this study, i ask the following question: how do teacher perspectives shape culturally competent pedagogical practices? when teachers develop perspectives about students’ cultural ways of being and language and literacy practices (whether from a deficitor asset-based orientation), these perspectives inform teachers’ cultural and pedagogical competencies in ways that make them either more or less responsive to the learning needs of immigrant-origin latine youth (lomelí, 2020). culturally competent teachers enact inclusive instructional practices that treat immigrant-origin latine youth as critical and capable readers, writers, and scholars with important ideas that contribute to learning. in this study, i define cultural competence as the amount of careful attention that the teacher pays to her immigrant-origin students’ lived experiences and the degree to which this knowledge informs her teaching practices (lomelí, 2023). the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 13 the idea that educators bear the ultimate responsibility for creating the conditions under which students thrive and succeed in the classroom has a long lineage stretching back to the beginning of the 20th century (dewey, 1904, 1916, 1986). thus, the adults around children have the responsibility to create the conditions for students to cultivate and nurture their intellectual abilities (hidalgo & duncan-andrade, 2009; valdés, 2001, 2004). central to those conditions is how educators perceive their students. historically, educators in the united states viewed marginalized communities through a deficit lens, using notions like ‘verbal deprivation’ (bereiter & engelmann, 1966) and a ‘culture of poverty’ (lewis, 1959) to explain why these students often struggled academically. recently, educational scholars such as rosa and flores (2017) have critically interrogated the assumptions of traditional deficit views regarding linguistic facility and the relationship between low educational achievements. latine scholars have long been interrogating critical societal factors that impede the learning outcomes of latine students, and they have been calling for more equitable practices in school contexts (moll et al., 1992; trueba, 1998; gutierrez, 2008; valdes, 1997a, 2001, 2004). this stance is particularly important as it relates to immigrant-origin latine students. too often, such students are seen as “the problem” because they are acquiring english as an additional language (orellana & gutiérrez, 2006). rosa and flores (2017) note that discriminatory systems and structures have been present long before the existence of immigrant-origin pupils in schools and are central to the educational inequalities that marginalized people experience. in other words, immigrant-origin students are not “what needs to be fixed” in schools, nor are they “the problem”—instead the cultural competence of educators is what needs to be addressed. these cultural competencies are enacted in pedagogical practices that are shaped by, in part, by teacher's perspectives (ladson-billings & tate, 2006; sealey-ruiz, 2021). a critical lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 14 approach to cultural competencies specifically refers to how teachers structure learning opportunities in the classroom for a more democratic project of schooling in which immigrantorigin latine students can fully embody their multiculturalism and multilingualism (watson et al., 2016). the culturally competent teacher actively seeks out ways to learn more about the student, their community and their lived experiences, and incorporates this valuable knowledge into the curriculum, so students will be able to see themselves in and engage meaningfully with curricular content (feiman-nemser, 2003). such understanding is then reflected in the teacher’s pedagogical practices. in short, teachers are better positioned to serve immigrantorigin latine students when they perceive them through an equity-driven lens, have developed cultural competence regarding their students’ lived experiences in relation to the immigrant narrative, and leverage those assets and experiences within the context of schooling. if we recognize the important role teacher perspectives play in shaping culturally competent practices, it then becomes increasingly important to better understand how the cultural competence of teachers is influenced by how they approach their students and how that then informs teaching practices. this is especially important in cases where students have diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. however, our understanding of how best to support immigrant-origin latine students in meaningfully engaging them in our classrooms is limited because little research has closely examined how teacher perspectives inform cultural competence and the resulting impact it might have on such students. this study aims to address this gap by using qualitative analysis and ethnographic case study to examine the cultural competencies of one exemplary teacher committed to working with immigrant-origin students in her english language arts (ela) classes. i examined ms. grace’s perspectives on her the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 15 immigrant-origin latine students to better understand how such perspectives informed culturally competent teaching approaches. cultural competence in the teaching of immigrant-origin students fields outside of education, such as counseling psychology and social work, have developed cultural competence frameworks to assist professionals in the caring professions in providing a more inclusive experience to their patients (sue, 2001), yet very little work has been done around advancing cultural competence frameworks that support teachers in teaching immigrant-origin students. though scholars concerned with multicultural education and cultural diversity in schools have urged us for decades to embrace culturally-relevant, culturally sustaining, and culturally responsive pedagogies in the authentic inclusion of culturally diverse students (ladson-billings, 1994, 1995b, 2014; paris & alim, 2017; gay, 2002; muhammad, 2020), very little work has explored how cultural competence might inform inclusive teaching perspectives to create pathways that seek to leverage the literacy skills that immigrant-origin latine youth bring with them from their native language and rich cultural experiences. the need for a cultural competence framework in the literacy teaching and learning of immigrant-origin latine students stems from the fact that their experiences often differ significantly and in substantive ways from other students. as is the case for many transnational students, immigrant-origin students often have to navigate dual cultures and languages and negotiate their identities between nations. the inequalities they face manifest against a backdrop of wider disparities that pose challenges in their educational journeys (portes & rumbaut, 2001; suárez-orozco & suárez-orozco, 1995). among these are newcomer status (suárez-orozco et al., 2008), language barriers (valdés, 2004), and undocumented status of self lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 16 and/or caregiver (yoshikawa, kholoptseva, & suárez-orozco, 2013). these challenges expose immigrant-origin youth to particular vulnerabilities in schooling systems that require a deeper understanding of the obstacles they face. bolstering their cultural competencies would help teachers to better respond to and include the experiences of such students in their teaching practices. a theoretical framework for the moral ethic of cariño informed by the literature cited above, i propose a moral ethic of cariño as an additional theoretical framing of cultural competence in the praxis of teaching immigrant-origin students. much work has been done around the conceptualization of the ethic of care in education (noddings & shore, 1984; noddings, 2012, 2013). in fact, many latine scholars have long pursued a scholarly interest in the notion of cariño in the context of humanizing the learning experiences of latine children and adolescents in schools (valdés, 1996; nieto, 1992; valenzuela, 1999; rólon-dow, 2005; bartolomé, 1994a, 1994b; curry, 2021). these scholars have conceptualized cariño as a form of relational practice oriented towards humanizing the personhood of latine students in schools. more recent scholarship has extended the concept of cariño to teacher perspectives and practices in the teaching of immigrant-origin latine youth, moving the field to consider how teachers’ perspectives might be embodied in pedagogical practices (lomelí, 2020; 2023). for immigrant-origin latine students, the moral ethic of cariño marks the difference between what teachers think about their students and how they intellectually approach them in the curriculum. this includes, but is not limited to, the authentic inclusion of their multilingual and multicultural identities. particularly, the moral ethic of cariño is distinct in that it moves beyond relational practices of teacher-student interactions and is the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 17 concerned with the classroom practices that teachers enact in order to bolster the learning of immigrant-origin latine youth. a moral ethic of cariño does not focus exclusively on care and love, but rather urges educators to critically examine the perspectives that we embody and the practices that we enact in the classroom as we claim commitment to an equitable education for immigrant-origin latine youth. hence, a moral ethic of cariño (lomelí, 2020; 2023) moves beyond the realization that adolescents of immigrant-origin need a humanizing learning environment and towards examining the practices and perspectives by which such an environment is created (or not). ultimately, the goal of a moral ethic of cariño is to build on the work of previous scholars in order to expand our understanding of the kinds of practices that enact social justice commitments in the teaching of immigrant-origin latine youth (valdés, 1996; nieto, 1992; noddings, 2013; valenzuela, 1999; rólon-dow, 2005; bartolomé, 2008; curry, 2021). this framework offers and expansive approach to critical pedagogies (freire, 1998) in the teaching of immigrant-origin latine students (lomelí, 2020; 2023). methodology the data presented in this article were collected as part of a larger ethnographic study at dreamers high2 focused on teachers who were deemed by their community to be “effective” teachers of immigrant-origin latine students. this paper highlights the ethnographic/case study of one of those teachers, ms. grace. in the following section, i describe the setting, introduce the research question that guided my inquiry, describe the focal participant of this study, and outline the methods i employed to collect and analyze the data. 2 names of all institutions and persons are pseudonyms to protect confidentiality. lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 18 setting dreamers high is a public high school in one of the largest school districts in the south bay area of northern california. it was intentionally chosen for its schoolwide focus on the improvement of equitable conditions for learning, its explicit mission to help historically marginalized student populations, and the school’s existing structures that support a collegegoing culture in a community where economic resources are scarce. annually, the school enrolls approximately 1400-1500 students and serves a diverse student body: 78% of the students are latine, 10% filipinx, 7% asian, 2% pacific islander, 2% african american, and 1 % white. the vast majority of the students (80%) come from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds and live in households where the average income is less than $42,000 per year (by contrast, the median household income in the surrounding area is $117,474 per year). in this study, i ask the following question: how do teacher perspectives shape culturally competent pedagogical practices? focal participant: ms. grace at the time the data were collected for this study, ms. grace had been teaching for nineteen years. what is distinctive about ms. grace is that she teaches three sections of english in quite varied content areas: both college-level courses—advanced placement language arts and advanced placement literature for 12th graders—and english as additional language (eal) level two for recently arrived immigrant-origin students (9th-12th graders). ms. grace was not only responsible for running the advanced placement program at her school, but simultaneously worked with the district’s english language development coordinator to create an engaging curriculum for newly arrived students. the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 19 ms. grace, who self-identifies as filpina, was raised in the community in which she teaches, and she herself had a mixed educational experience while in the district’s schools. crucially, the struggles she experienced in this district motivated her to come back to her community as a high school english teacher. as a first-generation, woman of color, ms. grace poignantly recalled her personal challenges in the public school system that at the time viewed her through a deficit lens: i thought the counselors at my high school had kind of typecasted me as someone who was not really going anywhere. they just put me in whatever classes. i remember not being talked to about where i wanted to go to college, so i ended up going to community college for quite a while. ms. grace eventually transferred out of community college and into a highly selective university in the bay area, where she double-majored in english literature and native american studies. she then pursued law school in chicago, passed the bar exam, and earned a license to practice in the state of illinois. ms. grace worked as a solo practitioner for a few years before deciding to transition to a teaching career. data collection primary data sources of this study include interviews with ms. grace focused on her perspectives and pedagogical practices. interviews ranged from 20 minutes to 90 minutes. i visited the school weekly for 32 weeks and was in ms. grace’s classroom for a total of 18 visits of 90 minutes per class, taking fieldnotes during each visit. the classroom visits (32) and interviews (12) were audio-recorded and then transcribed. teacher interview transcripts and classroom audio recording transcript visits were open coded (saldaña, 2009). secondary data lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 20 sources included informal interview transcripts (10) with students and ms. grace during and after classroom visits, as well as conceptual memos (30). data analysis primary data sources for this study included interviews with ms. grace, audio recordings of classroom observations, conceptual memos, and field notes. i often relied heavily on ms. grace’s words, including numerous—and often lengthy—quotes from interview transcripts. i further included her voice as a participant by beginning my analysis process with nvivo coding (saldaña, 2009), a method that uses the participants’ own words as codes. i engaged in this work with an inductive approach (creswell, 2013). coding was open, axial, and selective (corbin & strauss, 2014), and followed thematic patterning (kvale & brinkmann, 2009; seidman, 2006). rather than looking for a list of identified “best practices” or a matrix of critical pedagogies, i actively searched for data that demonstrated ms. grace’s cultural competencies and sought critical orientations to teaching immigrant-origin latine youth. across all data sources, i was looking for instances in which the teacher was enacting cultural competencies that affirmed and dignified her immigrant-origin students’ lived experiences. secondary data sources included informal interviews with students and ms. grace during and after classroom visits. to triangulate data, i actively sought to put interview data in conversation with my field notes and audio recordings. this process unfolded iteratively over time as i revisited the data for evidence to support and revise my emergent conclusions. findings: culturally competent approaches to teaching analysis of the data revealed that ms. grace enacted cultural competencies that informed her inclusive teaching approaches with her immigrant-origin latine students. ms. grace revealed herself to be a close study of her students’ lived experiences, and she assigned the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 21 great value to what she learned about them. in the section below, i present interview data that demonstrates how ms. grace enacted teaching approaches that privileged her immigrant-origin students’ lived experiences, hence embodying culturally competent approaches to teaching. to begin with, ms. grace demonstrated a deep understanding of where her students were coming from and what they were experiencing outside her classroom walls. when describing her students, she did so from an informed stance that recognized the complexity of her students lived experiences: sometimes they're coming from homes where the financial burden is so great that the things on maslow's hierarchy of needs, the stuff at the base takes precedence. every caregiver, every student, they just want the best life for themselves, and part of high school is discovering what that is. i’ve learned that some of my students are living with two other families, some are not living with their parents and are under the care of extended family members. some of these things are things they have no control over as newcomers. however, that doesn't mean that they shouldn't have some control over those things that they can control... they want agency. they want to be in charge of their destiny, and they should be. in my class, i want them to have agency over their learning and that means they are the experts in the way that they make connections to the content learned in class. her response here reveals an ongoing generative approach to understanding her students’ realities. i use the term generative to refer to ms. grace’s ability to enhance her understanding by connecting what she learns about her immigrant-origin students to her professional knowledge in order to inform her practice as she designs her teaching approaches (ball, 2009). according to franke, carpenter, levi, and fenneman (2001), “knowledge becomes generative lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 22 when the learner (in this case the teacher) sees the need to integrate new knowledge with existing knowledge and continually reconsiders existing knowledge in light of the new knowledge they are learning” (pp.655-656). in her response above, ms. grace not only demonstrates an understanding of the lived conditions that her students endure, but also demonstrates a culturally competent approach regarding how such material conditions might influence her students’ hope for agency. ms. grace’s ability to understand her students’ lived conditions leads her to add to her professional knowledge on how to approach them by inspiring hope in them through their human right to agency. ms. grace makes an attentive choice to focus on responding to the impact of her students’ material conditions and generates learning opportunities in her classroom in which her students might feel agency in their own learning. teachers play a critical role in the ways that they draw and build on their students’ lived experiences to create an inclusive and respectful learning environment. for ms. grace, this was made evident in the dignifying approaches that she demonstrated with her ap literature students, as well as with her newcomers in her english as an added language class. as a teacher, ms. grace was keenly aware of the kinds of obstacles and challenges that her immigrant-origin students (across all of her classes) were facing outside her classroom walls. in sharing about one of her ap students, she recalls: i have a student in my ap lit class who just went through his father being deported. they managed to, i dunno, he said get him back, i don't know what that means, and i don’t ask... can you imagine the incredible amount of stress that child has been under? and so, i can’t afford to solely care to prepping him for his ap exam. it doesn’t work that way. the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 23 ms. grace’s conscious choice to refrain from probing about what the students meant, by ‘get him back’ demonstrates a generative understanding of her immigrant-origin student’s experience and the impact that such experience has on his learning. in her brilliant ethnographic research, mangual figueroa (2017) highlights the ways in which undocumented students make decisions about what and when to share or withhold about their migratory status during conversations with peers and teachers. in the ongoing crisis of restrictive immigration policies and enforcement of such policies in school settings, immigrant-origin students – both documented and undocumented immigrant students born outside of the united states and or u.s. born children of immigrants—demonstrate heightened fear and distress of parent deportation and family separation (turner & mangual figueroa, 2019). for ms. grace’s students, such fears were palpable to her, and she was attentive to them. ‘they managed to, i dunno, he said get him back, i don't know what that means, and i don’t ask...’ here ms. grace demonstrates cultural competence in the sense that she understands the distress that her students might be facing, and such understanding leads her to halt her questioning, reflecting her respect for the student’s choice to privacy. furthermore, ms. grace moves beyond the basic understanding of the importance of academics and is critically aware of the importance of seeing the whole child, as she is critically aware of the stressors that might be impacting her student. in her reflection above, ms. grace pauses to not just consider the learner in her student, but also the whole person, ‘can you imagine the incredible amount of stress that child has been under?’ in seeing the whole child, ms. grace transgresses her teaching practice to an attentive inclusion of the intellectual and the emotional dimensions that are both simultaneously important in learning. ‘and so, i can’t afford to solely care to prepping him for his ap exam. it doesn’t work that way.’ her response to this student’s situation indicates that ms. grace lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 24 has a deep regard for her student, as she respected his privacy and made a conscious choice not to probe deeper about getting his father “back,” demonstrating an understanding of how not to heighten the constant stress and fear related to deportation that looms over many immigrant families. in her teaching approaches, ms. grace demonstrated a deep understanding of where her students were coming from and what they were experiencing outside her classroom walls. when describing her teaching practices with her newcomers, ms. grace voiced the urgent need she feels to get kids to take a stance about the texts that they are reading in class. and this was reflected in the ways she spoke about her students. she shares: for me, it is important that students are able to promote their ideas about what they read in class. all of my students!... they need to be able to make connections to the text, create questions and talk about those questions and lead others to think deeply about the ideas that they are engaging with.... they are acquiring a second language, coming from another country to a new one, so their perspective on what they read has a unique lens. i’m interested to hear about their ideas. i want them to talk about those ideas, to craft questions from the text themselves in multiple languages. help them get started on making their own connections to the text and teach them that their own interpretations and text connections are insightful and valid. when ms. grace thinks of bolstering her students' literacy skills, she frames their interpretations of the text as unique and valid, leveling the playing field by positioning her students’ immigrant-origin experiences as valuable contributions and connections to the texts, regardless of the language in which they decide to make those text connections. this, in turn, demonstrates her belief in her students as competent readers, thinkers, and writers. when she the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 25 notes, ‘i want them to talk about those ideas, to craft questions from the text themselves in multiple language,” ms. grace underscores her students’ ability to draw on their lived experiences and make connections in a cross-linguistic format in which her students’ multiple languages are framed as potential resources. she does not see this as a deficit, but rather as a strength that helps her students communicate their connections by drawing on the full range of their linguistic repertoires. such an approach to teaching demonstrates yet another aspect of her cultural competency, as she signals her understanding that her immigrant-students are multilingual learners and might draw from their experiences in multiple languages. in addition, ms. grace displays a conscious choice to defy bureaucratic language levels that deem her immigrant-origin students as proficient or not in the additional language. instead, she demonstrates greater interest in their lived experiences and their ability to read a text and draw on their personal connections and cross-linguistic use of their languages in the process of meaning-making, hence displaying the cultural competence she has acquired over time in becoming a respectful listener of her students’ experiences and communicative practices. this cultural competence was further made evident in her fourth-period english as an added language (eal) class, in which she taught newcomers. her newcomer students were expected to lead a class presentation in english as best they could, blending informational text structures with relevant research topics, such as important features of their country of origin. this project relied heavily on reading and writing in english, the open use of google translate, researching on the internet, and visiting the school library to check out books about the country that they originated from. students were asked to conduct research about a valuable commodity produced in their countries of origin, geographical features, historical snapshots, and interesting features of their native homeland. students were expected to work in groups to lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 26 make sense of their readings, peer revise their writing, and troubleshoot any issues with google documents and powerpoint. ms. grace had clear and intentional goals for her students that surpassed mere language acquisition and encompassed learning skills that her newcomers would benefit from in other classrooms. as she explained, when they go to another classroom, there may still be a language barrier, but at least the tools that a teacher may ask them to use, whether it's google docs or research, they will be familiar with the process. and they’ll have some familiarity with research and presentations. and i think that's important! the relevant content of the assignment (features of the students’ home country) to students who had undergone the life-altering experience of migrating to the united states as adolescents provided them with familiar content in an unfamiliar language. some of the students in this particular class had left their countries unaccompanied and arrived in the united states to reunite with their family members. others had left their immediate family and were reuniting with extended family members. regardless of the specific details of their individual journeys, they were all acquiring a new language, grieving the loss of what they had left behind in their native countries, and finding new ways of being in a new country. by selecting this very relevant topic as an area of classroom inquiry, ms. grace actively sought out ways to create a learning environment in which her immigrant-origin students’ experiences were relevant and important to their long-term ability to become learners in a mainstream classroom. in the process, her newcomer students familiarized themselves with google classroom, a learning platform that the school relied on heavily. as students prepared for their research projects during one of my visits, a group of three boys from three different countries in central america collaborated in spanish as they the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 27 prepared their presentation in english. throughout the entire time that they worked together on this project, they fiercely debated which of their home countries had better food. the three boys became animated and loudly defended the “honor” of their native country’s preferred dish, occasionally slipping in a few curse words here and there in spanish. yet ms. grace did not seem to be bothered by any of this. she explained why she let them have such an animated side conversation: i know that they are loud and here and there off task. i also know they curse. but listen, there are other battles i'd rather fight. that's not one of them. i want them to feel that they can express themselves freely here, a lot of them left so much behind. i don't want them to leave their linguistic expression behind either. in her classroom, ms. grace is not interested in regulating her student’s communicative practices, expressions, or language use. instead, her teaching practice embraces an approach to student autonomy in which students are invited to exert agency. this is a conscious teaching approach that demonstrates ms. grace’s cultural competence as she creates and holds space for students to engage in discussions that pertain to their experiences however they see fit. notice that ms. grace is critically aware that her newcomer students are sometimes loud and off task, ‘i also know they curse. but listen, there are other battles i'd rather fight. that's not one of them.’ martínez and morales (2014) refer to such language, the use of groserías (cursing), as a transgressive language practice that often signals ethnic solidarity, nudging educators to not just dismiss such language use as inappropriate. in the case of ms. grace, she understood this and decided that this was not a ‘battle’ she was going to fight. ms. grace expects her students to demonstrate deep thinking about social issues that require a degree of immersive study into the topic; therefore, she found value in her student’s lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 28 commitment to recall their home land’s cultural foods and assert their discursive voices with great command, even if this meant using groserías (cursing) to defend the beautiful features of their native land. at the end of this project, the three young men presented their work successfully, and their side conversation did not present itself as an impediment to their learning in ms. grace’s classroom. instead, ms. grace perceived their classroom interactions as critical communicative practices that complemented and enriched their learning. this has to do, in large part, with how ms. grace understands her students’ need to experience community and a sense of belonging, another marker of her culturally competent approach to working with immigrant-origin latine students. discussion at the intersection of ms. grace’s practices and perspectives is a culturally competent outlook that centers on what i call a moral ethic of cariño. the cultural competencies enacted as part of a moral ethic of cariño may benefit teachers of immigrant-origin students in steering them to think about embracing practices that are attentive, responsive, inclusive and critically conscious of their students’ particular needs. a moral ethic of cariño aims to view “the material, physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of latine youth” (valenzuela, 1999, p. 110) from an equity-driven stance, resisting all notions of deficit that historically have been invoked to frame latine students in american k-12 schools. in previous scholarship, the term cariño has emphasized the manifestation of caring grounded in latine cultural values. as hidalgo and duncan-andrade (2009) explain, cariño is often translated as caring, affection, or love, but much is lost in this translation. as a concept, cariño is the foundation of relationships among the poor and working classes—often the only thing left to give in families raising children on substandard wages. there is a considerable body of research demonstrating the educational importance of the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 29 teachers who forge meaningful connections with students, and of school cultures where all interactions between students and adults authentically embody cariño and a concern for the well-being of students (bartolomé, 1994a; rolón-dow, 2005; valenzuela, 1999). while the concept of cariño is not new, the theorization of the moral ethic of cariño is in that it presents a framework that unpacks teacher perspectives and practices in working with immigrant-origin latine youth. the moral ethic of cariño urges educators to constantly revisit their perceptions of students and revise their teaching practices so that authentic inclusion is achieved. for immigrant-origin latine students, this generative approach to teaching plays a critical role in how students feel in our classrooms. in ms. grace’s case, her positive perspective on her students directly and profoundly informed her teaching practices. it was important for ms. grace that her students were deeply engaged with texts, communicated their ideas with familiar content in an unfamiliar language, and drew on their full linguistic repertoires (including when this meant talking about their ideas in “less-than-perfect” english) with autonomy. for ms. grace, a moral ethic of cariño was enacted in her careful examination of—and attention to—her students’ struggles and lived experiences as they navigated their duality in languages and cultures and, in the case of some of her students, their duality in the complexity of being u.s.-born with undocumented parents. ms. grace maintained that affirming her students’ lived experiences—and positioning herself as a student of such experiences—informed her curricular choices, facilitating the authentic inclusion of her students. ms. grace felt the moral imperative and the ethical duty to provide her students with skills necessary to read the world around them long after they left her classroom and. another critical component of her teaching craft was to allow her students to assert themselves in communicative practices that felt authentic to them. her teaching lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 30 approach demonstrated a series of deliberate choices that signaled her cultural competencies as she educated her students in such a way that granted them the right to critically think, question, and explore, and in doing so, she embodied the ultimate manifestation of a moral ethic of cariño. conclusion ms. grace’s teaching stance defies easy categorization or analysis. ms. grace has developed a cultural competence that allows her to understand the experiences of her students, and such understanding deeply informs her teaching approaches. rather than perceiving their experiences as disruptive or deficient, ms. grace perceived them as opportunities to bridge the learning happening in class. providing immigrant-origin latine students the autonomy to just “be” as they work on an assignment turns out to be a critical step towards creating a classroom environment that is conducive to high levels of engagement and learning, one in which teachers can enact cultural competence by embodying a moral ethic of cariño. though this study is a singular case and is limited by its sample size, one thing is certain: ms. grace has mastered the ability to demonstrate a moral ethic of cariño for her students through her culturally competent practices and perspectives. she affirmed her students for who they were and what they brought to her classroom both culturally and linguistically. in recognizing the importance of creating a curriculum that was relevant to their experiences, she did not lose sight of pedagogical practices that were responsive to their needs. her most valuable data point was her students’ lived experiences, which directly informed her generative practices. i argue that a moral ethic of cariño requires not merely that teachers positively perceive and care for immigrant-origin latine youth, but also that teachers enact culturally the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 31 competent practices that intellectually engage and include students in meaningful ways. as noted in previous scholarship, the practice of meaningfully engaging immigrant-origin students in content area curriculum has the potential to act as a form of transformational resistance in their lives (solórzano & bernal, 2001). central to such a stance would be the authentic inclusion of linguistically-diverse students evidenced by a moral ethic of cariño that centers the lived experiences of immigrant-origin latine youth. such a moral ethic of cariño is a stance that embodies cultural competencies and that intentionally aims to understand the narratives that immigrant-origin youth encounter as they strive to navigate learning across multiple languages and cultures. lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 32 references ball, a. f. (2009). toward a theory of generative change in culturally and linguistically complex classrooms. american educational research journal, 46(1), 45-72. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831208323277 bartolomé, l. (1994a). beyond the methods fetish: toward a humanizing pedagogy. harvard educational review, 64(2), 173-195. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.64.2.58q5m5744t325730 bartolomé, l. (1994b). teaching strategies: their possibilities and limitations. in b. mcleod (ed.), language and learning: educating linguistically diverse students (pp.199-223). suny press. bereiter, c., & engelmann, s. (1966). effectiveness of direct verbal instruction on iq performance and achievement in reading and arithmetic. bernal, d. d. (2002). critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 cazden, c., & leggett, e. (1981). culturally responsive education: recommendations for achieving lau remedies ii. cambridge. creswell, j. w. (2013). qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. sage publications. curry, m. w. (2021). authentic cariño: transformative schooling for latinx youth. teachers college press. https://doi.org/10.3102/1887846 darder, a. (1991). culture and power in the classroom: a critical foundation for bicultural education. greenwood publishing group. dewey, j. (1904). the relation of theory to practice in education. in the third yearbook of the national society for the scientific study of education (pp. 9-30). university of chicago press. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810400500601 dewey, j. (1916). democracy and education: an introduction to the philosophy of education. macmillan. dewey, j. (1986). experience and education. the educational forum, 50(3), 241-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131728609335764 franke, m. l., carpenter, t. p., levi, l., & fennema, e. (2001). capturing teachers’ generative change: a follow-up study of professional development in mathematics. american educational research journal, 38(3), 653-689. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038003653 freire, p. (1985). reading the world and reading the word: an interview with paulo freire. language arts, 62(1), 15-21. feiman-nemser, s. (2003). what new teachers need to learn. educational leadership, 60(8), 2529. gay, g. (2002). preparing for culturally responsive teaching. journal of teacher education, 53(2), 106-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102053002003 gutiérrez, k. d. (2008). developing a sociocritical literacy in the third space. reading research quarterly, 43(2), 148-164. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.43.2.3 hidalgo, n., & duncan-andrade, j. (2009). when stepping to college is stepping to consciousness: critical pedagogy for transformational resistance in an urban high school classroom. in e. murillo (ed.), handbook of latinos and education (pp. 262-276). routledge. the moral ethic of cariño association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 33 ladson-billings, g. (1994). the dreamkeepers: successful teachers of african american children. josser-bass. ladson-billings, g. (1995b). toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. american educational research journal, 32(3), 465-491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465 ladson-billings, g. (2014). culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: aka the remix. harvard educational review, 84(1), 74-84. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.p2rj131485484751 ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. f. (2006). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47-68. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700104 lewis, o. (1959). family dynamics in a mexican village. marriage and family living, 21(3), 218– 226. https://doi.org/10.2307/348014 lomelí, k. (2020). cultural competence in teaching immigrant-origin youth: the ethic of cariño. stanford university. lomelí, k. (2023). the work of growing young people con cariño: a reconstructive lens on one white teacher’s anti-racist approach to teaching immigrant-origin latinx students. english teaching: practice & critique, 22(1), 45-60. https://doi.org/10.1108/etpc-03-2022-0040 mangual figueroa, a. (2017). speech or silence: undocumented students’ decisions to disclose or disguise their citizenship status in school. american educational research journal, 54(3), 485-523. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217693937 martínez, r. a. (2010). "spanglish" as literacy tool: toward an understanding of the potential role of spanish-english code-switching in the development of academic literacy. research in the teaching of english, 45(2), 124-149. martínez, r. a., & morales, p. z. (2014). ¿puras groserías?: rethinking the role of profanity and graphic humor in latin@ students' bilingual wordplay. anthropology & education quarterly, 45(4), 337-354. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12074 moll, l. c., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849209543534 noddings, n. (2012). the caring relation in teaching. oxford review of education, 38(6), 771-781. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2012.745047 noddings, n. (2013). caring: a relational approach to ethics and moral education. univ. of california press. noddings, n., & shore, p. j. (1984). awakening the inner eye: intuition in education. teachers college press. nieto, s. (1992). affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of multicultural education. longman, 10 bank street, white plains, ny 10606. orellana, m. f., & gutiérrez, k. d. (2006). at last: what’s the problem? constructing different genres for the study of english learners. research in the teaching of english, 41(1), 118– 123. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40171719 paris, d., & alim, h. s. (eds.). (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teachers college press. portes, a., & rumbaut, r. g. (2001). legacies: the story of the immigrant second generation. univ. of california press. rolón-dow, r. (2005). critical care: a color (full) analysis of care narratives in the schooling experiences of puerto rican girls. american educational research journal, 42(1), 77-111. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312042001077 lomelí association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, volume 17, issue 2 34 rosa, j., & flores, n. (2017). unsettling race and language: toward a raciolinguistic perspective. language in society, 46(5), 621-647. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404517000562 rumbaut, r. g., & portes, a. (eds.). (2001). ethnicities: children of immigrants in america. univ. of california press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520230118.001.0001 saldaña, j. (2009). the coding manual for qualitative researchers. sage. sealey-ruiz, y. (2021). the critical literacy of race: toward racial literacy in urban teacher education. in h. r. milner & k, lomotey (eds.), the handbook of urban education (2nd ed., pp. 281-295). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429331435-21 solorzano, d. g., & bernal, d. d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 suárez-orozco, c., & suárez-orozco, m. m. (1995). transformations: immigration, family life, and achievement motivation among latino adolescents. stanford university press. suárez-orozco, c., suárez-orozco, m. m., & todorova, i. (2008). learning a new land. harvard university press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674044111 sue, d. w. (2001). multidimensional facets of cultural competence. the counseling psychologist, 29(6), 790-821. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000001296002 trueba, h. t. (1988). culturally based explanations of minority students' academic achievement. anthropology & education quarterly, 19(3), 270-287. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.1988.19.3.05x1565e turner, e. o., & mangual figueroa, a. (2019). immigration policy and education in lived reality: a framework for researchers and educators. educational researcher, 48(8), 549-557. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x19872496 valdés, g. (1996). con respeto: bridging the distances between culturally diverse families and schools: an ethnographic portrait. teachers college press. valdés, g. (1997a). dual-language immersion programs: a cautionary note concerning the education of language-minority students. harvard educational review, 67(3), 391-430. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.67.3.n5q175qp86120948 valdés, g. (2001). learning and not learning english: latino students in american schools. teachers college press. valdés, g. (2004). between support and marginalisation: the development of academic language in linguistic minority children. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 7(2-3), 102-132. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050408667804 valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: issues of caring in education of us-mexican youth. state university of new york press. watson, w., sealey-ruiz, y., & jackson, i. (2016). daring to care: the role of culturally relevant care in mentoring black and latino male high school students. race ethnicity and education, 19(5), 980-1002. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2014.911169 yoshikawa, h., kholoptseva, j., & suárez-orozco, c. (2013). the role of public policies and community-based organizations in the developmental consequences of parent undocumented status. social policy report, 27(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2379-3988.2013.tb00076.x yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 amae 1.pdf amae 4 lomelik.pdf volume 18 issue 1 2024 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor lorenza lancaster the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, open issue © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 67 transformative education: review of teaching gloria e. anzaldúa cantú-sánchez, m., de león-zepeda, c., & cantú, n. e. (2020). teaching gloria e. anzaldúa: pedagogy and practice for our classrooms and communities. the university of arizona press. pp. 341. isbn13: 9780816541140. paperback: 30 dr. nancy huante-tzintzun california state university, sacramento the anthology, teaching gloria e. anzaldúa: pedagogy and practice for our classrooms and communities, keeps anzaldúa’s work alive and relevant across disciplines. with three overarching sections—curriculum design, pedagogy and praxis, and decolonizing pedagogies—the 19 chapters highlight how educators like me can implement her work into their classrooms and communities and offer ideas on how to teach anzaldúa across disciplines. personally, i was first introduced to teaching from a chicana feminist epistemology through gloria e. anzaldúa. several of her writings invited me to reflect on my positionality as a scholar-activist-maestra. she provided me with language and teaching practices that honored my antepasados and inner child. anzaldúa guides me day in and day out as a scholar-activist-maestra. part i of the book examines curriculum design, including poetry and storytelling. for anzaldúa, envisioning the relationship between teachers and students meant that educators provide space(s) to engage with our higher-level consciousness about identity, our role as change makers, and social justice. the value of this section lies in the association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, open issue © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 68 invitation to courageously reimagine traditional tools—that at best support the regulatory features of schooling—as a means of brokering the promise of education being transformative not just for the student, but for the teacher as well. one of the strengths of this book is the beautiful and powerful collection of lesson plans and educator reflections. it is inspiring to see the different ways teaching gloria anzaldúa encourages educators to reshape and reimagine the relationship between teacher and student. through the lesson plans, the reader can grasp how to implement art and poetry into the classroom as a way to disrupt coloniality and imperialism. furthermore, these lesson plans also foster a community of educators who infuse anzaldúan thought into every part of teaching and learning. for me it was powerful to read how they navigated both the opportunities and challenges associated with developing a classroom as a decolonial space. part ii of the book focuses on pedagogy and praxis. the chapters highlight ways educators make space for healing and decolonial thinking. the contributors elaborate that through anzaldúa, they are able to conceptualize and practice a pedagogical praxis that is transformative. candace de leon-zepeda calls this space third space classrooms, which are classrooms and curriculum that “allow for the visibility of one’s gender, race, culture, or class” (cantu-sanchez et al., 2020, p. 115). moreover, the pedagogical work in this section is an invitation to imagine a different education, one that (a) approaches research from a trauma-informed perspective, (b) reminds us of the healing properties in teaching, (c) centers student agency, and (d) cultivates different forms of conocimientos. teaching gloria anzaldúa is about paving the way for students to experience multiple forms of awakenings. in her introduction to part ii, de leon-zepeda association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, open issue © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 69 explains, “anzaldúa provides language and practical ways to rethink traditional pedagogy and praxis in order to see the whole student” (cantu-sanchez et al., 2020, p. 119). lastly, in part iii of the book the contributors focus on how educators navigate the development of the classroom as a decolonial space. in these “acts of healing” chapters, educators share detailed ways to introduce the concept of healing and assignments that promote theorizing our lived experiences. it is difficult to reflect on just one aspect of anzaldúa's lived experiences and pedagogical offerings that i hold close. however, as it relates to teaching, one thing i carry with me is the general message that the act of teaching is, in itself, a healing practice. as a first-generation scholar-activist-maestra, i am still healing from my own experiences growing up as an immigrant in this country, and all of that comes up when i teach. i am grateful to have been introduced to anzaldúa in graduate school because her work invited me and essentially gave me permission to heal alongside my students and colegas. healing alone is the standard, but through her work, i am reminded that healing can also be communal. to do this, i have my students write and think-pair-share, but the most impactful assignment i had was the auto-hxstoria project, a writing and art presentation that has students think about moments in their lives that connect to chicanx studies hxstory. this assignment urges them to think critically about labels and identity, hxstory, and the ways folks navigate physical and imaginary borders based on the sometimes imposed and traumatic labels and identities placed on them by sociopolitical events. i am learning that both the students and i are constantly relating, reflecting, and healing from generational trauma. moreover, i noticed that the inner work done through the auto-hxstoria association of mexican american educators (amae) journal, open issue © 2024, vol. 18, issue 1 70 assignment encourages students to engage in different forms of activism and provides guideposts for reconnecting with themselves and their antepasados. i am grateful for anzaldúa’s reflections and frameworks, as they helped me conceptualize who i am as a chicana scholar-activist-maestra and provided teaching tools to work alongside them to figure out how to navigate this world. given the density of decolonizing the classroom space, there is certainly room to continue to explore how to use gloria anzaldúa’s work as a guide. to match the momentum of the three sections, there is a strong need for the last part of the book to dedicate chapters to the critiques and complexities of anzaldúa’s work on indigeneity and decolonial thought across disciplines. perhaps the new edition can also include chapters on how educators responded to challenges and/or opportunities that came up in their development and implementation of decolonial and anti-colonial curriculum. other chapters could also include responses from students on their experience in the class and how their understanding of decolonial and anti-colonial curriculum grew. such chapters could incite a conversation on using anti-colonial and/or decolonial approaches to curriculum development and pedagogical praxis. lastly, it would be important to make room for educators to make sense of teaching anzaldúa in the midst of the pandemic. this book undoubtedly leaves the reader wanting more. overall, the book is a powerful reminder of the legacy of gloria anzaldúa on educators across space and time. volume 17 issue 2 2023 amae special issue critical junctures along the chicanx/latinx educational pipeline: interdisciplinary and intersectional guest editors pedro e. nava ramón a. martínez santa clara university stanford university editors patricia sánchez antonio j. camacho the university of texas at san antonio amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa lucila d. ek sacramento state the university of texas at san antonio managing editor karla garza the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 35 from safe spaces to sacred spaces: chicanx/latinx after-school youth development and transformational resistance johnny c. ramirez san jose state university johnny.c.ramirez@sjsu.edu abstract this ethnographic case study examines how a social justice-based after-school (as) youth leadership development program became a space for youth participants to develop a critique of social oppression and motivation for social justice action. research demonstrates that youth development programs and models that cultivate agency among youth of color directly contribute to positive youth developmental (pyd) outcomes (larson, 2006), and are an effective intervention strategy for youth at high risk of school pushout. however, few studies specifically examine the factors that prompt engaged chicanx-latinx as youth participants to develop a resistance behavior that reflects a critique of social oppression and motivation for social justice—transformational resistance (solórzano & bernal, 2001). in this article, i explain how youth participants explicitly cited how creating “safe spaces” and chosen-familial bonds through femtoring/mentoring relationships cultivated transformational resistance outcomes. i conclude by discussing how the black panther mentorship program (bpmp), a social justicebased as youth program, transcended the traditional notions of safe spaces and transformed into a sacred space because it gave youth participants holistic forms of unconditional acceptance, acknowledgment, and interconnectedness. as a result, bpmp youth’s connection to sacred spaces enabled them to overcome personal and educational barriers. keywords: chicanx/latinx youth, safe spaces, sacred spaces, after-school programs, positive youth development outcomes doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.17.2.478 from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 36 the disparity in chicanx/latinx educational attainment is cause for national concern. chicanx/latinx populations are the largest racially minoritized population in the united states (us census, 2020). still, there has not been a significant increase in educational attainment compared to their white counterparts in the united states (covarrubias, 2011; perez huber, et al, 2015; yosso & solórzano, 2006). similarly, as a racialized ethnic group, chicanx/latinx populations have the lowest educational attainment relative to their white counterparts (covarrubias & lara, 2013). the educational experience of chicanx/latinx is one of accumulated structural and institutional marginalization and inequity (duncan andrade, 2005; yosso, 2013). chicanx/latinx students struggle to access the economic and social resources their white, middle-class counterparts benefit from (orfied & ee, 2014). in communities of color, public schools are often segregated, underserved, and underfunded; poor urban schools are often ill-equipped to compensate for these structural social inequalities (duncan-andrade & morrell, 2008; noguera, 2003; orfield & ee, 2014). 3 out of 10—approximately 30% of chicanx/latinx youth growing up under these educational conditions, including recent immigrants, are pushed out of school nationally (covarrubias, 2011). to fully understand the severity of high school pushouts for chicanx/latinx youth (tuck, 2012), we must frame it within the context of the “school-to-prison pipeline” narrative. critical scholars (sojoyner, 2013; valles and villalpando, 2021) assert that there is a direct pipeline of students of color who get pushed out of school and into the criminal justice system. the overrepresentation of police in schools, zero-tolerance policies, suspensions, and highstakes testing contribute to the school-to-prison nexus phenomenon (stovall, 2018). consequently, research indicates that latino (and african american) males are more likely than their white counterparts to be suspended from school (rios, 2011; 2017), be given a disability classification (artiles, 2013), and are half as likely to be identified for talented and gifted programs (torres & fergus, 2012). moreover, latino males consistently report that they are less likely to seek help at school, including assistance offered by teachers, staff, and peers, because of the hostile schooling environment within schools (ponjuan, clark, and sáenz, 2012). school and community-based interventions such as after-school (as) programs are needed to support low-income youth of color to gain academic success and positive youth development outcomes to address this crisis. critical scholars argue that current as youth development programs and models are ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 37 limited by an inability to examine the complex social, economic, and political forces that bear on the lives of urban youth, particularly chicanx/latinx youth (ginwright & cammarota, 2002). emerging research shows, however, that as youth development programs that employ a social justice youth development (sjyd) framework and focus on pyd outcomes can empower youth to identify, critique, and transform structural and institutional forces, as well as provide avenues to engage in social justice actions (ginwright, 2016). in further addressing the disparity in chicanx/latinx educational attainment, this article draws from an ethnographic case study that sought to understand how chicanx/latinx youth participating in a social justice-based as program, the black panther mentorship program, developed a transformational resistance (solórzano and delgado bernal, 2001) consciousness that motivates toward social justice and critiques social oppression (ramirez, 2018). the following research questions guide this article: how do chicanx/latinx youth in an as program cultivate a transformational resistance consciousness? how do in-school and out-of-school educators implement relational pedagogical approaches to create sacred spaces and transformational resistance outcomes for chicanx/latinx youth? literature review sacred spaces a few critical scholars have engaged in educational discourse centered on creating and engaging sacred spaces. a study examining a community collective of a critical educators' racial affinity group noted that participants' utilization of testimonio and storytelling pedagogical approaches contributed to collective learning and healing culture. the power of “holding space for one another” cultivated sacred spaces for critical educators of a racial affinity group (pourkhorshid, 2018). in addition, chicana/o/x scholars have theorized on creating sacred spaces within university institutions designed to maintain hegemonic and colonizing ideological perceptions of students of color. a study highlighting the experiences of chicana educational researchers working collectively in predominantly white university institutions noted how creating a “xicana-centered” sacred space enabled them to develop a sense of empowerment to be their authentic selves and foster intellectual growth, emotional support, and collective validation (soto et al., 2009). epistemologically, the authors theorized that the circle of dialogues and reflexivity were spaces for knowledge creation by simply sharing their chicana subjectivities and from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 38 telling and listening to their own stories, aligning with chicana feminist cultural intuition conceptual frameworks. in this article, i draw on cultural healer and clinical therapist jerry tello's la cultura cura framework, which centralizes the healing and restorative power of gathering in sacred spaces that offer unconditional acknowledgment, acceptance, and interconnectedness. tello (2018) explains that engaging in sacred and ceremonial spaces leads to a remembering/re-claiming of the ancestral teachings and values that speak to the importance of embracing one’s personal sacredness, a sacred interconnectedness within a circle/community of support, and the journey to find one’s sacred purpose(s) in life. theoretical framework transformational resistance is a conceptual framework emerging in critical race theory in education. solórzano and delgado bernal (2001) theorized that hegemonic definitions of chicana and chicano oppositional behavior as solely deviant fails to acknowledge the systemic, institutionalized forms of oppression and domination that contribute to their oppositional behavior and the agency that students of color have in displaying oppositional behaviors as expressions of resistance behavior. they contend that students’ resistance behaviors can be classified in four ways: (a) reactionary behavior; (b) self-defeating; (c) conformist; and (d) transformational resistance. in figure 1, “defining the concept of resistance,” youth oppositional behavior is measured in quadrants of resistance. figure 1. “defining the concept of resistance” (solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001). ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 39 solórzano & delgado bernal (2001) also theorized that student resistance behaviors could be expressed internally or externally, depending on the context and the level of students’ agency. the authors thus framed student resistance in a model that contextualized resistance behaviors in thematic categories and provided a clear analysis and measurement tool for scholars, practitioners, and community members. solórzano & delgado bernal’s article was instrumental in influencing subsequent literature on student resistance and provided a framework for resistance discourse (hanneganmartinez et al., 2022; cammarota and fine, 2010). their model highlighted the role of human agency, a consciousness of social oppression, and motivation for social change in shaping expressions of resistance behavior and then categorized, identified, and articulated different forms of student resistance. in doing so, chicanx/latinx student resistance discourse shifted into a paradigm that considered how human agency could be expressed in multiple ways, illustrating the fluidity of resistance behaviors on a spectrum from reactionary to transformational. further, the student resistance framework is a powerful tool to articulate and operationalize youth oppositional behavior in a manner that acknowledges the harmful resistance behaviors and the potential for transformational resistance outcomes. as a youth intervention worker and researcher for nearly 20 years, i have seen firsthand the positive developmental outcomes among chicanx/latinx youth when they develop a transformational resistance consciousness (ramirez, 2018). youth asset-based behaviors such as possessing a deepened sense of purpose and empowerment are reflected in a heightened expression of youth voice, increased aspirations, embracing of one’s social identities, and genuine desires to be agents of change in their schools and communities. after conducting the study this article draws from, i began to reflect on the role that the creation of safe spaces played in cultivating transformational resistance outcomes for chicanx/latinx youth. the overwhelming reporting of study participants' connection to a safe space was a direct result of bpmp’s implementation of the mayan philosophy, in lak ech, tu eres mi otro yo, you are my other me. rooted in ancient mayan epistemology, ontology and axiology, in lak ech provides a worldview that promotes the interconnectedness of humanity. in his book, amoxtli the x codex: in lak ech, panache be, hunab ku and the forgotten 1524 debates, dr. cintli rodriguez (2010) explains the indigenous concept of in lak ech as a symbiotic framework for human beings to become interconnected in their humanity. he states: from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 40 in lak ech is not simply an ancient indigenous maya concept; in fact, it is a prescription for how we should treat each other as human beings. it is the anti-thesis of dehumanization. it is the first step toward rehumanization. it is the first step in viewing our fellow human beings not simply as neighbors, but as brothers and sisters. as coequals. (rodriguez, 2010, p. 20) rodriguez’s definition of in lak ech speaks directly to the ancient indigenous epistemological aims that provided a framework for human beings to engage with one another in a manner that provided a sense of belonging and interconnectedness, which encourages relationships and spaces wherein human beings have empathy, unconditional acceptance, and restoration. bpmp fostered a culture that allowed youth participants to feel safe and interconnected through in lak ech principles. as a result, bpmp youth participants’ were able to establish an interconnected community of support that included their peers and adult allies, which was foundational in developing a critique of social oppression and motivation for social justice. this phenomenon prompted me to think beyond the foundational role that safe spaces contributed to transformational resistance outcomes, and toward illuminating in-depth interconnectedness to a community of support among their peers and adult allies in the cultivation of sacred spaces. methodology the black panther mentorship program the bpmp was a student-instituted peer femtoring/mentoring program that resulted from a youth participatory action research project where students sought to address the pushout rate at their high school. bpmp was designed to be a social justice-focused youth leadership development program to empower young people to realize their potential to reach their personal and educational goals and learn how to engage in community-building and grassroots organizing efforts. bpmp youth participants engaged in programming that focused on: • empowerment: increased self-awareness that drew heavily from ethnic studies, critical race theory (crt), latina/o critical race theory (latcrit), and indigenous knowledge. • positive peer support and femtorship/mentorship relationship development: utilized a holistic approach to provide a safe space for academic and personal support to overcome barriers at school and home. ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 41 • health & wellness: participated in workshops and activities promoting health and wellness, including art-based projects, plays, hikes, bike rides, field trips, and talking circles, to respond to toxic stressors. • activism/civic engagement: learned leadership development strategies to engage community building and grassroots youth organizing efforts. • youth participatory action research (ypar): engaged in youth participatory action research for community-based action research focused on addressing social inequalities on campus and in their neighborhood. • field trips: attended cultural, educational, political, and indigenous ceremonies to provide exposure to spaces, knowledge, and networks to support their leadership and personal development. bpmp took place after school at a los angeles unified school district (lausd) high school in the pico/union/west adams area of downtown los angeles. the pico union/west adams area is primarily low-income, where 90% of students at the local high school qualify for free and reduced lunch (california department of education, 2016). according to 2010 census data, the population is 85% latinx, 65% foreign-born residents primarily from mexico and el salvador, with a high concentration of undocumented and mixed citizenship status families; 87% of mixed-status citizenship homes are single-parent households. around this time, in addition to economic and educational disparities already in place, the pico-union/west adams neighborhoods were experiencing high levels of gentrification, resulting in low-income latinx immigrant families being displaced due to land development, and soaring rent hikes, gang and drug violence, including increasing gun violence due to the rise in marijuana dispensaries, and increased police surveillance and harassment of street vendors and neighborhood residents (gorski, 2002). under these conditions, bpmp participants were exposed to high levels of social toxins (ginwright, 2016) that resulted from struggling to navigate and negotiate environments that cause pain and trauma, such as having family members deported, and fatigue from being hypervigilant against violence and harassment by gangs and law enforcement. the sociopolitical conditions and high levels of trauma experienced by the study participants contributed to why bpmp was perceived and embraced as a safe space where chicanx/latinx youth could find support and interconnectedness that facilitated kinship bonds with their peers and adult from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 42 femtors/mentors, which, in turn, enabled them to keep moving forward in reaching their educational and personal goals. research positionality from 2011-2018, i established relationships with youth participants, parents, teachers, and school staff. i co-facilitated developing and implementing youth empowerment and mentoring programs in three lausd high schools with an immigrant rights organization called the advancing justice center and community partners. i conducted the study to generate research to support the increased resources for as youth leadership development programs for youth who are at risk of being pushed out of school. to do so, i developed relationships of trust and reciprocity after eight years of working with the youth, school officials, and community partners. with a spirit of reciprocity, i supported the overall goals of the advancing justice center’s youth leadership program. i earned trust and respect as an activist-scholar and youth worker practitioner by honoring my methodological commitment to engage in research “with the community” and not “on the community.” my research positionality is therefore grounded in conducting grassroots, youth/community-engaged research that can be used—and operationalized—as a resource for social justice and healing outcomes. my cultural intuition i draw from chicana educational researcher dolores delgado bernal’s (1998) chicana feminist epistemological concept, “cultural intuition,” to utilize my lived experiences, experiential knowledge, and nearly 20 years of youth development work experience to inform the study. cultural intuition asserts that chicanas, feminists, and scholars of color have a particular way of making meaning in their lives. within that process, they have a unique perspective based on being members of marginalized groups in the us. delgado bernal (1998) theorizes that four primary sources contribute to cultural intuition: 1) one’s personal experience (including collective experience and community memory), 2) existing literature, 3) one’s professional experience, and 4) the analytical research process itself. my cultural intuition informs how i co-analyzed data and themes with youth participants and acknowledged the role of creating safe spaces for bpmp youth in cultivating transformational resistance outcomes, and theorized how bpmp programming space was transformed from a safe space to a sacred space. in this next section, i provide an overview of the study’s findings that demonstrates how bpmp youth participants cited the role that safe spaces grounded in the principles of in lak ech ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 43 contributed to the development of transformational resistance behaviors. in addition, i illustrate how bpmp safe spaces provided feelings of unconditional acceptance and a heightened sense of belonging to a community of support for their peers and adult allies, which i theorize speaks to sacred spaces and sacred interconnectedness. findings the creation of “safe spaces” grounded in the values of in lak ech study participants reported that bpmp’s as youth programming provided a “safe space,” which was foundational in their cultivation of a critique social of oppression and motivation for social justice. traditionally, the term “safe space” is understood as “an environment that allows students [youth] to engage with one another over controversial issues with honesty, sensitivity, and respect” (arao & clemens, 2013, p. 135). however, i build on this notion by highlighting how the safe space within bpmp was directly related to students’ cultivation of agency, and as a foundational condition for fostering critical socio-consciousness, and how the bpmp safe space was transformed into a sacred space that provided an interconnectedness and restoration able to sustain hope and motivation in the participants’ daily lives. curly sunshine is a 19-year-old, gender-nonconforming chicanx who was born and raised in the mid-city area of downtown los angeles. curly sunshine grew up in a mixed-citizenship status home with their undocumented mother and two older sisters. during their childhood, they worked with their mother as a street vendor, assisting in translating with english-speaking customers. developed through their life experiences, curly has strong communication skills and carries themselves as a natural leader. they1 joined the bpmp in the tenth grade and became active participants, taking on several leadership roles. in high school, they founded the first-ever lgbtqia2 student club on campus to address the hostile environment and lack of visibility of queer students on campus. moreover, curly theorized on the interrelationship between creating a “safe space” and developing a social justice lens: 1 curly sunshine’s intersectional identity pronouns are: they, them, she and her. 2 lgbtqia stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual/allied. https://gaycenter.org/about/lgbtq/ from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 44 i feel that the process of creating a “safe space” and developing a social justice lens goes “hand in hand.” it’s essential for youth to be in a safe space first because… why learn about social justice? why care about other people? why go out of your way to try to make this world better for other people if you don’t have a group of people that actually care for you and are there for you? so i think that by creating a “safe space,” you open doors for people to actually connect to their humanity, connect into their compassion, connect to their love for one another, you know, it’s in lak ech. curly provided a powerful theorization on how establishing a “safe space” is foundational to developing youth resistance that embodies a social justice critique. they theorize that bpmp’s safe space embodied the practices of human interconnectedness and a sense of belonging outlined in the philosophy of in lak ech. under these conditions, safe spaces play a foundational role in the process of re-humanization, which is necessary to develop a critique of social oppression and motivation for social justice—transformational resistance (brayboy, 2005; covarrubias & revilla, 2003) another participant, brother b, a 19-year-old chicanx bpmp youth leader, highlighted the significance of engaging in a safe space, contributing to his critique of social oppression. brother b grew up in the pico/union/university park area of downtown los angeles. his parents emigrated from mexico in the late 1980s and separated when he was five. his mother worked as a garment worker and always supported his educational aspirations. brother b joined the bpmp during the 10th grade when his school therapist recommended that he take a step out of his “comfort zone” and build his social skills by joining an as program. after participating in a bpmp ypar project which focused on racial microaggressions and positive coping strategies, he created an online community blog called the black rose press. in the following passage, brother b illuminates how his experiences with bpmp as a safe space cultivated a community of respect and inclusion: i definitely feel that bpmp is a “safe space” because of the values of in lak ech, tu eres mi otro yo, you are my other me. i felt that in my years of being in bpmp, we maintained our values of being connected with one another. bpmp did uphold the value of ‘if i hurt you, then i’m hurting myself,’ and i did see that, especially in how bpmp members treated one another. they were respectful to one another and always tried to maintain ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 45 that respect, inclusiveness, and diversity. those values make bpmp a great program and a wonderful “home” to be in at school. brother b’s reference to bpmp as a “home” speaks to the kinship bonds and feelings of safety he experienced engaging in bpmp youth programming spaces. he credits the interconnectedness and unconditional acceptance of bpmp to the values of in lak ech that created a familial environment in which bpmp members felt safe and supported. it was important for the chicanx/latinx youth participants to engage in the bpmp as program space, especially within the hostile and violent schooling spaces that historically (and present-day) have been designed to eradicate their cultural identity, agency, and expressions of dissent. thus, brother b’s reflections illuminating the importance of having a safe space that felt like home, which was also grounded in the indigenous worldview of in lak ech, truly amplifies the power of resistance and survivance that comes from unconditional acceptance and interconnectedness of chicanx/latinx youth. in addition, brother b shared that bpmp provided a safe space for him to affirm his lgbtqia identity: in bpmp, i found a “safe space” thanks to mentors johnny rockit, ivette ohh, and tim tezzy. i was able to embrace my lgbtqia identity fully. i had already come out as lgbtqia before participating in bpmp, but at that time, i was still trying to figure out how to embrace my identity fully. but with the support of bpmp, i could stand firmly in my lgbtqia identity when it came time to write my personal statement for the uc’s. i was able to include my lgbtqia identity in my essay. i needed to express it. i felt that these admission people needed to know that this is who i am. and so bpmp helped me build up my confidence too! that’s what the “safe space” of bpmp has given me. brother b’s reflections truly capture how a safe space with a community of support of femtors and mentors assisted him in unapologetically embracing his lgbtqia identity as an expression of transformational resistance to the heteronormativity and dehumanization embedded in u.s. society. the development of a sociopolitical consciousness led to an understanding that disclosing his queer identity in his college admissions essay was an act of resistance to normalizing the public suppression of his lgbtqia identity. this process of affirmation within bpmp, coupled with his motivation to share his lgbtqia identity, was a means to disrupt the traditional narratives of college essays that align with power, privilege, and white supremacy. from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 46 a third participant, cio, illuminated how engaging in a “safe space” provided her support as an undocumented latinx student in lausd. when she was eight, she emigrated from guatemala to the us with her older sister as an unaccompanied minor. her mother, who had emigrated years prior, worked as a street food vendor in the pico/union/west adams area of downtown los angeles. throughout her childhood, cio took on adult roles to support her single mother’s food vending cart as a necessary means to ensure her family could afford rent, food, and clothing. thus, cio and her two sisters experienced a process of adultification where they helped their mother prepare, cook, and vend before school, after school, and on weekends. with the demands of working long hours and the pressures of a heavy academic workload, cio found herself not having time to enjoy life as a teenager. in this following passage, cio explained how her participation in bpmp’s “safe space” gave her a community of support and a temporary reprieve from the pressures of her daily routine: a “safe space” means that you’ve been accepted and that you feel comfortable. because sometimes you might not feel that support at home, and you might feel depressed. in my case, at home, i felt like time would just run by so fast, you know. i would go home, go to work, and then go to sleep, and then get up and start it all over again. but being at bpmp actually helped me see that my time was important there. i was able to use that time to experience the love of other people and feel all their positive expressions. it could be someone giving me words of encouragement like ‘cio, you’re good at this’ or ‘cio, you did this—great job!’ at bpmp, i felt all that positivity was feeding into me. i believe that all falls into a ‘safe space’ because it helps you gain confidence in yourself. and then you add all the love of your own family and then all the love from members of bpmp. it all makes a big difference in your life. it gives you hope! and you know, some youth really need that cuz they may not have that at home. cio’s reflections on her engagement in bpmp’s “safe space” speak directly to the contribution of pyd outcomes, such as building her confidence and developing a sense of connection to a community of peers and femtors/mentors. it also provided an opportunity to establish connections and support with same-age peers, which helped mitigate the stressors of undergoing the process of adultification. adolescent development scholars (king et al., 2005) identified the critical role of building confidence and connecting to a community of positive peers for youth to move from surviving to thriving. additionally, cio cited that the community ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 47 love and support she received from her involvement in the bpmp space gave her hope. increasingly, youth development scholars conducting healing justice work (ginwright, 2011; 2016), highlight hope's critical role in increasing resilience and overall mental wellness among urban youth of color. cio’s engagement in bpmp increased her hope as she struggled to manage adult roles and responsibilities to ensure her family’s livelihood. thus, bpmp’s “safe space” directly increased her resilience and wellness. moreover, cio credited the “safe space” and community support of bpmp with her ability to overcome her fears and negative stigma of being undocumented within u.s. society: bpmp helped me not to fear being undocumented. before as an undocumented student, i used to think i’m not valuable to the u.s. but the support i got from bpmp made me feel that everything i do in this life counts and is important to the world. this [affirmation] gave me a lot of self-respect. being undocumented in the u.s. is hard; everyone says undocumented immigrants are here intrusively. but you know what, undocumented immigrants are here because we are the ones who are doing a lot of hard work for the u.s. [economy]. basically, the u.s. provides work, and we [undocumented immigrants] provide them a service, which is our work!... what i gained at bpmp was to value ourselves and see how we can give back to the community. in the passage above, cio highlights how bpmp directly contributed to developing her positive self-perception of her undocumented identity as a direct act of resistance to the fear and racist nativism within u.s. society. the conscious awareness to reframe her undocumented identity to align with being the hardest workers in the u.s. workforce and that her life has value driven by a desire to give back to her community embodies transformational resistance outcomes. cio’s transformational resistance directly pushed back against the deficit perspectives and dehumanizing narratives that frame undocumented latinx immigrants as criminals with low selfworth. thus, cio’s reflections illustrate how transformational resistance consciousness can lead to pyd outcomes such as increased self-confidence, self-worth, and self-efficacy (larson, 2006; riggs, 2006). another participant, ivette ohh, a 24-year-old undocuscholar,3 was a youth facilitator and coordinator at bpmp for nearly six years. she was one of the original student co-founders 3 i use the term undocuscholar to signify students who embrace and frame their undocumented status and identity as an asset in their engagement of the u.s. educational system. from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 48 of the program while in the 10th grade. she was born in nayarit, mexico, and migrated with her mother to the u.s. when she was six months old. ivette ohh grew up in the pico union neighborhood of downtown los angeles, a mexican and central american (im)migrant community that suffered high levels of poverty, violence, and historically underfunded and under-resourced public schools (simon, 1997). in the tenth grade, ivette ohh and her classmates utilized the findings of their ypar project to develop a femtoring/mentoring after-school program as a prevention and intervention strategy to address the high school pushout rate. in the following passage, ivette ohh shared how bpmp provided a safe space, and how grounding the space in in lak ech created a culture in which youth participants internalized the values of acceptance and interconnectedness. she states: the reciting of the in lak ech poem every time we close our bpmp youth sessions influenced the youth to internalize the values of ‘tu eres mi otro yo, you are my other me.’ and we as facilitators, internalize it too. in a subtle way we are ‘programmed’ to treat each other with respect and love…. i think the beauty of our bpmp space was that we created a culture where all the youth participants knew that bpmp was a safe space for us all. they knew bpmp was a space to articulate their ideas, and they would not attack one another for not having the same belief system. ivette ohh’s commentary highlights the intentionality of bpmp adult facilitators to engage in programming rituals and practices that nurtured a culture that youth participants felt safe to express themselves. she eloquently theorizes on how the reciting of the in lak ech poem at the closing of bpmp youth programming was, in many ways, a ritual or ceremonial practice that reminded the youth and adult facilitators to respect and love one another. the internalization of humanizing values that center acceptance, respect, love, and interconnection by bpmp youth participants directly challenges the dehumanization that chicanx/latinx youth experience in u.s. society. in summary, these findings indicated that creating a safe space was a foundational element that created a community of support and familial/kinship bonds in which bpmp youth participants experienced unconditional acceptance and a deepened sense of belonging. in addition, bpmp youth highlighted the development of transformational resistance consciousness in ways that strongly affirmed their marginalized intersectional identities, such as being lgbtqia and undocumented. and lastly, the bpmp youth program’s embracing of the ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 49 values of in lak ech created a culture of unconditional acceptance and interconnectedness, which led to it being more than a safe space. it transformed into a sacred space. discussion in summation, study participants highlighted that engaging in “safe spaces” was foundational in developing a critique of social oppression. the inclusiveness and human interconnectedness that shaped the bpmp programming space were created by utilizing the indigenous epistemological framework of in lak ech, which chicanx/latinx youth participants described as central to bpmp being a “safe space.” chicanx/latinx youth in the program reported undergoing a deepened sense of belonging and membership within a humanizing community. this process led bpmp members to experience a degree of human interconnectedness and positive outcomes. scholars have critiqued the notion of creating or holding “safe space” within structures or institutions inherently designed to be violent and dehumanizing for people of color (carter, 2007; leonardo & porter, 2010). some scholars contend that when youth or communities challenge hostile climates within institutional spaces, they transform them into a “brave space” (arao & clemens, 2013; cook-sather, 2016). i contend, however, that framing bpmp as a “safe space” accurately describes how the space functioned for people with marginalized social and intersectional identities. lgbtqia and undocumented youth, for example, experience high levels of trauma due to structural oppression (schmitz, et al, 2020) in their schools. chicanx/latinx lgbtqia and undocumented youth populations’ physical safety is often at risk in public and institutional spaces, and this population experiences higher rates of suicide, addiction, and school pushout (brown & hyatt-burkhart, 2013). i also argue that a space that focuses on creating a humanizing community environment where youth do not feel that they will be verbally attacked or bullied is cause to label bpmp as a safe space. the dearth of spaces where chicanx/latinx youth feel a sense of inclusiveness and human interconnectedness in communities or schools also gives reason to identify spaces such as bpmp as safe spaces. transforming safe space to sacred space by understanding themselves not solely as isolated individuals, but as interconnected members of a broader community that cared about them, bpmp participants could engage space through the sacredness of healing and togetherness. participants' sense of interconnection to one another’s humanity led to creating a sacred space, where once youth from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 50 humanized one another and felt deeply interconnected to bpmp, they transcended their relationship to the as youth space and their school environment. changing their relationships and connections to one another and their classroom spaces manifested indigenous epistemology as an act of decolonization within schooling spaces that are inherently colonizing and dehumanizing (pizzaro, 1998). youth participants and facilitators successfully reclaimed their humanity and interconnectedness within oppressive schooling structures as an act of resistance and refusal. further, the indigenous epistemological and humanizing pedagogical practices that cultivated the creation of sacred spaces align with re-indigenization for urban chicanx/latinx youth when they learn concepts, ceremonies, and rituals that originated in their ancestral epistemologies (acosta, 2015). arce (2018) reminds us that the re-indigenization of chicanx/latinx youth occurs when they are exposed to and engage in culturally rooted indigenous epistemological frameworks such as in lak ech. and by doing so, there is a decolonizing and liberatory component to shifting institutionalized spaces like schools or afterschool programs to sites of empowerment, healing, and re-humanization. bpmp youth participants and adult facilitators collectively changed the relationship between the space and its members by operating from humanizing and indigenous-centered interconnectedness relationships (ramirez, 2018). within these temporal environments, spiritual activism (delgado bernal, 1998; huber, 2009) can promote a resistance that enables one to transcend structural and institutional forms of oppression. the youth participants in bpmp created and participated in a space two times a week that provided them hope, authentic caring relationships, and human interconnectedness. bpmp’s programming space transformed into a “sacred space” because the youth participants and adult facilitators built a community of love, support, and inclusiveness that resulted in social, emotional, and mental replenishment to exercise their empowerment, resilience, and agency. implications this article offers perspectives for in-school and out-of-school educators seeking to create sacred spaces that empower chicanx/latinx youth to engage in transformational resistance outcomes. in an educational system and white supremacist society that dehumanizes chicanx/latinx youth, it is the responsibility of the educators (in both formal and informal settings) to exert a high level of intentionality in developing the relational, pedagogical, and ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 51 curricular practices that cultivate sacred spaces and transformative youth resistance behaviors. there needs to be an unequivocal recognition of the harm and trauma caused by the structural and institutional violence experienced by chicanx/latinx youth, especially those with intersectional, marginalized identities such as lgbtqia and undocumented youth populations. from this premise, we need to create youth-centered spaces that provide unconditional acceptance and interconnectedness to a community of support from peers and adult allies. in addition, there needs to be a shift toward a chicanx/latinx youth engagement that incorporates a holistic framework that centers them first as human beings before they are seen as students or future workers within our capitalist society. our chicanx/latinx youth need to be framed and treated as sacred, even when they do not embrace their sacredness and are on a daily journey to realize their sacred purpose (tello, 2018). finally, school leaders must actively pursue opportunities to develop collaborative partnerships with community youth workers, organizers, and organizations. community elders, youth and cultural workers, healers, mentors/femtors, artists, and activists can play an important role in sharing their wisdom, talents, love, acceptance, and unconditional support with our young people. let’s start working together in a sacred interconnectedness that centers on developing humanizing relationships of trust, acknowledgment, respect, and dignity with our youth and adult allies. palabra. from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 52 references acosta, c. (2015). the impact of humanizing pedagogies and curriculum upon the identities, civic engagement, and political activism of chican@ youth (order no. 3703443). doctoral dissertation, university of arizona. proquest dissertations & theses global. arce, m. s. (2016). xicano/indigenous epistemologies: toward a decolonizing and liberatory education for xicana/o youth. white” washing american education: the new culture wars in ethnic studies, 1, 11-41. arao, b., & clemens, k. (2013). from safe spaces to brave spaces: a new way to frame dialogue around diversity and social justice. in l. m. landreman (ed.), the art of effective facilitation (pp. 135-150). stylus publishing, llc. artiles, a. j. (2013). untangling the racialization of disabilities: an intersectionality critique across disability models1. du bois review: social science research on race, 10(2), 329-347. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1742058x13000271 brayboy, b m k j. (2005). transformational resistance and social justice. anthropology and education quarterly, 36(3), 193-211. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.2005.36.3.193 brown, e. l., & hyatt-burkhart, d. (2013). influence of trauma and status on the education and wellbeing of undocumented mexican youth in the us. migrants and refugees: equitable education for displaced populations, 281-306. california department of education, (2016). ed data partnership, october 18. https://www.eddata.org/school/los-angeles/los-angeles-unified/west-adams-preparatory-high cammarota, j., & fine, m. (2010). youth participatory action research: a pedagogy for transformational resistance. in revolutionizing education (pp. 9-20). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203932100 carter, r. t. (2007). racism and psychological and emotional injury: recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. the counseling psychologist, 35, 13-105. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006292033 cook-sather, a. (2016). creating brave spaces within and through student-faculty pedagogical partnerships. teaching and learning together in higher education, 1(18), 1. covarrubias, a. & revilla, a. (2003). agencies of transformational resistance: dismantling injustice at the intersection of race, class, gender, and sexuality through latcrit praxis. florida law review. 55 (1), 459-477. covarrubias a., lara. (2013). the undocumented (im)migrant educational pipeline: the influence of citizenship status on educational attainment for people of mexican origin. urban education 49 (1), 75-110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912470468 covarrubias, a. (2011). quantitative intersectionality: a critical race analysis of the chicana/o educational pipeline. journal of latinos and education, 10, 86-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2011.556519 delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68, 555-582. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 duncan-andrade, j. (2005). an examination of the sociopolitical history of chicanos and its relationship to school performance. urban education, 40:6, pp. 576-605. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085905281391 duncan-andrade, j.r., & morrell, e. (2008). the art of critical pedagogy: possibilities for moving from theory to practice in urban schools. new york, ny: peter lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/b12771 ramirez association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 53 ginwright, s. (2011). hope, healing, and care. liberal education, 97(2), 34-39. ginwright, s. (2016). hope and healing in urban education: how urban activists and teachers are reclaiming matters of the heart. new york, ny, us: routledge/taylor & francis group. ginwright, s., cammarota, j. (2002). new terrain in youth development: the promise of a social justice development approach. social justice 29(4):82-96. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.25 gorski, p. c. (2002). fear and learning at hoover elementary. multicultural education, 10(1), 60. hannegan-martinez, s., mendoza avina, s., delgado bernal, d., & solorzano, d. g. (2022). (re) imagining transformational resistance: seeds of resistance and pedagogical ruptures. urban education. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859221092973 huber, l. p. (2009). challenging racist nativist framing: acknowledging the community cultural wealth of undocumented chicana college students to reframe the immigration debate. harvard educational review, 79(4), 704-730. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4.r7j1xn011965w186 king, p. e., dowling, e. m., mueller, r. a., white, k., schultz, w. osborn, p., dickerson, e. bobke, d. l., lerner, r. m., benson, p. l., & scales, p. c. (2005). thriving in adolescence: the voices of youth-serving practitioners, parents, and early and late adolescents. journal of early adolescence, 25(1), pp. 94-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431604272459 larson, r. (2006). positive youth development, willful adolescents, and mentoring. journal of community psychology, 34(6), 677–689. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20123 leonardo, z., & porter, r. k. (2010). pedagogy of fear: toward a fanonian theory of ‘‘safety’’ in race dialogue. race ethnicity and education, 13(2), 139–157. doi:10.1080/13613324.2010.482898 noguera, p. a. (2003). schools, prisons, and social implications of punishment: rethinking disciplinary practices. theory into practice, 42(4), 341-350. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4204_12 orfield, g., ee, j. (2014). segregating california’s future: inequality and its alternative 60 years after brown v. board of education. los angeles: ucla civil rights project. perez huber, l. et al (2015). still falling through the cracks: revisiting the latina/o educational pipeline. los angeles: ucla chicano studies research center research report no. 19. pizarro, m. (1998). contesting dehumanization: chicana/o spiritualization, revolutionary possibility, and the curriculum. aztlán: a journal of chicano studies, 23(1), 55-76. ponjuan, l., clark, m., & sáenz, v.b. (2012). “boys in peril: examining latino boys’ education pathways and motivation towards postsecondary education: a qualitative study of latino boys in florida and texas education systems.” university of texas at austin, division of diversity and community engagement website: http://ddce.utexas.edu/projectmales/ wp-content/uploads/2010/11/tg-foundationqualitative-study_final-draft.pdf pour-khorshid, f. (2018). cultivating sacred spaces: a racial affinity group approach to support critical educators of color. teaching education, 29(4), 318-329. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2018.1512092 ramirez, j. c. (2010). "don't point the deficit finger at me foo!!!": chicana/o school disengagement and re-engagement in west los angeles. masters thesis, california state university, northridge. scholar works open access repository. http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/143468 from safe spaces to sacred spaces association of mexican american educators (amae) journal ã 2023, vol. 17, issue 2 54 ramirez, j. c. (2018). “they say pushout, we say pushback!!!": a case study examination of chicanx-latinx after-school youth development and transformational resistance. doctoral dissertation, university of california, los angeles. proquest dissertations & theses global. riggs, n. r. (2006). after-school program attendance and the social development of rural latino children of immigrant families. journal of community psychology, 34, 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20084 rios, v. m. (2017). human targets: schools, police, and the criminalization of latino youth. university of chicago press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226091044.001.0001 rios, v. m. (2011). punished: policing the lives of black and latino. new york: new york university press. rodriguez, c. (2010). amoxtli the x codex: in lak ech, panache be, hunab ku and the forgotten 1524 debates. eagle feather research institute, collective copyright. schmitz, r. m., robinson, b. a., tabler, j., welch, b., & rafaqut, s. (2020). lgbtq+ latino/a young people’s interpretations of stigma and mental health: an intersectional minority stress perspective. society and mental health, 10(2), 163-179. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156869319847248 sojoyner, d. m. (2013). black radicals make for bad citizens: undoing the myth of the school to prison pipeline. berkeley review of education, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.5070/b84110021 solórzano, d.g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36, 308-342. doi:10.1177/0042085901363002 soto, l. d., cervantes-soon, c., villarreal, e., & campos, e. (2009). the xicana sacred space: a communal circle of compromiso for educational researchers. harvard educational review, 79(4), 755-776. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4.4k3x387k74754q18 stovall, d. (2018). are we ready for ‘school’ abolition?: thoughts and practices of radical imaginary in education. taboo: the journal of culture and education, 17(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.31390/taboo.17.1.06 tello, j. (2018). recovering your sacredness. hacienda heights: suenos publications llc. torres, m., & fergus, e. (2012). “social mobility and the complex status of latino males: education, employment, and incarceration patterns from 2000–2009.” in noguera, pedro, hurtado, and fergus (2012) invisible no more: understanding and responding to the disenfranchisement of latino males. new york: routledge.19–40. tuck, e. (2012). urban youth and school pushout: gateways, get-aways, and the ged. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203829226 valles, b. g., & villalpando, o. (2021). a critical race policy analysis of the school-to-prison pipeline for chicanos. in handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 394-403). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351032223-34 yosso, t. j. (2013). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203624821 yosso, t.j., & solórzano, d.g. (2006). leaks in the chicana and chicano educational pipeline. los angeles: ucla chicano studies research center research report no.13. amae 1.pdf amae 5 ramirez.pdf volume 19 issue 1 2025 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor lorenza lancaster the university of texas at san antonio association of mexican american educators journal http://amaejournal.utsa.edu a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 33 using testimonios to enhance social emotional learning skills for high school latina/o/x students jose ortiz state university of new york at cortland abstract this article explored how a testimonio presented during an out-of-school summer program for latina/o/x high school youth served as a tool for students to enhance their social and emotional learning (sel) skills. focusing specifically on a robust communal activity in the program known as an “encuentro,” i examined how sel skills were fostered through the individual and collective interactions that occurred during this gathering. i drew on video data to examine how a chicana student’s testimonio presentation and her reflection on a personal lived experience sparked program staff and students listening to engage in acts of collective sense-making through the sharing of personal stories. i observed students fostering their sel skills through the personal and collective sense-making that occurred between program staff and students. i make the case for how testimonios can serve as a culturally relevant tool to diversify current sel practices within u.s. schools. key words: social emotional learning; testimonio; culturally relevant approach; sel skills doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.19.1.519 using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 34 social and emotional learning (sel) has come to represent a significant educational movement within the united states. sel focuses on attending to students’ social and emotional needs to increase students’ learning experience in and out of the classroom (hoffman, 2009; humphrey, 2013). since the 1990s, u.s. schools have largely relied on the collaborative for academic, social, and emotional learning (casel), the world’s leading organization in advancing the practice of sel into p-12 schools, for guidance on implementing effective sel programs and practices in classrooms. the justification and need for sel has largely been captured in studies showing that developing students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making—otherwise known as sel skills—can lead to “improvements in social and emotional competence, reductions in problem behavior, and improved academic performance” (casel, 2015, p. 31). educators have not only used academic and behavioral reasons to justify the need for sel in schools but have also proposed sel as a way to improve the learning experiences for at-risk groups (elias, 2009). students of color (soc) are often identified as an at-risk group. while studies have revealed the positive impact sel practices can have on increasing academic performance and sel skills for soc, critiques have also surfaced identifying the lack of diversity present in sel practices. there is, thus, a need to implement culturally relevant practices when attending to how emotions are developed, experienced, and expressed by soc. in this article, i explored how students used testimonios (or testimonies in spanish) to reflect on personal lived experiences. i focus on a young chicana student’s testimonio that she shared during a robust activity known as an encuentro (or meeting in spanish). encuentros were a daily activity that took place in the aquetza: youth leadership, education, and community empowerment program (henceforth, aquetza), a free, intensive one week summer program for ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 35 high school students. i focus on one testimonio presentation that occurred during one encuentro to highlight how the sharing of one student’s lived experience sparked other students listening to share their own experiences. it is in the collective sharing and sensemaking of experiences where the emergence of sel skills can be observed. this article aims to demonstrate how testimonios can serve as a culturally relevant practice to diversify sel approaches within u.s. schools. social emotional learning and students of color while this article focuses specifically on the latina/o/x students who participated in the aquetza program, i purposely discuss studies in this section that highlight the experiences of soc with sel. researchers often lump latina/o/x students under the umbrella term of soc. as such, proponents of sel frequently treat the experiences of soc as universal, unintentionally overlooking the vast intersections that shape and define cultural and social experiences for soc in the u.s. soc are identified as an at-risk group who are more likely to experience challenging social environments (polleck, 2010; reyes & elias, 2011; reyes et al., 2013) and less likely to graduate from high school (león et al., 2011) when compared to their white peers. sel has also been framed as an appropriate behavioral intervention framework to address the high discipline referrals which disproportionally impact soc (brown et al., 2018). with sel being regarded as an essential “missing piece” to providing students with an effective education (elias, 2009), efforts in sel research have sought to identify ways to make sel practices more accessible to soc. using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 36 researchers have proposed utilizing culturally relevant practices and resources to promote sel for soc in the classroom. castro-olivo (2014), for example, noted how spanishspeaking students “have been identified as an at-risk group of students in need of culturally adapted interventions” (p. 8). the “culturally adapted interventions” castro-olivo (2014) referred to involved directly translating the jovenes fuertes (strong teens) sel curriculum from english to spanish, which proved to be effective for a sample group of 102 spanishdominant latina/o/x middle and high school english language learners (ells). similarly, in a study by león et al. (2011), the fostering of sel skills for a sample group of 62 spanish-speaking fourthand fifth-grade students emerged from directly translating sel curricula from english to spanish. studies by castro-olivo (2014) and león et al. (2011) demonstrated the positive effects of translating sel curricula from english to spanish, notably on improving standardized test scores and developing sel skills for spanish-speaking students. while culturally relevant practices can be implemented differently in the classroom, one distinguishing factor that unites all culturally relevant practices includes recognizing the rich history, knowledge, and experiences of ethnic groups and utilizing these assets to make school content more accessible to soc (paris & alim, 2017). translating sel curricula from english to spanish, as studies by castro-olivo (2014) and león et al. (2011) demonstrated, did center the rich knowledge ells have by recognizing and encouraging the use of ell’s primary language in the classroom. however, direct translation of a curricula still limits the ability for soc to incorporate their rich history and experiences in classroom activities, especially if the curricula that is being translated initially lacks any cultural competence for how soc express and make sense of their emotions (hoffman, 2009; humphrey, 2013). ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 37 an sel curricula that most closely aligns with the goals of culturally relevant practices of focusing on the history and experiences of ethnic groups is facing history and ourselves (fhao). fhao is a classroom curriculum for middle and high school students that centers an exploration and reflection of historical events dealing with prejudice, genocide, and injustices against people in society (brabeck et al., 1994; elias et al., 2019; elias et al., 2006; facing history and ourselves, 2019). some of the common topics discussed under the fhao curricula include race in u.s. history, the holocaust, and bullying and ostracism. through self and group reflection activities, students are provided with a classroom environment where they can blend “historical knowledge with social and self-awareness and respect for diversity, along with perspective taking and conflict resolution” (elias et al., 2019, p. 10–11). studies have shown that students who participate in fhao activities not only develop an increased motivation to learn in class but are more likely to recognize and speak out against racism and bigotry when they occur in society (facing history and ourselves, 2019; strom et al., 1992). in addition, fhao has also shown to influence students’ moral development in a way that increases students’ reasoning without affecting their psychological well-being (brabeck et al., 1994). while fhao was not specifically designed for soc, it does touch on topics that adversely affect soc and people of color. a curriculum such as fhao where soc can see themselves reflected in the material being taught, fits with the goal of culturally relevant practices by making the sel curriculum more accessible to soc. however, i identify some limitations found in fhao and their capacity to fully implement culturally relevant practices. fhao risks: • promoting a one-size-fits-all approach for all soc; • not discussing where ideologies such as racism, classism, and sexism originate; using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 38 • only centering the histories and experiences of african americans and persecuted white groups; • presenting a general overview of student experiences as opposed to the personal histories and stories of students who have direct experience with forms of oppression; and • not emphasizing how social and political factors affect and shape one’s emotions. the limitations i identify with fhao and translating sel curricula from english to spanish are not intended to dissuade the overall academic and social-emotional impact certain curricula have had on soc. my critiques are meant to highlight the need for culturally relevant curricula that recognizes and utilizes the rich history, knowledge, and experiences of ethnic groups, in a way that deviates from a largely white-centered way of defining emotions in schools which sel curricula have been critiqued in doing. sel practices in schools have been criticized for: (a) teaching students to control rather than understand their emotions; (b) justifying individual skill development by focusing on narrow measures of academic achievement (e.g., test scores); and (c) promoting a white middle-class standard definition of how soc should express and discuss their emotions (hoffman, 2009; humphrey, 2013). given the increasing influence of sel in u.s. schools and the desire to expand sel programs to soc, i argue that sel practices need to emphasize how students’ emotional development, experience, and expression are culturally situated (mesquita, 2007). this article expands on sel research by exploring a cultural practice known as testimonio among a small subset of high school students participating in the aquetza summer program. by exploring the impact a student’s testimonio had on a group of students, i discuss how the sharing of personal lived experiences can contribute to latina/o/x students exploring ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 39 and understanding their emotions in a way that can foster the emergence of sel skills. testimonio testimonio is inherently a form of narrative. although narratives can and have been used in a variety of social settings, the unique history of testimonio and their particular use in latin america makes them unique to a certain racial and ethnic community. latin americans have used testimonios to document and narrate the personal and collective experiences of those who have been oppressed in society (delgado bernal et al., 2012; reyes & curry rodríguez, 2012). latin americans have detailed acts of oppression experienced and have identified how they resisted injustices during times of war (pérez huber, 2010). the defining feature of a testimonio not only lies in its intent to spread awareness of oppressive conditions, but also in their intent to seek justice from said oppressive conditions (collins, 1991; delgado bernal et al., 2012; elenes, 2000). the history surrounding the use and practice of testimonios can thus make them political by nature (brabeck, 2003). a testimonio can include a critique of power while also serving as a method to empower those negatively affected by institutions of power. this form of empowerment lies in a testimonio’s ability to affirm a person’s experiences, especially when their narrative is seldom recognized by systems of oppression. usually written or presented in front of a group, a typical testimonio often involves a person first naming a form of oppression, reflecting on the oppression experienced, and coming up with ways to address that oppression. brabeck (2003) described the reflective process involved in presenting a testimonio as a verbal journey where a person recounts injustices experienced while also reflecting on the effects that have resulted from the mentioned injustices. while the presenter does undergo a process of naming, personally struggling through, and self-reflection, those who bear witness to a testimonio can also realize using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 40 commonalities that exist between their and the presenter’s experience (pérez huber, 2010). those listening to a testimonio can then engage with the speaker as they work to validate and collectively make sense of the experiences being shared (lenkersdorf, 2008). unlike a narrative, a testimonio is “the expression not of a single autonomous account but of a collectively experienced reality” (brabeck, 2003, p. 253). those who have faced oppression can come to realize that their own experience is not unique and a connection to a larger group struggle exists. in addressing students’ emotions in schools, the reflective and collaborative nature of testimonios offers the opportunity for latina/o/x students to explore the experiences and emotions that simultaneously surface from the many societal and educational inequalities latinas/os/xs face. latinas/os/xs experience struggles concerning their immigration status, language, ethnicity, culture, identity, phenotype, and more (pérez huber, 2009). testimonios thus represent a way—grounded in latina/o/x cultural practice—for latina/o/x students to discuss and heal from experiences dealing with oppression. testimonios have already been applied in the field of education to empower latina/o/x students and inform others of the experiences latina/o/x students face in their educational journeys. for example, a single case study by lara (2023) highlighted the specific challenges experienced by multiple marginalized undocumented latinx students. similarly, a study by gonzález et al. (2003) explored how undocumented students used testimonios to not only highlight experiences dealing with racism but to also inform teachers of the academic obstacles undocumented students face in schools. both lara (2023) and gonzález et al. (2003) reveal the transformative power students’ testimonios can have in both educating educators on the struggles undocumented students face and highlighting the impact mentorship can have in positively influencing immigrant latinx students’ educational experience. testimonios have the ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 41 power to humanize the immigrant experience which contrasts the overwhelming political narrative that vilifies and dehumanizes undocumented people in the u.s. (ochoa, 2016). methods before describing the daily practices of aquetza and my data collection and analysis, it is important to position myself in relation to the program’s organizers, facilitators, and student participants. i was brought into aquetza by my doctoral advisor, aquetza’s faculty co-director, to serve as a graduate research assistant and collect data during the program’s duration. most of the organizers, facilitators, and student participants self-identified as latina/o/x1 or chicana/o2, members of a predominantly latina/o/x immigrant working class community and were either attending or had graduated from a public school. i identify as a cisgender latino from a working-class community in the western united states who also attended public schools. while some personal and professional similarities did exist between aquetza members and myself, which can provide a unique perspective in interpreting the practices and learning that occurred during aquetza, i am also aware of the uniqueness that exists in cultural experience. as such, i proceed cautiously in my analysis of the events that occurred in aquetza to avoid generalizing the experiences of organizers, facilitators, and participants (boveda & annamma, 2023). 1 i use “latina/o/x” to capture the broad range of self-disclosed identities present in aquetza. some of the selfdisclosed identities accounted for intersections that exist in cultural and social experience (latinx) while most identified as latina/o, emphasizing the ethnic and cultural origins one has to a spanish-speaking country (garcía, 2020). 2 “chicana” is a political identity that emerged during the chicano movement of the 1960s. the identity is also used to describe the complexity that exists in being both mexican and american and being accused of not being either (simmen & bauerle, 1969; aguirre, 1971). using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 42 aquetza context this article used data gathered during a summer when 41 high school students (four returning and 37 new participants) and 16 undergraduate and graduate students participated in a one-week summer enrichment program known as the aquetza: youth education, leadership, and community empowerment program (henceforth, aquetza) which takes place at a university campus located in the western united states.3 aquetza is a free, intensive seven-day program that focuses on engaging latina/o/x high school students in the examination of history, literature, health science, and relevant social and political issues from a mexican american studies perspective. all activities that took place during aquetza were planned by the 16 undergraduate and graduate student volunteers who served as the program’s main organizers and facilitators. a typical day at aquetza first saw high school students participating in four academic courses taught by undergraduate and graduate student facilitators from the early morning until the early afternoon. in the evenings, all participants participated in a communal gathering known as an encuentro (or “meeting” in spanish) where students shared narratives, their experiences, and reflections or testimonios in a group setting. given the purpose of these daily gatherings, encuentros provided a unique space to explore how the presentation of students’ testimonios can reinforce sel skills. encuentros, data collection, and analysis in spanish, encuentros translates to “meeting” or an “encounter.” although meant to be an informal space for sharing, organizers of aquetza still utilized some routines to structure the 3 all names in this article are pseudonyms to protect the privacy of each participant. ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 43 sharing of stories. an aquetza director would serve as the facilitator and would often begin an encuentro by asking if there were any volunteers who would like to share a story or relevant piece of information to the rest of the group. if an aquetza member chose to volunteer, they would then walk to the front of a large lecture hall and present to the larger group. those who were not presenting were expected to listen quietly while the presenter shared their story. after the presenter finished sharing, the facilitator would thank the presenter, open the encuentro space for feedback, would thank the presenter once there was no more feedback, instruct the presenter to sit down, and ask if anyone else would like to present. most students would share letters, poems, or stories that had been inspired by prior lived experience. encuentros became a space where students chose to share intimate parts of their lives and would feel comfortable showing any emotions that surfaced from listening to people’s experiences. for example, a common theme that permeated the encuentro presentations revolved around identifying and reflecting on moments when aquetza members were victims of racism. it is important to reiterate that aquetza only took place over a sevenday period. therefore, students’ willingness to share something meaningful about themselves with their peers and staff speaks to the trust cultivated in aquetza and during the encuentros. this article focuses on one student’s testimonio presentation, and the immediate feedback received, which was video recorded and later transcribed. angela, a 17-year-old chicana high school junior, was one of four alumni that came back to aquetza to serve as a student leader for the other incoming student participants. i focus on angela’s testimonio presentation because it provides a concrete example of the self-reflective and collective sensemaking that can emerge from a testimonio presentation (pérez huber, 2010; reyes & curry rodríguez, 2012). angela’s testimonio presentation centered her own individual using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 44 experience and inspired those listening to share their own experiences once they realized the commonalities that existed. focusing on one person’s testimonio is a common analytical approach as it provides the opportunity to explore the way a person recounts an experience, how they position themselves in that experience, and what overall message the presenter aims to transmit by recounting on their lived experience (baumeister & newman, 1994; delgado bernal et al., 2012; riessman, 1993). i utilized a deductive coding approach (tashakkori & teddlie, 1998) to identify moments in angela’s testimonio presentation where she and other aquetza student participants exhibited the development of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and/or responsible decision-making. a deductive coding approach is appropriate when looking at already established concepts (merriam, 2009). with casel (2015) already giving a detailed description of each of its five sel core competencies, i was able to use these descriptions to code the interactions that occurred throughout angela’s testimonio presentation. angela’s testimonio presentation included angela presenting her testimonio, an aquetza director immediately asking a question once angela finished presenting, and three students engaging with angela and with each other all in the same encuentro. below i give a breakdown of the primary people involved throughout angela’s testimonio presentation: presenter and respondent breakdown name role in aquetza age gender identity ethnicity angela (presenter) student participant 17 female chicana david director 28 male chicano maria student participant 16 female mexican lupe student participant 17 female chicana franco student participant 15 male latino ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 45 findings next, i introduce angela’s testimonio presentation. i then discuss how casel’s (2015) sel model is present in the conversation that immediately followed angela’s testimonio presentation. the reflective and collective sensemaking that occurred over the course of angela’s testimonio presentation represents one example of how testimonios can serve to accomplish the goals associated with sel. angela’s testimonio presentation on the first day of encuentro presentations, approximately 60 people (including aquetza organizers, facilitators, and student participants), spanning an age range of 15-40, all of which identified as either latina/o/x or chicana/o, met in a large lecture hall to be in community and take part in an encuentro. david, one of the aquetza directors, extended an invitation to anyone who wanted to present a story, experience, or thought in front of the entire group. angela, a returning student participant, decided to present a testimonio she had written after leaving aquetza the summer before. after being introduced by david, angela proceeded to the front of the large lecture hall, wearing a black t-shirt with “la raza” printed on it, and stood behind a waist-high podium. angela waited patiently for the group to quiet down. after the room went silent, angela grabbed her phone and proceeded to read her testimonio aloud: dear white people. welcome to the land of the brave and free. i live in a country born on genocide and built on the backs of slaves. dear white people. el fútbol no es my favorite sport. y mi cultura is not “exotic” as you call it. gringo, no soy hispanic, soy latina. soy indigenous, chicana, mexicana, brown. welcome to the stolen land. 1492, when native americans discovered columbus. columbus, the man who was lost, raped our using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 46 women and our culture. no human is illegal. we’re not immigrants. we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us. no, we’re not lazy and no, we didn’t steal your jobs. coming from another country not knowing the language and having no resources, starting from zero, my friend, is not stealing your jobs. welcome to the land where your people, backpacking from europe, messing stuff up, and drinking are called “adventurous,” and my people crossing borders, risking their lives to save themselves, are called “criminals.” we are strong, we are resilient, we are human. audience members applauded after angela finished presenting her testimonio. angela then asked for any follow-up questions and comments. after a short moment, david raised his hand to ask what inspired angela to write her testimonio. angela identified an interaction she had with a white classmate back at her high school as her main inspiration for writing her testimonio. describing the interaction in detail, angela mentioned how a white classmate began saying racist mexican jokes one day during art class: he [white classmate] started saying racist mexican jokes and he’s like, “oh freaking people jumping the border,” this and that. [. . .] i stood up [in class] and i told him, “i’m so sick and tired of white people saying whatever they want and not getting in trouble for it!” [. . .] i got sent to the dean’s. [. . .], and so that same day i wrote a poem. and it all came out. aquetza members were shocked at the racism angela experienced while being in school. a conversation then emerged where students not only gave angela feedback but also shared their own experiences dealing with racism. it is in the conversation that emerged between angela and three other aquetza student participants where casel’s sel competencies can be observed. ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 47 using casel’s sel model to analyze students’ responses to angela’s testimonio presentation the interactions that occurred immediately after angela’s testimonio presentation can be analyzed using casel’s (2015) five sel competencies. the five sel competencies casel identifies include: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. casel notes how these five competencies can be taught in many ways and across many settings, all with the goal of enhancing students’ skills, attitudes, and behaviors to deal effectively and ethically with daily tasks and challenges. the feedback generated from angela’s testimonio presentation not only captured the purpose behind presenting a testimonio—which is to reflect on one’s own experience and engage in individual and collective sense-making (pérez huber, 2010)—but her testimonio presentation also appeals to casel’s five sel competencies. three aquetza student participants, each sharing one after another, participated in a conversation that followed angela’s testimonio presentation. it is in the collective sense making that occurred between three student participants and angela where the emergence of one or more of casel’s (2015) competencies can be observed. next, i discuss how the five sel competencies are present in the order they emerged after angela’s testimonio presentation. self-management and responsible decision-making the two competencies of self-management and responsible decision-making are combined since angela’s testimonio included specific moments in which both competencies were simultaneously present. casel (2015) defined self-management as the ability to “regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations” (p. 5). responsible decision-making involves being able to make “constructive and respectful choices about using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 48 personal behavior and social interactions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, social norms, the realistic evaluation of consequences” (p. 6). demonstrating both competencies is thought to be indicative of personal growth because one must process how their actions can lead to immediate and future consequences. moreover, being able to demonstrate both competencies is also indicative of emotional growth because one must overcome any emotions that arise from being in difficult situations. the best reflection of self-management and responsible decision-making is demonstrated in angela’s explanation as to why she wrote her testimonio. angela mentioned that she wrote her testimonio due to an encounter she had experienced in high school. this experience involved a moment where angela found herself having to control her actions after becoming angry at another student. one day during art class, angela described what had happened: i walked into class, you know, and it was the week of senior pranks. so, i had art and it’s a mixture of freshmen through seniors and so there was a freshman white boy, and he started talking to me, according to him, in a “mexican” accent. so, he started talking to me, he’s like, “oh, for your senior prank you should, you know, do something that has to do with fútbol. yeah, el fútbol!” and i was like, “whatever.” so, i sat down, and i put in my headphones and it’s sad that i had to put in my headphones to basically get away and not listen to him, and so i decided not to say anything because you have to choose your battles, you can’t fight like every single one of them. here, angela described how she was able to manage her emotional reaction and behavior during a difficult situation, which is reflective of demonstrating self-management. the phrase, “you have to choose your battles,” is a powerful way of assessing angela’s actions during the stressful situation she described, given that she showed self-restraint despite the offensive and racist comments she heard. understandably bothered and perturbed over the comments ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 49 directed at her, angela’s decision to put her earphones on as opposed to engaging with her classmate exemplifies responsible decision-making—angela demonstrated how she was able to make constructive and respectful choices about her personal behavior. angela’s decision to put on her headphones not only led to a brief moment of managing the stress she was feeling, it also showed how she chose to disengage instead of getting into a potential verbal—or physical—confrontation with her classmate. as angela continued standing in front of the lecture hall, she shared with aquetza members how her classmate’s jokes continued and became increasingly more offensive. angela described how she was literally shaking with anger, and after tolerating her classmate’s racist remarks for too long, angela decided that she needed to respond: i was doing like scratch board, so i had an exacto knife in my hand. i started shaking. so, i dropped it, and i stood up and i told him, “i’m so sick and tired of white people saying whatever they want and not getting in trouble for it!” and like legit, i go to a predominantly white people school and so everyone turned, and i’m the only brown girl there, and everyone turned to me and they were like, “what did you just say?” and it’s crazy because they didn’t say anything when he was being racist, but they said something once i stood up [. . .]. i got sent to the dean’s. angela’s decision to drop the exacto knife is evidence of self-management and responsible decision-making. angela demonstrated an ability to assess a situation and consider the potential consequences that could have come from a moment of anger. although angela’s follow-up decision to verbally confront her classmate may not be completely indicative of selfmanagement and responsible decision-making, angela’s decision to drop the exacto knife demonstrated that she handled the racism she was experiencing as productively as she could. angela chose to verbalize her frustration and anger as opposed to having taken any physical using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 50 action against her classmate that would have resulted in a far more severe punishment than her being sent to the dean’s office. after listening to angela’s motivation for writing her testimonio, maria, another aquetza student, immediately responded to angela by sharing her own experience with the group. maria’s response to angela’s testimonio is indicative of how presenting a testimonio can inspire a person listening to realize the commonalities that exist between their and the presenter’s experience. both can then engage in collective sense-making to interrogate the events that transpired (brabeck, 2003; pérez huber, 2010). in the same encuentro, maria shared with the group an interaction she had with a white soccer player when playing a game for her high school’s team: they [maria’s teammates] passed the ball so i could header it and i jumped up to header it and then she’s [opposing soccer player] like, “ok, it’s not the wall. you don’t have to jump that high.” and then that’s when i turned around and actually had to do something about it. but the ref the whole time, they were just listening to it, and i kept telling them, “what are you going to do?” because i was already heated. so, when i pushed her and started getting all on her and doing stuff, they gave me a red card and they just gave her a yellow card [. . .]. i was crying when i got off the field. maria shared with angela and the rest of the group how she lost control of her emotions. immediate parallels were drawn between what angela had just shared moments before maria spoke, and how a white soccer player from an opposing team, began directing racist remarks towards maria. maria’s inability to control her emotions after being at the receiving end of racism led to actions that resulted in maria getting expelled from the soccer game. maria’s decision to respond to a soccer player’s racist remarks is an example of not reflecting qualities of self-management and responsible decision-making. in particular, maria could not control her ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 51 impulses during a stressful situation, which led to her making decisions that negated the opportunity to continue playing and potentially helping her team win the soccer game. as i explain next, maria’s contribution to angela’s testimonio presentation inspired two more students to add to the conversation, thus demonstrating the social awareness and relationship skills competencies. social awareness and relationship skills lupe, another aquetza alumna, listened to maria share of her experience with racism and decided to immediately provide maria with feedback during the same encuentro. the feedback lupe provided maria is reflective of the social awareness and relationship skills competencies. social awareness is described as the ability to “take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior, and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports” (casel, 2015, p. 5). casel (2015) defines relationship skills as having the ability to: establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups [by] communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively, and seeking and offering help when needed. (p. 6) lupe responded by not only empathizing with maria, a key feature of social awareness, but lupe also took the opportunity to present maria with some advice that could inspire maria not to react in a confrontational manner next time she deals with a stressful situation. lupe’s advice has its own origins the summer prior when she had been a participant in aquetza for the first time. the advice lupe shared with maria, and all those present in the encuentro, is where relationship skills and social awareness are best reflected. during the using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 52 encuentro, lupe described how david, aquetza director, had shared a piece of advice with her that influences the way she approaches stressful encounters: it’s hard to maintain control, but like last year david [aquetza director] told me one thing and it resonated with me. he was like, “you can’t get angry because then you’re just going to prove them right when they call you violent.” david’s advice reflects aquetza’s goal of providing students with the skills for them to become empowered individuals. analyzing david’s advice through casel’s (2015) model, relationship skills are reflected in the type of connection lupe tried to establish, not only with maria, but with all the aquetza participants. lupe first sat and listened while maria presented her dilemma. lupe then acknowledged maria’s struggles by responding with “it’s hard to maintain control” in times of high stress and anger. although lupe did acknowledge how difficult it is to maintain control in stressful situations, she emphasized that getting mad is no excuse to act in a confrontational manner. to emphasize the importance of remaining calm during stressful situations, lupe shared some personal advice she had received from david. david gave lupe advice that reflected the social awareness competency—david served as a resource for lupe. as lupe shared david’s advice, lupe now served as a resource to maria and the rest of the aquetza participants. although not stated directly, the message, “you can’t get angry because then you’re just going to prove them right when they call you violent,” could be referring to a stereotype of latinas/os/xs within u.s. society. rather than validate stereotypes that get attached to latinas/os/xs, though, lupe encouraged maria and the rest of the aquetza participants to control their impulses and not engage in impulsive behaviors that can be interpreted as deviating from the model citizen behavioral norms present in u.s. schools and society. ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 53 immediately after lupe finished sharing, franco, another aquetza student, contributed to the conversation and continued with giving advice to maria on handling stressful situations in a constructive and healthy manner; this was during the same encuentro. casel (2015) emphasized teamwork as an aspect of relationship skills. franco’s decision—to share his own experience as an example of how he dealt with a conflict like the one maria shared—showed how he was reinforcing the efforts that originally commenced with lupe sharing how one should not get angry during situations involving racism. like maria, franco also dealt with racism when he plays soccer. however, franco reacts to racist remarks in a manner that does not lead to his suspension from a game. i next explain how franco’s contribution to the conversation, which immediately surfaced after angela’s testimonio presentation, reveals aspects of the self-awareness competency. self-awareness self-awareness describes “the ability to accurately recognize one’s emotions and thoughts and their influence on behavior. this includes accurately assessing one’s strengths and limitations and possessing a well-grounded sense of confidence and optimism” (casel, 2015, p. 5). franco described self-awareness in his own personal growth and the way he was aware of his emotions when he reacted to a situation involving racism. franco shared that the racist remarks he heard were not only spoken by players on the soccer field, but also by people watching the game in the stands. while franco expressed how angry he felt when he heard those remarks, he knew that he could not let his anger and frustration affect his judgement: they’re just trying to mess with you. but you’re still all heated so it’s like, you just have to deal with it because if they get in your head, they already got you, so it’s better to using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 54 either ignore it or just [pause], i would say confront it but not in that situation right there ’cause that’s a bad idea. franco’s reasoning that stemmed from his own experience is an example of how he was able to identify the emotions and thoughts that directly impacted his behavior. as franco stated, people tried to “mess” with him. this understanding of people’s intentions contributed to franco being able to identify the factors that led him to become frustrated and angry. once franco was able to identify these factors, he made a conscious effort to not allow angry emotions to influence his behavior. this recognition contributed to franco being able to establish a well-grounded sense of confidence and optimism. franco found himself “heated” or upset by the negativity that was directed at him, but he decided to rise above it. this decision was sparked by franco’s understanding of what people’s intentions were behind their racist remarks. as franco recalled, instead of letting people “get in [his] head,” franco decided not to give in to other people’s attempts to impact his performance on the soccer field. franco instead used people’s racist remarks as a form of motivation to perform better on the field and help his team win the match. franco displayed his level of confidence by saying that at the end of the day he is the one laughing because the negative comments that were meant to discourage him ultimately ended up fueling his desire to prove those acting against him wrong. franco hoped that sharing his experience would serve as an example of how one should react and make decisions that will not negatively impact oneself or others. conclusion using casel’s model to interpret the conversation that followed angela’s testimonio presentation revealed how sharing a lived experience, and the collective nature involved in ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 55 making sense of a lived experience (pérez huber, 2010), can contribute to the emergence of casel’s (2015) five sel competencies. identifying casel’s competencies after angela’s testimonio presentation makes the case for how testimonios can serve as a potential resource to promote sel in u.s. schools. however, analyzing the act of sense-making that emerged because of angela’s testimonio presentation through casel’s model can also limit the grander purpose involved when presenting a testimonio. testimonio, within the context of aquetza, revealed the historical, cultural, racial and ethnic elements that go into understanding emotions that emerged from lived experiences. with sel being critiqued for largely promoting a white-centred way of defining and approaching emotions, sel models can benefit from the larger goals of a testimonio. in a time when sel is heavily critiqued, not only by critical educators but also conservative lawmakers, we must question as to whether schools should continue efforts to address students’ emotional well-being. a curriculum focusing on emotions faced severe resistance prior to 1990 due to the fear that class time would be diverted from teachers teaching and students learning the required academic curriculum. nonetheless, sel entered schools and flourished for almost 30 years. pre-1990 arguments around sel resurfaced starting 2020, effectively jeopardizing the presence of sel in u.s. schools (mitchell, 2024). it was proponents of sel who initially argued that developing students’ sel skills would effectively improve students’ academic scores and reduce moments teachers would have to dedicate time towards addressing behavioral concerns in the classroom (humphrey, 2013). studies have shown that sel does positively influence students’ academic skills while also addressing student behavioral concerns. however, sel’s original promise of attending to students’ social and emotional well-being has experienced using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 56 noticeable shortcomings (hoffman, 2009). education is not apolitical nor is it absent of emotions. while u.s. states may be proposing bans on sel, it is not only important that a curriculum that claims to support the ‘whole student’-nurturing students’ intellectual, social, and emotional developmentbe continued within schools, but active efforts need to be taken to improve the shortcomings of sel. casel’s five sel competencies can be broadened to include a more encompassing and critical perspective as it relates to the experiences of latina/o/x people in the u.s (camangian & cariaga, 2021). unlike a testimonio, self-awareness does not consider the role that being part of a larger community has in shaping one’s own individual identity. this is especially prevalent when reflecting on one’s place within a certain racial and cultural community and in learning how one’s quality of life is impacted by race-related interactions (utsey, chae, brown, & kelly, 2002). for example, franco’s reflection on how he processed the racism he experienced while playing soccer revealed that he understood how he was being treated as a member of a racial group and not only as a high school soccer player. in particular, franco demonstrated an individual awareness on how he was being addressed as a latino and was thus subjugated to the stereotypes, images, and hostile verbiage present in racist ideologies. emphasizing the role racial and ethnic communities have in shaping one’s individual identity and how those communities are treated in the u.s. can enhance casel’s approach to self-awareness for soc. social awareness lacks an incorporation of the treatment communities of color have historically experienced in the u.s. acknowledging the historical and current maltreatment of latina/o/x communities is central to a testimonio because it identifies an injustice that needs to be addressed. for example, lupe revealed an awareness of the negative stereotypes that white americans hold over latinas/os/xs when she encouraged her peers to avoid getting angry and ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 57 losing control in moments involving racism. casel’s definition of social awareness could benefit from encouraging students to critically analyze u.s. society and centering the role u.s. social and political structures have in influencing peoples experiences and world views. developing relationship skills emphasizes the benefits of individuals working through moments of disagreement or conflict (casel, 2015). however, relationship skills do not capture a testimonio’s ability to form relationships from people realizing a common struggle a group of people has experienced. as evidenced in angela’s testimonio, angela sharing how she experienced racism led to maria and franco realizing that their own individual experiences were not unique and that racism affects others to a similar degree. finding a relationship through experiences led students to exchange advice on how to respond to situations where tension and frustration emerged from one’s personal encounters. thus, relationship skills can benefit from a testimonio’s ability to empower students where, as a collective, they identify an issue present within society and work together to address that issue. lastly, responsible decision-making involves being able to reflect and evaluate a situation, identify problems, analyze situations, and make appropriate decisions in response to certain situations (casel, 2015). responsible decision-making does not include an element for helping students understand why a situation is present to begin with. angela’s testimonio presentation is an example of how one’s own personal reflection on an event influenced those listening to engage in collective sense-making where they identified the social and political forces present that have shaped racial encounters in the u.s. making things explicit and spreading awareness on how systems and structures function, while acknowledging that they are problematic, can help students navigate through these institutions where they are placed in the best possible situation to succeed (delpit, 2018). this was present in angela’s testimonio when lupe and using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 58 franco shared how one should not get angry when being confronted with racism. teaching students how to navigate oppressive power structures can broaden the way responsible decision-making is approached. this article offers implications for how testimonios can provide latina/o/x students with the chance to examine and understand their lived experiences and associated emotions. in the process, i showed how testimonios can also serve as a way to foster sel skills. with casel developing a transformative sel framework rooted in the notion of promoting justiceoriented citizenship (jagers, rivas-drake & williams, 2019), casel, and other sel frameworks, should take into consideration the role social and political structures play in shaping one’s lived experiences and associated emotions that surface. testimonios offer one pathway for motivating latina/o/x students to express and understand their emotionsa skill not emphasized in the self-management competencyby exploring their lived experiences. ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 59 references aguirre, l. r. (1971). the meaning of the chicano movement. social casework, 52(5), 259-261. baumeister, r. f., & newman, l. s. (1994). how stories make sense of personal experiences: motives that shape autobiographical narratives. personality and social psychology bulletin, 20(6), 676-690. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294206006 boveda, m., & annamma, s. a. (2023). beyond making a statement: an intersectional framing of the power and possibilities of positioning. educational researcher, 52(5), 306314. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x231167149 brabeck, k. (2003). iv. testimonio: a strategy for collective resistance, cultural survival and building solidarity. feminism & psychology, 13(2), 252-258. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353503013002009 brabeck, m., kenny, m., stryker, s., tollefson, t., & sternstrom, m. (1994). human rights education through the ‘facing history and ourselves’ program. journal of moral education, 23(3), 333-347. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724940230310 brown, c., maggin, d. m., & buren, m. (2018). systematic review of cultural adaptations of school-based social, emotional, and behavioral interventions for students of color. education and treatment of children, 41(4), 431-456. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26535286 camangian, p., & cariaga, s. (2021). social and emotional learning is hegemonic miseducation: students deserve humanization instead. race ethnicity and education, 25(7), 901-921. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2020.1798374 casel, c. (2015). guide: effective social and emotional learning programs-middle and high school edition. collaborative for academic, social, and emotional learning: chicago, il, usa. castro-olivo, s. m. (2014). promoting social-emotional learning in adolescent latino ells: a study of the culturally adapted strong teens program. school psychology quarterly, 29(4), 567. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/spq0000055 collins, p. h. (1991). black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. new york, ny: routledge. delgado bernal, d., burciaga, r., & flores carmona, j. (2012). chicana/latina testimonios: mapping the methodological, pedagogical, and political. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 363–372. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698149 delpit, l. d. (2018). the silenced dialogue: power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. in thinking about schools (pp. 157-175). routledge. elenes, c. a. (2000). chicana feminist narratives and the politics of the self. frontiers: a journal of women studies, 21(3), 105–123. https://doi.org/10.2307/3347113 elias, m. (2009). social-emotional and character development and academics as a dual focus of educational policy. educational policy 23(6), 831-846. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904808330167 elias, m., brackett, m., miller, r., jones, s., kahn, j., mahoney, j., & chung, s. (2019). developing social and emotional skills and attitudes and ecological assets. d. osher, r. mayer, r. jagers, k. kendziora, & l. wood, keeping students safe and helping them thrive: a collaborative handbook on school safety, mental health, and wellness, 185-209. elias, m. j., o’brien, m. u., & weissberg, r. p. (2006). transformative leadership for social-emotional learning. principal leadership, 7(4), 10-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294206006 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x231167149 https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353503013002009 https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724940230310 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/spq0000055 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698149 https://doi.org/10.2307/3347113 https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904808330167 using testimonios to enhance social emotional association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025, volume 19, issue 1 60 facing history and ourselves (2019). https://www.facinghistory.org garcía, i. (2020). cultural insights for planners: understanding the terms hispanic, latino, and latinx. journal of the american planning association, 86(4), 393-402. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2020.1758191 gonzález, m. s., plata, o., garcía, e., torres, m., & urrieta jr, l. (2003). testimonios de inmigrantes: students educating future teachers. journal of latinos and education, 2(4), 233-243. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532771xjle0204_4 hoffman, d. m. (2009). reflecting on social emotional learning: a critical perspective on trends in the united states. review of educational research, 79(2), 533-556. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325184 humphrey, n. (ed.). (2013). social and emotional learning: a critical appraisal. sage publications limited. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446288603 jagers, r. j., rivas-drake, d., & williams, b. (2019). transformative social and emotional learning (sel): toward sel in service of educational equity and excellence. educational psychologist, 54(3), 162-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1623032 lara, a. (2023). an undocumented student's quest for acceptance: a testimonio analysis traversing the chicanx educational pipeline. association of mexican american educators journal, 17(2), 98-123. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.17.2.481 lenkersdorf, c. (2008). aprender a escuchar: ensenanzas maya-tojolabales. mexico, df: editora plaza y valde ́s. s.a de c.v. león, a., villares, e., brigman, g., webb, l., & peluso, p. (2011). closing the achievement gap of latina/latino students: a school counseling response. counseling outcome research and evaluation, 2(1), 73-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/2150137811400731 merriam, s. b. (2009). qualitative case study research. qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation, 39-54. mesquita, b. (2007). emotions are culturally situated. social science information, 46(3), 410-415. https://doi.org/10.1177/05390184070460030107 mitchell, b. d., lucio, r., souhrada, e., buttera, k., & mahoney, j. (2024). understanding the attacks on social–emotional learning: strategizing on the response and advocacy of school mental health practitioners. school mental health, 16(3), 948-958. ochoa, l. (2016). documenting the undocumented: testimonios as a humanizing pedagogy. association of mexican american educators journal, 10(2), 49-64. paris, d., & alim, h. s. (eds.). (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teachers college press. pérez huber, l. (2009). disrupting apartheid of knowledge: testimonio as methodology in latina/o critical race research in education. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 22(6), 639–654. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390903333863 pérez huber, l. (2010). using latina/o critical race theory (latcrit) and racist nativism to explore intersectionality in the educational experiences of undocumented chicana college students. educational foundations, 24, 77-96. polleck, j. n. (2010). using book clubs to enhance social–emotional and academic learning with urban adolescent females of color. reading & writing quarterly, 27(1-2), 101-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2011.532717 reyes, k. b., & curry rodríguez, j. e. (2012). testimonio: origins, terms, and resources. equity & excellence in education, 45(3), 525-538. https://www.facinghistory.org/ https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2020.1758191 https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532771xjle0204_4 https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325184 https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446288603 https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1623032 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.17.2.481 https://doi.org/10.1177/2150137811400731 https://doi.org/10.1177/05390184070460030107 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390903333863 https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2011.532717 ortiz association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2025 vol. 19, issue 1 61 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698571 reyes, j. a., & elias, m. j. (2011). fostering social–emotional resilience among latino youth. psychology in the schools, 48(7), 723-737. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20580 reyes, j. a., elias, m. j., parker, s. j., & rosenblatt, j. l. (2013). promoting educational equity in disadvantaged youth: the role of resilience and social-emotional learning. in handbook of resilience in children (pp. 349-370). springer, boston, ma. riessman, c. k. (1993). doing narrative analysis. narrative analysis. london: sage publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986274 simmen, e. r., & bauerle, r. f. (1969). chicano: origin and meaning. american speech, 44(3), 225-230. strom, m. s., sleeper, m., & johnson, m. (1992). facing history and ourselves: a synthesis of history and ethics in effective history education. learning for life: moral education theory and practice, 131-153. tashakkori, a., teddlie, c., & teddlie, c. b. (1998). mixed methodology: combining qualitative and quantitative approaches (vol. 46). sage. utsey, s. o., chae, m. h., brown, c. f., & kelly, d. (2002). effect of ethnic group membership on ethnic identity, race-related stress, and quality of life. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, 8(4), 366. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//1099-9809.8.4.367 https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698571 https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20580 https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986274 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//1099-9809.8.4.367 microsoft word amae journal cover template.docx volume 17 issue 1 2023 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu issn: 2377-9187 association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 1 eroding community cultural wealth: how schooling devalues latina/o/x students’ identity, pride, and language sonya alemán university of texas at san antonio sonya.aleman@utsa.edu abstract educational narratives written by several cohorts of latina/o/x students in a college-level ethnic studies course, first-year retention program showed how the current hegemonic educational paradigm—with its attendant neo-liberal, colonial, white supremacist and eurocentric logics— abates the accumulation and employment of community cultural wealth. specifically, these systemic obstacles impact linguistic, navigational, and resistant capital as latina/o/x students recount how learning english, feeling othered by classmates and teachers, and internalizing assimilationist and deficit-based ideologies to avoid harassment or mistreatment factored into their educational experiences. situating community cultural wealth amid the americanization, deculturalization, or assimilationist projects that have shaped the schooling conditions for students of color better accounts how educational practices, curriculum and spaces can destabilize the range of community cultural wealth competences yosso has classified. this project adds complexity and highlights the fluidity in the community cultural wealth model by recognizing competing forces at work: the cultivation of these assets via family/community home spaces, discourses and networks, as well as the attrition of these competencies in formal educational spaces. as such, this study contributes to the existing research about ccw by underscoring a dimensionality not yet fully addressed, and, by recognizing the epistemological significance of these skill sets. keywords: community cultural wealth, latina/o/x students, epistemic violence, critical race theory, linguistic capital, navigational capital, resistant capital doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.17.1.472 eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 2 “i felt like i didn’t stay true to my mom or myself. i felt like i went behind my family’s back and betrayed them. it was like i had to lose who i really was and who i really was around … just to thrive in school.” the above quote comes from a written assignment submitted in a college-level ethnic studies course designed for as a first-generation students of color that i taught for eight semesters. as a component of a first-year retention program, this final assignment asked students to pen an educational narrative essay documenting the challenges and opportunities they faced along their educational journeys. additionally, students were asked to analyze those experiences using race-based concepts learned over the semester. in the excerpt featured above, the student recounts how prior to this course, he rebuffed aspects of his latino ethnic identity in order to ensure his academic success, implicating schooling systems that reward students who conform to hegemonic whitestream norms of behavior, particularly the americanization, deculturalization, or assimilationist projects that shape the schooling conditions for students of color (valenzuela, 1999). as the remainder of the essay reveals, had he not enrolled in the ethnic studies course, he may not have had the opportunity to acquire the tools needed to reclaim his sense of self and restore cultural pride. the epigraph above exemplifies the sentiment expressed in many of the educational narrative essays produced by the 400-plus latina/o/x students enrolled in this course. together, they point to the ways ethnic studies curricula renews a sense of pride and esteem in one’s ethno-racial identity and knowledge base (dee & penner, 2017; de novais & spencer, 2019; sleeter, 2011) and bolsters stores of community cultural wealth (yosso, 2005), or ways of knowing that result from experiences of marginalization, that are diminished in whitestream (urrieta, 2009) spaces. indeed, analyzing these educational narratives with a community cultural alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 3 wealth framework reveals not only that ethnic studies courses positively reinforce community cultural wealth, but, importantly, also how educational practices, curriculum and spaces adversely impact the various competencies yosso has classified. this article focuses on the later, as it analyzes the educational narratives written by latina/o/x students about their schooling experiences, guided by the following inquiry: how does the current hegemonic educational paradigm—the curricula, educational practices and policies shaped by dominant and normalized neo-liberal, colonial, white supremacist and eurocentric logics—diminish reserves of community cultural wealth, or ccw, for latina/o/x students? to begin, i briefly describe the purpose, structure, and organization of the university ethnic studies course that produced the student reflections. i then review ccw literature about latina/o/x students, noting how this model is largely used to highlight how latina/o/x students engage at least six different categories of capital, or knowledge, rather than how these capabilities are curbed. next, i discuss the critical race theoretical and methodological frameworks used to guide the casdaq-aided coding and analysis of the student work that makes up the data for this project. i then offer examples from a sample of 100 essays written by latina/o/x students, allowing their voices to narrate the challenges they have endured in their k-12 schooling, honing in on the normative educational processes that impair three forms of their ccw—namely, their linguistic, navigational, and resistant capital—particularly, the methods used to learn english, the school climates that other them, and the prevalence of assimilationist and deficit-based ideologies. the student accounts point to how the ccw of latina/o/x students can be destabilized as a result of the systemic obstacles they endure. i conclude by detailing how this study contributes to the existing research about ccw in two eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 4 ways: one, by underscoring a dimensionality not yet fully mapped, and, two, by recognizing the epistemological significance of these ways of knowing. ethnic studies 2500: educational equity for students of color the university ethnic studies course anchoring this study was one component of a firstyear retention program for first-year, first-generation college students of color. between 2009 and 2014, 800 students of color enrolled in the course, with half of them identifying as latina/os/xs. the program aimed to increase the number of students of color graduating from a predominantly white, flagship, r1 public university, which had typically low retention and graduation rates for these communities (alemán & gáytan, 2017; castrellón & pérez-torres, 2018; delgado bernal et al., 2009). because of the multiple challenges latina/o/x students face pursuing higher education in historically white institutions (gándara & contreras 2009; solórzano & yosso 2000; yosso 2006; zamudio et al., 2010), the majority of students enrolled in the course fell short of meeting traditional admission standards. another subset of these enrolled were recipients of a local academic scholarship that covered all expenses for highachieving underrepresented students. a criterion for admission or for their scholarship required these two groups to enroll in the year-long ethnic studies course, complete critical service learning (donahue & mitchell, 2010), and meet regularly with both academic advisors and peer mentors. the faculty (alger, 1998; eimers, 2001; pascarella & terenzini, 2005), advisors, and peer mentors were all people of color, and the service-learning site was a school with a predominantly student of color population. for eight semesters, i taught one section of this course, which appraised the educational conditions and experiences of students of color in k-12 and in higher education. the course enabled students to develop an understanding of the educational experiences of historically alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 5 underrepresented students by reflecting on their own educational trajectories. over the semester, students learned about the schooling conditions of students of color, steadily acquiring a vocabulary to help them contemplate how they have been socialized with dominant ideologies (bejarano, 2005), racialized because of their racial, ethnic or cultural identities (tatum, 2000), or aggrieved because of negative assumptions about their educability (valencia, 1997). they also read about the strategies for perseverance and success in an educational system that was not intended for non-white students (hooks, 1990; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; villalpando, 2003; ward, 1996). it was predicated on critical race pedagogies (jennings & lynn, 2005; leonardo, 2009; lynn, 1999, 2004, 2005; lynn & jennings, 2009; solórzano & yosso, 2000) that not only center students’ lived experiences of systemic racialization via the educational spaces they engage, but also expose the white supremacist, eurocentric, and colonial ideologies that inform and limit their formalized schooling. the course culminated with a final paper—the educational narratives examined here— that is both a testimonio and analysis of their personal schooling experiences. students wrote the final paper in two parts. for the first half, they reflect on: 1) their educational accomplishments and challenges; 2) the positive or negative educational experiences that have taken place in school or outside of school that have shaped their understandings of themselves as a student; and 3) how aspects of their identity—gender, race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, language, or immigration status—have impacted their educational journey. for the second half, students selected a handful of concepts—like the social construction of race, institutional racism, whiteness, systems of privilege, the myth of meritocracy, nativism, marginality, resistance, decolonization, and deficit thinking—to analyze the experiences in their narrative. eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 6 the resultant educational narratives written by latina/o/x students were analyzed using a ccw framework for this study. in the next section, i describe the ccw model and review literature employing this lens, paying particular attention to ccw research related to latina/o/x students. defining and applying community cultural wealth to latina/o/x students definition. according to yosso (2005), community cultural wealth is “an array of knowledge, skills, abilities and contacts possessed and utilized by communities of color to survive and resist macro and micro-forms of oppression” (p. 77). an asset-based perspective, ccw counters bourdieuean cultural capital theory which situates white, middleand upperclass populations as “culturally wealthy” and other lower-class and non-white groups as “culturally poor” (yosso, 2005, p. 76). for groups positioned on the lower rungs of society’s race and class hierarchies (bourdieu & passeron, 1977), acquiring this cultural capital, or favored behaviors and values, enables social mobility. many deficit ideas about latina/o/x students (valencia, 2010) extend from this bourdieuean premise, because latina/o/x students are perceived to lack this cultural capital (yosso, 2005). in contrast, a ccw lens advances that the range of knowledge, skills and abilities of less economically affluent communities of color are often dismissed by dominant mainstream institutions. yosso (2005) subdivides this expertise into six categories: familial, navigational, resistance, social, linguistic, and aspirational capital. aspirational capital is the ability to maintain hope and resiliency despite real or perceived barriers. linguistic capital is the communication skills attained through engaging multiple languages or styles. familial capital is the historical knowledge about and connection to one’s family and/or community that is passed down via familia or kin. social capital is the support network made up of friends, peers, neighbors, family alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 7 friends, church parishioners, etc. navigational capital is the resourcefulness needed to traverse white institutional structures. finally, resistant capital is a critical awareness about social inequality. these half dozen ccw attributes fall outside bourgeoisie conventions but have proven to be beneficial for members of racial and ethnic communities to survive in a racially stratified society. thus, ccw reorients flawed perceptions held about latina/o/x students and other students of color to highlight the skills they draw from in educational sites. application. employed extensively in educational literature, scholars have charted the various forms of capital that make up community cultural wealth as a function of parental, familial or communal consejos, networks (burciaga & erbstein, 2012), and/or learned movidas (urrieta, 2009). consequently, a significant amount of the scholarship using ccw often brings to light how the six assets are cultivated or enacted, which can be parsed into three strands: how latina/o/x students use ccw to navigate educational spaces (araujo, 2012; araujo & de la piedra, 2013; denicolo et al., 2015; espino, 2016; liou et al., 2009; martinez, 2011; matos, 2015; pérez, 2014; pérez huber, 2009; yosso et al., 2009); how programming or curricula engage students’ ccw (alvarez, 2020; bejarano & valverde 2012; cuevas, 2016; kelly et al., 2019; murillo et al., 2017; olcon et al., 2018; rodriguez, 2016), or how pre-service teachers, educators and educational leaders might nurture modes of ccw among latina/o/x students (espino, 2016; jimenez, 2020; liou et al., 2016; martin-beltrán et al., 2018; martinez, 2011; saathoff, 2015; zoch & he, 2020). because the ccw model intentionally highlights the assets students of color bring into spaces imbued by deficit ideas about their educability, the resulting research emphasizing how latina/o/x students use ccw or how programming or educational stakeholders can amplify ccw, positions this “array of knowledge, skills, abilities and contacts” as preset and stable— eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 8 albeit often untapped—funds of knowledge (vélez-ibáñez & greenberg, 1992). notably, yosso conceptualized the six forms of community cultural wealth as “not mutually exclusive or static, but rather dynamic processes” (2005, p. 77) with ebbs and flows, but as of yet, few studies have applied this model to flesh out which subtractive schooling practices (valenzuela, 1999) generate those lapses. the educational narratives examined in this study provide a glimpse into how the dominant prevailing neo-liberal, colonial, and eurocentric educational models curtail the epistemic knowledge conceptualized by ccw. the next section outlines the research design for this pursuit. implementing a critical race methodology and theoretical framework the final writing assignment of the university ethnic studies course—a narrative of focal moments along each student’s personal school trajectory that signified manifestations of whiteness, racialization, racism, nativism, and/or colonialism—made up the data for this study. a theoretical sample (corbin & strauss, 2007) of 94 educational narratives written by latina/o/x students between 2009 and 2014 were analyzed with the aid of a qualitative analysis software. all but six names of the students who authored the narratives are anonymized in the findings section.1 to complement the ccw model, i relied on a critical race-grounded theory approach (malagón et al., 2009; pérez huber, 2009) to guide the analysis of this sample of narratives, paying particular attention to references that signaled forms of yosso’s capital. a critical racegrounded methodology process that aligns grounded theory with the goals of crt, critical race-grounded theory is an abductive and comparative analysis of data that allows “researchers to consider how larger structural phenomena shape the data itself” (malagón et al., 2009, p. 262). as a critical race scholar, yosso’s conceptualization of community cultural wealth is alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 9 situated within the framework of critical race theory—namely the centering of experiential knowledge of those who are systemically racialized and othered by structural relations of power--substantiating this methodological approach. nvivo, an automated caqdas tool, expedited this synergistic coding process, which consisted of three levels of coding. the first level sought to identify manifestations of ccw, similar to how educational scholars traditionally employ this analytical model. however, during this phase of the coding, i began to see patterns of educational experiences that functioned to wear away at these stores of knowledge. informed by the tenets of crt, i sensed an opportunity to consider the infrastructure of school environments as activating these instances, rather than pathologize latina/o/x student culture or educability as the underlying cause. again, because critical race theory recognizes the endemic, systemic, and institutional nature of racism and other oppressions, these loci buoyed my analysis of the recurring anecdotes, memories and vignettes contained in the student essays that described diminution of these skill sets. the educational experiences students wrote about thus fell into two categories: manifestations of ccw (which align with the typical scholarship in this area) and depreciation of ccw (which has not been as fully explored). for this project, i narrowed in on experiences that diminish ccw. i grouped these experiences via another two rounds of coding, collapsing them into the following three areas: 1) recollections about learning the english language; 2) memories of alienation at predominantly white schools and/or in advanced/honors/college preparatory courses; and 3) decisions to disassociate from racial identities and adopt deficit perspectives to deter racial prejudice or xenophobia. i then situated these patterns of racialized marginalization that surfaced—experiencing language acquisition and loss, compromised identity formation, and feeling othered in predominantly white environments—within the ccw model, connecting these occurrences as impacting three eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 10 specific forms of community cultural wealth: linguistic, navigational, and resistant capital. as the systemic processes for compromising three instrumental stores of generational, familial, and communal knowledge came into focus, i realized an opportunity to enrich our understanding of ccw by demonstrating the permeability and vulnerability of these resources. multiple examples illustrating how latina/o/x students mine these depositories to successfully navigate academe already exist; however, this project underscores the ways educational systems disarticulate those assets. excerpts from the student narratives shared in the section below, then document how the current hegemonic educational paradigm, comprised of neoliberal, colonial, white supremacist and eurocentric logics, diminishes linguistic, navigational, and resistant capital. devaluing latina/o/x students’ identity, pride, and language this section centers the educational experiences chronicled by the latina/o/x students in their written narratives, organizing their responses to demonstrate how the current hegemonic educational paradigm—that is, the curricula, educational practices and policies shaped by dominant and normalized neo-liberal, colonial, white supremacist and eurocentric logics—diminishes their reserves of community cultural wealth of latina/o/x students. moreover, by weaving quotations and excerpts from the students’ final essays here, i insert latina/o/x student voice into the research record, establishing latina/o/x student experiential knowledge (solórzano & yosso, 2002) as a pivotal source for knowledge production. the commonalities in their experiences make evident the constancy of schooling structures and discourses latina/o/x students are subjected to in predominantly white environments, such as second-language acquisition, compromised identity formation, marginalization, and the inculcation of racist, deficit-based, and assimilationist ideologies. i pair the students’ excerpts alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 11 with analyses that explicate how three distinct caches of ccw—linguistic, navigational, and resistant capital—are compromised as a result of these prevalent institutionalized whitestream (urrieta, 2009) school practices and settings latina/o/x students encounter. i have organized the students accounts into three parts, corresponding to the three types of capital impacted by the experiences of language acquisition and loss, compromised identity formation, and being othered documented by latina/o/x students in their educational narratives: linguistic, navigational, and resistant capital. linguistic capital nearly 40 percent of the latina/o/x students in this sample reflected on their experiences learning english via u.s. public school systems. existing scholarship on ccw uses the concept of linguistic capital to honor the bilingualism many latina/o/x students claim and employ to translate for parents and family members, as well as to reposition spanish fluency as an asset rather than a detriment. however, for many of the english-language learners in this sample who learned english as a second language in formal educational settings, acquiring this capital was wrought with feelings of inferiority, loss, exclusion, and shame. for instance, students who excelled in school in mexico were devastated to feel so incompetent in their new u.s. schools. judy wrote, “i cried at night sometimes and i felt like a failure” because she had such difficulty learning english. violeta recalled that she “wanted to cry,” after taking an examination assessing her english skills because she understood so little of the test. hortencia wrote that she began to doubt her intellect since she was the only student in her elementary class who was pulled out to work with a bilingual tutor, stating, “this made me feel stupid because i needed a ‘special’ person to teach me when the rest of my classmates only needed the teacher to learn.” meribha also felt the stigma of being an english language eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 12 learner, writing that she “hated being in esl because everyone knew if you were in esl” then you were not considered smart. lisa recalled the moment in elementary school when she realized her classmates “didn’t speak english at school and go home and speak spanish to their parents.” she stated: this moment in my life brought a lot of uncertainty about who i thought i was and even brought feelings of shame. i didn’t want to be different; i wanted to be like everyone else in my class. these feelings even led to me ignoring a friend who was also latina. i would roll my eyes or give her one-word responses anytime she would want to talk about mexico. for others, maintaining or expressing a fluency in spanish led to embarrassment or shame about their latina/o roots. roxanna wrote that by the time she reached high school, she had pushed aside all aspects of her latinidad, and even dropped her ap spanish class because she “refused to speak spanish.” lisa adopted a similar tactic, writing, “i would often answer ‘i don’t know’ if anyone asked me if i knew how to say something in spanish, and if i did decide to tell them, i would do it with a ‘white’ accent, even though i knew the perfect pronunciation.” looking back at her younger self, citlali wrote that she began denying that she could speak spanish because she “didn’t want to be called a wetback.” students also articulated a profound sense of loss that came with acquiring english. ximena explained: the more familiar i got with this new language, the more i couldn’t get rid of that sensation of loss, the longing for my language, the feeling of power and fluency it brought to my life and how i could link who i was with it. and every alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 13 day i got forced to learn this strange language, the more i felt i needed to hide my true identity and change what had always known to be me. elisa described the trade-off of being fluent in english not as “assimilation, or adaptation,” but as “an amputation. none of my friends understood spanish so i spoke it less frequently.” diana and felix similarly “lost touch” or no longer “tried to speak or understand” spanish as a result of having mostly white friends. both explained their choice was motivated by wanting to fit in and not wanting to be racially marked or made fun of. adriana disobeyed her parents rule about only speaking spanish at home and lost the ability to hold a conversation with her abuela “because i declined to respond back in spanish ... i knew i was taking it too far but i wanted to fit in, i didn’t want to be different anymore.” flor was so intent on minimizing her accent that she reasoned that if she “stopped speaking my native language my accent would go away.” she stopped speaking spanish and her native mixteco2 in the hopes of improving her english. these tales problematize an idealized version of linguistic capital essentialized in the existing literature. for a good portion of the latina/o/x college students in this sample, they did not cultivate a set of bilingual skills outside of educational settings that fortified them against the hegemony of the english language and empowered them now as college students in predominantly white institutions. instead, the lessons gleaned from monolingual school settings were that this additional language skill set was insignificant and impaired their academic success. even those with predominantly spanish-speaking parents fell victim to colonial and eurocentric ideologies that erode these stores of knowledge. together, these stories illuminate schooling practices regarding english-language learning that compromise linguistic capital. eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 14 navigational capital often described as resiliency, navigational capital refers to the component of ccw that informs the maneuvers latina/o/x students use to negotiate within institutions designed to weed them out or quell their academic aspirations with their critical cultural consciousness intact. however, more than a third of the narratives examined here detailed an investment in whiteness as a tactic used to traverse racially unwelcoming spaces, often at the expense of a positive sense of racial or ethnic identity or pride in their racial/ethnic community. montzi typifies this coping strategy when she writes: at such a young age, i did not know how to work this type of system, so i adjusted. i looked in the mirror and realized that i was not that far from whiteness. i’m faired skinned, brown eyed, have black hair. i knew i wasn’t the typical white girl but … i could get in and become accepted. i knew it. so it began. i changed how i spoke, who i associated myself with, how i dressed and everything that i needed to adjust in order to be whiter. noelia and estela similarly describe changing themselves to mirror their predominantly white friend sets. “i changed not only my identity, but my physical identity as well. i started to dress like them, talk like them, and i would act as if i was just as rich as they were,” wrote noelia. estela stated that her “identity began to change” as her new white friends “became the mirror in which i saw myself.” paola wrote that she spent hours straightening her naturally curly hair to better fit white standards of beauty, while isabel started dressing in the “trendiest clothes of the time,” changing her manner of speaking to “sound more educated” and refrain “from using spanish in conversations except for in spanish class.” joanna explained that she opted to play “the role of a white person for the sake of my education.” adriana writes, “i just alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 15 knew that if i wanted to survive in this wave of whiteness i had to sacrifice who i really was and act like them.” flor said that she in order to be seen as good student she “assimilated and completely isolated myself from my latino background.” latina/o/x students often rationalized this coping mechanism because they wanted to be accepted, and to avoid having to deal with overt acts of racism. emilia said that as a result of hiding and then forgetting her culture, she was finally “treated like every other white student” at her school. staving off isolation and loneliness also prompted this strategy. isabel said she began her transformation in eighth grade with another latina friend in order to better fit in with the white girls in their class. ariana notes that she “was desperate to make friends” and felt like she “had no other choice than to start acting like the rest of them. i began to act white.” maría resorted to telling people that she was “half spaniard or romanian. i felt like this way people in class or in public would accept me more.” jose, montzi, and analisa all wrote that in order to be accepted by their peers and/or teachers, they changed who they were and adopted dominant white characteristics. susana wrote that she conformed to norms of whiteness as a way to prevent facing prejudice or racism or any oppression from anyone. felix indicated that he pursued this tactic because he “longed to fit in and would do anything to not be questioned, doubted, or made fun of.” miranda did not like the way the population of hispanic students were treated so she “acted, dressed, and talked like the white kids” so she would not be subjected to their taunting. meribha had a similar rationale and associated mostly with her white classmates to avoid this stigma. many students realized that in adopting white norms and aesthetics, they rejected and avoided behaviors and practices that marked them as mexican or latina/o/x. noelia said she spent less time with her family and participating in cultural traditions, choosing instead to spend eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 16 time with her white friends. alberto gave up playing soccer, avoided going to quinceañeras, and, like adriana, only listened to american pop music rather than bachata, bandas and cumbias. diana also said she stopped listening to latino music or watching telenovelas because she “didn’t want to be ‘raced’” or made to feel different and not fit in. rather than deflect discourses that reinforced hegemonic white supremacist ideologies with resiliency and critical agency, the recollections of these latina/o/x students indicate that they instead navigated academic spaces by internalizing or investing in whiteness. for them, this option led to academic success, reduced overt expressions of racial discrimination, and resulted in relationships that kept them from feeling lonely or isolated. this choice seems in contrast with literature that showcases a navigational capital that withstands and circumvents the negative and deficit messages about latina/o/x students with an irrepressible spirit and adeptness to rise above such discourse. it reveals the susceptibility of this form of capital, especially in predominantly white academic settings, indicating a second way the current educational paradigm diminishes reserves of ccw. resistant capital finally, many of the latina/o/x student recollections analyzed diverge from articulations of resistant capital in the extant literature. yosso defines resistant capital as the oppositional behaviors and attitudes skills passed generationally to contest and disrupt the systemic inequality racially disenfranchised groups bear. for the latina/o/x students in this sample, two common patterns of their educational trajectories accentuate the ways they complied with, rather than defied, the status quo. one manifestation of this was the common practice of changing their ethnic names as a result of pressure within their educational environments. alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 17 another was in their account of how they internalized and reinscribed deficit thinking about their own racial/ethnic communities. a number of students wrote about how they americanized their name in order to avoid embarrassing pronunciations of it by teachers and classmates. two different students named paola each opted to change their name to “make it easier” for everyone attempting to say it. one offered “lola” as an easier choice, while the other opted for “paula.” amaris and valeria made the decision as kindergarteners to change their names so they were easier to pronounce. mariela hated hearing her first name butchered so she changed it to a more palpable, “mary ella.” flor lucina preferred to be called flor but resented when teachers pronounced her name as “floor,” without the rolled ‘r’, she decided to go by her middle name, lucina. teachers struggled with this name as well and instead called her by her last name—martinez. by the time she reached her senior year, she told people to call her “lucy”, as “literally, no one can get it wrong.” meribha got tired of explaining her name and teaching everyone how to pronounce it, so she changed her name to “elizabeth” so she could avoid having to sound it out and explain its origin and meaning. yasmina’s unforgettable experience with an especially insensitive teacher prompted her to change her name, as well. she writes: when mrs. jarvis approached me to mark me off for roll call, she looked down at my name and said, “wow, that name isn’t from here. i’m not even going to try to pronounce it,” and walked away. for the next couple of class periods, this routine continued. she … evolved this routine into a game as she would name me, “yasmino from latin america” for one day, and “yama-who-ha from the middle east,” for another. due to this event, i now … [this] university identify me as mina. mina sounds white. going by mina means that i will not have to eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 18 explain myself or my background. mina gives me the choice to be not immediately discriminated against and ridiculed for being named yamina just because it sounds ‘foreign.’ another way latina/o/x students described diminished forms of resistant capital was when they documented an inability to feel pride in their latina/o/x identity or community, and described the ways they embraced deficit thinking about their families and community. four out of every ten latina/o/x student in the sample recounted how feelings of indignity about their latina/o/x identity and latina/o/x communities impacted their educational experiences. for instance, maya and citlali each wrote about being embarrassed to be identified as a latina because of the negative stereotypes associated with this label, particularly in regards to the high rates of teen pregnancy among latinas. when one of roxanna’s latina friends became pregnant in high school, she longer associated with her because she did not want people to think that she was going to be another statistic. miranda also avoiding getting “generalized” with the mexican and mexican american students at her high schools who fit the typical stereotype: “they only spoke spanish around each other, they listened to mexican music loud, they dressed a certain way also.” she said she realized that she kept her distance to avoid being stereotyped and found herself ashamed of her hispanic culture. diana “strived to separate” herself from other people of color during high school. she wrote, “i made it a point to not hang out with the ‘ghetto’ kids. i had grown to resent other students who came from similar backgrounds as mine, because i had internalized some of the comments from other, white students.” meribha also shunned the handful of hispanics at her school because they were “‘mexican-mexican.’ i didn’t want to be compared to the poor and ghetto type.” in fact, meribha said she “was so embarrassed and ashamed to be mexican” that she began telling people she was italian. alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 19 montzi wrote that she believed she was genuinely better than the other hispanic students in her school who dressed badly, spoke broken english, and were darker skinned than herself: i felt that the further i pushed myself away from the people who weren’t like me and who i didn’t want to become, the better chance i had at becoming successful. the last thing i’ve ever wanted was to become the stereotypical latina; married at 18, already with a child, another on the way, no education, and no desire to succeed. i feel upset when i’m around people like that. i feel ashamed. emilia noticed that hispanic students in her school were in regular classes—not the advanced classes she was enrolled in. she reasoned that if school administrators and teachers realized she was hispanic, she would be segregated into those lower track classes. she wrote that this flawed realization made her “want to hide my ethnicity in fear that i would be segregated from the other students. i was ashamed to a certain extent because if these hispanic students were being treated like outsiders, then maybe they really were, which meant i was, as well.” carolina noted growing feelings of resentment and anger towards her own community because she perceived that a majority of the hispanics at her school were not as invested in their schooling and “were all slackers who only cared about having fun and being involved in unnecessary drama. i was angry because it was their fault that the rest of us got the bad reputation.” susana also dismissed the few latinos that attended her school as having no “values or morals” were “just slackers and didn’t care about their education. i thought that if i associated with them that i would go down the wrong path.” eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 20 in her narrative, estela recalled being told by white girlfriends that she was different than the other hispanic girls at their school. wracked with guilt, estela stated, “i never disagreed with them. … i figured that the lack of desire to learn and the lack of desire to obtain a higher education kept most students of color from taking advantage of the academic opportunities the school provided for them.” in addition to holding deficit notions about the educational capabilities and aspirations of their latina/o/x peers, many latina/o/x students also wrote about how ashamed they were of their families and homes. roxana noted that even though she recognized the sacrifices her parents made for her, she was still “ashamed of their lack of education” and her “identity as a hispanic.” jose expressed a sense of embarrassment when he wrote, “for the longest time that i can remember, i have always been ashamed of who i was and where i came from, especially since i was a mexican-american student living in poverty with undocumented parents.” lilliana wrote that she “grew up hating my identity and blaming my culture and my family with their broken english.” montzi remembered her friend telling her “that her dad hated mexicans, but she liked me. those words hurt so much … they still pierce right through my skin.” she identifies this moment as spurring her resentment at being mexican american. what these recollections indicate is that rather that turn to affirmations about their identity, culture, and ethnic origin to resist negative discourses about their worth or value, many latina/o/x students internalize adverse dominant ideologies and develop sentiments of self-hate or shame for themselves, their families, and their racial/ethnic community. it reveals the ways the socialization process in predominantly white educational settings, at times, stifles the implementation of resistant capital. these narratives demonstrate how the combined rubrics of colonization, xenophobia, colorism, racism, and nativism that constitute the culture, alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 21 curricula, policies and practices of their learning environments, often overwhelm and compromise the potential of this particular reserve of knowledge. conclusion how does the current hegemonic educational paradigm—with its attendant neo-liberal, colonial, white supremacist and eurocentric logics—diminish reserves of ccw? the analysis revealed four different ways normative educational processes damage the linguistic, navigational, and/or resistant forms of capital of latina/o/x students: they condition latina/o/x students to: 1) reject spanish in the process of learning english; 2) suppress their latina/o/x identity; 3) pursue assimilationist strategies; and 4) adopt deficit-ideas about latina/o/x communities. importantly, it sharpens understandings of the dynamic qualities of the ccw model so it more aptly accounts for the layers of entrenched and systemic inequality that impair the integrity of these repertoires of knowledge. culled from a larger group of first-generation students of color, this sample of educational narratives offer a clear record of the repeated assaults latina/o/x students face in whitestream schools. heard through their voices, the continual school-sanctioned violence can be understood as destabilizing their multiple forms of ccw. most research inadvertently treats the skill sets of ccw as fixed and enduring, almost essentializing latina/o/x students with impervious amounts of grit and perseverance. these findings reposition the ccw model so it better accounts for the way educational practices, curriculum and sites work to impair the various forms of capital latina/o students—and other students of color—have acquired to navigate white supremacy, whiteness, racism, and racialization throughout their educational trajectories. eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 22 as these findings illustrate, latina/o/x students educated in the predominantly white spaces of higher education who have navigated through the pipeline and are successfully pursuing higher education are prone to having their cultural capital compromised as a way to preserve the current eurocentric episteme. rather than untapped wells of promise and potential, these various competencies suffer steady challenges that seek to americanize or assimilate students, as researchers have noted (denicolo et al., 2015; denton et al., 2020; enriquez, 2011; jimenez, 2020). with persistent efforts to discredit culturally competent approaches, race-based pedagogies and content, and ethnic studies curricula throughout the k16 academic pipeline, the physical and discursive spaces that restore and rebuild these vital ways of knowing are becoming increasingly constrained or limited. recognizing the processes that erode community cultural wealth allows for the possibility of recasting or transforming these practices before they jeopardize these faculties. for instance, one of the recurring educational experiences that was particularly detrimental to the ccw of latina/o/x college students are english-language learning programs. as noted in these student reflections, the process of singling out english-language learners— either by placing them in self-contained classrooms or by periodically pulling them from traditional classrooms—triggered feelings of shame, inferiority and loss. memories of this process included being made to feel unintelligent and ignorant. it also illuminated discourses surrounding the english-language acquisition process that devalued both the spanish language and a mexican identity. importantly, students did not critique or dismiss the benefits of learning english but did lament the high cost of forsaking their native tongue and, at times, their ethnic identity. moreover, they now decry their lack a bilingual proficiency that would have benefitted them in their future careers. because of the persistent use and maintenance of spanish among alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 23 latina/o/x communities, english-language learning programs will continue to be a necessary aspect of schooling for latina/o/x children. however, what these student retrospectives make clear is the need to make space within these programs that allow latina/o/x students to receive research-based support for the sense of loss they will undoubtedly experience as they begin to learn english. furthermore, this analysis revealed how damaging the enduring commitment to monolingualism is for latina/o/x students, as it exudes toxic messages about educability and worthiness that are understood even by elementary-aged children. reorienting this perspective so that k-12 schooling in the u.s. celebrates, promotes and encourages—if not requires— fluency in a second language could mitigate these adverse experiences and help students retain their linguistic capital throughout their educational journeys. another commonplace experience that latina/o/x students in this study referred to was the experience of being othered. most prominent was the derision experienced as a result of having a spanish or indigenous first name. few students detailed specific moments of being teased, bullied or discriminated against, outside of this specific racial microaggression (solórzano & pérez huber, 2020), but they clearly alluded to discourses maligning their nonwhite identities. what they vividly recalled was their decision to distance themselves from their mexican or latina/o identity in order to navigate these hostile environments. to avoid feeling spurned, unaccepted or excluded, students increased their proximity to whiteness, adopted assimilationist ideologies, and internalized deficit-based attitudes about their own community and fellow latina/o/x students. consequently, these types of coping strategies compromised development of a positive latina/o/x identity. what this points to is that despite the proliferation of multicultural, diversity, tolerance, and inclusion training in the field of education over the past fifty years, school settings remain fiercely eurocentric and averse to non-white eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 24 students. evident in their final reflective essays is that latina/o/x students readily become attuned to the ideologies of white supremacy, nativism, colorblindness, and meritocracy that disparage their name, their ethnicity, their language, and their educability and while many exit the pipeline rather than conform to these pressures, many do acquiesce as a way to thrive in it. thus, many arrive onto college campuses unmoored from their ethno-racial identity. to prevent this othering, teachers and other school stakeholders need to commit to learning the correct pronunciation for non-anglo names (kohli & solórzano, 2012) and implement disciplinary strategies for students that bully, harass, or taunt based on racial differences. zero tolerance policies for behaviors fueled by white supremacist or xenophobic beliefs rather than colorblind ideologies may help make latina/o/x students—and other students of color—feel more welcome in spaces where they are the minority, and more confident to express their linguistic and familial capital. as has been well-documented, incorporating ethnic studies-based curriculum that tackles systems of privilege and power also mitigates the obdurate fixation on white, europeanamerican exceptionalism. doing so allows all students to gain a macro understanding of these structures and the ways they benefit and sustain them before they are in college, when unlearning these norms only becomes available for those who take an ethnic-studies or gender studies courses. the racial inequities exposed by the disproportional impact of the 2020 pandemic made it apparent that our schooling system has failed to provide both an understanding of institutional racism, our own complicity in it, and the skills to discuss or properly address it. by integrating these conversations much sooner and throughout k-12 schooling, latina/o/x students would be less susceptible to internalizing deficit-discourses that pathologize their culture and intellectual abilities and could continue to amass their resistant alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 25 and aspirational forms of capital, maintaining pride in their ethno-racial identity. adjustments such as this would expand the acceptable forms of knowledge edified in u.s. schools, preserving and honoring the oppositional consciousness comprising the resistant capital of latina/o/x students. by conceiving of ccw as a set of epistemologies not merely invisible to the current overlapping systems of power, but indeed vulnerable to them, researchers employing this concept can understand the educational policies and practices—as well as the racial or imperial logics—that chip away at this valuable resource as epistemic assaults. this adds complexity and fluidity to the ccw model by recognizing competing forces at work: the cultivation of these assets via family/community home spaces, discourses and networks, as well as the attrition of these ways of knowing in formal educational spaces. given the ideologies that uphold u.s. whitestream education, researchers have argued that ccw skill sets are invisible or undervalued by conventional schooling norms and standards, but what this analysis of latina/o/x college student educational narratives exposes is that these spaces do not simply ignore or negate them, they function to erode them. informed by critical race theory and methodologies, this study encourages researchers to conceptualize ccw not only by its function—capital that provides alternative access and navigation through the educational pipeline—but also by what it is—a set of epistemologies that jeopardize the knowledge structures maintaining the status quo, a key contribution of crt. with the bulk of research on ccw emphasizing how students wield this knowledge, few scholars use this framework to explain how they forego or lose it, and too many latina/o/ students arrive on a college campus with this know-how compromised. this project stresses the need to recognize and undo the current practices and policies that damage these reserves. eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 26 references alemán s. m. & gaytán, s. (2017). ‘it doesn’t speak to me’: understanding student of color resistance to critical race pedagogy. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 30(2), 128-146. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2016.1242801 alvarez, a. (2020). experiential knowledge as capital and resistance among families from mexican immigrant backgrounds. equity & excellence in education, 53(4), 482-503. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2020.1791766 alger, j. (1998). when color-blind is color-bland: ensuring faculty diversity in higher education. stanford law and policy review, 10(2), 191–195. araujo, b. e. (2012). knowledge from the fields: a migrant farmworker student’s community cultural wealth. diaspora, indigenous, and minority education, 6(2), 85-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2012.662549 araujo, b. e., & de la piedra, m. t. (2013). violence on the us–mexico border and the capital students use in response. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 26(3), 263–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.762475 bejarano, c. l. (2005). que onda? urban youth culture and border identity. tucson: university of arizona press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1kz4h2p bejarano, c., & valverde, m. (2012). from the fields to the university: charting educational access and success for farmworker students using a community cultural wealth framework. association of mexican american educators journal, 6(2), 22-29. bourdieu, p., & passeron, j. c. (1977). reproduction in education, society and culture. london: sage publications. burciaga, r. and erbstein, n. (2013). latina/o dropouts: generating community cultural wealth. association of mexican american educators journal, 6(1), 24-33. castrellón, l.e., & pérez-torres, j.c. (2018). “i see myself in them”: understanding racialized experiences of students of color through critical race service-learning. in delanooriaran, o., penick-parks m., fondrie s. (eds.), culturally engaging service-learning with diverse communities (pp. 144-168). hershey, pa: igi global. https://doi.org/10.4018/9781-5225-2900-2.ch009 corbin, j., & strauss, a. (2007). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153 cuevas, a. p. (2016). the journey from de-culturalization to community cultural wealth: the power of a counter story-telling curriculum and how educational leaders can transform schools. association of mexican american educators journal, 10(3), 47-67. dee, t. s., & penner, e. k. (2017). the causal effects of cultural relevance: evidence from an ethnic studies curriculum. american educational research journal, 54(1), 127–166. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216677002 delgado bernal, d., alemán, e. jr., & garavito, a. (2009). latina/o undergraduate students mentoring latina/o elementary students: a borderlands analysis of shifting identities and first-year experiences. harvard educational review. 79(4), 560-585. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4.01107jp4uv648517 denicolo, c.p., gonzález, m., morales, s., & romaní, l. (2015). teaching through testimonio: accessing community cultural wealth in school. journal of latinos and education, 14(4), 228–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2014.1000541 alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 27 de novais, j., & spencer, g. (2019). learning race to unlearn racism: the effects of ethnic studies course-taking. journal of higher education, 90(6), 860-883. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1545498 denton, m., borrego, m., & boklage, a. (2020). community cultural wealth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education: a systematic review. journal of engineering education, 109(3), 556–580. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20322 donahue, d. m., & mitchell, t.d. (2010). critical service learning as a tool for identity exploration. diversity & democracy, 13(2), 16–17. eimers, t. (2001). the impact of student experiences on progress in college: an examination of minority and nonminority differences. naspa journal, 38(3), 386–409. https://doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.1148 enriquez, l. (2011). “because we feel the pressure and we also feel the support”: examining the educational success of undocumented immigrant latina/o students. harvard educational review, 81(3): 476–500. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.81.3.w7k703q050143762 espino, m. m. (2016). the value of education and educación: nurturing mexican american children’s educational aspirations to the doctorate. journal of latinos and education, 15(2), 73-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2015.1066250 gándara, p., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. boston: harvard university press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674056367 hooks, b. (1990). marginality as a site of resistance. in r. ferguson , m. gever, t, t. minhha and c. west (eds.), out there: marginalization and contemporary cultures (pp. 341-343). cambridge, ma: mit. jennings, m. e., & lynn, m. (2005). the house that race built: critical pedagogy, africanamerican education, and the re-conceptualiztion of a critical race pedagogy. educational foundations, 19(3/4), 15-32. jimenez, r. m. (2020). community cultural wealth pedagogies: cultivating autoethnographic counternarratives and migration capital. american educational research journal, 57(2), 775–807. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219866148 kelly, l.b., ángeles-wann, v., wann-ángeles, j. & jimenez-silva, m. (2019). stea2m camp at the orchard: a community cultural wealth approach. nabe journal of research and practice, 9(3-4), 143-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/26390043.2019.1649511 kohli r. & solórzano, d. g. (2012). teachers, please learn our names!: racial microagressions and the k-12 classroom. race ethnicity and education, 15(4), 441-462. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.674026 leonardo, z. (2009). critical pedagogy and race. malden, ma: blackwell. liou, d. d., antrop-gonzález, r., & cooper, r. (2009). unveiling the promise of community cultural wealth to sustaining latina/o students’ college-going information networks. educational studies, 45(6), 534-555. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131940903311347 liou, d. d., nieves martinez, a., & rotheram-fuller, e. (2016). “don’t give up on me”: critical mentoring pedagogy for the classroom building students’ community cultural wealth. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 29(1), 104-129. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2015.1017849 lynn, m. (1999). toward a critical race pedagogy. urban education, 33(5), 606-626. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085999335004 eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 28 lynn, m. (2004). inserting the ‘race’ into critical pedagogy: an analysis of ‘race-based epistemologies’. educational philosophy and theory, 36(2), 153-165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00058.x lynn, m. (2005). critical race theory, afrocentricity, and their relationship to critical pedagogy. in z. leonardo (ed.), critical pedagogy and race (pp. 127–139). malden, ma: blackwell. lynn, m., & jennings, m. e. (2009). power, politics, and critical race pedagogy: a critical race analysis of black male teachers’ pedagogy. race ethnicity and education, 12(2), 173-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320902995467 matos, j. d. (2015) la familia: the important ingredient for latina/o college student engagement and persistence. equity & excellence in education, 48(3), 436-453. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1056761 malagón, m. c., pérez huber, l., & vélez, v. n. (2009). our experiences, our methods: using grounded theory to inform a critical race theory methodology. seattle journal for social justice, 8(1), 253-272. martin-beltrán, m., montoya-ávila, a., canales, n. (2018).“do you want to tell your own narrative?”: how one teacher and her students engage in resistance by leveraging community cultural wealth. association of mexican american educators journal, 12(3), 97121. https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.3.408 martinez, m. a. (2011). wealth, stereotypes, and issues of prestige: the college choice experience of mexican american students within their community context. journal of hispanic higher education, 11(1), 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192711428992 murillo, m. a., hunter quartz, k., del razo, j. (2017). high school internships: utilizing a community cultural wealth framework to support career preparation and college-going among low-income students of color. journal of education for students placed at risk, 22(4), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2017.1350182 olcon, k., pantell, m. sund, a. c. (2018). recruitment and retention of latinos in social work education: building on students' community cultural wealth. journal of social work education, 54(2), 349-363. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2017.1404530 pascarella, e. t., & terenzini, p. t. (2005). how college affects students: a third decade of research. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. pérez huber, l. (2009). challenging racist nativist framing: acknowledging the community cultural wealth of undocumented chicana college students to reframe the immigration debate. harvard educational review, 79(4), 704-729. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4.r7j1xn011965w186 pérez, d. (2014). exploring the nexus between community cultural wealth and the academic and social experiences of latino male achievers at two predominantly white research universities. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 27(6), 747-767. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014.901573 rodriguez, l. f. (2016). institutionally responsive pedagogies: a community-cultural wealth approach to latina/o student engagement across the educational pipeline. association of mexican american educators journal, 10(3), 68-89. saathoff, s. d. (2015). funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth: exploring how preservice teachers can work effectively with mexican and mexican american students. critical questions in education, 6(1), 30-40. sleeter, c. e. (2011). the academic and social value of ethnic studies: a research review. washington, d.c.: national education association research department. alemán association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 29 solórzano, d. g & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308-342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 solórzano, d. g., & pérez huber, l. (2020). racial microaggressions: using critical race theory to respond to everyday racism. new york: teachers college press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003005995-9 solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2000). toward a critical race theory of chicana and chicano education. in c. tejeda, c. martinez, & z. leonardo (eds.), charting new terrains of chicana(o)/latina(o) education (pp. 35-65). hampton, nj: cresskill. solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 tatum, b.d. (2000). the complexity of identity: “who am i?” in m. adams, w. blumenfeld, r. castañeda, h. hackman, m. peters, x. zúñiga (eds.), readings for diversity and social justice (pp. 9-14). new york: routledge. urrieta, l. (2009). working from within: chicana and chicano activist educators in whitestream schools. tucson: university of arizona press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1mgmchb valencia, r. r. (1997). conceptualizing the notion of deficit thinking. in r. r. valencia, the evolution of deficit thinking: educational thought and practice (pp.1-12). washington d.c.: the falmer press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367855581-1 valencia, r. r. (2010). dismantling contemporary deficit thinking: educational thought and practice. new york: routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203853214 valenzuela, a. (1999). subtractive schooling: u.s.-mexican youth and the politics of caring. albany: state university of new york press. vélez-ibáñez, c.g., & greenberg, j.b. (1992). formation and transformation of funds of knowledge among u.s. mexican households. anthropology & education quarterly, 23(4), 313-335. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.1992.23.4.05x1582v villalpando, o. (2003). self-segregation or self-preservation? a critical race theory and latina/o critical theory analysis of a study of chicana/o college students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 16(5), 619-646. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839032000142922 ward, j. v. (1996). raising resisters: the role of truth telling in the psychological development of african american girls. in b. leadbetter & n. way (eds.), urban girls: resisting stereotypes, creating identities (pp. 85-99). new york: university press. yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 yosso, t. j. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. new york: routledge. yosso, t. j., smith, w., ceja, m., & solórzano, d. g. (2009). critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate for latina/o undergraduates. harvard educational review, 79(1/2), 659–690. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4.m6867014157m707l zamudio, m., russell, c., rios, f., and bridgeman, j. l. (2010). critical race theory matters: education and ideology. new york: routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203842713 eroding community cultural wealth association of mexican american educators (amae) journal © 2023, volume 17, issue i 30 zoch, m. & he, y. (2020) utilizing community cultural wealth to learn with diverse language communities. the teacher educator, 55(2), 148-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2019.1609639 1 to protect the identities of the students whose stories are shared here, their names have been changed. however, six students shared poignant stories about how mispronunciations or ridiculing of their first names impacted their sense of identity and their educational journeys. their actual names are used to maintain the integrity of their experiences. 2 mixtec refers to a related set of indigenous languages spoken in oaxaca, puebla, and guerrero regions of mexico. amae journal cover template.pdf amae ccw apr2023_proofs.pdf volume 16 issue 1 2022 amae open issue editors patricia sánchez the university of texas at san antonio antonio j. camacho amae, inc. associate editors julie l. figueroa sacramento state lucila d. ek the university of texas at san antonio managing editor christian fallas-escobar the university of texas at san antonio http://amaejournal.utsa.edu association of mexican american educators journal a peer-reviewed, open access journal issn: 2377-9187 http://amaejournal.utsa.edu/ gonzalez 22 horchata: a counterstory about a mexican-based student organization as a counter-space at a predominantly white university martín alberto gonzalez portland state university abstract this article utilizes critical race theory counterstorytelling to tell a story about ¡poder xicanx!, a mexican-based student organization at a private, predominantly white university in the northeast of the united states. drawing on in-depth interviews, participant observations, pláticas, and document analysis, i document the educational experiences of 20 mexican/mexican american/xicanx (mmax) undergraduate students who participated in ¡poder xicanx!. specifically, i argue that ¡poder xicanx! functions as a counter-space, which is a site or space where mmax students can challenge stereotypes, deal with racism, and empower one another. moreover, i also highlight the fact that ¡poder xicanx! allows for members to create a home away from home, sustain and practice their cultural ties, and collectively build critical consciousness. keywords: counterstorytelling; counter-space; mexican; critical race methodology doi: https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.16.1.459 https://doi.org/10.24974/amae.16.1.459 horchata: a counterstory 23 in the past few decades, scholars have documented that latinx students suffer severely from climate-related minority status stressors at their respective predominantly white universities, which result in “racial microaggressions” that are emotionally, mentally, and physically straining (harwood et al., 2012; hurtado et al., 1996; minikel-lacocque, 2013; solórzano et al., 2002; yosso et al., 2009). for example, minikel-lacocque (2013) found that latinx students experienced the following at their respective predominantly white university: getting stared at and feeling isolated; receiving online hatred; being ignored at a bus stop and having an angry bus driver; experiencing stereotyping; and encountering insensitivity and ignorance. furthermore, harwood et al. (2012) also discovered that even in residential halls at universities, latinx students are not free from racial discrimination. specifically, they identified four themes revolving around racial microaggressions: (a) racial jokes and verbal comments; (b) racial slurs written in shared spaces; (c) segregated spaces and unequal treatment; and (d) denial and minimization of racism. even if not given structural support, latinx students, along with other students of color, find ways to cope and manage a hostile campus environment (delgado bernal, 2001; flores & garcia, 2009; solórzano & villalpando, 1998; yosso & lopez, 2010). in particular, solórzano et al. (2000) found that students of color created academic and social “counter-spaces,” which are “sites where deficit notions of people of color can be challenged and where a positive collegiate racial climate can be established and maintained” (p. 70) as a response to racial microaggressions and racism on and off campus. building on the notion of a counter-space, morales (2017) suggests that counter-spaces are dynamic sites where people on the margins engage with one another in critical discourse, bring their whole (and multiple) selves, challenge each other, and make sense of the multitude of contradictions they embody, which are always present, as a means of undergoing moments of transformation. for example, as a result of an unwelcoming campus climate at a predominantly white university, flores and garcia (2009) documented the creation of a “latina space,” where latinas would gather for the purpose of letting out their painful experiences with oppression on campus. in this way, counter-spaces serve as an adaptive mechanism to oppression and “provide marginalized individuals security, solidarity, hope, respite, and healing” (case & hunter, 2012, p. 268). thus, latinx students rely on peers from similar backgrounds for support and preservation, further supporting villalpando’s (2003) assertion to critically differentiate between “self-segregation or self-preservation.” gonzalez 24 in this project, i used qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviews, pláticas, and participant observations to examine the racialized experiences of 20 mexican/mexican american/xicanx (mmax) at a private, historically and predominantly white university in the northeast of the united states.1 informed by critical race theory counterstorytelling, i created a composite story about the participation of mmax students in a mmax-based student organization to shed light on the various ways mmax students affirmed and supported each other. specifically, in this story, i argue that the mmax-based student organization functioned as a counter-space because it created opportunities for members to create a home away from home, sustain and practice their cultural ties, and collectively build critical consciousness. ultimately, the purpose of my study was to provide a better understanding of the relationship between mmax students’ experiences on a historically white university and their participation in an ethnic-based student organization. to better understand this relationship, this research project was guided by the following questions: how do mmax students support one another at a historically and predominantly white university? in what ways does a mmax-based organization embody characteristics of and serve as a counter-space? methods data collection/context/participants this story draws on data collected from participants who attended snow city university (scu), which is a private, historically and predominantly white university in the northeast.2 out of the total undergraduate student population of 15,226 students, 56.9% of scu’s students are white. latinx/hispanic students comprised only 9.1% of the entire undergraduate student population. faculty of color made up less than 10%. in particular, latinx/hispanic faculty made up 2% of that 10%. in the three-year span of my study, there have been multiple student protests that resulted from videos of white students using racial slurs and multiple hate speech written on university property, which ultimately gave rise to major racial turmoil across campus. 1 while latinx encompasses a wide variety of people from latin america and the caribbean, including mexicans, puerto ricans, cubans, dominicans, guatemalans, colombians, chileans, and so on, i decided to specifically use mexican/mexican american/xicanx (mmax) because the participants specifically identified as mmax, and latinx is too broad and doesn’t consider the unique ethnic-based experiences of being mmax. 2 all names included in this manuscript are pseudonyms. participant names were selected by participants. horchata: a counterstory 25 from 2017 to 2020, i conducted a critical collaborative ethnography (bhattacharya, 2008) at scu. critical collaborative ethnography is heavily grounded in and informed by critical ethnography (madison, 2005). bhattacharya (2008) defines critical collaborative ethnography as a practice of ethnography that is invested in questioning the boundaries and power relations between the researcher and the researched for the specific purpose of bringing about social action and social change (p. 306). in this way, research becomes reciprocal and thereafter beneficiary for both parties, so to speak. this collaborative approach also directly challenges the problem of speaking for others (alcoff, 1991). critical collaborative ethnography is politically motivated and emphasizes the need to affect social change. it often involves more than a single researcher; that is, the subjects of the study are actively involved. even when there is only one researcher, they work in multiple nonacademic settings. in my case, participants were involved to whatever extent they were comfortable from picking their own pseudonyms to editing their responses and providing feedback on data analysis and writing, including this story. the social change aspect included me protesting alongside mmax students, conducting workshops and teach-ins at scu about cultural empowerment, and educating scu students about cultural appropriation via paletas with accessible info-graphs. a critical collaborative ethnography links academic scholarship with “real world” experiences and it must focus on researcher positionality and accountability (alcoff, 1991; bhattacharya, 2008). i strategically chose to conduct a collaborative research project because it is my priority to not only engage in research that empowers my community and others alike, but also to share my knowledge on how to do so with first-generation underrepresented students. during the data collection process, i mentored numerous participants not only through their community-based research projects, but also through their research grant, graduate school, scholarship, and work applications. through this critical collaborative ethnography, i worked closely with the members of ¡poder xicanx!3, a mmax-based student organization that was recently established by a group of students who wanted to educate the university community about the richness and diversity of the mmax culture through workshops, screenings, lectures, music, and so on.4 this 3 pseudonym for name of organization. 4 while there was already an established pan-latinx student organization on campus, there were also dominican and puerto rican student organizations, which allowed for dominican and puerto rican students to connect with each other drawing on their shared ethnic experiences via music, food, dichos, and so on. similarly, mmax gonzalez 26 organization was very fluid in participation; however, core of members were very present and heavily involved. thus, i used purposive sampling for this study in that the 20 participants were recruited based upon their affiliations with ¡poder xicanx!. a majority of the participants were core members, meaning they attended multiple meetings or were founding members. participants included 20 mmax, specifically 7 who identify as males, 11 as females, and 2 as gender nonconforming. the class standing of these students was diverse: 7 were alumni, 1 fifthyear student, 4 four-year students, 4 third-year students, and 4 second-year students. out of all students, only one transferred from a community college, while everyone else came to this university straight from high school. it is important to note that although 7 participants were alumni at the time of the interview, i had worked with them previously for at least a year. the participants agreed to share their stories regarding their experiences at scu and were subsequently interviewed one-on-one, with each interview lasting 45 minutes to over two hours. i conducted semi-structured interviews with each participant via telephone or in person to capture their experiences (rubin & rubin, 2005). the semi-structured interviews included probing questions and focused on racial microaggressions, sense of belonging, and creating space(s) to challenge negativity. i also hosted multiple formal and informal pláticas to continue our familial traditions and naturally delve deep into conversations about resisting and navigating hostile academic spaces (fierros & delgado bernal, 2016). the in-depth interviews and pláticas were digitally recorded and transcribed for analysis. once interviews and pláticas were transcribed, i created an initial set of codes by going through the transcripts/notes, coded the major themes from the data, and then returned the codes to the participants for member checking (lincoln & guba, 2000). to analyze the data, i used a critical race grounded theory approach, which allows themes to emerge from data. additionally, by examining both the experiences of mmax students and counter-spaces, a critical race theory lens reveals often unseen structures of oppression (malagón et al., 2009; solórzano & yosso, 2002). interviews and formal/informal pláticas were supplemented by various forms of data, including scu’s student-run newspaper articles, student-led public forums on racism, participant observations (planning, attending, and participating in students in the project expressed to me that it was important to focus on their unique experiences as mexican, mexican american, and xicanx students since in the northeast mmax students were the minority among latinx students on campus. horchata: a counterstory 27 organization’s meetings, conducting workshops and teach-ins, attending protests and townhalls, and so on), existing empirical research on racism in higher education, university-sponsored lectures and seminars with esteemed faculty and pedagogues, and my own personal experiences and cultural intuition as a first-generation xicano student (delgado bernal, 1998). critical race theory, latcrit, and counterstorytelling to better understand why mmax students created a counter-space to resist the racially hostile campus environment at their respective university, we must use a theoretical framework that validates their experiences dealing with racism. critical race theory (crt) is a useful tool to help mmax students “name their pain” (pérez huber & solórzano, 2015). in advocating for a crt analysis in education, solórzano (1997) suggested the following five tenets of crt should and must inform educational policy, pedagogy, theory, and research. the five tenets are as follows: 1) race and racism are an endemic and central part of society; (2) the dominant ideology, that is, notions such as meritocracy, equal opportunity, objectivity, etc. must be challenged; (3) there must be a commitment to social justice while also eliminating racism; (4) experiential knowledge of people of color is valuable and must be taken seriously as it is legitimate and useful; (5) crt utilizes interdisciplinary approaches to examine critical issues impacting underrepresented, marginalized communities. thus, crt is a framework that will not only allow for close examination of race and racism, but also works towards exposing subordination and racism in hopes of eliminating such barriers completely. moreover, yosso (2005) defines crt in education “as a theoretical and analytical framework [that] challenges the ways race and racism impact educational structures, practices, and discourses” (p. 74). in doing so, yosso (2005) suggests that crt in education centers and validates the experiences of people of color while simultaneously refuting the dominant ideology. furthermore, to better focus in on the experiences and knowledges of mmax students specifically, educational scholars have theorized and proposed extensions of crt in educational research such as latina/latino critical race theory (latcrit) (delgado bernal, 2002; pérez huber, 2010; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; solórzano & yosso, 2001). particularly, latcrit enables researchers to better comprehend the experiences of latinxs by urging them to pay close attention to the unique forms of oppression this group encounters (pérez huber, 2010; solórzano & delgado bernal, 2001; villalpando, 2004). more specifically, latcrit zeros in gonzalez 28 on the ways latinxs, in particular, experience race, class, gender, and sexuality, while also keeping in mind that latinxs face unique experiences and barriers such as issues of immigration status, language, ethnicity and culture (pérez huber, 2010; solórzano & yosso, 2001). thus, latcrit helps to analyze issues that crt cannot or does not, like language, immigration, ethnicity, culture, identity, phenotype, and sexuality (as cited in villalpando, 2004). in this way, villalpando (2004) suggests that latcrit is a more valid and reliable lens through which to analyze latinxs multidimensional identities and experiences. without a doubt, a crt/latcrit framework challenges traditional theoretical frameworks that have tended to under-theorize the voices and experiences of latinx students (pizarro, 1998). because of this, crt and latcrit have worked their way into higher education to critically examine campus climate (hiraldo, 2010; ledesma & calderón, 2015; yosso & lopez, 2010). undeniably, crt methodologies and epistemologies help us better understand the experiences of latinx students in higher education without undervaluing their voices, ultimately challenging traditional forms of research (pizarro, 1998; solórzano & yosso, 2002). specifically, storytelling as a research method is very important because it disrupts harshly misleading, oppressive stories, narratives, conventions, and understandings of people of color that were established by empowered groups long ago (delgado, 1993). in this way, storytelling becomes a useful tool for historically marginalized people of color because “they invite the listener to suspend judgment, listen for the story’s point, and test it against his or her own version of reality” (delgado, 1989, p. 2440). solórzano and yosso (2002) focus carefully on the usefulness of counterstorytelling in debunking myths about communities of color, which they define as a method of telling the stories of those people whose experiences are seldom told (p. 32). furthermore, solórzano and yosso posit that counterstorytelling in higher education exposes, analyzes, and challenges the majoritarian stories of racial privilege with the potential to further the struggle for racial reform. in analyzing higher education’s climate, the use of counterstories provides faculty, staff, and students of color an opportunity to tell their narratives involving marginalized experiences (hiraldo, 2010; yosso, 2006). staying true toward a movement of a more just society, yosso (2006) asserts that counterstorytelling does not simply reflect the lived experiences of people of color, but it does so in a way to raise critical consciousness about social and racial injustice (p. 10). horchata: a counterstory 29 it is especially important to note that counterstories are not just made-up stories to blow off steam by venting or ranting regarding one’s own racial struggle (ladson-billings, 2013). for example, as noted above, this story draws on years of rigorous ethnographic research. to share my research findings, i use a composite story and characters, which i created in order to humanize the research data and ultimately recount the experiences of mmax students at scu (cook & dixson, 2013; martinez, 2014; solórzano & yosso, 2002).5 the composite story that follows is comprised of research findings via data collected from the research process itself. far from “just a bunch of storytelling,” this counterstory synthesizes actual experiences, observations, and responses. the primary point here is that this counterstory is about racial justice with a mission to directly inform broader educational policy issues (ladson-billings, 2013). the counterstory: the setting and context horchata is arguably one of the most popular agua frescas in the mexican food game. never in a million years would anyone imagine that one of the bests horchatas would be served biweekly at snow city university, a historically white-serving university located in upstate new york. it’s unimaginable, especially because it’s in a city where there aren’t too many mexicans around. yet, it is true. as a matter of fact, ¡poder xicanx!, which is the mexican/mexican american/xicanx (mmax) student organization on campus, is responsible for serving this socalled “world’s best horchata” at their events and get-togethers. technically, this horchata doesn’t quench peoples’ thirst, and it doesn’t complement the three tacos al pastor with its literal thirst-quenching ability. like many of its consumers on this campus, this horchata is nontraditional. this horchata rejuvenates la alma y la cultura de lxs mmax students without any azucar, arroz, canela, o agua. ¡poder xicanx! members themselves can attest to this claim. many of ¡poder xicanx!’s members’ love for horchata and themselves grew bigger and bigger simultaneously the more they attended ¡poder xicanx! get-togethers. ¡poder xicanx! held a special place in their hearts. through this organization, they had created a space for everyone to be themselves without having to worry about anyone else judging them. it reminded them of home, so it became their 5 see martinez (2014) for more information about composite characters. gonzalez 30 home away from home. undeniably, ¡poder xicanx! became a prized asset for most students involved in it. by far, some of their most memorable memories created at snow city university came from consuming horchata. as mentioned earlier, this was no ordinary horchata. sure, occasionally a few ¡poder xicanx! members would make traditional horchata and bring it to meetings, so that everyone could enjoy it. but, for the most part, the horchata that changed their college experience wasn’t served out of a pitcher. it was served as food for thought. after attending ¡poder xicanx! meetings and events for over a year, many of the members’ relationship to and understanding of horchata changed drastically. rest assured, whenever ¡poder xicanx! members found an empty room, they would take it over completely. typically, ximena, a second-year xicana student from inglewood, california, arrived early to set up the mexican serape tablecloth on the table. to accompany the colorful serape, ximena also brought the virgencita her abuelita gave her right before she boarded her flight to upstate new york. she would place the virgencita on the serape to give the room a mexican, spiritual feel. other members also brought items that reminded them of home. occasionally, someone would bring their stash of mexican candies to share with everyone. best believe, hot cheetos were always on deck. aurora, a xicana from lennox, california, would get to meetings early, ready with the ¡poder xicanx! music playlist that members co-created. corridos y cumbías were their go-tos. as more members arrived, the room would get browner and browner. not just literally, but also culturally. members brought their spanglish, memories from home, and frequently told dichos once recited by their parents, tías y tíos. implicitly or explicitly, these cultural items and references reminded the members of the importance of their mexican culture and served as inspirations for them to be prideful of where they come from. at almost every meeting, ¡poder xicanx! members not only brought physical items, foods, or cultural heirlooms that reminded them of home to create a space of comfort, affirmation, and belongingness, but they were also intentional about being themselves by unapologetically practicing cultural and home traditions in the space. a perfectly planned meeting that should have been a discussion to co-create a constitution for ¡poder xicanx! turned into a meeting in which members reflected on how much they cherished the space they had co-created. a little after 8pm, the meeting began. per horchata: a counterstory 31 usual, the meeting started with the burning of sage and an acknowledgement of indigenous land. “hi everyone. i hope everyone is doing well. everyone looks good,” angel, a xicano from the mission district neighborhood in san francisco, california, smiled as he complimented the other group members. “as always, we always like to start our meetings by acknowledging the fact that we are on stolen land. it’s very important that we acknowledge those who came before us and those whose cultural knowledges guide us in our everyday lives.” in a fitting manner, the sage burned slowly next to the virgencita. the smoke cleared out all the bad spirits. “¡poder xicanx! would like to acknowledge with respect the onondaga nation, firekeepers of the haudenosaunee confederacy, the indigenous peoples on whose ancestral lands snow city university now stands,”6 angel recited in a serious, yet welcoming tone. after the land acknowledgement, kona, a xicana from houston, texas and co-founder of ¡poder xicanx!, thanked angel and proceeded to ask all 20 members in attendance to share their “roses and thorns” of the week. the roses and thorns activity prompts members to share something good and something bad. ¡poder xicanx! starts off every meeting by asking its members to check in emotionally, and members open up about personal matters or negative experiences they have had on campus. in a matter of minutes, this gathering becomes a therapeutic space. after everyone shared their roses and thorns, kona initiated the meeting. “it’s nice to be around you beautiful gente! thank you to everyone for sharing your roses and thorns of the week. i know it takes a lot to share, but we see you and we hear you. much love to everyone in this space. even through our highs and lows, we have to continue pushing forward. como dicen our parents, we need to seguir adelante,” kona said in encouragement. ¡poder xicanx! as a counter-space “it’s a trip how this whole group was created,” tlacaelel, a xicano from st. louis, missouri and co-founder, digressed. “on campus, i was disrespected a lot by people. the moment i felt like someone disrespected me, people of color, or mexicans, i wouldn’t even look at them, i would just take off on them. so that’s how i always felt, and that’s why i helped 6 this is the land acknowledgement statement word for word. it is recited at the beginning at every meeting. gonzalez 32 create ‘¡poder xicanx! because i was just like, ‘how do others deal with this disrespect?’ next thing you know, when we got together, we started talking. it was just like an understanding of like, i don’t know . . . like you know, when you’re with the people in your community, you don’t even have to try. you just know.”7 “that’s right! in this space, there’s no need to explain what’s already understood. it’s people who have similar experiences you do. it’s easier to not have to explain all the bases for someone else to understand where your issues are coming from. i get what you mean,”8 aurora affirmed tlacaelel’s statement. “like, all these beautiful brown faces, you feel me? it’s like, i could tell y’all experiences, how i have to deal with so and so. what it’s like to be mexican. like, that’s pretty much it, when you actually get down to it, what we would do, we just get together and talk. just be like, yo what’s new?”9 tlacaelel elaborated. “oh, right, right, right. during our get-togethers, we just talk about growing up in the united states, as someone who identifies as xicanx, latinx, mexican american, however you choose to identify yourself, but have a similar culture. we talk about racism, about stereotypes that we faced growing up. it’s more of a venting space, if you want to call it that,”10 cesar, a mexican american from new york city, contributed. martita, a mexican american from houston, texas, smiled, “este. well, yeah. para mi, ¡poder xicanx! is always about what we could do for nosotros outside of the school. to me, i felt que esta organización could provide the most it could to its membership by just our meetings because it’s all about like how do we, como podemos continuar sobreviviendo in this space. right and this space meaning this institution that i label as toxic.11 so, ¡poder xicanx! allows us to build on our collective wisdom to help us cope with and respond to negative experiences on campus, such as racial microaggressions (grier-reed, 2010).” “yeah!” antonio, a xicano from homestead, florida, added excitedly. “in ¡poder xicanx! spaces, we talk about cultural references, our family history, or talk about anything we want to talk about with people who you know you can connect on, but we also talk about the 7 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 22, 2019. 8 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 27, 2018. 9 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 22, 2019. 10 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 21, 2018. 11 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted october 29, 2018. horchata: a counterstory 33 setting that we’re in, too. like cesar said, we talk about racism. we talk about things related to racism, other isms, sexism, classism, ableism, we talk about those things. those things, it’s more natural to come up in these spaces, whereas in my classes you can talk about it, but people aren’t going to want to. ¡poder xicanx! has become that space where we can challenge the dominant ideology, like where we can talk about history, or what is considered mainstream history, and how that really doesn’t apply to us (yosso & lopez, 2010).”12 “hmmmm hmmm,” sway, a xicanx raised in the outskirts of chicago, illinois, hummed in agreement. “it’s nice having a space where you can unfold your experience, right? express it, let it go, and gain power over that. before when it’s just inside you, i feel like it has some power over you. when you have the space, when you have the room, when you have the people that listen, that care, when you let that go and you put that out, it no longer has that same kind of power over you.”13 after no one said anything, they continued passionately, “i don’t know about y’all, but in our conversations, in our spaces, i feel free. i feel free because i am connected to other people, and connected to their experiences in some ways. i also feel free because i feel heard, i feel a sense of belonging, and personally i know that i can say and share whatever, and that i want to continue to be a part of this organization, and that there is a space for my opinions and my thoughts in our chats.”14 “that’s it!” kona shouted, happily. she walked over to the blackboard, grabbed a chalk, and then wrote ‘¡poder xicanx!’ she underlined it and then wrote, “horchatas” underneath it. “i never said anything about ‘horchata,’” sway said, while squinting their eyes in confusion. everyone else also wondered what horchata had to do with getting together and talking about racism and discrimination. kona double underlined the “chat” in “horchata.” “hor-chat-as . . . get it?”15 kona annunciated slowly to ensure everyone heard the “chat” part. 12 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 6, 2019. 13 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 10, 2018. 14 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 10, 2018. 15 conversations, teach-ins, and other get togethers by ¡poder xicanx! members were literally referred to as “horchatas.” gonzalez 34 “this foo,” tlacaelel laughed alongside everyone else. “from day one, our gatherings have been grounded in chats. we come to an empty room and chat. as a way to deal with this unwelcoming campus climate (hurtado & carter, 1997), we gather for the purpose of letting out our painful experiences with oppression on this campus (flores & garcia, 2009). so, horchatas is our main component for the ¡poder xicanx!, in the past, during our horchatas, we have discussed amongst ourselves whatever issues are going on in today’s world, how it might affect us, and what we can do about it. sometimes, all over some horchata to keep it casual, ‘cause the discussions can get really heated and horrible. it makes sense that we call it horchatas,”16 kona explained excitedly. “yasssss!” luna, a xicanx from the san fernando valley, california, encouraged kona. “our horchatas are very intentional, tho. during our horchatas, we specifically challenge what the outside world thinks of us,” alberto, a xicano from oxnard, california, reminded everyone. aurora grabbed another piece of chalk and wrote “counter-space” and then drew a one-sided arrow from “horchata” to “counter-space.” “yeah, it’s called a ‘counter-space.’ in my racism in education class, i learned that even if we aren’t given structural support by our university, students of color find ways to cope and manage a hostile campus environment (delgado bernal, 2001; flores & garcia, 2009; solórzano & villalpando, 1998; yosso & lopez, 2010). it’s been documented by multiple studies that students of color often create academic and social ‘counter-spaces’ to survive messed up universities (case & hunter, 2012; grierreed, 2010; solórzano et al., 2000).” “counter-spaces meaning what?” kona asked for clarification. “counter-spaces meaning sites or spaces where deficit notions of people of color can be challenged and where a positive racial climate can be established and maintained by its members (solórzano et al., 2000, p. 70). counter-spaces are dynamic sites where people on the margins engage with one another in critical discourse, bring their whole (and multiple) selves, challenge each other, and make sense of the multitude of contradictions they embody, which are always present, as a means of undergoing moments of transformation (morales, 2017). counter-spaces are established as a response to racial microaggressions and racism on and off 16 this response was paraphrased from an in-depth interview conducted may 12, 2018. horchata: a counterstory 35 campus. for example, through ¡poder xicanx!, i believe i get family. i get support. i get understanding. i get a shoulder to cry on, even if it’s not a physical shoulder. if i’m going through shit, i can always just text someone from this group. it’s that simple. because those are the kinds of natural and organic relationships that we need,”17 aurora clarified. “counter-space…” kona repeated slowly underneath her breath. “i like that. because of our biweekly horchatas, ¡poder xicanx! is technically a counter-space that we co-created. it’s all making sense now. let’s include that in our mission statement for sure.” kona drew a star next to both “counter-space” and “horchatas.” “basically ¡poder xicanx! does the work, which, for the most part, this white institution fails to do (yosso & lopez, 2010, p. 99),” aurora rolled her eyes. “when life gives you horchata with your homies, make a counter-space,” alma, a xicana from chicago, illinois, joked, trying to make everyone laugh. “can’t others make the argument that because we meet together to talk about issues that only affect us, then we are self-segregating ourselves?” denise, a first-year mexican american from san diego, ca, asked naively, thinking she put forward a good point. “is it self-segregation or self-preservation? (villalpando, 2003),” kona suggested. denise didn’t have an answer. she was stuck in her train of thought. “it’s literally self-preservation,” luna answered for her. “i think one of our meetings that really stayed with me was that time we all meditated together. i don't know if you were there, but we sat in that space and we all did a meditation and we kind of were open and honest about our anxiety, and i feel like i’ve never had that experience anywhere with other latinx students. it was just a group filled with like ten people. so, i think it was nice to know that we addressed that, that anxiety exists in our community.”18 luna took a deep breath to maintain their composure, “our conversations really helped me out . . . literally. it’s just an important organization that really helped me during that time in my life, where it’s like, i just needed my community to be around me.19 i needed a space to gather to let out my painful experiences on this campus (flores & garcia, 2009).” 17 everything except the first three sentences was taken from an in-depth interview conducted february 1, 2019. 18 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted june 2, 2018. 19 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted june 2, 2018. gonzalez 36 “building off that, i know for a fact that latinx students rely on peers from similar backgrounds for support (villalpando, 2003),” alma insisted matter-of-factly. “it’s true,” alberto chipped in. “we turn to one another for reaffirmation, encouragement, and support. this is especially true when it comes to responding to an environmental stressor like racism (tatum, 2003, p. 63). i’m speaking from personal experiences participating in our horchatas during ¡poder xicanx! meetings. ¡poder xicanx!, as a counter-space, can be seen as an adaptive mechanism to oppression, which provides us security, solidarity, hope, and healing (case & hunter, 2012, p. 268).” home away from home to alleviate the tension in the air, kona interjected, “well, that’s why tlacaelel had always suggested that i should start ¡poder xicanx! i really liked the idea of it, having a space like this on campus gave me a warm feeling. i’m just like that would be such a nice home away from home to have. i know that most of college i felt isolated, or like i didn’t relate to a lot of people, even though i had my friends here and there. and while i liked the work that other orgs were doing, there was just a sense of home that i wasn’t getting there. most people joined organizations ‘cause they were looking for something to make them feel connected and while i liked the work they were doing, but i didn’t feel that. so, i wanted to create ¡poder xicanx! ‘cause i knew that was something i could’ve used in the beginning of college. i wanted ¡poder xicanx! to become a home away from home.”20 “we should add ‘home away from home’ to the board,” alberto suggested, building off kona’s statement. kona waited for alberto to write it on the board, “did you want to write it or want me to?” “it’s best if you do ‘cause my handwriting will confuse everyone, including myself,” alberto said, halfway joking. kona proceeded to write it on the board. “in all seriousness, that’s a good point,” luna said. “every time i stepped in a ¡poder xicanx! place, i felt at home again. it felt like l.a., it felt like the san fernando valley all over again.” 20 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 12, 2018. horchata: a counterstory 37 “some people may not get that feeling from it because i feel like you have to be at the meetings to get a better understanding of what you get out of it,”21 cesar insisted. “you definitely get information, of course, but you also get a sense of familiarity, or a sense of belonging. for me, new york city is a five-hour bus drive, and i could just go home . . . it’s only $80 for me. but for some, it’s a $600 flight back to california or back to texas. wherever they may come from, it may not be financially affordable . . . this organization is somewhere that’s a little more accessible, because it’s all on campus. so you get a home, a sense of belonging.”22 “facts!! flying to la cost sooooo much!” aurora smacked her lips. “in the conversations that i’ve had with the students regarding our meetings, whether it be there or after, it’s just like home. that’s some of the things that some people have said, like, ‘oh it’s just like home’ or ‘i feel at home,’ right? because that’s how we hang out. and then the food is a plus.”23 martita looked over to the center of the room where all the snacks were. angelica, a mexican american from the bronx, new york, raised her hand without having to and shared: “i can also add to that. when i saw ¡poder xicanx!’s recruitment table, it looked homey and i liked the fact that ¡poder xicanx! had a lot of mexican, not artifacts but objects with them like the blankets, backpacks, and what else . . . they had other stuff on the table and it just reminded me of home. and again, at the time i needed a place to feel like home. so, i decided to give it a try and just go because it felt so . . . i guess like an honest vibe, just a relaxed vibe from it so i tried it.24 the rest is history.” aurora sniffed the aroma of the burning sage and explained: “¡poder xicanx! gives me a space where i can act, i can speak, i can listen, i can appreciate things that i could in the same way that i do back home. and do it without judgment, and do it not alone, but i do it with other people. so, i think that it allows me to feel all those positive things in the same way that my dad used the color of my skin as a thing for me to tap into and appreciate, that’s how i feel that ¡poder xicanx! does it, as well. the culture, and the foundation, and characteristics, and values of our culture are what let us appreciate it, and tap into it.”25 21 a few participants expressed this sentiment. 22 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 21, 2018. 23 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted october 29, 2018. 24 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted october 29, 2018. 25 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 1, 2019. gonzalez 38 tlacaelel shook his head up and down in agreement, “doesn’t it, like, feel good to see people that understand what you understand and like what you like, without having to try?”26 “yeah,” alberto answered for the whole group. “like, how easy is it to, like, put on a cumbia norteña or something like that, and let that shit play without having someone be like, ‘what is this country ass?’ you feel me?”27 tlacaelel asked, rhetorically. “we can speak spanglish unapologetically with one another, and almost everyone could understand what we mean without having to explain it because we are all familiar with the language and culture. it definitely resembles a home away from home.” all of a sudden, one by one, almost everyone in the room began to share memories of how ¡poder xicanx! reminded them of home. culturally sustaining counter-space diego, a mexican from sarasota, florida, reached over the table to grab a handful of hot cheetos. “i mean . . . ,” he started, before covering his mouth as he munched on a couple of hot cheetos. diego continued, “¡poder xicanx! is pretty much the only way i get to practice my home culture. it’s seeing people that have grown up with similar things as me. it just makes you feel like you’re at home, i guess. it’s just people who talk like you. hearing stories and hearing ideas that are similar to the stuff back home. even when we bring snacks and stuff that reminds me of home . . . i haven’t ever seen anybody bring hot cheetos to any other organization. so, we bring things from home into ¡poder xicanx! spaces.28 and that’s what makes ¡poder xicanx! so special.” “well, we should add that to our list then,” kona recommended, excitedly. “first horchata, now hot cheetos?” alberto laughed at his own joke. kona shook her head, “no, not the hot cheetos!” “diego said that ¡poder xicanx! allows him to practice his home cultura on campus. we know that higher education itself doesn’t encourage us to retain our cultura (rodriguez, 1983), so this gotta be unique to ¡poder xicanx! something about practicing culture . . . ” kona vocalized. “in education, we always talk about the importance of cultural relevancy (ladson 26 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 22, 2019. 27 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 22, 2019. 28 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 5, 2019. horchata: a counterstory 39 billings & tate, 1995), which in the context of ¡poder xicanx!, it would mean that our meetings and conversations are relevant to our everyday cultural experiences on campus,” alberto contributed to kona’s point. “something like that . . .” kona continued. “maybe like culturally responsive, meaning ¡poder xicanx! responds to our cultural needs through our collective cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives. when our conversations are situated within our own lived experiences and frames of reference, then they become more personally meaningful (gay, 2000),” alberto suggested once again. “i guess that could work,” kona said, unpersuaded by alberto’s suggestions. right before she was going to write “culturally responsive” on the chalkboard, alma had an idea: “our conversations and get togethers as ¡poder xicanx! members are not only culturally relevant and culturally responsive, but they also culturally sustaining (paris, 2012). cultural sustainability requires more than being responsive of or relevant to our cultural experiences as mexicans on this campus—it requires that we support one another in sustaining the cultural knowledges and ways of knowing of our own communities at a university where our cultural ways are absent (paris, 2012).” “there it is!” kona’s face lit up. “because cultural sustainability embodies cultural relevancy and responsiveness, then it’s our perfect word.” kona, already near the chalkboard, wrote “cultural sustainability.” “¡poder xicanx! helps us sustain our cultura through food . . . the champurrado . . . the carne asada,”29 ximena interjected, building on the idea of “cultural sustainability.” “i agree,” josé, a mexican american from the lennox-inglewood area in california, nodded his head as he smiled. he added: “i feel we are sustained heavily through food. like kona mentioned earlier, at a couple of our events we literally had horchata, which i felt was a good way to try to reach out to our community.”30 “i think the mexican culture is a lot about food, and i think when we would come together, whether it was romé cooking their flautas, that just helped me stay connected to my cultura,”31 luna said timidly. 29 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted january 31, 2019. 30 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 27, 2018. 31 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted june 2, 2018. gonzalez 40 “oh my goodness, the food romé makes . . .” antonio licked his lips. “having flautas and rice con frijoles like that, dude. that makes a difference.32 that sustains us for sure.” “even when we can’t bring the food physically, which often we will try, whether it’s through candy, food, drinks, or deserts, we bring it in through pláticas y chisme in order to reminisce on certain foods. we would either bring in the culture socially through our conversation, or we would bring it in physically with paletas con chile or mazapanes,”33 sway elaborated, mesmerized by all the conversations about food. alma moved her index finger up and down quickly and agreed: “yooo! so true. during our ¡poder xicanx! meetings, i can speak about tamales and conchas without someone being like, ‘what’s a concha?’ i never knew how hard it was to explain mexican food to people who don’t know mexican food. it’s so hard.”34 laughter followed alma’s testimony. “and in ¡poder xicanx! spaces, it’s the complete opposite,” b, a xicana from north houston, texas, supplemented alma’s point. “i feel like i can talk about anything from home and i don’t have to explain myself. you guys just know. i remember the first fight that i went to, it was also on mexican independence day and i wore my shirt, the one that i got from mexico . . . i don’t know and it’s just something that i couldn’t do somewhere else. i could wear it but they’re going to be like ‘oh, it’s just an ordinary shirt.’ others on this campus wouldn’t know the significance of wearing it on that specific day.”35 “and that’s why i stopped explaining my cultura to other people after my first year,” alberto said, agreeing with alma and b’s complaints. “unlike other spaces on campus, in ¡poder xicanx! spaces, my identity is affirmed by this counter-space that we have co-created” (carter, 2007). “my cultura is sustained through ¡poder xicanx! for the exact reason why everyone comes to the meetings, which is because we want to play some fucking lotería, eat some hot cheetos, and listen to chalino sanchez . . . ”36 aurora stated unapologetically. 32 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 6, 2019. 33 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 10, 2018. 34 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted january 24, 2019. 35 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 29, 2019. 36 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 1, 2019. horchata: a counterstory 41 “music, we play music. that’s another way ¡poder xicanx! allows us to sustain our cultura,”37 ximena reminded everyone. “yes! i’m definitely more willing to listen to spanish music around other people now. it’s like, i don’t know, i feel like i won’t be the odd one out, even if i’m not in the ¡poder xicanx! spaces,”38 antonio shared. “i want to be mindful of the time. it’s 9:15 and i know most of us have homework, so i don’t want to keep us here too long,” kona interrupted, respectfully. “we have ‘horchatas/counter-space,’ ‘home away from home,’ and ‘cultural sustainability,’” kona recounted. “we should aim for an even four components. can anyone think of one last component?” kona asked, hoping to get more ideas. everyone remained quiet, contemplating another component silently to themselves. counter-space as a site for critical consciousness “well, i remember one time i came across somebody who showed up to one meeting, and after that he said that he didn’t want to come anymore because it was too political and stuff like that,”39 aurora recounted, trying to propose another component. “bruhhh . . . too political?! my presence alone on this campus is political!” alma insisted in a high-pitched voice. “right,” aurora agreed. “what was too political?” kona asked as she laughed at the absurdity. “this person literally said ¡poder xicanx! was too political for them,”40 aurora clarified. “he did?” kona smiled, knowing that wasn’t far from the truth. “i guess some people might think that we’re a very radical group, especially those who come to our meetings because they thought it was just gonna be a group of mexicans eating hot cheetos and goofing around, right? and it’s not like we don’t do that, right? but we are all here to do work. i guess the word radical would be good. no, not radical. critical and validating would be some words that i felt 39 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 1, 2019. 40 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 1, 2019. gonzalez 42 from the conversations we have.”41 “exactly,” aurora continued, animatedly, “he was probably expecting to just have it be a hangout spot where he could just kick it with other mexican people, and bond, i guess, and that’s absolutely things that we do, but i do think that we also feel that it’s really vital to our collective identity as a group, and our individual being—our literal spirit—to be political because where else are we going to be able to do that? if this space ain’t safe, then what other space are we going to have? i understand that he didn’t want it to be that serious, but i understand more the need to have spaces that are unapologetically political and are unapologetically conscious, period . . .”42 “some people just ain’t about that life,” alberto added, siding with aurora’s assertion. aurora nodded her head, “i get it. but this space is a lot more sacred than people can appreciate, and that’s okay, too.”43 “our presence, our existence is resistance,”44 sway intervened. “¡poder xicanx! is a site of resistance. every meeting that we get together, we resist. we resist by supporting one another. we resist by educating one another . . .” “we resist by being happy,” luna interrupted before sway could finish their statement. “this university doesn’t want us to be happy, so when we are, we resist.” everyone’s face lit up, knowing that luna was speaking nothing but the truth. “¡poder xicanx! is a space for xicanx students by xicanx students. we strive for it to be a space where you can come in and talk about your past or what’s happening now. you can talk about your emotions, you can talk about critical discourse, you can talk about really whatever you want to through the lens of your lived experiences and yourself, but as well as putting on that new lens, a new pair of glasses of being xicanx and what does that mean,”45 alejandra, a mexican american from san antonio, texas, suggested, without necessarily proposing a new component. “that’s a good point. to be honest, i feel like i’m not always so critical. i’m not always thinking very critically,”46 kona confessed aloud without shame. “and so that’s something that i 41 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 12, 2018. 42 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 1, 2019. 43 this response was paraphrased from an in-depth interview conducted february 1, 2019. 44 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 10, 2018. 45 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 9, 2018. 46 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 12, 2018. horchata: a counterstory 43 get from ¡poder xicanx! i’m surrounded by individuals who are seeing the world in a different view point than mine. i feel like i learn to be more critical in ¡poder xicanx! spaces.”47 “it’s true. ¡poder xicanx! caused me to become more critically conscious, too,”48 la borinqueña, a xicana from albuquerque, new mexico, testified while she looked over to kona for affirmation. “we don’t get to have these critical conversations elsewhere. our conversations are background education, that’s our education, bouncing ideas off each other about what it means to be xicano, xicana, that’s our education. telling stories, that’s our education, that’s our form of educating each other, that’s our classroom.”49 “how about we add ‘critical consciousness’ (freire, 1970, 1973) as our last component,” sway suggested with great confidence. sway walked over to the board and spelled out “consciousness” slowly to ensure they spelled it correctly. “¡poder xicanx! makes us aware of social, economic and political systems that oppress our gente and, more times than not, this awareness leads to action against these oppressive systems to achieve social change (freire, 1970, 1973).” “bet,” aurora said in agreement. “i think that the conversations we have are demanding of being critical, and of being conscious. and do i think that ¡poder xicanx! gives me a space, a place that i feel is safe, a safe space for me to practice that critical conscious. to either be aware of it, or to strengthen it.”50 “true. in my case, i think ¡poder xicanx! strengthened my critical consciousness to a point where it has really reinforced it,”51 antonio said. “because of ¡poder xicanx!, i’m so much more . . . i hate saying woke, but i’m more critical and way more aware of when people say very problematic things. i catch even myself sometimes and i’m like, ‘yo, i can’t be thinking like that because that type of thinking is being influenced by years of racism,’”52 alma told everyone. “so, before i wouldn’t even blink twice at afro-latinx people,”53 ximena admitted openly. “i knew they existed but always felt they were ‘other.’ i didn’t have to think about it. 47 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 12, 2018. 48 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted october 23, 2018. 49 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted october 23, 2018. 50 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 1, 2019. 51 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted february 6, 2019. 52 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted january 24, 2019. 53 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted january 31, 2019. gonzalez 44 and now i think more about my own anti-blackness that has been taught to me (haywood, 2017). i just try to think more critically about the things i think, the things i say, the things i do.”54 “ahhh! i didn’t go to the anti-blackness horchata, but i know that it was probably a really important one to have just because a lot of people don’t want to criticize their own community. their own culture. they don’t want to talk more about things that are happening. they’re just like, ‘no, like we're not talking about that.’ people from our own communities deny our own prejudices toward other groups and i feel like just in general having ¡poder xicanx! to be able to have those conversations is really important because you can have other people learn that we’re a marginalized group on campus and we face discrimination, but we also can be oppressors in certain ways (haywood, 2017),”55 b explained. snaps filled the air with approval. “as a group, through our horchatas, there’s a lot of intellectual stimulation. in our spaces, we share diverse perspectives, we disagree, we exercise our intellectual muscles, we discuss important social issues, we raise awareness, and we bring in issues relevant to our own lives and interests (grier-reed et al., 2008),” kona summarized in an attempt to capture everything that had been said. b smiled in agreement, “through ¡poder xicanx!, i feel like i have become more conscious of my own identity . . . it’s become more overt in who i am. i feel like literally just coming to this school has made me more overtly in my identity because my mom thinks i’m annoying now. my mom says, ‘b is suddenly all mexican. she’s like mexican this, mexican that, mexican this . . . ’”56 “no lies. i feel like ¡poder xicanx! definitely brought in my own viewpoint. it made me feel prouder of my mexicanidad, not as a nationality. but proud to be part of a group that’s so resilient. it made me feel stronger in my mexicanidad identity because of the different experiences that mexican people come from.57 even as mexican, mexican american, xicanx people, our individual experiences are so diverse. this is especially true given that many of us are raised in different regions of the u.s.,” kona explained. 54 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted january 31, 2019. 55 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 29, 2019. 56 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 29, 2019. 57 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 12, 2018. horchata: a counterstory 45 “yeah! ¡poder xicanx! has taught me that the word xicano doesn’t mean the same thing for every single person.58 because we come from different places, we are so diverse. so, we have different meanings of the word xicanx,” la borinqueña added. “i kind of get what y’all mean. okay. so, ¡poder xicanx! definitely opened up my eyes, my world, to a more specific subset of identity. so, i didn’t know that you could go further than mexican american. i’ve only heard the word xicano, but i never knew what it meant, what it fully entailed to be xicano or xicanx. so definitely, having these discussions helped realize where do i identify? if i ever do want to identify, what does it mean, and where can i fit in? which one do i specifically belong to, so that when people ask, ‘oh, i identify as this, this, and that.’ now, i know with confidence which is me,”59 cesar elaborated. alejandra shook her head up and down, “similarly, i think ¡poder xicanx! has made me think critically about how i identify, too. it really opened up the door i guess for a look into xicanx or xicanismo, like what is it, and it is there to be studied and learned and it is also inside of me.”60 other members nodded in agreement. in a short span of time, it became obvious that ¡poder xicanx!, as a co-created space, allowed its members to further develop their critical consciousness in various aspects. being critical of their own identities to liberate themselves and challenge their own ways of being became a recurring theme. the time to end the meeting was almost up, yet they hadn’t come up with a concrete mission statement for ¡poder xicanx!. instead, they critically reflected on building critical consciousnesses and their experiences being in community with one another. kona pushed in her glasses, “it’s getting really late. maybe we should all head out.” “i was thinking the same thing,” ximena agreed. “remember . . . ” kona paused to build suspense. “there’s no such thing as too much horchata!” discussion and implications through their participation in this ethnic-based organization, mmax students created a counter-space, where they were able to build a “community of resistance” in order to “process 58 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted october 23, 2018. 59 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted april 21, 2018. 60 this response was taken directly from an in-depth interview conducted may 9, 2018. gonzalez 46 and respond to the rejection that they experience attending a historically white college” (yosso & lopez, 2010, p. 94). this counterstory highlighted three key findings. first, ethnic-based organizations like ¡poder xicanx! serve as a valuable space where mmax students can affirm each other by creating a home away from home. second, to combat a culturally depriving campus environment, mmax students joined an ethnic-based organization and created a counter-space to practice and sustain their ties to their home cultures and traditions. lastly, being in community with people with similar ethnic backgrounds and overlapping upbringings inspired mmax students to challenge one another intellectually and collectively build critical consciousness (morales, 2017). all three findings reveal how counter-spaces are vital in navigating and thriving in a racially hostile campus environment (solórzano et al., 2000). more specifically, as noted by yosso et al. (2009), through their participation in ¡poder xicanx!, these mmax students “respond[ed] to the rejection they face from a negative campus racial climate by building communities that represent and reflect the cultural wealth of their home communities” (p. 680). an important implication this counterstory offers is that it emphasizes the usefulness and necessity of storytelling in academic spaces and platforms. through the utilization of crt counterstorytelling in educational research, researchers challenge traditional eurocentric epistemologies imbedded within and perpetuated by notions of white supremacy in higher education (delgado bernal & villalpando, 2002). furthermore, counterstories in education advance the idea experiential knowledge is important and central to understanding the nature of reality; in particular, counterstories contribute to the knowledge base of those often pushed to the margins in education (milner & howard, 2013). in her book counterstory, moreover, martinez (2020) argues that counterstorytelling serves as an important pedagogical tool because stories simplify complex theories and decode academic jargon, making the material being discussed easily accessible to the reader. as such, counterstorytelling democratizes knowledge and bridges the gap between academic and non-academic communities. this story also offers important implications for university staff, faculty, and administrators. there is a need for a more inclusive and supportive campus environment, so that mmax students can unapologetically practice their home cultures on their campuses. to help eliminate alienation on campus, there must be concerted efforts to educate and train faculty, staff, and administrators, as well as other students, to be actively anti-racist. the horchata: a counterstory 47 normalization of anti-racism on university campuses will create a welcoming environment for all students, regardless of ethnic or cultural backgrounds. this counterstory prompts university personnel to challenge any preconceived notions that perpetuate the idea that latinxs exist as a monolithic category. as alluded to in this counterstory, mmax students gravitated toward each other and established this space because of their ethnic-specific experiences that are different from other latinx students. for example, cinco de mayo, which is often incorrectly celebrated as mexican independence day (september 16), is an issue that impacts mmax students differently than other latinx students because of its specific ties to mexican history. thus, it is important that those who work with university latinx students recognize that latinxs have different histories and days of celebration. another implication that derives from this counterstory is the importance of creating classroom and university spaces that intentionally address issues of racism, heteronormativity, sexism, xenophobia, and other systems of oppression. mmax students expressed that ¡poder xicanx! allowed them to discuss issues that are going on in today’s world, and how it impacts them, and what they can do about it. thus, staff, instructors, and professors must be persistent and very purposeful in discussing and assigning materials about social justice issues. while some may think these conversations are difficult, they are necessary, and it is a collective responsibility to normalize such conversations in order to address inequities on campus and as a society at large. ultimately, i argue that (multi)cultural and ethnic-based organizations such as ¡poder xicanx! play a pivotal role in reminding students who are marginalized that they do belong and are more than capable of thriving at their respective universities. it is crucial for universities to understand the importance of establishing ethnic-based organizations, and to support such efforts socially, ideologically, and financially. while there is a need for these spaces and organizations, it is also necessary to address the white supremacist beliefs engrained in university campuses, which are the reasons behind why such spaces and organizations are needed in the first place. to begin to disrupt and challenge the white supremacist beliefs engrained in university campuses, universities must hire more faculty, staff, and administrators of color whose mission, research, and interests are directly and explicitly connected to racial and social justice. gonzalez 48 acknowledgments thank you to the mmax students who participated in this project and in doing so, spoke truth to power. also, thank you to jordan beltran gonzales for his editorial feedback and suggestions. horchata: a counterstory 49 references alcoff, l. (1991). the problem of speaking for others. cultural critique, 20, 5–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/1354221 bhattacharya, h. (2008). new critical collaborative ethnography. in s. n. hesse-biber & p. leavy (eds.), handbook of emergent methods (pp. 303–322). guilford press. carter, d. j. (2007). why the black kids sit together at the stairs: the role of identity-affirming counter-spaces in a predominantly white high school. the journal of negro education, 76(4), 542–554. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40037227 case, a. d., & hunter, c. d. (2012). counterspaces: a unit of analysis for understanding the role of settings in marginalized individuals’ adaptive responses to oppression. american journal of community psychology, 50(1–2), 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-0129497-7 cook, d. a., & dixson, a. d. (2013). writing critical race theory and method: a composite counterstory on the experiences of black teachers in new orleans post-katrina. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 26(10), 1238–1258. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.731531 delgado, r. (1989). storytelling for oppositionists and others: a plea for narrative. michigan law review, 87(8), 2411–2441. https://doi.org/10.2307/1289308 delgado, r. (1993). on telling stories in school: a reply to farber and sherry. vanderbilt law review, 46, 665–676. https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol46/iss3/3 delgado bernal, d. (1998). using a chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. harvard educational review, 68(4), 555–583. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 delgado bernal, d. (2001). learning and living pedagogies of the home: the mestiza consciousness of chicana students. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(5), 623–639. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059838 delgado bernal, d. (2002). critical race theory, latcrit theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 105–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 delgado bernal, d., & villalpando, o. (2002). an apartheid of knowledge in academia: the struggle over the “legitimate” knowledge of faculty of color. equity & excellence in education, 35(2), 169–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/713845282 fierros, c., & delgado bernal, d. (2016). vamos a platicar: the contours of pláticas as methodology. chicana/latina studies, 15(2), 98–121. flores, j., & garcia, s. (2009). latina testimonios: a reflexive, critical analysis of a “latina space” at a predominantly white campus. race ethnicity and education, 12(2), 155–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320902995434 freire, p. (1970). education for critical consciousness. continuum. freire, p. (1973). pedagogy of the oppressed. seabury press. gay, g. (2000). culturally responsive teaching theory, research, and practice. teachers college record. grier-reed, t. l., na'im h, m., & buckley, c. g. (2008). low black student retention on a predominantly white campus: two faculty respond with the african american student network. journal of college student development, 49(5), 476-485. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0031 https://doi.org/10.2307/1354221 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40037227 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-012-9497-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-012-9497-7 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.731531 https://doi.org/10.2307/1289308 https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol46/iss3/3 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.5wv1034973g22q48 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110059838 https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800107 https://doi.org/10.1080/713845282 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320902995434 https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0031 gonzalez 50 grier-reed, t. l. (2010). the african american student network: creating sanctuaries and counterspaces for coping with racial microaggressions in higher education settings. the journal of humanistic counseling, education and development, 49(2), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1939.2010.tb00096.x harwood, s. a., huntt, m. b., mendenhall, r., & lewis, j. a. (2012). racial microaggressions in the residence halls: experiences of students of color at a predominantly white university. journal of diversity in higher education, 5(3), 159–173. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028956 haywood, j. m. (2017). ‘latino spaces have always been the most violent’: afro-latino collegians’ perceptions of colorism and latino intragroup marginalization. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 30(8), 759-782. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2017.1350298 hiraldo, p. (2010). the role of critical race theory in higher education. the vermont connection, 31(1), 7. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol31/iss1/7 hurtado, s., & carter, d. f. (1997). effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on latino college students’ sense of belonging. sociology of education, 70(4), 324–345. https://doi.org/10.2307/2673270 hurtado, s., carter, d. f., & spuler, a. (1996). latino student transition to college: assessing difficulties and factors in successful college adjustment. research in higher education, 37(2), 135–157. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40196170 ladson-billings, g. (2013). critical race theory—what it is not! in m. lynn (ed.), handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 54–67). routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203155721-12 ladson-billings, g., & tate, w. f. (1995). toward a critical race theory of education. teachers college record, 97(1), 47. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700104 ledesma, m. c., & calderón, d. (2015). critical race theory in education: a review of past literature and a look to the future. qualitative inquiry, 21(3), 206–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414557825 lincoln, y. s., & guba, e. g. (2000). paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences. in n. k. denzin & y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (pp. 163–188). sage. madison, d. s. (2005). critical ethnography: method, ethics, and performance. sage. malagón, m. c., huber, l. p., & velez, v. n. (2009). our experiences, our methods: using grounded theory to inform a critical race theory methodology. seattle journal for social justice, 8, 253–272. https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol8/iss1/10 martinez, a. y. (2014). a plea for critical race theory counterstory: stock story versus counterstory dialogues concerning alejandra’s “fit” in the academy. composition studies, 42(2), 33–55. https://doi.org/10.37514/atd-b.2016.0933.2.03 martinez, a. y. (2020). counterstory: the rhetoric and writing of critical race theory. national council of teachers of english. milner, h. r. iv, & howard, t. c. (2013). counter-narrative as method: race, policy and research for teacher education. race ethnicity and education, 16(4), 536–561. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2013.817772 minikel-lacocque, j. (2013). racism, college, and the power of words: racial microaggressions reconsidered. american educational research journal, 50(3), 432–465. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831212468048 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1939.2010.tb00096.x https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028956 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2017.1350298 https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol31/iss1/7 https://doi.org/10.2307/2673270 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40196170 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203155721-12 https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700104 https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414557825 https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol8/iss1/10 https://doi.org/10.37514/atd-b.2016.0933.2.03 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2013.817772 https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831212468048 horchata: a counterstory 51 morales, s. (2017). redefining counterspaces: new directions and implications for research and praxis. center for critical race studies at ucla. paris, d. (2012). culturally sustaining pedagogy: a needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. educational researcher, 41(3), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12441244 pizarro, m. (1998). “chicana/o power!” epistemology and methodology for social justice and empowerment in chicana/o communities. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 11(1), 57–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236890 pérez huber, l. (2010). using latina/o critical race theory (latcrit) and racist nativism to explore intersectionality in the educational experiences of undocumented chicana college students. the journal of educational foundations, 24(1/2), 77–96. pérez huber, l., & solórzano, d. g. (2015). racial microaggressions as a tool for critical race research. race ethnicity and education, 18(3), 297–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2014.994173 rodriguez, r. (1983). hunger of memory: the education of richard rodriguez: an autobiography. bantam. rubin, h. j., & rubin, i. s. (2005). qualitative interviewing: the art of hearing data (2nd ed.). sage. solórzano, d. g. (1997). images and words that wound: critical race theory, racial stereo typing, and teacher education. teacher education quarterly, 24(3), 5–19. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452226651 solórzano, d. g., allen, w. r., & carroll, g. (2002). keeping race in place: racial microaggressions and campus racial climate at the university of california, berkeley. chicano-latino law review, 23, 15–111. https://doi.org/10.5070/c7231021142 solórzano, d. g., ceja, m., & yosso, t. (2000). critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: the experiences of african american college students. journal of negro education, 69(1/2), 60–73. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2696265 solórzano, d. g., & delgado bernal, d. (2001). examining transformational resistance through a critical race and latcrit theory framework: chicana and chicano students in an urban context. urban education, 36(3), 308–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 solórzano, d. g., & villalpando, o. (1998). critical race theory, marginality, and the experience of students of color in higher education. in c. a. torres & t. r. mitchell (eds.), sociology of education: emerging perspectives (pp. 211–224). suny press. solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2001). critical race and latcrit theory and method: counter storytelling. international journal of qualitative studies in education, 14(4), 471–495. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365 solórzano, d. g., & yosso, t. j. (2002). critical race methodology: counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. qualitative inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 tatum, b. d. (2003). why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? and other conversations about race. basic books. villalpando, o. (2003). self‐segregation or self‐preservation? a critical race theory and latina/o critical theory analysis of a study of chicana/o college students. qualitative studies in education, 16(5), 619–646. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839032000142922 villalpando, o. (2004). practical considerations of critical race theory and latino critical theory for latino college students. new directions for student services, 2004(105), 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.115 https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x12441244 https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236890 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2014.994173 https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452226651 https://doi.org/10.5070/c7231021142 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2696265 https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085901363002 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390110063365 https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839032000142922 https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.115 gonzalez 52 yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 yosso, t. j. (2006). critical race counterstories along the chicana/chicano educational pipeline. routledge. yosso, t. j., & lopez, c. b. (2010). counterspaces in a hostile place: a critical race theory analysis of campus culture centers. in l. patton (ed.), culture centers in higher education: perspectives on identity, theory, and practice (pp. 83–104). stylus. yosso, t. j., smith, w. a., ceja, m., & solórzano, d. g. (2009). critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate for latina/o undergraduates. harvard educational review, 79(4), 659–691. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4.m6867014157m707l https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.4.m6867014157m707l the counterstory: the setting and context ¡poder xicanx! as a counter-space home away from home culturally sustaining counter-space counter-space as a site for critical consciousness